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I. About the purpose of writing Stromat (1, 1) “...So that you have them at hand for reading and can keep them” 1. Shouldn't leaving behind written works be allowed at all or only for some? If the former is true, then does the written word have any value? If we prefer the second, then to whom - serious writers or insignificant ones? It would be ridiculous, while denying such a right to efficient people, to accept the works of worthless writers. (2) Are we really going to allow the myth-making and blasphemy of Theopompus and Timaeus, together with the founder of atheism, Epicurus, or the obscenity of Hipponactus and Archilochus, and forbid the preacher of truth to leave a useful work to future generations? Leaving behind worthy offspring is a good deed. Children inherit physical life, but books are the spiritual heritage that will continue our work after us. (3) We call our mentors fathers. Wisdom is open and humane to everyone. Therefore, Solomon says: “My son, if, having accepted the words of my commandment, you hide my commandments within yourself, then your ear will listen to wisdom” (Prov. 2:1-2). This means that the word must be perceived by the soul of the student as a seed by the earth. And this is what spiritual growth consists of. (2, 1) Therefore he adds: “And you will turn your heart to understanding, you will turn it to teach your son” (Prov. 2:2). This means that the soul comes into contact with the soul, and the mind with the mind of another, through the medium of the word, sowing in the other mind, causing the seed to grow and reviving it. A student who obeys the teacher becomes like a son to him. “My son,” says Solomon, “do not forget my statutes” (Proverbs 3:1). (2) But since gnosis is not for everyone (cf. 1 Cor. 8:7), then our writings are for the majority, as the proverb says, like a lyre for a donkey. Pigs prefer mud to clean water 2. (3) About this the words of the Lord: “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, and do not understand” (Matthew 13:13). This does not mean that God is responsible for the ignorance of the crowd (it would be wicked to think so). Prophetically penetrating souls, He hints that their foolishness will soon manifest itself, and they will be unable to understand His words. (3, 1) The Savior comes in person, in his excessive generosity εκ περιουσίας giving gifts to slaves, each according to his abilities (which can be increased by exercise). But he returns and demands an account, approving of those who multiplied the good given to him, “proving to be faithful in small things.” Thus he promises to “put them above the greater,” allowing them to “the joys of the master.” (2) And to the one who hid the silver entrusted to him, did not give it back at interest and returned it back without any profit, he says: “You wicked and lazy servant! You should have given my silver to the moneylenders, and when I came I would have received mine” (Matthew 25:26–27). For this, the lazy slave is thrown “into outer darkness” (Matthew 22:13, 25:30). (3) “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also,” says Paul (2 Tim. 2:1–2). (4) And again: “Be diligent to present yourself to God as a workman approved, diligently and faithfully dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). (4:1) So, if you see two people, one of whom preaches in writing, and the other in word, accept them both, for both of them prove their faith in deeds through love. And God is not to blame if any of them made the wrong choice. The calling of some is to give their word at the rate, while the task of others is to evaluate it and decide whether to follow it or not. And their judgment will be the first assessment. (2) To impart knowledge in preaching is to serve as a messenger of God. And it brings benefits regardless of whether it is transmitted by hand or orally. “For he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life; Let us not grow weary in doing good” (Gal. 6:8–9). (3) He who is called by Divine Providence to engage in the work of preaching becomes the owner of the greatest benefits, for he acts according to faith, bringing his good will into civil life, striving for truth, research and teaching in search of gnosis. In a word, through his labors he gives others the means and opportunity for salvation. Nourished by true knowledge of this kind, they come to life for eternal life and soar to heaven. (4) The apostle spoke an amazing word about them. “In everything,” he says, “we show ourselves as servants of God. We are poor, but we enrich many; we have nothing, but we possess everything. Our mouth is open to you” (2 Cor. 6:4, 10:11). “I charge you,” he says in his letter to Timothy, “before God and Jesus Christ and the chosen angels to keep this without prejudice, doing nothing out of partiality” (1 Tim. 5:21). (5, 1) It is necessary, therefore, for both of them to test themselves: some whether they are worthy of having their words and writings preserved in the memory of posterity; others, whether they should listen and read all this. Things here are the same as during the Eucharist. After all, usually everyone is left to decide for themselves whether they should take part in it or not. (2) In any case, a positive or negative answer to everyone is given by his conscience. And for a clear conscience, the best support is a right life, supported by a similar teaching. The best way to understand the truth of a teaching is achieved through following others who have already experienced it in practice. (3) “Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man first examine himself, and only then let him eat of this bread and drink of this cup” (1 Cor. 11:27–28). (6, 1) From what has been said, it follows that anyone who undertakes to serve his neighbor with a word should first judge whether he is one of those who has the benefit of his neighbor in mind. Let him ask himself whether he began teaching too hastily, whether he was spreading his teaching out of rivalry with someone or out of ambition? Does he consider his only reward to be the good of his listeners? The written word must be free from flattery and remain incorruptible. (2) “For never,” says the apostle, “we had before you neither words of flattery, as you know, nor forms of self-interest: God is my witness! We do not seek human glory either from you or from others. And although we could crush you with our authority, like the apostles of Christ; but they took care of you just as a nurse takes care of her children” (1 Thess. 2:5–7). (3) For the same reason, those who are disposed to accept divine utterances should beware of simple curiosity, characteristic of idle tourists gawking at city attractions. In the same way, let no one come with the expectation of earthly and transitory benefits, having heard that those who have dedicated themselves to Christ share with others everything necessary for life. These are hypocrites, let's forget about them. If you want to “not just seem righteous, but really be” 3, leave room in your mind only for higher thoughts. (7, 1) If “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (cf. Matt. 9:37, Luke 10:2), then one should pray that there will be as many workers as possible. Cultivation of the field is possible in two ways: by spoken word or written word. But no matter what method the Lord’s worker chooses when sowing noble wheat, no matter how he grows the ears and no matter how he reaps the harvest, he will remain a divine farmer. (2) “Do not worry about food that perishes,” says the Lord, “but about food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). You can be satisfied with both bread and words. As for the latter, truly “blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), who with sound teaching guide those wandering through life on the true path. By communicating this teaching to them, they free them from the darkness of ignorance, direct them to peace, which is given by the word, and by accustoming them to life according to the Divine law, i.e. by providing them with bread, they satisfy these souls “hungry for righteousness” (cf. Matthew 5:6). (3) Some minds, however, prefer a different diet, feeding on various scientific knowledge or Greek philosophy, although not all nuts of this kind are edible. (4) “He who plants and he who waters,” both being servants of the one who grows, “are one” in their service, and “each will receive his reward according to his labor. For we are God’s co-workers, and you are God’s field and God’s building,” as the apostle says (1 Cor. 3:8-9). (8, 1) But it is not proper for listeners to judge the truth of a teaching by comparing it with others, nor to submit it for examination to those who are skilled in the art of argumentation and extol its power in every possible way. Such people approach any task already having a prejudice about everything in the world, instead of cleansing their souls of prejudices. (2) He who has chosen a type of food by the power of his faith already has clear criteria for making this or that judgment and is ready to accept the divine word. From this abundant source, conviction arises and grows stronger. The words of the prophet speak about this: “If you do not believe, you will not understand” (Is. 7:9). “Therefore, while we have time, let us do good to all, but especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10). (3) Let every faithful repeat with blessed David: “Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed; wash me, and I will become whiter than snow. You give joy and gladness to my hearing, and humble bones will rejoice. Turn Your face away from my sins and blot out my iniquities. (4) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your face and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your deliverance and strengthen me with a sovereign spirit” (Ps. 50:9-14). (9, 1) He who addresses those present directly has the opportunity to test the listeners with time and decide which of them is able to understand his words in order to separate them from the rest. He listens to their speech, watches their behavior, observes their habits, lifestyle, gestures, behavior, appearance, voice, or, as they say, sees the ruggedness and rockiness of the place, the suitability of the path, the fertility of the soil, its forest cover, suitability for growing certain cereals, cultivation and fertility 4. (2) The one who expresses his thoughts in writing can only appeal to God, convincing him that he wrote this not for the sake of profit, not out of vanity, not overcome by another passion, not out of slavish fear and not for pleasure, but his only joy was the confidence that his words will help his readers achieve salvation. And he himself does not claim immediate salvation, but only hopes for constant reward from the hands of the one who promised to reward the workers with a payment worthy of their labors. (3) An adult husband should not be virtuous for the sake of reward. He who boasts of the good he has done already receives a well-deserved reputation for this. Doesn't he who performs his work for the sake of a bribe or out of a desire to avoid punishment thereby demonstrate adherence to worldly customs? One should imitate the Lord as much as possible. (4) He who fully cooperates with God’s will, having received freely, gives freely (Matthew 10:8). He receives a great reward for fulfilling his civic duty. “Let not the wages of a harlot enter into the sanctuary,” says the Lord (Deut. 23:2, 18). (10, 1) It is forbidden to bring “bitch money” to the church. Those who have not yet completely darkened their “inner vision” with the light of their own bad education and prejudices, let them follow the truth, which through the written word leads to things that are inexpressible in writing. “You who thirst, come to the water,” says Isaiah (Isaiah 55:1). And Solomon urges: “Drink water from your springs” (Prov. 5:15). (2) Therefore, Plato, who follows the Jews in his philosophy, advises farmers in the Laws not to irrigate their fields with water from canals and not to borrow water from their neighbors without first trying to get to the bottom of the so-called virgin layer on their land and without finally being convinced that this layer is waterless 5 . (3) It is not good to refuse help, but to encourage laziness is even worse. It was in this regard that Pythagoras said that it is permissible to help others lift a burden, but no one is obliged to help lift it. (4) Scripture ignites the spark smoldering in our soul, awakening its natural capacity for contemplation, at the same time instilling, like a gardener, certain new qualities, and activating its natural powers. (5) “Many of you,” according to the apostle, “are weak and sick, and many are dying. For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:30–31). (11, 1) This work is not a rhetorical exercise for public performance, but is rather a memoir collected for old age, a remedy for oblivion, an imperfect image and sketch of the living and spiritual speeches of the blessed and memorable men whom I had the honor of listening to. 2 Of these, one, an Ionian, was a native of Greece, the rest from Magna Graecia. Namely, one was from the Syrian valley (τη κοιλης Συριας), the other from Egypt. Finally, two were from the east, one from Assyria, the other, a Jew, from Palestine. I stayed with this last one, who, however, surpassed everyone in his abilities, having found him in his secluded place in Egypt 6 . He was truly like the Sicilian bee 7 . Collecting honey from the prophetic and apostolic meadow, he imprinted pure and holy wisdom in the souls of his listeners. (3) All of them were guardians of the true tradition and blessed teaching, received directly from the holy apostles Peter, James, John and Paul, inheriting it as sons from their father (even though few sons resemble their fathers), and planting in our souls, by the grace of God, the seeds bequeathed by their apostolic teachers. (12, 1) I am sure that for my readers it will not be my writing itself that will be of great value, but precisely those memories that it is intended to preserve. About such a soul, which preserves tradition intact, it is said: “He who loves wisdom makes his father glad” (Proverbs 29:3). (2) Wells from which people constantly drink provide clear water, but the water from those from which no one draws spoils. Only used iron retains its shine; if left unused, it becomes covered with rust. Likewise, exercise brings health to the body and soul. (3) “No one lights a lamp to put it under a bushel” (Compare Matthew 5:15), but puts it on a candlestick so that it may give light to all who are worthy to be invited to the feast. What is the use of wisdom if it does not make wise the one who listens to it? The Savior continuously works, saving, because he sees that his Father is constantly working (cf. John 5:17–19). By teaching others, we learn ourselves, and when talking with an audience, we often listen ourselves. But there is one mentor (Matthew 23:8) for both teacher and student, and he is the true source of their understanding and teaching. (13, 1) The Lord did not prevent us from doing good even on the Sabbath day, contrary to the law (Matthew 12:12, Luke 6:9); and everyone who is able to accommodate is therefore worthy to take part in the divine mysteries, as well as in the mysteries of the holy light 8 . (2) However, this revelation was not intended for the crowd, but only for the few who were able to receive the mysteries and impress their meaning on their hearts. And these secrets, as given by God, are not trusted to the written word, but are transmitted orally. (3) If anyone objects, citing the words of Scripture: “There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing hidden that will not be known” (Matthew 10:26), let him listen to our words, because in reality it says that what is kept secret will be mysteriously revealed to those who listen, and the hidden, as the truth, will be shown only to those who are able to comprehend the hidden, since it is hidden from the majority belongs to a few. [If the truth is accessible to everyone], why has not everyone grasped it? (4) Why does not everyone strive for righteousness, if it is a common property? Secrets are spread secretly and orally, or rather not even orally, but sealed in souls. (5) “God has given to the Church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some shepherds and teachers, for equipping the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12). (14, 1) I know that these notes are too weak to convey the full power of that gracious spirit to which we have been privileged to listen. However, they will resemble the original in that they are “touched by thyrsus.” “Say to a wise man,” Scripture testifies, “and he will be wiser” (Prov. 9:9), and “to him who has, more will be given and he will have abundance” (Matthew 25:29). (2) These notes do not contain a complete interpretation of all the mysteries (I am not so arrogant!). This book is merely a reference, a way to remember in case we forget, or a reminder to prevent forgetting. I am afraid that much, nevertheless, has gone irrevocably and sunk into oblivion without being recorded in time. That is why, to make the task of my memory easier, I have compiled this life-saving memoir, organizing it thematically. 9 (3) It was not possible to remember much, for the spiritual talent of these blessed men was great. What was not included in this essay was either something that was either forgotten without being written down in time, or which faded too much in my memory with the passage of time. For it is not easy to undertake such a task for one who is not skilled in the art of writing books. Everything else, however, I diligently recorded, but some things, even those that came to my mind, I deliberately omitted, for fear of writing down what I was careful not to talk about: not out of envy (after all, it is a sin to do so), but rather out of fear that, having misled my readers, I would fully deserve the reproach for having thoughtlessly, as they say, given a sword to a minor. (4) “It is impossible that what I wrote would not receive publicity,” 10 even if I had refrained from publication. In addition, the text in the scroll says the same thing every time, and cannot answer the questions asked differently than what is written down. This means that the reader, willy-nilly, is always left without any help from both the author himself and his followers. (15, 1) I only hint at some things. Having revealed one in detail, I deign to mention the other only. Sometimes I try to speak in secret, to reveal mysteriously, or to point out in silence. (2) Here the judgments of the most famous schools will be examined and they will be contrasted with what needs to be known before approaching the mysterious gnosis revealed in contemplation (τήν έποπτικήν θεωριαν γνώσεως). This gnosis, according to the “glorious and venerable rule of tradition,” 11 will show us what has been hidden from the beginning of the world, turning first to what natural science teaches us, in order to remove everything that makes reasoning difficult, to prepare the ear for the perception of the hidden tradition, just as a farmer uses agricultural technology, clearing the earth of thorns and all kinds of weeds and preparing it for planting vines. (3) Preparing for a competition is also a competition. Likewise, what precedes a secret is also a secret. Therefore, we, without doubt, turn in our notes to philosophy and to the best of the propaedeutic sciences. (4) For it is reasonable, as the apostle says, not only to become a Jew because of the Jews and those under the law, but also to become a Greek because of the Greeks, in order to win everyone (1 Cor. 9:19-22). (5) And in the letter to the Colossians he writes: “We admonish every man and teach him all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ” (Col. 1:28). (16, 1) This collection of notes is well suited for thoughtful reading. And good borrowings from other useful sciences are a kind of seasoning, which is mixed into the athlete’s food to induce hunger, not for the sake of pleasure, but because of his desire for honors. By singing we soften excessive solemnity, making the music more harmonious. (2) But just as those who wish to address the people often use the services of a herald, so that their words sound louder, so we are forced (since we have to speak with many people before we turn to the true tradition) to use the opinions and language that they are accustomed to hear, in order to attract more listeners in this way. (3) In short, just as among many small pearls only one is remarkable, and just as among many fish in a cage there is only one goldfish (κάλλιχθυς) 12, so time, labor and adequate help reveal one truth. For God sends us most of his blessings through people. (17, 1) Although everyone is equally gifted with vision, we do not look at things the same way, but from different points of view. The cook and the shepherd see the same sheep differently. One asks if she is fat; another looks to see if he is purebred; one milks her to make food from the milk, the other shears her hair when she needs clothing. (2) In a similar way, I will also benefit from the fruits of Greek education. There is, I think, not a single book so successful that will not encounter objections and opposition. Therefore, the book to which there are no fundamental objections should also be considered sound. Approval is given not only to those deeds and teachings that do not meet with attack, but also to those that at least do not raise fundamental objections. (3) If a person was unable to immediately carry out a well-planned task, this does not mean that he is in captivity of circumstances. If he continues it, guided by divine wisdom, he will certainly bring it to the end. He who lives virtuously does not need to be shown the path to virtue; and whoever feels healthy does not need treatment. (4) Farmers, before sowing, first irrigate the land. Likewise, we first irrigate the carnal part of our audience with the water of the Hellenic logos, so that it can accept the spiritual seed scattered throughout it and bear it without difficulty. (18, 1) That is why in our Stromata the truth is presented mixed with the opinions of philosophers, or, better said, covered and hidden, like an edible kernel, with a nut shell. In my opinion, only those who cultivate the field of faith are called upon to preserve the seeds of truth. (2) I did not ignore the popular opinion of those who, out of their ignorance, say that we need to engage only in the most necessary and strengthen the faith, and neglect external and superfluous things, for they tire us in vain and attract us to objects that move us away from salvation. (3) They claim that philosophy has penetrated into the lives of people to their destruction from some evil and insidious inventor. (4) But I will show that all deceit is by its very nature something evil, and such a farmer is not able to produce anything good. And this means that philosophy is in some way the result of the action of Divine providence. II. A Note on the Usefulness of Greek Philosophy (19, 1) Regarding the need to include in my notes some Hellenic opinions, when necessary, I will answer my critics as follows. Firstly, if Greek philosophy were useless, then even its worthlessness would be useful to prove, which means that it makes sense to talk about it at least for this reason. (2) Secondly, it is not appropriate to condemn the Hellenes unfoundedly without even trying to penetrate the meaning of their teachings. (3) On the contrary, objections supported by experience inspire complete confidence, since only on the basis of deep knowledge of the enemy’s teaching can a convincing refutation be constructed. (4) In addition, there are many things the knowledge of which, although it does not lead directly to the goal, still adorns the specialist. Not to mention the fact that the writer’s wealth of knowledge, manifested in his mastery of the basic tenets of Greek philosophy, inspires the confidence of the reader and, surprising those being taught, awakens in them a friendly disposition towards true teaching. (20, 1) And trust is a necessary condition for the further education of souls (ψυχαγωγία). Those who love to learn receive the truth in a hidden form. They no longer believe that philosophy is something false, malicious and dangerous to life, as some believe. On the contrary, they understand that it is a clear image of the truth, which was given to the Hellenes by God. (2) As a result, they not only do not move away from the faith, carried away by this witchcraft magic, but on the contrary, as they say, they are protected by it as a kind of strong stronghold, discovering in it a kind of ally that helps them establish themselves in the faith. (3) Through the comparison of various teachings, the truth becomes clearer more fully and deeply, and true knowledge, gnosis follows it. Therefore, we can say that we are attracted to philosophy not for its own sake, but for the sake of the fruits that gnosis brings. We cling to it as a secure anchor in our search for truth through the allegorical understanding of scientific knowledge. (4) It is clear without further words that the Stromata are diverse in content and combine various teachings into one whole precisely because they are called upon to carefully preserve the seeds of knowledge. (21, 1) Just as a passionate hunter, having fallen on the trail of game, having found it, seeing it, releasing the dogs, finally takes it, so the truth is given only to those who have been looking for it for a long time and only discovered it after much labor. A note about the Stromat style (2) So, why did we choose to compose our memorials this way? The reason is that it is very dangerous to recklessly betray the secrets that reveal the real meaning of true philosophy to those who love to doubt everything without any reason, scattering insulting remarks on any subject, deceiving both themselves and those who listen to their words. For, as the apostle says, “Jews demand miracles, but Greeks seek wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:22). III. On the dangers of sophistical tricks (22:1) The crowd of this kind of people is numerous. Some of them, devoted to pleasure, not wanting to believe in anything, mock the saving truth, worthy of all respect, calling it barbaric. (2) Others, exalting their own, distort the words of our teaching in every possible way, looking for controversial passages in it, finding fault with the words, diligently inventing various tricks. They are “screamers and tricksters,” as Abderit says 13. (3) Human language is flexible; there are plenty of speeches for him All kinds; the field for words both here and there is limitless. Whatever you say to a person, you will hear from him 14. (4) These unfortunate sophists are very proud of their art. They are mired in details, spending their entire lives studying various distinctions, studying the combination of parts of speech and weaving words. More talkative than doves, (5) they, it seems to me, delight the ears only of those who themselves are not averse to listening to them, they chatter like women, drowning all meaning in a whirlpool of words. Their resemblance to old shoes is too great. Everything in them has already become decrepit and leaks water, only the tongue still dangles like an old sole. (23, 1) The Athenian Solon characterizes them perfectly with these words: You only waffle with your tongue, following the speeches of your flattering husband. You whisper to each other like a fox wagging its tail. If you come together, your speeches are doubly empty 15. (2) This is precisely what the Savior hints at when he says: “The foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). For only on the faithful, completely separated from other people, called foxes in Scripture, does the head of all, the merciful and meek Logos, rest, (3) “who ensnares even the wise in their wickedness” (1 Cor. 3:19; Job 5:13); For “The Lord alone knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vanity” (1 Cor. 3:20). Here Scripture, without a doubt, calls the sophists sages, who are keen on weaving words beyond all measure. (24:1) Therefore, the Greeks themselves call the sages who were too carefully occupied with trifles, sophists, a derivative of this name. (2) That is why Cratinus in “Archilochi” ends the list of poets like this: Where are you in such a hurry to follow the crowd of sophists? 16 (3) In like manner, Jotho 17, like the comic poet in his satire about flute players, says this about rhapsodists and the like: a crowd of sophists in full armor... (4) About these and similar people who practice uttering various nonsense, the Divine Scripture beautifully says the following: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and reject the understanding of the prudent” (Is. 29:14; 1 Cor. 1:19). (25, 1) Homer even calls a simple artisan a sage, and about Margita 18 (if this poem was really written by him) he writes the following: By the will of the gods, he was neither a navvy nor a plowman. He was not skilled in anything, devoid of any wisdom. (2) Hesiod says that the lutenist Lin was “an expert in all wisdom,” and without hesitation calls a simple sailor a sage, although he “was not skilled in the art of navigation” 19. (3) The Prophet says this: “The secrets that the king asks about cannot be revealed to the power of either the sages, or the magicians, or the spellcasters of Gazarin; but there is a God in heaven who reveals” (Dan. 2:27–28). And he calls the Babylonians wise. (4) Scripture calls the general name wisdom all worldly sciences and arts, and there are many of them, for examples of them are everything that a person has reached with his mind. However, all knowledge and skill comes from God, as is clear from the following words of Scripture: (5) “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Behold, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uriah, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I filled him with the Divine Spirit of wisdom and understanding and knowledge, so that he would understand in every matter and be capable of creation, to work in gold, in silver, in copper, in blue, purple and scarlet wool, to perform all the work of construction in stone and wood, and all other works” (Ex. 31: 2-5). (26, 1) And these words are followed by the following generalization: “And I have put understanding in the heart of everyone who understands” (Ex. 31:6), i.e. in the heart of everyone who is able to acquire that understanding through diligence and exercise. And again, with all certainty, it is written in the name of the Lord: “And tell this to all who are wise in understanding, whom I have filled with the spirit of understanding” (Ex. 28:3). (2) These wise men of understanding are distinguished by a special natural talent, but they receive the spirit of intelligence doubly and directly from primitive wisdom, when they are able to accept it. (3) Crafts contribute to the special development of certain sensory abilities. Thus, musicians, for example, have a particularly developed sense of hearing, sculptors have a sense of touch, singers have a voice, perfumers have a sense of smell, and seal carvers have vision. (4) And those who devote themselves to education also develop a special feeling. Accordingly, the poet has a particularly developed sense of rhythm, the sophist has a sense of style, the dialectician has the ability to choose the right syllogism, and philosophers have the ability to navigate their theories. (5) It is this kind of feeling that helps inventors make new discoveries. It guides us along the right path during experience, together with the skill for scientific pursuits, enhancing our passion for knowledge. (27, 1) The Apostle quite rightly says that “the manifold wisdom of God” (Eph. 3:10) reveals its wealth “in manifold and varied ways” (Heb. 1:1), - in the arts, sciences, faith and the gift of prophecy. It manifests itself for our good, for “all wisdom is from the Lord and is with him forever,” as the book of the Wisdom of Jesus says (Sir. 1:1). (2) “For if you call with a loud voice to understanding and feeling and seek it like a treasure of silver, and search for it with diligence, you will know the fear of God and find the knowledge of God” (Prov. 2:3-5). The Prophet says this in order to protect himself from the approach to sensory perception characteristic of philosophy. In beautiful and sublime expressions he commands us to seek him in order to achieve greater excellence in the perfect service of God. (3) Therefore, the feeling of piety is opposite to other feelings. And about it, as revealed knowledge, the following is said: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth - knowledge and understanding; He reserves salvation for the righteous; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly” (Prov. 2:6–7). Having achieved perfection in philosophy, a person accumulates knowledge that helps him during his path to piety. V. Philosophy is the handmaiden of theology (28:1) So, before the coming of the Lord, philosophy was necessary for the Greeks as a teaching of righteousness. But even now it is useful as a means of attracting to true piety. It represents preliminary education for those people who come to faith only through evidence. “Your foot will not stumble,” says Scripture (Prov. 3:23), if you attribute all good things to Divine Providence, be it Hellenic good or ours. (2) God is the author of all good things, but some, for example, the Old and New Testaments, directly, while others, for example, philosophy, indirectly. (3) Perhaps philosophy was originally God's gift to the Hellenes before he addressed them explicitly. For philosophy is for the Hellenes what law is for the Jews, namely: a teacher who leads them to Christ. So, philosophy is a propaedeutic teaching, paving and leveling the path to Christ, which leads the student to perfection. (3) “Fence wisdom,” says Solomon, “and she will exalt you, she will cover you with a crown of sweetness” (Prov. 4:8-9). For if you surround your wisdom with the wall of philosophy and, having strengthened yourself behind it, fill your life with virtue, then it will become impregnable for the sophists. (29, 1) Without a doubt, the path to truth is one, but different paths leading from different places are united in it, just as different streams form a single river of life flowing into eternity. (2) Therefore God says to us: “Listen, my son, and accept my words, so that the ways of your life may be multiplied. I teach you the ways of wisdom, so that your springs may not dry up” (Prov. 4:10–11, 21), flowing from the same soil. (3) He speaks of many saving paths not only for one individual righteous person, because since there are many righteous people, their paths of salvation are also numerous. This is exactly what he wants to say with the words: “The paths of the righteous shine like light” (Prov. 4:18). The commandments and preliminary instructions are the different starting points of the path of life. (4) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often have I wanted to gather your children together like a bird’s chicks!” (Luke 13:34). Jerusalem is the image of the world here. With the above words, the Lord prophetically reveals to us that those contemplating this image had many different teachers who instructed them. (5) But that was all. The Lord wanted (to help), but could not. How many times did the Lord seek to prepare the Jews and in what ways? Twice: the first time through the prophets, the second time through his coming. So, the expression “how many times” shows that God’s wisdom uses various ways to save people, which are both numerous in quantity and diverse in quality. God's wisdom constantly takes care of our salvation, not only in time, but also in eternity. “For the Spirit of the Lord has filled the world” (Wis. 1:7). (6) And if, wanting to hurt us, someone resorts to the following passage of Scripture: “Do not listen to an evil woman, honey drips from the lips of a harlot woman” (Prov. 5:3), meaning by a dissolute wife Hellenic learning, then let him listen to what is said further: “At the right time she delights your larynx” (Prov. 5:4). Philosophy does not flatter. (7) What kind of loose woman does Scripture speak of in this place? This is clear from the following words: “The feet of madness lead those who associate with her to hell after death; her ways are not sure" (Prov. 5:5); “So, make your path far from unreasonable pleasure. Do not approach the doors of her houses, lest she betray your life to others” (Prov. 5:8-9). (8) And further it says: “You will finally repent in old age, when the flesh of your body is exhausted” (Prov. 5:11). Such is the end of all unreasonable voluptuousness. (9) But enough about this. By advising us not to “tarry with a stranger” (Prov. 5:20), Scripture allows us to benefit from human knowledge, provided we do not stay there forever. Whatever God has given in due time for the benefit of every generation of men has prepared them to receive the Word of God. (10) “Of course, there were always maids who were fainted by the love potion and who despised the mistress of the house, philosophy,” some who grew old in music, some in geometry, some in grammar, and most in oratory 20 . (30, 1) Just as the liberal arts lead to their mistress philosophy, so philosophy itself (the love of wisdom) ultimately leads to wisdom. Philosophy is a means for the realization of wisdom, and wisdom itself is knowledge of the causes of things divine and human. Therefore, wisdom is the mistress of philosophy, just as philosophy is the mistress of all preliminary sciences. (2) For if philosophy teaches to restrain various desires, such as talkativeness, gluttony and lust, and is therefore valuable in itself, then it is all the more useful if these exercises are combined with the desire for the glory of God and for true knowledge. (3) What we have said is confirmed by such testimony from Scripture. Sarah, Abraham's wife, remained barren until old age. Unable to give birth, she allowed Abraham to get closer to his maidservant Hagar, a native of Egypt, so that she would give birth to Abraham 21 . (4) In the same way, wisdom, which was the friend of the faithful, i.e. Abraham, to whom “faith was counted as righteousness” (cf. Rom. 4:9), was barren and childless in that generation, not producing the fruits of virtue in the person of Abraham. Therefore, she rightly wished that the one who had hitherto strived for righteousness in his life, but had no success, would come into contact with worldly science (Egypt symbolically means the world), and then with it, wisdom, to come closer to the birth, by the will of Divine Providence, of the rightful heir, Isaac. (31, 1) According to Philo’s interpretation, this is exactly how this story should be understood, for the word Hagar means “a dwelling next door,” an adjacent settlement, which is why the Scripture says: “Do not stay long with a stranger” (Prov. 5:20); the name Sarah means “my power” 22. So, primary education leads to wisdom, which has royal dignity and which multiplies the race of Israel. (2) From this it is clear that wisdom can be acquired by study. After all, Abraham reached it precisely in this way, from the contemplation of heavenly things, gradually moving towards faith in God and righteousness. 23 (3) The name Isaac means “self-taught.” That is why he is a type of Christ. And he was the husband of one wife, namely Rebekah, whose name means “patient.” (4) Jacob was also called so because he had the opportunity to fight with many women. Therefore, his name is ascetic, for discipline involves a struggle with many dogmas. Then Jacob receives another name and is called Israel, which means “truly sighted,” since extensive experience and long-term exercises made him truly a seer. (5) The interpretation of the names of these three forefathers of the Jewish people, thus, reveals to us that knowledge is stamped with strength and durability by its relation to nature, learning and active life. (6) What I have said is also illustrated by the example of Tamara, who sat at the crossroads of three roads like a harlot so that the curious Judas (which means “able”), who never leaves anything unexplored and unexplored, sees her and “turns to her,” without betraying God (Gen. 38:11-12). (32:1) For the same reason, when Sarah began to envy that her servant, Hagar, was given more respect than her mistress (that is, they were too carried away by the benefits derived from secular philosophy), Abraham said to her: “Behold, the slave is in your hands: do with her what you please” (Gen. 16:6). With this, he seems to be saying to Sarah: “I welcome worldly knowledge for nothing other than its youth and novelty, and I value it no more than a simple servant; In you, I honor the true mistress and value your knowledge as the most perfect, deeply satisfying and noble.” (2) “And Sarai offended her” (Gen. 16:6), that is, she educated and punished her. For, “my son, do not despise the instructions of the Lord, and do not weaken when convicted by them. Whom the Lord loves, he instructs, and beats every son whom he receives” (Prov. 3:11). (3) If we think about the indicated passages of Scripture, they will reveal to us other mysteries, the mention of which, however, is appropriate in other cases. (4) Here we wish to point out once again that philosophy also seeks truth and explores the nature of things. Truth is the Lord himself, who said: “I am the truth” (John 14:6). The preparatory teachings that precede establishment in Christ, however, exercise the mind, awaken the understanding, train the ingenuity, the qualities necessary for the pursuit of true philosophy. But only the one who discovered it, or rather received it from the hands of the truth itself, is a real initiate. VI. On the role of philosophy in education. Continuation (33, 1) Preparatory exercises greatly contribute to the assimilation of what follows. And the purpose of these exercises should first of all be to train speculative contemplation, which is capable of three types of things: numbers, magnitudes and definitions. (2) The doctrine, accompanied by evidence, is so convincing that the soul of one who is able to follow the progress of the argument cannot but agree with the final conclusions. Such proof reliably protects us from various deceivers who seek to confuse us. (3) The soul, educated by these preliminary sciences, breaks away from the power of external senses and is imbued with strength and energy that make it capable of understanding true teaching. (4) “For correct training and upbringing awakens good natural inclinations in a person. And those who already have them become even better as a result of such upbringing and are able to pass this on to their offspring. After all, this is how things are with other living beings” 24. (5) “Go to the ant, O sluggard, and become wiser than him,” for during the harvest he prepares many different kinds of supplies, providing himself for the winter. (6) “Go to the bee and know how hardworking she is” (Proverbs 6:6–8), for she, too, collects nectar from the flowers of the entire meadow and produces honeycombs. (34, 1) The Lord commanded us to pray in a secret place (Matthew 6:8), “worshipping in the spirit” (John 4:8). This means that you should take care not only about the household, but also about the education of your soul, that is, about what to feed it with, how and in what quantity; what should be kept in it as treasure, when and for what purposes. It is not nature, but education that contributes to the cultivation of all that is good and beautiful in us, just as education creates doctors and sailors. (2) We all see a vine or a horse. But only a gardener can tell whether it is fertile and what variety it is; and only a horse breeder will immediately distinguish a sluggish horse from a frisky one. (3) The best results in some fields of knowledge are achieved only by people who are naturally endowed with the best abilities. (4) And although this circumstance proves beyond doubt that some are more predisposed to good than others, it does not follow from this that a more perfect approach to the truth is due only to the nature of such people. After all, there are cases when people who were not very gifted by nature achieved the greatest perfection, and, on the contrary, those who were generously gifted by nature, due to neglect and poor upbringing, became unfit. We were originally created by God as social beings and prone to virtue. (35, 1) It follows that the beginnings of righteousness should not be reduced only to natural inclinations. Like sparks that have sunk into our soul, these inclinations are inflated by education, and education teaches us to choose good and prefer it to evil. (2) Of course, one can be a believer and be illiterate, but an ignorant person is not able to understand the essence of faith. It is not blind faith that can accept sound teaching and reject evil, but only that which is based on knowledge. Ignorance is the result of bad manners and lack of education. Only through education do we comprehend divine and human sciences. (4) If, on the basis that both the poor and the rich can live virtuously, someone objects to me that bad manners and complete ignorance, along with learning, give knowledge of things divine and human, then we argue, contrary to this, that an educated person will more easily and more quickly declare himself to be some kind of virtue, although this should not be understood as if without them virtue cannot be acquired, but only in the sense that among those who are trained and feelings are more sophisticated. (5) “Hatred,” says Solomon, “stirs up enmity, but instruction preserves the ways of life” (Prov. 10:12–17). The educated are more difficult to confuse and mislead by those who invent various tricks to harm their listeners. (6) “He who is not rebuked by instruction goes astray,” says Scripture (Prov. 10:17). So, one should learn the art of defending against the false opinions of the sophists. (36, 1) In his essay “On the Kingdom,” Anaxarchus, called the lucky one, writes: “Much knowledge is beneficial in many ways, but in many ways it can harm its owner. It helps a worthy person, but it harms someone who is too unrestrained in his tongue and babbles everywhere. That's the definition of wisdom. He who speaks at the wrong time, even if his speeches are full of meaning, should not be considered wise, and he himself is a witness of his stupidity” 25. (2) And Hesiod says 26: The muses who give riches to the poet's thoughts, Rich in thought he calls a person skilled in speech, while inspired and vocal - experienced, loving wisdom and seeking the truth. (37, 1) So it is clear that the preliminary sciences, as well as philosophy, come from God; however, they are not an end in themselves, but like some kind of rain, they equally water the fertile soil, the manure, and the roofs of houses. As a result, weeds grow, and wheat, and a fig tree in the cemetery, and other trees that are even more unpretentious. These shoots, although quite natural and grow under the influence of the same rain, are not as beautiful as shoots grown on fertile soil, so they usually either dry out on their own or are forcibly uprooted. (2) This is discussed in the parable of the sower, interpreted by the Lord (Matthew 13:1-23). There is only one Sower, cultivating the human soil. It was He who sowed the potentially germinating seed from the beginning of the world, and who waters it, if necessary, with the divine Logos. So all the visible diversity of seedlings is explained by the difference in the time and place of receiving this Logos. (3) Further, the Divine Sower is not limited to, for example, wheat (and it has many varieties), but scatters the seeds of, say, barley, beans, peas, various vegetables and flowers. (4) The task of the science of agricultural technology is fundamentally the same in the fields, orchards, and vineyards, and it consists in growing various trees and cereals. (5) All domestic animals require care in the same way, but this care must be appropriate to the type of animal. The sheep herder requires some skills, the ox herder others; different from them are the arts of a horse trainer and a dog breeder; The skill of a beekeeper is unlike these latter; and yet all these arts are useful in earthly life. (6) I am not inclined to speak [separately] of Stoic, Platonic, Epicurean or Aristotelian philosophy, but apply the term philosophy to everything that is rightly asserted by the representatives of all these schools regarding righteousness and in accordance with sacred (ευσεβούς) science. I eclectically call all this philosophy (τούτο σύμπαν το έκλεκτικόν φιλοσοφίαν φημί). There is no reason to call various fakes introduced by human understanding divine. (38, 1) Let us also consider the following. Even if some people live well, without having a real understanding of the meaning of their deeds, all their good deeds are done in vain 27. All these people do this by accident; some, on the contrary, purposefully and with understanding strive towards the Logos. Abraham was justified by faith, not by good works. (2) Therefore, their good deeds during life will not benefit them after death, unless they were supported by faith. (3) For this reason the Scriptures were translated into Greek, so that no philosopher would take refuge in appealing to his ignorance. After all, all they had to do was wish, and they could easily recognize her. (4) It is one thing to listen to someone talk about the truth, and another thing to hear how the truth itself testifies to itself. It is one thing to guess about the truth, and another to communicate with it. The first is a mirage, the second is reality. The first is achieved by study and labor, the second by strength and faith. (5) Knowledge of religion is a gift from above, faith is the fruit of the action of grace. And we begin to know the will of God before we begin to fulfill it. “Open the gates of righteousness for me,” says Scripture, “so that when I enter them, I will confess the Lord” (Ps. 118:19). (6) The paths to salvation are many and varied, for God, in His goodness, uses various means, and all these paths lead to the path of the Lord and lead to his gates. If they ask about the royal path indicated by God himself, here is the answer: “This is the gate of the Lord: the righteous will enter into it” (Ps. 118:20). (7) “Therefore, of the many open gates, only one leads to the righteousness that is in Christ; blessed are all who enter into them and direct their path to holiness" 28 . (8) Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, further enumerates the ways which the Church has recognized as true: “Let one of you be faithful, or able to explain hidden knowledge, or expert in discerning words, or active in works.” VIII. On the dangers of excessive enthusiasm for sophistry (39, 1) The intricate art of sophistry, which the Greeks so zealously practice, is an imaginary force, for with its help the false is presented as true. Rhetoric is meant to persuade, while eristics is meant to stir up controversy. Any art, if it is not combined with the love of wisdom, is harmful to those who practice it. (2) That is why Plato condemned this sophistic art, calling it villainous 29. And Aristotle is of the same opinion. He says that sophistry is a picaresque art 30 because it fraudulently pretends to be the bearer of the highest learning and arrogates to itself the knowledge of those very sciences, which it has not only never studied, but even directly neglected. (3) Without going into detail, rhetoric has as its starting point the persuasive, the means to achieve its goals is argument, and its goal is persuasion. Eristics also proceeds from the persuasive, but its means of persuasion is argument, and its goal is victory. (4) Sophistry also comes from appearances. And her method of persuasion is twofold. One, rhetorical in origin, seeks to demonstrate this appearance, while the other, dialectical, acts through questions. And its purpose is to shock. (5) And the practice of this dialectic, so extolled by philosophers, is nothing more than the chatter of one or another philosopher about generally accepted opinions, improving oneself in the art of word debate and resourcefulness in argument. There is no truth in them. (40, 1) The noble apostle, expressing contempt for these empty verbal arts, had every reason to say about the sophists: “If anyone does not begin to sound words and some teaching, he is proud, knows nothing, but is infected with a passion for competitions and verbal disputes, from which come envy, strife, slander, crafty suspicions, empty disputes between people of a damaged mind and alien to the truth” ( 1 Tim. 6:3–5). (2) You see how the apostle condemns them, calling their idle talk a disease, although the sophists themselves, Greeks and barbarians, are very proud of it and love all this disastrous chatter. (3) The tragic poet Euripides speaks wonderfully about this in the drama “The Phoenicians”: Bad speech conceals a disease within itself, Needing the medicine of wisdom. 31 (4) The word of salvation is called sound doctrine, because the Logos who taught it is truth itself. Everything that is healthy remains immortal, but that which is removed from the healthy and Divine is devoid of divinity and is mortally ill. (5) These sophists are like ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15). They are enslavers of their neighbors, turning them from free people into slaves, sweet-talking seducers of souls, cheaters, but secret ones, and it is difficult to convict them of trickery, for they use all their cunning and all their strength to captivate with their art those who are not experienced in it. (41, 1) The crowd believes more in the speeches of the eloquent man rather than the practical advice of an inexperienced husband. Nowadays the truth is hidden in a stream of words, Passing off appearances as probable. – This is what tragedy says 32. (2) This is what these philosophers, who are so eager to debate, do, no matter whether they speak on behalf of any school, or are simply practicing dialectics. “They,” the Scripture says, “take the cloth from the loom, but they did not weave that cloth” 33 . They are engaged in empty work, which the apostle calls deceiving people and wickedness according to the art of deception (Eph. 4:14). “For there are,” he says, “many who are disobedient, empty talkers, and deceivers” (Titus 1:10). So, the word is not addressed to everyone: “You are the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13). (4) Even among those versed in Divine teaching there are people who, like sea fish, require seasoning with salt, although they have lived in salt water since birth. (5) Therefore, I completely agree with the words of the tragic poet: My son! Pretty words are deceiving They strive to win with embellishments Victory over truth. But vanity Nature's righteousness, because of his works You can't drown out beautiful chatter 34. (6) Don't flirt with the crowd. Our deeds do not have to please anyone or indulge anyone's tastes. “Let us not,” says the apostle, “be conceited, irritate each other, envy each other” (Gal. 5:26). (42, 1) Therefore, the truth-loving Plato, as if by divine inspiration, said: “As for me, I accept only those arguments that, after proper research, turn out to be the most convincing” 35. (2) With these words he condemns all those who, without first familiarizing themselves with the circumstances of the case and without independently considering the arguments, believe the first false opinion that accidentally reached them. Sound and true teaching cannot be abandoned for the sake of lying idle talk. To stray from the right path is a bad thing, but to speak only the truth and state things that truly exist is a good thing. (3) No one wants to be deprived of goods of his own free will, but this happens to those who become deceived under the influence of deception, or by yielding to flattery, or by failing to resist impudence, or by their lack of faith 36 . (4) Those who allow themselves to be convinced are themselves to blame. And it is the overly gullible or simply forgetful person who is to blame for being caught off guard. Through false words or by prescription 37 he is deprived of his property, and he does not even realize it. This also happens in moments of annoyance or fear, argument or anger. People often become victims of delusion, either carried away by voluptuousness or overcome by fear. All these tricks play on human lack of will. True knowledge is not subject to any of these vicissitudes. IX. About faith based on reason and about simple faith (43, 1) Some believe that they are quite intelligent by nature, and therefore prefer not to have anything to do with philosophy or dialectics, or even study the natural sciences, being content only with simple and pure faith. But this is the same as if they argued that no care for the vine is needed, but that it is enough just to plant it in order to have grapes. (2) The vine is an allegory of the Lord (John 15:1). From it, with proper care and skill, that is, following the Word, we receive fruits. This care involves pruning, digging, tying and other work, so we have to use a knife, spade and other agricultural tools. (3) And in agriculture, as in medicine, only one who has studied the related sciences about how best to cultivate the land and how to heal more successfully is skilled. (4) In the same way, only a thoroughly learned person (χρηστομαθής) can reduce various knowledge to true teaching. And to protect faith from attacks on it, he uses various knowledge drawn from geometry, music, grammar, and, of course, philosophy. For who needs even a strong athlete who is not prepared for competition by preliminary exercises? (44, 1) In a similar way, they greet the name of a highly experienced pilot, “who has seen many cities and people,” 38 and the name of a doctor with extensive practice, for which such doctors are called empiricists. (2) And whoever sees the ideal of one and the same right life in all particular manifestations of virtue, citing examples from the history of philosophy, both Hellenic and foreign, as evidence of this, is a very intelligent researcher of truth and is indeed a “many-minded man” 39 . Such a person is a real touchstone (the so-called Lydian stone, with the help of which it was supposedly possible to distinguish real gold from counterfeit 40). How this stone, our experienced husband and Gnostic, is able to distinguish sophistry from philosophy, artificial beauty of the body from that achieved by exercise, food from seasonings, rhetoric from dialectic and, in Christian philosophy, heresy from true teaching. (3) Anyone who strives to approach the understanding of Divine omnipotence must become a philosopher in order to have a correct understanding of those objects that are accessible only to speculation. He must also be able to distinguish between ambiguous and apparently similar concepts found in the Old and New Testaments. (4) After all, it was precisely on this ambiguity that the Lord caught the devil during his temptation in the desert. Therefore, I don’t understand how it happened that the devil, whom some consider the inventor of philosophy and dialectics, himself fell into the network of his own ambiguities? (45, 1) And if the prophets and apostles did not know the various philosophical sciences, and the spirit acting in them expressed the meaning of many prophetic and instructive passages in secret, then not everyone’s ears are equally prepared to understand the meaning of what was said, and science is needed to understand this. (2) The prophets themselves and the disciples of the Spirit understood the meaning of such passages without difficulty. They understood by faith what the Spirit had not clearly revealed, but no one can adequately express it in words without first having undergone some preliminary training. 