Read continuously That There is No Idol in the World · §1 · Gregory Thaumaturgus
Two directions of honor
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The work opens with a general statement about honor given to the God who truly is versus honor given to a god who does not exist.
Honor directed toward the God who truly is, is surely, I suppose, itself an honor to the one who gives it. But honor directed toward the god who does not exist is, in reverse, dishonor to the one who gives it.
Greek ἡ μὲν εἰς θεὸν τὸν ὄντως ὄντα τιμὴ πάντως που καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τιμῶντός ἐστι τιμή, ἡ δὲ εἰς τὸν οὐκ ὄντα θεὸν τιμὴ ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτοῦ τοῦ τιμῶντός ἐστιν ἀτιμία.
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About this text Gregory Thaumaturgus, short Greek scrap on true honor versus honor of what is not God.
Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) was a Christian bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus. He studied under Origen in Caesarea and later devoted himself to Christianizing his largely pagan home region. This short treatise is one of his surviving theological writings, preserved in an incomplete state.
The work addresses the difference between honoring the God who truly exists and honoring a god who does not exist.
A reader will meet two kinds of honor. Honor directed toward the God who truly exists is itself an honor to the one who gives it. Honor directed toward a god who does not exist becomes, in reverse, dishonor to the one who gives it. The key terms are honor, dishonor, and a god who does not exist.
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