A glib tongue and elegant speech bring delight and applause aimed at the empty glory of wretched men whose minds are corrupted; but the lover of truth pays no heed to defiled words. Rather, he examines the substance of what is said—what it is, and of what kind. Since, then, my friend, you tried to overawe me with empty words, boasting in your gods of stone and wood, hammered and cast, molded and painted—gods that neither see nor hear, for they are idols and the works of human hands—and since, furthermore, you call me a Christian as though I bore an evil name: I for my part confess that I am a Christian, and I bear this God-beloved name, hoping to be of use to God. For it is not, as you suppose, a burdensome thing to bear the name of God. Perhaps it is rather you yourself, being of no use to God, who think such things about God.
But even if you say, “Show me your God,” I would answer you, “Show me your man, and I will show you my God.” Show me that the eyes of your soul can see and the ears of your heart can hear. For just as those who see with the eyes of the body perceive the affairs of this earthly life and at the same time distinguish what differs—light from darkness, white from black, the deformed from the beautiful, the well-proportioned and measured from the unrhythmical and unmeasured, the excessive from the truncated—and likewise discern what falls upon the hearing, whether shrill or deep or sweet of voice, so it is also with the ears of the heart and the eyes of the soul: by these one is able to behold God. For God is seen by those who are able to see Him, whenever they have the eyes of their soul opened. All people have eyes, but in some they are clouded over and do not see the light of the sun; yet it does not follow, because the blind cannot see, that therefore the sunlight does not shine. Rather, let the blind blame themselves and their own eyes. So too you, O man, have the eyes of your soul clouded over by your sins and your evil deeds. As a polished mirror, so must a man keep his soul pure. When there is rust upon the mirror, a man’s face cannot be seen in it; in the same way, when there is sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God. So show me yourself, then: whether you are not an adulterer, nor a fornicator, nor a thief, nor a robber, nor a defrauder, nor a sodomite, nor insolent, nor abusive, nor prone to anger, nor envious, nor boastful, nor disdainful, nor a brawler, nor avaricious, nor disobedient to parents, nor one who sells his own children. For to those who do such things God does not reveal Himself, unless they first cleanse themselves from all defilement. And so all things darken your sight, just as, when a film comes over the eyes, one cannot gaze upon the light of the sun; so also for you, O man, your impieties darken your sight, so that you are unable to see God.
You will then say to me: “You who claim to see, describe to me the form of God.” Listen, O man: the form of God is ineffable and indescribable, and cannot be seen by eyes of flesh. For He is uncontainable in glory, incomprehensible in greatness, unfathomable in height, incomparable in strength, beyond all reckoning in wisdom, inimitable in goodness, indescribable in His kindness. For if I call Him light, I name something He made; if I call Him Word, I name His beginning; if I call Him mind, I name His thought; if I call Him spirit, I name His breath; if I call Him wisdom, I name His offspring; if I call Him strength, I name His might; if I call Him power, I name His activity; if I call Him providence, I name His goodness; if I call Him kingdom, I name His glory; if I call Him Lord, I name Him Judge; if I call Him Judge, I name Him just; if I call Him Father, I name Him as all things; if I call Him fire, I name His wrath. Then you will say to me: “Is God subject to anger?” Indeed He is: He is angry with those who do wicked things, but He is good and kind and compassionate toward those who love and fear Him. For He is the instructor of the godly and the Father of the righteous, but the judge and punisher of the ungodly.
He is without beginning, because He is unbegotten; and He is unchangeable, because He is immortal. He is called God (Theos) because He has set (tetheikenai) all things upon His own security, and because He runs (theein)—and to run is to move, to act, to nourish, to provide for, to govern, and to give life to all things. He is Lord, because He is lord over all. He is Father, because He is before all. He is Maker and Creator, because He is the founder and fashioner of all things. He is the Most High, because He is higher than all things. He is the Almighty (Pantokrator), because He Himself rules and embraces all things. For the heights of the heavens, the depths of the abysses, and the bounds of the inhabited world are in His hand, and there is no place of His rest. The heavens are His work, the earth is His handiwork, the sea is His creation; man is His molded image; sun and moon and stars are His elements, made for signs and for seasons and for days and for years, for the service and ministry of men. And God made all things out of nothing into being, so that through His works His greatness might be known and understood.
