The Second Apology

THE RECENT EVENTS IN YOUR CITY UNDER URBICUS: along with the similar unreasonable actions being carried out by governors everywhere, have compelled me to write this for your benefit. You are people of similar passions and brothers, even if you do not realize it or are unwilling to acknowledge it due to your pride in what you consider dignities. Everywhere, anyone who is corrected by a father, neighbor, child, friend, brother, husband, or wife for a fault—for being stubborn, for loving pleasure, and for being reluctant to do what is right (except for those who have been convinced that the unjust and intemperate will be punished in eternal fire, but those who are virtuous and live like Christ will dwell with God in a state free from suffering—we mean, those who have become Christians)—the evil demons, who hate us and keep such people under their control, incite them, as rulers driven by evil spirits, to put us to death. To make the reason for everything that has happened under Urbicus clear to you, I will explain what has occurred.

A certain woman lived with a heavy-drinking husband; she too had once been heavy-drinking. But when she learned the teachings of Christ, she became sober-minded and tried to persuade her husband to be temperate as well, citing the teachings of Christ and warning him of punishment in eternal fire for those who do not live temperately and rationally. However, her husband continued in his excesses, distancing her through his behavior. She considered it wicked to continue living as a wife with a husband who sought pleasure in ways contrary to natural and moral law and wanted a divorce. Though persuaded by friends to stay with him, believing he might change, she eventually gave up her own feelings and remained. But when her husband went to Alexandria and was reported to be acting worse, she, to avoid becoming a participant in his wickedness through marriage, gave him a bill of divorce and separated from him.

HOWEVER: her husband, instead of rejoicing that she had given up actions she once did with servants and indulging in drunkenness and vice and wanting him to do the same, accused her of being a Christian when she left without his consent. She presented a request to the Emperor, asking for permission to settle her affairs before defending against the accusation, which was granted. Unable to prosecute her, her husband targeted a man named Ptolemaeus, her teacher in Christian doctrines, with the help of a centurion who was friendly to him. The centurion took Ptolemaeus, interrogating him only on whether he was a Christian. Ptolemaeus, being truthful, confessed, was imprisoned, and later, when questioned by Urbicus, again affirmed his belief truthfully and was sentenced.

Lucius, another Christian, witnessing this unjust judgment, questioned Urbicus: “What cause is there for this judgment? Why punish a man not guilty of adultery, immorality, murder, theft, or any crime, but only for being called a Christian? This judgment does not reflect well on Emperor Pius, nor the philosopher, son of Caesar, nor the sacred senate.” Urbicus responded, “You seem to be like this man,” to which Lucius replied, “Most certainly I am,” and was ordered to be executed. Lucius gave thanks, knowing he was freed from wicked rulers and was going to the Father and King of the heavens. A third person also came forward and was sentenced to punishment.

THEREFORE: I too expect to be plotted against and condemned to punishment by some of those I have mentioned, or perhaps by Crescens, that lover of bravado and boasting. This man is not worthy of the name philosopher, as he publicly criticizes us on matters he does not understand, claiming that Christians are atheists and impious to gain favor with the misguided crowd and to please them. If he attacks us without having read the teachings of Christ, he is thoroughly depraved and far worse than the uneducated, who often refrain from discussing or bearing false witness about things they do not comprehend.

Or, if he has read them but does not understand their majesty, or understanding them, behaves this way to avoid being suspected of being a Christian, he is even more base and thoroughly depraved, overcome by irrational opinion and fear. I want you to know that I posed certain questions to him on this subject and interrogated him, finding conclusively that he indeed knows nothing. To prove that I speak the truth, I am ready, if these discussions have not been reported to you, to conduct them again in your presence.

This would be an act worthy of a leader.

But if my questions and his answers have been shared with you, you are already aware that he knows nothing of our matters. Or, if he knows them but, out of fear of those who might hear him, does not dare to speak out like Socrates, he proves himself, as I said before, no philosopher, but a man of opinions. At least he does not consider that Socratic and most admirable saying: “But a man must in no way be honored above the truth.” It is impossible for a Cynic, who makes indifference his goal, to know any good but indifference.

