(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected all discovered errors.)


EUSEBIUS PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA

ORATION IN PRAISE OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE, PRONOUNCED ON THE THIRTIETH
ANNIVERSARY OF HIS REIGN.

[The Bagster translation, revised by Ernest Cushing Richardson, Ph.D.,
Librarian and Associate Professor in Hartford Theological Seminary.]


1. Prologue to the Oration.(1)

   I COME not forward prepared with a fictitious narrative, nor with
elegance of language to captivate the ear, desiring to charm my hearers as
it were, with a siren's voice; nor shall I present the draught of pleasure
in cups of gold decorated with lorry flowers (I mean the graces of style)
to those who are pleased with such things. Rather would I follow the
precepts of the wise, and admonish all to avoid and turn aside from the
beaten road, and keep themselves from contact with the vulgar crowd. 2. I
come, then, prepared to celebrate our emperor's praises in a newer strain;
and, though the number be infinite of those who desire to be my companions
in my present task, I am resolved to shun the common track of men, (2) and
to pursue that untrodden path which it is unlawful to enter on with
unwashed feet. Let those who admire a vulgar style, abounding in puerile
subtleties, and who court a pleasing and popular muse, essay, since
pleasure is the object they have in view, to charm the earn of men by a
narrative of merely human merits. Those, how- ever who are initiated into
the universal science, (3) and have attained to Divine as well as human
knowledge, and account the choice of the latter as the real excellence,
will prefer those virtues of the emperor which Heaven itself approves, and
his pious actions, to his merely human accomplishments; and will leave to
inferior encomiasts the task of celebrating his lesser merits. 3. For since
our emperor is gifted as well with that sacred wisdom which has immediate
reference to God, as with the knowledge which concerns the interests of
men; let those who are competent to such a task describe his secular
acquirements, great and transcendent as they are, and fraught with
advantage to man- kind (for all that characterizes the emperor is great and
noble), yet still inferior to his diviner qualifies, to those who stand
without the sacred precincts. 4. Let those, however, who are within the
sanctuary, and have access to its inmost and untrodden recesses, close the
doors against every profane ear, and unfold, as it were, the secret
mysteries of our emperors character to the initiated alone. And let those
who have purified their ears in the streams of piety, and raised their
thoughts on the soaring wing of the mind itself, join the company which
surrounds the Sovereign Lord of all, and learn in silence the divine
mysteries. 5. Meanwhile let the sacred oracles, given, not by the spirit of
divination (or rather let me say of madness and folly), but by the
inspiration of Divine truth, (4) be our instructors in these mysteries;
speaking to us of sovereignty, generally: the heavenly array which
surrounds the Lord of all; of that exemplar of imperial power which is
before us, and that counterfeit coin: and, lastly, of the consequences
which result from both. With these oracles, then, to initiate us in the
knowledge of the sacred rites, let us essay, as follows, the commencement
of our divine mysteries.

CHAPTER I: The Oration.

   1. TODAY is the festival of our great emperor: and we his children
rejoice therein, feeling the inspiration of our sacred theme. He who
presides over our solemnity is the Great Sovereign himself; he, I mean, who
is truly great; of whom I affirm (nor will the sovereign who hears me be
offended, but will rather approve of this ascription of praise to God),
that HE is above and beyond all created things, the Highest, the Greatest,
the most Mighty One; whose throne is the arch of heaven, and the earth the
footstool of his feet.(1) His being  none can worthily comprehend; and the
ineffable splendor of the glory which surrounds him repels the gaze of
every eye from his Divine majesty. 2. His ministers are the heavenly hosts;
his armies the supernal powers, angels, the companies of archangels, the
chorus of holy spirits, draw from and reflect his radiance as from the
fountains of everlasting light. Yea every light, and specially those divine
and incorporeal intelligences whose place is beyond the heavenly sphere,
celebrate this august Sovereign with lofty and sacred strains of praise.
The vast expanse of heaven, like an azure veil is interposed between those
without, and those who inhabit his royal mansions: while round this expanse
the sun and moon, with the rest of the heavenly luminaries (like torch-
bearers around the entrance of the imperial palace), perform, in honor of
their sovereign, their appointed courses; holding forth, at the word of his
command, an ever-burning light to those whose lot is cast in the darker
regions without the pale of heaven. 3. And surely when I remember that our
own victorious emperor renders praises to this Mighty Sovereign, I do well
to follow him, knowing as I do that to him alone we owe that imperial power
under which we live. The pious Caesars, instructed by their father's
wisdom, acknowledge him as the source of every blessing: the soldiery, the
entire body of the people, both in the country and in the cities of the
empire, with the governors of the several provinces, assembling together in
accordance with the precept of their great Saviour and Teacher,, worship
him. In short, the whole family of mankind, of every nation, tribe, and
tongue, both collectively and severally, however diverse their opinions on
other subjects, are unanimous in this one confession; and, in obedience to
the reason implanted in them, and the spontaneous and uninstructed impulse
of their own minds, unite in calling on the One and only God.

(2) 4. Nay, does not the universal frame of earth acknowledge him her Lord,
and declare, by the vegetable and animal life which she produces her
subjection to the will of a superior Power? The rivers, flowing with
abundant stream, and the perennial fountains, springing from hidden and
exhaust-less depths, ascribe to him the cause of their marvellous source.
The mighty waters of the sea, enclosed in chambers of unfathomable depth,
and the swelling surges, which lift themselves on high, and menace as it
were the earth itself, shrink back when they approach the shore, checked by
the power of his Divine law. The duly measured fall of winter's rain, the
rolling thunder, the lightning's flash, the eddying currents of the winds,
and the airy courses of the clouds, all reveal his presence to those to
whom his Person is invisible. 5. The all-radiant sun, who holds his
constant career through the lapse of ages, owns him Lord alone, and
obedient to his will, dares not depart from his appointed path. The
inferior splendor of the moon, alternatively diminished and increased at
stated periods, is subject to his Divine command. The beauteous mechanism
of the heavens, glittering with the hosts of stars, moving in harmonious
order, and preserving the measure of each several orbit, proclaims him the
giver of all light: yea, all the heavenly luminaries maintaining at his
will and word a grand and perfect unity of motion, pursue the track of
their ethereal career, and complete in the lapse of revolving ages their
distant course. The alternate recurrence of day and night, the changing
seasons, the order and proportion of the universe, all declare the manifold
wisdom of [his boundless power]. To him the unseen agencies which hold
their course throughout the expanse of space, render the due tribute of
praise. To him this terrestrial globe itself, to him the heavens above, and
the choirs beyond the vault of heaven, give honor as to their mighty
Sovereign: the angelic hosts greet him with ineffable songs of Praise; and
the spirits which draw their being from incorporeal light, adore him as
their Creator. The everlasting ages which were before this heaven and
earth, with other periods beside them, infinite, and antecedent to all
visible creation acknowledge him the sole and supreme Sovereign and Lord.
6. Lastly, he who is in all, before, and after all, [3] his only begotten,
pre- existent Word, the great High Priest of the mighty God, elder than all
time and every age, devoted to his Father's glory, first and alone makes
intercession with him for the salvation of mankind. [4] Supreme and pre-
eminent Ruler of the universe, he shares the glory of his Father's kingdom:
for he is that Light, which, transcendent above the universe, encircles the
Father's Person, interposing and dividing between the eternal and uncreated
Essence and all derived existence: that Light which, streaming from on
high, proceeds from that Deity who knows not origin or end, and illumines
the super-celestial regions, and all that heaven itself contains, with the
radiance of wisdom bright beyond the splendor of the sun. This is he who
holds a supreme dominion over this whole world, [5] who is over and in all
things, and pervades all things [6] visible and invisible; the Word of God.
From whom and by whom our divinely favored emperor, receiving, as it were a
transcript of the Divine sovereignty, directs, in imitation of God himself,
the administration of this world's affairs.

CHAPTER II.

   1. THIS only begotten Word of God reigns, from ages which had no
beginning, to infinite and endless ages, the partner of his Father's
kingdom. And [our emperor] ever beloved by him, who derives the source of
imperial authority from above, and is strong in the power of his sacred
title, [1] has controlled the empire of the world for a long period of
years. 2. Again, that Preserver of the universe orders these heavens and
earth, and the celestial kingdom, consistently with his Father's will. Even
so our emperor whom he loves, by bringing those whom he rules on earth to
the only begotten Word and Saviour renders them fit subjects of his
kingdom. 3. And as he who is the common Saviour of mankind, by his
invisible and Divine power as the good shepherd, drives far away from his
flock, like savage beasts, those apostate spirits which once flew through
the airy tracts above this earth, and fastened on the souls of men; [2] so
this his friend, graced by his heavenly favor with victory over all his
foes, subdues and chastens the open adversaries of the truth in accordance
with the usages of war. 4. He who is the pre-existent Word, the Preserver
of all things, imparts to his disciples the seeds of true wisdom and
salvation, and at once enlightens and gives them understanding in the
knowledge of his Father's kingdom. Our emperor, his friend, acting as
interpreter to the Word of God, aims at recalling the whole human race to
the knowledge of God; proclaiming clearly in the ears of all, and declaring
with powerful voice the laws of truth and godliness to all who dwell on the
earth. 5. Once more, the universal Saviour opens the heavenly gates of his
Father's kingdom to those whose course is thitherward from this world. Our
emperor, emulous of his Divine example, having purged his earthly dominion
from every stain of impious error, invites each holy and pious worshiper
within his imperial mansions, earnestly desiring to save with all its crew
that mighty vessel of which he is the appointed pilot. And he alone of all
who have wielded the imperial power of Rome, being honored by the Supreme
Sovereign with a reign of three decennial periods, now celebrates this
festival, not, his ancestors might have done, in honor of infernal demons,
or the apparitions of seducing spirits, or of the fraud and deceitful arts
of impious men; but as an act of thanksgiving to him by whom he has thus
been honored, and in acknowledgment of the blessings he has received at his
hands. He does not, in imitation of ancient usage, defile his imperial
mansions with blood and gore, nor propitiate the infernal deities with fire
and smoke, and sacrificial offerings; but dedicates to the universal
Sovereign a pleasant and acceptable sacrifice, even his own imperial soul,
and a mind truly fitted for the service of God. 6. For this sacrifice alone
is grateful to him: and this sacrifice our emperor has learned, with
purified mind and thoughts, to present as an offering without the
intervention of fire and blood, while his own piety, strengthened by the
truthful doctrines with which his soul is stored, he sets forth in
magnificent language the praises of God, and imitates his Divine
philanthropy by his own imperial acts. Wholly devoted to him, he dedicates
himself as a noble offering, a first-fruit of that world, the government of
which is intrusted to his charge. This first and greatest sacrifice our
emperor first dedicates to God; and then, as a faithful shepherd, he
offers, not "famous hecatombs of firstling lambs," but the souls of that
flock which is the object of his care, those rational beings whom he leads
to the knowledge and pious worship of God.

CHAPTER III.

   1. AND gladly does he accept and welcome this sacrifice, and commend
the presenter of so august and noble an offering, by protracting his reign
to a lengthened period of years, giving larger proofs of his beneficence in
proportion to the emperor's holy services to himself. Accordingly he
permits him to celebrate each successive festival during great and general
prosperity throughout the empire, advancing one of his sons, at the
recurrence of each decennial period, to a share of his own imperial power.
[1] 2. The eldest, who bears his father's name, he received as his partner
in the empire about the close of the first decade of his reign: the second,
next in point of age, at the second; and the third in like manner at the
third decennial period, the occasion of this our present festival. And now
that the fourth period has commenced, and the time of his reign is still
further prolonged, he desires to extend his imperial authority by calling
still more of his kindred to partake his power; and, by the appointment of
the Caesars, [2] fulfills the predictions of the holy prophets, according
to what they uttered ages before: "And the saints of the Most High shall
take the kingdom." [3] 3. And thus the Almighty Sovereign himself accords
an increase both of years and of children to our most pious emperor, and
renders his sway over the nations of the world still fresh and flourishing,
as though it were even now springing up in its earliest vigor. He it is who
appoints him this present festival, in that he has made him victorious over
every enemy that disturbed his peace: he it is who displays him as an
example of true godliness to the human race. 4. And thus our emperor, like
the radiant sun, illuminates the most distant subjects of his empire
through the presence of the Caesars, as with the far piercing rays of his
own brightness. To us who occupy the eastern regions he has given a son
worthy of himself; [4] a second and a third respectively to other
departments of his empire, to be, as it were, brilliant reflectors of the
light which proceeds from himself. Once more, having harnessed, as it were,
under the self-same yoke the four most noble Caesars [5] as horses in the
imperial chariot, he sits on high and directs their course by the reins of
holy harmony and concord; and, himself every where present, and observant
of every event, thus traverses every region of the world. 5. Lastly,
invested as he is with a semblance of heavenly sovereignty, he directs his
gaze above, and frames his earthly government according to the pattern of
that Divine original, feeling strength in its conformity to the monarchy of
God. And this conformity is granted by the universal Sovereign to man alone
of the creatures of this earth: for he only is the author of sovereign
power, who decrees that all should be subject to the rule of one. 6. And
surely monarchy far transcends every other constitution and form of
government: for that democratic equality of power, which is its opposite,
may rather be described as anarchy and disorder. Hence there is one God,
and not two, or three, or more: for to assert a plurality of gods is
plainly to deny the being of God at all. There is one Sovereign; and his
Word and royal Law is one: a Law not expressed in syllables and words, not
written or engraved on tablets, and therefore subject to the ravages of
time; but the living and self- subsisting Word, who himself is God, and who
administers his Father's kingdom on behalf of all who are after him and
subject to his power. 7. His attendants are the heavenly hosts; the myriads
of God's angelic ministers; the super- terrestrial armies, of unnumbered
multitude; and those unseen spirits within heaven itself, whose agency is
employed in regulating the order of this world. Ruler and chief of all
these is the royal Word, acting as Regent of the Supreme Sovereign. To him
the names of Captain, and great High Priest, Prophet of the Father, Angel
of mighty counsel, Brightness of the Father's light, Only begotten Son,
with a thousand other titles, are ascribed in the oracles of the sacred
writers. And the Father, having constituted him the living Word, and Law
and Wisdom the fullness of all blessing, has presented this best and
greatest gift to all who are the subjects of his sovereignty. 8. And he
himself, who pervades all things, and is every where present, unfolding his
Father's bounties to all with unsparing hand, has accorded a specimen of
his sovereign power even to his rational creatures of this earth, in that
he has provided the mind of man, who is formed after his own image, with
Divine faculties, whence it is capable of other virtues also, which flow
from the same heavenly source. For he only is wise, who is the only God: he
only is essentially good: he only is of mighty power, the Parent of
justice, the Father of reason and wisdom, the Fountain of light and life,
the Dispenser of truth and virtue: in a word, the Author of empire itself,
and of all dominion and power.

