NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
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 tions, in one volume, and the first volume of Clement of 
 Alexandria, completing the first year's subscription. 
 The very great favour with which this series has been received, assures 
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 Translators have so far executed their task ; and all care is being taken 
 in carrying out the arrangements for the future. 
 
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 October ; it will consist of one volume of Irenseus, and probably of the 
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 endeavour to adhere as nearly as possible to chronological order ; but, as 
 formerly stated, this is not always practicable. 
 
 The success of such an enterprise depends very much on the kindness 
 of Subscribers in making the series known among their friends, and the 
 Publishers have been already very much indebted in this matter. 
 
 The subscription for second year may be remitted as soon as convenient 
 after the issue of the present volumes. 
 
 EDINBURGH, 38, GEORGE STREET, 
 May 1867.
 
 ANTE-NICENE 
 
 CHRISTIAN LIBRAEY: 
 
 TRANSLATIONS OF 
 THE WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 DOWN TO A.D. 325. 
 EDITED BY THE 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D., 
 
 AND 
 
 JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D. 
 
 VOL. III. 
 
 TATIAN, THEOPHILUS, AND THE CLEMENTINE 
 RECOGNITIONS. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 T. AND T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. 
 
 MDCCCLXVni.
 
 MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH, 
 PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICB.
 
 THE WRITINGS OF TATIAN 
 AND THEOPHILUS; 
 
 AND 
 
 . THE CLEMENTINE RECOGNITIONS. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 REV. B. P. PRATTEN, REV. MARCUS DODS, A.M., 
 
 AKD 
 
 REV. THOMAS SMITH, D.D. 
 
 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET. 
 LONDON: HAMILTON & CO. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON & CO. 
 
 MDCCCLXVIII.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 TATIAN. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY EEV. B. P. PRATTEN. 
 
 , PAGE 
 
 ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS, ..... 1 
 
 FRAGMENTS OF LOST WORKS, ..... 46 
 
 THEOPHILUS. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY REV. MARCUS DODS, A.M. 
 
 THE THREE BOOKS OF THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH TO AUTOLYCUS, . 49 
 Book I., . . . . . . .53 
 
 Book II., ....... 65 
 
 Book III., 108 
 
 CLEMENT. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY REV. THOMAS SMITH, D.D. 
 
 THE KECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT, ..... 135 
 
 Book I., 143 
 
 Book II., ....... 192 
 
 Book III., ...... 240 
 
 Book IV., ...... 282 
 
 BookV., ....... 304 
 
 Book VI., ...... 327 
 
 Book VII., 838 
 
 Book VIII., 359 
 
 Book IX., ...... 401 
 
 Book X., . . . . . . .426 
 
 INDEXES, ....... 473 
 
 2096217
 
 TATIAN'S ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS.
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 E learn from several sources that Tatian was an 
 Assyrian, but know nothing very definite either 
 as to the time or place of his birth. Epiphanius 
 (Hcer. xlvi.) declares that he was a native of 
 Mesopotamia; and we infer from other ascertained facts 
 regarding him, that he flourished about the middle of the 
 second century. He was at first an eager student of heathen 
 literature, and seems to have been especially devoted to 
 researches in philosophy. But he found no satisfaction in 
 the bewildering mazes of Greek speculation, while he be- 
 came utterly disgusted with what heathenism presented to 
 him under the name of religion. In these circumstances, 
 he happily met with the sacred books of the Christians, 
 and was powerfully attracted by the purity of morals which 
 these inculcated, and by the means of deliverance from the 
 bondage of sin which they revealed. He seems to have em- 
 braced Christianity at Rome, where he became acquainted 
 with Justin Martyr, and enjoyed the instructions of that 
 eminent teacher of the gospel. After the death of Justin, 
 Tatian unfortunately fell under the influence of the Gnostic 
 heresy, and founded an ascetic sect, which, from the rigid 
 principles it professed, was called that of the Encratites, that 
 is, " The self-controlled" or, " The masters of themselves" 
 Tatian latterly established himself at Antioch, and acquired 
 a considerable number of disciples, who continued after his 
 death to be distinguished by the practice of those austerities 
 which he had enjoined. The sect of the Encratites is sup- 
 posed to have been established about A.D. 166, and Tatian 
 appears to have died some few years afterwards. 
 
 3
 
 4 INTROD UCTOR Y NOTICE. 
 
 The only extant work of Tatian is his " Address to 
 the Greeks." It is a most unsparing and direct exposure 
 of the enormities of heathenism. Several other works are 
 said to have been composed by Tatian ; and of these, a 
 Diatessaron, or Harmony of the Four Gospels, is specially 
 mentioned. His Gnostic views led him to exclude from the 
 continuous narrative of our Lord's life, given in this work, 
 all those passages which bear upon the incarnation and true 
 humanity of Christ. Notwithstanding this defect, we cannot 
 but regret the loss of this earliest gospel harmony ; but the 
 very title it bore is important, as showing that the four 
 Gospels, and these only, were deemed authoritative about 
 the middle of the second century.
 
 ADDRESS OF TITIAN TO THE GREEKS. 
 
 CHAP. I. The Greeks claim, without reason, the invention of 
 
 the arts. 
 
 j|E not, O Greeks, so very hostilely disposed towards 
 the Barbarians, nor look with ill will on their 
 opinions. For which of your institutions has 
 not been derived from the Barbarians ? The 
 most eminent of the Telmessians invented the art of divin- 
 ing by dreams ; the Carians, that of prognosticating by the 
 stars ; the Phrygians and the most ancient Isaurians, augury 
 by the flight of birds ; the Cyprians, the art of inspecting 
 victims. To the Babylonians you owe astronomy ; to the 
 Persians, magic ; to the Egyptians, geometry ; to the Phoe- 
 nicians, instruction by alphabetic writing. Cease, then, to 
 miscall these imitations inventions of your own. Orpheus, 
 again, taught you poetry and song ; from him, too, you 
 learned the mysteries. The Tuscans taught you the plastic 
 art ; from the annals of the Egyptians you learned to write 
 history ; you acquired the art of playing the flute from 
 Marsyas and Olympus, these two rustic Phrygians con- 
 structed the harmony of the shepherd's pipe. The Tyrrhe- 
 nians invented the trumpet ; the Cyclops, the smith's art ; 
 and a woman who was formerly a queen of the Persians, 
 as Hellanicus tells us, the method of joining together epis- 
 tolary tablets : l her name was Atossa. Wherefore lay aside 
 this conceit, and be not ever boasting of your elegance of 
 diction ; for, while you applaud yourselves, your own people 
 will of course side with you. But it becomes a man of sense 
 to wait for the testimony of others, and it becomes men to be 
 ai/vrxrrftv, i.e. for transmission by letter-carriers. Otto, 
 5
 
 6 TATIAXTS ADDRESS 
 
 of one accord also in the pronunciation of tlieir language. 
 But, as matters stand, to you alone it has happened not 
 to speak alike even in common intercourse ; for the way 
 of speaking among the Dorians is not the same as that of 
 the inhabitants of Attica, nor do the JEolians speak like 
 the lonians. And, since such a discrepancy exists where it 
 ought not to be, I am at a loss whom to call a Greek. And, 
 what is strangest of all, you hold in honour expressions not 
 of native growth, and by the intermixture of barbaric words 
 have made your language a medley. On this account we 
 have renounced your wisdom, though I was once a great pro- 
 ficient in it ; for, as the comic poet 1 says 
 
 These are gleaners' grapes and small talk, 
 Twittering places of swallows, corrupters of art ; 
 
 Yet those who eagerly pursue it shout lustily, and croak like 
 so many ravens. You have, too, contrived the art of rhetoric 
 to serve injustice and slander, selling the free power of your 
 speech for hire, and often representing the same thing at one 
 time as right, at another time as not good. The poetic art, 
 again, you employ to describe battles, and the amours of the 
 gods, and the corruption of the soul. 
 
 CHAP. II. The vices and errors of the philosophers. 
 
 "What noble thing have you produced by your pursuit of 
 philosophy ? Who of your most eminent men has been free 
 from vain boasting ? Diogenes, who made such a parade of 
 his independence with his tub, was seized with a bowel com- 
 plaint through eating a raw polypus, and so lost his life by 
 gluttony. Aristippus, walking about in a purple robe, led a 
 profligate life, in accordance with his professed opinions. 
 Plato, a philosopher, was sold by Dionysius for his gorman- 
 dizing propensities. And Aristotle, who absurdly placed a 
 limit to Providence and made happiness to consist in the 
 things which give pleasure, quite contrary to his duty as a 
 preceptor flattered Alexander, forgetful that he was but a 
 youth ; and he, showing how well he had learned the lessons 
 of his master, because his friend would not worship him 
 1 Aristopb. Ranss, 92, 93.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 7 
 
 shut him up and carried him about like a bear or a leopard. 
 He in fact obeyed strictly the precepts of his teacher in 
 displaying manliness and courage by feasting, and transfixing 
 with his spear his intimate and most beloved friend, and 
 then, under a semblance of grief, weeping and starving him- 
 self, that he might not incur the hatred of his friends. I 
 could laugh at those also who ill the present day adhere to 
 his tenets, people who say that sublunary things are not 
 under the care of Providence ; and so, being nearer the earth 
 than the moon, and below its orbit, they themselves look after 
 what is thus left uncared for ; and as for those who have 
 neither beauty, nor wealth, nor bodily strength, nor high 
 birth, they have no happiness, according to Aristotle. Let 
 such men philosophize, for me ! 
 
 CHAP. in. Ridicule of the philosophers. 
 
 I cannot approve of Heraclitus, who, being self-taught 
 and arrogant, said, "I have explored myself." Nor can I 
 praise him for hiding his poem 1 in the temple of Artemis, 
 in order that it might be published afterwards as a mystery ; 
 and those who take an interest in such things say that 
 Euripides the tragic poet came there and read it, and, 
 gradually learning it by heart, carefully handed down to 
 posterity this darkness 2 of Heraclitus. Death, however, de- 
 monstrated the stupidity of this man ; for, being attacked 
 by dropsy, as he had studied the art of medicine as well as 
 philosophy, he plastered himself with cow-dung, which, as it 
 hardened, contracted the flesh of his whole body, so that he 
 was pulled in pieces, and thus died. Then, one cannot listen 
 to Zeno, who declares that at the conflagration the same men 
 will rise again to perform the same actions as before ; for 
 instance, Anytus and Miletus to accuse, Busiris to murder 
 his guests, and Hercules to repeat his labours ; and in this 
 doctrine of the conflagration he introduces more wicked than 
 just persons one Socrates and a Hercules, and a few more of 
 the same class, but not many, for the bad will be found far 
 more numerous than the good. And according to him the 
 
 1 vepl Quotas. 2 He was called o exortivos for his obscurity.
 
 8 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 Deity will manifestly be the author of evil, dwelling in sewers 
 and worms, and in the perpetrators of impiety. The erup- 
 tions of fire in Sicily, moreover, confute the empty boasting 
 of Empedocles, in that, though he was no god, he falsely 
 almost gave himself out for one. I laugh, too, at the old 
 wife's talk of Pherecydes, and the doctrine inherited from 
 him by Pythagoras, and that of Plato, an imitation of his, 
 though some think otherwise. And who would give his ap- 
 proval to the cynogamy of Crates, and not rather, repudiating 
 the wild and tumid speech of those who resemble him, 
 turn to the investigation of what truly deserves attention ? 
 Wherefore be not led away by the solemn assemblies of 
 philosophers who are no philosophers, who dogmatize one 
 against the other, though each one vents but the crude 
 fancies of the moment. They have, moreover, many colli- 
 sions among themselves ; each one hates the other ; they 
 indulge in conflicting opinions, and their arrogance makes 
 them eager for the highest places. It would better become 
 them, moreover, not to pay court to kings unbidden, nor to 
 flatter men at the head of affairs, but to wait till the great 
 ones come to them. 
 
 CHAP. iv. The Christians worship God alone. 
 
 For what reason, men of Greece, do you wish to bring the 
 civil powers, as in a pugilistic encounter, into collision with 
 us ? And, if I am not disposed to comply with the usages of 
 some of them, why am I to be abhorred as a vile miscreant ? 
 Does the sovereign order the payment of tribute, I am 
 ready to render it. Does my master command me to act 
 as a bondsman and to serve, I acknowledge the serfdom. 
 Man is to be honoured as a fellow-man ; God alone is to be 
 feared, He who is not visible to human eyes, nor comes 
 within the compass of human art. Only when I am com- 
 manded to deny Him, will I not obey, but will rather die 
 than show mvself false and ungrateful. Our God did not 
 
 if 
 
 begin to be in time : He alone is without beginning, and He 
 
 Himself is the beginning of all things. God is a Spirit, 1 not 
 
 i John iv. 24.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 9 
 
 pervading matter, but the Maker of material spirits, and of 
 the forms that are in matter; He is invisible, impalpable, 
 being Himself the Father of both sensible and invisible 
 things. Him we know from His creation, and apprehend 
 His invisible power by His works. 1 I refuse to adore that 
 workmanship which He has made for our sakes. The sun 
 and moon were made for us : how, then, can I adore my own 
 servants ? How can I speak of stocks and stones as gods ? 
 For the spirit that pervades matter is inferior to the more 
 divine spirit ; and this, even when assimilated to the soul, is 
 not to be honoured equally with the perfect God. Nor even 
 ought the ineffable God to be presented with gifts ; for He 
 who is in want of nothing is not to be misrepresented by us 
 as though He were indigent. But I will set forth our views 
 more distinctly. 
 
 CHAP. V. The doctrine of the Christians as to the creation of 
 
 the world. 
 
 God was in the beginning ; but the beginning, we have 
 been taught, is the power of the Logos. For the Lord of 
 the universe, who is Himself the necessary ground (VTTOO-TO- 
 (Ti?) of all being, inasmuch as no creature was yet in exist- 
 ence was alone ; but inasmuch as He was all power, Himself 
 the necessary ground of things visible and invisible, with 
 Him were all things ; with Him, by Logos-power (Bia A,o7t/d}<? 
 Swa//.eo>9), the Logos Himself also, who was in Him, subsists. 
 And by His simple will the Logos springs forth; and the 
 Logos, not coming forth in vain, becomes the first-begotten 
 work of the Father. Him (the Logos) we know to be the 
 beginning of the world. But He came into being by partici- 
 pation, 2 not by abscission ; for what is cut off is separated 
 from the original substance, but that which comes by partici- 
 
 1 Rom. i. 20. 
 
 2 KotTci ftipfrpoy. Some translate, "by division," but the above is 
 preferable. The sense, according to Otto, is that the Logos, having 
 received a peculiar nature, shares in the rational power of the Father aa 
 a lighted torch partakes of the light of the torch from which it is kindled. 
 Comp. Just. Mar. Dial. c. 2\, chap. Ixi.
 
 10 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 pation, making its choice of function, 1 does not render him 
 deficient from whom it is taken. For just as from one 
 torch many fires are lighted, but the light of the first torch 
 is not lessened by the kindling of many torches, so the Logos, 
 coming forth from the Logos-power of the Father, has not 
 divested of the Logos-power Him who begat Him. I my- 
 self, for instance, talk, and you hear ; yet, certainly, I who 
 converse do not become destitute of speech (710709) by the 
 transmission of speech, but by the utterance of my voice I 
 endeavour to reduce to order the unarranged matter in your 
 minds. And as the Logos, begotten in the beginning, begat 
 in turn our world, having first created for Himself the neces- 
 sary matter, so also I, in imitation of the Logos, being be- 
 gotten again, and having become possessed of the truth, am 
 trying- to reduce to order the confused matter which is kindred 
 with myself. For matter is not, like God, without beginning, 
 nor, as having no beginning, is of equal power with God ; it 
 is begotten, and not produced by any other being, but brought 
 into existence by the Framer of all things alone. 
 
 CHAP. vi. Christians' belief in the resurrection. 
 
 And on this account we believe that there will be a 
 resurrection of bodies after the consummation of all things ; 
 not, as the Stoics affirm, according to the return of certain 
 cycles, the same things being produced and destroyed for no 
 useful purpose, but a resurrection once for all, when our 
 periods of existence are completed, and in consequence solely 
 of the constitution of things under which men alone live, for 
 the purpose of passing judgment upon them. Nor is sentence 
 upon us passed by Minos or Rhadamanthus, before whose 
 decease not a single soul, according to the mythic tales, was 
 judged ; but the Creator, God Himself, becomes the arbiter. 
 And, although you regard us as mere triflers and babblers, it 
 troubles us not, since we have faith in this doctrine. For 
 just as, not existing before I was born, I knew not who I 
 was, and only existed in the potentiality (uTroVracri?) of fleshly 
 
 1 oixovofti'ets TO)* a,'lpe<Ti Trpoahotfiov. The above seems the simplest 
 tendering of this difficult passage, but several others have been proposed.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 11 
 
 matter, but being born, after a former state of nothingness, 
 I have obtained through my birth a certainty of my existence ; 
 in the same way, having been born, and through death exist- 
 ing no longer, and seen no longer, I shall exist again, just as 
 before I was not, but was afterwards born. Even though fire 
 destroy all traces of my flesh, the world receives the vaporized 
 matter; and though dispersed through rivers and seas, or 
 torn in pieces by wild beasts, I am laid up in the storehouses 
 of a wealthy Lord. And, although the poor and the godless 
 know not what is stored up, yet God the Sovereign, when 
 He pleases, will restore the substance that is visible to Him 
 alone to its pristine condition. 
 
 CHAP. vii. Concerning the fall of man. 
 
 For the heavenly Logos, a spirit emanating from the 
 Father and a Logos from the Logos-power, in imitation of 
 the Father who begat Him made man an image of immor- 
 tality, so that, as incorruption is with God, in like manner, 
 man, sharing in a part of God, might have the immortal 
 principle also. The Logos, too, before the creation of men, 
 was the Framer of angels. And each of these two orders of 
 creatures was made free to act as it pleased, not having the 
 nature of good, which again is with God alone, but is brought 
 to perfection in men through their freedom of choice, in 
 order that the bad man may be justly punished, having be- 
 come depraved through his own fault, but the just man be 
 deservedly praised for his virtuous deeds, since in the exercise 
 of his free choice he refrained from transgressing the will 
 of God. Such is the constitution of things in reference to 
 angels and men. And the power of the Logos, having in 
 itself a faculty to foresee future events, not as fated, but as 
 taking place by the choice of free agents, foretold from time 
 to time the issues of things to come; it also became a forbidder 
 of wickedness by means of prohibitions, and the encomiast of 
 those who remained good. And, when men attached them- 
 selves to one who was more subtle than the rest, 1 having 
 regard to his being the first-born, and declared him to be 
 
 1 Gen. iii. 1.
 
 12 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 God, though he was resisting the law of God, then the power 
 of the Logos excluded the beginner of the folly and his 
 adherents from all fellowship with Himself. And so he who 
 was made in the likeness of God, since the more powerful 
 spirit is separated from him, becomes mortal ; but that first- 
 begotten one through his transgression and ignorance becomes 
 a demon ; and they who imitated him, that is his illusions, are 
 become a host of demons, and through their freedom of 
 choice have been given up to their own infatuation. 
 
 CHAP. vin. The demons sin among mankind. 
 
 But men form the material (uTro^ecrt?) of their apostasy. 
 For, having shown them a plan of the position of the stars, 
 like dice-players, they introduced Fate, a flagrant injustice. 
 For the judge and the judged are made so by Fate; the 
 murderers and the murdered, the wealthy and the needy, are 
 the offspring of the same Fate ; and every nativity is regarded 
 as a theatrical entertainment by those beings of whom Homer 
 says: 
 
 " Among the gods 
 Rose laughter irrepressible." 1 
 
 But must not those who are spectators of single combats and 
 are partisans on one side or the other, and he who marries and 
 is a paederast and an adulterer, who laughs and is angry, who 
 flees and is wounded, be regarded as mortals ? For, by what- 
 ever actions they manifest to men their characters, by these 
 they prompt their hearers to copy their example. And are 
 not the demons themselves, with Zeus at their head, subjected 
 to Fate, being overpowered by the same passions as men ? 
 And, besides, how are those beings to be worshipped among 
 whom there exists such a great contrariety of opinions? For 
 Bhea, whom the inhabitants of the Phrygian mountains call 
 Cybele, enacted emasculation on account of Attis, of whom 
 she was enamoured ; but Aphrodite is delighted with con- 
 jugal embraces. Artemis is a poisoner; Apollo heals diseases. 
 And after the decapitation of the Gorgon, the beloved of 
 Poseidon, whence sprang the horse Pegasus and Chrysaor, 
 1 II i. 599 ; Od. viii. 326.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 13 
 
 Athene* and Asclepios divided between them the drops of 
 blood ; and, while he saved men's lives by means of them, 
 she, by the same blood, became a homicide and the instigator 
 of wars. From regard to her reputation, as it appears to 
 me, the Athenians attributed to the earth the son born of 
 her connection with Hephaestos, that Athene might not be 
 thought to be deprived of her virility by Hephasstos, as 
 Atalanta by Meleager. This limping manufacturer of 
 buckles and ear-rings, as is likely, deceived the motherless 
 child and orphan with these girlish ornaments. Poseidon 
 frequents the seas ; Ares delights in wars ; Apollo is a 
 player on the cithara ; Dionysus is absolute sovereign of 
 the Thebans ; Kronos is a tyrannicide ; Zeus has inter- 
 course with his own daughter, who becomes pregnant by him. 
 I may instance, too, Eleusis, and the mystic Dragon, and 
 Orpheus, who says, 
 
 " Close the gates against the profane!" 
 
 Aidoneus carries off Kore, and his deeds have been made 
 into mysteries; Demeter bewails her daughter, and some 
 persons are deceived by the Athenians. In the precincts of 
 the temple of the son of Leto is a spot called Omphalos ; but 
 Omphalos is the burial-place of Dionysus. You now I laud, 
 O Daphne ! by conquering the incontinence of Apollo, you 
 disproved his power of vaticination ; for, not foreseeing what 
 would occur to you, 1 he derived no advantage from his art. 
 Let the far-shooting god tell me how Zephyrus slew Hya- 
 cinthus. Zephyrus conquered him ; and, in accordance with 
 the saying of the tragic poet : 
 
 " A breeze is the most honourable chariot of the gods," 2 
 conquered by a slight breeze Apollo lost his beloved. 
 
 CHAP. ix. They give rise to superstitions. 
 
 Such are the demons ; these are they who laid down the 
 doctrine of Fate. Their fundamental principle was the 
 placing of animals in the heavens. For the creeping things 
 on the earth, and those that swim in the waters, and the 
 
 1 On fleeing from Apollo, she became a bay-tree. 
 
 2 It is uncertain from whom this line is quoted.
 
 14 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 quadrupeds on the mountains, with which they lived when 
 expelled from heaven, these they dignified with celestial 
 honour, in order, that they might themselves be thought to 
 remain in heaven, and, by placing the constellations there, 
 might make to appear rational the irrational course of life 
 on earth. 1 Thus the high-spirited and he who is crushed 
 with toil, the temperate and the intemperate, the indigent 
 and the wealthy, are what they are simply from the con- 
 trollers of their nativity. For the delineation of the zodiacal 
 circle is the work of gods. And, when the light of one of 
 them predominates, as they express it, it deprives all the rest 
 of their honour ; and he who now is conquered, at another 
 time gains the predominance. And the seven planets are well 
 pleased with them, 2 as if they were amusing themselves with 
 dice. But we are superior to Fate, and instead of wandering 
 (TrXavrjTwv) demons, we have learned to know one Lord 
 who wanders not ; and, as we do not follow the guidance of 
 Fate, we reject its lawgivers. Tell me, I adjure you, 3 did 
 Triptolemus sow wheat and prove a benefactor to the 
 Athenians after their sorrow ? And why was not Demeter, 
 before she lost her daughter, a benefactress to men ? The 
 Dog of Erigone is shown in the heavens, and the Scorpion 
 the helper of Artemis, and Chiron the Centaur, and the 
 divided Argo, and the Bear of Callisto. Yet how, before 
 these performed the aforesaid deeds, were the heavens un- 
 adorned ? And to whom will it not appear ridiculous that 
 the Deltotum 4 should be placed among the stars, according to 
 some, on account of Sicily, or, as others say, on account of the 
 first letter in the name of Zeus (.Jto?)? For why are not 
 Sardinia and Cyprus honoured in heaven ? And why have 
 not the letters of the names of the brothers of Zeus, who 
 shared the kingdom with him, been fixed there too ? And 
 how is it that Kronos, who was put in chains and ejected 
 from his kingdom, is constituted a manager of Fate ? How, 
 too, can he give kingdoms who no longer reigns himself? 
 
 1 Comp. ch. viii. init. 2 The signs of the Zodiac (Gesner). 
 
 Literally, " Tell me by God," or, " in the name of God." 
 * The Deltotum was a star of the shape of a triangle. Otto.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 15 
 
 Reject, then, these absurdities, and do not become transgressors 
 by hating us unjustly. 
 
 CHAP. x. Ridicule of the heathen divinities. 
 
 There are legends of the metamorphosis of men : with 
 you the gods also are metamorphosed. Rhea becomes a tree ; 
 Zeus a dragon, on account of Persephone ; the sisters of 
 Phaethon are changed into poplars, and Leto into a bird of 
 little value, on whose account what is now Delos was called 
 Ortygia. A god, forsooth, becomes a swan, or takes the form 
 of an eagle, and, making Ganymede his cupbearer, glories in 
 a vile affection. How can I reverence gods who are eager 
 for presents, and angry if they do not receive them ? Let 
 them have their Fate ! I am not willing to adore wandering 
 stars. What is that hair of Berenice? Where were her 
 stars before her death ? And how was the dead Antinoiis 
 fixed as a beautiful youth in the moon ? Who carried him 
 thither : unless perchance, as men, perjuring themselves for 
 hire, are credited when they say in ridicule of the gods that 
 kings have ascended into heaven, so some one, in like manner, 
 has put this man also among the gods, and been recompensed 
 with honour and reward? Why have you robbed God? 
 Why do you dishonour His workmanship ? You sacrifice a 
 sheep, and you adore the same animal. The Bull is in the 
 heavens, and you slaughter its image. The Kneeler 1 crushes 
 a noxious animal ; and the eagle that devours the man-maker 
 Prometheus is honoured. The swan is noble, forsooth, be- 
 cause it was an adulterer ; and the Dioscuri, living on alter- 
 nate days, the ravishers of the daughters of Leucippus, are 
 also noble ! Better still is Helen, who forsook the flaxen- 
 haired Menelaus, and followed the turbaned and gold-adorned 
 Paris. A just man also is Sophron, 2 who transported this 
 adulteress to the Elysian fields ! But even the daughter of 
 Tyndarus is not gifted with immortality, and Euripides has 
 wisely represented this woman as put to death by Orestes. 
 
 1 Hercules a sign in the sky. Leaning on his right knee, he tries to 
 crush with his left foot the right side of the dragon's head. 
 
 2 A writer of mimes.
 
 16 T ATI AITS ADDRESS 
 
 CHAP. xi. The sin of men due not to Fate, but to free-will. 
 
 How, then, shall I admit this nativity according to Fate, 
 when I see such managers of Fate ? I do not wish to be a 
 king ; I am not anxious to be rich ; I decline military com- 
 mand ; I detest fornication ; I am not impelled by an insati- 
 able love of gain to go to sea ; I do not contend for chaplets ; 
 I am free from a mad thirst for fame ; I despise death ; I am 
 superior to every kind of disease ; grief does not consume my 
 soul. Am I a slave, I endure servitude. Am I free, I do 
 not make a vaunt of my good birth. I see that the same sun 
 is for all, and one death for all, whether they live in pleasure 
 or destitution. The rich man sows, and the poor man par- 
 takes of the same sowing. The wealthiest die, and beggars 
 
 o / oo 
 
 have the same limits to their life. The rich lack many 
 things, and are glorious only through the estimation they are 
 held in ; * but the poor man and he who has very moderate 
 desires, seeking as he does only the things suited to his lot, 
 more easily obtains his purpose. How is it that you are 
 fated to be sleepless through avarice ? Why are you fated 
 to grasp at things often, and often to die ? Die to the 
 world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, 
 and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We 
 were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our 
 free-will has destroyed us ; we who were free have become 
 slaves ; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has 
 been created by God ; we ourselves have manifested wicked- 
 ness ; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to 
 reject it. 
 
 CnAP. XII. The two kinds of spirits. 
 
 We recognise two varieties of spirit, one of which is called 
 the soul (tyvxfi), but the other is greater than the soul, an 
 image and likeness of God: both existed in the first men, 
 that in one sense they might be material (vXtrcot), and in 
 another superior to matter. The case stands thus : we can 
 see that the whole structure of the world, and the whole crea- 
 1 Or, reading with Maranus, KXI> . . . ysv., " even though," etc.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 17 
 
 tion, has been produced from matter, and the matter itself 
 brought into existence 1 by God; so that on the one hand it 
 may be regarded as rude and unformed before it was sepa- 
 rated into parts, and on the other as arranged in beauty and 
 order after the separation was made. Therefore in that 
 separation the heavens were made of matter, and the stars 
 that are in them ; and the earth and all that is upon it has a 
 similar constitution : so that there is a common origin of all 
 things. But, while such is the case, there yet are certain 
 differences in the things made of matter, so that one is more 
 beautiful, and another is beautiful but surpassed by some- 
 thing better. For as the constitution of the body is under one 
 management, and is engaged in doing that which is the cause 
 of its having been made, 2 yet though this is the case, there are 
 certain differences of dignity in it, and the eye is one thing, 
 and another the ear, and another the arrangement of the hair 
 and the distribution of the intestines, and the compacting to- 
 gether of the marrow and the bones and the tendons ; and 
 though one part differs from another, there is yet all the 
 harmony of a concert of music in their arrangement ; in 
 like manner the world, according to the power of its Maker 
 containing some things of superior splendour, but some unlike 
 these, received by the will of the Creator a material spirit. 
 And these things severally it is possible for him to perceive 
 who does not conceitedly reject those most divine explanations 
 which in the course of time have been consigned to writing, 
 and make those who study them great lovers of God. There- 
 fore the demons, as you call them, having received their 
 structure from matter and obtained the spirit which inheres 
 in it, became intemperate and greedy; some few, indeed, 
 
 1 Literally, "brought forth" or "forward." The word does not 
 imply that matter was created by God. 
 
 2 Tatian's words are somewhat obscure. We have given substantially 
 the opinion of Worth, as expressed in his translation. The sense is : 
 The body is evidently a unity in its organization and its activity, and the 
 ultimate end which it serves in creation is that with which it is occupied, 
 yet there are differences in respect of the parts. Otto renders : " For as 
 the constitution of the body is of one plan, and in reference to the body 
 the cause of its origin is occupied." 
 
 B
 
 18 TATIAWS ADDRESS 
 
 turning to what was purer, but others choosing what was 
 inferior in matter, and conforming their manner of life to it. 
 These beings, produced from matter, but very remote from 
 right conduct, you, O Greeks, worship. For, being turned 
 by their own folly to vaingloriousness, and shaking off the 
 reins [of authority], they have been forward to become rob- 
 bers of Deity ; and the Lord of all has suffered them to besport 
 themselves, till the world, coming to an end, be dissolved, and 
 the Judge appear, and all those men who, while assailed by 
 the demons, strive after the knowledge of the perfect God 
 obtain as the result of their conflicts a more perfect testimony 
 in the day of judgment. There is, then, a spirit in the stars, 
 a spirit in angels, a spirit in plants and the waters, a spirit in 
 men, a spirit in animals ; but, though one and the same, it has 
 differences in itself. And while we say these things not from 
 mere hearsay, nor from probable conjectures and sophistical 
 reasoning, but using words of a certain diviner speech, do you 
 who are willing hasten to learn. And you who do not reject 
 with contempt the Scythian Anacharsis, do not disdain to be 
 taught by those who follow a barbaric code of laws. Give 
 at least as favourable a reception to our tenets as you would 
 to the prognostications of the Babylonians. Hearken to us 
 when we speak, if only as you would to an oracular oak. 
 And yet the things just referred -to are the trickeries of 
 frenzied demons, while the doctrines we inculcate are far 
 beyond the apprehension of the world. 
 
 CHAP. xiir. Theory of the souPs immortality. 
 
 The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks, but mortal. 
 Yet it is possible for it not to die. If, indeed, it knows not 
 the truth, it dies, and is dissolved with the body, but rises 
 again at last at the end of the \vorld with the body, receiving 
 death by punishment in immortality. But, again, if it 
 acquires the knowledge of God, it dies not, although for a 
 time it be dissolved. In itself it is darkness, and there is 
 nothing luminous in it. And this is the meaning of the 
 Baying, " The darkness comprehendeth not the light." l For 
 
 1 John i. 5.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 19 
 
 the soul does not preserve the spirit, but is preserved by it, 
 and the light comprehends the darkness. The Logos, in truth, 
 is the light of God, but the ignorant soul is darkness. On this 
 account, if it continues solitary, it tends downward towards 
 matter, and dies with the flesh ; but, if it enters into union with 
 the Divine Spirit, it is no longer helpless, but ascends to the 
 regions whither the Spirit guides it : for the dwelling-place of 
 the spirit is above, but the origin of the soul is from beneath. 
 Now, in the beginning the spirit was a constant companion 
 of the soul, but the spirit forsook it because it was not willing 
 to follow. Yet, retaining as it were a spark of its power, 
 though unable by reason of the separation to discern the 
 perfect, while seeking for God it fashioned to itself in its 
 wandering many gods, following the sophistries of the 
 demons. But the Spirit of God is not with all, but, taking up 
 its abode with those who live justly, and intimately combining 
 with the soul, by prophecies it announced hidden things to 
 other souls. And the souls that are obedient to wisdom have 
 attracted to themselves the cognate spirit ; but the disobe- 
 dient, rejecting the minister of the suffering God, have shown 
 themselves to be fighters against God, rather than His wor- 
 shippers. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Tlie demons shall he punished more severely than 
 
 men. 
 
 And such are you also, O Greeks, profuse in words, but 
 with minds strangely warped ; and you acknowledge the 
 dominion of many rather than the rule of one, accustoming 
 yourselves to follow demons as if they were mighty. For, as 
 the inhuman robber is wont to overpower those like him- 
 self by daring ; so the demons, going to great lengths in 
 wickedness, have utterly deceived the souls among you which 
 are left to themselves by ignorance and false appearances. 
 These beings do not indeed die easily, for they do not partake 
 of flesh ; but while living they practise the ways of death, 
 and die themselves as often as they teach their followers to 
 sin. Therefore, what is now their chief distinction, that they 
 do not die like men, they will retain when about to suffer
 
 20 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 punishment : they will not partake of everlasting life, so as 
 to receive this instead of death in a blessed immortality. And 
 as we, to whom it now easily happens to die, afterwards 
 receive the immortal with enjoyment, or the painful with 
 immortality, so the demons, who abuse the present life to 
 purposes of wrong-doing, dying continually even while they 
 live, will have hereafter the same immortality, like that which 
 they had during the time they lived, but in its nature like 
 that of men, who voluntarily performed what the demons 
 prescribed to them during their lifetime. And do not fewer 
 kinds of sin break out among men owing to the brevity of 
 their lives, while on the part of these demons transgression 
 is more abundant owing to their boundless existence ? 
 
 CHAP. xv. Necessity of a union with the Holy Spirit. 
 
 But further, it becomes us now to seek for what we once 
 had, but have lost, to unite the soul with the Holy Spirit, and 
 to strive after union with God. The human soul consists 
 of many parts, and is not simple ; it is composite, so as to 
 manifest itself through the body ; for neither could it ever 
 appear by itself without the body, nor does the flesh rise again 
 without the soul. Man is not, as the croaking philosophers 
 say, merely a rational animal, capable of understanding and 
 knowledge ; for, according to them, even irrational creatures 
 appear possessed of understanding and knowledge. But man 
 alone is the image and likeness of God ; and I mean by man, 
 not one who performs actions similar to those of animals, but 
 one who has advanced far beyond mere humanity to God 
 Himself. This question we have discussed more minutely 
 in the treatise concerning animals. But the principal point 
 to be spoken of now is, what is intended by the image and 
 likeness of God. That which cannot be compared is no other 
 than abstract being ; but that which is compared is no other 
 than that which is like. The perfect God is without flesh ; 
 but man is flesh. The bond of the flesh is the soul ; that 
 which encloses the soul is the flesh. Such is the nature of 
 man's constitution ; and, if it be like a temple, God is pleased 
 to dwell in it by the spirit, His representative ; but, if it be
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 21 
 
 not such a habitation, man excels the wild beasts in articulate 
 language only, in other respects his manner of life is like 
 theirs, as one who is not a likeness of God. But none of 
 the demons possess flesh ; their structure is spiritual, like 
 that of fire or air. And only by those whom the Spirit of 
 God dwells in and fortifies are the bodies of the demons easily 
 seen, not at all by others, I mean those who possess only 
 soul j 1 for the inferior has not the ability to apprehend the 
 superior. On this account the nature of the demons has no 
 place for repentance ; for they are the reflection of matter 
 and of wickedness. But matter desired to exercise lordship 
 over the soul ; and according to their free-will these gave laws 
 of death to men ; but men, after the loss of immortality, 
 have conquered death by submitting to death in faith ; and 
 by repentance a call has been given to them, according to the 
 word which says, " Since they were made a little lower than 
 the angels." 2 And, for every one who has been conquered, it 
 is possible again to conquer, if he rejects the condition which 
 brings death. And what that is, may be easily seen by men 
 who long for immortality. 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Vain display of power by the demons. 
 
 But the demons who rule over men are not the souls of 
 men ; for how should these be capable of action after death ? 
 unless man, who while living was void of understanding and 
 power, should be believed when dead to be endowed with 
 more of active power. But neither could this be the case, 
 as we have shown elsewhere. 3 And it is difficult to conceive 
 that the immortal soul, which is impeded by the members 
 of the body, should become more intelligent when it has 
 migrated from it. For the demons, inspired with frenzy 
 against men by reason of their own wickedness, pervert their 
 minds, which already incline downwards, by various deceptive 
 scenic representations, that they may be disabled from rising 
 to the path that leads to heaven. But from us the things 
 which are in the world are not hidden, and the divine is easily 
 
 1 Coinp. 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15. 2 Ps. viii. 5. 
 
 8 Perhaps in his treatise " on Animals."
 
 22 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 apprehended by us if the power that makes souls immortal 
 visits us. The demons are seen also by the men possessed 
 of soul, when, as sometimes, they exhibit themselves to men, 
 either that they may be thought to be something, or as evil- 
 disposed friends may do harm to them as to enemies, or afford 
 occasions of doing them honour to those who resemble them. 
 For, if it were possible, they would without doubt pull down 
 heaven itself -with the rest of creation. But now this they 
 can by no means effect, for they have not the power ; but 
 they make war by means of the lower matter against the 
 matter that is like themselves. Should any one wish to 
 conquer them, let him repudiate matter. Being armed with 
 the breastplate 1 of the celestial Spirit, he will be able to 
 preserve all that is encompassed by it. There are, indeed, 
 diseases and disturbances of the matter that is in us ; but, 
 when such things happen, the demons ascribe the causes of 
 them to themselves, and approach a man whenever disease 
 lays hold of him. Sometimes they themselves disturb the 
 habit of the body by a tempest of folly ; but, being smitten by 
 the word of God, they depart in terror, and the sick man is 
 healed. 
 
 CHAP. xvn. They falsely promise health to their votaries. 
 
 Concerning the sympathies and antipathies of Democritus 
 what can we say but this, that, according to the common 
 saying, the man of Abdera is Abderiloquent 1 But, as he 
 who gave the name to the city, a friend of Hercules as it is 
 said, was devoured by the horses of Diomedes, so he who 
 boasted of the Magian Ostanes 2 will be delivered up in the 
 day of consummation as fuel for the eternal fire. And you, 
 if you do not cease from your laughter, will gain the same 
 punishment as the jugglers. Wherefore, O Greeks, hearken 
 to me, addressing you as from an eminence, nor in mockery 
 transfer your own want of reason to the herald of the truth. 
 A diseased affection (?ra^o?) is not destroyed by a counter- 
 affection (avTiTrdOeia), nor is a maniac cured by hanging 
 little amulets of leather upon him. There are visitations of 
 1 Comp. Eph. vi. 13, 14, 17. 2 Democritus
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 23 
 
 demons ; and he who is sick, and he who says he is in love, 
 and he who hates, and he who wishes to be revenged, accept 
 them as helpers. And this is the method of their operation : 
 just as the forms of alphabetic letters and the lines composed 
 of them cannot of themselves indicate what is meant, but 
 men -have invented for themselves signs of their thoughts, 
 knowing by their peculiar combination what the order of 
 the letters was intended to express ; so, in like manner, the 
 various kinds of roots and the mutual relation of the sinews 
 and bones can effect nothing of themselves, but are the 
 elemental matter with which the depravity of the demons 
 works, who have determined for what purpose each of them 
 is available. And, when they see that men consent to be 
 served by means of such things, they take them and make 
 them their slaves. But how can it be honourable to minister 
 to adulteries ? How can it be noble to stimulate men in 
 hating one another? Or how is it becoming to ascribe to 
 matter the relief of the insane, and not to God? For by their 
 art they turn men aside from the pious acknowledgment of 
 God, leading them to place confidence in herbs and roots. 
 But God, if He had prepared these things to effect just what 
 men wish, would be a Producer of evil things ; w r hereas He 
 Himself produced everything which has good qualities, but 
 the profligacy of the demons has made use of the productions 
 of nature for evil purposes, and the appearance of evil which 
 these wear is from them, and not from the perfect God. 
 For how comes it to pass that when alive I was in no wise 
 evil, but that now I am dead and can do nothing, my remains, 
 which are incapable of motion or even sense, should effect 
 something cognizable by the senses? And how shall he who 
 has died by the most miserable death be able to assist in 
 avenging any one ? If this were possible, much more might 
 he defend himself from his own enemy ; being able to assist 
 others, much more might he constitute himself his own 
 avenger. 
 
 CHAP. XVITI. They deceive, instead of healing. 
 But medicine and everything included in it is an invention
 
 24 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 of the same kind. If any one is healed by matter, through 
 trusting to it, much more will he be healed by having 
 recourse to the power of God. As noxious preparations are 
 material compounds, so are curatives of the same nature. 
 If, however, we reject the baser matter, some persons often 
 endeavour to heal by a union of one. of these bad things with 
 some other, and will make use of the bad to attain the good. 
 But, just as he who dines with a robber, though he may not 
 be a robber himself, partakes of the punishment on account of 
 his intimacy with him, so he who is not bad but associates 
 with the bad, having dealings with them for some supposed 
 good, will be punished by God the Judge for partnership in 
 the same object. Why is he who trusts in the system of 
 matter not willing to trust in God ? For what reason do you 
 not approach the more powerful Lord, but rather seek to 
 cure yourself, like the dog with grass, or the stag with a 
 viper, or the hog with river-crabs, or the lion with apes ? 
 Why do you deify the objects of nature ? And why, when 
 you cure your neighbour, are you called a benefactor ? 
 Yield to the power of the Logos ! The demons do not cure, 
 but by their art make men their captives. And the most 
 admirable Justin has rightly denounced them as robbers. 
 For, as it is the practice of some to capture persons and then 
 to restore them to their friends for a ransom, so those who 
 are esteemed gods, invading the bodies of certain persons, 
 and producing a sense of their presence by dreams, command 
 them to come forth into public, and in the sight of all, when 
 they have taken their fill of the things of this world, fly away 
 from the sick, and, destroying the disease which they had 
 produced, restore men to their former state. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. Depravity lies at the bottom of demon-worship. 
 
 But do you, who have not the perception of these things, 
 be instructed by us who know them : though you do pro- 
 fess to despise death, and to be sufficient of yourselves for 
 everything. But this is a discipline in which your philoso- 
 phers are so greatly deficient, that some of them receive 
 from the king of the Komans 600 aurei yearly, for no useful
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 25 
 
 service they perform, but that they may not even wear a 
 long beard without being paid for it ! Crescens, who made 
 his nest in the great city, surpassed all men in unnatural 
 love (7raiSepa<rTia), and was strongly addicted to the love of 
 money. Yet this man, who professed to despise death, was 
 so afraid of death, that he endeavoured to inflict on Justin, 
 and indeed on me, the punishment of death, as being an 
 evil, because by proclaiming the truth he convicted the 
 philosophers of being gluttons and cheats. But whom of the 
 philosophers, save you only, was he accustomed to inveigh 
 against ? If you say, in agreement with our tenets, that 
 death is not to be dreaded, do not court death from an insane 
 love of fame among men, like Anaxagoras, but become de- 
 spisers of death by reason of the knowledge of God. The 
 construction of the world is excellent, but the life men live 
 in it is bad ; and we may see those greeted with applause as 
 in a solemn assembly who know not God. For what is 
 divination ? and why are ye deceived by it ? It is a minister 
 to thee of worldly lusts. You wish to make war, and you 
 take Apollo as a counsellor of slaughter. You want to 
 carry off a maiden by force, and you select a divinity to be 
 your accomplice. You are ill by your own fault ; and, as 
 Agamemnon 1 wished for ten councillors, so you wish to have 
 gods with you. Some woman by drinking water gets into a 
 frenzy, and loses her senses by the fumes of frankincense, 
 and you say that she has the gift of prophecy. Apollo was 
 a prognosticator and a teacher of soothsayers : in the matter 
 of Daphne he deceived himself. An oak, forsooth, is oracular, 
 and birds utter presages ! And so you are inferior to animals 
 and plants ! It would surely be a fine thing for you to be- 
 come a divining rod, or to assume the wings of a bird ! He 
 who makes you fond of money also foretells your getting 
 rich ; he who excites to seditions and wars also predicts victory 
 in war. If you are superior to the passions, you will despise 
 all worldly things. Do not abhor us who have made this 
 attainment, but, repudiating the demons, follow the one God. 
 "All things 2 were made by Him, and without Him not one 
 1 Comp. Horn. II. ii. 372. 2 John i. 3.
 
 26 T ATI AITS ADDRESS 
 
 thing was made." If there is poison in natural productions, 
 this has supervened through our sinfulness. I am able to 
 show the perfect truth of these things ; only do you hearken, 
 and he who believes will understand. 
 
 CHAP. xx. Tlianks are ever due to God. 
 
 Even if you be healed by drugs (I grant you that point 
 by courtesy), yet it behoves you to give testimony of the cure 
 to God. For the world still draws us down, and through 
 weakness I incline towards matter. For the wings of the 
 soul were the perfect spirit, but, having cast this off through 
 sin, it flutters like a nestling and falls to the ground. Having 
 left the heavenly companionship, it hankers after communion 
 with inferior things. The demons were driven forth to 
 another abode ; the first created human beings were expelled 
 from their place : the one, indeed, were cast down from 
 heaven ; but the other were driven from earth, yet not out of 
 this earth, but from a more excellent order of things than 
 exists here now. And now it behoves us, yearning after that 
 pristine state, to put aside everything that proves a hindrance. 
 The heavens are not infinite, O man, but finite and bounded; 
 and beyond them are the superior worlds which have not a 
 change of seasons, by which various diseases are produced, 
 but, partaking of every happy temperature, have perpetual 
 day, and light unapproachable by men below. Those who 
 have composed elaborate descriptions of the earth have given 
 an account of its various regions so far as this was possible to 
 man ; but, being unable to speak of that which is beyond, 
 because of the impossibility of personal observation, they 
 have assigned as the cause the existence of tides ; and that 
 one sea is filled with weed, and another with mud ; and that 
 some localities are burnt up with heat, and others cold and 
 frozen. We, however, have learned things which were un- 
 known to us, through the teaching of the prophets, who, 
 being fully persuaded that the heavenly spirit along with 
 the soul will acquire a clothing of mortality, foretold things 
 which other minds were unacquainted with. But it is pos-
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 27 
 
 sible for every one who is naked to obtain this apparel, and 
 to return to its ancient kindred. 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Doctrines of the Christians and Greeks 
 respecting God compared. 
 
 We do not act as fools, O Greeks, nor utter idle tales, 
 when we announce that God was born in the form of a man. 
 I call on you who reproach us to compare your mythical 
 accounts with our narrations. Athene, as they say, took the 
 form of De'iphobus for the sake of Hector, 1 and the unshorn 
 Phoebus for the sake of Admetus fed the trailing-f ooted oxen, 
 and the spouse of Zeus came as an old woman to Semele. 
 But, while you treat seriously such things, how can you 
 deride us ? Your Asclepios died, and he who ravished fifty 
 virgins in one night at Thespiaa lost his life by delivering him- 
 self to the devouring flame. Prometheus, fastened to Caucasus, 
 suffered punishment for his good deeds to men. According 
 to you, Zeus is envious, and hides the dream 2 from men, 
 wishing their destruction. Wherefore, looking at your own 
 memorials, vouchsafe us your approval, though it were only 
 as dealing in legends similar to your own. We, however, 
 do not deal in folly, but your legends are only idle tales. If 
 you speak of the origin of the gods, you also declare them to 
 be mortal. For what reason is Hera now never pregnant ? 
 Has she grown old ? or is there no one to give you informa- 
 tion? Believe me now, O Greeks, and do not resolve your 
 myths and gods into allegory. If you attempt to do this, the 
 divine nature as held by you is overthrown by your own selves; 
 for, if the demons with you are such as they are said to be, they 
 are worthless as to character ; or, if regarded as symbols of 
 the powers of nature, they are not what they are called. But 
 I cannot be persuaded to pay religious homage to the natural 
 elements, nor can I undertake to persuade my neighbour. 
 And Metrodorus of Lampsacus, in his treatise concerning 
 Homer, has argued very foolishly, turning everything into 
 allegory. For he says that neither Hera, nor Athene, nor 
 Zeus are what those persons suppose who consecrate to 
 1 II. xxii. 227. a ;/. ii. init.
 
 28 TATIAWS ADDRESS 
 
 them sacred enclosures and groves, but parts of nature and 
 certain arrangements of the elements. Hector also, and 
 Achilles, and Agamemnon, and all the Greeks in general, 
 and the Barbarians with Helen and Paris, being of the same 
 nature, you will of course say are introduced merely for the 
 sake of the machinery of the poem, not one of these personages 
 having really existed. But these things we have put forth 
 only for argument's sake; for it is not allowable even to com- 
 pare our notion of God with those who are wallowing in 
 matter and mud. 
 
 CHAP. xxii. Ridicule of the solemnities of the Greeks. 
 
 And of what sort are your teachings ? Who ciust not treat 
 with contempt your solemn festivals, which, being held in 
 honour of wicked demons, cover men with infamy? I have 
 often seen a man l and have been amazed to see, and the 
 amazement has ended in contempt, to think how he is one 
 thing internally, but outwardly counterfeits what he is not 
 giving himself excessive airs of daintiness and indulging in 
 all sorts of effeminacy; sometimes darting his eyes about; 
 sometimes throwing his hands hither and thither, and raving 
 with his face smeared with mud ; sometimes personating 
 Aphrodite, sometimes Apollo ; a solitary accuser of all the 
 gods, an epitome of superstition, a vituperator of heroic 
 deeds, an actor of murders, a chronicler of adultery, a 
 storehouse of madness, a teacher of cynaedi, an instigator 
 of capital sentences ; and yet such a man is praised by 
 all. But I have rejected all his falsehoods, his impiety, 
 his practices, in short, the man altogether. But you are 
 led captive by such men, while you revile those who do not 
 take a part in your pursuits. I have no mind to stand agape 
 at a number of singers, nor do I desire to be affected in 
 sympathy with a man when he is winking and gesticulating 
 in an unnatural manner. What wonderful or extraordinary 
 thing is performed among you? They utter ribaldry in 
 affected tones, and go through indecent movements ; your 
 daughters and your sons behold them giving lessons in 
 1 Tatian here describes an actor.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 29 
 
 adultery on the stage. Admirable places, forsooth, are your 
 lecture-rooms, where every base action perpetrated by night 
 is proclaimed aloud, and the hearers are regaled with the 
 utterance of infamous discourses ! Admirable, too, are your 
 mendacious poets, who by their fictions beguile their hearers 
 from the truth ! 
 
 CHAP. XXIIT. Of the pugilists and gladiators. 
 I have seen men weighed down by bodily exercise, and 
 carrying about the burden of their flesh, before whom re- 
 wards and chaplets are set, while the adjudicators cheer them 
 on, not to deeds of virtue, but to rivalry in violence and dis- 
 cord ; and he who excels in giving blows is crowned. These 
 are the lesser evils ; as for the greater, who would not shrink 
 from telling them ? Some, giving themselves up to idleness 
 for the sake of profligacy, sell themselves to be killed; and the 
 indigent barters himself away, while the rich man buys others 
 to kill him. And for these the witnesses take their seats, and 
 the boxers meet in single combat, for no reason whatever, 
 nor does any one come down into the arena to succour. Do 
 such exhibitions as these redound to your credit f He who 
 is chief among you collects a legion of blood-stained murderers, 
 engaging to maintain them ; and these ruffians are sent forth 
 by him, and you assemble at the spectacle to be judges, partly 
 of the wickedness of the adjudicator, and partly of that of the 
 men who engage in the combat. And he who misses the 
 murderous exhibition is grieved, because he was not doomed 
 to be a spectator of wicked and impious and abominable deeds. 
 You slaughter animals for the purpose of eating their flesh, 
 and you purchase men to supply a cannibal banquet for the 
 soul, nourishing it by the most impious bloodshedding. The 
 robber commits murder for the sake of plunder, but the rich 
 man purchases gladiators for the sake of their being killed. 
 
 CHAP. XXIT. Of the other public amusements. 
 
 What advantage should I gain from him who is brought on 
 the stage by Euripides raving mad, and acting the matricide 
 of Alcmaeon ; who does not even retain his natural behaviour,
 
 30 TATIAWS ADDRESS 
 
 but with his mouth wide open goes about sword in hand, and, 
 screaming aloud, is burned to death, habited in a robe unfit 
 for man ? Away, too, with the mythical tales of Acusilaus, 
 and Menander, a versifier of the same class ! And why 
 should I admire the mythic piper? Why should I busy 
 myself about the Theban Antigenides, 1 like Aristoxenus? 
 We leave to you these worthless things ; and do you either 
 believe our doctrines, or, like us, give up yours. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Boastings and quarrels of the philosophers. 
 
 What great and wonderful things have your philosophers 
 effected? They leave uncovered one of their shoulders; they 
 let their hair grow long; they cultivate their beards; their 
 nails are like the claws of wild beasts. Though they say 
 that they want nothing, yet, like Proteus, 2 they need a currier 
 for their wallet, and a weaver for their mantle, and a wood- 
 cutter for their staff, and the rich, 3 and a cook also for 
 their gluttony. O man competing with the dog, 4 you know 
 not God, and so have turned to the imitation of an irrational 
 animal. You cry out in public with an assumption of 
 authority, and take upon you to avenge your own self; and if 
 you receive nothing, you indulge in abuse, and philosophy is 
 with you the art of getting money. You follow the doctrines 
 of Plato, and a disciple of Epicurus lifts up his voice to oppose 
 you. Again, you wish to be a disciple of Aristotle, and a 
 follower of Democritus rails at you. Pythagoras says that 
 he was Euphorbus, and he is the heir of the doctrine of 
 Pherecydes ; but Aristotle impugns the immortality of the 
 soul. You who receive from your predecessors doctrines 
 which clash with one another, you the inharmonious, are fight- 
 ing against the harmonious. One of you asserts that God is 
 body, but I assert that He is without body; that the world 
 is indestructible, but I say that it is to be destroyed ; that a 
 
 1 Antigenides was a flute-player, and Aristoxenus a writer on music 
 and musical instruments. 
 
 2 The Cynic Peregrinus is meant. 
 
 3 They need the rich to invite them to banquete. 
 
 4 The Cynic.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 31 
 
 conflagration will take place at various times, but I say that 
 it will come to pass once for all ; that Minos and Khadaman- 
 thus are judges, but I say that God Himself is Judge ; that 
 the soul alone is endowed with immortality, but I say that 
 the flesh also is endowed with it. What injury do we inflict 
 upon you, O Greeks ? Why do you hate those who follow 
 the word of God, as if they were the vilest of mankind ? It 
 is not we who eat human flesh they among you who assert 
 such a thing have been suborned as false witnesses ; it is 
 among you that Pelops is made a supper for the gods, although 
 beloved by Poseidon, and Kronos devours his children, and 
 Zeus swallows Metis. 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Ridicule of the studies of the Greeks. 
 
 Cease to make a parade of sayings which you have derived 
 from others, and to deck yourselves like the daw in borrowed 
 plumes. If each state were to take away its contribution to 
 your speech, your fallacies would lose their power. While 
 inquiring what God is, you are ignorant of what is in your- 
 selves ; and, while staring all agape at the sky, you stumble 
 into pitfalls. The reading of your books is like walking 
 through a labyrinth, and their readers resemble the cask of the 
 Danaids. Why do you divide time, saying that one part is 
 past, and another present, and another future ? For how 
 can the future be passing when the present exists ? As 
 those who are sailing imagine in their ignorance, as the ship 
 is borne along, that the hills are in motion, so you do not 
 know that it is you who are passing along, but that time 
 (o alwv) remains present as long as the Creator wills it to 
 exist. Why am I called to account for uttering my opinions, 
 and why are you in such haste to put them all down ? Were 
 not you born in the same manner as ourselves, and placed 
 under the same government of the world ? Why say that 
 wisdom is with you alone, who have not another sun, nor 
 other risings of the stars, nor a more distinguished origin, nor 
 a death preferable to that of other men ? The grammarians 
 have been the beginning of this idle talk ; and you who parcel 
 out wisdom are cut off from the wisdom that is according to
 
 32 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 truth, and assign the names of the several parts to particular 
 men; and you know not God, but in your fierce conten- 
 tions destroy one another. And on this account you are 
 all nothing worth. While you arrogate to yourselves .the 
 sole right of discussion, you discourse like the blind man with 
 the deaf. Why do you handle the builder's tools without 
 knowing how to build ? Why do you busy yourselves with 
 words, while you keep aloof from deeds, puffed up with praise, 
 but cast down by misfortunes ? Your modes of acting are 
 contrary to reason, for you make a pompous appearance 
 in public, but hide your teaching in corners. Finding you 
 to be such men as these, we have abandoned you, and no 
 longer concern ourselves with your tenets, but follow the 
 word of God. Why, O man, do you set the letters of the 
 alphabet at war with one another? Why do you, as in a 
 boxing match, make their sounds clash together with your 
 mincing Attic way of speaking, whereas you ought to speak 
 more according to nature ? For if you adopt the Attic 
 dialect though not an Athenian, pray why do you not speak 
 like the Dorians I How is it that one appears to you more 
 rugged, the other more pleasant for intercourse f 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. The Christians are hated unjustly. 
 
 And if you adhere to their teaching, why do you fight 
 against me for choosing such views of doctrine as I approve ? 
 Is it not unreasonable that, while the robber is not to be 
 punished for the name he bears, but only when the truth 
 about him has been clearly ascertained, yet we are to be 
 assailed with abuse on a judgment formed without examina- 
 tion ? Diagoras was an Athenian, but you punished him for 
 divulging the Athenian mysteries ; yet you who read his 
 Phrygian discourses hate us. You possess the commentaries 
 of Leo, and are displeased with our refutations of them ; and 
 having in your hands the opinions of Apion concerning the 
 Egyptian gods, you denounce us as most impious. The tomb 
 of Olympian Zeus is shown among you, 1 though some one 
 
 1 In Crete.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 33 
 
 says that the Cretans are liars. 1 Your assembly of many gods 
 is nothing. Though their despiser Epicurus acts as a torch- 
 bearer, 2 I do not any the more conceal from the rulers that 
 view of God which I hold in relation to His government of 
 the universe. Why do you advise me to be false to my prin- 
 ciples ? Why do you who say that you despise death exhort 
 us to use art in order to escape it ? I have not the heart of 
 a deer ; but your zeal for dialectics resembles the loquacity of 
 Thersites. How can I believe one who tells me that the sun 
 is a red-hot mass and the moon an earth ? Such assertions 
 are mere logomachies, and not a sober exposition of truth. 
 How can it be otherwise than foolish to credit the books of 
 Herodotus relating to the history of Hercules, which tell of 
 an upper earth from which the lion came down that was 
 killed by Hercules ? And what avails the Attic style, the 
 sorites of philosophers, the plausibilities of syllogisms, the 
 measurements of the earth, the positions of the stars, and 
 the course of the sun ? To be occupied in such inquiries is 
 the work of one who imposes opinions on himself as if they 
 were laws. 
 
 CHAP, xxvin. Condemnation of the Greek legislation. 
 
 On this account I reject your legislation also ; for there 
 ought to be one common polity for all ; but now there are as 
 many different codes as there are states, so that things held 
 disgraceful in some are honourable in others. The Greeks 
 
 O 
 
 consider intercourse with a mother as unlawful, but this 
 practice is esteemed most becoming by the Persian Magi ; 
 paederasty is condemned by the Barbarians, but by the 
 Romans, who endeavour to collect herds of boys like grazing 
 horses, it is honoured with certain privileges. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Account of Tatian's conversion. 
 
 Wherefore, having seen these things, and moreover also 
 having been admitted to the mysteries, and having everywhere 
 
 1 Comp. Tit. i. 12. Callimachus is probably the author referred to, 
 though others express the same opinion respecting the Cretans. 
 
 2 Accommodating himself to the popular opinions, through fear. 
 
 C
 
 34 TATIAWS ADDRESS 
 
 examined the religious rites performed by the effeminate and 
 the pathic,and having found among the Romans their Latiarian 
 Jupiter delighting in human gore and the blood of slaughtered 
 men, and Artemis not far from the great city 1 sanctioning acts 
 of the same kind, and one demon here and another there insti- 
 gating to the perpetration of evil, retiring by myself, I sought 
 how I might be able to discover the truth. And, while I was 
 giving my most earnest attention to the matter, I happened 
 to meet with certain barbaric writings, too old to be compared 
 with the opinions of the Greeks, and too divine to be com- 
 pared with their errors ; and I was led to put faith in these 
 by the unpretending cast of the language, the inartificial 
 character of the writers, the foreknowledge displayed of 
 future events, the excellent quality of the precepts, and the 
 declaration of the government of the universe as centred in 
 one Being. And, my soul being taught of God, I discerned 
 that the former class of writings lead to condemnation, but 
 that these put an end to the slavery that is in the world, and 
 rescue us from a multiplicity of rulers and ten thousand 
 tyrants, while they give us, not "indeed what we had not 
 before received, but what we had received but were pre- 
 vented by error from retaining. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. How lie resolved to resist the devil. 
 
 Therefore, being initiated and instructed in these things, 
 I wish to put away my former errors as the follies of child- 
 hood. For we know that the nature of wickedness is like 
 that of the smallest seeds ; since it has waxed strong from a 
 small beginning, but will again be destroyed if we obey the 
 words of God and do not scatter ourselves. For He has become 
 master of all we have by means of a certain "hidden treasure," 2 
 which while we are digging for we are indeed covered with 
 dust, but we secure it as our fixed possession. He who receives 
 the whole of this treasure has obtained command of the most 
 precious wealth. Let these things, then, be said to our friends. 
 But to you Greeks what can I say, except to request you not 
 to rail at those who are better than yourselves, nor if they 
 1 At Aricia, near Rome. 8 Comp. Matt. xiii. 44.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 35 
 
 are called Barbarians to make that an occasion of banter ? 
 For, if you are willing, you will be able to find out the cause 
 of men's not being able to understand one another's language; 
 for to those who wish to examine our principles I will give 
 a simple and copious account of them. 
 
 CHAP. XXXT. The philosophy of the Christians more ancient 
 than that of the Greeks. 
 
 But now it seems proper for me to demonstrate that our 
 philosophy is older than the systems of the Greeks. Moses 
 and Homer shall be our limits, each of them being of great 
 antiquity ; the one being the oldest of poets and historians, 
 and the other the founder of all barbaric wisdom. Let us, 
 then, institute a comparison between them ; and we shall 
 find that our doctrines are older, not only than those of the 
 Greeks, but than the invention of letters. And I will not 
 bring forward witnesses from among ourselves, but rather 
 have recourse to Greeks. To do the former would be foolish, 
 because it would not be allowed by you ; but the other will 
 surprise you, when, by contending against you with your own 
 weapons, I adduce arguments of which you had no suspicion. 
 Now the poetry of Homer, his parentage, and the time in which 
 he flourished have been investigated by the most ancient 
 writers, by Theagenes of Rhegium, who lived in the time 
 of Cambyses, Stesimbrotus of Thasos and Antimachus of 
 Colophon, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, and Dionysius the 
 Olynthian; after them, by Ephorns of CumsB, and Philochorus 
 the Athenian, Megaclides and Chamaeleon the Peripatetics ; 
 afterwards by the grammarians^ Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Cal- 
 limachus, Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus, and Apollodorus, 
 Of these, Crates says that he flourished before the return of 
 the HeraclidsB, and within 80 years after the Trojan war ; 
 Eratosthenes says that it was after the 100th year from the 
 taking of Ilium ; Artistarchus, that it was about the time of 
 the Ionian migration, which was 140 years after that event; 
 but, according to Philochorus, after the Ionian migration, in 
 the archonship of Archippus at AriwM, 180 years after the 
 Trojan war; Apollodorus says it was 100 years after the
 
 36 TATIAWS ADDRESS 
 
 Ionian migration, which would be 240 years after the Trojan 
 war. Some say that he lived 90 years before the Olympiads, 
 which would be 317 years after the taking of Troy. Others 
 carry it down to a later date, and say that Homer was a con- 
 temporary of Archilochus ; but Archilochus flourished about 
 the 23d Olympiad, in the time of Gyges the Lydian, 500 
 years after Troy. Thus, concerning the age of the aforesaid 
 poet, I mean Homer, and the discrepancies of those who have 
 spoken of him, we have said enough in a summary manner 
 for those who are able to investigate with accuracy. For it is 
 possible to show that the opinions held about the facts them- 
 selves also are false. For, where the assigned dates do not 
 agree together, it is impossible that the history should be true. 
 For what is the cause of error in writing, but the narrating of 
 things that are not true ? 
 
 CHAP, xxxii. The doctrine of the Christians is opposed to 
 dissensions, and fitted for all. 
 
 But with us there is no desire of vainglory, nor do we 
 indulge in a variety of opinions. For, having renounced the 
 popular and earthly, and obeying the commands of God, and 
 following the law of the Father of immortality, we reject 
 everything which rests upon human opinion. Not only do 
 the rich among us pursue our philosophy, but the poor enjoy 
 instruction gratuitously ; for the things which come from 
 God surpass the requital of worldly gifts. Thus we admit 
 all who desire to hear, even old women and striplings ; and, in 
 short, persons of every age are treated by us with respect, 
 but every kind of licentiousness is kept at a distance. And 
 in speaking we do not utter falsehood. It would be an 
 excellent thing if your continuance in unbelief should receive 
 a check ; but, however that may be, let our cause remain 
 confirmed by the judgment pronounced by God. Laugh, if 
 you please ; but you will have to weep hereafter. Is it not 
 absurd that Nestor, 1 who was slow at cutting his horses' 
 reins owing to his weak and sluggish old age, is, according 
 to you, to be admired for attempting to rival the young men
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 37 
 
 in fighting, while you deride those among us who struggle 
 against old age and occupy themselves with the things per- 
 taining to God ? Who would not laugh when you tell us 
 that the Amazons, and Semiramis, and certain other warlike 
 women existed, while you cast reproaches on our maidens ? 
 Achilles was a youth, yet is believed to have been very 
 magnanimous ; and Neoptolemus was younger, but strong ; 
 Philoctetes was weak, but the divinity had need of him 
 against Troy. What sort of man was Thersites ? yet he 
 held a command in the army, and, if he had not through 
 doltishness had such an unbridled tongue, he would not have 
 been reproached for being peak-headed and bald. As for 
 those who wish to learn our philosophy, we do not test them, 
 by their looks, nor do we judge of those who come to us by 
 their outward appearance ; for we argue that there may be 
 strength of mind in all, though they may be weak in body. 
 But your proceedings are full of envy and abundant 
 stupidity. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIIT. Vindication of Christian women. 
 
 Therefore I have been desirous to prove from the things 
 which are esteemed honourable among you, that our institu- 
 tions are marked by sober-mindedness, but that yours are in 
 close affinity with madness. You who say that we talk 
 nonsense among women and boys, among maidens and old 
 women, and scoff at us for not being with you, hear what 
 silliness prevails among the Greeks. For their works of art 
 are devoted to worthless objects, while they are held in higher 
 estimation by you than even your gods ; and you behave your- 
 selves unbecomingly in what relates to woman. For Lysippus 
 cast a statue of Praxilla, whose poems contain nothing useful, 
 and Menestratus one of Learchis, and Selanion one of Sappho 
 the courtezan, and Naucydes one of Erinna the Lesbian, and 
 Boiscus one of Myrtis, and Cephisodotus one of Myro of 
 Byzantium, andGomphus one of Praxigoris, and Amphistratu? 
 one of Clito. And what shall I say about Anyta, Telesilla, 
 and Mystis? Of the first Euthycrates and Cephisodotus 
 made a statue, and of the second Niceratus, and of the third
 
 38 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 Aristodotus ; Euthycrates made one of Mnesiarchis the Ephe- 
 sian, Selanion one of Comma, and Euthycrates one of Thal- 
 archis the Argive. My object in referring to these women is, 
 that you may not regard as something strange what you find 
 among us, and that, comparing the statues which are before 
 your eyes, you may not treat the women with scorn who among 
 us pursue philosophy. This Sappho is a lewd, love-sick female, 
 and sings her own wantonness ; but all our women are chaste, 
 and the maidens at their distaffs sing of divine things more 
 nobly than that damsel of yours. Wherefore be ashamed, you 
 who are professed disciples of women yet scoff at those of the 
 sex who hold our doctrine, as well as at the solemn assemblies 
 they frequent. What a noble infant did Glaucippe present 
 to you, who brought forth a prodigy, as is shown by her 
 statue 'cast by Niceratus, the son of Euctemon the Athenian ! 
 But, if Glaucippe brought forth an elephant, was that a 
 reason why she should enjoy public honours ? Praxiteles and 
 Herodotus made for you Phryn6 the courtezan, and Euthy- 
 crates cast a brazen statue of Panteuchis, who was pregnant 
 by a whoremonger ; and Dinomenes, because Besantis queen 
 of the Pseonians gave birth to a black infant, took pains to 
 preserve her memory by his art. I condemn Pythagoras too, 
 who made a figure of Europa on the bull ; and you also, who 
 honour the accuser of Zeus on account of his artistic skill. 
 And I ridicule the skill of Myron, who made a heifer and 
 upon it a Victory because by carrying off the daughter of 
 Agenor it had borne away the prize for adultery and lewd- 
 ness. The Olynthian Herodotus made statues of Glycera the 
 courtezan and Argeia the harper. Bryaxis made a statue of 
 Pasiphae; and, by having a memorial of her lewdness, it 
 seems to have been almost your desire that the women of the 
 present time should be like her. A certain Melanippe was a 
 wise woman, and for that reason Lysistratus made her statue. 
 But, forsooth, you will not believe that among us there are 
 wise women !
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 39 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Ridicule of the statues erected by the 
 
 Greeks. 
 
 Worthy of very great honour, certainly, was the tyrant 
 Phalaris, who devoured sucklings, and accordingly is exhibited 
 by the workmanship of Polystratus the Ambraciot, even to this 
 day, as a very wonderful man ! The Agrigentines dreaded 
 to look on that countenance of his, because of his cannibal- 
 ism ; but people of culture now make it their boast that they 
 behold him in his statue ! Is it not shameful that fratri- 
 cide is honoured by you who look on the statues of Polynices 
 and Eteocles, and that you have not rather buried them 
 with their maker Pythagoras ? Destroy these memorials of 
 iniquity ! Why should I contemplate with admiration the 
 figure of the woman who bore thirty children, merely for the 
 sake of the artist Periclymenus ? One ought to turn away 
 with disgust from one who bore off the fruits of great incon- 
 tinence, and whom the Romans compared to a sow, which 
 also on a like account, they say, was deemed worthy of a 
 mystic worship. Ares committed adultery with Aphrodite, 
 and Andron made an image of their offspring Harmonia. 
 Sophron, who committed to writing trifles and absurdities, 
 was more celebrated for his skill in casting metals, of which 
 specimens exist even now. And not only have his tales kept 
 the fabulist JEsop in everlasting remembrance, but also the 
 plastic art of Aristodemus has increased his celebrity. How 
 is it then that you, who have so many poetesses whose pro- 
 ductions are mere trash, and innumerable courtezans, and 
 worthless men, are not ashamed to slander the reputation of 
 our women ? What care I to know that Euanthe gave birth 
 to an infant in the Peripatus, or to gape with wonder at the 
 art of Callistratus, or to fix my gaze on the Nea3ra of Calliades ? 
 For she was a courtezan. La'is was a prostitute, and Turnus 
 made her a monument of prostitution. Why are you not 
 ashamed of the fornication of Hephsestion, even though Philo 
 has represented him very artistically I And for what reason 
 do you honour the hermaphrodite Ganymede by Leochares, 
 as if you possessed something admirable I Praxiteles even
 
 40 TAT1AXTS ADDRESS 
 
 made a statue of a woman with the stain of impurity upon it. 
 It behoved you, repudiating everything of this kind, to seek 
 what is truly worthy of attention, and not to turn with disgust 
 from our mode of life while receiving with approval the 
 shameful productions of Philsenis and Elephantis. 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Tatian speaks as an eye-witness. 
 
 The things which I have thus set before you I have not 
 learned at second hand. I have visited many lands ; I have 
 followed rhetoric, like yourselves ; I have fallen in with many 
 arts and inventions ; and finally, when sojourning in the city 
 of the Romans, I inspected the multiplicity of statues brought 
 thither by you : for I do not attempt, as is the custom with 
 many, to strengthen my own views by the opinions of others, 
 but I wish to give you a distinct account of what I myself 
 have seen and felt. So, bidding farewell to the arrogance 
 of Romans and the idle talk of Athenians, and all their ill- 
 connected opinions, I embraced our barbaric philosophy. I 
 began to show how this was more ancient than your institu- 
 tions, 1 but left my task unfinished, in order to discuss a matter 
 which demanded more immediate attention ; but now it is 
 time I should attempt to speak concerning its doctrines. Be 
 not offended with our teaching, nor undertake an elaborate 
 reply filled with trifling and ribaldry, saying, " Tatian, aspir- 
 ing to be above the Greeks, above the infinite number of 
 philosophic inquirers, has struck out a new path, and em- 
 braced the doctrines of Barbarians." For what grievance 
 is it, that men manifestly ignorant should be reasoned with 
 by a man of like nature with themselves ? Or how can it 
 be irrational, according to your own sophist, 2 to grow old 
 always learning something? 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Testimony of the Chaldeans to the antiquity 
 of Moses. 
 
 But let Homer be not later than the Trojan war ; let it be 
 granted that he was contemporary with it, or even that he 
 was in the army of Agamemnon, and, if any so please, that 
 
 1 Chap. xxxi. 8 Solon. Bergh. Poetse Grxc. Lyr. fr. 18.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 41 
 
 lie lived before the invention of letters. The Moses before 
 mentioned will be shown to have been many years older than 
 the taking of Troy, and far more ancient than the building 
 of Troy, or than Tros and Dardanus. To demonstrate this I 
 will call in as witnesses the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, and 
 the Egyptians. And what more need I say ? For it behoves 
 one who professes to persuade his hearers to make his narra- 
 tive of events very concise. Berosus, a Babylonian, a priest 
 of their god Belus, born in the time of Alexander, composed 
 for Antiochus, the third after him, the history of the Chal- 
 deans in three books; and, narrating the acts of the kings, he 
 mentions one of them, Nabuchodonosor by name, who made 
 war against the Phoenicians and the Jews, events which 
 we know were announced by our prophets, and which hap- 
 pened much later than the age of Moses, seventy years before 
 the Persian empire. But Berosus is a very trustworthy man, 
 and of this Juba is a witness, who, writing concerning the 
 Assyrians, says that he learned the history from Berosus : 
 there are two books of his concerning the Assyrians. 
 
 CHAP. TacKvn.Testimony of the Phoenicians. 
 
 After the Chaldeans, the testimony of the Phoenicians is 
 as follows. There were among them three men, Theodotus, 
 Hypsicrates, and Mochus ; Chaitus translated their books 
 into Greek, and also composed with exactness the lives of the 
 philosophers. Now, in the histories of the aforesaid writers it 
 is shown that the abduction of Europa happened under one of 
 the kings, and an account is given of the coming of Menelaus 
 into Phoenicia, and of the matters relating to Chiramus, 1 who 
 gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon the king of the 
 Jews, and supplied wood of all kind of trees for the building 
 of the temple. Menander of Pergamus composed a history 
 concerning the same things. But the age of Chiramus is 
 somewhere about the Trojan war ; but Solomon, the contem- 
 porary of Chiramus, lived much later than the age of Moses. 
 1 Called Hiram in our authorized translation.
 
 42 TATIAN'S ADDRESS 
 
 CHAP, xxxvin. The Egyptians place Moses in the reign 
 of Inachus 
 
 Of the Egyptians also there are accurate chronicles. 
 Ptolemy, not the king, but a priest of Mendes, is the inter- 
 preter of their affairs. This writer, narrating the acts of 
 the kings, says that the departure of the Jews from Egypt to 
 the places whither they went occurred in the time of king 
 Amosis, under the leadership of Moses. He thus speaks : 
 " Amosis lived in the time of king Inachus." After him, 
 Apion the grammarian, a man most highly esteemed, in 
 the fourth book of his -ZEgyptiaca (there are five books of 
 his), besides many other things, says that Amosis destroyed 
 Avaris in the time of the Argive Inachus, as the Mendesian 
 Ptolemy wrote in his annals. But the time from Inachus to 
 the taking of Troy occupies twenty generations. The steps 
 of the demonstration are the following : 
 
 CHAP, xxxix. Catalogue of the Argive kings. 
 
 The kings of the Argives were these : Inachus, Phoroneus, 
 Apis, Criasis, Triopas, Argeius, Phorbas, Crotopas, Sthene- 
 laus, Danaus, Lynceus, Proetus, Abas, Acrisius, Perseus, 
 Sthenelaus, Eurystheus, Atreus, Thyestes, and Agamemnon, 
 in the eighteenth year of whose reign Troy was taken. And 
 every intelligent person will most carefully observe that, 
 according to the tradition of the Greeks, they possessed no 
 historical composition ; for Cadmus, who taught them letters, 
 came into Boeotia many generations later. But after Inachus, 
 under Phoroneus, a check was with difficulty given to their 
 savage and nomadic life, and they entered upon a new order 
 of things. Wherefore, if Moses is shown to be contem- 
 porary with Inachus, he is four hundred years older than the 
 Trojan war. But this is demonstrated from the succession 
 of the Attic, [and of the Macedonian, the Ptolemaic, and 
 the Antiochian] l kings. Hence, if the most illustrious deeds 
 among the Greeks were recorded and made known after 
 
 1 The words within brackets, though they occur in the MSS. and in 
 Eusebius, are supposed by some scholars to be a very old interpolation.
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 43 
 
 Inaclms, it is manifest that this must have been after 
 Moses. In the time of Phoroneus, who was after Inachus, 
 Ogygus is mentioned among the Athenians, in whose time 
 was the first deluge ; and in the time of Phorbas was Actseus, 
 from whom Attica was called Actsea; and in the time of 
 Triopas were Prometheus, and Epimetheus, and Atlas, and 
 Cecrops of double nature, and lo ; in the time of Crotopas 
 was the burning of Phaethon and the flood of Deucalion ; in 
 the time of Sthenelus was the reign of Amphiction and the 
 coming of Danaus into Peloponnesus, and the founding of 
 Dardania by Dardanus, and the return of Europa from 
 Phoenicia to Crete ; in the time of Lynceus was the abduction 
 of Kore, and the founding of the temple in Eleusis, and the 
 husbandry of Triptolemus, and the coming of Cadmus to 
 Thebes, and the reign of Minos ; in the time of Prcetus was 
 the war of Eumolpus against the Athenians ; in the time of 
 Acrisius was the coming over of Pelops from Phrygia, and 
 the coming of Ion to Athens, and the second Cecrops, and 
 the deeds of Perseus and Dionysus, and Musseus, the dis- 
 ciple of Orpheus ; and in the reign of Agamemnon Troy was 
 taken. 
 
 CHAP. XL. Moses more ancient and credible than the 
 heathen heroes. 
 
 Therefore, from what has been said it is evident that 
 Moses was older than the ancient heroes, wars, and demons. 
 And we ought rather to believe him, who stands before them 
 in point of age, than the Greeks, who, without being aware 
 of it, 1 drew his doctrines [as] from a fountain. For many 
 of the sophists among them, stimulated by curiosity, endea- 
 voured to adulterate whatever they learned from Moses, and 
 from those who have philosophized like him, first that they 
 might be considered as having something of their own, and 
 secondly, that covering up by a certain rhetorical artifice what- 
 ever things they did not understand, they might misrepresent 
 
 1 This expression admits of several meanings : " Without properly 
 understanding them " Worth ; " not with a proper sense of gratitude " 
 Maranus.
 
 44 TATIAWS ADDRESS 
 
 the truth as if it were a fable. But what the learned among 
 the Greeks have said concerning our polity and the history 
 of our laws, and how many and what kind of men have 
 written of these things, will be shown in the treatise against 
 those who have discoursed of divine things. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 But the matter of principal importance is to endeavour 
 with all accuracy to make it clear that Moses is not only 
 older than Homer, but than all the writers that were before 
 him older than Linus, Philammon, Thamyris, Amphion, 
 Musa3us, Orpheus, Demodocus, Phemius, Sybilla, Epime- 
 nides of Crete, who came to Sparta, Aristseus of Procon- 
 nesus, who wrote the Arimaspia, Asbolus the Centaur, 
 Isatis, Drymon, Euclus the Cyprian, Horus the Samian, and 
 Pronapis the Athenian. Now, Linus was the teacher of 
 Hercules, but Hercules preceded the Trojan war by one 
 generation ; and this is manifest from his son Tlepolemus, 
 who served in the army against Troy. And Orpheus lived 
 at the same time as Hercules ; moreover, it is said that all 
 the works attributed to him were composed by Onomacritus 
 the Athenian, who lived during the reign of the Pisistratids, 
 about the fiftieth Olympiad. Musseus was a disciple of 
 Orpheus. Amphion, since he preceded the siege of Troy by 
 two generations, forbids our collecting further particulars 
 about him for those who are desirous of information. Demo- 
 docus and Phemius lived at the very time of the Trojan war; 
 for the one resided with the suitors, and the other with the 
 Phaeacians. Thamyris and Philammon were not much earlier 
 than these. Thus, concerning their several performances in 
 each kind, and their times and the record of them, we have 
 written very fully, and, as I think, with all exactness. But, 
 that we may complete what is still wanting, I will give 
 my explanation respecting the men who are esteemed wise. 
 Minos, who has been thought to excel in every kind of 
 wisdom, and mental acuteness, and legislative capacity, lived 
 in the time of Lynceus, who reigned after Danaus in the 
 eleventh generation after Inachus. Lycurgus, who was born
 
 TO THE GREEKS. 45 
 
 long after the taking of Troy, gave laws to the Lacede- 
 monians. Draco is found to have lived about the thirty-ninth 
 Olympiad, Solon about the forty-sixth, and Pythagoras about 
 the sixty-second. We have shown that the Olympiads com- 
 menced 407 years after the taking of Troy. These facts 
 being demonstrated, we shall briefly remark concerning the 
 age of the seven wise men. The oldest of these, Thales, 
 lived about the fiftieth Olympiad ; and I have already spoken 
 briefly of those who came after him. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. Concluding statement as to tJie author. 
 
 These things, O Greeks, I Tatian, a disciple of the bar- 
 baric philosophy, have composed for you. I was born in the 
 land of the Assyrians, having been first instructed in your 
 doctrines, and afterwards in those which I now undertake to 
 proclaim. Henceforward, knowing who God is and what is 
 His work, I present myself to you prepared for an examina- 
 tion concerning my doctrines, while I adhere immoveably to 
 that mode of life which is according to God.
 
 FRAGMENTS OF THE LOST WORKS OF TATIAN. 
 
 I. 
 
 |N his treatise, Concerning Perfection according to 
 the Saviour, he writes, " Consent indeed fits for 
 prayer, but fellowship in corruption weakens sup- 
 plication. At any rate, by the permission he 
 certainly, though delicately, forbids ; for while he permits 
 them to return to the same on account of Satan and incon- 
 tinence, he exhibits a man who will attempt to serve two 
 masters God by the ( consent' (1 Cor. vii. 5), but by want 
 of consent, incontinence, fornication, and the devil." 
 
 (Clem. Alex. Strom, iii. c. 12.) 
 
 IT. 
 
 A certain person inveighs against generation, calling it 
 corruptible and destructive ; and some one does violence [to 
 Scripture], applying to procreation the Saviour's words, " Lay 
 not up treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt;" 
 and he is not ashamed to add to these the words of the 
 prophet: "You all shall grow old as a garment, and the moth 
 shall devour you." 
 
 And, in like manner, they adduce the saying concerning 
 the resurrection of the dead, " The sons of that world neither 
 marry nor are given in marriage." 
 
 (Clem. Alex. iii. c. 12, 86.) 
 
 in. 
 
 Tatian, who maintaining the imaginary flesh of Christ, 
 pronounces all sexual connection impure, who was also the 
 1 From the appendix to Otto's edition. 
 46
 
 LOST WORKS OF TATIAN. 47 
 
 very violent heresiarch of the Encratites, employs an argu- 
 ment of this sort : " If any one sows to the flesh, of the flesh 
 he shall reap corruption ;" but he sows to the flesh who is 
 joined to a woman ; therefore he who takes a wife and sows 
 in the flesh, of the flesh he shall reap corruption. 
 
 (Hieron. Com. in Ep. ad Gal.} 
 
 IV. 
 
 Seceding from the church, and being elated and puffed up 
 by a conceit of his teacher, 1 as if he were superior to the rest, 
 he formed his own peculiar type of doctrine. Imagining 
 certain invisible JEons like those of Valentinus, and de- 
 nouncing marriage as defilement and fornication in the same 
 way as Marcion and Saturninus, and denying the salvation of 
 Adam as an opinion of his own. 
 
 (Irenseus, adv. Hcer. i. 28.) 
 
 v. 
 
 Tatian attempting from time to time to make use of Paul's 
 language, that in Adam all die, but ignoring that " where 
 sin abounded, grace has much more abounded." 
 
 (Irenseus, adv. Heres. iii. 37.) 
 
 VI. 
 
 Against Tatian, who says that the words, " Let there be 
 light," are to be taken as a prayer. If He who uttered it 
 knew superior God, how is it that He says, " I am God, 
 and there is none beside me *? " 
 
 He said that there are punishments for blasphemies, foolish 
 talking, and licentious words, which are punished and chas- 
 tised by the Logos. And he said that women were punished 
 on account of their hair and ornaments by a power placed 
 over those things, which also gave strength to Samson by 
 his hair, and punishes those who by the ornament of their 
 hair are urged on to fornication. 
 
 (Clem. Alex. Frag.) 
 1 i.e. Justin.
 
 48 LOST WORKS OF T ATI AN. 
 
 VII. 
 
 But Tatian, not understanding that the expression " Let 
 there be " is not always precative but sometimes imperative, 
 most impiously imagined concerning God, who said "Let 
 there be light," that He prayed rather than commanded light 
 to be, as if, as he impiously thought, God was in darkness. 
 
 (Origen, de Orat.) 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Tatian separates the old man and the new, but not, as we 
 say, understanding the old man to be the law, and the new 
 man to be the gospel. We agree with him in saying the 
 same thing, but not in the sense he wishes, abrogating the 
 law as if it belonged to another God. 
 
 (Clem. Alex. Strom, iii. 12.) 
 
 IX. 
 
 Tatian condemns and rejects not only marriage, but also 
 meats which God has created for use. 
 
 (Hieron. adv. Jovin. i. 3.) 
 
 x. 
 
 "But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink, and com- 
 manded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not." On this, 
 perhaps, Tatian the chief of the Encratites endeavours to 
 build his heresy, asserting that wine is not to be drunk, 
 since it was commanded in the law that the Nazarites were 
 not to drink wine, and now those who give the Nazarite wine 
 are accused by the prophet. (Hieron. Com. in Amos.) 
 
 XI. 
 
 Tatian, the patriarch of the Encratites, who himself re- 
 jected some of Paul's epistles, believed this especially, that is 
 [addressed] to Titus, ought to be declared to be the apostle's, 
 thinking little of the assertion of Marcion and others, who 
 agree with him on this point. 
 
 (Hieron. Prcef. in Com. ad Tit.)
 
 THE THREE BOOKS OF 
 THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH TO AUTOLYCUS.
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 j]ITTLE is known of the personal history of Theo- 
 philus of Antioch. We gather from the follow- 
 ing treatise that he was born a pagan (i. 14), and 
 owed his conversion to Christianity to the careful 
 study of the Holy Scriptures. Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. iv. 20) 
 declares that he was the sixth bishop of Antioch in Syria 
 from the apostles, the names of his supposed predecessors 
 being Eros, Cornelius, Hero, Ignatius, and Euodius. We 
 also learn from the same writer that Theophilus succeeded to 
 the bishopric of Antioch in the eighth year of the reign of 
 Marcus Aurelius, that is, in A.D. 168. He is related to have 
 died either in A.D. 181, or in A.D. 188 ; some assigning him 
 an episcopate of thirteen, and others of twenty-one, years. 
 
 Theophilus is said by Eusebius, Jerome, and others, to 
 have written several works against the heresies which pre- 
 vailed in his day. He himself refers in the following treatise 
 (ii. 30) to another of his compositions. Commentaries on the 
 Gospels, arranged in the form of a harmony, and on the book 
 of Proverbs, are also ascribed to him by Jerome ; but the sole 
 remaining specimen of his writings consists of the three books 
 that follow, addressed to his friend Autolycus. The occasion 
 which called these forth is somewhat doubtful. It has been 
 thought that they were written in refutation of a work which 
 Autolycus had published against Christianity ; but the more 
 probable opinion is, that they were drawn forth by disparaging 
 remarks made in conversation. The language of the writer 
 (ii. 1) leads to this conclusion. 
 
 In handling his subject, Theophilus goes over much the 
 same ground as Justin Martyr and the rest of the early 
 
 51
 
 52 INTROD UCTOR Y NOTICE. 
 
 apologists. He is somewhat fond of fanciful interpretations 
 of Scripture ; but he evidently had a profound acquaintance 
 with the inspired writings, and he powerfully exhibits their 
 immense superiority in every respect over the heathen poetry 
 and philosophy. The whole treatise was well fitted to lead 
 on an intelligent pagan to the cordial acceptance of Chris- 
 tianity.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CHAP. I. Autolycus an idolater and scorner of Christians. 
 
 FLUENT tongue and an elegant style afford plea- 
 sure and such praise as vainglory delights in, to 
 wretched men who have been corrupted in mind ; 
 the lover of truth does not give heed to ornamented 
 speeches, but examines the real matter of the speech, what it 
 is, and what kind it is. Since, then, my friend, you have as- 
 sailed me with empty words, boasting of your gods of wood and 
 stone, hammered and cast, carved and graven, which neither see 
 nor hear, for they are idols, and the works of men's hands ; and 
 since, besides, you call me a Christian, as if this were a dam- 
 ning name to bear, I, for my part, avow that I am a Christian, 
 and bear this name beloved of God, hoping to be serviceable * 
 to God. For it is not the case, as you suppose, that the name 
 of God is hard to bear ; but possibly you entertain this opinion 
 of God, because you are yourself yet unserviceable to Him. 
 
 CHAP, u. That the eyes of the soul must be purged ere 
 God can be seen. 
 
 But if you say, " Show me thy God," I would reply, " Show 
 me yourself, 2 and I will show you my God." Show, then, 
 that the eyes of your soul are capable of seeing, and the ears 
 of your heart able to hear ; for as those who look with the 
 eyes of the body perceive earthly objects and what concerns 
 
 f, punning on the name Christian. 
 2 Literally, "your man;" the invisible soul, as the noblest part of man, 
 being probably intended. 
 
 68
 
 54 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 this life, and discriminate at the same time between things 
 that differ, whether light or darkness, white or black, deformed 
 or beautiful, well-proportioned and symmetrical or dispropor- 
 tioned and awkward, or monstrous or mutilated ; and as in 
 like manner also, by the sense of hearing, we discriminate 
 either sharp, or deep, or sweet sounds; so the same holds 
 good regarding the eyes of the soul and the ears of the heart, 
 that it is by them we are able to behold God. For God is 
 seen by those who are enabled to see Him when they have 
 the eyes of their soul opened : for all have eyes ; but in 
 some they are overspread, 1 and do not see the light of the 
 sun. Yet it does not follow, because the blind do not see, 
 that the light of the sun does not shine ; but let the blind 
 blame themselves and their own eyes. So also thou, O man, 
 hast the eyes of thy soul overspread by thy sins and evil 
 deeds. As a burnished mirror, so ought man to have his soul 
 pure. When there is rust on the mirror, it is not possible 
 that a man's face be seen in the mirror ; so also when there 
 is sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God. Do you, 
 therefore, show me yourself, whether you are not an adulterer, 
 or a fornicator, or a thief, or a robber, or a purloiner ; whether 
 you do not corrupt boys ; whether you are not insolent, or a 
 slanderer, or passionate, or envious, or proud, or supercilious ; 
 whether you are not a brawler, or covetous, or disobedient to 
 parents ; and whether you do not sell your children ; for to 
 those who do these things God is not manifest, unless they 
 have first cleansed themselves from all impurity. All these 
 things, then, involve you in darkness, as when a filmy de- 
 fluxion on the eyes prevents one from beholding the light 
 of the sun : thus also do iniquities, O man, involve you in 
 darkness, so that you cannot see God. 
 
 CHAP. in. Nature of God. 
 
 You will say, then, to me, " Do you, who see God, explain 
 to me the appearance of God." Hear, O man. The appear- 
 ance of God is ineffable and indescribable, and cannot be 
 seen by eyes of flesh. For in glory He is incomprehensible, 
 1 The technical word for a disease of the eye, like cataract.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 55 
 
 in greatness unfathomable, in height inconceivable, in power 
 incomparable, in wisdom unrivalled, in goodness inimitable, 
 in kindness unutterable. For if I say He is Light, I name 
 but His own work ; if I call Him Word, I name but His 
 sovereignty ; if I call Him Mind, I speak but of His wisdom ; 
 if I say He is Spirit, I speak of His breath ; if I call Him 
 Wisdom, I speak of His offspring ; if I call Him Strength, I 
 speak of His sway ; if I call Him Power, I am mentioning 
 His activity ; if Providence, I but mention His goodness ; if 
 I call Him Kingdom, I but mention His glory ; if I call Him 
 Lord, I mention His being judge ; if I call Him Judge, I 
 speak of Him as being just ; if I call Him Father, I speak of 
 all things as being from Him ; l if I call Him Fire, I but 
 mention His anger. You will say, then, to me, " Is God 
 angry ? " Yes ; He is angry with those who act wickedly, 
 but He is good, and kind, and merciful, to those who love 
 and fear Him ; for He is a chastener 2 of the godly, and 
 father of the righteous ; but he is a judge and punisher of 
 the impious. 
 
 CHAP. iv. Attributes of God. 
 
 And He is without beginning, because He is unbegotten ; 
 and He is unchangeable, because He is immortal. And He 
 is called God [0eo?] on account of His having placed [reOei- 
 Kevcu~] all things on security afforded by Himself; and on 
 account of [Qeeiv], for Qk&w means running, and moving, and 
 being active, and nourishing, and foreseeing, and governing, 
 and making all things alive. But he is Lord, because He 
 rules over the universe; Father, because he is before all 
 things ; Fashioner and Maker, because He is creator and 
 maker of the universe ; the Highest, because of His being 
 above all ; and Almighty, because He Himself rules and 
 embraces all. For the heights of heaven, and the depths of 
 
 1 The translation here follows the Hamburg editor ; others read, " If 
 Father, I say everything." 
 
 2 Maranus observes that Theophilus means to indicate the difference 
 between God's chastisement of the righteous and His punishment of the 
 wicked.
 
 56 THEOPHIL US TO A UTOL TCUS. 
 
 the abysses, and the ends of the earth, are in His hand, and 
 there is no place of His rest. For the heavens are His work, 
 the earth is His creation, the sea is His handiwork ; man is 
 His formation and His image ; sun, moon, and stars are His 
 elements, made for signs, and seasons, and days, and years, 
 that they may serve and be slaves to man ; and all things 
 God has made out of things that were not into things that 
 are, in order that through His works His greatness may be 
 known and understood. 
 
 CHAP. v. TJie invisible God perceived through His works. 
 
 For as the soul in man is not seen, being invisible to men, 
 but is perceived through the motion of the body, so God can- 
 not indeed be seen by human eyes, but is beheld and per- 
 ceived through His providence and works. For, in like 
 manner, as any person, when he sees a ship on the sea rigged 
 and in sail, and making for the harbour, will no doubt infer 
 that there is a pilot in her who is steering her ; so we must 
 perceive that God is the governor [pilot] of the whole universe, 
 though He be not visible to eyes of flesh, since He is incom- 
 prehensible. For if a man cannot look upon the sun, though 
 it be a very small heavenly body, on account of its exceeding 
 heat and power, how shall not a mortal man be much more 
 unable to face the glory of God, which is unutterable ? For 
 as the pomegranate, with the rind containing it, has within it 
 many cells and compartments which are separated by tissues, 
 and has also many seeds dwelling in it, so the whole creation 
 is contained by the spirit 1 of God, and the containing spirit 
 is along with the creation contained by the hand of God. As, 
 therefore, the seed of the pomegranate, dwelling inside, cannot 
 see what is outside the rind, itself being within ; so neither 
 can man, who along with the whole creation is enclosed by 
 the hand of God, behold God. Then again, an earthly king 
 is believed to exist, even though he be not seen by all, for he 
 is recognised by his laws and ordinances, and authorities, and 
 
 1 The reference here is not to the Holy Spirit, but to that vital power 
 which is supposed to be diffused throughout the universe. Comp. Book 
 ii. 4.
 
 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 57 
 
 forces, and statues ; and are you unwilling that God should 
 be recognised by His works and mighty deeds ? 
 
 CHAP. VI. God is known by His works. 
 
 Consider, O man, His works, the timely rotation of the 
 seasons, and the changes of temperature ; the regular march 
 of the stars ; the well-ordered course of days and nights, and 
 months, and years ; the various beauty of seeds, and plants, and 
 fruits ; and the divers species 1 of quadrupeds, and birds, and 
 reptiles, and fishes, both of the rivers and of the sea ; or con- 
 sider the instinct implanted in these animals to beget and 
 rear offspring, not for their own profit, but for the use of 
 man ; and the providence with which God provides nourish- 
 ment for all flesh, or the subjection in which He has ordained 
 that all things subserve mankind. Consider, too, the flowing 
 of sweet fountains and never-failing rivers, and the seasonable 
 supply of dews, and showers, and rains ; the manifold move- 
 ment of the heavenly bodies, the morning star rising and 
 heralding the approach of the perfect luminary ; and the con- 
 stellation of Pleiades, and Orion, and Arcturus, and the orbit 
 of the other stars that circle through the heavens, all of which 
 the manifold wisdom of God has called by names of their 
 own. He is God alone who made light out of darkness, and 
 brought forth light from His treasures, and formed the 
 chambers of the south wind, 2 and the treasure-houses of the 
 deep, and the bounds of the seas, and the treasuries of snows 
 and hail-storms, collecting the waters in the storehouses of 
 the deep, and the darkness in His treasures, and bringing 
 forth the sweet, and desirable, and pleasant light out of His 
 treasures ; " who causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends 
 of the earth: He maketh lightnings for the rain;" 3 who 
 sends forth His thunder to terrify, and foretells by the 
 lightning the peal of the thunder, that no soul may faint 
 with the sudden shock ; and who so moderates the violence 
 of the lightning as it flashes out of heaven, that it does not 
 consume the earth ; for, if the lightning were allowed all its 
 power, it would burn up the earth ; and were the thunder 
 
 1 Literally, " propagation." 2 Job ix. 9. 8 Ps. cxxxv. 7.
 
 58 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 allowed all its power, it would overthrow all the works that 
 are therein. 
 
 CHAP. vn. We shall see God when we put on immortality. 
 
 This is my God, the Lord of all, who alone stretched out 
 the heaven, and established the breadth of the earth under it ; 
 who stirs the deep recesses of the sea, and makes its waves 
 roar ; who rules its power, and stills the tumult of its waves ; 
 who founded the earth upon the waters, and gave a spirit to 
 nourish it ; whose breath giveth life to the whole, who, if He 
 withdraw His breath, the whole will utterly fail. By Him 
 you speak, O man ; His breath you breathe, yet Him you 
 know not. And this is your condition, because of the blind- 
 ness of your soul, and the hardness of your heart. But, if you 
 will, you may be healed. Entrust yourself to the Physician, 
 and He will couch the eyes of your soul and of your heart. 
 Who is the Physician ? God, who heals and makes alive 
 through His word and wisdom. God by His own word and 
 wisdom made all things ; for " by His word were the 
 heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of His 
 mouth.'* 1 Most excellent is His wisdom. By His wisdom 
 God founded the earth ; and by knowledge He prepared the 
 heavens ; and by understanding were the fountains of the 
 great deep broken up, and the clouds poured out their dews. 
 If thou perceivest these things, O man, living chastely, and 
 holily, and righteously, thou canst see God. But before all 
 let faith and the fear of God have rule in thy heart, and 
 then shalt thou understand these things. When thou shalt 
 have put off the mortal, and put on incorruption, then shalt 
 thou .see God worthily. For God will raise thy flesh immor- 
 tal with thy soul ; and then, having become immortal, thou 
 shalt see the Immortal, if now you believe on Him ; and 
 then you shall know that you have spoken unjustly against 
 Him. 
 
 1 Ps. xxxiii. 6.
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 59 
 
 CHAP. vin. Faith required in all matters. 
 
 But you do not believe that the dead are raised. When 
 the resurrection shall take place, then you will believe, 
 whether you will or no ; and your faith shall be reckoned 
 for unbelief, unless you believe now. And why do you not 
 believe ? Do you not know that faith is the leading principle 
 in all matters ? For what husbandman can reap, unless he 
 first trust his seed to the earth ? Or who can cross the sea, 
 unless he first entrust himself to the boat and the pilot? 
 And what sick person can be healed, unless first he trust 
 himself to the care of the physician ? And what art or 
 knowledge can any one learn, unless he first apply and 
 entrust himself to the teacher ? If, then, the husbandman 
 trusts the earth, and the sailor the boat, and the sick the 
 physician, will you not place confidence in God, even when 
 you hold so many pledges at His hand ? For first He created 
 you out of nothing, and brought you into existence (for if 
 your father was not, nor your mother, much more were you 
 yourself at one time not in being), and formed you out of a 
 small and moist substance, even out of the least drop, which 
 at one time had itself no being; and God introduced you 
 into this life. Moreover, you believe that the images made 
 by men are gods, and do great things ; and can you not believe 
 that the God who made you is able also to make you after- 
 wards? 1 
 
 CHAP. ix. Immoralities of the gods. 
 
 And, indeed, the names of those whom you say you wor- 
 ship, are the names of dead men. And these, too, who and 
 what kind of men were they ? Is not Saturn found to be a 
 cannibal, destroying and devouring his own children ? And 
 if you name his son Jupiter, hear also his deeds and conduct 
 first, how he was suckled by a goat on Mount Ida, and 
 having slain it, according to the myths, and flayed it, he 
 made himself a coat of the hide. And his other deeds, his 
 incest, and adultery, and lust, will be better recounted by 
 1 i.e. in the resurrection.
 
 60 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOL7CUS. 
 
 Komer and the rest of the poets. Why should I further 
 speak of his sons ? How Hercules burnt himself ; and about 
 the drunk and raging Bacchus ; and of Apollo fearing and 
 fleeing from Achilles, and falling in love with Daphne, and 
 being unaware of the fate of Hyacinthus ; and of Venus 
 wounded, and of Mars, the pest of mortals ; and of the ichor 
 flowing from the so-called gods. And these, indeed, are the 
 milder kinds of legends ; since the god who is called Osiris is 
 found to have been torn limb from limb, whose mysteries 
 are celebrated annually, as if he had perished, and were 
 being found, and sought for limb by limb. For neither is 
 it known whether he perished, nor is it shown whether he is 
 found. And why should I speak of Atys mutilated, or of 
 Adonis wandering in the wood, and wounded by a boar while 
 hunting ; or of .ZEsculapius struck by a thunderbolt ; or of 
 the fugitive Serapis chased from Sinope to Alexandria ; or of 
 the Scythian Diana, herself, too, a fugitive, and a homicide, 
 and a huntress, and a passionate lover of Endymion ? Now, 
 it is not we who publish these things, but your own writers 
 and poets. 
 
 CHAP. x. Absurdities of idolatry. 
 
 Why should I further recount the multitude of animals 
 worshipped by the Egyptians, both reptiles, and cattle, and 
 wild beasts, and birds, and river-fishes ; and even wash-pots 
 and disgraceful noises ? But if you cite the Greeks and the 
 other nations, they worship stones and wood, and other kinds 
 of material substances, the images, as we have just been 
 saying, of dead men. For Phidias is found in Pisa making 
 for the Eleians the Olympian Jupiter, and at Athens the 
 Minerva of the Acropolis. And I will inquire of you, 
 my friend, how many Jupiters exist. For there is, firstly, 
 Jupiter surnamed Olympian, then Jupiter Latiaris, and 
 Jupiter Cassius, and Jupiter Tonans, and Jupiter Propator, 
 and Jupiter Pannychius, and Jupiter Poliuchus, and Jupiter 
 Capitolinus ; and that Jupiter, the son of Saturn, who is king 
 of the Cretans, has a tomb in Crete, but the rest, possibly, 
 were not thought worthy of tombs. And if you speak of
 
 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 61 
 
 the mother of those who are called gods, far be it from me 
 to utter with my lips her deeds, or the deeds of those by 
 whom she is worshipped (for it is unlawful for us so much 
 as to name such things), and what vast taxes and revenues 
 she and her sons furnish to the king. For these are not 
 gods, hut idols, as we have already said, the works of men's 
 hands and unclean demons. And such may all those become 
 who make them and put their trust in them ! 
 
 CHAP. xi. The king to be honoured, God to be worshipped. 
 
 Wherefore I will rather honour the king [than your 
 gods], not, indeed, worshipping him, but praying for him. 
 But God, the living and true God, I worship, knowing that 
 the king is made by Him. You will say, then, to me, 
 "Why do you not worship the king?" Because he is not 
 made to be worshipped, but to be reverenced with lawful 
 honour, for he is not a god, but a man appointed by God, 
 not to be worshipped, but to judge justly. For in a kind of 
 way his government is committed to him by God : as He will 
 not have those called kings whom He has appointed under 
 Himself ; for " king" is his title, and it is not lawful for 
 another to use it ; so neither is it lawful for any to be wor- 
 shipped but God only. Wherefore, O man, you are wholly 
 in error. Accordingly, honour the king, be subject to him, 
 and pray for him with loyal mind ; for if you do this, 
 you do the will of God. For the law that is of God, says, 
 "My son, fear thou the Lord and the king, and be not 
 disobedient to them; for suddenly they shall take ven- 
 geance on their enemies." 1 
 
 CHAP. xn. Meaning of the name Christian. 
 
 And about your laughing at me and calling me " Chris- 
 tian," you know not what you are saying. First, because that 
 which is anointed 2 is sweet and serviceable, and far from con- 
 
 1 Prov. xxiv. 21, 22. The Greek of Theophilus has " honour " instead 
 of "fear." 
 
 2 " The argumentation of this chapter depends on the literal meaning 
 which Theophilus attaches to Christos, the anointed One ; and he plays
 
 62 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 temptible. For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy, 
 unless it be first caulked [anointed] ? Or what castle or house 
 is beautiful and serviceable when it has not been anointed ? 
 And what man, when he enters into this life or into the 
 gymnasium, is not anointed with oil ? And what work 
 has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and 
 burnished t Then the air and all that is under heaven is 
 in a certain sort anointed by light and spirit ; and are you 
 unwilling to be anointed with the oil of God ? Wherefore 
 we are called Christians on this account, because we are 
 anointed with the oil of God. 
 
 CHAP. xin. The resurrection proved by examples. 
 
 Then, as to your denying that the dead are raised for 
 you say, " Show me even one who has been raised from the 
 dead, that seeing I may believe," first, what great thing is 
 it if you believe when you have seen the thing done ? Then, 
 again, you believe that Hercules, who burned himself, lives ; 
 and that JEsculapius, who was struck with lightning, was 
 raised ; and do you disbelieve the things that are told you by 
 God ? But, suppose I should show you a dead man raised 
 and alive, even this you would disbelieve. God indeed 
 exhibits to you many proofs that you may believe Him. 
 For consider, if you please, the dying of seasons, and days, 
 and nights, how these also die and rise again. And what ? 
 Is there not a resurrection going on of seeds and fruits, and 
 this, too, for the use of men ? A seed of wheat, for example, 
 or of the other grains, when it is cast into the earth, first dies 
 and rots away, then is raised, and becomes a stalk of corn. 
 And the nature of trees and fruit-trees, is it not that accord- 
 ing to the appointment of God they produce their fruits in 
 their seasons out of what has been unseen and invisible? 
 Moreover, sometimes also a sparrow or some of the other 
 birds, when in drinking it has swallowed a seed of apple or 
 fig, or something else, has come to some rocky hillock or 
 tomb, and has left the seed in its droppings, and the seed, 
 
 on this meaning, and also on the similarity of pronunciation between 
 ' useful,' and xptcros, ' anointed.'" DONALDSON.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 63 
 
 which was once swallowed, and has passed through so great 
 a heat, now striking root, a tree has grown up.- And all 
 these things does the wisdom of God effect, in order to 
 manifest even by these things, that God is able to effect 
 the general resurrection of all men. And if you would 
 witness a more wonderful sight, which may prove a resur- 
 rection not only of earthly but of heavenly bodies, consider 
 the resurrection of the moon, which occurs monthly ; how it 
 wanes, dies, and rises again. Hear further, O man, of the 
 work of resurrection going on in yourself, even though you 
 are unaware of it. For perhaps you have sometimes fallen 
 sick, and lost flesh, and strength, and beauty ; but when you 
 received again from God mercy and healing, you picked up 
 again in flesh and appearance, and recovered also your 
 strength. And as you do not know where your flesh went 
 away and disappeared to, so neither do you know whence it 
 grew, or whence it came again. But you will say, " From 
 meats and drinks changed into blood." Quite so ; but this, 
 too, is the work of God. who thus operates, and not of any 
 other. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. TheopJiilus an example of conversion. 
 
 Therefore, do not be sceptical, but believe ; for I myself 
 also used to disbelieve that this would take place, but now, 
 having taken these things into consideration, I believe. At 
 the same time, I met with the sacred Scriptures of the holy 
 prophets, who also by the Spirit of God foretold the things 
 that have already happened, just as they came to pass, and 
 the things now occurring as they are now happening, and 
 things future in the order in which they shall be accom- 
 plished. Admitting, therefore, the proof which events hap- 
 pening as predicted afford, I do not disbelieve, but I believe, 
 obedient to God, whom, if you please, do you also submit to, 
 believing Him, lest if now you continue unbelieving, you be 
 convinced hereafter, when you are tormented with eternal 
 punishments ; which punishments, when they had been fore- 
 told by the prophets, the later-born poets and philosophers 
 stole from the holy Scriptures, to make their doctrines
 
 64 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 worthy of credit. Yet these also have spoken beforehand 
 of the punishments that are to light upon the profane and 
 unbelieving, in order that none be left without a witness, or 
 be able to say, " We have not heard, neither have we known." 
 But do you also, if you please, give reverential attention to 
 the prophetic Scriptures, and they will make your way plainer 
 for escaping the eternal punishments, and obtaining the eternal 
 prizes of God. For He who gave the mouth for speech, and 
 formed the ear to hear, and made the eye to see, will examine 
 all things, and will judge righteous judgment, rendering 
 merited awards to each. To those who by patient continu- 
 ance in well-doing 1 seek immortality, He will give life ever- 
 lasting, joy, peace, rest, and abundance of good things, which 
 neither hath eye seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into 
 the heart of man to conceive. 2 But to the unbelieving and 
 despisers, who obey not the truth, but are obedient to un- 
 righteousness, when they shall have been filled with adulteries 
 and fornications, and filthiness, and covetousness, and unlaw- 
 ful idolatries, there shall be anger and wrath, tribulation 
 and anguish, 3 and at the last everlasting fire shall possess 
 such men. Since you said, " Show me thy God," this is 
 my God, and I counsel you to fear Him and to trust Him. 
 1 Rom. ii. 6. 8 1 Cor. xi. 9. * Eom. ii. 8.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 CHAP. I. Occasion of writing this book. 
 
 When we had formerly some conversation, my very good 
 friend Autolycus, and when you inquired who was my God, 
 and for a little paid attention to my discourse, I made some 
 explanations to you concerning my religion ; and then having 
 bid one another adieu, we went with much mutual friendli- 
 ness each to his own house, although at first you had borne 
 somewhat hard upon me. For you know and remember that 
 you supposed our doctrine was foolishness. As you then 
 afterwards urged me to do, I am desirous, though not edu- 
 cated to the art of speaking, of more accurately demonstrating, 
 by means of this tractate, the vain labour and empty worship 
 in which you are held ; and I wish also, from a few of your 
 own histories which you read, and perhaps do not yet quite 
 understand, to make the truth plain to you. 
 
