The Four Classes of Samaritans.
The Gorthenes celebrate their feasts at other times than Sebyaeans.
The Sebyaeans differ from the Gorthenes by reason of their feasts.
The Seven Heresies of the Jews.
Thus far the summary of the thirteen heresies contained in the second part of Book II.
The following belong to this third part, in which thirteen heresies are contained:
Thus far for the eighteen heresies of the fourth part of Book II.
The following five heresies are contained in the fifth part of Book II:
Thus far the five heresies of the fifth part of Book II.
The following seven heresies are contained in the first part of Book III:
Thus far similarly the seven heresies of the first part of Book III.
In the second part of Book III there are four heresies:
Hellenism arose from idolatry in the time of Sarug, Since in those times everyone was given to superstition, when the races of men had begun to turn to a much more civil way of life, they turned also to idolatrous rites and usages, and they began to deify men who had once walked among them. At first, they painted with colors and made pictures of those whom they had once held in esteem, whether tyrants or sorcerers or men who in their lifetime had done something deemed worthy of note in the line of courage or bodily strength. Then, after idolatry had been introduced, beginning with the times of Thare, the father of Abraham, they first put the potter's skill to use for the making of figures of their dead. And then they applied every art to their portrayal— the builders sculpturing in stone, the gold and silversmiths fashioning out of their own materials, and similarly the woodworkers, and so on. The Egyptians, however, together with the Babylonians and Phrygians and Phoenicians, were the first to introduce this kind of cult with its statues and mysteries. From them it passed to the Greeks, first in the time of Cecrops, and from then on. Then, considerably later, the cults of Chronos, Ares, Zeus, Apollo, and the rest of the gods were introduced. Now the Greeks are called Hellenes after a certain Helenus, who was one of those who had come to settle in Greece. However, according to others, they are so called from the elaea, or olive tree, which sprung up at Athens. Their progenitors were the Ionians, who, by accurate report, descend from Javan. He was one of those engaged in the building of the Tower, when the tongues of all were confounded, which is the reason for their all being also called Meropes, that is to say, ‘men of divided voice, because of the division of the tongues. Later on, as time went by, Hellenism split up into such sects as those of the Pythagoreans, Stoics, Platonists, and Epicureans. Besides, there was an ingrained religious sense which, along with the force of the natural law, had existed distinct from these nations and midway between Barbarism and Hellenism from the foundation of the world down until such time as it converged with the religion of Abraham.
Ἑλληνισμός, ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων Σεροὺχ ἐναρξάμενος τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας, καὶ ὡς ἐστοίχουν ἕκαστος τὸ τηνικαῦτα κατά τινα δεισιδαιμονίαν ἐπὶ τὸ μάλιστα πολιτικώτερον καὶ ἐπὶ ἔθη καὶ θεσμούς, εἰδώλων μέντοι γε ἐναρξάμενα τάττεσθαι τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένη, οἷς τότε ἐστοίχησαν, ἐθεοποίουν καὶ διὰ μὲν χρωμάτων διαγράφοντες τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἀπεικάζοντες τοὺς τότε παρ' αὐτοῖς τετιμημένους ἢ γόητας ἤ τινάς τι δράσαντας ἐν βίῳ μνήμης δοκοῦν ἄξιον δι' ἀλκὴν ἢ σωμάτων εὐρωστίαν, ἔπειτα δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων τοῦ Θάρρα, πατρὸς Ἀβραάμ, καὶ δι' ἀγαλμάτων τὴν πλάνην τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας εἰσηγησάμενοι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν προπάτορας δι' ἀπεικονισμῶν τετιμηκότες καὶ τοὺς πρὸ ἑαυτῶν τετελευτηκότας τεχνησάμενοι ἐκ κεραμικῆς ἐπιστήμης τὸ πρῶτον, ἔπειτα ἑκάστῃ τέχνῃ μιμησάμενοι οἰκοδόμοι μὲν λίθον ξέσαντες, ἀργυροκόποι δὲ καὶ χρυσοχόοι ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ὕλης τεκτηνάμενοι, οὕτω τε καὶ τέκτονες καὶ οἱ καθεξῆς. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ὁμοῦ καὶ Βαβυλώνιοι καὶ Φρύγες καὶ Φοίνικες ταύτης τῆς θρησκείας πρῶτοι εἰσηγηταὶ γεγόνασιν ἀγαλματοποιίαις καὶ μυστηρίοις: ἀφ' ὧν τὰ πρῶτα εἰς Ἕλληνας μετηνέχθη ἀπὸ τῆς Κέκροπος ἡλικίας καὶ καθεξῆς, μετέπειτα δὲ καὶ ὑστέρῳ πολὺ τοὺς περὶ Κρόνον καὶ Ῥέαν, Δία τε καὶ καθεξῆς καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα θεοὺς ἀναγορεύσαντες. Ἕλληνες δὲ κέκληνται ἀπὸ Ἑλένου τινὸς ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι κατῳκηκότων: ὡς δὲ ἕτεροί φασιν, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλαίας τῆς ἐν Ἀθήναις. Ἴωνες δὲ τούτων ἀρχηγοὶ γεγένηνται, ὡς ἔχει ἡ ἀκρίβεια, ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰωϋάν, ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς τῶν τὸν πύργον οἰκοδομησάντων, ὅτε αἱ γλῶσσαι διῃρέθησαν τῶν πάντων, δι' ἣν αἰτίαν καὶ Μέροπες πάντες κέκληνται διὰ τὴν μεμερισμένην φωνήν. Ὕστερον δὲ ὁ Ἑλληνισμὸς εἰς αἱρέσεις κατέστη κατωτέρω τῶν χρόνων, φημὶ δὴ Πυθαγορείων καὶ Στωϊκῶν καὶ Πλατωνικῶν καὶ Ἐπικουρείων: καὶ λοιπὸν θεοσεβείας χαρακτὴρ ὑπῆρχεν ἅμα καὶ ὁ κατὰ φύσιν νόμος πολιτευόμενος, ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ἐθνῶν ἑαυτὸν ἀφορίζων, ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου καταβολῆς καὶ δεῦρο, μέσος τυγχάνων Βαρβαρισμοῦ καὶ Σκυθισμοῦ καὶ Ἑλληνισμοῦ, ἕως οὗ συνήφθη ἡ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ θεοσέβεια.