# Against the Heathen

- Author: [Athanasius of Alexandria](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/athanasius/)
- Latin title: *Contra Gentes*
- Date: ca. 318–325 (disputed)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Graeca 25 (Paris: Migne, 1857), cols. 4–96 (reprinting the Benedictine edition of B. de Montfaucon, Paris, 1698)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Editions and translations: Robert W. Thomson, ed., Athanasius: Contra Gentes and De Incarnatione (Oxford: Clarendon, 1971)
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/
- Passages: 47

## Against the Heathen 1

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-1
- Source: PG 25:4a–5c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Athanasius explains that he writes for a Christian friend to show that faith in the crucified Christ is not irrational, first by refuting the errors of unbelievers.

### Greek text

Ἥ μὶν περὶ τῆς θεοσεβείας καὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἀληθείας γνῶσις οὗ τοσοῦτον τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων διδασκαλίας δεῖται, ὅσον ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἔχει τὸ γνώριμονο μόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ καθʼ ἡμέραν τοῖς ἔργοις κέκραγε, καὶ ἡλίου λαμπρότερον ἑαυτὴν διὰ τῆς Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας ἐπιδείκνυταιο ποθοῦντι δέ σοι ὅμως τὰ περὶ ταύτης ἀκοῦσαι, φέρε, ὦ μακάριε, ὡς ἃν οἷοί τε ὦμεν, ὀλίγα τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν πίστεως έκθώμεθα, δυναμένῳ μέν σοι καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν θείων Λογίων ταύτην εὑρεῖν, φιλοκάλως δὲ ὅμως καὶ παρʼ ἑτέρων ἀκούοντι. Αὐτάρκεις μὲν γάρ εἰσιν αἱ ἅγιαι καὶ θεόπνευστοι Γραφαὶ πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπαγγελίανʼ εἶσὶ δὲ καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν μακαρίων ἡμῶν διδασκάλων εἷς ταῦτα συνταχθέντες λόγοι · οἷς ἐάν τις ἐντύχοι, εἷʼσεται μέν πως τὴν τῶν Γραφῶν ἑρμηνείαν, ὀρέγεται γνώσεως τυχεῖν δυνήσεται. Ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ τὰς τῶν διδασκάλων συντάξεις έν χερσὶ νῦν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ἃ παρʼ ἐκείνων ἐμάθομεν, ταῦτα καὶ ἀπαγγέλλειν καὶ γράφειν σοι· λέγω δὴ τήν κατᾶ τὸν Σωτῆρα Χριστὸν πίστιν· ’ίνα μήτε εὐτελῆ τις τὴν τοῦ καθʼ ἡμὰς λόγου διδασκαλίαν ἡγήσηται, μήτε ἄλογον τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν ὑπολάβῃ ὁποῖα διαβάλλοντες Ἕλληνες χλευάζουσι, καὶ πλατὺ γελῶσι καθʼ ἡμῶν, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ προφέροντες ἐφʼ ᾧ μάλιστα καὶ τὴν ἀναισθησίαν αὐτῶν οἰκτειρήσειεν ἄν τις, ὅτι, τὸν σταυρὸν διαβάλλοντες, οὐχ ὁρῶσι τὴν τούτου δύναμιν πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην πεπληρωκυῖαν καὶ ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ τὰ τῆς θεογνωσίας ἔργα πᾶσι πεφανέρωται. Οὔκ ἂν γὰρ, εἰπερ ἦσαν καὶ αὐτοὶ γνησίως ἐπιστήσαντες αὐτοῦ τῇ θεότητι τὸν νοῦν, ἐχλεύαζον τὸ τηλικοῦτον· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῦτον ἐπεγίνωσκον Σωτῆρα τοῦ παντὸς, καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν μή βλάβην ἀλλὰ θεραπείαν τῆς κτίσεως γεγονεναι. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦ σταυροῦ γενομένου, πᾶσα μὲν εἰδωλολατρεία καθῃρέθη, πᾶσα δὲ δαιμόνων φαντασία τῷ σημείῳ τούτῳ ἀπελαύνεται, καὶ μόνος ὁ Χριστὸς προσκυνεῖται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ γινώσκεται, ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀντιλέγοντες καταισχύνονται, ὁ δὲ τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων ὁσημέραι τὰς ψυχὰς ἀφανῶς μεταπείθειʼ πῶς (εἰκότως γὰρ ἄν τις εἴποι προς αυτους) ετι ἀνθρωπινον εστιν επινοεῖν τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ οὐ μᾶλλον ὁμολογεῖν Θεοῦ Λόγον καὶ Σωτῆρα εἶναι τοῦ παντὸς τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀναβάντα ; πάσχειν δὲ καὶ οῦτοί μοι δοκοῦσιν ὅμοιον, ὡς εἴτις τὸν μὲν ἥλιον ὑπὸ νεφῶν σκεπόμενον διαβάλλοι, τὸ δὲ τούτου φῶς θαυμάζοι, βλέπων, ὅτι πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις ὑπὸ τούτου καταλάμπεται. Ὠς γὰρ καλλὸν τὸ φῶς, καὶ καλλίων ὁ τοῦ φωτὸς ἀρχηγὸς ἥλιος οὕτω θείου πράγματος ὄντος τοῦ τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν τῆς αὐτοῦ γνώσεως πεπληρῶσθαι, ἀνάγκη τὸν ἀρχηγὸν καί ἡγεμόνα τοῦ τοιούτου κατορθώματος εἶναι Θεὸν καὶ Θεοῦ Λόγον. Λέγομεν οῦν ὡς ἐφικτὸν ἡμῖν, πρότερον διελέγξαντες τὴν τῶν ἀπίστων ἀμαθίαν τίνα, τῶν ψευδῶν διελεγχθὲντων, λοιπὸν ἡ ἀλήθεια διʼ εαυτῆς ἐπιλάμψῃ, καὶ θαῤῥῇς καὶ αὐτὸς, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, ὅτι ἀληθείᾳ πεπίστευκας, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν γινώσκων οὐκ ἠπατήθης. Πρέπειν δέ σοι ἡγοῦμαι φιλοχρίστῳ ὄντι τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ διαλέγεσθαι, ἐπεὶ καὶ πάντων τιμιωτέραν τὴν περὶ τούτου γνῶσιν καὶ πίστιν ἡγεῖσθαί σε πεπίστευκα.

### English translation (Claude)

The knowledge of true religion and of the truth of all things does not need teaching from human beings so much as it has its own evidence in itself; for it all but cries out daily through its works, and shows itself brighter than the sun through the teaching of Christ. Yet since you desire to hear about it, come, blessed one, let us set out, as far as we are able, a few points of the faith in Christ. You could find it for yourself from the divine Oracles, but you love to hear it from others as well. For the holy and God-inspired Scriptures are sufficient for proclaiming the truth; and there are also many treatises composed on these matters by our blessed teachers, and whoever reads them will understand something of the interpretation of the Scriptures and will be able to attain the knowledge he longs for. But since we do not now have the treatises of the teachers in hand, it is necessary to tell and write to you what we learned from them, I mean the faith in Christ the Savior, so that no one may think the teaching of our doctrine cheap, or suppose faith in Christ to be irrational. This is what the Greeks slander and scoff at, laughing loudly at us and holding up nothing but the cross of Christ. For this especially one would pity their insensibility: in slandering the cross they do not see that its power has filled the whole world, and that through it the works of the knowledge of God have been made manifest to all. For if they too had truly turned their minds to his divinity, they would not have mocked so great a thing; rather they too would have recognized him as the Savior of the universe, and the cross as having become not a harm but a healing of creation. For if, since the cross took place, all idolatry has been overthrown, and every apparition of demons is driven away by this sign, and Christ alone is worshiped, and through him the Father is known; and if those who speak against it are put to shame, while he daily wins over the souls of those who speak against it without their seeing it, how (one might reasonably say to them) can the matter still be thought human, and not rather confessed that the one who mounted the cross is the Word of God and the Savior of the universe? These people seem to me to suffer something like a man who slanders the sun when it is covered by clouds, yet admires its light, seeing that the whole creation is lit up by it. For as the light is beautiful, and the sun, the source of the light, more beautiful still, so, since it is a divine thing that the whole world has been filled with the knowledge of him, the author and leader of such an achievement must be God and the Word of God. We speak, then, as far as we can, first refuting the ignorance of the unbelievers, so that, once the falsehoods have been refuted, the truth may thereafter shine forth by itself, and you too, my friend, may take courage that you have believed the truth and that in knowing Christ you have not been deceived. And I think it fitting for you, a lover of Christ, to discuss the things concerning Christ, since I am persuaded that you hold the knowledge of him and faith in him more precious than all things.

### Translation notes

- The addressee is not named; he is called “blessed” and “a lover of Christ.” The work is the first half of a two-part treatise whose second part is On the Incarnation.
- “Whoever reads them … will be able to attain the knowledge he longs for”: the scan’s sentence is incomplete at this point (a relative clause seems lost); translated by sense.
- “Blessed one” translates μακάριε; it may also be read as the name Macarius, as the NPNF translation does.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 1 (PG 25:4a–5c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-1).

## Against the Heathen 2

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-2
- Source: PG 25:5c–8b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Evil did not exist at first: God made humanity in his image through the Word, to contemplate him in purity, as Adam did in paradise.

### Greek text

Ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν οὐκ ἧν κακία ° οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ νῦν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐστὶν, οὐδʼ ὅλως κατʼ αὐτοὺς ὑπάρχει αὕτηο ἅνθρωποι δὲ ταύτην ὕστερον ἐπινοεῖν ἤρξαντο, καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτῶν ἀνατυποῦσθαιο ὅθεν δὴ καὶ τήν τῶν εἰδώλων ἐπίνοιαν ἑαυτοῖς ἀνεπλάσαντο, τὰ οὐκ ὅντα ὡς ὄντα λογιζόμενοι. Ὁ μὲνγὰρ τοῦ παντὸς δημιουργὸς καὶ παμβασιλεύς Θεὸς, ὁ ὑπερέκεινα πάσης οὖσίας καὶ ἀνθρωπίνης ἐπινοίας ὑπάρχων, ἅτε δὴ ἀγαθὸς καὶ ὑπέρκαλος ἶὸν, διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου Λόγου τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος κατʼ ἰδίαν εἰκόνα πεποίηκεʼ καὶ τῶν ὄντων αὐτὸν θεωρητὴν καί ἐπιστήμονα διά τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁμοιώσεως κατεσκεύασε, δοὺς αὐτῷ καὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἀϊδιότητος ἔννοιαν καὶ γνῶσιν, τίνα, τὴν ταυτότητα σώζων, μήτε τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ φαντασία‹ ποτὶ ἀποστῆ, μήτε τῆς τῶν ἁγίων συζήσεως ἀποπηδήσῃ, ἀλλʼ, ἔχων τὴν τοῦ δεδωκότος χάριν, ἔχων καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐκ τοῦ πατρικοῦ Λόγου δύναμιν, ἀγάλληται καὶ συνομιλῇ τῷ Θείῳ, ζῶν τὸν ἀπήμονα καὶ μακάριον ὅντως τὸν ἀθάνατον βίον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔχων ἐμπόδιον εἰς τὴν περὶ τοῦ Θείου γνῶσιν, θεωρεῖ μὲν ἀεὶ διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ καθαρότητος τήν του Πατρὸς εἰκόνα, τόν Θεὸν Λόγον, οὗ καὶ κατʼ εἰκόνα γέγονεν. ὑπερεκπλήττεται δὲ κατανοῶν τὴν διʼ αὐτοῦ εἰς τό πᾶν πρόνοιαν, ὑπεράνω μὶν τῶν αἰσθητῶν καὶ πάσης σωματικῆς φαντασίας γινόμενος, πρὸς δὲ τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς θεῖα καὶ νοητᾶ τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ νοῦ συναπτόμενος. Ὅτε γὰρ οὐ συνομιλεῖ τοῖς σώμασιν ὁ νοῦς ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὐδέ τι τῆς ἐκ τούτων ἐπιθυμίας με· μιγμένον ἔξωθεν ἔχει, ἀλλʼ ὅλος ἐστὶν ἄνω ἑαυτῷ συνὼν ὡς γέγονεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς· τότε δὴ, τὰ αἰσθητὰ καὶ πάντα τὰ ἀνθρώπινα διαβὰς, ἄνω μετάρσιος γίνεται, καὶ τὸν Λόγον ἰδὼν, ὁρᾷ ἐν αύτῷ καὶ τὸν τοῦ Λόγου Πατέρα, ἡδόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ τούτου θεωρίᾳ, καὶ ἂνακαινούμενος ἐπὶ τῶ πρὸς τοῦτον πόθῳ ὥσπερ οῦν τὸν πρῶτον τῶν ἀνθρώπων γενόμενον, ’ὀς καὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἐβραίων γλῶτταν ’Δδὰμ ῶνομάσθη, λέγουσιν αἱ ἱεραὶ Γραφαὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀνεπαισχύντῳ παρῥησίᾳ τὸν νοῦν ἐσχηκέναι πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ συνδιαιτᾶσθαι τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν τῇ τῶν νοητῶν θεωρίᾳ, ἢν εἶχεν ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τόπῳ, ’ὸν καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Μωυσῆς τροπικῶς παράδεισον ὠνόμασεν. Ἰκανὴ δὲ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότης ἐστὶ τὸν Θεὸν διʼ ἑαυτῆς κατοπτρίζεσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ Κύριός φησι Μακάριοι οἰ καθαροὶ τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὅτι αὐτοὶ τόν Θεὸν ὄψονται.

### English translation (Claude)

In the beginning there was no evil; for not even now does it exist among the saints, nor does it exist at all as far as they are concerned. Human beings later began to conceive it and to shape it to their own hurt; and from this they also invented for themselves the idea of idols, reckoning things that are not as though they were. For God, the maker and king of all, who is beyond all being and all human thought, since he is good and surpassingly beautiful, made the human race after his own image through his own Word, our Savior Jesus Christ. Through its likeness to him he made man a beholder and knower of the things that are, giving him also a notion and knowledge of his own eternity, so that, keeping this sameness, he might never depart from his conception of God nor leap away from the company of the saints, but, having the grace of the giver, and having also the power that is his own from the Father’s Word, might rejoice and converse with the Divine, living the untroubled and truly blessed, immortal life. For having nothing to hinder his knowledge of the Divine, he always beholds through his purity the image of the Father, God the Word, after whose image he himself was made; and he is filled with wonder as he contemplates the providence that is exercised through him over the universe, rising above sensible things and every bodily image, and joined by the power of the mind to the divine and intelligible things in the heavens. For when the human mind does not keep company with bodies, and has nothing of the desire for them mixed into it from outside, but is wholly on high, at home with itself as it was made in the beginning, then, passing beyond sensible things and everything human, it is lifted up on high, and seeing the Word, sees in him also the Father of the Word, delighting in the contemplation of him and being renewed by its longing for him. So the sacred Scriptures say that the first man to come into being, who in the Hebrew tongue was named Adam, had his mind directed to God at the beginning with unashamed boldness, and lived with the saints in the contemplation of intelligible things, which he enjoyed in that place which holy Moses figuratively called paradise. For the purity of the soul is able to behold God reflected in itself as in a mirror, as the Lord also says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 2:8: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 5:8: quotation, high confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Resp. 509b (Plato (works)): echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- “Being” translates οὐσία (also rendered “substance”); “beyond all being” echoes Plato, Republic 509b.
- “Figuratively called paradise”: Athanasius reads the garden of Gen 2 as a figure of Adam’s contemplation of God.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 2 (PG 25:5c–8b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-2).

## Against the Heathen 3

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-3
- Source: PG 25:8b–9b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Humanity turned from contemplating God to the body and its senses, as Adam did at the serpent’s counsel, and from this came desire, fear, and violence.

### Greek text

Οὕτω μὲν οῦν ὁ Δημιουργὸς, ὥσπερ εἷʼρηται, τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος κατεσκεύασε, καὶ μένειν ἠθέλησεν· οἰ δὲ ἅνθρωποι, κατολιγωρήσαντες τῶν κρειττόνων, καὶ ὀκνήσαντες περὶ τήν τούτων κατάληψιν τὰ ἐγγυτέρω μᾶλλον- ἑαυτῶν ἐζήτησαν. Ἐγγύτερα δὲ τούτοις ἦν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ αἱ τούτου αἰσθήσεις. Ὅθεν τῶν μὶν νοητῶν ἀπέστησαν ἑαυτῶν τὸν νοῦν, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ κατανοεῖν ἤρξαντο. Ἑαυτοὺς δὲ κατανοοῦντες, καὶ τοῦ τε σώματος καί τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθητῶν ἀντιλαμὸανόμενοι, καὶ ὡς ἐν ἰδίοις ἀπατώμενοι, εἰς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίαν ἔπεσαν, τὰ ἴδια προτιμήσαντες τῆς πρὸς τὰ θεῖα θεωρίαςʼ ἐνδιατρίψαντες δὲ τούτοις, καὶ τῶν ἐγγυτέρω μὴ ἀποστῆναι θέλοντες, ταῖς μὲν τοῦ σώματος ἡδοναῖς συνέκλεισαν ἐαυτῶν τήν ψυχὴν, τεταραγμένην καὶ πεφυρμένην πάσαις ἐπιθυμίαιςο τέλεον δὲ ἐπελάθοντο τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτῶν παρὰ Θεοῦ δυνάμεως. Τοῦτο δʼ ἄν τις ἴδοι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πρώτου πλασθέντος ἀνθρώπου ἀληθὲς, ὡς αἱ ἱεραὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγουσι Γραφαί. Κάκεῖνος γὰρ, ἕως μὲν τὸν νοῦν εἶχε πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τὴν τούτου θεωρίαν, ἀπεστρέφετο τήν πρὸς τὸ σῶμα θεωρίαν ὅτε δὲ συμβουλίᾳ τοῦ ὄφεως ἀπέστη μὲν τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν διανοίας, ἐαυτὸν δὲ κατανοεῖν ἤρξατο,τηνικαῦτα καὶ εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ σώματος ἔπεσαν, καὶ ’ἔγνωσαν ὅτι γυμνοὶ ἦσαν, καὶ γνόντες ᾐσχῦνθησαν. Ἔγνωσαν δὲ ἑαυτοὺς γυμνοὺς οὗ τοσοῦτον ἀπὸ ἐνδυμάτων, ἀλλʼ ὅτι γυμνοὶ τῆς τῶν θείων θεωρίας γεγονασι, καὶ πρὸς τὰ ἐναντία τὴν διάνοιαν μετήνεγκαν. Ἀποστάντες γὰρ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἕνα καὶ ὄντα, Θεὸν λέγω, κατανοήσεως καὶ τοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν πόθου, λοιπὸν εἰς διαφόρους καὶ εἷς τὰς κατὰ μέρος ἐπιθυμίας ἐνέβησαν τοῦ σώματος. Εἶτα, οἶα φιλεῖ γίνεσθαι, ἑκάστου καὶ πολλῶν ἐπιθυμίαν λαβόντες, ἤρξαντο καὶ τὴν πρὸς αὐτας σχέσιν ἔχειν ° ὥστε καὶ φοβεῖσθαι ταύτας καταλεῖψαι. Ὅθεν δὴ καὶ δειλίαι, καὶ φόβοι, καὶ ἡδοναὶ, καὶ θνητὰ φρονεῖν τῇ ψυχῇ προσγέγονεν. Οὐ θέλουσα γὰρ ἀποστῆναι τῶν έπιθυμιῶν, φοβεῖται τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὸν χωρισμὸν τοῦ σώματος. Ἐπιθυμοῦσα δὲ πάλιν, καὶ μή τυγχάνουσα τῶν ὁμοίων, ἔμαθε φονεύειν καὶ ἀδικεῖν. Πῶς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ποιεῖ, εὔλογον κατᾶ δύναμιν σημᾶναι.

### English translation (Claude)

Thus, then, the Creator, as has been said, fashioned the human race, and willed that it should remain so. But human beings, neglecting the better things and growing slack in grasping them, sought rather what was nearer to themselves. Nearer to them were the body and its senses. So they withdrew their minds from intelligible things and began to consider themselves; and in considering themselves, and taking hold of the body and the other sensible things, and being deceived as though these were their own, they fell into desire for themselves, preferring their own things to the contemplation of divine things. Lingering among these and unwilling to withdraw from what was nearer, they shut up their soul in the pleasures of the body, confused and defiled with every kind of desire, and they altogether forgot the power they had from God in the beginning. One may see that this is true from the first-formed man as well, as the sacred Scriptures tell of him. For he too, as long as he kept his mind on God and the contemplation of him, turned away from contemplation of the body; but when, at the serpent’s counsel, he departed from his thought of God and began to consider himself, then they fell into bodily desire, and “knew that they were naked,” and knowing it they were ashamed. They knew themselves naked not so much of clothing as that they had become naked of the contemplation of divine things and had turned their thought to the opposite. For having departed from the consideration of the One who is, I mean God, and from longing for him, they then entered into various and particular desires of the body. Then, as tends to happen, having conceived a desire for each thing and for many things, they began to cling to them, so that they even feared to let them go. From this came cowardice and fears and pleasures and mortal thoughts upon the soul. For being unwilling to depart from its desires, it fears death and its separation from the body. And again, when it desires and does not obtain what it desires, it learns to murder and to do wrong. How it does these things it is reasonable to show as far as we can.

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:7: quotation, high confidence
- Gen 3:1: allusion, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 3 (PG 25:8b–9b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-3).

## Against the Heathen 4

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-4
- Source: PG 25:9b–12a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The soul, free and always in motion, mistook pleasure for the good and turned the body’s members from their proper uses to evil.

### Greek text

Ἀποστᾶσα τῆς τῶν νοητῶν θεωρίας, καὶ ταῖς κατὰ μέρος τοῦ σώματος ἐνεργείαις καταχρωμένη, καὶ ἡσθεῖσα τῇ τοῦ σώματος θεωρίᾳ, καί ἰδοῦσα καλὸν ἑαυτῇ εἶναι τὴν ἡδονὴ, πλανηθεῖσα κατεχρήσατο τῷ τοῦ καλοῦ ὀνόματι, καὶ ἐνόμισεν εἶναι τὴν ἡδονὴν αὐτὸ τὸ ὅντως καλόν · ὥσπερ εἷʼ τις, τήν διάνοιαν παραπληγείς, καὶ ἀπαιτῶν ξίφος κατὰ τῶν ἀπαντώντων, νομίζοι τοῦτο εἶναι τὸ σωφρονεῖν· Ἐρασθεῖσα δέ τῆς ἡδονῆς, ποικίλως αὐτὴν ἐνεργεῖν ἤρξατο. Οὗσα γὰρ τὴν φύσιν εὐκίνητος, εί καὶ τὰ καλὰ ἀπεστράφη, ἀλλάτοῦ κινεῖσθαι οὔ παύεται. Κινεῖται οὖν οὐκ ἔτι μὲν κατὰ ἀρετὴν, οὐδὲ ὥστε τὸν Θεὸν ὁρᾷν· ἀλλὰ τὰ μὴ ὅντα λογιζομένη, τὸ έαυτῆς δυνατὸν μεταποιεῖ, καταχρωμένη τούτῳ εἷς ἃς ἐπενόησεν ἐπιθυμίας, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὖτεξούσιος γέγονε. Δύναται γὰρ ὥσπερ πρὸς τὰ καλὰ νεύειν, οὕτω καὶ τὰ καλὰ ἀποστρέφεσθαι· ἀποστρεφομένη δὶ τὸ καλὸν, πάντως τὰ ἐναντία λογίζεται· παύσασθαι γὰρ καθόλου τοῦ κινεῖσθαι οὐ δύναται, τὴν φύσιν οὖσα, ὡς προεῖπον, εὖκινητος. Καί γινώσκουσα τὸ αὐτεξούσιον έαυτῆς, ὁρᾷ έαυτήν δύνασθαι κατʼ ἀμφότερα τοῖς τοῦ σώματος μέλεσι χρᾶσθαι είς τε τὰ ὅντα καὶ τὰ μή ὄντα· ὅντα δέ ἐστι τὰ καλὰ, οὐκ ὄντα δέ τὰ φαῦλα. Ὄντα δέ φημι τὰ καλὰ, καθότι έκ τοῦ ὄντος Θεοῦ τὰ παραδείγματα ἔχει· οὐκ ὄντα δὲ τὰ κακὰ λέγω, καθότι ἐπινοίαις ἀνθρώπων οὐκ ὄντα ἀναπέπλασται. Ἐχοντος γὰρ τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοὺς είς τὸ τήν κτίσιν ὁρᾷν, καὶ διὰ τῆς παναρμονίου ταύτης συντάξεως γινώσκειν τόν Δημιουργόν· ἔχοντος δὲ καὶ ἀκοὴν είς έπακρόασιν τῶν θείων λογίων καὶ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ νόμων· ἔχοντος δὶ καὶ χεῖρας, εἴς τε τήν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐνέργειαν καὶ ἔκτασιν τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐὐχῆς· ἢ ψυχὴ ἀποστᾶσα τῆς πρὸς τὰ καλὰ θεωρίας, καὶ τῆς έν αὐτοῖς κινήσεως, λοιπὸν πλανωμένη κινεῖται εἷς τὰ ἐναντία. Εἶτα τὸ δυνατὸν ἑαυτῆς, ὡς προεῖπον, ὁρῶσα, καὶ τούτῳ καταχρωμὲνη, ἐνενόησεν, ὅτι καὶ εἷς τὰ ἐναντία δύναται κινεῖν τὰ τοῦ σώματος μέλη · καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀντὶ τοῦ· τὴν κτίσιν ὁρᾷν, εἷς ἐπιθυμίας τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἀποστρέφει, δεικνύουσα, ὅτι καὶ τοῦτο δύναταιʼ καὶ νομίζουσα, ὅτι, ἅπαξ κινουμένη, σώζει τήν εαυτῆς ἀξίαν, καὶ οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει ποιοῦσα ’ὀ δύναται· καὶ οὔκ εἷδυῖα, ὅτι οὐχ ἁπλῶς κινεῖσθαι, ἀλλʼ εἰς ’ἆ δεῖ κινεῖσθαι γέγονεν τούτου γὰρ χάριν καί ἀποστολική παρεγγυᾷ φωνή· Πάντα ἔξεστιν, ἀλλʼ ού πάντα συμφέρει.

### English translation (Claude)

Having departed from the contemplation of intelligible things, misusing the particular activities of the body, taking delight in the contemplation of the body, and seeing that pleasure was good for it, the soul went astray and misused the name of the good, and thought that pleasure was the truly good itself; as if a man deranged in mind, demanding a sword against those he meets, were to think this to be sound sense. Having fallen in love with pleasure, it began to pursue it in various ways. For being by nature easily moved, even if it has turned away from good things, it does not cease to move. It moves, then, no longer according to virtue, nor so as to see God; but, reasoning about things that are not, it perverts the capacity it has, misusing it for the desires it has invented, since it was also made with free will. For as it can incline toward good things, so it can also turn away from them; and when it turns away from the good, it necessarily reasons about the opposite; for it cannot cease from moving altogether, being, as I said before, by nature easily moved. And knowing its own free will, it sees that it can use the members of the body in both directions, toward the things that are and the things that are not. The things that are are the good; the things that are not are the evil. I call good things “things that are” because they have their patterns from God who is; and I call evil things “things that are not” because, not being, they have been fashioned by human imaginings. For the body has eyes for seeing the creation and knowing the Creator through its all-harmonious order; it has hearing for listening to the divine oracles and the laws of God; it has hands both for doing necessary work and for stretching out in prayer to God. But the soul, having departed from the contemplation of good things and from moving among them, now wanders and moves toward the opposite. Then, seeing, as I said, what it is capable of, and misusing it, it perceived that it can also move the members of the body to the opposite; and so, instead of looking at the creation, it turns the eye to lusts, showing that it can do this too; and it thinks that as long as it is moving at all it keeps its own dignity and does not sin in doing what it is able to do, not knowing that it was made not simply to move but to move toward what it ought. That is why the apostolic voice also charges: “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable.”

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 6:12: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “Things that are not”: evil has no being of its own; it is a human fabrication, a recurring theme of chs. 2–7.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 4 (PG 25:9b–12a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-4).

## Against the Heathen 5

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-5
- Source: PG 25:12a–12d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Evil is the misuse of the body’s members, like a charioteer who drives at full speed while ignoring the goal of the race.

### Greek text

Ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ τόλμα, οὐκ εἷς τὸ συμφέρον καὶ πρέπον, ἀλλʼ εἷς τὸ δυνατὸν σκοπήσασα, τὰ ἐναντία ποιεῖνἤρξατο· ὅθεν, καί τὰς χεῖρας εἷς τὸ ἐναντίον κινουμένη, φονεύειν πεποίηκε, καὶ τὴν ἀκοὴν. εἷς παρακοήν παρήγαγε, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μέλη εἰς τὰ μοιχεύειν ἀντὶ νομίμης τεκνογονίας· καί τὴν μὲν γλῶτταν ἀντὶ εὐφημίας εἷς βλασφημίας καὶ λοιδορίας καὶ ἐπιορκίας, τὰς δὲ χεῖρας αὖ πάλιν είς τι) κλέπτειν καὶ τύπτειν τοὺς ὁμοίους ἀνθρώπουςʼ καὶ τὴν μὲν ὄσφρησιν, εἷς ὀδμῶν ἐρωτικῶν ποικιλίας· τοὺς δὲ πόδας είς ὀξύτητα τοῦ ἐκχέαι αἷμα· καὶ τὴν μὲν γαστέρα εἱς μέθην καὶ κόρον ἀπλήρωτον · ἅπερ πάντα κακία καὶ ἁμαρτία ψυχῆς ἐστιν. Αἰτία δὲ τούτων οὒδεμία, ἀλλʼ ἡ τῶν κρειττόνων ἀποστροφή. Ὠς γὰρ ἐὰν ἡνίοχος, ἐπιβὰς ’ίπποις ἐν σταδίῳ καταφρονήσῃ μὲν τοῦ σκοποῦ, εἷς ’ὸν -έλαύνειν αύτὸν προσήκει, ἀποστραφεὶς δὲ τοῦτον, ἁπλῶς ἐλαύνῃ τὸν ’ἱππον ὡς ἂν δύνηταιʼ δύναται δὲ, ὡς βούλεταυ καί πολλάκις μὲν είς τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας ὁρμᾷ, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ κατά κρημνῶν ἐλαύνῃ, φερόμενος ὅπου δʼ ἂν ἑαυτὸν τῇ ὀξύτητι τῶν ’ίππων φέροι, νομίζων, ὅτι, οὕτω τρέχων, οὐκ ἐσφάλη τοῦ σκοποῦ· πρὸς γὰρ μόνον τὸν δρόμον ἀποβλέπει, καὶ οὐχ ὁρᾷ, ὅτι ἔξω τοῦ σκοποῦ γέγονεν· οὕτω καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ ἀποστραφεῖσα τήν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὁδὸν, καὶ έλαύνουσα παρᾶ τὸ πρέπον τὰ τοῦ σώματος μέλην μᾶλλονδὲ καὶ αὐτὴ μετʼ αὐτῶν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἐλαυνομένη, ἁμαρτάνει καὶ τὸ κακὸν ἑαυτῇ πλάττει, οὐχ ὁρῶσα, ὅτι πεπλάνηται τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ ἔξω γέγονε τοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας σκοποῦ, είς ὃν ὁ χριστοφόρος ἀνὴρ ὁ μακάριος Παῦλος ἀποβλέπων ἔλεγε· Κατά σκοπὸν διώκω, εἷς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· σκοπῶν γοῦν τὸ καλὸν ὁ ἅγιος, οὐδέποτε τὸ κακὸν ἐποίει.

### English translation (Claude)

But human daring, looking not to what is profitable and fitting but to what is possible, began to do the opposite. So, moving the hands to the opposite, it made them murder; it led the hearing into disobedience, and the other members into adultery instead of lawful childbearing; the tongue, instead of good speech, into blasphemy, abuse, and perjury; the hands again into stealing and striking fellow human beings; the sense of smell into all kinds of erotic perfumes; the feet into swiftness to shed blood; and the belly into drunkenness and insatiable gluttony. All these are the vice and sin of the soul. And their cause is nothing else but the turning away from the better things. Think of a charioteer who has mounted his horses in a stadium: he ignores the goal toward which he ought to drive and, turning away from it, simply drives the horse as he can (and he can as he wishes); often he charges at those he meets, and often he drives over precipices, carried wherever the speed of the horses bears him, and he thinks that by running like this he has not missed the goal, for he looks only at the running and does not see that he has gone outside the goal. So also the soul, turning away from the road toward God, and driving the members of the body beyond what is fitting, or rather being driven along with them by itself, sins and fashions evil for itself, not seeing that it has strayed from the road and gone outside the goal of truth. To this goal the Christ-bearing man, blessed Paul, looked when he said: “I press on toward the goal, for the prize of the upward call of Jesus Christ.” Looking toward the good, the saint never did evil.

### Scripture references

- Phil 3:14: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 59:7: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- “Swiftness to shed blood” echoes Isa 59:7 (Rom 3:15).

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 5 (PG 25:12a–12d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-5).

## Against the Heathen 6

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-6
- Source: PG 25:12d–13c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Against Greeks and heretics who give evil its own existence, Athanasius argues from Scripture and reason that there is one God, Lord of heaven and earth.

### Greek text

Ἑλλήνων μὲν οῦν τινες, πλανηθέντες τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν οὐκ ἐγνωκότες, ἐν ὑποστάσει καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὴν εἶναι τὴν κακίαν ἀπεφήναντο ἁμαρτάνοντες κατά δύο ταῦτα· ἢ τὸν Δημιουργὸν ἀποστεροῦντες τοῦ εἶναι ποιητὴν τῶν ὄντωνʼ οὐκ ἃν γὰρ εʼίη τῶν ὄντων Κύριος, εἴ γε κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἠ κακία ὑπόστασιν ἔχει καθʼ ἑαυτὴν καὶ οὐσίαν· ἢ πάλιν, θέλοντες αὐτόν ποιητὴν εἶναι τῶν ὅλων, ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ τοῦ κακοῦ δώσουσιν εἶναι* ἐν γὰρ τοῖς οῦσι καὶ τὸ κακὸν κατʼ αὐτούς ἐστι. Τοῦτο δὲ ἄτοπον καὶ ἀδύνατον ἂν φανείη” οὐ γὰρ έκ τοῦ καλοῦ τὸ κακὸν, οὐδὲ ἐν αὐτῷ ἔστιν, οὐδὲ διʼ αὐτοῦʼ ἐπεὶ οὐκέτι καλὸν ἂν εἷή μεμιγμένην ἔχον τὴν φύσιν, ἢ αἷίτιον γινόμενον κακοῦ Οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων, ἐκπεσόντες τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς διδασκαλίας, καὶ περὶ τήν πίστιν ναυαγήσαντες, καὶ οὗτοι μὲν ὑπόστασιν τοῦ κακοῦ παραφρονοῦσιν εἶναι · ἀναπλάττονται δὲ ἑαυτοῖς παρὰ τὸν ἀληθινὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ Πατέρα θεὸν ἕτερον, καὶ τοῦ· τον ἀγένητον τοῦ κακοῦ ποιητὴν καὶ τῆς κακίας ἆρχηγὸν, τόν καὶ τῆς κτίσεως δημιουργόν. Τούτους ’δὲ εὐχερῶς ἄν τις ἐλέγξειεν ἔκ τε τῶν θείων Γραφῶν καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς έν ἀνθρώποις διανοίας, ἀφʼ ἧς καὶ ταῦτα ἀναπλασάμενοι μαίνονται· Ὁ μὲν οὖν Κύριος καὶ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς έν τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ Εὖαγγελίοις φησί βεβαιῶν τὰ Μωυσέως ῥήματα, ὅτι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς εἷς ἐστι καὶ, Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, Πάτερ, Κύριε τοῦ ούρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς. Εἰ δὲ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ οὗτος οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς Κύριος, πῶς ἄλλος ἂν εἷή Θεὸς παρὰ τοῦτον ; ΙΙοῦ δὲ καὶ ἔσται ὁ κατʼ αὐτοὺς Θεὸς, τὰ πάντα τοῦ μόνου καί ἀληθινοῦ πληροῦντος κατὰ τήν τοῦ ούρανοῦ καὶ γῆς περίληψιν ; Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἄλλος ἂν εʼίη ποιητὴς, ὧν αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐστι Κύριος κατὰ τήν τοῦ Σωτῆρος φωνην ; Ei’ μὴ ἄρα, ὡς ἐν ίσοστασίῳ, καί τὸν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν φαῦλον δύνασθαι γενέσθαι κύριον εἷʼποιεν. Ἀλλʼ ’ ἐὰν τοῦτο λέγωσιν, ὅρα εἰς ὅσην ἀσέβειαν ἐκπίπτουσιν· έν γὰρ τοῖς τὰ ἷσα δυναμένοις τὸ ὑπερέχον καὶ κρεῖττον οὐκ ἃν εὑρεθείη. Καὶ γὰρ εί μή θέλοντος τοῦ ἐτέρου, τὸ ἓτερον ἔστιν· ἴση ἀμφοτέρων ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ ἀσθένειά ἐστινʼ ἴση μὲν, ὅτι νικῶσιν ἀλλήλων τὴν βούλησιν ἐν τῷ εἶναι· ἀσθένεια δὲ ἀμφοτέρων ἐστιν, ὅτι μή βουλομένοις αὐτοῖς παρὰ γνώμην ἀποβαίνει τὰ πράγματα· ἔστιγὰρ καὶ ὁ ἀγαθὸς παρὰ γνώμην τοῦ φαύλου, ἔστι καὶ ὁ φαῦλος παρὰ βούλησιν του ἀγαθοῦ.

### English translation (Claude)

Some of the Greeks, then, having strayed from the road and not having known Christ, declared that evil has a real existence of its own. They err in one of two ways. Either they deprive the Creator of being the maker of the things that are; for he would not be Lord of the things that are if, as they say, evil has its own subsistence and being. Or else, wishing him to be the maker of all things, they must of necessity make him the maker of evil too; for according to them evil too is among the things that are. But this would be seen to be absurd and impossible; for evil does not come from the good, nor is it in it, nor through it; otherwise the good would no longer be good, since it would have a mixed nature or be the cause of evil. Those of the heresies, too, having fallen from the church’s teaching and made shipwreck concerning the faith, also madly hold that evil has a real existence; and they invent for themselves, besides the true Father of Christ, another god, unbegotten, maker of evil and author of wickedness, who is also the fashioner of creation. These one could easily refute both from the divine Scriptures and from the very understanding that is in human beings, from which they invent these things in their madness. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, confirming the words of Moses, says in his own Gospels: “The Lord God is one”; and: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” If God is one, and he is Lord of heaven and earth, how could there be another God besides him? And where will their God even be, when the only and true God fills all things within the compass of heaven and earth? And how could there be another maker of the things of which God, the Father of Christ, is himself Lord, according to the Savior’s word? Unless perhaps they say that, the two being equally matched, the evil one is able to become lord of what belongs to the good God. But if they say this, see into what impiety they fall; for among those of equal power, the superior and better could not be found. For if the one exists against the will of the other, the power and the weakness of both are equal: equal, in that by existing they overcome each other’s will; and weakness in both, in that things turn out for them against their will and wishes. For the good exists against the will of the evil one, and the evil one exists against the will of the good.

### Scripture references

- Mark 12:29: quotation, high confidence
- Deut 6:4: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 11:25: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Tim 1:19: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The heretics are not named; the doctrine described (a second, unbegotten god who is maker of evil and of creation) fits the Marcionites and the Manichees.
- “Real existence” translates ἐν ὑποστάσει; “subsistence” translates ὑπόστασις.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 6 (PG 25:12d–13c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-6).

## Against the Heathen 7

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-7
- Source: PG 25:13c–16c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Two opposed first principles are impossible; evil is not a being but the soul’s self-made darkness when it shuts its eye to God.