 CHAP. ii. TJie gods are despised when they are made; 
 but become valuable when bought. 
 
 And in truth it does seem to me absurd that statuaries and 
 carvers, or painters, or moulders, should both design and paint, 
 and carve, and mould, and prepare gods, who, when they are 
 produced by the artificers, are reckoned of no value ; but as 
 soon as they are purchased * by some and placed in some so- 
 called temple, or in some house, not only do those who bought 
 them sacrifice to them, but also those who made and sold them 
 come with much devotion, and apparatus of sacrifice, and liba- 
 tions, to worship them ; and they reckon them gods, not seeing 
 that they are just such as when they were made by themselves, 
 
 1 The words " by some and placed in " are omitted in some editions, 
 but occur in the best MSS. 
 
 E
 
 66 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 whether stone, or brass, or wood, or colour, or some other 
 material. And this is your case, too, when you read the his- 
 tories and genealogies of the so-called gods. For when you 
 read of their births, you think of them as men, but afterwards 
 you call them gods, and worship them, not reflecting nor 
 understanding that, when born, they are exactly such beings 
 as ye read of before. 
 
 CHAP. in. What has become of the gods ? 
 
 And of the gods of former times, if indeed they were be- 
 gotten, the generation was sufficiently prolific. But now, 
 where is their generation exhibited ? For if of old they begot 
 and were begotten, it is plain that even to the present time 
 there should be gods begotten and born ; or at least if it be 
 not so, such a race will be reckoned impotent. For either 
 they have waxed old, and on that account no longer beget, or 
 they have died out and no longer exist. For if the gods were 
 begotten, they ought to be born even until now, as men, too, 
 are born ; yea, much more numerous should the gods be than 
 men, as the Sibyl says : 
 
 " For if the gods beget, and each remains 
 Immortal, then the race of gods must be 
 More numerous than mortals, and the throng 
 So great that mortals find no room to stand." 
 
 For if the children begotten of men who are mortal and short- 
 lived make an appearance even until now, and men have not 
 ceased to be born, so that cities and villages are full, and even 
 the country places also are inhabited, how ought not the gods, 
 who, according to your poets, do not die, much rather to 
 beget and be begotten, since you say that the gods were pro- 
 duced by generation? And why was the mount which is 
 called Olympus formerly inhabited by the gods, but now lies 
 deserted ? Or why did Jupiter, in days of yore, dwell on 
 Ida, and was known to dwell there, according to Homer and 
 other poets, but now is beyond ken ? And why was he found 
 only in one part of the earth, and not everywhere ? For 
 either he neglected the other parts, or was not able to be 
 present everywhere and provide for all. For if he were, e.g.
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 67 
 
 in an eastern place, he was not in the western ; and if, on 
 the other hand, he were present in the western parts, he was 
 not in the eastern. But this is the attribute of God, the 
 Highest and Almighty, and the living God, not only to be 
 everywhere present, but also to see all things and to hear all, 
 and by no means to be confined in a place ; for if He were, 
 then the place containing Him would be greater than He ; 
 for that which contains is greater than that which is contained. 
 For God is not contained, but is Himself the place of all. 
 But why has Jupiter left Ida ? Was it because he died, or 
 did that mountain no longer please him ? And where has 
 he gone ? To heaven ? No. But you will perhaps say, To 
 Crete ? Yes, for there, too, his tomb is shown to this day. 
 Again, you will say, To Pisa, where he reflects glory on the 
 hands of Phidias to this day. Let us, then, proceed to the 
 writings of the philosophers and poets. 
 
 CHAP. IV. Absurd opinions of the philosophers concerning 
 
 God. 
 
 Some of the philosophers of the Porch say that there is no 
 God at all ; or, if there is, they say that He cares for none 
 but Himself ; and these views the folly of Epicurus and 
 Chrysippus has set forth at large. And others say that all 
 things are produced without external agency, and that the 
 world is uncreated, and that nature is eternal ; * and have dared 
 to give out that there is no providence of God at all, but 
 maintain that God is only each man's conscience. And others 
 again maintain that the spirit which pervades all things is 
 God. But Plato and those of his school acknowledge indeed 
 that God is uncreated, and the Father and Maker .of all 
 things ; but then they maintain that matter as well as God is 
 uncreated, and aver that it is coeval with God. But if God 
 is uncreated and matter uncreated, God is no longer, accord- 
 ing to the Platonists, the Creator of all things, nor, so far as 
 their opinions hold, is the monarchy 2 of God established. And 
 
 1 This is according to the Benedictine reading : the reading of Wolf, 
 " nature is left to itself," is also worthy of consideration. 
 
 2 That is, the existence of God as sole first principle.
 
 68 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 farther, as God, because He is uncreated, is also unalterable , 
 so if matter, too, were uncreated, it also would be unalterable, 
 and equal to God ; for that which is created is mutable and 
 alterable, but that which is uncreated is immutable and un- 
 alterable. And what great thing is it if God made the world 
 out of existent materials? 1 For even a human artist, when 
 he gets material from some one, makes of it what he pleases. 
 But the power of God is manifested in this, that out of things 
 that are not He makes whatever He pleases ; just as the 
 bestowal of life and motion is the prerogative of no other 
 than God alone. For even man makes indeed an image, but 
 reason and breath, or feeling, he cannot give to what he has 
 made. But God has this property in excess of what man 
 can do, in that He makes a work, endowed with reason, life, 
 sensation. As, therefore, in all these respects God is more 
 powerful than man, so also in this ; that out of things that 
 are not He creates and has created things that are, and what- 
 ever He pleases, as He pleases. 
 
 CHAP.V. Opinions of Homer and Hesiod concerning the gods. 
 
 So that the opinion of your philosophers and authors is 
 discordant ; for while the former have propounded the fore- 
 going opinions, the poet Homer is found explaining the origin 
 not only of the world, but also of the gods, on quite another 
 hypothesis. For he says somewhere : 2 
 
 " Father of Gods, Oceanus, and she 
 Who bare the gods, their mother Tethys, too, 
 From whom all rivers spring, and every sea." 
 
 In saying which, however, he does not present God to us. 
 For who does not know that the ocean is water ? But if 
 water, then not God. God indeed, if He is the creator of 
 all things, as He certainly is, is the creator both of the 
 water and of the seas. And Hesiod himself also declared 
 the origin, not only of the gods, but also of the world 
 itself. And though he said that the world was created, he 
 showed no inclination to tell us by whom it was created. 
 Besides, he said that Saturn, and his sons Jupiter, Neptune, 
 1 Literally, " subject-matter." 2 11. xiv. 201.
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 69 
 
 and Pluto, were gods, though we find that they are. later born 
 than the world. And he also relates how Saturn was assailed 
 in war by his own son Jupiter ; for he says : l 
 
 " His father Saturn he by might o'ercame, 
 And 'mong th' immortals ruled with justice wise, 
 And honours fit distributed to each." 
 
 Then he introduces in his poem the daughters of Jupiter, 
 whom he names Muses, and as whose suppliant he appears, 
 desiring to ascertain from them how all things were made ; 
 for he says : 2 
 
 " Daughters of Jove, all hail ! Grant me your aid 
 That I in numbers sweet and well-arrayed, 
 Of the immortal gods may sing the birth ; 
 Who of the starry heav'ns were born, and earth ; 
 Who, springing from the murky night at first, 
 Were by the briny ocean reared and nursed. 
 Tell, too, who form unto the earth first gave, 
 And rivers, and the boundless sea whose wave 
 Unwearied sinks, then rears its crest on high ; 
 And how was spread yon glittering canopy 
 Of glistening stars that stud the wide-spread heaven. 
 Whence sprang the gods by whom all good is given ? 
 Tell from their hands what varied gifts there came, 
 Eiches to some, to others wealth, or fame ; 
 How they have dwelt from the remotest time 
 In many-nooked Olympus' sunny clime. 
 These things, ye Muses, say, who ever dwell 
 Among Olympian shades since ye can tell : 
 From the beginning there thy feet have strayed ; 
 Then tell us which of all things first was made." 
 
 But how could the Muses, who are younger than the world, 
 know these things? Or how could they relate to Hesiod 
 [what was happening], when their father was not yet born ? 
 
 CHAP. VI. Hesiod on the origin of the world. 
 
 And in a certain way he indeed admits matter [as self- 
 existent] and the creation of the world [without a creator], 
 saying : 
 
 " First of all things was chaos made, and next 
 Broad-bosom'd earth's foundations firm were fixed, 
 
 1 Hesiod, Theog. 74. 2 Theog. 104.
 
 70 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLICUS. 
 
 Where safely the immortals dwell for aye, 
 
 Who in the snowy-peak'd Olympus stay. 
 
 Afterwards gloomy Tartarus had birth 
 
 In the recesses of broad-pathwayed earth, 
 
 And Love, ev'n among gods most beauteous still, 
 
 Who comes all-conquering, bending mind and will, 
 
 Delivering from care, and giving then 
 
 Wise counsel in the breasts of gods and men. 
 
 From chaos Erebus and night were born, 
 
 From night and Erebus sprung air and morn. 
 
 Earth in her likeness made the starry heaven, 
 
 That unto all things shelter might be given, 
 
 And that the blessed gods might there repose. 
 
 The lofty mountains by her power arose, 
 
 For the wood-nymphs she made the pleasant caves, 
 
 Begot the sterile sea with all his waves, 
 
 Loveless ; but when by heaven her love was sought, 
 
 Then the deep-eddying ocean forth she brought." 
 And saying this, he has not yet explained by whom all this 
 was made. For if chaos existed in the beginning, and matter 
 of some sort, being uncreated, was previously existing, who 
 was it that effected the change on its condition, and gave it a 
 different order and shape 1 Did matter itself alter its own 
 form and arrange itself into a world (for Jupiter was born, 
 not only long after matter, but long after the world and many 
 men ; and so, too, was his father Saturn), or was there some 
 ruling power which made it ; I mean, of course, God, who also 
 fashioned it into a world ? Besides, he is found in every way 
 to talk nonsense, and to contradict himself. For when he 
 mentions earth, and sky, and sea, he gives us to understand 
 that from these the gods were produced ; and from these 
 again [the gods] he declares that certain very dreadful men 
 were sprung, the race of the Titans and the Cyclopes, and a 
 crowd of giants, and of the Egyptian gods, or, rather, vain 
 men, as Apollonides, surnamed Horapius, mentions in the 
 book entitled Semenouthi, and in his other histories concern- 
 ing the worship of the Egyptians and their kings, and the 
 vain labours in which they engaged. 1 
 
 1 The Benedictine editor proposes to read these words after the first 
 clause of c. 7. We follow the reading of Wolf and Fell, who understand 
 the pyramids to be referred to.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 71 
 
 CHAP. vn. Fabulous heathen genealogies. 
 
 Why need I recount the Greek fables, of Pluto, king of 
 darkness, of Neptune descending beneath the sea, and embrac- 
 ing Melanippe and begetting a cannibal son, or the many 
 tales your writers have woven into their tragedies concerning 
 the sons of Jupiter, and whose pedigree they register because 
 they were born men, and not gods ? And the comic poet 
 Aristophanes, in the play called " The Birds," having taken 
 upon him to handle the subject of the Creation, said that in 
 the beginning the world was produced from an egg, saying: 1 
 " A windy egg was laid by black- winged night 
 At first." 
 
 But Satyrus, also giving a history of the Alexandrine families, 
 beginning from Philopator, who was also named Ptolemy, 
 gives out that Bacchus was his progenitor ; wherefore also 
 Ptolemy w r as the founder of this 2 family. Satyrus then 
 speaks thus : That Dejanira was born of Bacchus and Althea, 
 the daughter of Thestius ; and from her and Hercules the 
 son of Jupiter there sprang, as I suppose, Hyllus ; and from 
 him Cleodemus, and from him Aristomachus, and from him 
 Temenus, and from him Ceisus, and from him Maron, and 
 from him Thestius, and from him Acous, and from him Aris- 
 tomidas, and from him Caranus, and from him Co3nus, and 
 from him Tyrimmas, and from him Perdiccas, and from him 
 Philip, and from him ^Eropus, and from him Alcetas, and 
 from him Amyntas, and from him Bocrus, and from him 
 Meleager, and from him Arsinoe, and from her and Lagu 
 Ptolemy Soter, and from him and Arsinoe Ptolemy Euer 
 getes, and from him and Berenice, daughter of Maga, king ofc 
 Cyrene, Ptolemy Philopator. Thus, then, stands the relation- 
 ship of the Alexandrine kings to Bacchus. And therefore 
 in the Dionysian tribe there are distinct families : the Altheaiv 
 from Althea, who was the wife of Dionysus and daughter of 
 Thestius ; the family of Dejanira also, from her who was tho 
 
 1 Aristoph. Av. 695. A wind-egg being one produced without impreg- 
 nation, and coming to nothing. 
 
 2 The Dionysian family taking its name from Dionysus or Bacchus.
 
 72 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 daughter of Dionysus and Althea, and wife of Hercules ; 
 whence, too, the families have their names : the family of 
 Ariadne, from Ariadne, daughter of Minos and wife of Dio- 
 nysus, a dutiful daughter, who had intercourse with Dionysus 
 in another form ; the Thestian, from Thestius, the father of 
 Althea ; the Thoantian, from Thoas, son of Dionysus ; the 
 Staphylian, from Staphylus, son of Dionysus ; the Euaanian, 
 from Eunous, son of Dionysus ; the Maronian, from Maron, 
 son of Ariadne and Dionysus ; for all these are sons of 
 Dionysus. And, indeed, many other names were thus origi- 
 nated, and exist to this day ; as the Heraclidse from Hercules, 
 and the Apollonidge from Apollo, and the Poseidonii from 
 Poseidon, and from Zeus the Dii and Diogense. 
 
 CHAP. VIII. Opinions concerning Providence. 
 
 And why should I recount further the vast array of such 
 names and genealogies ? So that all the authors and poets, 
 and those called philosophers, are wholly deceived ; and so, too, 
 are they who give heed to them. For they plentifully com- 
 posed fables and foolish stories about their gods, and did not 
 exhibit them as gods, but as men, and men, too, of whom some 
 were drunken, and others fornicators and murderers. But 
 also concerning the origin of the world, they uttered contra- 
 dictory and absurd opinions. First, some of them, as we 
 before explained, maintained that the world is uncreated. 
 And those who said it was uncreated and self-producing con- 
 tradicted those who propounded that it was created. For by 
 conjecture and human conception they spoke, and not knowing 
 the truth. And others, again, said that there was a providence, 
 and destroyed the positions of the former writers. Aratus, 
 indeed, says : l 
 
 " From Jove begin my song ; nor ever be 
 The name unuttered : all are full of thee ; 
 The ways and haunts of men ; the heavens and sea : 
 On thee our being hangs ; in thee we move ; 
 All are thy offspring and the seed of Jove. 
 
 1 The following lines are partly from the translation of Hughes.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 73 
 
 Benevolent, he warns mankind to good, 
 Urges to toil and prompts the hope of food. 
 He tells where cattle best may graze, and where 
 The soil, deep-furrowed, yellow grain will bear. 
 What time the husbandman should plant or sow, 
 'Tis his to tell, 'tis his alone to know." 
 
 Who, then, shall we believe : Aratus as here quoted, or So- 
 phocles, when he says : 1 
 
 " And foresight of the future there is none ; 
 'Tis best to live at random, as one can" ? 
 
 And Homer, again, does not agree with this, for he says 2 that 
 virtue 
 
 " Waxes or wanes in men as Jove decrees." 
 And Simonides says : 
 
 " No man nor state has virtue save from God ; 
 Counsel resides in God ; and wretched man 
 Has in himself nought but his wretchedness." 
 So, too, Euripides : 
 
 " Apart from God, there's nothing owned by men." 
 And Menander : 
 
 " Save God alone, there's none for us provides." 
 And Euripides again : 
 
 " For when God wills to save, all things He'll bend 
 
 To serve as instruments to work His end." 
 And Thestius : 
 
 " If God design to save you, safe you are, 
 
 Though sailing in mid-ocean on a mat." 3 
 
 And saying numberless things of a like kind, they contra- 
 dicted themselves. At least Sophocles, who in another place 
 denied Providence, says : 
 
 "No mortal can evade the stroke of God." 
 
 Besides, they both introduced a multitude of gods, and yet 
 spoke of a Unity; and against those who affirmed a Providence 
 they maintained in opposition that there was no Providence. 
 Wherefore Euripides says : 
 
 " We labour much and spend our strength in vain, 
 For empty hope, not foresight, is our guide." 
 
 1 (Edipus Rex. line 978. 2 //. xx. 242. 
 
 3 This verse is by Plutarch hesitatingly attributed to Pindar. The 
 expression, " Though you swim in a wicker basket," was proverbial.
 
 74 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 And without meaning to do so, they acknowledge that they 
 know not the truth ; but being inspired by demons and puffed 
 up by them, they spoke at their instance whatever they said. 
 For indeed the poets, Homer, to wit, and Hesiod, being, as 
 they say, inspired by the Muses, spoke from a deceptive 
 fancy, 1 and not with a pure but an erring spirit. And this, 
 indeed, clearly appears from the fact, that even to this day the 
 possessed are sometimes exorcised in the name of the living 
 and true God ; and these spirits of error themselves confess 
 that they are demons who also formerly inspired these writers. 
 But sometimes some of them wakened up in soul, and, that 
 they might be for a witness both to themselves and to all men, 
 spoke things in harmony with the prophets regarding the 
 monarchy of God, and the judgment and such like. 
 
 CHAP. ix. Tlie prophets inspired by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 But men of God carrying in them a holy spirit 2 and becom- 
 ing prophets, being inspired and made wise by God, became 
 God-taught, and holy, and righteous. Wherefore they were 
 also deemed worthy of receiving this reward, that they should 
 become instruments of God, and contain the wisdom that is 
 from Him, through which wisdom they uttered both what 
 regarded the creation of the world and all other things. For 
 they predicted also pestilences, and famines, and wars. And 
 there was not one or two, but many, at various times and 
 seasons among the Hebrews ; and also among the Greeks there 
 was the Sibyl ; and they all have spoken things consistent 
 and harmonious with each other, both what happened before 
 them and what happened in their own time, and what things 
 are now being fulfilled in our own day : wherefore we are 
 persuaded also concerning the future things that they will 
 fall out, as also the first have been accomplished. 
 
 CHAP. X. TJie world created l>y God through the Word. 
 
 And first, they taught us with one consent that God made 
 all things out of nothing ; for nothing was coeval with God : 
 
 1 Literally, " in fancy and error." 
 
 2 "Wolf prefers KvevftxTotpopot, carried or borne along by the Spirit.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 75 
 
 but He being His own place, and wanting nothing, and 
 existing before the ages, willed to make man by whom He 
 might be known ; for' him, therefore, He prepared the world. 
 For he that is created is also needy ; but he that is uncreated 
 stands in need of nothing. God, then, having His own Word 
 internal 1 within His own bowels, begat Him, emitting 2 Him 
 along with His own wisdom before all things. He had this 
 Word as a helper in the things that were created by Him, and 
 by Him He made all things. He is called "governing prin- 
 ciple" [/>%?}], because He rules, and is Lord of all things 
 fashioned by Him. He, then, being Spirit of God, and 
 governing principle, and wisdom, and power of the highest, 
 came down upon the prophets, and through them spake of the 
 creation of the world and of all other things. For the pro- 
 phets were not when the world came into existence, but the 
 wisdom of God which was in Him, and His holy Word which 
 was always present with Him. Wherefore He speaks thus 
 by the prophet Solomon : " When He prepared the heavens I 
 was there, and when He appointed the foundations of the 
 earth I was by Him as one brought up with Him." 3 And 
 Moses, who lived many years before Solomon, or, rather, the 
 Word of God by him as by an instrument, says, " In the be- 
 ginning God created the heavens and the earth." First he 
 named the "beginning," 4 and "creation," 5 then he thus in- 
 troduced God ; for not lightly and on slight occasion is it 
 right to name God. For the divine wisdom foreknew that 
 some would trifle and name a multitude of gods that do not 
 exist. In order, therefore, that the living God might be 
 known by His works, and that [it might be known that] by 
 His Word God created the heavens and the earth, and all 
 that is therein, he said, " In the beginning God created the 
 heavens and the earth." Then having spoken of their creation, 
 1 fi/lidTo. 2 Literally, belching or vomiting. 
 
 3 Prov. viii. 27. Theophilus reads with the Septuagint, " I was with 
 Him, putting things into order," instead of " I was by Him as one brought 
 up with Him." 
 
 4 That is, the first principle, whom he has just shown to be the Word. 
 8 In the Greek version of Gen: i. 1, the word " created" stands before 
 
 " God."
 
 70 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 he explains to us : " And the earth was without form, and 
 void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep ; and the 
 Spirit of God moved upon the water." This, sacred Scrip- 
 ture teaches at the outset, to show that matter, from which 
 God made and fashioned the world, was in some manner 
 created, being produced by God. 1 
 
 CHAP. xi. The six days' work described. 
 
 Now, the beginning of the creation is light ; since light 
 manifests the things that are created. Wherefore it is said : 
 " And God said, Let light be, 2 and light was ; and God saw the 
 light, that it was good," manifestly made good for man. " And 
 God divided the light from the darkness ; and God called the 
 light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the 
 evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, 
 Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let 
 it divide the waters from the waters : and it was so. And 
 God made the firmament, and divided the waters which 
 were under the firmament from the waters which were above 
 the firmament. And God called the firmament Heaven : 
 and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the 
 morning were the second day. And God said, Let the water 
 under the heaven be gathered into one place, and let the dry 
 land appear : and it was so. And the waters were gathered 
 together into their places, and the dry land appeared. And 
 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of 
 the waters He called Seas : and God saw that it was good. 
 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb 
 yielding seed after his kind and in his likeness, and the 
 fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in 
 itself, in his likeness : and it was so. And the earth brought 
 forth grass, the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the 
 
 1 Theophilus, therefore, understands that when in the first verse it is 
 said that God created the earth, it is meant that He created the matter 
 of which the earth is formed. 
 
 2 The words, "and light was ; and God saw the light, that it was good," 
 are omitted in the two best siss. and in some editions ; but they seem 
 to be necessary, and to have fallen out by the mistake of transcribers.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOL7CUS. 11 
 
 fruit-tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his 
 kind, on the earth : and God saw that it was good. And 
 the evening and the morning were the third day. And God 
 said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to 
 give light on earth, to divide the day from the night; -and 
 let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for 
 years ; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the 
 heaven, to give light upon the earth : and it was so. And 
 God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the day, 
 and the lesser light to rule the night : He made the stars also. 
 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give 
 light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the 
 night, and to divide the light from the darkness : and God 
 saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning 
 were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring 
 forth the creeping things that have life, and fowl flying 
 over the earth in the firmament of heaven : and it was so. 
 And God created great whales, and every living creature 
 that creepeth, which the waters brought forth after their 
 kind, and every winged fowl after his kind : and God saw 
 that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Increase 
 and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let fowl 
 multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning 
 were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring 
 forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping 
 thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was 
 so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, 
 and the cattle after their kind, and all the creeping things 
 of the earth. And God said, Let us make man in our 
 image, after our likeness ; and let them have dominion over 
 the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heaven, and over 
 the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping 
 thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man : 
 in the image of God created He him ; male and female 
 created He them. And God blessed them, saying, Be 
 fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue 
 it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the 
 fowl of the heaven, and over all cattle, and over all the earth,
 
 78 THEOPHIL US TO A UTOL TC US. 
 
 and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth. 
 And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing 
 seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree 
 in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it 
 shall be for meat, and to all the beasts of the earth, and to all 
 the fowls of heaven, and to every creeping thing that creepeth 
 upon the earth, which has in it the breath of life ; every green 
 herb for meat : and it was so. And God saw everything that 
 He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the even- 
 ing and the morning were the sixth day. And the heaven and 
 the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the 
 sixth day God finished His works which He made, and rested 
 on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And 
 God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it ; because in it 
 He rested from all His works which God began to create." 
 
 CHAP. XII. The glory of the six days' work. 
 
 Of this six days' work no man can give a worthy expla- 
 nation and description of all its parts, not though he had 
 ten thousand tongues and ten thousand mouths ; nay, though 
 he were to live ten thousand years, sojourning in this life, 
 not even so could he utter anything worthy of these things, 
 on account of the exceeding greatness and riches of the 
 wisdom of God which there is in the six days' work above 
 narrated. Many writers indeed have imitated [the narration], 
 and essayed to give an explanation of these things ; yet, 
 though they thence derived some suggestions, both concerning 
 the creation of the world and the nature of man, they have 
 emitted no slightest spark of truth. And the utterances of 
 the philosophers, and writers, and poets have an appearance 
 of trustworthiness, on account of the beauty of their diction ; 
 but their discourse is proved to be foolish and idle, because 
 the multitude of their nonsensical frivolities is very great ; 
 and not a stray morsel of truth is found in them. For even 
 if any truth seems to have been uttered by them, it has a 
 mixture of error. And as a deleterious drug, when mixed 
 with honey or wine, or some other thing, makes the whole 
 [mixture] hurtful and profitless ; so also eloquence is in their
 
 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 79 
 
 case found to be labour in vain ; yea, rather an injurious 
 thing to those who credit it. Moreover, [they spoke] con- 
 cerning the seventh day, which all men acknowledge ; but 
 the most know not that what among the Hebrews is called 
 the " Sabbath," is translated into Greek the " Seventh" 
 (e/SSo/ia?), a name which is adopted by every nation, al- 
 though they know not the reason of the appellation. And 
 as for what the poet Hesiod^says of Erebus being produced 
 from chaos, as well as the earth and love which lords it over 
 his [Hesiod's] gods and men, his dictum is shown to be idle 
 and frigid, and quite foreign to the truth. For it is not 
 meet that God be conquered by pleasure ; since even men of 
 temperance abstain from all base pleasure and wicked lust. 
 
 CHAP. xni. Remarks on the creation of the world. 
 
 Moreover, his [Hesiod's] human, and mean, and very 
 weak conception, so far as regards God, is discovered in 
 his beginning to relate the creation of all things from 
 the earthly things here below. For man, being below, 
 begins to build from the earth, and cannot in order make 
 the roof, unless he has first laid the foundation. But the 
 power of God is shown in this, that, first of all, He creates 
 out of nothing, according to His will, the things that are 
 made. " For the things which are impossible with men are 
 possible with God." 1 Wherefore, also, the prophet men- 
 tioned that the creation of the heavens first of all took place, 
 as a kind of roof, saying : " At the first God created the 
 heavens" that is, that by means of the "first" principle 
 the heavens were made, as we have already shown. And by 
 " earth" he means the ground and foundation, as by " the 
 deep" he means the multitude of waters ; and "darkness" he 
 speaks of, on account of the heaven which God made covering 
 the waters and the earth like a lid. And by the Spirit which 
 is borne above the waters, he means that which God gave for 
 animating the creation, as he gave life to man, mixing what 
 is fine with what is fine. For the Spirit is fine, and the 
 water is fine, that the Spirit may nourish the water, and the 
 1 Luke xviii. 27.
 
 80 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 water penetrating everywhere along with the Spirit, may 
 nourish creation. For the Spirit being one, and holding the 
 place of light, 1 was between the water and the heaven, in 
 order that the darkness might not in any way communicate 
 with the heaven, which was nearer God, before God said, 
 " Let there be light." The heaven, therefore, being like a 
 dome-shaped covering, comprehended matter which was like 
 a clod. And so another prophet, Isaiah by name, spoke in 
 these words : " It is God who made the heavens as a 
 vault, and stretched them as a tent to dwell in." 2 The com- 
 mand, then, of God, that is, His Word, shining as a lamp 
 in an enclosed chamber, lit up all that was under heaven, 
 when He had made light apart from the world. 3 And the 
 light God called Day, and the darkness Night. Since man 
 would not have been able to call the light Day, or the dark- 
 ness Night, nor, indeed, to have given names to the other 
 things, had not he received the nomenclature from God, who 
 made the things themselves. In the very beginning, therefore, 
 of the history and genesis of the world, the holy Scripture 
 spoke not concerning this firmament [which we see], but 
 concerning another heaven, which is to us invisible, after which 
 this heaven which we see has been called " firmament," and 
 to which half the water was taken up that it might serve for 
 rains, and showers, and dews to mankind. And half the 
 water was left on earth for rivers, and fountains, and seas. 
 The water, then, covering all the earth, and specially its 
 hollow places, God, through His Word, next caused the 
 waters to be collected into one collection, and the dry land 
 to become visible, which formerly had been invisible. The 
 earth thus becoming visible, was yet without form. God 
 therefore formed and adorned it 4 with all kinds of herbs, 
 and seeds and plants. 
 
 1 This follows the Benedictine reading. Other editors, as Humphry, 
 read TUX-OV, " resembling light." 
 
 2 Isa. 3d. 22. 3 Following Wolf's rendering. 
 4 Or, suitably arranged and appointed it.
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 81 
 
 CHAP. xiv. The world compared to the sea. 
 
 Consider, further, their variety, and diverse beauty, and 
 multitude, and how through them resurrection is exhibited, 
 for a pattern of the resurrection of all men which is to be. 
 For who that considers it will not marvel that a fig-tree is 
 produced from a fig-seed, or that very huge trees grow from 
 the other very little seeds? And we say that the world 
 resembles the sea. For as the sea, if it had not had the 
 influx and supply of the rivers and fountains to nourish it, 
 would long since have been parched by reason of its saltness ; 
 so also the world, if it had not had the law of God and 
 the prophets flowing and welling up sweetness, and com- 
 passion, and righteousness, and the doctrine of the holy 
 commandments of God, would long ere now have come to 
 ruin, by reason of the wickedness and sin which abound in 
 it. And as in the sea there are islands, some of them 
 habitable, and well-watered, and fruitful, with havens and 
 harbours in which the storm-tossed may find refuge, so 
 God has given to the world which is driven and tempest- 
 tossed by sins, assemblies 1 we mean holy churches in which 
 survive the doctrines of the truth, as in the island-harbours 
 of good anchorage ; and into these run those who desire to 
 be saved, being lovers of the truth, and wishing to escape 
 the wrath and judgment of God. And as, again, there are 
 other islands, rocky and without water, and barren, and 
 infested by wild beasts, and uninhabitable, and serving only 
 to injure navigators and the storm-tossed, on which ships 
 are wrecked, and those driven among them perish, so there 
 are doctrines of error I mean heresies which destroy those 
 who approach them. For they are not guided by the word 
 of truth ; but as pirates, when they have filled their vessels, 2 
 drive them on the fore-mentioned places, that they may spoil 
 them : so also it happens in the case of those who err from 
 the truth, that they are all totally ruined by their error. 
 
 1 Literally, synagogues. 
 
 2 That is, as the Benedictine edition suggests, when they have filled 
 them with unsuspecting passengers. 
 
 P
 
 82 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 CHAP. xv. Of the fourth day. 
 
 On the fourth day the luminaries were made ; because 
 God, who possesses foreknowledge, knew the follies of the 
 vain philosophers, that they were going to say, that the things 
 which grow on the earth are produced from the heavenly 
 bodies, so as to exclude God. In order, therefore, that the 
 truth might be obvious, the plants and seeds were produced 
 prior to the heavenly bodies, for what is posterior cannot 
 produce that which is prior. And these contain the pattern 
 and type of a great mystery. For the sun is a type of God, 
 and the moon of man. And as the sun far surpasses the 
 moon in power and glory, so far does God surpass man. And 
 as the sun remains ever full, never becoming less, so does God 
 always abide perfect, being full of all power, and under- 
 standing, and wisdom, and immortality, and all good. But 
 the moon wanes monthly, and in a manner dies, being a type 
 of man ; then it is born again, and is crescent, for a pattern 
 of the future resurrection. In like manner also the three 
 days which were before the luminaries, 1 are types of the 
 Trinity, 2 of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the 
 fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may 
 be God, the Word, wisdom, man. Wherefore also on the 
 fourth day the lights were made. The disposition of the 
 stars, too, contains a type of the arrangement and order of 
 the righteous and pious, and of those who keep the law and 
 commandments of God. For the brilliant and bright stars 
 are an imitation of the prophets, and therefore they remain 
 fixed, not declining, nor passing from place to place. And 
 those which hold the second place in brightness, are types of 
 the people of the righteous. And those, again, which change 
 their position, and flee from place to place, which also are 
 called planets, 3 they too are a type of the men who have wan- 
 dered from God, abandoning His law and commandments. 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Of the fifth day. 
 
 On the fifth day the living creatures which proceed from 
 1 Following Wolf's reading. 2 To*5of. 8 i.e. wandering stars.
 
 THEOPHIL US TO A UTOL TCUS. 83 
 
 the waters were produced, through which also is revealed the 
 manifold wisdom of God in these things ; for who could count 
 their multitude and very various kinds ? Moreover, the things 
 proceeding from the waters were blessed by God, that this 
 also might be a sign of men's being destined to receive repent- 
 ance and remission of sins, through the water and laver of 
 regeneration, as many as come to the truth, and are born 
 again, and receive blessing from God. But the monsters of 
 the deep and the birds of prey are a similitude of covetous 
 men and transgressors. For as the fish and the fowls are of 
 one nature, some indeed abide in their natural state, and do 
 no harm to those weaker than themselves, but keep the law 
 of God, and eat of the seeds of the earth ; others of them, 
 again, transgress the law of God, and eat flesh, and injure 
 those weaker than themselves : thus, too, the righteous, keep- 
 ing the law of God, bite and injure none, but live holily and 
 righteously. But robbers, and murderers, and godless per- 
 sons are like monsters of the deep, and wild beasts, and birds 
 of prey ; for they virtually devour those weaker than them- 
 selves. The race, then, of fishes and of creeping things, 
 though partaking of God's blessing, received no very dis- 
 tinguishing property. 
 
 CHAP. xvu. Of the sixth day. 
 
 And on the sixth day, God having made the quadrupeds, 
 and wild beasts, and the land reptiles, pronounced no bless- 
 ing upon them, reserving His blessing for man, whom He 
 was about to create on the sixth day. The quadrupeds, too, 
 and wild beasts, were made for a type of some men, who 
 neither know nor worship God, but mind earthly things, and 
 repent not. For those who turn from their iniquities and 
 live righteously, in spirit fly upwards like birds, and mind 
 the things that are above, and are well-pleasing to the will of 
 God. But those who do not know nor worship God, are like 
 birds which have wings, but cannot fly nor soar to the high 
 things of God. Thus, too, though such persons are called 
 men, yet being pressed down with sins, they mind grovelling 
 and earthly things. And the animals are named wild beasts
 
 84 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 [0i)ptd], from their being hunted [Orjpeveadai], not as if they 
 had been made evil or venomous from the first for nothing 
 was made evil by God, but all things good, yea, very good, 
 but the sin in which man was concerned brought evil upon 
 them. For when man transgressed, they also transgressed 
 with him. For as, if the master of the house himself acts 
 rightly, the domestics also of necessity conduct themselves 
 well ; but if the master sins, the servants also sin with him ; 
 so in like manner it came to pass, that in the case of man's 
 sin, he being master, all that was subject to him sinned with 
 him. When, therefore, man again shall have made his way 
 back to his natural condition, and no longer does evil, those 
 also shall be restored to their original gentleness. 
 
 CHAP. XVIIT. The creation of man. 
 
 But as to what relates to the creation of man, his own 
 creation cannot be explained by man, though it is a succinct 
 account of it which holy Scripture gives. For when God 
 said, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness," 
 He first intimates the dignity of man. For God having made 
 all things by His Word, and having reckoned them all mere 
 bye-works, reckons the creation of man to be the only work 
 worthy of His own hands. Moreover, God is found, as if 
 needing help, to say, "Let us make man in our image, after 
 our likeness." But to no one else than to His own Word 
 and wisdom did He say, " Let us make." And when He 
 had made and blessed him, that he might increase and 
 replenish the earth, He put all things under his dominion, 
 and at his service ; and He appointed from the first that he 
 should find nutriment from the fruits of the earth, and from 
 seeds, and herbs, and acorns, having at the same time ap- 
 pointed that the animals be of habits similar to man's, that 
 they also might eat of all the seeds of the earth. 
 
 CHAP. xix. Man is placed in Paradise. 
 
 God having thus completed the heavens, and the earth, and 
 the sea, and all that are in them, on the sixth day, rested 
 on the seventh day from all His works which He made.
 
 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 85 
 
 Then holy Scripture gives a summary in these words : "This 
 is the book of the generation of the heavens and the earth, 
 when they were created, in the day that the Lord made the 
 heavens and the earth, and every green thing of the field, 
 before it was made, and every herb of the field before it grew. 
 For God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there 
 was not a man to till the ground." l By this He signifies to us, 
 that the whole earth was at that time watered by a divine 
 fountain, and had no need that man should till it ; but the 
 earth produced all things spontaneously by the command of 
 God, that man might not be wearied by tilling it. But that 
 the creation of man might be made plain, so that there should 
 not seem to be an insoluble problem existing among men, 
 since God had said, " Let us make man ;" and since His 
 creation was not yet plainly related, Scripture teaches us, 
 saying : " And a fountain went up out of the earth, and 
 watered the face of the whole earth ; and God made man of 
 the dust of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath 
 of life, and man became a living soul." 2 Whence also by 
 most persons the soul is called immortal. And after the 
 formation of man, God chose out for him a region among 
 the places of the East, excellent for light, brilliant with a 
 very bright atmosphere, [abundant] in the finest plants ; and 
 in this He placed man. 
 
 CHAP. XX. The scriptural account of Paradise. 
 
 Scripture thus relates the words of the sacred history : 
 " And God planted Paradise, eastward, in Eden ; and there 
 He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the 
 ground made God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the 
 sight, and good for food ; the tree of life also in the midst of 
 Paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 
 And a river flows out of Eden, to water the garden ; thence 
 it is parted into four heads. The name of the first is Pison : 
 that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havihih, where ' 
 there is gold ; and the gold of that land is good, and there is 
 bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second 
 1 Gen. ii. 4, 5. 2 Gen. ii. 6.
 
 86 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 river is Gilion : the same is it that compasseth the whole 
 land of Ethiopia. And the third river is Tigris : this is it 
 which goeth toward Syria. And the fourth river is Eu- 
 phrates. And the Lord God took the man whom He had 
 made, and put him in the garden, to till and to keep it. And 
 God commanded Adam, saying, Of every tree that is in the 
 garden thou mayest freely eat ; but of the tree of the know- 
 ledge of good and evil, ye shall not eat of it ; for in the day 
 ye eat of it ye shall surely die. And the Lord God said, It 
 is not good that the man should be alone ; let us make him 
 an helpmeet for him. And out of the ground God formed 
 all the beasts of the field, and all the fowls of heaven, and 
 brought them to Adam. And whatsoever Adam called every 
 living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave 
 names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the air, and to all the 
 beasts of the field. But for Adam there was not found an 
 helpmeet for him. And God caused an ecstasy to fall upon 
 Adam, and he slept ; and He took one of his ribs, and closed 
 up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord 
 God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought 
 her unto Adam. And Adam said, This is now bone of my 
 bones, and flesh of my flesh ; she shall be called Woman, 
 because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man 
 leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his 
 wife, and they two shall be one flesh. And they were both 
 naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed. 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Of the fall of man. 
 
 11 Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the 
 field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said 
 to the woman, Why hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every 
 tree of the garden ? And the woman said unto the serpent, 
 We eat of every tree of the garden, but of the fruit of the 
 tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, 
 Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 
 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely 
 die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, 
 then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 87 
 
 knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree 
 was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and 
 a tree to be desired to make one wise ; and having taken of 
 the fruit thereof, she did eat, and gave also unto her husband 
 with her: and they did eat. And the eyes of them both 
 were opened, and they knew that they were naked ; and they 
 sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And 
 they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden 
 in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid them- 
 selves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees 
 of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and 
 said unto him, Where art thou 1 And he said unto Him, I 
 heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I 
 was naked, and I hid myself. And He said unto him, Who 
 told thee that thou wast naked, unless thou hast eaten of the 
 tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat ? 
 And Adam said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with 
 me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And God said to 
 the woman, What is this that thou hast done ? And the 
 woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And 
 the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done 
 this, thou art accursed above all the beasts of the earth ; on 
 thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all 
 the days of thy life : and I will put enmity between thee and 
 the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall 
 bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 1 And to the 
 woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy 
 travail : in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children ; and thy 
 desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 
 And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto 
 the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I 
 commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it ; cursed is 
 the ground in 2 thy works : in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all 
 the days of thy life ; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth 
 to thee ; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the 
 
 1 Theophilus reads, " it shall watch thy head, and thou shalt watch 
 his heel." 
 * Or, " by thy works."
 
 88 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou return 
 unto the ground ; for out of it wast thou taken : for dust thou 
 
 O 7 
 
 art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 1 Such is the account 
 given by holy Scripture of the history of man and of Para- 
 dise. 
 
 CHAP. XXIT. Why God is said to have walked. 
 
 You will say, then, to me : " You said that God ought not 
 to be contained in a place, and how do you now say that He 
 walked in Paradise?" Hear what I say. The God and 
 Father, indeed, of all cannot be contained, and is not found 
 in a place, for there is no place of His rest ; but His Word, 
 through whom He made all things, being His power and His 
 wisdom, assuming the person 2 of the Father and Lord of all, 
 went to the garden in the person of God, and conversed with 
 Adam. For the divine writing itself teaches us that Adam 
 said that he had heard the voice. But what else is this voice 
 but the Word of God, who is also His Son ? Not as the poets 
 and writers of myths talk of the sons of gods begotten from 
 intercourse [with women], but as truth expounds, the Word, 
 that always exists, residing within the heart of God. For 
 before anything came into being He had Him as a coun- 
 sellor, being His own mind and thought. But when God 
 wished to make all that He determined on, He begot this 
 Word, uttered, 3 the first-born of all creation, not Himself 
 being emptied of the Word [Reason], but having begotten 
 Reason, and always conversing with His Reason. And 
 hence the holy writings teach us, and all the spirit-bearing 
 [inspired] men, one of whom, John, says, " In the beginning 
 was the Word, and the Word was with God," 4 showing that 
 at first God was alone, and the Word in Him. Then he 
 
 1 Gen. ii. 8-iii. 19. 
 
 2 The annotators here warn us against supposing that "person" is used 
 as it was afterwards employed in discussing the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 and show that the word is used in its original meaning, and with refer- 
 ence to an actor taking up a mask and personating a character. 
 
 3 HpoQopix.6;, the term used of the Logos as manifested ; the "Word as 
 uttered by the Father, in distinction from the Word immanent in Him. 
 
 4 John i. 1.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 89 
 
 says, " The "Word was God ; all things came into existence 
 through Him ; and apart from Him not one thing came into 
 existence." The Word, then, being God, and being naturally 1 
 produced from God, whenever the Father of the universe 
 wills, He sends Him to any place ; and He, coming, is both 
 heard and seen, being sent by Him, and is found in a place. 
 
 CHAP, xxiii. The truth of the account in Genesis. 
 
 Man, therefore, God made on the sixth day, and made 
 known this creation after the seventh day, when also He 
 made Paradise, that he might be in a better and distinctly 
 superior place. And that this is true, the fact itself proves. 
 For how can one miss seeing that the pains which women 
 suffer in childbed, and the oblivion of their labours which they 
 afterwards enjoy, are sent in order that the word of God 
 may be fulfilled, and that the race of men may increase and 
 multiply? 2 And do we not see also the judgment of the 
 serpent, how hatefully he crawls on his belly and eats the 
 dust, that we may have this, too, for a proof of the things 
 which were said aforetime? 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. The beauty of Paradise. 
 
 God, then, caused to spring out of the earth every tree that 
 is beautiful in appearance, or good for food. For at first 
 there were only those things which were produced on the 
 third day, plants, and seeds, and herbs ; but the things which 
 were in Paradise were made of a .superior loveliness and 
 beauty, since in it the plants were said to have been planted 
 by God. As to the rest of the plants, indeed, the world con- 
 tained plants like them ; but the two trees, the tree of life 
 and the tree of knowledge, the rest of the earth possessed 
 not, but only Paradise. And that Paradise is earth, and is 
 planted on the earth, the Scripture states, saying: 3 "And the 
 
 1 That is, being produced by generation, not by creation. 
 
 2 The Benedictine editor remarks : " Women bring forth with labour 
 and pain as the punishment awarded to sin : they forget the pain, that 
 the propagation of the race may not be hindered." 
 
 Gen. ii. 8.
 
 90 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 Lord God planted Paradise in Eden eastwards, and placed 
 man there ; and out of the ground made the Lord God 
 to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for 
 food." By the expressions, therefore, " out of the ground," 
 and "eastwards," the holy writing clearly teaches us that 
 Paradise is under this heaven, under which the east and the 
 earth are. And the Hebrew word Eden signifies " delight." 
 And it was signified that a river flowed out of Eden to water 
 Paradise, and after that divides into four heads ; of which the 
 two called Pison and Gihon water the eastern parts, especially 
 Gihon, which encompasses the whole land of Ethiopia, and 
 which, they say, reappears in Egypt under the name of Nile. 
 And the other two rivers are manifestly recognisable by us 
 those called Tigris and Euphrates for these border on our 
 own regions. And God having placed man in Paradise, as 
 has been said, to till and keep it, commanded him to eat of 
 all the trees, manifestly of the tree of life also ; but only of 
 the tree of knowledge He commanded him not to taste. And 
 God transferred him from the earth, out of which he had 
 been produced, into Paradise, giving him means of advance- 
 ment, in order that, maturing and becoming perfect, and 
 being even declared a god, he might thus ascend into heaven 
 in possession of immortality. For man had been made a middle 
 nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but 
 capable of either ; so also the place, Paradise, was made in re- 
 spect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And 
 by the expression, " till it," 1 no other kind of labour is implied 
 than the observance of God's command, lest, disobeying, he 
 should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. God was justified in forbidding man to eat 
 of the tree of knowledge. 
 
 The tree of knowledge itself was good, and its fruit was 
 good. For it was not the tree, as some think, but the dis- 
 obedience, which had death in it. For there was nothing else 
 in the fruit than only knowledge; but knowledge is good 
 
 1 In the Greek the word is, " work" or " labour," as we also speak of 
 working land.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 91 
 
 when one uses it discreetly. But Adam, being yet an infant 
 in age, was on this account as yet unable to receive knowledge 
 worthily. For now, also, when a child is born it is not at once 
 able to eat bread, but is nourished first with milk, and then, 
 with the increment of years, it advances to solid food. Thus, 
 too, would it have been with Adam ; for not as one who 
 grudged him, as some suppose, did God command him not to 
 eat of knowledge. But He wished also to make proof of him, 
 whether he was submissive to His commandment. And at 
 the same time He wished man, infant as he was, to remain 
 for some time longer simple and sincere. For this is holy, 
 not only with God, but also with men, that -in simplicity and 
 guilelessness subjection be yielded to parents. But if it is 
 right that children be subject to parents, how much more to 
 the God and Father of all things ? Besides, it is unseemly 
 that children in infancy be wise beyond their years ; for as in 
 stature one increases in an orderly progress, so also in wisdom. 
 But as when a law has commanded abstinence from anything, 
 and some one has not obeyed, it is obviously not the law which 
 causes punishment, but the disobedience and transgression; 
 for a father sometimes enjoins on his own child abstinence 
 from certain things, and when he does not obey the paternal 
 order, he is flogged and punished on account of the disobe- 
 dience ; and in this case the actions themselves are not the 
 [cause of] stripes, but the disobedience procures punishment 
 for him who disobeys ; so also for the first man, disobedience 
 procured his expulsion from Paradise. Not, therefore, as if 
 there were any evil in the tree of knowledge ; but from his 
 disobedience did man draw, as from a fountain, labour, pain, 
 grief, and at last fall a prey to death. 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. God's goodness in expelling man from 
 Paradise. 
 
 And God showed great kindness to man in this, that He 
 did not suffer him to remain in sin for ever ; but, as it were, 
 by a kind of banishment, cast him out of Paradise, in order 
 that, having by punishment expiated, within an appointed time, 
 the sin, and having been disciplined, he should afterwards be
 
 92 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 restored. Wherefore also, when man had been formed in 
 this world, it is mystically written in Genesis, as if he had 
 been twice placed in Paradise ; so that the one was fulfilled 
 when he was placed there, and the second will be fulfilled 
 after the resurrection and judgment. For just as a vessel, 
 when on being fashioned it has some flaw, is remoulded or 
 remade, that it may become new and entire ; so also it happens 
 to man by death. For somehow or other he is broken up, that 
 he may rise in the resurrection whole ; I mean spotless, and 
 righteous, and immortal. And as to God's calling, and saying, 
 Where art thou, Adam ? God did this, not as if ignorant of 
 this ; but, being long-suffering, He gave him an opportunity 
 of repentance and confession. 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. The nature of man. 
 
 . But some one will say to us, Was man made by nature 
 mortal ? Certainly not. Was he, then, immortal ? Neither 
 do we affirm this. But one will say, Was he, then, no- 
 thing? Not even this hits the mark. He was by nature 
 neither mortal nor immortal. For if He had made him im- 
 mortal from the beginning, He would have made him God. 
 Again, if He had made him mortal, God would seem to be 
 the cause of his death. Neither, then, immortal nor yet mortal 
 did He make him, but, as we have said above, capable of both ; 
 so that if he should incline to the things of immortality, keep- 
 ing the commandment of God, he should receive as reward 
 from Him immortality, and should become God ; but if, on 
 the other hand, he should turn to the things of death, dis- 
 obeying God, he should himself be the cause of death to him- 
 self. For God made man free, and with power over himself. 
 That, then, which man brought upon himself through careless- 
 ness and disobedience, this God now vouchsafes to him as a 
 gift through His own philanthropy and pity, when men obey 
 Him. 1 For as man, disobeying, drew death upon himself ; so, 
 obeying the will of God, he who desires is able to procure for 
 himself life everlasting. For God has given us a law and holy 
 
 1 Apparently meaning, that God turns death, which man brought on 
 himself by disobedience, into a blessing.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 93 
 
 commandments ; and every one who keeps these can be saved ? 
 and, obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption. 
 
 CHAP, xxvin. Why Eve was formed of Adam's rib. 
 
 And Adam having been cast out of Paradise, in this con- 
 dition knew Eve his wife, whom God had formed into a wife 
 for him out of his rib. And this He did, not as if He were 
 unable to make his wife separately, but God foreknew that 
 men would call upon a number of gods. And having this 
 prescience, and knowing that through the serpent error would 
 introduce a number of gods which had no existence, for there 
 being but one God, even then error was striving to disseminate 
 a multitude of gods, saying, " Ye shall be as gods ; " lest, 
 then, it should be supposed that one God made the man and 
 another the woman, therefore He made them both ; and God 
 made the woman together with the man, not only that thus 
 the mystery of God's sole government might be exhibited, 
 but also that their mutual affection might be greater. There- 
 fore said Adam to Eve, " This is now bone of my bones, and 
 flesh of my flesh." And besides, he prophesied, saying, " For 
 this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and 
 shall cleave unto his wife; and they two shall be one flesh;" 3 
 which also itself has its fulfilment in ourselves. For who 
 that marries lawfully does not despise mother and father, and 
 his whole family connection, and all his household, cleaving 
 to and becoming one with his own wife, fondly preferring 
 her ? So that often, for the sake of their wives, some submit 
 even to death. This Eve, on account of her having been in 
 the beginning deceived by the serpent, and become the author 
 of sin, the wicked demon, who also is called Satan, who then 
 spoke to her through the serpent, and who works even to this 
 day in those men that are possessed by him, invokes as Eve. 2 
 And he is called " demon " and " dragon," on account of his 
 revolting from God. For at first he was an 
 
 1 Gen. ii. 24. 
 
 2 Referring to the bacchanalian orgies in which " Eva" was shouted, 
 and which the fathers professed to believe was an unintentional invoca- 
 tion of Eve, the authoress of all sin.
 
 94 THEOPHIL US TO A UTOL TCUS. 
 
 angel. And concerning his history there is a great deal to be 
 said ; wherefore I at present omit the relation of it, for I have 
 also given an account of him in another place. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Cain's crime. 
 
 When, then, Adam knew Eve his wife, she conceived and 
 bare a son, whose name was Cain ; and she said, " I have 
 gotten a man from God." And yet again she bore a second 
 son, whose name was Abel, " who began to be a keeper of 
 sheep, but Cain tilled the ground." l Their history receives 
 a very full narration, yea, even a detailed explanation : \vhere- 
 fore the book itself, which is entitled " The Genesis of the 
 World," can more accurately inform those who are anxious to 
 learn their story. When, then, Satan saw Adam and his 
 wife not only still living, but also, begetting children being 
 carried away with spite because he had not succeeded in 
 putting them to death, when he saw that -Abel was well- 
 pleasing to God, he wrought upon the heart of his brother 
 called Cain, and caused him to kill his brother Abel. And 
 thus did death get a beginning in this world, to find its way 
 into every race of man, even to this day. But God, being 
 pitiful, and wishing to afford to Cain, as to Adam, an oppor- 
 tunity of repentance and confession, said, " Where is Abel 
 thy brother *? " But Cain answered God contumaciously, 
 saying, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" God, 
 being thus made angry with him, said, " What hast thou 
 done ? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from 
 the earth, which opened her mouth to receive thy brother's 
 blood from thy hand. Groaning and trembling shalt thou be 
 on the earth." From that time the earth, through fear, no 
 longer receives human blood, 2 no, nor the blood of any animal ; 
 by which it appears that it is not the cause [of death], but 
 man, who transgressed. 
 
 1 Gen. iv. 1, 2. 
 
 2 Fell remarks, " Blood shed at once coagulates, and does not easily 
 enter the earth."
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 95 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Cairis family and their inventions. 
 
 Cain also himself had a son, whose name was Enoch ; and 
 he built a city, which he called by the name of his son, Enoch. 
 From that time was there made a beginning of the building 
 of cities, and this before the flood ; not as Homer falsely says : * 
 
 " Not yet bad men a city built." 
 
 And to Enoch was born a son, by name Gaidad ; who begat 
 a son called Meel ; and Meel begat Mathusala ; and Mathu- 
 sala, Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives, 
 whose names were Adah and Zillah. At that time there was 
 made a beginning of polygamy, and also of music. For 
 Lamech had three sons : Jabal, Jubal, Tubal. And Jabal 
 became a keeper of cattle, and dwelt in tents ; but Jubal is he 
 who made known the psaltery and the harp ; and Tubal became 
 a smith, a forger in brass and iron. So far the seed of Cain 
 is registered ; and for the rest, the seed of his line has sunk 
 into oblivion, on account of his fratricide of his brother. And, 
 in place of Abel, God granted to Eve to conceive and bear a 
 son, who was called Seth ; from whom the remainder of the 
 human race proceeds until now. And to those who desire to 
 be informed regarding all generations, it is easy to give ex- 
 planations by means of the holy Scriptures. For, as we have 
 already mentioned, this subject, the order of the genealogy of 
 man, has been partly handled by us in another discourse, in 
 the first book of The History. And all these things the Holy 
 Spirit teaches us, who speaks through Moses and the rest of 
 the prophets, so, that the writings which belong to us godly 
 people are more ancient, yea, and are shown to be more 
 truthful, than all writers and poets. But also, concerning 
 music, some have fabled that Apollo was the inventor, and 
 others say that Orpheus discovered the art of music from the 
 sweet voices of the birds. Their story is shown to be empty 
 and vain, for these inventors lived many years after the flood. 
 And what relates to Noah, who is called by some Deucalion, 
 has been explained by us in the book before mentioned, and 
 which, if you wish it, you are at liberty to read. 
 
 1 II. xx. 216. But Homer refers only to Troy.
 
 96 TIIEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 CHAP. XXXT. The history after the flood. 
 
 After the flood was there again a beginning of cities and 
 kings, in the following manner: The first city was Babylon, 
 and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 
 And their king was called Nebroth [Nimrod]. From these 
 came Asshur, from whom also the Assyrians receive their 
 name. And Nimrod built the cities Nineveh and Rehoboth, 
 and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah ; and 
 Nineveh became a very great city. And another son of 
 Shem, the son of Noah, by name Mizraim, begat Ludim, and 
 those called Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and 
 Pathrusim, and Casluhim, out of whom came Philistim. Of 
 the three sons of Noah, however, and of their death and 
 genealogy, we have given a compendious register in the above- 
 mentioned book. But now we will mention the remaining 
 facts both concerning cities and kings, and the things that 
 happened when there was one speech and one language. 
 Before the dividing of the languages these fore-mentioned 
 cities existed. But when men were about to be dispersed, 
 they took counsel of their own judgment, and not at the in- 
 stigation of God, to build a city, a tower whose top might 
 reach into heaven, that they might make a glorious name to 
 themselves. Since, therefore, they had dared, contrary to 
 the will of God, to attempt a grand work, God destroyed 
 their city, and overthrew their tower. From that time He 
 confounded the languages of men, giving to each a different 
 dialect. And similarly did the Sibyl speak, when she de- 
 clared that wrath would come on the world. She says : 
 
 " When are fulfilled the threats of the great God, 
 With which He threatened men, when formerly 
 In the Assyrian land they built a tower, 
 And all were of one speech, and wished to rise 
 Even till they climbed unto the starry heaven, 
 Then the Immortal raised a mighty wind 
 And laid upon them strong necessity ; 
 For when the wind threw down the mighty tower, 
 Then rose among mankind fierce strife and hate. 
 One speech was changed to many dialects, 
 And earth was filled with divers tribes and kings."
 
 TnEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 97 
 
 And so on. These things, then, happened in the land of the 
 Chaldseans. And in the land of Canaan there was a city, by 
 name Haran. And in these days, Pharaoh, who by the Egyp- 
 tians was also called Nechaoth, was first king of Egypt, and thus 
 the kings followed in succession. 1 And in the land of Shinar, 
 among those called Chaldseans, the first king was Arioch, and 
 next after him Ellasar, and after him Chedorlaomer, king of 
 Elam, and after him Tidal, king of the nations called Assyrians. 
 And there were five other cities in the territory of Ham, the 
 son of Noah; the first called Sodom, then Gomorrah, Admah, 
 Zeboiim, and Balah, which was also called Zoar. And the names 
 of their kings are these : Bera, king of Sodom ; Birsha, king 
 of Gomorrah ; Shinab, king of Admah ; Shemeber, king of 
 Zeboiim ; Bela, king of Zoar, which is also called Kephalac. 2 
 These served Chedorlaomer, the king of the Assyrians, for 
 twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from 
 Chedorlaomer ; and thus it came to pass at that time that the 
 four Assyrian kings waged war upon the five kings. This 
 was the first commencement of making war on the earth ; 
 and they destroyed the giants Karnaim, and the strong 
 nations that were with them in their city, and the Horites 
 of the mountains called Seir, as far as the plain of Paran, 
 which is by the wilderness. And at that time there was a 
 righteous king called Melchisedek, in the city of Salem, which 
 now is Jerusalem. This was the first priest of all priests of 
 the Most High God; and from him the above-named city 
 Hierosolyma was called Jerusalem. And from his time 
 priests were found in all the earth. And after him reigned 
 Abimelech in Gerar ; and after him another Abimelech. 
 Then reigned Ephron, surnamed the Hittite. Such are the 
 names of the kings that were in former times. And the 
 rest of the kings of the Assyrians, during an interval of 
 
 1 But the Benedictine editor understands the words to mean, that the 
 succeeding kings were in like manner called Pharaoh. 
 
 2 Theophilus spells some of the names differently from what they are 
 given in our text. For Tidal he has Thargal ; for Bera, Ballas ; for 
 Birsha, Barsas ; for Shinab, Senaar; for Shemeber, HymooK Kephalac 
 is taken to be a corruption for Balak, which in the previous sentence is 
 inserted by many editors, though it is not in the best uss. 
 
 O
 
 98 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 many years, have been passed over in silence unrecorded, all 
 writers narrating the events of our own recent days. There 
 were these kings of Assyria : Tiglath-Pileser, and after 
 him Shalmaneser, then Sennacherib ; and Adrammelech the 
 Ethiopian, who also reigned over Egypt, was his triarch ; 
 though these things, in comparison with our books, are quite 
 recent. 
 
 CHAP. xxxn. How the human race was dispersed. 
 
 Hence, therefore, may the lovers of learning and of anti- 
 quity understand the history, and see that those things are 
 recent which are told by us apart from the holy prophets. 1 
 For though at first there were few men in the land of Arabia 
 and Chaldsea, yet, after their languages were divided, they 
 gradually began to multiply and spread over all the earth ; and 
 some of them tended towards the east to dwell there, and others 
 to the parts of the great continent, and others northwards, so 
 as to extend as far as Britain, in the Arctic regions. And 
 others went to the land of Canaan, which is called Judasa, 
 and Phfenicia, and the region of Ethiopia, and Egypt, and 
 Lybia, and the country called torrid, and the parts stretch- 
 ing towards the west ; and the rest went to places by the sea, 
 and Pamphylia, and Asia, and Greece, and Macedonia, and, 
 besides, to Italy, and the whole country called Gaul, and Spain, 
 and Germany ; so that now the whole world is thus filled 
 with inhabitants. Since then the occupation of the world 
 by men was at first in three divisions, in the east, and south, 
 and west : afterwards, the remaining parts of the earth were 
 inhabited, when men became very numerous. And the 
 writers, not knowing these things, are forward to maintain 
 that the world is shaped like a sphere, and to compare it to a 
 cube. But how can they say what is true regarding these 
 things, when they do not know about the creation of the world 
 and its population ? Men gradually increasing in number and 
 
 1 Proving the antiquity of Scripture, by showing that no recent 
 occurrences are mentioned in it. Wolf, however, gives another reading, 
 which would be rendered, " understand whether those things are recent 
 which we utter on the authority of the holy prophets."
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 99 
 
 multiplying on the earth, as we have already said, the islands 
 also of the sea and the rest of the countries were inhabited. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiu. Profane history gives no account of these 
 matters. 
 
 Who, then, of those called sages, and poets, and historians, 
 could tell us truly of these things, themselves being much 
 later born, and introducing a multitude of gods, who were 
 born so many years after the cities, and are more modern than 
 kings, and nations, and wars ? For they should have made 
 mention of all events, even those which happened before the 
 flood ; both of the creation of the world and the formation of 
 man, and the whole succession of events. The Egyptian or 
 Chaldsean prophets, and the other writers, should have been 
 able accurately to tell, if at least they spoke by a divine and 
 pure spirit, and spoke truth in all that was uttered by them ; 
 and they should have announced not only things past or pre- 
 sent, but also those that were to come upon the world. And 
 therefore it is proved that all others have been in error ; and 
 that we Christians alone have possessed the truth, inasmuch 
 as we are taught by the Holy Spirit, who spoke in the holy 
 prophets, and foretold all things. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. The prophets enjoined holiness of life. 
 
 And, for the rest, would that in a kindly spirit you would 
 investigate divine things I mean the things that are spoken 
 by the prophets in order that, by comparing what is said by 
 us with the utterances of the others, you may be able to dis- 
 cover the truth. We 1 have shown from, their own histories, 
 which they have compiled, that the names of those who are 
 called gods, are found to be the names of men who lived 
 among them, as we have shown above. And to this day 
 their images are daily fashioned, idols, " the works of men's 
 hands." And these the mass of foolish men serve, whilst 
 they reject the maker and fashioner of all things and the 
 nourisher of all breath of life, giving credit to vain doctrines 
 through the deceitfulness of the senseless tradition received 
 1 Benedictine editor proposes " they."
 
 100 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 from their fathers. But God at least, the Father and Creator 
 of the universe, did not abandon mankind, but gave a law, 
 and sent holy prophets to declare and teach the race of men, 
 that each one of us might awake and understand that there 
 is one God. And they also taught us to refrain from unlaw- 
 ful idolatry, and adultery, and murder, fornication, theft, 
 avarice, false swearing, wrath, and every incontinence and 
 uncleanness ; and that whatever a man would not wish to be 
 done to himself, he should not do to another ; and thus he 
 who acts righteously shall escape the eternal punishments, 
 and be thought worthy of the eternal life from God. 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Precepts from the prophetic books. 
 
 The divine law, then, not only forbids the worshipping of 
 idols, but also of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, or 
 the other stars ; yea, not heaven, nor earth, nor the sea, nor 
 fountains, nor rivers, must be worshipped, but we must serve 
 in holiness of heart and sincerity of purpose only the living 
 and true God, who also is Maker of the universe. Where- 
 fore saith the holy law : " Thou shalt not commit adultery ; 
 thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not bear false witness ; thou 
 shalt not desire thy neighbour's wife." So also the prophets. 
 Solomon indeed teaches us that we must not sin with so 
 much as a turn of the eye, 1 saying, " Let thine eyes look 
 right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before thee." 2 And 
 Moses, who himself also was a prophet, says, concerning the 
 sole government of God : " Your God is He who establishes 
 the heaven, and forms the earth, whose hands have brought 
 forth all the host of .heaven ; and He has not set these things 
 before you that you should go after them." 3 And Isaiah 
 himself also says : " Thus saith the Lord God who established 
 the heavens, and founded the earth and all that is therein, 
 and giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them 
 that walk therein. This is the Lord your God." 4 And 
 again, through him He says : " I have made the earth, 
 and man upon it. I by my hand have established the 
 
 1 Literally, " a nod." 2 Prov. iv. 25. 
 
 Cf . Deut. iv. 19. * Isa. xlii. 5.
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 101 
 
 heavens." 1 And in another chapter, "This is your God, 
 who created the ends of the earth ; He hungereth not, neither 
 is weary, and there is no searching of His understanding." 2 
 So, too, Jeremiah says : "Who hath made the earth by 
 His power, and established the world by His wisdom, and 
 by His discretion hath stretched out the heavens, and a 
 mass of water in the heavens, and He caused the clouds to 
 ascend from the ends of the earth ; He made lightnings with 
 rain, and brought forth winds out of His treasures." 3 One 
 can see how consistently and harmoniously all the prophets 
 spoke, having given utterance through one and the same 
 spirit concerning the unity of God, and the creation of the 
 world, and the formation of man. Moreover, they were in sore 
 travail, bewailing the godless race of men, and they reproached 
 those, who seemed to be wise, for their error and hardness of 
 heart. Jeremiah, indeed, said: " Every man is brutishly gone 
 astray from the knowledge of Him ; every founder is con- 
 founded by his graven images ; in vain the silversmith makes 
 his molten images ; there is no breath in them : in the day of 
 their visitation they shall perish." 4 The same, too, says David : 
 " They are corrupt, they have done abominable works ; there 
 is none that doeth good, no, not one ; they have all gone aside, 
 they have together become profitless." 5 So also Habakkuk : 
 " What profiteth the graven image that he has graven it a lying 
 image ? Woe to him that saith to the stone, Awake ; and to 
 the wood, Arise." 6 Likewise spoke the other prophets of the 
 truth. And why should I recount the multitude of prophets, 
 who are numerous, and said ten thousand things consistently 
 and harmoniously ? For those who desire it, can, by reading 
 what they uttered, accurately understand the truth, and no 
 longer be carried away by opinion and profitless labour. 
 These, then, whom we have already mentioned, were prophets 
 among the Hebrews, illiterate, and shepherds, and unedu- 
 cated. 
 
 1 Isa. xlv. 12. 2 Isa. xl. 28. 8 Jer. x. 12, 13. 
 
 4 Jer. li. 17, 18. Ps. xir. 1,3. 6 Hab. ii. 18.
 
 102 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Prophecies of the Sibyl 
 
 And the Sibyl, who was a prophetess among the Greeks 
 and the other nations, in the beginning of her prophecy, re- 
 proaches the race of men, saying : 
 
 " How are ye still so quickly lifted up, 
 And how so thoughtless of the end of life, 
 Ye mortal men of flesh, who arfe but nought ? 
 Do ye not tremble, nor fear God most high ? 
 Your overseer, the knower, seer of all, 
 Who ever keeps those whom His hand first made, 
 Puts His sweet Spirit into all His works, 
 And gives Him for a guide to mortal men. 
 There is one only uncreated God, 
 Who reigns alone, all-powerful, very great, 
 From whom is nothing hid. He sees all things, 
 Himself unseen by any mortal eye. 
 Can mortal man see the immortal God, 
 Or fleshly eyes, which shun the noontide beams, 
 Look upon Him who dwells beyond the heavens ? 
 Worship Him, then, the self-existent God, 
 The unbegotten Ruler of the world, 
 Who only was from everlasting time, 
 And shall to everlasting still abide. 
 Of evil counsels ye shall reap the fruit, 
 Because ye have not honoured the true God, 
 Nor offered to Him sacred hecatombs. 
 To those who dwell in Hades ye make gifts, 
 And unto demons offer sacrifice. 
 In madness and in pride ye have your walk ; 
 And leaving the right way, ye wander wide, 
 And lose yourselves in pitfalls and in thorns. 
 Why do ye wander thus, foolish men ? 
 Cease your vain wanderings in the black, dark night ; 
 Why follow darkness and perpetual gloom 
 When, see, there shines for you the blessed light ? 
 Lo, He is clear in Hun there is no spot. 
 Turn, then, from darkness, and behold the day ; 
 Be wise, and treasure wisdom in your breasts. 
 There is one God who sends the winds and rains, 
 The earthquakes, and the lightnings, and the plagues, 
 The famines, and the snow-storms, and the ice, 
 And all the woes that visit our sad race. 
 Nor these alone, but all things else He gives,
 
 THEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 103 
 
 Ruling omnipotent in heaven and earth, 
 And self -existent from eternity." 
 
 And regarding those [gods] that are said to have been born, 
 she said : 
 
 " If all things that are born must also die, 
 
 God cannot be produced by mortal man. 
 
 But there is only One, the All-Supreme, 
 
 Who made the heavens, with all their starry host, 
 
 The sun and moon ; likewise the fruitful earth, 
 
 With all the waves of ocean, and the hills, 
 
 The fountains, and the ever flowing streams ; 
 
 He also made the countless multitude 
 
 Of ocean creatures, and He keeps alive 
 
 All creeping things, both of the earth and sea; 
 
 And all the tuneful choir of birds He made, 
 
 Which cleave the air with wings, and with shrill pipe 
 
 Trill forth at morn their tender, clear- voiced song. 
 
 Within the deep glades of the hills He placed 
 
 A savage race of beasts ; and unto men 
 
 He made all cattle subject, making man 
 
 The God -formed image, ruler over all, 
 
 And putting in subjection to his sway 
 Things many and incomprehensible. 
 
 For who of mortals can know all these things ? 
 
 He only knows who made them at the first, 
 
 He the Creator, incorruptible, 
 
 Who dwells in upper air eternally ; 
 
 Who proffers to the good most rich rewards, 
 
 And against evil and unrighteous men 
 
 Rouses revenge, and wrath, and bloody wars, 
 
 And pestilence, and many a tearful grief. 
 
 man exalted vainly say why thus 
 
 Hast thou so utterly destroyed thyself ? 
 
 Have ye no shame worshipping beasts for gods ? 
 
 And to believe the gods should steal your beasts, 
 
 Or that they need your vessels is it not 
 
 Frenzy's most profitless and foolish thought ? 
 
 Instead of dwelling in the golden heavens, 
 
 Ye see your gods become the prey of worms, 
 
 And hosts of creatures noisome and unclean. 
 
 fools ! ye worship serpents, dogs, and cats, 
 
 Birds, and the creeping things of earth and sea, 
 
 Images made with hands, statues of stone, 
 
 And heaps of rubbish by the wayside placed.
 
 104 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 All these, and many more vain things, ye serve, 
 
 Worshipping things disgraceful even to name : 
 
 These are the gods who lead vain men astray, 
 
 From whose mouth streams of deadly poison flow. 
 
 But unto Him in whom alone is life, 
 
 Life, and undying, everlasting light ; 
 
 Who pours into man's cup of life a joy 
 
 Sweeter than sweetest honey to his taste, 
 
 Unto Him bow the head, to Him alone, 
 
 And walk in ways of everlasting peace. 
 
 Forsaking Him, ye all have turned aside, 
 
 And, in your raving folly, drained the cup 
 
 Of justice quite unmixed, pure, mastering, strong ; 
 
 And ye will not again be sober men, 
 
 Ye will not come unto a sober mind, 
 
 And know your God and King, who looks on all : 
 
 Therefore, upon you burning fire shall come, 
 
 And ever ye shall daily burn in flames, 
 
 Ashamed for ever of your useless gods. 
 
 But those who worship the eternal God, 
 
 They shall inherit everlasting life, 
 
 Inhabiting the blooming realms of bliss, 
 
 And feasting on sweet food from starry heaven." 
 
 That these things are true, and useful, and just, and profit- 
 able to all men, is obvious. Even the poets have spoken of 
 the punishments of the wicked. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvu. The testimonies of the poets. 
 
 And that evil-doers must necessarily be punished in pro- 
 portion to their deeds, has already been, as it were, oracularly 
 uttered by some of the poets, as a witness both against them- 
 selves and against the wicked, declaring that they shall be 
 punished. .ZEschylus said : 
 
 " He who has done must also suffer." 
 And Pindar himself said : 
 
 " It is fit that suffering follow doing." 
 
 So, too, Euripides: 
 
 " The deed rejoiced you suffering endure ; 
 The taken enemy must needs be pain'd."
 
 TIIEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 105 
 
 And again : 
 
 " The foe's pain is the hero's meed." 
 
 And, similarly, Archilochus : 
 
 " One thing I know, I hold it ever true, 
 The evil-doer evil shall endure." 
 
 And that God sees all, and that nothing escapes His notice, 
 but that, being long-suffering, He refrains until the time when 
 He is to judge concerning this, too, Dionysius said : 
 
 " The eye of Justice seeing all, 
 Yet seemeth not to see." 
 
 And that God's judgment is to be, and that evils will sud- 
 denly overtake the wicked, this, too, ^Eschylus declared, 
 saying : 
 
 " Swift-footed is the approach of fate, 
 
 And none can justice violate, 
 
 But feels its stern hand soon or late. 
 
 'Tis with you, though unheard, unseen ; 
 You draw night's curtain in between, 
 But even sleep affords no screen. 
 
 'Tis with you if you sleep or wake ; 
 And if abroad your way you take, 
 Its still, stern watch you cannot break. 
 
 'Twill follow you, or cross your path ; 
 
 And even night no virtue hath 
 
 To hide you from th' Avenger's wrath. 
 
 To show the ill the df.rkriess flees ; 
 
 Then, if sin offers joy or ease, 
 
 Oh stop, and think that some one sees ! " 
 
 And may we not cite Simonides also ? 
 
 " To men no evil comes unheralded ; 
 But God with sudden hand transforms all things." 
 
 Euripides again : 
 
 " The wicked and proud man's prosperity 
 Is based on sand : his race abideth not ; 
 And time proclaims the wickedness of men." 
 
 Once more Euripides : 
 
 " Not without judgment is the Deity, 
 But sees when oaths are struck unrighteously, 
 And when from men unwilling they are wrung.**
 
 106 THEOPHIL US TO A UTOL TCUS. 
 
 And Sophocles : 
 
 " If ills you do, ills also you must bear." 
 
 That God will make inquiry both concerning false swearing 
 and concerning every other wickedness, they themselves have 
 well-nigh predicted. And concerning the conflagration of 
 the world, they have, willingly or unwillingly, spoken in 
 conformity with the prophets, though they were much more 
 recent, and stole these things from the law and the prophets. 
 The poets corroborate the testimony of the prophets. 
 
 CHAP, xxxyui. The teachings of the Greek poets and philo- 
 sophers confirmatory of those of the Hebrew prophets. 
 
 But what matters it whether they were before or after 
 them? Certainly they did at all events utter things con- 
 firmatory of the prophets. Concerning the burning up of 
 the world, Malachi the prophet foretold : " The day of the 
 Lord cometh as a burning oven, and shall consume all the 
 wicked." 1 And Isaiah: "For the wrath of God is as a 
 violent hail-storm, and as a rushing mountain torrent." 2 The 
 Sibyl, then, and the other prophets, yea, and the poets and 
 philosophers, have clearly taught both concerning righteous- 
 ness, and judgment, and punishment; and also concerning 
 providence, that God cares for us, not only for the living 
 among us, but also for those that are dead : though, indeed, 
 they said this unwillingly, for they were convinced by the 
 truth. And among the prophets indeed, Solomon said of the 
 dead, " There shall be healing to thy flesh, and care taken 
 of thy bones." 3 And the same says David, "The bones 
 which Thou hast broken shall rejoice." 4 And in agreement 
 with these sayings was that of Timocles : 
 
 " The dead are pitied by the loving God." 
 
 And the writers who spoke of a multiplicity of gods came 
 at length to the doctrine of the unity of God, and those who 
 asserted chance spoke also of providence ; and the advocates 
 of impunity confessed there would be a judgment, and those 
 
 i Mai. iv. 1. 2 Isa. xxx. 30. 
 
 8 Prov. iii. 8. 4 Ps. li. 8.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 107 
 
 who denied that there is sensation after death acknowledged 
 
 O 
 
 that there is. Homer, accordingly, though he had said, 
 " Like fleeting vision passed the soul away," l 
 
 says in another place : 
 
 " To Hades went the disembodied soul ;" 2 
 
 And again : 
 
 "That I may quickly pass through Hades' gates, 
 Me bury." 3 
 
 And as regards the others whom you have read, I think 
 you know with sufficient accuracy how they have expressed 
 themselves. But all these things will every one understand 
 who seeks the wisdom of God, and is well pleasing to Him 
 through faith and righteousness and the doing of good works. 
 For one of the prophets whom we already mentioned, Hosea 
 by name, said, " Who is wise, and he shall understand these 
 things ? prudent, and he shall know them ? for the ways of 
 the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them : but the 
 transgressors shall fall therein." 4 He, then, who is desirous of 
 learning, should learn much. 5 Endeavour therefore to meet 
 [with me] more frequently, that, by hearing the living voice, 
 you may accurately ascertain the truth. 
 
 1 Od. xi. 221. 2 II. xvi. 856. 3 xxiii. 71. 4 Hos. xiv. 9. 
 
 6 We have adopted the reading of Wolf in the text. The reading of 
 the MSS. is, " He who desires to learn should desire to learn." Perhaps 
 the most satisfactory emendation is that of Heumann, who reads <p/x<yt/- 
 6tiii instead of <pA<yaM: "He who desires to learn should also desire to 
 discuss subjects, and hold conversations on them." In this case, Theo- 
 philus most probably borrows his remark from Aristotle, Metaphysic. i. 
 c. 2.
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS, 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 CHAP. i. Autolycus not yet convinced. 
 
 JHEOPHILUS to Autolycus, greeting : Seeing 
 that writers are fond of composing a multitude 
 of books for vainglory, some concerning gods, 
 and wars, and chronology, and some, too, con- 
 cerning useless legends, and other such labour in vain, in 
 which you also have been used to employ yourself until 
 now, and do not grudge to endure that toil ; but though you 
 conversed with me, are still of opinion that the word of 
 truth is an idle tale, and suppose that our writings are recent 
 and modern ; on this account I also will not grudge the 
 labour of compendiously setting forth to you, God helping 
 me, the antiquity of our books, reminding you of it in few 
 words, that you may not grudge the labour of reading it, but 
 may recognise the folly of the other authors. 
 
 CHAP. ii. Profane authors had no means of knowing the 
 
 truth. 
 
 For it was fit that they who wrote should themselves have 
 been eye-witnesses of those things concerning which they 
 made assertions, or should accurately have ascertained them 
 from those who had seen them ; for they who write of things 
 unascertained beat the air. For what did it profit Homer to 
 have composed the Trojan war, and to have deceived many ; 
 or Hesiod, the register of the theogony of those whom he 
 calls gods ; or Orpheus, the three hundred and sixty-five 
 
 108
 
 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 109 
 
 gods, whom in the end of liis life he rejects, maintaining in 
 his precepts that there is one God? What profit did the 
 sphserography of the world's circle confer on Aratus, or those 
 who held the same doctrine as he, except glory among men ? 
 And not even that did they reap as they deserved. And 
 what truth did they utter ? Or what good did their tragedies 
 do to Euripides and Sophocles, or the other tragedians ? Or 
 their comedies to Menander and Aristophanes, and the other 
 comedians ? Or their histories to Herodotus and Thucydides? 
 Or the shrines l and the pillars of Hercules to Pythagoras, 
 or the Cynic philosophy to Diogenes ? What good did it do 
 Epicurus to maintain that there is no providence ; or Empe- 
 docles to teach atheism ; or Socrates to swear by the dog, 
 and the goose, and the plane-tree, and ^Esculapius struck by 
 lightning, and the demons whom he invoked ? And why did 
 he willingly die ? What reward, or of what kind, did he 
 expect to receive after death ? What did Plato's system of 
 culture profit him ? Or what benefit did the rest of the 
 philosophers derive from their doctrines, not to enumerate 
 the whole of them, since they are numerous? But these 
 things we say, for the purpose of exhibiting their useless and 
 godless opinions. 
 
 CHAP. in. Their contradictions. 
 
 For all these, having fallen in love with vain and empty 
 reputation, neither themselves knew the truth, nor guided 
 others to the truth : for the things which they said them- 
 selves convict them of speaking inconsistently; and most of 
 them demolished their own doctrines. For not only did they 
 refute one another, but some, too, even stultified their own 
 teachings ; so that their reputation has issued in shame and 
 folly, for they are condemned by men of understanding. For 
 either they made assertions concerning the gods, and after- 
 wards taught that there was no god ; or if they spoke even 
 of the creation of the world, they finally said that all things 
 were produced spontaneously. Yea, and even speaking of 
 
 1 While in Egypt, Pythagoras \vaa admitted to the penetralia of the 
 temples and the arcana of religion.
 
 110 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 providence, they taught again that the world was not ruled 
 by providence. But w r hat f Did they not, when they essayed 
 to write even of honourable conduct, teach the perpetration 
 of lasciviousness, and fornication, and adultery ; and did they 
 not introduce hateful and unutterable wickedness? And 
 they proclaim that their gods took the lead in committing 
 unutterable acts of adultery, and in monstrous banquets. 
 For who does not sing Saturn devouring his own children, 
 and Jove his son gulping down Metis, and preparing for the 
 gods a horrible feast, at which also they say that Vulcan, a 
 lame blacksmith, did the waiting ; and how Jove not only 
 married Juno, his own sister, but also with foul mouth did 
 abominable wickedness ? And the rest of his deeds, as many 
 as the poets sing, it is likely you are acquainted with. "Why 
 need I further recount the deeds of Neptune and Apollo, or 
 Bacchus and Hercules, of the bosom-loving Minerva, and the 
 shameless Venus, since in another place 1 we have given a 
 more accurate account of these ? 
 
 CHAP. iv. How Autolycus had been misled by false accusa- 
 tions against the Christians. 
 
 Nor indeed was there any necessity for my refuting these, 
 except that I see you still in dubiety about the word of the 
 truth. For though yourself prudent, you endure fools gladly. 
 Otherwise you would not have been moved by senseless men 
 to yield yourself to empty words, and to give credit to the 
 prevalent rumour wherewith godless lips falsely accuse us, 
 who are worshippers of God, and are called Christians, 
 alleging that the wives of us all are held in common and 
 made promiscuous use of ; and that we even commit incest 
 with our own sisters, and, what is most impious and barbarous 
 of all, that we eat human flesh. But further, they say that 
 our doctrine has but recently come to light, and that we have 
 nothing to allege in proof of what we receive as truth, nor of 
 our teaching, but that our doctrine is foolishness. I wonder, 
 then, chiefly that you, who in other matters are studious, and 
 a scrutinize!' of all things, give but a careless hearing to us. 
 1 Viz. in the first book to Autolycus.
 
 TIIEOPIIIL US TO A UTOL YCUS. 1 1 1 
 
 For, if it were possible for you, you would not grudge to 
 spend the night in the libraries. 
 
 CHAP. v. Philosophers inculcate cannibalism. 
 
 Since, then, you have read much, what is your opinion of 
 the precepts of Zeno, and Diogenes, and Cleanthes, which 
 their books contain, inculcating the eating of human flesh : 
 that fathers be cooked and eaten by their own children ; and 
 that if any one refuse or reject a part of this infamous food, 
 he himself be devoured who will not eat? An utterance 
 even more godless than these is found, that, namely, of 
 Diogenes, who teaches children to bring their own parents 
 in sacrifice, and devour them. And does not the historian 
 Herodotus narrate that Cambyses, 1 when he had slaughtered 
 the children of Harpagus, cooked them also, and set them as 
 a meal before their father ? And, still further, he narrates 
 that among the Indians the parents are eaten by their own 
 children. Oh ! the godless teaching of those who recorded, 
 yea, rather, inculcated such things ! Oh ! their wickedness 
 and godlessness ! Oh ! the conception of those who thus 
 accurately philosophized, and profess philosophy ! For they 
 who taught these doctrines have filled the world with iniquity. 
 
 CHAP. vi. Other opinions of the philosophers. 
 
 And regarding lawless conduct, those who have blindly 
 wandered into the choir of philosophy have, almost to a man, 
 spoken with one voice. Certainly Plato, to mention him first 
 who seems to have been the most respectable philosopher 
 among them, expressly, as it were, legislates in his first book, 2 
 entitled The Republic, that the wives of all be common, using 
 the precedent of the son 3 of Jupiter and the lawgiver of the 
 Cretans, in order that under this pretext there might be an 
 abundant offspring from the best persons, and that those who 
 were worn with toil might be comforted by such intercourse. 4 
 
 1 It was not Cambyses, but Astyages, who did this ; see Herod, i. 119. 
 
 2 Not in the first, but the fifth book of the Republic. 3 Minos. 
 
 * As this sentence cannot be intelligibly rendered without its original 
 in Flato, we subjoin the latter : " As for those youths who excel either
 
 112 TIIEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 And Epicurus himself, too, as well as teaching atheism, 
 teaches along with it incest with mothers and sisters, and this 
 in transgression of the laws which forbid it ; for Solon dis- 
 tinctly legislated regarding this, in order that from a married 
 parent children might lawfully spring, that they might not 
 be born of adultery, so that no one should honour as his 
 father him who was not his father, or dishonour him who was 
 really his father, through ignorance that he was so. And 
 these things the other laws of the Romans and Greeks also 
 prohibit. Why, then, do Epicurus and the Stoics teach incest 
 and sodomy, with which doctrines they have filled libraries, 
 so that from boyhood this lawless intercourse is learned ? 
 And why should I further spend time on them, since even of 
 those they call gods they relate similar things ? 
 
 CHAP. vii. Varying doctrine concerning the gods. 
 
 For after they had said that these are gods, they again 
 made them of no account. For some said that they were 
 composed of atoms; and others, again, that they eventuate in 
 atoms ; and they say that the gods have no more power than 
 men. Plato, too, though he says these are gods, would have 
 them composed of matter. And Pythagoras, after he had 
 made such a toil and moil about the gods, and travelled up 
 and down [for information], at last determines that all things 
 are produced naturally and spontaneously, and that the gods 
 care nothing for men. And how many atheistic opinions 
 Clitomachus the academician introduced, [I need not re- 
 count.] And did not Critias and Protagoras of Abdera 
 say, " For whether the gods exist, I am not able to affirm 
 concerning them, nor to explain of what nature they are ; for 
 there are many things would prevent me"? And to speak of 
 the opinions of the most atheistical, Euhemerus, is superfluous. 
 For having made many daring assertions concerning the gods, 
 he at last would absolutely deny their existence, and have all 
 
 in war or other pursuits, they ought both to have other rewards and 
 prizes given them ; and specially this, of being allowed the freest inter- 
 course with women, that, at the same time, under this pretext the 
 greatest number of children may spring from such parents."
 
 TIIEOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 113 
 
 tilings to be governed by self-regulated action. 1 And Plato, 
 who spoke so much of the unity of God and of the soul of 
 man, asserting that the soul is immortal, is not he himself 
 afterwards found, inconsistently with himself, to maintain that 
 some souls pass into other men, and that others take their 
 departure into irrational animals ? How can his doctrine fail 
 to seem dreadful and monstrous to those at least who have 
 any judgment that he who was once a man shall after- 
 wards be a wolf, or a dog, or an ass, or some other irrational 
 brute ? Pythagoras, too, is found venting similar nonsense, 
 besides his demolishing providence. Which of them, then, 
 shall we believe ? Philemon, the comic poet, who says, 
 
 " Good Lope have they who praise and serve the gods ;" 
 or those whom we have mentioned Euhemerus, and Epi- 
 curus, and Pythagoras, and the others who deny that the 
 gods are to be worshipped, and who abolish providence ? 
 Concerning God and providence, Ariston said : 
 
 " Be of good courage : God will still preserve 
 And greatly help all those who so deserve. 
 If no promotion waits on faithful men, 
 Say what advantage goodness offers then. 
 'Tis granted yet I often see the just 
 Faring but ill, from ev'ry honour thrust ; 
 While they whose own advancement is their aim, 
 Oft in this present life have all they claim. 
 But we must look beyond, and wait the end, 
 That consummation to which all things tend. 
 'Tis not, as vain and wicked men have said, 
 By an unbridled destiny we're led : 
 It is not blinded chance that rules the world, 
 Nor uncontrolled are all things onward hurled. 
 The wicked blinds himself with this belief ; 
 But be ye sure, of all rewards, the chief 
 Is still reserved for those who holy live ; 
 And Providence to wicked men will give 
 Only the just reward which is their meed, 
 And fitting punishment for each bad deed." 
 And one can see how inconsistent with each other are the 
 things which others, and indeed almost the majority, have said 
 about God and providence. For some have absolutely can- 
 
 1: ti- 
 ll
 
 114 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 celled God and providence ; and others, again, have affirmed 
 God, and have avowed that all things are governed by provi- 
 dence. The intelligent hearer and reader must therefore give 
 minute attention to their expressions; as also Simylussaid: 
 " It is the custom of the poets to name by a common designa- 
 tion the surpassingly wicked and the excellent ; we therefore 
 must discriminate." As also Philemon says : "A senseless 
 man who sits and merely hears is a troublesome feature ; for 
 he does not blame himself, so foolish is he." We must then 
 give attention, and consider what is said, critically inquiring 
 into what has been uttered by the philosophers and the poets. 
 
 CHAP. vni. Wickedness attributed to the gods by heathen 
 writers. 
 
 For, denying that there are gods, they again acknowledge 
 their existence, and they said they committed grossly wicked 
 deeds. And, first, of Jove the poets euphoniously sing the 
 wicked actions. And Chrysippus, who talked a deal of non- 
 sense, is he not found publishing that Juno had the foulest 
 intercourse with Jupiter? For why should I recount the 
 impurities of the so-called mother of the gods, or of Jupiter 
 Latiaris thirsting for human blood, or the castrated Attis ; or 
 of Jupiter, surnamed Tragedian, and how he defiled himself, 
 as they say, and now is worshipped among the Romans as a 
 god? I am silent about the temples of Antinous, and of the 
 others whom you call gods. For when related to sensible 
 persons, they excite laughter. They who elaborated such a 
 philosophy regarding either the non-existence of God, or pro- 
 miscuous intercourse and beastly concubinage, are themselves 
 condemned by their own teachings. Moreover, we find from 
 the writings they composed that the eating of human flesh 
 was received among them ; and they record that those whom 
 they honour as gods were the first to do these things. 
 
 CHAP. IX. Christian doctrine of God and His law. 
 
 Now we also confess that God exists, but that He is one, 
 the creator, and maker, and fashioner of this universe ; and 
 we know that all things are arranged by His providence, but
 
 TI1EOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 115 
 
 by Him alone. And we have learned a holy law ; but we 
 have as lawgiver Him who is really God, who teaches us to 
 act righteously, and to be pious, and to do good. And con- 
 cerning piety 1 He says, "Thou shalt have no other gods 
 before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, 
 or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under 
 the earth : thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor 
 serve them: for I am the Lord thy God." 2 And of doing 
 good He said : " Honour thy father and thy mother ; that it 
 may be well with thee, and that thy days may be long in the 
 land which I the Lord God give thee." Again, concerning 
 righteousness : " Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou 
 shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear 
 false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet 
 thy neighbour's wife, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's 
 house, nor his land, nor his man-servant, nor his maid- 
 servant, nor his ox, nor his beast of burden, nor any of his 
 cattle, nor anything that is thy neighbour's. Thou shalt not 
 wrest the judgment of the poor in his cause. 3 From every 
 unjust matter keep thee far. The innocent and righteous 
 thou shalt not slay ; thou shalt not justify the wicked ; and 
 thou shalt not take a gift, for gifts blind the eyes of them 
 that see and pervert righteous words." Of this divine law, 
 then, Moses, who also was God's servant, was made the 
 minister both to all the world, and chiefly to the Hebrews, 
 who were also called Jews, whom an Egyptian king had in 
 ancient days enslaved, and who were the righteous seed of 
 godly and holy men Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. God, 
 being mindful of them, and doing marvellous and strange 
 miracles by the hand of Moses, delivered them, and led them 
 out of Egypt, leading them through what is called the desert ; 
 whom He also settled again in the land of Canaan, which 
 afterwards was called Judaea, and gave them a law, and taught 
 them these things. Of this great and wonderful law, which 
 tends to all righteousness, the ten heads are such as we have 
 already rehearsed. 
 
 1 Or, right worship. f Ex. xx. 3. 8 Ex. xxiii. G.
 
 116 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 CHAP. x. Of humanity to strangers. 
 
 Since therefore they were strangers in the land of Egypt, 
 being by birth Hebrews from the land of Chaldsea, for at 
 that time, there being a famine, they were obliged to migrate 
 to Egypt for the sake of buying food there, where also for a 
 time they sojourned ; and these things befell them in accord- 
 ance with a prediction of God, having sojourned, then, in 
 Egypt for 430 years, when Moses was about to lead them 
 out into the desert, God taught them by the law, saying, 
 " Ye shall not afflict a stranger ; for ye know the heart of 
 a stranger : for yourselves were strangers in the land of 
 
 Egypt" 
 
 CHAP. xi. Of repentance. 
 
 And when the people transgressed the law which had been 
 given to them by God, God being good and pitiful, unwilling 
 to destroy them, in addition to His giving them the law, 
 afterwards sent forth also prophets to them from among their 
 brethren, to teach and remind them of the contents of the law, 
 and to turn them to repentance, that they might sin no more. 
 But if they persisted in their wicked deeds, He forewarned 
 them that they should be delivered into subjection to all the 
 kingdoms of the earth ; and that this has already happened 
 them, is manifest. Concerning repentance, then, Isaiah the 
 prophet, generally indeed to all, but expressly to the people, 
 says : " Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye 
 upon Him while He is near : let the wicked forsake his 
 ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him 
 return unto the Lord his God, and he will find mercy, for 
 He will abundantly pardon." l And another prophet, Ezekiel, 
 says : " If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath 
 committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is 
 right in my sight, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All 
 his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be 
 mentioned unto him ; but in his righteousness that he hath 
 done he shall live : for I desire not the death of the sinner, 
 
 1 Isa. Iv. 6.
 
 TIIEOPHIL US TO A UTOL 7CUS. 1 17 
 
 saith the Lord, but that he turn from his wicked way, and 
 live." 1 Again Isaiah: "Ye who take deep and wicked 
 counsel, turn ye, that ye may be saved." 2 And another pro- 
 phet, Jeremiah : " Turn to the Lord your God, as a grape- 
 gatherer to his basket, and ye shall find mercy." 5 Many 
 therefore, yea rather, countless are the sayings in the Holy 
 Scriptures regarding repentance, God being always desirous 
 that the race of men turn from all their sins. 
 
 CHAP. xii. Of righteousness. 
 
 Moreover, concerning the righteousness which the law 
 enjoined, confirmatory utterances are found both with the 
 prophets and in the Gospels, because they all spoke inspired 
 by one Spirit of God. Isaiah accordingly spoke thus : " Put 
 away the evil of your doings from your souls ; learn to do 
 well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the father- 
 less, plead for the widow." 4 And again the same prophet said: 
 " Loose every band of wickedness, dissolve every oppressive 
 contract, let the oppressed go free, and tear up every un- 
 righteous bond. Deal out thy bread to the hungry, and bring 
 the houseless poor to thy home. When thou seest the naked, 
 cover him, and hide not thyself from thine own flesh. Then 
 shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health 
 shall spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go 
 before thee." 5 In like manner also Jeremiah says: " Stand 
 in the ways, and see, and ask which is the good way of the 
 Lord your God, and walk in it, and ye shall find rest for your 
 souls. Judge just judgment, for in this is the will of the 
 Lord your God." 6 So also says Hosea: "Keep judgment, 
 and draw near to your God, who established the heavens and 
 created the earth." 7 And another, Joel, spoke in agreement 
 with these : " Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, 
 assemble the elders, gather the children that are in arms ; let 
 the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of 
 her closet, and pray to the Lord thy God urgently that He 
 may have mercy upon you, and blot out your sins." 8 In like 
 
 1 Ezek. xviii. 21. 2 Isa. xxxi. 6. 3 Jer. vi. 9. * Isa. i. 16, 17. 
 6 Isa. Iviii. 6. 6 Jer. vi. 16. 7 Uos. xii. 6. 8 Joel ii. 16.
 
 ] 18 THEOPIIIL US TO A UTOL YCUS. 
 
 manner also another, Zachariah : " Thus saith the Lord 
 Almighty, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and com- 
 passion every man to his brother ; and oppress not the widow, 
 nor the fatherless, nor the stranger; and let none of you 
 imagine evil against his brother in your heart, saith the Lord 
 Almighty." 1 
 
 CHAP. XIIT. Of chastity. 
 
 And concerning chastity, the holy word teaches us not only 
 not to sin in act, but not even in thought, not even in the 
 heart to think of any evil, nor looking on another man's wife 
 with our eyes to lust after her. Solomon, accordingly, who 
 was a king and a prophet, said : " Let thine eyes look right 
 on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee: make 
 straight paths for your feet." 2 And the voice of the gospel 
 teaches still more urgently concerning chastity, saying : 
 " Whosoever looketh on a woman who is not his own wife, to 
 lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in 
 his heart." 3 " And he that marrieth," says [the gospel], " her 
 that is divorced from her husband, committeth adultery ; 
 and whosoever putteth away his wife, saving for the cause 
 of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery." 4 Because 
 Solomon says : " Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his 
 clothes not be burned ? Or can one w r alk upon hot coals, and 
 his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to a married 
 woman shall not be innocent." 5 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Of loving our enemies. 
 
 And that we should be kindly disposed, not only towards 
 those of our own stock, as some suppose, Isaiah the prophet 
 said : " Say to those that hate you, and that cast you out, 
 Ye are our brethren, that the name of the Lord may be 
 glorified, and be apparent in their joy." 6 And the gospel 
 says : " Love your enemies, and pray for them that despite- 
 fully use you. For if ye love them who love you, what 
 reward have ye ? This do also the robbers and the publicans." 7 
 
 1 Zech. vii. 9, 10. 2 Prov. iv. 25. 8 Matt. v. 28. * Matt. v. 32. 
 * Prov. vi. 27-29. Isa. kvi. 5. r Matt. v. 44.
 
 TI1EOPHIL US TO A UTOL YC US. 119 
 
 And those that do good it teaches not to boast, lest they 
 become men-pleasers. For it says : " Let not your left 
 hand know what your right hand doeth." l Moreover, con- 
 cerning subjection to authorities and powers, and prayer for 
 them, the divine word gives us instructions, in order that 
 " we may lead a quiet and peaceable life." 2 And it teaches 
 us to render all things to all, 3 " honour to whom honour, fear 
 to whom fear, tribute to whom tribute ; to owe no man any- 
 thing, but to love all." 
 
 CHAP. xv. The innocence of the Christians defended. 
 
 Consider, therefore, whether those who teach such things 
 can possibly live indifferently, and be commingled in unlawful 
 intercourse, or, most impious of all, eat human flesh, espe- 
 cially when we are forbidden so much as to witness shows of 
 gladiators, lest we become partakers and abettors of murders. 
 But neither may we see the other spectacles, 4 lest our eyes 
 and ears be defiled, participating in the utterances there sung. 
 For if one should speak of cannibalism, in these spectacles 
 the children of Thyestes and Tereus are eaten ; and as for 
 adultery, both in the case of men and of gods, whom they 
 celebrate in elegant language for honours and prizes, this 
 is made the subject of their dramas. But far be it from 
 Christians to conceive any such deeds ; for with them tem- 
 perance dwells, self-restraint is practised, monogamy is ob- 
 served, chastity is guarded, iniquity exterminated, sin extir- 
 pated, righteousness exercised, law administered, worship 
 performed, God acknowledged : truth governs, grace guards, 
 peace screens them ; the holy word guides, wisdom teaches, 
 life directs, God reigns. Therefore, though we have much 
 to say regarding our manner of life, and the ordinances of 
 God, the maker of all creation, we yet consider that we have 
 for the present reminded you of enough to induce you to 
 study these things, especially since you can now read [our 
 writings] for yourself, that as you have been fond of acquiring 
 information, you may still be studious in this direction also. 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 3. 2 1 Tim. ii. 2. 
 
 8 Uorn. xiii. 7, 8. 4 At the theatres.
 
 120 TIIEOPHIL US TO A UTOL YCUS. 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Uncertain conjectures of the philosopJiers. 
 
 But I wish now to give you a more accurate demonstration, 
 God helping me, of the historical periods, that you may see 
 that our doctrine is not modern nor fabulous, but more ancient 
 and true than all poets and authors who have written in 
 uncertainty. For some, maintaining that the world was 
 uncreated, went into infinity j 1 and others, asserting that it 
 was created, said that already 153,075 years had passed. 
 This is stated by Apollonius the Egyptian. And Plato, who 
 is esteemed to have been the wisest of the Greeks, into what 
 nonsense did he run ? For in his book entitled The Republic? 
 we find him expressly saying : " For if things had in all time 
 remained in their present arrangement, when ever could any 
 new thing be discovered ? For ten thousand times ten thou- 
 sand years elapsed without record, and one thousand or twice 
 as many years have gone by since some things were discovered 
 by Daedalus, and some by Orpheus, and some by Palamedes." 
 And when he says that these things happened, he implies that 
 ten thousand times ten thousand years elapsed from the flood 
 to Daedalus. And after he has said a great deal about the 
 cities of the world, and the settlements, and the nations, he 
 owns that he has said these things conjecturally. For he 
 says, " If then, my friend, some god should promise us, that 
 if we attempted to make a survey of legislation, the things 
 now said," 3 etc., which shows that he was speaking by guess ; 
 and if by guess, then what he says is not true. 
 
 CHAP. xvii. Accurate information of the Christians. 
 
 It behoved, therefore, that he should the rather become a 
 scholar of God in this matter of legislation, as he himself 
 confessed that in no other way could he gain accurate 
 
 1 i.e. tracing back its history through an infinite duration. 
 
 2 The following quotation is not from the Republic, but from the third 
 book of the Laws. 
 
 3 Plato goes on to say, that if he had this pledge of divine assistance, 
 he would go further in his speculation ; and therefore Theophilus argues 
 that what he said without this assistance he felt to be unsafe.
 
 TIIEOPHIL US TO A UTOL YCUS. 1 2 1 
 
 information than by God's teaching him through the law. 
 And did not the poets Homer and Hesiod and Orpheus 
 profess that they themselves had been instructed by Divine 
 Providence ? Moreover, it is said that among your writers 
 there were prophets and prognosticators, and that those wrote 
 accurately who were informed by them. How much more, 
 then, shall we know the truth who are instructed by the holy 
 prophets, who were possessed by 1 the Holy Spirit of God ! 
 On this account all the prophets spoke harmoniously and in 
 agreement with one another, and foretold the things that 
 would come to pass in all the world. For the very accom- 
 plishment of predicted and already consummated events 
 should demonstrate to those who are fond of information, 
 yea rather, who are lovers of truth, that those things are 
 really true which they declared concerning the epochs and 
 eras before the deluge : to wit, how the years have run on 
 since the world was created until now, so as to manifest the 
 ridiculous mendacity of your authors, and show that their 
 statements are not true. 
 
 CHAP. xvin. Errors of the Greeks about the deluge. 
 
 For Plato, as we said above, when he had demonstrated 
 that a deluge had happened, said that it extended not over 
 the whole earth, but only over the plains, and that those who 
 fled to the highest hills saved themselves. But others say 
 that there existed Deucalion and Pyrrha, and that they were 
 preserved in a chest ; and that Deucalion, after he came out 
 of the chest, flung stones behind him, and that men were 
 produced from the stones ; from which circumstance they say 
 that men in the mass are named "people." 2 Others, again, 
 say that Clymenus existed in a second flood. From what has 
 already been said, it is evident that they who wrote such 
 things and philosophized to so little purpose are miserable, 
 and very profane and senseless persons. But Moses, our 
 prophet and the servant of God, in giving an account of the 
 genesis of the world, related in what manner the flood came 
 
 1 Literally, " contained." 
 * Xac-V, from xf, stone.
 
 122 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 upon the earth, telling us, besides, how the details of the flood 
 came about, and relating no fable of Pyrrha nor of Deucalion 
 or Cly menus ; nor, forsooth, that only the plains were sub- 
 merged, and that those only who escaped to the mountains 
 were saved. 
 
 CHAP. xix. Accurate account of the deluge. 
 
 And neither does he make out that there was a second 
 flood : on the contrary, he said that never again would there 
 be a flood of water on the world ; as neither indeed has there 
 been, nor ever shall be. And he says that eight human 
 beings were preserved in the ark, in that which had been 
 prepared by God's direction, not by Deucalion, but by Noah; 
 which Hebrew word means in English 1 "rest," as we have 
 elsewhere shown that Noah, when he announced to the men 
 then alive that there was a flood coming, prophesied to them, 
 saying, Come hither, God calls you to repentance. On this 
 account he was fitly called Deucalion. 2 And this Noah had 
 three sons (as we mentioned in the second book), whose 
 names were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth ; and these had 
 three wives, one wife each ; each man and his wife. This 
 man some have suruamed Eunuchus. All the eight persons, 
 therefore, w r ho were found in the ark were preserved. And 
 Moses showed that the flood lasted forty days and forty 
 nights, torrents pouring from heaven, and from the fountains 
 of the deep breaking up, so that the water overtopped every 
 high hill 15 cubits. And thus the race of all the men that 
 then were was destroyed, and those only who were protected 
 in the ark were saved; and these, we have already said, were 
 eight. And of the ark, the remains are to this day to be seen 
 in the Arabian mountains. This, then, is in sum the history 
 of the deluge. 
 
 CHAP. xx. Antiquity of Moses. 
 
 And Moses, becoming the leader of the Jews, as we have 
 already stated, was expelled from the land of Egypt by the 
 
 1 Literally, in Greek, dva.'x-a.vaig. 
 
 s Deucalion, from AtiJ, come, and x,hiu, I call.
 
 TI1EOPIIILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 123 
 
 king, Pharaoh, whose name was Amasis, and who, they say, 
 reigned after the expulsion of the people 25 years and 4 
 months, as Manetho assumes. And after him [reigned] 
 Chebron, 13 years. And after him Amenophis, 20 years 
 7 months. And after him his sister Amessa, 21 years 1 
 month. And after her Mephres, 12 years 9 months. And 
 after him Methramuthosis, 20 years and 10 months. And 
 after him Tythmoses, 9 years 8 months. And after him 
 Damphenophis, 30 years 10 months. And after him Orus, 
 35 years 5 months. And after him his daughter, 10 years 
 3 months. After her Mercheres, 12 years 3 months. And 
 after him his son Armais, 30 years 1 month. After him 
 Messes, son of Miammus, 6 years 2 months. After him 
 Rameses, 1 year 4 months. After him Amenophis, 19 years 
 6 months. After him his sons Thoessus and Rameses, 10 
 years, who, it is said, had a large cavalry force and naval 
 equipment. The Hebrews, indeed, after their own separate 
 history, having at that time migrated into the land of Egypt, 
 and been enslaved by the king Tethmosis, as already said, 
 built for him strong cities, Peitho, and Rameses, and On, 
 which is Heliopolis ; so that the Hebrews, who also are our 
 ancestors, and from whom we have those sacred books which 
 are older than all authors, as already said, are proved to be 
 more ancient than the cities which were at that time re- 
 nowned among the Egyptians. And the country was called 
 Egypt from the king Sethos. For the word Sethos, they 
 say, is pronounced " Egypt." l ..^nd Sethos had a brother, by 
 name Armais. He is called Danaus, the same who passed 
 from Egypt to Argos, whom the other authors mention as 
 being of very ancient date. 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Of Manetlxfs inaccuracy. 
 
 And Manetho, who among the Egyptians gave out a great 
 deal of nonsense, and even impiously charged Moses and the 
 Hebrews who accompanied him with being banished from 
 Egypt on account of leprosy, could give no accurate chrono- 
 logical statement. For when he said they were shepherds, 
 1 Or, reading 6 y<ip ^Jug, " Sethos is also called Egyptus."
 
 124 THEOPH1LUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 and enemies of the Egyptians, he uttered truth indeed, 
 because he was forced to do so. For our forefathers who 
 sojourned in Egypt were truly shepherds, but not lepers. 
 For when they came into the land called Jerusalem, where 
 also they afterwards abode, it is well known how their priests, 
 in pursuance of the appointment of God, continued in the 
 temple, and there healed every disease, so that they cured 
 lepers and every unsoundness. The temple was built by 
 Solomon the king of Judaea. And from Manetho's own 
 statements his chronological error is manifest. (As it is also 
 in respect of the king who expelled them, Pharaoh by name. 
 For he no longer ruled them. For having pursued the 
 Hebrews, he and his army were engulphed in the Red Sea. 
 And he is in error still further, in saying that shepherds made 
 war against the Egyptians.) For they went out of Egypt, 
 and thenceforth dwelt in the country now called Judaea, 313 l 
 years before Danaus came to Argos. And that most people 
 consider him older than any other of the Greeks is manifest. 
 So that Manetho has unwillingly declared to us, by his own 
 writings, two particulars of the truth : first, avowing that 
 they were shepherds ; secondly, saying that they went out of 
 the land of Egypt. So that even from these writings Moses 
 and his followers are proved to be 900 or even 1000 years 
 prior to the Trojan war. 2 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Antiquity of the temple. 
 
 Then concerning the building of the temple in Judasa, 
 which Solomon the king built 566 years after the exodus of 
 the Jews from Egypt, there is among the Tyrians a record 
 how the temple was built; and in their archives writings have 
 been preserved, in which the temple is proved to have existed 
 143 3 years 8 months before the Tyrians founded Carthage 
 (and this record was made by Hiram 4 (that is the name of 
 the king of the Tyrians), the son of Abimalus, on account of 
 the hereditary friendship which existed between Hiram and 
 
 1 The Bened. editor shows that this should be 393 years. 
 
 * The correct date would be about 400 years. 
 
 8 Others read 134 years. * Literally, Hieromus.
 
 1HEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 125 
 
 Solomon, and at the same time on account of the surpassing 
 wisdom possessed by Solomon. For they continually engaged 
 with each other in discussing difficult problems. And proof 
 of this exists in their correspondence, which to this day is 
 preserved among the Tyrians, and the writings that passed 
 between them) ; as Menander the Ephesian, while narrating 
 the history of the Tyrian kingdom, records, speaking thus : 
 " For when Abimalus the king of the Tyrians died, his 
 son Hiram succeeded to the kingdom. He lived 53 years. 
 And Bazorus succeeded him, who lived 43, and reigned 17 
 years. And after him followed Methuastartus, who lived 54 
 years, and reigned 12. And after him succeeded his brother 
 Atharymus, who lived 58 years, and reigned 9. He was 
 slain by his brother of the name of Helles, who lived 50 
 years, and reigned 8 months. He was killed by Juthobalus, 
 priest of Astarte, who lived 40 years, and reigned 12. He 
 was succeeded by his son Bazorus, who lived 45 years, and 
 reigned 7. And to him his son Metten succeeded, who lived 
 32 years, and reigned 29. Pygmalion, son of Pygmalius, 
 succeeded him, who lived 56 years, and reigned 7. 1 And in 
 the 7th year of his reign, his sister, fleeing to Libya, built 
 the city which to this day is called Carthage." The whole 
 period, therefore, from the reign of Hiram to the founding o 
 Carthage, amounts to 155 years and 8 months. And in the 
 12th year of the reign of Hiram the temple in Jerusalem was 
 built. So that the entire time from the building of the 
 temple to the founding of Carthage was 143 years and 8 
 months. 
 
 CHAP, xxuie Prophets more ancient than Greek writers. 
 
 So then let what has been said suffice for the testimony of 
 the Phoenicians and Egyptians, and for the account of our 
 chronology given by the writers Manetho the Egyptian, and 
 Menander the Ephesian, and also Josephus, who wrote the 
 Jewish war, which they waged with the Romans. For from 
 ihese very old records it is proved that the writings of the 
 
 1 In this register it seems that the number of years during which each 
 person lived does not include the years of his reign.
 
 12 G THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 rest are more recent than the writings given to us through 
 Moses, yes. and than the subsequent prophets. For the last 
 of the prophets, who was called Zechariah, was contemporary 
 with the reign of Darius. But even the lawgivers themselves 
 are all found to have legislated subsequently to that period. 
 For if one were to mention Solon the Athenian, he lived in the 
 days of the kings Cyrus and Darius, in the time of the prophet 
 Zechariah first mentioned, who was by many years the last of 
 the prophets. 1 Or if you mention the lawgivers Lycurgus, 
 or Draco, or Minos, Josephus tells us in his writings that the 
 sacred books take precedence of them in antiquity, since 
 even before the reign of Jupiter over the Cretans, and before 
 the Trojan war, the writings of the divine law which has 
 been given to us through Moses were in existence. And 
 that we may give a more accurate exhibition of eras and 
 dates, we will, God helping us, now give an account not only 
 of the dates after the deluge, but also of those before it, so 
 as to reckon the whole number of all the years, as far as 
 possible ; tracing up to the very beginning of the creation of 
 the world, which Moses the servant of God recorded through 
 the Holy Spirit. For having first spoken of what concerned 
 the creation and genesis of the world, and of the first man, 
 and all that happened after in the order of events, he 
 signified also the years that elapsed before the deluge. And 
 I pray for favour from the only God, that I may accurately 
 speak the whole truth according to His will, that you and 
 every one who reads this work may be guided by His truth 
 and favour. I will then begin first with the recorded genea- 
 logies, and I begin my narration with the first man. 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Chronology from Adam. 
 
