First Apology 56–68

The evil demons were not content to say, before Christ's appearing, that the so-called sons of Zeus had been born; but when he had appeared and come among men, and they learned how he had been foretold through the prophets, and knew that he was believed and expected in every race, again, as we showed before, they put forward others: Simon and Menander from Samaria, who by doing works of magic deceived many and still keep them deceived. For among you, as we said before, in the royal city of Rome, under Claudius Caesar, Simon so astonished the sacred senate and the Roman people that he was considered a god and was honored with a statue, like the other gods honored among you. Therefore we ask that you take the sacred senate and your people as fellow judges of this our petition, so that if anyone is held fast by his teachings, he may learn the truth and be able to flee the error. And the statue, if you wish, destroy.

For the evil demons cannot persuade people that there will be no conflagration for the punishment of the ungodly, just as they were not able to make Christ remain hidden after he came; but this alone they can do: make those who live irrationally, brought up in passion and in evil customs, and who love glory, kill and hate us. Yet we not only do not hate them, but, as is shown, pitying them, we wish to persuade them to change. For we do not fear death, since it is agreed that all will certainly die, and there is nothing new, but the same things in this order of the world. If those who partake of these things are not sated with them even in a year, they ought to attend to our teachings so that they may be forever without suffering and without need. But if they do not believe that there is anything after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they do us a kindness by freeing us from the sufferings and needs of this life, and show themselves wicked and haters of mankind and lovers of glory; for they do not kill us as though to release us, but murder us as though to rob us of life and pleasure.

And, as we said before, the evil demons put forward Marcion of Pontus, who even now teaches people to deny God, the Maker of all things in heaven and on earth, and Christ his Son, foretold through the prophets, and proclaims some other god besides the Creator of all, and likewise another son. Persuaded by him, many laugh at us, as though he alone knew the truth, though they have no proof of what they say, but are carried off irrationally, like lambs by a wolf, and become the prey of godless teachings and of demons. For the so-called demons strive for nothing else than to lead people away from God who made them and from Christ his first-begotten; and those who cannot raise themselves from the earth they have nailed, and still nail, to earthly things and things made by hands; while those who set out to contemplate divine things they trip up, and unless they have a sober mind and a pure and passionless life, they throw them into ungodliness.

And so that you may learn that Plato took from our teachers, I mean from the Word speaking through the prophets, his saying that God made the world by changing formless matter, hear the very words spoken through Moses, who was shown above to be the first prophet and older than the writers among the Greeks. Through him the prophetic Spirit, indicating how and from what God made the world in the beginning, spoke thus: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was borne over the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And it was so.” So that both Plato and those who say the same things, and we ourselves, have learned, and you too can be persuaded, that by the word of God the whole world came into being out of the underlying things foretold by Moses. And we know that what the poets call Erebus was spoken of before by Moses.

And the physiological discussion in Plato's Timaeus about the Son of God, when he says, “He placed him crosswise in the universe,” he likewise said taking it from Moses. For in the writings of Moses it is recorded that at that time, when the Israelites had gone out from Egypt and were in the wilderness, venomous beasts met them, vipers and asps and every kind of serpent, which killed the people; and that, by inspiration and power that came from God, Moses took bronze and made a figure of a cross, and set it up at the holy tabernacle, and said to the people, “If you look at this figure and believe, you will be saved by it.” And when this was done, he recorded that the serpents died, and handed down that the people thus escaped death. Plato read this and, not knowing it accurately nor understanding that it was a figure of a cross, but taking it for the letter chi, said that the power next to the first God was placed crosswise in the universe. And his speaking of a third came about because, as we said before, he read what was said by Moses, that the Spirit of God was borne over the waters. For he gives the second place to the Word from God, who he said was placed crosswise in the universe, and the third to the Spirit said to be borne over the water, saying, “And the third things about the third.” And hear how the prophetic Spirit foretold through Moses that there would be a conflagration. It spoke thus: “Ever-living fire will come down and devour as far as the abyss below.” It is not, then, that we hold the same opinions as others, but all others say what they say by imitating ours. Among us, then, these things can be heard and learned even from those who do not know the shapes of the letters, people uneducated and barbarous in speech, but wise and faithful in mind, and some of them maimed and bereft of sight; so that one may understand that these things did not come about by human wisdom but are spoken by the power of God.

