{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71937/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71937","id":"gutenberg_71937","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71937","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Religious","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theology -- Early works to 1800","Theology -- History -- Early Church, ca. 30-600"],"text":"ANTE-NICENE\n CHRISTIAN LIBRARY:\n\n _TRANSLATIONS OF\n THE WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS\n DOWN TO A.D. 325._\n\n EDITED BY THE\n REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D.,\n AND\n JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D.\n\n VOL. IV.\n CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.\n VOL. I.\n\n EDINBURGH:\n T. AND T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET.\n\n MDCCCLXVII.\n\n\n\n\n MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH,\n PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY\u2019S STATIONERY OFFICE.\n\n\n\n\n THE WRITINGS\n OF\n CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.\n\n TRANSLATED BY\n THE REV. WILLIAM WILSON, M.A.,\n MUSSELBURGH.\n\n EDINBURGH:\n T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET.\n LONDON: HAMILTON & CO. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON & CO.\n MDCCCLXVII.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n INTRODUCTORY NOTICE, 11\n\n\n EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.\n\n CHAP.\n\n I. Exhortation to abandon the Impious Mysteries of\n Idolatry for the Adoration of the Divine Word\n and God the Father, 17\n\n II. The Absurdity and Impiety of the Heathen\n Mysteries and Fables about the Birth and Death\n of their Gods, 26\n\n III. The Cruelty of the Sacrifices to the Gods, 48\n\n IV. The Absurdity and Shamefulness of the Images by\n which the Gods are worshipped, 52\n\n V. The Opinions of the Philosophers respecting God, 66\n\n VI. By Divine Inspiration Philosophers sometimes hit\n on the Truth, 69\n\n VII. The Poets also bear Testimony to the Truth, 73\n\n VIII. The True Doctrine is to be sought in the Prophets, 76\n\n IX. That those grievously sin who despise or neglect\n God\u2019s gracious Calling, 80\n\n X. Answer to the Objection of the Heathen, that it\n was not right to abandon the Customs of their\n Fathers, 85\n\n XI. How great are the Benefits conferred on Man\n through the Advent of Christ, 100\n\n XII. Exhortation to abandon their Old Errors and\n listen to the Instructions of Christ, 106\n\n\n THE INSTRUCTOR.\n\n BOOK I.\n\n I. The Office of the Instructor, 113\n\n II. Our Instructor\u2019s Treatment of our Sins, 115\n\n III. The Philanthropy of the Instructor, 118\n\n IV. Men and Women alike under the Instructor\u2019s Charge, 121\n\n V. All who walk according to Truth are Children of God, 122\n\n VI. The name \u201cChildren\u201d does not imply Instruction in\n Elementary Principles, 131\n\n VII. Who the Instructor is, and respecting His Instruction, 149\n\n VIII. Against those who think that what is just is not good, 155\n\n XI. That it is the Prerogative of the same Power to be\n beneficent and to punish justly; also, the Manner\n of the Instruction of the Logos, 164\n\n X. That the same God, by the same Word, restrains from\n Sin by threatening, and saves Humanity by\n exhorting, 174\n\n XI. That the Word instructed by the Law and the Prophets, 179\n\n XII. The Instructor characterized by the severity and\n benignity of Paternal Affection, 181\n\n XIII. Virtue rational, Sin irrational, 184\n\n\n BOOK II.\n\n I. On Eating, 186\n\n II. On Drinking, 200\n\n III. On Costly Vessels, 211\n\n IV. How to conduct ourselves at Feasts, 215\n\n V. On Laughter, 219\n\n VI. On Filthy Speaking, 222\n\n VII. Directions for those who live together, 225\n\n VIII. On the use of Ointments and Crowns, 230\n\n IX. On Sleep, 240\n\n X. Qu\u00e6nam de procreatione liberorum tractanda sint, 244\n\n XI. On Clothes, 255\n\n XII. On Shoes, 264\n\n XIII. Against excessive Fondness for Jewels and Gold\n Ornaments, 266\n\n\n BOOK III.\n\n I. On the True Beauty, 273\n\n II. Against Embellishing the Body, 276\n\n III. Against Men who Embellish themselves, 284\n\n IV. With whom we are to Associate, 292\n\n V. Behaviour in the Baths, 296\n\n VI. The Christian alone Rich, 298\n\n VII. Frugality a good Provision for the Christian, 301\n\n VIII. Similitudes and Examples a most important part of\n right Instruction, 304\n\n IX. Why we are to use the Bath, 308\n\n X. The Exercises suited to a good Life, 310\n\n XI. A Compendious View of the Christian Life, 313\n\n Clothes, 313\n\n Ear-rings, 315\n\n Finger-rings, 315\n\n The Hair, 317\n\n Painting the Face, 319\n\n Walking, 324\n\n The Model Maiden, 325\n\n Amusements and Associates, 325\n\n Public Spectacles, 326\n\n Religion in Ordinary Life, 327\n\n Going to Church, 328\n\n Out of Church, 329\n\n Love, and the Kiss of Charity, 329\n\n The Government of the Eyes, 330\n\n XII. Continuation, with Texts from Scripture, 332\n\n Prayer to the P\u00e6dagogus, 342\n\n A Hymn to Christ the Saviour, 343\n\n To the P\u00e6dagogus, 346\n\n\n THE MISCELLANIES; OR, STROMATA.\n\n\n BOOK I.\n\n I. Preface--The Author\u2019s Object--The Utility of\n Written Compositions, 349\n\n II. Objections to the Number of Extracts from\n Philosophical Writings in these Books,\n Anticipated and Answered, 360\n\n III. Against the Sophists, 362\n\n IV. Human Arts, as well as Divine Knowledge, proceed\n from God, 364\n\n V. Philosophy the Handmaid of Theology, 366\n\n VI. The Benefit of Culture, 371\n\n VI. The Eclectic Philosophy paves the way for Divine\n Virtue, 374\n\n VIII. The Sophistical Arts useless, 376\n\n IX. Human Knowledge necessary for the Understanding of\n the Scriptures, 379\n\n X. To Act well of greater consequence than to Speak\n well, 381\n\n XI. What is the Philosophy which the Apostle bids us\n shun? 384\n\n XII. The Mysteries of the Faith not to be divulged to\n All, 388\n\n XIII. All Sects of Philosophy contain a Germ of Truth, 389\n\n XIV. Succession of Philosophers in Greece, 391\n\n XV. The Greek Philosophy in great part derived from the\n Barbarians, 395\n\n XVI. That the Inventors of other Arts were mostly\n Barbarians, 401\n\n XVII. On the saying of the Saviour, \u201cAll that came\n before Me were thieves and robbers,\u201d 406\n\n XVIII. He illustrates the Apostle\u2019s saying, \u201cI will\n destroy the wisdom of the wise,\u201d 410\n\n XIX. That the Philosophers have attained to some\n portion of Truth, 413\n\n XX. In what respect Philosophy contributes to the\n comprehension of Divine Truth, 418\n\n XXI. The Jewish Institutions and Laws of far higher\n Antiquity than the Philosophy of the Greeks, 421\n\n XXII. On the Greek Translation of the Old Testament, 448\n\n XXIII. The Age, Birth, and Life of Moses, 450\n\n XXIV. How Moses discharged the Part of a Military Leader, 455\n\n XXV. Plato an Imitator of Moses in Framing Laws, 459\n\n XXVI. Moses rightly called a Divine Legislator, and,\n though inferior to Christ, far superior to the\n great Legislators of the Greeks, Minos and\n Lycurgus, 461\n\n XXVII. The Law, even in Correcting and Punishing, aims at\n the Good of Men, 464\n\n XXVIII. The Fourfold Division of the Mosaic Law, 467\n\n XXIX. The Greeks but Children compared with the Hebrews, 469\n\n\n\n\n _INTRODUCTORY NOTICE._\n\n\nTitus Flavius Clemens, the illustrious head of the Catechetical School\nat Alexandria at the close of the second century, was originally\na pagan philosopher. The date of his birth is unknown. It is also\nuncertain whether Alexandria or Athens was his birthplace.[1]\n\nOn embracing Christianity, he eagerly sought the instructions of its\nmost eminent teachers; for this purpose travelling extensively over\nGreece, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, and other regions of the East.\n\nOnly one of these teachers (who, from a reference in the _Stromata_,\nall appear to have been alive when he wrote[2]) can be with certainty\nidentified, viz. Pant\u00e6nus, of whom he speaks in terms of profound\nreverence, and whom he describes as the greatest of them all. Returning\nto Alexandria, he succeeded his master Pant\u00e6nus in the catechetical\nschool, probably on the latter departing on his missionary tour to the\nEast, somewhere about A.D. 189.[3] He was also made a presbyter of the\nchurch, either then or somewhat later.[4] He continued to teach with\ngreat distinction till A.D. 202, when the persecution under Severus\ncompelled him to retire from Alexandria. In the beginning of the reign\nof Caracalla we find him at Jerusalem, even then a great resort of\nChristian, and especially clerical, pilgrims. We also hear of him\ntravelling to Antioch, furnished with a letter of recommendation by\nAlexander bishop of Jerusalem. The close of his career is covered with\nobscurity. He is supposed to have died about A.D. 220.\n\nAmong his pupils were his distinguished successor in the Alexandrian\nschool, Origen, Alexander bishop of Jerusalem, and, according to\nBaronius, Combefisius, and Bull, also Hippolytus.\n\nThe above is positively the sum of what we know of Clement\u2019s history.\n\nHis three great works, _The Exhortation to the Heathen_ (\u03bb\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2\n\u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c4\u03c1\u03b5\u03c0\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u1f78\u03c2 \u03c0\u03c1\u1f78\u03c2 \u1f19\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2), _The Instructor_, or _P\u00e6dagogus_\n(\u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03cc\u03c2), _The Miscellanies_, or _Stromata_ (\u03a3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u020b\u03c2), are among\nthe most valuable remains of Christian antiquity, and the largest that\nbelong to that early period.\n\n_The Exhortation_, the object of which is to win pagans to the\nChristian faith, contains a complete and withering exposure of the\nabominable licentiousness, the gross imposture and sordidness of\npaganism. With clearness and cogency of argument, great earnestness and\neloquence, Clement sets forth in contrast the truth as taught in the\ninspired Scriptures, the true God, and especially the personal Christ,\nthe living Word of God, the Saviour of men. It is an elaborate and\nmasterly work, rich in felicitous classical allusion and quotation,\nbreathing throughout the spirit of philosophy and of the gospel, and\nabounding in passages of power and beauty.\n\nThe _P\u00e6dagogus_, or _Instructor_, is addressed to those who have\nbeen rescued from the darkness and pollutions of heathenism, and\nis an exhibition of Christian morals and manners,--a guide for the\nformation and development of Christian character, and for living a\nChristian life. It consists of three books. It is the grand aim of the\nwhole work to set before the converts Christ as the only Instructor,\nand to expound and enforce His precepts. In the first book Clement\nexhibits the person, the function, the means, methods, and ends of the\nInstructor, who is the Word and Son of God; and lovingly dwells on His\nbenignity and philanthropy, His wisdom, faithfulness, and righteousness.\n\nThe second and third books lay down rules for the regulation of the\nChristian, in all the relations, circumstances, and actions of life,\nentering most minutely into the details of dress, eating, drinking,\nbathing, sleeping, etc. The delineation of a life in all respects\nagreeable to the Word, a truly Christian life, attempted here, may, now\nthat the gospel has transformed social and private life to the extent\nit has, appear unnecessary, or a proof of the influence of ascetic\ntendencies. But a code of Christian morals and manners (a sort of\n\u201cwhole duty of man\u201d and manual of good breeding combined) was eminently\nneeded by those whose habits and characters had been moulded under the\ndebasing and polluting influences of heathenism; and who were bound,\nand were aiming, to shape their lives according to the principles of\nthe gospel, in the midst of the all but incredible licentiousness and\nluxury by which society around was incurably tainted. The disclosures\nwhich Clement, with solemn sternness, and often with caustic wit,\nmakes of the prevalent voluptuousness and vice, form a very valuable\ncontribution to our knowledge of that period.\n\nThe full title of the _Stromata_, according to Eusebius and Photius,\nwas \u03a4\u03af\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 \u03a6\u03bb\u03b1\u03c5\u03af\u03bf\u03c5 \u039a\u03bb\u03ae\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u1f01 \u03c4\u1f21\u03bd \u1f00\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u1f22 \u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u1ff6\u03bd\n\u1f51\u03c0\u03bf\u03bc\u03bd\u03b7\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u1f32\u03c2[5]--Titus Flavius Clement\u2019s miscellaneous\ncollections of speculative (gnostic) notes bearing upon the true\nphilosophy. The aim of the work, in accordance with this title, is, in\nopposition to gnosticism, to furnish the materials for the construction\nof a true gnosis, a Christian philosophy, on the basis of faith, and\nto lead on to this higher knowledge those who, by the discipline of\nthe P\u00e6dagogus, had been trained for it. The work consisted originally\nof eight books. The eighth book is lost; that which appears under this\nname has plainly no connection with the rest of the _Stromata_. Various\naccounts have been given of the meaning of the distinctive word in\nthe title (\u03a3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c2); but all agree in regarding it as indicating\nthe miscellaneous character of its contents. And they are very\nmiscellaneous. They consist of the speculations of Greek philosophers,\nof heretics, and of those who cultivated the true Christian gnosis,\nand of quotations from sacred Scripture. The latter he affirms to\nbe the source from which the higher Christian knowledge is to be\ndrawn; as it was that from which the germs of truth in Plato and the\nHellenic philosophy were derived. He describes philosophy as a divinely\nordered preparation of the Greeks for faith in Christ, as the law was\nfor the Hebrews; and shows the necessity and value of literature and\nphilosophic culture for the attainment of true Christian knowledge,\nin opposition to the numerous body among Christians who regarded\nlearning as useless and dangerous. He proclaims himself an eclectic,\nbelieving in the existence of fragments of truth in all systems,\nwhich may be separated from error; but declaring that the truth can\nbe found in unity and completeness only in Christ, as it was from Him\nthat all its scattered germs originally proceeded. The _Stromata_\nare written carelessly, and even confusedly; but the work is one of\nprodigious learning, and supplies materials of the greatest value for\nunderstanding the various conflicting systems which Christianity had to\ncombat.\n\nIt was regarded so much as the author\u2019s great work, that, on the\ntestimony of Theodoret, Cassiodorus, and others, we learn that Clement\nreceived the appellation of \u03a3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c2 (the Stromatist). In all\nprobability, the first part of it was given to the world about A.D.\n194. The latest date to which he brings down his chronology in the\nfirst book is the death of Commodus, which happened in A.D. 192; from\nwhich Eusebius[6] concludes that he wrote this work during the reign of\nSeverus, who ascended the imperial throne in A.D. 193, and reigned till\nA.D. 211. It is likely that the whole was composed ere Clement quitted\nAlexandria in A.D. 202. The publication of the _P\u00e6dagogus_ preceded by\na short time that of the _Stromata_; and the _Cohortatio_ was written a\nshort time before the _P\u00e6dagogus_, as is clear from statements made by\nClement himself.\n\nSo multifarious is the erudition, so multitudinous are the quotations\nand the references to authors in all departments, and of all countries,\nthe most of whose works have perished, that the works in question could\nonly have been composed near an extensive library--hardly anywhere\nbut in the vicinity of the famous library of Alexandria. They are a\nstorehouse of curious ancient lore,--a museum of the fossil remains of\nthe beauties and monstrosities of the world of pagan antiquity, during\nall the epochs and phases of its history. The three compositions are\nreally parts of one whole. The central connecting idea is that of the\nLogos--the Word--the Son of God; whom in the first work he exhibits\ndrawing men from the superstitions and corruptions of heathenism to\nfaith; in the second, as training them by precepts and discipline;\nand in the last, as conducting them to that higher knowledge of the\nthings of God, to which those only who devote themselves assiduously\nto spiritual, moral, and intellectual culture can attain. Ever before\nhis eye is the grand form of the living personal Christ,--the Word, who\n\u201cwas with God, and who was God, but who became man, and dwelt among us.\u201d\n\nOf course there is throughout plenty of false science, and frivolous\nand fanciful speculation.\n\n_Who is the rich man that shall be saved?_ (\u03c4\u03af\u03c2 \u1f41 \u03c3\u03c9\u03b6\u03cc\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bb\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2)\nis the title of a practical treatise, in which Clement shows, in\nopposition to those who interpreted our Lord\u2019s words to the young ruler\nas requiring the renunciation of worldly goods, that the disposition of\nthe soul is the great essential. Of other numerous works of Clement,\nof which only a few stray fragments have been preserved, the chief are\nthe eight books of _The Hypotyposes_, which consisted of expositions of\nall the books of Scripture. Of these we have a few undoubted fragments.\n_The Adumbrations_, or _Commentaries on some of the Catholic Epistles_,\nand _The Selections from the Prophetic Scriptures_, are compositions of\nthe same character, as far as we can judge, as the _Hypotyposes_, and\nare supposed by some to have formed part of that work.\n\nOther lost works of Clement are:\n\n The Treatise of Clement, the Stromatist, on the Prophet Amos.\n\n On Providence.\n\n Treatise on Easter.\n\n On Evil-speaking.\n\n Discussion on Fasting.\n\n Exhortation to Patience; or, To the newly baptized.\n\n Ecclesiastical Canon; or, Against the Judaizers.\n\n Different Terms.\n\nThe following are the names of treatises which Clement refers to as\nwritten or about to be written by him, but of which otherwise we have\nno trace or mention:--_On First Principles_; _On Prophecy_; _On the\nAllegorical Interpretation of Members and Affections when ascribed to\nGod_; _On Angels_; _On the Devil_; _On the Origin of the Universe_; _On\nthe Unity and Excellence of the Church_; _On the Offices of Bishops,\nPresbyters, Deacons, and Widows_; _On the Soul_; _On the Resurrection_;\n_On Marriage_; _On Continence_; _Against Heresies_.\n\nPreserved among Clement\u2019s works is a fragment called _Epitomes\nof the Writings of Theodotus, and of the Eastern Doctrine_, most\nlikely abridged extracts made by Clement for his own use, and giving\nconsiderable insight into Gnosticism.\n\nClement\u2019s quotations from Scripture are made from the Septuagint\nversion, often inaccurately from memory, sometimes from a different\ntext from what we possess, often with verbal adaptations; and not\nrarely different texts are blended together.\n\nThe works of Clement present considerable difficulties to the\ntranslator; and one of the chief is the state of the text, which\ngreatly needs to be expurgated and amended. For this there are\nabundant materials, in the copious annotations and disquisitions, by\nvarious hands, collected together in Migne\u2019s edition; where, however,\ncorruptions the most obvious have been allowed to remain in the text.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe publishers are indebted to Dr. W. L. ALEXANDER for the poetical\ntranslations of the Hymns of Clement.\n\n\n\n\n EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n EXHORTATION TO ABANDON THE IMPIOUS MYSTERIES OF IDOLATRY FOR THE\n ADORATION OF THE DIVINE WORD AND GOD THE FATHER.\n\n\nAmphion of Thebes and Arion of Methymna were both minstrels, and both\nwere renowned in story. They are celebrated in song to this day in\nthe chorus of the Greeks; the one for having allured the fishes, and\nthe other for having surrounded Thebes with walls by the power of\nmusic. Another, a Thracian, a cunning master of his art (he also is\nthe subject of a Hellenic legend), tamed the wild beasts by the mere\nmight of song; and transplanted trees--oaks--by music. I might tell\nyou also the story of another, a brother to these--the subject of a\nmyth, and a minstrel--Eunomos the Locrian and the Pythic grasshopper.\nA solemn Hellenic assembly had met at Pytho, to celebrate the death of\nthe Pythic serpent, when Eunomos sang the reptile\u2019s epitaph. Whether\nhis ode was a hymn in praise of the serpent, or a dirge, I am not able\nto say. But there was a contest, and Eunomos was playing the lyre in\nthe summer time: it was when the grasshoppers, warmed by the sun, were\nchirping beneath the leaves along the hills; but they were singing not\nto that dead dragon, but to God All-wise,--a lay unfettered by rule,\nbetter than the numbers of Eunomos. The Locrian breaks a string. The\ngrasshopper sprang on the neck of the instrument, and sang on it as on\na branch; and the minstrel, adapting his strain to the grasshopper\u2019s\nsong, made up for the want of the missing string. The grasshopper\nthen was attracted by the song of Eunomos, as the fable represents,\naccording to which also a brazen statue of Eunomos with his lyre, and\nthe Locrian\u2019s ally in the contest, was erected at Pytho. But of its\nown accord it flew to the lyre, and of its own accord sang, and was\nregarded by the Greeks as a musical performer.\n\nHow, let me ask, have you believed vain fables, and supposed animals to\nbe charmed by music; while Truth\u2019s shining face alone, as would seem,\nappears to you disguised, and is looked on with incredulous eyes? And\nso Cith\u00e6ron, and Helicon, and the mountains of the Odrysi, and the\ninitiatory rites of the Thracians, mysteries of deceit, are hallowed\nand celebrated in hymns. For me, I am pained at such calamities as form\nthe subjects of tragedy, though but myths; but by you the records of\nmiseries are turned into dramatic compositions.\n\nBut the dramas and the raving poets, now quite intoxicated, let us\ncrown with ivy; and distracted outright as they are, in Bacchic\nfashion, with the satyrs, and the frenzied rabble, and the rest of the\ndemon crew, let us confine to Cith\u00e6ron and Helicon, now antiquated.\n\nBut let us bring from above out of heaven, Truth, with Wisdom in all\nits brightness, and the sacred prophetic choir, down to the holy mount\nof God; and let Truth, darting her light to the most distant points,\ncast her rays all around on those that are involved in darkness, and\ndeliver men from delusion, stretching out her very strong[7] right\nhand, which is wisdom, for their salvation. And raising their eyes, and\nlooking above, let them abandon Helicon and Cith\u00e6ron, and take up their\nabode in Sion. \u201cFor out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word\nof the Lord from Jerusalem,\u201d[8]--the celestial Word, the true athlete\ncrowned in the theatre of the whole universe. What my Eunomos sings is\nnot the measure of Terpander, nor that of Capito, nor the Phrygian, nor\nLydian, nor Dorian, but the immortal measure of the new harmony which\nbears God\u2019s name--the new, the Levitical song.[9]\n\n \u201cSoother of pain, calmer of wrath, producing forgetfulness of\n all ills.\u201d[10]\n\nSweet and true is the charm of persuasion which blends with this\nstrain.\n\nTo me, therefore, that Thracian Orpheus, that Theban, and that\nMethymn\u00e6an,--men, and yet unworthy of the name,--seem to have been\ndeceivers, who, under the pretence of poetry corrupting human life,\npossessed by a spirit of artful sorcery for purposes of destruction,\ncelebrating crimes in their orgies, and making human woes the materials\nof religious worship, were the first to entice men to idols; nay,\nto build up the stupidity of the nations with blocks of wood and\nstone,--that is, statues and images,--subjecting to the yoke of\nextremest bondage the truly noble freedom of those who lived as free\ncitizens under heaven, by their songs and incantations. But not such\nis my song, which has come to loose, and that speedily, the bitter\nbondage of tyrannizing demons; and leading us back to the mild and\nloving yoke of piety, recalls to heaven those that had been cast\nprostrate to the earth. It alone has tamed men, the most intractable\nof animals; the frivolous among them answering to the fowls of the\nair, deceivers to reptiles, the irascible to lions, the voluptuous to\nswine, the rapacious to wolves. The silly are stocks and stones, and\nstill more senseless than stones is a man who is steeped in ignorance.\nAs our witness, let us adduce the voice of prophecy accordant with\ntruth, and bewailing those who are crushed in ignorance and folly: \u201cFor\nGod is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham;\u201d[11] and\nHe, commiserating their great ignorance and hardness of heart who are\npetrified against the truth, has raised up a seed of piety, sensitive\nto virtue, of those stones--of the nations, that is, who trusted in\nstones. Again, therefore, some venomous and false hypocrites, who\nplotted against righteousness, He once called \u201ca brood of vipers.\u201d[12]\nBut if one of those serpents even is willing to repent, and follows the\nWord, he becomes a man of God.\n\nOthers he figuratively calls wolves, clothed in sheep-skins, meaning\nthereby monsters of rapacity in human form. And so all such most\nsavage beasts, and all such blocks of stone, the celestial song has\ntransformed into tractable men. \u201cFor even we ourselves were sometime\nfoolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures,\nliving in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.\u201d Thus speaks\nthe apostolic scripture: \u201cBut after that the kindness and love of\nGod our Saviour to man appeared, not by works of righteousness which\nwe have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us.\u201d[13] Behold\nthe might of the new song! It has made men out of stones, men out of\nbeasts. Those, moreover, that were as dead, not being partakers of\nthe true life, have come to life again, simply by becoming listeners\nto this song. It also composed the universe into melodious order, and\ntuned the discord of the elements to harmonious arrangement, so that\nthe whole world might become harmony. It let loose the fluid ocean,\nand yet has prevented it from encroaching on the land. The earth,\nagain, which had been in a state of commotion, it has established, and\nfixed the sea as its boundary. The violence of fire it has softened\nby the atmosphere, as the Dorian is blended with the Lydian strain;\nand the harsh cold of the air it has moderated by the embrace of fire,\nharmoniously arranging these the extreme tones of the universe. And\nthis deathless strain,--the support of the whole and the harmony of\nall,--reaching from the centre to the circumference, and from the\nextremities to the central part, has harmonized this universal frame\nof things, not according to the Thracian music, which is like that\ninvented by Jubal, but according to the paternal counsel of God, which\nfired the zeal of David. And He who is of David, and yet before him,\nthe Word of God, despising the lyre and harp, which are but lifeless\ninstruments, and having tuned by the Holy Spirit the universe, and\nespecially man,--who, composed of body and soul, is a universe in\nminiature,--makes melody to God on this instrument of many tones; and\nto this instrument--I mean man--he sings accordant: \u201cFor thou art my\nharp, and pipe, and temple,\u201d[14]--a harp for harmony--a pipe by reason\nof the Spirit--a temple by reason of the word; so that the first may\nsound, the second breathe, the third contain the Lord. And David the\nking, the harper whom we mentioned a little above, who exhorted to the\ntruth and dissuaded from idols, was so far from celebrating demons\nin song, that in reality they were driven away by his music. Thus,\nwhen Saul was plagued with a demon, he cured him by merely playing. A\nbeautiful breathing instrument of music the Lord made man, after His\nown image. And He Himself also, surely, who is the supramundane Wisdom,\nthe celestial Word, is the all-harmonious, melodious, holy instrument\nof God. What, then, does this instrument--the Word of God, the Lord,\nthe New Song--desire? To open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the\nears of the deaf, and to lead the lame or the erring to righteousness,\nto exhibit God to the foolish, to put a stop to corruption, to\nconquer death, to reconcile disobedient children to their father. The\ninstrument of God loves mankind. The Lord pities, instructs, exhorts,\nadmonishes, saves, shields, and of His bounty promises us the kingdom\nof heaven as a reward for learning; and the only advantage He reaps\nis, that we are saved. For wickedness feeds on men\u2019s destruction; but\ntruth, like the bee, harming nothing, delights only in the salvation of\nmen.\n\nYou have, then, God\u2019s promise; you have His love: become partaker of\nHis grace. And do not suppose the song of salvation to be new, as a\nvessel or a house is new. For \u201cbefore the morning star it was;\u201d[15] and\n\u201cin the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word\nwas God.\u201d[16] Error seems old, but truth seems a new thing.\n\nWhether, then, the Phrygians are shown to be the most ancient people\nby the goats of the fable; or, on the other hand, the Arcadians by\nthe poets, who describe them as older than the moon; or, finally,\nthe Egyptians by those who dream that this land first gave birth to\ngods and men: yet none of these at least existed before the world.\nBut before the foundation of the world were we, who, because destined\nto be in Him, pre-existed in the eye of God before,--we the rational\ncreatures of the Word of God, on whose account we date from the\nbeginning; for \u201cin the beginning was the Word.\u201d Well, inasmuch as the\nWord was from the first, He was and is the divine source of all things;\nbut inasmuch as He has now assumed the name Christ, consecrated of\nold, and worthy of power, he has been called by me the New Song. This\nWord, then, the Christ, the cause of both our being at first (for He\nwas in God) and of our well-being, this very Word has now appeared as\nman, He alone being both, both God and man--the Author of all blessings\nto us; by whom we, being taught to live well, are sent on our way to\nlife eternal. For, according to that inspired apostle of the Lord,\n\u201cthe grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,\nteaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should\nlive soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking\nfor the blessed hope, and appearing of the glory of the great God and\nour Saviour Jesus Christ.\u201d[17]\n\nThis is the New Song, the manifestation of the Word that was in the\nbeginning, and before the beginning. The Saviour, who existed before,\nhas in recent days appeared. He, who is in Him that truly is, has\nappeared; for the Word, who \u201cwas with God,\u201d and by whom all things were\ncreated, has appeared as our Teacher. The Word, who in the beginning\nbestowed on us life as Creator when He formed us, taught us to live\nwell when He appeared as our Teacher; that as God He might afterwards\nconduct us to the life which never ends. He did not now for the first\ntime pity us for our error; but He pitied us from the first, from the\nbeginning. But now, at His appearance, lost as we already were, He\naccomplished our salvation. For that wicked reptile monster, by his\nenchantments, enslaves and plagues men even till now; inflicting, as\nseems to me, such barbarous vengeance on them as those who are said\nto bind captives to corpses till they rot together. This wicked tyrant\nand serpent, accordingly, binding fast with the miserable chain of\nsuperstition whomsoever he can draw to his side from their birth, to\nstones, and stocks, and images, and such like idols, may with truth be\nsaid to have taken and buried living men with those dead idols, till\nboth suffer corruption together.\n\nTherefore (for the seducer is one and the same) he that at the\nbeginning brought Eve down to death, now brings thither the rest of\nmankind. Our ally and helper, too, is one and the same--the Lord, who\nfrom the beginning gave revelations by prophecy, but now plainly calls\nto salvation. In obedience to the apostolic injunction, therefore, let\nus flee from \u201cthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now\nworketh in the children of disobedience,\u201d[18] and let us run to the\nLord the Saviour, who now exhorts to salvation, as He has ever done,\nas He did by signs and wonders in Egypt and the desert, both by the\nbush and the cloud, which, through the favour of divine love, attended\nthe Hebrews like an handmaid. By the fear which these inspired He\naddressed the hard-hearted; while by Moses, learned in all wisdom,\nand Isaiah, lover of truth, and the whole prophetic choir, in a way\nappealing more to reason, He turns to the Word those who have ears to\nhear. Sometimes He upbraids, and sometimes He threatens. Some men He\nmourns over, others He addresses with the voice of song, just as a\ngood physician treats some of his patients with cataplasms, some with\nrubbing, some with fomentations; in one case cuts open with the lancet,\nin another cauterizes, in another amputates, in order if possible to\ncure the patient\u2019s diseased part or member. The Saviour has many tones\nof voice, and many methods for the salvation of men; by threatening He\nadmonishes, by upbraiding He converts, by bewailing He pities, by the\nvoice of song He cheers. He spake by the burning bush, for the men of\nthat day needed signs and wonders.\n\nHe awed men by the fire when He made flame to burst from the pillar\nof cloud--a token at once of grace and fear: if you obey, there is\nthe light; if you disobey, there is the fire; but, since humanity is\nnobler than the pillar or the bush, after them the prophets uttered\ntheir voice,--the Lord Himself speaking in Isaiah, in Elias,--speaking\nHimself by the mouth of the prophets. But if thou dost not believe the\nprophets, but supposest both the men and the fire a myth, the Lord\nHimself shall speak to thee, \u201cwho, being in the form of God, thought it\nnot robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Himself,\u201d[19]--He, the\nmerciful God, exerting Himself to save man. And now the Word Himself\nclearly speaks to thee, shaming thy unbelief; yea, I say, the Word of\nGod became man, that thou mayest learn from man how man may become God.\nIs it not then monstrous, my friends, that while God is ceaselessly\nexhorting us to virtue, we should spurn His kindness and reject\nsalvation?\n\nDoes not John also invite to salvation, and is he not entirely a voice\nof exhortation? Let us then ask him, \u201cWho of men art thou, and whence?\u201d\nHe will not say Elias. He will deny that he is Christ, but will\nprofess himself to be \u201ca voice crying in the wilderness.\u201d Who, then,\nis John?[20] In a word, we may say, \u201cThe beseeching voice of the Word\ncrying in the wilderness.\u201d What criest thou, O voice? Tell us also.\n\u201cMake straight the paths of the Lord.\u201d[21] John is the forerunner, and\nthat voice the precursor of the Word; an inviting voice, preparing for\nsalvation,--a voice urging men on to the inheritance of the heavens,\nand through which the barren and the desolate is childless no more.\nThis fecundity the angel\u2019s voice foretold; and this voice was also\nthe precursor of the Lord preaching glad tidings to the barren woman,\nas John did to the wilderness. By reason of this voice of the Word,\ntherefore, the barren woman bears children, and the desert becomes\nfruitful. The two voices which heralded the Lord\u2019s--that of the angel\nand that of John--intimate, as I think, the salvation in store for us\nto be, that on the appearance of this Word we should reap, as the fruit\nof this productiveness, eternal life. The Scripture makes all this\nclear, by referring both the voices to the same thing: \u201cLet her hear\nwho has not brought forth, and let her who has not had the pangs of\nchildbirth utter her voice: for more are the children of the desolate,\nthan of her who hath an husband.\u201d[22]\n\nThe angel announced to us the glad tidings of a husband. John entreated\nus to recognise the husbandman, to seek the husband. For this husband\nof the barren woman, and this husbandman of the desert--who filled with\ndivine power the barren woman and the desert--is one and the same.\nFor because many were the children of the mother of noble race, yet\nthe Hebrew woman, once blessed with many children, was made childless\nbecause of unbelief: the barren woman receives the husband, and the\ndesert the husbandman; then both become mothers through the word, the\none of fruits, the other of believers. But to the unbelieving the\nbarren and the desert are still reserved. For this reason John, the\nherald of the Word, besought men to make themselves ready against the\ncoming of the Christ of God.[23] And it was this which was signified\nby the dumbness of Zacharias, which waited for fruit in the person\nof the harbinger of Christ, that the Word, the light of truth, by\nbecoming the gospel, might break the mystic silence of the prophetic\nenigmas. But if thou desirest truly to see God, take to thyself means\nof purification worthy of Him, not leaves of laurel fillets interwoven\nwith wool and purple; but wreathing thy brows with righteousness, and\nencircling them with the leaves of temperance, set thyself earnestly to\nfind Christ. \u201cFor I am,\u201d He says, \u201cthe door,\u201d[24] which we who desire\nto understand God must discover, that He may throw heaven\u2019s gates wide\nopen to us. For the gates of the Word being intellectual, are opened by\nthe key of faith. No one knows God but the Son, and he to whom the Son\nshall reveal Him.[25] And I know well that He who has opened the door\nhitherto shut, will afterwards reveal what is within; and will show\nwhat we could not have known before, had we not entered in by Christ,\nthrough whom alone God is beheld.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n THE ABSURDITY AND IMPIETY OF THE HEATHEN MYSTERIES AND FABLES\n ABOUT THE BIRTH AND DEATH OF THEIR GODS.\n\n\nExplore not then too curiously the shrines of impiety, or the mouths\nof caverns full of monstrosity, or the Thesprotian caldron, or the\nCirrh\u00e6an tripod, or the Dodonian copper. The Gerandryon,[26] once\nregarded sacred in the midst of desert sands, and the oracle there\ngone to decay with the oak itself, consign to the region of antiquated\nfables. The fountain of Castalia is silent, and the other fountain\nof Colophon; and, in like manner, all the rest of the springs of\ndivination are dead, and stripped of their vainglory, although at a\nlate date, are shown with their fabulous legends to have run dry.\nRecount to us also the useless[27] oracles of that other kind of\ndivination, or rather madness, the Clarian, the Pythian, the Didym\u00e6an,\nthat of Amphiaraus, of Apollo, of Amphilochus; and if you will,\ncouple[28] with them the expounders of prodigies, the augurs, and\nthe interpreters of dreams. And bring and place beside the Pythian\nthose that divine by flour, and those that divine by barley, and the\nventriloquists still held in honour by many. Let the secret shrines of\nthe Egyptians and the necromancies of the Etruscans be consigned to\ndarkness. Insane devices truly are they all of unbelieving men. Goats,\ntoo, have been confederates in this art of soothsaying, trained to\ndivination; and crows taught by men to give oracular responses to men.\n\nAnd what if I go over the mysteries? I will not divulge them in\nmockery, as they say Alcibiades did, but I will expose right well by\nthe word of truth the sorcery hidden in them; and those so-called\ngods of yours, whose are the mystic rites, I shall display, as it\nwere, on the stage of life, to the spectators of truth. The bacchanals\nhold their orgies in honour of the frenzied Dionysus, celebrating\ntheir sacred frenzy by the eating of raw flesh, and go through the\ndistribution of the parts of butchered victims, crowned with snakes,\nshrieking out the name of that Eva by whom error came into the world.\nThe symbol of the Bacchic orgies is a consecrated serpent. Moreover,\naccording to the strict interpretation of the Hebrew term, the name\nHevia, aspirated, signifies a female serpent.\n\nDemeter and Proserpine have become the heroines of a mystic drama;\nand their wanderings, and seizure, and grief, Eleusis celebrates\nby torchlight processions. I think that the derivation of orgies\nand mysteries ought to be traced, the former to the wrath (\u1f40\u03c1\u03b3\u03ae) of\nDemeter against Zeus, the latter to the nefarious wickedness (\u03bc\u03cd\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2)\nrelating to Dionysus; but if from Myus of Attica, who Pollodorus\nsays was killed in hunting--no matter, I don\u2019t grudge your mysteries\nthe glory of funeral honours. You may understand mysteria in another\nway, as mytheria (hunting fables), the letters of the two words being\ninterchanged; for certainly fables of this sort hunt after the most\nbarbarous of the Thracians, the most senseless of the Phrygians, and\nthe superstitious among the Greeks.\n\nPerish, then, the man who was the author of this imposture among men,\nbe he Dardanus, who taught the mysteries of the mother of the gods, or\nEetion, who instituted the orgies and mysteries of the Samothracians,\nor that Phrygian Midas who, having learned the cunning imposture\nfrom Odrysus, communicated it to his subjects. For I will never be\npersuaded by that Cyprian Islander Cinyras, who dared to bring forth\nfrom night to the light of day the lewd orgies of Aphrodite in his\neagerness to deify a strumpet of his own country. Others say that\nMelampus the son of Amythaon imported the festivals of Ceres from Egypt\ninto Greece, celebrating her grief in song.\n\nThese I would instance as the prime authors of evil, the parents of\nimpious fables and of deadly superstition, who sowed in human life that\nseed of evil and ruin--the mysteries.\n\nAnd now, for it is time, I will prove their orgies to be full of\nimposture and quackery. And if you have been initiated, you will laugh\nall the more at these fables of yours which have been held in honour. I\npublish without reserve what has been involved in secrecy, not ashamed\nto tell what you are not ashamed to worship.\n\nThere is then the foam-born and Cyprus-born, the darling of Cinyras,--I\nmean Aphrodite, lover of the virilia, because sprung from them, even\nfrom those of Uranus, that were cut off,--those lustful members, that,\nafter being cut off, offered violence to the waves. Of members so\nlewd a worthy fruit--Aphrodite--is born. In the rites which celebrate\nthis enjoyment of the sea, as a symbol of her birth a lump of salt\nand the phallus are handed to those who are initiated into the art of\nuncleanness. And those initiated bring a piece of money to her, as a\ncourtesan\u2019s paramours do to her.\n\nThen there are the mysteries of Demeter, and Zeus\u2019s wanton embraces of\nhis mother, and the wrath of Demeter; I know not what for the future\nI shall call her, mother or wife, on which account it is that she is\ncalled Brimo, as is said; also the entreaties of Zeus, and the drink\nof gall, the plucking out of the hearts of sacrifices, and deeds that\nwe dare not name. Such rites the Phrygians perform in honour of Attis\nand Cybele and the Corybantes. And the story goes, that Zeus, having\ntorn away the testicles of a ram, brought them out and cast them at\nthe breasts of Demeter, paying thus a fraudulent penalty for his\nviolent embrace, pretending to have cut out his own. The symbols of\ninitiation into these rites, when set before you in a vacant hour, I\nknow will excite your laughter, although on account of the exposure by\nno means inclined to laugh. I have eaten out of the drum, I have drunk\nout of the cymbal, I have carried the Cernos,[29] I have slipped into\nthe bedroom. Are not these signs a disgrace? Are not the mysteries\nabsurdity?\n\nWhat if I add the rest? Demeter becomes a mother, Kore[30] is reared\nup to womanhood. And, in course of time, he who begot her,--this same\nZeus has intercourse with his own daughter Pherephatta,--after Ceres,\nthe mother,--forgetting his former abominable wickedness. Zeus is both\nthe father and the seducer of Kore, and has intercourse with her in the\nshape of a dragon; his identity, however, was discovered. The token\nof the Sabazian mysteries to the initiated is \u201cthe deity gliding over\nthe breast,\u201d--the deity being this serpent crawling over the breasts\nof the initiated. Proof surely this of the unbridled lust of Zeus.\nPherephatta has a child, though, to be sure, in the form of a bull, as\nan idolatrous poet says:\n\n \u201cThe bull\n The dragon\u2019s father, and the father of the bull the dragon,\n On a hill the herdsman\u2019s hidden ox-goad,\u201d--\n\nalluding, as I believe, under the name of the herdsman\u2019s ox-goad, to\nthe reed wielded by the bacchanals. Do you wish me to go into the story\nof Pherephatta\u2019s gathering of flowers, her basket, and her seizure by\nPluto (Aidoneus), and the rent in the earth, and the swine of Eubouleus\nthat were swallowed up with the two goddesses; for which reason, in the\nThesmophoria, speaking the Megaric tongue, they thrust out swine? This\nmythological story the women celebrate variously in different cities in\nthe festivals called Thesmophoria and Scirophoria; dramatizing in many\nforms the rape of Pherephatta (Proserpine).\n\nThe mysteries of Dionysus are wholly inhuman; for while still a child,\nand the Curetes danced around [his cradle] clashing their weapons, and\nthe Titans having come upon them by stealth, and having beguiled him\nwith childish toys, these very Titans tore him limb from limb when but\na child, as the bard of this mystery, the Thracian Orpheus, says:\n\n \u201cCone, and spinning-top, and limb-moving rattles,\n And fair golden apples from the clear-toned Hesperides.\u201d\n\nAnd the useless symbols of this mystic rite it will not be useless to\nexhibit for condemnation. These are dice, ball, hoop, apples, top,[31]\nlooking-glass, tuft of wool.\n\nAthene (Minerva), to resume our account, having abstracted the heart\nof Dionysus, was called Pallas, from the vibrating of the heart; and\nthe Titans who had torn him limb from limb, setting a caldron on a\ntripod, and throwing into it the members of Dionysus, first boiled them\ndown, and then fixing them on spits, \u201cheld them over the fire.\u201d But\nZeus having appeared, since he was a god, having speedily perceived\nthe savour of the pieces of flesh that were being cooked,--that\nsavour which your gods agree to have assigned to them as their\nperquisite,--assails the Titans with his thunderbolt, and consigns the\nmembers of Dionysus to his son Apollo to be interred. And he--for he\ndid not disobey Zeus--bore the dismembered corpse to Parnassus, and\nthere deposited it.\n\nIf you wish to inspect the orgies of the Corybantes, then know that,\nhaving killed their third brother, they covered the head of the dead\nbody with a purple cloth, crowned it, and carrying it on the point of\na spear, buried it under the roots of Olympus. These mysteries are,\nin short, murders and funerals. And the priests of these rites, who\nare called kings of the sacred rites by those whose business it is to\nname them, give additional strangeness to the tragic occurrence, by\nforbidding parsley with the roots from being placed on the table, for\nthey think that parsley grew from the Corybantic blood that flowed\nforth; just as the women, in celebrating the Thesmophoria, abstain from\neating the seeds of the pomegranate which have fallen on the ground,\nfrom the idea that pomegranates sprang from the drops of the blood of\nDionysus. Those Corybantes also they call Cabiri; and the ceremony\nitself they announce as the Cabiric mystery.\n\nFor those two identical fratricides, having abstracted the box in\nwhich the penis of Bacchus was deposited, took it to Etruria--dealers\nin honourable wares truly. They lived there as exiles, employing\nthemselves in communicating the precious teaching of their\nsuperstition, and presenting the genitals and the box for the\nTyrrhenians to worship. And some will have it, not improbably, that\nfor this reason Dionysus was called Attis, because he was castrated.\nAnd what is surprising at the Tyrrhenians, who were barbarians, being\nthus initiated into these foul indignities, when among the Athenians,\nand in the whole of Greece--I blush to say it--the shameful legend\nabout Demeter holds its ground? For Demeter, wandering in quest of\nher daughter Core, broke down with fatigue near Eleusis, a place in\nAttica, and sat down on a well overwhelmed with grief. This is even\nnow prohibited to those who are initiated, lest they should appear to\nmimic the weeping goddess. The indigenous inhabitants then occupied\nEleusis: their names were Baubo, and Dusaules, and Triptolemus; and\nbesides, Eumolpus and Eubouleus. Triptolemus was a herdsman, Eumolpus\na shepherd, and Eubouleus a swineherd; from whom came the race of\nthe Eumolpid\u00e6 and that of the Heralds--a race of Hierophants--who\nflourished at Athens.\n\nWell, then (for I shall not refrain from the recital), Baubo having\nreceived Demeter hospitably, reaches to her a refreshing draught; and\non her refusing it, not having any inclination to drink (for she was\nvery sad), and Baubo having become annoyed, thinking herself slighted,\nuncovered her secret parts, and exhibited them to the goddess. Demeter\nis delighted at the sight, and takes, though with difficulty, the\ndraught--pleased, I repeat, at the spectacle. These are the secret\nmysteries of the Athenians; these Orpheus records. I shall produce the\nvery words of Orpheus, that you may have the great authority on the\nmysteries himself, as evidence for this piece of turpitude:\n\n \u201cHaving thus spoken, she drew aside her garments,\n And showed all that shape of the body which it is improper to name,\n the growth of puberty;\n And with her own hand Baubo stripped herself under the breasts.\n Blandly then the goddess laughed and laughed in her mind,\n And received the glancing cup in which was the draught.\u201d\n\nAnd the following is the token of the Eleusinian mysteries: _I have\nfasted, I have drunk the cup; I have received from the box; having\ndone, I put it into the basket, and out of the basket into the chest._\nFine sights truly, and becoming a goddess; mysteries worthy of the\nnight, and flame, and the magnanimous or rather silly people of the\nErechthid\u00e6, and the other Greeks besides, \u201cwhom a fate they hope not\nfor awaits after death.\u201d And in truth against these Heraclitus the\nEphesian prophesies, as \u201cthe nightwalkers, the magi, the bacchanals,\nthe Len\u00e6an revellers, the initiated.\u201d These he threatens with what\nwill follow death, and predicts for them fire. For what are regarded\namong men as mysteries, they celebrate sacrilegiously. Law, then,\nand opinion, are nugatory. And the mysteries of the dragon are an\nimposture, which celebrates religiously mysteries that are no mysteries\nat all, and observes with a spurious piety profane rites. What are\nthese mystic chests?--for I must expose their sacred things, and\ndivulge things not fit for speech. Are they not sesame cakes, and\npyramidal cakes, and globular and flat cakes, embossed all over, and\nlumps of salt, and a serpent the symbol of Dionysus Bassareus? And\nbesides these, are there not pomegranates, and branches, and rods, and\nivy leaves? and besides, round cakes and poppy seeds? And further,\nthere are the unmentionable symbols of Themis, marjoram, a lamp, a\nsword, a woman\u2019s comb, which is a euphemism and mystic expression for a\nwoman\u2019s secret parts.\n\nO unblushing shamelessness! Once on a time night was silent, a veil\nfor the pleasure of temperate men; but now for the initiated, the holy\nnight is the tell-tale of the rites of licentiousness; and the glare of\ntorches reveals vicious indulgences. Quench the flame, O Hierophant;\nreverence, O Torch-bearer, the torches. That light exposes Iacchus; let\nthy mysteries be honoured, and command the orgies to be hidden in night\nand darkness.[32]\n\nThe fire dissembles not; it exposes and punishes what it is bidden.\n\nSuch are the mysteries of the Atheists. And with reason I call those\nAtheists who know not the true God, and pay shameless worship to a boy\ntorn in pieces by the Titans, and a woman in distress, and to parts\nof the body that in truth cannot be mentioned for shame, held fast as\nthey are in the double impiety, first in that they know not God, not\nacknowledging as God Him who truly is; the other and second is the\nerror of regarding those who exist not, as existing and calling those\ngods that have no real existence, or rather no existence at all, who\nhave nothing but a name. Wherefore the apostle reproves us, saying,\n\u201cAnd ye were strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and\nwithout God in the world.\u201d[33]\n\nAll honour to that king of the Scythians, whoever Anacharsis was, who\nshot with an arrow one of his subjects who imitated among the Scythians\nthe mystery of the Mother of the gods, as practised by the inhabitants\nof Cyzicus, beating a drum and sounding a cymbal strung from his neck\nlike a priest of Cybele, condemning him as having become effeminate\namong the Greeks, and a teacher of the disease of effeminacy to the\nrest of the Scythians.\n\nWherefore (for I must by no means conceal it) I cannot help wondering\nhow Euhemerus of Agrigentum, and Nicanor of Cyprus, and Diagoras,\nand Hippo of Melos, and besides these, that Cyrenian of the name of\nTheodorus, and numbers of others, who lived a sober life, and had a\nclearer insight than the rest of the world into the prevailing error\nrespecting those gods, were called Atheists; for if they did not arrive\nat the knowledge of the truth, they certainly suspected the error of\nthe common opinion; which suspicion is no insignificant seed, and\nbecomes the germ of true wisdom. One of these charges the Egyptians\nthus: \u201cIf you believe them to be gods, do not mourn or bewail them; and\nif you mourn and bewail them, do not any more regard them as gods.\u201d And\nanother, taking an image of Hercules made of wood (for he happened most\nlikely to be cooking something at home), said, \u201cCome now, Hercules;\nnow is the time to undergo for us this thirteenth labour, as you did\nthe twelve for Eurystheus, and make this ready for Diagoras,\u201d and so\ncast it into the fire as a log of wood. For the extremes of ignorance\nare atheism and superstition, from which we must endeavour to keep.\nAnd do you not see Moses, the hierophant of the truth, enjoining that\nno eunuch, or emasculated man, or son of a harlot, should enter the\ncongregation? By the two first he alludes to the impious custom by\nwhich men were deprived both of divine energy and of their virility;\nand by the third, to him who, in place of the only real God, assumes\nmany gods falsely so called,--as the son of a harlot, in ignorance of\nhis true father, may claim many putative fathers.\n\nThere was an innate original communion between men and heaven,\nobscured through ignorance, but which now at length has leapt forth\ninstantaneously from the darkness, and shines resplendent; as has been\nexpressed by one[34] in the following lines:\n\n \u201cSee\u2019st thou this lofty, this boundless ether,\n Holding the earth in the embrace of its humid arms.\u201d\n\nAnd in these:\n\n \u201cO Thou, who makest the earth Thy chariot, and in the earth hast\n Thy seat,\n Whoever Thou be, baffling our efforts to behold Thee.\u201d\n\nAnd whatever else the sons of the poets sing.\n\nBut sentiments erroneous, and deviating from what is right, and\ncertainly pernicious, have turned man, a creature of heavenly origin,\naway from the heavenly life, and stretched him on the earth, by\ninducing him to cleave to earthly objects. For some, beguiled by the\ncontemplation of the heavens, and trusting to their sight alone, while\nthey looked on the motions of the stars, straightway were seized\nwith admiration, and deified them, calling the stars gods from their\nmotion (\u03b8\u03b5\u1f78\u03c2 from \u03b8\u03b5\u1f35\u03bd); and worshipped the sun,--as, for example,\nthe Indians; and the moon, as the Phrygians. Others, plucking the\nbenignant fruits of earth-born plants, called grain Demeter, as the\nAthenians, and the vine Dionysus, as the Thebans. Others, considering\nthe penalties of wickedness, deified them, worshipping various forms of\nretribution and calamity. Hence the Erinnyes, and the Eumenides, and\nthe piacular deities, and the judges and avengers of crime, are the\ncreations of the tragic poets.\n\nAnd some even of the philosophers, after the poets, make idols of\nforms of the affections in your breasts,--such as fear, and love,\nand joy, and hope; as, to be sure, Epimenides of old, who raised at\nAthens the altars of Insult and Impudence. Other objects deified by\nmen take their rise from events, and are fashioned in bodily shape,\nsuch as a Dike, a Clotho, and Lachesis, and Atropos, and Heimarmene,\nand Auxo, and Thallo, which are Attic goddesses. There is a sixth mode\nof introducing error and of manufacturing gods, according to which\nthey number the twelve gods, whose birth is the theme of which Hesiod\nsings in his Theogony, and of whom Homer speaks in all that he says\nof the gods. The last mode remains (for there are seven in all)--that\nwhich takes its rise from the divine beneficence towards men. For, not\nunderstanding that it is God that does us good, they have invented\nsaviours in the persons of the Dioscuri, and Hercules the averter of\nevil, and Asclepius the healer. These are the slippery and hurtful\ndeviations from the truth which draw man down from heaven, and cast him\ninto the abyss. I wish to show thoroughly what like these gods of yours\nare, that now at length you may abandon your delusion, and speed your\nflight back to heaven. \u201cFor we also were once children of wrath, even\nas others; but God, being rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith\nHe loved us, when we were now dead in trespasses, quickened us together\nwith Christ.\u201d[35] For the Word is living, and having been buried with\nChrist, is exalted with God. But those who are still unbelieving are\ncalled children of wrath, reared for wrath. We who have been rescued\nfrom error, and restored to the truth, are no longer the nurslings of\nwrath. Thus, therefore, we who were once the children of lawlessness,\nhave through the philanthropy of the Word now become the sons of God.\n\nBut to you a poet of your own, Empedocles of Agrigentum, comes and says:\n\n \u201cWherefore, distracted with grievous evils,\n You will never ease your soul of its miserable woes.\u201d\n\nThe most of what is told of your gods is fabled and invented; and those\nthings which are supposed to have taken place, are recorded of vile men\nwho lived licentious lives:\n\n \u201cYou walk in pride and madness,\n And leaving the right and straight path, you have gone away\n Through thorns and briars. Why do ye wander?\n Cease, foolish men, from mortals;\n Leave the darkness of night, and lay hold on the light.\u201d\n\nThese counsels the Sybil, who is at once prophetic and poetic, enjoins\non us; and truth enjoins them on us too, stripping the crowd of deities\nof those terrifying and threatening masks of theirs, disproving the\nrash opinions formed of them by showing the similarity of names. For\nthere are those who reckon three Jupiters: him of \u00c6ther in Arcadia,\nand the other two sons of Kronos; and of these, one in Crete, and the\nothers again in Arcadia. And there are those that reckon five Athenes:\nthe Athenian, the daughter of Heph\u00e6stus; the second, the Egyptian,\nthe daughter of Nilus; the third the inventor of war, the daughter of\nKronos; the fourth, the daughter of Zeus, whom the Messenians have\nnamed Coryphasia, from her mother; above all, the daughter of Pallas\nand Titanis, the daughter of Oceanus, who, having wickedly killed her\nfather, adorned herself with her father\u2019s skin, as if it had been the\nfleece of a sheep. Further, Aristotle calls the first Apollo, the son\nof Heph\u00e6stus and Athene (consequently Athene is no more a virgin); the\nsecond, that in Crete, the son of Corybas; the third, the son of Zeus;\nthe fourth, the Arcadian, the son of Silenus (this one is called by the\nArcadians Nomius); and in addition to these, he specifies the Libyan\nApollo, the son of Ammon; and to these Didymus the grammarian adds a\nsixth, the son of Magnes. And now how many Apollos are there? They are\nnumberless, mortal men, all helpers of their fellow-men, who similarly\nwith those already mentioned have been so called. And what were I to\nmention the many Asclepiuses, or all the Mercuries that are reckoned\nup, or the Vulcans of fable? Shall I not appear extravagant, deluging\nyour ears with these numerous names?\n\nAt any rate, the native countries of your gods, and their arts and\nlives, and besides especially their sepulchres, demonstrate them to\nhave been men. Mars, accordingly, who by the poets is held in the\nhighest possible honour:\n\n \u201cMars, Mars, bane of men, blood-stained stormer of walls,\u201d[36]--\n\nthis deity, always changing sides, and implacable, as Epicharmus says,\nwas a Spartan; Sophocles knew him for a Thracian; others say he was an\nArcadian. This god, Homer says, was bound thirteen months:\n\n \u201cMars had his sufferings; by Al\u00f6eus\u2019 sons,\n Otus and Ephialtes, strongly bound,\n He thirteen months in brazen fetters lay.\u201d[37]\n\nGood luck attend the Carians, who sacrifice dogs to him! And may\nthe Scythians never leave off sacrificing asses, as Apollodorus and\nCallimachus relate:\n\n \u201cPh\u0153bus rises propitious to the Hyperboreans,\n When they offer sacrifices of asses to him.\u201d\n\nAnd the same in another place:\n\n \u201cFat sacrifices of asses\u2019 flesh delight Ph\u0153bus.\u201d\n\nHeph\u00e6stus, whom Jupiter cast from Olympus, from its divine threshold,\nhaving fallen on Lemnos, practised the art of working in brass, maimed\nin his feet:\n\n \u201cHis tottering knees were bowed beneath his weight.\u201d[38]\n\nYou have also a doctor, and not only a brass-worker among the gods. And\nthe doctor was greedy of gold; Asclepius was his name. I shall produce\nas a witness your own poet, the B\u0153otian Pindar:\n\n \u201cHim even the gold glittering in his hands,\n Amounting to a splendid fee, persuaded\n To rescue a man, already death\u2019s capture, from his grasp;\n But Saturnian Jove, having shot his bolt through both,\n Quickly took the breath from their breasts,\n And his flaming thunderbolt sealed their doom.\u201d\n\nAnd Euripides:\n\n \u201cFor Zeus was guilty of the murder of my son\n Asclepius, by casting the lightning flame at his breast.\u201d\n\nHe therefore lies struck with lightning in the regions of Cynosuris.\nPhilochorus also says, that Poseidon was worshipped as a physician\nin Tenos; and that Kronos settled in Sicily, and there was buried.\nPatroclus the Thurian, and Sophocles the younger, in three tragedies,\nhave told the story of the Dioscuri; and these Dioscuri were only two\nmortals, if Homer is worthy of credit:\n\n \u201c... but they beneath the teeming earth,\n In Laced\u00e6mon lay, their native land.\u201d[39]\n\nAnd, in addition, he who wrote the Cyprian poems says Castor was\nmortal, and death was decreed to him by fate; but Pollux was immortal,\nbeing the progeny of Mars. This he has poetically fabled. But Homer is\nmore worthy of credit, who spoke as above of both the Dioscuri; and,\nbesides, proved Hercules to be a mere phantom:\n\n \u201cThe man Hercules, expert in mighty deeds.\u201d\n\nHercules, therefore, was known by Homer himself as only a mortal man.\nAnd Hieronymus the philosopher describes the make of his body, as\ntall,[40] bristling-haired, robust; and Dic\u00e6archus says that he was\nsquare-built, muscular, dark, hook-nosed, with greyish eyes and long\nhair. This Hercules, accordingly, after living fifty-two years, came to\nhis end, and was burned in a funeral pyre in \u0152ta.\n\nAs for the Muses, whom Alcander calls the daughters of Zeus\nand Mnemosyne, and the rest of the poets and authors deify and\nworship,--those Muses, in honour of whom whole states have already\nerected museums, being handmaids, were hired by Megaclo, the daughter\nof Makar. This Makar reigned over the Lesbians, and was always\nquarrelling with his wife; and Megaclo was vexed for her mother\u2019s sake.\nWhat would she not do on her account? Accordingly she hires those\nhandmaids, being so many in number, and calls them Mys\u00e6, according\nto the dialect of the \u00c6olians. These she taught to sing deeds of the\nolden time, and play melodiously on the lyre. And they, by assiduously\nplaying the lyre, and singing sweetly to it, soothed Makar, and put a\nstop to his ill-temper. Wherefore Megaclo, as a token of gratitude to\nthem, on her mother\u2019s account erected brazen pillars, and ordered them\nto be held in honour in all the temples. Such, then, are the Muses.\nThis account is in Myrsilus of Lesbos.\n\nAnd now, then, hear the loves of your gods, and the incredible tales\nof their licentiousness, and their wounds, and their bonds, and their\nlaughings, and their fights, their servitudes too, and their banquets;\nand furthermore, their embraces, and tears, and sufferings, and lewd\ndelights. Call me Poseidon, and the troop of damsels deflowered by\nhim, Amphitrite Amymone, Alope, Melanippe, Alcyone, Hippothoe, Chione,\nand myriads of others; with whom, though so many, the passions of your\nPoseidon were not satiated.\n\nCall me Apollo; this is Ph\u0153bus, both a holy prophet and a good adviser.\nBut Sterope will not say that, nor \u00c6thousa, nor Arsinoe, nor Zeuxippe,\nnor Prothoe, nor Marpissa, nor Hypsipyle. For Daphne alone escaped the\nprophet and seduction.\n\nAnd, above all, let the Father of gods and men, according to you,\nhimself come, who was so given to sexual pleasure, as to lust after\nall, and indulge his lust on all. For he took his fill of women, as the\nhe-goat of the Thmuit\u00e6 did of the she-goats. And thy poems, O Homer,\nfill me with admiration!\n\n \u201cHe said, and nodded with his shadowy brows;\n Waved on the immortal head the ambrosial locks,\n And all Olympus trembled at his nod.\u201d[41]\n\nThou makest Zeus venerable, O Homer; and the nod which thou dost\nascribe to him is most reverend. But show him only a woman\u2019s girdle,\nand Zeus is exposed, and his locks are dishonoured. To what a pitch\nof licentiousness did that Zeus of yours proceed, who spent so many\nnights in voluptuousness with Alcmene? For not even these nine nights\nwere long to this insatiable monster. But, on the contrary, a whole\nlifetime were short enough for his lust; that he might beget for us the\nevil-averting god.\n\nHercules, the son of Zeus--a true son of Zeus--was the offspring of\nthat long night, who with hard toil accomplished the twelve labours\nin a long time, but in one night deflowered the fifty daughters of\nThestius, and thus was at once the debaucher and the bridegroom of so\nmany virgins. It is not, then, without reason that the poets call him\na cruel wretch and a nefarious scoundrel. It were tedious to recount\nhis adulteries of all sorts, and debauching of boys. For your gods did\nnot even abstain from boys, one having loved Hylas, another Hyacinthus,\nanother Pelops, another Chrysippus, and another Ganymede. Let such gods\nas these be worshipped by your wives, and let them pray that their\nhusbands be such as these--so temperate; that, emulating them in the\nsame practices, they may be like the gods. Such gods let your boys be\ntrained to worship, that they may grow up to be men with the accursed\nlikeness of fornication on them received from the gods.\n\nBut it is only the male deities, perhaps, that are impetuous in sexual\nindulgence.\n\n\u201cThe female deities stayed each in the house, for shame,\u201d[42] says\nHomer; the goddesses blushing, for modesty\u2019s sake, to look on Aphrodite\nwhen she had been guilty of adultery. But these are more passionately\nlicentious, bound in the chains of adultery; Eos having disgraced\nherself with Tithonus, Selene with Endymion, Nereis with \u00c6acus, Thetis\nwith Peleus, Demeter with Jason, Pherephatta with Adonis. And Aphrodite\nhaving disgraced herself with Ares, crossed over to Cinyra and married\nAnchises, and laid snares for Pha\u00ebthon, and loved Adonis. She contended\nwith the ox-eyed Juno; and the goddesses unrobed for the sake of the\napple, and presented themselves naked before the shepherd, that he\nmight decide which was the fairest.\n\nBut come, let us briefly go the round of the games, and do away with\nthose solemn assemblages at tombs, the Isthmian, Nemean, and Pythian,\nand finally the Olympian. At Pytho the Pythian dragon is worshipped,\nand the festival-assemblage of the serpent is called by the name\nPythia. At the Isthmus the sea spit out a piece of miserable refuse;\nand the Isthmian games bewail Melicerta.\n\nAt Nemea another--a little boy, Archemorus--was buried; and the funeral\ngames of the child are called Nemea. Pisa is the grave of the Phrygian\ncharioteer, O Hellenes of all tribes; and the Olympian games, which are\nnothing else than the funeral sacrifices of Pelops, the Zeus of Phidias\nclaims for himself. The mysteries were then, as is probable, games\nheld in honour of the dead; so also were the oracles, and both became\npublic. But the mysteries at Sagra[43] and in Alimus of Attica were\nconfined to Athens. But those contests and _phalloi_ consecrated\nto Dionysus were a world\u2019s shame, pervading life with their deadly\ninfluence. For Dionysus, eagerly desiring to descend to Hades, did not\nknow the way; a man, by name Prosymnus, offers to tell him, not without\nreward. The reward was a disgraceful one, though not so in the opinion\nof Dionysus: it was an Aphrodisian favour that was asked of Dionysus as\na reward. The god was not reluctant to grant the request made to him,\nand promises to fulfil it should he return, and confirms his promise\nwith an oath. Having learned the way, he departed and again returned:\nhe did not find Prosymnus, for he had died. In order to acquit himself\nof his promise to his lover, he rushes to his tomb, and burns with\nunnatural lust. Cutting a fig-branch that came to his hand, he shaped\nthe likeness of the _membrum virile_, and sat over it; thus\nperforming his promise to the dead man. As a mystic memorial of this\nincident, _phalloi_ are raised aloft in honour of Dionysus through\nthe various cities. \u201cFor did they not make a procession in honour of\nDionysus, and sing most shameless songs in honour of the pudenda, all\nwould go wrong,\u201d says Heraclitus. This is that Pluto and Dionysus\nin whose honour they give themselves up to frenzy, and play the\nbacchanal,--not so much, in my opinion, for the sake of intoxication,\nas for the sake of the shameless ceremonial practised. With reason,\ntherefore, such as have become slaves of their passions are your gods!\n\nFurthermore, like the Helots among the Lacedemonians, Apollo came\nunder the yoke of slavery to Admetus in Pher\u00e6, Hercules to Omphale in\nSardis. Poseidon was a drudge to Laomedon; and so was Apollo, who,\nlike a good-for-nothing servant, was unable to obtain his freedom from\nhis former master; and at that time the walls of Troy were built by\nthem for the Phrygian. And Homer is not ashamed to speak of Athene as\nappearing to Ulysses with a golden lamp in her hand. And we read of\nAphrodite, like a wanton serving-wench, taking and setting a seat for\nHelen opposite the adulterer, in order to entice him to intercourse.\n\nPanyasis, too, tells us of gods in plenty besides those who acted as\nservants, writing thus:\n\n \u201cDemeter underwent servitude, and so did the famous lame god;\n Poseidon underwent it, and Apollo too, of the silver bow,\n With a mortal man for a year. And fierce Mars\n Underwent it at the compulsion of his father.\u201d\n\nAnd so on.\n\nAgreeably to this, it remains for me to bring before you those amatory\nand sensuous deities of yours, as in every respect having human\nfeelings.\n\n \u201cFor theirs was a mortal body.\u201d\n\nThis Homer most distinctly shows, by introducing Aphrodite uttering\nloud and shrill cries on account of her wound; and describing the most\nwarlike Ares himself as wounded in the stomach by Diomede. Polemo,\ntoo, says that Athene was wounded by Ornytus; nay, Homer says that\nPluto even was struck with an arrow by Hercules; and Panyasis relates\nthat the beams of Sol were struck by the arrows of Hercules;[44] and\nthe same Panyasis relates, that by the same Hercules Hera the goddess\nof marriage was wounded in sandy Pylos. Sosibius, too, relates that\nHercules was wounded in the hand by the sons of Hippocoon. And if\nthere are wounds, there is blood. For the _ichor_ of the poets\nis more repulsive than blood; for the putrefaction of blood is called\n_ichor_. Wherefore cures and means of sustenance of which they\nstand in need must be furnished. Accordingly mention is made of\ntables, and potations, and laughter, and intercourse; for men would\nnot devote themselves to love, or beget children, or sleep, if they\nwere immortal, and had no wants, and never grew old. Jupiter himself,\nwhen the guest of Lycaon the Arcadian, partook of a human table among\nthe Ethiopians--a table rather inhuman and forbidden. For he satiated\nhimself with human flesh unwittingly; for the god did not know that\nLycaon the Arcadian, his entertainer, had slain his son (his name was\nNyctimus), and served him up cooked before Zeus.\n\nThis is Jupiter the good, the prophetic, the patron of hospitality, the\nprotector of suppliants, the benign, the author of omens, the avenger\nof wrongs; rather the unjust, the violator of right and of law, the\nimpious, the inhuman, the violent, the seducer, the adulterer, the\namatory. But perhaps when he was such he was a man; but now these\nfables seem to have grown old on our hands. Zeus is no longer a\nserpent, a swan, nor an eagle, nor a licentious man; the god no longer\nflies, nor loves boys, nor kisses, nor offers violence, although there\nare still many beautiful women, more comely than Leda, more blooming\nthan Semele, and boys of better looks and manners than the Phrygian\nherdsman. Where is now that eagle? where now that swan? where now is\nZeus himself? He has grown old with his feathers; for as yet he does\nnot repent of his amatory exploits, nor is he taught continence. The\nfable is exposed before you: Leda is dead, the swan is dead. Seek your\nJupiter. Ransack not heaven, but earth. The Cretan, in whose country he\nwas buried, will show him to you,--I mean Callimachus, in his hymns:\n\n \u201cFor thy tomb, O king,\n The Cretans fashioned!\u201d\n\nFor Zeus is dead, be not distressed, as Leda is dead, and the swan,\nand the eagle, and the libertine, and the serpent. And now even the\nsuperstitious seem, although reluctantly, yet truly, to have come to\nunderstand their error respecting the gods.\n\n \u201cFor not from an ancient oak, nor from a rock,\n But from men, is thy descent.\u201d[45]\n\nBut shortly after this, they will be found to be but oaks and stones.\nOne Agamemnon is said by Staphylus to be worshipped as a Jupiter in\nSparta; and Phanocles, in his book of the _Brave and Fair_,\nrelates that Agamemnon king of the Hellenes erected the temple of\nArgennian Aphrodite, in honour of Argennus his friend. An Artemis,\nnamed the Strangled, is worshipped by the Arcadians, as Callimachus\nsays in his _Book of Causes_; and at Methymna another Artemis had\ndivine honours paid her, viz. Artemis Condylitis. There is also the\ntemple of another Artemis--Artemis Podagra (or, the gout)--in Laconica,\nas Sosibius says. Polemo tells of an image of a yawning Apollo; and\nagain of another image, reverenced in Elis, of the guzzling Apollo.\nThen the Eleans sacrifice to Zeus, the averter of flies; and the\nRomans sacrifice to Hercules, the averter of flies; and to Fever, and\nto Terror, whom also they reckon among the attendants of Hercules. (I\npass over the Argives, who worshipped Aphrodite, opener of graves.) The\nArgives and Spartans reverence Artemis Chelytis, or the cougher, from\n\u03c7\u03b5\u03bb\u03cd\u03c4\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd, which in their speech signifies to cough.\n\nDo you imagine from what source these details have been quoted? Only\nsuch as are furnished by yourselves are here adduced; and you do not\nseem to recognise your own writers, whom I call as witnesses against\nyour unbelief. Poor wretches that ye are, who have filled with unholy\njesting the whole compass of your life--a life in reality devoid of\nlife!\n\nIs not Zeus the Baldhead worshipped in Argos; and another Zeus, the\navenger, in Cyprus? Do not the Argives sacrifice to Aphrodite Peribaso\n(the protectress),[46] and the Athenians to Aphrodite Het\u00e6ra (the\ncourtesan), and the Syracusans to Aphrodite Kallipygos, whom Nicander\nhas somewhere called Kalliglutos (with beautiful rump). I pass over in\nsilence just now Dionysus Choiropsales.[47] The Sicyonians reverence\nthis deity, whom they have constituted the god of the muliebria--the\npatron of filthiness--and religiously honour as the author of\nlicentiousness. Such, then, are their gods; such are they also who make\nmockery of the gods, or rather mock and insult themselves. How much\nbetter are the Egyptians, who in their towns and villages pay divine\nhonours to the irrational creatures, than the Greeks, who worship such\ngods as these?\n\nFor if they are beasts, they are not adulterous or libidinous, and\nseek pleasure in nothing that is contrary to nature. And of what sort\nthese deities are, what need is there further to say, as they have\nbeen already sufficiently exposed? Furthermore, the Egyptians whom\nI have now mentioned are divided in their objects of worship. The\nSyenites worship the braize-fish; and the maiotes--this is another\nfish--is worshipped by those who inhabit Elephantine: the Oxyrinchites\nlikewise worship a fish which takes its name from their country.\nAgain, the Heraclitopolites worship the ichneumon, the inhabitants of\nSais and of Thebes a sheep, the Leucopolites a wolf, the Cynopolites\na dog, the Memphites Apis, the Mendesians a goat. And you, who are\naltogether better than the Egyptians (I shrink from saying worse),\nwho are never done laughing every day of your lives at the Egyptians,\nwhat are some of you, too, with regard to brute beasts? For of your\nnumber the Thessalians pay divine homage to storks, in accordance with\nancient custom; and the Thebans to weasels, for their assistance at\nthe birth of Hercules. And again, are not the Thessalians reported to\nworship ants, since they have learned that Zeus in the likeness of an\nant had intercourse with Eurymedusa, the daughter of Cletor, and begot\nMyrmidon? Polemo, too, relates that the people who inhabit the Troad\nworship the mice of the country, which they call Sminthoi, because\nthey gnawed the strings of their enemies\u2019 bows; and from those mice\nApollo has received his epithet of Sminthian. Heraclides, in his work,\n_Regarding the Building of Temples in Acarnania_, says that, at\nthe place where the promontory of Actium is, and the temple of Apollo\nof Actium, they offer to the flies the sacrifice of an ox.\n\nNor shall I forget the Samians: the Samians, as Euphorion says,\nreverence the sheep. Nor shall I forget the Syrians, who inhabit\nPh\u0153nicia, of whom some revere doves, and others fishes, with as\nexcessive veneration as the Eleans do Zeus. Well, then, since those\nyou worship are not gods, it seems to me requisite to ascertain if\nthose are really demons who are ranked, as you say, in this second\norder [next the gods]. For if the lickerish and impure are demons,\nindigenous demons who have obtained sacred honours may be discovered\nin crowds throughout your cities: Menedemus among the Cythnians;\namong the Tenians, Callistagoras; among the Delians, Anius; among the\nLaconians, Astrabacus; at Phalerus, a hero affixed to the prow of ships\nis worshipped; and the Pythian priestess enjoined the Plat\u00e6ans to\nsacrifice to Androcrates and Democrates, and Cycl\u00e6us and Leuco while\nthe Median war was at its height. Other demons in plenty may be brought\nto light by any one who can look about him a little.\n\n \u201cFor thrice ten thousand are there in the all-nourishing earth\n Of demons immortal, the guardians of articulate-speaking men.\u201d[48]\n\nWho these guardians are, do not grudge, O B\u0153otian, to tell. Is it\nnot clear that they are those we have mentioned, and those of more\nrenown, the great demons, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Demeter, Kore, Pluto,\nHercules, and Zeus himself?\n\nBut it is from running away that they guard us, O Ascr\u00e6an, or perhaps\nit is from sinning, as forsooth they have never tried their hand at sin\nthemselves! In that case verily the proverb may fitly be uttered:\n\n \u201cThe father who took no admonition admonishes his son.\u201d\n\nIf these are our guardians, it is not because they have any ardour of\nkindly feeling towards us, but intent on your ruin, after the manner of\nflatterers, they prey on your substance, enticed by the smoke. These\ndemons themselves indeed confess their own gluttony, saying:\n\n \u201cFor with drink-offerings due, and fat of lambs,\n My altar still hath at their hands been fed;\n Such honour hath to us been ever paid.\u201d[49]\n\nWhat other speech would they utter, if indeed the gods of the\nEgyptians, such as cats and weasels, should receive the faculty of\nspeech, than that Homeric and poetic one which proclaims their liking\nfor savoury odours and cookery? Such are your demons and gods, and\ndemigods, if there are any so called, as there are demi-asses (mules);\nfor you have no want of terms to make up compound names of impiety.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n THE CRUELTY OF THE SACRIFICES TO THE GODS.\n\n\nWell, now, let us say in addition, what inhuman demons, and hostile to\nthe human race, your gods were, not only delighting in the insanity\nof men, but gloating over human slaughter,--now in the armed contests\nfor superiority in the stadia, and now in the numberless contests for\nrenown in the wars providing for themselves the means of pleasure, that\nthey might be able abundantly to satiate themselves with the murder of\nhuman beings.\n\nAnd now, like plagues invading cities and nations, they demanded cruel\noblations. Thus, Aristomenes the Messenian slew three hundred human\nbeings in honour of Ithometan Zeus, thinking that hecatombs of such a\nnumber and quality would give good omens; among whom was Theopompos,\nking of the Lacedemonians, a noble victim.\n\nThe Taurians, the people who inhabit the Tauric Chersonese, sacrifice\nto the Tauric Artemis forthwith whatever strangers they lay hands on\non their coasts who have been cast adrift on the sea. These sacrifices\nEuripides represents in tragedies on the stage. Monimus relates, in\nhis treatise on marvels, that at Pella, in Thessaly, a man of Achaia\nwas slain in sacrifice to Peleus and Chiron. That the Lyctii, who are\na Cretan race, slew men in sacrifice to Zeus, Anticlides shows in his\n_Homeward Journeys_; and that the Lesbians offered the like sacrifice\nto Dionysus, is said by Dosidas. The Phoc\u00e6ans also (for I will not pass\nover such as they are), Pythocles informs us in his third book, _On\nConcord_, offer a man as a burnt-sacrifice to the Taurian Artemis.\n\nErechtheus of Attica and Marius the Roman[50] sacrificed their\ndaughters,--the former to Pherephatta, as Demaratus mentions in his\nfirst book on _Tragic Subjects_; the latter to the evil-averting\ndeities, as Dorotheus relates in his first book of _Italian Affairs_.\nPhilanthropic, assuredly, the demons appear, from these examples; and\nhow shall those who revere the demons not be correspondingly pious?\nThe former are called by the fair name of saviours; and the latter\nask for safety from those who plot against their safety, imagining\nthat they sacrifice with good omens to them, and forget that they\nthemselves are slaying men. For a murder does not become a sacrifice\nby being committed in a particular spot. You are not to call it a\nsacred sacrifice, if one slays a man either at the altar or on the\nhighway to Artemis or Zeus, any more than if he slew him for anger or\ncovetousness,--other demons very like the former; but a sacrifice of\nthis kind is murder and human butchery. Then why is it, O men, wisest\nof all creatures, that you avoid wild beasts, and get out of the way of\nthe savage animals, if you fall in with a bear or lion?\n\n \u201c... As when some traveller spies,\n Coiled in his path upon the mountain side,\n A deadly snake, back he recoils in haste,--\n His limbs all trembling, and his cheek all pale.\u201d[51]\n\nBut though you perceive and understand demons to be deadly and wicked,\nplotters, haters of the human race, and destroyers, why do you not turn\nout of their way, or turn them out of yours? What truth can the wicked\ntell, or what good can they do any one?\n\nI can then readily demonstrate that man is better than these gods of\nyours, who are but demons; and can show, for instance, that Cyrus\nand Solon were superior to oracular Apollo. Your Ph\u0153bus was a lover\nof gifts, but not a lover of men. He betrayed his friend Cr\u0153sus, and\nforgetting the reward he had got (so careful was he of his fame), led\nhim across the Halys to the stake. The demons love men in such a way as\nto bring them to the fire [unquenchable].\n\nBut O man, who lovest the human race better, and art truer than Apollo,\npity him that is bound on the pyre. Do thou, O Solon, declare truth;\nand thou, O Cyrus, command the fire to be extinguished. Be wise, then,\nat last, O Cr\u0153sus, taught by suffering. He whom you worship is an\ningrate; he accepts your reward, and after taking the gold plays false.\n\u201cLook again to the end,\u201d O Solon. It is not the demon, but the man\nthat tells you this. It is not ambiguous oracles that Solon utters.\nYou shall easily take him up. Nothing but true, O Barbarian, shall\nyou find by proof this oracle to be, when you are placed on the pyre.\nWhence I cannot help wondering, by what plausible reasons those who\nfirst went astray were impelled to preach superstition to men, when\nthey exhorted them to worship wicked demons, whether it was Phoroneus\nor Merops, or whoever else that raised temples and altars to them; and\nbesides, as is fabled, were the first to offer sacrifices to them. But,\nunquestionably, in succeeding ages men invented for themselves gods to\nworship. It is beyond doubt that this Eros, who is said to be among the\noldest of the gods, was worshipped by no one till Charmus took a little\nboy and raised an altar to him in Academia,--a thing more seemly[52]\nthan the lust he had gratified; and the lewdness of vice men called by\nthe name of Eros, deifying thus unbridled lust. The Athenians, again,\nknew not who Pan was till Philippides told them.\n\nSuperstition, then, as was to be expected, having taken its rise thus,\nbecame the fountain of insensate wickedness; and not being subsequently\nchecked, but having gone on augmenting and rushing along in full\nflood, it became the originator of many demons, and was displayed\nin sacrificing hecatombs, appointing solemn assemblies, setting up\nimages, and building temples, which were in reality tombs: for I will\nnot pass these over in silence, but make a thorough exposure of them,\nthough called by the august name of temples; that is, the tombs which\ngot the name of temples. But do ye now at length quite give up your\nsuperstition, feeling ashamed to regard sepulchres with religious\nveneration. In the temple of Athene in Larissa, on the Acropolis, is\nthe grave of Acrisius; and at Athens, on the Acropolis, is that of\nCecrops, as Antiochus says in the ninth book of his _Histories_.\nWhat of Erichthonius? was he not buried in the temple of Polias? And\nImmarus, the son of Eumolpus and Daira, were they not buried in the\nprecincts of the Elusinium, which is under the Acropolis; and the\ndaughters of Celeus, were they not interred in Eleusis? Why should\nI enumerate to you the wives of the Hyperboreans? They were called\nHyperoche and Laodice; they were buried in the Artemisium in Delos,\nwhich is in the temple of the Delian Apollo. Leandrias says that\nClearchus was buried in Miletus, in the Didym\u00e6um. Following the Myndian\nZeno, it were unsuitable in this connection to pass over the sepulchre\nof Leucophryne, who was buried in the temple of Artemis in Magnesia;\nor the altar of Apollo in Telmessus, which is reported to be the tomb\nof Telmisseus the seer. Further, Ptolemy the son of Agesarchus, in his\nfirst book about Philopator, says that Cinyras and the descendants of\nCinyras were interred in the temple of Aphrodite in Paphos. But all\ntime would not be sufficient for me, were I to go over the tombs which\nare held sacred by you. And if no shame for these audacious impieties\nsteals over you, it comes to this, that you are completely dead,\nputting, as really you do, your trust in the dead.\n\n \u201cPoor wretches, what misery is this you suffer?\n Your heads are enveloped in the darkness of night.\u201d[53]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n THE ABSURDITY AND SHAMEFULNESS OF THE IMAGES BY\n WHICH THE GODS ARE WORSHIPPED.\n\n\nIf, in addition, I take and set before you for inspection these very\nimages, you will, as you go over them, find how truly silly is the\ncustom in which you have been reared, of worshipping the senseless\nworks of men\u2019s hands.\n\nAnciently, then, the Scythians worshipped their sabres, the Arabs\nstones, the Persians rivers. And some, belonging to other races still\nmore ancient, set up blocks of wood in conspicuous situations, and\nerected pillars of stone, which were called Xoana, from the carving of\nthe material of which they were made. The image of Artemis in Icarus\nwas doubtless unwrought wood, and that of the Cith\u00e6ronian. Here was a\nfelled tree-trunk; and that of the Samian Here, as Aethlius says, was\nat first a plank, and was afterwards during the government of Proclus\ncarved into human shape. And when the Xoana began to be made in the\nlikeness of men, they got the name of Brete,--a term derived from\nBrotos (man). In Rome, the historian Varro says that in ancient times\nthe Xoanon of Mars--the idol by which he was worshipped--was a spear,\nartists not having yet applied themselves to this specious pernicious\nart; but when art flourished, error increased. That of stones and\nstocks--and, to speak briefly, of dead matter--you have made images\nof human form, by which you have produced a counterfeit of piety, and\nslandered the truth, is now as clear as can be; but such proof as the\npoint may demand must not be declined.\n\nThat the statue of Zeus at Olympia, and that of Polias at Athens,\nwere executed of gold and ivory by Phidias, is known by everybody; and\nthat the image of Here in Samos was formed by the chisel of Euclides,\nOlympichus relates in his _Samiaca_. Do not, then, entertain any doubt,\nthat of the gods called at Athens venerable, Scopas made two of the\nstone called Lychnis, and Calos the one which they are reported to have\nhad placed between them, as Polemon shows in the fourth of his books\naddressed to Tim\u00e6us. Nor need you doubt respecting the images of Zeus\nand Apollo at Patara, in Lycia, which Phidias executed, as well as the\nlions that recline with them; and if, as some say, they were the work\nof Bryxis, I do not dispute,--you have in him another maker of images.\nWhichever of these you like, write down. Furthermore, the statues nine\ncubits in height of Poseidon and Amphitrite, worshipped in Tenos, are\nthe work of Telesius the Athenian, as we are told by Philochorus.\nDemetrius, in the second book of his _Argolics_, writes of the image of\nHere in Tiryns, both that the material was pear-tree and the artist was\nArgus.\n\nMany, perhaps, may be surprised to learn that the Palladium which is\ncalled the Diopetes--that is, fallen from heaven--which Diomede and\nUlysses are related to have carried off from Troy and deposited at\nDemophoon, was made of the bones of Pelops, as the Olympian Jove of\nother bones--those of the Indian wild beast. I adduce as my authority\nDionysius, who relates this in the fifth part of his _Cycle_. And\nApellas, in the _Delphics_, says that there were two Palladia, and\nthat both were fashioned by men. But that no one may suppose that I\nhave passed over them through ignorance, I shall add that the image of\nDionysus Morychus at Athens was made of the stones called Phellata,\nand was the work of Simon the son of Eupalamus, as Polemo says in a\nletter. There were also two other sculptors of Crete, as I think: they\nwere called Scyles and Dipoenus; and these executed the statues of the\nDioscuri in Argos, and the image of Hercules in Tiryns, and the effigy\nof the Munychian Artemis in Sicyon.\n\nWhy should I linger over these, when I can point out to you the great\ndeity himself, and show you who he was,--whom indeed, conspicuously\nabove all, we hear to have been considered worthy of veneration? Him\nthey have dared to speak of as made without hands--I mean the Egyptian\nSerapis. For some relate that he was sent as a present by the people of\nSinope to Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of the Egyptians, who won their\nfavour by sending them corn from Egypt when they were perishing with\nfamine; and that this idol was an image of Pluto; and Ptolemy, having\nreceived the statue, placed it on the promontory which is now called\nRacotis; where the temple of Serapis was held in honour, and the sacred\nenclosure borders on the spot; and that Blistichis the courtesan having\ndied in Canopus, Ptolemy had her conveyed there, and buried beneath the\nfore-mentioned shrine.\n\nOthers say that the Serapis was a Pontic idol, and was transported\nwith solemn pomp to Alexandria. Isidore alone says that it was brought\nfrom the Seleucians, near Antioch, who also had been visited with\na dearth of corn, and had been fed by Ptolemy. But Athenodorus the\nson of Sandon, while wishing to make out the Serapis to be ancient,\nhas somehow slipped into the mistake of proving it to be an image\nfashioned by human hands. He says that Sesostris the Egyptian king,\nhaving subjugated the most of the Hellenic races, on his return to\nEgypt brought a number of craftsmen with him. Accordingly he ordered\na statue of Osiris, his ancestor, to be executed in sumptuous style;\nand the work was done by the artist Bryaxis, not the Athenian, but\nanother of the same name, who employed in its execution a mixture of\nvarious materials. For he had filings of gold, and silver, and lead,\nand in addition, tin; and of Egyptian stones not one was wanting, and\nthere were fragments of sapphire, and hematite, and emerald, and topaz.\nHaving ground down and mixed together all these ingredients, he gave\nto the composition a blue colour, whence the darkish hue of the image;\nand having mixed the whole with the colouring matter that was left over\nfrom the funeral of Osiris and Apis, moulded the Serapis, the name of\nwhich points to its connection with sepulture and its construction\nfrom funeral materials, compounded as it is of Osiris and Apis, which\ntogether make Osirapis.\n\nAnother new deity was added to the number with great religious pomp\nin Egypt, and was near being so in Greece by the king of the Romans,\nwho deified Antinous, whom he loved as Zeus loved Ganymede, and whose\nbeauty was of a very rare order: for lust is not easily restrained,\ndestitute as it is of fear; and men now observe the sacred nights of\nAntinous, the shameful character of which the lover who spent them\nwith him knew well. Why reckon him among the gods, who is honoured on\naccount of uncleanness? And why do you command him to be lamented as a\nson? And why should you enlarge on his beauty? Beauty blighted by vice\nis loathsome. Do not play the tyrant, O man, over beauty, nor offer\nfoul insult to youth in its bloom. Keep beauty pure, that it may be\ntruly fair. Be king over beauty, not its tyrant. Remain free, and then\nI shall acknowledge thy beauty, because thou hast kept its image pure:\nthen will I worship that true beauty which is the archetype of all who\nare beautiful. Now the grave of the debauched boy is the temple and\ntown of Antinous. For just as temples are held in reverence, so also\nare sepulchres, and pyramids, and mausoleums, and labyrinths, which\nare temples of the dead, as the others are sepulchres of the gods. As\nteacher on this point, I shall produce to you the Sybil prophetess:\n\n \u201cNot the oracular lie of Ph\u0153bus,\n Whom silly men called God, and falsely termed Prophet;\n But the oracles of the great God, who was not made by men\u2019s hands,\n Like dumb idols of sculptured stone.\u201d[54]\n\nShe also predicts the ruin of the temple, foretelling that that of the\nEphesian Artemis would be engulphed by earthquakes and rents in the\nground, as follows:\n\n \u201cProstrate on the ground Ephesus shall wail, weeping by the shore,\n And seeking a temple that has no longer an inhabitant.\u201d\n\nShe says also that the temple of Isis and Serapis would be demolished\nand burned:\n\n \u201cIsis, thrice-wretched goddess, thou shalt linger by the streams\n of the Nile;\n Solitary, frenzied, silent, on the sands of Acheron.\u201d\n\nThen she proceeds:\n\n \u201cAnd thou, Serapis, covered with a heap of white stones,\n Shalt lie a huge ruin in thrice-wretched Egypt.\u201d\n\nBut if you attend not to the prophetess, hear at least your own\nphilosopher, the Ephesian Heraclitus, upbraiding images with their\nsenselessness: \u201cAnd to these images they pray, with the same result as\nif one were to talk to the walls of his house.\u201d For are they not to\nbe wondered at who worship stones, and place them before the doors,\nas if capable of activity? They worship Hermes as a god, and place\nAguieus as a doorkeeper. For if people upbraid them with being devoid\nof sensation, why worship them as gods? And if they are thought to be\nendowed with sensation, why place them before the door? The Romans,\nwho ascribed their greatest successes to Fortune, and regarded her\nas a very great deity, took her statue to the privy, and erected it\nthere, assigning to the goddess as a fitting temple--the necessary. But\nsenseless wood and stone, and rich gold, care not a whit for either\nsavoury odour, or blood, or smoke, by which, being at once honoured\nand fumigated, they are blackened; no more do they for honour or\ninsult. And these images are more worthless than any animal. I am at\na loss to conceive how objects devoid of sense were deified, and feel\ncompelled to pity as miserable wretches those that wander in the mazes\nof this folly: for if some living creatures have not all the senses,\nas worms and caterpillars, and such as even from the first appear\nimperfect, as moles and the shrew-mouse, which Nicander says is blind\nand uncouth; yet are they superior to those utterly senseless idols\nand images. For they have some one sense,--say, for example, hearing,\nor touching, or something analogous to smell or taste; while images do\nnot possess even one sense. There are many creatures that have neither\nsight, nor hearing, nor speech, such as the genus of oysters, which\nyet live and grow, and are affected by the changes of the moon. But\nimages, being motionless, inert, and senseless, are bound, nailed,\nglued,--are melted, filed, sawed, polished, carved. The senseless\nearth is dishonoured by the makers of images, who change it by their\nart from its proper nature, and induce men to worship it; and the\nmakers of gods worship not gods and demons, but in my view earth and\nart, which go to make up images. For, in sooth, the image is only dead\nmatter shaped by the craftsman\u2019s hand. But _we_ have no sensible\nimage of sensible matter, but an image that is perceived by the mind\nalone,--God, who alone is truly God.\n\nAnd again, when involved in calamities, the superstitious worshippers\nof stones, though they have learned by the event that senseless matter\nis not to be worshipped, yet, yielding to the pressure of misfortune,\nbecome the victims of their superstition; and though despising the\nimages, yet not wishing to appear wholly to neglect them, are found\nfault with by those gods by whose names the images are called.\n\nFor Dionysius the tyrant, the younger, having stripped off the golden\nmantle from the statue of Jupiter in Sicily, ordered him to be clothed\nin a woollen one, remarking facetiously that the latter was better\nthan the golden one, being lighter in summer and warmer in winter.\nAnd Antiochus of Cyzicus, being in difficulties for money, ordered\nthe golden statue of Zeus, fifteen cubits in height, to be melted;\nand one like it, of less valuable material, plated with gold, to be\nerected in place of it. And the swallows and most birds fly to these\nstatues, and void their excrement on them, paying no respect either\nto Olympian Zeus, or Epidaurian Asclepius, or even to Athene Polias,\nor the Egyptian Serapis; but not even from them have you learned the\nsenselessness of images. But it has happened that miscreants or enemies\nhave assailed and set fire to temples, and plundered them of their\nvotive gifts, and melted even the images themselves, from base greed\nof gain. And if a Cambyses or a Darius, or any other madman, has made\nsuch attempts, and if one has killed the Egyptian Apis, I laugh at him\nkilling their god, while pained at the outrage being perpetrated for\nthe sake of gain. I will therefore willingly forget such villainy,\nlooking on acts like these more as deeds of covetousness, than as a\nproof of the impotence of idols. But fire and earthquakes are shrewd\nenough not to feel shy or frightened at either demons or idols, any\nmore than at pebbles heaped by the waves on the shore.\n\nI know fire to be capable of exposing and curing superstition. If thou\nart willing to abandon this folly, the element of fire shall light\nthy way. This same fire burned the temple in Argos, with Chrysis the\npriestess; and that of Artemis in Ephesus the second time after the\nAmazons. And the Capitol in Rome was often wrapped in flames; nor did\nthe fire spare the temple of Serapis, in the city of the Alexandrians.\nAt Athens it demolished the temple of the Eleutherian Dionysus; and\nas to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, first a storm assailed it, and\nthen the discerning fire utterly destroyed it. This is told as the\npreface of what the fire promises. And the makers of images, do they\nnot shame those of you who are wise into despising matter? The Athenian\nPhidias inscribed on the finger of the Olympian Jove, Pantarkes[55]\nis beautiful. It was not Zeus that was beautiful in his eyes, but the\nman he loved. And Praxiteles, as Posidippus relates in his book about\nCnidus, when he fashioned the statue of Aphrodite of Cnidus, made it\nlike the form of Cratine, of whom he was enamoured, that the miserable\npeople might have the paramour of Praxiteles to worship. And when\nPhryne the courtesan, the Thespian, was in her bloom, all the painters\nmade their pictures of Aphrodite copies of the beauty of Phryne; as,\nagain, the sculptors at Athens made their Mercuries like Alcibiades.\nIt remains for you to judge whether you ought to worship courtesans.\nMoved, as I believe, by such facts, and despising such fables, the\nancient kings unblushingly proclaimed themselves gods, as this involved\nno danger from men, and thus taught that on account of their glory they\nwere made immortal. Ceux, the son of Eolus, was styled Zeus by his wife\nAlcyone; Alcyone, again, being by her husband styled Hera. Ptolemy the\nFourth was called Dionysus; and Mithridates of Pontus was also called\nDionysus; and Alexander wished to be considered the son of Ammon, and\nto have his statue made horned by the sculptors--eager to disgrace the\nbeauty of the human form by the addition of a horn. And not kings only,\nbut private persons dignified themselves with the names of deities,\nas Menecrates the physician, who took the name of Zeus. What need is\nthere for me to instance Alexarchus? He, having been by profession\na grammarian, assumed the character of the sungod, as Aristus of\nSalamis relates. And why mention Nicagorus? He was a native of Zela\n[in Pontus], and lived in the days of Alexander. Nicagorus was styled\nHermes, and used the dress of Hermes, as he himself testifies. And\nwhilst whole nations, and cities with all their inhabitants, sinking\ninto self-flattery, treat the myths about the gods with contempt, at\nthe same time men themselves, assuming the air of equality with the\ngods, and being puffed up with vainglory, vote themselves extravagant\nhonours. There is the case of the Macedonian Philip of Pella, the son\nof Amyntor, to whom they decreed divine worship in Cynosargus, although\nhis collar-bone was broken, and he had a lame leg, and had one of his\neyes knocked out. And again that of Demetrius, who was raised to the\nrank of the gods; and where he alighted from his horse on his entrance\ninto Athens is the temple of Demetrius _the Alighter_; and altars\nwere raised to him everywhere, and nuptials with Athene assigned to him\nby the Athenians. But he disdained the goddess, as he could not marry\nthe statue; and taking the courtesan Lamia, he ascended the Acropolis,\nand lay with her on the couch of Athene, showing to the old virgin the\npostures of the young courtesan.\n\nThere is no cause for indignation, then, at Hippo, who immortalized his\nown death. For this Hippo ordered the following elegy to be inscribed\non his tomb:\n\n \u201cThis is the sepulchre of Hippo, whom Destiny\n Made, through death, equal to the immortal gods.\u201d\n\nWell done, Hippo! thou showest to us the delusion of men. If they did\nnot believe thee speaking, now that thou art dead, let them become thy\ndisciples. This is the oracle of Hippo; let us consider it. The objects\nof your worship were once men, and in process of time died; and fable\nand time have raised them to honour. For somehow, what is present\nis wont to be despised through familiarity; but what is past, being\nseparated through the obscurity of time from the temporary censure\nthat attached to it, is invested with honour by fiction, so that the\npresent is viewed with distrust, the past with admiration. Exactly in\nthis way is it, then, that the dead men of antiquity, being reverenced\nthrough the long prevalence of delusion respecting them, are regarded\nas gods by posterity. As grounds of your belief in these, there are\nyour mysteries, your solemn assemblies, bonds and wounds, and weeping\ndeities.\n\n \u201cWoe, woe! that fate decrees my best-belov\u2019d,\n Sarpedon, by Patroclus\u2019 hand to fall.