### Greek text

’Ἄλλως τε· καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἄν τις αὐτοῖς εἷʼποι· Εἰ τὰ φαινόμενα ἔργα τοῦ φαύλου ἐστὶ, τί τὸ ἔργον τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ;φαίνεται γὰρ οὐδὲν πλὴν μόνης τῆς τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ κτίσεως. Τί δὲ καὶ τοῦ εἶναι τὸν ’ἀγαθὸν γνώρισμα.οὐκ ὅντων αὐτοῦ ἔργων διʼ ῶν ἃν γνωσθείη; ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἔργων ὁ δημιουργὸς γινώσκεται. Πῶς δὲ ὅλως καὶ δύο ἂν εἴη. ἐναντία ἀλλήλων, ἢ τί τὸ διαιροῦν ἐστι ταῦτα, ἵνα χωρὶς ἀλλήλων γένωνται ; Εἶναι γὰρ αὐτὰ ἅμα ἀδύνατον, διὰ τὸ ἀναιρετικᾶ ἀλλήλων εἶναι. Ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἕτερον ἐν ἑτέρῳ δυνηθείη ἂν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ἄμικτον καὶ ἀνόμοιον αὐτῶν τῆς φύσεως. Οὐκοῦν ἐκ τρίτου τὸ διαιροῦν φανήσεται, καὶ αὐτὸ Θεός. Ἀλλὰ ποίας ἂν εἴη καὶ τὺ τρίτον φύσεως; πότερον τῆς τοῦ καλοῦ, ἦ τοῦ φαύλους ἄδηλον φανήσεται. Τῆς γὰρ ἀμφοτέρων εἶναι αὐτὸ, ἀδύνατον. Σαθρᾶς δὴ τοίνυν τῆς τοιαύτης αὐτῶν διανοίας φαινομένης, ἀνάγκη τὴν ἀλήθειαν διαλάμπειν τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς γνώσεως ο ὅτι τὸ κακὸν οὐ παρὶ Θεοῦ οὐδὲ ἐν Θεῷ οὔτε ἐξ ἀρχῆς γέγονεν, οὔτε οὐσία τίς ἐστιν αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλὰ ἅνθρωποι κατὰ στέρησιν τῆς τοῦ καλοῦ φαντασίας ἑαυτοῖς ἐπινοεῖν ἤρξαντο καὶ ἀναπλάττειν τά οὐκ ὄντα, καὶ άπερ βούλονται. Ὠς γάρ ἄν τις ἡλίου φαίνοντος, καὶ πάσης τῆς γῆς τῷ φωτὶ τούτου καταλαμπομένης, καμμύων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, σκότος ἐαυτῷ ἐπινοῇ οὑκ ὄντος σκότους, καὶ λοιπὸν ὡς ἐν σκότει πλανώμενος περιπατῇ, πολλάκις πίπτων καὶκατὰ κρημνῶν ὑπάγων, νομίζων οὐκ εἶναι φῶς, ἀλλὰ σκότος δοκῶν γὰρ βλέπειν, η οὐδʼ ὅλως ὁρᾷ ο οὕτω καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ τῶν ἀνθ ρώπων, καμμύσασα τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν, διʼ-οῦ τόν Θεὸν όρᾷν δύναται, ἑαυτῇ τὰ κακά ἐπενόησεν, ἐν οἷς κινουμένη, οὐκ οἶδεν ότι, δοκοῦσά τι ποιεῖν, οὐδὲν ποιεῖ· τὰ οὐκ ὅντα γάρ ἀναπλάττεται. Καὶ οὐχ ὁποία γέγονε, τοιαύτη καὶ ἔμεινεν· ἀλλʼ ὁποίαν ἑαυτὴν ἐνέφυρε, τοιαύτη καὶ φαίνεται. Γέγονε μὲν γὰρ είς τὺ όρᾷν τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ φωτίζεσθαιο αὕτη δὲ ἀντὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τά φθαρτὰ καὶ τὸ σκότος ἐζήτησεν, ὥς που καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐγγράφως φησίν Ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐποίησεν εὐθῆ· αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐζήτησαν λογισμοὺς πολλούς. Κακίας δὴ οὖν εὕρεσις καὶ ἐπίνοια τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὕτω γέγονε καὶ πέπλασται. Πῶς δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων μανίαν καταβεβήκασιν, ἤδη λέγειν ἀναγκαῖον, ἴνα γινώσκῃς ὅτι ὅλως ἡ τῶν εἰδώλων εὕρεσις οὐκ ἀπὸ ἀγαθοῦ, ἀλλʼ άπὸ κακίας, γέγονε. Τὸ δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχον κακὴν ἐν οὐδενί ποτε καλὸν κριθείη, ὅλον ὃν φαῦλον.

### English translation (Claude)

Moreover, one might say this to them too: if the visible works belong to the evil one, what is the work of the good? For nothing appears except the creation of the Creator alone. And what evidence is there that the good one exists, if there are no works of his by which he might be known? For a maker is known from his works. And how at all could there be two principles opposed to each other, or what is it that divides them so that they exist apart from each other? For they cannot exist together, since they destroy one another; nor could one be in the other, because their natures are unmixed and unlike. So the divider will turn out to be a third thing, and itself God. But of what nature would this third be? Of the good, or of the evil? That will be unclear; for it cannot be of both. Since, then, such reasoning of theirs proves unsound, the truth of the church’s knowledge must shine out: that evil did not come from God nor exist in God, neither from the beginning, nor is it any kind of being. Rather, human beings, through the absence of the conception of the good, began to imagine for themselves and to fashion things that are not, whatever they wish. As someone, when the sun is shining and the whole earth is lit by its light, might shut his eyes and imagine darkness for himself when there is no darkness, and then walk about wandering as though in darkness, often falling and going down over precipices, thinking there is no light but darkness (for while he thinks he sees, he does not see at all), so also the soul of human beings, shutting the eye by which it is able to see God, has imagined evils for itself. Moving among them, it does not know that, though it thinks it is doing something, it is doing nothing; for it is fashioning things that are not. And it did not remain such as it was made, but appears such as it has defiled itself. For it was made to see God and to be enlightened by him; but instead of God it sought corruptible things and darkness, as the Spirit somewhere says in writing: “God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.” In this way, then, the discovery and invention of evil came about for human beings from the beginning and took shape. How they also descended into the madness of idols must now be told, so that you may know that the invention of idols came wholly not from good but from evil. And what has an evil beginning can never be judged good in anything, since it is wholly bad.

### Scripture references

- Eccl 7:29 (7:30 LXX): quotation, high confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 7 (PG 25:13c–16c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-7).

## Against the Heathen 8

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-8
- Source: PG 25:16c–17b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Forgetting that it is God’s image, the soul sank, like a diver into the depths, from inventing evil to inventing gods out of visible things.

### Greek text

Οὐκ ἀρκεσθεῖσα τῇ τῆς κακίας ἐπινοίᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ ψυχὴ, κατʼ ὀλίγον καὶ είς τὰ χείρονα ἑαυτὴν ἐξάγειν ἤρξατο. Μαθοῦσα γὰρ διαφορὰς ηδονῶν, καὶ ζωσαμένη τὴν τῶν θείων λήθην, ἡδομένη δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὰ τοῦ σώματος πάθη καὶ πρὸς μόνα τά παρόντα, καὶ τάς τούτων δόξας ἀποβλέπουσα, ἐνόμισε μηδὲν ἔτι πλέον εἶναιτῶν βλεπομένων, άλλά μόνα τὰ. πρόσκαιρα καὶτὰ σωματικὰ εἶναι τὰ καλά. Ἀποστραφεῖσα δέ καὶ ἐπιλαβομένη ἑαυτὴν εἶναι κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Θεοῦ,οὺκ ἐτι μὲν διὰ τῆς ἐν αὐτῇ δυνὰμεως τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον, καθʼ ὃν καὶ γέγονεν, ὁρᾷ, ἔξω δέ ἐαυτῆς γενομένη, τὰ οὐκ ὄντα λογίζεται καὶ ἁνατυποῦται. Ἐπικρύψασα γὰρ ταῖς ἐπιπλοκαῖς τῶν σωματικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν τὸ ώς ἐν αὐτῇ κάτοπτρον, διʼ οῦ μόνου όρᾷν ἠδύνατο τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ Πατρὸς, οὐκέτι μὲν ὁρᾷ ἃ δεῖ ψυχὴν νοεῖν· παντὶ δέ περιφέρεται, καὶ μόνα ἐκεῖνα ὁρᾷ τὰ τῇ αἰσθήσει προσπίπτοντα. Ὅθεν πάσης σαρκικῆς ἐπιθυμίας γέμουσα, καὶ ἐν ταῖς τούτων δόξαις ταραττομένη, λοιπὸν, ’ὸν ἐπελάθετο τῇ διανοίᾳ Θεὸν, τοῦτον ἐν σωματικοῖς καὶ αἰσθητοῖς ἂναπλάττεται, τοῖς φαινομένοις τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ προσηγορίαν ἀνατιθεῖσα,καῖ μόνα ταῦτα δοξάζουσα,ἰᾶπερ αύτὴ βούλεται, καὶ ὡς ἡδέα ὁρᾷ. Προηγεῖται τοίνυν αίτία τῆς εἷδωλολατρείας ἡ κακία. Μαθόντες γὰρ οἱ ἄνθρωποι τήν ούκ οὖσαν κακίαν ἑαυτοῖς ἐπινοεῖν, οὕτω καὶ τούς ούκ ὄντας θεοὺς ἑαυτοῖς ἀνεπλάσαντο. Οἴον δὲ εἷʼ τις, εἰς βυθὸν καταδὺς, μηκέτι μὶνβλέποι τὸ φῶς, μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ φαινόμενα, διὰ τὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸ κάτω νεῦμα, καὶ τήν τοῦ ὕδατος ἐπικειμένην ἐπίχυσιν αὐτῷʼ μόνα δὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ βυθῷ αἰσθόμενος, νομίζοι πλέον μηδεν ἐκείνων εἶναι, ἀλλʼ αὐτὰ τὰ φαινόμενα αὐτῷ τῶν ὄντων εἶναι τὰ κύρια· οὕτω καὶ ὀἱ παλαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων παράφρονες, καταδύντες εἷς τὰς τῶν σαρκικῶν ἐπιθυμίας καὶ φαντασίας, καὶ ἐπιλαθόμενοι τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ ἐννοίας καὶ δόξης, ἀμυδρῷ τῷ λογισμῷ, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀλογίᾳ χρησάμενοι, τὰ φαινόμενα θεοὺς ἆνετυπώσαντο, τήν κτίσιν παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα δοξάζοντες, καὶ τὰ ἔργα μᾶλλον ἐκθειάζοντες ἤπερ τὸν τούτων αἴτιον καὶ δημιουργὸν δεσπότην θεόν. ’Ὠσπερ δὲ κατά τὸ προλεχθὲν παράδειγμα, οἱ εἷς τὸν βυθὸν καταδυόμενοι, ὅσῳ μᾶλλον ἐπικαταβαίνουσι, τοσοῦτον- είς τὰ σκοτεινότερα καὶ βαθύτερα ὁρμῶσιν· οὕτω καὶ τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων πέπονθε γένος. Ού γὰρ ἁπλῆν ἔσχον τήν είδωλολατρείαν, οὐδὲ ἀφʼ ὧν ἤρξαντο, ἐν τούτοις καὶ διέμεινανί ἀλλ ὅσον τοῖς πρώτοις ὲνεχρόνιζον, τοσοῦτον ἑαυτοῖς καινοτέρας ’, ἐφεύρισκον δεισιδαιμονίας · καί κόρον οὐ λαμβάνοντες τῶν πρώτων, ἄλλοις πάλιν ἐνεπίμπλαντο κακοῖς, προκόπτοντες ἐν τοῖς αἰσχίστοις, καὶ πλεῖον ἑαυτῶν ἐπεκτείνοντες τήν ἀσέβειαν. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἡ θεία Γραφή, μαρτύρεται λέγουσα· Ὅταν ἔλθῃ ἀσεβὴς εἷς βάθος κακῶν, καταφρονεῖ.

### English translation (Claude)

Not content with inventing evil, the soul of human beings gradually began to lead itself on into worse things. Having learned the differences between pleasures, girded itself with forgetfulness of divine things, and taken pleasure in the passions of the body and in present things alone and in opinions about them, it thought that nothing existed beyond what is seen, and that only temporary and bodily things are good. Turning away and forgetting that it was made after the image of the good God, it no longer sees through the power within it God the Word, after whom it was made; but having gone outside itself, it reasons about and fashions things that are not. For having hidden by the entanglements of bodily desires the mirror, as it were, that is in it, through which alone it could see the image of the Father, it no longer sees what a soul ought to perceive; it is carried about in every direction and sees only what strikes the senses. Hence, full of every fleshly desire and confused by its opinions about these things, it at last fashions the God whom it has forgotten in its understanding in bodily and sensible things, giving the name of God to visible things and glorifying only these, whatever it wishes and sees as pleasant. Evil, then, is the cause that goes before idolatry. For human beings, having learned to invent for themselves evil, which does not exist, in the same way invented for themselves gods that do not exist. Suppose someone plunged into the depths no longer saw the light or what appears in the light, because his eyes were turned downward and the water was poured over him, and, perceiving only what is in the depths, thought that nothing existed beyond these things, but that what he saw were the real things that exist. So the senseless people of old, plunging into fleshly desires and imaginings, and forgetting the thought and glory of God, using a dim reasoning, or rather unreason, fashioned visible things into gods, glorifying the creature rather than the Creator and deifying the works rather than their cause and maker, God the Master. And as, in the example given, those who plunge into the depths rush into darker and deeper places the further they go down, so it has happened to the human race. For they did not keep their idolatry simple, nor did they stay with what they began with; but the longer they lingered in the first things, the more novel superstitions they devised for themselves; and not being satisfied with the first, they filled themselves again with other evils, advancing in the most shameful things and stretching their impiety still further. The divine Scripture testifies to this too, saying: “When the ungodly man comes into the depth of evils, he despises.”

### Scripture references

- Rom 1:25: allusion, high confidence
- Prov 18:3: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Prov 18:3 is quoted in the Septuagint form.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 8 (PG 25:16c–17b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-8).

## Against the Heathen 9

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-9
- Source: PG 25:17b–21b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Idolatry descended step by step from the heavenly bodies to the elements, to men, beasts, and monsters, to deified lust, to rulers such as Hadrian’s Antinous, and to emperors voted gods by the Roman senate.

### Greek text

Ἄρτι γὰρ ἀπεπήδησεν ἡ διάνοια τῶν ἀνθρώπων autem, καὶ καταβαίνοντες ταῖς ἐννοίαις καὶ τοῖς λογισμοῖς οἱ ἄνθρωποι, πρώτοις ούρανῷ καὶ ἡλίῳ καὶ ,σελήνῃ τοῖς ἄστροις τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμὴν ἀνέθηκαν,’έκείνους οὖνλμόνονξθεοὺς εἶναι νομίζοντες, ἀλλὰ ,καὶ ᾅλλᾼωνη τῶν μετʼ αὐτοὺς αἰτίους τυγχάνεινο εἶτʼ,ξπικαταῦαίνοντες τοῖς σκοτεινοῖς λογισμοῖς, αἷθέρα τὸν ἀέρα ’καὶ έν τῷ ἀέρι,προσηγόρευσαν θεούςηῌροᾳβαίνοντες δὲ τοῖς κακοῖς, καί στοιχεῖάζπκαὶ-’τὰς ’ἀρχὰς τῆς τῶν σωμάτων συστάσεως, Ἓὴνῗῦὲρμῆνςκαὶ τήν ψυχρὰν, καὶ ξηρὰν ’καὶ ὑγρὰν ούσίαν »θεούς ἀνύμνησαν. Ὡς δὲ οῖ τέλεον ’πεισόντιςπερὶ τήν-γῆν Romam; δίκην τῶν έν τῇ χέρσξιμώκοχλιῶνοσ οὕτωςμοῖἆσεβέστατοι τῶν evagari“, πεσόντὶς καὶ καταπεσόντες κᾶὴό τῆς περὶ θεδῦ ei”; τασίας,λοιπὸν καὶ ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἀνθρώπων μορφὰς, τῶν μὲν ἔτι ζώντων, τῶν δὶ καὶ μετά θάνατον είς θεοὺς ἀνέθηκαν. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ χείρονα βουλευόμενοι καὶ λογιζόμενοι· ἤδη δὲ καὶ εἷς λίθους, καὶ ξύλα καὶ ἑρπετὰ, ἔνυδρά τε καὶ χερσαῖα, καὶ εἷς τὰ τῶν ἀλόγων ἀνήμερα ζῶα, την θείαν καὶ ὑπερκόσμιον τοῦ Θεοῦ προσηγορίαν μετήνεγκαν, πᾶσαν τιμὴν αὐτοῖς Θεοῦ ἀπονέμοντες, καὶ τὸν ἀληθινὸν καὶ ὅντως ὅντα Θεὸν τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ Πατέρα ἀποστρεφόμενοι. Εἴθε δὲ κᾶν μέχρι τούτων εἱστήκει τῶν ἀφρόνων ἡ τόλμα, καὶ μὴ περαιτέρω βαίνοντες ἑαυτοὺς ταῖς ἀσεβείαις ένέφυρονῐ Τοσοῦτον γὰρ τινες καταπεπτώκασι τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ έσκοτίσθησαν τὸν νοῦν, ὥστε καὶτὰ μηδʼ ὅλως μηδαμῶς ὑπάρχοντα, μηδὲ έν τοῖς γενομένοις φαινόμενα, ὅμως ἑαυτοῖς ἐπινοῆσαι καὶ θεοποιῆσαι. Λογικά γὰρ ἀλόγοις ἐπιμίξαντες, καὶ 9 1..,. ι ι...κ.,ι ε ι. ι ἀνόμοια τῇ φύσει ένείραντες, ὡς θεοὺς θρησκεύουσιν· οἶοί εἰσιν οἱ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις κυνοκέφαλοι καὶ ὀφιοκέφαλοι καὶ ὀνοκέφαλοι, καὶ ἡ παρά Λίβυσι κριοκέιραλος 1Ἄμμων. Ἄλλοι δὲ τὰ μέρη τῶν σωμάτων, κεφαλὴν, καὶ ὦμον, καὶ χεῖρα, καὶ πόδα καθʼ ἑαυτά διελόντες, ἕκαστον εἰς θεοὺς ἀνέθηκαν, καὶ έξεθείαυ σαν, ὥσπερ ούκ ἀρκούμενοι έξ ὁλοκλήρου τοῦ ὅλου σώματος ἔχειν τήν θρησκείαν. Ἐπιτείνοντες δὲ τήν ἀσέβειαν ἕτεροι, τήν πρόφασιν τῆς τούτων εύρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν κακίας τὴν ἡδονὴν καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν θεοποιήσαντες προσκυνοῦσινʼ οἷός ἐστιν ὁ παρʼ αὐτοῖς Ἔρως, καὶ ἠ έν Πάρῳ ’Δφροδίτη. Οἱ δὲ αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ φιλοτιμούμενοι τοῖς χείροσιν, ἐτόλμησαν τοὺς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἄρχοντας ἧ καὶ τούς τούτων παῖδας εἷς θεᾶὺς ἀναθεῖναι ἢ διὰ τιμήν τῶν ἀρξάντων, ἢ διὰ φόβον τῆς αὐτῶν τυραννίδος, ὡς ὁ έν Κρήτῃ παρʼ αὐτοῖς περιβόητος Ζεὺς, καὶ ὁ έν Ἀρκαδίᾳ Ἐρμῆςο καὶπαρά μὶν Ἰνδοῖς Διόνυσος, παρά δὲ Δίγυπτίοις Ἶσις, καὶ Ὄσιρις, καὶ Ὦρος, καὶ ὁ νῦν Ἀδριανοῦ τοῦ Ῥωμαίων βασιλέως παιδικὸς Ἀντίνοος, ὃν καίπερ εἰδότες ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἄνθρωπον οὗ σεμνὸν, ἀλλʼ ἀσελγείας ἔμπλεων, διὰ φόβον τοῦ προστάξαντος σέβουσιν. Ἐπιδημήσας γὰρ Ἀδριανός τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων, τελευτήσαντα τὸν τῆς ἡδονῆς αὐτοῦ ὑπηρέτην Ἀντίνοον ἐκέλευσε θρησκεύεσθαι, αὐτός μὲν καὶ μετά θάνατον ἐρῶν τοῦ παιδὸς, ἔλεγχον δὶ ὅμως καθʼ έαυτοῦ,καὶ γνώρισμα κατά πάσης εἰδωλολατρείας παρέχων, ὅτι οὐκ ἄλλως έφευρέθη παρά τοῖς ἀνθρωποις αὕτη ἢ διʼ ἐπιθυμίαν τῶν πλασαμένων, καθὼς καὶ ἡ σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ προμαρτύρε- ’Δρχή πορνείας ἐπίνοια εἲδώλων, ται λέγουσα Καὶ μήτοι θαυμάσῃς μηδὶ μακρὰν πίστεως εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον νομίσῃς, ὅπου γε καὶ οὐ πολλῳ πρότερον, ἢ τάχα καὶ μέχρι νῦν ἡ Ῥωμαίων σύγκλητος τοὺς πώποτε αὐτῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄρξαντας βασιλέας,ἢ πάντας, ἤ οὓς ἂν αὐτοὶ βούλωνται καὶ κρίνωσι, δογματίζουσιν έν θεοῖς εἶναι, καὶ θρησκεύεσθαι θεοὺς γράφουσιν. Οἷς μὲν γὰρ ἀπεχθάνονται, τούτους ὡς πολεμίους τὴν φύσιν ὁμολογοῦσι, καὶ ἀνθρώπους ὀνομάζουσιν οὓς δὲ καταθυμίους ἔχουσι, τούτους διʼ ἀνδραγαθίαν θρησκεύεσθαι προστάττουσιν, ὥσπερ ἐπʼ ἐξουσίας ἔχοντες τὸ Θεοποιεῖν, αὐτοὶ ἅνθρωποι τυγχάνοντες,καὶ εἶναι θνητοὶ μή ἀρνούμενοι. Ἔδει δὲ θεοποιοῦντας αὐτοὺς μᾶλλον αὐτοὺς εἶναι θεούς. τὸ γὰρ ποιοῦν τοῦ ποιουμένου κρεῖττον εἶναι δεῖ, καὶ ό κρίνων τοῦ κρινομένου ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἄρχει, καὶ ὁ διδοὺς πάντως ὃ ἔχει, χαρίζεται· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ πᾶς βασιλεὺς ὃ μὲν ἔχει χαρίζεται, τῶν δέ λαμβανόντων κρείττων καὶ μείζων ἐστίν. Εἴπερ οὖν οὒς θέλουσιν αὐτοὶ, τούτους θεοὺς δογματίζουσιν εἶναι, ἔδει καὶ αὐτοὺς πρῶτον εἶναι θεούς. Ἀλλὰ τὸ θαυμαστόν ἐστι τοῦτο, ὅτι, αὐτοὶ ἀποθνήσκοντες ὡς ἄνθρωποι, έλέγχουσι τήν ἑαυτῶν περὶ τῶν θεοποιηθέντων ὑπʼ αὐτῶν Β ψῆφον εἶναι ψευδῆ.

### English translation (Claude)

For as soon as the thought of human beings leapt away from God, and they went down in their notions and reasonings, they first gave the honor due to God to the heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars, thinking them not only gods but also the causes of the things that come after them. Then, sinking further in their dark reasonings, they called the ether and the air and the things in the air gods. Advancing in evils, they celebrated as gods the elements and the principles of the composition of bodies, the hot and the cold, the dry and the wet substance. And as those who have fallen completely crawl on the ground like land snails, so the most impious of human beings, having fallen and sunk down from the conception of God, then set up human beings and the forms of human beings as gods, some while still living, others after death. Planning and reasoning still worse things, they transferred the divine and supramundane name of God to stones and wood and creeping things, of water and of land, and to the wild beasts without reason, assigning to them every honor due to God and turning away from the true and really existing God, the Father of Christ. Would that the daring of the senseless had stopped even at these, and that they had not gone further and defiled themselves with impieties! For some have sunk so low in thought and been so darkened in mind that they have even invented and deified things that do not exist at all anywhere, nor appear among created things. Mixing the rational with the irrational, and joining together things unlike in nature, they worship them as gods: such are the dog-headed, snake-headed, and ass-headed gods among the Egyptians, and the ram-headed Ammon among the Libyans. Others, dividing up the parts of bodies, head, shoulder, hand, and foot, each by itself, set each up among the gods and deified it, as if they were not content to direct their worship to the whole body entire. Others, increasing their impiety, have deified and worship the very pretext for inventing these things and for their own wickedness, pleasure and desire: such is their Eros, and the Aphrodite at Paros. And some of them, as if competing in the worse things, dared to set their own rulers or their rulers’ children among the gods, either out of honor for those who had ruled or from fear of their tyranny: like Zeus, famous among them in Crete, Hermes in Arcadia, Dionysus among the Indians, Isis, Osiris, and Horus among the Egyptians, and now Antinous, the favorite of Hadrian, emperor of the Romans. Although they know he was a man, and not a respectable man but one full of licentiousness, they worship him through fear of the one who commanded it. For Hadrian, when he stayed in the land of the Egyptians, ordered that Antinous, the servant of his pleasure, be worshiped after his death; he loved the boy even after his death, yet he provided a proof against himself and evidence against all idolatry, that it was invented among human beings in no other way than through the lust of those who fashioned it, as the Wisdom of God also testifies beforehand, saying: “The invention of idols is the beginning of sexual immorality.” And do not wonder, or think what is said far from credible, since not long ago, or perhaps even until now, the Roman senate decrees that the emperors who have ruled them from the beginning, either all of them or whichever they wish and decide, are among the gods, and writes that they are to be worshiped as gods. Those whom they hate they acknowledge as enemies and call men by nature; those whom they favor they command to be worshiped for their good deeds, as if they had the power to make gods, though they themselves are men and do not deny that they are mortal. Yet if they make gods, they ought rather to be gods themselves; for the maker must be better than what is made, and the judge necessarily rules over the one judged, and the giver surely bestows what he has; just as every king bestows what he has and is better and greater than those who receive it. If, then, they decree as gods whomever they wish, they themselves ought first to be gods. But the remarkable thing is this: by dying like men themselves, they prove that their verdict about those they have deified is false.

### Scripture references

- Rom 1:23: allusion, medium confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- Wis 14:12 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Several lines of this chapter are badly garbled in the scan (the opening sentence, the passage on the elements and the snail comparison, and the line before “unlike in nature”); they are translated by sense, and “from God” in the first sentence is supplied from the context.
- “At Paros”: the text reads Πάρῳ; Paphos, the famous seat of Aphrodite, may be meant.
- Wis 14:12 is quoted as “the Wisdom of God”; πορνεία is rendered “sexual immorality.”
- Antinous, Hadrian’s favorite, drowned in the Nile in 130; Hadrian founded a cult and a city (Antinoopolis) in his honor.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 9 (PG 25:17b–21b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-9).

## Against the Heathen 10

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-10
- Source: PG 25:21b–24b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Deifying the dead is an old custom: Theseus’ decrees, the cult of goddesses, and portraits of the mourned dead all became gods, and even Plato went to worship an image of Artemis.

### Greek text

Τοῦτο δὲ τὸ ἔθος οὐ καινὸν, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ της Ρωμαίων ἤρξατο βουλῆς, ἀλλʼ ἦν ἄνωθεν προγιγνόμενον καὶ προμελετώμενον ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων ἔννοιαν. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ πάλαι παρʼ Ἕλλησι διαβεβοημένοι θεοὶ Ζεὺς, καὶ Ποσειδῶν, καὶ Ἀπόλλων, καὶ ”Ηφαιστος, καὶ Ἑρμῆς, καὶ έν θηλείαις ”Ηρα, καὶ Δήμητρα, καὶ Ἀθήνη, καὶ ’Δρτεμις, ταῖς Θησέως τοῦ παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἱστορουμένου διαταγαῖς ἐκρίθησαν λέγεσθαι θεοί· καὶ οἱ μὲν διαταξάμενοι, ὡς ἄνθρωποι ἀποθνήσκοντες, θρηνοῦνταιʼ οὓς δὲ διετάξαντο, οὗτοι ὡς θεοὶ προσκυνοῦνται. Ὢ πολλῆς ἐναντιότητος καὶ μανίας ! Τὸν διαταξάμενον εἰδότες, οὓς διετάξατο, προτιμῶσι. Καὶ εʼίθε μέχρις ἀρρένων εἱστήκει τούτων ἠ εἶδωλομανία, καὶ μὴ εἷς θηλείας κατέφερον τήν θείαν προσηγορίαν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ γυναῖκας, ἃς οὐδὲ εἷς κοινήν περὶ πραγμάτων συμβουλίαν λαμβάνειν ἀσφαλὲς, ταύτας τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμῇ θρησκεύουσι καὶ σέβουσιν, ὡς αἱ μὲν παρά Θησέως διαταγεῖσαι, ἃς προειρήκαμεν, παρὰ δὲ Αἰγυπτίοις Ἶσις καὶ Κόρη καὶ Νεωτέρα, καὶ παρʼ ἄλλοις ’Δφροδίτη.Τά γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ὀνόματα οὐδὲ λέγειν εὐαγὲς ἡγοῦμαι, πάσης χλεύης ὅντα μεστά. Πολλοὶ γὰρ ού μόνον έν τοῖς πάλαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ έν τοῖς καθ ἡμᾶς χρόνοις ἀποβαλόντες φίλτατα καὶ ἀδελφοὺς καὶ συγγενεῖς καὶ γυναῖκας, πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ ἄνδρας ἀποβαλοῦσαι, οὓς πάντας ἠ φύσις ἤλεγξεν ἀνθρώπους, εἶναι θνητοὺς, τούτους καὶ ταύτας διὰ τὸ πολὺ περί αὐτῶν πένθος ἀναζωγραφήσαντες, καί θυσίας ἀναπλάσαντες, ἀνέθηκαν, ν οὓς οἱ μετᾶ ταῦτα διὰ τήν πλάσιν, καί τήν τοῦ τεχνίτου φιλοτιμίαν θεοὺς ἐθρήσκευσαν, πρᾶγμα πάσχοντες οὐ κατὰ φύσιν. Οὓς γὰρ o't γονεῖς ὡς μή ὄντας θεοὺς έθρήνησαν (οὐκ ἃν γὰρ, εἷεπερ ᾔδεισαν αὐτοὺς θεοὺς, ὡς ἀπολομένους έκόψαντοο τούτου γὰρ χάριν, οὐ μόνον οὐ νομίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἶναι θεοὺς, ἀλλὰ μηδʼ ὅλως ὑπάρχειν, έν εἰκόνι τούτους έτυπώσαντο, ἳνα τοῦ μηκέτι εἶναι, τήν διὰ τῆς εἰκόνος δόκησιν ὁρῶντες, παραμυθῶνται), τούτοις ὅμως οἰ ἄφρονες ὡς θεοῖς εὔχονται, καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ τιμὴν τούτοις περιτιθέασιν. Ἐν γοῦν Αἰγύπτῳ εἰσέτι καὶ νῦν ὁ περὶ Ὀσίρεως, καὶ Ὥρου, καὶ Τυφῶνος, καί τῶν ἄλλων θρῆνος τῆς ἀπωλείας ἐπιτελεῖται· καὶ τὰ ἐν Δωδώνῃ χαλκεῖα, καὶ οἰ έν Κρήτῃ Κορύβαντες, τὸν Δια μὴ εἶναι θεὸν ἐλέγχουσιν, ἀλλʼ ἄνθρωπον, καὶ τοῦτον ἐκ πατρὸς ὠμοβόρου γενόμενον. Καὶ τό γε θαυμαστὸν, δτι καὶ ὁ πάνυ παρʼ Ἕλλησι σοφὸς καὶ πολλὰ καυχησάμενος, ὡς περὶ Θεοῦ διανοηθεὶς, ὁ Πλάτων, εἰς τὸν Πειραῖα μετᾶ Σωκράτους κατέρχεται, τὴν ἀνθρώπου τέχνῃ πλασθεῖσαν ’Ἄρτεμιν προσκυνή σων.

### English translation (Claude)

This custom is not new, nor did it begin with the Roman senate; it had been practiced long before as a preparation for the idea of idols. For the gods celebrated of old among the Greeks, Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Hermes, and among the females Hera, Demeter, Athena, and Artemis, were decreed to be called gods by the ordinances of Theseus, of whom the Greeks tell; and those who made the ordinances are mourned as men who died, while those for whom they made them are worshiped as gods. What contradiction and madness! Knowing the one who made the ordinances, they give the preference to those for whom he made them. Would that this idol-madness had stopped at males, and that they had not brought the divine name down upon females! For women, with whom it is not safe even to take common counsel about affairs, they worship and revere with the honor due to God: such as those ordained by Theseus, whom we have mentioned, and among the Egyptians Isis, Kore, and Neotera, and among others Aphrodite. The names of the others I think it not even decent to mention, for they are full of every kind of ridicule. For many, not only in ancient times but in our own days too, having lost those dearest to them, brothers, relatives, and wives, and many women, having lost husbands, all of whom nature proved to be human beings and mortal, painted portraits of them because of their great grief, devised sacrifices, and set them up; and those who came after, on account of the image and the artist’s skill, worshiped them as gods, suffering a thing contrary to nature. For those whom their parents mourned as not gods (had they known them to be gods, they would not have lamented them as perished; indeed it was because they thought them not only not gods but not existing at all that they had them portrayed in an image, so that, seeing a semblance of them through the image, they might console themselves for their no longer existing), to these, nevertheless, the senseless pray as to gods and invest them with the honor of the true God. In Egypt, at any rate, even now the lament for the loss of Osiris, Horus, Typhon, and the others is performed; and the bronze vessels at Dodona and the Corybantes in Crete prove that Zeus is not a god but a man, and one born of a father who devoured flesh raw. And the remarkable thing is that even Plato, the one deemed most wise among the Greeks, who boasted much of having thought about God, goes down to the Piraeus with Socrates to worship Artemis, fashioned by human art.

### Extrabiblical texts

- Plato, Resp. 327a (Plato (works)): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The remark about women is translated as written.
- Kore and Neotera: names of Egyptian (Hellenistic) goddesses; Neotera (“the Younger”) is uncertain in identity.
- Zeus’ father Cronus swallowed his children; the bronze vessels of Dodona and the Cretan Corybantes are cited as relics of a mortal Zeus.
- Plato, Resp. 327a (Socrates goes down to the Piraeus for the festival of Bendis, here called Artemis).

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 10 (PG 25:21b–24b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/1/#p-10).

## Against the Heathen 11

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-11
- Source: PG 25:24b–25b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Scripture (Wisdom 14) explains how idols arose from grief and flattery, and the poets’ own tales of Zeus show him to be no god but the most shameful of men.

### Greek text

Ταύτας δὲ καὶ τὰς τοιαυτας τῆς εἰδωλομανίας εὑρέσεις ἄνωθεν καί πρὸ πολλοῦ προεδίδασκεν ἡ Γραφή λέγουσαʼ ’Δρχή πορνείας ἐπίνοια εἰδώλων εὕρεσις δὲ αὐτῶν φθορὰ ζωῆς. Οὔτε γὰρ ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, οὔτε εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἔσται. Κενοδοξίᾳ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων ἦλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καί διὰ τοῦτο σύντομον αὐτῶν τέλος ἐπενοήθη. Ἀώρῳ γὰρ πένθει τρυχόμενος πατὴρ, τοῦ ταχέως ἀφαιρεθέντος τέκνου εἰκόνα ποιήσας, τὸν τότε νεκρὸν ἄνθρωπον, νῦν ὡς ζῶντα ἐτίμησε, καὶ παρέδωκε τοῖς ὑποχειρίοις μυστήρια καὶ τελετάς. Εἶτʼ έν χρόνῳ κρατυνθὲν τὸ ἀσεβὲς ἔθος, ὡς νόμος ἐφυλάχθη. Καὶ· τυράννων ἐπιταγαῖς έθρησκεὺετο τὰ γλυπτὰ, οὓς ἐν ὄψει μὴ δυνάμενοι τιμᾷν ἄνθρωποι, διὰ τὸ μακρὰν οἰκεῖν, τὴν πόῤῥωθεν ὄψιν ἀνατυπωσάμενοι,ἐμφανῆ εἰκόνα τοῦ τετιμημένου βασιλέως ἐποίησαν, ’ίνα τὸν ἀπόντα ὡς παρόντα κολακεύωσι διὰ τῆς σπουδῆς. Εἰς ὶπίτασιν δὲ θρησκείας καὶ τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας ἡ τοῦ τεχνίτου προετρέψατο φιλοτιμίαʼ ὁ μὶν γὰρ, ἴσως τῷ κρατοῦντι βουλόμενος ἀρέσαι, έξεβιάσατο τῇ τέχνῃ τήν ὁμοιότητα ἐπὶ τὸ κάλλιον ο τὸ δὶ πλῆθος, ἐφελκόμενον διὰ τὸ εὔχαρι τῆς ἐργασίας, τὸν πρὸ ὀλίγου τιμηθέντα ἄνθρωπον, νῦν σέβασμα έλογίσαντο · καὶ τοῦτο ἐγεγόνει τῷ,βίῳ εἰς ἔνεδρον· ὅτι, συμφορᾷ ἢ τυραννίδι νδουλεύσαντες ἄνθρωποι, τὸ ἀκοινώνητον ὄνομα λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις περιέθηκαν. Τοιαύτης τοίνυν τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων εὑρέσεως ’ἐπὶ μάρτυρι τῇ Γραφῇ παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀρξαμένης καὶ ’ἀναπλασθείσης, ὥρά λοιπόν,σοι καὶ τὸν κατʼ αὐτῆς φ ἔλεγχον ἀποδεῖξαι, οὑ τοσοῦτον ἔξωθεν, ὅσον ’ἀφʼ ὢν οὗτοι περὶ αὐτῶν φρονοῦσι τὰ τεκμήρια λαμβανόντας. Ei γὰρ τις τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς λεγομὲνων θεῶν, *ίνα πρῶτον ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν κάτωθεν ἄρξωμαι, λάβοι τὰς πράξεις, εὑρήσει μὴ μόνον οὐκ εἶναι αὐτούς θεοὺς, ἀλλᾶ καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοὺς αἰσχίστους γεγονότας. Οἴον γάρ, οἶόν ἐστιν ἰδεῖν τοὺς παρά ποιηταῖς τοῦ Διὸς ἔρωτας, καὶ τὰς ἀσελγείας ; Οἶόν ἐστιν αὐτὸν ἀκούειν ἁρπάζοντα μὶν τὸν Γανυμήδην, καί τὰς κλοπιμαίους ἐργαζόμενον μοιχείας, δεδιότα δὲ καὶ δειλιῶντα μή παρά γνώμην αὐτοῦ τὰ τῶν Τρώων ἀπόληται τείχη; Οἴόν ἐστιν ΐδεῖν αὖτὸν ἀχθόμενον ἐπὶ τῷ θανάτῳ τοῦ υῖὲος αὐτοῦ Σαρπηδόνος, καὶ βουλόμενον αὐτῷ βοηθῆσαι καὶ μὴ δυνάμενονʼ καὶ ἐπιβουλευόμενον μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων λεγομὲνων θεῶν, Ἀθηνᾶς δὴ λέγω καὶΉρας καὶ Ποσειδῶνος, βοηθούμενον δὲ ὑπὸ Θέτιδος γυναικὸς καὶ τοῦ ἑκατοντάχειρος Αἰγαίωνος· καί νικώμενον 61:6 ἡδονῶν, δουλεύοντα δὲ γυναιξὶ, καὶ διʼ αὐτὰς ἐν ἀλόγοις ζώοις τετράποσί τε καὶ πτηνοῖς ταῖς φαντασίαις παρακινδυνεύοντα· καί πάλιν αὐτὸν μὲν κρυπτόμενον διὰ τήν τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπιβουλὴν, τὸν δὲ Κρόνον ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ δεσμευόμενον, κάκεῖνον ἀποτέμνοντα τὸν πατὲρα; Ἆρʼ οὗν ἄξιον τοῦτον ὑπονοεῖν θεὸν, τοσαῦτα δράσαντα, καὶ διαβληθέντα, a μηδὲ οἱ κοινοὶ Ῥωμαίων νόμοι καὶ νοὺς ἁπλῶς ἀνθρώπους ἐπιτρέπουσι ποιεῖν ;

### English translation (Claude)

These and similar inventions of idol-madness Scripture taught long beforehand, saying: “The devising of idols is the beginning of sexual immorality, and the invention of them the corruption of life. For they did not exist from the beginning, nor will they exist forever. For through the vainglory of human beings they came into the world, and therefore their speedy end was planned. For a father, worn down by untimely grief, made an image of the child quickly taken from him, and honored as living the one who was then a dead man, and handed on mysteries and rites to his dependents. Then in time the impious custom, grown strong, was kept as law. And by the commands of tyrants carved images were worshiped: when people could not honor rulers in their presence because they lived far off, they imagined the distant appearance and made a visible image of the honored king, so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though he were present. And the ambition of the craftsman urged on even those who did not know him to intensify their worship; for he, perhaps wishing to please the ruler, forced the likeness by his art into something finer; and the multitude, drawn by the charm of the work, now reckoned as an object of worship the one who shortly before had been honored as a man. And this became a snare to life, because people, enslaved to misfortune or to tyranny, bestowed on stones and wood the name that cannot be shared.” Since, then, the invention of idols began and was fashioned among human beings in this way, as Scripture testifies, it is now time to show you the refutation of it as well, taking the proofs not so much from outside as from what these people themselves think about their gods. For if one were to take up the deeds of those they call gods (to begin first with these, the lowest), one will find not only that they are not gods but that they were the most shameful of human beings. What a thing it is to see the loves and the licentiousness of Zeus in the poets! What a thing to hear of him carrying off Ganymede and committing stealthy adulteries, yet afraid and fearful lest the walls of the Trojans be destroyed against his will! What a thing to see him grieved at the death of his son Sarpedon, wishing to help him and unable; plotted against by the other so-called gods, I mean Athena, Hera, and Poseidon, and helped by Thetis, a woman, and by the hundred-handed Aegaeon; overcome by pleasures, a slave to women, and for their sake running risks in the guise of irrational animals, four-footed and winged; and again, himself hidden because of his father’s plot, and Cronus bound by him, and him in turn mutilating his father! Is it right, then, to suppose this one a god, who has done such things and is charged with things that even the common laws of the Romans do not permit mere human beings to do?

### Extrabiblical texts

- Wis 14:12–21 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence
- Homer, Il. 1.396–406 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence
- Homer, Il. 16.431–461 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Wis 14:12–21 is quoted at length as “Scripture.”
- The Homeric episodes: Sarpedon (Il. 16), the plot of Hera, Athena, and Poseidon foiled by Thetis and the hundred-handed Aegaeon (Il. 1.396–406). Which father-mutilation myth is meant at the end (Cronus and Ouranos, or Zeus and Cronus) is uncertain.
- The garbled words before “pleasures” are translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 11 (PG 25:24b–25b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-11).

## Against the Heathen 12

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-12
- Source: PG 25:25b–28c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The myths of the gods’ adulteries, incest, quarrels, and wounds show them to be weak and wicked men, yet their worshipers deify the very vices their own laws punish.

### Greek text

’Ἰνα γὰρ ἐκ πολλῶν ὀλίγα μνημονεύσω διὰ τὸ πλῆθος, τίς ἰδὼν αὐτοῦ τήν εἷς Σεμέλην, καὶ Λήδαν, καὶ Ἀλκμήνην, καὶ Ἄρτεμιν, καὶ Λητὼ, καὶ Μαῖαν, καὶ Εὐρώπην, καὶ Δανάην, καί Ἀντιόπην παρανομίαν καὶ φθοράν· ἢ τίς, ἰδὼν τὴν εἷς τὴν ἰδίαν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπιχείρησιν καὶ τόλμαν, ὅτι τήν αὐτὴν ἀδελφὴν εἶχε καὶ γυναῖκα, οὐκ ἂν χλευάσειε, καὶ ζημιώσειε θανάτῳ; Ὀτι μή μόνον ἐμοίχευσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῆς μοιχείας γενομένους αὐτῷ παῖδας θεοποιήσας ἀνέθηκεν, ἐπικάλυμμα τῆς παρανομίας αὑτοῦ τήν τῆς θεοποιίας φαντασίαν κατασκευάζων· ὧν εἰσι Διόνυσος καὶ Ἡρακλῆς, καὶ Διόσκουροι, καὶ Ἑρμῆς, καὶ Περσεὺς, καὶ Σώτειρα. Τίς, ἰδὼν την τῶν λεγομὲνων θεῶν ἀκατάλλακτον πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς ἔριν ὲν Ἰλίῳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῶν Τρώων χάριν, o6 καταγνώσεται τῆς ἀσθενείας αὐτῶν, ὅτι διὰ την πρὸς ἀλλήλους φιλονεικίαν καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους παρώξυναν; Τίς, ἰδὼν ὑπὸ μὲν Διομήδους τιτρωσκομένους ’Δρεα καὶ Ἀφροδίτην, ὑπὸ δὲ Ἡρακλέους τήν Ἥραν καὶ τὸν Ὑποχθόνιον ὃν καλοῦσι θεὸν, Ἀἰδονὲα, καὶ Διόνυσον μὲν ὑπὸ Περσέως, Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ ὑπὸ Ἀρκά- 804’, καὶ τὸν ’Ήφαιστον ῥιπτόμενον καί χωλαίνοντα, o6 καταγνώσεται τῆς φύσεως, καὶ ἀποστραφήσεται μὲν τοῦ λέγειν αὐτοὺς ἔτι εἶναι θεοὺς, φθαρτοὺς δὲ καὶ παθητοῦς αὐτοὺς ἀκούων, ούδὶν ἄλλο ἢ ἀνθρώπους αὐτους,καὶ ἀνθρώπους ἀσθενεῖς ἐπιγνώσεται, καὶ μᾶλλον τοὺς τρώσαντας ἢ τοὺς τρωθέντας θαυμάσειεν ; Ἠ τίς, ἰδὼν τήν ’Ἀρεος πρὸς Ἀφροδίτην μοιχείαν, καὶ τὸν Ἡφαίστου κατʼ ἀμφοτέρων κατασκευαζόμενον δόλον, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους λεγομένους θεοὺς ἐπὶ θέαν τῆς μοιχείας ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου καλουμένους, καὶ αὐτούς ἐρχομένους, καὶ ὁρῶντας αύτῶν την ἀσέλγειαν, οὐκ ἃν γελάσειε καὶ καταγνώσεται τῆς φαυλότητος αὐτῶν ; ’Ή τίς οὐκ ἂν γελάσειεν ὁρῶν τὴν Ἡρακλέους πρὸς τὴν Ὀμφάλην ἐκ μέθης παραφροσύνην καὶ ἀσωτίαν ; Τὰς γὰρ καθʼ ἡδονὴν αὐτῶν πράξεις, καὶ τοὺς παραλόγους αὐτῶν ἔρωτας, καὶ τὰς ἐν χρυσῷ καὶ ἀργύρῳ, καὶ χαλκῷ καὶ σιδήρῳ, καὶ λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις θεοπλαστίας, ού δεῖ διελέγχειν μετὰ σπουδῆς,τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ ἀφʼ έαυτῶν ἐχόντων τὸ μῦσος, καί διʼ ἑαυτῶν ἐπιδεικνυμένων τὸ τῆς πλάνης γνώρισμα · ἐφʼ οἷς μάλιστα καὶ οἶκτειρήσειεν ἅν τις τοὺς ἀπατωμένους ’ ἐν αὐτοῖς. Τῇ γὰρ ἑαυτῶν γυναικὶ μισοῦντες τὸν ὃτὶιβαίνονταίμοι- “ χὸν, τοὺς τῆς μοιχείας διδασκάλους θεοποιοῦντες οὒκ ’λ αἰσχύνονται· καὶ ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς αὐτοὶ οὐκ μενοι τοὺς τοῦτο ποιήσαντας προσκονοῧσιο καὶ -‘ ὁμολογοῦντες εῖναι κακὸν. τήν παιδοφθορίαῆ,’τοῖιςίέπὶ ταύτῃ διαβαλλομένους θρησκεύουσι( κάς ’μηδδ έν ἀνθρώποις εἶναι ἐπιτρέπουσιν οἱ νόμοι,’ ταῦτα τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὀνομαζομένοις θεοῖς περιτιθέντες οὐκ ἐρυθριῶσιν.

### English translation (Claude)

To mention only a few of many, because of their number: who, seeing his lawless dealings with and corruption of Semele, Leda, Alcmene, Artemis, Leto, Maia, Europa, Danae, and Antiope; or who, seeing his attempt and daring against his own sister, in that he had the same woman as sister and wife, would not mock him and judge him worthy of death? For he not only committed adultery, but also deified and set up as gods the children born to him from adultery, contriving the appearance of deification as a cover for his lawlessness; among them are Dionysus, Heracles, the Dioscuri, Hermes, Perseus, and Soteira. Who, seeing the irreconcilable strife of the so-called gods among themselves at Ilium for the sake of the Greeks and the Trojans, will not condemn their weakness, since through their rivalry with one another they also stirred up human beings? Who, seeing Ares and Aphrodite wounded by Diomedes, Hera and Aidoneus, whom they call the god of the underworld, by Heracles, Dionysus by Perseus, Athena by the Arcadian, and Hephaestus thrown down and lamed, will not condemn their nature and turn away from calling them gods any longer; and, hearing that they are corruptible and subject to suffering, will not recognize them as nothing but human beings, and weak ones at that, and admire those who wounded them rather than those who were wounded? Or who, seeing the adultery of Ares with Aphrodite, and the trap that Hephaestus set for both, and the other so-called gods called by Hephaestus to view the adultery, coming and looking at their licentiousness, would not laugh and condemn their baseness? Or who would not laugh at seeing the drunken madness and profligacy of Heracles with Omphale? Their deeds of pleasure, their unnatural loves, and the god-making in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, need no earnest refutation, since the facts carry their own loathsomeness and show by themselves the mark of error; for these things above all one would pity those who are deceived by them. For while they hate the man who violates their own wife, they are not ashamed to deify the teachers of adultery; and though they themselves would not do such things with their sisters, they worship those who have done this; and while they confess that the corruption of boys is evil, they worship those accused of it; and what the laws do not permit even among human beings, they do not blush to attribute to those whom they name gods.

### Extrabiblical texts

- Homer, Il. 5.330–430 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence
- Homer, Il. 5.855–863 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence
- Homer, Il. 5.392–397 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, high confidence
- Homer, Il. 1.590–594 (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence
- Homer, Od. 8.266–366 (Homer, Odyssey): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Artemis in the list of Zeus’ loves is as printed; it is probably an error in the text or the scan.
- “By the Arcadian”: the word is garbled in the scan; translated by sense.
- The last sentences (from “For while they hate”) are partly garbled in the scan and are translated by sense.
- The wounding of Ares and Aphrodite by Diomedes and the adultery of Ares and Aphrodite are from Homer (Il. 5; Od. 8.266–366).

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 12 (PG 25:25b–28c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-12).

## Against the Heathen 13

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-13
- Source: PG 25:28c–29b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Idolaters worship the craftsman’s art rather than the craftsman, and living, rational beings serve lifeless objects they themselves must guard.

### Greek text

Εἶτα προσκυνοῦντες λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις, οὐχ ὁρῶσιν, δτι τα μὲν ὅμοια τοῖς ποσί πατοῦσι καί καίουσι, τὰ δὲ τούτων μέρη θεοὺς προσαγορεύουσι ° καί ἆ πρὸ ὀλίγου είς χρῆσιν εἶχον, ταῦταʼ διὰ παραφροσύνην γλύψαντες σέβουσιν· οὐχ ὁρῶντες, οὐδὲ λογιζόμενοι τὸ σύνολον, ὅτι οὗ θεοὺς, ἀλλὰ τήν τέχνην τοῦ γλύψαντος προσκυνοῦσιν. Ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἅξυστός ἐστιν ὁ λίθος, καὶ ἡ ὕλη ἀργὴ, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ταῦτα πατοῦσι, καὶ τούτοις εἰς ὑπηρεσίας τὰς ἑαυτῶν πολλάκις καὶτὰς ἀτιμοτέρας χρῶνται· ἐπειδὰν δὲ ὁ τεχνίτης είς αὐτὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιστήμης ἐπιβάλῃ τὰς συμμετρίας, καὶ ἀνδρὸς ἢ γυναικὸς εἷς τὴν ὕλην σχῆμα τυπώσῃ, τότε δὴ, χάριν ὁμολογήσαντες τῷ τεχνίτῃ, λοιπὸν ὡς θεοὺς προσκυνοῦσι, μισθοῦ παρὰ τοῦ γλύψαντος αὐτοὺς ἀγοράσαντες. Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀγαλματοποιὸς, ὥσπερ ἐπιλαθόμενος ὦν αὐτὸς εἰργάσατο, τοῖς ἰδίοις έργοις προσεύχεται· καὶ ἃ πρὸ ὀλίγου κατέξεε καὶ κατέκοπτε, ταῦτα μετὰ τήν τέχνην θεοὺς προσαγορεύει. Ἔδει δὲ, εἷʼπερ ἦν θαυμάζειν ταῦτα, τὴν τοῦ ἐπιστήμονος τέχνην ἀποδέχεσθαι, καὶ μὴ τὰ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πλασθέντα τοῦ πεποιηκότος προτιμᾷν. Οὐ γὰρ ἡ ὕλη τήν τέχνην, ἀλλʼ ἡ τέχνη τὴν ὕλην ἐκόσμησε καὶ ἐθεοποίησε. Πολλῷ οὗν μᾶλλον δικαιότερον ἦν τὸν τεχνίτην αὐτοὺς προσκυνεῖν, ἤπερ τὰ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πεποιημένα, ὅτι τε καὶ προϋπῆρχε τῶν ἐκ τεχνης θεῶν, καὶ ὅτι ὡς ἐβουλήθη, οὕτω καὶ γεγονασι. Νῦν δὲ παραγκωνισάμενοι τὸ δίκαιον, καὶ τήν ἐπιστήμην, καὶ τήν τεχνην ἀτιμάσαντες, τὰ μετʼ ἐπιστήμης, καὶ τέχνης γεγονότα προσκυνοῦσι· καὶ τοῦ ποιήσαντος ἀνθρώπου ἀποθνήσκοντος, τὰ ὑπʼ αύτοῦ γενόμενα, ὡς ἀθάνατα τιμῶσιν· ἆ, εἷ μή τύχοιεν τῆς καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπιμελείας, πάντως τῷ χρόνῳ διὰ τήν φύσιν ἀφανίζονται. Πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἅν τις αὐτοὺς οἷκτειρήσειε καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο, ὅτι βλέποντες αὐτοὶ τοῖς μὴ βλέπουσι προσκυνοῦσι, καὶ ἀκούοντες αὐτοὶ τοῖς μὴ ἀκούουσι προσεύχονται· καὶ ἕμψυχοι καὶ λογικοὶ κατὰ φύσιν ὅντες οἱ ἅνθρωποι, τοὺς μηδʼ ὅλως κινουμένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀψύχους ὄντας, ὡς θεοὺς προσαγορεύουσιʼ καὶ τό γε θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι οὓς αὐτοὶ φυλάττουσιν ὑπʼ ἐξουσίαν ἔχοντες, τούτοις ὡς δεσπόταις δουλεύουσι; Καὶ μή τοι νομίσῃς ταῦτά με λέπάρεστι τοῖς βουλομένοις ὁρᾷν τὰ τοιαῦτα.

### English translation (Claude)

Then, while worshiping stones and wood, they do not see that they tread underfoot and burn things just like them, while calling parts of these gods; and what shortly before they had for use, they carve in their madness and revere, not seeing or reckoning at all that what they worship is not gods but the art of the carver. For as long as the stone is unhewn and the material unworked, they tread on them and often use them for their own service, even the less honorable kinds; but when the craftsman applies to them the proportions of his own skill and stamps on the material the form of a man or a woman, then, giving thanks to the craftsman, they worship them as gods, having bought them from the carver for a price. Often the image-maker himself, as if forgetting what he made, prays to his own works; and what shortly before he was scraping and cutting, after his art he calls gods. Yet if these things deserved admiration, they ought to approve the art of the skilled man, and not prefer what he fashioned to the one who made it. For it was not the material that adorned and deified the art, but the art the material. It would be much more just, then, for them to worship the craftsman rather than what he made, since he existed before the gods made by art, and they came to be just as he wished. But as it is, thrusting justice aside and dishonoring the skill and the art, they worship what was made by skill and art; and while the man who made them dies, they honor what he produced as immortal, things which, if they do not receive daily care, will certainly perish in time because of their nature. How could one not pity them for this too, that they who see worship things that do not see, and they who hear pray to things that do not hear; that human beings, by nature living and rational, call gods things that do not move at all but are lifeless; and, most remarkable of all, that those whom they themselves guard and keep under their power they serve as masters? And do not think that I say these things … is possible for those who wish to see such things.

### Scripture references

- Ps 115:5 (113:13 LXX): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- At the end of the chapter at least one line is lost in the scan (marked “…”); the sense seems to be that the reader can see these things for himself.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 13 (PG 25:28c–29b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-13).

## Against the Heathen 14

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-14
- Source: PG 25:29b–32b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Psalms and Isaiah 44 mock idols that cannot see, hear, or act, and the carpenter who burns half a log and worships the rest.

### Greek text

Κρείττων δὲ μαρτυρία περὶ τούτων ἐστὶ καὶ παρᾶ τῆς θείας Γραφῆς προδιδασκούσης ἄνωθεν καὶ λεγούσης· Τὰ εἴδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρύσιον, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ὄψονταιʼ στόμα ἔχουσι, καὶ ού λᾶλήσουσιν. Ὦτα ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούσονται· ῥῖνας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ὀσφρανθήσονται. Χεῖρας ἔχουσι, καί οὐ ψηλαφήσουσι ” πόδας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὖ περιπατήσουσιν “ οὐ φωνήσουσιν ἐν τῷ αὐτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ λάρυγγι αὐτῶν, Ὅμοιοι ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ. Οὐδὲ προφητική δὲ τούτων ἄπεστι μέμψις, ἀλλʼ ἔστι καὶ ἐν τούτοις ὁ κατʼ αὐτων ἔλεγχος, λεγοντος τοῦ Πνεύματος · Αἶσχυνθήσονται οἱ πλάσσοντες Θεὸν, καὶ γλύφοντες πάντες μάταια“ καὶ πάντες ὅθεν ἐγένοντο, ἐξηράνθησαν- καὶ κωφοὶ ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων συναχήτωσανρ πάντες, καὶ στήτωσαν ἅμα, καὶ ἐντραπήτωσαν καὶ αἱσχυνθήτωσαν ἅμα ' ὅτι ὤξυνε τέκτων σίδηρον, καὶ σκεπάρνῳ εἰργάσατο αὐτὸ, καὶ ἐν τερέτρῳ ἐρῤύθμισεν αὐτὸ, καὶ ἔστησεν αὐτὸ τῷ βραχίονι τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ · καὶ πεινάσει καὶ ἀσθενήσει, καὶ ού μὴ πίῃ ὕδωρ. Ξύλον γὰρ ἐκλεξάμενος τέκτων, ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν μέτρῳ, καὶ ἐν κόλλῃ ὲῤῥύθμισεν αὐτὸ, καὶ ἐποίησεν αὐτὸ ὡς μορφὴν ἀνδρὸς καὶ ὡς ὡραιότητα ἀνθρώπου, ἔστησεν αὐτὸ ἐν οἱίκῳ ’ὁ ἔκοψε ξύλον ἐκ τοῦ δρυμοῦ,ὃ ἐφύτευσεν ὁ Κύριος, καὶ ὑετὸς ἐμήκυνεν, ’ίνα ᾖ ἀνθρώποις εἷς καῦσιν, καὶ λαβὼν ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ θερμανθῇ, καὶ καύσαντες ἔπεψαν ἄρτους αὐτῷ, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν εἰργάσαντο είς θεους, καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτοῖς, οῦ τὸ ἥμισυ ’ αὐτοῦ κατέκαυσαν πυρί. Καὶ έπὶ τοῦ ἡμίσους αὐτοῦ κρέας ὀπτήσας, ἔφαγε καὶ ἐνεπλήσθη ο καὶ θερμανθεῒς εἶπεν· Ἡδύ μοι, ὅτι ἐθερμάνθῃν, καὶ εἶδον πῦρ. Τὸ δὲ ’λοιπὸν προσεκύνει λέγων· Ἐξέλου με, Θεός μου εἴ σύ. Οὐκέγνωσαν φρονῆσαι, ότι ἀπημαυρώθησαν τοῦ βλέπειν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αύτῶν, καὶ τοῦ νοῆσαι τῇ καρδίᾳ · καὶ οὖν ἀν”ο ελογίσατο ὲν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ ἀνελογίσατο τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ ἔγνω τῇ φρονήσει, ὅτι τὸ ἥμισυ αὑτοῦ κατέκαυσεν ἐν πυρί, καὶ ἓπεψεν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθράκων αὐτοῦ ἄρτους καὶ ὀπτήσας κρέας ἔφαγε, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν- αὐτοῦ εἷς βδέλυγμα ἐποίησε, καὶ προσκυνοῦσιν αὐτό. Γνῶτε, δτι σποδὸς ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν, καὶ πλανῶνται, καὶ οὐδεῖς δύναται ἐξελέσθαι τήν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν. Ἴδετε, καὶ οὐκ ἐρεῖτε, ὅτι ψεῦδος ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ μου. ’Πῶς οὖνʼ οὐκ ἄθεοι παρὰ πᾶσι κριθεῖεν οἱ καὶ παρᾶ τῆς θείας

### English translation (Claude)

Better testimony on these matters comes from the divine Scripture, which teaches beforehand from of old and says: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of human hands. They have eyes and will not see; they have a mouth and will not speak; they have ears and will not hear; they have noses and will not smell; they have hands and will not handle; they have feet and will not walk; they will not cry out with their throat. May those who make them become like them.” Nor is prophetic blame of them lacking; there too is the refutation of them, as the Spirit says: “Those who fashion a god and carve vain things shall all be put to shame, and all from whom they came are dried up; and let the deaf from among human beings all be gathered and stand together, and be confounded and put to shame together. For the craftsman sharpened iron and worked it with an adze, and shaped it with a borer, and set it up with the arm of his strength; and he will hunger and grow weak and will not drink water. For a carpenter chose wood, set it up by measure, and shaped it with glue, and made it like the form of a man and like the beauty of a human being, to set it up in a house: wood that he cut from the forest, which the Lord planted and the rain made grow, so that it might be for people to burn. And taking some of it he warmed himself, and they burned it and baked loaves on it, and the rest they made into gods and worshiped them; half of it they burned in the fire. And on half of it he roasted meat and ate and was filled; and having warmed himself he said, ‘How pleasant for me, for I am warm and have seen the fire.’ And the rest he worshiped, saying, ‘Deliver me, for you are my god.’ They did not know how to understand, for they have been blinded so as not to see with their eyes and to understand with their heart; and he did not reason in his heart, nor reckon in his soul, nor know with understanding that he burned half of it in the fire, and baked loaves on its coals, and roasted meat and ate it, and made the rest of it an abomination, and they worship it. Know that their heart is ashes, and they go astray, and no one can deliver their soul. See, and you will not say, ‘There is a lie in my right hand.’” How then would they not be judged godless by all, those who even by the divine …

### Scripture references

- Ps 115:4–8 (113:12-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Isa 44:9–20: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Ps 115:4–8 (LXX 113:12–16) and Isa 44:9–20 are quoted in the Septuagint form; the order of a few words in the Psalm is garbled in the scan.
- The sentence breaks off; the rest of the chapter (a few lines) is lost in the scan.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 14 (PG 25:29b–32b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-14).

## Against the Heathen 15

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-15
- Source: PG 25:32b–32d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The idols’ idle sense-organs betray their lifelessness, and the poets who tell of the gods’ vices prove that they are not even good men.

### Greek text

Εἴθε γάρ, εἴθε κᾶν χωρὶς σχήματος αὐτοῖς τοὺς θεοὺς ἔπλαττεν ὁ τεχνίτης, ’ίνα casamo”; σίας φανερὸν ἔχωσι τὸν ἔλεγχον. Ὑπέκλεψαν γὰρ ἄν τήν ὑπόνοιαν τῶν ἀκεραίων, ὡς αἰσθομένων τῶν είδώλων, εἰ μὴ τά σύμβολα τῶν αἰσθήσεων, ὀἷον ὀφθαλμούς, καὶ ῥῖνας, καὶ ὦτα, καὶ χεῖρας, καὶ στόμα εἷχον ἀκινήτως κείμενα πρὸς τήν τῆς αἰσθήσεως χρῆσιν καί τὴν τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀντίληψιν. Νῦν δὲ ἔχοντες οὐκ ἕχουσι καὶ στήκοντες ού στήκουσι, καὶ καθεζόμενοι, Α... Α. ι τ.,... ού καθέζονται. Οὐ γάρ ἔχουσι τούτων τὴν ἐνέργειαν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ὁ πλάσας ἠθέλησεν, οὕτω καὶ μένουσι κείμενοι, Θεοῦ μὲν γνώρισμα μηδὲν παρέχοντες, ἄψυχοι δὲ καθόλου μόνον ἀνθρώπου τέχνῃ φαινόμενοι τεθέντες. Εἶθε δὲ καὶ οἱ τῶν τοιούτων ψευδοθέων κήρυκες καὶ μάντεις, ποιηταὶ λέγω καὶ συγγραφεῖς, ἁπλῶς θεοὺς αὐτοὺς εἶναι γεγραφήκεισαν · ἀλλὰ μὴ καὶ τάς πράξεις αὐτῶν πρὸς ἔλεγχον ἀθεότητος καὶ αἰσχροποιοῦ πολιτείας ἀναγεγραφήκεισαν. Ἠδύναντο γάρ καὶ μόνῳ τῷ τῆς θεότητος ὀνόματι τήν ἀλήθειαν ὑφαρπάσαι, μᾶλλον δὲ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας πλανῆσαι. Νῦν δὲ ἔρωτας καὶ ἀσελγείας διηγούμενοι τοῦ Διὸς, καὶ παιδοφθορίας τῶν ἄλλων, καὶ ζηλοτυπίας πρὸς ἡδονὴν τῶν θηλειῶν, καὶ φόβους καὶ δειλίας, καῖ τάς ἄλλας κακίας, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ ἑαυτούς ἐλέγχουσιν, ὅτι ού μόνον ού περί θεῶν διηγοῦνται, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ περὶ ἀνθρώπων σεμνῶν, περί δὲ αἷσχρῶν καὶ τοῦ καλοῦ μακράν ὄντων μυθολογοῦσιν.

### English translation (Claude)

Would that the craftsman had fashioned their gods for them without any shape, so that they might have a plain proof of their senselessness! For the idols might have stolen the belief of the simple that they have sense, if they did not have the symbols of the senses, eyes, noses, ears, hands, and mouth, lying motionless as regards the use of sense and the perception of sensible things. But as it is, having they do not have, standing they do not stand, and sitting they do not sit. For they do not have the activity of these, but remain lying as the one who fashioned them wished, giving no evidence of God, but appearing wholly lifeless, set up by human art alone. And would that the heralds and seers of such false gods, I mean the poets and writers, had simply written that they are gods, and had not also recorded their deeds, convicting them of godlessness and a shameful way of life! For by the mere name of deity they could have stolen the truth away, or rather led the many astray from the truth. But as it is, by narrating the loves and licentiousness of Zeus, the corruption of boys by the others, their jealousies over the pleasure of females, their fears and cowardice and their other vices, they convict themselves of nothing else than that they are telling not of gods, nor even of respectable human beings, but are telling myths of shameful beings, far from the good.

### Scripture references

- Ps 115:5 (113:13 LXX): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A word after “so that” is garbled in the scan; “of their senselessness” is translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 15 (PG 25:32b–32d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-15).

## Against the Heathen 16

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-16
- Source: PG 25:32d–36b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The plea of poetic license fails: if the poets lied about the gods’ deeds, they lied about their names too; deeds reveal natures, and these deeds are human and shameful.

### Greek text

Ἀλλʼ ἴσως περῖ τούτων οἱ δυσσεβεῖς ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδιότητα τῶν ποιητῶν καταφεύξονται, λέγοντες τῶν ποιητῶν ἴδιον εἶναι χαρακτῆρᾶ “tu? μὴ ὄντα πλάττεσθαι καὶ ψεύδεσθαι περὶ μύθων εἰς ἡδονὴν τῶν ἀκουόντων, οὗ χάριν καὶ τά περὶ θεῶν αὐτοὺς πεποιηκέναι φήσουσιν. Ἀλλʼ αὕτη καὶ πάντων μᾶλλον ἡ πρόφασις αὐτοῖς ἕωλος δειχθήσεται ἀφʼ ὧν αὐτοὶ περὶ τούτων ἔχουσι δόξαν, καὶ προτίθενται. Εἴ γὰρ τὰ παρά ποιηταῖς ἐστι πλάσματα καὶ ψευδῆ, ψευδὴς ἂν εἶή καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ περὶ τοῦ Διὸς, καί Κρόνου, καὶ ’Ήρας, καὶ Ἀρεος, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὀνομασία. Ἴσως γὰρ, ὡς, αὐτοί φασι, καὶ τα ὀνόματα πέπλασται, καὶ ούκ ἔστι μὲν ὅλως Ζεὺς, οὐδὲ Κρόνος, οὐδὲ Ἄρης· πλάττονται δὲ τούτους ὡς ὄντας οἱ ποιηταί πρὸς ἀπάτην τῶν ἀκουόντων. Πλαττόντων δὲ τῶν ποιητῶν τὰ μή ὄντα, πῶς ὡς ὄντας αύτοὺς θρησκεύουσιν ; Ἢ ἴσως γὰρ ἂν πάλιν φήσουσι, τὰ μὲν ὀνόματα ού πλάττονται, τὰς δὲ πράξεις ψεύδονται κατʼ αὐτῶν ; Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο οὐδὲν ἦττον πρὸς ἀπολογίαν αὐτῶν ούκ ἀσφαλές. Εἰ γὰρ τὰς πράξεις ἐψεύσαντο, τʼ· ἐψεύσαντο πάντως καὶ τὰ ὀνόματα, ὧνιςκγαὶιετὰς πράξεὲιςςξ-ἐῖναι διηγήσαντο. Ἢ εἰ ἀληθενὲὺυσι-Ξπερὶλἓτάῖτόπόματα, ἀληθεύουσι καὶ περὶ τὰς πράξεις ἐξ ἀνάγκης. Ἀλλως τε οἱ εἶναι τούτους θεοὺςυτβυθολστῖέσαητεςεῖσασιν ἀληθῶς καὶ ἃ δεῖ θεοὺς πράξςλῦοιν,ιίὲιοτίʼούκ·ἀνικποτε· τὰς ἀνθρώπων θεοῖς προσάψοῑενοὲννο-ίαςτίῶσπερ οὐδὲ τὸ τοῦ πυρὸς ἔργον τῷ υ 3 ’ \ ς Ι \ '.\\ ΊΙ υδατί τιςτανιαθήοειδτὸ μεν γαρ καιει, το οε εμπαλιν τὴν οὐσίαν ἔχει-ψυχράν. Εἰ μὲν οὖν αἱ πράξεις εἶσὶ θεῶν ἄξιαι, θεοὶ ἃν εἷεν καὶ οἱ τούτων ἐργάται εἰ δὲ ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ού καλῶν τὸ μοιχεύειν, καὶ τὰ προειρημένα ἔργα, ἄνθρωποι ἂν εἶεν οἱ ταῦτα πράξαντες,καὶ ού θεοί. Κατʼ ἀλλήλους γὰρ ταῖς οὐσίαις καί τὰς πράξεις εἶναι χρὴ, ’ἱνα καί ἐκ τῆς ἐνεργείας ὁ πράξας μαρτυρηθῇ, καὶ ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας πρᾶξις γνωσθῆναι δυνηθῇ. Ὥσπερ οὖν εἷʼ τις, διαλεγόμενος περὶ ὕδατος καὶ πυρὸς, καὶ τὰς τούτων ἒνεργείας ἀπαγγέλλων, ούκ ἂν εἶπε, τὸ μὲν ὕδωρ καίειν, τὸ δὲ πῦρ ψύχειν· οὐδʼ εἷʼτις περὶ ἡλίου καὶ-γῆς διηγεῖτο, ἔλεγεν ἂν τὴν μὲν γῆν φωτίζειν, τὸν δὲ ’ἥλιον βοτάνας καὶ καρποὺς σπείρεσθαι, τ ἀλλά καὶ λέγων, πᾶσαν παραπληξίαν ὑπερέβαλεν · οὕτως οὐκ ἂν οἳ παρʼ αύτοῖς συγγραφεῖς, καὶ μάλιστα ὁ πάντων ἐξοχώτατος ποιητὴς, εἷʼπερ ᾔδεισαν θεοὺς εἶναι τὸν Δία καὶτοὺς ἄλλους, τοιαύτας αὐτοῖς περιέθηκαν πράξεις, αἲ μὴ· εἶναι θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐλέγχουσιν, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἀνθρώπους εἶναι, καὶ ἀνθρώπους οὗ σώφρονας. ’Ή εἷ ἐψεύσαντο ὡς ποιηταὶ, καὶ σὺ τούτων καταψεύδῃ, διὰ τί μὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνδρείας τῶν ἡρώων ἐψεύσαντο, καὶ ἀντὶ μὲν ἀνδρείας ἀσθένειαν, ἀντὶ δὲ ἀσθενείας ἀνδρείαν ἐπλάσαντο; Ἔδει γὰρ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ τῆςΗρας, οὕτω καί τοῦ μὲν ’Δχιλλέως ἀνανδρείαν καταψεύσασθαι, τοῦ δὲ Θερσίτου δύναμιν θαυμάσαι· καὶ τοῦ μὲν Ὀδυσσέως ἀσυνεσίαν διαβαλεῖν, τοῦ δὲ Νέστορος παραφροσύνην πλάσασθαι· καὶ τοῦ μὲν Διομήδους καὶ Ἕκτορος γυναικείας πράξεις, τῆς δὲ Ἑκάβης ἀνδρείαν μυθολογῆσαι. Ἐπὶ πάντων γὰρ, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, ἔδει τοὺς ποιητὰς πλάττεσθαι καὶ ψεύδεσθαι. Νῦν δὲ τοῖς μὲν ἀνθρώποις τήν ἀλήθειαν ἐφύλαξαν, τῶν δὲ λεγομὲνων θεῶν οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν καταψεύδεσθαι. Καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἄν τις αὐτῶν εἴποι, ἐν μὲν ταῖς περὶ ἀσελγείας αὐτῶν πράξεσι ψεύδονται· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἐπαίνοις, ὅταν πατὲρα θεῶν καὶ ῧπα τον καὶ Ὀλύμπιον καὶ ἐν ούρανῷ βασιλεύοντα λέγω· σι τὸν Δία, ού πλάττονται, ἀλλʼ ἀληθεύοντες λέγουσι. Τοῦτον δὲ ού μόνος ἐγὼ, ἀλλά καὶ πάς ὅστις ἐλέγξειε κατʼ αὐτῶν εἶναι τὸν λόγον. Πάλιν γὰρ ταῖς πρώταις ἀποδείξεσιν ἡ ἀλήθεια κατʼ αὐτῶν φανήσεται. Αἱ μὲν γὰρ πράξεις ἀνθρώπους αὐτοὺς εἶναι ἐλέγχουσι, τά δέ ἐγκώμια ὑπὲρ τήν ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ φύσιν · ἑκάτερον δὲ τούτων ἀκατάλληλόν ἐστι πρὸς ἑαυτό· οὔτε γὰρ τῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἴδιόν ἐστι τοιαῦτα πράττειν, οὕτε τούς τὰ τοιαῦτα πράττοντας ὑπονοεῖν τις δύναται θεοὺς.

### English translation (Claude)

But perhaps on this point the impious will take refuge in the license peculiar to poets, saying that it is the poets’ particular character to invent things that are not and to tell lies in myths for the pleasure of their hearers; and that, they will say, is why they composed the tales about the gods. But this pretext, more than any, will be shown to be stale by the opinion that they themselves hold and put forward about these beings. For if what is in the poets is fiction and falsehood, then the very naming of Zeus, Cronus, Hera, Ares, and the others would be false too. For perhaps, as they say, the names too are invented, and there is no Zeus at all, nor Cronus, nor Ares, but the poets fashion them as existing in order to deceive their hearers. But if the poets fashion things that do not exist, how do they worship them as existing? Or perhaps they will say, on the other hand, that the poets do not invent the names but tell lies about their deeds? But this too is no less unsafe as a defense. For if they lied about the deeds, they certainly lied about the names of those whose deeds they narrated; or if they tell the truth about the names, they necessarily tell the truth about the deeds as well. Besides, those who told in their myths that these are gods surely knew what gods ought to do, and would never have attached the notions of human beings to gods, just as no one would attribute the work of fire to water; for the one burns, while the other, on the contrary, has a cold nature. If, then, the deeds are worthy of gods, their doers would be gods; but if committing adultery and the deeds mentioned before belong to human beings, and to human beings who are not good, those who did them would be human beings and not gods. For deeds must correspond to natures, so that the doer may be attested by his activity and the deed may be known from the nature. Someone discussing water and fire and reporting their activities would not say that water burns and fire chills; nor, if someone were telling of the sun and the earth, would he say that the earth gives light and the sun makes plants and fruits sprout; and if he did say so, he would exceed all madness. So their writers, and above all the most eminent poet of all, if they had known that Zeus and the others were gods, would not have attached to them such deeds as prove that they are not gods but rather human beings, and human beings without self-control. Or if they lied as poets, and you are wronging them, why did they not lie about the courage of the heroes as well, and invent weakness instead of courage and courage instead of weakness? As with Zeus and Hera, so they should have falsely charged Achilles with cowardice and admired the strength of Thersites, slandered Odysseus as witless and invented folly for Nestor, and told myths of womanish deeds of Diomedes and Hector and of the courage of Hecuba. For in every case, as they themselves say, the poets ought to have invented and lied. But as it is, they kept the truth for human beings, yet were not afraid to tell lies against those called gods. One might also say this to them: “They lie in the deeds of the gods’ licentiousness; but in their praises, when they call Zeus father of the gods, the Most High, the Olympian, reigning in heaven, they do not invent but speak the truth.” Not I alone, but anyone would show that this argument tells against them. For again, by the first demonstrations, the truth will appear against them. The deeds prove that they are human beings, while the praises are beyond human nature; and the two are incompatible with each other: it is not proper to those in heaven to do such things, nor can anyone suppose that those who do such things are gods.

### Extrabiblical texts

- Homer, Il. (Homer, Iliad): allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Several lines in the middle of the chapter (from “For if they lied about the deeds” to “a cold nature”) are badly garbled in the scan; they are translated by sense.
- “The most eminent poet” is Homer.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 16 (PG 25:32d–36b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-16).

## Against the Heathen 17

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-17
- Source: PG 25:36b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poets’ praises of the gods are flattery meant to hide their shameful deeds, and truth forced the poets to record those deeds as evidence against them.

### Greek text

Τί οὗν ὑπολείπεται νοεῖν, ἢ ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἐγκώμια ψευδῆ καὶ κεχαρισμένα τυγχάνει, αἱ δὲ πράξεις ἀληθεύονται κατʼ αύτῶν ; Καί τοῦτο ἀληθὲς ἐκ τῆς συνηθείας ἄν τις ἐπιγνώσεται. Οὐδεὶς γάρ ἐγκωμιάζων τινα, καὶ κατηγορεῖ τῆς τούτου πολιτείας· ἀλλά μᾶλλον οἷς εἰσιν αἱ πράξεις αἰσχραὶ, τούτους διὰ τὸν ἐκ τούτων ψόγον ἐπαίρουσι τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις, ἵνα, τῇ τούτων ὑπερβολῇ τούς ἀκούοντας ἀπατήσαντες, ἐπικρύψωσι τὴν ἐκείνων παρανομίαν. ’Ὠσπερ οὖν εἷʼ τις, ἐγκωμιάσαι τινὰ προθέμενος, μὴ εὑρίσκοι μὲν ἐκ πολιτείας μηδὲ ἐξ ἀρετῆς τῆς ψυχῆς τήν πρόφασιν τῶν ἐγκωμίων ’διά τήν ἐν τούτοις αἰσχύνην, ἄλλως δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐπαίροι, τὰ ὑπὲρ αὐτοὺς αὐτοῖς χαριζόμενος ο οὕτω καὶ o't παρʼ αὑτοῖς θαυμαστοὶ ποιηται, δυσωπούμενοι ἐπὶ ταῖς αἰσχραῖς πράξεσι τῶν λεγομὲνων παρʼ αὐτοῖς θεῶν, τὸ ὑπὲρ ἅνθρωπον αὐτοῖς προσῆψαν ὄνομα, ούκ εἰδότες, ὅτι ού ταῖς ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ὑπονοίαις ἐπισκιάσουσιν αὐτῶν τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, ἀλλά μᾶλλον τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις αὐτῶν ἐλαττώμασι τὰς Θεοῦ ἐννοίας μὴ ἁρμόζειν αὐτοῖς διελέγξουσι, Καὶ ἔγωγε νομίζω καὶ παρά γνώμην αὐτοῖς εἰρῆσθαι τὰ τούτων πάθη καὶ τὰς τούτων πράξεις. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀκοινώνητον, ὡς εἶπεν ἡ Γραφή, προσηγορίαν καὶ τιμήν τοῖς οὐκ οὖσι θεοῖς, ἀλλʼ ἀνθρώποις θνητοῖς ἐσπούδαζον ἀναθεῖναι, καὶ μέγα καὶ δυσσεβὲς ἦν τὸ ὑπʼ αὑτῶν τολμώμενον, τούτου ἕνεκεν καὶ ἄκοντες ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἡναγκάσθησαν τὰ τούτων ἐκθέσθαι πάθη · ἵνα τοῖς μετά ταῦτα τὰ τούτων πάθη πρὸς ἔλεγχον τοῦ μὴ εἶναι τούτους θεοὺς ἐν ταῖς περὶ αὐτῶν γραφαῖς κείμενα, πᾶσι φαίνηται.

### English translation (Claude)

What remains to think, then, except that the praises are false and flattering, while the deeds are told truly against them? One may recognize that this is true from common practice. For no one who praises someone also accuses his way of life; rather, those whose deeds are shameful are the ones they exalt with praises, because of the blame those deeds bring, so that by deceiving the hearers with excessive praise they may hide their lawlessness. Suppose someone set out to praise a person, and because of the shame attaching to them could find no occasion for praise in his conduct or in the virtue of his soul, but exalted him in some other way, granting him things beyond him. So their admired poets, embarrassed at the shameful deeds of those they call gods, attached to them the name that is beyond human beings, not knowing that they will not overshadow the human things in them with superhuman notions, but will rather prove by their human defects that the notions of God do not fit them. And for my part I think that the passions and deeds of these gods were told even against the poets’ will. For since they were eager to bestow the name and honor of God, which, as Scripture said, cannot be shared, on those who are not gods but mortal men, and what they dared was great and impious, for this reason they were compelled by the truth, even against their will, to set forth their passions, so that to those who came after, these passions, lying in the writings about them as proof that they are not gods, might be plain to all.

### Extrabiblical texts

- Wis 14:21 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “Cannot be shared”: Wis 14:21, quoted in ch. 11.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 17 (PG 25:36b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-17).

## Against the Heathen 18

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-18
- Source: PG 25:37a–37d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The gods cannot be honored as inventors of the arts, for the arts come from human nature, and by that logic every human inventor would be a god.

