Word to the Gentiles

The work “The Word against the Gentiles” (47 chapters) was written by St. Athanasius the Great around 318. It criticizes pagan mythology and rituals as idolatry, and also outlines the path of true knowledge of God through contemplation of the beauty of the created world and self-knowledge. In the first part of this work (chap. 2-29) St. Athanasius points to the source of idolatry - sin, which turned man away from the true God and brought him closer to the sensory world. Then the contradiction of idolatry to common sense is demonstrated in detail. In the second part (chap. 30-47) it is stated that there is One God, Whom the Christian religion reveres. The truth of His existence is led, first of all, by the study of the human soul, which is the image of God, endowed with reason and immortal (chap. 30-34), as well as observation of the visible world (chap. 35-39). It is further proven that the Creator and Ruler of the Universe is the Divine Logos Himself, and the nature of the Logos, His activity in preserving and governing the world, omnipotence, goodness and wisdom are depicted (chap. 40-45). All this is confirmed by evidence from the Holy Scriptures (chap. 45-47). At the conclusion of the work of St. Athanasius says that faith in the Divine Logos and piety will result in immortality and the Heavenly Kingdom. *The title of the work in Greek is Λόγος κατὰ ῾Ελλήνων. *The title of the work in Latin is Oratio contra gentes. 1) The knowledge of godliness and universal truth does not so much need human instruction as is cognized by itself; because he almost cries out for himself every day in his deeds, and reveals himself brighter than the sun in Christ’s teaching. But since it is desirable for you, blessed one, to hear about this; then, to the best of my ability, I will offer something about the faith of Christ; especially since, although you yourself can find this in God’s Word, you listen with love to what others say. For just as the holy and inspired Scriptures are sufficient to explain the truth, so our blessed Teachers have written many books about this. And if anyone reads them, he will find in them in some way an interpretation of the Scriptures, and will be in a position to acquire the knowledge he desires. But because we do not now have in our hands the works of these Teachers; what I learned from them - I mean about faith in Christ the Savior - must be stated and communicated to you in writing, so that the teaching contained in our word will not be considered unimportant, and will not begin to assume that faith in Christ is not reasonable. The pagans lay down the same slander to reproach us. They laugh loudly at us, pointing to nothing else but the cross of Christ. But even more so one can regret their insensitivity. Slandering the cross, they do not see the power of the cross, which filled the entire universe, they do not see that through the cross the works of divine knowledge became clear to everyone. For if they themselves had sincerely penetrated with their minds into the Divinity of Christ, they would not have mocked so much; but on the contrary, the world would know this Savior, they would know that in the cross there is no harm, but healing for the creature. If with the appearance of the cross all idolatry is destroyed, and with the sign of the cross all demonic dreams are driven away; if Christ alone is worshiped, and through Him the Father is known; if those who contradict are put to shame, and every day Christ invisibly bows to Himself the souls of those who contradict; then we have the right to say to the pagans: how can this matter be recognized as human, and not moreover confess that He who ascended to the cross is God’s Word and the Savior of the world? It seems to me that the same thing is done with the pagans as with a person who would humiliate the sun covered by clouds, and then marvel at its light, seeing that all creation is illuminated by it. How beautiful is the light, and even more beautiful is the source of light - the sun; Thus, since filling the entire universe with knowledge of God is God’s work, it is necessary for God and God’s Word to be the culprit and leader in such a successful action. So, first, I will expose, as much as I can, the ignorance of the unbelievers, so that, after exposing the lies, the truth will finally shine by itself, and it will be certain for you that you have believed in the truth, and, having come to know Christ, have not fallen into deception. I think that it is decent to talk with you, as a lover of Christ, about Christ. For I am sure that you prefer knowledge of Him and faith in Him to everything. 2) In the beginning there was no evil; because even now it is not among the saints, and for them it does not exist at all. But people subsequently began to invent and imagine evil against themselves. From here, of course, they formed their first thought about idols, imagining non-existent as existing. The Creator of the world and the King of kings, God, who is above all essence and human imagination, as good and surpassing everything in kindness, created the human race in His own image, with His own Word, our Savior Jesus Christ, and through likening Himself made it a contemplator and knower of things, giving it the thought and knowledge of His own eternity, so that man, while maintaining this similarity, would never remove from himself the idea of God, and did not retreat from cohabitation with the saints, but, having in himself the grace of the Giver, and having his own power from the Father’s Word, he was happy and conversed with God, living an innocent, truly blessed and immortal life. Without any obstacle to the knowledge of God, man, in his purity, constantly contemplates the Father’s image, God the Word, in whose image he was created, and comes into amazement, understanding the Father’s providence through the Word about everything, rising in thought above the sensory and above any bodily concept, touching with the power of his mind the divine and mental in heaven. When the human mind is not occupied with bodily objects and the lust aroused by them is not mixed with it from the outside, but it is all grief and collected in itself, as it was in the beginning: then, having transgressed the boundaries of the sensory and everything human, it soars in the heavenly things, and looking at the Word, sees in Him the Father of the Word, enjoying the contemplation of Him and being renewed in love for Him. Likewise, the sacred Scriptures about the first created man, who in Hebrew is called Adam, say that in the beginning, with shameless boldness, his mind was directed towards God, and he cohabited with the Saints in mental contemplation, which he had in the place that Saint Moses, in a figurative sense, called paradise (Gen. 2:8). And in order to see God in yourself, spiritual purity is enough, just as the Lord says: “Blessed are those who are pure in heart; that they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). 3) According to what has been said, the Creator made the human race this way, and wanted it to remain the same. But people, having neglected the most perfect and were too lazy to comprehend it, more willingly sought what was closer to them; Closer to them were the body and bodily feelings. Therefore, they turned their minds away from the mental and began to consider themselves. And considering themselves, preoccupied with the body and other sensual things, and deluded by this as their own property, they fell into self-lust, preferring their own to the contemplation of the divine, and becoming rigid in this, not wanting to leave the one closest to them, their soul, confused and outraged by all sorts of lusts, was suppressed by carnal pleasures; Finally, they forgot about their powers, bestowed by God in the beginning. That this is true can be seen in the first-created man, as the Holy Scriptures say about him. While his mind was directed towards God and the contemplation of God, he turned away from looking at the body. When, on the advice of the serpent, he abandoned the thought of God and began to consider himself; then he fell into carnal lust. “And I understood, as the Nazis were besha” (Gen. 3:7), and when they understood, they were ashamed. They recognized their nakedness not so much by the lack of clothing, but also because they were distracted from the contemplation of the Divine and turned their thoughts to the opposite. For, having deviated from the mental aspiration to the One and Existing (I mean God) and from love for Him, we have already delved into the various and private desires of the body. Then, as usually happens, having allowed themselves to lust for every thing and suddenly for many things, they began to have attachment to the lusts themselves; and therefore they began to be afraid to leave them. This is why fear, fear, pleasure, and thoughts characteristic of a mortal arose in the soul. The soul, not wanting to give up lusts, is afraid of death and separation from the body; again lusting and not achieving anything like before, she learns to kill and do lies. And why the soul does this, it would be appropriate to explain this to the best of our ability. 4) Having shied away from contemplating the mental, using private bodily forces for evil, enjoying looking at the body, noticing that pleasure for it is something good, the soul in its deception abused the name: good, and thought that pleasure is the most essential good; just like a man who is mad in his mind asks for a sword against everyone he meets, and thinks of himself that he is acting prudently in this. Having fallen in love with pleasure, the soul began to reproduce it in various ways; because, being by nature active, although she turns away from good, she does not stop her activity, and therefore she no longer turns her activity to virtue, and not to contemplating God, but, stopping in thought on the non-existent, uses her abilities perversely, using them for her invented desires; for she was created free, she can both bow to good and turn away from good; turning away from what is good, his thoughts inevitably stop at the opposite. But he cannot completely stop his activity, being, as said above, active by nature, and conscious of his freedom, he sees in himself the ability to use bodily members for this and that, both for existing and non-existent. What exists is good, and what does not exist is evil. And I call existing things good because they have models for themselves in the existing God; and I call the non-existent evil, since the non-existent is produced by human imagination. The body has eyes to look at the creature and, from the all-order order observed in it, to recognize the Creator. He has an ear to hear God's words and God's laws. He has hands to do what is necessary with them and to lift them up in prayer to God. But the soul, having deviated from contemplating what is good and from turning its activity towards it, in its error turns it to the opposite. Then, as stated above, seeing his abilities and abusing them, he imagines that he can turn the bodily members to the opposite. Therefore, instead of looking at the creature, she turns her eyes to desires, thereby proving that this is also possible for her; and thinks that, having once directed her activity, she retains her dignity and does not sin, doing what she can; He doesn’t know that he was created not just to direct his activity, but to direct what he should do. That is why the Apostolic Word commands: “Everything is for the good, but not everything is for good” (1 Cor. 10:23). 5) But human insolence, meaning not what is useful and decent, but what is possible, began to do the opposite. Therefore, having moved her hands to the contrary, she began to kill with them, and she used her ears for disobedience, and her other limbs, instead of legitimate childbearing, for adultery, and her tongue, instead of praise, for blasphemy, slander and false oaths, again her hands for theft, and for beating people like us, and her sense of smell for a variety of incense that incites lust, and her legs - to pour out blood quickly (Proverbs 1:16), and the belly to drunkenness and satiety without measure. Yet this is a vice and spiritual sin, and the reason for this is nothing other than aversion from what is most perfect. Imagine that the rider, having mounted his horses on the lists, will not pay attention to the goal to which he should direct his run, but turning in the other direction, he will simply urge the horse as much as he can (or he can, as much as he wants); and sometimes he directs the horses at oncoming people, and sometimes he drives them along the rapids, rushing wherever he is carried away by the speed of the horses, while he thinks that even with such a run he will not miss the goal, because he has one riding speed in mind, and does not look at the fact that he is far from the goal. So the soul, having turned away from the path to God, and beyond measure forcing the bodily members, or better yet, driving itself along with them, sins and does evil to itself, not noticing that it has lost its way and moved away from the true goal, at which, looking at the Christ-bearing man, blessed Paul said: “to the purpose of flowing, for the honor of the high calling of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). So the Saint, having good as his goal, never did evil. 6) Some of the Hellenes, having deviated from the path and not knowing Christ, argued that evil exists independently and in itself: and in this they sin in two respects. Or the Creator is deprived of the property of being the Creator of existence. For He will not be the Lord of existence if evil, as they say, has independence and essence in itself. Or again, desiring Him to be the creator of all things, of necessity they make Him the creator of evil; because, according to them, evil is among creatures. And this will turn out to be absurd and impossible; because evil is not from good, not in it and not through it. For that which has a mixed nature or has become the cause of evil will no longer be good. And some heretics, having fallen away from church teaching and having suffered a collapse in faith, in their madness also attribute independence to evil. Besides the true Father of Christ, they imagine another god, and recognize this unborn creator of evil and the author of evil as the creator of creation. But it is not difficult to refute them with the divine Scripture and the same human reason, with which, having conceived this, they are driven into madness. So our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, confirming the words of Moses that “there is one Lord God” (Deut. 6:4), says in His Gospel: “confess, Father, Lord of heaven and earth” (Matthew 11:25). If there is one God, and He is the Lord of heaven and earth; then how can there be another God besides Him? Where will the god they recognize be, when in the entire volume of heaven and earth everything is filled with the one true God? And how can anyone else be the creator of that over which the Lord himself is God and the Father of Christ, according to the Savior’s word? Will they say that an evil one can be the master of something that belongs to a good God, as if in balance with Him? But if they begin to assert this, then look at what wickedness they will fall into. Among those of equal power it will be impossible to find one who is superior and most perfect. For if without the will of one the other exists, then in both there is