XXXI.

Again therefore the king was seized with despondency, and again he was

like to abjure his whole way of life; and with strange thoughts he went

again unto his own palace. But the evil spirits, that had been sent

out by Theudas for to attack the young saint, returned to him, and,

lovers of leasing though they were, confessed their shameful defeat,

for they bare visible tokens of their defeat, upon their evil

countenance. Said Theudas, "And be ye so weak and puny that ye cannot

get the better of one young stripling?" Then did the evil spirits,

constrained, to their sorrow, by the might of God, bring to light the

truth, saying, "We cannot abide even the sight of the might of Christ,

and the symbol of his Passion, which they call the Cross. For, when

that sign is made, immediately all we, the princes of the air, and the

rulers of the darkness of the world, are utterly routed and

discomfited, even before the sign is completed. When we first fell

upon this youth, we vexed him sore; but when he called on Christ for

help, and armed him with the sign of the Cross, he routed us in angry

wise, and stablished himself in safety. So incontinent we found a

weapon, wherewith our chief did once confront the first-made man and

prevailed against him. And verily we should have made this young man's

hope vain; but again Christ was called on for help, and he consumed us

in the fire of his wrath from above, and put us to flight. We have

determined to approach the prince no more." Thus, then, did the evil

spirits plainly make known unto Theudas all that was come to pass.

But the king, perplexed on every side, again summoned Theudas, and

said, "Most wisest of men, all that seemed good to thee have we

fulfilled, but have found no help therein. But now, if thou hast any

device left, we will make trial thereof. Peradventure I shall find

some escape from this evil."

Then did Theudas ask for a meeting with his son; and on the morrow the

king took him and went forth to visit the prince. The king sat down

and provoked debate, upbraiding and chiding him for his disobedience

and stubbornness of mind. When Ioasaph again maintained his ease, and

loudly declared that he valued nothing so much as the love of Christ,

Theudas came forward and said, "Wherefore, Ioasaph, dost thou despise

our immortal gods, that thou hast departed from their worship, and,

thus incensing thy father the king, art become hateful to all the

people? Dost thou not owe thy life to the gods? And did they not

present thee to the king in answer to his prayer, thus redeeming him

from the bondage of childlessness?" While this Theudas, waxen old in

wickedness, was putting forth these many vain arguments and useless

propositions, and weaving words about the preaching of the Gospel,

desiring to turn it into mockery, and magnify idolatry, Ioasaph, the

son of the heavenly king, and citizen of that city which the Lord hath

builded and not man, waited a while and then said unto him,

"Give ear, thou abyss of error, blacker than the darkness that may be

felt, thou seed of Babylon, child of the building of the tower of

Chalane, whereby the world was confounded, foolish and pitiable dotard,

whose sins out-weigh the iniquity of the five cities that were

destroyed by fire and brimstone. Why wouldest thou mock at the

preaching of salvation, whereby darkness hath been made light, the

wanderers have found the way, they that were lost in dire captivity

have been recalled. Tell me whether is better? To worship God

Almighty, with the only-begotten Son and the Holy Ghost, God increate

and immortal, the beginning and well-spring of good, whose power is

beyond compare, and his glory incomprehensible, before whom stand

thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand of Angels and

heavenly hosts, and heaven and earth are full of his glow, by whom all

things were brought into being out of nothing, by whom everything is

upheld and sustained and ordered by his providence; or to serve deadly

devils and lifeless idols, whose glory and boast is in adultery and the

corrupting of boys, and other works of iniquity that have been recorded

concerning your gods in the books of your superstition? Have ye no

modesty, ye miserable men, fuel for unquenchable fire, true copy of the

Chaldean race, have ye no shame to worship dead images, the works of

men's hands? Ye have carved stone and graven wood and called it God.

Next ye take the best bullock out of your folds, or (may be) some other

of your fairest beasts, and in your folly make sacrifice to your dead

divinity. Your sacrifice is of more value than your idol; for the

image was fashioned by man, but the beast was created by God. How much

wiser is the unreasonable beast than thou the reasonable man? For it

knoweth the hand that feedeth it, but thou knowest not that God by whom

thou wast created out of nothing, by whom thou livest, and art

preserved; and thou callest God that which thou sawest, but now,

smitten by steel, and burnt and moulded in the fire, and beaten with

hammers, which thou hast covered around with silver and gold, and

raised from the ground, and set on high. Then, falling upon the earth,

thou liest baser than the base stone, worshipping not God but thine own

dead and lifeless handiwork. Or rather, the idol hath no right to be

called even dead, for how can that have died which never lived? Thou

shouldest invent some new name worthy of such madness. Thy stone god

is broken asunder; thy potsherd god shattered; thy brazen god rusteth;

thy gold or silver god is melted down. Aye, and thy gods are sold,

some for a paltry, others for a great price. Not their divinity but

their material giveth them value. But who buyeth God? Who offereth

God for sale? And how is that god that cannot move called God? Seest

thou not that the god that standeth cannot sit, and the god that

sitteth cannot stand?

"Be ashamed, thou fool, and lay thine hand upon thy mouth, thou victim

of folly, that commendest such things as these. Estranged from the

truth, thou hast been led astray by false images, fashioning statues

and attaching to the works of thine own hands the name of God. O

wretched man, return to thy senses, and learn that thou art older than

the god made by thee. This is downright madness. Being a man, thou

hast persuaded thyself that thou canst make God. How can this be?