For just as the soul in a man is not seen, being invisible to men, yet is perceived through the movement of the body, so it may also be said that God cannot be seen by human eyes, yet is seen and perceived through His providence and His works. For just as a man who sees a ship fitted out at sea, running and coming into harbor, will clearly conclude that there is a helmsman in it who steers it, so we must conclude that God is the helmsman of all things, even though He is not seen by eyes of flesh, since He is uncontainable. For if a man cannot gaze upon the sun, which is the smallest of the elements, because of its surpassing heat and power, how much more is a mortal man unable to look upon the glory of God, which is beyond all expression? And just as a pomegranate, having the rind that encloses it, holds within many cells and chambers separated by membranes, and contains many seeds dwelling within it, so the whole creation is contained by the Spirit of God, and the Spirit which contains it, together with the creation, is contained by the hand of God. As, then, the seed of the pomegranate, dwelling within, cannot see what is outside the rind, being itself within, so neither can man, enclosed together with all creation by the hand of God, behold God. And again, an earthly king is believed to exist, even though he is not seen by all, yet he is perceived through his laws and ordinances, his authorities, his powers, and his images. Will you, then, not have God perceived through His works and powers?
Consider, O man, His works: the changing of the seasons according to their times, the turning of the winds, the orderly course of the elements, the well-ordered procession of days and nights and months and years; the varied beauty of seeds and plants and fruits; the manifold generation of cattle and four-footed beasts and birds and creeping things and creatures that swim, both in fresh waters and in the sea; or the understanding given to the very animals themselves for begetting and rearing their young—not for their own use, but that man might have them; and the providence with which God prepares food for all flesh; or the subjection by which He ordained that all things should be subject to humankind; the flowing of sweet springs and ever-running rivers; the supply, granted in due season, of dews and showers and rains; the most varied motion of the heavenly bodies—the morning star rising and giving signal of the coming of the perfect luminary; the bond of the Pleiades and Orion; Arcturus, and the course of the rest of the stars moving in the circle of the heaven, to all of which the manifold wisdom of God has assigned their own proper names. This is the only God, who made light out of darkness, who brought forth light from His treasuries; the storehouses of the south wind and the treasuries of the abyss, and the bounds of the seas, and the treasuries of snows and hailstones; who gathers the waters in the storehouses of the abyss, and gathers the darkness in His treasuries, and brings forth the light—the sweet, the longed-for, the delightful light—from His treasuries; who brings up the clouds from the ends of the earth, and multiplies the lightnings into rain; who sends forth the thunder for fear, and announces beforehand the crash of the thunder by the lightning, so that no soul, suddenly startled, may faint away; and who measures out the sufficient force of the lightning that comes down from the heavens, so as not to burn up the earth. For if the lightning were given free rein, it would burn up the earth; and if the thunder, it would overthrow all that is in it.
This is my God, the Lord of all, who alone stretched out the heaven and laid the breadth of that which is under heaven; who stirs up the depths of the sea and makes its waves resound; who is master of its might and calms the surging of the waves; who founded the earth upon the waters and gave the spirit that nourishes it, whose breath gives life to all; and who, if He should withdraw the spirit to Himself, would cause all to fail. Him you speak with, O man; His spirit you breathe; yet Him you do not know. And this has befallen you because of the blindness of your soul and the hardness of your heart. But if you are willing, you can be healed. Give yourself over to the physician, and He will lance open the eyes of your soul and your heart. Who is the physician? It is God, who heals and gives life through His Word and His Wisdom. God by His Word and His Wisdom made all things. For by His Word the heavens were established, and by His Spirit all their power. Mighty is His wisdom: God by wisdom founded the earth; He prepared the heavens by understanding; by His knowledge the depths were broken up, and the clouds dropped down dew. If you understand these things, O man, living purely and holily and righteously, you are able to see God. But above all, let faith and the fear of God go before you in your heart, and then you will understand these things. When you have put off the mortal and put on incorruption, then you will see God as you are worthy. For God will raise up your flesh immortal together with your soul; and then, having become immortal, you will see the Immortal One, if you believe in Him now; and then you will recognize that you spoke against Him unjustly.
