Sophia Scriptura

To Autolycus 3.14

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

Summary: Christians are taught to love their enemies, to do good without boasting, and to obey and pray for the authorities.

Greek text · Otto 8:222

Καὶ τοῦ μὴ μόνον ἡμᾶς εὐνοεῖν τοῖς ὁμοφύλοις, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, Ἠσαΐας ὁ προφήτης ἔφη· Εἴπατε τοῖς μισοῦσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ τοῖς βδελυσσομένοις Ἀδελφοὶ ἡμῶν ἔστε, ἵνα τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου δοξασθῇ καὶ ὀφθῇ ἐν τῇ εὐφροσύνῃ αὐτῶν. Τὸ δὲ εὐαγγέλιον· Ἀγαπᾶτε, φησίν, τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν καὶ προσεύχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, ποῖον μισθὸν ἔχετε; Τοῦτο καὶ οἱ λῃσταὶ καὶ οἱ τελῶναι ποιοῦσιν. Τοὺς δὲ ποιοῦντας τὸ ἀγαθὸν διδάσκει μὴ καυχᾶσθαι, ἵνα μὴ ἀνθρωπάρεσκοι ὦσιν. Μὴ γνώτω γάρ, φησίν, ἡ χείρ σου ἡ ἀριστερὰ τί ποιεῖ ἡ χείρ σου ἡ δεξιά. Ἔτι μὴν καὶ περὶ τοῦ ὑποτάσσεσθαι ἀρχαῖς καὶ ἐξουσίαις καὶ εὔχεσθαι ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν κελεύει ἡμᾶς ὁ θεῖος λόγος, ὅπως ἤρεμον καὶ ἡσύχιον βίον διάγωμεν. Καὶ διδάσκει ἀποδιδόναι πᾶσιν τὰ πάντα, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμήν, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλειν ἢ μόνον τὸ ἀγαπᾶν πάντας.

English · Claude translation

And to show that we are to be well disposed not only toward our own people, as some think, the prophet Isaiah said: “Say to those who hate you and abhor you, You are our brothers, so that the name of the Lord may be glorified and be seen in their joy.” And the Gospel says: “Love your enemies, and pray for those who mistreat you. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even robbers and tax collectors do this.” It teaches those who do good not to boast, so that they may not be people-pleasers: “Do not let your left hand know,” it says, “what your right hand is doing.” Moreover, the divine word commands us to be subject to rulers and authorities and to pray for them, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life. And it teaches us to render to all what is due: honor to whom honor is due, fear to whom fear, tax to whom tax; and to owe no one anything, except to love all.

About this passage

Source
Otto 8:222 · 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
Ethics, Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

  • Isa 66:5 is quoted from the Septuagint. In Matt 5:46 Theophilus has “robbers” where the Gospel has “tax collectors” alone (or “sinners” in Luke 6:32).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (misspelling: ὀφελεῖν (“help”) for ὀφείλειν (“owe”), as in Rom 13:8): μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφελεῖν → μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλειν.

Cite this passage

Theophilus, Autol. 3.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/14/).

Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 3.14 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/14/).

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