Apology (complete)

I, O king, by the providence of God came into the world; and having contemplated the heaven and earth and the sea, the sun and moon and the rest, I marveled at their orderly arrangement. And seeing the world and all things in it, that it is moved by necessity, I understood that the one who moves and controls it is God; for everything that moves is stronger than what is moved, and what controls is stronger than what is controlled. Him, then, I say to be God, who established all things and controls them, without beginning and eternal, immortal and without need, above all passions and defects, anger and forgetfulness and ignorance and the rest. Through him all things hold together. He does not need sacrifice and libation, nor any of the things that appear; but all need him.

These things having been said concerning God, so far as it was granted me to speak about him, let us come also to the human race, so that we may see which of them share in the truth and which in error. For it is clear to us, O king, that there are three races of human beings in this world: the worshipers of those who among you are called gods, the Jews, and the Christians. And these again, who worship many gods, are divided into three races: Chaldeans, Greeks, and Egyptians; for these have become the leaders and teachers to the other nations of the service and worship of the many-named gods.

Let us see, then, which of these share in the truth and which in error. The Chaldeans, not knowing God, went astray after the elements and began to worship the creation rather than the one who created them; and making certain figures of these, they called them likenesses of the heaven and the earth and the sea, of the sun and moon, and of the other elements or luminaries; and shutting them up in temples, they worship them, calling them gods, and they guard them securely so that they may not be stolen by robbers. And they did not understand that everything that guards is greater than what is guarded, and the one who makes is greater than what is made. For if their gods are powerless concerning their own safety, how will they grant safety to others? The Chaldeans, then, went greatly astray, worshiping dead and useless images. And it comes over me to marvel, O king, how those among them who are called philosophers did not at all understand that the elements themselves too are perishable. But if the elements are perishable and subject to necessity, how are they gods? And if the elements are not gods, how are the images, which were made in their honor, gods?

Let us come, then, O king, to the elements themselves, so that we may demonstrate concerning them that they are not gods, but perishable and changeable, brought forth from what is not by the command of the true God, who is incorruptible and unchangeable and invisible, while he himself sees all things and, as he wills, changes and transforms them. What, then, do I say about the elements? Those who think the heaven is a god are in error. For we see it turning and moved by necessity, and composed of many parts; and that is why it is called kosmos. And a kosmos is the construction of some craftsman; and what has been constructed has a beginning and an end. The heaven is moved by necessity together with its luminaries; for the stars, carried in order and at intervals from sign to sign, some set and others rise, and at their seasons they make their course to bring about summers and winters, as it has been commanded them by God; and they do not transgress their own boundaries, by an inexorable necessity of nature, together with the heavenly order. Hence it is clear that the heaven is not a god but a work of God. Those who think the earth is a goddess have gone astray. For we see it outraged by human beings and subdued and … and becoming useless. For if it is baked, it becomes dead; for from a potsherd nothing grows. And if it is soaked too much, it is destroyed, both itself and its fruits. It is trodden underfoot by human beings and the other animals; it is defiled with the blood of the slain; it is dug up; it becomes a tomb for dead bodies. These things being so, it is not possible that the earth is a goddess, but it is a work of God for the use of human beings.

Those who think water is a god have gone astray. For it too came into being for the use of human beings, and is mastered by them; it is defiled and destroyed, and altered when boiled and changed by colors, and frozen by the cold, and brought to the washing of all unclean things. Therefore it is impossible that water is a god, but it is a work of God. Those who think fire is a god are in error. For it too came into being for the use of human beings, and is mastered by them, carried about from place to place for the boiling and roasting of all kinds of meat, and moreover of dead bodies. And it is destroyed in many ways, being quenched by human beings. Therefore it is not possible that fire is a god, but it is a work of God. Those who think the blowing of the winds is a goddess are in error; for it is clear that it serves another, and for the sake of human beings; it has been prepared by God for the conveying of ships and the transport of grain, and for their other needs; it rises and ceases at the command of God. Therefore the blowing of the winds is not to be considered a goddess, but a work of God.