\u201d[56]\n\nThe will of Zeus was overruled; and Zeus being worsted, laments for\nSarpedon. With reason, therefore, have you yourselves called them\nshades and demons, since Homer, paying Athene and the other divinities\nsinister honour, has styled them demons:\n\n \u201cShe her heavenward course pursued\n To join the immortals in the abode of Jove.\u201d[57]\n\nHow, then, can shades and demons be still reckoned gods, being in\nreality unclean and impure spirits, acknowledged by all to be of an\nearthy and watery nature, sinking downwards by their own weight, and\nflitting about graves and tombs, about which they appear dimly, being\nbut shadowy phantasms? Such things are your gods--shades and shadows;\nand to these add those maimed, wrinkled, squinting divinities the Lit\u00e6,\ndaughters of Thersites rather than of Zeus. So that Bion--wittily,\nas I think--says, How in reason could men pray Zeus for a beautiful\nprogeny,--a thing he could not obtain for himself?\n\nThe incorruptible being, as far as in you lies, you sink in the earth;\nand that pure and holy essence you have buried in the grave, robbing\nthe divine of its true nature.\n\nWhy, I pray you, have you assigned the prerogatives of God to what are\nno gods? Why, let me ask, have you forsaken heaven to pay divine honour\nto earth? What else is gold, or silver, or steel, or iron, or brass, or\nivory, or precious stones? Are they not earth, and of the earth?\n\nAre not all these things which you look on the progeny of one\nmother--the earth?\n\nWhy, then, foolish and silly men (for I will repeat it), have you,\ndefaming the super-celestial region, dragged religion to the ground,\nby fashioning to yourselves gods of earth, and by going after those\ncreated objects, instead of the uncreated Deity, have sunk into deepest\ndarkness?\n\nThe Parian stone is beautiful, but it is not yet Poseidon. The ivory\nis beautiful, but it is not yet the Olympian Zeus. Matter always needs\nart to fashion it, but the deity needs nothing. Art has come forward\nto do its work, and the matter is clothed with its shape; and while\nthe preciousness of the material makes it capable of being turned to\nprofitable account, it is only on account of its form that it comes\nto be deemed worthy of veneration. Thy image, if considered as to\nits origin, is gold, it is wood, it is stone, it is earth, which has\nreceived shape from the artist\u2019s hand. But I have been in the habit\nof walking on the earth, not of worshipping it. For I hold it wrong\nto entrust my spirit\u2019s hopes to things destitute of the breath of\nlife. We must therefore approach as close as possible to the images.\nHow peculiarly inherent deceit is in them, is manifest from their\nvery look. For the forms of the images are plainly stamped with the\ncharacteristic nature of demons. If one go round and inspect the\npictures and images, he will at a glance recognise your gods from\ntheir shameful forms: Dionysus from his robe; Heph\u00e6stus from his art;\nDemeter from her calamity; Ino from her head-dress; Poseidon from his\ntrident; Zeus from the swan; the pyre indicates Heracles; and if one\nsees a statue of a naked woman without an inscription, he understands\nit to be the golden Aphrodite. Thus that Cyprian Pygmalion became\nenamoured of an image of ivory: the image was Aphrodite, and it was\nnude. The Cyprian is made a conquest of by the mere shape, and embraces\nthe image. This is related by Philostephanus. A different Aphrodite in\nCnidus was of stone, and beautiful. Another person became enamoured of\nit, and had intercourse with the stone. Posidippus relates this. The\nformer of these authors, in his book on Cyprus, and the latter in his\nbook on Cnidus. So powerful is art to delude, by seducing amorous men\ninto the pit. Art is powerful, but it cannot deceive reason, nor those\nwho live agreeably to reason. The doves on the picture were represented\nso to the life by the painter\u2019s art, that the pigeons flew to them; and\nhorses have neighed to well-executed pictures of mares. They say that\na girl became enamoured of an image, and a comely youth of the statue\nat Cnidus. But it was the eyes of the spectators that were deceived\nby art; for no one in his senses ever would have embraced a goddess,\nor entombed himself with a lifeless paramour, or become enamoured of\na demon and a stone. But it is with a different kind of spell that\nart deludes you, if it leads you not to the indulgence of amorous\naffections: it leads you to pay religious honour and worship to images\nand pictures.\n\nThe picture is like. Well and good! Let art receive its meed of praise,\nbut let it not deceive man by passing itself off for truth. The horse\nstands quiet; the dove flutters not, its wing is motionless. But\nthe cow of D\u00e6dalus, made of wood, allured the savage bull; and art\nhaving deceived him, compelled him to mount a woman full of licentious\npassion. Such frenzy have mischief-working arts created in the minds of\nthe insensate. On the other hand, apes are admired by those who feed\nand care for them, because nothing in the shape of images and girls\u2019\nornaments of wax or clay deceives them. You then will show yourselves\ninferior to apes by cleaving to stone, and wood, and gold, and ivory\nimages, and to pictures. Your makers of such mischievous toys--the\nsculptors and makers of images, the painters and workers in metal, and\nthe poets--have introduced a motley crowd of divinities: in the fields,\nSatyrs and Pans; in the woods, Nymphs, and Oreads, and Hamadryads; and\nbesides, in the waters, the rivers, and fountains, the Naiads; and in\nthe sea the Nereids. And now the Magi boast that the demons are the\nministers of their impiety, reckoning them among the number of their\ndomestics, and by their charms compelling them to be their slaves.\nBesides, the nuptials of the deities, their begetting and bringing\nforth of children that are recounted, their adulteries celebrated in\nsong, their carousals represented in comedy, and bursts of laughter\nover their cups, which your authors introduce, urge me to cry out,\nthough I would fain be silent. Oh the godlessness! You have turned\nheaven into a stage; the Divine has become a drama; and what is sacred\nyou have acted in comedies under the masks of demons, travestying true\nreligion by your demon-worship [superstition].\n\n \u201cBut he, striking the lyre, began to sing beautifully.\u201d[58]\n\nSing to us, Homer, that beautiful song\n\n \u201cAbout the amours of Ares and Venus with the beautiful crown:\n How first they slept together in the palace of Heph\u00e6stus\n Secretly; and he gave many gifts, and dishonoured the bed and\n chamber of king Heph\u00e6stus.\u201d\n\nStop, O Homer, the song! It is not beautiful; it teaches adultery, and\nwe are prohibited from polluting our ears with hearing about adultery:\nfor we are they who bear about with us, in this living and moving image\nof our human nature, the likeness of God,--a likeness which dwells\nwith us, takes counsel with us, associates with us, is a guest with\nus, feels with us, feels for us. We have become a consecrated offering\nto God for Christ\u2019s sake: we are the chosen generation, the royal\npriesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people, who once were not a\npeople, but are now the people of God; who, according to John, are not\nof those who are beneath, but have learned all from Him who came from\nabove; who have come to understand the dispensation of God; who have\nlearned to walk in newness of life. But these are not the sentiments of\nthe many; but, casting off shame and fear, they depict in their houses\nthe unnatural passions of the demons. Accordingly, wedded to impurity,\nthey adorn their bed-chambers with painted tablets hung up in them,\nregarding licentiousness as religion; and lying in bed, in the midst of\ntheir embraces, they look on that Aphrodite locked in the embrace of\nher paramour. And in the hoops of their rings they cut a representation\nof the amorous bird that fluttered round Leda,--having a strong\npredilection for representations of effeminacy,--and use a seal stamped\nwith an impression of the licentiousness of Zeus. Such are examples\nof your voluptuousness, such are the theologies of vice, such are the\ninstructions of your gods, who commit fornication along with you; for\nwhat one wishes, that he thinks, according to the Athenian orator. And\nof what kind, on the other hand, are your other images? Diminutive\nPans, and naked girls, and drunken Satyrs, and _erecta pudenda_,\npainted naked in pictures disgraceful for filthiness. And more than\nthis: you are not ashamed in the eyes of all to look at representations\nof all forms of licentiousness which are portrayed in public places,\nbut set them up and guard them with scrupulous care, consecrating these\npillars of shamelessness at home, as if, forsooth, they were the images\nof your gods, depicting on them equally the postures of Phil\u00e6nis and\nthe labours of Heracles. Not only the use of these, but the sight of\nthem, and the very hearing of them, we denounce as deserving the doom\nof oblivion. Your ears are debauched, your eyes commit fornication,\nyour looks commit adultery before you embrace. O ye that have done\nviolence to man, and have devoted to shame what is divine in this\nhandiwork of God, you disbelieve everything that you may indulge your\npassions, and that ye may believe in idols, because you have a craving\nafter their licentiousness, but disbelieve God, because you cannot bear\na life of self-restraint. You have hated what was better, and valued\nwhat was worse, having been spectators indeed of virtue, but actors of\nvice. Happy, therefore, so to say, alone are all those with one accord,\n\n \u201cWho shall refuse to look on any temples\n And altars, worthless seats of dumb stones,\n And idols of stone, and images made by hands,\n Stained with the life\u2019s-blood, and with sacrifices\n Of quadrupeds, and bipeds, and fowls, and butcheries of wild\n beasts.\u201d[59]\n\nFor we are expressly prohibited from exercising a deceptive art: \u201cFor\nthou shalt not make,\u201d says the prophet, \u201cthe likeness of anything which\nis in the heaven above or in the earth beneath.\u201d[60]\n\nFor can we possibly any longer suppose the Demeter, and the Kore, and\nthe mystic Iacchus of Praxiteles, to be gods, and not rather regard the\nart of Leucippus, or the hands of Apelles, which clothed the material\nwith the form of the divine glory, as having a better title to the\nhonour? But while you bestow the greatest pains that the image may be\nfashioned with the most exquisite beauty possible, you exercise no care\nto guard against your becoming like images for stupidity. Accordingly,\nwith the utmost clearness and brevity, the prophetic word condemns\nthis practice: \u201cFor all the gods of the nations are the images of\ndemons; but God made the heavens, and what is in heaven.\u201d[61] Some,\nhowever, who have fallen into error, I know not how, worship God\u2019s work\ninstead of God Himself,--the sun and the moon, and the rest of the\nstarry choir,--absurdly imagining these, which are but instruments for\nmeasuring time, to be gods; \u201cfor by His word they were established, and\nall their host by the breath of His mouth.\u201d[62]\n\nHuman art, moreover, produces houses, and ships, and cities, and\npictures. But how shall I tell what God makes? Behold the whole\nuniverse; it is His work: and the heaven, and the sun, and angels, and\nmen, are the works of His fingers.[63] How great is the power of God!\nHis bare volition was the creation of the universe. For God alone made\nit, because He alone is truly God. By the bare exercise of volition He\ncreates; His mere willing was followed by the springing into being of\nwhat He willed. Consequently the choir of philosophers are in error,\nwho indeed most nobly confess that man was made for the contemplation\nof the heavens, but who worship the objects that appear in the heavens\nand are apprehended by sight. For if the heavenly bodies are not the\nworks of men, they were certainly created for man. Let none of you\nworship the sun, but set his desires on the Maker of the sun; nor deify\nthe universe, but seek after the Creator of the universe. The only\nrefuge, then, which remains for him who would reach the portals of\nsalvation is divine wisdom. From this, as from a sacred asylum, the man\nwho presses after salvation, can be dragged by no demon.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n THE OPINIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHERS RESPECTING GOD.\n\n\nLet us then run over, if you choose, the opinions of the philosophers,\nto which they give boastful utterance, respecting the gods; that we\nmay discover philosophy itself, through its conceit making an idol of\nmatter; although we are able to show, as we proceed, that even while\ndeifying certain demons, it has a dream of the truth. The elements\nwere designated as the first principles of all things by some of them:\nby Thales of Miletus, who celebrated water, and Anaximenes, also of\nMiletus, who celebrated air as the first principle of all things, and\nwas followed afterwards by Diogenes of Apollonia. Parmenides of Elia\nintroduced fire and earth as gods; one of which, namely fire, Hippasus\nof Metapontum and Heraclitus of Ephesus supposed a divinity. Empedocles\nof Agrigentum fell in with a multitude, and, in addition to those four\nelements, enumerates disagreement and agreement. Atheists surely these\nare to be reckoned, who through an unwise wisdom worshipped matter, who\ndid not indeed pay religious honour to stocks and stones, but deified\nearth, the mother of these,--who did not make an image of Poseidon,\nbut revered water itself. For what else, according to the original\nsignification, is Poseidon, but a moist substance? the name being\nderived from _posis_ (drink); as, beyond doubt, the warlike Ares is so\ncalled, from _arsis_ (rising up) and _an\u0153resis_ (destroying). For this\nreason mainly, I think, many fix a sword into the ground, and sacrifice\nto it as to Ares. The Scythians have a practice of this nature, as\nEudoxus tells us in the second book of his _Travels_. The Sauromat\u00e6,\ntoo, a tribe of the Scythians, worship a sabre, as Ikesius says in his\nwork on _Mysteries_.\n\nThis was also the case with Heraclitus and his followers, who\nworshipped fire as the first cause; for this fire others named\nHeph\u00e6stus. The Persian Magi, too, and many of the inhabitants of Asia,\nworshipped fire; and besides them, the Macedonians, as Diogenes relates\nin the first book of his _Persica_. Why specify the Sauromat\u00e6, who are\nsaid by Nymphodorus, in his _Barbaric Customs_, to pay sacred honours\nto fire? or the Persians, or the Medes, or the Magi? These, Dino tells\nus, sacrifice beneath the open sky, regarding fire and water as the\nonly images of the gods.\n\nNor have I failed to reveal their ignorance; for, however much they\nthink to keep clear of error in one form, they slide into it in another.\n\nThey have not supposed stocks and stones to be images of the gods, like\nthe Greeks; nor Ibises and Ichneumons, like the Egyptians; but fire and\nwater, as philosophers. Berosus, in the third book of his _Chaldaics_,\nshows that it was after many successive periods of years that men\nworshipped images of human shape, this practice being introduced by\nArtaxerxes, the son of Darius, and father of Ochus, who first set\nup the image of Aphrodite Anaitis at Babylon and Susa; and Ecbatana\nset the example of worshipping it to the Persians; the Bactrians, to\nDamascus and Sardis.\n\nLet the philosophers, then, own as their teachers the Persians, or\nthe Sauromat\u00e6, or the Magi, from whom they have learned the impious\ndoctrine of regarding as divine certain first principles, being\nignorant of the great First Cause, the Maker of all things, and Creator\nof those very first principles, the unbeginning God, but reverencing\n\u201cthese weak and beggarly elements,\u201d[64] as the apostle says, which\nwere made for the service of man. And of the rest of the philosophers\nwho, passing over the elements, have eagerly sought after something\nhigher and nobler, some have descanted on the Infinite, of whom were\nAnaximander of Miletus, Anaxagoras of Clazomen\u00e6, and the Athenian\nArchelaus, both of whom set Mind (\u03bd\u03bf\u0217\u03c2) above Infinity; while the\nMilesian Leucippus and the Chian Metrodorus apparently inculcated two\nfirst principles--fulness and vacuity. Democritus of Abdera, while\naccepting these two, added to them images (\u03b5\u1f35\u03b4\u03c9\u03bb\u03b1); while Alcm\u00e6on of\nCrotona supposed the stars to be gods, and endowed with life (I will\nnot keep silence as to their effrontery). Xenocrates of Chalcedon\nindicates that the planets are seven gods, and that the universe,\ncomposed of all these, is an eighth. Nor will I pass over those of the\nPorch, who say that the Divinity pervades all matter, even the vilest,\nand thus clumsily disgrace philosophy. Nor do I think will it be taken\nill, having reached this point, to advert to the Peripatetics. The\nfather of this sect, not knowing the Father of all things, thinks that\nHe who is called the Highest is the soul of the universe; that is, he\nsupposes the soul of the world to be God, and so is pierced by his own\nsword. For by first limiting the sphere of Providence to the orbit of\nthe moon, and then by supposing the universe to be God, he confutes\nhimself, inasmuch as he teaches that that which is without God is God.\nAnd that Eresian Theophrastus, the pupil of Aristotle, conjectures at\none time heaven, and at another spirit, to be God. Epicurus alone I\nshall gladly forget, who carries impiety to its full length, and thinks\nthat God takes no charge of the world. What, moreover, of Heraclides\nof Pontus? He is dragged everywhere to the images--the \u03b5\u1f35\u03b4\u03c9\u03bb\u03b1--of\nDemocritus.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n BY DIVINE INSPIRATION PHILOSOPHERS SOMETIMES HIT ON THE TRUTH.\n\n\nA great crowd of this description rushes on my mind, introducing, as it\nwere, a terrifying apparition of strange demons, speaking of fabulous\nand monstrous shapes, in old wives\u2019 talk. Far from enjoining men to\nlisten to such tales are we, who avoid the practice of soothing our\ncrying children, as the saying is, by telling them fabulous stories,\nbeing afraid of fostering in their minds the impiety professed by\nthose who, though wise in their own conceit, have no more knowledge\nof the truth than infants. For why (in the name of truth!) do you\nmake those who believe you subject to ruin and corruption, dire and\nirretrievable? Why, I beseech you, fill up life with idolatrous images,\nby feigning the winds, or the air, or fire, or earth, or stones, or\nstocks, or steel, or this universe, to be gods; and, prating loftily\nof the heavenly bodies in this much vaunted science of astrology, not\nastronomy, to those men who have truly wandered, talk of the wandering\nstars as gods? It is the Lord of the spirits, the Lord of the fire, the\nMaker of the universe, Him who lighted up the sun, that I long for. I\nseek after God, not the works of God. \u201cWhom shall I take as a helper in\nmy inquiry? We do not, if you have no objection, wholly disown Plato.\nHow, then, is God to be searched out, O Plato? \u201cFor both to find the\nFather and Maker of this universe is a work of difficulty; and having\nfound Him, to declare Him fully, is impossible.\u201d[65]\n\nWhy so? by Himself, I beseech you! For He can by no means be\nexpressed. Well done, Plato! Thou hast touched on the truth. But do\nnot flag. Undertake with me the inquiry respecting the Good. For into\nall men whatever, especially those who are occupied with intellectual\npursuits, a certain divine effluence has been instilled; wherefore,\nthough reluctantly, they confess that God is one, indestructible,\nunbegotten, and that somewhere above in the tracts of heaven, in His\nown peculiar appropriate eminence, whence He surveys all things, He has\nan existence true and eternal.\n\n \u201cTell me what I am to conceive God to be,\n Who sees all things, and is Himself unseen,\u201d\n\nEuripides says. Accordingly, Menander seems to me to have fallen into\nerror when he said:\n\n \u201cO sun! for thou, first of gods, ought to be worshipped,\n By whom it is that we are able to see the other gods,\u201d\n\nFor the sun never could show me the true God; but that healthful Word,\nthat is the Sun of the soul, by whom alone, when He arises in the\ndepths of the soul, the eye of the soul itself is irradiated. Whence\naccordingly, Democritus, not without reason, says, \u201cthat a few of the\nmen of intellect, raising their hands upwards to what we Greeks now\ncall the air (\u03b7\u03ad\u03c1), called the whole expanse Zeus, or God: He, too,\nknows all things, gives and takes away, and He is King of all.\u201d\n\nOf the same sentiments is Plato, who somewhere alludes to God thus:\n\u201cAround the King of all are all things, and He is the cause of all good\nthings.\u201d Who, then, is the King of all? God, who is the measure of the\ntruth of all existence. As, then, the things that are to be measured\nare contained in the measure, so also the knowledge of God measures\nand comprehends truth. And the truly holy Moses says: \u201cThere shall not\nbe in thy bag a balance and a balance, great or small, but a true and\njust balance shall be to thee,\u201d[66] deeming the balance and measure\nand number of the whole to be God. For the unjust and unrighteous\nidols are hid at home in the bag, and, so to speak, in the polluted\nsoul. But the only just measure is the only true God, always just,\ncontinuing the self-same; who measures all things, and weighs them by\nrighteousness as in a balance, grasping and sustaining universal nature\nin equilibrium. \u201cGod, therefore, as the old saying has it, occupying\nthe beginning, the middle, and the end of all that is in being, keeps\nthe straight course, while He makes the circuit of nature; and justice\nalways follows Him, avenging those who violate the divine law.\u201d\n\nWhence, O Plato, is that hint of the truth which thou givest? Whence\nthis rich copiousness of diction, which proclaims piety with oracular\nutterance? The tribes of the barbarians, he says, are wiser than these;\nI know thy teachers, even if thou wouldst conceal them. You have\nlearned geometry from the Egyptians, astronomy from the Babylonians;\nthe charms of healing you have got from the Thracians; the Assyrians\nalso have taught you many things; but for the laws that are consistent\nwith truth, and your sentiments respecting God, you are indebted to the\nHebrews,\n\n \u201cWho do not worship through vain deceits\n The works of men, of gold, and brass, and silver, and ivory,\n And images of dead men, of wood and stone,\n Which other men, led by their foolish inclinations, worship;\n But raise to heaven pure arms:\n When they rise from bed, purifying themselves with water,\n And worship alone the Eternal, who reigns for evermore.\u201d\n\nAnd let it not be this one man alone--Plato; but, O philosophy,\nhasten to produce many others also, who declare the only true God to\nbe God, through His inspiration, if in any measure they have grasped\nthe truth. For Antisthenes did not think out this doctrine of the\nCynics; but it is in virtue of his being a disciple of Socrates that\nhe says, \u201cthat God is not like to any; wherefore no one can know Him\nfrom an image.\u201d And Xenophon the Athenian would have in his own person\ncommitted freely to writing somewhat of the truth, and given the same\ntestimony as Socrates, had he not been afraid of the cup of poison,\nwhich Socrates had to drink. But he hints nothing less; he says: \u201cHow\ngreat and powerful He is who moves all things, and is Himself at rest,\nis manifest; but what He is in form is not revealed. The sun himself,\nintended to be the source of light to all around, does not deem it\nfitting to allow himself to be looked at; but if any one audaciously\ngazes on him, he is deprived of sight.\u201d Whence, then, does the son of\nGryllus learn his wisdom? Is it not manifestly from the prophetess of\nthe Hebrews,[67] who prophesies in the following style?--\n\n \u201cWhat flesh can see with the eye the celestial,\n The true, the immortal God, who inhabits the vault of heaven?\n Nay, men born mortal cannot even stand\n Before the rays of the sun.\u201d\n\nCleanthes Pisadeus,[68] the Stoic philosopher, who exhibits not a\npoetic theogony, but a true theology, has not concealed what sentiments\nhe entertained respecting God:\n\n \u201cIf you ask me what is the nature of the good, listen:\n That which is regular, just, holy, pious,\n Self-governing, useful, fair, fitting,\n Grave, independent, always beneficial;\n That feels no fear or grief; profitable, painless,\n Helpful, pleasant, safe, friendly;\n Held in esteem, agreeing with itself, honourable;\n Humble, careful, meek, zealous,\n Perennial, blameless, ever-during:\n Mean is every one who looks to opinion\n With the view of obtaining some advantage from it.\u201d\n\nHere, as I think, he clearly teaches of what nature God is; and that\nthe common opinion and religious customs enslave those that follow\nthem, but seek not after God.\n\nWe must not either keep the Pythagoreans in the background, who say:\n\u201cGod is one; and He is not, as some suppose, outside of this frame of\nthings, but within it; but, in all the entireness of His being, is\nin the whole circle of existence, surveying all nature, and blending\nin harmonious union the whole,--the author of all His own forces and\nworks, the giver of light in heaven, and Father of all,--the mind and\nvital power of the whole world,--the mover of all things.\u201d For the\nknowledge of God, these utterances, written by those we have mentioned\nthrough the inspiration of God, and selected by us, may suffice even\nfor the man that has but small power to examine into truth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n THE POETS ALSO BEAR TESTIMONY TO THE TRUTH.\n\n\nLet poetry also approach to us (for philosophy alone will not suffice):\npoetry which is wholly occupied with falsehood--which scarcely will\nmake confession of the truth, but will rather own to God its deviations\ninto fable. Let whoever of those poets chooses advance first. Aratus\nconsiders that the power of God pervades all things:\n\n \u201cThat all may be secure,\n Him ever they propitiate first and last,\n Hail, Father! great marvel, great gain to man.\u201d\n\nThus also the Ascr\u00e6an Hesiod dimly speaks of God:\n\n \u201cFor He is the King of all, and monarch\n Of the immortals; and there is none that may vie with Him in power.\u201d\n\nAlso on the stage they reveal the truth:\n\n \u201cLook on the ether and heaven, and regard that as God,\u201d\n\nsays Euripides. And Sophocles, the son of Sophilus, says:\n\n \u201cOne, in truth, one is God,\n Who made both heaven and the far-stretching earth,\n And ocean\u2019s blue wave, and the mighty winds;\n But many of us mortals, deceived in heart,\n Have set up for ourselves, as a consolation in our afflictions,\n Images of the gods of stone, or wood, or brass,\n Or gold, or ivory;\n And, appointing to those sacrifices and vain festal assemblages,\n Are accustomed thus to practise religion.\u201d\n\nIn this venturous manner has he on the stage brought truth before the\nspectators. But the Thracian Orpheus, the son of \u0152agrus, hierophant\nand poet at once, after his exposition of the orgies, and his theology\nof idols, introduces a palinode of truth with true solemnity, though\ntardily singing the strain:\n\n \u201cI shall utter to whom it is lawful; but let the doors be closed,\n Nevertheless, against all the profane. But do thou hear,\n O Mus\u00e6us, offspring of the light-bringing moon,\n For I will declare what is true. And let not these things\n Which once appeared in your breast rob you of dear life;\n But looking to the divine word, apply yourself to it,\n Keeping right _the seat of intellect and feeling_; and walk well\n In the straight path, and to the immortal King of the universe\n alone\n Direct your gaze.\u201d\n\nThen proceeding, he clearly adds:\n\n \u201cHe is one, self-proceeding; and from Him alone all things proceed,\n And in them He Himself exerts his activity: no mortal\n Beholds Him, but He beholds all.\u201d\n\nThus far Orpheus at last understood that he had been in error:\n\n \u201cBut linger no longer, O man, endued with varied wisdom;\n But turn and retrace your steps, and propitiate God.\u201d\n\nFor if, at the most, the Greeks, having received certain scintillations\nof the divine word, have given forth some utterances of truth, they\nbear indeed witness that the force of truth is not hidden, and at the\nsame time expose their own weakness in not having arrived at the end.\nFor I think it has now become evident to all, that those who do or\nspeak aught without the word of truth are like people compelled to\nwalk without feet. Let the strictures on your gods, which the poets,\nimpelled by the force of truth, introduce in their comedies, shame you\ninto salvation. Menander, for instance, the comic poet, in his drama of\nthe _Charioteer_, says:\n\n \u201cNo god pleases me that goes about\n With an old woman, and enters houses\n Carrying a trencher.\u201d\n\nFor such are the begging priests of Cybele. Hence Antisthenes replies\nappropriately to their request for alms:\n\n \u201cI do not maintain the mother of the gods,\n For the gods maintain her.\u201d\n\nAgain, the same writer of comedy, expressing his dissatisfaction\nwith the common usages, tries to expose the impious arrogance of the\nprevailing error in the drama of the _Priestess_, sagely declaring:\n\n \u201cIf a man drags the Deity\n Whither he will by the sound of cymbals,\n He that does this is greater than the Deity;\n But these are the instruments of audacity and means of living\n Invented by men.\u201d\n\nAnd not only Menander, but Homer also, and Euripides, and other poets\nin great numbers, expose your gods, and are wont to rate them, and that\nsoundly too. For instance, they call Aphrodite dog-fly, and Heph\u00e6stus a\ncripple. Helen says to Aphrodite:\n\n \u201cThy godship abdicate!\n Renounce Olympus!\u201d[69]\n\nAnd of Dionysus, Homer writes without reserve:\n\n \u201cHe, mid their frantic orgies, in the groves\n Of lovely Nyssa, put to shameful rout\n The youthful Bacchus\u2019 nurses; they in fear,\n Dropped each her thyrsus, scattered by the hand\n Of fierce Lycurgus, with an ox-goad armed.\u201d[70]\n\nWorthy truly of the Socratic school is Euripides, who fixes his eye\non truth, and despises the spectators of his plays. On one occasion,\nApollo,\n\n \u201cWho inhabits the sanctuary that is in the middle of the earth,\n Dispensing most certain oracles to mortals,\u201d\n\nis thus exposed:\n\n \u201cIt was in obedience to him that I killed her who brought me forth;\n Him do you regard as stained with guilt--put him to death;\n It was he that sinned, not I, uninstructed as I was\n In right and justice.\u201d[71]\n\nHe introduces Heracles, at one time mad, at another drunk and\ngluttonous. How should he not so represent the god who, when\nentertained as a guest, ate green figs to flesh, uttering discordant\nhowls, that even his barbarian host remarked it? In his drama of _Ion_,\ntoo, he barefacedly brings the gods on the stage:\n\n \u201cHow, then, is it right for you, who have given laws to mortals,\n To be yourselves guilty of wrong?\n And if--what will never take place, yet I will state the\n supposition--\n You will give satisfaction to men for your adulteries,\n You, Poseidon, and you, Zeus, the ruler of heaven,--\n You will, in order to make recompense for your misdeeds,\n Have to empty your temples.\u201d[72]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n THE TRUE DOCTRINE IS TO BE SOUGHT IN THE PROPHETS.\n\n\nIt is now time, as we have despatched in order the other points, to\ngo to the prophetic Scriptures; for the oracles present us with the\nappliances necessary for the attainment of piety, and so establish\nthe truth. The divine Scriptures and institutions of wisdom form the\nshort road to salvation. Devoid of embellishment, of outward beauty\nof diction, of wordiness and seductiveness, they raise up humanity\nstrangled by wickedness, teaching men to despise the casualties of\nlife; and with one and the same voice remedying many evils, they at\nonce dissuade us from pernicious deceit, and clearly exhort us to the\nattainment of the salvation set before us. Let the Sibyl prophetess,\nthen, be the first to sing to us the song of salvation:\n\n \u201cSo He is all sure and unerring:\n Come, follow no longer darkness and gloom;\n See, the sun\u2019s sweet-glancing light shines gloriously.\n Know, and lay up wisdom in your hearts:\n There is one God, who sends rains, and winds, and earthquakes,\n Thunderbolts, famines, plagues, and dismal sorrows,\n And snows and ice. But why detail particulars?\n He reigns over heaven, He rules earth, He truly is;\u201d--\n\nwhere, in remarkable accordance with inspiration, she compares delusion\nto darkness, and the knowledge of God to the sun and light, and\nsubjecting both to comparison, shows the choice we ought to make. For\nfalsehood is not dissipated by the bare presentation of the truth, but\nby the practical improvement of the truth it is ejected and put to\nflight.\n\nJeremiah the prophet, gifted with consummate wisdom, or rather the\nHoly Spirit in Jeremiah, exhibits God. \u201cAm I a God at hand,\u201d he says,\n\u201cand not a God afar off? Shall a man do ought in secret, and I not see\nhim? Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.\u201d[73]\n\nAnd again by Isaiah, \u201cWho shall measure heaven with a span, and the\nwhole earth with his hand?\u201d[74] Behold God\u2019s greatness, and be filled\nwith amazement. Let us worship Him of whom the prophet says, \u201cBefore\nThy face the hills shall melt, as wax melteth before the fire!\u201d[75]\nThis, says he, is the God \u201cwhose throne is heaven, and His footstool\nthe earth; and if He open heaven, quaking will seize thee.\u201d[76] Will\nyou hear, too, what this prophet says of idols? \u201cAnd they shall be\nmade a spectacle of in the face of the sun, and their carcases shall\nbe meat for the fowls of heaven and the wild beasts of the earth; and\nthey shall putrefy before the sun and the moon, which they have loved\nand served; and their city shall be burned down.\u201d[77] He says, too,\nthat the elements and the world shall be destroyed. \u201cThe earth,\u201d he\nsays, \u201cshall grow old, and the heaven shall pass away; but the word\nof the Lord endureth for ever.\u201d What, then, when again God wishes to\nshow Himself by Moses: \u201cBehold ye, behold ye, that I AM, and there is\nno other God beside me. I will kill, and I will make to live; I will\nstrike, and I will heal; and there is none who shall deliver out of my\nhands.\u201d[78] But do you wish to hear another seer? You have the whole\nprophetic choir, the associates of Moses. What the Holy Spirit says by\nHosea, I will not shrink from quoting: \u201cLo, I am He that appointeth\nthe thunder, and createth spirit; and His hands have established the\nhost of heaven.\u201d[79] And once more by Isaiah. And this utterance I will\nrepeat: \u201cI am,\u201d he says, \u201cI am the Lord; I who speak righteousness,\nannounce truth. Gather yourselves together, and come. Take counsel\ntogether, ye that are saved from the nations. They have not known,\nthey who set up the block of wood, their carved work, and pray to gods\nwho will not save them.\u201d[80] Then proceeding: \u201cI am God, and there is\nnot beside me a just God, and a Saviour: there is none except me. Turn\nto me, and ye will be saved, ye that are from the end of the earth.\nI am God, and there is no other; by myself I swear.\u201d[81] But against\nthe worshippers of idols he is exasperated, saying, \u201cTo whom will ye\nliken the Lord, or to what likeness will ye compare Him? Has not the\nartificer made the image, or the goldsmith melted the gold and plated\nit with gold?\u201d[82]--and so on. Be not therefore idolaters, but even\nnow beware of the threatenings; \u201cfor the graven images and the works\nof men\u2019s hands shall wail, or rather they that trust in them,\u201d[83] for\nmatter is devoid of sensation. Once more he says, \u201cThe Lord will shake\nthe cities that are inhabited, and grasp the world in His hand like a\nnest.\u201d[84] Why repeat to you the mysteries of wisdom, and sayings from\nthe writings of the son of the Hebrews, the master of wisdom? \u201cThe\nLord created me the beginning of His ways, in order to His works.\u201d[85]\nAnd, \u201cThe Lord giveth wisdom, and from His face proceed knowledge and\nunderstanding.\u201d[86] \u201cHow long wilt thou lie in bed, O sluggard; and\nwhen wilt thou be aroused from sleep?\u201d[87] \u201cbut if thou show thyself\nno sluggard, as a fountain thy harvest shall come,\u201d[88] the \u201cWord of\nthe Father, the benign light, the Lord that bringeth light, faith to\nall, and salvation.\u201d[89] For \u201cthe Lord who created the earth by His\npower,\u201d as Jeremiah says, \u201chas raised up the world by His wisdom;\u201d[90]\nfor wisdom, which is His word, raises us up to the truth, who have\nfallen prostrate before idols, and is itself the first resurrection\nfrom our fall. Whence Moses, the man of God, dissuading from all\nidolatry, beautifully exclaims, \u201cHear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is\none Lord; and thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt\nthou serve.\u201d[91] \u201cNow therefore be wise, O men,\u201d according to that\nblessed psalmist David; \u201clay hold on instruction, lest the Lord be\nangry, and ye perish from the way of righteousness, when His wrath has\nquickly kindled. Blessed are all they who put their trust in Him.\u201d[92]\nBut already the Lord, in His surpassing pity, has inspired the song of\nsalvation, sounding like a battle march, \u201cSons of men, how long will ye\nbe slow of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after a lie?\u201d[93]\nWhat, then, is the vanity, and what the lie? The holy apostle of the\nLord, reprehending the Greeks, will show thee: \u201cBecause that, when they\nknew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but\nbecame vain in their imaginations, and changed the glory of God into\nthe likeness of corruptible man, and worshipped and served the creature\nmore than the Creator.\u201d[94] And verily this is the God who \u201cin the\nbeginning made the heaven and the earth.\u201d[95] But you do not know God,\nand worship the heaven, and how shall you escape the guilt of impiety?\nHear again the prophet speaking: \u201cThe sun shall suffer eclipse, and the\nheaven be darkened; but the Almighty shall shine for ever: while the\npowers of the heavens shall be shaken, and the heavens stretched out\nand drawn together shall be rolled as a parchment-skin (for these are\nthe prophetic expressions), and the earth shall flee away from before\nthe face of the Lord.\u201d[96]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n \u201cTHAT THOSE GRIEVOUSLY SIN WHO DESPISE OR NEGLECT\n GOD\u2019S GRACIOUS CALLING.\u201d\n\n\nI could adduce ten thousand scriptures of which not \u201cone tittle shall\npass away\u201d[97] without being fulfilled; for the mouth of the Lord the\nHoly Spirit hath spoken these things. \u201cDo not any longer,\u201d he says,\n\u201cmy son, despise the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art\nrebuked of Him.\u201d[98] O surpassing love for man! Not as a teacher\nspeaking to his pupils, not as a master to his domestics, nor as God\nto men, but as a father, does the Lord gently admonish His children.\nThus Moses confesses that \u201che was filled with quaking and terror\u201d[99]\nwhile he listened to God speaking concerning the Word. And art not\nthou afraid as thou hearest the voice of the Divine Word? Art not thou\ndistressed? Do you not fear, and hasten to learn of Him,--that is,\nto salvation,--dreading wrath, loving grace, eagerly striving after\nthe hope set before us, that you may shun the judgment threatened?\nCome, come, O my young people! For if you become not again as little\nchildren, and be born again, as saith the Scripture, you shall not\nreceive the truly existent Father, nor shall you ever enter into the\nkingdom of heaven. For in what way is a stranger permitted to enter?\nWell, as I take it, then, when he is enrolled and made a citizen, and\nreceives one to stand to him in the relation of father, then will he\nbe occupied with the Father\u2019s concerns, then shall he be deemed worthy\nto be made His heir, then will he share the kingdom of the Father\nwith His own dear Son. For this is the first-born church, composed\nof many good children; these are \u201cthe first-born enrolled in heaven,\nwho hold high festival with so many myriads of angels.\u201d We, too, are\nfirst-born sons, who are reared by God, who are the genuine friends of\nthe First-born, who first of all other men attained to the knowledge\nof God, who first were wrenched away from our sins, first severed from\nthe devil. And now the more benevolent God is, the more impious men\nare; for He desires us from slaves to become sons, while they scorn\nto become sons. O the prodigious folly of being ashamed of the Lord!\nHe offers freedom, you flee into bondage; He bestows salvation, you\nsink down into destruction; He confers everlasting life, you wait for\npunishment, and prefer the fire which the Lord \u201chas prepared for the\ndevil and his angels.\u201d[100] Wherefore the blessed apostle says: \u201cI\ntestify in the Lord, that ye walk no longer as the Gentiles walk, in\nthe vanity of their mind; having their understanding darkened, being\nalienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,\nbecause of the hardness of their heart: who, being past feeling, have\ngiven themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness and\nconcupiscence.\u201d[101] After the accusation of such a witness, and his\ninvocation of God, what else remains for the unbelieving than judgment\nand condemnation? And the Lord, with ceaseless assiduity, exhorts,\nterrifies, urges, rouses, admonishes; He awakes from the sleep of\ndarkness, and raises up those who have wandered in error. \u201cAwake,\u201d He\nsays, \u201cthou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall\ngive thee light,\u201d[102]--Christ, the Sun of the Resurrection, He \u201cwho\nwas born before the morning star,\u201d[103] and with His beams bestows\nlife. Let no one then despise the Word, lest he unwittingly despise\nhimself. For the Scripture somewhere says, \u201cTo-day, if ye will hear\nHis voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the\nday of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers proved me by\ntrial.\u201d[104] And what was the trial? If you wish to learn, the Holy\nSpirit will show you: \u201cAnd saw my works,\u201d He says, \u201cforty years.\nWherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always\nerr in heart, and have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath,\nthey shall not enter into my rest.\u201d[105] Look to the threatening!\nLook to the exhortation! Look to the punishment! Why, then, should\nwe any longer change grace into wrath, and not receive the word with\nopen ears, and entertain God as a guest in pure spirits? For great\nis the grace of His promise, \u201cif to-day we hear His voice.\u201d[106] And\nthat to-day is lengthened out day by day, while it is called to-day.\nAnd to the end the to-day and the instruction continue; and then the\ntrue to-day, the neverending day of God, extends over eternity. Let us\nthen ever obey the voice of the divine word. For the to-day signifies\neternity. And day is the symbol of light; and the light of men is the\nWord, by whom we behold God. Rightly, then, to those that have believed\nand obey, grace will superabound; while with those that have been\nunbelieving, and err in heart, and have not known the Lord\u2019s ways,\nwhich John commanded to make straight and to prepare, God is incensed,\nand those He threatens.\n\nAnd, indeed, the old Hebrew wanderers in the desert received typically\nthe end of the threatening; for they are said not to have entered into\nthe rest, because of unbelief, till, having followed the successor of\nMoses, they learned by experience, though late, that they could not be\nsaved otherwise than by believing on Jesus. But the Lord, in His love\nto man, invites all men to the knowledge of the truth, and for this\nend sends the Paraclete. What, then, is this knowledge? Godliness;\nand \u201cgodliness,\u201d according to Paul, \u201cis profitable for all things,\nhaving the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to\ncome.\u201d[107] If eternal salvation were to be sold, for how much, O men,\nwould you propose to purchase it? Were one to estimate the value of\nthe whole of Pactolus, the fabulous river of gold, he would not have\nreckoned up a price equivalent to salvation.\n\nDo not, however, faint. You may, if you choose, purchase salvation,\nthough of inestimable value, with your own resources, love and living\nfaith, which will be reckoned a suitable price. This recompense God\ncheerfully accepts; \u201cfor we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour\nof all men, especially of those who believe.\u201d[108]\n\nBut the rest, round whom the world\u2019s growths have fastened, as the\nrocks on the sea-shore are covered over with seaweed, make light of\nimmortality, like the old man of Ithaca, eagerly longing to see, not\nthe truth, not the fatherland in heaven, not the true light, but smoke.\nBut godliness, that makes man as far as can be like God, designates God\nas our suitable teacher, who alone can worthily assimilate man to God.\nThis teaching the apostle knows as truly divine. \u201cThou, O Timothy,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cfrom a child hast known the holy letters, which are able\nto make thee wise unto salvation, through faith that is in Christ\nJesus.\u201d[109] For truly holy are those letters that sanctify and deify;\nand the writings or volumes that consist of those holy letters and\nsyllables, the same apostle consequently calls \u201cinspired of God, being\nprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction\nin righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly\nfurnished to every good work.\u201d[110] No one will be so impressed by the\nexhortations of any of the saints, as he is by the words of the Lord\nHimself, the lover of man. For this, and nothing but this, is His only\nwork--the salvation of man. Therefore He Himself, urging them on to\nsalvation, cries, \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d[111] Those men\nthat draw near through fear, He converts. Thus also the apostle of\nthe Lord, beseeching the Macedonians, becomes the interpreter of the\ndivine voice, when he says, \u201cThe Lord is at hand; take care that ye be\nnot apprehended empty.\u201d[112] But are ye so devoid of fear, or rather\nof faith, as not to believe the Lord Himself, or Paul, who in Christ\u2019s\nstead thus entreats: \u201cTaste and see that Christ is God?\u201d[113] Faith\nwill lead you in; experience will teach you; Scripture will train you,\nfor it says, \u201cCome hither, O children; listen to me, and I will teach\nyou the fear of the Lord.\u201d Then, as to those who already believe, it\nbriefly adds, \u201cWhat man is he that desireth life, that loveth to see\ngood days?\u201d[114] It is we, we shall say--we who are the devotees of\ngood, we who eagerly desire good things. Hear, then, ye who are far\noff, hear ye who are near: the word has not been hidden from any; light\nis common, it shines \u201con all men.\u201d No one is a Cimmerian in respect to\nthe word. Let us haste to salvation, to regeneration; let us who are\nmany haste that we may be brought together into one love, according\nto the union of the essential unity; and let us, by being made good,\nconformably follow after union, seeking after the good Monad.\n\nThe union of many in one, issuing in the production of divine harmony\nout of a medley of sounds and division, becomes one symphony following\none choir-leader and teacher, the Word, reaching and resting in the\nsame truth, and crying Abba, Father. This, the true utterance of His\nchildren, God accepts with gracious welcome--the first-fruits He\nreceives from them.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n ANSWER TO THE OBJECTION OF THE HEATHEN, THAT IT\n WAS NOT RIGHT TO ABANDON THE CUSTOMS OF THEIR\n FATHERS.\n\n\nBut you say it is not creditable to subvert the customs handed down\nto us from our fathers. And why, then, do we not still use our first\nnourishment, milk, to which our nurses accustomed us from the time\nof our birth? Why do we increase or diminish our patrimony, and not\nkeep it exactly the same as we got it? Why do we not still vomit on\nour parents\u2019 breasts, or still do the things for which, when infants,\nand nursed by our mothers, we were laughed at, but have corrected\nourselves, even if we did not fall in with good instructors? Then,\nif excesses in the indulgence of the passions, though pernicious and\ndangerous, yet are accompanied with pleasure, why do we not in the\nconduct of life abandon that usage which is evil, and provocative of\npassion, and godless, even should our fathers feel hurt, and betake\nourselves to the truth, and seek Him who is truly our Father, rejecting\ncustom as a deleterious drug? For of all that I have undertaken to do,\nthe task I now attempt is the noblest, viz. to demonstrate to you how\ninimical this insane and most wretched custom is to godliness. For a\nboon so great, the greatest ever given by God to the human race, would\nnever have been hated and rejected, had not you been carried away by\ncustom, and then shut your ears against us; and just as unmanageable\nhorses throw off the reins, and take the bit between their teeth, you\nrush away from the arguments addressed to you, in your eager desire to\nshake yourselves clear of us, who seek to guide the chariot of your\nlife, and, impelled by your folly, dash towards the precipices of\ndestruction, and regard the holy word of God as an accursed thing. The\nreward of your choice, therefore, as described by Sophocles, follows:\n\n \u201cThe mind a blank, useless ears, vain thoughts.\u201d\n\nAnd you know not that, of all truths, this is the truest, that the good\nand godly shall obtain the good reward, inasmuch as they held goodness\nin high esteem; while, on the other hand, the wicked shall receive meet\npunishment. For the author of evil, torment has been prepared; and so\nthe prophet Zecharias threatens him: \u201cHe that hath chosen Jerusalem\nrebuke thee; lo, is not this a brand plucked from the fire?\u201d[115]\nWhat an infatuated desire, then, for voluntary death is this, rooted\nin men\u2019s minds! Why do they flee to this fatal brand, with which they\nshall be burned, when it is within their power to live nobly according\nto God, and not according to custom? For God bestows life freely; but\nevil custom, after our departure from this world, brings on the sinner\nunavailing remorse with punishment. _By sad experience, even a child\nknows_ how superstition destroys and piety saves. Let any of you\nlook at those who minister before the idols, their hair matted, their\npersons disgraced with filthy and tattered clothes; who never come near\na bath, and let their nails grow to an extraordinary length, like wild\nbeasts; many of them castrated, who show the idol\u2019s temples to be in\nreality graves or prisons. These appear to me to bewail the gods, not\nto worship them, and their sufferings to be worthy of pity rather than\npiety. And seeing these things, do you still continue blind, and will\nyou not look up to the Ruler of all, the Lord of the universe? And will\nyou not escape from those dungeons, and flee to the mercy that comes\ndown from heaven? For God, of His great love to man, comes to the help\nof man, as the mother-bird flies to one of her young that has fallen\nout of the nest; and if a serpent open its mouth to swallow the little\nbird, \u201cthe mother flutters round, uttering cries of grief over her dear\nprogeny;\u201d[116] and God the Father seeks His creature, and heals his\ntransgression, and pursues the serpent, and recovers the young one, and\nincites it to fly up to the nest.\n\nThus dogs that have strayed, track out their master by the scent; and\nhorses that have thrown their riders, come to their master\u2019s call if he\nbut whistle. \u201cThe ox,\u201d it is said, \u201cknoweth his owner, and the ass his\nmaster\u2019s crib; but Israel hath not known me.\u201d[117] What, then, of the\nLord? He remembers not our ill desert; He still pities, He still urges\nus to repentance.\n\nAnd I would ask you, if it does not appear to you monstrous, that you\nmen who are God\u2019s handiwork, who have received your souls from Him, and\nbelong wholly to God, should be subject to another master, and, what\nis more, serve the tyrant instead of the rightful King--the evil one\ninstead of the good? For, in the name of truth, what man in his senses\nturns his back on good, and attaches himself to evil? What, then, is\nhe who flees from God to consort with demons? Who, that may become a\nson of God, prefers to be in bondage? Or who is he that pursues his way\nto Erebus, when it is in his power to be a citizen of heaven, and to\ncultivate Paradise, and walk about in heaven and partake of the tree\nof life and immortality, and, cleaving his way through the sky in the\ntrack of the luminous cloud, behold, like Elias, the rain of salvation?\nSome there are, who, like worms wallowing in marshes and mud in the\nstreams of pleasure, feed on foolish and useless delights--swinish men.\nFor swine, it is said, like mud better than pure water; and, according\nto Democritus, \u201cdoat upon dirt.\u201d\n\nLet us not then be enslaved or become swinish; but, as true children\nof the light, let us raise our eyes and look on the light, lest\nthe Lord discover us to be spurious, as the sun does the eagles.\nLet us therefore repent, and pass from ignorance to knowledge,\nfrom foolishness to wisdom, from licentiousness to self-restraint,\nfrom unrighteousness to righteousness, from godlessness to God.\nIt is an enterprise of noble daring to take our way to God; and\nthe enjoyment of many other good things is within the reach of the\nlovers of righteousness, who pursue eternal life, specially those\nthings to which God Himself alludes, speaking by Isaiah: \u201cThere is an\ninheritance for those who serve the Lord.\u201d[118] Noble and desirable\nis this inheritance: not gold, not silver, not raiment, which the\nmoth assails, and things of earth which are assailed by the robber,\nwhose eye is dazzled by worldly wealth; but it is that treasure of\nsalvation to which we must hasten, by becoming lovers of the Word.\nThence praiseworthy works descend to us, and fly with us on the wing\nof truth. This is the inheritance with which the eternal covenant of\nGod invests us, conveying the everlasting gift of grace; and thus\nour loving Father--the true Father--ceases not to exhort, admonish,\ntrain, love us. For He ceases not to save, and advises the best course:\n\u201cBecome righteous,\u201d says the Lord.[119] Ye that thirst, come to the\nwater; and ye that have no money, come, and buy and drink without\nmoney.[120] He invites to the laver, to salvation, to illumination, all\nbut crying out and saying, The land I give thee, and the sea, my child,\nand heaven too; and all the living creatures in them I freely bestow\nupon thee. Only, O child, thirst for thy Father; God shall be revealed\nto thee without price; the truth is not made merchandise of. He gives\nthee all creatures that fly and swim, and those on the land. These the\nFather has created for thy thankful enjoyment. What the bastard, who is\na son of perdition, foredoomed to be the slave of mammon, has to buy\nfor money, He assigns to thee as thine own, even to His own son who\nloves the Father; for whose sake He still works, and to whom alone He\npromises, saying, \u201cThe land shall not be sold in perpetuity,\u201d for it\nis not destined to corruption. \u201cFor the whole land is mine;\u201d and it is\nthine too, if thou receive God. Wherefore the Scripture, as might have\nbeen expected, proclaims good news to those who have believed. \u201cThe\nsaints of the Lord shall inherit the glory of God and His power.\u201d What\nglory, tell me, O blessed One, which \u201ceye hath not seen, nor ear heard,\nnor hath it entered into the heart of man;\u201d[121] and \u201cthey shall be\nglad in the kingdom of their Lord for ever and ever! Amen.\u201d You have,\nO men, the divine promise of grace; you have heard, on the other hand,\nthe threatening of punishment: by these the Lord saves, teaching men\nby fear and grace. Why do we delay? Why do we not shun the punishment?\nWhy do we not receive the free gift? Why, in fine, do we not choose\nthe better part, God instead of the evil one, and prefer wisdom to\nidolatry, and take life in exchange for death? \u201cBehold,\u201d He says, \u201cI\nhave set before your face death and life.\u201d[122] The Lord tries you,\nthat \u201cyou may choose life.\u201d He counsels you as a father to obey God.\n\u201cFor if ye hear me,\u201d He says, \u201cand be willing, ye shall eat the good\nthings of the land:\u201d[123] this is the grace attached to obedience. \u201cBut\nif ye obey me not, and are unwilling, the sword and fire shall devour\nyou:\u201d[124] this is the penalty of disobedience. For the mouth of the\nLord--the law of truth, the word of the Lord--hath spoken these things.\nAre you willing that I should be your good counsellor? Well, do you\nhear. I, if possible, will explain. You ought, O men, when reflecting\non the Good, to have brought forward a witness inborn and competent,\nviz. faith, which of itself, and from its own resources, chooses\nat once what is best, instead of occupying yourselves in painfully\ninquiring whether what is best ought to be followed. For, allow me to\ntell you, you ought to doubt whether you should get drunk, but you get\ndrunk before reflecting on the matter; and whether you ought to do an\ninjury, but you do injury with the utmost readiness. The only thing you\nmake the subject of question is, whether God should be worshipped, and\nwhether this wise God and Christ should be followed: and this you think\nrequires deliberation and doubt, and know not what is worthy of God.\nHave faith in us, as you have in drunkenness, that you may be wise;\nhave faith in us, as you have in injury, that you may live. But if,\nacknowledging the conspicuous trustworthiness of the virtues, you wish\nto trust them, come and I will set before you in abundance, materials\nof persuasion respecting the Word. But do you--for your ancestral\ncustoms, by which your minds are pre-occupied, divert you from the\ntruth,--do you now hear what is the real state of the case as follows.\n\nAnd let not any shame of this name preoccupy you, which does great\nharm to men, and seduces them from salvation. Let us then openly strip\nfor the contest, and nobly strive in the arena of truth, the holy\nWord being the judge, and the Lord of the universe prescribing the\ncontest. For \u2019tis no insignificant prize, the guerdon of immortality\nwhich is set before us. Pay no more regard, then, if you are rated by\nsome of the low rabble who lead the dance of impiety, and are driven\non to the same pit by their folly and insanity, makers of idols and\nworshippers of stones. For these have dared to deify men,--Alexander\nof Macedon, for example, whom they canonized as the thirteenth\ngod, whose pretensions Babylon confuted, which showed him dead. I\nadmire, therefore, the divine sophist. Theocritus was his name. After\nAlexander\u2019s death, Theocritus, holding up the vain opinions entertained\nby men respecting the gods, to ridicule before his fellow-citizens,\nsaid: \u201cMen, keep up your hearts as long as you see the gods dying\nsooner than men.\u201d And, truly, he who worships gods that are visible,\nand the promiscuous rabble of creatures begotten and born, and attaches\nhimself to them, is a far more wretched object than the very demons.\nFor God is by no manner of means unrighteous, as the demons are, but in\nthe very highest degree righteous; and nothing more resembles God than\none of us when he becomes righteous in the highest possible degree:\n\n \u201cGo into the way, the whole tribe of you handicraftsmen,\n Who worship Jove\u2019s fierce-eyed daughter,[125] the working goddess,\n With fans duly placed, fools that ye are\u201d--\n\nfashioners of stones, and worshippers of them. Let your Phidias, and\nPolycletus, and your Praxiteles and Apelles too, come, and all that are\nengaged in mechanical arts, who, being themselves of the earth, are\nworkers of the earth. \u201cFor then,\u201d says a certain prophecy, \u201cthe affairs\nhere turn out unfortunately, when men put their trust in images.\u201d Let\nthe meaner artists, too--for I will not stop calling--come. None of\nthese ever made a breathing image, or out of earth moulded soft flesh.\nWho liquefied the marrow? or who solidified the bones? Who stretched\nthe nerves? who distended the veins? Who poured the blood into\nthem? Or who spread the skin? Who ever could have made eyes capable\nof seeing? Who breathed spirit into the lifeless form? Who bestowed\nrighteousness? Who promised immortality? The Maker of the universe\nalone: the Great Artist and Father has formed us, such a living image\nas man is. But your Olympian Jove, the image of an image, greatly out\nof harmony with truth, is the senseless work of Attic hands. For the\nimage of God is His Word, the genuine Son of Mind, the Divine Word, the\narchetypal light of light; and the image of the Word is the true man,\nthe mind which is in man, who is therefore said to have been made \u201cin\nthe image and likeness of God,\u201d[126] assimilated to the Divine Word\nin the affections of the soul, and therefore rational; but effigies\nsculptured in human form, the earthly image of that part of man which\nis visible and earth-born, are but a perishable impress of humanity,\nmanifestly wide of the truth. That life, then, which is occupied with\nso much earnestness about matter, seems to me to be nothing else than\nfull of insanity. And custom, which has made you taste bondage and\nunreasonable care, is fostered by vain opinion; and ignorance, which\nhas proved to the human race the cause of unlawful rites and delusive\nshows, and also of deadly plagues and hateful images, has, by devising\nmany shapes of demons, stamped on all that follow it the mark of\nlong-continued death. Receive, then, the water of the word; wash, ye\npolluted ones; purify yourselves from custom, by sprinkling yourselves\nwith the drops of truth. The pure must ascend to heaven. Thou art a\nman, if we look to that which is most common to thee and others--seek\nHim who created thee; thou art a son, if we look to that which is thy\npeculiar prerogative--acknowledge thy Father. But do you still continue\nin your sins, engrossed with pleasures? To whom shall the Lord say,\n\u201cYours is the kingdom of heaven?\u201d Yours, whose choice is set on God, if\nyou will; yours, if you will only believe, and comply with the brief\nterms of the announcement; which the Ninevites having obeyed, instead\nof the destruction they looked for, obtained a signal deliverance.\nHow, then, may I ascend to heaven, is it said? The Lord is the way; a\nstrait way, but leading from heaven, strait in truth, but leading back\nto heaven, strait, despised on earth; broad, adored in heaven.\n\nThen, he that is uninstructed in the word, has ignorance as the excuse\nof his error; but as for him into whose ears instruction has been\npoured, and who deliberately maintains his incredulity in his soul,\nthe wiser he appears to be, the more harm will his understanding do\nhim; for he has his own sense as his accuser for not having chosen the\nbest part. For man has been otherwise constituted by nature, so as\nto have fellowship with God. As, then, we do not compel the horse to\nplough, or the bull to hunt, but set each animal to that for which it\nis by nature fitted; so, placing our finger on what is man\u2019s peculiar\nand distinguishing characteristic above other creatures, we invite\nhim--born, as he is, for the contemplation of heaven, and being, as he\nis, a truly heavenly plant--to the knowledge of God, counselling him\nto furnish himself with what is his sufficient provision for eternity,\nnamely piety. Practise husbandry, we say, if you are a husbandman;\nbut while you till your fields, know God. Sail the sea, you who are\ndevoted to navigation, yet call the whilst on the heavenly Pilot. Has\nknowledge taken hold of you while engaged in military service? Listen\nto the commander, who orders what is right. As those, then, who have\nbeen overpowered with sleep and drunkenness, do ye awake; and using\nyour eyes a little, consider what mean those stones which you worship,\nand the expenditure you frivolously lavish on matter. Your means and\nsubstance you squander on ignorance, even as you throw away your lives\nto death, having found no other end of your vain hope than this. Not\nonly unable to pity yourselves, you are incapable even of yielding to\nthe persuasions of those who commiserate you; enslaved as you are to\nevil custom, and, clinging to it voluntarily till your last breath, you\nare hurried to destruction: \u201cbecause light is come into the world, and\nmen have loved the darkness rather than the light,\u201d[127] while they\ncould sweep away those hindrances to salvation, pride, and wealth, and\nfear, repeating this poetic utterance:\n\n \u201cWhither do I bear these abundant riches? and whither\n Do I myself wander?\u201d[128]\n\nIf you wish, then, to cast aside these vain phantasies, and bid adieu\nto evil custom, say to vain opinion:\n\n \u201cLying dreams, farewell; you were then nothing.\u201d\n\nFor what, think you, O men, is the Hermes of Typho, and that of\nAndocides, and that of Amyetus? Is it not evident to all that they\nare stones, as is the veritable Hermes himself? As the Halo is not a\ngod, and as the Iris is not a god, but are states of the atmosphere\nand of the clouds; and as, likewise, a day is not a god, nor a year,\nnor time, which is made up of these, so neither is sun nor moon, by\nwhich each of those mentioned above is determined. Who, then, in his\nright senses, can imagine Correction, and Punishment, and Justice, and\nRetribution to be gods? For neither the Furies, nor the Fates, nor\nDestiny are gods, since neither Government, nor Glory, nor Wealth are\ngods, which last [as Plutus] painters represent as blind. But if you\ndeify Modesty, and Love, and Venus, let these be followed by Infamy,\nand Passion, and Beauty, and Intercourse. Therefore Sleep and Death\ncannot reasonably any more be regarded as twin deities, being merely\nchanges which take place naturally in living creatures; no more will\nyou with propriety call Fortune, or Destiny, or the Fates goddesses.\nAnd if Strife and Battle be not gods, no more are Ares and Enyo. Still\nfurther, if the lightnings, and thunderbolts, and rains are not gods,\nhow can fire and water be gods? how can shooting stars and comets,\nwhich are produced by atmospheric changes? He who calls Fortune a\ngod, let him also so call Action. If, then, none of these, nor of the\nimages formed by human hands, and destitute of feeling, is held to be\na God, while a providence exercised about us is evidently the result\nof a divine power,[129] it remains only to acknowledge this, that He\nalone who is truly God, only truly is and subsists. But those who are\ninsensible to this are like men who have drunk mandrake or some other\ndrug. May God grant that you may at length awake from this slumber, and\nknow God; and that neither Gold, nor Stone, nor Tree, nor Action, nor\nSuffering, nor Disease, nor Fear, may appear in your eyes as a god.\nFor there are, in sooth, \u201con the fruitful earth thrice ten thousand\u201d\ndemons, not immortal, nor indeed mortal; for they are not endowed with\nsensation, so as to render them capable of death, but only things\nof wood and stone, that hold despotic sway over men insulting and\nviolating life through the force of custom. \u201cThe earth is the Lord\u2019s,\u201d\nit is said, \u201cand the fulness thereof.\u201d[130] Then why darest thou, while\nluxuriating in the bounties of the Lord, to ignore the Sovereign Ruler?\n\u201cLeave my earth,\u201d the Lord will say to thee. \u201cTouch not the water\nwhich I bestow. Partake not of the fruits of the earth produced by my\nhusbandry.\u201d Give to God recompense for your sustenance; acknowledge\nthy Master. Thou art God\u2019s creature. What belongs to Him, how can it\nwith justice be alienated? For that which is alienated, being deprived\nof the properties that belonged to it, is also deprived of truth. For,\nafter the fashion of Niobe, or, to express myself more mystically, like\nthe Hebrew woman called by the ancients Lot\u2019s wife, are ye not turned\ninto a state of insensibility? This woman, we have heard, was turned\ninto stone for her love of Sodom. And those who are godless, addicted\nto impiety, hard-hearted and foolish, are Sodomites. Believe that these\nutterances are addressed to you from God. For think not that stones,\nand stocks, and birds, and serpents are sacred things, and men are not;\nbut, on the contrary, regard men as truly sacred, and take beasts and\nstones for what they are. For there are miserable wretches of human\nkind, who consider that God utters His voice by the raven and the\njackdaw, but says nothing by man; and honour the raven as a messenger\nof God. But the man of God, who croaks not, nor chatters, but speaks\nrationally and instructs lovingly, alas, they persecute; and while he\nis inviting them to cultivate righteousness, they try inhumanly to slay\nhim, neither welcoming the grace which comes from above, nor fearing\nthe penalty. For they believe not God, nor understand His power, whose\nlove to man is ineffable; and His hatred of evil is inconceivable.\nHis anger augments punishment against sin; His love bestows blessings\non repentance. It is the height of wretchedness to be deprived of the\nhelp which comes from God. Hence this blindness of eyes and dulness\nof hearing are more grievous than other inflictions of the evil one;\nfor the one deprives them of heavenly vision, the other robs them of\ndivine instruction. But ye, thus maimed as respects the truth, blind\nin mind, deaf in understanding, are not grieved, are not pained, have\nhad no desire to see heaven and the Maker of heaven, nor, by fixing\nyour choice on salvation, have sought to hear the Creator of the\nuniverse, and to learn of Him; for no hindrance stands in the way of\nhim who is bent on the knowledge of God. Neither childlessness, nor\npoverty, nor obscurity, nor want, can hinder him who eagerly strives\nafter the knowledge of God; nor does any one who has conquered[131]\nby brass or iron the true wisdom for himself choose to exchange it,\nfor it is vastly preferred to everything else. Christ is able to save\nin every place. For he that is fired with ardour and admiration for\nrighteousness, being the lover of One who needs nothing, needs himself\nbut little, having treasured up his bliss in nothing but himself and\nGod, where is neither moth,[132] robber, nor pirate, but the eternal\nGiver of good. With justice, then, have you been compared to those\nserpents who shut their ears against the charmers. For \u201ctheir mind,\u201d\nsays the Scripture, \u201cis like the serpent, like the deaf adder, which\nstoppeth her ear, and will not hear the voice of the charmers.\u201d[133]\nBut allow yourselves to feel the influence of the charming strains of\nsanctity, and receive that mild word of ours, and reject the deadly\npoison, that it may be granted to you to divest yourselves as much\nas possible of destruction, as they[134] have been divested of old\nage. Hear me, and do not stop your ears; do not block up the avenues\nof hearing, but lay to heart what is said. Excellent is the medicine\nof immortality! Stop at length your grovelling reptile motions. \u201cFor\nthe enemies of the Lord,\u201d says Scripture, \u201cshall lick the dust.\u201d[135]\nRaise your eyes from earth to the skies, look up to heaven, admire the\nsight, cease watching with outstretched head the heel of the righteous,\nand hindering the way of truth. Be wise and harmless. Perchance the\nLord will endow you with the wing of simplicity (for He has resolved\nto give wings to those that are earth-born), that you may leave your\nholes and dwell in heaven. Only let us with our whole heart repent,\nthat we may be able with our whole heart to contain God. \u201cTrust in Him,\nall ye assembled people; pour out all your hearts before Him.\u201d[136]\nHe says to those that have newly abandoned wickedness, \u201cHe pities\nthem, and fills them with righteousness.\u201d Believe Him who is man and\nGod; believe, O man. Believe, O man, the living God, who suffered\nand is adored. Believe, ye slaves, Him who died; believe, all ye of\nhuman kind, Him who alone is God of all men. Believe, and receive\nsalvation as your reward. Seek God, and your soul shall live. He who\nseeks God is busying himself about his own salvation. Hast thou found\nGod?--then thou hast life. Let us then seek, in order that we may\nlive. The reward of seeking is life with God. \u201cLet all who seek Thee\nbe glad and rejoice in Thee; and let them say continually, God be\nmagnified.\u201d[137] A noble hymn of God is an immortal man, established\nin righteousness, in whom the oracles of truth are engraved. For where\nbut in a soul that is wise can you write truth? where love? where\nreverence? where meekness? Those who have had these divine characters\nimpressed on them, ought, I think, to regard wisdom as a fair port\nwhence to embark, to whatever lot in life they turn; and likewise to\ndeem it the calm haven of salvation: wisdom, by which those who have\nbetaken themselves to the Father, have proved good fathers to their\nchildren; and good parents to their sons, those who have known the Son;\nand good husbands to their wives, those who remember the Bridegroom;\nand good masters to their servants, those who have been redeemed from\nutter slavery. Oh, happier far the beasts than men involved in error!\nwho live in ignorance as you, but do not counterfeit the truth. There\nare no tribes of flatterers among them. Fishes have no superstition:\nthe birds worship not a single image; only they look with admiration\non heaven, since, deprived as they are of reason, they are unable to\nknow God. So are you not ashamed for living through so many periods of\nlife in impiety, making yourselves more irrational than the irrational\ncreatures? You were boys, then striplings, then youths, then men, but\nnever as yet were you good. If you have respect for old age, be wise,\nnow that you have reached life\u2019s sunset; and albeit at the close of\nlife, acquire the knowledge of God, that the end of life may to you\nprove the beginning of salvation. You have become old in superstition;\nas young, enter on the practice of piety. God regards you as innocent\nchildren. Let, then, the Athenian follow the laws of Solon, and the\nArgive those of Phoroneus, and the Spartan those of Lycurgus: but if\nthou enrol thyself as one of God\u2019s people, heaven is thy country,\nGod thy lawgiver. And what are the laws? \u201cThou shalt not kill; thou\nshalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not seduce boys; thou shalt not\nsteal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt love the Lord thy\nGod.\u201d[138] And the complements of these are those laws of reason and\nwords of sanctity which are inscribed on men\u2019s hearts: \u201cThou shalt\nlove thy neighbour as thyself; to him who strikes thee on the cheek,\npresent also the other;\u201d[139] \u201cthou shalt not lust, for by lust alone\nthou hast committed adultery.\u201d[140] How much better, therefore, is it\nfor men from the beginning not to wish to desire things forbidden, than\nto obtain their desires! But ye are not able to endure the austerity\nof salvation; but as we delight in sweet things, and prize them higher\nfor the agreeableness of the pleasure they yield, while, on the other\nhand, those bitter things which are distasteful to the palate are\ncurative and healing, and the harshness of medicines strengthens\npeople of weak stomach, thus custom pleases and tickles; but custom\npushes into the abyss, while truth conducts to heaven. Harsh it is\nat first, but a good nurse of youth; and it is at once the decorous\nplace where the household maids and matrons dwell together, and the\nsage council-chamber. Nor is it difficult to approach, or impossible\nto attain, but is very near us in our very homes; as Moses, endowed\nwith all wisdom, says, while referring to it, it has its abode in\nthree departments of our constitution--in the hands, the mouth, and\nthe heart: a meet emblem this of truth, which is embraced by these\nthree things in all--will, action, speech. And be not afraid lest the\nmultitude of pleasing objects which rise before you withdraw you from\nwisdom. You yourself will spontaneously surmount the frivolousness\nof custom, as boys when they have become men throw aside their toys.\nFor with a celerity unsurpassable, and a benevolence to which we have\nready access, the divine power, casting its radiance on the earth,\nhath filled the universe with the seed of salvation. For it was not\nwithout divine care that so great a work was accomplished in so brief\na space by the Lord, who, though despised as to appearance, was in\nreality adored, the expiator of sin, the Saviour, the clement, the\nDivine Word, He that is truly most manifest Deity, He that is made\nequal to the Lord of the universe; because He was His Son, and the Word\nwas in God, not disbelieved in by all when He was first preached, nor\naltogether unknown when, assuming the character of man, and fashioning\nHimself in flesh, He enacted the drama of human salvation: for He was\na true champion and a fellow-champion with the creature. And being\ncommunicated most speedily to men, having dawned from His Father\u2019s\ncounsel quicker than the sun, with the most perfect ease He made God\nshine on us. Whence He was and what He was, He showed by what He taught\nand exhibited, manifesting Himself as the Herald of the Covenant, the\nReconciler, our Saviour, the Word, the fount of life, the giver of\npeace, diffused over the whole face of the earth; by whom, so to speak,\nthe universe has already become an ocean of blessings.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n HOW GREAT ARE THE BENEFITS CONFERRED ON MAN\n THROUGH THE ADVENT OF CHRIST.\n\n\nContemplate a little, if agreeable to you, the divine beneficence. The\nfirst man, when in Paradise, sported free, because he was the child of\nGod; but when he succumbed to pleasure (for the serpent allegorically\nsignifies pleasure crawling on its belly, earthly wickedness nourished\nfor fuel to the flames), was as a child seduced by lusts, and grew\nold in disobedience; and by disobeying his Father, dishonoured God.\nSuch was the influence of pleasure. Man, that had been free by reason\nof simplicity, was found fettered to sins. The Lord then wished to\nrelease him from his bonds, and clothing Himself with flesh--O divine\nmystery!--vanquished the serpent, and enslaved the tyrant death; and,\nmost marvellous of all, man that had been deceived by pleasure, and\nbound fast to corruption, had his hands unloosed, and was set free.\nO mystic wonder! The Lord was laid low, and man rose up; and he that\nfell from Paradise receives as the reward of obedience something\ngreater [than Paradise]--namely, heaven itself. Wherefore, since the\nWord Himself has come to us from heaven, we need not, I reckon, go any\nmore in search of human learning to Athens and the rest of Greece,\nand to Ionia. For if we have as our teacher Him that filled the\nuniverse with His holy energies in creation, salvation, beneficence,\nlegislation, prophecy, teaching, we have the Teacher from whom all\ninstruction comes; and the whole world, with Athens and Greece, has\nalready become the domain of the Word. For you, who believed the\npoetical fable which designated Minos the Cretan as the bosom friend\nof Zeus, will not refuse to believe that we who have become the\ndisciples of God have received the only true wisdom; and that which\nthe chiefs of philosophy only guessed at, the disciples of Christ\nhave both apprehended and proclaimed. And the one whole Christ is not\ndivided: \u201cThere is neither barbarian, nor Jew, nor Greek, neither male\nnor female, but a new man,\u201d[141] transformed by God\u2019s Holy Spirit.\nFurther, the other counsels and precepts are unimportant, and respect\nparticular things,--as, for example, if one may marry, take part in\npublic affairs, beget children; but the only command that is universal,\nand over the whole course of existence, at all times and in all\ncircumstances, tends to the highest end, viz. life, is piety,--all that\nis necessary, in order that we may live for ever, being that we live\nin accordance with it. Philosophy, however, as the ancients say, is\n\u201ca long-lived exhortation, wooing the eternal love of wisdom;\u201d while\nthe commandment of the Lord is far-shining, \u201cenlightening the eyes.\u201d\nReceive Christ, receive sight, receive thy light,\n\n \u201cIn order that you may know well both God and man.\u201d[142]\n\n\u201cSweet is the Word that gives us light, precious above gold and gems;\nit is to be desired above honey and the honey-comb.\u201d[143] For how\ncan it be other than desirable, since it has filled with light the\nmind which had been buried in darkness, and given keenness to the\n\u201clight-bringing eyes\u201d of the soul? For just as, had the sun not been in\nexistence, night would have brooded over the universe notwithstanding\nthe other luminaries of heaven; so, had we not known the Word, and\nbeen illuminated by Him, we should have been nowise different from\nfowls that are being fed, fattened in darkness, and nourished for\ndeath. Let us then admit the light, that we may admit God; let us admit\nthe light, and become disciples to the Lord. This, too, He has been\npromised to the Father: \u201cI will declare Thy name to my brethren; in\nthe midst of the church will I praise Thee.\u201d[144] Praise and declare\nto me Thy Father God; Thy utterances save; Thy hymn teaches that\nhitherto I have wandered in error, seeking God. But since Thou leadest\nme to the light, O Lord, and I find God through Thee, and receive the\nFather from Thee, I become \u201cThy fellow-heir,\u201d[145] since Thou \u201cwert not\nashamed of me as Thy brother.\u201d[146] Let us put away, then, let us put\naway oblivion of the truth, viz. ignorance; and removing the darkness\nwhich obstructs, as dimness of sight, let us contemplate the only true\nGod, first raising our voice in this hymn of praise: Hail, O light!\nFor in us, buried in darkness, shut up in the shadow of death, light\nhas shone forth from heaven, purer than the sun, sweeter than life\nhere below. That light is eternal life; and whatever partakes of it\nlives. But night fears the light, and hiding itself in terror, gives\nplace to the day of the Lord. Sleepless light is now over all, and the\nwest has given credence to the east. For this was the end of the new\ncreation. For \u201cthe Sun of Righteousness,\u201d who drives His chariot over\nall, pervades equally all humanity, like \u201cHis Father, who makes His\nsun to rise on all men,\u201d and distils on them the dew of the truth. He\nhath changed sunset into sunrise, and through the cross brought death\nto life; and having wrenched man from destruction, He hath raised him\nto the skies, transplanting mortality into immortality, and translating\nearth to heaven--He, the husbandman of God,\n\n \u201cPointing out the favourable signs and rousing the nations\n To good works, putting them in mind of the true sustenance;\u201d[147]\n\nhaving bestowed on us the truly great, divine, and inalienable\ninheritance of the Father, deifying man by heavenly teaching, putting\nHis laws into our minds, and writing them on our hearts. What laws\ndoes He inscribe? \u201cThat all shall know God, from small to great;\u201d\nand, \u201cI will be merciful to them,\u201d says God, \u201cand will not remember\ntheir sins.\u201d[148] Let us receive the laws of life, let us comply with\nGod\u2019s expostulations; let us become acquainted with Him, that He may\nbe gracious. And though God needs nothing, let us render to Him the\ngrateful recompense of a thankful heart and of piety, as a kind of\nhouse-rent for our dwelling here below.\n\n \u201cGold for brass,\n A hundred oxen\u2019s worth for that of nine;\u201d[149]\n\nthat is, for your little faith He gives you the earth of so great\nextent to till, water to drink and also to sail on, air to breathe,\nfire to do your work, a world to dwell in; and He has permitted you to\nconduct a colony from here to heaven: with these important works of\nHis hand, and benefits in such numbers, He has rewarded your little\nfaith. Then, those who have put faith in necromancers, receive from\nthem amulets and charms, to ward off evil forsooth; and will you not\nallow the heavenly Word, the Saviour, to be bound on to you as an\namulet, and, by trusting in God\u2019s own charm, be delivered from passions\nwhich are the diseases of the mind, and rescued from sin?--for sin is\neternal death. Surely utterly dull and blind, and, like moles, doing\nnothing but eat, you spend your lives in darkness, surrounded with\ncorruption. But it is truth which cries, \u201cThe light shall shine forth\nfrom the darkness.\u201d Let the light then shine in the hidden part of man,\nthat is, the heart; and let the beams of knowledge arise to reveal\nand irradiate the hidden inner man, the disciple of the Light, the\nfamiliar friend and fellow-heir of Christ; especially now that we have\ncome to know the most precious and venerable name of the good Father,\nwho to a pious and good child gives gentle counsels, and commands what\nis salutary for His child. He who obeys Him has the advantage in all\nthings, follows God, obeys the Father, knows Him though wandering,\nloves God, loves his neighbour, fulfils the commandment, seeks the\nprize, claims the promise. But it has been God\u2019s fixed and constant\npurpose to save the flock of men: for this end the good God sent the\ngood Shepherd. And the Word, having unfolded the truth, showed to men\nthe height of salvation, that either repenting they might be saved, or\nrefusing to obey, they might be judged. This is the proclamation of\nrighteousness: to those that obey, glad tidings; to those that disobey,\njudgment. The loud trumpet, when sounded, collects the soldiers, and\nproclaims war. And shall not Christ, breathing a strain of peace to\nthe ends of the earth, gather together His own soldiers, the soldiers\nof peace? Well, by His blood, and by the word, He has gathered the\nbloodless host of peace, and assigned to them the kingdom of heaven.\nThe trumpet of Christ is His gospel. He hath blown it, and we have\nheard. \u201cLet us array ourselves in the armour of peace, putting on the\nbreastplate of righteousness, and taking the shield of faith, and\nbinding our brows with the helmet of salvation; and the sword of the\nSpirit, which is the word of God,\u201d[150] let us sharpen. So the apostle\nin the spirit of peace commands. These are our invulnerable weapons:\narmed with these, let us face the evil one; \u201cthe fiery darts of the\nevil one\u201d let us quench with the sword-points dipped in water, that\nhave been baptized by the Word, returning grateful thanks for the\nbenefits we have received, and honouring God through the Divine Word.\n\u201cFor while thou art yet speaking,\u201d it is said, \u201cHe will say, Behold,\nI am beside thee.\u201d[151] O this holy and blessed power, by which God\nhas fellowship with men! Better far, then, is it to become at once\nthe imitator and the servant of the best of all beings; for only by\nholy service will any one be able to imitate God, and to serve and\nworship Him only by imitating Him. The heavenly and truly divine love\ncomes to men thus, when in the soul itself the spark of true goodness,\nkindled in the soul by the Divine Word, is able to burst forth into\nflame; and, what is of the highest importance, salvation runs parallel\nwith sincere willingness--choice and life being, so to speak, yoked\ntogether. Wherefore this exhortation of the truth alone, like the most\nfaithful of our friends, abides with us till our last breath, and is\nto the whole and perfect spirit of the soul the kind attendant on our\nascent to heaven. What, then, is the exhortation I give you? I urge\nyou to be saved. This Christ desires. In one word, He freely bestows\nlife on you. And who is He? Briefly learn. The Word of truth, the Word\nof incorruption, that regenerates man by bringing him back to the\ntruth--the goad that urges to salvation--He who expels destruction\nand pursues death--He who builds up the temple of God in men, that He\nmay cause God to take up His abode in men. Cleanse the temple; and\npleasures and amusements abandon to the winds and the fire, as a fading\nflower; but wisely cultivate the fruits of self-command, and present\nthyself to God as an offering of first-fruits, that there may be not\nthe work alone, but also the grace of God; and both are requisite, that\nthe friend of Christ may be rendered worthy of the kingdom, and be\ncounted worthy of the kingdom.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n EXHORTATION TO ABANDON THEIR OLD ERRORS AND LISTEN\n TO THE INSTRUCTIONS OF CHRIST.\n\n\nLet us then avoid custom as we would a dangerous headland, or the\nthreatening Charybdis, or the mythic sirens. It chokes man, turns him\naway from truth, leads him away from life: custom is a snare, a gulf, a\npit, a mischievous winnowing fan.\n\n \u201cUrge the ship beyond that smoke and billow.\u201d[152]\n\nLet us shun, fellow-mariners, let us shun this billow; it vomits forth\nfire: it is a wicked island, heaped with bones and corpses, and in it\nsings a fair courtesan, Pleasure, delighting with music for the common\near.\n\n \u201cHie thee hither, far-famed Ulysses, great glory of the Ach\u00e6ans;\n Moor the ship, that thou mayest hear a diviner voice.\u201d[153]\n\nShe praises thee, O mariner, and calls thee illustrious; and the\ncourtesan tries to win to herself the glory of the Greeks. Leave her\nto prey on the dead; a heavenly spirit comes to thy help: pass by\nPleasure, she beguiles.\n\n \u201cLet not a woman with flowing train cheat you of your senses,\n With her flattering prattle seeking your hurt.\u201d\n\nSail past the song; it works death. Exert your will only, and you have\novercome ruin; bound to the wood of the cross, thou shalt be freed from\ndestruction: the word of God will be thy pilot, and the Holy Spirit\nwill bring thee to anchor in the haven of heaven. Then shalt thou see\nmy God, and be initiated into the sacred mysteries, and come to the\nfruition of those things which are laid up in heaven reserved for me,\nwhich \u201cear hath not heard, nor have they entered into the heart of\nany.\u201d[154]\n\n \u201cAnd in sooth methinks I see two suns,\n And a double Thebes,\u201d[155]\n\nsaid one frenzy-stricken in the worship of idols, intoxicated with\nmere ignorance. I would pity him in his frantic intoxication, and thus\nfrantic I would invite him to the sobriety of salvation; for the Lord\nwelcomes a sinner\u2019s repentance, and not his death.\n\nCome, O madman, not leaning on the thyrsus, not crowned with ivy; throw\naway the mitre, throw away the fawn-skin; come to thy senses. I will\nshow thee the Word, and the mysteries of the Word, expounding them\nafter thine own fashion. This is the mountain beloved of God, not the\nsubject of tragedies like Cith\u00e6ron, but consecrated to dramas of the\ntruth,--a mount of sobriety, shaded with forests of purity; and there\nrevel on it not the M\u00e6nades, the sisters of Semele, who was struck by\nthe thunderbolt, practising in their initiatory rites unholy division\nof flesh, but the daughters of God, the fair lambs, who celebrate the\nholy rites of the Word, raising a sober choral dance. The righteous\nare the chorus; the music is a hymn of the King of the universe. The\nmaidens strike the lyre, the angels praise, the prophets speak; the\nsound of music issues forth, they run and pursue the jubilant band;\nthose that are called make haste, eagerly desiring to receive the\nFather.\n\nCome thou also, O aged man, leaving Thebes, and casting away from thee\nboth divination and Bacchic frenzy, allow thyself to be led to the\ntruth. I give thee the staff [of the cross] on which to lean. Haste,\nTiresias; believe, and thou wilt see. Christ, by whom the eyes of the\nblind recover sight, will shed on thee a light brighter than the sun;\nnight will flee from thee, fire will fear, death will be gone; thou,\nold man, who saw not Thebes, shalt see the heavens. O truly sacred\nmysteries! O stainless light! My way is lighted with torches, and I\nsurvey the heavens and God; I become holy whilst I am initiated.\nThe Lord is the hierophant, and seals while illuminating him who is\ninitiated, and presents to the Father him who believes, to be kept safe\nfor ever. Such are the revelries of my mysteries. If it is thy wish, be\nthou also initiated; and thou shalt join the choir along with angels\naround the unbegotten and indestructible and the only true God, the\nWord of God, raising the hymn with us. This Jesus, who is eternal, the\none great High Priest of the one God and of His Father, prays for and\nexhorts men.\n\n\u201cHear, ye myriad tribes, rather whoever among men are endowed with\nreason, both barbarians and Greeks. I call on the whole race of men,\nwhose creator I am, by the will of the Father. Come to me, that you\nmay be put in your due rank under the one God and the one Word of\nGod; and do not only have the advantage of the irrational creatures\nin the possession of reason; for to you of all mortals I grant the\nenjoyment of immortality. For I want, I want to impart to you this\ngrace, bestowing on you the perfect boon of immortality; and I confer\non you both the Word and the knowledge of God, my complete self. This\nam I, this God wills, this is symphony, this the harmony of the Father,\nthis is the Son, this is Christ, this the Word of God, the arm of the\nLord, the power of the universe, the will of the Father; of which\nthings there were images of old, but not all adequate. I desire to\nrestore you according to the original model, that ye may become also\nlike me. I anoint you with the unguent of faith, by which you throw off\ncorruption, and show you the naked form of righteousness by which you\nascend to God. Come to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and\nI will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am\nmeek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest to your souls. For my\nyoke is easy, and my burden light.\u201d[156]\n\nLet us haste, let us run, my fellow-men--us, who are God-loving and\nGod-like images of the Word. Let us haste, let us run, let us take His\nyoke, let us receive, to conduct us to immortality, the good charioteer\nof men. Let us love Christ. He led the colt with its parent; and\nhaving yoked the team of humanity to God, directs His chariot to\nimmortality, hastening clearly to fulfil, by driving now into heaven,\nwhat He shadowed forth before by riding into Jerusalem. A spectacle\nmost beautiful to the Father is the eternal Son crowned with victory.\nLet us aspire, then, after what is good; let us become God-loving men,\nand obtain the greatest of all things which are incapable of being\nharmed--God and life. Our helper is the Word; let us put confidence\nin Him; and never let us be visited with such a craving for silver\nand gold, and glory, as for the Word of truth Himself. For it will\nnot, it will not be pleasing to God Himself if we value least those\nthings which are worth most, and hold in the highest estimation the\nmanifest enormities and the utter impiety of folly, and ignorance,\nand thoughtlessness, and idolatry. For not improperly the sons of the\nphilosophers consider that the foolish are guilty of profanity and\nimpiety in whatever they do; and describing ignorance itself as a\nspecies of madness, allege that the multitude are nothing but madmen.\nThere is therefore no room to doubt, the Word will say, whether it\nis better to be sane or insane; but holding on to truth with our\nteeth, we must with all our might follow God, and in the exercise of\nwisdom regard all things to be, as they are, His; and besides, having\nlearned that we are the most excellent of His possessions, let us\ncommit ourselves to God, loving the Lord God, and regarding this as\nour business all our life long. And if what belongs to friends be\nreckoned common property, and man be the friend of God--for through\nthe mediation of the Word has he been made the friend of God--then\naccordingly all things become man\u2019s, because all things are God\u2019s, and\nthe common property of both the friends, God and man.\n\nIt is time, then, for us to say that the pious Christian alone is rich\nand wise, and of noble birth, and thus call and believe him to be God\u2019s\nimage, and also His likeness,[157] having become righteous and holy\nand wise by Jesus Christ, and so far already like God. Accordingly\nthis grace is indicated by the prophet, when he says, \u201cI said that ye\nare gods, and all sons of the Highest.\u201d[158] For us, yea us, He has\nadopted, and wishes to be called the Father of us alone, not of the\nunbelieving. Such is then our position who are the attendants of Christ.\n\n \u201cAs are men\u2019s wishes, so are their words;\n As are their words, so are their deeds;\n And as their works, such is their life.\u201d\n\nGood is the whole life of those who have known Christ.\n\nEnough, methinks, of words, though, impelled by love to man, I might\nhave gone on to pour out what I had from God, that I might exhort to\nwhat is the greatest of blessings--salvation. For discourses concerning\nthe life which has no end, are not readily brought to the end of their\ndisclosures. To you still remains this conclusion, to choose which will\nprofit you most--judgment or grace. For I do not think there is even\nroom for doubt which of these is the better; nor is it allowable to\ncompare life with destruction.\n\n\n\n\n THE INSTRUCTOR.\n\n\n\n\n BOOK I.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n THE OFFICE OF THE INSTRUCTOR.\n\n\nAs there are these three things in the case of man, habits, actions,\nand passions; habits are the department appropriated by _hortatory_\ndiscourse the guide to piety, which, like the ship\u2019s keel, is laid\nbeneath for the building up of faith; in which, rejoicing exceedingly,\nand abjuring our old opinions, through salvation we renew our youth,\nsinging with the hymning prophecy, \u201cHow good is God to Israel, to such\nas are upright in heart!\u201d[159] All actions, again, are the province of\n_preceptive_ discourse; while _persuasive_ discourse applies itself to\nheal the passions. It is, however, one and the self-same word which\nrescues man from the custom of this world in which he has been reared,\nand trains him up in the one salvation of faith in God.\n\nWhen, then, the heavenly guide, the Word, was inviting men to\nsalvation, the appellation of _hortatory_ was properly applied to Him:\nthis same word was called rousing (the whole from a part). For the\nwhole of piety is hortatory, engendering in the kindred faculty of\nreason a yearning after true life now and to come. But now, being at\nonce curative and preceptive, following in His own steps, He makes what\nhad been prescribed the subject of persuasion, promising the cure of\nthe passions within us. Let us then designate this Word appropriately\nby the one name _Tutor_ (or _P\u00e6dagogue_, or _Instructor_).\n\nThe Instructor being practical, not theoretical, His aim is thus to\nimprove the soul, not to teach, and to train it up to a virtuous, not\nto an intellectual life. Although this same word is didactic, but not\nin the present instance. For the word which, in matters of doctrine,\nexplains and reveals, is that whose province it is to teach. But our\nEducator[160] being practical, first exhorts to the attainment of right\ndispositions and character, and then persuades us to the energetic\npractice of our duties, enjoining on us pure commandments, and\nexhibiting to such as come after representations of those who formerly\nwandered in error. Both are of the highest utility,--that which assumes\nthe form of counselling to obedience, and that which is presented in\nthe form of example; which latter is of two kinds, corresponding to the\nformer duality,--the one having for its purpose that we should choose\nand imitate the good, and the other that we should reject and turn away\nfrom the opposite.\n\nHence accordingly ensues the healing of our passions, in consequence\nof the assuagements of those examples; the P\u00e6dagogue strengthening our\nsouls, and by His benign commands, as by gentle medicines, guiding the\nsick to the perfect knowledge of the truth.\n\nThere is a wide difference between health and knowledge; for the latter\nis produced by learning, the former by healing. One, who is ill, will\nnot therefore learn any branch of instruction till he is quite well.\nFor neither to learners nor to the sick is each injunction invariably\nexpressed similarly; but to the former in such a way as to lead to\nknowledge, and to the latter to health. As, then, for those of us who\nare diseased in body a physician is required, so also those who are\ndiseased in soul require a p\u00e6dagogue to cure our maladies; and then a\nteacher, to train and guide the soul to all requisite knowledge when\nit is made able to admit the revelation of the Word. Eagerly desiring,\nthen, to perfect us by a gradation conducive to salvation, suited\nfor efficacious discipline, a beautiful arrangement is observed by\nthe all-benignant Word, who first exhorts, then trains, and finally\nteaches.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n OUR INSTRUCTOR\u2019S TREATMENT OF OUR SINS.\n\n\nNow, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose\nson He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion; God\nin the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father\u2019s will, the\nWord who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father\u2019s right\nhand, and with the form of God is God. He is to us a spotless image;\nto Him we are to try with all our might to assimilate our souls.\nHe is wholly free from human passions; wherefore also He alone is\njudge, because He alone is sinless. As far, however, as we can, let\nus try to sin as little as possible. For nothing is so urgent in the\nfirst place as deliverance from passions and disorders, and then the\nchecking of our liability to fall into sins that have become habitual.\nIt is best, therefore, not to sin at all in any way, which we assert\nto be the prerogative of God alone; next to keep clear of voluntary\ntransgressions, which is characteristic of the wise man; thirdly, not\nto fall into many involuntary offences, which is peculiar to those who\nhave been excellently trained. Not to continue long in sins, let that\nbe ranked last. But this also is salutary to those who are called back\nto repentance, to renew the contest.\n\nAnd the Instructor, as I think, very beautifully says, through\nMoses: \u201cIf any one die suddenly by him, straightway the head of his\nconsecration shall be polluted, and shall be shaved,\u201d[161] designating\ninvoluntary sin as sudden death. And He says that it pollutes by\ndefiling the soul: wherefore He prescribes the cure with all speed,\nadvising the head to be instantly shaven; that is, counselling the\nlocks of ignorance which shade the reason to be shorn clean off, that\nreason (whose seat is in the brain), being left bare of the dense stuff\nof vice, may speed its way to repentance. Then after a few remarks He\nadds, \u201cThe days before are not reckoned irrational,\u201d[162] by which\nmanifestly sins are meant which are contrary to reason. The involuntary\nact He calls \u201c_sudden_,\u201d the sin he calls \u201cirrational.\u201d Wherefore the\nWord, the Instructor, has taken the charge of us, in order to the\nprevention of sin, which is contrary to reason.\n\nHence consider the expression of Scripture, \u201cTherefore these things\nsaith the Lord;\u201d the sin that had been committed before is held up to\nreprobation by the succeeding expression \u201ctherefore,\u201d according to\nwhich the righteous judgment follows. This is shown conspicuously by\nthe prophets, when they said, \u201cHadst thou not sinned, He would not have\nuttered these threatenings.\u201d \u201cTherefore thus saith the Lord;\u201d \u201cBecause\nthou hast not heard these words, therefore these things the Lord;\u201d and,\n\u201cTherefore, behold, the Lord saith.\u201d For prophecy is given by reason\nboth of obedience and disobedience: for obedience, that we may be\nsaved; for disobedience, that we may be corrected.\n\nOur Instructor, the Word, therefore cures the unnatural passions of\nthe soul by means of exhortations. For with the highest propriety the\nhelp of bodily diseases is called the healing art--an art acquired by\nhuman skill. But the paternal Word is the only P\u00e6onian physician of\nhuman infirmities, and the holy charmer of the sick soul. \u201cSave,\u201d it is\nsaid, \u201cThy servant, O my God, who trusteth in Thee. Pity me, O Lord;\nfor I will cry to Thee all the day.\u201d[163] For a while the \u201cphysician\u2019s\nart,\u201d according to Democritus, \u201cheals the diseases of the body; wisdom\nfrees the soul from passion.\u201d But the good Instructor, the Wisdom, the\nWord of the Father, who made man, cares for the whole nature of His\ncreature; the all-sufficient Physician of humanity, the Saviour, heals\nboth body and soul. \u201cRise up,\u201d He said to the paralytic; \u201ctake the\nbed on which thou liest, and go away home;\u201d[164] and straightway the\ninfirm man received strength. And to the dead He said, \u201cLazarus, go\nforth;\u201d and the dead man issued from his coffin such as he was ere he\ndied, having undergone resurrection. Further, He heals the soul itself\nby precepts and gifts--by precepts indeed, in course of time, but being\nliberal in His gifts, He says to us sinners, \u201cThy sins be forgiven\nthee.\u201d[165]\n\nWe, however, as soon as He conceived the thought, became His children,\nhaving had assigned us the best and most secure rank by His orderly\narrangement, which first circles about the world, the heavens, and the\nsun\u2019s circuits, and occupies itself with the motions of the rest of the\nstars for man\u2019s behoof, and then busies itself with man himself, on\nwhom all its care is concentrated; and regarding him as its greatest\nwork, regulated his soul by wisdom and temperance, and tempered the\nbody with beauty and proportion. And whatever in human actions is right\nand regular, is the result of the inspiration of its rectitude and\norder.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE INSTRUCTOR.