But you do not believe that the dead are raised. When it happens, then you will believe, whether you wish to or not; and your faith will be reckoned as unbelief, unless you believe now. And why do you not believe? Do you not know that faith goes before all undertakings? For what farmer can reap, unless he first entrusts the seed to the earth? Or who can cross the sea, unless he first entrusts himself to the ship and the helmsman? And what sick man can be healed, unless he first entrusts himself to the physician? And what craft or science can anyone learn, unless he first gives himself over and entrusts himself to the teacher? If, then, the farmer trusts the earth, and the sailor trusts the ship, and the sick man trusts the physician, will you not be willing to entrust yourself to God, when you have received so many pledges from Him? For first of all, He made you out of nothing into being. For if your father had not existed, nor your mother, much more would you yourself never have existed at all. And He fashioned you out of a tiny moist substance, the smallest of droplets, which itself once did not exist. And God brought you forth into this life. Then you believe that the images made by men are gods and work wonders, but you do not believe that the God who made you is able even now to bring you back to life.
Now the very names of the gods you say you worship are the names of dead men—and of what sort of men? Is not Kronos found to be a devourer of his children, consuming his own offspring? And if you should name Zeus his son, learn his deeds and his manner of life as well: first, that on Mount Ida he was reared by a she-goat, which—according to the myths—he then slaughtered and flayed, and made for himself a garment from its hide. As for his other deeds—his incest, his adulteries, his corruption of boys—Homer and the rest of the poets recount these about him better than I could. Why should I go on to enumerate his sons: Heracles, who burned himself alive; Dionysus, drunk and raving; Apollo, who feared and fled from Achilles, and who loved Daphne, and who did not foresee the death of Hyacinthus; or Aphrodite, who was wounded; and Ares, the bane of mortals; and the ichor flowing from these so-called gods? And it would be moderate to mention these, when even a god is found dismembered—the one called Osiris, for whom yearly rites are performed as for one who perishes and is found again and sought out limb by limb. For neither is it understood whether he perishes, nor is it shown whether he is found. And why should I speak of Attis castrating himself? Or Adonis wandering through the woods, and hunting, and being wounded by a boar? Or Asclepius struck by a thunderbolt? And Sarapis, who came as a fugitive from Sinope to Alexandria? Or the Scythian Artemis, who was herself a fugitive, a slayer of men, a huntress, and who fell in love with Endymion? For it is not we who say these things, but your own historians and poets who proclaim them.
Why should I go on to enumerate the multitude of animals the Egyptians worship—creeping things and cattle and wild beasts and birds and creatures that swim in the waters—and besides these, even footbasins and objects of shame? And if you should speak of the Greeks and the rest of the nations, they worship stones and wood and other such matter, as we said before—mere likenesses of dead men. For Phidias is found in Pisa making the Olympian Zeus for the Eleans, and at Athens, on the Acropolis, the Athena for the Athenians. And I will ask you also, O man: how many Zeuses are found? For among the foremost Zeus is called the Olympian; and there is Zeus Latiaris, and Zeus Casius, and Zeus the Thunderer, and Zeus the Forefather, and Zeus of the Night, and Zeus Guardian of the City, and Zeus Capitoline. And the Zeus who is the son of Kronos, who became king of the Cretans, has a tomb in Crete; while the rest were perhaps not even thought worthy of burial. And if you should also name the so-called mother of the gods, may it never fall to my lips to tell out her deeds—for it is unlawful for us even to name such things—nor the deeds of her attendants by whom she is served, nor how many fees and tributes she and her sons render to the king. For they are not gods, but idols, as we have said before, the works of human hands, and unclean demons. May such become the lot of those who make them and of those who set their hope on them!
Therefore I will rather honor the king—not by worshiping him, but by praying for him. But to God, the One who is truly God and real, I offer worship, knowing that the king was made by Him. You will then say to me: “Why do you not worship the king?” Because he was made not to be worshiped, but to be honored with lawful honor. For he is not a god, but a man appointed by God—not to be worshiped, but to judge justly. For in a certain way he has been entrusted with a stewardship from God; and indeed he himself does not wish those whom he has appointed under him to be called kings, for “king” is his own title, and it is not permitted to another to be so called. In the same way, worship is permitted to none but God alone. Therefore in all things you go astray, O man. But honor the king by being well-disposed toward him, submitting to him, praying for him. For in doing this you do the will of God; for the law of God says: “Honor, my son, God and the king, and be disobedient to neither of them; for suddenly they will take vengeance on their enemies.”