equal strength, and in both there is weakness; in both there is equal strength, because by their being they overcome each other’s will; and in both there is weakness, because when they do not want, things happen against their will; and the good one exists against the will of the evil one, and the evil one exists against the will of the good one. 7) On the other hand, this can be said. If visible things are the works of evil; - what will be a work of good? For we see nothing except the one creature of the Creator. What then serves as a sign of the existence of goodness, when there are no His works by which one could know Him? For the Creator is known from works. And in general, how can two creatures be opposite to each other? Or what will separate them so that they exist one outside the other? It is impossible for them to be together; because they are destructive of one another; One cannot exist in the other, because their nature is not united and similar. Consequently, there will be something third separating them; and it will also be God. But it will remain unknown to what nature this third person belongs, whether to the nature of good or to the nature of evil; it is impossible for him to belong to the nature of both. So, since such their thought turns out to be unstable, it is necessary to shine through the truth of church knowledge, namely, that evil is not from God and not in God, that it did not exist in the beginning, and it does not have any essence; but people, with the loss of the idea of ​​good, began to invent and imagine things that were not. Like someone who closes his eyes, when the sun has risen and the whole earth is illuminated by its light, he imagines darkness for himself, although there is no darkness, and then walks, wandering as if in darkness, often falling, approaching rapids, but he himself remains in the thought that there is no light, but there is darkness; for, thinking that it looks with its eyes, it does not see anything with them: so the human soul, having closed the eye with which it can contemplate God, has conceived evil for itself, and having turned its activity towards it, does not know that, imagining itself doing something, it does nothing; because it imagines something that does not exist, and no longer remains as it was created; but the confusion she brought herself into, this is what she turns out to be. For she was created to contemplate God and to be illuminated by Him; she, instead of God, sought the corruptible and the darkness, as nowhere and the Spirit says in writing: “God create a right man. And these sought the thoughts of many” (Eccl. 7:29). This is how the invention and concoction of evil by people took shape in the beginning. But we must also talk about how people reached idolatry. From this you learn that the image of idols was not at all from good, but from evil. And what has a bad beginning, then, being entirely bad, can never be recognized as good in anything. 8) The human soul, not content with conceiving evil, gradually began to delve into even worse things. Having learned the differences in pleasures, having established itself in the oblivion of the divine, enjoying bodily passions, and having in mind only the present and respect for it, the soul thought that there was nothing more than the visible, but only the transitory and bodily - for it good. Having turned aside from the path, and having forgotten about herself that she was created in the image of the good God, she no longer contemplates, with the help of the powers given to her, that God the Word, according to whom she was created, but, having become outside herself, her thoughts stop on the non-existent and imagine it. And this, as it were, is a mirror in which alone she could see the Father’s image, having hidden within herself the multitude of crowded bodily desires, she no longer sees what the soul should mentally imagine, but rushes around and sees only what is subject to feeling. Therefore, filled with all sorts of carnal lusts, and confused by respect for the sensual, she finally imagines that God, Whom she had consigned to oblivion in the mind, in the bodily and sensual, appropriating the name of God to the visible, and glorifying that one thing that seems pleasing to her and which she looks at with pleasure. So, evil precedes idolatry as a cause. People, having learned to imagine non-existent evil, also imagined non-existent gods. Imagine that one who has plunged into the depths no longer sees the light and the things visible in the light, because his eyes are turned down and a deep layer of water lies above him; sensing only what is in the depths, he thinks that besides this there is nothing else, but, on the contrary, these things visible to him constitute everything that exists in the proper sense. So in ancient times, distraught people, immersed in carnal desires and dreams, consigning to oblivion both the concept and thought of God, with their weak reason, or better yet, in the absence of reason, imagined visible things to be gods, glorifying the creature more than the Creator, and adoring works rather than their culprit and creator - the Lord God. But as in the above example, those who plunge into the depths, the more they descend, the greater the darkness and depth they strive for; so it was with the human race. For people did not simply fall into idolatry, and did not stop where they started; but to the extent that they became ossified in the past, they invented new superstitions for themselves, and not knowing satiety in their previous bad deeds, they became satiated with new ones, succeeding in shame, further and further extending their wickedness. Divine Scripture also testifies to this, saying: “When the wicked comes into the depths of evil, he is negligent” (Proverbs 18:3). 9) As soon as the human mind departed from God, people, falling in concepts and thoughts, first of all gave divine honor to the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars, thinking that they were not only gods, but also the creators of everything else. Then, descending even lower with darkened thoughts, they called the ether, the air, and what is in the air gods. Having acted further in evil, they exalted the elements and principles of bodily composition as gods: heat, cold, dryness and moisture. And just as the completely fallen drag along the earth, like earth snails, so the most evil of people, having fallen and humiliated in the concept of God, finally included among the gods people and images of people, both still living and those already dead. And having desired even worse things and stopping there in thought, they transferred the divine and worldly name of God to stones, to trees, to reptiles in water and on land, and from dumb ones to ferocious animals; they began to be given all kinds of divine honor, but they turned away from the true, truly existing God the Father of Christ. And, oh, if only the insolence of the foolish would stop there, and they would not defile themselves with greater wickedness, extending even further! For some have become so debased in thought and darkened in mind that they have invented for themselves, and together deified, even that which never existed at all, and which is not visible among created things. Having mixed both the rational and the dumb, combining with each other things that are dissimilar in nature, they bow to him as if they were gods. Such are the gods of the Egyptians with the heads of dogs, snakes and donkeys, and among the Libyans Ammon with the head of a ram. Others, taking separately the bodily members: head, shoulders, arms, legs, included each member among the gods, and began to adore them, as if not content with worshiping the whole body in its totality. Others extended their wickedness further, and deified what was the pretext for the invention of these gods and for their own evil, that is, voluptuousness and lust, and they bow down to this. Such are their Eros and Aphrodite in Paphos. Others, as if competing with each other in evil, dared to count their sovereigns and their children among the gods, either out of respect for those in power, or fearing their arbitrariness; such are their notorious Zeus in Crete, Hermes in Arcadia, Dionysus among the Indians, Isis, Osiris and Orus among the Egyptians. And now Antinous, the favorite of the Roman king Hadrian, although they know that he is a man, and not a well-behaved man, but very depraved, they honor, fearing the one who gave this command. For Hadrian, being in Egypt, when the servant of his voluptuousness, Antinous, died, loving the young man even after death, he commanded that divine honor be given to him; and thus he exposed himself, and at the same time made it known in general about idolatry, that it was invented among people only out of lust for something imaginary. God's wisdom also testifies to this, saying: “The beginning of fornication is the plot of idols” (Wisdom 14:12). And do not be surprised at what I say, do not consider it beyond belief. It happened not so long ago (and perhaps this is still observed today) that the Roman Senate made a decree about its former kings from the beginning, or about everyone, or about whomever it deigns and pleases: “they should be among the gods”; and ordered to give them divine honor. If any are hated by the Senate, then he declares their nature, and calls them people as enemies; and those whom he pleases, for valiant deeds, he commands to give divine honor, as if senators have the power to make gods, although they themselves are people and do not deny about themselves that they are mortals. Meanwhile, it would be necessary for those who make others gods to be gods themselves; because what creates must be more perfect than what is created; and whoever judges is necessarily superior to the defendant; and whoever gives, without a doubt, what he gives to others, he himself has; like every king, of course, what he has, he gives, and he himself is better and higher than those who accept the gift. Therefore, if they, about whom they want, make orders about them: “they should be among the gods”; then first they themselves should have been gods. But this is worthy of surprise that, by dying as people, they thereby show the falsity of their verdict about those who are deified by them. 10) But this custom is not new, and did not begin in the Roman Senate; on the contrary, it began from ancient times and was conceived in advance with the concept of idols. For the ancient gods, famous among the Hellenes: Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hermes, and the female ones: Hera, Demeter, Athena, Artemis, were awarded the name of gods according to the decrees of Theseus, famous in history among the Hellenes. And those who gave decrees, dying, are mourned as people; About whom they gave decrees, they worship them as gods. What a contradiction and madness! Knowing the one who gave the decree, they prefer to him those about whom the decree was given. And let their idolatry be limited only to men, and not transfer the divine name to the female sex! For even wives who are not safe to be accepted into a general meeting about affairs are given divine honor and are honored. These are those whom, according to what was said above, Theseus was instructed to honor; among the Egyptians: Isis, Kore and Neotera, and among others: Aphrodite; for I do not consider it permissible to repeat the names of others, as full of all disgrace. Not only in ancient times, but also in our times, many, having lost their most beloved brothers, relatives and wives, and wives, having lost their husbands - when nature itself showed that those lost were mortal people - but because of the great sorrow for them, depicting them in a picture, and inventing victims, put them on display, and those who lived subsequently, for the sake of the image and the artist of art, began to bow to such as gods, acting completely unnaturally. For the parents mourned those depicted in the picture not at all as gods; and if they were recognized as gods, they would not cry for them as if they were lost. Because they did not recognize them not only as gods, but even as existing at all; then they depicted them in the picture, so that, seeing what was recalled in the picture, they could be consoled in their non-existence. And thus the foolish pray as if they were gods, and give them the honor due to the true God! In Egypt, to this day, there is still a lament for the loss of Osiris, Or, Typhon and others. Dodon utensils and Coryvantes in Crete prove that Zeus is not a god, but a man, and was born of a carnivorous father. And the amazing thing is that the wisest and much praised by the Hellenes for having understood God, that is, Plato, goes with Socrates to Piraeus to worship the image of Artemis made by human art! 11) Scripture taught about such and similar images of idolatry long ago, and long before, saying: “The beginning of fornication is the design of idols: their invention is the corruption of the belly. Lower than they were from the beginning, lower they will be forever: through human vanity they came into the world, and for this reason their end is short. With bitter weeping, the father soon created the image of his admiring child, whose man was dead then, but now he is alive; and betrayed secrets and sacrifices to his assistants: then, over time, the wicked custom became possible, like we keep the law, and the tormentors were venerated by command by the sculptured one. Their face cannot be honored by distant people for the sake of dwelling, having depicted the face from afar, they created a clear image of the revered king, as if they were distant and close to existence, they caressed with diligence. In continuation of wickedness and those who do not understand the art of art. This, though, in order to please the ruler, through cunning he made a likeness to the best: a multitude of people were attracted by the beauty of the matter, a previously unhonored person, now imputed to God. And this came to deceive life, for men, having served either misfortune or torment, did not overlay the name of stones and trees” (Wis. 14:12-21). This is how, according to Scripture, the invention of idols began and took place among people. It’s time to present you with a denunciation of idolatry, borrowing evidence not so much from outside, but from what the pagans themselves think about idols. If anyone takes into account the actions of the so-called gods (I’ll start with this first); then he will find that not only are they not gods, but they were even the most vile of people. For what is it like to see the debauchery and lewdness of Zeus described among the poets? What is it like to hear that Zeus kidnaps Ganymede, commits secret adulteries, is afraid and tormented by fear, so that the Trojan walls are not destroyed against his will? What is it like to see that he grieves over the death of his son Sarpedon, wants to help him and cannot, that other so-called gods are plotting against him, namely Athena, Hera and Poseidon, and he is helped by the woman Thetis and the hundred-armed Aegeon; that Zeus is overcome by voluptuousness, subservient to women, and runs into danger for them, taking on the dreamy appearance of dumb animals, quadrupeds and birds; and what else is hiding him from his father’s malice, while Cronus, who himself circumcised his father, is bound by him? Therefore, is it fair to assume that one who has committed such black deeds as god is something that common Roman laws do