A Plea for the Christians 7

Since, then, it is agreed by nearly all, even against their will, when they come to the first principles of things, that the divine is one, and we for our part affirm that the one who ordered this universe is God, what is the reason that others may freely say and write whatever they like about the divine, while a law is laid down against us, who are able to prove by signs and arguments of truth what we understand and rightly believe, that God is one? Poets and philosophers approached this, as they did other matters, by conjecture: each was moved, through the affinity of his own soul with the breath that comes from God, to seek whether he could find and understand the truth. But they were able only to circle around it, not to find it, since they did not think fit to learn about God from God, but each from himself; that is why each of them taught something different about God, matter, forms, and the world. But for what we understand and believe we have the prophets as witnesses, who spoke out by a divine Spirit about God and the things of God. You too, who surpass others in intelligence and in reverence for what is truly divine, would say that it is irrational to give up believing the Spirit from God, who moved the mouths of the prophets like instruments, and to heed human opinions instead.