Идол

I would like to climb to the top of a high tower and roar loudly to all the inhabitants of the earth: “Mortal men! Builders of something that does not exist! How long will you be deceived and deceived by false dreams that are visible in reality and wander the earth without a goal? Wise servants of idols! You intended to appoint obscene gods as patrons of your passions: liars, murderers, obstinates, perjurers, predators, androgynes, 99 adulterers, homosexuals. Look into how many species the very first of them turned into in order to satisfy his debauchery 100. He was an ox, a swan, gold, a snake, a husband, a bear, and took on any form required by a weak child - the impatient Eros, as the creators of these powerless gods themselves assure. But this is not enough; You honor your own passions with sacrifices, and for each vice you have a special intercessor, so that every sin not only remains unpunished, but is even considered a good deed, because the one who honors it pleases God. Consider another horde of notorious helpers - these horned ififals, without a neck, up to half of the body - snakes, animal-like, combining in themselves the members of various animals, monsters worthy of laughter! - Oh, if only they could see such children as they honor the gods! Oh, if only they became the same helpers for their friends, or if they themselves met the same helpers when an enemy threatens them, what helpers for their vices do they have in these gods (2)! Although for others (not without reason pious people think so) Athens is soul-destroying, because it abounds in evil wealth - idols, of which there are more there than in the whole of Hellas, so that it is difficult not to be carried away by others who defend and praise them, however, there was no harm from them for us 101, who squeezed and blocked our hearts. On the contrary (if it is necessary to say something that is somewhat common), while living in Athens, we were confirmed in the faith, because we learned the deceitfulness and deceit of idols, and there we learned to despise demons, where they are amazed at them. And if there really is, or in one popular belief there is, such a river that is sweet when it flows through the sea, and such an animal that jumps in the fire that destroys everything, then we were like this among our peers (2). Androgyne is a creature that combines both sexes: male and female. – Approx. ed. This means Zeus. – Approx. ed. St. Gregory the Theologian and Basil the Great. – Approx. ed. You might be interested in: