God, have sacrificed to man all the animals and all
that the world contains.

13. "Everything has been sacrificed to man, who is directly and
intimately united to me, his Father; therefore, shall the man be
severely judged and punished, by my law, who causes the sacrifice of my
children.

14. "Man is naught before the eternal Judge; as the animal is before
man.

15. "Therefore, I say unto you, leave your idols and perform not
ceremonies which separate you from your Father and bind you to the
priests, from whom heaven has turned away.

16. "For it is they who have led you away from the true God, and by
superstitions and cruelty perverted the spirit and made you blind to the
knowledge of the truth."

VII.

1. The words of Issa spread among the Pagans, through whose country he
passed, and the inhabitants abandoned their idols.

2. Seeing which, the priests demanded of him who thus glorified the name
of the true God, that he should, in the presence of the people, prove
the charges he made against them, and demonstrate the vanity of their
idols.

3. And Issa answered them: "If your idols, or the animals you worship,
really possess the supernatural powers you claim, let them strike me
with a thunderbolt before you!"

4. "Why dost not thou perform a miracle," replied the priests, "and let
thy God confound ours, if He is greater than they?"

5. But Issa said: "The miracles of our God have been wrought from the
first day when the universe was created; and are performed every day and
every moment; whoso sees them not is deprived of one of the most
beautiful gifts of life.

6. "And it is not on inanimate objects of stone, metal or wood that He
will let His anger fall, but on the men who worship them, and who,
therefore, for their salvation, must destroy the idols they have made.

7. "Even as a stone and a grain of sand, which are naught before man,
await patiently their use by Him.

8. "In like manner, man, who is naught before God, must await in
resignation His pleasure for a manifestation of His favor.

9. "But woe to you! ye adversaries of men, if it is not the favor you
await, but rather the wrath of the Most High; woe to you, if you demand
that He attest His power by a miracle!

10. "For it is not the idols which He will destroy in His wrath, but
those by whom they were created; their hearts will be the prey of an
eternal fire and their flesh shall be given to the beasts of prey.

11. "God will drive a