not allow ordinary people to do? 12) Based on the abundance of examples, I will recall a few from many: seeing the lawless and immoral actions of Zeus with Semele, Leda, Alcmene, Artemis, Latona, Maia, Europa, Danae and Antiope, or knowing his shameless attitude towards his own sister, who was both his sister and his wife, who would not subject him to reproach and death? At the same time, he not only committed adultery, but also elevated his children born from adultery to the ranks of gods, covering up his own iniquity with the guise of deification. This is how Dionysus, Hercules, Dioscuri, Hermes, Perseus and Soteira became gods. Also, knowing the irreconcilable enmity of the so-called gods in Ilion for the Hellenes and Trojans, who would not condemn them as powerless, because out of jealousy towards each other they irritated people? Or, knowing that Ares and Aphrodite were wounded by Diomedes, and Hera and the underworld by Hercules, who is called the infernal god, Perseus - Dionysus, Arcade - Athena, that Hephaestus was shattered and became lame - who will not conclude evil about their nature, and will not refuse to assert that they are gods? Hearing that they are subject to suffering and decay, does he not recognize them as nothing more than people, and weak people, and will he rather marvel at those who inflicted wounds on them than at those who were wounded? Or seeing the adultery of Ares with Aphrodite and Hephaestus setting a trap for both of them, seeing also that other so-called gods, called by Hephaestus to look at this adultery, come and look at their shamelessness, who would not laugh and recognize their unworthiness? Or who would not laugh, seeing the revelry and tomfoolery of Hercules and Omphale? There is no need to forcefully denounce their voluptuous actions, which exceed any measure of fornication - also statues of gods made of gold, silver, copper, iron, stones and wood; because all this in itself is hateful and in itself shows a sign of error. And therefore, one should especially regret those who are led into deception by this. They hate the fornicator who sexually assaults their wives, but they are not ashamed to idolize the teachers of fornication; themselves abstaining from incest, they pray to those who do it; and recognizing child molestation as evil, they honor those who are guilty of it; and what according to the laws is not permissible among people, they are not ashamed to attribute to their so-called gods. 13) Moreover, those who bow to stones and trees do not notice that they trample and burn similar things with their feet, and call some of the same things gods. What they used for their own needs not long ago, having made a statue out of it, they honor in their madness, without noticing or reasoning at all that they are bowing not to the gods, but to the art of the sculptor. Until the stone is yet hewn and the substance is not finished, they trample on them and use them for their own needs, often base ones; and when the artist, according to his science, brings them into proportion and imprints on the substance the image of a husband or wife; then, testifying their gratitude to the artist, and having bought them from the sculptor for money, they bow to them as gods. Not infrequently, the maker of the idols himself, as if forgetting that he made them, prays to his own works, and what he recently hewed and chopped off, then, due to the artificial lining, calls them gods. If one should be surprised at what is in the idols; then one should praise the art of the artist, and the one who did it should not prefer what he did; because art is not decorated and deified by substance, but by art - substance. Therefore, it would be much fairer for them to bow to the artist, and not to his works; because he was before the gods were made by art, and as he wanted, so they were made. Now, having rejected what is just, not respecting science and art, they bow to what was done according to science and art. And when the person who made it dies, his works are honored as something immortal, although they, if it were not for daily care, would undoubtedly, by their nature, be destroyed over time. How can one not regret them for the reason that, seeing for themselves, they bow to those who do not see; hearing themselves, they send prayers to those who cannot hear; They themselves are by nature animate and rational people, but they call those who are not moving and inanimate at all gods? It is also surprising that they themselves protect them, having them under their authority, and serve them as rulers! And don’t think that I am saying this without reason or that I am lying about them. The authenticity of this is obvious; and anyone who wants can see it. 14) But the best evidence of this is found in the Divine Scripture, which from ancient times teaches and says: “The tongues of silver and gold, the works of men’s hands: they have eyes, and do not see: they have lips, and do not speak: they have ears, and do not hear: they have nostrils, and do not smell: they have hands, and do not touch: they have noses, and do not walk: they do not they will shout with their throats. May those who create be like them” (Psalm 113:12,16). The prophetic reproach also agrees with this; in the same way the Prophets reprove idols when the Spirit says: “They who build God will be put to shame, and all who sculpt” are vain. “And all who were from anywhere withered away: and let them all gather together from mankind, and let them stand together: and let them be ashamed and ashamed together. Like a woodworker who has sharpened a piece of wood, he has made it with an adze, and with the strength of his arm, and with the strength of his muscles, he will become hungry and faint, and will not drink water. Having chosen a treemaker, set it in measure, and build it with glue, and create it like an image of a man, and like the beauty of man, place it in the house. I cut down the tree in the oak grove, which the Lord had planted, and the rain would grow, so that man would burn it, and taking from it, warming himself, and burning it, I baked bread with it, and from the rest I created gods, and they worshiped them. Having burned the floor of it with fire, and baked the meat on the floor of it, and the poison, and being satisfied, and warmed up, he said: It is sweet to me, because I sinned, and I saw fire.” He bows down to the one who remains, saying: Deliver me, for you are my God. They did not know how to understand, but their eyes were darkened, so that they could see and understand with their hearts. And thou shalt not think in thy heart, nor think in thy soul, nor be led astray by the thought, that thou hast burned the floor thereof with fire, and baked loaves of bread on its coals, and baked meat for food, and made the rest of it into an abomination, and they shall worship it. Take away that their heart is ashes, and they are deceived, and not one is able to deliver his soul: you see, do not cry that lies are in my right hand” (Isa. 44: 10-20). How can everyone not recognize as godless those whom divine Scripture accuses of wickedness? Aren't they unfortunate - those who are so clearly accused of serving inanimate things instead of truth? What hope do they have? Or what excuse will there be for those who place their trust in creatures that are dumb and have no movement, whom they honor instead of the true God? 15) Let the artist build gods for them, without giving any image, so as not to have them clearly exposed as meaningless! They would have hidden from ordinary people the possibility of supposing that idols feel, if idols did not have an indication of feelings, such as eyes, nostrils, ears, hands, lips, which remain inactive, so that they cannot use the feeling and enjoy what is felt. Now, having them, they do not have them together; standing, not standing, sitting, not sitting; because they do not act with them; but whatever position the builder wanted to give them, in this they remain motionless, not presenting in themselves a single sign of divinity, but remaining completely inanimate, and only taking on their form from human art. Let also the heralds and prophets of such false gods (I mean poets and writers of everyday life) simply write that they are gods, and not describe their deeds to expose their undivinity and shameful life! With just the name of the Divine they could hide the truth, or better yet, turn many away from the truth. Now, telling about the fornications and lewdness of Zeus, about the child molestation of other gods, about voluptuous lust for the female sex, about fear and timidity and about other vices, they do nothing more than expose themselves, that not only are they not talking about gods, but they even compose their fables not about honest, but about vile and far from perfect people. 16) But perhaps the wicked will in this case resort to the property of poets, saying that the distinctive feature of poets is to depict non-existent things, and to lie, composing fables for the pleasure of listeners. For this reason they will say that they also made up fables about the gods. But this pretext is most unreliable for them, as this will be proven by the very opinion that they have and offer about the gods. For if everything among the poets is fiction and lies, then the very naming will be false when they talk about Zeus, Kronos, Hera, Ares and others. Perhaps, as they say, the names are fictitious, and there is no Zeus, no Cronus, no Ares; poets, to seduce listeners, portray them as existing. But if the poets invented gods that do not exist; then why do they worship them as existing? Or, perhaps, they will also say that the names were not invented by the poets, but the deeds were falsely attributed to the gods. But this is no more reliable for their justification. For if their deeds were lied, then, without a doubt, the names of those whose deeds were described were also lied. Or, if they observed the truth in names, then, of necessity, they observed the truth in deeds. On the other hand, those who created the fable that they were gods knew correctly what the gods should do, and would not attribute human concepts to the gods; No one will attribute the actions of fire to water, because fire burns, and water, on the contrary, is essentially cold. Therefore, if deeds are worthy of gods, then the doers will be gods. If it is common for people, and evil people, to commit adultery and do all of the above; then those who did this will be people, and not gods; because essence and actions must be consistent with each other, so that the image of the action testifies to who acted, and the action is known by its essence. Whoever talks about water and fire, and describes the way they act, will not say that water burns and fire cools. And if someone talks about the sun and the earth, he will not argue that the earth shines, and the sun grows herbs and fruits; on the contrary, by asserting this, he would have surpassed any measure of madness. Thus, pagan writers, especially the most preeminent of all poets, if they knew that Zeus and others are gods, they would not have attributed to them such deeds that expose that they are not gods, but, on the contrary, people, and people are not chaste. Or, if they lied, like poets, and you convict them of this; then why didn’t they lie when they spoke about the courage of the heroes, and instead of courage they didn’t portray weakness, and instead of weakness - courage? Just as they lied about Zeus and Hera, so they should have accused Achilles of lack of courage, marveled at the strength of Thersites, slandered Odysseus in imprudence, depicted Nestor’s foolishness, composed a fable about the effeminate deeds of Diomedes and Hector and the courage of Hecuba, because poets, as they say, should invent everything and lie. Now speaking about people, they kept the truth, but were not afraid to slander the so-called gods. Some of them will say the following - the poets lie when they talk about the obscene deeds of the gods, and in their praise, when Zeus is called the father of the gods, the supreme, Olympian, and reigning in heaven, they are not making things up, they are telling the truth. But I’m not the only one, but everyone else can prove that this reasoning goes against them; because from the previous arguments, the truth will be revealed again, as a reproach to them. Actions reveal that they are people, and praises are above human nature. But both do not agree with each other; and it is not common for the celestials to do such things, and no one will assume that they are gods about those who do such things. 17) What remains to think? Is it not that praise is false and a matter of flattery; do actions, in spite of them, speak the truth? And the validity of this can be determined from custom. He who praises another does not speak ill of his life; rather, even if their actions are vile, due to the reproach of their deeds, they try to exalt such people with praise, so that, by seducing the listeners with an excess of praise, they cover up the iniquities of those being praised. Therefore, just as someone who has proposed to praise someone, if he does not find a pretext for praise either in life or in spiritual virtues, because all this is shameful, then he extols him in other respects, attributing to him qualities that are higher than himself; so the poets, whom the pagans marvel at, brought to shame by the shameful deeds of the so-called gods, assigned them a name above the human, not knowing that by suggesting something above human they would not cover up what was actually human in them, but rather would expose by their human shortcomings that divine traits were indecent for them. I think that the poets, against their will, spoke about the passions and deeds of their gods. Because they “uncommonly,” as the Scripture said (Wisdom 14:21), tried to apply God’s name and God’s honor to those who were not gods, but mortal people, and their daring undertaking was very important and wicked; Therefore, they themselves are involuntarily forced to depict their passions in truth, so that what is said in their writings about the gods will serve as proof to all subsequent generations that these are not gods. 18) What justification, what proof will the superstitious worshipers of these gods present that these are really gods? What was said not long before proved that these are people, and not good people. Will they turn to the fact that their inventions, useful for life, are highly valued and say: they were recognized by the gods because they were useful to people. For Zeus, as they say, mastered the art of sculpting, and Poseidon - the art of navigation, Hephaestus - the blacksmith, Athena - the weaver; Apollo invented music, Artemis - hound hunting, Hera - the art of dressing, Demeter - agriculture, others - other arts, as historians tell about them. But people should attribute this and similar knowledge not to them alone, but to the general human nature, delving into which people invent arts. For art, according to many, is an imitation of nature. Therefore, if they were versed in the arts, which they carefully practiced; then for this we must recognize them not as gods, but rather as people; because they did not produce art from themselves, but imitated nature in them. Because, as people, by nature they were capable of acquiring knowledge within the limits prescribed for people; then it is not at all surprising if, having delved into their nature and acquired knowledge about it, they invented arts. If they claim that for the invention of the arts it was fair to call them gods; then the inventors of other arts should be called gods on the same basis on which they were awarded this name. The Phoenicians invented writing, Homer - heroic poetry, the Eleatic Zeno - dialectics, the Syracusan Corax - the art of rhetoric, Aristaeus introduced bee honey, Triptolemus - sowing crops, the Spartan Lycurgus and the Athenian Solon issued laws, Palamides invented the composition of words, numbers, measures and weights, and others, according to historians, made known various other things useful for human life. Therefore, if knowledge is made into gods, and gods began to be sculpted for them; then it is necessary that, like them, those who later were inventors of other things should become gods. If the latter are not awarded divine honor, but are recognized as people; then one should not call Zeus, and Hera, and others gods, but believe that they were people, especially since they were not well-behaved; just as the pagans prove by the very sculpture of their idols that their gods are nothing other than people. 