CHAPTER IV.

   1. BUT whence has man this knowledge, and who has ministered these
truths to mortal ears? Or whence has a tongue of flesh the power to speak
of things so utterly distinct from fleshly or material substance? Who has
gazed on the invisible King, and beheld these perfections in him? The
bodily sense may comprehend elements and their combinations, of a nature
kindred to its own: but no one yet has boasted to have scanned with
corporeal eye that unseen kingdom which governs all things nor has mortal
nature yet discerned the beauty of perfect wisdom. Who has beheld the face
of righteousness through the medium of flesh? And whence came the idea of
legitimate sovereignty and imperial power to man? Whence the thought of
absolute dominion to a being composed of flesh and blood? Who declared
those ideas which are invisible and undefined, and that incorporeal essence
which has no external form, to the mortals of this earth? 3. Surely there
was but one interpreter of these things; the all-pervading Word of God. [1]
For he is the author of that rational and intelligent being which exists in
man; and, being himself one with his Father's Divine nature, he sheds upon
his offspring the outflowings of his Father's bounty. Hence the natural and
untaught powers of thought, which all men, Greeks or Barbarians, alike
possess: hence the perception of reason and wisdom, the seeds of integrity
and righteousness, the understanding of the arts of life, the knowledge of
virtue, the precious name of wisdom, and the noble love of philosophic
learning. Hence the knowledge of all that is great and good: hence
apprehension of God himself, and a life worthy of his worship: hence the
royal authority of man, and his invincible lordship over the creatures of
this world. 3. And when that Word, who is the Parent of rational beings,
had impressed a character on the mind of man according to the image and
likeness of God, [2] and had made him a royal creature, in that he gave him
alone of all earthly creatures capacity to rule and to obey (as well as
forethought and foreknowledge even here, concerning the promised hope of
his heavenly kingdom, because of which he himself came, and, as the Parent
of his children, disdained not to hold converse with mortal men); he
continued to cherish the seeds which himself had sown, and renewed his
gracious favors from above; holding forth to all the promise of sharing his
heavenly kingdom. Accordingly he called men, and exhorted them to be ready
for their heavenward journey, and to provide themselves with the garment
which became their calling. And by an indescribable power he filled the
world in every part with his doctrine, expressing by the similitude of an
earthly kingdom that heavenly one to which he earnestly invites all
mankind, and presents it to them as a worthy object of their hope.

CHAPTER V.

   1. AND in this hope our divinely-favored emperor partakes even in this
present life, gifted as he is by God with native virtues, and having
received into his soul the out- flowings of his favor. His reason he
derives from the great Source of all reason: he is wise, and good, and
just, as having fellowship with perfect Wisdom, Goodness, and
Righteousness: virtuous, as following the pattern of perfect virtue:
valiant, as partaking of heavenly strength. 3. And truly may he deserve the
imperial title, who has formed his soul to royal virtues, according to the
standard of that celestial kingdom. But he who is a stranger to these
blessings, who denies the Sovereign of the universe, and owns no allegiance
to the heavenly Father of spirits; who invests not himself with the virtues
which become , an emperor, but overlays his soul with moral deformity and
baseness; who for royal clemency substitutes the fury of a savage beast;
for a generous temper, the incurable venom of malicious wickedness; for
prudence, folly; for reason and wisdom, that recklessness which is the most
odious of all vices, for from it, as from a spring of bitterness, proceed
the most pernicious fruits; such as inveterate profligacy of life,
covetousness, murder, impiety and defiance of God; surely one abandoned to;
such vices as these, however he may be deemed powerful through despotic
violence, has no true title to the name of Emperor. For how should he whose
soul is impressed with a thousand absurd images of false deities, [1] be
able to exhibit a counterpart of the true and heavenly sovereignty? Or how
can he be absolute lord of others, who has subjected himself to the
dominion of a thousand cruel masters? a slave of low delights and
ungoverned lust, a slave of wrongfully-extorted wealth, of rage and
passion, as well as of cowardice and terror; a slave of ruthless demons,
and soul-destroying spirits? Let, 4. then, our emperor, on the testimony of
truth itself, be declared alone worthy of the title; who is dear to the
Supreme Sovereign himself; who alone is free, nay, who is truly lord: above
the thirst of wealth, superior to sexual desire; victorious even over
natural pleasures; controlling, not controlled by, anger and passion.[2] He
is indeed an emperor, and bears a title corresponding to his deeds; a
VICTOR in truth, who has gained the victory over those passions which
overmaster the rest of men: whose character is formed after the Divine
original a of the Supreme Sovereign, and whose mind reflects, as in a
mirror, the radiance of his virtues. Hence is our emperor perfect in
discretion, in goodness, in justice, in courage, in piety, in devotion to
God: he truly and only is a philosopher, since he knows himself, and is
fully aware that supplies of every blessing are showered on him from a
source quite external to himself, even from heaven itself. Declaring the
august title of supreme authority by the splendor of his vesture, he alone
worthily wears that imperial purple which so well becomes him. 5. He is
indeed an emperor, who calls on and implores in prayer the favor of his
heavenly Father night and day, and whose ardent desires are fixed on his
celestial kingdom. For he knows that present things, subject as they are to
decay and death, flowing on and disappearing like a river's stream, are not
worthy to be compared with him who is sovereign of all; therefore it is
that he longs for the incorruptible and incorporeal kingdom of God. And
this kingdom he trusts he shall obtain, elevating his mind as he does in
sublimity of thought above the vault of heaven, and filled with
inexpressible longing for the glories which shine there, in comparison with
which he deems the precious things of this present world but darkness. For
he sees earthly sovereignty to be but a petty and fleeting dominion over a
mortal and temporary life, and rates it not much higher than the
goatherd's, or shepherd's, or herdsman's power: nay, as more burdensome
than theirs, and exercised over more stubborn subjects. The acclamations of
the people, and the voice of flattery, he reckons rather troublesome than
pleasing, because of the steady constancy of his character, and genuine
discipline of his mind. 6. Again, when he beholds the military service of
his subjects, the vast array of his armies, the multitudes of horse and
foot, entirely devoted to his command, he feels no astonishment, no pride
at the possession of such mighty power; but turns his thoughts inward on
himself, and recognizes the same common nature there. He smiles at his
vesture, embroidered with gold and flowers, and at the imperial purple and
diadem itself, when he sees the multitude gaze in wonder, like children at
a bugbear, on the splendid spectacle. [4] Himself superior to such
feelings, he clothes his soul with the knowledge of God, that vesture, the
broidery of which is temperance, righteousness, piety, and all other
virtues; a vesture such as truly becomes a sovereign. 7. The wealth which
others so much desire, as gold, silver, or precious gems, he regards to be,
as they really are, in themselves mere stones and worthless matter, of no
avail to preserve or defend from evil. For what power have these things to
free from disease, or repel the approach of death? And knowing as he does
this truth by personal experience in the use of these things, he regards
the splendid attire of his subjects with calm indifference, and smiles at
the childishness of those to whom they prove attractive. Lastly, he
abstains from all excess in food and wine, and leaves superfluous dainties
to gluttons, judging that such indulgences, I however suitable to others,
are not so to him, and deeply convinced of their pernicious tendency, and
their effect in darkening the intellectual powers of the soul. 8. For all
these reasons, our divinely taught and noble-minded emperor, aspiring to
higher objects than this life affords, calls upon his heavenly Father as
one who longs for his kingdom; exhibits a pious spirit in each action of
his life; and finally, as a wise and good instructor, imparts to his
subjects the knowledge of him who is the Sovereign Lord of all.

CHAPTER VI.

   1. AND God himself, as an earnest of future reward, assigns to him now
as it were tricennial crowns [1] composed of prosperous periods of time;
and now, after the revolution of three circles of ten years, he grants
permission to all mankind to celebrate this general, nay rather, this
universal festival. 2. And while those on earth thus rejoice, crowned as it
were with the flowers of divine knowledge, surely, we may not unduly
suppose that the heavenly choirs, attracted by a natural sympathy, unite
their joy with the joy of those on earth: nay, that the Supreme Sovereign
himself, as a gracious father, delights in the worship of duteous children,
and for this reason is pleased to honor the author and cause of their
obedience through a lengthened period of time; and, far from limiting his
reign to three decennial circles of years, he extends it to the remotest
period, even to far distant eternity. 3. Now eternity [2] in its whole
extent is beyond the power of decline or death: its beginning and extent
alike incapable of being scanned by mortal thoughts. Nor will it suffer its
central point to be perceived, nor that which is termed its present
duration to be grasped by the inquiring mind. Far less, then, the future,
or the past: for the one is not, but is already gone; while the future has
not yet arrived, and therefore is not. As regards what is termed the
present time, it vanishes even as we think or speak, more swiftly than the
word itself is uttered. Nor is it possible in any sense to apprehend this
time as present; for we must either expect the future, or contemplate the
past; the present slips from us, and is gone, even in the act of thought.
Eternity, then, in its whole extent, resists and refuses subjection to
mortal reason. 4. But it does not refuse to acknowledge its own Sovereign
and Lord, [3] and bears him as it were mounted on itself, rejoicing in the
fair trappings which he bestows. [4] And he himself, not binding it, as the
poet imagined, with a golden chain, [5] but as it were controlling its
movements by the reins of ineffable wisdom, has adjusted its months and
seasons, its times and years, and the alterations of day and night, with
perfect harmony, and has thus attached to it limits and measures of various
kinds. For eternity, being in its nature direct, and stretching onward into
infinity, and receiving its name, eternity, as having an everlasting
existence, [6] and being similar in all its parts, or rather having no
division or distance, progresses only in a line of direct extension. But
God, who has distributed it by intermediate sections, and has divided it,
like a far extended line, in many points, has included in it a vast number
of portions; and though it is in its nature one, and resembles unity
itself, he has attached to it a multiplicity of numbers, and has given it,
though formless in itself, an endless variety of forms. 5. For first of all
he framed in it formless matter, as a substance capable of receiving all
forms. He next, by the power of the number two, imparted quality to matter,
and gave beauty to that which before was void of all grace. Again, by means
of the number three, he framed a body compounded of matter and form, and
presenting the three dimensions of breadth, and length, and depth. Then,
from the doubling of the number two, he devised the quaternion of the
elements, earth, water, air, and fire, and ordained them to be everlasting
sources for the supply of this universe. Again, the number four produces
the number ten. For the aggregate of one, and two, and three, and four, is
ten. [7] And three multiplied with ten discovers the period of a month: and
twelve successive months complete the course of the sun. Hence the
revolutions of years, and changes of the seasons, which give grace, like
variety of color in painting, to that eternity which before was formless
and devoid of beauty, for the refreshment and delight of those whose lot it
is to traverse therein the course of life. 6. For as the ground is defined
by stated distances for those who run in hope of obtaining the prize; and
as the road of those who travel on a distant journey is marked by resting-
places and measured intervals, that the traveler's courage may not fail at
the interminable prospect; even so the Sovereign of the universe,
controlling eternity itself within the restraining power of his own wisdom,
directs and turns its course as he judges best. The same God, I say, who
thus clothes the once undefined eternity as with fair colors and blooming
flowers, gladdens the day with the solar rays; and, while he overspreads
the night with a covering of darkness, yet causes the glittering stars, as
golden spangles, to shine therein. It is he who lights up the brilliancy of
the morning stab the changing splendor of the moon, and the glorious
companies of the starry host, and has arrayed the expanse of heaven, like
some vast mantle, in colors of varied beauty. Again, having created the
lofty and profound expanse of air, and caused the world in its length and
breadth to feel its cooling influence, he decreed that the air itself
should be graced with birds of every kind, and left open this vast ocean of
space to be traversed by every creature, visible or invisible, whose course
is through the tracts of heaven. In the midst of this atmosphere he poised
the earth, as it were its center, and encompassed it with the ocean as with
a beautiful azure vesture. 7. Having ordained this earth to be at once the
home, the nurse, and the mother of all the creatures it contains, and
watered it both with rain and water-springs, he caused it to abound in
plants and flowers of every species, for the enjoyment of life. And when he
had formed man in his own likeness, the noblest of earthly creatures, and
dearest to himself, a creature gifted with intellect and knowledge, the
child of reason and wisdom, he gave him dominion over all other animals
which move and live upon the earth. For man was in truth of all earthly
creatures the dearest to God: man, I say, to whom, as an indulgent Father,
he has subjected the brute creation; for whom he has made the ocean
navigable, and crowned the earth with a profusion of plants of every kind;
to whom he has granted reasoning faculties for acquiring all science; under
whose control he has placed even the creatures of the deep, and the winged
inhabitants of the air; to whom he has permitted the contemplation of
celestial objects, and revealed the course and changes of the sun and moon,
and the periods of the planets and fixed stars. In short, to man alone of
earthly beings has he given commandment to acknowledge him as his heavenly
Father, and to celebrate his praises as the Supreme Sovereign of eternity
itself. 8. But the unchangeable course of eternity the Creator has limited
by the four seasons of the year, terminating the winter by the approach of
spring, and regulating as with an equal balance that season which commences
the annual period. Having thus graced the eternal course of time with the
varied productions of spring, he added the summer's heat; and then granted
as it were a relief of toil by the interval of autumn: and lastly,
refreshing and cleansing the season by the showers of winter, he brings it,
rendered sleek land glossy, like a noble steed, by these abundant rains,
once more to the gates of spring. 9. As soon, then, as the Supreme
Sovereign had thus connected his own eternity by these cords of wisdom with
the annual circle, he committed it to the guidance of a mighty Governor,
even his only begotten Word, to whom, as the Preserver of all creation, he
yielded the reins of universal power. And he, receiving this inheritance as
from a beneficent Father, and uniting all things both above and beneath the
circumference of heaven in one harmonious whole, directs their uniform
course; providing with perfect justice whatever is expedient for his
rational creatures on the earth, appointing its allotted limits to human
life, and granting to all alike permission to anticipate even here the
commencement of a future existence. For he has taught them that beyond this
present world there is a divine and blessed state of being, reserved for
those who have been supported here by the hope of heavenly blessings; and
that those who have lived a virtuous and godly life will remove hence to a
far better habitation; while he adjudges to those who have been guilty and
wicked here a place of punishment according to their crimes. 10. Again, as
in the distribution of prizes at the public games, he proclaims various
crowns to the victors, and invests each with the rewards of different
virtues: but for our good emperor, who is clothed in the very robe of
piety, he declares that a higher recompense of his toils is prepared; and,
as a prelude to this recompense, permits us now to assemble at this
festival, which is composed of perfect numbers, of decades thrice, and 11.
triads ten times repeated. The first of these, the triad, is the offspring
of the unit, while the unit is the mother of number itself, and presides
over all months, and seasons, and years, and every period of time. It may,
indeed, be justly termed the origin, foundation, and principle of all
number, and derives its name from its abiding character. [8] For, while
every other number is diminished or increased according to the subtraction
or addition of others, the unit alone continues fixed and steadfast,
abstracted from all multitude and the numbers which are formed from it, and
resembling that indivisible essence which is distinct from all things
beside, but by virtue of participation in which the nature of all things
else subsists. 12. For the unit is the originator of every number, since
all multitude is made up by the composition and addition of units; nor is
it possible without the unit to conceive the existence of number at all.
But the unit itself is independent of multitude, apart from and superior to
all number; forming, indeed, and making all, but receiving no increase 13.
from any. Kindred to this is the triad; equally indivisible and perfect,
the first of those sums which are formed of even and uneven numbers. For
the perfect number two, receiving the addition of the unit, forms the
triad, the first perfect compound number. And the triad, by explaining what
equality is, first taught men justice, having itself an equal beginning,
and middle, and end. And it is also an image of the mysterious, most holy,
and royal Trinity, which, though itself without beginning or origin, yet
contains the germs, the reasons, and causes of the existence of all created
things. 14. Thus the power of the triad may justly be regarded as the first
cause of all things. Again, the number ten, which contains the end of all
numbers, and terminates them in itself, may truly be called a full and
perfect number, as comprehending every species and every measure of
numbers, proportions, concords, and harmonies. For example, the units by
addition form and are terminated by the number ten; and, having this number
as their parent, and as it were the limit of their course they round this
as the goal of their career. 15. Then they perform a second circuit, and
again a third, and a fourth, until the tenth and thus by ten decades they
complete the hundredth number. Returning thence to the first starting
point, they again proceed to the number ten, and having ten times completed
the hundredth number, again they recede, and perform round the same
barriers their protracted course, proceeding from themselves back to
themselves again, with revolving 16. motion. For the unit is the tenth of
ten, and ten units make up a decade, which is itself the limit, the settled
goal and boundary of units: it is that which terminates the infinity of
number; the term and end of units. Again, the triad combined with the
decade, and performing a threefold circuit of tens, produces that most
natural number, thirty. For as the triad is in respect to units, so is the
number thirty in respect to tens. 17. It is also the constant limit to the
course of that luminary which is second to the sun in brightness. For the
course of the moon from one conjunction with the sun to the next, completes
the period of a month; after which, receiving as it were a second birth, it
recommences a new light, and other days, being adorned and honored with
thirty units, three decades, and ten triads. 18. In the same manner is the
universal reign of our victorious emperor distinguished by the giver of all
good, and now enters on a new sphere of blessing, accomplishing, at
present, this tricennalian festival, but reaching forward beyond this to
far more distant intervals of time, and cherishing the hope of future
blessings in the celestial kingdom; where, not a single sun, but infinite
hosts of light surround the Almighty Sovereign, each surpassing the
splendor of the sun, glorious and resplendent with rays derived from the
everlasting source of light. 19. There the soul enjoys its existence,
surrounded by fair and unfading blessings; there is a life beyond the reach
of sorrow; there the enjoyment of pure and holy pleasures, and a time of
unmeasured and endless duration, extending into illimitable space; not
defined by intervals of days and months, the revolutions of years, or the
recurrence of times and seasons, but commensurate with a life which knows
no end. And this life needs not the light of the sun, nor the lustre of the
moon or the starry host, since it has the great Luminary himself, even God
the Word, the only begotten Son of the Almighty Sovereign. 20. Hence it is
that the mystic and sacred oracles reveal him to be the Sun of
righteousness, and the Light which far transcends all light. We believe
that he illumines also the thrice-blessed powers of heaven with the rays of
righteousness, and the brightness of wisdom, and that he receives truly
pious souls, not within the sphere of heaven alone, but into his own bosom,
and confirms indeed the assurances which he himself has given. 21 No mortal
eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor can the mind in its vesture of flesh
understand what things are prepared for those who have been here adorned
with the graces of godliness; blessings which await thee too, most pious
emperor, to whom alone since the world began has the Almighty Sovereign of
the universe granted power to purify the course of human life: to whom also
he has revealed his own symbol of salvation, whereby he overcame the power
of death, and triumphed over every enemy. And this victorious trophy, the
scourge of evil spirits, thou hast arrayed against the errors of idol
worship, and hast obtained the victory not only over all thy impious and
savage foes, but over equally barbarous adversaries, the evil spirits
themselves.

