God’s people are to shine like the stars, not worship them
But if we, who refuse to worship angels and the sun, the moon and the stars alike, must make a defence for not worshipping even those whom the Greeks call visible and perceptible gods, we will say that the law of Moses also knows that these were allotted by God “to all the nations under heaven” (Deuteronomy 4:19), but not to those who were taken as God’s chosen portion out of all the nations on earth. It is written, at any rate, in Deuteronomy: “And do not, when you look up to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the array of heaven, be led astray and worship them and serve them, things which the Lord your God allotted to all the nations under the whole heaven. But the Lord God took us and brought us out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as on this day” (Deuteronomy 4:19–20).
So then the Hebrew people, called by God to be “a chosen race” and “a royal priesthood” and “a holy nation” and “a people for his possession” (1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:6), the people about whom it had been foretold to Abraham by the voice of the Lord speaking to him, “Look up to heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And he said to him: So shall your offspring be” (Genesis 15:5), this people, having the hope of becoming like the stars in heaven, was not going to worship those whom they were to resemble through understanding and keeping the law of God. For it has been said to them: “The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today like the stars of heaven in number” (Deuteronomy 1:10). And in Daniel also such things are prophesied about the resurrection: “And at that time your people shall be saved, everyone who is written in the book; and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting shame; and those who understand shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and from among the many righteous, like the stars, for ever and beyond” (Daniel 12:1–3). From this Paul too takes his point when, speaking of the resurrection, he says: “There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:40–42).
It was not reasonable, then, that those who had been taught to rise with greatness of soul above all created things, and to hope from God for the best things for themselves in return for the noblest life; who had heard the words “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16); who train themselves to possess Wisdom, “bright and unfading” (Wisdom of Solomon 6:12), or have already received that Wisdom, which is “the radiance of eternal light” (Wisdom of Solomon 7:26), should be so struck with awe at the perceptible light of the sun and the moon and the stars that, because of that perceptible light of theirs, they should think themselves somewhere beneath them, though they possess so great an intelligible light of knowledge, and “the true light” (John 1:9), and “the light of the world” (John 8:12), and “the light of men” (John 1:4), and that they should worship those bodies.
If those bodies ought to be worshipped at all, they ought to be worshipped not for the perceptible light admired by the many but for their intelligible and true light, if indeed the stars in heaven are also rational and virtuous living beings and have been enlightened with the light of knowledge by Wisdom, which is “the radiance of eternal light” (Wisdom of Solomon 7:26). For their perceptible light is the work of the Creator of all things, while their intelligible light is perhaps also their own, having come from the free will within them.
Greek
Εἰ δὲ χρὴ ἀπολογήσασθαι ἡμᾶς, ἐπ᾿ ἴσης μὴ προσκυνοῦντας ἀγγέλους καὶ ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην καὶ ἄστρα, περὶ τοῦ μηδὲ τοὺς λεγομένους ὑφ᾿ Ἑλλήνων ἐμφανεῖς θεοὺς καὶ αἰσθητοὺς προσκυνεῖν, φήσομεν ὅτι καὶ ὁ Μωϋσέως νόμος ἐπίσταται τούτους ἀπονεμηθέντας μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ „πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ“ οὐκέτι δὲ καὶ τοῖς εἰς ἐξαίρετον μερίδα ληφθεῖσι τῷ θεῷ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ἔθνη. γέγραπται γοῦν ἐν Δευτερονομίῳ· „καὶ μή ποτε ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀ στέρας, πάντα τὸν κόσμον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, πλανηθεὶς προσκυνήσῃς αὐτοῖς καὶ λατρεύσῃς αὐτοῖς, α ἀπένειμε κύριος ὁ θεός σου πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι τοῖς ὑποκάτω παντὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ. ἡμᾶς δ᾿ ἔλαβε κύριος ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἐξήγαγεν ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῆς καμίνου τῆς σιδηρᾶς, ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, εἶναι λαὸν αὐτῷ ἔγκληρον ὡς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ.“ „γένος“ τοίνυν „ἐκλεκτὸν“ καὶ „βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα“ καὶ „ἔθνος ἅγιον“ καὶ „λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν“ κληθέντες ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἶναι ὁ Ἑβραίων λαὸς, περὶ ου τῷ Ἀβραὰμ προείρητο ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν τοῦ κυρίου φωνῆς· „ἀνάβλεψον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ ἀρίθμησον τοὺς ἀστέρας, εἰ δυνήσῃ ἐξαριθμῆσαι αὐτούς. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· οὕτως. ἔσται τὸ σπέρμα σου,“ οὐκ ἔμελλε τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχων οὕτω γενέσθαι ὡς οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀστέρες προσκυνεῖν ἐκείνους, οἷς ἐκ τοῦ συνιέναι καὶ τηρεῖν τὸν νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐξομοιοῦσθαι ἔμελλον. καὶ γὰρ λέλεκται πρὸς αὐτούς· „κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν ἐπλήθυνεν ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἰδού ἐστε σήμερον ὡσεὶ τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ πλήθει.“ καὶ ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ δὲ προφητεύεται τοιαῦτα περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν· „καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ σωθήσεται ὁ λαός σου πᾶς ὁ γεγραμμένος ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ· καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν καθευδόντων ἐν γῆς χώματι ἐξεγερθήσονται, οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ οὗτοι εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον· καὶ οἱ συνιέντες ἐκλάμψουσιν ὡς ἡ λαμπρότης τοῦ στερεώματος, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν δικαίων τῶν πολλῶν ὡς οἱ ἀστέρες εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας καὶ ἔτι.“ ὅθεν καὶ ὁ Παῦλος λαβὼν ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἀναστάσεώς φησι· „καὶ σώματα ἐπουράνια καὶ σώματα ἐπίγεια· ἀλλ᾿ ἑτέρα μὲν ἡ τῶν ἐπουρανίων δόξα, ἑτέρα δὲ ἡ τῶν ἐπιγείων. ἄλλη δόξα ἡλίου, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα σελήνης, καὶ ἄλλη δόξα ἀστέρων· ἀστὴρ γὰρ ἀστέρος διαφέρει ἐν δόξῃ. οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκρῶν.“ οὐ τοίνυν ἦν εὔλογον τοὺς διδαχθέντας μεγαλοφυῶς ὑπεραναβαίνειν πάντα τὰ δημιουργήματα καὶ ἐλπίζειν τὰ ἄριστα περὶ αὐτῶν παρὰ τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τῷ καλλίστῳ βίῳ καὶ ἀκούσαντας τὸ „ὑμεῖς ἐστε τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου“ καὶ τὸ „λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσι τὰ καλὰ ὑμῶν ἔργα καὶ δοξάσωσι τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς,“ ἀσκοῦντας ἔχειν τὴν λαμπρὰν καὶ ἀμάραντον σοφίαν ἢ καὶ ἀνειληφότας αὐτὴν οὖσαν „ἀπαύγασμα“ „φωτὸς ἀϊδίου,“ καταπλαγῆναι τὸ αἰσθητὸν ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ ἄστρων φῶς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε διὰ τὸ αἰσθητὸν φῶς ἐκείνων νομίσαι ἑαυτοὺς κάτω που εἶναι, ἔχοντας τηλικοῦτον νοητὸν γνώσεως φῶς καὶ „φῶς ἀληθινὸν“ καὶ „φῶς τοῦ κόσμου“ καὶ „φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων,“ κἀκείνοις προσκυνῆσαι· οὓς εἰ ἄρα προσκυνεῖσθαι ἐχρῆν. οὐ διὰ τὸ θαυμαζόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν αἰσθητὸν φῶς ἐχρῆν προσκυνεῖσθαι ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ νοητὸν καὶ ἀληθινὸν, εἴπερ καὶ οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀστέρες ζῷά εἰσι λογικὰ καὶ σπουδαῖα καὶ ἐφωτίσθησαν τῷ φωτὶ τῆς γνώσεως ὑπὸ τῆς σοφίας, ἥτις ἐστὶν „ἀπαύγασμα“ „φωτὸς ἀϊδίου.“ καὶ γὰρ τὸ μὲν αἰσθητὸν φῶς αὐτῶν ἔργον ἐστὶ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ· τὸ δὲ νοητὸν τάχα καὶ αὐτῶν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐν αὐτοῖς αὐτεξουσίου ἐληλυθός.