19) In what other image do the sculptors clothe them, if not in the image of husbands and wives? Is it even lower than this, in the form of animals that are dumb by nature, all kinds of birds, four-legged, both meek and fierce, as well as reptiles, such as the earth, the sea and all aquatic creatures produce? People, having degraded themselves to a bestial state through passions and voluptuousness, and not having anything else in mind except pleasures and carnal lusts, just as they themselves rushed in thought to these dumb things, so they began to represent the Divine in the form of dumb ones, according to the variety of their passions, sculpting such a multitude of gods. For they have images of four-legged animals, reptiles and birds; just as the interpreter of divine and true piety says: “They became fussy in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened: to be wise, to become a fool, and to change the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the corruptible image of man and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the passion of dishonor” (Rom. 1:21, 23, 26). Having first defiled the soul with bestial voluptuousness, as stated above, people fell to such images of the Divine; and after the fall, already as if betrayed by the very fact that God turned away from them, they wallow in this, and God, the Father of the Word, is portrayed in the likeness of the dumb. The so-called philosophers and knowledgeable people of the Hellenes, when they are accused of this, do not deny that their visible gods are images and likenesses of people and dumb people, but in their justification they say: for this reason we have all this, so that through this the Divinity may appear to us and give answers; because the invisible God cannot be known otherwise than with the help of such statues and rituals. And others, surpassing these in wisdom, and thinking to say something even more profound, say: these institutions and images were introduced for the invocation and appearance of divine Angels and Powers, so that, appearing in these images, they would impart knowledge of God to people; it’s like writing for people; By reading them, by the appearance of divine Angels in them, they can know what concept they have about God. This is how the pagan sages talk fabulously, and not theologize (we won’t say this)! But if anyone carefully examines this reasoning, he will find that their opinion is no less false than those shown before. 20) Another, having entered into a speech with them, before the court of truth will ask: Why does God answer and be known through idols? Is it because of the substance from which idols are made, or because of the image given to them? If because of the substance, then what need is there for the image? Why doesn't God simply appear in all matter? before it is made from it? In vain did they erect the walls of the church, enclosing in them one stone, or one tree, or a piece of gold, when the whole earth is filled with their essence. And if the cause of a divine phenomenon is an image superimposed on a substance; then what is the need for the substance of gold or anything else? Why doesn’t it be better for God to appear in the most naturally existing animals, the images of which are depicted in statues? On this basis, the thought of God would be better if He appeared in animate living beings, verbal or dumb, and there was no need to expect His appearance in inanimate and non-moving things. In this case, the pagans fall into wickedness, in which they most of all contradict themselves. Natural animals, four-legged animals, birds and reptiles are considered an abomination and are abhorred, either because of their ferocity, or because of uncleanness, and yet, having sculpted their likenesses from stone, wood, gold, they idolize them. It would be better for them to honor the animals themselves, rather than honor their images, and worship them in images. Or, perhaps, in idols neither one nor the other, neither the image nor the substance, serves as the cause of God's presence; The Divinity calls upon them only knowledgeable art, which itself is an imitation of nature. But if, with the help of knowledge, the Divinity descends on the statues; then again, what is the need for substance when knowledge is in man? For if, with the help of art alone, God appears in statues, and therefore the statues are honored as gods; then people should be worshiped as the creators of art, and they should be honored, since they are reasonable and have knowledge in themselves. 21) As for the second, of course more profound, justification for them, not without reason, we can say the following: If this is done among you, Greeks, not because of the appearance of God himself, but because of the presence of Angels there; then why are the statues through which you call upon the Powers better and higher than the most invoked Powers? By making sculptured images, as you say, in order to acquire the concept of God, you assign to these statues the honor and name of God himself, and in this you act not piously. Recognizing that the power of God is higher than the insignificance of idols, and therefore daring through them to call not God, but lower Powers, then, leaving these Powers aside, you assigned to stones and trees the name of the One whose presence is terrible for you; and you do not call them stones, not a work of human art, but gods, and you worship them. If, as you falsely claim, these are writings for you to speculate about God; it is not fair to prefer signs to the signified. If someone writes the king’s name, then the one who prefers what is written to the king will not remain safe, but on the contrary, will be punished with death. Writing is invented by the art of the writer. Likewise, if you have a sound mind, you cannot transfer such a sign of the Divine to matter; You cannot even prefer a statue to a statue. If idols, just like writing, signify the appearance of God, and therefore, as signifying God, are worthy of deification; then the one who sculpted and inscribed them, I mean again the artist, all the more should have been deified, because he is both more powerful and more divine than idols, since by his will the idols were decorated and received their appearance. Therefore, if writings are worthy of surprise, then the one who wrote them excites much greater surprise with his art and spiritual knowledge. So, if idols should not be revered as gods for this reason, then the question of idolatry can also be proposed, if anyone would like to know the reason why idols have such an image. 22) If the Deity is humanoid, and therefore idols are depicted in this way; then why do they appropriate the likenesses of the dumb to the Divinity? If He has the likeness of dumb animals; then why do they assign Him statues of verbal beings? And if both are in Him, and in both forms they represent God, because they have the likeness of both dumb and verbal beings; then why do they separate the combined things, and make separately statues of dumb people and statues of people, and not always their statues have the appearance of one and the other, which images are actually found in fables, for example: Scylla, Charybdis, Hippocentaurus, and among the Egyptians - Anubis with the head of a dog? It would be appropriate either to depict them only in this way, having a dual nature, or, if they have only one image, not to invent another for them. And again, if they have a male image, then why do they give them a female likeness? And if they have the image of women, then why are they falsely represented in the image of men? Again, if they are both; it was necessary not to separate, but to combine both, and to liken them to the so-called husband-wife (hermaphrodites), so that pagan superstition would not only reveal wickedness and slander, but also arouse laughter in the audience. And in general, if they imagine the Divinity as body-shaped, and therefore imagine Him and give to statues a womb, arms, legs, also the neck, chest, ears, members, which in people serve for childbirth; then look to what wickedness and godlessness their minds degraded when they could think so about the Divine. For the Divinity should therefore certainly endure everything else that is characteristic of the body, that is, to be cut, divided, and even generally subject to decay. This and similar things are not characteristic of God, but rather of earthly bodies; because God is incorporeal, incorruptible, immortal, and has no need of anyone for anything; this is perishable, like bodies, and, as was said before, it needs human servants. For we often see that worn-out idols are renewed; destroyed by time, rain, or any of the earth's animals, are created again. Therefore, the pagans can be condemned as foolish for calling idols that they themselves make gods; they ask for salvation from those whom they protect from corruption with their art; pray for the satisfaction of their needs to those whom they know require their own care; and confining them in small buildings, they are not ashamed to call them lords of heaven and all the earth. 23) And not only from this can one discern the atheism of the pagans, but also from the fact that their opinions about the idols themselves do not agree. For if idols are gods, as the pagans say and philosophize about them; then to which of them will a person cleave? And which of them can be recognized as the most important, so that either, when worshiping God, we have firm trust in Him, or, recognizing Him as Divinity, as they say, we do not hesitate? For not the same ones are called gods by everyone, but for the most part, as many peoples as there are, there are as many imaginary gods. It happens that one region and one city are divided among themselves in opinions about the veneration of idols. The Phoenicians do not know the gods recognized by the Egyptians. The Egyptians do not worship the same idols as the Phoenicians. The Scythians do not accept the Persian gods, and the Persians do not accept the Syrian gods. The Pelasgians even disparage the gods revered in Thrace, and the Thracians do not recognize those revered by the Thebans. The Indians with the Arabs, the Arabs with the Ethiopians, and the Ethiopians with them, have different idols. The Syrians do not honor the Cilician gods, but the Cappadocians call them gods who are not recognized in Cilicia; some were invented by the Bithynians, and others by the Armenians. And why give many examples? The inhabitants of the solid land worship different gods with the islanders, and the islanders honor the different gods with the inhabitants of the solid land. And in general, every city and every village, not knowing the neighboring gods, prefers their own to them, whom they recognize only as gods. There is no need to talk about the vile Egyptian customs; they are in front of everyone's eyes; there cities adhere to superstitions that are opposite and contradictory to one another; neighbors always try to honor the opposite of what those living adjacent to them honor. The crocodile is worshiped by some as God, but among the inhabitants of nearby places it is considered an abomination. Some people honor the lion as God, but outside the city they not only do not honor him, but even when they meet him they kill him like a beast. Fish, included by some among the gods, is caught for food in other places. That is why they have wars, riots, all kinds of pretexts for murder, and all the charm of passions. What is surprising is that the Pelasgians, according to historians, having learned the names of the gods from the Egyptians, do not know the Egyptian gods, but give honor to gods other than the Egyptian ones. And in general, all nations infected with idolatry have different beliefs and rituals of worship, but you will not find the same thing among them. This was as it should be; because, having lost their mental aspiration to the one God, people fell into many and different things; having deviated from the true Word of the Father, the Savior of all Christ, their thoughts rush about many things. Just as those who have turned away from the sun and are in a dark place circle along many impassable paths, and those who are in front of them are not noticed, and those who are not, they are imagined to be standing in front of them, and seeing they do not see: so, in the same way, those who have turned away from God and are darkened in the soul, the mind is in a whirlwind; They, as if drunk and unable to see, imagine something that does not exist. 24) The following serves as no small exposure of the real atheism of the pagans. Because in every city and in every region the gods are different, and there are many of them, moreover, one destroys the gods of the other; then everyone is destroyed by everyone. For some, those who are revered as gods, for others, are made with sacrifices and libations in honor of the gods they call. And on the contrary, what is used as a sacrifice by some is considered a god by others. The Egyptians honor the ox and Apis, that is, the calf; and others sacrifice an ox and a calf to Zeus. It is true that it is not those who are deified who are sacrificed; however, when they bring similar things, they apparently bring the same thing. The Libyans recognize the ram as their god, who is called Ammon; and among others, the ram is often slain as a sacrifice. The Indians pay honor to Dionysus by using this name, in a figurative sense, to call wine; For others, wine is used as a libation for other gods. Others honor and call rivers and springs gods, but the Egyptians especially prefer water to everything; Meanwhile, others, and even the Egyptians themselves, who adore this, wash their own and other people’s uncleanness with water, and pour out the rest with dishonor. But almost everything idolized by the Egyptians is turned into sacrifice to the gods by others. Therefore, the pagans themselves laugh at the Egyptians because they do not worship gods, but things that others and even themselves use for purification and sacrifice. 