Those who think the sun is a god are in error. For we see it moved by necessity and turning, and passing from sign to sign, setting and rising, so as to warm plants and shoots for the use of human beings; and moreover having its divisions with the other stars, and being much smaller than the heaven, and failing of its light, and having no sovereign power. Therefore the sun is not to be considered a god, but a work of God. Those who think the moon is a goddess are in error. For we see it moved by necessity and turning, and passing from sign to sign, setting and rising for the use of human beings, and smaller than the sun, waxing and waning, and having eclipses. Therefore the moon is not to be considered a goddess, but a work of God.

Those who think a human being is a god are in error. For we see him moved by necessity, and nourished and growing old even against his will. And sometimes he rejoices, sometimes he grieves, needing food and drink and clothing. And he is irascible and jealous and full of desire, and repents, and has many defects. And he is destroyed in many ways, by the elements and by animals, and by the death that lies upon him. It is not possible, then, that a human being is a god, but he is a work of God. The Chaldeans, then, went greatly astray, following after their desires. For they worship the perishable elements and the dead images, and do not perceive that they are making these into gods. Let us come, then, to the Greeks, so that we may see whether they think anything about God.

The Greeks, then, saying they are wise, became fools, worse than the Chaldeans, introducing many gods who were born, some male and some female, makers of every kind of passion and of all sorts of lawless deeds. Hence the Greeks, O king, introduced ridiculous and foolish and impious sayings, calling gods those who are not, according to their own evil desires, so that, having these as advocates of their wickedness, they might commit adultery, rob, murder, and do the most terrible things. For if their gods did such things, how will they themselves not do such things? From these practices of error, then, it has come about that people have frequent wars, and slaughters, and bitter captivities.

But if we will go through each of their gods in our account, you will see much absurdity. The first god introduced by them, before all, is the one called Kronos, and to him they sacrifice their own children; he had many children by Rhea, and, going mad, he ate his own children. And they say that Zeus cut off his private parts and threw them into the sea, from which Aphrodite is fabled to have been born. Zeus, then, having bound his own father, threw him into Tartarus. Do you see the error and licentiousness that they introduce against their god? Is it possible, then, for a god to be a prisoner and castrated? O the folly! Who of those with sense would say these things? Second is introduced Zeus, who they say reigned over their gods and changed himself into animals in order to commit adultery with mortal women. For they present him changed into a bull for Europa, and into gold for Danae, and into a swan for Leda, and into a satyr for Antiope, and into a thunderbolt for Semele; and then that many children were born from these: Dionysus, and Zethus and Amphion, and Heracles, and Apollo and Artemis, and Perseus, Castor and Helen and Polydeuces, and Minos, and Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon, and the nine daughters whom they called Muses. So too they introduce the story of Ganymede. It has come about, then, O king, that people imitate all these things, and become adulterers and men mad for males, and workers of other terrible deeds, in imitation of their god. How, then, is it possible for a god to be an adulterer or a sodomite or a parricide? Together with him they also introduce one Hephaestus as a god, and him lame, holding a hammer and tongs, and working as a smith for the sake of food. So he is in need; which it is not possible for a god to be, lame and in need of human beings.

Then they introduce Hermes as a god, full of desire, a thief, greedy, a magician, crooked, and an interpreter of words; which it is not possible for a god to be. And they introduce Asclepius as a god, being a physician and preparing drugs and compounding plasters for the sake of food (for he was in need), and that afterward he was struck by a thunderbolt by Zeus on account of Tyndareus, son of Lacedaemon, and died. But if Asclepius, being a god and struck by a thunderbolt, could not help himself, how will he help others? Ares is introduced as a god, a warrior and jealous, and desirous of cattle and some other things; and afterward, while committing adultery with Aphrodite, he was bound by the infant Eros and by Hephaestus. How, then, is he a god, the one full of desire, a warrior, a prisoner, and an adulterer? And they introduce Dionysus as a god, holding nocturnal festivals and a teacher of drunkenness, carrying off the wives of his neighbors, raving and fleeing; and afterward he was slaughtered by the Titans. If, then, Dionysus, when slaughtered, could not help himself, but was also mad and a drunkard and a runaway, how could he be a god? And they introduce Heracles as having become drunk and mad, and slaughtered his own children, then been consumed by fire and so died. How could he be a god, a drunkard and a child-murderer, and burned up? Or how will he help others, when he was unable to help himself? And they introduce Apollo as a god, jealous, and moreover holding a bow and quiver, and at times also a lyre and …, and giving oracles to people for the sake of pay. So he is in need; which it is not possible for a god to be, in need and jealous and a lyre-player.

And they introduce Artemis as his sister, being a huntress, and having a bow with a quiver, and roaming over the mountains alone with the dogs, to hunt a deer or a boar. How, then, will such a woman, a huntress and roaming with the dogs, be a god? And they say that Aphrodite herself too is a goddess, an adulteress. For at one time she had Ares as an adulterer, at another Anchises, at another Adonis, whose death she also bewails, seeking her lover; and they say she even went down to Hades to ransom Adonis from Persephone. Have you seen, O king, greater folly than this, to introduce as a goddess one who commits adultery and laments and weeps? And they introduce Adonis as a god, a hunter, and that he died violently, struck by the boar, and was unable to help himself in his misery. How, then, will the adulterer and hunter and one who died a violent death take care of human beings? All these things, and many such, and far more shameful and evil, the Greeks introduced, O king, concerning their gods, which it is neither lawful to speak nor even to bring to memory at all; whence people, taking occasion from their gods, practiced every lawlessness and licentiousness and impiety, defiling earth and air with their terrible deeds.

The Egyptians, being more stupid and senseless than these, went astray worse than all the nations. For they were not content with the objects of worship of the Chaldeans and Greeks, but further introduced irrational animals as gods, both land and water creatures, and plants and shoots, and were defiled with every madness and licentiousness worse than all the nations on the earth. For from the beginning they worshiped Isis, who had as brother and husband Osiris, the one slain by his brother Typhon. And for this reason Isis fled with Horus her son to Byblos in Syria, seeking Osiris, lamenting bitterly, until Horus grew up and killed Typhon. So neither did Isis have strength to help her own brother and husband; nor could Osiris, when being slain by Typhon, defend himself; nor was Typhon the fratricide, when perishing at the hands of Horus and Isis, able to rescue himself from death. And though they were known by such misfortunes, they were thought gods by the senseless Egyptians. And these, not content even with these or with the other objects of worship of the nations, introduced also the irrational animals as gods. For some of them worshiped the sheep, some the goat, others the calf and the pig, others the raven and the hawk and the vulture and the eagle, and others the crocodile, some the cat and the dog, and the wolf and the ape, and the serpent and the asp, and others the onion and the garlic and thorns, and the other created things. And the wretches do not perceive concerning all these that they have no power. For seeing their gods eaten by other people, and burned and slaughtered and rotting, they did not understand concerning them that they are not gods.

The Egyptians, then, and the Chaldeans and the Greeks went greatly astray, introducing such gods, and making images of them, and making gods of the dumb and senseless idols. And I marvel how, seeing their gods sawn and hewn by craftsmen, and growing old with time and falling apart, and melted down, they did not realize concerning them that they are not gods. For when they have no power concerning their own safety, how will they take care of human beings? But their poets and philosophers, of the Chaldeans and Greeks and Egyptians, wishing by their poems and writings to dignify the gods among them, rather uncovered their shame and set it out naked before all. For if the body of a human being, which has many parts, does not cast off any of its own members, but, having an unbroken union with all the members, is in harmony with itself, how will there be such strife and discord in the nature of a god? For if there were one nature of the gods, god ought not to pursue god, nor slay, nor do harm; but if gods were pursued and slain by gods, and carried off and struck by thunderbolts, there is no longer one nature but divided wills, all of them evildoers, so that none of them is a god. It is clear, then, O king, that all the natural philosophy about the gods is error. And how did the wise and learned among the Greeks not understand that even those who laid down laws are judged by their own laws? For if the laws are just, their gods are altogether unjust, having done unlawful things, killings of one another and sorceries, and adulteries and thefts and sex between males. But if they did these things rightly, then the laws are unjust, having been framed against the gods. But as it is, the laws are good and just, praising what is good and forbidding what is evil; and the deeds of their gods are lawless; their gods, then, are lawless, and all are liable to death, and impious are those who introduce such gods. For if the stories about them are mythical, they are nothing but mere words; if they are natural, then those who did and suffered these things are no longer gods; and if they are allegorical, they are myths and nothing else.