BUT IN CASE SOMEONE SAYS TO US: "Then why don't you all go and kill yourselves and go to God right now, and leave us alone," I will explain why we don't do that, and why, when questioned, we fearlessly confess. We have learned that God did not create the world without purpose, but for the sake of humanity; and we have previously stated that He delights in those who imitate His qualities and is displeased with those who embrace what is worthless, either in word or in action. If we all end our own lives, we would be responsible, as far as it depends on us, for preventing anyone from being born, from learning divine teachings, or even for the human race ceasing to exist; and by doing so, we would be acting against the will of God. However, when we are questioned, we do not deny this, because we are not aware of any wrongdoing and believe it is wrong not to speak the truth in all matters, which we also know is pleasing to God, and because we strongly wish to free you from an unjust bias.

If someone thinks that acknowledging God as our helper means we shouldn’t be oppressed and persecuted by the wicked, I will address this as well. When God created the world, He gave humans dominion over earthly things and arranged the heavenly elements for the growth of food and the changing seasons. He established this divine law and created these things for humanity, placing angels in charge of caring for people and everything under heaven. However, the angels violated this role, became infatuated with women, and had children, who are known as demons. They then enslaved the human race, partly through magical writings, partly through instilling fear and inducing punishments, and partly by teaching people to offer sacrifices, incense, and libations, which they desired after being overcome by lustful passions. Among humanity, they spread murders, wars, adulteries, excessive deeds, and all forms of wickedness. As a result, poets and mythologists, unaware that it was the angels and demons born from them responsible for these actions against individuals, cities, and nations, mistakenly attributed them to god himself and those considered his true descendants, as well as to those called his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, and their descendants. Whatever names the angels had given themselves and their children, the people used those names for them.

BUT TO THE FATHER OF ALL: who is unbegotten, no name is given. For whatever name He is called by, the one who gives Him the name is considered older. Words like Father, God, Creator, Lord, and Master are not names but titles derived from His deeds and roles. His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, was with Him and was begotten before creation, used by Him to create and organize all things. He is called Christ, referring to His anointing and God's ordering all through Him, though this name holds an unknown significance; just as the title "God" is not a name but a belief ingrained in human nature about something that is difficult to explain. However, "Jesus," His name as both man and Saviour, holds significance too. He became man, as mentioned earlier, conceived according to the will of God the Father, for the sake of believers and to vanquish demons. You can observe this yourself: countless demoniacs worldwide, including in your city, are healed by many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate. They successfully render the possessing devils powerless and expel them from people, even when all other exorcists using incantations and drugs could not cure them.

GOD DELAYS BRINGING CONFUSION AND DESTRUCTION TO THE WHOLE WORLD: where wicked angels, demons, and humans will cease to exist, because of the presence of Christians. They are the reason for preservation in the world. If this weren't the case, you would not be able to do these things or be driven by evil spirits; the fire of judgment would come down and destroy everything, much like the flood that spared only Noah and his family, whom you call Deucalion.

From them, many have descended, some evil and others good. We believe there will be a great fire, but unlike the Stoics, we do not believe everything changes into one another, which we find degrading. We also do not believe that fate controls human actions or suffering, but that each person, through free will, chooses to act rightly or sin. Wicked demons cause earnest men like Socrates to suffer persecution and bondage, while people like Sardanapalus and Epicurus seem to prosper in wealth and glory.

The Stoics, not noticing this, claim everything happens due to the necessity of fate.

But God created angels and humans with free will from the beginning, so they rightly suffer eternal fire for their sins. Everything created has the potential for vice and virtue, for nothing is praiseworthy unless there is the ability to choose between them. This is evident from everyone who has made laws or philosophized according to right reason, by commanding some actions and prohibiting others. Even the Stoic philosophers, in their moral teachings, honor the same values, showing they are not very consistent in their principles and incorporeal matters.

If they claim human actions happen by fate, they imply either that God is merely things constantly changing, and dissolving, focusing only on destructible things, and seeing God as part of every wickedness; or that vice and virtue are nothing, which contradicts every sound idea, reason, and sense.

