Sophia Scriptura

To Autolycus 1.11

Theophilus of Antioch · To Autolycus · ca. 180–185 · Antioch · Read in context

Summary: Christians honor the emperor, obey him, and pray for him, but worship God alone.

Greek text · Otto 8:32–36

Τοιγαροῦν μᾶλλον τιμήσω τὸν βασιλέα, οὐ προσκυνῶν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ εὐχόμενος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. Θεῷ δὲ τῷ ὄντως θεῷ καὶ ἀληθεῖ προσκυνῶ, εἰδὼς ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ γέγονεν. Ἐρεῖς οὖν μοι· Διὰ τί οὐ προσκυνεῖς τὸν βασιλέα; Ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸ τιμᾶσθαι τῇ νομίμῳ τιμῇ. Θεὸς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ ἄνθρωπος ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμένος, οὐκ εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸ δικαίως κρίνειν. Τρόπῳ γάρ τινι παρὰ θεοῦ οἰκονομίαν πεπίστευται· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς οὓς ἔχει ὑφʼ ἑαυτὸν τεταγμένους οὐ βούλεται βασιλεῖς καλεῖσθαι· τὸ γὰρ βασιλεὺς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ὄνομα, καὶ οὐκ ἄλλῳ ἐξόν ἐστιν τοῦτο καλεῖσθαι· οὕτως οὐδὲ προσκυνεῖσθαι ἀλλʼ ἢ μόνῳ θεῷ. Ὥστε κατὰ πάντα πλανᾶσαι, ὦ ἄνθρωπε. Τὸν δὲ βασιλέα τίμα εὐνοῶν αὐτῷ, ὑποτασσόμενος αὐτῷ, εὐχόμενος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. Τοῦτο γὰρ ποιῶν ποιεῖς τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ. Λέγει γὰρ ὁ νόμος ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ· Τίμα υἱὲ θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα, καὶ μηδενὶ αὐτῶν ἀπειθὴς ᾖς· ἐξαίφνης γὰρ τίσονται τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτῶν.

English · Claude translation

So I will rather honor the emperor, not by worshiping him but by praying for him. I worship God, the real and true God, knowing that the emperor was made by him. You will say to me, then, “Why do you not worship the emperor?” Because he was not made to be worshiped, but to be honored with lawful honor. For he is not God, but a man appointed by God, not to be worshiped but to judge justly. In a way he has been entrusted with a stewardship by God. He himself does not want those he has appointed under him to be called emperors, since “emperor” is his own title and no one else may be called by it; in the same way no one may be worshiped except God alone. So you are wrong in every respect, O man. Honor the emperor by being loyal to him, being subject to him, and praying for him; for by doing this you do the will of God. For the law of God says: “My son, honor God and the king, and do not disobey either of them; for they will suddenly take vengeance on their enemies.”

About this passage

Source
Otto 8:32–36 · Johann Carl Theodor Otto, ed., Theophili episcopi Antiocheni ad Autolycum libri tres, Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 8 (Jena: Mauke, 1861) · Greek text: J. C. T. Otto, Theophili episcopi Antiocheni ad Autolycum libri tres (Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 8, 1861), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Otto, CorpApol 8. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Otto (1861); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Emperor” and “king” both render βασιλεύς.
  • The quotation is Prov 24:21–22 in the Septuagint form.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (misprint: προσκυνεῖθαι for προσκυνεῖσθαι; misprint: τιμᾶσαι for τιμᾶσθαι (“to be honored”)): εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖθαι γέγονεν → εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι γέγονεν; εἰς τὸ τιμᾶσαι τῇ → εἰς τὸ τιμᾶσθαι τῇ.

Cite this passage

Theophilus, Autol. 1.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/1/11/).

Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 1.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/1/11/).

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