It has been demonstrated, therefore, O king, that all these polytheistic objects of worship are works of error and destruction. One ought not, then, to name as gods things that are seen and do not see; but one must worship the invisible God who made all things. Let us come, then, O king, also to the Jews, so that we may see what they too think about God. For these, being descendants of Abraham and of Isaac and Jacob, sojourned in Egypt; and from there God brought them out with a mighty hand and an uplifted arm through Moses their lawgiver, and by many wonders and signs made known to them his own power. But they too proved ungrateful and useless, and often served the objects of worship of the nations, and killed the prophets and righteous men sent to them. Then, when the Son of God was pleased to come upon the earth, they treated him with drunken insolence and betrayed him to Pilate, the governor of the Romans, and condemned him to the cross, not respecting his benefits and the countless wonders that he worked among them. Therefore they perished by their own lawlessness. For even now they worship God, the only Almighty, but not according to knowledge; for they deny Christ the Son of God, and they are like the nations, even though they seem in some way to draw near to the truth, from which they have removed themselves. So much concerning the Jews.

The Christians trace their descent from the Lord Jesus Christ. And he is confessed to be the Son of God most high, who came down from heaven in the Holy Spirit for the salvation of human beings; and, born of a holy virgin without seed and without corruption, he took flesh and appeared to human beings, so as to call them back from the error of many gods. And having accomplished his wonderful dispensation, he tasted death through the cross by his own will, according to a great dispensation; and after three days he came to life again and went up into the heavens. The glory of his coming you may learn, O king, from what among them is called the holy Gospel Scripture, if you read it. He had twelve disciples, who after his ascent into the heavens went out into the provinces of the inhabited world and taught his greatness; just as one of them went around the regions where we live, proclaiming the doctrine of the truth. Hence those who still serve the righteousness of their preaching are called Christians. And these are the ones who, beyond all the nations of the earth, have found the truth; for they know God, the creator and maker of all things, in the only-begotten Son and the Holy Spirit, and they worship no other god besides him. They have the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ himself engraved on their hearts, and they keep them, looking for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the age to come. They do not commit adultery, they do not commit sexual immorality, they do not bear false witness, they do not covet what belongs to others; they honor father and mother, and love their neighbors; they judge justly; what they do not wish to happen to themselves they do not do to another; they appeal to those who wrong them and make them their friends; they are eager to do good to their enemies; they are gentle and forbearing; they keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all impurity; they do not overlook the widow; they do not grieve the orphan; the one who has supplies the one who has not without grudging; if they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof and rejoice over him as over a true brother; for they call themselves brothers not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. They are ready to lay down their lives for Christ; for they keep his commands steadfastly, living holy and righteous lives, as the Lord God commanded them, giving thanks to him at every hour, for all food and drink and the other good things.

Truly, then, this is the way of truth, which leads those who travel it to the eternal kingdom promised by Christ in the life to come. And so that you may know, O king, that I do not say these things of myself, if you look into the Scriptures of the Christians you will find that I say nothing outside the truth. Well, then, has your son understood, and rightly has he been taught to serve the living God and to be saved for the age that is to come. For great and wonderful are the things said and done by the Christians; for they speak not the words of human beings but those of God. But the other nations go astray and lead themselves astray; for walking in darkness they dash against one another like drunken men.

Thus far, O king, my discourse to you, which was dictated in my mind by the truth. Therefore let your foolish wise men cease talking idly against the Lord; for it is to your advantage to worship God the creator and to give ear to his incorruptible words, so that, escaping judgment and punishment, you may be shown to be heirs of indestructible life.