Apology before the Judge
The whole work on one page. Select a passage number to open that passage with its notes, Scripture references, and citation.
Chapter 1
1Mommsen, GCS 9.2 (Eusebius Werke 2.2) 2:813-815
In occulto non est, quod nos Christiani quem colimus, deus unus est per Christum nobis adnuntiatus et per spiritum sanctum nostris cordibus inspiratus. non enim, sicut vos putatis, humanae alicuius persuasionis errore constringimur nec indiscussa, ut alii, parentum traditione decipimur. auctor nobis de deo deus est. neque enim possit sublimis illa maiestas sensibus humanae mentis inlabi nisi vel spiritus sui virtute delata vel verbi ac sapientiae suae interpretationibus indicata. fateor, erravimus etiam nos aliquando et simulacra, quae ipsi finximus, deos caeli ac terrae putabamus auctores, sed arguebat eos fragilis substantiae suae a nobis praestita consecratio. in quibus tantum venerationis inerat, quantum decoris manus contulisset artificum. verum omnipotens ille deus, quem non nostris manibus fictum, sed cuius nos decebat esse figmentum, errores miseratus humanos, sapientiam suam misit in hunc mundum carne vestitam, quae nos doceret deum, qui caelum fecisset et terram, non in manu factis, sed in aeternis atque invisibilibus requirendum. vitae etiam nobis leges ac disciplinae praecepta constituit, servare parsimoniam, paupertate gaudere, mansuetudinem colere, studere paci, puritatem cordis amplecti, patientiam custodire. sed et omnia haec, quae nunc adversum nos geritis, ventura nobis esse praedixit, educendos nos ad reges et ante tribunalia iudicum statuendos ac velut victimam iugulandos. inde est denique, quod et ipse, qui erat immortalis utpote verbum ac sapientia dei, morti se praebuit, quo nobis in corpore positus patientiae praeberet exemplum. sed nec nos sua morte decepit, quibus post diem tertiam resurrexit, non ut ista, quae nunc falso conscribuntur, continent acta Pilati, sed innocens, immaculatus et purus ad hoc solum mortem suscepit, ut eam vinceret resurgendo. quae dico, non sunt in obscuro gesta loco nec testibus indigent. pars paene mundi iam maior huic veritati adstipulatur, urbes integrae aut, si in his aliquid suspectum videtur, contestatur de his etiam agrestis manus ignara figmenti. si minus adhuc creditur, adhibebo vobis etiam loci ipsius, in quo res gesta est, testimonium. adstipulatur his ipse in Hierusolymis locus et Golgothana rupes sub patibuli onere dirupta, antrum quoque illud, quod avulsis inferni ianuis corpus denuo reddidit animatum, quo purius inde ferretur ad caelum. aut si adhuc vobis minus digna videntur haec, quae in terris substantiam gerunt, accipite etiam e caelo adstipulatorem fidelem. solem vobis ipsum horum produco testem, qui cum haec fieri per inpios videret in terris, lumen suum meridie abscondit in caelo. requirite in annalibus vestris: invenietis temporibus Pilati Christo patiente fugato sole interruptum tenebris diem. quod si terrae, si caelo, si sanguini eorum, a quibus veritatem per tormenta perquiritis, fidem non accommodatis, quomodo meis verbis allegationibusque credetis?
It is no secret that the one whom we Christians worship is one God, proclaimed to us through Christ and breathed into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. For we are not, as you think, held fast by the error of some human persuasion, nor, like others, deceived by an unexamined tradition from our parents. Our authority concerning God is God. For that sublime majesty could not glide into the senses of the human mind unless it were either conveyed by the power of his Spirit or made known by the interpretations of his Word and Wisdom. I confess, we too once went astray, and we thought that the images we ourselves had fashioned were gods, the authors of heaven and earth; but the consecration we bestowed on their frail substance exposed them. There was as much reverence in them as the craftsmen's hands had contributed beauty. But that almighty God, who was not fashioned by our hands, but whose fashioning it befitted us to be, took pity on human errors and sent his Wisdom into this world clothed in flesh, to teach us that God, who made heaven and earth, is to be sought not in things made by hand but in things eternal and invisible. He also laid down for us laws of life and precepts of discipline: to keep frugality, to rejoice in poverty, to cultivate gentleness, to be eager for peace, to embrace purity of heart, to guard patience. But he also foretold that all these things you are now doing against us would come upon us: that we would be led before kings, set before the tribunals of judges, and slaughtered like a sacrificial victim. That, in fact, is why he himself, though he was immortal, being the Word and Wisdom of God, gave himself up to death, so that, placed in a body, he might give us an example of patience. But neither did he deceive us by his death; for our sake he rose again after the third day, not in the way that these Acts of Pilate, now falsely composed, contain; but, innocent, spotless, and pure, he underwent death for this one purpose, to conquer it by rising again. What I say was not done in an obscure place, nor does it lack witnesses. Almost the greater part of the world already assents to this truth, whole cities; or, if anything in them seems suspect, even the hands of country people, who know nothing of fiction, bear witness to these things. If this is still too little believed, I will bring you also the testimony of the very place where it happened. The place itself in Jerusalem assents to these things, and the rock of Golgotha, split under the weight of the cross, and that cave too which, when the gates of hell were torn away, gave back the body alive again, so that from there it might be borne more purely to heaven. Or if these things, which have their substance on earth, still seem to you less worthy, receive also a faithful witness from heaven. I bring forward the sun itself as witness of these things: when it saw them done on earth by the impious, it hid its light in the sky at midday. Search your annals: you will find that in the time of Pilate, when Christ suffered, the sun was put to flight and the day was broken off by darkness. But if you give no credence to the earth, to heaven, or to the blood of those from whom you seek the truth by torture, how will you believe my words and pleas?