Tfhio - JScholarship - Johns Hopkins University

APOLOGETICVS 46, 47 131
Nor does the Christian change the female sex [i.e. the
natural use of the woman]. I know the harlot Phryne
ministered' to the lustful embraces of Diogenes. I am informed
too that a certain Speusippus of Plato's school died
in the act of adultery. A Christian remembers his sex when
thinking of his wife alone. Democritus, by bhnding himself
because he could not look on women without lust and was
pained if he did not possess them, declares his incontinency
by his attempted cure. But the Christian, though he preserve
his sight, sees no women, because he is bhnded against lust
in his heart. If I were to defend him on the score of
humihty, behold Diogenes with muddy feet tramples down
the proud couches of Plato with a pride of his own; a
Christian shows no arrogance even towards the poor. If I were
to contend on the score of moderation, behold Pythagoras at
Thurii, and Zeno at Priene, both aim at a tyranny, but the
Christian does not even aspire to a magistracy in a countryto-wn.
If I were to meet you on the ground of equanimity,
Lycurgus chose death by starvation, because the Spartans
altered his laws; a Christian even when condemned gives thanks.
If I draw a comparison in loyalty, Anaxagoras denied a deposit
made by the enemy; a Christian even among strangers is
called faithful. If I were to take my stand on sincerity,
Aristotle disgracefully ousted his intimate friend Hermias: a
Christian does not injure even his enemy. The same Aristotle
by ruhng Alexander so disgracefully, rather fawns upon him,
as Plato is praised by Dionysius for gluttony. Aristippus
hves the hfe of a proiUgate in purple under a great appearance
of gra-vity, and Hippias is killed -while planning treachery
against the state. No Christian ever attempted this revenge
for his own friends though scattered abroad with all possible
cruelty. But it will be said that some even from amongst our
own people deviate from the rule of discipline; they then
cease to be regarded as Christians among us, whereas those
philosophers in spite of such deeds continue in the name and
Tcspect accorded to -wisdom. Further, what hkeness is there
between the philosopher and the Christian, the disciple of
Greece and the disciple of heaven, the trader in reputation
and the trader in salvation, the doer of words and the worker of
•deeds, the builder up and the destroyer of things, the friend
and the enemy of error, the corrupter and the restorer and
exponent of truth, its thief and its guardian?
CHAP. XL VII. Truth is older than everything else, if I mis-
9—2