First Apology 44

And the holy prophetic Spirit taught us these things, telling us through Moses that God spoke thus to the first man who was formed: “Behold, before your face are good and evil; choose the good.” And again through Isaiah, the other prophet, that this was said as from the person of God, the Father and Master of all: “Wash yourselves, become clean, remove the wickedness from your souls; learn to do good, judge for the orphan and plead for the widow; and come, let us reason together, says the Lord; and if your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as wool, and if they are like crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if you are willing and listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you do not listen to me, a sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” And the words quoted, “A sword shall devour you,” do not mean that the disobedient will be killed by swords; but the sword of God is fire, of which those who choose to do evil become food. That is why it says, “A sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” If it had spoken of a sword that cuts and at once dispatches, it would not have said “devour.” So also Plato, when he said, “The blame belongs to the one who chooses, and God is blameless,” said it taking it from the prophet Moses; for Moses is older even than all the writers among the Greeks. And everything that philosophers and poets have said about the immortality of the soul, or punishments after death, or contemplation of heavenly things, or similar teachings, they were able to understand and explain because they took their starting points from the prophets. Hence there seem to be seeds of truth among all; but they are convicted of not understanding accurately when they contradict themselves. So what we say, that future events have been prophesied, we do not say because they happen by the necessity of fate; but because God foreknows what all people are going to do, and it is his decree that each person will be rewarded according to the merit of his actions, he foretells through the prophetic Spirit that what comes from him will match the merit of what is done, always leading the human race to attention and remembrance, showing that he cares and provides for them. But by the working of the evil demons death was decreed against those who read the books of Hystaspes or of the Sibyl or of the prophets, so that by fear they might turn away those who read them from receiving knowledge of what is good, and keep them as their slaves; which in the end they could not do. For we not only read them without fear, but, as you see, bring them to you for examination, knowing that they will appear acceptable to all; and if we persuade only a few, we shall have gained the greatest things; for, like good farmers, we shall receive the reward from the Master.