### Greek text

Τίς οὗν ἀπολογία, τὶς ἀπόδειξις περὶ τοῦ sint} τούτους θεοὺς γένοιτʼ ἂν τοῖς ἐν τούτοις δεισιδαιμονοῦσιν ; Ἐκ μὲν γάρ τῶν λεχθέντων μικρῷ πρότερον π ἀνθρώπους αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀνθρώπους ού σεμνοὺς ὄντας, ὁ λόγος ἀπέδειξεν ” εἷς ἐκεῖνο δὲ τάχα τραπήσονται, καὶ μέγα φρονήσουσιν ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑπʼ αὐτῶν εὑρεθεῖσι τῷ βίῳ χρησίμοις, λέγοντες διὰ ταῦτα αὖ τοὺς καὶ θεοὺς ἡγεῖσθαι, ὅτι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χρήσιμοι γεγόνασι, Ζεὺς μὲν γὰρ λέγεται πλαστικὴν τέχνην ἐσχηκέναι, Ποσειδῶν δὲ τὴν τοῦ κυβερνήτου κα ’Ἥφαιστος μὲν χαλκευτικήν, Ἀθηνᾶ δὲ τὴν ὑφαντικήν καὶ Ἀπόλλων μὲν τὴν μουσικὴν, Ἄρτεμις δ την κυνηγητικήν, καὶ Ἥρα στολισμὸν, Δήμητρι γεωργίαν, καὶ ἄλλοι ἄλλας, ὡς οἱ ἱστοροῦντες περ αὐτῶν ἐξηγήσαντο. Ἀλλά ταύτας καὶ τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιστήμας οὐκ αὐτοῖς μόνοις ἔδει τοὺς ςάνθρώπουι) Α υ 9‘ Χ \ ~ υ ~ Ἵ n I Ι 9 η ἆναθεῖναι, ἀλλά τῇ κοινῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων φύσει, εἰς ἀτενίζοντες ἄνθρωποι τὰς τέχνας ἐφευρίσκουσι. Τὴη γάρ τέχνην καὶ οἱ πολλοὶ λέγουσι φύσεως αὐτὴν εἷται μίμημα. Εἰ τοίνυν ἐπιστήμονες περί ἃς ἐσπούδασαν τέχνας γεγόνασιν, οὐ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ θεοὺς αὐτοὺς νομίζειν ἀνάγκη, ἀλλά μᾶλλον ἀνθρώπους. Οι γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν αἱ τέχναι, ἀλλʼ ἐν ταύταις καὶ αὐτο τὴν φύσιν ἐμιμήσαντο. Ὄντες γάρ ἅνθρωποι κατι φύσιν δεκτικοί ἐπιστήμης κατὰ τὸν περὶ αὐτῶν τε· θέντα ὅρον, οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν εἰ τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ δια· νοίᾳ καὶ αὐτοὶ εἷς τὴν ἐαυτῶν φύσιν ἀποβλέποντες ’ καὶ ταύτης ἐπιστήμην λαβόντες, τὰς τέχνας ἐπενόησαν. Ἠ εἰ διά τὰς τῶν τεχνῶν εὑρέσεις θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἄξιον ἀναγορεύεσθαι λέγουσιν ’ ὥρα καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν εὑρετὰς θεοὺς ἀναγορεύειν, καθ ’ὃν λόγον κάκεῖνοι τῆς τοιαύτης ὀνομασίας ἠξιώθησαν. Γράμματα μὲν γὰρ ἐφεῦρον Φοίνικες, ποίησιν δὲ ἡρωϊκὴν Ὅμηρος καὶ διαλεκτικὴν μὲν Ζήνων ὁ Ἐλεάτης, ῥητορικήν δὲ τέχνην Κόραξ 6 Συρακούσιος · καὶ καρπὸν μὲν μελισσῶν Ἀρισταῖος, σίτου δὲ σπορὰν Τριπτόλεμοςʼ καὶ νόμους μὲν Λυκοῦργος 6 Σπαρτιάτης καὶ Σόλων ὁ Ἀθηναῖος· τῶν δὲ γραμμάτων τὴν σύνταξιν καὶ ἀριθμοὺς, καὶ μετρα κα στάθμια Παλαμήδης ἐφεῦρε· καὶ ἄλλοι ἄλλα κα διάφορα τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπήγγειλαν χρήσιμα κατά τὴν τῶν ἱστορησάντων μαρτυρίαν. Εἴπερ οὖν αἱ ἐπιστῆμαι θεοποιοῦσι, καὶ διὰ ταύτας εἶσὶ θεο γλυπτοὶ, ἀνάγκη καὶ τούς ὕστερον ἐκείνων ἐφευρετά. τῶν ἄλλων γενομένους, εἶναι κατʼ αὐτοὺς θεούς ’ ἢ ε μὴ τούτους ἀξιοῦσι τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμῆς, ἀλλ ἀνθρώπους ἐπιγινώσκουσιν ἀκόλουθον καὶ τὸν Δίς ἢ ἀνθρώπους αὐτοὺς ἐλέγχουσι.

### English translation (Claude)

What defense, then, what proof that these are gods, could those who are superstitious about them offer? From what was said a little before, the argument has shown that they are human beings, and not respectable ones. But perhaps they will turn to this and pride themselves on the things useful for life discovered by these beings, saying that they consider them gods for this reason, because they have been useful to human beings. For Zeus is said to have had the art of modeling, Poseidon that of the helmsman, Hephaestus smithing, Athena weaving, Apollo music, Artemis hunting, Hera dress, Demeter agriculture, and others other arts, as those who tell of them have explained. But these and similar sciences people ought to ascribe not to them alone but to the common nature of human beings, by looking at which human beings discover the arts. For even most people say that art is an imitation of nature. If, then, they became skilled in the arts they pursued, this is no reason to think them gods, but rather human beings. For the arts did not come from them; in these they too imitated nature. Since human beings are by nature capable of knowledge, according to the definition laid down for them, it is no wonder if they too, by human understanding, looked to their own nature, gained knowledge of it, and devised the arts. Or if they say that these deserve to be proclaimed gods because they discovered the arts, it is time to proclaim as gods the discoverers of the other arts as well, by the same reasoning by which those were thought worthy of such a name. For the Phoenicians discovered letters, Homer heroic poetry, Zeno of Elea dialectic, Corax of Syracuse the art of rhetoric, Aristaeus the produce of bees, Triptolemus the sowing of grain, Lycurgus of Sparta and Solon of Athens laws; Palamedes discovered the arrangement of letters, numbers, measures, and weights; and others made known other and various things useful to human life, according to the testimony of the historians. If, then, sciences make gods, and because of them carved images are gods, then those who discovered other things after them must also be gods, by their reckoning. Or if they do not think these worthy of the honor of God but acknowledge them to be human beings, it follows that Zeus too … prove that they are human beings.

### Translation notes

- “The definition laid down for them”: the philosophers’ definition of the human being as a rational animal capable of knowledge.
- Part of the last sentence is lost in the scan (marked “…”); the surviving words say that Zeus and the others, too, are shown to be human beings.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 18 (PG 25:37a–37d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-18).

## Against the Heathen 19

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-19
- Source: PG 25:40a–40b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Idolaters carve gods in the shapes of men and beasts, as Romans 1 says, and their philosophers defend images as channels for the divine or for angels.

### Greek text

Τίνα γὰρ ἄλλην αὐτοῖς γλύφοντες ἐπιβάλλουσι μορφὴν ἢ τήν ἀρρένων καὶ γυναικῶν, καὶ τῶν ἔτι κατωτέρω τούτων καὶ ἀλόγων ὄντων τὴν φύσιν πετεινῶν παντοίων, τετραπόδων ἡμέρων τε καὶ ἀγρίων, καὶ ἑρπετῶν, ὅσα γῆ καὶ θάλαττα, καὶ πᾶσα τῶν ὑδάτων ἡ φύσις φέρει; Εἷς γάρ τήν τῶν παθῶν καὶ ἡδονῶν ἀλογίαν πεσόντες οἱ ἅνθρωποι, καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ὁρῶντες ἢ ἡδονὰς καὶ σαρκὸς ἐπιθυμίας, ὡς ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ἀλόγοις τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχοντες, ἐν ἀλόγοις καὶ τὸ Θεῖον ἀνεπλάσαντο κατὰ τήν ποικιλίαν τῶν παθῶν ἑαυτῶν, καὶ θεοὺς τοσούτους γλύψαντες. Τετραπόδων τε γὰρ εἰκόνες καὶ ἑρπετῶν, καὶ πετεινῶν είσι παρʼ αὐτοῖς, καθὼς καὶ ὁ τῆς θείας καὶ ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας ἑρμηνεύς φησιν · Ἐματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς αὐτῶν, καί ἐσκοτίσθη ἡ ἀσύνετος φάσκοντες εἶναι σοφοὶ, ἐμωράνθησαν, καὶ ἤλλαξαν τήν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου Θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ πετεινῶν, καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν ο διὸ καὶ παρέδωκεν αύτούς ὸ Θεὸς εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας. Προπαθόντες γὰρ τὴν ψυχήν ταῖς τῶν ἡδονῶν ἀλογίαις, ὡς προεῖπον, ἐπὶ τήν τοιαύτην θεοπλαστίαν κατέπεσον ο καὶ πεσόντες, λοιπὸν ὡς παραδοθέντες ἐν τῷ ἀποστραφῆναι τὸν Θεὸν αὐτοὺς οὕτως ἐν αὐτοῖς κυλίονται, καὶ ἐν ἀλόγοις τὸν τοῦ λόγου πατέρα Θεὸν ἀπεικάζουσι. Περὶ ὧν o't παρʼ Ἕλλησι λεγόμενοι φιλόσοφοι καὶ ἐπιστήμονες, ἐλεγχόμενοι μὶν οὐκ ἀρνοῦνται ἀνθρώπων εἶναι καὶ ἀλόγων μορφὰς καὶ τύπους τοὺς φαινομένους αὐτῶν θεούςο ἀπολογούμενοι δὲ λέγουσι, διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὺς ἔχειν, ’ίνα διὰ τούτων τὸ Θεῖον αὐτοῖς ἀποκρίνηται καὶ φαίνηται· οὐκ ἄλλως γὰρ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀόρατον δύνασθαι- γνῶναι ἢ διὰ τῶν τοιούτων ἀγαλμάτων καὶ τελετῶν. Οἱ δὲ ἔτι τούτων φιλοσοφώτεροι καὶ βαθύτερα λέγειν νομίζοντές φασι διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα κατεσκευάσθαι καὶ τετυπῶσθαι πρὸς ἐπίκλησιν καὶ ἐπιφάνειαν θείων ἀγγέλων καὶ δυνάμεων, ’ίνα διά τούτων ἐπιφαινόμενοι γνωρίζωσιν αὐτοῖς περὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ γνώσεως· καὶ εἶναι τούτους ὥσπερ γράμματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, οἷς ἐντυγχάνοντες, δύνανται γινώσκειν περὶ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλήψεως, ἀπὸ τῆς διʼ αὐτῶ γινομένης τῶν θείων ἀγγέλων ἐπιφανείας. Ταῦτα μὶν οὕτως ἐκεῖνοι μυθολογοῦσιν · οὐ γὰρ θεολογοῦσι· μή γένοιτο ! Ἐἀν δὲ τις ἐξετάσῃ τὸν λόγον μετʼ ἐπιμελείας, εὑρήσει τούτων οὐκ ἔλαττον τῶν πρότερον δειχθέντων τήν δόξαν εἶναι ψευδῆ.

### English translation (Claude)

For what other form do they give them when they carve them than that of men and women, and of creatures lower still than these and irrational by nature, birds of every kind, four-footed beasts tame and wild, and creeping things, all that land and sea and the whole realm of the waters produce? For human beings, having fallen into the irrationality of passions and pleasures, and seeing nothing beyond pleasures and the desires of the flesh, since they keep their minds among these irrational things, fashioned the Divine too in irrational things according to the variety of their own passions, and carved so many gods. For images of four-footed beasts, creeping things, and birds are found among them, as the interpreter of the divine and true religion says: “They became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened; claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things; therefore God also gave them up to dishonorable passions.” For having first had their souls affected by the irrationalities of pleasures, as I said before, they fell into this kind of god-making; and having fallen, as though given up because they turned away from God, they now wallow in these things, and liken God, the Father of the Word, to irrational creatures. Concerning these, those among the Greeks who are called philosophers and learned men, when refuted, do not deny that their visible gods are the forms and figures of men and of irrational creatures; but in their defense they say that they have them for this purpose, that through them the Divine may answer them and appear; for, they say, they could not otherwise know the invisible one except through such statues and rites. Others, still more philosophical than these and thinking that they say something deeper, say that these things were prepared and shaped for the invocation and appearing of divine angels and powers, so that, appearing through them, these may teach them about the knowledge of God; and that the images are like letters for human beings, by reading which they can learn to apprehend God from the appearing of the divine angels that takes place through them. So these people tell their myths; for they certainly do not do theology, far from it! But if anyone examines the argument carefully, he will find that the opinion of these too, no less than of those shown before, is false.

### Scripture references

- Rom 1:21–23: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 1:26: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The word “heart” in the quotation of Rom 1:21 is missing in the scan and is supplied from the context.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 19 (PG 25:40a–40b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-19).

## Against the Heathen 20

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-20
- Source: PG 25:40d–41b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Neither the material, nor the form, nor the art of an image can be the means of God’s appearing; on any of these grounds idolatry refutes itself.

### Greek text

Εἴποι γὰρ ἄν τις πρὸς αὐτοὺς παρελθὼν ἐπʼ ἀληθείᾳ κρινούσῃ· Πῶς ἀποκρίνεται ἢ γνωρίζεται Θεὸς διὰ τούτων ; Πότερον διά τὴν περικειμένην αύτοῖς ὕλην, ἢ διά τὴν ἐν αὐτοῖς μορφήν ; Εἰ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τήν ὕλην, τίς ἡ χρεία τῆς μορφῆς, καὶ μή, πρὶν πλασθῆναι ταῦτα, διὰ πάσης ἁπλῶς ὕλης ἐπιφαίνεσθαι τὸν Θεόν ; Μάτην δὲ καὶ τοῦς ναοὺς οὗτοι περιτετειχισθαι, συγκλείοντες ἕνα λίθον, ἦ ξύλον, ἢ χρυσοῦ μέρος, πάσης τῆς γῆς πεπληρωμένης τῆς τούτων οὐσίας. Εἰ δὲ ἡ ἐπικειμένη μορφὴ αἰτία γίνεται τῆς θείας ἐπιφανείας, τίς ἡ χρεία τῆς ὕλης τοῦ χρυσοῦ καὶτῶν ἄλλων, καὶ μὴ μᾶλλον διʼ αὐτῶν τῶν φύσει ζώων, ὧν εἰσι μορφαὶ τὰ γλύμματα, τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιφαίνεσθαι ; Καλλίων γὰρ ἂν ἡ περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξα κατά τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον ἐγεγόνει, εἰ ’διά ζώων ἐμψύχων λογικῶν τε καὶ ἀλόγων ἐπεφαίνετο, καὶ μὴ ἐν ἀψύχοις καὶ ἀκινήτοις προσεδοκᾶτο · ἐφʼ οἷς μάλιστα καθʼ ἑαυτῶν ἀσέβειαν ἐργάζονται. Τὰ γὰρ φύσει ζῶα τετράποδά τε καὶ πετεινά καὶ ἑρπετά βδελυττόμενοι καὶ ἀποστρεφόμενοι ἢ διὰ τὴν ἀγριότητα ἢ διὰ τὴν ῥυπαρίαν, ὅμως τοῦς τούτων τύπους ἐν λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις καὶ χρυσῷ γλύψαντες θεοποιοῦσιν. Ἔδει δὲ (κ αὐτά μᾶλλον τὰ ζῶντα θρησκεύειν αὐτοὺς τοῦς τούτων τύπους ἐν τούτοις προσκυνεῖσθαι. Ἢ τάχα τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν, οὔτε ἡ μορφὴ οὔτε ἡ ὕλη αἰτία τῆς Θεοῦ παρουσίας ἐστί· μόνη δέ ἡ μετʼ ἐπιστήμης τέχνη τὸ Θεῖον ἐκκαλεῖται, ἅτε δὴ μίμημα τῆς φύσεως αὐτή τυγχάνουσα. Ἀλλʼ εἰ διὰ τὴν ἐπιστήμην ἐπιφοιτᾷ τὸ Θεῖον τοῖς γλύμμασι, τίς πάλιν ἡ χρεία τῆς ὕλης, οὔσης τῆς ἐπιστήμης ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; εἰ γὰρ ὅλως διὰ τὴν τεχνην ἐπιφαίνεται ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θρησκεύονται ὡς θεοὶ τὰ γλύμματα · ἔδει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῆς τέχνης ὄντας ἀρχηγοὺς προσκυνεῖσθαι καὶ θρησκεύεσθαι, ὅσῳ και λογικοι και την ἐπιστήμην ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς.

### English translation (Claude)

For one might come forward and say to them, with truth as judge: How does God answer, or become known, through these things? Is it through the material that surrounds them, or through the form in them? If through the material, what need is there of the form, and why did God not simply appear through all material before these were fashioned? And they have walled round their temples in vain, enclosing one stone or piece of wood or portion of gold, when the whole earth is full of the substance of these things. But if the form put upon them is the cause of the divine appearing, what need is there of the material of gold and the rest, and why does God not rather appear through the animals themselves that live by nature, of which the carvings are the forms? For by the same reasoning the opinion about God would have been nobler if he appeared through living animals, rational and irrational, and were not awaited in lifeless and motionless things. In this above all they commit impiety against themselves. For though they loathe and turn away from the living four-footed beasts, birds, and creeping things, either for their savagery or for their filth, they nevertheless carve their figures in stone, wood, and gold and make them gods. They ought rather to worship the living creatures themselves than to have their figures worshiped in these materials. Or perhaps neither of these, neither the form nor the material, is the cause of God’s presence, but only art joined with skill calls forth the Divine, since art is an imitation of nature. But if the Divine visits the carvings because of the skill, what need is there again of the material, since the skill is in human beings? For if God appears at all because of the art, and for this reason the carvings are worshiped as gods, then human beings, being the source of the art, ought to be worshiped and venerated, inasmuch as they are rational and have the skill in themselves.

### Translation notes

- A few words in the sentence beginning “They ought rather” are garbled in the scan; translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 20 (PG 25:40d–41b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-20).

## Against the Heathen 21

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-21
- Source: PG 25:41b–44b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: If images are only like letters through which angels are invoked, the idolaters wrongly give them God’s name and honor, and should rather honor their makers.

### Greek text

Περὶ δὲ τῆς δευτέρας αὐτῶν καὶ βαθυτέρας δῆθεν ἀπολογίας, καὶ ταῦτα ἄν τις ἀκολούθως εἷʼποι· Εἰ οὐ διὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιφάνειαν ταῦτα ὑμῖν πεποίηται, ὦ Ἕλληνες, ἀλλὰ διὰ τήν ἀγγέλων ἐκεῖ παρουσίαν· διά τί τὰ ἀγάλματα, διʼ ὧν ἐπικαλεῖσθε τὰς δυνάμεις, κρείττονα καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτὰς τας ἐπικληθείσας δυνάμεις ποιεῖτε ; Χάριν γὰρ τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ καταλήψεως γλύφοντες τὰς μορφὰς, ὥς φατε, αὐτοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τήν τιμὴν καὶ προσηγορίαν αὐτοῖς τοῖς γλύμμασι περιτίθετε, πρᾶγμα πάσχοντες οὐκ εὐαγὲς. Ὀμολογοῦντες γὰρ ὑπεραίρειν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δύναμιν τῆς τῶν ἀγαλμάτων σμικρότητος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μή τολμῶντες τόν Θεὸν διʼ αὐτῶν, τὰς δὲ ἐλάττω δυνάμεις ἐπικαλεῖσθαι, αὐτοὶ ταύτας ὑπερβάντες, οὗ τήν παρουσίαν ἐφοβήθητε, τούτου τὴν προσηγορίαν τοῖς λίθοις καὶ ξύλοις ἀνεθήκατε ’ καὶ θεοὺς ἀντὶ λίθων καὶ τέχνης ἀνθρωπίνης ὀνομάζετε καὶ προσκυνεῖτε. Εἰ γάρ καὶ ὡς γράμματά εἰσιν ὑμῖν ταῦτα, ὡς ψεύδεσθε, τῆς ἐπὶ Θεὸν θεωρίας, οὐ δίκαιον τά σημαίνοντα τοῦ σημαινομένου προτιμᾷν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰ γράφοι τις τὸ βασιλέως ὄνομα, ἀκινδύνως ἔχοι τὸ γράμμα προτιμῶν τοῦ βασιλέως· ἀλλʼ ὁ τοιοῦτος θάνατον μὲν ἔχει τήν ζημίαν, τὸ δὲ γράμμα τῇ τοῦ γράψαντος ἐπιστήμῃ τετύπωται. Οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς, εἷεπερ ἐρρωμένον εἴχετε τὸν λογισμὸν, ούκ ἃν τὸ τηλικοῦτον τῆς θεότητος γνώρισμα εἰς ὕλην κατεφέρετε · ἀλλά καὶ τὸ γλύμμα οὐκ ἂν προετιμήσατε τοῦ γλύψαντος ἀνθρώπου. Εἰ γάρ καὶ ὅλως ὡς γράμματα σημαίνουσι τήν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιφάνειαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὡς Θεὸν σημαίνοντα, θεοποιίας εἰσὶν ἄξια · ἀλλά γοῦν τὸν ταῦτα γλύψαντα καὶ χαράξαντα, φημὶ δή πάλιν τὸν τεχνίτην, πολλῷ πλέον ἔδει θεοποιηθῆναι, ὡς μᾶλλον ἐκείνων δυνατώτερον καὶ θειότερον ὑπάρχοντα, ὅσῳ κάκεῖνα κατά τήν αὐτοῦ βούλησιν ἐξέσθη καὶ τετύπωται. Ei τοίνυν τὰ γράμματα θαύματός εἰσιν ἄξια, πολλῷ πλέον ὁ γράψας ὑπεραίρει τῷ θαύματι διὰ τήν τέχνην καὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιστήμην. Ούκοῦν εἰ μὴ διὰ τοῦτο θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἄξιον νομίζειν, πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἄν τις ἔροιτο περὶ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων μανίας, τήν αἰτίαν τῆς τοιαύτης αὐτῶν μορφῆς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀξιῶν μαθεῖν.

### English translation (Claude)

Concerning their second and supposedly deeper defense, one might fittingly say this too: If these things have been made by you, Greeks, not for the appearing of God himself but for the presence of angels there, why do you make the statues through which you invoke the powers better than, and superior to, the very powers invoked? For while you carve the forms, as you say, for the sake of apprehending God, you bestow the honor and the name of God himself on the carvings themselves, and so do an impious thing. For while you confess that God’s power exceeds the smallness of the statues, and for this reason do not dare to invoke God through them but only the lesser powers, you yourselves pass beyond these powers and have bestowed on stones and wood the name of him whose presence you feared; and you name and worship as gods what are stones and human art. For even if these things are for you, as you falsely say, like letters leading to the contemplation of God, it is not right to prefer the signs to what they signify. Nor, if someone writes the king’s name, would he be safe if he preferred the writing to the king; rather, such a person suffers death as his penalty, while the writing is shaped by the skill of the one who wrote it. So you too, if you had sound reasoning, would not have brought down so great a mark of deity to matter, nor would you have preferred the carving to the man who carved it. For even if they do signify the appearing of God, like letters, and for this reason, as signifying God, deserve deification, then surely the one who carved and engraved them, I mean again the craftsman, ought much more to have been deified, as being more powerful and more divine than they, inasmuch as they were carved and shaped according to his will. If, then, the letters deserve wonder, much more does the writer surpass them in wonder, because of his art and the skill of his soul. If, then, it is not right to think them gods for this reason, one might question them again about their madness for idols, asking to learn from them the reason for the form they give them.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 21 (PG 25:41b–44b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/11/#p-21).

## Against the Heathen 22

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-22
- Source: PG 25:44b–45a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The mixed and contradictory forms given to the gods, and the bodily shapes that need human repair, show that idols cannot represent the incorporeal and immortal God.

### Greek text

Εἰ μὲν γὰρ, ὅτι ἀνθρωπόμορφόν ἐστι τὸ Θεῖον, διὰ τοῦτο οὕτω τετύπωται, διὰ τί καὶ ἀλόγων αύτῷ τύπους περιτιθέασιν; Εἰ δὲ ζώων ἀλόγων ἐστὶν ὁ τούτου τύπος, διὰ τί καὶ λογικῶν αὐτῷ περιτιθέασι γλυφάς ; Εἰ δὲ τὸ συναμφότερόν ἐστι, καὶ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων κατειλήφασι τὸν Θεὸν, ὅτι τε ἀλόγων καὶ λογικῶν ἔχει τοὺς τύπους· τί διαιροῦσι τὰ συνημμένα, καί χωρίζουσι τήν ἀλόγων καί ἀνθρώπων γλυφὴν, καὶ ού πάντοτε ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων αὐτὸν γλύφουσιν, ὁποῖα τὰ παρά τοῖς μύθοις έστί πλάσματα, ἡ Σκύλλα, καὶ ἠ Χάρυβδις, καὶ ὁ Ἱπποκένταυρος, καὶ ὁ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις κυνοκέφαλος ’Ἄνουβις ; Ἔδει γὰρ ἢ μόνους αὐτοὺς οὕτω γράφεσθαι διφυεῖς, ἣ μίαν αὐτῶν ἐχόντων μορφὴν, μή καὶ τήν ἄλλην ἀναπλάττεσθαι κατʼ αύτῶν. Καὶ πάλιν εί ἀρῥενικαί τούτων εἰσὶν αἱ μορφαὶ, διὰ τί καὶ θηλειῶν αὐτοῖς περιτιθέασι τύπους ; εἰ δὲ θηλυκῶν εἶσι, διὰ τί καὶ ἀρρενικῶν κατʼ αὐτῶν ψεύδονται τάς μορφάς ; εί δὲ πάλιν τὸ συναμφότερόν εἰσιν, ἔδει μὴ διαιρεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ ἀμφότερα συνάπτεσθαι, καὶ γίνεσθαι κατὰ τοὺς λεγομένους ἑρμαφροδίτους· ’ίνα μή μόνον ἀσέβειαν καὶ συκοφαντίαν, ἀλλά καὶ γέλωτας αὐτῶν ἡ δεισιδαιμονία τοῖς ὁρῶσι παράσχῃ· καὶ ὅλως εἰ σωματοειδὲς τὸ Θεῖον ὑπολαμβάνουσιν, ὥστε καὶ γαστέρα καὶ χεῖρας καὶ πόδας, καὶ πάλιν αύχένα καί στήθη καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ πρὸς γένεσιν ἀνθρώπων μέλη ἐπινοεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀναπλάττειν, ὅρα εἰς ὅσην ἀσέβειαν καὶ ἀθεότητα καταπέπτωκε τούτων ὁ νοῦς, ὥστε τοιαῦτα ὑπονοεῖν περὶ τοῦ Θείου. Ἀκολουθεῖ γὰρ αύτῴ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τοῦ σώματος πάντως πάσχειν, ὣστε καὶ τέμνεσθαι, καὶ διαιρεῖσθαι, καὶ πάλιν ἐξ ὅλου φθείρεσθαι· ταῦτα δὲ καί τά τοιαῦτα οὐκ ἴδια Θεοῦ, ἀλλά μᾶλλον τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς σωμάτων έστίνο ὁ μέν γὰρ Θεὸς ἀσώματός ἐστι καὶ ἄφθαρτος καὶ ἀθάνατος, οὐδενὸς εἰς ὁτιοῦν δεόμενος· ταῦτα δὲ καὶ φθαρτά καὶ σωμάτων εἰσὶ τύποι, καὶ τῆς παρʼ αὐτῶν ἐπιδεὸμενα χρείας, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον εἰρηται· πολλάκις γὰρ ὁρῶμεν ἀνακαινουμένους τοὺς παλαιωθέντας, καὶ οὓς ὁ χρόνος, ἦ ὑετὸς, ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ζώων ἠφάνισε, τούτους ἀναπλαττομένους. Ἐφʼ ᾧ ἅν τις αὐτῶν καταγνώσηται τῆς παραφροσύνης ὅτι ὧν αὐτοὶ ποιηταὶ τυγχάνουσι, τούτους θεοὺς ἀναγορεύουσι· καὶ οὓς αὐτοὶ ταῖς τέχναις περικοσμοῦσιν ἕνεκα τοῦ μὴ φθαρῆναι παρὰ τούτων, αύτοὶ σωτηρίαν αἰτοῦσι· καὶ οὓς οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσι δεομένους τῆς αὐτῶν ἐπιμελείας, παρά τούτων αὐτοὶ τὰς εαυτῶν χρείας ἀξιοῦσιν ἀποπληροῦσθαι· καὶ οὖς έν μικροῖς οἷʼκίσκοις κατακλείουσι, τούτους ούρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἀπάσης δεσπότας οὐκ αἲσχύνονται καλοῦντες.

### English translation (Claude)

If it is because the Divine has human form that it has been shaped this way, why do they also give it the figures of irrational creatures? And if its figure is that of irrational animals, why do they also give it the carvings of rational ones? And if it is both, and they have conceived of God from both, as having the figures of both irrational and rational creatures, why do they divide what is joined, separating the carving of irrational creatures from that of men, and not always carve him from both, like the fictions in the myths, Scylla, Charybdis, the Hippocentaur, and the dog-headed Anubis of the Egyptians? For either these alone should be represented with a double nature, or, if the gods have one form, the other should not also be fashioned for them. And again, if their forms are male, why do they give them female figures? And if they are female, why do they falsely give them male forms? And if again they are both, the two should not be divided but joined, and they should be made like the so-called hermaphrodites, so that their superstition may offer onlookers not only impiety and slander but laughter as well. And in general, if they suppose the Divine to be bodily, so that they conceive and fashion for it belly, hands, and feet, and again neck and breasts and the other members for human generation, see into what impiety and godlessness their mind has fallen, to suppose such things about the Divine! For it follows that it must also undergo all the other things that a body undergoes, so as to be cut, divided, and again destroyed altogether. But these and similar things are not proper to God, but rather to bodies on earth. For God is incorporeal, incorruptible, and immortal, in need of nothing for anything; while these are corruptible, figures of bodies, and in need of service from human beings, as was said before. For we often see old ones renewed, and those that time or rain or some creature on earth has destroyed being fashioned again. In this one might condemn their folly: they proclaim as gods those of whom they themselves are the makers; they ask salvation from those that they themselves adorn with their arts so that they may not perish; they expect their own needs to be supplied by those whom they know to need their care; and they are not ashamed to call lords of heaven and of the whole earth those whom they shut up in little shrines.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 22 (PG 25:44b–45a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-22).

## Against the Heathen 23

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-23
- Source: PG 25:45a–48b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Every nation, city, and village worships different and contradictory gods, as in Egypt, because people who have turned from the one God and his Word wander in many directions.

### Greek text

Οὐ μόνον δὲ ἐκ τούτων ἄν τις αὐτῶν τὴν ἀθεότητα καταμάθοι, ἀλλά καὶ ἀφʼ ὧν έν αὐτοῖς τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἀσύμφωνος ἡ δόξα. Εἰ γὰρ αύτοὶ θεοί εἰσιν, ὡς Λέγουσι καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν φιλοσοφοῦσι, τίνι τις πρόσθηται τούτων, καὶ ποίους ἂν αύτῶν κρίνῃ κυριωτέρους, ἵνα ἣ τὸν Θεὸν θαρρήσῃ προσκυνῶν, ἢ, ὥς φασιν, ἐν αὐτοῖς μή διστάζῃ γινώσκων τὸ Θεῖον ;Ού γὰρ οι αὐτοὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ὀνομάζονται θεοί· ἀλλʼ ὅσα κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστόν ἐστιν ἔθνη, τοσοῦτοι καὶ θεοὶ ἀναπλάττονται, Ἔστι δʼ ὅπου καὶ μία χώρα καὶ μία πόλις πρὸς ἑαυτὰς στασιάζουσι περὶ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων δεισιδαιμονίας. Φοίνικες γοῦν οὐκ ἴσασι τοὺς παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις λεγομένους θεοὺς, οὐδὲ Αἰγύπτιοι τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς παρά Φοίνιξι προσκυνοῦσιν εἷʼδωλα. Καὶ Σκύθαι μὲν τούς Περσῶν, Πέρσαι δὲ τοὺς Σύρων ού παραδέχονται θεούς. Ἄλλά καὶ Πελασγοὶ μὲν τοὺς έν Θρᾴκῃ θεοὺς διαβάλλουσι· Θρᾷκες δὲ τοὺς παρά Θηβαίοις οὐ γινώσκουσιν. Ἰνδοὶ δὲ κατά ’Δράβων, καὶ ’Ἄραβες κατʼ Αἰθιόπων, καὶ Αἰθίοπες κατʼ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις διαφέρονται. Καὶ Σύροι μὲν τὰ Κιλίκων ού σέβουσι· Καππαδοκῶν δὲ τὸ γένος ἄλλους παρά τούτους ὀνομάζουσι θεούς, Καὶ Βιθυνοί μὲν ἑτέρους, Ἀρμένιοι δὲ ἄλλους ἑαυτοῖς ἀνεπλάσαντο. Καὶ τί μοι δεῖ πολλῶν ; Ἠπειρῶται παρά τοὺς ἐν ταῖς νήσοις ἄλλους θεοὺς προσκυνοῦσι· καὶ νησιῶται παρά τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἠπείροις θρησκεύουσι. Καὶ ὅλως έκάστη πόλις καὶ κώμη, τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων οὐκ εἰδυῖα θεοὺς, τοὺς ἑαυτῆς προκρίνει, καὶ μόνους εἶναι τούτους νομίζει θεούς. Περὶ γὰρ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μυσαρῶν οὐδὲ λέγειν ἐστὶ, πᾶσιν ἐπʼ ὀφθαλμῶν ὄντων, ὅτι ἐναντίας καὶ μαχομένας ἀλλήλαις ἔχουσι τάς θρησκείας αἱ πόλεις, καὶ οἱ ἐκ γειτόνων ἀεὶ σπουδάζουσι κατά τῶν πλησίων τά ἐναντία σέβειν· ὁ γοῦν παρʼ ἑτέροις προσκυνούμενος ώς θεὸς κροκόδειλος, οὗτος παρά τοῖς πλησίον βδέλυγμα νομίζεται· καὶ ὁ παρʼ ἑτέροις λέων ὡς θεὸς θρησκευόμενος, τοῦτον οἱ ἀστυγείτονες οὐ μόνον οὐ θρησκεύουσιν, ἀλλά καὶ εὑρόντες ἀποκτείνουσιν ὡς θηρίον· καὶ ὁ παρʼ ἄλλοις ἀνατεθεὶς ἰχθὺς, οὗτος ἐν ἄλλῳ ἁλίσκεται τροφή. Ὀθεν δὴ πόλεμοι καὶ στάσεις καὶ πᾶσα φόνων πρόφασις, καὶ πᾶσα τῶν παθῶν ἡδονὴ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐστι. Καὶ τόγε,θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι, ὡς οἱ ἱστορήσαντες ἐξηγοῦνται, παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων οἱ Πελασγοὶ μαθόντες τά ὀνόματα τῶν θεῶν, οὐκ ἴσασιν οὗτοι τοὺς παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις θεοὺς, ἀλλά ἄλλους παρʼ ἐκείνους θρησκεύουσι. Καὶ ὅλως πάντων τῶν ἐν εἰδώλοις μανέντων ἐθνῶν διάφορός ἐστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ θρησκεία, καὶ οὗ τά αὐτὰ παρά τοῖς αὐτοῖς εὑρίσκεται. Καὶ εἰκότως γε τοῦτο πάσχουσιν. Ἐκπεσόντες γὰρ ’ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἕνα Θεὸν κατανοήσεως, εἷς πολλά καὶ διάφορα καταπεπτώκασι· καὶ ἀποστραφέντες τὸν ἀληθῶς τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον, τὸν πάντων Σωτῆρα Χριστὸν εἰκότως είς πολλά τήν διάνοιαν ἔχουσι ῥεμβομένην. Καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τὸν ἥλιον ἀποστραφέντες καὶ ἐν σκοτεινοῖς γενόμενοι τόποις, πολλάς ἀνόδους κυκλεύουσιν ὁδούς· καὶ τοὺς μὲν παρόντας οὐχ ὁρῶσι, τοὺς δὲ μή ὄντας φαντάζονται ὠς παρόντας, καὶ βλέποντες,οὐ βλέπουσι· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον οἱ τὸν Θεὸν ἀποστραφέντες καὶ σκοτι-

### English translation (Claude)

Not only from these things can one learn their godlessness, but also from their disagreement in opinion about the idols themselves. For if these are gods, as they say and philosophize about them, to which of them should one attach oneself, and which of them would one judge to be the more sovereign, so as either to worship God with confidence or, as they say, to recognize the Divine in them without hesitation? For the same beings are not called gods among all; rather, as many nations as there are, roughly so many gods are fashioned. In some places even a single country and a single city are at strife within themselves over the superstition of idols. The Phoenicians, for instance, do not know those called gods among the Egyptians, nor do the Egyptians worship the same idols as the Phoenicians. The Scythians do not accept the gods of the Persians, nor the Persians those of the Syrians. The Pelasgians disparage the gods in Thrace, while the Thracians do not know those of the Thebans. The Indians differ from the Arabs, the Arabs from the Ethiopians, and the Ethiopians from them, in their idols. The Syrians do not revere those of the Cilicians, while the Cappadocian nation names other gods besides these. The Bithynians have fashioned some for themselves, the Armenians others. And why should I say more? Mainlanders worship other gods than those of the islanders, and islanders serve other gods than those of the mainlands. In short, every city and village, not knowing the gods of its neighbors, prefers its own and thinks that these alone are gods. As for the abominations in Egypt, there is no need even to speak of them, since they are before everyone’s eyes: the cities have religions opposed to and at war with one another, and neighbors always take care to revere the opposite of what those near them revere. The crocodile, worshiped as a god by some, is thought an abomination by their neighbors; the lion, worshiped as a god by others, their fellow townsmen not only do not worship but kill as a wild beast when they find it; and the fish consecrated among some is caught for food in another place. From this come wars and riots and every occasion of bloodshed, and every indulgence of the passions among them. And remarkably, as the historians relate, the Pelasgians, who learned the names of the gods from the Egyptians, do not know the gods of the Egyptians but worship others besides. In short, among all the nations maddened with idols, opinion and worship differ, and the same things are not found even among the same people. And naturally they suffer this. For having fallen from the consideration of the one God, they have sunk into many and various things; and having turned away from the true Word of the Father, Christ the Savior of all, they naturally have their thought wandering in many directions. As those who have turned away from the sun and come into dark places wander round by many pathless ways, and do not see those who are present but imagine those who are not as present, and seeing do not see; in the same way those who have turned away from God and are darkened …

### Extrabiblical texts

- Herodotus, Hist. 2.50–52 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Pelasgians’ learning the gods’ names from Egypt is from Herodotus 2.50–52.
- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 23 (PG 25:45a–48b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-23).

## Against the Heathen 24

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-24
- Source: PG 25:48c–49a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Since one people’s gods are another people’s sacrifices, libations, or washing water, all these gods destroy one another.

### Greek text

Ταῦτα δὲ ού μικρὸς ἔλεγχός ἐστι τῆς ἀληθῶς ἀθεότητος αὐτῶν Διαφόρων γὰρ ὅντων καὶ πολλῶν κατὰ πόλιν καὶ χώραν θεῶν, καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου τὸν του ὲτὲρου ἀναιροῦντος θεὸν, οἱ πάντες παρά πάντων ἀναιροῦνται. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ παρʼ ἄλλοις νομιζόμενοι θεοὶ τῶν παρʼ ἄλλοις λεγομένων θεῶν γίγνονται θυσίαι καὶ σπονδαί· καὶ ἄλλων αἱ θυσίαι, ἄλλων ἔμπαλίν εἶσι θεοί. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ τὸν βοῦν καὶ τὸν Ἆπιν μόσχον ὄντα σέβουσι· καὶ τούτους ἄλλοι τῷ Διὶ θύουσι. Κᾶν γὰρ μὴ αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους οὖς ἀνατεθείκασι, θύσωσιν, ἀλλά τὰ ὅμοια θύοντες, τὰ αὐτὰ προσάγειν δοκοῦσι. Λίβυες πρόβατον, ’ὁ καλοῦσιν Ἄμμωνα, θεὸν ἔχουσι· καὶ τοῦτο πολλοῖς παρʼ ἑτέρων είς θυσίαν σφάζεται. Ἰνδοὶ τὸν Διόνυσον θρησκεύουσι, συμβολικῶς οἶνον αὐτὸν ὀνομάζοντες· καὶ τοῦτον τοῖς ἄλλοις σπένδουσιν ἕτεροι. ’Ἄλλοι ποταμοὺς καὶ κρήνας, καὶ πάντων μάλιστα Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ ὕδωρ προτετιμήκασι, καὶ θεοὺς ἀναγορεύουσι· καὶ ὅμως ἄλλοι, καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ o't ταῦτα θρησκεύοντες Αἰγύπτιοι, τοὺς τῶν ἄλλων ῥύπους, καὶ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ἀπονίπτονται τοῖς ὕδασι, καὶ τὸ λείψανον μετά ἀτιμίας ἐκρίπτουσι. Σχεδὸν δὶ πᾶσα ἡ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων εἶδωλοποιία τῶν παρʼ ἄλλοις θεῶν ἔστι θυσία· ὥστʼ ἂν αὐτοὺς καὶ παρʼ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων χλευάζεσθαι, ὅτι μὴ θεοὺς, ἀλλά τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἔτι τε καὶ παρʼ αύτοῖς ἀποτροπιάσματα καὶ Θυσίας ὄντα θεοποιοῦσιν.