THE STOICS: who had admirable moral teachings similar to some aspects of the poets, due to the seed of reason [the Logos] present in all humanity, were, as we know, hated and persecuted—such as Heraclitus, and in our own era, Musonius and others. This is because, as we suggested, the devils have always ensured that all those who live a reasonable and earnest life and avoid vice are hated. And it is no surprise that the devils cause even greater hatred for those who live not just by a part of the word dispersed among people, but by understanding and contemplating the entire Word, which is Christ. These devils will suffer just punishment in eternal fire. If they are currently being defeated by people through the name of Jesus Christ, it indicates the punishment in eternal fire that awaits them and their followers. This was foretold by all the prophets and was also taught by our teacher, Jesus.

TO ENSURE THAT NO ONE ACCUSES US: as some so-called philosophers do, of using grandiose threats by claiming that the wicked are punished in eternal fire, or that we encourage virtuous living out of fear rather than because it is intrinsically good and pleasant, I will briefly respond: if this is not true, then either God does not exist or, if He does, He does not care for humanity. In that case, neither virtue nor vice would matter, and, as we have previously mentioned, lawgivers would unjustly punish those who violate good commandments. But since these punishments are not unjust and their Father instructs them through the word to act as He does, those who align with them are not unjust. If someone objects that human laws vary and says that some regard a particular act as good while others consider it evil, and vice versa, they should listen to this. We understand that the wicked angels established laws that mirror their own wickedness, and people similar to them revel in these laws. The right Reason, when He appeared, showed that not all opinions or doctrines are good, but some are evil while others are good. Therefore, I will speak about these and similar matters to such individuals and, if necessary, will discuss them in greater detail. But for now, I will return to the original topic.

OUR TEACHINGS ARE GREATER THAN ALL HUMAN TEACHINGS BECAUSE CHRIST: who appeared for our benefit, became the complete rational being, encompassing body, reason, and soul. Whatever lawgivers or philosophers said well, they developed by discovering and contemplating part of the Word.

But since they did not know the entirety of the Word, which is Christ, they often contradicted themselves. Those born before Christ, who tried to understand and prove things through reason, were judged as impious and meddlesome. Socrates, more passionate about this than anyone, was accused of the same crimes as us.

He was said to introduce new divinities and not recognize the gods sanctioned by the state. He expelled Homer and other poets from the state and taught others to reject the wicked demons and those involved in actions described by the poets. He encouraged them to know the God unknown to them through rational exploration, saying, "It is not easy to find the Father and Maker of all, and once found, it is not safe to reveal Him to everyone." However, our Christ accomplished these things through His own power.

No one trusted Socrates enough to die for his doctrine, but Christ—partially known even to Socrates, as He was and is the Word within every person and foretold events both through prophets and in His own life—was believed in not only by philosophers and scholars but also by craftsmen and completely uneducated people. They disregarded glory, fear, and death because He is a power of the ineffable Father, not merely a tool of human reason.

BUT NEITHER SHOULD WE BE PUT TO DEATH: nor would wicked men and devils be more powerful than us, if death wasn't a debt owed by every person who is born.

Therefore, we give thanks when we pay this debt. And we consider it right and fitting to recount here, for the sake of Crescens and those who rave like he does, what Xenophon relates. Hercules, Xenophon says, came to a place where three roads met and encountered Virtue and Vice, who appeared to him as women: Vice, in a luxurious dress with a seductive expression enhanced by her adornments, and her eyes full of immediate tenderness, told Hercules that if he followed her, she would always ensure he lived a life of pleasure adorned with the finest ornaments like those on her own person; and Virtue, who looked shabby and poorly dressed, said, "But if you obey me, you will adorn yourself not with passing ornaments or beauty, but with everlasting and precious graces." And we are convinced that everyone who avoids things that seem good and earnestly pursues what seems difficult and strange achieves blessedness.

For Vice, by mimicking what is incorruptible (since she neither has nor can create what is truly incorruptible), disguises her actions with the qualities of virtue and what is truly excellent, leading astray earthly-minded people by attaching her evil qualities to Virtue.

But those who understand the true excellences are also incorrupt in virtue. And every sensible person should think this of both Christians and athletes, and of those who did what poets say about the so-called gods, concluding this from our disdain for death, even when it could be avoided.

I TOO: when I was enjoying Plato's teachings and heard Christians being slandered and saw them unafraid of death and other things considered terrifying, realized that they could not be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what indulgent or intemperate person, or someone who finds it good to feast on human flesh, would welcome death and give up their pleasures instead of trying to escape notice and prolong their life? Moreover, why would they confess to actions that would lead to death? This is also caused by wicked demons through evil people.

Some have been executed due to false accusations against us, and even children and weak women among our servants were tortured to confess to fabricated actions that the accusers themselves commit openly. We worry less about this because none of these actions are ours, and the unbegotten and ineffable God witnesses our thoughts and deeds. Why haven’t we publicly declared these actions as ideals and claimed them as divine philosophy if they were ours? Could we not say that the mysteries of Saturn are fulfilled when we kill a man, and that drinking blood, as we’re accused of doing, mirrors your own rituals before the idol you honor, which are sprinkled with the blood of both animals and humans, offered by your most noble leaders? And in copying Jupiter and the other gods in shameless acts, could we not use the writings of Epicurus and poets as our defense? But as we encourage people to avoid such teachings and those who practice and imitate them, as we attempt to persuade you now in this discourse, we face all sorts of attacks.

Yet, we are not worried, knowing that God is a just observer of all. Oh, how we wish someone would stand on a high platform and loudly declare: “Shame on you who accuse the innocent of deeds you openly commit, and attribute your own sins and those of your gods to people who don’t even sympathize with them. Turn back; become wise.”

WHEN I DISCOVERED THE WICKED DISGUISE THE EVIL SPIRITS HAD PLACED UPON THE DIVINE DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIANS TO DETER OTHERS FROM JOINING THEM: I laughed at both those who created these falsehoods and at the disguise itself, as well as at popular opinion. I admit that I proudly and wholeheartedly strive to be recognized as a Christian; not because Plato's teachings are entirely different from those of Christ, but because they are not completely alike, just as those of the Stoics, poets, and historians are not. Each person spoke well according to the portion of the divine word they possessed, understanding what was related to it. However, those who contradict themselves on the more important points seem not to have possessed heavenly wisdom and the indisputable knowledge. Whatever truths were rightly expressed among all people belong to us Christians. For next to God, we worship and love the Word who comes from the unbegotten and indescribable God, since He also became man for our sake, so that by sharing in our sufferings, He might bring us healing. All writers were able to perceive realities dimly through the presence of the implanted word within them. The seed and imitation granted according to capacity is one thing, and the actual thing, of which there is participation and imitation according to the grace from Him, is quite another.

WE THEREFORE PRAY YOU TO PUBLISH THIS LITTLE BOOK: adding what you think appropriate, so that our opinions may be known to others, and these individuals may have a fair chance of being freed from erroneous notions and ignorance of good, who by their own fault have become subject to punishment. This is because it is in human nature to know good and evil. By condemning us, whom they do not understand, for actions they claim are wicked, and by delighting in the gods who did such things and still demand similar actions from humans, and by inflicting on us death, imprisonment, or other such punishment, as if we were guilty of these things, they condemn themselves, so that there is no need for other judges.

AND I DESPISED THE WICKED AND DECEITFUL DOCTRINE OF SIMON FROM MY OWN PEOPLE: If you give authority to this book, we will expose him to everyone, so that, if possible, they may be converted. This is the sole reason we wrote this treatise. Our doctrines are not shameful, according to a sober judgment, but indeed more lofty than all human philosophy. And if not, they are at least unlike the doctrines of the Sotadists, Philænidians, Dancers, Epicureans, and other such teachings of the poets, which everyone is allowed to become familiar with both as performed and as written. From now on, we shall be silent, having done as much as we could and adding the prayer that all people everywhere may be deemed worthy of the truth. And would that you also, in a manner fitting for piety and philosophy, judge justly for your own sakes!