Saint Justin Martyr (110-165)

Hortatory Address to the Greeks

Translated by Marcus Dods

Chapter 18

And if it is needful that we add testimonies concerning one God, even from the dramatists, hear even Sophocles speaking thus:

“There is one God, in truth there is but one,
Who made the heavens and the broad earth beneath,
The glancing waves of ocean and the winds
But many of us mortals err in heart,
And set up for a solace in our woes
Images of the gods in stone and wood,
Or figures carved in brass or ivory,
And, furnishing for these our handiworks,
Both sacrifice and rite magnificent,
We think that thus we do a pious work.”

Thus, then, Sophocles.

Chapter 17

Chapter 19