\n\n\nThe Lord ministers all good and all help, both as man and as God: as\nGod, forgiving our sins; and as man, training us not to sin. Man is\ntherefore justly dear to God, since he is His workmanship. The other\nworks of creation He made by the word of command alone, but man He\nframed by Himself, by His own hand, and breathed into him what was\npeculiar to Himself. What, then, was fashioned by Him, and after His\nlikeness, either was created by God Himself as being desirable on its\nown account, or was formed as being desirable on account of something\nelse. If, then, man is an object desirable for itself, then He who is\ngood loved what is good, and the lovecharm is within even in man, and\nis that very thing which is called the inspiration [or breath] of God;\nbut if man was a desirable object on account of something else, God had\nno other reason for creating him, than that unless he came into being,\nit was not possible for God to be a good Creator, or for man to arrive\nat the knowledge of God. For God would not have accomplished that on\naccount of which man was created otherwise than by the creation of man;\nand what hidden power in willing God possessed, He carried fully out\nby the forth-putting of His might externally in the act of creating,\nreceiving from man what He made man;[166] and whom He had He saw, and\nwhat He wished that came to pass; and there is nothing which God cannot\ndo. Man, then, whom God made, is desirable for himself, and that which\nis desirable on his account is allied to him to whom it is desirable on\nhis account; and this, too, is acceptable and liked.\n\nBut what is loveable, and is not also loved by Him? And man has been\nproved to be loveable; consequently man is loved by God. For how shall\nhe not be loved for whose sake the only-begotten Son is sent from the\nFather\u2019s bosom, the Word of faith, the faith which is superabundant;\nthe Lord Himself distinctly confessing and saying, \u201cFor the Father\nHimself loveth you, because ye have loved me;\u201d[167] and again, \u201cAnd\nhast loved them as Thou hast loved me?\u201d[168] What, then, the Master\ndesires and declares, and how He is disposed in deed and word, how He\ncommands what is to be done, and forbids the opposite, has already been\nshown.\n\nPlainly, then, the other kind of discourse, the didactic, is powerful\nand spiritual, observing precision, occupied in the contemplation of\nmysteries. But let it stand over for the present. Now, it is incumbent\non us to return His love, who lovingly guides us to that life which\nis best; and to live in accordance with the injunctions of His will,\nnot only fulfilling what is commanded, or guarding against what is\nforbidden, but turning away from some examples, and imitating others as\nmuch as we can, and thus to perform the works of the Master according\nto His similitude, and so fulfil what Scripture says as to our being\nmade in His image and likeness. For, wandering in life as in deep\ndarkness, we need a guide that cannot stumble or stray; and our guide\nis the best, not blind, as the Scripture says, \u201cleading the blind\ninto pits.\u201d[169] But the Word is keen-sighted, and scans the recesses\nof the heart. As, then, that is not light which enlightens not, nor\nmotion that moves not, nor loving which loves not, so neither is that\ngood which profits not, nor guides to salvation. Let us then aim at\nthe fulfilment of the commandments by the works of the Lord; for the\nWord Himself also, having openly become flesh,[170] exhibited the same\nvirtue, both practical and contemplative. Wherefore let us regard the\nWord as law, and His commands and counsels as the short and straight\npaths to immortality; for His precepts are full of persuasion, not of\nfear.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE UNDER THE INSTRUCTOR\u2019S CHARGE.\n\n\nLet us, then embracing more and more this good obedience, give\nourselves to the Lord, clinging to what is surest, the cable of faith\nin Him, and understanding that the virtue of man and woman is the same.\nFor if the God of both is one, the Master of both is also one; one\nchurch, one temperance, one modesty; their food is common, marriage an\nequal yoke; respiration, sight, hearing, knowledge, hope, obedience,\nlove, all alike. And those whose life is common, have common grace and\na common salvation; common to them are love and training. \u201cFor in this\nworld,\u201d he says, \u201cthey marry, and are given in marriage,\u201d[171] in which\nalone the female is distinguished from the male; \u201cbut in that world it\nis so no more.\u201d There the rewards of this social and holy life, which\nis based on conjugal union, are laid up, not for male and female,\nbut for man, the sexual desire which divided humanity being removed.\nCommon therefore, too, to men and women, is the name of man. For this\nreason I think the Attics called, not boys only, but girls, \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03ac\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd,\nusing it as a word of common gender; if Menander the comic poet, in\n_Rhapizomena_, appears to any one a sufficient authority, who thus\nspeaks:\n\n \u201cMy little daughter; for by nature\n The child (\u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03ac\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd) is most loving.\u201d\n\n\u1f0c\u03c1\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2, too, the word for lambs, is a common name of simplicity for the\nmale and female animal.\n\nNow the Lord Himself will feed us as His flock for ever. Amen. But\nwithout a shepherd, neither can sheep nor any other animal live, nor\nchildren without a tutor, nor domestics without a master.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n ALL WHO WALK ACCORDING TO TRUTH ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.\n\n\nThat, then, P\u00e6dagogy is the training of children (\u03c0\u03b1\u03af\u03b4\u03c9\u03bd \u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03ae),\nis clear from the word itself. It remains for us to consider the\nchildren whom Scripture points to; then to give the p\u00e6dagogue charge\nof them. We are the children. In many ways Scripture celebrates us,\nand describes us in manifold figures of speech, giving variety to\nthe simplicity of the faith by diverse names. Accordingly, in the\ngospel, \u201cthe Lord, standing on the shore, says to the disciples\u201d--they\nhappened to be fishing--\u201cand called aloud, Children, have ye any\nmeat?\u201d[172]--addressing those that were already in the position\nof disciples as children. \u201cAnd they brought to Him,\u201d it is said,\n\u201cchildren, that He might put His hands on them and bless them; and\nwhen His disciples hindered them, Jesus said, Suffer the children,\nand forbid them not to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of\nheaven.\u201d[173] What the expression means, the Lord Himself shall\ndeclare, saying, \u201cExcept ye be converted, and become as little\nchildren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven;\u201d[174] not in\nthat place speaking figuratively of regeneration, but setting before\nus, for our imitation, the simplicity that is in children.\n\nThe prophetic spirit also distinguishes us as children. \u201cPlucking,\u201d\nit is said, \u201cbranches of olives or palms, the children went forth\nto meet the Lord, and cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David!\nBlessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord;\u201d[175] light, and\nglory, and praise, with supplication to the Lord: for this is the\nmeaning of the expression Hosanna when rendered into Greek. And the\nScripture appears to me, in allusion to the prophecy just mentioned,\nreproachfully to upbraid the thoughtless: \u201cHave ye never read, Out of\nthe mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?\u201d[176]\nIn this way the Lord in the Gospels spurs on His disciples, urging\nthem to attend to Him, hastening as He was to the Father; rendering\nHis hearers more eager by the intimation that after a little He was to\ndepart, and showing them that it was requisite that they should take\nmore unsparing advantage of the truth than ever before, as the Word\nwas to ascend to heaven. Again, therefore, He calls them children;\nfor He says, \u201cChildren, a little while I am with you.\u201d[177] And,\nagain, He likens the kingdom of heaven to children sitting in the\nmarket-places and saying, \u201cWe have piped unto you, and ye have not\ndanced; we have mourned, and ye have not lamented;\u201d[178] and whatever\nelse He added agreeably thereto. And it is not alone the gospel that\nholds these sentiments. Prophecy also agrees with it. David accordingly\nsays, \u201c_Praise, O children, the Lord; praise the name of the\nLord._\u201d[179] It says also by Esaias, \u201c_Here am I, and the children\nthat God hath given me._\u201d[180] Are you amazed, then, to hear that\nmen who belong to the nations are sons in the Lord\u2019s sight? You do not\nin that case appear to give ear to the Attic dialect, from which you\nmay learn that beautiful, comely, and freeborn young maidens are still\ncalled \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03af\u03c3\u03ba\u03b1\u03b9, and servant-girls \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b9\u03c3\u03ba\u03ac\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1; and that those last\nalso are, on account of the bloom of youth, called by the flattering\nname of young maidens.\n\nAnd when He says, \u201cLet my lambs stand on my right,\u201d[181] He alludes to\nthe simple children, as if they were sheep and lambs in nature, not\nmen; and the lambs He counts worthy of preference, from the superior\nregard He has to that tenderness and simplicity of disposition in men\nwhich constitutes innocence. Again, when He says, \u201cas sucking calves,\u201d\nHe again alludes figuratively to us; and \u201cas an innocent and gentle\ndove,\u201d[182] the reference is again to us. Again, by Moses, He commands\n\u201ctwo young pigeons or a pair of turtles to be offered for sin;\u201d[183]\nthus saying, that the harmlessness and innocence and placable nature\nof these tender young birds are acceptable to God, and explaining\nthat like is an expiation for like. Further, the timorousness of the\nturtle-doves typifies fear in reference to sin.\n\nAnd that He calls us chickens the Scripture testifies: \u201cAs a hen\ngathereth her chickens under her wings.\u201d[184] Thus are we the Lord\u2019s\nchickens; the Word thus marvellously and mystically describing the\nsimplicity of childhood. For sometimes He calls us children, sometimes\nchickens, sometimes infants, and at other times sons, and \u201ca new\npeople,\u201d and \u201ca recent people.\u201d \u201cAnd my servants shall be called by\na new name\u201d[185] (a new name, He says, fresh and eternal, pure and\nsimple, and childlike and true), which shall be blessed on the earth.\nAnd again, He figuratively calls us colts unyoked to vice, not broken\nin by wickedness; but simple, and bounding joyously to the Father\nalone; not such horses \u201cas neigh after their neighbours\u2019 wives, that\nare under the yoke, and are female-mad;\u201d[186] but free and new-born,\njubilant by means of faith, ready to run to the truth, swift to speed\nto salvation, that tread and stamp under foot the things of the world.\n\n\u201cRejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; tell aloud, O daughter of\nJerusalem: behold, thy King cometh, just, meek, and bringing salvation;\nmeek truly is He, and riding on a beast of burden, and a young\ncolt.\u201d[187] It was not enough to have said colt alone, but He added to\nit also _young_, to show the youth of humanity in Christ, and the\neternity of simplicity, which shall know no old age. And we who are\nlittle ones being such colts, are reared up by our divine colt-tamer.\nBut if the new man in Scripture is represented by the ass, this ass\nis also a colt. \u201cAnd he bound,\u201d it is said, \u201cthe colt to the vine,\u201d\nhaving bound this simple and childlike people to the word, whom He\nfiguratively represents as a vine. For the vine produces wine, as the\nWord produces blood, and both drink for health to men--wine for the\nbody, blood for the spirit.\n\nAnd that He also calls us lambs, the Spirit by the mouth of Isaiah is\nan unimpeachable witness: \u201cHe will feed His flock like a shepherd,\nHe will gather the lambs with His arm,\u201d[188]--using the figurative\nappellation of lambs, which are still more tender than sheep, to\nexpress simplicity. And we also in truth, honouring the fairest and\nmost perfect objects in life with an appellation derived from the\nword child, have named training \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, and discipline \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03af\u03b1.\nDiscipline (\u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03af\u03b1) we declare to be right guiding from childhood\nto virtue. Accordingly, our Lord revealed more distinctly to us what\nis signified by the appellation of children. On the question arising\namong the apostles, \u201cwhich of them should be the greater,\u201d Jesus placed\na little child in the midst, saying, \u201cWhosoever shall humble himself\nas this little child, the same shall be the greater in the kingdom\nof heaven.\u201d[189] He does not then use the appellation of children on\naccount of their very limited amount of understanding from their age,\nas some have thought. Nor, if He says, \u201cExcept ye become as these\nchildren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God,\u201d are His words\nto be understood as meaning \u201cwithout learning.\u201d We, then, who are\ninfants, no longer roll on the ground, nor creep on the earth like\nserpents as before, crawling with the whole body about senseless lusts;\nbut, stretching upwards in soul, loosed from the world and our sins,\ntouching the earth on tiptoe so as to appear to be in the world, we\npursue holy wisdom, although this seems folly to those whose wits are\nwhetted for wickedness. Rightly, then, are those called children who\nknow Him who is God alone as their Father, who are simple, and infants,\nand guileless, who are lovers of the horns of the unicorns.[190]\n\nTo those, therefore, that have made progress in the word, He has\nproclaimed this utterance, bidding them dismiss anxious care of the\nthings of this world, and exhorting them to adhere to the Father\nalone, in imitation of children. Wherefore also in what follows He\nsays: \u201cTake no anxious thought for the morrow; sufficient unto the\nday is the evil thereof.\u201d[191] Thus He enjoins them to lay aside\nthe cares of this life, and depend on the Father alone. And he who\nfulfils this commandment is in reality a child and a son to God and\nto the world,--to the one as deceived, to the other as beloved. And\nif we have one Master in heaven, as the Scripture says, then by\ncommon consent those on the earth will be rightly called disciples.\nFor so is the truth, that perfection is with the Lord, who is always\nteaching, and infancy and childishness with us, who are always\nlearning. Thus prophecy hath honoured _perfection_, by applying\nto it the appellation _man_. For instance, by David, He says\nof the devil: \u201cThe Lord abhors the man of blood;\u201d[192] he calls him\nman, as perfect in wickedness. And the Lord is called man, because\nHe is perfect in righteousness. Directly in point is the instance\nof the apostle, who says, writing the Corinthians: \u201cFor I have\nespoused you to one man, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to\nChrist,\u201d[193] whether as children or saints, but to the Lord alone.\nAnd writing to the Ephesians, he has unfolded in the clearest manner\nthe point in question, speaking to the following effect: \u201cTill we all\nattain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of God, to a\nperfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:\nthat we be no longer children, tossed to and fro by every wind of\ndoctrine, by the craft of men, by their cunning in the stratagems of\ndeceit; but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up to Him in all\nthings,\u201d[194]--saving these things in order to the edification of\nthe body of Christ, who is the head and man, the only one perfect in\nrighteousness; and we who are children guarding against the blasts of\nheresies, which blow to our inflation; and not putting our trust in\nfathers who teach us otherwise, are then made perfect when we are the\nchurch, having received Christ the head. Then it is right to notice,\nwith respect to the appellation of infant (\u03bd\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2), that \u03c4\u1f78 \u03bd\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd is\nnot predicated of the silly: for the silly man is called \u03bd\u03b7\u03c0\u03cd\u03c4\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2; and\n\u03bd\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 is \u03bd\u03b5\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 (since he that is tender-hearted is called \u1f24\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2),\nas being one that has newly become gentle and meek in conduct. This\nthe blessed Paul most clearly pointed out when he said, \u201cWhen we might\nhave been burdensome as the apostles of Christ, we were gentle (\u1f24\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9)\namong you, as a nurse cherisheth her children.\u201d[195] The child (\u03bd\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2)\nis therefore gentle (\u1f24\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2), and therefore more tender, delicate,\nand simple, guileless, and destitute of hypocrisy, straightforward\nand upright in mind, which is the basis of simplicity and truth. For\nHe says, \u201cUpon whom shall I look, but upon him who is gentle and\nquiet?\u201d[196] For such is the virgin speech, tender, and free of fraud;\nwhence also a virgin is wont to be called \u201ca tender bride,\u201d and a child\n\u201ctender-hearted.\u201d And we are tender who are pliant to the power of\npersuasion, and are easily drawn to goodness, and are mild, and free of\nthe stain of malice and perverseness, for the ancient race was perverse\nand hard-hearted; but the band of infants, the new people which we\nare, is delicate as a child. On account of the hearts of the innocent,\nthe apostle, in the Epistle to the Romans, owns that he rejoices, and\nfurnishes a kind of definition of children, so to speak, when he says,\n\u201cI would have you wise toward good, but simple towards evil.\u201d[197] For\nthe name of child, \u03bd\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2, is not understood by us privatively, though\nthe sons of the grammarians make the \u03bd\u03b7 a privative particle. For if\nthey call us who follow after childhood foolish, see how they utter\nblasphemy against the Lord, in regarding those as foolish who have\nbetaken themselves to God. But if, which is rather the true sense, they\nthemselves understand the designation children of simple ones, we glory\nin the name. For the new minds, which have newly become wise, which\nhave sprung into being according to the new covenant, are infantile in\nthe old folly. Of late, then, God was known by the coming of Christ:\n\u201cFor no man knoweth God but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall\nreveal Him.\u201d[198]\n\nIn contradistinction, therefore, to the older people, the new people\nare called young, having learned the new blessings; and we have the\nexuberance of life\u2019s morning prime in this youth which knows no old\nage, in which we are always growing to maturity in intelligence, are\nalways young, always mild, always new: for those must necessarily\nbe new, who have become partakers of the new Word. And that\nwhich participates in eternity is wont to be assimilated to the\nincorruptible: so that to us appertains the designation of the age of\nchildhood, a lifelong spring-time, because the truth that is in us,\nand our habits saturated with the truth, cannot be touched by old age;\nbut Wisdom is ever blooming, ever remains consistent and the same,\nand never changes. \u201cTheir children,\u201d it is said, \u201cshall be borne upon\ntheir shoulders, and fondled on their knees; as one whom his mother\ncomforteth, so also shall I comfort you.\u201d[199] The mother draws the\nchildren to herself; and we seek our mother the church. Whatever is\nfeeble and tender, as needing help on account of its feebleness, is\nkindly looked on, and is sweet and pleasant, anger changing into help\nin the case of such: for thus horses\u2019 colts, and the little calves\nof cows, and the lion\u2019s whelp, and the stag\u2019s fawn, and the child of\nman, are looked upon with pleasure by their fathers and mothers. Thus\nalso the Father of the universe cherishes affection towards those who\nhave fled to Him; and having begotten them again by His Spirit to the\nadoption of children, knows them as gentle, and loves those alone,\nand aids and fights for them; and therefore He bestows on them the\nname of child. The word Isaac I also connect with child. Isaac means\nlaughter. He was seen sporting with his wife and helpmeet Rebecca by\nthe prying king.[200] The king, whose name was Abimelech, appears\nto me to represent a supramundane wisdom contemplating the mystery\nof sport. They interpret Rebecca to mean endurance. O wise sport,\nlaughter also assisted by endurance, and the king as spectator! The\nspirit of those that are children in Christ, whose lives are ordered\nin endurance, rejoice. And this is the divine sport. \u201cSuch a sport, of\nhis own, Jove sports,\u201d says Heraclitus. For what other employment is\nseemly for a wise and perfect man, than to sport and be glad in the\nendurance of what is good, and, in the administration of what is good,\nholding festival with God? That which is signified by the prophet may\nbe interpreted differently,--namely, of our rejoicing for salvation, as\nIsaac. He also, delivered from death, laughed, sporting and rejoicing\nwith his spouse, who was the type of the Helper of our salvation, the\nchurch, to whom the stable name of endurance is given; for this cause\nsurely, because she alone remains to all generations, rejoicing ever,\nsubsisting as she does by the endurance of us believers, who are the\nmembers of Christ. And the witness of those that have endured to the\nend, and the rejoicing on their account, is the mystic sport, and the\nsalvation accompanied with decorous solace which brings us aid.\n\nThe King, then, who is Christ, beholds from above our laughter,\nand looking through the window, as the Scripture says, views the\nthanksgiving, and the blessing, and the rejoicing, and the gladness,\nand furthermore the endurance which works together with them and their\nembrace: views His church, showing only His face, which was wanting to\nthe church, which is made perfect by her royal Head. And where, then,\nwas the door by which the Lord showed Himself? The flesh by which He\nwas manifested. He is Isaac (for the narrative may be interpreted\notherwise), who is a type of the Lord, a child as a son; for he was\nthe son of Abraham, as Christ the Son of God, and a sacrifice as the\nLord, but he was not immolated as the Lord. Isaac only bore the wood\nof the sacrifice, as the Lord the wood of the cross. And he laughed\nmystically, prophesying that the Lord should fill us with joy, who\nhave been redeemed from corruption by the blood of the Lord. Isaac\ndid everything but suffer, as was right, yielding the precedence in\nsuffering to the Word. Furthermore, there is an intimation of the\ndivinity of the Lord in His not being slain. For Jesus rose again\nafter His burial, having suffered no harm, like Isaac released from\nsacrifice. And in defence of the point to be established, I shall\nadduce another consideration of the greatest weight. The Spirit calls\nthe Lord Himself a child, thus prophesying by Esaias: \u201cLo, to us a\nchild has been born, to us a son has been given, on whose own shoulder\nthe government shall be; and His name has been called the Angel of\ngreat Counsel.\u201d Who, then, is this infant child? He according to whose\nimage we are made little children. By the same prophet is declared His\ngreatness: \u201cWonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,\nPrince of Peace; that He might fulfil His discipline: and of His peace\nthere shall be no end.\u201d[201] O the great God! O the perfect child! The\nSon in the Father, and the Father in the Son. And how shall not the\ndiscipline of this child be perfect, which extends to all, leading as a\nschoolmaster us as children, who are His little ones? He has stretched\nforth to us those hands of His that are conspicuously worthy of trust.\nTo this child additional testimony is borne by John, \u201cthe greatest\nprophet among those born of women:\u201d[202] \u201cBehold the Lamb of God!\u201d[203]\nFor since Scripture calls the infant children lambs, it has also called\nHim--God the Word--who became man for our sakes, and who wished in all\npoints to be made like to us--\u201cthe Lamb of God\u201d--Him, namely, that is\nthe Son of God, the child of the Father.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n THE NAME CHILDREN DOES NOT IMPLY INSTRUCTION IN\n ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES.\n\n\nWe have ample means of encountering those who are given to carping. For\nwe are not termed children and infants with reference to the childish\nand contemptible character of our education, as those who are inflated\non account of knowledge have calumniously alleged. Straightway, on our\nregeneration, we attained that perfection after which we aspired. For\nwe were illuminated, which is to know God. He is not then imperfect\nwho knows what is perfect. And do not reprehend me when I profess to\nknow God; for so it was deemed right to speak to the Word, and He\nis free.[204] For at the moment of the Lord\u2019s baptism there sounded\na voice from heaven, as a testimony to the Beloved, \u201cThou art my\nbeloved Son, to-day have I begotten Thee.\u201d Let us then ask at the\nwise, Is Christ, begotten to-day, already perfect, or--what were most\nmonstrous--imperfect? If the latter, there is some addition He requires\nyet to make. But for Him to make any addition to His knowledge is\nabsurd, since He is God. For none can be superior to the Word, or the\nteacher of the only Teacher. Will they not then own, though reluctant,\nthat the perfect Word born of the perfect Father was begotten in\nperfection, according to \u0153conomic fore-ordination? And if He was\nperfect, why was He, the perfect one, baptized? It was necessary,\nthey say, to fulfil the profession that pertained to humanity. Most\nexcellent. Well, I assert, simultaneously with His baptism by John,\nHe becomes perfect? Manifestly. He did not then learn anything more\nfrom him? Certainly not. But He is perfected by the washing--of\nbaptism--alone, and is sanctified by the descent of the Spirit? Such is\nthe case. The same also takes place in our case, whose exemplar Christ\nbecame. Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated, we become\nsons; being made sons, we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are\nmade immortal. \u201cI,\u201d says He, \u201chave said that ye are gods, and all sons\nof the Highest.\u201d[205] This work is variously called grace,[206] and\nillumination, and perfection, and washing: washing, by which we cleanse\naway our sins; grace, by which the penalties accruing to transgressions\nare remitted; and illumination, by which that holy light of salvation\nis beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Now we call that\nperfect which wants nothing. For what is yet wanting to him who knows\nGod? For it were truly monstrous that that which is not complete\nshould be called a gift (or act) of God\u2019s grace. Being perfect, He\nconsequently bestows perfect gifts. As at His command all things were\nmade, so on His bare wishing to bestow grace, ensues the perfecting of\nHis grace. For the future of time is anticipated by the power of His\nvolition.\n\nFurther release from evils is the beginning of salvation. We then\nalone, who first have touched the confines of life, are already\nperfect; and we already live who are separated from death. Salvation,\naccordingly, is the following of Christ: \u201cFor that which is in Him is\nlife.\u201d[207] \u201cVerily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my words,\nand believeth on Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not\ninto condemnation, but hath passed from death to life.\u201d[208] Thus\nbelieving alone, and regeneration, is perfection in life; for God is\nnever weak. For as His will is work, and this[209] is named the world;\nso also His counsel is the salvation of men, and this has been called\nthe church. He knows, therefore, whom He has called, and whom He has\nsaved; and at one and the same time He called and saved them. \u201cFor ye\nare,\u201d says the apostle, \u201ctaught of God.\u201d[210] It is not then allowable\nto think of what is taught by Him as imperfect; and what is learned\nfrom Him is the eternal salvation of the eternal Saviour, to whom be\nthanks for ever and ever. Amen. And he who is only regenerated--as the\nname necessarily indicates--and is enlightened, is delivered forthwith\nfrom darkness, and on the instant receives the light.\n\nAs, then, those who have shaken off sleep forthwith become all awake\nwithin; or rather, as those who try to remove a film that is over the\neyes, do not supply to them from without the light which they do not\npossess, but removing the obstacle from the eyes, leave the pupil\nfree; thus also we who are baptized, having wiped off the sins which\nobscure the light of the Divine Spirit, have the eye of the spirit\nfree, unimpeded, and full of light, by which alone we contemplate the\nDivine, the Holy Spirit flowing down to us from above. This is the\neternal adjustment of the vision, which is able to see the eternal\nlight, since like loves like; and that which is holy, loves that from\nwhich holiness proceeds, which has appropriately been termed light.\n\u201cOnce ye were darkness, now are ye light in the Lord.\u201d[211] Hence I am\nof opinion man was called by the ancients \u03c6\u03ce\u03c2.[212] But he has not yet\nreceived, say they, the perfect gift. I also assent to this; but he is\nin the light, and the darkness comprehendeth him not. There is nothing\nintermediate between light and darkness. But the end is reserved till\nthe resurrection of those who believe; and it is not the reception of\nsome other thing, but the obtaining of the promise previously made.\nFor we do not say that both take place together at the same time--both\nthe arrival at the end, and the anticipation of that arrival. For\neternity and time are not the same, neither is the attempt and the\nfinal result; but both have reference to the same thing, and one and\nthe same person is concerned in both. Faith, so to speak, is the\nattempt generated in time; the final result is the attainment of the\npromise, secured for eternity. Now the Lord Himself has most clearly\nrevealed the equality of salvation, when He said: \u201cFor this is the will\nof my Father, that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him,\nshould have everlasting life; and I will raise him up in the last\nday.\u201d[213] As far as possible in this world, which is what he means\nby the last day, and which is preserved till the time that it shall\nend, we believe that we are made perfect. Wherefore He says, \u201cHe that\nbelieveth on the Son hath everlasting life.\u201d[214] If, then, those who\nhave believed have life, what remains beyond the possession of eternal\nlife? Nothing is wanting to faith, as it is perfect and complete in\nitself. If aught is wanting to it, it is not wholly perfect. But faith\nis not lame in any respect; nor after our departure from this world\ndoes it make us who have believed, and received without distinction\nthe earnest of future good, wait; but having in anticipation grasped\nby faith that which is future, after the resurrection we receive it\nas present, in order that that may be fulfilled which was spoken,\n\u201cBe it according to thy faith.\u201d[215] And where faith is, there is\nthe promise; and the consummation of the promise is rest. So that in\nillumination what we receive is knowledge, and the end of knowledge\nis rest--the last thing conceived as the object of aspiration. As,\nthen, inexperience comes to an end by experience, and perplexity by\nfinding a clear outlet, so by illumination must darkness disappear. The\ndarkness is ignorance, through which we fall into sins, purblind as\nto the truth. Knowledge, then, is the illumination we receive, which\nmakes ignorance disappear, and endows us with clear vision. Further,\nthe abandonment of what is bad is the adopting[216] of what is better.\nFor what ignorance has bound ill, is by knowledge loosed well; those\nbonds are with all speed slackened by human faith and divine grace, our\ntransgressions being taken away by one P\u00e6onian medicine, the baptism of\nthe Word. We are washed from all our sins, and are no longer entangled\nin evil. This is the one grace of illumination, that our characters\nare not the same as before our washing. And since knowledge springs up\nwith illumination, shedding its beams around the mind, the moment we\nhear, we who were untaught become disciples. Does this, I ask, take\nplace on the advent of this instruction? You cannot tell the time.\nFor instruction leads to faith, and faith with baptism is trained by\nthe Holy Spirit. For that faith is the one universal salvation of\nhumanity, and that there is the same equality before the righteous and\nloving God, and the same fellowship between Him and all, the apostle\nmost clearly showed, speaking to the following effect: \u201cBefore faith\ncame, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should\nafterwards be revealed, so that the law became our schoolmaster to\nbring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith; but after that\nfaith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.\u201d[217] Do you\nnot hear that we are no longer under that law which was accompanied\nwith fear, but under the Word, the master of free choice? Then he\nsubjoined the utterance, clear of all partiality: \u201cFor ye are all\nthe children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as\nwere baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew\nnor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor\nfemale: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.\u201d[218] There are not, then,\nin the same Word some \u201cilluminated (gnostics); and some animal (or\nnatural) men;\u201d but all who have abandoned the desires of the flesh are\nequal and spiritual before the Lord. And again he writes in another\nplace: \u201cFor by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether\nJews or Greeks, whether bond or free, and we have all drunk of one\ncup.\u201d[219] Nor were it absurd to employ the expressions of those who\ncall the reminiscence of better things the filtration of the spirit,\nunderstanding by filtration the separation of what is baser, that\nresults from the reminiscence of what is better. There follows of\nnecessity, in him who has come to the recollection of what is better,\nrepentance for what is worse. Accordingly, they confess that the\nspirit in repentance retraces its steps. In the same way, therefore,\nwe also, repenting of our sins, renouncing our iniquities, purified\nby baptism, speed back to the eternal light, children to the Father.\nJesus therefore, rejoicing in spirit, said: \u201cI thank Thee, O Father,\nGod of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the\nwise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes;\u201d[220] the Master\nand Teacher applying the name babes to us, who are readier to embrace\nsalvation than the wise in the world, who, thinking themselves wise,\nare inflated with pride. And He exclaims in exultation and exceeding\njoy, as if lisping with the children, \u201cEven so, Father; for so it\nseemed good in Thy sight.\u201d[221] Wherefore those things which have been\nconcealed from the wise and prudent of this present world have been\nrevealed to babes. Truly, then, are we the children of God, who have\nput aside the old man, and stripped off the garment of wickedness,\nand put on the immortality of Christ; that we may become a new, holy\npeople by regeneration, and may keep the man undefiled. And a babe, as\nGod\u2019s little one, is cleansed from fornication and wickedness. With the\ngreatest clearness the blessed Paul has solved for us this question\nin his First Epistle to the Corinthians, writing thus: \u201cBrethren, be\nnot children in understanding; howbeit in malice be children, but in\nunderstanding be men.\u201d[222] And the expression, \u201cWhen I was a child,\nI thought as a child, I spake as a child,\u201d[223] points out his mode\nof life according to the law, according to which, thinking childish\nthings, he persecuted, and speaking childish things he blasphemed the\nWord, not as having yet attained to the simplicity of childhood, but as\nbeing in its folly; for the word \u03bd\u03ae\u03c0\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd has two meanings.[224] \u201cWhen\nI became a man,\u201d again Paul says, \u201cI put away childish things.\u201d[225]\nIt is not incomplete size of stature, nor a definite measure of time,\nnor additional secret teachings in things that are manly and more\nperfect, that the apostle, who himself professes to be a preacher of\nchildishness, alludes to when he sends it, as it were, into banishment;\nbut he applies the name \u201cchildren\u201d to those who are under the law,\nwho are terrified by fear as children are by bugbears; and \u201cmen\u201d to\nus who are obedient to the Word and masters of ourselves, who have\nbelieved, and are saved by voluntary choice, and are rationally, not\nirrationally, frightened by terror. Of this the apostle himself shall\ntestify, calling as he does the Jews heirs according to the first\ncovenant, and us heirs according to promise: \u201c_Now I say, as long as\nthe heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be\nlord of all; but is under tutors and governors, till the time appointed\nby the father. So also we, when we were children, were in bondage under\nthe rudiments of the world; but when the fulness of the time was come,\nGod sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem\nthem that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of\nsons_\u201d[226] by Him. See how He has admitted those to be children\nwho are under fear and sins; but has conferred manhood on those who\nare under faith, by calling them sons, in contradistinction from the\nchildren that are under the law: \u201cFor thou art no more a servant,\u201d\nhe says, \u201cbut a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.\u201d[227]\nWhat, then, is lacking to the son after inheritance? Wherefore the\nexpression, \u201cWhen I was a child,\u201d may be elegantly expounded thus: that\nis, when I was a Jew (for he was a Hebrew by extraction) I thought\nas a child, when I followed the law; but after becoming a man, I no\nlonger entertain the sentiments of a child, that is, of the law, but\nof a man, that is, of Christ, whom alone the Scripture calls man, as\nwe have said before. \u201cI put away childish things.\u201d But the childhood\nwhich is in Christ is maturity, as compared with the law. Having\nreached this point, we must defend our childhood. And we have still\nto explain what is said by the apostle: \u201cI have fed you with milk (as\nchildren in Christ), not with meat; for ye were not able, neither yet\nare ye now able.\u201d[228] For it does not appear to me that the expression\nis to be taken in a Jewish sense; for I shall oppose to it also that\nscripture, \u201cI will bring you into that good land which flows with milk\nand honey.\u201d[229] A very great difficulty arises in reference to the\ncomparison of these scriptures, when we consider. For if the infancy\nwhich is characterized by the milk is the beginning of faith in Christ,\nthen it is disparaged as childish and imperfect. How is the rest that\ncomes after the meat, the rest of the man who is perfect and endowed\nwith knowledge, again distinguished by infant milk? Does not this,\nas explaining a parable, mean something like this, and is not the\nexpression to be read somewhat to the following effect: \u201c_I have fed\nyou with milk in Christ_;\u201d and after a slight stop, let us add, \u201cas\nchildren,\u201d that by separating the words in reading we may make out some\nsuch sense as this: I have instructed you in Christ with simple, true,\nand natural nourishment,--namely, that which is spiritual: for such is\nthe nourishing substance of milk swelling out from breasts of love. So\nthat the whole matter may be conceived thus: As nurses nourish new-born\nchildren on milk, so do I also by the Word, the milk of Christ,\ninstilling into you spiritual nutriment.\n\nThus, then, the milk which is perfect is perfect nourishment, and\nbrings to that consummation which cannot cease. Wherefore also the same\nmilk and honey were promised in the rest. Rightly, therefore, the Lord\nagain promises milk to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly\nshown to be both, \u201cthe Alpha and Omega, beginning and end;\u201d[230] the\nWord being figuratively represented as milk. Something like this\nHomer oracularly declares against his will, when he calls righteous\nmen milk-fed (\u03b3\u03b1\u03bb\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03bf\u03c6\u03ac\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9). So also may we take the scripture: \u201cAnd\nI, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto\ncarnal, even as unto babes in Christ;\u201d[231] so that the carnal may be\nunderstood as those recently instructed, and still babes in Christ.\nFor he called those who had already believed on the Holy Spirit\nspiritual, and those newly instructed and not yet purified carnal;\nwhom with justice he calls still carnal, as minding equally with the\nheathen the things of the flesh: \u201cFor whereas there is among you envy\nand strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?\u201d[232] \u201cWherefore also\nI have given you milk to drink,\u201d he says; meaning, I have instilled\ninto you the knowledge which, from instruction, nourishes up to life\neternal. But the expression, \u201cI have given you to drink\u201d (\u1f72\u03c0\u03cc\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03b1), is\nthe symbol of perfect appropriation. For those who are full-grown are\nsaid to drink, babes to suck. \u201cFor my blood,\u201d says the Lord, \u201cis true\ndrink.\u201d[233] In saying, therefore, \u201cI have given you milk to drink,\u201d\nhas he not indicated the knowledge of the truth, the perfect gladness\nin the Word, who is the milk? And what follows next, \u201cnot meat, for ye\nwere not able,\u201d may indicate the clear revelation in the future world,\nlike food, face to face. \u201cFor now we see as through a glass,\u201d the same\napostle says, \u201cbut then face to face.\u201d[234] Wherefore also he has\nadded, \u201cneither yet are ye now able, for ye are still carnal,\u201d minding\nthe things of the flesh,--desiring, loving, feeling jealousy, wrath,\nenvy. \u201cFor we are no more in the flesh,\u201d[235] as some suppose. For with\nit [they say], having the face which is like an angel\u2019s, we shall see\nthe promise face to face. How then, if that is truly the promise after\nour departure hence, say they that they know \u201cwhat eye hath not known,\nnor hath entered into the mind of man,\u201d who have not perceived by the\nSpirit, but received from instruction \u201cwhat ear hath not heard,\u201d[236]\nor that ear alone which \u201cwas rapt up into the third heaven?\u201d[237] But\nit even then was commanded to preserve it unspoken.\n\nBut if human wisdom, as it remains to understand, is the glorying in\nknowledge, hear the law of Scripture: \u201cLet not the wise man glory in\nhis wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might; but let him\nthat glorieth glory in the Lord.\u201d[238] But we are God-taught, and glory\nin the name of Christ. How then are we not to regard the apostle as\nattaching this sense to the milk of the babes? And if we who preside\nover the churches are shepherds after the image of the good Shepherd,\nand you the sheep, are we not to regard the Lord as preserving\nconsistency in the use of figurative speech, when He speaks also of\nthe milk of the flock? And to this meaning we may secondly accommodate\nthe expression, \u201cI have given you milk to drink, and not given you\nfood, for ye are not yet able,\u201d regarding the meat not as something\ndifferent from the milk, but the same in substance. For the very same\nWord is fluid and mild as milk, or solid and compact as meat. And\nentertaining this view, we may regard the proclamation of the gospel,\nwhich is universally diffused, as milk; and as meat, faith, which\nfrom instruction is compacted into a foundation, which, being more\nsubstantial than hearing, is likened to meat, and assimilates to the\nsoul itself nourishment of this kind. Elsewhere the Lord, in the Gospel\naccording to John, brought this out by symbols, when He said: \u201cEat ye\nmy flesh, and drink my blood;\u201d[239] describing distinctly by metaphor\nthe drinkable properties of faith and the promise, by means of which\nthe Church, like a human being consisting of many members, is refreshed\nand grows, is welded together and compacted of both,--of faith, which\nis the body, and of hope, which is the soul; as also the Lord of flesh\nand blood. For in reality the blood of faith is hope, in which faith\nis held as by a vital principle. And when hope expires, it is as if\nblood flowed forth; and the vitality of faith is destroyed. If, then,\nsome would oppose, saying that by milk is meant the first lessons--as\nit were, the first food--and that by meat is meant those spiritual\ncognitions to which they attain by raising themselves to knowledge,\nlet them understand that, in saying that meat is solid food, and the\nflesh and blood of Jesus, they are brought by their own vainglorious\nwisdom to the true simplicity. For the blood is found to be an original\nproduct in man, and some have consequently ventured to call it the\nsubstance of the soul. And this blood, transmuted by a natural process\nof assimilation in the pregnancy of the mother, through the sympathy\nof parental affection, effloresces and grows old, in order that there\nmay be no fear for the child. Blood, too, is the moister part of flesh,\nbeing a kind of liquid flesh; and milk is the sweeter and finer part\nof blood. For whether it be the blood supplied to the f\u0153tus, and sent\nthrough the navel of the mother, or whether it be the menses themselves\nshut out from their proper passage, and by a natural diffusion, bidden\nby the all-nourishing and creating God, proceed to the already swelling\nbreasts, and by the heat of the spirits transmuted, [whether it be the\none or the other] that is formed into food desirable for the babe, that\nwhich is changed is the blood. For of all the members, the breasts\nhave the most sympathy with the womb. When there is parturition, the\nvessel by which blood was conveyed to the f\u0153tus is cut off: there is an\nobstruction of the flow, and the blood receives an impulse towards the\nbreasts; and on a considerable rush taking place, they are distended,\nand change the blood to milk in a manner analogous to the change of\nblood into pus in ulceration. Or if, on the other hand, the blood from\nthe veins in the vicinity of the breasts, which have been opened in\npregnancy, is poured into the natural hollows of the breasts; and the\nspirit discharged from the neighbouring arteries being mixed with it,\nthe substance of the blood, still remaining pure, it becomes white by\nbeing agitated like a wave; and by an interruption such as this is\nchanged by frothing it, like what takes place with the sea, which at\nthe assaults of the winds, the poets say, \u201cspits forth briny foam.\u201d Yet\nstill the essence is supplied by the blood.\n\nIn this way also the rivers, borne on with rushing motion, and fretted\nby contact with the surrounding air, murmur forth foam. The moisture\nin our mouth, too, is whitened by the breath. What an absurdity[240]\nis it, then, not to acknowledge that the blood is converted into that\nvery bright and white substance by the breath! The change it suffers\nis in quality, not in essence. You will certainly find nothing else\nmore nourishing, or sweeter, or whiter than milk. In every respect,\naccordingly, it is like spiritual nourishment, which is sweet through\ngrace, nourishing as life, bright as the day of Christ.\n\nThe blood of the Word has been also exhibited as milk. Milk being thus\nprovided in parturition, is supplied to the infant; and the breasts,\nwhich till then looked straight towards the husband, now bend down\ntowards the child, being taught to furnish the substance elaborated\nby nature in a way easily received for salutary nourishment. For\nthe breasts are not like fountains full of milk, flowing in ready\nprepared; but, by effecting a change in the nutriment, form the milk in\nthemselves, and discharge it. And the nutriment suitable and wholesome\nfor the new-formed and new-born babe is elaborated by God, the\nnourisher and the Father of all that are generated and regenerated,--as\nmanna, the celestial food of angels, flowed down from heaven on the\nancient Hebrews. Even now, in fact, nurses call the first-poured\ndrink of milk by the same name as that food--manna. Further, pregnant\nwomen, on becoming mothers, discharge milk. But the Lord Christ, the\nfruit of the Virgin, did not pronounce the breasts of women blessed,\nnor selected them to give nourishment; but when the kind and loving\nFather had rained down the Word, Himself became spiritual nourishment\nto the good. O mystic marvel! The universal Father is one, and one the\nuniversal Word; and the Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere,\nand one is the only virgin mother. I love to call her the Church. This\nmother, when alone, had not milk, because alone she was not a woman.\nBut she is at once virgin and mother--pure as a virgin, loving as a\nmother. And calling her children to her, she nurses them with holy\nmilk, viz. with the Word for childhood. Therefore she had not milk;\nfor the milk was this child fair and comely, the body of Christ, which\nnourishes by the Word the young brood, which the Lord Himself brought\nforth in throes of the flesh, which the Lord Himself swathed in His\nprecious blood. O amazing birth! O holy swaddling bands! The Word is\nall to the child, both father and mother, and tutor and nurse. \u201cEat ye\nmy flesh,\u201d He says, \u201cand drink my blood.\u201d[241] Such is the suitable\nfood which the Lord ministers, and He offers His flesh and pours forth\nHis blood, and nothing is wanting for the children\u2019s growth. O amazing\nmystery! We are enjoined to cast off the old and carnal corruption,\nas also the old nutriment, receiving in exchange another new regimen,\nthat of Christ, receiving Him if we can, to hide Him within; and that,\nenshrining the Saviour in our souls, we may correct the affections of\nour flesh.\n\nBut you are not inclined to understand it thus, but perchance more\ngenerally. Hear it also in the following way. The flesh figuratively\nrepresents to us the Holy Spirit; for the flesh was created by Him.\nThe blood points out to us the Word, for as rich blood the Word has\nbeen infused into life; and the union of both is the Lord, the food\nof the babes--the Lord who is Spirit and Word. The food--that is,\nthe Lord Jesus--that is, the Word of God, the Spirit made flesh, the\nheavenly flesh sanctified. The nutriment is the milk of the Father,\nby which alone we infants are nourished. The Word Himself, then, the\nbeloved One, and our nourisher, hath shed His own blood for us, to save\nhumanity; and by Him, we, believing on God, flee to the Word, \u201cthe\ncare-soothing breast\u201d of the Father. And He alone, as is befitting,\nsupplies us children with the milk of love, and those only are truly\nblessed who suck this breast. Wherefore also Peter says: \u201cLaying\ntherefore aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisy, and envy,\nand evil speaking, as new-born babes, desire the milk of the word,\nthat ye may grow by it to salvation; if ye have tasted that the Lord\nis Christ.\u201d[242] And were one to concede to them that the meat was\nsomething different from the milk, then how shall they avoid being\ntransfixed on their own spit, through want of consideration of nature?\nFor in winter, when the air is condensed, and prevents the escape\nof the heat enclosed within, the food, transmuted and digested and\nchanged into blood, passes into the veins, and these, in the absence\nof exhalation, are greatly distended, and exhibit strong pulsations;\nconsequently also nurses are then fullest of milk. And we have shown\na little above, that on pregnancy blood passes into milk by a change\nwhich does not affect its substance, just as in old people yellow\nhair changes to grey. But again in summer, the body, having its pores\nmore open, affords greater facility for diaphoretic action in the\ncase of the food, and the milk is least abundant, since neither is\nthe blood full, nor is the whole nutriment retained. If, then, the\ndigestion of the food results in the production of blood, and the blood\nbecomes milk, then blood is a preparation for milk, as blood is for a\nhuman being, and the grape for the vine. With milk, then, the Lord\u2019s\nnutriment, we are nursed directly we are born; and as soon as we are\nregenerated, we are honoured by receiving the good news of the hope of\nrest, even the Jerusalem above, in which it is written that milk and\nhoney fall in showers, receiving through what is material the pledge of\nthe sacred food. \u201cFor meats are done away with,\u201d[243] as the apostle\nhimself says; but this nourishment on milk leads to the heavens,\nrearing up citizens of heaven, and members of the angelic choirs. And\nsince the Word is the gushing fountain of life, and has been called a\nriver of olive oil, Paul, using appropriate figurative language, and\ncalling Him milk, adds: \u201cI have given you to drink;\u201d[244] for we drink\nin the word, the nutriment of the truth. In truth, also liquid food is\ncalled drink; and the same thing may somehow be both meat and drink,\naccording to the different aspects in which it is considered, just as\ncheese is the solidification of milk, or milk solidified; for I am\nnot concerned here to make a nice selection of an expression, only to\nsay that one substance supplies both articles of food. Besides, for\nchildren at the breast, milk alone suffices; it serves both for meat\nand drink. \u201cI,\u201d says the Lord, \u201chave meat to eat that ye know not of.\nMy meat is to do the will of Him that sent me.\u201d[245] You see another\nkind of food which, similarly with milk, represents figuratively the\nwill of God. Besides, also, the completion of His own passion He called\ncatachrestically \u201ca cup,\u201d[246] when He alone had to drink and drain it.\nThus to Christ the fulfilling of His Father\u2019s will was food; and to us\ninfants, who drink the milk of the word of the heavens, Christ Himself\nis food. Hence seeking is called sucking; for to those babes that seek\nthe Word, the Father\u2019s breasts of love supply milk.\n\nFurther, the Word declares Himself to be the bread of heaven. \u201cFor\nMoses,\u201d He says, \u201cgave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father\ngiveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He that\ncometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. And the bread\nwhich I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the\nworld.\u201d[247] Here is to be noted the mystery of the bread, inasmuch as\nHe speaks of it as flesh, and as flesh, consequently, that has risen\nthrough fire, as the wheat springs up from decay and germination;\nand, in truth, it has risen through fire for the joy of the church,\nas bread baked. But this will be shown by and by more clearly in the\nchapter on the resurrection. But since He said, \u201cAnd the bread which I\nwill give is my flesh,\u201d and since flesh is moistened with blood, and\nblood is figuratively termed wine, we are bidden know that, as bread,\ncrumbled into a mixture of wine and water, seizes on the wine and\nleaves the watery portion, so also the flesh of Christ, the bread of\nheaven, absorbs the blood; that is, those among men who are heavenly,\nnourishing them up to immortality, and leaving only to destruction the\nlusts of the flesh.\n\nThus in many ways the Word is figuratively described, as meat, and\nflesh, and food, and bread, and blood, and milk. The Lord is all these,\nto give enjoyment to us who have believed on Him. Let no one then\nthink it strange, when we say that the Lord\u2019s blood is figuratively\nrepresented as milk. For is it not figuratively represented as wine?\n\u201cWho washes,\u201d it is said, \u201cHis garment in wine, His robe in the blood\nof the grape.\u201d[248] In His own Spirit He says He will deck the body\nof the Word; as certainly by His own Spirit He will nourish those who\nhunger for the Word.\n\nAnd that the blood is the Word, is testified by the blood of Abel, the\nrighteous interceding with God. For the blood would never have uttered\na voice, had it not been regarded as the Word: for the righteous man\nof old is the type of the new righteous one; and the blood of old that\ninterceded, intercedes in the place of the new blood. And the blood\nthat is the Word cries to God, since it intimated that the Word was to\nsuffer.\n\nFurther, this flesh, and the blood in it, are by a mutual sympathy\nmoistened and increased by the milk. And the process of formation\nof the seed in conception ensues when it has mingled with the pure\nresidue of the menses, which remains. For the force that is in the seed\ncoagulating the substances of the blood, as the rennet curdles milk,\neffects the essential part of the formative process. For a suitable\nblending conduces to fruitfulness; but extremes are adverse, and tend\nto sterility. For when the earth itself is flooded by excessive rain,\nthe seed is swept away, while in consequence of scarcity it is dried\nup; but when the sap is viscous, it retains the seed, and makes it\ngerminate. Some also hold the hypothesis, that the seed of an animal is\nin substance the foam of the blood, which being by the natural heat of\nthe male agitated and shaken out, in copulation is turned into foam,\nand deposited in the seminal veins. For Diogenes Apollionates will have\nit, that hence is derived the word _aphrodisia_.\n\nFrom all this it is therefore evident, that the essential principle of\nthe human body is blood. The contents of the stomach, too, at first are\nmilky, a coagulation of fluid; then the same coagulated substance is\nchanged into blood; but when it is formed into a compact consistency\nin the womb, by the natural and warm spirit by which the embryo is\nfashioned, it becomes a living creature. Further also, the child after\nbirth is nourished by the same blood. For the flow of milk is the\nproduct of the blood; and the source of nourishment is the milk; by\nwhich a woman is shown to have brought forth a child, and to be truly\na mother, by which also she receives a potent charm of affection.\nWherefore the Holy Spirit in the apostle, using the voice of the Lord,\nsays mystically, \u201cI have given you milk to drink.\u201d[249] For if we have\nbeen regenerated unto Christ, He who has regenerated us nourishes us\nwith His own milk, the Word; for it is proper that what has procreated\nshould forthwith supply nourishment to that which has been procreated.\nAnd as the regeneration was conformably spiritual, so also was the\nnutriment of man spiritual. In all respects, therefore, and in all\nthings, we are brought into union with Christ, into relationship\nthrough His blood, by which we are redeemed; and into sympathy, in\nconsequence of the nourishment which flows from the Word; and into\nimmortality, through His guidance:\n\n \u201cAmong men the bringing up of children\n Often produces stronger impulses to love than the procreating of\n them.\u201d\n\nThe same blood and milk of the Lord is therefore the symbol of the\nLord\u2019s passion and teaching. Wherefore each of us babes is permitted to\nmake our boast in the Lord, while we proclaim:\n\n \u201cYet of a noble sire and noble blood I boast me sprung.\u201d[250]\n\nAnd that milk is produced from blood by a change, is already clear; yet\nwe may learn it from the flocks and herds. For these animals, in the\ntime of the year which we call spring, when the air has more humidity,\nand the grass and meadows are juicy and moist, are first filled with\nblood, as is shown by the distension of the veins of the swollen\nvessels; and from the blood the milk flows more copiously. But in\nsummer, again, the blood being burnt and dried up by the heat, prevents\nthe change, and so they have less milk.\n\nFurther, milk has a most natural affinity for water, as assuredly the\nspiritual washing has for the spiritual nutriment. Those, therefore,\nthat swallow a little cold water, in addition to the above-mentioned\nmilk, straightway feel benefit; for the milk is prevented from souring\nby its combination with water, not in consequence of any antipathy\nbetween them, but in consequence of the water taking kindly to the milk\nwhile it is undergoing digestion.\n\nAnd such as is the union of the Word with baptism, is the agreement of\nmilk with water; for it receives it alone of all liquids, and admits of\nmixture with water, for the purpose of cleansing, as baptism for the\nremission of sins. And it is mixed naturally with honey also, and this\nfor cleansing along with sweet nutriment. For the Word blended with\nlove at once cures our passions and cleanses our sins; and the saying,\n\n \u201cSweeter than honey flowed the stream of speech,\u201d[251]\n\nseems to me to have been spoken of the Word, who is honey. And prophecy\noft extols Him \u201cabove honey and the honey-comb.\u201d[252]\n\nFurthermore, milk is mixed with sweet wine; and the mixture is\nbeneficial, as when suffering is mixed in the cup in order to\nimmortality. For the milk is curdled by the wine, and separated, and\nwhatever adulteration is in it is drained off. And in the same way,\nthe spiritual communion of faith with suffering man, drawing off as\nserous matter the lusts of the flesh, commits man to eternity, along\nwith those who are divine, immortalizing him.\n\nFurther, many also use the fat of milk, called butter, for the lamp,\nplainly indicating by this enigma the abundant unction of the Word,\nsince He alone it is who nourishes the infants, makes them grow,\nand enlightens them. Wherefore also the Scripture says respecting\nthe Lord, \u201cHe fed them with the produce of the fields; they sucked\nhoney from the rock, and oil from the solid rock, butter of kine,\nand milk of sheep, with fat of lambs;\u201d[253] and what follows He gave\nthem. But he that prophesies the birth of the child says: \u201cButter and\nhoney shall He eat.\u201d[254] And it occurs to me to wonder how some dare\ncall themselves perfect and gnostics, with ideas of themselves above\nthe apostle, inflated and boastful, when Paul even owned respecting\nhimself, \u201cNot that I have already attained, or am already perfect; but\nI follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended\nof Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this\none thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching\nforth to those that are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize\nof the high calling in Christ Jesus.\u201d[255] And yet he reckons himself\nperfect, because he has been emancipated from his former life, and\nstrives after the better life, not as perfect in knowledge, but as\naspiring after perfection. Wherefore also he adds, \u201cAs many of us as\nare perfect, are thus minded,\u201d[256] manifestly describing perfection as\nthe renunciation of sin, and regeneration into the faith of the only\nperfect One, and forgetting our former sins.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n WHO THE INSTRUCTOR IS, AND RESPECTING HIS INSTRUCTION.\n\n\nSince, then, we have shown that all of us are by Scripture called\nchildren; and not only so, but that we who have followed Christ are\nfiguratively called babes; and that the Father of all alone is perfect,\nfor the Son is in Him, and the Father is in the Son; it is time for us\nin due course to say who our Instructor is.\n\nHe is called Jesus. Sometimes He calls Himself a shepherd, and says,\n\u201cI am the good Shepherd.\u201d[257] According to a metaphor drawn from\nshepherds, who lead the sheep, is hereby understood the Instructor, who\nleads the children--the Shepherd who tends the babes. For the babes are\nsimple, being figuratively described as sheep. \u201cAnd they shall all,\u201d\nit is said, \u201cbe one flock, and one shepherd.\u201d[258] The Word, then,\nwho leads the children to salvation, is appropriately called _the\nInstructor_[259] (P\u00e6dagogue).\n\nWith the greatest clearness, accordingly, the Word has spoken\nrespecting Himself by Hosea: \u201cI am your Instructor.\u201d[260] Now piety is\ninstruction, being the learning of the service of God, and training in\nthe knowledge of the truth, and right guidance which leads to heaven.\nAnd the word \u201cinstruction\u201d[261] is employed variously. For there is the\ninstruction of him who is led and learns, and that of him who leads and\nteaches; and there is, thirdly, the guidance itself; and fourthly, what\nis taught, as the commandments enjoined.\n\nNow the instruction which is of God is the right direction of truth\nto the contemplation of God, and the exhibition of holy deeds in\neverlasting perseverance.\n\nAs therefore the general directs the phalanx, consulting the safety\nof his soldiers, and the pilot steers the vessel, desiring to save\nthe passengers; so also the Instructor guides the children to a\nsaving course of conduct, through solicitude for us; and, in general,\nwhatever we ask in accordance with reason from God to be done for us,\nwill happen to those who believe in the Instructor. And just as the\nhelmsman does not always yield to the winds, but sometimes, turning\nthe prow towards them, opposes the whole force of the hurricanes; so\nthe Instructor never yields to the blasts that blow in this world, nor\ncommits the child to them like a vessel to make shipwreck on a wild and\nlicentious course of life; but, wafted on by the favouring breeze of\nthe Spirit of truth, stoutly holds on to the child\u2019s helm,--his ears, I\nmean,--until He bring him safe to anchor in the haven of heaven.\n\nWhat is called by men an ancestral custom passes away in a moment, but\nthe divine guidance is a possession which abides for ever.\n\nThey say that Ph\u0153nix was the instructor of Achilles, and Adrastus of\nthe children of Cr\u0153sus; and Leonides of Alexander, and Nausithous of\nPhilip. But Ph\u0153nix was women-mad, Adrastus was a fugitive. Leonides did\nnot curtail the pride of Alexander, nor Nausithous reform the drunken\nPell\u00e6an. No more was the Thracian Zopyrus able to check the fornication\nof Alcibiades; but Zopyrus was a bought slave, and Ticinnus, the\ntutor of the children of Themistocles, was a lazy domestic. They say\nalso that he invented the Sicinnian dance. Those have not escaped our\nattention who are called royal instructors among the Persians; whom,\nin number four, the kings of the Persians select with the greatest\ncare from all the Persians, and set over their sons. But the children\nonly learn the use of the bow, and on reaching maturity have sexual\nintercourse with sisters, and mothers, and women, wives and courtesans\ninnumerable, practised in intercourse like the wild boars.\n\nBut our Instructor is the holy God Jesus, the Word, who is the guide of\nall humanity. The loving God Himself is our Instructor. Somewhere in\nsong the Holy Spirit says with regard to Him, \u201cHe provided sufficiently\nfor the people in the wilderness. He led him about in the thirst\nof summer heat in a dry land, and instructed him, and kept him as\nthe apple of His eye, as an eagle protects her nest, and shows her\nfond solicitude for her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them,\nand bears them on her back. The Lord alone led them, and there was\nno strange god with them.\u201d[262] Clearly, I trow, has the Scripture\nexhibited the Instructor in the account it gives of His guidance.\n\nAgain, when He speaks in His own person, He confesses Himself to be\nthe Instructor: \u201cI am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the\nland of Egypt.\u201d[263] Who, then, has the power of leading in and out? Is\nit not the Instructor? This was He who appeared to Abraham, and said\nto him, \u201cI am thy God, be accepted before me;\u201d[264] and in a way most\nbefitting an instructor, forms him into a faithful child, saying, \u201cAnd\nbe blameless; and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and thy\nseed.\u201d There is the communication of the Instructor\u2019s friendship. And\nHe most manifestly appears as Jacob\u2019s instructor. He says accordingly\nto him, \u201cLo, I am with thee, to keep thee in all the way in which thou\nshalt go; and I will bring thee back into this land: for I will not\nleave thee till I do what I have told thee.\u201d[265] He is said, too, to\nhave wrestled with Him. \u201cAnd Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled\nwith him a man (the Instructor) till the morning.\u201d[266] This was the\nman who led, and brought, and wrestled with, and anointed the athlete\nJacob against evil.[267] Now that the Word was at once Jacob\u2019s trainer\nand the Instructor of humanity [appears from this]--\u201cHe asked,\u201d it is\nsaid, \u201cHis name, and said to him, Tell me what is thy name.\u201d And he\nsaid, \u201cWhy is it that thou askest my name?\u201d For He reserved the new\nname for the new people--the babe; and was as yet unnamed, the Lord God\nnot having yet become man. Yet Jacob called the name of the place,\n\u201cFace of God.\u201d \u201cFor I have seen,\u201d he says, \u201cGod face to face; and my\nlife is preserved.\u201d[268] The face of God is the Word by whom God is\nmanifested and made known. Then also was he named Israel, because he\nsaw God the Lord. It was God, the Word, the Instructor, who said to him\nagain afterwards, \u201cFear not to go down into Egypt.\u201d[269] See how the\nInstructor follows the righteous man, and how He anoints the athlete,\nteaching him to trip up his antagonist.\n\nIt is He also who teaches Moses to act as instructor. For the Lord\nsays, \u201cIf any one sin before me, him will I blot out of my book; but\nnow, go and lead this people into the place which I told thee.\u201d[270]\nHere He is the teacher of the art of instruction. For it was really\nthe Lord that was the instructor of the ancient people by Moses; but\nHe is the instructor of the new people by Himself, face to face.\n\u201cFor behold,\u201d He says to Moses, \u201cmy angel shall go before thee,\u201d\nrepresenting the evangelical and commanding power of the Word, but\nguarding the Lord\u2019s prerogative. \u201cIn the day on which I will visit\nthem,\u201d[271] He says, \u201cI will bring their sins on them; that is, on the\nday on which I will sit as judge I will render the recompense of their\nsins.\u201d For the same who is Instructor is judge, and judges those who\ndisobey Him; and the loving Word will not pass over their transgression\nin silence. He reproves, that they may repent. For \u201cthe Lord willeth\nthe repentance of the sinner rather than his death.\u201d[272] And let us as\nbabes, hearing of the sins of others, keep from similar transgressions,\nthrough dread of the threatening, that we may not have to undergo like\nsufferings. What, then, was the sin which they committed? \u201cFor in their\nwrath they slew men, and in their impetuosity they hamstrung bulls.\nCursed be their anger.\u201d[273] Who, then, would train us more lovingly\nthan He? Formerly the older people had an old covenant, and the law\ndisciplined the people with fear, and the Word was an angel; but to\nthe fresh and new people has also been given a new covenant, and the\nWord has appeared, and fear is turned to love, and that mystic angel is\nborn--Jesus. For this same Instructor said then, \u201cThou shalt fear the\nLord God;\u201d[274] but to us He has addressed the exhortation, \u201cThou shalt\nlove the Lord thy God.\u201d[275] Wherefore also this is enjoined on us:\n\u201cCease from your own works, from your old sins;\u201d \u201cLearn to do well;\u201d\n\u201cDepart from evil, and do good;\u201d \u201cThou hast loved righteousness, and\nhated iniquity.\u201d This is my new covenant written in the old letter. The\nnewness of the word must not, then, be made ground of reproach. But the\nLord hath also said in Jeremiah: \u201cSay not that I am a youth: before I\nformed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before I brought thee out of\nthe womb I sanctified thee.\u201d[276] Such allusions prophecy can make to\nus, destined in the eye of God to faith before the foundation of the\nworld; but now babes, through the recent fulfilment of the will of God,\naccording to which we are born now to calling and salvation. Wherefore\nalso He adds, \u201cI have set thee for a prophet to the nations,\u201d[277]\nsaying that he must prophesy, so that the appellation of \u201cyouth\u201d should\nnot become a reproach to these who are called babes.\n\nNow the law is ancient grace given through Moses by the Word. Wherefore\nalso the Scripture says, \u201cThe law was given through Moses,\u201d[278] not\nby Moses, but by the Word, and through Moses His servant. Wherefore it\nwas only temporary; but eternal grace and truth were by Jesus Christ.\nMark the expressions of Scripture: of the law only is it said \u201cwas\ngiven;\u201d but truth being the grace of the Father, is the eternal work\nof the Word; and it is not said _to be given_, but _to be_\nby Jesus, _without whom nothing was_.[279] Presently, therefore,\nMoses prophetically, giving place to the perfect Instructor the Word,\npredicts both the name and the office of Instructor, and committing to\nthe people the commands of obedience, sets before them the Instructor.\n\u201cA prophet,\u201d says he, \u201clike me shall God raise up to you of your\nbrethren,\u201d pointing out Jesus the Son of God, by an allusion to Jesus\nthe son of Nun; for the name of Jesus predicted in the law was a\nshadow of Christ. He adds, therefore, consulting the advantage of the\npeople, \u201cHim shall ye hear;\u201d[280] and, \u201cThe man who will not hear that\nProphet,\u201d[281] him He threatens. Such a name, then, he predicts as that\nof the Instructor, who is the author of salvation. Wherefore prophecy\ninvests Him with a rod, a rod of discipline, of rule, of authority;\nthat those whom the persuasive word heals not, the threatening may\nheal; and whom the threatening heals not, the rod may heal; and whom\nthe rod heals not, the fire may devour. \u201cThere shall come forth,\u201d it is\nsaid, \u201ca rod out of the root of Jesse.\u201d[282]\n\nSee the care, and wisdom, and power of the Instructor: \u201cHe shall not\njudge according to opinion, nor according to report; but He shall\ndispense judgment to the humble, and reprove the sinners of the\nearth.\u201d And by David: \u201cThe Lord instructing, hath instructed me, and\nnot given me over to death.\u201d[283] For to be chastised of the Lord,\nand instructed, is deliverance from death. And by the same prophet He\nsays: \u201cThou shalt rule them with a rod of iron.\u201d[284] Thus also the\napostle, in the Epistle to the Corinthians, being moved, says, \u201cWhat\nwill ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, in the spirit\nof meekness?\u201d[285] Also, \u201cThe Lord shall send the rod of strength\nout of Sion,\u201d[286] He says by another prophet. And this same rod of\ninstruction, \u201cThy rod and staff have comforted me,\u201d[287] said some one\nelse. Such is the power of the Instructor--sacred, soothing, saving.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n AGAINST THOSE WHO THINK THAT WHAT IS JUST IS NOT GOOD.\n\n\nAt this stage some rise up, saying that the Lord, by reason of the rod,\nand threatening, and fear, is not good; misapprehending, as appears,\nthe scripture which says, \u201cAnd he that feareth the Lord will turn to\nhis heart;\u201d[288] and most of all, oblivious of His love, in that for\nus He became man. For more suitably to Him, the prophet prays in these\nwords: \u201cRemember us, for we are dust;\u201d[289] that is, Sympathize with\nus; for Thou knowest from personal experience of suffering the weakness\nof the flesh. In this respect, therefore, the Lord the Instructor is\nmost good and unimpeachable, sympathizing as He does from the exceeding\ngreatness of His love with the nature of each man. \u201cFor there is\nnothing which the Lord hates.\u201d[290] For assuredly He does not hate\nanything, and yet wish that which He hates to exist. Nor does He wish\nanything not to exist, and yet become the cause of existence to that\nwhich He wishes not to exist. Nor does He wish anything not to exist\nwhich yet exists. If, then, the Word hates anything, He does not wish\nit to exist. But nothing exists, the cause of whose existence is not\nsupplied by God. Nothing, then, is hated by God, nor yet by the Word.\nFor both are one--that is, God. For He has said, \u201cIn the beginning the\nWord was in God, and the Word was God.\u201d[291] If then He hates none\nof the things which He has made, it follows that He loves them. Much\nmore than the rest, and with reason, will He love man, the noblest of\nall objects created by Him, and a God-loving being. Therefore God is\nloving; consequently the Word is loving.\n\nBut he who loves anything wishes to do it good. And that which does\ngood must be every way better than that which does not good. But\nnothing is better than the Good. The Good, then, does good. And God is\nadmitted to be good. God therefore does good. And the Good, in virtue\nof its being good, does nothing else than do good. Consequently God\ndoes all good. And He does no good to man without caring for him, and\nHe does not care _for_ him without taking care _of_ him. For that which\ndoes good purposely, is better than what does not good purposely.\nBut nothing is better than God. And to do good purposely, is nothing\nelse than to take care of man. God therefore cares for man, and takes\ncare of him. And He shows this practically, in instructing him by the\nWord, who is the true coadjutor of God\u2019s love to man. But the good is\nnot said to be good, on account of its being possessed of virtue; as\nalso righteousness is not said to be good on account of its possessing\nvirtue--for it is itself virtue--but on account of its being in itself\nand by itself good.\n\nIn another way the useful is called good, not on account of\nits pleasing, but of its doing good. All which, therefore, is\nrighteousness, being a good thing, both as virtue and as desirable for\nits own sake, and not as giving pleasure; for it does not judge in\norder to win favour, but dispenses to each according to his merits.\nAnd the beneficial follows the useful. Righteousness, therefore, has\ncharacteristics corresponding to all the aspects in which goodness is\nexamined, both possessing equal properties equally. And things which\nare characterized by equal properties are equal and similar to each\nother. Righteousness is therefore a good thing.\n\n\u201cHow then,\u201d say they, \u201cif the Lord loves man, and is good, is He angry\nand punishes?\u201d We must therefore treat of this point with all possible\nbrevity; for this mode of treatment is advantageous to the right\ntraining of the children, occupying the place of a necessary help. For\nmany of the passions are cured by punishment, and by the inculcation\nof the sterner precepts, as also by instruction in certain principles.\nFor reproof is, as it were, the surgery of the passions of the soul;\nand the passions are, as it were, an abscess of the truth,[292] which\nmust be cut open by an incision of the lancet of reproof.\n\nReproach is like the application of medicines, dissolving the\ncallosities of the passions, and purging the impurities of the lewdness\nof the life; and in addition, reducing the excrescences of pride,\nrestoring the patient to the healthy and true state of humanity.\n\nAdmonition is, as it were, the regimen of the diseased soul,\nprescribing what it must take, and forbidding what it must not. And all\nthese tend to salvation and eternal health.\n\nFurthermore, the general of an army, by inflicting fines and corporeal\npunishments with chains and the extremest disgrace on offenders, and\nsometimes even by punishing individuals with death, aims at good, doing\nso for the admonition of the officers under him.\n\nThus also He who is our great General, the Word, the Commander-in-chief\nof the universe, by admonishing those who throw off the restraints of\nHis law, that He may effect their release from the slavery, error,\nand captivity of the adversary, brings them peacefully to the sacred\nconcord of citizenship.\n\nAs, therefore, in addition to persuasive discourse, there is the\nhortatory and the consolatory form; so also, in addition to the\nlaudatory, there is the inculpatory and reproachful. And this latter\nconstitutes the art of censure. Now censure is a mark of good-will, not\nof ill-will. For both he who is a friend and he who is not, reproach;\nbut the enemy does so in scorn, the friend in kindness. It is not,\nthen, from hatred that the Lord chides men; for He Himself suffered for\nus, whom He might have destroyed for our faults. For the Instructor\nalso, in virtue of His being good, with consummate art glides into\ncensure by rebuke; rousing the sluggishness of the mind by His sharp\nwords as by a scourge. Again in turn He endeavours to exhort the same\npersons. For those who are not induced by praise are spurred on by\ncensure; and those whom censure calls not forth to salvation, being as\ndead, are by denunciation roused to the truth. \u201cFor the stripes and\ncorrection of wisdom are in all time.\u201d \u201cFor teaching a fool is gluing\na potsherd; and sharpening to sense a hopeless blockhead is bringing\nearth to sensation.\u201d[293] Wherefore He adds plainly, \u201crousing the\nsleeper from deep sleep,\u201d which of all things else is likest death.\n\nFurther, the Lord shows very clearly of Himself, when, describing\nfiguratively His manifold and in many ways serviceable culture,--He\nsays, \u201cI am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.\u201d Then He\nadds, \u201cEvery branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away; and\nevery branch that beareth fruit He pruneth, that it may bring forth\nmore fruit.\u201d[294] For the vine that is not pruned grows to wood.\nSo also man. The Word--the knife--clears away the wanton shoots;\ncompelling the impulses of the soul to fructify, not to indulge in\nlust. Now, reproof addressed to sinners has their salvation for its\naim, the word being harmoniously adjusted to each one\u2019s conduct; now\nwith tightened, now with relaxed cords. Accordingly it was very plainly\nsaid by Moses, \u201cBe of good courage: God has drawn near to try you,\nthat His fear may be among you, that ye sin not.\u201d[295] And Plato, who\nhad learned from this source, says beautifully: \u201cFor all who suffer\npunishment are in reality treated well, for they are benefited; since\nthe spirit of those who are justly punished is improved.\u201d And if\nthose who are corrected receive good at the hands of justice, and,\naccording to Plato, what is just is acknowledged to be good, fear\nitself does good, and has been found to be for men\u2019s good. \u201cFor the\nsoul that feareth the Lord shall live, for their hope is in Him who\nsaveth them.\u201d[296] And this same Word who inflicts punishment is judge;\nregarding whom Esaias also says, \u201cThe Lord has assigned Him to our\nsins,\u201d[297] plainly as a corrector and reformer of sins. Wherefore\nHe alone is able to forgive our iniquities, who has been appointed\nby the Father, Instructor of us all; He alone it is who is able to\ndistinguish between disobedience and obedience. And while He threatens,\nHe manifestly is unwilling to inflict evil to execute His threatenings;\nbut by inspiring men with fear, He cuts off the approach to sin, and\nshows His love to man, still delaying, and declaring what they shall\nsuffer if they continue sinners, and is not as a serpent, which the\nmoment it fastens on its prey devours it.\n\nGod, then, is good. And the Lord speaks many a time and oft before He\nproceeds to act. \u201cFor my arrows,\u201d He says, \u201cwill make an end of them;\nthey shall be consumed with hunger, and be eaten by birds; and there\nshall be incurable tetanic incurvature. I will send the teeth of wild\nbeasts upon them, with the rage of serpents creeping on the earth.\nWithout, the sword shall make them childless; and out of their chambers\nshall be fear.\u201d[298] For the Divine Being is not angry in the way that\nsome think; but often restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows\nwhat ought to be done. And this is a good device, to terrify lest we\nsin. \u201cFor the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without\nfear cannot be justified,\u201d[299] says the Scripture. And God does not\ninflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it\nis not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. Each\none of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the\nblame lies with him who chooses.[300] God is without blame. \u201cBut if our\nunrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say?\nIs God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance? God forbid.\u201d[301] He says,\ntherefore, threatening, \u201cI will sharpen my sword, and my hand shall\nlay hold on judgment; and I will render justice to mine enemies, and\nrequite those who hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,\nand my sword shall devour flesh from the blood of the wounded.\u201d[302] It\nis clear, then, that those who are not at enmity with the truth, and do\nnot hate the Word, will not hate their own salvation, but will escape\nthe punishment of enmity. \u201cThe crown of wisdom,\u201d then, as the book of\nWisdom says, \u201cis the fear of the Lord.\u201d[303] Very clearly, therefore,\nby the prophet Amos has the Lord unfolded His method of dealing,\nsaying, \u201cI have overthrown you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah;\nand ye shall be as a brand plucked from the fire: and yet ye have not\nreturned unto me, saith the Lord.\u201d[304]\n\nSee how God, through His love of goodness, seeks repentance; and by\nmeans of the plan He pursues of threatening silently, shows His own\nlove for man. \u201cI will avert,\u201d He says, \u201cmy face from them, and show\nwhat shall happen to them.\u201d[305] For where the face of the Lord looks,\nthere is peace and rejoicing; but where it is averted, there is the\nintroduction of evil. The Lord, accordingly, does not wish to look\non evil things; for He is good. But on His looking away, evil arises\nspontaneously through human unbelief. \u201cBehold, therefore,\u201d says Paul,\n\u201cthe goodness and severity of God: on them that fell, severity; but\nupon thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness,\u201d[306] that is,\nin faith in Christ.\n\nNow hatred of evil attends the good man, in virtue of His being in\nnature good. Wherefore I will grant that He punishes the disobedient\n(for punishment is for the good and advantage of him who is punished,\nfor it is the correction of a refractory subject); but I will not\ngrant that He wishes to take vengeance. Revenge is retribution for\nevil, imposed for the advantage of him who takes the revenge. He will\nnot desire us to take revenge, who teaches us \u201cto pray for those that\ndespitefully use us.\u201d[307] But that God is good, all willingly admit;\nand that the same God is just, I require not many more words to prove,\nafter adducing the evangelical utterance of the Lord; He speaks of Him\nas one, \u201cThat they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and\nI in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world also may\nbelieve that Thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me\nI have given them; that they may be one, as we are one: I in them,\nand Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.\u201d[308] God is\none, and beyond the one, and above the Monad itself. Wherefore also\nthe particle \u201cThou,\u201d having a demonstrative emphasis, points out God,\nwho alone truly is, \u201cwho was, and is, and is to come,\u201d in which three\ndivisions of time the one name (\u1f41 \u1f64\u03bd), \u201cwho is,\u201d[309] has its place.\nAnd that He who alone is God is also alone and truly righteous, our\nLord in the Gospel itself shall testify, saying, \u201cFather, I will that\nthey also whom Thou hast given me be with me where I am; that they\nmay behold my glory, which Thou hast given me: for Thou lovedst me\nbefore the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath\nnot known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou\nhast sent me. And I have declared to them Thy name, and will declare\nit.\u201d[310] This is He \u201cthat visits the iniquities of the fathers upon\nthe children, to them that hate Him, and shows mercy to those that love\nHim.\u201d[311] For He who placed some \u201con the right hand, and others on\nthe left,\u201d[312] conceived as Father, being good, is called that which\nalone He is--\u201cgood;\u201d[313] but as He is the Son in the Father, being his\nWord, from their mutual relation, the name of power being measured by\nequality of love, He is called righteous. \u201cHe will judge,\u201d He says, \u201ca\nman according to his works,\u201d[314]--a good balance, even God having made\nknown to us the face of righteousness in the person of Jesus, by whom\nalso, as by even scales, we know God. Of this also the book of Wisdom\nplainly says, \u201cFor mercy and wrath are with Him, for He alone is Lord\nof both,\u201d Lord of propitiations, and pouring forth wrath according to\nthe abundance of His mercy. \u201cSo also is His reproof.\u201d[315] For the aim\nof mercy and of reproof is the salvation of those who are reproved.\n\nNow, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus is good, the Word\nHimself will again avouch: \u201cFor He is kind to the unthankful and the\nevil;\u201d and further, when He says, \u201cBe merciful, as your Father is\nmerciful.\u201d[316] Still further also He plainly says, \u201cNone is good, but\nmy Father, who is in heaven.\u201d[317] In addition to these, again He\nsays, \u201cMy Father makes His sun to shine on all.\u201d[318] Here it is to be\nnoted that He proclaims His Father to be good, and to be the Creator.\nAnd that the Creator is just, is not disputed. And again he says, \u201cMy\nFather sends rain on the just, and on the unjust.\u201d In respect of His\nsending rain, He is the Creator of the waters, and of the clouds. And\nin respect of His doing so on all, He holds an even balance justly and\nrightly. And as being good, He does so on just and unjust alike.\n\nVery clearly, then, we conclude Him to be one and the same God, thus.\nFor the Holy Spirit has sung, \u201cI will look to the heavens, the works\nof Thy hands;\u201d[319] and, \u201cHe who created the heavens dwells in the\nheavens;\u201d and, \u201cHeaven is Thy throne.\u201d[320] And the Lord says in His\nprayer, \u201cOur Father, who art in heaven.\u201d[321] And the heavens belong\nto Him, who created the world. It is indisputable, then, that the Lord\nis the Son of the Creator. And if the Creator above all is confessed\nto be just, and the Lord to be the Son of the Creator; then the Lord\nis the Son of Him who is just. Wherefore also Paul says, \u201cBut now the\nrighteousness of God without the law is manifested;\u201d[322] and again,\nthat you may better conceive of God, \u201ceven the righteousness of God\nby the faith of Jesus Christ upon all that believe; for there is no\ndifference.\u201d[323] And, witnessing further to the truth, he adds after\na little, \u201cthrough the forbearance of God, in order to show that He is\njust, and that Jesus is the justifier of him who is of faith.\u201d And that\nhe knows that what is just is good, appears by his saying, \u201cSo that\nthe law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good,\u201d[324]\nusing both names to denote the same power. But \u201cno one is good,\u201d except\nHis Father. It is this same Father of His, then, who being one is\nmanifested by many powers. And this was the import of the utterance,\n\u201cNo man knew the Father,\u201d[325] who was Himself everything before the\ncoming of the Son. So that it is veritably clear that the God of all\nis only one good, just Creator, and the Son in the Father, to whom be\nglory for ever and ever, Amen. But it is not inconsistent with the\nsaving Word, to administer rebuke dictated by solicitude. For this is\nthe medicine of the divine love to man, by which the blush of modesty\nbreaks forth, and shame at sin supervenes. For if one must censure, it\nis necessary also to rebuke; when it is the time to wound the apathetic\nsoul not mortally, but salutarily, securing exemption from everlasting\ndeath by a little pain.\n\nGreat is the wisdom displayed in His instruction, and manifold the\nmodes of His dealing in order to salvation. For the Instructor\ntestifies to the good, and summons forth to better things those that\nare called; dissuades those that are hastening to do wrong from the\nattempt, and exhorts them to turn to a better life. For the one is not\nwithout testimony, when the other has been testified to; and the grace\nwhich proceeds from the testimony is very great. Besides, the feeling\nof anger (if it is proper to call His admonition anger) is full of love\nto man, God condescending to emotion on man\u2019s account; for whose sake\nalso the Word of God became man.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n THAT IT IS THE PREROGATIVE OF THE SAME POWER TO BE BENEFICENT\n AND TO PUNISH JUSTLY. ALSO THE MANNER OF THE INSTRUCTION OF THE\n LOGOS.\n\n\nWith all His power, therefore, the Instructor of humanity, the Divine\nWord, using all the resources of wisdom, devotes Himself to the saving\nof the children, admonishing, upbraiding, blaming, chiding, reproving,\nthreatening, healing, promising, favouring; and as it were, by many\nreins, curbing the irrational impulses of humanity. To speak briefly,\ntherefore, the Lord acts towards us as we do towards our children.\n\u201cHast thou children? correct them,\u201d is the exhortation of the book of\nWisdom, \u201cand bend them from their youth. Hast thou daughters? attend to\ntheir body, and let not thy face brighten towards them,\u201d[326]--although\nwe love our children exceedingly, both sons and daughters, above aught\nelse whatever. For those who speak with a man merely to please him,\nhave little love for him, seeing they do not pain him; while those that\nspeak for his good, though they inflict pain for the time, do him good\nfor ever after. It is not immediate pleasure, but future enjoyment,\nthat the Lord has in view.\n\nLet us now proceed to consider the mode of His loving discipline, with\nthe aid of the prophetic testimony.\n\nAdmonition, then, is the censure of loving care, and produces\nunderstanding. Such is the Instructor in His admonitions, as when He\nsays in the gospel, \u201cHow often would I have gathered thy children, as\na bird gathers her young ones under her wings, and ye would not!\u201d[327]\nAnd again, the Scripture admonishes, saying, \u201cAnd they committed\nadultery with stock and stone, and burnt incense to Baal.\u201d[328] For\nit is a very great proof of His love, that, though knowing well the\nshamelessness of the people that had kicked and bounded away, He\nnotwithstanding exhorts them to repentance, and says by Ezekiel, \u201cSon\nof man, thou dwellest in the midst of scorpions; nevertheless, speak\nto them, if peradventure they will hear.\u201d[329] Further, to Moses He\nsays, \u201cGo and tell Pharaoh to send my people forth; but I know that\nhe will not send them forth.\u201d[330] For He shows both things: both His\ndivinity in His foreknowledge of what would take place, and His love\nin affording an opportunity for repentance to the self-determination\nof the soul. He admonishes also by Esaias, in His care for the people,\nwhen He says, \u201cThis people honour me with their lips, but their heart\nis far from me.\u201d What follows is reproving censure: \u201cIn vain do they\nworship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.\u201d[331] Here\nHis loving care, having shown their sin, shows salvation side by side.\n\nUpbraiding is censure on account of what is base, conciliating to what\nis noble. This is shown by Jeremiah: \u201cThey were female-mad horses; each\none neighed after his neighbour\u2019s wife. Shall I not visit for these\nthings? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation\nas this?\u201d[332] He everywhere interweaves fear, because \u201cthe fear of the\nLord is the beginning of sense.\u201d[333] And again, by Hosea, He says,\n\u201cShall I not visit them? for they themselves were mingled with harlots,\nand sacrificed with the initiated; and the people that understood\nembraced a harlot.\u201d[334] He shows their offence to be clearer, by\ndeclaring that they understood, and thus sinned wilfully. Understanding\nis the eye of the soul; wherefore also Israel means, \u201che that sees\nGod\u201d--that is, he that understands God.\n\nComplaint is censure of those who are regarded as despising or\nneglecting. He employs this form when He says by Esaias: \u201cHear, O\nheaven; and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have\nbegotten and brought up children, but they have disregarded me. The\nox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master\u2019s crib: but Israel hath\nnot known me.\u201d[335] For how shall we not regard it fearful, if he that\nknows God, shall not recognise the Lord; but while the ox and the\nass, stupid and foolish animals, will know him who feeds them, Israel\nis found to be more irrational than these? And having, by Jeremiah,\ncomplained against the people on many grounds, He adds: \u201cAnd they have\nforsaken me, saith the Lord.\u201d[336]\n\nInvective[337] is a reproachful upbraiding, or chiding censure. This\nmode of treatment the Instructor employs in Isaiah, when He says,\n\u201cWoe to you, children revolters. Thus saith the Lord, Ye have taken\ncounsel, but not by me; and made compacts, but not by my Spirit.\u201d[338]\nHe uses the very bitter mordant of fear in each case repressing[339]\nthe people, and at the same time turning them to salvation; as also\nwool that is undergoing the process of dyeing is wont to be previously\ntreated with mordants, in order to prepare it for taking on a fast\ncolour.\n\nReproof is the bringing forward of sin, laying it before one. This\nform of instruction He employs as in the highest degree necessary, by\nreason of the feebleness of the faith of many. For He says by Esaias,\n\u201cYe have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked the Holy One of Israel\nto anger.\u201d[340] And He says also by Jeremiah: \u201cHeaven was astonished\nat this, and the earth shuddered exceedingly. For my people have\ncommitted two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living\nwaters, and have hewn out to themselves broken cisterns, which will\nnot be able to hold water.\u201d[341] And again, by the same: \u201cJerusalem\nhath sinned a sin; therefore it became commotion. All that glorified\nher dishonoured her, when they saw her baseness.\u201d[342] And He uses the\nbitter and biting[343] language of reproof in His consolations by\nSolomon, tacitly alluding to the love for children that characterizes\nHis instruction: \u201cMy son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord;\nnor faint when thou art rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loveth He\nchasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;\u201d[344] \u201cFor a man\nwho is a sinner escapes reproof.\u201d[345] Consequently, therefore, the\nScripture says, \u201cLet the righteous reprove and correct me; but let not\nthe oil of the sinner anoint my head.\u201d[346]\n\nBringing one to his senses (\u03c6\u03c1\u03ad\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2) is censure, which makes a man\nthink. Neither from this form of instruction does he abstain, but says\nby Jeremiah, \u201cHow long shall I cry, and you not hear? So your ears are\nuncircumcised.\u201d[347] O blessed forbearance! And again, by the same:\n\u201cAll the heathen are uncircumcised, but this people is uncircumcised in\nheart:\u201d[348] \u201cfor the people are disobedient; children,\u201d says He, \u201cin\nwhom is not faith.\u201d[349]\n\nVisitation is severe rebuke. He uses this species in the Gospel: \u201cO\nJerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest them that\nare sent unto thee!\u201d The reduplication of the name gives strength\nto the rebuke. For he that knows God, how does he persecute God\u2019s\nservants? Wherefore He says, \u201cYour house is left desolate; for I say\nunto you, Henceforth ye shall not see me, till ye shall say, Blessed is\nHe that cometh in the name of the Lord.\u201d[350] For if you do not receive\nHis love, ye shall know His power.\n\nDenunciation is vehement speech. And He employs denunciation as\nmedicine, by Isaiah, saying, \u201cAh, sinful nation, lawless sons, people\nfull of sins, wicked seed!\u201d[351] And in the Gospel by John He says,\n\u201cSerpents, brood of vipers.\u201d[352]\n\nAccusation is censure of wrong-doers. This mode of instruction He\nemploys by David, when He says: \u201cThe people whom I knew not served me,\nand at the hearing of the ear obeyed me. Sons of strangers lied to me,\nand halted from their ways.\u201d[353] And by Jeremiah: \u201cAnd I gave her a\nwriting of divorcement, and covenant-breaking Judah feared not.\u201d[354]\nAnd again: \u201cAnd the house of Israel disregarded me; and the house of\nJudah lied to the Lord.\u201d[355]\n\nBewailing one\u2019s fate is latent censure, and by artful aid ministers\nsalvation as under a veil. He made use of this by Jeremiah: \u201cHow did\nthe city sit solitary that was full of people! She that ruled over\nterritories became as a widow; she came under tribute; weeping, she\nwept in the night.\u201d[356]\n\nObjurgation is objurgatory censure. Of this help the Divine Instructor\nmade use by Jeremiah, saying, \u201cThou hadst a whore\u2019s forehead; thou\nwast shameless towards all; and didst not call me to the house, who am\nthy father, and lord of thy virginity.\u201d[357] \u201cAnd a fair and graceful\nharlot skilled in enchanted potions.\u201d[358] With consummate art, after\napplying to the virgin the opprobrious name of whoredom, He thereupon\ncalls her back to an honourable life by filling her with shame.\n\nIndignation is a rightful upbraiding; or upbraiding on account of ways\nexalted above what is right. In this way He instructed by Moses, when\nHe said, \u201cFaulty children, a generation crooked and perverse, do ye\nthus requite the Lord? This people is foolish, and not wise. Is not\nthis thy father who acquired thee?\u201d[359] He says also by Isaiah, \u201cThy\nprinces are disobedient, companions of thieves, loving gifts, following\nafter rewards, not judging the orphans.\u201d[360]\n\nIn fine, the system He pursues to inspire fear is the source of\nsalvation. And it is the prerogative of goodness to save: \u201cThe mercy\nof the Lord is on all flesh, while He reproves, corrects, and teaches\nas a shepherd His flock. He pities those who receive His instruction,\nand those who eagerly seek union with Him.\u201d[361] And with such guidance\nHe guarded the six hundred thousand footmen that were brought together\nin the hardness of heart in which they were found; scourging, pitying,\nstriking, healing, in compassion and discipline: \u201cFor according to the\ngreatness of His mercy, so is His rebuke.\u201d[362] For it is indeed noble\nnot to sin; but it is good also for the sinner to repent; just as it\nis best to be always in good health, but well to recover from disease.\nSo He commands by Solomon: \u201cStrike thou thy son with the rod, that\nthou mayest deliver his soul from death.\u201d[363] And again: \u201cAbstain not\nfrom chastising thy son, but correct him with the rod; for he will not\ndie.\u201d[364]\n\nFor reproof and rebuke, as also the original term implies, are the\nstripes of the soul, chastising sins, preventing death, and leading to\nself-control those carried away to licentiousness. Thus also Plato,\nknowing reproof to be the greatest power for reformation, and the\nmost sovereign purification, in accordance with what has been said,\nobserves, \u201cthat he who is in the highest degree impure is uninstructed\nand base, by reason of his being unreproved in those respects in which\nhe who is destined to be truly happy ought to be purest and best.\u201d\n\nFor if rulers are not a terror to a good work, how shall God, who is by\nnature good, be a terror to him who sins not? \u201cIf thou doest evil, be\nafraid,\u201d[365] says the apostle. Wherefore the apostle himself also in\nevery case uses stringent language to the churches, after the Lord\u2019s\nexample; and conscious of his own boldness, and of the weakness of his\nhearers, he says to the Galatians: \u201cAm I your enemy, because I tell you\nthe truth?\u201d[366] Thus also people in health do not require a physician,\ndo not require him as long as they are strong; but those who are ill\nneed his skill. Thus also we who in our lives are ill of shameful lusts\nand reprehensible excesses, and other inflammatory effects of the\npassions, need the Saviour. And He administers not only mild, but also\nstringent medicines. The bitter roots of fear then arrest the eating\nsores of our sins. Wherefore also fear is salutary, if bitter. Sick, we\ntruly stand in need of the Saviour; having wandered, of one to guide\nus; blind, of one to lead us to the light; thirsty, \u201cof the fountain\nof life, of which whosoever partakes, shall no longer thirst;\u201d[367]\ndead, we need life; sheep, we need a shepherd; we who are children need\na tutor, while universal humanity stands in need of Jesus; so that we\nmay not continue intractable and sinners to the end, and thus fall\ninto condemnation, but may be separated from the chaff, and stored up\nin the paternal garner. \u201cFor the fan is in the Lord\u2019s hand, by which\nthe chaff due to the fire is separated from the wheat.\u201d[368] You may\nlearn, if you will, the crowning wisdom of the all-holy Shepherd and\nInstructor, of the omnipotent and paternal Word, when He figuratively\nrepresents Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep. And He is the Tutor of\nthe children. He says therefore by Ezekiel, directing His discourse to\nthe elders, and setting before them a salutary description of His wise\nsolicitude: \u201cAnd that which is lame I will bind up, and that which is\nsick I will heal, and that which has wandered I will turn back; and I\nwill feed them on my holy mountain.