1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11 – 12 – 13 – 14 – 15 – 16 – 17 – 18 – 19 – Fragment 1 – Fragment 2
Melito’s only mostly extant work, his Apology to Marcus Aurelius, addressed to his then contemporary Roman emperor, was written sometime in the years AD 169–170. Aurelius succeeded Antoninus Pius, co-reigning with Lucius Verus; thus, Melito’s Apology comes under the very next emperor’s reign after the time when Justin Martyr wrote, only 13 or so years earlier.
A discourse which was in the presence of Antoninus Caesar, and he exhorted the said Caesar to acquaint himself with God and showed to him the Way of Truth. He began to speak as follows:
“It is not easy,” said Melito, “speedily to bring into the right way the man who has a long time before been held fast by error. It may, however, be accomplished: for, when a man turns away ever so little from error, the mention of the truth is acceptable to him. For, just as when the cloud breaks ever so little there comes fair weather, even so, when a man turns toward God, the thick cloud of error which deprived him of true vision is quickly withdrawn from before him. For error, like disease and sleep, long holds fast those who come under its influence; but truth uses the word as a goad, and strikes the slumberers, and awakens them; and when they are awake, they look at the truth and also understand it: they hear and distinguish that which is from that which is not. For there are men who call iniquity righteousness: they think, for example, that it is righteousness for a man to err with the many. But I, for my part, affirm that it is not a good excuse for error that a man errs with the many. For, if one man only sins, his sin is great: how much greater will be the sin when many sin together!”
“Now, the sin of which I speak is this: when a man abandons that which really exists and serves that which does not really exist. There is that which really exists, and it is called God. He, I say, really exists, and by His power does everything subsist. This being is in no sense made, nor did He ever come into being; but He has existed from eternity, and will continue to exist forever and ever. He does not change, while everything else changes. No eye can see Him, nor thought apprehend Him, nor language describe Him; and those who love Him speak of Him thus: Father, and God of Truth.”
“If, therefore, a man forsakes the light, and says that there is another God, it is plain from what he himself says that it is some created thing which he calls God. For, if a man calls fire God, it is not God, because it is fire; and, if a man calls water God, it is not God, because it is water; and, if he so calls this earth on which we tread, or these heavens which are seen by us, or the sun, or the moon, or some one of these stars which run their course without ceasing by Divine command, and do not speed along by their own will, neither are these gods; and, if a man calls gold and silver gods, are not these objects things which we use as we please? And, if he so calls those pieces of wood which we burn, or those stones which we break, how can these things be gods? For behold: they are for the use of man. How can they escape the commission of great sin, who in their speech change the great God into those things which, so long as they continue, continue by Divine command?”
“But, notwithstanding this, I say that so long as a man does not hear, and so does not discern or understand that there is a Lord over these creatures, he is not perhaps to be blamed: because no one finds fault with a blind man though he walks ever so badly. For, in the same manner as the blind, so men also, when they were seeking after God, stumbled on stones and blocks of wood; and such of them as were rich stumbled on gold and silver, and were prevented by their stumblings from finding that which they were seeking after. But now that a voice has been heard through all the earth, declaring that there is a God of truth, and there has been given to every man an eye with which to see, those persons are without excuse who are ashamed of incurring the censure of their former companions in error, and yet desire to walk in the right way. For those who are ashamed to be saved must necessarily perish. I therefore counsel them to open their eyes and see—for behold: light is given abundantly to us all to see thereby; and if, when light has arisen on us, anyone closes his eyes so as not to see, into the ditch he must go. But why is a man ashamed of the censure of those who have been in error along with himself? Rather does it behoove him to persuade them to follow in his steps; and, if they should not be persuaded by him, then to disengage himself from their society. For there are some men who are unable to rise from their mother earth, and therefore they also make them gods, from the earth their mother; and they are condemned by the judgments of truth, forasmuch as they apply the Name of Him who is unchangeable to those objects which are subject to change, and do not shrink from calling those things gods which have been made by the hands of man, and dare to make an image of God whom they have not seen.”