As for your laughing me to scorn by calling me a Christian, you do not know what you are saying. First of all, that which is “anointed” (christon) is sweet and useful and not a thing to be laughed at. For what ship can be useful and kept safe, unless it is first caulked (anointed)? Or what tower or house is shapely and serviceable, unless it has been smeared over? And what man, on entering this life, or what athlete, is not anointed with oil? And what work or ornament can have beauty, unless it is anointed and polished? Then too the air and all that is under heaven are in a certain way anointed by light and by the spirit; and will you not be willing to be anointed with the oil of God? It is for this very reason, then, that we are called Christians: because we are anointed with the oil of God.
But there is also your denial that the dead are raised; for you say, “Show me even one person raised from the dead, that seeing I may believe.” First of all, what great thing is it, if you believe only when you have seen what has happened? Then again, you believe that Heracles, who burned himself, lives, and that Asclepius, struck by lightning, was raised—yet you disbelieve the things told you by God? Perhaps I might even show you a dead man raised and living, and you would disbelieve this too. God, then, displays to you many proofs that you should believe in Him. For, if you will, consider the ending of the seasons and days and nights, how these too come to an end and rise again. And what of the resurrection of seeds and fruits that takes place, and this for the use of men? For if one should mention it: a grain of wheat or of the other seeds, when it is cast into the earth, first dies and is dissolved, then is raised up and becomes an ear of grain. And the nature of trees and fruit-bearing trees—how is it that, at God’s command, out of what is hidden and unseen they bring forth their fruits in due season? Indeed, sometimes even a sparrow or one of the other birds, having swallowed the seed of an apple tree or a fig tree or some other tree, comes to some rocky hill or a tomb and voids it, and that which was once swallowed and passed through such great heat takes root and grows into a tree. All these things the wisdom of God works, in order to show by them too that God is able to bring about the universal resurrection of all men. And if you wish to see a still more wonderful sight, one that takes place as a proof of the resurrection not only of earthly things but also of those in heaven, consider the resurrection of the moon, which takes place month by month—how it wanes and dies and rises again. Listen, too, to the work of resurrection going on in your very self, even if you are unaware of it, O man. For perhaps at some time, falling sick, you lost your flesh and your strength and your appearance, but having obtained mercy and healing from God, you recovered your body and your appearance and your strength again; and just as you did not know where your flesh went when it vanished, so neither do you know from what source it came, or from where it arose. But you will say, “From foods and the juices that are turned into blood.” Quite so. But this too is the work of God, who fashioned things in this way, and of no other.
So do not be unbelieving, but believe. For I too once disbelieved that this would be so; but now, having considered these things, I believe, having at the same time come upon the sacred writings of the holy prophets, who also foretold, through the Spirit of God, both the things that came to pass in the way they came to pass, and the things now present in the manner in which they come about, and the things to come, in what order they will be accomplished. Having therefore received proof of the things that come to pass and were announced beforehand, I do not disbelieve; rather, I believe, in obedience to God. To Him, if you also are willing, submit yourself, believing in Him, lest, having disbelieved now, you be persuaded then, to your grief, amid eternal punishments. These punishments, having been foretold by the prophets, the later poets and philosophers stole from the holy scriptures, in order to make their own doctrines credible. Nevertheless, even they foretold the chastisements that are to come upon the ungodly and the unbelieving, so that there might be witnesses to all, that no one might say, “We did not hear, nor did we know.” And if you too are willing, study earnestly the prophetic scriptures, and they will guide you more clearly to escape the eternal punishments and to attain the eternal good things of God. For He who gave a mouth for speaking, and fashioned an ear for hearing, and made eyes for seeing, will examine all things and will judge justly, rendering to each according to his deserts. To those who, by patient endurance through good works, seek incorruption, He will grant eternal life, joy, peace, rest, and an abundance of good things, which neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man. But to the unbelieving, and to the scorners and those who disobey the truth and instead obey unrighteousness—when they are immersed in adulteries and fornications and acts of sodomy and greed and unlawful idolatries—there will be wrath and indignation, affliction and anguish; and in the end eternal fire will lay hold of such men. Since, then, you added, my friend, “Show me your God,” this is my God, and I counsel you to fear Him and to believe in Him.