\u201d[369] Such are the promises of the\ngood Shepherd.\n\nFeed us, the children, as sheep. Yea, Master, fill us with\nrighteousness, Thine own pasture; yea, O Instructor, feed us on\nThy holy mountain the church, which towers aloft, which is above\nthe clouds, which touches heaven. \u201cAnd I will be,\u201d He says, \u201ctheir\nShepherd,\u201d[370] and will be near them, as the garment to their skin. He\nwishes to save my flesh by enveloping it in the robe of immortality,\nand He hath anointed my body. \u201cThey shall call me,\u201d He says, \u201cand I\nwill say, Here am I.\u201d[371] Thou didst hear sooner than I expected,\nMaster. \u201cAnd if they pass over, they shall not slip,\u201d[372] saith the\nLord. For we who are passing over to immortality shall not fall into\ncorruption, for He shall sustain us. For so He has said, and so He has\nwilled. Such is our Instructor, righteously good. \u201cI came not,\u201d He\nsays, \u201cto be ministered unto, but to minister.\u201d[373] Wherefore He is\nintroduced in the Gospel \u201cwearied,\u201d[374] because toiling for us, and\npromising \u201cto give His life a ransom for many.\u201d[375] For him alone who\ndoes so He owns to be the good shepherd. Generous, therefore, is He who\ngives for us the greatest of all gifts, His own life; and beneficent\nexceedingly, and loving to men, in that, when He might have been Lord,\nHe wished to be a brother man; and so good was He that He died for us.\n\nFurther, His righteousness cried, \u201cIf ye come straight to me, I also\nwill come straight to you; but if ye walk crooked, I also will walk\ncrooked, saith the Lord of hosts;\u201d[376] meaning by the crooked ways\nthe chastisements of sinners. For the straight and natural way which\nis indicated by the _Iota_ of the name of Jesus is His goodness,\nwhich is firm and sure towards those who have believed at hearing:\n\u201cWhen I called, ye obeyed not, saith the Lord; but set at nought my\ncounsels, and heeded not my reproofs.\u201d[377] Thus the Lord\u2019s reproof is\nmost beneficial. David also says of them, \u201cA perverse and provoking\nrace; a race which set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not\nfaithful with God: they kept not the covenant of God, and would not\nwalk in His law.\u201d[378]\n\nSuch are the causes of provocation for which the Judge comes to inflict\npunishment on those that would not choose a life of goodness. Wherefore\nalso afterwards He assailed them more roughly; in order, if possible,\nto drag them back from their impetuous rush towards death. He therefore\ntells by David the most manifest cause of the threatening: \u201cThey\nbelieved not in His wonderful works. When He slew them, they sought\nafter Him, and turned and inquired early after God; and remembered that\nGod was their Helper, and God the Most High their Redeemer.\u201d[379] Thus\nHe knew that they turned for fear, while they despised His love: for,\nfor the most part, that goodness which is always mild is despised; but\nHe who admonishes by the loving fear of righteousness is reverenced.\n\nThere is a twofold species of fear, the one of which is accompanied\nwith reverence, such as citizens show towards good rulers, and we\ntowards God, as also right-minded children towards their fathers. \u201cFor\nan unbroken horse turns out unmanageable, and a son who is let take\nhis own way turns out reckless.\u201d[380] The other species of fear is\naccompanied with hatred, which slaves feel towards hard masters, and\nthe Hebrews felt, who made God a master, not a father. And as far as\npiety is concerned, that which is voluntary and spontaneous differs\nmuch, nay entirely, from what is forced. \u201cFor He,\u201d it is said, \u201cis\nmerciful; He will heal their sins, and not destroy them, and fully\nturn away His anger, and not kindle all His wrath.\u201d[381] See how the\njustice of the Instructor, which deals in rebukes, is shown; and the\ngoodness of God, which deals in compassions. Wherefore David--that is,\nthe Spirit by him--embracing them both, sings of God Himself, \u201cJustice\nand judgment are the preparation of His throne: mercy and truth shall\ngo before Thy face.\u201d[382] He declares that it belongs to the same power\nboth to judge and to do good. For there is power over both together,\nand judgment separates that which is just from its opposite. And He who\nis truly God is just and good; who is Himself all, and all is He; for\nHe is God, the only God.\n\nFor as the mirror is not evil to an ugly man because it shows him what\nlike he is; and as the physician is not evil to the sick man because\nhe tells him of his fever,--for the physician is not the cause of the\nfever, but only points out the fever;--so neither is He, that reproves,\nill-disposed towards him who is diseased in soul. For He does not put\nthe transgressions on him, but only shows the sins which are there;\nin order to turn him away from similar practices. So God is good on\nHis own account, and just also on ours, and He is just because He is\ngood. And His justice is shown to us by His own Word from there from\nabove, whence the Father was. For before He became Creator He was God;\nHe was good. And therefore He wished to be Creator and Father. And the\nnature of that love was the source of righteousness--the cause, too, of\nHis lighting up His sun, and sending down His own Son. And He first\nannounced the good righteousness that is from heaven, when He said, \u201cNo\nman knoweth the Son, but the Father; nor the Father, but the Son.\u201d[383]\nThis mutual and reciprocal knowledge is the symbol of primeval justice.\nThen justice came down to men both in the letter and in the body, in\nthe Word and in the law, constraining humanity to saving repentance;\nfor it was good. But do you not obey God? Then blame yourself, who drag\nto yourself the judge.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n THAT THE SAME GOD, BY THE SAME WORD, RESTRAINS FROM SIN BY\n THREATENING, AND SAVES HUMANITY BY EXHORTING.\n\n\nIf, then, we have shown that the plan of dealing stringently with\nhumanity is good and salutary, and necessarily adopted by the Word,\nand conducive to repentance and the prevention of sins; we shall have\nnow to look in order at the mildness of the Word. For He has been\ndemonstrated to be just. He sets before us His own inclinations which\ninvite to salvation; by which, in accordance with the Father\u2019s will, He\nwishes to make known to us the good and the useful. Consider these. The\ngood (\u03c4\u1f78 \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03cc\u03bd) belongs to the panegyrical form of speech, the useful\nto the persuasive. For the hortatory and the dehortatory are a form of\nthe persuasive, and the laudatory and inculpatory of the panegyrical.\n\nFor the persuasive style of sentence in one form becomes hortatory, and\nin another dehortatory. So also the panegyrical in one form becomes\ninculpatory, and in another laudatory. And in these exercises the\nInstructor, the Just One, who has proposed our advantage as His aim, is\nchiefly occupied. But the inculpatory and dehortatory forms of speech\nhave been already shown us; and we must now handle the persuasive and\nthe laudatory, and, as on a beam, balance the equal scales of justice.\nThe exhortation to what is useful, the Instructor employs by Solomon,\nto the following effect: \u201cI exhort you, O men; and I utter my voice to\nthe sons of men. Hear me; for I will speak of excellent things;\u201d[384]\nand so on. And He counsels what is salutary: for counsel has for its\nend, choosing or refusing a certain course; as He does by David, when\nHe says, \u201cBlessed is the man who walketh not in the counsels of the\nungodly, and standeth not in the way of sinners, and sitteth not in the\nchair of pestilences; but his will is in the law of the Lord.\u201d[385]\nAnd there are three departments of counsel: That which takes examples\nfrom past times; as what the Hebrews suffered when they worshipped the\ngolden calf, and what they suffered when they committed fornication,\nand the like. The second, whose meaning is understood from the present\ntimes, as being apprehended by perception; as it was said to those who\nasked the Lord, \u201cIf He was the Christ, or shall we wait for another?\nGo and tell John, the blind receive their sight, the deaf hear, the\nlepers are cleansed, the dead are raised up; and blessed is he who\nshall not be offended in me.\u201d[386] Such was that which David said when\nhe prophesied, \u201cAs we have heard, so have we seen.\u201d[387] And the third\ndepartment of counsel consists of what is future, by which we are\nbidden guard against what is to happen; as also that was said, \u201cThey\nthat fall into sins shall be cast into outer darkness, where there\nshall be wailing and gnashing of teeth,\u201d[388] and the like. So that\nfrom these things it is clear that the Lord, going the round of all the\nmethods of curative treatment, calls humanity to salvation.\n\nBy encouragement He assuages sins, reducing lust, and at the same time\ninspiring hope for salvation. For He says by Ezekiel, \u201cIf ye return\nwith your whole heart, and say, Father, I will hear you, as a holy\npeople.\u201d[389] And again He says, \u201cCome all to me, who labour, and\nare heavy laden, and I will give you rest;\u201d[390] and that which is\nadded the Lord speaks in His own person. And very clearly He calls to\ngoodness by Solomon, when He says, \u201cBlessed is the man who hath found\nwisdom, and the mortal who hath found understanding.\u201d[391] \u201cFor the\ngood is found by him who seeks it, and is wont to be seen by him who\nhas found it.\u201d[392] By Jeremiah, too, He sets forth prudence, when He\nsays, \u201cBlessed are we, Israel; for what is pleasing to God is known\nby us;\u201d[393]--and it is known by the Word, by whom we are blessed and\nwise. For wisdom and knowledge are mentioned by the same prophet, when\nhe says, \u201cHear, O Israel, the commandments of life, and give ear to\nknow understanding.\u201d[394] By Moses, too, by reason of the love He has\nto man, He promises a gift to those who hasten to salvation. For He\nsays, \u201cAnd I will bring you into the good land, which the Lord sware\nto your fathers.\u201d[395] And further, \u201cAnd I will bring you into the\nholy mountain, and make you glad,\u201d[396] He says by Isaiah. And still\nanother form of instruction is benediction. \u201cAnd blessed is he,\u201d He\nsaith by David, \u201cwho has not sinned; and he shall be as the tree\nplanted near the channels of the waters, which will yield its fruit\nin its season, and his leaf shall not wither\u201d[397] (by this He made\nan allusion to the resurrection); \u201cand whatsoever he shall do shall\nprosper with him.\u201d Such He wishes us to be, that we may be blessed.\nAgain, showing the opposite scale of the balance of justice, He says,\n\u201cBut not so the ungodly--not so; but as the dust which the wind sweeps\naway from the face of the earth.\u201d[398] By showing the punishment of\nsinners, and their easy dispersion, and carrying off by the wind, the\nInstructor dissuades from crime by means of punishment; and by holding\nup the merited penalty, shows the benignity of His beneficence in the\nmost skilful way, in order that we may possess and enjoy its blessings.\nHe invites us to knowledge also, when He says by Jeremiah, \u201cHadst\nthou walked in the way of God, thou wouldst have dwelt for ever in\npeace;\u201d[399] for, exhibiting there the reward of knowledge, He calls\nthe wise to the love of it. And, granting pardon to him who has erred,\nHe says, \u201cTurn, turn, as a grape-gatherer to his basket.\u201d[400] Do you\nsee the goodness of justice, in that it counsels to repentance? And\nstill further, by Jeremiah, He enlightens in the truth those who have\nerred. \u201cThus saith the Lord, Stand in the ways, and look, and ask for\nthe eternal paths of the Lord, what is the good path, and walk in it,\nand ye shall find purification for your souls.\u201d[401] And in order to\npromote our salvation, He leads us to repentance. Wherefore He says,\n\u201cIf thou repent, the Lord will purify thy heart, and the heart of thy\nseed.\u201d[402] We might have adduced, as supporters on this question, the\nphilosophers who say that only the perfect man is worthy of praise,\nand the bad man of blame. But since some slander beatitude, as neither\nitself taking any trouble, nor giving any to any one else, thus not\nunderstanding its love to man; on their account, and on account of\nthose who do not associate justice with goodness, the following remarks\nare added. For it were a legitimate inference to say, that rebuke and\ncensure are suitable to men, since they say that all men are bad; but\nGod alone is wise, from whom cometh wisdom, and alone perfect, and\ntherefore alone worthy of praise. But I do not employ such language. I\nsay, then, that praise or blame, or whatever resembles praise or blame,\nare medicines most essential of all to men. Some are ill to cure, and,\nlike iron, are wrought into shape with fire, and hammer, and anvil,\nthat is, with threatening, and reproof, and chastisement; while others,\ncleaving to faith itself, as self-taught, and as acting of their own\nfree-will, grow by praise:\n\n \u201cFor virtue that is praised\n Grows like a tree.\u201d\n\nAnd comprehending this, as it seems to me, the Samian Pythagoras gives\nthe injunction:\n\n \u201cWhen you have done base things, rebuke _yourself_;\n But when you have done good things, be glad.\u201d\n\nChiding is also called admonishing; and the etymology of admonishing\n(\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03b8\u03ad\u03c4\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2) is (\u03bd\u03bf\u1fe6 \u1f10\u03bd\u03b8\u03b5\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03cc\u03c2) putting of understanding into one;\nso that rebuking is bringing one to one\u2019s senses.\n\nBut there are myriads of injunctions to be found, whose aim is the\nattainment of what is good, and the avoidance of what is evil. \u201cFor\nthere is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord.\u201d[403] Wherefore by\nSolomon He commands the children to beware: \u201cMy son, let not sinners\ndeceive thee, and go not after their ways; and go not, if they entice\nthee, saying, Come with us, share with us in innocent blood, and let\nus hide unjustly the righteous man in the earth; let us put him out\nof sight all alive as he is into Hades.\u201d[404] This is accordingly\nlikewise a prediction concerning the Lord\u2019s passion. And by Ezekiel,\nthe life supplies commandments: \u201cThe soul that sinneth shall die; but\nhe that doeth righteousness shall be righteous. He eateth not upon\nthe mountains, and hath not set his eyes on the devices of the house\nof Israel, and will not defile his neighbour\u2019s wife, and will not\napproach to a woman in her separation, and will not oppress a man,\nand will restore the debtor\u2019s pledge, and will not take plunder: he\nwill give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked. His money he\nwill not give on usury, and will not take interest; and he will turn\naway his hand from wrong, and will execute righteous judgment between\na man and his neighbour. He has walked in my statutes, and kept my\njudgments to do them. This is a righteous man. He shall surely live,\nsaith the Lord.\u201d[405] These words contain a description of the conduct\nof Christians, a notable exhortation to the blessed life, which is the\nreward of a life of goodness--everlasting life.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n THAT THE WORD INSTRUCTED BY THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS.\n\n\nThe mode of His love and His instruction we have shown as we could.\nWherefore He Himself, declaring Himself very beautifully, likened\nHimself to a grain of mustard-seed;[406] and pointed out the\nspirituality of the word that is sown, and the productiveness of its\nnature, and the magnificence and conspicuousness of the power of the\nword; and besides, intimated that the pungency and the purifying virtue\nof punishment are profitable on account of its sharpness. By the\nlittle grain, as it is figuratively called, He bestows salvation on\nall humanity abundantly. Honey, being very sweet, generates bile, as\ngoodness begets contempt, which is the cause of sinning. But mustard\nlessens bile, that is, anger, and stops inflammation, that is, pride.\nFrom which Word springs the true health of the soul, and its eternal\nhappy temperament (\u03b5\u1f50\u03ba\u03c1\u03b1\u03c3\u03af\u03b1).\n\nAccordingly, of old He instructed by Moses, and then by the prophets.\nMoses, too, was a prophet. For the law is the training of refractory\nchildren. \u201cHaving feasted to the full,\u201d accordingly, it is said, \u201cthey\nrose up to play;\u201d[407] senseless repletion with victuals being called\n\u03c7\u03cc\u03c1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1 (fodder), not \u03b2\u03c1\u1ff6\u03bc\u03b1 (food). And when, having senselessly\nfilled themselves, they senselessly played; on that account the law\nwas given them, and terror ensued for the prevention of transgressions\nand for the promotion of right actions, securing attention, and so\nwinning to obedience to the true Instructor, being one and the same\nWord, and reducing to conformity with the urgent demands of the law.\nFor Paul says that it was given to be a \u201cschoolmaster to bring us to\nChrist.\u201d[408] So that from this it is clear, that one alone, true,\ngood, just, in the image and likeness of the Father, His Son Jesus, the\nWord of God, is our Instructor; to whom God hath entrusted us, as an\naffectionate father commits his children to a worthy tutor, expressly\ncharging us, \u201cThis is my beloved Son: hear Him.\u201d[409] The divine\nInstructor is trustworthy, adorned as He is with three of the fairest\nornaments--knowledge, benevolence, and authority of utterance;--with\nknowledge, for He is the paternal wisdom: \u201cAll wisdom is from the Lord,\nand with Him for evermore;\u201d--with authority of utterance, for He is God\nand Creator: \u201cFor all things were made by Him, and without Him was not\nanything made;\u201d[410]--and with benevolence, for He alone gave Himself\na sacrifice for us: \u201cFor the good Shepherd giveth His life for the\nsheep;\u201d[411] and He has so given it. Now, benevolence is nothing but\nwishing to do good to one\u2019s neighbour for his sake.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n THE INSTRUCTOR CHARACTERIZED BY THE SEVERITY AND\n BENIGNITY OF PATERNAL AFFECTION.\n\n\nHaving now accomplished those things, it were a fitting sequel that our\ninstructor Jesus should draw for us the model of the true life, and\ntrain humanity in Christ.\n\nNor is the cast and character of the life He enjoins very formidable;\nnor is it made altogether easy by reason of His benignity. He enjoins\nHis commands, and at the same time gives them such a character that\nthey may be accomplished.\n\nThe view I take is, that He Himself formed man of the dust, and\nregenerated him by water; and made him grow by his Spirit; and trained\nhim by His word to adoption and salvation, directing him by sacred\nprecepts; in order that, transforming earth-born man into a holy and\nheavenly being by His advent, He might fulfil to the utmost that divine\nutterance, \u201cLet us make man in our own image and likeness.\u201d[412] And,\nin truth, Christ became the perfect realization of what God spake; and\nthe rest of humanity is conceived as being created merely in His image.\n\nBut let us, O children of the good Father--nurslings of the good\nInstructor--fulfil the Father\u2019s will, listen to the Word, and take on\nthe impress of the truly saving life of our Saviour; and meditating on\nthe heavenly mode of life according to which we have been deified, let\nus anoint ourselves with the perennial immortal bloom of gladness--that\nointment of sweet fragrance--having a clear example of immortality in\nthe walk and conversation of the Lord; and following the footsteps\nof God, to whom alone it belongs to consider, and whose care it is\nto see to, the way and manner in which the life of men may be made\nmore healthy. Besides, He makes preparation for a self-sufficing mode\nof life, for simplicity, and for girding up our loins, and for free\nand unimpeded readiness of our journey; in order to the attainment\nof an eternity of beatitude, teaching each one of us to be his own\nstorehouse. For He says, \u201cTake no anxious thought for to-morrow,\u201d[413]\nmeaning that the man who has devoted himself to Christ ought to be\nsufficient to himself, and servant to himself, and moreover lead a\nlife which provides for each day by itself. For it is not in war, but\nin peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and luxury\ncraves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require\nno arms nor excessive preparation. The Word is their sustenance.\n\nOur superintendence in instruction and discipline is the office of\nthe Word, from whom we learn frugality and humility, and all that\npertains to love of truth, love of man, and love of excellence. And\nso, in a word, being assimilated to God by a participation in moral\nexcellence, we must not retrograde into carelessness and sloth.\nBut labour, and faint not. Thou shalt be what thou dost not hope,\nand canst not conjecture. And as there is one mode of training for\nphilosophers, another for orators, and another for athletes; so is\nthere a generous disposition, suitable to the choice that is set upon\nmoral loveliness, resulting from the training of Christ. And in the\ncase of those who have been trained according to this influence, their\ngait in walking, their sitting at table, their food, their sleep,\ntheir going to bed, their regimen, and the rest of their mode of life,\nacquire a superior dignity. For such a training as is pursued by the\nWord is not overstrained, but is of the right tension. Thus, therefore,\nthe Word has been called also the Saviour, seeing He has found out\nfor men those rational medicines which produce vigour of the senses\nand salvation; and devotes Himself to watching for the favourable\nmoment, reproving evil, exposing the causes of evil affections, and\nstriking at the roots of irrational lusts, pointing out what we ought\nto abstain from, and supplying all the antidotes of salvation to those\nwho are diseased. For the greatest and most regal work of God is the\nsalvation of humanity. The sick are vexed at a physician, who gives\nno advice bearing on their restoration to health. But how shall we\nnot acknowledge the highest gratitude to the divine Instructor, who\nis not silent, who omits not those threatenings that point towards\ndestruction, but discloses them, and cuts off the impulses that tend to\nthem; and who indoctrinates in those counsels which result in the true\nway of living? We must confess, therefore, the deepest obligations to\nHim. For what else do we say is incumbent on the rational creature--I\nmean man--than the contemplation of the Divine? I say, too, that it\nis requisite to contemplate human nature, and to live as the truth\ndirects, and to admire the Instructor and His injunctions, as suitable\nand harmonious to each other. According to which image also we ought,\nconforming ourselves to the Instructor, and making the word and our\ndeeds agree, to live a real life.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n VIRTUE RATIONAL, SIN IRRATIONAL.\n\n\nEverything that is contrary to right reason is sin. Accordingly,\ntherefore, the philosophers think fit to define the most generic\npassions thus: lust, as desire disobedient to reason; fear, as\nweakness disobedient to reason; pleasure, as an elation of the spirit\ndisobedient to reason. If, then, disobedience in reference to reason is\nthe generating cause of sin, how shall we escape the conclusion, that\nobedience to reason--the Word--which we call faith, will of necessity\nbe the efficacious cause of duty? For virtue itself is a state of the\nsoul rendered harmonious by reason in respect to the whole life. Nay,\nto crown all, philosophy itself is pronounced to be the cultivation\nof right reason; so that, necessarily, whatever is done through error\nof reason is transgression, and is rightly called (\u1f01\u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03c4\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1) sin.\nSince, then, the first man sinned and disobeyed God, it is said,\n\u201cAnd man became like to the beasts:\u201d[414] being rightly regarded as\nirrational, he is likened to the beasts. Whence Wisdom says: \u201cThe\nhorse for covering; the libidinous and the adulturer is become like\nto an irrational beast.\u201d[415] Wherefore also it is added: \u201cHe neighs,\nwhoever may be sitting on him.\u201d The man, it is meant, no longer speaks;\nfor he who transgresses against reason is no longer rational, but an\nirrational animal, given up to lusts by which he is ridden (as a horse\nby his rider).\n\nBut that which is done right, in obedience to reason, the followers of\nthe Stoics call \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u1fc6\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd and \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u1fc6\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd, that is, incumbent and fitting.\nWhat is fitting is incumbent. And obedience is founded on commands.\nAnd these being, as they are, the same as counsels--having truth for\ntheir aim, train up to the ultimate goal of aspiration, which is\nconceived of as the _end_ (\u03c4\u03ad\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2). And the end of piety is eternal\nrest in God. And the beginning of eternity is our end. The right\noperation of piety perfects duty by works; whence, according to just\nreasoning, duties consist in actions, not in sayings. And Christian\nconduct is the operation of the rational soul in accordance with a\ncorrect judgment and aspiration after the truth, which attains its\ndestined end through the body, the soul\u2019s consort and ally. Virtue is a\nwill in conformity to God and Christ in life, rightly adjusted to life\neverlasting. For the life of Christians, in which we are now trained,\nis a system of reasonable actions--that is, of those things taught by\nthe Word--an unfailing energy which we have called faith. The system\nis the commandments of the Lord, which, being divine statutes and\nspiritual counsels, have been written for ourselves, being adapted for\nourselves and our neighbours. Moreover, they turn back on us, as the\nball rebounds on him that throws it by the repercussion. Whence also\nduties are essential for divine discipline, as being enjoined by God,\nand furnished for our salvation. And since, of those things which are\nnecessary, some relate only to life here, and others, which relate to\nthe blessed life yonder, wing us for flight hence; so, in an analogous\nmanner, of duties, some are ordained with reference to life, others for\nthe blessed life. The commandments issued with respect to natural life\nare published to the multitude; but those that are suited for living\nwell, and from which eternal life springs, we have to consider, as in a\nsketch, as we read them out of the Scriptures.\n\n\n\n\n BOOK II.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n ON EATING.\n\n\nKeeping, then, to our aim, and selecting the scriptures which bear\non the usefulness of training for life, we must now compendiously\ndescribe what the man who is called a Christian ought to be during the\nwhole of his life. We must accordingly begin with ourselves, and how\nwe ought to regulate ourselves. We have therefore, preserving a due\nregard to the symmetry of this work, to say how each of us ought to\nconduct himself in respect to his body, or rather how to regulate the\nbody itself. For whenever any one, who has been brought away by the\nWord from external things, and from attention to the body itself to the\nmind, acquires a clear view of what happens according to nature in man,\nhe will know that he is not to be earnestly occupied about external\nthings, but about what is proper and peculiar to man--to purge the eye\nof the soul, and to sanctify also his flesh. For he that is clean rid\nof those things which constitute him still dust, what else has he more\nserviceable than himself for walking in the way which leads to the\ncomprehension of God?\n\nSome men, in truth, live that they may eat, as the irrational\ncreatures, \u201cwhose life is their belly, and nothing else.\u201d But the\nInstructor enjoins us to eat that we may live. For neither is food\nour business, nor is pleasure our aim; but both are on account of our\nlife here, which the Word is training up to immortality. Wherefore\nalso there is discrimination to be employed in reference to food. And\nit is to be simple, truly plain, suiting precisely simple and artless\nchildren--as ministering to life, not to luxury. And the life to which\nit conduces consists of two things--health and strength; to which\nplainness of fare is most suitable, being conducive both to digestion\nand lightness of body, from which come growth, and health, and right\nstrength, not strength that is wrong or dangerous and wretched, as is\nthat of athletes produced by compulsory feeding.\n\nWe must therefore reject different varieties, which engender various\nmischiefs, such as a depraved habit of body and disorders of the\nstomach, the taste being vitiated by an unhappy art--that of cookery,\nand the useless art of making pastry. For people dare to call by the\nname of food their dabbling in luxuries, which glides into mischievous\npleasures. Antiphanes, the Delian physician, said that this variety of\nviands was the one cause of disease; there being people who dislike\nthe truth, and through various absurd notions abjure moderation of\ndiet, and put themselves to a world of trouble to procure dainties from\nbeyond seas.\n\nFor my part, I am sorry for this disease, while they are not ashamed\nto sing the praises of their delicacies, giving themselves great\ntrouble to get lampreys in the Straits of Sicily, the eels of the\nM\u00e6ander, and the kids found in Melos, and the mullets in Sciathus,\nand the mussels of Pelorus, the oysters of Abydos, not omitting the\nsprats found in Lipara, and the Mantinican turnip; and furthermore,\nthe beetroot that grows among the Ascr\u00e6ans: they seek out the cockles\nof Methymna, the turbots of Attica, and the thrushes of Daphnis, and\nthe reddish-brown dried figs, on account of which the ill-starred\nPersian marched into Greece with five hundred thousand men. Besides\nthese, they purchase birds from Phasis, the Egyptian snipes, and the\nMedian peafowl. Altering these by means of condiments, the gluttons\ngape for the sauces. \u201cWhatever earth and the depths of the sea,\nand the unmeasured space of the air produce,\u201d they cater for their\ngluttony. In their greed and solicitude, the gluttons seem absolutely\nto sweep the world with a drag-net to gratify their luxurious tastes.\nThese gluttons, surrounded with the sound of hissing frying-pans,\nand wearing their whole life away at the pestle and mortar, cling\nto matter like fire. More than that, they emasculate plain food,\nnamely bread, by straining off the nourishing part of the grain, so\nthat the necessary part of food becomes matter of reproach to luxury.\nThere is no limit to epicurism among men. For it has driven them to\nsweetmeats, and honey-cakes, and sugar-plums; inventing a multitude\nof desserts, hunting after all manner of dishes. A man like this\nseems to me to be all jaw, and nothing else. \u201cDesire not,\u201d says the\nScripture, \u201crich men\u2019s dainties;\u201d[416] for they belong to a false\nand base life. They partake of luxurious dishes, which a little\nafter go to the dunghill. But we who seek the heavenly bread must\nrule the belly, which is beneath heaven, and much more the things\nwhich are agreeable to it, which \u201cGod shall destroy,\u201d[417] says the\napostle, justly execrating gluttonous desires. For \u201cmeats are for the\nbelly,\u201d[418] for on them depends this truly carnal and destructive\nlife; whence[419] some, speaking with unbridled tongue, dare to apply\nthe name _agap\u00e8_[420] to pitiful suppers, redolent of savour\nand sauces. Dishonouring the good and saving work of the Word, the\nconsecrated _agap\u00e8_, with pots and pouring of sauce; and by drink\nand delicacies and smoke desecrating that name, they are deceived in\ntheir idea, having expected that the promise of God might be bought\nwith suppers. Gatherings for the sake of mirth, and such entertainments\nas are called by ourselves, we name rightly suppers, dinners, and\nbanquets, after the example of the Lord. But such entertainments the\nLord has not called _agap\u00e8_. He says accordingly somewhere, \u201cWhen\nthou art called to a wedding, recline not on the highest couch; but\nwhen thou art called, fall into the lowest place;\u201d[421] and elsewhere,\n\u201cWhen thou makest a dinner or a supper;\u201d and again, \u201cBut when thou\nmakest an entertainment, call the poor,\u201d[422] for whose sake chiefly\na supper ought to be made. And further, \u201cA certain man made a great\nsupper, and called many.\u201d[423] But I perceive whence the specious\nappellation of suppers flowed: \u201cfrom the gullets and furious love for\nsuppers\u201d--according to the comic poet. For, in truth, \u201cto many, many\nthings are on account of the supper.\u201d For they have not yet learned\nthat God has provided for His creature (man I mean) food and drink,\nfor sustenance, not for pleasure; since the body derives no advantage\nfrom extravagance in viands. For, quite the contrary, those who use\nthe most frugal fare are the strongest and the healthiest, and the\nnoblest; as domestics are healthier and stronger than their masters,\nand husbandmen than the proprietors; and not only more robust, but\nwiser, as philosophers are wiser than rich men. For they have not\nburied the mind beneath food, nor deceived it with pleasures. But love\n(_agape_) is in truth celestial food, the banquet of reason. \u201cIt\nbeareth all things, endureth all things, hopeth all things. Love never\nfaileth.\u201d[424] \u201cBlessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of\nGod.\u201d[425] But the hardest of all cases is for charity, which faileth\nnot, to be cast from heaven above to the ground into the midst of\nsauces. And do you imagine that I am thinking of a supper that is to be\ndone away with? \u201cFor if,\u201d it is said, \u201cI bestow all my goods, and have\nnot love, I am nothing.\u201d[426] On this love alone depend the law and\nthe Word; and if \u201cthou shalt love the Lord thy God and thy neighbour,\u201d\nthis is the celestial festival in the heavens. But the earthly is\ncalled a supper, as has been shown from Scripture. For the supper is\nmade for love, but the supper is not love (_agape_); only a proof\nof mutual and reciprocal kindly feeling. \u201cLet not, then, your good be\nevil spoken of; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink,\u201d says\nthe apostle, in order that the meal spoken of may not be conceived\nas ephemeral, \u201cbut righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy\nGhost.\u201d[427] He who eats of this meal, the best of all, shall possess\nthe kingdom of God, fixing his regards here on the holy assembly of\nlove, the heavenly church. Love, then, is something pure and worthy\nof God, and its work is communication. \u201cAnd the care of discipline\nis love,\u201d as Wisdom says; \u201cand love is the keeping of the law.\u201d[428]\nAnd these joys have an inspiration of love from the public nutriment,\nwhich accustoms to everlasting dainties. Love (_agape_), then,\nis not a supper. But let the entertainment depend on love. For it is\nsaid, \u201cLet the children whom Thou hast loved, O Lord, learn that it is\nnot the products of fruits that nourish man; but it is Thy word which\npreserves those who believe on Thee.\u201d[429] \u201cFor the righteous shall\nnot live by bread.\u201d[430] But let our diet be light and digestible, and\nsuitable for keeping awake, unmixed with diverse varieties. Nor is this\na point which is beyond the sphere of discipline. For love is a good\nnurse for communication; having as its rich provision sufficiency,\nwhich, presiding over diet measured in due quantity, and treating the\nbody in a healthful way, distributes something from its resources\nto those near us. But the diet which exceeds sufficiency injures a\nman, deteriorates his spirit, and renders his body prone to disease.\nBesides, those dainty tastes, which trouble themselves about rich\ndishes, drive to practices of ill-repute, daintiness, gluttony, greed,\nvoracity, insatiability. Appropriate designations of such people as so\nindulge are flies, weasels, flatterers, gladiators, and the monstrous\ntribes of parasites--the one class surrendering reason, the other\nfriendship, and the other life, for the gratification of the belly;\ncrawling on their bellies, beasts in human shape after the image of\ntheir father, the voracious beast. People first called the abandoned\n\u1f00\u03c3\u03ce\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, and so appear to me to indicate their end, understanding them\nas those who are (\u1f00\u03c3\u03ce\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2) unsaved, excluding the \u03c3. For those that\nare absorbed in pots, and exquisitely prepared niceties of condiments,\nare they not plainly abject, earth-born, leading an ephemeral kind of\nlife, as if they were not to live [hereafter]? Those the Holy Spirit,\nby Isaiah, denounces as wretched, depriving them tacitly of the name of\nlove (_agape_), since their feasting was not in accordance with\nthe word. \u201cBut they made mirth, killing calves, and sacrificing sheep,\nsaying, Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.\u201d And that He\nreckons such luxury to be sin, is shown by what He adds, \u201cAnd your sin\nshall not be forgiven you till you die,\u201d[431]--not conveying the idea\nthat death, which deprives of sensation, is the forgiveness of sin, but\nmeaning that death of salvation which is the recompense of sin. \u201cTake\nno pleasure in abominable delicacies,\u201d says Wisdom.[432] At this point,\ntoo, we have to advert to what are called things sacrificed to idols,\nin order to show how we are enjoined to abstain from them. Polluted and\nabominable those things seem to me, to the blood of which, fly\n\n \u201cSouls from Erebus of inanimate corpses.\u201d--_Odyss._ xi. 37.\n\n\u201cFor I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons,\u201d[433] says\nthe apostle; since the food of those who are saved and those who perish\nis separate. We must therefore abstain from these viands not for fear\n(because there is no power in them); but on account of our conscience,\nwhich is holy, and out of detestation of the demons to which they\nare dedicated, are we to loathe them; and further, on account of the\ninstability of those who regard many things in a way that makes them\nprone to fall, \u201cwhose conscience, being weak, is defiled: for meat\ncommendeth us not to God.\u201d[434] \u201cFor it is not that which entereth in\nthat defileth a man, but that which goeth out of his mouth.\u201d[435] The\nnatural use of food is then indifferent. \u201cFor neither if we eat are we\nthe better,\u201d it is said, \u201cnor if we eat not are we the worse.\u201d[436] But\nit is inconsistent with reason, for those that have been made worthy to\nshare divine and spiritual food, to partake of the tables of demons.\n\u201cHave we not power to eat and to drink,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cand to lead\nabout wives?\u201d But by keeping pleasures under command we prevent lusts.\nSee, then, that this power of yours never \u201cbecome a stumbling-block to\nthe weak.\u201d\n\nFor it were not seemly that we, after the fashion of the rich man\u2019s son\nin the Gospel,[437] should, as prodigals, abuse the Father\u2019s gifts;\nbut we should use them, without undue attachment to them, as having\ncommand over ourselves. For we are enjoined to reign and rule over\nmeats, not to be slaves to them. It is an admirable thing, therefore,\nto raise our eyes aloft to what is true, to depend on that divine food\nabove, and to satiate ourselves with the exhaustless contemplation\nof that which truly exists, and so taste of the only sure and pure\ndelight. For such is the _agape_, which, the food that comes from\nChrist shows that we ought to partake of. But totally irrational,\nfutile, and not human is it for those that are of the earth, fattening\nthemselves like cattle, to feed themselves up for death; looking\ndownwards on the earth, and bending ever over tables; leading a life\nof gluttony; burying all the good of existence here in a life that by\nand by will end; courting voracity alone, in respect to which cooks\nare held in higher esteem than husbandmen. For we do not abolish\nsocial intercourse, but look with suspicion on the snares of custom,\nand regard them as a calamity. Wherefore daintiness is to be shunned,\nand we are to partake of few and necessary things. \u201cAnd if one of the\nunbelievers call us to a feast, and we determine to go\u201d (for it is a\ngood thing not to mix with the dissolute), the apostle bids us \u201ceat\nwhat is set before us, asking no questions for conscience sake.\u201d[438]\nSimilarly he has enjoined to purchase \u201cwhat is sold in the shambles,\u201d\nwithout curious questioning.[439]\n\nWe are not, then, to abstain wholly from various kinds of food, but\nonly are not to be taken up about them. We are to partake of what is\nset before us, as becomes a Christian, out of respect to him who has\ninvited us, by a harmless and moderate participation in the social\nmeeting; regarding the sumptuousness of what is put on the table as\na matter of indifference, despising the dainties, as after a little\ndestined to perish. \u201cLet him who eateth, not despise him who eateth\nnot; and let him who eateth not, not judge him who eateth.\u201d[440] And a\nlittle way on he explains the reason of the command, when he says, \u201cHe\nthat eateth, eateth to the Lord, and giveth God thanks; and he that\neateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.\u201d[441]\nSo that the right food is thanksgiving. And he who gives thanks does\nnot occupy his time in pleasures. And if we would persuade any of our\nfellow-guests to virtue, we are all the more on this account to abstain\nfrom those dainty dishes; and so exhibit ourselves as a bright pattern\nof virtue, such as we ourselves have in Christ. \u201cFor if any of such\nmeats make a brother to stumble, I shall not eat it as long as the\nworld lasts,\u201d says he, \u201cthat I may not make my brother stumble.\u201d[442]\nI gain the man by a little self-restraint. \u201cHave we not power to eat\nand to drink?\u201d[443] And \u201cwe know\u201d--he says the truth--\u201cthat an idol\nis nothing in the world; but we have only one true God, of whom are\nall things, and one Lord Jesus. But,\u201d he says, \u201cthrough thy knowledge\nthy weak brother perishes, for whom Christ died; and they that wound\nthe conscience of the weak brethren sin against Christ.\u201d[444] Thus\nthe apostle, in his solicitude for us, discriminates in the case of\nentertainments, saying, that \u201cif any one called a brother be found\na fornicator, or an adulterer, or an idolater, with such an one not\nto eat;\u201d[445] neither in discourse or food are we to join, looking\nwith suspicion on the pollution thence proceeding, as on the tables\nof the demons. \u201cIt is good, then, neither to eat flesh nor to drink\nwine,\u201d[446] as both he and the Pythagoreans acknowledge. For this is\nrather characteristic of a beast; and the fumes arising from them being\ndense, darken the soul. If one partakes of them, he does not sin.\nOnly let him partake temperately, not dependent on them, nor gaping\nafter fine fare. For a voice will whisper to him, saying, \u201cDestroy not\nthe work of God for the sake of food.\u201d[447] For it is the mark of a\nsilly mind to be amazed and stupified at what is presented at vulgar\nbanquets, after the rich fare which is in the word; and much sillier to\nmake one\u2019s eyes the slaves of the delicacies, so that one\u2019s greed is,\nso to speak, carried round by the servants. And how foolish for people\nto raise themselves on the couches, all but pitching their faces into\nthe dishes, stretching out from the couch as from a nest, according\nto the common saying, \u201cthat they may catch the wandering steam by\nbreathing it in!\u201d And how senseless, to besmear their hands with the\ncondiments, and to be constantly reaching to the sauce, cramming\nthemselves immoderately and shamelessly, not like people tasting, but\nravenously seizing! For you may see such people, liker swine or dogs\nfor gluttony than men, in such a hurry to feed themselves full, that\nboth jaws are stuffed out at once, the veins about the face raised, and\nbesides, the perspiration running all over, as they are tightened with\ntheir insatiable greed, and panting with their excess; the food pushed\nwith unsocial eagerness into their stomach, as if they were stowing\naway their victuals for provision for a journey, not for digestion.\nExcess, which in all things is an evil, is very highly reprehensible in\nthe matter of food. Gluttony, called \u1f40\u03c8\u03bf\u03c6\u03b1\u03b3\u03af\u03b1, is nothing but excess in\nthe use of relishes (\u1f44\u03c8\u03bf\u03bd); and \u03bb\u03b1\u03b9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03b3\u03af\u03b1 is insanity with respect to\nthe gullet; and \u03b3\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c1\u03b3\u03af\u03b1 is excess with respect to food--insanity\nin reference to the belly, as the name implies; for \u03bc\u03ac\u03c1\u03b3\u03bf\u03c2 is a\nmadman. The apostle, checking those that transgress in their conduct\nat entertainments, says: \u201cFor every one taketh beforehand in eating\nhis own supper; and one is hungry, and another drunken. Have ye not\nhouses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God, and\nshame those who have not?\u201d[448] And among those who have, they, who\neat shamelessly and are insatiable, shame themselves. And both act\nbadly; the one by paining those who have not, the other by exposing\ntheir own greed in the presence of those who have. Necessarily,\ntherefore, against those who have cast off shame and unsparingly abuse\nmeals, the insatiable to whom nothing is sufficient, the apostle, in\ncontinuation, again breaks forth in a voice of displeasure: \u201cSo that,\nmy brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait for one another. And if\nany one is hungry, let him eat at home, that ye come not together to\ncondemnation.\u201d[449]\n\nFrom all slavish habits[450] and excess we must abstain, and touch\nwhat is set before us in a decorous way; keeping the hand and couch\nand chin free of stains; preserving the grace of the countenance\nundisturbed, and committing no indecorum in the act of swallowing; but\nstretching out the hand at intervals in an orderly manner. We must\nguard against speaking anything while eating: for the voice becomes\ndisagreeable and inarticulate when it is confined by full jaws; and the\ntongue, pressed by the food and impeded in its natural energy, gives\nforth a compressed utterance. Nor is it suitable to eat and to drink\nsimultaneously. For it is the very extreme of intemperance to confound\nthe times whose uses are discordant. And \u201cwhether ye eat or drink, do\nall to the glory of God,\u201d[451] aiming after true frugality, which the\nLord also seems to me to have hinted at when He blessed the loaves and\nthe cooked fishes with which He feasted the disciples, introducing a\nbeautiful example of simple food. That fish then which, at the command\nof the Lord, Peter caught, points to digestible and God-given and\nmoderate food. And by those who rise from the water to the bait of\nrighteousness, He admonishes us to take away luxury and avarice, as\nthe coin from the fish; in order that He might displace vainglory; and\nby giving the stater to the tax-gatherers, and \u201crendering to C\u00e6sar the\nthings which are C\u00e6sar\u2019s,\u201d might preserve \u201cto God the things which are\nGod\u2019s.\u201d[452] The stater is capable of other explanations not unknown\nto us, but the present is not a suitable occasion for their treatment.\nLet the mention we make for our present purpose suffice, as it is\nnot unsuitable to the flowers of the Word; and we have often done\nthis, drawing to the urgent point of the question the most beneficial\nfountain, in order to water those who have been planted by the Word.\n\u201cFor if it is lawful for me to partake of all things, yet all things\nare not expedient.\u201d[453] For those that do all that is lawful, quickly\nfall into doing what is unlawful. And just as righteousness is not\nattained by avarice, nor temperance by excess; so neither is the\nregimen of a Christian formed by indulgence; for the table of truth\nis far from lascivious dainties. For though it was chiefly for men\u2019s\nsake that all things were made, yet it is not good to use all things,\nnor at all times. For the occasion, and the time, and the mode, and\nthe intention, materially turn the balance with reference to what is\nuseful, in the view of one who is rightly instructed; and this is\nsuitable, and has influence in putting a stop to a life of gluttony,\nwhich wealth is prone to choose, not that wealth which sees clearly,\nbut that abundance which makes a man blind with reference to gluttony.\nNo one is poor as regards necessaries, and a man is never overlooked.\nFor there is one God who feeds the fowls and the fishes, and, in a\nword, the irrational creatures; and not one thing whatever is wanting\nto them, though \u201cthey take no thought for their food.\u201d[454] And we\nare better than they, being their lords, and more closely allied to\nGod, as being wiser; and we were made, not that we might eat and\ndrink, but that we might devote ourselves to the knowledge of God.\n\u201cFor the just man who eats is satisfied in his soul, but the belly of\nthe wicked shall want,\u201d[455] filled with the appetites of insatiable\ngluttony. Now lavish expense is adapted not for enjoyment alone, but\nalso for social communication. Wherefore we must guard against those\narticles of food which persuade us to eat when we are not hungry,\nbewitching the appetite. For is there not within a temperate simplicity\na wholesome variety of eatables? Bulbs,[456] olives, certain herbs,\nmilk, cheese, fruits, all kinds of cooked food without sauces; and if\nflesh is wanted, let roast rather than boiled be set down. Have you\nanything to eat here? said the Lord[457] to the disciples after the\nresurrection; and they, as taught by Him to practise frugality, \u201cgave\nHim a piece of broiled fish;\u201d and having eaten before them, says Luke,\nHe spoke to them what He spoke. And in addition to these, it is not\nto be overlooked that those who feed according to the Word are not\ndebarred from dainties in the shape of honey-combs. For of articles\nof food, those are the most suitable which are fit for immediate use\nwithout fire, since they are readiest; and second to these are those\nwhich are simplest, as we said before. But those who bend around\ninflammatory tables, nourishing their own diseases, are ruled by a\nmost lickerish demon, whom I shall not blush to call the Belly-demon,\nand the worst and most abandoned of demons. He is therefore exactly\nlike the one who is called the Ventriloquist-demon. It is far better\nto be happy[458] than to have a demon dwelling with us. And happiness\nis found in the practice of virtue. Accordingly, the apostle Matthew\npartook of seeds, and nuts,[459] and vegetables, without flesh. And\nJohn, who carried temperance to the extreme, \u201cate locusts and wild\nhoney.\u201d Peter abstained from swine; \u201cbut a trance fell on him,\u201d as\nis written in the Acts of the Apostles, \u201cand he saw heaven opened,\nand a vessel let down on the earth by the four corners, and all the\nfour-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth and the fowls of\nheaven in it; and there came a voice to him, Rise, and slay, and eat.\nAnd Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten what is common or\nunclean. And the voice came again to him the second time, What God hath\ncleansed, call not thou common.\u201d[460] The use of them is accordingly\nindifferent to us. \u201cFor not what entereth into the mouth defileth the\nman,\u201d[461] but the vain opinion respecting uncleanness. For God, when\nHe created man, said, \u201cAll things shall be to you for meat.\u201d[462] \u201cAnd\nherbs, with love, are better than a calf with fraud.\u201d[463] This well\nreminds us of what was said above, that herbs are not love, but that\nour meals are to be taken with love;[464] and in these the medium state\nis good. In all things, indeed, this is the case, and not least in\nthe preparation made for feasting, since the extremes are dangerous,\nand middle courses good. And to be in no want of necessaries is the\nmedium. For the desires which are in accordance with nature are bounded\nby sufficiency. The Jews had frugality enjoined on them by the law in\nthe most systematic manner. For the Instructor, by Moses, deprived\nthem of the use of innumerable things, adding reasons--the spiritual\nones hidden; the carnal ones apparent, to which indeed they have\ntrusted; in the case of some animals, because they did not part the\nhoof, and others because they did not ruminate their food, and others\nbecause alone of aquatic animals they were devoid of scales; so that\naltogether but a few were left appropriate for their food. And of\nthose that he permitted them to touch, he prohibited such as had died,\nor were offered to idols, or had been strangled; for to touch these\nwas unlawful. For since it is impossible for those who use dainties\nto abstain from partaking of them, he appointed the opposite mode of\nlife, till he should break down the propensity to indulgence arising\nfrom habit. Pleasure has often produced in men harm and pain; and\nfull feeding begets in the soul uneasiness, and forgetfulness, and\nfoolishness. And they say that the bodies of children, when shooting up\nto their height, are made to grow right by deficiency in nourishment.\nFor then the spirit, which pervades the body in order to its growth,\nis not checked by abundance of food obstructing the freedom of its\ncourse. Whence that truthseeking philosopher Plato, fanning the spark\nof the Hebrew philosophy when condemning a life of luxury, says: \u201cOn\nmy coming hither, the life which is here called happy, full of Italian\nand Syracusan tables, pleased me not by any means, [consisting as it\ndid] in being filled twice a day, and never sleeping by night alone,\nand whatever other accessories attend the mode of life. For not one man\nunder heaven, if brought up from his youth in such practices, will ever\nturn out a wise man, with however admirable a natural genius he may be\nendowed.\u201d For Plato was not unacquainted with David, who \u201cplaced the\nsacred ark in his city in the midst of the tabernacle;\u201d and bidding all\nhis subjects rejoice \u201cbefore the Lord, divided to the whole host of\nIsrael, man and woman, to each a loaf of bread, and baked bread, and a\ncake from the frying-pan.\u201d[465]\n\nThis was the sufficient sustenance of the Israelites. But that of\nthe Gentiles was over-abundant. No one who uses it will ever study\nto become temperate, burying as he does his mind in his belly, very\nlike the fish called ass,[466] which, Aristotle says, alone of all\ncreatures has its heart in its stomach. This fish Epicharmus the comic\npoet calls \u201cmonster-paunch.\u201d\n\nSuch are the men who believe in their belly, \u201cwhose God is their\nbelly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.\u201d\nTo them the apostle predicted no good when he said, \u201cwhose end is\ndestruction.\u201d[467]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n ON DRINKING.\n\n\n\u201cUse a little wine,\u201d says the apostle to Timothy, who drank water,\n\u201cfor thy stomach\u2019s sake;\u201d[468] most properly applying its aid as a\nstrengthening tonic suitable to a sickly body enfeebled with watery\nhumours; and specifying \u201ca little,\u201d lest the remedy should, on account\nof its quantity, unobserved, create the necessity of other treatment.\n\nThe natural, temperate, and necessary beverage, therefore, for the\nthirsty is water. This was the simple drink of sobriety, which,\nflowing from the smitten rock, was supplied by the Lord to the ancient\nHebrews.[469] It was most requisite that in their wanderings they\nshould be temperate.\n\nAfterwards the sacred vine produced the prophetic cluster. This was a\nsign to them, when trained from wandering to their rest; representing\nthe great cluster the Word, bruised for us. For the blood of the\ngrape--that is, the Word--desired to be mixed with water, as His blood\nis mingled with salvation.\n\nAnd the blood of the Lord is twofold. For there is the blood of His\nflesh, by which we are redeemed from corruption; and the spiritual,\nthat by which we are anointed. And to drink the blood of Jesus, is\nto become partaker of the Lord\u2019s immortality; the Spirit being the\nenergetic principle of the Word, as blood is of flesh.\n\nAccordingly, as wine is blended with water, so is the Spirit with man.\nAnd the one, the mixture of wine and water, nourishes to faith; while\nthe other, the Spirit, conducts to immortality.\n\nAnd the mixture of both--of the water and of the Word--is called\n_Eucharist_, renowned and glorious grace; and they who by faith\npartake of it are sanctified both in body and soul. For the divine\nmixture, man, the Father\u2019s will has mystically compounded by the Spirit\nand the Word. For, in truth, the spirit is joined to the soul, which\nis inspired by it; and the flesh, by reason of which the Word became\nflesh, to the Word.\n\nI therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are\nfond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible\nfrom wine, shunning it as they would the danger of fire. It is proper,\ntherefore, that boys and girls should keep as much as possible away\nfrom this medicine. For it is not right to pour into the burning season\nof life the hottest of all liquids--wine--adding, as it were, fire\nto fire. For hence wild impulses and burning lusts and fiery habits\nare kindled; and young men inflamed from within become prone to the\nindulgence of vicious propensities; so that signs of injury appear in\ntheir body, the members of lust coming to maturity sooner than they\nought. The breasts and organs of generation, inflamed with wine, expand\nand swell in a shameful way, already exhibiting beforehand the image\nof fornication; and the body compels the wound of the soul to inflame,\nand shameless pulsations follow abundance, inciting the man of correct\nbehaviour to transgression; and hence the voluptuousness of youth\noverpasses the bounds of modesty. And we must, as far as possible, try\nto quench the impulses of youth by removing the Bacchic fuel of the\nthreatened danger; and by pouring the antidote to the inflammation,\nso keep down the burning soul, and keep in the swelling members, and\nallay the agitation of lust when it is already in commotion. And in\nthe case of grown-up people, let those with whom it agrees sometimes\npartake of dinner, tasting bread only, and let them abstain wholly from\ndrink; in order that their superfluous moisture may be absorbed and\ndrunk up by the eating of dry food. For constant spitting and wiping\noff perspiration, and hastening to evacuations, is the sign of excess,\nfrom the immoderate use of liquids supplied in excessive quantity to\nthe body. And if thirst come on, let the appetite be satisfied with\na little water. For it is not proper that water should be supplied\nin too great profusion; in order that the food may not be drowned,\nbut ground down in order to digestion; and this takes place when\nthe victuals are collected into a mass, and only a small portion is\nevacuated.\n\nAnd, besides, it suits divine studies not to be heavy with wine.\n\u201cFor unmixed wine is far from compelling a man to be wise, much less\ntemperate,\u201d according to the comic poet. But towards evening, about\nsupper-time, wine may be used, when we are no longer engaged in more\nserious readings. Then also the air becomes colder than it is during\nthe day; so that the failing natural warmth requires to be nourished by\nthe introduction of heat. But even then it must only be a little wine\nthat is to be used; for we must not go on to intemperate potations.\nThose who are already advanced in life may partake more hilariously of\nthe bowl, to warm by the harmless medicine of the vine the chill of\nage, which the decay of time has produced. For old men\u2019s passions are\nnot, for the most part, stirred to such agitation as to drive them to\nthe shipwreck of drunkenness. For being moored by reason and time, as\nby anchors, they stand with greater ease the storm of passions which\nrushes down from intemperance. They also may be permitted to indulge in\npleasantry at feasts. But to them also let the limit of their potations\nbe the point up to which they keep their reason unwavering, their\nmemory active, and their body unmoved and unshaken by wine. People in\nsuch a state are called by those who are skilful in these matters,\nacrothorakes.[470] It is well, therefore, to leave off betimes, for\nfear of tripping.\n\nOne Artorius, in his book _On Long Life_ (for so I remember),\nthinks that drink should be taken only till the food be moistened,\nthat we may attain to a longer life. It is fitting, then, that some\napply wine by way of physic, for the sake of health alone, and others\nfor purposes of relaxation and enjoyment. For first wine makes the man\nwho has drunk it more benignant than before, more agreeable to his\nboon companions, kinder to his domestics, and more pleasant to his\nfriends. But when intoxicated, he becomes violent instead. For wine\nbeing warm, and having sweet juices when duly mixed, dissolves the foul\nexcrementitious matters by its warmth, and mixes the acrid and base\nhumours with agreeable scents.\n\nIt has therefore been well said, \u201cA joy of the soul and heart was wine\ncreated from the beginning, when drunk in moderate sufficiency.\u201d[471]\nAnd it is best to mix the wine with as much water as possible, and\nnot to have recourse to it as to water, and so get enervated to\ndrunkenness, and not pour it in as water from love of wine. For both\nare works of God; and so the mixture of both, of water and of wine,\nconduces together to health, because life consists of what is necessary\nand of what is useful. With water, then, which is the necessary of\nlife, and to be used in abundance, there is also to be mixed the useful.\n\nBy an immoderate quantity of wine the tongue is impeded; the lips are\nrelaxed; the eyes roll wildly, the sight, as it were, swimming through\nthe quantity of moisture; and compelled to deceive, they think that\neverything is revolving round them, and cannot count distant objects as\nsingle. \u201cAnd, in truth, methinks I see two suns,\u201d[472] said the Theban\nold man in his cups. For the sight, being disturbed by the heat of the\nwine, frequently fancies the substance of one object to be manifold.\nAnd there is no difference between moving the eye or the object seen.\nFor both have the same effect on the sight, which, on account of the\nfluctuation, cannot accurately obtain a perception of the object. And\nthe feet are carried from beneath the man as by a flood, and hiccuping\nand vomiting and maudlin nonsense follow; \u201cfor every intoxicated man,\u201d\naccording to the tragedy,[473]\n\n \u201cIs conquered by anger, and empty of sense,\n And likes to pour forth much silly speech;\n And is wont to hear unwillingly,\n What evil words he with his will hath said.\u201d\n\nAnd before tragedy, Wisdom cried, \u201cMuch wine drunk abounds in\nirritation and all manner of mistakes.\u201d[474] Wherefore most people say\nthat you ought to relax over your cups, and postpone serious business\ntill morning. I however think that then especially ought reason to be\nintroduced to mix in the feast, to act the part of director (p\u00e6dagogue)\nto wine-drinking, lest conviviality imperceptibly degenerate to\ndrunkenness. For as no sensible man ever thinks it requisite to shut\nhis eyes before going to sleep, so neither can any one rightly wish\nreason to be absent from the festive board, or can well study to lull\nit asleep till business is begun. But the Word can never quit those who\nbelong to Him, not even if we are asleep; for He ought to be invited\neven to our sleep. For perfect wisdom, which is knowledge of things\ndivine and human, which comprehends all that relates to the oversight\nof the flock of men, becomes, in reference to life, art; and so, while\nwe live, is constantly with us, always accomplishing its own proper\nwork, the product of which is a good life.\n\nBut the miserable wretches who expel temperance from conviviality,\nthink excess in drinking to be the happiest life; and their life is\nnothing but revel, debauchery, baths, excess, urinals, idleness, drink.\nYou may see some of them, half-drunk, staggering, with crowns round\ntheir necks like wine jars, vomiting drink on one another in the name\nof good fellowship; and others, full of the effects of their debauch,\ndirty, pale in the face, livid, and still above yesterday\u2019s bout\npouring another bout to last till next morning. It is well, my friends,\nit is well to make our acquaintance with this picture at the greatest\npossible distance from it, and to frame ourselves to what is better,\ndreading lest we also become a like spectacle and laughing-stock to\nothers.\n\nIt has been appropriately said, \u201cAs the furnace tests the steel\nblade in the process of dipping, so wine tests the heart of the\nhaughty.\u201d[475] A debauch is the immoderate use of wine, intoxication\nthe disorder that results from such use; crapulousness (\u03ba\u03c1\u03b1\u03b9\u03c0\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7) is\nthe discomfort and nausea that follow a debauch, so called from the\nhead shaking (\u03ba\u03ac\u03c1\u03b1 \u03c0\u03ac\u03bb\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd).\n\nSuch a life as this (if life it must be called, which is spent in\nidleness, in agitation about voluptuous indulgences, and in the\nhallucinations of debauchery) the divine Wisdom looks on with contempt,\nand commands her children, \u201cBe not a wine-bibber, nor spend your\nmoney in the purchase of flesh; for every drunkard and fornicator\nshall come to beggary, and every sluggard shall be clothed in tatters\nand rags.\u201d[476] For every one that is not awake to wisdom, but is\nsteeped in wine, is a sluggard. \u201cAnd the drunkard,\u201d he says, \u201cshall\nbe clothed in rags, and be ashamed of his drunkenness in the presence\nof onlookers.\u201d[477] For the wounds of the sinner are the rents of the\ngarment of the flesh, the holes made by lusts, through which the shame\nof the soul within is seen--namely sin, by reason of which it will not\nbe easy to save the garment, that has been torn away all round, that\nhas rotted away in many lusts, and has been rent asunder from salvation.\n\nSo he adds these most monitory words: \u201cWho has woes, who has clamour,\nwho has contentions, who has disgusting babblings, who has unavailing\nremorse?\u201d[478] You see, in all his raggedness, the lover of wine,\nwho despises the Word Himself, and has abandoned and given himself\nto drunkenness. You see what threatening Scripture has pronounced\nagainst him. And to its threatening it adds again: \u201cWhose are red\neyes? Those, is it not, who tarry long at their wine, and hunt out\nthe places where drinking goes on?\u201d Here he shows the lover of drink\nto be already dead to the Word, by the mention of the blood-shot\neyes,--a mark which appears on corpses, announcing to him death in the\nLord. For forgetfulness of the things which tend to true life turns\nthe scale towards destruction. With reason therefore, the Instructor,\nin His solicitude for our salvation, forbids us, \u201cDrink not wine to\ndrunkenness.\u201d Wherefore? you will ask. Because, says He, \u201cthy mouth\nwill then speak perverse things, and thou liest down as in the heart of\nthe sea, and as the steersman of a ship in the midst of huge billows.\u201d\nHence, too, poetry comes to our help, and says:\n\n \u201cLet wine which has strength equal to fire come to men.\n Then will it agitate them, as the north or south wind agitates the\n Libyan waves.\u201d\n\nAnd further:\n\n \u201cWine wandering in speech shows all secrets.\n Soul-deceiving wine is the ruin of those who drink it.\u201d\n\nAnd so on.\n\nYou see the danger of shipwreck. The heart is drowned in much drink.\nThe excess of drunkenness is compared to the danger of the sea, in\nwhich when the body has once been sunken like a ship, it descends to\nthe depths of turpitude, overwhelmed in the mighty billows of wine;\nand the helmsman, the human mind, is tossed about on the surge of\ndrunkenness, which swells aloft; and buried in the trough of the sea,\nis blinded by the darkness of the tempest, having drifted away from\nthe haven of truth, till, dashing on the rocks beneath the sea, it\nperishes, driven by itself into voluptuous indulgences.\n\nWith reason, therefore, the apostle enjoins, \u201cBe not drunk with wine,\nin which there is much excess;\u201d by the term excess (\u1f00\u03c3\u03c9\u03c4\u03af\u03b1) intimating\nthe inconsistence of drunkenness with salvation (\u1f04\u03c3\u03c9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bd). For if He\nmade water wine at the marriage, He did not give permission to get\ndrunk. He gave life to the watery element of the meaning of the law,\nfilling with His blood the doer of it who is of Adam, that is, the\nwhole world; supplying piety with drink from the vine of truth, the\nmixture of the old law and of the new word, in order to the fulfilment\nof the predestined time. The Scripture, accordingly, has named wine\nthe symbol of the sacred blood; but reproving the base tippling with\nthe dregs of wine, it says: \u201cIntemperate is wine, and insolent is\ndrunkenness.\u201d[479] It is agreeable, therefore, to right reason, to\ndrink on account of the cold of winter, till the numbness is dispelled\nfrom those who are subject to feel it; and on other occasions as a\nmedicine for the intestines. For, as we are to use food to satisfy\nhunger, so also are we to use drink to satisfy thirst, taking the most\ncareful precautions against a slip: \u201cfor the introduction of wine is\nperilous.\u201d And thus shall our soul be pure, and dry, and luminous; and\nthe soul itself is wisest and best when dry. And thus, too, is it fit\nfor contemplation, and is not humid with the exhalations, that rise\nfrom wine, forming a mass like a cloud. We must not therefore trouble\nourselves to procure Chian wine if it is absent, or Ariousian when it\nis not at hand. For thirst is a sensation of want, and craves means\nsuitable for supplying the want, and not sumptuous liquor. Importations\nof wines from beyond seas are for an appetite enfeebled by excess,\nwhere the soul even before drunkenness is insane in its desires.\nFor there are the fragrant Thasian wine, and the pleasant-breathing\nLesbian, and a sweet Cretan wine, and sweet Syracusan wine, and\nMendusian, an Egyptian wine, and the insular Naxian, the \u201chighly\nperfumed and flavoured,\u201d[480] another wine of the land of Italy. These\nare many names. For the temperate drinker, one wine suffices, the\nproduct of the cultivation of the one God. For why should not the wine\nof their own country satisfy men\u2019s desires, unless they were to import\nwater also, like the foolish Persian kings? The Choaspes, a river of\nIndia so called, was that from which the best water for drinking--the\nChoaspian--was got. As wine, when taken, makes people lovers of it, so\ndoes water too. The Holy Spirit, uttering His voice by Amos, pronounces\nthe rich to be wretched on account of their luxury:[481] \u201cThose that\ndrink strained wine, and recline on an ivory couch,\u201d he says; and what\nelse similar he adds by way of reproach.\n\nEspecial regard is to be paid to decency (as the myth represents\nAthene, whoever she was, out of regard to it, giving up the pleasure\nof the flute because of the unseemliness of the sight): so that we are\nto drink without contortions of the face, not greedily grasping the\ncup, nor before drinking making the eyes roll with unseemly motion; nor\nfrom intemperance are we to drain the cup at a draught; nor besprinkle\nthe chin, nor splash the garments while gulping down all the liquor\nat once,--our face all but filling the bowl, and drowned in it. For\nthe gurgling occasioned by the drink rushing with violence, and by its\nbeing drawn in with a great deal of breath, as if it were being poured\ninto an earthenware vessel, while the throat makes a noise through the\nrapidity of ingurgitation, is a shameful and unseemly spectacle of\nintemperance. In addition to this, eagerness in drinking is a practice\ninjurious to the partaker. Do not haste to mischief, my friend. Your\ndrink is not being taken from you. It is given you, and waits you. Be\nnot eager to burst, by draining it down with gaping throat. Your thirst\nis satiated, even if you drink slower, observing decorum, by taking\nthe beverage in small portions, in an orderly way. For that which\nintemperance greedily seizes, is not taken away by taking time.\n\n\u201cBe not mighty,\u201d he says, \u201cat wine; for wine has overcome many.\u201d[482]\nThe Scythians, the Celts, the Iberians, and the Thracians, all of them\nwarlike races, are greatly addicted to intoxication, and think that it\nis an honourable, happy pursuit to engage in. But we, the people of\npeace, feasting for lawful enjoyment, not to wantonness, drink sober\ncups of friendship, that our friendships may be shown in a way truly\nappropriate to the name.\n\nIn what manner do you think the Lord drank when He became man for our\nsakes? As shamelessly as we? Was it not with decorum and propriety?\nWas it not deliberately? For rest assured, He Himself also partook of\nwine; for He, too, was man. And He blessed the wine, saying, \u201cTake,\ndrink: this is my blood\u201d--the blood of the vine. He figuratively calls\nthe Word \u201cshed for many, for the remission of sins\u201d--the holy stream\nof gladness. And that he who drinks ought to observe moderation, He\nclearly showed by what He taught at feasts. For He did not teach\naffected by wine. And that it was wine which was the thing blessed,\nHe showed again, when He said to His disciples, \u201cI will not drink of\nthe fruit of this vine, till I drink it with you in the kingdom of\nmy Father.\u201d[483] But that it was wine which was drunk by the Lord,\nHe tells us again, when He spake concerning Himself, reproaching the\nJews for their hardness of heart: \u201cFor the Son of man,\u201d He says,\n\u201ccame, and they say, Behold a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of\npublicans.\u201d[484] Let this be held fast by us against those that are\ncalled Encratites.\n\nBut women, making a profession, forsooth, of aiming at the graceful,\nthat their lips may not be rent apart by stretching them on broad\ndrinking cups, and so widening the mouth, drinking in an unseemly way\nout of alabastra quite too narrow in the mouth, throw back their heads\nand bare their necks indecently, as I think; and distending the throat\nin swallowing, gulp down the liquor as if to make bare all they can to\ntheir boon companions; and drawing hiccups like men, or rather like\nslaves, revel in luxurious riot. For nothing disgraceful is proper for\nman, who is endowed with reason; much less for woman, to whom it brings\nshame even to reflect of what nature she is.\n\n\u201cAn intoxicated woman is great wrath,\u201d it is said, as if a drunken\nwoman were the wrath of God. Why? \u201cBecause she will not conceal her\nshame.\u201d[485] For a woman is quickly drawn down to licentiousness,\nif she only set her choice on pleasures. And we have not prohibited\ndrinking from alabastra; but we forbid studying to drink from them\nalone, as arrogant; counselling women to use with indifference what\ncomes in the way, and cutting up by the roots the dangerous appetites\nthat are in them. Let the rush of air, then, which regurgitates so as\nto produce hiccup, be emitted silently.\n\nBut by no manner of means are women to be allowed to uncover and\nexhibit any part of their person, lest both fall,--the men by being\nexcited to look, they by drawing on themselves the eyes of the men.\n\nBut always must we conduct ourselves as in the Lord\u2019s presence, lest He\nsay to us, as the apostle in indignation said to the Corinthians, \u201cWhen\nye come together, this is not to eat the Lord\u2019s supper.\u201d[486]\n\nTo me, the star called by the mathematicians Acephalus (headless),\nwhich is numbered before the wandering star, his head resting on his\nbreast, seems to be a type of the gluttonous, the voluptuous, and\nthose that are prone to drunkenness. For in such[487] the faculty\nof reasoning is not situated in the head, but among the intestinal\nappetites, enslaved to lust and anger. For just as Elpenor broke his\nneck through intoxication,[488] so the brain, dizzied by drunkenness,\nfalls down from above, with a great fall to the liver and the heart,\nthat is, to voluptuousness and anger: as the sons of the poets say\nHeph\u00e6stus was hurled by Zeus from heaven to earth.[489] \u201cThe trouble of\nsleeplessness, and bile, and cholic, are with an insatiable man,\u201d it is\nsaid.[490]\n\nWherefore also Noah\u2019s intoxication was recorded in writing, that, with\nthe clear and written description of his transgression before us, we\nmight guard with all our might against drunkenness. For which cause\nthey who covered the shame[491] of his drunkenness are blessed by the\nLord. The Scripture accordingly, giving a most comprehensive compend,\nhas expressed all in one word: \u201cTo an instructed man sufficiency is\nwine, and he will rest in his bed.\u201d[492]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n ON COSTLY VESSELS.\n\n\nAnd so the use of cups made of silver and gold, and of others inlaid\nwith precious stones, is out of place, being only a deception of the\nvision. For if you pour any warm liquid into them, the vessels becoming\nhot, to touch them is painful. On the other hand, if you pour in what\nis cold, the material changes its quality, injuring the mixture, and\nthe rich potion is hurtful. Away, then, with Thericleian cups and\nAntigonides, and Canthari, and goblets, and Lepast\u00e6,[493] and the\nendless shapes of drinking vessels, and wine-coolers, and wine-pourers\nalso. For, on the whole, gold and silver, both publicly and privately,\nare an invidious possession when they exceed what is necessary, seldom\nto be acquired, difficult to keep, and not adapted for use. The\nelaborate vanity, too, of vessels in glass chased, more apt to break\non account of the art, teaching us to fear while we drink, is to be\nbanished from our well-ordered constitution. And silver couches, and\npans and vinegar-saucers, and trenchers and bowls; and besides these,\nvessels of silver and gold, some for serving food, and others for other\nuses which I am ashamed to name, of easily cleft cedar and thyine wood,\nand ebony, and tripods fashioned of ivory, and couches with silver\nfeet and inlaid with ivory, and folding-doors of beds studded with\ngold and variegated with tortoise-shell, and bed-clothes of purple and\nother colours difficult to produce, proofs of tasteless luxury, cunning\ndevices of envy and effeminacy,--are all to be relinquished, as having\nnothing whatever worth our pains. \u201cFor the time is short,\u201d as says the\napostle. This then remains that we do, not make a ridiculous figure, as\nsome are seen in the public spectacles outwardly anointed strikingly\nfor imposing effect, but wretched within. Explaining this more clearly,\nhe adds, \u201cIt remains that they that have wives be as though they had\nnone, and they that buy as though they possessed not.\u201d[494] And if he\nspeaks thus of marriage, in reference to which God says, \u201cMultiply,\u201d\nhow do you not think that senseless display is by the Lord\u2019s authority\nto be banished? Wherefore also the Lord says, \u201cSell what thou hast, and\ngive to the poor; and come, follow me.\u201d[495]\n\nFollow God, stripped of arrogance, stripped of fading display,\npossessed of that which is thine, which is good, what alone cannot be\ntaken away--faith towards God, confession towards Him who suffered,\nbeneficence towards men, which is the most precious of possessions. For\nmy part, I approve of Plato, who plainly lays it down as a law, that\na man is not to labour for wealth of gold or silver, nor to possess a\nuseless vessel which is not for some necessary purpose, and moderate;\nso that the same thing may serve for many purposes, and the possession\nof a variety of things may be done away with. Excellently, therefore,\nthe Divine Scripture, addressing boasters and lovers of their own\nselves, says, \u201cWhere are the rulers of the nations, and the lords of\nthe wild beasts on the earth, who sport among the birds of heaven, who\ntreasured up silver and gold, in whom men trusted, and there was no\nend of their substance, who fashioned silver and gold, and were full\nof care? There is no finding of their works. They have vanished, and\ngone down to Hades.\u201d[496] Such is the reward of display. For though\nsuch of us as cultivate the soil need a mattock and plough, none of\nus will make a pick-axe of silver or a sickle of gold, but we employ\nthe material which is serviceable for agriculture, not what is costly.\nWhat prevents those who are capable of considering what is similar from\nentertaining the same sentiments with respect to household utensils,\nof which let use, not expense, be the measure? For tell me, does the\ntable-knife not cut unless it be studded with silver, and have its\nhandle made of ivory? Or must we forge Indian steel in order to divide\nmeat, as when we call for a weapon for the fight? What if the basin\nbe of earthenware? will it not receive the dirt of the hands? or the\nfootpan the dirt of the foot? Will the table that is fashioned with\nivory feet be indignant at bearing a three-halfpenny loaf? Will the\nlamp not dispense light because it is the work of the potter, not of\nthe goldsmith? I affirm that truckle-beds afford no worse repose than\nthe ivory couch; and the goatskin coverlet being amply sufficient to\nspread on the bed, there is no need of purple or scarlet coverings.\nYet to condemn, notwithstanding, frugality, through the stupidity of\nluxury, the author of mischief, what a prodigious error, what senseless\nconceit! See. The Lord ate from a common bowl, and made the disciples\nrecline on the grass on the ground, and washed their feet, girded with\na linen towel--He, the lowly-minded God, and Lord of the universe. He\ndid not bring down a silver foot-bath from heaven. He asked to drink of\nthe Samaritan woman, who drew the water from the well in an earthenware\nvessel, not seeking regal gold, but teaching us how to quench thirst\neasily. For He made use, not extravagance His aim. And He ate and drank\nat feasts, not digging metals from the earth, nor using vessels of gold\nand silver, that is, vessels exhaling the odour of rust--such fumes as\nthe rust of smoking[497] metal gives off.\n\nFor in fine, in food, and clothes, and vessels, and everything else\nbelonging to the house, I say comprehensively, that one must follow\nthe institutions of the Christian man, as is serviceable and suitable\nto one\u2019s person, age, pursuits, time of life. For it becomes those\nthat are servants of one God, that their possessions and furniture\nshould exhibit the tokens of one beautiful[498] life; and that each\nindividually should be seen in faith, which shows no difference,\npractising all other things which are conformable to this uniform mode\nof life, and harmonious with this one scheme.\n\nWhat we acquire without difficulty, and use with ease, we praise,\nkeep easily, and communicate freely. The things which are useful are\npreferable, and consequently cheap things are better than dear. In\nfine, wealth, when not properly governed, is a stronghold of evil,\nabout which many casting their eyes, they will never reach the kingdom\nof heaven, sick for the things of the world, and living proudly through\nluxury. But those who are in earnest about salvation must settle this\nbeforehand in their mind, \u201cthat all that we possess is given to us for\nuse, and use for sufficiency, which one may attain to by a few things.\u201d\nFor silly are they who, from greed, take delight in what they have\nhoarded up. \u201cHe that gathereth wages,\u201d it is said, \u201cgathereth into a\nbag with holes.\u201d[499] Such is he who gathers corn and shuts it up; and\nhe who giveth to no one, becomes poorer.\n\nIt is a farce, and a thing to make one laugh outright, for men to bring\nin silver urine-vases and chamber-pots of crystal as they usher in\ntheir counsellors, and for silly rich women to get gold receptacles for\nexcrements made; so that being rich, they cannot even ease themselves\nexcept in superb way. I would that in their whole life they deemed gold\nfit for dung.\n\nBut now love of money is found to be the stronghold of evil, which the\napostle says \u201cis the root of all evils, which, while some coveted, they\nhave erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many\nsorrows.\u201d[500]\n\nBut the best riches is poverty of desires; and the true magnanimity\nis not to be proud of wealth, but to despise it. Boasting about one\u2019s\nplate is utterly base. For it is plainly wrong to care much about what\nany one who likes may buy from the market. But wisdom is not bought\nwith coin of earth, nor is it sold in the market-place, but in heaven.\nAnd it is sold for true coin, the immortal Word, the regal gold.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n HOW TO CONDUCT OURSELVES AT FEASTS.\n\n\nLet revelry keep away from our rational entertainments, and foolish\nvigils, too, that revel in intemperance. For revelry is an inebriating\npipe, the chain[501] of an amatory bridge, that is, of sorrow. And\nlet love, and intoxication, and senseless passions, be removed from\nour choir. Burlesque singing is the boon companion of drunkenness.\nA night spent over drink invites drunkenness, rouses lust, and is\naudacious in deeds of shame. For if people occupy their time with\npipes, and psalteries, and choirs, and dances, and Egyptian clapping\nof hands, and such disorderly frivolities, they become quite immodest\nand intractable, beat on cymbals and drums, and make a noise on the\ninstruments of delusion; for plainly such a banquet, as seems to me,\nis a theatre of drunkenness. For the apostle decrees that, \u201cputting\noff the works of darkness, we should put on the armour of light,\nwalking honestly as in the day, not spending our time in rioting and\ndrunkenness, in chambering and wantonness.\u201d[502] Let the pipe be\nresigned to the shepherds, and the flute to the superstitious who\nare engrossed in idolatry. For, in truth, such instruments are to be\nbanished from a temperate banquet, being more suitable to beasts than\nmen, and the more irrational portion of mankind. For we have heard of\nstags being charmed by the pipe, and seduced by music into the toils,\nwhen hunted by the huntsman. And when mares are being covered, a tune\nis played on the flute--a nuptial song, as it were. And every improper\nsight and sound, to speak in a word, and every shameful sensation of\nlicentiousness--which, in truth, is privation of sensation--must by\nall means be excluded; and we must be on our guard against whatever\npleasure titillates eye and ear, and effeminates. For the various\nspells of the broken strains and plaintive numbers of the Carian\nmuse corrupt men\u2019s morals, drawing to perturbation of mind, by the\nlicentious and mischievous art of music.\n\nThe Spirit, distinguishing from such revelry the divine service, sings,\n\u201cPraise Him with sound of trumpet;\u201d for with sound of trumpet He shall\nraise the dead. \u201cPraise Him on the psaltery;\u201d for the tongue is the\npsaltery of the Lord. \u201cAnd praise Him on the lyre.\u201d[503] By the lyre is\nmeant the mouth struck by the Spirit, as it were by a plectrum. \u201cPraise\nwith the timbrel and the dance,\u201d refers to the church meditating on the\nresurrection of the dead in the resounding skin. \u201cPraise Him on the\nchords and organ.\u201d Our body He calls an organ, and its nerves are the\nstrings, by which it has received harmonious tension, and when struck\nby the Spirit, it gives forth human voices. \u201cPraise Him on the clashing\ncymbals.\u201d He calls the tongue the cymbal of the mouth, which resounds\nwith the pulsation of the lips. Therefore He cried to humanity, \u201cLet\nevery breath praise the Lord,\u201d because He cares for every breathing\nthing which He hath made. For man is truly a pacific instrument; while\nother instruments, if you investigate, you will find to be warlike,\ninflaming to lusts, or kindling up amours, or rousing wrath.\n\nIn their wars, therefore, the Etruscans use the trumpet, the Arcadians\nthe pipe, the Sicilians the pectides, the Cretans the lyre, the\nLaced\u00e6emonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the\ndrum, and the Arabians the cymbal. The one instrument of peace, the\nWord alone by which we honour God, is what we employ. We no longer\nemploy the ancient psaltery, and trumpet, and timbrel, and flute, which\nthose expert in war and contemners of the fear of God were wont to make\nuse of also in the choruses at their festive assemblies; that by such\nstrains they might raise their dejected minds. But let our genial\nfeeling in drinking be twofold, in accordance with the law. For \u201cif\nthou shalt love the Lord thy God,\u201d and then \u201cthy neighbour,\u201d let its\nfirst manifestation be towards God in thanksgiving and psalmody, and\nthe second towards our neighbour in decorous fellowship. For says the\napostle, \u201cLet the Word of the Lord dwell in you richly.\u201d[504] And this\nWord suits and conforms Himself to seasons, to persons, to places.\n\nIn the present instance He is a guest with us. For the apostle adds\nagain, \u201cTeaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, in psalms,\nand hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to\nGod.\u201d And again, \u201cWhatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name\nof the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and His Father.\u201d This is our\nthankful revelry. And even if you wish to sing and play to the harp\nor lyre, there is no blame. Thou shalt imitate the righteous Hebrew\nking in his thanksgiving to God. \u201cRejoice in the Lord, ye righteous;\npraise is comely to the upright,\u201d[505] says the prophecy. \u201cConfess to\nthe Lord on the harp; play to Him on a psaltery of ten strings. Sing to\nHim a new song.\u201d And does not the ten-stringed psaltery indicate the\nWord Jesus, who is manifested by the element of the decad? And as it is\nbefitting, before partaking of food, that we should bless the Creator\nof all; so also in drinking it is suitable to praise Him on partaking\nof His creatures. For the psalm is a melodious and sober blessing. The\napostle calls the psalm \u201ca spiritual song.\u201d[506]\n\nFinally, before partaking of sleep, it is a sacred duty to give thanks\nto God, having enjoyed His grace and love, and so go straight to sleep.\n\u201cAnd confess to Him in songs of the lips,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause in His\ncommand all His good pleasure is done, and there is no deficiency in\nHis salvation.\u201d[507]\n\nFurther, among the ancient Greeks, in their banquets over the brimming\ncups, a song was sung called a skolion, after the manner of the Hebrew\npsalms, all together raising the p\u00e6an with the voice, and sometimes\nalso taking turns in the song while they drank healths round; while\nthose that were more musical than the rest sang to the lyre. But let\namatory songs be banished far away, and let our songs be hymns to\nGod. \u201cLet them praise,\u201d it is said, \u201cHis name in the dance, and let\nthem play to Him on the timbrel and psaltery.\u201d[508] And what is the\nchoir which plays? The Spirit will show thee: \u201cLet His praise be in\nthe congregation (church) of the saints; let them be joyful in their\nKing.\u201d[509] And again he adds, \u201cThe Lord will take pleasure in His\npeople.\u201d[510] For temperate harmonies are to be admitted; but we are to\nbanish as far as possible from our robust mind those liquid harmonies,\nwhich, through pernicious arts in the modulations of tones, train to\neffeminacy and scurrility. But grave and modest strains say farewell to\nthe turbulence of drunkenness. Chromatic harmonies are therefore to be\nabandoned to immodest revels, and to florid and meretricious music.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n ON LAUGHTER.\n\n\nPeople who are imitators of ludicrous sensations, or rather of such as\ndeserve derision, are to be driven from our polity [or society].\n\nFor since all forms of speech flow from mind and manners, ludicrous\nexpressions could not be uttered, did they not proceed from ludicrous\npractices. For the saying, \u201cIt is not a good tree which produces\ncorrupt fruit, nor a corrupt tree which produces good fruit,\u201d[511] is\nto be applied in this case. For speech is the fruit of the mind. If,\nthen, wags are to be ejected from our society, we ourselves must by\nno manner of means be allowed to stir up laughter. For it were absurd\nto be found imitators of things of which we are prohibited to be\nlisteners; and still more absurd for a man to set about making himself\na laughing-stock, that is, the butt of insult and derision. For if we\ncould not endure to make a ridiculous figure, such as we see some do\nin processions, how could we with any propriety bear to have the inner\nman made a ridiculous figure of, and that to one\u2019s face? Wherefore we\nought never of our own accord to assume a ludicrous character. And how,\nthen, can we devote ourselves to being and appearing ridiculous in our\nconversation, thereby travestying speech, which is the most precious of\nall human endowments? It is therefore disgraceful to set one\u2019s self to\ndo this; since the conversation of wags of this description is not fit\nfor our ears, inasmuch as by the very expressions used it familiarizes\nus with shameful actions.\n\nPleasantry is allowable, not waggery. Besides, even laughter must be\nkept in check; for when given vent to in the right manner it indicates\norderliness, but when it issues differently it shows a want of\nrestraint.\n\nFor, in a word, whatever things are natural to men we must not\neradicate from them, but rather impose on them limits and suitable\ntimes. For man is not to laugh on all occasions because he is a\nlaughing animal, any more than the horse neighs on all occasions\nbecause he is a neighing animal. But as rational beings, we are to\nregulate ourselves suitably, harmoniously relaxing the austerity and\nover-tension of our serious pursuits, not inharmoniously breaking them\nup altogether.\n\nFor the seemly relaxation of the countenance in a harmonious manner--as\nof a musical instrument--is called a smile. So also is laughter on\nthe face of well-regulated men termed. But the discordant relaxation\nof countenance in the case of women is called a giggle, and is\nmeretricious laughter; in the case of men, a guffaw, and is savage and\ninsulting laughter. \u201cA fool raises his voice in laughter,\u201d[512] says\nthe Scripture; but a clever man smiles almost imperceptibly. The clever\nman in this case he calls wise, inasmuch as he is differently affected\nfrom the fool. But, on the other hand, one needs not be gloomy,\nonly grave. For I certainly prefer a man to smile who has a stern\ncountenance than the reverse; for so his laughter will be less apt to\nbecome the object of ridicule.\n\nSmiling even requires to be made the subject of discipline. If it is\nat what is disgraceful, we ought to blush rather than smile, lest we\nseem to take pleasure in it by sympathy; if at what is painful, it is\nfitting to look sad rather than to seem pleased. For to do the former\nis a sign of rational human thought; the other infers suspicion of\ncruelty.\n\nWe are not to laugh perpetually, for that is going beyond bounds; nor\nin the presence of elderly persons, or others worthy of respect, unless\nthey indulge in pleasantry for our amusement. Nor are we to laugh\nbefore all and sundry, nor in every place, nor to every one, nor about\neverything. For to children and women especially laughter is the cause\nof slipping into scandal. And even to appear stern serves to keep those\nabout us at their distance. For gravity can ward off the approaches\nof licentiousness by a mere look. All senseless people, to speak in a\nword, wine\n\n \u201cCommands both to laugh luxuriously and to dance,\u201d\n\nchanging effeminate manners to softness. We must consider, too, how\nconsequently freedom of speech leads impropriety on to filthy speaking.\n\n \u201cAnd he uttered a word which had been better unsaid.\u201d[513]\n\nEspecially, therefore, in liquor crafty men\u2019s characters are wont to be\nseen through, stripped as they are of their mask through the caitiff\nlicence of intoxication, through which reason, weighed down in the soul\nitself by drunkenness, is lulled to sleep, and unruly passions are\nroused, which overmaster the feebleness of the mind.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n ON FILTHY SPEAKING.\n\n\nFrom filthy speaking we ourselves must entirely abstain, and stop the\nmouths of those who practise it by stern looks and averting the face,\nand by what we call making a mock of one: often also by a harsher mode\nof speech. \u201cFor what proceedeth out of the mouth,\u201d He says, \u201cdefileth a\nman,\u201d[514]--shows him to be unclean, and heathenish, and untrained, and\nlicentious, and not select, and proper, and honourable, and temperate.\n\nAnd as a similar rule holds with regard to hearing and seeing in\nthe case of what is obscene, the divine Instructor, following the\nsame course with both, arrays those children who are engaged in the\nstruggle in words of modesty, as ear-guards, so that the pulsation\nof fornication may not penetrate to the bruising of the soul; and He\ndirects the eyes to the sight of what is honourable, saying that it is\nbetter to make a slip with the feet than with the eyes. This filthy\nspeaking the apostle beats off, saying, \u201cLet no corrupt communication\nproceed out of your mouth, but what is good.\u201d[515] And again, \u201cAs\nbecometh saints, let not filthiness be named among you, nor foolish\ntalking, nor jesting, which things are not seemly, but rather giving\nof thanks.\u201d[516] And if \u201che that calls his brother a fool be in danger\nof the judgment,\u201d what shall we pronounce regarding him who speaks\nwhat is foolish? Is it not written respecting such: \u201cWhosoever shall\nspeak an idle word, shall give an account to the Lord in the day of\njudgment?\u201d[517] And again, \u201cBy thy speech thou shalt be justified,\u201d He\nsays, \u201cand by thy speech thou shalt be condemned.\u201d[518] What, then, are\nthe salutary ear-guards, and what the regulations for slippery eyes?\nConversations with the righteous, preoccupying and forearming the ears\nagainst those that would lead away from the truth.\n\n \u201cEvil communications corrupt good manners,\u201d\n\nsays Poetry. More nobly the apostle says, \u201cBe haters of the evil;\ncleave to the good.\u201d[519] For he who associates with the saints shall\nbe sanctified. From shameful things addressed to the ears, and words\nand sights, we must entirely abstain. And much more must we keep pure\nfrom shameful deeds: on the one hand, from exhibiting and exposing\ncertain parts of the body which we ought not; and on the other, from\ninspection of the forbidden parts. For the modest son could not bear to\nlook on the shameful exposure of the righteous man; and modesty covered\nwhat intoxication exposed--the spectacle of the transgression of\nignorance.[520] No less ought we to keep pure from calumnious reports,\nto which the ears of those who have believed in Christ ought to be\ninaccessible.\n\nIt is on this account, as appears to me, that the Instructor does\nnot permit us to give utterance to aught unseemly, fortifying us at\nan early stage against licentiousness. For He is admirable always\nat cutting out the roots of sins, such as, \u201cThou shalt not commit\nadultery,\u201d by \u201cThou shalt not lust.\u201d[521] For adultery is the fruit of\nlust, which is the evil root. And so likewise also in this instance the\nInstructor censures licence in names, and thus cuts off the licentious\nintercourse of excess. For licence in names produces the desire of\nbeing indecorous in conduct; and the observance of modesty in names is\na training in resistance to lasciviousness. We have shown in a more\nexhaustive treatise, that neither in the names nor in the members of\nintercourse and nuptial embraces, to which appellations not in common\nuse are applied, is there the designation of what is really obscene.\n\nFor neither are knee and leg, and such other members, nor are the\nnames applied to them, and the activity put forth by them, obscene. And\neven the secret parts of man are to be regarded as objects suggestive\nof modesty, not shame. It is their unlawful activity that is shameful,\nand deserving ignominy, and reproach, and punishment. For the only\nthing that is in reality shameful is wickedness, and what is done\nthrough it. In accordance with these remarks, conversation about deeds\nof wickedness is appropriately termed filthy [shameful] speaking, as\ntalk about adultery and p\u00e6derasty and the like. Frivolous prating, too,\nis to be put to silence. \u201cFor,\u201d it is said, \u201cin much speaking thou\nshalt not escape sin.\u201d[522] \u201cSins of the tongue, therefore, shall be\npunished.\u201d \u201cThere is he who is silent, and is found wise; and there\nis that is hated for much speech.\u201d[523] But still more, the prater\nmakes himself the object of disgust. \u201cFor he that multiplieth speech\nabominates his own soul.\u201d[524]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n DIRECTIONS FOR THOSE WHO LIVE TOGETHER.\n\n\nLet us keep away from us jibing, the originator of insult, from which\nstrifes and contentions and enmities burst forth. Insult, we have\nsaid, is the servant of drunkenness. A man is judged, not from his\ndeeds alone, but from his words. \u201cIn a banquet,\u201d it is said, \u201creprove\nnot thy neighbour, nor say to him a word of reproach.\u201d[525] For if we\nare enjoined especially to associate with saints, it is a sin to jibe\nat a saint: \u201cFor from the mouth of the foolish,\u201d says the Scripture,\n\u201cis a staff of insult,\u201d[526]--meaning by staff the prop of insult, on\nwhich insult leans and rests. Whence I admire the apostle, who, in\nreference to this, exhorts us not to utter \u201cscurrilous nor unsuitable\nwords.\u201d[527] For if the assemblies at festivals take place on account\nof affection, and the end of a banquet is friendliness towards those\nwho meet, and meat and drink accompany affection, how should not\nconversation be conducted in a rational manner, and puzzling people\nwith questions be avoided from affection? For if we meet together for\nthe purpose of increasing our good-will to each other, why should we\nstir up enmity by jibing? It is better to be silent than to contradict,\nand thereby add sin to ignorance. \u201cBlessed,\u201d in truth, \u201cis the man who\nhas not made a slip with his mouth, and has not been pierced by the\npain of sin;\u201d[528] or has repented of what he has said amiss, or has\nspoken so as to wound no one. On the whole, let young men and young\nwomen altogether keep away from such festivals, that they may not make\na slip in respect to what is unsuitable. For things to which their\nears are unaccustomed, and unseemly sights, inflame the mind, while\nfaith within them is still wavering; and the instability of their age\nconspires to make them easily carried away by lust. Sometimes also\nthey are the cause of others stumbling, by displaying the dangerous\ncharms of their time of life. For Wisdom appears to enjoin well: \u201cSit\nnot at all with a married woman, and recline not on the elbow with\nher;\u201d[529] that is, do not sup nor eat with her frequently. Wherefore\nhe adds, \u201cAnd do not join company with her in wine, lest thy heart\nincline to her, and by thy blood slide to ruin.\u201d[530] For the licence\nof intoxication is dangerous, and prone to deflower. And he names \u201ca\nmarried woman,\u201d because the danger is greater to him who attempts to\nbreak the connubial bond.\n\nBut if any necessity arises, commanding the presence of married women,\nlet them be well clothed--without by raiment, within by modesty. But\nas for such as are unmarried, it is the extremest scandal for them to\nbe present at a banquet of men, especially men under the influence of\nwine. And let the men, fixing their eyes on the couch, and leaning\nwithout moving on their elbows, be present with their ears alone; and\nif they sit, let them not have their feet crossed, nor place one thigh\non another, nor apply the hand to the chin. For it is vulgar not to\nbear one\u2019s self without support, and consequently a fault in a young\nman. And perpetually moving and changing one\u2019s position is a sign of\nfrivolousness. It is the part of a temperate man also, in eating and\ndrinking, to take a small portion, and deliberately, not eagerly, both\nat the beginning and during the courses, and to leave off betimes,\nand so show his indifference. \u201cEat,\u201d it is said, \u201clike a man what is\nset before you. Be the first to stop for the sake of regimen; and, if\nseated in the midst of several people, do not stretch out your hand\nbefore them.\u201d[531] You must never rush forward under the influence of\ngluttony; nor must you, though desirous, reach out your hand till some\ntime, inasmuch as by greed one shows an uncontrolled appetite. Nor are\nyou, in the midst of the repast, to exhibit yourselves hugging your\nfood like wild beasts; nor helping yourselves to too much sauce, for\nman is not by nature a sauce-consumer, but a bread-eater. A temperate\nman, too, must rise before the general company, and retire quietly\nfrom the banquet. \u201cFor at the time for rising,\u201d it is said, \u201cbe not\nthe last; haste home.\u201d[532] The twelve, having called together the\nmultitude of the disciples, said, \u201cIt is not meet for us to leave the\nword of God and serve tables.