 Adam lived till he begat a son, 2 230 years. And his son 
 Seth, 205. And his son Enos, 190. And his son Cainan, 17.0. 
 And his son Mahaleel, 165. And his son Jared, 162. And 
 his son Enoch, 165. And his son Methuselah, 167. And 
 
 1 But the meaning here is obscure in the original. Malachi was much 
 later than Zechariah. 
 
 2 i.e. till he begat Seth.
 
 THEOPHIL US TO A UTOL TCUS. 127 
 
 his son Lamech, 188. And Lamecli's son was Noah, of whom 
 we have spoken above, who begat Shem when 500 years old. 
 During Noah's life, in his 600th year, the flood came. The 
 total number of years, therefore, till the flood, was 2242. 
 And immediately after the flood, Shem, who was 100 years 
 old, begat Arphaxad. And Arphaxad, when 135 years old, 
 begat Salah. And Salah begat a son when 130. And his 
 son Eber, when 134. And from him the Hebrews name 
 their race. And his son Phaleg begat a son when 130. And 
 his son Reu, when 132. And his son Serug, when 130. 
 And his son Nahor, when 75. And his son Terah, when 70. 
 And his son Abraham, our patriarch, begat Isaac when he 
 was 100 years old. Until Abraham, therefore, there are 
 3278 years. The fore-mentioned Isaac lived until he begat 
 a son, 60 years, and begat Jacob. Jacob, till the migration 
 into Egypt, of which we have spoken above, lived 130 years. 
 And the sojourning of the Hebrews in Egypt lasted 430 
 years ; and after their departure from the land of Egypt they 
 spent 40 years in the wilderness, as it is called. All these 
 years, therefore, amount to 3938. And at that time, Moses 
 having died, Jesus the son of Nun succeeded to his rule, 
 and governed them 27 years. And after Jesus, when the 
 people had transgressed the commandments of God, they 
 served the king of Mesopotamia, by name Chusarathon, 8 
 years. Then, on the repentance of the people, they had 
 judges : Gothonoel, 40 years ; Eglon, 18 years ; Aoth, 8 
 years. Then having sinned, they were subdued by strangers 
 for 20 years. Then Deborah judged them 40 years. Then 
 they served the Midianites 7 years. Then Gideon judged 
 them 40 years ; Abimelech, 3 years ; Thola, 22 years ; Jair, 
 22 years. Then the Philistines and Ammonites ruled them 
 18 years. After that Jephthah judged them 6 years ; Esbon, 
 7 years ; Ailon, 10 years ; Abdon, 8 years. Then strangers 
 ruled them 40 years. Then Samson judged them 20 years. 
 Then there was peace among them for 40 years. Then 
 Samera judged them one year ; Eli, 20 years ; Samuel, 12 
 years.
 
 128 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. From Saul to the captivity. 
 
 And after the judges they had kings, the first named 
 Saul, who reigned 20 years ; then David, our forefather, 
 who reigned 40 years. Accordingly, there are to the reign 
 of David [from Isaac] 496 years. And after these kings 
 Solomon reigned, who also, by the will of God, was the first 
 to build the temple in Jerusalem ; he reigned 40 years. And 
 after him Rehoboam, 17 years ; and after him Abias, 7 years ; 
 and after him Asa, 41 years ; and after him Jehoshaphat, 25 
 years ; and after him Joram, 8 years ; and after him Ahaziah, 
 1 year ; and after him Athaliah, 6 years ; and after her 
 Josiah, 40 years; and after him Amaziah, 39 years; and 
 after him Uzziah, 52 years ; and after him Jotham, 16 years ; 
 and after him Ahaz, 17 years; and after him Hezekiah, 29 
 years ; and after him Manasseh, 55 years ; and after him 
 Amon, 2 years ; and after him Josiah, 31 years ; and after 
 him Jehoahaz, 3 months; and after him Jehoiakim, 11 years. 
 Then another Jehoiakim, 3 months 10 days ; and after him 
 Zedekiah, 11 years. And after these kings, the people, con- 
 tinuing in their sins, and not repenting, the king of Babylon, 
 named Nebuchadnezzar, came up into Judsea, according to 
 the prophecy of Jeremiah. He transferred the people of the 
 Jews to Babylon, and destroyed the temple which Solomon 
 had built. And in the Babylonian banishment the people 
 passed 70 years. Until the sojourning in the land of Babylon, 
 there are therefore, in all, 4954 years 6 months and 10 days. 
 And according as God had, by the prophet Jeremiah, fore- 
 told that the people should be led captive to Babylon, in like 
 manner He signified beforehand that they should also return 
 into their own land after 70 years. These 70 years then 
 being accomplished, Cyrus becomes king of the Persians, who, 
 according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, issued a decree in the 
 second year of his reign, enjoining by his edict that all Jews 
 who were in his kingdom should return to their own country, 
 and rebuild their temple to God, which the fore-mentioned 
 king of Babylon had demolished. Moreover, Cyrus, in com- 
 pliance with the instructions of God, gave orders to his own
 
 TIIEOPHIL US TO A UTOL YCUS. 129 
 
 body -guards, Sabessar and Mithridates, that the vessels which 
 had been taken out of the temple of Judaea by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar should be restored, and placed again in the temple. 
 In the second year, therefore, of Darius are fulfilled the 70 
 years which were foretold by Jeremiah. 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Contrast between Hebrew and Greek writings. 
 
 Hence one can see how our sacred writings are shown to 
 be more ancient and true than those of the Greeks and 
 Egyptians, or any other historians. For Herodotus and 
 Thucydides, as also Xenophon, and most other historians, 
 began their relations from about the reign of Cyrus and 
 Darius, not being able to speak with accuracy of prior and 
 ancient times. For what great matters did they disclose if 
 they spoke of Darius and Cyrus, barbarian kings, or of the 
 Greeks Zopyrus and Hippias, or of the wars of the Athenians 
 and Lacedsemonians, or the deeds of Xerxes or of Pausanias, 
 who ran the risk of starving to death in the temple of 
 Minerva, or the history of Themistocles and the Pelopon- 
 nesian war, or of Alcibiades and Thrasybulus ? For my 
 purpose is not to furnish mere matter of much talk, but to 
 throw light upon the number of years from the foundation of 
 the world, and to condemn the empty labour and trifling 
 of these authors, because there have neither been twenty 
 thousand times ten thousand years from the flood to the 
 present time, as Plato said, affirming that there had been so 
 many years ; nor yet 15 times 10,375 years, as we have 
 already mentioned Apollonius the Egyptian gave out ; nor 
 is the world uncreated, nor is there a spontaneous production 
 of all things, as Pythagoras and the rest dreamed ; but, being 
 indeed created, it is also governed by the providence of God, 
 who made all things ; and the whole course of time and the 
 years are made plain to those who wish to obey the truth. 
 Lest, then, I seem to have made things plain up to the time 
 of Cyrus, and to neglect the subsequent periods, as if through 
 inability to exhibit them, I will endeavour, by God's help, to 
 give an account, according to my ability, of the course of the 
 subsequent times. 
 
 I
 
 130 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLTCUS. 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. Roman chronology to the death of 
 JLf. Aurelius. 
 
 When Cyrus, then, had reigned twenty-nine years, and 
 had been slain by Tomyris in the country of the Massagetas, 
 this being hi the 62d Olympiad, then the Romans began to 
 increase in power, God strengthening them, Rome having 
 been founded by Romulus, the reputed child of Mars and 
 Ilia, in the 7th Olympiad, on the 21st day of April, the year 
 being then reckoned as consisting of ten months. Cyrus, 
 then, having died, as we have already said, in the 62 d 
 Olympiad, this date falls 220 A.U.C., in which year also 
 Tarquinius, surnamed Superbus, reigned over the Romans, 
 who was the first who banished Romans and corrupted the 
 youth, and made eunuchs of the citizens, and, moreover, first 
 defiled virgins, and then gave them in marriage. On this 
 account he was fitly called Superbus in the Roman language, 
 and that is translated "the Proud." For he first decreed 
 that those who saluted him should have their salute acknow- 
 ledged by some one else. He reigned twenty-five years. 
 After him yearly consuls were introduced, tribunes also and 
 ediles for 453 years, whose names we consider it long and 
 superfluous to recount. For if any one is anxious to learn 
 them, he will ascertain them from the tables which Chryserus 
 the nomenclator compiled : he was a freedman of Aurelius 
 Verus, who composed a very lucid record of all things, both 
 names and dates, from the founding of Rome to the death of 
 his own patron, the Emperor Verus. The annual magistrates 
 ruled the Romans, as we say, for 453 years. Afterwards 
 those who are called emperors began in this order : first, 
 Caius Julius, who reigned 3 years 4 months 6 days ; then 
 Augustus, 56 years 4 months 1 day; Tiberius, 22 years; 
 then another Caius, 3 years 8 months 7 days ; Claudius, 
 23 years 8 months 24 days; Nero, 13 years 6 months 28 
 days ; Galba, 2 years 7 months 6 days ; Otho, 3 months 
 5 days; Vitellius, 6 months 22 days; Yespasian, 9 years 
 11 months 22 days ; Titus, 2 years 22 days ; Domitian, 15 
 years 5 months 6 days ; Nerva, 1 year 4 months 10 days ;
 
 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 131 
 
 Trajan, 19 years 6 months 16 days; Adrian, 20 years 10 
 months 28 days; Antoninus, 22 years 7 months 6 days; 
 Verus, 19 years 10 days. The time therefore of the Cassars 
 to the death of the Emperor Verus is 237 years 5 days. 
 From the death of Cyrus, therefore, and the reign of Tar- 
 quinius Superbus, to the death of the Emperor Verus, the 
 whole time amounts to 744 years. 
 
 CHAP, xxvin. Leading chronological epochs. 
 
 And from the foundation of the world the whole time is 
 thus traced, so far as its main epochs are concerned. 
 From the creation of the world to the deluge were 2242 
 years. And from the deluge to the time when Abraham 
 our forefather begat a son, 1036 years. And from Isaac, 
 Abraham's son, to the time when the people dwelt with 
 Moses in the desert, 660 years. And from the death of 
 Moses and the rule of Joshua the son of Nun, to the death 
 of the patriarch Davitf, 498 years. And from the death of 
 David and the reign of Solomon to the sojourning of the 
 people in the land of Babylon, 518 years 6 months 10 days. 
 And from the government of Cyrus to the death of the 
 Emperor Aurelius Verus, 744 years. All the years from the 
 creation of the world amount to a total of 5698 years, and 
 the odd months and days. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Antiquity of Christianity. 
 
 These periods, then, and all the above-mentioned facts, 
 being viewed collectively, one can see the antiquity of the 
 prophetical writings and the divinity of our doctrine, that the 
 doctrine is not recent, nor our tenets mythical and false, as 
 some think, but very ancient and true. For Thallus men- 
 tioned Belus, king of the Assyrians, and Saturn, son of 
 Titan, alleging that Belus with the Titans made war against 
 Jupiter and the so-called gods in his alliance ; and on this 
 occasion he says that Gyges, being defeated, fled to Tartessus. 
 At that time Gyges ruled over that country, which then was 
 called Acte, but now is named Attica. And whence the other 
 countries and cities derived their names, we think it unneces-
 
 132 THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 
 
 sary to recount, especially to you who are acquainted with 
 history. That Moses, and not he only, but also most of the 
 prophets who followed him, is proved to be older than all 
 writers, and than Saturn and Belus and the Trojan war, is 
 manifest. For according to the history of Thallus, Belus is 
 found to be 322 years prior to the Trojan war. But we have 
 shown above that Moses lived somewhere about 900 or 1000 
 years before the sack of Troy. And as Saturn and Belus 
 flourished at the same time, most people do not know which 
 is Saturn and which is Belus. Some worship Saturn, and 
 call him Bel or Bal, especially the inhabitants of the eastern 
 countries, for they do not know who either Saturn or Belus 
 is. And among the Romans he is called Saturn, for neither 
 do they know which of the two is more ancient Saturn or 
 Bel. So far as regards the commencement of the Olympiads, 
 they say that the observance dates from Iphitus, but according 
 to others from Linus, who is also called Ilius. The order 
 which the whole number of years and Olympiads holds, we 
 have shown above. I think I have now, according to my 
 ability, accurately discoursed both of the godlessness of your 
 practices, 1 and of the whole number of the epochs of history. 
 For if even a chronological error has been committed by us, 
 of e.g. 50 or 100, or even 200 years, yet not of thousands 
 and tens of thousands, as Plato and Apollonius and other 
 mendacious authors have hitherto written. And perhaps our 
 knowledge of the whole number of the years is not quite 
 accurate, because the odd months and days are not set down 
 in the sacred books. But so far as regards the periods we 
 speak of, we are corroborated by Berosus, 2 the Chaldsean 
 philosopher, who made the Greeks acquainted with the Chal- 
 daean literature, and uttered some things concerning the 
 deluge, and many other points of history, in agreement with 
 Moses ; and with the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel also, he 
 spoke in a measure of agreement. For he mentioned what 
 happened to the Jews under the king of the Babylonians, 
 whom he calls Abobassor, and who is called by the Hebrews 
 
 1 Another reading gives, " both of the antiquity of our religion." 
 3 Berosus flourished in the reign of Alexander the Great.
 
 TIIEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS. 133 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar. And he also spoke of the temple of Jeru- 
 salem, how it was desolated by the king of the Chaldaeans, 
 and that the foundations of the temple having been laid the 
 second year of the reign of Cyrus, the temple was completed 
 in the second year of the reign of Darius. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Why the Greeks did not mention our histories. 
 
 But the Greeks make no mention of the histories which 
 give the truth : first, because they themselves only recently 
 became partakers of the knowledge of letters ; and they 
 themselves own it, alleging that letters were invented, some 
 say among the Chaldseans, and others with the Egyptians, and 
 others again say that they are derived from the Phoenicians. 
 And secondly, because they sinned, and still sin, in not making 
 mention of God, but of vain and useless matters. For thus 
 they most heartily celebrate Homer and Hesiod, and the rest 
 of the poets, but the glory of the incorruptible and only God 
 they not only omit to mention, but blaspheme; yes, and they 
 persecuted, and do daily persecute, those who worship Him. 
 And not only so, but they even bestow prizes and honours on 
 those who in harmonious language insult God ; but of those 
 who are zealous in the pursuit of virtue and practise a holy 
 life, some they stoned, some they put to death, and up to the 
 present time they subject them to savage tortures. Where- 
 fore such men have necessarily lost the wisdom of God, and 
 have not found the truth. 
 
 If you please, then, study these things carefully, that you 
 may have a compendium 1 and pledge of the truth. 
 
 1 Otto prefers avftfiovhov instead of nftftohov, on the authority of one 
 MS. The sense then is, " that you may have a counsellor and pledge of 
 the truth," the counsellor and pledge of the truth being the book 
 written by Theophilus for A utolycus.
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 
 
 Recognitions of Clement is a kind of philoso- 
 phical and theological romance. The writer of 
 the work seems to have had no intention of pre- 
 senting his statements as facts ; but, choosing the 
 disciples of Christ and their followers as his principal charac- 
 ters, he has put into their mouths the most important of his 
 beliefs, and woven the whole together by a thread of fictitious 
 narrative. 
 
 The Recognitions is one of a series ; the other members of 
 which that have come down to us are the Clementine Homilies 
 and two Epitomes. 
 
 The authorship, the date, and the doctrinal character of 
 these books have been subjects of keen discussion in modern 
 times. Especial prominence has been given to them by the 
 Tiibingen school. Hilgenfeld says : " There is scarcely a 
 single writing which is of so great importance for the history 
 of Christianity in its first stage, and which has already given 
 such brilliant disclosures at the hands of the most renowned 
 critics in regard to the earliest history of the Christian 
 Church, as the writings ascribed to the Roman Clement, the 
 Recognitions and Homilies" 1 The importance thus attached 
 to these strange and curious documents by one school of 
 theologians, has compelled men of all shades of belief to in- 
 vestigate the subject ; but after all their investigations, a great 
 variety of opinion still prevails on almost every point con- 
 nected with these books. 
 
 We leave our readers to judge for themselves in regard to 
 the doctrinal statements, and confine ourselves to a notice of 
 
 1 Die Clemen tinischen Recognitionen und Homilien nach ilirem Ursprung 
 und Inhalt daryestellt, von Dr Adolf Hilgenfeld, Jena, 1848, p. 1. 
 
 137
 
 138 INTROD UCTOR Y NOTICE. 
 
 some of the opinions in regard to the authorship and date 
 of the Recognitions. 
 
 The first question that suggests itself in regard to the 
 Recognitions is, whether the Recognitions or the Homilies are 
 the earliest form of the book, and what relation do they bear 
 to each other ? Some maintain that they are both the pro- 
 ductions of the same author, and that the one is a later and 
 altered edition of the other ; and they find some confirmation 
 of this in the preface of Run mis. Others think that both 
 books are expansions of another work which formed the 
 basis. And others maintain that the one book is a rifaci- 
 mento of the other by a different hand. Of this third party, 
 some, like Cave, Whiston, Rosenmiiller, Staudlin, Hilgenfeld, 
 and many others, believe that the Recognitions was the earliest 1 
 of the two forms ; while others, as Clericus, Mohler, Liicke, 
 Schliemann, and Uhlhorn, give priority to the Clementines. 
 Hilgenfeld supposes that the original writing was the 
 Ktfpvyfjui IleTpov, which still remains in the work; that 
 besides this there are three parts, one directed against 
 Basilides, the second the Travels of Peter (Trepi'oSot), and the 
 third the Recognitions. There are also, he believes, many 
 interpolated passages of a much later date than any of these 
 parts. 
 
 No conclusion has been reached in regard to the author. 
 Some have believed that it is a genuine work of Clement. 
 Whiston maintained that it was written by some of his hearers 
 and companions. Others have attributed the work to Bar- 
 desanes. But most acknowledge that there is no possibility 
 of discovering who was the author. 
 
 Various opinions exist as to the date of the book. It has 
 been attributed to the first, second, third, and fourth centuries, 
 and some have assigned even a later date. If we were to 
 base our arguments on the work as it stands, the date assigned 
 would be somewhere in the first half of the third century. 
 A passage from the Recognitions is quoted by Origen 2 in his 
 Commentary on Genesis, written in 231 ; and mention is made 
 
 1 See Schliemann, Die Clementinen, Hamburg, 1844, p. 295. 
 
 2 Philocalia, cap. 22.
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 139 
 
 in the work of the extension of the Roman franchise to all 
 nations under the dominion of Rome, an event which took 
 place in the reign of Caracalla, A.D. 211. The Recognitions 
 also contains a large extract from the work De Fato, ascribed 
 to Bardesanes, but really written by a scholar of his. Some 
 have thought that Bardesanes or his scholar borrowed from 
 the Recognitions; but more recently the opinion has prevailed, 
 that the passage was not originally in the Recognitions, but 
 was inserted into the Recognitions towards the middle of the 
 third century, or even later. 1 
 
 Those who believe the work made up of various documents 
 assign various dates to these documents. Hilgenfeld, for in- 
 stance, believes that the K^piry^a Ilerpov was written before 
 the time of Trajan, and the Travels of Peter about the time 
 of his reign. 
 
 Nothing is known of the place in which the Recognitions 
 was written. Some, as Schliemann, have supposed Rome, 
 some Asia Minor, and recently Uhlhorn has tried to trace it 
 to Eastern Syria. 2 
 
 The Greek of the Recognitions is lost. The work has come 
 down to us in the form of a translation by Rufinus of Aquileia 
 (d. 410 A.D.). In his letter to Gaudentius, Rufinus states 
 that he omitted some portions difficult of comprehension, but 
 that in regard to the other parts he had translated with 
 care, and an endeavour to be exact even in rendering the 
 phraseology. 
 
 The best editions of the Recognitions are those by Cotelerius, 
 often reprinted, and by Gersdorf, LipsisB 1838; but the text 
 is not in a satisfactory condition. 
 
 1 See Merx, Bardesanes von Edessa, Halle, 1863, p. 113. 
 
 2 Die Homilien und Recognitionen des Clemens Romanus nach ihrem 
 Ursprung und Inlialt dargestellt, von Gerhard Uhlhorn, Gottingeo, 1854, 
 p. 429.
 
 ElfflNUS, PEESBYTEE OF AQUILEIA;" 
 
 HIS PKEFACE TO CLEMENT'S BOOK OF RECOGNITIONS. 
 
 TO BISHOP GAUDENTIUS. 
 
 JIO thee, indeed, O Gaudentius, thou choice glory 
 of our doctors, belongs such vigour of mind, yea, 
 such grace of the Spirit, that whatever you say 
 even in the course of your daily preaching, what- 
 ever you deliver in the church, ought to be preserved in books, 
 and handed down to posterity for their instruction. But we, 
 whom slenderness of wit renders less ready, and now old age 
 renders slow and inactive, though after many delays, yet at 
 length present to you the work which once the virgin Sylvia 
 of venerable memory enjoined upon us, that we should render 
 Clement into our language, and you afterwards by hereditary 
 right demanded of us ; and thus we contribute to the use 
 and profit of our people, no small spoil, as I think, taken from 
 the libraries of the Greeks, so that we may feed with foreign 
 nourishment those whom we cannot with our own. For 
 foreign things usually seem both more pleasant, and sometimes 
 also more profitable. In short, almost everything is foreign 
 that brings healing to our bodies, that opposes diseases, and 
 neutralizes poisons. For Judasa sends us Lacryma balsami, 
 Crete Coma dictamni, Arabia her flowers of spices, India 
 reaps her crop of spikenard ; which, although they reach us 
 in a somewhat more broken condition than when they leave 
 their native fields, yet retain entire the sweetness of their 
 odour and their healing virtue. Receive therefore, my soul, 1 
 1 Var. readings : " magnanimous one," " my lord," " my friend." 
 
 140
 
 RUFINUSS PREFACE. 141 
 
 Clement returning to you ; receive him now in a Roman dress. 
 And wonder not if haply the florid countenance of eloquence 
 appear less in him than usual. It matters not, provided the 
 sense tastes the same. Therefore we transport foreign mer- 
 chandise into our country with much labour. And I know 
 not with how grateful countenances my countrymen welcome 
 me, bringing to them the rich spoils of Greece, and unlocking 
 hidden treasures of wisdom with the key of our language. 
 But may God grant your prayers, that no unlucky eye nor 
 any livid aspect may meet us, lest, by an extreme kind of 
 prodigy, while those from whom he is taken do not envy, yet 
 those upon whom he is bestowed should repine. Truly it is 
 right to point out the plan of our translation to you, who have 
 read these works also in Greek, lest haply in some parts you 
 may think the order of translation not kept. I suppose you 
 are aware that there are two editions in Greek of this work 
 of Clement, the 'Avar/vwaeis, that is, Recognitions ; and that 
 there are two collections of books, differing in some points, 
 but in many [containing] the same narrative. In short, the 
 last part of this work, in which is the relation concerning the 
 transformation of Simon, is contained in one of the collec- 
 tions, but is not at all in the other. There are also in both 
 collections some dissertations concerning the unbegotten God 
 and the Begotten, and on some other subjects, which, to say 
 nothing more, are beyond our comprehension. These, there- 
 fore, as being beyond our powers, I have chosen to reserve 
 for others, rather than to produce in an imperfect state. But 
 in the rest, we have given our endeavour, so far as we could, 
 not to vary either from the sentiments or even from the lan- 
 guage and modes of expression ; and this, although it renders 
 the style of the narrative less ornate, yet it makes it more 
 faithful. The epistle in which the same Clement, writing to 
 James the Lord's brother, informs him of the death of Peter, 
 and that he had left him his successor in his chair and teach- 
 ing, and in which also the whole subject of church order is 
 treated of, I have not prefixed to this work, both because it 
 is of later date, and because I have already translated and 
 published it. But I do not think it out of place to explain
 
 142 KUFINU&S PREFACE. 
 
 here what in that letter will perhaps seem to some to be incon- 
 sistent. For some ask, Since Linus and Cletus were bishops 
 in the city of Rome before this Clement, how could Clement 
 himself, writing to James, say that the chair of teaching was 
 handed over to him by Peter ? Now of this we have heard 
 this explanation, that Linus and Cletus were indeed bishops 
 in the city of Rome before Clement, but during the lifetime 
 of Peter : that is, that they undertook the care of the episco- 
 pate, and that he fulfilled the office of the apostleship ; as is 
 found also to have been the case at Csesarea, where, when he 
 himself was present, he yet had Zaccheus, ordained by him- 
 self, as bishop. And in this way both statements will appear 
 to be true, both that these bishops are reckoned before 
 Clement, and yet that Clement received the teacher's seat 
 on the death of Peter. But now let us see how Clement, 
 writing to James the Lord's brother, begins his narrative.
 
 BECOGNITIONS OE CLEMENT. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 CHAP. i. Clement's early history ; doubts. 
 
 CLEMENT, who was born in the city of Rome, 
 was from my earliest age a lover of chastity ; 
 while the bent of my mind held me bound as with 
 chains of anxiety and sorrow. For a thought that 
 was in me whence originating, I cannot tell constantly led 
 me to think of my condition of mortality, and to discuss such 
 questions as these : Whether there be for me any life after 
 death, or whether I am to be wholly annihilated : whether I 
 did not exist before I was born, and whether there shall be 
 no remembrance of this life after death, and so the bound- 
 lessness of time shall consign all things to oblivion and silence ; 
 so that not only we shall cease to be, but there shall be no 
 remembrance that we have ever been. This also I revolved 
 in my mind : when the world was made, or what was before 
 it was made, or whether it has existed from eternity. For it 
 seemed certain, that if it had been made, it must be doomed 
 to dissolution ; and if it be dissolved, what is to be after- 
 wards? unless, perhaps, all things shall be buried in oblivion 
 and silence, or something shall be, which the mind of man 
 cannot now conceive. 
 
 CHAP. ii. His distress. 
 
 While I was continually revolving in my mind these and 
 such like questions, suggested I know not how, I was pining 
 away wonderfully through excess of grief ; and, what was 
 worse, if at any time I thought to cast aside such cares, as 
 being of little use, the waves of anxiety rose all the higher 
 
 143
 
 144 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos i. 
 
 upon me. For I had in me that most excellent companion, 
 who would not suffer me to rest the desire of immortality : 
 for, as the subsequent issue showed, and the grace of 
 Almighty God directed, this bent of mind led me to the 
 quest of truth, and the acknowledgment of the true light ; 
 and hence it came to pass, that ere long I pitied those whom 
 formerly in my ignorance I believed to be happy. 
 
 CHAP. ill. His dissatisfaction with the schools of the 
 philosophers. 
 
 Having therefore such a bent of mind from my earliest 
 years, the desire of learning something led me to frequent the 
 schools of the philosophers. There I saw that nought else 
 was done, save that doctrines were asserted and controverted 
 without end, contests were waged, and the arts of syllogisms 
 and the subtleties of conclusions were discussed. If at any 
 time the doctrine of the immortality of the soul prevailed, 
 I was thankful; if at any time it was impugned, I went 
 away sorrowful. Still, neither doctrine had the power of truth 
 over my heart. This only I understood, that opinions and 
 definitions of things were accounted true or false, not in 
 accordance with their nature and the truth of the arguments, 
 but in proportion to the talents of those who supported them. 
 And I was all the more tortured in the bottom of my heart, 
 because I was neither able to lay hold of any of those things 
 which were spoken as firmly established, nor was I able to 
 lay aside the desire of inquiry ; but the more I endeavoured 
 to neglect and despise them, so much the more eagerly, as I 
 have said, did a desire of this sort, creeping in upon me 
 secretly as with a kind of pleasure, take possession of my 
 heart and mind. 
 
 CHAP. IV. His increasing disquiet. 
 
 Being therefore straitened in the discovery of things, I said 
 to myself, Why do we labour in vain, since the end of things 
 js manifest ? For if after death I shall be no more, my pre- 
 sent torture is useless ; but if there is to be for me a life after 
 death, let us keep for that life the excitements that belong to
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 145 
 
 it, lest perhaps some sadder things befall me than those which 
 I now suffer, unless I shall have lived piously and soberly ; 
 and, according to the opinions of some of the philosophers, 
 I be consigned to the stream of dark-rolling Phlegethon, 
 or to Tartarus, like Sisyphus and Tityus, and to eternal 
 punishment in the infernal regions, like Ixion and Tantalus. 
 And again I would answer to myself : But these things are 
 fables ; or if it be so, since the matter is in doubt, it is 
 better to live piously. But again I would ponder with my- 
 self, How should I restrain myself from the lust of sin, while 
 uncertain as to the reward of righteousness? and all the 
 
 O 
 
 more when I have no certainty what righteousness is, or what 
 is pleasing to God ; and when I cannot ascertain whether the 
 soul be immortal, and be such that it has anything to hope 
 for; nor do I know what the future is certainly to be. Yet 
 still I cannot rest from thoughts of this sort. 
 
 CHAP. v. His design to test the immortality of the soul. 
 
 What, then, shall I do? This I shall do. I shall proceed 
 to Egypt, and there I shall cultivate the friendship of the 
 hierophants or prophets, who preside at the shrines. Then I 
 shall win over a magician by money, and entreat him, by what 
 they call their necromantic art, to bring me a soul from the 
 infernal regions, as if I were desirous of consulting it about 
 some business. But this shall be my consultation, whether 
 the soul be immortal. Now, the proof that the soul is im- 
 mortal will be put past doubt, not from what it says, or from 
 what I hear, but from what I see : for seeing it with my eyes 5 
 I shall ever after hold the surest conviction of its immortality; 
 and no fallacy of words or uncertainty of hearing shall ever 
 be able to disturb the persuasion produced by sight. How- 
 ever, I related this project to a certain philosopher with whom 
 I was intimate, who counselled me not to venture upon it ; 
 " for," said he, " if the soul should not obey the call of the 
 magician, you henceforth will live more hopelessly, as thinking 
 that there is nothing after death, and also as having tried 
 
 D / O 
 
 things unlawful. If, however, you seem to see anything, 
 what religion or what piety can arise to you from things un- 
 
 K
 
 146 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. . [Boon i 
 
 lawful and impious ? For they say that transactions of this 
 sort are hateful to the Divinity, and that God sets Himself in 
 opposition to those tvho trouhle souls after their release from 
 the body." When I heard this, I was indeed staggered in 
 my purpose ; yet I could not in any way either lay aside my 
 longing, or cast off the distressing thought. 
 
 CHAP. vi. f&ars of Christ. 
 
 Not to make a long story of it, whilst I was tossed upon 
 these billows of my thought, a certain report, which took its 
 rise in the regions of the East in the reign of Tiberius Cassar, 
 gradually reached us ; and gaining strength as it passed 
 through every place, like some good message sent from God, 
 it was filling the whole world, and suffered not the divine will 
 to be concealed in silence. For it was spread over all places, 
 announcing that there was a certain person in Judasa, who, 
 beginning in the spring-time, 1 was preaching the kingdom of 
 God to the Jews, and saying that those should receive it 
 who should observe the ordinances of His commandments 
 and His doctrine. And that His speech might be believed 
 to be worthy of credit, and full of the Divinity, He was 
 said to perform many mighty works, and wonderful signs and 
 prodigies by His mere word ; so that, as one having power 
 from God, He made the deaf to hear, and the blind to see, 
 and the lame to stand erect, and expelled every infirmity and 
 all demons from men ; yea, that He even raised dead persons 
 who were brought to Him ; that He cured lepers also, look- 
 ing at them from a distance ; and that there was absolutely 
 nothing which seemed impossible to Him. These and such 
 like things were confirmed in process of time, not now by 
 frequent rumours, but by the plain statements of persons 
 coming from those quarters ; and day by day the truth of 
 the matter was further disclosed. 
 
 CHAP. vn. Arrival of Barnabas at Rome. 
 
 At length meetings began to be held in various places in 
 the city, and this subject to be discussed in conversation, and 
 1 V. R. in the time of Tiberius Caesar.
 
 BOOK t.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 147 
 
 to be a matter of wonder who this might be who had appeared, 
 and what message He had brought from God to men ; until, 
 about the same year, a certain man, standing in a most 
 crowded place in the city, made proclamation to the people, 
 saying : " Hear me, O ye citizens of Rome. The Son of God 
 is now in the regions of Judaea, promising eternal life to every 
 one who will hear Him, but upon condition that he shall regu- 
 late his actions according to the will of Him by whom He hath 
 been sent, even of God the Father. Wherefore turn ye from 
 evil things to good, from things temporal to things eternal. 
 Acknowledge that there is one God, ruler of heaven and 
 
 O * 
 
 earth, in whose righteous sight ye unrighteous inhabit His 
 world. But if ye be converted, and act according to His 
 will, then, coming to the world to come, and being made im- 
 mortal, ye shall enjoy His unspeakable blessings and rewards." 
 Now, the man who spoke these things to the people was from 
 the regions of the East, by nation a Hebrew, by name Bar- 
 nabas, who said that he himself was one of His disciples, and 
 that he was sent for this end, that he should declare these 
 things to those who would hear them. When I heard these 
 things, I began, with the rest of the multitude, to follow 
 him, and to hear what he had to say. Truly I perceived 
 that there was nothing of dialectic artifice in the man, but 
 that he expounded with simplicity, and without any craft of 
 speech, such things as he had heard from the Son of God, or 
 had seen. For he did not confirm his assertions by the force 
 of arguments, but produced, from the people who stood round 
 about him, many witnesses of the sayings and marvels which 
 he related. 
 
 CHAP. viii. His preaching. 
 
 Now, inasmuch as 1 the people began to assent willingly to 
 the things which were sincerely spoken, and to embrace his 
 simple discourse, those who thought themselves learned or 
 philosophic began to laugh at the man, and to flout him, and 
 to throw out for him the grappling-hooks of syllogisms, like 
 strong arms. But he, unterrified, regarding their subtleties 
 as mere ravings, did not even judge them worthy of an
 
 148 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos r. 
 
 answer, but boldly pursued the subject which he had set 
 before him. At length, some one having proposed this 
 question to him as he was speaking, Why a gnat has been so 
 formed, that though it is a small creature, and has six feet, 
 yet it has got wings in addition ; whereas an elephant, though 
 it is an immense animal, and has no wings, yet has only four 
 feet ; he, paying no attention to the question, went on with 
 his discourse, which had been interrupted by the unseason- 
 able challenge, only adding this admonition at every inter- 
 ruption : " We have it in charge to declare to you the words 
 and the wondrous works of Him who hath sent us, and to 
 confirm the truth of what we speak, not by artfully devised 
 arguments, but by witnesses produced from amongst your- 
 selves. For I recognise many standing in the midst of you 
 whom I remember to have heard along with us the things 
 which we have heard, and to have seen what we have seen. 
 But be it in your option to receive or to spurn the tidings 
 which we bring to you. For we cannot keep back what we 
 know to be for your advantage, because, if we be silent, woe 
 is to us: but to you, if you receive not what we speak, 
 destruction. I could indeed very easily answer your foolish 
 challenges, if you asked for the sake of learning truth, I 
 mean as to the difference of a gnat and an elephant ; but 
 now it were absurd to speak to you of these creatures, when 
 the very Creator and Framer of all things is unknown by 
 you." 
 
 CHAP. IX. Clement's interposition on behalf of Barnabas. 
 
 When he had thus spoken, all, as with one consent, with 
 rude voice raised a shout of derision, desiring to put him to 
 shame, and to silence him, crying out that he was a barbarian 
 and a madman. When I saw matters going on in this way, 
 being filled, I know not whence, with a certain zeal, and 
 inflamed with religious enthusiasm, I could not keep silence, 
 but cried out with all boldness, " Most righteously does 
 Almighty God hide His will from you, whom He foresaw to 
 be unworthy of the knowledge of Himself, as is manifest to 
 those who are really wise, from what you are now doing. For
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 149 
 
 when you see that preachers of the will of God have come 
 amongst you, because their speech makes no show of knowledge 
 of the grammatical art, but in simple and unpolished language 
 they set before you the divine commands, so that all who hear 
 may be able to follow and to understand the things that are 
 spoken, you deride the ministers and messengers of your salva- 
 tion, not knowing that it is the condemnation of you who think 
 yourselves skilful and eloquent, that rustic and barbarous 
 men have the knowledge of the truth ; whereas, when it has 
 come to you, it is not even received as a guest, while, if your 
 intemperance and lust did not oppose, it ought to have been 
 a citizen and a native. Thus you are convicted of not being 
 friends of truth and philosophers, but followers of boasting 
 and vain speakers. Ye think that truth dwells not in simple, 
 but in ingenious and subtle words, and produce countless 
 thousands of words which are not to be rated at the worth of 
 one word. What, then, do ye think will become of you, all 
 ye crowd of Greeks, if there is to be, as he says, a judgment 
 of God ? But now give over laughing at this man to your 
 own destruction, and let any one of you who pleases answer 
 me ; for, indeed, by your barking you annoy the ears even of 
 those who desire to be saved, and by your clamour you turn 
 aside to the fall of infidelity the minds that are prepared for 
 faith. What pardon can there be for you who deride and do 
 violence to the messenger of the truth when he offers to you 
 the knowledge of God ? whereas, even if he brought you 
 nothing of truth, yet, even for the kindness of his inten- 
 tions towards you, you ought to receive with gratitude and 
 welcome." 
 
 CHAP. X. Intercourse with Barnabas. 
 
 While I was urging these and similar arguments, a great 
 excitement was stirred up amongst the bystanders, some being 
 moved with pity as towards a stranger, and approving my 
 speech as in accordance with that feeling ; others, petulant 
 and stolid, rousing the anger of their undisciplined minds as 
 much against me as against Barnabas. But as the day was 
 declining to evening, I laid hold of Barnabas by the right
 
 150 EECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon i 
 
 hand, and led him away, although reluctantly, to my house ; 
 and there I made him remain, lest perchance any one of the 
 rude rabble should lay hands upon him. While we were 
 thus placed in contact for a few days, I gladly heard him 
 discoursing the word of truth ; yet he hastened his departure, 
 saying that he must by all means celebrate at Judaea a 
 festal day of his religion which was approaching, and that 
 there he should remain in future with his countrymen and 
 his brethren, evidently indicating that he was horrified at 
 the wronsj that had been done to him. 
 
 o 
 
 CHAP. xi. Departure of Barnabas. 
 
 At length I said to him, " Only expound to me the doctrine 
 of that man who you say has appeared, and I will arrange 
 your sayings in my language, and will preach the kingdom 
 and righteousness of Almighty God ; and after that, if you 
 wisli it, I shall even sail along with you, for I am extremely 
 desirous to see Judaea, and perhaps I shall remain with you 
 always." To this he answered, " If indeed you wish to see our 
 country, and to learn those things which you desire, set sail 
 with me even now ; or, if there be anything that detains you 
 now, I shall leave with you directions to my dwelling, so 
 that when you please to come you may easily find me ; for 
 to-morrow I shall set out on my journey." When I saw him 
 determined, I went down with him to the harbour, and care- 
 fully took from him the directions which he gave me to find 
 his dwelling. I told him that, but for the necessity of getting 
 some money which was due to me, I should not at all delay, 
 but that I should speedily follow him. Having told him this, 
 I commended him to the kindness of those who had charge 
 of the ship, and returned sad ; for I was possessed of the 
 memory of the intercourse which I had had with an excellent 
 guest and a choice friend. 
 
 CHAP. XII. Clemenfs arrival at Ccesarea, and introduction 
 to Peter. 
 
 Having then stopped for a few days, and having in some 
 measure finished the business of collecting what was owing to
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 151 
 
 me (for I neglected many things through my desire of hasten- 
 ing, that I might not be hindered from my purpose), I set sail 
 direct for Judaea, and after fifteen days landed at Caesarea 
 Stratonis, which is the largest city in Palestine. When I had 
 landed, and was seeking for an inn, I learned from the con- 
 versation of the people, that one Peter, a most approved dis- 
 ciple of Him who appeared in Juda3a, and showed many signs 
 and miracles divinely performed among men, was going to 
 hold a discussion of words and questions the next day with 
 one Simon, a Samaritan. Having heard this, I asked to be 
 shown his lodging ; and having found it, and standing before 
 the door, I informed the doorkeeper who I was, and whence 
 I came ; and, behold, Barnabas coming out, as soon as he 
 saw me rushed into my arms, weeping for joy, and, seizing 
 me by the hand, led me in to Peter. Having pointed him 
 out to me at a distance, " This," said he, " is Peter, of whom 
 I spoke to you as the greatest in the wisdom of God, and to 
 whom also I have spoken constantly of you. Enter, there- 
 fore, as one well known to him. For he is well acquainted 
 with all the good that is in thee, and has carefully made him- 
 self aware of your religious purpose, whence also he is greatly 
 desirous to see you. Therefore I present you to him to-day 
 as a great gift." At the same time, presenting me, he said, 
 " This, O Peter, is Clement." 
 
 CHAP. xin. His cordial reception by Peter. 
 
 But Peter most kindly, when he heard my name, imme- 
 diately ran to me and kissed me. Then, having made me 
 sit down, he said, " Thou didst well to receive as thy guest 
 Barnabas, preacher of the truth, nothing fearing the rage of 
 the insane people. Thou shalt be blessed. For as you have 
 deemed an ambassador of the truth worthy of all honour, so 
 the truth herself shall receive thee a wanderer and a stranger, 
 and shall enroll thee a citizen of her own city ; and then 
 there shall be great joy to thee, because, imparting a small 
 favour, thou shalt be written heir of eternal blessings. Now, 
 therefore, do not trouble yourself to explain your mind to 
 me ; for Barnabas has with faithful speech informed me of
 
 152 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK r. 
 
 all things about you and your dispositions, almost daily and 
 without ceasing, recalling the memory of your good qualities. 
 And to point out to you shortly, as to a friend already of one 
 mind with us, what is your best course ; if there is nothing to 
 hinder you, come along with us, and hear the word of the 
 truth, which we are going to speak in every place until we 
 come even to the city of Rome ; and now, if you wish any- 
 thing, speak." 
 
 CHAP. xiv. His account of himself. 
 
 Having detailed to him what purpose I had conceived from 
 the beginning, and how I had been distracted with vain 
 inquiries, and all those things which at first I intimated 
 to thee, my lord James, so that I need not repeat the same 
 things now, I willingly agreed to travel with him ; " for 
 that," said I, "is just what I was most eagerly desirous of. 
 But first I should wish the scheme of truth to be expounded 
 to me, that I may know whether the soul is mortal or im- 
 mortal ; and if immortal, whether it shall be brought into 
 judgment for those things which it does here. Further, I 
 desire to know what that righteousness is, which is pleasing 
 to God ; then, further, whether the world was created, and 
 why it was created, and whether it is to be dissolved, and 
 whether it is to be renovated and made better, or whether 
 after this there shall be no world at all ; and, not to mention 
 everything, I should wish to be told what is the case with 
 respect to these and such like things." To this Peter 
 answered, " I shall briefly impart to you the knowledge of 
 these things, O Clement : therefore listen. 
 
 CHAP. xv. Peter s first instruction : causes of ignorance. 
 
 " The will and counsel of God has for many reasons been 
 concealed from men ; first, indeed, through bad instruction, 
 wicked associations, evil habits, unprofitable conversation, 
 and unrighteous presumptions. On account of all these, I 
 say, first error, then contempt, then infidelity and malice, 
 covetousness also, and vain boasting, and other such like evils, 
 have filled the whole house of this world, like some enormous
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 153 
 
 smoke, and preventing those who dwell in it from seeing its 
 Founder aright, and from perceiving what things are pleasing 
 to Him. What, then, is fitting for those who are within, 
 excepting with a cry brought forth from their inmost hearts 
 to invoke His aid, who alone is not shut up in the smoke- 
 filled house, that He would approach and open the door of 
 the house, so that the smoke may be dissipated which is 
 within, and the light of the sun which shines without may 
 be admitted ? 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Instruction continued : the true Prophet. 
 
 " He, therefore, whose aid is needed for the house filled 
 with the darkness of ignorance and the smoke of vices, is 
 Pie, we say, who is called the true Prophet, who alone 
 can enlighten the souls of men, so that with their eyes they 
 may plainly see the w r ay of safety. For otherwise it is im- 
 possible to get knowledge of divine and eternal things, unless 
 one learns of that true Prophet ; because, as you yourself 
 stated a little ago, the belief of things, and the opinions of 
 causes, are estimated in proportion to the talents of their 
 advocates : hence, also, one and the same cause is now thought 
 just, now unjust; and what now seemed true, anon becomes 
 false on the assertion of another. For this reason, the credit 
 of religion and piety demanded the presence of the true Pro- 
 phet, that He Himself might tell us respecting each particu- 
 lar, how the truth stands, and might teach us how we are to 
 believe concerning each. And therefore, before all else, the 
 credentials of the prophet himself must be examined with all 
 care ; and when you have once ascertained that he is a pro- 
 phet, it behoves you thenceforth to believe him in everything, 
 and not further to discuss the particulars which he teaches, 
 but to hold the things which he speaks as certain and sacred ; 
 which things, although they seem to be received by faith, yet 
 are believed on the ground of the probation previously insti- 
 tuted. For when once at the outset the truth of the prophet 
 is established on examination, the rest is to be heard and held 
 on the ground of the faith by which it is already established 
 that he is a teacher of truth. And as it is certain that all
 
 154 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos i. 
 
 things which pertain to divine knowledge ought to be held 
 according to the rule of truth, so it is beyond doubt that from 
 none but Himself alone can it be known what is true." 
 
 CHAP. xvn. Peter requests him to le his attendant. 
 
 Having thus spoken, he set forth to me so openly and so 
 clearly who that Prophet was, and how He might be found, 
 that I seemed to have before my eyes, and to handle with 
 my hand, the proofs which he produced concerning the pro- 
 phetic truth ; and I was struck with intense astonishment, 
 how no one sees, though placed before his eyes, those things 
 which all are seeking for. Whence, by his command, reduc- 
 ing into order what he had spoken to me, I compiled a book 
 concerning the true Prophet, and sent it to you from Csesarea 
 by his command. For he said that he had received a com- 
 mand from you to send you every year an account of his 
 sayings and doings. Meantime, at the beginning of his dis- 
 course which he delivered to me the first day, when he had 
 instructed me very fully concerning the true Prophet, and 
 very many things besides, he added also this : " See," said he, 
 " for the future, and be present at the discussions which, 
 whenever any necessity arises, I shall hold with those who 
 contradict ; against whom, when I dispute, even if I shall 
 seem to be worsted, I shall not be afraid of your being led 
 to doubt of those things which I have stated to you ; because, 
 even if I shall seem to be beaten, yet those things shall not 
 therefore seem to be uncertain which the true Prophet has 
 delivered to us. Yet I hope that we shall not be overcome 
 in disputations either, if only our hearers are reasonable, and 
 friends of truth, who can discern the force and bearing of 
 words, and recognise what discourse comes from the sophistical 
 art, not containing truth, but an image of truth ; and what 
 that is, which, uttered simply and without craft, depends for all 
 its power not on show and ornament, but on truth and reason." 
 
 CHAP. xvin. His profiting by Peter s instruction. 
 
 To this I answered: "I give thanks to God Almighty, 
 because I have been instructed as I wished and desired. At
 
 BOOK i.] EECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 155 
 
 all events, you may depend upon me so far, that I can 
 never come to doubt of those things which I have learned of 
 you ; so that even if you yourself should at any time wish 
 to transfer my faith from the true Prophet, you should 
 not be able, because I have drunk in with all my heart what 
 you have spoken. And that you may not think that I am 
 promising you a great thing when I say that I cannot be 
 moved away from this faith, it is with me a certainty, that 
 whoever has received this account of the true Prophet, can 
 never afterwards so much as doubt of its truth. And there- 
 fore I am confident with respect to this heaven-taught doc- 
 trine, in which all the art of malice is overborne. For in 
 opposition to [this] prophecy neither any art can stand, nor 
 the subtleties of sophisms and syllogisms ; but every one who 
 hears of the true Prophet must of necessity long immediately 
 for the truth itself, nor will he afterwards, under pretext of 
 seeking the truth, endure diverse errors. Wherefore, O 
 my lord Peter, be not further anxious about me, as if I 
 were one who does not know what he has received, and how 
 great a gift has been conferred on him. Be assured that 
 you have conferred a favour on one who knows and under- 
 stands its value : nor can I be easily deceived on that account, 
 because I seem to have gotten quickly what I long desired ; 
 for it may be that one who desires gets quickly, while another 
 does not even slowly attain the things which he desires." 
 
 CHAP. XIX. Peter's satisfaction. 
 
 Then Peter, when he heard me speak thus, said : " I give 
 thanks to my God, both for your salvation and for my own 
 peace ; for I am greatly delighted to see that you have 
 understood what is the greatness of the prophetic virtue, and 
 because, as you say, not even I myself, if I should wish it 
 (which God forbid !), should be able to turn you away to 
 another faith. Now henceforth begin to be with us, and to- 
 morrow be present at our discussions, for I am to have a con- 
 test with Simon the magician." When he had thus spoken, 
 he retired to take food along with his friends ; but he ordered 
 me to eat by myself ; and after the meal, when he had sung
 
 156 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK r. 
 
 praise to God and given thanks, he rendered to me an account 
 of this proceeding, and added, " May the Lord grant to thee to 
 be made like to us in all things, that, receiving baptism, thou 
 mayest be able to meet with us at the same table." Having 
 thus spoken, he ordered me to go to rest, for by this time 
 both fatigue and the time of the day called to sleep. 
 
 CHAP. XX. Postponement of discussion with Simon Magus. 
 
 Early next morning Zaccheus came in to us, and after salu- 
 tation, said to Peter : " Simon puts off the discussion till the 
 eleventh day of the present month, which is seven days hence, 
 for he says that then he will have more leisure for the contest. 
 But to me it seems that his putting off is also advantageous 
 to us, so that more may come together, who may be either 
 hearers or judges of our disputation. However, if it seem 
 proper to you, let us occupy the interval in discussing among 
 ourselves the things which, we suppose, may come into the 
 controversy ; so that each of us, knowing what things are to 
 be proposed, and what answers are to be given, may consider 
 with himself if they are all right, or if an adversary shall be 
 able to find anything to object, or to set aside the things 
 which we bring against him. But if the things which are to 
 be spoken by us are manifestly impregnable on every side, 
 we shall have confidence in entering upon the examination. 
 And indeed, this is my opinion, that first of all it ought to 
 be inquired what is the origin of all things, or what is the 
 immediate 1 thing which may be called the cause of all things 
 which are : then, with respect to all things that exist, whether 
 they have been made, and by whom, through whom, and for 
 whom ; whether they have received their subsistence from 
 one, or from two, or from many ; and whether they have 
 been taken and fashioned from none [previously] subsisting, 
 or from some : then, whether there is any virtue in the highest 
 things, or in the lower ; whether there is anything which is 
 better than all, or anything that is inferior to all ; whether 
 there are any motions, or none ; whether those things which 
 are seen were always, and shall be always ; whether they have 
 1 Here we follow a marginal reading.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 157 
 
 come into existence without a creator, and shall pass away 
 without a destroyer. If, I say, the discussion begin with 
 these things, I think that the things which shall be inquired 
 into, being discussed with diligent examination, will be easily 
 ascertained. And when these are ascertained, the knowledge 
 of those that follow will be easily found. I have stated my 
 opinion ; be pleased to intimate what you think of the matter." 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Advantage of the delay. 
 
 To this Peter answered : " Tell Simon in the meantime to 
 do as he pleases, and to rest assured that, Divine Providence 
 granting, he shall always find us ready." Then Zaccheus 
 went out to intimate to Simon what he had been told. But 
 Peter, looking at us, and perceiving that I was saddened by 
 the putting off of the contest, said : " He who believes that the 
 world is administered by the providence of the Most High 
 God, ought not, O Clement, my friend, to take it amiss, in 
 whatever way particular things happen, being assured that 
 the righteousness of God guides to a favourable and fitting 
 issue even those things which seem superfluous or contrary in 
 any business, and especially towards those who worship Him 
 more intimately ; and therefore he who is assured of these 
 things, as I have said, if anything occur contrary to his ex- 
 pectation, he knows how to drive away grief from his mind on 
 that account, holding it unquestionable in his better judgment, 
 that, by the government of the good God, even what seems 
 contrary may be turned to good. Wherefore, O Clement, 
 even now let not this delay of the magician Simon sadden 
 you : for I believe that it has been done by the providence of 
 God, for your advantage ; that I may be able, in this interval 
 of seven days, to expound to you the method of our faith 
 without any distraction, and the order continuously, accord- 
 ing to the tradition of the true Prophet, who alone knows 
 the past as it was, the present as it is, and the future as it 
 shall be : which things were indeed plainly spoken [by Him], 
 but are not plainly written ; so much so, that when they are 
 read, they cannot be understood without an expounder, on 
 account of the sin which has grown up with men, as I said
 
 158 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK r. 
 
 before. Therefore I shall explain all things to you, that in 
 those things which are written you may clearly perceive what 
 is the mind of the Lawgiver." 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Repetition of instructions. 
 
 When he had said this, he began to expound to me point 
 by point of those chapters of the law which seemed to be in 
 question, from the beginning of the creation even to that 
 point of time at which I came to him at Csssarea, telling me 
 that the delay of Simon had contributed to my learning all 
 things in order. "At other times," said he, "we shall discourse 
 more fully on individual points of which we have now spoken 
 shortly, according as the occasion of our conversation shall 
 bring them before us ; so that, according to my promise, you 
 may gain a full and perfect knowledge of all. Since, then, 
 by this delay we have to-day on our hands, I wish to repeat 
 to you again what has been spoken, that it may be the better 
 recalled to your memory." Then he began in this way to 
 refresh my recollection of what he had said : " Do you re- 
 member, O friend Clement, the account I gave you of the 
 eternal age, that knows no end ? " Then said I, " Never, O 
 Peter, shall I retain anything, if I can lose or forget that." 
 
 CHAP, xxiii. Repetition continued. 
 
 Then Peter, having heard my answer with pleasure, said : 
 " I congratulate you because you have answered thus, not 
 because you speak of these things easily, but because you 
 profess that you remember them ; for the most sublime truths 
 are best honoured by means of silence. Yet, for the credit of 
 those things which you remember concerning things not to 
 be spoken, 1 tell me what you retain of those things which we 
 spoke of in the second place, which can easily be spoken out, 
 that, perceiving your tenacity of memory, I may the more 
 readily point out to you, and freely open, the things of which 
 I wish to speak." Then I, when I perceived that he rejoiced 
 in the good memory of his hearers, said : " Not only am I 
 mindful of your definition, but also of that preface which was 
 1 That is, that I may be sure that you remember these things.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 153 
 
 prefixed to the definition ; and of almost all things that you 
 have expounded, I retain the sense complete, though not all 
 the words ; because the things that you have spoken have 
 been made, as it were, native to my soul, and inborn. For 
 you have held out a most sweet cup to me in my excessive 
 thirst. And that you may not suppose that I am occupying 
 you with \vords, being unmindful of things, I shall now call 
 to mind the things which were spoken, in which the order 
 of your discussion greatly helps me ; for the way in which 
 the things that you said followed by consequence upon one 
 another, and were arranged in a balanced manner, makes 
 them easily recalled to memory by the lines of their order. 
 For the order of sayings is useful for remembering them : 
 for when you begin to follow them point by point in succes- 
 sion, when anything is wanting, immediately the sense seeks 
 for it ; and when it has found it, retains it, or at all events, 
 if it cannot discover it, there will be no reluctance to ask it 
 of the master. But not to delay in granting what you 
 demand of me, I shall shortly rehearse what you delivered to 
 me concerning the definition of truth. 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Repetition continued. 
 
 " There always was, there is now, and there ever shall be, 
 that by which the first Will begotten from eternity consists ; 
 and from the first Will [proceeds] a second Will. After 
 these came the world ; and from the world came time : from 
 this, the multitude of men ; from the multitude the election 
 of the beloved, from whose oneness of mind the peaceful 
 kingdom of God is constructed. But the rest, \vhich ought 
 to follow these, you promised to tell me at another time. 
 After this, when you had explained about the creation of 
 the world, you intimated the decree of God, " which He, of 
 His own good pleasure, announced in the presence of all the 
 first angels," and which He ordained as an eternal law to all ; 
 and how He established two kingdoms, I mean that of the 
 present time and that of the future, and appointed times to 
 each, and decreed that a day of judgment should be expected, 
 which He determined, in which a severance is to be made of
 
 160 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos i. 
 
 things and of souls : so that the wicked indeed shall be con- 
 signed to eternal fire for their sins ; but those who have lived 
 according to the will of God the Creator, having received a 
 blessing for their good works, effulgent with brightest light, 
 introduced into an eternal abode, and abiding in incorruption, 
 shall receive eternal gifts of ineffable blessings." 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Repetition continued. 
 
 While I was going on thus, Peter, enraptured with joy, 
 and anxious for me as if I had been his son, lest perhaps I 
 should fail in recollection of the rest, and be put to shame 
 on account of those who were present, said : " It is enough, 
 O Clement; for you have stated these things more clearly 
 than I myself explained them." Then said I, "Liberal learn- 
 ing has conferred upon me the power of orderly narration, 
 and of stating those things clearly for which there is occasion. 
 And if we use learning in asserting the errors of antiquity, 
 we ruin ourselves by gracefulness and smoothness of speech ; 
 but if we apply learning and grace of speech to the assertion 
 of the truth, I think that not a little advantage is thereby 
 gained. Be that as it may, my lord Peter, you can but 
 imagine with what thankfulness I am transported for all the 
 rest of your instruction indeed, but especially for the state- 
 ment of that doctrine which you gave : There is one God, 
 whose work the world is, and who, because He is in all respects 
 righteous, shall render to every one according to his deeds. 
 And after that you added : For the assertion of this dogma 
 countless thousands of words will be brought forward ; but 
 in those to whom is granted knowledge of the true Prophet, 
 all this forest of words is cut down. And on this account, 
 since you have delivered to me a discourse concerning the 
 true Prophet, you have strengthened me with all confidence 
 of your assertions." And then, having perceived that the sum 
 of all religion and piety consists in this, I immediately replied : 
 " You have proceeded most excellently, O Peter : wherefore, 
 in future, expound unhesitatingly, as to one who already 
 knows what are the foundations of faith and piety, the tra- 
 ditions of the true Prophet, who alone, as has been clearly
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 161 
 
 proved, is to be believed. But that exposition which requires 
 assertions and arguments, reserve for the unbelievers, to whom 
 you have not yet judged it proper to commit the indubitable 
 faith of prophetic grace." When I had said this, I added : 
 " You promised that you would give at the proper time 
 two things : first this exposition, at once simple and entirely 
 free from error ; and then an exposition of each individual 
 point as it may be evolved in the course of the various ques- 
 tions which shall be raised. And after this you expounded 
 the sequence of things in order from the beginning of the 
 world, even to the present time ; and if you please, I can 
 repeat the whole from memory/' 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Friendship of God; how secured. 
 
 To this Peter answered : " I am exceedingly delighted, O 
 Clement, that I commit my words to so safe a heart ; for to 
 be mindful of the things that are spoken is an indication of 
 having in readiness the faith of works. But he from whom 
 the wicked demon steals away the words of salvation, and 
 snatches them away from his memory, cannot be saved, even 
 though he wish it ; for he loses the way by which life is 
 reached. Wherefore let us the rather repeat what has been 
 spoken, and confirm it in your heart, that is, in what manner 
 or by whom the world was made, that we may proceed to the 
 friendship of the Creator. But His friendship is secured by 
 living well, and by obeying His will ; which will is the law 
 of all that live. We shall therefore unfold these things 
 briefly to you, in order that they may be the more surely 
 remembered. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIT. Account of the creation. 
 
 " In the beginning, when God had made the heaven and the 
 earth, 1 as one house, the shadow which was cast by the mun- 
 dane bodies involved in darkness those things which were 
 enclosed in it. But when the will of God had introduced 
 light, that darkness which had been caused by the shadows 
 of bodies was straightway dispelled : then at length light is 
 
 1 Gen. i. 1.
 
 1G2 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 appointed for the day, darkness for the night. And now 
 the water which was within the world, in the middle space of 
 that first heaven and earth, congealed as if with frost, and 
 solid as crystal, is distended, and the middle spaces of the 
 heaven and earth are separated as by a firmament of this 
 sort ; and that firmament the Creator called heaven, so called 
 by the name of that previously made : and so He divided into 
 two portions that fabric of the universe, although it was but one 
 house. The reason of the division was this, that the upper 
 portion might afford a dwelling-place to angels, and the 
 lower to men. After this, the place of the sea and the chaos 
 which had been made received that portion of the waters 
 which remained below, by order of the eternal Will ; and these 
 flowing down to the sunk and hollow places, the dry land 
 appeared ; and the gatherings of the waters were made seas. 
 And after this the earth, which had appeared, produced 
 various species of herbs and shrubs. It gave forth fountains 
 also, and rivers, not only in the plains, but on the mountains. 
 And so all things were prepared, that men who were to dwell 
 in it might have it in their power to use all these things 
 according to their will, that is, either for good or evil. 
 
 CHAP, xxvin. Account of the creation continued. 
 
 " After this He adorns that visible heaven with stars. He 
 places in it also the sun and the moon, that the day might 
 enjoy the light of the one, the night that of the other ; and 
 that at the same time they might be for an indication of 
 things past, present, and future. For they were made for signs 
 of seasons and of days, which, although they are seen indeed 
 by all, are understood only by the learned and intelligent. 
 And when, after this, He had ordered living creatures to be 
 produced from the earth and the waters, he made Paradise, 
 which also He named a place of delights. But after all these 
 things He made man, on whose account He had prepared all 
 things, whose internal species 1 is older, and for whose sake 
 all things that are were made, given up to his service, and 
 assigned to the uses of his habitation. 
 1 That is, his soul, according to the doctrine of the pre-eiistence of souls.
 
 BOOK i.j RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 1G3 
 
 CHAP. xxix. The giants: the flood. 
 
 " All things therefore being completed which are in heaven, 
 and in earth, and in the waters, and the human race also 
 having multiplied, in the eighth generation, righteous men, 
 who had lived the life of angels, being allured by the beauty 
 of women, fell into promiscuous and illicit connections with 
 these ; 1 and thenceforth acting in all things without discretion, 
 and disorderly, they changed the state of human affairs and 
 the divinely prescribed order of life, so that either by per- 
 suasion or force they compelled all men to sin against God 
 their Creator. In the ninth generation are born the giants, 
 so called from of old, 21 not dragon-footed, as the fables of the 
 Greeks relate, but men of immense bodies, whose bones, of 
 enormous size, are still shown in some places for confirmation. 
 But against these the righteous providence of God brought a 
 flood upon the world, that the earth might be purified from 
 their pollution, and every place might be turned into a sea 
 by the destruction of the wicked. Yet there was then found 
 one righteous man, by name Noah, who, being delivered in an 
 ark with his three sons and their wives, became the colonizer 
 of the world after the subsiding of the waters, with those 
 animals and seeds which he had shut up with him. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Noah's sons. 
 
 " In the twelfth generation, when God had blessed men, and 
 they had begun to multiply, 3 they received a commandment 
 that they should not taste blood, for on account of this also 
 the deluge had been sent. In the thirteenth generation, 
 
 O O ' 
 
 when the second of Noah's three sons had done an injury 
 to his father, and had been cursed by him, he brought the 
 
 1 Gen. vi. 2. 
 
 2 The writer here translates the words of the Septuagint, ol yiyoivrit; 
 ol 7r' uluvos ol alvSpuirot ol ovoftaarot, illi qui a seculo norainantur. We 
 have given the translation of our authorized version. It is likely, how- 
 ever, that the writer believed the name to imply that they lived to a 
 great age, as is maintained by Diodorus quoted by Suicer on the word, 
 or he may have traced the word to yjj. 
 
 3 Gen. ix. 1.
 
 IG4 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 condition of slavery upon his posterity. His elder brother 
 meantime obtained the lot of a dwelling-place in the middle 
 region of the world, in which is the country of Judaea ; the 
 younger obtained the eastern quarter, and he the western. 
 In the fourteenth generation one of the cursed progeny first 
 erected an altar to demons, for the purpose of magical arts, 
 and offered there bloody sacrifices. In the fifteenth genera- 
 tion, for the first time, men set up an idol and worshipped it. 
 Until that time the Hebrew language, which had been given 
 by God to men, bore sole sway. In the sixteenth generation 
 the sons of men migrated from the east, and, coming to the 
 lands that had been assigned to their fathers, each one marked 
 the place of his own allotment by his own name. In the 
 seventeenth generation Nimrod I. reigned in Babylonia, and 
 built a city, and thence migrated to the Persians, and taught 
 them to worship fire. 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. World after the flood. 
 
 "In the eighteenth generation walled cities were built, 
 armies were organized and armed, judges and laws were 
 sanctioned, temples were built, and the piunces of nations 
 were adored as gods. In the nineteenth generation the de- 
 scendants of him who had been cursed after the flood, going 
 beyond their proper bounds which they had obtained by lot 
 in the western regions, drove into the eastern lands those who 
 had obtained the middle portion of the world, and pursued 
 them as far as Persia, while themselves violently took posses- 
 sion of the country from which they expelled them. In the 
 twentieth generation a son for the first time died before his 
 father, 1 on account of an incestuous crime. 
 
 CHAP, xxxii. Abraham. 
 
 " In the twenty-first generation there was a certain wise 
 man, of the race of those who were expelled, of the family 
 of Noah's eldest son, by name Abraham, from whom our 
 Hebrew nation is derived. When the whole world was again 
 
 O 
 
 overspread with errors, and when for the hideousness of its 
 1 Gen. xi. 28.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 165 
 
 crimes destruction was ready for it, this time not by water, 
 but fire, and when already the scourge was hanging over 
 the whole earth, beginning with Sodom, this man, by reason 
 of his friendship with God, who was well pleased with him, 
 obtained from God that the whole world should not equally 
 perish. From the first this same man, being an astrologer, 
 was able, from the account and order of the stars, to recognise 
 the Creator, while all others were in error, and understood 
 that all things are regulated by His providence. Whence 
 also an angel, 1 standing by him in a vision, instructed him 
 more fully concerning those things which he was beginning 
 to perceive. He showed him also what belonged to his race 
 and posterity, and promised him that those districts should 
 be restored rather than given to them. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiu. Abraham: his posterity. 
 
 "Therefore Abraham, when he was desirous to learn the 
 causes of things, and was intently pondering upon what had 
 been told him, the true Prophet appeared to him, who alone 
 knows the hearts and purpose of men, and disclosed to him all 
 things which he desired. He taught him the knowledge of the 
 Divinity ; intimated the origin of the world, and likewise its 
 end ; showed him the immortality of the soul, and the manner 
 of life which was pleasing to God; declared also the resur- 
 rection of the dead, the future judgment, the reward of the 
 good, the punishment of the evil, all to be regulated by 
 righteous judgment : and having given him all this informa- 
 tion plainly and sufficiently, He departed again to the invisible 
 abodes. But while Abraham was still in ignorance, as we 
 said to you before, two sons were born to him, of whom the 
 one was called Ismael, and the other Heliesdros. From the 
 one are descended the barbarous nations, from the other 
 the people of the Persians, some of whom have adopted the 
 manner of living and the institutions of their neighbours, 
 the Brachmans. Others settled in Arabia, of whose posterity 
 some also have spread into Egypt. From them some of the 
 Indians and of the Egyptians have learned to be circumcised, 
 1 Gen. xv. xxii.
 
 166 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boosi. 
 
 and to be of purer observance than others, although in process 
 of time most of them have turned to impiety what was the 
 proof and sign of purity. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. The Israelites in Egypt. 
 
 "Nevertheless, as he had got these two sons during the time 
 while he still lived in ignorance of things, having received the 
 knowledge of God, he asked of the Righteous One that he 
 
 o / o 
 
 might merit to have offspring by Sarah, who was his lawful 
 wife, though she was barren. She obtained a son, whom he 
 named Isaac, from whom came Jacob, and from him the 
 twelve patriarchs, and from these twelve seventy-two. These, 
 when famine befell, came into Egypt with all their family ; 
 and in the course of four hundred years, being multiplied by 
 the blessing and promise of God, they were afflicted by the 
 Egyptians. And when they were afflicted the true Prophet 
 appeared to Moses, 1 and struck the Egyptians with ten 
 plagues, when they refused to let the Hebrew people depart 
 from them, and return to their native land ; and he brought 
 the people of God out of Egypt. But those of the Egyptians 
 who survived the plagues, being infected with the animosity 
 of their king, pursued after the Hebrews. And when they 
 had overtaken them at the sea-shore, and thought to destroy 
 and exterminate them all, Moses, pouring out prayer to God, 
 divided the sea into two parts, so that the water was held 
 on the right hand and on the left as if it had been frozen, 
 and the people of God passed as over a dry road ; but the 
 Egyptians who were pursuing them, rashly entering, were 
 drowned. For when the last of the Hebrews came out, the 
 last of the Egyptians went down into the sea ; and straight- 
 way the waters of the sea, which by his command were held 
 bound as with frost, were loosed by his command who had 
 bound them, and recovering their natural freedom, inflicted 
 punishment on the wicked nation. 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. The Exodus. 
 
 " After this, Moses, by the command of God, whose provi- 
 1 Exod. iii.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 167 
 
 dence is over all, led out the people of the Hebrews into the 
 wilderness ; and, leaving the shortest road which leads from 
 Egypt to Judaea, he led the people through long windings 
 of the wilderness, that, by the discipline of forty years, the 
 novelty of a changed manner of life might root out the evils 
 which had clung to them by a long-continued familiarity with 
 the customs of the Egyptians. Meantime they came to Mount 
 Sinai, and thence the law was given to them with voices and 
 sights from heaven, written in ten precepts, of which the first 
 and greatest was that they should worship God Himself 
 alone, and not make to themselves any appearance or form 1 
 to worship. But when Moses had gone up to the mount, and 
 was staying there forty days, the people, although they had 
 seen Egypt struck with the ten plagues, and the sea parted 
 and passed over by them on foot, manna also given to them 
 from heaven for bread, and drink supplied to them out of the 
 rock that followed 2 -them, which kind of food was turned 
 into whatever taste any one desired ; and although, being 
 placed under the torrid region of heaven, they were shaded 
 by a cloud in the day-time, that they might not be scorched 
 by the 'heat, and by night were enlightened by a pillar of fire, 
 lest the horror of darkness should be added to the wasteness 
 of the wilderness ; those very people, I say, when Moses 
 stayed in the mount, made and worshipped a golden calf's 
 head, after the fashion of Apis, whom they had seen wor- 
 shipped in Egypt ; and after so many and so great marvels 
 which they had seen, were unable to cleanse and wash out 
 from themselves the defilements of old habit. On this 
 account, leaving the short road which leads from Egypt 
 to Judaea, Moses conducted them by an immense circuit of 
 the desert, if haply he might be able, as we mentioned before, 
 to shake off the evils of old habit by the change of a new 
 education. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Allowance of sacrifice for a time. 
 
 " When meantime Moses, that faithful and wise steward, 
 ' perceived that the vice of sacrificing to idols had been deeply 
 1 That is, picture or statue. 8 Comp. 1 Cor. x. 4.
 
 168 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 ingrained into the people from their association with the 
 Egyptians, and that the root of this evil could not be ex- 
 tracted from them, he allowed them indeed to sacrifice, but 
 permitted it to be done only to God, that by any means he 
 might cut off one half of the deeply ingrained evil, leaving 
 the other half to be corrected by another, and at a future 
 time ; by Him, namely, concerning whom he said himself, ( A 
 prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you, whom ye 
 shall hear even as myself, according to all things which He 
 shall say to you. Whosoever shall not hear that prophet, his 
 soul shall be cut off from his people.' l 
 
 CHAP, xxxvu. The holy place. 
 
 " In addition to these things, he also appointed a place in 
 which alone it should be lawful to them to sacrifice to God.' 2 
 And all this was arranged with this view, that when the fitting 
 time should come, and they should learn by means of the 
 Prophet that God desires mercy and not sacrifice, 3 they might 
 see Him who should teach them that the place chosen of 
 God, in which it was suitable that victims should be offered 
 to God, is his Wisdom ; and that on the other hand they 
 might hear that this place, which seemed chosen for a time, 
 often harassed as it had been by hostile invasions and plun- 
 derings, was at last to be wholly destroyed. 4 And in order 
 to impress this upon them, even before the coming of the true 
 Prophet, who was to reject at once the sacrifices and the 
 place, it was often plundered by enemies and burnt with fire, 
 and the people carried into captivity among foreign nations, 
 and then brought back when they betook themselves to the 
 mercy of God ; that by these things they might be taught 
 that a people who offer sacrifices are driven away and 
 delivered up into the hands of the enemy, but they who do 
 mercy and righteousness are without sacrifices freed from 
 captivity, and restored to their native land. But it fell out 
 that very few understood this ; for the greater number, 
 though they could perceive and observe these things, yet 
 
 1 Deut. xviii. 15 ; Acts iii. 22, 23. 2 Deut. xii. 11 ; 2 Chron. vii. 12. 
 3 Hos. vi. 6 ; Matt. ix. 13, xii. 7. 4 Matt. xxiv. 2 ; Luke xix. 41.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 169 
 
 were held by the irrational opinion of the vulgar : for right 
 opinion with liberty is the prerogative of a few. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvin. Sins of the Israelites. 
 
 "Moses, 1 then, having arranged these things, and having 
 set over the people one Auses to bring them to the land of 
 their fathers, himself by the command of the living God went 
 up to a certain mountain, and there died. Yet such was the 
 manner of his death, that till this day no one has found his 
 burial-place. When, therefore, the people reached their 
 fathers' land, by the providence of God, at their first onset 
 the inhabitants of wicked races are routed, and they enter 
 upon their paternal inheritance, which was distributed among 
 them by lot. For some time thereafter they were ruled not 
 by kings, but judges, and remained in a somewhat peaceful 
 condition. But when they sought for themselves tyrants 
 rather than kings, then also with regal ambition they erected 
 a temple in the place which had been appointed to them 
 for prayer ; and thus, through a succession of wicked kings, 
 the people fell away to greater and still greater impiety. 
 
 CHAP, xxxix. Baptism instituted in place of sacrifices. 
 
 " But when the time began to draw near that what was 
 wanting in the Mosaic institutions should be supplied, as we 
 have said, and that the Prophet should appear, of whom he 
 had foretold that He should warn them by the mercy of God 
 to cease from sacrificing ; lest haply they might suppose that 
 on the cessation of sacrifice there was no remission of sins for 
 them, He instituted baptism by water amongst them, in which 
 they might be absolved from all their sins on the invocation 
 of His name, and for the future, following a perfect life, 
 might abide in immortality, being purified not by the blood 
 of beasts, but by the purification of the Wisdom of God. 
 Subsequently also an evident proof of this great mystery is 
 supplied [in the fact], that every one who, believing in this 
 Prophet who had been foretold by Moses, is baptized in His 
 name, shall be kept unhurt from the destruction of war which 
 1 Dcut. xxxi.-xxxiv.
 
 170 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 impends over the unbelieving nation, and the place itself ; 
 but that those who do not believe shall be made exiles 
 from their place and kingdom, that even against their will 
 they may understand and obey the will of God. 
 
 CHAP. XL. Advent of the true Prophet. 
 
 " These things therefore having been fore-arranged, He 
 who was expected comes, bringing signs and miracles as His 
 credentials by which He should be made manifest. But not 
 even so did the people believe, though they had been trained 
 during so many ages to the belief of these things. And not 
 only did they not believe, but they added blasphemy to un- 
 belief, saying that He was a gluttonous man and a belly-slave, 
 and that He was actuated by a demon, 1 even He who had 
 come for their salvation. To such an extent does wicked- 
 ness prevail by the agency of evil ones ; so that, but for the 
 Wisdom of God assisting those who love the truth, almost 
 all would have been involved in impious delusion. There- 
 fore He chose us twelve, 2 the first who believed in Him, 
 whom He named apostles ; and afterwards other seventy- 
 two most approved disciples, 3 that, at least in this way recog- 
 nising the pattern of Moses, 4 the multitude might believe 
 that this is He of whom Moses foretold, the Prophet that was 
 to come. 5 
 
 CHAP. XLI. Rejection of the true Prophet. 
 
 " But some one perhaps may say that it is possible for any 
 one to imitate a number ; but what shall he say of the signs 
 and miracles which He wrought ? For Moses had wrought 
 miracles and cures in Egypt. He also of whom he foretold 
 that He should rise up a prophet like unto himself, though He 
 cured every sickness and infirmity among the people, wrought 
 innumerable miracles, and preached eternal life, was hurried 
 by wicked men to the cross ; which deed was, however, by His 
 power turned to good. In short, while He was suffering, all 
 the world suffered with Him ; for the sun was darkened, the 
 
 1 Matt. ix. ; John. vii. 2 Matt. x. 3 Luke x. 
 
 4 Num. xi. 16. * Deut. xviii. 15.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 171 
 
 mountains were torn asunder, the graves were opened, the veil 
 of the temple was rent, 1 as in lamentation for the destruction 
 impending over the place. And yet, though all the world 
 was moved, they themselves are not even now moved to the 
 consideration of these so great things. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. Call of the Gentiles. 
 
 " But inasmuch as it was necessary that the Gentiles should 
 be called into the room of those who remained unbelieving, 
 so that the number might be filled up which had been shown 
 to Abraham, 2 the preaching of the blessed kingdom of God is 
 sent into all the world. On this account worldly spirits are 
 disturbed, who always oppose those who are in quest of liberty, 
 and who make use of the engines of error to destroy God's 
 building ; while those who press on to the glory of safety and 
 liberty, being rendered braver by their resistance to these 
 spirits, and by the toil of great struggles against them, attain 
 the crown of safety not without the palm of victory. Mean- 
 time, when He had suffered, and darkness had overwhelmed 
 the world from the sixth even to the ninth hour, 3 as soon as 
 the sun shone out again, and things were returned to their 
 usual course, even wicked men returned to themselves and 
 their former practices, their fear having abated. For some 
 of them, watching the place with all care, when they could not 
 prevent His rising again, said that He was a magician ; others 
 pretended that He was stolen away. 4 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. Success of the gospel. 
 
 " Nevertheless, the truth everywhere prevailed ; for, in 
 proof that these things were done by divine power, we who 
 had been very few became in the course of a few days, by the 
 help of God, far more than they. So .that the priests at one 
 time were afraid, lest haply, by the providence of God, to their 
 confusion, the whole of the people should come over to our 
 faith. Therefore they often sent to us, and asked us to dis- 
 course to them concerning Jesus, whether He were the Pro- 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 45, 51, 52. 2 Gen. xv. ; Acts xiii. 
 
 8 Matt, xxyii. 45. * Matt, xxviii. 13.
 
 172 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos i. 
 
 phet whom Moses foretold, who is the eternal Christ. 1 For oiv 
 this point only does there seem to be any difference between 
 us who believe in Jesus, and the unbelieving Jews. But 
 while they often made such requests to us, and we sought for 
 a fitting opportunity, a week of years was completed from 
 the passion of the Lord, the church of the Lord which was 
 constituted in Jerusalem was most plentifully multiplied and 
 grew, being governed with most righteous ordinances by 
 James, who was ordained bishop in it by the Lord. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. Challenge ly CaiapJias. 
 
 "But when we twelve apostles, on the day of the passover, 
 had come together with an immense multitude, and entered 
 into the church of the brethren, each one of us, at the request 
 of James, stated briefly, in the hearing of the people, what 
 we had done in every place. While this was going on, 
 Caiaphas, the high priest, sent priests to us, and asked us to 
 come to him, that either we should prove to him that Jesus is 
 the eternal Christ, or he to us that He is not, and that so all 
 the people should agree upon the one faith or the other ; and 
 this he frequently entreated us to do. But we often put it off, 
 always seeking for a more convenient time." 
 
 Then I, Clement, answered to this : " I think that this very 
 question, whether He is the Christ, is of great importance for 
 the establishment of the faith ; otherwise the high priest would 
 not so frequently ask that he might either learn or teach con- 
 cerning the Christ." 
 
 Then Peter : " You have answered rightly, O Clement ; for 
 as no one can see without eyes, nor hear without ears, nor 
 smell without nostrils, nor taste without a tongue, nor handle 
 anything without hands, so it is impossible, without the true 
 Prophet, to know what is pleasing to God." 
 
 And I answered : " I have already learned from your in- 
 struction that this true prophet is the Christ ; but I should 
 wish to learn what the Christ means, or why He is so called, 
 that a matter of so great importance may not be vague and 
 uncertain to me." 
 
 1 John xii. 34.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 173 
 
 CHAP. XLV. The true Prophet : why called the Christ. 
 
 Then Peter began to instruct me in this manner : " When 
 God had made the world, as Lord of the universe, He ap- 
 pointed chiefs over the several creatures, over the trees even, 
 and the mountains, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all 
 things which He had made, as we have told you ; for it were 
 too long to mention them one by one. He set, therefore, an 
 angel as chief over the angels, a spirit over the spirits, a star 
 over the stars, a demon over the demons, a bird over the birds, 
 a beast over the beasts, a serpent over the serpents, a fish over 
 the fishes, a man over men, who is Christ Jesus. But He 
 is called Christ by a certain excellent rite of religion ; for as 
 there are certain names common to kings, as Arsaces among 
 the Persians, Caesar among the Romans, Pharaoh among the 
 Egyptians, so among the Jews a king is called Christ. And 
 the reason of this appellation is this : Although indeed He 
 was the Son of God, and the beginning of all things, He be- 
 came man ; Him first God anointed with oil which was taken 
 from the wood of the tree of life : from that anointing there- 
 fore He is called Christ. Thence, moreover, He Himself also, 
 according to the appointment of His Father, anoints with 
 similar oil every one of the pious when they come to His 
 kingdom, for their refreshment after their labours, as having 
 got over the difficulties of the way ; so that their light may 
 shine, and being filled with the Holy Spirit, they may be 
 endowed with immortality. But it occurs to me that I have 
 sufficiently explained to you the whole nature of that branch 
 from which that ointment is taken. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. Anointing. 
 
 " But now also I shall, by a very short representation, recall 
 you to the recollection of all these things. In the present 
 life, Aaron, the first high priest, 1 was anointed with a com- 
 position of chrism, which was made after the pattern of that 
 spiritual ointment of which we have spoken before. He 
 was prince of the people, and as a king received first-fruits 
 1 Exod. xxix. ; Lev. viii.
 
 174 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 and tribute from the people, man by man ; and having under- 
 taken the office of judging the people, he judged o'f things 
 clean and things unclean. But if any one else was anointed 
 with the same ointment, as deriving virtue from it, he became 
 either king, or prophet, or priest. If, then, this temporal 
 grace, compounded by men, had such efficacy, consider now. 
 how potent was that ointment extracted by God from a 
 branch of the tree of life, when that which was made by 
 men could confer so excellent dignities among men. For 
 what in the present age is more glorious than a prophet, 
 more illustrious than a priest, more exalted than a king ? " 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. Adam anointed a prophet. 
 
 To this I replied : " I remember, Peter, that you told me of 
 the first man that he was a prophet ; but you did not say 
 that he was anointed. If then there be no prophet without 
 anointing, how could the first man be a prophet, since he was 
 not anointed I" Then Peter, smiling, said : " If the first man 
 prophesied, it is certain that he was also anointed. For al- 
 though he who has recorded the law in his pages is silent as 
 to his anointing, yet he has evidently left us to understand 
 these things. For as, if he had said that he was anointed, it 
 would not be doubted that he was also a prophet, although it 
 were not written in the law ; so, since it is certain that he 
 was a prophet, it is in like manner certain that he was also 
 anointed, because without anointing he could not be a pro- 
 phet. But you should rather have said, If the chrism was 
 compounded by Aaron, by the perfumer's art, how could the 
 first man be anointed before Aaron's time, the arts of com- 
 position not yet having been discovered ? " Then I answered, 
 " Do not misunderstand me, Peter ; for I do not speak of that 
 compounded ointment and temporal oil, but of that simple 
 and eternal [ointment], which you told me was made by 
 God, after whose likeness you say that that other was com- 
 pounded by men." 
 
 CHAP. XLVIII. The true Prophet, a priest. 
 Then Peter answered, with an appearance of indignation :
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 175 
 
 " What ! do you suppose, Clement, that all of us can know 
 all things before the time ? But not to be drawn aside now 
 from our proposed discourse, we shall at another time, when 
 your progress is more manifest, explain these things more 
 distinctly. 
 
 " Then, however, a priest or a prophet, being anointed with 
 the compounded ointment, putting fire to the altar of God, 
 was held illustrious in all the world. But after Aaron, who 
 was a priest, another is taken out of the waters. I do not 
 speak of Moses, but of Him who, in the waters of baptism, 
 was called by God His Son. 1 For it is Jesus who has put 
 out, by the grace of baptism, that fire which the priest 
 kindled for sins ; for, from the time when He appeared, the 
 chrism has ceased, by which the priesthood or the prophetic 
 or the kingly office was conferred. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. Two comings of Christ. 
 
 " His coming, therefore, was predicted by Moses, who de- 
 livered the law of God to men ; but by another also before 
 him, as I have already informed you. He therefore in- 
 timated that He should come, humble indeed in His first 
 coming, but glorious in His second. And the first, indeed, 
 has been already accomplished ; since He has come and 
 taught, and He, the Judge of all, has been judged and slain. 
 But at His second coming He shall come to judge, and shall 
 indeed condemn the wicked, but shall take the pious into 
 a share and association with Himself in His kingdom. Now 
 the faith of His second coining depends upon His first. For 
 the prophets especially Jacob and Moses spoke of the 
 first, but some also of the second. But the excellency of 
 prophecy is chiefly shown in this, that the prophets spoke 
 not of things to come, according to the sequence of things ; 
 otherwise they might seem merely as wise men to have con- 
 jectured what the sequence of things pointed out. 
 
 CHAP. L. His rejection by the Jews. 
 
 u But what I say is this : It was to be expected that Christ 
 1 Matt. iii. 17.
 
 176 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 should be received by the Jews, to whom He came, and that 
 they should believe on Him who was expected for the salva- 
 tion of the people, according to the traditions of the fathers \ 
 but that the Gentiles should be averse to Him, since neither 
 promise nor announcement concerning Him had been made 
 to them, and indeed He had never been made known to them 
 even by name. Yet the prophets, contrary to the order and 
 sequence of things, "said that He should be the expectation 
 of the Gentiles, and not of the Jews. 1 And so it happened. 
 For when He came, He was not at all acknowledged by 
 those who seemed to expect Him, in consequence of the 
 tradition of their ancestors ; whereas those who had heard 
 nothing at all of Him, both believe that He has come, and 
 hope that He is to come. And thus in all things prophecy 
 appears faithful, which said that He was the expectation of 
 the Gentiles. The Jews, therefore, have erred concerning 
 the first coming of the Lord ; and on this point only there 
 is disagreement betwixt us and them. For they themselves 
 know and expect that Christ shall come; but that He has 
 come already in humility even He who is called Jesus 
 they do not know. And this is a great confirmation of His 
 coming, that all do not believe on Him. 
 
 CHAP. Li. The only Saviour. 
 
 "Him, therefore, has God appointed in the end of the 
 world ; because it was impossible that the evils of men could 
 be removed by any other, provided that the nature of the 
 human race were to remain entire, i.e. the liberty of the 
 will being preserved. This condition, therefore, being pre- 
 served inviolate, He came to invite to His kingdom all 
 
 / O 
 
 righteous ones, and those who have been desirous to please 
 Him. For these Pie has prepared unspeakable good things, 
 and the heavenly city Jerusalem, which shall shine above the 
 brightness of the sun, for the habitation of the saints. But 
 
 O ' 
 
 the unrighteous, and the wicked, and those who have despised 
 God, and have devoted the life given them to diverse wicked- 
 nesses, and have given to the practice of evil the time which 
 1 Gen. xlix. 10.
 
 BOCK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. Ill 
 
 was given them for the work of righteousness, He shall hand 
 over to fitting and condign vengeance. But the rest of the 
 things which shall then be done, it is neither in the power 
 of angels nor of men to tell or to describe. This only it is 
 enough for us to know, that God shall confer upon the good 
 an eternal possession of good things." 
 
 CHAP. LIT. The saints before Chrisfs, coming. 
 
 When he had thus spoken, I answered: "If those shall 
 enjoy the kingdom of Christ, whom His coming shall find 
 righteous, shall then those be wholly deprived of the king- 
 dom who have died before His coming?" Then Peter says : 
 " You compel me, O Clement, to touch upon things that are 
 unspeakable. But so far as it is allowed to declare them, I 
 shall not shrink from doing so. Know then that Christ, 
 who was from the beginning, and always, was ever present 
 with the pious, though secretly, through all their generations ; 
 especially with those who waited for Him, to whom He fre- 
 quently appeared. But the time was not yet that there 
 should be a resurrection of the bodies that were dissolved ; but 
 this seemed rather to be their reward from God, that whoever 
 should be found righteous, should remain longer in the body ; 
 or, at least, as is clearly related in the writings of the law 
 concerning a certain righteous man, that God translated him. 1 
 In like manner others were dealt with, who pleased His will, 
 that, being translated to Paradise, they should be kept for the 
 kingdom. But as to those who have not been able completely 
 to fulfil the rule of righteousness, but have had some rem- 
 nants of evil in their flesh, their bodies are indeed dissolved, 
 but their souls are kept in good and blessed abodes, that at 
 the resurrection of the dead, when they shall recover their 
 own bodies, purified even by the dissolution, they may obtain 
 an eternal inheritance in proportion to their good deeds. 
 And therefore blessed are all those who shall attain to the 
 kingdom of Christ ; for not only shall they escape the pains 
 of hell, but shall also remain incorruptible, and shall be the 
 
 1 Gen. v. 24. 
 M
 
 178 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos i. 
 
 first to see God the Father, and shall obtain the rank of 
 honour among the first in the presence of God. 
 
 CHAP. LIII. Animosity of the Jews. 
 
 " Wherefore there is not the least douht concerning Christ ; 
 and all the unbelieving Jews are stirred up with boundless 
 rage against us, fearing lest haply He against whom they have 
 sinned should be He. And their fear grows all the greater, 
 because they know that, as soon as they fixed Him on the 
 cross, the whole world showed sympathy with Him ; and that 
 His body, although they guarded it with strict care, could 
 nowhere be found ; and that innumerable multitudes are 
 attaching themselves to His faith. "Whence they, together 
 with the high priest Caiaphas, were compelled to send to us 
 again and again, that an inquiry might be instituted con- 
 cerning the truth of His name. And when they were 
 constantly entreating that they might either learn or teach 
 concerning Jesus, whether He were the Christ, it seemed 
 good to us to go up into the temple, and in the presence of 
 all the people to bear witness concerning Him, and at the 
 same time to charge the Jews with many foolish things which 
 they were doing. For the people was now divided into many 
 parties, ever since the days of John the Baptist. 
 
 CHAP. LIV. Jewish sects. 
 
 " For when the rising of Christ was at hand for the abolition 
 of sacrifices, and for the bestowal of the grace of baptism, the 
 enemy, understanding from the predictions that the time was 
 at hand, wrought various schisms among the people, that, if 
 haply it might be possible to abolish the former sin, 1 the latter 
 fault might be incorrigible. The first schism, therefore, was 
 that of those who were called Sadducees, which took their rise 
 almost in the time of John. These, as more righteous than 
 others, began to separate themselves from the assembly of the 
 people, and to deny the resurrection of the dead, 2 and to assert 
 that by an argument of infidelity, saying that it was unworthy 
 that God should be worshipped, as it were, under the promise 
 1 That is, the sin of sacrifice. * Matt. xxii. 23.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 179 
 
 of a reward. The first author of this opinion was Dositheus ; 
 the second was Simon. Another schism is that of the 
 Samaritans ; for they deny the resurrection of the dead, and 
 assert that God is not to be worshipped in Jerusalem, but on 
 Mount Gerizim. They indeed rightly, from the predictions 
 of Moses, expect the one true Prophet ; but by the wickedness 
 of Dositheus they were hindered from believing that Jesus 
 is He whom they were expecting. The scribes also, and 
 Pharisees, are led away into another schism ; but these, being 
 baptized by John, and holding the word of truth received 
 from the tradition of Moses as the key of the kingdom of 
 heaven, have hid it from the hearing of the people. 1 Yea, 
 some even of the disciples of John, who seemed to be great 
 ones, have separated themselves from the people, and pro- 
 claimed their own master as the Christ. But all these schisms 
 have been prepared, that by means of them the faith of Christ 
 and baptism might be hindered. 
 
 CHAP. LV. Public discussion. 
 
 " However, as we were proceeding to say, when the high 
 priest had often sent priests to ask us that we might discourse 
 with one another concerning Jesus ; when it seemed a fit op- 
 portunity, and it pleased all the church, we went up to the 
 temple, and, standing on the steps together with our faithful 
 brethren, the people kept perfect silence ; and first the high 
 priest began to exhort the people that they should hear 
 patiently and quietly, and at the same time witness and 
 judge of those things that were to be spoken. Then, in the 
 next place, exalting with many praises the rite of sacrifice 
 which had been bestowed by God upon the human race for 
 the remission of sins, he found fault with the baptism of our 
 Jesus, as having been recently brought in in opposition to the 
 sacrifices. But Matthew, meeting his propositions, showed 
 clearly, that whosoever shall not obtain the baptism of Jesus 
 shall not only be deprived of the kingdom of heaven, but 
 shall not be without peril at the resurrection of the dead, 
 even though he be fortified by the prerogative of a good life 
 1 Luke xi. 52.
 
 180 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i. 
 
 and an upright disposition. Having made these and such 
 like statements, Matthew stopped. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. Sadducees refitted. 
 
 "But the party of the Sadducees, who deny the resurrection 
 of the dead, were in a rage, so that one of them cried out. 
 from amongst the people, saying that those greatly err who 
 think that the dead ever arise. In opposition to him, Andrew, 
 my brother, answering, declared that it is not an error, but 
 the surest matter of faith, that the dead rise, in accordance 
 with the teaching of Him of whom Moses foretold that He 
 should come the true Prophet. ' Or if,' says he, ( you do 
 not think that this is He whom Moses foretold, let this first 
 be inquired into, so that when this is clearly proved to be He, 
 there may be no further doubt concerning the things which 
 He taught.' These, and many such like things, Andrew 
 proclaimed, and then stopped. 
 
 CHAP. LVII. Samaritan refuted. 
 
 " But a certain Samaritan, speaking against the people and 
 against God, and asserting that neither are the dead to rise, 
 nor is that worship of God to be maintained which is in 
 Jerusalem, but that Mount Gerizim is to be reverenced, 
 added also this in opposition to us, that our Jesus was not He 
 whom Moses foretold as a prophet to come into the world. 
 Against him, and another who supported him in what he said, 
 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, strove vigorously ; and 
 although they had a command not to enter into their cities, 1 
 nor to bring the word of preaching to them, yet, lest their 
 discourse, unless it were confuted, should hurt the faith of 
 others, they replied so prudently and so powerfully, that they 
 put them to perpetual silence. For James made an oration 
 concerning the resurrection of the dead, with the approbation 
 of all the people; while John showed that if they would 
 abandon the error of Mount Gerizim, they should conse- 
 quently acknowledge that Jesus was indeed He who, according 
 to the prophecy of Moses, was expected to come ; since, in- 
 1 Matt. x. 3.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 181 
 
 deed, as Moses wrought signs and miracles, so also did Jesus. 
 And there is no doubt but that the likeness of the signs proves 
 Him to be that prophet of whom he said that He should come, 
 ' like himself.' Having declared these things, and more to 
 the same effect, they ceased. 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. Scribes refuted. 
 
 " And, behold, one of the scribes, shouting out from the 
 midst of the people, says : l The signs and miracles which 
 your Jesus wrought, he wrought not as a prophet, but as a 
 magician.' Him Philip eagerly encounters, showing that by 
 this argument he accused Moses also. For when Moses 
 wrought signs and miracles in Egypt, in like manner as Jesus 
 also did in JudaBa, it cannot be doubted that what was said of 
 Jesus might as well be said of Moses. Having made these 
 and such like protestations, Philip was silent. 
 
 CHAP. LIX. Pharisees refuted. 
 
 "Then a certain Pharisee, hearing this, chid Philip because 
 he put Jesus on a level with Moses. To whom Bartholomew, 
 answering, boldly declared that we do not only say that Jesus 
 was equal to Moses, but that He was greater than he, because 
 Moses was indeed a prophet, as Jesus was also, but that 
 Moses was not the Christ, as Jesus was, and therefore He is 
 doubtless greater who is both a prophet and the Christ, than 
 he who is only a prophet. After following out this train of 
 argument, he stopped. After him James the son of Alphseus 
 gave an address to the people, with the view of showing that 
 we are not to believe on Jesus on the ground that the prophets 
 foretold concerning Him, but rather that we are to believe 
 the prophets, that they were really prophets, because the 
 Christ bears testimony to them ; for it is the presence and 
 coming of Christ that show that they are truly prophets : 
 for testimony must be borne by the superior to his inferiors, 
 not by the inferiors to their superior. After these and many 
 similar statements, James also was silent. After him Lebboeus 
 began vehemently to charge it upon the people that they did 
 not believe in Jesus, who had done them so much good by
 
 182 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i 
 
 teaching them the things that are of God, by comforting the 
 afflicted, healing the sick, relieving the poor ; yet for all these 
 benefits their return had been hatred and death. When he 
 had declared these and many more such things to the people, 
 he ceased. 
 
 CHAP. LX. Disciples of John refuted. 
 
 " And, behold, one of the disciples of John asserted that 
 John was the Christ, and not Jesus, inasmuch as Jesus Him- 
 self declared that John was greater than all men and all 
 prophets. 1 * If, then,' said he, l he be greater than all, he 
 must be held to be greater than Moses, and than Jesus him- 
 self. But if he be the greatest of all, then must he be the 
 Christ.' To this Simon the Canaanite, answering, asserted 
 that John was indeed greater than, all the prophets, and all 
 who are born of women, yet that he is not greater than the 
 Son of man. Accordingly Jesus is also the Christ, whereas 
 John is only a prophet: and there is as much difference 
 between him and Jesus, as between the forerunner and Him 
 whose forerunner he is ; or as between Him who gives the 
 law, and him who keeps the law. Having made these and 
 similar statements, the Canaanite also was silent. After him 
 Barnabas, 1 who also is called Matthias, who was substituted 
 as an apostle in the place of Judas, began to exhort the 
 people that they should not regard Jesus with hatred, nor 
 speak evil of Him. For it were far more proper, even for one 
 who might be in ignorance or in doubt concerning Jesus, 
 to love than to hate Him. For God has affixed a reward 
 to love, a penalty to hatred. ' For the very fact,' said he, 
 ' that He assumed a Jewish body, and was born among the 
 Jews, how has not this incited us all to love Him?' When 
 he had spoken this, and more to the same effect, he stopped. 
 
 CHAP. LXI. Caiaphas answered. 
 
 " Then Caiaphas attempted to impugn the doctrine of 
 Jesus, saying that He spoke vain things, for He said that the 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 9, 11. 
 
 2 We should doubtless read " Barsabas."
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 183 
 
 poor are blessed; 1 and promised earthly rewards; and placed 
 the chief gift in an earthly inheritance ; and promised that 
 those who maintain righteousness shall be satisfied with meat 
 and drink ; and many things of this sort He is charged with 
 teaching. Thomas, in reply, proves that his accusation is 
 frivolous ; showing that the prophets, in whom Caiaphas 
 believes, taught these things much more, and did not show 
 in what manner these things are to be, or how they are to be 
 understood ; whereas Jesus pointed out how they are to be 
 taken. And when he had spoken these things, and others of 
 like kind, Thomas also held his peace. 
 
 CHAP. LXII. Foolishness of preaching. 
 
 " Therefore Caiaphas, again looking at me, and sometimes 
 in the way of warning and eometimes in that of accusation, 
 said that I ought for the future to refrain from preaching 
 Christ Jesus, lest I should do it to my own destruction, and 
 lest, being deceived myself, I should also deceive others. 
 Then, moreover, he charged me with presumption, because, 
 though I was unlearned, a fisherman, and a rustic, I dared to 
 assume the office of a teacher. As he spoke these things, and 
 many more of like kind, I said in reply, that I incurred less 
 danger, if, as he said, this Jesus were not the Christ, because 
 I received Him as a teacher of the law ; but that he was in 
 terrible danger if this be the very Christ, as assuredly He 
 is : for I believe in Him who has appeared ; but for whom 
 else, who has never appeared, does he reserve his faith ! 
 But if I, an unlearned and uneducated man, as you say, a 
 fisherman and a rustic, have more understanding than wise 
 elders, this, said I, ought the more to strike terror into you. 
 For if I disputed Avith any learning, and won over you wise 
 and learned men, it would appear that I had acquired this 
 power by long learning, and not by the grace of divine 
 power; but now, when, as I have said, we unskilled men con- 
 vince and overcome you wise men, who that has any sense 
 does not perceive that this is not a work of human subtlety, 
 but of divine will and gift ? 
 
 1 Matt. v. ; Luke x.
 
 184 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos i. 
 
 CHAP. LXIII. Appeal to the Jews. 
 
 " Thus we argued and bore witness ; and we who were 
 unlearned men and fishermen, taught the priests concerning 
 the one only God of heaven ; the Sadducees, concerning the 
 resurrection of the dead ; the Samaritans, concerning the 
 sacredness of Jerusalem (not that we entered into their cities, 
 but disputed with them in public) ; the scribes and Pharisees, 
 concerning the kingdom of heaven ; the disciples of John, 
 that they should not suffer John to be a stumbling-block to 
 them ; and all the people, that Jesus is the eternal Christ. 
 At last, however, I warned them, that before we should go 
 forth to the Gentiles, to preach to them the knowledge of 
 God the Father, they should themselves be reconciled to 
 God, receiving His Son ; for I showed them that in no way 
 else could they be saved, unless through the grace of the 
 Holy Spirit they hasted to be washed with the baptism of 
 threefold invocation, and received the eucharist of Christ the 
 Lord, whom alone they ought to believe concerning those 
 things which He taught, that so they might merit to attain 
 eternal salvation ; but that otherwise it was utterly impossible 
 for them to be reconciled to God, even if they should kindle 
 a thousand altars and a thousand high altars to Him. 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. Temple to be destroyed. 
 
 " { For we,' said I, ' have ascertained beyond doubt that 
 God is much rather displeased with the sacrifices which you 
 offer, the time of sacrifices having now passed away; and 
 because ye will not acknowledge that the time for offering 
 victims is now past, therefore the temple shall be destroyed, 
 and the abomination of desolation 1 shall stand in the holy 
 place; and then the gospel shall be preached to the Gentiles 
 for a testimony against you, that your unbelief may be 
 judged by their faith. For the whole world at different 
 times suffers under divers maladies, either spreading generally 
 over all, or affecting individuals specially. Therefore it needs 
 a physician to visit it for its salvation. AVe therefore bear 
 1 Dan. ix. 27 ; Matt. xxiy. 15.
 
 BOOK i.J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 185 
 
 witness to you, and declare to you what has been hidden 
 from every one of you. It is for you to consider what is for 
 your advantage.' 
 
 CHAP. LXV. Tumult stilled by Gamaliel. 
 
 " When I had thus spoken, the whole multitude of the 
 priests were in a rage, because I had foretold to them the 
 overthrow of the temple. Which when Gamaliel, a chief of 
 the people, saw who was secretly our brother in the faith, 
 but by our advice remained among them because they were 
 greatly enraged and moved with intense fury against us, he 
 stood up, and said, 1 ' Be quiet for a little, O men of Israel, 
 for ye do not perceive the trial which hangs over you. 
 Wherefore refrain from these men ; and if what they are 
 engaged in be of human counsel, it will soon come to an 
 end ; but if it be from God, why will you sin without cause, 
 and prevail nothing? For who can overpower the will of 
 God? Now therefore, since the day is declining towards 
 evening, I shall myself dispute with these men to-morrow, in 
 this same place, in your hearing, so that I may openly oppose 
 and clearly confute every error.' By this speech of his their 
 fury was to some extent checked, especially in the hope that 
 next day we should be publicly convicted of error; and so he 
 dismissed the people peacefully. 
 
 CHAP. LXVI. Discussion resumed. 
 
 " Now when we had come to our James, while we detailed 
 to him all that had been said and done, we supped, and re- 
 mained with him, spending the whole night in supplication 
 to Almighty God, that the discourse of the approaching dis- 
 putation might show the unquestionable truth of our faith. 
 Therefore, on the following day, James the bishop went up 
 to the temple with us, and with the whole church. There 
 we found a great multitude, who had been waiting for us 
 from the middle of the night. Therefore we took our stand 
 in the same place as before, in order that, standing on an 
 elevation, we might be seen by all the people. Then, when 
 1 Acts v. 35-39.
 
 186 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i 
 
 profound silence was obtained, Gamaliel, who, as we have 
 said, was of our faith, but who by a dispensation remained 
 amongst them, that if at any time they should attempt any- 
 thing unjust or wicked against us, he might either check 
 them by skilfully adopted counsel, or might warn us, that we 
 might either be on our guard or might turn it aside ; he 
 therefore, as if acting against us, first of all looking to James 
 the bishop, addressed him in this manner : 
 
 CHAP. LXVII. Speech of Gamaliel. 
 
 " ' If I, Gamaliel, deem it no reproach either to my learning 
 or to my old age to learn something from babes and un- 
 learned ones, if haply there be anything which it is for profit 
 or for safety to acquire (for he who lives reasonably knows 
 that nothing is more precious than the soul), ought not this 
 to be the object of love and desire to all, to learn what they 
 do not know, and to teach what they have learned ? For it 
 is most certain that neither friendship, nor kindred, nor lofty 
 power, ought to be more precious to men then truth. There- 
 fore you, O brethren, if ye know anything more, shrink not 
 from laying it before the people of God who are present, 
 and also before your brethren ; while the whole people shall 
 willingly and in perfect quietness hear what you say. For 
 why should not the people do this, when they see even me 
 equally with themselves willing to learn from you, if haply 
 God has revealed something further to you ? But if you in 
 anything are deficient, be not ye ashamed in like manner to 
 be taught by us, that God may fill up whatever is wanting 
 on either side. But if any fear now agitates you on account 
 of some of our people whose minds are prejudiced against 
 you, and if through fear of their violence you dare not openly 
 speak your sentiments, in order that I may deliver you from 
 this fear, I openly swear to you by Almighty God, who livefeh 
 for ever, that I will suffer no one to lay hands upon you. 
 Since, then, you have all this people witnesses of this my 
 oath, and you hold the covenant of our sacrament as a fitting 
 pledge, let each one of you, without any hesitation, declare
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 187 
 
 what he has learned ; and let us, brethren, listen eagerly and 
 in silence.' 
 
 CHAP. LXVIII. The rule of faith. 
 
 " These sayings of Gamaliel did not much please Caiaphas; 
 and holding him in suspicion, as it seemed, he began to 
 insinuate himself cunningly into the discussions : for, smiling 
 at what Gamaliel had said, the chief of the priests asked of 
 James, the chief of .the bishops, that the discourse concerning 
 Christ should not be drawn but from the Scriptures ; ' that 
 we may know,' said he, l whether Jesus be the very Christ 
 or no.' Then said James, l We must first inquire from what 
 Scriptures we are especially to derive our discussion.' Then 
 he, with difficulty, at length overcome by reason, answered, 
 that it must be derived from the law; and afterwards he 
 made mention also of the prophets. 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. Two comings of Christ. 
 
 " To him our James began to show, that whatsoever things 
 the prophets say they have taken from the law, and what 
 they have spoken is in accordance with the law. He also 
 made some statements respecting the books of the Kings, in 
 what way, and when, and by whom they were written, and 
 how they ought to be used. And when he had discussed most 
 fully concerning the law, and had, by a most clear exposition, 
 brought into light whatever things are in it concerning Christ, 
 he showed by most abundant proofs that Jesus is the Christ, 
 and that in Him are fulfilled all the prophecies which related 
 to His humble advent. For he showed that two advents of 
 Him are foretold : one in humiliation, which He has accom- 
 plished ; the other in glory, which is hoped for to be accom- 
 plished, when He shall come to give the kingdom to those who 
 believe in Him, and who observe all things which He has 
 commanded. And when he had plainly taught the people 
 concerning these things, he added this also : That unless a 
 man be baptized in water, in the name of the threefold 
 blessedness, as the true Prophet taught, he can neither receive 
 remission of sins nor enter into the kingdom of heaven ; and
 
 188 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon i. 
 
 he declared that this is the prescription of the unbegotten 
 God. To which he added this also : ' Do not think that we 
 speak of two unbegotten Gods, or that one is divided into 
 two, or that the same is made male and female. But we 
 speak of the only-begotten Son of God, not sprung from 
 another source, but ineffably self-originated ; and in like man- 
 ner we speak of the Paraclete.' But when he had spoken 
 some things also concerning baptism, through seven succes- 
 sive days he persuaded all the people and the high priest that 
 they should hasten straightway to receive baptism. 
 
 CHAP. LXX. Tumult raised by Saul. 
 
 " And when matters were at that point that they should 
 come and be baptized, some one of our enemies, 1 entering the 
 temple with a few men, began to cry out, and to say, ' What 
 mean ye, O men of Israel ? Why are you so easily hurried 
 on ? Why are ye led headlong by most miserable men, who are 
 deceived by Simon, a magician ?' While he was thus speaking, 
 and adding more to the same effect, and while James the bishop 
 was refuting him, he began to excite the people and to raise 
 a tumult, so that the people might not be able to hear what 
 was said. Therefore he began to drive all into confusion 
 with shouting, and to undo what had been arranged with 
 much labour, and at the same time to reproach the priests, 
 and to enrage them with revilings and abuse, and, like a 
 madman, to excite every one to murder, saying, ' What do ye? 
 Why do ye hesitate ? Oh, sluggish and inert, why do we 
 not lay hands upon them, and pull all these fellows to pieces ?' 
 When he had said this, he first, seizing a strong brand from 
 the altar, set the example of smiting. Then others also, seeing 
 him, were carried away with like madness. Then ensued a 
 tumult on either side, of the beating and the beaten. Much 
 blood is shed; there is a confused flight, in the midst of 
 which that enemy attacked James, and threw him headlong 
 from the top of the steps ; and supposing him to be dead, he 
 cared not to inflict further violence upon him. 
 
 1 A marginal note in one of the manuscripts states that this enemy 
 was Saul.
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 189 
 
 CHAP. LXXI. Flight to Jericho. 
 
 "But our friends lifted him up, for they were both more 
 numerous and more powerful than the others; but, from 
 their fear of God, they rather suffered themselves to be killed 
 by an inferior force, than they would kill others. But when 
 the evening came the priests shut up the temple, and we 
 returned to the house of James, and spent the night there in 
 prayer. Then before daylight we went down to Jericho, to 
 the number of 5000 men. Then after three days one of the 
 brethren came to us from Gamaliel, whom we mentioned before, 
 bringing to us secret tidings that that enemy had received 
 a commission from Caiaphas, the chief priest, that he should 
 arrest all who believed in Jesus, and should go to Damascus 
 with his letters, and that there also, employing the help of 
 the unbelievers, he should make havoc among the faithful ; 
 and that he was hastening to Damascus chiefly on this ac- 
 count, because he believed that Peter had fled thither. 1 And 
 about thirty days thereafter he stopped on his way while 
 passing through Jericho going to Damascus. At that time 
 we were absent, having gone out to the sepulchres of two 
 brethren which were whitened of themselves every year, by 
 which miracle the fury of many against us was restrained, 
 because they saw that our brethren were had in remembrance 
 before God. 
 
 CHAP. LXXII. Peter sent to Ccesarea. 
 
 " While, therefore, we abode in Jericho, and gave ourselves 
 to prayer and fasting, James the bishop sent for me, and sent 
 me here to Csesarea, saying that Zaccheus had written to him 
 from Caesarea, that one Simon, a Samaritan magician, was 
 subverting many of our people, asserting that he was one 
 Stems, that is, in other words, the Christ, and the great 
 power of the high God, which is superior to the Creator of 
 the world ; at the same time that he showed many miracles, and 
 made some doubt, and others fall away to him. He informed 
 me of all things that had been ascertained respecting this 
 1 Acts xxii. 5.
 
 190 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK i 
 
 man from those who had formerly been either his associates 
 or his disciples, and had afterwards been converted to Zaccheus. 
 * Many therefore there are, O Peter,' said James, ( for whose 
 safety's sake it behoves you to go and to refute the magician, 
 and to teach* the word of truth. Therefore make no delay; 
 nor let it grieve you that you set out alone, knowing that 
 God by Jesus will go with you, and will help you, and that 
 soon, by His grace, you will have many associates and sym- 
 pathizers. Now be sure that you send me in writing every 
 year an account of your sayings and doings, and especially at 
 the end of every seven years.' With these expressions he 
 dismissed me, and in six days I arrived at Caesarea. 
 
 CHAP. LXXIII. Welcomed by Zaccheus. 
 
 "When I entered the city, our most beloved brother 
 Zaccheus met me; and embracing me, brought me to this 
 lodging, in which he himself stayed, inquiring of me concern- 
 ing each of the brethren, especially concerning our honour- 
 able brother James. And when I told him that he was still 
 lame on one foot, on his immediately asking the cause of this, 
 I related to him all that I have now detailed to you, how we 
 had been called by the priests and Caiaphas the high priest 
 to the temple, and how James the archbishop, standing on 
 the top of the steps, had for seven successive days shown the 
 whole people from the Scriptures of the Lord that Jesus is 
 the Christ; and how, when all were acquiescing that they 
 should be baptized by him in the name of Jesus, an enemy 
 did all those things which I have already mentioned, and 
 which I need not repeat. 
 