41 (3) “And these commandments,” says Scripture, “write within yourself in two ways: on your will and in your consciousness, so that you can answer with words of truth those who question you” 42. (4) But what is this ability to answer and ask if not dialectics? 43 (5) What then? Isn't speech a kind of deed, and doesn't deed follow word? If we do not act in accordance with reason (λόγω), then we are behaving unreasonably. Any reasonable deed is consistent with the Divine will, for “without Him nothing began to be” (John 1:3), says Scripture about the Word. After all, God created everything with the Word. (6) Only livestock work out of fear. Do we, who call ourselves right-thinking, really admit that we ourselves do not understand the meaning of our own good deeds? (46:1) That is why the Savior, taking the bread, first said words of gratitude, then, having broken it, offered it to us, so that we might eat it wisely and, having comprehended the meaning of the Scriptures, behave in accordance with their commandments. (2) Abuse of words is no different from crime. Hostility cuts like a sword, and slander inflicts wounds. All this is equally disastrous. These are the consequences of all evil speech. And those who use the word intelligently approach virtuous people. (3) And with a word the soul can be brought into itself and turned to righteousness and a pious way of life. Happy is he who is equally good with both hands, but he who possesses the gift of eloquence has no right to blame the one whose destiny is to do good; and the latter, in turn, should not despise the former. It is fitting for everyone to act in accordance with their natural abilities. (4) One will manifest himself by deed, the other will act by word, as if preparing the way for those who are capable of doing good deeds, and encouraging his listeners to virtue. The word is as saving as the deed, and righteousness cannot be unreasonable. (47:1) There is no good deed where there is no benefactor, there is neither faith nor obedience without instruction and a teacher. Therefore, let us help each other in word and deed. (2) Eristics and sophistry should, however, be carefully avoided, since the cunning words of the sophists not only charm and lead many, but also forcefully capture them, giving them Cadmus victories in which there is no winner. (3) The truth is said in the psalm: “The righteous will live forever and will not see the grave, although he will see the death of the wise” (Ps. 49:9-10) Who does the psalm call wise men? Find out about this from the book of the Wisdom of Jesus: “The knowledge of evil is not wisdom” (Sir. 19:19). What is implied here is the wisdom of the art of ranting and arguing. (4) “You will seek wisdom from profane people and will not find it” (Prov. 14:6). And if you ask what kind of wisdom this is, Scripture will give the answer: “The lips of the righteous sharpen wisdom” (Prov. 10:31). Both true teaching and sophistry are therefore sometimes called wisdom. (48, 1) As for me, I pursue the only true goal: to live in accordance with the commandments of the Logos and comprehend his teachings, not caring at all about eloquence and being content only with the task of clarifying for others what I myself have understood. It is not my concern what the methods by which I reveal what I intend to reveal are called. Finding the way to salvation and contributing to the salvation of others, I believe, is the most important thing, whether it is expressed in elegant words or not. “If you don’t worry too much about words,” says a certain Pythagorean in Plato’s Politics, “then in old age you will become rich in intelligence” 44. (3) And in Theaetetus you will find: “To use words and expressions in speech with some freedom, without careful attention to their meaning, is not always ignoble; on the contrary, rather the opposite speaks of a lack of free education, and yet there are cases when the latter is necessary” 45. (4) Scripture expresses the same idea in the shortest possible way: “Do not be long-winded” (Cf. Job 11:2-3). The syllable is just clothing, and the meaning is flesh and nerves. You should not worry about clothes more than about your health. (5) Not only does the one who chooses a life consistent with the true teaching condemn himself to an abstinent lifestyle; in his speeches he must abandon all excessive sophistication and intricacy. We must avoid all excesses as unsafe, like the ancient Spartans, prohibiting incense and purple, rightly considering luxurious clothing and jewelry dangerous. It is not a well-prepared food that contains more seasonings than nutrients; and refinement of speech is not good, which cares more about the pleasure of the listeners than about their benefit. (6) Pythagoras convinces us to prefer the muses to the sirens, teaching us ways to achieve wisdom, bypassing sensual pleasures and considering all other ways of educating the soul to be deceptive. One person, however, managed to swim past the Sirens, while another solved the riddles of the Sphinx, however, if you like, all this is just a myth. (49, 1) There is no need to excessively “expand the phylactery” in pursuit of empty glory (Matthew 23:5). For a true Gnostic, one listener is enough. (2) Listen to the words of the Boeotian Pindar: Ancient speech is not suitable for everyone, Sometimes silence is safer. The victorious word is served. 46 (3) The blessed apostle therefore had every reason to advise us “not to enter into verbal disputes, which do not serve to benefit, but to upset those listening, and to avoid obscene idle talk; for they will increase in wickedness even more, and their word will spread like cancer” (2 Tim. 2:14–16). (50, 1) So, “the wisdom of the world is foolishness in the sight of God” (1 Cor. 3:19), for “the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vanity” (1 Cor. 3:20). So no one deserves fame just for his superior intelligence. (2) It is well written on this subject in Jeremiah: “Let not the wise boast of his wisdom; and let not the mighty boast of his strength; and let not the rich man boast of his riches. But let him who boasts boast in the understanding and knowledge that I am the Lord, who works mercy and judgment and righteousness on earth, for this is My will, says the Lord” (Jer. 9:23–24). (3) “That we may not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead, who delivered us from death so close” (2 Cor. 1:9–10) and “that our faith may not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5), for “he who is spiritual judges all things, but no one can judge him” (1 Cor. 2:15). (4) Hear also the other words of the apostle: “I say this so that no one deceives you with insinuating words” (Col. 2:4) and so that “one who entices” does not creep in (Col. 2:8). (5) And again: “See to it that no one leads you away through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the rudiments of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8). (6) He does not mean every philosophy here, but only Epicurean philosophy (which the Apostle Paul mentions in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 17:18), condemning it because it denies providence and deifies sensual pleasures), as well as such philosophical teachings that the primary elements consider uncreated, and do not even talk about the creator at all. (51:1) This also includes the Stoics, whom the Apostle also mentions (Acts 17:18) and who falsely teach about God that he is a corporeal substance and penetrates with himself all, even the coarsest, matter. (2) The apostle calls “tradition” “human” speech that is overly sophisticated, which is why he writes about it: “Avoid youthful disputes” (Probably an allusion to 2 Tim. 2:22 - Translator’s note.), for such competitions are just childish. “Valor is not childish play,” says Plato 47 . (3) And according to the words of Gorgias of Leontius, “competition requires two abilities: audacity and wisdom; the first confronts dangers, and the second penetrates into the hidden meaning. For the Logos, like the herald” at the Olympic Games, “although he calls everyone who wants, but crowns only those who are able to win” 48. (4) The Logos does not want those who believe in it to remain inactive. “Seek,” he says, “and you will find” (Matthew 7:7), however, imposing restrictions on searches that do not lead to finding, banishing empty chatter and approving contemplation, by which our faith is confirmed. (5) “I say this so that no one will deceive you with insinuating words” (Col. 2:4), says the apostle. It is clear that he encourages us to carefully ponder the speech of such people and to treat the teaching they offer with distrust. (52, 1) “Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, being rooted and established in him and strengthened in the faith” (Col. 2:6-7). The solid foundation of faith is conviction. “Take heed that no one lead you away” from faith in Christ “by philosophy and empty deception,” which denies providence “according to the tradition of men” (Col. 2:8). (2) Philosophy, in agreement with divine tradition, recognizes and affirms Providence. But try to abandon Providence, and the whole divine plan and the coming of the Savior will seem to you just a fable, and you will be rushing more “according to the elements of this world” than “according to Christ.” (3) For the teaching that follows Christ recognizes God as the creator and sees the work of His Providence even in small things, while considering the elements as things by their nature created and changeable 49 . It teaches us, as far as possible, to lead a life like God, 50 structuring all our education according to the divine plan. (4) Some honor the elements, worshiping, like Diogenes, air, like Thales, water, or like Hippasus, fire. Others call the primary elements atoms. But they all just hide behind the name of philosophy, being in fact godless and lustful people. (53:1) “Therefore I pray,” says the apostle, “that your love may increase more and more in knowledge and in every feeling, so that you may know more” (Phil. 1:9-10). “Since we, while we were in childhood,” says the same apostle, “were enslaved to the material principles of the world. A child, although he is an heir, is no different from a servant until the appointed time of his father” (Gal. 4:3). (This somewhat loosely paraphrased quotation from the Epistle to the Galatians reflects the norm of Roman law. - Translator's note.) (2) Philosophers are the same children until they become men in Christ. For, although “the son of a slave woman will not be an heir with the son of a free woman” (Gen. 21:10; Gal. 4:30), he will still remain the true seed of Abraham, receiving, unlike the son of the promise, his own special gift. (3) “But solid food belongs to the perfect, whose senses are trained by skill to distinguish between good and evil, for everyone who is fed on milk is not yet versed in the word of righteousness, because he is a child” (Heb. 5:13) and does not yet know the teaching in which he believed and according to which he acts, being unable to give an account of it. (4) “Test everything,” says the apostle, “hold fast to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21), turning to the spiritual, who examine everything that is offered to them under the guise of true teaching, whether it is in fact true. (1 Cor. 2:14) (54, 1) “He who is not taught by teaching goes astray” (Prov. 10:17), “wounds and chastisement give instruction to wisdom” (Prov. 29:15). Of course, this means loving reproofs. “A right heart seeks knowledge” (Prov. 15:14), therefore “he who seeks God will find knowledge with righteousness; those who seek him in the right way will find peace” (Prov. 16:18). (2) “And I will test,” says the apostle, “not the words of those who are proud, but their strength” (1 Cor. 4:19). He writes this to censure those who consider themselves wise, but are not actually so. (3) “The kingdom of God is not in word” (meaning, of course, only convincing words and hypotheses, and not the true word), “but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20), for only the truth is powerful. (4) And again: “Whoever thinks that he knows something does not yet know anything as he should know” (1 Cor. 8:2) Truth is not a private opinion, and all kinds of hypotheses about true knowledge only puff and swell with pride. But love that abides not in opinions, but in truth, edifies. That is why it is said: “Whoever loves is known” (1 Cor. 8:1-3). XII. On the need to hide the truth from the uninitiated (55, 1) Since our tradition is not intended for everyone, as is clear to those who are imbued with the greatness of the word, therefore, we must carefully guard the “wisdom proclaimed in secret” (Cf. 1 Cor. 2:7), revealed by the son of God. (2) That is why even Isaiah the prophet’s tongue is purified by fire (Isaiah 6:6–7) so that he can tell the vision. And we must cleanse not only our lips, but also our ears, if we want to become participants in the truth. (3) These considerations have so far kept me from writing this book. But even now I am afraid to “throw pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn and tear us to pieces” (Matthew 7:6). (4) It is difficult to speak about the true light in sincere and clear terms to people who are like pigs in their ignorance. For the crowd there is nothing funnier than such things, but for noble listeners there is nothing more amazing and more divinely inspired. (56, 1) “The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, because he considers them foolishness” (1 Cor. 2:14). “The wise do not divulge what they discuss in council” (Wed. Wis. 24:7). (2) “Whatever you hear in your ear,” says the Lord, “preach on the housetops” (Matthew 10:27). Here he speaks of secret traditions concerning true knowledge, excellently and sublimely explained by him. They were whispered in our ears, and in the same way we must pass them on to those who are worthy, without disclosing them to everyone else, who are worthy to hear only parables. (3) That is why in these notes for remembrance we have scattered the truth everywhere, like seeds, so that it may easily escape the notice of idle talkers, who are always ready, like crows, to caw about it. If this work meets a good farmer, then every grain of truth will sprout, and then a harvest. XIII. About the grains of truth scattered in various teachings (57, 1) The truth is one, but false deviations from it are countless. Philosophical schools, Hellenic and barbarian, like the bacchantes who tore Pentheus 51 apart, divide the truth into parts, each boasting of its part as if it owns the whole. But everything becomes clear if presented in its true light. (2) The teachings of all who strive for the true word, whether Hellenes or barbarians, contain something of true knowledge, but some contain it to a greater extent, and others to a lesser extent, as they fall away from the truth. (3) If the present, past and future are separately separate parts of time and if eternity unites them in itself, then it is all the more possible for truth to gather its own seeds together, even if they fall into alien soil. (4) And indeed, in the teachings of various philosophical schools (of course, with the exception of the completely insane ones, which, like the ancient Bacchae, who tore man to pieces, abolished the order and reason of nature and completely renounced Christ), even if they do not completely agree with each other, one can find some similarity in the main thing and consistent with the truth. Each of them relates to the whole either as a part, or as a species, or as a genus. (5) High sounds are opposite to low ones, but together they make up a chord. An even number is different from an odd number, but arithmetic teaches about both. In the same way, geometry speaks of a circle, a triangle, a quadrangle, although these figures are dissimilar to each other. The differences between the parts of the universe are even greater, but they also have something in common, which allows us to talk about them as a single whole. (6) In the same way, philosophy, barbarian and Hellenic, contains parts of eternal truth, derived, however, not from the myths of Dionysus, but thanks to the theology of the eternal Logos. And if anyone manages to connect all these scattered parts, he, without being in danger of falling into error, will contemplate the Logos, that is, the truth in all its completeness. (58:1) In Ecclesiastes it is written: “I have gained more wisdom than all those who were before me in Jerusalem, and my heart has seen many things: wisdom and knowledge, parables and knowledge. And I realized that this too is the will of the Spirit, and that through the abundance of wisdom the depth of knowledge is also achieved” (Eccl. 1:16–18). (2) Only one who possesses diverse wisdom deserves to be called a Gnostic. It is also written: “An abundance of knowledge of wisdom gives life to those who partake of it” (cf. Eccl. 7:12). What has been said is even more clearly confirmed by the following saying of Scripture: “All things are clear to those who understand” (Prov. 8:9) (this usage indicates Greek and barbarian sciences, since separately these parts would not constitute everything). “It’s just for those who want to bring feeling to everything. Choose learning over silver, and prefer knowledge to refined gold. Value feeling more than pure gold. Wisdom is better than precious stones. Nothing precious is worthy of her” (Prov. 8:9–11). XIV. Outline of the Greek Philosophical Tradition (59, 1) The Hellenes claim that after Orpheus, Linus and the most ancient poets, their contemporaries, the so-called seven wise men became famous before anyone else. Four of them were from Asia, namely: Thales from Miletus, Bias from Priene, Pittacus from Mytilene and Cleobulus from Lindus. Two were of European origin: Solon from Athens and Chilo from Sparta. The seventh, some call Periander from Corinth, others - Anacharsis from Scythia, (2) others - Epimenides the Cretan. The latter is called a Hellenic prophet by the Apostle Paul, speaking about him in his Epistle to Titus as follows: “Of them, one prophet 52 said about them this way: “The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy in their bellies.” This evidence is true 53. (3) You see, the apostle admits that some of the Hellenic prophets speak partly the truth, and for the edification of some and the bringing of others to their senses (1 Cor. 15:34), he is not ashamed to use Hellenic poems in reasoning. (4) And the example given is not the only one. Discussing the resurrection of the dead in his Epistle to the Corinthians, he introduces a tragic iambic into his speech: “What good is it to me if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die. Do not be deceived, bad communities corrupt good morals" (1 Cor. 15:32–33. The source of the quotation is not clear. - Translator's note.). (5) Some, further, rank Akusilaus of Argos among the seven sages, others - Pherecydes of Syros. Plato, considering Periander unworthy to bear the name of a sage, because he was a tyrant, instead counts Muson from Hen 54 among them. (60, 1) A little lower we will show that all these Hellenic sages lived later than Moses. Let us now turn to their philosophy and show that it was distinguished by some mystery and vagueness and seems to have been borrowed from the Jews. (2) First of all, they put their teachings in aphoristic form. Plato reports that in ancient times all the Hellenes were distinguished by this brevity, and especially the Lacedaemonians and Cretans, who had the best laws. 55 (3) The saying “know thyself” is attributed by some to Chilo. Chameleon, in his book “On the Gods,” attributes it to Thales, and Aristotle to Pythia. 56 (4) This saying encourages us to strive for wisdom. It is impossible to know a part if you do not know the essence of the whole. In the same way, to understand human nature one must first penetrate the mystery of the creation of the world. (61, 1) Chilo the Lacedaemonian is credited with the saying “nothing beyond measure.” But Strato, in his book On the Discoveries, attributes it to Sodam of Tegea. Didymus thinks that this dwarf belongs to Solon. He also attributes to Cleobulus the following saying: “Measure is the best in everything.” (2) As for the saying “if you vouch for someone, expect trouble,” Cleomenes, in his book about Hesiod, writes that Homer was the first to speak about this: The unfaithful is always a guarantee for the unfaithful. 57 The school of Aristotle believes that this saying belongs to Chilo, and Didymus attributes it to Thales. (3) Let's go further. The saying "all men are evil" or "men are for the most part evil" (it is known in these two forms), following Sotades of Byzantium, is attributed to Biant. They also attribute the saying: “Diligence purifies everything” to Periander, and the gnome “seize the opportunity” to Pittacus. (4) Solon was an Athenian legislator, and Pittacus gave laws to Mytilene. Following them, Pythagoras, a student of Pherecydes, was the first to call himself a philosopher. 58 (62, 1) From these men came three schools of philosophy, each of which is named after the place where it flourished. The Italian school was founded by Pythagoras, the Ionian by Thales and the Elean by Xenophanes. (2) According to Hippobot, Pythagoras was the son of Mnesarchus from the island of Samos. However, Aristoxenus in his “Life of Pythagoras,” as well as Aristarchus and Theopompus, claim that he was originally from Tyre. Neanthes says that he came from Syria or from Tyre, so that most agree that Pythagoras was of barbarian origin. (3) But Thales, as Leander and Herodotus testify, was a Phoenician, and according to others he came from Miletus. (4) He seems to have been the only philosopher who received his knowledge directly from the Egyptian sages. Therefore, none of the ancients is called his teacher, not even Pherecydes, whose student was Pythagoras. (63, 1) The Italian school was founded by Pythagoras and located in Metapontum, but it did not survive its creator. (2) Thales' successor was Anaximander, son of Praxiades of Miletus. He was followed by Anaximenes, son of Euristratus of Miletus. Next came Anaxagoras, son of Hegesibulus of Klazomen. It was he who brought the Ionian school to Athens. (3) His successor was Archelaus, whom Socrates listened to. But the former stonecutter left them And the truth-teller, who charmed the Hellenes with his words, says Timon in his Silla. Indeed, Socrates moved away from physics and took up ethics. (4) Socrates' listener, Antisthenes, founded the Cynic school, and Plato created his Academy. (5) Aristotle, who listened to philosophy from Plato, moved to the Lyceum and founded the Peripatetic school. His successor was Theophrastus, followed by Strato; Next come Lycon, Critolaus and Diodorus. (6) Plato's successor was Speusippus, followed by Xenocrates, then Polemon. Polemon's listeners were Kratet and Krantor, with whom the ancient Academy died out. Further, Krantor had Arcesilaus as a student, from whom the secondary Academy flourished until the time of Hegesin. (64, 1) Hegesin's successor was Carneades and his followers. Crates' student Zeno of Citium 59 was the founder of the Stoic school. His successors were Cleanthes, Chrysippus and others. (2) The founder of the Eleatic school was Xenophanes of Colophon. Timaeus says that he lived during the time of the Sicilian tyrant Hiero and was a contemporary of the poet Epicharmus. However, Apollodorus claims that he was born in the 40th Olympiad and lived until the time of Darius and Cyrus. (3) Parmenides studied with Xenophanes, and Zeno with him. Next come Leucippus, then Democritus. (4) The listeners of Democritus were Protagoras from Abdera and Metrodorus from Chios 60. Metrodorus's student was Diogenes of Smyrna, Anaxarchus studied with Diogenes, Pyrrho studied with Anaxarchus, and Nausiphanes studied with Pyrrho. Epicurus, as some say, was a disciple of the latter. (5) This is the brief history of the school succession of Hellenic philosophers. It remains now to recall exactly when the founders of these schools lived, and then from a comparison of chronological data it will be revealed that Jewish philosophy is many generations older than them. (65, 1) When Xenophanes, the founder of the Eleatic school, lived, I have already spoken. Eudemus in his “History of Astrology” says that Thales predicted the very solar eclipse that occurred on the day of the battle of the Medes with the Lydians, when Cyaxares, the father of Astyages, was king of the Media, and Alyattes, the father of Croesus, reigned over the Lydians. Herodotus, in the first book of his History, agrees with this information. The timing of this eclipse falls around the 50th Olympiad. 61 (2) It is believed that Pythagoras lived during the reign of the tyrant Polycrates, around the 62nd Olympiad. (3) History shows that Mnesiphilus, the teacher of Themistocles, was an ardent follower of Solon. Consequently, the latter lived around the 46th Olympiad. (4) Heraclitus, son of Bauson, persuaded the tyrant Melancome to renounce his power. He refused the invitation of King Darius to move to Persia. XV. Barbarian wisdom is older than Hellenic (66, 1) This is the chronology of the most ancient Hellenic sages and philosophers. There is no need to expand further on the fact that most of them were not Greek by origin and did not study with Greeks, because it is known that Pythagoras came from Etruria or Tyre, Antisthenes was a Phrygian, Orpheus came from Odrys or Thrace. Many people believe that Homer was an Egyptian. 62 (2) It is said about Thales that he was from Phenicia and was in close relations with the Egyptian priests, as well as Pythagoras, who even underwent circumcision in order to be admitted to their churches and get the opportunity to study the mysterious Egyptian philosophy. It is also known that he communicated with the greatest of the Chaldeans and magicians. And his common table (ομακοειον) resembles what we now call church. (3) Plato does not deny that he borrowed everything that was most beautiful in his philosophy from foreigners and admits that he traveled to Egypt. In the Phaedo, he directly says that a philosopher should not disdain any sources of knowledge: “Hellas is great, Cebes,” answered Socrates, and in it there are many good people, and many barbarian tribes.” (67, 1) Thus, Plato admits that the barbarians also have their own philosophers, contradicting Epicurus, who believes that only among the Hellenes did philosophy arise and flourish 63 . (2) In the “Symposium” he praises the barbarians for their attention to the laws, saying the following: “... and in various other places, among the Greeks and barbarians, more than one sanctuary was erected for such children” 64. (3) Indeed, it is known that the barbarians often surrounded their legislators and teachers with the greatest honors, even deified them. (4) They thought, according to Plato, that virtuous souls, “leaving the settlements beyond the clouds” 65, descend to earth, as if to Tartarus, and here, having put on a body, they share with people all the misfortunes of this earthly life, having the task of taking care of their destinies from birth. It was they who established laws and taught people philosophy, “this greatest of all blessings that have ever been sent down from the gods to the human race and will still be sent” 66. (68, 1) It seems to me that precisely because of the understanding of the great meaning that wisdom brings to people, the Brahmins, Odra, Getae and the peoples of Egypt glorified these people and, giving philosophy an official status, studied their words as sacred texts. It was the same among the Chaldeans, and among the Arabs, and among all the peoples who inhabited Palestine, and among the majority of the Persians, and among many other peoples. (2) Plato always very clearly expresses his respect for the barbarians, remembering that both he himself and Pythagoras borrowed the largest and best part of their teachings from them 67 . (3) That is why he speaks of “foreigners,” knowing that there were also philosophers among them. In the Phaedrus he shows that the Egyptian king was even wiser than Thoth (whom he knew as Hermes) 68 . And from what he says in Charmides, it is clear that he also knew some Thracians who believed in the immortality of the soul. (69, 1) They say that Pythagoras’ teacher was Sonchis, the high Egyptian priest, Plato’s teacher was Sekhnufis from Heliopolis, and Eudoxus from Cnidus was Honufis 69, also an Egyptian. (2) From Plato’s dialogue “On the Soul” we see (...) 70. In addition, he recognized prophecies, for he introduces into the conversation a prophet who, explaining the speech of Lachesis, predicts the fate of the souls casting lots 71. (3) In the Timaeus he depicts the sage Solon receiving instruction from a stranger. The real words of his testimony are: “O Solon, Solon! You Hellenes forever remain children, and there is no elder among you, for your minds do not retain any teaching that has grown gray with time" 72 . (4) Democritus appropriated 73 ethical teachings of the Babylonians. It is also said that among his writings was the interpretation of the hieroglyphs inscribed on the Ahikar stele, and this can be judged on the basis of his own words: “This is written by Democritus.” Indeed, proud of his learning, he writes in one place: “Of all my contemporaries, I have traveled the largest number of countries, visiting the most ancient peoples in order to study their legends. I saw a lot of climatic zones (αέρας) and countries, listened to the speeches of a lot of learned people. No one can compare with me in the art of geometry and proof, not even the Egyptians, called Arpedonaptes. I stayed with them for eighty years." 