\u201d[533] If they avoided this, much more\ndid they shun gluttony. And the apostles themselves, writing to the\nbrethren at Antioch, and in Syria and Cilicia, said: \u201cIt seemed good to\nthe Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no other burden than these\nnecessary things, to abstain from things offered to idols, and from\nblood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, from which,\nif you keep yourselves, ye shall do well.\u201d[534] But we must guard\nagainst drunkenness as against hemlock; for both drag down to death.\nWe must also check excessive laughter and immoderate tears. For often\npeople under the influence of wine, after laughing immoderately, then\nare, I know not how, by some impulse of intoxication moved to tears;\nfor both effeminacy and violence are discordant with the word. And\nelderly people, looking on the young as children, may, though but very\nrarely, be playful with them, joking with them to train them in good\nbehaviour. For example, before a bashful and silent youth, one might\nby way of pleasantry speak thus: \u201cThis son of mine (I mean one who\nis silent) is perpetually talking.\u201d For a joke such as this enhances\nthe youth\u2019s modesty, by showing the good qualities that belong to him\nplayfully, by censure of the bad qualities, which do not. For this\ndevice is instructive, confirming as it does what is present by what\nis not present. Such, certainly, is the intention of him who says\nthat a water-drinker and a sober man gets intoxicated and drunk. But\nif there are those who like to jest at people, we must be silent, and\ndispense with superfluous words like full cups. For such sport is\ndangerous. \u201cThe mouth of the impetuous approaches to contrition.\u201d[535]\n\u201cThou shalt not receive a foolish report, nor shalt thou agree with an\nunjust person to be an unjust witness,\u201d[536] neither in calumnies nor\nin injurious speeches, much less evil practices. I also should think\nit right to impose a limit on the speech of rightly regulated persons,\nwho are impelled to speak to one who maintains a conversation with\nthem. \u201cFor silence is the excellence of women, and the safe prize of\nthe young; but good speech is characteristic of experienced, mature\nage. Speak, old man, at a banquet, for it is becoming to you. But speak\nwithout embarrassment, and with accuracy of knowledge. Youth, Wisdom\nalso commands thee. Speak, if you must, with hesitation, on being\ntwice asked; sum up your discourse in a few words.\u201d[537] But let both\nspeakers regulate their discourse according to just proportion. For\nloudness of utterance is most insane; while an inaudible utterance is\ncharacteristic of a senseless man, for people will not hear: the one is\nthe mark of pusillanimity, the other of arrogance. Let contentiousness\nin words, for the sake of a useless triumph, be banished; for our aim\nis to be free from perturbation. Such is the meaning of the phrase,\n\u201cPeace to thee.\u201d Answer not a word before you hear. An enervated\nvoice is the sign of effeminacy. But modulation in the voice is\ncharacteristic of a wise man, who keeps his utterance from loudness,\nfrom drawling, from rapidity, from prolixity. For we ought not to speak\nlong or much, nor ought we to speak frivolously. Nor must we converse\nrapidly and rashly. For the voice itself, so to speak, ought to receive\nits just dues; and those who are vociferous and clamorous ought to be\nsilenced. For this reason, the wise Ulysses chastised Thersites with\nstripes:\n\n \u201cOnly Thersites, with unmeasured words,\n Of which he had good store, to rate the chiefs,\n Not over-seemly, but wherewith he thought\n To move the crowd to laughter, brawled aloud.\u201d[538]\n\n\u201cFor dreadful in his destruction is a loquacious man.\u201d[539] And it is\nwith triflers as with old shoes: all the rest is worn away by evil;\nthe tongue only is left for destruction. Wherefore Wisdom gives these\nmost useful exhortations: \u201cDo not talk trifles in the multitude of the\nelders.\u201d Further, eradicating frivolousness, beginning with God, it\nlays down the law for our regulation somewhat thus: \u201cDo not repeat your\nwords in your prayer.\u201d[540] Chirruping and whistling, and sounds made\nthrough the fingers, by which domestics are called, being irrational\nsigns, are to be given up by rational men. Frequent spitting, too,\nand violent clearing of the throat, and wiping one\u2019s nose at an\nentertainment, are to be shunned. For respect is assuredly to be had\nto the guests, lest they turn in disgust from such filthiness, which\nargues want of restraint. For we are not to copy oxen and asses, whose\nmanger and dunghill are together. For many wipe their noses and spit\neven whilst supping.\n\nIf any one is attacked with sneezing, just as in the case of hiccup, he\nmust not startle those near him with the explosion, and so give proof\nof his bad breeding; but the hiccup is to be quietly transmitted with\nthe expiration of the breath, the mouth being composed becomingly,\nand not gaping and yawning like the tragic masks. So the disturbance\nof hiccup may be avoided by making the respirations gently; for thus\nthe threatening symptoms of the ball of wind will be dissipated in\nthe most seemly way, by managing its egress so as also to conceal\nanything which the air forcibly expelled may bring up with it. To\nwish to add to the noises, instead of diminishing them, is the sign\nof arrogance and disorderliness. Those, too, who scrape their teeth,\nbleeding the wounds, are disagreeable to themselves and detestable to\ntheir neighbours. Scratching the ears and the irritation of sneezing\nare swinish itchings, and attend unbridled fornication. Both shameful\nsights and shameful conversation about them are to be shunned. Let\nthe look be steady, and the turning and movement of the neck, and the\nmotions of the hands in conversation, be decorous. In a word, the\nChristian is characterized by composure, tranquillity, calmness, and\npeace.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n ON THE USE OF OINTMENTS AND CROWNS.\n\n\nThe use of crowns and ointments is not necessary for us; for it impels\nto pleasures and indulgences, especially on the approach of night. I\nknow that the woman brought to the sacred supper \u201can alabaster box of\nointment,\u201d[541] and anointed the feet of the Lord, and refreshed Him;\nand I know that the ancient kings of the Hebrews were crowned with gold\nand precious stones. But the woman not having yet received the Word\n(for she was still a sinner), honoured the Lord with what she thought\nthe most precious thing in her possession--the ointment; and with the\nornament of her person, with her hair, she wiped off the superfluous\nointment, while she expended on the Lord tears of repentance:\n\u201cwherefore her sins are forgiven.\u201d[542]\n\nThis may be a symbol of the Lord\u2019s teaching, and of His suffering.\nFor the feet anointed with fragrant ointment mean divine instruction\ntravelling with renown to the ends of the earth. \u201cFor their sound hath\ngone forth to the ends of the earth.\u201d[543] And if I seem not to insist\ntoo much, the feet of the Lord which were anointed are the apostles,\nhaving, according to prophecy, received the fragrant unction of the\nHoly Ghost. Those, therefore, who travelled over the world and preached\nthe gospel, are figuratively called the feet of the Lord, of whom also\nthe Holy Spirit foretells in the psalm, \u201cLet us adore at the place\nwhere His feet stood,\u201d[544] that is, where the apostles, His feet,\narrived; since, preached by them, He came to the ends of the earth. And\ntears are repentance; and the loosened hair proclaimed deliverance\nfrom the love of finery, and the affliction in patience which, on\naccount of the Lord, attends preaching, the old vainglory being done\naway with by reason of the new faith.\n\nBesides, it shows the Lord\u2019s passion, if you understand it mystically\nthus: the oil (\u1f14\u03bb\u03b1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd) is the Lord Himself, from whom comes the mercy\n(\u1f14\u03bb\u03b5\u03bf\u03c2) which reaches us. But the ointment, which is adulterated oil,\nis the traitor Judas, by whom the Lord was anointed on the feet, being\nreleased from His sojourn in the world. For the dead are anointed. And\nthe tears are we repentant sinners, who have believed in Him, and to\nwhom He has forgiven our sins. And the dishevelled hair is mourning\nJerusalem, the deserted, for whom the prophetic lamentations were\nuttered. The Lord Himself shall teach us that Judas the deceitful is\nmeant: \u201cHe that dippeth with me in the dish, the same shall betray\nme.\u201d[545] You see the treacherous guest, and this same Judas betrayed\nthe Master with a kiss. For he was a hypocrite, giving a treacherous\nkiss, in imitation of another hypocrite of old. And He reproves that\npeople respecting whom it was said, \u201cThis people honour me with their\nlips; but their heart is far from me.\u201d[546] It is not improbable,\ntherefore, that by the oil He means that disciple to whom was shown\nmercy, and by the tainted and poisoned oil the traitor.\n\nThis was, then, what the anointed feet prophesied--the treason of\nJudas, when the Lord went to His passion. And the Saviour Himself\nwashing the feet of the disciples,[547] and despatching them to do good\ndeeds, pointed out their pilgrimage for the benefit of the nations,\nmaking them beforehand fair and pure by His power. Then the ointment\nbreathed on them its fragrance, and the work of sweet savour reaching\nto all was proclaimed; for the passion of the Lord has filled us with\nsweet fragrance, and the Hebrews with guilt. This the apostle most\nclearly showed, when he said, \u201cThanks be to God, who always makes us\nto triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge\nby us in every place. For we are to God a sweet savour of the Lord,\nin them that are saved, and them that are lost; to one a savour of\ndeath unto death, to the other a savour of life unto life.\u201d[548] And\nthe kings of the Jews using gold and precious stones and a variegated\ncrown, the anointed ones wearing Christ symbolically on the head, were\nunconsciously adorned with the head of the Lord. The precious stone, or\npearl, or emerald, point out the Word Himself. The gold, again, is the\nincorruptible Word, who admits not the poison of corruption. The Magi,\naccordingly, brought to Him on His birth, gold, the symbol of royalty.\nAnd this crown, after the image of the Lord, fades not as a flower.\n\nI know, too, the words of Aristippus the Cyrenian. Aristippus was a\nluxurious man. He asked an answer to a sophistical proposition in the\nfollowing terms: \u201cA horse anointed with ointment is not injured in his\nexcellence as a horse, nor is a dog which has been anointed, in his\nexcellence as a dog; no more is a man,\u201d he added, and so finished. But\nthe dog and horse take no account of the ointment, whilst in the case\nof those whose perceptions are more rational, applying girlish scents\nto their persons, its use is more censurable. Of these ointments there\nare endless varieties, such as the Brenthian, the Metallian, and the\nroyal; the Plangonian and the Psagdian of Egypt. Simonides is not\nashamed in Iambic lines to say,\n\n \u201cI was anointed with ointments and perfumes,\n And with nard.\u201d\n\nFor a merchant was present. They use, too, the unguent made from\nlilies, and that from the cypress. Nard is in high estimation with\nthem, and the ointment prepared from roses and the others which women\nuse besides, both moist and dry, scents for rubbing and for fumigating;\nfor day by day their thoughts are directed to the gratification of\ninsatiable desire, to the exhaustless variety of fragrance. Wherefore\nalso they are redolent of an excessive luxuriousness. And they fumigate\nand sprinkle their clothes, their bed-clothes, and their houses. Luxury\nall but compels vessels for the meanest uses to smell of perfume.\n\nThere are some who, annoyed at the attention bestowed on this, appear\nto me to be rightly so averse to perfumes on account of their\nrendering manhood effeminate, as to banish their compounders and\nvendors from well-regulated states, and banish, too, the dyers of\nflower-coloured wools. For it is not right that ensnaring garments and\nunguents should be admitted into the city of truth; but it is highly\nrequisite for the men who belong to us to give forth the odour not of\nointments, but of nobleness and goodness. And let woman breathe the\nodour of the true royal ointment, that of Christ, not of unguents and\nscented powders; and let her always be anointed with the ambrosial\nchrism of modesty, and find delight in the holy unguent, the Spirit.\nThis ointment of pleasant fragrance Christ prepares for His disciples,\ncompounding the ointment of celestial aromatic ingredients.\n\nWherefore also the Lord Himself is anointed with an ointment, as is\nmentioned by David: \u201cWherefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with\nthe oil of gladness above thy fellows; myrrh, and stacte, and cassia\nfrom thy garments.\u201d[549] But let us not unconsciously abominate\nunguents, like vultures or like beetles (for these, they say, when\nsmeared with ointment, die); and let a few unguents be selected by\nwomen, such as will not be overpowering to a husband. For excessive\nanointings with unguents savour of a funeral, and not of connubial\nlife. Yet oil itself is inimical to bees and insects; and some men it\nbenefits, and some it summons to the fight; and those who were formerly\nfriends, when anointed with it, it turns out to deadly combat.\n\nOintment being smooth oil, do you not think that it is calculated to\nrender noble manners effeminate? Certainly. And as we have abandoned\nluxury in taste, so certainly do we renounce voluptuousness in sights\nand odours; lest through the senses, as through unwatched doors, we\nunconsciously give access into the soul to that excess which we have\ndriven away. If, then, we say that the Lord the great High Priest\noffers to God the incense of sweet fragrance, let us not imagine\nthat this is a sacrifice and sweet fragrance of incense; but let us\nunderstand it to mean, that the Lord lays the acceptable offering of\nlove, the spiritual fragrance, on the altar.\n\nTo resume: oil itself suffices to lubricate the skin, and relax the\nnerves, and remove any heavy smell from the body, if we require oil\nfor this purpose. But attention to sweet scents is a bait which draws\nus into sensual lust. For the licentious man is led on every hand,\nboth by his food, his bed, his conversation, by his eyes, his ears,\nhis jaws, and by his nostrils too. As oxen are pulled by rings and\nropes, so is the voluptuary by fumigations and unguents, and the sweet\nscents of crowns. But since we assign no place to pleasure which is\nlinked to no use serviceable to life, come let us also distinguish\nhere too, selecting what is useful. For there are sweet scents which\nneither make the head heavy nor provoke love, and are not redolent of\nembraces and licentious companionship, but, along with moderation, are\nsalutary, nourishing the brain when labouring under indisposition, and\nstrengthening the stomach. One must not therefore refrigerate himself\nwith flowers when he wishes to supple his nerves. For their use is not\nwholly to be laid aside, but ointment is to be employed as a medicine\nand help in order to bring up the strength when enfeebled, and against\ncatarrhs, and colds, and ennui, as the comic poet says:\n\n \u201cThe nostrils are anointed; it being\n A most essential thing for health to fill the brain with good\n odours.\u201d\n\nThe rubbing of the feet also with the fatness of warming or cooling\nunguents is practised om account of its beneficial effects; so\nconsequently, in the case of those who are thus saturated, an\nattraction and flow take place from the head to the inferior members.\nBut pleasure to which no utility attaches, induces the suspicion of\nmeretricious habits, and is a drug provocative of the passions. Rubbing\none\u2019s self with ointment is entirely different from anointing one\u2019s\nself with ointment. The former is effeminate, while anointing with\nointment is in some cases beneficial. Aristippus the philosopher,\naccordingly, when anointed with ointment, said \u201cthat the wretched\nCin\u0153di deserved to perish miserably for bringing the utility of\nointment into bad repute.\u201d \u201cHonour the physician for his usefulness,\u201d\nsays the Scripture, \u201cfor the Most High made him; and the art of healing\nis of the Lord.\u201d Then he adds, \u201cAnd the compounder of unguents will\nmake the mixture,\u201d[550] since unguents have been given manifestly for\nuse, not for voluptuousness. For we are by no means to care for the\nexciting properties of unguents, but to choose what is useful in them,\nsince God hath permitted the production of oil for the mitigation of\nmen\u2019s pains.\n\nAnd silly women, who dye their grey hair and anoint their locks, grow\nspeedily greyer by the perfumes they use, which are of a drying nature.\nWherefore also those that anoint themselves become drier, and the\ndryness makes them greyer. For if greyness is an exsiccation of the\nhair, or defect of heat, the dryness drinking up the moisture which is\nthe natural nutriment of the hair, and making it grey, how can we any\nlonger retain a liking for unguents, through which ladies, in trying\nto escape grey hair, become grey? And as dogs with fine sense of smell\ntrack the wild beasts by the scent, so also the temperate scent the\nlicentious by the superfluous perfume of unguents.\n\nSuch a use of crowns, also, has degenerated to scenes of revelry\nand intoxication. Do not encircle my head with a crown, for in the\nspring-time it is delightful to while away the time on the dewy meads,\nwhile soft and many-coloured flowers are in bloom, and, like the bees,\nenjoy a natural and pure fragrance. But to adorn one\u2019s self with \u201ca\ncrown woven from the fresh mead,\u201d and wear it at home, were unfit for a\nman of temperance. For it is not suitable to fill the wanton hair with\nrose-leaves, or violets, or lilies, or other such flowers, stripping\nthe sward of its flowers. For a crown encircling the head cools the\nhair, both on account of its moisture and its coolness. Accordingly,\nphysicians, determining by physiology that the brain is cold, approve\nof anointing the breast and the points of the nostrils, so that the\nwarm exhalation passing gently through, may salutarily warm the chill.\nA man ought not therefore to cool himself with flowers. Besides, those\nwho crown themselves destroy the pleasure there is in flowers: for\nthey enjoy neither the sight of them, since they wear the crown above\ntheir eyes; nor their fragrance, since they put the flowers away above\nthe organs of respiration. For the fragrance ascending and exhaling\nnaturally, the organ of respiration is left destitute of enjoyment, the\nfragrance being carried away. As beauty, so also the flower delights\nwhen looked at; and it is meet to glorify the Creator by the enjoyment\nof the sight of beautiful objects. The use of them is injurious, and\npasses swiftly away, avenged by remorse. Very soon their evanescence\nis proved; for both fade, both the flower and beauty. Further, whoever\ntouches them is cooled by the former, inflamed by the latter. In\none word, the enjoyment of them except by sight is a crime, and not\nluxury. It becomes us who truly follow the Scripture to enjoy ourselves\ntemperately, as in Paradise. We must regard the woman\u2019s crown to be her\nhusband, and the husband\u2019s crown to be marriage; and the flowers of\nmarriage the children of both, which the divine husbandman plucks from\nmeadows of flesh. \u201cChildren\u2019s children are the crown of old men.\u201d[551]\nAnd the glory of children is their fathers, it is said; and our glory\nis the Father of all; and the crown of the whole church is Christ. As\nroots and plants, so also have flowers their individual properties,\nsome beneficial, some injurious, some also dangerous. The ivy is\ncooling; nux emits a stupefying effluvium, as the etymology shows. The\nnarcissus is a flower with a heavy odour; the name evinces this, and it\ninduces a torpor (\u03bd\u03ac\u03c1\u03ba\u03b7\u03bd) in the nerves. And the effluvia of roses and\nviolets being mildly cool, relieve and prevent headaches. But we who\nare not only not permitted to drink with others to intoxication, but\nnot even to indulge in much wine, do not need the crocus or the flower\nof the cypress to lead us to an easy sleep. Many of them also, by their\nodours, warm the brain, which is naturally cold, volatilizing the\neffusions of the head. The rose is hence said to have received its name\n(\u1fe5\u03cc\u03b4\u03bf\u03bd) because it emits a copious stream (\u1fe5\u03b5\u1fe6\u03bc\u03b1) of odour (\u1f40\u03b4\u03c9\u03b4\u03ae).\nWherefore also it quickly fades.\n\nBut the use of crowns did not exist at all among the ancient Greeks;\nfor neither the suitors nor the luxurious Ph\u00e6aceans used them. But at\nthe games there was at first the gift to the athletes; second, the\nrising up to applaud; third, the strewing with leaves; lastly, the\ncrown, Greece after the Median war having given herself up to luxury.\n\nThose, then, who are trained by the Word are restrained from the use\nof crowns; and do not think that this Word, which has its seat in the\nbrain, ought to be bound about, not because the crown is the symbol\nof the recklessness of revelry, but because it has been dedicated to\nidols. Sophocles accordingly called the narcissus \u201cthe ancient coronet\nof the great gods,\u201d speaking of the earth-born divinities; and Sappho\ncrowns the Muses with the rose:\n\n \u201cFor thou dost not share in roses from Pieria.\u201d\n\nThey say, too, that Here delights in the lily, and Artemis in the\nmyrtle. For if the flowers were made especially for man, and senseless\npeople have taken them not for their own proper and grateful use, but\nhave abused them to the thankless service of demons, we must keep\nfrom them for conscience sake. The crown is the symbol of untroubled\ntranquillity. For this reason they crown the dead, and idols, too,\non the same account, by this fact giving testimony to their being\ndead. For revellers do not without crowns celebrate their orgies; and\nwhen once they are encircled with flowers, at last they are inflamed\nexcessively. We must have no communion with demons. Nor must we crown\nthe living image of God after the manner of dead idols. For the fair\ncrown of amaranth is laid up for those who have lived well. This flower\nthe earth is not able to bear; heaven alone is competent to produce it.\nFurther, it were irrational in us, who have heard that the Lord was\ncrowned with thorns,[552] to crown ourselves with flowers, insulting\nthus the sacred passion of the Lord. For the Lord\u2019s crown prophetically\npointed to us, who once were barren, but are placed around Him through\nthe church of which He is the Head. But it is also a type of faith,\nof life in respect of the substance of the wood, of joy in respect of\nthe appellation of crown, of danger in respect of the thorn, for there\nis no approaching to the Word without blood. But this platted crown\nfades, and the plait of perversity is untied, and the flower withers.\nFor the glory of those who have not believed on the Lord fades. And\nthey crowned Jesus raised aloft, testifying to their own ignorance. For\nbeing hard of heart, they understood not that this very thing, which\nthey called the disgrace of the Lord, was a prophecy wisely uttered:\n\u201cThe Lord was not known by the people\u201d[553] which erred, which was not\ncircumcised in understanding, whose darkness was not enlightened, which\nknew not God, denied the Lord, forfeited the place of the true Israel,\npersecuted God, hoped to reduce the Word to disgrace; and Him whom they\ncrucified as a malefactor they crowned as a king. Wherefore the Man on\nwhom they believed not, they shall know to be the loving God the Lord,\nthe Just. Whom they provoked to show Himself to be the Lord, to Him\nwhen lifted up they bore witness, by encircling Him, who is exalted\nabove every name, with the diadem of righteousness by the ever-blooming\nthorn. This diadem, being hostile to those who plot against Him,\ncoerces them; and friendly to those who form the church, defends them.\nThis crown is the flower of those who have believed on the glorified\nOne, but covers with blood and chastises those who have not believed.\nIt is a symbol, too, of the Lord\u2019s successful work, He having borne on\nHis head, the princely part of His body, all our iniquities by which we\nwere pierced. For He by His own passion rescued us from offences, and\nsins, and such like thorns; and having destroyed the devil, deservedly\nsaid in triumph, \u201cO Death, where is thy sting?\u201d[554] And we eat grapes\nfrom thorns, and figs from thistles; while those to whom He stretched\nforth His hands--the disobedient and unfruitful people--He lacerates\ninto wounds. I can also show you another mystic meaning in it. For when\nthe Almighty Lord of the universe began to legislate by the Word, and\nwished His power to be manifested to Moses, a godlike vision of light\nthat had assumed a shape was shown him in the burning bush (the bush is\na thorny plant); but when the Word ended the giving of the law and His\nstay with men, the Lord was again mystically crowned with thorn. On\nHis departure from this world to the place whence He came, He repeated\nthe beginning of His old descent, in order that the Word beheld at\nfirst in the bush, and afterwards taken up crowned by the thorn, might\nshow the whole to be the work of one power, He Himself being one, the\nSon of the Father, who is truly one, the beginning and the end of time.\n\nBut I have made a digression from the p\u00e6dagogic style of speech, and\nintroduced the didactic. I return accordingly to my subject.\n\nTo resume, then: we have showed that in the department of medicine,\nfor healing, and sometimes also for moderate recreation, the delight\nderived from flowers, and the benefit derived from unguents and\nperfumes, are not to be overlooked. And if some say, What pleasure,\nthen, is there in flowers to those that do not use them? let them\nknow, then, that unguents are prepared from them, and are most useful.\nThe Susinian ointment is made from various kinds of lilies; and\nit is warming, aperient, drawing, moistening, abstergent, subtle,\nantibilious, emollient. The Narcissinian is made from the narcissus,\nand is equally beneficial with the Susinian. The Myrsinian, made of\nmyrtle and myrtle berries, is a styptic, stopping effusions from the\nbody; and that from roses is refrigerating. For, in a word, these also\nwere created for our use. \u201cHear me,\u201d it is said, \u201cand grow as a rose\nplanted by the streams of waters, and give forth a sweet fragrance like\nfrankincense, and bless the Lord for His works.\u201d[555] We should have\nmuch to say respecting them, were we to speak of flowers and odours\nas made for necessary purposes, and not for the excesses of luxury.\nAnd if a concession must be made, it is enough for people to enjoy the\nfragrance of flowers; but let them not crown themselves with them. For\nthe Father takes great care of man, and gives to him alone His own art.\nThe Scripture therefore says, \u201cWater, and fire, and iron, and milk, and\nfine flour of wheat, and honey, the blood of the grape, and oil, and\nclothing,--all these things are for the good of the godly.\u201d[556]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n ON SLEEP.\n\n\nHow, in due course, we are to go to sleep, in remembrance of the\nprecepts of temperance, we must now say. For after the repast, having\ngiven thanks to God for our participation in our enjoyments, and for\nthe [happy] passing of the day, our talk must be turned to sleep.\nMagnificence of bed-clothes, gold-embroidered carpets, and smooth\ncarpets worked with gold, and long fine robes of purple, and costly\nfleecy cloaks, and manufactured rugs of purple, and mantles of thick\npile, and couches softer than sleep, are to be banished.\n\nFor, besides the reproach of voluptuousness, sleeping on downy feathers\nis injurious, when our bodies fall down as into a yawning hollow, on\naccount of the softness of the bedding.\n\nFor they are not convenient for sleepers turning in them, on account\nof the bed rising into a hill on either side of the body. Nor are they\nsuitable for the digestion of the food, but rather for burning it up,\nand so destroying the nutriment. But stretching one\u2019s self on even\ncouches, affording a kind of natural gymnasium for sleep, contributes\nto the digestion of the food. And those that can roll on other beds,\nhaving this, as it were, for a natural gymnasium for sleep, digest food\nmore easily, and render themselves fitter for emergencies. Moreover,\nsilver-footed couches argue great ostentation; and the ivory on beds,\nthe body having left the soul, is not permissible for holy men, being a\nlazy contrivance for rest.\n\nWe must not occupy our thoughts about these things, for the use of them\nis not forbidden to those who possess them; but solicitude about them\nis prohibited, for happiness is not to be found in them. On the other\nhand, it savours of cynic vanity for a man to act as Diomede,--\n\n \u201cAnd he stretched himself under a wild bull\u2019s hide,\u201d[557]--\n\nunless circumstances compel.\n\nUlysses rectified the unevenness of the nuptial couch with a stone.\nSuch frugality and self-help was practised not by private individuals\nalone, but by the chiefs of the ancient Greeks. But why speak of these?\nJacob slept on the ground, and a stone served him for a pillow; and\nthen was he counted worthy to behold the vision--that was above man.\nAnd in conformity with reason, the bed which we use must be simple\nand frugal, and so constructed that, by avoiding the extremes [of too\nmuch indulgence and too much endurance], it may be comfortable: if it\nis warm, to protect us; if cold, to warm us. But let not the couch be\nelaborate, and let it have smooth feet; for elaborate turnings form\noccasionally paths for creeping things which twine themselves about the\nincisions of the work, and do not slip off.\n\nEspecially is a moderate softness in the bed suitable for manhood; for\nsleep ought not to be for the total enervation of the body, but for its\nrelaxation. Wherefore I say that it ought not to be allowed to come on\nus for the sake of indulgence, but in order to rest from action. We\nmust therefore sleep so as to be easily awaked. For it is said, \u201cLet\nyour loins be girt about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves\nlike to men that watch for their lord, that when he returns from the\nmarriage, and comes and knocks, they may straightway open to him.\nBlessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find\nwatching.\u201d[558] For there is no use of a sleeping man, as there is not\nof a dead man. Wherefore we ought often to rise by night and bless God.\nFor blessed are they who watch for Him, and so make themselves like the\nangels, whom we call \u201cwatchers.\u201d But a man asleep is worth nothing, any\nmore than if he were not alive.\n\nBut he who has the light watches, \u201cand darkness seizes not on\nhim,\u201d[559] nor sleep, since darkness does not. He that is illuminated\nis therefore awake towards God; and such an one lives. \u201cFor what\nwas made in Him was life.\u201d[560] \u201cBlessed is the man,\u201d says Wisdom,\n\u201cwho shall hear me, and the man who shall keep my ways, watching at\nmy doors, daily observing the posts of my entrances.\u201d[561] \u201cLet us\nnot then sleep, as do others, but let us watch,\u201d says the Scripture,\n\u201cand be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that\nbe drunken, are drunken in the night,\u201d that is, in the darkness of\nignorance. \u201cBut let us who are of the day be sober. For ye are all\nchildren of the light, and children of the day; we are not of the\nnight, nor of the darkness.\u201d[562] But whoever of us is most solicitous\nfor living the true life, and for entertaining noble sentiments, will\nkeep awake for as long time as possible, reserving to himself only what\nin this respect is conducive to his own health; and that is not very\nusual.\n\nBut devotion to activity begets an everlasting vigil after toils. Let\nnot food weigh us down, but lighten us; that we may be injured as\nlittle as possible by sleep, as those that swim with weights hanging to\nthem are weighed down. But, on the other hand, let temperance raise us\nas from the abyss beneath to the enterprises of wakefulness. For the\noppression of sleep is like death, which forces us into insensibility,\ncutting off the light by the closing of the eyelids. Let not us, then,\nwho are sons of the true light, close the door against this light; but\nturning in on ourselves, illumining the eyes of the hidden man, and\ngazing on the truth itself, and receiving its streams, let us clearly\nand intelligibly reveal such dreams as are true.\n\nBut the hiccuping of those who are loaded with wine, and the snortings\nof those who are stuffed with food, and the snoring rolled in the\nbed-clothes, and the rumblings of pained stomachs, cover over the\nclear-seeing eye of the soul, by filling the mind with ten thousand\nphantasies. And the cause is too much food, which drags the rational\npart of man down to a condition of stupidity. For much sleep brings\nadvantage neither to our bodies nor our souls; nor is it suitable at\nall to those processes which have truth for their object, although\nagreeable to nature.\n\nNow, just Lot (for I pass over at present the account of the economy\nof regeneration) would not have been drawn into that unhallowed\nintercourse, had he not been intoxicated by his daughters, and\noverpowered by sleep. If, therefore, we cut off the causes of great\ntendency to sleep, we shall sleep the more soberly. For those who have\nthe sleepless Word dwelling in them, ought not to sleep the livelong\nnight; but they ought to rise by night, especially when the days are\ncoming to an end, and one devote himself to literature, another begin\nhis art, the women handle the distaff, and all of us should, so to\nspeak, fight against sleep, accustoming ourselves to this gently and\ngradually, so that through wakefulness we may partake of life for a\nlonger period.\n\nWe, then, who assign the best part of the night to wakefulness, must by\nno manner of means sleep by day; and fits of uselessness, and napping\nand stretching one\u2019s self, and yawning, are manifestations of frivolous\nuneasiness of soul. And in addition to all, we must know this, that the\nneed of sleep is not in the soul. For it is ceaselessly active. But the\nbody is relieved by being resigned to rest, the soul the whilst not\nacting through the body, but exercising intelligence within itself.\nThus also, such dreams as are true, in the view of him who reflects\nrightly, are the thoughts of a sober soul, undistracted for the time\nby the affections of the body, and counselling with itself in the\nbest manner. For the soul to cease from activity within itself, were\ndestruction to it. Wherefore always contemplating God, and by perpetual\nconverse with Him inoculating the body with wakefulness, it raises man\nto equality with angelic grace, and from the practice of wakefulness it\ngrasps the eternity of life.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.[563]\n\n QU\u00c6NAM DE PROCREATIONE LIBERORUM TRACTANDA SINT.\n\n\nTempus autem opportunum conjunctionis solis iis relinquitur\nconsiderandum, qui juncti sunt matrimonio; qui autem matrimonio juncti\nsunt, iis scopus est et institutum, liberorum susceptio: finis autem,\nut boni sint liberi: quemadmodum agricol\u00e6 seminis quidem dejectionis\ncausa est, quod nutrimenti habendi curam gerat; agricultur\u00e6 autem finis\nest, fructuum perceptio. Multo autem melior est agricola, qui terram\ncolit animatam: ille enim ed tempus alimentum expetens, hic vero ut\nuniversum permaneat, curam gerens, agricol\u00e6 officio fungitur: et ille\nquidem propter se, hic vero propter Deum plantat ac seminat. Dixit\nenim: \u201cMultiplicemini;\u201d[564] ubi hoc subaudiendum est: \u201cEt ea ratione\nfit homo Dei imago, quatenus homo co-operatur ad generationem hominis.\u201d\nNon est qu\u00e6libet terra apta ad suscipienda semina: quod si etiam sit\nqu\u00e6libet, non tamen eidem agricol\u00e6. Neque vero seminandum est supra\npetram, neque semen est contumelia afficiendum, quod quidem dux est\net princeps generationis, estque substantia, qu\u00e6 simul habet insitas\nnatur\u00e6 rationes. Qu\u00e6 sunt autem secundum naturam rationes, absque\nratione pr\u00e6ternaturalibus mandando meatibus, ignominia afficere, valde\nest impium. Videte itaque quomodo sapientissimus Moyses infrugiferam\naliquando sationem symbolice repulerit: \u201cNon comedes, inquiens,\nleporem, nec hy\u00e6nam.\u201d[565] Non vult homines esse qualitatis eorum\nparticipes, neque eis \u00e6qualem gustare libidinem: h\u00e6c enim animalia ad\nexplendum coitum venereum feruntur insano quodam furore. Ac leporem\nquidem dicunt quotannis multiplicare anum, pro numero annorum, quos\nvixit, habentem foramina: et ea ratione dum leporis esum prohibet,\nsignificat se dehortari puerorum amorem. Hy\u00e6nam autem vicissim singulis\nannis masculinum sexum mutare in femininum: significare autem non esse\nilli ad adulteria prorumpendum, qui ab hy\u00e6na abstinet.\n\nWell, I also agree that the consummately wise Moses confessedly\nindicates by the prohibition before us, that we must not resemble\nthese animals; but I do not assent to the explanation of what has\nbeen symbolically spoken. For nature never can be forced to change.\nWhat once has been impressed on it, may not be transformed into the\nopposite by passion. For passion is not nature, and passion is wont to\ndeface the form, not to cast it into a new shape. Though many birds\nare said to change with the seasons, both in colour and voice, as the\nblackbird (\u03ba\u03cc\u03c3\u03c3\u03c5\u03c6\u03bf\u03c2), which becomes yellow from black, and a chatterer\nfrom a singing-bird. Similarly also the nightingale changes by turns\nboth its colour and note. But they do not alter their nature itself,\nso as in the transformation to become female from male. But the new\ncrop of feathers, like new clothes, produces a kind of colouring of the\nfeathers, and a little after it evaporates in the rigour of winter, as\na flower when its colour fades. And in like manner the voice itself,\ninjured by the cold, is enfeebled. For, in consequence of the outer\nskin being thickened by the surrounding air, the arteries about the\nneck being compressed and filled, press hard on the breath; which being\nvery much confined, emits a stifled sound. When, again, the breath is\nassimilated to the surrounding air and relaxed in spring, it is freed\nfrom its confined condition, and is carried through the dilated, though\ntill then obstructed arteries, it warbles no longer a dying melody, but\nnow gives forth a shrill note; and the voice flows wide, and spring now\nbecomes the song of the voice of birds.\n\nNequaquam ergo credendum est, hy\u00e6nam unquam mutare naturam: idem\nenim animal non habet simul ambo pudenda maris et femin\u00e6, sicut\nnonnulli existimarunt, qui prodigiose hermaphroditos finxerunt, et\ninter marem et feminam, hanc masculo-feminam naturam innovarunt.\nValde autem falluntur, ut qui non animadverterint, quam sit filiorum\namans omnium mater et genetrix Natura: quoniam enim hoc animal,\nhy\u00e6na inquam, est salacissimum, sub cauda ante excrementi meatum,\nadnatum est ei quoddam carneum tuberculum, feminino pudendo figura\npersimile. Nullum autem meatum habet h\u00e6c figura carnis, qui in\nutilem aliquam desinat partem, vel in matricem inquam, vel in rectum\nintestinum: tantum habet magnam concavitatem, qu\u00e6 inanem excipiat\nlibidinem, quando aversi fuerint meatus, qui in concipiendo fetu\noccupati sunt. Hoc ipsum autem et masculo et femin\u00e6 hy\u00e6n\u00e6 adnatum\nest, quod sit insigniter pathica: masculus enim vicissim et agit, et\npatitur: unde etiam rarissime inveniri potest hy\u00e6na femina: non enim\nfrequenter concipit hoc animal, cum in eis largiter redundet ea, que\npr\u00e6ter naturam est, satio. Hac etiam ratione mihi videtur Plato in\n_Ph\u00e6dro_, amorem puerorum repellens, eum appellare bestiam, quod\nfrenum mordentes, qui se voluptatibus dedunt, libidinosi, quadrupedum\ncoeunt more, et filios seminare conantur. Impios \u201cautem tradidit\nDeus,\u201d ut ait Apostolus,[566] \u201cin perturbationes ignomini\u00e6: nam et\nfemin\u00e6 eorum mutaverunt naturalem usum in eum, qui est pr\u00e6ter naturam:\nsimiliter autem et masculi eorum, relicto usu naturali, exarserunt\nin desiderio sui inter se invicem, masculi in masculos turpitudinem\noperantes, et mercedem, quam oportuit, erroris sui in se recipientes.\u201d\nAt vero ne libidinosissimis quidem animantibus concessit natura in\nexcrementi meatum semen immittere: urina enim in vesicam excernitur,\nhumefactum alimentum in ventrem, lacryma vero in oculum, sanguis in\nvenas, sordes in aures, mucus in nares defertur: fini autem recti\nintestini, sedes coh\u00e6ret, per quam excrementa exponuntur. Sola ergo\nvaria in hy\u00e6nis natura, superfluo coitui superfluam hanc partem\nexcogitavit, et ideo est etiam aliquantisper concavum, ut prurientibus\npartibus inserviat, exinde autem exc\u00e6catur concavitas: non fuit enim\nres fabricata ad generationem. Hinc nobis manifestum atque adeo in\nconfesso est, vitandos esse cum masculis concubitus, et infrugiferas\nsationes, et Venerem pr\u00e6posteram, et qu\u00e6 natura coalescere non\npossunt, androgynorum conjunctiones, ipsam naturam sequentibus, qu\u00e6\nid per partium prohibet constitutionem, ut qu\u00e6 masculum non ad semen\nsuscipiendum, sed ad id effundendum fecerit. Jeremias autem, hoc est,\nper ipsum loquens Spiritus, quando dicit: \u201cSpelunca hy\u00e6n\u00e6 facta est\ndomus mea,\u201d[567] id quod ex mortuis constabat corporibus detestans\nalimentum, sapienti allegoria reprehendit cultum simulacrorum: vere\nenim oportet ab idolis esse puram domum Dei viventis. Rursus Moyses\nlepore quoque vesci prohibet. Omni enim tempore coit lepus, et salit,\nassidente femina, eam a tergo aggrediens: est enim ex iis, qu\u00e6 retro\ninsiliunt. Concipit autem singulis mensibus, et superfetat; init\nautem, et parit; postquam autem peperit, statim a quovis initur\nlepore (neque enim uno contenta est matrimonio) et rursus concipit,\nadhuc lactans: habet enim matricem, cui sunt duo sinus, et non unus\nsolus matricis vacuus sinus, est ei sufficiens sedes ad receptaculum\ncoitus (quidquid enim est vacuum, desiderat repleri); verum accidit,\nut cum uterum gerunt, altera pars matricis desiderio teneatur et\nlibidine furiat; quocirca fiunt eis superfetationes. A vehementibus\nergo appetitionibus, mutuisque congressionibus, et cum pr\u00e6gnantibus\nfeminis conjunctionibus, alternisque initibus, puerorumque stupris,\nadulteriis et libidine abstinere, hujus nos \u00e6nigmatis adhortata est\nprohibitio. Idcirco aperte, et non per \u00e6nigmata Moyses prohibuit,\n\u201cNon fornicaberis; non m\u0153chaberis; pueris stuprum non inferes,\u201d[568]\ninquiens. Logi itaque pr\u00e6scriptum totis viribus observandum, neque\nquidquam contra leges ullo modo faciendum est, neque mandata sunt\ninfirmanda. Mal\u00e6 enim cupiditati nomen est \u1f54\u03b2\u03c1\u03b9\u03c2, \u201cpetulantia;\u201d et\nequum cupiditatis, \u201cpetulantem\u201d vocavit Plato, cum legisset, \u201cFacti\nestis mihi equi furentes in feminas.\u201d[569] Libidines autem supplicium\nnotum nobis facient illi, qui Sodomam accesserunt, angeli. Ii eos, qui\nprobro illos afficere voluerunt, una cum ipsa civitate combusserunt,\nevidenti hoc indicio ignem, qui est fructus libidinis, describentes.\nQu\u00e6 enim veteribus acciderunt, sicut ante diximus, ad nos admonendos\nscripta sunt, ne eisdem teneamur vitiis, et caveamus, ne in p\u0153nas\nsimiles incidamus. Oportet autem filios existimare, pueros; uxores\nautem alienas intueri tanquam proprias filias: voluptates quippe\ncontinere, ventrique et iis qu\u00e6 sunt infra ventrem, dominari, est\nmaximi imperii. Si enim ne digitum quidem temene movere permittit\nsapienti ratio, ut confitentur Stoici, quomodo non multo magis iis,\nqui sapientiam persequuntur, in eam, qua coitur, particulam dominatus\nest obtinendus? Atque hac quidem de causa videtur esse nominatum\npudendum, quod hac corporis parte magis, quam qualibet alia, cum pudore\nutendum sit; natura enim sicut alimentis, ita etiam legitimis nuptiis,\nquantum convenit, utile est, et decet, nobis uti permisit: permisit\nautem appetere liberorum procreationem. Quicumque autem, quod modum\nexcedit, persequuntur, labuntur in eo quod est secundum naturam, per\ncongressus, qui sunt pr\u00e6ter leges, seipsos l\u00e6dentes. Ante omnia enim\nrecte habet, ut nunquam cum adolescentibus perinde ac cum feminis,\nVeneris utamur consuetudine. Et ideo \u201cnon esse in petris et lapidibus\nseminandum\u201d dicit, qui a Moyse factus est philosophus, \u201cquoniam nunquam\nactis radicibus genitalem sit semen naturam suscepturum.\u201d Logos\nitaque per Moysen apertissime pr\u00e6cepit: \u201cEt cum masculo non dormies\nfeminino concubitu: est enim abominatio.\u201d[570] Accedit his, quod \u201cab\nomni quoque arvo feminino esse abstinendum\u201d pr\u00e6terquam a proprio, ex\ndivinis Scripturis colligens pr\u00e6clarus Plato consuluit lege illinc\naccepta: \u201cEt uxori proximi tui non dabis concubitum seminis, ut\npolluaris apud ipsam.[571] Irrita autem sunt et adulterina concubinarum\nsemina. Ne semina, ubi non vis tibi nasci quod seminatum est. Neque\nullam omnino tange mulierem, pr\u00e6terquam tuam ipsius uxorem,\u201d ex qua\nsola tibi licet carnis voluptates percipere ad suscipiendam legitimam\nsuccessionem. H\u00e6c enim Logo sola sunt legitima. Eis quidem certe, qui\ndivini muneris in producendo opificio sunt participes, semen non est\nabjiciendum, neque injuria afficiendum, neque tanquam si cornibus semen\nmandes seminandum est. Hic ipse ergo Moyses cum ipsis quoque prohibet\nuxoribus congredi, si forte eas detineant purgationes menstru\u00e6. Non\nenim purgamento corporis genitale semen, et quod mox homo futurum est,\npolluere est \u00e6quum, nec sordido materi\u00e6 profluvio, et, qu\u00e6 expurgantur,\ninquinamentis inundare ac obruere; semen autem generationis degenerat,\nineptumque redditur, si matricis sulcis privetur. Neque vero ullum\nunquam induxit veterum Hebr\u00e6orum coeuntem cum sua uxore pr\u00e6gnante. Sola\nenim voluptas, si quis ea etiam utatur in conjugio, est pr\u00e6ter leges,\net injusta, et a ratione aliena. Rursus autem Moyses abducit viros a\npr\u00e6gnantibus, quousque pepererint. Revera enim matrix sub vesica quidem\ncollocata, super intestinum autem, quod rectum appellatur, posita,\nextendit collum inter humeros in vesica; et os colli, in quod venit\nsemen, impletum occluditur, illa autem rursus inanis redditur, cum\npartu purgata fuerit: fructu autem deposito, deinde semen suscipit.\nNeque vero nobis turpe est ad auditorum utilitatem nominare partes,\nin quibus fit fetus conceptio, qu\u00e6 quidem Deum fabricari non puduit.\nMatrix itaque sitiens filiorum procreationem, semen suscipit,\nprobrosumque et vituperandum negat coitum, post sationem ore clauso\nomnino jam libidinem excludens. Ejus autem appetitiones, qu\u00e6 prius in\namicis versabantur complexibus, intro convers\u00e6, in procreatione sobolis\noccupat\u00e6, operantur una cum Opifice. Nefas est ergo operantem jam\nnaturam adhuc molestia afficere, superflue ad petulantem prorumpendo\nlibidinem. Petulantia autem, qu\u00e6 multa quidem habet nomina, et multas\nspecies, cum ad hanc veneream intemperantiam deflexerit, \u03bb\u03b1\u03b3\u03bd\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, id\nest \u201clascivia,\u201d dicitur; quo nomine significatur libidinosa, publica,\net incesta in coitum propensio: qu\u00e6 cum aucta fuerit, magna simul\nmorborum convenit multitudo, obsoniorum desiderium, vinolentia et amor\nin mulieres; luxus quoque, et simul universarum voluptatum studium; in\nqu\u00e6 omnia tyrannidem obtinet cupiditas. His autem cognat\u00e6 innumerabiles\naugentur affectiones, ex quibus mores intemperantes ad summum\nprovehuntur. Dicit autem Scriptura: \u201cParantur intemperantibus flagella,\net supplicia humeris insipientium:\u201d[572] vires intemperanti\u00e6, ejusque\nconstantem tolerantiam, vocans \u201chumeros insipientium.\u201d Quocirca,\n\u201cAmove a servis tuis spes inanes, et indecoras,\u201d inquit, \u201ccupiditates\naverte a me. Ventris appetitio et coitus ne me apprehendant.\u201d[573]\nLonge ergo sunt arcenda multifaria insidiatorum maleficia; non ad\nsolam enim Cratetis Peram, sed etiam ad nostram civitatem non navigat\nstultus parasitus, nec scortator libidinosus, qui posteriori delectatur\nparte: non dolosa meretrix, nec ulla ejusmodi alia voluptatis\nbellua. Multa ergo nobis per totam vitam seminetur, qu\u00e6 bona sit et\nhonesta, occupatio. In summa ergo, vel jungi matrimonio, vel omnino\na matrimonio purum esse oportet; in qu\u00e6stione enim id versatur, et\nhoc a nobis declaratum est in libro _De continentia_. Quod si\nhoc ipsum, an ducenda sit uxor, veniat in considerationem: quomodo\nlibere permittetur, quemadmodum nutrimento, ita etiam coitu semper\nuti, tanquam re necessaria? Ex eo ergo videri possunt nervi tanquam\nstamina distrahi, et in vehementi congressus intensione disrumpi. Jam\nvero offundit etiam caliginem sensibus, et vires enervat. Patet hoc et\nin animantibus rationis expertibus, et in iis, qu\u00e6 in exercitatione\nversantur, corporibus; quorum hi quidem, qui abstinent, in certaminibus\nsuperant adversarios; illa vero a coitu abducta circumaguntur, et\ntantum non trahuntur, omnibus viribus et omni impetu tandem quasi\nenervata. \u201cParvam epilepsiam\u201d dicebat \u201ccoitum\u201d sophista Abderites\nmorbum immedicabilem existimans. Annon enim consequuntur resolutiones,\nqu\u00e6 exinanitionis ejusque, quod abscedit, magnitudini ascribuntur?\n\u201chomo enim ex homine nascitur et evellitur.\u201d Vide damni magnitudinem:\ntotus homo per exinanitionem coitus abstrahitur. Dicit enim: \u201cHoc\nnunc os ex ossibus meis, et caro ex carne mea.\u201d[574] Homo ergo tantum\nexinanitur semine, quantus videtur corpore; est enim generationis\ninitium id, quod recedit: quin etiam conturbat ebullitio materi\u00e6\net compagem corporis labefactat et commovet. Lepide ergo ille, qui\ninterroganti, \u201cQuomodo adhuc se haberet ad res venereas,\u201d respondit:\n\u201cBona verba, qu\u00e6so: ego vero lubentissime isthinc, tanquam ab agresti\net insano domino, profugi.\u201d Verum concedatur quidem et admittatur\nmatrimonium: vult enim Dominus humanum genus repleri; sed non dicit,\nEstote libidinosi: nec vos, tanquam ad coitum natos, voluit esse\ndeditos voluptati. Pudore autem nos afficiat P\u00e6dagogus, clamans per\nEzechielem: \u201cCircumcidamini fornicationem vestram.\u201d Aliquod tempus ad\nseminandum opportunum habent quoque rationis expertia animantia. Aliter\nautem coire, quam ad liberorum procreationem, est facere injuriam\nnatur\u00e6; qua quidem oportet magistra, quas prudenter introducit temporis\ncommoditates, diligenter observare, senectutem, inquam, et puerilem\n\u00e6tatem. His enim nondum concessit, illos autem non vult amplius uxores\nducere. Sed non vult homines semper dare operam matrimonio. Matrimonium\nautem est filiorum procreationis appetitio, non inordinata seminis\nexcretio, qu\u00e6 est et pr\u00e6ter leges et a ratione aliena. Secundum naturam\nautem nobis vita universa processerit, si et ab initio cupiditates\ncontineamus, et hominum genus, quod ex divina providentia nascitur,\nimprobis et malitiosis non tollamus artibus: e\u00e6 enim, ut fornicationem\ncelent, exitialia medicamenta adhibentes, qu\u00e6 prorsus in perniciem\nducunt, simul cum fetu omnem humanitatem perdunt. C\u00e6terum, quibus\nuxores ducere concessum est, iis P\u00e6dagogo opus fuerit, ut non interdiu\nmystica natur\u00e6 celebrentur orgia, nec ut aliquis ex ecclesia, verbi\ngratia, aut ex foro mane rediens, galli more coeat, quando orationis,\net lectionis, et eorum qu\u00e6 interdiu facere convenit, operum tempus\nest. Vespere autem oportet post convivium quiescere, et post gratiarum\nactionem, qu\u00e6 fit Deo pro bonis qu\u00e6 percepimus. Non semper autem\nconcedit tempus natura, ut peragatur congressus matrimonii; est enim\neo desiderabilior conjunctio, quo diuturnior. Neque vero noctu,\ntanquam in tenebris, immodeste sese ac intemperanter gerere oportet,\nsed verecundia, ut qu\u00e6 sit lux rationis, in animo est includenda.\nNihil enim a Penelope telam texente differemus, si interdiu quidem\ntexamus dogmata temperanti\u00e6; noctu autem ea resolvamus, cum in cubile\nvenerimus. Si enim honestatem exercere oportet, multo magis tu\u00e6 uxori\nhonestas est ostendenda, inhonestas vitando conjunctiones: et quod\ncaste cum proximis verseris, fide dignum e domo adsit testimonium.\nNon enim potest aliquid honestum ab ea existimari, apud quam honestas\nin acribus illis non probatur certo quasi testimonio voluptatibus.\nBenevolentia autem qu\u00e6 pr\u00e6ceps fertur ad congressionem, exiguo tempore\nfloret, et cum corpore consenescit; nonnunquam autem etiam pr\u00e6senescit,\nflaccescente jam libidine, quando matrimonialem temperantiam meretrici\u00e6\nvitiaverint libidines. Amantium enim corda sunt volucria, amorisque\nirritamenta exstinguuntur s\u00e6pe p\u0153nitentia; amorque s\u00e6pe vertitur\nin odium, quando reprehensionem senserit satietas. Impudicorum\nvero verborum, et turpium figurarum, meretriciorumque osculorum,\net hujusmodi lasciviarum nomina ne sunt quidem memoranda, beatum\nsequentibus Apostolum, qui aperte dicit: \u201cFornicatio autem et omnis\nimmunditia, vel plura habendi cupiditas, ne nominetur quidem in vobis,\nsicut decet sanctos.\u201d[575] Recte ergo videtur dixisse quispiam: \u201cNulli\nquidem profuit coitus, recte autem cum eo agitur, quem non l\u00e6serit.\u201d\nNam et qui legitimus, est periculosus, nisi quatenus in liberorum\nprocreatione versatur. De eo autem, qui est pr\u00e6ter leges, dicit\nScriptura: \u201cMulier meretrix apro similis reputabitur. Qu\u00e6 autem viro\nsubjecta est, turris est mortis iis, qui ea utuntur.\u201d Capro, val apro,\nmeretricis comparavit affectionem. \u201cMortem\u201d autem dixit \u201cqu\u00e6sitam,\u201d\nadulterium, quod committitur in meretrice, qu\u00e6 custoditur. \u201cDomum\u201d\nautem, et \u201curbem,\u201d in qua suam exercent intemperantiam. Quin etiam qu\u00e6\nest apud vos poetica, quodammodo ea exprobrans, scribit:\n\n Tecum et adulterium est, tecum coitusque nefandus,\n F\u0153dus, femineusque, urbs pessima, plane impura.\n\nEcontra autem pudicos admiratur:\n\n Quos desiderium tenuit nec turpe cubilis\n Alterius, nec tetra invisaque stupra tulerunt\n Ulla unquam maribus.\n\nFor many think such things to be pleasures only which are against\nnature, such as these sins of theirs. And those who are better than\nthey, know them to be sins, but are overcome by pleasures, and darkness\nis the veil of their vicious practices. For he violates his marriage\nadulterously who uses it in a meretricious way, and hears not the voice\nof the Instructor, crying, \u201cThe man who ascends his bed, who says in\nhis soul, Who seeth me? darkness is around me, and the walls are my\ncovering, and no one sees my sins. Why do I fear lest the Highest\nwill remember?\u201d[576] Most wretched is such a man, dreading men\u2019s eyes\nalone, and thinking that he will escape the observation of God. \u201cFor\nhe knoweth not,\u201d says the Scripture, \u201cthat brighter ten thousand times\nthan the sun are the eyes of the Most High, which look on all the\nways of men, and cast their glance into hidden parts.\u201d Thus again the\nInstructor threatens them, speaking by Isaiah: \u201cWoe be to those who\ntake counsel in secret, and say, Who seeth us?\u201d[577] For one may escape\nthe light of sense, but that of the mind it is impossible to escape.\nFor how, says Heraclitus, can one escape the notice of that which never\nsets? Let us by no means, then, veil our selves with the darkness; for\nthe light dwells in us. \u201cFor the darkness,\u201d it is said, \u201ccomprehendeth\nit not.\u201d[578] And the very night itself is illuminated by temperate\nreason. The thoughts of good men Scripture has named \u201csleepless\nlamps;\u201d[579] although for one to attempt even to practise concealment,\nwith reference to what he does, is confessedly to sin. And every one\nwho sins, directly wrongs not so much his neighbour if he commits\nadultery, as himself, because he has committed adultery, besides making\nhimself worse and less thought of. For he who sins, in the degree in\nwhich he sins, becomes worse and is of less estimation than before;\nand he who has been overcome by base pleasures, has now licentiousness\nwholly attached to him. Wherefore he who commits fornication is wholly\ndead to God, and is abandoned by the Word as a dead body by the spirit.\nFor what is holy, as is right, abhors to be polluted. But it is always\nlawful for the pure to touch the pure. Do not, I pray, put off modesty\nat the same time that you put off your clothes; because it is never\nright for the just man to divest himself of continence. For, lo, this\nmortal shall put on immortality; when the insatiableness of desire,\nwhich rushes into licentiousness, being trained to self-restraint,\nand made free from the love of corruption, shall consign the man to\neverlasting chastity. \u201cFor in this world they marry and are given in\nmarriage.\u201d[580] But having done with the works of the flesh, and having\nbeen clothed with immortality, the flesh itself being pure, we pursue\nafter that which is according to the measure of the angels.\n\nThus in the _Philebus_, Plato, who had been the disciple of the\nbarbarian[581] philosophy, mystically called those Atheists who destroy\nand pollute, as far as in them lies, the Deity dwelling in them--that\nis, the Logos--by association with their vices. Those, therefore,\nwho are consecrated to God must never live mortally (\u03b8\u03bd\u03b7\u03c4\u1ff6\u03c2). \u201cNor,\u201d\nas Paul says, \u201cis it meet to make the members of Christ the members\nof an harlot; nor must the temple of God be made the temple of base\naffections.\u201d[582] Remember the four and twenty thousand that were\nrejected for fornication. But the experiences of those who have\ncommitted fornication, as I have already said, are types which correct\nour lusts. Moreover, the P\u00e6dagogue warns us most distinctly: \u201cGo not\nafter thy lusts, and abstain from thine appetites;[583] for wine and\nwomen will remove the wise; and he that cleaves to harlots will become\nmore daring. Corruption and the worm shall inherit him, and he shall\nbe held up as public example to greater shame.\u201d[584] And again--for he\nwearies not of doing good--\u201cHe who averts his eyes from pleasure crowns\nhis life.\u201d\n\nNon est ergo justum vinci a rebus venereis, nec libidinibus stolide\ninhiare, nec a ratione alienis appetitionibus moveri, nec desiderare\npollui. Ei autem soli, qui uxorem duxit, ut qui tunc sit agricola,\nserere permissum est; quando tempus sementem admittit. Adversus\naliam autem intemperantiam, optimum quidem est medicamentum, ratio.\nFert etiam auxilium penuria satietatis, per quam accens\u00e6 libidines\nprosiliunt ad voluptates.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.[585]\n\n ON CLOTHES.\n\n\nWherefore neither are we to provide for ourselves costly clothing any\nmore than variety of food. The Lord Himself, therefore, dividing His\nprecepts into what relates to the body, the soul, and thirdly, external\nthings, counsels us to provide external things on account of the body;\nand manages the body by the soul (\u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u1f74), and disciplines the soul,\nsaying, \u201cTake no thought for your life (\u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u1fc7), what ye shall eat; nor\nyet for your body, what ye shall put on; for the life is more than\nmeat, and the body more than raiment.\u201d[586] And He adds a plain example\nof instruction: \u201cConsider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap,\nwhich have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them.\u201d[587]\n\u201cAre ye not better than the fowls?\u201d[588] Thus far as to food. Similarly\nHe enjoins with respect to clothing, which belongs to the third\ndivision, that of things external, saying, \u201cConsider the lilies, how\nthey spin not, nor weave. But I say unto you, that not even Solomon\nwas arrayed as one of these.\u201d[589] And Solomon the king plumed himself\nexceedingly on his riches.\n\nWhat, I ask, more graceful, more gay-coloured, than flowers? What, I\nsay, more delightful than lilies or roses? \u201cAnd if God so clothe the\ngrass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the\noven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith!\u201d[590]\nHere the particle _what_ (\u03c4\u03b9) banishes variety in food. For\nthis is shown from the scripture, \u201cTake no thought what things ye\nshall eat, or what things ye shall drink.\u201d For to take thought of\nthese things argues greed and luxury. Now eating, considered merely\nby itself, is the sign of necessity; repletion, as we have said, of\nwant. Whatever is beyond that, is the sign of superfluity. And what\nis superfluous, Scripture declares to be of the devil. The subjoined\nexpression makes the meaning plain. For having said, \u201cSeek not what\nye shall eat, or what ye shall drink,\u201d He added, \u201cNeither be ye of\ndoubtful (or lofty)[591] mind.\u201d Now pride and luxury make men waverers\n(or raise them aloft) from the truth; and the voluptuousness, which\nindulges in superfluities, leads away from the truth. Wherefore He says\nvery beautifully, \u201cAnd all these things do the nations of the world\nseek after.\u201d[592] The nations are the dissolute and the foolish. And\nwhat are these things which He specifies? Luxury, voluptuousness, rich\ncooking, dainty feeding, gluttony. These are the \u201cWhat?\u201d And of bare\nsustenance, dry and moist, as being necessaries, He says, \u201cYour Father\nknoweth that ye need these.\u201d And if, in a word, we are naturally given\nto seeking, let us not destroy the faculty of seeking by directing it\nto luxury, but let us excite it to the discovery of truth. For He says,\n\u201cSeek ye the kingdom of God, and the materials of sustenance shall be\nadded to you.\u201d\n\nIf, then, He takes away anxious care for clothes and food, and\nsuperfluities in general, as unnecessary; what are we to imagine ought\nto be said of love of ornament, and dyeing of wool, and variety of\ncolours, and fastidiousness about gems, and exquisite working of gold,\nand still more, of artificial hair and wreathed curls; and furthermore,\nof staining the eyes, and plucking out hairs, and painting with rouge\nand white lead, and dyeing of the hair, and the wicked arts that are\nemployed in such deceptions? May we not very well suspect, that what\nwas quoted a little above respecting the grass, has been said of those\nunornamental lovers of ornaments? For the field is the world, and we\nwho are bedewed by the grace of God are the grass; and though cut down,\nwe spring up again, as will be shown at greater length in the book\n_On the Resurrection_. But hay figuratively designates the vulgar\nrabble, attached to ephemeral pleasure, flourishing for a little,\nloving ornament, loving praise, and being everything but truth-loving,\ngood for nothing but to be burned with fire. \u201cThere was a certain\nman,\u201d said the Lord, narrating, \u201cvery rich, who was clothed in purple\nand scarlet, enjoying himself splendidly every day.\u201d This was the\nhay. \u201cAnd a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at the rich man\u2019s\ngate, full of sores, desiring to be filled with the crumbs which fell\nfrom the rich man\u2019s table.\u201d This is the grass. Well, the rich man was\npunished in Hades, being made partaker of the fire; while the other\nflourished again in the Father\u2019s bosom. I admire that ancient city\nof the Laced\u00e6monians which permitted harlots alone to wear flowered\nclothes, and ornaments of gold, interdicting respectable women from\nlove of ornament, and allowing courtesans alone to deck themselves. On\nthe other hand, the archons of the Athenians, who affected a polished\nmode of life, forgetting their manhood, wore tunics reaching to the\nfeet, and had on the crobulus--a kind of knot of the hair--adorned\nwith a fastening of gold grasshoppers, to show their origin from the\nsoil, forsooth, in the ostentation of licentiousness. Now rivalry\nof these archons extended also to the other Ionians, whom Homer, to\nshow their effeminacy, calls \u201cLong-robed.\u201d Those, therefore, who are\ndevoted to the image of the beautiful, that is, love of finery, not the\nbeautiful itself, and who under a fair name again practise idolatry,\nare to be banished far from the truth, as those who by opinion,[593]\nnot knowledge, dream of the nature of the beautiful; and so life here\nis to them only a deep sleep of ignorance; from which it becomes us to\nrouse ourselves and haste to that which is truly beautiful and comely,\nand desire to grasp this alone, leaving the ornaments of earth to the\nworld, and bidding them farewell before we fall quite asleep. I say,\nthen, that man requires clothes for nothing else than the covering of\nthe body, for defence against excess of cold and intensity of heat,\nlest the inclemency of the air injure us. And if this is the object\nof clothing, see that one kind be not assigned to men and another to\nwomen. For it is common to both to be covered, as it is to eat and\ndrink. The necessity, then, being common, we judge that the provision\nought to be similar. For as it is common to both to require things to\ncover them, so also their coverings ought to be similar; although such\na covering ought to be assumed as is requisite for covering the eyes\nof women. For if the female sex, on account of their weakness, desire\nmore, we ought to blame the habit of that evil training, by which\noften men reared up in bad habits become more effeminate than women.\nBut this must not be yielded to. And if some accommodation is to be\nmade, they may be permitted to use softer clothes, provided they put\nout of the way fabrics foolishly thin, and of curious texture in the\nweaving; bidding farewell to embroidery of gold and Indian silks and\nelaborate Bombyces (silks), which is at first a worm, then from it is\nproduced a hairy caterpillar; after which the creature suffers a new\ntransformation into a third form which they call larva, from which a\nlong filament is produced, as the spider\u2019s thread from the spider. For\nthese superfluous and diaphanous materials are the proof of a weak\nmind, covering as they do the shame of the body with a slender veil.\nFor luxurious clothing, which cannot conceal the shape of the body, is\nno more a covering. For such clothing, falling close to the body, takes\nits form more easily, and adhering as it were to the flesh, receives\nits shape, and marks out the woman\u2019s figure, so that the whole make of\nthe body is visible to spectators, though not seeing the body itself.\n\nDyeing of clothes is also to be rejected. For it is remote both from\nnecessity and truth, in addition to the fact that reproach in manners\nsprings from it. For the use of colours is not beneficial, for they\nare of no service against cold; nor has it anything for covering more\nthan other clothing, except the opprobrium alone. And the agreeableness\nof the colour afflicts greedy eyes, inflaming them to senseless\nblindness. But for those who are white and unstained within, it is\nmost suitable to use white and simple garments. Clearly and plainly,\ntherefore, Daniel the prophet says, \u201cThrones were set, and upon\nthem sat one like the Ancient of days, and His vesture was white as\nsnow.\u201d[594] The Apocalypse says also that the Lord Himself appeared\nwearing such a robe. It says also, \u201cI saw the souls of those that had\nwitnessed, beneath the altar, and there was given to each a white\nrobe.\u201d[595] And if it were necessary to seek for any other colour, the\nnatural colour of truth should suffice. But garments which are like\nflowers are to be abandoned to Bacchic fooleries, and to those of the\nrites of initiation, along with purple and silver plate, as the comic\npoet says:\n\n \u201cUseful for tragedians, not for life.\u201d\n\nAnd our life ought to be anything rather than a pageant. Therefore\nthe dye of Sardis, and another of olive, and another green, a\nrose-coloured, and scarlet, and ten thousand other dyes, have been\ninvented with much trouble for mischievous voluptuousness. Such\nclothing is for looking at, not for covering. Garments, too, variegated\nwith gold, and those that are purple, and that piece of luxury which\nhas its name from beasts (figured on it), and that saffron-coloured\nointment-dipped robe, and those costly and many-coloured garments of\nflaring membranes, we are to bid farewell to, with the art itself. \u201cFor\nwhat prudent thing can these women have done,\u201d says the comedy, \u201cwho\nsit covered with flowers, wearing a saffron-coloured dress, painted?\u201d\n\nThe Instructor expressly admonishes, \u201cBoast not of the clothing of\nyour garment, and be not elated on account of any glory, as it is\nunlawful.\u201d[596]\n\nAccordingly, deriding those who are clothed in luxurious garments, He\nsays in the Gospel: \u201cLo, they who live in gorgeous apparel and luxury\nare in earthly palaces.\u201d[597] He says in perishable palaces, where\nare love of display, love of popularity, and flattery and deceit. But\nthose that wait at the court of heaven around the King of all, are\nsanctified in the immortal vesture of the Spirit, that is, the flesh,\nand so put on incorruptibility.\n\nAs therefore she who is unmarried devotes herself to God alone, and\nher care is not divided, but the chaste married woman divides her life\nbetween God and her husband, while she who is otherwise disposed is\ndevoted entirely to marriage, that is, to passion: in the same way\nI think the chaste wife, when she devotes herself to her husband,\nsincerely serves God; but when she becomes fond of finery, she falls\naway from God and from chaste wedlock, exchanging her husband for the\nworld, after the fashion of that Argive courtesan, I mean Eriphyle,\n\n \u201cWho received gold prized above her dear husband.\u201d\n\nWherefore I admire the Ceian sophist,[598] who delineated like and\nsuitable images of Virtue and Vice, representing the former of\nthese, viz. Virtue, standing simply, white-robed and pure, adorned\nwith modesty alone (for such ought to be the true wife, dowered with\nmodesty). But the other, viz. Vice, on the contrary, he introduces\ndressed in superfluous attire, brightened up with colour not her\nown; and her gait and mien are depicted as studiously framed to give\npleasure, forming a sketch of wanton women.\n\nBut he who follows the Word will not addict himself to any base\npleasure; wherefore also what is useful in the article of dress is to\nbe preferred. And if the Word, speaking of the Lord by David, sings,\n\u201cThe daughters of kings made Thee glad by honour; the queen stood at\nThy right hand, clad in cloth of gold, girt with golden fringes,\u201d it\nis not luxurious raiment that he indicates; but he shows the immortal\nadornment, woven of faith, of those that have found mercy, that is,\nthe church; in which the guileless Jesus shines conspicuous as gold,\nand the elect are the golden tassels. And if such must be woven[599]\nfor the women, let us weave apparel pleasant and soft to the touch,\nnot flowered, like pictures, to delight the eye. For the picture\nfades in course of time, and the washing and steeping in the medicated\njuices of the dye wear away the wool, and render the fabrics of the\ngarments weak; and this is not favourable to economy. It is the height\nof foolish ostentation to be in a flutter about peploi, and xystides,\nand ephaptides,[600] and \u201ccloaks,\u201d and tunics, and \u201cwhat covers shame,\u201d\nsays Homer. For, in truth, I am ashamed when I see so much wealth\nlavished on the covering of the secret parts. For primeval man in\nparadise provided a covering for his shame of branches and leaves;\nand now, since sheep have been created for us, let us not be as silly\nas sheep, but trained by the Word, let us condemn sumptuousness of\nclothing, saying, \u201cYe are sheep\u2019s wool.\u201d Though Miletus boast, and\nItaly be praised, and the wool, about which many rave, be protected\nbeneath skins,[601] yet are we not to set our hearts on it.\n\nThe blessed John, despising the locks of sheep as savouring of luxury,\nchose \u201ccamel\u2019s hair,\u201d and was clad in it, making himself an example of\nfrugality and simplicity of life. For he also \u201cate locusts and wild\nhoney,\u201d[602] sweet and spiritual fare; preparing, as he was, the lowly\nand chaste ways of the Lord. For how possibly could he have worn a\npurple robe, who turned away from the pomp of cities, and retired to\nthe solitude of the desert, to live in calmness with God, far from all\nfrivolous pursuits--from all false show of good--from all meanness?\nElias used a sheepskin mantle, and fastened the sheepskin with a\ngirdle made of hair.[603] And Esaias, another prophet, was naked and\nbarefooted,[604] and often was clad in sackcloth, the garb of humility.\nAnd if you call Jeremiah, he had only \u201ca linen girdle.\u201d[605]\n\nFor as well-nurtured bodies, when stripped, show their vigour more\nmanifestly, so also beauty of character shows its magnanimity, when not\ninvolved in ostentatious fooleries. But to drag one\u2019s clothes, letting\nthem down to the soles of his feet, is a piece of consummate foppery,\nimpeding activity in walking, the garment sweeping the surface dirt of\nthe ground like a broom; since even those emasculated creatures the\ndancers, who transfer their dumb shameless profligacy to the stage, do\nnot despise the dress which flows away to such indignity; whose curious\nvestments, and appendages of fringes, and elaborate motions of figures,\nshow the trailing of sordid effeminacy.\n\nIf one should adduce the garment of the Lord reaching down to the\nfoot, that many-flowered coat shows the flowers of wisdom, the varied\nand unfading Scriptures, the oracles of the Lord, resplendent with\nthe rays of truth. In such another robe the Spirit arrayed the Lord\nthrough David, when he sang thus: \u201cThou wert clothed with confession\nand comeliness, putting on light as a garment.\u201d[606]\n\nAs, then, in the fashioning of our clothes, we must keep clear of all\nstrangeness, so in the use of them we must beware of extravagance. For\nneither is it seemly for the clothes to be above the knee, as they say\nwas the case with the Laced\u00e6monian virgins; nor is it becoming for any\npart of a woman to be exposed. Though you may with great propriety use\nthe language addressed to him who said, \u201cYour arm is beautiful; yes,\nbut it is not for the public gaze. Your thighs are beautiful; but,\nwas the reply, for my husband alone. And your face is comely. Yes;\nbut only for him who has married me.\u201d But I do not wish chaste women\nto afford cause for such praises to those who, by praises, hunt after\ngrounds of censure; and not only because it is prohibited to expose the\nankle, but because it has also been enjoined that the head should be\nveiled and the face covered; for it is a wicked thing for beauty to be\na snare to men. Nor is it seemly for a woman to wish to make herself\nconspicuous, by using a purple veil. Would it were possible to abolish\npurple in dress, so as not to turn the eyes of spectators on the face\nof those that wear it! But the women, in the manufacture of all the\nrest of their dress, have made everything of purple, thus inflaming the\nlusts. And, in truth, those women who are crazy about these stupid and\nluxurious purples, \u201cpurple (dark) death has seized,\u201d[607] according to\nthe poetic saying. On account of this purple, then, Tyre and Sidon, and\nthe vicinity of the Laced\u00e6monian Sea, are very much desired; and their\ndyers and purple-fishers, and the purple fishes themselves, because\ntheir blood produces purple, are held in high esteem. But crafty women\nand effeminate men, who blend these deceptive dyes with dainty fabrics,\ncarry their insane desires beyond all bounds, and export their fine\nlinens no longer from Egypt, but some other kinds from the land of\nthe Hebrews and the Cilicians. I say nothing of the linens made of\nAmorgos[608] and Byssus. Luxury has outstripped nomenclature.\n\nThe covering ought, in my judgment, to show that which is covered to be\nbetter than itself, as the image is superior to the temple, the soul\nto the body, and the body to the clothes. But now, quite the contrary,\nthe body of these ladies, if sold, would never fetch a thousand Attic\ndrachms. Buying, as they do, a single dress at the price of ten\nthousand talents, they prove themselves to be of less use and less\nvalue than cloth. Why in the world do you seek after what is rare and\ncostly, in preference to what is at hand and cheap? It is because you\nknow not what is really beautiful, what is really good, and seek with\neagerness shows instead of realities, from fools who, like people out\nof their wits, imagine black to be white.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n ON SHOES.\n\n\nWomen fond of display act in the same manner with regard to shoes,\nshowing also in this matter great luxuriousness. Base, in truth, are\nthose sandals on which golden ornaments are fastened; but they are\nthought worth having nails driven into the soles in winding rows.\nMany, too, carve on them amorous embraces, as if they would by their\nwalk communicate to the earth harmonious movement, and impress on it\nthe wantonness of their spirit. Farewell, therefore, must be bidden to\ngold-plated and jewelled mischievous devices of sandals, and Attic and\nSicyonian half-boots, and Persian and Tyrrhenian buskins; and setting\nbefore us the right aim, as is the habit with our truth, we are bound\nto select what is in accordance with nature.\n\nFor the use of shoes is partly for covering, partly for defence in case\nof stumbling against objects, and for saving the sole of the foot from\nthe roughnesses of hilly paths.\n\nWomen are to be allowed a white shoe, except when on a journey, and\nthen a greased shoe must be used. When on a journey, they require\nnailed shoes. Further, they ought for the most part to wear shoes;\nfor it is not suitable for the foot to be shown naked: besides, woman\nis a tender thing, easily hurt. But for a man bare feet are quite in\nkeeping, except when he is on military service. \u201cFor being shod is near\nneighbour to being bound.\u201d[609]\n\nTo go with bare feet is most suitable for exercise, and best adapted\nfor health and ease, unless where necessity prevents. But if we are\nnot on a journey, and cannot endure bare feet, we may use slippers\nor white shoes; dusty-foots[610] the Attics called them, on account\nof their bringing the feet near the dust, as I think. As a witness\nfor simplicity in shoes let John suffice, who avowed that \u201che was\nnot worthy to unloose the latchet of the Lord\u2019s shoes.\u201d[611] For he\nwho exhibited to the Hebrews the type of the true philosophy wore no\nelaborate shoes. What else this may imply, will be shown elsewhere.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n AGAINST EXCESSIVE FONDNESS FOR JEWELS AND GOLD ORNAMENTS.\n\n\nIt is childish to admire excessively dark or green stones, and things\ncast out by the sea on foreign shores, particles of the earth. For\nto rush after stones that are pellucid and of peculiar colours,\nand stained glass, is only characteristic of silly people, who are\nattracted by things that have a striking show. Thus children, on seeing\nthe fire, rush to it, attracted by its brightness; not understanding\nthrough senselessness the danger of touching it. Such is the case\nwith the stones which silly women wear fastened to chains and set in\nnecklaces, amethysts, ceraunites, jaspers, topaz, and the Milesian\n\n \u201cEmerald, most precious ware.\u201d\n\nAnd the highly prized pearl has invaded the women\u2019s apartments to\nan extravagant extent. This is produced in a kind of oyster like\nmussels, and is about the bigness of a fish\u2019s eye of large size. And\nthe wretched creatures are not ashamed at having bestowed the greatest\npains about this little oyster, when they might adorn themselves with\nthe sacred jewel, the Word of God, whom the Scripture has somewhere\ncalled a pearl, the pure and pellucid Jesus, the eye that watches in\nthe flesh,--the transparent Word, by whom the flesh, regenerated by\nwater, becomes precious. For that oyster that is in the water covers\nthe flesh all round, and out of it is produced the pearl.\n\nWe have heard, too, that the Jerusalem above is walled with sacred\nstones; and we allow that the twelve gates of the celestial city, by\nbeing made like precious stones, indicate the transcendent grace of\nthe apostolic voice. For the colours are laid on in precious stones,\nand these colours are precious; while the other parts remain of earthy\nmaterial. With these symbolically, as is meet, the city of the saints,\nwhich is spiritually built, is walled. By that brilliancy of stones,\ntherefore, is meant the inimitable brilliancy of the spirit, the\nimmortality and sanctity of being. But these women, who comprehend not\nthe symbolism of Scripture, gape all they can for jewels, adducing the\nastounding apology, \u201cWhy may I not use what God hath exhibited?\u201d and,\n\u201cI have it by me, why may I not enjoy it?\u201d and, \u201cFor whom were these\nthings made, then, if not for us?\u201d Such are the utterances of those who\nare totally ignorant of the will of God. For first necessaries, such\nas water and air, He supplies free to all; and what is not necessary\nHe has hid in the earth and water. Wherefore ants dig, and griffins\nguard gold, and the sea hides the pearl-stone. But ye busy yourselves\nabout what you need not. Behold, the whole heaven is lighted up, and ye\nseek not God; but gold which is hidden, and jewels, are dug up by those\namong us who are condemned to death.\n\nBut you also oppose Scripture, seeing it expressly cries, \u201cSeek first\nthe kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto\nyou.\u201d[612] But if all things have been conferred on you, and all things\nallowed you, and \u201cif all things are lawful, yet all things are not\nexpedient,\u201d[613] says the apostle. God brought our race into communion\nby first imparting what was His own, when He gave His own Word, common\nto all, and made all things for all. All things therefore are common,\nand not for the rich to appropriate an undue share. That expression,\ntherefore, \u201cI possess, and possess in abundance: why then should I\nnot enjoy?\u201d is suitable neither to the man, nor to society. But more\nworthy of love is that: \u201cI have: why should I not give to those who\nneed?\u201d For such an one--one who fulfils the command, \u201cThou shalt love\nthy neighbour as thyself\u201d--is perfect. For this is the true luxury--the\ntreasured wealth. But that which is squandered on foolish lusts is to\nbe reckoned waste, not expenditure. For God has given to us, I know\nwell, the liberty of use, but only so far as necessary; and He has\ndetermined that the use should be common. And it is monstrous for one\nto live in luxury, while many are in want. How much more glorious is it\nto do good to many, than to live sumptuously! How much wiser to spend\nmoney on human beings, than on jewels and gold! How much more useful\nto acquire decorous friends, than lifeless ornaments! Whom have lands\never benefited so much as conferring favours has? It remains for us,\ntherefore, to do away with this allegation: Who, then, will have the\nmore sumptuous things, if all select the simpler? Men, I would say,\nif they make use of them impartially and indifferently. But if it be\nimpossible for all to exercise self-restraint, yet, with a view to the\nuse of what is necessary, we must seek after what can be most readily\nprocured, bidding a long farewell to these superfluities.\n\nIn fine, they must accordingly utterly cast off ornaments as girls\u2019\ngewgaws, rejecting adornment itself entirely. For they ought to be\nadorned within, and show the inner woman beautiful. For in the soul\nalone are beauty and deformity shown. Wherefore also only the virtuous\nman is really beautiful and good. And it is laid down as a dogma, that\nonly the beautiful is good. And excellence alone appears through the\nbeautiful body, and blossoms out in the flesh, exhibiting the amiable\ncomeliness of self-control, whenever the character like a beam of light\ngleams in the form. For the beauty of each plant and animal consists in\nits individual excellence. And the excellence of man is righteousness,\nand temperance, and manliness, and godliness. The beautiful man is,\nthen, he who is just, temperate, and in a word, good, not he who is\nrich. But now even the soldiers wish to be decked with gold, not having\nread that poetical saying:\n\n \u201cWith childish folly to the war he came,\n Laden with store of gold.\u201d[614]\n\nBut the love of ornament, which is far from caring for virtue, but\nclaims the body for itself, when the love of the beautiful has changed\nto empty show, is to be utterly expelled. For applying things\nunsuitable to the body, as if they were suitable, begets a practice\nof lying and a habit of falsehood; and shows not what is decorous,\nsimple, and truly childlike, but what is pompous, luxurious, and\neffeminate. But these women obscure true beauty, shading it with gold.\nAnd they know not how great is their transgression, in fastening\naround themselves ten thousand rich chains; as they say that among the\nbarbarians malefactors are bound with gold. The women seem to me to\nemulate these rich prisoners. For is not the golden necklace a collar,\nand do not the necklets which they call catheters occupy the place\nof chains? and indeed among the Attics they are called by this very\nname. The ungraceful things round the feet of women, Philemon in the\n_Synephebus_ called ankle-fetters:\n\n \u201cConspicuous garments, and a kind of a golden fetter.\u201d\n\nWhat else, then, is this coveted adorning of yourselves, O ladies,\nbut the exhibiting of yourselves fettered? For if the material does\naway with the reproach, the endurance [of your fetters] is a thing\nindifferent. To me, then, those who voluntarily put themselves into\nbonds seem to glory in rich calamities.\n\nPerchance also it is such chains that the poetic fable says were thrown\naround Aphrodite when committing adultery, referring to ornaments\nas nothing but the badge of adultery. For Homer called those, too,\ngolden chains. But now women are not ashamed to wear the most manifest\nbadges of the evil one. For as the serpent deceived Eve, so also has\nornament of gold maddened other women to vicious practices, using as a\nbait the form of the serpent, and by fashioning lampreys and serpents\nfor decoration. Accordingly the comic poet Nicostratus says, \u201cChains,\ncollars, rings, bracelets, serpents, anklets, ear-rings.\u201d[615]\n\nIn terms of strongest censure, therefore, Aristophanes in the\n_Thesmophoriazous\u00e6_ exhibits the whole array of female ornament in\na catalogue:\n\n \u201cSnoods, fillets, natron, and steel;\n Pumice-stone, band, back-band,\n Back-veil, paint, necklaces,\n Paints for the eyes, soft garment, hair-net,\n Girdle, shawl, fine purple border,\n Long robe, tunic, Barathrum, round tunic.\u201d\n\nBut I have not yet mentioned the principal of them. Then what?\n\n \u201cEar-pendants, jewellery, ear-rings;\n Mallow-coloured cluster-shaped anklets;\n Buckles, clasps, necklets,\n Fetters, seals, chains, rings, powders,\n Bosses, bands, olisbi, Sardian stones,\n Fans, helicters.\u201d\n\nI am weary and vexed at enumerating the multitude of ornaments; and I\nam compelled to wonder how those who bear such a burden are not worried\nto death. O foolish trouble! O silly craze for display! They squander\nmeretriciously wealth on what is disgraceful; and in their love for\nostentation disfigure God\u2019s gifts, emulating the art of the evil one.\nThe rich man hoarding up in his barns, and saying to himself, \u201cThou\nhast much goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, be merry,\u201d the Lord\nin the Gospel plainly called \u201cfool.\u201d \u201cFor this night they shall take of\nthee thy soul; whose then shall those things which thou hast prepared\nbe?\u201d[616]\n\nApelles, the painter, seeing one of his pupils painting a figure loaded\nwith gold colour to represent Helen, said to him, \u201cBoy, being incapable\nof painting her beautiful, you have made her rich.\u201d\n\nSuch Helens are the ladies of the present day, not truly beautiful, but\nrichly got up. To these the Spirit prophesies by Zephaniah: \u201cAnd their\nsilver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of\nthe Lord\u2019s anger.\u201d[617]\n\nBut for those women who have been trained under Christ, it is suitable\nto adorn themselves not with gold, but with the Word, through whom\nalone the gold comes to light.[618]\n\nHappy, then, would have been the ancient Hebrews, had they cast\naway their women\u2019s ornaments, or only melted them; but having cast\ntheir gold into the form of an ox, and paid it idolatrous worship,\nthey consequently reaped no advantage either from their art or their\nattempt. But they taught our women most expressively to keep clear\nof ornaments. The lust which commits fornication with gold becomes\nan idol, and is tested by fire; for which alone luxury is reserved,\nas being an idol, not a reality.[619] Hence the Word, upbraiding the\nHebrews by the prophet, says, \u201cThey made to Baal things of silver and\ngold,\u201d that is, ornaments. And most distinctly threatening, He says, \u201cI\nwill punish her for the days of Baalim, in which they offered sacrifice\nfor her, and she put on her ear-rings and her necklaces.\u201d[620] And He\nsubjoined the cause of the adornment, when He said, \u201cAnd she went after\nher lovers, but forgot me, saith the Lord.\u201d[621]\n\nResigning, therefore, these baubles to the wicked master of cunning\nhimself, let us not take part in this meretricious adornment, nor\ncommit idolatry through a specious pretext. Most admirably, therefore,\nthe blessed Peter[622] says, \u201cIn like manner also, that women adorn\nthemselves not with braids, or gold, or costly array, but (which\nbecometh women professing godliness) with good works.\u201d For it is with\nreason that he bids decking of themselves to be kept far from them.\nFor, granting that they are beautiful, nature suffices. Let not art\ncontend against nature; that is, let not falsehood strive with truth.\nAnd if they are by nature ugly, they are convicted, by the things they\napply to themselves, of what they do not possess [_i.e._ of the\nwant of beauty]. It is suitable, therefore, for women who serve Christ\nto adopt simplicity. For in reality simplicity provides for sanctity,\nby reducing redundancies to equality, and by furnishing from whatever\nis at hand the enjoyment sought from superfluities. For simplicity,\nas the name shows, is not conspicuous, is not inflated or puffed up\nin aught, but is altogether even, and gentle, and equal, and free of\nexcess, and so is sufficient. And sufficiency is a condition which\nreaches its proper end without excess or defect. The mother of these\nis Justice, and their nurse \u201cIndependence;\u201d and this is a condition\nwhich is satisfied with what is necessary, and by itself furnishes what\ncontributes to the blessed life.\n\nLet there, then, be in the fruits of thy hands, sacred order, liberal\ncommunication, and acts of economy. \u201cFor he that giveth to the\npoor, lendeth to God.\u201d[623] \u201cAnd the hands of the manly shall be\nenriched.\u201d[624] Manly He calls those who despise wealth, and are free\nin bestowing it. And on your feet let active readiness to well-doing\nappear, and a journeying to righteousness. Modesty and chastity are\ncollars and necklaces; such are the chains which God forges. \u201cHappy is\nthe man who hath found wisdom, and the mortal who knows understanding,\u201d\nsays the Spirit by Solomon: \u201cfor it is better to buy her than\ntreasures of gold and silver; and she is more valuable than precious\nstones.\u201d[625] For she is the true decoration.\n\nAnd let not their ears be pierced, contrary to nature, in order to\nattach to them ear-rings and ear-drops. For it is not right to force\nnature against her wishes. Nor could there be any better ornament for\nthe ears than true instruction, which finds its way naturally into the\npassages of hearing. And eyes anointed by the Word, and ears pierced\nfor perception, make a man a hearer and contemplator of divine and\nsacred things, the Word truly exhibiting the true beauty \u201cwhich eye\nhath not seen nor ear heard before.\u201d[626]\n\n\n\n\n BOOK III.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n ON THE TRUE BEAUTY.\n\n\nIt is then, as appears, the greatest of all lessons to know one\u2019s self.\nFor if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be\nmade like God, not by wearing gold or long robes, but by well-doing,\nand by requiring as few things as possible.\n\nNow, God alone is in need of nothing, and rejoices most when He sees\nus bright with the ornament of intelligence; and then, too, rejoices\nin him who is arrayed in chastity, the sacred stole of the body. Since\nthen the soul consists of three divisions; the intellect, which is\ncalled the reasoning faculty, is the inner man, which is the ruler of\nthis man that is seen. And that one, in another respect, God guides.\nBut the irascible part, being brutal, dwells near to insanity. And\nappetite, which is the third department, is many-shaped above Proteus,\nthe varying sea-god, who changed himself now into one shape, now into\nanother; and it allures to adulteries, to licentiousness, to seductions.\n\n \u201cAt first he was a lion with ample beard.\u201d[627]\n\nWhile he yet retained the ornament, the hair of the chin showed him to\nbe a man.\n\n \u201cBut after that a serpent, a pard, or a big sow.\u201d\n\nLove of ornament has degenerated to wantonness. A man no longer appears\nlike a strong wild beast,\n\n \u201cBut he became moist water, and a tree of lofty branches.\u201d\n\nPassions break out, pleasures overflow; beauty fades, and falls\nquicker than the leaf on the ground, when the amorous storms of lust\nblow on it before the coming of autumn, and is withered by destruction.\nFor lust becomes and fabricates all things, and wishes to cheat, so\nas to conceal the man. But that man with whom the Word dwells does\nnot alter himself, does not get himself up: he has the form which is\nof the Word; he is made like to God; he is beautiful; he does not\nornament himself: his is beauty, the true beauty, for it is God; and\nthat man becomes God, since God so wills. Heraclitus, then, rightly\nsaid, \u201cMen are gods, and gods are men.\u201d For the Word Himself is the\nmanifest mystery: God in man, and man God. And the Mediator executes\nthe Father\u2019s will; for the Mediator is the Word, who is common to\nboth--the Son of God, the Saviour of men; His Servant, our Teacher. And\nthe flesh being a slave, as Paul testifies, how can one with any reason\nadorn the handmaid like a pimp? For that which is of flesh has the form\nof a servant. Paul says, speaking of the Lord, \u201cBecause He emptied\nHimself, taking the form of a servant,\u201d[628] calling the outward man\nservant, previous to the Lord becoming a servant and wearing flesh. But\nthe compassionate God Himself set the flesh free, and, releasing it\nfrom destruction, and from bitter and deadly bondage, endowed it with\nincorruptibility, arraying the flesh in this, the holy embellishment of\neternity--immortality.\n\nThere is, too, another beauty of men--love. \u201cAnd love,\u201d according\nto the apostle, \u201csuffers long, and is kind; envieth not; vaunteth\nnot itself, is not puffed up.\u201d[629] For the decking of one\u2019s self\nout--carrying, as it does, the look of superfluity and uselessness--is\nvaunting one\u2019s self. Wherefore he adds, \u201cdoth not behave itself\nunseemly:\u201d for a figure which is not one\u2019s own, and is against nature,\nis unseemly; but what is artificial is not one\u2019s own, as is clearly\nexplained: \u201cseeketh not,\u201d it is said, \u201cwhat is not her own.\u201d For truth\ncalls that its own which belongs to it; but the love of finery seeks\nwhat is not its own, being apart from God, and the Word, from love.\n\nAnd that the Lord Himself was uncomely in aspect, the Spirit testifies\nby Esaias: \u201cAnd we saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness; but\nHis form was mean, inferior to men.\u201d[630] Yet who was more admirable\nthan the Lord? But it was not the beauty of the flesh visible to the\neye, but the true beauty of both soul and body, which He exhibited,\nwhich in the former is beneficence; in the latter--that is, the\nflesh--immortality.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n AGAINST EMBELLISHING THE BODY.\n\n\nIt is not, then, the aspect of the outward man, but the soul that is\nto be decorated with the ornament of goodness; we may say also the\nflesh with the adornment of temperance. But those women who beautify\nthe outside, are unawares all waste in the inner depths, as is the case\nwith the ornaments of the Egyptians; among whom temples with their\nporticos and vestibules are carefully constructed, and groves and\nsacred fields adjoining; the halls are surrounded with many pillars;\nand the walls gleam with foreign stones, and there is no want of\nartistic painting; and the temples gleam with gold, and silver, and\namber, and glitter with parti-coloured gems from India and Ethiopia;\nand the shrines are veiled with gold-embroidered hangings.\n\nBut if you enter the penetralia of the enclosure, and, in haste to\nbehold something better, seek the image that is the inhabitant of the\ntemple, and if any priest of those that offer sacrifice there, looking\ngrave, and singing a p\u00e6an in the Egyptian tongue, remove a little of\nthe veil to show the god, he will give you a hearty laugh at the object\nof worship. For the deity that is sought, to whom you have rushed, will\nnot be found within, but a cat, or a crocodile, or a serpent of the\ncountry, or some such beast unworthy of the temple, but quite worthy of\na den, a hole, or the dirt. The god of the Egyptians appears a beast\nrolling on a purple couch.\n\nSo those women who wear gold, occupying themselves in curling at their\nlocks, and engaged in anointing their cheeks, painting their eyes, and\ndyeing their hair, and practising the other pernicious arts of luxury,\ndecking the covering of flesh,--in truth, imitate the Egyptians, in\norder to attract their infatuated lovers.\n\nBut if one withdraw the veil of the temple,--I mean the head-dress,\nthe dye, the clothes, the gold, the paint, the cosmetics,--that is,\nthe web consisting of them, the veil, with the view of finding within\nthe true beauty, he will be disgusted, I know well. For he will not\nfind the image of God dwelling within, as is meet; but instead of it\na fornicator and adulteress has occupied the shrine of the soul. And\nthe true beast will thus be detected--an ape smeared with white paint.\nAnd that deceitful serpent, devouring the understanding part of man\nthrough vanity, has the soul as its hole, filling all with deadly\npoisons; and injecting his own venom of deception, this pander of a\ndragon has changed women into whores. For love of display is not for\na lady, but a courtesan. Such women care little for keeping at home\nwith their husbands; but loosing their husbands\u2019 purse-strings, they\nspend its supplies on their lusts, that they may have many witnesses of\ntheir seemingly fair appearance; and, devoting the whole day to their\ntoilet, they spend their time with their bought slaves. Accordingly\nthey season the flesh like a pernicious sauce; and the day they bestow\non the toilet shut up in their rooms, so as not to be caught decking\nthemselves. But in the evening this spurious beauty creeps out to\ncandlelight as out of a hole; for drunkenness and the dimness of the\nlight aid what they have put on. The woman who dyes her hair yellow,\nMenander the comic poet expels from the house:\n\n \u201cNow get out of this house, for no chaste\n Woman ought to make her hair yellow,\u201d\n\nnor, I would add, stain her cheeks, nor paint her eyes. Unawares the\npoor wretches destroy their own beauty, by the introduction of what\nis spurious. At the dawn of day, mangling, racking, and plastering\nthemselves over with certain compositions, they chill the skin,\nfurrow the flesh with poisons, and with curiously prepared washes,\nthus blighting their own beauty. Wherefore they are seen to be\nyellow from the use of cosmetics, and susceptible to disease, their\nflesh, which has been shaded with poisons, being now in a melting\nstate. So they dishonour the Creator of men, as if the beauty given\nby Him were nothing worth. As you might expect, they become lazy in\nhousekeeping, sitting like painted things to be looked at, not as if\nmade for domestic economy. Wherefore in the comic poet the sensible\nwoman says, \u201cWhat can we women do wise or brilliant, who sit with\nhair dyed yellow, outraging the character of gentlewomen; causing the\noverthrow of houses, the ruin of nuptials, and accusations on the part\nof children?\u201d[631] In the same way, Antiphanes the comic poet, in\n_Malthaca_, ridicules the meretriciousness of women in words that\napply to them all, and are framed against the rubbing of themselves\nwith cosmetics, saying:\n\n \u201cShe comes,\n She goes back, she approaches, she goes back.\n She has come, she is here, she washes herself, she advances,\n She is soaped, she is combed, she goes out, is rubbed,\n She washes herself, looks in the glass, robes herself,\n Anoints herself, decks herself, besmears herself;\n And if aught is wrong, chokes [with vexation].\u201d\n\nThrice, I say, not once, do they deserve to perish, who use crocodiles\u2019\nexcrement, and anoint themselves with the froth of putrid humours, and\nstain their eyebrows with soot, and rub their cheeks with white lead.\n\nThese, then, who are disgusting even to the heathen poets for their\nfashions, how shall they not be rejected by the truth? Accordingly\nanother comic poet, Alexis, reproves them. For I shall adduce his\nwords, which with extravagance of statement shame the obstinacy of\ntheir impudence. For he was not very far beyond the mark. And I cannot\nfor shame come to the assistance of women held up to such ridicule in\ncomedy.\n\nThen she ruins her husband.\n\n \u201cFor first, in comparison with gain and the spoiling of neighbours,\n All else is in their eyes superfluous.\u201d\n\n \u201cIs one of them little? She stitches cork into her shoe-sole.\n Is one tall? She wears a thin sole,\n And goes out keeping her head down on her shoulder:\n This takes away from her height. Has one no flanks?\n She has something sewed on to her, so that the spectators\n May exclaim on her fine shape behind. Has she a prominent stomach?\n By making additions, to render it straight, such as the nurses we\n see in the comic poets,\n She draws back, as it were, by these poles, the protuberance of the\n stomach in front.\n Has one yellow eyebrows? She stains them with soot.\n Do they happen to be black? She smears them with ceruse.\n Is one very white-skinned? She rouges.\n Has one any part of the body beautiful? She shows it bare.\n Has she beautiful teeth? She must needs laugh,\n That those present may see what a pretty mouth she has;\n But if not in the humour for laughing, she passes the day within,\n With a slender sprig of myrtle between her lips,\n Like what cooks have always at hand when they have goats\u2019 heads to\n sell,\n So that she must keep them apart the whilst, whether she will or\n not.\u201d\n\nI set these quotations from the comic poets before you, since the Word\nmost strenuously wishes to save us. And by and by I will fortify them\nwith the divine Scriptures. For he who does not escape notice is wont\nto abstain from sins, on account of the shame of reproof. Just as the\nplastered hand and the anointed eye exhibit from their very look the\nsuspicion of a person in illness, so also cosmetics and dyes indicate\nthat the soul is deeply diseased.\n\nThe divine Instructor enjoins us not to approach to another\u2019s river,\nmeaning by the figurative expression \u201canother\u2019s river,\u201d \u201canother\u2019s\nwife;\u201d the wanton that flows to all, and out of licentiousness gives\nherself up to meretricious enjoyment with all. \u201cAbstain from water that\nis another\u2019s,\u201d He says, \u201cand drink not of another\u2019s well,\u201d admonishing\nus to shun the stream of \u201cvoluptuousness,\u201d that we may live long, and\nthat years of life may be added to us;[632] both by not hunting after\nthe pleasure that belongs to another, and by diverting our inclinations.\n\nLove of dainties and love of wine, though great vices, are not of such\nmagnitude as fondness for finery. \u201cA full table and repeated cups\u201d\nare enough to satisfy greed. But to those who are fond of gold, and\npurple, and jewels, neither the gold that is above the earth and below\nit is sufficient, nor the Tyrian Sea, nor the freight that comes from\nIndia and Ethiopia, nor yet Pactolus flowing with gold; not even were a\nman to become a Midas would he be satisfied, but would be still poor,\ncraving other wealth. Such people are ready to die with their gold.\n\nAnd if Plutus[633] is blind, are not those women that are crazy about\nhim, and have a fellow-feeling with him, blind too? Having, then, no\nlimit to their lust, they push on to shamelessness. For the theatre,\nand pageants, and many spectators, and strolling in the temples, and\nloitering in the streets, that they may be seen conspicuously by all,\nare necessary to them. For those that glory in their looks, not in\nheart,[634] dress to please others. For as the brand shows the slave,\nso do gaudy colours the adulteress. \u201cFor though thou clothe thyself in\nscarlet, and deck thyself with ornaments of gold, and anoint thine eyes\nwith stibium, in vain is thy beauty,\u201d[635] says the Word by Jeremiah.\nIs it not monstrous, that while horses, birds, and the rest of the\nanimals, spring and bound from the grass and meadows, rejoicing in\nornament that is their own, in mane, and natural colour, and varied\nplumage; woman, as if inferior to the brute creation, should think\nherself so unlovely as to need foreign, and bought, and painted beauty?\n\nHead-dresses and varieties of head-dresses, and elaborate braidings,\nand infinite modes of dressing the hair, and costly specimens of\nmirrors, in which they arrange their costume,--hunting after those\nthat, like silly children, are crazy about their figures,--are\ncharacteristic of women who have lost all sense of shame. If any one\nwere to call these courtesans, he would make no mistake, for they\nturn their faces into masks. But us the Word enjoins \u201cto look not on\nthe things that are seen, but the things that are not seen; for the\nthings that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are\neternal.