“But I have to remark further, that the Sibyl also has said concerning them that it is the images of deceased kings that they worship. And this is easy to understand; for behold: even now they worship and honor the images of those of Caesarean rank more than their former gods; for from those former gods of theirs both monetary tribute and produce accrue to Caesar, as to one who is greater than they. On this account, those who despise them, and so cause Caesar’s revenue to fall short, are put to death. But to the treasury of other kings also it is appointed how much the worshipers in various places will pay, and how many vessels full of water from the sea they will supply. Such is the wickedness of the world of those who worship and fear that which has no sensation. Many of them, too, who are crafty, either for the sake of gain, or for vainglory, or for dominion over the multitude, both themselves worship, and incite those who are destitute of understanding to worship, that which has no sensation.”
“I will further write and show, as far as my ability goes, how and for what causes images were made to kings and tyrants, and how they came to be regarded as gods. The people of Argos made images to Hercules because he belonged to their city, and was strong, and by his valor slew noxious beasts, and more especially because they were afraid of him. For he was subject to no control and carried off the wives of many: for his lust was great, like that of Zuradi the Persian, his friend. Again, the people of Acre worshiped Dionysus, a king, because he had recently planted the vine in their country. The Egyptians worshiped Joseph the Hebrew, who was called Serapis, because he supplied them with corn during the years of famine. The Athenians worshiped Athene, the daughter of Zeus, king of the island of Crete, because she built the town of Athens, and made Ericthippus her son king there, whom she had by adultery with Hephaestus, a blacksmith, son of a wife of her father. She was, too, always courting the society of Hercules, because he was her brother on her father’s side. For Zeus the king became enamored with Alcmene, the wife of Electryon, who was from Argos, and committed adultery with her, and she gave birth to Hercules. The people of Phoenicia worshiped Balthi, queen of Cyprus, because she fell in love with Tamuz, son of Cuthar king of the Phoenicians, and left her own kingdom and came and dwelt in Gebal, a fortress of the Phoenicians, and at the same time made all the Cyprians subject to King Cuthar. Also, before Tamuz she had fallen in love with Ares, and committed adultery with him; and Hephaestus, her husband, caught her, and his jealousy was roused against her, and he came and killed Tamuz in Mount Lebanon, as he was hunting wild boars; and from that time Balthi remained in Gebal, and she died in the city of Aphiki, where Tamuz was buried. The Elamites worshiped Nuh, daughter of the king of Elam: when the enemy had carried her captive, her father made for her an image and a temple in Shushan, a royal residence which is in Elam. The Syrians worshiped Athi, a Hadibite, who sent the daughter of Belat, a person skilled in medicine, and she healed Simi, the daughter of Hadad king of Syria; and sometime afterward, when Hadad himself had the leprosy on him, Athi entreated Elisha the Hebrew, and he came and healed him of his leprosy. The people of Mesopotamia also worshiped Cuthbi, a Hebrew woman, because she delivered Bakru, the paternal king of Edessa, from his enemies. With respect to Nebo, who is worshiped in Mabug, why should I write to you? For behold: all the priests who are in Mabug know that it is the image of Orpheus, a Thracian magus. Hadran, again, is the image of Zaradusht, a Persian magus. For both of these magi practiced magic at a well which was in a wood in Mabug, in which was an unclean spirit, and it assaulted and disputed the passage of everyone who passed by in all that country in which the town of Mabug is situated; and these magi, in accordance with what was a mystery in their Magian system, bade Simi, the daughter of Hadad, to draw water from the sea and pour it into the well, so that the spirit should not come up and commit assault. In like manner, the rest of mankind made images to their kings and worshiped them; of which matter I will not write further.”
“But you, a person of liberal mind, and familiar with the truth, if you will properly consider these matters, commune with your own self; and, though they should clothe you in the garb of a woman, remember that you are a man. Believe in Him who is in reality God, and to Him lay open your mind, and to Him commit your soul, and He is able to give you immortal life forever, for everything is possible to Him; and let all other things be esteemed by you just as they are—images as images, and sculptures as sculptures; and do not let that which is only made be put by you in the place of Him who is not made, but let Him, the ever-living God, be constantly present in your mind. For your mind itself is His likeness: for it too is invisible and impalpable, and not to be represented by any form, yet by its will is the whole bodily frame moved. Know, therefore, that if you constantly serve Him who is immoveable—even He exists forever—so you also, when you will have put off this body, which is visible and corruptible, will stand before Him forever, endowed with life and knowledge, and your works will be to you wealth inexhaustible and possessions unfailing. And know that the chief of your good works is this: that you know God and serve Him. Know, too, that He asks nothing of you, [except faith]: He needs nothing.”