 CHAP. LXXIV. Simon Magus challenges Peter. 
 
 li When Zaccheus had heard these things, he told me in 
 return of the doings of Simon ; and in the meantime Simon 
 himself how he heard of my arrival I do not know sent 
 a message to me, saying, ' Let us dispute to-morrow in the 
 hearing of the people.' To which I answered, ' Be it so, as it 
 pleaseth you.' And this promise of mine was known over 
 the whole city, so that even you, who arrived on that very day,
 
 BOOK i.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 191 
 
 learned that I was to hold a discussion with Simon on the 
 following day, and having found out my abode, according to 
 the directions which you had received from Barnabas, came 
 to me. But I so rejoiced at your coming, that my mind, 
 moved I know not how, hastened to expound all things quickly 
 to you, yet especially that which is the main point in our faith, 
 concerning the true Prophet, which alone, I doubt not, is a 
 sufficient foundation for the whole of our doctrine. Then, in 
 the next place, I unfolded to you the more secret meaning 
 of the written law, through its several heads, which there 
 was occasion to unfold ; neither did I conceal from you the 
 good things of the traditions. But what remains, begin- 
 ning from to-morrow, you shall hear from day to day in 
 connection with the questions which will be raised in the 
 discussion with Simon, until by God's favour we reach that 
 city of Rome to which we believe that our journey is to be 
 directed." 
 
 I then declared that I owed him all thanks for what he had 
 told me, and promised that I would most readily do all that 
 he commanded. Then, having taken food, he ordered me to 
 rest, and he also betook himself to rest.
 
 BECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. i. Power of habit. 
 
 jjHEN the day dawned which had been fixed for the 
 discussion with Simon, Peter, rising at the first 
 cock-crowing, aroused us also : for we were sleep- 
 ing in the same apartment, thirteen of us in all ; 
 of whom, next to Peter, Zaccheus was first, then Sophonius, 
 Joseph and Michgeas, Eliesdrus, Phineas, Lazarus, and Eli- 
 saeus : after these I (Clement) and Nicodemus ; then Niceta 
 and Aquila, who had formerly been disciples of Simon, and 
 were converted to the faith of Christ under the teaching of 
 Zaccheus. Of the women there was no one present. As 
 the evening light 1 was still lasting, we all sat down; and 
 Peter, seeing that we were awake, and that we were giving 
 attention to him, having saluted us, immediately began to 
 speak, as follows : 
 
 " I confess, brethren, that I wonder at the power of 
 human nature, which I see to be fit and suited to every call 
 upon it. This, however, it occurs to me to say of what I have 
 found by experience, that when the middle of the night is 
 passed, I awake of my own accord, and sleep does not come 
 to me again. This happens to me for this reason, that I 
 have formed the habit of recalling to memory the words of 
 my Lord, which I heard from Himself ; and for the longing 
 I have towards them, I constrain my mind and my thoughts 
 to be roused, that, awaking to them, and recalling and ar- 
 1 That is, the lamp which had been lighted in the evening. 
 192
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 193 
 
 ranging them one by one, I may retain them in my memory. 
 From this, therefore, whilst I desire to cherish the sayings 
 of the Lord with all delight in my heart, the habit of waking 
 has come upon me, even if there be nothing that I wish to 
 think of. Thus, in some unaccountable way, when any 
 custom is established, the old custom is changed, provided 
 indeed you do not force it above measure, but as far as the 
 measure of nature admits. For it is not possible to be alto- 
 gether without sleep ; otherwise night would not have been 
 made for rest." 
 
 CHAP. IT. Curtailment of sleep. 
 
 Then I, when I heard this, said : " You have very well 
 said, O Peter ; for one custom is superseded by another. For 
 w r hen I was at set, I was at first distressed, and all my system 
 was disordered, so that I felt as if I had been beaten, and 
 could not bear the tossing and tumult of the sea ; but after a 
 few days, when I had got accustomed to it, I began to bear it 
 tolerably, so that I was glad to take food immediately in the 
 morning along with the sailors, whereas before it was not my 
 custom to eat anything before the seventh hour. Now, there- 
 fore, simply from the custom which I then acquired, hunger 
 reminds me about that time at which I used to eat with the 
 sailors; which, however, I hope to get rid of, when once 
 another custom shall have been formed. I believe, therefore, 
 that you also have acquired the habit of wakefulness, as you 
 state ; and you have wished at a fitting time to explain this 
 to us, that we also may not grudge to throw off and dispense 
 with some portion of our sleep, that we may be able to take 
 in the precepts of the living doctrine. For when the food is 
 digested, and the mind is under the influence of the silence 
 of night, those things which are seasonably taught abide 
 in it." 
 
 CHAP. in. Need of caution. 
 
 Then Peter, being pleased to hear that I understood the 
 purport of his preface, that he had delivered it for our ad- 
 vantage ; and commending me, doubtless for the purpose of 
 
 N
 
 194 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 encouraging and stimulating me, began to deliver the follow- 
 ing discourse : " It seems to me to be seasonable and neces- 
 sary to have some discussion relating to those things that 
 are near at hand ; that is, concerning Simon. For I should 
 wish to know of what character and of what conduct he is. 
 Wherefore, if any one of you has any knowledge of him, let 
 him not fail to inform me ; for it is of consequence to know 
 these things beforehand. For if we have it in charge, that 
 when we enter into a city we should first learn who in it is 
 worthy, 1 that we may eat with him, how much more is it 
 proper for us to ascertain who or what sort of man he is to 
 whom the words of immortality are to be committed ! For we 
 ought to be careful, yea, extremely careful, that we cast not 
 our pearls before swine. 2 
 
 CHAP. iv. Prudence in dealing with opponents. 
 
 " But for other reasons also it is of importance that I 
 should have some knowledge of this man. For if I know 
 that in those things concerning which it cannot be doubted 
 that they are good, he is faultless and irreproachable, that is 
 to say, if he is sober, merciful, upright, gentle, and humane, 
 which no one doubts to be good qualities, then it will seem 
 to be fitting, that upon him who possesses these good virtues, 
 that which is lacking of faith and knowledge should be con- 
 ferred ; and so his life, which is in other respects worthy of 
 approbation, should be amended in thdse points in which it 
 shall appear to be imperfect. But if he remains wrapped up 
 and polluted in those sins which are manifestly such, it does 
 not become me to speak to him at all of the more secret and 
 sacred things of divine knowledge, but rather to protest and 
 confront him, that he cease from sin, and cleanse his actions 
 from vice. But if he insinuate himself, and lead us on to 
 speak what he, while he acts improperly, ought not to hear, 
 it will be our part to parry him cautiously. For not to 
 answer him at all does not seem proper, for the sake of the 
 hearers, lest haply they may think that we decline the con- 
 test through want of ability to answer him, and so their 
 1 Matt. x. ; Luke x. 2 Matt. vii. 6.
 
 BOOK IL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 105 
 
 faith may be injured through their misunderstanding of our 
 purpose." 
 
 CHAP. v. Simon Magus, a formidable antagonist. 
 
 When Peter had thus spoken to us, Niceta asks permission 
 to say something to him ; and Peter having granted permis- 
 sion, he says : " With your pardon, I beseech you, my lord 
 Peter, to hear me, who am very anxious for thee, and who am 
 afraid lest, in the contest which you have in hand with Simon, 
 you should seem to be overmatched. For it very frequently 
 happens that he who defends the truth does not gain the vic- 
 tory, since the hearers are either prejudiced, or have no great 
 interest in the better cause. But over and above all this, 
 Simon himself is a most vehement orator, trained in the dia- 
 lectic art, and in the meshes of syllogisms ; and what is worse 
 than all, he is greatly skilled in the magic art. And there- 
 fore I fear, lest haply, being so strongly fortified on every 
 side, he shall be thought to be defending the truth, whilst he 
 is alleging falsehoods, in the presence of those who do not 
 know him. For neither should we ourselves have been able 
 to escape from him, and to be converted to the Lord, had it 
 not been that, while we were his assistants, and the sharers of 
 his errors, we had ascertained that he was a deceiver and a 
 magician." 
 
 CHAP. VI. Simon Magus : his wickedness. 
 
 When Niceta had thus spoken, Aquila also, asking that he 
 might be permitted to speak, proceeded in manner following: 
 " Receive, I entreat thee, most excellent Peter, the assurance 
 of my love towards thee ; for indeed I also am extremely 
 anxious on thy account. And do not blame us in this, for 
 indeed to be concerned for any one cometh of affection ; 
 whereas to be indifferent is no less than hatred. But I call 
 God to witness that I feel for thee, not as knowing thee to 
 be weaker in debate, for indeed I was never present at any 
 dispute in which thou wert engaged, but because I well 
 know the impieties of this man, I think of thy reputation, 
 and at the same time the souls of the hearers, and above all,
 
 196 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 the interests of the truth itself. For this magician is vehement 
 towards all things that he wishes, and wicked above measure. 
 For in all things we know him well, since from boyhood we 
 have been assistants and ministers of his wickedness; and 
 had not the love of God rescued us from him, we should 
 even now be engaged in the same evil deeds with him. But 
 a certain inborn love towards God rendered his wickedness 
 hateful to us, and the worship of God attractive to us. 
 Whence I think also that it was the work of Divine Provi- 
 dence, that we, being first made his associates, should take 
 knowledge in what manner or by what art he effects the 
 prodigies which he seems to work. For who is there that 
 would not be astonished at the wonderful things which he 
 does ? Who would not think that he was a god come down 
 from heaven for the salvation of men ? For myself, I con- 
 fess, if I had not known him intimately, and had taken part 
 in his doings, I would easily have been carried away with 
 him. Whence it was no great thing for us to be separated 
 from his society, knowing as we did that he depends upon 
 magic arts and wicked devices. But if thou also thyself 
 wish to know all about him who, what, and whence he is, 
 and how he contrives what he does then listen. 
 
 CHAP. vii. Simon Magus : his history. 
 
 " This Simon's father was Antonius, and his mother Rachel. 
 By nation he is a Samaritan, from a village of the Gettones ; 
 by profession a magician, yet exceedingly well trained in the 
 Greek literature; desirous of glory, and boasting above all 
 the human race, so that he wishes himself to be believed to 
 be an exalted power, which is above God the Creator, and 
 to be thought to be the Christ, and to be called the Standing 
 One. And he uses this name as implying that he can never 
 be dissolved, asserting that his flesh is so compacted by 
 the power of his divinity, that it can endure to eternity. 
 Hence, therefore, he is called the Standing One, as though 
 he cannot fall by any corruption.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 197 
 
 CHAP. VIIT. Simon Magus : his history. 
 
 " For after that John the Baptist was killed, as you yourself 
 also know, when Dositheus had broached his heresy, with 
 thirty other chief disciples, and one woman, who was called 
 Luna whence also these thirty appear to have been appointed 
 with reference to the number of the days, according to the 
 course of the moon this Simon, ambitious of evil glory, as 
 we have said, goes to Dositheus, and pretending friendship, 
 entreats him, that if any one of those thirty should die, he 
 should straightway substitute him in room of the dead : for 
 it was contrary to their rule either to exceed the fixed num- 
 ber, or to admit any one who was unknown, or not yet 
 proved ; whence also the rest, desiring to become worthy of 
 the place and number, are eager in every way to please, 
 according to the institutions of their sect, each one of those 
 who aspire after admittance into the number, hoping that 
 he may be deemed worthy to be put into the place of the 
 deceased, when, as we have said, any one dies. Therefore 
 Dositheus, being greatly urged by this man, introduced Simon 
 when a vacancy occurred among the number. 
 
 CHAP. ix. Simon Magus : his profession. 
 
 " But not long after he fell in love with that woman whom 
 they call Luna ; and he confided all things to us as his 
 friends : how he was a magician, and how he loved Luna, 
 and how, being desirous of glory, he was unwilling to enjoy 
 her ingloriously, but that he was waiting patiently till he 
 could enjoy her honourably ; yet so if we also would conspire 
 with him towards the accomplishment of his desires. And 
 he promised that, as a reward of this service, he would cause 
 us to be invested with the highest honours, and we should be 
 believed by men to be gods ; * Only, however, on condition,' 
 says he, f that you confer the chief place upon me, Simon, 
 who by magic art am able to show many signs and prodigies, 
 by means of which either my glory or our sect may be estab- 
 lished. For I am able to render myself invisible to those 
 who wish to lay hold of me, and again to be visible when I
 
 198 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 am willing to be seen. If I wish to flee, I can dig through 
 the mountains, and pass through rocks as if they were clay. 
 If I should throw myself headlong from a lofty mountain, 
 I should be borne unhurt to the earth, as if I were held 
 up ; when bound, I can loose myself, and bind those who 
 had bound me ; being shut up in prison, I can make the 
 barriers open of their own accord ; I can render statues 
 animated, so that those who see suppose that they are men. 
 I can make new trees suddenly spring up, and produce 
 sprouts at once. I can throw myself into the fire, and 
 not be burnt ; I can change my countenance, so that I 
 cannot be recognised ; but I can show people that I have 
 two faces. I shall change myself into a sheep or a goat ; I 
 shall make a beard to grow upon little boys ; I shall ascend 
 by flight into the air ; I shall exhibit abundance of gold, 
 and shall make and unmake kings. I shall be worshipped as 
 God ; I shall have divine honours publicly assigned to me, 
 so that an image of me shall be set up, and I shall be wor- 
 shipped and adored as God. And what need of more words ? 
 Whatever I wish, that I shall be able to do. For already I 
 have achieved many things by way of experiment. In short,' 
 says he, ' once when my mother Rachel ordered me to go to 
 the field to reap, and I saw a sickle lying, I ordered it to 
 go and reap ; and it reaped ten times more than the others. 
 Lately, I produced many new sprouts from the earth, and 
 made them bear leaves and produce fruit in a moment ; and 
 the nearest mountain I successfully bored through.' 
 
 CHAP. x. Simon Magus : his deception. 
 
 " But when he spoke thus of the production of sprouts and 
 the perforation of the mountain, I was confounded on this 
 account, because he wished to deceive even us, in whom he 
 seemed to place confidence ; for we knew that those things 
 had been from the days of our fathers, which he represented 
 as having been done by himself lately. We then, although 
 we heard these atrocities from him, and worse than these, 
 yet we followed up his crimes, and suffered others to be 
 deceived by him, telling also many lies on his behalf ; and
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 199 
 
 this before he did any of the things which he had promised, , 
 so that while as yet he had done nothing, he was by some 
 thought to be God. 
 
 CHAP. xi. Simon Magus, at the head of the sect of Dositheus. 
 
 "Meantime, at the outset, as soon as he was reckoned 
 among the thirty disciples of Dositheus, he began to depre- 
 ciate Dositheus himself, saying that he did not teach purely or 
 perfectly, and that this was the result not of ill intention, but 
 of ignorance. But Dositheus, when he perceived that Simon 
 was depreciating him, fearing lest his reputation among men 
 might be obscured (for he himself was supposed to be the 
 Standing One)) moved with rage, when they met as usual at 
 the school, seized a rod, and began to beat Simon ; but 
 suddenly the rod seemed to pass through his body, as if it 
 had been smoke. On which Dositheus, being astonished, 
 says to him, ( Tell me if thou art the Standing One, that I 
 may adore thee.' And when Simon answered that he was, 
 then Dositheus, perceiving that he himself was not the 
 Standing One, fell down and worshipped him, and gave up 
 his own place as chief to Simon, ordering all the rank of 
 thirty men to obey him; himself taking the inferior place 
 which Simon formerly occupied. Not long after this he 
 died. 
 
 CHAP. xn. Simon Magus and Luna. 
 
 " Therefore, after the death of Dositheus, Simon took Luna 
 to himself ; and with her he still goes about, as you see, de- 
 ceiving multitudes, and asserting that he himself is a certain 
 power which is above God the Creator, while Luna, who is 
 with him, has been brought down from the higher heavens, 
 and that she is Wisdom, the mother of all things, for whom, 
 says he, the Greeks and barbarians contending, were able in 
 some measure to see an image of her ; but of herself, as she is, 
 as the dweller with the first and only God, they were wholly 
 ignorant. Propounding these and other things of the same 
 sort, he has deceived many. But I ought also to state this, 
 which I remember that I myself saw. Once, when this
 
 200 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 Luna of his was in a certain tower, a great multitude had 
 assembled to see her, and were standing around the tower on 
 all sides ; but she was seen by all the people to lean forward, 
 and to look out through all the windows of that tower. 1 
 Many other wonderful things he did and does ; so that men, 
 being astonished at them, think that he himself is the great 
 God. 
 
 CHAP. xin. Simon Magus : secret of his magic. 
 
 " Now when Niceta and I once asked him to explain to 
 us how these things could be effected by magic art, and what 
 was the nature of that thing, Simon began thus to explain it 
 to us as his associates. ' I have,' said he, ( made the soul of a 
 boy, unsullied and violently slain, and invoked by unutterable 
 adjurations, to assist me ; and by it all is done that I com- 
 mand.' ' But,' said I, * is it possible for a soul to do these 
 things?' He answered: 'I would have you know this, 
 that the soul of man holds the next place after God, when 
 once it is set free from the darkness of his body. And 
 immediately it acquires prescience : wherefore it is invoked 
 for necromancy.' Then I answered : * Why, then, do not 
 the souls of persons who are slain take vengeance on their 
 slayers?' ' Do you not remember,' said he, ' that I told you, 
 that when it goes out of the body it acquires knowledge of 
 the future?' 1 1 remember,' said I. 'Well, then,' said he, 
 * as soon as it goes out of the body, it immediately knows that 
 there is a judgment to come, and that every one shall suffer 
 punishment for those evils that he hath done ; and therefore 
 they are unwilling to take vengeance on their slayers, because 
 they themselves are enduring torments for their own evil 
 deeds which they had done here, and they know that severer 
 punishments await them in the judgment. Moreover, they 
 are not permitted by the angels who preside over them 
 to go out, or to do anything.' 'Then,' I replied, 'if the 
 angels do not permit them to come hither, or to do what 
 they please, how can the souls obey the magician who invokes 
 
 1 The meaning seems to be, that she was seen at all the windows at 
 once. TE.
 
 BOOK IL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 201 
 
 them ?' 'It is not,' said he, 'that they grant indulgence to 
 the souls that are willing to come ; but when the presiding 
 angels are adjured by one greater than themselves, they have 
 the excuse of our violence who adjure them, to permit the 
 souls which we invoke to go out : for they do not sin who 
 suffer violence, but we who impose necessity upon them.' 
 Thereupon Niceta, not able longer to refrain, hastily an- 
 swered, as indeed I also was about to do, only I wished first 
 to get information from him on several points ; but, as I 
 said, Niceta, anticipating me, said: 'And do you not fear 
 the day of judgment, who do violence to angels, and invoke 
 souls, and deceive men, and bargain for divine honour to 
 yourself from men ? And how do you persuade us that 
 there shall be no judgment, as some of the Jews confess, 
 and that souls are not immortal, as many suppose, though 
 you see them with your very eyes, and receive from them 
 assurance of the divine judgment?' 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Simon Magus, professes to be God. 
 
 "At those sayings of his Simon grew pale ; but after a little, 
 recollecting himself, he thus answered : ' Do not think that 
 I am a man of your race. I am neither magician, nor lover 
 of Luna, nor son of Antonius. For before my mother Rachel 
 and he came together, she, still a virgin, conceived me, while 
 it was in my power to be either small or great, and to appear 
 as a man among men. Therefore I have chosen you first as 
 my friends, for the purpose of trying you, that I may place 
 you first in my heavenly and unspeakable places when I shall 
 have proved you. Therefore I have pretended to be a man, 
 that I might more clearly ascertain if you cherish entire 
 affection towards me.' But when I heard that, judging him 
 indeed to be a wretch, yet wondering at his impudence ; and 
 blushing for him, and at the same time fearing lest he should 
 attempt some evil against us, I beckoned to Niceta to feign 
 for a little along with me, and said to him : ' Be not angry 
 with us, corruptible men, O thou incorruptible God, but 
 rather accept our affection, and our mind willing to know
 
 202 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 who God is ; for we did not till now know who thou art, nor 
 did we perceive that thou art he whom we were seeking.' 
 
 CHAP. xv. Simon Magus, professed to have made a boy 
 of air. 
 
 " As we spoke these and such like words with looks suited 
 to the occasion, this most vain fellow believed that we were 
 deceived ; and being thereby the more elated, he added also 
 this : ' I shall now be propitious to you, for the affection which 
 you bear towards me as God ; for you loved me while you 
 did not know me, and were seeking me in ignorance. But I 
 would not have you doubt that this is truly to be God, when 
 one is able to become small or great as he pleases ; for I am 
 able to appear to man in whatever manner I please. Now, 
 then, I shall begin to unfold to you what is true. Once on 
 a time, I, by my power, turning air into water, and water 
 again into blood, and solidifying it into flesh, formed a new 
 human creature a boy and produced a much nobler work 
 than God the Creator. For He created a man from the 
 earth, but I from air a far more difficult matter ; and again 
 I unmade him and restored him to air, but not until I had 
 placed his picture and image in my bed-chamber, as a proof 
 and memorial of my work.' Then we understood that he 
 spake concerning that boy, whose soul, after he had been 
 slain by violence, he made use of for those services which he 
 required." 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Simon Magus : hopelessness of his case. 
 
 But Peter, hearing these things, said with tears : " Greatly 
 do I wonder at the infinite patience of God, and, on the other 
 hand, at the audacity of human rashness in some. For what 
 further reason can be found to persuade Simon that God 
 judges the unrighteous, since he persuades himself that he 
 employs the obedience of souls for the service of his crimes ? 
 But, in truth, he is deluded by demons. Yet, although he is 
 sure by these very things that souls are immortal, and are 
 judged for the deeds which they have done, and although he 
 thinks that he really sees those things which we believe by
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 203 
 
 faith ; though, as I said, he is deluded by demons, yet he 
 thinks that he sees the very substance of the soul. How 
 shall such a man, I say, be brought to confess either that he 
 acts wickedly while he occupies such an evil position, or that 
 he is to be judged for those things which he hath done, 
 who, knowing the judgment of God, despises it, and shows 
 himself an enemy to God, and dares commit such horrid 
 things ? Wherefore it is certain, my brethren, that some 
 oppose the truth and religion of God, not because it appears 
 to them that reason can by no means stand with faith, but 
 because they are either involved in excess of wickedness, or 
 prevented by their own evils, or elated by the swelling of 
 their heart, so that they do not even believe those things 
 which they think that they see with their own eyes. 
 
 CHAP. xvn. Men enemies to God. 
 
 "But, inasmuch as inborn affection towards God the 
 Creator seemed to suffice for salvation to those who loved 
 Him, the enemy studies to pervert this affection in men, and 
 to render them hostile and ungrateful to their Creator. For 
 I call heaven and earth to witness, that if God permitted 
 the enemy to rage as much as he desires, all men should 
 have perished long ere now ; but for His mercy's sake God 
 doth not suffer him. But if men would turn their affection 
 towards God, all would doubtless be saved, even if for some 
 faults they might seem to be corrected for righteousness. 
 But now the most of men have been made enemies of God, 
 whose hearts the wicked one has entered, and has turned 
 aside towards himself the affection which God the Creator 
 had implanted in them, that they might have it towards Him. 
 But of the rest, who seemed for a time to be watchful, the 
 enemy, appearing in a phantasy of glory and splendour, and 
 promising them certain great and mighty things, has caused 
 their mind and heart to wander away from God ; yet it is 
 for some just reason that he is permitted to accomplish these 
 things. "
 
 204 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 CHAP. XVIIT. Responsibility of men. 
 
 To this Aquila answered : " How, then, are men in fault, 
 if the wicked one, transforming himself into the brightness of 
 light, 1 promises to men greater things than the Creator Him- 
 self does ? " Then Peter answered : " I think," says he, 
 " that nothing is more unjust than this ; arid now listen while 
 I tell you how unjust it is. If your son, whom you have 
 trained and nourished with all care, and brought to man's 
 estate, should be ungrateful to you, and should leave you and 
 go to another, whom perhaps he may have seen to be richer, 
 and should show to him the honour which he owed to yon, 
 and, through hope of greater profit, should deny his birth, 
 and refuse you your paternal rights, would this seem to you 
 right or wicked ? " Then Aquila answered : " It is manifest 
 to all that it would be wicked." Then Peter said : " If you 
 say that this would be wicked among men, how much more 
 so is it in the case of God, who, above all men, is worthy of 
 honour from men ; whose benefits we not only enjoy, but by 
 whose means and power it is that we began to be when we 
 were not, and whom, if we please, we shall obtain from Him 
 to be for ever in blessedness ! In order, therefore, that the 
 unfaithful may be distinguished from the faithful, and the 
 pious from the impious, it has been permitted to the wicked 
 one to use those arts by which the affections of every one 
 towards the true Father may be proved. But if there were 
 in truth some strange God, were it right to leave our own 
 God, who created us, and who is our Father and our Maker, 
 and to pass over to another ?" " God forbid ! " said Aquila. 
 Then said Peter : " How, then, shall we say that the wicked 
 one is the cause of our sin, when this is done by permission of 
 God, that those may be proved and condemned in the day of 
 judgment, who, allured by greater promises, have abandoned 
 their duty towards their true Father and Creator; while 
 those who have kept the faith and the love of their own 
 Father, even with poverty, if so it has befallen, and with 
 tribulation, may enjoy heavenly gifts and immortal dignities 
 1 2 Cor. xi. 14.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 205 
 
 in His kingdom ? But we shall expound these things more 
 carefully at another time. Meantime I desire to know what 
 Simon did after this." 
 
 CHAP. xix. Disputation begun. 
 
 And Niceta answered : " When he perceived that we had 
 found him out, having spoken to one another concerning his 
 crimes, we left him, and came to Zaccheus, telling him those 
 same things which we have now told to you. But he, re- 
 ceiving us most kindly, and instructing us concerning the 
 faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, enrolled us in the number of 
 the faithful." When Niceta had done speaking, Zaccheus, 
 who had gone out a little before, entered, saying, " It is time, 
 O Peter, that you proceed to the disputation ; for a great 
 crowd, collected in the court of the house, is awaiting you, in 
 the midst of whom stands Simon, supported by many attend- 
 ants." Then Peter, when he heard this, ordering me to 
 withdraw for the sake of prayer (for I had not yet been 
 washed from the sins which I had committed in ignorance), 
 said to the rest, " Brethren, let us pray that God, for His 
 unspeakable mercy through His Christ, would help me going 
 out on behalf of the salvation of men who have been created 
 by Him." Having said this, and having prayed, he went 
 forth to the court of the house, in which a great multitude of 
 people were assembled ; and when he saw them all looking 
 intently on him in profound silence, and Simon the magician 
 standing in the midst of them like a standard-bearer, he 
 began in manner following. 
 
 CHAP. xx. The kingdom of God and His righteousness. 
 
 " Peace be to all of you who are prepared to give your right 
 hands to truth : for whosoever are obedient to it seem indeed 
 themselves to confer some favour upon God ; whereas they 
 do themselves obtain from Him the gift of His greatest 
 bounty, walking in His paths of righteousness. Wherefore 
 the first duty of all is to inquire into the righteousness of 
 God and His kingdom j 1 His righteousness, that we may be 
 1 Matt, vi. 33.
 
 206 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 taught to act rightly ; His kingdom, that we may know what 
 is the reward appointed for labour and patience ; in which 
 kingdom there is indeed a bestowal of eternal good things 
 upon the good, but upon those who have acted contrary to 
 the will of God, a worthy infliction of penalties in proportion 
 to the doings of every one. It becomes you, therefore, whilst 
 you are here, that is, whilst you are in the present life, 
 to ascertain the will of God, while there is opportunity also 
 of doing it. For if any one, before he amends his doings, 
 wishes to investigate concerning things which he cannot dis- 
 cover, such investigation will be foolish and ineffectual. For 
 the time is short, and the judgment of God shall be occupied 
 with deeds, not questions. Therefore before all things let us 
 inquire into this, what or in what manner we must act that 
 we may merit to obtain eternal life. 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Righteousness the way to the kingdom. 
 
 " For if we occupy the short time of this life with vain and 
 useless questions, we shall without doubt go into the presence 
 of God empty and void of good works, when, as I have said, 
 our works shall be brought into judgment. For everything 
 has its own time and place. This is the place, this the time 
 of works ; the world to come, that of recompenses. That we 
 may not therefore be entangled, by changing the order of 
 places and times, let us inquire, in the first place, what is 
 the righteousness of God ; so that, like persons going to set 
 out on a journey, we may be filled with good works as with 
 abundant provision, so that we may be able to come to the 
 kingdom of God, as to a very great city. For to those who 
 think aright, God is manifest even by the operations of the 
 world which He hath made, using the evidence of His crea- 
 tion j 1 and therefore, since there ought to be no doubt about 
 God, we have now to inquire only about His righteousness 
 and His kingdom. But if our mind suggest to us to make 
 any inquiry concerning secret and hidden things before we 
 inquire into the works of righteousness, we ought to render 
 to ourselves a reason, because if acting well we shall merit 
 1 Rom. i. 20.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 207 
 
 to obtain salvation : then, going to God chaste and clean, we 
 shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, and shall know all things 
 that are secret and hidden, without any cavilling of questions ; 
 whereas now, even if any one should spend the whole of his 
 life in inquiring into these things, he not only shall not be 
 able to find them, but shall involve himself in greater errors, 
 because he did not first enter through the way of righteous- 
 ness, and strive to reach the haven of life. 
 
 CHAP. xxir. Righteousness ; what it is. 
 
 " And therefore I advise that His righteousness be first 
 inquired into, that, pursuing our journey through it, and 
 placed in the way of truth, we may be able to find the true 
 Prophet, running not with swiftness of foot, but with good- 
 ness of works, and that, enjoying His guidance, we may be 
 under no danger of mistaking the way. For if under His 
 guidance we shall merit to enter that city to which we desire 
 to come, all things concerning which we now inquire we 
 shall see with our eyes, being made, as it were, heirs of all 
 things. Understand, therefore, that the way is this course 
 of our life ; the travellers are those who do good works ; the 
 gate is the true Prophet, of whom we speak ; the city is the 
 kingdom in which dwells the Almighty Father, whom only 
 those can see who are of pure heart. 1 Let us not then think 
 the labour of this journey hard, because at the end of it there 
 shall be rest. For the true Prophet Himself also from the 
 beginning of the world, through the course of time, hastens 
 to rest. For He is present with us at all times ; and if at 
 any time it is necessary, He appears and corrects us, that He 
 may bring to eternal life those who obey Him. Therefore 
 this is my judgment, as also it is the pleasure of the true 
 Prophet, that inquiry should first be made concerning right- 
 eousness, by those especially who profess that they know God. 
 If therefore any one has anything to propose which he thinks 
 better, let him speak ; and when he has spoken, let him hear, 
 but with patience and quietness : for in order to this at the 
 first, by way of salutation, I prayed for peace to you all." 
 
 1 Matt. v. 8.
 
 208 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BooKii. 
 
 CHAP. xxiu. Simon refuses peace. 
 
 To this Simon answered : " We have no need of your 
 peace; for if there be peace and concord, we shall not be able 
 to make any advance towards the discovery of truth. For 
 robbers and debauchees have peace among themselves, and 
 every wickedness agrees with itself ; and if we have met with 
 this view, that for the sake of peace we should give assent 
 to all that is said, we shall confer no benefit upon the 
 hearers ; but, on the contrary, we shall impose upon them, 
 and shall depart friends. Wherefore, do not invoke peace, 
 but rather battle, which is the mother of peace ; and if you 
 can, exterminate errors. And do not seek for friendship 
 obtained by unfair admissions ; for this I would have you 
 know, above all, that when two fight with each other, then 
 there will be peace when one has been defeated and has 
 fallen. And therefore fight as best you can, and do not 
 expect peace without war, which is impossible ; or if it can 
 be attained, show us how." 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Peter's explanation. 
 
 To this Peter answered : " Hear with all attention, O men, 
 what we say. Let us suppose that this world is a great plain, 
 and that from two states, whose kings are at variance with 
 each other, two generals were sent to fight : and suppose the 
 general of the good king gave this counsel, that both armies 
 should without bloodshed submit to the authority of the 
 better king, whereby all should be safe without danger ; but 
 that the opposite general should say, No, but we must fight ; 
 that not he who is worthy, but he who is stronger, may reign, 
 with those who shall escape ; which, I ask you, would you 
 rather choose ? I doubt not but that you would give your 
 hands to the better king, with the safety of all. And I do 
 not now wish, as Simon says that I do, that assent should be 
 given, for the sake of peace, to those things that are spoken 
 amiss ; but that truth be sought for with quietness and 
 order.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 209 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Principles on which the discussion should be 
 conducted. 
 
 " For some, in the contest of disputations, when they per- 
 ceive that their error is confuted, immediately begin, for the 
 sake of making good their retreat, to create a disturbance, and 
 to stir up strifes, that it may not be manifest to all that they 
 are defeated ; and therefore I frequently entreat that the 
 investigation of the matter in dispute may be conducted with 
 all patience and quietness, so that if perchance anything seem 
 to be not rightly spoken, it may be allowed to go back over it, 
 and explain it more distinctly. For sometimes a thing may be 
 spoken in one way and heard in another, while it is either ad- 
 vanced too obscurely, or not attended to with sufficient care ; 
 and on this account I desire that our conversation should be 
 conducted patiently, so that neither should the one snatch it 
 away from the other, nor should the unseasonable speech of 
 one contradicting interrupt the speech of the other; and that 
 we should not cherish the desire of finding fault, but that we 
 should be allowed, as I have said, to go over again what has 
 not been clearly enough spoken, that by fairest examination 
 the knowledge of the truth may become clearer. For we 
 ought to know, that if any one is conquered by the truth, it is 
 not he that is conquered, but the ignorance which is in him, 
 which is the worst of all demons ; so that he who can drive 
 it out receives the palm of salvation. For it is our purpose 
 to benefit the hearers, not that we may conquer badly, but 
 that we may be well conquered for the acknowledgment of 
 the truth. For if our speech be actuated by the desire of 
 seeking the truth, even although we shall speak anything 
 imperfectly through human frailty, God in His unspeakable 
 goodness will fill up secretly in the understandings of the 
 hearers those things that are lacking. For He is righteous ; 
 and according to the purpose of every one, He enables some 
 to find easily what they seek, while to others He renders 
 even that obscure which is before their eyes. Since, then, 
 the way of God is the way of peace, let us with peace seek 
 the things which are God's. If any one has anything to 
 

 
 210 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 advance in answer to this, let him do so ; but if there is no 
 one who wishes to answer, I shall begin to speak, and I 
 myself shall bring forward what another may object to me, 
 and shall refute it." 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. Simons interruption. 
 
 When therefore Peter had begun to continue his discourse, 
 Simon, interrupting his speech, said : " Why do you hasten 
 to speak whatever you please? I understand your tricks. 
 You wish to bring forward those matters whose explanation 
 you have well studied, that you may appear to the ignorant 
 crowd to be speaking well ; but I shall not allow you this 
 subterfuge. Now therefore, since you promise, as a brave 
 man, to answer to all that any one chooses to bring forward, 
 be pleased to answer me in the first place." Then Peter 
 said : "I am ready, only provided that our discussion may be 
 with peace." Then Simon said: "Do not you see, O simple- 
 ton, that in pleading for peace you act in opposition to your 
 Master, and that what you propose is not suitable to him who 
 promises that he will overthrow ignorance ? Or, if you are 
 right in asking peace from the audience, then your Master 
 was wrong in saying, ' I have not come to send peace on 
 earth, but a sword.' l For either you say well, and he not well; 
 or else, if your Master said well, then you not at all well : for 
 you do not understand that your statement is contrary to 
 his, whose disciple you profess yourself to be." 
 
 CHAP, xxvii. Questions and answers. 
 
 Then Peter : " Neither He who sent me did amiss in 
 sending a sword upon the earth, nor do I act contrary to 
 Him in asking peace of the hearers. But you both unskil- 
 fully and rashly find fault with what you do not understand: 
 for you have heard that the Master came not to send peace 
 on earth ; but tliat He also said, ' Blessed are the peace- 
 makers, for they shall be called the very sons of God,' 2 you 
 have not heard. Wherefore my sentiments are not different 
 from those of the Master when I recommend peace, to the 
 1 Matt. x. 34. 2 Matt. v. 9.
 
 BOOK ir.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 211 
 
 keepers of which He assigned blessedness." Then Simon 
 said : " In your desire to answer for your Master, O Peter, 
 you have brought a much more serious charge against him, 
 if he himself came not to make peace, yet enjoined upon 
 others to keep it. Where, then, is the consistency of that 
 other saying of his, 'It is enough for the disciple that he 
 be as his master?' " l 
 
 CHAP, xxyin. Consistency of Christ's teaching. 
 
 To this Peter answered : " Our Master, who was the true 
 Prophet, and ever mindful of Himself, neither contradicted 
 Himself, nor enjoined upon us anything different from what 
 Himself practised. For whereas He said, ( I am not come to 
 send peace on earth, but a sword ; and henceforth you shall 
 see father separated from son, son from father, husband 
 from wife and wife from husband, mother from daughter 
 and daughter from mother, brother from brother, father-in- 
 law from daughter-in-law, friend from friend,' all these con- 
 tain the doctrine of peace ; and I will tell you how. At the 
 beginning of His preaching, as wishing to invite and lead all 
 to salvation, and induce them to bear patiently labours and 
 trials, He blessed the poor, and promised that they should 
 obtain the kingdom of heaven for their endurance of poverty, 
 in order that under the influence of such a hope they might 
 bear with equanimity the weight of poverty, despising cove- 
 tousness ; for covetousness is one, and the greatest, of most 
 pernicious sins. But He promised also that the hungry and 
 the thirsty should be satisfied with the eternal blessings of 
 righteousness, in order that they might bear poverty patiently, 
 and not be led by it to undertake any unrighteous work. In 
 like manner, also, He said that the pure in heart are blessed, 
 and that thereby they should see God, in order that every 
 one desiring so great a good might keep himself from evil and 
 polluted thoughts. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Peace and strife. 
 
 "Thus, therefore, our Master, inviting His disciples to 
 1 Matt. x. 25.
 
 212 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK IL 
 
 patience, impressed upon them that the blessing of peace was 
 also to be preserved with the labour of patience. But, on the 
 other hand, He mourned over those who lived in riches and 
 luxury, who bestowed nothing upon the poor ; proving that 
 they must render an account, because they did not pity their 
 neighbours, even when they were in poverty, whom they ought 
 to love as themselves. And by such sayings as these He 
 brought some indeed to obey Him, but others He rendered 
 hostile. The believers therefore, and the obedient, He charges 
 to have peace among themselves, and says to them, * Blessed 
 are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the very sons of 
 God.' 1 But to those who not only did not believe, but set them- 
 selves in opposition to His doctrine, He proclaims the war of 
 the word and of confutation, and says that ' henceforth ye 
 shall see son separated from father, and husband from wife, 
 and daughter from mother, and brother from brother, and 
 daughter-in-law from mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall 
 be they of his own house.' 2 For in every house, when there 
 begins to be a difference betwixt believer and unbeliever, there 
 is necessarily a contest: the unbelievers, on the one hand, 
 fighting against the faith ; and the believers, on the other, 
 confuting the old error and the vices of sins in them. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Peace to the sons of peace. 
 
 "In like manner, also, during the last period of His teach- 
 ing, He wages war against the scribes and Pharisees, charg- 
 ing them with evil deeds and unsound doctrine, and with 
 hiding the key of knowledge which they had handed down to 
 them from Moses, by which the gate of the heavenly king- 
 dom might be opened. 3 But when our Master sent us forth 
 to preach, He commanded us, that into whatsoever city or 
 house we should enter, we should say, ' Peace be to this house.' 
 1 And if,' said He, ' a son of peace be there, your peace shall 
 come upon him ; but if there be not, your peace shall return 
 to you.' Also that, going out from that house or city, we 
 should shake off upon them the very dust which adhered to 
 
 * Matt. v. 9. 2 Matt. x. 34, 35 ; Luke xii. 53. 
 
 3 Matt, xxiii. ; Luke xi.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 213 
 
 our feet. 'But it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom 
 and Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that city or 
 house.' l This indeed He commanded to be done at length, 
 if first the word of truth be preached in the city or house, 
 whereby they who receive the faith of the truth may become 
 sons of peace and sons of God ; and those who will not 
 receive it may be convicted as enemies of peace and of God. 
 
 CHAP. XXXT. Peace and war. 
 
 "Thus, therefore, we, observing the commands of our 
 Master, first offer peace to our hearers, that the way of salva- 
 tion may be known without any tumult. But if any one do 
 not receive the words of peace, nor acquiesce in the truth, we 
 know how to direct against him the war of the word, and to 
 rebuke him sharply by confuting his ignorance and charging 
 home upon him his sins. Therefore of necessity we offer peace, 
 that if any one is a son of peace, our peace may come upon- 
 him ; but from him who makes himself an enemy of peace, our 
 peace shall return to ourselves. We do not therefore, as you 
 say, propose peace by agreement with the wicked, for indeed 
 we should straightway have given you the right hand ; but 
 only in order that, through our discussing quietly and patiently, 
 it might be more easily ascertained by the hearers which is 
 the true speech. But if you differ and disagree with yourself, 
 how shall you stand? He must of necessity fall who is 
 divided in himself; ' for every kingdom divided against itself 
 shall not stand.' 2 If you have aught to say to this, say on." 
 
 CHAP. XXXIT. Simon's challenge. 
 
 Then said Simon : " I am astonished at your folly. For 
 you so propound the words of your Master, as if it were held 
 to be certain concerning him that he is a prophet ; while I 
 can very easily prove that he often contradicted himself. 
 In short, I shall refute you from those words which you have 
 yourself brought forward. For you say, that he said that 
 every kingdom or every city divided in itself shall not stand ; 
 and elsewhere you say, that he said that he would send a 
 1 Matt. x. 12-15 ; Luke x. 5, 6. 2 Matt. xii. 25.
 
 214 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 sword, that he might separate those who are in one house, so 
 that son shall be divided from father, daughter from mother, 
 brother from brother ; so that if there be five in one house, 
 three shall be divided against two, and two against three. 1 If, 
 then, everything that is divided falls, he who makes divisions 
 furnishes causes of falling ; and if he is such, assuredly he is 
 wicked. Answer this if you can." 
 
 CHAP, xxxin. Authority. 
 
 Then Peter: "Do not rashly take exception, O Simon, 
 against the things which you do not understand. In the first 
 place, I shall answer your assertion, that I set forth the 
 words of my Master, and from them resolve matters about 
 which there is still doubt. Our Lord, when He sent us 
 apostles to preach, enjoined us to teach all nations 2 the 
 things which were committed to us. We cannot therefore 
 speak those things as they were spoken by Himself. For our 
 commission is not to speak, but to teach those things, and from 
 them to show how every one of them rests upon truth. Nor, 
 again, are we permitted to speak anything of our own. For 
 we are sent; and of necessity he who is sent delivers the 
 message as he has been ordered, and sets forth the will of the 
 sender. For if I should speak anything different from what 
 He who sent me enjoined me, I should be a false apostle, not 
 saying what I am commanded to say, but what seems good to 
 myself. Whoever does this, evidently wishes to show himself 
 to be better than he is by whom he is sent, and without doubt 
 is a traitor. If, on the contrary, he keeps by the things that 
 he is commanded, and brings forward most clear assertions of 
 them, it will appear that he is accomplishing the work of an 
 apostle ; and it is by striving to fulfil this that I displease you. 
 Blame me not, therefore, because I bring forward the words 
 of Him who sent me. But if there is aught in them that is 
 not fairly spoken, you have liberty to confute me ; but this 
 can in no wise be done, for He is a prophet, and cannot be 
 contrary to Himself. But if you do not think that He is a 
 prophet, let this be first inquired into." 
 
 1 Luke xii. 52. s Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.
 
 BOOK IL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 215 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Order of proof. 
 
 Then said Simon : " I have no need to learn this from you, 
 but how these things agree with one another. For if he 
 shall be shown to be inconsistent, he shall be proved at the 
 same time not to be a prophet." Then says Peter : " But if 
 I first show Him to be a prophet, it will follow that what 
 seems to be inconsistency is not such. For no one can be 
 proved to be a prophet merely by consistency, because it is 
 possible for many to attain this ; but if consistency does not 
 make a prophet, much more inconsistency does not. Because, 
 therefore, there are many things which to some seem incon- 
 sistent, which yet have consistency in them on a more pro- 
 found investigation ; as also other things which seem to have 
 consistency, but which, being more carefully discussed, are 
 found to be inconsistent ; for this reason I do not think that 
 there is any better way to judge of these things than to ascer- 
 tain in the first instance whether He be a prophet who has 
 spoken those things which appear to be inconsistent. For it 
 is evident that, if He be found to be a prophet, those things 
 which seem to be contradictory must have consistency, but 
 are misunderstood. Concerning these things, therefore, proofs 
 will be properly demanded. For we apostles are sent to ex- 
 pound the sayings and affirm the judgments of Him who has 
 sent us ; but we are not commissioned to say anything of our 
 own, but to unfold the truth, as I have said, of His words." 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. flow error cannot stand with truth. 
 
 Then Simon said : " Instruct us, therefore, how it can be 
 consistent that he who causes divisions, which divisions cause 
 those who are divided to fall, can either seem to be good, or 
 to have come for the salvation of men." Then Peter said : 
 " I will tell you how our Master said that every kingdom and 
 every house divided against itself cannot stand ; and whereas 
 He Himself did this, see how it makes for salvation. By the 
 word of truth He certainly divides the kingdom of the world, 
 which is founded in error, and every house in it, that error 
 may fall, and truth may reign. But if it happen to any
 
 216 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n 
 
 house, that error, being introduced by any one, divides the 
 truth, then, where error has gained a footing, it is certain 
 that truth cannot stand." Then Simon said : " But it is un- 
 certain whether your master divides error or truth." Then 
 Peter : " That belongs to another question ; but if you are 
 agreed that everything which is divided falls, it remains that 
 I show, if only you will hear in peace, that our Jesus has 
 divided and dispelled error by teaching truth." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Altercation. 
 
 Then said Simon : " Do not repeat again and again your 
 talk of peace, but expound briefly what it is that you think or 
 believe." Peter answered : " Why are you afraid of hearing 
 frequently of peace ? or do you not know that peace is the 
 perfection of law ? For wars and disputes spring from sins ; 
 and where there is no sin, there is peace of soul ; but where 
 there is peace, truth is found in disputations, righteousness 
 in works." Then Simon : " You seem to me not to be able to 
 profess what you think." Then Peter : " I shall speak, but 
 according to my own judgment, not under constraint of your 
 tricks. For I desire that what is salutary and profitable be 
 brought to the knowledge of all ; and therefore I shall not 
 delay to state it as briefly as possible. There is one God ; and 
 He is the creator of the world, a righteous judge, rendering 
 to every one at some time or other according to his deeds. 
 But now for the assertion of these things I know that count- 
 
 O 
 
 less thousands of words can be called forth." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvil. Simons subtlety. 
 
 Then Simon said : " I admire, indeed, the quickness of your 
 wit, yet I do not embrace the error of your faith. For you 
 have wisely foreseen that you may be contradicted ; and you 
 have even politely confessed, that for the assertion of these 
 things countless thousands of words will be called forth, for 
 no one agrees with the profession of your faith. In short, 
 as to there being one God, and the world being His work, 
 who can receive this doctrine? Neither, I think, any one of 
 the pagans, even if he be an unlearned man, and certainly
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 217 
 
 no one of the philosophers ; but not even the rudest and most 
 wretched of the Jews, nor I myself, who am well acquainted 
 with their law." Then Peter said : " Put aside the opinions of 
 those who are not here, and tell us face to face what is your 
 own." Then Simon said: "I can state what I really think ; 
 but this consideration makes me reluctant to do so, that if I say 
 what is neither acceptable to you, nor seems right to this un- 
 skilled rabble, you indeed, as confounded, will straightway shut 
 your ears, that they may not be polluted with blasphemy, for- 
 sooth, and will take to flight because you cannot find an answer; 
 while the unreasoning populace will assent to you, and em- 
 brace you as one teaching those things which are commonly 
 received among them ; and will curse me, as professing things 
 new and unheard of, and instilling my error into the minds 
 of others." 
 
 CHAP, xxxviu. Simon's creed. 
 
 Then Peter : " Are not you making use of long preambles, 
 as you accused us of doing, because you have no truth to 
 bring forward ? or if you have, begin without circumlocution, 
 if you have so much confidence. And if, indeed, what you say 
 be displeasing to any one of the hearers, he will withdraw ; 
 and those who remain shall be compelled by your assertion 
 to approve what is true. Begin, therefore, to expound what 
 seemeth to you to be right." Then Simon said : " I say that 
 there are many gods ; but that there is one incomprehensible 
 and unknown to all, and that He is the God of all these 
 gods." Then Peter answered : " This God whom you assert to 
 be incomprehensible and unknown to all, can you prove His 
 existence from the Scriptures of the Jews, which are held 
 to be of authority, or from some others of which we are all 
 ignorant, or from the Greek authors, or from your own 
 writings ? Certainly you are at liberty to speak from what- 
 ever writings you please, yet so that you first show that they 
 are prophetic; for so their authority will be held without 
 question,"
 
 218 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 CHAP, xxxix. Argument for polytheism. 
 
 Then Simon said: "I shall make use of assertions from the 
 law of the Jews only. For it is manifest to all who take interest 
 in religion, that this law is of universal authority, yet that 
 every one receives the understanding of this law according 
 to his own judgment. For it has so been written by Him 
 who created the world, that the faith of things is made to 
 depend upon it. Whence, whether any one wishes to bring 
 forward truth, or any one to bring forward falsehood, no 
 assertion will be received without this law. Inasmuch, 
 therefore, as my knowledge is most fully in accordance with 
 the law, I rightly declared that there are many gods, of 
 whom one is more eminent than the rest, and incompre- 
 hensible, even He who is God of gods. But that there are 
 many gods, the law itself informs me. For, in the first 
 place, [it says this in the passage] where one in the figure of 
 a serpent speaks to Eve, the first w T oman, ' On the day ye eat 
 of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ye shall be as 
 gods,' 1 that is, as those w r ho made man ; and after they have 
 tasted of the tree, God Himself testifies, saying to the rest 
 of the gods, 'Behold, Adam is become as one of us;' 2 thus, 
 therefore, it is manifest that there were many gods engaged 
 in the making of man. Also, whereas at the first God said to 
 the other gods, ' Let us make man after our image and like- 
 ness ;' 3 also His saying, 'Let us drive him out;' 4 and again, 
 'Come, let us go down, and confound their language;' 5 all 
 these things indicate that there are many gods. But this also 
 is written, 'Thou shalt not curse the gods, nor curse the 
 chief of thy people;' 6 and again this writing, 'God alone 
 led them, and there was no strange god with them,' ' shows 
 that there are many gods. There are also many other testi- 
 monies which might be adduced from the law, not only 
 obscure, but plain, by which it is taught that there are many 
 gods. One of these was chosen by lot, that he might be the 
 god of the Jews. But it is not of him that I speak, but of 
 
 1 Gen. iii. 5. * Gen. iii. 22. 3 Gen. i. 26. 4 Gen. iii. 22. 
 
 4 Gen. xi. 17. ' Exod. xxii. 28. 1 Deut. xxxii. 12.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 219 
 
 that God who is also his God, whom even the Jews them- 
 selves did not know. For he is not their God, but the God 
 of those who know him." 
 
 CHAP. XL. Peter's answer. 
 
 When Peter had heard this, he answered : " Fear nothing, 
 Simon : for, behold, we have neither shut our ears, nor fled ; 
 but we answer with words of truth to those things which 
 you have spoken falsely, asserting this first, that there is one 
 God, even the God of the Jews, who is the only God, the 
 Creator of heaven and earth, who is also the God of all those 
 whom you call gods. If, then, I shall show you that none 
 is superior to Him, but that He Himself is above all, you 
 will confess that your error is above all." Then Simon said : 
 " Why, indeed, though I should be unwilling to confess it, 
 would not the hearers who stand by charge me with un- 
 willingness to profess the things that are true"?" 
 
 CHAP. XLI. The answer, continued. 
 
 "Listen, then," says Peter, "that you may know, first of all, 
 that even if there are many gods, as you say, they are subject 
 to the God of the Jews, to whom rio one is equal, than whom 
 no one can be greater ; for it is written that the prophet 
 Moses thus spoke to the Jews: 'The Lord your God is the 
 God of gods, and the Lord of lords, the great God.' 1 Thus, 
 although there are many that are called gods, yet He who 
 is the God of the Jews is alone callepl the God of gods. For 
 not every one that is called God is necessarily God. Indeed, 
 even Moses is called a god to Pharaoh, 2 and it is certain that 
 he was a man ; and judges were called gods, and it is evi- 
 dent that they were mortal. The idols also of the Gentiles 
 are called gods, and we all know that they are not ; but 
 this has been inflicted as a punishment on the wicked, that 
 because they would not acknowledge the true God, they 
 should regard as God whatever form or image should occur 
 to them. Because they refused to receive the knowledge of 
 the One who, as I said, is God of all, therefore it is permitted 
 1 Deut. x. 17. * Exod. vii. 1.
 
 220 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ir. 
 
 to them to have as gods those who can do nothing for their 
 worshippers. For what can either dead images or living 
 creatures confer upon men, since the power of all things is 
 with One f 
 
 CHAP. XLII. Guardian angels. 
 
 " Therefore the name God is applied in three ways : either 
 because he .to whom it is given is truly God, or because he 
 is the servant of him who is truly ; and for the honour of the 
 sender, that his authority may be full, he that is sent is called 
 by the name of him who sends, as is often clone in respect 
 of angels : for when they appear to a man, if he is a wise 
 and intelligent man, he asks the name of him who appears to 
 him, that he may acknowledge at once the honour of the 
 sent, and the authority of the sender. For every nation has 
 an angel, to whom God has committed the government of 
 that nation ; and when one of these appears, although he be 
 thought and called God by those over whom he presides, yet, 
 being asked, he does not give such testimony to himself. For 
 the Most High God, who alone holds the power of all things, 
 has divided all the nations of the earth into seventy-two 
 parts, and over these He hath appointed angels as princes. 
 But to the one among the archangels who is greatest, was 
 committed the government of those who, before all others, 
 received the worship and knowledge of the Most High God. 
 But holy men also, as we have said, are made gods to the 
 wicked, as having received the power of life and death over 
 them, as we mentioned above with respect to Moses and 
 the judges. Wherefore it is also written concerning them, 
 'Thou shalt not curse the gods, and thou shalt not curse 
 the prince of thy people.' * Thus the princes of the several 
 nations are called gods. But Christ is God of princes, who 
 is Judge of all. Therefore neither angels, nor men, nor any 
 creature, can be truly gods, forasmuch as they are placed 
 under authority, being created and changeable : angels, for 
 they were not, and are ; men, for they are mortal ; and every 
 creature, for it is capable of dissolution, if only He dissolve 
 1 Exod. xxii. 28.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMEN I. 221 
 
 it who made it. And therefore He alone is the true God, 
 who not only Himself lives, but also bestows life upon others, 
 which He can also take away when it pleaseth Him. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. No God but Jehovah. 
 
 " Wherefore the Scripture exclaims, in name of the God 
 of the Jews, saying, ' Behold, behold, seeing that I am God, 
 and there is none else besides rne, I will kill, and I will make 
 alive; I will smite, and I will heal ; and there is none who can 
 deliver out of my hands.' l See therefore how, by some in- 
 effable virtue, the Scripture, opposing the future errors of 
 those who should affirm that either in heaven or on earth 
 there is any other god besides Him who is the God of the 
 Jews, decides thus : ' The Lord your God is one God, in 
 heaven above, and in the earth beneath; and besides Him 
 there is none else.' 2 How, then, hast thou dared to say that 
 there is any other god besides Him who is the God of the 
 Jews ? And again the Scripture says, * Behold, to the Lord 
 thy God belong the heaven, and the heaven of .heavens, the 
 earth, and all things that are in them: nevertheless I have 
 chosen your fathers, that I might love them, and you after 
 them.' 3 Thus that judgment is supported by the Scripture 
 on every side, that He who created the world is the true and 
 only God. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. The serpent, the author of polytheism. 
 
 " But even if there be others, as we have said, who are 
 called gods, they are under the power of the God of the 
 Jews ; for thus saith the Scripture to the Jews, l The Lord 
 our God, He is God of gods, and Lord of lords.' 4 Him 
 alone the Scripture also commands to be worshipped, saying, 
 1 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt 
 thou serve ; ' 5 and, l Hear, O Israel : the Lord thy God is one 
 God.' 6 Yea, also the saints, filled with the Spirit of God, 
 and bedewed with the drops of His mercy, cried out, saying, 
 1 Who is like unto Thee among the gods ? O Lord, who is 
 
 1 Deut. xxxii. 39. 2 Deut. iv. 39. 3 Deut. x. 14, 15. 
 
 * Deut. x. 17. 6 p eufc- vi< 13> x> 20. Deut. vi. 4.
 
 222 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 like unto Thee?' 1 And again, 'Who is God, but the Lord; 
 and who is God, but our Lord?' 2 Therefore Moses, when 
 he saw that the people were advancing, by degrees initiated 
 them in the understanding of the monarchy and the faith of 
 one God, as he says in the following words : ' Thou shalt not 
 make mention of the names of other gods;' 3 doubtless re- 
 membering with what penalty the serpent was visited, which 
 had first named gods* For it is condemned to feed upon 
 dust, and is judged worthy of such food, for this cause, that 
 it first of all introduced the name of gods into the world. 
 But if you also wish to introduce many gods, see that you 
 partake not the serpent's doom. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. Polytheism inexcusable. 
 
 " For be sure of this, that you shall not have us partici- 
 pators in this attempt ; nor will we suffer ourselves to be 
 deceived by you. For it will not serve us for an excuse 
 in the judgment, if we say that you deceived us ; because 
 neither could it excuse the first woman, that she had un- 
 happily believed the serpent; but she was condemned to death, 
 because she believed badly. For this cause therefore, Moses, 
 also commending the faith of one God to the people, says, 
 ( Take heed to thyself, that thou be not seduced from the 
 Lord thy God.' 5 Observe that he makes use of the same 
 word which the first woman also made use of in excusing 
 herself, saying that she was seduced ; but it profited her 
 nothing. But over and above all this, even if some true 
 prophet should arise, who should perform signs and miracles, 
 but should wish to persuade us to worship other gods be- 
 sides the God of the Jews, we should never be able to believe 
 him. For so the divine law has taught us, handing down a 
 secret injunction more purely by means of tradition, for thus 
 it saith : ' If there arise among you a prophet, or one dreaming 
 a dream, and give you signs or wonders, and these signs or 
 wonders come to pass, and he say to you, Let us go and 
 worship strange gods, whom ye know not; ye shall not hear 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxxv. 8, Ixx. 19. 2 Ps. xvii. 32. 3 Josh, xxiii. 7, in Sept. 
 4 Gen. iii. 6 Deut. viii. 11.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 223 
 
 the words of that prophet, nor the dream of that dreamer, 
 because proving he hath proved you, that he may see if ye 
 love the Lord your God.' 1 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. Christ acknowledged the God of the Jews. 
 
 " Wherefore also our Lord, who wrought signs and won- 
 ders, preached the God of the Jews ; and therefore we are 
 right in believing what He preached. But as for you, even 
 if you were really a prophet, and performed signs and won- 
 ders, as you promise to do, if you were to announce other 
 gods besides Him who is the true God, it would be manifest 
 that you were raised up as a trial to the people of God ; and 
 therefore you can by no means be believed. For He alone 
 is the true God, who is the God of the Jews ; and for this 
 reason our Lord Jesus Christ did not teach them that they 
 must inquire after God, for Him they knew well already, but 
 that they must seek His kingdom and righteousness, 2 which 
 the scribes and Pharisees, having received the key of know- 
 ledge, had not shut in, but shut out. 3 For if they had been 
 ignorant of the true God, surely He would never have left 
 the knowledge of this thing, which was the chief of all, and 
 blamed them for small and little things, as for enlarging 
 their fringes, and claiming the uppermost rooms in feasts, 
 and praying standing in the highways, and such like things ; 
 which assuredly, in comparison of this great charge, ignorance 
 of God, seem to be small and insignificant matters." 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. Simon's cavil. 
 
 To this Simon replied : " From the words of your master 
 I shall refute you, because even he introduces to all men a 
 certain God who was unknown. For although both Adam 
 knew the God who was his creator, and the maker of the 
 world ; and Enoch knew him, inasmuch as he was translated 
 by him; and Noah, since he was ordered by him to con- 
 struct the ark; and although Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, 
 and Moses, and all, even every people and all nations, know 
 the maker of the world, and confess him to be a God, yet 
 1 Deut. xiiL 1-3. 2 Matt. vi. 33. * Luke xi. 52.
 
 224 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos n. 
 
 your Jesus, who appeared long after the patriarchs, says : 
 ' No one knows the Son, but the Father ; neither knoweth 
 any one the Father, but the Son, and he to whom the Son 
 has been pleased to reveal Him.' l Thus, therefore, even your 
 Jesus confesses that there is another God, incomprehensible 
 and unknown to all." 
 
 CHAP. XL vin. Peter s answer. 
 
 Then Peter says : " You do not perceive that you are 
 making statements in opposition to yourself. For if our 
 Jesus also knows Him whom ye call the unknown God, then 
 He is not known by you alone. Yea, if our Jesus knows 
 Him, then Moses also, who prophesied that Jesus should 
 come, assuredly could not himself be ignorant of Him. For 
 he was a prophet ; and he who prophesied of the Son doubt- 
 less knew the Father. For if it is in the option of the Son 
 to reveal the Father to whom He will, then the Son, who has 
 been with the Father from the beginning, and through all 
 generations, as He revealed the Father to Moses, so also to 
 the other prophets; but if this be so, it is evident that the 
 Father has not been unknown to any of them. But how 
 could the Father be revealed to you, who do not believe in 
 the Son, since the Father is known to none except him to 
 whom the Son is pleased to reveal Him ? But the Son 
 reveals the Father to those who honour the Son as they 
 honour the Father." 2 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. The supreme light. 
 
 Then Simon said : " Remember that you said that God 
 has a son, which is doing Him wrong ; for how can He have 
 a son, unless He is subject to passions, like men or animals ? 
 But on these points there is not time now to show your pro- 
 found folly, for I hasten to make a statement concerning the 
 immensity of the supreme light ; and so now listen. My 
 opinion is, that there is a certain power of immense and 
 ineffable light, whose greatness may be held to be incompre- 
 hensible, of which power even the maker of the world is 
 ignorant, and Moses the lawgiver, and Jesus your master." 
 1 Matt. xi. 27. 2 John v. 23.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 225 
 
 CHAP. L. Simons presumption. 
 
 Then Peter: "Does it not seem to you to be madness, 
 that any one should take upon himself to assert that there is 
 another God than the God of all ; and should say that he 
 supposes there is a certain power, and should presume to 
 affirm this to others, before he himself is sure of what he 
 says ? Is any one so rash as to believe your words, of which 
 he sees that you are yourself doubtful, and to admit that 
 there is a certain power unknown to God the Creator, and 
 to Moses, and the prophets, and the law, and even to Jesus 
 our Master, which power is so good, that it will not make 
 itself known to any but to one only, and that one such an 
 one as thou ! Then, further, if that is a new power, why does 
 it not confer upon us some new sense, in addition to those 
 five which we possess, that by that new sense, bestowed upon 
 us by it, we may be able to receive and understand itself, 
 which is new? Or if it cannot bestow such a sense upon 
 us, how has it bestowed it upon you ? Or if it has revealed 
 itself to you, why not also to us ? But if you of yourself 
 understand things which not even the prophets were able to 
 perceive or understand, come, tell us what each one of us is 
 thinking now ; for if there is such a spirit in you that you 
 know those things which are above the heavens, which are 
 unknown to all, and incomprehensible by all, much more 
 easily do you know the thoughts of men upon the earth. 
 But if you cannot know the thoughts of us who are standing 
 here, how can you say that you know those things which, 
 you assert, are known to none ? 
 
 CHAP. LI. The sixth sense. 
 
 " But believe me, that you could never know what light is 
 unless you had received both vision and understanding from 
 light itself ; so also in other things. Hence, having received 
 understanding, you are framing in imagination something 
 greater and more sublime, as if dreaming, but deriving all 
 your hints from those five senses, to whose Giver you are un- 
 thankful. But be sure of this, that until you find some new 
 
 p
 
 226 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 sense which is beyond those five which we all enjoy, you cannot 
 assert the existence of a new God." Then Simon answered : 
 " Since all things that exist are in accordance with those five 
 senses, that power which is more excellent than all cannot add 
 anything new." Then Peter said : " It is false ; for there is 
 also a sixth sense, namely that of foreknowledge : for those five 
 senses are capable of knowledge, but the sixth is that of fore- 
 knowledge ; and this the prophets possessed. How, then, can 
 you know a God who is unknown to all, who do not know 
 the prophetic sense, which is that of prescience?" Then 
 Simon began to say : " This power of which I speak, incom- 
 prehensible and more excellent than all, ay, even than that 
 God who made the world, neither any of the angels has 
 known, nor of the demons, nor of the Jews, nay, nor any 
 creature which subsists by means of God the creator. How, 
 then, could that creator's law teach me that which the 
 creator himself did not know, since neither did the law itself 
 know it, that it might teach it?" 
 
 CHAP. LII. Reductio ad dbsurdum. 
 
 Then Peter said: "I wonder how you have been able to 
 learn more from the law than the law was able to know or to 
 teach ; and how you say that you adduce proofs from the law 
 of those things which you are pleased to assert, when you 
 declare that neither the law, nor He who gave the law that 
 is, the Creator of the world knows those things of which you 
 speak ! But this also I wonder at, how you, who alone know 
 these things, should be standing here now with us all, circum- 
 scribed by the limits of this small court." Then Simon, 
 seeing Peter and all the people laughing, said: "Do you 
 laugh, Peter, while so great and lofty matters are under dis- 
 cussion?" Then said Peter: "Be not enraged, Simon, for 
 we are doing no more than keeping our promise : for we are 
 neither shutting our ears, as you said, nor did we take to 
 flight as soon as we heard you propound your unutterable 
 things ; but we have not even stirred from the place. For 
 indeed you do not even propound things that have any resem- 
 blance to truth, which might to a certain extent frighten us.
 
 BOOK n. J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 227 
 
 Yet, at all events, disclose to us the meaning of this saying, 
 how from the law you have learned of a God whom the law 
 itself does not know, and of whom He who gave the law is 
 ignorant." Then Simon said : " If you have done laughing, 
 I shall prove it by clear assertions." Then Peter said : 
 " Assuredly I shall give over, that I may learn from you how 
 you have learned from the law what neither the law nor the 
 God of the law Himself knows." 
 
 CHAP. LIII. Simoris blasphemy. 
 
 Then says Simon : " Listen : it is manifest to all, and 
 ascertained in a manner of which no account can be given, 1 
 that there is one God, who is better than all, from whom all 
 that is took its beginning ; whence also of necessity all things 
 that are after him are subject to him, as the chief and most 
 excellent of all. When, therefore, I had ascertained that the 
 God who created the world, according to what the law teaches, 
 is in many respects weak, whereas weakness is utterly incom- 
 patible with a perfect God, and I saw that he is not perfect, 
 I necessarily concluded that there is another God who is 
 perfect. For this God, as I have said, according to what the 
 writing of the law teaches, is shown to be weak in many 
 things. In the first place, because the man whom he formed 
 was not able to remain such as he had intended him to be ; 
 and because he cannot be good who gave a law to the first 
 man, that he should eat of all the trees of paradise, but that 
 he should not touch the tree of knowledge ; and if he should 
 eat of it, he should die. For why should he forbid him to 
 eat, and to know what is good and what evil, that, knowing, 
 he might shun the evil and choose the good ? But this he 
 did not permit ; and because he did eat in violation of the 
 commandment, and discovered what is good, and learned for 
 the sake of honour to cover his nakedness (for he perceived 
 it to be unseemly to stand naked before his Creator), he con- 
 
 1 We render by a periphrasis the expression ineffalili quadam ratione 
 compertum. The meaning seems to be, that the belief of the existence 
 and unity of God is not the result of reasoning, but of intuition or 
 instinct.
 
 228 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK 11. 
 
 demns to death him who had learned to do honour to God, 
 and curses the serpent who had shown him these things. 
 But truly, if man was to be injured by this means, why did 
 he place the cause of injury in paradise at all ? But if that 
 which he placed in paradise was good, it is not the part of 
 one that is good to restrain another from good. 
 
 CHAP. LIV. How Simon learned from the law what the law 
 does not teach. 
 
 " Thus, then, since he who made man and the world is, 
 according to what the law relates, imperfect, we are given to 
 understand, without doubt, that there is another who is per- 
 fect. For it is of necessity that there be one most excellent 
 of all, on whose account also every creature keeps its rank. 
 Whence also I, knowing that it is every way necessary that 
 there be some one more benignant and more powerful than 
 that imperfect God who gave the law, understanding what is 
 perfect from comparison of the imperfect, understood even 
 from the Scripture that God who is not mentioned there. 
 And in this way I was able, O Peter, to learn from the law 
 what the law did not know. But even if the law had not 
 given indications from which it might be gathered that the 
 God who made the world is imperfect, it was still possible 
 for me to infer from those evils which are done in this world, 
 and are not corrected, either that its creator is powerless, if 
 he cannot correct what is done amiss ; or else, if he does not 
 wish to remove the evils, that he is himself evil ; but if he 
 neither can nor will, that he is neither powerful nor good. 
 And from this it cannot but be concluded that there is 
 another God more excellent and more powerful than all. If 
 you have aught to say to this, say on." 
 
 CHAP. LV. Simon's objections turned against himself. 
 
 Peter answered : " O Simon, they are wont to conceive 
 such absurdities against God who do not read the law with 
 the instruction of masters, but account themselves teachers, 
 and think that they can understand the law, though he has not 
 explained it to them who has learned of the Master. Never-
 
 BOOK IL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 229 
 
 theless now, that we also may seem to follow the book of the 
 law according to your apprehension of it ; inasmuch as you 
 say that the creator of the world is shown to be both impo- 
 tent and evil, how is it that you do not see that that power of 
 yours, which you say is superior to all, falls and lies under 
 the very same charges ? For the very same thing may be 
 said of it, that it is either powerless, since it does not correct 
 those things which here are done amiss ; or if it can and will 
 not, it is evil ; or if it neither can nor will, then it is both 
 impotent and imperfect. Whence that new power of yours 
 is not only found liable to a similar charge, but even to a 
 worse one, if, in addition to all these things, it is believed 
 to be, when it is not. For He who created the world, His 
 existence is manifest by His very operation in creating the 
 world, as you yourself also confess. But this power which 
 you say that you alone know, affords no indication of itself, 
 by which we might perceive, at least, that it is, and subsists. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. No God above the Creator. 
 
 " What kind of conduct, then, would it be that we should 
 forsake God, in whose world we live and enjoy all things 
 necessary for life, and follow I know not whom, from whom 
 we not only obtain no good, but cannot even know that he 
 exists ? Nor truly does he exist. For whether you call him 
 light, and brighter than that Jight which we see, you borrow 
 that very name from the Creator of the world ; or whether 
 you say that he is a substance above all, you derive from Him 
 the idea with enlargement of speech. 1 Whether you make 
 mention of mind, or goodness, or life, or whatever else, you 
 borrow the words from Him. Since, then, you have nothing 
 new concerning that power you speak of, not only as regards 
 understanding, but even in respect of naming him, how do 
 you introduce a new God, for whom you cannot even find a 
 new name ? For not only is the Creator of the world called 
 a Power, but even the ministers of His glory, and all the 
 heavenly host. Do you not then think it better that we should 
 
 1 That is, you take the idea of substance from the God of the Jews, 
 aud only enlarge it by the addition of the words above all.
 
 230 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon n. 
 
 follow our Creator God, as a Father who trains us and endows 
 us as He knows how ? But if, as you say, there be some God 
 more benignant than all, it is certain that he will not be angry 
 with us ; or if he be angry, he is evil. For if our God is 
 angry and punishes, He is not evil, but righteous, for He cor- 
 rects and amends His own sons. But he who has no concern 
 with us, if he shall punish us, how should he be good? In- 
 flicting punishments upon us because we have not been drawn 
 by vain imaginations to forsake our own Father and follow 
 him, how can you assert that he is so good, when he cannot 
 be regarded as even just?" 
 
 CHAP. LVII. Simon's inconsistency. 
 
 Then Simon : " Do you so far err, Peter, as not to know 
 that our souls were made by that good God, the most excel- 
 lent of all, but they have been brought down as captives into 
 this world?" To this Peter answered: "Then he is not 
 unknown by all, "as you said a little while ago ; and yet how 
 did the good God permit his souls to be taken captive, if he 
 be a power over all?" Then Simon said: "He sent God 
 the creator to make the world ; and he, when he had made 
 it, gave out that himself was God." Then Peter said : 
 " Tli en he is not, as you said, unknown to Him who made 
 the world; nor are souls ignorant of him, if indeed they 
 were stolen away from him. To whom, then, can he be 
 unknown, if both the Creator of the world know him, as 
 having been sent by him ; and all souls know him, as having 
 been violently withdrawn from him? Then, further, I wish 
 you would tell us whether he who sent the creator of the 
 world did not know that he would not keep faith ? For if 
 he did not know it, then he was not prescient ; while if he 
 foreknew it, and suffered it, he is himself guilty of this deed, 
 since he did not prevent it ; but if he could not, then he 
 is not omnipotent. But if, knowing it as good, lie did not 
 prohibit it, he is found to be better, who presumed to do 
 that which he who sent him did not know to be good." 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. Simons God unjust. 
 Then Simon said : " He receives those who will come to
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 231 
 
 him, and does them good." Peter answered : " But there is 
 nothing new in this ; for He whom you acknowledge to be 
 the Creator of the world also does so." Then Simon : " But 
 the good God bestows salvation if he is only acknowledged ; 
 but the creator of the world demands also that the law be 
 fulfilled." Then said Peter : " He saves adulterers and 
 men-slayers, if they know him ; but good, and sober, and 
 merciful persons, if they do not know him, in consequence 
 of their having no information concerning him, he does not 
 save ! Great and good truly is he whom you proclaim, who 
 is not so much the saviour of the evil, as he is one who shows 
 no mercy to the good." Then Simon : " It is truly very 
 difficult for man to know him, as long as he is in the flesh ; 
 for blacker than all darkness, and heavier than all clay, is 
 this body with which the soul is surrounded." Then says 
 Peter : " That good God of yours demands things which are 
 difficult ; but He who is truly God seeks easier tilings. Let 
 him then, since he is so good, leave us with our Father and 
 Creator ; and when once we depart from the body, and leave 
 that darkness that you speak of, we shall more easily know 
 Him ; and then the soul shall better understand that God is 
 its Creator, and shall remain with Him, and shall no more be 
 harassed with diverse imaginations ; nor shall wish to betake 
 itself to another power, which is known to none but Simon 
 only, and which is of such goodness that no one can come to 
 it, unless he be first guilty of impiety towards his own father ! 
 I know not how this power can be called either good or just, 
 which no one can please except by acting impiously towards 
 him by whom he was made !" 
 
 CHAP. LIX. The Creator our Father. 
 
 Then Simon : " It is not impious for the sake of greater 
 profit and advantage to flee to him who is of richer glory." 
 Then Peter : " If, as you say, it is not impious to flee to a 
 stranger, it is at all events much more pious to remain with 
 our own father, even if he be poor. But if you do not think 
 it impious to leave our father, and flee to another, as being 
 better than he ; and you do not believe that our Creator will
 
 232 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK n. 
 
 take this amiss ; much more the good God will not be angry, 
 because, when we were strangers to him, we have not fled to 
 him, but have remained with our own Creator. Yea, I think 
 he will rather commend us the more for this, that we have 
 kept faith with God our Creator ; for he will consider that, if 
 we had been his creatures, we should never have been seduced 
 by the allurements of any other to forsake him. For if any 
 one, allured by richer promises, shall leave his own father 
 and betake himself to a stranger, it may be that he will 
 leave him in his turn, and go to another who shall promise 
 him greater things, and this the rather because he is not his 
 son, since he could leave even him who by nature was his 
 father." Then Simon said : " But what if souls are from 
 him, and do not know him, and he is truly their father ?" 
 
 CHAP. LX. The Creator the Supreme God. 
 
 Then Peter said : " You represent him as weak enough. 
 For if, as you say, he is more powerful than all, it can never 
 be believed the weaker wrenched the spoils from the stronger. 1 
 Or if God the Creator was able by violence to bring down 
 souls into this world, how can it be that, when they are 
 sepai'ated from the body and freed from the bonds of cap- 
 tivity, the good God shall call them to the sufferance of 
 punishment, on the ground that they, either through his 
 remissness or weakness, were dragged aw r ay to this place, 
 and were involved in the body, as in the darkness of igno- 
 rance ? You seem to me not to know what a father and a 
 God is : but I could tell you both whence souls are, and when 
 and how they were made ; but it is not permitted to me now 
 to disclose these things to you, who are in such error in respect 
 of the knowledge of God." Then said Simon : " A time will 
 come when you shall be sorry that you did not understand 
 me speaking of the ineffable power." Then said Peter: 
 " Give us then, as I have often said, as being yourself a new 
 God, or as having yourself come down from him, some new 
 sense, by means of which we may know that new God of 
 whom you speak ; for those five senses, which God our Creator 
 1 Luke xi. 22.
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 233 
 
 has given us, keep faith to their own Creator, and do not per- 
 ceive that there is any other God, for so their nature necessi- 
 tates them." 
 
 CHAP. LXI. Imagination. 
 
 To this Simon answered : " Apply your mind to those 
 things which I am going to say, and cause it, walking in 
 peaceable paths, to attain to those things which I shall demon- 
 strate. Listen now, therefore. Did you never in thought 
 reach forth your mind into regions or islands situated far 
 away, and remain so fixed in them, that you could not even 
 see the people that were before you, or know where your- 
 self were sitting, by reason of the delightfulness of those 
 things on which you were gazing ? " And Peter said : " It 
 is true, Simon, this has often occurred to me." Then Simon 
 said : " In this way now reach forth your sense into heaven, 
 yea above the heaven, and behold that there must be some 
 place beyond the world, or outside the world, in which there 
 is neither heaven nor earth, and where no shadow of these 
 things produces darkness ; and consequently, since there are 
 neither bodies in it, nor darkness occasioned by bodies, there 
 must of necessity be immense light ; and consider of what 
 sort that light must be, which is never succeeded by dark- 
 ness. For if the light of this sun fills this whole world, how 
 great do you suppose that bodiless and infinite light to be? 
 So great, doubtless, that this light of the sun would seem to 
 be darkness and not light, in comparison." 
 
 CHAP. LXII. Peter's experience of imagination. 
 When Simon thus spoke, Peter answered : " Now listen 
 patiently concerning both these matters, that is, concerning 
 the example of stretching out the senses, and concerning the 
 immensity of light. I know that I myself, O Simon, have 
 sometimes in thought extended my sense, as you say, into 
 regions and islands situated afar off, and have seen them 
 with my mind not less than if it had been with my eyes. 
 When I was at Capernaum, occupied in the taking of fishes, 
 and sat upon a rock, holding in my hand a hook attached to 
 a line, and fitted for deceiving the fishes, [I was so absorbed]
 
 234 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ir. 
 
 that I did not feel a fish adhering to it while my mind eagerly 
 ran through my beloved Jerusalem, to which I had frequently 
 gone up, waking, for the sake of offerings and prayers. But 
 I was accustomed also to admire this Caesarea, hearing of it 
 from others, and to long to see it ; and I seemed to myself to 
 see it, although I had never been in it ; and I thought of it 
 what was suitable to be thought of a great city, its gates, walls, 
 baths, streets, lanes, markets, and the like, in accordance with 
 what I had seen in other cities ; and to such an extent was I 
 delighted with the intentness of such inspection, that, as you 
 said, I neither saw one who was present and standing by me, 
 nor knew where myself was sitting." Then said Simon: 
 " Now you say well." 
 
 CHAP. LXIII. Peters reverie. 
 
 Then Peter : " In short, when I did not perceive, through 
 the occupation of my mind, that I had caught a very large 
 fish which was attached to the hook, and that although it 
 was dragging the hook-line from my hand, my brother 
 Andrew, who was sitting by me, seeing me in a reverie and 
 almost ready to fall, thrusting his elbow into my side as 
 if he would awaken me from sleep, said : l Do you not see, 
 Peter, what a large fish you have caught ? Are you out of 
 your senses, that you are thus in a stupor of astonishment ? 
 Tell me, What is the matter with you 1 ' But I was angry 
 with him for a little, because he had withdrawn me from the 
 delight of those things which I was contemplating ; then I 
 answered that I was not suffering from any malady, but that 
 I was mentally gazing on the beloved Jerusalem, and at the 
 same time on Ca?sarea ; and that, while I was indeed with 
 him in the body, in my mind I was wholly carried away 
 thither. But he, I know not whence inspired, uttered a 
 hidden and secret word of truth. 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. Andrew's rebuke. 
 
 " ' Give over,' says he, ' O Peter. What is it that you are 
 doing ? For those who are beginning to be possessed with a 
 demon, or to be disturbed in their minds, begin in this way. 
 They are first carried away by fancies to some pleasant and
 
 BOOK IT.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 205 
 
 delightful things, then they are poured out in vain and fond 
 motions towards things which have no existence. Now this 
 happens from a certain disease of mind, by reason of which 
 they see not the things which are, but long to bring to their 
 sight those which are not. But thus it happens also to those 
 who are suffering phrenzy, and seem to themselves to see 
 many images, because their soul, being torn and withdrawn 
 from its place by excess of cold or of heat, suffers a failure 
 of its natural service. But those also who are in distress 
 through thirst, when they fall asleep, seem to themselves to 
 see rivers and fountains, and to drink ; but this befalls them 
 through being distressed by the dryness of the unmoistened 
 body. Wherefore it is certain that this occurs through some 
 ailment either of the soul or body.' 
 
 CHAP. LXV. Fallacy of imagination. 
 
 " In short, that you may receive the faith of the matter ; 
 concerning Jerusalem, which I had often seen, I told my 
 brother what places and what gatherings of people I had 
 seemed to myself to see. But also concerning Csesarea, 
 which I had never seen, I nevertheless contended that it was 
 such as I had conceived it in my mind and thought. But 
 when I came hither, and saw nothing at all like to those 
 things which I had -seen in phantasy, I blamed myself, and 
 observed distinctly, that I had assigned to it gates, and walls, 
 and buildings from others which I had seen, taking the like- 
 ness in reality from others. Nor indeed can any one imagine 
 anything new, and of which no form has ever existed. For 
 even if any one should fashion from his imagination bulls 
 with five heads, he only forms them with five heads out of 
 those which he has seen with one head. And you therefore, 
 now, if truly you seem to yourself to perceive anything with 
 your thought, and to look above the heavens, there is no 
 doubt but that you imagine them from those things which 
 you see, placed as you are upon the earth. But if you think 
 that there is easy access for your mind above the heavens, 
 and that you are able to conceive the things that are there, 
 and to apprehend knowledge of that immense light, I think
 
 236 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BqoK ir. 
 
 that for him who can comprehend these things, it were easier 
 to throw his sense, which knows how to ascend thither, into 
 the heart and breast of some one of us who stand by, and to 
 tell what thoughts he is cherishing in his breast. If therefore 
 you can declare the thoughts of the heart of any one of us, 
 who is not pre-engaged in your favour, we shall perhaps be 
 able to believe you, that you are able to know those things 
 that are above the heavens, although these are much loftier." 
 
 CHAP. LXVT. Existence and conception. 
 
 To this Simon replied : " O thou who hast woven a web of 
 many frivolities, listen now. It is impossible that anything 
 which comes into a man's thoughts should not also subsist in 
 truth and reality. For things that do not subsist, have no 
 appearances; 1 but things that have no appearances, cannot 
 present themselves to our thoughts." Then said Peter : " If 
 everything that can come into our thoughts has a subsistence, 
 then, with respect to that place of immensity which you say 
 is outside the world, if one thinks in his heart that it is light, 
 and another that it is darkness, how can one and the same 
 place be both light and darkness, according to their different 
 thoughts concerning it?" Then said Simon: "Let pass for 
 the present what I have said ; and tell us what you suppose 
 to be above the heavens." 
 
 CHAP. LXVII. The law teaches of immensity. 
 
 Then said Peter : " If you believed concerning the true 
 fountain of light, I could instruct you what and of what 
 sort is that which is immense, and should render, not a vain 
 fancy, but a consistent and necessary account of the truth, 
 and should make use, not of sophistical assertions, but testi- 
 monies of the law and nature, that you might know that the 
 law especially contains what we ought to believe in regard to 
 immensity. But if the doctrine of immensity is not unknown 
 to the law, then assuredly nought else can be unknown to it ; 
 and therefore it is a false supposition of yours, that there is 
 
 1 That is, have no visible or sensible species, according to the Platonic 
 theory of perception.
 
 BOOK IL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 237 
 
 anything of which the law is not cognisant. Much more shall 
 nothing be unknown to Him who gave the law. Yet I can- 
 not speak anything to you of immensity and of those things 
 which are without limit, unless first you either accept our 
 account of those heavens which are bounded by a certain 
 limit, or else propound your own account of them. But if you 
 cannot understand concerning those which are comprehended 
 within fixed boundaries, much more can you neither know nor 
 learn anything concerning those which are without limit." 
 
 CHAP. LXVIII. The visible and the invisible heaven. 
 
 To this Simon answered : " It seems to me to be better to 
 believe simply that God is, and that that heaven which we see 
 is the only heaven in the whole universe." But Peter said : 
 " Not so ; but it is proper to confess one God who truly is ; 
 but that there are heavens, which were made by Him, as also 
 the law says, of which one is the higher, in which also is 
 contained the visible firmament ; and that that higher heaven 
 is perpetual and eternal, with those who dwell in it ; but that 
 this "visible heaven is to be dissolved and to pass away at the 
 end of the' world, in order that that heaven which is older 
 and higher may appear after the judgment to the holy and the 
 \vorthy." To this Simon answered : " That these things are 
 so, as you say, may appear to those who believe them ; but to 
 him who seeks for reasons of these things, it is impossible that 
 they can be produced from the law, and especially concerning 
 the immensity of light." 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. Faith and reason. 
 
 Then Peter : " Do not think that we say that these things 
 are only to be received by faith, but also that they are to be 
 asserted by reason. For indeed it is not safe to commit 
 these things to bare faith without reason, since assuredly truth 
 cannot be without reason. And therefore he who has received 
 these things fortified by reason, can never lose them ; whereas 
 he who receives them without proofs, by an assent to a simple 
 statement of them, can neither keep them safely, nor is 
 certain if they are true ; because he who easily believes, also
 
 238 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK IT. 
 
 easily yields. But he who has sought reason for those things 
 which he has believed and received, as though bound by 
 chains of reason itself, can never be torn away or separated 
 from those things which he hath believed. And therefore. 
 
 O " 
 
 according as any one is more anxious in demanding a reason, 
 by so much will he be the firmer in preserving his faith." 
 
 CHAP. LXX. Adjournment. 
 
 To this Simon replied : " It is a great thing which you 
 promise, that the eternity of boundless light can be shown 
 from the law." And when Peter said, " I shall show it 
 whenever you please," Simon answered : " Since now it is a 
 late hour, I shall stand by you and oppose you to-morrow ; 
 and if you can prove that this world was created, .and that 
 souls are immortal, you shall have me to assist you in your 
 preaching." When he had said thus, he departed, and was 
 followed by a third part of all the people who had come with 
 him, who were about one thousand men. But the rest with 
 bended knees prostrated themselves before Peter; and he, 
 invoking upon them the name of God, cured some who had 
 demons, healed others who were sick, and so dismissed the 
 people rejoicing, commanding them to come early the next day. 
 But Peter, when the crowds had withdrawn, commanded the 
 table to be spread on the ground, in the open air, in the court 
 where the disputation had been held, and sat down together 
 with those eleven ; but I dined reclining with some others 
 who also had made a beginning of hearing the word of God, 
 and were greatly beloved. 
 
 CHAP. LXXI. Separation from the unclean. 
 But Peter, most benignantly regarding me, lest haply 
 that separation might cause me sorrow, says to me : " It is 
 not from pride, O Clement, that I do not eat with those who 
 have not yet been purified ; but I fear lest perhaps I should 
 injure myself, and do no good to them. For this I would 
 have you know for certain, that every one who has at any 
 time worshipped idols, and has adored those whom the pagans 
 call gods, or has eaten of the things sacrificed to them, is not 
 without an unclean spirit; for he has become a guest of
 
 BOOK ii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 233 
 
 demons, and has been partaker with that demon of which he 
 has formed the image in his mind, either through fear or love. 1 
 And by these means he is not free from an unclean spirit, 
 and therefore needs the purification of baptism, that the 
 unclean spirit may go out of him, which has made its abode 
 in the inmost affections of his soul, and what is worse, gives 
 no indication that it lurks within, for fear it should be 
 exposed and expelled. 
 
 CHAP. LXXII. The remedy. 
 
 " For these unclean spirits love to dwell in the bodies of 
 men, that they may fulfil their own desires by their service, 
 and, inclining the motions of their souls to those things which 
 they themselves desire, may compel them to obey their own 
 lusts, that they may become wholly vessels of demons. One 
 of whom is this Simon, who is seized with such disease, and 
 cannot now be healed, because he is sick in his will and 
 purpose. Nor does the demon dwell in him against his will ; 
 and therefore, if any one would drive it out of him, since it 
 is inseparable from himself, and, so to speak, has now become 
 his very soul, he should seem rather to kill him, and to incur 
 the guilt of manslaughter. Let no one of you therefore be 
 saddened at being separated from eating with us, for every 
 one ought to observe that it is for just so long a time as he 
 pleases. For he who wishes soon to be baptized is separated 
 but for a little time, but he for a longer who wishes to be 
 baptized later. Every one therefore has it in his own power 
 to demand a shorter or a longer time for his repentance ; and 
 therefore it lies with you, when you wish it, to come to our 
 table ; and not with us, who are not permitted to take food 
 with any one who has not been baptized. It is rather 
 you, therefore, who hinder us from eating with you, if you 
 interpose delays in the way of your purification, and defer 
 your baptism." Having said thus, and having blessed, he 
 took food. And afterwards, when he had given thanks to 
 God, he went into the house and went to bed ; and we all 
 did the like, for it was now night.. 
 
 1 1 Cor. x. 20.
 
 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT, 
 
 BOOK III. 
 
 CHAP. i. Pearls before swine. 
 
 EANTIME Peter, rising at the crowing of the 
 cock, and wishing to rouse us, found us awake, 
 the evening light still burning ; and when, accord- 
 ing to custom, he had saluted us, and we had all 
 sat down, he thus began. "Nothing is more difficult, my 
 brethren, than to reason concerning the truth in the presence 
 of a mixed multitude of people. For that which is may not 
 be spoken to all as it is, on account of those who hear 
 wickedly and treacherously ; yet it is not proper to deceive, 
 on account of those who desire to hear the truth sincerely. 
 What, then, shall he do who has to address a mixed multi- 
 tude ? Shall he conceal what is true ? How, then, shall he 
 instruct those who are worthy? But if he set forth pure 
 truth to those who do not desire to obtain salvation, he does 
 injury to Him by whom he has been sent, and from whom he 
 has received commandment not to throw the pearls of His 
 words before swine and dogs, 1 who, striving against them with 
 arguments and sophisms, roll them in the mud of carnal 
 understanding, and by their barkings and base answers break 
 and weary the preachers of God's word. Wherefore I also, 
 for the most part, by using a certain circumlocution, endea- 
 vour to avoid publishing the chief knowledge concerning the 
 Supreme Divinity to unworthy ears." Then, beginning from 
 the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, he briefly and 
 i Matt, vii. 6. 
 240
 
 BOOK m.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 241 
 
 plainly expounded to us, so that all of us hearing him wondered 
 that men have forsaken the truth, and have turned them- 
 selves to vanity. 
 
 CHAP, xii. 1 Second day's discussion. 
 
 But when the day had dawned, some one came in and 
 said : " There is a very great multitude waiting in the court, 
 and in the midst of them stands Simon, endeavouring to pre- 
 occupy the ears of the people with most wicked persuasions." 
 Then Peter, immediately going out, stood in the place where 
 he had disputed the day before, and all the people turning to 
 him with joy, gave heed to him. But when Simon perceived 
 that the people rejoiced at the sight of Peter, and were moved 
 to love him, he said in confusion : " I wonder at the folly 
 of men, who call me a magician, and love Peter; whereas, 
 having knowledge of me of old, they ought to love me rather. 
 And therefore from this sitm those who have sense may under- 
 
 * 
 
 stand that Peter may rather seem to be the magician, since 
 affection is not borne to me, to whom it is almost due from 
 acquaintance, but is abundantly expended upon him, to whom 
 it is not due by any familiarity." 
 
 CHAP. xin. Simon a seducer. 
 
 While Simon was talking on in this style, Peter, having 
 saluted the people in his usual way, thus answered : " O 
 Simon, his own conscience is sufficient for every one to con- 
 fute him; but if you wonder at this, that those who are 
 acquainted with you not only do not love you but even hate 
 you, learn the reason from me. Since you are a seducer, you 
 profess to proclaim the truth ; and on this account you had 
 many friends who had a desire to learn the truth. But when 
 they saw in you things contrary to what you professed, they 
 being, as I said, lovers of truth, began riot only not to love 
 you, but even to hate you. But yet they did not immediately 
 
 1 Chaps, ii.-xii. are wanting in the MSS. of best authority ; and it 
 seems to us indisputable that they form no part of the original work. 
 For this reason, and because we have found them utterly untranslatable, 
 we have omitted them.
 
 242 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 forsake you, because you still promised that you could show 
 them what is true. As long, therefore, as no one was present 
 who could show them, they bore with you ; but since the 
 hope of better instruction has dawned upon them, they de- 
 spise you, and seek to know what they understand to be better. 
 And you indeed, acting by nefarious arts, thought at first 
 that you should escape detection. But you are detected. For 
 you are driven into a corner, and, contrary to your expecta- 
 tion, you are made notorious, not only as being ignorant of the 
 truth, but as being unwilling to hear it from those who know 
 it. For if you had been willing to hear, that saying would 
 have been exemplified in you, of Him who said that ' there is 
 nothing hidden which shall not be known, nor covered which 
 shall not be disclosed.'" 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Simon claims the fulfilment of Peter s promise. 
 
 While Peter spoke these words, and others to the same 
 effect, Simon answered : " I will not have you detain me with 
 long speeches, Peter ; I claim from you what you promised 
 yesterday. You then said that you could show that the law 
 teaches concerning the immensity of the eternal light, and 
 that there are only two heavens, and these created, and that 
 the higher is the abode of that light, in which the ineffable 
 Father dwells alone for ever ; but that after the pattern of 
 that heaven is made this visible heaven, which you asserted is 
 to pass away. You said, therefore, that the Father of all is 
 one, because there cannot be two infinites ; else neither of 
 them would be infinite, because in that in which the one sub- 
 sists, he makes a limit of the subsistence of the other. Since 
 then you not only promised this, but are able to show it from 
 the law, leave off other matters and set about this." Then Peter 
 said : " If I were asked to speak of these things only on your 
 account, who come only for the purpose of contradicting, you 
 should never hear a single discourse from me ; but seeing it 
 is necessary that the husbandman, wishing to sow good ground, 
 should sow some seeds, either in stony places, or places that 
 are to be trodden of men, or in places filled with brambles 
 1 Matt. x. 26.
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 243 
 
 and briers (as our Master also set forth, indicating by these 
 the diversities of the purposes of several souls), 1 I shall not 
 delay." 
 
 CHAP. xv. Simon's arrogance. 
 
 Then said Simon : " You seem to me to be angry ; but if 
 it be so, it is not necessary to enter into the conflict." Then 
 Peter : " I see that you perceive that you are to be convicted, 
 and you wish politely to escape from the contest ; for what 
 have you seen to have made me angry against you, a man 
 desiring to deceive so great a multitude, and when you have 
 nothing to say, pretending moderation, who also command, 
 forsooth, by your authority that the controversy shall be con- 
 ducted as you please, and not as order demands?" Then 
 Simon : " I shall enforce myself to bear patiently your unskil- 
 fulness, that I may show that you indeed wish to seduce the 
 people, but that I teach the truth. But now I refrain from 
 a discussion concerning that boundless light. Answer me, 
 therefore, what I ask of you. Since God, as you say, made 
 all things, whence comes evil?" Then said Peter : " To put 
 questions in this way is not the part of an opponent, but of a 
 learner. If therefore you wish to learn, confess it ; and I shall 
 first teach you how you ought to learn, and when you have 
 learned to listen, then straightway I shall begin to teach you. 
 But if you do not wish to learn, as though you knew all things, 
 I shall first set forth the faith which I preach, and do you also 
 set forth what you think to be true; and when the profession 
 of each of us has been disclosed, let our hearers judge whose 
 discourse is supported by truth." To this Simon answered : 
 " This is a good joke : behold a fellow who offers to teach me ! 
 Nevertheless I shall suffer you, and bear with your ignorance 
 and your arrogance. I confess, then, I do wish to learn ; let 
 us see how you can teach me." 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Existence of evil. 
 
 Then Peter said : " If you truly wish to learn, then first 
 learn this, how unskilfully you have framed your question ; 
 1 Luke viii. 5.
 
 244 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 for you say, Since God has created all things, whence is evil f 
 But before you asked this, three sorts of questions should 
 have had the precedence : First, Whether there be evil ? 
 Secondly, What evil is? Thirdly, To whom it is, and 
 whence?" To this Simon answered: "Ohthou most un- 
 skilful and unlearned, is there any man who does not confess 
 that there is evil in this life ? Whence I also, thinking that 
 you had even the common sense of all men, asked, whence evil 
 is ; not as wishing to learn, since I know all things, least of 
 all from you, who know nothing, but that I might show you 
 to be ignorant of all things. And that you may not suppose 
 that it is because I am angry that I speak somewhat sternly, 
 know that I am moved with compassion for those who are 
 present, whom you are attempting to deceive." Then Peter 
 said : " The more wicked are you, if you can do such wrong, 
 not being angry; but smoke must rise where there is fire. 
 Nevertheless I shall tell you, lest I should seem to take you 
 up with words, so as not to answer to those things which you 
 have spoken disorderly. You say that all confess the exist- 
 ence of evil, which is verily false ; for, first of all, the whole 
 Hebrew nation deny its existence." 
 
 CHAP. xvn. Not admitted ly all. 
 
 Then Simon, interrupting his discourse, said : " They do 
 rightly who say that there is no evil." Then Peter answered : 
 " We do not propose to speak of this now, but only to state 
 the fact that the existence of evil is not universally admitted. 
 But the second question that you should have asked is, What 
 is evil ? a substance, an accident, or an act ? And many 
 other things of the same sort. And after that, towards what, 
 or how it is, or to whom it is evil, whether to God, or to 
 angels, or to men, to the righteous or the wicked, to all or 
 to some, to one's self or to no one ? And then you should 
 inquire, Whence it is ? whether from God, or from nothing ; 
 whether it has always been, or has had its beginning in time ; 
 whether it is useful or useless ? and many other things 
 which a proposition of this sort demands." To this Simon 
 answered : " Pardon me ; I was in error concerning the first
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 245 
 
 I 
 
 question ; but suppose that I now ask first, whether evil is 
 or not?" 
 
 CHAP. xvin. Manner of conducting the discussion. 
 
 Then Peter said : " In what way do you put the question ; 
 as wishing to learn, or to teach, or for the sake of raising the 
 question ? If indeed as wishing to learn, I have something 
 to teach you first, that coming by consequence and the right 
 order of doctrine, you may understand from yourself what 
 evil is. But if you put the question as an instructor, I have 
 no need to be taught by you, for I have a Master from whom 
 I have learned all things. But if you ask merely for the 
 sake of raising a question and disputing, let each of us first 
 set forth his opinion, and so let the matter be debated. For 
 it is not reasonable that you should ask as one wishing to 
 learn, and contradict as one teaching, so that after my 
 answer it should be in your discretion to say whether I have 
 spoken well or ill. Wherefore you cannot stand in the place 
 of a gainsayer and be judge of what we say. And therefore, 
 as I said, if a discussion is to be held, let each of us state his 
 sentiments ; and while we are placed in conflict, these religious 
 hearers will be just judges." 
 
 CHAP. xix. Desire of instruction. 
 
 Then Simon said : " Does it not seem to you to be absurd 
 that an unskilled people should sit in judgment upon our 
 sayings ?" Then Peter : " It is not so ; for what perhaps is 
 less clear to one, can be investigated by many, for oftentimes 
 even a popular rumour has the aspect of a prophecy. But 
 in addition to all this, all these people stand here constrained 
 by the love of God, and by a desire to know the truth, and 
 therefore all these are to be regarded as one, by reason of their 
 affection being one and the same towards the truth ; as, on the 
 other hand, two are many and diverse, if they disagree with 
 each other. But if you wish to receive an indication how all 
 these people who stand before us are as one man, consider from 
 their very silence and quietness how with all patience, as you 
 see, they do honour to the truth of God, even before they
 
 
 246 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 learn it, for they have not yet learned the greater observance 
 which they owe to it. Wherefore I hope, through the mercy 
 of God, that He will accept the religious purpose of their 
 mind towards Him, and will give the palm of victory to him 
 who preaches the truth, that He may make manifest to them 
 the herald of truth." 
 
 CHAP. xx. Common principles. 
 
 Then Simon : " On what subject do you wish the discus- 
 sion to be held ? Tell me, that I also may define what I 
 think, and so the inquiry may begin." And I*eter answered : 
 "If, indeed, you will do as I think right, I would have it 
 done according to the precept of my Master, who first of all 
 commanded the Hebrew nation, whom He knew to have 
 knowledge of God, and that it is He who made the world, 
 not that they should inquire about Him whom they knew, 
 but that, knowing Him, they should investigate His will and 
 His righteousness ; because it is placed in men's power that, 
 searching into these things, they may find, and do, and ob- 
 serve those things concerning which they are to be judged. 
 Therefore He commanded us to inquire, not whence evil 
 cometh, as you asked just now, but to seek the righteousness 
 of the good God, and His kingdom ; and all these things, says 
 He, shall be added to you." ! Then Simon said : " Since these 
 things are commanded to Hebrews, as having a right know- 
 ledge of God, and being of opinion that every one has it in 
 his power to do those things concerning which he is to be 
 judged, but my opinion differs from theirs, where do you 
 wish me to begin ?" 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Freedom of the will. 
 
 Then said Peter : " I advise that the first inquiry be, 
 whether it be in our power to know whence we are to be 
 judged." But Simon said : "Not so; but concerning God, 
 about whom all who are present are desirous to hear." Then 
 Peter : " You admit, then, that something is in the power of 
 the will : only confess this, if it is so, and let us inquire, as 
 1 Matt. vi. 33.
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 247 
 
 you say, concerning God." To this Simon answered : " By 
 no means." Then Peter said : " If, then, nothing is in our 
 power, it is useless for us to inquire anything concerning 
 God, since it is not in the power of those who seek to find ; 
 hence I said well, that this should be the first inquiry, whether 
 anything is in the power of the will." Then said Simon : 
 " We cannot even understand this that you say, if there is 
 anything in the power of the will." But Peter, seeing that 
 he was turning to contention, and, through fear of being 
 overcome, was confounding all things as being in general 
 uncertain, answered : " How then do you know that it is not 
 in the power of man to know anything, since this very thing 
 at least you know ? " 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Responsibility. 
 
 Then Simon said : " I know not whether I know even 
 this ; for every one, according as it is decreed to him by fate, 
 either does, or understands, or suffers." Then Peter said : 
 " See, my brethren, into what absurdities Simon has fallen, 
 who before my coming was teaching that men have it in their 
 power to be wise and to do what they will, but now, driven 
 into a corner by the force of my arguments, he denies that man 
 has any power either of perceiving or of acting ; and yet he 
 presumes to profess himself to be a teacher ! But tell me how 
 then God judges according to truth every one for his doings, 
 if men have it not in their own power to do anything ? If 
 this opinion be held, all things are torn up by the roots ; 
 vain will be the desire of following after goodness ; yea, even 
 in vain do the judges of the world administer laws and punish 
 those who do amiss, for they had it not in their power not to 
 sin ; vain also will be the laws of nations which assign penalties 
 to evil deeds. Miserable also will those be who laboriously 
 keep righteousness ; but blessed those who, living in pleasure, 
 exercise tyranny, living in luxury and wickedness. According 
 to this, therefore, there can be neither righteousness, nor 
 goodness, nor any virtue, nor, as you would have it, any God. 
 But, O Simon, I know why you have spoken thus : truly 
 because you wish to avoid inquiry, lest you should be openly
 
 248 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 confuted ; and therefore you say that it is not in the power 
 of man to perceive or to discern anything. But if this had 
 really been your opinion, you would not surely, before my 
 coming, have professed yourself before the people to be a 
 teacher. I say, therefore, that man is under his own control." 
 Then said Simon: "What is the meaning of being under 
 his own control? Tell us." To this Peter: "If nothing 
 can be learned, why do you wish to hear?" And Simon 
 said : " You have nothing to answer to this." 
 
 CHAP! xxin. Origin of evil. 
 
 Then said Peter : " I shall speak, not as under compulsion 
 from you, but at the request of the hearers. The power of 
 choice is the sense of the soul, possessing a quality by which 
 it can be inclined towards what acts it wills." Then Simon, 
 applauding Peter for what he had spoken, said : " Truly you 
 have expounded it magnificently and incomparably, for it is 
 my duty to bear testimony to your speaking well. Now if 
 you will explain to me this which I now ask you, in all things 
 else I shall submit to you. What I wish to learn, then, is 
 this : if what God wishes to be, is ; and what He does not wish 
 to be, is not. Answer me this." Then Peter : " If you do not 
 know that you are asking an absurd and incompetent ques- 
 tion, I shall pardon you and explain ; but if you are aware 
 that you are asking inconsequently, you do not well." Then 
 Simon said : " I swear by the Supreme Divinity, whatsoever 
 that may be, which judges and punishes those who sin, that 
 I know not what I have said inconsequently, or what absurdity 
 there is in my words, that is, in those that I have just uttered." 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. God the author of good, not of evil. 
 
 To this Peter answered : " Since, then, you confess that 
 you are ignorant, now learn. Your question demanded our 
 deliverance on two matters that are contrary to one another. 
 For every motion is divided into two parts, so that a certain 
 part is moved by necessity, and another by will ; and those 
 thinga which are moved by necessity are always in motion, 
 those which are moved by will, not always. For example^
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 249 
 
 the sun's motion is performed by necessity to complete its 
 appointed circuit, and every state and service of heaven de- 
 pends upon necessary motions. But man directs the voluntary 
 
 motions of his own actions. And thus there are some things 
 
 o 
 
 which have been created for this end, that in their services 
 they should be subject to necessity, and should be unable to 
 do aught else than what has been assigned to them ; and 
 when they have accomplished this service, the Creator of all 
 things, who thus arranged them according to His will, pre- 
 serves them. But there are other things, in which there is 
 a power of will, and which have a free choice of doing what 
 they will. These, as I have said, do not remain always in that 
 order in which they were created ; but according as their will 
 leads them, and the judgment of their mind inclines them, 
 they effect either good or evil ; and therefore He hath pro- 
 posed rewards to those who do well, and penalties to those 
 
 who do evil. 
 
 f 
 
 CHAP, xxv." Who hath resisted His will?" 
 
 " You say, therefore, if God wishes anything to be, it is ; 
 and if He do not wish it, it is not. But if I were to answer 
 that what He wishes is, and what He wishes not is not, you 
 would say that then He wishes the evil things to be which are 
 done in the world, since everything that He wishes is, and 
 everything that He wishes not is not. But if I had answered 
 that it is not so that what God wishes is, and what He wishes 
 not is not, then you would retort upon me that God must 
 then be powerless, if He cannot do what He wills ; and you 
 would be all the more petulant, as thinking that you had got 
 a victory, though you had said nothing to the point. There- 
 fore you are ignorant, O Simon, yea very ignorant, how the 
 will of God acts in each individual case. For some things, 
 as we have said, He has so willed to be, that they cannot be 
 otherwise than as they are ordained by Him ; and to these 
 He has assigned neither rewards nor punishments ; but those 
 which He has willed to be so that they have it in their power 
 to do what they will, He has assigned to them according to 
 their actions and their wills, to earn either rewards or punish-
 
 250 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 ments. Since, therefore, as I have informed you, all things 
 that are moved are divided into two parts, according to the 
 distinction that I formerly stated, everything that God wills 
 is, and everything that He wills not is not." 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. No goodness without liberty. 
 
 To this Simon answered : " Was not He able to make us 
 all such that we should be good, and that we should not have 
 it in our power to be otherwise ? " Peter answered : " This 
 also is an absurd question. For if He had made us of an 
 unchangeable nature and incapable of being moved away 
 from good, we should not be really good, because we could 
 not be aught else ; and it would not be of our purpose that 
 we were good ; and what we did would not be ours, but of the 
 necessity of our nature. But how can that be called good 
 which is not done of purpose ? And on this account the world 
 required long -periods, until the number of souls which were 
 predestined to fill it should be completed, and then that visible 
 heaven should be folded up like a scroll, and that which is 
 higher should appear, and the souls of the blessed, being 
 restored to their bodies, should be ushered into light ; but the 
 souls of the wicked, for their impure actions being surrounded 
 with fiery spirit, should be plunged into the abyss of unquench- 
 able fire, to endure punishments through eternity. Now that 
 these things are so, the true Prophet has testified to us ; con- 
 cerning whom, if you wish to know that He is a prophet, I 
 shall instruct you by innumerable declarations. For of those 
 things which were spoken by Him, even now everything that 
 He said is being fulfilled ; and those things which He spoke 
 with respect to the future are believed to be about to be ful- 
 filled, for faith is given to the future from those things which 
 have already come to pass." 
 
 CHAP, xxvii. TJie visible heaven ; why made. 
 
 But Simon, perceiving that Peter was clearly assigning a 
 reason from the head of prophecy, from which the whole 
 question is settled, declined that the discourse should take 
 this turn ; and thus answered : " Give me an answer to the
 
 BOOK m.J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 251 
 
 questions that I put, and tell me, if that visible heaven is, as 
 you say, to be dissolved, why was it made at first ? " Peter 
 answered : " It was made for the sake of this present life of 
 men, that there might be some sort of interposition and separa- 
 tion, lest any unworthy one might see the habitation of the 
 celestials and the abode of God Himself, which are prepared 
 in order to be seen by those only who are of pure heart. 1 But 
 now, that is in the time of the conflict, it has pleased Him 
 that those things be invisible, which are destined as a reward 
 
 O r 
 
 to the conquerors." Then Simon said : " If the Creator is 
 good, and the world is good, how shall He who is good ever 
 destroy that which is good ? But if He shall destroy that 
 which is good, how shall He Himself be thought to be 
 good ? But if He shall dissolve and destroy it as evil, how 
 shall He not appear to be evil, who has made that which 
 is evil?" 
 
 CHAP. XXVIIT. Why to be dissolved. 
 
 To this Peter replied : " Since we have promised not to 
 run away from your blasphemies, we endure them patiently, 
 for you shall yourself render an account for the things that 
 you speak. Listen now, therefore. If indeed that heaven 
 which is visible and transient had been made for its own sake, 
 there would have been some reason in what you say, that it 
 ought not to be dissolved. But if it was made not for its 
 own sake, but for the sake of something else, it must of 
 necessity be dissolved, that that for which it seems to have 
 been made may appear. As I might say, by way of illus- 
 tration, however fairly and carefully the shell of the egg may 
 seem to have been formed, it is yet necessary that it be broken 
 and opened, that the chick may issue from it, and that may 
 appear for which the form of the whole egg seems to have 
 been moulded. So also, therefore, it is necessary that the 
 condition of this world pass away, that that sublimer condition 
 of the heavenly kingdom may shine forth." 
 
 1 Matt. v. 8.
 
 252 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Corruptible and temporary tilings made ly 
 the Incorruptible and Eternal. 
 
 Then Simon : " It does not seem to me that the heaven, 
 which has been made by God, can be dissolved. For things 
 made by the Eternal One are eternal, while things made by 
 a corruptible one are temporary and decaying." Then Peter : 
 " It is not so. Indeed corruptible and temporary things of 
 all sorts are made by mortal creatures ; but the Eternal does 
 not always make things corruptible, nor always incorruptible : 
 but according to the will of God the Creator, so will be the 
 things which He creates. For the power of God is not 
 subject to law, but His will is law to His creatures." Then 
 Simon answered : " I call you back to the first question. You 
 said now that God is visible to no one ; but when that heaven 
 shall be dissolved, and that superior condition of the heavenly 
 kingdom shall shine forth, then those who are pure in heart * 
 shall see God ; which statement is contrary to the law, for 
 there it is written that God said, 'None shall see my face 
 and live.'" 2 
 
 CHAP. xxx. How the pure in heart see God. 
 
 Then Peter answered : " To those who do not read the law 
 according to the tradition of Moses, my speech appears to be 
 contrary to it ; but I will show you how it is not contra- 
 dictory. God is seen by the mind, not by the body ; by the 
 spirit, not by the flesh. Whence also angels, who are spirits, 
 see God ; and therefore men, as long as they are men, cannot 
 see Him. But after the resurrection of the dead, when they 
 shall have been made like the angels, 3 they shall be able to 
 see God. And thus my statement is not contrary to the law ; 
 neither is that which our Master said, ' Blessed are they of a 
 pure heart, for they shall see God.' 4 For He showed that a 
 time shall come in which of men shall be made angels, who 
 
 c5 7 
 
 in the spirit of their mind shall see God." After these and 
 many similar sayings, Simon began to assert with many oaths, 
 saying : " Concerning one thing only render me a reason, 
 1 Matt. v. 8. * Ex. xxxiii. 20. 3 Matt. xiii. 30. * Matt. v. 8.
 
