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these for both Lydians and Hebrews.» 14.10.6 Thus spoke the philosopher, or rather, his god. Is it therefore right for us to be reproached after this, because we have abandoned the erring Greeks and chosen the ways of the Hebrews, 14.10.7 who have been testified to for their grasp of the truth? What should one expect to learn from philosophers? Or what hope is there of benefit from them, if indeed the things said among them happen to be “having for the most part the beginnings of belief from conjectures and guesses”? And what is the fruit of disputation, if indeed all the arguments of the philosophers are rendered “easily overturned” “because of the discovery of arguments in all things”? For these things were heard not just now from us, but 14.10.8 spoken by them. Wherefore it seems to me that we have done well, and with examined judgment, and not irrationally, to have scorned such things, and to have embraced the things of the Hebrews, not because it has been testified to by the demon, but 14.10.9 because they are shown to be partakers of divine virtue and power. Therefore, that you may learn by the facts themselves the disputations of the admirable philosophers and their disagreements concerning first principles and concerning gods and the constitution of the universe, 14.10.10 I will set forth their own words for you a little later. But first, since they carry around their teachings, repeating them endlessly up and down, saying that it is absolutely necessary for those who are going to have experience of the apprehension of the true to pursue astronomy, arithmetic, geometry, music—the very things shown to have come to them from the barbarians—for without these things it is not possible for an eloquent man and a philosopher to be perfected, nor even to touch upon the truth of existing things, unless the knowledge of these has been pre-formed in the soul; and then, exerting themselves in the study of the aforementioned things, they suppose that, lifted up on high, they are walking all but on the aether itself, as if indeed they are carrying God himself about in their numbers, and they consider us, because we do not pursue the same things, to differ in nothing from cattle, and on this account they say that we can know neither God nor anything venerable; come, let us first refute this, as it is not correct, by placing before them the true 14.10.11 account in place of light. It will show that countless Greeks and countless races of barbarians, though with the said studies, have recognized neither God nor a temperate life nor anything at all of the best and most profitable things, while others, without any of the studies, have become most pious and most philosophical. At any rate, you might learn how Socrates, who is celebrated among all of them, thought concerning these things, by trusting Xenophon, who relates it in his Memorabilia somewhere in this way:

14.11.1 XI. CONCERNING GEOMETRY AND ASTRONOMY AND CALCULATIONS “And he used to teach how far the rightly educated man ought to be experienced in each subject. For instance, he said that one ought to learn geometry up to the point of being able, if ever it were necessary, to receive or deliver or distribute land by correct measure, or to demonstrate a work. And that this was so easy to learn, that the one who applies his mind to the measurement at once knows 14.11.2 both how much the land is and, understanding how it is measured, can leave it. But he disapproved of learning geometry as far as the hard-to-understand diagrams; for he said he did not see what benefit these things had; and yet he was not inexperienced in them. And he said that they were sufficient to wear down a man's life and to prevent many other 14.11.3 useful studies. And he urged men to become experienced in astronomy, and yet in this too only so far as to be able to know the hour of the night and of the month and of the year for the sake of a journey and a voyage and of a watch, and whatever other things are done by night or by month or by year, to have and use as proofs for these things, the hours of the

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οὗτοι Λυδοῖς τε καὶ Ἑβραίοις.» 14.10.6 Ταῦτα ὁ φιλόσοφος, μᾶλλον δὲ ὁ αὐτοῦ θεός. ἆρ' οὖν ἄξιον μετὰ ταῦθ' ἡμῖν ἐπιμέμψασθαι, ὅτι δὴ τοὺς πεπλανημένους Ἕλληνας καταλείψαντες τὰ 14.10.7 Ἑβραίων εἱλόμεθα τῶν ἐπ' ἀληθείας καταλήψει μεμαρτυρημένων; τί δὲ χρὴ παρὰ φιλοσόφων μαθήσεσθαι προσδοκᾶν; ἢ ποία ἐλπὶς τῆς ἐξ αὐτῶν ὠφελείας, εἰ δὴ τὰ λεγόμενα παρ' αὐτοῖς «ἐκ στοχασμῶν καὶ εἰκασμῶν τὸ πλέον τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχοντα τῆς πίστεως» τυγχάνει; λογομαχίας δὲ τίς ὁ καρπός, εἰ δὴ πάντες οἱ τῶν φιλοσόφων λόγοι «εὐανάτρεπτοι» καθεστήκασι «διὰ τὴν ἐν πᾶσιν εὑρησιλογίαν;» ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ παρ' ἡμῶν ἀρτίως, ἀλλὰ 14.10.8 παρ' αὐτῶν εἰρημένα ἠκούετο. διόπερ εὖ μοι δοκοῦμεν καὶ μετὰ κρίσεως ἐξητασμένης, οὐχὶ δὲ ἀλόγως, ὡς ἂν τοιούτων καταπεφρονηκέναι, τὰ δὲ παρ' Ἑβραίοις ἠγαπηκέναι, οὐχ ὅτι πρὸς τοῦ δαίμονος μεμαρτύρηται, ἀλλ' 14.10.9 ὅτι τῆς ἐνθέου ἀρετῆς τε καὶ δυνάμεως μέτοχα ὄντα ἀποδείκνυται. ἵνα δ' οὖν καὶ αὐτοῖς ἔργοις τὰς τῶν θαυμαστῶν φιλοσόφων λογομαχίας μάθοις τάς τε περὶ ἀρχῶν καὶ περὶ θεῶν καὶ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς συστάσεως διαφωνίας, 14.10.10 μικρὸν μὲν ὕστερον ἐκθήσομαί σοι τὰς αὐτῶν φωνάς. πρῶτον δ' ἐπειδὴ περιφέρουσιν ἄνω καὶ κάτω θρυλοῦντες τὰ μαθήματα, δεῖν ἐξ ἅπαντος φάσκοντες τοὺς μέλλοντας ἐν πείρᾳ τῆς τοῦ ἀληθοῦς καταλήψεως γίγνεσθαι μετελθεῖν ἀστρονομίαν, ἀριθμητικήν, γεωμετρίαν, μουσικήν, αὐτὰ δὴ τὰ παρὰ βαρβάρων εἰς αὐτοὺς ἥκειν ἀποδειχθέντα τούτων γὰρ ἄνευ μὴ δύνασθαι λόγιον ἄνδρα καὶ φιλόσοφον ἀποτελεσθῆναι, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῆς τῶν ὄντων ἀληθείας ψαῦσαι, μὴ τούτων ἐν ψυχῇ τῆς γνώσεως προτυπωθείσης, εἶτ' ἐπανατεινάμενοι τῇ μαθήσει τῶν εἰρημένων ἐπ' αὐτοῦ μονονουχὶ τοῦ αἰθέρος βαίνειν μετέωροι ἀρθέντες οἴονται, ὡς δὴ τὸν θεὸν αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀριθμοῖς περιφέροντες, ἡμᾶς τε, ὅτι μὴ τὰ ὅμοια ζηλοῦμεν, βοσκημάτων κατ' οὐδὲν διαφέρειν ἡγοῦνται, ταύτη δέ φασι μηδὲ θεὸν μηδέ τι τῶν σεμνῶν ἡμᾶς δύνασθαι εἰδέναι· φέρε τοῦτο πρῶτον οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἔχον ἀπευθύνωμεν, τὸν ἀληθῆ 14.10.11 λόγον ἀντὶ φωτὸς αὐτοῖς παραβαλόντες. ὁ δὲ μυρίους μὲν Πανέλληνας, μυρία δὲ καὶ βαρβάρων γένη, τοὺς μὲν σὺν τοῖς εἰρημένοις μαθήμασιν οὔτε θεὸν οὔτε σώφρονα βίον οὔθ' ὅλως τι τῶν βελτίστων καὶ συμφερόντων ἐπιγνόντας ἀποδείξει, τοὺς δὲ τῶν μαθημάτων ἐκτὸς πάντων εὐσεβεστάτους καὶ φιλοσοφωτάτους γεγονέναι. ὁ γοῦν παρὰ πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ᾀδόμενος Σωκράτης ὅπως ποτὲ ἐδόξαζε περὶ τῶνδε, μάθοις ἂν Ξενοφῶντι πιστεύσας ἐν Ἀπομνημονεύμασιν ὧδέ πη ἱστοροῦντι·

14.11.1 ιαʹ. ΠΕΡΙ ΓΕΩΜΕΤΡΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΣΤΡΟΝΟΜΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΟΓΙΣΜΩΝ «Ἐδίδασκε δὲ καὶ μέχρι ὅτου δέοι ἔμπειρον εἶναι ἑκάστου πράγματος τὸν ὀρθῶς πεπαιδευμένον. αὐτίκα γεωμετρίαν μέχρι μὲν τούτου ἔφη δεῖν μανθάνειν, ἕως ἱκανός τις γένοιτο, εἴ ποτε δεήσειε, γῆν μέτρῳ ὀρθῶς ἢ παραλαβεῖν ἢ παραδοῦναι ἢ διανεῖμαι ἢ ἔργον ἀποδεῖξαι. οὕτω δὲ τοῦτο ῥᾴδιον εἶναι μαθεῖν, ὥστε τὸν προσέχοντα τὸν νοῦν τῇ μετρήσει ἅμα τήν τε γῆν 14.11.2 ὁπόση ἐστὶν εἰδέναι καὶ ὡς μετρεῖται ἐπιστάμενον ἀνιέναι. τὸ δὲ μέχρι τῶν δυσξυνέτων διαγραμμάτων γεωμετρίαν μανθάνειν ἀπεδοκίμαζεν· ὅ τι μὲν γὰρ ὠφελοίη, ταῦτα οὐκ ἔφη ὁρᾶν· καίτοι οὐκ ἄπειρός γε αὐτῶν ἦν. ἔφη δὲ ἱκανὰ αὐτὰ εἶναι ἀνθρώπου βίον κατατρίβειν καὶ ἄλλων πολλῶν τε καὶ 14.11.3 ὠφελίμων μαθημάτων ἀποκωλύειν. ἐκέλευε δὲ καὶ ἀστρονομίας ἐμπείρους γίγνεσθαι, καὶ ταύτης μέντοι μέχρι τοῦ νυκτός τε ὥραν καὶ μηνὸς καὶ ἐνιαυτοῦ δύνασθαι γινώσκειν ἕνεκα τοῦ πορείας τε καὶ πλοῦ καὶ φυλακῆς καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἢ νυκτὸς ἢ μηνὸς ἢ ἐνιαυτοῦ πράττεται, πρὸς ταῦτ' ἔχειν τεκμηρίοις χρῆσθαι, τὰς ὥρας τῶν