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| Chapter LXIX.—The devil, since he emulates the truth, has invented fables about Bacchus, Hercules, and Æsculapius.
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Chapter LXIX.—The devil, since he
emulates the truth, has invented fables about Bacchus, Hercules, and
Æsculapius.
“Be well assured, then, Trypho,” I
continued, “that I am established in the knowledge of and faith in
the Scriptures by those counterfeits which he who is called the devil is
said to have performed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the
Magi in Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah’s days.
For when they tell that Bacchus, son of Jupiter, was begotten by
[Jupiter’s] intercourse with Semele, and that he was the discoverer
of the vine; and when they relate, that being torn in pieces, and having
died, he rose again, and ascended to heaven; and when they introduce
wine2207
| 2207 Or, “an
ass.” The ass was sacred to Bacchus; and many fluctuate between
οἶνον and ὄνον. | into
his mysteries, do I not perceive that [the devil] has imitated the
prophecy announced by the patriarch Jacob, and recorded by Moses? And
when they tell that Hercules was strong, and travelled over all the
world, and was begotten by Jove of Alcmene, and ascended to heaven when
he died, do I not perceive that the Scripture which speaks of Christ,
‘strong as a giant to run his race,’2208
has been in like manner imitated? And when he [the devil] brings
forward Æsculapius as the raiser of the dead and healer of all diseases,
may I not say that in this matter likewise he has imitated the prophecies
about Christ? But since I have not quoted to you such Scripture as tells
that Christ will do these things, I must necessarily remind you of one
such: from which you can understand, how that to those destitute of a
knowledge of God, I mean the Gentiles, who, ‘having eyes, saw not,
and having a heart, understood not,’ worshipping the images of
wood, [how even to them] Scripture prophesied that they would renounce
these [vanities], and hope in this Christ. It is thus written:
‘Rejoice, thirsty wilderness: let the wilderness be glad, and
blossom as the lily: the deserts of the Jordan shall both blossom and be
glad: and the glory of Lebanon was given to it, and the honour of Carmel.
And my people shall see the exaltation of the Lord, and the glory of God.
Be strong, ye careless hands and enfeebled knees. Be comforted, ye faint
in soul: be strong, fear not. Behold, our God gives, and will give,
retributive judgment. He shall come and save us. Then the eyes of the
blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame
shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be
distinct: for water has broken forth in the wilderness, and a valley in
the thirsty land; and the parched ground shall become pools, and a spring
of water shall [rise up] in the thirsty land.’2209
The spring of living water which
gushed forth from God in the land destitute of the knowledge of God,
namely the land of the Gentiles, was this Christ, who also appeared in
your nation, and healed those who were maimed, and deaf, and lame in body
from their birth, causing them to leap, to hear, and to see, by His word.
And having raised the dead, and causing them to live, by His deeds He
compelled the men who lived at that time to recognise Him. But though
they saw such works, they asserted it was magical art. For they dared to
call Him a magician, and a deceiver of the people. Yet He wrought such
works, and persuaded those who were [destined to] believe on Him; for
even if any one be labouring under a defect of body, yet be an observer
of the doctrines delivered by Him, He shall raise him up at His second
advent perfectly sound, after He has made him immortal, and
incorruptible, and free from grief.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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