The Apology of Aristides

 I.  I, O King in the providence of God came into the world and when I had considered the heaven and the earth, the sun and the moon and the rest, I m

 II.  Having thus spoken concerning God, so far as it was possible for me to speak of Him, let us next proceed to the human race, that we may see which

 III.  Let us see then which of them participate in truth and which of them in error.

 IV.  Let us proceed then, O King, to the elements themselves that we may show in regard to them that they are not gods, but perishable and mutable, pr

 V.  They also erred who believed the water to be a god.  For it, too, has been made for the use of men, and is controlled by them it is defiled and d

 VI.  They also err who believe the sun to be a god.  For we see that it moves by necessity and revolves and passes from sign to sign, setting and risi

 VII.  They also err who believe that man is a god.  For we see that he is moved by necessity, and is made to grow up, and becomes old even though he w

 VIII.  Let us proceed then to the Greeks, that we may see whether they have any discernment concerning God.  The Greeks, indeed, though they call them

 IX.  But, further, if we be minded to discuss their gods individually, you will see how great is the absurdity for instance, how Kronos is brought fo

 X.  Along with him, too, they bring forward one Hephaistos as a god, and they say that he is lame and wields a hammer and tongs, working as a smith fo

 XI.  They represent Apollo also as a jealous god, and besides as the master of the bow and quiver, and sometimes of the lyre and flute, and as divinin

 XII.  The Egyptians, again, being more stupid and witless than these have gone further astray than all the nations.  For they were not content with th

 XIII.  So the Egyptians and the Chaldæans and the Greeks made a great error in bringing forward such beings as gods, and in making images of them, and

 XIV.  Let us proceed then, O King, to the Jews also, that we may see what truth there is in their view of God.  For they were descendants of Abraham a

 XV.  Now the Christians trace their origin from the Lord Jesus Christ.  And He is acknowledged by the Holy Spirit to be the son of the most high God,

 XVI.  Verily then, this is the way of the truth which leads those who travel therein to the everlasting kingdom promised through Christ in the life to

 XVII.  Thus far, O King, extends my discourse to you, which has been dictated in my mind by the Truth.   Wherefore let thy foolish sages cease their i

XIII.  So the Egyptians and the Chaldæans and the Greeks made a great error in bringing forward such beings as gods, and in making images of them, and in deifying dumb and senseless idols.

And I wonder how they saw their gods sawn out and hacked and docked by the workmen, and besides aging with time and falling to pieces, and being cast from metal, and yet did not discern concerning them that they were not gods.

For when they have no power to see to their own safety, how will they take forethought for men?

But further, the poets and philosophers, alike of the Chaldæans and the Greeks and the Egyptians, while they desired by their poems and writings to magnify the gods of their countries, rather revealed their shame, and laid it bare before all men.  For if the body of man while consisting of many parts does not cast off any of its own members, but preserving an unbroken unity in all its members, is harmonious with itself, how shall variance and discord be so great in the nature of God?

For if there had been a unity of nature among the gods, then one god ought not to have pursued or slain or injured another.  And if the gods were pursued by gods, and slain, and kidnapped and struck with lightning by them, then there is no longer any unity of nature, but divided counsels, all mischievous.  So that not one of them is a god.  It is clear then, O King, that all their discourse on the nature of the gods is an error.

But how did the wise and erudite men of the Greeks not observe that inasmuch as they make laws for themselves they are judged by their own laws?  For if the laws are righteous, their gods are altogether unrighteous, as they have committed transgressions of laws, in slaying one another, and practising sorceries, and adultery and thefts and intercourse with males.  If they were right in doing these things, then the laws are unrighteous, being framed contrary to the gods.  Whereas in fact, the laws are good and just, commending what is good and forbidding what is bad.  But the deeds of their gods are contrary to law.  Their gods, therefore, are lawbreakers, and all liable to the punishment of death; and they are impious men who introduce such gods.  For if the stories about them be mythical, the gods are nothing more than mere names; and if the stories be founded on nature, still they who did and suffered these things are no longer gods; and if the stories be allegorical, they are myths and nothing more.

It has been shown then, O King, that all these polytheistic objects of worship are the works of error and perdition.  For it is not right to give the name of gods to beings which may be seen but cannot see; but one ought to reverence the invisible and all-seeing and all-creating God.