74 (6) Indeed, he traveled around Babylonia, Persia and Egypt and was among the students of magicians and priests. Pythagoras was fond of the teachings of the Persian magician Zoroaster, and followers of the sect founded by Prodicus even claim that they have secret books of this author. (70, 1) Alexander, in his work “On Pythagorean Symbols,” writes that Pythagoras was a student of the Assyrian Zarath (whom some identify with Ezekiel, however, and I can show this, this opinion is erroneous). Alexander also claims that Pythagoras listened to the Gauls and Brahmins 75. (2) Clearchus the Peripatetic says that he knew a certain Jew who studied with Aristotle. (3) Heraclitus argues that the sayings of the Sibyl were not the product of the human mind, but rather a divine inspiration. They also say that in the meeting hall at Delphi they showed a stone that, according to legend, served as the seat of the first Sibyl, who descended from Helicon, where she was raised by the Muses. Some say that she came from Malia and was the daughter of Lamia and the granddaughter of Poseidon. (4) In one of his poems, Serapion says that the Sibyl did not cease to predict even after death, and that the spirit that left her after death gives the ability to prophesy to fortune-tellers and soothsayers; her body, having turned into earth, grew grass; that is why people can recognize the future from the entrails of animals that grazed the grass in this place 76 . He believes that the face shown by the moon is the soul of the Sibyl. (71, 1) But enough about the Sibyl. The Roman king Numa was also a Pythagorean. Based on the books of Moses, he forbade the Romans to depict God in the form of a man or other living creature. For the next 170 years, there were indeed no statues or paintings in Roman churches. (2) By his order, Numa tried to symbolically show his subjects that the highest good can only be achieved through reason. (3) So philosophy, like a precious stone, has long shone among the barbarians. Later it penetrated into Hellas. (4) In Egypt, its bearers were soothsayers, in Assyria - Chaldeans, in Gaul - Druids, in Bactria - Samaneans, the Celts had their philosophers, and in Persia - magicians (these latter announced the birth of the Savior first and arrived in Jerusalem, following the star). In India, the gymnosophists studied philosophy. There were philosophers in other lands too. (5) Among the gymnosophists or naked fakirs, two kinds are distinguished. Some are called Sarmans, others are called Brahmins. Some of the Sarmans chose forest living; Such people neither live in cities nor have shelter; they dress in tree bark, eat acorns and tree fruits, and drink water from handfuls. They know neither marriage nor childbearing, like the present-day Encratites. 77 (6) Of the Hindus, some follow the commandments of the Buddha, who is given divine honors for his outstanding virtues. (72, 1) Anacharsis was a Scythian, and yet historians revere him more than many Greek philosophers. (2) Hellanicus also writes about certain Hyperboreans who live beyond the Rhipaean mountains. They are familiar with the concept of justice; they do not eat meat and feed only on vegetation and fruits. Those who have reached sixty years of age they take outside the gate and thus get rid of them. (3) The Germans also have so-called sacred maidens who prophesy by looking into river pools, observing the flow of rivers, listening to the sound of waves; This is how they predict the future. It was they who did not allow the Germans to enter into battle with Caesar before the new moon. (4) But the Jewish people are much older than all of them. And the Pythagorean Philo (as well as the Peripatetic Aristobulus, and many others whom there is no place to list here) proves with numerous examples that their philosophy is older than the Hellenic. (5) However, the clearest evidence is found in the writer Megasthenes, a contemporary of Seleucus Nicator. In the third book of his essay “On the Hindus” he writes the following: “Everything said by the ancients about nature was previously expressed by non-Hellenic philosophers, partly by Indian Brahmins, partly by the so-called Syrian Jews.” 79 (73, 1) Some lovers of legends say that the first sages descended from certain dactyls from Ida. It is they who are credited with the invention of Ephesian writing and musical rhythm, and their name allegedly bears the dactylic meter in music. These Dactyls were barbarians from Phrygia. (2) Herodotus tells that Hercules was a fortuneteller who studied natural philosophy, and the pillars of the world were given to him by Atlas, a Phrygian and barbarian. This legend hints at the origin of the science of the heavens. 80 (3) Hermippus of Berut calls the centaur Chiron wise. Author of Titanomachy 81 that he is the first ...guiding the mortal race on the righteous path, He revealed spells to them, rituals, and the constellations of Olympus. (4) He was the mentor of Achilles who fought at Troy. Hippo, the daughter of a centaur, having married Aeolus, taught him the contemplation of nature, a science she had learned from her father. (5) Euripides 82 says that Hippo ... was the first to comprehend the secret of prediction, in oracles revealing the will of God, according to the ascension of the luminaries. (6) After the capture of Troy, Odysseus enjoyed the hospitality of this particular Aeolus. Let us remember these dates in order to compare them with the time of Moses and the heyday of the most ancient, contemporary philosophy. XVI. All other sciences were also not invented by the Greeks (74, 1) The barbarians were the inventors not only of philosophy, but also of almost all other sciences and arts. (2) Thus the science of astrology originated among the Egyptians and Chaldeans. The Egyptians were the first to invent lamps, divide the year into twelve months, and prohibit intercourse with women in churches. In fact, they forbade even entering the churches without first taking a bath after intercourse. They are also credited with inventing geometry. (3) The inhabitants of Caria were famous for predicting the future from the stars. (4) The Phrygians were the first to observe the flight of birds. The Etruscans and other peoples of Italy perfectly developed the art of divination from the entrails of animals. (5) The Isaurians and Arabs discovered the art of divination by the flight of birds, and the Telmisians knew how to predict the future through the interpretation of dreams. The Etruscans invented the trumpet, and the Phrygians the flute, because both Olympus and Marsyas were Phrygians themselves. (75, 1) Cadmus, the inventor of Hellenic writings, was, according to the testimony of Ephorus, a Phoenician. This is why Herodotus 83 writes that the Hellenic alphabet was created on the basis of the Phoenician alphabet. According to others, the Phoenicians and Syrians invented the alphabet at the same time. (2) Apis, an Egyptian by origin, discovered the art of medicine even before the arrival of the nymph Io in Egypt. This art was subsequently improved by Asclepius. (3) Atlas the Libyan built the first ship and was the first to sail on the sea. (4) Kelmid and Damnameney, dactyls from the Idean tribe, were the first to discover iron on the island of Cyprus. And another ideaman discovered the art of making bronze. According to Hesiod, he was a Scythian. (5) The Thracians were the first to invent a weapon called a harpy (that is, a curved sword). They were the first to use the so-called pelta (light shield) in equestrian combat. (6) The Illyrians are considered the inventors of the round shield called the parma. (7) They also say that plastic art was invented by the Etruscans, and the long quadrangular shield was first made by the Samnite Ethan. (8) The Phoenician Cadmus discovered the first quarries and the first gold mines near Mount Pangea. (9) We owe to another people, namely the Cappadocians, the invention of a musical instrument called the nabla. The Assyrians were the first to invent the dichord. (10) The Carthaginians built the first four-oared galley. Its builder was the Carthaginian Bosporus. (76, 1) Medea, daughter of Aeetes, from Colchis, was the first to use hair dye. (2) The Noropians (a people in Paeonia, who are now called the Noric people) were the first to work copper and were the first to refine iron. (3) The king of the Bebriks, Amik, was the first to come up with the idea of ​​wrapping belts around his arms in battles. (4) Lydian harmony was first introduced by Olympus the Musian. The so-called troglodytes invented a musical instrument called the sambuca. (5) The Satyr Phrygian invented the crooked field trumpet. Agnes, also a Phrygian, invented the trichordon and diatonic harmony. (6) Olympus the Phrygian was the first to use the plectrum, Marsyas, originating from the same Phrygia, discovered Phrygian, semi-Phrygian and semi-Lydian harmonies, and Thamirius the Thracian discovered Doric harmony. (7) We also know that the first chariots were built by the Persians; they first came into use with beds and footstools; and the Sidonians were the first to build triremes. 8 The Sicilians, a people neighboring Italy, first invented the forminx, which is no worse than the lyre. They also invented castanets. (9) It is believed that the manufacture of linen clothing began during the reign of Egypt 84 . Queen Semiramis. (10) Hellanicus says that Atossa, queen of the Persians, was the first to send messages in packets. (77, 1) All this data can be found in Scamon of Mytilene, Theophrastus of Eres, Cydippus of Mantinea, Antiphanes, Aristodemus, Aristotle, as well as in Philostephanes and the peripatetic Strato in his work On Inventions. (2) I quote all these excerpts in order to demonstrate once again that the barbarians invented a lot of useful things for everyday life, and the Greeks borrowed a lot from them. (3) If anyone decides to speak disparagingly about their language, then I will answer them with the words of Anacharsis: “All Hellenes speak like Scythians (σκυθίζουσιν)).” (4) And this Anacharsis was revered by the Hellenes for his saying: “For me clothing is wool, food is milk and cheese.” You see now that barbarian philosophy is concerned more with deeds than with words. (78:1) The Apostle says: “So, if you also utter unintelligible words with your tongue, how will they know what you are saying? You will be talking into the wind. For example, how many different words are there in the world, and not one of them is without meaning; but if I do not understand the meaning of the words, then I am a stranger to the one who speaks, and the one who speaks is a stranger to me” (1 Cor. 14:9-11). “Therefore, he who speaks a foreign language, pray for the gift of interpretation” (1 Cor. 14:13). (2) But the art of literature and writing penetrated to the Hellenes relatively late. (3) Thus, the first work on nature was written by Alcmaeon of Croton, son of Perithos. (4) Others say that the first to publish a book on nature was Anaxagoras of Klazomen, the son of Hegesibulus. (5) Terpander of Antissa was the first to set poetic works to music, using the Spartan mode (νόμοι). The dithyramb was invented by Lazos of Hermione, the hymn was invented by Stesichorus the Hymerean, the dance by the Lacedaemonian Alcman, the love poem by the Teosian Anacreon, and the dance accompanied by singing was introduced by the Theban Pindar. Timothy the Milesian was the first to establish rules for singing for the lyre and choir. (79, 1) The iambic was invented by Archilochus of Paria, and Hipponax from Ephesus invented an incomplete iambic. The Athenian Thespis invented tragedy, and Susarion the Icarian invented comedy. (2) Grammarians give the dates of the lives of all these men, but a comparative examination of all these dates would be too long, and even unnecessary, since, as we have already seen, even Dionysus himself, after whom the Dionysian holidays are named, lived much later than Moses or, at best, around the same time. 3 They say that Antiphon, the son of Sophilus, a native of Ramnus, was the first to compose speeches containing moral instructions, according to all the rules of rhetoric. He was the first to write a defense speech for the client to deliver in court for a fee. You can read about this in Diodorus. Apollodorus, a native of Qom, was the first to introduce the name grammar instead of the traditional critic, for which he was called Grammarian. 85 Some argue that the first grammarian was Eratosthenes from Crete, since it was he who published two books entitled “Grammar.” But the first who was called a grammarian in the sense that this word now has, was Praxiphanes, the son of Dionysiphanes, a native of Mytilene. 4 It is said that the first legislator was Zaleucus of Locris. Others call such a legislator Minos, the son of Zeus, from the time of Lynceus. (5) The latter lived after Danaus, in the eleventh generation after Inachus and Moses, which we will show a little below. (6) Lycurgus, who lived long after the capture of Troy, gave the law to the Lacedaemonians a century before the beginning of the Olympic era. 86 We have already spoken about the time of Solon’s life. (80, 1) It is believed that the Dragon, who was also a legislator, lived around the 39th Olympiad. (2) The historian Antilochus took the time to calculate that the period from the time of Pythagoras to the death of Epicurus (...), which followed on the tenth day of the month Hamilion, covers a period of 312 years. 87 (3) They also say that the heroic hexameter was invented by Phanothea, the wife of Icarus; others attribute its invention to Femina, one of the daughters of Titan. (4) Didymus, in his work On Pythagorean Philosophy, states that Theano of Croton was the first woman to take up philosophy and write poems. The role of philosophy as a preliminary doctrine (5) Thus, Hellenic philosophy, according to some, teaches about truth in a random way, and even then vaguely and not completely. According to others, it generally develops at the devil’s instigation, as if all philosophy was instilled in the Hellenes by lower spirits. (6) But even if Hellenic philosophy does not contain the truth in all its greatness and is too weak to fully fulfill the commandments of the Lord, nevertheless it prepares the way leading to the truth and to the assimilation of truly royal teachings, for to a certain extent it corrects and improves morals and prepares those who believe in Providence to accept the truth. XVII. About responsibility for sins (81:1) They will object to me that it is written that “all who came before the coming of the Lord were thieves and robbers” (cf. John 10:8). However, to consider that this applies to absolutely everyone who was before the coming of the Logos is too general an interpretation, (2) because in this case we would have to include here the prophets, who undoubtedly were servants inspired by the Logos rather than robbers. (3) “Wisdom sent her servants, calling with a loud announcement to the cup of wine,” says Scripture (Prov. 9:3-5). (4) They also say that philosophy did not fulfill the Lord’s order, but entered the world like a thief, or, in other words, as the gift of a thief. A certain force, or angel, learned the truth, but having fallen away from it, he began to stealthily teach it to people. The Lord knew this, for he also knows the end of things that have not yet been brought into existence, but he did not hinder the evil spirit in his work. (5) This means that the transfer of this stolen knowledge at that time brought benefit to people, not because, of course, the thief intended to bring good, but due to the fact that providence prevented the consequences of the crime and turned them to benefit. (82, 1) I know that many will again object to me, arguing that not stopping someone from committing a crime means accepting responsibility for it. They say that if someone does not look after a certain thing and does not take measures against its theft, he himself is guilty of its loss. In the same way, the culprit of a fire is the one who did not extinguish the fire at the very beginning. Likewise, the culprit of a shipwreck is the helmsman who did not gather the sails on time. (2) The law provides for liability for negligence: whoever had the power to prevent the misfortune is responsible for it. (5) 88 . After all, this misfortune happened because the one who had the power to prevent it did not want to act. (3) Our answer is that liability arises only when the act was committed, there was an intentional act, or there was malice (ev τω ποιειν καΐ fevεpγεΐv καΐ δραν νοεισθαιν). With this approach, firstly, inaction is not an act; (4) secondly, only someone who intentionally did something and takes responsibility for it is guilty. Thus, the builder of a ship or house is responsible for the quality of his work. Not preventing something and accomplishing something are not the same thing. What intentional action was committed by the one who did not prevent anything? (6) Their argument is absurd, because to say so is the same as blaming not the weapon for the wound, but the shield, which could not prevent the blow; or acquit the thief and blame instead the one who could not prevent the theft. (83, 1) Likewise, the burning of the Greek ships would then have to be attributed not to Hector, but to Achilles, because he could have prevented it, but did not do so. (2) In our case, Achilles himself, by not preventing the fire from occurring, although it was in his will to tame his anger, is guilty of deliberate inaction. In the same way, the devil is fully responsible for his actions, since he is completely autocratic and could repent and abandon his thieving plan. Therefore, the blame lies with him, and not with the Lord, who did not prevent. Finally, God had no need to interfere in the affairs of the devil, because what he brought into the world was harmless to people. (3) And if we turned to terminological details, let us also remind them that the impossibility of preventing something (as, for example, in the case of theft) is not a hypothesis of culpable behavior. On the contrary, it is an attempt to prevent it. (4) Thus, he who covers another with a shield for the one he shields is the cause of invulnerability, for by interceding for him, he prevents the enemy from inflicting a wound. Socrates' demon, in this sense, was responsible not for inaction, but for deliberately created obstacles, even if they did not entail active action. (5) Neither praise nor blame, nor reward nor punishment would be fair if the soul did not have the opportunity to agree with them or refuse them and sin were an involuntary matter. (84, 1) That is why whoever prevents something is responsible. The one who does not create obstacles has, as a result, the right to judge the soul on the basis of the free choice that it has made. Therefore, God is not responsible for our sins. (2) Since sin is the result of free choice, coupled with a predisposition to one course of action or another, and since false opinions often govern us, and we, through ignorance or because of our ignorance, do not try to resist them, God has a right to judge us. (3) Fever is, of course, an involuntary illness. But if someone causes it through his own excess, then we rightly blame him. In a certain sense, sin is also involuntary, (4) for no one chooses evil as evil. On the contrary, seduced by possible benefits, the sinner takes them for good and thinks that he is making the right choice. (5) Consequently, we have the power to free ourselves from ignorance and from any supposedly successful choice, which means it depends on ourselves whether we will succumb to these deceptive chimeras that lead us to evil. (6) The devil is called a robber and a thief because, by his will, false prophets also arose among the true prophets, just as tares are added to wheat. Therefore, the statement that all those who came before the Lord are thieves and robbers does not apply to all people without exception, but only to these false prophets, as well as to those who have not received the approval of the Lord. (85, 1) False prophets are also thieves because they stole the name of the prophet. More precisely, they were prophets, but prophets of a liar. (2) The Lord says: “Your father is the devil, and you want to do the lusts of your father; he was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him; when he speaks a lie, he speaks his own way, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). (3) The false prophets mixed a few words of truth into their lies, and when they predicted, they actually went into a kind of frenzy, being the messengers of an apostate. (4) “The angel of repentance, the Shepherd,” Herma said about the false prophet, “speaks a few words of truth, for the devil penetrates him with his spirit, wanting to seduce some of the righteous” 89. (5) From above, everything is organized for good, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and powers in heaven, according to the eternal purpose which he fulfilled in Christ” (Eph. 3:10–11). (6) Nothing can resist God, nothing can resist him, for he is the almighty Lord. (86, 1) The thoughts and deeds of the fallen angels, representing only scattered actions, arise, like bodily illnesses, from their bad inclinations. But providence also directs these actions towards a salutary goal, although their very cause is pathogenic. (2) And the greatest art of Divine Providence consists precisely in the fact that it does not allow the evil that arose as a result of conscious resistance to remain completely useless, much less harmful. (3) Indeed, the wisdom, goodness and omnipotence of God are manifested not only in the fact that good flows from them (for such is the essence of God, just as the nature of fire is to burn, and the nature of light is to illuminate), but also in the fact that they are able to turn even evil actions into good and to benefit from what seems worthless. In this way, torture can benefit the martyrs. (87, 1) Likewise, in philosophy, as if stolen from heaven by Prometheus, there is contained the fire of a certain luminous truth, which can be fanned with effort. There are some traits of wisdom in her, a certain orientation towards God. (2) And yet, the Hellenic philosophers were thieves and robbers, because, having borrowed some parts of the truth from the Jewish prophets before the coming of the Savior, they not only did not fully understand it, but also presented it as their own invention, distorting it in places, mixing things up in places with immoderate enthusiasm, sometimes, however, achieving understanding on their own. After all, a certain “spirit of understanding” was not alien to the Hellenes (Ex. 28:3). (3) Aristotle, in accordance with Scripture, also calls sophistry “the art of thieves,” as we have already said. (4) “What we proclaim,” says the apostle, “not with words taught by human wisdom, but with words taught by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 2:13). John says this about the prophets: “Of his fullness we have received” (John 1:16), that is, from Christ, so the prophets are not thieves. (6) “And my teaching is not mine,” says the Savior, “but of the Father who sent Me” (John 7:16). About thieves he says this: “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory” (John 7:18). (7) Such are the Greeks, for “they are selfish and arrogant” (2 Tim. 3:2). But by calling them sages, Scripture does not thereby condemn true sages, but only those who pretend to be them. (88, 1) It is said about them: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and destroy the understanding of the prudent” (Is. 29:14; 1 Cor. 1:19). Therefore the apostle adds: “Where is the wise man? where is the scribe? where is the questioner of this age? Here he contrasts the scribes and the eternal debaters and researchers of the wisdom of this age, that is, the pagan philosophers. (2) “Has not God,” continues the apostle, “turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness?” This statement means: “showed that it is madness,” and is by no means the truth, as was previously thought. (3) And if you ask about what made the Hellenic philosophers consider themselves wise, the apostle will answer that this happened because of the “hardness of their hearts” (Eph. 4:18.) “For when in the wisdom of God,” proclaimed by the prophets, “the world did not know His,” that is, God, “thanks to that wisdom” that spoke through the prophets, then “the foolishness of the preaching pleased God,” which seemed madness to the Hellenes, “to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:20–21). (4) “For the Jews,” the apostle further says, “demand miracles for faith, but the Greeks seek wisdom,” that is, the so-called irrefutable evidence and all kinds of syllogisms. “But we preach Jesus Christ crucified, which is a temptation to the Jews, because, believing in the prophecies, they do not believe in their fulfillment, but to the Greeks foolishness” (1 Cor. 1:22-23), (5) for those who pretend to be wise men find it incredible that through the mouth of a man the Son of God spoke, that God has a Son, and that this Son suffered. Prejudices and other people's opinions prevent them from believing. (6) But the coming of the Savior did not make those who obeyed his call either reckless, hard-hearted, or treacherous, but turned them into reasonable, obedient and honest people. Those who refused an alliance with them and separated from them turned out to be reckless, treacherous and short-sighted people. (8) “For those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24) (89, 1) We see, therefore, that the statement “has not God turned the wisdom of this world into foolishness” should not be taken as negative and equivalent to “has not turned,” otherwise we cannot avoid the conclusion that God is responsible for the hardening of their hearts and has himself turned their wisdom into foolishness. On the contrary, the apostle only wants to say that, with all their wisdom, they are all the more responsible for not answering him and not believing his preaching. They themselves deliberately turned away from the truth. (2) In addition, when he says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise” (Is. 29:4), he means that he thereby demonstrated the superiority of the hitherto degraded and rejected barbarian philosophy over the Greek. The same thing happened to her that happens to a lamp burning in the sun, because its light cannot be compared with the power of sunlight. (3) The sermon was addressed to everyone, but only those who responded are rightly called “called” (1 Cor. 1:24), for “is there really unrighteousness with God? No way" 90. It makes no difference whether they are Jews or Gentiles, but if they believe, they constitute a special people, “chosen” (Titus 2:14). (4) In the Acts of the Apostles you will read: “They who received his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41); those who did not accept, it means that they themselves chose to separate. (90, 1) It is to them that the prophecy is addressed: “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land” (Isa. 1:19). This shows that it is in our power to accept the word of God or reject it. The Apostle called the teaching of the Lord Sophia, thereby showing us that the true philosophy was transmitted to us by the Son of God. (2) Even those mired in false wisdom can hear the apostle’s call to “put on the new man, created according to God in righteousness and true holiness.” “Therefore, having rejected false teaching, speak the truth, and do not give room to the devil. Whoever stole, do not steal in the future, but rather work, doing something useful with your own hands.” (3) This work is the activity of a seeker of truth with the help of the good deed of the word, “so that something can be given to the needy” (Eph. 4:24–25, 28) both the goods of this world and the Divine Wisdom. (4) The apostle desires that true doctrine be studied only through a comparative test of its merits, just as silver is first carefully refined in a crucible and only then given for profit to the money changers (Matthew 25:27). (5) That is why he says further: “Let no corrupt word come out of your mouth” (Eph. 4:29), for such are words based on human conceit, “but only what is good for edification of the faith, so that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29). Since God is good, his word is necessarily good. The Savior cannot but be good. XIX. Greek philosophy is involved in wisdom (91, 1) You can also be convinced that Greek philosophy is in partial agreement with the truth from the following. The book of the Acts of the Apostles quotes an excerpt from a speech delivered by Paul at the Areopagus: (2) “I see from everything that you seem to be especially devout; for, passing and examining your shrines, I also found an altar on which is written: “To the unknown God.” This, which you honor without knowing, I preach to you. (3) God, who created the world and everything in it, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in churches made by man and does not require the service of human hands, as if he needed anything, giving life and breath and everything to everyone; (4) from one blood he brought forth the whole human race to inhabit the whole face of the earth, assigning predetermined times and limits to their habitation, so that they would seek if they would feel him and find him, although he is not far from each of us, for we live and move and have our being by him, as some of your poets said: “And we are his race.” 91 (5) Quoting a line from Aratus’s “Heavenly Apparitions,” the apostle shows with these words that he recognizes many of the opinions of Hellenic philosophers as sound. In addition, the apostle points out that under the name of the “unknown God” the Greeks indirectly revered the Creator of the universe, whom they would know directly through the words of His Son and learn from Him. (92, 1) “For this reason,” says the Scripture, “I sent you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so that they would turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance with those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-18) (2) So, the Greeks are blind men whose eyes needed to be opened, so that in the face of the Son they would know the Father, hitherto known to them only by indirect evidence. And “conversion from the power of Satan” is identical with liberation from sin, which gave rise to slavery. (3) That is why we do not indiscriminately recognize every philosophy as true, but only that about which Socrates says in Plato the following: “As those initiated into the mysteries say, there are many tyrants, but only a few become bacchants.” Let us compare with these words the saying of the Savior: “Many are called, but few are chosen.” 