But I will pass over his other babblings against the truth, possessing as they do no force against our doctrines, for I deem it superfluous to linger any longer over such absurdities. For who can be so wanting in the more important subjects of thought as to waste energy on silly arguments, and to contend with men who speak of us as asserting that “man’s forethought is of superior weight and authority to God’s guardianship,” and that we “ascribe the carelessness which confuses the feebler minds to the providence of God”? These are the exact words of our calumniator. But I, for my part, think it equally as absurd to pay attention to remarks like that, as to occupy myself with old wives’ dreams. For to think of securing the dignity of rule and sovereignty to the Divine Being by a form of words, and to show the great power of God to be dependent upon this, and on the other hand to neglect Him and disregard the providence which belongs to Him, and to lay it to our reproach that men, having received from God the faculty of reason, make an arbitrary use of words to signify things—what is this but an old wife’s fable, or a drunkard’s dream? For the true power, and authority, and dominion, and sovereignty of God do not, we think, consist in syllables. Were it so, any and every inventor of words might claim equal honour with God. But the infinite ages, and the beauties of the universe, and the beams of the heavenly luminaries, and all the wonders of land and sea, and the angelic hosts and supra-mundane powers, and whatever else there is whose existence in the realm above is revealed to us under various figures by Holy Scripture—these are the things that bear witness to God’s power over all. Whereas, to attribute the invention of vocal sound to those who are naturally endowed with the faculty of speech, this involves no impiety towards Him Who gave them their voice. Nor indeed do we hold it to be a great thing to invent words significative of things. For the being to whom Holy Scripture in the history of the creation gave the name of “man71    Gen. i. 26.” (ἄνθρωπος), a word of human devising, that same being Job calls “mortal72    Job xiv. 1. βροτὸς γὰρ γεννητὸς γυναικὸς, ὀλιγόβιος καὶ πλήρής ὀργῆς.” (βροτός), while of profane writers, some call him “human being” (φώς), and others “articulate speaker” (μέροψ)—to say nothing of other varieties of the name. Do we, then, elevate them to equal honour with God, because they also invented names equivalent to that of “man,” alike signifying their subject. But, as I have said before, let us leave this idle talk, and make no account of his string of revilings, in which he charges us with lying against the Divine oracles, and uttering slanders with effrontery even against God.

Ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους φληνάφους, οὓς κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐλήρησεν, ὡς οὐδεμίαν ἔχοντας κατὰ τῶν δογμάτων ἰσχὺν ὑπερβήσομαι, περιττὸν εἶναι κρίνων ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν τοῖς ματαίοις. τίς γὰρ οὕτως ἄφροντις τῶν σπουδαιοτέρων φροντίδων, ὥστε τοῖς ἀνοήτοις τῶν λόγων προσαναλίσκειν τὴν σπουδὴν καὶ διαμάχεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς λέγοντας ὅτι « ἀρχηγικωτέραν μὲν καὶ κυριωτέραν » ἀποφαίνομεν « τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων φροντίδα τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κηδεμονίας, τὴν δὲ τοῖς ἀμελεστέροις ἐνοχλοῦσαν ὀλιγωρίαν εἰς » τὴν « ἐκείνου » μεταφέρομεν « πρόνοιαν »; ταῦτα ἐπὶ λέξεως ἡ τοῦ διαβάλλοντος ἡμᾶς ἔχει φωνή. ἐγὼ δὲ ἴσον ἡγοῦμαι περί τε τὰ τοιαῦτα σπουδάζειν καὶ γρᾳδίων ὀνείροις ἀποσχολάζειν. τὸ γὰρ ἐν τύπῳ φθόγγων τινῶν οἴεσθαι τῇ θείᾳ φύσει τὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ κυριότητος ἀξίωμα διαφολάσσειν καὶ τὴν μεγάλην « τοῦ θεοῦ κηδεμονίαν » ἐν τούτῳ δεικνύειν ἀμελεῖν τε πάλιν τὸν θεὸν καὶ ὀλιγωρεῖν τῆς προσηκούσης αὐτῷ προνοίας ἡμᾶς τε διαβάλλειν, ὅτι τὴν λογικὴν δύναμιν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λαβόντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἔπειτα κατ' ἐξουσίαν τοῖς λόγοις πρὸς τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων δήλωσιν κέχρηνται, τί ἄλλο ἢ οὐχὶ γραώδης μῦθος ἢ κραιπαλώντων ὄνειρος τὸ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν; ἡ γὰρ ἀληθὴς τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμίς τε καὶ ἐξουσία καὶ ἀρχὴ καὶ κυριότης κατά γε τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον οὐκ ἐν συλλαβαῖς τὸ εἶναι ἔχει, ἢ οὕτως ἂν εἰς ὁμότιμον ἔλθοι τῷ θεῷ πᾶς ὁστισοῦν εὑρετὴς ῥημάτων γενόμενος, ἀλλ' αἰῶνες ἄπειροι καὶ κόσμου κάλλη καὶ φωστήρων αὐγαὶ καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης θαύματα ἀγγέλων τε στρατιαὶ καὶ ὑπερκόσμιοι δυνάμεις καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο κατὰ τὴν ἄνω λῆξιν παρὰ τῆς γραφῆς εἶναι δι' αἰνιγμάτων ἀκούομεν, ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ μαρτυροῦντα τῷ θεῷ ὑπὲρ πάντα δύναμιν. φωνῆς δὲ ἦχον τοῖς πεφυκόσι φθέγγεσθαι μαρτυρῶν τις οὐδὲν εἰς τὸν δεδωκότα τὴν φωνὴν ἀσεβήσει. οὐδὲ γὰρ μέγα τι τοῦτο οἰόμεθα τὸ σημαντικὰς τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξευρίσκειν φωνάς. ᾧ γὰρ ἡ γραφὴ κατὰ τὴν ἱστορικὴν κοσμογένειαν ἀνθρώπου ὄνομα τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἔθετο πλάσματι, τοῦτον ὁ Ἰὼβ βροτὸν ὀνομάζει καί τινες τῶν ἔξωθεν φῶτα καὶ μέροπα ἕτεροι, ἵνα ἐάσω τὰς κατὰ ἔθνος τοῦ ὀνόματος τούτου διαφοράς. ἆρ' οὖν εἰς ἴσον ἄγομεν τῷ θεῷ καὶ τὰς ἐκείνων τιμάς, ὅτι ἰσοδυναμούσας τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου προσηγορίᾳ κἀκεῖνοί τινας ἐξεῦρον φωνάς, δι' ὧν ὁμοίως δηλοῦται τὸ ὑποκείμενον; ἀλλὰ ταύτην μὲν τὴν ματαιολογίαν ἐατέον ἡμῖν, καθὼς προεῖπον, καὶ τὰς ἐφεξῆς λοιδορίας ἐν οὐδενὸς μέρει θετέον, ἐν αἷς « καταψεύδεσθαι τῶν θείων » ἡμᾶς « λογίων » φησί, « καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν ἄδειαν συκοφαντεῖν τά τε ἄλλα πάντα καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θεόν ».