### English translation (Claude)

These things are no small proof of their real godlessness. For since there are different and many gods from city to city and country to country, and one destroys the other’s god, all are destroyed by all. For those thought to be gods among some become sacrifices and libations to those called gods among others; and the sacrifices of some are, conversely, the gods of others. The Egyptians revere the ox, and Apis, which is a calf; and others sacrifice these to Zeus. For even if they do not sacrifice the very ones the Egyptians have consecrated, by sacrificing their like they are thought to offer the same. The Libyans have as a god the sheep, which they call Ammon; and among many others this animal is slaughtered as a sacrifice. The Indians worship Dionysus, symbolically calling him wine; and others pour this out as a libation to the other gods. Others have honored rivers and springs, and above all the Egyptians have honored water, and proclaim these gods; and yet others, and even the very Egyptians who worship them, wash off with the waters the dirt of others and their own, and throw away what is left with dishonor. Nearly all the idol-making of the Egyptians is a sacrifice to the gods of others; so that they are mocked even by those others, because what they deify are not gods but things that for others, and even among themselves, are objects to be averted and sacrifices.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 24 (PG 25:48c–49a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-24).

## Against the Heathen 25

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-25
- Source: PG 25:49a–49d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Human sacrifice among Scythians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Cretans, and early Romans shows the cruelty of demon-gods, whose worshipers imitate their murders and licentiousness.

### Greek text

Ἤδη δέ τινες εἰς τοσαύτην ἀσέβειαν καὶ παραφροσύνην ἐξενέχθησαν, ὡς καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὦν εἰσι τύποι καὶ μορφαὶ, τοῖς παρʼ αὐτοῖς ψευδοθέοις κατασφάττειν καὶ θυσίας προσάγειν. Καὶ οὐχ ὁρῶσιν οἱ κακοδαίμονες, ὅτι τὰ σφαγιαζόμενα θύματα ἀρχέτυπά εἰσι τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν πλασθέντων καὶ προσκυνουμένων θεῶν, καὶ οἷς προσάγουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. Σχεδὸν γάρ τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς ὁμοίοις ἢ μᾶλλον τὰ κρείττονα τοῖς ἐλάττοσι προσάγουσιν. Ἔμψυχα γὰρ ἀψύχοις θύουσι, καὶ λογικά τοῖς ἀκινήτοις προσάγουσι. Σκύθαι γὰρ οἱ καλούμενοι Ταύρειοι τῇ παρʼ αὐτοῖς Παρθένῳ καλουμένῃ τοὺς ἀπὸ ναυαγίων καὶ ὅσους ἂν λάβωσι τῶν Ἑλλήνων, εἷς θυσίας ἀναφέρουσι, τοσοῦτον ἀσεβοῦντες κατά τῶν · ὁμογενῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οὕτως ἐλέγχοντες τῶν θεῶν αὑτῶν τὴν ὠμότητα· ὅτι οὓς ἡ Πρόνοια ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἐκ κινδύνων διέσωσε, τούτους αὐτοί κατασφάττουσι, μονονουχὶ κατὰ τῆς Προνοίας γινόμενοι· ὅτι τὴν ὲκείνης εὐεργεσίαν τῇ ἑαυτῶν θηριώδει ψυχῇ κατακρύπτουσιν. ’Ἄλλοι δὲʼτῷ Ἄρει, ἐπειδὰν ἐκ πολέμων ἔπανέλθωσι καὶ νίκας φέρωσι, τὸ τηνικαῦτα εἰς ἑκατοντάδας διελόντες τοὺς ληφθέντας, καὶ ἀφʼ ἑκάστης ἕνα λαμβάνοντες, τοσούτους κατασφάττουσιν, ὅσους ἂν κατά μίαν έκατοντάδα ἐκλέξωνται. Οὐ μόνοι δὲ Σκύθαι διά τὴν ἐν βαρβάροις ἔμφυτον αύτοῖς ἀγριότητα τὰ τοιαῦτα μυσαρά δρῶσιν, ἀλλʼ ἴδιόν ἐστι τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ δαιμόνων κακίας τοῦτο τὸ δρᾶμα. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι ἔθυον μὲν πάλαι τῇ ’Ήρᾳ τοιαῦτα σφάγια Φοίνικες δὲ καὶ Κρῇτες τὸν Κρόνον ἐν ταῖς τεκνοθυσίαις έαυτῶν ἱλάσκοντο. Καὶ οἱ πάλαι δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τὸν καλούμενον Λατιάριον Δία ἀνθρωποθυσίαις ἐθρήσκευον· καί ἄλλοι ἄλλως, καὶ πάντες ἁπλῶς ἐμίαινον καὶ έμιαίνοντο. Ἐμιαίνοντο μὲν αὐτοὶ δρῶντες τά φονικά* ἐμίαινον δὲ τοὺς ἑαυτῶν ναοὺς τοιαύταις καπνίζοντες θυσίαις. Ἀπὸ δὴ τούτων τά κακὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις εἰς πλῆθος ἔφθασενο ὁρῶντες γὰρ ἐν τούτοις τοὺς παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἡδομένους δαίμονας, εὐθέως καὶ αὐτοὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις πλημμελήμασι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν θεοὺς ἐμιμήσαντο, ἴδιον ἡγούμενοι κατόρθωμα τήν πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα, ὡς αὐτοὶ νομίζουσι, μίμησιν. Ἔνθεν ἀνδροφονίαις καὶ τεκνοκτονίαις καὶ πάσαις ἀσελγείαις ἡττήθησαν οἱ ἅνθρωποι. Καὶ γὰρ,σχεδὸν πᾶσα πόλις πάσης ἀσελγείας ἔστὶ μεστή διʼ ὁμοιότητα τρόπων τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς - θεῶν γινομένη· καὶ οὒκ ἔστι σώφρων ἐν τοῖς εἷʼδώλοις, εἷ μὴ μόνος ὁ παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐπʼ ἀσελγείᾳ μαρτυρούμενος.

### English translation (Claude)

Some have been carried away into such impiety and madness as to slaughter and sacrifice to their false gods the very human beings of whom those gods are figures and forms. And the wretches do not see that the victims they slaughter are the originals of the gods they have fashioned and worship, to whom they offer the human beings. For they offer like to like, or rather the better to the lesser; they sacrifice living things to lifeless ones and offer rational beings to things without motion. For the Scythians called Taurians offer as sacrifices to the one they call the Virgin the shipwrecked and any Greeks they capture, so impious are they toward human beings of their own race; and so they prove the cruelty of their gods. For those whom Providence has saved out of dangers from the sea they slaughter, all but setting themselves against Providence, since they cover over its kindness with their own beastly souls. Others, when they return from wars and bring home victories, divide the captives into hundreds, take one from each hundred, and slaughter to Ares as many as they have chosen, one from each hundred. Nor is it only the Scythians who do such abominations, because of the savagery innate in them as barbarians; this act is proper to the wickedness of idols and demons. For the Egyptians too formerly offered such victims to Hera; the Phoenicians and Cretans propitiated Cronus with the sacrifice of their children; the Romans of old worshiped the so-called Latiarian Zeus with human sacrifices; and others in other ways, and all simply defiled and were defiled: they were defiled by doing the murders themselves, and they defiled their own temples by filling them with the smoke of such sacrifices. From these things evils came upon human beings in abundance. For seeing the demons among them delighting in these things, they at once imitated their own gods by similar offenses, thinking imitation of what they regard as their betters an achievement of their own. Hence human beings were overcome by the murder of men and of children and by every licentiousness. For almost every city is full of every licentiousness, having become like the ways of their gods; and among the idols there is none chaste except the one that is attested among them for licentiousness.

### Extrabiblical texts

- Herodotus, Hist. 4.103 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence
- Herodotus, Hist. 4.62 (Herodotus, Histories): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The Taurian sacrifice to “the Virgin” and the Scythian sacrifice of one captive in a hundred to Ares are from Herodotus 4.103 and 4.62. Jupiter Latiaris was the god of the Latin festival on the Alban Mount.
- The last clause is translated as printed; its point (that the only “chaste” idol is the one notorious for licentiousness) seems to be ironic, but the sense is uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 25 (PG 25:49a–49d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-25).

## Against the Heathen 26

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-26
- Source: PG 25:52a–52c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Temple prostitution, ritual emasculation, and the vices described in Romans 1 are learned from gods whose own myths are full of the same deeds.

### Greek text

Γυναῖκες γοῦν ἐν είδωλείοις τῆς Φοινίκης πάλαι προεκαθέζοντο, ἀπαρχόμεναι τοῖς ἐκεῖ θεοῖς ἑαυτῶν τήν τοῦ σώματος αὐτῶν μισθαρνίαν, νομίζουσαι τῇ πορνείᾳ τήν θεὸν ἑαυτῶν ἱλάσκεσθαι, καὶ εἰς εὐμένειαν ἄγειν αὐτην διὰ τούτων. ’Ἄνδρες δὲ, τὴν φύσιν ἀρνούμενοι, καὶ μηκέτι εἶναι θέλοντες ἄρρενες, τήν γυναικῶν πλάττονται φύσιν, ὡς ἐκ τούτων καταθύμια καὶ τιμὴν τῇ μητρὶ τῶν παρʼ αὐτοῖς λεγομένων θεῶν ποιοῦντες. Πάντες δὲ ὁμοῦ τοῖς αἰσχίστοις βιοῦσι, καὶ τοῖς χείροσιν ἑαυτοῖς ἁμιλλῶνται · καὶ ὡς εἶπεν ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ διάκονος Παῦλος” Αἵ τε γὰρ θήλειαι αὐτῶν μετήλλαξαν τήν φυσικὴν χρῆσιν εἰς τὴν παρὰ φύσιν. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄρρενες, ἀφέντες τήν φυσικὴν χρῆσιν τῆς θηλείας, ἐξεκαύθησαν ἅρῥενες ἐν τῇ ὀρέξει αὐτῶν, εἰς ἀλλήλους, ἄρσεσι τήν ἀσχημοσύνην κατεργαζόμενοι. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τά τοιαῦτα πράσσοντες, ὁμολογοῦσι καὶ ἐλέγχουσι καὶ τοὺς λεγομένους αὐτῶν θεοὺς τοιοῦτον ἐσχηκέναι τον βίον. Ἐκ μὶν γάρ Διὸς τὴν παιδοφθορίαν καὶ τήν μοιχείαν, ἐκ δὲ Ἀφροδίτης τὴν πορνείαν, καὶ ἐκ μὲν Ῥέας τὴν ἀσέλγειαν, ἐκ δὲ Ἄρεος τοὺς φόνους, καί ἐξ ἄλλων ἄλλα τοιαῦτα μεμαθήκασιν, ἃ οἱ νόμοι μὶν κολάζουσι, πᾶς δὲ σώφρων ἀνὴρ ἀποστρέφεται. Ἆρʼ οῦν ἄξιον ἔτι τούτους νομίζειν εἶναι θεοὺς, τοὺς τά τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντας, καὶ μή μᾶλλον τῶν ἀλόγων ἀλογωτέρους ἡγεῖσθαι τούτους διὰ τήν ἀσέλγειαν τῶν τρόπων; Ἀρα ἄξιον τούς θρησκεύοντας αὐτοὺς νομίζειν ἀνθρώπους, καὶ μή μᾶλλον ὡς ἀλόγων ἀλογωτέρους, καὶ τῶν ἀψύχων ἀψυχοτέρους, οἰκτείρειν;Ει γὰρ

### English translation (Claude)

Women in Phoenicia, at any rate, used formerly to sit before the idol-temples, offering to the gods there as first-fruits the hire of their own bodies, thinking that by their sexual immorality they propitiated their goddess and brought her to favor by these means. And men, denying their nature and no longer wishing to be male, take on the nature of women, as though by this they were doing what pleases and honors the mother of their so-called gods. All alike live in the most shameful ways and vie with one another in what is worse; and as the holy minister of Christ, Paul, said: “For their females exchanged the natural use for that which is against nature; and likewise the males too, leaving the natural use of the female, were inflamed in their desire toward one another, males committing shamelessness with males.” Doing these and similar things, they confess and prove that their so-called gods too lived such a life. For from Zeus they have learned the corruption of boys and adultery, from Aphrodite sexual immorality, from Rhea licentiousness, from Ares murders, and from others other such things, which the laws punish and every self-controlled man turns away from. Is it right, then, still to think that these who do such things are gods, and not rather to consider them more irrational than the irrational animals because of the licentiousness of their ways? Is it right to think their worshipers human beings, and not rather to pity them as more irrational than the irrational and more lifeless than the lifeless? For if …

### Scripture references

- Rom 1:26–27: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “The mother of their so-called gods” is Cybele, whose priests (the Galli) castrated themselves; the practice is described as written.
- Rom 1:26–27 is quoted; πορνεία is rendered “sexual immorality,” μοιχεία “adultery.”
- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 26 (PG 25:52a–52c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-26).

## Against the Heathen 27

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-27
- Source: PG 25:52c–56a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Against those who worship the cosmos, Athanasius argues that each part of creation, from the sun to the winds and the elements, depends on the others and so points to its Maker.

### Greek text

Ἀλλʼ ἴσως οἱ ἑπαναβεβηκότες τούτων καὶ περὶ τήν κτίσιν ἐπτοημένοι, δυσωπούμενοι τοῖς περὶ τῶν βδελυγμάτων ἐλέγχοις, εύκατάγνωστα μὲν καὶ εὐέλεγκτα παρά πᾶσιν ὅντα ταῦτα οὐκ ἀρνήσονται καὶ αὐτοίο ἐκείνην δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀσφαλῆ τήν δόξαν καὶ ἀναντίρρητον εἶναι οἰήσονται τήν πρὸς τόν κόσμον καὶ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου μέρη θρησκείαν ο καυχήσονται γάρ οὐχ ὡς λίθους, καὶ ξύλα, καὶ μορφὰς ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἀλόγων πτηνῶν τε καὶ ἑρπετῶν καὶ τετραπόδων ἁπλῶς, ἀλλʼ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην, καὶ πάντα τὸν κατʼ οὐρανόν κόσμον, καὶ γῆν αὖ πάλιν καὶ σύμπασαν τοῦ ὑγροῦ τὴν φύσιν σέβοντες καὶ θρησκεύοντες· καὶ φήσουσι μή δύνασθαί τινας ἀποδεῖξαι καὶ τούτους μὴ εἶναι φύσει θεοὺς, πᾶσιν ὄντος φανεροῦ, ὅτι οὕτε ἀψυχα, οὔτε ἄλογα τυγχάνει, ἀλλά καὶ τήν ἀνθρώπων ὑπεραίρει φύσιν, τῷ τὰ μὲν ἐν οὐρανοῖς, τὰ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κατοικεῖν. Ἀξιον οῦν καὶ περὶ τούτων ἰδεῖν καὶ διερευνῆσαι. Πάντως γὰρ καὶ ἐν τούτοις εὑρήσει ὁ λόγος τὸν ἔλεγχον ἀληθῆ κατʼ αὐτῶν. Πρὶν δὲ ἡμᾶς ἰδεῖν καὶ τῆς ἀποδείξεως ἄρξασθαι, ἀρκεῖ τὴν κτίσιν αὐτὴν κατʼ αὐτῶν μονονουχὶ βοῆσαι, καὶ δεῖξαι τὸν αὐτῆς ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν Θεὸν, τὸν καὶ ταύτης καὶ τοῦ παντὸς βασιλεύοντα τὸν Πατέρα τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ · ’ὀν ἀποστρέφονται μὲν οἱ δοκησίσοφοι, τήν δὲ παρʼ αύτοῦ γενομένην κτίσιν προσκυνοῦσι καὶ θεοποιοῦσι, καίτοι προσκυνοῦσαν καὶ αὐτὴν καὶ ὁμολογοῦσαν ὃν ἐκεῖνοι διʼ αὐτὴν ἀρνοῦνται Κύριον. Οὕτω γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους εἰς τὰ ταύτης μέρη κεχηνότας καὶ θεοὺς νομίζοντας ταῦτα δυσωπήσῃ ἂν καλῶς αὐτοὺς ἡ τῶν μερῶν πρὸς ἄλληλα χρείαʼ γνωρίζει δὲ καὶ σημαίνει τὸν καὶ αὐτῶν ὄντα Κύριον καὶ ποιητὴν τὸν τοῦ Λόγου Πατέρα, τῇ ἀναντιρῥήτῳ προστάξει τῆς εἷς αὐτὸν ὑπακοῆς, φησι καὶ ἡ θεία νομοθεσία Οἱ οὐρανοὶ διηγοῦνται δόξαν Θεοῦ · ποίησιν δὲ χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ στερέωμα. Πίστις δὲ τούτων οῦκ ἀφανὴς, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ἐναργής ἐστι τοῖς τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν τῆς διανοίας μή πάντη πεπηρωμένον ἔχουσιν. Εἰ γάρ τις καθʼ ἑαυτὰ τὰ μέρη τῆς κτίσεως λάβοι, καὶ ἕκαστον ἰδίᾳ νοήσει, οἷον ἥλιον καθʼ ἑαυτὸν μόνον, καὶ σελήνην χωρὶς, καὶ γῆν αῦ καὶ ἀέρα, καὶ τήν θερμὴν καὶ ψυχρὰν, καὶ ξηρὰν καὶ ὑγρὰν οὐσίαν διελὼν ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα συναφῆς, ἕκαστον ἐκλάβοι καθʼ ἐαυτὸ καὶ ἰδίᾳ θεωρήσειεν· εὑρήσει πάντως μηδέν ἱκανούμενον ἐαυτῷ, ἀλλᾶ πάντα τῆς ἀλλήλων χρείας δεόμενα, καὶ ταῖς παρʼ ἀλλήλων ἐπικουρίαις συνιστάμενα. ’Ἠλιος μὲν γὰρ τῷ σύμπαντι οὐρανῷ συμπεριφέρεται καί ἐμπεριέχεται, καὶ ἐκτὸς τῆς ἐκείνου κυκλοφορίας οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτοʼ σελήνη δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄστρα μαρτυροῦσι τήν παρὰ ἡλίου γιγνομένην αὐτοῖς ἐπικουρίαν· γῆ δὲ πάλιν οῦκ ἄνευ ὑετῶν τοὺς καρποὺς ἀποδιδοῦσα φαίνεται· οἱ δὲ ὑετοὶ χωρὶς τῆς τῶν νεφελῶν χρείας οὐκ ἂν καταβαῖεν ἐπὶ γῆς· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ νέφη χωρὶς τοῦ ἀέρος καθʼ ἑαυτά ἂν φανείη καὶ συσταίη ποτέ. Ὅτε ἆήρ οὐχ ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ μὲν τοῦ αἰθέρος διακαίεται, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου καταλαμπόμενος λαμπρύνεται. Καὶ πηγαί μὲν καὶ ποταμοὶ οὐκ ἄνευ τῆς γῆς συστήσονταί ποτε· γῆ δὲ οῦκ ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἐρήρεισται, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μὶν τήν τῶν ὑδάτων οὐσίαν συνέστηκεν, ἐμπεριέχεται δὲ καὶ αὕτη κατά τὸ μέσον συνδεθεῖσα τοῦ παντός. Ἥ τε θάλασσα καὶ ὁ ἔξωθεν περιῤῥέων τήν σύμπασαν γῆν μέγας ὠκεανὸς ὑπὸ ἀνέμων κινεῖται καὶ φέρεται ὅποι δʼ ἂν αὐτὸν ἡ τῶν ἀνέμων προσρήσσῃ βία. Καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ οἱ ἄνεμοι οὐκ έν ἑαυτοῖς, ἀλλὰ, κατὰ τοὺς περὶ τούτων εἰπόντας, έκ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα τοῦ αἰθέρος διακαύσεως καὶ θερμότητος ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ ἀέρι συνίστανται, καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ πανταχοῦ πνέουσι. Περὶ γάρ τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων, ἐξ ῶν καὶ συνέστηκεν ἡ τῶν σωμάτων φύσις, τὴν θερμὴν λέγω καὶ τὴν ψυχρὰν, ξηράν τε καὶ ὑγρὰν οὐσίαν, τίς τοσοῦτον ἀπέστραπται τὴν διάνοιαν, ὥστε μή εἰδέναι, ὅτι ὁμοῦ μὶν συνημμένα ταῦτα συνίστανται, διαιρούμενα δὲ και καθʼ ἑαυτὰ γινόμενα, λοιπὸν καί ἀλλήλων εἰσὶν ἀναιρετικὰ

### English translation (Claude)

But perhaps those who have risen above these things, and who are struck with awe at creation, being put to shame by the refutation of these abominations, will not deny that these things are easily condemned and refuted by all; but they will think that their own view is safe and beyond dispute, namely the worship of the world and of the parts of the world. For they will boast that they revere and worship not merely stones and wood and the forms of men and of irrational birds, creeping things, and four-footed beasts, but the sun and the moon and the whole ordered world of heaven, and again the earth and the whole nature of the moist element; and they will say that no one can show that these, at least, are not gods by nature, since it is plain to all that they are neither lifeless nor irrational, but even surpass human nature, in that some dwell in the heavens and others on the earth. It is right, then, to look into these too and examine them; for in these too the argument will certainly find the refutation of them true. But before we look and begin the demonstration, it is enough that creation itself all but cries out against them and points to its maker and fashioner, God, who reigns over it and over the universe, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are wise in their own conceit turn away from him, while they worship and deify the creation made by him; and yet creation itself worships and confesses the Lord whom they deny on its account. For the need of its parts for one another would rightly put to shame those who gape at its parts and think them gods; and creation makes known and points to the one who is their Lord and Maker, the Father of the Word, by its undisputed obedience to his command, as the divine law also says: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.” The proof of these things is not obscure but very clear to those whose eye of understanding is not wholly maimed. For if one were to take the parts of creation by themselves and consider each separately, the sun alone by itself, the moon apart, and again earth and air, and the hot and cold, dry and wet substance, separating them from their union with one another, taking each by itself and contemplating it alone, he will certainly find none sufficient for itself, but all needing one another’s service and subsisting by one another’s help. For the sun is carried round with the whole heaven and contained in it, and could never go outside its revolution; the moon and the other stars testify to the help that comes to them from the sun; the earth again plainly does not yield its fruits without rains; the rains would not come down on the earth without the service of the clouds; and the clouds would never appear or form by themselves without the air. And the air is heated not by itself but by the ether, and is lit up and made bright by the sun. Springs and rivers will never exist without the earth; and the earth is not supported by itself but is set upon the substance of the waters, while it too is contained, bound fast in the middle of the universe. The sea and the great ocean that flows round the whole earth from outside are moved by winds and borne wherever the force of the winds dashes them. And the winds themselves do not arise in themselves but, according to those who have written about them, arise in the air itself from the heating and warmth of the ether upon the air, and through the air they blow everywhere. As for the four elements of which the nature of bodies consists, I mean the hot and the cold, the dry and the wet substance, who is so perverted in mind as not to know that they subsist when joined together, but when divided and existing by themselves they destroy one another …

### Scripture references

- Ps 19:1 (18:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Rom 1:25: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Ps 19:1 is quoted in the Septuagint form (LXX 18:2) and called “the divine law.”
- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 27 (PG 25:52c–56a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-27).

## Against the Heathen 28

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-28
- Source: PG 25:56b–57b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Neither the parts of creation nor the cosmos as a composite whole can be God, since God is not composed of unlike parts but is the maker of all composition.

### Greek text

Πῶς οὖν ταῦτα ἂν εἷεν θεοὶ δεόμενα τῆς παρʼ ἑτέρων ἐπικουρίας ; ἢ πῶς παρὰ τούτων αἰτεῖσθαί τι προσήκει, καὶ αὐτῶν ἀπαιτούντων παρʼ ἀλλήλων τὴν εἷς ἑαυτὰ χρείαν ; Εἰ γὰρ περὶ Θεοῦ λόγος ἐστὶ μηδενὸς αὐτὸν ἐπιδεῆ εἶναι, ἀλλʼ αὐτάρκη καὶ πλήρη ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα συστήκει, καὶ μᾶλλον αὐτὸν τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπιδιδόναι· πῶς ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην, καὶ τά ἄλλα μέρη τῆς κτίσεως οὐκ ὅντα τοιαῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ λειπόμενα τῆς ἀλλήλων χρείας, ἀναγορεύειν ἄξιον θεούς; Ἀλλʼ ἴσως διαιρούμενα μὲν καὶ καθʼ ἑαυτὰ λαμβανόμενα, ἐπιδεῆ εἶναι αὐτὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ συνομολογοῦσι, τῆς ἀποδείξεως ἐπʼ ὀφθαλμῶν οὔσης· ὁμοῦ δὲ πάντα συνάπτοντες, καὶ ὡς ἓν ἀποτελοῦντες μέγα σῶμα, τὸ ὅλον Θεὸν εἶναι φήσουσι. Συστάντος γὰρ τοῦ ὅλου, οὐκ ἔτι μὲν ἔξωθεν αὐτοῖς χρεία γενήσεται· ἑαυτῷ δὶ τὸ ὅλον ἱκανὸν καί αὔταρκες γενήσεται πρὸς πάντα, λέξουσιν οἱ δοκησίσοφοι, ’ίνα καὶ ἐντεῦθεν ἐλεγχθῶσιν· οὗτος δὲ ὁ λόγος καὶ μᾶλλον αὐτῶν τὴν ἀσέβειαν μετὰ μεγάλης ἀπαιδευσίας οὐκ ἔλαττον τῶν πρόσθεν ἀποδείξει. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ καθʼ ἕκαστον συναφθέν, τὸ ὅλον ἀναπληροῖ, καί τὸ ὅλον έκ τῶν καθʼ ἓν συνίσταται* τὸ ὅλον ἄρα ἐκ μερῶν συνέστη· καὶ ἕκαστον τοῦ ὅλου μέρος τυγχάνει. Τοῦτο δὲ τῶν περὶ Θεοῦ ἐννοιῶν πολύ πόῤῥωθεν καθέστηκεν. Ὀ γὰρ Θεὸς ὅλον ἐστὶ καὶ οὗ μέρη, καί οὐκ ἐκ διαφόρων συνέστηκεν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς τῆς πάντων συστάσεώς ἐστι ποιητής. Θέα γὰρ ὅσην ἀσέβειαν κατὰ τοῦ Θείου ταῦτα λέγοντες ἐξηγοῦνται. Εἰ γὰρ ἐκ μερῶν συνέστηκε, πάντως αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ ἀνόμοιος φανήσεται, καὶ ἐξ ἀνομοίων ἔχων τὴν συμπλήρωσιν. Εἰ γὰρ ἥλιός ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔστι σελήνη* καὶ εἰ σελήνη ἐστὶν, οὐκ ἔστι γῆο καὶ εἰ γῆ τυγχάνει, οὐκ ἂν εἷή θάλασσα· καὶ οὕτως ἐφʼ ἑκάστου λαμβάνων ἄν τις εὑρήσει τήν ἀτοπίαν τοῦ τοιούτου αὐτῶν λόγου. Τοῦτο δʼ ἅν τις καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπείου σώματος ἰδὼν καταγνοίη τούτων. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ ἔστιν ἀκοὴ, οὐδὲ ἡ ἀκοὴ χεὶρ, οὐδὲ ἡ γαστήρ ἐστι στέρνα, οὐδʼ αὖ πάλιν ὁ αὐχήν ἐστι ποῦς ἀλλʼ ἕκαστον τούτων ἰδίαν ἔχει τὴν ἐνέργειαν, καὶ έκ τούτων διαφόρων ὄντων ἓν συνίσταται σῶμα, συνημμένα μὲν ἔχον τὰ μέρη κατά τήν χρείαν, διαιρούμενα δὲ κατά τὴν τοῦ χρόνου παρουσίαν, ὅταν ἡ φύσις συνάξασα ταῦτα διέλῃ, ὡς ὁ προστάξας Θεὸς βούλεται· οὕτω (συγγνώμην δὲ ὁ λόγος ἐχέτω παρʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κρείττονος), εἰ, τὰ μέρη τῆς κτίσεως συνάπτοντες εἰς ἓν σῶμα, θεὸν ἀναγορεύουσιν, ἀνάγκη αὐτὸν μέν καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἀνόμοιον ἑαυτῷ εἶναι, ὥσπερ ἐδείχθη, διαιρεῖσθαι δὲ πάλιν κατὰ τὴν τῶν μερῶν εἷς τὸ μερίζεσθαι γενομένην φύσιν.

### English translation (Claude)

How, then, could these be gods, when they need help from others? Or how is it fitting to ask anything of them, when they themselves demand from one another what they need? For if it is the account of God that he lacks nothing, but is self-sufficient and full of himself, and that in him all things consist, and that he rather gives to all, how is it right to proclaim as gods the sun and the moon and the other parts of creation, which are not like this, but even lack one another’s service? But perhaps they too will agree that, divided and taken by themselves, they are in need, since the proof is before their eyes; but joining all together and making them as one great body, they will say that the whole is God. For when the whole is put together, there will no longer be any need from outside, but the whole will be sufficient for itself and self-sufficient in all things: so those wise in their own conceit will say, so that they may be refuted on this ground too. This argument will show their impiety, along with great ignorance, no less than the former ones. For if each thing, when joined to the rest, fills up the whole, and the whole consists of the single things, then the whole is composed of parts, and each thing is a part of the whole. But this stands very far from the notions of God. For God is a whole and not parts, and does not consist of different things, but is himself the maker of the composition of all things. See what impiety against the Divine they express in saying these things. For if he is composed of parts, he will certainly appear unlike himself, having his completion from unlike things. For if he is the sun, he is not the moon; and if he is the moon, he is not the earth; and if he is the earth, he would not be the sea; and taking each in this way one will find the absurdity of this argument of theirs. One might also condemn them by looking at our own human body. For as the eye is not hearing, nor hearing a hand, nor is the belly the chest, nor again the neck a foot, but each of these has its own activity, and from these different parts one body is composed, having its parts joined for use, but divided when the time comes, when nature, which brought them together, separates them as God who ordained it wills; so (may the argument be pardoned by the Most High himself) if they join the parts of creation into one body and proclaim it God, it must be that he is unlike himself in himself, as was shown, and again that he is divided, according to the nature of the parts, which is to be divided.

### Scripture references

- Col 1:17: echo, medium confidence
- Acts 17:25: echo, low confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 28 (PG 25:56b–57b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-28).

## Against the Heathen 29

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-29
- Source: PG 25:57b–60c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Since the parts of creation hinder and overcome one another, they cannot be gods; having refuted error, Athanasius turns to the Word of the Father, through whom the Father is known.

### Greek text

Καὶ ἄλλως δὲ ἄν τις αὐτῶν ἐλέγξειε τὴν ἀθεότητα κατὰ τήν τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρίαν. Εἰ γὰρ 6 Θεὸς ἀσώματός ἐστι, καὶ ἀόρατος, καὶ ἄψαυστος τῇ φύσει, πῶς σῶμα τὸν Θεὸν ἐπινοοῦσι, καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ ὧν ψαύομεν τῇ χειρὶ, θρησκεύουσι τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ τιμῇ ; Καὶ πάλιν, εἷ ὁ περὶ Θεοῦ κρατεῖ λόγος, δυνατὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι κατά πάντα, καὶ μηδὲν μὲν αὐτοῦ κρατεῖν, αὐτὸν δὲ τῶν πάντων κρατεῖν, καί δεσπόζειν* πῶς οἱ τήν κτίσιν θεοποιοῦντες οὐχ ὁρῶσιν αὐτὴν ἐκτὸς οὖσαν τοῦ τοιούτου περὶ Θεοῦ ὅρου; Ἡλίου μὲν γαρ ὑπὸ γῆν γενομένου τὸ φῶς ἡ γῆ σκιάζει μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι· σελήνην δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ὁ ἥλιος ἐπικρύπτει τῇ τοῦ φωτὸς λαμπηδόνι. Καὶ γῆς μὲν τούς καρπούς πολλάκις χάλαζα βλάπτει τὸ πῦρ δὲ, εἰ γένοιτό τις ὑδάτων πλημμύρα, σβέννυται. Καὶ χειμῶνα μὲν ἔαρ παραγκωνίζεται, θέρος δὲ τὸ ἔαρ ὑπερβῆναι τοὺς ὅρους οὔκ ἐπιτρέπει, καὶ αὐτὸ πάλιν ὑπὸ τοῦ μετοπώρου κωλυόμενον τὰς ἰδίας ὥρας ἐξέρχεσθαι. Εἴπερ οὖν ἦσαν θεοὶ, ἔδει τούτους μὴ ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων ἡττᾶσθαι καὶ ἐπικρύπτεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πάντοτε ἀλληλοις συνεῖναι, καὶ κοινὰς ἅμα τὰς ἐνεργείας ἀποτελεῖν· ἔδει μεθʼ ἡμέραν καὶ μετά νύκτα ἥλιον ὁμοῦ καὶ σελήνην καὶ τὸν ἄλλον τῶν ἀστέρων χορὸν ἴσον ἔχειν τὸ φῶς,καὶ τοῦτο πᾶσι λάμπειν, καὶ πάντα παρʼ αὐτῶν καταυγάζεσθαι · ἔδει θέρος ὁμοῦ καὶ χειμῶνα καὶ ἔαρ καὶ μετόπωρον ἀπαραλλάκτως καὶ κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ συνίστασθαι· ἔδει τὴν θάλασσαν ταῖς πηγαῖς ἐπιμίγνυσθαι καὶ κοινὸν ἀνθρώποις τὸ πόμα παρέχειν· ἔδει νηνεμίας καὶ τῶν ἀνέμων τὰς,πνοὰς ἐν ταὐτῷ γίνεσθαιʼ ἔδει τὸ πῦρ ὁμοῦ καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ κοινὴν καὶ μίαν ἀνθρώποις τὴν χρείαν παρέχειν. Οὐδὲ γάρ οὐδὲ βλάβην ἄν τις ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑπέμεινε, θεῶν ὄντων κατʼ αὐτοὺς, καὶ μηδὲν ἐπὶ βλάβη, ἐπʼ ὠφελείᾳ δέ μᾶλλον πάντα ποιούντων. Εἰ δὲ ταῦτα γίνεσθαι ἀδύνατον διὰ τήν πρὸς ἄλληλα ἐναντιότητα, πῶς οἷόν τε ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις ἐναντία καὶ μαχόμενα, καὶ μή δυνάμενα ἀλλήλοις συστῆναι, ἔτι θεοὺς ὀνομάζειν, ἢ Θεοῦ θρησκεύεσθαι τιμαῖς· Τά δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτά ἀσύμφωνον τήν φύσιν ἔχοντα πῶς ἂν ἄλλοις εὐχομένοις εἰρήνην παρέχοιεν, καὶ ὁμονοίας αὐτοῖς γένοιντο πρυτάνεις; Οὔτε οὖν ἥλιος εἰκότως, οὕτε σελήνη, οὔτε ἄλλο τι μέρος τῆς κτίσεως, πολλῷ δὲ πλέον οὐδὲ τά ἐν λίθοις καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ὕλαις ἀγάλματα, οὐδὲ οἱ παρά ποιηταῖς μυθευόμενοι Ζεὺς καὶ Ἀπόλλων καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι εἶεν ἀληθῶς θεοί, ὡς ὁ λόγος ἀπέδειξενο ἀλλά τά μὲν αὐτῶν μέρη τῆς κτίσεώς ἐστι, τὰ δὲ αὐτῶν ἄψυχα τυγχάνει, τά δὲ μόνον ἅνθρωποι θνητοὶ γεγόνασι. Διὸ καὶ ἠ περὶ ταῦτα θρησκεία καὶ θεοποιία οὐκ εὗσεβείας, ἀλλά ἀθεότητος καὶ πάσης ἀσεβείας ἐστὶν εἰσήγησις, καὶ μεγάλης πλάνης ἔλεγχος ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν γνώσεως,λέγω δὴ τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ Πατέρα. Ὅτε τοίνυν ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἐλέγχεται καὶ δέδεικται ἡ παρά τοῖς Ἕλλησιν εἰδωλολατρεία πάσης ἀθεότητος οὖσα μεστὴ, καὶ οὐκ ἐπʼ ὠφελείᾳ, ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἀπωλείᾳ τῷ βίῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰσαχθεῖσα· φέρε λοιπὸν, ὡς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ λόγος ἐπηγγείλατο, τῆς πλάνης διελεγχθείσης, τήν τῆς ἀληθείας ὁδὸν ὁδεύσωμεν, καὶ θεωρήσωμεν τὸν ἡγεμόνα καὶ δημιουργὸν τοῦ παντὸς τὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον, ’ίνα διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν τούτου Πατέρα Θεὸν κατανοήσωμεν, καί γνῶσιν ’Έλληνες ὅσον τῆς ἀληθείας ἑαυτοὺς ἀπεσχοίνισαν.

### English translation (Claude)

One might refute their godlessness in another way too, according to the contemplation of the truth. If God is incorporeal, invisible, and intangible by nature, how do they conceive of God as a body, and worship with the honor due to God things that are seen by the eyes and that we touch with the hand? And again, if the account of God holds, that he is powerful in all things, and that nothing has power over him but he has power over all and is master of all, how do those who deify creation not see that it falls outside such a definition of God? For when the sun goes below the earth, the earth overshadows its light so that it is not seen; and by day the sun hides the moon by the brilliance of its light. Hail often damages the fruits of the earth; fire is quenched if a flood of waters comes. Spring thrusts winter aside, summer does not allow spring to pass its bounds, and summer in turn is prevented by autumn from going beyond its own seasons. If, then, they were gods, they ought not to be defeated and hidden by one another, but always to be together and to carry out their activities in common. Sun and moon and the rest of the choir of stars should have equal light by day and by night, shining for all and lighting up all things; summer, winter, spring, and autumn should exist together without change and in the same way; the sea should mingle with the springs and provide a common drink for human beings; calms and blasts of wind should occur at the same time; fire and water together should provide one common use for human beings. For no one would suffer any harm from them if, as these people say, they were gods and did nothing for harm, but everything rather for benefit. But if these things cannot happen because of their opposition to one another, how can one still call these things gods, opposed and at war with one another and unable to coexist, or worship them with the honors due to God? How could things whose nature is discordant with itself give peace to others who pray to them, and become for them presidents of concord? It is reasonable, then, that neither the sun, nor the moon, nor any other part of creation, much less the statues in stone and gold and the other materials, nor the Zeus and Apollo and the rest of the poets’ myths, are truly gods, as the argument has shown; but some of them are parts of creation, some are lifeless, and some were only mortal men. Therefore the worship and deification of these things is the introduction not of piety but of godlessness and of all impiety, and the proof of a great straying from the knowledge of the one and only true God, I mean the Father of Christ. Since, then, these things have been refuted in this way, and the idolatry among the Greeks has been shown to be full of all godlessness, and to have been introduced into human life not for its benefit but for its destruction, come now, as our argument promised at the beginning, now that error has been refuted, let us travel the road of truth and contemplate the leader and maker of the universe, the Word of the Father, so that through him we may come to know God his Father as well, and the Greeks may know how far they have cut themselves off from the truth.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 29 (PG 25:57b–60c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-29).

## Against the Heathen 30

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-30
- Source: PG 25:60c–61b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The road to the true God lies within each person, in the rational soul, which Athanasius now sets out to prove exists.

### Greek text

Τά μὲν προειρημένα οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ πλάνη τῷ βίῳ διηλέγχθηʼ ἡ δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας ὁδὸς πρὸς τὸν ὅντως ὄντα Θεὸν ἕξει τὸν σκοπόν. Πρὸς δὲ τὴν ταύτης γνῶσιν καὶ ἀκριβῆ κατάληψιν οὐκ ἄλλων ἐστὶν ἡμῖν χρεία, ἀλλʼ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν· οὐδʼ ὥσπερ ἐστὶν αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς ὑπεράνω πάντων, οὕτω καὶ ἡ πρὸς,τοῦτον ὁδὸς πόρρωθεν ἔξωθεν ἡμῶν ἐστιν· ἀλλʼ ἐν ἡμῖν ἐστι, καὶ ἀφʼ ἡμῶν εὑρεῖν τήν ἀρχὴν δυνατὸν, καθὼς καὶ Μωϋσῆς ἐδίδασκε λέγων · Τὸ ῥῆμα τῆς πίστεως ἐντὸς τῆς καρδίας σοῦ ἐστιν. Ὅπερ καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ σημαίνων καὶ βεβαιῶν ἔλεγεν· Ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν. Ἔνδον γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς ἔχοντες τήν πίστιν καὶ τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, δυνάμεθα ταχέως θεωρῆσαι καὶ νοῆσαι τὸν τοῦ παντὸς βασιλέα, τοῦ Πατρὸς σωτήριον Λόγον. Καὶ μή προφασιζέσθωσαν Ἕλληνες οἱ τοῖς εἰδώλοις θρησκεύοντες· μηδὲ ἄλλος τις ἁπλῶς ἑαυτὸν ἀπατάτω, ὡς τὴν τοιαύτην ὁδὸν οὐκ ἔχων, καὶ διά τοῦτο τῆς ἀθεότητος ἑαυτοῦ πρόφασιν εὑρίσκων. Πάντες γάρ εἷς αὐτὴν ἐπιβεβήκαμεν καὶ ἔχομεν, εί καὶ μὴ πάντες αὐτὴν ὁδεύειν, ἀλλὰ παροδεύειν έκβαίνοντες θέλουσι διὰ τάς ἔξωθεν αὐτοὺς ἑλκούσας ἡδονὰς τοῦ βίου. Καὶ εἷʼ τις ἂν ἔροιτο, τίς ἃν εἷή αὕτη· φημὶ δή τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχὴν εἶναι, καὶ τὸν έν αὖτῆ νοῦν Διʼ αὐτοῦ γάρ μόνου δύναται Θεὸς θεωρεῖσθαι καὶ νοεῖσθαι ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ, ὥσπερ τὸν Θεὸν ἠρνήσαντο, οὕτω καὶ ψυχὴν ἔχειν παραιτήσονται οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, εἰκότως τοῦτο πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων λέγοντες. Ού γὰρ ἐχόντων ἔστι νοῦν ἀρνεῖσθαι τὸν τούτου ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν Θεόν. Ὅτι μὲν οῦν ἕκαστος ἀνθρώπων ψυχὴν ἔχει καί ταύτην λογικὴν, καὶ τοῦτο ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι δεῖξαι διʼ ὀλίγων διὰ τοὺς ἀκεραίους, ἐπεὶ μάλιστά τινες ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων ἀρνοῦνται καὶ τοῦτο, οἰόμενοι μηδὲν πλέον εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἢ τὸ φαινόμενον εἶδος τοῦ σώματοςʼ ἵνα ταύτης δειχθείσης, φανερώτερον διʼ έαυτῶν τὸν κατὰ τῶν εἰδώλων ἔλεγχον ἔχειν δυνηθῶσι.

