han
the thing that is made; for, if the gods be unable to take care of
themselves, how can they take care of others? Great then is the error
that the Chaldeans have erred in worshipping lifeless and useless
images. And I am moved to wonder, O king, how they, who are called
philosophers among them, fail to understand that even the very elements
are corruptible. But if the elements are corruptible and subject to
necessity, how are they gods? And if the elements are not gods, how
are the images, created to their honour, gods?

"Come we then, O king, to the elements themselves, that we may prove
concerning them, that they are not gods, but corruptible and changeable
things, brought out of non-existence by the command of him who is God
indeed, who is incorruptible, and unchangeable, and invisible, but yet
himself seeth all things, and, as he willeth, changeth and altereth the
same. What then must I say about the elements?

"They, who ween that the Heaven is a god, are in error. For we see it
turning and mowing by law, and consisting of many parts, whence also it
is called Cosmos! Now a 'Cosmos' is the handiwork of some artificer;
and that which is wrought by handiwork hath beginning and end. And the
firmament is moved by law together with its luminaries. The stars are
borne from Sign to Sign, each in his order and place: some rise, while
others set: and they run their journey according to fixed seasons, to
fulfil summer and winter, as it hath been ordained for them by God, nor
do they transgress their proper bounds, according to the inexorable law
of nature, in common with the heavenly firmament. Whence it is evident
that the heaven is not a god, but only a work of God.

"They again that think that the Earth is a goddess have gone astray.
We behold it dishonoured, mastered, defiled and rendered useless by
mankind. If it be baked by the sun, it becometh dead, for nothing
groweth from a potsherd. And again, if it be soaked overmuch, it
rotteth, fruit and all. It is trodden under foot of men and the
residue of the beasts: it is polluted with the blood of the murdered,
it is digged and made a grave for dead bodies. This being so, Earth can
in no wise be a goddess, but only the work of God for the use of men.

"They that think that Water is a god have gone astray. It also hath
been made for the use of men. It is under their lordship: it is
polluted, and perisheth: it is altered by boiling, by dyeing, by
congeal