CHAPTER VII.

   1. FOR whereas we are composed of two distinct natures, I mean of body
and spirit, of which the one is visible to all, the other invisible,
against both these natures two kinds of barbarous and savage enemies, the
one invisibly, the other openly, are constantly arrayed. The one oppose our
bodies with bodily force the other with incorporeal assaults besiege the
naked soul itself. 2. Again, the visible barbarians, like the wild nomad
tribes, no better than savage beasts, assail the nations of civilized men,
ravage their country, and enslave their cities, rushing on those who
inhabit them like ruthless wolves of the desert, and destroying all who
fall under their power. But those unseen foes, more cruel far than
barbarians, I mean the soul-destroying demons whose course is through the
regions of the air, had succeeded, through the snares of vile polytheism,
in enslaving the entire human race, insomuch that they no longer recognized
the true God, but wandered in the mazes of atheistic error. For they
procured, I know not whence, gods who never anywhere existed, and set him
aside who is the only and the true God, as though he were not. 3.
Accordingly the generation of bodies was esteemed by  them a deity, and so
the opposite principle to this, their dissolution and destruction, was also
deified. The first, as the author of generative power, was honored with
rites under the name of Venus: [1] the second, as rich, and mighty in
dominion over the human race, received the names of Pluto, and Death. For
men in those ages, knowing no other than naturally generated life, declared
the cause and origin of that life to be divine: and again, believing in no
existence after death, they proclaimed Death himself a universal conqueror
and a mighty god. Hence, unconscious of responsibility, as destined to be
annihilated by death, they lived a life unworthy of the name, in the
practice of actions deserving a thousand deaths. No thought of God could
enter their minds, no expectation of Divine judgment, no recollection of,
no reflection on, their spiritual existence: acknowledging one dread
superior, Death, and persuaded that the dissolution of their bodies by his
power was final annihilation, they bestowed on Death the title of a mighty,
a wealthy god, and hence the name of Pluto. [2] Thus, then, Death became to
them a god; nor only so, but whatever else they accounted precious in
comparison with death, whatever contributed to the luxuries of life. 4.
Hence animal pleasure became to them a god; nutrition, and its production,
a god; the fruit of trees, a god; drunken riot, a god; carnal desire and
pleasure, a god. Hence the mysteries of Ceres and Proserpine, the rape of
the latter, and her subsequent restoration, by Pluto: hence the orgies of
Bacchus, and Hercules overcome by drunkenness as by a mightier god: hence
the adulterous rites of Cupid and of Venus: hence Jupiter himself
infatuated with the love of women, and of Ganymede: [8] hence the
licentious legends of deities abandoned to effeminacy and pleasure. 5. Such
were the weapons of superstition whereby these cruel barbarians and enemies
of the Supreme God afflicted, and indeed entirely subdued, the human race;
erecting everywhere the monuments of impiety, and rearing in every corner
the shrines and temples of their false religion. 6. Nay, so far were the
ruling powers of those times enslaved by the force of error, as to appease
their gods with the blood of their own countrymen and kindred; to whet
their swords against those who stood forward to defend the truth; to
maintain a ruthless war and raise unholy hands, not against foreign or
barbarian foes, but against men l bound to them by the ties of family and
affection, against brethren, and kinsmen, and dearest friends, who had
resolved, in the practice of virtue and true piety, to honor and worship
God. 7. Such was the spirit of madness with which these princes sacrificed
to their demon deities men consecrated to the service of the King of kings.
On the other hand their victims, as noble martyrs in the cause of true
godliness, resolved to welcome a glorious death in preference to life
itself, and utterly despised these cruelties. Strengthened, as soldiers of
God, with patient fortitude, they mocked at death in all its forms; at
fire, and sword, and the torment of crucifixion; at exposure to savage
beasts, and drowning in the depths of the sea; at the cutting off and
searing of limbs, the digging out of eyes, the mutilation of the whole
body; lastly, at famine, the labor of the mines, and captivity: nay, all
these sufferings they counted better than any earthly good or pleasure, for
the love they bore their heavenly King. In like manner women also evinced a
spirit of constancy and courage not inferior to that of men. 8. Some
endured the same conflicts with them, and obtained a like reward of their
virtue: others, forcibly carried off to be the victims of violence and
pollution, welcomed death rather than dishonor; while many, very many more,
endured not even to hear the same threats wherewith they were assailed by
the provincial governors, but boldly sustained every variety of torture,
and sentence of death in every form? Thus did these valiant soldiers of the
Almighty Sovereign maintain the conflict with steadfast fortitude of soul
against the hostile forces of polytheism: and thus did these enemies of God
and adversaries of man's salvation, more cruel far than the ferocious
savage, delight in libations of human blood: thus did their ministers drain
as it were the cup of unrighteous slaughter in honor of the demons whom
they served, and prepare for them this dread and impious banquet, to the
ruin of the human race. 9. In these sad circumstances, what course should
the God and King of these afflicted ones pursue? Could he be careless of
the safety of his dearest friends or abandon his servants in this great
extremity? Surely none could deem him a wary pilot, who, without an effort
to save his fellow- mariners should suffer his vessel to sink with all her
crew: surely no general could be found so reckless as to yield his own
allies, without resistance, to the mercy of the foe: nor can a faithful
shepherd regard with unconcern the straying of a single sheep from his
flock, but will rather leave the rest in safety, and dare all things for
the wanderer's sake, even, if need be, to contend with savage beasts. 10.
The zeal, however, of the great Sovereign of all was for no unconscious [5]
sheep: his care was exercised for his own faithful host, for those who
sustained the battle for his sake: whose conflicts in the cause of
godliness he himself approved, and honored those who had returned to his
presence with the prize of victory which he only can bestow, uniting them
to the angelic choirs. Others he still preserved on earth, to communicate
the living seeds of piety to future generations; to be at once eye-
witnesses of his vengeance on the ungodly, and narrators of the events. 11.
After this he outstretched his arm in judgment on the adversaries, and
utterly destroyed them with the stroke of Divine wrath, compelling them,
how reluctant soever to confess with their own lips and recant their
wickedness, but raising from the ground and exalting gloriously those who
had long been oppressed and disclaimed by all. 12. Such were the dealings
of the Supreme Sovereign, who ordained an invincible champion to be the
minister of his heaven-sent vengeance (for our emperor's surpassing piety
delights in the title of Servant of God), and him he has, proved victorious
over all that opposed him, having raised him up, an individual against many
foes. For they were indeed numberless, being the friends of many evil
spirits (though in reality they were nothing, and hence are now no more);
but our emperor is one, appointed by, and the representative of, the one
Almighty Sovereign. And they, in the very spirit of impiety, destroyed the
righteous with cruel slaughter: but he, in imitation of his Saviour, and
knowing only how to save men's lives, has spared and instructed in
godliness the impious themselves. 13. And so, as truly worthy the name of
VICTOR, he has subdued the twofold race of barbarians; soothing the savage
tribes of men by prudent embassies, compelling them to know and acknowledge
their superiors, and reclaiming them from a lawless and brutal life to the
governance of reason and humanity; at the same time that he proved by the
facts themselves that the fierce and ruthless race of unseen spirits had
long ago been vanquished by a higher power. For he who is the preserver of
the universe had punished these invisible spirits by an invisible judgment:
and our emperor, as the delegate of the Supreme Sovereign, has followed up
the victory, bearing away the spoils of those who have long since died and
mouldered into dust, and distributing the plunder with lavish hand among
the soldiers of his victorious Lord. [6]

CHAPTER VIII.

   1. FOR as soon as he understood that the ignorant multitudes were
inspired with a vain and childish dread of these bugbears of error, wrought
in gold and silver, he judged it right to remove these also, like
stumbling- stones thrown in the path of men walking in the dark, and
henceforward to open a royal road, plain and unobstructed, to all. 2.
Having formed this resolution, he considered that no soldiers or military
force of any sort was needed for the repression of the evil: a few of his
own friends sufficed for this service, and these he sent by a simple
expression of his will to visit each several province. 3. Accordingly,
sustained by confidence in the emperor's piety and their own personal
devotion to God, they passed through the midst of numberless tribes and
nations, abolishing this ancient system of error in every city and country.
They ordered the priests themselves, in the midst of general laughter and
scorn, to bring their gods from their dark recesses to the light of day.
They then stripped them of their ornaments, and exhibited to the gaze of
all the unsightly reality which had been hidden beneath a painted exterior:
and lastly, whatever part of the material appeared to be of value they
scraped off and melted in the fire to prove its worth, after which they
secured and set apart whatever they judged needful for their purposes,
leaving to the superstitious worshipers what was altogether useless, as a
memorial of their shame. 4. Meanwhile our admirable prince was himself
engaged in a work similar to that we have described. For at the same time
that these costly images of the dead were stripped, as we have said, of
their precious materials, he also attacked those composed of brass; causing
those to be dragged from their places with ropes, and, as it were, carried
away captive, whom the dotage of mythology had esteemed as gods. The next
care of our august emperor was to kindle, as it were, a brilliant torch, by
the light of which he directed his imperial gaze around, to see if any
hidden vestiges of error might yet exist. 5. And as the keen-sighted eagle
in its heavenward flight is able to descry from its lofty height the most
distant objects on the earth: so did he whilst residing in the imperial
palace of his own fair city, discover, as from a watch- tower, a hidden and
fatal snare of souls in the province of Phoenicia. This was a grove and
temple, not situated in the midst of any city, or in any public place, as
for splendor of effect is generally the case, 6. but apart from the beaten
and frequented road, on part of the summit of Mount Lebanon, and dedicated
to the foul demon known by the name of Venus. It was a school of wickedness
for all the abandoned rotaries of impurity and such as destroyed their
bodies with effeminacy. Here men undeserving the name forgot the dignity of
their sex, and propitiated the demon by their effeminate conduct: here too
unlawful commerce of women, and adulterous intercourse, with other horrible
and infamous practices, were perpetrated in this temple as in a place
beyond the scope and restraint of law.

   Meantime these evils remained unchecked by the presence of any
observer, since no one of fair character ventured to visit such scenes. 7.
These proceedings, however, could not escape the vigilance of our august
emperor, who, having himself inspected them with characteristic
forethought, and judging that such a temple was unfit for the light of
heaven, gave orders that the building with its offerings should be utterly
destroyed. Accordingly, in obedience to the imperial edict, these engines
of an impure superstition were immediately abolished, and the hand of
military force was made instrumental in purging the place. And now those
who had heretofore lived without restraint, learned, through the imperial
threat of punishment, to practice self-control. 8. Thus did our emperor
tear the mask from this system of delusive wickedness, and expose it to the
public gaze, at the same time proclaiming openly his Saviour's name to all.
No advocate appeared; neither god nor demon, prophet nor diviner, could
lend his aid to the detected authors of the imposture. For the souls of men
were no longer enveloped in thick darkness: but enlightened by the rays of
true godliness, they deplored the ignorance and pitied the blindness of
their forefathers, rejoicing at the same time in their own deliverance from
such fatal error. [1]

9. Thus speedily, according to the counsel of the mighty God, and through
our emperor's agency, was every enemy, whether visible or unseen, utterly
removed: and henceforward peace, the happy nurse of youth, extended her
reign throughout the world. Wars were no more, for the gods were not: no
more did warfare in country or town, no more did the effusion of human
blood, distress mankind, as heretofore, when demon- worship and the madness
of idolatry prevailed.

CHAPTER IX.

   1. AND now we may well compare the present with former things, and
review these happy changes in contrast with the evils that are past, and
mark the elaborate care with which in ancient times porches and sacred
precincts, groves and temples, were prepared in every city for these false
deities, and how their shrines were enriched with abundant offerings. 2.
The sovereign rulers of those days had indeed a high regard for the worship
of the gods. The nations also and people subject to their power honored
them with images both in the country and in every city, nay, even in their
houses and secret chambers, according to the religious practice of their
fathers. The fruit, however, of this devotion, far different from the
peaceful concord which now meets our view, appeared in war, in battles, and
seditions, which harassed them throughout their lives, and deluged their
countries with blood and civil slaughter. 3. Again, the objects of their
worship could hold out to these sovereigns with artful flattery the promise
of prophecies, and oracles, and the knowledge of futurity: yet could they
not predict their own destruction, nor forewarn themselves of the coming
ruin: and surely this was the greatest and most convincing proof of their
imposture. 4. Not one of those whose words once were heard with awe and
wonder, had announced the glorious advent of the Saviour of mankind, [1] or
that new revelation of divine knowledge which he came to give. Not Pythius
himself, nor any of those mighty gods, could apprehend the prospect of
their approaching desolation; nor could their oracles point at him who was
to be their conqueror and destroyer. 5. What prophet or diviner could
foretell that their rites would vanish at the presence of a new Deity in
the world, and that the knowledge and worship of the Almighty Sovereign
should be freely given to all mankind? Which of them foreknew the august
and pious reign of our victorious emperor, or his triumphant conquests
everywhere over the false demons, or the overthrow of their high places? 6.
Which of the heroes has announced the melting down and conversion of the
lifeless statues from their useless forms to the necessary uses of men?
Which of the gods have yet had power to speak of their own images thus
melted and contemptuously reduced to fragments? 7. Where were the
protecting powers, that they should not interpose to save their sacred
memorials, thus destroyed by man? Where, I ask, are those who once
maintained the strife of war, yet now behold their conquerors abiding
securely in the profoundest peace? And where are they who upheld themselves
in a blind and foolish confidence, and trusted in these vanities as gods;
but who, in the very height of their superstitious error, and while
maintaining an implacable war with the champions of the truth, perished by
a fate proportioned to their crimes? 8. Where is the giant race whose arms
were turned against heaven itself; the hissings of those serpents whose
tongues were pointed with impious words against the Almighty King? These
adversaries of the Lord of all, confident in the aid of a multitude of
gods, advanced to the attack with a powerful array of military force,
preceded by certain images of the dead, and lifeless statues, as their
defense. On the other, side our emperor, secure in the armor of godliness,
opposed to the numbers of the enemy the salutary and life-giving Sign, as
at the same time a terror to the foe, and a protection against every harm;
and returned victorious at once over the enemy and the demons whom they
served? And then, with thanksgiving and praise, the tokens of a grateful
spirit, to the Author of his victory, he proclaimed this triumphant Sign,
by monuments as well as words, to all mankind, erecting it as a mighty
trophy against every enemy in the midst of the imperial city, and expressly
enjoining on all to acknowledge this imperishable symbol of salvation as
the safeguard of the power of Rome and of the empire of the world. 9. Such
were the instructions which he gave to his subjects generally; but
especially to his soldiers, whom he admonished to repose their confidence,
not in their weapons, or armor, or bodily strength, but to acknowledge the
Supreme God as the giver of every good, and of victory itself. 10. Thus did
the emperor himself, strange and incredible as the fact may seem, become
the instructor of his army in their religious exercises, and teach them to
offer pious prayers in accordance with the divine ordinances, uplifting
their hands towards heaven, and raising their mental vision higher still to
the King of heaven, on whom they should call as the Author of victory,
their preserver, guardian, and helper. He commanded too, that one day
should be regarded as a special occasion for religious worship; I mean that
which is truly the first and chief of all, the day of our Lord and Saviour;
that day the name of which is connected with light, and life, and
immortality, and every good. 11. Prescribing the same pious conduct to
himself, he honored his Saviour in the chambers of his palace, performing
his devotions according to the Divine commands, and storing his mind with
instruction through the hearing of the sacred word. The entire care of his
household was intrusted to ministers devoted to the service of God, and
distinguished by gravity of life and every other virtue; while his trusty
body-guards, strong in affection and fidelity to his person, found in their
emperor an instructor in the practice of a godly life. 12. Again, the honor
with which he regards the victorious Sign is founded on his actual
experience of its divine efficacy. Before this the hosts of his enemies
have disappeared: by this the powers of the unseen spirits have been turned
to flight: through this the proud boastings of God's adversaries have come
to nought, and the tongues of the profane and blasphemous been put to
silence. By this Sign the Barbarian tribes were vanquished: through his the
rites of superstitious fraud received a just rebuke: by this our emperor,
discharging as it were a sacred debt, has performed the crowning good of
all, by erecting triumphant memorials of its value in all parts of the
world, raising temples and churches on a scale of royal costliness, and
commanding all to unite in constructing the sacred houses of prayer. 13.
Accordingly these signal proofs of our emperor's magnificence forthwith
appeared in the provinces and cities of the empire, and soon shone
conspicuously in every country; convincing memorials of the rebuke and
overthrow of those impious tyrants who but a little while before had madly
dared to fight against God, and, raging like savage dogs, had vented on
unconscious buildings that fury which they were unable to level against
him; had thrown to the ground and Upturned the very foundations of the
houses of prayer, causing them to present the appearance of a city captured
and abandoned to the enemy. Such was the exhibition of that wicked spirit
whereby they sought as it were to assail God himself, but soon experienced
the result of their own madness and folly. But a little time elapsed, when
a single blast of the storm of Heaven's displeasure swept them utterly
away, leaving neither kindred, nor offspring, nor memorial of their
existence among men: for all, numerous as they were, disappeared as in a
moment beneath the stroke of Divine vengeance. 14. Such, then, was the fate
which awaited these furious adversaries of God: but he who, armed with the
salutary Trophy, had alone opposed them (nay rather, not alone, but aided
by the presence and the power of him who is the only Sovereign), has
replaced the ruined edifices on a greater scale, and made the second far
superior to the first. For example, besides erecting various churches to
the honor of God in the city which bears his name, and adorning the
Bithynian capital with another on the greatest and most splendid scale, he
has distinguished the principal cities of the other provinces by structures
of a similar kind. 15. Above all, he has selected two places in the eastern
division of the empire, the one in Palestine (since from thence the life-
giving stream has flowed as from a fountain for the blessing of all
nations), the other in that metropolis of the East which derives its name
from that of Antiochus; in which, as the head of that portion of the
empire, he has consecrated to the service of God a church of unparalleled
size and beauty. The entire building is encompassed by an enclosure of
great extent, within which the church itself rises to a vast elevation, of
an octagonal form, surrounded by many chambers and courts on every side,
and decorated with ornaments of the richest kind. [3] Such was his work
here. 16. Again, in the province of Palestine, in that city which was once
the seat of Hebrew sovereignty, on the very site of the Lord's sepulchre,
he has raised a church of noble dimensions, and adorned a temple sacred to
the salutary Cross with rich and lavish magnificence, honoring that
everlasting monument, and the trophies of the Saviour's victory over the
power of death, with a splendor which no language can describe. 17. In the
same country he discovered three places venerable as the localities of
three sacred caves: and these also he adorned with costly structures,
paying a fitting tribute of reverence to the scene of the first
manifestation of the Saviour's presence; while at the second cavern he
hallowed the remembrance of his final ascension from the mountain top; and
celebrated his mighty conflict, and the victory which crowned it, at the
third. [4] All these places our emperor thus adorned in the hope of
proclaiming the symbol of redemption to all mankind; 18. that Cross which
has indeed repaid his pious zeal; through which his house and throne alike
have prospered, his reign has been confirmed for a lengthened series of
years, and the rewards of virtue bestowed on his noble sons, his kindred,
and their descendants. 19. And surely it is a mighty evidence of the power
of that God whom he serves, that he has held the balances of justice with
an equal hand, and has apportioned to each party their due reward. With
regard to the destroyers of the houses of prayer, the penalty of their
impious conduct followed hard upon them: forthwith were they swept away,
and left neither race, nor house, nor family behind. On the other hand, he
whose pious devotion to his Lord is conspicuous in his every act, who
raises royal temples to his honor, and proclaims his name to his subjects
by sacred offerings throughout the world, he, I say, has deservedly
experienced him to be the preserver and defender of his imperial house and
race. Thus clearly have the dealings of God been manifested, and this
through the sacred efficacy of the salutary Sign.

CHAPTER X.

   1. MUCH might indeed be said of this salutary Sign, by those who are
skilled in the mysteries of our Divine religion. For it is in very truth
the symbol of salvation, wondrous to speak of, more wondrous still to
conceive; the appearance of which on earth has thrown the fictions of all
false religion from the beginning into the deepest shade, has buried
superstitious error in darkness and oblivion, and has revealed to all that
spiritual light which enlightens the souls of men, even the knowledge of
the only true God. 2. Hence the universal change for the better, which
leads men to spurn their lifeless idols, to trample under foot the lawless
rites of their demon deities, and laugh to scorn the time-honored follies
of their fathers. Hence, too, the establishment in every place of those
schools of sacred learning, wherein men are taught the precepts of saving
truth, and dread no more those objects of creation which are seen by the
natural eye, nor direct a gaze of wonder at the sun, the moon, or stars;
but acknowledge him who is above all these, that invisible Being who is the
Creator of them all, and learn to worship him alone. 3. Such are the
blessings resulting to mankind from this great and wondrous Sign, by virtue
of which the evils which once existed are now no more, and virtues
heretofore unknown shine everywhere resplendent with the light of true
godliness. 4. Discourses, and precepts, and exhortations to a virtuous and
holy life, are proclaimed in the ears of all nations. Nay, the emperor
himself proclaims them: and it is indeed a marvel that this mighty prince,
raising his voice in the hearing of all the world, like an interpreter of
the Almighty Sovereign's will, invites his subjects in every country to the
knowledge of the true God. 5. No more, as in former times, is the babbling
of impious men heard in the imperial palace; but priests and pious
worshipers of God together celebrate his majesty with royal hymns of
praise. The name of the one Supreme Ruler of the universe is proclaimed to
all: the gospel of glad tidings connects the human race with its Almighty
King, declaring the grace and love of the heavenly Father to his children
on the earth. His praise is everywhere sung in triumphant strains: the
voice of mortal man is blended with the harmony of the angelic choirs in
heaven; 6. and the reasoning soul employs the body which invests it as an
instrument for sounding forth a fitting tribute of praise and adoration to
his name. The nations of the East and the West are instructed at the same
moment in his precepts: the people of the Northern and Southern regions
unite with one accord, under the influence of the same principles and laws,
in the pursuit of a godly life, in praising the one Supreme God, in
acknowledging his only begotten Son their Saviour as the source of every
blessing, and our emperor as the one ruler on the earth, together with his
pious sons. 7. He himself, as a skillful pilot, sits on high at the helm of
state, and directs the vessel with unerring course, conducting his people
as it were with favoring breeze to a secure and tranquil haven. Meanwhile
God himself, the great Sovereign, extends the right hand of his power from
above for his protection, giving him victory over every foe, and
establishing his empire by a lengthened period of years: and he will bestow
on him yet higher blessings, and confirm in every deed the truth of his own
promises. But on these we may not at present dwell; but must await the
change to a better world: for it is not given to mortal eyes or ears of
flesh, fully to apprehend the things of God. [1]

CHAPTER XI.

   1. AND now, victorious and mighty Constantine, in this discourse, whose
noble argument is the glory of the Almighty King, let me lay before thee
some of the mysteries of his sacred truth: not as presuming to instruct
thee, who art thyself taught of God; nor to disclose to thee those secret
wonders which he himself, not through the agency of man, but through our
common Saviour, and the frequent light of his Divine presence has long
since revealed and unfolded to thy view: but in the hope of leading the
unlearned to the light, and displaying before those who know them not the
causes and motives of thy pious deeds. 2. True it is that thy noble efforts
for the daily worship and honor of the Supreme God throughout the habitable
world, are the theme of universal praise. But those records of gratitude to
thy Saviour and Preserver which thou hast dedicated in our own province of
Palestine, and in that city from which as from a fountain-head the Saviour
Word [1] has issued forth to all mankind; and again, the hallowed edifices
and consecrated temples which thou hast raised as trophies of his victory
over death; and those lofty and noble structures, imperial monuments of an
imperial spirit, which thou hast erected in honor of the everlasting memory
of the Saviour's tomb the cause, I say, of these things is not equally
obvious to all. 3. Those, indeed, who are enlightened in heavenly knowledge
by the power of the Divine Spirit, well understand the cause, and justly
admire and bless thee for that counsel and resolution which Heaven itself
inspired. On the other hand the ignorant and spiritually blind regard these
designs with open mockery and scorn, and deem it a strange and unworthy
thing indeed that so mighty a prince should waste his zeal on the graves
and monuments of the dead. 4. "Were it not better," such a one might say,
"to cherish those rites which are hallowed by ancient usage to seek the
favor of those gods and heroes whose worship is observed in every province;
instead of rejecting and disclaiming them, because subject to the
calamities incident to man? Surely they may claim equal honors with him who
himself has suffered: or, if they are to be rejected, as not exempt from
the sorrows of humanity, the same award would justly be pronounced
respecting him." Thus, with important and contracted brow, might he give
utterance in pompous language to his self-imagined wisdom. 5. Filled with
compassion for this ignorance, the gracious Word of our most beneficent
Father freely invites, not such a one alone, but all who are in the path of
error, to receive instruction in Divine knowledge; and has ordained the
means of such instruction throughout the world, in every country and
village, in cultivated and desert lands alike, and in every city: and, as a
gracious Saviour and Physician of the soul, calls on the Greek and the
Barbarian, the wise and the unlearned, the rich and the poor, the servant
and his master, the subject and his lord, the ungodly, the profane, the
ignorant, the evil-doer, the blasphemer, alike to draw near, and hasten to
receive his heavenly cure. And thus in time past had he clearly announced
to all the pardon of former transgressions, saying, "Come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." [2] And again,
"I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." [3] And
he adds the reason, saying, "For they that are whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick." [4] And again, "I desire not the death of a
sinner, but rather that he should repent." [5]

6. Hence it is only for those who are themselves instructed in Divine
things and understand the motives of that zeal of which these works are the
result, to appreciate the more than human impulse by which our emperor was
guided, to admire his piety toward God, and to believe his care for the
memorial of our Saviour's resurrection to be a desire imparted from above,
and truly inspired by that Sovereign, to be whose faithful servant and
minister for good is his proudest boast. 7. In full persuasion, then, of
thy approval, most mighty emperor, I desire at this present time to
proclaim to all the reasons and motives of thy pious works. I desire to
stand as the interpreter of thy designs, to explain the counsels of a soul
devoted to the love of God. I propose to teach all men, what all should
know who care to understand the principles on which our Saviour God employs
his power, the reasons for which he who was the pre-existent Controller of
all things at length descended to us from heaven: the reasons for which he
assumed our nature, and submitted even to the power of death. I shall
declare the causes of that immortal life which followed, and of his
resurrection from the dead. Once more, I shall adduce convincing proofs and
arguments, for the sake of those who yet need such testimony: 8. and now
let me commence my appointed task. Those who transfer the worship due to
that God who formed and rules the world to the works of his hand; who hold
the sun and moon, or other parts of this material system, nay, the elements
themselves, earth, water, air, and fire, in equal honor with the Creator of
them all; who give the name of gods to things which never would have had
existence, or even name, except as obedient to that Word of God who made
the world: such persons in my judgment resemble those who overlook the
master hand which gives its magnificence to a royal palace; and, while lost
in wonder at its roofs and walls, the paintings of varied beauty and
coloring which adorn them, and its gilded ceilings and sculptures, ascribe
to them the praise of that skill which belongs to the artist whose work
they are: whereas they should assign the cause of their wonder, not to
these visible objects, but to the architect himself, and confess that the
proofs of skill are indeed manifest, but that he alone is the possessor of
that skill who has made them what they are. 9. Again, well might we liken
those to children, who should admire the seven-stringed lyre, and disregard
him who invented or has power to use it: or those who forget the valiant
warrior, and adorn his spear and shield with the chaplet of victory: or,
lastly, those who hold the squares and streets, the public buildings,
temples, and gymnasia of a great and royal city in equal honor with its
founder; forgetting that their admiration is due, not to lifeless stones,
but to him whose wisdom planned and executed these mighty works. 10. Not
less absurd is it for those who regard this universe with the natural eye
to ascribe its origin to the sun, or moon, or any other heavenly body.
Rather let them confess that these are themselves the works of a higher
wisdom, remember the Maker and Framer of them all, and render to him the
praise and honor above all created objects. Nay rather, inspired by the
sight of these very objects, let them address themselves with full purpose
of heart to glorify and worship him who is now invisible to mortal eye, but
perceived by the clear and unclouded vision of the soul, the supremely
sovereign Word of God. To take the instance of the human body: no one has
yet conferred the attribute of wisdom on the eyes, or head, the hands, or
feet, or other members, far less on the outward clothing, of a wise and
learned man: no one terms the philosopher's household furniture and
utensils, wise: but every rational person admires that invisible and secret
power, the mind of the man himself. 11. How much more, then, is our
admiration due, not to the visible mechanism of the universe, material as
it is, and formed of the selfsame elements; but to that invisible Word who
has moulded and arranged it all, who is the only-begotten Son of God, and
whom the Maker of all things, who far transcends all being, has begotten of
himself, and appointed Lord and Governor of this universe? 12. For since it
was impossible that perishable bodies, or the rational spirits which he had
created, should approach the Supreme God, by reason of their immeasurable
distance from his perfections, for he is unbegotten, above and beyond all
creation, ineffable, inaccessible, unapproachable, dwelling, as his holy
word assures us, [6] in the light which none can enter; but they were
created from nothing, and are infinitely far removed from his unbegotten
Essence; well has the all-gracious and Almighty God interposed as it were
an intermediate Power [7] between himself and them, even the Divine
omnipotence of his only-begotten Word. And this Power, which is in perfect
nearness and intimacy of union, with the Father which abides in him, and
shares his secret counsels, has yet condescended, in fullness of grace, as
it were to conform itself to those who are so far removed from the supreme
majesty of God. How else, consistently with his own holiness could he who
is far above and beyond all things unite himself to corruptible and
corporeal matter? Accordingly the Divine Word, thus connecting himself with
this universe, and receiving into his hands the reins, as it were, of the
world, turns and directs it as a skillful charioteer according to his own
will and pleasure. 13. The proof of these assertions is evident. For
supposing that those component parts of the world which we call elements,
as earth, water, air, and fire, the nature of which is manifestly without
intelligence, are self-existent; and if they have one common essence, which
they who are skilled in natural science call the great receptacle, mother,
and nurse of all things; and if this itself be utterly devoid of shape and
figure, of soul and reason; whence shall we say it has obtained its present
form and beauty? To what shall we ascribe the distinction of the elements,
or the union of things contrary in their very nature? Who has commanded the
liquid water to sustain the heavy element of earth? Who has turned back the
waters from their downward course, and carried them aloft in clouds? Who
has bound the force of fire, and caused it to lie latent in wood, and to
combine with substances most contrary to itself? Who has mingled the cold
air with heat, and thus reconciled the enmity of opposing principles? Who
has devised the continuous succession of the human race, and given it as it
were an endless term of duration? Who has moulded the male and female form,
adapted their mutual relations with perfect harmony, and given one common
principle of production to every living creature? Who changes the character
of the fluid and corruptible seed, which in itself is void of reason, and
gives it its prolific power? Who is at this moment working these and ten
thousand effects more wonderful than these, nay, surpassing all wonder, and
with invisible influence is daily and hourly perpetuating the production of
them all? 14. Surely the wonder-working and truly omnipotent Word of God
may well be deemed the efficient cause of all these things: that Word who,
diffusing himself through all creation, pervading height and depth with
incorporeal energy, and embracing the length and breadth of the universe
within his mighty grasp, has compacted and reduced to order this entire
system, from whose unreasoned and formless matter he has framed for himself
an instrument of perfect harmony, the nicely balanced chords and notes of
which he touches with all-wise and unerring skill. He it is who governs the
sun, and moon, and the other luminaries of heaven by inexplicable laws, and
directs their motions for the service of the universal whole. 15. It is
this Word of God who has stooped to the earth on which we live, and created
the manifold species of animals, and the fair varieties of the vegetable
world. It is this same Word who has penetrated the recesses of the deep,
has given their being to the finny race, and produced the countless forms
of life which there exist. It is he who fashions the burden of the womb,
and informs it in nature's laboratory with the principle of life. By him
the fluid and heavy moisture is raised on high, and then, sweetened by a
purifying change, descends in measured quantities to the earth, and at
stated seasons in more profuse supply. 16. Like a skillful husbandman, he
fully irrigates the land, tempers the moist and dry in just proportion,
diversifying the whole with brilliant flowers, with aspects of varied
beauty, with pleasant fragrance, with alternating varieties of fruits, and
countless gratifications for the taste of men. But why do I dare essay a
hopeless task, to recount the mighty works of the Word of God, and describe
an energy which surpasses mortal thought? By some, indeed, he has been
termed the Nature of the universe, by others, the World- Soul, by others,
Fate. Others again have declared him to be the most High God himself,
strangely confounding things most widely different; bringing down to this
earth, uniting to a corruptible and material body, and assigning to that
supreme and unbegotten Power who is Lord of all an intermediate place
between irrational animals and rational mortals on the one hand, and
immortal beings on the other. [8]

CHAPTER XII.

   1. ON the other hand, the sacred doctrine teaches that he who is the
supreme Source of good, and Cause of all things, is beyond all
comprehension, and therefore inexpressible by word, or speech, or name;
surpassing the power, not of language only, but of thought itself.
Uncircumscribed by place, or body; neither in heaven, nor in ethereal
space, nor in any other part of the universe; but entirely independent of
all things else, he pervades the depths of unexplored and secret wisdom.
The sacred oracles teach us to acknowledge him as the only true God, [1]
apart from all corporeal essence, distinct from all subordinate
ministration. Hence it is said that all things are from him, but not
through him. [2] 2. And he himself dwelling as Sovereign in secret and
undiscovered regions of unapproachable light, ordains and disposes all
things by the single power of his own will. At his will whatever is,
exists; without that will, it cannot be. And his will is in every case for
good, since he is essentially Goodness itself. But he through whom are all
things, even God the Word, proceeding in an ineffable manner from the
Father above, as from an everlasting and exhaustless fountain, flows onward
like a river with a full and abundant stream of power for the preservation
of the universal whole. 3. And now let us select an illustration from our
own experience. The invisible and undiscovered mind within us, the
essential nature of which no one has ever known, sits as a monarch in the
seclusion of his secret chambers, and alone resolves on our course of
action. From this proceeds the only-begotten word from its father's bosom,
begotten in a manner and by a power inexplicable to us; and is the first
messenger of its father's thoughts, declares his secret counsels, and,
conveying itself to the ears of others, accomplishes his designs. 4. And
thus the advantage of this faculty is enjoyed by all: yet no one has ever
yet beheld that invisible and hidden mind, which is the I parent of the
word itself. [3] In the same manner, or rather in a manner which far
surpasses all likeness or comparison, the perfect Word of the Supreme God,
as the only-begotten Son of the Father (not consisting in the power of
utterance, nor comprehended in syllables and parts of speech, nor conveyed
by a voice which vibrates on the air; but being himself the living and
effectual Word of the most High, and subsisting personally as the Power and
Wisdom of God), [4] proceeds from his Father's Deity and kingdom.[5] Thus,
being the perfect Offspring of a perfect Father, and the common Preserver
of all things, he diffuses himself with living power throughout creation,
and pours from his own fullness abundant supplies of reason, [6] wisdom,
light, and every other blessing, not only on objects nearest to himself,
but on those most remote, whether in earth, or sea, or any other sphere of
being. 5. To all these he appoints with perfect equity their limits,
places, laws, and inheritance, allotting to each their suited portion
according to his sovereign will. To some he assigns the super-terrestrial
regions, to others heaven itself as their habitation: others he places in
ethereal space, others in air, and others still on earth. He it is who
transfers mankind from hence to another sphere, impartially reviews their
conduct here, and be- stows a recompense according to the life and habits
of each. By him provision is made for the life and food, not of rational
creatures only, but also of the brute creation, for the service of men; 6.
and while to the latter he grants the enjoyment of a perishable and
fleeting term of existence, the former he invites to a share in the
possession of immortal life. Thus universal is the agency of the Word of
God: everywhere present, and pervading all things by the power of his
intelligence, he looks upward to his Father, and governs this lower
creation, inferior to and consequent upon himself, in accordance with his
will, as the common Preserver of all things. 7. Intermediate, as it were,
and attracting the created to the uncreated Essence, this Word of God
exists as an unbroken bond between the two, uniting things most widely
different by an inseparable tie. He is the Providence which rules the
universe; the guardian and director of the whole: he is the Power and
Wisdom of God the only-begotten God, the Word begotten of God himself. For
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. All things were made by him and without him was not any. thing made
that hath been made"; as we learn from the words of the sacred writer.[7]
Through his vivifying power all nature grows and flourishes, refreshed by
his continual showers, and invested with a vigor and beauty ever new. 8.
Guiding the reigns of the universe, he holds its onward course in
conformity to the Father's will and moves, as it were, the helm of this
mighty ship. This glorious Agent, the only-begotten Son of the Supreme God,
begotten by the Father as his perfect Offspring, the Father has given to
this world as the highest of all goods infusing his word, as spirit into a
lifeless body, into unconscious nature; imparting light and energy to that
which in itself was a rude, inanimate, and formless mass, through the
Divine power. Him therefore it is ours to acknowledge and regard as
everywhere present, and giving life to matter and the elements of nature:
[8] in him we see Light, even the spiritual offspring of inexpressible
Light: one indeed in essence, as being the Son of one Father; but
possessing in himself many and varied powers. 9. The world is indeed
divided into many parts; yet let us not therefore suppose that there are
many independent Agents nor, though creation's works be manifold, let us
thence assume the existence of many gods. How grievous the error of those
childish and infatuated advocates of polytheistic worship, who deify the
constituent parts of the universe, and divide into many that system which
is only one! 10. Such conduct resembles theirs who should abstract the eyes
of an individual man, and term them the man himself, and the ears, another
man, and so the head: or again, by an effort of thought should separate the
neck, the breast and shoulders, the feet and hands,: or other members, nay,
the very powers of sense, and thus pronounce an individual to be a
multitude of men. Such folly must surely be rewarded with contempt by men
of sense. Yet such is he who from the component parts of a single world can
devise for  himself a multitude of gods, or even deem that world which is
the work of a Creator, and consists of many parts, to be itself a god: [9]
not knowing that the Divine Nature can in no sense be divisible into parts;
since, if compounded, it must be so through the agency of another power;
and that which is so compounded can never be Divine. How indeed could it be
so, if composed of unequal and dissimilar, and hence of worse and better
elements? Simple, indivisible, uncompounded, the Divine Nature exists at an
infinite elevation above the visible constitution of this world. 11. And
hence we are assured by the clear testimony of the sacred Herald, [10] that
the Word of God, who is before all things, must be the sole Preserver of
all intelligent beings: while God, who is above all, and the Author of the
generation of the Word, being himself the Cause of all things, is rightly
called the Father of the Word, as of his only-begotten Son, himself
acknowledging no superior Cause. God, therefore, himself is One, and from
him proceeds the one only-begotten Word, the omnipresent Preserver of all
things. And as the many-stringed lyre is composed of different chords, both
sharp and flat, some slightly, others tensely strained, and others
intermediate between-the two extremes, yet all attuned according to the
rules of harmonic art; even so this material world, compounded as it is of
many elements, containing opposite and antagonist principles, as moisture
and dryness, cold and heat, yet blended into one harmonious whole, may
justly be termed a mighty instrument framed by the hand of God: an
instrument on which the Divine Word, himself not composed of parts or
opposing principles, but indivisible and uncompounded, performs with
perfect skill, and produces a melody at once accordant with the will of his
Father the Supreme Lord of all, and glorious to himself. Again, as there
are manifold external and internal parts and members comprised in a single
body, yet one invisible soul, one undivided and incorporeal mind pervades
the whole; so is it in this creation, which, consisting of many parts, yet
is but one: and so the One mighty, yea, Almighty Word of God, pervading all
things, and diffusing himself with undeviating energy throughout this
universe, is the Cause of all things that exist therein. 12. Survey the
compass of this visible world. Seest thou not how the same heaven contains
within itself the countless courses and companies of the stars? Again, the
sun is one, and yet eclipses many, nay all other luminaries, by the
surpassing glory of his rays. Even so, as the Father himself is One, his
Word is also One, the perfect Son of that perfect Father. Should any one
object because they are not more, as well might he complain that there are
not many suns, or moons, or worlds, and a thousand things beside; like the
madman, who would fain subvert the fair and perfect course of Nature
herself. As in the visible, so also in the spiritual world: in the one the
same sun diffuses his light  throughout this material earth; in the other
the One Almighty Word of God illumines all things with invisible and secret
power. 13. Again, there is in man one spirit, and one faculty of reason,
which yet is the active cause of numberless effects. The same mind,
instructed in many things, will essay to cultivate the earth, to build and
guide a ship, and construct houses: nay, the one mind and reason of man is
capable of acquiring knowledge in a thousand forms: the same mind shall
understand geometry and astronomy, and discourse on the rules of grammar,
and rhetoric, and the healing art. Nor will it excel in science only, but
in practice too: and yet no one has ever supposed the existence of many
minds in one human form, nor expressed his wonder at a plurality of being
in man, because he is thus capable of varied knowledge. 14. Suppose one
were to find a shapeless mass of clay, to mould it with his hands, and give
it the form of a living creature; the head in one figure, the hands and
feet in another, the eyes and cheeks in a third, and so to fashion the
ears, the mouth and nose, the breast and shoulders, according to the rules
of the plastic art. The result, indeed, is a variety of figure, of parts
and members in the one body; yet must we not suppose it the work of many
hands, but ascribe it entirely to the skill of a single artist, and yield
the tribute of our praise to him who by the energy of a single mind has
framed it all. The same is true of the universe itself, which is one,
though consisting of many parts: yet surely we need not suppose many
creative powers, nor invent a plurality of gods. Our duty is to adore the
all-wise and all- perfect agency of him who is indeed the Power and the
Wisdom of God, whose undivided force and energy pervades and penetrates the
universe, creating and giving life to all things, and furnishing to all,
collectively and severally, those manifold supplies of which he is himself
the source. 15. Even so one and the same impression of the solar rays
illumines the air at once, gives light to the eyes, warmth to the touch,
fertility to the earth, and growth to plants. The same luminary constitutes
the course of time, governs the motions of the stars, performs the circuit
of the heavens, imparts beauty to the earth, and displays the power of God
to all: and all this he performs by the sole and unaided force of his own
nature. In like manner fire has the property of refining gold, and fusing
lead, of dissolving wax, of parching clay, and consuming wood; producing
these varied effects by one and the same burning power. 16. So also the
Supreme Word of God, pervading all things, everywhere existent, everywhere
present in heaven and earth, governs and directs the visible and invisible
creation, the sun, the heaven, and the universe itself, with an energy
inexplicable in its nature, irresistible in its effects. From him, as from
an everlasting fountain, the sun, the moon, and stars receive their light:
and he forever rules that heaven which he has framed as the fitting emblem
of his own greatness. The angelic and spiritual powers, the incorporeal and
intelligent beings which exist beyond the sphere of heaven and earth, are
filled by him with light and life, with wisdom and virtue, with all that is
great and good, from Iris own peculiar treasures. Once more, with one and
the same creative skill, he ceases not to furnish the elements with
substance, to regulate the union and combinations, the forms and figures,
and the innumerable qualities of organized bodies; preserving the varied
distinctions of animal and vegetable life, of the rational and the brute
creation; and supplying all things to all with equal power: thus proving
himself the Author, not indeed of the seven-stringed lyre, [11] but of that
system of perfect harmony which is the workmanship of the One world-
creating Word. [12]

