A Plea for the Christians 9
Summary: The prophets, speaking by the Spirit like a flute played by a musician, confirm that God is one.
Greek text · Otto 7:42–44
Εἰ μὲν οὖν ταῖς τοιαύταις ἐννοίαις ἀπηρκούμεθα, ἀνθρωπικὸν ἄν τις εἶναι τὸν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐνόμισε λόγον. Ἐπεὶ δὲ αἱ φωναὶ τῶν προφητῶν πιστοῦσιν ἡμῶν τοὺς λογισμούς (νομίζω καὶ ὑμᾶς, φιλομαθεστάτους καὶ ἐπιστημονεστάτους ὄντας, οὐκ ἀνοήτους γεγονέναι οὔτε τῶν Μωσέως οὔτε τῶν Ἠσαΐου καὶ Ἱερεμίου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν προφητῶν, οἳ κατʼ ἔκστασιν τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς λογισμῶν κινήσαντος αὐτοὺς τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἃ ἐνηργοῦντο ἐξεφώνησαν, συγχρησαμένου τοῦ πνεύματος ὡσεὶ καὶ αὐλητὴς αὐτὸν ἐμπνεύσαι), τί οὖν οὗτοι; Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν· οὐ λογισθήσεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν. Καὶ πάλιν· Ἐγὼ θεὸς πρῶτος καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, καὶ πλὴν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἔστι θεός. Ὁμοίως· Ἔμπροσθεν ἐμοῦ οὐκ ἐγένετο ἄλλος θεὸς καὶ μετʼ ἐμὲ οὐκ ἔσται· ἐγὼ ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πάρεξ ἐμοῦ. Καὶ περὶ τοῦ μεγέθους· Ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου. Ποῖον οἶκον οἰκοδομήσετέ μοι, ἢ τίς τόπος τῆς καταπαύσεώς μου; Καταλείπω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἐπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν βιβλίων γενομένοις, ἀκριβέστερον τὰς ἐκείνων ἐξετάσαι προφητείας, ὅπως μετὰ τοῦ προσήκοντος λογισμοῦ τὴν καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐπήρειαν ἀποσκευάσησθε.
English · Claude translation
If we were content with considerations of this kind, one might think our teaching merely human. But the voices of the prophets confirm our reasonings. I think that you too, being most learned and knowledgeable, are not unacquainted with the writings of Moses, or of Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other prophets, who, lifted out of their own reasonings in ecstasy when the divine Spirit moved them, spoke out what was worked in them, the Spirit using them as a flute-player breathes into a flute. What, then, do they say? “The Lord is our God; no other shall be reckoned beside him.” And again: “I am God, the first and hereafter, and besides me there is no God.” Likewise: “Before me there was no other God, and after me there shall be none; I am God, and there is none besides me.” And concerning his greatness: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet. What house will you build for me, or what is the place of my rest?” I leave it to you, when you come to the books themselves, to examine their prophecies more precisely, so that with fitting reasoning you may remove the abuse we suffer.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “The Lord is our God; no other shall be reckoned beside him” is from Baruch 3:35 (3:36 in the Septuagint), not in the 66-book canon, which Athenagoras cites as prophecy.
- The image of the prophets as instruments played by the Spirit (also in ch. 7) became a classic statement of prophetic inspiration.
Cite this passage
Athenagoras, Leg. 9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athenagoras-legatio/9/).
Plain text
Athenagoras, Leg. 9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/athenagoras-legatio/9/).
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