We will also explain the way in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we were made new through Christ, so that we may not seem to act wrongly in our explanation by leaving this out. As many as are persuaded and believe that the things taught and said by us are true, and promise that they can live accordingly, are taught to pray and to ask God, with fasting, for the forgiveness of their past sins, while we pray and fast with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner of regeneration by which we ourselves were regenerated; for in the name of God, the Father and Master of all, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing in the water. For Christ also said, “Unless you are born again, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” And that it is impossible for those once born to enter their mothers' wombs is plain to all. And it was said through Isaiah the prophet, as we wrote before, in what way those who have sinned and repent will escape their sins. It was spoken thus: “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. But if you do not listen to me, a sword shall devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” And we learned from the apostles this reason for it. Since at our first birth we were born without our knowledge and by necessity, from moist seed by the union of our parents with each other, and grew up in evil customs and wicked ways of life, so that we might not remain children of necessity and ignorance, but of free choice and knowledge, and might obtain forgiveness of the sins we formerly committed, there is named in the water, over the one who has chosen to be born again and has repented of his sins, the name of God, the Father and Master of all; the one who leads the person to be washed to the washing uses this name alone. For no one can utter a name for the ineffable God; and if anyone dares to say that there is one, he is raving with a hopeless madness. And this washing is called illumination, because those who learn these things are illuminated in their understanding. And the one who is illuminated is washed also in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets foretold all the things about Jesus.

And the demons, hearing of this washing proclaimed through the prophet, brought it about that those who enter their temples and are about to approach them with libations and burnt fat should sprinkle themselves; and they cause them also to wash themselves completely as they come, before they go to the temples where the demons are set up. For the command given by the priests to worshipers entering the temples and the shrines to take off their shoes the demons also imitated, having learned from what happened to Moses, the prophet we mentioned. For at that time, when Moses was ordered to go down to Egypt and bring out the people of the Israelites there, while he was tending the sheep of his mother's brother in the land of Arabia, our Christ spoke with him in the form of fire from a bush and said, “Take off your sandals, and come near and hear.” And he took off his sandals and came near and heard that he was to go down to Egypt and bring out the people of the Israelites there; and he received mighty power from Christ, who spoke with him in the form of fire, and went down and brought out the people, having done great and wonderful things, which, if you wish to learn them, you will learn accurately from his writings.

All the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spoke to Moses. So the prophetic Spirit, rebuking them through Isaiah, the prophet mentioned before, said, as we wrote above: “The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's manger; but Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood.” And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father is and what the Son is, likewise rebuking them, himself said: “No one knew the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son reveals him.” Now the Word of God is his Son, as we said before. And he is called Angel and Apostle; for he himself announces whatever must be known, and is sent to make known whatever is announced; as our Lord himself also said, “He who hears me hears him who sent me.” And this will be made clear also from the writings of Moses. In them it is said thus: “And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire out of the bush and said, I am he who is, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers. Go down into Egypt and bring out my people.” What follows after this you can learn if you wish; for it is not possible to write it all out here. But these words have been given to prove that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and his Apostle, being formerly the Word, and appearing sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in a bodiless image; but now, having become man by the will of God for the human race, he endured also to suffer whatever the demons worked the senseless Jews to inflict on him. They have it expressly said in the writings of Moses: “And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a fire of flame in a bush and said, I am he who is, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob”; and yet they say that the one who said these things is the Father and Maker of all. Therefore the prophetic Spirit also, rebuking them, said: “Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood.” And again Jesus, as we showed, while he was among them said: “No one knew the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son reveals him.” So the Jews, having always thought that it was the Father of all who spoke to Moses, when it was the Son of God who spoke to him, who is called both Angel and Apostle, are justly rebuked both by the prophetic Spirit and by Christ himself, as knowing neither the Father nor the Son. For those who say that the Son is the Father are shown to know neither the Father nor that the Father of all has a Son; who, being the Word and first-begotten of God, is also God. And formerly he appeared to Moses and the other prophets in the form of fire and in a bodiless image; but now, in the times of your rule, as we said before, having become man through a virgin according to the Father's will, for the salvation of those who believe in him, he endured also to be despised and to suffer, so that by dying and rising again he might conquer death. And what was said to Moses out of the bush, “I am he who is, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and the God of your fathers,” signifies that those men, even though dead, remain and belong to Christ himself; for they were the first of all people to occupy themselves with the search for God, Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also recorded.