\u201d[636]\n\nBut what passes beyond the bounds of absurdity, is that they have\ninvented mirrors for this artificial shape of theirs, as if it were\nsome excellent work or masterpiece. The deception rather requires\na veil thrown over it. For as the Greek fable has it, it was not a\nfortunate thing for the beautiful Narcissus to have been the beholder\nof his own image. And if Moses commanded men to make not an image to\nrepresent God by art, how can these women be right, who by their own\nreflection produce an imitation of their own likeness, in order to\nthe falsifying of their face? Likewise also, when Samuel the prophet\nwas sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse for king, and on seeing\nthe eldest of his sons to be fair and tall, produced the anointing\noil, being delighted with him, the Lord said to him, \u201cLook not to his\nappearance, nor the height of his stature: for I have rejected him. For\nman looketh on the eyes, but the Lord into the heart.\u201d[637]\n\nAnd he anointed not him that was comely in person, but him that was\ncomely in soul. If, then, the Lord counts the natural beauty of the\nbody inferior to that of the soul, what thinks He of spurious beauty,\nrejecting utterly as He does all falsehood? \u201cFor we walk by faith, not\nby sight.\u201d[638] Very clearly the Lord accordingly teaches by Abraham,\nthat he who follows God must despise country, and relations, and\npossessions, and all wealth, by making him a stranger. And therefore\nalso He called him His friend, who had despised the substance which he\nhad possessed at home. For he was of good parentage, and very opulent;\nand so with three hundred and eighteen servants of his own he subdued\nthe four kings who had taken Lot captive.\n\nEsther alone we find justly adorned. The spouse adorned herself\nmystically for her royal husband; but her beauty turns out the\nredemption price of a people that were about to be massacred. And that\ndecoration makes women courtesans, and men effeminate and adulterers,\nthe tragic poet is a witness; thus discoursing:\n\n \u201cHe that judged the goddesses,\n As the myth of the Argives has it, having come from Phrygia\n To Laced\u00e6mon, arrayed in flowery vestments,\n Glittering with gold and barbaric luxury,\n Loving, departed, carrying away her he loved,\n Helen, to the folds of Ida, having found that\n Menelaus was away from home.\u201d[639]\n\nO adulterous beauty! Barbarian finery and effeminate luxury overthrew\nGreece; Laced\u00e6monian chastity was corrupted by clothes, and luxury, and\ngraceful beauty; barbaric display proved Jove\u2019s daughter a courtesan.\n\nThey had no instructor to restrain their lusts, nor one to say, \u201cDo\nnot commit adultery;\u201d nor, \u201cLust not;\u201d or, \u201cTravel not by lust into\nadultery;\u201d or further, \u201cInfluence not thy passions by desire of\nadornment.\u201d\n\nWhat an end was it that ensued to them, and what woes they endured,\nwho would not restrain their self-will! Two continents were convulsed\nby unrestrained pleasures, and all was thrown into confusion by a\nbarbarian boy. The whole of Hellas puts to sea; the ocean is burdened\nwith the weight of continents; a protracted war breaks out, and fierce\nbattles are waged, and the plains are crowded with dead: the barbarian\nassails the fleet with outrage; wickedness prevails, and the eye of\nthat poetic Jove looks on the Thracians:\n\n \u201cThe barbarian plains drink noble blood,\n And the streams of the rivers are choked with dead bodies.\u201d\n\nBreasts are beaten in lamentations, and grief desolates the land; and\nall the feet, and the summits of many-fountained Ida, and the cities of\nthe Trojans, and the ships of the Ach\u00e6ans, shake.\n\nWhere, O Homer, shall we flee and stand? Show us a spot of ground that\nis not shaken!\n\n \u201cTouch not the reins, inexperienced boy,\n Nor mount the seat, not having learned to drive.\u201d[640]\n\nHeaven delights in two charioteers, by whom alone the chariot of fire\nis guided. For the mind is carried away by pleasure; and the unsullied\nprinciple of reason, when not instructed by the Word, slides down into\nlicentiousness, and gets a fall as the due reward of its transgression.\nAn example of this are the angels, who renounced the beauty of God for\na beauty which fades, and so fell from heaven to earth.[641]\n\nThe Shechemites, too, were punished by an overthrow for dishonouring\nthe holy virgin. The grave was their punishment, and the monument of\ntheir ignominy leads to salvation.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n AGAINST MEN WHO EMBELLISH THEMSELVES.\n\n\nTo such an extent, then, has luxury advanced, that not only are the\nfemale sex deranged about this frivolous pursuit, but men also are\ninfected with the disease. For not being free of the love of finery,\nthey are not in health; but inclining to voluptuousness, they become\neffeminate, cutting their hair in an ungentlemanly and meretricious\nway, clothed in fine and transparent garments, chewing mastich,\nsmelling of perfume. What can one say on seeing them? Like one who\njudges people by their foreheads, he will divine them to be adulterers\nand effeminate, addicted to both kinds of venery, haters of hair,\ndestitute of hair, detesting the bloom of manliness, and adorning\ntheir locks like women. \u201cLiving for unholy acts of audacity, these\nfickle wretches do reckless and nefarious deeds,\u201d says the Sibyl.\nFor their service the towns are full of those who take out hair\nby pitch-plasters, shave, and pluck out hairs from these womanish\ncreatures. And shops are erected and opened everywhere; and adepts at\nthis meretricious fornication make a deal of money openly by those\nwho plaster themselves, and give their hair to be pulled out in all\nways by those who make it their trade, feeling no shame before the\nonlookers or those who approach, nor before themselves, being men. Such\nare those addicted to base passions, whose whole body is made smooth\nby the violent tuggings of pitch-plasters. It is utterly impossible to\nget beyond such effrontery. If nothing is left undone by them, neither\nshall anything be left unspoken by me. Diogenes, when he was being\nsold, chiding like a teacher one of these degenerate creatures, said\nvery manfully, \u201cCome, youngster, buy for yourself a man,\u201d chastising\nhis meretriciousness by an ambiguous speech. But for those who are men\nto shave and smooth themselves, how ignoble! As for dyeing of hair, and\nanointing of grey locks, and dyeing them yellow, these are practices of\nabandoned effeminates; and their feminine combing of themselves is a\nthing to be let alone. For they think, that like serpents they divest\nthemselves of the old age of their head by painting and renovating\nthemselves. But though they do doctor the hair cleverly, they will not\nescape wrinkles, nor will they elude death by tricking time. For it is\nnot dreadful, it is not dreadful to appear old, when you are not able\nto shut your eyes to the fact that you are so.\n\nThe more, then, a man hastes to the end, the more truly venerable\nis he, having God alone as his senior, since He is the eternal aged\nOne, He who is older than all things. Prophecy has called him the\n\u201cAncient of days; and the hair of His head was as pure wool,\u201d says\nthe prophet.[642] \u201cAnd none other,\u201d says the Lord, \u201ccan make the hair\nwhite or black.\u201d[643] How, then, do these godless ones work in rivalry\nwith God, or rather violently oppose Him, when they transmute the hair\nmade white by Him? \u201cThe crown of old men is great experience,\u201d[644]\nsays Scripture; and the hoary hair of their countenance is the blossom\nof large experience. But these dishonour the reverence of age, the\nhead covered with grey hairs. It is not, it is not possible for him\nto show the soul true who has a fraudulent head. \u201cBut ye have not so\nlearned Christ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught\nby Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off, concerning the\nformer conversation, the old man (not the hoary man, but him that is)\ncorrupt according to deceitful lusts; and be renewed (not by dyeings\nand ornaments), but in the spirit of your mind; and put on the new man,\nwhich after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.\u201d[645]\n\nBut for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with\na razor, for the sake of fine effect, to arrange his hair at the\nlooking-glass, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and\nsmooth them, how womanly! And, in truth, unless you saw them naked,\nyou would suppose them to be women. For although not allowed to wear\ngold, yet out of effeminate desire they enwreath their latches and\nfringes with leaves of gold; or, getting certain spherical figures of\nthe same metal made, they fasten them to their ankles, and hang them\nfrom their necks. This is a device of enervated men, who are dragged to\nthe women\u2019s apartments, amphibious and lecherous beasts. For this is\na meretricious and impious form of snare. For God wished women to be\nsmooth, and rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a\nhorse in his mane; but has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard,\nand endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with shaggy breasts,--a\nsign this of strength and rule. So also cocks, which fight in defence\nof the hens, he has decked with combs, as it were helmets; and so high\na value does God set on these locks, that He orders them to make their\nappearance on men simultaneously with discretion, and, delighted with\na venerable look, has honoured gravity of countenance with grey hairs.\nBut wisdom, and discriminating judgments that are hoary with wisdom,\nattain maturity with time, and by the vigour of long experience give\nstrength to old age, producing grey hairs, the admirable flower of\nvenerable wisdom, conciliating confidence. This, then, the mark of the\nman, the beard, by which he is seen to be a man, is older than Eve, and\nis the token of the superior nature. In this God deemed it right that\nhe should excel, and dispersed hair over man\u2019s whole body. Whatever\nsmoothness and softness was in him He abstracted from his side when He\nformed the woman Eve, adapted to the reception of seed, his help in\ngeneration and household management, while he (for he had parted with\nall smoothness) remained a man, and shows himself man. And to him has\nbeen assigned action, as to her suffering; for what is shaggy is drier\nand warmer than what is smooth. Wherefore males have both more hair and\nmore heat than females, animals that are entire than the emasculated,\nperfect than imperfect. It is therefore impious to desecrate the\nsymbol of manhood, hairiness. But the embellishment of smoothing (for\nI am warned by the Word), if it is to attract men, is the act of an\neffeminate person,--if to attract women, is the act of an adulterer;\nand both must be driven as far as possible from our society. \u201cBut the\nvery hairs of your head are all numbered,\u201d says the Lord;[646] those\non the chin, too, are numbered, and those on the whole body. There\nmust be therefore no plucking out, contrary to God\u2019s appointment,\nwhich has counted[647] them in according to His will. \u201cKnow ye not\nyourselves,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cthat Christ Jesus is in you?\u201d[648]\nWhom, had we known as dwelling in us, I know not how we could have\ndared to dishonour. But the using of pitch to pluck out hair (I shrink\nfrom even mentioning the shamelessness connected with this process),\nand in the act of bending back and bending down, the uncovering openly\nof nature\u2019s unmentionable parts, stepping out and bending backwards in\nshameful postures, yet not ashamed of themselves, conducting themselves\nwithout shame in the midst of the youth, and in the gymnasium, where\nthe prowess of man is tested: the following of this unnatural practice,\nis it not the extreme of licentiousness? For those who engage in such\npractices in public will scarcely behave with modesty to any at home.\nTheir want of shame in public attests their unbridled licentiousness in\nprivate. For he who in the light of day denies his manhood, will prove\nhimself manifestly a woman by night. \u201cThere shall not be,\u201d said the\nWord by Moses, \u201ca harlot of the daughters of Israel; there shall not be\na fornicator of the sons of Israel.\u201d[649]\n\nBut the pitch does good, it is said. Nay, it defames, say I. No one\nwho entertains right sentiments would wish to appear a fornicator,\nwere he not the victim of that vice, and study to defame the beauty\nof his form. No one would, I say, voluntarily choose to do this. \u201cFor\nif God foreknew those who are called, according to His purpose, to be\nconformed to the image of His Son,\u201d for whose sake, according to the\nblessed apostle, He has appointed \u201cHim to be the first-born among many\nbrethren,\u201d[650] are they not godless who treat with indignity the body\nwhich is of like form with the Lord?\n\nThe man, who would be beautiful, must adorn, that which is the most\nbeautiful thing in man, his mind, which every day he ought to exhibit\nin greater comeliness; and should pluck out not hairs, but lusts. I\npity the boys possessed by the slave-dealers, that are decked for\ndishonour. But they are not treated with ignominy by themselves, but by\ncommand the wretches are adorned for base gain. But how disgusting are\nthose who willingly practise the things to which, if compelled, they\nwould, if they were men, die rather than do?\n\nBut life has reached this pitch of licentiousness through the\nwantonness of wickedness, and lasciviousness is diffused over the\ncities, having become law. Beside them women stand in the stews,\noffering their own flesh for hire for lewd pleasure, and boys, taught\nto deny their sex, act the part of women.\n\nLuxury has deranged all things; it has disgraced man. A luxurious\nniceness seeks everything, attempts everything, forces everything,\ncoerces nature. Men play the part of women, and women that of men,\ncontrary to nature; women are at once wives and husbands: no passage\nis closed against libidinousness; and their promiscuous lechery is a\npublic institution, and luxury is domesticated. O miserable spectacle!\nhorrible conduct! Such are the trophies of your social licentiousness\nwhich are exhibited: the evidence of these deeds are the prostitutes.\nAlas for such wickedness! Besides, the wretches know not how many\ntragedies the uncertainty of intercourse produces. For fathers,\nunmindful of children of theirs that have been exposed, often without\ntheir knowledge, have intercourse with a son that has debauched\nhimself, and daughters that are prostitutes; and licence in lust shows\nthem to be the men that have begotten them. These things your wise laws\nallow: people may sin legally; and the execrable indulgence in pleasure\nthey call a thing indifferent. They who commit adultery against nature\nthink themselves free from adultery. Avenging justice follows their\naudacious deeds, and, dragging on themselves inevitable calamity, they\npurchase death for a small sum of money. The miserable dealers in these\nwares sail, bringing a cargo of fornication, like wine or oil; and\nothers, far more wretched, traffic in pleasures as they do in bread and\nsauce, not heeding the words of Moses, \u201cDo not prostitute thy daughter,\nto cause her to be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredom, and the\nland become full of wickedness.\u201d[651]\n\nSuch was predicted of old, and the result is notorious: the whole earth\nhas now become full of fornication and wickedness. I admire the ancient\nlegislators of the Romans: these detested effeminacy of conduct; and\nthe giving of the body to feminine purposes, contrary to the law of\nnature, they judged worthy of the extremest penalty, according to the\nrighteousness of the law.\n\nFor it is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man\u2019s natural and noble\nornament.\n\n \u201cA youth with his first beard: for with this, youth is most\n graceful.\u201d\n\nBy and by he is anointed, delighting in the beard \u201con which descended\u201d\nthe prophetic \u201cointment\u201d[652] with which Aaron was honoured.\n\nAnd it becomes him who is rightly trained, on whom peace has pitched\nits tent, to preserve peace also with his hair.\n\nWhat, then, will not women with strong propensities to lust practise,\nwhen they look on men perpetrating such enormities? Rather we ought not\nto call such as these men, but lewd wretches (\u03b2\u03b1\u03c4\u03ac\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9), and effeminate\n(\u03b3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b9\u03b4\u03b5\u03c2), whose voices are feeble, and whose clothes are womanish\nboth in feel and dye. And such creatures are manifestly shown to be\nwhat they are from their external appearance, their clothes, shoes,\nform, walk, cut of their hair, look. \u201cFor from his look shall a man be\nknown,\u201d says the Scripture, \u201cand from meeting a man the man is known:\nthe dress of a man, the step of his foot, the laugh of his teeth, tell\ntales of him.\u201d[653]\n\nFor these, for the most part, plucking out the rest of their hair, only\ndress that on the head, all but binding their locks with fillets like\nwomen. Lions glory in their shaggy hair, but are armed by their hair in\nthe fight; and boars even are made imposing by their mane; the hunters\nare afraid of them when they see them bristling their hair.\n\n \u201cThe fleecy sheep are loaded with their wool.\u201d[654]\n\nAnd their wool the loving Father has made abundant for thy use, O\nman, having taught thee to shear their fleeces. Of the nations, the\nCelts and Scythians wear their hair long, but do not deck themselves.\nThe bushy hair of the barbarian has something fearful in it; and its\nauburn (\u03be\u03b1\u03bd\u03b8\u03cc\u03bd) colour threatens war, the hue being somewhat akin to\nblood. Both these barbarian races hate luxury. As clear witnesses\nwill be produced by the German, the Rhine;[655] and by the Scythian,\nthe waggon. Sometimes the Scythian despises even the waggon: its size\nseems sumptuousness to the barbarian; and leaving its luxurious ease,\nthe Scythian man leads a frugal life. For a house sufficient, and less\nencumbered than the waggon, he takes his horse, and mounting it, is\nborne where he wishes. And when faint with hunger, he asks his horse\nfor sustenance; and he offers his veins, and supplies his master\nwith all he possesses--his blood. To the nomad the horse is at once\nconveyance and sustenance; and the warlike youth of the Arabians (these\nare other nomads) are mounted on camels. They sit on breeding camels;\nand these feed and run at the same time, carrying their masters the\nwhilst, and bear the house with them. And if drink fail the barbarians,\nthey milk them; and after that their food is spent, they do not spare\neven their blood, as is reported of furious wolves. And these, gentler\nthan the barbarians, when injured, bear no remembrance of the wrong,\nbut sweep bravely over the desert, carrying and nourishing their\nmasters at the same time.\n\nPerish, then, the savage beasts whose food is blood! For it is unlawful\nfor men, whose body is nothing but flesh elaborated of blood, to touch\nblood. For human blood has become a partaker of the Word: it is a\nparticipant of grace by the Spirit; and if any one injure him, he will\nnot escape unnoticed. Man may, though naked in body, address the Lord.\nBut I approve the simplicity of the barbarians: loving an unencumbered\nlife, the barbarians have abandoned luxury. Such the Lord calls us to\nbe--naked of finery, naked of vanity, wrenched from our sins, bearing\nonly the wood of life, aiming only at salvation.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n WITH WHOM WE ARE TO ASSOCIATE.\n\n\nBut really I have unwittingly deviated in spirit from the order, to\nwhich I must now revert, and must find fault with having large numbers\nof domestics. For, avoiding working with their own hands and serving\nthemselves, men have recourse to servants, purchasing a great crowd\nof fine cooks, and of people to lay out the table, and of others to\ndivide the meat skilfully into pieces. And the staff of servants is\nseparated into many divisions: some labour for their gluttony, carvers\nand seasoners, and the compounders and makers of sweetmeats, and\nhoney-cakes, and custards; others are occupied with their too numerous\nclothes; others guard the gold, like griffins; others keep the silver,\nand wipe the cups, and make ready what is needed to furnish the festive\ntable; others rub down the horses; and a crowd of cup-bearers exert\nthemselves in their service, and herds of beautiful boys, like cattle,\nfrom whom they milk away their beauty. And male and female assistants\nat the toilet are employed about the ladies--some for the mirrors,\nsome for the head-dresses, others for the combs. Many are eunuchs; and\nthese panders serve without suspicion those that wish to be free to\nenjoy their pleasures, because of the belief that they are unable to\nindulge in lust. But a true eunuch is not one who is unable, but one\nwho is unwilling, to indulge in pleasure. The Word, testifying by the\nprophet Samuel to the Jews, who had transgressed when the people asked\nfor a king, promised not a loving lord, but threatened to give them a\nself-willed and voluptuous tyrant, \u201cwho shall,\u201d He says, \u201ctake your\ndaughters to be perfumers, and cooks, and bakers,\u201d[656] ruling by the\nlaw of war, not desiring a peaceful administration. And there are many\nCelts, who bear aloft on their shoulders women\u2019s litters. But workers\nin wool, and spinners, and weavers, and female work and housekeeping,\nare nowhere.\n\nBut those who impose on the women, spend the day with them, telling\nthem silly amatory stories, and wearing out body and soul with their\nfalse acts and words. \u201cThou shalt not be with many,\u201d it is said, \u201cfor\nevil, nor give thyself to a multitude;\u201d[657] for wisdom shows itself\namong few, but disorder in a multitude. But it is not for grounds of\npropriety, on account of not wishing to be seen, that they purchase\nbearers, for it were commendable if out of such feelings they put\nthemselves under a covering; but it is out of luxuriousness that they\nare carried on their domestics\u2019 shoulders, and desire to make a show.\n\nSo, opening the curtain, and looking keenly round on all that direct\ntheir eyes towards them, they show their manners; and often bending\nforth from within, disgrace this superficial propriety by their\ndangerous restlessness. \u201cLook not round,\u201d it is said, \u201cin the streets\nof the city, and wander not in its lonely places.\u201d[658] For that is, in\ntruth, a lonely place, though there be a crowd of the licentious in it,\nwhere no wise man is present.\n\nAnd these women are carried about over the temples, sacrificing\nand practising divination day by day, spending their time with\nfortune-tellers, and begging priests, and disreputable old women;\nand they keep up old wives\u2019 whisperings over their cups, learning\ncharms and incantations from soothsayers, to the ruin of the nuptial\nbonds. And some men they keep; by others they are kept; and others are\npromised them by the diviners. They know not that they are cheating\nthemselves, and giving up themselves as a vessel of pleasure to those\nthat wish to indulge in wantonness; and exchanging their purity for\nthe foulest outrage, they think what is the most shameful ruin a great\nstroke of business. And there are many ministers to this meretricious\nlicentiousness, insinuating themselves, one from one quarter, another\nfrom another. For the licentious rush readily into uncleanness, like\nswine rushing to that part of the hold of the ship which is depressed.\nWhence the Scripture most strenuously exhorts, \u201cIntroduce not every\none into thy house, for the snares of the crafty are many.\u201d[659] And\nin another place, \u201cLet just men be thy guests, and in the fear of the\nLord let thy boast remain.\u201d[660] Away with fornication. \u201cFor know this\nwell,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cthat no fornicator, or unclean person, or\ncovetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom\nof Christ and of God.\u201d[661]\n\nBut these women delight in intercourse with the effeminate. And crowds\nof abominable creatures (\u03ba\u03b9\u03bd\u03b1\u03af\u03b4\u03b5\u03c2) flow in, of unbridled tongue,\nfilthy in body, filthy in language; men enough for lewd offices,\nministers of adultery, giggling and whispering, and shamelessly making\nthrough their noses sounds of lewdness and fornication to provoke\nlust, endeavouring to please by lewd words and attitudes, inciting to\nlaughter, the precursor of fornication. And sometimes, when inflamed\nby any provocation, either these fornicators, or those that follow the\nrabble of abominable creatures to destruction, make a sound in their\nnose like a frog, as if they had got anger dwelling in their nostrils.\nBut those who are more refined than these keep Indian birds and Median\npea-fowls, and recline with peak-headed[662] creatures; playing with\nsatyrs, delighting in monsters. They laugh when they hear Thersites;\nand these women, purchasing Thersiteses highly valued, pride themselves\nnot in their husbands, but in those wretches which are a burden on the\nearth, and overlook the chaste widow, who is of far higher value than a\nMelit\u00e6an pup, and look askance at a just old man, who is lovelier in my\nestimation than a monster purchased for money. And though maintaining\nparrots and curlews, they do not receive the orphan child; but they\nexpose children that are born at home, and take up the young of birds,\nand prefer irrational to rational creatures; although they ought to\nundertake the maintenance of old people with a character for sobriety,\nwho are fairer in my mind than apes, and capable of uttering something\nbetter than nightingales; and to set before them that saying, \u201cHe that\npitieth the poor lendeth to the Lord;\u201d[663] and this, \u201cInasmuch as ye\nhave done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it to\nme.\u201d[664] But these, on the other hand, prefer ignorance to wisdom,\nturning their wealth into stone, that is, into pearls and Indian\nemeralds. And they squander and throw away their wealth on fading\ndyes, and bought slaves; like crammed fowls scraping the dung of life.\n\u201cPoverty,\u201d it is said, \u201chumbles a man.\u201d[665] By poverty is meant that\nniggardliness by which the rich are poor, having nothing to give away.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n BEHAVIOUR IN THE BATHS.\n\n\nAnd of what sort are their baths? Houses skilfully constructed,\ncompact, portable, transparent, covered with fine linen. And\ngold-plated chairs, and silver ones, too, and ten thousand vessels of\ngold and silver, some for drinking, some for eating, some for bathing,\nare carried about with them. Besides these, there are even braziers\nof coals; for they have arrived at such a pitch of self-indulgence,\nthat they sup and get drunk while bathing. And articles of silver with\nwhich they make a show, they ostentatiously set out in the baths, and\nthus display perchance their wealth out of excessive pride, but chiefly\nthe capricious ignorance, through which they brand effeminate men, who\nhave been vanquished by women; proving at least that they themselves\ncannot meet and cannot sweat without a multitude of vessels, although\npoor women who have no display equally enjoy their baths. The dirt of\nwealth, then, has an abundant covering of censure. With this, as with\na bait, they hook the miserable creatures that gape at the glitter of\ngold. For dazzling thus those fond of display, they artfully try to win\nthe admiration of their lovers, who after a little insult them naked.\nThey will scarce strip before their own husbands, affecting a plausible\npretence of modesty; but any others who wish, may see them at home shut\nup naked in their baths. For there they are not ashamed to strip before\nspectators, as if exposing their persons for sale. But Hesiod advises\n\n \u201cNot to wash the skin in the women\u2019s bath.\u201d[666]\n\nThe baths are opened promiscuously to men and women; and there they\nstrip for licentious indulgence (for from looking, men get to loving),\nas if their modesty had been washed away in the bath. Those who have\nnot become utterly destitute of modesty shut out strangers; but bathe\nwith their own servants, and strip naked before their slaves, and are\nrubbed by them; giving to the crouching menial liberty to lust, by\npermitting fearless handling. For those who are introduced before their\nnaked mistresses while in the bath, study to strip themselves in order\nto audacity in lust, casting off fear in consequence of the wicked\ncustom. The ancient athletes, ashamed to exhibit a man naked, preserved\ntheir modesty by going through the contest in drawers; but these women,\ndivesting themselves of their modesty along with their chemise, wish\nto appear beautiful, but contrary to their wish are simply proved to\nbe wicked. For through the body itself the wantonness of lust shines\nclearly; as in the case of dropsical people, the water covered by the\nskin. Disease in both is known from the look. Men, therefore, affording\nto women a noble example of truth, ought to be ashamed at their\nstripping before them, and guard against these dangerous sights; \u201cfor\nhe who has looked curiously,\u201d it is said, \u201chath sinned already.\u201d[667]\nAt home, therefore, they ought to regard with modesty parents and\ndomestics; in the ways, those they meet; in the baths, women; in\nsolitude, themselves; and everywhere the Word, who is everywhere,\n\u201cand without Him was not anything.\u201d[668] For so only shall one remain\nwithout falling, if he regard God as ever present with him.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n THE CHRISTIAN ALONE RICH.\n\n\nRiches are then to be partaken of rationally, bestowed lovingly, not\nsordidly, or pompously; nor is the love of the beautiful to be turned\ninto self-love and ostentation; lest perchance some one say to us, \u201cHis\nhorse, or land, or domestic, or gold, is worth fifteen talents; but the\nman himself is dear at three coppers.\u201d\n\nTake away, then, directly the ornaments from women, and domestics from\nmasters, and you will find masters in no respect different from bought\nslaves in step, or look, or voice, so like are they to their slaves.\nBut they differ in that they are feebler than their slaves, and have a\nmore sickly upbringing.\n\nThis best of maxims, then, ought to be perpetually repeated, \u201cThat the\ngood man, being temperate and just,\u201d treasures up his wealth in heaven.\nHe who has sold his worldly goods, and given them to the poor, finds\nthe imperishable treasure, \u201cwhere is neither moth nor robber.\u201d Blessed\ntruly is he, \u201cthough he be insignificant, and feeble, and obscure;\u201d and\nhe is truly rich with the greatest of all riches. \u201cThough a man, then,\nbe richer than Cinyras and Midas, and is wicked,\u201d and haughty as he who\nwas luxuriously clothed in purple and fine linen, and despised Lazarus,\n\u201che is miserable, and lives in trouble,\u201d and shall not live. Wealth\nseems to me to be like a serpent, which will twist round the hand and\nbite; unless one knows how to lay hold of it without danger by the\npoint of the tail. And riches, wriggling either in an experienced or\ninexperienced grasp, are dexterous at adhering and biting; unless one,\ndespising them, use them skilfully, so as to crush the creature by the\ncharm of the Word, and himself escape unscathed.\n\nBut, as is reasonable, he alone, who possesses what is worth most,\nturns out truly rich, though not recognised as such. And it is not\njewels, or gold, or clothing, or beauty of person, that are of high\nvalue, but virtue; which is the Word given by the Instructor to be put\nin practice. This is the Word, who abjures luxury, but calls self-help\nas a servant, and praises frugality, the progeny of temperance.\n\u201cReceive,\u201d he says, \u201cinstruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather\nthan tested gold; for Wisdom is better than precious stones, nor is\nanything that is valuable equal in worth to her.\u201d[669] And again:\n\u201cAcquire me rather than gold, and precious stones, and silver; for my\nproduce is better than choice silver.\u201d[670]\n\nBut if we must distinguish, let it be granted that he is rich who\nhas many possessions, loaded with gold like a dirty purse; but the\nrighteous alone is graceful, because grace is order, observing a due\nand decorous measure in managing and distributing. \u201cFor there are those\nwho sow and reap more,\u201d[671] of whom it is written, \u201cHe hath dispersed,\nhe hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever.\u201d[672]\nSo that it is not he who has and keeps, but he who gives away, that\nis rich; and it is giving away, not possession, which renders a man\nhappy; and the fruit of the Spirit is generosity. It is in the soul,\nthen, that riches are. Let it, then, be granted that good things are\nthe property only of good men; and Christians are good. Now, a fool or\na libertine can neither have any perception of what is good, nor obtain\npossession of it. Accordingly, good things are possessed by Christians\nalone. And nothing is richer than these good things; therefore these\nalone are rich. For righteousness is true riches; and the Word is more\nvaluable than all treasure, not accruing from cattle and fields, but\ngiven by God--riches which cannot be taken away. The soul alone is its\ntreasure. It is the best possession to its possessor, rendering man\ntruly blessed. For he whose it is to desire nothing that is not in our\npower, and to obtain by asking from God what he piously desires, does\nhe not possess much, nay all, having God as his everlasting treasure?\n\u201cTo him that asks,\u201d it is said, \u201cshall be given, and to him that\nknocketh it shall be opened.\u201d[673] If God denies nothing, all things\nbelong to the godly.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n FRUGALITY A GOOD PROVISION FOR THE CHRISTIAN.\n\n\nDelicacies spent on pleasures become a dangerous shipwreck to men; for\nthis voluptuous and ignoble life of the many is alien to true love for\nthe beautiful and to refined pleasures. For man is by nature an erect\nand majestic being, aspiring after the good as becomes the creature\nof the One. But the life which crawls on its belly is destitute of\ndignity, is scandalous, hateful, ridiculous. And to the divine nature\nvoluptuousness is a thing most alien; for this is for a man to be like\nsparrows in feeding, and swine and goats in lechery. For to regard\npleasure as a good thing, is the sign of utter ignorance of what is\nexcellent. Love of wealth displaces a man from the right mode of life,\nand induces him to cease from feeling shame at what is shameful; if\nonly, like a beast, he has power to eat all sorts of things, and to\ndrink in like manner, and to satiate in every way his lewd desires.\nAnd so very rarely does he inherit the kingdom of God. For what end,\nthen, are such dainty dishes prepared, but to fill one belly? The\nfilthiness of gluttony is proved by the privies into which our bellies\ndischarge the refuse of our food. For what end do they collect so many\ncup-bearers, when they might satisfy themselves with one cup? For what\nthe chests of clothes? and the gold ornaments for what? Those things\nare prepared for clothes-stealers, and scoundrels, and for greedy eyes.\n\u201cBut let alms and faith not fail thee,\u201d[674] says the Scripture.\n\nLook, for instance, to Elias the Thesbite, in whom we have a beautiful\nexample of frugality, when he sat down beneath the thorn, and\nthe angel brought him food. \u201cIt was a cake of barley and a jar of\nwater.\u201d[675] Such the Lord sent as best for him. We, then, on our\njourney to the truth, must be unencumbered. \u201cCarry not,\u201d said the Lord,\n\u201cpurse, nor scrip, nor shoes;\u201d[676] that is, possess not wealth, which\nis only treasured up in a purse; fill not your own stores, as if laying\nup produce in a bag, but communicate to those who have need. Do not\ntrouble yourselves about horses and servants, who, as bearing burdens\nwhen the rich are travelling, are allegorically called shoes.\n\nWe must, then, cast away the multitude of vessels, silver and gold\ndrinking cups, and the crowd of domestics, receiving as we have done\nfrom the Instructor the fair and grave attendants, Self-help and\nSimplicity. And we must walk suitably to the Word; and if there be a\nwife and children, the house is not a burden, having learned to change\nits place along with the sound-minded traveller. The wife who loves\nher husband must be furnished for travel similarly to her husband. A\nfair provision for the journey to heaven is theirs who bear frugality\nwith chaste gravity. And as the foot is the measure of the shoe, so\nalso is the body of what each individual possesses. But that which is\nsuperfluous, what they call ornaments and the furniture of the rich, is\na burden, not an ornament to the body. He who climbs to the heavens by\nforce, must carry with him the fair staff of beneficence, and attain\nto the true rest by communicating to those who are in distress. For\nthe Scripture avouches, \u201cthat the true riches of the soul are a man\u2019s\nransom,\u201d[677] that is, if he is rich, he will be saved by distributing\nit. For as gushing wells, when pumped out, rise again to their former\nmeasure, so giving away, being the benignant spring of love, by\ncommunicating of its drink to the thirsty, again increases and is\nreplenished, just as the milk is wont to flow into the breasts that are\nsucked or milked. For he who has the almighty God, the Word, is in want\nof nothing, and never is in straits for what he needs. For the Word is\na possession that wants nothing, and is the cause of all abundance. If\none say that he has often seen the righteous man in need of food, this\nis rare, and happens only where there is not another righteous man.\nNotwithstanding let him read what follows: \u201cFor the righteous man shall\nnot live by bread alone, but by the word of the Lord,\u201d[678] who is the\ntrue bread, the bread of the heavens. The good man, then, can never be\nin difficulties so long as he keeps intact his confession towards God.\nFor it appertains to him to ask and to receive whatever he requires\nfrom the Father of all; and to enjoy what is his own, if he keep the\nSon. And this also appertains to him, to feel no want.\n\nThis Word, who trains us, confers on us the true riches. Nor is the\ngrowing rich an object of envy to those who possess through Him the\nprivilege of wanting nothing. He that has this wealth shall inherit the\nkingdom of God.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n SIMILITUDES AND EXAMPLES A MOST IMPORTANT PART OF\n RIGHT INSTRUCTION.\n\n\nAnd if any one of you shall entirely avoid luxury, he will, by a frugal\nupbringing, train himself to the endurance of involuntary labours, by\nemploying constantly voluntary afflictions as training exercises for\npersecutions; so that when he comes to compulsory labours, and fears,\nand griefs, he will not be unpractised in endurance.\n\nWherefore we have no country on earth, that we may despise earthly\npossessions. And frugality[679] is in the highest degree rich, being\nequal to unfailing expenditure, bestowed on what is requisite, and to\nthe degree requisite. For \u03c4\u03ad\u03bb\u03b7 has the meaning of expenses.\n\nHow a husband is to live with his wife, and respecting self-help,\nand housekeeping, and the employment of domestics; and further, with\nrespect to the time of marriage, and what is suitable for wives, we\nhave treated in the discourse concerning marriage. What pertains to\ndiscipline alone is reserved now for description, as we delineate\nthe life of Christians. The most indeed has been already said, and\nlaid down in the form of disciplinary rules. What still remains we\nshall subjoin; for examples are of no small moment in determining to\nsalvation.\n\nSee, says the tragedy,\n\n \u201cThe consort of Ulysses was not killed\n By Telemachus; for she did not take a husband in addition to a\n husband,\n But in the house the marriage-bed remains unpolluted.\u201d[680]\n\nReproaching foul adultery, he showed the fair image of chastity in\naffection to her husband.\n\nThe Laced\u00e6monians compelling the Helots, their servants (Helots is the\nname of their servants), to get drunk, exhibited their drunken pranks\nbefore themselves, who were temperate, for cure and correction.\n\nObserving, accordingly, their unseemly behaviour, in order that they\nthemselves might not fall into like censurable conduct, they trained\nthemselves, turning the reproach of the drunkards to the advantage of\nkeeping themselves free from fault.\n\nFor some men being instructed are saved; and others, self-taught,\neither aspire after or seek virtue.\n\n \u201cHe truly is the best of all who himself perceives all things.\u201d[681]\n\nSuch is Abraham, who sought God.\n\n \u201cAnd good, again, is he who obeys him who advises well.\u201d[682]\n\nSuch are those disciples who obeyed the Word. Wherefore the former was\ncalled \u201cfriend,\u201d the latter \u201capostles;\u201d the one diligently seeking, and\nthe other preaching one and the same God. And both are peoples, and\nboth these have hearers, the one who is profited through seeking, the\nother who is saved through finding.\n\n \u201cBut whoever neither himself perceives, nor, hearing another,\n Lays to heart--he is a worthless man.\u201d[683]\n\nThe other people is the Gentile--useless; this is the people that\nfolloweth not Christ. Nevertheless the Instructor, lover of man,\nhelping in many ways, partly exhorts, partly upbraids. Others having\nsinned, He shows us their baseness, and exhibits the punishment\nconsequent upon it, alluring while admonishing, planning to dissuade us\nin love from evil, by the exhibition of those who have suffered from\nit before. By which examples He very manifestly checked those who had\nbeen evil-disposed, and hindered those who were daring like deeds; and\nothers He brought to a foundation of patience; others He stopped from\nwickedness; and others He cured by the contemplation of what is like,\nbringing them over to what is better.\n\nFor who, when following one in the way, and then on the former\nfalling into a pit, would not guard against incurring equal danger,\nby taking care not to follow him in his slip? What athlete, again,\nwho has learned the way to glory, and has seen the combatant who had\npreceded him receiving the prize, does not exert himself for the crown,\nimitating the elder one?\n\nSuch images of divine wisdom are many; but I shall mention one\ninstance, and expound it in a few words. The fate of the Sodomites was\njudgment to those who had done wrong, instruction to those who hear.\nThe Sodomites having, through much luxury, fallen into uncleanness,\npractising adultery shamelessly, and burning with insane love for\nboys; the All-seeing Word, whose notice those who commit impieties\ncannot escape, cast His eye on them. Nor did the sleepless guard of\nhumanity observe their licentiousness in silence; but dissuading us\nfrom the imitation of them, and training us up to His own temperance,\nand falling on some sinners, lest lust being unavenged, should break\nloose from all the restraints of fear, ordered Sodom to be burned,\npouring forth a little of the sagacious fire on licentiousness; lest\nlust, through want of punishment, should throw wide the gates to\nthose that were rushing into voluptuousness. Accordingly, the just\npunishment of the Sodomites became to men an image of the salvation\nwhich is well calculated for men. For those who have not committed\nlike sins with those who are punished, will never receive a like\npunishment. By guarding against sinning, we guard against suffering.\n\u201cFor I would have you to know,\u201d says Jude, \u201cthat God, having once\nsaved His people from the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them\nthat believed not; and the angels which kept not their first estate,\nbut left their own habitation, He hath reserved to the judgment of\nthe great day, in everlasting chains under darkness of the savage\nangels.\u201d[684] And a little after he sets forth, in a most instructive\nmanner, representations of those that are judged: \u201cWoe unto them,\nfor they have gone in the way of Cain, and run greedily after the\nerror of Balaam, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.\u201d For those,\nwho cannot attain the privilege of adoption, fear keeps from growing\ninsolent. For punishments and threats are for this end, that fearing\nthe penalty we may abstain from sinning. I might relate to you\npunishments for ostentation, and punishments for vainglory, not only\nfor licentiousness; and adduce the censures pronounced on those whose\nhearts are bad through wealth,[685] in which censures the Word through\nfear restrains from evil acts. But sparing prolixity in my treatise, I\nshall bring forward the following precepts of the Instructor, that you\nmay guard against His threatenings.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n WHY WE ARE TO USE THE BATH.\n\n\nThere are, then, four reasons for the bath (for from that point I\ndigressed in my oration), for which we frequent it: for cleanliness,\nor heat, or health, or lastly, for pleasure. Bathing for pleasure is\nto be omitted. For unblushing pleasure must be cut out by the roots;\nand the bath is to be taken by women for cleanliness and health, by men\nfor health alone. To bathe for the sake of heat is a superfluity, since\none may restore what is frozen by the cold in other ways. Constant use\nof the bath, too, impairs strength and relaxes the physical energies,\nand often induces debility and fainting. For in a way the body drinks,\nlike trees, not only by the mouth, but also over the whole body in\nbathing, by what they call the pores. In proof of this, often people,\nwhen thirsty, by going afterwards into the water, have assuaged their\nthirst. Unless, then, the bath is for some use, we ought not to indulge\nin it. The ancients called them places for fulling[686] men, since\nthey wrinkle men\u2019s bodies sooner than they ought, and by cooking them,\nas it were, compel them to become prematurely old. The flesh, like\niron, being softened by the heat, hence we require cold, as it were,\nto temper and give an edge. Nor must we bathe always; but if one is a\nlittle exhausted, or, on the other hand, filled to repletion, the bath\nis to be forbidden, regard being had to the age of the body and the\nseason of the year. For the bath is not beneficial to all, or always,\nas those who are skilled in these things own. But due proportion, which\non all occasions we call as our helper in life, suffices for us. For\nwe must not so use the bath as to require an assistant, nor are we to\nbathe constantly and often in the day as we frequent the market-place.\nBut to have the water poured over us by several people is an outrage\non our neighbours, through fondness for luxuriousness, and is done\nby those who will not understand that the bath is common to all the\nbathers equally.\n\nBut most of all is it necessary to wash the soul in the cleansing Word\n(sometimes the body too, on account of the dirt which gathers and grows\nto it, sometimes also to relieve fatigue). \u201cWoe unto you, scribes and\nPharisees, hypocrites!\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cfor ye are like to whited\nsepulchres. Without, the sepulchre appears beautiful, but within it\nis full of dead men\u2019s bones and all uncleanness.\u201d[687] And again He\nsays to the same people, \u201cWoe unto you! for ye cleanse the outside of\nthe cup and platter, but within are full of uncleanness. Cleanse first\nthe inside of the cup, that the outside may be clean also.\u201d[688] The\nbest bath, then, is what rubs off the pollution of the soul, and is\nspiritual. Of which prophecy speaks expressly: \u201cThe Lord will wash away\nthe filth of the sons and daughters of Israel, and will purge the blood\nfrom the midst of them\u201d[689]--the blood of crime and the murders of the\nprophets. And the mode of cleansing, the Word subjoined, saying, \u201cby\nthe spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning.\u201d The bathing of the\nbody, which is carnal, is accomplished by water alone, as often in the\ncountry where there is not a bath.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n THE EXERCISES SUITED TO A GOOD LIFE.\n\n\nThe gymnasium is sufficient for boys, even if a bath is within reach.\nAnd even for men to prefer gymnastic exercises by far to the baths,\nis perchance not bad, since they are in some respect conducive to\nthe health of young men, and produce exertion--emulation to aim at\nnot only a healthy habit of body, but courageousness of soul. When\nthis is done without dragging a man away from better employments,\nit is pleasant, and not unprofitable. Nor are women to be deprived\nof bodily exercise. But they are not to be encouraged to engage in\nwrestling or running, but are to exercise themselves in spinning, and\nweaving, and superintending the cooking if necessary. And they are,\nwith their own hand, to fetch from the store, what we require. And it\nis no disgrace for them to apply themselves to the mill. Nor is it a\nreproach to a wife--housekeeper and helpmeet--to occupy herself in\ncooking, so that it may be palatable to her husband. And if she shake\nup the couch, reach drink to her husband when thirsty, set food on\nthe table as neatly as possible, and so give herself exercise tending\nto sound health, the Instructor will approve of a woman like this,\nwho \u201cstretches forth her arms to useful tasks, rests her hands on the\ndistaff, opens her hand to the poor, and extends her wrist to the\nbeggar.\u201d[690]\n\nShe who emulates Sarah is not ashamed of that highest of ministries,\nhelping wayfarers. For Abraham said to her, \u201cHaste, and knead three\nmeasures of meal, and make cakes.\u201d[691] \u201cAnd Rachel, the daughter of\nLaban, came,\u201d it is said, \u201cwith her father\u2019s sheep.\u201d[692] Nor was this\nenough; but to teach humility it is added, \u201cfor she fed her father\u2019s\nsheep.\u201d[693] And innumerable such examples of frugality and self-help,\nand also of exercises, are furnished by the Scriptures. In the case\nof men, let some strip and engage in wrestling; let some play at the\nsmall ball, especially the game they call Pheninda,[694] in the sun. To\nothers who walk into the country, or go down into the town, the walk is\nsufficient exercise. And were they to handle the hoe, this stroke of\neconomy in agricultural labour would not be ungentlemanly.\n\nI had almost forgot to say that the well-known Pittacus, king of\nMiletus, practised the laborious exercise of turning the mill.[695]\nIt is respectable for a man to draw water for himself, and to cut\nbillets of wood which he is to use himself. Jacob fed the sheep of\nLaban that were left in his charge, having as a royal badge \u201ca rod of\nstorax,\u201d[696] which aimed by its wood to change and improve nature. And\nreading aloud is often an exercise to many. But let not such athletic\ncontests, as we have allowed, be undertaken for the sake of vainglory,\nbut for the exuding of manly sweat. Nor are we to struggle with cunning\nand showiness, but in a stand-up wrestling bout, by disentangling of\nneck, hands, and sides. For such a struggle with graceful strength is\nmore becoming and manly, being undertaken for the sake of serviceable\nand profitable health. But let those others, who profess the practice\nof illiberal postures in gymnastics, be dismissed. We must always aim\nat moderation. For as it is best that labour should precede food, so to\nlabour above measure is both very bad, very exhausting, and apt to make\nus ill. Neither, then, should we be idle altogether, nor completely\nfatigued. For similarly to what we have laid down with respect to food,\nare we to do everywhere and with everything. Our mode of life is not to\naccustom us to voluptuousness and licentiousness, nor to the opposite\nextreme, but to the medium between these, that which is harmonious and\ntemperate, and free of either evil, luxury and parsimony. And now, as\nwe have also previously remarked, attending to one\u2019s own wants is an\nexercise free of pride,--as, for example, putting on one\u2019s own shoes,\nwashing one\u2019s own feet, and also rubbing one\u2019s self when anointed with\noil. To render one who has rubbed you the same service in return, is an\nexercise of reciprocal justice; and to sleep beside a sick friend, help\nthe infirm, and supply him who is in want, are proper exercises. \u201cAnd\nAbraham,\u201d it is said, \u201cserved up for three, dinner under a tree, and\nwaited on them as they ate.\u201d[697] The same with fishing, as in the case\nof Peter, if we have leisure from necessary instructions in the Word.\nBut that is the better sport which the Lord assigned to the disciple,\nwhen He taught him to \u201ccatch men\u201d as fishes in the water.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.\n\n\nWherefore the wearing of gold and the use of softer clothing is not\nto be entirely prohibited. But irrational impulses must be curbed,\nlest, carrying us away through excessive relaxation, they impel us to\nvoluptuousness. For luxury, that has dashed on to surfeit, is prone\nto kick up its heels and toss its mane, and shake off the charioteer,\nthe Instructor; who, pulling back the reins from far, leads and drives\nto salvation the human horse--that is, the irrational part of the\nsoul--which is wildly bent on pleasures, and vicious appetites, and\nprecious stones, and gold, and variety of dress, and other luxuries.\n\nAbove all, we are to keep in mind what was spoken sacredly: \u201cHaving\nyour conversation honest among the Gentiles; that, whereas they speak\nagainst you as evil-doers, they may, by the good works which they\nbehold, glorify God.\u201d[698]\n\n\n _Clothes._\n\nThe Instructor permits us, then, to use simple clothing, and of a\nwhite colour, as we said before. So that, accommodating ourselves\nnot to variegated art, but to nature as it is produced, and pushing\naway whatever is deceptive and belies the truth, we may embrace the\nuniformity and simplicity of the truth.\n\nSophocles, reproaching a youth, says:\n\n \u201cDecked in women\u2019s clothes.\u201d\n\nFor, as in the case of the soldier, the sailor, and the ruler, so also\nthe proper dress of the temperate man is what is plain, becoming, and\nclean. Whence also in the law, the law enacted by Moses about leprosy\nrejects what has many colours and spots, like the various scales of the\nsnake. He therefore wishes man, no longer decking himself gaudily in a\nvariety of colours, but white all over from the crown of the head to\nthe sole of the foot, to be clean; so that, by a transition from the\nbody, we may lay aside the varied and versatile passions of the man,\nand love the unvaried, and unambiguous, and simple colour of truth. And\nhe who also in this emulates Moses--Plato best of all--approves of that\ntexture on which not more than a chaste woman\u2019s work has been employed.\nAnd white colours well become gravity. And elsewhere he says, \u201cNor\napply dyes or weaving, except for warlike decorations.\u201d[699]\n\nTo men of peace and of light, therefore, white is appropriate. As,\nthen, signs, which are very closely allied to causes, by their presence\nindicate, or rather demonstrate, the existence of the result; as smoke\nis the sign of fire, and a good complexion and a regular pulse of\nhealth; so also clothing of this description shows the character of our\nhabits. Temperance is pure and simple; since purity is a habit which\nensures pure conduct unmixed with what is base. Simplicity is a habit\nwhich does away with superfluities.\n\nSubstantial clothing also, and chiefly what is unfulled, protects the\nheat which is in the body; not that the clothing has heat in itself,\nbut that it turns back the heat issuing from the body, and refuses it a\npassage. And whatever heat falls upon it, it absorbs and retains, and\nbeing warmed by it, warms in turn the body. And for this reason it is\nchiefly to be worn in winter.\n\nIt also (temperance) is contented. And contentment is a habit which\ndispenses with superfluities, and, that there may be no failure, is\nreceptive of what suffices for the healthful and blessed life according\nto the Word.[700]\n\nLet the woman wear a plain and becoming dress, but softer than what\nis suitable for a man, yet not quite immodest or entirely gone in\nluxury. And let the garments be suited to age, person, figure, nature,\npursuits. For the divine apostle most beautifully counsels us \u201cto put\non Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh.\u201d[701]\n\n\n _Ear-rings._\n\nThe Word prohibits us from doing violence to nature by boring the lobes\nof the ears. For why not the nose too?--so that, what was spoken, may\nbe fulfilled: \u201cAs an ear-ring in a swine\u2019s nose, so is beauty to a\nwoman without discretion.\u201d[702] For, in a word, if one thinks himself\nmade beautiful by gold, he is inferior to gold; and he that is inferior\nto gold is not lord of it. But to confess one\u2019s self less ornamental\nthan the Lydian ore, how monstrous! As, then, the gold is polluted by\nthe dirtiness of the sow, which stirs up the mire with her snout, so\nthose women that are luxurious to excess in their wantonness, elated by\nwealth, dishonour by the stains of amatory indulgences what is the true\nbeauty.\n\n\n _Finger-rings._\n\nThe Word, then, permits them a finger-ring of gold. Nor is this for\nornament, but for sealing things which are worth keeping safe in the\nhouse, in the exercise of their charge of housekeeping.\n\nFor if all were well trained, there would be no need of seals, if\nservants and masters were equally honest. But since want of training\nproduces an inclination to dishonesty, we require seals.\n\nBut there are circumstances in which this strictness may be relaxed.\nFor allowance must sometimes be made in favour of those women who have\nnot been fortunate[703] in falling in with chaste husbands, and adorn\nthemselves in order to please their husbands. But let desire for the\nadmiration of their husbands alone be proposed as their aim. I would\nnot have them to devote themselves to personal display, but to attract\ntheir husbands by chaste love for them--a powerful and legitimate\ncharm. But since they wish their wives to be unhappy in mind, let the\nlatter, if they would be chaste, make it their aim to allay by degrees\nthe irrational impulses and passions of their husbands. And they are\nto be gently drawn to simplicity, by gradually accustoming them to\nsobriety. For decency is not produced by the imposition of what is\nburdensome, but by the abstraction of excess. For women\u2019s articles of\nluxury are to be prohibited, as things of swift wing producing unstable\nfollies and empty delights; by which, elated and furnished with wings,\nthey often fly away from the marriage bonds. Wherefore also women ought\nto dress neatly, and bind themselves around with the band of chaste\nmodesty, lest through giddiness they slip away from the truth. It is\nright, then, for men to repose confidence in their wives, and commit\nthe charge of the household to them, as they are given to be their\nhelpers in this.\n\nAnd if it is necessary for us, while engaged in public business, or\ndischarging other avocations in the country, and often away from our\nwives, to seal anything for the sake of safety, He (the Word) allows us\na signet for this purpose only. Other finger-rings are to be cast off,\nsince, according to the Scripture, \u201cinstruction is a golden ornament\nfor a wise man.\u201d[704]\n\nBut women who wear gold seem to me to be afraid, lest, if one strip\nthem of their jewellery, they should be taken for servants, without\ntheir ornaments. But the nobility of truth, discovered in the native\nbeauty which has its seat in the soul, judges the slave not by buying\nand selling, but by a servile disposition. And it is incumbent on us\nnot to seem, but to be free, trained by God, adopted by God.\n\nWherefore we must adopt a mode of standing and motion, and a step, and\ndress, and in a word, a mode of life, in all respects as worthy as\npossible of freemen. But men are not to wear the ring on the joint; for\nthis is feminine; but to place it on the little finger at its root. For\nso the hand will be freest for work, in whatever we need it; and the\nsignet will not very easily fall off, being guarded by the large knot\nof the joint.\n\nAnd let our seals be either a dove, or a fish, or a ship scudding\nbefore the wind, or a musical lyre, which Polycrates used, or a ship\u2019s\nanchor, which Seleucus got engraved as a device; and if there be one\nfishing, he will remember the apostle, and the children drawn out of\nthe water. For we are not to delineate the faces of idols, we who are\nprohibited to cleave to them; nor a sword, nor a bow, following as we\ndo, peace; nor drinking-cups, being temperate.\n\nMany of the licentious have their lovers[705] engraved,[706] or their\nmistresses, as if they wished to make it impossible ever to forget\ntheir amatory indulgences, by being perpetually put in mind of their\nlicentiousness.\n\n\n _The Hair._\n\nAbout the hair, the following seems right. Let the head of men be\nshaven, unless it has curly hair. But let the chin have the hair.\nBut let not twisted locks hang far down from the head, gliding into\nwomanish ringlets. For an ample beard suffices for men. And if one,\ntoo, shave a part of his beard, it must not be made entirely bare,\nfor this is a disgraceful sight. The shaving of the chin to the skin\nis reprehensible, approaching to plucking out the hair and smoothing.\nFor instance, thus the Psalmist, delighted with the hair of the beard,\nsays, \u201cAs the ointment that descends on the beard, the beard of\nAaron.\u201d[707]\n\nHaving celebrated the beauty of the beard by a repetition, he made the\nface to shine with the ointment of the Lord.\n\nSince cropping is to be adopted not for the sake of elegance, but on\naccount of the necessity of the case; the hair of the head, that it\nmay not grow so long as to come down and interfere with the eyes, and\nthat of the moustache similarly, which is dirtied in eating, is to be\ncut round, not by the razor, for that were ungenteel, but by a pair of\ncropping scissors. But the hair on the chin is not to be disturbed, as\nit gives no trouble, and lends to the face dignity and paternal terror.\n\nMoreover, the shape instructs many not to sin, because it renders\ndetection easy. To those who do [not][708] wish to sin openly, a habit\nthat will escape observation and is not conspicuous is most agreeable,\nwhich, when assumed, will allow them to transgress without detection;\nso that, being undistinguishable from others, they may fearlessly go\ntheir length in sinning.[709] A cropped head not only shows a man to be\ngrave, but renders the cranium less liable to injury, by accustoming\nit to the presence of both cold and heat; and it averts the mischiefs\narising from these, which the hair absorbs into itself like a sponge,\nand so inflicts on the brain constant mischief from the moisture.\n\nIt is enough for women to protect[710] their locks, and bind up their\nhair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste\nlocks with simple care to true beauty. For meretricious plaiting of\nthe hair, and putting it up in tresses, contribute to make them look\nugly, cutting the hair and plucking off it those treacherous braidings;\non account of which they do not touch their head, being afraid of\ndisordering their hair. Sleep, too, comes on, not without fear lest\nthey pull down without knowing the shape of the braid.\n\nBut additions of other people\u2019s hair are entirely to be rejected, and\nit is a most sacrilegious thing for spurious hair to shade the head,\ncovering the skull with dead locks. For on whom does the presbyter lay\nhis hand? Whom does he bless? Not the woman decked out, but another\u2019s\nhair, and through them another head. And if \u201cthe man is head of the\nwoman, and God of the man,\u201d[711] how is it not impious that they\nshould fall into double sins? For they deceive the men by the excessive\nquantity of their hair; and shame the Lord as far as in them lies, by\nadorning themselves meretriciously, in order to dissemble the truth.\nAnd they defame the head, which is truly beautiful.\n\nConsequently neither is the hair to be dyed, nor grey hair to have its\ncolour changed. For neither are we allowed to diversify our dress. And\nabove all, old age, which conciliates trust, is not to be concealed.\nBut God\u2019s mark of honour is to be shown in the light of day, to win the\nreverence of the young. For sometimes, when they have been behaving\nshamefully, the appearance of hoary hairs, arriving like an instructor,\nhas changed them to sobriety, and paralysed juvenile lust with the\nsplendour of the sight.\n\n\n _Painting the Face._\n\nNor are the women to smear their faces with the ensnaring devices of\nwily cunning. But let us show to them the decoration of sobriety.\nFor, in the first place, the best beauty is that which is spiritual,\nas we have often pointed out. For when the soul is adorned by the\nHoly Spirit, and inspired with the radiant charms which proceed from\nHim,--righteousness, wisdom, fortitude, temperance, love of the good,\nmodesty, than which no more blooming colour was ever seen,--then let\ncorporeal beauty be cultivated too, symmetry of limbs and members,\nwith a fair complexion. The adornment of health is here in place,\nthrough which the transition of the artificial image to the truth, in\naccordance with the form which has been given by God, is effected. But\ntemperance in drinks, and moderation in articles of food, are effectual\nin producing beauty according to nature; for not only does the body\nmaintain its health from these, but they also make beauty to appear.\nFor from what is fiery arises a gleam and sparkle; and from moisture,\nbrightness and grace; and from dryness, strength and firmness; and\nfrom what is a\u00ebrial, free-breathing and equipoise; from which this\nwell-proportioned and beautiful image of the Word is adorned. Beauty\nis the free flower of health; for the latter is produced within the\nbody; while the former, blossoming out from the body, exhibits manifest\nbeauty of complexion. Accordingly, these most decorous and healthful\npractices, by exercising the body, produce true and lasting beauty, the\nheat attracting to itself all the moisture and cold spirit. Heat, when\nagitated by moving causes, is a thing which attracts to itself; and\nwhen it does attract, it gently exhales through the flesh itself, when\nwarmed, the abundance of food, with some moisture, but with excess of\nheat. Wherefore also the first food is carried off. But when the body\nis not moved, the food consumed does not adhere, but falls away, as the\nloaf from a cold oven, either entire, or leaving only the lower part.\nAccordingly, urine and dung are in excess in the case of those who do\nnot throw off the excrementitious matters by the rubbings necessitated\nby exercise. And other superfluous matters abound in their case too,\nand also perspiration, as the food is not assimilated by the body, but\nis flowing out to waste. Thence also lusts are excited, the redundance\nflowing to the organs of generation by commensurate motions. Wherefore\nthis redundance ought to be liquefied and dispersed for digestion, by\nwhich beauty acquires its ruddy hue. But it is monstrous for those who\nare made in \u201cthe image and likeness of God,\u201d to dishonour the archetype\nby assuming a foreign ornament, preferring the mischievous contrivance\nof man to the divine creation.\n\nThe Instructor orders them to go forth \u201cin becoming apparel, and adorn\nthemselves with shamefacedness and sobriety,\u201d[712] \u201csubject to their\nown husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they may without the word\nbe won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold,\u201d he says,\n\u201cyour chaste conversation. Whose adorning, let it not be that outward\nadorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on\nof apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is\nnot corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is\nin the sight of God of great price.\u201d[713]\n\nFor the labour of their own hands, above all, adds genuine beauty to\nwomen, exercising their bodies and adorning themselves by their own\nexertions; not bringing unornamental ornament wrought by others, which\nis vulgar and meretricious, but that of every good woman, supplied and\nwoven by her own hands whenever she most requires. For it is never\nsuitable for women whose lives are framed according to God, to appear\narrayed in things bought from the market, but in their own home-made\nwork. For a most beautiful thing is a thrifty wife, who clothes both\nherself and her husband with fair array of her own working;[714] in\nwhich all are glad--the children on account of their mother, the\nhusband on account of his wife, she on their account, and all in God.\n\nIn brief, \u201cA store of excellence is a woman of worth, who eateth not\nthe bread of idleness; and the laws of mercy are on her tongue; who\nopeneth her mouth wisely and rightly; whose children rise up and call\nher blessed,\u201d as the sacred Word says by Solomon: \u201cHer husband also,\nand he praiseth her. For a pious woman is blessed; and let her praise\nthe fear of the Lord.\u201d[715]\n\nAnd again, \u201cA virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.\u201d[716] They\nmust, as far as possible, correct their gestures, looks, steps, and\nspeech. For they must not do as some, who, imitating the acting\nof comedy, and practising the mincing motions of dancers, conduct\nthemselves in society as if on the stage, with voluptuous movements,\nand gliding steps, and affected voices, casting languishing glances\nround, tricked out with the bait of pleasure. \u201cFor honey drops from the\nlips of a woman who is an harlot; who, speaking to please, lubricates\nthy throat. But at last thou wilt find it bitterer than bile, and\nsharper than a two-edged sword. For the feet of folly lead those who\npractise it to hell after death.\u201d[717]\n\nThe noble Samson was overcome by the harlot, and by another woman was\nshorn of his manhood. But Joseph was not thus beguiled by another\nwoman. The Egyptian harlot was conquered. And chastity,[718] assuming\nto itself bonds, appears superior to dissolute licence. Most excellent\nis what has been said:\n\n \u201cIn fine, I know not how\n To whisper, nor effeminately,\n To walk about with my neck awry,\n As I see others--lechers there\n In numbers in the city, with hair plucked out.\u201d[719]\n\nBut feminine motions, dissoluteness, and luxury, are to be entirely\nprohibited. For voluptuousness of motion in walking, \u201cand a mincing\ngait,\u201d as Anacreon says, are altogether meretricious.\n\n\u201cAs seems to me,\u201d says the comedy, \u201cit is time[720] to abandon\nmeretricious steps and luxury.\u201d And the steps of harlotry lean not to\nthe truth; for they approach not the paths of life. Her tracks are\ndangerous, and not easily known.[721] The eyes especially are to be\nsparingly used, since it is better to slip with the feet than with the\neyes.[722] Accordingly, the Lord very summarily cures this malady: \u201cIf\nthine eye offend thee, cut it out,\u201d[723] He says, dragging lust up\nfrom the foundation. But languishing looks, and ogling, which is to\nwink with the eyes, is nothing else than to commit adultery with the\neyes, lust skirmishing through them. For of the whole body, the eyes\nare first destroyed. \u201cThe eye contemplating beautiful objects (\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u1f70),\ngladdens the heart;\u201d that is, the eye which has learned rightly (\u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u1ff6\u03c2)\nto see, gladdens. \u201cWinking with the eye, with guile, heaps woes on\nmen.\u201d[724] Such they introduce the effeminate Sardanapalus, king of\nthe Assyrians, sitting on a couch with his legs up, fumbling at his\npurple robe, and casting up the whites of his eyes. Women that follow\nsuch practices, by their looks offer themselves for prostitution. \u201cFor\nthe light of the body is the eye,\u201d says the Scripture, by which the\ninterior illuminated by the shining light appears. Fornication in a\nwoman is in the raising of the eyes.[725]\n\n\u201cMortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,\nuncleanness, inordinate affection, and concupiscence, and covetousness,\nwhich is idolatry: for which things\u2019 sake cometh the wrath of God upon\nthe children of disobedience,\u201d[726] cries the apostle.\n\nBut we enkindle the passions, and are not ashamed.\n\nSome of these women eating mastich, going about, show their teeth to\nthose that come near. And others, as if they had not fingers, give\nthemselves airs, scratching their heads with pins; and these made\neither of tortoise or ivory, or some other dead creature they procure\nat much pains. And others, as if they had certain efflorescences, in\norder to appear comely in the eyes of spectators, stain their faces\nby adorning them with gay-coloured unguents. Such a one is called by\nSolomon \u201ca foolish and bold woman,\u201d who \u201cknows not shame. She sits at\nthe door of her house, conspicuously in a seat, calling to all that\npass by the way, who go right on their ways;\u201d by her style and whole\nlife manifestly saying, \u201cWho among you is very silly? let him turn to\nme.\u201d And those devoid of wisdom she exhorts, saying, \u201cTouch sweetly\nsecret bread, and sweet stolen water;\u201d meaning by this, clandestine\nlove (from this point the B\u0153otian Pindar, coming to our help, says,\n\u201cThe clandestine pursuit of love is something sweet\u201d). But the\nmiserable man \u201cknoweth not that the sons of earth perish beside her,\nand that she tends to the level of hell.\u201d But says the Instructor:\n\u201cHie away, and tarry not in the place; nor fix thine eye on her: for\nthus shalt thou pass over a strange water, and cross to Acheron.\u201d[727]\nWherefore thus saith the Lord by Isaiah, \u201cBecause the daughters of Sion\nwalk with lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes, and sweeping their\ngarments as they walk, and playing with their feet; the Lord shall\nhumble the daughters of Sion, and will uncover their form\u201d[728]--their\ndeformed form. I deem it wrong that servant girls, who follow women\nof high rank, should either speak or act unbecomingly to them. But I\nthink it right that they should be corrected by their mistresses. With\nvery sharp censure, accordingly, the comic poet Philemon says: \u201cYou may\nfollow at the back of a pretty servant girl, seen behind a gentlewoman;\nand any one from the Plat\u00e6icum may follow close, and ogle her.\u201d For\nthe wantonness of the servant recoils on the mistress; allowing those\nwho attempt to take lesser liberties not to be afraid to advance to\ngreater; since the mistress, by allowing improprieties, shows that\nshe does not disapprove of them. And not to be angry at those who act\nwantonly, is a clear proof of a disposition inclining to the like. \u201cFor\nlike mistress like wench,\u201d[729] as they say in the proverb.\n\n\n _Walking._\n\nAlso we must abandon a furious mode of walking, and choose a grave and\nleisurely, but not a lingering step.\n\nNor is one to swagger in the ways, nor throw back his head to look at\nthose he meets, if they look at him, as if he were strutting on the\nstage, and pointed at with the finger. Nor, when pushing up hill, are\nthey to be shoved up by their domestics, as we see those that are more\nluxurious, who appear strong, but are enfeebled by effeminacy of soul.\n\nA true gentleman must have no mark of effeminacy visible on his face,\nor any other part of his body. Let no blot on his manliness, then, be\never found either in his movements or habits. Nor is a man in health to\nuse his servants as horses to bear him. For as it is enjoined on them,\n\u201cto be subject to their masters with all fear, not only to the good\nand gentle, but also to the froward,\u201d[730] as Peter says; so fairness,\nand forbearance, and kindness, are what well becomes the masters. For\nhe says: \u201cFinally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of\nanother; love as brethren, be pitiful, be humble,\u201d and so forth, \u201cthat\nye may inherit a blessing,\u201d[731] excellent and desirable.\n\n\n _The model Maiden._\n\nZeno the Citti\u00e6an thought fit to represent the image of a young maid,\nand executed the statue thus: \u201cLet her face be clean, her eyebrows\nnot let down, nor her eyelids open nor turned back. Let her neck not\nbe stretched back, nor the members of her body be loose. But let the\nparts that hang from the body look as if they were well strung; let\nthere be the keenness of a well-regulated mind[732] for discourse,\nand retention of what has been rightly spoken; and let her attitudes\nand movements give no ground of hope to the licentious; but let there\nbe the bloom of modesty, and an expression of firmness. But far from\nher be the wearisome trouble that comes from the shops of perfumers,\nand goldsmiths, and dealers in wool, and that which comes from the\nother shops where women, meretriciously dressed, pass whole days as if\nsitting in the stews.\u201d\n\n\n _Amusements and Associates._\n\nAnd let not men, therefore, spend their time in barbers\u2019 shops and\ntaverns, babbling nonsense; and let them give up hunting for the women\nwho sit near,[733] and ceaselessly talking slander against many to\nraise a laugh.\n\nThe game of dice[734] is to be prohibited, and the pursuit of gain,\nespecially by dicing,[735] which many keenly follow. Such things the\nprodigality of luxury invents for the idle. For the cause is idleness,\nand a love[736] for frivolities apart from the truth. For it is not\npossible otherwise to obtain enjoyment without injury; and each man\u2019s\npreference of a mode of life is a counterpart of his disposition.\n\nBut, as appears, only intercourse with good men benefits; on the other\nhand, the all-wise Instructor, by the mouth of Moses, recognising\ncompanionship with bad men as swinish, forbade the ancient people to\npartake of swine; to point out that those who call on God ought not\nto mingle with unclean men, who, like swine, delight in corporeal\npleasures, in impure food, and in itching with filthy pruriency after\nthe mischievous delights of lewdness.\n\nFurther, He says: \u201cThou art not to eat a kite or swift-winged ravenous\nbird, or an eagle,\u201d[737] meaning: Thou shalt not come near men who\ngain their living by rapine. And other things also are exhibited\nfiguratively.\n\nWith whom, then, are we to associate? With the righteous, He says\nagain, speaking figuratively; for everything \u201cwhich parts the hoof and\nchews the cud is clean.\u201d For the parting of the hoof indicates the\nequilibrium of righteousness, and ruminating points to the proper food\nof righteousness, the word, which enters from without, like food, by\ninstruction, but is recalled from the mind, as from the stomach, to\nrational recollection. And the spiritual man, having the word in his\nmouth, ruminates the spiritual food; and righteousness parts the hoof\nrightly, because it sanctifies us in this life, and sends us on our way\nto the world to come.\n\n\n _Public Spectacles._\n\nThe Instructor will not then bring us to public spectacles; nor\ninappropriately might one call the racecourse and the theatre \u201cthe\nseat of plagues;\u201d[738] for there is evil counsel as against the\nJust One,[739] and therefore the assembly against Him is execrated.\nThese assemblies, indeed, are full of confusion[740] and iniquity;\nand these pretexts for assembling are the cause of disorder--men\nand women assembling promiscuously for the sight of one another. In\nthis respect the assembly has already shown itself bad: for when the\neye is lascivious,[741] the desires grow warm; and the eyes that\nare accustomed to look impudently at one\u2019s neighbours during the\nleisure granted to them, inflame the amatory desires. Let spectacles,\ntherefore, and plays that are full of scurrility and of abundant\ngossip, be forbidden. For what base action is it that is not exhibited\nin the theatres? And what shameless saying is it that is not brought\nforward by the buffoons? And those who enjoy the evil that is in them,\nstamp the clear images of it at home. And, on the other hand, those\nthat are proof against these things, and unimpressible, will never make\na stumble in regard to luxurious pleasures.\n\nFor if people shall say that they betake themselves to the spectacles\nas a pastime for recreation, I should say that the cities which make\na serious business of pastime are not wise; for cruel contests for\nglory which have been so fatal are not sport. No more is senseless\nexpenditure of money, nor are the riots that are occasioned by them\nsport. And ease of mind is not to be purchased by zealous pursuit of\nfrivolities, for no one who has his senses will ever prefer what is\npleasant to what is good.\n\n\n _Religion in Ordinary Life._\n\nBut it is said we do not all philosophize. Do we not all, then, follow\nafter life? What sayest thou? How hast thou believed? How, pray, dost\nthou love God and thy neighbour, if thou dost not philosophize? And how\ndost thou love thyself, if thou dost not love life? It is said, I have\nnot learned letters; but if thou hast not learned to read, thou canst\nnot excuse thyself in the case of hearing, for it is not taught. And\nfaith is the possession not of the wise according to the world, but\nof those according to God; and it is taught without letters; and its\nhandbook, at once rude and divine, is called love--a spiritual book.\nIt is in your power to listen to divine wisdom, ay, and to frame your\nlife in accordance with it. Nay, you are not prohibited from conducting\naffairs in the world decorously according to God. Let not him who sells\nor buys aught name two prices for what he buys or sells; but stating\nthe net price, and studying to speak the truth, if he get not his\nprice, he gets the truth, and is rich in the possession of rectitude.\nBut, above all, let an oath on account of what is sold be far from you;\nand let swearing, too, on account of other things be banished.\n\nAnd in this way let those who frequent the market-place and the shop\nphilosophize. \u201cFor thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in\nvain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in\nvain.\u201d[742]\n\nBut those who act contrary to these things--the avaricious, the liars,\nthe hypocrites, those who make merchandise of the truth--the Lord cast\nout of His Father\u2019s court,[743] not willing that the holy house of\nGod should be the house of unrighteous traffic either in words or in\nmaterial things.\n\n\n _Going to Church._\n\nWoman and man are to go to church decently attired, with natural step,\nembracing silence, possessing unfeigned love, pure in body, pure in\nheart, fit to pray to God. Let the woman observe this, further. Let her\nbe entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of\ndress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never\nfall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she\ninvite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the\nwish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled.[744]\n\nThey say that the wife of \u00c6neas, through excess of propriety, did not,\neven in her terror at the capture of Troy, uncover herself; but, though\nfleeing from the conflagration, remained veiled.\n\n\n _Out of Church._\n\nSuch ought those who are consecrated to Christ appear, and frame\nthemselves in their whole life, as they fashion themselves in the\nchurch for the sake of gravity; and to be, not to seem such--so\nmeek, so pious, so loving. But now I know not how people change\ntheir fashions and manners with the place. As they say that polypi,\nassimilated to the rocks to which they adhere, are in colour such as\nthey; so, laying aside the inspiration of the assembly, after their\ndeparture from it, they become like others with whom they associate.\nNay, in laying aside the artificial mask of solemnity, they are\nproved to be what they secretly were. After having paid reverence to\nthe discourse about God, they leave within [the church] what they\nhave heard. And outside they foolishly amuse themselves with impious\nplaying, and amatory quavering, occupied with flute-playing, and\ndancing, and intoxication, and all kinds of trash. They who sing thus,\nand sing in response, are those who before hymned immortality,--found\nat last wicked and wickedly singing this most pernicious palinode, \u201cLet\nus eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.\u201d But not to-morrow in truth,\nbut already, are these dead to God; burying their dead,[745] that is,\nsinking themselves down to death. The apostle very firmly assails them:\n\u201cBe not deceived; neither adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of\nthemselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,\nnor railers,\u201d and whatever else he adds to these, \u201cshall inherit the\nkingdom of God.\u201d[746]\n\n\n _Love and the Kiss of Charity._\n\nAnd if we are called to the kingdom of God, let us walk worthy of the\nkingdom, loving God and our neighbour. But love is not tested by a\nkiss, but by kindly feeling. But there are those, that do nothing but\nmake the churches resound with a kiss, not having love itself within.\nFor this very thing, the shameless use of the kiss, which ought to be\nmystic, occasions foul suspicions and evil reports. The apostle calls\nthe kiss holy.[747]\n\nWhen the kingdom is worthily tasted, we dispense the affection of the\nsoul by a chaste and closed mouth, by which chiefly gentle manners are\nexpressed.\n\nBut there is another unholy kiss, full of poison, counterfeiting\nsanctity. Do you not know that spiders, merely by touching the\nmouth, afflict men with pain? And often kisses inject the poison of\nlicentiousness. It is then very manifest to us, that a kiss is not\nlove. For the love meant is the love of God. \u201cAnd this is the love\nof God,\u201d says John, \u201cthat we keep His commandments;\u201d[748] not that\nwe stroke each other on the mouth. \u201cAnd His commandments are not\ngrievous.\u201d But salutations of beloved ones in the ways, full as they\nare of foolish boldness, are characteristic of those who wish to be\nconspicuous to those without, and have not the least particle of grace.\nFor if it is proper mystically \u201cin the closet\u201d to pray to God, it will\nfollow that we are also to greet mystically our neighbour, whom we are\ncommanded to love second similarly to God, within doors, \u201credeeming the\ntime.\u201d \u201cFor we are the salt of the earth.\u201d[749] \u201cWhosoever shall bless\nhis friend early in the morning with a loud voice, it shall be regarded\nnot to differ from cursing.\u201d[750]\n\n\n _The Government of the Eyes._\n\nBut, above all, it seems right that we turn away from the sight of\nwomen. For it is sin not only to touch, but to look; and he who is\nrightly trained must especially avoid them. \u201cLet thine eyes look\nstraight, and thine eyelids wink right.\u201d[751] For while it is possible\nfor one who looks to remain stedfast; yet care must be taken against\nfalling. For it is possible for one who looks to slip; but it is\nimpossible for one, who looks not, to lust. For it is not enough for\nthe chaste to be pure; but they must give all diligence, to be beyond\nthe range of censure, shutting out all ground of suspicion, in order\nto the consummation of chastity; so that we may not only be faithful,\nbut appear worthy of trust. For this is also consequently to be guarded\nagainst, as the apostle says, \u201cthat no man should blame us; providing\nthings honourable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the\nsight of men.\u201d[752] \u201cBut turn away thine eye from a graceful woman,\nand contemplate not another\u2019s beauty,\u201d says the Scripture.[753] And if\nyou inquire the reason, it will further tell you, \u201cFor by the beauty\nof woman many have gone astray, and at it affection blazes up like\nfire;\u201d[754] the affection which arises from the fire which we call\nlove, leading to the fire which will never cease in consequence of sin.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n CONTINUATION: WITH TEXTS FROM SCRIPTURE.\n\n\nI would counsel the married never to kiss their wives in the presence\nof their domestics. For Aristotle does not allow people to laugh to\ntheir slaves. And by no means must a wife be seen saluted in their\npresence. It is moreover better that, beginning at home with marriage,\nwe should exhibit propriety in it. For it is the greatest bond of\nchastity, breathing forth pure pleasure. Very admirably the tragedy\nsays:\n\n \u201cWell! well! ladies, how is it, then, that among men,\n Not gold, not empire, or luxury of wealth,\n Conferred to such an extent signal delights,\n As the right and virtuous disposition\n Of a man of worth and a dutiful wife?\u201d\n\nSuch injunctions of righteousness uttered by those who are conversant\nwith worldly wisdom are not to be refused. Knowing, then, the duty of\neach, \u201cpass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye\nknow that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver\nor gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your\nfathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without\nblemish and without spot.\u201d[755] \u201cFor,\u201d says Peter, \u201cthe time past of\nour life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles,\nwhen we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings,\nbanquetings, and abominable idolatries.\u201d[756] We have as a limit the\ncross of the Lord, by which we are fenced and hedged about from our\nformer sins. Therefore, being regenerated, let us fix ourselves to\nit in truth, and return to sobriety, and sanctify ourselves; \u201cfor\nthe eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to\ntheir prayer; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.\u201d\n\u201cAnd who is he that will harm us, if we be followers of that which\nis good?\u201d[757]--\u201cus\u201d for \u201cyou.\u201d But the best training is good order,\nwhich is perfect decorum, and stable and orderly power, which in\naction maintains consistence in what it does. If these things have\nbeen adduced by me with too great asperity, in order to effect the\nsalvation which follows from your correction; they have been spoken\nalso, says the Instructor, by me: \u201cSince he who reproves with boldness\nis a peacemaker.\u201d[758] And if ye hear me, ye shall be saved. And if ye\nattend not to what is spoken, it is not my concern. And yet it is my\nconcern thus: \u201cFor he desires the repentance rather than the death of a\nsinner.\u201d[759] \u201cIf ye shall hear me, ye shall eat the good of the land,\u201d\nthe Instructor again says, calling by the appellation \u201cthe good of the\nland,\u201d beauty, wealth, health, strength, sustenance. For those things\nwhich are really good, are what \u201cneither ear hath heard, nor hath ever\nentered into the heart\u201d[760] respecting Him who is really King, and the\nrealities truly good which await us. For He is the giver and the guard\nof good things. And with respect to their participation, He applies the\nsame names of things in this world, the Word thus training in God the\nfeebleness of men from sensible things to understanding.\n\nWhat has to be observed at home, and how our life is to be regulated,\nthe Instructor has abundantly declared. And the things which He is\nwont to say to children by the way, while He conducts them to the\nMaster, these He suggests, and adduces the Scriptures themselves in a\ncompendious form, setting forth bare injunctions, accommodating them to\nthe period of guidance, and assigning the interpretation of them to the\nMaster. For the intention of His law is to dissipate fear, emancipating\nfree-will in order to faith. \u201cHear,\u201d He says, \u201cO child,\u201d who art\nrightly instructed, the principal points of salvation. For I will\ndisclose my ways, and lay before thee good commandments; by which thou\nwilt reach salvation. And I lead thee by the way of salvation. Depart\nfrom the paths of deceit.\n\n\u201cFor the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, and the way of the\nungodly shall perish.\u201d[761] \u201cFollow, therefore, O son, the good way\nwhich I shall describe, lending to me attentive ears.\u201d \u201cAnd I will\ngive to thee the treasures of darkness, hidden and unseen\u201d[762] by the\nnations, but seen by us. And the treasures of wisdom are unfailing,\nin admiration of which the apostle says, \u201cO the depth of the riches\nand the wisdom!\u201d[763] And by one God are many treasures dispensed;\nsome disclosed by the law, others by the prophets; some to the divine\nmouth, and others to the heptad of the spirit singing accordant. And\nthe Lord being one, is the same Instructor by all these. Here is then a\ncomprehensive precept, and an exhortation of life, all-embracing: \u201cAs\nye would that men should do unto you, do ye likewise to them.\u201d[764]\nWe may comprehend the commandments in two, as the Lord says, \u201cThou\nshalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and\nwith all thy strength; and thy neighbour as thyself.\u201d Then from these\nHe infers, \u201con this hang the law and the prophets.\u201d[765] Further,\nto him that asked, \u201cWhat good thing shall I do, that I may inherit\neternal life?\u201d He answered, \u201cThou knowest the commandments?\u201d And on him\nreplying Yea, He said, \u201cThis do, and thou shalt be saved.\u201d Especially\nconspicuous is the love of the Instructor set forth in various salutary\ncommandments, in order that the discovery may be readier, from the\nabundance and arrangement of the Scriptures. We have the Decalogue\ngiven by Moses, which, indicating by an elementary principle, simple\nand of one kind, defines the designation of sins in a way conducive\nto salvation: \u201cThou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not worship\nidols. Thou shalt not corrupt boys. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt\nnot bear false witness. Honour thy father and thy mother.\u201d[766] And\nso forth. These things are to be observed, and whatever else is\ncommanded in reading the Bible. And He enjoins on us by Isaiah: \u201cWash\nyou, and make you clean. Put away iniquities from your souls before\nmine eyes. Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Deliver the wronged. Judge\nfor the orphan, and justify the widow. And come, and let us reason\ntogether, saith the Lord.\u201d[767] And we shall find many examples also\nin other places,--as, for instance, respecting prayer: \u201cGood works are\nan acceptable prayer to the Lord,\u201d says the Scripture.[768] And the\nmanner of prayer is described. \u201cIf thou seest,\u201d it is said, \u201cthe naked,\ncover him; and thou shalt not overlook those who belong to thy seed.\nThen shall thy light spring forth early, and thy healing shall spring\nup quickly; and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory\nof God shall encompass thee.\u201d What, then, is the fruit of such prayer?\n\u201cThen shalt thou call, and God will hear thee; whilst thou art yet\nspeaking, He will say, I am here.\u201d[769]\n\nIn regard to fasting it is said, \u201cWherefore do ye fast to me? saith the\nLord. Is it such a fast that I have chosen, even a day for a man to\nhumble his soul? Thou shalt not bend thy neck like a circle, and spread\nsackcloth and ashes under thee. Not thus shall ye call it an acceptable\nfast.\u201d\n\nWhat means a fast, then? \u201cLo, this is the fast which I have chosen,\nsaith the Lord. Loose every band of wickedness. Dissolve the knots of\noppressive contracts. Let the oppressed go free, and tear every unjust\nbond. Break thy bread to the hungry; and lead the houseless poor into\nthy house. If thou see the naked, cover him.\u201d[770] About sacrifices\ntoo: \u201cTo what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? saith\nthe Lord. I am full of burnt-offerings and of rams; and the fat of\nlambs, and the blood of bulls and kids I do not wish; nor that ye\nshould come to appear before me. Who hath required this at your hands?\nYou shall no more tread my court. If ye bring fine flour, the vain\noblation is an abomination to me. Your new moons and your sabbaths I\ncannot away with.\u201d[771] How, then, shall I sacrifice to the Lord? \u201cThe\nsacrifice of the Lord is,\u201d He says, \u201ca broken heart.\u201d[772] How, then,\nshall I crown myself, or anoint with ointment, or offer incense to the\nLord? \u201cAn odour of a sweet fragrance,\u201d it is said,[773] \u201cis the heart\nthat glorifies Him who made it.\u201d These are the crowns and sacrifices,\naromatic odours, and flowers of God.\n\nFurther, in respect to forbearance. \u201cIf thy brother,\u201d it is said, \u201csin\nagainst thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. If he sin\nagainst thee seven times in a day, and turn to thee the seventh time,\nand say, I repent, forgive him.\u201d[774] Also to the soldiers, by John, He\ncommands, \u201cto be content with their wages only;\u201d and to the publicans,\n\u201cto exact no more than is appointed.\u201d To the judges He says, \u201cThou\nshalt not show partiality in judgment. For gifts blind the eyes of\nthose who see, and corrupt just words. Rescue the wronged.\u201d\n\nAnd to householders: \u201cA possession which is acquired with iniquity\nbecomes less.\u201d[775]\n\nAlso of \u201clove.\u201d \u201cLove,\u201d He says, \u201ccovers a multitude of sins.\u201d[776]\n\nAnd of civil government: \u201cRender to C\u00e6sar the things which are C\u00e6sar\u2019s;\nand unto God the things which are God\u2019s.\u201d[777]\n\nOf swearing and the remembrance of injuries: \u201cDid I command your\nfathers, when they went out of Egypt, to offer burnt-offerings and\nsacrifices? But I commanded them, Let none of you bear malice in his\nheart against his neighbour, or love a false oath.\u201d[778]\n\nThe liars and the proud, too, He threatens; the former thus: \u201cWoe to\nthem that call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter;\u201d and the latter: \u201cWoe\nunto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own\nsight.\u201d[779] \u201cFor he that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he\nthat exalteth himself shall be humbled.\u201d[780]\n\nAnd \u201cthe merciful\u201d He blesses, \u201cfor they shall obtain mercy.\u201d\n\nWisdom pronounces anger a wretched thing, because \u201cit will destroy\nthe wise.\u201d[781] And now He bids us \u201clove our enemies, bless them that\ncurse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us.\u201d And He says: \u201cIf\nany one strike thee on the one cheek, turn to him the other also; and\nif any one take away thy coat, hinder him not from taking thy cloak\nalso.\u201d[782]\n\nOf faith He says: \u201cWhatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye\nshall receive.\u201d[783] \u201cTo the unbelieving nothing is trustworthy,\u201d\naccording to Pindar.\n\nDomestics, too, are to be treated like ourselves; for they are human\nbeings, as we are. For God is the same to free and bond, if you\nconsider.\n\nSuch of our brethren as transgress, we must not punish, but rebuke.\n\u201cFor he that spareth the rod hateth his son.\u201d[784]\n\nFurther, He banishes utterly love of glory, saying, \u201cWoe to you,\nPharisees! for ye love the chief seat in the synagogues, and\ngreetings in the markets.\u201d[785] But He welcomes the repentance of the\nsinner--loving repentance--which follows sins. For this Word of whom we\nspeak alone is sinless. For to sin is natural and common to all. But\nto return [to God] after sinning is characteristic not of any man, but\nonly of a man of worth.\n\nRespecting liberality He said: \u201cCome to me, ye blessed, inherit the\nkingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was an\nhungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was\na stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; sick, and ye\nvisited me; in prison, and ye came unto me.\u201d And when have we done any\nof these things to the Lord?\n\nThe Instructor Himself will say again, loving to refer to Himself\nthe kindness of the brethren, \u201cInasmuch as ye have done it to these\nleast, ye have done it to me. And these shall go away into everlasting\nlife.\u201d[786]\n\nSuch are the laws of the Word, the consolatory words not on tables of\nstone which were written by the finger of the Lord, but inscribed on\nmen\u2019s hearts, on which alone they can remain imperishable. Wherefore\nthe tablets of those who had hearts of stone are broken, that the faith\nof the children may be impressed on softened hearts.\n\nHowever, both the laws served the Word for the instruction of humanity,\nboth that given by Moses and that by the apostles. What, therefore, is\nthe nature of the training by the apostles, appears to me to require to\nbe treated of. Under this head, I, or rather the Instructor by me,[787]\nwill recount; and I shall again set before you the precepts themselves,\nas it were in the germ.\n\n\u201cPutting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we\nare members one of another. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath;\nneither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but\nrather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good,\nthat he may have to give to him that needeth. Let all bitterness, and\nwrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from\nyou, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted,\nforgiving one another, as God in Christ hath forgiven you. Be therefore\nwise,[788] followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as\nChrist also hath loved us. Let wives be subject to their own husbands,\nas to the Lord. And let husbands love their wives, as Christ also hath\nloved the church.\u201d Let those who are yoked together love one another\n\u201cas their own bodies.\u201d \u201cChildren, be obedient to your parents. Parents,\nprovoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture\nand admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to those that are\nyour masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the\nsingleness of your hearts, as unto Christ; with good-will from the soul\ndoing service. And, ye masters, treat your servants well, forbearing\nthreatening: knowing that both their and your Lord is in heaven; and\nthere is no respect of persons with Him.\u201d[789] \u201cIf we live in the\nSpirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory,\nprovoking one another, envying one another. Bear ye one another\u2019s\nburdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Be not deceived; God is not\nmocked. Let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due time we shall\nreap, if we faint not.\u201d[790]\n\n\u201cBe at peace among yourselves. Now we admonish you, brethren, warn them\nwho are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient\ntoward all men. See that none render evil for evil to any man. Quench\nnot the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast\nthat which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.\u201d[791]\n\n\u201cContinue in prayer, watching thereunto with thanksgiving. Walk in\nwisdom towards them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your\nspeech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how\nye ought to answer every man.\u201d[792]\n\n\u201cNourish yourselves up in the words of faith. Exercise yourselves unto\ngodliness: for bodily exercise profiteth little; but godliness is\nprofitable for all things, having the promise of the life which now is,\nand that which is to come.\u201d[793]\n\n\u201cLet those who have faithful masters not despise them, because they are\nbrethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful.\u201d[794]\n\n\u201cHe that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with\ndiligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be\nwithout dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which\nis good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in\nhonour preferring one another. Not slothful in business; fervent in\nspirit, serving the Lord. Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;\ncontinuing instant in prayer. Given to hospitality; communicating to\nthe necessities of the saints.\u201d\n\nSuch are a few injunctions out of many, for the sake of example, which\nthe Instructor, running over the divine Scriptures, sets before His\nchildren; by which, so to speak, vice is cut up by the roots, and\niniquity is circumscribed.\n\nInnumerable commands such as these are written in the holy Bible\nappertaining to chosen persons, some to presbyters, some to bishops,\nsome to deacons, others to widows, of whom we shall have another\nopportunity of speaking. Many things spoken in enigmas, many in\nparables, may benefit such as fall in with them. But it is not my\nprovince, says the Instructor, to teach these any longer. But we need a\nTeacher of the exposition of those sacred words, to whom we must direct\nour steps.\n\nAnd now, in truth, it is time for me to cease from my instruction, and\nfor you to listen to the Teacher.[795] And He, receiving you who have\nbeen trained up in excellent discipline, will teach you the oracles.\nTo noble purpose has the church sung, and the Bridegroom also, the\nalone Teacher, the good Counsel, of the good Father, the true Wisdom,\nthe Sanctuary of knowledge. \u201cAnd He is the propitiation for our sins,\u201d\nas John says; Jesus, who heals both our body and soul--which are the\nproper man. \u201cAnd not for our sins only, but also for the whole world.\nAnd by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He\nthat saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar;\nand the truth is not in Him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily\nis the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in Him. He\nthat saith he abideth in Him, ought himself to walk even as He also\nwalked.\u201d[796] O nurslings of His blessed training! let us complete the\nfair face of the church; and let us run as children to our good mother.\nAnd if we become listeners to the Word, let us glorify the blessed\ndispensation by which man is trained and sanctified as a child of God,\nand has his conversation in heaven, being trained from earth, and there\nreceives the Father, whom he learns to know on earth. The Word both\ndoes and teaches all things, and trains in all things.\n\nA horse is guided by a bit, and a bull is guided by a yoke, and a wild\nbeast is caught in a noose. But man is transformed by the Word, by whom\nwild beasts are tamed, and fishes caught, and birds drawn down. He it\nis, in truth, who fashions the bit for the horse, the yoke for the\nbull, the noose for the wild beast, the rod for the fish, the snare for\nthe bird. He both manages the state and tills the ground; commands, and\nhelps, and creates the universe.