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„I have often come across convinced adepts of Greek mythology who mock our faith under the pretext that we do not say anything else to those whom we instruct in divine things, but merely command them to believe.“
— Theodoret
Context: I have often come across convinced adepts of Greek mythology who mock our faith under the pretext that we do not say anything else to those whom we instruct in divine things, but merely command them to believe.
They accuse the apostles of ignorance, labelling them barbarians, because they do not have the subtlety of eloquence; and they say that the cult of martyrs is ridiculous, considering it completely absurd for the living to seek assistance from the dead.
A Cure of Greek Maladies, Preface
In Theodoret of Cyrus (The Early Church Fathers), 2006, István Pásztori-Kupán, Routledge, p. 86 http://books.google.com/books?id=kRfnFbYsxekC&pg=PA86&dq=%22they+say+that+the+cult+of+martyrs+is+ridiculous%22&hl=en&ei=05LPTb3LDcLr0QGEo5CFDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22they%20say%20that%20the%20cult%20of%20martyrs%20is%20ridiculous%22&f=false
Alternate translation: I have often encountered certain people still attached to the fables of pagan mythology who ridicule our belief and assert that faith is all we require of those whom we give religious instruction. They also point with scorn at the Apostles' lack of education and stigmatize these men as uncouth and ignorant of the niceties of cultivated speech. They further say that the veneration shown to the martyrs is absurd. And as for the living seeking to obtain the intercession of the dead, this, they declare, is the utmost folly.
In Patrology, Johannes Quasten, Volume 1, p. 543. http://books.google.com/books?id=j3fYAAAAMAAJ&q=%22as+for+the+living+seeking+to+obtain+the+intercession+of+the+dead%22&dq=%22as+for+the+living+seeking+to+obtain+the+intercession+of+the+dead%22&hl=en&ei=8jrSTbKcMYbi0QGJv7XfCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ
