On the Sole Government of God
Chapter 6: We Should Acknowledge Only One God
Here is proof of virtue and a mind that loves prudence: to return to the communion of unity and attach oneself to prudence for salvation, choosing the better things according to the free will given to humans; and to not believe that those who possess human passions are masters of all, as they do not seem to have even equal power with people. For in Homer, Demodocus claims he is self-taught—“God inspired me with strains.”
Even though he is mortal, Æsculapius and Apollo are taught to heal by Chiron the Centaur—a very unusual thing indeed, for gods to be taught by a man. Why do I need to mention Bacchus, who the poet says is mad? Or Hercules, who he says is unhappy? Why speak of Mars and Venus, the leaders of adultery, and use all these to establish the case at hand? For if someone, unknowingly, should imitate the deeds that are said to be divine, he would be considered among impure men and a stranger to life and humanity; and if anyone does so knowingly, he will have a plausible excuse for avoiding punishment, by arguing that imitating godlike deeds of audacity is no sin. But if anyone should criticize these deeds, they will strip away their well-known names and not conceal them with misleading and convincing words. It is necessary, then, to accept the true and unchanging Name, not just proclaimed by my words, but by those who have introduced us to the basics of learning, so that we do not, by living idly in this present existence—not only as those who are ignorant of the heavenly glory, but also as having shown ourselves ungrateful—render our account to the Judge.