{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/001/0010651.htm","path":"chr/ecf/001/0010651.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/001/0010651.htm","text":"First, then, \u00c6schylus, 2597 in expounding the arrangement of his work, 2598 expressed himself also as follows respecting the only God:\u2014\n\u201cAfar from mortals place the holy God,\nNor ever think that He, like to thyself,\nIn fleshly robes is clad; for all unknown\nIs the great God to such a worm as thou.\nDivers similitudes He bears; at times\nHe seems as a consuming fire that burns\nUnsated; now like water, then again\nIn sable folds of darkness shrouds Himself.\nNay, even the very beasts of earth reflect\nHis sacred image; whilst the wind, clouds, rain,\nThe roll of thunder and the lightning flash,\nReveal to men their great and sovereign Lord.\nBefore Him sea and rocks, with every fount,\nAnd all the water floods, in reverence bend;\nAnd as they gaze upon His awful face,\nMountains and earth, with the profoundest depths\nOf ocean, and the highest peaks of hills,\nTremble: for He is Lord Omnipotent;\nAnd this the glory is of God Most High.\u201d\nBut he was not the only man initiated in the knowledge of God; for Sophocles also thus describes the nature of the only Creator of all things, the One God:\u2014\n\u201cThere is one God, in truth there is but one,\nWho made the heavens and the broad earth beneath,\nThe glancing waves of ocean, and the winds;\nBut many of us mortals err in heart,\nAnd set up, for a solace in our woes,\nImages of the gods in stone and brass,\nOr figures carved in gold or ivory;\nAnd, furnishing for these, our handiworks,\nBoth sacrifice and rite magnificent,\nWe think that thus we do a pious work.\u201d\nAnd Philemon also, who published many explanations of ancient customs, shares in the knowledge of the truth; and thus he writes:\u2014\n\u201cTell me what thoughts of God we should conceive?\nOne, all things seeing, yet Himself unseen.\u201d\nEven Orpheus, too, who introduces three hundred and sixty gods, will bear testimony in my p. 291 favour from the tract called Diathec\u00e6, in which he appears to repent of his error by writing the following:\u2014\n\u201cI\u2019ll speak to those who lawfully may hear;\nAll others, ye profane, now close the doors!\nAnd, O Mus\u00e6us, hearken thou to me,\nWho offspring art of the light-bringing moon.\nThe words I tell thee now are true indeed,\nAnd if thou former thoughts of mine hast seen,\nLet them not rob thee of the blessed life;\nBut rather turn the depths of thine own heart\nUnto that place where light and knowledge dwell.\nTake thou the word divine to guide thy steps;\nAnd walking well in the straight certain path,\nLook to the one and universal King,\nOne, self-begotten, and the only One\nOf whom all things, and we ourselves, are sprung.\nAll things are open to His piercing gaze,\nWhile He Himself is still invisible;\nPresent in all His works, though still unseen,\nHe gives to mortals evil out of good,\nSending both chilling wars and tearful griefs;\nAnd other than the Great King there is none.\nThe clouds for ever settle round His throne;\nAnd mortal eyeballs in mere mortal eyes\nAre weak to see Jove, reigning over all.\nHe sits established in the brazen heavens\nUpon His throne; and underneath His feet\nHe treads the earth, and stretches His right hand\nTo all the ends of ocean, and around\nTremble the mountain ranges, and the streams,\nThe depths, too, of the blue and hoary sea.\u201d\nHe speaks indeed as if he had been an eyewitness of God\u2019s greatness. And Pythagoras 2599 agrees with him when he writes:\u2014\n\u201cShould one in boldness say, Lo, I am God!\nBesides the One\u2014Eternal\u2014Infinite,\nThen let him from the throne he has usurped\nPut forth his power and form another globe,\nSuch as we dwell in, saying, This is mine.\nNor only so, but in this new domain\nFor ever let him dwell. If this he can,\nThen verily he is a god proclaimed.\u201d\nGrotius supposes this to be \u00c6schylus the younger in some prologue.\n290:2598\nThis may also be translated: \u201cexpounding the set of opinions prevalent in his day.\u201d\n291:2599\n\u201cPythagorei cujusdam fetus.\u201d\u2014Otto, after Goezius.","title":"Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol I: JUSTIN MARTYR: Chapter II.\u2014Testimonies to the unity...","type":"page"}