92 (4) That is why Socrates further explains: “The Bacchants, in my opinion, are none other than philosophers who managed to find the true path. To be among them, I did everything I could, without neglecting anything in life. But whether we tried properly and what we achieved - this will be revealed, by God’s will, a little later” 93. (93, 1) Does it not seem to you that Socrates here, convinced (πεισθείς) by the words of the Hebrew Scripture, expresses the hope with which faith fills the righteous and which must be fulfilled after death? Further in “Demodocus” (if only this work belongs to Plato), the same Socrates says: “Do not think that I call a philosopher a person who spent his life working to master various sciences and arts, or in the pursuit of much knowledge. It would be a scandal for philosophy" 94. (2) I think that Socrates knew the famous statement of Heraclitus that “much knowledge does not teach intelligence” 95. (3) In the fifth book of the Republic we again encounter something similar: “Shall we call all these and similar people who strive to learn something or learn some craft philosophers? “Not at all,” I answered, except that they look like them. “But,” he objected, who then deserves the name of true philosophers? “Those who love to discern the truth,” I answered” 96. (4) Indeed, philosophy cannot be reduced either to geometry with its postulates and hypotheses, or to music, an approximate science, or to astronomy, which talks about the world and deals mainly with things that are fluid and uncertain. The task of philosophy is to clarify the essence of good in itself and the truth, which is not identical to good, but through which the most probable path to it lies. (5) That is why Socrates did not believe that basic education is sufficient for the knowledge of the good. In his opinion, its only benefit is that it awakens the mind and exercises it, directing it to intelligible things. (94, 1) Even if the Hellenes accidentally stumbled upon some of the provisions of true philosophy, then this incident was one of the manifestations of Divine providence (I hope no one will decide that by saying this we are deifying the incident). So, if there was a coincidence of circumstances, then here, we affirm, it could not have happened without Providence. (2) If all these ideas, as they say, were instilled in the Greeks by natural common sense, then here too we will notice that nature was created by the edible Creator, therefore, as we previously argued, righteousness is also natural 97 . If the Hellenes are endowed with some special common sense, then let us consider who was the father of all common sense and sanity, which is its property? (3) If we are reminded of the ability to foresee and predict the future, then this is all due to the gift of prophecy. So, there is no doubt that some rays of truth reached the mental gaze of philosophers and were reflected in their teachings. (4) That is why the divine apostle says: “Now we see through a glass darkly” (1 Cor. 13:12), that is, as if we are peering into our reflection in a mirror, and trying to see in it, as far as possible, the very creative root cause, the image of which we are. (5) For, as it is said, “he who has seen his brother has seen his God also.”98 In my understanding, this saying under the name of God tells us about the Savior. (6) Subsequently, having thrown off our earthly shell, “the pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), we will see God “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12), that is, in a completely and perfect way. (7) Those of the Hellenes who were sufficiently persistent in the study of philosophy approached the vision of God, through his image or, as it were, through a magnifying glass. This is an inevitable consequence of the weakness of our vision, and therefore we contemplate the truth as a reflection on the surface of water or through some transparent or reflective body. (95:1) Solomon said it well: “He who sows righteousness builds up faith. Those who sow their own thereby multiply it.” ( Proverbs 11:21–24 ) And further: “The grass languishes, and greenery appears, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered. The sheep are for your clothing, and the goats are for buying a field.” ( Proverbs 27:25–26 ) (3) Further, as you can see, it talks about the need for shelter and protection: “Take good care of your livestock, take care of your flocks.” (Prov. 27:23). (3) “When the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what is lawful, then, not having the law, they are a law unto themselves,” that is, “if the uncircumcised does the statutes of the law” (Rom. 2:14, 26), according to the apostle, before the giving of the law and until the coming of Christ. (4) The Word makes a clear distinction between those who come from philosophy and heretics, as can be seen from the following: “Better is a neighbor near than a brother far away.” “He who trusts in lies guards the winds and throws birds into the air.” (5) I do not think that we are talking about philosophy here, although in many cases it resorts to plausible hypotheses and bases its conclusions on them. Heresy is condemned, (6) for further it is said: “He forgot the way to his vineyard and lost the way to his field.” That is, he forgot about the truly existing God, becoming an atheist, and therefore he looks for water where there is none: “... and then he reached an uninhabited and dry land, scooping up barren dust with his hands” (Proverbs 9:12). (96, 1) “Whoever is stupid, turn here,” Sophia says, referring to the heretics. “Stolen water is sweet, and free bread is pleasant” (Prov. 9:16–17). Bread and water are mentioned here with the sole purpose of showing the heretical practice of those who, contrary to the church canon, use bread and water during worship, for there are also those who make do with only clean water during the Eucharist. (2) “But keep aside and do not enter her places” (Prov. 9:19). This refers to meeting places that are not necessarily the same as the church. (3) It goes on to say, “So you will cross foreign waters.” This refers to heretical baptism, indecent and alien. (4) And “having crossed foreign waters,” which will carry you away and carry you out to sea, you will find yourself where everyone is who has lost the solid ground of truth, and again you will float with them on the choppy waves of pagan life. (97, 1) When many people drag one ship, we do not say that the effort of each of them separately is the cause (αίτία) causing the ship to move. On the contrary, the ship is propelled by a single force, which is the sum of many elements, and each individual contributes, making efforts in harmony with the others. In the same way, philosophy makes its own separate contribution to the achievement of truth, although in itself it is not the only means for comprehending the truth, but is effective only in accordance with the whole. (2) Happiness is something integral, but its causes, virtues, are numerous. Heat is produced not only by the sun, but also by fire, a warm bath and clothing. In the same sense, we say that truth is one, although there are many ways to comprehend it. And its discovery depends on the will of the Son. (3) Consider also the following: the power of virtue is holistic, but depending on the type of activity in which it manifests itself, it is called either common sense, or prudence, or valor, or justice. (4) Developing this analogy, we can say that truth is also one, but one kind of truth is found in geometry, another in music. Consequently, there is no obstacle to discerning a special truth in the best part of Greek philosophy. Of course, we learn the truth itself, the only and royal one, only thanks to the Son of God. (98, 1) With the same coin we pay passage if we give it to the captain of a ship, tax if we give it to a tax collector, rent if we pay it to the owner of a house, tuition if we give it to a teacher, and a deposit if we give it to a seller. Each virtue and truth, although designated by one name, is effective only in view of the purpose it serves. (2) A happy life is also made up of a combination of various factors (and its essence does not depend on the usage of words!), so we call happy both the righteous life itself and the person who has been granted this life thanks to the ordering of his soul in accordance with the requirements of virtue. (3) And even if philosophy contributes even remotely to the discovery of truth, since it is also characterized by the desire for knowledge very close to the truth that we seek, for this reason alone it is useful to everyone who makes an effort to achieve gnosis through the Logos. (4) Of course, the Hellenic teachings, even if they are called similar to what is accepted among us, still significantly deviate from ours, since our teaching concerns true gnosis, its proof is more accurate and its effectiveness is based on the divine nature, for we were taught by God himself 99 and received our truly sacred writings from the Son of God. From this it follows that the Hellenes educate the soul differently than we do. Their methods of education and training are completely different. (99, 1) Detractors force us to clarify definitions. In saying that philosophy is a cause auxiliary and conducive to the search for true teaching, we recognize that for the Gnostic this teaching is just the first preparatory stage. After all, each of the causes, taken separately, is not a single cause, just as the auxiliary cause is not perfect. Philosophy is also not a necessary condition, since many of us, without bothering ourselves with philosophical education, and without even mastering elementary literacy, nevertheless managed to grasp the truth by the power 100 given to us by the divine impulse emanating from barbarian philosophy. And Sofia herself taught us all this. (2) That which, due to its imperfection, cannot act independently and needs outside help, we call a secondary and contributing cause. It becomes a cause only when combined with another cause; acting on its own, it is not capable of producing anything consistent with the truth. (3) And yet philosophy itself sometimes led the Hellenes to righteousness, even if imperfect. We can say that it only led to it, just as the first and second staircases are only a means for penetrating the upper floor of the house, and grammar is a means for further mastery of philosophy. But this does not mean that after its elimination, the Logos operating in the universe will lack anything, and the true teaching will fall. Sight, hearing, and voice help to reach the truth, but only the mind knows the truth in the proper sense of the word. (4) Secondary reasons are useful to a greater or lesser extent. Clarity of style, for example, greatly contributes to the clear transmission of truth, and dialectic is a good weapon in polemics with heretics. (100, 1) And yet the teaching of the Savior, being God’s power and God’s “wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:24), acts entirely by its own means and does not need any other help; and if you add philosophy to it, it will not become more effective. But since philosophy weakens all the attacks of the sophists, since it removes the secret snares placed around the truth, we called it a fence and a wall surrounding the vineyard 101. (2) True teaching, accepted by faith for the life of the soul, is as necessary as bread for the life of the body. As for preliminary education, it is more like an appetizer or dessert. “At the end of dinner,” says the Theban poet Pindar, “a rich dessert is pleasant.” 102 (3) On the contrary, the Scripture says: “He who is gentle, having understood, will become more cunning, but the wise will gain knowledge.” 103 “He who speaks for himself,” said the Savior, “seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him.” (In. 7:18.) (4) Therefore, he is a liar who, having appropriated the property of the barbarians, boasts of it as his own property; dressing up in the clothes of truth, he cares only about his own glory and sins against the truth. These are the ones Scripture calls thieves. For it is said: “My son, do not be a liar, for lying leads to theft.” 104 (5) Moreover, what a thief steals, be it gold or silver, a work or a teaching, never becomes his property. 105 And although the stolen goods contain part of the truth, they only guess about its meaning, being forced to do so by irrefutable logic. Only a true mentor will be able to reveal to them the true meaning. XXI. Detailed comparison of Hellenic and biblical history (101, 1) A little later we will consider in detail the question of the extent to which philosophers borrowed their teachings from the Jews. First, for greater consistency, it should be said about the time when Moses lived, for from here it becomes indisputably clear that Jewish philosophy is older than any other wisdom. (2) Tatian, in his speech “Against the Hellenes,” examines this with all care; Cassian speaks of the same thing in the first book of his Interpretations. Be that as it may, in our book of notes we must also touch upon this subject. (3) Apion Grammaticus, nicknamed Champion, was an Egyptian by birth and was so hostile towards the Jews that he even wrote a special essay against them, in the fourth book of his “History of Egypt”, he mentions the Egyptian king Amosis, referring to Ptolemy of Mend. (4) Here are the true words of Apion: “By order of Amosis, Lake Avaris was dug out. And he lived, as Ptolemy of Mend reports in his Chronicles, during the time of Inachus the Argive.” (5) This Ptolemy was a priest. It was he who wrote the history of the kings of Egypt in three books, which states that under the leadership of Moses, during the reign of Amosis, the Jews left Egypt. From a comparison of these two facts, he concludes that Moses was a contemporary of Inachus. 106 (102, 1) The oldest of all Hellenic cities is Argos, built by Inachus, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus testifies in his Chronicles. 107 (2) Attic history begins four generations later with Kerkop (who was a creature of the earth (autochthon) and half serpent, half man). This is exactly what Tatian says about him. Pelasgus, from whom the history of Arcadia began, lived nine generations later than Inachus. It is also called autochthon. (3) And Deucalion, the first king of Phthia, lived fifteen generations later. From Inachus to the time of the Trojan War there are twenty or twenty-one generations, which is four hundred years or even more. (4) And if, according to the testimony of Ctesias, the Assyrians united into one people long before the Hellenes, then it is obvious that the exodus of Moses from Egypt occurs in 402 after the founding of the Assyrian state, in the 32nd year of the reign of Belukha VIII, during the time of Amosis and Inachus, one of whom was the king of Egypt, the other of Argos. (5) During the reign of Phoroneus, the successor of Inachus, the flood of Ogyges befell Hellas. At the same time, the kingdom of Sikyon rose in the person of its first kings - Aegialea, then Europe, then Telkhin and, finally, Crete, the king of the island of Crete. (6) Akusilaus generally calls Phoroneus the first man, which is why the author of the Phoroneida calls him “the father of mortals.” (103, 1) Therefore, Plato, in agreement with Acusilaus, says in the Timaeus: “One day, intending to turn the conversation to old traditions, he [Solon] began to expound to them our myths about ancient times - about Phoroneus, revered as the first man, and about Niobe, and about the events that followed the first flood.” 108 (2) “Actaeus, from whose name Attica was named, was a contemporary of Forbant. Prometheus, Atlas, Epimetheus, the two-born Cecrops and Io were contemporaries of Triops. The death of Phaethon in fire and the flood of Deucalion occurred during the time of Kekrops. (3) Sthenelus was a contemporary of King Amphictyon, the resettlement of Danaus to the Peloponnese and the founding of Dardania by Dardanus, whom Homer calls The primordial cloud collector Zeus. 109 Around the same time, Europa was kidnapped from Phenicia by Zeus and taken to Crete. (4) Events contemporary with the reign of Lynceus were the abduction of Kore, the founding of the sanctuary at Eleusis, the invention of agriculture by Triptolemus, the coming of Cadmus to Thebes and the reign of Minos. (5) And during the time of Prietus, the war of Eumolpus against the Athenians took place. During the time of Acrisius, Pelops moved from Phrygia to Hellas. The coming to Athens of Ion and another Kerkops, the acts of Perseus and Dionysus, Orpheus and Musaeus date back to the same era.” 110 (104, 1) According to the testimony of Dionysius the Argive, Troy was taken in the 18th year of the reign of Agamemnon, in the 1st year of the reign of Demophon, son of Theseus, over the Athenians, on the 12th day of the month Phargelion. (2) Aegius and Derkiol claim that Troy was taken on the 8th day of the 3rd decade of the month Panema; Hellanicus - on the 12th day of the month Fargelion; according to other historiographers of Athens, this event occurred on the 8th day of the last ten days of the month of Farhelion, in the last year of the reign of Menestheus and on the full moon. It was midnight, and the moon was full in the sky, says the author of the Little Iliad. 111 Others claim that this happened on the 8th day of the last ten days of the month of Skyrophorion. (3) Theseus, the rival of Hercules, lived one generation before the siege of Troy. That is why Homer mentions Tlipolemus, the son of Hercules, who fought at Troy 112. (105, 1) It has been proven, therefore, that Moses lived 604 years earlier than the inclusion of Dionysus among the gods, because this event, according to the chronicle of Apollodorus, occurred in the 32nd year of the reign of Perseus. (2) From Dionysus to the time of Hercules and those famous warriors who, together with Jason, undertook the voyage on the ship Argo, there are 63 years. Asclepius and the Dioscuri also took part in this journey, as Apollonius of Rhodes testifies in his poem Argonautica. (3) From the accession of Hercules to the throne of Argos to the deification of him and Asclepius, according to the chronography of Apollodorus, 38 years are counted. (4) From this era until the deification of Castor and Polydeuces, another 53 years passed. (5) If we trust the poet Hesiod, let us also listen to his testimony: Maya, Atlantean daughter, ascended to the sacred bed To Zeus, and the messenger of the eternal gods was resolved by Hermes. Cadmus's daughter Semele, united in love with Cronides, Dionysus bore him a son, bringing joy. 113 (106, 1) Cadmus, the father of Semele, came from Thebes under Lynceus and invented Greek writing. Triops, they say, lived at the same time as Isis, seven generations after Inachus (Isis is also called Io, which means walking, since she wandered around the world). Istres, in his book On the Egyptian Colonies, says that this nymph was the daughter of Prometheus. (2) Prometheus therefore lived at the same time as Triopus, seven generations after Moses. It turns out that Moses lived much earlier than the era in which, according to the Hellenes, the first man appeared. (3) Leontes, an expert in Egyptian theogony, 114 says that Isis was known among the Hellenes under the name of Demeter. Therefore, Demeter lived in the time of Lynceus, eleven generations after Moses. (4) Apis, king of Argos, was the founder of Memphis, as Aristippus relates in the first book of his History of Arcadia. 115 (5) Aristeas the Argive says that this king was nicknamed Serapis and that this is the same Serapis whom the Egyptians consider a god. (6) And Nymphodorus Amphipolite, in the third book of his work “On the Customs of Asia,” says that when the bull Apis died and was embalmed, he was placed in a coffin (σορός), located in the church of the deity whom the Egyptians worshiped. Hence the bull received the name Soro-Apisa; Subsequently, the inhabitants of that area began to call him Serapis. Apis was the third descendant of Inachus. (107, 1) Leto lived during the time of Tityus: By force he took Leto, the glorious wife of Zeus. 116 (2) Tityus and Tantalus were contemporaries. Therefore, Pindar the Boeotian could write: “Then Apollo was born.” And it is not surprising that Apollo and Hercules spend a “long year” 117 together in the service of Admetus. (3) Zetus and Amphion, inventors of the art of music, were born in the time of Cadmus. (4) And if they remind us that the first Sibyl was Phemonoe, whom Acrisius consulted, then let them know that she lived only 27 years earlier than Orpheus, Musaeus and Linus, the teacher of Hercules. (5) Homer and Hesiod lived much later than the capture of Troy and much earlier than the Hellenic legislators Lycurgus and Solon, before the seven wise men, Pherecydes of Syros and the great Pythagoras, who, as we have already seen, all lived after the establishment of the Olympic chronology. Thus, we found out that Moses lived not only much earlier than the Hellenic sages and poets, but also long before most of their gods. (108, 1) And not only Moses, but also the Sibyl lived much earlier than Orpheus. Many writers mention her and her oracles. They say that she was a Phrygian named Artemis who came to Delphi, as evidenced by the following: O inhabitants of Delphi, admirers of the far-reaching Apollo, I have come to proclaim the will of the aegis-bearing Zeus, Inflamed with anger at my brother Apollo. (3) There is also another Sibyl, a native of Eritrea; her name is Herophila. Heraclides of Pontus mentions both of them in his essay “On the Soothsayers.” (4) I will not dwell here on the Egyptian and Italian Sibyl, who lived in Kermala in Rome. Evander, the founder of the church of Pan, the so-called Luperkion, was her son. Chronology of the prophets after Moses (109, 1) Let us now move on to other prophets who lived after Moses. (2) After the death of Moses, Joshua ruled the people of Israel. For 6 years he fought wars, and for the remaining 25 years he rested in the promised land; (3) According to the book of Joshua, he ruled the Israelites after Moses for 27 years. (4) After the Book of Judges narrates (Judges 3:8), the Jews, for their sins, fell under the authority of Husachar, king of Mesopotamia, and were under him for 8 years. (5) But after pleading with God, they chose Othniel, the younger brother of Caleb from the tribe of Judah, as their leader. Othniel killed the king of Mesopotamia and then ruled the people for 50 years (Judges 3:11). (6) The Jews again fell into sins and were handed over to Eglom, king of the Moabites, for 18 years. After that, they repented again and for 80 years they had as leader Ehud from the tribe of Ephraim, who controlled his left hand as well as his right (Judges 3:15–21). He killed Eglom. (110, 1) After the death of Ehud, the Jews sinned again and were for 20 years under the rule of Jabem, king of Canaan. At this time there lived the prophetess Deborah, the wife of Lappidoth, from the tribe of Ephraim. The high priest at that time was Hosea, son of Rees. (2) Thanks to the influence of Deborah, Barak, the son of Bennir from the tribe of Naphtali, was placed at the head of the army (Judges 4:6.), went against Sisera, the commander-in-chief of the armies of Jabem, and defeated him. After this victory, Deborah was the supreme judge for 40 years. (3) After her death, the people sinned again and were under the rule of the Midianites for 7 years. (4) Then Gideon, the son of Joash from the tribe of Manasseh, went against the Midianites at the head of 300 soldiers and killed up to 120,000 enemies. He ruled the Israelites for 40 years, and after him his son Abimelech ruled for 3 years. (5) The successor of this last was Volea the son of Bedan, the son of Haran, of the tribe of Ephraim; he was a judge in Israel for 23 years. After his death, the Jews sinned again and were under the rule of the Ammonites for 18 years. (111, 1) Again they repented and chose Jephthah from Gilead from the tribe of Manasseh as judge. Jephthah ruled the Israelites for 6 years. His successor was Abathan from Bethlehem (Judges 12:8) from the tribe of Judah. He was a judge for 7 years. After him Euron from the tribe of Zebulun, 8 years old; further Eglom from the tribe of Ephraim, also 8 years old. Some add the 8 years of Euron’s reign to the 7 years of Heshbon’s reign. (2) After Eglom, the Jews sinned again, and for 40 years the foreign yoke of the Philistines weighed heavily on them. But when they turned to God, Samson from the tribe of Dan became their leader and subjugated the foreigners to them. He ran them for 20 years. (3) After Samson there came anarchy 118. Then the high priest Eli was judge for 40 years. (4) Eli's successor was the prophet Samuel. Saul reigned under Samuel, ascending the throne at the age of 27. (112:1) Samuel anointed David to the kingdom and died two years earlier than Saul, to the high priesthood of Abimelech. So Samuel, through the anointing, established kingly rule 119 in Israel, and Saul was the first king to rule in Israel after the judges. The time of the judges lasted 463 years and 7 months. (2) After them, as it turns out from the 1st book of Samuel, Saul, having renewed the kingdom, ruled for another 20 years. (3) After the death of Saul, David, the son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, was the second king of Israel; he was in Hebron. His reign, as the 2nd book of Kings tells us, lasted 40 years. The high priest at that time was Abiathar, the son of Abimelech, one of the relatives of Elijah. Gad and Nathan prophesied under David. (4) From Joshua to the accession of David to the kingdom, according to some, 450 years passed, but according to our chronology, 523 years and 7 months passed from this time until the death of David. (113:1) Solomon, the son of David, reigned after him for 40 years. During his reign, the prophet Nathan was still alive and suggested that he build a church. At the same time there lived the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh. David and Solomon were also prophets. (2) Zadok was the first of the high priests to offer sacrifices in Solomon's temple. From Aaron, the first high priest, he was the eighth. (3) Thus, from Moses to the time of Solomon, according to some, 595 years passed, and according to others, 576 years. (4) Therefore, if to the 450 years that elapsed from the time of Joshua to David, we add 40 years of Moses’ reign over the people of Israel and the other 80 years of Moses’ life before the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, and if we add another 40 years of David’s reign, we get the figure 610 years. (114, 1) Our chronicle will be even more accurate if we add 120 years of the life of Moses and another 40 years of the reign of Solomon to the 523 years and 7 months that passed before the death of David. If we count all the time that elapsed before the death of Solomon, we will find that 683 years and 7 months have passed. (2) Hiram gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon around the time when Menelaus, after the capture of Troy, landed on the Phoenician coast, as reported by Menander of Pergamum and Leth in his work “The Phoenicians.” 