25) Some have already reached such wickedness and madness that they kill and sacrifice the very people to their false gods, while these gods are the likeness and image of people. These unfortunate ones do not notice that the victims they kill serve as prototypes of the fictional gods they honor. People are sacrificed to them; they bring almost like to like, or, rather, better to worse, the animate are slaughtered as sacrifices to the inanimate, the intelligent are brought to slaughter without movement. The Scythians, called Taurian, sacrifice shipwrecked and captured Hellenes to the so-called virgin. They act so wickedly towards people like themselves, and expose the cruelty of their gods to such an extent that they even kill those whom Providence saved from dangers at sea; and by this they seem to resist Providence itself, because with their brutal soul they destroy His good deed. Others, when they return from the war as victors, dividing the captives into hundreds, and taking one from each, As many people are slaughtered in honor of Areus as they choose according to the number of hundreds. And it is not the Scythians alone who commit such abominations, due to the innate ferocity of the barbarians; on the contrary, this is a common thing, characteristic of the malice of idols and demons. For in ancient times the Egyptians sacrificed people to Hera, and the Phoenicians and Cretans propitiated Cronus by sacrificing their children. And the ancient Romans honored Zeus, called Laciarius, with human sacrifices. One way or another, but everything in general has become defiled and desecrated; They themselves became defiled by committing murders, and they desecrated their churches by fumigating them with such sacrifices. And because of this, many evils happened to people. They saw that this pleased the demons, and they themselves soon began to imitate their gods, committing similar crimes, and taking credit for imitation, in their opinion, of the most perfect beings. That is why people began to indulge in murder, infanticide and all sorts of obscenities. Almost every city, from becoming like its gods in morals, became full of all kinds of depravity. Before idols there is no one chaste except the one whose lewdness is attested to by them. 26) In ancient times, women sat in Phoenician churches and offered the firstfruits of the price of their fornication as a gift to their gods there, thinking thereby to appease their goddess and earn her favor. And men, having renounced their gender, not wanting to belong to men, transform themselves into the female gender in order to please and honor the mother of the so-called gods. In general, everyone lives shamefully, competes with each other in evil, and as the holy servant of Christ Paul said: “For their wives have changed their natural likeness into a supernatural one: likewise men have abandoned the natural likeness of the female sex, being inflamed with their lust against one another, men committing violence against men” (Rom. 1:26-27). And by these and similar deeds they confirm and denounce that the so-called gods they led led the same life. For from Zeus they learned child molestation and adultery, from Aphrodite - fornication, from Rhea - lewdness, from Ares - murder, from others - other similar deeds, for which the laws punish and which every chaste person abhors. Therefore, is it fair to honor those who do such things as gods? Isn’t it better to recognize the depravity of morals as being more senseless and more dumb? Is it also fair to honor those who give them divine honor as people? Isn't it better to regret that they are more senseless than the dumb, and more soulless than the inanimate? If only they noticed that their soul is gifted with intelligence; then they would not have rushed into all this with such recklessness, and would not have renounced the true God, the Father of Christ. 27) But perhaps the most excellent of the pagans and filled with wonder at the creation, being ashamed by the accusations of these abominations, will not themselves deny that this is really reprehensible and worth condemnation, but will remain in the thought that serving the world and parts of the world is an undoubted and indisputable belief for them. They will even boast that it is not stones, not trees, not even images of people and dumb things, birds, reptiles and four-legged animals that they honor and adore, but the sun, the moon, all heavenly adornment, as well as the earth and all wet nature. At the same time, they will say: no one can prove that these are not gods by nature, when it is obvious to everyone that they are not inanimate and wordless things, but by nature are higher than people, because some inhabit the sky, and others the earth. And this opinion is worth considering and examining. For in this our word, without a doubt, will find that it will serve as a true reproof for the pagans. But before we begin the examination and begin the proof, it is enough to note that the creation itself almost cries out against them, pointing to its Creator and Creator - God, above it and above all the reigning Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom these imaginary sages turn away, but worship the creature that came from Him and idolize it, although it itself worships its Creator and confesses that The Lord from whom they deny themselves for her sake. For in this way people who are amazed at the parts of the world and recognize them as gods will be greatly ashamed of the mutual need of these parts for each other. It shows and makes it known that the Father of the Word is truly the Lord and Creator of these parts, demanding from them unquestioning obedience to Himself, as God’s law says: “The heavens tell the glory of God, but the firmament proclaims His handiwork” (Psalm 18:1). The authenticity of this is not hidden from view, but is very obvious to anyone whose intelligent eye is not completely blinded. For if someone takes into account the individual parts of the creature, and considers each in particular, for example: the sun by itself, and the moon separately, as well as the earth, and air, and heat, and cold, and dryness, and moisture, without their mutual connection with each other, and each of these parts will be considered separately, as it is in itself; then, without a doubt, he will find that not a single part of the world is sufficient for itself, but they all have a need for each other, and only with mutual help do they become independent. The sun revolves together with the entire sky, and is contained in it, but outside the celestial circulation it could not exist. The moon and other stars testify that the sun will help them. It also turns out that the earth does not bear fruit without rain, and rain cannot fall on the earth without the assistance of clouds, and clouds never appear and are not formed by themselves without air, and the air is not heated by itself, but from the ether, and it becomes light when illuminated by the sun. Springs and rivers are not formed without earth; the earth is not established on itself, but is placed on the waters, and is supported by some kind of connections in the middle of the universe; the sea and the whole earth, the great ocean flowing around from outside, are set in motion by the winds, and rush wherever the force of the winds forces them; The winds themselves do not occur by themselves, but, as those who talk about them say, are formed in the air from heat and heating by the ether, and with the help of the same air they blow everywhere. Who, in all its inconsistency, does not know that the four elements from which the nature of bodies was formed - I mean heat and cold, dryness and moisture - are maintained only in an aggregate connection, and separated and disunited, from the predominance of the excess of them, become destructive to each other? Warmth is destroyed by increasing cold; and the cold, again, is destroyed by the power of warmth. The dry is moistened by the wet and the latter is dried first. 28) Therefore, how can these things be gods, having a need for the help of others? Or how can you ask them for anything when they themselves demand help from each other? If we have a word about God; then He has no need for anyone, is self-satisfied, self-fulfilled, everything will take place in Him, or better yet, He gives independence to everything. Will it be fair to call the sun, moon and other parts of creation gods, when they are not such, but on the contrary, have a need for mutual assistance to each other? But perhaps the pagans, having proof before their eyes, will themselves admit that the parts of creation, taken separately and by themselves, are not sufficient; they will assert that when all the parts put together constitute one great body, then the whole is God. Once the parts are assembled into a whole, they will no longer need anything extraneous, but the whole will be sufficient for itself and sufficient for everything. This is what the supposed sages will tell us, so that they may be rebuked for this too. Even this word will prove that their wickedness, with great ignorance, is no less than the wickedness of those about whom it was said before. If individual things, being connected with each other, fill the whole, and the whole is made up of individual things, then the whole consists of parts, and each thing is a part of the whole. But this is very far from the concept of God. God is the whole, not the parts; He is not composed of different things, but He Himself is the Creator of the composition of every thing. See how wickedly they express themselves about the Divine, who speak of Him in this way. If God consists of parts, then, without a doubt, He will turn out to be unlike Himself and composed of unlike things. For if He is the sun, then He is not the moon; if it is the moon, then it is not the earth; and if it is land, it will not be sea. And thus, going through each part separately, you will find the inconsistency of their reasoning. The same conclusion can be drawn against them from a consideration of our human body. Just as the eye is not hearing, hearing is not a hand, the belly is not a chest, and the neck is not a leg, but each of these members has its own activity, and from these different members one body is composed, in which the parts are united by mutual need, but will separate at the coming of time, when nature, which has gathered them into one, will carry out the division, because it pleases God who commanded it: so (may the Most Perfect himself allow this to be said), if the parts of creation, combining them into one body, are called God, then it is necessary that, as has already been proven, God in Himself was not similar to Himself, and was also divided, in accordance with the nature of the divisible parts. 29) But according to true speculation, one can also expose their godlessness in another way. If God is by nature incorporeal, invisible, intangible; then why do they represent God with a body, and what is visible with the eyes and touched with the hand, they give divine honor to? And also, if such a concept about God has already been established that He is omnipotent in everything, and nothing possesses Him, but He possesses everything and rules over everything; then how come those who idolize the creature do not notice that it does not fit this definition of God? When the sun is underground, its light is darkened by the earth, and it is not visible. During the day the sun hides the moon with the brilliance of its light. The fruits of the earth are often damaged by hail; the fire goes out due to the influx of water; winter is driven away by spring, and summer does not allow spring to exceed its limits, and again autumn forbids summer to go beyond its own limits. So, if these were gods, then it would be necessary that they should not be overcome and eclipsed by each other, but would always be one with the other, and together carry out their common actions; It would be necessary that day and night the sun, and together with it the moon and the other host of stars, should have equal light, and their light would shine on everyone and illuminate everyone; It would be appropriate for the sea and springs to mix and provide people with a common drink; it would be necessary that at the same time there should be calm and the breath of winds; It would behoove that fire and water together satisfy one and common human needs, and no one suffers harm from them; because, according to people, they are gods, and they do everything not to harm, but rather to benefit. If this is not possible, due to their mutual opposition; Is it possible to call things that are opposite to each other, antagonistic and incompatible with each other, and give them divine honor? If they disagree with each other by nature, then can they give peace to other worshippers and will they be guardians of unanimity? Therefore, as proven in the word, in all fairness, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor any other part of creation can be true gods, and even more so - statues made of stones, gold and other substances, and also Zeus, Apollo and others fictional by poets. On the contrary, some are parts of creation, others are inanimate things, and others were only mortal people. Therefore, serving them and idolizing them is an instillation not of piety, but of godlessness and all evil, and proof of a great deviation from the knowledge of the one and only true God, I mean the Father of Christ. And when this has been exposed and proven that pagan idolatry is full of all atheism and introduced not for the benefit, but for the destruction of human life; Now. as was promised at the beginning of the word, after exposing error, let us finally walk the path of truth and turn our gaze to the Leader and Creator of the universe - the Father's Word, so that through Him we may understand God His Father, and show the pagans how far they have departed from the truth. 30) What has been said so far tends only to expose errors in the world; the path of truth will have the goal of the truly existing God. For knowledge and accurate understanding of the truth, we need no one else, but only ourselves. The path to God is not so far from us as God himself is above all; he is not outside of us, but within ourselves; and its beginning can be found by us, as Moses taught, saying: “The word of faith is in your heart” (Rom. 10:8; Deut. 30:14). And the Savior, making it clear and confirming the same thing, said: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Having faith and the kingdom of God within ourselves, we can soon see and understand the King of the universe - the Father's Saving Word. Let the Hellenes who serve idols not make excuses, and in general, let no one else deceive themselves, as if they do not have such a path, and therefore they have an excuse for their atheism. We have all embarked on this path, and it is open to everyone, although not everyone follows it, but for many it is desirable to leave it, because they are drawn from outside by worldly pleasures. And if someone asks: what kind of path is this? I answer: - the soul of everyone and in it the mind; because with one mind God can be contemplated and understood. Will the wicked, just as they have renounced God, also renounce the fact that they have a soul? This would be the fairest thing to tell them; because those who lack only intelligence tend to deny themselves from their Creator and Creator God. Therefore, for simple people it is necessary to briefly prove that every person has a soul and a rational soul; because others, especially heretics, deny this too, believing that man is nothing more than a visible image of the body; - it is necessary so that, when this is proven, they can have a clear denunciation of idolatry within themselves. 