CHAPTER XIII.

   1. AND now let us proceed to explain the reasons for which this mighty
Word of God descended to dwell with men. Our ignorant and foolish race,
incapable of comprehending him who is the Lord of heaven and earth,
proceeding from his Father's Deity as from the supreme fountain, ever
present throughout the world, and evincing by the clearest proofs his
providential care for the interests of man; have ascribed the adorable
title of Deity to the sun, and moon, the heaven and the stars of heaven.
Nor did they stop here, but deified the earth itself, its products, and the
various substances by which animal life is sustained, and devised images of
Ceres, of Proserpine, of Bacchus, (1) and many such as these. 2. Nay, they
shrank not from giving the name of gods to the very conceptions of their
own minds, and the speech by which those conceptions are expressed; calling
the mind itself Minerva, and language Mercury, (2) and affixing the names
of Mnemosyne and the Muses to those faculties by means of which science is
acquired. Nor was even this enough: advancing still more rapidly in the
career of impiety and folly, they deified their own evil passions, which it
behooved them to regard with aversion, or restrain by the principles of
self-control. Their very lust and passion and impure disease of soul, the
members of the body which tempt to obscenity, and even the very uncontrol
(3) in shameful pleasure, they described under the titles of Cupid,
Priapus, Venus, (4) and other kindred terms. 3. Nor did they stop even
here. Degrading their thoughts of God to this corporeal and mortal life,
they deified their fellow-men, conferring the names of gods and heroes on
those who had experienced the common lot of all, and vainly imagining that
the Divine and imperishable Essence could frequent the tombs and monuments
of the dead. Nay, more than this: they paid divine honors to animals of
various species, and to the most noxious reptiles: they felled trees, and
excavated rocks; they provided themselves with brass, and iron, and other
metals, of which they fashioned resemblances of the male and female human
form, of beasts, and creeping things; and these they made the objects of
their worship. 4. Nor did this suffice. To the evil spirits themselves
which lurked within their statues, or lay concealed in secret and dark
recesses, eager to drink their libations, and inhale the odor of their
sacrifices, they ascribed the same divine honors. Once more, they
endeavored to secure the familiar aid of these spirits, and the unseen
powers which move through the tracts of air, by charms of forbidden magic,
and the compulsion of unhallowed songs and incantations. Again, different
nations have adopted different persons as objects of their worship. The
Greeks have rendered to Bacchus, Hercules, AEsculapius, Apollo, and others
who were mortal men, the titles of gods and heroes. The Egyptians have
deified Horus and Isis, Osiris, and other mortals such as these. And thus
they who boast of the wondrous skill whereby they have discovered geometry,
astronomy, and the science of number, know not, wise as they are in their
own conceit, nor understand how to estimate the measure of the power of
God, or calculate his exceeding greatness above the nature of irrational
and mortal beings. 5. Hence they shrank not from applying the name of gods
to the most hideous of the brute creation, to venomous reptiles and savage
beasts. The Phoenicians deified Melcatharus, Usorus, (5) and others; mere
mortals, and with little claim to honor: the Arabians, Dusaris (6) and
Obodas: the Getae, Zamolxis: the Cicilians, Mopsus: and the Thebans,
Amphiaraus: (7) in short, each nation has adopted its own peculiar deities,
differing in no respect from their fellow- mortals, being simply and truly
men. Again, the Egyptians with one consent, the Phoenicians, the Greeks,
nay, every nation beneath the sun, have united in worshiping the very parts
and elements of the world, and even the produce of the ground itself. And,
which is most surprising, though acknowledging the adulterous, unnatural,
and licentious crimes of their deities, they have not only filled every
city, and village, and district with temples, shrines, and statues in their
honor, but have followed their evil example to the ruin of their own souls.
6. We hear of gods and the sons of gods described by them as heroes and
good genii, titles entirely opposed to truth, honors utterly at variance
with the qualifies they are intended to exalt. It is as if one who desired
to point out the sun and the luminaries of heaven, instead of directing his
gaze thitherward, should grope with his hands on the ground, and search for
the celestial powers in the mud and mire. Even so mankind, deceived by
their own folly and the craft of evil spirits, have believed that the
Divine and spiritual Essence which is far above heaven and earth could be
compatible with the birth, the affections, and death, of mortal bodies here
below. To such a pitch of madness did they proceed, as to sacrifice the
dearest objects of their affection to their gods, regardless of all natural
ties, and urged by frenzied feeling to slay their only and best beloved
children. 7. For what can be a greater proof of madness, than to offer
human sacrifice, to pollute every city, and even their own houses, with
kindred blood? Do not the Greeks themselves attest this, and is not all
history filled with records of the same impiety? The Phoenicians devoted
their best beloved and only children as an annual sacrifice to Saturn. The
Rhodians, on the sixth day of the month Metageitnion, (8) offered human
victims to the same god. At Salamis, a man was pursued in the temple of
Minerva Agraulis and Diomede, compelled to run thrice round the altar,
afterwards pierced with a lance by the priest, and consumed as a burnt
offering on the blazing pile. In Egypt, human sacrifice was most abundant.
At Heliopolis three victims were daily offered to Juno, for whom king
Amoses, impressed with the atrocity of the practice, commanded the
substitution of an equal number of waxen figures. In Chios, and again in
Tenedos, a man was slain and offered up to Omadian Bacchus. At Sparta they
immolated human beings to Mars. In Crete they did likewise, offering human
sacrifices to Saturn. In Laodicea of Syria a virgin was yearly slain in
honor of Minerva, for whom a hart is now the substitute. The Libyans and
Carthaginians appeased their gods with human victims. The Dumateni of
Arabia buried a boy annually beneath the altar. History informs us that the
Greeks without exception, the Thracians also, and Scythians, were
accustomed to human sacrifice before they marched forth to battle. The
Athenians record the immolation of the virgin children of Leus, (9) and the
daughter of Erechtheus. (10) Who knows not that at this day a human victim
is offered in Rome itself at the festival of Jupiter Latiaris? 8. And these
facts are confirmed by the testimony of the most approved philosophers.
Diodorus, the epitomizer of libraries, (11) affirms that two hundred of the
noblest youths were sacrificed to Saturn by the Libyan people, and that
three hundred more were voluntarily offered by their own parents.
Dionysius, the compiler of Roman history, (12) expressly says that Jupiter
and Apollo demanded human sacrifices of the so-called Aborigines, in Italy.
He relates that on this demand they offered a proportion of all their
produce to the gods; but that, because of their refusal to slay human
victims, they became involved in manifold calamities, from which they could
obtain no release until they had decimated themselves, a sacrifice of life
which proved the desolation of their country. Such and so great were the
evils which of old afflicted the whole human race. 9. Nor was this the full
extent of their misery they groaned beneath the pressure of other evils
equally numerous and irremediable. All nations, whether civilized or
barbarous, throughout the world, as if actuated by a demoniac frenzy, were
infected with sedition as with some fierce and terrible disease: insomuch
that the human family was irreconcilably divided against itself; the great
system of society was distracted and torn asunder; and in every corner of
the earth men stood opposed to each other, and strove with fierce
contention on questions of law and government. 10. Nay, more than this:
with passions aroused to fury, they engaged in mutual conflicts, so
frequent that their lives were passed as it were in uninterrupted warfare.
None could undertake a journey except as prepared to encounter an enemy in
the very country and villages the rustics girded on the sword, provided
themselves with armor rather than with the implements of rural labor, and
deemed it noble exploit to plunder and enslave any who belonged to a
neighboring state. 11. Nay, more than this: from the fables they had
themselves devised respecting their own deities, they deduced occasions for
a vile and abandoned life, and wrought the ruin of body and soul by
licentiousness of every kind. Not content with this, they even overstepped
the bounds which nature had defined, and together committed incredible and
nameless crimes, "men with men (in the words of the sacred writer) working
unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error
which was due." 12. Nor did they stop even here; but perverted their
natural thoughts of God, and denied that the course of this world was
directed by his providential care, ascribing the existence and constitution
of all things to the blind operation of chance, or the necessity of fate.
13. Once more: believing that soul and body were alike dissolved by death,
they led a brutish life, unworthy of the name: careless of the nature or
existence of the soul, they dreaded not the tribunal of Divine justice,
expected no reward of virtue, nor thought of chastisement as the penalty of
an evil life. 14. Hence it was that whole nations, a prey to wickedness in
all its forms, were wasted by the effects of their own brutality: some
living in the practice of most vile and lawless incest with mothers, others
with sisters, and others again corrupting their own daughters. Some were
found who slew their confiding guests; others who fed on human flesh; some
strangled, and then feasted on, their aged men; others threw them alive to
dogs. The time would fail me were I to attempt to describe the multifarious
symptoms of the inveterate malady which had asserted its dominion over the
whole human race. 15. Such, and numberless others like these, were the
prevailing evils, on account of which the gracious Word of God, full of
compassion for his human flock, had long since, by the ministry of his
prophets, and earlier still, as well as later, by that of men distinguished
by pious devotion to God, invited those thus desperately afflicted to their
own cure; and had, by means of laws, exhortations, and doctrines of every
kind, proclaimed to man the principles and elements of true godliness. But
when for mankind, distracted and torn as I have said, not indeed by wolves
and savage beasts, but by ruthless and soul- destroying spirits of evil,
human power no longer sufficed, but a help was needed superior to that of
man; then it was that the Word of God, obedient to his all-gracious
Father's will, at length himself appeared, and most willingly made his
abode amongst us. 16. The causes of his advent I have already described,
induced by which he condescended to the society of man; not in his wonted
form and manner, for he is incorporeal, and present everywhere throughout
the world, proving by his agency both in heaven and earth the greatness of
his almighty power, but in a character new and hitherto unknown. Assuming a
mortal body, he deigned to associate and converse with men; desiring,
through the medium of their own likeness, to save our mortal race.

CHAPTER XIV.

