To Autolycus 3.17 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Since the pagan poets themselves claimed divine teaching, much more should the Christians trust the Spirit-inspired prophets, whose predictions have been fulfilled, also on chronology.

Greek text · Otto 8:228–230

Δεῖ οὖν μᾶλλον μαθητὴν γενέσθαι τῆς νομοθεσίας τοῦ θεοῦ, καθὼς καὶ αὐτὸς ὡμολόγηκεν ἄλλως μὴ δύνασθαι τὸ ἀκριβὲς μαθεῖν, ἐὰν μὴ ὁ θεὸς διδάξῃ διὰ τοῦ νόμου. Τί δέ; Οὐχὶ καὶ οἱ ποιηταὶ Ὅμηρος καὶ Ἡσίοδος καὶ Ὀρφεὺς ἔφασαν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ θείας προνοίας μεμαθηκέναι; Ἔτι μὴν μάντεις καὶ προγνώστας γεγενῆσθαι κατὰ τοὺς συγγραφεῖς, καὶ τοὺς παρʼ αὐτῶν μαθόντας ἀκριβῶς συγγεγραφέναι φασίν. Πόσῳ οὖν μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς τὰ ἀληθῆ εἰσόμεθα, οἱ μανθάνοντες ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν, τῶν χωρησάντων τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ; Διὸ σύμφωνα καὶ φίλα ἀλλήλοις οἱ πάντες προφῆται εἶπον, καὶ προεκήρυξαν τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ. Τοὺς γὰρ φιλομαθεῖς μᾶλλον δὲ φιλαληθεῖς δύναται αὐτὴ ἡ ἔκβασις τῶν προαναπεφωνημένων πραγμάτων καὶ ἤδη ἀπηρτισμένων ἐκδιδάσκειν ὄντως ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὰ διʼ αὐτῶν κεκηρυγμένα περί τε χρόνων καὶ καιρῶν τῶν πρὸ κατακλυσμοῦ, ἀφʼ οὗ ἔκτισται ὁ κόσμος ἕως τοῦ δεῦρο, ὡς συνέστηκε τὰ ἔτη, εἰς τὸ ἐπιδεῖξαι τὴν φλυαρίαν τοῦ ψεύδους τῶν συγγραφέων, ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ ἐστιν τὰ διʼ αὐτῶν ῥηθέντα.

English · Claude translation

One must rather become a disciple of God's legislation, as Plato himself admitted that the exact truth cannot be learned otherwise, unless God teaches it through the law. And did not the poets Homer, Hesiod, and Orpheus say that they had learned from divine providence? Moreover, they say that according to the historians there were seers and foretellers, and that those who learned from them wrote accurately. How much more, then, shall we know the truth, who learn from the holy prophets, who received the Holy Spirit of God? That is why all the prophets spoke in agreement and friendship with one another, and proclaimed beforehand what would happen to the whole world. For the very fulfillment of the things foretold, which have already been accomplished, can teach those who love learning, or rather those who love the truth, that what the prophets proclaimed is truly true, including the times and seasons before the flood and the reckoning of the years from the creation of the world to the present day; and so it can show the nonsense and falsehood of the historians, and that what they said is not true.

About this passage

Source

Otto 8:228–230 · Johann Carl Theodor Otto, ed., Theophili episcopi Antiocheni ad Autolycum libri tres, Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 8 (Jena: Mauke, 1861) · Greek text: J. C. T. Otto, Theophili episcopi Antiocheni ad Autolycum libri tres (Corpus apologetarum Christianorum saeculi secundi 8, 1861), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Otto (1861); made independently of existing English translations.

Topics

Scripture and canon

Cite this passage

Theophilus, Autol. 3.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/17/).

Plain text

Theophilus, Autol. 3.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/3/17/).