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Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Justin Martyr

Chapter 14

About this work

Author: Justin Martyr

Chapter XIV.—A warning appeal to the Greeks.

It is therefore necessary, ye Greeks, that you

‹ Chapter 13 Chapter 15 ›

contemplate

the

things

that

are

to

be

,

and

consider

the

judgment

which

is

predicted

by

all

,

not

only

by

the

godly

,

but

also

by

those

who

are

irreligious

,

that

ye

do

not

without

investigation

commit

yourselves

to

the

error

of

your

fathers

,

nor

suppose

that

if

they

themselves

have

been

in

error

,

and

have

transmitted

it

to

you

,

that

this

which

they

have

taught

you

is

true

;

but

looking

to

the

danger

of

so

terrible

a

mistake

,

inquire

and

investigate

carefully

into

those

things

which

are

,

as

you

say

,

spoken

of

even

by

your

own

teachers

.

For

even

unwillingly

they

were

on

your

account

forced

to

say

many

things

by

the

Divine

regard

for

mankind

,

especially

those

of

them

who

were

in

Egypt

,

and

profited

by

the

godliness

of

Moses

and

his

ancestry

.

For

I

think

that

some

of

you

,

when

you

read

even

carelessly

the

history

of

Diodorus

,

and

of

those

others

who

wrote

of

these

things

,

cannot

fail

to

see

that

both

Orpheus

,

and

Homer

,

and

Solon

,

who

wrote

the

laws

of

the

Athenians

,

and

Pythagoras

,

and

Plato

,

and

some

others

,

when

they

had

been

in

Egypt

,

and

had

taken

advantage

of

the

history

of

Moses

,

afterwards

published

doctrines

concerning

the

gods

quite

contrary

to

those

which

formerly

they

had

erroneously

promulgated

.