Dialogue with Trypho

"And he said, 'Do you know me?'"

"I replied no."

"‘Why, then,’ he said to me, ‘do you look at me like that?’"

"I am astonished," I said, "because you happened to be in my company in the same place; for I had not expected to see anyone here."

"And he says to me, 'I am concerned about some of my household. They have gone away from me, and so I have come to personally search for them, if perhaps they might appear somewhere. But why are you here?' he asked me."

"I delight," I said, "in such walks, where my attention isn't distracted, because conversation with myself is uninterrupted; and such places are most suitable for philology."

"‘Are you, then, a philologian,’ he said, ‘but not a lover of deeds or truth? And do you not aim at being a practical man as much as being a sophist?’"

"What greater task," I said, "could one accomplish than to demonstrate the reason that governs everything, and, once grasped, to rise above the errors and pursuits of others? Without philosophy and right reason, no person would possess prudence. Therefore, it is necessary for everyone to engage in philosophy and consider it the greatest and most honorable work; other things should be regarded as of lesser importance. However, if these things depend on philosophy, they have moderate value and are worthy of acceptance; without it, and not aligned with it, they are common and crude to those who pursue them."

"‘Does philosophy, then, create happiness?’ he said, interrupting."

"Certainly," I said, "and it alone."

"What, then, is philosophy?" he asks, "and what is happiness? Please tell me, unless something stops you from saying."

"‘Philosophy,’ I said, ‘is knowing what truly exists and having a clear understanding of the truth, and happiness is the reward of such knowledge and wisdom.’"

"'But what do you call God?' he said."

"‘That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner, and is the cause of all other things—that, indeed, is God.’ So I answered him; and he listened to me with pleasure, and then again questioned me:"

"Isn't knowledge a term used for various subjects? In all kinds of arts, someone who understands any one of them is considered skilled in the art of leadership, governance, or healing equally. But in divine and human affairs, it is different. Is there a knowledge that provides understanding of both human and divine matters, and then a deep familiarity with the divinity and righteousness of these things?"

"‘Assuredly,’ I replied."

"What, then? Is it in the same way we know man and God, as we know music, arithmetic, astronomy, or any other similar field?"

"‘By no means,’ I replied."

"You have not answered me correctly, then," he said, "for some branches of knowledge come to us through learning or employment, while we know others by sight. Now, if someone were to tell you that there exists in India an animal with a nature unlike all others, but of such and such a kind, diverse and varied, you would not know it before you saw it; nor would you be able to give any account of it unless you heard from someone who had seen it."

"‘Definitely not,’ I said."

"‘How then,’ he said, ‘can the philosophers judge correctly about God, or speak any truth, when they have no knowledge of Him, having neither seen Him at any time, nor heard Him?’"

"But, father," I said, "the Deity can't be seen just by the eyes, like other living beings can, but is understood by the mind alone, as Plato says; and I believe him."