Two Apologies and Dialogue with Trypho

D E D I C A T I O.

...is able, and can preside most expertly over the temple and ceremonies of any god, whether most famous or most obscure; yet of his own religion he knows no more than any person from the lowest rabble? This man has knowledge of—and considers it shameful to be ignorant of—the homelands, ages, lives, customs, and even the very countenances of all the scoundrels, thieves, tyrants, charlatans, and catamites prostitutes/favorites that either ignorance or flattery has ever consecrated, as well as an infinite multitude of boxers, wrestlers, actors, cithara players, and harlots. Yet he does not know so much as the names of Chrysostom, Augustine, the Gregories, the Basils, Origen, Athenagoras, Irenaeus, Justin, or Ignatius. He neither knows nor cares to know anything of the Manichaeans, the Gnostics, or any other ancient heresy of the Christians. He has never applied his acumen sharpness of mind to such trifles. Yet there was once no sect of philosophers so humble, so sordid, so inept, or so small, whose origin, downfall, and doctrines he would not know better, or seem to himself to know better, than any of the ancients. Finally, put him to the test in any field of literature; although he is ignorant of his own craft, I will grant that he is skilled in all other things that are of no relevance to know. Although he may not be a theologian, he is nevertheless a most expert augur, a remarkable haruspex diviner who inspects entrails, a praiseworthy interpreter of lightning, and even a sorcerer by no means to be despised. Furthermore, he is well-versed in law—not our own (heaven forbid), but whatever was once valid anywhere and is no longer valid. He also knows...