31) The first, no small sign that the human soul is rational, is to distinguish it from the dumb; for out of natural habit we call them dumb, for the very reason that the human race is rational. And then it will not be an unimportant proof that one person reasons about what is outside him, mentally imagines what is not in front of him, and again reasons and discusses in order to choose the best from what has been considered. The dumb ones see the one thing that is in front of them, they strive for the one thing that is in front of their eyes, even if it causes harm to them later; but man does not strive for what is visible, but on the contrary, what is visible with his eyes is discussed with his mind; not infrequently, having already rushed, he is restrained by his reason, and what he has thought about, he discusses again. And everyone, if only he is a friend of truth, realizes that the human mind is not the same thing with the bodily feelings; and therefore, like something else, it is a judge of the very feelings; and if the senses are preoccupied with something, then the mind discusses and remembers it, and shows the senses the best. The job of the eye is to see only, the ears to hear, the mouth to taste, the nostrils to take in the smell, the hands to touch; but to judge what should be seen and heard, what should be touched, what should be tasted and smelled is no longer a matter of the senses; her soul and her mind judge this. The hand can, of course, take up a sword, the mouth can taste poison, but they do not know that this is harmful unless the mind pronounces judgment about it. And this (so that we can see the matter in similarity) resembles a well-tuned lyre and a competent musician who has it in his hands. Each string on the lyre has its own sound, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, sometimes medium, sometimes piercing, sometimes something else; but it is impossible to judge the agreement of sounds and recognize their harmonious harmony without an expert; for only then is there agreement and the correct harmony in them, when the one holding the lyre in his hands strikes the strings and touches each one measuredly. Likewise, since the feelings in the body are tuned like a lyre, when they are controlled by a knowledgeable mind, then the soul reasons and knows what to do and how to act. But this is characteristic only of people, and this is the rationality of the human soul, using which it differs from the dumb, and proves about itself that it is really not the same with what is visible in the body. The body often lies on the ground, and a person imagines and contemplates what is in heaven. The body is often at rest, silent and sitting, but a person is internally in motion, and contemplates what is outside of him, moving and moving from country to country, meeting with acquaintances, often predicting and foreknowing his deeds for the next day. What is this other than the rational soul, which reflects in a person and imagines what is higher than him? 32) And for those who have even reached the point of shamelessness of unreasonableness, the following will serve as strict proof. The body is mortal by nature; Why does a person think about immortality, and often, out of love for virtue, bring death upon himself? Or, the body is temporary; Why does man imagine the eternal, and therefore neglects what is under his feet, but desires the eternal? The body itself cannot think of anything like this; it would not even think about what is outside it; because it is mortal and temporary. There must be something else that would think about the opposite and unnatural body. So, what will it be again if not a rational and immortal soul? Not from the outside, but inside the body, like a musician on the lyre, she produces the most perfect sounds. Again, it is natural for the eye to look, and for the ear to listen; Why do they turn away from one and choose the other? Who turns away the eye from seeing? Or who has the ability to hear by nature to hear? Or who not infrequently withholds from the natural desire the taste which is by nature appointed for tasting? Who forbids you to touch a hand that is active by nature? And the sense of smell, given for the perception of odors, who prevents them from taking them into themselves? Who produces this contrary to what is natural to the body? Or why does the body, turning away from what nature requires, bend to the advice of another, and is curbed by his wave? All this proves nothing more than a rational soul ruling over the body. The body does not move itself, but is set in motion and moved by others, just as a horse does not harness itself, but is forced by its owner. That is why laws are given to people - to do good and avert vice; for the dumb, devoid of rationality and thinking, even the bad remains indistinct and indistinguishable. So, I think that what has been said so far has proven that people have a rational soul. 33) But in church teaching, in order to be convinced that there should be no idols, it is necessary to know that the soul is immortal. Knowledge of this is made easier for us by knowing the body and distinguishing the soul from the body. For if in our word it is proven that the soul is not the same as the body, but the body is mortal by nature; then it is necessary for the soul to be immortal by the very fact that it is not like the body. And again, if, according to what has been proven, the soul moves the body, but itself is not set in motion by anything else; then it follows from this that the soul is self-moving, and, after putting its body into the ground, it will again set itself in motion. For it is not the soul that undergoes death, but the body that dies due to the separation of the soul from it. Therefore, if the soul were set in motion by the body, then upon separation from the mover it would have to die. And if the soul moves the body, then it is all the more necessary for it to move itself. Bringing herself into motion, she will, of necessity, live even after the death of the body; because the movement of the soul is nothing other than its life; as, without a doubt, we say about the body that then it lives when it moves, and then its death occurs when movement in it stops. But this can be seen more clearly from mental activity while the soul is still in the body. If even then, as the soul is enclosed in the body and united with it, it is not limited to the smallness of the body and is not commensurate with it; the body sometimes lies on the bed, and, as if having fallen asleep in the sleep of death, remains motionless, and the soul, by its strength, is awake, rises above the nature of the body, and although it resides in the body, it, as if transmigrating from it, imagines and contemplates what is above the earth, and not infrequently, encouraged by the purity of the mind, it soars to the saints and Angels who are outside earthly bodies and converses with them; then, having been released from the body, when it pleases the God who united her with him, will she not, even more so, and not to a greater extent, acquire the clearest knowledge of immortality? For if she who was bound by the body lived a life that was outside the body, then after the death of the body she will live all the more, and her life will not cease; because God created it this way by His Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. And she thinks and philosophizes about the immortal and eternal, because she herself is immortal. How the bodily senses, since the body is mortal, see mortal things; Thus, the soul, contemplating the immortal and thinking about the immortal, must itself be immortal and live forever. For the concepts and contemplations of immortality will never leave her, remaining in her and serving, as it were, as an incentive to maintain immortality. Therefore, the soul has the concept of contemplating God, and it becomes a path for itself, not borrowing from outside, but from within itself, drawing knowledge and understanding about God the Word. 34) And therefore we affirm (as has already been said before) that the pagans, just as they have renounced God and bow to inanimate things, so, thinking about themselves that there is no rational soul in them, and classifying themselves among the dumb, in this very same way they are punished for their madness. And therefore, as inanimate, reverent before inanimate things, they are worthy of compassion and guidance. If they are confident (as in the right to be confident) that there is a soul in them, and have a high concept of their rationality; then why, as if not having a soul, do they dare to act contrary to reason, do not philosophize as they should philosophize, but put themselves above the Divine? For they themselves, having an immortal and invisible soul, liken God to visible and mortal things. Or why, just as they have retreated from God, will they not again resort to Him? Just as their thoughts turned away from God, and they began to imagine non-existent things as gods, so they can rise in the mind of their souls and turn to God again. It will be possible for them to turn to God if they cast off the filth of all lust in which they have clothed themselves, and wash themselves to such an extent that they reject everything that is alien to the soul and that has entered into it, and present it as pure from all impurities, as it was created; and thus they will come to the state of contemplating in it the Father's Word, according to which they were created in the beginning. For the soul was created in the image and likeness of God, as the Divine Scripture makes clear about this, speaking on behalf of God: “Let us make man in our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26). Therefore, when the soul casts off all the filth of sin that has been poured out on it, and preserves within itself one pure image, then (as it should be) with its enlightenment, as in a mirror, it contemplates in it the image of the Father - the Word, and in the Word understands the Father, whose image is the Savior. Or, if the teaching of the soul is not enough, because its mind is darkened by external things, and it does not see the best; that knowledge of God can also be borrowed from the visible; because the creation, through order and harmony, as if in writing, makes it clear and proclaims its Lord and Creator. 35) God is good, loving of mankind, caring for the souls He created; and because by nature He is invisible and incomprehensible, above all created essence, and the human race, which came from nothing, would not have achieved knowledge of the uncreated Him; That is why He Himself brought creation with His Word into such a structure that He, invisible by nature, could be known by people even through deeds. For it is not uncommon for an artist to be discovered from work whom we have never seen. They say, for example, about the sculptor Phidias that his works, by their proportionality and mutual correspondence of parts, show Phidias in themselves, although he is not in front of the audience. So, from the order in the world, one can know the Creator and Creator, God, although He is invisible to bodily eyes. No one dares to say that God used the invisibility of His nature to harm us, and left Himself completely unknowable to people. On the contrary, according to what was said above, He brought creation into such a structure that, although invisible by nature, it is nevertheless known from deeds. And I don’t say this on my own behalf, but this is what I was taught by the Theologians; and one of them, Paul, writes to the Romans: “For what is invisible from the creation of the world has been thought by the created things to be visible” (Rom. 1:20), and with boldness says to the Lycaonians: “And we are men subservient to you, bringing good news to you from these vanities, that you should turn to the living God, who created the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them: Who in the past generation left all tongues to walk in their ways: and therefore did not leave Himself untestified, doing good, giving us rain from heaven, and giving us fruitful times, filling our hearts with food and joy” (Acts 14:15-17). For, looking at the celestial circle, at the course of the sun and moon, at the positions and rotations of other stars, which occur differently and in opposite directions, however, in such a way that, despite all the diversity, the same order is observed by the stars - who would not come to the thought that they did not bring themselves into order, but there is another Creator who brings them into order? And looking at the sun that rises daily, at the moon, which appears at night, according to an unchanging law, in exactly the same number of days, decreasing and increasing, also at the stars, some of which wander and change their course in various ways. and others move in an inexorable direction - who does not form the idea that, without a doubt, there is a Creator who rules over them? 36) Also, seeing that things that are opposite in nature are united and are in harmonious harmony, for example, fire and cold, and dryness and moisture are dissolved, and are not at enmity with each other, but as if from something united they form one body - who would not draw the conclusion that outside of these things there is the One who combined them? And seeing that winter gives way to spring, spring to summer, summer to autumn, that these seasons are opposite in nature, one cools, another scorches, one nourishes, and another depletes, however, they all equally and harmlessly serve for the benefit of people - who does not think that there is Someone more perfect than all this, and He, bringing everything into equality, rules over everyone, although you do not see Him? Or, looking at the clouds carried in the air, and at the weight of water bound in the clouds, who does not acquire the concept of the One who connected all this and commanded that it should be so? Or, looking at this earth, which by nature is very heavy, placed on water, and standing motionless on what is by nature easily movable, who does not reflect to himself that there is a God who created and arranged it? Or, seeing at times the fruitfulness of the earth, rain from the sky, flooding of rivers, the appearance of new sources, the birth of animals from dissimilar ones, while noticing that this does not always happen, but at certain times, and in general, seeing that things that are dissimilar and opposite achieve an equal and identical order between them - who does not conclude that there is a single Power, which, remaining unchanged, brought this into being, and disposes of it as it pleases Her? All these things could never have taken place or happened by themselves, due to the mutual opposition of natures. Water is naturally heavy and flows downward; clouds are light, have no heaviness and tend upward; however, we see that the clouds carry water, which is heavier than them. Also, earth is very heavy, but water is lighter; however, the heavier is supported by the lighter, and the earth does not fall down, but stands motionless. The male gender is not the same as the female; however, the sexes are united with each other, and both produce one birth of a similar living creature. In short, cold is opposite to warm, wet is opposed to dry: however, having come together, they do not have enmity among themselves, but in agreement they form one body and serve to the origin of everything. 