Sophia Scriptura

To Autolycus 3.4

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

Summary: Theophilus answers the slanders against Christians (promiscuity, incest, cannibalism) and the charge that their teaching is new.

Greek text · Otto 8:194–196

Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐχρῆν ἡμᾶς ταῦτα ἀνασκευάζειν, εἰ μὴ ὅτι σε θεωρῶ νυνὶ διστάζοντα περὶ τὸν λόγον τῆς ἀληθείας. Φρόνιμος γὰρ ὢν ἡδέως μωρῶν ἀνέχῃ· ἐπεί τοι οὐκ ἂν ἐκινήθης ὑπὸ ἀνοήτων ἀνθρώπων κενοῖς λόγοις ἀπάγεσθαι καὶ φήμῃ πείθεσθαι προκατεσχηκυίῃ, στομάτων ἀθέων ψευδῶς συκοφαντούντων ἡμᾶς, τοὺς θεοσεβεῖς καὶ Χριστιανοὺς καλουμένους, φασκόντων ὡς κοινὰς ἁπάντων οὔσας τὰς γυναῖκας ἡμῶν καὶ ἀδιαφόρῳ μίξει ζῶντας, ἔτι μὴν καὶ ταῖς ἰδίαις ἀδελφαῖς συμμίγνυσθαι, καί, τὸ ἀθεώτατον καὶ ὠμότατον πάντων, σαρκῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἐφάπτεσθαι ἡμᾶς. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς προσφάτου ὁδεύοντος τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς λόγου, καὶ μηδὲν ἔχειν ἡμᾶς λέγειν εἰς ἀπόδειξιν ἀληθείας τῆς καθʼ ἡμᾶς καὶ διδασκαλίας, μωρίαν δὲ εἶναι τὸν λόγον ἡμῶν φασιν. Ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν θαυμάζω μάλιστα ἐπὶ σοί, ὅς, ἐν μὲν τοῖς λοιποῖς γενόμενος σπουδαῖος καὶ ἐκζητητὴς ἁπάντων πραγμάτων, ἀμελέστερον ἡμῶν ἀκούεις. Εἰ γάρ σοι δυνατόν, καὶ νύκτωρ οὐκ ὤκνεις διατρίβειν ἐν ταῖς βιβλιοθήκαις.

English · Claude translation

We would not even need to refute these things, except that I see you now in doubt about the word of truth. For, being wise, you gladly put up with fools; otherwise you would not have been moved by senseless people to be led away by empty words and to believe the rumor that has taken hold, from godless mouths that falsely slander us, the worshipers of God called Christians. They say that our wives are held in common, that we live in promiscuous intercourse, that we even have intercourse with our own sisters, and, most godless and cruel of all, that we eat human flesh. They also say that our teaching has only recently come into the world, that we have nothing to offer in proof of our truth and teaching, and that our teaching is foolishness. I am most surprised at you: in other matters you are serious and search into everything, yet you listen to us rather carelessly. If it were possible for you, you would not shrink from spending even the nights in libraries.

About this passage

Source
Otto 8:194–196 · 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
Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Being wise, you gladly put up with fools” echoes Paul's irony in 2 Cor 11:19.

Cite this passage

Theophilus, Autol. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/4/).

Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/4/).

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