"Be well assured, then, Trypho," I
continued, "that I am established in the knowledge of and faith in the
Scriptures by those counterfeits which he who is called the devil is said to
have performed among the Greeks; just as some were wrought by the Magi in
Egypt, and others by the false prophets in Elijah's days. For when they tell
that Bacchus, son of Jupiter, was begotten by [Jupiter's] intercourse with
Semele, and that he was the discoverer of the vine; and when they relate, that
being torn in pieces, and having died, he rose again, and ascended to heaven;
and when they introduce wine into his mysteries, do I not perceive that [the
devil] has imitated the prophecy announced by the patriarch Jacob, and recorded
by Moses? And when they tell that Hercules was strong, and traveled over all
the world, and was begotten by Jove of Alcmene, and ascended to heaven when he
died, do I not perceive that the Scripture which speaks of Christ, `strong as a
giant to run his race, ‘has been in like manner imitated? And when he [the
devil] brings forward Aesculapius as the raiser of the dead and healer of all
diseases, may I not say that in this matter likewise he has imitated the
prophecies about Christ? But since I have not quoted to you such Scripture as
tells that Christ will do these things, I must necessarily remind you of one
such: from which you can understand, how that to those destitute of a knowledge
of God, I mean the Gentiles, who, `having eyes, saw not, and having a heart,
understood not, 'worshipping the images of wood, [how even to them] Scripture
prophesied that they would renounce these [vanities], and hope in this
Christ.It is thus written:
|
`Rejoice, thirsty wilderness: let the wilderness be glad, and blossom as the
lily: the deserts of the Jordan shall both blossom and be glad: and the glory
of Lebanon was given to it, and the honour of Carmel. And my people shall see
the exaltation of the Lord, and the glory of God. Be strong, ye careless hands
and enfeebled knees. Be comforted, ye faint in soul: be strong, fear not.
Behold, our God gives, and will give, retributive judgment. He shall come and
save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf
shall hear. Then the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the
stammerers shall be distinct: for water has broken forth in the wilderness, and
a valley in the thirsty land; and the parched ground shall become pools, and a
spring of water shall [rise up] in the thirsty land. The spring of living water which gushed forth from God in the
land destitute of the knowledge of God, namely the land of the Gentiles, was
this Christ, who also appeared in your nation, and healed those who were
maimed, and deaf, and lame in body from their birth, causing them to leap, to
hear, and to see, by His word. And having raised the dead, and causing them to
live, by His deeds He compelled the men who lived at that time to recognize
Him. But though they saw such works, they asserted it was magical art. For they
dared to call Him a magician, and a deceiver of the people. Yet He wrought such
works, and persuaded those who were [destined to] believe on Him; for even if
any one be labouring under a defect of body, yet be an observer of the
doctrines delivered by Him, He shall raise him up at His second advent
perfectly sound, after He has made him immortal, and incorruptible, and free
from grief.
|
