Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Apocrypha of the New Testament/The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew/Chapter 24

by Anonymous

Chapter 24.

Then Affrodosius, that governor of the city, when news of this was brought to him, went to the temple with all his army.  And the priests of the temple, when they saw Affrodosius with all his army coming into the temple, thought that he was making haste only to see vengeance taken on those on whose account the gods had fallen down.  But when he came into the temple, and saw all the gods lying prostrate on their faces, he went up to the blessed Mary, who was carrying the Lord in her bosom, and adored Him, and said to all his army and all his friends:  Unless this were the God of our gods, our gods would not have fallen on their faces before Him; nor would they be lying prostrate in His presence:  wherefore they silently confess that He is their Lord.  Unless we, therefore, take care to do what we have seen our gods doing, we may run the risk of His anger, and all come to destruction, even as it happened to Pharaoh king of the Egyptians, who, not believing in powers so mighty, was drowned in the sea, with all his army.^[1]  Then all the people of that same city believed in the Lord God through Jesus Christ.

Footnotes

1. Ex. xv. 4.