### English translation (Claude)

What has been said before has been proved to be nothing but error in human life; but the road of truth will have as its goal the God who truly is. For the knowledge and exact apprehension of this road we need no one else but ourselves. Nor, as God himself is above all things, is the road to him far off and outside us; it is in us, and it is possible to find its beginning from ourselves, as Moses also taught, saying: “The word of faith is within your heart.” The Savior, indicating and confirming this, said: “The kingdom of God is within you.” For since we have faith and the kingdom of God within ourselves, we can quickly contemplate and perceive the King of the universe, the saving Word of the Father. And let not the Greeks who worship idols make excuses, nor let anyone else simply deceive himself, as though he did not have such a road and so found an excuse for his godlessness. For we have all set foot on it and have it, even if not all are willing to travel it, but rather wish to turn aside and pass it by, because of the pleasures of life that draw them from outside. And if anyone should ask what this road is, I say that it is each person’s soul and the mind within it. For through it alone can God be contemplated and perceived, unless the impious, as they have denied God, will also refuse to admit that they have a soul; and they would be right to say this before anything else, for it is not for those who have a mind to deny God, its maker and fashioner. That each human being has a soul, and a rational one, it is necessary to show briefly for the sake of the simple, especially since some of the heretics deny even this, thinking that the human being is nothing more than the visible form of the body; so that, once this has been shown, they may be able to hold through themselves a clearer refutation of the idols.

### Scripture references

- Deut 30:14: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 10:8: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 17:21: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “The word of faith is within your heart” combines Deut 30:14 with Paul’s wording in Rom 10:8.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 30 (PG 25:60c–61b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-30).

## Against the Heathen 31

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-31
- Source: PG 25:61b–64b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The human soul is rational, as shown by deliberate choice, by the mind’s judging the senses as a musician governs a lyre, and by thought ranging beyond the body.

### Greek text

Πρῶτον μὶν οῦν ού μικρὸν γνώρισμα τοῦ λογικὴν εἶναι τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ψυχὴν, ἐκ τοῦ πρὸς τὰ ἄλογα διαλλάττειν αὐτήν· διὰ τοῦτο γάρ ἑκεῖνα μὶν καλεῖν ἄλογα ἡ φύσις εἷʼωθεν, ἐπειδὴ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος ἐστὶ λογικόν· ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν οὐ τὸ τυχὸν ἂν εἷή, ἐκ τοῦ μόνον τὸν ἄνθρωπον τά ἔξωθεν ἑαυτοῦ λογίζεσθαι, καὶ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι τὰ μὴ παρόντα, καὶ πάλιν ἐπιλογίζεσθαι καὶ κρίσει τὸ κρεῖττον τῶν λογισμῶν αἱρεῖσθαι· τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλογα, μόνα τὰ παρόντα βλέπει, καὶ πρὸς μόνα τὰ έν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρμᾷ, κᾶν μετά ταῦτα τὴν βλάβην ἔχῃ. Ὃ δὲ ἄνθρωπος ού πρὸς τὰ βλεπόμενα ὁρμᾷ.ἀλλά τῷ λογισμῷ τὰ διὰ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὁρώμενα κρίνει· πολλάκις γοῦν ὁρμήσας κεκράτηται τῷ λογισμῷ καὶ λογισάμενος, πάλιν έπελογίσατο, καὶ αἰσθάνεται ἕκαστος, εἰ τῆς ἀληθείας γένοιτο φίλος, ὅτι ἄλλος παρά τὰς σωματικὰς αἰσθήσεις ἐστὶν ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. νοῦς* διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν ὡς ἄλλος ὢν, αὐτῶν τῶν αἰσθήσεων γίνεται κριτής · καὶ ὧν ἐκεῖναι ἀντιλαμβάνονται, ταῦτα οὗτος διακρίνει, καὶ ἀναμιμνήσκει, καὶ δείκνυσιν αὐταῖς τὸ κρεῖττον ο Ὀφθαλμοῦ μὲν γὰρ ἐστι μόνον τὸ ὁρᾷν, καὶ ὤτων τὸ ἀκούειν, καὶ στόματος τὰ γεύεσθαι, καὶ ῥινὸς ὀδμῶν ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι, καὶ χειρῶν τὸ ἄπτεσθαιʼ ἀλλʼ ἃ δεῖ ὁρᾷν καὶ ἀκούειν, καὶ ὧν ἅπτεσθαι δεῖ, καὶ γεύεσθαι, καὶ ὀδμὰσθαι, οὐκέτι τῶν αἰσθήσεών ἐστιν, ἀλλά ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ ταύτης νοῦ διακρῖναι. Ἀμέλει καὶ ξίφους λαβέσθαι δύναται ἡ χεὶρ, καὶ δηλητηρίου γεύσασθαι τὸ στόμα· ἀλλʼ οὐκ οἶδεν, ὅτι , βλάπτει ταῦτα, εἰ μή ὁ νοῦς διακρίνῃ. Καὶ ἔοικέ γε τὸ τοιοῦτον, ἵνα ἐπὶ εἰκόνος αὐτὸ θεωρήσωμεν, λύρᾳ καλῶς κατεσκευασμένῃ, καὶ τῷ ταύτην κρατοῦντι μουσικῷ μετʼ ἐπιστήμης. Ὠς γὰρ αἱ ἐν τῇ λύρᾳ νευραὶ ἕκασται μὲν ἔχουσι τὸν ἴδιον φθόγγον, ἡ μὶν βαρὺν, ἡ δὲ ὀξὺν, ἡ δὲ μέσον, ἡ δὲ ὀξύτονονο ἡ δὲ ἀλλον· ἀδιάκριτος δέ ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἁρμονία καὶ ἀδιάγνωστος ἡ σύνθεσις χωρίς τοῦ ἐπιστήμονος· τότε γὰρ καὶ ἠ ἁρμονία αὐτῶν δείκνυται καὶ ἡ σύνταξις ὀρθὴ, ὅταν ὁ κατέχων τήν λύραν πλήξῃ τὰς νευρὰς, καὶ ἁρμοδίως ἑκάστης ἅψηται τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον καὶ τῶν αἰσθήσεων έν τῷ σώματι ὡς λύρας ἡρμοσμένων, ὅταν ὁ ἐπιστήμων νοῦς αὐτῶν ἡγεμονεύῃ· τότε καὶ διακρίνει ἡ ψυχὴ, καὶ οἶδεν ’ὀ ποιεῖ καὶ πράττει. Τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἵδιον ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ, καί τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ λογικὸν τῆς ψυχῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ᾧ χρωμένη διαλλάττει τῶν ἀλόγων, καὶ δείκνυσιν, ὅτι ἀληθῶς ἄλλη παρά τὸ φαινόμενόν ἐστιν ἐν σώματι. Πολλάκις γοῦν κειμένου τοῦ σώματος ἐπὶ γῆς, τὰ έν οὐρανοῖς φαντάζεται καί θεωρεῖ ὁ ἄνθρωπος· καὶ πολλάκις τοῦ σώματος ἠρεμοῦντος καί ἡσυχάζοντος καὶ καθεύδοντος, κινεῖται ἔνδον ὁ ἅνθρωπος, καὶ τὰ ἔξωθεν ἑαυτοῦ θεωρεῖ, χώρας ἀποδημῶν καὶ περιπατῶν, καὶ ἀπαντῶν τοῖς γνωρίμοις, καὶ πολλάκις διὰ τούτων τὰς μεθʼ ἡμέραν πράξεις ἑαυτοῦ μαντευόμενος καί προγινῶσκων. Τοῦτο δὲ τί ἂν εἷή ἓτερον ἢ ψυχὴ λογική, ἐν ᾗ λογίζεται καῖ νοεῖ τὰ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτὸν ὁ ἅνθρωπος;

### English translation (Claude)

First, then, no small mark that the human soul is rational is that it differs from the irrational animals; for this is why nature is accustomed to call them irrational, because the human race is rational. Next, this too would be no ordinary proof: that man alone reasons about things outside himself, considers things that are not present, reflects on them again, and by judgment chooses the better of his reasonings. For the irrational animals see only what is present and rush only at what is before their eyes, even if harm follows. But man does not rush at what he sees; he judges by reasoning what is seen by the eyes. Often, at any rate, after he has started forward he is restrained by reasoning, and having reasoned, he reconsiders. And everyone, if he is a friend of the truth, perceives that the human mind is something other than the bodily senses. Because it is something other, it becomes the judge of the senses themselves; what they perceive, the mind discerns, recalls, and shows them what is better. For it belongs to the eye only to see, to the ears to hear, to the mouth to taste, to the nose to perceive smells, and to the hands to touch; but what one ought to see and hear, and what one ought to touch, taste, and smell, is no longer for the senses but for the soul and its mind to discern. The hand can certainly grasp a sword, and the mouth taste poison; but they do not know that these things are harmful unless the mind discerns it. To look at this through an image, it is like a well-made lyre and the musician who holds it with skill. For the strings in the lyre each have their own note, one low, one high, one middle, one sharp, another something else; yet their harmony cannot be distinguished nor their arrangement recognized without the skilled man. Their harmony and right arrangement are shown only when the one holding the lyre strikes the strings and touches each one fittingly. In the same way, when the senses in the body are tuned like a lyre and the skilled mind directs them, then the soul discerns and knows what it does and acts. This alone is proper to human beings, and this is the rationality of the human soul, by using which it differs from the irrational animals and shows that it is truly something other than what is seen in the body. Often, at any rate, while the body lies on the earth, a man imagines and contemplates the things in the heavens; and often, while the body is still and at rest and asleep, the man moves within and contemplates things outside himself, traveling to foreign lands and walking about and meeting acquaintances, and often through these things divining and foreknowing his actions of the following day. What else would this be but a rational soul, in which man reasons and perceives things beyond himself?

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 31 (PG 25:61b–64b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/22/#p-31).

## Against the Heathen 32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-32
- Source: PG 25:64b–65b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Thoughts of immortality and the mind’s control over the senses show that a rational soul governs the body, as a rider drives a horse.

### Greek text

Καὶ τοῦτο δʼ ἂν εἴη πρὸς ’ἀπόδειξιν ἀκριβῆ τοῖς ἔτι πρὸς ἀναίδειαν τῆς ἀλογίας τετραμμένοις. Πῶς, τοῦ σώματος θνητοῦ κατά φύσιν ὄντος, λογίζεται ἄνθρωπος τά περὶ ἀθανασίας, καὶ πολλάκις ἑαυτῷ τὸν θάνατον ὑπὲρ ἀρετῆς προκαλεῖται (Ι) ; Ἣ πῶς, προσκαίρου τοῦ σώματος ὄντος, τὰ αἰώνια φαντάζεται ἅνθρωπος, ὥστε τῶν μὲν ἐμποδὼν καταφρονεῖν, εἷς ἐκεῖνα δὲ τὸν πόθον ἔχειν ; Τὸ μὶν οὖν σῶμα οὐκ ἂν ἑαυτὸ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ τοιαῦτα λογίσηται, καὶ οὐκ ἃν τὰ ἔξωθεν ἑαυτοῦ λογίζοιτο· θνητὸν ’ γὰρ καὶ πρόσκαιρόν ἐστιν· ἀνάγκη δὲ ἕτερον εἶναι τὸ τὰ ἐναντία καὶ παρά τὴν φύσιν τοῦ σώματος λογιζόμενον. Τί οὖν ἂν εἷή τοῦτο πάλιν, ἢ ψυχὴ λογική καὶ ἀθάνατος; Καὶ γὰρ οὐκ ἔξωθεν,ἀλλʼ ἔνδοθεν αὕτη τῷ σώματι, ὡς ὁ μουσικὸς τῇ λύρᾳ, ένηχεῖ τὰ κρείττονα. Πῶς δὲ πάλιν κατὰ φύσιν ὣν ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς εἷς τὸ ὁρᾷν, καὶ ἡ ἀκοὴ εἷς τὸ ἀκούειν, τὰ μὲν ἀποστρέφονται, τὰ δὲ αἱροῦνται ; Τίς γὰρ ὁ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν τοῦ ὁρᾷν ἀποστρέφων ; ἢ τίς τήν ἀκοὴν κατά φύσιν οὖσαν ἀκουστικήν ἀποκλείει τοῦ ἀκούειν ; Ἦ τίς τὴν γεῦσιν, κατά φύσιν οὖσαν γευστικὴν, κωλύει πολλάκις τῆς φυσικῆς ὁρμῆς ;Τίς δὲ τὴν χεῖρα, κατὰ φύσιν οὖσαν εἷς τὸ ἐνεργεῖν ἐπέχει τοῦ ψαύειν τινός; Τίς δὲ τὴν ὄσφρησιν, καὶ αὐτὴν εἷς τὸ ὁδμᾶσθαι γενομένην, dm..-ι..-. -..τε.--ὶ z..__\-.__l_’_r_,_ n,ml ε «ι ι στρέψει τοῦ μὴ ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι ; Τίς ὁ ταῦτα κατὰ τῶν φυσικῶν τοῦ σώματος ἐνεργῶν; Ἢ πῶς τὸ σῶμα, τήν φύσιν ἀποστραφὲν, ἐπιστρέφεται πρὸς τὰς έτέρῑ...ηεμλμη ---Α __s, γι τ ι η..... συμβουλίας, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐκείνου νεῦμα ἡνιοχεῖται ; Ταῦτα γὰρ οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ ψυχὴν λογικὴν ἀποδείκνυσιν ἡγεμονεύουσαν τοῦ σώματος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἑαυτὸ τὸ σῶμα πέφυκεν ἐλαύνειν, ἀλλʼ ὑφʼ ἑτέρου ἄγεται καί φέρεται,ὥσπερ οὐδὲ ἵππος ἑαυτὸν ὑποζεύγνυσιν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἐλαύνεται. Διά τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ νόμοι μὲν ἀνθρώποις τὰ καλά μὲν πράττειν, τὴν δὲ κακίαν ἀποστρέφεσθαι· τοῖς δὲ ἀλόγοις ἀλόγιστα- τὰ κακᾶ καὶ ἄκριτα μένει, ἅτε δὴ τῆς λογικότητος καὶ τῆς κατὰ λόγον διανοίας ἐκτὸς τυγχάνουσιν. Εἶναι μὲν οὖν ψυχὴν λογικήν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἐκ τῶν προειρήμένων, νομίζω δεδεῖχθαι.

### English translation (Claude)

This too would be an exact proof for those who are still turned toward the shamelessness of unreason. How is it that, though the body is mortal by nature, man reasons about immortality, and often calls death upon himself for the sake of virtue? Or how, though the body is temporary, does man imagine eternal things, so as to despise what lies before him and to set his longing on those? The body could not reason such things about itself, nor would it reason about things outside itself; for it is mortal and temporary. There must be something else that reasons about things contrary to and beyond the nature of the body. What else, then, would this be but a rational and immortal soul? For it is not from outside but from within that the soul sounds the better notes for the body, as the musician does on the lyre. And again, how is it that the eye, which is by nature for seeing, and the hearing, which is for hearing, turn away from some things and choose others? Who turns the eye away from seeing? Or who shuts off from hearing the hearing that is by nature fit for hearing? Who often hinders the taste, which is by nature able to taste, from its natural impulse? Who keeps the hand, which is by nature made for acting, from touching something? Who turns the sense of smell, which was made for smelling, away from perceiving? Who is it that does these things against the natural activities of the body? Or how does the body, turned away from its nature, turn to the counsels of another and let itself be steered at its nod? These things show nothing else but a rational soul directing the body. For the body is not made to drive itself, but is led and carried by another, just as a horse does not yoke itself but is driven by its master. That is why there are laws for human beings to do good and to turn away from wickedness, while for the irrational animals evil things remain unreasoned and undiscerned, since they are outside rationality and rational thought. That there is a rational soul in human beings, then, I think has been shown from what has been said.

### Translation notes

- Two lines (in the sentence on the sense of smell and in “turn to the counsels of another”) are garbled in the scan and are translated by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 32 (PG 25:64b–65b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-32).

## Against the Heathen 33

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-33
- Source: PG 25:65b–68b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The soul is immortal, for it moves itself, its movement is its life, and even in the body it reaches beyond the body to eternal things.

### Greek text

Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀθάνατος γέγονεν ἡ ψυχὴ, καί τοῦτο ἀναγκαῖον εἰδέναι έν τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ διδασκαλίᾳ πρὸς ἔλεγχον τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων ἀναιρέσεως. Γένοιτο δʼ ἂν οὖν περὶ τούτων γνῶσις ἐγγυτέρω μᾶλλον ἐκ τῆς περὶ τοῦ σώματος γνώσεως, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πρὸς τὸ σῶμα διαλλάττειν αὐτήν. Εἰ γὰρ ἄλλην αὐτὴν ὁ λόγος ἀπέδειξε παρὰ τὸ σῶμα, ἔστι δὲ τὸ σῶμα φύσει θνητόν ἀνάγκη τὴν ψυχὴν ἀθάνατον εἶναι, τῷ μὴ εἶναι κατὰ τὸ σῶμα. Καὶ πάλιν εἰ ἡ ψυχὴ τό σῶμα κινεῖ, ὡς δέδεικται, καὶ οὐχὶ ὑπό ἄλλων αὐτὴ κινεῖται, ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῆς κινουμένην τήν ψυχὴν, καὶ μετά τήν εἷς γῆν ἀπόθεσιν τοῦ σώματος κινεῖσθαι πάλιν αὐτὴν ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς. Οὐ γὰρ ἠ ψυχή ἐστιν ἡ ἀποθνήσκουσα· ἀλλὰ διὰ τήν ταύτης ἀναχώρησιν ἀποθνήσκει τὸ σῶμα. Εἰ μὲν οὖν καὶ αὕτη ὑπὸ τοῦ σώματος ἐκινεῖτο, ἀκόλουθον ἦν, ἀναχωροῦντος τοῦ κινοῦντος, ἀποθνήσκειν αὐτήν· εἰ δὲ ἡ ψυχή κινεῖ καὶ τὸ σῶμα, ἀνάγκη μᾶλλον αὐτὴν ἑαυτὴν κινεῖν. Ἑαυτῇ δὲ κινουμένη, ἐξ ἀνάγκης καὶ μετὰ τὸν τοῦ σώματος θάνατον ζῇ. Ἠ γὰρ κίνησις τῆς ψυχῆς οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν ἢ ἡ ζωὴ αὐτῆς· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει ’καὶ τὸ σῶμα τότε ζῇν λέγομεν, ὅτε κινεῖται, καὶ τότε θάνατον αὗτοῦ εἶναι, ὅτε τῆς κινήσεως παύεται. Τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς έν σώματι καθάπαξ ἐνεργείας αὐτῆς φανερώτερον ἄν τις ἴδοι, Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἐπιβέβηκε καὶ συνδέδεται τούτῳ, οὐ κατά τὴν τοῦ σώματος σμικρότητα συστέλλεται καὶ συμμετρεῖται, ἆλλὰ πολλάκις, ἐπὶ κλίνης τούτου κειμένου καὶ μή κινουμένου, ἀλλʼ ὡς έν θανάτῳ κοιμωμένου, αὕτη κατὰ τήν ἑαυτῆς δύναμιν γρηγορεῖ, καὶ ὑπερεκβαίνει τήν τοῦ σώματος φύσιν· καὶ ἀποδημοῦσα τούτου, μένουσα ἐν τῷ σώματι, τὰ ὑπὲρ __.'!__ _- --μ Al” κ \ n υ κς 1 ιιι ι η ιιι γῆν φαντάζεται καὶ θεωρεῖ, πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τοῖς τῶν γηίνων σωμάτων ἀγίοις καὶ ἀγγέλοις συναντᾷ, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἀφικνεῖται τῇ τοῦ νοῦ θαῤῥουσα καθαρότητι· πῶς οὐχὶ μᾶλλον καί πολλῷ πλέον, ἀπολυθεῖσα τοῦ σώματος, ὅτε ὁ συνδήσας αὐτὴν βούλεται Θεὸς, φανερωτέραν ἕξει τήν τῆς ἀθανασίας γνῶσιν; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ συνδεθεῖσα σώματι τὴν ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματος ζωήν ἔζη, πολλῷ πλέον καὶ μετὰ θάνατον τοῦ σώματος ζήσεται, καί οὐ παύσεται τοῦ ζῇν διὰ τὸν οὕτως αὐτὴν ποιήσαντα Θεὸν διὰ τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγου, τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Διά τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἀθάνατα καὶ αἰώνια λογίζεται καὶ φρονεῖ, ἐπειδή καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι. Καὶ ὥσπερ, τοῦ σώματος θνητοῦ τυγχάνοντος, θνητά καὶ αἱ τούτου θεωροῦσιν αἰσθήσεις, οὕτως ἀθάνατα θεωροῦσαν καὶ λογιζομένην τὴν ψυχὴν, ἀνάγκη καὶ αὐτὴν ἀθάνατον εἶναι καὶ ἀεὶ ζῇν Αἱ γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἔννοιαι καὶ θεωρίαι οὐδέποτε αὐτὴν ἀφιᾶσι μένουσαι ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ ὥσπερ ἔκκαυμα ἐν αὐτῇ γινόμεναι πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν τῆς ἀθανασίας. Διὰ τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ θεωρίας

### English translation (Claude)

That the soul was also made immortal is likewise necessary to know in the church’s teaching, for the refutation and overthrow of idols. The knowledge of this would come more closely from knowledge of the body, and from the soul’s difference from the body. For if the argument has shown that the soul is other than the body, and the body is mortal by nature, the soul must be immortal, because it is not like the body. And again, if the soul moves the body, as has been shown, and is not itself moved by others, it follows that the soul, being moved by itself, moves again of itself even after the body has been laid in the earth. For it is not the soul that dies; rather, the body dies because of the soul’s departure. If the soul were moved by the body, it would follow that when its mover departed it would die; but if the soul moves even the body, it must all the more move itself; and moving itself, it necessarily lives even after the death of the body. For the movement of the soul is nothing other than its life, just as we say that the body lives when it moves, and that its death comes when it ceases from movement. One might see this more clearly from its activity in the body. For even though it has entered the body and is bound to it, it is not contracted and measured to the smallness of the body. Often, when the body lies on a bed and does not move but sleeps as if in death, the soul keeps awake by its own power and goes beyond the nature of the body; and, as if traveling away from it while remaining in the body, it imagines and contemplates things above the earth, and often meets the saints and angels beyond earthly bodies and goes to them, trusting in the purity of the mind. How then will it not much more, when it has been released from the body at the time willed by God who bound it to it, have a clearer knowledge of immortality? For if even when bound to a body it lived the life that is outside the body, much more will it live after the death of the body, and it will not cease to live, because of God who made it so through his own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason it reasons about and thinks of immortal and eternal things, since it too is immortal. And as, the body being mortal, its senses also behold mortal things, so the soul, since it contemplates and reasons about immortal things, must itself be immortal and live forever. For the conceptions and contemplations of immortality never leave it, but remain in it and are like a kindling in it, for the assurance of immortality. For this reason, too, of the contemplation of God …

### Translation notes

- “Beyond earthly bodies”: the scan’s text is defective here and the sense is supplied from the context.
- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 33 (PG 25:65b–68b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-33).

## Against the Heathen 34

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-34
- Source: PG 25:68b–69a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The soul made in God’s image can return to God by cleansing itself of desire and beholding the Word, the Father’s image, as in a mirror; creation also proclaims its Maker.

### Greek text

Λέγομεν οὗν, καθάπερ εἴρηται πρότερον, ὥσπερ τὸν Θεὸν ἠρνήσαντο, καὶ ἄψυχα θρησκεύουσιν, οὕτω καὶ τήν ψυχὴν οὐκ ἔχειν λογικήν νομίζοντες, αὒτόθεν ἔχουσι τῆς παραφροσύνης τὴν ἐπιτιμίαν έν ἀλόγοις καταριθμούμενον καί διὰ τοῦτο ὡς ἅψυχοι ἐν ἀψύχοις ἔχοντες τὴν δεισιδαιμονίαν, ἐλέους καὶ χειραγωγίας εἰσὶν ἄξιοι. Εἰ δὲ ψυχὴν ἀξιοῦσιν ἔχειν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ λογικῷ μέγα φρονοῦσιν, εἰκότως τοῦτο ποιοῦντεςʼ διὰ τί ὡς μὴ ἔχοντες ψυχήν παρὰ λόγον τολμωσι, καὶ οὐχ ἃ δεῖ φρονεῖν φρονοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κρείττονας ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ τοῦ Θείου ποιοῦσι; Ψυχὴν γάρ ἀθάνατον ἔχοντες καὶ μὴ βλεπομένην αὐτοῖς, τὸν Θεὸν ἐν τοῖς βλεπομένοις καὶ θνητοῖς ἀπεικάζουσιν. *Η διὰ τί, ὥσπερ ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὕτως οὐ καταφεύγουσι πάλιν πρὸς αὐτόν ; Δύνανται γὰρ, ὥσπερ ἀπεστράφησαν τῇ διανοιᾳ τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα ἀνεπλάσαντο εἰς θεοὺς, οὕτως ἀναβῆναι τῷ νῷ τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Ἐπιστρέψαι δὲ δύνανται, ἐὰν ’ὸν ἐνεδύσαντο ῥύπον πάσης ἐπιθυμίας, ἀπόθωνται, καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀπονίψωνται, ἕως ἂν ἀπόθωνται πᾶν τὸ συμβεβηκὸς ἀλλότριον τῇ ψυχῇ, καὶ μόνην αὐτὴν ὥσπερ γέγονεν, ἀποδείξωσιν, ἵν’ οὕτως ἐν αὐτῇ θεωρῆσαι τόν τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον, καθʼ ὃν καὶ γεγόνασιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς, δυνηθῶσι. Κατʼ εἷʼκόνα γὰρ Θεοῦ πεποίηται, καὶ καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν γέγονεν, ὡς καὶ ἡ θεία σημαίνει Γραφὴ ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγουσα· Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν. Ὅθεν καὶ ὅτε πάντα τὸν ἐπιχυθέντα ῥύπον τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς ἀποτίθεται, καὶ μόνον τὸ κατʼ εἰκόνα καθαρὸν φυλάττει, εἰκότως, διαλαμπρυνθέντος τούτου, ὡς ἐν κατόπτρῳ θεωρεῖ τήν εἰκόνα τοῦ Πατρὸς τὸν Λόγον, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ τὸν Πατέρα, οὗ καὶ ἔστιν εἰκὼν ὁ Σωτήρ, λογίζεται. Ἠ εἰ μὴ αὗτάρκης ἐστὶν ἡ παρά τῆς ψυχῆς διδασκαλία διὰ τὰ ἐπιθολοῦντα ταύτης ἔξωθεν τὸν νοῦν, καί μή ὁρᾷν αὐτὴν τὸ κρεῖττον· ἀλλʼ ἔστι πάλιν καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν φαινομένων τὴν περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν καταλαβεῖν, τῆς κτίσεως ὥσπερ γράμμασι διὰ τῆς τάξεως καὶ ἁρμονίας τὸν ἑαυτῆς δεσπότην καὶ ποιητὴν σημαινούσης καὶ βοώσης.

### English translation (Claude)

We say, then, as was said before, that just as they have denied God and worship lifeless things, so, by thinking that they do not have a rational soul, they have at once the penalty of their madness, being numbered among the irrational animals; and therefore, since like soulless men they have their superstition in soulless things, they deserve pity and guidance. But if they claim to have a soul and pride themselves on their rationality, as they rightly do, why do they, as though they had no soul, dare things against reason, and not think what they ought, but make themselves superior even to the Divine? For though they have an immortal soul which is not seen by them, they liken God to things that are seen and mortal. Or why, as they departed from God, do they not flee back to him again? For they can, just as they turned away from God in their thought and fashioned things that are not into gods, likewise ascend by the mind of the soul and turn again to God. And they can turn, if they put off the filth of every desire which they have put on, and wash themselves until they have put away everything foreign that has come upon the soul, and show it alone as it was made, so that in this way they may be able to contemplate in it the Word of the Father, after whom they were made in the beginning. For the soul was made after the image of God and came to be after his likeness, as the divine Scripture also indicates, saying in the person of God: “Let us make man after our image and likeness.” Hence, when the soul puts away from itself all the filth of sin that has been poured over it and keeps pure only what is after the image, then rightly, once this has been made bright, it beholds as in a mirror the image of the Father, the Word, and in him it reasons about the Father, whose image the Savior is. Or if the soul’s own teaching is not sufficient, because of the things outside that cloud its mind and keep it from seeing what is better, it is possible again to grasp the knowledge of God from the things that appear, since creation, as if by letters, signifies and proclaims its Master and Maker by its order and harmony.

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence
- 2 Cor 3:18: echo, medium confidence
- Col 1:15: allusion, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 34 (PG 25:68b–69a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-34).

## Against the Heathen 35

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-35
- Source: PG 25:69a–72a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God, invisible by nature, ordered creation through his Word so that he might be known from his works, as Paul teaches in Romans 1 and Acts 14.

### Greek text

Ἀγαθὸς γὰρ οὖν καὶ φιλάνθρωπος ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ κηδόμενος τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γενομένων ψυχῶν, ἐπειδή ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατάληπτός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν, ἐπέκεινα πάσης γενητῆς οὐσίας ὑπάρχων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἔμελλε τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος ἀτυχεῖν τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ γνώσεως, τῶ τὰ μὲν ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων εἶναι, τὸν δὲ ἀγένητον· τούτου ἕνεκεν τὴν κτίσιν οὕτω διε- , ἐπειδή τήν κόσμησε τῷ ἐαυτοῦ Λόγῳ ὁ Θεὸς, θίνʼ (ρόσιν ἐστὶν ἀόρατος, κᾶν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων γινώσκεσθαι,ι λ- -....,κ....ι μ, δυνηθῇ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. Ἐκ γὰρ τῶν ἔργων πολλάκις ὁ τεχνίτης καὶ μὴ ὁρώμενος γινώσκεται καὶ οἷόν τι λέγουσι περὶ τοῦ ἀγαλματοποιοῦ Φειδίου, ὠς τὰ τούτου δημιουργήματα ἐκ τῆς συμμετρίας καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα τῶν μερῶν ἀναλογίας ἐμφαίνειν καὶ μὴ παρόντα Φειδίαν τοῖς ὁρῶσινʼ οὕτω δεῖ νοεῖν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου τάξεως τὸν τούτου ποιητὴν καὶ δημιουργὸν Θεὸν, κᾶν τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοῖς μὴ θεωρῆται Οὐ γὰρ κατεχρήσατο τῇ ἀοράτῳ φύσει αὐτοῦ ὁ Θεός· μή τις τοῦτο προφασιζέσθωο καὶ παντελῶς ἑαυτὸν ἄγνωστον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀφῆκεν ο ἀλλʼ ὡς προεῖπον, οῦτω διεκόσμησε τήν κτίσιν, ὥστε καὶ μή ὁρώμενον αὑτὸν τῇ φύσει, ὅμως ἐκ τῶν ἔργων γινώσκεσθαι. Καὶ τοῦτο οὐ παρʼ ἐμαυτοῦ φημι, ἀλλʼ ἀφʼ ὧν ἀπὸ τῶν θεολόγων ἀνδρῶν ἔμαθον, ὧν εἷς ἐστιν ὁ Παῦλος, Ῥωμαίοις μὲν γράφων οὕτω· Τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται. Λυκάοσι δὲ παρρησιαζόμενος καὶ λέγων· Καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς ἐσμεν ὑμῖν ἅνθρωποι, εὐαγγελιζόμενοι ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῶν ματαίων ἐπιστρέφειν ἐπί Θεὸν ζῶντα, ὃς ἐποίησε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τήν γῆν καὶ τήν θάλασσαν, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὃς ἐν ταῖς παρῳχημέναις γενεαῖς εἷάσε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη πορεύεσθαι ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν. Καίτοι γε οὐκ ἀμάρτυρον ἐαυτὸν ἀφῆκεν ἀγαθουργῶν, οὐρανόθεν ἡμῖν διδοὺς ὑετοὺς καὶ καιροὺς καρποφόρους, ἐμπιπλῶν τροφῆς καὶ εὐφροσύνης τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν. Τίς γάρ, ὁρῶν τὸν ούρανοῦ κύκλον καὶ τὸν δρόμον ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀστέρων τὰς θέσεις καὶ τὰς περιπολήσεις, ἐναντίας μὲν καὶ διαφόρους γιγνομένας, ἐν δὲ τῇ διαφορᾷ ὁμοίαν τήν τάξιν παρᾶ πάντων ὁμοῦ σωζομένην, οὐκ ἐνθυμεῖται, ὅτι οὐκ αὐτὰ ἑαυτὰ, ἀλλʼ ἕτερός ἐστιν ὁ διακοσμῶν αὐτὰ ποιητής ; Τίς δὲ, ὁρῶν ἥλιον μὶν ἀνατέλλοντα καθʼ ἡμέραν, σελήνην δὲ φαίνουσαν κατά νύκτα, καὶ φθίνουσαν, καὶ πληρουμένην ἀπαραλλάκτως κατὰ τὸν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἴσον πάντως ἀριθμὸν,

### English translation (Claude)

For God is good and loves humanity, and cares for the souls he has made. Since he is invisible and incomprehensible by nature, being beyond all created being, the human race was likely to fail to attain the knowledge of him, since they are from nothing while he is unoriginate. For this reason God so ordered creation by his own Word that, although he is invisible by nature, he might still be known to human beings from his works. For a craftsman is often known from his works even when he is not seen. As they say of the sculptor Phidias, that his works, by their symmetry and the proportion of their parts to one another, reveal Phidias to those who see them even when he is not present, so one must perceive from the order of the world its maker and fashioner, God, even though he is not beheld with the eyes of the body. For God did not take advantage of his invisible nature (let no one plead this as an excuse) and leave himself wholly unknown to human beings; but, as I said before, he so ordered creation that, though he is not seen in his nature, he is still known from his works. And I say this not of myself but from what I learned from men who spoke of God, one of whom is Paul. He writes thus to the Romans: “For his invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made”; and he speaks boldly to the Lycaonians, saying: “We too are men of like nature with you, preaching good news to you, that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them; who in past generations allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways; and yet he did not leave himself without witness, doing good, giving us rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” For who, seeing the circle of heaven and the course of the sun and the moon, and the positions and revolutions of the other stars, opposite and different, yet in their difference all keeping alike the same order, does not reflect that they do not order themselves, but that there is another, the maker who orders them? Who, seeing the sun rise each day and the moon shine by night, waning and waxing without variation according to exactly the same number of days …

### Scripture references

- Rom 1:20: quotation, high confidence
- Acts 14:15–17: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- A line near the beginning (“so that, although he is invisible by nature, he might still be known”) is garbled in the scan and is translated by sense.
- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 35 (PG 25:69a–72a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-35).

## Against the Heathen 36

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-36
- Source: PG 25:72a–73a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The harmony of opposite elements, seasons, waters, earth, and sexes shows one power above them that joins and governs them.

### Greek text

Τίς, ὁρῶν τὰ ἐναντία τῇ φύσει συνημμένα, καὶ σύμφωνον ἔχοντα τὴν ἁρμονίαν, οἷον, τίς, ἰδὼν πῦρ ψυχρῷ, καὶ ξηρὸν ὑγρῷ κεκραμμένον, καὶ ταῦτα μὴ ἀντιστατοῦντα πρὸς ἄλληλα, ἀλλʼ ’ἑν ἀποτελοῦντα ὡς ἐξ ένὸς τὸ σῶμα, ούκ ἂν ἐνθυμηθείη ἔξωθεν εἶναι τούτων τὸν ταῦτα συνάψαντα ; Τίς, ἰδὼν χειμῶνα παραχωροῦντα ἔαρι, καὶ ἔαρ θέρει, καί θέρος μετοπώρῳ, καὶ ὅτι ἐναντία ὅντα ταῦτα τῇ φύσειο τὸ μὶν γὰρ ψύχει, τὸ δὶ καίει,τὸ δὲ τρέφει, τὸ δὶ φθίνει ὅμως τὰ πάντα ἴσην καὶ ἀβλαβῆ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀποτελοῦντα τὴν χρῆσιν οὐκ ἂν ἐννοήσειεν, ὅτι ἐστί τις κρείττων τούτων, ὁ τὴν ἰσότητα παρέχων πᾶσι καὶ κυβερνῶν τὰ πάντα, κᾶν μὴ βλέπῃ τοῦτον ; Τίς, ὁρῶν έν ἀέρι τὰς νεφέλας ὑποβασταζομένας, καὶ ἓν νεφέλαις τὴν τῶν ὑδάτων δεθεῖσαν βαρύτητα, οὐκ ἔννοιαν λαμβάνει τοῦ ταῦτα δήσαντος καὶ προστάξαντος γενέσθαι ; Ἦ τίς, ὁρῶν αὐτὴν τήν γῆν βαρυτάτην οὖσαν τῇ φύσει, ἐπὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἑδρασθεῖσαν καὶ ἀκίνητον μένουσαν ἐπὶ τὸ φύσει κινούμενον,ού διανοηθήσεται εἷναί τινα τὸν ταύτην διαταξάμενον καὶ ποιήσαντα Θεόν ; Τίς, ἰδὼν τὴν κατὰ καιρὸν τῆς γῆς καρποφορίαν, καὶ οὐρανόθεν ὑετοὺς, καὶ ποταμῶν ἐπιρροίας, καὶ πηγῶν ἀναβλύσεις, καὶ ζώων ἐξ ἀνομοίων γονὰς, καὶ ταῦτα οὐκ ἀεὶ ἀλλὰ κατὰ καιροὺς ὡρισμένους γινόμενα· καὶ ὅλως τίς, κατανοήσας έν ἀνομοίοις καὶ ἐναντίοις τὴν ἴσην καὶ ὁμοίαν παρʼ αὐτῶν ἀποτελουμένην τάξιν, οὐκ ἂν ἐνθυμηθείη, ὅτι ἐστὶ μία δύναμις ἦ ταῦτα διακοσμήσασα καὶ διέπουσα, ὡς ἂν αὐτῇ δοκῇ, μένουσα καλῶς; Αὐτὰ μὲν γὰρ καθʼ έαυτὰ οὐκ ἃν συσταίη καὶ φανῆναί ποτε δυνηθείη διὰ τήν πρὸς ἄλληλα τῆς φύσεως ἐναντιότητα. Τὸ μὶν γὰρ ὕδωρ φύσει βαρῦ καὶ κάτω ῥέον ἐστὶν, αἱ δὶ νεφέλαι κοῦφαι καὶ τῶν ἐλαφρῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνωφερῶν τυγχάνουσιο καὶ ὅμως τὸ βαρύτερον ὕδωρ ὁρῶμεν έν ταῖς νεφέλαις βασταζόμενον. Καὶ πάλιν ἠ μὲν γῆ βαρυτάτη ἐστὶ, τὸ δʼ αὖ πάλιν ὕδωρ κουφότερόν ἐστι ταύτης καὶ ὅμως ὑπὸ τῶν ἐλαφροτέρων τὸ βαρύτερον βαστάζεται, καὶ οὐ καταφέρέται, ἀλλʼ ἔστηκεν ἀκίνητος ἡ γῆ. Καὶ τὸ μὶν ἄῤῥεν ού ταύτόν ἐστι τῷ θήλει, καὶ ὅμως είς ἓν συνάγεται, καὶ μία παρʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀποτελεῖται γένεσις τοῦ ὁμοίου ζώου. Καὶ συνελόντι φάναι, τὸ ψυχρὸν τῷ θερμῷ ἐναντίον ἐστὶ, καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν τῷ ξηρῷ μάχεται· καὶ ὅμως συνελθόντα οὗ στασιάζει πρός ἑαυτὰ, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ὁμονοίας ἓν σῶμα καὶ τὴν πάντων γένεσιν ἀποτελοῦσιν.