120 (3) Solomon was succeeded by his son Rehoboam, who reigned 17 years; The high priest at that time was Abimelech, the son of Zadok. (4) During the reign of Rehoboam, the kingdom of Israel fell apart, and Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon, from the tribe of Ephraim, reigned in Samaria. At this time there lived the prophets Ahijah the Shilonite, Shemei the son of Amama, and another prophet who came to Jeroboam from Judea and rebelled against the construction of the altar by this king 121 . (115:1) Rehoboam was succeeded by his son Abijah, who reigned for 23 years. The successor of this latter was Asa, who reigned for the same number of years. In his old age he suffered from gout in his legs. During his reign there lived the prophet Jehu, the son of Ananias. Asa was succeeded by Jehoshaphat his son, who reigned for 25 years. During his reign there lived the following prophets: Elijah the Thesbite, Micah the son of Jeblaus, and Obadiah the son of Hananiah. (2) A contemporary of Micah was the false prophet Zedekiah, the son of Canaan. (3) Then comes Joram the son of Jehoshaphat, who reigned 8 years. During his reign there lived also Elijah and after him Elisha, the son of Shaphat. (4) In the time of Elisha, the inhabitants of Samaria, being in need, ate their own children and pigeon droppings 122. The reign of Jehoshaphat occupies the last part of the 1st book of Kings, up to the 4th book. (5) The reign of Jehoram marks the ascension of Elijah into heaven. After Elijah, Elisha, having entered into the prophetic ministry at the age of 40, prophesied for 6 years. Then follows Ahaziah, who reigned for only 1 year. Elisha and Abadoneus also lived in his time. (116, 1) Ahaziah’s successor was Ahaziah’s mother Athaliah, who reigned for 8 years 123. She killed her son's children 124 because she belonged to the family of Ahab. Ahaziah's sister Josheba saved Ahaziah's son Josheb and subsequently handed over the kingdom to him. (2) During the reign of this Athaliah Elisha was still prophesying. After Athaliah, as we have already mentioned, Joash reigned, saved from death by Josheba; and she was the wife of the high priest Jehoiada. All the years of Joash's life were 40. (3) Thus, from the time of Solomon to the death of the prophet Elisha, some count 105 years, and others - 200. But, as follows from our chronology, 181 years passed from Solomon’s accession to the kingdom to the death of Elisha. (117, 1) According to Philochorus, 180 years passed from the capture of Troy to the birth of Homer, which followed the withdrawal of the Ionian colony. (2) Aristarchus, in his notes to Archilochus, says that Homer was already living at the time of this conclusion. Consequently, he lived 140 years after the fall of Troy. (3) Apollodorus claims that Homer was born 100 years after the withdrawal of the Ionian colony, during the reign of Agesilaus, the son of Dorisseus, over the Lacedaemonians. He proves that the legislator Lycurgus in the days of his youth was a contemporary of Homer. (4) Euthymenes, in his Chronicles, says that he flourished with Hesiod in the time of Acastus and was born on Chios about 200 years after the capture of Troy. (5) Archemachus holds the same opinion in the third book of his History of Euboea. It follows that both Homer and Hesiod lived later than the prophet Elisha. (6) If we believe the story of the grammarian Crates and assume that the birth of Homer falls at a time around the arrival of the Heraclides in the Peloponnese, that is, approximately in the 80th year after the fall of Troy, then we will find that Homer lived even later than Solomon, during whose reign, as mentioned above, Menelaus arrived in Phenicia. (7) According to Eratosthenes, Homer was born 100 years after the capture of Troy. (8) Theopompus, in the 43rd chapter of his History of Philip, says that Homer was born 500 years after the death of those who took Troy. (9) And Euphorion in the “History of the Alevads” dates the life of Homer to the time of Gyges, who assumed the kingdom around the beginning of the 18th Olympiad. This Euphorion also reports that Gyges first began to be called a tyrant. (10) And Sosibius the Laconian in his “Chronology” places the birth of Homer in the 8th year of the reign of Charillus, son of Polydectes. Kharill reigned for 64 years, and after him his son Nikander reigned for 39 years. According to the same Sosibius, the first Olympiad falls in the 34th year of the reign of Nikander. Thus, Homer was born 30 years after the establishment of the Olympics. (118:1) After Joash, his son Amaziah, who reigned for 39 years, took over the kingdom. Amaziah was succeeded by Hoshea 125, who reigned for 52 years and died of leprosy. In his time lived the prophets Amos and Isaiah, his son Hosea, the son of Beer, and Jonah, the son of Hamath, a native of Gath Hober; he preached to Nineveh, emerging from the belly of the sea monster that swallowed him. (2) Hosea was succeeded by his son Jotham, who reigned 16 years. During his reign there also lived the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, Micah the Morasthite (Mic. 1:1) and Joel, the son of Bethuel. (119:1) Jotham was succeeded by his son Ahaz, who reigned for 16 years. Approximately in the 15th year of the reign of Ahaz, Israel was taken into captivity by Babylon, and Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, resettled the inhabitants of Samaria to Media and Babylon 126. (2) Ahaz was succeeded by Hoshea, who reigned 8 years, then by Hezekiah, who reigned 29 years. This king, who was almost dying, deserved with his holy life that God, through the mouth of Isaiah, extended his life by another 15 years, and this promise was confirmed by God through the return of the sun's shadow back 127. (3) Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah prophesied before the reign of Hezekiah. They are said to have lived after Lycurgus, the legislator of the Lacedaemonians. (4) Indeed, Dieuchides, in the fourth book of his History of Megara, dates the life of Lycurgus to approximately the year 290 after the capture of Troy. (5) Isaiah, and with him Micaiah, Hosea and Joel the son of Bethuel, prophesied as early as the year 200 after Solomon, during whose reign, as we said above, Menelaus arrived in Phenicia. (120:1) After Hezekiah, his son Manasseh reigned for 55 years. Then his son Amos for two years. After Amos, Josiah reigned, his son, revered as the most just and most benevolent; His reign lasted 31 years. He threw the bones of the dead onto the broken and overturned statues of idols, as predicted in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 26:30). (2) At that time, in the 18th year of his reign, the Passover was celebrated with such splendor as had never been observed by anyone, neither Samuel nor any of Josiah's predecessors. In his time, Hilkiah the priest, the father of the prophet Jeremiah, found the book of the Law in the church and died reading it. Under this king, Huldah 128, Zephaniah and Jeremiah prophesied. (3) The false prophet Ananias was a contemporary of the latter. Josiah, who did not obey Jeremiah, was killed on the Euphrates River, where he went to meet the king of Egypt Necho, who was going against the Assyrians 129. (121:1) Josiah was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin and his son Jehoahaz, who reigned for 3 months and 10 days. Necho, king of Egypt, put Jehoahaz in chains and took him to Egypt, and in his place made his brother Joachim king; He instructed him to collect taxes from the people, imposing them on the whole country. Joachim reigned for 11 years. (2) His successor was his son of the same name, Joachim 130, who reigned for only 3 months. Then follows Zedekiah, who reigned for 11 years. (3) During his reign Jeremiah also prophesied. At the same time, Buzi and Uriah the son of Samaeus prophesied, 131 and Habakkuk with them. This ends the series of Jewish kings. (4) Thus, from the birth of Moses to the day on which Zedekiah was taken to Babylon, according to some, 972 years passed, and according to the more reliable results of our calculation, 1085 years, 6 months and 10 days. And from the reign of David to the Chaldean captivity, according to some, 452 years and 6 months passed, and according to our more careful calculation, 482 years, 6 months and 10 days. (122, 1) In the 12th year of the reign of Zedekiah, therefore 70 years before the rule of the Persians, Nebuchadnezzar fought with the Phoenicians and Jews, as Berossus relates in his History of the Chaldeans. (2) Juba, in his work on the Assyrians, says that he borrows historical information from Berossus and, thus, vouches for the veracity of this historian. (3) So, Nebuchadnezzar, having blinded Zedekiah, takes him to Babylon, and resettles all the people, with the exception of a small number of people who fled to Egypt, to distant countries. And this captivity of the Jews lasted 70 years. (4) Jeremiah and Habakkuk also prophesied under Zedekiah. In the 5th year of his reign, Ezekiel prophesied in Babylon, and after him Nahum, then Daniel. After Daniel, during the reign of Darius I (Hystaspes), Haggai and Zechariah prophesied for two years. After Daniel, Malachi prophesied, one of the twelve prophets, whose name means “messenger” (angel). (123, 1) After Haggai and Zechariah, Nehemiah, the chief cupbearer of Artaxerxes, the son of the Israeli Achel 132, again rebuilds Jerusalem and restores the church. (2) Connected with this captivity is the story of Esther and Mordecai, which is related in the book of the same name, just as the Maccabees are discussed in the books of the same title. (3) During this captivity, Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah, who refused to worship the idol, were thrown into a burning furnace and saved by an angel who came down to them. (4) At the same time, because of the dragon 133, Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den; according to Divine Providence, he was fed there by Habakkuk, and on the seventh day he was taken out of there unharmed. (5) At the same time, miraculous events associated with Jonah and Tobias occurred. The latter, with the assistance of an angel, takes Sarah as his wife, to whom seven suitors had previously been wooed, killed by a demon; Tobit, the father of Tobias, received his sight after his son’s wedding. (124:1) During the same captivity, Zerubbabel, having destroyed the machinations of his opponents with his prudence, buys from Darius the right to restore Jerusalem, returns with Ezra to the land of his fathers, with the assistance of Ezra frees his people, inspired from above, puts in order the collection of the Holy Scriptures, restores the celebration of Passover, and prohibits the marriages of Jews with foreign women. (3) Even before this, Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and freedom 134 when, according to this permission, during the reign of Darius the Jews returned and they celebrated the dedication of the church 135, as well as the Feast of Tabernacles (Neh. 8:16-18). (4) It turns out that from the birth of Moses to the liberation of the Jews from captivity, 1155 years, 6 months and 10 days passed. From the reign of David to the release from captivity, according to some, 352 years passed, and according to a more reliable calculation, 572 years, 6 months, 10 days. (125, 1) Thus, through the Babylonian captivity, the following prophecy of Daniel was fulfilled in the time of Jeremiah: (2) “Seventy weeks are shortened for your people and the holy city, that the transgression may be ended, and sin may be sealed, and iniquities may be blotted out and cast out, that everlasting righteousness may prevail, the vision and prophecy may be sealed, and the Holy of Holies may be anointed. (3) You will learn and understand that from the time the word of command went out to distinguish and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed Master is 7 weeks and 62 weeks, and the people will return, and streets and fortifications will be rebuilt, but in difficult times. (4) And after sixty-two weeks the anointing will be cut off, and there will be no judgment for it. Both the city and the shrine will perish by the people of the leader who is coming. They will be destroyed as in a flood, and there will be devastation until the end of the war. (5) And one week shall confirm the covenant for many, and at the end of half that week the sacrifice and drink offering shall be destroyed. (6) And in the sanctuary there will be an abomination that makes desolate, and until the end of time there will be an end to desolation.” 136 (126, 1) So it is clear that the church was built in seven weeks; This event is also recorded by Ezra. The anointed king reigned among the Jews in Jerusalem after seven weeks; and for 62 weeks all Judea rested, enjoying deep peace, not disturbed by any war; (2) and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy of saints, having come and fulfilled the visions and prophecies, 137 was anointed according to the flesh by the Spirit of the Father. The revelation of Christ's royal dignity to the world took place in these 62 weeks, as the prophet foretold. (3) Half of the next week is occupied by the reign of Nero, who introduced an “abomination” into the holy city of Jerusalem, and in the second half of this week he was deposed; in the same week Galba, Otho and Vitellius died; then power passed to Vespasian, who destroyed Jerusalem and plundered the sanctuary. For those in the know, it is clear that events proceeded exactly as the prophet predicted. (127, 1) So, after the 11th year and at the beginning of the next, which was the first year of the reign of Joachim, Nebuchadnezzar, after 7 years of his reign over Assyria, resettles the inhabitants of Jerusalem to Babylon. 138 This captivity befell the Jews in the 2nd year of the reign of Wafra (Jer. 44:30), king of Egypt, and in the 1st year of the 8th Olympiad, when Phenippus was archon in Athens. (2) This captivity lasted 70 years, as it ended in the 2nd year of the reign of Darius, son of Hystaspes, ruler of the Persians, Assyrians and Egyptians. In his time, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, prophesied, as has already been said. The high priest at that time was Jesus the son of Josedek. In the second year of the reign of Darius, who, according to Herodotus, overthrew the power of the usurper magicians, Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, was sent to Jerusalem to restore the city and decorate the church. (128, 1) And here is the chronology of the Persian state. Cyrus reigned 30 years, Cambyses - 19, Darius - 46, Xerxes - 26, Artaxerxes - 41, Darius - 8, Artaxerxes - 42, Ox, or Arses, - 3 years [Darius - 6, Alexander - 6 years]. (2) As a result, the reign of all the kings of Persia will be 235 years. After this time, Alexander the Great ascended the throne of Persia, depriving Darius of the throne. (3) Here is the chronology of the Macedonian kings: Alexander reigned for 18 years, Ptolemy son of Lagus - 40, Ptolemy Philadelphus - 27, Ptolemy Euergetes - 25, Ptolemy Philopator - 17, Ptolemy Epiphanes - 24 years. He was succeeded by Ptolemy Philometor, who reigned for 35 years; after him was king Ptolemy Physcon, who was king for 29 years; then Ptolemy Latour, who reigned for 36 years; then Ptolemy Dionysus, who reigned for 29 years. (129, 1) Finally, the throne passed to Cleopatra, who reigned for 22 years. After her, the kingdom of her children lasted only 18 days. (2) In general, the reign of all the Macedonian kings lasted 312 years and 18 days. (3) It is proved, therefore, that the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, one of the twelve prophets who lived in the 2nd year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes and appeared in the 1st year of the 48th Olympiad, are older than Pythagoras, whose lifetime is said to refer to the 62nd Olympiad. They are much older than Thales, the oldest of the Hellenic sages, who was born only around the 50th Olympiad. The rest of the sages were contemporaries of Thales, as Andron says in his Tripod. Heraclitus undoubtedly lived after Pythagoras, since he mentions him in his writings. (130, 1) Thus, it is irrefutably established that the first Olympiad (which, as shown, falls in the 407th year after the capture of Troy) is older than the times in which both the above-mentioned prophets and philosophers called sages lived. (2) It is now easy to see that Solomon, whose reign corresponds to the time of Menelaus, was contemporary with the siege of Troy and lived many years before the sages of ancient Hellas. We have already shown above how many years before Solomon Moses lived. (3) Alexander, called Polyhistor, in his work on the Jews conveys the contents of some of the letters of Solomon to Bafra, king of Egypt, and to the king of Phoenicia, as well as the replies of these kings to Solomon. From these letters it turns out that Bafra sent Solomon 8,000 Egyptian workers to build the church, and another king - the same number, and with them was an architect from Tyre, the son of a Jewish woman from the daughters of David. It is known that his name was Hyperon. The most ancient Hellenic writers (131, 1) The Athenian Onomacritus, the famous author of the poems attributed to Orpheus, is said to have lived in the time of the Pisistratids, around the 50th Olympiad. (2) Orpheus, who sailed with Hercules on the ship Argo, was the teacher of Musaeus. Amphion lived two generations before the siege of Troy. Demodocus and Phemius, famous for playing the cithara (and causing surprise, Demodocus among the Phaeacians 139, and Phemius among the suitors of Penelope 140), lived after the capture of Troy. (3) It is said that the oracles attributed to Musaeus are those of Onomacritus, that the "Chalice" of Orpheus is the work of Zopyrus of Heraclea, and that the "Descent into Hades" is the work of Prodicus of Samos. (4) Ion of Chios, in his Triagmas, reports that some of the poems published under the name of Orpheus were composed by Pythagoras. (5) Epigenes, in his list of poems attributed to Orpheus, states that “The Descent into Hades” and “The Sacred Speech” belong to the Pythagorean Kerkop, and “Peplos” and the poem “On Nature” belong to Brontin. (6) Some also count Terpandra among the ancient poets. Hellanicus testifies that Terpander was born in the time of Midas; Fanius, having placed Lesch the Lesbian earlier than Terpandra, believes that he is younger than Archilochus. He says that Lesh fought with Arktin and defeated him. (7) According to Xanthus the Lydian, the city of Thasos was founded around the 18th Olympiad, and according to Dionysius - around the 15th. Thus, the poet Archilochus became famous after the 20th Olympiad, since he speaks of the destruction of Magnesia as a recent disaster. (8) They say that Simonides was a contemporary of Archilochus and that Callinus’s life does not belong to a very ancient era, for Archilochus speaks of the destruction of Magnesia, and Callinus still remembers the flourishing state of this city. Eumelus the Corinthian lived in a more ancient era, for, according to the testimony of some historians, he knew Archias, the founder of Syracuse. (132, 1) I considered it necessary to say all this because the poets of the epic circle are usually ranked among the most ancient. They say that the ancient Hellenes had many soothsayers. Such, for example, were the “Bacids,” one from Boeotia, the other from Arcadia, who predicted a lot. (2) Peisistratus asserted tyranny for himself only because the Athenian Amphilitos showed him the time favorable for seizing power 141. (3) Let us omit information about Comet from Crete, Cynyrus of Cyprus, Admetus from Thessaly, Aristaeus the Cyrenean, Amphiaraus the Athenian, Timoxenes from Corcyra, Demenetes the Phocian, Epigenes from Thespiae, Nicias the Caristian, Ariston the Thessalian, Dionysius the Carthaginian, Cleophone the Corinthian, Hippo, daughter Chiron, Boyo, Manto and many other sibyls, about the Sibyls of Samos, Colophon, Cumae, Eritrea, about Phyto, Taraxandra, Maketis, Thessala, Thesprotis, then about Calchas and Mopsus, two contemporaries of the siege of Troy. But Pug was the older of them, because he was one of the Argonauts. (133, 1) It is true that the so-called “Art of Divination” by Mopsus was compiled by the Cyrenean Battus. And Dorotheus, in the first part of his Pandects, reports that Pug listened to the kingfisher and the crow. (2) The great Pythagoras was constantly studying the art of fortune-telling and believed in this kind of predictions. Avaris the Hyperborean, Aristaeus the Proconnesian, Epimenides the Cretan, who moved to Sparta, as well as Zoroaster the Mede, Empedocles the Agrigentum, Phormion the Laconian, Polyaratus the Thasos, Empedotimus the Syracusan, and especially Socrates the Athenian, also dealt with it. (3) “I believe,” he says in Plato’s “Theage,” “that by the grace of God, since childhood, there has been a demon with me, who does not leave me with signs. It is a voice that rises from within every time I want to do something, rejecting me, but never urging me to do anything.” 142 (4) Exekest, the tyrant of Phocea, constantly wore two magic rings on the finger of one of his hands and, by the sound they made when they touched, determined the time when he should act. However, he still died at the hands of an insidious killer, although he foresaw the death that threatened him by the sound of the rings, as Aristotle says in his book “On the Phocian State.” (134, 1) Let us now list those Egyptians who were originally simple people, but then became gods in human opinion. These are Hermes the Theban, Asclepius from Memphis, Teresius and Manto from Thebes (according to Euripides); also Helen, Laocoon, Oenone and Cebrin, all four from Troy. (2) Krenus, one of the Heraclides, is said to have been a remarkable fortuneteller. Let us also name Iam from Elis, from whom the Iamides descended, and Polyidas, famous in Argos and Megara, and whom tragic poets remember. (3) Is it worth mentioning Thelemus, the fortuneteller of the Cyclopes, who predicted Polyphemus the wound that he subsequently actually received from Odysseus? Why should I name the Athenian Onomacritus or Amphiaraus, who is said to have lived one generation before the taking of Troy and was one of the seven generals who fought at Thebes? Why remember Theoclymenes from Cephalonia, or Telmis from Caria, or Galen from Sicily? (4) But besides them, there were others, such as Idmon, one of the Argonauts; Phemonoia, the sorceress of Delphi; Pug, son of Apollo and Manto from Pamphylia; Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus from Cilicia; Alcmaeon of Acarnania; Ania from Delos; Aristander the Telmissian, who accompanied Alexander. And Philochorus, in the first book of his “Art of Fortune-telling,” says that Orpheus was also a fortune-teller. (135, 1) Theopompus, Ephorus and Timaeus speak about the fortuneteller Orthagoras. Pythocles the Samian, in the fourth book of his History of Italy, mentions another fortuneteller - Gaius Julia Nepos. (2) But of all these Hellenes we mentioned, some, as Scripture says (John 10:8), were thieves and robbers and based most of their predictions on observations and assumptions of the natural order, just as doctors and soothsayers in their art are based only on physiognomy; others were inspired by demons or came into a divinatory ecstasy from the vapors rising either from water, or from various incense, or from certain air vapors. (3) The divinatory art of the Hebrew prophets was of heavenly origin. Even before the giving of the law, Adam was such a prophet, who predicted the future in the words he uttered at the sight of his wife and when naming animals. Such prophets were Noah, who preached repentance, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who clearly foreshadowed many events, both hidden in the distant future and those whose fulfillment was already close. (4) Such were, from the time of the giving of the law, Moses and Aaron, and after them Joshua the son of Nun, Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Ahijah, Shemei, Jehu, Elijah, Micah, Obadiah, Elisha, Abaddonaeus, Amos, Isaiah, Hosea, Jonah, Joel, Jeremiah, Zephaniah the son of Huzi, Ezekiel, Uriah, Habakkuk, Nahum, Daniel, Mishael, compiler of the Song of Blessing, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (one of the twelve) - a total of 35 prophets. (136, 1) Of the women, because there were prophetesses among them, such were Sarah, Rebekah, Miriam, Deborah and Huldah. (2) Then, during the time of the law and before the baptism of the Savior, John prophesied. After the Nativity of Christ, the prophets Simeon and Anna appear. The Gospel tells us that Zechariah, John's father, also prophesied before his son. (3) Let us now compare the Hellenic chronology with the Jewish one. Let's start with Moses. From his birth to the day when the Israelites left Egypt, 80 years passed. From the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the death of Moses - 40 years. The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt followed during the time of Enach, because Moses left Egypt 345 years before the next Zodiac cycle. 143 (4) From the time Moses took over the leadership of the people of Israel and from Inachus to the Deucalion flood, the second of the floods that visited Hellas, and until the death of Phaethon - the event contemporary with Krotop, there are 40 generations. And for a hundred years there are three generations. (5) From the flood of Deucalion to the fire on Mount Ida, to the discovery of iron and to the Dactyls from Ida, Thrasyllus totals 73 years, and from the fire on Ida to the abduction of Ganymede - 65 years; (137, 1) 15 years passed from this abduction and campaign of Perseus to the establishment of the Isthmian Games in memory of Melicert by the Commander-in-Chief; from the campaign of Perseus to the founding of Troy - 34 years; from this time to the campaign of the Argonauts - 64 years; from the campaign of the Argonauts to the times of Theseus and the Minotaur - 32 years; (2) from the time of Theseus and the Minotaur to the era of the seven generals who commanded at Troy, 10 years; from here to the establishment of the Olympic Games by Hercules in memory of Pelops - 3 years; from the beginning of the Olympic Games to the Amazons' march on Athens and to the abduction of Helen by Theseus - 9 years; (3) from that time until the deification of Hercules - 11 years; from then until the abduction of Elena by Alexander - 4 years; from this abduction to the capture of Troy - 10 years; (4) from the capture of Troy to the arrival of Aeneas in Italy and to the founding of Lavinium - 10 years; from the founding of Lavinius to the reign of Ascanius - 8 years; from Ascania to the arrival of the Heraclides - 61 years; from the arrival of the Heraclides to the Olympics of Iphitus - 338 years. (138, 1) The chronology of Eratosthenes is as follows: from the time of the capture of Troy to the arrival of the Heraclides - 80 years; from the arrival of the Heraclides to the formation of Ionia - 60 years; from the formation of Ionia to the reign of Lycurgus - 159 years; from the beginning of his reign to the 1st year of the 1st Olympiad - 108 years; from here to the invasion of Xerxes - 297 years; from this invasion to the beginning of the Peloponnesian War - 48 years; from the beginning of this war until its end with the defeat of the Athenians - 27 years; from their defeat to the Battle of Leuctra - 34 years; from this battle to the death of Philip - 35 years; from the death of Philip to the death of Alexander - 12 years. (4) Some consider 24 years from the 1st Olympiad to the founding of Rome; from the founding of Rome to the expulsion of the kings, accompanied by the establishment of the consulate, - 243 years; from the expulsion of the kings to the death of Alexander - 186 years; (139, 1) from the death of Alexander to the victory of Augustus, after which Anthony committed suicide in Alexandria - 294 years (August was then elected consul for the 4th time); (2) from this time to the establishment of the games in Rome by Domitian - 114 years; from the first holding of these games to the death of Commodus - 111 years. (3) Some historians from Kerkops to Alexander the Great count 1828 years, and from the time of Demophon - 1250 years. From the capture of Troy to the arrival of the Heraclides - 120 or 180 years; (4) from this last event to the archon Evenet, during whose time Alexander is said to have come to Asia, according to Fanius, 715 years passed, according to Ephorus - 735, according to Timaeus and Cleitarchus - 820, according to Eratosthenes - 774, Durid from the capture of Troy to the arrival of Alexander in Asia counts 1000 years; (5) from this last event to Hegesius, who was archon in Athens at the time of Alexander's death - 11 years; from the death of Alexander to the reign of Germanicus Claudius Caesar - 365 years. From the time of Claudius to the death of Commodus, the number of years is known reliably. (140, 1) From Hellenic chronology we now move on to barbarian chronology, outlining its main periods. (2) From Adam to the flood there are 2148 years and 4 days. From Shem to Abraham - 1250 years. From Isaac to the division of the Promised Land - 616 years. (3) From the time of the judges to Samuel - 463 years 7 months. (4) The reign of judges was followed by the reign of kings, which lasted 572 years, 6 months and 10 days. (5) After the kings from the tribe of Judah, the rule of the Persians began, which lasted 235 years. After the Persian dominion, the Macedonian dominion - if we consider it to last from the time of Alexander until the death of Antony - covers 312 years and 18 days. (6) Then come the Roman emperors. 