   1. AND now let us explain the cause for which the incorporeal Word of
God assumed this mortal body as a medium of intercourse with man. How,
indeed, else than in human form could that Divine and impalpable, that
immaterial and invisible Essence manifest itself to those who sought for
God in created and earthly objects, unable or unwilling otherwise to
discern the Author and Maker of all things? 2. As a fitting means,
therefore, of communication with mankind, he assumed a mortal body, as that
with which they were themselves familiar; for like, it is proverbially
said, loves its like. To those, then, whose affections were engaged by
visible objects, who looked for gods in statues and lifeless images, who
imagined the Deity to consist in material and corporeal substance, nay, who
conferred on men the title of divinity, the Word of God presented himself
in this form. 3. Hence he procured for himself this body as a thrice-
hallowed temple, a sensible habitation of an intellectual power; a noble
and most holy form, of far higher worth than any lifeless statue. The
material and senseless image, fashioned by base mechanic hands, of brass or
iron, of gold or ivory, wood or stone, may be a fitting abode for evil
spirits: but that Divine form, wrought by the power of heavenly wisdom, was
possessed of life and spiritual being; a form animated by every excellence,
the dwelling-place of the Word of God, a holy temple of the holy God. 4.
Thus the indwelling Word (1) conversed with and was known to men, as
kindred with themselves; yet yielded not to passions such as theirs, nor
owned, as the natural soul, subjection to the body. He parted not with
aught of his intrinsic greatness, nor changed his proper Deity. For as the
all-pervading radiance of the sun receives no stain from contact with dead
and impure bodies; much less can the incorporeal power of the Word of God
be injured in its essential purity, or part with any of its greatness, from
spiritual contact with a human body. 5. Thus, I say, did our common Saviour
prove himself the benefactor and preserver of all, displaying his wisdom
through the instrumentality of his human nature, even as a musician uses
the lyre to evince his skill. The Grecian myth tells us that Orpheus had
power to charm ferocious beasts, and tame their savage spirit, by striking
the chords of his instrument with a master hand: and this story is
celebrated by the Greeks, and generally believed, that an unconscious
instrument could subdue the untamed brute, and draw the trees from their
places, in obedience to its melodious power. But he who is the author of
perfect harmony, the all-wise Word of God, desiring to apply every remedy
to the manifold diseases of the souls of men, employed that human nature
which is the workmanship of his own wisdom, as an instrument by the
melodious strains of which he soothed, not indeed the brute creation, but
savages endued with reason; healing each furious temper, each fierce and
angry passion of the soul, both in civilized and barbarous nations, by the
remedial power of his Divine doctrine. Like a physician of perfect skill,
he met the diseases of their souls who sought for God in nature and in
bodies, by a fitting and kindred remedy, and showed them God in human form.
6. And then, with no less care for the body than the soul, he presented
before the eyes of men wonders and signs, as proofs of his Divine power, at
the same time instilling into their ears of flesh the doctrines which he
himself uttered with a corporeal tongue. In short, he performed all his
works through the medium of that body which he had assumed for the sake of
those who else were incapable of apprehending his Divine nature. 7. In all
this he was the servant of his Father's will, himself remaining still the
same as when with the Father; unchanged in essence, unimpaired in nature,
unfettered by the trammels of mortal flesh, nor hindered by his abode in a
human body from being elsewhere present. (2) 8. Nay, at the very time of
his intercourse with men, he was pervading all things, was with and in the
Father, and even then was caring for all things both in heaven and earth.
Nor was he precluded, as we are, from being present everywhere, or from the
continued exercise of his Divine power. He gave of his own to man, but
received nothing in return: he imparted of his Divine power to mortality,
but derived no accession from mortality itself. 9. Hence his human birth to
him brought no defilement; nor could his impassible Essence suffer at the
dissolution of his mortal body. For let us suppose a lyre to receive an
accidental injury, or its chord to be broken; it does not follow that the
performer on it suffers: nor, if a wise man's body undergo punishment, can
we fairly assert that his wisdom, or the soul within him, are maimed or
burned. 10. Far less can we affirm that the inherent power of the Word
sustained any detriment from his bodily passion, any more than, as in the
instance we have already used, the solar rays which are shot from heaven to
earth contract defilement, though in contact with mire and pollution of
every kind. We may, indeed, assert that these things partake of the
radiance of the light, but not that the light is contaminated, or the sun
defiled, by this contact with other bodies. 11. And indeed these things are
themselves not contrary to nature; but the Saviour, the incorporeal Word of
God, being Life and spiritual Light itself, whatever he touches with Divine
and incorporeal power must of necessity become endued with the intelligence
of light and life. Thus, if he touch a body, it becomes enlightened and
sanctified, is at once delivered from all disease, infirmity, and
suffering, and that which before was lacking is supplied by a portion of
his fullness. 12. And such was the tenor of his life on earth; now proving
the sympathies of his human nature with our own, and now revealing himself
as the Word of God: wondrous and mighty in his works as God; foretelling
the events of the far distant future; declaring in every act, by signs, and
wonders, and supernatural powers, that Word whose presence was so little
known; and finally, by his Divine teaching, inviting the souls of men to
prepare for those mansions which are above the heavens.

CHAPTER XV.

   1. WHAT now remains, but to account for those which are the crowning
facts of all; I mean his death, so far and widely known, the manner of his
passion, and the mighty miracle of his resurrection after death: and then
to establish the truth of these events by the clearest testimonies? 2. For
the reasons detailed above he used the instrumentality of a mortal body, as
a figure becoming his Divine majesty, and like a mighty sovereign employed
it as his interpreter in his intercourse with men, performing all things
consistently with his own Divine power. Supposing, then, at the end of his
sojourn among men, he had by any other means suddenly withdrawn himself
from their sight, and, secretly removing that interpreter of himself, the
form which he had assumed, had hastened to flee from death, and afterwards
by his own act had consigned his mortal body to corruption and dissolution:
doubtless in such a case he would have been deemed a mere phantom by all.
Nor would he have acted in a manner worthy of himself, had he who is Life,
the Word, and the Power of God, abandoned this interpreter of himself to
corruption and death. 3. Nor, again, would his warfare with the spirits of
evil have received its consummation by conflict. with the power of death.
The place of his retirement must have remained unknown; nor would his
existence have been believed by those who had not seen him for themselves.
No proof would have been given that he was superior to death nor would he
have delivered mortality from the law of its natural infirmity. His name
had never been heard throughout the world nor could he have inspired his
disciples with contempt of death, or encouraged those who. embraced his
doctrine to hope for the enjoyment of a future life with God. Nor would he
have fulfilled the assurances of his own promise, nor have accomplished the
predictions of the prophets concerning himself. Nor would he have undergone
the last conflict of all; for this was to be the struggle with the power of
death. 4. For all these reasons, then, and inasmuch as it was necessary
that the mortal body which had rendered such service to the Divine Word
should meet with an end worthy its sacred occupant, the manner of his death
was ordained accordingly. For since but two alternatives remained: either
to consign his body entirely to corruption, and so to bring the scene of
life to a dishonored close, or else to prove himself victorious over death,
and render mortality immortal by the act of Divine power; the former of
these alternatives would have contravened his own promise. For as it is not
the property of fire to cool, nor of light to darken, no more is it
compatible with life, to deprive of life, or with Divine intelligence, to
act in a manner contrary to reason. For how would it be consistent, with
reason, that he who had promised life to others, should permit his own
body, the form which he had chosen, to perish beneath the power of
corruption? That he who had inspired his disciples with hopes of
immortality, should yield this exponent of his Divine counsels to be
destroyed by death? 5. The second alternative was therefore needful I mean,
that he should assert his dominion over the power of death. But how? should
this be a furtive and secret act, or openly performed and in the sight of
all? So mighty an achievement, had it remained unknown and unrevealed, must
have failed of its effect as regards the interests of men; whereas the same
event, if openly declared and understood, would, from its wondrous
character, redound to the common benefit of all. With reason, therefore,
since it was needful to prove his body victorious over death, and that not
secretly but before the eyes of men, he shrank not from the trial, for this
indeed would have argued fear, and a sense of inferiority to the power of
death, but maintained that conflict with the enemy which has rendered
mortality immortal; a conflict undertaken for the life, the immortality,
the salvation of all. 6. Suppose one desired to show us that a vessel could
resist the force of fire; how could he better prove the fact than by
casting it into the furnace and thence withdrawing it entire and
unconsumed? Even thus the Word of God who is the source of life to all,
desiring to prove the triumph of that body over death which he had assumed
for man's salvation, and to make this body partake his own life and
immortality, pursued a course consistent with this object. Leaving his body
for a little while, (1) and delivering it up to death in proof of its
mortal nature, he soon redeemed it from death, in vindication of that
Divine power whereby he has manifested the immortality which he has
promised to be utterly beyond the sphere of death. 7. The reason of this is
clear. It was needful that l his disciples should receive ocular proof of
the certainty of that resurrection on which he had taught them to rest
their hopes as a motive for rising superior to the fear of death. It was
indeed most needful that they who purposed to pursue a life of godliness
should receive a clear impression of this essential truth: more needful
still for those who were destined to declare his name in all the world, and
to communicate to mankind that knowledge of God which he had before
ordained for all nations. 8. For such the strongest conviction of a future
life was necessary, that they might be able with fearless and unshrinking
zeal to maintain the conflict with Gentile and polytheistic error: a
conflict the dangers of which they would never, have been prepared to meet,
except as habituated to the contempt of death. Accordingly, in arming his
disciples against the power of this last enemy, he delivered not his
doctrines in mere verbal precepts, nor attempted to prove the soul's
immortality, by persuasive and probable arguments; but displayed to them in
his own person a real victory over death. 9. Such was the first and
greatest reason of our Saviour's conflict with the power of death, whereby
he proved to his disciples the nothingness of that which is the terror of
all mankind, and afforded a visible evidence of the reality of that life
which he had promised; presenting as it were a first-fruit of our common
hope, of future life and immortality in the presence of God. 10. The second
cause of his resurrection was, that the Divine power might be manifested
which dwelt in his mortal body. Mankind had heretofore conferred Divine
honors on men who had yielded to the power of death, and had given the
titles of gods and heroes to mortals like themselves. For this reason,
therefore, the Word of God evinced his gracious character, and proved to
man his own superiority over death, recalling his mortal body to a second
life, displaying an immortal triumph over death in the eyes of all, and
teaching them to acknowledge the Author of such a victory to be the only
true God, even in death itself. 11. I may allege yet a third cause of the
Saviour's death. He was the victim offered to the Supreme Sovereign of the
universe for the whole human race: a victim consecrated for the need of the
human race, and for the overthrow of the errors of demon worship. For as
soon as the one holy and mighty sacrifice, the sacred body of our Saviour,
had been slain for man, to be as a ransom for all nations, heretofore
involved in the guilt of impious superstition, thenceforward the power of
impure and unholy spirits was utterly abolished, and every earth-born and
delusive error was at once weakened and destroyed. 12. Thus, then, this
salutary victim taken from among themselves, I mean the mortal body of the
Word, was offered on behalf of the common race of men. This was that
sacrifice delivered up to death, of which the sacred oracles speak: Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (2) And again, as
follows: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the
shearer is dumb." They declare also the cause, saying: "He bears our sins,
and is pained for us: yet we accounted him to be in trouble, and in
suffering, and in affliction. But he was wounded on account of our sins,
and bruised because of our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was
upon him; and by his bruises we were healed. All we as sheep have gone
astray; every one has gone astray in this way; and the Lord gave him up for
our sins.'' (3)

   13. Such were the causes which led to the offering of the human body of
the Word of God. But forasmuch as he was the great high priest, consecrated
to the Supreme Lord and King, and therefore more than a victim, the Word,
the Power, and the Wisdom of God; he soon recalled his body from the grasp
of death, presented it to his Father as the first- fruit of our common
salvation, and raised this trophy, a proof at once of his victory over
death and Satan, and of the abolition of human sacrifices, for the blessing
of all mankind.

CHAPTER XVI.