“Who is this God? He who is Himself truth, and His word truth. And what is truth? That which is not fashioned, nor made, nor represented by art: that is, which has never been brought into existence, and is on that account called truth. If, therefore, a man worships that which is made with hands, it is not the truth that he worships, nor yet the word of truth.”
“I have very much to say on this subject; but I feel ashamed for those who do not understand that they are superior to the work of their own hands, nor perceive how they give gold to the artists that they may make gods for them, and give them silver for their adornment and honor, and move their riches about from place to place, and then worship them. And what infamy can be greater than this, that a man should worship his riches, and forsake Him who bestowed those riches on him? And that he should revile man, yet worship the image of man; and slay a beast, yet worship the likeness of a beast? This also is evident, that it is the workmanship of their fellow men that they worship: for they do not worship the treasures while they are laid by in the bag, but when the artists have fashioned images out of them they worship them; neither do they worship the gold or the silver considered as property, but when the gravers have sculptured them then they worship them. Senseless man to what addition has been made to your gold, that now you worship it? If it is because it has been made to resemble a winged animal, why do you not worship the winged animal itself? And if because it has been made like a beast of prey, behold: the beast of prey itself is before you. And if it is the workmanship itself that pleases you, let the workmanship of God please you, who made all things, and in His own likeness made the workmen, who strive to do like Him, but do not resemble Him.
“But perhaps you will say: How is it that God did not so make me that I should serve Him, and not images? In speaking thus, you are seeking to become an idle instrument, and not a living man. For God made you as perfect as it seemed good to Him. He has given you a mind endowed with freedom; He has set before you objects in great number, that you on your part may distinguish the nature of each thing and choose for yourself that which is good; He has set before you the heavens, and placed in them the stars; He has set before you the sun and the moon, and they too every day run their course therein; He has set before you the multitude of waters, and restrained them by His word; He has set before you the wide earth, which remains at rest, and continues before you without variation: yet, lest you should suppose that of its own nature it so continues, He makes it also to quake when He pleases; He has set before you the clouds, which by His command bring water from above and satisfy the earth—that from this you may understand that He who puts these things in motion is superior to them all, and may accept thankfully the goodness of Him who has given you a mind whereby to distinguish these things from one another.”
“Therefore, I counsel you to know yourself, and to know God. For understand how that there is within you that which is called the soul—by it the eye sees, by it the ear hears, by it the mouth speaks; and how it makes use of the whole body; and how, whenever He pleases to remove the soul from the body, this falls to decay and perishes. From this, therefore, which exists within yourself and is invisible, understand how God also moves the whole by His power, like the body; and that, whenever it pleases Him to withdraw His power, the whole world also, like the body, will fall to decay and perish.”
“But why this world was made, and why it passes away, and why the body exists, and why it falls to decay, and why it continues, you cannot know until you have raised your head from this sleep in which you are sunk, and have opened your eyes and seen that God is One, the Lord of all, and have come to serve Him with all your heart. Then will He grant you to know His will: for everyone that is severed from the knowledge of the living God is dead and buried even while in his body. Therefore, it is that you wallow on the ground before demons and shadows and ask vain petitions from that which has nothing to give. But you: stand up from among those who are lying on the earth and caressing stones, and giving their substance as food for the fire, and offering their raiment to idols; and, while they themselves are possessed of senses, are bent on serving that which has no sensation; and offer for your imperishable soul petitions for that which does not decay—to God who suffers no decay—and your freedom will be at once apparent; and be careful of it, and give thanks to God who made you and gave you the mind of the free, that you might shape your conduct even as you will. He has set before you all these things, and shows you that, if you follow after evil, you will be condemned for your evil deeds; but that, if after goodness, you will receive from Him abundant good, together with immortal life forever.”
“There is, therefore, nothing to hinder you from changing your evil manner of life, because you are a free man; or from seeking and finding out who is the Lord of all; or from serving Him with all your heart: because with Him there is no reluctance to give the knowledge of Himself to those that seek it, according to the measure of their capacity to know Him.”