222 years passed from Augustus to the death of Commodus. (7) From the end of the seventy-year captivity and the return of the Jews to the land of their fathers until the new yoke that befell them during the reign of Vespasian, they count 410 years. Finally, from Vespasian to the death of Commodus - 121 years 6 months 24 days. (141, 1) Demetrius in his History of the Kings of Judah says that the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi were not taken into captivity by Sennacherib and that from this captivity to the last one imposed on the inhabitants of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, 128 years and 6 months passed; (2) that from the year in which the ten tribes of Israel were carried away into captivity from Samaria until the reign of Ptolemy IV, 573 years and 9 months passed, and from the time when they were carried away into captivity from Jerusalem - 338 years and 3 months. (3) The information that Philo provides regarding the chronology of the history of the kings of Judah does not agree with Demetrius. (4) In addition, Eupolemus, in his work on the same topic, from Adam to the 50th year of the reign of Ptolemy Demetrius, king of Egypt, the twelfth of the Ptolemies, totals 5149 years, (5) and from the time Moses brought the Jews out of Egypt until the same time - 80 years; 120 years passed from this era to the consulate in Rome of Gaius Domitian and Sabinus. (142, 1) Ephorus and many other historians say that there are 75 peoples and 75 dialects in the world. Without a doubt, they knew what Moses wrote: “Now all the souls descended from Jacob that came to Egypt were seventy-five.” 144 (2) But we can rather accept as true that the number of the original adverbs was 75, as our books tell us. All other dialects are formed from a mixture of the original two, three or more dialects. (3) A dialect is an adverb that is characteristic of a particular area or reflects the spirit of a particular people. (4) The Hellenes say that they have five dialects: Attic, Dorian, Ionic, Aeolian and the fifth - κοινή, common to all. The dialects of the barbarians are countless and they are called not dialects, but languages. (143, 1) Plato says that the gods also have a certain dialect. He substantiates this assumption by observing dreams and divinations; This is also evidenced by the possessed, who speak not in their own voice and not in their own dialect, but in the voice and dialect of the demons who have secretly taken possession of them. 145 (2) He even thinks that each genus of animals has its own special dialect, understandable only to individuals of the same genus. (3) So if an elephant, stuck in a swamp, begins to scream, then another elephant, attracted by his voice, comes to his call. Seeing what happened, he goes after the rest of the herd, which together frees the one stuck in the swamp. (4) It is said that if a scorpion living in Libya cannot reach a person with its sting, it leaves, but then returns with other scorpions. And these beasts connect with each other in the form of a chain and try to hit a person in this way. 146 Animals are also characterized, it seems to me, by facial expressions that are invisible to us. And although they do not use gestures, they have their own language. (5) Some argue that if a fisherman’s line breaks and the fish he caught leaves, then nothing will be caught in that place for the rest of the day. (6) The first and most ancient dialects were truly “barbarian”, since the words of these dialects arose naturally. Therefore, it is recognized that prayers in the barbarian language are more effective than in other languages. (7) Plato in Cratylus, wanting to explain the etymology of the word “fire,” says that this is a barbaric word. He proves this by the fact that the same word, with some minor changes, is used by the Phrygians. 147 (144, 1) Now, in order to better indicate the era in which the Savior was born, it is necessary, I think, to set out the chronology of the Roman emperors. (2) Augustus reigned 43 years, Tiberius - 22, Gaius - 4, Claudius - 14, Nero - 14, Galba - 1, Vespasian - 10, Titus - 3, Domitian - 15, Nerva - 1, Trajan - 19, Hadrian - 21 and Antoninus - 21. Further, the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Commodus are combined 32 years old. (3) From Augustus to Commodus 222 years passed, and from Adam to the death of Commodus - 5784 years 2 months 12 days. (4) Some historians present the chronology of the Roman emperors as follows. Julius Caesar ruled the Roman state for 3 years, 4 months and 5 days. After him Augustus reigned for 46 years, 4 months and 1 day; then Tiberius - 26 years 6 months 19 days; Guy Caesar - 3 years 10 months and 8 days; Claudius - 13 years 8 months and 28 days; Nero – also 13 years 8 months and 28 days; Galba – 7 months and 6 days; Oton – 5 months and 1 day; Vitellius – 7 months and 1 day; Vespasian - 11 years 11 months and 22 days; Titus – 2 years and 2 months; Domitian - 15 years 8 months and 5 days; Nerva – 1 year 4 months and 10 days; Trajan - 19 years 7 months and 15 days; Adrian – 20 years 10 months and 28 days; Antonin – 22 years 3 months and 7 days; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus - 19 years and 11 days; Commodus - 12 years 9 months and 14 days. (5) Thus, from Julius Caesar to the death of Commodus, 236 years and 6 months passed. And from Romulus, the founder of Rome, until the death of Commodus, 953 years and 6 months are considered. (145, 1) Therefore our Savior was born in the 28th year of the reign of Augustus, at the time of the first census. (2) The correctness of this date is proven by the message of the Gospel of Luke: “In the fifteenth year under Tiberius Caesar the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah” (Luke 3:1). And in the same Gospel it is written: “When Jesus came to be baptized, he was about thirty years old” (Luke 3:23). (3) His preaching lasted no more than a year, for it is said: “The Lord has sent me an acceptable year to preach” 148 . These are the words of the prophet and the Gospel. (4) Thus, the 15 years of the Savior’s life that fell during the reign of Augustus, and the other 15 years that fell during the reign of Tiberius, amount to 30 years that elapsed until the days of his suffering. (5) From the day of his death to the destruction of Jerusalem there are 42 years and 3 months; from the time of the destruction of Jerusalem to the death of Commodus - 128 years 10 months and 3 days. In general, from the Nativity of the Lord until the death of Commodus, 194 years, 1 month and 13 days passed. (6) Some of the historians indicate not only the year, but also the day of birth of the Savior, claiming that he was born in the 28th year of the reign of Augustus on the 25th day of the month Pacho. (146, 1) The followers of Basilides also celebrate the day of the baptism of Christ Jesus, spending the night before it reading. (2) They say that the baptism of the Lord followed in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar on the 15th day of the month Tubi. Others claim that this happened on the 11th day of the indicated month. (3) Some of those who carefully examine the minutest details of the sufferings of our Lord assert that it happened in the 16th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, on the 25th day of the month Phamenothos; others - on the 25th day of the month Farmufi; still others claim that this happened on the 19th day of the month Farmufi. Some of them say that he was born on the 24th or 25th day of the month Farmufi. (5) Let us add to our chronicle the number of days that passed, according to Daniel, from the destruction of Jerusalem to its final fall […], and another 7 years and 7 months completing the reign of Vespasian. After all, if you add up the first two years of this reign and the 17 months, 8 days of the reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius, (6) you get 3 years and 6 months, constituting half of the week that the prophet Daniel speaks about. (7) And he said that 2300 days would pass from the time Nero introduced the “abomination” into the holy city until its destruction. (8) This is exactly what the following words show: “How long will the vision last - the sacrifice taken away and the sin of desolation allowed, and the power and the holy will be trampled under foot? And he said to him, “Until evening and morning there are two thousand three hundred days, and the holy thing will be restored” (Dan. 8:13–14). (9) These 2300 days make up 6 years and 4 months, half of which belongs to the reign of Nero and is half the week of the prophet; the other half of this week is occupied by the years of the reign of Galba, Otho and Vitellius and two years of the reign of Vespasian. (10) This is why Daniel says: “Blessed is he who endures and attains one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (Dan. 12:12), for it was until these days that the war continued and then ceased. (147, 1) This number is mentioned elsewhere in the same chapter from which we quoted the previous words. This is the passage: “And from the time when the daily sacrifice is past, and the abomination that makes desolate is put away, one thousand two hundred and ninety days will pass. Blessed is he who endures and attains one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days” (Dan. 12:11–12). (2) Josephus, a Jew by birth and compiler of the history of the Jews, offers us a calendar according to which 585 years are counted from Moses to David; from David to the 2nd year of the reign of Vespasian - 1179 years; from this year to the 10th year of Antonin's reign - 77 years. (3) Thus, from Moses to the 10th year of the reign of Antoninus, Josephus counts 1933. (4) Others, from Inachus and Moses to the death of Commodus, consider 2942 years, and some - 2821. (5) In the Gospel of Matthew, the genealogy of Jesus begins with Abraham and ends with Mary, the mother of the Lord. “There were,” says the evangelist, “from Abraham to David fourteen generations, from David to the migration to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the migration to Babylon to Christ, fourteen other generations” (Matthew 1:17). All together this will amount to three mysterious periods, each of which consists of six full weeks of generations. XXII. On the translation of the Holy Scriptures into Greek (148, 1) Enough has been said about chronology, about various discrepancies in historical writings and about our own calculations. The Holy Scriptures, including the books of the law and the prophets, were translated from the Hebrew into Greek during the reign of Ptolemy Lagus, or, according to others, during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus. They say that the king showed his interest, and Demetrius of Phalerum contributed a lot to this matter. (2) Indeed, even during the Macedonian rule over Asia, Ptolemy Lagus, wanting to enrich the library he founded in Alexandria with all kinds of works, ordered that the Jews also translate the writings of their prophets into Hellenic. (149:1) And they, being then subject to the Macedonians, chose from among themselves seventy elders versed in the Scriptures and knowledgeable in the Greek language, and sent them with the sacred books to Ptolemy. (2) And after each of these elders had separately translated all the holy books, all seventy began to compare their translations and found them to agree both in meaning and in word usage. Thus, God's providence helped ensure that the Scriptures reached the ears of the Hellenes. (3) And it is not surprising that the original Hebrew prophecies were translated by the inspiration of God so that they became Hellenic prophecies. Was it not the same before, when the sacred books, which were lost during the captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar, during the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, were again written by divine inspiration by Ezra, the Levite and priest? 149 (150, 1) Aristobulus, in the first book of his work “To Philometer,” writes: “Plato also followed the principles of our legislation. And it is obvious that he delved into all its details most carefully. (2) Indeed, even before Demetrius of Phalerum and before the rule of Alexander and the Persians themselves, there was another translation, which includes the narrative of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, of all the remarkable events of which our ancestors were eyewitnesses or direct participants, of the conquest of the Promised Land, as well as a statement of all our legislation. (3) It is obvious that the above-mentioned philosopher, a very learned man, borrowed much from this source. Likewise, Pythagoras borrowed a lot from us for his teaching.” (4) Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, directly says: “What is Plato if not Moses speaking the Attic dialect?” 150 Moses was a theologian, a prophet and, according to some, an interpreter of sacred laws. (5) Scripture (which deserves every confidence) informs us of his origin, works and life. Let us now move on to presenting all this, [as briefly as possible]. 151 XXIII. Biography of Moses (151:1) So, Moses was a Chaldean by birth, but was born in Egypt, because his ancestors, avoiding the famine that had been weighing on Babylon for a long time, left this city and moved to Egypt. He descended from Jacob in the 7th generation, was raised like a king, and the circumstances of his life were as follows. (2) When the number of Jews in Egypt greatly increased, the king of the country began to fear indignation on their part and, especially fearing the brave youth, ordered that only girls be raised from the children born to Jews (for women are incapable of war), and boys should be killed. (3) Moses was a child of noble birth, and his parents fed and educated him in secret for three months. Natural parental love was stronger than fear in them. But then, not wanting to die along with their son, they wove a basket from papyrus (a local plant), put the child in it and placed it in a thicket of reeds in a swampy area near the river. The child’s sister, standing nearby, watched what would happen next. (152, 1) It so happened that on this day the king’s daughter, who had long been barren and wanted to have a child, came to the river to bathe. Hearing the cry of the child, she ordered him to be brought to her and, touched by compassion, ordered that a nurse be found for him. (2) Then the child’s sister ran up and said that she knew a Jewish woman who had recently given birth, and she volunteered to find her if the king’s daughter wished. With the consent and request of this latter, the child’s sister brought his own mother to the princess, as if she were a complete stranger to him, just a nanny working for an agreed fee. (3) The princess named the child Moses, in memory of the fact that she took him out of the water, where he would otherwise have died. The fact is that the Egyptian word μώυ means water and that’s what the Egyptians call everyone taken from the water. (153, 1) Of course, earlier at the circumcision, the parents gave Moses another name, Joachim. In heaven, after his ascension, as those initiated into the mysteries say, he received a third name - Melchi. 152 (2) Having reached a suitable age, Moses was given to the education of famous Egyptian teachers, who taught him arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, the science of rhythm and harmony, medicine and music, and, in addition, that special wisdom that is symbolized by hieroglyphs. The rest of the elementary sciences, as Philo states in the Life of Moses, he studied, as befits the son of a king, under the guidance of Hellenic mentors living in Egypt. (3) In addition, he studied Egyptian literature under the guidance of Egyptian teachers, and the Chaldeans instructed him in the science of the heavenly bodies. Therefore, in the Acts of the Apostles it is said that he was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7:22). (4) Eupolemus, in his work “On the Kings of the Jews,” says that Moses was the first scientist of his time and that he was the first to introduce the Jews to the art of writing, that the Phoenicians borrowed this writing from the Jews, and the Hellenes from the Phoenicians. (5) As he matured, he developed and strengthened in himself the rules inherited from his ancestors and from his father’s tradition. And he was so ardently devoted to him that he once killed an Egyptian, hitting him when he unjustly became bitter against a Jew (Ex. 2:11-15). (154, 1) Those initiated into the mysteries claim that he destroyed the Egyptian with a word, just as Peter killed with a word the one who withheld part of the price of the field and lied (Acts 5: 1-11) (2) In his work “On the Jews,” Artapanus says that when Moses, by order of Henphrey, king of Egypt, was put in prison for being too persistent in his request to let the people go, then at night, by the will of God, the doors of the prison opened by themselves and, leaving the prison, Moses went to the palace, penetrated the sleeping king and woke him up. (3) Surprised by what had happened, the king demanded to know the name of the God who had sent him. Moses, bending down, spoke this name into the king’s ear; Hearing this, the king fell dead, but Moses raised him and brought him back to life. (155, 1) We also have the testimony of Ezerkiel, the author of Jewish tragedies, about the upbringing of Moses. 153 In the drama entitled Exodus, he writes the following on behalf of Moses: (2) Seeing the increase of the people, King Pharaoh plotted against us A cunning plan. He decided to torture Men work excessively, directing The unfortunate in the mines and for construction His palaces. Then the sons He ordered our people to be drowned in muddy waters Its rivers. (3) My mother told me that she She decided to save me. During Three moons hid me, but then In rich robes by the river She left me in the marsh grass. (4) And Miriam my sister watched How the king's daughter came to the river to pamper Young body. And when he saw me, She ordered me to take it immediately and hugged me, Although I guessed that I was a Jew. Having dared, she addressed her with a speech: “Princess! If you want, I'll find a nanny, Jewish woman, and immediately? She nodded The princess as a sign of consent, and immediately (5) Mother appeared and held me in her arms She took it when she heard the order: “Wife! Be a babysitter. I will reward you." I was named Moses, like everyone else, Who was saved from the water? (6) When did it come It's time for adolescence, I'm going to the palace Delivered by his mother, and already knew his fate My people and God's gift. (7) She raised me like her son The princess, having first bestowed in full Royal dignity and upbringing. But the hour has come and the circle of times has come to an end, (156, 1) Further, after the story of how our Jew and Egyptian fought in a skirmish and about the burial of the latter in the sand, he speaks of another quarrel: (2) ... "Why do you beat the weak?" “Who are you here,” he hears in response, “ Judge or prince here? Or do you intend Kill me and bury me? "Where Do you know this? – I said in fear. (3) Moses fled from Egypt and became a shepherd of flocks, thus preparing to assume pastoral authority over the people. For one who must later lead a crowd of people, the shepherd's art serves as a kind of preparatory school for royal duties, just as hunting teaches warriors the art of martial arts. And indeed, God soon placed Moses in charge of the Jews. (157, 1) Then the Egyptians received repeated warnings, but each time they refused to understand them. The Jews, being eyewitnesses of disasters that, having fallen on others, did not touch them, learned from this the power of God. (2) And since the Egyptians, in their madness, refused to believe both the warnings of Moses and the manifestations of Divine omnipotence, they were justly punished, for, according to the proverb, “even the madman sees the event” 154. The Jews finally left Egypt, taking with them great booty. They took their things from the Egyptians not out of greed, as the slanderers say, because God commanded them not to covet the property of others, (3) but, firstly, as payment for serving the Egyptians for such a long time and for forced labor; secondly, partly for the sake of retribution for the money-loving Egyptians for the bitter life that they forced the Jews to lead in Egypt and which they poisoned with enslavement. (4) Or perhaps the Jews did this by the right of war: by seizing the property of their enemies, they only took advantage of the right of the winner - the strong over the weaker. The reason for the war was quite legitimate, for the Jews came to Egypt with a humble request for asylum, fleeing hunger, while the Egyptians enslaved their guests, forcing them to serve as prisoners of war, without even paying for their labor. This can also be justified by the law in force in peacetime, because they simply compensated for their losses by taking by force what they should have been given anyway, but instead preferred to rob them for a long time and delay payments. XXIV. Moses as a commander (158, 1) We consider Moses a prophet, legislator, commander and strategist, statesman and philosopher. We will talk about his prophetic gift later, when we come to the topic of prophecy. 155 Strategic art is part of the art of military leadership, which, in turn, along with legislative and judicial art, belongs to the art of reigning. (2) The royal art, firstly, sometimes comes directly from God and consists in acting in accordance with the will of God and the holiness of His Son, from which come not only earthly and external blessings, but also every perfect good deed. “Ask,” it is said, “great things, then little things will be given to you” (See Matthew 6:33). (3) Secondly, it happens that the royal power follows reason, which is also directed by God, and uses the sublime part of the soul to make decisions. This was the way of government of Hercules, king of Argos, and Alexander, king of Macedon. (4) Thirdly, some kings are moved only by the desire to conquer and destroy; Victory turns into good or evil - they don’t care about that. This is exactly how the Persian kings behaved in the wars against Hellas. (5) Movements of the soul are of two kinds. Due to some reasons, a person wants to win in everything and rule at all costs only out of lust for power. Due to others, a person has a tendency to do good and honest deeds, and the ardor of such people is directed towards laudable goals. (159, 1) There is also a fourth control method, the worst of all. The motivating reason here is only passions. This was the way Sardanapalus governed, as well as those who have the sole goal of satisfying their desires. (2) The art of organization is the basis of royal power, regardless of whether it is aimed at a just or violent victory. And this art is diverse, fully reflecting the diversity of the subject itself. The organizers here are the soul and the mind, which, with the help of animate and inanimate means, adapt weapons and animals to war. The internal movements of the soul, which we can control only with the help of virtue, are organized by reason. It also affects self-control and discipline, coupled with righteousness, as well as true knowledge, coupled with truth. It is he who directs to a godly goal. (4) And indeed, for people who practice virtue, everything is determined by prudence (φρόνησις), which in relation to divine affairs acts as wisdom, in relation to human affairs - as politics, and in its entirety - as the art of ruling. The king, therefore, will only be the one who rules by law and knows how to restrain arbitrary desires. 156 Such is the Lord, who accepts all who believe in him and through him. (6) For God has committed all things into subjection to Christ our king, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, both on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil. 2:10–11). (160, 1) The art of military leadership manifests itself in three ways: prudence, courage and their combination. And each of these qualities is, in turn, also composed of three things: words, deeds and their combinations. (2) All this can be used either for persuasion, or for the purpose of violence, or resorting to injustice for the sake of self-defense, or to restore justice, when circumstances allow, using false or true judgments, or a combination of various methods. (3) The Greeks, having borrowed information about these methods of government from Moses, derived great benefits from this. (4) As proof, I will give one or two examples of his military skill. When Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, suspecting that the Egyptians would pursue him, he left the shortest and easiest route and headed towards the desert, moving mostly at night. (5) In doing this, he also had another intention, namely: during this long journey through the vast desert, to teach the Jews to believe in one God, to instill in them prudent patience. (161, 1) The strategic move of Moses teaches us to expose ourselves to dangers only when we already have at our disposal the means to overcome them. (2) As Moses foresaw, so it happened. The Egyptians pursued the Jews on horseback and in chariots, but soon all were exterminated. The opening sea swallowed them up without a trace, along with their chariots and horses. (3) After this, thanks to the pillar of fire that walked before the children of Israel at night and served as their guide, Moses led them through difficult terrain, accustoming them to courage and patience through hardships and transitions, so that after suffering hardships that seemed unbearable to them, they could better appreciate the riches and advantages of the country to which they were brought by him after many trials. (162, 1) In addition, he put to flight and destroyed the enemies who occupied that country earlier, sneaking up on them along deserted and difficult roads and attacking by surprise, and this is the art of leadership. Capturing enemy land is a worthy task for an experienced commander. (2) The Athenian commander Miltiades, the conqueror of the Persians at Marathon, learned such tactics from none other than Moses. He also led the Athenians at night along unknown roads and thereby deceived the Persians who were waiting for him, because the traitor Hippias, who had fled from Athens, led the barbarians to Attica and, knowing the country, had already managed to take control of the most convenient places. (3) And since it was difficult to take him by surprise, Miltiades, being a skillful commander, chose difficult paths, attacked the Persians under the command of Datis at night, and gained victory. (163, 1) Thrasybulus, who was leading the exiles back from Philae, also had every reason to make the transition in secret. Therefore, he moved at night, along untrodden paths and under the cover of a moonless and cloudy sky, and a pillar of fire served as his guide. Moving ahead, this pillar brought Thrasybulus and his comrades unharmed to Munichia and left them where the church of the Goddess Bringing Light 157 now stands. (3) Let this tradition teach the Greeks to respect our records and convince those who doubt that Almighty God was fully able to create a pillar of fire for the children of Israel to guide them by night. After all, the same pillar once led the Hellenes. (4) A certain oracle says: Dionysus is a pillar of joy for the Thebans. 158 This is also borrowed from the Hebrew scriptures. (5) Moreover, Euripides says in Antiope: Evius the shepherd, column in ivy. 159 (6) The pillar indicates that God cannot be depicted. And the luminous pillar, in addition to indicating this fact, also means the eternal existence of God, as well as his unchanging and formless light. (164, 1) That is why, before the invention and improvement of sculpture, the ancients erected pillars and worshiped them as the image of God. (2) Therefore, the author of “Foronida” 160 says: Housekeeper of Callithoia of the Queen of Olympus, Hera of Argives, who for the first time honored The queen's mighty pillar with ribbons and flowers. (3) But the author of the poem “Europe” 161 says that the statue of Apollo at Delphi was also a column. Here are his words: We praise God, but first the tithe of fruits and cobs We should also place a tall stele on its threshold. The name Apollo mysteriously means non-plurality (Απόλλων... κατά στέρησιν τών πολλών), that is, one God. (4) Finally, this fire, similar to a pillar and fire in a tree (δια βάτου), is a symbol of the sacred light, lifting (διαβαίνοντος) from the earth and ascending to heaven through the tree (διά του ξύλου), thanks to which we are given the opportunity to see everything with our eyes mind. XXV. Plato's Laws and Mosaic Laws (165, 1) Plato the philosopher, borrowing his laws from the writings of Moses, condemns the laws of Minos and Lycurgus, who care only about the education of military courage, and praises as more worthy of respect those laws that have a certain integrity and always strive for a single goal. 162 In his opinion, we can become stronger, more significant and more intelligent through the contemplation of heavenly greatness and constant concentration on the same through the same. (2) Therefore, when Plato advises to look to one God and act justly, he appears as if he were an interpreter of the law. (3) He also says that the art of government consists of two parts: one concerns the law, the other its implementation, that is, politics itself. Speaking about the ideal of a politician in his work of the same name, he primarily means the demiurge, calling as politicians those who turn to him, lead an active and just life, but not devoid of contemplation. 163 (4) Political science, further, like legal science, is divided into the highest political reason, which organizes everything, and the practice of government, which can be designated by such names as order, harmony, reason. It is they who determine the relationship between rulers and subordinates, when the former take care of the latter, and they, in turn, obey their leaders. But the same purpose is pursued by the writings of Moses. (166, 1) Further, based on the idea that legal knowledge relates to the world of formation, and political science has friendship and harmony as its goal, Plato adds to the “Laws” the work “Post-Law”, in which a philosopher is derived who explains the course of all earthly affairs by the influence of the planets. And in addition to his Republic, he introduces us to another philosopher, Timaeus, an astronomer who carefully studies the consonant motion of the celestial bodies and their mutual combinations. Further (... 