human skin. they're demons. (3) but heaven forbid that i call these people faithful. for to me the shrine of matrona and the temple of apollo are equally profane. if anyone charges me with boldness, i will in turn charge him with the utmost madness. for, tell me, is not the dwelling place of demons a place of impiety even if no god's statue stands there? here the slayers of christ gather together, here the cross is driven out, here god is blasphemed, here the father is ignored, here the son is outraged, here the grace of the spirit is rejected. does not greater harm come from this place since the jews themselves are demons? in the pagan temple the impiety is naked and obvious; it would not be ease to deceive a man of sound and prudent mind or entice him to go there. but in the synagogue there are men who say they worship god and abhor idols, men who say they have prophets and pay them honor. but by their words they make ready an abundance of bait to catch in their nets the simpler souls who are so foolish as to be caught of guard. (4) so the godlessness of the jews and the pagans is on a par. but the jews practice a deceit which is more dangerous. in their synagogue stands an invisible altar of deceit on which they sacrifice not sheep and calves but the souls of men.
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