[13] Πλάνην οὖν μεγάλην ἐπλανήθησαν οἵ τε Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ οἱ Χαλδαῖοι καὶ οἱ Ἕλληνες τοιούτους παρεισάγοντες θεοὺς καὶ ἀγάλματα αὐτῶν ποιοῦντες καὶ θεοποιούμενοι τὰ κωφὰ καὶ ἀναίσθητα εἴδωλα. καὶ θαυμάζω, πῶς ὁρῶντες τοὺς θεοὺς αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τῶν δημιουργῶν πριζομένους καὶ πελεκουμένους καὶ κολοβουμένους παλαιουμένους τε ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου καὶ ἀναλυομένους καὶ χωνευομένους οὐκ ἐφρόνησαν περὶ αὐτῶν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶ θεοί. οἵτε γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἰδίας σωτηρίας οὐδὲν ἰσχύουσι, πῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρόνοιαν ποιήσονται; ἀλλ' οἱ ποιηταὶ αὐτῶν καὶ φιλόσοφοι, τῶν τε Χαλδαίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων καὶ Αἰγυπτίων, θελήσαντες τοῖς ποιήμασιν αὐτῶν καὶ συγγραφαῖς σεμνῦναι τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῖς θεούς, μειζόνως τὴν αἰσχύνην αὐτῶν ἐξεκάλυψαν καὶ γυμνὴν πᾶσι προύθηκαν. εἰ γὰρ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πολυμερὲς ὂν οὐκ ἀποβάλλεταί τι τῶν ἰδίων μελῶν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς πάντα τὰ μέλη ἀδιάρρηκτον ἕνωσιν ἔχον, ἑαυτῷ ἐστι σύμφωνον, πῶς ἐν φύσει θεοῦ μάχη καὶ διαφωνία ἔσται τοσαύτη; εἰ γὰρ μία φύσις τῶν θεῶν ὑπῆρχεν, οὐκ ὤφειλεν θεὸς θεὸν διώκειν οὔτε σφάζειν οὔτε κακοποιεῖν. εἰ δὲ οἱ θεοὶ ὑπὸ θεῶν ἐδιώχθησαν καὶ ἐσφάγησαν καὶ ἡρπάγησαν καὶ ἐκεραυνώθησαν, οὐκ ἔτι μία φύσις ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ γνῶμαι διῃρημέναι, πᾶσαι κακοποιοί. ὥστε οὐδεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐστι θεός. φανερὸν οὖν ἐστιν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, πλάνην εἶναι πᾶσαν τὴν περὶ τῶν θεῶν φυσιολογίαν. πῶς δὲ οὐ συνῆκαν οἱ σοφοὶ καὶ λόγιοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὅτι νόμους θέμενοι κατακρίνονται ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων νόμων; εἰ γὰρ οἱ νόμοι δίκαιοί εἰσιν, ἄδικοι πάντως οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν εἰσὶ παράνομα ποιήσαντες, ἀλληλοκτονίας καὶ φαρμακείας καὶ μοιχείας καὶ κλοπὰς καὶ ἀρσενοκοιτίας: εἰ δὲ καλῶς ἔπραξαν ταῦτα, οἱ νόμοι ἄρα ἄδικοί εἰσι κατὰ τῶν θεῶν συντεθέντες: νυνὶ δὲ οἱ νόμοι καλοί εἰσι καὶ δίκαιοι, τὰ καλὰ ἐπαινοῦντες καὶ τὰ κακὰ ἀπαγορεύοντες: τὰ δὲ ἔργα τῶν θεῶν αὐτῶν παράνομα: παράνομοι ἄρα οἱ θεοὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ἔνοχοι πάντες θανάτου καὶ ἀσεβεῖς οἱ τοιούτους θεοὺς παρεισάγοντες, εἰ μὲν γὰρ μυθικαὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτῶν ἱστορίαι, οὐδέν εἰσιν εἰ μὴ μόνον λόγοι: εἰ δὲ φυσικαί, οὐκέτι θεοί εἰσιν οἱ ταῦτα ποιήσαντες καὶ παθόντες: εἰ δὲ ἀλληγορικαί, μῦθοί εἰσι καὶ οὐκ ἄλλο τι. ἀποδέδεικται τοίνυν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, ταῦτα τὰ πολύθεα σεβάσματα πλάνης ἔργα καὶ ἀπωλείας ὑπάρχειν. οὐ χρὴ γὰρ θεοὺς ὀνομάζειν ὁρατοὺς καὶ μὴ ὁρῶντας: ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀόρατον καὶ πάντα δημιουργήσαντα δεῖ θεὸν σέβεσθαι.