164) (2) For the contemplative way of life, in my opinion, befits not only a politician, but also any other person who lives in accordance with the requirements of the law. Good governance is necessary, but it is best to be a philosopher. (3) A reasonable person lives in such a way that he directs all his strength to the acquisition of gnosis, having good and beautiful deeds as the rule of his life, rejecting the bad with contempt and enriching himself with knowledge leading to true teaching. (4) What is prescribed by law is not yet law, just as what we see is not yet sight. Likewise, not every decision deserves to be called a law, for example, a bad decision. A true law is a solution that is correct and practically useful (χρηστή δόξα), and what is true is good and practically useful, and truth consists in discovering what truly exists and in approaching it. “He who is has sent me,” says Moses (Ex. 3:14). (5) In full agreement with this correct and practically useful decision, some of the philosophers defined the law as “right reason (λόγον ορθόν),” 165 commanding to do what should be done and prohibiting what is not appropriate to do. XXVI. True law (νόμος) is always a divine institution (θεσμός) (167, 1) So, we have every reason to assert that the law was given through Moses 166 and is the standard of just and unjust. It would be quite fair to call this law (νόμος), given through Moses by God himself, a divine institution (θεσμός). It is he who brings us to God. (2) And Paul is of the same opinion: "The law was established because of transgressions, until the time of the coming of the promised seed." Further, as if to clarify his thought, the apostle adds: “And before the coming of faith, we were locked up under the guardianship of the law” (Gal. 3:23) (obviously, for fear of sinning) “until the time when it was necessary to open ourselves to faith. So the law was a teacher for us, leading us to Christ, so that we might be justified by faith” (Gal. 3:23–24). (3) The art of the legislator consists in indicating the proper measure for each of the parts of the soul in accordance with their individual abilities. 168 Moses was the living law, speaking and acting under the influence of the merciful Logos. (168, 1) Therefore, he was able to establish an excellent government among the Jews, based on the noble education of people, instilling in them in every possible way the skills of living together. Among other duties, Moses also performed judicial duties, and they consist of correcting the guilty and teaching them the truth. (2) The executive power is in close connection with the judicial power, and it consists in properly balancing punishment with guilt and turning punishment into a means of correcting the soul. (3) It can be said that the whole system of education of Moses was oriented towards those who had the power to achieve perfection, and sought to bring others closer to them. This was the ruler's strategy. Art, which assists those who are not devoid of reason, is a manifestation of the wisdom of the legislator. Being very glorious and royal, this art inclines people to goodness and directs them to a good path. (4) Therefore, philosophers only call a wise man a king, a legislator, a general, a righteous man, a saint and a friend of God. 169 But since in Moses we find a combination of all these qualities, as Scripture testifies, then with good reason we can call him a true sage. (169, 1) We said earlier that, just as a shepherd is obliged to look after the sheep, for “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” 170, legislative science, with the goal of teaching people virtue, awakens, as far as possible, all the best in the human soul, governing the human flock and caring for it. (2) And if by the flock in the well-known parable of the Lord is meant nothing other than the human flock, then it follows that the Lord himself will be for this single flock of sheep listening to him (John 10:16) and a shepherd, and a good lawgiver, and a trustee for it, with the help of the law and the Logos, searching for and finding even one lost sheep (Matthew 18:12). For “the law is spiritual,” says the apostle (Rom. 7:14), and therefore leads to the highest happiness. (3) He is the true legislator, because he not only commands what is good and beautiful, but also knows it fully. The law given by the legislator is an institution capable of saving those who are versed in legal science. In other words, the law itself is an institution based on scientific knowledge, for “the word of God is power and wisdom” (1 Cor. 1:24). (4) He “through whom the law was given” (John 1:17) is also the first interpreter of the Divine commandments, the only begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). (170, 1) Those who obey the law and have any knowledge of it cannot but believe it or not know the truth. Consequently, unbelievers, who do not want to obey the law and do not fulfill its instructions, themselves testify that they do not know the truth. (2) What is the root of the Greeks’ unbelief? While they respect Moses for his teachings and works, they fail to accept the truth that the law of Moses was given by God himself. (3) But do not Plato, Aristotle and Ephorus say that Minos received his laws from Zeus, visiting Zeus’s cave every nine years? Do they not also say that Lycurgus often visited Apollo of Delphi to learn the art of the legislator? 171 Finally, do not Chameleon of Heraclea, in his discussion “On Drunkenness,” and Aristotle, in his essay on the government of Locris, say that Zaleucus of Locris received his laws from Athena? 172 (4) Consequently, those who, for the sake of exalting the Hellenic laws, claim about them the same as about the prophecies of Moses, and at the same time do not want to recognize the source of truth, which served as a prototype for their own traditions, thereby only show their ingratitude. (171, 1) One should not listen to those who, on the basis that the law provides for punishment, consider it not completely perfect. Otherwise, even a doctor who expels a disease from the body should not be considered a benefactor. If we recognize him as such, then shouldn’t the one who tries to free our soul from untruths be all the more precious to us? The soul is more valuable than the body. (2) Do we not endure cutting off entire members of the body or cauterization for the sake of bodily health? Don't we also take bitter medicine for this? And don’t we call the one who prescribes them a savior and a doctor? Not out of envy or hatred of the patient, but yielding to the necessity suggested to him by his science, the doctor removes certain parts of the body so that through contact with them healthy people will not become infected; however, no one accuses medical science of cruelty because of this. (3) In the same way, when our soul is in danger, will we not courageously endure exile, and monetary exactions, and imprisonment, just to free ourselves from the snares of vice and walk in the paths of virtue. (4) The law, taking care of those who are obedient to it, teaches them piety, indicates what they should do, warns against committing all kinds of offenses and imposes punishment even for the smallest crime. And when he notices that another, having reached the extreme, is no longer curable, then for the sake of caring for others, so that they do not become infected, he condemns him to death, just as a diseased member is taken away from the body. 173 (172, 1) “Being judged by the Lord,” says the apostle, “we are punished for our education, so as not to be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). (2) And even earlier the prophet said: “The Lord taught me by teaching, but did not put me to death” (Ps. 118:18). “For to teach you righteousness,” says the Scripture, “he tested you, made you hungry and made you thirsty in the wilderness, so that you might know in your heart the justifications and judgments that I now command you; and that you may know in your heart that as a man instructs his son, so the Lord our God will instruct you.” 174 (3) And about the fact that punishment admonishes us, Scripture says this: “The treacherous one, seeing how severely the wicked are punished, also receives a good lesson” (Proverbs 22:3), for “the fear of the Lord is a kind of wisdom” (Proverbs 22:4). (173, 1) The greatest and most perfect good deed is performed by the one who deviates someone from vice and directs him to the right path to a good life. This is exactly what the law does. (2) It follows that if someone is caught, for example, for a criminal passion for profit and is incorrigibly mired in all kinds of untruth, then the executioner, by executing him, does him good. (3) But if the law can turn unrighteous people to righteousness, if they, of course, wish to obey it, then it is aimed at good. After all, he frees them from the evils that surround them. (4) And he promises to repay those who choose a right and abstinent life with immortality. “To understand the law is a matter of good reflection” (Proverbs 9:10). And again: “Evil people do not understand the law, but those who seek the Lord are knowledgeable in every good thing” (Prov. 28:5). (5) Providence, which rules all things, is both royal and good. This defines two paths of salvation: being royal, Providence corrects us with punishments; By providing benefits, it testifies to its mercy. (6) Therefore, one should not remain a “son of unbelief” (Eph. 2:2), but should “come out of darkness to life,” 175, incline one’s ear to the voice of wisdom and first, out of fear of the law, become servants of God, then, out of fear of offending the Lord, his faithful servants, and finally, rising even higher, be numbered among the sons of God. When “love covers a multitude of sins” 176, the fulfillment of a good intention awaits everyone who has earned the right to be numbered among the chosen children, called friends of God. It is they who grow with their love and sing the hymn: “The Lord be my God.” 177 (174, 1) In his Epistle to the Hebrews, the apostle depicts the benefits of the law in the following expressions: “Behold, you are called a Jew and take comfort in the law, and boast in God, and know the will of God, and understand the best, learning from the law; and confident in yourself that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in darkness, a teacher of the ignorant, a teacher of little children, having in the law an example of knowledge and truth” (Rom. 2:17-20). (2) He admits, therefore, that the law itself teaches the fulfillment of all this even to those who do not subject their lives to its rules, although they boast that they live according to the law. “But blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the mortal who knows understanding” (Prov. 3:13); for “out of her mouth—that is, wisdom—comes justice, but she carries law and mercy on her tongue” (Prov. 3:16). (3) Law and Gospel are the work of the same Lord, who is “God’s power and wisdom.” 178 And fear generated by the law is a benefit that leads to salvation. “Let not charity and faith and truth desert you; tie them around your neck” (Prov. 3:3). (175, 1) Like Paul, the prophecy shames the Jews for not understanding the law: “Destruction and destruction are in their ways, and they have not known the way of peace” (Isa. 59:7–8; Rom. 3:16–17). “There is no fear of God before their eyes” 179. (2) “Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Rom. 1:22). We know that the law is good if someone uses it lawfully 180; “But those who wish to be teachers of the law do not understand,” says the apostle, “neither what they speak about, nor what they affirm.” 181 “The goal of exhortation is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and unfeigned faith.” 182 XXVIII. Four parts of the Law of Moses (176, 1) Mosaic philosophy is divided into four parts: the first part is history; the second is the actual legislative one. These two can be classified as having to do with ethics. The third part concerns sacred rites (that is, contemplation of visible nature), (2) and, finally, part four, which Plato calls “contemplation” of truly great sacraments, and Aristotle calls metaphysics, is the theological part. (3) Plato also calls it dialectics, for example, in the dialogue “Politician,” where he defines it as a science engaged in reasoning and explaining entities. 183 Every sensible person should have a good command of this science, but not in order to achieve anything in everyday life, which is why today’s dialecticians practice it, honing their sophistic skills, but in order to speak or do, according to their strength, what is pleasing to God. (177, 1) True dialectic, united with true philosophy, evaluating abilities and testing powers, rises to the highest essence that rules everything, and even dares to reach the transcendental God who is above this world. And she is not occupied with temporary affairs, but with genuine knowledge about divine and heavenly things. However, from here there is true benefit to human affairs, for it teaches us what we should talk about and how to act. (2) Desiring us to be dialecticians of this kind, Scripture instructs us: “Be expert money changers,” 184 rejecting counterfeit coins, and accepting good silver. (3) Dialectics is a mental faculty (φρόνησις) directed to the distinction of intelligible things; it reveals the true nature of things, reliably and unambiguously showing everything that is subject to each thing, being the power that distinguishes between kinds of objects, reveals the characteristics of each of them and shows us each thing in its purity. (178, 1) That is why, of all the sciences, it alone leads to true wisdom, that is, to the power of God, truly Gnostic and perfect in its knowledge of things as they are, free from all passions, and not without the help of the Savior, who by the word of God cleanses us from ignorance in which the soul is mired as a result of bad upbringing, and gives us the ability of the subtlest perception, thanks to which Now you clearly know both God and a mortal man. 185 (2) It was he who showed in an indubitable way how we can understand ourselves, he who revealed the Father of all to those whom he willed in such a form that human nature could comprehend him. “For no one knew the Son except the Father, nor the Father except the Son, or him to whom the Son will reveal it” (Matthew 11:27). (179, 1) The apostle rightly said that he “through revelation learned the mystery, about which I wrote briefly above, and from which you, reading, can discern an understanding of the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:3-4). (2) Having made the reservation “from what you can discern,” he hinted that some were not yet old enough to eat solid food, but only milk, and even then in an unclean form. (3) The commandments of the law are revealed to us in three 186 ways. They may be revealed in a symbol, through a commandment to be followed in a righteous life, or through prophecy. (4) It is clear that only adults in the faith will be able to discern this threefold meaning of Scripture. Comprehension of the meaning of Scripture is not, as the proverb goes, “Micon alone.” 187 But if you want to go through the whole circle of divine sciences, then you will have to use, as far as possible, the strict dialectical method. XXIX. Conclusion of the first book (180, 1) So, the Egyptian priest in Plato expressed it beautifully: “O Solon, Solon! You Hellenes will forever remain children, for your minds do not retain a single tradition inherited from the ancients, and there is no elder among the Hellenes.” 188 (2) By elders, I believe, this priest meant people familiar with ancient teachings, that is, our tradition. On the contrary, youths are those who are occupied with relatively recent things, similar to those that primarily interest the Hellenes and which arose only yesterday or the day before, and are presented by them as ancient and revered. (3) That’s why the priest added: “Teachings that have turned gray with time,” although this barbaric metaphor may not seem very coherent to you. However, knowledgeable people understand the art of interpretation from their own experience. (4) The priest says that Hellenic teachings are not much different from children's stories, that is, from fairy tales written for children. (5) He called all these stories “childish”, since even the wisest among the Hellenes are able to discern only a little in them. By teaching, “grey with age,” the priest denotes the most ancient and true barbarian tradition. Contrasting it with “children's fairy tales,” he points out the artificial elements in later teachings, since they are not supported (like children's fairy tales) by ancient tradition, which means that their myths and philosophy are just a child's game. (181, 1) It was only a certain power, by divine inspiration, who addressed Herma: “Visions and revelations are necessary only for a hypocritical soul, which always wonders whether these things really exist or not?” 189 (2) Evidence based on diverse knowledge provides a stable basis for apodictic arguments, although young minds have their head in the clouds. 190 (3) According to Scripture, “a good commandment is truly a lamp, a law a light for the way; instruction reproves the way of life.” 191 (4) “The law is king of all,” says Pindar, “mortal and immortal.” 192 (5) In these words the voice of the legislator is heard. The following verses of Hesiod speak, it seems to me, specifically about the God of this world, although the poet rather guessed than understood the meaning of what he was conveying: (6) For this is the law established for people by the Thunderer: Beasts, winged birds and fish, knowing no mercy, Let them eat each other. Their hearts do not know the truth. Kronid gave people the truth - the highest good. 193 (182, 1) Whether the poet is talking here about an innate law, or about one that God gave later, it still turns out that the natural law and the law of commandments and institutions given through revelation are identical, representing one and the same law. That is why Plato in “Politics” says that in reality there is only one and only legislator. In the “Laws” he claims that one and the best could bring internal harmony to everything. 194 All this points to one law and one God. (2.) It is evident that Moses has the Lord in mind when he speaks of covenant: “Here am I, my covenant with thee.” (Gen. 17:4). He mentions the Testament earlier, adding that one should not look for it in written form. This Testament is the creator of the cosmos, who arranged everything in the proper order. And it is called Θεóς, since it is the source of every establishment (θέσιν). (3) In the Sermons of Peter 195 the Lord is also called Law and Logos. This concludes the first book of our Stromata, Gnostic memory notes dedicated to true philosophy. The beginning was not saved. The text begins with a quotation from “The Shepherd” (Hermas, Visiones, V 5). For more information about the Stromat style, see the preface. For an analysis of the content of Stromat's introduction, see: E.F. Osborn. Teaching and Writing in the First Chapter of the Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria. – Journal of Theological Studies 10 (1959), p. 335–344. Menander, Misoumenos 18, fr. 527; cf. Aulus Gellius, Noctes Att. 3, 16, 3; Plato, Rep. VII 535 e. Aeschylus, Septem contra Thebes, 592. Ct. Plato, Phaedrus, 276 d-e; OK. 8:4–8, etc Plato, Leges, VIII 844 a-b This sage (according to Eusebius) was Panten, the teacher of Clement. It’s hard to say who the others were. Researchers are inclined to see here a possible indication of Melito from Sardis, Theophilus of Cararea, Theodotus and other early Christian teachers with whom Clement could communicate. St. Euripides, Hippolytus 73–81 Perhaps an indication of the practice of the Eleusinian Mysteries, in which a bright light signified the culmination of revelation. This is also indicated by the next phrase, where Clement continues his discussion of the mysteries. Here Clement speaks of the thematic arrangement of material in the Stromata or, literally, "by chapters." Considering the fact that the text of the Stromatus was not divided into chapters in antiquity, what has been said undoubtedly means arrangement by topic. Plato, Epistula II, 314 p. Clemens Rom. I Cor. 7, 2. "Goldfish". Wed. Athenaeus, 7, 282. Possibly referring to Labrus or Serranus Anthias. See D'Arcy W. Thompson, A Glossary of Greek Fishes (London, 1947), items 14 and 98. Clement may here have Matt in mind. 13:45–48. “screamers and tricksters,” as Abderit says. Homerus, Ilias, XX 248–250 Solon, fr. 11, 7.5.6 (Plutarchus, Solon, 30). Clement's quote is not accurate. Clement rearranges the lines and slightly changes the meaning of the passage. For a Russian translation of the fragment, see: Hellenic poets of the 8th-3rd centuries BC. Epic, elegy, iambics, melica (Edition prepared by M.L. Gasparov, O.P. Tsybenko, V.N. Yarkho). M.: “Ladomir”, 1999. Solon, fr. 15 (20). The text has been slightly corrected in accordance with the critical edition of Solon's texts. Cratinus, fr. 2 CAF. Cratinus was a comic poet of the mid-fifth century BC. Iophon, fr. 1 TGF. Jophon the tragedian was the son of Sophocles. [Homerus] Margites, fr. 2 Kinkel. Hesiodus, fr. 193 Rzach; Opera et dies, 649. Wed. Philo, De congr. 77. The first of numerous, usually anonymous, quotes from Philo of Alexandria. For more information on this, see the series of works by Annevies van den Hoek, especially her monograph: Clement of Alexandria and His Use of Philo in the Stromateis (Vigiliae Christianae Suppl. 3). Leiden, 1988. (I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Prof. Hook for the interesting discussion and the copy of her book that she presented to me.) For more information on Clement's methods of quoting and his treatment of sources, see the preface to this volume. Philo. De congr. erud. gr. 20, 43–7. The Socratic question of whether wisdom can be “learned” was often discussed by classical authors. See, for example, Plato's dialogues (Meno, 71 a; Protagoras 328 c, etc.) or Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (Ethica Nicom. VI 1139 b 25). However, Clement’s source here is still Philo’s essay On the Connection with the Greek Sciences (De congr., 34–37). Inaccurate quote from Plato, Rep. VI, 424 a. Wed. Anaxarchus, DK 72 B 1. Anaxarchus was a follower of Democritus and a companion of Alexander the Great The text of this sentence contains a gap. The general meaning, however, is clear. In fact, a free paraphrase of a passage from the letter to the Corinthians of Clement of Rome (Clem. Rom. Ad I Cor. 48, 4-5). It is noteworthy that these same words are further attributed by Clement to Barnabas (Strom. VI 64, 2). Sextus Empiricus says something similar (Adv. Math. II, 12). Wed: Topica, IV, 126 a 30 Euripides, Phoenissae, 470–472. The context of this passage is this: Truth always speaks in simple terms. She runs away from embellishment and variegation. And she doesn’t need external support, But false speech conceals a disease within itself, And she needs cunning medicine. (Phoenicians, 469–74; translation by I. Annensky) Obviously some kind of apocrypha, see A. Resch. Agrapha, TU 30 (1906) 38. Euripides, Antiopa, fr. 206 A reminiscence of the famous statement of Plato’s Protagoras “no one does evil of his own free will.” This refers to usucapio - an institution of Roman law. Epithet of Odysseus in Homer. Wed. Ilias I, 31, etc. Wed. Plato, Gorgias 486 d. The text is corrupted. The translation conveys the general meaning. Wed. Plato, Rep. VII 534 e. Plato, Politicus 261 e. However, Plato does not have any indication that the stranger from the dialogue Politician was a Pythagorean. Most likely he was a sophist. Pindarus, fr. 170 b (excerpt 180 Gasparov). This statement of Clement is an element of his polemic with the Gnostics, which he wages throughout the Stromata Wed. Plato, Rep. X 613 a-b; Theaetetus 176 b. In the text of the message: “poet”. Perhaps an error or a conscious correction by Clement himself or a later editor. Titus 1:12–13; Epimenides, fr. B 1 DK Aristoteles, fr. 3 Rose; Chamaeleon, fr. 36 Koepke. That is, not a sage, but only a lover of wisdom. Pythagoras was hardly a student of Pherecydes. In fact, Zeno, the founder of the Stoic school, was a student of Zeno the Cynic. Protagoras the sophist, like Democritus, came from Abdera, but was probably older than the latter. Metrodorus was indeed a student of Democritus Many ancient writers talk about Thales' prediction of a solar eclipse. It is believed that this could have been an eclipse that took place on May 28, 585 BC. e. (48th Olympics). This judgment is very strange. Although the origin of Homer was discussed more than once in Hellenic literature, various cities of the Asia Minor coast were usually named among the most acceptable places. Probably, Clement relies on the local Alexandrian tradition or deliberately allows for distortion. Plato, Symp. 209 d-e. The text at this point is somewhat unclear and the quotation inaccurate. In Plato's dialogue, Diotima talks about laws and legislators, calling virtues children. Phaedrus 247 c. Obviously, what is further referred to is the myth of Era (Rep. X 314 b – 321 d). Phaedrus 274 e. This refers to the famous dialogue between King Thamus and Teuth about writing. Lacuna in the text. The dialogue “On the Soul” was usually called the Phaedo. Democrites fr. B 68 DK. The text is most likely corrupted. It is unknown who the Arpedonaptae are. The eighty year term is also obviously wrong Alexander Polyhistor, 3 A 273 FGrH (fr. 138 FHG) Plutarchus, Moralia 398 c-d According to Clement, one of the Gnostic sects. For more details, see the third book of Stromat. Philo of Alexandria and Aristobulus were Jewish theologians, respectively, of the early first century AD. and second BC True, nothing else is known about any of the Jewish philosophers, so Clement, even if he wanted, could not “list” anyone. Megasthenes (c. 350–290 BC), historian and envoy of Seleucus I to India; 3 C 715 FGrH. Herodotus of Heraclea (5th century BC) was the author of the book about Hercules; fr. 24 FHG. Titanomacheia, fr. 6 Kinkel. This poem has been attributed to Arctinus or Eumelus (both of whom lived in the eighth century BC). Hermippus - grammarian of the second century AD. Euripides, Melanippe, fr. 482. Semiramis was actually an Assyrian queen Diodorus Siculus was a famous historian of the first century BC. (fr. 19 Dindorf). Apollodorus is mentioned by Pliny in Natural History (VII 37). Lycurgus, therefore, according to Clement, lived about 876 BC. Antilochus, FHG 4, 306. Hamilion is the seventh month of the Attic calendar, roughly corresponding to January. Dates 582–271 BC quite reasonable. Paragraphs rearranged (following Mayor) to maintain meaning Hermas, Mandates 11, 3; cf. Visiones V 7 Acts 17:22–28; Aratus, Phaenomena 5. Plato, Phaedo 69; Matt. 20:16. In reality, Amatores 137 b, not Demodocus. Obviously, some kind of non-canonical text. J.B. Bauer, "Vidisti fratrem vidisti dominum tuum (Agraphon 144 und 126 Resch)", ZKC 100 (1989) 71–76. Wed: Matt. 21:33 ; Is. 5:1–2. An obvious reference to a rule of Roman law, the so-called acquisition by prescription (usucapio). Indeed, possession acquired by force, cunning or precariously (vi, clam, precario) did not become the property of the owner after the expiration of the acquisition limitation period (which in the time of Clement was determined at one year for immovable property and two years for movable property). Date of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Amosis was the founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty (1580–1558 BC). Many researchers are inclined to believe that the exodus actually took place during the Nineteenth Dynasty during the reign of Ramses II (1290–1224 BC). See: Arthur T. Droege. Homer or Moses? Early Christian Interpretations of the History of Culture (Tubingen, 1989), p. 94, 145. Dionysius Halicarnassentis, Antiquitates Romanae I 74, 2. Tatian. 39 (Eusebius, Prep. Euang. X 11, 20–23). Theogonia, 938–941 (translation by V.V. Veresaev). Leon (IV century BC), FGrH 3 C 659 (cf. Hyginus, Astromonia 2, 20). Aristippus, FGrH 3 B 317; Diogenes Laertius II 83. Compare: FGrH 3 C 783 (Menander); FGrH 3 C 784 (Laetus). In the Russian Synodal translation - Huldama (IV Kings 22:14). In the Russian Synodal translation – Jehoiachin (IV Kings). Jer. 26:20. In the Russian Synodal translation - Shemayi. In the Russian Synodal translation - Ahalia. Dan. 9:24–27, however, Clement uses a different text from the canonical one. Zodiac (Sothis) is Sirius. The cycle began when the solar rising of Sirius coincided with the beginning of the year. This happens approximately once every 1460 years. Thus the cycles corresponded to approximately 4231 BC, 2775 BC, 1320 BC. (J. Ferguson). Life 46:27. In the standard text - 70. Aelian, De natura animalorum VI 23. IV Esdras. 14:18–22, 37–47. Numenius, fr. 8–9 Des Places; cf. Eusebius, Prep. Euang. XI 10, 12–14. The further history of the life of Moses, with some changes and abbreviations, was borrowed by Clement from the work of the same name by Philo of Alexandria (Philo, De vita Mos.) Philo, Vita Mos. I 16–17; There was also an apocrypha “The Ascension of Moses”. Ezerkiel - Alexandrian Jew of the 2nd century. BC e. He wrote dramas in Greek, using biblical stories. See H. Jacobson, The Exagoge of Ezerkiel (Cambridge University Press, 1983), p. 36–37. Fragments see: R.G. Robertson, 'Ezerkiel the Tragedian: A New Translation and Introduction', in J.H. Charlesworth, ed. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (New York, 1983), II 803–819. Homerus, Ilias, XVII 32; XX 198. Strom. VI 2, 2; 93, 1; V 88, 4. Wed. Aristoteles, Rhetorica I 8, 1366 a 2. Artemis was considered the goddess who brings light. For a description of this event, see: Xenophon, Hellenica II 4, 7; cf. Diodorus Siculus, 14, 33. Euripides, Antiope fr. 203. Eumelos, Europa, fr. 11 Kinkel. Wed. Plato, Leg. I 626 a; III 688 a. Wed. Polit. 307 b; Rep. IV 430 e. Chrysippus, fr. mor. 332 Arnim. Plato, Rep. IX 580 d; Philo, Vita Mos. I 162. Wed. SVF I, 223; III, 332. Plato, Leg. I 624 a; 632 d; Aristoteles, fr. 535 Rose; Ephoros, fr. 63 FHG; cf. Strabo, X 4, 8. Chamaileon, fr. 29 Koepke; Aristoteles, fr. 548 Rose. Wed. Plato, Gorgias, 525 b-c. Reading a manuscript: “four ways”, so the publishers (Bigg) add a fourth way here: “in a similar way.” Myconos is an island near Delos, where, as some jokers claimed, all the inhabitants were bald, that is, “all as one.” Hermes, Visiones III 4, 5. Wed. Homerus, Ilias, III 108. Hesiodus, Opera et Dies, 276–279. Plato, Politicus, 301 c; 309 c-d; Leg. II 658 e – 659 a. Kerygma Petri, fr. 1; E. Hennecke, New Testament Apocrypha, ed. W. Schneemelcher, tr. R. McL. Wilson (Philadelphia, 1964), II 94–102.