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To Autolycus

St. Theophilus of Antioch · c. 180 AD

3h 24m read
Ante-Nicene

Three books defending Christianity to a pagan friend, including the first use of the word 'Trinity' (trias) for the Godhead.

Table of Contents

1Book I1Autolycus an Idolater and Scorner of Christians2That the Eyes of the Soul Must Be Purged Ere God Can Be Seen3Nature of God4Attributes of God5The Invisible God Perceived Through His Works6God is Known by His Works7We Shall See God When We Put on Immortality8Faith Required in All Matters9Immoralities of the Gods10Absurdities of Idolatry11The King to Be Honoured, God to Be Worshipped12Meaning of the Name Christian13The Resurrection Proved by Examples14Theophilus an Example of Conversion2Book II1Occasion of Writing This Book2The Gods are Despised When They are Made; But Become Valuable When Bought3What Has Become of the Gods?4Absurd Opinions of the Philosophers Concerning God5Opinions of Homer and Hesiod Concerning the Gods6Hesiod on the Origin of the World7Fabulous Heathen Genealogies8Opinions Concerning Providence9The Prophets Inspired by the Holy Ghost10The World Created by God Through the Word11The Six Days’ Work Described12The Glory of the Six Days’ Work13Remarks on the Creation of the World14The World Compared to the Sea15Of the Fourth Day16Of the Fifth Day17Of the Sixth Day18The Creation of Man19Man is Placed in Paradise20The Scriptural Account of Paradise21Of the Fall of Man22Why God is Said to Have Walked23The Truth of the Account in Genesis24The Beauty of Paradise25God Was Justified in Forbidding Man to Eat of the Tree of Knowledge26God’s Goodness in Expelling Man from Paradise27The Nature of Man28Why Eve Was Formed of Adam’s Rib29Cain’s Crime30Cain’s Family and Their Inventions31The History After the Flood32How the Human Race Was Dispersed33Profane History Gives No Account of These Matters34The Prophets Enjoined Holiness of Life35Precepts from the Prophetic Books36Prophecies of the Sibyl37The Testimonies of the Poets38The Teachings of the Greek Poets and Philosophers Confirmatory of Those of the Hebrew Prophets3Book III1Autolycus Not Yet Convinced2Profane Authors Had No Means of Knowing the Truth3Their Contradictions4How Autolycus Had Been Misled by False Accusations Against the Christians5Philosophers Inculcate Cannibalism6Other Opinions of the Philosophers7Varying Doctrine Concerning the Gods8Wickedness Attributed to the Gods by Heathen Writers9Christian Doctrine of God and His Law10Of Humanity to Strangers11Of Repentance12Of Righteousness13Of Chastity14Of Loving Our Enemies15The Innocence of the Christians Defended16Uncertain Conjectures of the Philosophers17Accurate Information of the Christians18Errors of the Greeks About the Deluge19Accurate Account of the Deluge20Antiquity of Moses21Of Manetho’s Inaccuracy22Antiquity of the Temple23Prophets More Ancient Than Greek Writers24Chronology from Adam25From Saul to the Captivity26Contrast Between Hebrew and Greek Writings27Roman Chronology to the Death of M. Aurelius28Leading Chronological Epochs29Antiquity of Christianity30Why the Greeks Did Not Mention Our Histories