And from what has been said before you can understand that the demons, imitating what was said through Moses, brought about the setting up of the image of the so-called Kore at the springs of water, saying that she was the daughter of Zeus. For Moses said, as we wrote before: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed, and the Spirit of God was borne over the waters.” In imitation, then, of what was said of the Spirit of God being borne over the water, they said that Kore was the daughter of Zeus. And likewise with wicked intent they said that Athena was the daughter of Zeus, not by intercourse, but, since they knew that God made the world by conceiving it through the Word, they said that Athena was the first conception; which we consider most ridiculous, to present the form of a female as the image of a conception. And likewise their deeds convict the others who are called sons of Zeus.

But we, after we have thus washed the one who has been persuaded and has given his assent, lead him to those who are called brothers, where they are gathered together, to offer common prayers earnestly for ourselves and for the one who has been illuminated and for all others everywhere, that, having learned the truth, we may be counted worthy to be found good citizens also by our deeds and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with eternal salvation. When we have ended the prayers, we greet one another with a kiss. Then bread and a cup of water and mixed wine are brought to the president of the brothers, and he takes them and sends up praise and glory to the Father of all through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and offers thanksgiving at length for our being counted worthy of these things by him. And when he has finished the prayers and the thanksgiving, all the people present assent, saying, “Amen.” “Amen” in the Hebrew language means “So be it.” And when the president has given thanks and all the people have assented, those who are called among us deacons give to each of those present a share of the bread and wine and water over which thanks have been given, and take it away to those who are not present.

And this food is called among us Eucharist, of which no one may partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has been washed with the washing for the forgiveness of sins and for regeneration, and lives as Christ handed down. For we do not receive these as common bread or common drink; but just as Jesus Christ our Savior, made flesh through the word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food over which thanks have been given through the word of prayer that is from him, from which our blood and flesh are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, handed down that they were thus commanded: that Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and said, “Do this in remembrance of me; this is my body”; and likewise took the cup, gave thanks, and said, “This is my blood”; and gave it to them alone. And the wicked demons imitated this and handed it down to be done in the mysteries of Mithras; for that bread and a cup of water are set out in the rites of one being initiated, with certain formulas, you either know or can learn.

And we afterwards continually remind one another of these things; and those of us who have means help all who are in want, and we are always together with one another. And for all that we receive we bless the Maker of all through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And on the day called the day of the Sun there is a gathering in one place of all who live in cities or in the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader has stopped, the president in a discourse admonishes and urges the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and send up prayers; and, as we said before, when we have finished our prayer, bread is brought, and wine and water, and the president likewise sends up prayers and thanksgivings, as much as he is able, and the people assent, saying the Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a partaking of the things over which thanks have been given, and they are sent through the deacons to those who are not present. And those who are well off and willing give what each thinks fit, each by his own choice; and what is collected is deposited with the president, and he helps orphans and widows, and those who are in want through sickness or any other cause, and those in prison, and strangers staying among us; and in a word he takes care of all who are in need. And we all hold our common gathering on the day of the Sun, since it is the first day, on which God, having changed the darkness and matter, made the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead on the same day; for they crucified him on the day before Saturn's day, and on the day after Saturn's day, which is the day of the Sun, he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them these things, which we have handed over to you also for your consideration.

And if these things seem to you to be reasonable and true, honor them; but if they seem to you nonsense, despise them as nonsensical things, and do not decree death against those who do no wrong, as against enemies. For we tell you beforehand that you will not escape the coming judgment of God if you persist in injustice; and we will cry out: “What is pleasing to God, let that be done!” And though we could demand of you, from a letter of the greatest and most illustrious Caesar Hadrian, your father, that you order trials to be held as we have asked, we have not made our request on the ground that Hadrian so decided, but have made this address and explanation because we know that what we ask is just. But we have also appended the copy of Hadrian's letter, so that you may know that in this also we speak the truth. And this is the copy: To Minucius Fundanus. I have received a letter written to me by Serennius Granianus, a most distinguished man, whom you succeeded. It does not seem to me right to leave the matter uninvestigated, so that people may not be troubled and informers may not be given help in their wrongdoing. If, then, the provincials can clearly support this petition of theirs against the Christians, so as to answer before the judgment seat, let them turn to this course alone, and not to petitions or mere outcries. For it is much more fitting, if anyone wishes to accuse, that you should examine this. If, then, anyone accuses them and shows that they are doing anything contrary to the laws, decide thus according to the seriousness of the offense; but, by Heracles, if anyone brings this forward for the sake of slander, give judgment according to its wickedness and see that you punish it.