37) So, things, which by nature are antagonistic and opposite to each other, would not have been united with each other if the Lord who bound them had not been more perfect than them, to whom even the very elements yield and obey, like slaves obedient to the ruler. Each element does not oppose the other, striving for what is inherent in its nature, but they all maintain agreement among themselves, recognizing the Lord who united them. By nature they are opposite, but by the will of the Ruler they are friendly. But if they were not brought into a single dissolution by the highest command; then how would heavy and light, or dry and wet, or round and straight, or fire with cold, or, in general, the sea with the earth, or the sun with the moon, or the stars with the sky, and the air with the clouds, flow together and unite, when each thing is not similar to the other in nature? Great confusion would occur between them; because one scorches, the other cools, one by gravity draws down, the other, on the contrary, by lightness - upward; the sun illuminates, but the air darkens. And the stars would be at enmity with each other; because some have a position above, and others below. And the night would not give way to the day, but would always remain with it in struggle and discord. And in this case, we would no longer see improvement, but disorder, not order, but disorder, not being brought into a single composition, but disunity in everything, not observing measures, but the absence of them; because, with discord and confrontation between each individual part, either everything would be destroyed, or one thing would have the upper hand. But this would again prove the disorder of the whole; because leaving something alone and deprived of the cooperation of everything else would make the whole disproportionate, just as in a body the remaining one leg and one arm will not preserve the whole body. What would the world be like if there was only one sun left in it, or one moon revolved, or there was one night, or there was always day? What harmony would there be again if only the sky remained without stars, or the stars remained without the sky? What would be the benefit if only the sea remained, and if only the earth extended without waters and without other parts of creation? How would a person, or a living creature in general, have arisen on earth, given the mutual rebellion of the elements and the predominance of one thing insufficient to form bodies? For from warmth alone, or from coldness alone, or from moisture or dryness alone, nothing in the universe could be made up; but everywhere everything would be disordered and incoherent. Even the most apparently predominant thing could not have independence without the help of other things; because with such assistance only does it have independence. 38) So, since in everything what is revealed is not disorder, but order, not lack of measure, but proportionality, not disorder, but improvement and an all-order combination of the world; then it is necessary to conclude and formulate an idea about the Lord, Who united and cemented everything, brought about agreement in everything. Although He is invisible to the eyes, the order and agreement of opposite things make it possible to understand their Ruler, Manager and King. If we see that a city inhabited by many different people, large and small, rich and poor, also old and young, men and women, is governed in good faith, and the inhabitants, although different from each other, are of the same mind: neither the rich rebel against the poor, nor the big against the small, nor the young against the old, but everyone lives evenly in peace; If, I say, we accept all this, then without a doubt we will understand that unanimity is supported by the presence of the city ruler, although we do not see him. For disorder is a sign of lack of authority, and order proves that there is a ruler. And in the body, noticing that the members agree with each other, the eye does not oppose the ear, the hand does not rebel against the leg, but each member serenely performs its service - of course, we conclude from this that there is a soul in the body, the ruler of the members, although we do not see it. Thus, seeing the order and harmony of the universe, it is necessary to imagine the Ruler of the universe, God, and, moreover, one, and not many. And the very order of world government, and harmony in everything, prove not many, but one World Ruler and Leader - the Word. If creation had many rulers; then such order would not be observed in everything, but everything would again fall into disorder, because each of the many would tilt everything towards his own intention and oppose others. As we stated above, polytheism is atheism; so plurality of command will necessarily be without command. Since each destroys the power of the other, then no one will be in charge, but everyone will be without authority. And where there is no boss, there will certainly be disorder. And vice versa, a single order and unanimity of many and different prove that they have one boss. If someone from a distance hears a lyre on which there are many different strings, and marvels at their harmonious harmony, because the sound is not the one string with a thick sound, and not the one with a thin sound, and not the one with a medium sound, but they all sound in equal proportion to each other; then, of course, he will conclude from this that the lyre does not set itself in motion, and that not many strike the strings, but one is a musician, although you do not see him, and with his art he dissolves the sound of each string into a single harmonious harmony. Thus, since in the whole world there is an all-order order, neither the upper one rebels against the lower one, nor the lower one against the higher one, but everything strives for one order; then one should imagine not many, but one Ruler and King of all creation, Who illuminates everything with His light and sets it in motion. 39) One should not think that creation has many rulers and creators; but it is in accordance with strict piety and truth to believe in its only Creator, which is clearly demonstrated by the creation itself. For a reliable sign that there is one Creator of the universe is that there are not many worlds, but one. If there were many gods; then it would be necessary for there to be many worlds, and they should be different. It would be indecent for many to create one world, and for one world to be the creation of many, due to the inconsistencies that open up in this. First, if one world came from many; it would show the powerlessness of those who created; because one thing was accomplished by many, and this is an important sign that the bringing together of each in the work of creation was not perfect. For if one were enough, then many would not make up for mutual shortcomings. To say that there is a flaw in God is not only impious, but also extremely lawless. And people will call an artist weak, and not perfect, if he can accomplish one thing not alone, but only together with many. And if everyone could complete the whole, they still produced him to participate in the matter; then it would be ridiculous to assume that everyone acted for glory, so that they would not suspect him of powerlessness; and again, to attribute vanity to the Gods is very absurd. Moreover, if each one had enough strength to create the whole, then what is the need for many, where one is enough for everything? And on the other hand, it would be impious and absurd to assume that there is one creation, but there are many who created, and they are different; because, by natural reason, the one and perfect is better than the different. It is also necessary to know that if the world were produced by many, it would have different and dissimilar movements; because, having its own relationship to each of those who created, it would have as many different movements. From the difference, as was said before, disorder and disorder would again occur in everything. And a ship, steered by many, will not sail straight until one helmsman takes control of its helm. And the lyre, whose strings are struck by many, will not make consonant sounds until one skilled person strikes them. So, since there is one creation, there is one world, and there is one order in it; then we must imagine the one King and Creator of the Lord’s creation. For the Creator himself created one whole world for this purpose, so that the structure of many worlds would not lead to the idea of ​​many Creators. Since creation is one, we believe that there is one Creator. And the world is one not because the Creator is one; God could have created other worlds. But since the created world is one, it is necessary to believe that there is one Creator. 40) Who is this Creator - this is most important to understand and say affirmatively, so that others, misled by ignorance of this, do not consider someone else to be the Creator, and therefore do not again fall into the same atheism as the pagans. I think that no one has a wavering opinion about this. For if in our word it is shown that the so-called gods by the poets are not gods, and those who deify creation are exposed in error, in general it is proven that pagan idolatry is godlessness and wickedness; then, after the abolition of idols, it is absolutely necessary, finally, for our faith to be pious, and for God, Whom we worship and Whom we preach, to be the one and true God, the Lord of creation and the Creator of every being. Who is this, if not the all-holy and supreme Father of Christ, above all created beings? He, as the best helmsman, with His own Wisdom and His own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, savesly governs and disposes of everything in the world, and does everything as He Himself recognizes as best. And it is beautiful, how quickly it was created, and we see what was created, because this too pleases Him. And no one should doubt this. For if the movement of the creature were not rational, and the universe rushed about as it was; then someone else could rightly not believe what we affirm. If creation is brought into being by word, wisdom and knowledge, and there is order in the whole world; then it is necessary for the abbot and builder of this to be none other than the Word of God. But I do not call by word that which is embedded and innate in each of the created things, and which others are accustomed to call seminal; such a word is inanimate, does not think about anything, does not represent anything, but acts only by external art, in accordance with the knowledge of the person putting it. Also, I do not mean a word that has the verbal human gender, not a word combined from syllables and imprinted in the air. But I mean the living and active God, the original Word of the Good and the God of all, the Word, which is different from created things and from every creature, and is the own and only Word of the Good Father, who brought this universe into order and illuminates it with His providence. As the good Word of the good Father, It improved the order of the universe, combining opposite with opposite and arranging from this a single agreement. Like God's power and God's wisdom, It rotates the sky, and having hung the earth supported by nothing, it raised it with His wave. For them the sun became luminous and illuminates the universe. From Him the moon has its measure of light. By him the water is suspended on the clouds, and the rains flood the earth, and the sea is enclosed within limits, and the earth is adorned with all kinds of plants and produces greenery. If any unbeliever, hearing what we affirm, asked: is God’s Word really there? – then by doubting God’s Word he would show his madness. Meanwhile, he has visible proof that everything came into being through God’s Word and God’s Wisdom, and nothing created would have been established if it had not, as has been said, been brought about by the Word and the Word of God. 41) But, being the Word, It, as has been said, is not combined from syllables, like a human word, but is the unchangeable image of His Father. People are composed of parts and created from nothing; They have a word that is both composed and decomposed. But God is He and is not complex; therefore His Word is He; It is not complicated, but there is one and Only Begotten God and the Good One, who came from the Father, as if from a good source; It brings everything into the device and contains it. And truly wonderful is the reason why the Word, and God’s Word, descended to created things; it shows that it would have been indecent to have done this differently, and not in the way it actually happens. The nature of created things, as having come from nothing, taken in itself, is something fluid, weak, mortal. The God of all is by nature good and above all kindness, and therefore loving of mankind; because in goodness there can be no envy towards anyone. Therefore, He does not envy anyone in existence, but wants everyone to enjoy existence, and He can show His love for mankind to everyone. So, seeing that every created nature, as much as it depends on the reasons contained in it, is something fluid and disintegrating, in the end, so that the universe would not undergo destruction and would not be resolved again into non-existence, having created everything with His eternal Word and realizing the creation, He did not allow it to be carried away and overwhelmed by its own nature, from which it would be in danger of again falling into non-existence, but how the Good One controls the universe and supports it in being by His Word, Who is Himself God, so that creation, illuminated by the dominion, providence and good order of the Word, could stand firmly in being, as a participant in what truly exists from the Father of the Word, and assisted by Him in being, and would not be subjected to what it could have been subjected to (i.e., non-existence) if it had not been observed God the Word, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: for by Him and in Him are all things, visible and invisible, created: and He is the head of the Church” (Col. 1:15-18), as the servants of truth teach in the Holy Scriptures. 