### English translation (Claude)

Who, seeing things opposite in nature joined together and keeping a concordant harmony (who, for example, seeing fire mixed with cold and dry with wet, and these not opposing one another but making one body, as if from one thing), would not reflect that the one who joined them is outside them? Who, seeing winter give way to spring, spring to summer, and summer to autumn, and that these, though opposite in nature (for one chills, another burns, another nourishes, another wastes), nevertheless all provide a balanced and harmless use for human beings, would not perceive that there is someone superior to them, who gives the balance to all and steers all things, even if he does not see him? Who, seeing the clouds held up in the air and the weight of the waters bound in the clouds, does not form a notion of the one who bound them and commanded them to be? Or who, seeing that the earth itself, though by nature the heaviest of things, is set upon the water and remains unmoved upon what is by nature in motion, will not perceive that there is someone, God, who ordered and made it? Who, seeing the seasonal fruitfulness of the earth, the rains from heaven, the flowing of rivers, the gushing of springs, the births of animals from unlike parents, and these happening not always but at fixed times; in short, who, perceiving among unlike and opposite things the equal and similar order that they accomplish, would not reflect that there is one power that ordered them and, abiding, governs them well as it pleases? For by themselves they could never subsist or appear, because of the opposition of their natures. Water is by nature heavy and flows downward, while clouds are light and among the things that rise; yet we see the heavier water carried in the clouds. And again, the earth is the heaviest of things, and water in turn is lighter than it; yet the heavier is borne up by the lighter and does not sink, but the earth stands unmoved. Male is not the same as female, yet they are brought together into one, and from both together comes one generation of a like animal. In a word, cold is opposite to hot and wet fights with dry; yet when they come together they do not quarrel with one another, but in concord produce one body and the generation of all things.

### Scripture references

- Job 26:8: echo, low confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 36 (PG 25:72a–73a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-36).

## Against the Heathen 37

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-37
- Source: PG 25:73a–76a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Opposite elements could not combine into an ordered world unless a superior Lord bound them together; left to strife they would produce only chaos.

### Greek text

Οὐκ ἃν οῦν μαχόμενα καὶ ἐναντία ὅντα τῇ φύσει εαυτά συνήγαγον, εἰ μὴ κρείττων ἧν καὶ κύριος ὁ συνδήσας αὐτὰ, ᾧ καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα,ὥσπερ δοῦλα δεσπότῃ ὑπακούοντα, εἴκει καὶ πείθεται· καὶ οὐκ, εἷς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν ἕκαστον σκοποῦν, ἀντιμάχεται πρὸς τὸ ἕτερον· ἀλλά τὸν συνδήσαντα Κύριον γινώσκοντα, ὁμόνοιαν ἔχουσι πρὸς ἑαυτὰ, φύσει μὲν ὅντα ἐναντία, τῇ δὲ τοῦ κυβερνῶντος βουλήσει φιλιάζοντα. Ἐπεὶ εἰ μή κρείττονι προστάξει ἐγεγόνει τούτων μία κρᾶσις, πῶς ἂν τὸ βαρὺ τῷ ἐλαφρῷ, ἢ τὸ ξηρὸν τῷ ὑγρῷ, ἥ τὸ περιφερὲς τῷ ὀρθῷ, ἢ τὸ πῦρ τῷ ψυχρῷ, ἢ ὅλως ἡ θάλασσα τῇ γῇ, ἢ ὁ ἥλιος τῇ σελήνῃ, ἢ τὰ ἄστρα τῷ οὐρανῷ,καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ταῖς νεφέλαις ἐμίγη καὶ συνῆλθεν, ἀνομοίου οῦσης τῆς ἑκάστου πρὸς τὸ ἕτερον φύσεως;”Εμελλε γὰρ καὶ μεγάλη στάσις γίγνεσθαι πρὸς αὐτὰ, τοῦ μὲν καίοντος, τοῦ δὲ ψύχοντος,καὶ τοῦ μὲν βαρέως κάτω, τοῦ δὲ κούφου ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ἅνω ἕλκοντος, καὶ τοῦ μὲν ἡλίου φωτίζοντος,τοῦ δὲ ἀέρος σκοτίζοντος· καῖ γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἄστρα ἐστασίασαν ἂν πρὸς ἑαυτὰ, ὅτι τὰ μὲν ἀνωτέρω, τὰ δὲ κατωτέρω τήν θὲσιν ἔχειʼ καὶ ἡ νὺξ δὲ οὐκ ἄν παρεχώρησε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ἀλλὰ ἔμενεν ἂν πάντως μαχομένη πρὸς αὐτὴν καὶ στασιάζουσα. Τούτων δὲ γιγνομὲνων, λοιπὸν ἦν ἰδεῖν οὐκέτι κόσμον ἀλλʼ ἀκοσμίαν, οὐκετι τάξιν ἀλλʼ ἀταξίαν, οὐκέτι σύστασιν ἀλλʼ ἀσύστατον τό ὅλον, οὐκέτι μέτρα ἀλλʼ ἀμετρίαν. Τῇ γὰρ ἑκάστου στάσει καί μάχῃ πάντα ἀνῃροῦντο, ἢ τὸ κρατοῦν μόνον ἐφαίνετο. Καὶ τοῦτο πάλιν τὴν τοῦ παντὸς ἀκοσμίαν ἐδείκνυε. Μόνον γὰρ γενόμενον καὶ λειπόμενον τῇ τῶν ἄλλων χρείᾳ, ἀνάρμοστον τὸ ὅλον ἐποίει” ὥσπερ εἰ καὶ μονος ποῦς, καὶ μόνη χεὶρ ἀπομείνασα, οὐκ ἂν ἔσωσεν ὁλόκληρον τὸ σῶμα. Ποῖος γὰρ κόσμος ἦν, εἰ μόνος ἥλιος ἔφαινεν, ἢ σελήνη μόνη περιεπόλει, ἢ νὺξ μόνη ἦν, ἢ ἡμέρα ἀεὶ ἐτύγχανε ; Ποία δὲ πάλιν ἦν ἁρμονία, εἰ μόνος ἦν ὁ οὐρανὸς χωρὶς τῶν ἄστρων, ἢ τὰ άστρα χωρὶς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ; Τί δὲ καὶ χρήσιμον, εί μόνη θάλασσα ἦν, καὶ εἰ μόνη γῆ χωρὶς ὑδάτων καί τῶν ἄλλων τῆς κτίσεως μερῶν ἔκειτο ; πῶς δʼ ἃν καὶ ἄνθρωπος ἐφάνη ἢ ὅλως ζῶον ἐπὶ γῆς, τῶν στοιχείων πρός ἑαυτὰ στασιαζόντων, καὶ ἑνὸς ὄντος τοῦ κρατοῦντος καὶ μή δυναμένου πρὸς τήν τῶν σωμάτων σύστασιν ἀρκεῖν; Οὐκ ἂν γὰρ ἐκ μόνου θερμοῦ, ἢ μόνου ψυχροῦ, ἢ μόνου ὑγροῦ, ἢ ξηροῦ συνεστη τι τῶν ὅλων· ἀλλʼ ἦν ἄτακτα πάντα καί ἀσύνθετα καθόλου. Ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἃν αὐτὸ τὸ δοκοῦν κρατεῖν ἠδυνήθη ἂν συστῆναι χωρὶς τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἐπικουρίας· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ νῦν συνέστηκεν.

### English translation (Claude)

Things that are at war and opposite in nature, then, would not have brought themselves together unless the one who bound them were superior to them and their lord. To him the elements themselves, like slaves obeying a master, yield and submit; and none of them, looking only to its own nature, fights against the other; but recognizing the Lord who bound them, they are in concord with one another, opposite by nature but made friends by the will of the one who steers them. For if their single mixture had not come about by a superior command, how could the heavy have mingled and come together with the light, the dry with the wet, the circular with the straight, fire with cold, or in general the sea with the earth, the sun with the moon, the stars with the heaven, and the air with the clouds, when the nature of each is unlike that of the other? For great strife would have arisen among them, one burning and another chilling, the heavy drawing downward and the light drawing upward in the opposite direction, the sun giving light and the air darkness. Even the stars would have fought among themselves, because some have their position higher and others lower; and night would not have given way to day, but would have remained at war and strife with it. Had this happened, one would see no longer a cosmos but chaos, no longer order but disorder, no longer a system but a whole without system, no longer measures but measurelessness. For by the strife and fighting of each, all things would be destroyed, or the victor alone would appear; and this again would show the disorder of the universe. For being alone and lacking the service of the others, it would make the whole unharmonious, just as, if only a foot or only a hand were left, it would not keep the body whole. What sort of world would it be if the sun alone shone, or the moon alone went its round, or there were night alone, or always day? What harmony again would there be if the heaven were alone without the stars, or the stars without the heaven? What use would there be if there were sea alone, or if the earth lay alone without waters and the other parts of creation? How could a human being, or any animal at all, have appeared on earth, if the elements were in strife with one another and one of them were the victor, unable to suffice for the composition of bodies? For nothing in the universe would have been composed of hot alone, or cold alone, or wet or dry alone; but all things would have been without order and wholly uncompounded. Nor could the very element that seemed to prevail have subsisted without the help of the others; for that is how it subsists even now.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 37 (PG 25:73a–76a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-37).

## Against the Heathen 38

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-38
- Source: PG 25:76a–77b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: As an orderly city implies a ruler and a harmonious lyre one musician, the ordered cosmos shows one ruler, the Word, not many gods.

### Greek text

Ἐπεὶ οὗν οὐκ ἀταξία ἀλλὰ τάξις ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ παντὶ, καὶ οὐκ ἀμετρία ἀλλά συμμετρία, καὶ οὐκ ἀκοσμία ἀλλά κόσμος καὶ κόσμου παναρμόνιος σύνταξις· ἀνάγκη λογίζεσθαι καὶ λαμβάνειν ἔννοιαν τοῦ ταῦτα συναγαγόντος καὶ συσφίγξαντος, και συμφωνίαν ἐργαζομένου πρὸς αὐτά Δεσπότου. Κᾶν γὰρ μή τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρᾶται,’ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τῆς τάξεως καὶ συμφωνίας τῶν ἐναντίων, ἐννοεῖν ἐστι τὸν τούτων ἄρχοντα καὶ κοσμήτορα καὶ βασιλέα. Ὥσπερ γάρ πόλιν ἐκ πολλῶν καί διαφόρων ἀνθρώπων συνεστῶσαν, μικρῶν καὶ μεγάλων, καὶ πλουσίων αὗ καὶ πενήτων, καὶ πάλιν γερόντων καὶ νεωτέρων, καὶ ἀρῥένων καὶ θηλέων, εἰ θεωρήσαιμεν εὐτάκτως οἰκουμένην, καὶ τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ διαφόρους μὲν ὄντας, ὁμονοοῦντας δὲ πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς, καὶ μήτε τοὺς πλουσίους κατά τῶν πενήτων, μήτε τοὺς μεγάλους κατὰ τῶν μικρῶν, μήτε τοὺς νέους κατά τῶν γερόντων γιγνομένους, ἀλλά πάντας κατά τήν ἰσομοιρίαν εἰρηνεύοντας· εἰ ταῦτα βλέποιμεν, πάντως ἐννοοῦμεν, ὅτι ἄρχοντος παρουσία τὴν ὁμόνοιαν πρυτανεύει, κᾶν μὴ ὁρῶμεν αὐτόν. Ἣ μὲν γὰρ ἀταξία ἀναρχίας ἐστὶ γνώρισμα· ἡ δὲ τάξις τὸν ἡγεμονεύοντα δείκνυσι. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ σώματι τῶν μελῶν πρὸς ἑαυτά συμφωνίαν ὁρῶντες, ὅτι οὐ μάχεται ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς τῇ ἀκοῇ, οὐδὲ ἡ χεὶρ τῷ ποδὶ στασιάζει, ἀλλʼ ἕκαστον τήν ἰδίαν ἀποτελεῖ ’χρείαν ἀστασιάστως, ἐννοοῦμεν ἐκ τούτου πάντως εἶναι ψυχὴν ἐν τῷ σώματι τὴν τούτων ἠγεμονεύουσαν, κᾶν μή βλέπωμεν αὐτήν. Οὕτως ἐν τῇ τοῦ παντὸς τάξει καὶ ἁρμονίᾳ τὸν τοῦ παντὸς ἡγεμόνα νοεῖν ἀνάγκη Θεὸν, καὶ τοῦτον ἕνα καὶ οὗ πολλούς. Καὶ ἡ τάξις δὲ αὕτη τῆς διακοσμήσεως, καὶ ἡ τῶν πάντων μεθʼ ὁμονοίας ἁρμονία, οὗ πολλοὺς, ἀλλʼ ἕνα τὸν αὐτῆς ἄρχοντα καὶ ἡγεμόνα δείκνυσι Λόγον. Οὐκ ἃν γὰρ, εἷʼπερ ἦσαν πολλοὶ τῆς κτίσεως ἄρχοντες, ἐσώζετο τοιαύτη τάξις τῶν πάντων · ἀλλʼ ἦν πάλιν ἄτακτα πάντα διὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς, ἕλκοντος ἐκάστου πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ βούλησιν τά πάντα, καὶ μαχομένου πρὸς τὸν ἕτερον. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐλέγομεν τήν πολυθεότητα ἀθεότητα εἰναι, οὕτως ἀνάγκη τὴν πολυαρχίαν ἀναρχίαν εἶναι. Ἑκάστου γὰρ τὴν τοῦ ἑτέρου· ’ἀρχὴν ἀναιροῦντος, οὐδεὶς ἐφαίνετο λοιπον ὁ ἄρχων, ἀλλʼ ἦν ἀναρχία παρά πᾶσιν. ’Ένθα δὲ μή ἔστιν ἅρχων, ἐκεῖ πάντως ἀταξία γίνεται. Καὶ ’ἐμπαλιν ἡ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων μία τάξις καὶ ὁμόνοια ἕνα καὶ τὸν άρχοντα δείκνυσι. Καθάπερ γὰρ εἷʼ τις πόρρωθεν ἀκούει λύρας ἐκ πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων νευρῶν συγκειμένης, καὶ θαυμάζοι τούτων τήν ἁρμονίαν τῆς συμφωνίας, ὅτι μή μόνη ἡ βαρεῖα τὸν ἦχον ἀποτελεῖ,μηδὲ μόνη ἡ ὀξεῖα, μηδὲ μόνη ἡ μέση, ἀλλά πᾶσαι κατά την ἴσην ἀντίστασιν ἀλλήλαις συνηχοῦσι· καὶ πάντως ἐκ τούτων ἐννοεῖ οὐχ ἑαυτή κινεῖν τήν λύραν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ὑπὸ πολλῶν αὐτὴν τύπτεσθαιʼ ἕνα δὲ εἶναι μουσικὸν, τὸν ἑκάστης νευρᾶς ἦχον πρὸς τήν ἐναρμόνιον συμφωνίαν κεράσαντα τῇ ἐπιστήμῃ, κᾶν μὴ τοῦτον βλέπῃ* οὕτω παναρμονίου οὔσης τῆς τάξεως ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ παντὶ, καὶ μήτε τῶν ἅνω πρὸς τὰ κάτω, μήτε τῶν κάτω πρὸς τὰ ἅνω στασιαζόντων, ἀλλά μιᾶς τῶν πάντων ἀποτελουμένης τάξεως, ἕνα καὶ μὴ πολλοὺς νοεῖν ἀκόλουθόν ἐστι τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ βασιλέα τῆς πάσης κτίσεως, τὸν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ φωτὶ τὰ πάντα καταλάμποντα καὶ κινοῦντα.

### English translation (Claude)

Since, then, there is not disorder but order in the universe, not measurelessness but symmetry, not chaos but cosmos and an all-harmonious arrangement of the cosmos, one must reason and form a notion of the Master who brought these things together, bound them fast, and made them concordant with one another. For even if he is not seen with the eyes, from the order and concord of opposites one may perceive their ruler, arranger, and king. Suppose we saw a city made up of many different people, small and great, rich and poor, old and young, male and female, governed in good order, and its people, though different, of one mind with one another, the rich not set against the poor, nor the great against the small, nor the young against the old, but all at peace in equal measure. If we saw this, we would certainly perceive that the presence of a ruler presides over the concord, even if we do not see him. For disorder is a mark of anarchy, while order shows the one who governs. So too, seeing the concord of the members in the body with one another, that the eye does not fight with the hearing nor does the hand quarrel with the foot, but each performs its own service without strife, we certainly perceive from this that there is a soul in the body governing them, even if we do not see it. In the same way, in the order and harmony of the universe one must perceive God, the governor of the universe, and him one and not many. And this order of the arrangement, and the harmony of all things in concord, shows not many but one ruler and governor of it, the Word. For if there were many rulers of creation, such an order of all things would not be preserved; but all things would again be in disorder because of the many, each drawing all things toward his own will and fighting with the other. For as we said that the belief in many gods is godlessness, so the rule of many must be no rule. For since each would destroy the other’s rule, no ruler would appear any longer, but there would be anarchy among all; and where there is no ruler, disorder certainly follows. Conversely, the single order and concord of many and different things shows that the ruler too is one. Suppose someone hears from far off a lyre composed of many different strings, and wonders at the harmony of its concord, that neither the low string alone makes the sound, nor the high alone, nor the middle alone, but all sound together in balanced counterpoise; he certainly perceives from this that the lyre does not move itself, nor is it struck by many, but that there is one musician who by his skill blends the sound of each string into harmonious concord, even if he does not see him. So, since the order in the whole cosmos is all-harmonious, and the things above are not at strife with those below, nor those below with those above, but one order of all things is accomplished, it follows that we must perceive one ruler and king of all creation, and not many, who lights up and moves all things with his own light.

### Translation notes

- “The belief in many gods is godlessness” renders a wordplay, πολυθεότητα ἀθεότητα; likewise “the rule of many must be no rule” (πολυαρχίαν ἀναρχίαν).

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 38 (PG 25:76a–77b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-38).

## Against the Heathen 39

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-39
- Source: PG 25:77b–80b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: There is one world, and so one maker; many makers would imply weakness, vanity, and disorder, like a ship with many helmsmen.

### Greek text

Οὐδὲ γὰρ πολλοὺς εἶναι δεῖ νομίζειν τοὺς τῆς κτίσεως ἄρχοντας καὶ ποιητὰς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς εὐσέβειαν ἀκριβῆ καὶ ἀλήθειαν ἕνα τὸν ταύτης δημιουργὸν πιστεύειν προσήκει· καὶ τοῦτο τῆς κτίσεως αὐτῆς ἐμφανῶς δεικνυούσης. Γνώρισμα γὰρ ἀσφαλὲς τοῦ ἕνα τὸν ποιητήν εἶναι τοῦ παντός ἐστι τοῦτο, τὸ μή πολλοὺς ἀλλʼ ἕνα εἶναι τὸν κόσμον. Ἔδει γὰρ, εἶʼπερ ἦσαν πολλοὶ θεοὶ, πολλοὺς εἶναι καὶ διαφόρους τοὺς κόσμους. Οὔτε γάρ ἔπρεπε τοὺς πολλοὺς ἕνα κόσμον κατασκευάζειν, οὕτε τὸν ἕνα ὑπὸ πολλῶν ποιεῖσθαι διὰ τὰ ἐκ τούτων δεικνύμενα ἅτοπα.Πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι, εἰ ὑπὸ πολλῶν ὁ εἴς ἐγεγόνει κόσμος,ἀσθὲνεια τῶν ποιησάντων ἧν· ὅτι ἐκ πολλῶν ἓν ἔργον ἀπετελέσθη· καὶ ἐκ τούτου γνώρισμα οὐ τὸ τυχὸν ἦν τῆς ἀτελοῦς ἑκάστου πρὸς τὸ ποιεῖν ἐπιστήμης. Εἰ γὰρ ἤρκει εἷς, οὐκ ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ τὴν ἀλλήλων ἀνεπλήρουν ἔλλειψιν.Ἐν Θεῴ δὲ λέγειν εἶναί τι ἐλλιπὲς οὐ μόνον ἀσεβὲς, ἀλλά καὶ πέρα τῶν ἀθεμίτων ἐστί. Καὶ γάρ καὶ τεχνίτην ἐν ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἅν τις εἷʼποι τέλειον, ἀλλά ἀσθενῆ, εἴ μὴ μόνος, ἀλλὰ μετά πολλῶν ἓν ἀποτελοίη τὸ ἔργον. Εἰ δὲ ἕκαστος μὲν ἠδύνατο τὸ ὅλον ἀποτελὲσαι, οἱ πάντες δὲ εἰργάσαντο διὰ τὴν τοῦ γιγνομένου κοινωνίαν· γελοῖον μὲν ἂν εἷή τὸ τοιοῦτον, εἰ διὰ δόξαν ἕκαστος εἰργάσατο·ίνα μὴ ὡς ἀδύνατος ὑπονοηθῇ. Κενοδοξίαν δὲ πάλιν ἐν θεοῖς λέγειν τῶν ἀτοπωτάτων ἐστίν. Ἔπειτα, εἰ ἕκαστος ἱκανὸς ἦν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ὅλου δημιουργίαν, τίς ἡ χρεία τῶν πολλῶν, ἑνὸς αὐτάρκους γιγνομένου πρὸς τὸ πᾶν; ἄλλως τε ἀσεβὲς καὶ ἄτοπον ἂν φανείη, εἰ τὸ μὲν ποίημα ἓν τυγχάνει, οἱ δὲ ποιήσαντες διάφοροι καὶ πολλοὶ, λόγου ὄντος φυσικοῦ τὸ ἓν καὶ τὲλειον τῶν διαφόρων κρεῖττον εἶναι. Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ ἰστέον, ὅτι, εί ὑπὸ πολλῶν ὁ κόσμος ἐγεγόνει, διαφόρους εἶχε καὶ τὰς κινήσεις καὶ ἀνομοίους ἐαυτῷ. Πρὸς ἕκαστον γὰρ τῶν ποιησάντων ἀποβλέπων, διαφόρους εἶχε καὶ τὰς κινήσεις. Ἐν δὲ τῇ διαφορᾷ, καθάπερ εἷʼρηται πρότερον, πάλιν ἦν ἀκοσμία καὶ τοῦ παντὸς ἀταξία· ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲ ναῦς ὑπὸ πολλῶν κυβερνωμένη κατʼ ὀρθὸν πλευσεῖται, εί μή εἷς ταύτης τοὺς οἷάκας κρατοίη κυβερνήτης· οὐδὲ λύρα ὑπὸ πολλῶν κρουομένη σύμφωνον ἀποτελέσει τὸν ἦχον, εί μή εἷς ὀ ταύτην πληττων εἴη τεχνίτης. Οὐκοὖν μιᾶς οὔσης τῆς κτίσεως, καὶ ἐνὸς ὄντος κόσμου, καὶ μιᾶς τῆς τούτου τάξεως, ἕνα δεῖ νοεῖν καὶ τὸν ταύτης βασιλέα καὶ δημιουργὸν Κύριον. Διά τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς 6 δημιουργὸς ἕνα τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον πεποίηκεν, ’ίνα μὴ τῇ τῶν πολλῶν συστάσει πολλοὶ καὶ οἰ δημιουργοὶ νομίζοιντο, ἀλλʼ ἑνὸς ὄντος τοῦ ποιήματος, εἷς καὶ ὁ τούτου ποιητὴς πιστεύηται. Καὶ οὐχ ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ δημιουργὸς, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ εἷς ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος ἠδύνατο γάρ καὶ ἄλλους κόσμους ποιῆσαι ὁ Θεός. Ἀλλʼ ὅτι εἷς ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος 6 γενόμενος, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὸν τούτου δημιουργὸν ’ἐνα πιστεύειν εἶναι.

### English translation (Claude)

Nor must one think that the rulers and makers of creation are many; for the sake of exact piety and truth it is fitting to believe that its fashioner is one, and creation itself plainly shows this. For a sure mark that the maker of the universe is one is this: that the world is not many but one. For if there were many gods, there would have to be many different worlds. It was neither fitting for the many to construct one world, nor for the one world to be made by many, because of the absurdities that follow. First, if the one world had been made by many, this would show the weakness of its makers, since one work was completed by many; and this would be no small mark of the imperfect skill of each of them for making. For if one had sufficed, the many would not have been filling up one another’s deficiency. To say that there is any deficiency in God is not only impious but beyond everything unlawful. Even among human beings no one would call a craftsman perfect, but weak, if he completed one work not alone but with many others. But if each could have completed the whole, and all worked on it in order to share in the product, such a thing would be ridiculous, if each worked for glory, so as not to be suspected of being unable. And to attribute vainglory to gods is most absurd. Further, if each was capable of fashioning the whole, what need was there of many, when one was sufficient for the universe? Besides, it would appear impious and absurd if the product is one while its makers are different and many, since it is a natural principle that what is one and perfect is better than what is various. And one must also recognize this: if the world had been made by many, it would also have had different movements, unlike one another. For looking to each of its makers, it would have had different movements; and in the difference, as was said before, there would again be chaos and disorder of the universe. For a ship steered by many will not sail straight unless one helmsman holds its rudder; nor will a lyre struck by many produce a harmonious sound unless one artist strikes it. Since, then, creation is one, and the world is one, and its order is one, one must also perceive that its King and fashioner, the Lord, is one. For this reason the fashioner himself made the whole world one, so that the makers might not be thought many because there were many worlds, but that, since the product is one, its maker too might be believed to be one. And it is not because the fashioner is one that the world is therefore one; for God could have made other worlds too. But because the world that has come into being is one, one must believe that its fashioner too is one.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 39 (PG 25:77b–80b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-39).

## Against the Heathen 40

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-40
- Source: PG 25:80b–81b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The one Maker is the Father of Christ, who orders all things through his own Word and Wisdom, not a seminal principle or a spoken word but the living God the Word.

### Greek text

Τίς οὗν ἂν εἴη οὗτος ; Καὶ τοῦτο γὰρ ἀναγκαῖον μάλιστα δηλῶσαι καὶ λέγειν, ’ἱνα μή, τῇ περὶ τοῦτον ἀγνοίᾳ πλανηθείς τις, ’ἕτερον ὑπολάβῃ, καὶ εἰς τήν αὐτὴν πάλιν τοῖς πρότερον ἀθεότητα ἐμπέσῃ. Νομίζω δὲ μηδένα περὶ τούτου τήν διάνοιαν ἀμφίβολον ἔχειν. Εἰ γὰρ δὴ τοὺς παρά ποιηταῖς λεγομένους θεοὺς οὐκ εἶναι θεοὺς ὁ λόγος ἔδειξε, καὶ τοὺς τὴν κτίσιν θεοποιοῦντας ἤλεγξε πλανωμένους, καὶ καθόλου τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν εἶδωλολατρείαν ἀθεότητα καὶ ἀσέβειαν οὖσαν ἀπέδειξεν ’ ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τούτων ἀναιρουμένων, λοιπὸν παρʼ ἡμῖν εἶναι τήν εὗσεβῆ θρησκείαν, καὶ τὸν παρʼ ἡμῶν προσκυνούμενον, καὶ κηρυττόμενον τοῦτον μόνον εἶναι Θεὸν ἀληθῆ, τὸν καὶ τῆς κτίσεως Κύριον καὶ πάσης ὑποστάσεως δημιουργόν. Τίς δὴ οὖν ἐστιν οὗτος, ἀλλʼ ἢ ὁ πανάγιος καὶ ὑπερεπέκεινα πάσης γενητῆς οὐσίας, 6 τοῦ Χριστοῦ Πατὴρ, ὅστις, καθάπερ ἄριστος κυβερνήτης, τῇ ἰδίᾳ σοφίᾳ καὶ τῷ ἰδίῳ Λόγῳ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν καὶ Σωτῆρι Χριστῷ, τὰ πανταχοῦ διακυβερνᾷ σωτηρίως καὶ διακοσμεῖ, καὶ ποιεῖ, ὡς ἃν αὐτῷ καλῶς ἔχειν δοκῇ ; Ἔχει δὲ καλῶς, ὡς γέγονε καὶ ὁρῶμεν γιγνόμενα, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τοῦτο βούλεταιʼ καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ αν τις ἀπιστήσειεν. Εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλογος ἦν ἠ τῆς κτίσεως κίνησις, καὶ ἁπλῶς ἐφέρετο τὸ πᾶν καλῶς ἄν τις καὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις ἠπίστησεν· εἰ δὲ λόγῳ καὶ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἐπιστήμῃ συνέστηκε, καὶ παντί κόσμῳ διακεκόσμηται· ἀνάγκη τὸν ἐπικείμενον καὶ διακοσμήσαντα, τούτον οὐκ ἄλλον τινὰ ἢ Λόγον εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ. Λόγον δὲ φημι οὗ τὸν έν ἑκάστῳ τῶν γενομένων συμπεπλεγμένον καὶ συμπεφυκότα, ’ὀν δὴ καὶ σπερματικόν τινες εἰώθασι καλεῖν, ἄψυχον ὅντα καί μηδὲν λογιζόμενον μήτε νοοῦντα, ἀλλά τῇ εξωθεν τέχνῃ μόνον ἐνεργοῦντα κατά τὴν τοῦ ἐπιβαλλοντος αὐτὸν έπιστήμην οὐδὲ οἷον ἔχει τὸ λογικὸν γένος λόγον τὸν ἐκ συλλαβῶν συγκείμενον, καὶ έν ἀέρι σημαινόμενον · ἀλλὰ τὸν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ζῶντα καὶ ένεργῆ Θεὸν αὖτολόγον λέγω, ’ὸς ἄλλος μὲν ἔστι τῶν γενητῶν καὶ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως, ἴδιος δὲ καὶ μόνος τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Πατρὸς ὑπάρχει Λόγος, ’ὸς τόδε τὸ πᾶν διεκόσμησε καὶ φωτίζει τῇ ἑαυτοῦ προνοίᾳ. Ἀγαθοῦ γὰρ Πατρὸς ἀγαθὸς Λόγος ὑπάρχων, αὐτὸς τήν τῶν πάντων διεκόσμησε διάταξιν, τὰ μὲν ἐναντία τοῖς ἐναντίοις συνάπτων, έκ τούμις καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία ὢν, οὐρανὸν μὲν περιστρέφει, γῆν δὲ ἀναρτήσας, καὶ ἐπὶ μηδενὸς κειμένην τῷ ἰδίῳ νεύματι ἤδρασε. Τούτῳ φωτιζόμενος ἥλιος τὴν οἰκουμένην καταυγάζει, καὶ σελήνη μεμετρημένον ἔχει τὸ φῶς. Διὰ τοῦτον καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ ἐπὶ νεφελῶν κρεμᾶται, καὶ ὑετοί τὴν γῆν έπικλύζουσι, καὶ ἡ μὲν θάλασσα περιορίζεται, ἡ δὲ γῆ παντοίοις φυτοῖς καί κομᾷ καὶ χλοηφορεῖ. Καὶ εἷʼ τις ἄπιστος ζητοίη περὶ τῶν λεγομένων, εἰ ὅλως ἐστὶ Λόγος Θεοῦ, μαίνοιτο μὲν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἀμφιβάλλων περὶ Λόγου Θεοῦ· ἔχει δὲ ὅμως έκ τῶν ὁρωμένων τήν ἀπόδειξιν, ὅτι πάντα Λόγῳ Θεοῦ καὶ Σοφίᾳ συνέστηκε, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἡδράσθη τι τῶν γενομένων, εἰ μή Λόγῳ ἐγεγόνει καί Λόγῳ τῷ θείῳ, καθάπερ ἐλέχθη.

### English translation (Claude)

Who, then, would this be? This above all must be made clear and stated, so that no one, misled by ignorance about him, may suppose another and fall again into the same godlessness as those before. But I think no one has a doubtful mind about this. For if our argument has shown that those called gods by the poets are not gods, and has convicted those who deify creation of error, and has proved in general that the idolatry of the nations is godlessness and impiety, then, these being done away with, it necessarily follows that the pious worship is ours, and that the one worshiped and proclaimed by us alone is the true God, the Lord of creation and the fashioner of all that subsists. Who, then, is this but the all-holy Father of Christ, who is beyond all created being; who, like an excellent helmsman, by his own Wisdom and his own Word, our Lord and Savior Christ, steers all things everywhere for their salvation, orders them, and does as seems good to him? And it is good as it has been made and as we see it happening, since this is what he wills; and no one would disbelieve this. For if the movement of creation were irrational and the universe moved at random, one might well disbelieve what is said; but if it subsists by reason, wisdom, and skill, and has been ordered with all order, then the one who presides over it and has ordered it must be none other than the Word of God. By “Word” I do not mean the word that is involved and inborn in each created thing, which some are accustomed to call the seminal word, which is lifeless and neither reasons nor understands, but acts only by an art from outside, according to the skill of the one who applies it; nor such a word as the rational race has, composed of syllables and expressed in the air. I mean the living and active God, the very Word of the good God of the universe, who is other than created things and all creation, and is the own and only Word of the good Father, who has ordered this universe and enlightens it by his providence. For being the good Word of a good Father, he himself ordered the arrangement of all things, joining opposites with opposites … and being the Wisdom of God, he turns the heaven round, and having suspended the earth, he set it fast by his own nod, resting on nothing. Lit by him, the sun illumines the world, and the moon has its measured light. Through him the water hangs in the clouds, the rains flood the earth, the sea is bounded, and the earth grows luxuriant and green with all kinds of plants. And if some unbeliever should inquire about what is said, whether there is a Word of God at all, such a man would be mad to doubt about the Word of God; yet he has the proof from what is seen, that all things subsist by the Word and Wisdom of God, and that nothing that has come into being would have been made firm if it had not come into being by Word, and by the divine Word, as has been said.

### Scripture references

- Job 26:7: echo, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- “Seminal word” (λόγος σπερματικός) is a Stoic term for the formative principle in things.
- After “joining opposites with opposites” a line or more is lost in the scan (marked “…”).
- The earth “resting on nothing” echoes Job 26:7.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 40 (PG 25:80b–81b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-40).

## Against the Heathen 41

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-41
- Source: PG 25:81c–84b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Word, the unchanging image of the Father and not composite like a human word, holds creation in being, which by its own nature would dissolve into nothing.

### Greek text

ὁμοιότητα, ὥσπερ εἶπον ἐστὶ συγκείμενος ἐκ συλλαβῶν· ἀλλὰ τοῦ έαυτοῦ Πατρὸς εἰκών ἐστιν ἀπαράλλακτος. Ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ ἐκ μερῶν συγκείμενοι, καὶ έκ τοῦ μή ὄντος γενόμενοι, συγκείμενον ἔχουσι καὶ διαλυόμενον τὸν ἑαυτῶν λόγον· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς ὧν ἐστι, καὶ οὐ σύνθετοςʼ διὸ καὶ ὁ τούτου Λόγος ὥν ἐστι, καὶ οὐ σύνθετος· ἀλλʼ εἷς καὶ μονογενὴς Θεὸς, ὁ καὶ ἐκ Πατρὸς οἷα πηγῆς ἀγαθῆς ἀγαθὸς προελθὼν, τὰ πάντα διακοσμεῖ καὶ συνέχει. Ἣ δὲ αἰτία, διʼ ἢν ὁ Λόγος, ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, τοῖς γενομένοις ἐπιβέβηκεν, ἐστὶν ἀληθῶς θαυμαστή καὶ γνωρίζουσα, ὅτι οὐκ ἄλλως ἔπρεπεν, ἢ οὕτω γενέσθαι ὥσπερ καὶ ἔστι. Τῶν μὶν γὰρ γενητῶν ἡ φύσις, ἅτε δὴ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων ὑποστᾶσα, ρευστή τις καὶ ἀσθενὴς καὶ θνητὴ καθʼ ἑαυτὴν συγκρινομένη τυγχάνει· 6 δὲ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς ἀγαθὸς καὶ ὑπέρκαλος τὴν φύσιν έστί. Διὸ καὶ φιλάνθρωπός ἐστιν, Ἀγαθῷ γὰρ περὶ οὐδενὸς ἂν γένοιτο φθόνος ὅθεν οὐδὲ τοῦ εἶναί τινι φθονεῖ, ἀλλὰ πάντας εἶναι βούλεται, ’ἶνα καὶ φιλανθρωπεύεσθαι δύνηται. Ὁρῶν οὖν τήν γενητὴν πᾶσαν φύσιν, ὅσον κατά τοὺς ἰδίους αὐτῆς λόγους, ῥευστὴν οὖσαν καὶ διαλυομένην· ’ίνα μὴ τοῦτο πάθῃ,καὶ πάλιν εἷς τὸ μή εἶναι ἀναλυθῇ τὸ ὅλον, τούτου ἕνεκεν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἀϊδίῳ Λόγῳ ποιήσας τά πάντα, καὶ οὗσιώσας τὴν κτίσιν, οὐκ,ἀφῆκεν αὐτὴν τῇ ἑαυτῆς φύσει φέρεσθαι καὶ χειμάζεσθαι, ’ίνα μὴ κινδυνεύσῃ πάλιν εἷς τὸ μὴ εἶναι· ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀγαθὸς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγῳ καὶ αὗτῷ ὄντι Θεῷ τήν σύμπασαν διακυβερνᾷ xui καθίστησιν, ἵνα, τῇ τοῦ Λόγου ἡγεμονίᾳ καὶ προνοίᾳ καὶ διακοσμήσει φωτιζομένη ἡ κτίσις, βεβαίως διαμένειν δυνηθῇ, ἅτε δὴ τοῦ ὄντως ὄντος ἐκ Πατρὸς Λόγου μεταλαμβάνουσα καὶ βοηθουμένη διʼ αὐτοῦ εἷς τὸ εἶναιʼ μὴ ἄρα πάθῃ ὅπερ ἂν ἔπαθεν, εἰ μή ὁ Λόγος αὐτὴν ἐτήρει, λέγω δή τὸ μή εἶναι, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως· ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκε τά πάντα τά τε ὁρατά καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα,

### English translation (Claude)

… likeness, as I said, composed of syllables; but he is the unchanging image of his own Father. For human beings, composed of parts and made from what did not exist, have a word that is composite and dissoluble; but God is the One who is, and is not composite; therefore his Word too is, and is not composite, but is the one and only-begotten God, who, proceeding good from the Father as from a good fountain, orders and holds together all things. The reason why the Word, the Word of God, has come upon created things is truly wonderful, and shows that it was not fitting for things to be otherwise than as they are. For the nature of created things, having come into existence from nothing, is, considered by itself, fluid, weak, and mortal; but the God of the universe is good and surpassingly beautiful by nature. Therefore he also loves humanity. For a good being could have envy toward nothing; hence he grudges existence to none, but wishes all things to exist, so that he may also show them his love. Seeing, then, that all created nature, as far as its own principles are concerned, is fluid and dissolving, so that it might not suffer this and the universe be dissolved again into non-existence, for this reason, having made all things by his own eternal Word and given creation its being, he did not leave it to be carried along and tossed about by its own nature, lest it be in danger of returning to non-existence. But, being good, he governs and establishes the whole by his Word, who is himself God, so that creation, illumined by the leadership, providence, and ordering of the Word, may be able to remain firm, since it partakes of the Word who truly is from the Father and is helped by him to exist; lest it suffer what it would have suffered if the Word had not preserved it, I mean non-existence. For he is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for through him and in him all things consist, things visible and invisible” …

### Scripture references

- Col 1:15–17: quotation, high confidence
- Exod 3:14: echo, medium confidence
- John 1:18: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The opening lines of the chapter are lost in the scan (marked “…”); the surviving words contrast the Word with a human word “composed of syllables.”
- “God is the One who is” renders ὤν ἐστι, echoing Exod 3:14 (LXX).
- The chapter breaks off in the middle of the quotation of Col 1:15–17 (marked “…”).

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 41 (PG 25:81c–84b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/32/#p-41).

## Against the Heathen 42

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-42
- Source: PG 25:84b–85b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Word pervades and holds all things together, blending opposite elements into one harmony, like a musician playing the universe as a lyre (John 1:1–3).