Thou makest not God, but the likeness of a man, or of some beast, sans

tongue, sans throat, sans brains, sans inwards, so that it is the

similitude neither of a man, nor of a beast, but only a thing of no use

and sheer vanity. Why therefore flatterest thou things that cannot

feel? Why sittest thou at the feet of things that cannot move and help

thee? But for the skill of the mason, or timber-wright, or

hammer-smith, thou hadst not had a god. Had there been no warders nigh

at hand, thou hadst lost thy god. He, to whom many a populous city of

fools prayeth as God to guard it, the same hath suite of guards at hand

to save him from being stolen. And if he be of silver or gold, he is

carefully guarded; but if of stone or clay or any other less costly

ware, he guardeth himself, for with you, no doubt, a god of clay is

stronger than one of gold.

"Do we not, then, well to laugh you to scorn, or rather to weep over

you, as men blind and without understanding? Your deeds are deeds of

madness and not of piety. Your man of war maketh to himself an image

after the similitude of a warrior, and calleth it Ares. And the

lecher, making a symbol of his own soul, deifieth his vice and calleth

it Aphrodite. Another, in honour of his own love of wine, fashioneth

an idol which he calleth Dionysus. Likewise lovers of all other evil

things set up idols of their own lusts; for they name their lusts their

gods. And therefore, before their altars, there are lascivious dances,

and strains of lewd songs and mad revelries. Who could recount in

order their abominable doings? Who could endure to defile his lips by

the repeating of their filthy communications? But these are manifest

to all, even if we hold our peace. These be thine objects of worship,

O Theudas, who art more senseless than thine idols. Before these thou

biddest me fall down and worship. This verily is the counsel of thine

iniquity and senseless mind. But thou thyself shalt be like unto them,

and all such as put their trust in them.

"As for me, I will serve my God, and to him will I wholly sacrifice

myself, to God, the Creator and protector of all things through our

Lord Jesus Christ, my hope, by whom we have access unto the Father of

lights, in the Holy Ghost: by whom we have been redeemed from bitter

slavery by his blood. For if he had not humbled himself so far as to

take the form of a servant, we had not received the adoption of sons.

But he humbled himself for our sake, not considering the Godhead a

thing to be grasped, but he remained that which he was, and took on

himself that which he was not, and conversed with men, and mounted the

Cross in his flesh, and was laid in the sepulchre by the space of three

days; he descended into hell, and brought out from thence them whom the

fierce prince of this world held prisoners, sold into bondage by sin.

What harm then befell him thereby that thou thinkest to make mock of

him? Seest thou not yonder sun, into how many a barren and filthy

place he darteth his rays? Upon how many a stinking corpse doth he

cast his eye? Hath he therefore any stain of reproach? Doth he not

dry and shrivel up filth and rottenness, and give light to dark places,

himself the while unharmed and incapable of receiving any defilement?

And what of fire? Doth it not take iron, which is black and cold in

itself, and work it into white heat and harden it? Doth it receive any

of the properties of the iron? When the iron is smitten and beaten

with hammers is the fire any the worse, or doth it in any way suffer

harm?

"If, then, these created and corruptible things take no hurt from

contact with things commoner than themselves, with what reason dost

thou, O foolish and stony-hearted man, presume to mock at me for saying

that the Son, the Word of God, never departing from the Father's glory,

but remaining the same God, for the salvation of men hath taken upon

him the flesh of man, to the end that he may make men partakers of his

divine and intelligent nature and may lead our substance out of the

nether parts of hell, and honour it with heavenly glory; to the end

that by taking of our flesh he may ensnare and defeat the ruler of the

darkness of this world, and free our race from his tyranny. Wherefore,

I tell thee, without suffering he met the suffering of the Cross,

presenting therein his two natures. For, as man, he was crucified;

but, as God, he darkened the sun, shook the earth, and raised from

their graves many bodies that had fallen asleep. Again, as man, he

died; but, as God, after that he had harried hell, he rose again.

Wherefore also the prophet cried, Hell is in bitterness at having met

thee below: for it was put to bitter derision, supposing that it had

received a mere man, but finding God, and being made suddenly empty and

led captive. Therefore, as God, he rose again, and ascended into

heaven, from whence he was never parted. And our nature, so worthless

and senseless beyond everything, so graceless and dishonoured, hath he

made higher than all things, and established it upon a throne of

honour, with immortal honour shining round. What harm therefore came

to God, the Word, that thou blasphemest without a blush? Go to!

Better were it to make this confession, and to worship such a God, who

is good and a lover of mankind, who commandeth righteousness, enjoineth

continency, ordaineth chastity, teacheth mercy, giveth faith, preacheth

peace; who is called and is himself the very truth, the very love, the

very goodness. Him were it not better to worship than thy gods of many

evil passions, of shameful names and shameful lives? Woe unto you that

are more stony-hearted than the stones, and more senseless than the

senseless, sons of perdition, inheritors of darkness! But blessed am I,

and all Christian folk, having a good God and a lover of mankind! They

that serve him, though, for a season in this life they endure evil, yet

shall they reap the immortal harvest of recompense in the kingdom of

unending and divine felicity."