The Apology of Aristides the Philosopher.

 I.  I, O King, by the grace of God came into this world and when I had considered the heaven and the earth and the seas, and had surveyed the sun and

 II.  Since, then, we have addressed you concerning God, so far as our discourse can bear upon him, let us now come to the race of men, that we may kno

 III.  Let us begin, then, with the Barbarians, and go on to the rest of the nations one after another, that we may see which of them hold the truth as

 IV.  Let us turn now, O King, to the elements in themselves, that we may make clear in regard to them, that they are not gods, but a created thing, li

 V.  In the same way, again, those erred who believed the waters to be gods.  For the waters were created for the use of man, and are put under his rul

 VI.  So also they erred who believed that the sun is a god.  For we see that it is moved by the compulsion of another, and revolves and makes its jour

 VII.  And those who believed of the men of the past, that some of them were gods, they too were much mistaken.  For as you yourself allow, O King, man

 VIII.  Let us turn further to the Greeks also, that we may know what opinion they hold as to the true God.  The Greeks, then, because they are more su

 IX.  Let us proceed further to their account of their gods that we may carefully demonstrate all that is said above.  First of all, the Greeks bring f

 X.  Again they bring forward as another god Hephaistos.  And they say of him, that he is lame, and a cap is set on his head, and he holds in his hands

 XI.  And after him they bring forward another god and call him Apollon.  And they say that he is jealous and inconstant, and at times he holds the bow

 XII.  The Egyptians, moreover, because they are more base and stupid than every people that is on the earth, have themselves erred more than all.  For

 XIII.  But it is a marvel, O King, with regard to the Greeks, who surpass all other peoples in their manner of life and reasoning, how they have gone

 XIV.  Let us come now, O King, to the history of the Jews also, and see what opinion they have as to God.  The Jews then say that God is one, the Crea

 XV.  But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search, have found the truth and as we learned from their writings, they have come ne

 XVI.  Such, O King, is the commandment of the law of the Christians, and such is their manner of life.  As men who know God, they ask from Him petitio

 XVII.  Thus far, O King, I have spoken for concerning that which remains, as is said above, there are found in their other writings things which are

XIII.  But it is a marvel, O King, with regard to the Greeks, who surpass all other peoples in their manner of life and reasoning, how they have gone astray after dead idols and lifeless images.  And yet they see their gods in the hands of their artificers being sawn out, and planed and docked, and hacked short, and charred, and ornamented, and being altered by them in every kind of way.  And when they grow old, and are worn away through lapse of time, and when they are molten and crushed to powder, how, I wonder, did they not perceive concerning them, that they are not gods?  And as for those who did not find deliverance for themselves, how can they serve the distress of men?

But even the writers and philosophers among them have wrongly alleged that the gods are such as are made in honour of God Almighty.  And they err in seeking to liken (them) to God whom man has not at any time seen nor can see unto what He is like.  Herein, too (they err) in asserting of deity that any such thing as deficiency can be present to it; as when they say that He receives sacrifice and requires burnt-offering and libation and immolations of men, and temples.  But God is not in need, and none of these things is necessary to Him; and it is clear that men err in these things they imagine.

Further their writers and their philosophers represent and declare that the nature of all their gods is one.  And they have not apprehended God our Lord who while He is one, is in all.  They err therefore.  For if the body of a man while it is many in its parts is not in dread, one member of another, but, since it is a united body, wholly agrees with itself; even so also God is one in His nature.  A single essence is proper to Him, since He is uniform in His nature and His essence; and He is not afraid of Himself.  If then the nature of the gods is one, it is not proper that a god should either pursue or slay or harm a god.  If, then, gods be pursued and wounded by gods, and some be kidnapped and some struck dead by lightning, it is obvious that the nature of their gods is not one.  And hence it is known, O King, that it is a mistake when they reckon and bring the natures of their gods under a single nature.  If then it becomes us to admire a god which is seen and does not see, how much more praiseworthy is it that one should believe in a nature which is invisible and all-seeing?  And if further it is fitting that one should approve the handiworks of a craftsman, how much more is it fitting that one should glorify the Creator of the craftsman?

For behold! when the Greeks made laws they did not perceive that by their laws they condemn their gods.  For if their laws are righteous, their gods are unrighteous, since they transgressed the law in killing one another, and practising sorcery, and committing adultery, and in robbing and stealing, and in lying with males, and by their other practises as well.  For if their gods were right in doing all these things as they are described, then the laws of the Greeks are unrighteous in not being made according to the will of their gods.  And in that case the whole world is gone astray.

For the narratives about their gods are some of them myths, and some of them nature-poems (lit:  natural:—φυσικαί), and some of them hymns and elegies.  The hymns indeed and elegies are empty words and noise.  But these nature-poems, even if they be made as they say, still those are not gods who do such things and suffer and endure such things.  And those myths are shallow tales with no depth whatever in them.

[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.