### Greek text

Αὐτὸς γοῦν ὁ παντοδύναμος καὶ παντέλειος ἅγιος ὁ τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος, ἐπιβάς τοῖς πᾶσι καὶ πανταχοῦ τὰς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεις ἐφαπλώσας, καὶ φωτίσας, τά τε φαινόμενα καὶ τά ἀόρατα πάντα, εἰς ἑαυτὸν συνέχει καὶ συσφίγγει, μηδὲν ἔρημον τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως ἀπολελοιπὼς, ἀλλά πάντα καὶ διὰ πάντων, καὶ ἕκαστον ἰδίᾳ, καὶ ἀθρόως ὁμοῦ τὰ ὅλα ζωοποιῶν καὶ διαφυλάττων τάς τε ἀρχάς πάσης αἰσθητῆς οὐσίας, αἵπερ εἶσὶ θερμή καὶ ψυχρά καὶ ὑγρά καὶ ξηρά εἰς ἓν συγκεραννύων, ποιεῖ μὴ ἀντιστατεῖν, ἀλλὰ μίαν καὶ σύμφωνον ἀποτελεῖν ἁρμονίαν. Διʼ αὐτὸν καὶ τήν αὐτοῦ δύναμιν οὔτε τὸ πῦρ τῷ ψυχρῷ μάχεται, οὔτε τὸ ὑγρὸν τῷ ξηρῷ· ἀλλʼ ὡς φίλα καὶ ἀδελφά τὰ καθʼ ἑαυτά ὄντα ἐναντία, συνελθόντα ὁμοῦ, τά τε φαινόμενα ζῳογονοῦσι, καὶ τοῦ εἶναι τοῖς σώμασιν ἀρχαὶ γίνονται Τούτῳ τῷ Θεῷ Λόγῳ πειθόμενα τὰ μὶν ἐπὶ γῆς ζωογονεῖται, τὰ δὲ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς συνίσταται. Καὶ διά τοῦτον θαλαττα μὶν πᾶσα καὶ ὁ μέγας ὠκεανὸς ὅροις τοῖς ἰδίοις ἔχουσι τήν ἑαυτῶν κίνησιν ἡ δὲ ξηρά πᾶσα χλοηφορεῖ καὶ κομᾷ παντοίοις καὶ διαφόροις φυτοῖς, ὡς προείρηται. Καὶ ’ίνα μή τὸ καθέκαστον ἐπὶ φανεροῖς, ὀνομάζων ἐνδιατρίβω, οὐδέν ἐστι τῶν ὄντων καὶ γινομένων, ’ὀ μή έν αὐτῷ καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ γέγονε καὶ ἕστηκεν, φησι καὶ ὁ θεολόγος ἀνήρʼ Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἧν ὁ Λόγος, καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Πάντα διʼ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν. Οῖον γὰρ εἷʼ τις, λύραν μουσικὸς ἁρμοσάμενος xui τὰ βαρέα τοῖς ὀξέσι, καὶ τὰ μέσα τοῖς ἄλλοις τῇ τέχνῃ συναγαγὼν, ’ἐν τὸ σημαινόμενον μέλος ἀποτελοίη· οὕτω καὶ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφία, τὸ ὅλον ὡς λύραν ἐπέχων, καὶ τὰ έν ἀέρι τοῖς ἐπὶ γῆς συναγαγὼν, καὶ τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ τοῖς έν ἀέρι, καὶ τὰ ὅλα τοῖς κατά μέρος συνάπτων καί περιάγων τῷ ἑαυτοῦ νεύματι καὶ θελήματι, ἕνα τὸν κόσμον καὶ μίαν τήν τούτου τάξιν ἀποτελεῖ καλῶς καὶ ἡρμοσμένους, αὐτὸς μὲν ἀκίνητος μένων παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ, πάντα δὲ κινῶν τῇ έαυτοῦ συστάσει, ὡς ἂν ἕκαστον τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρὶ δοκῇ. Τὸ γὰρ παράδοξον αὐτοῦ τῆς θεότητος τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὅτι ένὶ καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ νεύματι πάντα ὁμοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐκ διαστημάτων, ἀλλʼ ἀθρόως ὅλα τά τε ὀρθά, καὶ τὰ περιφερῆ, τὰ ἄνω, τὰ μέσα, τὰ κάτω, τὰ ὑγρὰ, τὰ ψυχρὰ, τά θερμὰ, τὰ φαινόμενα καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα περιάγει καὶ διακοσμεῖ κατὰ τὴν ἑκάστου φύσιν. Ὁμοῦ γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ νεύματι αὐτοῦ, τὸ μὲν ὀρθὸν ὡς ὀρθὸν, τὸ δὲ περιφερές περιάγεται· τὸ δὲ μέσον, ὡς ἔστι, κινεῖται· τὸ θερμόν θερμαίνεται, καὶ τὸ ξηρὸν ξηραίνεταιο καὶ τὰ ὅλα ὡς ἔχει φύσεως ζωοποιεῖται καὶ συνίσταται παρʼ αὐτοῦʼ καὶ θαυμαστή τις καὶ θεία ἀληθῶς ἁρμονία ἀποτελεῖται διʼ αὐτοῦ.

### English translation (Claude)

The all-powerful and all-perfect holy Word of the Father himself, pervading all things and spreading forth his powers everywhere, and illumining all things visible and invisible, holds them together and binds them to himself, leaving nothing empty of his power, but giving life to and preserving all things, and through all things, each one individually and the whole together. Blending into one the principles of all sensible being, the hot, the cold, the wet, and the dry, he makes them not oppose one another but produce one concordant harmony. Through him and his power fire does not fight with cold, nor wet with dry; but things that are opposite in themselves come together like friends and brothers, give life to visible things, and become the principles of existence for bodies. Obeying this God the Word, the things on earth receive life and the things in the heavens subsist. Through him the whole sea and the great ocean keep their motion within their own bounds, and the whole dry land grows green and luxuriant with all kinds of different plants, as was said before. And not to spend time naming each obvious thing, there is nothing among the things that are and come to be that has not come to be and does not stand in him and through him, as the theologian also says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.” For as a musician, having tuned his lyre and joined by his art the low notes with the high and the middle with the rest, produces a single melody, so the Wisdom of God, holding the universe like a lyre, joining things in the air to those on earth and those in heaven to those in the air, uniting wholes with parts and moving them round by his nod and will, produces one world and its one order, beautifully and harmoniously. He himself remains unmoved with the Father, while he moves all things by his constitution of them, as seems good to his Father for each. For the marvel of his Godhead is this: by one and the same nod he moves round and orders all things together, not at intervals but all at once, the straight and the circular, things above, in the middle, and below, the wet, the cold, the hot, the visible and the invisible, according to the nature of each. For at the same time, by his one nod, the straight moves as straight, the circular moves round, the middle moves as it is, the hot is heated, the dry is dried, and all things according to their nature receive life and subsistence from him, and a wonderful and truly divine harmony is produced through him.

### Scripture references

- John 1:1: quotation, high confidence
- John 1:3: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- “The theologian” is John the Evangelist.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 42 (PG 25:84b–85b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-42).

## Against the Heathen 43

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-43
- Source: PG 25:85b–88a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Three images, a choir under its leader, the soul moving the senses, and a city under its king, illustrate how the Word moves all creation at once.

### Greek text

Καὶ ’ίνα ἐκ παραδείγματος τὸ τηλικοῦτον νοηθείη, ἔστω τὸ λεγόμενον ὡς έν εἰκόνι χοροῦ μεγάλου. Ὠς τοίνυν τοῦ χοροῦ συνεστῶτος ἐκ διαφόρων ἀνθρώπων, παίδων, γυναικῶν αὖ καὶ γερόντων, καὶ τῶν ἔτι νέων· καὶ ένὸς τοῦ καθηγεμόνος σημαίνοντος, ἕκαστος μὲν κατᾶ τὴν φύσιν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ δύναμιν φωνεῖ, ὁ μὲν ἀνὴρ ὡς ἀνὴρ, ὁ δὲ παῖς ὡς παῖς, ὁ δὲ γέρων ὡς γέρων, καὶ ὁ νέος ὡς νέος, πάντες δὲ μίαν ἀποτελοῦσιν ἁρμονίαν· ἢ ὡς ἡ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ψυχὴ ἐν ταὐτῷ τὰς ἐν ἡμῖν αἰσθήσεις κατὰ τήν ἑκάστης ἐνέργειαν κινεῖ, ὥστε παρόντος πράγματος ένὸς τὰς πάσας ὁμοῦ κινεῖσθαι, καὶ τὸν μὲν ὀφθαλμὸν ὁρᾷν, τὴν δὲ ἀκοὴν ἀκούειν, τὴν δὲ χεῖρα ἅπτεσθαι, καὶ τήν ὄσφρησιν ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι, καὶ τῆν γεῦσιν γεύεσθαι· πολλάκις δὲ καὶ τά ἄλλα μέλη τοῦ σώματος, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς πόδας περιπατεῖν· ἢ ’ίνα καὶ τρίτῳ παραδείγματι τὸ λεγόμενον σημανθῇ, ἔοικεν οἱκοδομηθείσῃ μάλιστα μεγάλῃ πόλει, καὶ οἰκονομουμένῃ ἐπὶ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ καὶ ταύτην οἰκοδομήσαντος ἄρχοντος καὶ βασιλέως. Ἐκείνου γὰρ παρόντος, καὶ προστάττοντος, καὶ πρὸς πάντα τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν τείνοντος, ἑπόμενοι πάντες, οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τήν γεωργίαν, οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑδραγωγοὺς ὑδρευσόμενοι σπεύδουσιν· ἄλλος δὲ ἐπισιτισάμενος προέρχεται· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐπὶ τήν βουλὴν βαδίζει, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰσέρχεται· καὶ ὁ μὲν δικαστὴς ἐπὶ τὸ δικάζειν, ὁ δὲ ἄρχων ἐπὶ τὸ θεσμοθετεῖν καθίσταται δὲ εὐθέως ὀ μὲν τεχνίτης έπί τὴν ἐργασίαν, ὁ δὲ ναύτης ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν κατέρχεται, ὁ τέκτων ἐπὶ τὸ τεκτονεύειν, ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐπὶ τήν θεραπείαν, ὁ οἰκοδόμος ἐπὶ τὴν οἶκοδομήν · καὶ ὁ μὲν εἰς τὸν ἀγρὸν βαδίζει, ὁ δέ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἀνέρχεταιο καὶ οἱ μέν περὶ τήν πόλιν ἀναστρέφονται, οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐξέρχονται, καὶ πάλιν εἷς αὐτὴν ἐπανέρχονται. Πάντα δὲ ταῦτα τῇ παρουσίᾳ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἄρχοντος, καὶ τούτου διατάξει γίγνονται, καί συνίστανται. Κατὰ ταῦτα δὴ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς συμπάσης κτίσεως, κᾶν μικρὸν τὸ παράδειγμα, ὅμως μείζονι διανοίᾳ χρὴ νοεῖν· ὑπὸ γάρ

### English translation (Claude)

And so that so great a matter may be understood by an example, let what we are describing be pictured as a great choir. A choir is composed of different people, children, women too, old men, and those who are still young; and when one, the leader, gives the sign, each sings according to his own nature and power, the man as a man, the child as a child, the old man as an old man, and the young man as a young man, yet all produce one harmony. Or again, our soul at the same time moves the senses in us according to the activity of each, so that when some one object is present all are moved together: the eye sees, the hearing hears, the hand touches, the sense of smell perceives, and the taste tastes; and often the other members of the body move too, so that the feet walk. Or, to make our meaning clear by a third example, it is like a very great city that has been built and is administered in the presence of the ruler and king who built it. For when he is present, gives his commands, and turns his eye on everything, all follow: some hasten to agriculture, others to the aqueducts to draw water; another goes out to get provisions; one goes to the council, another enters the assembly; the judge sits to judge, and the magistrate to make laws; the craftsman settles at once to his work, the sailor goes down to the sea, the carpenter to his carpentry, the physician to his healing, the builder to his building; one goes to the field, another comes back from the field; some go about the city, others go out of the city and return to it again. All these things happen and are kept in being by the presence of the one ruler and by his arrangement. In the same way one must think of the whole creation too, even if the example is small, but with a greater understanding. For by …

### Translation notes

- A stray line from Migne’s Latin notes, printed in the middle of the Greek, is removed.
- The sentence breaks off and continues in chapter 44.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 43 (PG 25:85b–88a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-43).

## Against the Heathen 44

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-44
- Source: PG 25:88a–88b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: By the Word’s single nod the heavens, the elements, the seasons, all living things, and the invisible powers are moved and held together, to make the Father known.

### Greek text

Νεύματι γὰρ καὶ ταῖς δυνάμεσι τοῦ ἐπιστατοῦντος καὶ ἡγεμονεύοντος τῶν πάντων θείου καὶ πατρικοῦ Λόγου, οὐρανὸς μὲν περιστρέφεται, τὰ δὲ ἄστρα κινεῖται, καὶ ὁ μὲν ἥλιος φαίνει, ἡ δὲ σελήνη περιπολεῖ, καὶ ὁ μὶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ φωτίζεται, αἱθὴρ δὲ θερμαίνεται καὶ ἄνεμοι πνέουσι· τὰ ὅρη εἷς ὕψος ἀνατεταμένα ἵσταται, ἡ θάλασσα κυμαίνει, καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ζῶα τρέφεται, ἡ γῆ ἀκίνητος μένουσα καρποφορεῖ, καὶ ὁ ἅνθρωπος πλάττεται, καί ζῇ, καὶ ἀποθνήσκει πάλιν· καὶ ἁπλῶς πάντα ψυχοῦται καὶ κινεῖταιο τὸ πῦρ καίει, τὸ ὕδωρ ψύχει, πηγαὶ ἀναβλύζουσι, ποταμοὶ πλημμυροῦσι, καιροὶ καὶ ὧραι παραγίγνονται, ὑετοὶ κατέρχονται, τὰ νὲφη πληροῦται, χάλαζα γίνεται, χιὼν καὶ κρύσταλλος πήγνυται, πετεινὰ ἵπταται, ἑρπετὰ πορεύεται, ἔνυδρα νήχεται, Θάλαττα πλέεται, γῆ σπείρεται καὶ κατὰ τοὺς ἰδίους καιροὺς χλοηφορεῖ, φυτᾶ αὔξει, καὶ τά μὶν νεάζει, τὰ δὶ πεπαίνεται, τὰ δὲ αὐξάνοντα γηράσκει καί φθίνει, καὶ τά μὲν ἀφανίζεται, τὰ δὲ γεννᾶται καὶ φαίνεται. Ταῦτα δὲ πάντα, καὶ ἔτι πλείω τούτων, ἃ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος οὐκ ἰσχῦομεν ἡμεῖς λέγειν, ὁ παραδοξοποιὸς καὶ θαυματοποιὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος φωτίζων καὶ ζωοποιῶν, τῷ ἐαυτοῦ νεύματι κινεῖ, καί διακοσμεῖ, ἕνα τὸν κόσμον ἀποτελῶν, οὐκ ἔξωθεν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὰς ἀοράτους δυνάμεις ἀφείς· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύτας, οἷα δὴ καὶ αὐτῶν ποιητής ὑπάρχων, συμπεριλαβὼν ἐν τοῖς ὅλοις, συνέχει καὶ ζωοποιεῖ πάλιν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ νεύματι, καὶ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ προνοίᾳ· καὶ τούτου οὐκ άν τι γὲνοιτο πρὸς ἀπιστίαν ἐφόδιον. Ὡς γὰρ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ προνοίᾳ καὶ σώματα μὶν αὔξει, ψυχὴ δὲ ἡ λογική κινεῖται, καὶ τὸ λογίζεσθαι καὶ τὸ ζῇν ἔχει, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ πολλῆς ἀποδείξεως δεῖται· ὁρῶμεν γὰρ τὰ γινόμεναʼ οὕτω δὴ πάλιν αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἐνὶ καὶ ἀπλῷ νεύματι, τῇ εαυτοῦ δυνάμει τόν τε ὁρατὸν κόσμον καὶ τὰς ἀοράτους δυνάμεις κινεῖ καὶ συνέχει, ἑκάστῳ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐνέργειαν ἀποδιδούςʼ ὥστε τὰς μὲν Θείας θειοτέρως κινεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ ὁρατὰ ὥσπερ καὶ ὁρᾶται. Αὐτὸς δὶ, ἐπὶ πάντων, ἡγεμών τε καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ σύστασις γινόμενος τῶν πάντων, τὰ πάντα πρὸς δόξαν καὶ γνῶσιν τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρός ἐργάζεται, μονονουχὶ διὰ τῶν

### English translation (Claude)

For by the nod and the powers of the divine Word of the Father, who presides over and governs all things, the heaven revolves, the stars move, the sun shines, the moon goes her round, the air is lit by the sun, the ether is heated, and the winds blow; the mountains stand reared up on high, the sea swells with waves and the living things in it are fed, the earth remains unmoved and bears fruit, and man is formed, lives, and dies again. In short, all things are given life and movement: fire burns, water cools, springs gush forth, rivers flood, seasons and hours come round, rains fall, clouds fill, hail forms, snow and ice congeal, birds fly, creeping things go on their way, water creatures swim, the sea is sailed, the earth is sown and in its own seasons grows green, plants increase, some are young, some ripen, others grow, grow old, and wither, and some vanish while others are born and appear. All these things, and more than these, which because of their number we cannot tell, the wonder-working and marvel-making Word of God, enlightening and giving life, moves and orders by his nod, making the world one. He does not leave even the invisible powers outside himself; for these too, since he is their maker as well, he includes in the whole, and holds together and gives life to by his nod and his providence; and there could be no ground for disbelief in this. For as by his providence bodies grow, and the rational soul moves and has reasoning and life (and this needs no great proof, for we see what happens), so again the Word of God himself, by one simple nod and by his own power, moves and holds together both the visible world and the invisible powers, giving to each its own activity, so that the divine powers move in a more divine way, and visible things as they are seen. He himself, over all, being the leader and king and the constitution of all things, does all things for the glory and knowledge of his own Father, all but teaching through the …

### Translation notes

- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 44 (PG 25:88a–88b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-44).

## Against the Heathen 45

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-45
- Source: PG 25:89a–92a
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: As a word reveals the mind, the Word reveals the Father; Scripture forbids idols and the worship of the heavenly bodies, which were given so that the nations might know their Maker.

### Greek text

Ὠσπερ γὰρ, ἀναβλέψαντας εἷς τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ ἰδόντας τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ τῶν ἄστρων φῶς, ἔστιν ἐνθυμεῖσθαι τὸν ταῦτα διακοσμοῦντα Λόγον· οὕτω νοοῦντας Λόγον Θεοῦ, νοεῖν ἐστιν ἀνάγκη καί τὸν τούτου πατὲρα Θεὸν, ἐξ οὗ προϊὼν, εἰκότως τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ πατρὸς ἑρμηνεὺς καὶ ἅγγελος λέγεται· καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν καθʼ ἡμᾶς τις ἃν ἴδοι. Εἴ γὰρ δὴ, λόγου προϊόντος παρὰ ἀνθρώπων, ἐνθυμούμεθα τὴν τούτου πηγὴν εἶναι τὸν νοῦν, καί τῷ λόγῳ ἐπιβάλλοντες, τὸν νοῦν σημαινόμενον ὁρῶμεν τῷ λογισμῷ· πολλῷ πλέον μείζονι φαντασίᾳ καί ἀσυγκρίτῳ ὑπεροχῇ τοῦ Λόγου τήν δύναμιν ὁρῶντες, ἔννοιαν λαμβάνομεν καὶ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτήρ φησιν· Ὀ ἐμὲ ἑωρακὼς ἑώρακε τὸν Πατὲρα μου. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ πᾶσα θεόπνευστος Γραφὴ φανερώτερον καὶ κατὰ μεῖζον κηρύττει, ἀφʼ ὧν δὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς τεθαρρηκότες ταῦτά σοι γράφομεν, καὶ σὺ ταύταις ἐντυγχάνων, δυνήσῃ τῶν λεγομένων ἔχειν τὴν πίστιν. Λόγος γὰρ ἐκ μειζόνων βεβαιούμενος, ἀναντίρρητον ἔχει τὴν ἀπόδειξιν. Ἀνωθεν τοίνυν περὶ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων ἀναιρέσεως προησφαλίζετο τὸν Ἰουδαίων λαὸν ὁ θεῖος Λόγος Λέγων· Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον, οὐδὲ παντὸς ὁμοίωμα, ὅσα ἐν τῷ ούρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς κάτω. Τὴν δὲ αἰτίαν τῆς τούτων καθαιρέσεως, ἐτέρως σημαίνει λέγων· Τὰ εἷʼδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καί χρυσίον, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων. Στόμα ἔχουσι, καί ού λαλήσουσιν ο ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ὄψονταιο ὦτα ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἀκούσονται · ῥῖνας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὐκ ὀσφρανθήσονται. Χεῖρας ἔχουσι, καί οὗ ψηλαφήσουσι · πόδας ἔχουσι, καὶ οὗ περιπατήσουσιν. Οὐ σεσιώπηκε δὲ τήν περὶ τῆς κτίσεως διδασκαλίαν· ἀλλὰ καὶ μάλα εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὸ κάλλος, ἵνα μή τινες, τῷ κάλλει τούτων ἒναποβλέψαντες, οὐχ ὡς ἔργα Θεοῦ, ἀλλʼ ὡς θεοὺς θρησκεύσωσι, προασφαλίζεται τοὺς ἀνθρώπους λέγων· Καὶ μὴ ἀναβλέψας τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην, καὶ πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ ούρανοῦ πλανηθεὶς, προσκυνήσῃς αύτοῖς, ἂ ἀπένειμε Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς ὑποκάτω τοῦ ούρανοῦ. ’Δπένειμε δὲ οὐκ εἷς τὸ εἶναι θεοὺς αὐτοῖς αὐτὰ, ἀλλʼ *ίνα τῇ τούτων ἐνεργείᾳ γινώσκωσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τὸν τῶν πάντων δημιουργὸν Θεὸν, ὥσπερ εἷʼρηται. Ὁ γὰρ Ἰουδαίων πάλαι λαὸς κατὰ πλεῖον εἶχε τὴν διδασκαλίαν, ὅτι μή μόνον ἐκ τῶν τῆς κτίσεως ἔργων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν εἶχον τὴν περῖ Θεοῦ γνῶσιν. Καὶ καθόλου δὲ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπὸ τῆς περὶ τὰ εἷʼδωλα πλάνης καί ἀλόγου φαντασίας ἀφελκων, φησίν Οὐκ ἔσονταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ. Οὐχ ὡς ὄντων δὲ θεῶν ἄλλων κωλύει τούτους αὐτοὺς ἔχειν, ἀλλʼ ἵνα μή τις, τὸν ἀληθινὸν ἀποστραφεὶς Θεὸν, ἑαυτῷ τὰ μή ὄντα θεοποιεῖν ἄρξηται, ὁποιοί εἰσιν oi παρά ποιηταῖς καὶ συγγραφεῖωιν ὄνο-

### English translation (Claude)

For as, when we look up to heaven and see its order and the light of the stars, we may reflect on the Word who orders these things, so, when we perceive the Word of God, we must also perceive God his Father, from whom he proceeds and is therefore fittingly called his Father’s interpreter and messenger. One may see this from our own experience too. For if, when a word proceeds from human beings, we infer that its source is the mind, and, attending to the word, we see by reasoning the mind it signifies, much more, when we see with a greater imagination the power of the Word and its incomparable superiority, do we gain a notion also of his good Father, as the Savior himself says: “He who has seen me has seen my Father.” All God-inspired Scripture proclaims these things more clearly and more fully; relying on it we write these things to you, and you, reading the Scriptures, will be able to have faith in what is said. For an argument confirmed by higher authorities has an incontestable proof. From of old, then, the divine Word secured the Jewish people against idols, saying: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below.” And the reason for their overthrow he indicates elsewhere, saying: “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of human hands. They have a mouth and will not speak; they have eyes and will not see; they have ears and will not hear; they have noses and will not smell; they have hands and will not handle; they have feet and will not walk.” Nor has he kept silent about the teaching concerning creation; but knowing its beauty well, he forewarns people, lest some, gazing at the beauty of these things, should worship them not as works of God but as gods, saying: “And do not, when you look up with your eyes and see the sun and the moon and all the order of heaven, be led astray and worship them, which the Lord your God has allotted to all the nations under heaven.” He allotted them not that they should be gods for them, but so that by their working those of the nations might know God the fashioner of all things, as has been said. For the Jewish people of old had fuller teaching, because they had the knowledge of God not only from the works of creation but also from the divine Scriptures. And in general, drawing people away from the error and the irrational imagination concerning idols, he says: “You shall have no other gods besides me.” He does not forbid them to have other gods as though there were such, but lest anyone, turning away from the true God, should begin to deify for himself things that are not, such as are those named by the poets and writers …

### Scripture references

- John 14:9: quotation, high confidence
- Exod 20:4: quotation, high confidence
- Ps 115:4–7 (113:12-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Deut 4:19: quotation, high confidence
- Exod 20:3: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- The chapter breaks off in the scan (marked “…”); its last lines are lost.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 45 (PG 25:89a–92a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-45).

## Against the Heathen 46

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-46
- Source: PG 25:92a–93c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Scripture teaches the one God and his providence through the Word, to whom the Father spoke at creation (“Let us make man”); the Son is the Father’s own Wisdom, Word, and Power, not by participation.

### Greek text

Ἆρʼ οὗν, ἀνελὼν τήν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἢ εἰδώλων ἀθεότητα, σεσιώπηκεν ἡ ἔνθεος διδασκαλία, καὶ ἁπλῶς ἀφῆκε τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος ἄμοιρον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ γνώσεως φέρεσθαι ; Οὐχί γε, ἀλλὰ καὶ προαπαντᾷ τῇ διανοίᾳ λέγουσα· Ἄκουε, Ἰσραὴλ, Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, Κύριος εἷς ἐστιʼ καὶ πάλινο ’Δγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου, καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ἴσχύϊ σου καὶ πάλιν ' Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις, καὶ αὖτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν κολληθησῃ. ’Ότι καὶ ἡ διὰ πάντων καὶ ἡ εἷς πάντα τοῦ Λόγου πρόνοια καὶ διακόσμησις ἀπὸ πάσης τῆς θεοπνεύστου Γραφῆς μαρτυρεῖται, ἀρκεῖ τὰ νῦν λεγόμενα δεῖξαι τοῦ λόγου τὴν πίστιν, ᾖ φασιν οἱ θεολόγοι ἄνδρες ο Ἐθεμελίωσας τὴν γῆν, xui διαμένει· τῇ διατάξει σου διαμένει ἡ ἡμέρα· xui πάλιν· Ψάλατε τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν ἐν κιθάρᾳ, τῷ περιβάλλοντι τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐν νεφέλαις, τῷ ἑτοιμάζοντι τῇ γῇ ὑετὸν, τῷ ἐξαγαγόντι ἐν ὄρεσι ’χόρτον καὶ χλόην τῇ δουλείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ διδόντι τοῖς κτήνεσι τροφήν. Διά τίνος δὲ δίδωσιν ἢ διʼ οὗ καὶ τὰ πάντα γὲγονε; Διʼ οὗ γὰρ γέγονε, διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ τῶν πάντων ἀκολούθως ἐστὶ πρόνοια. Τίς οὖν ἂν εἴη οὗτος ἢ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, περὶ οὗ καὶ ἐν ὲτέρῳ ψαλμῷ λέγει. Τῷ λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν. Καὶ γὰρ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ γενόμενα διαλέγεται, ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ ἡμᾶς πείθει λέγουσα. Αὐτός εἶπε, καὶ ἐγενήθησαν · αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο, xui ἐκτίσθησαν· καθὼς καὶ ὁ πάντα μέγας Μωυσῆς ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς κοσμοποιίας βεβαιοῖ τὸ λεγόμενον ἐξηγούμενος καὶ λέγων· Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ Θεός Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατʼ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθʼ ὁμοίωσιν. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὴν ούρανοῦ καὶ γῆς καὶ πάντων ὑφιστὰς γένεσιν, αὐτῷ εἶπεν ὀ Πατήρ. Γενηθήτω οὐρανὸς, καὶ συναχθήτω τὰ ὕδατα, καὶ ὀφθήτω ἡ ξηρά” καὶ ἐξαγαγέτω ἡ γῆ βοτάνην καὶ πᾶν ζῶον ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ Ἰουδαίους ἄν τις ἐλέγξειεν οὐ γνησίως ἐφιστάνοντας ταῖς Γραφαῖς. Τίνι γὰρ, ἄν τις εἷʼποι πρὸς αὐτοὺς, ὡμίλει ὁ Θεὸς, ’ίνα καὶ προστάττων λαλῇ; Εἰ μὲν οὖν τοῖς γιγνομένοις προσέταττε xui ὡμίλει, περιττὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν, ἀλλʼ ἔμελλε γίγνεσθαι· οὐδεὶς δὲ τῷ μὴ ὄντι λαλεῖ, οὐδὲ εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι τῷ μηδέπω γενομένῳ προστάττει καὶ λαλεῖ. Εἰ γὰρ τοῖς ἐσομένοις προσέταττεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἔδει λέγειν αὐτόν· Γενοῦ, οὐρανέ, καὶ γενοῦ, γῆ, καὶ ἔξελθε, βοτάνη, καὶ ποιήθητι, ἄνθρωπε· νῦν δὲ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἐποίησε· προστάττει δὲ λέγων Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐξελθέτω βοτάνη· ἀφʼ ὧν δείκνυται ὁ Θεὸς ὡς πλησίον τινὶ διαλεγόμενος περὶ τούτων· Ούκοῦν ἀνάγκη συνεἷναί τινα τούτῳ, ᾧ καὶ ὁμιλῶν ἐποίει τὰ ὅλα. Τίς οὗν ἂν εἷή εἰ μὴ ὁ τούτου Λόγος;τίνι γὰρ ἄν τις φαίη Θεὸν ὁμιλεῖν ἡ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Λόγῳ ; Ἦ τίς τούτῳ συνῆν ποιοῦντι τὴν γενητὴν πᾶσαν οὐσίαν ἢ ἡ τούτου σοφία, ἡ λέγουσα· Ἡνίκα ἐποίει τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, συμπαρήμην αὐτῷʼ ἐν δὲ τῇ ούρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὀνομασίᾳ, πάντα τὰ ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ γῇ γενητὰ συμπεριλαμβάνει. Συνὼν δὲ ὡς σοφία, καὶ ὡς Λόγος τὸν Πατέρα βλέπων, ἐδημιούργει τὸ πᾶν καὶ συνίστη καί διεκόσμει· καὶ δύναμις δὲ ὣν τοῦ Πατρὸς, τὰ ὅλα εἰς τὸ εἶναι ἷσχυροποίει, φησι καὶ ὁ Σωτήρ· Πάντα ὅσα βλέπω τὸν Πατέρα ποιοῦντα, κάγὼ ὁμοίως ποιῶ· καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ δὲ καὶ εἷς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα γεγονέναι οἱ ἱεροὶ τούτου διδάσκουσι μαθηταὶ, καὶ ὅτι ἀγαθὸν ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ γέννημα, καὶ ἀληθινὸς Υἱὸς ὑπάρχων, δύναμίς ἐστι τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ σοφία, καί Λόγος, ού κατὰ μετοχὴν ταῦτα ὢν, οὐδὲ ἔξωθεν ἐπιγινομένων τούτων αὐτῷ κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοῦ μετέχοντας καὶ σοφιζομένους δι αὐτοῦ, καὶ δυνατοὺς καὶ λογικους ἐν αὐτῷ γινομένους, ἀλλʼ αὐτοσοφία, αὐτολόγος, αὐτοδύναμις ἰδία τοῦ Πατρός ἐστιν, αὐτοφῶς, αὐτοαλήθέια, αὐτοδικαίοσύνη, αὖτοαρετῆ, καὶ μὲν καὶ χαρακτὴρ καῖ ἀπαύγασμα καὶ εἰκών. Καὶ συνελόντι φράσαι, καρπὸς παντέλειος τοῦ Πατρὸς ὑπάρχει, καὶ μόνος ἐστὶν Υἱὸς, εἰκὼν ἀπαράλλακτος τοῦ Πατρός.

### English translation (Claude)

Did the inspired teaching, then, having done away with the godlessness of the nations and their idols, fall silent, and simply leave the human race to drift without any share in the knowledge of God? Not at all; it anticipates our thought, saying: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord”; and again: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your strength”; and again: “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him alone you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.” That the providence and ordering of the Word, through all things and over all things, is attested by all inspired Scripture, what is now said is enough to show, to confirm our argument, as the theologians say: “You founded the earth, and it abides; by your ordering the day abides”; and again: “Sing to our God on the lyre, who covers the heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who brings forth grass on the mountains and green plants for the service of human beings, and gives food to the cattle.” Through whom does he give it, but through him through whom all things came to be? For through whom they came to be, through him too, consistently, is the providence over all things. Who, then, would this be but the Word of God, of whom he says in another psalm: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and all their host by the breath of his mouth”? For Scripture declares that all things came to be in him and through him, and by this it persuades us, saying: “He spoke, and they came to be; he commanded, and they were created”; just as the great Moses too, at the beginning of the making of the world, confirms what is said, explaining it and saying: “And God said, Let us make man after our image and likeness.” For when he was bringing into being the heaven and earth and all things, the Father said to him: “Let there be heaven,” and “Let the waters be gathered together, and let the dry land appear,” and “Let the earth bring forth plants and every living thing.” From this one might refute the Jews, as not attending faithfully to the Scriptures. To whom, one might ask them, was God speaking, so as to speak in commanding? If he was commanding and speaking to the things that were coming to be, his speech was superfluous; for they did not yet exist but were about to come to be; and no one speaks to what does not exist, nor commands and speaks to what has not yet come to be, telling it to come to be. For if God were commanding the things that were to be, he should have said: “Come to be, heaven; come to be, earth; come forth, plants; be made, man.” But he did not do this; rather he commands, saying: “Let us make man,” and “Let plants come forth”; by which God is shown to be speaking about these things to someone near him. There must, then, be someone with him, speaking to whom he made all things. Who, then, would this be but his Word? For to whom could one say that God speaks, but to his own Word? Or who was with him when he made all created being, but his Wisdom, who says: “When he was making the heaven and the earth, I was present with him”? By naming heaven and earth Scripture includes all created things in heaven and on earth. Being present as Wisdom, and as Word beholding the Father, he fashioned the universe, constituted it, and ordered it; and being the Power of the Father, he strengthened all things to exist, as the Savior says: “Whatever I see the Father doing, I also do likewise.” And his holy disciples teach that all things came to be through him and for him; and that, being a good offspring of the good, and the true Son, he is the Power of the Father, and his Wisdom and Word: not being these by participation, nor as though these were added to him from outside, as they are to those who participate in him and are made wise through him and become powerful and rational in him; but he is Wisdom itself, Word itself, the Father’s own Power itself, Light itself, Truth itself, Righteousness itself, Virtue itself, and indeed the stamp, the radiance, and the image. In a word, he is the all-perfect fruit of the Father, and is the only Son, the unchanging image of the Father.

### Scripture references

- Deut 6:4: quotation, high confidence
- Deut 6:5: quotation, high confidence
- Deut 6:13: quotation, high confidence
- Deut 10:20: quotation, medium confidence
- Ps 119:90–91 (118:90-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 147:7–9 (146:7-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 33:6 (32:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 148:5: quotation, medium confidence
- Gen 1:26: quotation, high confidence
- Gen 1:6: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:9: quotation, high confidence
- Gen 1:11: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 1:24: allusion, high confidence
- Prov 8:27: quotation, high confidence
- John 5:19: quotation, high confidence
- Col 1:16: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence
- Heb 1:3: allusion, high confidence
- Col 1:15: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The Psalms are quoted in the Septuagint form (Ps 119:90–91 = LXX 118; Ps 147:7–9 = LXX 146; Ps 33:6, 9 and 148:5 = LXX 32 and 148).
- “Present with him” quotes Prov 8:27 in a form close to the Septuagint; John 5:19 is quoted loosely.
- “Wisdom itself, Word itself …” render αὐτοσοφία, αὐτολόγος and similar compounds: the Son is these things by nature, not by sharing in them. The argument against “the Jews” from “Let us make man” is translated as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 46 (PG 25:92a–93c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-46).

## Against the Heathen 47

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-47
- Source: PG 25:93c–96c
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Word, through whom the Father orders all things, is revealed daily in creation; those who honor creation instead of its Maker are senseless, while faith in Christ bears the fruit of immortality.

### Greek text

Τίς οὖν ἂν, τίς ἐξαριθμῆσειε τὸν Πατέρα, ἵνα καὶ τοῦ Λόγου τούτου τὰς δυνάμεις ἐξεύροι ; Ἐστι γὰρ ὥσπερ τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγος καὶ σοφία, οὕτω καὶ τοῖς γενητοῖς συγκαταβαίνων, γίνεται πρὸς τὴν τοῦ γενήτορος γνῶσιν καί ἔννοιαν αὐτοαγιασμὸς καὶ αὐτοζωή καί θύρα, καὶ ποιμήν, καὶ ὁδὸς, καὶ βασιλεὺς, καὶ ἡγεμὼν, καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι σωτὴρ, καὶ ζωοποιὸς καὶ φῶς, καὶ πρόνοια τῶν πάντων. Τοιοῦτον ἄρα ἀγαθὸν καὶ δημιουργὸν Υἱὸν ἔχων ἐξ ἐαυτοῦ ὁ Πατὴρ, οὐκ ἀφανῆ αὐτὸν τοῖς γενητοῖς ἀπέκρυψεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁσημέραι τοῦτον ἀποκαλύπτει τοῖς πᾶσι διὰ τῆς τῶν πάντων διʼ αὐτοῦ συστάσεως καὶ ζωῆς. Ἐν αὗτῷ δὲ καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐμφαίνει, καθὼς ὅ Σωτήρ φησινʼ Ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ καί ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί· ὥστε ἐξ ἀνάγκης εἶναι τὸν ·Λόγον ἐν τῷ γεννήσαντι, καὶ τὸν γεννηθέντα σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ διαιωνίζειν. Τούτων δὲ οὕτως ἐχόντων, καὶ οὐδενὸς ἔξωθεν αὐτοῦ τυγχάνοντος, ἀλλα καὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐξηρτημένων αὐτοῦ, ὅμως ἄνθρωποι παράφρονες, παραγκωνισάμενοι τὴν πρὸς τοῦτον γνῶσιν καὶ εὐσέβειαν, τὰ οὐκ ὄντα πρὸ τῶν ὄντων ἐτίμησαν· καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ ὅντως ὄντος Θεοῦ, τὰ μὴ ὄντα ἐθεοποίησαν, Τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα λατρεύοντες, πρᾶγμα πάσχοντες ἀνόητον καὶ δυσσεβὲς. Ὅμοιον γὰρ εἷʼ τις τὰ ἔργα πρὸ τοῦ τεχνίτου θαυμάσειε, καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ πόλει δημιουργήματα καταπλαγεὶς, τον τούτων δημιουργὸν καταπατοίη ἢ ὡς εἷʼ τις τὸ μὲν μουσικὸν ὄργανον ἐπαινοίη, τὸν δὲ συνθέντα καὶ ἁρμοσάμενον ἐκβάλλοι. Ἄφρονες καὶ πολὺ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν πεπηρωμένοι) Πῶς γὰρ ἂν ἔγνωσαν ἄλλως οἰκοδομὴν, ἢ ναῦν, ἢ λύραν, μὴ οὐχὶ τοῦ ναυπηγοῦ ἐργασαμένου καὶ τοῦ ἀρχιτέκτονος οἰκοδομήσαντος, καὶ τοῦ μουσικοῦ συνθέντος ;- Ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ ταῦτα λογιζόμενος μαίνεται καὶ ὐπερεπέκεινα πάσης μανίας ἐστὶν, οὕτως οὕ μοι δοκοῦσιν ὑγιαίνειν τὴν διάνοιαν οἱ τὸν Θεὸν μή ἐπιγινώσκοντες, καί τὸν τούτου Λόγον μή θρησκεύοντες, τὸν Σωτῆρα τῶν πάντων τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα ὁ Πατὴρ διακοσμεῖ, καὶ συνέχει, καὶ προνοεῖται τῶν ὅλων εἷς ὃν σὺ τήν πίστιν ἔχων καὶ τὸ θεοσεβὲς, ὦ φιλόχριστε, χαῖρε καὶ εὔελπις γίνου, ὅτι τῆς εἷς αὐτὸν πίστεως καὶ εὐσεβείας ἀθανασία καὶ βασιλεία οὐρανῶν ἐστιν ὁ καρπὸς, μόνον εὰν κατά τοὺς αὐτοῦ νόμους ἡ ψυχὴ κεκοσμημένη γένηται. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τοῖς κατʼ αὐτόν πολιτευομένοις ἐστὶ τὸ ἔπαθλον ζωὴ αἰώνιος, οὕτω τοῖς τήν ἐναντίαν καὶ μή τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀτραπὸν ὁδεύουσιν αἰσχύνη μεγάλη καὶ κίνδυνος ἆσύγγνωστος ἐν ὁδὸν, ἐναντία ὦν ἔγνωσαν ἔπραξαν

### English translation (Claude)

Who, then, who could number the Father, so as also to discover the powers of his Word? For as he is the Word and Wisdom of the Father, so, condescending to created things, he becomes, for the knowledge and understanding of the One who begot him, holiness itself and life itself, and the door, the shepherd, the way, the king, the leader, and over all the Savior, the giver of life, the light, and the providence of all things. Having, then, such a good and creating Son from himself, the Father did not hide him away from created things as invisible, but daily reveals him to all, through the constitution and the life of all things through him. In him and through him he also reveals himself, as the Savior says: “I am in the Father and the Father in me”; so that the Word must necessarily be in the one who begot him, and the one begotten must exist eternally with the Father. Since these things are so, and nothing is outside him, but heaven and earth and all that is in them depend on him, senseless people have nevertheless thrust aside the knowledge of him and piety toward him and honored things that are not before things that are; and instead of the God who truly is, they have deified things that are not, serving the creature rather than the Creator, a senseless and impious thing to do. It is as if someone admired the works before the craftsman, and, astounded at the works of art in the city, trampled on their maker; or as if someone praised a musical instrument but threw out the one who built and tuned it. Senseless people, badly maimed in their sight! For how else would they have come to know a building, a ship, or a lyre, if the shipwright had not made the ship, the architect built the house, and the musician constructed the lyre? As, then, the one who reasons in this way is mad, and beyond all madness, so those do not seem to me sound in mind who do not recognize God and do not worship his Word, the Savior of all, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the Father orders all things, holds them together, and provides for the whole. Since you have faith in him and godliness, lover of Christ, rejoice and be of good hope; for the fruit of faith and piety toward him is immortality and the kingdom of heaven, provided only that the soul is adorned according to his laws. For as the prize for those who live according to him is eternal life, so for those who travel the opposite way, and not the path of virtue, there is great shame and an unpardonable danger in … the way, they did the opposite of what they knew.

### Scripture references

- John 10:7: allusion, high confidence
- John 10:11: allusion, high confidence
- John 14:6: allusion, high confidence
- John 14:10: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 1:25: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Cor 1:30: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A line is lost in the scan before the last words (marked “…”); the sense seems to be that the danger lies in the day of judgment, because, knowing the way, they acted against what they knew.
- The work continues in On the Incarnation, which begins by referring back to this book.

### Citation (SBL)

Athanasius, Gent. 47 (PG 25:93c–96c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athanasius-contra-gentes/42/#p-47).