Tatian's Address to the Greeks

TATIAN'S ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS.

Greeks… you owe to the many people whom you label ‘Barbarians’ most of what you are. You’ve not invented, but collected your qualities. And the qualities you’ve gathered, you’ve corrupted. You brag about and fight over dogmatic philosophies and arrogant philosophers, but both are a joke. Why reject Christians for rejecting this ridiculousness?

All that we are guilty of is worshiping the one true God who was before all things. I will unapologetically worship the Creator over creation. God is one, but as one torch may light another without being diminished itself, so the Logos (Word) was begotten by the Father. And this Word became flesh in Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we believe in resurrection. History is not an endless cycle of repetition. I once was not. Now I am. I will someday die. But my flesh, visible to God alone, will be restored by Him.

Resurrection is where we are headed, but what has happened between creation and consummation is that God endowed men and angels with free will and they have used it to sin against God. The Cunning One convinced the Image-Bearers to rebel. He and his minions substituted false-gods (corrupt and contradictory) and fate (as if the stars seal our futures) for our Heavenly Father. Our rebellion leads to death unless we die to our rebellion. We’ve become slaves to our own freedom. Fate is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Let me teach, to you, the truth in contrast to the errors you have believed. Souls are not immortal. A soul is dependent on God’s Spirit for eternal life. Without the Spirit, it descends to death when the body dies. With the Spirit, it ascends to God. So we must align ourselves with the Spirit of God if we desire to live forever. Our situation is grave, but death itself has been conquered.

Your gladiator games are grotesque. Your philosophers are just out for money. You play around with the characters of the alphabet, but have no character yourselves! Your laws differ from state to state as if truth is relative. Why should Christians be persecuted merely for being Christians when you all get away with such dreadful behavior? You act like the gods you worship.

Seeing all this first hand, I grew frustrated and sought the truth until I found the more ancient (for Moses came before Homer) truth. In it, I found integrity, truth, prophecy, and freedom from my enslavement to sin through the one true God. And this good news is offered to all (men and women, young and old, rich and poor, weak or strong) who will listen. Ask away…