42) This omnipotent, all-perfect, holy Father's Word, descending into the universe, spread His powers everywhere, illuminating both the visible and the invisible, containing and holding together everything in Himself, leaving nothing devoid of His power, but reviving and preserving everything in everything, and every thing in particular, and suddenly everything in the aggregate, the principles of every sensory essence, such as: heat, cold, moisture and dryness, dissolving into one, makes It not opposing, but producing one consonant harmony. By Him and by His power it is done that fire does not oppose cold, and humidity does not oppose dryness, but on the contrary, these, in themselves opposite elements, coming together as friendly and related, produce visible things from themselves and serve as the principles of the existence of bodies. By submitting to this God - the Word, other things are brought to life on earth, and others are realized in heaven. By His power, according to what was said above, the entire sea and the great ocean move within their own limits, and all the land is clothed with greenery and decorated with all kinds of plants. And in order not to waste time, naming each known thing specifically, I will say: of all that exists and happens, there is nothing that happened and took place not in the Word and not by the Word, as the Theologian says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was to God, and God was the Word. All things were by Him, and without Him they were nothing” (John 1:1.3). Just as a musician, having tuned a lyre, and skillfully combining thick sounds with thin ones, and medium sounds with others, produces the one required sweet voice: so the Word - God's Wisdom, holding the universe like a lyre, and what is in the air, bringing together what is on earth, and what is in heaven - with what is in the air, combining the whole with parts, and turning with His wave and will, beautifully and harmoniously produces a single world and a single order in the world; He himself remains motionless with the Father, and sets everything in motion by His condescension into the universe, so that every thing would be pleasing to His Father. For in this is revealed the wonderful action of His Divinity, that with one and the same wave, not at different times, but suddenly, and all together, straight and round, upper, middle, lower, wet, cold, warm, visible and invisible, it converts and brings into order, in accordance with the nature of each thing. For with one and the same wave of His the straight moves as straight, the round turns as round, and the middle is set in motion as it is, the warm is warmed, the dry is dried, and everything, in accordance with its nature, is revived and brought into being by Him; and in this way it produces a certain wonderful, and truly divine, harmony. 43) And in order to understand this from an example, imagine what we are affirming in the likeness of a larger face of those singing. The face consists of different people, children and wives, old people and also young people; suddenly, one person controlling the face gives a sign, and everyone sings according to their abilities and strengths, husband like husband, child like child, old like old, and young like young; but all together they produce one harmonious song. Or imagine how our soul at the same time sets our senses in motion, in accordance with the activity of each, and how soon one object appears, all the senses are put into action, the eye sees, the ear hears, the hand touches, the sense of smell takes in the smell, the taste tastes, and not rarely, other parts of the body begin to act, for example, the legs - to walk. Or let us explain what we assert with a third example. Most of all, this is likened to a large well-maintained city, which is governed by the presence of a ruler and king who brings it into being. As soon as the king appears, gives an order, turns his attention to everything, everyone obeys him; some rush to cultivate the land, others to draw water from water pipes, some go to sow, some go to the council, some enter the church, the judge goes to judge, the city governor to give laws, the artist hastily gets to work, the sailor goes to the sea, the carpenter goes to a construction site, the doctor goes to heal, the architect goes to create, and one goes to the field, the other comes from the field, some do business in the city, others leave from cities and return to it again. Nevertheless, this is carried out and arranged by the presence of one city ruler and his command. Although this example is small, however, in the same way, in the most sublime concept, one must imagine the whole creature. By the single impulse of God’s Word, everything is brought together into order; each thing accomplishes what is peculiar to it, but in general a single order is fulfilled by all. 44) For by the wave and forces of the ruler and sovereign in the universe of God and the Father's Word, the sky rotates, the stars move, the sun appears, the moon rotates, the air is illuminated by the sun, the ether is warmed, the winds blow, the mountains raise their peaks to heights, the sea is agitated and nourishes living creatures, the earth, remaining motionless, bears fruit, man is formed, lives and then dies; in a word, everything becomes animated and moves, fire burns, water cools, springs flow, rivers flood, years and seasons flow by, rain falls, clouds accumulate, hail falls, snow and ice harden, birds fly, reptiles creep, those who live in the waters swim, the sea carries ships, the earth is sown, and at a certain time it is covered with greenery, sprouting trees, some are renewed, some mature, others, having reached perfect age, grow old and die, one disappears, another is born and appears. Yet this and much more, which in its multitude we cannot even describe, the wondrous and miraculous Word of God, illuminating and reviving, with His wave sets in motion and improvement, creating a single world, and not leaving the invisible Forces outside of Itself; because the Creator, being one as a whole, also contains and revives them with His wave and providence. And nothing can justify not believing this. For just as by providence Words and bodies grow, and the rational soul moves, thinks and lives (there is no need to give much evidence for this, because we see this in practice); so again, the Word of God, with one and simple wave, by His power, sets in motion and contains both this visible world and invisible Forces, imparting to each being its characteristic activity. Why are divine Forces set in motion divinely, and visible things - how we see it. The Leader and King of everything, confirming everything with Himself, does everything for the glory and knowledge of His Father, and by the deeds that He does, he seems to teach and say: “from the majesty and beauty of creatures, the relative Creator is known” (Wisdom 13:5). 45) How, having looked at the sky and examined its decoration and the light of the stars, we should ascend in thought to the Word, by which everything is brought into order; Thus, imagining with our minds the Word of God, it is necessary for us to imagine His Father God, from Whom proceeding the Word is rightly called the interpreter and Angel of His Father. We can see this in ourselves. When a word comes from a person: we conclude that the source of the word is thought, and delving into it, we see the thought signified by the word; all the more, in the highest ideas and in incomparable superiority, seeing the power of the Word, we form for ourselves the concept of His good Father, as the Savior himself says: “He who has seen Me, has seen the form of My Father” (John 14:9). But all the inspired Scripture preaches this more clearly and to a greater extent, based on which I am writing this to you; therefore, reading this, you can believe what I said; for the word confirmed by many has indisputable proof. So, from ancient times, God’s Word protected the Jewish people, speaking about the destruction of idols: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness, like the tree in heaven, or the tree below on earth” (Ex. 20:4). The reason for the destruction of idols is seen in another place, saying: “Idols have a tongue of silver and gold, the work of men’s hands: they have lips, and do not speak; they have eyes, and do not see; they have ears, and do not hear; they have nostrils, and do not smell; they have hands, and do not touch them; they have noses, and do not walk” (Ps. 113, 12–15 ). Nor did it pass in silence the doctrine of creation; on the contrary, knowing well the beauty of creatures, so that others, looking at them, not as the work of God, because of their beauty, would not begin to bow to them as gods, he prevents people, saying: “Let them not look at their eyes, and see the sun and the moon, and all the beauty of heaven, and be deceived by worshiping them, which the Lord your God has divided with all the tongue that is under heaven” (Deut. 4:19). He divided it not so that these creatures would be the gods of the pagan peoples, but so that, as has been said, from their actions the pagans would know the Creator of the universe, God. From ancient times, the Jewish people had the most complete teaching, because they received knowledge about God not only from the works of creation, but also from the Divine Scriptures. And in general, distracting people from the delusion of idols and from the unreasonable idea of ​​​​the gods, Scripture says: “let you not be gods other than Me” (Ex. 20: 3). Forbids people to have other gods, not because others are really gods, but so that, having turned away from the true God, they do not begin to deify the non-existent; and these are those called gods by poets and historians, about whom it has been proven that they are not gods. And the very manner of expression shows that they are not gods; it is said: “let there be no gods for you”; what does future tense mean? and what will happen in the future, when this is said, does not yet exist. 46) Having destroyed pagan or idolatrous atheism, did the divine teaching fall silent, did it allow the human race to be taught by those who were not at all involved in the knowledge of God? No; but on the contrary, it precedes this thought, saying: “Hear to Israel: the Lord your God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4). And again: “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength” (Deut. 6:5). And one more thing: worship the Lord your God, “Serve Him alone, and cleave to Him” (Deut. 6:13). And that all inspired Scripture testifies to the providence and the good order of the Word, which extends to everything and in everything; sufficient proof of what is affirmed is now the faith in the Word with which the Theologians say: “Thou hast founded the earth, and it abideth. The day endures through Your teaching” (Psalm 119:90–91) And again: “Sing to our God with the harp: to him who clothes the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains and grain to serve man, who gives food to livestock” (Psalm 146:7–9). Through whom does it give? Is it not through Him by Whom all things were created? For he who created it, according to the natural order, provides for everything. Who is this if not God’s Word, about whom in another Psalm he says: “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power” (Psalm 33:6)? He confirms that everything was created about Him and by Him, which he assures us of, saying: “He commanded it, and it was created” (Psalm 32:9); just as the great Moses confirms the same thing, at the beginning of the universe, explaining what was said, and saying: “And God said: Let us make man in Our image and likeness” (Gen. 1:26); because, while completing the creation of heaven, earth and everything, the Father said to Him: let there be heaven; let the waters gather, and let the dry land appear, and let the earth bring forth grass and every animal; therefore, it is possible to expose the Jews as using the Scriptures incorrectly. For they will ask them: with whom does God speak when He speaks and when He commands? If he commanded the creatures and talked with them; the word was in vain; the creatures did not exist yet, but were just about to happen. No one talks to something that doesn’t exist. No one commands or speaks to something that has not yet happened, so that it happens. If God commanded what would happen; then one should say: be it, heaven; be, earth; grow, grass; be created, man. Now he has not yet created this, but commands, saying: “Let us create man,” and: “Let the grass grow,” which shows that God is talking about this with Someone close to Him. Therefore, it is necessary that there should be someone with Him, with whom, by conversing, He created the universe. Who is this if not His Word? With whom (let them say) should God talk, if not with His Word? Or who was with Him when He created every created being, if not His Wisdom, Who says: when He created heaven and earth, “I was with Him” (Proverbs 8:27). The name heaven and earth includes everything created in heaven and on earth. Being with the Father, as Wisdom, and looking at Him, as the Word, He creates, brings into being and arranges the universe, and as the power of the Father supports in being the entire totality of creatures, as the Savior says: everything that I see the Father creating, I also create (John 5:19); and His sacred Disciples teach: “Everything about Him... was” (Col. 1:16). He, as a good birth from the Good and as the true Son, is the Father’s Power and Wisdom and the Word, and all this is not by communion, not because this is given to Him externally, as it is given to His partakers, who become wise through Him, and through Him are made strong and intelligent; but because He is the source Wisdom, the source Word, the source, actually the Father, Power, the source Light, the source Truth, the source Truth, the source Virtue, Imprint, Radiance, Image; in short, the all-perfect fruit of the Father, the only Son, the unchangeable Image of the Father. 47) And who, who will honor the Father in order to find the power of His Word? For, just as He is the Father’s Word and the Father’s Wisdom, so condescending to creatures, for their knowledge and understanding of the One who gave birth, He becomes for them a source of shrine, a source of life, a Door, a Shepherd, a path, a King, a Leader, a Savior in everything, a life-giving Light and a common providence for all. Having this good and creative Son from Himself, the Father did not hide Him unknown to creatures. but daily reveals Him to all; because by Him everything stands and lives. And in Him and through Him the Father reveals Himself, as the Savior says: “I am in the Father, and the Father in Me” (John 14:10); why it is necessary for the Word to be in the Begotten, and the Begotten to be the co-eternal Father. But despite all this, when nothing exists independently of the Father’s Word, and heaven and earth and everything that is on them depend on Him, foolish people, having rejected the knowledge of Him and piety, preferred non-existent to existing; instead of the truly existing God, they deified the non-existent, serving the creature instead of the Creator, and doing an unreasonable and evil thing. This is the same as if someone marveled at the works of an artist, and, amazed by the buildings in the city, began to trample underfoot the creator himself, or began to praise the Musikian instrument, but rejected the one who composed and configured it. Truly, these are foolish and blind people! How else would we recognize a house, a ship, a lyre, if the ship was not built by a shipbuilder, the house was not erected by an architect, and the lyre was not made by a musician? Therefore, just as anyone who denies this is insane and even higher than any madman, so, in my opinion, those who do not recognize God and do not honor His Word, the common Savior and Lord of our Jesus Christ, are not sound in mind, - the Word by which the Father orders and maintains everything, and provides for everything in the universe. And you, lover of Christ, having faith in Him and piety, rejoice and be trustworthy that the fruit of faith in Him will be immortality and the kingdom of heaven, if only the soul orders itself well according to His laws. For just as those who live according to His commandments are rewarded with eternal life, so those who follow the opposite path, and not the path of virtue, will face great shame and inevitable danger on the day of judgment, because, knowing the path of truth, they did the opposite of what they knew. According to the teachings of Zeno and the Stoics, just as God is called the seed-bearing word (ὁ Λόγος σπερματικός), so the beginnings of all created things, put into them by God, are called seed-bearing words (ὁ λόγοι σπερματικόι ). You might be interested in: