Antony Answers the Philosophers

Antony was also exceedingly wise, and the wonder was that, although he had never learned to read and write, he was a quick-witted and shrewd man. Once, for instance, two Greek philosophers came, thinking they could try their skill on Antony. He was at the outer mountain, and recognizing from their appearance who they were, he came out to them and said to them through an interpreter: “Why, philosophers, did you go to so much trouble to come to a foolish man?” They said that he was not a foolish man but exceedingly wise, and he said to them: “If you came to a foolish man, your labor is wasted. But if you think me wise, become as I am, for we ought to imitate what is good. If I had come to you, I would have imitated you; but if you have come to me, become as I am, for I am a Christian.” And they went away in wonder, for they saw that even demons feared Antony. [a] Again, others of the same kind met him at the outer mountain and thought they would mock him because he had not learned to read and write. Antony said to them: “What do you say? Which comes first, the mind or letters? And which is the cause of which: the mind of letters, or letters of the mind?” They answered that the mind comes first and is the inventor of letters. Then Antony said: “So whoever has a sound mind has no need of letters.” This answer amazed both the bystanders and the philosophers, and they went away marveling that they had seen so much understanding in an unlettered man. For his manners were not rough, as though he had been raised in the mountain and grown old there, but gracious and courteous, and his speech was seasoned with the divine salt. So no one envied him; rather, everyone who visited him rejoiced over him. [c]

After this, still others came. These were men counted wise among the Greeks, and they asked him to give a reason for our faith in Christ. But when they tried to argue about the preaching of the divine cross, meaning to mock, Antony paused for a little. First he pitied their ignorance, and then he said, through an interpreter who could render his words skillfully: “Which is more beautiful: to confess the cross, or to charge those you call gods with adultery and the seduction of boys? What we have chosen is a sign of courage and a sure token of contempt for death, while yours are the passions of debauchery. “Next, which is better: to say that the Word of God was not changed, but, remaining the same, took a human body for the salvation and well-being of humankind, so that by sharing in human birth he might make humankind share in the divine and spiritual nature; or to liken the divine to senseless animals, and so to worship four-footed beasts, creeping things, and the images of men? For these are the things you wise men revere. “And how do you dare to mock us for saying that Christ has appeared as a man, when you bring the soul down from heaven and claim that it strayed and fell from the vault of the sky into a body? If only you had said that it fell into a human body alone, and had not claimed that it passes and changes into four-footed beasts and creeping things! Our faith declares that Christ came for the salvation of humankind. But you go wrong because you speak of the soul as uncreated. We, considering the power and loving-kindness of Providence, hold that Christ’s coming in the flesh was not impossible for God. But you, although you call the soul the image of Mind, tie it to falls and invent myths that it is changeable, and so you bring in the idea that Mind itself is changeable because of the soul. For whatever the nature of an image is, such must also be the nature of the thing it is an image of. But whenever you think such a thought about Mind, remember that you blaspheme even the Father of Mind himself. [d]

“As for the cross, which would you say is better: to bear it when wicked men lay a plot, and not to fear death in whatever form it comes; or to babble about the wanderings of Osiris and Isis, the plots of Typhon, the flight of Cronos, his eating of his children, and the slaughter of his father? For this is your wisdom. And if you mock the cross, how is it that you do not marvel at the resurrection? The same men who told us of the one wrote of the other. Or why, when you mention the cross, are you silent about the dead who were raised, the blind who received their sight, the paralyzed who were healed, the lepers who were cleansed, the walking on the sea, and the rest of the signs and wonders, which show that Christ is no longer a man but God? You seem to me to do yourselves a great injustice, and not to have read our Scriptures carefully. But read, and see that the deeds of Christ prove him to be God come on earth for the salvation of humankind. [f]

“But you, tell us your own religious beliefs. What can you say of senseless creatures except senselessness and savagery? But if, as I hear, you want to say that these things are told among you as legends, and you turn the carrying off of the maiden Persephone into an allegory of the earth, and the lameness of Hephaestus into an allegory of fire, and you allegorize the air as Hera, the sun as Apollo, the moon as Artemis, and the sea as Poseidon, even so you do not worship God himself, but serve the creature rather than God who created all things. For if you made up such legends because creation is beautiful, you should still have stopped at admiring it, and not made gods of the things created, so as not to give the Creator’s honor to what is created. If you do, it is time for you to transfer the honor of the master builder to the house he built, and the honor of the general to the soldier. What can you answer to this, then, so that we may know whether the cross has anything worth mocking?” [g]

But when they were at a loss, turning this way and that, Antony smiled and said, again through an interpreter: “Sight itself carries conviction in these things. But since you prefer to lean on proofs by argument, and since you have this art and want us, too, not to worship God until after such proof, first tell me this: how are things in general, and especially the knowledge of God, accurately known? Is it by proof through argument, or by the working of faith? And which is better: faith that comes through God’s working within, or proof by arguments?” They answered that faith that comes through God’s working within is better, and is accurate knowledge. Antony said: “You have answered well. For faith arises from the disposition of the soul, but dialectic from the skill of those who invented it. So for those who have God’s working within through faith, proof by argument is needless, even superfluous. For what we know through faith, you try to prove through words, and often you cannot even express what we understand. So the working within through faith is better and stronger than your technical arguments.

“So we Christians hold the mystery not in the wisdom of Greek arguments, but in the power of faith richly supplied to us by God through Jesus Christ. And to show that this is true: look, without having learned letters, we believe in God, knowing his providence over all things through his works. And to show that our faith is effective: we now lean on faith in Christ, while you lean on technical battles of words. The wonders of the idols among you are being done away with, but our faith is spreading everywhere. With all your arguments and quibbles you have converted no one from Christianity to paganism. We, by teaching faith in Christ, expose your superstition, since everyone recognizes that Christ is God and the Son of God. With all your eloquence you do not hinder the teaching of Christ. But we, by naming Christ crucified, put to flight all the demons whom you fear as if they were gods. Where the sign of the cross is, magic is weak and witchcraft has no strength.

“Tell us, then: where are your oracles now? Where are the charms of the Egyptians? Where are the illusions of the magicians? When did all these things cease and grow weak, except when the cross of Christ arose? Is the cross, then, a fit thing to mock, and not rather the things it has brought to nothing and shown to be weak? For this is a marvelous thing: your religion was never persecuted, but was even honored by people in every city, while the followers of Christ are persecuted; and still our side flourishes and multiplies beyond yours. What is yours, though praised and honored, is perishing, while the faith and teaching of Christ, though mocked by you and often persecuted by kings, has filled the world. For when has the knowledge of God shone out as it does now? When have self-control and the excellence of virginity appeared as they do now? When has death been so despised, except since the cross of Christ appeared? No one doubts this when he sees the martyr despising death for Christ’s sake, when he sees the virgins of the church keeping themselves pure and undefiled for Christ’s sake.