Sophia Scriptura

Apology

Apologia · Ἀπολογία

Read the whole work on one page

Contents

  1. 1Aristides tells the emperor how the order of the world led him to know God, the eternal and self-sufficient mover and sustainer of all.
  2. 2Aristides divides humanity into worshipers of many gods (Chaldeans, Greeks, Egyptians), Jews, and Christians.
  3. 3The Chaldeans worship the elements and images of them, though the elements are perishable and the images cannot even protect themselves.
  4. 4The heaven and the earth are not gods, since they are moved, ordered, and used, and are works of God.
  5. 5Water, fire, and wind are not gods, since they serve human needs and obey God's command.
  6. 6The sun and moon are not gods, since they move by necessity, suffer eclipses, and serve human use.
  7. 7A human being is not a god but a creature subject to need, passion, and death; the Chaldeans' error is complete.
  8. 8The Greeks invented gods with human passions and crimes, giving cover to every kind of wickedness.
  9. 9Aristides lists the scandalous myths of Kronos, Zeus, and Hephaestus to show they cannot be gods.
  10. 10Hermes, Asclepius, Ares, Dionysus, Heracles, and Apollo are shown by their own myths to be needy, sinful, or mortal, and so not gods.
  11. 11Artemis, Aphrodite, and Adonis are no gods, and such myths have led people into every kind of wickedness.
  12. 12The Egyptians erred worst of all, worshiping the unhappy Isis, Osiris, and Typhon and even animals and plants.
  13. 13The idols and the myths refute themselves: gods at war with one another, and guilty of what the laws punish, cannot be gods, however their stories are interpreted.
  14. 14The Jews descend from the patriarchs and were delivered by God from Egypt, but turned to idols, killed the prophets, and rejected Christ.
  15. 15The Christians descend from Christ, the Son of God born of a virgin, crucified, risen, and ascended; they know the true God and live by his commandments in purity, justice, and love.
  16. 16The Christian way is the way of truth leading to the eternal kingdom; their Scriptures confirm it, while the nations stumble in darkness.
  17. 17Aristides closes by urging the king to worship the Creator and heed his words, so as to escape judgment and inherit eternal life.

About this work

Author
Aristides of Athens
Attribution
authentic · The apology is generally ascribed to Aristides on the testimony of Eusebius. The Greek text staged here is a reworking inside the later novel Barlaam and Ioasaph (chs. 26–27, put in the mouth of the philosopher Nachor); the Syriac version is fuller and is not on this site.
Standing
Honoured by the Catholic tradition. Honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by: Catholic.
Date
ca. 125–145 (disputed)
Written at
Athens, Attica (approximate)
Language
Greek
Genre
apology
Reference system
chapter (1–17, as numbered by Harris and Robinson, 1891). The Greek of Barlaam omits the Hephaestus and Apollo material and part of the account of the Jews; chapters 10 and 11 here are only approximate divisions of what remains.
SBL abbreviation
Apol.Not yet checked
Clavis
CPG number not yet checked
Text from
Woodward and Mattingly, eds., St John Damascene, Barlaam and Ioasaph, Loeb Classical Library 34 (London: Heinemann, 1914), Greek text of chs. 26–27 only (Printed 1914 edition in the public domain; OCR transcription)