“The idol makers are worth nothing, just as the idols they love so much are worth nothing. Those who worship idols are blind and foolish. Whoever melts metal to make a statue and worship it like a god, wastes time. Those artisans are mere human beings: let them face me in a trial, and they will be ashamed! "Look what the blacksmith does: he heats the metal in the fire, he molds it with a hammer and works it with his strong arm. But if the blacksmith does not feed or drink water, he tires and loses all his strength. »Or notice the sculptor: he takes the measurements with his ruler, he makes a drawing with the pencil and the compass. Then he makes a statue that looks like a human being, and places that lifeless statue in a temple. "There are others who plant cedars, and the rain makes them grow. If they prefer cypresses or oaks, they grow them in the forest until they are well grown. Then they take some branches of the trees to make a fire and warm up, or to bake the bread. But they also use other pieces of the tree to make the statue of a god, and they kneel to worship it! »There are also those who light fire with half the wood, roast the meat, eat the roast, and feel satisfied. In addition, they warm up by the fire and say: “How good it is to be here! We are already warming up! ” And with the rest of the wood they make the statue of a god, kneel before it to worship it, and address this prayer to it: "Save us, for you are our god!" "Those people don't understand anything. They are so confused and blinded that they cannot understand a thing. They lack intelligence to understand and to be able to say: "If we use half the wood to make the fire, to roast the meat and cook the bread, what we are worshiping is nothing more than a simple piece of wood!" These people are deceived by false ideas, and are not able to understand that what they have in their hands is a pure lie ».
