God
There is one God, who made heaven and earth and all that is in them, not a lesser maker or a pair of rival gods.
Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.
4 of the 4 writers here teach: “One God made all things from nothing.” They answer a rival view: “Another god besides the Creator made the world.”
teaches it partly rejects it later writer, summary only
One God made all things from nothing4 teach
Another god besides the Creator made the world1 reject
He created, arranged, and made all things out of nothing, and He contains all things while He alone is uncontainable. Therefore, believe in Him and fear Him; once you have feared Him, exercise self-control.
Πρῶτον πάντων πίστευσον, ὅτι εἷς ἐστὶν ὁ θεός, ὁ τὰ πάντα κτίσας καὶ καταρτίσας καὶ ποιήσας ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι τὰ πάντα καὶ πάντα χωρῶν, μόνος δὲ ἀχώρητος ὤν. πίστευσον οὖν αὐτῷ καὶ φοβήθητι αὐτόν, φοβηθεὶς δὲ ἐγκράτευσαι.
People call us atheists, but we are not; we revere the Creator of this whole universe, who stands in no need of blood, libations, or incense. As we have been taught, we honor Him with the word of prayer and thanksgiving over whatever we are able to offer, praising Him because we have received this alone as the honor…
Ἄθεοι μὲν οὖν ὡς οὔκ ἐσμεν, τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς σεβόμενοι, ἀνενδεῆ αἱμάτων καὶ σπονδῶν καὶ θυμιαμάτων, ὡς ἐδιδάχθημεν, λέγοντες, λόγῳ εὐχῆς καὶ εὐχαριστίας ἐφ᾿ οἷς προσφερόμεθα πᾶσιν, ὅση δύναμις, αἰνοῦντες, μόνην ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ τιμὴν ταύτην παραλαβόντες, τὸ τὰ ὑπ᾿…
He denies the Creator God of all things in heaven and on earth, and he denies the Christ, the Son of God, who was proclaimed through the prophets. Instead he now teaches and proclaims another god besides the Creator of all, and similarly another son.
Καὶ Μαρκίωνα δὲ τὸν ἀπὸ Πόντου, ἁ ς προέφημεν, προεβάλλοντο οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες, ὃς ἀρνεῖσθαι μὲν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν οὐρανίων καὶ γηΐνων ἁπάντων θεὸν καὶ τὸν προκηρυχθέντα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν Χριστὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ νῦν διδάσκει, ἄλλον δέ τινα καταγγέλλει παρὰ τὸν δημιουργὸν τῶν πάντων…
Why, men of Greece, do you want to crash your cities against us like fistfighters? If I refuse to follow certain laws, why have I been hated as the most defiled? When the king commands taxes, I am ready to pay.
Διὰ τί γάρ, ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, ὥσπερ ἐν πυγμῇ συγκρούειν βούλεσθε τὰς πολιτείας καθ᾿ ἡμῶν; Καὶ εἰ μὴ τοῖς τινῶν νομίμοις συγχρῆσθαι βούλομαι, τίνος χάριν καθάπερ μιαρώτατος μεμίσημαι; Προστάττει φόρους τελεῖν ὁ βασιλεύς; Ἕτοιμος παρέχειν.
Yet we distinguish God from matter, showing that matter is one thing and God another, with a great gulf between them: the divine is uncreated and eternal, perceived only by mind and reason, while matter is created and perishable.
Ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἄθεοι· πρὸς ἓν ἕκαστον ἀπαντήσω τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, μὴ καὶ γελοῖον ᾖ τοὺς λέγοντας μὴ ἐλέγχειν· Διαγόρᾳ μὲν γὰρ εἰκότως ἀθεότητα ἐπεκάλουν Ἀθηναῖοι, μὴ μόνον τὸν Ὀρφικὸν εἰς μέσον κατατιθέντι λόγον καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι καὶ τὰ τῶν Καβείρων δημεύοντι μυστήρια καὶ τὸ…