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drawing their minds? Do you then, tell me, have no mind nor judgment? And how could I, he says, when I do not even know how to judge your matters? I want to become a disciple, but you are already making me a teacher. If he says these things, what, he says, shall we answer? how shall we persuade him? Let us ask, if these things are not a pretext and an excuse; let us ask, if he has condemned the Greeks. He will certainly say something; for surely he will not come to our side without having condemned them. Let us ask the reasons for which he condemned them; for surely he did not condemn them simply. It is clear that he will say it is because they are created things and not the uncreated God. Good. If then he finds this among the other heresies, but the opposite among us, what need is there of argument? We all confess that Christ is God. But let us see who are in conflict, and who are not. We, when we say God, also utter things worthy of God, that He has authority, that He is not a slave, that He is free, that He does all things from Himself; but they say the opposite. Again I ask, if you were going to learn medicine, would you, tell me, simply and at random accept what is said? And yet there are many doctrines among them. If then you simply accept whatever you hear, this is not the act of a man; but if you have judgment and intelligence, you will surely know what is good. We say Son, we verify what we say; but they say it, but do not confess it. And that I may speak more clearly, they have certain men from whom they are called, that is, the name of the heresiarch himself, and each heresy likewise; among us no man has given us a name, but the faith itself. But this is a pretext and an excuse. For why, tell me, if you are going to buy a cloak, although you are inexperienced in the art of weaving, do you not say these words, 'I do not know how to buy, they are deceiving me;' but you do everything to learn? And if you want to purchase anything else whatever, you do everything, making many inquiries; but here you say these things. So on this reasoning you will accept nothing at all. For let there be someone who has no doctrine at all, if he too says what you say about the Christians, 'There is such a multitude of men, and they have different doctrines; one is a Greek, another a Jew, another a Christian; one must not accept a single doctrine; for they war with one another; but I am a learner, and I do not want to be a judge, nor will I be able to condemn one doctrine;' this excuse no longer has a place for you. For just as they were able to cast out the spurious, so you too, having come here, will be able to test what is profitable. For he who has condemned no doctrine at all will easily say these things; but he who has condemned, even if he has chosen nothing, by proceeding on the way will be able to perceive what is necessary. Let us not then make pretexts nor excuses; for all things are easy. Do you want me to show you that these are an excuse? Do you know what should be done, and what should not be done? why then do you not do what should be done, but what should not be done? Do those things, and