\n\n \u201cThere were figured earth, and sky, and sea,\n The ever-circling sun, and full-orbed moon,\n And all the signs that crown the vault of heaven.\u201d[797]\n\nO divine works! O divine commands! \u201cLet this water undulate within\nitself; let this fire restrain its wrath; let this air wander into\nether; and this earth be consolidated, and acquire motion! When I want\nto form man, I want matter, and have matter in the elements. I dwell\nwith what I have formed. If you know me, the fire will be your slave.\u201d\n\nSuch is the Word, such is the Instructor, the Creator of the world and\nof man: and of Himself, now the world\u2019s Instructor, by whose command\nwe and the universe subsist, and await judgment. \u201cFor it is not he who\nbrings a stealthy vocal word to men,\u201d as Bacchylidis says, \u201cwho shall\nbe the Word of Wisdom;\u201d but \u201cthe blameless, the pure, and faultless\nsons of God,\u201d according to Paul, \u201cin the midst of a crooked and\nperverse generation, to shine as lights in the world.\u201d[798]\n\nAll that remains therefore now, in such a celebration of the Word as\nthis, is that we address to the Word our prayer.\n\n\n PRAYER TO THE P\u00c6DAGOGUS.\n\nBe gracious, O Instructor, to us Thy children, Father, Charioteer of\nIsrael, Son and Father, both in One, O Lord. Grant to us who obey Thy\nprecepts, that we may perfect the likeness of the image, and with all\nour power know Him who is the good God and not a harsh judge. And do\nThou Thyself cause that all of us who have our conversation in Thy\npeace, who have been translated into Thy commonwealth, having sailed\ntranquilly over the billows of sin, may be wafted in calm by Thy Holy\nSpirit, by the ineffable wisdom, by night and day to the perfect day;\nand giving thanks may praise, and praising thank the Alone Father and\nSon, Son and Father, the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the Holy\nSpirit, all in One, in whom is all, for whom all is One, for whom is\neternity, whose members we all are, whose glory the \u00e6ons[799] are; for\nthe All-good, All-lovely, All-wise, All-just One. To whom be glory both\nnow and for ever. Amen.\n\nAnd since the Instructor, by translating us into His church, has united\nus to Himself, the teaching and all-surveying Word, it were right that,\nhaving got to this point, we should offer to the Lord the reward of due\nthanksgiving--praise suitable to His fair instruction.\n\n\n A HYMN TO CHRIST THE SAVIOUR.\n\n COMPOSED BY ST. CLEMENT.[800]\n\n Bridle of colts untamed,\n Over our wills presiding;\n Wing of unwandering birds,\n Our flight securely guiding.\n Rudder of youth unbending,\n Firm against adverse shock;\n Shepherd, with wisdom tending\n Lambs of the royal flock:\n Thy simple children bring\n In one, that they may sing\n In solemn lays\n Their hymns of praise\n With guileless lips to Christ their King.\n\n King of saints, almighty Word\n Of the Father highest Lord;\n Wisdom\u2019s head and chief;\n Assuagement of all grief;\n Lord of all time and space,\n Jesus, Saviour of our race;\n Shepherd, who dost us keep;\n Husbandman, who tillest,\n Bit to restrain us, Rudder\n To guide us as Thou willest;\n Of the all-holy flock celestial wing;\n Fisher of men, whom Thou to life dost bring;\n From evil sea of sin,\n And from the billowy strife,\n Gathering pure fishes in,\n Caught with sweet bait of life:\n Lead us, Shepherd of the sheep,\n Reason-gifted, holy One;\n King of youths, whom Thou dost keep,\n So that they pollution shun:\n Steps of Christ, celestial Way;\n Word eternal, Age unending;\n Life that never can decay;\n Fount of mercy, virtue-sending;\n Life august of those who raise\n Unto God their hymn of praise,\n Jesus Christ!\n\n Nourished by the milk of heaven,\n To our tender palates given;\n Milk of wisdom from the breast\n Of that bride of grace exprest;\n By a dewy spirit filled\n From fair Reason\u2019s breast distilled;\n Let us sucklings join to raise\n With pure lips our hymns of praise\n As our grateful offering,\n Clean and pure, to Christ our King.\n Let us, with hearts undefiled,\n Celebrate the mighty Child.\n We, Christ-born, the choir of peace;\n We, the people of His love,\n Let us sing, nor ever cease,\n To the God of peace above.\n\nWe subjoin the following literal translation of the foregoing hymn:--\n\nBridle of untamed colts, Wing of unwandering birds, sure Helm of\nbabes,[801] Shepherd of royal lambs, assemble Thy simple children to\npraise holily, to hymn guilelessly with innocent mouths, Christ the\nguide of children. O King of saints, all-subduing Word of the most\nhigh Father, Ruler of wisdom, Support of sorrows, that rejoicest in\nthe ages,[802] Jesus, Saviour of the human race, Shepherd, Husbandman,\nHelm, Bridle, Heavenly Wing of the all-holy flock, Fisher of men who\nare saved, catching the chaste fishes with sweet life from the hateful\nwave of a sea of vices,--Guide [us], Shepherd of rational sheep;\nguide unharmed children, O holy King,[803] O footsteps of Christ, O\nheavenly way, perennial Word, immeasurable Age, Eternal Light, Fount\nof mercy, performer of virtue; noble [is the] life of those who hymn\nGod, O Christ Jesus, heavenly milk of the sweet breasts of the graces\nof the Bride, pressed out of Thy wisdom. Babes nourished with tender\nmouths, filled with the dewy spirit of the rational pap, let us sing\ntogether simple praises, true hymns to Christ [our] King, holy fee for\nthe teaching of life; let us sing in simplicity the powerful Child.\nO choir of peace, the Christ-begotten, O chaste people, let us sing\ntogether[804] the God of peace.\n\n\n TO THE P\u00c6DAGOGUS.\n\n Teacher, to Thee a chaplet I present,\n Woven of words culled from the spotless mead,\n Where Thou dost feed Thy flocks; like to the bee,\n That skilful worker, which from many a flower\n Gathers its treasures, that she may convey\n A luscious offering to the master\u2019s hand.\n Though but the least, I am Thy servant still,\n (Seemly is praise to Thee for Thy behests).\n O King, great Giver of good gifts to men,\n Lord of the good, Father, of all the Maker,\n Who heaven and heaven\u2019s adornment, by Thy word\n Divine fitly disposed, alone didst make;\n Who broughtest forth the sunshine and the day;\n Who didst appoint their courses to the stars,\n And how the earth and sea their place should keep;\n And when the seasons, in their circling course,\n Winter and summer, spring and autumn, each\n Should come, according to well-ordered plan;\n Out of a confused heap who didst create\n This ordered sphere, and from the shapeless mass\n Of matter didst the universe adorn;--\n Grant to me life, and be that life well spent,\n Thy grace enjoying; let me act and speak\n In all things as Thy Holy Scriptures teach;\n Thee and Thy co-eternal Word, All-wise,\n From Thee proceeding, ever may I praise;\n Give me nor poverty nor wealth, but what is meet,\n Father, in life, and then life\u2019s happy close.\n\n\n\n\n THE MISCELLANIES; OR, STROMATA.\n\n\n\n\n THE MISCELLANIES.\n\n\n\n\n BOOK I.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n PREFACE--THE AUTHOR\u2019S OBJECT--THE UTILITY OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS.\n\n\n[_Wants the beginning_] ... that you may read them under your\nhand, and may be able to preserve them. Whether written compositions\nare not to be left behind at all; or if they are, by whom? And if\nthe former, what need there is for written compositions? and if the\nlatter, is the composition of them to be assigned to earnest men, or\nthe opposite? It were certainly ridiculous for one to disapprove of\nthe writing of earnest men, and approve of those, who are not such,\nengaging in the work of composition. Theopompus and Tim\u00e6us, who\ncomposed fables and slanders, and Epicurus the leader of atheism, and\nHipponax and Archilochus, are to be allowed to write in their own\nshameful manner. But he who proclaims the truth is to be prevented from\nleaving behind him what is to benefit posterity. It is a good thing,\nI reckon, to leave to posterity good children. This is the case with\nchildren of our bodies. But words are the progeny of the soul. Hence we\ncall those who have instructed us, fathers. Wisdom is a communicative\nand philanthropic thing. Accordingly, Solomon says, \u201cMy son, if thou\nreceive the saying of my commandment, and hide it with thee, thine ear\nshall hear wisdom.\u201d[805] He points out that the word that is sown\nis hidden in the soul of the learner, as in the earth, and this is\nspiritual planting. Wherefore also he adds, \u201cAnd thou shalt apply thine\nheart to understanding, and apply it for the admonition of thy son.\u201d\nFor soul, methinks, joined with soul, and spirit with spirit, in the\nsowing of the word, will make that which is sown grow and germinate.\nAnd every one who is instructed, is in respect of subjection the son of\nhis instructor. \u201cSon,\u201d says he, \u201cforget not my laws.\u201d[806]\n\nAnd if knowledge belong not to all (set an ass to the lyre, as the\nproverb goes), yet written compositions are for the many. \u201cSwine, for\ninstance, delight in dirt more than in clean water.\u201d \u201cWherefore,\u201d says\nthe Lord, \u201cI speak to them in parables: because seeing, they see not;\nand hearing, they hear not, and do not understand;\u201d[807] not as if\nthe Lord caused the ignorance: for it were impious to think so. But\nHe prophetically exposed this ignorance, that existed in them, and\nintimated that they would not understand the things spoken. And now\nthe Saviour shows Himself, out of His abundance, dispensing goods to\nHis servants according to the ability of the recipient, that they may\naugment them by exercising activity, and then returning to reckon with\nthem; when, approving of those that had increased His money, those\nfaithful in little, and commanding them to have the charge over many\nthings, He bade them enter into the joy of the Lord. But to him who\nhad hid the money, entrusted to him to be given out at interest, and\nhad given it back as he had received it, without increase, He said,\n\u201cThou wicked and slothful servant, thou oughtest to have given my money\nto the bankers, and at my coming I should have received mine own.\u201d\nWherefore the useless servant \u201cshall be cast into outer darkness.\u201d[808]\n\u201cThou, therefore, be strong,\u201d says Paul, \u201cin the grace that is in\nChrist Jesus. And the things which thou hast heard of me among many\nwitnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to\nteach others also.\u201d[809] And again: \u201cStudy to show thyself approved\nunto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing\nthe word of truth.\u201d\n\nIf, then, both proclaim the Word--the one by writing, the other by\nspeech--are not both then to be approved, making, as they do, faith\nactive by love? It is by one\u2019s own fault that he does not choose what\nis best; God is free of blame. As to the point in hand, it is the\nbusiness of some to lay out the word at interest, and of others to\ntest it, and either choose it or not. And the judgment is determined\nwithin themselves. But there is that species of knowledge which\nis characteristic of the herald, and that which is, as it were,\ncharacteristic of a messenger, and it is serviceable in whatever way\nit operates, both by the hand and tongue. \u201cFor he that soweth to the\nSpirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be\nweary in well-doing.\u201d[810] On him who by Divine Providence meets in\nwith it, it confers the very highest advantages,--the beginning of\nfaith, readiness for adopting a right mode of life, the impulse towards\nthe truth, a movement of inquiry, a trace of knowledge; in a word, it\ngives the means of salvation. And those who have been rightly reared\nin the words of truth, and received provision for eternal life, wing\ntheir way to heaven. Most admirably, therefore, the apostle says, \u201cIn\neverything approving ourselves as the servants of God; as poor, and\nyet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.\nOur mouth is opened to you.\u201d[811] \u201cI charge thee,\u201d he says, writing\nto Timothy, \u201cbefore God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that\nthou observe these things, without preferring one before another, doing\nnothing by partiality.\u201d[812]\n\nBoth must therefore test themselves: the one, if he is qualified to\nspeak and leave behind him written records; the other, if he is in a\nright state to hear and read: as also some in the dispensation of the\nEucharist, according to custom, enjoin that each one of the people\nindividually should take his part. One\u2019s own conscience is best for\nchoosing accurately or shunning. And its firm foundation is a right\nlife, with suitable instruction. But the imitation of those who\nhave already been tested, and who have led correct lives, is most\nexcellent for the understanding and practice of the commandments.\n\u201cSo that whosoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord\nunworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But\nlet a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink\nof the cup.\u201d[813] It therefore follows, that every one of those who\nundertake to promote the good of their neighbours, ought to consider\nwhether he has betaken himself to teaching rashly and out of rivalry\nto any; if his communication of the word is out of vainglory; if the\nonly reward he reaps is the salvation of those who hear, and if he\nspeaks not in order to win favour: if so, he who speaks by writings\nescapes the reproach of mercenary motives. \u201cFor neither at any time\nused we flattering words, as ye know,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cnor a cloak\nof covetousness. God is witness. Nor of men sought we glory, neither\nof you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the\napostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse\ncherisheth her children.\u201d[814]\n\nIn the same way, therefore, those who take part in the divine words,\nought to guard against betaking themselves to this, as they would to\nthe buildings of cities, to examine them out of curiosity; that they\ndo not come to the task for the sake of receiving worldly things,\nhaving ascertained that they who are consecrated to Christ are given\nto communicate the necessaries of life. But let such be dismissed as\nhypocrites. But if any one wishes not to seem, but to be righteous,\nto him it belongs to know the things which are best. If, then, \u201cthe\nharvest is plenteous, but the labourers few,\u201d it is incumbent on\nus \u201cto pray\u201d that there may be as great abundance of labourers as\npossible.[815]\n\nBut the husbandry is twofold,--the one unwritten, and the other\nwritten. And in whatever way the Lord\u2019s labourer sow the good wheat,\nand grow and reap the ears, he shall appear a truly divine husbandman.\n\u201cLabour,\u201d says the Lord, \u201cnot for the meat which perisheth, but\nfor that which endureth to everlasting life.\u201d[816] And nutriment\nis received both by bread and by words. And truly \u201cblessed are the\npeace-makers,\u201d[817] who instructing those who are at war in their life\nand errors here, lead them back to the peace which is in the Word, and\nnourish for the life which is according to God, by the distribution of\nthe bread, those \u201cthat hunger after righteousness.\u201d For each soul has\nits own proper nutriment; some growing by knowledge and science, and\nothers feeding on the Hellenic philosophy, the whole of which, like\nnuts, is not eatable. \u201cAnd he that planteth and he that watereth,\u201d\n\u201cbeing ministers\u201d of Him \u201cthat gives the increase, are one\u201d in the\nministry. \u201cBut every one shall receive his own reward, according to\nhis own work. For we are God\u2019s husbandmen, God\u2019s husbandry. Ye are\nGod\u2019s building,\u201d[818] according to the apostle. Wherefore the hearers\nare not permitted to apply the test of comparison. Nor is the word,\ngiven for investigation, to be committed to those who have been reared\nin the arts of all kinds of words, and in the power of inflated\nattempts at proof; whose minds are already pre-occupied, and have not\nbeen previously emptied. But whoever chooses to banquet on faith, is\nstedfast for the reception of the divine words, having acquired already\nfaith as a power of judging, according to reason. Hence ensues to\nhim persuasion in abundance. And this was the meaning of that saying\nof prophecy, \u201cIf ye believe not, neither shall ye understand.\u201d[819]\n\u201cAs, then, we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to\nthe household of faith.\u201d[820] And let each of these, according to\nthe blessed David, sing, giving thanks. \u201cThou shalt sprinkle me with\nhyssop, and I shall be cleansed. Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be\nwhiter than the snow. Thou shalt make me to hear gladness and joy, and\nthe bones which have been humbled shall rejoice. Turn Thy face from\nmy sins. Blot out mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God,\nand renew a right spirit in my inward parts. Cast me not away from Thy\nface, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of\nThy salvation, and establish me with Thy princely spirit.\u201d[821]\n\nHe who addresses those who are present before him, both tests them by\ntime, and judges by his judgment, and from the others distinguishes him\nwho can hear; watching the words, the manners, the habits, the life,\nthe motions, the attitudes, the look, the voice; the road, the rock,\nthe beaten path, the fruitful land, the wooded region, the fertile and\nfair and cultivated spot, that is able to multiply the seed. But he\nthat speaks through books, consecrates himself before God, crying in\nwriting thus: Not for gain, not for vainglory, not to be vanquished\nby partiality, nor enslaved by fear, nor elated by pleasure; but\nonly to reap the salvation of those who read, which he does not at\npresent participate in, but awaiting in expectation the recompense\nwhich will certainly be rendered by Him, who has promised to bestow on\nthe labourers the reward that is meet. But he who is enrolled in the\nnumber of men[822] ought not to desire recompense. For he that vaunts\nhis good services, receives glory as his reward. And he who does any\nduty for the sake of recompense, is he not held fast in the custom of\nthe world, either as one who has done well, hastening to receive a\nreward, or as an evildoer avoiding retribution? We must, as far as we\ncan, imitate the Lord. And he will do so, who complies with the will\nof God, receiving freely, giving freely, and receiving as a worthy\nreward the citizenship itself. \u201cThe hire of an harlot shall not come\ninto the sanctuary,\u201d it is said: accordingly it was forbidden to bring\nto the altar the price of a dog. And in whomsoever the eye of the soul\nhas been blinded by ill-nurture and teaching, let him advance to the\ntrue light, to the truth, which shows by writing the things that are\nunwritten. \u201cYe that thirst, go to the waters,\u201d[823] says Esaias. And\n\u201cdrink water from thine own vessels,\u201d[824] Solomon exhorts. Accordingly\nin \u201cThe Laws,\u201d the philosopher who learned from the Hebrews, Plato,\ncommands husbandmen not to irrigate or take water from others, until\nthey have first dug down in their own ground to what is called the\nvirgin soil, and found it dry. For it is right to supply want, but it\nis not well to support laziness. For Pythagoras said that, \u201calthough it\nbe agreeable to reason to take a share of a burden, it is not a duty\nto take it away.\u201d\n\nNow the Scripture kindles the living spark of the soul, and directs\nthe eye suitably for contemplation; perchance inserting something,\nas the husbandman when he ingrafts, but, according to the opinion\nof the divine apostle, exciting what is in the soul. \u201cFor there are\ncertainly among us many weak and sickly, and many sleep. But if we\njudge ourselves, we shall not be judged.\u201d[825] Now this work of mine in\nwriting is not artfully constructed for display; but my memoranda are\nstored up against old age, as a remedy against forgetfulness, truly an\nimage and outline of those vigorous and animated discourses which I was\nprivileged to hear, and of blessed and truly remarkable men.\n\nOf these the one, in Greece, an Ionic;[826] the other in Magna Gr\u00e6cia:\nthe first of these from C\u0153le-Syria, the second from Egypt, and others\nin the East. The one was born in the land of Assyria, and the other a\nHebrew in Palestine.\n\nWhen I came upon the last[827] (he was the first in power), having\ntracked him out concealed in Egypt, I found rest. He, the true, the\nSicilian bee, gathering the spoil of the flowers of the prophetic and\napostolic meadow, engendered in the souls of his hearers a deathless\nelement of knowledge.\n\nWell, they preserving the tradition of the blessed doctrine derived\ndirectly from the holy apostles, Peter, James, John, and Paul, the son\nreceiving it from the father (but few were like the fathers), came by\nGod\u2019s will to us also to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds.\nAnd well I know that they will exult; I do not mean delighted with\nthis tribute, but solely on account of the preservation of the truth,\naccording as they delivered it. For such a sketch as this, will, I\nthink, be agreeable to a soul desirous of preserving from escape the\nblessed tradition. \u201cIn a man who loves wisdom the Father will be\nglad.\u201d[828] Wells, when pumped out, yield purer water; and that of\nwhich no one partakes, turns to putrefaction. Use keeps steel brighter,\nbut disuse produces rust in it. For, in a word, exercise produces a\nhealthy condition both in souls and bodies. \u201cNo one lighteth a candle,\nand putteth it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may give\nlight to those who are regarded worthy of the feast.\u201d[829] For what is\nthe use of wisdom, if it makes not him who can hear it wise? For still\nthe Saviour saves, \u201cand always works, as He sees the Father.\u201d[830] For\nby teaching, one learns more; and in speaking, one is often a hearer\nalong with his audience. For the teacher of him who speaks and of him\nwho hears is one--who waters both the mind and the word. Thus the Lord\ndid not hinder from doing good while keeping the Sabbath; but allowed\nus to communicate of those divine mysteries, and of that holy light,\nto those who are able to receive them. He did not certainly disclose\nto the many what did not belong to the many; but to the few to whom\nHe knew that they belonged, who were capable of receiving and being\nmoulded according to them. But secret things are entrusted to speech,\nnot to writing, as is the case with God.\n\nAnd if one say that it is written, \u201cThere is nothing secret which shall\nnot be revealed, nor hidden which shall not be disclosed,\u201d[831] let\nhim also hear from us, that to him who hears secretly, even what is\nsecret shall be manifested. This is what was predicted by this oracle.\nAnd to him who is able secretly to observe what is delivered to him,\nthat which is veiled shall be disclosed as truth; and what is hidden\nto the many, shall appear manifest to the few. For why do not all know\nthe truth? why is not righteousness loved, if righteousness belongs to\nall? But the mysteries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken\nmay be in the mouth of the speaker; rather not in his voice, but in\nhis understanding. \u201cGod gave to the church, some apostles, and some\nprophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for\nthe perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the\nedifying of the body of Christ.\u201d[832]\n\nThe writing of these memoranda of mine, I well know, is weak when\ncompared with that spirit, full of grace, which I was privileged to\nhear. But it will be an image to recall the archetype to him who was\nstruck with the Thyrsus. For \u201cspeak,\u201d it is said, \u201cto a wise man, and\nhe will grow wiser; and to him that hath, and there shall be added to\nhim.\u201d And we profess not to explain secret things sufficiently--far\nfrom it--but only to recall them to memory, whether we have forgot\naught, or whether for the purpose of not forgetting. Many things,\nI well know, have escaped us, through length of time, that have\ndropped away unwritten. Whence, to aid the weakness of my memory, and\nprovide for myself a salutary help to my recollection in a systematic\narrangement of chapters, I necessarily make use of this form. There\nare then some things of which we have no recollection; for the power\nthat was in the blessed men was great. There are also some things which\nremained unnoted long, which have now escaped; and others which are\neffaced, having faded away in the mind itself, since such a task is not\neasy to those not experienced; these I revive in my commentaries. Some\nthings I purposely omit, in the exercise of a wise selection, afraid\nto write what I guarded against speaking: not grudging--for that were\nwrong--but fearing for my readers, lest they should stumble by taking\nthem in a wrong sense; and, as the proverb says, we should be found\n\u201creaching a sword to a child.\u201d For it is impossible that what has been\nwritten should not escape, although remaining unpublished by me. But\nbeing always revolved, using the one only voice, that of writing, they\nanswer nothing to him that makes inquiries beyond what is written;\nfor they require of necessity the aid of some one, either of him who\nwrote, or of some one else who has walked in his footsteps. Some things\nmy treatise will hint; on some it will linger; some it will merely\nmention. It will try to speak imperceptibly, to exhibit secretly, and\nto demonstrate silently. The dogmas taught by remarkable sects will\nbe adduced; and to these will be opposed all that ought to be premised\nin accordance with the profoundest contemplation of the knowledge,\nwhich, as we proceed to the renowned and venerable canon of tradition,\nfrom the creation of the world, will advance to our view; setting\nbefore us what according to natural contemplation necessarily has to\nbe treated of beforehand, and clearing off what stands in the way of\nthis arrangement. So that we may have our ears ready for the reception\nof the tradition of true knowledge; the soil being previously cleared\nof the thorns and of every weed by the husbandman, in order to the\nplanting of the vine. For there is a contest, and the prelude to the\ncontest; and there are some mysteries before other mysteries.\n\nOur book will not shrink from making use of what is best in philosophy\nand other preparatory instruction. \u201cFor not only for the Hebrews\nand those that are under the law,\u201d according to the apostle, \u201cis it\nright to become a Jew, but also a Greek for the sake of the Greeks,\nthat we may gain all.\u201d[833] Also in the Epistle to the Colossians he\nwrites, \u201cAdmonishing every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom,\nthat we may present every man perfect in Christ.\u201d[834] The nicety of\nspeculation, too, suits the sketch presented in my commentaries. In\nthis respect the resources of learning are like a relish mixed with the\nfood of an athlete, who is not indulging in luxury, but entertains a\nnoble desire for distinction.\n\nBy music we harmoniously relax the excessive tension of gravity. And as\nthose who wish to address the people, do so often by the herald, that\nwhat is said may be better heard; so also in this case. For we have the\nword, that was spoken to many, before the common tradition. Wherefore\nwe must set forth the opinions and utterances which cried individually\nto them, by which those who hear shall more readily turn.\n\nAnd, in truth, to speak briefly: Among many small pearls there is the\none; and in a great take of fish there is the beauty-fish; and by time\nand toil truth will gleam forth, if a good helper is at hand. For most\nbenefits are supplied, from God, through men. All of us who make use of\nour eyes see what is presented before them. But some look at objects\nfor one reason, others for another. For instance, the cook and the\nshepherd do not survey the sheep similarly: for the one examines it if\nit be fat; the other watches to see if it be of good breed. Let a man\nmilk the sheep\u2019s milk if he need sustenance: let him shear the wool if\nhe need clothing. And in this way let me produce the fruit of Greek\nerudition.\n\nFor I do not imagine that any composition can be so fortunate as\nthat no one will speak against it. But that is to be regarded as in\naccordance with reason, which nobody speaks against, with reason.\nAnd that course of action and choice is to be approved, not which is\nfaultless, but which no one rationally finds fault with. For it does\nnot follow, that if a man accomplishes anything not purposely, he\ndoes it through force of circumstances. But he will do it, managing\nit by wisdom divinely given, and in accommodation to circumstances.\nFor it is not he who, has virtue, that needs the way to virtue, any\nmore than he, that is strong, needs recovery. For, like farmers who\nirrigate the land beforehand, so we also water with the liquid stream\nof Greek learning what in it is earthy; so that it may receive the\nspiritual seed cast into it, and may be capable of easily nourishing\nit. The _Stromata_ will contain the truth mixed up in the dogmas\nof philosophy, or rather covered over and hidden, as the edible part\nof the nut in the shell. For, in my opinion, it is fitting that the\nseeds of truth be kept for the husbandmen of faith, and no others. I am\nnot oblivious of what is babbled by some, who in their ignorance are\nfrightened at every noise, and say that we ought to occupy ourselves\nwith what is most necessary, and which contains the faith; and that we\nshould pass over what is beyond and superfluous, which wears out and\ndetains us to no purpose, in things which conduce nothing to the great\nend. Others think that philosophy was introduced into life by an evil\ninfluence, for the ruin of men, by an evil inventor. But I shall show,\nthroughout the whole of these _Stromata_, that evil has an evil\nnature, and can never turn out the producer of aught that is good;\nindicating that philosophy is in a sense a work of Divine Providence.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n OBJECTION TO THE NUMBER OF EXTRACTS FROM PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS\n IN THESE BOOKS ANTICIPATED AND ANSWERED.\n\n\nIn reference to these commentaries, which contain as the exigencies of\nthe case demand, the Hellenic opinions, I say thus much to those who\nare fond of finding fault. First, even if philosophy were useless, if\nthe demonstration of its uselessness does good, it is yet useful. Then\nthose cannot condemn the Greeks, who have only a mere hearsay knowledge\nof their opinions, and have not entered into a minute investigation\nin each department, in order to acquaintance with them. For the\nrefutation, which is based on experience, is entirely trustworthy.\nFor the knowledge of what is condemned is found the most complete\ndemonstration. Many things, then, though not contributing to the final\nresult, equip the artist. And otherwise erudition commends him, who\nsets forth the most essential doctrines so as to produce persuasion\nin his hearers, engendering admiration in those who are taught, and\nleads them to the truth. And such persuasion is convincing, by which\nthose that love learning admit the truth; so that philosophy does not\nruin life by being the originator of false practices and base deeds,\nalthough some have calumniated it, though it be the clear image of\ntruth, a divine gift to the Greeks; nor does it drag us away from the\nfaith, as if we were bewitched by some delusive art, but rather, so\nto speak, by the use of an ampler circuit, obtains a common exercise\ndemonstrative of the faith. Further, the juxtaposition of doctrines, by\ncomparison, saves the truth, from which follows knowledge.\n\nPhilosophy came into existence, not on its own account, but for the\nadvantages reaped by us from knowledge, we receiving a firm persuasion\nof true perception, through the knowledge of things comprehended by the\nmind. For I do not mention that the _Stromata_, forming a body\nof varied erudition, wish artfully to conceal the seeds of knowledge.\nAs, then, he who is fond of hunting captures the game after seeking,\ntracking, scenting, hunting it down with dogs; so truth, when sought\nand got with toil, appears a delicious[835] thing. Why, then, you will\nask, did you think it fit that such an arrangement should be adopted in\nyour memoranda? Because there is great danger in divulging the secret\nof the true philosophy to those, whose delight it is unsparingly to\nspeak against everything, not justly; and who shout forth all kinds of\nnames and words indecorously, deceiving themselves and beguiling those\nwho adhere to them. \u201cFor the Hebrews seek signs,\u201d as the apostle says,\n\u201cand the Greeks seek after wisdom.\u201d[836]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n AGAINST THE SOPHISTS.\n\n\nThere is a great crowd of this description: some of them, enslaved to\npleasures and willing to disbelieve, laugh at the truth which is worthy\nof all reverence, making sport of its barbarousness. Some others,\nexalting themselves, endeavour to discover calumnious objections to our\nwords, furnishing captious questions, hunters out of paltry sayings,\npractisers of miserable artifices, wranglers, dealers in knotty points,\nas that Abderite says:\n\n \u201cFor mortals\u2019 tongues are glib, and on them are many speeches;\n And a wide range for words of all sorts in this place and that.\u201d\n\nAnd--\n\n \u201cOf whatever sort the word you have spoken, of the same sort you\n must hear.\u201d\n\nInflated with this art of theirs, the wretched Sophists,\nbabbling away in their own jargon; toiling their whole life about the\ndivision of names and the nature of the composition and conjunction\nof sentences, show themselves greater chatterers than turtle-doves;\nscratching and tickling, not in a manly way, in my opinion, the ears of\nthose who wish to be tickled.\n\n \u201cA river of silly words--not a dropping;\u201d\n\njust as in old shoes, when all the rest is worn and is falling\nto pieces, and the tongue alone remains. The Athenian Solon most\nexcellently enlarges, and writes:\n\n \u201cLook to the tongue, and to the words of the glozing man,\n But you look on no work that has been done;\n But each one of you walks in the steps of a fox,\n And in all of you is an empty mind.\u201d\n\nThis, I think, is signified by the utterance of the Saviour, \u201cThe\nfoxes have holes, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His\nhead.\u201d[837] For on the believer alone, who is separated entirely from\nthe rest, who by the Scripture are called wild beasts, rests the head\nof the universe, the kind and gentle Word, \u201cwho taketh the wise in\ntheir own craftiness. For the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise,\nthat they are vain;\u201d[838] the Scripture calling those the wise (\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u1f7a\u03c2)\nwho are skilled in words and arts, sophists (\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u1f70\u03c2). Whence the\nGreeks also applied the denominative appellation of wise and sophists\n(\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03bf\u1f76, \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1\u1f76) to those who were versed in anything. Cratinus\naccordingly, having in the _Archilochii_ enumerated the poets, said:\n\n \u201cSuch a hive of sophists have ye examined.\u201d\n\nAnd similarly Iophon, the comic poet, in _Flute-playing Satyrs_, says:\n\n \u201cFor there entered\n A band of sophists, all equipped.\u201d\n\nOf these and the like, who devote their attention to empty words, the\ndivine Scripture most excellently says, \u201cI will destroy the wisdom of\nthe wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.\u201d[839]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n HUMAN ARTS AS WELL AS DIVINE KNOWLEDGE PROCEED FROM GOD.\n\n\nHomer calls an artificer wise; and of Margites, if that is his work, he\nthus writes:\n\n \u201cHim, then, the gods made neither a delver nor a ploughman,\n Nor in any other respect wise; but he missed every art.\u201d\n\nHesiod further said the musician Linus was \u201cskilled in all manner of\nwisdom;\u201d and does not hesitate to call a mariner wise, seeing he writes:\n\n \u201cHaving no wisdom in navigation.\u201d\n\nAnd Daniel the prophet says, \u201cThe mystery which the king asks, it is\nnot in the power of the wise, the Magi, the diviners, the Gazarenes, to\ntell the king; but it is God in heaven who revealeth it.\u201d[840]\n\nHere he terms the Babylonians wise. And that Scripture calls every\nsecular science or art by the one name wisdom (there are other arts and\nsciences invented over and above by human reason), and that artistic\nand skilful invention is from God, will be clear if we adduce the\nfollowing statement: \u201cAnd the Lord spake to Moses, See, I have called\nBezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Or, of the tribe of Judah; and I\nhave filled him with the divine spirit of wisdom, and understanding,\nand knowledge, to devise and to execute in all manner of work, to work\ngold, and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and\nin working stone work, and in the art of working wood,\u201d and even to\n\u201call works.\u201d[841] And then He adds the general reason, \u201cAnd to every\nunderstanding heart I have given understanding;\u201d[842] that is, to\nevery one capable of acquiring it by pains and exercise. And again,\nit is written expressly in the name of the Lord: \u201cAnd speak thou to\nall that are wise in mind, whom I have filled with the spirit of\nperception.\u201d[843]\n\nThose who are wise in mind have a certain attribute of nature peculiar\nto themselves; and they who have shown themselves capable, receive\nfrom the Supreme Wisdom a spirit of perception in double measure. For\nthose who practise the common arts, are in what pertains to the senses\nhighly gifted: in hearing, he who is commonly called a musician; in\ntouch, he who moulds clay; in voice the singer, in smell the perfumer,\nin sight the engraver of devices on seals. Those also that are occupied\nin instruction, train the sensibility according to which the poets\nare susceptible to the influence of measure; the sophists apprehend\nexpression; the dialecticians, syllogisms; and the philosophers are\ncapable of the contemplation of which themselves are the objects.\nFor sensibility finds and invents; since it persuasively exhorts to\napplication. And practice will increase the application which has\nknowledge for its end. With reason, therefore, the apostle has called\nthe wisdom of God \u201cmanifold,\u201d and which has manifested its power \u201cin\nmany departments and in many modes\u201d[844]--by art, by knowledge, by\nfaith, by prophecy--for our benefit. \u201cFor all wisdom is from the Lord,\nand is with Him for ever,\u201d as says the Wisdom of Jesus.[845]\n\n\u201cFor if thou call on wisdom and knowledge with a loud voice, and\nseek it as treasures of silver, and eagerly track it out, thou shalt\nunderstand godliness and find divine knowledge.\u201d[846] The prophet says\nthis in contradiction to the knowledge according to philosophy, which\nteaches us to investigate in a magnanimous and noble manner, for our\nprogress in piety. He opposes, therefore, to it the knowledge which\nis occupied with piety, when referring to knowledge, when he speaks\nas follows: \u201cFor God gives wisdom out of His own mouth, and knowledge\nalong with understanding, and treasures up help for the righteous.\u201d For\nto those who have been justified by philosophy, the knowledge which\nleads to piety is laid up as a help.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n PHILOSOPHY THE HANDMAID OF THEOLOGY\n\n\nAccordingly, before the advent of the Lord, philosophy was necessary to\nthe Greeks for righteousness. And now it becomes conducive to piety;\nbeing a kind of preparatory training to those who attain to faith\nthrough demonstration. \u201cFor thy foot,\u201d it is said, \u201cwill not stumble,\nif thou refer what is good, whether belonging to the Greeks or to us,\nto Providence.\u201d[847] For God is the cause of all good things; but of\nsome primarily, as of the Old and the New Testament; and of others\nby consequence, as philosophy. Perchance, too, philosophy was given\nto the Greeks directly and primarily, till the Lord should call the\nGreeks. For this was a schoolmaster to bring \u201cthe Hellenic mind,\u201d as\nthe law, the Hebrews, \u201cto Christ.\u201d[848] Philosophy, therefore, was a\npreparation, paving the way for him who is perfected in Christ.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d says Solomon, \u201cdefend wisdom, and it will exalt thee, and\nit will shield thee with a crown of pleasure.\u201d[849] For when thou\nhast strengthened wisdom with a cope by philosophy, and with right\nexpenditure, thou wilt preserve it unassailable by sophists. The way\nof truth is therefore one. But into it, as into a perennial river,\nstreams flow from all sides. It has been therefore said by inspiration:\n\u201cHear, my son, and receive my words; that thine may be the many ways\nof life. For I teach thee the ways of wisdom; that the fountains fail\nthee not,\u201d[850] which gush forth from the earth itself. Not only did\nHe enumerate several ways of salvation for any one righteous man, but\nHe added many other ways of many righteous, speaking thus: \u201cThe paths\nof the righteous shine like the light.\u201d[851] The commandments and\nthe modes of preparatory training are to be regarded as the ways and\nappliances of life.\n\n\u201cJerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thy children,\nas a hen her chickens!\u201d[852] And Jerusalem is, when interpreted, \u201ca\nvision of peace.\u201d He therefore shows prophetically, that those who\npeacefully contemplate sacred things are in manifold ways trained to\ntheir calling. What then? He \u201cwould,\u201d and could not. How often, and\nwhere? Twice; by the prophets, and by the advent. The expression,\nthen, \u201chow often,\u201d shows wisdom to be manifold; and in every mode of\nquantity and quality, it by all means saves some, both in time and in\neternity. \u201cFor the Spirit of the Lord fills the earth.\u201d And if any\nshould violently say that the reference is to the Hellenic culture,\nwhen it is said, \u201cGive not heed to an evil woman; for honey drops from\nthe lips of a harlot,\u201d let him hear what follows: \u201cwho lubricates thy\nthroat for the time.\u201d But philosophy does not flatter. Who, then, does\nHe allude to as having committed fornication? He adds expressly, \u201cFor\nthe feet of folly lead those who use her, after death, to Hades. But\nher steps are not supported.\u201d Therefore remove thy way far from silly\npleasure. \u201cStand not at the doors of her house, that thou yield not\nthy life to others.\u201d And He testifies, \u201cThen shalt thou repent in old\nage, when the flesh of thy body is consumed.\u201d For this is the end of\nfoolish pleasure. Such, indeed, is the case. And when He says, \u201cBe\nnot much with a strange woman,\u201d[853] He admonishes us to use indeed,\nbut not to linger and spend time with, secular culture. For what was\nbestowed on each generation advantageously, and at seasonable times,\nis a preliminary training for the word of the Lord. \u201cFor already\nsome men, ensnared by the charms of handmaidens, have despised their\nconsort philosophy, and have grown old, some of them in music, some in\ngeometry, others in grammar, the most in rhetoric.\u201d[854] \u201cBut as the\nencyclical branches of study contribute to philosophy, which is their\nmistress; so also philosophy itself co-operates for the acquisition\nof wisdom. For philosophy is the study of wisdom, and wisdom is the\nknowledge of things divine and human; and their causes.\u201d Wisdom is\ntherefore queen of philosophy, as philosophy is of preparatory culture.\nFor if philosophy \u201cprofesses control of the tongue, and the belly, and\nthe parts below the belly, it is to be chosen on its own account. But\nit appears more worthy of respect and pre-eminence, if cultivated for\nthe honour and knowledge of God.\u201d[855] And Scripture will afford a\ntestimony to what has been said in what follows. Sarah was at one time\nbarren, being Abraham\u2019s wife. Sarah having no child, assigned her maid,\nby name Hagar, the Egyptian, to Abraham, in order to get children.\nWisdom, therefore, who dwells with the man of faith (and Abraham was\nreckoned faithful and righteous), was still barren and without child in\nthat generation, not having brought forth to Abraham aught allied to\nvirtue. And she, as was proper, thought that he, being now in the time\nof progress, should have intercourse with secular culture first (by\nEgyptian the world is designated figuratively); and afterwards should\napproach to her according to divine providence, and beget Isaac.[856]\n\nAnd Philo interprets Hagar to mean \u201csojourning.\u201d[857] For it is said\nin connection with this, \u201cBe not much with a strange woman.\u201d[858]\nSarah he interprets to mean \u201cmy princedom.\u201d He, then, who has received\nprevious training is at liberty to approach to wisdom, which is\nsupreme, from which grows up the race of Israel. These things show that\nthat wisdom can be acquired through instruction, to which Abraham\nattained, passing from the contemplation of heavenly things to the\nfaith and righteousness which are according to God. And Isaac is shown\nto mean \u201cself-taught;\u201d wherefore also he is discovered to be a type of\nChrist. He was the husband of one wife Rebecca, which they translate\n\u201cPatience.\u201d And Jacob is said to have consorted with several, his name\nbeing interpreted \u201cExerciser.\u201d And exercises are engaged in by means of\nmany and various dogmas. Whence, also, he who is really \u201cendowed with\nthe power of seeing\u201d is called Israel,[859] having much experience, and\nbeing fit for exercise.\n\nSomething else may also have been shown by the three patriarchs,\nnamely, that the sure seal of knowledge is composed of nature, of\neducation, and exercise.\n\nYou may have also another image of what has been said, in Thamar\nsitting by the way and presenting the appearance of a harlot, on whom\nthe studious Judas (whose name is interpreted \u201cpowerful\u201d), who left\nnothing unexamined and uninvestigated, looked; and turned aside to\nher, preserving his profession towards God. Wherefore also, when Sarah\nwas jealous at Hagar being preferred to her, Abraham, as choosing only\nwhat was profitable in secular philosophy, said, \u201cBehold, thy maid is\nin thine hands: deal with her as it pleases thee;\u201d[860] manifestly\nmeaning, \u201cI embrace secular culture as youthful, and a handmaid; but\nthy knowledge I honour and reverence as true wife.\u201d And Sarah afflicted\nher; which is equivalent to corrected and admonished her. It has\ntherefore been well said, \u201cMy son, despise not thou the correction of\nGod; nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth\nHe chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.\u201d[861] And\nthe foresaid Scriptures, when examined in other places, will be seen\nto exhibit other mysteries. We merely therefore assert here, that\nphilosophy is characterized by investigation into truth and the nature\nof things (this is the truth of which the Lord Himself said, \u201cI am\nthe truth\u201d[862]); and that, again, the preparatory training for rest\nin Christ exercises the mind, rouses the intelligence, and begets\nan inquiring shrewdness, by means of the true philosophy, which the\ninitiated possess, having found it, or rather received it, from the\ntruth itself.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n THE BENEFIT OF CULTURE.\n\n\nThe readiness acquired by previous training conduces much to the\nperception of such things as are requisite; but those things which\ncan be perceived only by mind are the special exercise for the mind.\nAnd their nature is triple according as we consider their quantity,\ntheir magnitude, and what can be predicated of them. For the discourse\nwhich consists of demonstrations, implants in the spirit of him who\nfollows it, clear faith; so that he cannot conceive of that which is\ndemonstrated being different; and so it does not allow us to succumb to\nthose who assail us by fraud. In such studies, therefore, the soul is\npurged from sensible things, and is excited, so as to be able to see\ntruth distinctly. For nutriment, and the training which is maintained\ngentle, make noble natures; and noble natures, when they have received\nsuch training, become still better than before both in other respects,\nbut especially in productiveness, as is the case with the other\ncreatures. Wherefore it is said, \u201cGo to the ant, thou sluggard, and\nbecome wiser than it, which provideth much and varied food in the\nharvest against the inclemency of winter.\u201d[863] Or go to the bee, and\nlearn how laborious she is; for she, feeding on the whole meadow,\nproduces one honey-comb. And if \u201cthou prayest in the closet,\u201d as the\nLord taught, \u201cto worship in spirit,\u201d[864] thy management will no longer\nbe solely occupied about the house, but also about the soul, what must\nbe bestowed on it, and how, and how much; and what must be laid aside\nand treasured up in it; and when it ought to be produced, and to whom.\nFor it is not by nature, but by learning, that people become noble and\ngood, as people also become physicians and pilots. We all in common,\nfor example, see the vine and the horse. But the husbandman will know\nif the vine be good or bad at fruit-bearing; and the horseman will\neasily distinguish between the spiritless and the swift animal. And\nthat some are naturally predisposed to virtue above others, certain\npursuits of those, who are so naturally predisposed above others, show.\nBut that perfection in virtue is not the exclusive property of those,\nwhose natures are better, is proved, since also those who by nature are\nill-disposed towards virtue, in obtaining suitable training, for the\nmost part attain to excellence; and, on the other hand, those whose\nnatural dispositions are apt, become evil through neglect.\n\nAgain, God has created us naturally social and just; whence justice\nmust not be said to take its rise from implantation alone. But the\ngood imparted by creation is to be conceived of as excited by the\ncommandment; the soul being trained to be willing to select what is\nnoblest.\n\nBut as we say that a man can be a believer without learning, so also we\nassert that it is impossible for a man without learning to comprehend\nthe things which are declared in the faith. But to adopt what is well\nsaid, and not to adopt the reverse, is caused not simply by faith, but\nby faith combined with knowledge. But if ignorance is want of training\nand of instruction, then teaching produces knowledge of divine and\nhuman things. But just as it is possible to live rightly in penury of\nthis world\u2019s good things, so also in abundance. And we avow, that at\nonce with more ease and more speed will one attain to virtue through\nprevious training. But it is not such as to be unattainable without\nit; but it is attainable only when they have learned, and have had\ntheir senses exercised.[865] \u201cFor hatred,\u201d says Solomon, \u201craises\nstrife, but instruction guardeth the ways of life;\u201d[866] in such a way\nthat we are not deceived nor deluded by those who are practised in\nbase arts for the injury of those who hear. \u201cBut instruction wanders\nreproachless,\u201d[867] it is said. We must be conversant with the art of\nreasoning, for the purpose of confuting the deceitful opinions of the\nsophists. Well and felicitously, therefore, does Anaxarchus write in\nhis book respecting \u201ckingly rule:\u201d \u201cErudition benefits greatly, and\nhurts greatly him who possesses it; it helps him who is worthy, and\ninjures him who utters readily every word, and before the whole people.\nIt is necessary to know the measure of time. For this is the end of\nwisdom. And those who sing at the doors, even if they sing skilfully,\nare not reckoned wise, but have the reputation of folly.\u201d And Hesiod:\n\n \u201cOf the Muses, who make a man loquacious, divine, vocal.\u201d\n\nFor him who is fluent in words he calls loquacious; and him who is\nclever, vocal; and \u201cdivine,\u201d him who is skilled, a philosopher, and\nacquainted with the truth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n THE ECLECTIC PHILOSOPHY PAVES THE WAY FOR DIVINE VIRTUE.\n\n\nThe Greek preparatory culture, therefore, with philosophy itself, is\nshown to have come down from God to men, not with a definite direction,\nbut in the way in which showers fall down on the good land, and on the\ndunghill, and on the houses. And similarly both the grass and the wheat\nsprout; and the figs and any other reckless trees grow on sepulchres.\nAnd things that grow, appear as a type of truths. For they enjoy the\nsame influence of the rain. But they have not the same grace as those\nwhich spring up in rich soil, inasmuch as they are withered or plucked\nup. And here we are aided by the parable of the sower, which the Lord\ninterpreted. For the husbandman of the soil which is among men is one;\nHe who from the beginning, from the foundation of the world, sowed\nnutritious seeds; He who in each age rained down the Lord, the Word.\nBut the times and places which received [such gifts], created the\ndifferences which exist. Further, the husbandman sows not only wheat\n(of which there are many varieties), but also other seeds--barley, and\nbeans, and peas, and vetches, and vegetable and flower seeds. And to\nthe same husbandry belongs both planting and the operations necessary\nin the nurseries, and gardens, and orchards, and the planting and\nrearing of all sorts of trees.\n\nIn like manner, not only the care of sheep, but the care of herds,\nand breeding of horses, and dogs, and bee-craft, all arts, and to\nspeak comprehensively, the care of flocks and the rearing of animals,\ndiffer from each other more or less, but are all useful for life. And\nphilosophy--I do not mean the Stoic, or the Platonic, or the Epicurean,\nor the Aristotelian, but whatever has been well said by each of those\nsects, which teach righteousness along with a science pervaded by\npiety,--this eclectic whole I call philosophy. But such conclusions of\nhuman reasonings, as men have cut away and falsified, I would never\ncall divine.\n\nAnd now we must look also at this, that if ever those who know not how\nto do well, live well;[868] for they have lighted on well-doing. Some,\ntoo, have aimed well at the word of truth through understanding. \u201cBut\nAbraham was not justified by works, but by faith.\u201d[869] It is therefore\nof no advantage to them after the end of life, even if they do good\nworks now, if they have not faith. Wherefore also the Scriptures were\ntranslated into the language of the Greeks, in order that they might\nnever be able to allege the excuse of ignorance, inasmuch as they are\nable to hear also what we have in our hands, if they only wish. One\nspeaks in one way of the truth, in another way the truth interprets\nitself. The guessing at truth is one thing, and truth itself is\nanother. Resemblance is one thing, the thing itself is another. And\nthe one results from learning and practice, the other from power and\nfaith. For the teaching of piety is a gift, but faith is grace. \u201cFor\nby doing the will of God we know the will of God.\u201d[870] \u201cOpen, then,\u201d\nsays the Scripture, \u201cthe gates of righteousness; and I will enter in,\nand confess to the Lord.\u201d[871] But the paths to righteousness (since\nGod saves in many ways, for He is good) are many and various, and\nlead to the Lord\u2019s way and gate. And if you ask the royal and true\nentrance, you will hear, \u201cThis is the gate of the Lord, the righteous\nshall enter in by it.\u201d[872] While there are many gates open, that in\nrighteousness is in Christ, by which all the blessed enter, and direct\ntheir steps in the sanctity of knowledge. Now Clemens, in his Epistle\nto the Corinthians, while expounding the differences of those who\nare approved according to the church, says expressly, \u201cOne may be a\nbeliever; one may be powerful in uttering knowledge; one may be wise in\ndiscriminating between words; one may be terrible in deeds.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n THE SOPHISTICAL ARTS USELESS.\n\n\nBut the art of sophistry, which the Greeks cultivated, is a fantastic\npower, which makes false opinions like true by means of words. For\nit produces rhetoric in order to persuasion, and disputation for\nwrangling. These arts, therefore, if not conjoined with philosophy,\nwill be injurious to every one. For Plato openly called sophistry\n\u201can evil art.\u201d And Aristotle, following him, demonstrates it to be\na dishonest art, which abstracts in a specious manner the whole\nbusiness of wisdom, and professes a wisdom which it has not studied.\nTo speak briefly, as the beginning of rhetoric is the probable, and\nan attempted proof[873] the process, and the end persuasion, so the\nbeginning of disputation is what is matter of opinion, and the process\na contest, and the end victory. For in the same manner, also, the\nbeginning of sophistry is the apparent, and the process twofold; one\nof rhetoric, continuous and exhaustive; and the other of logic, and is\ninterrogatory. And its end is admiration. The dialectic in vogue in the\nschools, on the other hand, is the exercise of a philosopher in matters\nof opinion, for the sake of the faculty of disputation. But truth\nis not in these at all. With reason, therefore, the noble apostle,\ndepreciating these superfluous arts occupied about words, says, \u201cIf\nany man do not give heed to wholesome words, but is puffed up by a\nkind of teaching, knowing nothing, but doting (\u03bd\u03bf\u03c3\u1ff6\u03bd) about questions\nand strifes of words, whereof cometh contention, envy, railings, evil\nsurmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, destitute of\nthe truth.\u201d[874]\n\nYou see how he is moved against them, calling their art of logic--on\nwhich, those to whom this garrulous mischievous art is dear,\nwhether Greeks or barbarians, plume themselves--a disease (\u03bd\u03cc\u03c3\u03bf\u03c2).\nVery beautifully, therefore, the tragic poet Euripides says in the\n_Ph\u0153niss\u00e6_,\n\n \u201cBut a wrongful speech\n Is diseased in itself, and needs skilful medicines.\u201d[875]\n\nFor the saving Word is called \u201cwholesome,\u201d He being the truth; and what\nis wholesome (healthful) remains ever deathless. But separation from\nwhat is healthful and divine is impiety, and a deadly malady. These\nare rapacious wolves hid in sheep-skins, men-stealers, and glozing\nsoul-seducers, stealing secretly, but proved to be robbers; striving by\nfraud and force to catch us who are unsophisticated and have less power\nof speech.\n\n \u201cOften a man, impeded through want of words, carries less weight\n In expressing what is right, than the man of eloquence.\n But now in fluent mouths the weightiest truths\n They disguise, so that they do not seem what they ought to seem,\u201d\n\nsays the tragedy. Such are these wranglers, whether they follow\nthe sects, or practise miserable dialectic arts. These are they\nthat \u201cstretch the warp and weave nothing,\u201d says the Scripture;[876]\nprosecuting a bootless task, which the apostle has called \u201ccunning\ncraftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.\u201d[877] \u201cFor\nthere are,\u201d he says, \u201cmany unruly and vain talkers and deceivers.\u201d[878]\nWherefore it was not said to all, \u201cYe are the salt of the earth.\u201d[879]\nFor there are some even of the hearers of the word who are like the\nfishes of the sea, which, reared from their birth in brine, yet need\nsalt to dress them for food. Accordingly I wholly approve of the\ntragedy, when it says:\n\n \u201cO son, false words can be well spoken,\n And truth may be vanquished by beauty of words.\n But this is not what is most correct, but nature and what is right;\n He who practises eloquence is indeed wise,\n But I consider deeds always better than words.\u201d\n\nWe must not, then, aspire to please the multitude. For we do not\npractise what will please them, but what we know is remote from their\ndisposition. \u201cLet us not be desirous of vainglory,\u201d says the apostle,\n\u201cprovoking one another, envying one another.\u201d[880]\n\nThus the truth-loving Plato says, as if divinely inspired, \u201cSince I am\nsuch as to obey nothing but the word, which, after reflection, appears\nto me the best.\u201d[881]\n\nAccordingly he charges those who credit opinions without intelligence\nand knowledge, with abandoning right and sound reason unwarrantably,\nand believing him who is a partner in falsehood. For to cheat one\u2019s\nself of the truth is bad; but to speak the truth, and to hold as our\nopinions positive realities, is good.\n\nMen are deprived of what is good unwillingly. Nevertheless they are\ndeprived either by being deceived or beguiled, or by being compelled\nand not believing. He who believes not, has already made himself a\nwilling captive; and he who changes his persuasion is cozened, while\nhe forgets that time imperceptibly takes away some things, and reason\nothers. And after an opinion has been entertained, pain and anguish,\nand on the other hand contentiousness and anger, compel. Above all,\nmen are beguiled who are either bewitched by pleasure or terrified by\nfear. And all these are voluntary changes, but by none of these will\nknowledge ever be attained.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n HUMAN KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY FOR THE UNDERSTANDING\n OF THE SCRIPTURES.\n\n\nSome, who think themselves naturally gifted, do not wish to touch\neither philosophy or logic; nay more, they do not wish to learn natural\nscience. They demand bare faith alone, as if they wished, without\nbestowing any care on the vine, straightway to gather clusters from the\nfirst. Now the Lord is figuratively described as the vine, from which,\nwith pains and the art of husbandry, according to the word, the fruit\nis to be gathered.\n\nWe must lop, dig, bind, and perform the other operations. The\npruning-knife, I should think, and the pick-axe, and the other\nagricultural implements, are necessary for the culture of the vine,\nso that it may produce eatable fruit. And as in husbandry, so also in\nmedicine: he has learned to purpose, who has practised the various\nlessons, so as to be able to cultivate and to heal. So also here, I\ncall him truly learned who brings everything to bear on the truth; so\nthat, from geometry, and music, and grammar, and philosophy itself,\nculling what is useful, he guards the faith against assault. Now,\nas was said, the athlete is despised who is not furnished for the\ncontest. For instance, too, we praise the experienced helmsman who\n\u201chas seen the cities of many men,\u201d and the physician who has had large\nexperience; thus also some describe the empiric.[882] And he who brings\neverything to bear on a right life, procuring examples from the Greeks\nand barbarians, this man is an experienced searcher after truth, and\nin reality a man of much counsel, like the touchstone (that is, the\nLydian), which is believed to possess the power of distinguishing\nthe spurious from the genuine gold. And our much-knowing gnostic can\ndistinguish sophistry from philosophy, the art of decoration from\ngymnastics, cookery from physic, and rhetoric from dialectics, and\nthe other sects which are according to the barbarian philosophy, from\nthe truth itself. And how necessary is it for him who desires to be\npartaker of the power of God, to treat of intellectual subjects by\nphilosophising! And how serviceable is it to distinguish expressions\nwhich are ambiguous, and which in the Testaments are used synonymously!\nFor the Lord, at the time of His temptation, skilfully matched the\ndevil by an ambiguous expression. And I do not yet, in this connection,\nsee how in the world the inventor of philosophy and dialectics, as some\nsuppose, is seduced through being deceived by the form of speech which\nconsists in ambiguity. And if the prophets and apostles knew not the\narts by which the exercises of philosophy are exhibited, yet the mind\nof the prophetic and instructive spirit, uttered secretly, because\nall have not an intelligent ear, demands skilful modes of teaching\nin order to clear exposition. For the prophets and disciples of the\nSpirit knew infallibly their mind. For they knew it by faith, in a way\nwhich others could not easily, as the Spirit has said. But it is not\npossible for those who have not learned to receive it thus. \u201cWrite,\u201d\nit is said, \u201cthe commandments doubly, in counsel and knowledge, that\nthou mayest answer the words of truth to them who send unto thee.\u201d[883]\nWhat, then, is the knowledge of answering? or what that of asking? It\nis dialectics. What then? Is not speaking our business, and does not\naction proceed from the Word? For if we act not for the Word, we shall\nact against reason. But a rational work is accomplished through God.\n\u201cAnd nothing,\u201d it is said, \u201cwas made without Him\u201d--the Word of God.[884]\n\nAnd did not the Lord make all things by the Word? Even the beasts work,\ndriven by compelling fear. And do not those who are called orthodox\napply themselves to good works, knowing not what they do?\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n TO ACT WELL OF GREATER CONSEQUENCE THAN TO SPEAK WELL.\n\n\nWherefore the Saviour, taking the bread, first spake and blessed. Then\nbreaking the bread, He presented it, that we might eat it, according to\nreason, and that knowing the Scriptures we might walk obediently. And\nas those whose speech is evil are no better than those whose practice\nis evil (for calumny is the servant of the sword, and evil-speaking\ninflicts pain; and from these proceed disasters in life, such being the\neffects of evil speech); so also those who are given to good speech\nare near neighbours to those who accomplish good deeds. Accordingly\ndiscourse refreshes the soul and entices it to nobleness; and happy is\nhe who has the use of both his hands. Neither, therefore, is he who\ncan act well to be vilified by him who is able to speak well; nor is\nhe who is able to speak well to be disparaged by him who is capable of\nacting well. But let each do that for which he is naturally fitted.\nWhat the one exhibits as actually done, the other speaks, preparing,\nas it were, the way for well-doing, and leading the hearers to the\npractice of good. For there is a saving word, as there is a saving\nwork. Righteousness, accordingly, is not constituted without discourse.\nAnd as the receiving of good is abolished if we abolish the doing of\ngood; so obedience and faith are abolished when neither the command,\nnor one to expound the command, is taken along with us. But now we are\nbenefited mutually and reciprocally by words and deeds; but we must\nrepudiate entirely the art of wrangling and sophistry, since these\nsentences of the sophists not only bewitch and beguile the many, but\nsometimes by violence win a Cadmian victory.[885] For true above all\nis that psalm, \u201cThe just shall live to the end, for he shall not see\ncorruption, when he beholds the wise dying.\u201d[886] And whom does he call\nwise? Hear from the Wisdom of Jesus: \u201cWisdom is not the knowledge of\nevil.\u201d[887] Such he calls what the arts of speaking and of discussing\nhave invented. \u201cThou shalt therefore seek wisdom among the wicked, and\nshalt not find it.\u201d[888] And if you inquire again of what sort this is,\nyou are told, \u201cThe mouth of the righteous man will distil wisdom.\u201d[889]\nAnd similarly with truth, the art of sophistry is called wisdom.\n\nBut it is my purpose, as I reckon, and not without reason, to live\naccording to the Word, and to understand what is revealed; but never\naffecting eloquence, to be content merely with indicating my meaning.\nAnd by what term that which I wish to present is shown, I care not. For\nI well know that to be saved, and to aid those who desire to be saved,\nis the best thing, and not to compose paltry sentences like gewgaws.\n\u201cAnd if,\u201d says the Pythagorean in the _Politicus_ of Plato, \u201cyou\nguard against solicitude about terms, you will be richer in wisdom\nagainst old age.\u201d[890] And in the _The\u00e6tetus_ you will find again,\n\u201cAnd carelessness about names, and expressions, and the want of nice\nscrutiny, is not vulgar and illiberal for the most part, but rather the\nreverse of this, and is sometimes necessary.\u201d[891] This the Scripture\nhas expressed with the greatest possible brevity, when it said, \u201cBe\nnot occupied much about words.\u201d For expression is like the dress on\nthe body. The matter is the flesh and sinews. We must not therefore\ncare more for the dress than the safety of the body. For not only a\nsimple mode of life, but also a style of speech devoid of superfluity\nand nicety, must be cultivated by him who has adopted the true life, if\nwe are to abandon luxury as treacherous and profligate, as the ancient\nLaced\u00e6monians abjured ointment and purple, deeming and calling them\nrightly treacherous garments and treacherous unguents; since neither\nis that mode of preparing food right where there is more of seasoning\nthan of nutriment; nor is that style of speech elegant which can please\nrather than benefit the hearers. Pythagoras exhorts us to consider the\nMuses more pleasant than the Sirens, teaching us to cultivate wisdom\napart from pleasure, and exposing the other mode of attracting the\nsoul as deceptive. For sailing past the Sirens one man has sufficient\nstrength, and for answering the Sphinx another one, or, if you please,\nnot even one.[892] We ought never, then, out of desire for vainglory,\nto make broad the phylacteries. It suffices the gnostic[893] if only\none hearer is found for him. You may hear therefore Pindar the B\u0153otian,\nwho writes, \u201cDivulge not before all the ancient speech. The way of\nsilence is sometimes the surest. And the mightiest word is a spur to\nthe fight.\u201d Accordingly, the blessed apostle very appropriately and\nurgently exhorts us \u201cnot to strive about words to no profit, but to the\nsubverting of the hearers, but to shun profane and vain babblings, for\nthey increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a\ncanker.\u201d[894]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY WHICH THE APOSTLE BIDS US SHUN?\n\n\nThis, then, \u201cthe wisdom of the world is foolishness with God,\u201d and\nof those who are \u201cthe wise the Lord knoweth their thoughts that they\nare vain.\u201d[895] Let no man therefore glory on account of pre-eminence\nin human thought. For it is written well in Jeremiah, \u201cLet not the\nwise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his\nmight, and let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that\nglorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth that I am\nthe Lord, that executeth mercy and judgment and righteousness upon the\nearth: for in these things is my delight, saith the Lord.\u201d[896] \u201cThat\nwe should trust not in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead,\u201d\nsays the apostle, \u201cwho delivered us from so great a death, that our\nfaith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.\u201d\n\u201cFor the spiritual man judgeth all things, but he himself is judged\nof no man.\u201d[897] I hear also those words of his, \u201cAnd these things I\nsay, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words, or one should\nenter in to spoil you.\u201d[898] And again, \u201cBeware lest any man spoil you\nthrough philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after\nthe rudiments of the world, and not after Christ;\u201d[899] branding not\nall philosophy, but the Epicurean, which Paul mentions in the Acts of\nthe Apostles,[900] which abolishes providence and deifies pleasure,\nand whatever other philosophy honours the elements, but places not\nover them the efficient cause, nor apprehends the Creator.\n\nThe Stoics also, whom he mentions too, say not well that the Deity,\nbeing a body, pervades the vilest matter. He calls the jugglery\nof logic \u201cthe tradition of men.\u201d Wherefore also he adds, \u201cAvoid\njuvenile[901] questions. For such contentions are puerile.\u201d \u201cBut virtue\nis no lover of boys,\u201d says the philosopher Plato. And our struggle,\naccording to Gorgias Leontinus, requires two virtues--boldness and\nwisdom,--boldness to undergo danger, and wisdom to understand the\nenigma. For the Word, like the Olympian proclamation, calls him who is\nwilling, and crowns him who is able to continue unmoved as far as the\ntruth is concerned. And, in truth, the Word does not wish him who has\nbelieved to be idle. For He says, \u201cSeek, and ye shall find.\u201d[902] But\nseeking ends in finding, driving out the empty trifling, and approving\nof the contemplation which confirms our faith. \u201cAnd this I say, lest\nany man beguile you with enticing words,\u201d[903] says the apostle,\nevidently as having learned to distinguish what was said by him, and\nas being taught to meet objections. \u201cAs ye have therefore received\nChrist Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and\nstablished in the faith.\u201d[904] Now persuasion is [the means of] being\nestablished in the faith. \u201cBeware lest any man spoil you of faith in\nChrist by philosophy and vain deceit,\u201d which does away with providence,\n\u201cafter the tradition of men;\u201d for the philosophy which is in accordance\nwith divine tradition establishes and confirms providence, which,\nbeing done away with, the economy of the Saviour appears a myth, while\nwe are influenced \u201cafter the elements of the world, and not after\nChrist.\u201d[905] For the teaching which is agreeable to Christ deifies\nthe Creator, and traces providence in particular events, and knows\nthe nature of the elements to be capable of change and production,\nand teaches that we ought to aim at rising up to the power which\nassimilates to God, and to prefer the dispensation[906] as holding the\nfirst rank and superior to all training.\n\nThe elements are worshipped,--the air by Diogenes, the water by Thales,\nthe fire by Hippasus; and by those who suppose atoms to be the first\nprinciples of things, arrogating the name of philosophers, being\nwretched creatures devoted to pleasure. \u201cWherefore I pray,\u201d says the\napostle, \u201cthat your love may abound yet more and more, in knowledge and\nin all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent.\u201d[907]\n\u201cSince, when we were children,\u201d says the same apostle, \u201cwe were kept\nin bondage under the rudiments of the world. And the child, though\nheir, differeth nothing from a servant, till the time appointed of the\nfather.\u201d[908] Philosophers, then, are children, unless they have been\nmade men by Christ. \u201cFor if the son of the bond woman shall not be heir\nwith the son of the free,\u201d[909] at least he is the seed of Abraham,\nthough not of promise, receiving what belongs to him by free gift. \u201cBut\nstrong meat belongeth to those that are of full age, even those who\nby reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and\nevil.\u201d[910] \u201cFor every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of\nrighteousness; for he is a babe,\u201d[911] and not yet acquainted with the\nword, according to which he has believed and works, and not able to\ngive a reason in himself. \u201cProve all things,\u201d the apostle says, \u201cand\nhold fast that which is good,\u201d[912] speaking to spiritual men, who\njudge what is said according to truth, whether it seems or truly holds\nby the truth. \u201cHe who is not corrected by discipline errs, and stripes\nand reproofs give the discipline of wisdom,\u201d the reproofs manifestly\nthat are with love. \u201cFor the right heart seeketh knowledge.\u201d[913] \u201cFor\nhe that seeketh the Lord shall find knowledge with righteousness; and\nthey who have sought it rightly have found peace.\u201d[914] \u201cAnd I will\nknow,\u201d it is said, \u201cnot the speech of those which are puffed up, but\nthe power.\u201d In rebuke of those who are wise in appearance, and think\nthemselves wise, but are not in reality wise, he writes: \u201cFor the\nkingdom of God is met in word.\u201d[915] It is not in that which is not\ntrue, but which is only probable according to opinion; but he said\n\u201cin power,\u201d for the truth alone is powerful. And again: \u201cIf any man\nthinketh that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought\nto know.\u201d For truth is never mere opinion. But the \u201csupposition of\nknowledge inflates,\u201d and fills with pride; \u201cbut charity edifieth,\u201d\nwhich deals not in supposition, but in truth. Whence it is said, \u201cIf\nany man loves, he is known.\u201d[916]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n THE MYSTERIES OF THE FAITH NOT TO BE DIVULGED TO ALL.\n\n\nBut since this tradition is not published alone for him who perceives\nthe magnificence of the word; it is requisite, therefore, to hide in a\nmystery the wisdom spoken, which the Son of God taught. Now, therefore,\nIsaiah the prophet has his tongue purified by fire, so that he may be\nable to tell the vision. And we must purify not the tongue alone, but\nalso the ears, if we attempt to be partakers of the truth.\n\nSuch were the impediments in the way of my writing. And even now I\nfear, as it is said, \u201cto cast the pearls before swine, lest they tread\nthem under foot, and turn and rend us.\u201d[917] For it is difficult to\nexhibit the really pure and transparent words respecting the true\nlight, to swinish and untrained hearers. For scarcely could anything\nwhich they could hear be more ludicrous than these to the multitude;\nnor any subjects on the other hand more admirable or more inspiring to\nthose of noble nature. \u201cBut the natural man receiveth not the things of\nthe Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him.\u201d[918] But the wise\ndo not utter with their mouth what they reason in council. \u201cBut what\nye hear in the ear,\u201d says the Lord, \u201cproclaim upon the houses;\u201d[919]\nbidding them receive the secret traditions of the true knowledge, and\nexpound them aloft and conspicuously; and as we have heard in the\near, so to deliver them to whom it is requisite; but not enjoining us\nto communicate to all without distinction, what is said to them in\nparables. But there is only a delineation in the memoranda, which have\nthe truth sowed sparse and broadcast, that it may escape the notice\nof those who pick up seeds like jackdaws; but when they find a good\nhusbandman, each one of them will germinate and produce corn.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n ALL SECTS OF PHILOSOPHY CONTAIN A GERM OF TRUTH.\n\n\nSince, therefore, truth is one (for falsehood has ten thousand\nby-paths); just as the Bacchantes tore asunder the limbs of Pentheus,\nso the sects both of barbarian and Hellenic philosophy have done with\ntruth, and each vaunts as the whole truth the portion which has fallen\nto its lot. But all, in my opinion, are illuminated by the dawn of\nLight.[920] Let all, therefore, both Greeks and barbarians, who have\naspired after the truth,--both those who possess not a little, and\nthose who have any portion,--produce whatever they have of the word of\ntruth.\n\nEternity, for instance, presents in an instant the future and the\npresent, also the past of time. But truth, much more powerful than\nlimitless duration, can collect its proper germs, though they have\nfallen on foreign soil. For we shall find that very many of the dogmas\nthat are held by such sects as have not become utterly senseless, and\nare not cut out from the order of nature (by cutting off Christ, as the\nwomen of the fable dismembered the man),[921] though appearing unlike\none another, correspond in their origin and with the truth as a whole.\nFor they coincide in one, either as a part, or a species, or a genus.\nFor instance, though the highest note is different from the lowest\nnote, yet both compose one harmony. And in numbers an even number\ndiffers from an odd number; but both suit in arithmetic; as also is the\ncase with figure, the circle, and the triangle, and the square, and\nwhatever figures differ from one another. Also, in the whole universe,\nall the parts, though differing one from another, preserve their\nrelation to the whole. So, then, the barbarian and Hellenic philosophy\nhas torn off a fragment of eternal truth not from the mythology of\nDionysus, but from the theology of the ever-living Word. And He who\nbrings again together the separate fragments, and makes them one, will\nwithout peril, be assured, contemplate the perfect Word, the truth.\nTherefore it is written in Ecclesiastes: \u201cAnd I added wisdom above all\nwho were before me in Jerusalem; and my heart saw many things; and\nbesides, I knew wisdom and knowledge, parables and understanding. And\nthis also is the choice of the spirit, because in abundance of wisdom\nis abundance of knowledge.\u201d[922] He who is conversant with all kinds of\nwisdom, will be pre-eminently a gnostic. Now it is written, \u201cAbundance\nof the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who is of it.\u201d[923]\nAnd again, what is said is confirmed more clearly by this saying, \u201cAll\nthings are in the sight of those who understand\u201d--all things, both\nHellenic and barbarian; but the one or the other is not all. \u201cThey are\nright to those who wish to receive understanding. Choose instruction,\nand not silver, and knowledge above tested gold,\u201d and prefer also\nsense to pure gold; \u201cfor wisdom is better than precious stones, and no\nprecious thing is worth it.\u201d[924]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n SUCCESSION OF PHILOSOPHERS IN GREECE.\n\n\nThe Greeks say, that after Orpheus and Linus, and the most ancient\nof the poets that appeared among them, the seven, called wise, were\nthe first that were admired for their wisdom. Of whom four were of\nAsia--Thales of Miletus, and Bias of Priene, Pittacus of Mitylene, and\nCleobulus of Lindos; and two of Europe, Solon the Athenian, and Chilon\nthe Laced\u00e6monian; and the seventh, some say, was Periander of Corinth;\nothers, Anacharsis the Scythian; others, Epimenides the Cretan, whom\nPaul knew as a Greek prophet, whom he mentions in the Epistle to Titus,\nwhere he speaks thus: \u201cOne of themselves, a prophet of their own, said,\n_The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies._ And\nthis witness is true.\u201d[925] You see how even to the prophets of the\nGreeks he attributes something of the truth, and is not ashamed, when\ndiscoursing for the edification of some and the shaming of others,\nto make use of Greek poems. Accordingly to the Corinthians (for this\nis not the only instance), while discoursing on the resurrection of\nthe dead, he makes use of a tragic Iambic line, when he said, \u201cWhat\nadvantageth it me if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for\nto-morrow we die. Be not deceived;\n\n _Evil communications corrupt good manners._\u201d[926]\n\nOthers have enumerated Acusilaus the Argive among the seven wise\nmen; and others, Pherecydes of Syros. And Plato substitutes Myso the\nChenian for Periander, whom he deemed unworthy of wisdom, on account\nof his having reigned as a tyrant. That the wise men among the Greeks\nflourished after the age of Moses, will, a little after, be shown. But\nthe style of philosophy among them, as Hebraic and enigmatical, is now\nto be considered. They adopted brevity, as suited for exhortation, and\nmost useful. Even Plato says, that of old this mode was purposely in\nvogue among all the Greeks, especially the Laced\u00e6monians and Cretans,\nwho enjoyed the best laws.\n\nThe expression, \u201cKnow thyself,\u201d some supposed to be Chilon\u2019s. But\nCham\u00e6leon, in his book _About the Gods_, ascribes it to Thales;\nAristotle to the Pythian. It may be an injunction to the pursuit of\nknowledge. For it is not possible to know the parts without the essence\nof the whole; and one must study the genesis of the universe, that\nthereby we may be able to learn the nature of man. Again, to Chilon the\nLaced\u00e6monian they attribute, \u201cLet nothing be too much.\u201d[927] Strato,\nin his book _Of Inventions_, ascribes the apophthegm to Stratodemus of\nTegea. Didymus assigns it to Solon; as also to Cleobulus the saying, \u201cA\nmiddle course is best.\u201d And the expression, \u201cCome under a pledge, and\nmischief is at hand,\u201d Cleomenes says, in his book _Concerning Hesiod_,\nwas uttered before by Homer in the lines:\n\n \u201cWretched pledges, for the wretched, to be pledged.\u201d[928]\n\nThe Aristotelians judge it to be Chilon\u2019s; but Didymus says the advice\nwas that of Thales. Then, next in order, the saying, \u201cAll men are bad,\u201d\nor, \u201cThe most of men are bad\u201d (for the same apophthegm is expressed\nin two ways), Sotades the Byzantian says that it was Bias\u2019s. And the\naphorism, \u201cPractice conquers everything,\u201d[929] they will have it to\nbe Periander\u2019s; and likewise the advice, \u201cKnow the opportunity,\u201d to\nhave been a saying of Pittacus. Solon made laws for the Athenians,\nPittacus for the Mitylenians. And at a late date, Pythagoras, the pupil\nof Pherecydes, first called himself a philosopher. Accordingly, after\nthe fore-mentioned three men, there were three schools of philosophy,\nnamed after the places where they lived: the Italic from Pythagoras,\nthe Ionic from Thales, the Eleatic from Xenophanes. Pythagoras was\na Samian, the son of Mnesarchus, as Hippobotus says: according to\nAristoxenus, in his life of Pythagoras and Aristarchus and Theopompus,\nhe was a Tuscan; and according to Neanthes, a Syrian or a Tyrian. So\nthat Pythagoras was, according to the most, of barbarian extraction.\nThales, too, as Leander and Herodotus relate, was a Ph\u0153nician; as\nsome suppose, a Milesian. He alone seems to have met the prophets of\nthe Egyptians. But no one is described as his teacher, nor is any one\nmentioned as the teacher of Pherecydes of Syros, who had Pythagoras\nas his pupil. But the Italic philosophy, that of Pythagoras, grew old\nin Metapontum in Italy. Anaximander of Miletus, the son of Praxiades,\nsucceeded Thales; and was himself succeeded by Anaximenes of Miletus,\nthe son of Eurustratus; after whom came Anaxagoras of Clazomen\u00e6, the\nson of Hegesibulus. [930] He transferred his school from Ionia to\nAthens. He was succeeded by Archelaus, whose pupil Socrates was.\n\n \u201cFrom these turned aside, the stone-mason;\n Talker about laws; the enchanter of the Greeks,\u201d\n\nsays Timon in his _Satirical Poems_, on account of his quitting physics\nfor ethics. Antisthenes, after being a pupil of Socrates, introduced\nthe Cynic philosophy; and Plato withdrew to the Academy. Aristotle,\nafter studying philosophy under Plato, withdrew to the Lyceum, and\nfounded the Peripatetic sect. He was succeeded by Theophrastus, who\nwas succeeded by Strato, and he by Lycon, then Critolaus, and then\nDiodorus. Speusippus was the successor of Plato; his successor was\nXenocrates; and the successor of the latter, Polemo. And the disciples\nof Polemo were Crates and Crantor, in whom the old Academy founded by\nPlato ceased. Arcesilaus was the associate of Crantor; from whom, down\nto Hegesilaus, the Middle Academy flourished. Then Carneades succeeded\nHegesilaus, and others came in succession. The disciple of Crates\nwas Zeno of Citium, the founder of the Stoic sect. He was succeeded\nby Cleanthes; and the latter by Chrysippus, and others after him.\nXenophanes of Colophon was the founder of the Eleatic school, who,\nTim\u00e6us says, lived in the time of Hiero, lord of Sicily, and Epicharmus\nthe poet; and Apollodorus says that he was born in the fortieth\nOlympiad, and reached to the times of Darius and Cyrus. Parmenides,\naccordingly, was the disciple of Xenophanes, and Zeno of him; then came\nLeucippus, and then Democritus. Disciples of Democritus were Protagoras\nof Abdera, and Metrodorus of Chios, whose pupil was Diogenes of Smyrna;\nand his again Anaxarchus, and his Pyrrho, and his Nausiphanes. Some say\nthat Epicurus was a scholar of his.\n\nSuch, in an epitome, is the succession of the philosophers among the\nGreeks. The periods of the originators of their philosophy are now to\nbe specified successively, in order that, by comparison, we may show\nthat the Hebrew philosophy was older by many generations.\n\nIt has been said of Xenophanes that he was the founder of the Eleatic\nphilosophy. And Eudemus, in the _Astrological Histories_, says\nthat Thales foretold the eclipse of the sun, which took place at the\ntime that the Medians and the Lydians fought, in the reign of Cyaxares\nthe father of Astyages over the Medes, and of Alyattus the son of\nCr\u0153sus over the Lydians. Herodotus in his first book agrees with him.\nThe date is about the fiftieth Olympiad. Pythagoras is ascertained to\nhave lived in the days of Polycrates the tyrant, about the sixty-second\nOlympiad. Mnesiphilus is described as a follower of Solon, and was a\ncontemporary of Themistocles. Solon therefore flourished about the\nforty-sixth Olympiad. For Heraclitus, the son of Bauso, persuaded\nMelancomas the tyrant to abdicate his sovereignty. He despised the\ninvitation of king Darius to visit the Persians.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY IN GREAT PART DERIVED FROM THE BARBARIANS.\n\n\nThese are the times of the oldest wise men and philosophers among the\nGreeks. And that the most of them were barbarians by extraction, and\nwere trained among barbarians, what need is there to say? Pythagoras\nis shown to have been either a Tuscan or a Tyrian. And Antisthenes was\na Phrygian. And Orpheus was an Odrysian or a Thracian. The most, too,\nshow Homer to have been an Egyptian. Thales was a Ph\u0153nician by birth,\nand was said to have consorted with the prophets of the Egyptians; as\nalso Pythagoras did with the same persons, by whom he was circumcised,\nthat he might enter the adytum and learn from the Egyptians the mystic\nphilosophy. He held converse with the chief of the Chaldeans and the\nMagi; and he gave a hint of the church, now so called, in the common\nhall[931] which he maintained.\n\nAnd Plato does not deny that he procured all that is most excellent\nin philosophy from the barbarians; and he admits that he came into\nEgypt. Whence, writing in the _Ph\u00e6do_ that the philosopher can\nreceive aid from all sides, he said: \u201cGreat indeed is Greece, O Cebes,\nin which everywhere there are good men, and many are the races of the\nbarbarians.\u201d[932] Thus Plato thinks that some of the barbarians,\ntoo, are philosophers. But Epicurus, on the other hand, supposes that\nonly Greeks can philosophise. And in the _Symposium_, Plato,\nlauding the barbarians as practising philosophy with conspicuous\nexcellence,[933] truly says: \u201cAnd in many other instances both among\nGreeks and barbarians, whose temples reared for such sons are already\nnumerous.\u201d And it is clear that the barbarians signally honoured their\nlawgivers and teachers, designating them gods. For, according to Plato,\n\u201cthey think that good souls, on quitting the super-celestial region,\nsubmit to come to this Tartarus, and assuming a body, share in all\nthe ills which are involved in birth, from their solicitude for the\nrace of men;\u201d and these make laws and publish philosophy, \u201cthan which\nno greater boon ever came from the gods to the race of men, or will\ncome.\u201d[934]\n\nAnd as appears to me, it was in consequence of perceiving the great\nbenefit which is conferred through wise men, that the men themselves\nwere honoured and philosophy cultivated publicly by all the Brahmins,\nand the Odrysi, and the Get\u00e6. And such were strictly deified by the\nrace of the Egyptians, by the Chaldeans and the Arabians, called the\nHappy, and those that inhabited Palestine, by not the least portion\nof the Persian race, and by innumerable other races besides these.\nAnd it is well known that Plato is found perpetually celebrating the\nbarbarians, remembering that both himself and Pythagoras learned the\nmost and the noblest of their dogmas among the barbarians. Wherefore\nhe also called the races of the barbarians, \u201craces of barbarian\nphilosophers,\u201d recognising, in the Ph\u00e6drus, the Egyptian king, and\nshows him to us wiser than Theut, whom he knew to be Hermes. But in\nthe Charmides, it is manifest that he knew certain Thracians who were\nsaid to make the soul immortal. And Pythagoras is reported to have\nbeen a disciple of Sonches the Egyptian arch-prophet; and Plato, of\nSechnuphis of Heliopolis; and Eudoxus, of Cnidius of Konuphis, who was\nalso an Egyptian. And in his book, _On the Soul_,[935] Plato again\nmanifestly recognises prophecy, when he introduces a prophet announcing\nthe word of Lachesis, uttering predictions to the souls whose destiny\nis being fixed. And in the _Tim\u00e6us_ he introduces Solon, the very\nwise, learning from the barbarian. The substance of the declaration\nis to the following effect: \u201cO Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always\nchildren. And no Greek is an old man. For you have no learning that is\nhoary with age.\u201d[936]\n\nDemocritus appropriated the Babylonian ethic discourses, for he is said\nto have combined with his own compositions a translation of the column\nof Acicarus.[937] And you may find the distinction notified by him when\nhe writes, \u201cThus says Democritus.\u201d About himself, too, where, pluming\nhimself on his erudition, he says, \u201cI have roamed over the most ground\nof any man of my time, investigating the most remote parts. I have seen\nthe most skies and lands, and I have heard of learned men in very great\nnumbers. And in composition no one has surpassed me; in demonstration,\nnot even those among the Egyptians who are called Arpenodapt\u00e6, with all\nof whom I lived in exile up to eighty years.\u201d For he went to Babylon,\nand Persis, and Egypt, to learn from the Magi and the priests.\n\nZoroaster the Magus, Pythagoras showed to be a Persian. Of the secret\nbooks of this man, those who follow the heresy of Prodicus boast\nto be in possession. Alexander, in his book _On the Pythagorean\nSymbols_, relates that Pythagoras was a pupil of Nazaratus the\nAssyrian[938] (some think that he is Ezekiel; but he is not, as will\nafterwards be shown), and will have it that, in addition to these,\nPythagoras was a hearer of the Galat\u00e6 and the Brahmins. Clearchus the\nPeripatetic says that he knew a Jew who associated with Aristotle.\nHeraclitus says that, not humanly, but rather by God\u2019s aid, the Sibyl\nspoke.[939] They say, accordingly, that at Delphi a stone was shown\nbeside the oracle, on which, it is said, sat the first Sibyl, who came\nfrom Helicon, and had been reared by the Muses. But some say that\nshe came from Milea, being the daughter of Lamia of Sidon.[940] And\nSerapion, in his epic verses, says that the Sibyl, even when dead,\nceased not from divination. And he writes that, what proceeded from\nher into the air after her death, was what gave oracular utterances in\nvoices and omens; and on her body being changed into earth, and the\ngrass as natural growing out of it, whatever beasts happening to be in\nthat place fed on it exhibited to men an accurate knowledge of futurity\nby their entrails. He thinks also, that the face seen in the moon is\nher soul. So much for the Sibyl.\n\nNuma, the king of the Romans was a Pythagorean, and aided by the\nprecepts of Moses, prohibited from making an image of God in human\nform, and of the shape of a living creature. Accordingly, during the\nfirst hundred and seventy years, though building temples, they made\nno cast or graven image. For Numa secretly showed them that the Best\nof Beings could not be apprehended except by the mind alone. Thus\nphilosophy, a thing of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity\namong the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations. And\nafterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks were the prophets\nof the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the\nDruids among the Gauls; and the Saman\u00e6ans among the Bactrians; and the\nphilosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold\nthe Saviour\u2019s birth, and came into the land of Jud\u00e6a guided by a\nstar. The Indian gymmnosophists are also in the number, and the other\nbarbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of\nthem called Sarman\u00e6,[941] and others Brahmins. And those of the Sarman\u00e6\nwho are called Hylobii[942] neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs over\nthem, but are clothed in the bark of trees, feed on nuts, and drink\nwater in their hands. Like those called Encratites in the present day,\nthey know not marriage nor begetting of children.\n\nSome, too, of the Indians obey the precepts of Buddha;[943] whom, on\naccount of his extraordinary sanctity, they have raised to divine\nhonours.\n\nAnacharsis was a Scythian, and is recorded to have excelled many\nphilosophers among the Greeks. And the Hyperboreans, Hellanicus\nrelates, dwelt beyond the Riph\u00e6an mountains, and inculcated justice,\nnot eating flesh, but using nuts. Those who are sixty years old they\ntake without the gates, and do away with. There are also among the\nGermans those called holy women, who, by inspecting the whirlpools of\nrivers and the eddies, and observing the noises of streams, presage\nand predict future events.[944] These did not allow the men to fight\nagainst C\u00e6sar till the new moon shone.\n\nOf all these, by far the oldest is the Jewish race; and that their\nphilosophy committed to writing has the precedence of philosophy among\nthe Greeks, the Pythagorean Philo[945] shows at large; and, besides\nhim, Aristobulus the Peripatetic, and several others, not to waste\ntime, in going over them by name. Very clearly the author Megasthenes,\nthe contemporary of Seleucus Nicanor, writes as follows in the third of\nhis books, _On Indian Affairs_: \u201cAll that was said about nature by\nthe ancients is said also by those who philosophise beyond Greece: some\nthings by the Brahmins among the Indians, and others by those called\nJews in Syria.\u201d Some more fabulously say that certain of those called\nthe Id\u00e6an Dactyli were the first wise men; to whom are attributed the\ninvention of what are called the \u201cEphesian letters,\u201d and of numbers\nin music. For which reason dactyls in music received their name. And\nthe Id\u00e6an Dactyli were Phrygians and barbarians. Herodotus relates\nthat Hercules, having grown a sage and a student of physics, received\nfrom the barbarian Atlas, the Phrygian, the columns of the universe;\nthe fable meaning that he received by instruction the knowledge of the\nheavenly bodies. And Hermippus of Berytus calls Charon the Centaur\nwise; about whom, he that wrote _The Battle of the Titans_ says,\n\u201cthat he first led the race of mortals to righteousness, by teaching\nthem the solemnity of the oath, and propitiatory sacrifices and the\nfigures of Olympus.\u201d By him Achilles, who fought at Troy, was taught.\nAnd Hippo, the daughter of the Centaur, who dwelt with \u00c6olus, taught\nhim her father\u2019s science, the knowledge of physics. Euripides also\ntestifies of Hippo as follows:\n\n \u201cWho first, by oracles, presaged,\n And by the rising stars, events divine.\u201d\n\nBy this \u00c6olus, Ulysses was received as a guest after the taking of\nTroy. Mark the epochs by comparison with the age of Moses, and with the\nhigh antiquity of the philosophy promulgated by him.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n THAT THE INVENTORS OF OTHER ARTS WERE MOSTLY BARBARIANS.\n\n\nAnd barbarians were inventors not only of philosophy, but almost of\nevery art. The Egyptians were the first to introduce astrology among\nmen. Similarly also the Chaldeans. The Egyptians first showed how\nto burn lamps, and divided the year into twelve months, prohibited\nintercourse with women in the temples, and enacted that no one should\nenter the temples from a woman without bathing. Again, they were the\ninventors of geometry. There are some who say that the Carians invented\nprognostication by the stars. The Phrygians were the first who attended\nto the flight of birds. And the Tuscans, neighbours of Italy, were\nadepts at the art of the Haruspex. The Isaurians and the Arabians\ninvented augury, as the Telmesians divination by dreams. The Etruscans\ninvented the trumpet, and the Phrygians the flute. For Olympus and\nMarsyas were Phrygians. And Cadmus, the inventor of letters among\nthe Greeks, as Euphorus says, was a Ph\u0153nician; whence also Herodotus\nwrites that they were called Ph\u0153nician letters. And they say that the\nPh\u0153nicians and the Syrians first invented letters; and that Apis, an\naboriginal inhabitant of Egypt, invented the healing art before Io came\ninto Egypt. But afterwards they say that Asclepius improved the art.\nAtlas the Libyan was the first who built a ship and navigated the sea.\nKelmis and Damnaneus, Id\u00e6an Dactyli, first discovered iron in Cyprus.\nAnother Id\u00e6an discovered the tempering of brass; according to Hesiod,\na Scythian. The Thracians first invented what is called a scimitar\n(\u1f04\u03c1\u03c0\u03b7),--it is a curved sword,--and were the first to use shields on\nhorseback. Similarly also the Illyrians invented the shield (\u03c0\u03ad\u03bb\u03c4\u03b7).\nBesides, they say that the Tuscans invented the art of moulding clay;\nand that Itanus (he was a Samnite) first fashioned the oblong shield\n(\u03b8\u03c5\u03c1\u03b5\u03cc\u03c2). Cadmus the Ph\u0153nician invented stonecutting, and discovered\nthe gold mines on the Pang\u00e6an mountain. Further, another nation, the\nCappadocians, first invented the instrument called the nabla,[946]\nand the Assyrians in the same way the dichord. The Carthaginians were\nthe first that constructed a trireme; and it was built by Bosporus,\nan aboriginal.[947] Medea, the daughter of \u00c6etas, a Colchian, first\ninvented the dyeing of hair. Besides, the Noropes (they are a P\u00e6onian\nrace, and are now called the Norici) worked copper, and were the first\nthat purified iron. Amycus the king of the Bebryci was the first\ninventor of boxing-gloves.[948] In music, Olympus the Mysian practised\nthe Lydian harmony; and the people called Troglodytes invented the\nsambuca,[949] a musical instrument. It is said that the crooked pipe\nwas invented by Satyrus the Phrygian; likewise also diatonic harmony\nby Hyagnis, a Phrygian too; and notes by Olympus, a Phrygian; as also\nthe Phrygian harmony, and the half-Phrygian and the half-Lydian, by\nMarsyas, who belonged to the same region as those mentioned above. And\nthe Doric was invented by Thamyris the Thracian. We have heard that\nthe Persians were the first who fashioned the chariot, and bed, and\nfootstool; and the Sidonians the first to construct a trireme. The\nSicilians, close to Italy, were the first inventors of the phorminx,\nwhich is not much inferior to the lyre. And they invented castanets. In\nthe time of Semiramis queen of the Assyrians,[950] they relate that\nlinen garments were invented. And Hellanicus says that Atossa queen\nof the Persians was the first who composed a letter. These things are\nreported by Scamo of Mitylene, Theophrastus of Ephesus, Cydippus of\nMantinea, also Antiphanes, Aristodemus, and Aristotle; and besides\nthese, Philostephanus, and also Strato the Peripatetic, in his books\n_Concerning Inventions_. I have added a few details from them, in\norder to confirm the inventive and practically useful genius of the\nbarbarians, by whom the Greeks profited in their studies. And if any\none objects to the barbarous language, Anacharsis says, \u201cAll the Greeks\nspeak Scythian to me.\u201d It was he who was held in admiration by the\nGreeks, who said, \u201cMy covering is a cloak; my supper, milk and cheese.\u201d\nYou see that the barbarian philosophy professes deeds, not words. The\napostle thus speaks: \u201cSo likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue a\nword easy to be understood, how shall ye know what is spoken? for ye\nshall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kind of voices\nin the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore\nif I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that\nspeaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto\nme.\u201d And, \u201cLet him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may\ninterpret.\u201d[951]\n\nNay more, it was late before the teaching and writing of discourses\nreached Greece. Alcm\u00e6on, the son of Perithus, of Crotona, first\ncomposed a treatise on nature. And it is related that Anaxagoras of\nClazomen\u00e6, the son of Hegesibulus, first published a book in writing.\nThe first to adapt music to poetical compositions was Terpander of\nAntissa; and he set the laws of the Laced\u00e6monians to music. Lasus of\nHermione invented the dithyramb; Stesichorus of Himera, the hymn;\nAlcman the Spartan, the choral song; Anacreon of Teos, love songs;\nPindar the Theban, the dance accompanied with song. Timotheus of\nMiletus was the first to execute those musical compositions called\n\u03bd\u03cc\u03bc\u03bf\u03b9 on the lyre, with dancing. Moreover, the iambus was invented\nby Archilochus of Paros, and the choliambus by Hipponax of Ephesus.\nTragedy owed its origin to Thespis the Athenian, and comedy to Susarion\nof Icaria. Their dates are handed down by the grammarians. But it were\ntedious to specify them accurately: presently, however, Dionysus, on\nwhose account the Dionysian spectacles are celebrated, will be shown to\nbe later than Moses. They say that Antiphon of Rhamnusium, the son of\nSophilus, first invented scholastic discourses and rhetorical figures,\nand was the first who pled causes for a fee, and wrote a forensic\nspeech for delivery,[952] as Diodorus says. And Apollodorus of Cuma\nfirst assumed the name of critic, and was called a grammarian. Some\nsay it was Eratosthenes of Cyrene who was first so called, since he\npublished two books which he entitled _Grammatica_. The first who\nwas called a grammarian, as we now use the term, was Praxiphanes, the\nson of Disnysophenes of Mitylene. Zeleucus the Locrian was reported to\nhave been the first to have framed laws (in writing). Others say that\nit was Menos the son of Zeus, in the time of Lynceus. He comes after\nDanaus, in the eleventh generation from Inachus and Moses; as we shall\nshow a little further on. And Lycurgus, who lived many years after the\ntaking of Troy, legislated for the Laced\u00e6monians a hundred and fifty\nyears before the Olympiads. We have spoken before of the age of Solon.