“Let it be your first care not to deceive yourself. For, if you say of that which is not God: This is God, you deceive yourself, and sin before the God of truth. You fool! Is that a god which is bought and sold? Is that a god which is in want? Is that a god which must be watched over? How do you buy him as a slave, and serve him as a master? How do you ask from him, as of one that is rich, to give to you, and yourself give to him as to one that is poor? How do you expect of him that he will make you victorious in battle? For behold: when your enemies have conquered you, they strip him likewise.”
“Perhaps one who is a king may say: I cannot behave myself rightly, because I am a king; it is fitting for me to do the will of the many. He who speaks thus really deserves to be laughed at: for why should not the king himself lead the way to all good things, and persuade the people under his rule to behave with purity, and to know God in truth, and in his own person set before them the patterns of all things excellent—since thus it is fitting for him to do? For it is a shameful thing that a king, however badly he may conduct himself, should yet judge and condemn those who go awry.”
“My opinion is this: that in this way a kingdom may be governed in peace—when the sovereign is acquainted with the God of truth, and is withheld by fear of Him from doing wrong to those who are his subjects, and judges everything with equity, as one who knows that he himself will also be judged before God; while, at the same time, those who are under his rule are withheld by the fear of God from doing wrong to their sovereign, and are restrained by the same fear from doing wrong to one another. By this knowledge of God and fear of Him all evil may be removed from the realm. For, if the sovereign abstains from doing wrong to those who are under his rule, and they abstain from doing wrong to him and to each other, it is evident that the whole country will dwell in peace. Many blessings, too, will be enjoyed there, because amongst them all the Name of God will be glorified. For what blessing is greater than this, that a sovereign should deliver the people that are under his rule from error, and by this good deed render himself pleasing to God? For from error arise all those evils from which kingdoms suffer; but the greatest of all errors is this: when a man is ignorant of God, and in God’s stead worships that which is not God.”
“There are, however, persons who say: It is for the honor of God that we make the image: in order, that is, that we may worship the God who is concealed from our view. But they are unaware that God is in every country, and in every place, and is never absent, and that there is nothing done that He does not know. Yet you, despicable man! Within whom He is, and without whom He is, and above whom He is, have nevertheless gone and bought yourself wood from the carpenter’s, and it is carved and made into an image insulting to God. To this you offer sacrifice, and do not know that the all-seeing eye sees you, and that the word of truth reproves you, and says to you: How can the unseen God be sculptured? No, it is the likeness of yourself that you make and worship. Because the wood has been sculptured, do you not have the insight to perceive that it is still wood, or that the stone is still stone? The gold the workman also takes according to its weight in the balance. And when you have had it made into an image, why do you weigh it? Therefore, you are a lover of gold, and not a lover of God. And are you not ashamed, if perhaps it is deficient, to demand of the maker of it why he has stolen some of it? Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have intelligence, do you not understand? Why do you wallow on the ground, and offer supplication to things which are without sense? Fear Him who shakes the earth, and makes the heavens to revolve, and strikes the sea, and removes the mountain from its place—Him who can make Himself like a fire, and consume all things; and, if you are not able to clear yourself of guilt, yet add not to your sins; and, if you are not able to know God, yet do not doubt that He exists.”