with right reason seek from God, and He will certainly reveal it to you. God, it says, is not a respecter of persons; but in every nation he who fears Him, and works righteousness, is acceptable to Him. It is not possible for one who listens without prejudice not to be persuaded. For just as if there were some rule, by which 60.245 all things had to be measured, there would not be need of much investigation, but it would be easy to catch the one measuring incorrectly; so also now. How then do they not see? Many things do it, both prejudice and human reasons. This, he says, they also say about us. How? For have we been separated from the Church? For do we have heresiarchs? For are we called after men? For is there someone preceding us, as for one Marcion, for another Manichaeus, for another Arius, and for another some other founder of a heresy? And if we do have the name of someone, it is not of those who founded the heresy, but of those who presided over us and governed the Church. We do not have teachers on earth; may it not be; we have one in heaven. And they, he says, put forward the same things. But the name stands over them accusing them, and stopping their mouths. There have been many Greeks, and no one asked these things 60.246, and these things were among the philosophers, and no one of those holding the right persuasion was hindered. Why not

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τὰς διανοίας αὐτῶν ἕλκοντες; Σὺ οὖν, εἰπέ μοι, νοῦν οὐκ ἔχεις οὐδὲ κρίσιν; Καὶ πῶς ἂν δυναίμην, φησὶ, μηδὲ εἰδὼς κρίνειν τὰ ὑμέτερα; μαθητὴς βούλομαι γενέσθαι, σὺ δέ με ἤδη διδάσκαλον ποιεῖς. Ἂν ταῦτα λέγῃ, τί, φησὶν, ἀποκρινώμεθα; πῶς αὐτὸν πείσομεν; Ἐρωτήσωμεν, εἰ μὴ σκῆψις ταῦτα καὶ πρόφασις· ἐρωτήσωμεν, εἰ κατέγνω τῶν Ἑλλήνων. Πάντως τι ἐρεῖ· οὐ γὰρ δὴ μὴ καταγνοὺς, ἐπὶ τὰ ἡμέτερα ἥξει. Ἐρωτήσωμεν τὰς αἰτίας, δι' ἃς κατέγνω· οὐ γὰρ δὴ ἁπλῶς κατέγνω. Εὔδηλον ὅτι ἐρεῖ διὰ τὸ κτίσματα εἶναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι ἄκτιστον Θεόν. Καλῶς. Ἂν οὖν τοῦτο μὲν εὕρῃ παρὰ ταῖς ἄλλαις αἱρέσεσι, τὸ δὲ ἐναντίον παρ' ἡμῖν, ποίου λόγου χρεία; Πάντες ὁμολογοῦμεν, ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς Θεός. Ἀλλ' ἴδωμεν τίνες μάχονται, καὶ τίνες οὐ μάχονται. Ἡμεῖς λέγοντες Θεὸν, ἄξια Θεοῦ καὶ φθεγγόμεθα, ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχει, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι δοῦλος, ὅτι ἐλεύθερος, ὅτι ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ πάντα ποιεῖ· ἐκεῖνος δὲ τοὐναντίον. Πάλιν ἐρωτῶ, εἰ ἰατρὸς μέλλοις μανθάνειν, ἆρα ἁπλῶς καὶ ὡς ἔτυχεν, εἰπέ μοι, τὰ λεγόμενα καταδέχῃ; καίτοι πολλὰ παρ' ἐκείνοις δόγματα. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἁπλῶς, ἅπερ ἂν ἀκούσῃς, καταδέχῃ, οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο ἀνδρός· εἰ δὲ κρίσιν ἔχεις καὶ νοῦν, πάντως εἴσῃ τὸ καλόν. Υἱὸν λέγομεν ἡμεῖς, ἐπαληθεύομεν ὃ λέγομεν· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ λέγουσι μὲν, οὐχ ὁμολογοῦσι δέ. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ σαφέστερον εἴπω, ἐκεῖνοι ἔχουσί τινας ἀφ' ὧν καλοῦνται, αὐτοῦ τοῦ αἱρεσιάρχου δηλονότι τὸ ὄνομα, καὶ ἑκάστη αἵρεσις ὁμοίως· παρ' ἡμῖν ἀνὴρ μὲν οὐδεὶς ἔδωκεν ἡμῖν ὄνομα, ἡ δὲ πίστις αὐτή. Ἀλλὰ σκῆψις τοῦτο καὶ πρόφασις. ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ, εἰπέ μοι, ἂν μὲν ἱμάτιον μέλλῃς πρίασθαι, καίτοι γε ὑφαντικῆς ἄπειρος ὢν τέχνης, οὐ λέγεις ταῦτα τὰ ῥήματα, ὅτι Οὐκ οἶδα ἀγοράσαι, ἐμπαίζουσί μοι· ἀλλὰ πάντα ποιεῖς ὥστε μαθεῖν; Κἂν ἄλλο ὁτιοῦν βουληθῇς ὠνήσασθαι, πάντα ποιεῖς πολυπραγμονῶν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ ταῦτα λέγεις. Ὥστε ἐπὶ τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ οὐδὲν ὅλως καταδέξῃ. Ἔστω γάρ τις μηδὲν ὅλως δόγμα ἔχων, ἂν κἀκεῖνος λέγῃ ὃ περὶ τῶν Χριστιανῶν σὺ, Τοσοῦτον πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ, καὶ δόγματα ἔχουσι διάφορα· ὁ μὲν Ἕλλην ἐστὶν, ὁ δὲ Ἰουδαῖος, ὁ δὲ Χριστιανός· οὐδὲ ἓν δεῖ δόγμα καταδέξασθαι· ἀλλήλοις γὰρ πολεμοῦσιν· ἐγὼ δὲ μαθητής εἰμι, καὶ κριτὴς οὐ βούλομαι εἶναι, οὐδὲ ἕξω καταγινώσκειν ἑνὸς δόγματος· οὐκέτι σοι αὕτη λοιπὸν ἡ πρόφασις χώραν ἔχει. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἴσχυσαν τὸ νόθον ἐκβαλεῖν, οὕτως ἰσχύσεις καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐλθὼν δοκιμάσαι τὸ λυσιτελές. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ μηδενὸς ὅλως δόγματος καταγνοὺς, εὐκόλως ταῦτα ἐρεῖ· ὁ δὲ καταγνοὺς, κἂν μηδὲν ᾑρημένος ᾖ, ὁδῷ προβαίνων δυνήσεται συνιδεῖν τὸ δέον. Μὴ δὴ σκηπτώμεθα μηδὲ προφασιζώμεθα· πάντα γὰρ ῥᾴδια. Βούλει σοι δείξω, ὅτι πρόφασίς ἐστι ταῦτα; Τὰ πρακτέα, καὶ τὰ μὴ πρακτέα οἶδας; διὰ τί οὖν τὰ πρακτέα μὴ πράττεις, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ πρακτέα; Πρᾶξον ἐκεῖνα, καὶ ὀρθῷ λογισμῷ ζήτησον παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτός σοι πάντως ἀποκαλύψει. Οὐκ ἔστι προσωπολήπτης, φησὶν, ὁ Θεός· ἀλλ' ἐν παντὶ ἔθνει ὁ φοβούμενος αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐργαζόμενος δικαιοσύνην, δεκτὸς αὐτῷ ἐστιν. Οὐκ ἔστι τὸν χωρὶς προλήψεως ἀκούοντα μὴ πείθεσθαι. Ὥσπερ γὰρ εἰ κανών τις ἦν, πρὸς ὃν 60.245 πάντα ἀπευθύνεσθαι ἐχρῆν, οὐ πολλῆς ἔδει σκέψεως, ἀλλὰ τὸν παραμετροῦντα εὔκολον ἦν λαβεῖν· οὕτως καὶ νῦν. Πῶς οὖν οὐ συνορῶσι; Πολλὰ ποιεῖ, καὶ πρόληψις καὶ ἀνθρώπιναι αἰτίαι. Τοῦτο καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν, φησὶ, καὶ ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσι. Πῶς; Μὴ γὰρ ἀπεσχίσμεθα τῆς Ἐκκλησίας; μὴ γὰρ αἱρεσιάρχας ἔχομεν; μὴ γὰρ ἀπ' ἀνθρώπων καλούμεθα; μὴ γὰρ προηγούμενος ἡμῶν τίς ἐστιν, ὥσπερ τῷ μὲν Μαρκίων, τῷ δὲ Μανιχαῖος, τῷ δὲ Ἄρειος, τῷ δὲ ἄλλος τις αἱρέσεως ἀρχηγός; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς προσηγορίαν τινὸς ἔχομεν, ἀλλ' οὐ τοὺς τῆς αἱρέσεως ἄρξαντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς προστάντας ἡμῶν καὶ κυβερνήσαντας τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Οὐκ ἔχομεν διδασκάλους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· μὴ γένοιτο· ἕνα ἔχομεν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Κἀκεῖνοι, φησὶ, τὰ αὐτὰ προβάλλονται. Ἀλλ' ἐφέστηκε τὸ ὄνομα κατηγοροῦν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐμφράττον τὰ στόματα. Πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν Ἕλληνες, καὶ οὐδεὶς ταῦτα 60.246 ἠρώτησε, καὶ παρὰ φιλοσόφοις ἦν ταῦτα, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐκωλύθη τῶν τὴν ὀρθὴν αἵρεσιν ἐχόντων. ∆ιὰ τί μὴ