Why a cleansing coming is not absurd
Next, he brings on stage, on one side, Jews who explain the reason for the coming of Christ, a coming that in their view still lies in the future, and on the other side, Christians who speak of the coming of the Son of God into human life as something that has already taken place. Come, then, let us look into these points too, as briefly as we can.
The Jews in his book say that human life, filled with every kind of wickedness, needs one sent down from God, so that the unjust may be punished and all things purified, as in the first flood (compare Genesis 6:11–13; Genesis 7:21–23). And since the Christians too are said to add other things to these, it is plain that he says these things are said by them as well.
And what is absurd in this, that when wickedness has overflowed, one will come who will cleanse the world and deal with each according to what each deserves? For it does not befit God to leave the spread of wickedness unchecked and not to renew the order of things. The Greeks, too, know of the earth being cleansed at set periods by flood or by fire, as Plato also says somewhere: “Whenever the gods cleanse the earth with waters and flood it, those in the mountains…” (Plato, Timaeus 22d), and the rest.
We must ask, then: if the Greeks say these things, is what they proclaim solemn and worth a hearing, but if we too argue for some of these very things that the Greeks praise, are these doctrines no longer good? And yet those who are concerned with setting out clearly and exactly all that has been written will try to show not only the antiquity of those who wrote these things, but also the dignity of what they said and its consistency.
Greek
Εἶτ᾿ ἐπεὶ προσωποποιεῖ ἰδίᾳ μὲν Ἰουδαίους αἰτιολογοῦντας τὴν κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς μέλλουσαν Χριστοῦ ἐπιδημίαν ἰδίᾳ δὲ Χριστιανοὺς λέγοντας περὶ τῆς ἤδη γεγενημένης ἐπιδημίας εἰς τὸν βίον τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ· φέρε καὶ ταῦτα, ὡς οἷόν τε ἐστὶ, διὰ βραχέων κατανοήσωμεν. Ἰουδαῖοι δὴ παρ᾿ αὐτῷ λέγουσι πληρωθέντα τὸν βίον πάσης κακίας δεῖσθαι τοῦ καταπεμπομένου ἀπὸ θεοῦ, ἵν᾿ οἱ μὲν ἄδικοι κολασθῶσι, τὰ δὲ πάντα καθαρθῇ ἀνάλογον τῷ πρώτῳ συμβάντι κατακλυσμῷ. ἐπεὶ δὲ λέγονται καὶ Χριστιανοὶ τούτοις προστιθέναι ἕτερα. δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τούτοις φησὶ ταῦτα λέγεσθαι. καὶ τί ἄτοπον ἐπὶ τῇ χύσει τῆς κακίας ἐπιδημήσειν τὸν ἀποκαθαροῦντα τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἑκάστῳ κατ᾿ ἀξίαν χρησόμενον; οὐ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν θεὸν ἐστι μὴ στῆσαι τὴν τῆς κακίας νομὴν καὶ ἀνακαινῶσαι τὰ πράγματα. ἴσασι δὲ καὶ Ἕλληνες κατακλυσμῷ ἢ πυρὶ τὴν γῆν κατὰ περιόδους καθαιρομένην. ὡς καὶ Πλάτων που οὕτω λέγει· „ὅταν δ᾿ οἱ θεοὶ τὴν γῆν ὕδασι καθαίροντες κατακλύζωσιν, οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. λεκτέον οὖν ὅτι ἆρ᾿ ἐὰν μὲν ἐκεῖνοι ταῦτα φάσκωσι, σεμνά ἐστι καὶ λόγου ἄξια τὰ ἐπαγγελλόμενα, ἐὰν δ᾿ ἡμεῖς τάδε τινὰ ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ἐπαινούμενα καὶ αὐτοὶ κατασκευάζωμεν, οὐκέτι καλά ἐστι ταῦτα δόγματα; καίτοι γε οἷς μέλει τῆς πάντων γεγραμμένων διαρθρώσεως καὶ ἀκριβείας πειράσονται δεικνύναι οὐ μόνον τὴν ἀρχαιότητα τῶν ταῦτα γραψάντων ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν σεμνότητα τῶν λελεγμένων καὶ τὸ ἀκόλουθον αὐτοῖς.