 BOOK in.J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 253 
 
 whether the soul is immortal, and I shall submit to your will 
 in all things. But let it be to-morrow, for to-day it is late." 
 When therefore Peter began to speak, Simon went out, and 
 with him a very few of his associates ; and that for shame. 
 But all the rest, turning to Peter, on bended knees prostrated 
 themselves before him ; and some of those who were afflicted 
 with diverse sicknesses, or invaded by demons, were healed by 
 the prayer of Peter, and departed rejoicing, as having obtained 
 at once the doctrine of the true God, and also His mercy. 
 When therefore the crowds had withdrawn, and only we his 
 attendants remained with him, we sat down on couches placed 
 on the ground, each one recognising his accustomed place, and 
 having taken food, and given thanks to God, we went to sleep. 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. Diligence in study. 
 
 But on the following day, Peter, as usual, rising before 
 dawn, found us already awake and ready to listen ; and thus 
 began : " I entreat you, my brethren and fellow-servants, 
 that if any of you is not able to wake, he should not torment 
 himself through respect to my presence, because sudden 
 change is difficult ; but if for a long time one gradually 
 accustoms himself, that will not be distressing which comes 
 of use. 'For we had not all the same training ; although in 
 course of time we shall be able to be moulded into one habit, 
 for they say that custom holds the place of a second nature. 
 But I call God to witness that I am not offended, if any one 
 is not able to wake ; but rather by this, if, when any one 
 sleeps all through the night, he does not in the course of the 
 day fulfil that which he omitted in the night. For it is 
 necessary to give heed intently and unceasingly to the study 
 of doctrine, that our mind may be filled with the thought 
 of God only ; because in the mind which is filled with the 
 thought of God, no place will be given to the wicked one." 
 
 CHAP. xxxn. Peter's private instruction. 
 
 When Peter spoke thus to us, every one of us eagerly 
 assured him, that ere now we were awake, being satisfied 
 with short sleep, but that we were afraid to arouse him,
 
 254 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK m. 
 
 because it did not become the disciples to command the 
 master; "and yet even this, O Peter, we had almost ven- 
 tured to take upon ourselves, because our hearts, agitated with 
 longing for your words, drove sleep wholly from our eyes. 
 But again our affection towards you opposed it, and did not 
 suffer us violently to rouse you." Then Peter said : " Since 
 therefore you assert that you are willingly awake through 
 desire of hearing, I wish to repeat to you more carefully, and 
 to explain in their order, the things that were spoken yester- 
 day without arrangement. And this I propose to do through- 
 out these daily disputations, that by night, when privacy of 
 time and place is afforded, I shall unfold in correct order, and 
 by a straight line of explanation, anything that in the con- 
 troversy has not been stated with sufficient fulness." And 
 then he began to point out to us how the yesterday's dis- 
 cussion ought to have been conducted, and how it could not 
 be so conducted on account of the contentiousness or the 
 unskilfulness of his opponent ; and how therefore he only 
 made use of assertion, and only overthrew what was said by 
 his adversary, but did not expound his own doctrines either 
 completely or distinctly. Then repeating the several matters 
 to us, he discussed them in regular order and with full reason. 
 
 CHAP, xxxill. Learners and cavillers. 
 
 But when the day began to be light, after prayer he went 
 out to the crowds and stood in his accustomed place, for the 
 discussion ; and seeing Simon standing in the middle of the 
 crowd, he saluted the people in his usual way, and said to 
 them : " I confess that I am grieved with respect to some 
 men, who come to us in this Way that they may learn some- 
 thing, but when we begin to teach them, they profess that 
 they themselves are masters, and while indeed they ask ques- 
 tions as ignorant persons, they contradict as knowing ones. 
 But perhaps some one will say, that he who puts a question, 
 puts it indeed in order that he may learn, but when that which 
 he hears does not seem to him to be right, it is necessary that 
 he should answer, and that seems to be contradiction which 
 is not contradiction, but further inquiry.
 
 I 
 
 BOOK IIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 255 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Against order is against reason. 
 
 " Let such a one then hear this : The teaching of all doc- 
 trine has a certain order, and there are some things which 
 must be delivered first, others in the second place, and others 
 in the third, and so all in their order ; and if these things be 
 delivered in their order, they become plain ; but if they be 
 brought forward out of order, they will seem to be spoken 
 against reason. And therefore order is to be observed above 
 all things, if we seek for the purpose of finding what we seek. 
 For he who enters rightly upon the road, will observe the second 
 place in due order, and from the second will more easily find 
 the third ; and the further he proceeds, so much the more 
 will the way of knowledge become open to him, even until 
 he arrive at the city of truth, whither he is bound, and which 
 he desires to reach. But he who is unskilful, and knows not 
 the way of inquiry, as a traveller in a foreign country, igno- 
 rant and wandering, if he will not employ a native of the 
 country as a guide, undoubtedly when he has strayed from 
 the way of truth, shall remain outside the gates of life, and 
 so, involved in the darkness of black night, shall walk through 
 the paths of perdition. Inasmuch therefore, as, if those things 
 which are to be sought, be sought in an orderly manner, they 
 can most easily be found, but the unskilful man is ignorant 
 of the order of inquiry, it is right that the ignorant man 
 should yield to the knowing one, and first learn the order of 
 inquiry, that so at length he may find the method of asking 
 and answering." 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Learning before teaching. 
 
 To this Simon replied : " Then truth is not the property of 
 all, but of those only who know the art of disputation, which 
 is absurd ; for it cannot be, since He is equally the God of 
 all, that all should not be equally able to know His will." 
 Then Peter : " All were made equal by Him, and to all He 
 has given equally to be receptive of truth. But that none 
 of those who are born, are born with education, but education 
 is subsequent to birth, no one can doubt. Since, therefore,
 
 25 G RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK m. 
 
 the birth of men holds equity in this respect, that all are 
 equally capable of receiving discipline, the difference is not 
 in nature, but in education. Who does not know that the 
 things which any one learns, he was ignorant of before he 
 learned them ?" Then Simon said : " You say truly." Then 
 Peter said : " If then in those arts which are in common use, 
 one first learns and then teaches, how much more ought those 
 who profess to be the educators of souls, first to learn, and so 
 to teach, that they may not expose themselves to ridicule, if 
 they promise to afford knowledge to others, when they them- 
 selves are unskilful ?" Then Simon : " This is true in respect 
 of those arts which are in common use ; but in the word of 
 knowledge, as soon as any one has heard, he has learned." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Self-evidence of the truth. 
 
 Then said Peter : " If indeed one hear in an orderly 
 and regular manner, he is able to know what is true ; 
 but he who refuses to submit to the rule of a reformed 
 life and a pure conversation, which truly is the proper 
 result of knowledge of the truth, will not confess that he 
 knows what he does know. For this is exactly what we see 
 in the case of some who, abandoning the trades which they 
 learned in their youth, betake themselves to other perfor- 
 mances, and by way of excusing their own sloth, begin to 
 find fault with the trade as unprofitable." Then Simon : 
 " Ought all who hear to believe that whatever they hear is 
 true ?" Then Peter : " Whoever hears an orderly statement 
 of the truth, cannot by any means gainsay it, but knows that 
 what is spoken is true, provided he also willingly submit to 
 the rules of life. But those who, when they hear, are un- 
 willing to betake themselves to good works, are prevented by 
 the desire of doing evil from acquiescing in those things which 
 they judge to be right. Hence it is manifest that it is in the 
 power of the hearers to choose which of the two they prefer. 
 But if all who hear were to obey, it would be rather a neces- 
 sity of nature, leading all in one way. For as no one can be 
 persuaded to become shorter or taller, because the force of 
 nature does not permit it ; so also, if either all were converted
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 257 
 
 to the truth by a word, or all were not converted, it would be 
 the force of nature which compelled all in the one case, and 
 none at all in the other, to be converted." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvu. God righteous as icell as good. 
 
 Then said Simon : " Inform us, therefore, what he who 
 desires to know the truth must first learn." Then Peter : 
 " Before all things it must be inquired what it is possible for 
 man to find out. For of necessity the judgment of God turns 
 upon this, if a man was able to do good and did it not. And 
 therefore men must inquire whether they have it in their power 
 by seeking to find what is good, and to do it when they have 
 found it ; for this is that for which they are to be judged. 
 But more than this there is no occasion for any one but a 
 prophet to know ; for what is the need for men to know how 
 the world was made ? This, indeed, would be necessary to 
 be learned if we had to enter upon a similar construction. 
 But now it is sufficient for us, in order to the worship of 
 God, to know that He made the world ; but how He made it 
 is no subject of inquiry for us, because, as I have said, it is 
 not incumbent upon us to acquire the knowledge of that art, 
 as though w r e were about to make something similar. But 
 neither are we to be judged for this, why we have not learned 
 how the world was made, but only for that, if we be without 
 knowledge of its Creator. For we shall know that the 
 
 O 
 
 Creator of the world is the righteous and good God, if we 
 seek Him in the T>aths of righteousness. For if we onlvknow 
 
 O J 
 
 regarding Him that He is good, such knowledge is not sufficient 
 for salvation. For in the present life not only the worthy, 
 but also the unworthy, enjoy His goodness and His benefits. 
 But if we believe Him to be not only good, but also righteous, 
 and if, according to what we believe concerning God, we 
 observe righteousness in the whole course of our life, we 
 shall enjoy His goodness for ever. In a word, to the Hebrews, 
 whose opinion concerning God was that He is only good, oar 
 Master said that they should seek also His righteousness; 1 that 
 is, that they should know that He is good indeed in this pre- 
 1 Matt. vi. 33. 
 K
 
 258 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 sent time, that all may live in His goodness, but that He shall 
 be righteous at the day of judgment, to bestow eternal rewards 
 upon the worthy, from which the unworthy shall be excluded. 
 
 CHAP, xxxviil. God's justice shown at the day of judgment. 
 
 Then Simon : " How can one and the same being be both 
 good and righteous 1 " Peter answered : " Because without 
 righteousness, goodness would be unrighteousness ; for it is 
 the part of a good God to bestow His sunshine and rain 
 equally on the just and the unjust ; x but this would seem to 
 be unjust, if He treated the good and the bad always with 
 equal fortune, and were it not that He does it for the sake of 
 the fruits, which all may equally enjoy who are born in this 
 world. But as the rain given by God equally nourishes the 
 corn and the tares, but at the time of harvest the crops are 
 gathered into the barn, but the chaff or the tares are burnt 
 in the fire, 2 so in the day of judgment, when the righteous 
 shall be introduced into the kingdom of heaven, and the 
 unrighteous shall be cast out, then also the justice of God 
 shall be shown. For if He remained for ever alike to the 
 evil and the good, this would not only not be good, but even 
 unrighteous and unjust ; that the righteous and the un- 
 righteous should be held by Him in one order of desert." 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. Immortality of the soul. 
 
 Then said Simon : " The one point on which I should wish 
 to be satisfied is, whether the soul is immortal ; for I cannot 
 take up the burden of righteousness unless I know first con- 
 cerning the immortality of the soul ; for indeed if it is not 
 immortal, the profession of your preaching cannot stand." 
 Then said Peter: "Let us first inquire whether God is just; 
 for if this were ascertained, the perfect order of religion 
 would straightway be established." Then Simon : " With 
 all your boasting of your knowledge of the order of dis- 
 cussion, you seem to me now to have answered contrary to 
 order; for when I ask you to show whether the soul is 
 immortal, you say that we must first inquire whether God 
 1 Matt. v. 45. 2 Matt. iii. 12.
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 259 
 
 is just.*' Then said Peter : " That is perfectly right and 
 regular." Simon : " I should wish to learn how." 
 
 CHAP. XL. Proved by the success of the wicked in this life. 
 
 "Listen, then," said Peter : " Some men who are blasphemers 
 against God, and who spend their whole life in injustice and 
 pleasure, die in their own bed and obtain honourable burial ; 
 while others who worship God, and maintain their life 
 frugally with all honesty and. sobriety, die in deserted places 
 for their observance of righteousness, so that they are not 
 even thought worthy of burial. Where, then, is the justice 
 of God, if there be no immortal soul to suffer punishment in 
 the future for impious deeds, or enjoy rewards for piety and 
 rectitude ?" Then Simon said : " It is this indeed that makes 
 me incredulous, because many well-doers perish miserably, 
 and again many evil-doers finish long lives in happiness.'* 
 
 CHAP. XLI. Cavils of Simon. 
 
 Then said Peter: " This very thing which draws you into 
 incredulity, affords to us a certain conviction that there shall 
 be a judgment. For since it is certain that God is just, it is 
 a necessary consequence that there is another world, in which 
 every one receiving according to his deserts, shall prove the 
 justice of God. But if all men were now receiving accord- 
 ing to their deserts, we should truly seem to be deceivers when 
 
 
 
 we say that there is a judgment to come ; and therefore this 
 very fact, that in the present life a return is not made to 
 every one according to his deeds, affords, to those who know 
 that God is just, an indubitable proof that there shall be a 
 judgment." Then said Simon : " Why, then, am I not per- 
 suaded of it?" Peter: "Because you have not heard the 
 true Prophet saying, * Seek first His righteousness, and all 
 these things shall be added to you.'" 1 Then said Simon: 
 " Pardon me if I am unwilling to seek righteousness, before 
 I know if the soul is immortal." Then Peter : " You also 
 pardon me this one thing, because I cannot do otherwise than 
 the Prophet of truth has instructed me." Then said Simon : 
 1 Matt. vi. 33.
 
 260 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 " It is certain that you cannot assert that the soul is immortal, 
 and therefore you cavil, knowing that if it be proved to be 
 mortal, the whole profession of that religion which you are 
 attempting to propagate will be plucked up by the roots. And 
 therefore, indeed, I commend your prudence, while I do not 
 approve your persuasiveness ; for you persuade many to em- 
 brace your religion, and to submit to the restraint of pleasure, 
 in hope of future good things ; to whom it happens that they 
 lose the enjoyment of things present, and are deceived with 
 hopes of things future. For as soon as they die, their soul 
 shall at the same time be extinguished." 
 
 CHAP. XLII. "Full of all subtlety and all mischief." 
 
 But Peter, when he heard him speak thus, grinding "his 
 teeth, and rubbing his forehead with his hand, and sighing 
 with profound grief, said : " Armed with the cunning of the 
 old serpent, you stand forth to deceive souls ; and therefore, 
 as the serpent is more subtile than any other beast, you pro- 
 fess that you are a teacher from the beginning. And again, 
 like the serpent you wished to introduce many gods ; but 
 now, being confuted in that, you assert that there is no God 
 at all. For by occasion of I know not what unknown God, 
 you denied that the Creator of the world is God, but asserted 
 that He is either an evil being, or that He has many equals, 
 or, as we have said, that He is not God at all. And when 
 you had been overcome in this position, you now assert that 
 the soul is mortal, so that men may not live righteously and 
 uprightly in hope of things to come. For if there be no 
 hope for the future, why should not mercy be given up, and 
 men indulge in luxury and pleasures, from which it is mani- 
 fest that all unrighteousness springs? And while you intro- 
 duce so impious a doctrine into the miserable life of men, 
 you call yourself pious, and me impious, because, under the 
 hope of future good things, I will not suffer men to take up 
 arms and fight against one another, plunder and subvert 
 everything, and attempt whatsoever lust may dictate. And 
 what will be the condition of that life which you would in- 
 troduce, that men will attack and be attacked, be enraged
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 261 
 
 and disturbed, and live always in fear ? For those who do 
 evil to others must expect like evil to themselves. Do you 
 see that you are a leader of disturbance and not of peace, of 
 iniquity and not of equity? But I feigned anger, not because 
 I could not prove that the soul is immortal, but because I 
 pity the souls which you are endeavouring to deceive. I shall 
 speak, therefore, but not as compelled by you ; for I know 
 how I should speak ; and you will be the only one who wants 
 not so much persuasion as admonition on this subject. But 
 those who are really ignorant of this, I shall instruct as is 
 suitable." 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. Simons subterfuges. 
 
 Then says Simon : " If you are angry, I shall neither ask 
 you any questions, nor do I wish to hear you." Then Peter : 
 " If you are now seeking a pretext for escaping, you have 
 full liberty, and need not use any special pretext. For all 
 have heard you speaking all amiss, and have perceived that 
 you can prove nothing, but that you only asked questions for 
 the sake of contradiction ; which any one can do. For what 
 difficulty is there in replying, after the clearest proofs have 
 been adduced, ' You have said nothing to the purpose?' But 
 that you may know that I am able to prove to you in a single 
 sentence that the soul is immortal, I shall ask you with respect 
 to a point which all know ; answer me, and I shall prove to you 
 in one sentence that it is immortal." Then Simon, who had 
 thought that he had got, from the anger of Peter, a pretext 
 for departing, stopped on account of the remarkable promise 
 that was made to him, and said : " Ask me then, and I shall 
 answer you what all know, that I may hear in a single sen- 
 tence, as you have promised, how the soul is immortal." 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. Sight or hearing ? 
 
 Then Peter : " I shall speak so that it may be proved to 
 you before all the rest. Answer me, therefore, which of the 
 two can better persuade an incredulous man, seeing or hear- 
 ing !" Then Simon said : " Seeing." Then Peter : " Why 
 then do you wish to learn from me by words, what is proved
 
 2G2 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 to you by the thing itself and by sight?" Then Simon : " I 
 know not what you mean." Then Peter : " If you do not 
 know, go now to your house, and entering the inner bed- 
 chamber you will see an image placed, containing the figure 
 of a murdered boy clothed in purple ; ask him, and he will 
 inform you either by hearing or seeing. For what need is 
 there to hear from him if the soul is immortal, when you 
 see it standing before you ? For if it were not in being, it 
 assuredly could not be seen. But if you know not what 
 image I speak of, let us straightway go to your house, with 
 ten other men, of those who are here present." 
 
 CHAP. XLV. A home-thrust. 
 
 But Simon hearing this, and being smitten by his conscience, 
 changed colour arid became bloodless ; for he was afraid, if 
 he denied it, that his house would be searched, or that Peter 
 in his indignation would betray him more openly, and so all 
 would learn what he was. Thus he answered : " I beseech 
 thee, Peter, by that good God who is in thee, to overcome 
 the wickedness that is in me. Receive me to repentance, and 
 you shall have me as an assistant in your preaching. For 
 now I have learned in very deed that you are a prophet of 
 the true God, and therefore you alone know the secret and 
 hidden things of men." Then said Peter: " You see, brethren, 
 Simon seeking repentance : in a little while you shall see him 
 returning again to his infidelity. For, thinking that I am a 
 prophet, forasmuch as I have disclosed his wickedness, which he 
 supposed to be secret and hidden, he has promised that he will 
 repent. But it is not lawful for me to lie, nor must I deceive, 
 whether this infidel be saved or not saved. For I call heaven 
 and earth to witness, that I spoke not by a prophetic spirit 
 what I said, and what I intimated, as far as was possible, to 
 the listening crowds ; but I learned from some who once were 
 his associates in his works, but have now been converted to our 
 faith, what things he did in secret. Therefore I spoke what 
 I knew, not what I foreknew."
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 263 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. Simon* s rage. 
 
 But when Simon heard this, he assailed Peter with curses 
 and reproaches, saying : " Oh most wicked and most deceitful 
 of men, to whom fortune, not truth, hath given the victory. 
 But I sought repentance not for defect of knowledge, but in 
 order that you, thinking that by repentance I should become 
 your disciple, might entrust to me all the secrets of your pro- 
 fession, and so at length, knowing them all, I mi<jht confute 
 
 / o * o * o 
 
 you. But as you cunningly understood for what reason I 
 had pretended penitence, and acquiesced as if you did not 
 understand my stratagem, that you might first expose me in 
 presence of the people as unskilful, then foreseeing that being 
 thus exposed to the people, I must of necessity be indignant, 
 and confess that I was not truly penitent, you anticipated me, 
 that you might say that I should, after my penitence, again 
 return to my infidelity, that you might seem to have con- 
 quered on all sides, both if I continued in the penitence which 
 I had professed, and if I did not continue ; and so you should 
 be believed to be wise, because you had foreseen these things, 
 while I should seem to be deceived, because I did not foresee 
 your trick. But you foreseeing mine, have used subtlety and 
 circumvented me. But, as I said, your victory is the result 
 of fortune, not of truth : yet I know why I did not foresee 
 this ; because I stood by you and spoke with you in my 
 goodness, and bore patiently with you. But now I shall 
 show you the power of my divinity, so that you shall quickly 
 fall down and worship me. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. Simon's vaunt. 
 
 "I am the first power, who am always, and without be- 
 ginning. But having entered the womb of Rachel, I was 
 born of her as a man, that I might be visible to men. I have 
 flown through the air ; I have been mixed with fire, and been 
 made one body with it ; I have made statues to move ; I have 
 animated lifeless things ; I have made stones bread ; I have 
 flown from mountain to mountain ; I have moved from place 
 to place, upheld by angels' hands, and have lighted on the
 
 264 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK nr. 
 
 earth. Not only have I done these things ; but even now I 
 am able to do them, that by facts I may prove to all, that I 
 am the Son of God, enduring to eternity, and that I can 
 make those who believe on me endure in like manner foi 
 ever. But your words are all vain ; nor can you perform 
 any real works [such as I have now mentioned], as he also 
 who sent you is a magician, who yet could not deliver him- 
 self from the suffering of the cross." 
 
 CHAP. XLVIII. Attempts to create a disturbance. 
 
 To this speech of Simon, Peter answered : " Do not meddle 
 with the things that belong to others ; for that you are a 
 magician, you have confessed and made manifest by the very 
 deeds that you have done ; but our Master, who is the Son of 
 God and of man, is manifestly good ; and that He is truly the 
 Son of God has been told, and shall be told to those to 
 whom it is fitting. But if you will not confess that you are 
 a magician, let us go, with all this multitude, to your house, 
 and then it will be evident who is a magician." While Peter 
 was speaking thus, Simon began to assail him with blasphemies 
 and curses, that he might make a riot, and excite all so that 
 he could not be refuted, and that Peter, withdrawing on 
 account of his blasphemy, might seem to be overcome. But 
 he stood fast, and began to charge him more vehemently. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. Simon s retreat. 
 
 Then the people in indignation cast Simon from the court, 
 and drove him forth from the gate of the house ; and only one 
 person followed him when he was driven out. Then silence 
 being obtained, Peter began to address the people in this 
 manner: "You ought, brethren, to bear with wicked men 
 patiently; knowing that although God could cut them off, 
 yet He suffers them to remain even till the day appointed, in 
 which judgment shall pass upon all. Why then should not 
 we bear with those whom God suffers ? Why should not we 
 bear with fortitude the wrongs that they do to us, when He 
 who is almighty does not take vengeance on them, that both 
 His own goodness and the impiety of the wi<ked may be
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 265 
 
 known? But if the wicked one had not found Simon to be 
 his minister, lie would doubtless have found another : for it is 
 of necessity that in this life offences come, ' but woe to that 
 man by whom they come;' 1 and therefore Simon is rather to 
 be mourned over, because he has become a choice vessel for the 
 wicked one, which undoubtedly would not have happened had 
 he not received power over him for his former sins. For why 
 should I further say that he once believed in our Jesus, and 
 was persuaded that souls are immortal? 2 Although in this he 
 is deluded by demons, yet he has persuaded himself that he 
 has the soul of a murdered boy ministering to him in what- 
 ever he pleases to employ it in ; in which truly, as I have 
 said, he is deluded by demons, and therefore I spoke to him 
 according to his own ideas : for he has learned from the Jews, 
 that judgment and vengeance are to be brought forth against 
 those who set themselves against the true faith, and do not 
 repent. But there are men to whom, as being perfect in 
 crimes, the wicked one appears, that he may deceive them, so 
 that they may never be turned to repentance. 
 
 CHAP. L. Peter s benediction. 
 
 " You therefore who are turned to the Lord by repentance, 
 bend to Him your knees." When he had said this, all the 
 multitude bent their knees to God ; and Peter, looking towards 
 heaven, prayed for them with tears, that God, for His good- 
 ness, would deign to receive those betaking themselves to 
 Him. And after he had prayed, and had instructed them to 
 meet early the next day, he dismissed the multitude. Then, 
 according to custom, having taken food, we went to sleep. 
 
 CHAP. LI. Peter s accessibility. 
 
 Peter, therefore, rising at the usual hour of the night, 
 found us waking; and when, saluting us in his usual manner, 
 he had taken his seat, first of all Niceta said: "If you will 
 permit me, my lord Peter, I have something to ask of you." 
 Then Peter said : " I permit not only you, but all, and not 
 only now, but always, that every one confess what moves him, 
 1 Matt, xviii. 7. * Acts viii. 13.
 
 266 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 and the part in his mind thai is pained, in order that he may 
 obtain healing. For things which are covered with silence, 
 and are not made known to us, are cured with difficulty, like 
 maladies of long standing; and therefore, since the medicine 
 of seasonable and necessary discourse cannot easily be applied 
 to those who keep silence, every one ought to declare in what 
 respect his mind is feeble through ignorance. But to him 
 who keeps silence, it belongs to God alone to give a remedy. 
 We indeed also can do it, but by the lapse of a long time. 
 For it is necessary that the discourse of doctrine, proceeding 
 in order from the beginning, and meeting each single question, 
 should disclose all things, and resolve and reach to all things, 
 even to that which every one requires in his mind; but that, 
 as I have said, can only be done in the course of a kmg time. 
 Now, then, ask what you please." 
 
 CHAP. LIT. False signs and miracles. 
 
 Then Niceta said : " I give you abundant thanks, O most 
 clement Peter ; but this is what I desire to learn, how Simon, 
 who is the enemy of God, is able to do such and so great 
 things? For indeed he told no lie in his declaration of what 
 he has done." To this the blessed Peter thus answered : 
 "God, who is one and true, has resolved to prepare good and 
 faithful friends for His first begotten ; but knowing that none 
 can be good, unless they have in their power that perception 
 by which they may become good, that they may be of their 
 own intent what they choose to be, and otherwise they could 
 not be truly good, if they were kept in goodness not by pur- 
 pose, but by necessity, has given to every one the power 
 of his own will, that he may be what he wishes to be. And 
 again, foreseeing that that power of will would make some 
 choose good things and others evil, and so that the human 
 race would necessarily be divided into two classes, He has 
 permitted each class to choose both a place and a king, whom 
 they would. For the good King rejoices in the good, and the 
 wicked one in the evil. And although I have expounded those 
 things more fully to you, O Clement, in that treatise in which 
 I discoursed on predestination and the end, yet it is fitting
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 267 
 
 that I should now make clear to Niceta also, as he asks me, 
 what is the reason that Simon, whose thoughts are against 
 God, is able to do so great marvels. 
 
 CHAP. LIU. Self-love the foundation of goodness. 
 
 "First of all, then, he is evil, in the judgment of God, who 
 will not inquire what is advantageous to himself. For how 
 can any one love another, if he does not love himself? Or to 
 whom will that man not be an enemy, who cannot be a friend 
 to himself ? In order, therefore, that there might be a dis- 
 tinction between those who choose good and those who choose 
 evil, God has concealed that which is profitable to men, i.e. 
 the possession of the kingdom of heaven, and has laid it up 
 and hidden it as a secret treasure, so that no one can easily 
 attain it by his own power or knowledge. Yet He has brought 
 the report of it, under various names and opinions, through 
 successive generations, to the hearing of all : so that whoso- 
 ever should be lovers of good, hearing it, might inquire and 
 discover what is profitable and salutary to them ; but that 
 they should ask it, not from themselves, but from Him who 
 has hidden it, and should pray that access and the way of 
 knowledge might be given to them : which way is opened to 
 those only who love it above all the good things of this world ; 
 and on no other condition can any one even understand it, 
 however wise he may seem ; but that those who neglect to 
 inquire what is profitable and salutary to themselves, as self- 
 haters and self-enemies, should be deprived of its good things, 
 as lovers of evil things. 
 
 CHAP. LIV. God to be supremely loved. 
 
 " It behoves, therefore, the good to love that [way] above 
 all things, that is, above riches, glory, rest, parents, relatives, 
 friends, and everything in the world. But he who perfectly 
 loves this possession of the kingdom of heaven, will un- 
 doubtedly cast away all practice of evil habit, negligence, 
 sloth, malice, anger, and such like. For if you prefer any of 
 these to it, as loving the vices of your own lust more than 
 God, you shall not attain to the possession of the heavenly
 
 268 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 kingdom ; for truly it is foolish to love anything more than 
 God. For whether they be parents, they die ; or relatives, 
 they do not continue ; or friends, they change. But God 
 alone is eternal, and abideth unchangeable. He, therefore, 
 who will not seek after that which is profitable to himself, is 
 evil, to such an extent that his wickedness exceeds the very 
 prince of impiety. For he abuses the goodness of God to 
 the purpose of his own wickedness, and pleases himself ; but 
 the other neglects the good things of his own salvation, that 
 by his own destruction he may please the evil one. 
 
 CHAP. LV. Ten commandments corresponding to the plagues 
 
 f Egypt- 
 
 11 On account of those, therefore, who by neglect of their 
 own salvation please the evil one, and those who by study of 
 their own profit seek to please the good One, ten things have 
 been prescribed as a test to this present age, according to the 
 number of the ten plagues which were brought upon Egypt. 
 For when Moses, according to the commandment of God, 
 demanded of Pharaoh that he should let the people go, and 
 in token of his heavenly commission showed signs, his rod 
 being thrown upon the ground was turned into a serpent. 1 
 And when Pharaoh could not by these means be brought to 
 consent, as having freedom of will, again the magicians 
 seemed to do similar signs, by permission of God, that the 
 purpose of the king might be proved from the freedom of his 
 will, whether he would rather believe the signs wrought by 
 Moses, who was sent by God, or those which the magicians 
 rather seemed to work than actually wrought. For truly he 
 ought to have understood from their very name that they 
 were not workers of truth, because they were not called mes- 
 sengers of God, but magicians, as the tradition also intimates. 
 Moreover, they seemed to maintain the contest up to a cer- 
 tain point, and afterwards they confessed of themselves, and 
 yielded to their superior. 2 Therefore the last plague is in- 
 flicted, 3 the destruction of the first-born, and then Moses is 
 commanded to consecrate the people by the sprinkling of 
 1 Ex. vii. viii. 2 Ex. viii. 19. 8 Ex. xii.
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 269 
 
 blood ; and so, gifts being presented, with much entreaty he 
 is asked to depart with the people. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. Simon resisted Peter, as the magicians Moses. 
 
 " In a similar transaction I see that I am even now engaged. 
 For as then, when Moses exhorted the king to believe God, the 
 magicians opposed him by a pretended exhibition of similar 
 signs, and so kept back the unbelievers from salvation ; so also 
 now, when I have come forth to teach all nations to believe in 
 the true God, Simon the magician resists me, acting in oppo- 
 sition to me, as they also did in opposition to Moses ; in order 
 that whosoever they be from among the nations that do not 
 use sound judgment, they may be made manifest ; but that 
 those may be saved who rightly distinguish signs from signs." 
 While Peter thus spoke, Niceta answered : " I beseech you, 
 that you would permit me to state whatever occurs to my 
 mind." Then Peter, being delighted with the eagerness of 
 his disciples, said : " Speak what you will." 
 
 CHAP. LVII. Miracles of the magicians. 
 
 Then said Niceta: "In what respect did the Egyptians 
 sin in not believing Moses, since the magicians wrought like 
 signs, even although they were done rather in appearance 
 than in truth ? For if I had been there then, should I not 
 have thought, from the fact that the magicians did like 
 things to those which Moses did, either that Moses was a 
 magician, or that the magicians wrought their signs by divine 
 commission ? For I should not have thought it likely that 
 the same things could be effected by magicians, even in ap- 
 pearance, which he who was sent by God performed. And 
 now, in what respect do they sin who believe Simon, since 
 they see him do so great marvels ? Or is it not marvellous 
 to fly through the air, to be so mixed with fire as to become 
 one body with it, to make statues walk, brazen dogs bark, 
 and other such like things, which assuredly are sufficiently 
 wonderful to those who know not how to distinguish ? Yea, 
 he has also been seen to make bread of stones. But if he 
 sins who believes those who do signs, how shall it appear that
 
 270 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 he also does not sin who has believed our Lord for His signs 
 and works of power ? " 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. Truth veiled with love. 
 
 Then said Peter : " I take it well that you bring the truth 
 to the rule, and do not suffer hindrances of faith to lurk in 
 your soul. For thus you can easily obtain the remedy. Do 
 you remember that I said, that the worst of all things is 
 when any one neglects to learn what is for his good?" Niceta 
 answered : " I remember." Then Peter : " And again, that 
 God has veiled His truth, that He may disclose it to those 
 who faithfully follow Him ? " " Neither," said Niceta, " have 
 I forgotten this." Then said Peter : " What think you then ? 
 That God has buried His truth deep in the earth, and has 
 heaped mountains upon it, that it may be found by those only 
 who are able to dig down into the depths ? It is not so ; but 
 as He has surrounded the mountains and the earth with the 
 expanse of heaven, so hath He veiled the truth with the cur- 
 tain of His own love, that he alone may be able to reach it, 
 who has first knocked at the gate of divine love. 
 
 CHAP. LIX. Good and evil in pairs. 
 
 " For, as I was beginning to say, God has appointed for 
 this world certain pairs ; and he who comes first of the pairs 
 is of evil, he who comes second, of good. And in this is 
 given to every man an occasion of right judgment, whether 
 he is simple or prudent. For if he is simple, and believes him 
 who comes first, though moved thereto by signs and prodigies, 
 he must of necessity, for the same reason, believe him who 
 comes second ; for he will be persuaded by signs and pro- 
 digies, as he was before. When he believes this second one, 
 he will learn from him that he ought not to believe the 
 first, who comes of evil ; and so the error of the former is 
 corrected by the emendation of the latter. But if he will not 
 receive the second, because he has believed the first, he will 
 deservedly be condemned as unjust ; for unjust it is, that 
 when he believed the first on account of his signs, he will not 
 believe the second, though he bring the same, or even greater
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 271 
 
 signs. But if he has not believed the first, it follows that he 
 may be moved to believe the second. For his mind has not 
 become so completely inactive but that it may be roused by 
 the redoubling of marvels. But if he is prudent, he can 
 make distinction of the signs. And if indeed he has believed 
 in the first, he will be moved to the second by the increase in 
 the miracles, and by comparison he will apprehend which are 
 better ; although clear tests [of miracles] are recognised by all 
 learned men, as we have shown in the regular order of our 
 discussion. But if anyone, as being whole and not needing a 
 physician, is not moved to the first, he will be drawn to the 
 second by the very continuance of the thing, and will make a 
 distinction of signs and marvels after this fashion ; he who is 
 of the evil one, the signs that he works do good to no one ; but 
 those which the good man worketh are profitable to men. 
 
 CHAP. LX. Uselessness of pretended miracles. 
 
 " For tell me, I pray you, what is the use of showing 
 statues walking, dogs of brass or stone barking, mountains 
 dancing, of flying through the air, and such like things, which 
 you say that Simon did ? But those [signs] which are of the 
 good One, are directed to the advantage of men, as are those 
 which were done by our Lord, who gave sight to the blind 
 and hearing to the deaf, raised up the feeble and the lame, 
 drove away sicknesses and demons, raised the dead, and did 
 other like things, as you see also that I do. Those signs, there- 
 fore, which make for the benefit of men, and confer some 
 good upon them, the wicked one cannot do, excepting only at 
 the end of the world. For then it shall be permitted him 
 to mix up with his signs some good ones, as the expelling 
 of demons or the healing of diseases ; by this means going 
 beyond his bounds, and being divided against himself, and 
 fighting against himself, he shall be destroyed. And there- 
 fore the Lord has foretold, that in the last times there shall 
 be such temptation, that, if it be possible, the very elect shall 
 be deceived ; that is to say, that by the marks of signs being 
 confused, even those must be disturbed who seem to be expert 
 in discovering spirits and distinguishing miracles.
 
 272 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 CHAP. LXI. Ten pairs. 
 
 " The ten pairs of which we have spoken have therefore 
 been assigned to this world from the beginning of time. 
 Cain and Abel were one pair. The second was the giants 
 and Noah ; the third, Pharaoh and Abraham ; the fourth, 
 the Philistines and Isaac ; the fifth, Esau and Jacob ; the 
 sixth, the magicians and Moses the lawgiver; the seventh, 
 the tempter and the Son of man ; the eighth, Simon and 
 I, Peter ; the ninth, all nations, and he who shall be sent to 
 sow the word among the nations ; the tenth, Antichrist and 
 Christ. Concerning these pairs we shall give you fuller in- 
 formation at another time." When Peter spoke thus, Aquila 
 said : " Truly there is need of constant teaching, that one may 
 learn what is true about everything." 
 
 CHAP. LXII. The Christian life. 
 
 But Peter said : " Who is he that is earnest toward instruc- 
 tion, and that studiously inquires into every particular, except 
 him who loves his own soul to salvation, and renounces all 
 the affairs of this world, that he may have leisure to attend to 
 the word of God only ? Such is he whom alone the true Pro- 
 phet deems wise, even he who sells all that he has and buys 
 the one true pearl, 1 who understands what is the difference 
 between temporal things and eternal, small and great, men 
 and God. For he understands what is the eternal hope in 
 presence of the true and good God. But who is he that 
 loves God, save him who knows His wisdom ? And how can 
 any one obtain knowledge of God's wisdom, unless he be 
 constant in hearing His word? Whence it comes, that he 
 conceives a love for Him, and venerates Him with worthy 
 honour, pouring out hymns and prayers to Him, and most 
 pleasantly resting in these, accounteth it his greatest damage 
 if at any time he speak or do aught else even for a moment of 
 time ; because, in reality, the soul which is filled with the love 
 of God can neither look upon anything except what pertains 
 to God, nor, by reason of love of Him, can be satisfied with 
 1 Matt. xiii. 46.
 
 BOOK in.J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 273 
 
 meditating upon those things which it knows to be pleasing 
 to Him. But those who have not conceived affection for Him, 
 nor bear His love lighted up in their mind, are as it were 
 placed in darkness and cannot see light ; and therefore, even 
 before they begin to learn anything of God, they immediately 
 faint as though worn out by labour; and filled with weariness, 
 they are straightway hurried by their own peculiar habits to 
 those words with which they are pleased. For it is wearisome 
 and annoying to such persons to hear anything about God ; 
 and that for the reason I have stated, because their mind 
 has received no sweetness of divine love." 
 
 CHAP. LXIII. A deserter from Simorfs camp. 
 
 While Peter was thus speaking, the day dawned ; and, 
 behold, one of the disciples of Simon came, crying out : " I 
 beseech thee, O Peter, receive me, a wretch, who have been 
 deceived by Simon the magician, to whom I gave heed as 
 to a heavenly God, by reason of those miracles which I saw 
 him perform. But when I heard your discourses, I began 
 to think him a man, and indeed a wicked man ; nevertheless, 
 when he went out from this I alone followed him, for I had 
 not yet clearly perceived his impieties. But when he saw 
 me following him, he called me blessed, and led me to his 
 house ; and about the middle of the night he said to me, ' I 
 shall make you better than all men, if you will remain with 
 me even till the end.' When I had promised him this, he 
 demanded of me an oath of perseverance ; and having got 
 this, he placed upon my shoulders some of his polluted and 
 accursed secret things, that I might carry them, and ordered 
 me to follow him. But when we came to the sea, he went 
 aboard a boat which happened to be there, and took from 
 my neck what he had ordered me to carry. And as he came 
 out a little after, bringing nothing with him, he must have 
 thrown it into the sea. Then he asked me to go with him, 
 saying that he was going to Rome, and that there he would 
 please the people so much, that he should be reckoned a god, 
 and publicly gifted with divine honours. t Then,' said he, ' if 
 you wish to return hither, I shall send you back, loaded with 
 
 s
 
 274 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 all riches, and upheld by various services.' When I heard 
 this, and saw nothing in him in accordance with this pro- 
 fession, but perceived that he was a magician and a deceiver, 
 I answered : l Pardon me, I pray you ; for I have a pain in 
 my feet, and therefore I am not able to leave Caesarea. 
 Besides, I have a wife and little children, whom I cannot 
 leave by any means/ When he heard this, he charged me 
 with sloth, and set out towards Dora, saying, ' You will be 
 sorry, when you hear what glory I shall get in the city of 
 Rome.' And after this he set out for Rome, as he said ; but 
 I hastily returned hither, entreating you to receive me to 
 penitence, because I have been deceived by him." 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. Declaration of Simon's wickedness. 
 
 When he who had returned from Simon had thus spoken, 
 Peter ordered him to sit down in the court. And he himself 
 going forth, and seeing immense crowds, far more than on 
 the previous days, stood in his usual place ; and pointing out 
 him who had come, began to discourse as follows: "This 
 man whom I point out to you, brethren, has just come to 
 me, telling me of the wicked practices of Simon, and how he 
 has thrown the implements of his wickedness into the sea, 
 not induced to do so by repentance, but being afraid lest, 
 being detected, he should be subjected to the public laws. 
 And he asked this man, as he tells me, to remain with him, 
 promising him immense gifts ; and when he could not 
 persuade him to do so, he left him, reproaching him for 
 sluggishness, and set out for Rome." When Peter had inti- 
 mated this to the crowd, the man himself who had returned 
 from Simon stood up, and began to state to the people every- 
 thing relating to Simon's crimes. And when they were 
 shocked by the things which they heard that Simon had done 
 by his magical acts, Peter said : 
 
 CHAP. LXV. Peter resolves to follow Simon. 
 
 " Be not, my brethren, distressed by those things that have 
 been done, but gjve heed to the future : for what is passed 
 is ended ; but the things which threaten are dangerous to
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 275 
 
 those who shall fall in with them. For offences shall never 
 be wanting in this world, 1 so long as the enemy is permitted 
 to act according to his will; in order that the prudent and 
 those who understood his wiles may be conquerors in the 
 contests which he raises against them ; but that those who 
 neglect to learn the things that pertain to the salvation of 
 their souls, may be taken by him with merited deceptions. 
 Since, therefore, as you have heard, Simon has gone forth to 
 preoccupy the ears of the Gentiles who are called to salvation, 
 it is necessary that I also follow upon his track, so that what- 
 ever disputations he raises may be corrected by us. But 
 inasmuch as it is right that greater anxiety should be felt 
 concerning you who are already received within the walls of 
 life, for if that which has been actually acquired perish, a 
 positive loss is sustained ; while with respect to that which 
 has not yet been acquired, if it can be got, there is so much 
 gain ; but if not, the only loss is that there is no gain ; 
 in order, therefore, that you may be more and more con- 
 firmed in the truth, and the nations who are called to sal- 
 vation may in no way be prevented by the wickedness of 
 Simon, I have thought good to ordain Zaccheus as pastor 
 over you, and to remain with you myself for three months ; 
 and so to go to the Gentiles, lest through our delaying 
 longer, and the crimes of Simon stalking in every direction, 
 they should become incurable." 
 
 CHAP. LXVI. Zaccheus made bishop of Ccesarea; presbyters 
 and deacons ordained. 
 
 At this announcement all the people wept, hearing that 
 he was going to leave them ; and Peter, sympathizing with 
 them, himself also shed tears ; and looking up to heaven, he 
 said : " To Thee, O God, who hast made heaven and earth, 
 and all things that are in them, we pour out the prayer of 
 supplication, that Thou wouldest comfort those who have 
 recourse to Thee in their tribulation. For by reason of the 
 affection that they have towards Thee, they do love me who 
 1 Matt, xviii. 7 ; Luke xvii. 1.
 
 276 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 have declared to them Thy truth. Wherefore guard them 
 with the right hand of Thy compassion ; for neither Zaccheus 
 nor any other man can be a sufficient guardian to them." 
 When he had said this, and more to the same effect, he laid 
 his hands upon Zaccheus, and prayed that he might blame- 
 lessly discharge the duty of his bishopric. Then he ordained 
 twelve presbyters and four deacons, and said : " I have 
 ordained you this Zaccheus as a bishop, knowing that he 
 has the fear of God, and is expert in the Scriptures. You 
 ought therefore to honour him as holding the place of Christ, 
 obeying him for your salvation, and knowing that whatever 
 honour and whatever injury is done to him, redounds to 
 Christ, and from Christ to God. Hear him therefore with 
 all attention, and receive from him the doctrine of the faith ; 
 and from the presbyters the monitions of life ; and from the 
 deacons the order of discipline. Have a religious care of 
 widows ; vigorously assist orphans ; take pity on the poor ; 
 teach the young modesty ; and in a word, sustain one another 
 as circumstances shall demand; worship God, who created 
 heaven and earth ; believe in Christ ; love one another ; be 
 compassionate to all ; and fulfil charity not only in word, but 
 in act and deed." 
 
 CHAP. LXVII. Invitation to baptism. 
 
 When he had given them these and such like precepts, 
 he made proclamation to the people, saying : " Since I have 
 resolved to stay three months with you, if any one desires 
 it, let him be baptized ; that, stripped of his former evils, he 
 may for the future, in consequence of his own conduct, become 
 heir of heavenly blessings, as a reward for his good actions. 
 Whosoever will, then, let him come to Zaccheus and give his 
 name to him, and let him hear from him the mysteries of the 
 kingdom of heaven. Let him attend to frequent fastings, 
 and approve himself in all things, that at the end of these 
 three months he may be baptized on the day of the festival. 
 But every one of you shall be baptized in ever flowing waters, 
 the name of the Trine Beatitude being invoked over him ; he 
 being first anointed with oil sanctified by prayer, that so at
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 277 
 
 length, being consecrated by these things, he may attain a 
 perception of holy things." 1 
 
 CHAP. LXVIII. Twelve sent before him. 
 
 And when he had spoken at length on the subject of bap- 
 tism, 'he dismissed the crowd, and betook himself to his usual 
 place of abode ; and there, while the twelve stood around him 
 (viz. Zaccheus and Sophonias, Joseph and Michaeus, Eleazar 
 and Phineas, Lazarus and Eliseus, I Clement and Nicode- 
 mus, Niceta and Aquila), he addressed us to the following 
 effect : " Let us, my brethren, consider what is right ; for it 
 is our duty to bring some help to the nations, which are 
 called to salvation. You have yourselves heard that Simon 
 has set out, wishing to anticipate our journey. Him we 
 should have followed step by step, that wheresoever he tries to 
 subvert any, we might immediately confute him. But since 
 it appears to me to be unjust to forsake those who have been 
 already converted to God, and to bestow our care upon those 
 who are still afar off, I think it right that I should remain 
 three months with those in this city who have been turned 
 to the faith, and should strengthen them ; and yet that we 
 should not neglect those who are still far off, lest haply, if 
 they be long infected with the power of pernicious doctrine, 
 it be more difficult to recover them. Therefore I wish (only, 
 however, if you also think it right), that for Zaccheus, whom 
 we have now ordained bishop, Benjamin the son of Saba be 
 substituted ; and for Clement (whom I have resolved to have 
 always by me, because, coming from the Gentiles, he has a 
 great desire to hear the word of God) there be substituted 
 Ananias the son of Safra ; and for Niceta and Aquila, who 
 have been but lately converted to the faith of Christ, Rubelus 
 the brother of Zaccheus, and Zacharias the builder. I wish, 
 therefore, to complete the number of twelve by substituting 
 these four for the other four, that Simon may feel that I in 
 them am always with him." 
 
 1 This may be translated, " that he may partake of holy things." 
 Cotelerius supposes the words " holy things " to mean the body and 
 blood of Christ.
 
 278 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK m. 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. Arrangements approved by all the brethren. 
 
 Having therefore separated me, Clement, and Niceta and 
 Aquila, he said to those twelve : " I wish you the day after 
 to-morrow to proceed to the Gentiles, and to follow in the 
 footsteps of Simon, that you may inform me of all his pro- 
 ceedings. You will also inquire diligently the sentiments of 
 every one, and announce to them that I shall come to them 
 without delay ; and, in short, in all places instruct the Gentiles 
 to expect my coming." When he had spoken these things, 
 and others to the same effect, he said : " You also, my 
 brethren, if you have anything to say to these things, say 
 on, lest haply it be not right which seems good to me alone." 
 Then all, with one voice applauding him, said : " We ask you 
 rather to arrange everything according to your own judgment, 
 and to order what seems good to yourself ; for this we think to 
 be the perfect work of piety, if we fulfil what you command." 
 
 CHAP. LXX. Departure of the tivelve. 
 
 Therefore, on the day appointed, when they had ranged 
 themselves before Peter, they said : " Do not think, O Peter, 
 that it is a small grief to us that we are to be deprived of the 
 privilege of hearing you for three months ; but since it is 
 good for us to do what you order, we shall most readily obey. 
 We shall always retain in our hearts the remembrance of 
 your face ; and so we set out actively, as you have com- 
 manded us." Then he, having poured out a prayer to the 
 Lord for them, dismissed them. And when those twelve 
 who had been sent forward had gone, Peter entered, accord- 
 ing to custom, and stood in the place of disputation. And u 
 multitude of people had come together, even a larger number 
 than usual ; and all with tears gazed upon him, by reason of 
 what they had heard from him the day before, that he was 
 about to go forth on account of Simon. Then, seeing them 
 weeping, he himself also was similarly affected, although he 
 endeavoured to conceal and to restrain his tears. But the 
 trembling of his voice, and the interruption of his discourse, 
 betrayed that he was distressed by similar emotion.
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 279 
 
 CHAP. LXXI. Peter prepares the Ccesareans for his departure. 
 
 However, rubbing his forehead with his hand, he said : 
 " Be of good courage, my brethren, and comfort your sorrow- 
 ful hearts by means of counsel, referring all things to God, 
 whose will alone is to be fulfilled and to be preferred in all 
 things. For let us suppose for a moment, that by reason of 
 the affection that we have towards you, we should act against 
 His will, and remain with you, is He not able, by sending 
 death upon me, to appoint to me a longer separation from 
 you ? And therefore it is better for us to carry out this 
 shorter separation with His will, as those to whom it is pre- 
 scribed to obey God in all things. Hence you also ought to 
 obey Him with like submission, inasmuch as you love me 
 from no other reason than on account of your love of Him. 
 As friends of God, therefore, acquiesce in His will ; but also 
 judge yourselves what is right. Would it not have seemed 
 wicked, if, when Simon was deceiving you, I had been detained 
 by the brethren in Jerusalem, and had not come to you, and 
 that although you had Zaccheus among you, a good and 
 eloquent man ? So now also consider that it would be wicked, 
 if, when Simon has gone forth to assail the Gentiles, who are 
 wholly without a defender, I should be detained by you, and 
 should not follow him. Wherefore let us see to it, that we 
 do not, by an unreasonable affection, accomplish the will of 
 the wicked one. 
 
 CHAP. LXXII. More than ten thousand baptized. 
 
 "Meantime I shall remain with you three months, as I 
 promised. Be ye constant in hearing the word ; and at the 
 end of that time, if any are able and willing to follow us, 
 they may do so, if duty will admit of it. And when I say if 
 duty will admit, I mean that no one by his departure must 
 sadden any one who ought not to be saddened, as by leaving 
 parents who ought not to be left, or a faithful wife, or any 
 other person to whom he is bound to afford comfort for God's 
 sake." Meantime ? disputing and teaching day by day, he 
 filled up the time appointed with the labour of teaching ;
 
 280 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK in. 
 
 and when the festival day arrived, upwards of ten thousand 
 were baptized. 
 
 CHAP. LXXIIT. Tidings of Simon. 
 
 But in those days a letter was received from the brethren 
 who had gone before, in which were detailed the crimes of 
 Simon, how going from city to city he was deceiving multi- 
 tudes, and everywhere maligning Peter, so that, when he 
 should come, no one might afford him a hearing. For he 
 asserted that Peter, was a magician, a godless man, injurious, 
 cunning, ignorant, and professing impossible things. " For," 
 says he, " he asserts that the dead shall rise again, which is 
 impossible. But if any one attempts to confute him, he is 
 cut off by secret snares by him, through means of his attend- 
 ants. Wherefore, I also," says he, " when I had vanquished 
 him and triumphed over him, fled for fear of his snares, lest 
 he should destroy me by incantations, or compass my death by 
 plots." They intimated also that he mainly stayed at Tripolis. 
 
 CHAP. LXXIV. Farewell to Ccesarea. 
 
 Peter therefore ordered the letter to be read to the people ; 
 and after the reading of it, he addressed them and gave them 
 full instructions about everything, but especially that they 
 should obey Zaccheus, whom he had ordained bishop over 
 them. Also he commended the presbyters and the deacons 
 to the people, and not less the people to them. And then, 
 announcing that he should spend the winter at Tripolis, he 
 said : " I commend you to the grace of God, being about to 
 depart to-morrow, with God's will." But during the whole 
 three months which he spent at Caesarea, for the sake of 
 instruction, whatever he discoursed of in the presence of the 
 people in the day-time, he explained more fully and perfectly 
 in the night, in private to us, as more faithful and completely 
 approved by him. And at the same time he commanded me, 
 because he understood that I carefully stored in my memory 
 what I heard, to commit to writing whatever seemed worthy 
 of record, and to send it to you, my lord James, as also I did, 
 in obedience to his command.
 
 BOOK in.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 281 
 
 CHAP. LXXV. Contents of ClemenCs despatches to James. 
 The first book, 1 therefore, of those that I formerly sent to 
 you, contains an account of the true Prophet, and of the pecu- 
 liarity of the understanding of the law, according to what the 
 tradition of Moses teacheth. The second contains an account 
 of the beginning, and whether there be one beginning or many, 
 and that the law of the Hebrews knows what immensity is. 
 The third, concerning God, and those things that have been 
 ordained by Him. The fourth, that though there are many 
 that are called gods, there is but one true God, according to 
 the testimonies of the Scriptures. The fifth, that there are 
 two heavens, one of which is that visible firmament which 
 shall pass away, but the other is eternal and invisible. The 
 sixth, concerning good and evil ; and that all things are sub- 
 jected to good by the Father ; and why, and how, and whence 
 evil is, and that it co-operates with good, but not with a good 
 purpose ; and what are the signs of good, and what those of 
 evil ; and what is the difference between duality and conjunc- 
 tion. The seventh, what are the things which the twelve 
 apostles treated of in the presence of the people in the temple. 
 The eighth, concerning the words of the Lord which seem to 
 be contradictory, but are not ; and what is the explanation of 
 them. The ninth, that the law which has been given by God 
 is righteous and perfect, and that it alone can make pure. The 
 tenth, concerning the carnal birth of men, and concerning the 
 generation which is by baptism ; and what is the succession of 
 carnal seed in man ; and what is the account of his soul, and 
 how the freedom of the will is in it, which, seeing it is not 
 unbegotten, but made, could not be immoveable from good. 
 Concerning these several subjects, therefore, whatever Peter 
 discoursed at C^sarea, according to his command, as I have 
 said, I have sent you written in ten volumes. But on the next 
 day, as had been determined, we set out from Caisarea with 
 some faithful men, who had resolved to accompany Peter. 
 
 1 Cotelerius remarks that these ten books previously sent to James 
 (if they ever existed) ought to be distinguished from the ten books of the 
 Recognitions, which were addressed to the same James, but written after 
 those now mentioned.
 
 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 BOOK IV. 
 CHAP. i. Halt at Dora. 
 
 1AVING set out from Cassarea on the way to 
 Tripolis, we made our first stoppage at a small 
 town called Dora, because it was not far distant ; 
 and almost all those who had believed through 
 the preaching of Peter could scarcely bear to be separated 
 from him, but walked along with us, again and again gazing 
 upon him, again and again embracing him, again and again 
 conversing with him, until we came to the inn. On the 
 following day we came to Ptolemais, where we stayed ten 
 days ; and when a considerable number had received the word 
 of God, we signified to some of them who seemed particularly 
 attentive, and wished to detain us longer for the sake of in- 
 struction, that they might, if so disposed, follow us to Tripolis. 
 We acted in the same way at Tyre, and Sidon, and Berytus, 
 and announced to those who desired to hear further discourses, 
 that we were to spend the winter at Tripolis. Therefore, as 
 all those who were anxious followed Peter from each city, we 
 were a great multitude of elect ones when we entered into 
 Tripolis. On our arrival, the brethren who had been sent 
 before met us before the gates of the city ; and taking us 
 under their charge, conducted us to the various lodgings 
 which they had prepared. Then there arose a commotion in 
 the city, and a great assemblage of persons desirous to see 
 Peter. 
 
 CHAP. ii. Reception in the house of Mar o. 
 And when we had come to the house of Maro, in which 
 
 282
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 283 
 
 preparation had been made for Peter, he turned to the crowd, 
 and told them that he would address them the day after to- 
 morrow. Therefore the brethren who had been sent before 
 assigned lodgings to all who had come with us. Then, when 
 Peter had entered into the house of Maro, and was asked to 
 partake of food, he answered that he would by no means 
 do so, until he had ascertained whether all those that had 
 accompanied him were provided with lodgings. Then he 
 learned from the brethren who had been sent before, that 
 the citizens had received them not only hospitably, but with 
 all kindness, by reason of their love towards Peter ; so much 
 so, that several were disappointed because there were no 
 guests for them ; for that all had made such preparations, 
 that even if many more had come, there would still have 
 been a deficiency of guests for the hosts, not of hosts for the 
 guests. 
 
 CHAP. in. Simon's flight. 
 
 Thereupon Peter was greatly delighted, and praised the 
 brethren, and blessed them, and requested them to remain 
 with him. Then, when he had bathed in the sea, and had 
 taken food, he went to sleep in the evening ; and rising, as 
 usual, at cock-crow, while the evening light was still burning, 
 he found us all awake. Now there were in all sixteen of us, 
 viz. Peter and I, Clement, Niceta and Aquila, and those 
 twelve who had preceded us. Saluting us, then, as was his 
 wont, Peter said : " Since we are not taken up with others 
 to-day, let us be taken up with ourselves. I shall tell you 
 what took place at Csesarea after your departure, and you 
 shall tell us of the doings of Simon here." And while the 
 conversation was going on on these subjects, at daybreak 
 some of the members of the family came in and told Peter 
 that Simon, when he heard of Peter's arrival, departed in the 
 night, on the way to Syria. They also stated that the crowds 
 thought that the day which he had said was to intervene was a 
 very long time for their affection, and that they were standing 
 in impatience before the gate, conversing among themselves 
 about those things which they wished to hear, and that they
 
 284 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon iv. 
 
 hoped that they should bj all means see him before the time 
 appointed ; and that as the day became lighter the multitudes 
 were increasing, and that they were trusting confidently, 
 whatever they might be presuming upon, that they should 
 hear a discourse from him. " Now then," said they, " instruct 
 us to tell them what seems good to you ; for it is absurd that 
 so great a multitude should have come together, and should 
 depart with sadness, through no answer being returned to 
 them. For they will not consider that it is they that have 
 not waited for the appointed day, but rather they will think 
 that you are slighting them." 
 
 CHAP. iv. The harvest plenteous. 
 
 Then Peter, filled with admiration, said: "You see, 
 brethren, how every word of the Lord spoken prophetically 
 is fulfilled. For I remember that He said, ' The harvest indeed 
 is plenteous, but the labourers are few ; ask therefore the 
 Lord of the harvest, that He would send out labourers into 
 His harvest.' 1 Behold, therefore, the things which are foretold 
 in a mystery are fulfilled. But whereas He said also, 'Many 
 shall come from the east and the west, from the north and 
 the south, and shall recline in the bosom of Abraham, and 
 Isaac, and Jacob;' 2 this also is, as you see, in like manner 
 fulfilled. Wherefore I entreat you, my fellow-servants and 
 helpers, that you would learn diligently the order of preaching, 
 and the ways of absolutions, that ye may be able to save the 
 souls of men, which by the secret power of God acknowledge 
 whom they ought to love, even before they are taught. For 
 you see that these men, like good servants, long for him 
 whom they expect to announce to them the coming of their 
 Lord, that they may be able to fulfil His will when they have 
 learned it. The desire, therefore, of hearing the word of 
 God, and inquiring into His will, they have from God ; and 
 this is the beginning of the gift of God, which is given to 
 the Gentiles, that by this they may be able to receive the 
 doctrine of truth. 
 
 1 Matt. ix. 37, 38. * Luke xiii. 29 ; Matt. viii. 11.
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 285 
 
 CHAP. v. Moses and Christ. 
 
 " For so also it was given to the people of the Hebrews from 
 the beginning, that they should love Moses, and believe his 
 word ; whence also it is written : * The people believed God, 
 and Moses His servant.' 1 What, therefore, was of peculiar 
 gift from God toward the nation of the Hebrews, we see now 
 to be given also to those who are called from among the 
 Gentiles to the faith. But the method of works is put into 
 the power and will of every one, and this is their own ; but 
 to have an affection towards a teacher of truth, this is a gift 
 of the heavenly Father. But salvation is in this, that you do 
 His will of Avhom you have conceived a love and affection 
 through the gift of God ; lest that saying of His be addressed 
 to you which He spoke, l Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do 
 not what I say?' 2 It is therefore the peculiar gift bestowed 
 by God upon the Hebrews, that they believe Moses ; and the 
 peculiar gift bestowed upon the Gentiles is that they love 
 Jesus. For this also the Master intimated, when He said, * I 
 will confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because Thou hast concealed these things from the wise and 
 prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.' 3 By which it is 
 certainly declared, that the people of the Hebrews, who were 
 instructed out of the law, did not know Him ; but the people 
 of the Gentiles have acknowledged Jesus, and venerate Him ; 
 on which account also they shall be saved, not only acknow- 
 ledging Him, but also doing His will. But he who is of the 
 Gentiles, and who has it of God to believe Moses, ought also 
 to have it of his own purpose to love Jesus also. And again, 
 the Hebrew, who has it of God to believe Moses, ought to 
 
 / 7 O 
 
 have it also of his own purpose to believe in Jesus ; so that 
 each of them, having in himself something of the divine gift, 
 and something of his own exertion, may be perfect by both. 
 For concerning such an one our Lord spoke, as of a rich man, 
 'Who brings forth from his treasures things new and old.' 4 
 
 1 Ex. xiv. 31. a Luke vi. 46. 
 
 Matt. xi. 25. * Matt. xiii. 52.
 
 286 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 CHAP. VI. A congregation. 
 
 "But enough has been said of these things; for time presses, 
 and the religious devotion of the people invites us to address 
 them." And when he had thus spoken, he asked where there 
 was a suitable place for discussion. And Maro said : " I have 
 a very spacious hall l which can hold more than five hundred 
 men, and there is also a garden within the house ; or if it 
 please you to be in some public place, all would prefer it, 
 for there is nobody who does not desire at least to see your 
 face." Then Peter said : " Show me the hall, or the garden." 
 And when he had seen the hall, he went in to see the garden 
 also ; and suddenly the whole multitude, as if some one had 
 called them, rushed into the house, and thence broke through 
 into the garden, %vhere Peter was already standing, selecting 
 a fit place for discussion. 
 
 CHAP. vii. The sick healed. 
 
 But when he saw that the crowds had, like the waters of a 
 great river, poured over the narrow passage, he mounted upon 
 a pillar which happened to stand near the wall of the garden, 
 and first saluted the people in a religious manner. But some 
 of those who were present, and who had been for a long time 
 distressed by demons, threw themselves on the ground, while 
 the unclean spirits entreated that they might be allowed but for 
 one day to remain in the bodies that they had taken possession 
 of. But Peter rebuked them, and commanded them to de- 
 part ; and they went out without delay. After these, others 
 who had been afflicted with long-standing sicknesses asked 
 Peter that they might receive healing ; and he promised that 
 he would entreat the Lord for them as soon as his discourse 
 of instruction was completed. But as soon as he promised, they 
 were freed from their sicknesses ; and he ordered them to sit 
 down apart, with those who had been freed from the demons, as 
 after the fatigue of labour. Meantime, while this was going 
 on, a vast multitude assembled, attracted not only by the 
 desire of hearing Peter, but also by the report of the cures 
 1 jEdes, in the singular, probably a temple.
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 287 
 
 which had been accomplished. But Peter, beckoning with 
 his hand to the people to be still, and settling the crowds in 
 tranquillity, began to address them as follows : 
 
 CHAP. vili. Providence vindicated. 
 
 " It seems to me necessary, at the outset of a discourse 
 concerning the true worship of God, first of all to instruct 
 those who have not as yet acquired any knowledge of the 
 subject, that throughout the divine providence must be main- 
 tained to be without blame, by which the world is ruled and 
 governed. Moreover, the reason of the present undertaking, 
 and the occasion offered by those whom the power of God has 
 healed, suggest this subject for a beginning, viz. to show that 
 for good reason very many persons are possessed of demons, 
 that so the justice of God may appear. For ignorance will be 
 found to be the mother of almost all evils. But now let us 
 come to the reason. 
 
 CHAP. ix. State of innocence a state of enjoyment. 
 
 "When God had made man after His own image and 
 likeness, He grafted into His work a certain breathing and 
 odour of His divinity, 'that so men, being made partakers of 
 His Only-begotten, might through Him be also friends of 
 God and sons of adoption. Whence also He Himself, as 
 the true Prophet, knowing with what actions the Father is 
 pleased, instructed them in what way they might obtain that 
 privilege. At that time, therefore, there was among men 
 only one worship of God a pure mind and an uncorrupted 
 spirit. And for this reason every creature kept an inviolable 
 covenant with the human race. For by reason of their 
 reverence of the Creator, no sickness, or bodily disorder, or 
 corruption of food, had power over them ; whence it came to 
 pass, that a life of a thousand years did not fall into the frailty 
 of old age. 
 
 CHAP. x. Sin the cause of suffering. 
 
 " But when men, leading a life void of distress, began to 
 think that the continuance of good things was granted them
 
 288 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon iv. 
 
 not by the divine bounty, but by the chance of things, and to 
 accept as a debt of nature, not as a gift of God's goodness, 
 their enjoyment without any exertion of the delights of the 
 divine complaisance, men, being led by these things into 
 contrary and impious thoughts, came at last, at the instiga- 
 tion of idleness, to think that the life of gods was theirs by 
 nature, without any labours or merits on their part. Hence 
 they go from bad to worse, to believe that neither is the world 
 governed by the providence of God, nor is there any place 
 for virtues, since they knew that they themselves possessed 
 the fulness of ease and delights, without the assignment of 
 any works previously, and without any labours were treated 
 as the friends of God. 
 
 CHAP. XI. Suffering salutary. 
 
 u By the most righteous judgment of God, therefore, labours 
 and afflictions are assigned as a remedy to men languishing 
 in the vanity of such thoughts. And when labour and tribu- 
 lations came upon them, they were excluded from the place 
 of delights and amenity. Also the earth began to produce 
 nothing to them without labour ; and then men's thoughts 
 being turned in them, they were warned to seek the aid of 
 their Creator, and by prayers and vows to ask for the divine 
 protection. And thus it came to pass, that the worship of 
 God, which they had neglected by reason of their prosperity, 
 they recovered through their adversity ; and their thoughts 
 towards God, which indulgence had perverted, affliction cor- 
 rected. So therefore the divine providence, seeing that this 
 was more profitable to man, removed from them the ways of 
 benignity and abundance, as being hurtful, and introduced 
 the way of vexation and tribulation. 
 
 CHAP. xu. Translation of Enoch. 
 " But that He mi^ht show that these things were done on 
 
 O O 
 
 account of the ungrateful, He translated to immortality a 
 certain one of the first race of men, because He saw that he 
 was not unmindful of His grace, and because he hoped to
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 289 
 
 call on the name of God j 1 while the rest, who were so un- 
 grateful that they could not be amended and corrected even 
 by labours and tribulations, were condemned to a terrible 
 death. Yet amongst them also He found a certain one, who 
 was righteous with his house, 2 whom He preserved, having 
 enjoined him to build an ark, in which he and those who were 
 commanded to go with him might escape, when all things 
 should be destroyed by a deluge : in order that, the wicked 
 being cut off by the overflow of waters, the world might 
 receive a purification ; and he who had been preserved for 
 the continuance of the race, being purified by water, might 
 anew repair the world. 
 
 CHAP. xni. Origin of idolatry. 
 
 11 But when all these things were done, men turned again 
 to impiety ; and on this account a law was given by God to 
 instruct them in the manner of living. But in process of 
 time, the worship of God and righteousness were corrupted 
 by the unbelieving and the wicked, as we shall show more 
 fully by and by. Moreover, perverse and erratic religions 
 were introduced, to which the greater part of men gave them- 
 selves up, by occasion of holidays and solemnities, instituting 
 drinkings and banquets, following pipes, and flutes, and harps, 
 and diverse kinds of musical instruments, and indulging 
 themselves in all kinds of drunkenness and luxury. Hence 
 every kind of error took rise ; hence they invented groves 
 and altars, fillets and victims, and after drunkenness they 
 were agitated as if with mad emotions. By this means power 
 was given to the demons to enter into minds of this sort, 
 so that they seemed to lead insane dances and to rave like 
 Bacchanalians ; hence were invented the gnashing of teeth, 
 and bellowing from the depth of their bowels ; hence a 
 terrible countenance and a fierce aspect in men, so that he 
 whom drunkenness had subverted and a demon had instigated, 
 
 1 There seems to be here a mixing up of the translation of Enoch with 
 the statement that in the days of Enos men began to call on the name 
 of the Lord ; Gen. iv. 26. 
 
 2 Can. vi. 9. 
 
 T
 
 230 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 was believed by the deceived and the erring to be filled with 
 the Deity. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. God both good and righteous. 
 
 " Hence, since so many false and erratic religions have 
 been introduced into the world, we have been sent, as good 
 merchants, bringing unto you the worship of the true God, 
 handed down from the fathers, and preserved ; as the seeds of 
 which we scatter these words amongst you, and place it in 
 your choice to choose what seems to you to be right. For 
 if you receive those things which we bring you, you shall not 
 only be able yourselves to escape the incursions of the demon, 
 but also to drive them away from others ; and at the same 
 time you shall obtain the rewards of eternal good things. 
 But those who shall refuse to receive those things which are 
 spoken by us, shall be subject in the present life to diverse 
 demons and disorders of sicknesses, and their souls after their 
 departure from the body shall be tormented for ever. For 
 God is not only good, but also just ; for if He were always 
 good, and never just to render to every one according to 
 his deeds, goodness would be found to be injustice. For it 
 were injustice if the impious and the pious were treated by 
 Him alike. 
 
 CHAP. xv. How demons get power over men. 
 
 " Therefore demons, as we have just said, when once they 
 have been able, by means of opportunities afforded them, to 
 convey themselves through base and evil actions into the bodies 
 of men, if they remain in them a long time through their own 
 negligence, because they do not seek after what is profitable 
 to their souls, they necessarily compel them for the future 
 io fulfil the desires of the demons who dwell in them. But 
 what is worst of all, at the end of the world, when that demon 
 shall be consigned to eternal fire, of necessity the soul also 
 which obeyed him, shall with him be tortured in eternal fires, 
 together with its body which it hath polluted.
 
 BOOKIV.J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 291 
 
 CHAP. xvi. Why they wish to possess men. 
 
 " Xow that the demons are desirous of occupying the bodies 
 of men, this is the reason. They are spirits having their 
 purpose turned to wickedness. Therefore by immoderate 
 eating and drinking, and lust, they urge men on to sin ; but 
 only those who entertain the purpose of sinning, who, while 
 they seem simply desirous of satisfying the necessary cravings 
 of nature, give opportunity to the demons to enter into them, 
 because through excess they do not maintain moderation. 
 For as long as the measure of nature is kept, and legitimate 
 moderation is preserved, the mercy of God does not give them 
 liberty to enter into men. But when either the mind falls 
 into impiety, or the body is filled with immoderate meat or 
 drink, then, as if invited by the will and purpose of those 
 who thus neglect themselves, they receive power as against 
 those who have broken the law imposed by God. 
 
 CHAP. xvn. The gospel gives power over demons. 
 
 " You see, then, how important is the acknowledgment of 
 God, and the observance of the divine religion, which not 
 only protects those who believe from the assaults of the 
 demon, but also gives them command over those who rule 
 over others. And therefore it is necessary for you, who are 
 of the Gentiles, to betake yourselves to God, and to keep 
 yourselves from all uncleanness, that the demons may be ex- 
 pelled, and God may dwell in you. And at the same time, 
 by prayers, commit yourselves to God, and call for His aid 
 against the impudence of the demons ; for ( whatever things 
 ye ask, believing, ye shall receive.' 1 But even the demons 
 themselves, in proportion, as they see faith grow in a man, in 
 that proportion they depart from him, residing only in that 
 part in which something of infidelity still remains ; but from 
 those who believe with full faith, they depart without any 
 delay. For when a soul has come to the faith of God, it 
 obtains the virtue of heavenly water, by which it extinguishes 
 the demon like a spark of fire. 
 
 1 Matt. xxi. 22.
 
 292 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. This power in proportion to faith. 
 
 "There is therefore a measure of faith, which, if it be per- 
 fect, drives the demon perfectly from the soul ; but if it has 
 any defect, something on the part of the demon still remains 
 in the portion of infidelity ; and it is the greatest difficulty 
 for the soul to understand when or how, whether fully or 
 less fully, the demon has been expelled from it. For if he 
 remains in any quarter, when he gets an opportunity, he 
 suggests thoughts to men's hearts; and they, not knowing 
 whence they come, believe the suggestions of the demons, 
 as if they were the perceptions of their own souls. Thus 
 they suggest to some to follow pleasure by occasion of bodily 
 necessity ; they excuse the passion ateness of others by excess 
 of gall ; they colour over the madness of others by the vehe- 
 mence of melancholy ; and even extenuate the folly of some 
 as the result of abundance of phlegm. But even if this were 
 so, still none of these could be hurtful to the body, except 
 from the excess of meats and drinks ; because, when these 
 are taken in excessive quantities, their abundance, which the 
 natural warmth is not sufficient to digest, curdles into a sort 
 of poison, and it, flowing through the bowels and all the veins 
 like a common sewer, renders the motions of the body un- 
 healthy and base. Wherefore moderation is to be attained in 
 all things, that neither may place be given to demons, nor the 
 soul, being possessed by them, be delivered along with them 
 to be tormented in eternal fires. 
 
 CHAP. xix. Demons incite to idolatry. 
 
 " There is also another error of the demons, which they sug- 
 gest to the senses of men, that they should think that those 
 things which they suffer, they suffer from such as are called 
 gods, in order that thereby, offering sacrifices and gifts, as if 
 to propitiate them, they may strengthen the worship of false 
 religion, and avoid us who are interested in their salvation, 
 that they may be freed from error ; but this they do, as I have 
 said, not knowing that these things are suggested to them by 
 demons, for fear they should be saved. It is therefore in the
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 293 
 
 power of every one, since man has been made possessed of free- 
 will, whether he shall hear us to life, or the demons to destruc- 
 tion. Also to some, the demons, appearing visibly under various 
 figures, sometimes throw out threats, sometimes promise re- 
 lief from sufferings, that they may instil into those whom 
 they deceive the opinion of their being gods, and that it may 
 not be known that they are demons. But they are not con- 
 cealed from us, who know the mysteries of the creation, and 
 for what reason it is permitted to the demons to do those 
 things in the present world ; how it is allowed them to trans- 
 form themselves into what figures they please, and to suggest 
 evil thoughts, and to convey themselves, by means of meats 
 and of drink consecrated to them, into the minds or bodies of 
 those who partake of it, and to concoct vain dreams to further 
 the worship of some idol. 
 
 CHAP. xx. Folly of idolatry. 
 
 " And yet who can be found so senseless as to be persuaded 
 to worship an idol, whether it be made of gold or of any other 
 metal 1 To whom is it not manifest that the metal is just that 
 which the artificer pleased? How then can the divinity be 
 thought to be in that which would not be at all unless the 
 artificer had pleased? Or how can they hope that future 
 things should be declared to them by that in which there is 
 no perception of present things ? For although they should 
 divine something, they should not straightway be held to be 
 gods ; for divination is one thing, divinity is another. For 
 the Pythons also seem to divine, yet they are not gods ; and, 
 in short, they are driven out of men by Christians. And how 
 can that be God which is put to flight by a man? But per- 
 haps you will say, What as to their effecting cures, and their 
 showing how one can be cured ? On this principle, physicians 
 ought also to be worshipped as gods, for they cure many; 
 and in proportion as any one is more skilful, the more he 
 will cure. 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Heathen oracles. 
 " Whence it is evident that they, since they are demoniac
 
 294 EECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 spirits, know some things both more quickly and more per- 
 fectly [than men] ; for they are not retarded in their learning 
 by the heaviness of a body. And therefore they, as being 
 spirits, know without delay and without difficulty what phy- 
 sicians attain after a long time and by much labour. It is 
 not wonderful, therefore, if they know somewhat more than 
 men do ; but this is to be observed, that what they know 
 they do not employ for the salvation of souls, but for the 
 deception of them, that by means of it they may indoctrinate 
 them in the worship of false religion. But God, that the 
 error of so great deception might not be concealed, and that 
 He Himself might not seem to be a cause of error in per- 
 mitting them so great licence to deceive men by divinations, 
 and cures, and dreams, has of His mercy furnished men 
 with a remedy, and has made the distinction of falsehood 
 and truth patent to those who desire to know. This, there- 
 fore, is that distinction : what is spoken by the true God, 
 whether by prophets or by diverse visions, is always true ; but 
 what is foretold by demons is not always true. It is there- 
 fore an evident sign that those things are not spoken by the 
 true God, in which at any time there is falsehood ; for in 
 truth there is never falsehood. But in the case of those who 
 speak falsehoods, there may occasionally be a slight mixture 
 of truth, to give as it were seasoning to the falsehoods. 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Why they sometimes come true. 
 
 "But if any one say, What is the use of this, that they 
 should be permitted even sometimes to speak truth, and 
 thereby so much error be introduced amongst men ? let him 
 take this for answer : If they had never been allowed to 
 speak any truth, then they would not foretell anything at all ; 
 while if they did not foretell, they would not be known to be 
 demons. But if demons were not known to be in this world, 
 the cause of our struggle and contest would be concealed from 
 us, and we should suffer openly what was done in secret, that 
 is, if the power were granted to them of only acting against 
 us, and not of speaking. But now, since they sometimes 
 speak truth, and sometimes falsehood, we ought to acknow-
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 295 
 
 ledge, as I have said, that their responses are of demons, and 
 not of God, with whom there is never falsehood. 
 
 CHAP. xxin. Evil not in substance. 
 
 " But if any one, proceeding more curiously, inquire : What 
 then was the use of God's making these evil things, which 
 should have so great a tendency to subvert the minds of 
 men ? To one proposing such a question, we answer that 
 we must first of all Jnquire whether there is any evil in sub-' 
 stance. And although it would be sufficient to say to him 
 that it is not suitable that the creature judge the Creator, 
 but that to judge the work of another belongs to him who is 
 either of equal skill or equal power ; yet, to come directly 
 to the point, we say absolutely that there is no evil in sub- 
 stance. But if this be so, then the Creator of substance is 
 vainly blamed. 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Why God permits evil. 
 
 " But you will meet me by saying, Even if it has come to 
 this through freedom of will, was the Creator ignorant that 
 those whom He created would fall awav into evil ? He ought 
 
 O 
 
 therefore not to have created those who, He foresaw, would 
 deviate from the path of righteousness. Now we tell those 
 who ask such questions, that the purpose of assertions of the 
 sort made by us is to show why the wickedness of those who as 
 yet were not, did not prevail over the goodness of the Creator. 1 
 For if, wishing to fill up the number and measure of His 
 creation, He had been afraid of the wickedness of those who 
 were to be, and like one who could find no other way of re- 
 medy and cure, except only this, that He should refrain from 
 His purpose of creating, lest the wickedness of those who were 
 to be should be ascribed to Him ; what else would this show 
 but unworthy suffering and unseemly feebleness on the part of 
 
 1 There is considerable variety of reading in this sentence, and the precise 
 meaning is somewhat obscure. The general sense, however, is sufficiently 
 evident, that if God had refrained from creating those who, He foresaw, 
 would fall into evil, this would have been to subject His goodness to 
 their eviL
 
 296 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 the Creator, who should so fear the actings of those who as 
 yet were not, that He refrained from His purposed creation ? 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Evil beings turned to good account. 
 
 " But, setting aside these things, let us consider this 
 earnestly, that God the Creator of the universe, foreseeing 
 the future differences of His creation, foresaw and provided 
 diverse ranks and different offices to each of His creatures, 
 according to the peculiar movements which were produced 
 from freedom of will ; so that while all men are of one sub- 
 stance in respect of the method of creation, there should yet be 
 diversity in ranks and offices, according to the peculiar move- 
 ments of minds, to be produced from liberty of will. There- 
 fore He foresaw that there would be faults in His creatures ; 
 and the method of His justice demanded that punishment 
 should follow faults, for the sake of amendment. It behoved, 
 therefore, that there should be ministers of punishment, and 
 yet that freedom of will should draw them into that order. 
 Moreover, those also must have enemies to conquer, who had 
 undertaken the contests for the heavenly rewards. Thus, 
 therefore, neither are those things destitute of utility which 
 are thought to be evil, since the conquered unwillingly acquire 
 eternal rewards for those by whom they are conquered. But 
 let this suffice on these points, for in process of time even 
 more secret things shall be disclosed. 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Evil angels seducers. 
 
 " Now therefore, since you do not yet understand how great 
 darkness of ignorance surrounds you, meantime I wish to 
 explain to you whence the worship of idols began in this 
 world. And by idols, I mean those lifeless images which you 
 worship, whether made of wood, or earthenware, or stone, or 
 brass, or any other metals : of these the beginning was in this 
 wise. Certain angels, having left the course of their proper 
 order, began to favour the vices of men, and in some measure 
 to lend unworthy aid to their lust, in order that by these 
 means they might indulge their own pleasures the more ; 
 and then, that they might not seem to be inclined of their
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 297 
 
 own accord to unworthy services, taught men that demons 
 could, by certain arts that is, by magical invocations be 
 made to obey men ; and so, as from a furnace and workshop 
 of wickedness, they filled the whole world with the smoke 
 of impiety, the light of piety being withdrawn. 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. Ham the first magician. 
 
 " For these and some other causes, a flood was brought upon 
 the world, as we have said already, and shall say again ; and 
 all who were upon the earth were destroyed, except the family 
 of Noah, who survived, with his three sons and their wives. 
 One of these, by name Ham, unhappily discovered the 
 magical act, and handed down the instruction of it to one of 
 his sons, who was called Mesraim, from whom the race of 
 the Egyptians and Babylonians and Persians are descended. 
 Him the nations who then existed called > Zoroaster, admiring 
 him as the first author of the magic art ; under whose name 
 also many books on this subject exist. He therefore, being 
 much and frequently intent upon the stars, and wishing to be 
 esteemed a god among them, began to draw forth, as it were, 
 certain sparks from the stars, and to show them to men, in 
 order that the rude and ignorant might be astonished, as with 
 a miracle ; and desiring to increase this estimation of him, 
 he attempted these things again and again, until he was set 
 on fire, and consumed by the demon himself, whom he ac- 
 costed with too great importunity. 
 
 CHAP. xxvm. Tower of Babel. 
 
 te But the foolish men who were then, whereas they ought to 
 have abandoned the opinion which they had conceived of him, 
 inasmuch as they had seen it confuted by his mortal punish- 
 ment, extolled him all the more. For raising a sepulchre to 
 his honour, they went so far as to adore him as a friend of 
 God, and one who had been removed to heaven in a chariot 
 of lightning, and to worship him as if he were a living star. 
 Hence also his name was called Zoroaster after his death that 
 is, living star by those who, after one generation, had been 
 taught to speak the Greek language. In fine, by this example,
 
 298 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 even now many worship those who have been struck with light- 
 ning, honouring them with sepulchres, and worshipping them 
 as friends of God. But this man was born in the fourteenth 
 generation, and died in the fifteenth, in which the tower was 
 built, and the languages of men were divided into many. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. Fire-icorship of the Persians. 
 
 " First among whom is named a certain king Nimrod, the 
 magic art having been handed down to him as by a flash, 
 whom the Greeks also called Ninus, and from whom the city 
 of Nineveh took its name. Thus, therefore, diverse and 
 erratic superstitions took their beginning from the magic 
 art. For, because it was difficult to draw away the human 
 race from the love of God, and attach them to deaf and 
 lifeless images, the magicians made use of higher efforts, that 
 men might be turned to erratic worship, by signs among the 
 stars, and motions brought down as it were from heaven, and 
 by the will of God. And those who had been first deceived, 
 collecting the ashes of Zoroaster, who, as we have said, was 
 burnt up by the indignation of the demon, to whom he had 
 been too troublesome, brought them to the Persians, that 
 they might be preserved by them with perpetual watching, as 
 divine fire fallen from heaven, and might be worshipped as a 
 heavenly God. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Hero-worship. 
 
 " By a like example, other men in other places built temples, 
 set up statues, instituted mysteries and ceremonies and sacri- 
 fices, to those whom they had admired, either for some arts or 
 for virtue, or at least had held in very great affection ; and 
 rejoiced, by means of all things belonging to gods, to hand 
 down their fame to posterity; and that especially, because, 
 as we have already said, they seemed to be supported by some 
 phantasies of magic art, so that by invocation of demons 
 something seemed to be done and moved by them towards the 
 deception of men. To these they add also certain solemnities, 
 and drunken banquets, in which men might with all freedom 
 indulge ; and demons, conveyed into them in the chariot of
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 299 
 
 repletion, might be mixed with their very bowels, and holding 
 a place there, might bind the acts and thoughts of men to 
 their own will. Such errors, then, having been introduced 
 from the beginning, and having been aided by lust and 
 drunkenness, in which carnal men chiefly delight, the religion 
 of God, which consisted in continence and sobriety, began to 
 become rare amongst men, and to be well-nigh abolished. 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. Idolatry led to all immorality. 
 
 "For whereas at first, men worshipping a righteous and 
 all-seeing God, neither dared sin nor do injury to their 
 neighbours, being persuaded that God sees the actions 
 and movements of every one ; when religious worship was 
 directed to lifeless images, concerning which they were 
 certain that they were incapable of hearing, or sight, or 
 motion, they began to sin licentiously, and to go forward to 
 every crime, because they had no fear of suffering anything 
 at the hands of those whom they worshipped as gods. 
 Hence the madness of wars burst out; hence plunderings, 
 rapines, captivities, and liberty reduced to slavery; each 
 one, as he could, satisfied his lust and his covetousness, 
 although no power can satisfy covetousness. For as fire, 
 the more fuel it gets, is the more extensively kindled and 
 strengthened, so also the madness of covetousness is made 
 greater and more vehement by means of those things which 
 it acquires. 
 
 CHAP. xxxn. Invitation. 
 
 " Wherefore begin now with better understanding to resist 
 yourselves in those things which you do not rightly desire ; 
 if so be that you can in any way repair and restore in your- 
 selves that purity of religion and innocence of life which at 
 first were bestowed upon man by God, that thereby also the 
 hope of immortal blessings may be restored to you. And give 
 thanks to the bountiful Father of all, by Him whom He has 
 constituted King of peace, and the treasury of unspeakable 
 honours, that even at the present time your sins may be 
 washed away with the water of the fountain, or river, or even
 
 300 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 sea ; the threefold name of blessedness being called over you, 
 that by it not only evil spirits may be driven out, if any dwell 
 in you, but also that, when you have forsaken your sins, and 
 have with entire faith and entire purity of mind believed in 
 God, you may drive out wicked spirits and demons from 
 others also, and may be able to set others free from suffer- 
 ings and sicknesses. For the demons themselves know and 
 acknowledge those who have given themselves up to God, 
 and sometimes they are driven out by the mere . presence of 
 such, as you saw a little while ago, how, when we had only 
 addressed to you the word of salutation, straightway the 
 demons, on account of their respect for our religion, began 
 to cry out, and could not bear our presence even for a 
 little. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. The weakest Christian more powerful than 
 the strongest demon. 
 
 "Is it, then, that we are of another and a superior nature, and 
 that therefore the demons are afraid of us ? Nay, we are of 
 one and the same nature with you, but we differ in religion. 
 But if you will also be [like us], we do not grudge it, but rather 
 we exhort you, and wish you to be assured, that when the 
 same faith and religion and innocence of life shall be in you 
 that is in us, you will have equal and the same power and 
 virtue against demons, through God rewarding your faith. 
 For as he who has soldiers under him, although he may be 
 inferior, and they superior to him in strength, yet * says to this 
 one, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ; 
 and to another, Do this, and he doeth it ; 51 and this he is able 
 to do, not by his own power, but by the fear of Cassar ; so 
 every faithful one commands the demons, although they seem 
 to be much stronger then men, and that not by means of his 
 own power, but by means of the power of God, who has put 
 them in subjection. For even that which we have just 
 spoken of, that Caesar is held in awe by all soldiers, and in 
 every camp, and in his whole kingdom, though he is but one 
 man, and perhaps feeble in respect of bodily strength, this is 
 1 Matt. viii. 9.
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 301 
 
 nut effected but by the power of God, who inspires all with 
 fear, that they may be subject to one. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Temptation of Christ. 
 
 11 This we would have you know assuredly, that a demon has 
 no power against a man, unless one voluntarily submit himself 
 to his desires. Whence even that one who is the prince of 
 wickedness, approached Him who, as we have said, is ap- 
 pointed of God King of peace, tempting Him, and began to 
 promise Him all the glory of the world ; because he knew that 
 when he had offered this to others, for the sake of deceiving 
 them, they had worshipped him. Therefore, impious as he 
 was, and unmindful of himself, which indeed is the special 
 peculiarity of wickedness, he presumed that he should be 
 worshipped by Him by whom he knew that he was to be 
 destroyed. Therefore our Lord, confirming the worship of 
 one God, answered him : l It is written, Thou shalt worship 
 the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' l And 
 he, terrified by this answer, and fearing lest the true religion 
 of the one and true God should be restored, hastened straight- 
 way to send forth into this world false prophets, and false 
 apostles, and false teachers, who should speak indeed in the 
 name of Christ, but should accomplish the will of the demon. 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. False apostles. 
 
 u Wherefore observe the greatest caution, that you believe 
 no teacher, unless he bring from Jerusalem the testimonial of 
 James the Lord's brother, or of whosoever may come after 
 him. For no one, unless he has gone up thither, and there 
 has been approved as a fit and faithful teacher for preaching 
 the word of Christ, unless, I say, he brings a testimonial 
 thence, is by any means to be received. But let neither 
 prophet nor apostle be looked for by you at this time, besides 
 us. For there is one true Prophet, whose words we twelve 
 apostles preach ; for He is the accepted year of God, having 
 us apostles as His twelve months. But for what reason the 
 world itself was made, or what diversities have occurred in it, 
 1 Matt. iv. 10.
 
 302 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK iv. 
 
 and why our Lord, coming for its restoration, has chosen and 
 sent us twelve apostles, shall be explained more at length at 
 another time. Meantime He has commanded us to go forth 
 to preach, and to invite you to the supper of the heavenly 
 King, which the Father hath prepared for the marriage of 
 His Son, and that we should give you wedding garments, 
 that is, the grace of baptism; 1 which whosoever obtains, as a 
 spotless robe with which he is to enter to the supper of the 
 King, ought to beware that it be not in any part of it stained 
 with sin, and so he be rejected as unworthy and reprobate. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. The garments unspotted. 
 
 u But the ways in which this garment may be spotted are 
 these : If any one withdraw from God the Father and Creator 
 of all, receiving another teacher besides Christ, who alone is the 
 faithful and true Prophet, and who has sent us twelve apostles 
 to preach the word ; if any one think otherwise than worthily 
 of the substance of the Godhead, which excels all things ; 
 these are the things which even fatally pollute the garment 
 of baptism. But the things which pollute it in actions are 
 these : murders, adulteries, hatreds, avarice, evil ambition. 
 And the things which pollute at once the soul and the body 
 are these : to partake of the table of demons, that is, to taste 
 things sacrificed, or blood, or a carcase which is strangled, and 
 if there be aught else which has been offered to demons. 
 Be this therefore the first step to you of three ; which step 
 brings forth thirty commands, and the second sixty, and the 
 third a hundred, 2 as we shall expound more fully to you at 
 another time." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvii. The congregation dismissed. 
 
 When he had thus spoken, and had charged them to come 
 to the same place in good time on the following day, he dis- 
 missed the crowds ; and when they were unwilling to depart, 
 Peter said to them : " Do me this favour on account of the 
 fatigue of yesterday's journey ; and now go away, and meet 
 in good time to-morrow." And so they departed with joy. 
 1 Matt. xxii. 2-14. 2 Matt. xiii. 23.
 
 BOOK iv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 303 
 
 But Peter, commanding me to withdraw a little for the 
 purpose of prayer, 1 afterwards ordered the couches to be 
 spread in that part of the garden which was covered with 
 shade ; and every one, according to custom, recognising the 
 place of his own rank, we took food. Then, as there was 
 still some portion of the day left, he conversed with us con- 
 cerning the Lord's miracles ; and when evening was come, he 
 entered his bed-chamber and went to sleep. 
 
 1 Clement being not yet baptized, is represented as not permitted to 
 join with the disciples even in prayer.
 
 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 BOOK V. 
 
 CHAP. i. Peter's salutation. 
 
 U T on the following day, Peter rising a little earlier 
 than usual, found us asleep ; and when he saw it, 
 he gave orders that silence should be kept for 
 him, as though he himself wished to sleep longer, 
 that we might not be disturbed in our rest. But when we 
 rose refreshed with sleep, we found him, having finished his 
 prayer, waiting for us in his bed-chamber. And as it was 
 already dawn, he addressed us shortly, saluting us according 
 to his custom, and forthwith proceeded to the usual place for 
 the purpose of teaching ; and when he saw that many had 
 assembled there, having invoked peace upon them according 
 to the first religious form, he began to speak as follows : 
 
 CHAP. II. Suffering the effect of sin. 
 
 " God, the Creator of all, at the beginning made man 
 after His own image, and gave him dominion over the earth 
 and sea, and over the air ; as the true Prophet has told us, 
 and as the very reason of things instructs us : for man alone 
 is rational, and it is fitting that reason should rule over the 
 irrational. At first, therefore, while he was still righteous, 
 he was superior to all disorders and all frailty ; but when he 
 sinned, as we taught you yesterday, and became the servant 
 of sin, he became at the same time liable to frailty. This 
 therefore is written, that men may know that, as by impiety 
 they have been made liable to suffer, so by piety they may 
 be made free from suffering ; and not only free from suffering, 
 but by even a little faith in God be able to cure the sufferings 
 
 304
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 305 
 
 of others. For thus the true Prophet promised us, saying, 
 * Verily I say to you, that if ye have faith as a grain of 
 mustard seed, ye shall say to this mountain, Remove hence, 
 and it shall remove.' l Of this saying you have yourselves 
 also had proofs ; for you saw yesterday how at our presence 
 the demons removed and were put to flight, with those suf- 
 ferings which they had brought upon men. 
 
 CHAP. in. Faith and unbelief. 
 
 " Whereas therefore some men suffer, and others cure those 
 who suffer, it is necessary to know the cause at once of the suf- 
 fering and the cure ; and this is proved to be nought else than 
 unbelief on the part of the sufferers, and faith on the part of 
 those who cure them. For unbelief, while it does not believe 
 that there is to be a judgment by God, affords licence to sin, 
 and sin makes men liable to sufferings ; but faith, believing 
 that there is to be a judgment of God, restrains men from 
 sin ; and those who do not sin are not only free from demons 
 and sufferings, but can also put to flight the demons and suf- 
 ferings of others. 
 
 CHAP. iv. Ignorance the mother of evils. 
 
 " From all these things, therefore, it is concluded that all 
 evil springs from ignorance ; and ignorance herself, the 
 mother of all evils, is sprung from carelessness and sloth, and 
 is nourished, and increased, and rooted in the senses of men 
 by negligence ; and if any one teach that she is to be put to 
 flight, she is with difficulty and indignantly torn .away, as 
 from an ancient and hereditary abode. And therefore we 
 must labour for a little, that we may search out the presump- 
 tions of ignorance, and cut them off by means of knowledge, 
 especially in those who are preoccupied with some erroneous 
 opinions, by means o which ignorance is the more firmly 
 rooted in them, as under the appearance of a certain kind of 
 knowledge ; for nothing is worse than for one to believe that 
 he knows what he is ignorant of, and to maintain that to be 
 true which is false. This is as if a drunk man should think 
 1 Matt. xvii. 19. 
 U
 
 306 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 himself to be sober, and should act indeed in all respects as a 
 drunk man, and yet think himself to be sober, and should 
 wish to be called so by others. Thus, therefore, are those 
 also who do not know what is true, yet hold some appearance 
 of knowledge, and do many evil things as if they were good, 
 and hasten to destruction as if it were to salvation. 
 
 CHAP. v. Advantages of knowledge. 
 
 " Wherefore we must, above all things, hasten to the know- 
 ledge of the truth, that, as with a light kindled thereat, we 
 may be able to dispel the darkness of errors : for ignorance, 
 as we have said, is a great evil ; but because it has no sub- 
 stance, it is easily dispelled by those who are in earnest. For 
 ignorance is nothing else than not knowing what is good for 
 us ; once know this, and ignorance perishes. Therefore the 
 knowledge of truth ought to be eagerly sought after ; and no 
 one can confer it except the true Prophet. For this is the 
 gate of life to those who will enter, and the road of good works 
 to those going to the city of salvation. 
 
 CHAP. vi. Free-will. 
 
 " Whether any one, truly hearing the w r ord of the true Pro- 
 phet, is willing or unwilling to receive it, and to embrace His 
 burden, that is, the precepts of life, he has either in his power, 
 for we are free in will. For if it were so, that those who hear 
 had it not in their power to do otherwise than they had heard, 
 there were some power of nature in virtue of which it were 
 not free to him to pass over to another opinion. Or if, again, 
 no one of the hearers could at all receive it, this also were a 
 power of nature which should compel the doing of some one 
 thing, and should leave no place for the other course. But 
 now, since it is free for the mind to turn its judgment to 
 which side it pleases, and to choose the way which it approves, 
 it is clearly manifest that there is in men a liberty of choice. 
 
 CHAP. vn. Responsibility of knowledge. 
 
 t( Therefore, before any one hears what is good for him, it 
 is certain that he is ignorant ; and being ignorant, he wishes
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 307 
 
 and desires to do what is not good for him ; wherefore he is 
 not judged for that. But when once he has heard the causes 
 of his error, and has received the method of truth, then, if he 
 remain in those errors with which he had been long ago pre- 
 occupied, he shall rightly be called into judgment, to suffer 
 punishment, because he has spent in the sport of errors that 
 portion of life which was given him to be spent in living well. 
 But he who, hearing those things, willingly receives them, 
 and is thankful that the teaching of good things has been 
 brought to him, inquires more eagerly, and does not cease 
 to learn, until he ascertains whether there be truly another 
 world, in which rewards are prepared for the good. And 
 when he is assured of this, he gives thanks to God because 
 He has shown him the light of truth ; and for the future 
 directs his actions in all good works, for which he is assured 
 that there is a reward prepared in the world to come ; while 
 he constantly wonders and is astonished at the errors of other 
 men, and that no one sees the truth which is placed before 
 his eyes. Yet he himself, rejoicing in the riches of wisdom 
 which he hath found, desires insatiably to enjoy them, and is 
 delighted with the practice of good works ; hastening to attain, 
 with a clean heart and a pure conscience, the world to come, 
 when he shall be able even to see God, the King of all. 
 
 CHAP. vin. Desires of the flesh to be subdued. 
 
 " But the sole cause of our wanting and being deprived of 
 all these things is ignorance. For while men do not know 
 how much good there is in knowledge, they do not suffer the 
 evil of ignorance to be removed from them ; for they know 
 not how great a difference is involved in the change of one 
 of these things for the other. Wherefore I counsel every 
 learner willingly to lend his ear to the word of God, and to 
 hear with love of the truth what we say, that his mind, receiv- 
 ing the best seed, may bring forth joyful fruits by good deeds. 
 For if, while I teach the things which pertain to salvation, 
 any one refuses to receive them, and strives to resist them 
 with a mind occupied by evil opinions, he shall have the cause 
 of his perishing, not from us, but from himself. For it is his
 
 308 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 duty to examine with just judgment the things which we say, 
 and to understand that we speak the words of truth, that, 
 knowing how things are, and directing his life in good actions, 
 he may be found a partaker of the kingdom of heaven, sub- 
 jecting to himself the desires of the flesh, and becoming lord 
 of them, that so at length he himself also may become the 
 pleasant possession of the Ruler of all. 
 
 CHAP. ix. The two kingdoms. 
 
 " For he who persists in evil, and is the servant of evil, 
 cannot be made a portion of good so long as he persists in 
 evil, because from the beginning, as we have said, God insti- 
 tuted two kingdoms, and has given to each man the power of 
 becoming a portion of that kingdom to which he shall yield 
 himself to obey. And since it is decreed by God that no 
 one man can be a servant of both kingdoms, therefore endea- 
 vour with all earnestness to betake yourselves to the covenant 
 and laws of the good King. Wherefore also the true Pro- 
 phet, when He was present with us, and saw some rich men 
 negligent with respect to the worship of God, thus unfolded 
 the truth of this matter : ( No one,' said He, l can serve two 
 masters ; ye cannot serve God and mammon ; ?1 calling riches, 
 in the language of His country, mammon. 
 
 CHAP. X. Jesus the true Prophet. 
 
 " He therefore is the true Prophet, who appeared to us, as 
 you have heard, in Judaea, who, standing in public places, 
 by a simple command made the blind see, the deaf hear, cast 
 out demons, restored health to the sick, and life to the dead ; 
 and since nothing was impossible to Him, He even perceived 
 the thoughts of men, which is possible for none but God 
 only. He proclaimed the kingdom of God ; and we believed 
 Him as a true Prophet in all that He spoke, deriving the 
 confirmation of our faith not only from His words, but also 
 from His works ; and also because the sayings of the law, 
 which many generations before had set forth His coming, 
 were fulfilled in Him; and the figures of the doings of 
 1 Matt. vi. 24.
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 309 
 
 Moses, and of the patriarch Jacob before him, bore in all 
 respects a type of Him. It is evident also that the time of 
 His advent, that is, the very time at which He came, was 
 foretold by them ; and, above all, it was contained in the sacred 
 writings, that He was to be waited for by the Gentiles. And 
 all these things were equally fulfilled in Him. 
 
 CHAP. XI. The expectation of the Gentiles. 
 
 " But that which a prophet of the Jews foretold, that He 
 was to be waited for by the Gentiles, 1 confirms above measure 
 the faith of truth in Him. For if he had said that He was 
 to be waited for by the Jews, he would not have seemed 
 to prophesy anything extraordinary, that He whose coming 
 had been promised for the salvation of the world should be 
 the object of hope to the people of the same tribe with Him- 
 self, and to His own nation : for that this would take place, 
 would seem rather to be a matter of natural inference than one 
 requiring the grandeur of a prophetic utterance. But now, 
 whereas the prophets say that all that hope which is set forth 
 concerning the salvation of the world, and the newness of the 
 kingdom which is to be established by Christ, and all things 
 which are declared concerning Him are to be transferred to 
 the Gentiles ; the grandeur of the prophetic office is confirmed, 
 not according to the sequence of things, but by an incredible 
 fulfilment of the prophecy. For the Jews from the begin- 
 ning had understood by a most certain tradition that this man 
 should at some time come, by whom all things should be re- 
 stored ; and daily meditating and looking out for His coming, 
 when they saw Him amongst them, and accomplishing the 
 signs and miracles, as had been written of Him, being blinded 
 with envy, they could not recognise Him when present, in 
 the hope of whom they rejoiced while He was absent ; yet 
 the few of us who were chosen by Him understood it. 
 
 CHAP. xn. Call of the Gentiles. 
 
 " But this happened by the providence of God, that the 
 knowledge of this good One should be handed over to the 
 1 Gen. xlix. 10.
 
 310 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 Gentiles, and those who had never heard of Him, nor had 
 learned from the prophets, should acknowledge Him, while 
 those who had acknowledged Him in their daily meditations 
 should not know Him. For, behold, by you who are now 
 present, and desire to hear the doctrine of His faith, and to 
 know what, and how, and of what sort is His coming, the 
 prophetic truth is fulfilled. For this is what the prophets 
 foretold, that He is to be sought for by you, who never heard 
 of Him. 1 And, therefore, seeing that the prophetic sayings 
 are fulfilled even in yourselves, you rightly believe in Him 
 alone, you rightly wait for Him, you rightly inquire con- 
 cerning Him, that you not only may wait for Him, but also 
 believing, you may obtain the inheritance of His kingdom ; 
 according to what Himself said, that every one is made the 
 servant of him to whom he yields subjection. 2 
 
 CHAP. xni. Invitation of the Gentiles. 
 
 " Wherefore awake, and take to yourselves our Lord and 
 God, even that Lord who is Lord both of heaven and earth, 
 and conform yourselves to His image and likeness, as the true 
 Prophet Himself teaches, saying, 'Be ye merciful, as also 
 your heavenly Father is merciful, who makes His sun to rise 
 upon the good and the evil, and rains upon the just and the 
 unjust.' 3 Imitate Him, therefore, and fear Him, as the com- 
 mandment is given to men, * Thou shalt worship the Lord 
 thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' 4 For it is profitable 
 to you to serve this Lord alone, that through Him knowing 
 the one God, ye may be freed from the many whom ye 
 vainly feared. For he who fears not God the Creator of all, 
 but fears those whom he himself with his own hands hath 
 made, what does he do but make himself subject to a vain 
 and senseless fear, and render himself more vile and abject 
 than those very things, the fear of which he has conceived 
 in his mind ? But rather, by the goodness of Him who 
 inviteth you, return to your former nobleness, and by good 
 deeds show that you bear the image of your Creator, that by 
 
 1 Isa. Ixv. 1. 2 John viii. 34. 3 Luke vi. 36 ; Matt. v. 45. 
 
 4 Deut. vi. 13 ; Matt. iv. 10.
 
 BOOKV.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 311 
 
 contemplation of His likeness ye may be believed to be even 
 His sons. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Idols unprofitable. 
 
 " Begin, therefore, to cast out of your minds the vain ideas 
 of idols, and your useless and empty fears, that at the same time 
 you may also escape the condition of unrighteous bondage. 
 For those have become your lords, who could not even have 
 been profitable servants to you. For how should lifeless images 
 seem fit even to serve you, when they can neither hear, nor 
 see, nor feel anything? Yea, even the material of which 
 they are made, whether it be gold or silver, or even brass or 
 wood, though it might have profited you for necessary uses, 
 you have rendered wholly inefficient and useless by fashion- 
 ing gods out of it. We therefore declare to you the true 
 worship of God, and at the same time warn and exhort the 
 worshippers, that by good deeds they imitate Him whom they 
 worship, and hasten to return to His image and likeness, as 
 we said before. 
 
 CHAP. xv. Folly of idolatry. 
 
 tl But I should like if those who worship idols would tell 
 me if they wish to become like to those whom they worship ? 
 Does any one of you wish to see in such sort as they see ? 
 or to hear after the manner of their hearing? or to have 
 such understanding as they have ? Far be this from any of 
 my hearers ! For this were rather to be thought a curse and 
 a reproach to a man, who bears in himself the image of God, 
 although he has lost the likeness. What sort of gods, then, 
 are they to be reckoned, the imitation of whom would be 
 execrable to their worshippers, and to have whose likeness 
 would be a reproach ? What then ? Melt your useless 
 images, and make useful vessels. Melt the unserviceable 
 and inactive metal, and make implements fit for the use of 
 men. But, says one, human laws do not allow us. He says 
 well ; for it is human laws, and not their own power, that pre- 
 vents it. What kind of gods, then, are those which are de- 
 fended by human laws, and not by their own energies ? And
 
 812 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 so also they are preserved from thieves by watch-dogs and the 
 protection of bolts, at least if they be of silver, or gold, or 
 even of brass ; for those that are of stone and earthenware 
 are protected by their own worthlessness, for no one will steal 
 a stone or a crockery god. Hence those seem to be the more 
 miserable whose more precious metal exposes them to the 
 greater danger. Since, then, they can be stolen, since they 
 must be guarded by men, since they can be melted, and 
 weighed out, and forged with hammers, ought men possessed 
 of understanding to hold them as gods ? 
 
 CHAP. xvi. God alone a jit object of worship. 
 
 " Oh ! into what wretched plight the understanding of men 
 has fallen ! For if it is reckoned the greatest folly to fear 
 the dead, what shall we judge of those who fear something 
 that is worse than the dead are ? For those images are not 
 
 o 
 
 even to be reckoned among the number of the dead, because 
 they never were alive. Even the sepulchres of the dead are 
 preferable to them, since, although they are now dead, yet 
 they once had life ; but those whom you worship never pos- 
 sessed even such base life as is in all, the life of frogs and 
 owls. But why say more about them, since it is enough to 
 say to him who adores them : Do you not see that he whom 
 you adore sees not, hear that he whom you adore hears not, 
 and understand that he understands not 1 for he is the work 
 of man's hand, and necessarily is void of understanding. 
 You therefore worship a god without sense, whereas every 
 one who has sense believes that not even those things are to 
 be worshipped which have been made by God and have 
 sense, 1 such as the sun, moon, and stars, and all things that 
 are in heaven and upon earth. For they think it reasonable, 
 that not those things which have been made for the service 
 of the world, but the Creator of those things themselves, and 
 of the whole world, should be worshipped. For even these 
 things rejoice when He is adored and worshipped, and do not 
 take it well that the honour of the Creator should be bestowed 
 
 1 It was a very prevalent opinion among the ancient philosophers, that 
 the heavenly bodies have some kind of life and intelligence.
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 313 
 
 on the creature. For the worship of God alone is acceptable 
 [to them], who alone is uncreated, and all things also are His 
 creatures. For as it belongs to him who alone is uncreated to 
 be God, so everything that lias been created is not truly God. 
 
 CHAP. xvn. Suggestions of the old serpent. 
 
 t( Above all, therefore, you ought to understand the decep- 
 tion of the old serpent and his cunning suggestions, who de- 
 ceives you as it were by prudence, and as by a sort of reason 
 creeps through your senses ; and beginning at the head, he 
 glides through your inner marrow, accounting the deceiving 
 of you a great gain. Therefore he insinuates into your 
 minds opinions of gods of whatsoever kinds, only that he may 
 withdraw you from the faith of one God, knowing that your 
 sin is his comfort. For he, for his wickedness, was con- 
 demned from the beginning to eat dust, for that he caused to 
 be again resolved into dust him who had been taken from the 
 dust, even till the time when your souls shall be restored, 
 being brought through the fire ; as we shall instruct you 
 more fully at another time. From him, therefore, proceed 
 all the errors and doubts, by which you are driven from the 
 faith and belief of one God. 
 
 CHAP. xvni. His first suggestion. 
 
 " And first of all he suggests to men's thoughts not to hear 
 the words of truth, by which they might put to flight the 
 ignorance of those things which are evils. And this he does, 
 as by the presentation of another knowledge, making a show 
 of that opinion which very many hold, to think that they shall 
 not be held guilty if they have been in ignorance, and that 
 they shall not be called to account for what they have not 
 heard ; and thereby he persuades them to turn aside from 
 hearing the word. But I tell you, in opposition to this, that 
 ignorance is in itself a most deadly poison, which is sufficient 
 to ruin the soul without any aid from without. And therefore 
 there is no one who is ignorant who shall escape through his 
 ignorance, but it is certain that he shall perish. For the power 
 of sin naturally destroys the sinner. But since the judgment
 
 314 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 shall be according to reason, the cause and origin of ignorance 
 shall be inquired into, as well as of every sin. For he who is 
 unwilling to know how he may attain to life, and prefers to be 
 in ignorance lest he thereby be made guilty, from this very 
 fact is judged as if he knew and had knowledge. For he knew 
 what it was that he was unwilling to hear ; and the cunning 
 obtained by the artifice of the serpent will avail him nothing 
 for an excuse, for he will have to do with Him to whom 
 the heart is open. But that you may know that ignorance 
 of itself brings destruction, [I assure you that] when the soul 
 departs from the body, if it leave it in ignorance of Him by 
 whom it was created, and from whom in this world it obtained 
 all things that were necessary for its uses, it is driven forth 
 from the light of His kingdom as ungrateful and unfaithful. 
 
 CHAP. xix. His second suggestion. 
 
 " Again, the wicked serpent suggests another opinion to 
 men, which many of you are in the habit of bringing forward, 
 that there is, as we say, one God, who is Lord of all ; bul 
 these also, they say, are gods. For as there is one Ca3sar, 
 and he has under him many judges, for example, prefects, 
 consuls, tribunes, and other officers, in like manner we think, 
 that while there is one God greater than all, yet still that 
 these gods are ordained in this world, after the likeness of 
 those officers of whom we have spoken, subject indeed to that 
 greater God, yet ruling us and the things that are in this 
 world. In answer to this, I shall show you how, in those very 
 things which you propose for deception, you are confuted by 
 the reasons of truth. You say that God occupies the place 
 of Ca3sar, and those who are called gods represent his judges 
 and officers. Hold then, as you have adduced it, by the 
 example of Caesar ; and know that, as no one of Caesar's judges 
 or administrators, as prefects, proconsuls, generals, or tribunes, 
 may lawfully take the name of Csesar, or else both he who 
 should take it and those who should confer it should be de- 
 stroyed together, so also in this case you ought to observe, that 
 if any one give the name of God to any but Himself, and he 
 accept it, they shall partake one and the same destruction, by
 
 Boosv.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 315 
 
 a much more terrible fate than the servants of CaBsar. For he 
 who offends against Csesar shall undergo temporal destruction; 
 but he who offends against Him who is the sole and true God, 
 shall suffer eternal punishment, and that deservedly, as having 
 injured by a wrongful condition the name which is unique. 1 
 
 CHAP. XX. Egyptian idolatry. 
 
