Know well, then, O Trypho, I went on to say, that what the so-called devil counterfeited and caused to be told among the Greeks—just as he also wrought through the magicians in Egypt and through the false prophets in the days of Elijah—these things too have established my knowledge of, and faith in, the Scriptures all the more firmly.
For when they say that Dionysus was born a son of Zeus from union—which they allege he had with Semele—and that he became the discoverer of the vine, and was torn in pieces and died and rose again, and ascended into heaven, and when they bring in an ass in his mysteries—do I not perceive that the devil has imitated the prophecy foretold by Moses, written concerning Jacob the patriarch?
And when they say that Heracles was mighty, and traversed the whole earth, and was himself born to Zeus from Alcmene, and after dying ascended into heaven—do I not likewise perceive that the Scripture spoken concerning Christ, ‘Mighty as a giant to run his course,’ has been imitated? And when one brings in Asclepius as raising the dead and healing the other ailments, do I not say that in this too he has imitated the prophecies concerning Christ?
But since I have not yet recounted to you such a Scripture as signifies that the Christ would do these things, I will of necessity make mention of one, from which it is possible for you to understand how, even to those destitute of the knowledge of God—I mean the Gentiles, who, having eyes, saw not, and having a heart, understood not, worshipping things made of matter—the Word foretold that they would renounce these idols and place their hope on this Christ.
It is spoken thus: ‘Be glad, you thirsty wilderness; let the desert rejoice and blossom as a lily. And the desolate places of the Jordan shall bud and rejoice; and the glory of Lebanon was given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people shall see the height of the Lord and the glory of God. Be strong, you slackened hands and feeble knees. Be comforted, you who are fainthearted in heart; be strong, fear not. Behold, our God renders judgment and will repay; He Himself will come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame man leap as a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear; for water has broken forth in the wilderness and a torrent in a thirsty land, and the waterless place shall become pools, and in the thirsty land a spring of water shall be.’
A spring of living water from God in the wilderness of the knowledge of God—that is, in the land of the Gentiles—there gushed forth this Christ, who also appeared among your race, and healed those who from birth and according to the flesh were maimed and deaf and lame, causing one to leap, another to hear, and another to see by his word; and he raised the dead too, and made them live, and through his works he sought to shame the people of that time into recognizing him.
But they, even seeing these things take place, said that it was a magical illusion; for they dared to call him a magician and a deceiver of the people. Yet he did even these things to persuade those who were to believe in him that, even if anyone is afflicted with some bodily defect, if he is a keeper of the teachings delivered by him, he will raise him up whole at his second coming, having made him also immortal and incorruptible and free from sorrow.