“Again, there are persons who say: Whatsoever our fathers have bequeathed to us, that we reverence. Therefore, of course, it is, that those whose fathers have bequeathed them poverty strive to become rich! And those whose fathers did not instruct them, desire to be instructed, and to learn that which their fathers did not know! And why, indeed, do the children of the blind see, and the children of the lame walk? No, it is not well for a man to follow his predecessors, if they are those whose course was evil; but rather that we should turn from that path of theirs, lest that which befell our predecessors should bring disaster on us also. Therefore, inquire whether your father’s course was good: and, if so, you also follow in his steps; but, if your father’s course was very evil, let yours be good, and so let it be with your children after you. Be grieved also for your father because his course is evil, so long as your grief may avail to help him. But, as for your children, speak to them thus: There is a God, the Father of all, who never came into being, neither was ever made, and by whose will all things subsist. He also made the luminaries, that His works may see one another; and He conceals Himself in His power from all His works: for it is not permitted to any being subject to change to see Him who changes not. But such as are mindful of His words, and are admitted into that covenant, which is unchangeable, they see God—so far as it is possible for them to see Him. These also will have power to escape destruction, when the flood of fire comes on all the world. For there was once a flood and a wind, and the great men were swept away by a violent blast from the north, but the just were left, for a demonstration of the truth. Again, at another time there was a flood of water, and all men and animals perished in the multitude of waters, but the just were preserved in an ark of wood by the command of God. So also will it be at the last time: there will be a flood of fire, and the earth will be burnt up, together with its mountains; and mankind will be burnt up, along with the idols which they have made, and the carved images which they have worshiped; and the sea will be burnt up, together with its islands; but the righteous will be preserved from wrath, just as were their fellows of the Ark from the waters of the Flood. And then will those who have not known God, and those who have made them idols, bemoan themselves, when they will see those idols of theirs being burnt up, together with themselves, and nothing will be found to help them.”
“When you, Antoninus Caesar, will become acquainted with these things, and your children also with you, then will you bequeath to them an inheritance forever which never fades away, and you will deliver your soul, and the souls of your children also, from that which will come on the whole earth in the judgment of truth and of righteousness. For, according as you have acknowledged Him here, so will He acknowledge you there; and, if you account Him here superfluous, He will not account you one of those who have known Him and confessed Him. These may suffice your Majesty; and, if they be too many, yet deign to accept them.” Here ends Melito.
1. “For the race of the pious is now persecuted in a way contrary to all precedent, being harassed by a new kind of edicts everywhere in Asia. For unblushing informers, and such as are greedy of other men’s goods, taking occasion from the orders issued, carry on their robbery without any disguise, plundering of their property night and day those who are guilty of no wrong.
2. If these proceedings take place at your bidding, well and good. For a just sovereign will never take unjust measures; and we, on our part, gladly accept the honor of such a death. This request only do we present to you: that you would first of all examine for yourself into the behavior of these reputed agents of so much strife, and then come to a just decision as to whether they merit death and punishment or deserve to live in safety and quiet. But if, on the contrary, it will turn out that this measure, and this new sort of command, which it would be unbecoming to employ even against barbarian enemies, do not proceed from you, then all the more do we entreat you not to leave us thus exposed to the spoliation of the populace.
3. For the philosophy current with us flourished in the first instance among barbarians; and, when it afterward sprang up among the nations under your rule, during the distinguished reign of your ancestor Augustus, it proved to be a blessing of most happy omen to your empire. For from that time the Roman power has risen to greatness and splendor. To this power you have succeeded as the much desired possessor; and such will you continue, together with your son, if you protect that philosophy which has grown up with your empire, and which took its rise with Augustus; to which also your more recent ancestors paid honor, along with the other religions prevailing in the empire. A very strong proof, moreover, that it was for good that the system we profess came to prevail at the same time that the empire of such happy commencement was established, is this: that ever since the reign of Augustus nothing unexpected has happened; but, on the contrary, everything has contributed to the splendor and renown of the empire, in accordance with the devout wishes of all. Nero and Domitian alone of all the emperors, imposed on by certain calumniators, have cared to bring any impeachment against our doctrines. They, too, are the source from which it has happened that the lying slanders on those who profess them have, in consequence of the senseless habit which prevails of taking things on hearsay, flowed down to our own times. But the course which they in their ignorance pursued was set aside by your pious progenitors, who frequently and in many instances rebuked by their rescripts those who dared to set on foot any hostilities against them. It appears, for example, that your grandfather Hadrian wrote, among others, to Fundanus, the proconsul then in charge of the government of Asia. Your father, too, when you yourself were associated with him in the administration of the empire, wrote to the cities, forbidding them to take any measures adverse to us: among the rest to the people of Larissa, and of Thessalonica, and of Athens, and, in short, to all the Greeks. And as regards yourself, seeing that your sentiments respecting the Christians are not only the same as theirs, but even much more generous and wise, we are the more persuaded that you will do all that we ask of you.”
“We are not those who pay homage to stones, that are without sensation; but of the only God, who is before all and over all, and, moreover, we are worshipers of His Christ, who is veritably God the Word existing before all time.”