 " Although this word GOD is not the name of God, but 
 meantime that word is employed by men as His name ; and 
 therefore, as I have said, when it is used reproachfully, the re- 
 proach is referred to the injury of the true name. In short, 
 the ancient Egyptians, who thought that they had discovered 
 the theory of the heavenly revolutions and the nature of the 
 stars, nevertheless, through the demon's blocking up their 
 senses, subjected the incommunicable name to all kinds of 
 indignity. For some taught that their ox, which is called 
 Apis, ought to be worshipped ; others taught that the he-goat, 
 others that cats, the ibis, a fish also, a serpent, onions, drains, 
 crepitus ventris, ought to be regarded as deities, and innumer- 
 able other things, which I am ashamed even to mention." 
 
 CHAP. XXT. Egyptian idolatry more reasonable than others. 
 
 When Peter was speaking thus, all we who heard him 
 laughed. Then said Peter : " You laugh at the absurdities 
 of others, because through long custom you do not see your 
 own. For indeed it is not without reason that you laugh at 
 the folly of the Egyptians, who worship dumb animals, while 
 they themselves are rational. But I will tell you how they 
 also laugh at you ; for they say, We worship living animals, 
 though mortal ; but you worship and adore things which never 
 were alive at all. They add this also, that they are figures and 
 allegories of certain powers by whose help the race of men 
 is governed. Taking refuge in this for shame, they fabricate 
 these and similar excuses, and so endeavour to screen their 
 error. But this is not the time to answer the Egyptians, and 
 
 1 The writer means, that insult is offered to that name which belongs 
 to God alone by giving it to others, and thus placing it in a position 
 which is unjust to it.
 
 316 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 leaving the care of those who are present to heal the diseases 
 of the absent. For it is a certain indication that you are 
 held to be free from sickness of this sort, since you do not 
 grieve over it as your own, but laugh at it as that of others. 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Second suggestion continued. 
 
 11 But let us come back to you, whose opinion it is that 
 God should be regarded as Csesar, and the gods as the 
 ministers and deputies of Caesar. Follow me attentively, 
 and I shall presently show you the lurking-places of the 
 serpent, which lie in the crooked windings of this argument. 
 It ought to be regarded by all as certain and beyond doubt, 
 that no creature can be on a level with God, because He 
 was made by none, but Himself made all things ; nor indeed 
 can any one be found so irrational, as to suppose that the 
 thing made can be compared with the maker. If therefore 
 the human mind, not only by reason, but even by a sort of 
 natural instinct, rightly holds this opinion, that that is called 
 God to which nothing can be compared or equalled, but 
 which exceeds all and excels all ; how can it be supposed 
 that that name which is believed to be above all, is rightly 
 given to those whom you think to be employed for the service 
 and comfort of human life? But we shall add this also. 
 This world was undoubtedly made, and is corruptible, as we 
 shall show more fully by and by ; meantime it is admitted 
 both that it has been made and that it is corruptible. If 
 therefore the world cannot be called God, and rightly so, 
 because it is corruptible, how shall parts of the world take 
 the name of God ? For inasmuch as the whole world cannot 
 be God, much more its parts cannot. Therefore, if we come 
 back to the example of Caesar, you will see how far you are 
 in error. It is not lawful for any one, though a man of the 
 same nature with him, to be compared with Caesar : do you 
 think, then, that any one ought to be compared with God, 
 who excels all in this respect, that He was made by none, 
 but Himself made all things? But, indeed, you dare not 
 give the name of Caesar to any other, because he immediately 
 punishes one who offends against him ; you dare give that of
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 317 
 
 God to others, because He delays the punishment of offenders 
 against Him, in order to their repentance. 
 
 CHAP. xxin. Third suggestion. 
 
 " Through the mouths of others also that serpent is wont 
 to speak in this wise : We adore visible images in honour of 
 the invisible God. Now this is most certainly false. For 
 if you really wished to worship the image of God, you would 
 do good to man, and so worship the true image of God in 
 him. For the image of God is in every man, though His 
 likeness is not in all, but where the soul is benign and the 
 mind pure. If, therefore, you wish truly to honour the 
 image of God, we declare to you what is true, that you should 
 do good to and pay honour and reverence to man, who is 
 made in the image of God ; that you minister food to the 
 hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, hos- 
 pitality to the stranger, and necessary things to the prisoner ; 
 and that is what will be regarded as truly bestowed upon 
 God. And so far do these things go to the honour of God's 
 image, that he who does not these things is regarded as cast- 
 ing reproach upon the divine image. What, then, is that 
 honour of God which consists in running from one stone or 
 wooden figure to another, in venerating empty and lifeless 
 figures as deities, and despising men in whom the image of 
 God is of a truth "? Yea, rather be assured, that whoever 
 commits murder or adultery, or anything that causes suffer- 
 ing or injury to men, in all these the image of God is violated. 
 For to injure men is a great impiety towards God. When- 
 ever, therefore, you do to another what you would not have 
 another do to you, you defile the image of God with un- 
 deserved distresses. Understand, therefore, that that is the 
 suggestion of the serpent lurking within you, which persuades 
 you that you may seem to be pious when you worship in- 
 sensible things, and may not seem impious when you injure 
 sensible and rational beings. 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Fourth suggestion. 
 " But to these things the serpent answers us with another
 
 318 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 mouth, and says : If God did not wish these things to be, then 
 they should not be. I am not telling you how it is that many 
 contrary things are permitted to be in this world for the pro- 
 bation of every one's mind. But this is what is suitable to 
 be said in the meantime : If, according to you, everything 
 that was to be worshipped ought not to have been, there 
 would have been almost nothing in this world. For what is 
 there that you have left without worshipping it *? The sun, 
 the moon, the stars, the water, the earth, mountains, trees, 
 stones, men ; there is no one of these that ye have not 
 worshipped. According to your saying, therefore, none of 
 these ought to have been made by God, that you might not 
 have anything that you could worship ! Yea, He ought not 
 even to have made men themselves to be the worshippers ! But 
 this is the very thing which that serpent which lurks within 
 you desires : for he spares none of you ; he would have no 
 one of you escape from destruction. But it shall not be so. 
 For I tell you, that not that which is worshipped is in fault, 
 but he who worships. For with God is righteous judgment ; 
 and He judges in one way the sufferer, and in another way 
 the doer, of wrong. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Fifth suggestion. 
 
 " But you say : Then those who adore what ought not to 
 be adored, should be immediately destroyed by God, to pre- 
 vent others doing the like. But are you wiser than God, that 
 you should offer Him counsel? 1 He knows what to do. For 
 with all who are placed in ignorance He exercises patience, 
 because He is merciful and gracious ; and He foresees that 
 many of the ungodly become godly, and that even some of 
 those who worship impure statues and polluted images have 
 been converted to God, and forsaking their sins and doing 
 good works, attain to salvation. But it is said : We ought 
 never to have come even to the thought of doing these things. 
 You do not know what freedom of will is, and you forget 
 that he is good who is so by his own intention ; but he who 
 is retained in goodness by necessity cannot be called good, 
 1 Kom. xi. 34.
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 319 
 
 because it is not of himself that he is so. Because, therefore, 
 there is in every one liberty to choose good or evil, he either 
 acquires rewards, or brings destruction on himself. Nay, it 
 is said, God brings to our minds whatsoever we think. What 
 mean ye, O men ? Ye blaspheme. For if He brings all our 
 thoughts into our minds, then it is He that suggests to us 
 thoughts of adultery, and covetousness, and blasphemy, and 
 every kind of effeminacy. Cease, I entreat of you, these 
 blasphemies, and understand what is the honour worthy of 
 God. And say not, as some of you are wont to say, that 
 God needs not honour from men. Indeed, He truly is in 
 need of none ; but you ought to know that the honour which 
 you bestow upon God is profitable to yourselves. For what 
 is so execrable, as for a man not to render thanks to his 
 Creator ? 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Sixth suggestion. 
 
 (t But it is said : We do better, who give thanks both to 
 Himself, and to all with Him. In this you do not understand 
 that there is the ruin of your salvation. For it is as if a 
 sick man should call in for his cure at once a physician and 
 poisoners ; since these could indeed injure him, but not cure 
 him ; and the true physician would refuse to mix his remedies 
 with their poisons, lest either the man's destruction should be 
 ascribed to the good, or his recovery to the injurious. But you 
 say : Is God then indignant or envious, if, when He benefits 
 us, our thanks be rendered to others ? Even if He be not 
 indignant, at all events He does not wish to be the author of 
 error, that by means of His work credit should be given to 
 a vain idol. And what is so impious, so ungrateful, as to 
 obtain a benefit from God, and to render thanks to blocks 
 of wood and stone ? Wherefore arise, and understand your 
 salvation. For God is in need of no one, nor does He re- 
 quire anything, nor is He hurt by anything ; but we are 
 either helped or hurt, in that we are grateful or ungrateful. 
 For what does God gain from our praises, or what does He 
 lose by our blasphemies? Only [this we must remember], 
 that God brings into proximity and friendship with Himself
 
 320 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 the soul that renders thanks to Him. But the wicked demon 
 possesses the ungrateful soul. 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. Creatures take vengeance on sinners. 
 
 " But this also I would have you know, that upon such souls 
 God does not take vengeance directly, but His whole creation 
 rises up and inflicts punishments upon the impious; and 
 although in the present world the goodness of God bestows 
 the light of the world and the services of the earth alike upon 
 the pious and the impious, yet not without grief does the sun 
 afford his light, and the other elements perform their service, 
 to the impious. And, in short, sometimes even in opposition 
 to the goodness of the Creator, the elements are wearied out 
 by the crimes of the wicked ; and thence it is that either the 
 fruit of the earth is blighted, or the composition of the air is 
 vitiated, or the heat of the sun is increased beyond measure, 
 or there is an excessive amount of rain or of cold. Thence 
 pestilence, and famine, and death in various forms stalk forth, 
 for the creature hastens to take vengeance on the wicked ; yet 
 the goodness of God restrains it, and bridles its indignation 
 against the wicked, and compels it to be obedient to His mercy, 
 rather than to be inflamed by the sins and the crimes of men. 
 For the patience of God waiteth for the conversion of men, 
 as long as they are in this body. 
 
 CHAP, xxvni. Eternity of punishments. 
 
 " But if any persist in impiety till the end of life, then as 
 soon as the soul, which is immortal, departs, it shall pay the 
 penalty of its persistence in impiety. For even the souls of 
 the impious are immortal, though perhaps they themselves 
 would wish them to end with their bodies. But it is not so ; 
 for they endure without end the torments of eternal fire, and 
 to their destruction they have not the quality of mortality. 
 But perhaps you will say to me, You terrify us, O Peter. 
 And how shall we speak to you the things which are in reality ? 
 Can we declare to you the truth by keeping silence ? We 
 cannot state the things which are, otherwise than as they are. 
 But if we were silent, we should make ourselves the cause of
 
 BOOKV.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 321 
 
 the ignorance that is ruinous to you, and should satisfy the 
 serpent that lurks within you, and blocks up your senses, who 
 cunningly suggests these things to you, that he may make 
 you always the enemies of God. But we are sent for this 
 end, that we may betray his disguises to you ; and melting 
 your enmities, may reconcile you to God, that you may be 
 converted to Him, and may please Him by good works. For 
 man is at enmity with God, and is in an unreasonable and 
 impious state of mind and wicked disposition towards Him, 
 especially when he thinks that he knows something, and is in 
 ignorance. But when you lay aside these, and begin to be 
 pleased and displeased with the same things which please and 
 displease God, and to will what God willeth, then ye shall 
 truly be called His friends. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. God's care of human things. 
 
 a But perhaps some of you will say, God has no care of 
 human things ; and if we cannot even attain to the knowledge 
 of Him, how shall we attain to His friendship? That God 
 does concern Himself with the affairs of men, His government 
 of the world bears witness : for the sun daily waits upon it, 
 the showers minister to it ; the fountains, rivers, winds, and all 
 elements, attend upon it ; and the more these things become 
 known to men, the more do they indicate God's care over 
 men. For unless by the power of the Most High, the more 
 powerful would never minister to the inferior; and by this God 
 is shown to have not only a care over men, but some great 
 affection, since He has deputed such noble elements to their 
 service. - But that men may also attain to the friendship of 
 God, is proved to us by the example of those to whose prayers 
 He has been so favourable, that He has withheld the heaven 
 from rain when they wished, and has again opened it when 
 they prayed. 1 And many other things He has bestowed upon 
 those who do His will, which could not be bestowed but upon 
 His friends. But you will say, What harm is done to God 
 if these things also are worshipped by us? If any one of you 
 should pay to another the honour that is due to his father, 
 1 1 Kings xvii. xviii. ; Jas. v. 17, 18. 
 X
 
 322 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 from whom he has received innumerable benefits, and should 
 reverence a stranger and foreigner as his father, should you 
 not think that he was undutiful towards his father, and 
 most deserving to be disinherited ? 
 
 CHAP. XXX. Religion of fathers to be abandoned. 
 
 " Others say, It is wicked if we do not worship those [idols] 
 which have come down to us from our fathers, and prove 
 false to the religion bequeathed to us by our ancestors. On 
 this principle, if any one's father was a robber or a base 
 fellow, he ought not to change the manner of life handed 
 down to him by his fathers, nor to be recalled from his 
 father's errors to a better way ; and it is reckoned impious 
 if one do not sin with his parents, or does not persist in 
 impiety with them. Others say, We ought not to be trouble- 
 some to God, and to be always burdening Him with complaints 
 of our miseries, or with the exigencies of our petitions. How 
 foolish and witless an answer! Do you think it is trouble- 
 some to God if you thank Him for His benefits, while you do 
 not think it troublesome to Him if, for His gifts, you render 
 thanks to stocks and stones? And how comes it, that when 
 rain is withheld in a long drought, we all turn our eyes to 
 heaven, and entreat the gift of rain from God Almighty, and 
 all of us with our little ones pour out prayers to God, and 
 entreat His compassion ? But truly ungrateful souls, when 
 they obtain the blessing, quickly forget : for as soon as they 
 have gathered in their harvest or their vintage, straightway 
 they offer the first-fruits to deaf and dumb images, and pay 
 vows in temples or groves for those things which God has 
 bestowed upon them, and then offer sacrifices to demons ; and 
 having received a favour, deny the bestower of the favour. 1 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. Paganism its enormities. 
 
 " But some say, These things are instituted for the sake 
 
 of joy, and for refreshing our minds ; and they have been 
 
 devised for this end, that the human mind may be relaxed 
 
 for a little from cares and sorrows. See now what a charge 
 
 1 Literally, " change the bestower of it for another."
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 323 
 
 YOU yourselves bring upon the things which you practise. 
 If these things have been invented for the purpose of light- 
 ening sorrow and affording enjoyment, how is it that the 
 invocations of demons are performed in groves and woods'? 
 What is the meaning of the insane whirlings, and the slashing 
 of limbs, and the cutting off of members ? How is it that 
 mad rage is produced in them? How is insanity pro- 
 duced ? How is it that women are driven violently, raging 
 with dishevelled hair ? Whence the shrieking and gnashing 
 of teeth? Whence the bellowing of the heart and the 
 bowels, and all those things which, whether they are pre- 
 tended or are contrived by the ministration of demons, are 
 exhibited to the terror of the foolish and ignorant? Are 
 these things done for the sake of lightening the mind, or 
 rather for the sake of oppressing it ? Do ye not yet perceive 
 nor understand, that these are the counsels of the serpent 
 lurking within you, which draws you away from the appre- 
 hension of truth by irrational suggestions of errors, that he 
 may hold you as slaves and servants of lust and concupiscence 
 and every disgraceful thing ? 
 
 CHAP. xxxu. True religion calls to sobriety and modesty. 
 
 " But I protest to you with the clear voice of preaching, 
 that, on the contrary, the religion of God calls you to sobriety 
 and modesty ; orders you to refrain from effeminacy and 
 madness, and by patience and gentleness to prevent the 
 inroads of anger; to be content with your own possessions, and 
 with the virtue of frugality ; not even when driven by poverty 
 to plunder the goods of others, but in all things to observe 
 justice ; to withdraw yourselves wholly from the idol sacrifices: 
 for by these things you invite demons to you, and of your 
 own accord give them the power of entering into you ; and so 
 you admit that which is the cause either of madness or of 
 unlawful love. 
 
 CHAP, xxxni. Origin of impiety. 
 
 " Hence is the origin of all impiety ; hence murders, 
 adulteries, thefts ; and a nursery is formed of all evils and
 
 324 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 wickednesses, while you indulge in profane libations and 
 odours, and give to wicked spirits an opportunity of ruling 
 and obtaining some sort of authority over you. For when 
 they invade your senses, what do they else than work the 
 things which belong to lust and injustice and cruelty, and 
 compel you to be obedient to all things that are pleasing to 
 them? God, indeed, permits you to suffer this at their 
 hands by a certain righteous judgment, that from the very 
 disgrace of your doings and your feelings you may under- 
 stand how unworthy it is to be subject to demons and not to 
 God. Hence also, by the friendship of demons, men are 
 brought to disgraceful and base deeds ; hence, men proceed 
 even to the destruction of life, either through the fire of lust, 
 or through the madness of anger through excess of grief, so 
 that, as is well 1 known, some have even laid violent hands 
 upon themselves. And this, as we have said, by a just sen- 
 tence of God they are not prevented from doing, that they 
 may both understand to whom they have yielded themselves 
 in subjection, and know whom they have forsaken. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Who are worshippers of God? 
 
 " But some one will say, These passions sometimes befall 
 even those who worship God. It is not true. For we say 
 that he is a worshipper of God, who does the will of God, and 
 observes the precepts of His law. For in God's estimation he 
 is not a Jew who is called a Jew among men (nor is he a 
 Gentile that is called a Gentile), but he who, believing in 
 God, fulfils His law and does His will, though he be not 
 circumcised. 2 He is the true worshipper of God, who not 
 only is himself free from passions, but also sets others free 
 from them; though they be so heavy that they are like 
 mountains, he removes them by means of the faith with 
 which lie believes in God. 3 Yea, by faith he truly removes 
 mountains with their trees, if it be necessary. But he who 
 seems to worship God, but is neither fortified by a full faith, 
 
 1 The original has here, " as is often known ; " that is, as people know 
 from many instances having occurred within their own knowledge. 
 * Rom. ii. 28 ; Rev. ii. 9. 3 Matt, xviu 9 ; Luke xvii. 6.
 
 BOOK v.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 325 
 
 nor by obedience to the commandments, but is a sinner, has 
 given a place in himself, by reason of his sins, to passions, 
 which are appointed of God for the punishment of those who 
 sin, that they may exact from them the deserts of their sins 
 by means of punishments inflicted, and may bring them 
 purified to the general judgment of all, provided always that 
 their faith do not fail them in their chastisement. For the 
 chastisement of unbelievers in the present life is a judgment, 
 by which they begin to be separated from future blessings ; 
 but the chastisement of those who worship God, while it is 
 inflicted upon them for sins into which they have fallen, 
 exacts from them the due of what they have done, that, 
 preventing the judgment, they may pay the debt of their sin 
 in the present life, and be freed, at least in half, from the 
 eternal punishments which are there prepared. 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Judgment to come. 
 
 " But he does not receive these things as true who does not 
 believe that there is to be a judgment of God, and therefore, 
 being bound by the pleasures of the present life, is shut out 
 from eternal good things ; and therefore we do not neglect 
 to proclaim to you what we know to be necessary for your 
 salvation, and to show you what is the true worship of God, 
 that, believing in God, you may be able, by means of good 
 works, to be heirs with us of the world to come. But if you 
 are not yet convinced that what we say is true, meantime, in 
 the first instance, you ought not to take it amiss and to be 
 hostile to us because we announce to you the things which 
 we consider to be good, and because we do not grudge to 
 bestow also upon you that which we believe brings salvation 
 to ourselves, labouring, as I have said, with all eagerness, that 
 we may have you as fellow-heirs of the blessings which we 
 believe are to befall ourselves. But whether those things 
 which we declare to you are certainly true, you shall not be 
 able to know otherwise than by rendering obedience to the 
 things which are commanded, that you may be taught by the 
 issue of things, and the most certain end of blessedness.
 
 326 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK v. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Conclusion of discourse. 
 
 " And, therefore, although the serpent lurking within you 
 occupies your senses with a thousand arts of corruption, and 
 throws in your way a thousand obstacles, by which he may 
 turn you away from the hearing of saving instruction, all the 
 more ought you to resist him, and despising his suggestions, 
 to come together the more frequently to hear the word and 
 receive instruction from us, because nobody can learn any- 
 thing who is not taught." 
 
 And when he had done speaking, he ordered those to be 
 brought to him who were oppressed by sicknesses or demons, 
 and laid his hands upon them with prayer; and so he dis- 
 missed the crowds, charging them to resort to the hearing 
 of the word during the days that he was to remain there. 
 Therefore, when the crowds had departed, Peter washed his 
 body in the waters which ran through the garden, with as 
 many of the others as chose to do so ; and then ordered the 
 couches to be spread on the ground under a very shady tree, 
 and directed us to recline according to the order established 
 at Csesarea. And thus, having taken food and given thanks 
 to God after the manner of the Hebrews, as there was yet 
 some portion of the day remaining, he ordered us to question 
 him on any matters that we pleased. And although we were 
 with him twenty in all, he explained to every one whatever 
 he pleased to ask of him; the particulars of which I set down 
 in books and sent to you some time ago. And when evening 
 came we entered with him into the lodging, and went to sleep, 
 each one in his own place.
 
 BECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT, 
 
 BOOK VI. 
 
 CHAP. i. Diligence in study. 
 UT as soon as day began to advance the dawn upon 
 
 the retiring darkness, Peter having gone into the 
 garden to pray, and returning thence and coming 
 to us, by way of excuse for awaking and coming 
 to us a little later than usual, said this : " Now that the 
 spring-time has lengthened the day, of course the night is 
 shorter ; if, therefore, one desires to occupy some portion of 
 the night in study, he must not keep the same hours 1 for 
 waking at all seasons, but should spend the same length of 
 time in sleeping, whether the night be longer or shorter, and 
 be exceedingly careful that he do not cut off from the period 
 which he is wont to have for study, and so add to his sleep 
 and lessen his time of keeping awake. And this also is to be 
 observed, lest haply if sleep be interrupted while the food is 
 still undigested, the undigested mass load the mind, and by 
 the exhalation of crude spirits render the inner sense con- 
 fused and disturbed. It is right, therefore, that that part 
 also be cherished with sufficient rest, so that, those things 
 being sufficiently accomplished which are due to it, the body 
 may be able in other things to render due service to the 
 mind." 
 
 CHAP. ii. Much to be done in a little time. 
 
 When he had said this, as very many had already assembled 
 
 1 It will be remembered that the hours were variable periods, and 
 began to be reckoned from sunrise. 
 
 327
 
 328 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vr. 
 
 in the accustomed place of the garden to hear him, Peter 
 went forth; and having saluted the crowds in his usual manner, 
 began to speak as follows : " Since, indeed, as land neglected 
 by the cultivator necessarily produces thorns and thistles, so 
 your sense, by long neglect, has produced a plentiful crop of 
 noxious opinions of things and dogmas of false science; there 
 is need now of much care in cultivating the field of your 
 mind, that the word of truth, which is the true and diligent 
 husbandman of the heart, may cultivate it with continual 
 instructions. It is therefore your part to render obedience 
 to it, and to lop off superfluous occupations and anxieties, lest 
 a noxious growth choke the good seed of the word. For it 
 may be that a short and earnest diligence may repair a long 
 time's neglect; for the time of every one's life is uncertain, 
 and therefore we must hasten to salvation, lest haply sudden 
 death seize upon him who delays. 
 
 CHAP. in. Righteous anger. 
 
 " And all the more eagerly must we strive on this account, 
 that while there is time, the collected vices of evil custom may 
 be cut off. And this you shall not be able to do otherwise, 
 than by being angry with yourselves on account of your 
 profitless and base doings. For this is righteous and neces- 
 sary anger, by which every one is indignant with himself, and 
 accuses himself for those things in which he has erred and 
 done amiss ; and by this indignation a certain fire is kindled 
 in us, which, applied as it were to a barren field, consumes 
 and burns up the roots of vile pleasure, and renders the soil 
 of the heart mord fertile for the good seed of the word of 
 God. And I think that you have sufficiently worthy causes 
 of anger, from which that most righteous fire may be kindled, 
 if you consider into what errors the evil of ignorance has 
 drawn you, and how it has caused you to fall and rush head- 
 long into sin, from what good things it has withdrawn you, 
 and into what evils it has driven you, and, what is of more 
 importance than all the rest, how it has made you liable to 
 eternal punishments in the world to come. Is not the fire of 
 most righteous indignation kindled within you for all these
 
 BOOK, vi.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 329 
 
 things, now that the light of truth has shone upon you ; and 
 does not the flame of that anger which is pleasing to God 
 rise within you, that every sprout may be burnt up and 
 destroyed from the root, if haply any shoot of evil concu- 
 piscence has budded within you 1 
 
 CHAP. iv. Not peace, but a sword. 
 
 " Hence, also, He who hath sent us, when He had come, 
 and had seen that all the world had fallen into wickedness, 
 did not forthwith give peace to him who is in error, lest He 
 should confirm him in evil; but set the knowledge of truth in 
 opposition to the ruins of ignorance of it, that, if haply men 
 would repent and look upon the light of truth, they might 
 rightly grieve that they had been deceived and drawn away 
 into the precipices of error, and might kindle the fire of 
 salutary anger against the ignorance that had deceived them. 
 On this account, therefore, He said, 1 1 have come to send fire 
 on the earth; and how I wish that it were kindled I' 1 There 
 is therefore a certain fight, which is to be fought by us in 
 this life; for the word of truth and knowledge necessarily 
 separates men from error and ignorance, as we have often 
 seen putrified and dead flesh in the body separated by the 
 cutting knife from its connection with the living members. 
 Such is the effect produced by knowledge of the truth. For 
 it is necessary that, for the sake of salvation, the son, for 
 example, who has received the word of truth, be separated 
 from his unbelieving parents ; or again", that the father be 
 separated from his son, or the daughter from her mother. 
 And in this manner the battle of knowledge and ignorance, of 
 truth and error, arises between believing and unbelieving kins- 
 men and relations. And therefore He who has sent us said 
 again, 1 1 am not come to send peace on earth, but a sword.' 2 
 
 CHAP. v. How the fight begins. 
 
 " But if any one say, How does it seem right for men to 
 be separated from their parents ? I will tell you how. Be- 
 cause, if they remained with them in error, they would do no 
 1 Luke xii. 49. a Matt. x. 34.
 
 330 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vi. 
 
 good to them, and they would themselves perish with them. 
 It is therefore right, and very right, that he who will be saved 
 be separated from him who will not. But observe this also, 
 that this separation does not come from those who understand 
 aright ; for they wish to be with their relatives, and to do 
 them good, and to teach them better things. But it is the vice 
 peculiar to ignorance, that it will not bear to have near it the 
 light of truth, which confutes it ; and therefore that separa- 
 tion originates with them. For those who receive the know- 
 ledge of the truth, because it is full of goodness, desire, if it 
 be possible, to share it with all, as given by the good God ; 
 yea, even with those who hate and persecute them : for they 
 know that ignorance is the cause of their sin. Wherefore, 
 in short, the Master Himself, when He was being led to the 
 cross by those who knew Him not, prayed the Father for His 
 murderers, and said, * Father, forgive their sin, for they know 
 not what they do!' 1 The disciples also, in imitation of the 
 Master, even when themselves were suffering, in like manner 
 prayed for their murderers. 2 But if we are taught to pray 
 even for our murderers and persecutors, how ought we not to 
 bear the persecutions of parents and relations, and to pray 
 for their conversion 1 
 
 CHAP. VI.- God to be loved more than parents. 
 
 " Then let us consider carefully, in the next place, what 
 reason we have for loving our parents. For this cause, it is 
 said, we love them, because they seem to be the authors of 
 our life. But our parents are not authors of our life, but 
 means of it. For they do not bestow life, but afford the 
 means of our entering into this life ; while the one and sole 
 author of life is God. If therefore we would love the Author 
 of our life, let us know that it is He that is to be loved. 
 But then it is said, We cannot know Him; but them we 
 know, and hold in affection. Be it so : you cannot know 
 what God is, but you can very easily know what God is not. 
 For how can any man fail to know that wood, or stone, or 
 brass, or other such matter, is not God? But if you will not 
 1 Luke xxiii. 54. 2 Acts vii. 59.
 
 BOOK vi.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 331 
 
 give your mind to consider the things which you might easily 
 apprehend, it is certain that you are hindered in the knowledge 
 of God, not by impossibility, but by indolence; for if you had 
 wished it, even from these useless images you might have 
 been set on the way of understanding. 
 
 CHAP. vn. The earth made for men. 
 
 " For it is certain that these images are made with iron 
 tools ; but iron is wrought by fire, which fire is extinguished 
 by water. But water is moved by spirit ; and spirit has its 
 beginning from God. For thus saith the prophet Moses : 
 1 In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But 
 the earth was invisible, and unarranged ; and darkness was 
 over the deep : and the Spirit of God was upon the waters.' 1 
 Which Spirit, like the Creator's hand, by command of God 
 separated light from darkness; and after that invisible heaven 
 produced this visible one, that He might make the higher 
 places a habitation for angels, and the lower for men. For 
 your sake, therefore, by command of God, the water which 
 was upon the face of the earth withdrew, that the earth 
 might produce fruits for you; and into the earth also He 
 inserted veins of moisture, that fountains and rivers might 
 flow forth from it for you. For your sake it was commanded 
 to bring forth living creatures, and all things which could 
 serve for your use and pleasure. Is it not for you that the 
 winds blow, that the earth, conceiving by them, may bring 
 forth fruits ? Is it not for you that the showers fall, and the 
 seasons change? Is it not for you that the sun rises and 
 sets, and the moon undergoes her changes? For you the 
 sea offers its service, that all things may be subject to you, 
 ungrateful as you are. For all these things shall there not 
 be a righteous punishment of vengeance, because beyond all 
 else you are ignorant of the bestower of all these things, 
 whom you ought to acknowledge and reverence above all ? 
 
 CHAP. VIIT. Necessity of baptism. 
 
 " But now I lead you to understanding by the same paths. 
 1 Gen. i. 1, 2.
 
 332 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vr. 
 
 For you see that all things are produced from waters. But 
 water was made at first by the Only-begotten ; and the 
 Almighty God is the head of the Only-begotten, by whom 
 we come to the Father in such order as we have stated above. 
 But when you have come to the Father, you will learn that 
 this is His will, that you be born anew by means of waters, 
 which were first created. For he who is regenerated by 
 water, having filled up the measure of good works, is made 
 heir of Him by whom he has been regenerated in incorrup- 
 tion. Wherefore, with prepared minds, approach as sons to 
 a father, that your sins may be washed away, and it may be 
 proved before God that ignorance was their sole cause. For 
 if, after the learning of these things, you remain in unbelief, 
 the cause of your destruction will be imputed to yourselves, 
 and not to ignorance. And do not suppose that you can 
 have hope towards God, even if you cultivate all piety and all 
 righteousness, but do not receive baptism. Yea rather, he 
 will be worthy of greater punishment, who does good works 
 not well; for merit accrues to men from good works, but only 
 if they be done as God commands. Now God has ordered 
 eveiy one who worships Him to be sealed by baptism ; but 
 if you refuse, and obey your own will rather than God's, you 
 are doubtless contrary and hostile to His will. 
 
 CHAP. ix. Use of baptism. 
 
 
 
 "But you will perhaps say, What does the baptism of 
 water contribute towards the worship of God ? In the first 
 place, because that which hath pleased God is fulfilled. In 
 the second place, because, when you are regenerated and born 
 again of water and of God, the frailty of your former birth, 
 which you have through men, is cut off, and so at length you 
 shall be able to attain salvation ; but othenvise it is impossible. 
 For thus hath the true prophet testified to us with an oath : 
 ' Verily I say to you, That unless a man is born again of 
 water, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 1 
 
 / O 
 
 Therefore make haste ; for there is in these waters a certain 
 
 power of mercy which was borne upon them at the beginning, 
 
 1 John iii. 5.
 
 BOOK vi.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 333 
 
 and acknowledges those who are baptized under the name 
 of the threefold sacrament, and rescues them from future 
 punishments, presenting as a gift to God the souls that are 
 consecrated by baptism. Betake yourselves therefore to these 
 waters, for they alone can quench the violence of the future 
 fire ; and he who delays to approach to them, it is evident 
 that the idol of unbelief remains in him, and by it he is pre- 
 vented from hastening to the waters which confer salvation. 
 For whether you be righteous or unrighteous, baptism is 
 necessary for you in every respect : for the righteous, that 
 perfection may be accomplished in him, and he may be born 
 again to God; for the unrighteous, that pardon may be vouch- 
 safed him of the sins which he has committed in ignorance. 
 Therefore all should hasten to be born again to God without 
 delay, because the end of every one's life is uncertain. 
 
 CHAP. x. Necessity of good works. 
 
 li But when you have been regenerated by water, show by 
 good works the likeness in you of that Father who hath be- 
 gotten you. Now you know God, honour Him as a father ; 
 and His honour is, that you live according to His will. And 
 His will is, that you so live as to know nothing of murder 
 or adultery, to flee from hatred and covetousness, to put away 
 anger, pride, and boasting, to abhor envy, and to count all 
 such things entirely unsuitable to you. There is truly a cer- 
 tain peculiar observance of our religion, which is not so much 
 imposed upon men, as it is sought out by every worshipper of 
 God by reason of its purity. By reason of chastity, I say, of 
 which there are many kinds, but first, that every one be care- 
 ful that he f come not near a menstruous woman ;' for this 
 the law of God regards as detestable. But though the law 
 had given no admonition concerning these things, should we 
 willingly, like beetles, roll ourselves in filth ? For we ought 
 to have something more than the animals, as reasonable men, 
 and capable of heavenly senses, whose chief study it ought 
 to be to guard the conscience from every defilement of the 
 heart.
 
 334 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vi. 
 
 CHAP. XI. Inward and outward cleansing. 
 
 "Moreover, it is good, and tends to purity, also to. wash the 
 body with water. I call it good, not as if it were that prime 
 good of the purifying of the mind, but because this of the 
 washing of the body is the sequel of that good. For so also 
 our Master rebuked some of the Pharisees and scribes, who 
 seemed to be better than others, and separated from the 
 people, calling them hypocrites, because they purified only 
 those things which were seen of men, but left defiled and 
 sordid their hearts, which God alone sees. To some there- 
 
 / i 
 
 fore of them not to all He said, ' Woe to you, scribes 
 and Pharisees, hypocrites ! because ye cleanse the outside of 
 the cup and platter, but the inside is full of pollution. O 
 blind Pharisees, first make clean what is within, and what is 
 without shall be clean also.' 1 For truly, if the mind be puri- 
 fied by the light of knowledge, when once it is clean and 
 clear, then it necessarily takes care of that which is without 
 a man, that is, his flesh, that it also may be purified. But 
 when that which is without, the cleansing of the flesh, is 
 neglected, it is certain that there is no care taken of the 
 purity of the mind and the cleanness of the heart. Thus- 
 therefore it comes to pass, that he who is clean inwardly is 
 without doubt cleansed outwardly also, but not always that 
 he who is clean outwardly is also cleansed inwardly to wit, 
 when he does these things that he may please men. 
 
 CHAP. xii. Importance of chastity. 
 
 " But this kind of chastity is also to be observed, that sexual 
 intercourse must not take place heedlessly and for the sake of 
 mere pleasure, but for the sake of begetting children. And 
 since this observance is found even amongst some of the lower 
 animals, it were a shame if it be not observed by men, reason- 
 able, and worshipping God. But there is this further reason 
 why chastity should be observed by those who hold the true 
 worship of God, in those forms of it of which we have spoken, 
 and others of like sort, that it is observed strictly even amongst 
 1 Matt, xxiii. 25, 26.
 
 BOOK vi.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 335 
 
 those who are still held by the devil in error, for even amongst 
 them there is in some degree the observance of chastity. 
 What then ? Will you not observe, now that you are re- 
 formed, what you observed when you were in error 1 
 
 CHAP. xin. Superiority of Christian morality. 
 
 " But perhaps some one of you will say, Must we then ob- 
 serve all things which we did while we worshipped idols ? Not 
 all. But whatever things were done well, these you ought 
 to observe even now ; because, if anything is rightly done by 
 those who are in error, it is certain that that is derived from 
 the truth; whereas, if anything is not rightly done in the 
 true religion, that is, without doubt, borrowed from error. For 
 good is good, though it be done by those who are in error ; 
 and evil is evil, though it be done by those who follow the 
 truth. Or shall we be so foolish, that if we see a worshipper 
 of idols to be sober, we shall refuse to be sober, lest we should 
 seem to do the same things which he does who worships idols? 
 It is not so. But let this be our study, that if those who err 
 do not commit murder, we should not even be angry ; if they 
 do not commit adultery, we should not even covet another's 
 wife ; if they love their neighbours, we should love even our 
 enemies ; if they lend to those who have the means of paying, 
 we should give to those from whom we do not hope to receive 
 anything. And in all things, we who hope for the inheritance 
 of the eternal world ought to excel those who know only the 
 present world ; knowing that if their works, when compared 
 with our works, be found like and equal in the day of judg- 
 ment, there will be confusion to us, because we are found 
 equal in our works to those who are condemned on account 
 of ignorance, and had no hope of the world to come. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Knowledge enhances responsibility. 
 
 " And truly confusion is our worthy portion, if we have 
 done no more than those who are inferior to us in know- 
 ledge. But if it be confusion to us to be found equal to 
 them in w r orks, what shall become of us if the examination 
 that is to take place find us inferior and worse than them ?
 
 336 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vi. 
 
 Hear, therefore, how our true Prophet has taught us con- 
 cerning these things ; for, with respect to those who neglect 
 to hear the words of wisdom, He speaks thus : * The queen 
 of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation, and 
 shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the 
 earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon ; and, behold, a greater 
 than Solomon is here, and they hear Him not.' 1 But with 
 respect to those who refused to repent of their evil deeds, 
 He spoke thus : < The men of Nineve shall rise in the judg- 
 ment with this generation, and shall condemn it : for they 
 repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater 
 than Jonas is here.' 2 You see, therefore, how He condemned 
 those who were instructed out of the law, by adducing the 
 example of those who came from Gentile ignorance, and 
 showing that the former were not even equal to those who 
 seemed to live in error. From all these things, then, the 
 statement that He propounded is proved, that chastity, which 
 is observed to a certain extent even by those who live in 
 error, should be held much more purely and strictly, in all 
 its forms, as we showed above, by us who follow the truth ; 
 and the rather because with us eternal rewards are assigned 
 to its observance." 
 
 CHAP. xv. Bishops, presbyters, deacons, and widows 
 ordained at Tripolis. 
 
 When he had said these things, and others to the same 
 effect, he dismissed the crowds ; and having, according to his 
 custom, supped with his friends, he went to sleep. And 
 while in this manner he was teaching the word of God for 
 three whole months, and converting multitudes to the faith, 
 at the last he ordered me to fast ; and after the fast he con- 
 ferred on me the baptism of ever-flowing water, in the foun- 
 tains which adjoin the sea. And when, for the grace of re- 
 generation divinely conferred upon me, we had joyfully kept 
 holiday with our brethren, Peter ordered those who had been 
 appointed to go before him, to proceed to Antioch, and there 
 to wait three months more. And they having gone, he him- 
 
 1 Matt. xii. 42 ; Luke xi. 31. Matt. xii. 41 ; Luke xi. 32.
 
 BOOK vi.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 337 
 
 self led down to the fountains, which, I have said, are near 
 the sea, those who had fully received the faith of the Lord, 
 and baptized them ; and celebrating 1 the Eucharist with them, 
 he appointed, as bishop over them, Maro, who had entertained 
 him in his house, and who was now perfect in all things ; 
 and with him he ordained twelve presbyters and deacons at 
 the same time. He also instituted the order of widows, and 
 arranged all the services of the church ; and charged them 
 all to obey Maro their bishop in all things that he should 
 command them. And thus all things being suitably arranged, 
 when the three months were fulfilled, we bade farewell to 
 those who were at Tripolis, and set out for Antioch. 
 1 Literally, " breaking the Eucharist."
 
 KECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT, 
 
 BOOK VII. 
 
 CHAP. i. Journey from Tripolis. 
 
 length leaving Tripolis, a city of Phoenicia, we 
 made our first halt at Ortosias, not far from 
 Tripolis ; and there we remained the next day 
 also, because almost all those that had believed in 
 the Lord, unable to part from Peter, followed him thus far. 
 Thence we came to Antharadus. But because there were 
 many in our company, Peter said to Niceta and Aquila : " As 
 there are immense crowds of brethren with us, and we bring 
 upon ourselves no little envy as we enter into every city, it 
 seems to me that we must take means, without doing so un- 
 pleasing a thing as to prevent their following us, to secure 
 that the wicked one shall not stir up envy against us on 
 account of any display ! I wish, therefore, that you, Niceta 
 and Aquila, would go before us with them, so that you may 
 lead the multitude divided into two sections, that we may 
 enter every city of the Gentiles travelling apart, rather than 
 in one assemblage. 
 
 CHAP. II. Disciples divided into two bands. 
 
 " But I know that you think it sad to be separated from 
 me for the space of at least two days. Believe me, that in 
 whatever degree you love me, my affection towards you is 
 tenfold greater. But if, by reason of our mutual affection, 
 we will not do the things that are right and honourable, such 
 love will appear to be unreasonable. And therefore, without 
 bating a tittle of our love, let us attend to those things which 
 seem useful and necessary ; especially since not a day can 
 
 338
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 339 
 
 pass in which you may not be present at my discussions. 
 For I purpose to pass through the most noted cities of the 
 provinces one by one, as you also know, and to reside three 
 months in each for the sake of teaching. Now, therefore, 
 go before me to Laodicea, which is the nearest city, and I 
 shall follow you after two or three days, so far as I purpose. 
 But you shall wait for me at the inn nearest to the gate of 
 the city ; and thence again, when we have spent a few days 
 there, you shall go before me to more distant cities. And 
 this I wish you to do at every city, for the sake of avoiding 
 envy as much as in us lies, and also that the brethren who 
 are with us, finding lodgings prepared in the several cities by 
 your foresight, may not seem to be vagabonds." 
 
 CHAP. III. Order of march. 
 
 "When Peter thus spoke, they of course acquiesced, saying : 
 "It does not greatly sadden us to do this, because we are 
 ordered by you, who have been chosen by the foresight of 
 Christ to do and to counsel well in all things ; but also because, 
 while it is a heavy loss not to see our lord Peter for one, or it 
 may be two days, yet it is not intolerable. And we think of 
 our twelve brethren who" go before us, and who are deprived 
 of the advantage of hearing and seeing you for a whole month 
 out of the three that you stay in every city. Therefore we 
 shall not delay doing as you order, because you order all 
 things aright." And thus saying, they went forward, having 
 received instructions that they should speak to the brethren 
 who journeyed with them outside the city, and request them 
 not to enter the cities in a crowd and with tumult, but apart, 
 and divided into two bands. 
 
 CHAP. IV. Clements joy at remaining with Peter. 
 
 But when they were gone, I Clement rejoiced greatly 
 because he had kept me with himself, and I said to him : " I 
 give thanks to God that you have not sent me forward with 
 the others, for I should have died through sadness." Then 
 said Peter : " And what will happen if necessity shall demand 
 that you be sent anywhere for the purpose of teaching?
 
 340 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos vn. 
 
 Would you die if you were separated from me for a good 
 purpose ? Would you not put a restraint upon yourself, to 
 bear patiently what necessity has laid upon you ? Or do you 
 not know that friends are always together, and are joined 
 in memory, though they be separated bodily ; as, on the other 
 hand, some persons are near to one another in body, but are 
 separate in mind?" 
 
 CHAP. v. Clement 1 s affection for Peter. 
 
 Then I answered: "Think not, my lord, that I suffer 
 these things unreasonably ; but there is a certain cause and 
 reason of this affection of mine towards you. For I have 
 you alone as the object of all my affections, instead of father 
 and mother, and brethren; but above all this, is the fact 
 that you alone are the cause of my salvation and knowledge 
 of the truth. And also this I do not count of least moment, 
 that my youthful age is subject to the snares of lusts ; 
 and I am afraid to be without you, by whose sole presence 
 all effeminacy, however irrational it be, is put to shame ; 
 although I trust, by the mercy of God, that even my mind, 
 from what it has conceived through your instruction, shall 
 be unable to receive aught else into its thoughts. Besides, 
 I remember your saying at Csesarea, 'If any one wishes 
 to accompany me, without violating dutifulness, let lym 
 accompany me.' And by this you meant that he should not 
 make any one sad, to whom he ought according to God's 
 appointment to cleave ; for example, that he should not leave 
 a faithful wife, or parents, or the like. Now from these I 
 am entirely free, and so I am fit for following you ; and I 
 wish you would grant me that I might perform to you the 
 service of a servant." 
 
 CHAP. VI. Peter's simplicity of life. 
 
 Then Peter, laughing, said : " And do you not think, Cle- 
 ment, that very necessity must make you my servant ? For 
 who else can spread my sheets, and arrange my beautiful 
 coverlets I Who will be at hand to keep my rings, and pre- 
 pare my robes, which I must be constantly changing I Who
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 341 
 
 shall superintend my cooks, and provide various and choice 
 meats to be prepared by most recondite and various art ; and 
 all those things which are procured at enormous expense, 
 and are brought together for men of delicate up-bringing, 
 yea rather, for their appetite, as for some enormous beast ? 
 But perhaps, although you live with me, you do not know 
 my manner of life. I live on bread alone, with olives, and 
 seldom even with pot-herbs ; and my dress is what you see, 
 a tunic with a pallium : and having these, I require nothing 
 more. This is sufficient for me, because my mind does not 
 regard things present, but things eternal, and therefore no 
 present and visible thing delights me. Whence I embrace 
 and admire indeed your good mind towards me ; and I com- 
 mend you the more, because, though you have been accus- 
 tomed to so great abundance, you have been able so soon to 
 abandon it, and to accommodate yourself to this life of ours, 
 which makes use of necessary things alone. For we that is, 
 I and my brother Andrew have grown up from our child- 
 hood, not only orphans, but also extremely poor, and through 
 necessity have become used to labour, whence now also we 
 easily bear the fatigues of our journeyings. But rather, if 
 you would consent and allow it, I, who am a working man, 
 could more easily discharge the duty of a servant to you." 
 
 CHAP. VII. Peters humility. 
 
 But I trembled when I heard this, and my tears immediately 
 gushed forth, because so great a man, who is worth more 
 than the whole world, had addressed such a proposal to me. 
 Then he, when he saw me weeping, inquired the reason ; 
 and I answered him : " How have I so sinned against you, 
 that you should distress me with such a proposal ? " Then 
 Peter : " If it is evil that I said I should serve you, you were 
 first in fault in saying the same thing to me." Then said I : 
 " The cases are not alike : for it becomes me to do this to 
 you ; but it is grievous that you, who are sent as the herald of 
 the Most High God to save the souls of men, should say it to 
 me." Then said Peter : u I should agree with you, were it 
 not that our Lord, who came for the salvation of the whole
 
 342 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vn. 
 
 world, and who was nobler than any creature, submitted to 
 be a servant, that He might persuade us not to be ashamed 
 to perform the ministry of servants to our brethren." Then 
 said I : "It were foolishness in me to suppose that I can pre- 
 vail with you ; nevertheless I give thanks to the providence 
 of God, because I have merited to have you instead of 
 parents." 
 
 CHAP. vin. Clement's family history. 
 
 Then said Peter : " Is there then no one of your family 
 surviving ?" I answered : " There are indeed many powerful 
 men, coming of the stock of Caesar ; for Caesar himself gave 
 a wife to my father, as being his relative, and educated along 
 with him, and of a suitably noble family. By her my father 
 had twin -sons, born before me, not very like one another, as 
 my father told me ; for I never knew them. But indeed 
 I have not a distinct recollection even of my mother ; but 
 I cherish the remembrance of her face, as if I had seen it 
 in a dream. My mother's name was Matthidia, my father's 
 Faustinianus ; my brothers', Faustinus and Faustus. Now, 
 when I was barely five years old, my mother saw a vision 
 so I learned from my father by which she was warned that, 
 unless she speedily left the city with her twin sons, and was 
 absent for ten years, she and her children should perish by 
 a miserable fate. 
 
 CHAP. ix. Disappearance of his mother and brothers. 
 
 " Then my father, who tenderly loved his sons, put them 
 on board a ship with their mother, and sent them to Athens 
 to be educated, with slaves and maid-servants, and a sufficient 
 supply of money ; retaining me only to be a comfort to him, 
 and thankful for this, that the vision had not commanded me 
 also to go with my mother. And at the end of a year my 
 father sent men to Athens with money for them, desiring 
 also to know how they did ; but those who were sent never 
 returned. Again, in the third year, my sorrowful father sent 
 other men .with money, who returned in the fourth year, and 
 related that they had seen neither my mother nor my brothers,
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 343 
 
 that they had never reached Athens, and that no trace had 
 been found of any one of those who had been with them. 
 
 CHAP. x. Disappearance of his father. 
 
 " My father hearing this, and confounded with excessive 
 sorrow, not knowing whither to go or where to seek, went 
 down with me to the harbour, and began to ask of tlie 
 sailors whether any of them had seen or heard of the bodies 
 of a mother and two little children being cast ashore any- 
 where, four years ago ; when one told one story and another 
 another, but nothing definite was disclosed to us searching in 
 this boundless sea. Yet my father, by reason of the great 
 affection which he bore to his wife and children, was fed 
 with vain hopes, until he thought of placing me under guar- 
 dians and leaving me at Rome, as I was now twelve years 
 old, and himself going in quest of them. Therefore he went 
 down to the harbour weeping, and going on board a ship, 
 took his departure ; and from that time till now I have never 
 received any letters from him, nor do I know whether he is 
 alive or dead. But I rather suspect that he also has perished, 
 either through a broken heart or by shipwreck ; for twenty 
 years have now elapsed since then, and no tidings of him 
 have ever reached me." 
 
 CHAP. XT. Different effects of suffering on heathens and 
 Christians. 
 
 Peter, hearing this, shed tears of sympathy, and said to his 
 friends who were present : " If any one who is a worshipper 
 of God had endured what this man's father has endured, 
 immediately men would assign his religion as the cause of 
 his calamities ; but when these things happen to miserable 
 Gentiles, they charge their misfortunes upon fate. I call 
 them miserable, because they are both vexed with errors here, 
 and are deprived of future hope ; whereas, when the . wor- 
 shippers of God suffer these things, their patient endurance 
 of them contributes to their cleansing from sin."
 
 344 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vir. 
 
 CHAP. xn. Excursion to Aradus. 
 
 After this, one of those present began to ask Peter, that 
 early next day we should go to a neighbouring island called 
 Aradus, which was not more than six furlongs off, to see 
 a certain wonderful work that was in it, viz. vine-wood 1 
 columns of immense size. To this Peter assented, as he was 
 very complaisant ; but he charged us that, when we left the 
 ship, we should not rush all together to see it : " for," said 
 he, " I do not wish you to be noticed by the crowd." When 
 therefore, next day, we reached the island by ship in the 
 course of an hour, forthwith we hastened to the place where 
 the wonderful columns were. They were placed in a cer- 
 tain temple, in which there were very magnificent works of 
 Phidias, on which every one of us gazed earnestly. 
 
 CHAP. xni. The beggar woman. 
 
 But when Peter had admired only the columns, being no 
 wise ravished with the grace of the painting, he went out, and 
 saw before the gates a poor woman asking alms of those who 
 went in ; and looking earnestly at her, he said : " Tell me, O 
 woman, what member of your body is wanting, that you 
 subject yourself to the indignity of asking alms, and do not 
 rather gain your bread by labouring with your hands which 
 God has given you." But she, sighing, said : " Would that I 
 had hands which could be moved ; but now only the appear- 
 ance of hands has been preserved, for they are lifeless, and 
 have been rendered feeble and without feeling by my gnawing 
 of them." Then Peter said : " What has been the cause of 
 your inflicting so great an injury upon yourself "?" "Want 
 of courage," said she, " and naught else ; for if I had had 
 any bravery in me, I could either have thrown myself from 
 a precipice, or cast myself into the depths of the sea, and so 
 ended my griefs." 
 
 CHAP. xiv. T7ie icomaiis grief. 
 
 Then Peter said : " Do you think, O woman, that those 
 1 Various reading, " glass."
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 345 
 
 who destroy themselves are set free from torments, and not 
 rather that the souls of those who lay violent hands upon 
 themselves are subjected to greater punishments?" Then 
 said she : " I wish I were sure that souls live in the infernal 
 regions, for I would gladly embrace the suffering of the 
 penalty of suicide, only that I might see my darling children, 
 if it were but for an hour." Then Peter : " What thing is 
 it so great, that affects you with so heavy sadness ? I should 
 like to know. For if you informed me of the cause, I might 
 be able both to show you clearly, O woman, that souls do 
 live in the infernal regions ; and instead of the precipice or 
 the deep sea, I might give you some remedy, that you may 
 be able to end your life without torment." 
 
 CHAP. xv. The woman's story. 
 
 Then the woman, hearing this welcome promise, began to 
 say : " It is neither easy of belief, nor do I think it necessary 
 to tell, what is my extraction, or what is my country. It is 
 enough only to explain the cause of my grief, why I have 
 rendered my hands powerless by gnawing them. Being born 
 of noble parents, and having become the wife of a suitably 
 powerful man, I had two twin sons, and after them one other. 
 But my husband's brother was vehemently enflamed with 
 unlawful love towards me ; and as I valued chastity above all 
 things, and would neither consent to so great wickedness, nor 
 wished to disclose to my husband the baseness of his brother, 
 I considered whether in any way I could escape unpolluted, 
 and yet not set brother against brother, and so bring the 
 whole race of a noble family into disgrace. I made up my 
 mind, therefore, to leave my country with my two twins, until 
 the incestuous love should subside, which the sight of me was 
 fostering and enflaming ; and I thought that our other son 
 should remain to comfort his father to some extent. 
 
 CHAP. xvi. The woman's story continued. 
 
 " Now in order to carry out this plan, I pretended that I 
 had had a dream, in which some deity stood by me in a 
 vision, and told me that I should immediately depart from
 
 346 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vn. 
 
 the city with my twins, and should be absent until he should 
 command me to return ; and that, if I did not do so, I should 
 perish with all my children. And so it was done. For as 
 soon as I told the dream to my husband, he was terrified ; 
 and sending with me my twin sons, and also slaves and maid- 
 servants, and giving me plenty of money, he ordered me to 
 sail to Athens, where I might educate my sons, and that I 
 should stay there, until he who had commanded me to depart 
 should give me leave to return. While I was sailing along 
 with my sons, I was shipwrecked in the night by the violence 
 of the winds, and, wretch that I am, was driven to this place ; 
 and when all had perished, a powerful wave caught me, and 
 cast me upon a rock. And while I sat there with this only 
 hope, that haply I might be able to find my sons, I did not 
 throw myself into the deep, although then my soul, disturbed 
 and drunk with grief, had both the courage and the power 
 to do it. 
 
 CHAP. xvii. The womarfs story continued. 
 
 " But when the day dawned, and I with shouting and howl- 
 ing was looking around, if I could even see the corpses of my 
 unhappy sons any where washed ashore, some of those who saw 
 me were moved with compassion, and searched, first over the 
 sea, and then also along the shores, if they could find either 
 of my children. But when neither of them was anywhere 
 found, the women of the place, taking pity on me, began to 
 comfort me, every one telling her own griefs, that I might 
 take consolation from the likeness of their calamities to my 
 own. But this saddened me all the more ; for my disposition 
 was not such that I could regard the misfortunes of others 
 as comforts to me. And when many desired to receive me 
 hospitably, a certain poor woman who dwells here constrained 
 me to enter into her hut, saying that she had had a husband 
 who was a sailor, and that he had died at sea while a young 
 man, and that, although many afterwards asked her in mar- 
 riage, she preferred widowhood through love of her husband. 
 ' Therefore,' said she, ' we shall share whatever we can gain 
 by the labour of our hands.'
 
 BOOK VIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 347 
 
 CHAP, xviil. The woman's story continued. 
 
 " And, not to detain you with a long and profitless story, 
 I willingly dwelt with her on account of the faithful affection 
 which she retained for her husband. But not long after, my 
 hands (unhappy woman that I was !), long torn with gnawing, 
 became powerless, and she who had taken me in fell into 
 palsy, and now lies at home in her bed ; also the affection of 
 those women who had formerly pitied me grew cold. We are 
 both helpless. I, as you see, sit begging ; and when I get 
 anything, one meal serves two wretches. Behold, now you 
 have heard enough of my affairs; why do you delay the 
 fulfilment of your promise, to give me a remedy, by which 
 both of us may end our miserable life without torment?" 
 
 CHAP. xix. Peter s reflections on the story. 
 
 While she was speaking, Peter, being distracted with 
 much thought, stood like one thunder-struck; and I Clement 
 coming up, said : " I have been seeking you everywhere, and 
 now what are we to do ? " But he commanded me to go before 
 him to the ship, and there to wait for him ; and because he 
 must not be gainsayed, I did as he commanded me. But he, 
 as he afterwards told me the whole, being struck with a sort 
 of suspicion, asked of the woman her family, and her country, 
 and the names of her sons ; " and straightway," he said, " if 
 you tell me these things, I shall give you the remedy." But 
 she, like one suffering violence, because she would not confess 
 these things, and yet was desirous of the remedy, feigned one 
 thing after another, saying that she was an Ephesian, and 
 her husband a Sicilian, and giving false names to her sons. 
 Then Peter, supposing that she had answered truly, said : 
 " Alas ! O woman, I thought that some great joy should 
 spring up to us to-day; for I suspected that you were a 
 certain woman, concerning whom I lately learned certain 
 like things." But she adjured him, saying : " I entreat you to 
 tell me what they are, that I may know if amongst women 
 there be one more unfortunate than myself."
 
 348 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vn. 
 
 CHAP. XX. Peter's statement to the woman. 
 
 Then Peter, incapable of deception, and moved with com- 
 passion, began to say : " There is a certain young man among 
 those who follow me for the sake of religion and sect, a 
 Roman citizen, who told me that he had a father and two 
 twin brothers, of whom not one is left to him. * My mother,' 
 he said, * as I learned from my father, saw a vision, that she 
 should depart from the Roman city for a time with her twin 
 sons, else they should perish by a dreadful death ; and when 
 she had departed, she was never more seen.' And afterwards 
 his father set out to search for his wife and sons, and was 
 also lost." 
 
 CHAP. xxi. A discovery. 
 
 When Peter had thus spoken, the woman, struck with 
 astonishment, fainted. Then Peter began to hold her up, 
 and to comfort her, and to ask what was the matter, or what 
 she suffered. But she at length, with difficulty recovering 
 her breath, and nerving herself up to the greatness of the 
 joy which she hoped for, and at the same time wiping her 
 face, said : " Is he here, the youth of whom you speak ? " 
 But Peter, when he understood the matter, said : " Tell me 
 first, or else you shall not see him." Then she said : " I am 
 the mother of the youth." Then says Peter : " What is his 
 name?" And she answered : "Clement." Then said Peter : 
 " It is himself ; and he it was that spoke with me a little while 
 ago, and whom I ordered to go before me to the ship." Then 
 she fell down at Peter's feet, and began to entreat him that 
 he would hasten to the ship. Then Peter said : " Yes, if 
 you will promise me that you will do as I say." Then she 
 said : " I will do anything ; only show me my only son, for I 
 think that in him I shall see my twins also." Then Peter 
 said : " When you have seen him, dissemble for a little time, 
 until we leave the island." " I will do so," she said. 
 
 CHAP. xxii. A happy meeting. 
 Then Peter, holding her hand, led her to the ship. And
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 349 
 
 when I saw him giving his hand to the woman, I began to 
 laugh ; yet, approaching to do him honour, I tried to substitute 
 my hand for his, and to support the woman. But as soon as 
 I touched her hand, she uttered a loud scream, and rushed 
 into my embrace, and began to devour me with a mother's 
 kisses. But I, being ignorant of the whole matter, pushed 
 her off as a mad woman ; and at the same time, though with 
 reverence, I was somewhat angry with Peter. 
 
 CHAP. xxin. A miracle. 
 
 But he said : " Cease : what mean you, O Clement, my 
 son ? Do not push away your mother." But I, as soon as 
 I heard these words, immediately bathed in tears, fell upon 
 my mother, who had fallen down, and began to kiss her. 
 For as soon as I heard, by degrees I recalled her countenance 
 to my memory ; and the longer I gazed, the more familiar it 
 grew to me. Meantime a great multitude assembled, hearing 
 that the woman who -used to sit and beg was recognised by 
 her son, who was a good man. 1 And when we wished to sail 
 hastily away from the island, my mother said to me ': " My 
 darling son, it is right that I should bid farewell to the 
 woman who took me in ; for she is poor, and paralytic, and 
 bedridden." When Peter and all who were present heard 
 this, they admired the goodness and prudence of the woman ; 
 and immediately Peter ordered some to go and to bring the 
 woman in her bed as she lay. And when she had been 
 brought, and placed in the midst of the crowd, Peter said, in 
 the presence of all : " If I am a preacher of truth, for con- 
 firming the faith of all those who stand by, that they may 
 know and believe that there is one God, who made heaven 
 and earth, in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, let this 
 woman rise." And as soon as he had said this, she arose 
 whole, and fell down at Peter's feet ; and greeting her friend 
 and acquaintance with kisses, asked of her what was the 
 meaning of it all. But she shortly related to her the whole 
 proceeding of the Recognition, so that the crowds standing 
 around wondered. 
 
 1 Perhaps, " a man in good position."
 
 350 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vii 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Departure from Aradus. 
 
 Then Peter, so far as he could, and as time permitted, 
 addressed the crowds on the faith of God, and the ordi- 
 nances of religion ; and then added, that if any one wished 
 to know more accurately about these things, he should come 
 to Antioch, " where," said he, " we have resolved to stay 
 three months, and to teach fully the things which pertain to 
 salvation. For if," said he, " men leave their country and 
 their parents for commercial or military purposes, and do not 
 fear to undertake long voyages, why should it be thought 
 burdensome or difficult to leave home for three months for the 
 sake of eternal life?" When he had said these things, and 
 more to the same purpose, I presented a thousand drachmas 
 to the woman who had entertained my mother, and 'who had 
 recovered her health by means of Peter, and in the presence 
 of all committed her to the charge of a certain good man, 
 the chief person in that town, who promised that he Avould 
 gladly do what we demanded of him. I also distributed a 
 little money among some others, and among those women 
 who were said formerly to have comforted my mother in her 
 miseries, to whom I also expressed my thanks. And after 
 this we sailed, along with my mother, to Antaradus. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Journeyings. 
 
 And when we had come to our lodging, my mother began 
 to ask 'of me what had become of my father ; and I told her 
 that he had gone to seek her, and never returned. But she, 
 hearing this, only sighed ; for her great joy on my account 
 lightened her other sorrows. And the next day she journeyed 
 with us, sitting with Peter's wife ; and we came to Balaneae, 
 where we stayed three days, and then went on to Pathos, and 
 afterwards to Gabala ; and so we arrived at Laodicea, where 
 Niceta and Aquila met us before the gates, and kissing us, 
 conducted us to a lodging. But Peter, seeing that it was a 
 large and splendid city, said that it was worthy that we should 
 stay in it ten days, or even longer. Then Niceta and Aquila 
 asked of me who was this unknown woman ; and I answered :
 
 BOOK vii J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 351 
 
 " It is my mother, whom God has given back to me by means 
 of my lord Peter." 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Recapitulation. 
 
 And when I had said this, Peter began to relate the whole 
 matter to them in order, and said : " When we had come to 
 Aradus, 1 and I had ordered you to go on before us, the same 
 day after you had gone, Clement was led in the course of 
 conversation to tell me of his extraction and his family, and 
 how he had been deprived of his parents, and had had twin 
 brothers older than himself, and that, as his father told him, 
 his mother once saw a vision, by which she was ordered to 
 depart from the city of Rome with her twin sons, else she 
 and they should suddenly perish. And when she had told 
 his father the dream, he, loving his sons with tender affection, 
 and afraid of any evil befalling them, put his wife and sons 
 on board a ship with all necessaries, and sent them to Athens 
 to be educated. Afterwards he sent once and again persons 
 to inquire after them, but nowhere found even a trace of them. 
 At last the father himself went on the search, and until now 
 he is nowhere [to be found]. When Clement had given me 
 this narrative, there came one to us, asking us to go to the 
 neighbouring island of Aradus, to see vine-wood columns of 
 wonderful size. I consented; and when we came to the 
 place, all the rest went into the interior of the temple ; 
 but I for what reason I know not had no mind to go 
 farther. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIT. Recapitulation continued. 
 
 "But while I was waiting outside for them, I began to 
 notice this woman, and to wonder in what part of her body 
 she was disabled, that she did not seek her living by the 
 labour of her hands, but submitted to the shame of beggary. 
 I therefore asked of her the reason of it. She confessed that 
 she was sprung of a noble race, and was married to a no less 
 noble husband, 'whose brother/ said she, 'being inflamed 
 by unlawful love towards me, desired to defile his brother's 
 
 1 There is a confusion in the text between Aradus and Antaradus.
 
 352 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vn. 
 
 bed. This I abhorring, and yet not daring to tell my hus- 
 band of so great wickedness, lest I should stir up war between 
 the brothers, and bring disgrace upon the family, judged it 
 better to depart from my country with my two twin sons, 
 leaving the younger boy to be a comfort to his father. And 
 that this might be done with an honourable appearance, I 
 thought good to feign a dream, and to tell my husband that 
 there stood by me in a vision a certain deity, who told me to 
 set out from the city immediately with my two twins, and 
 remain until he should instruct me to return.' She told me 
 that her husband, when he heard this, believed her, and sent 
 her to Athens, with the twin children to be educated there ; 
 but that they were driven by a terrible tempest upon that 
 island, where, when the ship had gone to pieces, she was 
 lifted by a wave upon a rock, and delayed killing herself 
 only for this, ' until,' said she, 1 1 could embrace at least the 
 dead limbs of my unfortunate sons, and commit them to 
 burial. But when the day dawned, and crowds had assem- 
 bled, they took pity upon me, and threw a garment over me. 
 But I, miserable, entreated them with many tears, to search 
 if they could find anywhere the bodies of my unfortunate 
 sons. And I, tearing all my body with my teeth, with wail- 
 ing and howlings cried out constantly, Unhappy woman that 
 I am, where is my Faustus? where my Faustinus?'" 
 
 CHAP, xxvin. More recognitions. 
 
 And when Peter said this, Niceta and Aquila suddenly 
 started up, and being astonished, began to be greatly agitated, 
 saying: "O Lord, Thou Ruler and God of all, are these 
 things true, or are we in a dream?" Then Peter said: 
 " Unless we be mad, these things are true." But they, after 
 a short pause, and wiping their faces, said : " We are Faus- 
 tinus and Faustus : and even at the first, when you began 
 this narrative, we immediately fell into a suspicion that the 
 matters that you spoke of might perhaps relate to us; yet 
 again considering that many like things happen in men's lives, 
 we kept silence, although our hearts were struck by some 
 hope. Therefore we waited for the end of your story, that,
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 353 
 
 if it were entirely manifest that it related to us, we might 
 then confess it." And when they had thus spoken, they went 
 in weeping to our mother. And when they found her asleep, 
 and wished to embrace her, Peter prevented them, saying : 
 " Permit me first to prepare your mother's mind, lest haply 
 by the great and sudden joy she lose her reason, and her 
 understanding be disturbed, especially as she is now stupified 
 with sleep." 
 
 CHAP. xxix. " Nothing common or unclean" 
 
 Therefore, when our mother had risen from her sleep, Peter 
 began to address her, saying : " I wish you to know, O woman, 
 an observance of our religion. We worship one God, who 
 made the world, and we keep His law, in which He commands 
 us first of all to worship Him, and to reverence His name, to 
 honour our parents, and to preserve chastity and uprightness. 
 But this also we observe, not to have a common table with 
 Gentiles, unless when they believe, and on the reception of 
 the truth are baptized, and consecrated by a certain three- 
 fold invocation of the blessed name; and then we eat with 
 them. Otherwise, even if it were a father or a mother, or 
 wife, or sons, or brothers, we cannot have a common table 
 with them. Since, therefore, we do this for the special cause 
 of religion, let it not seem hard to you that your son cannot 
 eat with you, until you have the same judgment of the faith 
 that he has." 
 
 CHAP. xxx. " Who can forlid water?" 
 
 Then she, when she heard this, said : " And what hinders 
 me to be baptized to-day ? For even before I saw you I was 
 wholly alienated from those whom they call gods, because 
 they were not able to do anything for me, although I fre- 
 quently, and almost daily, sacrificed to them. And as to 
 chastity, what shall I say^ when neither in former times did 
 pleasures deceive me, nor afterwards did poverty compel me 
 to sin ? But I think you know well enough how great was 
 my love of chastity, when I pretended that dream that I 
 might escape the snares of unhallowed love, and that I might 
 
 z
 
 354 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vn. 
 
 go abroad with my two twins, and when I left this my son 
 Clement alone to be a comfort to his father. For if two were 
 scarcely enough for me, how much more would it have sad- 
 dened their father, if he had had none at all ? For he was 
 wretched through his great affection towards our sons, so that 
 even the authority of the dream could scarce prevail upon 
 him to give up to me Faustinus and Faustus, the brothers 
 of this Clement, and that himself should be content with 
 Clement alone." 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. Too much joy. 
 
 While she was yet speaking, my brothers could contain 
 themselves no longer, but rushed into their mother's embrace 
 with many tears, and kissed her. But she said : " What is 
 the meaning of this?" Then said Peter: "Be not disturbed, 
 O woman ; be firm. These are your sons Faustinus and 
 Faustus, whom you supposed to have perished in the deep ; 
 but how they are alive, and how they escaped in that horrible 
 night, and how the one of them is called Niceta and the other 
 Aquila, they will be able to explain to you themselves, and 
 , we also shall hear it along with you." When Peter had said 
 this, our mother fainted, being overcome with excess of joy ; 
 and after some time, being restored and come to herself, she 
 said : " I beseech you, darling sons, tell me what has befallen 
 you since that dismal and cruel night." 
 
 CHAP. xxxn. " He bringeth them unto their desired haven" 
 
 Then Niceta began to say: "On that night, O mother, 
 when the ship was broken up, and we were being tossed upon 
 the sea, supported on a fragment of the wreck, certain men, 
 whose business it was to rob by sea, found us, and placed us 
 in their boat, and overcoming the power of the waves by 
 rowing, by various stretches brought us to Csesarea Stratonis. 
 There they starved us, and beat us, and terrified us, that we 
 might not disclose the truth; and having changed our names, 
 they sold us to a certain widow, a very honourable woman, 
 named Justa. She, having bought us, treated us as sons, so 
 that she carefully educated us in Greek literature and liberal
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 355 
 
 arts. And when we grew up, we also attended to philosophic 
 studies, that we might be able to confute the Gentiles, by 
 supporting the doctrines of the divine religion by philosophic 
 disputations. 
 
 CHAP. XXXTII. Another wreck prevented. 
 " But we adhered, for friendship's sake, and boyish com- 
 panionship, to one Simon, a magician, who was educated 
 along with us, so that we were almost deceived by him. For 
 there is mention made in our religion of a certain Prophet, 
 whose coming was hoped for by all who observe that religion, 
 through whom immortal and happy life is promised to be 
 given to those who believe in Him. Now we thought that 
 this Simon was he. But these things shall be explained to you, 
 O mother, at a more convenient season. Meanwhile, when 
 we were almost deceived by Simon, a certain colleague of my 
 lord Peter, Zaccheus by name, warned us that we should not 
 be duped by the magician, but presented us to Peter on 
 his arrival, that by him we might be taught the things which 
 were sound and perfect. And this we hope will happen to 
 you also, even as God has vouchsafed it to us, that we may 
 be able to eat and have a common table with you. Thus 
 therefore it was, O mother, that you believed that we were 
 drowned in the sea, while we were stolen by pirates." 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Baptism must be preceded by fasting. 
 When Niceta had spoken thus, our mother fell down at 
 Peter's feet, entreating and beseeching him that both herself 
 and her hostess might be baptized without delay; "that," said 
 she, " I may not even for a single day suffer the loss of the 
 company and society of my sons." In like manner, we her 
 sons also entreated Peter. But he said : " What ! Do you 
 think that I alone am unpitiful, and that I do not wish you 
 to enjoy your mother's society at meals ? But she must fast 
 at least one day first, and so be baptized ; and this because I 
 have heard from her a certain declaration, by which her 
 faith has been made manifest to me, and which has given evi- 
 dence of her belief ; otherwise she must have been instructed 
 and taught many days before she could have been baptized."
 
 356 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon vir. 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Desiring the salvation of others. 
 
 Then said I : "I pray you, my lord Peter, tell us what is that 
 declaration which you say afforded you evidence of her faith?" 
 Then Peter : " It is her asking that her hostess, whose kind- 
 nesses she wishes to requite, may be baptized along with her. 
 Now she would not ask that this grace be bestowed upon her 
 whom she loves, unless she believed that there is some great 
 boon in baptism. Whence, also, I find fault with very many, 
 who, when they are themselves baptized and believe, yet do 
 nothing worthy of faith with those whom they love, such us 
 wives, or children, or friends, whom they do not exhort to 
 that which they themselves have attained, [as they would do] 
 if indeed they believed that eternal life is thereby bestowed. 
 In short, if they see them to be sick, or to be subject to any 
 danger bodily, they grieve and mourn, because they are sure 
 that in this destruction threatens them. So, then, if they were 
 sure of this, that the punishment of eternal fire awaits those 
 who do not worship God, when would they cease warning and 
 exhorting ? Or, if they refused, how would they not mourn and 
 bewail them, being sure that eternal torments awaited them? 
 Now, therefore, we shall send for that woman at once, and see 
 if she loves the faith of our religion ; and as we find, so shall 
 we act. But since your mother has judged so faithfully con- 
 cerning baptism, let her fast only one day before baptism." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. The sons' pleading. 
 
 But she declared with an oath, in presence of my lord 
 Peter's wife, that from the time she recognised her son, she 
 had been unable to take any food from excess of joy, except- 
 ing only that yesterday she drank a cup of water. Peter's 
 wife also bore witness, saying that it was even so. Then 
 Aquila said : " What, then, hinders her being baptized ? " 
 Then Peter, smiling, said: " But this is not the fast of baptism, 
 for it was not done in order to baptism." Then Niceta said : 
 " But perhaps God, wishing that our mother, on our recogni- 
 tion, should not be separated even for one day from partici- 
 pation of our table, pre-ordained this fasting. For as in her 
 ignorance she preserved her chastity, that it might profit her
 
 BOOK vii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 357 
 
 in order to the grace of baptism ; so she fasted before she 
 knew the reason of fasting, that it might profit her in order to 
 baptism, and that immediately, from the beginning of our ac- 
 quaintance, she might enjoy communion of the table with us." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvii. Peter inexorable. 
 
 Then said Peter : " Let not the wicked one prevail against 
 us, taking occasion from a mother's love; but let you, and 
 me with you, fast this day along with her, and to-morrow 
 she shall be baptized : for it is not right that the precepts of 
 truth be relaxed and weakened in favour of any person or 
 friendship. Let us not shrink, then, from suffering along with 
 her, for it is a sin to transgress any commandment. But let 
 us teach our bodily senses, which are without us, to be in 
 subjection to our inner senses ; and not compel our inner 
 senses, which savour the things that be of God, to follow 
 the outer senses, which savour the things that be of the 
 flesh. For to this end also the Lord commanded, saying: 
 * Whosoever shall look upon a woman to lust after her, hath 
 committed adultery with her already in his heart.' And to 
 this He added: 'If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and 
 cast it from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one of thy 
 members perish, rather than thy whole body be cast into hell- 
 fire.' l He does not say, has offended thee, that you should 
 then cast away the cause of sin after you have sinned ; but, 
 if it offend you, that is, that before you sin you should cut 
 off the cause of the sin that provokes and irritates you. But 
 let none of you think, brethren, that the Lord commended 
 the cutting off of the members. His meaning is, that the 
 purpose should be cut off, not the members, and the causes 
 which allure to sin, in order that our thought, borne up on 
 the chariot of sight, may push towards the love of God, sup- 
 ported by the bodily senses; 2 and not give loose reins to the 
 
 1 Matt. v. 28, 29. 
 
 2 Here a marginal reading is followed. The reading of the text is : 
 41 In order that our thought, borne on the chariot of contemplation, may 
 hasten on, invisible to the bodily senses, towards the love of God." But 
 the translation of aspectus by " contemplation " is doubtful.
 
 358 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vii. 
 
 eyes of the flesh as to wanton horses, eager to turn their run- 
 ning outside the way of the commandments, but may subject 
 the bodily sight to the judgment of the mind, and not suffer 
 those eyes of ours, which God intended to be viewers and wit- 
 nesses of His work, to become panders of evil desire. And 
 therefore let the bodily senses as well as the internal thought 
 be subject to the law of God, and let them serve His will, 
 whose work they acknowledge themselves to be." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvin. Reward of chastity. 
 
 Therefore, as the order and reason of the mystery demanded, 
 on the following day she was baptized in the sea, and return- 
 ing to the lodging, was initiated in all the mysteries of reli- 
 gion in their order. And we her sons, Niceta and Aquila, 
 and I Clement, were present. And after this we dined with 
 her, and glorified God with her, thankfully acknowledging 
 the zeal and teaching of Peter, who showed us, by the example 
 of our mother, that the good of chastity is not lost with God; 
 "as, on the other hand," said he, "unchastity does not escape 
 punishment, though it may not be punished immediately, but 
 slowly. But so well pleasing," said he, " is chastity to God, 
 that it confers some grace in the present life even upon those 
 who are in error ; for future blessedness is laid up for those 
 only who preserve chastity and righteousness by the grace of 
 baptism. In short, that which has befallen your mother is .an 
 example of this, for all this welfare has been restored to her 
 in reward of her chastity, for the guarding and preserving of 
 which continence alone is not sufficient ; but when any one 
 perceives that snares and deceptions are being prepared, he 
 must straightway flee as from the violence of fire or the attack 
 of a mad dog, and not trust that he can easily frustrate snares 
 of this kind by philosophizing or by humouring them ; but, as 
 I have said, he must flee and withdraw to a distance, as your 
 mother also did through her true and entire love of chastity. 
 And on this account she has been preserved to you, and you 
 to her ; and in addition, she has been endowed with the know- 
 ledge of eternal life." When he had said this, and much more 
 to the same effect, the evening having come, we went to sleep.
 
 KECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT, 
 
 BOOK VIII. 
 
 CHAP, i The old workman. 
 
 ]OW the next morning Peter took my brothers and 
 me with him, and we went down to the harbour 
 to bathe in the sea, and thereafter we retired to 
 a certain secret place for prayer. But a certain 
 poor old man, a workman, as he appeared by his dress, began 
 to observe us eagerly, without our seeing him, that he might 
 see what we were doing in secret. And when he saw us 
 praying, he waited till we came out, and then saluted us, and 
 said : " If you do not take it amiss, and regard me as an in- 
 quisitive and importunate person, I should wish to converse 
 with you ; for I take pity on you, and would not have you 
 err under the appearance of truth, and be afraid of things 
 that have no existence ; or if you think that there is any 
 truth in them, then declare it to me. If, therefore, you take it 
 patiently, I can in a few words instruct you in what is right ; 
 but if it be unpleasant to you, I shall go on, and do my 
 business." To him Peter answered : " Speak what you think 
 good, and we will gladly hear, whether it be true or false ; for 
 you are to be welcomed, because, like a father anxious on 
 behalf of his children, you wish to put us in possession of 
 what you regard as good." 
 
 CHAP. ii. Genesis. 
 
 Then the old man proceeded to say : " I saw you bathe in 
 the sea, and afterwards retire into a secret place ; wherefore 
 observing, without your noticing me, what you were doing, I 
 
 359
 
 360 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 saw you praying. Therefore, pitying your error, I waited 
 till you came out, that I might speak to you, and instruct you 
 not to err in an observance of this sort ; because there is 
 neither any God, nor any worship, neither is there any pro- 
 vidence in the world, but all things are done by fortuitous 
 chance and genesis, as I have discovered most clearly for 
 myself, being accomplished beyond others in the discipline of 
 learning. Do not err, therefore : for whether you pray, or 
 whether you do not pray, whatever your genesis contains, that 
 shall befall you." Then I Clement was affected, I know 
 not how, in my heart, recollecting many things in him that 
 seemed familiar to me ; for some one says well, that that 
 which is sprung from any one, although it may be long 
 absent, yet a spark of relationship is never extinguished. 
 Therefore I began to ask of him who and whence he was, 
 and how descended. But he, not wishing to answer these 
 questions, said : " What has that to do with what I have 
 told you? But first, if you please, let us converse of those 
 matters which we have propounded ; and afterwards, if cir- 
 cumstances require, we can disclose to one another, as friends 
 to friends, our names, and families, and country, and other 
 things connected with these." Yet we all admired the elo- 
 quence of the man, and the gravity of his manners, and the 
 calmness of his speech. 
 
 CHAP. in. A friendly conference. 
 
 But Peter, walking along leisurely while conversing, was 
 looking out for a suitable place for a conference. And when 
 he saw a quiet recess near the harbour, he made us sit down ; 
 and so he himself first began. Xor did he hold the old man 
 in any contempt, nor did he look down upon him because his 
 dress was poor and mean. He said, therefore : " Since you 
 seem to me to be a learned man, and a compassionate, inas- 
 much as you have come to us, and wish that to be known to 
 us which you consider to be good, we also wish to expound to 
 you what things we believe to be good and right ; and if you 
 do not think them true, you will take in good part our good 
 intentions towards you, as we do yours towards us." While
 
 BOOK VIIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 361 
 
 Peter was thus speaking, a great multitude assembled. Then 
 said the old man : " Perhaps the presence of a multitude dis- 
 concerts you." Peter replied : " Not at all, except only on this 
 account, that I am afraid lest haply, when the truth is made 
 manifest in the course of our discussion, you be ashamed in 
 presence of the multitude to yield and assent to the things 
 which you may have understood to be spoken truly." To 
 this the old man answered : " I am not such a fool in my 
 old age, that, understanding what is true, I should deny it 
 for the favour of the rabble." 
 
 CHAP. iv. The question stated* 
 
 Then Peter began to say : " Those who speak the word of 
 truth, and who enlighten the souls of men, seem to me to be 
 like the rays of the sun, which, when once they have come 
 forth and appeared to the world, can no longer be concealed 
 or hidden, while they are not so much seen by men, as they 
 afford sight to all. Therefore it was well said by One to the 
 heralds of the truth, ' Ye are the light of the world, and a city 
 set upon a hill cannot be hid ; neither do men light a candle 
 and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may 
 enlighten all who are in the house.'" Then said the old 
 man : " He said well, whoever he is. But let one of you 
 state what, according to his opinion, ought to be followed, 
 that we may direct our speech to a definite aim. For, in 
 order to find the truth, it is not sufficient to overthrow the 
 things that are spoken on the other side,, but also that one 
 should himself bring forward what he who is on the other 
 side may oppose. Therefore, in order that both parties may 
 be on an equal footing, it seems to me to be right that each 
 of us should first enunciate what opinion he holds. And, if 
 you please, I shall begin first. I say, then, that the world 
 is not governed according to the providence of God, because 
 we see that many things in it are done unjustly and dis- 
 orderly ; but I say that it is genesis that does and regulates 
 
 all things." 
 
 1 Matt. v. 14, 15.
 
 362 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos VIIL 
 
 CHAP. v. Freedom of discussion allowed. 
 
 When Peter was about to reply to this, Niceta, anticipat- 
 ing him, said : " Would my lord Peter allow me to answer 
 to this ; and let it not be thought forward that I, a young 
 man, should have an encounter with an old man, but rather 
 let me converse as a son with a father." Then said the 
 old man : " Not only do I wish, my son, that you should set 
 forth your opinions ; but also if any one of your associates, 
 if any one even of the bystanders, thinks that he knows any- 
 thing, let him unhesitatingly state it : we shall gladly hear it ; 
 for it is by the contribution of many that the things that are 
 unknown are more easily found out." Then Niceta there- 
 fore answered : " Do not deem me to have done rashly, my 
 father, because I have interrupted the speech of my lord 
 Peter ; but rather I meant to honour him by doing this. For 
 he is a man of God, full of all knowledge, who is not ignorant 
 even of Greek learning, because he is filled with the Spirit 
 of God, to whom nothing is unknown. But because it is 
 suitable to him to speak of heavenly things, I shall answer 
 concerning those things which pertain to the babbling of the 
 Greeks. But after we have disputed in the Grecian manner, 
 and we have come to that point where no issue appears, then 
 he himself, as filled with the knowledge of God, shall openly 
 and clearly disclose to us the truth on all matters, so that not 
 we only, but also all who are around us as hearers, shall learn 
 the way of truth. And therefore now let him sit as umpire ; 
 and when either of us shall yield, then let him, taking up the 
 matter, give an unquestionable judgment." 
 
 CHAP. VI. The other side of the question stated. 
 
 When Niceta had thus spoken, those who had assembled 
 conversed among themselves : " Is this that Peter of whom 
 we heard, the most approved disciple of Him who appeared 
 in Juda3a, and wrought many signs and miracles ? " And they 
 stood gazing upon him with great fear and veneration, as 
 conferring upon the Lord the honour of His good servant. 
 Which when Peter observed, he said to them : " Let us hear
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 363 
 
 with all attention, holding an impartial judgment of what 
 shall be said by each ; and after their encounter we also shall 
 add what may seem necessary." And when Peter had said 
 this, the crowds rejoiced. Then Niceta began to speak as 
 follows : " You have laid down, my father, that the world is 
 not governed by the providence of God, but that all things 
 are subject to genesis, whether the things which relate to the 
 dispositions, or those which relate to the doings of every one. 
 This I could answer immediately ; but because it is right to 
 observe order, we also lay down what we hold, as you yourself 
 requested should be done. I say that the world is governed 
 by the providence of God, at least in those things which need 
 His government. For He it is alone who holds all things in 
 His hand, who also made the world ; the just God, who shall 
 at some time render to every one according to his deeds. 
 Now, then, you have our position ; go on as you please, either 
 overthrowing mine or establishing your own, that I may meet 
 your statements. Or if you wish me to speak first, I shall 
 not hesitate." 
 
 CHAP. vi. The way cleared. 
 
 Then the old man answered : " Whether it pleases you, 
 my son, to speak first, or whether you prefer that I should 
 speak, makes no difference, especially with those who discuss 
 in a friendly spirit. However, speak you first, and I will 
 gladly hear ; and I wish you may be able even to follow out 
 those things that are to be spoken by me, and to put in 
 opposition to them those things that are contrary to them, 
 and from the comparison of both to show the truth." Niceta 
 answered : " If you wish it, I can even state your side of the 
 argument, and then answer it." Then the old man : " Show 
 me first how you can know what I have not yet spoken, and 
 so I shall believe that you can follow out my side of the 
 argument." Then Niceta : " Your sect is manifest, even by 
 the proposition which you have laid down, to those who are 
 skilled in doctrines of this sort; and its consequence is certain. 
 And because I am not ignorant what are the propositions of 
 the philosophers, I know what follows from those things
 
 364 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Booic vnr. 
 
 which you have propounded ; especially because I have fre- 
 quented the schools of Epicurus in preference to the other 
 philosophers. But my brother Aquila has attended more to 
 the Pyrrhonists, and our other brother to the Platonists and 
 Aristotelians; therefore you have to do with learned hearers." 
 Then said the old man : " You have well and logically in- 
 formed us how you perceived the things that follow from the 
 statements which have been enunciated. But I professed 
 something more than the tenet of Epicurus ; for I introduced 
 the genesis, and asserted that it is the cause of all the doings 
 of men." 
 
 CHAP. VIII. Instincts. 
 
 When the old man had said this, I Clement said to him : 
 " Hear, my father: if my brother Niceta bring you to acknow- 
 ledge that the world is not governed without the providence 
 of God, I shall be able to answer you in that part which 
 remains concerning the genesis ; for I am well acquainted 
 with this doctrine." And when I had thus spoken, my brother 
 Aquila said : " What is the use of our calling him father, 
 when we are commanded to call no man father upon earth?" 1 
 Then, looking to the old man, he said, " Do not take it amiss, 
 my father, that I have found fault with my brother for 
 calling you father, for we have a precept not to call any one 
 by that name." When Aquila said that, all the assembly of 
 the bystanders, as well as the old man and Peter, laughed. 
 And when Aquila asked the reason of their all laughing, I 
 said to him : " Because you yourself do the very thing which 
 you find fault with in another ; for you called the old man 
 father." But he denied it, saying : " I am not aware that I 
 called him father" Meantime Peter was moved with certain 
 suspicions, as he told us afterwards ; and looking to Niceta, 
 he said, " Go on with what you have proposed." 
 
 CHAP. IX. Simple and compound. 
 
 Then Niceta began as follows : " Everything that is, is 
 either simple or compound. That which is simple is without 
 i Matt, xxiii. 9.
 
 BOOK VIIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 365 
 
 number, division, colour, difference, roughness, smoothness, 
 weight, lightness, quality, quantity, and therefore without 
 end. But that which is compound is either compounded of 
 two, or of three, or even of four [elements], or at all events 
 of several ; and things which are compounded can also of 
 necessity be divided." The old man, hearing this, said : 
 " You speak most excellently and learnedly, my son." Then 
 Niccta went on : " Therefore that which is simple, and which 
 is without any of those things by which that which subsists 
 can be dissolved, is without doubt incomprehensible and 
 infinite, knowing neither beginning nor end, and therefore is 
 one and alone, and subsisting without an author. But that 
 which is compound is subject to number, and diversity, and 
 division, is necessarily compounded by some author, and is 
 a diversity collected into one species. That which is infinite 
 is therefore, in respect of goodness, a Father ; in respect of 
 power, a Creator. Nor can the power of creating cease in 
 the Infinite, nor the goodness be quiescent ; but He is im- 
 pelled by goodness to change existing things, and by power 
 to arrange and strengthen them. Therefore some things, as 
 we have said, are changed, and composed of two or three, 
 some of four, others of more elements. But since our inquiry 
 at present is concerning the method of the world and its sub- 
 stance, which, it is agreed, is compounded of four elements, 
 to which all those ten differences belong which we have 
 
 O 
 
 mentioned above, let us begin at these lower steps, and come 
 to the higher. For a way is afforded us to intellectual and 
 invisible things from those which we see and handle ; as is 
 contained in arithmetical instructions, where, when inquiry is 
 made concerning divine things, we rise from the lower to the 
 higher numbers; but when the method respecting present and 
 visible things is expounded, the order is directed from the 
 higher to the lower numbers. Is it not so ? " 
 
 CHAP. x. Creation implies providence. 
 
 Then the old man said : " You are following it out exceed- 
 ingly well." Then Niceta : " Now, then, we must inquire 
 concerning the method of the world ; of which the first in-
 
 366 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 quiry is divided into two parts. For it is asked whether 
 it has been made or not? And if it has not been made, 
 itself must be that Unbegotten from which all things are. 
 But if it has been made, concerning this again the question 
 is divided into two parts, whether it was made by itself, 
 or by another. And if indeed it was made by itself, then 
 without doubt providence is excluded. If providence is 
 not admitted, in vain is the mind incited to virtue, in vain 
 justice is maintained, if there be no one to render to the just 
 man according to his merits. But even the soul itself will 
 not appear to be immortal, if there be no dispensation of pro- 
 vidence to receive it after its escape from the body. 
 
 CHAP. xi. General or special providence. 
 
 "Now, if it be taught that there is a providence, and 
 that the world was made by it, other questions meet us which 
 must be discussed. For it will be asked, In what way provi- 
 dence acts, whether generally towards the whole, or specially 
 towards the parts, or generally also towards the parts, or both 
 generally towards the whole, and specially towards the parts? 
 But by general providence we mean this : as if God, at first 
 making the world, has given an order and appointed a course 
 to things, and has ceased to take any further care of what is 
 done. But special providence towards the parts is of this 
 sort, that He exercises providence over some men or places, 
 but not over others. But general over all, and at the same 
 time special over the parts, is in this wise : if God made all 
 things at first, and exercises providence over each individual 
 even to the end, and renders to every one according to his 
 deeds. 
 
 CHAP. xii. Prayer inconsistent with genesis. 
 
 " Therefore that first proposition, which declares that God 
 made all things in the beginning, and having imposed a 
 course and order upon things, takes no further account of 
 them, affirms that all things are done according to genesis. 
 To this, therefore, we shall first reply ; and especially to 
 those who worship the gods and defend genesis. Assuredly,
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 367 
 
 these men, when they sacrifice to the gods and pray to them, 
 hope that they shall obtain something in opposition to genesis, 
 and so they annul genesis. But when they laugh at those 
 who incite to virtue and exhort to continence, and say that 
 nobody can do or suffer anything unless what is decreed to 
 him by fate, they assuredly cut up by the roots all worship 
 of the Divinity. For why should you worship those from 
 whom you can obtain nothing which the method of what is 
 decreed does not allow ? Let this suffice in the meantime, in 
 opposition to these men. But I say that the world is made 
 by God, and that it is at some time to be destroyed by Him, 
 that that world may appear which is eternal, and which is 
 made for this end, that it may be always, and that it may 
 receive those who, in the judgment of God, are worthy of it. 
 But that there is another and invisible world, which contains 
 this visible world within itself, after we have finished our 
 discussion concerning the visible world, we shall come to it 
 also. 
 
 CHAP. xin. A Creator necessary. 
 
 " Now, in the meantime, that this visible world has been 
 made, very many wise men among the philosophers do 
 testify. But that we may not seem to make use of asser- 
 tions as witnesses, as though we needed them, let us inquire, 
 if you please, concerning its principles. That this visible 
 world is material, is sufficiently evident from the fact that it 
 is visible. But every body receives [one of] two differential; for 
 it is either compact and solid, or divided and separate. And 
 if the body of which the world was made was compact and 
 solid, and that body was parted and divided through diverse 
 species and parts according to its differences, there must 
 necessarily be understood to have been some one to separate 
 the body which was compact and solid, and to draw it into 
 many parts and diverse forms ; or if all this mass of the world 
 was compounded and compacted from diverse and dispersed 
 parts of bodies, still there must be understood to have been 
 some one to collect into one the dispersed parts, and to in- 
 vest these things with their different species.
 
 368 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Mode of creation. 
 
 " And, indeed, I know that several of the philosophers were 
 rather of this opinion, that God the Creator made divisions 
 and distinctions from one body, which they call matter, which 
 yet consisted of four elements, mingled into one by a certain 
 tempering of divine providence. For I think that what some 
 have said is vain, that the body of the world is simple, that 
 is, without any conjunction ; since it is evident that what is 
 simple can neither be a body, nor can be mixed, or propa- 
 gated, or dissolved ; all which, we see, happen to the bodies 
 of the w r orld. For how could it be dissolved if it were simple, 
 and had not within it that from which it might be resolved 
 and divided ? But if bodies seem to be composed of two, or 
 three, or even of four elements, who that has even a small 
 portion of sense does not perceive that there must have been 
 some one w'ho collected several into one, and preserving the 
 measure of tempering, made a solid body out of diverse parts ? 
 This some one, therefore, we call God, the Creator of the 
 w r orld, and acknowledge Him as the author of the universe. 
 
 CHAP. xv. Theories of creation. 
 
 " For the Greek philosophers, inquiring into the beginnings 
 of the world, have gone, some in one way and some in another. 
 In short, Pythagoras says that numbers are the elements of 
 its beginnings ; Callistratus, that qualities ; Alcmoeon, that 
 contrarieties ; Anaximander, that immensity ; Anaxagoras, 
 that equalities of parts ; Epicurus, that atoms ; Diodorus, 
 that dftepf], that is, things in which there are no parts ; As- 
 clepius, that oyicoi, which we may call tumours or swellings ; 
 the geometricians, that ends; Democritus, that ideas ; Thales, 
 that water ; Heraclitus, that fire ; Diogenes, that air ; Par- 
 menides, that earth; Zeno, Empedocles, Plato, that fire, 
 water, air, and earth. Aristotle also introduces a fifth ele- 
 ment, which he called aKarovo^aa-rov ; that is, that which 
 cannot be named ; without doubt indicating Him who made 
 the world, by joining the four elements into one. Whether, 
 therefore, there be two, or three, or four, or more, or innu- 
 merable elements, of which the world consists, in every sup-
 
 BOOK vin.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 3G9 
 
 position there is shown to be a God, who collected many into 
 one, and again drew them, when collected, into diverse species ; 
 and by this it is proved that the machine of the world 
 could not have subsisted without a maker and a disposer. 
 
 CHAP. xvi. TJie world made of nothing by a Creator. , 
 
 " But from this fact also, that in the conjunction of the 
 elements, if one be deficient or in excess, the others are 
 loosened and fall, is shown that they took their beginning 
 from nothing. For if, for example, moisture be wanting in 
 any body, neither will the dry stand; for dry is fed by 
 moisture, as also cold by heat ; in which, as we have said, if 
 one be defective, the whole are dissolved. And in this they 
 give indications of their origin, that they were made out of 
 nothing. Now if matter itself is proved to have been made, 
 how shall its parts and its species, of which the world con- 
 sists, be thought to be unmade ? But about matter and its 
 qualities this is not the time to speak : only let it suffice to have 
 taught this, that God is the Creator of all things, because 
 neither, if the body of which the world consists was solid and 
 united, could it be separated and distinguished without a 
 Creator ; nor, if it was collected into one from diverse and 
 separate parts, could it be collected and mixed without a 
 Maker. Therefore, if God is so clearly shown to be the Creator 
 of the world, what room is there for Epicurus to introduce 
 atoms, and to assert that not only sensible bodies, but even in- 
 tellectual and rational minds, are made of insensible corpuscles? 
 
 CHAP. xvii. Doctrine of atoms untenable. 
 
 " But you will say, according to the opinion of Epicurus, 
 that successions of atoms coming in a ceaseless course, and 
 mixing with one another, and conglomerating through un- 
 limited and endless periods of time, are made solid bodies. 
 I do not treat this opinion as a pure fiction, and that, too, 
 a badly contrived one ; but let us examine it, whatever 
 be its character, and see if what is said can stand. For 
 they say that those corpuscles, which they call atoms, are 
 of different qualities: that some are moist, and therefore 
 
 2 A
 
 370 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon vm. 
 
 heavy, and tending downwards ; others dry and earthy, and 
 therefore still heavy ; but others fiery, and therefore always 
 pushing upwards; others cold and inert, and always re- 
 maining in the middle. Since then some, as being fiery, 
 always tend upward, and others, as being moist and dry, 
 always downwards, and others keep a middle and unequal 
 course, how could they meet together and form one body ? 
 For if any one throw down from a height small pieces of 
 straw, for example, and pieces of lead of the same size, will 
 the light straws be able to keep up with the pieces of lead, 
 though they be equal in size ? Nay ; the heavier reach the 
 bottom far more quickly. So also atoms, though they be 
 equal in size, yet, being unequal in weight, the lighter will 
 never be able to keep pace with the heavier; but if they 
 cannot keep pace, certainly neither can they be mixed or 
 form one body. 
 
 CHAP. xvin. The concourse of atoms could not make the world. 
 
 11 Then, in the next place, if they are ceaselessly borne about, 
 and always coming, and being added to things whose mea- 
 sure is already complete, how can the universe stand, when 
 new weights are always being heaped upon so vast weights ? 
 And this also I ask : If this expanse of heaven which we see 
 was constructed by the gradual concurrence of atoms, how 
 did it not collapse while it was in construction, if indeed the 
 yawning top of the structure was not propped and bound by 
 any stays? For as those who build circular domes, unless 
 they bind the fastening of the central top, the whole falls at 
 once; so also the circle of the Avorld, which we see to be 
 brought together in so graceful a form, if it was not made 
 at once, and .under the influence of a single forth-putting 
 of divine energy by the power of a Creator, but by atoms 
 gradually concurring and constructing it, not as reason de- 
 manded, but as a fortuitous issue befell, how did it not fall 
 down and crumble to pieces before it could be brought to- 
 gether and fastened ? And further, I ask this : What is the 
 pavement on which the foundations of such an immense mass 
 are laid I And again, what you call the pavement, on what
 
 BOOK VIIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 371 
 
 does it rest ? And again that other, what supports it ? And 
 so I go on asking, until the answer comes to nothing and 
 vacuity ! 
 
 CHAP. xix. More difficulties of the atomic theory. 
 
 " But if any one say that atoms of a fiery quality, being 
 joined together, formed a body, and because the quality of 
 fire does not tend downwards, but upwards, that the nature 
 of fire, always pushing upwards, supports the mass of the 
 world placed upon it ; to this we answer : How could atoms 
 of a fiery quality, which always make for the highest place, 
 descend to the lower, and be found in the lowest place of 
 all, so as to form a foundation for all ; whereas rather the 
 heavier qualities, that is, the earthy or watery, always come 
 before the lighter, as we have said ; hence, also, they assert 
 that the heaven, as the higher structure, is composed of fiery 
 atoms, which are lighter, and always fly upwards ? There- 
 fore the world cannot have foundations of fire, or any other ; 
 nor can there be any association or compacting of the heavier 
 atoms with the lighter, that is, of those which are always 
 borne downwards, with those that always fly upwards. Thus 
 it is sufficiently shown that the bodies of the world are con- 
 solidated by the union of atoms ; and that insensible bodies, 
 even if they could by any means concur and be united, 
 could not give forms and measures to bodies, form limbs, or 
 effect qualities, or express quantities ; all which, therefore, by 
 their exactness, attest the hand of a Maker, and show the 
 operation of reason, which reason I call the Word, and God. 
 
 CHAP. xx. Plato's testimony. 
 
 " But some one will say that these things are done by nature. 
 Now, in this, the controversy is about a name. For while it 
 is evident that it is a work of mind and reason, what you 
 call nature, I call God the Creator. It is evident that neither 
 the species of bodies, arranged with so necessary distinctions, 
 nor the faculties of minds, could or can be made by irrational 
 and senseless work. But if you regard the philosophers as 
 fit witnesses, Plato testifies concerning these things in the
 
 372 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vnr. 
 
 Timceus, where, in a discussion on the making of the world, 
 he asks, whether it has existed always, or had a beginning, 
 and decides that it was made. l For,' ,says he, f it is visible 
 and palpable, and corporeal ; but it is evident that all things 
 which are of this sort have been made ; but what has been 
 made has doubtless an author, by whom it was made. This 
 Maker and Father of all, however, it is difficult to discover ; 
 and when discovered, it is impossible to declare Him to the 
 vulgar.' Such is the declaration of Plato; but though he 
 and the other Greek philosophers had chosen to be silent 
 about the making of the world, would it not be manifest to 
 all who have any understanding ? For what man is there, 
 having even a particle of sense, who, when he. sees a house 
 having all things necessary for useful purposes, its roof 
 fashioned into the form of a globe, painted with various 
 splendour and diverse figures, adorned with large and 
 splendid lights; who is there, I say, that, seeing such a 
 structure, would not immediately pronounce that it was 
 constructed by a most wise and powerful artificer ? And so, 
 who can be found so foolish, as, when he gazes upon the 
 fabric of the heaven, perceives the splendour of the sun and 
 moon, sees the courses and beauty of the stars, and their 
 paths assigned to them by fixed laws and periods, will not cry 
 out that these things are made, not so much by a wise and 
 rational artificer, as by wisdom and reason itself ? 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Mechanical theory. 
 
 " But if you would rather have the opinions of others of the 
 Greek philosophers, and you are acquainted with mechanical 
 science, you are of course familiar with what is their deli- 
 verance concerning the heavens. For they suppose a sphere, 
 equally rounded in every direction, and looking indifferently 
 to all points, and at equal distances in all directions from the 
 centre of the earth, and so stable by its own symmetry, that 
 its perfect equality does not permit it to fall off to any side ; 
 and so the sphere is sustained, although supported by no prop. 
 Now if the fabric of the world really has this form, the divine 
 work is evident in it. But if, as others think, the sphere is
 
 BOOK vm.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 373 
 
 placed upon the waters, and is supported by them, or floating 
 in them, even so the work of a great contriver is shown in it. 
 
 CHAP. xxu. Motions of the stars. 
 
 "But lest the assertion may seem doubtful respecting things 
 which are not manifest to all, let us come to those things of 
 which nobody is ignorant. Who disposed the courses of the 
 stars with so great reason, ordained their risings and settings, 
 and appointed to each one to accomplish the circuit of the 
 heavens in certain and regular times? Who assigned to 
 some to be always approaching to the setting, and others to 
 be returning to the rising ? Who put a measure upon the 
 courses of the sun, that he might mark out, by his diverse 
 motions, hours, and days, and months, and changes of seasons ? 
 that he might distinguish, by the sure measurement of his 
 course, now winter, then spring, summer, and afterwards 
 autumn, and always, by the same changes of the year, com- 
 plete the circle with variety, without confusion ? Who, I 
 say, will not pronounce that the director of such order is the 
 very wisdom of God? And these things we have spoken 
 according to the relations given us by the Greeks respecting 
 the science of the heavenly bodies. 
 
 CHAP. xxin. Providence in earthly things. 
 
 " But what of those things also which we see on the earth, 
 or in the sea ? Are we not plainly taught, that not only 
 the work, but also the providence, of God is in them? For 
 whereas there are on the earth lofty mountains in certain 
 places, [the object of this is] that the air, being compressed 
 and confined by them through the appointment of God, 
 may be forced and pressed out into winds, by which fruits 
 may germinate, and the summer heat may be moderated 
 when the Pleiades glow, fired with the blaze of the sun. 
 But you still say, Why that blaze of the sun, that mode- 
 rating should be required? How, then, should fruits be 
 ripened which are necessary for the uses of men ? But 
 observe this also, that at the meridian axis, 1 where the 
 1 That is, the equator.
 
 374 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 heat is greatest, there is no great collection of clouds, nor an 
 abundant fall of rain, lest disease should be produced among 
 the inhabitants; for watery clouds, if they are acted on by 
 rapid heat, render the air impure and pestilential. And the 
 earth also, receiving the warm rain, does not afford nourish- 
 ment to the crops, but destruction. In this who can doubt 
 that there is the working of divine providence ? In short, 
 Egypt, which is scorched with the heat of -^Ethiopia, in its 
 neighbourhood, lest its air should be incurably vitiated by the 
 effects of showers, its plains do not receive rain furnished to 
 them from the clouds, but, as it were, an earthly shower from 
 the overflow of the Nile. 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Rivers and seas. 
 
 " What shall we say of fountains and rivers, which flow with 
 perpetual motion into the sea? And, by the divine provi- 
 dence, neither does their abundant supply fail, nor does the 
 sea, though it receives so great quantities of water, experience 
 any increase, but both those elements which contribute to it 
 and those which are thus contributed remain in the same 
 proportion. But you will say to me : The salt water natu- 
 rally consumes the fresh water which is poured into it. 
 Well, in this is manifest the work of providence, that it made 
 that element salt into which it turned the courses of all the 
 waters which it had provided for the use of men. So that 
 through so great spaces of time the channel of the sea has 
 not been filled, and produced a deluge destructive to the 
 earth and to men. Nor will any one be so foolish as to think 
 that this so great reason and so great providence has been 
 arranged by irrational nature. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Plants and animals. 
 
 u But what shall I say of plants, and what of animals? Is 
 it not providence that has ordained that plants, when they 
 decay by old age, should be reproduced by the suckers or the 
 seeds which they have themselves produced, and animals by 
 propagation? Arid by a certain wonderful dispensation of 
 providence, milk is prepared in the udders of the dams for the
 
 BOOK vm.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 375 
 
 animals before they are born ; and as soon as they are born, 
 with no one to guide them, they seek out the store of nourish- 
 ment provided for them. And not only males are produced, 
 but females also, that by means of both the race may be per- 
 petuated. But lest this should seem, as some think, to be 
 done by a certain order of nature, and not by the appointment 
 of the Creator, He has, as a proof and indication of His 
 providence, ordained a few animals to preserve their stock on 
 the earth in an exceptional Avay : for example, the crow con- 
 ceives through the mouth, and the weasel brings forth through 
 the ear ; and some birds, such as hens, sometimes produce 
 eggs conceived of wind or dust ; other animals convert the 
 male into the female, and change their sex every year, as 
 hares and hyenas, which they call monsters; others spring 
 from the earth, and get their bodies from it, as moles ; others 
 from ashes, as vipers ; others from putrifying flesh, as wasps 
 from horse-flesh, bees from ox-flesh ; others from cow-dung, 
 as beetles ; others from herbs, as the scorpion from the basil ; 
 and again, herbs from -animals, as parsley and asparagus from 
 the horn of the stag or the she-goat. 
 
 CilAr. xxvi. Germination of seeds. 
 
 " And what occasion is there to mention more instances 
 in which divine providence has ordained the production of 
 animals to be effected in various ways, that order being super- 
 seded which is thought to be assigned by nature, from which 
 not an irrational course of things, but one arranged by his 
 own reason, might be evinced ? And in this also is there not 
 a full work of providence shown, when seeds sown are pre- 
 pared by means of earth and water for the sustenance of 
 men ? For when these seeds are committed to the earth, the 
 soil milks upon the seeds, as from its teats, the moisture which 
 it has received into itself by the will of God. For there is 
 in water a certain power of the spirit given by God from the 
 beginning, by whose operation the structure of the body that 
 is to be begins to be formed in the seed itself, and to be de- 
 veloped by means of the blade and the ear ; for the grain of 
 seed being swelled by the moisture, that power of the spirit
 
 376 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vin. 
 
 which has been made to reside in water, running as an in- 
 corporeal substance through certain strait passages of veins, 
 excites the seeds to growth, and forms the species of the 
 growing plants. By means, therefore, of the moist element 
 in which that vital spirit is contained and inborn, it is caused 
 that not only is it revived, but also that an appearance and 
 form in all respects like to the seeds that had been sown is 
 reproduced. Now, who that has even a particle of sense will 
 think that this method depends upon irrational nature, and 
 not upon divine wisdom ? Lastly, also these things are done 
 in a resemblance of the birth of men ; for the earth seems to 
 take the place of the womb, into which the seed being cast, is 
 both formed and nourished by the power of water and spirit, 
 as we have said above. 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. Power of water. 
 
 " But in this also the divine providence is to be admired, 
 that it permits us to see and know the things that are made, 
 but has placed in secrecy and concealment the way and manner 
 in which they are done, that they may not be competent to the 
 knowledge of the unworthy, but may be laid open to the 
 worthy and faithful, when they shall have deserved it. But 
 to prove by facts and examples that nothing is imparted to 
 seeds of the substance of the earth, but that all depends upon 
 the element of water, and the power of the spirit which is in 
 it, suppose, for example, that a hundred talents' weight of 
 earth are placed in a very large trough, and that there are 
 sown in it several kinds of seeds, either of herbs or of shrubs, 
 and that water enough is supplied for watering them, and 
 that that care is taken for several years, and that the seeds 
 which are gathered are stored up, for example of corn or 
 barley and other sorts separately from year to year, until the 
 seeds of each sort amount to a hundred talents' weight, then 
 also let the stalks be pulled up by the roots and weighed; and 
 after all these have been taken from the trough, let the earth 
 be weighed, it will still give back its hundred talents' weight 
 undiminished. Whence, then, shall we say that all that 
 weight, and all the quantity of different seeds and stalks, has
 
 BOOK vin.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 377 
 
 come ? Does it not appear manifestly that it has come from 
 the water ? For the earth retains entire what is its own, but 
 the water which has been poured in all through is nowhere, 
 on account of the powerful virtue of the divine condition, 
 which by the one species of water both prepares the sub- 
 stances of so many seeds and shrubs, and forms their species, 
 and preserves the kind while multiplying the increase. 
 
 CHAP, xxviu. The human body. 
 
 " From all these things I think it is sufficiently and abun- 
 dantly evident that all things are produced ; and the universe 
 consists by a designing sense, and not by the irrational opera- 
 tion of nature. But let us come now, if you please, to our 
 own substance, that is, the substance of man, who is a small 
 world [a microcosm] in the great world ; and let us consider 
 with what reason it is compounded : and from this especially 
 you will understand the wisdom of the Creator. For although 
 man consists of different substances, one mortal and the other 
 immortal, yet, by the skilful contrivance of the Creator, their 
 diversity does not prevent their union, and that although the 
 substances be diverse and alien the one from the other. For 
 the one is taken from the earth and formed by the Creator, 
 but the other is given from immortal substances ; and yet the 
 honour of its immortality is not violated by this union. Nor 
 does it, as some think, consist of reason, and concupiscence, 
 and passion, but rather such affections seem to be in it, by 
 which it may be moved in each of these directions. For the 
 body, which consists of bones and flesh, takes its beginning 
 from the seed of a man, which is extracted from the marrow 
 by warmth, and conveyed into the womb as into a soil, to 
 which it adheres, and is gradually moistened from the fountain 
 of the blood, and so is changed into flesh and bones, and is 
 formed into the likeness of him who injected the seed. 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Symmetry of the body. 
 
