Mockery about the mother of Jesus
I do not think I need contend with an argument put forward not in earnest but in mockery: “Was the mother of Jesus beautiful, then, and did God have intercourse with her because she was beautiful, though it is not his nature to love a perishable body?” Or that “it was not even likely that God would fall in love with her, since she was neither wealthy nor of royal birth; for no one knew her, not even her neighbours.” He is joking too when he says that “when she was hated by the carpenter and driven out, neither divine power nor persuasive speech saved her.” “These things, then,” he says, “have nothing to do with the kingdom of God.” How would such remarks differ from those of people who hurl abuse at others at the crossroads and say nothing worth serious attention?
Greek
Οὐ δοκεῖ μοι ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς λόγον, μὴ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀλλὰ μετὰ χλεύης εἰρημένον· εἰ ἄρα καλὴ ἦν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ὡς καλῇ αὐτῇ ἐμίγνυτο ὁ θεὸς, οὐ πεφυκὼς ἐρᾶν φθαρτοῦ σώματος; ἢ ὅτι οὐδ᾿ εἰκὸς ἦν ἐρασθήσεσθαι αὐτῆς τὸν θεὸν, οὔσης οὔτ᾿ εὐδαίμονος οὔτε βασιλικῆς, ἐπεὶ μηδεὶς αὐτὴν ᾔδει μηδὲ τῶν γειτόνων· παίζει δὲ λέγων καὶ ὅτι μισουμένην αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ τέκτονος καὶ ἐκβαλλομένην οὐκ ἔσωσε θεία δύναμις οὐδὲ λόγος πιστικός. οὐδὲν οὖν, φησὶ, ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασιλείαν. τί οὖν ταῦτα διαφέροι ἂν τῶν ἐν ταῖς τριόδοις λοιδορουμένων τισὶ καὶ οὐδὲν σπουδῆς ἄξιον λεγόντων;