   1. AND now the time is come for us to proceed to the demonstration of
these things; if indeed such truths require demonstration, and if the aid
of testimony be needful to confirm the certainty of palpable facts. Such
testimony, however, shall be here given; and let it be received with an
attentive and gracious ear. 2. Of old the nations of the earth, the entire
human race, were variously distributed into provincial, national, and local
governments, (1) subject to kingdoms and principalities of many kinds. The
consequences of this variety were war and strife, depopulation and
captivity, which raged in country and city with unceasing fury. Hence, too,
the countless subjects of history, adulteries, and rapes of women; hence
the woes of Troy, and the ancient tragedies, so known among all peoples. 3.
The origin of these may justly be ascribed to the delusion of polytheistic
error. But when that instrument of our redemption, the thrice holy body of
Christ, which proved itself superior to all Satanic fraud, and free from
evil both in word and deed, was raised, at once for the abolition of
ancient evils, and in token of his victory over the powers of darkness; the
energy of these evil spirits was at once destroyed. The manifold forms of
government, the tyrannies and republics, the siege of cities, and
devastation of countries caused thereby, were now no more, and one God was
proclaimed to all mankind. 4. At the same time one universal power, the
Roman empire, arose and flourished, while the enduring and implacable
hatred of nation against nation was now removed: and as the knowledge of
one God, and one way of religion and salvation, even the doctrine of
Christ, was made known to all mankind; so at the self-same period, the
entire dominion of the Roman empire being vested in a single sovereign,
profound peace reigned throughout the world. And thus, by the express
appointment of the same God, two roots of blessing, the Roman empire, and
the doctrine of Christian piety, sprang up together for the benefit of men.
5. For before this time the various countries of the world, as Syria, Asia,
Macedonia, Egypt, and Arabia, had been severally subject to different
rulers. The Jewish people, again, had established their dominion in the
laud of Palestine. And these nations, in every village, city, and district,
actuated by some insane spirit, were engaged in incessant and murderous war
and conflict. But two mighty powers, starting from the same point, the
Roman empire, which henceforth was swayed by a single sovereign, and the
Christian religion, subdued and reconciled these contending elements. 6.
Our Saviour's mighty power destroyed at once the many governments and the
many gods of the powers of darkness, and proclaimed to all men, both rude
and civilized, to the extremities of the earth, the sole sovereignty of God
himself. Meantime the Roman empire, the causes of multiplied governments
being thus removed, effected an easy conquest of those which yet remained;
its object being to unite all nations in one harmonious whole; an object in
great measure already secured, and destined to be still more perfectly
attained, even to the final conquest of the ends of the habitable world, by
means of the salutary doctrine, and through the aid of that Divine power
which facilitates and smooths its way. 7. And surely this must appear a
wondrous fact to those who will examine the question in the love of truth,
and desire not to cavil at these blessings. (2) The falsehood of demon
superstition was convicted: the inveterate strife and mutual hatred of the
nations was removed: at the same time One God, and the knowledge of that
God, were proclaimed to all: one universal empire prevailed; and the whole
human race, subdued by the controlling power of peace and concord, received
one another as brethren, and responded to the feelings of their common
nature. Hence, as children of one God and Father, and owning true religion
as their common mother, they saluted and welcomed each other with words of
peace. Thus the whole world appeared like one well-ordered and united
family: each one might journey unhindered as far as and whithersoever he
pleased: men might securely travel from West to East, and from East to
West, as to their own native country: in short, the ancient oracles and
predictions of the prophets were fulfilled, more numerous than we can at
present cite, and those especially which speak as follows concerning the
saving Word. "He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to
the ends of the earth." And again, "In his days shall righteousness spring
up; and abundance of peace." "And they shall beat their swords into plough-
shares, and their spears into sickles: and nation shall not take up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more.'' (3) 8. These
words, predicted ages before in the Hebrew tongue, have received in our own
day a visible fulfillment, by which the testimonies of the ancient oracles
are clearly confirmed. And now, if thou still desire more ample proof,
receive it, not in words, but from the facts themselves. Open the eyes of
thine understanding expand the gates of thought; pause awhile, and
consider; inquire of thyself as though thou weft another, and thus
diligently examine the nature of the case. What king or prince in any age
of the world, what philosopher, legislator, or prophet, in civilized or
barbarous lands, has attained so great a height of excellence, I say not
after death, but while living still, and full of mighty power, as to fill
the ears and tongues of all mankind with the praises of his name? Surely
none save our only Saviour has done this, when, after his victory over
death, he spoke the word to his followers, and fulfilled it by the event,
saying to them, "Go ye, and make disciples of all nations in my name.'' (4)
He it was who gave the distinct assurance, that his gospel must be preached
in all the world for a testimony to all nations, and immediately verified
his word: for within a little time the world itself was filled with his
doctrine. 9. How, then, will those who caviled at the commencement of my
speech be able to reply to this? For surely the force of ocular testimony
is superior to any verbal argument. Who else than he, with an invisible and
yet potent hand, has driven from human society like savage beasts that ever
noxious and destructive tribe of evil spirits who of old had made all
nations their prey, and by the motions of their images had practiced many a
delusion among men? Who else, beside our Saviour, by the invocation of his
name, and by unfeigned prayer addressed through him to the Supreme God, has
given power to banish from the world the remnant of those wicked spirits to
those who with genuine and sincere obedience pursue the course of life and
conduct which he has himself prescribed? Who else but our Saviour has
taught his followers to offer those bloodless and reasonable sacrifices
which are performed by prayer and the secret worship of God? 10. Hence is
it that throughout the habitable world altars are erected, and churches
dedicated, wherein these spiritual and rational sacrifices are offered as a
sacred service by every nation to the One Supreme God. Once more, who but
he, with invisible and secret power, has suppressed and utterly abolished
those bloody sacrifices which were offered with fire and smoke, as well as
the cruel and senseless immolation of human victims; a fact which is
attested by the heathen historians themselves? For it was not till after
the publication of the Saviour's Divine doctrine, about the time of
Hadrian's reign, that the practice of human sacrifice was universally
abandoned. 11. Such and so manifest are the proofs of our Saviour's power
and energy after death. Who then can be found of spirit so obdurate as to
withhold his assent to the truth, and refuse to acknowledge his life to be
Divine? Such deeds as I have described are done by the living, not the
dead; and visible acts are to us as evidence of those which we cannot see.
It is as it were an event of yesterday that an impious and godless race
disturbed and confounded the peace of human society, and possessed mighty
power. But these, as soon as life departed, lay prostrate on the earth,
worthless as dung, breathless, motionless, bereft of speech, and have left
neither fame nor memorial behind. For such is the condition of the dead;
and he who no longer lives is nothing: and how can he who is nothing be
capable of any act? But how shall his existence be called in question,
whose active power and energy are greater than in those who are still
alive? And though he be invisible to the natural eye, yet the discerning
faculty is not in outward sense. We do not comprehend the rules of art, or
the theories of science, by bodily sensation; nor has any eye yet discerned
the mind of man. Far less, then, the power of God: and in such cases our
judgment is formed from apparent results. 12. Even thus are we bound to
judge of our Saviour's invisible power, and decide by its manifest effects
whether we shall acknowledge the mighty operations which he is even now
carrying on to be the works of a living agent; or whether they shall be
ascribed to one who has no existence; or, lastly, whether the inquiry be
not absurd and inconsistent in itself. For with what reason can we assert
the existence of one who is not? Since all allow that that which has no
existence is devoid of that power, and energy, and action, for these are
characteristics of the living, but the contrary is characteristic of the
dead.

CHAPTER XVII.

   1. AND now the time is come for us to consider the works of our Saviour
in our own age, and to contemplate the living operations of the living God.
For how shall we describe these mighty works save as living proofs of the
power of a living agent, who truly enjoys the life of God? If any one
inquire the nature of these works, let him now attend. 2. But recently a
class of persons, impelled by furious zeal, and backed by equal power and
military force, evinced their enmity against God, by destroying his
churches, and overthrowing from their foundations the buildings dedicated
to his worship. In short, in every way they directed their attacks against
the unseen God, and assailed him with a thousand shafts of impious words.
But he who is invisible avenged himself with an invisible hand. 3. By the
single fiat of his will his enemies were utterly destroyed, they who a
little while before had been flourishing in great prosperity, exalted by
their fellow men as worthy of divine honor, and blessed with a continued
period of power and glory, (1) so long as they had maintained peace and
amity with him whom they afterwards opposed. As soon, however, as they
dared openly to resist his will, and to set their gods in array against him
whom we adore; immediately, according to the will and power of that God
against whom their arms were raised, they all received the judgment due to
their audacious deeds. Constrained to yield and flee before his power,
together they acknowledged his Divine nature, and hastened to reverse the
measures which they had before essayed. 4. Our Saviour, therefore, without
delay erected trophies of this victory everywhere, and once more adorned
the world with holy temples and consecrated houses of prayer; in every city
and village, nay, throughout all countries, and even in barbaric wilds,
ordaining the erection of churches and sacred buildings to the honor of the
Supreme God and Lord of all. Hence it is that these hallowed edifices are
deemed worthy to bear his name, and receive not their appellation from men,
but from the Lord himself, from which circumstances they are called
churches (or houses of the Lord).(2) 5. And now let him who will stand
forth and tell us who, after so complete a desolation, has restored these
sacred buildings from foundation to roof? Who, when all hope appeared
extinct, has caused them to rise on a nobler scale than heretofore? And
well may it claim our wonder, that this renovation was not subsequent to
the death of those adversaries of God, but whilst the destroyers of these
edifices were still alive; so that the recantation of their evil deeds came
in their own words and edicts. (3) And this they did, not in the sunshine
of prosperity and ease (for then we might suppose that benevolence or
clemency might be the cause), but at the very time that they were suffering
under the stroke of Divine vengeance. 6. Who, again, has been able to
retain in obedience to his heavenly precepts, after so many successive
storms of persecution, nay, in the very crisis of danger, so many persons
throughout the world devoted to philosophy, and the service of God and
those holy choirs of virgins who had dedicated themselves to a life of
perpetual chastity and purity? Who taught them cheerfully to persevere in
the exercise of protracted fasting, and to embrace a life of severe and
consistent self-denial? Who has persuaded multitudes of either sex to
devote themselves to the study of sacred things, and prefer to bodily
nutriment that intellectual food which is suited to the wants of a rational
soul? (4) Who has instructed barbarians and peasants, yea, feeble women,
slaves, and children, in short, unnumbered multitudes of all nations, to
live in the contempt of death; persuaded of the immortality of their souls,
conscious that human actions are observed by the unerring eye of justice,
expecting God's award to the righteous and the wicked, and therefore true
to the practice of a just and virtuous life? For they could not otherwise
have persevered in the course of godliness. Surely these are the acts which
our Saviour, and he alone, even now performs. 7. And now let us pass from
these topics, and endeavor by inquiries such as these that follow to
convince the objector's obdurate understanding. Come forward, then, whoever
thou art, and speak the words of reason: utter, not the thoughts of a
senseless heart, but those of an intelligent and enlightened mind: speak, I
say, after deep solemn converse with thyself. Who of the sages whose names
have yet been known to fame, has ever been fore-known and proclaimed from
the remotest ages, as our Saviour was by the prophetic oracles to the once
divinely-favored Hebrew nation? But his very birth-place, the period of his
advent the manner of his life, his miracles, and words and mighty acts,
were anticipated and recorded in the sacred volumes of these prophets. 8.
Again, who so present an avenger of crimes against himself; so that, as the
immediate consequence of their impiety, the entire Jewish people were
scattered by an unseen power, their royal seat utterly removed, and their
very temple with its holy things levelled with the ground? Who, like our
Saviour, has uttered predictions at once concerning that impious nation and
the establishment of his church throughout the world, and has equally
verified both by the event? Respecting the temple of these wicked men, our
Saviour said: "Your house is left unto you desolate": (5) and, "There shall
not be left one stone upon another in this place, that shall not be thrown
down." (6) And again, of his church he says: "I will build my church upon a
rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (7) 9. How
wondrous, too, must that power be deemed which summoned obscure and
unlettered men from their fisher's trade, and made them the legislators and
instructors of the human race! And how clear a demonstration of his deity
do we find in the promise so well performed, that he would make them
fishers of men: in the power and energy which he bestowed, so that they
composed and published writings of such authority that they were translated
into every civilized and barbarous languages were read and pondered by all
nations, and the doctrines contained in them accredited as the oracles of
God! 10. How marvelous his predictions of the future, and the testimony
whereby his disciples were forewarned that they should be brought before
kings and rulers, and should endure the severest punishments, not indeed as
criminals, but simply for their confession of his name! Or who shall
adequately describe the power with which he prepared them thus to suffer
with a willing mind, and enabled them, strong in the armor of godliness, to
maintain a constancy of spirit indomitable in the midst of conflict? 11. Or
how shall we enough admire that steadfast firmness of soul which
strengthened, not merely his immediate followers but their successors also,
even to our present age, in the joyful endurance of every infliction, and
every form of torture, in proof of their devotion to the Supreme God?
Again, what monarch has prolonged his government through so vast a series
of ages? Who else has power to make war after death, to triumph over every
enemy, to subjugate each barbarous and civilized nation and city, and to
subdue his adversaries with an invisible and secret hand? 12. Lastly, and
chief of all, what slanderous lip shall dare to question that universal
peace to which we have already referred; established by his power
throughout the world. For thus the mutual concord and harmony of all
nations coincided in point of time with the extension of our Saviour's
doctrine and preaching in all the world: a concurrence of events predicted
in long ages past by the prophets of God. The day itself would fail me,
gracious emperor, should I attempt to exhibit in a single view those cogent
proofs of our Saviour's Divine power which even now are visible in their
effects; for no human being, in civilized or barbarous nations, has ever
yet exhibited such power of Divine virtue as our Saviour. 13. But why do I
speak of men, since of the beings whom all nations have deemed divine, none
has appeared on earth with power like to his? If there has, let the fact
now be proved. Come forward, ye philosophers, and tell us what god or hero
has yet been known to fame, who has delivered the doctrines of eternal life
and a heavenly kingdom as he has done who is our Saviour? Who, like him,
has persuaded multitudes throughout the world to pursue the principles of
Divine wisdom, to fix their hope on heaven itself, and look forward to the
mansions there reserved for them that love God? What god or hero in human
form has ever held his course from the rising to the setting sun, a course
co-extensive as it were with the solar light, and irradiated mankind with
the bright and glorious beams of his doctrine, causing each nation of the
earth to render united worship to the One true God? What god or hero yet,
as he has done, has set aside all gods and heroes among civilized or
barbarous nations has ordained that divine honors should be withheld from
all, and chimed obedience to that command: and then, though singly
conflicting with the power of all, has utterly destroyed the opposing
hosts; victorious over the gods and heroes of every age, and causing
himself alone, in every region of the habitable world, to be acknowledged
by all people as the only Son of God? 14. Who else has commanded the
nations inhabiting the continents and islands of this mighty globe to
assemble weekly on the Lord's day, and to observe it as a festival, not
indeed for the pampering of the body, but for the invigoration of the soul
by instruction in Divine truth? What god or hero, exposed, as our Saviour
was, to so sore a conflict, has raised the trophy of victory over every
foe? For they indeed, from first to last, unceasingly assailed his doctrine
and his people: but he who is invisible, by the exercise of a secret power,
has raised his servants and the sacred houses of their worship to the
height of glory.

   But why should we still vainly aim at detailing those Divine proofs of
our Saviour's power which no language can worthily express; which need
indeed no words of ours, but themselves appeal in loudest tones to those
whose mental ears are open to the truth? Surely it is a strange, a wondrous
fact, unparalleled in the annals of human life; that the blessings we have
described should be accorded to our mortal race, and that he who is in
truth the only, the eternal Son of God, should thus be visible on earth.

CHAPTER XVIII.

   THESE words of ours, however, [gracious] Sovereign, may well appear
superfluous in your ears, convinced as you are, by frequent and personal
experience, of our Saviour's Deity; yourself also, in actions still more
than words, a her-aid of the truth to all mankind. Yourself, it may be,
will vouchsafe at a time of leisure to relate to us the abundant
manifestations which your Saviour has accorded you of his presence, and the
oft-repeated visions of himself which have at-tended you in the hours of
sleep. I speak not of those secret suggestions which to us are unrevealed:
but of those principles which he has instilled into your own mind, and
which are fraught with general interest and benefit to the human race. You
will yourself relate in worthy terms the visible protection which your
Divine shield and guardian has extended in the hour of battle; the ruin of
your open and secret foes; and his ready aid in time of peril. To him you
will ascribe relief in the midst of perplexity; defence in solitude;
expedients in extremity; foreknowledge of events yet future; your fore
thought for the general weal; your power to investigate uncertain
questions; your conduct of most important enterprises; your administration
of civil affairs; (1) your military arrangements, and correction of abuses
in all departments; your ordinances respecting public right; and, lastly,
your legislation for the common benefit of all. You will, it may be, also
detail to us those particulars of his favor which are secret to us, but
known to you alone, and treasured in your royal memory as in secret
storehouses. Such, doubtless, are the reasons, and such the convincing
proofs of your Saviour's power, which caused you to raise that sacred
edifice which presents to all, believers and unbelievers alike, a trophy of
his victory over death, a holy temple of the holy God: to consecrate those
noble and splendid monuments of immortal life and his heavenly kingdom: to
offer memorials of our Almighty Saviour's conquest which well become the
imperial dignity of him by whom they are bestowed. With such memorials have
you adorned that edifice which witnesses of eternal life: thus, as it were
in imperial characters, ascribing victory and triumph to the heavenly Word
of God: thus proclaiming to all nations, with clear and unmistakable voice,
in deed and word, your own devout and pious confession of his name.


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF II/I, Schaff). The digital version is by The Electronic Bible
Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
  The electronic form of this document is copyrighted.
  Copyright (c) Eternal Word Television Network 1996.
  Provided courtesy of:

       EWTN On-Line Services
       PO Box 3610
       Manassas, VA 20108
       Voice: 703-791-2576
       Fax: 703-791-4250
       Data: 703-791-4336
       FTP: ftp.ewtn.com
       Telnet: ewtn.com
       WWW: http://www.ewtn.com.
       Email address: [email protected]

-------------------------------------------------------------------

You are viewing proxied material from gopher.ratthing.com. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.