 " And mark in this the work of the Designer, how He has 
 inserted the bones like pillars, on which the flesh might be 
 sustained and carried. Then, again, how an equal measure is
 
 378 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 preserved on either side, tliat is, the right and the left, so that 
 foot answers to foot, hand to hand, and even finger to finger, 
 so* that each agrees in perfect equality with each; and also 
 eye to eye, and ear to ear, which not only are suitable to and 
 matched with each other, but also are formed fit for neces- 
 sary uses. The hands, for instance, are so made as to be fit 
 for work ; the feet for walking ; the eyes, protected with 
 sentinel eyebrows, to serve the purpose of sight; the ears so 
 formed for hearing, that, like a cymbal, they vibrate the sound 
 of the word that falls upon them, and send it inward, and 
 transmit it even to the understanding of the heart ; whereas 
 the tongue, striking against the teeth in speaking, performs 
 the part of a fiddle-bow. The teeth also are formed, some 
 for cutting and dividing the food, and handing it over to the 
 inner ones ; and these, in their turn, bruise and grind it like a 
 mill, that it may be more conveniently digested when it is con- 
 veyed into the stomach ; whence also they are called grinders. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Breath and blood. 
 
 " The nostrils also are made for the purpose of collecting, 
 inspiring, and expiring air, that by the renewal of the breath, 
 the natural heat which is in the heart may, by means of the 
 lungs, be either warmed or cooled, as the occasion may require; 
 while the lungs are made to abide in the breast, that by their 
 softness they may soothe and cherish the vigour of the heart, 
 in which the life seems to abide; the life, I say, not the 
 soul. And what shall I say of the substance of the blood, 
 which, proceeding as a river from a fountain, and first borne 
 along in one channel, and then spreading through innumer- 
 able veins, as through canals, irrigates the whole territory of 
 the human body with vital streams, being supplied by the 
 agency of the liver, which is placed in the right side, for 
 effecting the digestion of food and turning it into blood? 
 But in the left side is placed the spleen, which draws to itself, 
 and in some way cleanses, the impurities of the blood. 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. The intestines. 
 " What reason also is employed in the intestines, which are
 
 BOOK VIIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 379 
 
 arranged in long circular windings, that they may gradually 
 carry off the refuse of the food, so as neither to render places 
 suddenly empty, and so as not to be hindered by the food 
 that is taken afterwards ! But' they are made like a mem- 
 brane, that the parts that are outside of them may gradually 
 receive moisture, which if it were poured out suddenly would 
 empty the internal parts ; and not hindered by a thick skin, 
 which would render the outside dry, and disturb the whole 
 fabric of man with distressing thirst. 
 
 CHAP. xxxn. Generation. 
 
 " Moreover, the female form, and the cavity of the womb, 
 most suitable for receiving, and cherishing, and vivifying the 
 germ, who does not believe that it has been made as it is by rea- 
 son and foresight? because in that part alone of her body the 
 female differs from the male, in which the foetus being placed, 
 is kept and cherished. And again the male differs from the 
 female only in that part of his body in which is the power of 
 injecting seed and propagating mankind. And in this there 
 is a great proof of providence, from the necessary difference 
 of members; but more in this, where, under a likeness of form, 
 there is found to be diversity of use and variety of office. 
 For males and females equally have teats, but only those of 
 the female are filled with milk ; that, as soon as they have 
 brought forth, the infant may find nourishment suited to him. 
 But if we see the members in man arranged with such method, 
 that in all the rest there is seen to be similarity of form, and a 
 difference only in those in which their use requires a differ- 
 ence, and we neither see anything superfluous nor anything 
 wanting in man, nor in woman anything deficient or in excess, 
 who will not, from all these things, acknowledge the operation 
 of reason, and the wisdom of the Creator ? 
 
 CHAP, xxxiii. Correspondences in creation. 
 
 " With this agrees also the reasonable difference of other 
 animals, and each one being suited to its own use and service. 
 This also is testified by the variety of trees and the diversity 
 of herbs, varying both in form and in juices. This also is
 
 I r RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos vm. 
 
 assorted by the change of seasons, distkigmshed into tow 
 periods., and the circle dosing die year with certain hours, 
 days, months, and not deviating from the appointed reckon- 
 ing by a single hour. Hence, in short, the age of the world 
 itself is reckoned bj a certain and fixed account, and a 
 definite number of years. 
 
 CHAP, xxxrr. Time of mating the world. 
 
 "But you will say, When was the world made? And 
 why so late? This yon might have objected, though it had 
 been -made sooner. For yon might say, Why not also before 
 this? And so, going back through unmeasured ages, you 
 might still ask, And why not sooner? But we are not now 
 iBiH ii I, Jug this, why it was not made sooner; but whether it 
 was made at all. For if it is manifest that it was made, it is 
 necessarily the work of a powerful and supreme Artificer; and 
 if this is evident, it must be left to the choice and judgment 
 of the wise Artificer, when He should please to make it; 
 unless indeed you think that all this wisdom, which has con- 
 structed the immense fabric of the world, and has given to 
 die several objects their forms and kinds, assigning to them 
 a habit not only in accordance with beauty, but also most 
 convenient and necessary for their future uses, unless, I 
 say, yoq^ think that this alone has escaped it, that it should 
 choose a convenient season for so magnificent a work of 
 creation. He has doubtless a certain reason and evident 
 causes why, and when, and how He made the world ; but it 
 were not proper that these should be disclosed to those who 
 are reluctant to inquire into and understand the things which 
 are placed before their eyes, and which testify of His provi- 
 dence. For those things which are kept in secret, and are 
 hidden within the senses of Wisdom, as in a royal treasury, 
 are laid open to none but those who have learned of Him, 
 with whom these things are sealed and laid up. It is God, 
 therefore, who made all things, and Himself was made by 
 none. But those who speak of nature instead of God, and 
 declare that all things were made by nature, do not perceive 
 die mistake of the name which they use. For if they think
 
 BOOK nn.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 1 : 1 
 
 that nature is irrational, it is most toofish to suppose thai a 
 rational creature can proceed from an irrational creator. 
 But if it is Season that is, Logos by which it appears that 
 all things were made, they change die name without purpose, 
 when they make statements concerning the reason of die 
 Creator. If you have anything to say to these ^^jag^ my 
 father, say on." 
 
 CHAP. XXXT. A amtat o\ 
 
 When Xiceta had tiros spoken, the old man answered: 
 u Yon indeed, my son, hare conducted your argument wisely 
 and vigorously; so much so, that I do not think the subject 
 of providence could be better treated. But as it is now late. 
 I wish to say some things to-morrow in arawu 1 to what yon 
 have argued: and if on these yon can satisfy me, I shall 
 confess myself a debtor to yoa* favour/ 9 And when die old 
 man said this, Peter rose up. Then one of those pnatait, a 
 chief man of the Laodkeans, requested of Peter and us that 
 he might give the old man other clothes instead of the mean 
 and torn ones that he wore. This man Peter and we em- 
 braced; and praising him for his honourable and erneBpnt 
 intention, said: a We are not so foolish and iuipkius as not 
 to bestow the things which are necessary for bodily uses upon 
 him to whom we hare committed so precious wot us ; and. we 
 hope that he wfll wflnngry receiwe them, as a father bam. his 
 sons, and also we trust that he wiu share willt us oar house 
 and our filing. 9 While we said this, and that chief man of 
 the city strove to take die old man away from us with the 
 
 ' 
 
 more eagerly strove to keep him with us, aU the people cried 
 out that it should rather be done as the old man himself 
 pleased; and when sflence was obtained, the old man, with 
 an oath, said: "To-day I shall stay with no one, nor take 
 anything from any one, lest the choice of the one should 
 prove the sorrow of the other; afterwards these 
 be, if so it seem right.'
 
 382 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. Arrangements for to-morrow. 
 
 And when the old man had said this, Peter said to the 
 chief man of the city : " Since you have shown your good- 
 will in our presence, it is not right that you should go away 
 sorrowful ; but we will accept from you favour for favour. 
 Show us your house, and make it ready, so that the discus- 
 sion which is to be to-morrow may be held there, and that 
 any who wish to be present to hear it may be admitted." 
 When the chief man of the city heard this, he rejoiced 
 greatly ; and all the people also heard it gladly. And when 
 the crowds had dispersed, he pointed out his house ; and the 
 old man also \vas preparing to depart. But I commanded 
 one of my attendants to follow the old man secretly, and find 
 out where he stayed. And when we returned to our lodging, 
 we told our brethren all our dealings with the old man ; and 
 so, as usual, we supped and went to sleep. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. " The form of sound words, which ye have 
 heard of me" 
 
 But on the following day Peter arose early and called us, 
 and we w r ent together to the secret place in which we had 
 been on the previous day, for the purpose of prayer. And 
 when, after prayer, we were coming thence to the appointed 
 place, he exhorted us by the way, saying : " Hear me, most 
 beloved fellow-servants : It is good that every one of you, 
 according to his ability, contribute to the advantage of those 
 who are approaching to the faith of our religion ; and there- 
 fore do not shrink from instructing the ignorant, and teach- 
 ing according to the wisdom which has been bestowed upon 
 you by the providence of God, yet so that you only join the 
 eloquence of your discourse with those things which you have 
 heard from me, and which have been committed to you. But 
 do not speak anything which is your own, and which has not 
 been committed to you, though it may seem to yourselves 
 to be true ; but hold forth those things, as I have said, which 
 I myself have received from the true Prophet, and have 
 delivered to you, although they may seem to be less full of
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 383 
 
 authority. For thus it often happens that men turn away 
 from the truth, while they believe that they have found out, 
 by their own thoughts, a form of truth more true and 
 powerful." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvin. The chief man's house. 
 
 To these counsels of Peter we willingly assented, saying to 
 him that we should do nothing but what was pleasing to him. 
 Then said he : " That you may therefore be exercised with- 
 out danger, each of you conduct the discussion in my presence, 
 one succeeding another, and each one elucidating his own 
 questions. Now, then, as Niceta discoursed sufficiently yes- 
 terday, let Aquila conduct the discussion to-day ; and after 
 Aquila, Clement ; and then I, if the case shall require it, will 
 add something." Meantime, while we were talking in this 
 way, we came to the house; and the master of the house 
 welcomed us, and led us to a certain apartment, arranged 
 after the manner of a theatre, and beautifully built. There 
 we found great crowds waiting for us, who had come during 
 the night, and amongst them the old man who had argued 
 with us yesterday. Therefore we entered, having Peter in 
 the midst of us, looking about if we could see the old man 
 anywhere ; and when Peter saw him hiding in the midst of 
 the crowd, he called him to him, saying : " Since you possess 
 a soul more enlightened than most, why do you hide yourself, 
 and conceal yourself in modesty ? Rather come hither, and 
 propound your sentiments." 
 
 CHAP, xxxix. Recapitulation of yesterday's argument. 
 
 When Peter had thus spoken, immediately the crowd began 
 to make room for the old man. And when he had come 
 forward, he thus began : " Although I do not remember the 
 words of the discourse which the young man delivered yes- 
 terday, yet I recollect the purport and the order of it ; and 
 therefore I think it necessary, for the sake of those who were 
 not present yesterday, to call up what was said, and to repeat 
 everything shortly, that, although something may have escaped 
 me, I may be reminded of it by him who delivered the dis-
 
 384 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 course, who is now present. This, then, was the purport of 
 yesterday's discussion : that all things that we see, inasmuch 
 as they consist in a certain proportion, and art, and form, and 
 species, must be believed to have been made by intelligent 
 power ; but if it be mind and reason that has formed them, 
 it follows that the world is governed by the providence of 
 the same reason, although the things which are done in the 
 world may seem to us to be not quite rightly done. But it 
 follows, that if God and mind is the creator of all things, He 
 must also be just ; but if He is just, He necessarily judges. 
 If He judges, it is of necessity that men be judged with 
 respect to their doings ; and if every one is judged in respect 
 of his doings, there shall at some time be a righteous separa- 
 tion between righteous men and sinners. This, I think, was 
 the substance of the whole discourse. 
 
 CHAP. XL. Genesis. 
 
 "If, therefore, it can be shown that mind and reason 
 created all things, it follows that those things which come 
 after are also managed by reason and providence. But if un- 
 intelligent and blind nature produces all things, the reason of 
 judgment is undoubtedly overthrown; and there is no ground 
 to expect either punishment of sin or reward of well-doing 
 where there is no judge. Since, then, the whole matter de- 
 pends upon this, and hangs by this head, do not take it amiss 
 if I wish this to be discussed and handled somewhat more 
 fully. For in this the first gate, as it were, is shut towards all 
 things which are propounded, and therefore I wish first of all 
 to have it opened to me. Now therefore hear what my doc- 
 trine is ; and if any one of you pleases, let him reply to me : 
 for I shall not be ashamed to learn, if I hear that which is 
 true, and to assent to him who speaks rightly. The discourse, 
 then, which you delivered yesterday, which asserted that all 
 things consist by art, and measure, and reason, does not fully 
 persuade me that it is mind and reason that has made the 
 world ; for I have many things which I can show to consist 
 by competent measure, and form, and s,pecies, and which yet 
 were not made by mind and reason. Then, besides, I see
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 385 
 
 that many things are done in the world without arrangement, 
 consequence, or justice, and that nothing can be done without 
 the course of genesis. This I shall in the sequel prove most 
 clearly from my own case." 
 
 CHAP. XLI. The rainbow. 
 
 When the old man had thus spoken, Aquila answered : 
 " As you yourself proposed that any one who pleased should 
 have an opportunity of answering to what you might say, my 
 brother Kiceta permits me to conduct the argument to-day." 
 Then the old man : " Go on, my son, as you please." And 
 Aquila answered : " You promised that you would show that 
 there are many things in the world which have a form and 
 species arranged by equal reason, which yet it is evident 
 were not effected by God as their Creator. Now, then, as 
 you have promised, point out these things." Then said the 
 old man : " Behold, we see the bow in the heaven assume 
 a circular shape, completed in all proportion, and have an 
 appearance of reality, which perhaps neither mind could have 
 constructed nor reason described ; and yet it is not made by 
 any mind. Behold, I have set forth the whole in a word : 
 now answer me." 
 
 CHAP. XLII. Types and forms. 
 
 Then said Aquila : " If anything is expressed from a type 
 and form, it is at once understood that it is from reason, 
 and that it could not be made without mind ; since the type 
 itself, which expresses figures and forms, was not made with- 
 out mind. For example, if wax be applied to an engraved 
 ring, it takes the stamp and figure from the ring, which un- 
 doubtedly is without sense ; but then the ring, which expresses 
 the figure, was engraven by the hand of a workman, and it 
 was mind and reason that gave the type to the ring. So 
 then the bow also is expressed in the air ; for the sun, im- 
 pressing its rays on the clouds in the process of rarefaction, 
 and affixing the type of its circularity to the cloudy moisture, 
 as it were to soft wax, produces the appearance of a bow ; 
 and this, as I have said, is effected by the reflection of the 
 
 2 B
 
 386 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK viu. 
 
 sun's brightness upon the clouds, and reproducing the bright-* 
 ness of its circle from them. Now this does not always take 
 place, but only when the opportunity is presented by the 
 rarefaction of moistened clouds. And consequently, when 
 the clouds again are condensed and unite, the form of the 
 bow is dissolved and vanishes. Finally, the bow never is 
 seen without sun and clouds, just as the image is not pro- 
 duced, unless there be the type, and wax, or some other 
 material. Nor is it wonderful if God the Creator in the be- 
 ginning made types, from which forms and species may now 
 be expressed. But this is similar to that, that in the begin- 
 ning God created insensible elements, which He might use 
 for forming and developing all other things. But even those 
 who form statues, first make a mould of clay or wax, and 
 from it the figure of the statue is produced. And then after- 
 wards a shadow is also produced from the statue, which 
 shadow always bears the form and likeness of the statue. 
 What shall we say then ? That the insensible statue forms 
 a shadow finished with as diligent care as the statue itself ? 
 Or shall the finishing of the shadow be unhesitatingly ascribed 
 to him who has also fashioned the statue 1 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. Things apparently useless and vile made by 
 
 God. 
 
 " If, then, it seems to you that this is so, and what has 
 been said on this subject is enough, let us come to inquire 
 into other matters; or if you think that something is still 
 wanting, let us go over it again." And the old man said : " I 
 wish you would go over this again, since there are many other 
 things which I see to be made in like manner : for both the 
 fruits of trees are produced in like manner, beautifully formed 
 and wonderfully rounded ; and the appearance of the leaves 
 is formed with immense gracefulness, and the green mem- 
 brane is woven with exquisite art : then, moreover, fleas, mice, 
 lizards, and such like, shall we say that these are made by 
 God ? Hence, from these vile objects a conjecture is derived 
 concerning the superior, that they are by no means formed 
 by the art of mind." " You infer well," said Aquila, " con-
 
 BOOK vni.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 387 
 
 cerning the texture of leaves, and concerning small animals, 
 that from these belief is withdrawn from the superior creatures; 
 but let not these things deceive you, that you should think 
 that God, working as it were only with two hands, could not 
 complete all things that are made ; but remember how my 
 brother Niceta answered you yesterday, and truly disclosed 
 the mystery before the time, as a son speaking with his father, 
 and explained why and how things are made which seem to 
 be useless." 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. Ordinate and inordinate. 
 
 Then the old man : " I should like to hear from you why 
 those useless things are made by the will of that supreme 
 mind ? " " If," said he, " it is fully manifest to you that there 
 is in them the work of mind and reason, then you will not 
 hesitate to say also why they were made, and to declare that 
 they have been rightly made." To this the old man answered: 
 " I am not able, my son, to say that those things which seem 
 formed by art are made by mind, by reason of other things 
 which we see to be done unjustly and disorderly in the world." 
 " If," says Aquila, " those things which are done disorderly do 
 not allow you to say that they are done by the providence of 
 God, why do not those things which are done orderly compel 
 you to say that they are done by God, and that irrational 
 nature cannot produce a rational work ? For it is certain, 
 nor do we at all deny, that in this world some things are done 
 orderly, and some disorderly. Those things, therefore, that 
 are done rationally, believe that they are done by providence ; 
 but those that are done irrationally and inordinately, that 
 they befall naturally, and happen accidentally. But I wonder 
 that men do not perceive, that where there is sense things 
 may be done ordinately and inordinately, but where there is 
 no sense neither the one nor the other can be done; for 
 reason makes order, and the course of order necessarily pro- 
 duces something inordinate, if anything contrary happen to 
 disturb order." Then the old man : " This very thing I wish 
 you to show me."
 
 388 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vm. 
 
 CITAP. XLV. Motions of the sun and moon. 
 Says Aquila : " I shall do so without delay. T\vo visible 
 sifjns are shown in heaven one of the sun, the other of the 
 
 O ' 
 
 moon ; and these are followed by five other stars, each de- 
 scribing its own separate orbit. These, therefore, God has 
 placed in the heaven, by which the temperature of the air 
 may be regulated according to the seasons, and the order of 
 vicissitudes and alternations may be kept. But by means of 
 the very same [signs], if at any time plague and corruption 
 is sent upon the earth for the sins of men, the air is disturbed, 
 pestilence is brought upon animals, blight upon crops, and a 
 destructive year in every way upon men ; and thus it is that 
 by one and the same means order is both kept and destroyed. 
 For it is manifest even to the unbelieving and unskilful, that 
 the course of the sun, which is useful and necessary to the 
 world, and which is assigned by providence, is always kept 
 orderly ; but the courses of the moon, in comparison of the 
 course of the sun, seem to the unskilful to be inordinate and 
 unsettled in her waxings and wanings. For the sun moves 
 in fixed and orderly periods : for from him are hours, from 
 him the day when he rises, from him also the night when he 
 sets ; from him months and years are reckoned, from him the 
 variations of seasons are produced ; while, rising to the higher 
 regions, he tempers the spring ; but when he reaches the top 
 of the heaven, he kindles the summer's heats : again, sinking, 
 he produces the temper of autumn ; and when he returns to 
 his lowest circle, he bequeaths to us the rigour of winter's 
 cold from the icy binding of heaven. 
 
 CHAP. XL VI. Sun and moon ministers both of good and evil. 
 
 " But we shall discourse at greater length on these subjects 
 at another time. Now, meantime, [we remark that] though 
 he is that good servant for regulating the changes of the 
 seasons, yet, when chastisement is inflicted upon men accord- 
 ing to the will of God, he glows more fiercely, and burns up 
 the world with more vehement fires. In like manner also the 
 course of the moon, and that changing which seems to the 
 unskilful to be disorderly, is adapted to the growth of crops,
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 389 
 
 and cattle, and all living creatures; for by her waxings and 
 wanings, by a certain wonderful contrivance of providence, 
 everything that is born is nourished and grows ; concerning 
 which we could speak more at length and unfold the matter 
 in detail, but that the method of the question proposed recalls 
 us. Yet, by the very same appliances by which they are 
 produced, all things are nourished and increased ; but when, 
 from any just cause, the regulation of the appointed order is 
 changed, corruption and distemper arises, so that chastisement 
 may come upon men by the will of God, as we have said 
 above. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. Chastisements on the righteous and the wicked. 
 
 " But perhaps you will say, What of the fact that, in that 
 common chastisement, like things befall the pious and the 
 impious ? It is true, and we confess it ; but the chastisement 
 turns to the advantage of the pious, that, being afflicted in 
 the present life, they may come more purified to the future, 
 in which perpetual rest is prepared for them, and that at 
 the same time even the impious may somewhat profit from 
 their chastisement, or else that the just sentence of the future 
 judgment may be passed upon them ; since in the same 
 chastisements the righteous give thanks to God, while the 
 unrighteous blaspheme. Therefore, since the opinion of 
 things is divided into two parts, that some things are done 
 by order and others against order, it ought, from those things 
 which arc done according to order, to be believed that there 
 is a providence ; but with respect to those things which are 
 done against order, we should inquire their causes from those 
 who have learned them by prophetic teaching : for those 
 who have become acquainted with prophetic discourse know 
 when, and for what reason, blight, hail, and pestilence, and 
 such like, have occurred in every generation, and for what 
 sins these have been sent as a punishment ; whence causes 
 of sadness, lamentations, and griefs have befallen the human 
 race ; whence also trembling sickness has ensued, and that 
 this has been from the beginning the punishment of parricide. 1 
 1 Gen. iv. 12, in LXX.
 
 390 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon vm. 
 
 CHAP. XLVIII. Chastisements for sins. 
 
 " For in the beginning of the world there were none of 
 these evils, but they took their rise from the impiety of men ; 
 and thence, with the constant increase of iniquities, the 
 number of evils has also increased. But for this reason 
 divine providence has decreed a judgment with respect to 
 all men, because the present life was not such that every 
 one could be dealt with according to his deservings. Those 
 things, therefore, which were well and orderly appointed 
 from the beginning, when no causes of evil existed, are not 
 to be judged of from the evils which have befallen the world 
 by reason of the sins of men. In short, as an indication 
 of the things which were from the beginning, some nations 
 are found which are strangers to these evils. For the Seres, 
 because they live chastely, are kept free from them all ; for 
 with them it is unlawful to come at a woman after she has 
 conceived, or while she is being purified. No one there eats 
 unclean flesh, no one knows aught of sacrifices ; all are 
 judges to themselves according to justice. For this reason 
 they are not chastened with those plagues which we have 
 spoken of ; they live to extreme old age, and die without 
 sickness. But we, miserable as we are, dwelling as it were 
 with deadly serpents 1 I mean with wicked men necessarily 
 suffer with them the plagues of afflictions in this world, but 
 we cherish hope from the comfort of good things to come." 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. Goffs precepts despised. 
 
 " If," said the old man, " even the righteous are tormented 
 on account of the. iniquities of others, God ought, as fore- 
 seeing this, to have commanded men not to do those things 
 
 O ' O 
 
 from which it should be necessary that the righteous be 
 afflicted with the unrighteous ; or if they did them, He ought 
 to have applied some correction or purification to the world." 2 
 " God," said Aquila, " did so command, and gave precepts 
 by the prophets how men ought to live ; but even these pre- 
 
 1 Ezek. ii. 6. 
 
 8 This rendering is according to a marginal reading.
 
 BOOK vni.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 391 
 
 cepts they despised : yea, if any desired to observe them, them 
 they afflicted with various injuries, until they drove them 
 from their purposed observance, and turned them to the 
 rabble of infidelity, and made them like unto themselves. 
 
 CHAP. L. The flood. 
 
 " Wherefore, in short, at the first, when all the -earth had 
 been stained with sjns, God brought a flood upon the world, 
 which you say happened under Deucalion ; and at that time 
 He saved a certain righteous man, with his sons, in an ark, 
 and with him the race of all plants and animals. And yet 
 even those who sprang from them, after a time, again did 
 deeds like to those of their predecessors ; for those things that 
 had befallen them were forgotten, so that their descendants 
 did not even believe that the flood had taken place. Where- 
 fore God also decreed that there should not be another flood 
 in the present world, else there should have been one in every 
 generation, according to the account of their sins by reason 
 of their unbelief ; but He rather granted that certain angels 
 who delight in evil should bear sway over the several nations 
 and to them was given power over individual men, yet only 
 on this condition, if any one first had made himself subject 
 to them by sinning until He should come who delights in 
 good, and by Him the number of the righteous should be 
 completed, and by the increase of the number of pious men 
 all over the world impiety should be in some measure repressed, 
 and it should be known to all that all that is good is done by 
 God. 
 
 CHAP. LI. Evils brought in by sin. 
 
 " But by the freedom of the will, every man, while he is 
 unbelieving in regard to things to come, by evil deeds runs 
 into evils. And these are the things in the world which 
 seem to be done contrary to order, which owe their existence 
 to unbelief. Therefore the dispensation of divine providence 
 is withal to be admired, which granted to those men in the 
 beginning, walking in the good way of life, to enjoy incor- 
 ruptible good things ; but when they sinned, they gave birth
 
 392 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Booic vm. 
 
 to evil by sin. And to every good thing evil is joined as by 
 a certain covenant of alliance on the part of sin, since indeed 
 the earth has been polluted with human blood, and altars 
 have been lighted to demons, and they have polluted the 
 very air by the filthy smoke of sacrifices ; and so at length the 
 elements, being first corrupted, have handed over to men the 
 fault of their corruption, as roots [communicate their qualities] 
 to the branches and the fruit. 
 
 CHAP. Lil. " No rose without its thorn." 
 
 " Observe therefore in this, as I have said, how justly divine 
 providence comes to the help of things vitiated ; that, inas- 
 much as evils which had derived their origin from sin were 
 associated with the good things of God, He should assign two 
 chiefs to these two departments. And [accordingly] to Him 
 who rejoices in good He has appointed the ordering of good 
 things, that He might bring those who believe [in Him] to 
 the faith of His providence ; but to him who rejoices in evil, 
 He has given over those things which are done without order 
 
 o o 
 
 and uselessly, from which of course the faith of His provi- 
 dence comes into doubt ; and thus a just division has been 
 made by a just God. Hence therefore it is, that whereas the 
 orderly course of the stars produces faith that the world was 
 made by the hand of a designer, on the other hand, the dis- 
 turbance of the air, the pestilent breeze, the uncontrolled fire 
 of the lightning, cast doubt upon the work of providence. 
 For, as we have said, every good thing has its corresponding 
 contrary evil thing joined with it ; as hail is opposite to the 
 fertilizing showers, the corruption of mildew is associated with 
 the gentle dew, the whirlwinds of storms are joined with the 
 soft winds, unfruitful trees with fruitful, noxious herbs with 
 useful, wild and destructive animals with gentle ones. But 
 all these things are arranged by God, because that the choice 
 of men's will has departed from the purpose of good, and 
 fallen away to evil. 
 
 CHAP. LIII. Everything has its corresponding contrary. 
 " Therefore this division holds in all the things of the world ; 
 
 O *
 
 BOOK vm. J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 393 
 
 and as there are pious men, so there are also impious ; as there 
 are prophets, so also there are false prophets ; and amongst 
 the Gentiles there are philosophers and false philosophers. 
 Also the Arabian nations, and many others, have imitated the 
 circumcision of the Jews for the service of their impiety. So 
 also the worship of demons is contrary to the divine worship, 
 baptism to baptism, laws to the law, false apostles to apostles, 
 and false teachers to teachers. And hence it is that among 
 the philosophers some assert providence, others deny it; some 
 maintain that there is one God, others that there are more 
 than one : in short, the matter has come to this, that whereas 
 demons are expelled by the word of God, by which it is de- 
 clared that there is a providence, the magical art, for the 
 confirmation of infidelity, has found out ways of imitating 
 this by contraries. Thus has been discovered the method of 
 counteracting the poison of serpents by incantations, and the 
 effecting of cures contrary to the word and power of God. 
 The magic art has also found out ministries contrary to the 
 angels of God, placing the calling up of souls and the fig- 
 ments of demons in opposition to these. And, not to prolong 
 the discourse by a further enumeration, there is nothing what- 
 ever that makes for the belief of providence, which has not 
 something, on the other hand, prepared for unbelief ; and 
 therefore they who do not know that division of things, think 
 that there is no providence, by reason of those things in the 
 world which are discordant from themselves. But do you, 
 my father, as a wise man, choose from that division the part 
 which preserves order and makes for the belief of providence, 
 and do not only follow that part which runs against order and 
 neutralizes the belief of providence." 
 
 CHAP. LIV. An illustration. 
 
 To this the old man answered : " Show me a way, my son, 
 by which I may establish in my mind one or other of these 
 two orders, the one of which asserts, and the other denies, 
 providence." " To one having a right judgment," says Aquila, 
 " the decision is easy. For this very thing that you say, 
 order and disorder, may be produced by a contriver, but not
 
 394 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Booic vm. 
 
 by insensible nature. For let us suppose, by way of illus- 
 tration, that a great mass were torn from a high rock, and 
 cast down headlong, and when dashed upon the ground were 
 broken into many pieces, could it in any way happen that, 
 amongst that multitude of fragments, there should be found 
 even one which should have any perfect figure and shape?" 
 The old man answered : " It is impossible." " But," said 
 Aquila, " if there be present a statuary, he can by his skilful 
 hand and reasonable mind form the stone cut from the moun- 
 tain into whatever figure he pleases." The old man said : 
 " That is true/' " Therefore," says Aquila, " when there is 
 not a rational mind, no figure can be formed out of the mass ; 
 but when there is a designing mind, there may be both form 
 and deformity : for example, if a workman cuts from the 
 mountain a block to which he wishes to give a form, he must 
 first cut it out unformed and rough ; then, by degrees ham- 
 mering and hewing it by the rule of his art, he expresses the 
 form which he has conceived in his mind. Thus, therefore, 
 from informity or deformity, by the hand of the workman 
 form is attained, and both proceed from the workman. In 
 like manner, therefore, the things which are done in the world 
 are accomplished by the providence of a contriver, although 
 they may seem not quite orderly. And therefore, because 
 these two ways have been made known to you, and you have 
 heard the divisions of them, flee from the way of unbelief, 
 lest haply it lead you to that prince who delights in evils ; 
 but follow the way of faith, that you may come to that King 
 who delighteth in good men." 
 
 CHAP. LV. The two kingdoms. 
 
 To this the old man answered : " But why was that prince 
 made who delights in evil 1 And from, what was he made ? 
 Or was he not made ? " Aquila said : " The treatment of 
 that subject belongs to another time ; but that you may not 
 go away altogether without an answer to this, I shall give a 
 few hints on this subject also. God, foreseeing all things 
 before the creation of the world, knowing that the men who 
 were to be would some of them indeed incline to good, but
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 395 
 
 others to the opposite, assigned those who should choose the 
 good to His own government and His own care, and called 
 them His peculiar inheritance ; 1 but He gave over the govern- 
 ment of those who should turn to evil to those angels who, 
 not by their substance, but by opposition, were unwilling to 
 remain with God, being corrupted by the vice of envy and 
 pride. Those, therefore, he made worthy princes of worthy 
 subjects ; yet he so delivered them over to those angels, that 
 they have not the power of doing what they will against 
 them, unless they transgress the bounds assigned to them 
 from the beginning. And this is the bound assigned, that 
 unless one first do the will of the demons, the demons have 
 no power over him." 
 
 CHAP. LVI. Origin of evil. 
 
 Then the old man said : " You have stated it excellently, 
 my son. It now remains only that you tell me whence is the 
 substance of evil : for if it was made by God, the evil fruit 
 shows that the root is in fault ; for it appears that it also is of 
 an evil nature. But if this substance was co-eternal with 
 God, how can that which was equally unproduced and co- 
 eternal be subject to the other ? " " It was not always," said 
 Aquila ; " but neither does it necessarily follow, if it was 
 made by God, that its Creator should be thought to be such 
 as is that which has been made by Him. For indeed God 
 made the substance of all things ; but if a reasonable mind, 
 which has been made by God, do not acquiesce in the laws 
 of its Creator, and go beyond the bounds of the temperance 
 prescribed to it, how does this reflect on the Creator ? Or if 
 there is any reason higher than this, we do not know it ; for 
 we cannot know anything perfectly, and especially concerning 
 those things for our ignorance of which we are not to be 
 judged. But those things for which we are to be judged are 
 most easy to be understood, and are despatched almost in a 
 word. For almost the whole rule of our actions is summed 
 up in this, that what we are unwilling to suffer we should not 
 do to others. For as you would not be killed, you must 
 1 Deut. xxxii. 8, in LXX.
 
 396 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK viir. 
 
 beware of killing another ; and as you would not have your 
 own marriage violated, you must not defile another's bed ; 
 you would not be stolen from, neither must you steal ; and 
 every matter of men's actions is comprehended within this 
 rule." 
 
 CHAP. LVII. The old man unconvinced. 
 
 Then the old man : " Do not take amiss, my son, what I 
 am going to say. Though your words are powerful, yet they 
 cannot lead me to believe that anything can be done apart 
 from genesis. For I know that all things have happened to 
 me by the necessity of genesis, and therefore I cannot be 
 persuaded that either to do well or to do ill is in our power ; 
 and if we have not our actions in our power, it cannot be 
 believed that there is a judgment to come, by which either 
 punishments may be inflicted on the evil, or rewards bestowed 
 on the good. In short, since I see that you are initiated in 
 this sort of learning, I shall lay before you a few things from 
 the art itself." " If," says Aquila, " you wish to add anything 
 from that science, my brother Clement will answer you with 
 all care, since he has attended more fully to the science of 
 mathematics. For I can maintain in other Avays that our 
 actions are in our own power ; but I ought not to presume 
 upon those things which I have not learned." 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. Sitting in judgment upon God. 
 
 When Aquila had thus spoken, then I Clement said : 
 "To-morrow, my father, you shall speak as you please, 
 and we will gladly hear you; for I suppose it will also be 
 gratifying to you that you have to do with those who are not 
 ignorant of the science which you profess." When, therefore, 
 it had been settled between the old man and me, that on the 
 following day we should hold a discussion on the subject of 
 genesis whether all things are done under its influence, or 
 there be anything in us which is not done by genesis, but by 
 the judgment of the mind Peter rose up, and began to speak 
 to the following effect : " To me it is exceedingly wonderful, 
 that things which can easily be found out men make difficult
 
 BOOK viii.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 397 
 
 by recondite thoughts and words ; and those especially who 
 think themselves wise, and who, wishing to comprehend the 
 will of God, treat God as if He were a man, yea, as if He were 
 something less than a man : for no one can know the purpose 
 or mind of a man unless he himself reveal his thoughts ; and 
 neither can any one learn a profession unless he be for a long 
 time instructed by a master. How much more must it be, that 
 no one can know the mind or the work of the invisible and 
 incomprehensible God, unless He Himself send a prophet to 
 declare His purpose, and expound the way of His creation, 
 so far as it is lawful for men to learn it ! Hence I think it 
 ridiculous when men judge of the power of God in natural 
 ways, and think that this is possible and that impossible to 
 Him, or this greater and that less, while they are ignorant of 
 everything ; who, being unrighteous men, judge the righteous 
 God ; unskilled, judge the contriver ; corrupt, judge the in- 
 corruptible ; creatures, judge the Creator. 
 
 CHAP. LIX. The true Prophet. 
 
 " But I would not have you think, that in saying this I take 
 away the power of judging concerning things ; but I give 
 counsel that no one walk through devious places, and rush 
 into errors without end. And therefore I advise not only 
 wise men, but indeed all men who have a desire of knowing 
 what is advantageous to them, that they seek after the true 
 Prophet ; for it is He alone who knoweth all things, and who 
 knoweth what and how every man is seeking. For He is 
 within the mind of every one of us, but in those who have no 
 desire of the knowledge of God and His righteousness, He is 
 inoperative ; but He works in those who seek after that which 
 is profitable to their souls, and kindles in them the light of 
 knowledge. Wherefore seek Him first of all ; and if you do 
 not find Him, expect not that you shall learn anything from 
 any other. But He is soon found by those who diligently 
 seek Him through love of the truth, and whose souls are not 
 taken possession of by wickedness. For He is present with 
 those who desire Him in the innocency of their spirits, who 
 bear patiently, and draw sighs from the bottom of their hearts
 
 398 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vra. 
 
 through love of the truth ; but He deserts malevolent minds, 1 
 because as a prophet He knows the thoughts of every one. 
 And therefore let no one think that he can find Him by his 
 own wisdom, unless, as we have said, he empty his mind of 
 all wickedness, and conceive a pure and faithful desire to 
 know Him. For when any one has so prepared himself, He 
 Himself as a prophet, seeing a mind prepared for Him, of 
 His own accord offers Himself to his knowledge. 
 
 CHAP. LX. His deliverances not to be questioned. 
 
 " Therefore, if any one wishes to learn all things, [he can- 
 not do it by] discussing them one by one ; for, being mortal, 
 he shall not be able to trace the counsel of God, and to scan 
 immensity itself. But if, as we have said, he desires to learn 
 all things, let him seek after the true Prophet ; and when he 
 has found Him, let him not treat with Him by questions and 
 disputations and arguments ; but if He has given any re- 
 sponse, or pronounced any judgment, it cannot be doubted 
 that this is certain. And therefore, before all things, let the 
 true Prophet be sought, and His words be laid hold of. In 
 respect to these this only should be discussed by every one, 
 that he may satisfy himself if they are truly His prophetic 
 words ; that is, if they contain undoubted faith of things to 
 come, if they mark out definite times, if they preserve the 
 order of things, if they do not relate as last those things 
 which are first, nor as first those things which were done last, 
 if they contain nothing subtle, nothing composed by magic 
 art to deceive, or if they have not transferred to themselves 
 things which were revealed to others, and have mixed them 
 with falsehoods. And when, all these things having been 
 discussed by right judgment, it is established that they are 
 prophetic words, so they ought to be at once believed con- 
 cerning all things on which they have spoken and answered. 
 
 CHAP. LXI. Ignorance of the philosophers. 
 
 " For let us consider carefully the work of divine provi- 
 dence. For whereas the philosophers have introduced certain 
 1 Wisd. i. 4.
 
 BOOK VIIL] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 399 
 
 subtile and difficult words, so that not even the terms that 
 they use in their discourses can be known and understood by 
 all, God has shown that those who thought themselves word- 
 farmers are altogether unskilful as respects the knowledge 
 of the truth. For the knowledge of things which is imparted 
 by the true Prophet is simple, and plain, and brief ; which 
 those men walking through devious places, and through the 
 stony difficulties of words, are wholly ignorant of. There- 
 fore, to modest and simple minds, when they see things come 
 to pass which have been foretold, it is enough, and more 
 than enough, that they may receive most certain knowledge 
 from most certain prescience ; and for the rest may be 
 at peace, having received evident knowledge of the truth. 
 For all other things are treated by opinion, in which there 
 can be nothing firm. For what speech is there which may 
 not be contradicted ? And what argument is there that may 
 not be overthrown by another argument ? And hence it is, 
 that by disputation of this sort men can never come to any 
 end of knowledge and learning, but find the end of their 
 life sooner than the end of their questions. 
 
 CHAP. LXII. End of the conference. 
 
 "And, therefore, since amongst these [philosophers] are 
 things uncertain, we must come to the true Prophet. Him 
 God the Father wished to be loved by all, and accordingly He 
 has been pleased wholly to extinguish those opinions which 
 have originated with men, and in regard to which there is 
 nothing like certainty that He [the true Prophet] might be 
 the more sought after, and that He whom 1 they had obscured 
 should show to men the way of truth. For on this account 
 also God made the world, and by Him the world is filled ; 
 whence also He is everywhere near to them who seek Him, 
 though He be sought in the remotest ends of the earth. But 
 if any one seek Him not purely, nor holily, nor faithfully, 
 He is indeed within him, because He is everywhere, and is 
 
 1 If we were to read quam instead of qncm, the sense .would be: that 
 He might lay open to men the way of truth which they had blocked up. 
 So Whiston.
 
 400 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK vin. 
 
 found within the minds of all men ; but, as we have said 
 before, He is dormant to the unbelieving, and is held to be 
 absent from those by whom His existence is not believed." 
 And when Peter had said this, and more to the same effect, 
 concerning the true Prophet, he dismissed the crowds ; and 
 when he very earnestly entreated the old man to remain with 
 us, he could prevail nothing ; but he also departed, to return 
 next day, as had been agreed upon. And after this, we also, 
 with Peter, went to our lodging, and enjoyed our accustomed 
 food and rest.
 
 BECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 
 
 BOOK IX. 
 
 CHAP. i. An explanation. 
 
 jjN the following day, Peter, along with us, hastened 
 early to the place in which the discussion had 
 been held the day before ; and when he saw that 
 great crowds had assembled there to hear, and 
 saw the old man with them, he said to him: "Old man, it was 
 agreed yesterday that you should confer to-day with Clement ; 
 and that you should either show that nothing takes place 
 apart from genesis, or that Clement should prove that there 
 is no such thing as genesis, but that what we do is in our 
 own power." To this the old man answered : " I both remem- 
 ber what was agreed upon, and I keep in memory the words 
 which you spoke after the agreement was made, in which 
 you taught that it is impossible for man to know anything, 
 unless he learn from the true Prophet." Then Peter said : 
 " You do not know what I meant ; but I shall now explain 
 to you. I spoke of the will and purpose of God, which He 
 had before the world was, and by which purpose He made the 
 world, appointed times, gave the law, promised a world to 
 come to the righteous for the rewarding of their good deeds, 
 and decreed punishments to the unjust according to a judi- 
 cial sentence. I said that this counsel and this will of God 
 cannot be found out by men, because no man can gather the 
 mind of God from conjectures and opinion, unless a prophet 
 sent by Him declare it. I did not therefore speak of any 
 doctrines or studies, that they cannot be found out or known 
 without a prophet ; for I know that both arts and sciences 
 can be known and practised by men, which they have learned, 
 not from the true Prophet, but from human instructors. 
 
 2C
 
 402 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 CHAP. II. Preliminaries. 
 
 " Since, therefore, you profess to be conversant with the 
 position of the stars and the courses of the heavenly bodies, 
 and that from these you can convince Clement that all things 
 are subject to genesis, or that you will learn from him that 
 all things are governed by providence, and that we have 
 something in our own power, it is now the time for you two 
 to set about this." To this the old man answered : " Now 
 indeed it was not necessary to raise questions of this kind, if 
 it were possible for us to learn from the true Prophet, and 
 to hear in a definite proposition, that anything depends on us 
 and on the freedom of our will ; for your yesterday's dis- 
 course affected me greatly, in which you disputed concerning 
 the prophetic power. Whence also I assent to and confirm 
 your judgment, that nothing can be known by man with 
 certainty, and without doubt, seeing that he has but a short 
 period of life, and a brief and slender breath, by which he 
 seems to be kept in life. However, since I am understood to 
 have promised to Clement, before I heard anything of the 
 prophetic power, that I should show that all things are sub- 
 ject to genesis, or that I should learn from him that there is 
 something in ourselves, let him do me this favour, that he 
 first begin, and propound and explain what may be objected : 
 for I, ever since I heard from you a few words concerning 
 the power of prophecy, have, I confess, been confounded, 
 considering the greatness of prescience ; nor do I think that 
 anything ought to be received which is collected from con- 
 jectures and opinion." 
 
 CHAP. III. Beginning of the dismission. 
 
 When the old man had said this, I Clement began to 
 speak as follows : " God by His Son created the world as a 
 double house, separated by the interposition of this firma- 
 ment, which is called heaven ; and appointed angelic powers 
 to dwell in the higher, and a multitude of men to be 
 born in this visible world, from amongst whom He might 
 choose friends for His Son, with whom Pie might rejoice,
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 403 
 
 and who might be prepared for Him as a beloved bride for a 
 bridegroom. But even till the time of the marriacre, which 
 
 o O ' 
 
 is the manifestation of the world to come, He has appointed 
 a certain power, to choose out and watch over the good ones 
 of those who are born in this world, and to preserve them for 
 His Son, set apart in a certain place of the world, which is 
 without sin ; in which there are already some, who are there 
 being prepared, as I said, as a bride adorned for the coming 
 of the bridegroom. For the prince of this world and of the 
 present age is like an adulterer, who corrupts and violates the 
 minds of men, and, seducing them from the love of the true 
 bridegroom, allures them to strange lovers. 
 
 CHAP. iv. Why the evil prince was made. 
 
 " But some one will say, How then was it necessary that 
 that prince should be made, who was to turn away the minds 
 of men from the true prince ? Because God, who, as I have 
 said, wished to prepare friends for His Son, did not wish 
 them to be such as by necessity of nature could not be aught 
 else, but such as should desire of their own choice and will 
 to be good ; because neither is that praiseworthy which is 
 not desirable, nor is that judged to be good which is not 
 sought for with purpose. For there is no credit in being 
 that from which the necessity of your nature does not admit 
 of your changing. Therefore the providence of God has 
 willed that a multitude of men should be born in this world, 
 that those who should choose a good life might be selected 
 from many. And because He foresaw that the present world 
 could not consist except by variety and inequality, He gave 
 to each mind freedom of motions, according to the diversities 
 of present things, and appointed this prince, through his sug- 
 gestion of those things which run contrary, that the choice 
 of better things might depend upon the exercise of virtue. 
 
 CHAP. V. Necessity of inequality. 
 
 " But to make our meaning plainer, we shall explain it by 
 particulars. Was it proper, for example, that all men in 
 this world should be kings, or princes, or lords, or teachers,
 
 404 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 or lawyers, or geometers, or goldsmiths, or bakers, or smiths, 
 or grammarians, or rich men, or farmers, or perfumers, or 
 fishermen, or poor men ? It is certain that all could not be 
 these. Yet all these professions, and many more, the life of 
 men requires, and without these it cannot be passed ; there- 
 fore inequality is necessary in this world. For there cannot 
 be a king, unless he has subjects over whom he may rule and 
 reign ; nor can there be a master, unless he has one over 
 whom he may bear sway ; and in like manner of the rest. 
 
 CHAP. VI. Arrangements of the world for the exercise 
 of virtue. 
 
 " Therefore the Creator, knowing that no one would come 
 to the contest of his own accord, while labour is shunned, 
 that is, to the practice of those professions which we have 
 mentioned, by means of which either the justice or the mercy 
 of every one can be manifested, made for men a body sus- 
 ceptible of hunger, and thirst, and cold, in order that men, 
 being compelled for the sake of supporting their bodies, 
 might come down to all the professions which we have men- 
 tioned, by the necessity of livelihood. For we are taught to 
 cultivate every one of these arts, for the sake of food, and 
 drink, and clothing. And in this the purpose of each one's 
 mind is shown, whether he will supply the demands of hunger 
 and cold by means of thefts, and murders, and perjuries, and 
 other crimes of that sort ; or whether, keeping justice and 
 mercy and continence, he will fulfil the service of imminent 
 necessity by the practice of a profession and the labour of 
 his hands. For if he supply his bodily wants with justice, 
 and piety, and mercy, he comes forth as a victor in the con- 
 test set before him, and is chosen as a friend of the Son of 
 God. But if he serve carnal lusts, by frauds, iniquities, and 
 crimes, he becomes a friend of the prince of this world, and 
 of all demons ; by whom he is also taught this, to ascribe to 
 the courses of the stars the errors of his own evil doings, 
 
 O 7 
 
 although he chose them of purpose, and willingly. For arts 
 are learned and practised, as we have said, under the com- 
 pulsion of the desire of food and drink ; which desire, when
 
 BOOK ix.] -RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 405 
 
 the knowledge of the truth comes to any one, becomes 
 weaker, and frugality takes its place. For what expense 
 have those who use water and bread, and who expect it from 
 God? 
 
 CHAP. vii. The old and the new birth. 
 
 u There is therefore, as we have said, a certain necessary 
 inequality in the dispensation of the world. Since indeed 
 all men cannot know all things, and accomplish all works, 
 yet all need the use and service of almost all. And on this 
 account it is necessary that one work, and another pay him. 
 for his work ; that one be servant, and another be master ; 
 that one be subject, another be king. But this inequality, 
 which is a necessary provision for the life of men, divine 
 providence has turned into an occasion of justice, mercy, and 
 humanity : that while these things are transacted between 
 man and man, every one may have an opportunity of acting 
 justly with him to whom he has to pay wages for his work ; 
 and of acting mercifully to him who, perhaps through sick- 
 ness or poverty, cannot pay his debt ; and of acting humanely 
 towards those who by their creation seem to be subject to 
 him ; also of maintaining gentleness towards subjects, and of 
 doing all things according to the law of God. For He has 
 given a law, thereby aiding the minds of men, that they may 
 the more easily perceive how they ought to act with respect 
 to everything, in what way they may escape evil, and in what 
 way tend to future blessings ; and how, being regenerate in 
 water, they may by good works extinguish the fire of their 
 old birth. For our first birth descends through the fire of 
 lust, and therefore, by the divine appointment, this second 
 birth is introduced by water, which may extinguish the nature 
 of fire ; and that the soul, enlightened by the heavenly Spirit, 
 may cast away the fear of the first birth : provided, however, 
 it so live for the time to come, that it do not at all seek after 
 any of the pleasures of this world, but be, as it were, a 
 pilgrim and a stranger, 1 and a citizen of another city. 
 1 Ps. xxxix. 12.
 
 406 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 CHAP. vin. Uses of evils. 
 
 " But perhaps you will say, that in those things indeed in 
 which the necessity of nature demands the service of arts and 
 works, any one may have it in his power to maintain justice, 
 and to put what restraint he pleases either upon his desires 
 or his actions ; but what shall we say of the sicknesses and 
 infirmities which befall men, and of some being harassed with 
 demons, and fevers, and cold fits, and some being attacked 
 with madness, or losing their reason, and all those things 
 which overwhelm the race of man with innumerable misfor- 
 tunes? To this we say, that if any one consider the reason 
 of the whole mystery, he will pronounce these things to be 
 more just than those that we have already explained. For 
 God has given a nature to men, by which they may be taught 
 concerning what is good, and to resist evil ; that is, they may 
 learn arts, and to resist pleasures, and to set the law of God 
 before them in all things. And for this end He has permitted 
 certain contrary, powers to wander up and down in the world, 
 and to strive against us. for the reasons which have been 
 
 O ' 
 
 stated before, that by striving with them the palm of victory 
 and the merit of rewards may accrue to the righteous. 
 
 CHAP. IX. " Conceived in sin." 
 
 "From this, therefore, it sometimes happens, that if any 
 persons have acted incontinently, and have been willing not 
 so much to resist as to yield, and to give harbour to these 
 [demons] in themselves, by their noxious breath an intem- 
 perate, ill-conditioned, and diseased progeny is begotten. For 
 while lust is wholly gratified, and no care is taken in the 
 copulation, undoubtedly a weak generation is affected with 
 the defects and frailties of those demons by whose instiga- 
 tion these things are done. And therefore parents are re- 
 sponsible for their children's defects of this sort, because thcy 
 have not observed the law of intercourse. Though there are 
 also more secret causes, by which souls are made subject to 
 these evils, which it is not to our present purpose to state, 
 yet it behoves every one to acknowledge the law of God, that
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 407 
 
 he may learn from it the observance of generation, and avoid 
 causes of impurity, that that which is begotten may be pure. 
 For it is not right, while in the planting of shrubs and the 
 sowing of crops a suitable season is sought for, and the land 
 is cleaned, and all things are suitably prepared, lest haply the 
 seed which is sown be injured and perish, that in the case of 
 man only, who is over all these things, there should be no 
 attention or caution in sowing his seed. 
 
 CHAP. x. Tow smeared with pitch. 
 
 " But what, it is said, of the fact that some who in their 
 childhood are free from any bodily defect, yet in process of 
 time fall into those evils, so that some are even violently 
 hurried on to death ? Concerning these also the account is 
 at hand, and is almost the same : for those powers which we 
 have said to be contrary to the human race, are in some way 
 invited into the heart of every one by many and diverse lusts, 
 and find a way of entrance; and they have in them such 
 influence and power as can only encourage and incite, but 
 cannot compel or accomplish. If, therefore, any one consents 
 to them, so as to do those things which he wickedly desires, 
 his consent and deed shall find the reward of destruction and 
 the worst kind of death. But if, thinking of the future 
 judgment, he be checked by fear, and reclaim himself, so 
 that he do not accomplish in action what he has conceived 
 in his evil thought, he shall not only escape present destruc- 
 tion, but also future punishments. For every cause of sin 
 seems to be like tow smeared over with pitch, which imme- 
 diately breaks into flame as soon as it receives the heat of fire ; 
 and the kindling of this fire is understood to be the work of 
 demons. If, therefore, any one be found smeared with sins 
 and lusts as with pitch, the fire easily gets the mastery of 
 him. But if the tow be not steeped in the pitch of sin, but 
 in the water of purification and regeneration, the fire of the 
 demons shall not be able to be kindled in it. 
 
 CHAP. xi. Fear. 
 "But some one will say, And what shall we do now,
 
 408 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 whom it has already happened to us to be smeared with sins 
 as with pitch? I answer: Nothing; but hasten to be washed, 
 that the fuel of the fire may be cleansed out of you by 
 the invocation of the holy name, and that for the future you 
 may bridle your lusts by fear of the judgment to come, and 
 with all constancy beat back the hostile powers whenever 
 they approach your senses. But you say, If any one fall 
 into love, how shall he be able to contain himself, though he 
 see before his eyes even that river of fire which they call 
 Pyriphlegethon ? This is the excuse of those who will not 
 be converted to repentance. But now I would not have you 
 talk of Pyriphlegethon. Place before you human punish- 
 ments, and see what influence fear has. When any one is 
 brought to punishment for the crime of love, and is bound to 
 the stake to be burned, can he at that time conceive any 
 desire of her whom he loved, or place her image before his 
 eyes ? By no means, you will say. You see, then, that present 
 fear cuts off unrighteous desires. But if those who believe 
 in God, and who confess the judgment to come, and the 
 penalty of eternal fire, if they do not refrain from sin, it is 
 certain that they do not believe with full faith : for if faith 
 is certain, fear also becomes certain; but if there be any 
 defect in faith, fear also is 'weakened, and then the contrary 
 powers find opportunity of entering. And when they have 
 consented to their persuasions, they necessarily become sub- 
 ject also to their -power, and by their instigation are driven 
 to the precipices of sin. 
 
 CHAP. xn. Astrologers. 
 
 "Therefore the astrologers, being ignorant of such mys- 
 teries, think that these things happen by the courses of the 
 heavenly bodies : hence also, in their answers to those who go 
 to them to consult them as to future things, they are deceived 
 in very many instances. Nor is it to be wondered at, for 
 they are not prophets ; but by long practice, the authors of 
 errors find a sort of refuge in those things by which they 
 were deceived, and introduce certain climacteric periods, that 
 they may pretend a knowledge of uncertain things. For they
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 409 
 
 represent these climacterics as times of danger, in which one 
 sometimes is destroyed, sometimes is not destroyed, not know- 
 ing that it is not the course of the stars, but the operation 
 of demons, that regulates these tilings; and those demons, 
 being anxious to confirm the error of astrology, deceive men 
 to sin by mathematical calculations, so that when they suffer 
 the punishment of sin, either by the permission of God or by 
 legal sentence, the astrologer may seem to have spoken truth. 
 And yet they are deceived even in this ; for if men be quickly 
 turned to repentance, and remember and fear the future 
 judgment, the punishment of death is remitted to those who 
 are converted to God by the grace of baptism. 
 
 CHAP. xiii. Retribution here or hereafter. 
 
 "But some one will say, Many have committed even 
 murder, and adultery, and other crimes, and have suffered 
 no evil. This indeed rarely happens to men, -but to those 
 who know not the counsel of God it frequently seems to 
 happen. But God, who knows all things, knows how and 
 why he who sins does sin, and what cause leads each one 
 to sin. This, however, is in general to be noticed, that if 
 any are evil, not so much in their mind as in their doings, 
 and are not borne to sin under the incitement of purpose, 
 upon them punishment is inflicted more speedily, and more 
 in the present life ; for everywhere and always God renders 
 to every one according to his deeds, as He judges to be ex- 
 pedient. But those who practise wickedness of purpose, so 
 that they sometimes even rage against those from whom they 
 have received benefits, and who take no thought for repent- 
 ance their punishment He defers to the future. For these 
 men do not, like those of whom we spoke before, deserve to 
 end the punishment of their crimes in the present life ; but 
 it is allowed them to occupy the present time as they Avill, 
 because their correction is not such as to need temporal 
 chastisements, but such as to demand the punishment of 
 eternal fire in hell ; and there their souls shall seek repent- 
 ance, where they shall not be able to find it.
 
 410 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 CHAP. xiv. Knoicledge deadens lusts. 
 
 "But if, while in this life, they had placed before their eyes 
 the punishments which they shall then suffer, they would 
 certainly have bridled their lusts, and would in nowise have 
 fallen into sin. For the understanding in the soul has much 
 power for cutting off all its desires, especially when it has 
 acquired the knowledge of heavenly things, by means of 
 which, having received the light of truth, it will turn away 
 from all darkness of evil actions. For as the sun obscures 
 and conceals all the stars bv the brightness of his shining, 
 
 * O 
 
 so also the mind, by the light of knowledge, renders all the 
 lusts of the soul ineffective and inactive, sending out upon 
 them the thought of the judgment to come as its rays, so 
 that they can no longer appear in the soul. 
 
 CHAP. xv. Fear of men and of God. 
 
 " But as a proof that the fear of God has much efficacy 
 for the repressing of lusts, take the example of human fear. 
 Who is there amonrj men that does not covet his nei^h- 
 
 O t 
 
 bour's goods ? And yet they are restrained, and act honestly, 
 through fear of the punishment which is prescribed by the 
 laws. Through fear, nations are subject to their kings, and 
 armies obey with arms in their hands. Slaves, although 
 they are stronger than their masters, yet through fear submit 
 to their masters' rule. Even wild beasts are tamed bv fear : 
 
 tf 
 
 the strongest bulls submit their necks to the yoke, and huge 
 elephants obey their masters, through fear. But why do we 
 use human examples, when even divine are not wanting? 
 Does not the earth itself remain under the fear of precept, 
 which it testifies by its motion and quaking ? The sea keeps 
 its prescribed bounds ; the angels maintain peace ; the stars 
 keep their order, and the rivers their channels : it is certain 
 also that demons are put to flight by fear. And not to 
 lengthen the discourse by too many particulars, see how the 
 fear of God, restraining everything, keeps all things in 
 proper harmony, and in their fixed order. How much more, 
 then, may you be sure that the lusts of demons which arise
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 411 
 
 in your hearts may be extinguished and wholly abolished by 
 the admonition of the fear of God, when even the inciters 
 of lust are themselves put to flight by the influence of fear? 
 You know that these things are so; but if you have any- 
 thing to answer, proceed." 
 
 CHAP. xvr. Imperfect conviction. 
 
 Then said the old man : " My son Clement has wisely 
 framed his argument, so that he has left us nothing to say to 
 these things ; but all his discourse which he has delivered 
 on the nature of men has this bearing, that along with the 
 fact that freedom of will is in man, there is also some cause 
 of evil without him, whereby men are indeed incited by 
 various lusts, yet are not compelled to sin ; and that for this 
 reason, he said, because fear is much more powerful than 
 they, and it resists and checks the violence of desires, so that, 
 although natural emotions may arise, yet sin may not be 
 committed, those demons being put to flight who incite and 
 inflame these emotions. But these things do not convince 
 
 o 
 
 me ; for I am conscious of certain things from which I 
 
 ' O 
 
 know well, that by the arrangement of the heavenly bodies 
 men become murderers or adulterers, and perpetrate other 
 evils ; and in like manner honourable and modest women are 
 compelled to act well. 
 
 CHAP. XVIT. Astrological lore. 1 
 
 "In short, when Mars, holding the centre in his house, 
 regards Saturn quarterly, with Mercury towards the centre, 
 the full moon coming upon him, in the daily genesis, he pro- 
 duces murderers, and those who are to fall by the sword, 2 
 bloody, drunken, lustful, devilish men, inquirers into secrets, 3 
 malefactors, sacrilegious persons, and such like; especially 
 when there was no one of the good stars looking on. But 
 
 1 Ch. xvii. and ch. xix.-xxix. are taken in an altered form from the 
 \vriting ascribed to Bardesanes, De Fato. 
 
 a Conjectural reading. " to kill with the sword." 
 
 3 That is, violators of the sacred mysteries, which was regarded as one 
 of the most horrid of crimes.
 
 412 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 again Mars himself, having a quarterly position with respect 
 to Venus, in a direction toward the centre, while no good 
 star looks on, produces adulterers and incestuous persons. 
 Venus with the Moon, in the borders and houses of Saturn, 
 if she was with Saturn, and Mars looking on, produces 
 women that are viragos, ready for agriculture, building, 
 and every manly work, to commit adultery with whom they 
 please, and not to be convicted by their husbands, to use no 
 delicacy, no ointments, nor feminine robes and shoes, but to 
 live after the fashion of men. But the unpropitious Venus 
 makes men to be as women, and not to act in any respect as 
 men, if she is with Mars in Aries ; on the contrary, she pro- 
 duces women if she is in Capricorn or Aquarius." 
 
 CHAP. xvni. The reply. 
 
 And when the old man had pursued this subject at great 
 length, and had enumerated every kind of mathematical figure, 
 and also the position of the heavenly bodies, wishing thereby 
 to show that fear is not sufficient to restrain lusts, I answered 
 again : " Truly, my father, you have argued most learned! v 
 and skilfully ; and reason herself invites me to say something 
 in answer to your discourse, since indeed I am acquainted 
 with the science of mathematics, and gladly hold a conference 
 with so learned a man. Listen, therefore, while I reply to 
 what you have said, that you may learn distinctly that genesis 
 is not at all from the stars, and that it is possible for those 
 to resist the assault of demons who have recourse to God ; 
 and, as I said before, that not only by the fear of God can 
 natural lusts be restrained, but even by the fear of men, as 
 we shall now instruct you. 
 
 CHAP. xix. Refutation of astrology. 
 
 " There are, in every country or kingdom, laws imposed by 
 men, enduring either by writing or simply through custom, 
 which no one easily transgresses. In short, the first Seres, 
 who dwell at the beginning of the world, 1 have a law not to 
 
 1 That is, the farthest east, not, as some of the annotators suppose, 
 from the beginning of the world.
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 413 
 
 know murder, nor adultery, nor whoredom, and not to commit 
 theft, and not to worship idols ; and in all that country, 
 whicli is very large, there is neither temple, nor image, nor 
 harlot, nor adulteress, nor is any thief brought to trial. But 
 neither is any man ever slain there ; and no man's liberty of 
 will is compelled, according to your doctrine, by the fiery 
 star of Mars, to use the sword for the murder of man ; nor 
 does Venus in conjunction with Mars compel to adultery, 
 although of course with them Mars occupies the middle 
 circle of heaven every day. But amongst the Seres the fear 
 of laws is more powerful than the configuration of genesis. 
 
 CHAP. xx. Brahmans. 
 
 " There are likewise amongst the Bactrians, in the Indian 
 countries, immense multitudes of Brahmans, who also them- 
 selves, from the tradition of their ancestors, and peaceful 
 customs and laws, neither commit murder nor adultery, nor 
 worship idols, nor have the practice of eating animal food, 
 are never drunk, never do anything maliciously, but always 
 fear God. And these things indeed they do, though the rest 
 of the Indians commit both murders and adulteries, and 
 worship idols, and are drunken, and practise other wicked- 
 nesses of this sort. Yea, in the western parts of India itself 
 there is a certain country, where strangers, when they enter 
 it, are taken and slaughtered and eaten ; and neither have 
 good stars prevented these men from such wickednesses and 
 from accursed food, nor have malign stars compelled the 
 Brahmans to do any evil. Again, there is a custom among 
 the Persians to marry mothers, and sisters, and daughters. 
 In all that district the Persians contract incestuous marriages. 
 
 CHAP. xxi. Districts of heaven. 
 
 " And that those who study mathematics may not have it 
 in their power to use that subterfuge by whicli they say that 
 there are certain districts of heaven to which it is granted to 
 have some things peculiar to themselves, some of that nation 
 of Persians have gone to foreign countries, who are called 
 Magussei, of whom there are some to this day in Media,
 
 414 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 others in Parthia, some also in Egypt, and a considerable 
 number in Galatia and Phrygia, all of whom maintain thu 
 form of this incestuous tradition without variation, and hand 
 it down to their posterity to be observed, even although they 
 have changed their district of heaven ; nor has Venus with 
 the Moon in the confines and houses of Saturn, with Saturn 
 also and Mars looking on, compelled them to have a genesis 
 among other men. 1 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Customs of the Gelones. 
 
 "Amongst the Geli also there is a custom, that women 
 cultivate the fields, build, and do every manly work; and 
 they are also allowed to have intercourse with whom they 
 please, and are not found fault with by their husbands, or 
 called adulteresses : for. they have promiscuous intercourse 
 everywhere, and especially with strangers ; they do not use 
 ointments ; they do not wear dyed garments, nor shoes. On 
 the other hand, the men of the Gelones are adorned, combed, 
 clothed in soft and various-coloured garments, decked with 
 gold, and besmeared with ointments, and that not through 
 lack of manliness, for they are most warlike, and most keen 
 hunters. Yet the whole women of the Gelones had not 
 at their birth the unfavourable Venus in Capricorn us or 
 Aquarius ; nor had all their men Venus placed with Mars in 
 Aries, by which configuration the Chaldean science asserts 
 that men are born effeminate and dissolute. 
 
 CHAP. xxni. Manners of the Susidce. 
 
 " But, further, in Susse the women use ointments, and 
 indeed of the best sort, being decked with ornaments and 
 precious stones ; also they go abroad supported by the aid of 
 their maid-servants, with much greater ambition than the men. 
 They do not, however, cultivate modesty, but have intercourse 
 indifferently with whomsoever they please, with slaves and 
 
 1 This is a literal translation of text. If we read genesi for gcncsim, 
 \ve get: " nor has Venus, etc., compelled them to keep up this custom in 
 the midst of others through the force of genesis.' 1 '' Eusebius reads: " And 
 assuredly Venus, etc., is not found in the genesis of all of them."
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 415 
 
 quests, such liberty being allowed them by their husbands ; 
 and not only are they not blamed for this, but they also rule 
 over their husbands. And yet the genesis of all the Susian 
 women has not Venus with Jupiter and Mars in the middle 
 of the heaven in the houses of Jupiter. In the remoter parts 
 of the East, if a boy be treated unnaturally, when it is dis- 
 covered, he is killed by his brothers, or his parents, or any of 
 his relations, and is left unburied. And again, among the 
 Gauls, an old law allows boys to be thus treated publicly ; 
 and no disgrace is thought to attach to it. And is it 
 possible, that all those who are so basely treated among the 
 Gauls, have had Lucifer with Mercury in the houses of 
 Saturn and the confines of Mars ? 
 
 CHAP. xxiv. Different customs of different countries. 
 
 " In the regions of Britain several men have one wife ; in. 
 Parthia many women have one husband; and each part of the 
 world adheres to its own manners and institutions. None of 
 the Amazons have husbands, but, like animals, they go out 
 from their own territories once a year about the vernal 
 equinox, and live with the men of the neighbouring nation, 
 observing a sort of solemnity the while, and when they have 
 conceived by them they return ; and if they bring forth 
 a male child, they cast him away, and rear only females. 
 Now, since the birth of all is at one season, it is absurd to 
 suppose that in the case of males Mars is at the time in equal 
 portions with Saturn, but never in the genesis of females ; 
 and that they have not Mercury placed with Venus in his 
 own houses, so as to produce either painters, or sculptors, 
 or money-changers ; or in the houses of Venus, so that per- 
 fumers, or singers, or poets might be produced. Among the 
 Saracens, and Upper Libyans, and Moors, and the dwellers 
 about the mouths of the ocean, and also in the remote dis- 
 tricts of Germany, and among the Sarmatians and Scythians, 
 and all the nations who dwell in the regions of the Pontic 
 shore, and in the island Chrysea, there is never found a 
 money-changer, nor a sculptor, nor a painter, nor an architect, 
 nor a geometrician, nor a tragedian, nor a poet. Therefore
 
 416 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 the influence of Mercury and Venus must be wanting among 
 them. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Not genesis, but free-will. 
 
 " The Medes alone in all the world, with the greatest care, 
 throw men still breathing to be devoured by dogs ; yet they 
 have not Mars with the Moon placed in Cancer all through 
 their daily genesis. The Indians burn their dead, and the 
 wives of the dead voluntarily offer themselves, and are burned 
 with them. But all the Indian women who are burned alive 
 have not the Sun under the earth in nightly genesis, with 
 Mars in the regions of Mars, Very many of the Germans 
 end their lives by the halter ; but all have not therefore the 
 Moon with Hora begirt by Saturn and Mars. From all 
 this it appears that the fear of the laws bears sway in every 
 country, and the freedom of will which is implanted in 
 man by the Spirit complies with the laws ; and genesis can 
 neither compel the Seres to commit murder, nor the Brah- 
 mans to eat flesh, nor the Persians to shun incest, nor the 
 Indians to refrain from burning, nor the Medes from being 
 devoured by dogs, nor the Parthians from having many 
 wives, nor the women of Mesopotamia from preserving their 
 chastity, nor the Greeks from athletic exercises, nor the 
 Gallic boys from being abused ; nor can it compel the bar- 
 barous nations to be instructed in the studies of the Greeks ; 
 but, as we have said, each nation observes its own laws 
 according to free-will, and annuls the decrees of genesis by 
 the strictness of laws. 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Climates. 
 
 (l But some one skilled in the science of mathematics will 
 say that genesis is divided into seven parts, which they call 
 climates, and that over each climate one of the seven heavenly 
 bodies bears rule ; and that those diverse laws to which we 
 have referred are not given by men, but by those dominant 
 stars according to their will, and that that which pleases the 
 star is observed by men as a law. To this we shall answer, 
 in the first place, that the world is not divided into seven
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 417 
 
 parts ; and in the second place, that if it were so, we find 
 many different laws in one part and one country; and there- 
 fore there are neither seven [laws] according to the number 
 of the heavenly bodies, nor twelve according to the number 
 of the signs, nor thirty-six according to that of the divisions 
 of ten degrees ; but they are innumerable. 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. Doctrine of " climates" untenable. 
 
 11 Moreover, we ought to remember the things which have 
 been mentioned, that in the one country of India there are 
 both persons who feed on human flesh, and persons who ab- 
 stain even from the flesh of sheep, and birds, and all living 
 creatures ; and that the Magussei marry their mothers and 
 daughters not only in Persia, but that in every nation where 
 they dwell they keep up their incestuous customs. 1 Then, 
 besides, we have mentioned also innumerable nations, which 
 are wholly ignorant of the studies of literature, and also 
 some wise men have changed the laws themselves in several 
 places ; and some laws have been voluntarily abandoned, 
 on account of the impossibility of observing them, or on 
 account of their baseness. Assuredly we can easily ascertain 
 how many rulers have changed the laws and customs of 
 nations which they have conquered, and subjected them to 
 their own laws. This is manifestly done by the Romans, 
 who have brought under the Roman law and the civil decrees 
 almost the whole world, and all nations who formerly lived 
 under various laws and customs of their own. It follows, 
 therefore, that the stars of the nations which have been con- 
 quered by the Romans have lost their climates and their 
 portions. 
 
 CHAP. XXVIIT. Jewish customs. 
 
 "I shall add another thing which may satisfy even the most 
 incredulous. All the Jews who live under the law of Moses 
 circumcise their sons on the eighth day without fail, and shed 
 
 1 The text reads: " the incestuous customs of their evils, or of their evil 
 persons." Hilgenfeld (Bardesanes, p. 113) notices that it should be, " of 
 their ancestors." 
 
 2 D
 
 418 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 the blood of the tender infant. 'But no one of the Gentiles 
 has ever submitted to this on the eighth day ; and, on the 
 other hand, no one of the Jews has ever omitted it. How 
 then shall the account of genesis stand with this, since Jews 
 live in all parts of the world, mixed with Gentiles, and on 
 the eighth day suffer the cutting of a member ? And no one 
 of the Gentiles, but only they themselves, as I have said, do 
 this, induced to it not by the compulsion of any star, nor by 
 the perfusion 1 of blood, but by the law of their religion ; 
 and in whatever part of the world they are, this sign is 
 familiar to them. But also the fact that one name is 
 among them all, wheresoever they are, does this also come 
 . through genesis ? And also that no child born among them 
 is ever exposed, and that on every seventh day they all rest, 
 wherever they may be, and do not go upon a journey, and 
 do not use fire ? 2 Why is it, then, that no one of the Jews 
 is compelled by genesis to go on a journey, or to build, or to 
 sell or buy anything on that day ? 
 
 CHAP. xxix. The gospel more powerful than "genesis." 
 
 " But I shall give a still stronger proof of the matters in 
 hand. For, behold, scarcely seven years have yet passed 
 since the advent of the righteous and true Prophet ; and in 
 the course of these, men of all nations coming to Judea, and 
 moved both by the signs and miracles which they saw, and 
 by the grandeur of His doctrine, received His faith ; and then 
 going back to their own countries, they rejected the lawless 
 rites of the Gentiles, and their incestuous marriages. In short, 
 among the Parthians as Thomas, who is preaching the gospel 
 amongst them, has written to us not many now are addicted 
 to polygamy ; nor among the Medes do many throw their dead 
 to dogs ; nor are the Persians pleased with intercourse with 
 their mothers, or incestuous marriages with their daughters ; 
 nor do the Susian women practise the adulteries that were 
 
 1 Probably we should read perfusionem instead of perfusione, and then 
 the translation would be : " no star compelling, or even urging on them 
 the shedding of blood." So Whiston translates. 
 
 2 Ex. xxxv. 3.
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 419 
 
 allowed them ; nor has genesis been able to force those into 
 crimes whom the teaching of religion restrained. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. " Genesis" inconsistent with God's justice. 
 
 " Behold, from the very matter in which we are now en- 
 gaged, draw an inference, and from the circumstances in 
 which we are now placed deduce a conclusion, how, through 
 a rumour only reaching the ears of men that a Prophet had 
 appeared in Judea to teach men with signs and miracles to 
 worship one God, all were expecting with prepared and eager 
 minds, even before the coming of my lord Peter, that some 
 one would announce to them what He taught who had ap- 
 peared. But lest I should seem to carry the enumeration too 
 far, I shall tell you what conclusion ought to be drawn from 
 the whole. Since God is righteous, and since He Himself 
 made the nature of men, how could it be that He should 
 place genesis in opposition to us, which should compel us to 
 sin, and then that He should punish us when we do sin? 
 Whence it is certain that God punishes no sinner either in 
 the present life or in that to come, except because He knows 
 that He could have conquered, but neglected victory. For 
 even in the present world He takes vengeance upon men, as 
 He did upon those who perished in the deluge, who were all 
 destroyed in one day, yea, in one hour, although it is certain 
 that they were not all born in one hour according to the order 
 of genesis. But it is most absurd to say that it befalls us by 
 nature to suffer evils, if sins had not gone before. 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. Value of knowledge. 
 
 "And therefore, if we desire salvation, we ought above all 
 to seek after knowledge, being sure that if our mind remain 
 
 o / o 
 
 in ignorance, we shall endure not only the evils of genesis, 
 but also whatever other evils from without the demons may 
 please, unless fear of laws and of the judgment to come resist 
 all our desires, and check the violence of sinning. For even 
 human fear does much good, and also much evil, unknown to 
 genesis, as we have shown above. Therefore our mind is sub- 
 ject to errors in a threefold manner: from those things which
 
 420 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 come to us through evil custom ; or from those lusts which 
 the body naturally stirs up in us ; or from those which hostile 
 powers compel us to. But the mind has it in its own nature to 
 oppose and fight against these, when the knowledge of truth 
 shines upon it, by which knowledge is imparted fear of the 
 judgment to come, which is a fit governor of the mind, and 
 which can recall it from the precipices of lusts. That these 
 things, therefore, are in our power, has been sufficiently 
 stated. 
 
 CHAP, xxxii. Stubborn facts. 
 
 (i Now, old man, if you have anything to say in answer to 
 these things, say on." Then said the old man : " You have 
 most fully argued, my son ; but I, as I said at the first, am 
 prevented by my own consciousness from according assent to 
 all this incomparable statement of yours. For I know both 
 my own genesis and that of my wife, and I know that those 
 things have happened which our genesis prescribed to each of 
 us; and I cannot now be withdrawn by words from those 
 things which I have ascertained by facts and deeds. In 
 short, since I perceive that you are excellently skilled in this 
 sort of learning, hear the horoscope of my wife, and you shall 
 find the configuration whose issue has occurred. For she 
 had Mars with Venus above the centre, and the Moon setting 
 
 ' O 
 
 in the houses of Mars and the confines of Saturn. Now this 
 configuration leads women to be adulteresses, and to love 
 their own slaves, and to end their days in foreign travel and 
 in waters. And this has so come to pass. For she fell in 
 love with her slave, and fearing at once danger and reproach, 
 she fled with him, and going abroad, where she satisfied her 
 love, she perished in the sea." 
 
 CHAP, xxxin. An approaching Recognition. 
 
 Then I answered : " How know you that she cohabited 
 with her slave abroad, and died in his society?" Then the 
 old man said : " I know it with perfect certainty ; not indeed 
 that she was married to the slave, as indeed I had not even 
 discovered that she loved him. But after she was gone, my
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 421 
 
 brother gave me the whole story, telling me that first she had 
 loved himself ; but he, being honourable as a brother, would 
 not pollute his brother's bed with the stain of incest. But 
 she, being both afraid of me, and unable to bear the unhappy 
 reproaches (and yet she should not be blamed for that to 
 which her genesis compelled her), pretended a dream, and said 
 to me : ' Some one stood by me in a vision, who ordered me 
 to leave the city without delay with my two twins.' When 
 I heard this, being anxious for her safety and that of my 
 sons, I immediately sent away her and the children, retaining 
 with myself one who was younger. For this she said that 
 he had permitted who had given her warning in her sleep." 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. The other side of the story. 
 
 Then I Clement, understanding that he perchance was 
 my father, was drowned in tears, and my brothers also were 
 ready to rush forward and to disclose the matter ; but Peter 
 restrained them, saying: "Be quiet, until I give you per- 
 mission." Therefore Peter, answering, said to the old man : 
 " What was the name of your younger son ?" And he said : 
 " Clement." Then Peter : " If I shall this day restore to 
 you your most chaste wife and your three sons, will you 
 believe that a modest mind can overcome unreasonable im- 
 pulses, and that all things that have been spoken by us are 
 true, and that genesis is nothing?" Then said the old man : 
 " As it is impossible for you to perform what you have pro- 
 mised, so it is impossible that anything can take place apart 
 from genesis." Then says Peter : " I wish to have all who 
 are here present as witnesses that I shall this day hand over 
 to you your wife, who is living most chastely, with your three 
 sons. And now take a token of these things from this, that I 
 know the whole story much more accurately than you do ; 
 and I shall relate the whole occurrences in order, both that 
 you may know them, and that those who are present may 
 learn." 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Revelations. 
 When he had said this, he turned to the crowds, and thus
 
 422 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 began : " This person whom you see, O men, in this poor 
 garb, is a citizen of the city Rome, descended of the stock 
 of Caesar himself. His name is Faustinianus. He obtained 
 as his wife a woman of the highest rank, Matthidia by name. 
 By her he had three sons, two of whom were twins; and 
 the one who was the younger, whose name was Clement, is 
 this man !" When he said this, he pointed to me with 
 his finder. " And his twin sons are these men, Niceta and 
 
 O f 
 
 Aquila, the one of whom was formerly called Faustinus and 
 the other Faustus." But as soon as Peter pronounced our 
 names, all the old man's limbs were weakened, and he fell 
 down in a swoon. But we his sons rushed to him, and 
 embraced and kissed him, fearing that we might not be able 
 to recall his spirit. And while these things were going on, 
 the people were confounded with very wonder. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. New revelations. 
 
 But Peter ordered us to rise from embracing our father, 
 lest we should kill him ; and he himself, laying hold of his 
 hand, and lifting him up as from a deep sleep, and gradually 
 reviving him, began to set forth to him the whole transactions 
 as they had really happened : how his brother had fallen in 
 love with Matthidia, and how she, being very modest, had 
 been unwilling to inform her husband of his brother's lawless 
 love, lest she should stir up hostility between the brothers, 
 and bring disgrace upon the family; and how she had wisely 
 pretended a dream, by which she was ordered to depart from 
 the city with her twin sons, leaving the younger one with his 
 father ; and how on their voyage they had suffered shipwreck 
 through the violence of a storm ; and how, when they were 
 cast upon an island called Antaradus, Matthidia was thrown 
 by a wave upon a rock, but her twin children were seized by 
 pirates and carried to Csesarea, and there sold to a pious 
 woman, who treated them as sons, and brought them up, and 
 caused them to be educated as gentlemen ; and how the pirates 
 had changed their names, and called the one Niceta and 
 the other Aquila ; and how afterwards, through [common] 
 studies and acquaintanceship, they had adhered to Simon ;
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 423 
 
 and how they had turned away from him when they saw 
 him to be a magician and a deceiver, and had come to 
 Zaccheus ; and how subsequently they had been associated 
 with himself : and how Clement also, setting out from the 
 city for the sake of learning the truth, had, through his 
 acquaintance with Barnabas, come to Ca3sarea, and had 
 become known to him, and had adhered to him, and how he 
 had been taught by him the faith of his religion ; and also 
 how he had found and recognised his mother begging at 
 Antaradus, and how the whole island rejoiced at his recogni- 
 tion of her ; and also concerning her sojourn with her most 
 chaste hostess, and the cure that he had wrought upon her, 
 and concerning the liberality of Clement to those who had been 
 kind to his mother ; and how afterwards, when Niceta and 
 Aquila asked who the strange woman was, and had heard 
 the whole story from Clement, they cried out that they were 
 her twin sons Faustinus and Faustus ; and how they had un- 
 folded the whole history of what had befallen them ; and how 
 afterwards, by the persuasion of Peter himself, they were 
 presented to their mother with caution, lest she should be 
 cut off by the sudden joy. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvu. Another Recognition. 
 
 But while Peter was detailing these things in the hearing 
 of the old man, in a narrative which was most pleasing to the 
 crowd, so that the hearers wept through wonder at the events, 
 and through compassion for sufferings incident to humanity, 1 
 my mother, hearing (I know not how) of the recognition of 
 my father, rushed into the middle of us in breathless haste, 
 crying out, and saying : " Where is my husband, my lord 
 Faustinianus, who has been so long afflicted, wandering from 
 city to city in search of me?" While she shouted thus like 
 one demented, and gazed around, the old man, running up, 
 began to embrace and hug her with many tears. And while 
 these things were going on, Peter requested the crowds to 
 disperse, saying that it was unseemly to remain longer ; but 
 that opportunity must be afforded them of seeing one another 
 1 Lit. " through pity of humanity."
 
 424 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK ix. 
 
 more privately. " But to-morrow," said he, " if any of you 
 wish it, let them assemble to hear the word." 
 
 CHAP, xxxvin. " Angels unawares" 
 
 When Peter had said this, the crowds dispersed ; and when 
 we also were intending to go to our lodging, the master of 
 the house said to us : " It is base and wicked that such and 
 so great men should stay in a hostelry, when I have almost 
 my whole house empty, and very many beds spread, and all 
 necessary things provided." But when Peter refused, the 
 wife of the householder prostrated herself before him with 
 her children, and besought him, saying, "I entreat you, stay 
 with us." But not even so did Peter consent, until the 
 daughter of those people who asked him, who had been for a 
 long time vexed with an unclean spirit, and bound with chains, 
 who had been shut up in a closet, having had the demon 
 expelled from her, and the door of the closet opened, came 
 with her chains and fell down at Peter's feet, saying : " It is 
 right, my lord, that you keep my deliverance-feast here to- 
 day, and not sadden me or my parents." But when Peter 
 asked what was the meaning of her chains and of her words, 
 her parents, gladdened beyond hope by the recovery of their 
 daughter, were, as it were, thunderstruck with astonishment, 
 and could not speak ; but the servants who were in attend- 
 ance said : " This girl has been possessed of a demon from 
 her seventh year, and used to cut, and bite, and even to tear 
 in pieces, all who attempted to approach her, and this she has 
 never ceased to do for twenty years till the present time. Nor 
 could any one cure her, or even approach her, for she ren- 
 dered many helpless, and even destroyed some ; for she was 
 stronger than any man, being doubtless strengthened by the 
 power of the demon. But now, as you see, the demon has 
 fled from your presence, and the doors which were shut with 
 the greatest strength have been opened, and she herself stands 
 before you in her sound mind, asking of you to make the day 
 of her recovery gladsome both to herself and her parents, and 
 to remain with them." When one of the servants had made 
 this statement, and the chains of their own accord were
 
 BOOK ix.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 425 
 
 loosened from her hands and feet, Peter, being sure that it 
 was by his means that soundness was restored to the girl, 
 consented to remain with them. And he ordered those ako 
 who had remained in the lodging, with his wife, to come 
 over ; and every one of us having got a separate bsd-chamber, 
 we remained ; and having taken food in the usual manner, 
 and given praises to God, we went to sleep in our several 
 apartments.
 
 KECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT, 
 
 BOOK X. 
 
 
 CHAP. i. Probation. 
 
 IUT in the morning, after sunrise, I Clement, 
 and Niceta and Aquila, along with Peter, came 
 to the apartment in which my father and mother 
 were sleeping; and finding them still asleep, we 
 sat down before the door, when Peter addressed us in 
 such terms as these: "Listen to me, most beloved fellow- 
 servants : I know that you have a great affection for your 
 father ; therefore I am afraid that you will urge him too soon 
 to take upon himself the yoke of religion, while he is not yet 
 prepared for it ; and to this he may perhaps consent, through 
 his affection for you. But this is not to be depended on ; 
 for what is done for the sake of men is not worthy of appro- 
 bation, and soon falls to pieces. Therefore it seems to me, 
 that you should permit him to live for a year according to his 
 own judgment ; and during that time he may travel with 
 us, and while we are instructing others he may hear with 
 simplicity ; and as he hears, if he has any right purpose of 
 acknowledging the truth, he will himself request that he may 
 take up the yoke of religion ; or if he do not please to take 
 it, he may remain a friend. For those who do not take it up 
 heartily, when they begin not to be able to bear it, not only 
 cast off that which they had taken up, but by way of excuse, 
 as it were, for their weakness, they begin to speak evil of the 
 way of religion, and to malign those whom they have not 
 been able to follow or to imitate." 
 
 426
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 427 
 
 CHAP. ii. A difficulty. 
 
 To this Niceta answered : " My lord Peter, I say nothing 
 against your right and good counsels ; but I wish to say one 
 thing, that thereby I may learn something that I do not know. 
 What if my father should die within the year during which 
 you recommend that he should be put off ? He will go down 
 to hell helpless, and so be tormented for ever." Then said 
 Peter : " I embrace your kindly purpose towards your father, 
 and I forgive you in respect of things of which you are igno- 
 rant. For do you suppose that, if any one is thought to have 
 lived righteously, he shall forthwith be saved? Do you not 
 think that he must be examined by Him who knows the 
 secrets of men, as to how he has lived righteously, whether 
 perchance according to the rule of the Gentiles, obeying their 
 institutions and laws ; or for the sake of the friendship of 
 men ; or merely from custom, or any other cause ; or from 
 necessity, and not on account of righteousness itself, and for 
 the sake of God ? For those who have lived righteously, for 
 the sake of God alone and His righteousness, they shall 
 come to eternal rest, and shall receive the perpetuity of the 
 heavenly kingdom. For salvation is not attained by force, 
 but by liberty ; and not through the favour of men, but by 
 the faith of God. Then, besides, you ought to consider that 
 God is prescient, and knows whether this man is one of His. 
 But if He knows that he is not, what shall we do with respect 
 to those things which have been determined by Him from 
 the beginning 1 But wherein I can, I give counsel : when 
 he is awake, and we sit down together, then do you, as if you 
 wished to learn something, ask a question about those matters 
 which it is fitting for him to learn; and while we speak to 
 one another, he will gain instruction. But yet wait first to 
 see if he himself ask anything ; for if he do so, the occasion 
 of discourse will be the fitter. But if he do not ask anything, 
 let us by turns put questions to one another, wishing to learn 
 something, as I have said. Such is my judgment, state what 
 is vours."
 
 428 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 CHAP. in. A suggestion. 
 
 And when we had commended his right counsel, I Clement 
 said : " In all things, the end for the most part looks back 
 upon the beginning, and the issue of things is similar to their 
 commencement. I hope, therefore, with respect to our father 
 also, since God by your means has given a good beginning, 
 that He will bestow also an ending suitable to the beginning, 
 and worthy of Himself. However, I make this suggestion, 
 that if, as you have said, we begin to speak, in presence of 
 my father, as if for the purpose of discussing some subject, 
 or learning something from one another, you, my lord Peter, 
 ought not to occupy the place of one who has anything to learn ; 
 for if he see this, he will rather be offended. For he is con- 
 vinced that you fully know all things, as indeed you do. How 
 then will it be, if he see you pretending ignorance ? This, 
 as I have said, will rather hurt him, being ignorant of your 
 design. But if we brothers, while we converse among our- 
 selves, are in any doubt, let a fitting solution be given by you 
 to our inquiry. For if he see even you hesitating and doubt- 
 ing, then truly he will think that no one has knowledge of 
 the truth." 
 
 CHAP. IV. Free inquiry. 
 
 To this Peter answered : " Let us not concern ourselves 
 about this ; and if indeed it is fitting that he enter the gate 
 of life, God will afford a fitting opportunity ; and there shall 
 be a beginning from God, and not from man. And there- 
 fore, as I have said, let him journey with us, and hear our 
 discussions ; but because I saw you in haste, therefore I said 
 that opportunity must be sought; and when God shall give it, 
 do you comply with my advice in what I shall say." AVhile 
 we were thus talking, a boy came to tell us that our father 
 was now awake; and when we were intending to go in to 
 him, he himself came to us, and saluting us with a kiss, after 
 we had sat down again, he said : " Is it permitted to one to 
 ask a question, if he wishes it; or is silence enforced, after the 
 manner of the Pythagoreans?" Then said Peter: " We do
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 429 
 
 not compel those who come to us either to keep silence con- 
 tinually, or to ask questions; but we leave them free to do 
 as they will, knowing that he who is anxious about his sal- 
 vation, if he feels pain in any part of his soul, does not suffer 
 it to be silent. But he who neglects his salvation, no advan- 
 tage is conferred upon him if he is compelled to ask, except- 
 ing this only, that he may seem to be earnest and diligent. 
 Wherefore, if you wish to get any information, ask on." 
 
 CHAP. v. Good and evil. 
 
 Then the old man said : " There is a saying very prevalent 
 among the Greek philosophers, to the effect that there is in 
 reality neither good nor evil in the life of man; but that men 
 call things good or evil as they appear to them, prejudiced 
 by the use and custom of life. For not even murder is really 
 an evil, because it sets the soul free from the bonds of the 
 flesh. Further, they say that even just judges put to death 
 those who commit crimes ; but if they knew homicide to be 
 an evil, just men would not do that. Neither do they say 
 that adultery is an evil ; for if the husband does not know, 
 or does not care, there is, they say, no evil in it. But neither, 
 say they, is theft an evil ; for it takes away what one does not 
 possess from another who has it. And, indeed, it ought to be 
 taken freely and openly ; but in that it is done secretly, that 
 is rather a reproof of his inhumanity from whom it is secretly 
 taken. For all men ought to have the common use of all 
 
 O 
 
 things that are in this world ; but through injustice one says 
 that this is his, and another that that is his, and so division 
 is caused among men. In short, a certain man, the wisest 
 among the Greeks, 1 knowing that these things are so, says that 
 friends should have all things common. Now, in all things 
 unquestionably wives are included. He says also that, as the 
 air and the sunshine cannot be divided, so neither ought other 
 things to be divided, which are given in this world to all to 
 be possessed in common, but should be so possessed. But 
 I wished to say this, because I am desirous to turn to well- 
 
 1 Allusion is made to Socrates and community of wives, as stated in 
 the Republic of Plato.
 
 430 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 doing, and I cannot act well unless I first learn what is good; 
 and if I can understand that, I shall thereby perceive what 
 is evil, that is, opposite to good. 
 
 CHAP. vi. Peter's authority. 
 
 "But I should like that one of you, and not Peter, should 
 answer what I have said ; for it is not fitting to take words 
 and instruction at his hand, with questions ; but when he gives 
 a deliverance on any subject, that should be held without 
 answering again. And therefore let us keep him as an 
 umpire ; so that if at any time our discussion does not come to 
 an issue, he may declare what seems good to him, and so give 
 an undoubted end to doubtful matters. And now therefore I 
 could believe, content with his sole opinion, if he expressed any 
 opinion ; and this is what I shall do at last. Yet I wish first 
 to see if it is possible by discussion to find what is sought. My 
 wish therefore is, that Clement should begin first, and should 
 show if there is any good or evil in substance or in actions." 
 
 CHAP. vii. Clement's argument. 
 
 To this I answered : " Since indeed you wish to learn from 
 me if there is any good or evil in nature or in act, or whether 
 it is not rather that men, prejudiced by custom, think some 
 things to be good, and others to be evil, forasmuch as they 
 have made a division among themselves of common things, 
 which ought, as you say, to be as common as the air and the 
 sunshine ; I think that I ought not to bring before you any 
 statements from any other quarter than from those studies 
 in which you are well versed, and which you support, so that 
 what I say you will receive without hesitation. You assign 
 certain boundaries of all the elements and the heavenly bodies, 
 and these, you say, meet in some without hurt, as in marriages ; 
 but in others they are hurtfully united, as in adulteries. And 
 you say that some things are general to all, but other things 
 do not belong to all, and are not general. But not to make 
 a long discussion, I shall speak briefly of the matter. The 
 earth which is dry is in need of the addition and admixture 
 of water, that it may be able to produce fruits, without which
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 431 
 
 man cannot live : this is therefore a legitimate conjunction. 
 On the contrary, if the cold of hoar-frost be mixed with the 
 earth, or heat with the water, a conjunction of this sort pro- 
 duces corruption ; and this, in such things, is adultery." 
 
 CHAP. vin. Admitted evils. 
 
 Then my father answered : " But as the harmfulness of 
 an inharmonious conjunction of elements or stars is imme- 
 diately betrayed, so ought also adultery to be immediately 
 shown that it is an evil." Then I : " First tell me this, 
 whether, as you yourself have confessed, evils are produced 
 from incongruous and inharmonious mixture ; and then after 
 that we shall inquire into the other matter." Then my father 
 said : " The nature of things is as you say, my son." Then 
 I answered : " Since, then, you wish to learn of these things, 
 see how many things there are which no one doubts to be 
 evils. Do you not think that a fever, a fire, sedition, the 
 fall of a house, murder, bonds, racks, pains, mournings, and 
 such like, are evils ? " Then said my father : " It is true, my 
 son, that these things are evil, and very evil ; or, at all events, 
 whoever denies that they are evil, let him suffer them 1" 
 
 CHAP. IX. Existence of evil on astrological principles. 
 
 Then I answered : " Since, therefore, I have to deal with 
 one who is skilled in astrological science, I shall treat the 
 matter with you according to that science, that, taking my 
 method from those things with which you are familiar, you 
 may the more readily acquiesce. Listen now, therefore : you 
 confess that those things which we have mentioned are evils, 
 such as fevers, conflagrations, and such like. Now these, 
 according to you, are said to be produced by malignant stars, 
 such as the humid Saturn and the hot Mars ; but things con- 
 trary to these are produced by benignant stars, such as the 
 temperate Jupiter and the humid Venus. Is it not so?" My 
 father answered : "It is so, my son ; and it cannot be other- 
 wise." Then said I : " Since you say, therefore, that good 
 things are produced by good stars by Jupiter and Venus, for 
 example let us see what is the product where any one of the
 
 432 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 evil stars is mixed with the good, and let us understand that 
 that is evil. For you lay it down that Venus makes mar- 
 riages, and if she have Jupiter in her configuration she makes 
 the marriages chaste ; but if Jupiter be not regarding, and 
 Mars be present, then you pronounce that the marriages 
 are corrupted by adultery." Then said my father : " It is 
 even so." Then I answered : " Therefore adultery is an evil, 
 seeing that it is committed through the admixture of evil 
 stars ; and, to state it in a word, all things that you say that 
 the good stars suffer from the mixture of evil stars, are un- 
 doubtedly to be pronounced to be evil. Those stars, therefore, 
 by whose admixture we have said that fevers, conflagrations, 
 and other such like evils are produced, those, according to 
 you, work also murders, adulteries, thefts, and also produce 
 haughty and stolid men." 
 
 CHAP. x. How to make progress. 
 
 Then my father said : " Truly you have shown briefly 
 and incomparably that there are evils in actions ; but still I 
 should wish to learn this, how God justly judges those who 
 sin, as you say, if genesis compels them to sin ? " Then I 
 answered : " I am afraid to speak anything to you, my 
 father, because it becomes me to hold you in all honour ; 
 else I have an answer to give you, if it were becoming." 
 Then says my father : " Speak what occurs to you, my son ; 
 for it is not you, but the method of inquiry, that does the 
 wrong, as a modest woman to an incontinent man, if she is 
 indignant for her safety and her honour." Then I answered : 
 " If we do not hold by the principles that we have acknow- 
 ledged and confessed, but if those things which have been 
 defined are always loosened by forgetfulness, we shall seem 
 to be weaving Penelope's web, undoing what we have done. 
 And therefore we ought either not to acquiesce too easily, 
 before we have diligently examined the doctrine propounded ; 
 or if we have once acquiesced, and the proposition has been 
 agreed to, then we ought to keep by what has been once de- 
 termined, that we may go on with our inquiries respecting 
 other matters." And my father said : " You say well, my
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 433 
 
 son ; and I know why you say this : it is because in the dis- 
 cussion yesterday on natural causes, you showed that some 
 malignant power, transferring itself into the order of the 
 stars, excites the lusts of men, provoking them in various 
 ways to sin, yet not compelling or producing sins." To this I 
 answered : " It is well that you remember it ; and yet, though 
 you do remember it, you have fallen into error." Then said 
 my father : " Pardon me, my son ; for I have not yet much 
 practice in these things : for indeed your discourses yester- 
 day, by their truth, shut me up to agree with you ; yet in my 
 consciousness there are, as it were, some remains of fevers, 
 which for a little hold me back from faith, as from health. 
 For I am distracted, because I know that many things, yea, 
 almost all things, have befallen me according to genesis." 
 
 CHAP. XT. Test of astrology. 
 
 Then I answered : " I shall therefore tell you, my father, 
 what is the nature of mathematics, and do you act according 
 to what I tell you. Go to a mathematician, and tell him first 
 that such and such evils have befallen you at such a time, and 
 that you wish to learn of him whence, or how, or through 
 what stars they have befallen you. He will no doubt answer 
 you that a malignant Mars or Saturn has ruled your times, 
 or that some one of them has been periodic ; or that some 
 one has regarded you diametrically, or in conjunction, or 
 centrally ; or some such answer will he give, adding that in 
 all these some one was not in harmony with the malignant 
 one, or was invisible, or was in the figure, or was beyond the 
 division, or was eclipsed, or was not in contact, or was among 
 the dark stars ; and many other like things will he answer, 
 according to his own reasons, and will condescend upon par- 
 ticulars. After him go to another mathematician, and tell 
 him the opposite, that such and such good happened to you 
 at that time, mentioning to him the same time, and ask him 
 from what parts of your genesis this good has come to you, 
 and take care, as I said, that the times are the same with 
 those about which you asked concerning evils. And when 
 you have deceived him concerning the times, see what figures 
 
 2
 
 434 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 lie will invent for you, by which to show that good things 
 ought to have befallen you at those very times. For it is 
 impossible for those treating of the genesis of men not to find 
 in every quarter, as they call it, of the heavenly bodies, some 
 stars favourably placed, and some unfavourably; for the 
 circle is equally complete in every part, according to mathe- 
 matics, admitting of diverse and various causes, from which 
 they can take occasion of saying whatever they please. 
 
 CHAP. xn. Astrology baffled ly free-will. 
 
 "For, as usually happens when men see unfavourable 
 dreams, and can make nothing certain out of them, when any 
 event occurs, then they adapt what they saw in the dream 
 to what has occurred ; so also is mathematics. For before 
 anything happens, nothing is declared with certainty ; but 
 after something has happened, they gather the causes of the 
 event. And thus often, when they have been at fault, and 
 the thing has fallen out otherwise, they take the blame to 
 themselves, saying that it was such and such a star which 
 opposed, and that they did not see it ; not knowing that their 
 error does not proceed from their unskilfulness in their art, 
 but from the inconsistency of the whole system. For they 
 do not know what those things are which we indeed desire to 
 do, but in regard to which we do not indulge our desires. 
 But we who have learned the reason of this mystery know the 
 cause, since, having freedom of will, we sometimes oppose our 
 desires, and sometimes yield to them. And therefore the issue 
 of human doings is uncertain, because it depends upon freedom 
 of will. For a mathematician can indeed indicate the desire 
 which a malignant power produces ; but whether the acting or 
 the issue of this desire shall be fulfilled or not, no one can know 
 before the accomplishment of the thing, because it depends 
 upon freedom of will. And this is why ignorant astrologers 
 have invented to themselves the talk about climacterics as 
 their refuge in uncertainties, as we showed fully yesterday. 
 
 CHAP. xiii. People admitted. 
 " If you have anything that you wish to say to this, say on."
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 435 
 
 Then my father : " Nothing can be more true, my son, than 
 what you have stated." And while we were thus speaking 
 among ourselves, some one informed us that a great multitude 
 of people were standing outside, having assembled for the 
 purpose of hearing. Then Peter ordered them to be ad- 
 mitted, for the place was large and convenient. And when 
 they had come in, Peter said to us : " If any one of you 
 wishes, let him address the people, and discourse concerning 
 idolatry." To whom I Clement answered : " Your great 
 benignity and gentleness and patience towards all encourages 
 us, so that we dare speak in your presence, and ask what we 
 please ; and therefore, as I said, the gentleness of your dis- 
 position invites and encourages all to undertake the precepts 
 of saving doctrine. This I never saw before in any one else, 
 but in you only, with whom there is neither envy nor indig- 
 nation. Or what do you think ? " 
 
 CHAP. xiv. No man Jtas universal knowledge. 
 
 Then Peter said : " These things come not only from envy 
 or indignation ; but sometimes there is a bashfulness in some 
 persons, lest haply they may not be able to answer fully the 
 questions that may be proposed, and so they avoid the discovery 
 of their want of skill. But no one ought to be ashamed of 
 this, because there is no man who ought to profess that he 
 knows all things; for there is only One who knows all things, 
 even He who also made all things. For if our Master declared 
 that He knew not the day and the hour whose signs even He 
 foretold, and referred the whole to the Father, how shall we 
 account it disgraceful to confess that we are ignorant of some 
 things, since in this we have the example of our Master? 
 But this only we profess, that we know those things which 
 we have learned from the true Prophet ; and that those- 
 things have been delivered to us by the true Prophet, which 
 He judged to be sufficient for human knowledge." 
 
 CHAP, xv. C7cm6'n's discourse. 
 
 Then I Clement went on to speak thus : " At Tripoli's, 
 when you were disputing against the Gentiles, my lord
 
 43G RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boon. x. 
 
 Peter, I greatly wondered at you, that although you were 
 instructed by your father according to the fashion of the 
 Hebrews and in observances of your own law, and were 
 never polluted by the studies of Greek learning, you argued 
 so magnificently and so incomparably; and that you even 
 touched upon some things concerning the histories of the 
 gods, which are usually declaimed in the theatres. But as 
 I perceived that their fables and blasphemies are not so 
 well known to you, I shall discourse upon these in your 
 hearing, repeating them from the very beginning, if it please 
 you." Then says Peter : " Say on ; you do well to assist my 
 preaching." Then said I : " I shall speak, therefore, because 
 you order me, not by way of teaching you, but of making 
 public what foolish opinions the Gentiles entertain of the 
 gods." 
 
 CHAP. xvi. " Would that all God*s people were prophets" 
 
 But when I was about to speak, Niceta, biting his lip, 
 beckoned to me to be silent. And when Peter saw him, he 
 said : " Why would you repress his liberal disposition and 
 noble nature, that you would have him be silent for my 
 honour, which is nothing? Or do you not know, that if all 
 nations, after they have heard from me the preaching of the 
 truth, and have believed, would betake themselves to teaching, 
 they would gain the greater glory for me, if indeed you think 
 me desirous of glory? For what so glorious as to prepare 
 disciples for Christ, not who shall be silent, and shall be 
 saved alone, but who shall speak what they have learned, 
 and shall do good to others ? I wish indeed that both you, 
 Niceta, and you, beloved Aquila, would aid me in preaching 
 the word of God, and the rather because those tilings in 
 which the Gentiles err are well known to you ; and not you 
 only, but all who hear me, I wish, as I have said, so to hear 
 and to learn, that they may be able also to teach : for the 
 world needs many helpers, by whom men may be recalled 
 from error." When he had spoken thus, he said to me: "Go 
 on then, Clement, with what you have begun."
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 437 
 
 CHAP. xvn. Gentile cosmogony. 
 
 And I immediately rejoined : " Seeing that when you were 
 disputing at Tripolis, as I said, you discoursed much con- 
 cerning the gods of the Gentiles profitably and convincingly, I 
 desire to set forth in your presence the ridiculous legends con- 
 cerning their origin, both that you may not be unacquainted 
 with the falsehood of this vain superstition, and that the 
 hearers who are present may know the disgraceful character of 
 their error. The wise men, then, who are among the Gentiles, 
 say that first of all things was chaos ; that this, through a 
 long time solidifying its outer parts, made bounds to itself 
 and a sort of foundation, being gathered, as it were, into the 
 manner and form of a huge egg, within which, in the course 
 of a long time, as within the shell of the egg, there was 
 cherished and vivified a certain animal ; and that afterwards, 
 that huge globe being broken, there came forth a certain 
 kind of man of double sex, which they call masculo-feminine. 
 This they called Phanetas, from appearing, because when it 
 appeared, they say, then also light shone forth. And from 
 this, they say that there were produced substance, prudence, 
 motion, and coition, and from these the heavens and the 
 earth w r ere made. From the heaven they say that six males 
 were produced, whom they call Titans ; and in like manner, 
 from the earth six females, whom they called Titanides. 
 And these are the names of the males who sprang from the 
 heaven : Oceanus, Co3us, Orios, Hyperion, lapetus, Chronos, 
 who amongst us is called Saturn. In like manner, the names 
 of the females who sprang from the earth are these : Theia, 
 Khea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys, Hebe. 
 
 CHAP, xviii. Family of Saturn. 
 
 " Of all these, the first-born of the heaven took to wife the 
 first-born of earth ; the second the second, and in like manner 
 all the rest. The first male, therefore, who had married the 
 first female, was on her account drawn downwards ; but the 
 second female rose upwards, by reason of him to whom she 
 was married ; and so each doing in their order, remained in
 
 438 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 those places \vh5cli fell to their share by the nuptial lot. 
 From their intercourse they assert that innumerable others 
 sprang. But of these six males, the one who is called Saturn 
 received in marriage Rhea, and having been warned by a 
 certain oracle that he who should be born of her should be 
 more powerful than himself, and should drive him from his 
 kingdom, he determined to devour all the sons that should 
 
 O / 
 
 be born to him. First, then, there is born to him a son called 
 Aides, who amongst us is called Orcus ; and him, for the 
 reason we have just stated, he took and devoured. After 
 him he begot a second son, called Neptune; and him he 
 devoured in like manner. Last of all, he begot him whom 
 they call Jupiter ; but him his mother Rhea pitying, by 
 stratagem withdrew from his father when he was about to 
 devour him. And first, indeed, that the crying of the child 
 might not be noticed, she made certain Corybantcs strike 
 cymbals and drums, that by the deafening sound the crying 
 of the infant might not be heard. 
 
 CHAP. xix. Their destinies. 
 
 11 But when he understood from the lessening of her belly 
 that her child was born, he demanded it, that he might 
 devour it ; then Rhea presented him with a large stone, and 
 told him that that was what she had brought forth. And 
 he took it, and swallowed it ; and the stone, when it was 
 devoured, pushed and drove forth those sons whom he had 
 formerly swallowed. Therefore Orcus, coming forth first, 
 descended, and occupies the lower, that is, the infernal 
 regions. The second, being above him he whom they call 
 Neptune is thrust forth upon the waters. The third, who 
 survived by the artifice of his mother Rhea, she put upon a 
 she-goat and sent into heaven. 
 
 CHAP. xx. Doings of Jupiter. 
 
 " But enough of the old wife's fables and genealogy of the 
 Gentiles ; for it were endless if I should set forth all the genera- 
 tions of those whom they call gods, and their wicked doings. 
 But by way of example, omitting the rest, I shall detail the
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 439 
 
 wicked deeds of liirn only whom they hold to be the greatest 
 and the chief, and whom they call Jupiter. For they say 
 that he possesses heaven, as being superior to the rest ; and 
 he, as soon as he grew up, married his own sister, whom 
 they call Juno, in which truly he at once becomes like 
 a beast. Juno bears Vulcan.; but, as they relate, Jupiter 
 was not his father. However, by Jupiter himself she became 
 mother of Medea; and Jupiter having received a response 
 that one who should be born of her should be more powerful 
 than himself, and should expel him from his kingdom, took 
 her and devoured her. Again Jupiter produced Minerva 
 from his brain, and Bacchus from his thigh. After this, 
 when he had fallen in love with Thetis, they say that Prome- 
 theus informed him that, if he lay with her, he who should 
 be born of her should be more powerful than his father ; and 
 for fear of this, he gave her in marriage to one Peleus. 
 Subsequently he had intercourse with Persephone, who was 
 his own daughter by Ceres ; and by her he begot Dionysius, 1 
 who was torn in pieces by the Titans. But calling to mind, 
 it is said, that perhaps his own father Saturn might beget 
 another son, who might be more powerful than himself, and 
 might expel him from the kingdom, he went to war with 
 his father, along with his brothers the Titans; and having 
 beaten them, he at last threw his father into prison, and cut 
 off his genitals, and threw them into the sea. But the blood 
 which flowed from the wound, being mixed with the waves, 
 and turned into foam by the constant churning, produced 
 her whom they call Aphrodite, and whom with us they call 
 Venus. From his intercourse with her who was thus his 
 own sister, they say that this same Jupiter begot Cypris, 
 who, they say, was the mother of Cupid. 
 
 
 
 CHAP. xxi. A black catalogue. 
 
 " Thus much of his incests ; I shall now speak of his 
 adulteries. He defiled Europa, the wife of Oceanus, of 
 
 1 Dionysius appears here and subsequently in the text for Dionysus, 
 the Greek god corresponding to the Latin Bacchus. Some of the other 
 names are more or less corrupt forms.
 
 440 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 whom was born Dodonaeus ; Helen, the wife of Pandion, 
 of whom Musseus ; Eurynome, the wife of Asopus, of whom 
 Ogygias ; Hermione, the wife of Oceanus, of whom the 
 Graces, Thalia, Euphrosyne, Aglaia ; Themis, his own sister, 
 of whom the Hours, Eurynomia, Dice, Irene ; Themisto, the 
 daughter of Inachus, of whom Areas : Idsea, the daughter of 
 Minos, of whom Asterion ; Phoenissa, the daughter of Al- 
 phion, of whom Endymion ; lo, the daughter of Inachus, 
 of whom Epaphus ; Hippodamia and Isione, daughters of 
 Danaus, of whom Hippodamia was the wife of Olenus, and 
 Isione of Orchomenus or Chryses ; Carme, the daughter of 
 Phoenix, of whom was born Britomartis, who was an atten- 
 dant of Diana ; Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, of whom 
 Orcas ; Lybee, the daughter of Munantius, of whom Belus ; 
 Latona, of whom Apollo and Diana ; Leandia, the daughter 
 of Eurymedon, of whom Coron ; Lysithea, the daughter of 
 Evenus, of whom Helenus; Hippodamia, the daughter of 
 Bellerophon, of whom Sarpedon ; Megaclite, the daughter 
 of Macarius, of whom Thebe and Locrus ; Niobe, the daugh- 
 ter of Phoroneus, of whom Argus and Pelasgus ; Olympias, 
 the daughter of Neoptolemus, of whom Alexander ; Pyrrha, 
 the daughter of Prometheus, of whom Helrnetheus; Protogenia 
 and Pandora, daughters of Deucalion, of whom he begot 
 ^Ethelius, and Dorus, and Melera, and Pandorus; Thai- 
 crucia, the daughter of Proteus, of whom was born Nym- 
 pheus ; Salamis, the daughter of Asopus, of whom Saracon ; 
 Taygete, Electra, Maia, Plutide, daughters of Atlas, of 
 whom respectively he begot Lacedasmon, Dardanus, Mer- 
 cury, and Tantalus ; Phthia, the daughter of Phoroneus, of 
 whom he begot Achasus ; Chonia, the daughter of Aramnus, 
 of whom he begot Lacon ; Chalcea, a nymph, of whom was 
 born Olympus ? Charidia, a nymph, of whom Alcanus ; 
 Chloris, who was the wife of Ampycus, of whom Mopsus was 
 born ; Cotonia, the daughter of Lesbus, of whom Polymedes ; 
 Hippodamia, the daughter of Anicetus ; Chrysogenia, the 
 daughter of Peneus, of whom was born Thissa3us.
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 441 
 
 CHAP. xxn. Vile transformations of Jupiter. 
 
 "There are also innumerable adulteries of his, of which 
 no offspring was the result, which it were tedious to enume- 
 rate. But amongst those whom we have mentioned, he 
 violated some being transformed, like a magician. In short, 
 he seduced Antiope, the daughter of Nycteus, when turned 
 into a satyr, and of her were born Amphion and Zethus ; 
 Alcmene, when changed into her husband Amphitryon, and 
 of her was born Hercules ; -ZEgina, the daughter of Asopus, 
 when changed into an eagle, of whom JEacus was born. 
 So also he defiled Ganymede, the son of Dardanus, being 
 changed into an eagle ; Manthea, the daughter of Phocus, 
 when changed into a bear, of whom was born Arctos ; Danae, 
 the daughter of Acrisius, being changed into gold, ,pf whom 
 Perseus ; Europa, the daughter of Phoenix, changed into a 
 bull, of whom were born Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpe- 
 don ; Eurymedusa, the daughter of Achelaus, being changed 
 into an ant, of whom Myrmidon ; Thalia, the nymph, being 
 changed into a vulture, of whom were born the Palisci, in 
 Sicily ; Imandra, the daughter of Geneanus, at Rhodes, being 
 changed into a shower ; Cassiopeia, being changed into her 
 husband Phoenix, and of her was born Anchinos ; Leda, the 
 daughter of Thestius, being changed into a swan, of whom was 
 born Helen ; and again the same, being changed into a star, 
 and of her were born Castor and Pollux; Lamia, being changed 
 into a lapwing ; Mnemosyne, being changed into a shepherd, 
 of whom were born the nine Muses ; Nemesis, being changed 
 into a goose ; the Cadmian Semele, being changed into fire, 
 and of her was born Dionysius. By his own daughter Ceres 
 he begot Persephone, whom also herself he defiled, being 
 changed into a dragon. 
 
 CHAP. xxin. Wliy a god ? 
 
 " He also committed adultery with Europa, the wife of 
 his own uncle Oceanus, and with her sister Eurynome, and 
 punished their father ; and he committed adultery with Plute, 
 the daughter of his own son Atlas, and condemned Tantalus,
 
 442 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 whom she bore to him. Of Larisse, the daughter of Orcho- 
 menus, he begot Tityon, whom also he consigned to punish- 
 ment. He carried off Dia, the wife of his own son Ixion, 
 and subjected him to perpetual punishment ; and almost all 
 the sons who sprang from his adulteries he put to violent 
 deaths ; and indeed the sepulchres of almost all of them are 
 well known. Yea, the sepulchre of this parricide himself, 
 who destroyed his uncles and defiled their wives, who com- 
 mitted whoredom with his sisters, this magician of many 
 transformations, is shown among the Cretans, who, although 
 they know and acknowledge his horrid and incestuous deeds, 
 and tell them to all, yet are not ashamed to confess him to 
 be a god. Whence it seems to me to be wonderful, yea, 
 exceeding wonderful, how he who exceeds all men in wicked- 
 ness and crimes, has received that holy and good name which 
 is above every name, being called the father of gods and men ; 
 unless perhaps he who rejoices in the evils of men has per- 
 suaded unhappy souls to confer honour above all others upon 
 him whom he saw to excel all others in crimes, in order that 
 he iniirht allure all to the imitation of his evil deeds. 
 
 O 
 
 CHAT. xxiv. Folly of polytheism. 
 
 " But also the sepulchres of his sons, who are regarded 
 amongst these [the Gentiles] as gods, are openly pointed out, 
 one in one place, and another in another : that of Mercury 
 at Hermopolis ; that of the Cyprian Venus at Cyprus ; that 
 of M ars in Thrace ; that of Bacchus at Thebes, where he is 
 said to have been torn in pieces ; that of Hercules at Tyre, 
 where he was burnt with fire ; that of JEsculapius in Epi- 
 daurus. And all these are spoken of, not only as men who 
 have died, but as wicked men who have been punished for 
 their crimes ; and yet they are adored as gods by foolish men. 
 
 CHAP. xxv. Dead men deified. 
 
 "But if they choose to argue, and affirm that these are 
 rather the places of their birth than of their burial or death, 
 the former and ancient doings shall be convicted from those 
 
 O 
 
 at hand and still recent, since we have shown that they wor-
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 443 
 
 ship those whom they themselves confess to have been men, 
 and to have died, or rather to have been punished ; as the 
 Syrians worship Adonis, and the Egyptians Osiris ; the Tro- 
 jans, Hector ; Achilles is worshipped at Leuconesus, Patroclus 
 at Pontus, Alexander the Macedonian at -Rhodes ; and many 
 others are worshipped, one in one place and another in another, 
 whom they do not doubt to have been dead men. Whence it 
 follows that their predecessors also, falling into a like error, 
 conferred divine honour upon dead men, who perhaps had 
 had some power or some skill, and especially if they had 
 stupified stolid men by magical phantasies. 
 
 CHAP. xxvi. Metamorphoses. 
 
 " Hence there has now been added, that the poets also 
 adorn the falsehoods of error by elegance of words, and by 
 sweetness of speech persuade that mortals" have been made 
 immortal ; yea more, they say that men are changed into 
 stars, and trees, and animals, and flowers, and birds, and 
 fountains, and rivers. And but that it might seem to be a 
 waste of words, I could even enumerate almost all the stars, 
 and trees, and fountains, and rivers, which they assert to 
 have been made of men ; yet, by way of example, I shall 
 mention at least one of each class. They say that Andro- 
 meda, the daughter of Cepheus, was turned into a star; 
 Daphne, the daughter of the river Lado, into a tree ; Hya- 
 cinthus, beloved of Apollo, into a flower ; Callisto into the 
 constellation which they call Arctos ; Progne and Philomela, 
 with Tereus, into birds ; that Tliysbe in Cilicia was dissolved 
 into a fountain ; and Pyramus, at the same place, into a 
 river. And they assert that almost all the stars, trees, foun- 
 tains, and rivers, flowers, animals, and birds, were at one 
 time human beings." 
 
 "Of 
 
 CHAP. xxvu. Inconsistency of polylheists. 
 
 But Peter, when he heard this, said : " According to them, 
 then, before men were changed into stars, and the other 
 things which you mention, the heaven was without stars, 
 and the earth without trees and animals ; and there were
 
 444 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos x. 
 
 neither fountains, nor rivers, nor birds. And without these, 
 how did those men themselves live, who afterwards were 
 changed into them, since it is evident that, Avithout these 
 things, men could not live upon the earth?" Then I an- 
 swered : " But they are not even able to observe the worship 
 of their own gods consistently ; for every one of those whom 
 they Avorship has something dedicated to himself, from Avliicli 
 his Avorshippers ought to abstain : as they say the olive is 
 dedicated to Minerva, the she-goat to Jupiter, seeds to Ceres, 
 Avine to Bacchus, water to Osiris, the ram to Hammon, the 
 stag to Diana, the fish and the dove to the demon of the 
 Syrians, fire to Vulcan ; and to each one, as I have said, is 
 there something specially consecrated, from which the Avor- 
 shippers are bound to abstain, for the honour of those to 
 whom they are consecrated. But Avere one abstaining from 
 one thing, and another from another, by doing honour to 
 one of the gods, they incur the anger of all the rest ; and 
 therefore, if they would conciliate them all, they must ab- 
 stain from all things for the honour of all, so that, being 
 self-condemned by a just sentence before the day of judg- 
 ment, they should perish by a most Avretched death through 
 starvation. 
 
 CHAP, xxvill. Buttresses of Gentilism. 
 
 " But let us return to our purpose. What reason is there, 
 yea, rather, Avhat madness possesses the minds of men, that 
 they Avorship and adore as a god, a man whom they not only 
 knoAv to be impious, Avicked, profane I mean Jupiter in- 
 cestuous, a parricide, an adulterer, but even proclaim him 
 publicly as such in their songs in the theatres? Or if by 
 means of these deeds he has deserved to be a god, then also, 
 Avhen they hear of any murderers, adulterers, parricides, in- 
 cestuous persons, they ought to worship them also as gods. 
 But I cannot understand why they venerate in him Avhat 
 they execrate in others." Then Peter answered : " Since you 
 say that you cannot understand it, learn of me why they 
 venerate wickedness in him. In the first place, it is that, when 
 they themselves do like deeds, they may know that they shall
 
 BOOK x.J RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 445 
 
 be acceptable to him, inasmuch as they have but imitated him 
 in his wickedness. In tfie second place, because the ancients 
 have left these things skilfully composed in their writings', 
 and elegantly engrafted in their verses. And now, by the 
 aid of youthful education, since the knowledge of these things 
 adheres to their tender and simple minds, it cannot without 
 difficulty be torn from them and cast away." 
 
 CHAP. xxix. Allegories. 
 
 When Peter had said this, Niceta answered : " Do not 
 suppose, my lord Peter, but that the learned men of the Gen- 
 files have certain plausible arguments, by which they support 
 those things which seem to be blameworthy and disgraceful. 
 And this I state, not as wishing to confirm their error (for 
 far be it from me that such a thing should ever come into 
 my thought) ; but yet I know that there are amongst the 
 more intelligent of them certain defences, by which they are 
 accustomed to support and colour over those things which 
 seem to be absurd. And if it please you that I should state 
 some of them for I am to some extent acquainted with them 
 I shall do as you order me." And when Peter had given 
 him leave, Niceta proceeded as follows. 
 
 CHAP. xxx. Cosmogony of Orpheus. 
 
 " All the literature among the Greeks which is written on 
 the subject of the origin of antiquity, is based upon many 
 authorities, but especially two, Orpheus and Hesiod. Now 
 their writings are divided into two parts, in respect of their 
 meaning, that is, the literal and the allegorical; and the 
 vulgar crowd has flocked to the literal, but all the eloquence of 
 the philosophers and learned men is expended in admiration of 
 the allegorical. It is Orpheus, then, who says that at first there 
 was chaos, eternal, unbounded, unproduced, and that from it 
 all things were made. He says that this chaos was neither 
 darkness nor light, neither moist nor dry, neither hot nor cold, 
 but that it was all things mixed together, and was always one 
 unformed mass ; yet that at length, as it were after the 
 manner of a huge egg, it brought forth and produced from
 
 446 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 itself a certain double form, which had been wrought through 
 
 7 O O 
 
 immense periods of time, and which they call masculo-femi- 
 nine, a form concrete from the contrary admixture of such 
 diversity; and that this is the principle of all things, which 
 came of pure matter, and which, coming forth, effected a 
 separation of the four elements, and made heaven of the two 
 elements which are first [fire and air], and earth of the others 
 [earth and water] ; and of these he says that all things now 
 are born and produced by a mutual participation of them. So 
 far Orpheus. 
 
 CHAP. xxxi. HesiocPs cosmogony. 
 
 " But to this Hesiod adds, that after chaos the heaven and 
 the earth were made immediately, from which he says that 
 those eleven were produced (and sometimes also he speaks of 
 them as twelve) of whom he makes six males and five females. 
 And these are the names that he gives to the males : 
 Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, lapetus, Chronos, who is 
 also called Saturn. Also the names of the females are: 
 Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Tethys. And these names 
 they thus interpret allegorically. They say that the number 
 is eleven or twelve : that the first is nature itself, which also 
 they would have to be called Rhea, from flowing ; and they 
 say that the other ten are her accidents, which also they call 
 qualities ; yet they add a twelfth, namely Chronos, who with 
 us is called Saturn, and him they take to be time. Therefore 
 they assert that Saturn and Rhea are time and matter ; and 
 these, when they are mixed with moisture and dryness, heat 
 and cold, produce all things. 
 
 CHAP. xxxn. Allegorical interpretation. 
 
 " She therefore (Rhea, or nature), it is said, produced, as it 
 were, a certain bubble which had been collecting for a long 
 time ; and it being gradually collected from the spirit which 
 was in the waters, swelled, and being for some time driven over 
 the surface of matter, from which it had come forth as from 
 a womb, and being hardened by the rigour of cold, and always 
 increasing by additions of ice, at length was broken off and
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 447 
 
 sunk into the deep, and drawn by its own weight, went down 
 to the infernal regions ; and because it became invisible it was 
 called Aides, and is also named Orcus or Pluto. And since 
 it was sunk from the top to the bottom, it gave place to the 
 moist element to flow together ; and the grosser part, which 
 is the earth, was laid bare by the retirement of the waters. 
 They say, therefore, that this freedom of the waters, which 
 was formerly restrained by the presence of the bubble, was 
 called Neptune after the bubble attained the lowest place. 
 After this, when the cold element had been sucked down to 
 the lower regions by the concretion of the icy bubble, and the 
 dry and the moist element had been separated, there being 
 now no hindrance, the warm element rushed by its force and 
 lightness to the upper regions of the air, being borne up by 
 wind and storm. This storm, therefore, which in Greek is 
 called /mu7i9, they called cegis that is, a she-goat ; and the 
 fire which ascended to the upper regions they called Jupiter ; 
 wherefore they say that he ascended to Olympus riding on a 
 she-goat. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiu. Allegory of Jupiter, etc. 
 
 " Now this Jupiter the Greeks would have to be called 
 from his living, or giving life, but our people from his giving 
 succour. They say, therefore, that this is the living sub- 
 stance, which, placed in the upper regions, and drawing all 
 things to itself by the influence of heat, as by the convolution 
 of the brain, and arranging them by the moderation of a 
 certain tempering, is said from his head to have produced 
 wisdom, whom they call Minerva, who was called 'Adijvr) by 
 the Greeks on account of her immortality ; who, because the 
 father of all created all things by his wisdom, is also said to 
 have been produced from his head, and from the principal 
 place of all, and is represented as having formed and adorned 
 the whole world by the regulated admixture of the elements. 
 Therefore the forms which were impressed upon matter, that 
 the world might be made, because they are constrained by 
 the force of heat, are said to be held together by the energy 
 of Jupiter. And since there are enough of these, and they
 
 448 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 do not need anything new to be added to them, but each 
 tiling is repaired by the produce of its own seed, the hands 
 of Saturn are said to be bound by Jupiter; because, as I 
 have said, time now produces from matter nothing new : but 
 the warmth of seeds restores all things according to their 
 kinds ; and no birth of Rhea that is, no increase of flowing 
 matter ascends further. And therefore they call that first 
 division of the elements the mutilation of Saturn, because he 
 cannot any more produce a world. 
 
 CHAP, xxxiv. Other allegories. 
 
 " And of Venus they give forth an allegory to this effect. 
 When, say they, the sea was put under the air, and when 
 the brightness of the heavens shone more pleasantly, being 
 reflected from the waters, the loveliness of things, which 
 appeared fairer from the waters, was called Venus; and she 
 [it] being united with the air as with her [its] own brother, 
 so as to produce beauty, which might be the object of 
 desire, is said to have given birth to Cupid. In this way, 
 therefore, as we have said, they teach that Chronos, who is 
 Saturn, is allegorically time ; Rhea is matter ; Aides that is, 
 Orcus is the depth of the infernal regions; Neptune is water; 
 Jupiter is air that is, the element of heat ; Venus is the 
 loveliness of things ; Cupid is desire, which is in all things, and 
 by which posterity is propagated, or even the reason of things, 
 which gives delight when wisely looked into. Hera that is, 
 Juno is said to be that middle air which descends from 
 heaven to earth. To Diana, whom they call Proserpine, they 
 hand over the air below. They say that Apollo is the Sun 
 himself, which goes round the heaven ; that Mercury is 
 speech, by which a reason is rendered for everything ; that 
 Mars is unrestrained fire, which consumes all things. But 
 
 / O 
 
 not to delay you by enumerating everything, those who have 
 the more abstruse intelligence concerning such things think 
 that they give fair and just reasons, by applying this sort of 
 allegory to every one of their objects of worship."
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 449 
 
 CHAP. xxxv. Uselessness of these allegories. 
 When Niceta had thus spoken, Aquila answered : " Who- 
 ever he was that was the author and inventor of these things, 
 he seems to me to have been very impious, since he covered 
 over those things which seem to be pleasant and seemly, and 
 made the ritual of his superstition to consist in base and 
 shameful observances, since those things which are written 
 according to the letter are manifestly unseemly and base ; and 
 the whole observance of their religion consists in these, that 
 by such crimes and impieties they may teach men to imitate 
 their gods whom they worship. For in these allegories what 
 profit can there be to them ? For although they are framed 
 so as to be decent, yet no use is derived from them for wor- 
 ship, nor for amendment of morals. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvi. The allegories an after-thought. 
 
 " Whence it is the more evident that prudent men, when 
 they saw that the common superstition was so disgraceful, so 
 base, and yet they had not learned any way of correcting it, 
 or any knowledge, endeavoured with what arguments and in- 
 terpretations they could to veil unseemly things under seemly 
 speech, and not, as they say, to conceal seemly reasons under 
 unseemly fables. For if this were the case, surely their statues 
 and their pictures would never be made with [representations 
 of] their vices and crimes. The swan, which committed 
 adultery with Leda, would not be represented, nor the bull 
 which committed adultery with Europa ; nor would they turn 
 into a thousand monstrous shapes, him whom they think 
 better than all. And assuredly, if the great and wise men 
 who are amongst them knew that all this is fiction and not 
 truth, would not they charge with impiety and sacrilege 
 those who should exhibit a picture or carve an image of this 
 sort, to the injury of the gods ? In short, let them present a 
 king of their own time in the form of an ox, or a goose, or 
 an ant, or a vulture, and let them write the name of their 
 king upon it, and set up such a statue or figure in a public 
 place, and they will soon be made to feel the wrong of their 
 deed, and the greatness of its punishment. 
 
 2 F
 
 450 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 CHAP, xxxvu. Like gods, like worshippers. 
 
 " But since those things rather are true which the public 
 baseness testifies, and concealments have been sought and 
 fabricated by prudent men to excuse them by seemly speeches, 
 therefore are they not only not prohibited, but even in the 
 very mysteries figures are produced of Saturn devouring his 
 sons, and of the boy hidden by the cymbals and drums of the 
 Corybantes; and with respect to the mutilation of Saturn, 
 what better proof of its truth could there be, than that even 
 his worshippers are mutilated, by a like miserable fate, in 
 honour of their god? Since then these things are mani- 
 festly seen, who shall be found of so little sense, yea, of such 
 stolidity, that he does not perceive that those things are true 
 concerning the unfortunate gods, which their more unfortu- 
 nate worshippers attest by the wounding and mutilation of 
 their bodies ? 
 
 CHAP, xxxviii. Writings of the poets. 
 
 " But if, as they say, these things, so creditably and piously 
 done, are dispensed by so discreditable and impious a ritual, 
 assuredly he is sacrilegious, whoever either gave forth these 
 things at first, or persists in fulfilling them, now that they 
 have unhappily been given forth. And what shall we say of 
 the books of the poets ? Ought not they, if they have de- 
 based the honourable and pious deeds of the gods with base 
 fables, to be forthwith cast away and thrown into the fire, 
 that they may not persuade the still tender age of boys that 
 Jupiter himself, the chief of the gods, was a parricide towards 
 his parents, incestuous towards his sisters and his daughters, 
 and even impure towards boys ; that Venus and Mars were 
 adulterers, and all those things which have been spoken 
 of above? What do you think of this matter, my lord 
 Peter?" 
 
 CHAP, xxxix. All for the best. 
 
 Then he answered : " Be sure, beloved Aquila, that all 
 things are done by the good providence of God, that the
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 451 
 
 cause which was to be contrary to the truth should not only be 
 infirm and weak, but also base. For if the assertion of error 
 had been stronger and more truth-like, any one who had been 
 deceived by it would not easily return to the path of truth. 
 If even now, when so many wicked and disgraceful things 
 are related concerning the gods of the Gentiles, scarce any one 
 forsakes the base error, how much more if there had been in 
 it anything seemly and truth-like? For the mind is with 
 difficulty transferred from those things with which it has 
 been imbued in early youth ; and on this account, as I said, 
 it has been effected by divine providence, that the substance 
 of error should be both weak and base. But all other things 
 also divine providence dispenses fitly and advantageously, 
 although the method of the divine dispensation, as good, and 
 the best possible, is not clear to us who are ignorant of the 
 causes of things." 
 
 CHAP. XL. Further information sought. 
 
 When Peter had thus said, I Clement asked Niceta that 
 he would explain to us, for the sake of instruction, some 
 things concerning the allegories of the Gentiles, which he had 
 carefully studied ; " for," said I, " it is useful that when we 
 dispute with the Gentiles, we should not be unacquainted with 
 these things." Then said Niceta : " If my lord Peter per- 
 mits me, I can do as you ask me." Then said Peter: "To- 
 day I have given you leave to speak in opposition to the 
 Gentiles, as you know." And Niceta said : " Tell me then, 
 Clement, what you would have me speak about." And I said 
 to him : " Inform us how the Gentiles represent matters con- 
 cerning the supper of the gods, which they had at the marriage 
 of Peleus and Thetis. What do they make of the shepherd 
 Paris, and what of Juno, Minerva, and Venus, between 
 whom he acted as judge ? What of Mercury ? and what of 
 the apple, and the other things which follow in order?" 
 
 CHAP. XLI. Explanation of mythology. 
 
 Then Niceta : " The affair of the supper of the gods stands 
 in this wise. They say that the banquet is the world, that
 
 452 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 the order of the gods sitting at table is the position of the 
 heavenly bodies. Those whom Hesiod calls the first children 
 of heaven and earth, of whom six were males and six females, 
 they refer to the number of the twelve signs, which go round 
 all the world. They say that the dishes of the banquet are 
 the reasons and causes of things, sweet and desirabte, which 
 in the shape of inferences from the positions of the signs and 
 the courses of the stars, explain how the world is ruled and 
 governed. Yet they say that these things exist after the free 
 manner of a banquet, inasmuch as the mind of every one has 
 the option whether he shall taste aught of this sort of know- 
 ledge, or whether he shall refrain ; and as in a banquet no one 
 is compelled, but every one is at liberty to eat, so also the 
 manner of philosophizing depends upon the choice of the will. 
 They say that discord is the lust of the flesh, which rises up 
 against the purpose of the mind, and hinders the desire of 
 philosophizing; and therefore they say that the time was that 
 in which the marriage was celebrated. Thus they make 
 Peleus and the nymph Thetis to be the dry and the moist 
 element, by the admixture of which the substance of bodies 
 is composed. They hold that Mercury is speech, by which 
 instruction is conveyed to the mind ; that Juno is chastity, 
 Minerva courage, Venus lust, Paris the understanding. If 
 therefore, say they, it happens that there is in a man a bar- 
 barous and uncultivated understanding, and ignorant of right 
 judgment, he will despise chastity and courage, and will 
 give the prize, which is the apple, to lust ; and thereby ruin 
 and destruction will come not only upon himself, but also 
 upon his countrymen and the whole race. These things, 
 therefore, it is in their power to compose from whatever 
 matter they please ; yet they can be adapted to every man ; 
 because if any one has a pastoral and rustic and uncultivated 
 understanding, and does not wish to be instructed, when the 
 heat of his body shall make suggestions concerning the 
 pleasure of lust, straightway he despises the virtues of studies 
 and the blessings of knowledge, and turns his mind to bodily 
 pleasures. And hence it is that implacable wars arise, cities 
 are destroyed, countries fall, even as Paris, by the abduction
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 453 
 
 of Helen, armed the Greeks and the barbarians to their mutual 
 destruction." 
 
 CHAP. XLII. Interpretation of Scripture. 
 
 Then Peter, commending his statement, said : " Ingenious 
 men, as I perceive, take many verisimilitudes from the things 
 which they read ; and therefore great care is to be taken, that 
 when the law of God is read, it be not read according to the 
 
 7 O 
 
 understanding of our own mind. For there are many sayings 
 in the divine Scriptures which can be drawn to that sense 
 which every one has preconceived for himself; and this 
 ought not to be done. For you ought not to seek a foreign 
 and extraneous sense, which you have brought from without, 
 which you may confirm from the authority of the Scriptures, 
 but to take the sense of truth from the Scriptures themselves ; 
 and therefore it behoves you to learn the meaning of the 
 Scriptures from him who keeps it according to the truth 
 handed down to him from his fathers, so that he can authori- 
 tatively declare what he has rightly received. But when 
 one has received an entire and firm rule of truth from the 
 Scriptures, it will not be improper if he contribute to the 
 establishment of true doctrine anything from common educa- 
 tion and from liberal studies, which, it may be, he has attached 
 himself to in his boyhood ; yet so that, when he has learned 
 the truth, he renounce falsehood and pretence." 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. A word of exhortation. 
 
 And when he had said this, he looked to our father, and 
 said : " You therefore, old man, if indeed you care for your 
 soul's safety, that when you desire it to be separated from 
 the body, it may, in consequence of this short conversion, 
 find eternal rest, ask about whatever you please, and seek 
 counsel, that you may be able to cast off any doubt that 
 remains in you. For even to young men the time of life 
 is uncertain ; but to old men it is not even uncertain, for 
 there is no doubt that there is but little time remaining to 
 them. And therefore both young and old ought to be very 
 earnest about their conversion and repentance, and to be
 
 454 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x 
 
 taken up with the adornment of their souls for the future 
 with the worthiest ornaments, such as the doctrines of truth, 
 the grace of chastity, the splendour of righteousness, the 
 fairness of piety, and all other things with which it becomes 
 a reasonable mind to be adorned. Then, besides, they should 
 break off from unseemly and unbelieving companions, and 
 keep company with the faithful, and frequent those assemblies 
 in which subjects are handled relating to chastity, righteous- 
 ness, and piety ; to pray to God always heartily, and to ask 
 of Him those things which ought to be asked of God ; to 
 give thanks to Him ; to repent truly of their past doings ; in 
 some measure also, if possible, by deeds of mercy towards the 
 poor, to help their penitence : for by these means pardon will 
 be more easily bestowed, and mercy will be sooner shown to 
 the merciful. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. Earnestness. 
 
 " But if he who comes to repentance is of more advanced 
 age, he ought the more to give thanks to God, because, 
 having received the knowledge of the truth, after all the 
 violence of carnal lust has been broken, there awaits him no 
 fight of contest, by which to repress the pleasures of the 
 body rising against the mind. It remains, therefore, that he 
 be exercised in the learning of the truth, and in works of 
 mercy, that he may bring forth fruits worthy of repentance ; 
 and that he do not suppose that the proof of conversion is 
 shown by length of time, but by strength of devotion and of 
 purpose. For minds are manifest to God ; and He does not 
 take account of times, but of hearts. For He approves if 
 any one, on hearing the preaching of the truth, does not 
 delay, nor spend time in negligence, but immediately, and 
 if I may say so, in the same moment, abhorring the past, 
 begins to desire things to come, and burns with love of the 
 heavenly kingdom. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. All ought to repent. 
 
 " Wherefore, let no one of you longer dissemble nor look 
 backwards, but willingly approach to the gospel of the king-
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 455 
 
 dom of God. Let not the poor man say, When I shall 
 become rich, then I shall be converted. God does not ask 
 money of you, but a merciful heart and a pious mind. Nor 
 let the rich man delay his conversion by reason of worldly 
 care, while he thinks how he may dispose the abundance of 
 his fruits ; nor say within himself, * What shall I do ? where 
 shall I bestow my fruits ?' Nor say to his soul, ( Thou hast 
 much goods laid up for many years ; feast and rejoice.' For 
 it shall be said to him, ' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall 
 be taken from thee, and whose shall those things be which 
 thou hast provided?' 1 Therefore let every age, every sex, 
 every condition, haste to repentance, that they may obtain 
 eternal life. Let the young be thankful that they put their 
 necks under the yoke of discipline in the very violence of their 
 desires. The old also are themselves praiseworthy, because 
 they change for the fear of God, the custom of a long time 
 in which they have been unhappily occupied. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. The sure word of prophecy. 
 
 " Let no one therefore put off. Let no one delay. For 
 what occasion is there for delaying to do well ? Or are you 
 afraid, lest, when you have done well, you do not find the 
 reward as you supposed ? And what loss will you sustain 
 if you do well without reward ? Would not conscience alone 
 be sufficient in this ? But if you find as you anticipate, 
 shall you not receive great things for small, and eternal for 
 temporal ? But I say this for the sake of the unbelieving. 
 For the things which we preach are as we preach them ; 
 because they cannot be otherwise, since they have been 
 promised by the prophetic word. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. " A faithful saying, and worthy of all 
 acceptation" 
 
 " But if any one desires to learn exactly the truth of our 
 
 preaching, let him come to hear, and let him ascertain what 
 
 the true Prophet is ; and then at length all doubtfulness will 
 
 cease in him, unless with obstinate mind he resist those things 
 
 1 Luke xii. 17, 19, 20.
 
 456 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [Boos x. 
 
 which, he finds to be true. For there are some whose only 
 object it is to gain the victory in any way whatever, and who 
 seek praise for this rather than their salvation. These ought 
 not to have a single word addressed to them, lest both the 
 noble word suffer injury, and condemn to eternal death him 
 who is guilty of the wrong done to it. For what is there in 
 respect of which any one ought to oppose our preaching ? or 
 in respect of which the word of our preaching is found to be 
 contrary to the belief of what is true and honourable? It 
 says that the God the Father, the Creator of all, is to be hon- 
 oured, as also His Son, Avho alone knows Him and His will, 
 and who alone is to be believed concerning all things which 
 He has enjoined. For He alone is the law and the Law- 
 giver, and the righteous Judge, whose law decrees that God, 
 the Lord of all, is to be honoured by a sober, chaste, just, 
 and merciful life, and that all hope is to be placed in Him 
 alone. 
 
 CHA.P. XLVlii. Errors of the philosophers. 
 
 " But some one will say that precepts of this sort are given 
 by the philosophers also. Nothing of the kind : for they do 
 indeed give commandments concerning justice and sobriety, 
 but they are ignorant that God is the recompenser of good 
 and evil deeds; and therefore their laws and precepts only 
 shun a public accuser, but cannot purify the conscience. 
 For why should one fear to sin in secret, who does not know 
 that there is a witness and a judge of secret things ? Be- 
 sides, the philosophers in their precepts add that even the 
 gods, who are demons, are to be honoured ; and this alone, 
 even if in other respects they seemed worthy of approbation, 
 is sufficient to convict them of the most dreadful impiety, and 
 condemn them by their own sentence, since they declare in- 
 deed that there is one God, yet command that many be wor- 
 shipped, by way of humouring human error. But also the 
 philosophers say that God is not angry, not knowing what 
 they say. For anger is evil, when it disturbs the mind, so 
 that it loses right counsel. But that anger which punishes 
 the wicked does not bring disturbance to the mind ; but it is
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 457 
 
 one and the same affection, so to speak, which assigned re- 
 wards to the good and punishment to the evil; for if He 
 should bestow blessings upon the good and the evil, and 
 confer equal rewards upon the pious and the impious, He 
 would appear to be unjust rather than good. 
 
 CHAP. XLIX. God's long-suffering. 
 
 "But you say, Neither ought God to do evil. You say 
 truly ; nor does He. But those who have been created by 
 Him, while they do not believe that they are to be judged, 
 indulging their pleasures, have fallen away from piety and 
 righteousness. But you will say, If it is right to punish 
 the wicked, they ought to be punished immediately when 
 they do wickedly. You indeed do well to make haste ; but 
 He who is eternal, and from whom nothing is secret, inas- 
 much as He is without end, in the same proportion is His 
 patience extended, and He regards not the swiftness of ven- 
 geance, but the causes of salvation. For He is not so much 
 pleased with the death as with the conversion of a sinner. 1 
 Therefore, in short, He has bestowed upon men holy baptism, 
 to which, if any one makes haste to come, and for the future 
 remains without stain, all his sins are thenceforth blotted out, 
 which were committed in the time of his ignorance. 
 
 CHAP. L. Philosophers not benefactors of men. 
 
 " For what have the philosophers contributed to the life of 
 man, by saying that God is not angry with men ? Only to 
 teach them to have no fear of any punishment or judgment, 
 and thereby to take away all restraint from sinners. Or 
 what have they benefited the human race, who have said that 
 there is no God, but that all things happen by chance and 
 accident? What but that men, hearing this, and thinking 
 that there is no judge, no guardian of things, are driven 
 headlong, without fear of any one, to every deed which either 
 rage, or avarice, or lust may dictate. For they truly have 
 much benefited the life of man who have said that nothing 
 can be done apart from genesis; that is, that every one, 
 1 Ezek. xviii. 33.
 
 458 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 ascribing the cause of his sin to genesis, might in the midst of 
 his crimes declare himself innocent, while he does not wash 
 out his guilt by repentance, but doubles it by laying the 
 blame upon fate. And what shall I say of those philosophers 
 who have maintained that the gods are to be worshipped, and 
 such gods as were described to you a little while ago ? What 
 else was this but to decree that vices, crimes, and base deeds 
 should be worshipped? I am ashamed of you, and I pity 
 you, if you have not yet discovered that these things were 
 unworthy of belief, and impious, and execrable, or if, having 
 discovered and ascertained them to be evil, ye have never- 
 theless worshipped them, as if they were good, yea, even the 
 best. 
 
 CHAP. LI. Christ the true Prophet. 
 
 " Then, besides, of what sort is that which some of the 
 philosophers have presumed to speak even concerning God, 
 though they are mortal, and can only speak by opinion con- 
 cerning invisible things, or concerning the origin of the world, 
 since they were not present when it was made, or concerning 
 the end of it, or concerning the treatment and judgment of 
 souls in the infernal regions, forgetting that it belongs indeed 
 to a reasonable man to know things present and visible, but 
 that it is the part of prophetic prescience alone to know 
 things past, and things future, and things invisible ? These 
 things, therefore, are not to be gathered from conjectures 
 and opinions, in which men are greatly deceived, but from 
 faith in prophetic truth, as this doctrine of ours is. For we 
 speak nothing of ourselves, nor announce things gathered 
 by human judgment; for this were to deceive our hearers. 
 But we preach the things which have been committed and 
 revealed to us by the true Prophet. And concerning His 
 prophetic prescience and power, if any one, as I have said, 
 wishes to receive clear proofs, let him come instantly and be 
 alert to hear, and we shall give evident proofs by which he 
 shall seem not only to hear the power of prophetic prescience 
 with his ears, but even to see it with his eyes and handle it 
 with his hand ; and when he has entertained a sure faith
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 459 
 
 concerning Him, he will without any labour take upon him 
 the yoke of righteousness and piety; 1 and so great sweetness 
 will he perceive in it, that not only will he not find fault with 
 any labour being in it, but will even desire something further 
 to be added and imposed upon him." 
 
 CHAP. LIT. Appion and Anulion. 
 
 And when he had said this, and more to the same purpose, 
 and had cured some who were present who were infirm and 
 possessed of demons, he dismissed the crowds, while they 
 gave thanks and praised God, charging them to come to the 
 same place on the following days also for the sake of hearing. 
 And when we were together at home, and were preparing 
 to eat, one entering told us that Appion Pleistonices, 1 with 
 Anubion, were lately come from Antioch, and were lodging 
 with Simon. Then my father, when he heard this, rejoiced, 
 and said to Peter : " If you permit me, I should like to go 
 and salute Appion and Anubion, for they are great friends of 
 mine ; and perhaps I shall be able to persuade Anubion to 
 dispute with Clement on the subject of genesis" Then Peter 
 said : " I consent ; and I commend you, because you respect 
 your friends. But consider how all things occur to you ac- 
 cording to your wish by God's providence ; for, behold, not 
 only have [the objects of] proper affection been restored to 
 you by the appointment of God, but also the presence of your 
 friends is arranged for you." Then said my father : " Truly 
 I consider that it is so as you say." And when he had said 
 this, he went away to Anubion. 
 
 CHAP. LIII. A transformation. 
 
 But we, sitting with Peter the whole night, asking ques- 
 tions, and learning of him on many subjects, remained awake 
 through very delight in his teaching and the sweetness of 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 30. 
 
 2 The name is generally written Apion. The meaning of Pleistonices 
 is doubtful, some supposing that it indicates his birthplace, some his 
 father ; but generally it is taken as an epithet, and it will then refer to 
 his frequent victories in literary contests.
 
 4GO RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 his words ; and when it was daybreak, Peter, looking at me 
 and my brothers, said : " I wonder what has befallen your 
 father." And while he was speaking my father came in, and 
 found Peter speaking to us about him. And when he had 
 saluted he began to apologize, and to explain the reason why 
 he had remained abroad. But we, looking at him, were 
 horrified; for we saw on him the face of Simon, yet we heard 
 the voice of our father. And when we shrank from him, and 
 cursed him, my father was astonished at our treating him so 
 harshly and barbarously. Yet Peter was the only one who 
 saw his natural countenance ; and he said to us : " Why do 
 you curse your father?" And we, along with our mother, 
 answered him : " He appears to us to be Simon, though he 
 has our father's voice." Then Peter : " You indeed know 
 only his voice, which has not been changed by the sorceries ; 
 but to me also his face, which to others appears changed by 
 Simon's art, is known to be that of your father Faustinianus." 
 And looking at my father, he said : " The cause of the dismay 
 of your wife and your sons is this, the appearance of your 
 countenance does not seem to be as it was, but the face of 
 the detestable Simon appears in you." 
 
 CHAP. LIV. Excitement in Antioch. 
 
 And while he was thus speaking, one of those returned 
 who had gone before to Antioch, and said to Peter : " I wish 
 you to know, my lord Peter, that Simon at Antioch, doing 
 many signs and prodigies in public, has inculcated upon the 
 people nothing but what tends to excite hatred against you, 
 calling you a magician, a sorcerer, a murderer ; and to such 
 an extent has he stirred up hatred against you, that they 
 greatly desire, if they can find you anywhere, even to devour 
 your flesh. And therefore we who were sent before, seeing 
 the city greatly moved against you, met together in secret, 
 and considered what ought to be done. 
 
 CHAP. LV. A stratagem. 
 
 " And when we saw no way of getting out of the difficulty, 
 there came Cornelius the centurion, being sent by Caesar to
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 461 
 
 the president of Csesarea on public business. Him we sent 
 for alone, and told him the reason why we were sorrowful, and 
 entreated him that, if he could do anything, he should help 
 us. Then he most readily promised that he would straightway 
 put him to flight, if only we would aid his plans. And when 
 we promised that we would be active in doing everything, 
 he said, l Ccesar has ordered sorcerers to be sought out and 
 destroyed in the city of Rome and through the provinces, 
 and a great number of them have been already destroyed. 
 I shall therefore give out, through my friends, that I am 
 come to apprehend that magician, and that I am sent by 
 Caesar for this purpose, that he may be punished with the 
 rest of his fraternity. Let your people, therefore, who are 
 with him in disguise, intimate to him, as if they had heard it 
 from some quarter, that I am sent to apprehend him ; and 
 when he hears this, he is sure to take to flight. Or if you 
 think of anything better, tell me. Why need I say more 
 It was so done by those of ours who were with him, disguised 
 for the purpose of acting as spies on him. And when Simon 
 learned that this was come upon him, he received the informa- 
 tion as a great kindness conferred upon him by them, and 
 took to flight. He therefore departed from Antioch, and, as 
 we have heard, came hither with Athenodorus. 
 
 CHAP. LVI. Simon's design in the transformation. 
 
 " All we, therefore, who went before you, considered that 
 in the meantime you should not go up to Antioch, till we see 
 if the hatred of you which he has sown among the people be 
 in any degree lessened by his departure." When he who had 
 come from Antioch had imparted this information, Peter, 
 looking to our father, said, " Faustinianus, your countenance 
 has been transformed by Simon Magus, as is evident; for 
 he, thinking that he was being sought for by Caesar for 
 punishment, has fled in terror, and has placed his own 
 countenance upon you, if haply you might be apprehended 
 instead of him, and put to death, that so he might cause 
 sorrow to your sons." But my father, when he heard this, 
 crying out, said with tears : " You have judged rightly, O
 
 462 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 Peter : for Anubion also, who is very friendly with me, 
 began to inform me in a certain mysterious way of his plots ; 
 but unhappily I did not believe him, because I had done him 
 no harm." 
 
 CHAP. LVII. Great grief. 
 
 And when all of us, along with my father, were agitated 
 with sorrow and weeping, meantime Anubion came to us, 
 intimating to us that Simon had fled during the night, making 
 for Judaea. But seeing our father lamenting and bewailing 
 himself, and saying, " Wretch that I am, not to believe when 
 I heard that he is a magician ! What has befallen wretched 
 me, that on one day, being recognised by my wife and my 
 sons, I have not been able to rejoice with them, but have been 
 rolled back to the former miseries which I endured in my 
 wandering!" but my mother, tearing her dishevelled hair, 
 bewailed much more bitterly, we also, confounded at the 
 change of our father's countenance, were, as it were, thunder- 
 struck and beside ourselves, and could not understand what 
 was the matter. But Anubion, seeing us all thus afflicted, 
 stood like one dumb. Then Peter, looking at us his sons, 
 said : " Believe me that this is your very father ; wherefore 
 also I charge you that you respect him as your father. For 
 God will afford some opportunity on which he shall be able 
 to put off the countenance of Simon, and to recover the 
 mnnifest figure of your father that is, his own." 
 
 CHAP. LVIII. How it all happened. 
 
 Then, turning to my father, he said : " I gave you leave 
 to salute Appion and Anubion, who, you said, were your 
 friends from boyhood, but not that you should speak with 
 Simon." Then my father said : " I confess I have sinned." 
 Then said Anubion : " I also with him beg and entreat of you 
 to pardon the old man good and noble man as he is. He 
 was unhappily seduced and imposed upon by the magician 
 in question; for I will tell you how the thing was done. 
 When he came to salute us, it happened that at that very 
 time we were standing around him, hearing him tell that he
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 4C3 
 
 intended to flee away that night, for that he had heard that 
 some persons had come even to this city of Laodicea to 
 apprehend him by command of the emperor, but that he 
 wished to turn all their rage against this Faustinianus, who 
 has lately come hither. And he said to us : ' Only you make 
 him sup with us, and I shall compound a certain ointment, 
 with which, when he has supped, he shall anoint his face, 
 and from that time he shall seem to all to have my coun- 
 tenance. But you first anoint your faces with the juice of a 
 certain herb, that you may not be deceived as to the change 
 of his countenance, so that to all except you he shall seem 
 to be Simon.' 
 
 CHAP. LIX. A scene of mourning. 
 
 " And when he said this, I said to him, 'And what advan- 
 tage will you gain from this deed?' Then Simon said: 'In 
 the first place, that those who are seeking me may lay hold 
 on him, and so give over the search for me. But if he be 
 punished by Csesar, that his sons may have much sorrow, 
 who forsook me, and fled to Peter, and are now his assistants.' 
 Now I confess to you, Peter, what is true. I did not dare 
 then tell Faustinianus ; but neither did Simon give us op- 
 portunity of speaking with him in private, and disclosing to 
 him fully Simon's design. Meantime, about the middle of 
 the night, Simon has fled away, making for Judasa. And 
 Athenodorus and Appion have gone to convoy him ; but I 
 pretended bodily indisposition, that I might remain at home, 
 and make him return quickly to you, if haply he may in any 
 way be concealed with you, lest, being seized by those who 
 are in quest of Simon, he be brought before Caesar, and 
 perish without cause. And now, in my anxiety about him, I 
 have come to see him, and to return before those who have 
 gone to convoy Simon come back." And turning to us, 
 Ahubion said : " I, Anubion, indeed see the true countenance 
 of your father, because I was previously anointed by Simon 
 himself, as I have told you, that the real face of Faustinianus 
 might appear to my eyes; whence I am astonished and 
 wonder at the art of Simon Magus, because you standing
 
 464 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 here do not recognise your father." And while my father 
 and mother, and all of us, wept for the things which had 
 befallen, Anubion, moved with compassion, also wept. 
 
 CHAP. LX. A counterplot. 
 
 Then Peter, moved with compassion, promised that he 
 would restore the face of our father, saying to him : " Listen, 
 Faustinianus : As soon as the error of your transformed 
 countenance shall have conferred some advantage on us, and 
 
 O / 
 
 shall have subserved the designs which we have in view, then 
 I shall restore to you the true form of your countenance ; on 
 condition, however, that you first despatch what I shall com- 
 mand you." And when my father promised that he would 
 with all his might fulfil everything that he might charge him 
 with, provided only that he might recover his own counte- 
 nance, Peter thus began : " You have heard with your own 
 ears, that one of those who had been sent before has returned 
 from Antioch, and told us how Simon, while he was there, 
 stirred up the multitudes against me, and inflamed the whole 
 city into hatred of me, declaring that I am a magician, and 
 a murderer, and a deceiver, so that they are eager, if they see 
 me, even to eat my flesh. Do therefore what I tell you : leave 
 Clement with me, and go before us to Antioch, with your 
 wife, and your sons Faustus and Faustinus. And I shall 
 also send others with you, whom I think fit, who shall observe 
 whatsoever I command them. 
 
 CHAP. LXI. A mine dug. 
 
 " When therefore you come with them to Antioch, as you 
 will be thought to be Simon, stand in a public place, and pro- 
 claim your repentance, and say : ( I Simon declare to you, and 
 confess that all that I said concerning Peter was false : for he 
 is neither a seducer, nor a magician, nor a murderer, nor any 
 of the things that I spoke against him ; but I said all these 
 things under the instigation of madness. I therefore entreat 
 you, even I myself, who erewhile gave you causes of hatred 
 against him, that you think no such thing concerning him. 
 But lay aside your hatred ; cease from your indignation ; be-
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 465 
 
 cause he is truly sent by God for the salvation of the world a 
 disciple and apostle of the true Prophet. Wherefore I advise, 
 exhort, and charge you that you hear him, and believe him 
 when he preaches to you the truth, lest haply, if you despise 
 him, your very city suddenly perish. But I will tell you why 
 I now make this confession to you. This night an angel of 
 God rebuked me for my wickedness, and scourged me 
 terribly, because I was an enemy to the herald of the truth. 
 Therefore I entreat you, that even if I myself should ever 
 again come to you, and attempt to say anything against 
 Peter, you will not receive nor believe me. For I confess 
 to you, I was a magician, a seducer, a deceiver ; but I re- 
 pent, for it is possible by repentance to blot out former evil 
 deeds.'" 
 
 CHAP. LXII. A case of conscience. 
 
 When Peter made this intimation to my father, he an- 
 swered : " I know what you wish ; do not trouble yourself 
 further : for I understand and know what I am. to undertake 
 when I come to the place." And Peter gave him further 
 instruction, saying : " When therefore you come to the place, 
 and see the people turned by your discourse, and laying aside 
 their hatred, and returning to their longing for me, send and 
 tell me, and I shall come immediately ; and when I come, I 
 shall without delay set you free from this strange countenance, 
 and restore to you your own, which is known to all your 
 friends." And having said this, he ordered my brothers to go 
 with him, and at the same time our mother Matthidia, and 
 some of our friends. But my mother refused to go along 
 with him, and said : " It seems as if I should be an adulteress 
 if I were to associate with the countenance of Simon ; but 
 if I be compelled to go along with him, it is at all events 
 impossible that I can lie in the same bed with him ; but I do 
 not know if I can consent even to go with him." And when 
 she stoutly refused, Anubion began to exhort her, saying: 
 u Believe me and Peter. But does not even his voice per- 
 suade you that he is your husband Faustinianus, whom truly 
 I love not less than you do ? And, in short, I also myself 
 
 20
 
 466 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEtfENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 shall come with you." And when Anubion had said this, my 
 mother promised that she would go with him. 
 
 CHAP. LXIII. A pious fraud. 
 
 Then said I : " God arranges our affairs to our liking ; 
 for we have with us Anubion an astrologer, with whom, if 
 we come to Antioch, we shall dispute with all earnestness on 
 the subject of genesis? And when our father had set out, 
 after the middle of the night, with those whom Peter had 
 ordered to accompany him, and with Anubion ; in the morn- 
 ing, before Peter went to the discussion, those men returned 
 who had convoyed Simon, namely Appion and Athenodorus, 
 and came to us inquiring after my father. But Peter, when 
 he was informed of their coming, ordered them to enter. 
 And when they were seated, they asked, " Where is Faustini- 
 anus 1 " Peter answered : " We do not know ; for since the 
 evening that he went to you, no one of his friends has seen 
 him. But yesterday morning Simon came inquiring for 
 him ; and because we gave him no answer, I know not what 
 he meant, but he said that he was Faustinianus. But when 
 nobody believed him, he wept and lamented, and threatened 
 that he would destroy himself ; and afterwards he went away 
 towards the sea." 
 
 CHAP. LXIV. A competition in lying. 
 
 When Appion heard this, and those who were with him, 
 they raised a great howling, saying : " Why have you done 
 this f Why did you not receive him ? " And when Atheno- 
 dorus was going to tell me that it was my father Faustini- 
 anus himself, Appion prevented him, and said : " We have 
 learned from some one that he has gone with Simon, and 
 that at the entreaty of Faustinianus himself, being unwilling 
 to see his sons, because they are Jews. When therefore we 
 heard this, we came to inquire after him here ; but since he is 
 not here, it appears that he must have spoken truly who told 
 us that he has gone with Simon. This, therefore, we tell you." 
 But I Clement, when I understood the designs of Peter, 
 that he wished to make them, suppose that the old man would
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 467 
 
 be required at their hands, so that they might be afraid and 
 flee away, I began to aid his design, and said to Appion : 
 " Listen, dear Appion : what we believe to be good, we wish 
 to deliver to our father also ; but if he will not receive it, but 
 rather, as you say, flees away through abhorrence of us it 
 may perhaps be harsh to say so we care nothing about him." 
 And when I had said this, they departed, cursing my cruelty, 
 and followed the track of Simon, as we learned on the follow- 
 ing day. 
 
 CHAP. LXV. Success of the plot. 
 
 Meantime, while Peter was daily, according to his custom, 
 teaching the people, and working many miracles and cures, 
 after ten days came one of our people from Antioch, sent 
 by my father, informing us how my father stood in public, 
 accusing Simon, whose face indeed he seemed to wear, and 
 extolling Peter with unmeasured praises, and commending 
 him to all the people, and making them long for him, so that 
 all were changed by his speech, and longed to see him ; and 
 that many had come to love Peter so much, that they raged 
 against my father in his character of Simon, and thought of 
 laying hands on him, because he had done such wrong to Peter! 
 " Wherefore," said he, " make haste, lest haply he be mur- 
 dered ; for he sent me with speed to you, being in great fear, 
 to ask you to come without delay, that you may find him 
 alive, and also that you may appear at the favourable moment, 
 when the city is growing in affection towards you." He also 
 told us how, as soon as my father entered the city of Antioch, 
 the whole people were gathered to him, supposing him to be 
 Simon ; and he began to make public confession to them all, 
 according to what the restoration of the people demanded : 
 for all, as many as came, both noble and common, both rich 
 and poor, hoping that some prodigies would be wrought by 
 him in his usual way, he addressed thus : 
 
 CHAP. LXVI. Truth told ly lying lips. 
 
 " It is long that the divine patience bears with me, Simon, 
 the most unhappy of men ; for whatever you have wondered
 
 468 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 at in me was done, not by means of truth, but by the lies 
 and tricks of demons, that I might subvert your faith and 
 condemn my own soul. I confess that all things that I said 
 about Peter were lies ; for he never was either a magician 
 or a murderer, but has been sent by God for the salvation 
 of you all ; and if from this hour you think that he is to be 
 despised, be assured that your very city may suddenly be de- 
 stroyed. But, [you will ask,] what is the reason that I make 
 this confession to you of my own accord 1 I was vehemently 
 rebuked by an angel of God this night, and most severely 
 scourged, because I was his enemy. I therefore entreat you, 
 that if from this hour even I myself shall ever open my mouth 
 against him, you will drive me from your sight ; for that foul 
 demon, who is an enemy to the salvation of men, speaks 
 against him through my mouth, that you may not attain to 
 life by his means. For what miracle could the magic art 
 show you through me ? I made brazen dogs bark, and statues 
 move, men change their appearances, and suddenly vanish 
 from men's sight ; and for these things you ought to have 
 cursed the magic art, which bound your souls with devilish 
 fetters, that I might show you a vain miracle, that you might 
 not believe Peter, who cures the sick in the name of Him by 
 whom he is sent, and expels demons, and gives sight to the 
 blind, and restores health to the palsied, and raises the dead." 
 
 CHAP. LXVII. Faustinianus is himself again. 
 
 Whilst he made these and similar statements, the people 
 began to curse him, and to weep and lament because they 
 had sinned against Peter, believing him to be a magician or 
 wicked man. But the same day, at evening, Faustinianus 
 had his own face restored to him, and the appearance of 
 Simon Magus left him. Now Simon, hearing that his face on 
 Faustinianus had contributed to the glory of Peter, came in 
 haste to anticipate Peter, and intending to cause by his art 
 that his likeness should be taken from Faustinianus, when 
 Christ had already accomplished this according to the word 
 of His apostle. But Niceta and Aquila, seeing their father's 
 face restored after the necessary proclamation, gave thanks
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. 469 
 
 to God, and would not suffer him to address the people any 
 more. 
 
 CHAP. LXVIII Peter's entry into Antioch. 
 
 But Simon began, though secretly, to go amongst his 
 friends and acquaintances, and to malign Peter more than 
 before. Then all spat in his face, and drove him from the 
 city, saying : " You will be chargeable with your own death, 
 if you think of coming hither again, speaking against Peter." 
 These things being known [at Laodicea], Peter ordered the 
 people to meet on the following day ; and having ordained one 
 of those who followed him as bishop over them, and others 
 as presbyters, and having baptized multitudes, and restored 
 to health all who were troubled with sicknesses or demons, he 
 stayed there three days longer ; and all things being properly 
 arranged, he bade them farewell, and set out from Laodicea, 
 being much longed for by the people of Antioch. And the 
 whole city began to hear, through Niceta and Aquila, that 
 Peter was coming. Then all the people of the city of 
 Antioch, hearing of Peter's arrival, went to meet him, and 
 almost all the old men and the nobles came with ashes 
 sprinkled on their heads, in this way testifying their repent- 
 ance, because they had listened to the magician Simon, in 
 opposition to his preaching. 
 
 CHAP. LXIX. Peter's thanksgiving. 
 
 Stating these and such like things, they bring to him those 
 distressed with sicknesses, and tormented with demons, para- 
 lytics also, and those suffering diverse perils; and there was 
 an infinite number of sick people collected. And when 
 Peter saw that they not only repented of the evil thoughts 
 they had entertained of him through means of Simon, but 
 also that they showed so entire faith in God, that they be- 
 lieved that all who suffered from every sort of ailment could 
 be healed by him, he spread out his hands towards heaven, 
 pouring out prayers with tears, and gave thanks to God, 
 saying: "I bless thee, O Father, worthy of all praise, who 
 hast deigned to fulfil every word and promise of Thy Son,
 
 470 RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMENT. [BOOK x. 
 
 that every creature may know that Thou alone art God in 
 heaven and in earth." 
 
 CHAP. LXX. Miracles. 
 
 With such sayings, he went up on a height, and ordered 
 all the multitude of sick people to be ranged before him, and 
 addressed them all in these words : " As you see me to be a 
 man like to yourselves, do not suppose that you can recover 
 your health from me, but through Him who, coming down 
 from heaven, has shown to those who believe in Him a per- 
 fect medicine for body and soul. Hence let all this people be 
 witnesses to your declaration, that with your whole heart you 
 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that they may know that 
 themselves also may be saved by Him." And when all the 
 multitude of the sick with one voice cried out that He is the 
 true God whom Peter preaches, suddenly an overpowering 
 light of the grace of God appeared in the midst of the people ; 
 and the paralytics being cured, began to run to Peter's feet, 
 the blind to shout on the recovery of their sight, the lame to 
 give thanks on regaining the power of walking, the sick to 
 rejoice in restored health ; some even who were barely alive, 
 being already without consciousness or the power of speech, 
 were raised up ; and all the lunatics, and those possessed of 
 demons, were set free. 
 
 CHAP. LXXI. Success. 
 
 So great grace of His power did the Holy Spirit show on 
 that day, that all, from the least to the greatest, with one 
 voice confessed the Lord ; and not to delay you with many 
 words, within seven days, more than ten thousand men, be- 
 lieving in God, were baptized and consecrated by sanctifica- 
 tion: so that Theophilus, who was more exalted than all 
 the men of power in that city, with all eagerness of desire 
 consecrated the great palace of his house under the name of 
 a church, and a chair was placed in it for the Apostle Peter 
 by all the people ; and the whole multitude assembling daily 
 to hear the word, believed in the healthful doctrine which 
 was avouched by the efficacy of cures.
 
 BOOK x.] RECOGNITIONS OF CLEMEXT. 471 
 
 CHAP. LXXII. Happy ending. 
 
 Then I Clement, with my brothers and our mother, spoke 
 to our father, asking him. whether any remnants of unbelief 
 remained in him. And he said: "Come, and you shall see, 
 in the presence of Peter, what an increase of faith has grown 
 in me." Then Faustinianus approached, and fell down at 
 Peter's feet, saying : " The seeds of your word, which the 
 field of my mind has received, are now sprung up, and have 
 so advanced to fruitful maturity, that nothing is wanting but 
 that you separate me from the chaff by that spiritual reaping- 
 hook of yours, and place me in the garner of the Lord, 
 making me partaker of the divine table." Then Peter, with 
 all alacrity grasping his hand, presented him to me Clement, 
 and my brothers, saying : " As God has restored your sons to 
 you, their father, so also your sons restore their father to God." 
 And he proclaimed a fast to all the people, and on the next 
 Lord's day he baptized him ; and in the midst of the people, 
 taking occasion from his conversion, he related all his fortunes, 
 so that the whole city received him as an angel, and paid 
 him no less honour than they did to the apostle. [And these 
 things being known, Peter ordered the people to meet on the 
 following day ; and having ordained one of his followers as 
 bishop, and others as presbyters, he baptized also a great 
 number of people, and restored to health all who had been 
 distressed with sicknesses. 1 ] 
 
 1 This sentence occurs only in one MS.
 
 INDEXES. 
 
 PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Gen. i. 1, 
 
 page 75, note. 
 
 Deut. x. 20, 
 
 page 221. 
 
 i. 1, 2, 
 
 381. 
 
 xii. 11, 
 
 168. 
 
 i. 3, 
 
 76, 77. 
 
 xiii. 1-3, 
 
 223. 
 
 i. 2U, 
 
 218. 
 
 xviii. 15, 
 
 168. 
 
 ii. 4, 5, 
 
 85. 
 
 xxxii. 8, 
 
 395. 
 
 ii. 6, 
 
 85. 
 
 xxxii. 12, 
 
 218. 
 
 ii. 8, 
 
 89. 
 
 xxxii. 39, 
 
 221. 
 
 ii. 24, 
 
 93. 
 
 Josh, xxiii. 7, 
 
 222. 
 
 iii. 1, 
 
 11. 
 
 2 Chron. vii. 12, 
 
 168. 
 
 iii. 1-19, 
 
 86, 88. 
 
 Job ix. 9, 
 
 57. 
 
 iii. 5, 
 
 218. 
 
 Ps.'viii. 5, 
 
 21. 
 
 iii. 22, 
 
 218. 
 
 xiv. 1-3, 
 
 101. 
 
 iv. 1, 2, 
 
 94. 
 
 xviii. 32, 
 
 222. 
 
 iv. 12, 
 
 389. 
 
 xxxiii. 6, 
 
 58. 
 
 iv. 26, 
 
 289. 
 
 xxxix. 12, 
 
 405. 
 
 vi. 2, 
 
 163. 
 
 Ii. 8, 
 
 106. 
 
 vi. 9, 
 
 289. 
 
 Ixx. 19, 
 
 222. 
 
 ix. 1, 
 
 163. 
 
 Ixxxv. 8, 
 
 222. 
 
 ix. 28, 
 
 164. 
 
 cxxxv. 7, 
 
 57. 
 
 xi. 17, 
 
 218. 
 
 Prov. iii. 8, 
 
 106. 
 
 xviii. 7, 
 
 265. 
 
 iv. 21, 22, 
 
 61. 
 
 xlix. 10, 
 
 309. 
 
 iv. 25, 
 
 100, 118. 
 
 Ex. vii. 1, 
 
 219. 
 
 vi. 27-29, 
 
 118. 
 
 xiv. 31, 
 
 285. 
 
 viii. 27, 
 
 75. 
 
 xx. 3, 
 
 115. 
 
 xxiv. 21, 22, 61. 
 
 xxii. 8, 
 
 218. 
 
 Isa. i. 16, 17, 
 
 117. 
 
 xxii. 28, 
 
 220. 
 
 xxx. 30, 
 
 106. 
 
 xxiii. 6, 
 
 115. 
 
 xxxi. 6, 
 
 117. 
 
 xxxiii. 20, 
 
 252. 
 
 xl. 22, 
 
 80. 
 
 xxxv. 3, 
 
 418. 
 
 xl. 28, 
 
 101. 
 
 Deut. iv. 19, 
 
 100. 
 
 xlii. 5, 
 
 100. 
 
 iv. 39, 
 
 221. 
 
 xiv. 12, 
 
 101. 
 
 vi. 4, 
 
 221. 
 
 Iv. 6, 
 
 116. 
 
 vi. 13, 
 
 221, 310. 
 
 Iviii. 6, 
 
 117. 
 
 viii. 11, 
 
 222. 
 
 Ixv. 1, 
 
 310. 
 
 x. 14, 15, 
 
 221. 
 
 Ixvi. 5, 
 
 118. 
 
 x. 17, 
 
 219, 221. 
 
 Jer. vi. 9, 1C, 
 
 117. 
 
 
 473 

 
 474' 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Jer. x. 12, 13, 
 
 page 101. 
 
 Matt, xviii. 7, page 275. 
 
 li. 17, 
 
 101. 
 
 xxi. 22, 
 
 291. 
 
 Ezek. ii. 6, 
 
 390. 
 
 xxii. 2-14, 
 
 302. 
 
 xviii. 21, 
 
 117. 
 
 xxii. 30, 
 
 252. 
 
 Hos. vi. 6, 
 
 168. 
 
 xxiii. 9, 
 
 364. 
 
 xii. 6, 
 
 117. 
 
 xxiii. 25, 26, 
 
 334. 
 
 xiv. 9, 
 
 107. 
 
 xxiv. 2, 
 
 168. 
 
 Joelii. 16, 
 
 117. 
 
 xxviii. 19, 20, 
 
 214. 
 
 Hab. ii. 18, 
 
 101. 
 
 Luke vi. 36, 
 
 310. 
 
 Zech. vii. 9, 10, 
 
 118. 
 
 vi. 46, 
 
 285. 
 
 Mai. iv. 1, 
 
 106. 
 
 viii. 5, 
 
 243. 
 
 Matt. iii. 12, 
 
 258. 
 
 x. 5, 6, 
 
 213. 
 
 iv. 10, 
 
 301, 310. 
 
 xi. 22, 
 
 232. 
 
 v. 8, 
 
 207,251,252. 
 
 xi. 31, 32, 
 
 336. 
 
 v. 9. 
 
 210, 212. 
 
 xi. 52, 
 
 223. 
 
 v. 14, 15, 
 
 361. 
 
 xii. 29, 
 
 329. 
 
 v. 28, 29, 
 
 118, 357. 
 
 xii. 52, 
 
 214. 
 
 v. 32, 44, 
 
 118. 
 
 xiii. 29, 
 
 284. 
 
 v. 45, 
 
 258, 310. 
 
 xvii. 6, 
 
 324. 
 
 vi. 3, 
 
 119. 
 
 xviii. 27, 
 
 79. 
 
 vi. 24, 
 
 308. 
 
 xix. 44, 
 
 158. 
 
 vi. 33, 
 
 205, 223, 246, 
 
 xxiii. 54, 
 
 330. 
 
 
 257, 250. 
 
 John i. 1, 
 
 88. 
 
 vii. 6, 
 
 194, 240. 
 
 i. 3, 
 
 25. 
 
 viii. 9, 
 
 300. 
 
 i. 5, 
 
 18. 
 
 viii. 11, 
 
 284. 
 
 iii. 5, 
 
 333. 
 
 ix. 13, 
 
 168. 
 
 iv. 24, 
 
 8. 
 
 ix. 37, 38, 
 
 284. 
 
 v. 23, 
 
 224. 
 
 x. 12-15, 
 
 213. 
 
 viii. 34, 
 
 310. 
 
 x. 25, 
 
 211. 
 
 Acts iii. 22, 23, 
 
 168. 
 
 x. 26, 
 
 242. 
 
 vii. 59, 
 
 330. 
 
 x. 34, 35, 
 
 210,212,329. 
 
 Rom. i. 20, 
 
 9, 206. 
 
 xi. 25, 
 
 285. 
 
 ii. 6, 8, 
 
 64. 
 
 xi. 27, 
 
 224. 
 
 xi. 34, 
 
 320. 
 
 xi. 30, 
 
 459. 
 
 xiii. 7, 8, 
 
 119. 
 
 xii. 7, 
 
 168. 
 
 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15, 
 
 21. . 
 
 xii. 25, 
 
 213. 
 
 x. 4, 
 
 1G7. 
 
 xii. 41, 42, 
 
 336. 
 
 x. 30, 
 
 239. 
 
 xiii. 23, 
 
 302. 
 
 xi. 9, 
 
 64. 
 
 Xiii. 26, 
 
 272. 
 
 Eph. vi. 13, 14, 17, 
 
 22. 
 
 xiii. 44, 
 
 34. 
 
 1 Tim. ii. 2, 
 
 119. 
 
 xiii. 52, 
 
 285. 
 
 Tit. i. 12, 
 
 33, note. 
 
 xvii. 9, 
 
 324. 
 
 Jas. v. 17, 18, 
 
 321. 
 
 xvii. 19, 
 
 305. 
 
 Rev. ii. 9, 
 
 324. 
 
 II. 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Abel and Cain, the story of, 94. 
 Abraham, 164 ; the posterity of, 165. 
 Actor, the Greek, described and 
 ridiculed, 28. 
 
 Adam, why he was forbidden to eat Advent, the, of the true Prophet, 170. 
 
 of the tree of the knowledge of good 
 and evil, 91 ; why Eve was formed 
 of a rib of, 93 ; anointed a priest, 
 174.
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 475 
 
 yEgis, 447. 
 
 ^Esehylus, quoted respecting judg- 
 ments on the wicked, 105. 
 
 Aides, 438, 447. 
 
 Alexander the Great, as tutored by 
 Aristotle, 6, 7. 
 
 Allegories, the, of Orpheus and 
 Hesiod, relating to the heathen 
 cosmogony, 445 ; relating to Jupi- 
 ter, 447 ; relating to Venus, 448 ; 
 an afterthought of the heathen, 
 4-19 ; of mythology, 451, etc. 
 
 Amazons, strange stories of the, 
 415. 
 
 Amusements, public, of the Greeks, 
 28, 29, 30. 
 
 Andromeda, 443. 
 
 Angels, guardian, 220. 
 
 Angels, evil, seducers, 296 j bear 
 sway over nations, 391. 
 
 Angels unawares, 424. 
 
 Anger, righteous, 328, 456. 
 
 Animals and plants, illustrative of 
 the providence of God, 374. 
 
 Animals, placed in the heavens by 
 the heathen, 13, 14. 
 
 Animals, worship of, by the Egyp- 
 tians, 60, 315. 
 
 Anointing, 173, 174. 
 
 Antioch, excitement at, caused by 
 Simon Magus, 461. 
 
 Antiquity, the, of the doctrines of 
 the Christians, 120. 
 
 Anubion, and Appion, 459; explains 
 the design of Simon Magus' trans- 
 formation of Faustinianus, 462, 
 463; persuades Matthidia to go 
 to Antioch with Faustinianus, 
 465. 
 
 Aphrodite, 439. 
 
 Apostles, the, their public discus- 
 sions with the Jews, 179-188 ; 
 tumult raised against, by Saul, 
 188 ; authority of, 214. 
 
 Apostles, false, 301. 
 
 Appion and Anubion, 459, 462. 
 
 Aquila, sets forth the impiety of 
 Simon Magus, 195-302; question 
 of, as to responsibility, 204; and 
 Niceta, story of their shipwreck, 
 351, 352; discovers his mother, 
 352 ; story of their shipwreck, and 
 introduction to Simon Magus, told 
 by Niceta, 354, 355; and Niceta, 
 plead with Peter for the imme- 
 diate baptism of their mother, 
 356 ; discussion with the old 
 workman about genesis, 383-399 ; 
 his father, long lost to him, found 
 
 in the old workman, 420-423 ; re- 
 marks on the cosmogonical and 
 mythological allegories of the hea- 
 then, 449, etc. 
 
 Aradus, Peter's excursion to, and 
 occurrences there, 444, 451. 
 
 Aratus, quoted, 72. 
 
 Archilochus, quoted, 105. 
 
 Argive kings, a catalogue of, 42. 
 
 Aristippus, 6. 
 
 Ariston, 6. 
 
 Aristophanes, quoted, 71. 
 
 Aristotle, tutor of Alexander the 
 Great, 6. 
 
 Arts, the Greeks claim the inven- 
 tion of, 5 ; origin of, 95 ; necessary 
 for the exercise of virtue, 404. 
 
 Astrologers, 408, 409. 
 
 Astrological lore, 411, 412 ; refuta- 
 tion of, 412, etc. 
 
 Astrology, the existence of evil in 
 the world according to, 431, 432; 
 test of, 433; baffled by free-will, 
 434. 
 
 Athene, 447. 
 
 Atoms, the doctrine of, 369 ; the 
 concourse of, could not make a 
 world, 370; more difficulties of the 
 theory of, 371. 
 
 Ausis, 169. 
 
 Authority, apostolic, 214. 
 
 Authors, profane, have no means of 
 knowing the truth, 108, 109; their 
 mutual contradictions, 109, 110. 
 
 Autolycus, 53, 65. 
 
 Babel, the building of, 96; the tower 
 of, raised to Zoroaster, 297. 
 
 Banquet of the gods, the, 451, 452. 
 
 Baptism, instituted, 169; removes 
 the unclean spirit from men, 239; 
 invitation to, 276; multitudes re- 
 ceive, 279; the wedding garment, 
 302; the necessity of, 331, 332; 
 use of, 332; must be preceded by 
 fasting, 355, 357; extinguishes the 
 fire of sin, 408. [See Water.] 
 
 Barnabas, arrives in Rome, 146; in- 
 terposition of Clement on his be- 
 half, 148; Clement's intercourse 
 with, 149; his departure from 
 Rome, 150; addresses the Jews at 
 Jerusalem, 182. 
 
 Bartholomew, 181. 
 
 Beasts and birds, created the sixth 
 day, typical character of, 83. 
 
 Beggar woman, the, of Aradus, 344; 
 turns out to be the mother of 
 Clement, 345-349.
 
 476 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Bel or Belus, 132. 
 
 Berosus, 41, 132. 
 
 Birth, the old and the new, 405. 
 
 Blood and breath, as illustrating the 
 divine design, 378. 
 
 Body, the human, 17; as illustrat- 
 ing divine providence, 377; the 
 symmetry of, 377, 378. 
 
 Breath, the, 378. 
 
 Brachmaus, the, 413. 
 
 Caiaphas, challenge sent the apostles 
 by, 172, 179; answer to the chal- 
 lenge of, 182, 183; charges Peter 
 with presumption, 183. 
 
 Cain, and Abel, 9 ; the family of, 
 and their inventions, 95. 
 
 Calisto, 443. 
 
 Cannibalism inculcated by the philo- 
 sophers, 111. 
 
 Chaldeans, their testimony to the 
 antiquity of Moses, 40. 
 
 Chaos, 437, 445. 
 
 Chastity, inculcated by the Scrip- 
 tures, 118, 333; the importance of, 
 334; its reward, 358. 
 
 Chastisement, the, of the righteous 
 and the wicked, 389, 390. 
 
 Christ, why the true Prophet is so 
 called, 173; two comings of, 175, 
 187; rejected by the Jews, 175; 
 the only Saviour, 176; the saints 
 before the coming of, 177; con- 
 sistency of His teaching, 211; ac- 
 knowledged the God of the Jews, 
 223; and Moses, 285; temptation 
 of, 301; the true Prophet, 308, 
 458, 459. 
 
 Christian, meaning of the name, 61. 
 
 Christian life, the, 272. 
 
 Christian morality, 335. 
 
 Christian, the weakest, more power- 
 ful than the strongest demon, 300. 
 
 Christianity, the antiquity of, 120, 
 131. 
 
 Christians, the, worship God alone, 
 8, 9; their doctrine of creation, 
 9; the doctrine of, and of the 
 Greeks, respecting God, compared, 
 27 ; hated unjustly, 32 ; the 
 doctrines of, fitted for all, 36; the 
 women of, vindicated, 37; falsely 
 accused, 110; their doctrines of 
 God and His law, 114, 115; the 
 innocence of, defended, 119; the 
 antiquity of the doctrines of, 120; 
 flight of, to Jericho, from Jewish 
 persecution, 189. 
 
 Chronology, from Adam to Saul, 
 
 126-128; from Saul to the Cap- 
 tivity, 128; Koman, to the death 
 of Aurelius, 130; leading epochs of 
 131. 
 
 Cleansing, inward and outward, 334. 
 Clement, his early history, 143; his 
 doubts and distress, 143; his dis- 
 satisfaction with the schools, and 
 increasing disquiet, 144, 145; his 
 desire to ascertain the truth of the 
 doctrine of the immortality of the 
 soul, 145; hears of Christ, 146; 
 meets with Barnabas at Piome, 
 146-149; intercourse with Barna- 
 bas, 149, 150; arrives at Caesarea 
 and is introduced to Peter, 150; 
 cordial reception of, by Peter, 151; 
 his account of himself to Peter, 
 152; instructions given to, by 
 Peter, 152-154; requests to be 
 Peter's attendant, 154; profits by 
 Peter's instruction, and Peter's 
 satisfaction with, 154, 155; repe- 
 tition of Peter's instructions to, 
 158; remarks on the power of 
 habit, 193; contents of his de- 
 spatches to James, 281; not as 
 yet baptized, he is not admitted 
 to unite with the disciples in 
 prayer, 303; his joy at remaining 
 with Peter, 339; his affection for 
 Peter, 340; his family history, 
 disappearance of his mother, bro- 
 thers, and father, 342, 343; his 
 mother found at Aradus as a 
 beggar woman, 344-349; recapitu- 
 lation of her story by Peter, 351, 
 352; recognition of his brothers, 
 352-354; his mother requests to 
 be baptized, 355; his mother re- 
 ceives baptism, 358; discussion 
 with the old workman about gene- 
 sis, 402-420; recognition of his 
 father in the old workman, 420- 
 423; his father recognised by his 
 mother, 424; a suggestion made 
 by, to Peter, 428; discussion with 
 his father respecting good and 
 evil, 430, etc. ; Niceta's admonition 
 to, 436; his discourse on the hea- 
 then cosmogony and mythology, 
 437-445 ; happy ending of his 
 family history, baptism of his 
 father, 471. 
 
 Climacteric periods, 408, 409. 
 
 " Climates " in astrology, 416, 417; 
 the doctrine of, untenable, 417. 
 
 Comings of Christ, the two, 175, 187. 
 
 Commandments, the ten, corre-
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 477 
 
 spending to the ten plagues of 
 Egypt, 268. 
 
 Community of wives, a, taught by 
 Plato in his Republic, 111. 
 
 Conception, 236. 
 
 Conception in sin, 406. 
 
 Confusion of tongues at Babel, 96. 
 
 Consistency of Christ's teaching, 211. 
 
 Constellations, nativities controlled 
 by, according to the heathen, 14. 
 
 Contraries in nature, 392. 
 
 Conversion, the duty of seeking one's 
 own, 453, 454. 
 
 Cornelius, the centurion, his strata- 
 gem to cause Simon Magus to flee 
 from Antioch, 460, 461. 
 
 Correspondences in creation, 379. 
 
 Cosmogony, the Gentile, 437; the, 
 of Orpheus, 445; the, of Hesiod, 
 446. 
 
 Creation, the, the Christian doctrine 
 of, 9; the six days' work of, 76, 
 78; of the world, remarks on 
 Hesiod's weak conception, 79; of 
 man, 84; an account of, 161, 162; 
 implies providence, 365; mode of, 
 368; theories of, 368; from nothing, 
 369; atomic theory untenable, 
 369; concourse of atoms could not 
 form a world, 370; Plato's testi- 
 mony respecting, 371; mechanical 
 theory of, 372; correspondences in, 
 379, 380. 
 
 Creator, the, no God above, 229; our 
 Father, 231; the Supreme God, 
 232; necessary, 367; the world 
 made from nothing by, 369. 
 
 Creatures, the, often take vengeance 
 on sinners, 320. 
 
 Crescens, the philosopher, his charac- 
 ter, 25. 
 
 Customs, the, of different countries, 
 415, 416; Jewish, 417, 418. 
 
 Cynic philosophers, the, 30. 
 
 Daphne, 443. 
 
 Days, the six, of creation, 76, 78; the 
 typical character of, 82. 
 
 Dead men deified, 442. 
 
 Deluge, the, errors of the Greeks 
 about, 121; accurate account of, 
 122. 
 
 Demons, 12; give rise to supersti- 
 tions, 13, 14; worshipped by the 
 Greeks, 18; their severe punish- 
 ment, 19; structure of, 21; vain 
 display of power by, 21, 22; falsely 
 promise health to their votaries, 
 22; deceive instead of healing, 23; 
 
 depravity lies at the root of the 
 worship of, 24; how they get 
 power over men, 290; why they 
 wish to possess men, 291; the 
 gospel gives us power over, 291; 
 power over, is in proportion to 
 faith, 292; incite to idolatry, 292, 
 293; their knowledge, 293, 294; 
 sometimes speak truth why ? 
 294, 295; the weakest Christian 
 mightier than the mightiest, 300; 
 have no power over a man unless 
 he voluntarily submits to them, 
 301; the friendship of, involves 
 men in disgrace, 324; their con- 
 nection with astrology, 409. 
 
 Demoniac, a, healed, 424. 
 
 Dppravity, the root of demon-wor- 
 ship, 24. 
 
 Designing mind, a, seen in creation, 
 394. 
 
 Desiring the salvation of others, 356. 
 
 Deucalion, 121. 
 
 Dialects among the Greeks, 6. 
 
 Diatessaron, the, of Tatian, 4. 
 
 Diligence in study recommended, 
 253, 327. 
 
 Diogenes, 6. 
 
 Dionysius, quoted, 105. 
 
 Dionysus, 439. 
 
 Discussions, public, between the 
 apostles and the Jews, 179, etc., 
 185; of Peter with Simon Magus, 
 205, etc., 241, etc.; of Niceta, 
 Aquila, and Clement with the old 
 workman, 359, etc., 383, etc., 
 401, etc. 
 
 Disorder and order, in creation, 387. 
 
 Dispersion, the, of the human race, 
 98. 
 
 Divination, 25. 
 
 Divinities, heathen, ridicule of the, 
 15. 
 
 Dora, Peter at, 282. 
 
 Dositheus and Simon Magus, 197, 
 199. 
 
 Earnestness in religion, 454. 
 
 Earth, the, made for man, 331. 
 
 Egg, the creative, developed from 
 chaos, 437, 445, 446. 
 
 Egypt, the Israelites in, 166. 
 
 Egyptian idolatry, more reasonable 
 than other forms of idolatry, 315. 
 
 Egyptians, the, their testimony to 
 Moses, 42; the animal worship of, 
 60; the king of, at the time of the 
 exodus of Israel, and his succes- 
 sors, 123.
 
 478 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Empedocles, 8, 105. 
 
 Encratites, the, 3. 
 
 Enemies, the love of, 118. 
 
 Enemies of God, men are naturally, 
 203. 
 
 Enoch, the translation of, 28. 
 
 Epicurus teaches incest, 112; his 
 theory of atoms, 369. 
 
 Error cannot stand with truth, 
 215. 
 
 Eternity of punishment, 320. 
 
 Euripides quoted, 73, 104. 
 
 Eva, the Bacchanalian cry of, sup- 
 posed by the fathers to be an in- 
 vocation of Eve, 93. 
 
 Eve, why she was formed out of a 
 rib of Adam, 93. 
 
 Evil, the existence of, 243, 244; de- 
 nied by some, 244, 245; origin of, 
 248, 395; God not the author of, 
 248; does not exist in substance, 
 295; why God permits, 295, 296; 
 the existence of, on astrological 
 principles, 431, 432. 
 
 Evil and good, set over the one 
 against the other, 392. 
 
 Evil, the prince of, why made, 394, 
 403 
 
 Evil angels, seducers, 296, 297. 
 
 Evil beings, turned to good account, 
 296. 
 
 Evil-doers, shall be punished, 104, 
 390, 391. 
 
 Evils, the, brought in by sin, 391; 
 uses of, 406; admitted, 431. 
 
 Exodus, the, 166, 167. 
 
 Faith, the importance of, in all 
 things, 59; and reason, 237; and 
 unbelief, 305. 
 
 Fall of man, the, 10. 
 
 Fasting, baptism must be preceded 
 by, 355, 357. 
 
 Fate, the heathen view of, 11; the 
 sins of men not due to, 16; an 
 avenger, 105. 
 
 Faustinianus, father of Clement, 
 Peter's first meeting with, 359; 
 his discussion with Peter, etc., 
 360, etc.; recognition of, by Cle- 
 ment and his brothers, 420, etc. ; 
 transformed by Simon Magus into 
 his own likeness, 459; Simon's de- 
 sign in the transformation of, 461, 
 462; how his transformation was 
 effected, 462; personates Simon 
 Magus to defeat him, 465-468; re- 
 stored to his own form, 468, 469; 
 his baptism, 471. 
 
 Faustus and Faustinianus, 352. [See 
 
 Aquila and Niceta. ] 
 Fear, the restraining influence of, 
 
 407, 408; of men and of God, 410. 
 Fifth day's work of creation, 82. 
 Fire-worship, the, of the Persians, 
 
 298. 
 Flesh, the desires of, to be subdued, 
 
 307. 
 Flood, history of the, 96, 163; the 
 
 world after the, 164; brought as 
 
 the punishment of evil-doers, 391. 
 Form of sound words, the, 382. 
 Fourth day's work of creation, the, 
 
 82. 
 Frauds, pious, singular illustrations 
 
 of, 460-469. 
 Free-will, the sins of men spring 
 
 from, 16; possessed by men, 306, 
 
 403. 
 
 Freedom of the will, 246, 247. 
 Friends of the Son of God, the, 402, 
 
 403. 
 Friendship with God, 161. 
 
 Gamaliel, stills a tumult raised 
 against the apostles, 185; his 
 speech, 186. 
 
 Garment of baptism, the, how it 
 may be spotted, 302. 
 
 Gelones, customs of the, 414. 
 
 Genealogies, fabulous Gentile, 71. 
 
 Generation, as illustrating a design- 
 ing mind, 379. 
 
 Genesis, the truth of the account of 
 man's creation and fall in the book 
 of, 89. 
 
 Genesis, discussion about, 359, etc.; 
 prayer inconsistent with, 366; fur- 
 ther discussions about, 384, etc., 
 402, etc. ; not it, but free-will, de- 
 termines the history of men, 416; 
 divided into seven parts ordimalet, 
 416; the gospel more powerful 
 than, 418; inconsistent with the 
 justice of God, 419; stubborn facts 
 in support of, 420; the difficulties 
 cleared up by recognitions, 421, 
 etc. 
 
 Gentile cosmogony, 437. 
 
 Gentilism, buttresses of, 444. 
 
 Gentiles, the, the call of, 170, 309; 
 waited for the true Prophet, 309; 
 invitation to, 310. 
 
 Germination of seeds, illustrating 
 divine providence, 375. 
 
 Giants, the, 163. 
 
 Gladiators and pugilists described, 
 29.
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 479 
 
 God, Christians worship Him only, 
 8; the Creator, through the Logos, 
 9; thanks due to, for all things, 
 26; the doctrines of the Christians 
 and Greeks respecting, compared, 
 27 ; can be seen by the purged eye 
 only, 53; the nature of, 53-55; at- 
 tributes of, 55; invisible, but seen 
 in His works, 56; known by His 
 tvorks, 57 ; will be seen when we 
 put on immortality, 58; absurd 
 opinions of the philosophers con- 
 cerning, 67; why described as 
 walking, 88; the Christian doc- 
 trine of, 114; unity of, 218, 221; 
 the author of good only, 248; His 
 will irresistible, 249; shall be seen 
 by the pure in heart, 252; right- 
 eous, 257; His justice, 258, 419; 
 to be loved supremely, 267; both 
 good and righteous, 290; alone 
 the proper object of worship, 
 312; His care of human affairs, 
 321 ; who are worshippers of, 324; 
 to be loved more than parents, 
 330; why He has made vile crea- 
 tures, 386; the folly of sitting in 
 judgment on, 396; created the 
 world by His Son, as a double 
 house, 402; Hia long-suffering, 
 457. 
 
 Gods of the heathen, their character 
 controlled by fate, 12; ridiculous 
 stories of, 15, 71, 72; immorali- 
 ties of, 59; despised when made, 
 but valuable when bought, 65; 
 what becomes of them, 66; Homer 
 and Hesiod's opinions of, 68, 69; 
 varying doctrines of the philoso- 
 phers respecting, 102; wickedness 
 attributed by the heathen writers 
 to, 114; many so called, 219; 
 things sacred to, 444; why they 
 are worshipped, being so vile, 
 444, 445; how learned Gentiles 
 explain the shameful stories told 
 of, 144, 450; the supper of the, 
 451, 452. 
 
 Good and evil, 429, 430. 
 
 Good works, the necessity of, 333. 
 
 Goodness, none without liberty, 250. 
 
 Gospel, the, the success of, 171 ; 
 gives power over demons, 291, 
 292; more powerful than genesis, 
 418, 419. 
 
 Greeks, the, claim the invention of 
 the arts, 5; the doctrine of, and 
 of the Christians, respecting God, 
 compared, 27; the solemnities of, 
 
 ridiculed, 28, 29; the studies of, 
 ridiculed, 31 ; the philosophy of 
 the Christians more ancient than 
 that of, 35 ; statues erected un- 
 worthily by, 37-40; errors of, re- 
 specting the deluge, 121; the pro- 
 phets more ancient than the writers 
 of, 125, 126; the contrast between 
 the writings of, and the writings 
 of the Hebrews, 129; why they 
 did not mention the Scripture his- 
 tories, 133. 
 Guardian angels, 220. 
 
 Habit, the power of, 192, 193. 
 Ham, the first magician, 297. 
 Hand, cutting off the right, 357. 
 Harvest, the, plenteous, 284. 
 Heaven, the visible and the invisible, 
 
 237 ; the visible, why made, 250 ; 
 
 why to be dissolved, 251. 
 Hebrew chronology, 126-130. 
 Hebrews, the, in Egypt, 123; contrast 
 
 between the writings of, and those 
 
 of the Greeks, 129. 
 Heraclitus the philosopher, 7. 
 Heroes, Moses more ancient and 
 
 credible than the ancient heathen, 
 
 43. 
 
 Hero-worship, 298. 
 Hesiod, his opinions concerning God, 
 
 68, 69; on the origin of the world, 
 
 69, 70; his weak conceptions of 
 God, 79; his cosmogony, 446. 
 
 Hiram king of Tyre, his relations 
 with Solomon, 125. 
 
 Holy place, the, for sacrifice, 168. 
 
 Holy Spirit, the necessity of union 
 with, 20 ; the prophets inspired 
 by, 74. 
 
 Holiness of life enjoined by the pro- 
 phets, 99. 
 
 Homer and Hesiod, their views of 
 God, 68, 69; quoted, 73, 107. 
 
 Homer and Moses compared, 35. 
 
 Hospitality, a contest about, 381. 
 
 Human race, the dispersion of, 98. 
 
 Hyacinthus, 443. 
 
 Idolatry, the absurdities of, 60; the 
 origin of, 289, 296; demons incite 
 to, 292; the folly of, 293, 311; led 
 to all immorality, 299; the Egyp- 
 tian, 315. 
 
 Idols unprofitable, 311. 
 
 Ignorance, the mother of evils, 305. 
 
 Image of God, man the, 20. 
 
 Imagination, 232; Peter's experience 
 of, 232, 233; the fallacy of, 1^5.
 
 480 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Immensity, the doctrine of, as taught 
 by the law, 236. 
 
 Immorality, produced by idolatry, 
 299. 
 
 Immortality of the soul, the theory 
 of, 18, 258. 
 
 Impiety, the origin of, 323. 
 
 Incest, taught by the Stoics and 
 Epicureans, 112. 
 
 Inequality, the necessity of, among 
 men, 403, 404. 
 
 Innocence, a state of, a state of en- 
 joyment, 287. 
 
 Innocence, the, of the Christians de- 
 fended, 119. 
 
 Instincts manifested, 364. 
 
 Interpretation of Scripture, 453. 
 
 Intestines, how they illustrate divine 
 providence, 378. 
 
 Israelites, the, in Egypt, 166; their 
 exodus from Egypt, in the wilder- 
 ness, and at Sinai, 167 ; the sins 
 of, 169. 
 
 James the bishop of Jerusalem, 181, 
 187; assaulted by the Jews, 188; 
 sends Peter to Caesarea to meet 
 Simon Magus, 189; teachers com- 
 ing from Jerusalem must bring 
 testimonials from, 301. 
 
 Jehovah, the only God, 221. 
 
 Jesus, the true Prophet, 308. 
 
 Jewish customs, 417, 418. 
 
 Jews, the, the rejection of Christ by, 
 175 ; the animosity of, against the 
 Christians, 178 ; sects of, 178 ; 
 discussions with the apostles, 179, 
 etc. ; Christ the acknowledged God 
 of, 273. 
 
 John, the disciples of, 179; the dis- 
 ciples of, refuted, 182. 
 
 Judgment to come, 325. 
 
 Judging God, ridiculous, 396, 397. 
 
 Juno, 439. 
 
 Jupiter, his deeds, 59 ; how many of 
 the name there are, 60; when born, 
 hid by his mother, 438; incests of, 
 438, 439; goes to war with his 
 father, 439; adulteries of, 439, 440; 
 vile transformations of, 441 ; se- 
 pulchre of, 442; sepulchres of the 
 sons of, 442; allegory of, 447. 
 
 King, the, to be honoured, 61. 
 
 Kingdom of God, the, and His right- 
 eousness, 205 ; righteousness the 
 way to, 206. 
 
 Knowledge, the advantages of, 306 ; 
 the responsibility which it in- 
 
 volves, 306 ; enhances responsi- 
 bility, 335; deadens lust, 410; the 
 value of, 419; universal, possessed 
 by none, 435. 
 
 Knowledge, the tree of, righteously 
 forbidden by God to man, 90, 91. 
 
 Laodiceans, the, a chief man of, 
 offers Peter and hie friends hospi- 
 tality, 381; meeting at the house 
 of the chief man of, 383. 
 
 Law, the Christian doctrine of God's, 
 114, 115; enjoins righteousness, 
 117. 
 
 Learners and cavillers, 254. 
 
 Learning, necessary before teaching, 
 9*\ti 
 
 AvQ* 
 
 Liberty, no goodness without, 250. 
 
 Life, the Christian, 272. 
 
 Life, oil from the tree of, 173. 
 
 Light, the supreme, Simon Magus' 
 views of, 224. 
 
 Logos, the, the Creator, 9, 16. 
 
 Love of enemies, 118. 
 
 Love, of self the foundation of good- 
 ness, 267. 
 
 Luna, and Simon Magus, 197, 199. 
 
 Lying for religion, a striking illus- 
 tration of, 464; competition in, 
 466-469. 
 
 Magic, the secret of that practised 
 by Simon Magus, 200. 
 
 Magic art, the, 390. 
 
 Magician, Ham the first, 297. 
 
 Magicians of Egypt, 268; miracles 
 of the, 269. 
 
 Magusaei, the, 413, 414. 
 
 Male and female, the correspond- 
 ence and relation of, 379. 
 
 Man, the fall of, 10, 86; not only a 
 rational animal, but the image of 
 God, 20; the creation of the tirst, 
 84; the first placed in Paradise, 
 84, 85; righteously forbidden to 
 eat of the tree of knowledge, 90; 
 the goodness of God in expelling 
 him from Paradise, 91 ; the nature 
 of, 92; the earth made for, 331. 
 
 Manetho, the inaccuracy of his state- 
 ments respecting Moses and the 
 Hebrews, 123, 124. 
 
 Maro, Peter stops at the house of, 
 282, 283; appointed by Peter 
 bishop of Tripolis, 337. 
 
 Matter, its various forms, 16, 17. 
 
 Matthidia, mother of Clement, her 
 disappearance, 342; found at Ara- 
 dus as a beggar woman, 344; her
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 481 
 
 story, 345-347; Peter's reflections 
 on her story, recognised by Cle- 
 ment, 348, 349; recapitulation of 
 her story, 351, 352; recognised by 
 Aquila and Nlceta, 352-354; seeks 
 baptism, 353, 355; baptism of, de- 
 layed, 356, 357; baptized, 358; 
 recognises her husband, 423; ac- 
 companies her husband to Antioch, 
 465, 466. 
 
 Mechanical theory of creation, the, 
 372. 
 
 Meclea, 439. 
 
 Medicine, the vanity of, 23, 24. 
 
 Melchizedek, 97. 
 
 Men, naturally enemies of God, 203; 
 the responsibility of, notwith- 
 standing the arts of deception 
 practised on, 204. 
 
 Menander, the poet, quoted, 73. 
 
 Menander, the Ephesian,quoted, 125. 
 
 Mesraim, 297. 
 
 Metamorphoses, 443. 
 
 Minerva, 447. 
 
 Miracles, false, 266; of the magi- 
 cians of Egypt, 269; the useless- 
 ness of false, 271. 
 
 Moon, the, its typical character, 82; 
 motions of, 388. 
 
 Morality, Christian, its superiority, 
 335. 
 
 Moses, and Homer compared, 35; 
 testimony of the Chaldseans to 
 the antiquity of, 40; testimony 
 of the Phoenicians to the anti- 
 quity of, 41; testimony of the 
 Egyptians to the antiquity of, 42; 
 more ancient than the heathen 
 heroes, 43; summing up of the 
 argument for the antiquity of, 44; 
 antiquity of, evinced by the reign 
 and succession of the Egyptian 
 kings, 122, 123; Manetho's inac- 
 curate and nonsensical statement 
 about, 123, 124; older than all 
 other writers, 132; allows the 
 Israelites to offer sacrifices, 168; 
 and Christ, 285. 
 
 Mother of Clement. [See Matthidia. ] 
 
 Motions of the sun, moon, and stars, 
 388. 
 
 Muses, the, invoked by Hesiod, 69. 
 
 Music, the invention of, 95. 
 
 Mythology, heathen, 437, etc.; ex- 
 planation of, 451. 
 
 Nativities, the supposed control of 
 the constellations over, 14. [See 
 Genesis.] 
 
 2 
 
 Nature, the folly of speaking of, as 
 making, 380, 381. 
 
 Necromancy, 200. 
 
 Neptune, 438, 447. 
 
 Niceta, deceived at first by Simon 
 Magus, bears testimony to the for- 
 midableness of the magician, 195; 
 leaves Simon Magus and becomes 
 a Christian, 205; and Aquila, dis- 
 covered to be Clement's brothers, 
 352, 354; tells the story of his 
 own and Aquila's shipwreck, 
 354, 355; pleads for the baptism 
 of his mother, 356; discussion with 
 the old workman, 362-381; recog- 
 nises the old workman as his 
 father, 420-423; pleads for his 
 father's reception to the church, 
 427; admonition to Clement, 436; 
 explains the allegories of the hea- 
 then, cosmogonical and mytholo- 
 gical, 445-449, 451-453. 
 
 N-imrod, 298. 
 
 Noah and his sons, 163, 289. 
 
 Oil from the tree of life, the, with 
 which Christ was anointed, 173. 
 
 Olympus, 67. 
 
 Oracles, the heathen, 293, 294. 
 
 Orcus, 438. 
 
 Order, and disorder, 387. 
 
 Order, in instruction, 255. 
 
 Origin of the world, Hesiod on the, 
 69 ? 70. 
 
 OrpKeus, the cosmogony of, 445, 446. 
 
 Osiris, 60. 
 
 Paganism, the enormities of, 322. 
 
 Pairs, good and evil, 270; ten, 272. 
 
 Paradise, man placed in, 84; the 
 Scripture account of, 85, 86; the 
 beauty of, 89 ; the goodness of 
 God in expelling man from, 91. 
 
 Parents, God to be loved more than, 
 330. 
 
 Peace, and strife, proclaimed by 
 Christ, 211; to the sons of, 212; 
 and war, 213; and the sword, 229. 
 
 Pearls not to be cast before swine, 
 240. 
 
 Persephone, 439. 
 
 Persians, the fire-worship of, 298; un- 
 natural customs among, 413, 414. 
 
 Peter the apostle, his cordial recep- 
 tion of Clement, 151; instructions 
 given by, to Clement, 152-154, 
 158; requests Clement to be his 
 attendant, 154; his satisfaction 
 with Clement, 155; postponement 
 
 H
 
 482 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 of his discnssion with Simon Magus, 
 156, 157; further instructions 
 given by, to Clement, 158, etc.; 
 sent to Caesarea, to meet Simon 
 Magus, 189; challenged by Simon 
 Magus, 190; his discussion with 
 Simon Magus begins, 205, etc.; 
 his experience of the fallacy of 
 imagination, 233; his reverie, 234; 
 rebuked by Andrew, 234, 235; 
 adjournment of his discussion 
 with Simon Magus, 238; his dis- 
 cussion with Simon Magus re- 
 sumed, 241, etc. ; accessibility of, 
 265; resolves to follow Simon 
 Magus to Rome, 275; appoints a 
 bishop, elders, and deacons in 
 Caesarea, 275; sends twelve per- 
 sons before him, 277; proceeds to 
 Tripolis, halts at Dora, and heals 
 the sick, 286; arrangements made 
 by, at Tripolis, 236; leaves Tri- 
 polis for Antioch, 338; his sim- 
 plicity of life, 340; his humility, 
 341; his excursion to Aradus, 
 where he finds the mother of Cle- 
 ment, 434; his reflections on the 
 story told by Clement's mother, 
 347; brings her to Clement, 348, 
 349; leaves Aradus, 350; recapitu- 
 lates the story of Clement's 
 mother, 351; which leads to the 
 discovery that Niceta and Aquila 
 are her sons, 352-354; requires 
 that their mother shall fast before 
 receiving baptism, 355-358; finds 
 an old workman at the harbour 
 who accosts him, 359; arranges for 
 a friendly conference with the old 
 workman, 360; states the question 
 for discussion, 361 ; has a contest 
 of hospitality with the chief man 
 of the city, 381; arranges for an- 
 other conference at the house of 
 the chief man, 382; renews the con- 
 ference, 399 ; discovers the old work- 
 man to be the father of Clement, 
 421 ; heals a demoniac daughter of 
 the chief man by his presence in 
 the house, 424; shows Clement the 
 necessity of probation in the case 
 of his father, 426; is appointed 
 umpire in the further discussion 
 with the old man, 430; his words 
 about the true Prophet, his Master, 
 435; Clement's discourse before, 
 435, etc. ; remarks of, on Clement's 
 speech, 440; Faustinianus, Cle- 
 ment's father, requests his per- 
 
 mission to visit Appion and Anu- 
 bion, 459; Simon Magus excites 
 the people of Antioch against, 
 460; stratagem suggested to, by 
 Cornelius, against Simon Magus, 
 460, 461; a counter-plot of, against 
 Simon Magus, 464; success of his 
 plot, 467; his entry into Antioch, 
 and thanksgiving, 469; miracles 
 of, 470 ; baptizes Faustinianus, 
 471. 
 
 Pharisees, the, refuted, 181. 
 
 Philemon, quoted, 113, 114. 
 
 Philip, his encounter with the Jews, 
 181. 
 
 Philosophers, the errors and vices 
 of, 6, 24, 25; ridicule of, 7, 8; 
 boasting and quarrels of, 30; ab- 
 surd opinions of, concerning God, 
 67; the teaching of, confirm the 
 Hebrew prophets, 106; inculcate 
 cannibalism, 111 ; teach a com- 
 munity of wives and atheism, 111, 
 112; varying doctrines of, concern- 
 ing the gods, 112; uncertain con- 
 jectures of, 120; different opinions 
 of, 393; their ignorance, 398; errors 
 of, in regard to morals, 456; not 
 benefactors of men, 457. 
 
 Philosophy, the, of the Christians 
 more ancient than that of the 
 Greeks, 35. 
 
 Phoenicians, the, their testimony to 
 the antiquity of Moses, 41. 
 
 Pindar quoted, 104. 
 
 Pious frauds, a striking illustration 
 of, 460-469. 
 
 Pitch, tow smeared with, 407. 
 
 Plagues, the ten, of Egypt, 268. 
 
 Plants and animals, as illustrating 
 the providence of God, 374. 
 
 Plato, and his school, their views of 
 God, 67; teaches a community of 
 wives, 111; on the immortality of 
 the soul, 113; on the antiquity of 
 the world, 120; quoted respecting 
 creation, 311. 
 
 Poets, the, denounce evil-doers, 104, 
 106; the teachings of, confirm the 
 Hebrew prophets, 106; the writ- 
 ings of, 450. 
 
 Polytheism, Simon Magus argues 
 for, 218 ; Peter's refutation of, 
 219 ; the serpent the author of, 
 221 ; inexcusable, 222 ; the folly 
 of, 442. 
 
 Polytheists, the inconsistency of, 
 443. 
 
 Prayer inconsistent with genesis, 3CG.
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 483 
 
 Precepts from the prophetic books. 
 100. 
 
 Priest, the true Prophet a, 174. 
 
 Prince of evil, why was he made, or 
 was he not made ? 394, 395, 403. 
 
 Probation, the necessity of, before 
 admission to the church, 426, 427. 
 
 Prophecy, the word of, 454. 
 
 Prophet, the true, 153, 308; the ad- 
 vent of, 170; the rejection of, 170, 
 171; *why called Christ, 173; a 
 Priest also, 174; alone knows all 
 things, 397 ; to be sought for by 
 those who wish to learn, 398, 458, 
 459. 
 
 Prophets, the, inspired by the Holy 
 Ghost, 74; holiness of life enjoined 
 by, 99 ; precepts from the books 
 of, 100, etc. ; confirmed by the 
 teachings of the Greek poets and 
 philosophers, 106 ; more ancient 
 than the Greek writers, 125, 126. 
 
 Providence, opinions of the philo- 
 sophers concerning, 72 ; Ariston 
 quoted respecting, 113; vindicated, 
 287 ; implied by creation, 365 ; 
 general and special, 366 ; seen in 
 the motions of the stars, and in 
 earthly things, 373; in rivers and 
 seas, 374; in plants and animals, 
 374, 375; in the germination of 
 seeds, 375, 376 ; in the power of 
 water, 376 ; in the human body, 
 377, 378; in the breath, and blood, 
 and intestines, 378, 379. 
 
 Prudence, in dealing with opponents, 
 194. 
 
 Ptolemy, priest of Mendes, quoted, 42. 
 
 Pugilists and gladiators, 29. 
 
 Punishment, the eternity of, 320. 
 
 Punishment, the, of evil-doers re- 
 ferred to by the poets, 104; of the 
 righteous and the wicked, 389, 
 390; fear of, 408; here and here- 
 after, 409. 
 
 Pure in heart, the, 252. 
 
 Pyrainus, 443. 
 
 Rainbow, the, 385. 
 
 Recognitions, the, of Clement, an 
 account of, 137-139; reason of the 
 title, 349, 352, 420-424. 
 
 Regeneration by water, 332, 405. 
 
 Religion, of one's fathers to be aban- 
 doned if bad, 322; the true, calls 
 to sobriety and modesty, 323. 
 
 Repentance, 116; the duty of, 454. 
 
 Responsibility, the, of man, 204, 247; 
 increased by knowledge, 306. 
 
 Resurrection, the, the Christian doc- 
 trine of, 10; proved by analogies, 
 62. 
 
 Retribution, future, 409. 
 
 Rhea, the wife of Saturn, hides her 
 son Jupiter, to preserve him from 
 being devoured by his father, 438, 
 446-447. 
 
 Rib, why Eve was formed of one of 
 Adam's, 93. 
 
 Righteous, the, and the wicked, 
 chastisements of, 389. 
 
 Righteousness, 117; the way to the 
 kingdom of God, 206 ; what it is, 
 207. 
 
 Rivers and seas, as illustrating the 
 providence of God, 374. 
 
 Rose without a thorn, a, not to be 
 found, 392. 
 
 Roman chronology to the death of 
 Aurelius, 130. 
 
 Rufinus, his preface to the Recog- 
 nitions of Clement, 140-142. 
 
 Rulers appointed over all orders of 
 being, 173. 
 
 Sabbath, the, 79. 
 
 Sacrifices, allowed for atime, 1G7, 168. 
 
 Sadducees, the, 178, 179; confuted, 
 179, 180. 
 
 Saints, the, before the coming of 
 Christ, 177. 
 
 Salvation, the duty of desiring that 
 of others, 356. 
 
 Samaritans, the, 179; refuted, 180. 
 
 Satan, instigates Cain to kill Abel, 
 94. 
 
 Saturn, worshipped by the Romans, 
 132; the family of, 437; devours 
 his children, 438. 
 
 Saul, raises a tumult against the 
 apostles, 188; receives a commis- 
 sion against the Christians, 189. 
 
 Sea, the world compared to the, 81. 
 
 Seas and rivers illustrate the pro- 
 vidence of God, 374. 
 
 Scribes, the, refuted, 181. 
 
 Scripture, the, the interpretation of, 
 453. 
 
 Sects of the Jews, 178, 179. 
 
 Seeds, the germination of, as illus- 
 trative of the providence of God, 
 375. 
 
 Seeing or hearing, which the 
 stronger, 261. 
 
 Seeing God, 58, 252. 
 
 Self-love, the foundation of good- 
 ness, 267. 
 
 Sense, the sixth, 225.
 
 484 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 Sepulchres of the gods, 442. 
 
 Seres, the, 390, 412. 
 
 Serpent, the, 93; the author of poly- 
 theism, 221; suggestions of, 313- 
 319; to be resisted, 326. 
 
 Sibyl, the, quoted as to the gods, 
 66, 103; as to the confusion of 
 tongues, 86; reproofs of, to the 
 race of men, 102. 
 
 Simon Magus, postponement of his 
 discussion with Peter, 156, 157; 
 how Peter was sent to meet, 189; 
 how he challenged Peter, 190; a 
 formidable opponent, 195; the im- 
 piety of, 195, 196; history of, 
 196; the secret of his magical 
 power, 200; professes to be God, 
 201; professes to have made a boy 
 of air, 202; hopelessness of the 
 case of, 202; his discussion with 
 Peter begins, 205, etc.; his 
 subtlety, 216; his creed, 217; 
 argues for polytheism, 218; his 
 cavils, 223; his presumption, 225; 
 his view of the supreme . light, 
 224; his blasphemy, 227; how he 
 learned from the law what the 
 law does not teach, 228; his in- 
 consistency, 230; adjournment of 
 Peter's discussion with, 238; 
 Peter's discussion with, resumed, 
 241 ; a seducer, 241 ; his arrogance, 
 243; his subterfuges, 260, 261; his 
 rage, 263; his vanity, 263, 264; 
 his retreat, 264; resisted Peter 
 as the Egyptian magicians did 
 Moses, 269; a deserter from the 
 camp of, 273; sets out for Rome, 
 273; is followed by Peter, 274; 
 strange transformation wrought 
 upon Faustinianus by, 459; strives 
 to excite the people of Antioch 
 against Peter, 460; stratagem used 
 against, by Peter and Cornelius, 
 460 ; his design in the transfor- 
 mation of Faustinianus, 461-464; 
 counter-plot of Peter against, 464- 
 468; is defeated, 469. 
 
 Simonides quoted, 73, 105. 
 
 Simple and compound, 364. 
 
 Simylus quoted, 114. 
 
 Sin, the cause of suffering, 287, 304; 
 the punishment of, 389, 390; evils 
 brought in by, 391; men conceived 
 in, 406. 
 
 Sinners, the creatures often take 
 vengeance on, 320. 
 
 Sins of men, the, not caused by fate, 
 16. 
 
 Six days' work, the, 76; the glory 
 
 of, 78; the typical character of, 
 
 82-84. 
 
 Sixth sense, the, 225. 
 Solemnities, the, of the Greeks ridi- 
 culed, 28. 
 Solomon, his relations with Hiram 
 
 king of Tyre, 124, 125. 
 Son of God, the, 402, 403; friends 
 
 of, 403. 
 
 Sophocles quoted, 73, 106. 
 Soul, the, the immortality of, 18; 
 
 composite, 20 ; the eyes of, 53, 
 
 54. 
 Spirit of God, the, dwells with those 
 
 who live justly, 19; necessity of 
 
 union with, 20. 
 Spirits, two kinds of, 16, 17 ; in 
 
 various things, 18. 
 Stage, the, of the Greeks ridiculed, 
 
 29, 30. 
 Stems, Simon Magus so called, 189, 
 
 196, 199. 
 
 Stars, the, motions of, 373. 
 Statues, the, erected by the Greeks 
 
 to women, 37, 38 ; ridicule poured 
 
 on, 39. 
 
 Strangers, humanity to, 116. 
 Studies of the Greeks, ridicule of 
 
 the, 31. 
 
 Study, diligence in, 253, 327. 
 Sufferings, salutary, 288; the effects 
 
 of sin, 304. 
 Sun, moon, and stars, their typical 
 
 character, 82; motions of the, 
 
 388; ministers of good and evil, 
 
 388, 389. 
 Superstitions, originated by demons, 
 
 13, 14. 
 
 Supper, the, of the gods, 451, 452. 
 Susidse, the customs of the, 4 14. 
 Swine, casting pearls before, 240. 
 Sword, not peace, but a, 329. 
 
 Tatian, sketch of the history of, 3, 
 4; account of the conversion of, 
 33-35. 
 
 Temple, the, of Jerusalem, the anti- 
 quity of, 124, 125. 
 
 Temptation, the, of Christ, 301. 
 
 Ten commandments, the, and the 
 ten plagues of Egypt, 268. 
 
 Ten pairs, the, 272. 
 
 Thanks due to God, 322. 
 
 Theophilus of Antioch, his personal 
 history, 51, 52; his conversion, 63. 
 
 Thestius, quoted, 73. 
 
 Thetis, 439. 
 
 Thorn, no rose without its, 392.
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 485 
 
 Thysbe, 443. 
 
 Time of making the world, 380. 
 
 Tow smeared with pitch, 407. 
 
 Tower of Babel, the, 297. 
 
 Transformation, a strange, wrought 
 on Faustinianus by Simon Magus, 
 459. 
 
 Tree of knowledge, the, God justified 
 in forbidding man to eat of the 
 fruit of, 90. 
 
 Tree of life, oil from the, 173. 
 
 Tripolis, the disciples at, 336; de- 
 parture from, 338. 
 
 Truth, the, being conquered by, 209; 
 error cannot stand with, 215; not 
 the property of all, 255 ; self-evi- 
 dence of, 256 ; veiled with love, 
 270. 
 
 Types and forms, 385. 
 
 Types, natural, 82-84. 
 
 Tyrians, the relations of, with the 
 Hebrews, 125. 
 
 Unbelief and faith, 305. 
 
 Unclean, the, separation from, 238; 
 
 not to be eaten with, 353. 
 Unclean spirits, 239. 
 Unity of God, the, 219. 
 Useless things, why made, 387. 
 
 Venus, the origin of, 439; allegory 
 
 of, 449. 
 Vile things, why made by God, 386, 
 
 387. 
 Vii-tue, arrangements of the world, 
 
 to secure the exercise of, 404. 
 Voice of God, what, 38. 
 
 Walking, why is God described as ? 
 
 88. 
 War and strife, proclaimed by Christ, 
 
 211, 213. 
 Water, the power of, illustrating 
 
 divine providence, 376. 
 Water, born of, 332 ; regeneration 
 
 by, 405, 407. 
 Waters, the, things proceeding from, 
 
 blessed, signification of this, 83. 
 
 Wedding garment, baptism the, 302; 
 to be kept unspotted, 302. 
 
 Wicked, the, the success of, in this 
 life, a proof of immortality, 259; 
 and righteous, chastisement of, 
 389. 
 
 Will, the freedom of the, 246, 247. 
 
 Will of God, irresistible, 249. 
 
 Wives, a community of, taught by 
 Plato, 111. 
 
 Womb, the, 379. 
 
 Women, Christian, vindicated, 37. 
 
 Word, the, the world created by, 
 74, 75 ; begotten of the Father, 
 conversed with man in Paradise, 
 88. 
 
 Workman, the old, discussion with, 
 359 ; turns out to be Clement's 
 father, 421, etc. 
 
 Works, God known by His, 57. 
 
 Works, good, the necessity of, 333. 
 
 World, the, the Christian doctrine 
 of the creation of, 9; Hesiod on 
 the origin of, 69, 70; made by the 
 Word, 74, 75 ; remarks on the 
 creation of, 79; compared to a sea, 
 81 ; made out of nothing by a 
 creator, 369; time of the creation 
 of, why not made long before? 
 380 ; arrangements of, to secure 
 the exercise of virtue, 404. 
 
 World, the, after the flood, 164. 
 
 Worship, due to God only, 312. 
 
 Worship of heroes, 298. 
 
 Worshippers of God, who are, 324. 
 
 Worshippers of the gods, like the 
 gods they worship, 450. 
 
 Writings, the, of the Hebrews and 
 Greeks contrasted, 129. 
 
 Zacchseus, 205; appointed by Peter 
 bishop of Csesarea, 275 ; rescued 
 Aquila and Niceta from Simon 
 Magus, 355. 
 
 Zoroaster or Mesraim, a son of Ham, 
 regarded as the author of the 
 magic art, 297; adored, 297, 298. 
 
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