\nDraco (he was a legislator too) is discovered to have lived about the\nthree hundred and ninth Olympiad. Antilochus, again, who wrote of the\nlearned men from the age of Pythagoras to the death of Epicurus, which\ntook place in the tenth day of the month Gamelion, makes up altogether\nthree hundred and twelve years. Moreover, some say that Phanothea, the\nwife of Icarius, invented the heroic hexameter; others Themis, one of\nthe Titanides. Didymus, however, in his work _On the Pythagorean\nPhilosophy_, relates that Theano of Crotona was the first woman\nwho cultivated philosophy and composed poems. The Hellenic philosophy\nthen, according to some, apprehended the truth accidentally, dimly,\npartially; as others will have it, was set a-going by the devil.\nSeveral suppose that certain powers, descending from heaven, inspired\nthe whole of philosophy. But if the Hellenic philosophy comprehends not\nthe whole extent of the truth, and besides is destitute of strength to\nperform the commandments of the Lord, yet it prepares the way for the\ntruly royal teaching; training in some way or other, and moulding the\ncharacter, and fitting him who believes in Providence for the reception\nof the truth.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n ON THE SAYING OF THE SAVIOUR, \u201cALL THAT CAME BEFORE ME\n WERE THIEVES AND ROBBERS.\u201d[953]\n\n\nBut, say they, it is written, \u201cAll who were before the Lord\u2019s advent\nare thieves and robbers.\u201d All, then, who are in the Word (for it is\nthese that were previous to the incarnation of the Word) are understood\ngenerally. But the prophets, being sent and inspired by the Lord, were\nnot thieves, but servants. The Scripture accordingly says, \u201cWisdom sent\nher servants, inviting with loud proclamation to a goblet of wine.\u201d[954]\n\nBut philosophy, it is said, was not sent by the Lord, but came stolen,\nor given by a thief. It was then some power or angel that had learned\nsomething of the truth, but abode not in it, that inspired and taught\nthese things, not without the Lord\u2019s knowledge, who knew before the\nconstitution of each essence the issues of futurity, but without His\nprohibition.\n\nFor the theft which reached men then, had some advantage; not that\nhe who perpetrated the theft had utility in his eye, but Providence\ndirected the issue of the audacious deed to utility. I know that many\nare perpetually assailing us with the allegation, that not to prevent\na thing happening, is to be the cause of it happening. For they say,\nthat the man who does not take precaution against a theft, or does not\nprevent it, is the cause of it: as he is the cause of the conflagration\nwho has not quenched it at the beginning; and the master of the vessel\nwho does not reef the sail, is the cause of the shipwreck. Certainly\nthose who are the causes of such events are punished by the law. For\nto him who had power to prevent, attaches the blame of what happens.\nWe say to them, that causation is seen in doing, working, acting; but\nthe not preventing is in this respect inoperative. Further, causation\nattaches to activity; as in the case of the shipbuilder in relation\nto the origin of the vessel, and the builder in relation to the\nconstruction of the house. But that which does not prevent is separated\nfrom what takes place. Wherefore the effect will be accomplished;\nbecause that which could have prevented neither acts nor prevents. For\nwhat activity does that which prevents not exert? Now their assertion\nis reduced to absurdity, if they shall say that the cause of the wound\nis not the dart, but the shield, which did not prevent the dart from\npassing through; and if they blame not the thief, but the man who did\nnot prevent the theft. Let them then say, that it was not Hector that\nburned the ships of the Greeks, but Achilles; because, having the power\nto prevent Hector, he did not prevent him; but out of anger (and it\ndepended on himself to be angry or not) did not keep back the fire, and\nwas a concurring cause. Now the devil, being possessed of free-will,\nwas able both to repent and to steal; and it was he who was the author\nof the theft, not the Lord, who did not prevent him. But neither was\nthe gift hurtful, so as to require that prevention should intervene.\n\nBut if strict accuracy must be employed in dealing with them, let them\nknow, that that which does not prevent what we assert to have taken\nplace in the theft, is not a cause at all; but that what prevents is\ninvolved in the accusation of being a cause. For he that protects\nwith a shield is the cause of him whom he protects not being wounded;\npreventing him, as he does, from being wounded. For the demon of\nSocrates was a cause, not by not preventing, but by exhorting, even\nif (strictly speaking) he did not exhort. And neither praises nor\ncensures, neither rewards nor punishments, are right, when the soul\nhas not the power of inclination and disinclination, but evil is\ninvoluntary. Whence he who prevents is a cause; while he who prevents\nnot judges justly the soul\u2019s choice. So in no respect is God the author\nof evil. But since free choice and inclination originate sins, and a\nmistaken judgment sometimes prevails, from which, since it is ignorance\nand stupidity, we do not take pains to recede, punishments are rightly\ninflicted. For to take fever is involuntary; but when one takes fever\nthrough his own fault, from excess, we blame him. Inasmuch, then, as\nevil is involuntary,--for no one prefers evil as evil; but induced\nby the pleasure that is in it, and imagining it good, considers it\ndesirable;--such being the case, to free ourselves from ignorance,\nand from evil and voluptuous choice, and above all, to withhold our\nassent from those delusive phantasies, depends on ourselves. The\ndevil is called \u201cthief and robber;\u201d having mixed false prophets with\nthe prophets, as tares with the wheat. \u201cAll, then, that came before\nthe Lord, were thieves and robbers;\u201d not absolutely all men, but all\nthe false prophets, and all who were not properly sent by Him. For\nthe false prophets possessed the prophetic name dishonestly, being\nprophets, but prophets of the liar. For the Lord says, \u201cYe are of your\nfather the devil; and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a\nmurderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there\nis no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for\nhe is a liar, and the father of it.\u201d[955]\n\nBut among the lies, the false prophets also told some true things. And\nin reality they prophesied \u201cin an ecstasy,\u201d as the servants of the\napostate. And the Shepherd, the angel of repentance, says to Hermas, of\nthe false prophet: \u201cFor he speaks some truths. For the devil fills him\nwith his own spirit, if perchance he may be able to cast down any one\nfrom what is right.\u201d All things, therefore, are dispensed from heaven\nfor good, \u201cthat by the church may be made known the manifold wisdom of\nGod, according to the eternal foreknowledge,[956] which He purposed in\nChrist.\u201d[957] Nothing withstands God: nothing opposes Him: seeing He\nis Lord and omnipotent. Further, the counsels and activities of those\nwho have rebelled, being partial, proceed from a bad disposition, as\nbodily diseases from a bad constitution, but are guided by universal\nProvidence to a salutary issue, even though the cause be productive\nof disease. It is accordingly the greatest achievement of divine\nProvidence, not to allow the evil, which has sprung from voluntary\napostasy, to remain useless, and for no good, and not to become in\nall respects injurious. For it is the work of the divine wisdom, and\nexcellence, and power, not alone to do good (for this is, so to speak,\nthe nature of God, as it is of fire to warm and of light to illumine),\nbut especially to ensure that what happens through the evils hatched by\nany, may come to a good and useful issue, and to use to advantage those\nthings which appear to be evils, as also the testimony which accrues\nfrom temptation.\n\nThere is then in philosophy, though stolen as the fire by Prometheus,\na slender spark, capable of being fanned into flame, a trace of wisdom\nand an impulse from God. Well, be it so that \u201cthe thieves and robbers\u201d\nare the philosophers among the Greeks, who from the Hebrew prophets\nbefore the coming of the Lord received fragments of the truth, not with\nfull knowledge, and claimed these as their own teachings, disguising\nsome points, treating others sophistically by their ingenuity, and\ndiscovering other things, for perchance they had \u201cthe spirit of\nperception.\u201d[958] Aristotle, too, assented to Scripture, and declared\nsophistry to have stolen wisdom, as we intimated before. And the\napostle says, \u201cWhich things we speak, not in the words which man\u2019s\nwisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.\u201d[959] For of the\nprophets it is said, \u201cWe have all received of His fulness,\u201d[960] that\nis, of Christ\u2019s. So that the prophets are not thieves. \u201cAnd my doctrine\nis not mine,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cbut the Father\u2019s which sent me.\u201d And of\nthose who steal He says: \u201cBut he that speaketh of himself, seeketh his\nown glory.\u201d[961] Such are the Greeks, \u201clovers of their own selves, and\nboasters.\u201d[962] Scripture, when it speaks of these as wise, does not\nbrand those who are really wise, but those who are wise in appearance.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n HE ILLUSTRATES THE APOSTLE\u2019S SAYING, \u201cI WILL DESTROY\n THE WISDOM OF THE WISE.\u201d\n\n\nAnd of such it is said, \u201cI will destroy the wisdom of the wise: I\nwill bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.\u201d The apostle\naccordingly adds, \u201cWhere is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the\ndisputer of this world?\u201d setting in contradistinction to the scribes,\nthe disputers[963] of this world, the philosophers of the Gentiles.\n\u201cHath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?\u201d[964] which is\nequivalent to, showed it to be foolish, and not true, as they thought.\nAnd if you ask the cause of their seeming wisdom, he will say, \u201cbecause\nof the blindness of their heart;\u201d since \u201cin the wisdom of God,\u201d that\nis, as proclaimed by the prophets, \u201cthe world knew not,\u201d in the wisdom\n\u201cwhich spake by the prophets,\u201d \u201cHim,\u201d[965] that is, God,--\u201cit pleased\nGod by the foolishness of preaching\u201d--what seemed to the Greeks\nfoolishness--\u201cto save them that believe. For the Jews require signs,\u201d\nin order to faith; \u201cand the Greeks seek after wisdom,\u201d plainly those\nreasonings styled \u201cirresistible,\u201d and those others, namely, syllogisms.\n\u201cBut we preach Jesus Christ crucified; to the Jews a stumbling-block,\u201d\nbecause, though knowing prophecy, they did not believe the event: \u201cto\nthe Greeks, foolishness;\u201d for those who in their own estimation are\nwise, consider it fabulous that the Son of God should speak by man and\nthat God should have a Son, and especially that that Son should have\nsuffered. Whence their preconceived idea inclines them to disbelieve.\nFor the advent of the Saviour did not make people foolish, and hard\nof heart, and unbelieving, but made them understanding, amenable\nto persuasion, and believing. But those that would not believe, by\nseparating themselves from the voluntary adherence of those who obeyed,\nwere proved to be without understanding, unbelievers and fools. \u201cBut to\nthem who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God,\nand the wisdom of God.\u201d Should we not understand (as is better) the\nwords rendered, \u201cHath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?\u201d\nnegatively: \u201cGod hath not made foolish the wisdom of the world?\u201d--so\nthat the cause of their hardness of heart may not appear to have\nproceeded from God, \u201cmaking foolish the wisdom of the world.\u201d For on\nall accounts, being wise, they incur greater blame in not believing the\nproclamation. For the preference and choice of truth is voluntary. But\nthat declaration, \u201cI will destroy the wisdom of the wise,\u201d declares Him\nto have sent forth light, by bringing forth in opposition the despised\nand contemned barbarian philosophy; as the lamp, when shone upon by the\nsun, is said to be extinguished, on account of its not then exerting\nthe same power. All having been therefore called, those who are willing\nto obey have been named \u201ccalled.\u201d For there is no unrighteousness\nwith God. Those of either race who have believed, are \u201ca peculiar\npeople.\u201d[966] And in the Acts of the Apostles you will find this,\nword for word, \u201cThose then who received his word were baptized;\u201d[967]\nbut those who would not obey kept themselves aloof. To these prophecy\nsays, \u201cIf ye be willing and hear me, ye shall eat the good things of\nthe land;\u201d[968] proving that choice or refusal depends on ourselves.\nThe apostle designates the doctrine which is according to the Lord,\n\u201cthe wisdom of God,\u201d in order to show that the true philosophy has\nbeen communicated by the Son. Further, he, who has a show of wisdom,\nhas certain exhortations enjoined on him by the apostle: \u201cThat ye put\non the new man, which after God is renewed in righteousness and true\nholiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth. Neither\ngive place to the devil. Let him that stole, steal no more; but rather\nlet him labour, working that which is good\u201d (and to work is to labour\nin seeking the truth; for it is accompanied with rational well-doing),\n\u201cthat ye may have to give to him that has need,\u201d[969] both of worldly\nwealth and of divine wisdom. For he wishes both that the word be\ntaught, and that the money be put into the bank, accurately tested,\nto accumulate interest. Whence he adds, \u201cLet no corrupt communication\nproceed out of your mouth,\u201d--that is \u201ccorrupt communication\u201d which\nproceeds out of conceit,--\u201cbut that which is good for the use of\nedifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers.\u201d And the word of\nthe good God must needs be good. And how is it possible that he who\nsaves shall not be good?\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n\n THAT THE PHILOSOPHERS HAVE ATTAINED TO SOME PORTION OF TRUTH.\n\n\nSince, then, the Greeks are testified to have laid down some true\nopinions, we may from this point take a glance at the testimonies.\nPaul, in the Acts of the Apostles, is recorded to have said to the\nAreopagites, \u201cI perceive that ye are more than ordinarily religious.\nFor as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with\nthe inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly\nworship, Him declare I unto you. God, that made the world and all\nthings therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth\nnot in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men\u2019s\nhands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life, and\nbreath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men\nto dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times\nbefore appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should\nseek God, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him; though He\nbe not far from every one of us: for in Him we live, and move, and\nhave our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we\nalso are His offspring.\u201d[970] Whence it is evident that the apostle,\nby availing himself of poetical examples from the _Phenomena_\nof Aratus, approves of what had been well spoken by the Greeks; and\nintimates that, by the unknown God, God the Creator was in a roundabout\nway worshipped by the Greeks; but that it was necessary by positive\nknowledge to apprehend and learn Him by the Son. \u201cWherefore, then, I\nsend thee to the Gentiles,\u201d it is said, \u201cto open their eyes, and to\nturn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God;\nthat they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them\nthat are sanctified by faith which is in me.\u201d[971] Such, then, are\nthe eyes of the blind which are opened. The knowledge of the Father\nby the Son is the comprehension of the \u201cGreek circumlocution;\u201d[972]\nand to turn from the power of Satan is to change from sin, through\nwhich bondage was produced. We do not, indeed, receive absolutely all\nphilosophy, but that of which Socrates speaks in Plato. \u201cFor there\nare (as they say) in the mysteries many bearers of the thyrsus, but\nfew bacchanals;\u201d meaning, \u201cthat many are called, but few chosen.\u201d He\naccordingly plainly adds: \u201cThese, in my opinion, are none else than\nthose who have philosophized right; to belong to whose number, I\nmyself have left nothing undone in life, as far as I could, but have\nendeavoured in every way. Whether we have endeavoured rightly and\nachieved aught, we shall know when we have gone there, if God will, a\nlittle afterwards.\u201d Does he not then seem to declare from the Hebrew\nScriptures the righteous man\u2019s hope, through faith, after death? And\nin _Demodocus_[973] (if that is really the work of Plato): \u201cAnd\ndo not imagine that I call it philosophizing to spend life pottering\nabout the arts, or learning many things, but something different; since\nI, at least, would consider this a disgrace.\u201d For he knew, I reckon,\n\u201cthat the knowledge of many things does not educate the mind,\u201d[974]\naccording to Heraclitus. And in the fifth book of the _Republic_,\nhe says, \u201c\u2018Shall we then call all these, and the others which study\nsuch things, and those who apply themselves to the meaner arts,\nphilosophers?\u2019 \u2018By no means,\u2019 I said, \u2018but like philosophers.\u2019 \u2018And\nwhom,\u2019 said he, \u2018do you call true?\u2019 \u2018Those,\u2019 said I, \u2018who delight in\nthe contemplation of truth. For philosophy is not in geometry, with\nits postulates and hypotheses; nor in music, which is conjectural; nor\nin astronomy, crammed full of physical, fluid, and probable causes.\nBut the knowledge of the good and truth itself are requisite,--what\nis good being one thing, and the ways to the good another.\u2019\u201d[975]\nSo that he does not allow that the curriculum of training suffices\nfor the good, but co-operates in rousing and training the soul to\nintellectual objects. Whether, then, they say that the Greeks gave\nforth some utterances of the true philosophy by accident, it is the\naccident of a divine administration (for no one will, for the sake of\nthe present argument with us, deify chance); or by good fortune, good\nfortune is not unforeseen. Or were one, on the other hand, to say that\nthe Greeks possessed a natural conception of these things, we know the\none Creator of nature; just as we also call righteousness natural; or\nthat they had a common intellect, let us reflect who is its father,\nand what righteousness is in the mental economy. For were one to name\n\u201cprediction,\u201d[976] and assign as its cause \u201ccombined utterance,\u201d[977]\nhe specifies forms of prophecy. Further, others will have it that some\ntruths were uttered by the philosophers, in appearance.\n\nThe divine apostle writes accordingly respecting us: \u201cFor now we see\nas through a glass;\u201d[978] knowing ourselves in it by reflection,\nand simultaneously contemplating, as we can, the efficient cause,\nfrom that, which, in us, is divine. For it is said, \u201cHaving seen thy\nbrother, thou hast seen thy God:\u201d methinks that now the Saviour God\nis declared to us. But after the laying aside of the flesh, \u201cface to\nface,\u201d--then definitely and comprehensively, when the heart becomes\npure. And by reflection and direct vision, those among the Greeks who\nhave philosophized accurately, see God. For such, through our weakness,\nare our true views, as images are seen in the water, and as we see\nthings through pellucid and transparent bodies. Excellently therefore\nSolomon says: \u201cHe who soweth righteousness, worketh faith.\u201d[979] \u201cAnd\nthere are those who, sowing their own, make increase.\u201d[980] And again:\n\u201cTake care of the verdure on the plain, and thou shalt cut grass and\ngather ripe hay, that thou mayest have sheep for clothing.\u201d[981] You\nsee how care must be taken for external clothing and for keeping. \u201cAnd\nthou shalt intelligently know the souls of thy flock.\u201d[982] \u201cFor when\nthe Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained\nin the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves;\nuncircumcision observing the precepts of the law,\u201d[983] according to\nthe apostle, both before the law and before the advent. As if making\ncomparison of those addicted to philosophy with those called heretics,\nthe Word most clearly says: \u201cBetter is a friend that is near, than a\nbrother that dwelleth afar off.\u201d[984] \u201cAnd he who relies on falsehoods,\nfeeds on the winds, and pursues winged birds.\u201d[985] I do not think\nthat philosophy directly declares the Word, although in many instances\nphilosophy attempts and persuasively teaches us probable arguments;\nbut it assails the sects. Accordingly it is added: \u201cFor he hath\nforsaken the ways of his own vineyard, and wandered in the tracks of\nhis own husbandry.\u201d Such are the sects which deserted the primitive\nchurch. Now he who has fallen into heresy passes through an arid\nwilderness, abandoning the only true God, destitute of God, seeking\nwaterless water, reaching an uninhabited and thirsty land, collecting\nsterility with his hands. And those destitute of prudence, that is,\nthose involved in heresies, \u201cI enjoin,\u201d remarks Wisdom, saying, \u201cTouch\nsweetly stolen bread and the sweet water of theft;\u201d[986] the Scripture\nmanifestly applying the terms bread and water to nothing else but to\nthose heresies, which employ bread and water in the oblation, not\naccording to the rule of the church. For there are those who celebrate\nthe Eucharist with mere water. \u201cBut begone, stay not in her place.\u201d It\nis the synagogue, not the church, that is called by the equivocal name,\nplace. Then He subjoins: \u201cFor so shalt thou pass through the water of\nanother;\u201d reckoning heretical baptism not proper and true water. \u201cAnd\nthou shalt pass over another\u2019s river,\u201d that rushes along and sweeps\ndown to the sea; into which he is cast who, having diverged from the\nstability which is according to truth, rushes back into the heathenish\nand tumultuous waves of life.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n\n IN WHAT RESPECT PHILOSOPHY CONTRIBUTES TO THE\n COMPREHENSION OF DIVINE TRUTH.\n\n\nAs many men drawing down the ship, cannot be called many causes, but\none cause consisting of many;--for each individual by himself is\nnot the cause of the ship being drawn, but along with the rest;--so\nalso philosophy, being the search for truth, contributes to the\ncomprehension of truth; not as being the cause of comprehension, but\na cause along with other things, and co-operator; perhaps also a\njoint cause. And as the several virtues are causes of the happiness\nof one individual; and as both the sun, and the fire, and the bath,\nand clothing are of one getting warm: so while truth is one, many\nthings contribute to its investigation. But its discovery is by the\nSon. If then we consider, virtue is, in power, one. But it is the\ncase, that when exhibited in some things, it is called prudence, in\nothers temperance, and in others manliness or righteousness. By the\nsame analogy, while truth is one, in geometry there is the truth\nof geometry; in music, that of music; and in the right philosophy,\nthere will be Hellenic truth. But that is the only authentic truth,\nunassailable, in which we are instructed by the Son of God. In the\nsame way we say, that the drachma being one and the same, when given\nto the shipmaster, is called the fare; to the tax-gatherer, tax; to\nthe landlord, rent; to the teacher, fees; to the seller, an earnest.\nAnd each, whether it be virtue or truth, called by the same name, is\nthe cause of its own peculiar effect alone; and from the blending of\nthem arises a happy life. For we are not made happy by names alone,\nwhen we say that a good life is happiness, and that the man who is\nadorned in his soul with virtue is happy. But if philosophy contributes\nremotely to the discovery of truth, by reaching, by diverse essays,\nafter the knowledge which touches close on the truth, the knowledge\npossessed by us, it aids him who aims at grasping it, in accordance\nwith the Word, to apprehend knowledge. But the Hellenic truth is\ndistinct from that held by us (although it has got the same name),\nboth in respect of extent of knowledge, certainty of demonstration,\ndivine power, and the like. For we are taught of God, being instructed\nin the truly \u201csacred letters\u201d[987] by the Son of God. Whence those, to\nwhom we refer, influence souls not in the way we do, but by different\nteaching. And if, for the sake of those who are fond of fault-finding,\nwe must draw a distinction, by saying that philosophy is a concurrent\nand co-operating cause of true apprehension, being the search for\ntruth, then we shall avow it to be a preparatory training for the\nenlightened man (\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6 \u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u1fe6); not assigning as the cause that which\nis but the joint-cause; nor as the upholding cause, what is merely\nco-operative; nor giving to philosophy the place of a _sine qu\u00e2\nnon_. Since almost all of us, without training in arts and sciences,\nand the Hellenic philosophy, and some even without learning at all,\nthrough the influence of a philosophy divine and barbarous, and by\npower, have through faith received the word concerning God, trained\nby self-operating wisdom. But that which acts in conjunction with\nsomething else, being of itself incapable of operating by itself, we\ndescribe as co-operating and concausing, and say that it becomes a\ncause only in virtue of its being a joint-cause, and receives the name\nof cause only in respect of its concurring with something else, but\nthat it cannot by itself produce the right effect.\n\nAlthough at one time philosophy justified the Greeks, not conducting\nthem to that entire righteousness to which it is ascertained to\nco-operate, as the first and second flight of steps help you in your\nascent to the upper room, and the grammarian helps the philosopher.\nNot as if by its abstraction, the perfect Word would be rendered\nincomplete, or truth perish; since also sight, and hearing, and the\nvoice contribute to truth, but it is the mind which is the appropriate\nfaculty for knowing it. But of those things which co-operate, some\ncontribute a greater amount of power; some, a less. Perspicuity\naccordingly aids in the communication of truth, and logic in preventing\nus from falling under the heresies by which we are assailed. But the\nteaching, which is according to the Saviour, is complete in itself\nand without defect, being \u201cthe power and wisdom of God;\u201d[988] and the\nHellenic philosophy does not, by its approach, make the truth more\npowerful; but rendering powerless the assault of sophistry against\nit, and frustrating the treacherous plots laid against the truth, is\nsaid to be the proper \u201cfence and wall of the vineyard.\u201d And the truth\nwhich is according to faith is as necessary for life as bread; while\nthe preparatory discipline is like sauce and sweetmeats. \u201cAt the end\nof the dinner, the dessert is pleasant,\u201d according to the Theban\nPindar. And the Scripture has expressly said, \u201cThe innocent will become\nwiser by understanding, and the wise will receive knowledge.\u201d[989]\n\u201cAnd he that speaketh of himself,\u201d saith the Lord, \u201cseeketh his own\nglory; but He that seeketh His glory that sent Him is true, and there\nis no unrighteousness in Him.\u201d[990] On the other hand, therefore, he\nwho appropriates what belongs to the barbarians, and vaunts it as\nhis own, does wrong, increasing his own glory, and falsifying the\ntruth. It is such an one that is by Scripture called a \u201cthief.\u201d It is\ntherefore said, \u201cSon, be not a liar; for falsehood leads to theft.\u201d\nNevertheless the thief possesses really, what he has possessed himself\nof dishonestly, whether it be gold, or silver, or speech, or dogma.\nThe ideas, then, which they have stolen, and which are partially\ntrue, they know by conjecture and necessary logical deduction: on\nbecoming disciples, therefore, they will know them with intelligent\napprehension.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n\n THE JEWISH INSTITUTIONS AND LAWS OF FAR HIGHER\n ANTIQUITY THAN THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS.\n\n\nOn the plagiarizing of the dogmas of the philosophers from the Hebrews,\nwe shall treat a little afterwards. But first, as due order demands,\nwe must now speak of the epoch of Moses, by which the philosophy of\nthe Hebrews will be demonstrated beyond all contradiction to be the\nmost ancient of all wisdom. This has been discussed with accuracy by\nTatian in his book _To the Greeks_, and by Casian in the first book\nof his _Exegetics_. Nevertheless our commentary demands that we too\nshould run over what has been said on the point. Apion, then, the\ngrammarian, surnamed Pleistonices, in the fourth book of _The Egyptian\nHistories_, although of so hostile a disposition towards the Hebrews,\nbeing by race an Egyptian, as to compose a work against the Jews, when\nreferring to Amosis king of the Egyptians, and his exploits, adduces,\nas a witness, Ptolemy of Mendes. And his remarks are to the following\neffect: Amosis, who lived in the time of the Argive Inachus, overthrew\nAthyria, as Ptolemy of Mendes relates in his _Chronology_. Now this\nPtolemy was a priest; and setting forth the deeds of the Egyptian kings\nin three entire books, he says, that the exodus of the Jews from Egypt,\nunder the conduct of Moses, took place while Amosis was king of Egypt.\nWhence it is seen that Moses flourished in the time of Inachus. And\nof the Hellenic states, the most ancient is the Argolic, I mean that\nwhich took its rise from Inachus, as Dionysius of Halicarnassus teaches\nin his _Times_. And younger by forty generations than it was Attica,\nfounded by Cecrops, who was an aboriginal of double race, as Tatian\nexpressly says; and Arcadia, founded by Pelasgus, younger too by nine\ngenerations; and he, too, is said to have been an aboriginal. And more\nrecent than this last by fifty-two generations, was Pthiotis, founded\nby Deucalion. And from the time of Inachus to the Trojan war twenty\ngenerations or more are reckoned; let us say, four hundred years and\nmore. And if Ctesias says that the Assyrian power is many years older\nthan the Greek, the exodus of Moses from Egypt will appear to have\ntaken place in the forty-second year of the Assyrian empire,[991] in\nthe thirty-second year of the reign of Belochus, in the time of Amosis\nthe Egyptian, and of Inachus the Argive. And in Greece, in the time of\nPhoroneus, who succeeded Inachus, the flood of Ogyges occurred; and\nmonarchy subsisted in Sicyon first in the person of \u00c6gialeus, then of\nEurops, then of Telches; in Crete, in the person of Cres. For Acusilaus\nsays that Phoroneus was the first man. Whence, too, the author of\n_Phoronis_ said that he was \u201cthe father of mortal men.\u201d Thence Plato\nin the _Tim\u00e6us_, following Acusilaus, writes: \u201cAnd wishing to draw\nthem out into a discussion respecting antiquities, he[992] said that\nhe ventured to speak of the most remote antiquities of this city[993]\nrespecting Phoroneus, called the first man, and Niobe, and what\nhappened after the deluge.\u201d And in the time of Phorbus lived Act\u00e6us,\nfrom whom is derived Actaia, Attica; and in the time of Triopas lived\nPrometheus, and Atlas, and Epimetheus, and Cecrops of double race, and\nIno. And in the time of Crotopus occurred the burning of Phaethon, and\nthe deluge[994] of Deucalion; and in the time of Sthenelus, the reign\nof Amphictyon, and the arrival of Danaus in the Peloponnesus; and under\nDardanus happened the building of Dardania, whom, says Homer,\n\n \u201cFirst cloud-compelling Zeus begat,\u201d--\n\nand the transmigration from Crete into Ph\u0153nicia. And in the time of\nLynceus took place the abduction of Proserpine, and the dedication of\nthe sacred enclosure in Eleusis, and the husbandry of Triptolemus,\nand the arrival of Cadmus in Thebes, and the reign of Minos. And in\nthe time of Pr\u0153tus the war of Eumolpus with the Athenians took place;\nand in the time of Acrisius, the removal of Pelops from Phrygia, the\narrival of Ion at Athens; and the second Cecrops appeared, and the\nexploits of Perseus and Dionysus took place, and Orpheus and Mus\u00e6us\nlived. And in the eighteenth year of the reign of Agamemnon, Troy was\ntaken, in the first year of the reign of Demophon the son of Theseus at\nAthens, on the twelfth day of the month Thargelion, as Dionysius the\nArgive says; but \u00c6gias and Dercylus, in the third book, say that it was\non the eighth day of the last division of the month Panemus; Hellanicus\nsays that it was on the twelfth of the month Thargelion; and some of\nthe authors of the _Attica_ say that it was on the eighth of the last\ndivision of the month in the last year of Menestheus, at full moon.\n\n \u201cIt was midnight,\u201d\n\nsays the author of the _Little Iliad_,\n\n \u201cAnd the moon shone clear.\u201d\n\nOthers say, it took place on the same day of Scirophorion. But Theseus,\nthe rival of Hercules, is older by a generation than the Trojan war.\nAccordingly Tlepolemus, a son of Hercules, is mentioned by Homer, as\nhaving served at Troy.\n\nMoses, then, is shown to have preceded the deification of Dionysus six\nhundred and four years, if he was deified in the thirty-second year of\nthe reign of Perseus, as Apollodorus says in his _Chronology_.\nFrom Bacchus to Hercules and the chiefs that sailed with Jason in\nthe ship Argo, are comprised sixty-three years. \u00c6sculapius and the\nDioscuri sailed with them, as Apollonius Rhodius testifies in his\n_Argonautics_. And from the reign of Hercules, in Argos, to the\ndeification of Hercules and of \u00c6sculapius, are comprised thirty-eight\nyears, according to Apollodorus the chronologist; from this to the\ndeification of Castor and Pollux, fifty-three years. And at this time\nTroy was taken. And if we may believe the poet Hesiod, let us hear him:\n\n \u201cThen to Jove, Maia, Atlas\u2019 daughter, bore renowned Hermes,\n Herald of the immortals, having ascended the sacred couch.\n And Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, too, bore an illustrious son,\n Dionysus, the joy-inspiring, when she mingled with him in love.\u201d\n\nCadmus, the father of Semele, came to Thebes in the time of Lynceus,\nand was the inventor of the Greek letters. Triopas was a contemporary\nof Isis, in the seventh generation from Inachus. And Isis, who is the\nsame as Io, is so called, it is said, from her going (\u1f30\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9) roaming\nover the whole earth. Her, Istrus, in his work on the migration of the\nEgyptians, calls the daughter of Prometheus. Prometheus lived in the\ntime of Triopas, in the seventh generation after Moses. So that Moses\nappears to have flourished even before the birth of men, according\nto the chronology of the Greeks. Leon, who treated of the Egyptian\ndivinities, says that Isis by the Greeks was called Ceres, who lived\nin the time of Lynceus, in the eleventh generation after Moses. And\nApis the king of Argos built Memphis, as Aristippus says in the first\nbook of the _Arcadica_. And Aristeas the Argive says that he was named\nSerapis, and that it is he that the Egyptians worship. And Nymphodorus\nof Amphipolis, in the third book of the _Institutions of Asia_, says\nthat the bull Apis, dead and laid in a coffin (\u03c3\u03bf\u03c1\u03cc\u03c2), was deposited\nin the temple of the god (\u03b4\u03b1\u03af\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2) there worshipped, and thence was\ncalled Soroapis, and afterwards Serapis by the custom of the natives.\nAnd Apis is third after Inachus. Further, Latona lived in the time\nof Tityus. \u201cFor he dragged Latona, the radiant consort of Zeus.\u201d Now\nTityus was contemporary with Tantalus. Rightly, therefore, the B\u0153otian\nPindar writes, \u201cAnd in time was Apollo born;\u201d and no wonder when he is\nfound along with Hercules, serving Admetus \u201cfor a long year.\u201d Zethus\nand Amphion, the inventors of music, lived about the age of Cadmus.\nAnd should one assert that Phemonoe was the first who sang oracles in\nverse to Acrisius, let him know that twenty-seven years after Phemonoe,\nlived Orpheus, and Mus\u00e6us, and Linus the teacher of Hercules. And\nHomer and Hesiod are much more recent than the Trojan war; and after\nthem the legislators among the Greeks are far more recent, Lycurgus and\nSolon, and the seven wise men, and Pherecydes of Syros, and Pythagoras\nthe great, who lived later, about the Olympiads, as we have shown. We\nhave also demonstrated Moses to be more ancient, not only than those\ncalled poets and wise men among the Greeks, but than the most of their\ndeities. Nor he alone, but the Sibyl also is more ancient than Orpheus.\nFor it is said, that respecting her appellation and her oracular\nutterances there are several accounts; that being a Phrygian, she was\ncalled Artemis; and that on her arrival at Delphi, she sang--\n\n \u201cO Delphians, ministers of far-darting Apollo,\n I come to declare the mind of \u00c6gis-bearing Zeus,\n Enraged as I am at my own brother Apollo.\u201d\n\nThere is another also, an Erythr\u00e6an, called Herophile. These are\nmentioned by Heraclides of Pontus in his work _On Oracles_. I pass\nover the Egyptian Sibyl, and the Italian, who inhabited the Carmentale\nin Rome, whose son was Evander, who built the temple of Pan in Rome,\ncalled the Lupercal.\n\nIt is worth our while, having reached this point, to examine the dates\nof the other prophets among the Hebrews who succeeded Moses. After\nthe close of Moses\u2019 life, Joshua succeeded to the leadership of the\npeople, and he, after warring for sixty-five years, rested in the good\nland other five-and-twenty. As the book of Joshua relates, the above\nmentioned man was the successor of Moses twenty-seven years. Then\nthe Hebrews having sinned, were delivered to Chusachar[995] king of\nMesopotamia for eight years, as the book of Judges mentions. But having\nafterwards besought the Lord, they receive for leader Gothoniel,[996]\nthe younger brother of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, who, having\nslain the king of Mesopotamia, ruled over the people forty years in\nsuccession. And having again sinned, they were delivered into the\nhands of \u00c6glom[997] king of the Moabites for eighteen years. But on\ntheir repentance, Aod,[998] a man who had equal use of both hands,\nof the tribe of Ephraim, was their leader for eighty years. It was\nhe that despatched \u00c6glom. On the death of Aod, and on their sinning\nagain, they were delivered into the hand of Jabim[999] king of Canaan\ntwenty years. After him Deborah the wife of Lapidoth, of the tribe of\nEphraim, prophesied; and Ozias the son of Rhiesu was high priest. At\nher instance Barak the son of Bener,[1000] of the tribe of Naphtali,\ncommanding the army, having joined battle with Sisera, Jabim\u2019s\ncommander-in-chief, conquered him. And after that Deborah ruled,\njudging the people forty years. On her death, the people having again\nsinned, were delivered into the hands of the Midianites seven years.\nAfter these events, Gideon, of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joas,\nhaving fought with his three hundred men, and killed a hundred and\ntwenty thousand, ruled forty years; after whom the son of Ahimelech,\nthree years. He was succeeded by Boleas, the son of Bedan, the son\nof Charran,[1001] of the tribe of Ephraim, who ruled twenty-three\nyears. After whom, the people having sinned again, were delivered to\nthe Ammonites eighteen years; and on their repentance were commanded\nby Jephtha the Gileadite, of the tribe of Manasseh; and he ruled six\nyears. After whom, Abatthan[1002] of Bethlehem, of the tribe of Juda,\nruled seven years. Then Ebron[1003] the Zebulonite, eight years. Then\nEglom of Ephraim, eight years. Some add to the seven years of Abatthan\nthe eight of Ebrom.[1004] And after him, the people having again\ntransgressed, came under the power of the foreigners, the Philistines,\nfor forty years. But on their returning [to God], they were led by\nSamson, of the tribe of Dan, who conquered the foreigners in battle.\nHe ruled twenty years. And after him, there being no governor, Eli the\npriest judged the people for forty years. He was succeeded by Samuel\nthe prophet; contemporaneously with whom Saul reigned, who held sway\nfor twenty-seven years. He anointed David. Samuel died two years before\nSaul, while Abimelech was high priest. He anointed Saul as king, who\nwas the first that bore regal sway over Israel after the judges; the\nwhole duration of whom, down to Saul, was four hundred and sixty-three\nyears and seven months.\n\nThen in the first book of Kings there are twenty years of Saul, during\nwhich he reigned after he was renovated. And after the death of Saul,\nDavid the son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, reigned next in Hebron,\nforty years, as is contained in the second book of Kings. And Abiathar\nthe son of Abimelech, of the kindred of Eli, was high priest. In his\ntime Gad and Nathan prophesied. From Joshua the son of Nun, then, till\nDavid received the kingdom, there intervene, according to some, four\nhundred and fifty years. But, as the chronology set forth shows, five\nhundred and twenty-three years and seven months are comprehended till\nthe death of David.\n\nAnd after this Solomon the son of David reigned forty years. Under him\nNathan continued to prophesy, who also exhorted him respecting the\nbuilding of the temple. Achias of Shilo also prophesied. And both the\nkings, David and Solomon, were prophets. And Sadoc the high priest was\nthe first who ministered in the temple which Solomon built, being the\neighth from Aaron, the first high priest. From Moses, then, to the age\nof Solomon, as some say, are five hundred and ninety-five years, and as\nothers, five hundred and seventy-six.\n\nAnd if you count, along with the four hundred and fifty years from\nJoshua to David, the forty years of the rule of Moses, and the other\neighty years of Moses\u2019 life previous to the exodus of the Hebrews from\nEgypt, you will make up the sum in all of six hundred and ten years.\nBut our chronology will run more correctly, if to the five hundred and\ntwenty-three years and seven months till the death of David, you add\nthe hundred and twenty years of Moses and the forty years of Solomon.\nFor you will make up in all, down to the death of Solomon, six hundred\nand eighty-three years and seven months.\n\nHiram gave his daughter to Solomon about the time of the arrival of\nMenelaus in Phenicia, after the capture of Troy, as is said by Menander\nof Pergamus, and L\u00e6tus in _The Phenicia_. And after Solomon,\nRoboam his son reigned for seventeen years; and Abimelech the son\nof Sadoc was high priest. In his reign, the kingdom being divided,\nJeroboam, of the tribe of Ephraim, the servant of Solomon, reigned in\nSamaria; and Achias the Shilonite continued to prophesy; also Sam\u00e6as\nthe son of Amame, and he who came from Judah to Jeroboam,[1005] and\nprophesied against the altar. After him his son Abijam, twenty-three\nyears; and likewise his son Asaman.[1006] The last, in his old age,\nwas diseased in his feet; and in his reign prophesied Jehu the son of\nAnanias.\n\nAfter him Jehosaphat his son reigned twenty-five years.[1007] In his\nreign prophesied Elias the Thesbite, and Mich\u00e6as the son of Jebla, and\nAbdias the son of Ananias. And in the time of Mich\u00e6as there was also\nthe false prophet Zedekias, the son of Chonaan. These were followed by\nthe reign of Joram the son of Jehosaphat, for eight years; during whose\ntime prophesied Elias; and after Elias, Elis\u00e6us the son of Saphat. In\nhis reign the people in Samaria ate doves\u2019 dung and their own children.\nThe period of Jehosaphat extends from the close of the third book of\nKings to the fourth. And in the reign of Joram, Elias was translated,\nand Elis\u00e6us the son of Saphat commenced prophesying, and prophesied for\nsix years, being forty years old.\n\nThen Ochozias reigned a year. In his time Elis\u00e6us continued to\nprophesy, and along with him Adadon\u00e6us.[1008] After him the mother\nof Ozias,[1009] Gotholia,[1010] reigned eight[1011] years, having\nslain the children of her brother.[1012] For she was of the family of\nAhab. But the sister of Ozias, Josab\u00e6a, stole Joas the son of Ozias,\nand invested him afterwards with the kingdom. And in the time of this\nGotholia, Elis\u00e6us was still prophesying. And after her reigned, as\nI said before, Joash, rescued by Josab\u00e6a the wife of Jod\u00e6 the high\npriest, and lived in all forty years.\n\nThere are comprised, then, from Solomon to the death of Elis\u00e6us the\nprophet, as some say, one hundred and five years; according to others,\none hundred and two; and, as the chronology before us shows, from the\nreign of Solomon an hundred and eighty-one.\n\nNow from the Trojan war to the birth of Homer, according to\nPhilochorus, a hundred and eighty years elapsed; and he was posterior\nto the Ionic migration. But Aristarchus, in the _Archilochian Memoirs_,\nsays that he lived during the Ionic migration, which took place a\nhundred and twenty years after the siege of Troy. But Apollodorus\nalleges it was an hundred and twenty years after the Ionic migration,\nwhile Agesilaus son of Doryss\u00e6us was king of the Laced\u00e6monians: so\nthat he brings Lycurgus the legislator, while still a young man,\nnear him. Euthymenes, in the _Chronicles_, says that he flourished\ncontemporaneously with Hesiod, in the time of Acastus, and was born\nin Chios, about the four hundredth year after the capture of Troy.\nAnd Archimachus, in the third book of his _Eub\u0153an History_, is of\nthis opinion. So that both he and Hesiod were later than Elis\u00e6us the\nprophet. And if you choose to follow the grammarian Crates, and say\nthat Homer was born about the time of the expedition of the Heraclid\u00e6,\neighty years after the taking of Troy, he will be found to be later\nagain than Solomon, in whose days occurred the arrival of Menelaus in\nPhenicia, as was said above. Eratosthenes says that Homer\u2019s age was two\nhundred years after the capture of Troy. Further, Theopompus, in the\nforty-third book of the _Philippics_, relates that Homer was born five\nhundred years after the war at Troy. And Euphorion, in his book about\nthe _Aleuades_, maintains that he was born in the time of Gyges, who\nbegan to reign in the eighteenth Olympiad, who, also he says, was the\nfirst that was called tyrant (\u03c4\u03cd\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2). Sosibius Lacon, again, in his\n_Record of Dates_, brings Homer down to the eighth year of the reign\nof Charillus the son of Polydectus. Charillus reigned for sixty-four\nyears, after whom the son of Nicander reigned thirty-nine years. In his\nthirty-fourth year it is said that the first Olympiad was instituted;\nso that Homer was ninety years before the introduction of the Olympic\ngames.\n\nAfter Joas, Amasias his son reigned as his successor thirty-nine years.\nHe in like manner was succeeded by his son Ozias, who reigned for\nfifty-two years, and died a leper. And in his time prophesied Amos, and\nIsaiah his son,[1013] and Hosea the son of Beeri, and Jonas the son\nof Amathi, who was of Geth-chober, who preached to the Ninevites, and\npassed through the whale\u2019s belly.\n\nThen Jonathan the son of Ozias reigned for sixteen years. In his time\nEsaias still prophesied, and Hosea, and Mich\u00e6as the Morasthite, and\nJoel the son of Bethuel.\n\nNext in succession was his son Ahaz, who reigned for sixteen years. In\nhis time, in the fifteenth year, Israel was carried away to Babylon.\nAnd Salmanasar the king of the Assyrians carried away the people of\nSamaria into the country of the Medes and to Babylon.\n\nAgain Ahaz was succeeded by Osee,[1014] who reigned for eight years.\nThen followed Hezekiah, for twenty-nine years. For his sanctity, when\nhe had approached his end, God, by Isaiah, allowed him to live for\nother fifteen years, giving as a sign the going back of the sun. Up to\nhis times Esaias, Hosea, and Micah continued prophesying.\n\nAnd these are said to have lived after the age of Lycurgus, the\nlegislator of the Laced\u00e6monians. For Dieuchidas, in the fourth book of\nthe _Megarics_, places the era of Lycurgus about the two hundred\nand ninetieth year after the capture of Troy.\n\nAnd Esaias is still seen prophesying in the two hundredth year after\nthe reign of Solomon, in whose time Menelaus was proved to have come to\nPhenicia; and along with Esaias, Michaiah, and Hosea, and Joel the son\nof Bethuel.\n\nAfter Hezekiah, his son Manasses reigned for fifty-five years. Then his\nson Amos for two years. After him reigned his son Josias, distinguished\nfor his observance of the law, for thirty-one years. He \u201claid the\ncarcases of men upon the carcases of the idols,\u201d as is written in the\nbook of Leviticus.[1015] In his reign, in the eighteenth year, the\npassover was celebrated, not having been kept from the days of Samuel\nin the intervening period.[1016] Then Chelkias the priest, the father\nof the prophet Jeremiah, having fallen in with the book of the law,\nthat had been laid up in the temple, read it and died.[1017] And in\nhis days Olda[1018] prophesied, and Sophonias,[1019] and Jeremiah. And\nin the days of Jeremiah was Ananias the son of Azor,[1020] the false\nprophet. He[1021] having disobeyed Jeremiah the prophet, was slain by\nPharaoh Necho king of Egypt at the river Euphrates, having encountered\nthe latter, who was marching on the Assyrians.\n\nJosiah was succeeded by Jechoniah, called also Joachas,[1022] his son,\nwho reigned three months and ten days. Necho king of Egypt bound him\nand led him to Egypt, after making his brother Joachim king in his\nstead, who continued his tributary for eleven years. After him his\nnamesake[1023] Joakim reigned for three months. Then Zedekiah reigned\nfor eleven years; and up to his time Jeremiah continued to prophesy.\nAlong with him Ezekiel[1024] the son of Buzi, and Urias[1025] the son\nof Sam\u00e6us, and Ambacum[1026] prophesied. Here end the Hebrew kings.\n\nThere are then from the birth of Moses till this captivity nine hundred\nand seventy-two years; but according to strict chronological accuracy,\none thousand and eighty-five, six months, ten days. From the reign of\nDavid to the captivity by the Chaldeans, four hundred and fifty-two\nyears and six months; but as the accuracy we have observed in reference\nto dates makes out, four hundred and eighty-two and six months ten days.\n\nAnd in the twelfth year of the reign of Zedekiah, forty years before\nthe supremacy of the Persians, Nebuchodonosor made war against\nthe Ph\u0153nicians and the Jews, as Berosus asserts in his _Chald\u00e6an\nHistories_. And Joabas,[1027] writing about the Assyrians, acknowledges\nthat he had received the history from Berosus, and testifies to his\naccuracy. Nebuchodonosor, therefore, having put out the eyes of\nZedekiah, took him away to Babylon, and transported the whole people\n(the captivity lasted seventy years), with the exception of a few who\nfled to Egypt.\n\nJeremiah and Ambacum were still prophesying in the time of Zedekiah. In\nthe fifth year of his reign Ezekiel prophesied at Babylon; after him\nNahum, then Daniel. After him, again, Haggai and Zechariah prophesied\nin the time of Darius the First for two years; and then the angel\namong the twelve.[1028] After Haggai and Zechariah, Nehemiah, the\nchief cup-bearer of Artaxerxes, the son of Acheli the Israelite, built\nthe city of Jerusalem and restored the temple. During the captivity\nlived Esther and Mordecai, whose book is still extant, as also that of\nthe Maccabees. During this captivity Mishael, Ananias, and Azarias,\nrefusing to worship the image, and being thrown into a furnace of fire,\nwere saved by the appearance of an angel. At that time, on account of\nthe serpent,[1029] Daniel was thrown into the den of lions; but being\npreserved through the providence of God by Ambacub, he is restored on\nthe seventh day. At this period, too, occurred the sign of Jona; and\nTobias, through the assistance of the angel Raphael, married Sarah, the\ndemon having killed her seven first suitors; and after the marriage of\nTobias, his father Tobit recovered his sight. At that time Zorobabel,\nhaving by his wisdom overcome his opponents, and obtained leave from\nDarius for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, returned with Esdras to his\nnative land; and by him the redemption of the people and the revisal\nand restoration of the inspired oracles were effected; and the passover\nof deliverance celebrated, and marriage with aliens dissolved.\n\nCyrus had, by proclamation, previously enjoined the restoration of the\nHebrews. And his promise being accomplished in the time of Darius, the\nfeast of the dedication was held, as also the feast of tabernacles.\n\nThere were in all, taking in the duration of the captivity down to the\nrestoration of the people, from the birth of Moses, one thousand one\nhundred and fifty-five years, six months, and ten days; and from the\nreign of David, according to some, four hundred and fifty-two; more\ncorrectly, five hundred and seventy-two years, six months, and ten days.\n\nFrom the captivity at Babylon, which took place in the time of Jeremiah\nthe prophet, was fulfilled what was spoken by Daniel the prophet as\nfollows: \u201cSeventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy\nholy city, to finish the transgression, and to seal sins, and to wipe\nout and make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting\nrighteousness, and to seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint\nthe Holy of Holies. Know therefore, and understand, that from the going\nforth of the word commanding an answer to be given, and Jerusalem to\nbe built, to Christ the Prince, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;\nand the street shall be again built, and the wall; and the times shall\nbe expended. And after the sixty-two weeks the anointing shall be\noverthrown, and judgment shall not be in him; and he shall destroy the\ncity and the sanctuary along with the coming Prince. And they shall be\ndestroyed in a flood, and to the end of the war shall be cut off by\ndesolations. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week;\nand in the middle of the week the sacrifice and oblation shall be taken\naway; and in the holy place shall be the abomination of desolations,\nand until the consummation of time shall the consummation be assigned\nfor desolation. And in the midst of the week shall he make the incense\nof sacrifice cease, and of the wing of destruction, even till the\nconsummation, like the destruction of the oblation.\u201d[1030] That the\ntemple accordingly was built in seven weeks, is evident; for it is\nwritten in Esdras. And thus Christ became King of the Jews, reigning in\nJerusalem in the fulfilment of the seven weeks. And in the sixty and\ntwo weeks the whole of Jud\u00e6a was quiet, and without wars. And Christ\nour Lord, \u201cthe Holy of Holies,\u201d having come and fulfilled the vision\nand the prophecy, was anointed in His flesh by the Holy Spirit of His\nFather. In those \u201csixty and two weeks,\u201d as the prophet said, and \u201cin\nthe one week,\u201d was He Lord. The half of the week Nero held sway, and\nin the holy city Jerusalem placed the abomination; and in the half\nof the week he was taken away, and Otho, and Galba, and Vitellius.\nAnd Vespasian rose to the supreme power, and destroyed Jerusalem, and\ndesolated the holy place. And that such are the facts of the case, is\nclear to him that is able to understand, as the prophet said.\n\nOn the completion, then, of the eleventh year, in the beginning of the\nfollowing, in the reign of Joachim, occurred the carrying away captive\nto Babylon by Nabuchodonosor the king, in the seventh year of his reign\nover the Assyrians, in the second year of the reign of Vaphres over the\nEgyptians, in the archonship of Philip at Athens, in the first year\nof the forty-eighth Olympiad. The captivity lasted for seventy years,\nand ended in the second year of Darius Hystaspes, who had become king\nof the Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians; in whose reign, as I said\nabove, Haggai and Zechariah and the angel of the twelve prophesied. And\nthe high priest was Joshua the son of Josedec. And in the second year\nof the reign of Darius, who, Herodotus says, destroyed the power of the\nMagi, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel was despatched to raise and adorn\nthe temple at Jerusalem.\n\nThe times of the Persians are accordingly summed up thus: Cyrus\nreigned thirty years; Cambyses, nineteen; Darius, forty-six; Xerxes,\ntwenty-six; Artaxerxes, forty-one; Darius, eight; Artaxerxes,\nforty-two; Ochus or Arses, three. The sum total of the years of the\nPersian monarchy is two hundred and thirty-five years.\n\nAlexander of Macedon, having despatched this Darius, during this\nperiod, began to reign. Similarly, therefore, the times of the\nMacedonian kings are thus computed: Alexander, eighteen years; Ptolemy\nthe son of Lagus, forty years; Ptolemy Philadelphus, twenty-seven\nyears; then Euergetes, five-and-twenty years; then Philopator,\nseventeen years; then Epiphanes, four-and-twenty years; he was\nsucceeded by Philometer, who reigned five-and-thirty years; after\nhim Physcon, twenty-nine years; then Lathurus, thirty-six years;\nthen he that was surnamed Dionysus, twenty-nine years; and last\nCleopatra reigned twenty-two years. And after her was the reign of the\nCappadocians for eighteen days.\n\nAccordingly the period embraced by the Macedonian kings is, in all,\nthree hundred and twelve years and eighteen days.\n\nTherefore those who prophesied in the time of Darius Hystaspes, about\nthe second year of his reign,--Haggai, and Zechariah, and the angel of\nthe twelve, who prophesied about the first year of the forty-eighth\nOlympiad,--are demonstrated to be older than Pythagoras, who is said to\nhave lived in the sixty-second Olympiad, and than Thales, the oldest\nof the wise men of the Greeks, who lived about the fiftieth Olympiad.\nThose wise men that are classed with Thales were then contemporaneous,\nas Andron says in the _Tripos_. For Heraclitus being posterior to\nPythagoras, mentions him in his book. Whence indisputably the first\nOlympiad, which was demonstrated to be four hundred and seven years\nlater than the Trojan war, is found to be prior to the age of the\nabove-mentioned prophets, together with those called the seven wise\nmen. Accordingly it is easy to perceive that Solomon, who lived in\nthe time of Menelaus (who was during the Trojan war), was earlier by\nmany years than the wise men among the Greeks. And how many years\nMoses preceded him we showed, in what we said above. And Alexander,\nsurnamed Polyhistor, in his work on the Jews, has transcribed some\nletters of Solomon to Vaphres king of Egypt, and to the king of the\nPhenicians at Tyre, and theirs to Solomon; in which it is shown that\nVaphres sent eighty thousand Egyptian men to him for the building of\nthe temple, and the other as many, along with a Tyrian artificer, the\nson of a Jewish mother, of the tribe of Dan,[1031] as is there written,\nof the name of Hyperon.[1032] Further, Onomacritus the Athenian, who\nis said to have been the author of the poems ascribed to Orpheus, is\nascertained to have lived in the reign of the Pisistratid\u00e6, about the\nfiftieth Olympiad. And Orpheus, who sailed with Hercules, was the pupil\nof Mus\u00e6us. Amphion precedes the Trojan war by two generations. And\nDemodocus and Phemius were posterior to the capture of Troy; for they\nwere famed for playing on the lyre, the former among the Ph\u00e6acians,\nand the latter among the suitors. And the _Oracles_ ascribed to Mus\u00e6us\nare said to be the production of Onomacritus, and the _Crateres_\nof Orpheus the production of Zopyrus of Heraclea, and _The Descent\nto Hades_ that of Prodicus of Samos. Ion of Chios relates in the\n_Triagmi_,[1033] that Pythagoras ascribed certain works [of his own]\nto Orpheus. Epigenes, in his book respecting _The Poetry attributed to\nOrpheus_, says that _The Descent to Hades_ and the _Sacred Discourse_\nwere the production of Cecrops the Pythagorean; and the _Peplus_ and\nthe _Physics_ of Brontinus. Some also make Terpander out ancient.\nHellanicus, accordingly, relates that he lived in the time of Midas:\nbut Phanias, who places Lesches the Lesbian before Terpander, makes\nTerpander younger than Archilochus, and relates that Lesches contended\nwith Arctinus, and gained the victory. Xanthus the Lydian says that\nhe lived about the eighteenth Olympiad; as also Dionysius says that\nThasus was built about the fifteenth Olympiad: so that it is clear\nthat Archilochus[1034] was already known after the twentieth Olympiad.\nHe accordingly relates the destruction of Magnetes as having recently\ntaken place. Simonides is assigned to the time of Archilochus. Callinus\nis not much older; for Archilochus refers to Magnetes as destroyed,\nwhile the latter refers to it as flourishing. Eumelus of Corinth being\nolder, is said to have met Archias, who founded Syracuse.\n\nWe were induced to mention these things, because the poets of the epic\ncycle are placed amongst those of most remote antiquity. Already, too,\namong the Greeks, many diviners are said to have made their appearance,\nas the Bacides, one a B\u0153otian, the other an Arcadian, who uttered many\npredictions to many. By the counsel of Amphiletus the Athenian,[1035]\nwho showed the time for the onset, Pisistratus, too, strengthened his\ngovernment. For we may pass over in silence Cometes of Crete, Cinyras\nof Cyprus, Admetus the Thessalian, Arist\u00e6as the Cyrenian, Amphiaraus\nthe Athenian, Timoxeus[1036] the Corcyr\u00e6an, Dem\u00e6netus the Phocian,\nEpigenes the Thespian, Nicias the Carystian, Aristo the Thessalian,\nDionysius the Carthaginian, Cleophon the Corinthian, Hippo the daughter\nof Chiro, and B\u0153o, and Manto, and the host of Sibyls, the Samian,\nthe Colophonian, the Cum\u00e6an, the Erythr\u00e6an, the Pythian,[1037] the\nTaraxandrian, the Macetian, the Thessalian, and the Thesprotian, And\nCalchas again, and Mopsus, who lived during the Trojan war. Mopsus,\nhowever, was older, having sailed along with the Argonauts. And\nit is said that Battus the Cyrenian composed what is called _the\nDivination_ of Mopsus. Dorotheus in the first _Pandect_ relates\nthat Mopsus was the disciple of Alcyon and Corone. And Pythagoras\nthe Great always applied his mind to prognostication, and Abaris\nthe Hyperborean, and Arist\u00e6as the Proconnesian, and Epimenides the\nCretan, who came to Sparta, and Zoroaster the Mede, and Empedocles of\nAgrigentum, and Phormion the Laced\u00e6monian; Polyaratus, too, of Thasus,\nand Empedotimus of Syracuse; and in addition to these, Socrates the\nAthenian in particular. \u201cFor,\u201d he says in the _Theages_, \u201cI am\nattended by a supernatural intimation, which has been assigned me\nfrom a child by divine appointment. This is a voice which, when it\ncomes, prevents what I am about to do, but exhorts never.\u201d[1038] And\nExecestus, the tyrant of the Phocians, wore two enchanted rings, and\nby the sound which they uttered one against the other determined the\nproper times for actions. But he died, nevertheless, treacherously\nmurdered, although warned beforehand by the sound, as Aristotle says in\nthe _Polity of the Phocians_.\n\nOf those, too, who at one time lived as men among the Egyptians,\nbut were constituted gods by human opinion, were Hermes the Theban,\nand Asclepius of Memphis; Tireseus and Manto, again, at Thebes, as\nEuripides says. Helenus, too, and Laocoon, and \u0152none, and Crenus in\nIlium. For Crenus, one of the Heraclid\u00e6, is said to have been a noted\nprophet. Another was Jamus in Elis, from whom came the Jamid\u00e6; and\nPolyidus at Argos and Megara, who is mentioned by the tragedy. Why\nenumerate Telemus, who, being a prophet of the Cyclops, predicted to\nPolyphemus the events of Ulysses\u2019 wandering; or Onomacritus at Athens;\nor Amphiaraus, who campaigned with the seven at Thebes, and is reported\nto be a generation older than the capture of Troy; or Theoclymenus in\nCephalonia, or Telmisus in Caria, or Galeus in Sicily?\n\nThere are others, too, besides these: Idmon, who was with the\nArgonauts, Phemonoe of Delphi, Mopsus the son of Apollo and Manto in\nPamphylia, and Amphilochus the son of Amphiaraus in Cilicia, Alcm\u00e6on\namong the Acarnanians, Anias in Delos, Aristander of Telmessus, who was\nalong with Alexander. Philochorus also relates in the first book of the\nwork, _On Divination_, that Orpheus was a seer. And Theopompus, and\nEphorus, and Tim\u00e6us, write of a seer called Orthagoras; as the Samian\nPythocles in the fourth book of _The Italics_ writes of Caius Julius\nNepos.\n\nBut some of these \u201cthieves and robbers,\u201d as the Scripture says,\npredicted for the most part from observation and probabilities, as\nphysicians and soothsayers judge from natural signs; and others were\nexcited by demons, or were disturbed by waters, and fumigations,\nand air of a peculiar kind. But among the Hebrews the prophets were\nmoved by the power and inspiration of God. Before the law, Adam spoke\nprophetically in respect to the woman, and the naming of the creatures;\nNoah preached repentance; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob gave many clear\nutterances respecting future and present things. Contemporaneous with\nthe law, Moses and Aaron; and after these prophesied Jesus the son\nof Nave, Samuel, Gad, Nathan, Achias, Sam\u00e6as, Jehu, Elias, Mich\u00e6as,\nAbdiu, Elis\u00e6us, Abbadonai, Amos, Esaias, Osee, Jonas, Joel, Jeremias,\nSophonias the son of Buzi, Ezekiel, Urias, Ambacum, Naum, Daniel,\nMisael, who wrote the syllogisms, Aggai, Zacharias, and the angel among\nthe twelve. These are, in all, five-and-thirty prophets. And of women\n(for these too prophesied), Sara, and Rebecca, and Mariam, and Debbora,\nand Olda.\n\nThen within the same period John prophesied till the baptism of\nsalvation; and after the birth of Christ, Anna and Simeon. For\nZacharias, John\u2019s father, is said in the Gospels to have prophesied\nbefore his son. Let us then draw up the chronology of the Greeks from\nMoses.\n\nFrom the birth of Moses to the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, eighty\nyears; and the period down to his death, another forty years. The\nexodus took place in the time of Inachus, before the wandering of\nSothis,[1039] Moses having gone forth from Egypt three hundred and\nforty-five years before. From the rule of Moses, and from Inachus\nto the flood of Deucalion, I mean the second inundation, and to the\nconflagration of Phaethon, which events happened in the time of\nCrotopus, forty generations are enumerated (three generations being\nreckoned for a century). From the flood to the conflagration of Ida,\nand the discovery of iron, and the Id\u00e6an Dactyls, are seventy-three\nyears, according to Thrasyllus; and from the conflagration of Ida to\nthe rape of Ganymede, sixty-five years. From this to the expedition\nof Perseus, when Glaucus established the Isthmian games in honour\nof Melicerta, fifteen years; and from the expedition of Perseus to\nthe building of Troy, thirty-four years. From this to the voyage of\nthe Argo, sixty-four years. From this to Theseus and the Minotaur,\nthirty-two years; then to the seven at Thebes, ten years. And to the\nOlympic contest, which Hercules instituted in honour of Pelops, three\nyears; and to the expedition of the Amazons against Athens, and the\nrape of Helen by Theseus, nine years. From this to the deification\nof Hercules, eleven years; then to the rape of Helen by Alexander,\nfour years. From the taking of Troy to the descent of \u00c6neas and the\nfounding of Lavinium, ten years; and to the government of Ascanius,\neight years; and to the descent of the Heraclid\u00e6, sixty-one years; and\nto the Olympiad of Iphitus, three hundred and thirty-eight years.\nEratosthenes thus sets down the dates: \u201cFrom the capture of Troy to\nthe descent of the Heraclid\u00e6, eighty years. From this to the founding\nof Ionia, sixty years; and the period following to the protectorate\nof Lycurgus, a hundred and fifty-nine years; and to the first year of\nthe first Olympiad, a hundred and eight years. From which Olympiad to\nthe invasion of Xerxes, two hundred and ninety-seven years; from which\nto the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, forty-eight years; and to\nits close, and the defeat of the Athenians, twenty-seven years; and to\nthe battle at Leuctra, thirty-four years; after which to the death of\nPhilip, thirty-five years. And after this to the decease of Alexander,\ntwelve years.\u201d\n\nAgain, from the first Olympiad, some say, to the building of Rome,\nare comprehended twenty-four years; and after this to the expulsion\nof the kings,[1040] when consuls were created, about two hundred and\nforty-three years. And from the taking of Babylon to the death of\nAlexander, a hundred and eighty-six years. From this to the victory of\nAugustus, when Antony killed himself at Alexandria, two hundred and\nninety-four years, when Augustus was made consul for the fourth time.\nAnd from this time to the games which Domitian instituted at Rome, are\na hundred and fourteen years; and from the first games to the death of\nCommodus, a hundred and eleven years.\n\nThere are some that from Cecrops to Alexander of Macedon reckon a\nthousand eight hundred and twenty-eight years; and from Demophon, a\nthousand two hundred and fifty; and from the taking of Troy to the\nexpedition of the Heraclid\u00e6, a hundred and twenty or a hundred and\neighty years. From this to the archonship of Ev\u00e6netus at Athens, in\nwhose time Alexander is said to have marched into Asia, according to\nPhanias, are seven hundred and fifty years; according to Ephorus,\nseven hundred and thirty-five; according to Tim\u00e6us and Clitarchus,\neight hundred and twenty; according to Eratosthenes, seven hundred and\nseventy-four. As also Duris, from the taking of Troy to the march of\nAlexander into Asia, a thousand years; and from that to the archonship\nof Hegesias, in whose time Alexander died, eleven years. From this date\nto the reign of Germanicus Claudius C\u00e6sar, three hundred and sixty-five\nyears. From which time the years summed up to the death of Commodus are\nmanifest.\n\nAfter the Grecian period, and in accordance with the dates, as computed\nby the barbarians, very large intervals are to be assigned.\n\nFrom Adam to the deluge are comprised two thousand one hundred and\nforty-eight years, four days. From Shem to Abraham, a thousand two\nhundred and fifty years. From Isaac to the division of the land, six\nhundred and sixteen years. Then from the judges to Samuel, four hundred\nand sixty-three years, seven months. And after the judges there were\nfive hundred and seventy-two years, six months, ten days of kings.\n\nAfter which periods, there were two hundred and thirty-five years of\nthe Persian monarchy. Then of the Macedonian, till the death of Antony,\nthree hundred and twelve years and eighteen days. After which time,\nthe empire of the Romans, till the death of Commodus, lasted for two\nhundred and twenty-two years.\n\nThen, from the seventy years\u2019 captivity, and the restoration of the\npeople into their own land to the captivity in the time of Vespasian,\nare comprised four hundred and ten years. Finally, from Vespasian to\nthe death of Commodus, there are ascertained to be one hundred and\ntwenty-one years, six months, and twenty-four days.\n\nDemetrius, in his book, _On the Kings in Jud\u00e6a_, says that\nthe tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi were not taken captive by\nSennacherim; but that there were from this captivity to the last, which\nNabuchodonosor made out of Jerusalem, a hundred and twenty-eight years\nand six months; and from the time that the ten tribes were carried\ncaptive from Samaria till Ptolemy the Fourth, were five hundred and\nseventy-three years, nine months; and from the time that the captivity\nfrom Jerusalem took place, three hundred and thirty-eight years and\nthree months.\n\nPhilo himself set down the kings differently from Demetrius.\n\nBesides, Eupolemus, in a similar work, says that all the years from\nAdam to the fifth year of Ptolemy Demetrius, who reigned twelve years\nin Egypt, when added, amount to five thousand a hundred and forty-nine;\nand from the time that Moses brought out the Jews from Egypt to the\nabove-mentioned date, there are, in all, two thousand five hundred and\neighty years. And from this time till the consulship in Rome of Caius\nDomitian and Casian, a hundred and twenty years are computed.\n\nEuphorus and many other historians say that there are seventy-five\nnations and tongues, in consequence of hearing the statement made by\nMoses: \u201cAll the souls that sprang from Jacob, which went down into\nEgypt, were seventy-five.\u201d[1041] According to the true reckoning, there\nappear to be seventy-two generic dialects, as our Scriptures hand\ndown. The rest of the vulgar tongues are formed by the blending of\ntwo, or three, or more dialects. A dialect is a mode of speech which\nexhibits a character peculiar to a locality, or a mode of speech which\nexhibits a character peculiar or common to a race. The Greeks say, that\namong them are five dialects--the Attic, Ionic, Doric, \u00c6olic, and the\nfifth the Common; and that the languages of the barbarians, which are\ninnumerable, are not called dialects, but tongues.\n\nPlato attributes a dialect also to the gods, forming this conjecture\nmainly from dreams and oracles, and especially from demoniacs, who\ndo not speak their own language or dialect, but that of the demons\nwho have taken possession of them. He thinks also that the irrational\ncreatures have dialects, which those that belong to the same genus\nunderstand. Accordingly, when an elephant falls into the mud and\nbellows out, any other one that is at hand, on seeing what has\nhappened, shortly turns, and brings with him a herd of elephants,\nand saves the one that has fallen in. It is said also in Libya, that\na scorpion, if it does not succeed in stinging a man, goes away and\nreturns with several more; and that, hanging on one to the other like\na chain, they make in this way the attempt to succeed in their cunning\ndesign.\n\nThe irrational creatures do not make use of an obscure intimation, or\nhint their meaning by assuming a particular attitude, but, as I think,\nby a dialect of their own. And some others say, that if a fish which\nhas been taken escape by breaking the line, no fish of the same kind\nwill be caught in the same place that day. But the first and generic\nbarbarous dialects have terms by nature, since also men confess that\nprayers uttered in a barbarian tongue are more powerful. And Plato,\nin the _Cratylus_, when wishing to interpret \u03c0\u1fe6\u03c1 (_fire_),\nsays that it is a barbaric term. He testifies, accordingly, that the\nPhrygians use this term with a slight deviation.\n\nAnd nothing, in my opinion, after these details, need stand in the\nway of stating the periods of the Roman emperors, in order to the\ndemonstration of the Saviour\u2019s birth. Augustus, forty-three years;\nTiberius, twenty-two years; Caius, four years; Claudius, fourteen\nyears; Nero, fourteen years; Galba, one year; Vespasian, ten years;\nTitus, three years; Domitian, fifteen years; Nerva, one year; Trajan,\nnineteen years; Adrian, twenty-one years; Antoninus, twenty-one\nyears; likewise again, Antoninus and Commodus, thirty-two. In all,\nfrom Augustus to Commodus, are two hundred and twenty-two years; and\nfrom Adam to the death of Commodus, five thousand seven hundred and\neighty-four years, two months, twelve days.\n\nSome set down the dates of the Roman emperors thus:\n\nCaius Julius C\u00e6sar, three years, four months, five days; after him\nAugustus reigned forty-six years, four months, one day. Then Tiberius,\ntwenty-six years, six months, nineteen days. He was succeeded by Caius\nC\u00e6sar, who reigned three years, ten months, eight days; and he by\nClaudius for thirteen years, eight months, twenty-eight days. Nero\nreigned thirteen years, eight months, twenty-eight days; Galba, seven\nmonths and six days; Otho, five months, one day; Vitellius, seven\nmonths, one day; Vespasian, eleven years, eleven months, twenty-two\ndays; Titus, two years, two months; Domitian, fifteen years, eight\nmonths, five days; Nerva, one year, four months, ten days; Trajan,\nnineteen years, seven months, ten days; Adrian, twenty years, ten\nmonths, twenty-eight days; Antoninus, twenty-two years, three months,\nand seven days; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, nineteen years, eleven days;\nCommodus, twelve years, nine months, fourteen days.\n\nFrom Julius C\u00e6sar, therefore, to the death of Commodus, are two hundred\nand thirty-six years, six months. And the whole from Romulus, who\nfounded Rome, till the death of Commodus, amounts to nine hundred\nand fifty-three years, six months. And our Lord was born in the\ntwenty-eighth year, when first the census was ordered to be taken in\nthe reign of Augustus. And to prove that this is true, it is written\nin the Gospel by Luke as follows: \u201cAnd in the fifteenth year, in the\nreign of Tiberius C\u00e6sar, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of\nZacharias.\u201d And again in the same book: \u201cAnd Jesus was coming to His\nbaptism, being about thirty years old,\u201d[1042] and so on. And that it\nwas necessary for Him to preach only a year, this also is written: \u201cHe\nhath sent me to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.\u201d[1043] This\nboth the prophet spake, and the gospel. Accordingly, in fifteen years\nof Tiberius and fifteen years of Augustus; so were completed the thirty\nyears till the time He suffered. And from the time that He suffered\ntill the destruction of Jerusalem are forty-two years and three months;\nand from the destruction of Jerusalem to the death of Commodus, a\nhundred and twenty-eight years, ten months, and three days. From the\nbirth of Christ, therefore, to the death of Commodus are, in all, a\nhundred and ninety-four years, one month, thirteen days. And there are\nthose who have determined not only the year of our Lord\u2019s birth, but\nalso the day; and they say that it took place in the twenty-eighth year\nof Augustus, and in the twenty-fifth day of Pachon. And the followers\nof Basilides hold the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the\nnight before in readings.\n\nAnd they say that it was the fifteenth year of Tiberius C\u00e6sar, the\nfifteenth day of the month Tubi; and some that it was the eleventh of\nthe same month. And treating of His passion, with very great accuracy,\nsome say that it took place in the sixteenth year of Tiberius, on the\ntwenty-fifth of Phamenoth; and others the twenty-fifth of Pharmuthi;\nand others say that on the nineteenth of Pharmuthi the Saviour\nsuffered. Further, others say that He was born on the twenty-fourth or\ntwenty-fifth of Pharmuthi.\n\nWe have still to add to our chronology the following,--I mean the days\nwhich Daniel indicates from the desolation of Jerusalem, the seven\nyears and seven months of the reign of Vespasian. For the two years are\nadded to the seventeen months and eighteen days of Otho, and Galba,\nand Vitellius; and the result is three years and six months, which\nis \u201cthe half of the week,\u201d as Daniel the prophet said. For he said\nthat there were two thousand three hundred days from the time that the\nabomination of Nero stood in the holy city, till its destruction. For\nthus the declaration, which is subjoined, shows: \u201cHow long shall be the\nvision, the sacrifice taken away, the abomination of desolation, which\nis given, and the power and the holy place shall be trodden under foot?\nAnd he said to him, Till the evening and morning, two thousand three\nhundred days, and the holy place shall be taken away.\u201d[1044]\n\nThese two thousand three hundred days, then, make six years four\nmonths, during the half of which Nero held sway, and it was half\na week; and for a half, Vespasian with Otho, Galba, and Vitellius\nreigned. And on this account Daniel says, \u201cBlessed is he that cometh to\nthe thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.\u201d[1045] For up to these\ndays was war, and after them it ceased. And this number is demonstrated\nfrom a subsequent chapter, which is as follows: \u201cAnd from the time of\nthe change of continuation, and of the giving of the abomination of\ndesolation, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.\nBlessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred\nand thirty-five days.\u201d[1046]\n\nFlavius Josephus the Jew, who composed the history of the Jews,\ncomputing the periods, says that from Moses to David were five hundred\nand eighty-five years; from David to the second year of Vespasian, a\nthousand one hundred and seventy-nine; then from that to the tenth year\nof Antoninus, seventy-seven. So that from Moses to the tenth year of\nAntoninus there are, in all, two thousand one hundred and thirty-three\nyears.\n\nOf others, counting from Inachus and Moses to the death of Commodus,\nsome say there were three thousand one hundred and forty-two years; and\nothers, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-one years.\n\nAnd in the Gospel according to Matthew, the genealogy which begins with\nAbraham is continued down to Mary the mother of the Lord. \u201cFor,\u201d it\nis said,[1047] \u201cfrom Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and\nfrom David to the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations;\nand from the carrying away into Babylon till Christ are likewise other\nfourteen generations,\u201d--three mystic intervals completed in six weeks.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n\n ON THE GREEK TRANSLATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.\n\n\nSo much for the details respecting dates, as stated variously by many,\nand as set down by us.\n\nIt is said that the Scriptures both of the law and of the prophets were\ntranslated from the dialect of the Hebrews into the Greek language in\nthe reign of Ptolemy the son of Lagos, or, according to others, of\nPtolemy surnamed Philadelphus; Demetrius Phalereus bringing to this\ntask the greatest earnestness, and employing painstaking accuracy on\nthe materials for the translation. For the Macedonians being still\nin possession of Asia, and the king being ambitious of adorning the\nlibrary he had at Alexandria with all writings, desired the people of\nJerusalem to translate the prophecies they possessed into the Greek\ndialect. And they being the subjects of the Macedonians, selected\nfrom those of highest character among them seventy elders, versed in\nthe Scriptures, and skilled in the Greek dialect, and sent them to\nhim with the divine books. And each having severally translated each\nprophetic book, and all the translations being compared together,\nthey agreed both in meaning and expression. For it was the counsel\nof God carried out for the benefit of Grecian ears. It was not alien\nto the inspiration of God, who gave the prophecy, also to produce\nthe translation, and make it as it were Greek prophecy. Since the\nScriptures having perished in the captivity of Nabuchodonosor, Esdras\nthe Levite, the priest, in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians,\nhaving become inspired, in the exercise of prophecy restored again the\nwhole of the ancient Scriptures. And Aristobulus, in his first book\naddressed to Philometor, writes in these words: \u201cAnd Plato followed\nthe laws given to us, and had manifestly studied all that is said in\nthem.\u201d And before Demetrius there had been translated by another,\nprevious to the dominion of Alexander and of the Persians, the account\nof the departure of our countrymen the Hebrews from Egypt, and the\nfame of all that happened to them, and their taking possession of\nthe land, and the account of the whole code of laws; so that it is\nperfectly clear that the above-mentioned philosopher derived a great\ndeal from this source, for he was very learned, as also Pythagoras, who\ntransferred many things from our books to his own system of doctrines.\nAnd Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, expressly writes: \u201cFor\nwhat is Plato, but Moses speaking in Attic Greek?\u201d This Moses was a\ntheologian and prophet, and as some say, an interpreter of sacred\nlaws. His family, his deeds, and life, are related by the Scriptures\nthemselves, which are worthy of all credit; but have nevertheless to be\nstated by us also as well as we can.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n THE AGE, BIRTH, AND LIFE OF MOSES.\n\n\nMoses, originally of a Chaldean[1048] family, was born in Egypt, his\nancestors having migrated from Babylon into Egypt on account of a\nprotracted famine. Born in the seventh generation,[1049] and having\nreceived a royal education, the following are the circumstances of his\nhistory. The Hebrews having increased in Egypt to a great multitude,\nand the king of the country being afraid of insurrection in consequence\nof their numbers, he ordered all the female children born to the\nHebrews to be reared (woman being unfit for war), but the male to be\ndestroyed, being suspicious of stalwart youth. But the child being\ngoodly, his parents nursed him secretly three months, natural affection\nbeing too strong for the monarch\u2019s cruelty. But at last, dreading lest\nthey should be destroyed along with the child, they made a basket of\nthe papyrus that grew there, put the child in it, and laid it on the\nbanks of the marshy river. The child\u2019s sister stood at a distance, and\nwatched what would happen. In this emergency, the king\u2019s daughter, who\nfor a long time had not been pregnant, and who longed for a child, came\nthat day to the river to bathe and wash herself; and hearing the child\ncry, she ordered it to be brought to her; and touched with pity, sought\na nurse. At that moment the child\u2019s sister ran up, and said that, if\nshe wished, she could procure for her as nurse one of the Hebrew women\nwho had recently had a child. And on her consenting and desiring her\nto do so, she brought the child\u2019s mother to be nurse for a stipulated\nfee, as if she had been some other person. Thereupon the queen gave the\nbabe the name of Moses, with etymological propriety, from his being\ndrawn out of \u201cthe water,\u201d--for the Egyptians call water \u201cmou,\u201d--in\nwhich he had been exposed to die. For they call Moses one who \u201cwho\nbreathed [on being taken] from the water.\u201d It is clear that previously\nthe parents gave a name to the child on his circumcision; and he was\ncalled Joachim. And he had a third name in heaven, after his ascension,\nas the mystics say--Melchi. Having reached the proper age, he was\ntaught arithmetic, geometry, poetry, harmony, and besides, medicine and\nmusic, by those that excelled in these arts among the Egyptians; and\nbesides, the philosophy which is conveyed by symbols, which they point\nout in the hieroglyphical inscriptions. The rest of the usual course\nof instruction, Greeks taught him in Egypt as a royal child, as Philo\nsays in his life of Moses. He learned, besides, the literature of the\nEgyptians, and the knowledge of the heavenly bodies from the Chaldeans\nand the Egyptians; whence in the Acts[1050] he is said \u201cto have been\ninstructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.\u201d And Eupolemus, in his\nbook _On the Kings in Judea_, says that \u201cMoses was the first wise man,\nand the first that imparted grammar to the Jews, that the Phenicians\nreceived it from the Jews, and the Greeks from the Phenicians.\u201d And\nbetaking himself to their philosophy,[1051] he increased his wisdom,\nbeing ardently attached to the training received from his kindred\nand ancestors, till he struck and slew the Egyptian who wrongfully\nattacked the Hebrew. And the mystics say that he slew the Egyptian by\na word only; as, certainly, Peter in the Acts is related to have slain\nby speech those who appropriated part of the price of the field, and\nlied.[1052] And so Artapanus, in his work _On the Jews_, relates \u201cthat\nMoses, being shut up in custody by Nechephres,[1053] king of the\nEgyptians, on account of the people demanding to be let go from Egypt,\nthe prison being opened by night, by the interposition of God, went\nforth, and reaching the palace, stood before the king as he slept, and\naroused him; and that the latter, struck with what had taken place,\nbade Moses tell him the name of the God who had sent him; and that he,\nbending forward, told him in his ear; and that the king on hearing it\nfell speechless, but being supported by Moses, revived again.\u201d And\nrespecting the education of Moses, we shall find a harmonious account\nin Ezekiel, the composer of Jewish tragedies in the drama entitled _The\nExodus_. He thus writes in the person of Moses:\n\n \u201cFor, seeing our race abundantly increase,\n His treacherous snares King Pharaoh \u2019gainst us laid,\n And cruelly in brick-kilns some of us,\n And some, in toilsome works of building, plagued.\n And towns and towers by toil of ill-starred men\n He raised. Then to the Hebrew race proclaimed,\n That each male child should in deep-flowing Nile\n Be drowned. My mother bore and hid me then\n Three months (so afterwards she told). Then took,\n And me adorned with fair array, and placed\n On the deep sedgy marsh by Nilus bank,\n While Miriam, my sister, watched afar.\n Then, with her maids, the daughter of the king,\n To bathe her beauty in the cleansing stream,\n Came near, straight saw, and took and raised me up;\n And knew me for a Hebrew. Miriam\n My sister to the princess ran, and said,\n \u2018Is it thy pleasure, that I haste and find\n A nurse for thee to rear this child\n Among the Hebrew women?\u2019 The princess\n Gave assent. The maiden to her mother sped,\n And told, who quick appeared. My own\n Dear mother took me in her arms. Then said\n The daughter of the king: \u2018Nurse me this child,\n And I will give thee wages.\u2019 And my name\n Moses she called, because she drew and saved\n Me from the waters on the river\u2019s bank.\n And when the days of childhood had flown by,\n My mother brought me to the palace where\n The princess dwelt, after disclosing all\n About my ancestry, and God\u2019s great gifts.\n In boyhood\u2019s years I royal nurture had,\n And in all princely exercise was trained,\n As if the princess\u2019 very son. But when\n The circling days had run their course,\n I left the royal palace.\u201d\n\nThen, after relating the combat between the Hebrew and the Egyptian,\nand the burying of the Egyptian in the sand, he says of the other\ncontest:\n\n \u201cWhy strike one feebler than thyself?\n And he rejoined: Who made thee judge o\u2019er us,\n Or ruler? Wilt thou slay me, as thou didst\n Him yesterday? And I in terror said,\n How is this known?\u201d\n\nThen he fled from Egypt and fed sheep, being thus trained beforehand\nfor pastoral rule. For the shepherd\u2019s life is a preparation for\nsovereignty in the case of him who is destined to rule over the\npeaceful flock of men, as the chase for those who are by nature\nwarlike. Thence God brought him to lead the Hebrews. Then the\nEgyptians, oft admonished, continued unwise; and the Hebrews were\nspectators of the calamities that others suffered, learning in safety\nthe power of God. And when the Egyptians gave no heed to the effects of\nthat power, through their foolish infatuation disbelieving, then, as\nis said, \u201cthe children knew\u201d what was done; and the Hebrews afterwards\ngoing forth, departed carrying much spoil from the Egyptians, not for\navarice, as the cavillers say, for God did not persuade them to covet\nwhat belonged to others. But, in the first place, they took wages for\nthe services they had rendered the Egyptians all the time; and then\nin a way recompensed the Egyptians, by afflicting them in requital\nas avaricious, by the abstraction of the booty, as they had done the\nHebrews by enslaving them. Whether, then, as may be alleged is done\nin war, they thought it proper, in the exercise of the rights of\nconquerors, to take away the property of their enemies, as those who\nhave gained the day do from those who are worsted (and there was just\ncause of hostilities. The Hebrews came as suppliants to the Egyptians\non account of famine; and they, reducing their guests to slavery,\ncompelled them to serve them after the manner of captives, giving them\nno recompense); or as in peace, took the spoil as wages against the\nwill of those who for a long period had given them no recompense, but\nrather had robbed them, [it is all one.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n HOW MOSES DISCHARGED THE PART OF A MILITARY LEADER.\n\n\nOur Moses then is a prophet, a legislator, skilled in military tactics\nand strategy, a politician, a philosopher. And in what sense he was a\nprophet, shall be by and by told, when we come to treat of prophecy.\nTactics belong to military command, and the ability to command an army\nis among the attributes of kingly rule. Legislation, again, is also one\nof the functions of the kingly office, as also judicial authority.\n\nOf the kingly office one kind is divine,--that which is according to\nGod and His holy Son, by whom both the good things which are of the\nearth, and external and perfect felicity too, are supplied. \u201cFor,\u201d\nit is said, \u201cseek what is great, and the little things shall be\nadded.\u201d[1054] And there is a second kind of royalty, inferior to that\nadministration which is purely rational and divine, which brings to\nthe task of government merely the high mettle of the soul; after which\nfashion Hercules ruled the Argives, and Alexander the Macedonians.\nThe third kind is what aims after one thing--merely to conquer and\noverturn; but to turn conquest either to a good or a bad purpose,\nbelongs not to such rule. Such was the aim of the Persians in their\ncampaign against Greece. For, on the one hand, fondness for strife is\nsolely the result of passion, and acquires power solely for the sake\nof domination; while, on the other, the love of good is characteristic\nof a soul which uses its high spirit for noble ends. The fourth, the\nworst of all, is the sovereignty which acts according to the promptings\nof the passions, as that of Sardanapalus, and those who propose to\nthemselves as their end the gratification of the passions to the\nutmost. But the instrument of regal sway--the instrument at once of\nthat which overcomes by virtue, and that which does so by force--is\nthe power of managing (or tact). And it varies according to the nature\nand the material. In the case of arms and of fighting animals the\nordering power is the soul and mind, by means animate and inanimate;\nand in the case of the passions of the soul, which we master by virtue,\nreason is the ordering power, by affixing the seal of continence and\nself-restraint, along with holiness, and sound knowledge with truth,\nmaking the result of the whole to terminate in piety towards God. For\nit is wisdom which regulates in the case of those who so practise\nvirtue; and divine things are ordered by wisdom, and human affairs by\npolitics--all things by the kingly faculty. He is a king, then, who\ngoverns according to the laws, and possesses the skill to sway willing\nsubjects. Such is the Lord, who receives all who believe on Him and by\nHim. For the Father has delivered and subjected all to Christ our King,\n\u201cthat at the name of Jesus every knee may bow, of things in heaven, and\nthings in earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue confess\nthat Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.\u201d[1055]\n\nNow, generalship involves three ideas: caution, enterprise, and the\nunion of the two. And each of these consists of three things, acting\nas they do either by word, or by deeds, or by both together. And all\nthis can be accomplished either by persuasion, or by compulsion, or by\ninflicting harm in the way of taking vengeance on those who ought to be\npunished; and this either by doing what is right, or by telling what is\nuntrue, or by telling what is true, or by adopting any of these means\nconjointly at the same time.\n\nNow, the Greeks had the advantage of receiving from Moses all these,\nand the knowledge of how to make use of each of them. And, for the sake\nof example, I shall cite one or two instances of leadership. Moses, on\nleading the people forth, suspecting that the Egyptians would pursue,\nleft the short and direct route, and turned to the desert, and marched\nmostly by night. For it was another kind of arrangement by which the\nHebrews were trained in the great wilderness, and for a protracted\ntime, to belief in the existence of one God alone, being inured by the\nwise discipline of endurance to which they were subjected. The strategy\nof Moses, therefore, shows the necessity of discerning what will be of\nservice before the approach of dangers, and so to encounter them. It\nturned out precisely as he suspected, for the Egyptians pursued with\nhorses and chariots, but were quickly destroyed by the sea breaking\non them and overwhelming them with their horses and chariots, so that\nnot a remnant of them was left. Afterwards the pillar of fire, which\naccompanied them (for it went before them as a guide), conducted the\nHebrews by night through an untrodden region, training and bracing\nthem, by toils and hardships, to manliness and endurance, that after\ntheir experience of what appeared formidable difficulties, the benefits\nof the land, to which from the trackless desert he was conducting\nthem, might become apparent. Furthermore, he put to flight and slew\nthe hostile occupants of the land, falling upon them from a desert and\nrugged line of march (such was the excellence of his generalship). For\nthe taking of the land of those hostile tribes was a work of skill and\nstrategy.\n\nPerceiving this, Miltiades, the Athenian general, who conquered the\nPersians in battle at Marathon, imitated it in the following fashion.\nMarching over a trackless desert, he led on the Athenians by night,\nand eluded the barbarians that were set to watch him. For Hippias, who\nhad deserted from the Athenians, conducted the barbarians into Attica,\nand seized and held the points of vantage, in consequence of having a\nknowledge of the ground. The task was then to elude Hippias. Whence\nrightly Miltiades, traversing the desert and attacking by night the\nPersians commanded by Dates, led his soldiers to victory.\n\nBut further, when Thrasybulus was bringing back the exiles from Phyla,\nand wished to elude observation, a pillar became his guide as he\nmarched over a trackless region. To Thrasybulus by night, the sky\nbeing moonless and stormy, a fire appeared leading the way, which,\nhaving conducted them safely, left them near Munychia, where is now the\naltar of the light-bringer (Phosphorus).\n\nFrom such an instance, therefore, let our accounts become credible to\nthe Greeks, namely, that it was possible for the omnipotent God to make\nthe pillar of fire, which was their guide on their march, go before the\nHebrews by night. It is said also in a certain oracle,\n\n \u201cA pillar to the Thebans is joy-inspiring Bacchus,\u201d\n\nfrom the history of the Hebrews. Also Euripides says, in _Antiope_,\n\n \u201cIn the chambers within, the herdsman,\n With chaplet of ivy, pillar of the Ev\u0153an god.\u201d\n\nThe pillar indicates that God cannot be portrayed. The pillar of light,\ntoo, in addition to its pointing out that God cannot be represented,\nshows also the stability and the permanent duration of the Deity, and\nHis unchangeable and inexpressible light. Before, then, the invention\nof the forms of images, the ancients erected pillars, and reverenced\nthem as statues of the Deity. Accordingly, he who composed the\n_Phoronis_ writes,\n\n \u201cCallithoe, key-bearer of the Olympian queen:\n Argive Hera, who first with fillets and with fringes\n The queen\u2019s tall column all around adorned.\u201d\n\nFurther, the author of _Europia_ relates that the statue of Apollo at\nDelphi was a pillar in these words:\n\n \u201cThat to the god first-fruits and tithes we may\n On sacred pillars and on lofty column hang.\u201d\n\nApollo, interpreted mystically by \u201cprivation of many,\u201d[1056] means\nthe one God. Well, then, that fire like a pillar, and the fire in the\ndesert, is the symbol of the holy light which passed through from earth\nand returned again to heaven, by the wood [of the cross], by which also\nthe gift of intellectual vision was bestowed on us.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXV.\n\n PLATO AN IMITATOR OF MOSES IN FRAMING LAWS.\n\n\nPlato the philosopher, aided in legislation by the books of Moses,\ncensured the polity of Minos, and that of Lycurgus, as having bravery\nalone as their aim; while he praised as more seemly the polity which\nexpresses some one thing, and directs according to one precept. For he\nsays that it becomes us to philosophize with strength, and dignity, and\nwisdom,--holding unalterably the same opinions about the same things,\nwith reference to the dignity of heaven. Accordingly, therefore, he\ninterprets what is in the law, enjoining us to look to one God and to\ndo justly. Of politics, he says there are two kinds,--the department of\nlaw, and that of politics, strictly so called.\n\nAnd he refers to the Creator, as the Statesman (\u1f40 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2) by way\nof eminence, in his book of this name (\u1f41 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c2); and those who\nlead an active and just life, combined with contemplation, he calls\nstatesmen (\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03af). That department of politics which is called\n\u201cLaw,\u201d he divides into administrative magnanimity and private good\norder, which he calls orderliness, and harmony, and sobriety, which\nare seen when rulers suit their subjects, and subjects are obedient\nto their rulers; a result which the system of Moses sedulously aims\nat effecting. Further, that the department of law is founded on\ngeneration, that of politics on friendship and consent, Plato, with the\naid he received, affirms; and so, coupled with the laws the philosopher\nin the _Epinomis_, who knew the course of all generation, which\ntakes place by the instrumentality of the planets; and the other\nphilosopher, _Tim\u00e6us_, who was an astronomer and student of the\nmotions of the stars, and of their sympathy and association with one\nanother, he consequently joined to the \u201cpolity\u201d (or \u201crepublic\u201d). Then,\nin my opinion, the end both of the statesman, and of him who lives\naccording to the law, is contemplation. It is necessary, therefore,\nthat public affairs should be rightly managed. But to philosophize is\nbest. For he who is wise will live concentrating all his energies on\nknowledge, directing his life by good deeds, despising the opposite,\nand following the pursuits which contribute to truth. And the law is\nnot what is decided by law (for what is seen is not vision), nor every\nopinion (not certainly what is evil). But law is the opinion which is\ngood, and what is good is that which is true, and what is true is that\nwhich finds \u201ctrue being,\u201d and attains to it. \u201cHe who is,\u201d[1057] says\nMoses, \u201csent me.\u201d In accordance with which, namely, good opinion, some\nhave called law, right reason, which enjoins what is to be done and\nforbids what is not to be done.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVI.\n\n MOSES RIGHTLY CALLED A DIVINE LEGISLATOR, AND, THOUGH INFERIOR\n TO CHRIST, FAR SUPERIOR TO THE GREAT LEGISLATORS OF THE GREEKS,\n MINOS AND LYCURGUS.\n\n\nWhence the law was rightly said to have been given by Moses, being a\nrule of right and wrong; and we may call it with accuracy the divine\nordinance (\u03b8\u03b5\u03c3\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2[1058]), inasmuch as it was given by God through\nMoses. It accordingly conducts to the divine. Paul says: \u201cThe law was\ninstituted because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to\nwhom the promise was made.\u201d Then, as if in explanation of his meaning,\nhe adds: \u201cBut before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up,\u201d\nmanifestly through fear, in consequence of sins, \u201cunto the faith which\nshould afterwards be revealed; so that the law was a schoolmaster\nto bring us to Christ, that we should be justified by faith.\u201d[1059]\nThe true legislator is he who assigns to each department of the soul\nwhat is suitable to it and to its operations. Now Moses, to speak\ncomprehensively, was a living law, governed by the benign Word.\nAccordingly, he furnished a good polity, which is the right discipline\nof men in social life. He also handled the administration of justice,\nwhich is that branch of knowledge which deals with the correction of\ntransgressors in the interests of justice. Co-ordinate with it is the\nfaculty of dealing with punishments, which is a knowledge of the due\nmeasure to be observed in punishments. And punishment, in virtue of its\nbeing so, is the correction of the soul. In a word, the whole system of\nMoses is suited for the training of such as are capable of becoming\ngood and noble men, and for hunting out men like them; and this is the\nart of command. And that wisdom, which is capable of treating rightly\nthose who have been caught by the Word, is legislative wisdom. For it\nis the property of this wisdom, being most kingly, to possess and use.\n\nIt is the wise man, therefore, alone whom the philosophers proclaim\nking, legislator, general, just, holy, God-beloved. And if we discover\nthese qualities in Moses, as shown from the Scriptures themselves, we\nmay, with the most assured persuasion, pronounce Moses to be truly\nwise. As then we say that it belongs to the shepherd\u2019s art to care\nfor the sheep; for so \u201cthe good shepherd giveth his life for the\nsheep;\u201d[1060] so also we shall say that legislation, inasmuch as it\npresides over and cares for the flock of men, establishes the virtue\nof men, by fanning into flame, as far as it can, what good there is in\nhumanity.\n\nAnd if the flock figuratively spoken of as belonging to the Lord is\nnothing but a flock of men, then He Himself is the good Shepherd and\nLawgiver of the one flock, \u201cof the sheep who hear Him,\u201d the one who\ncares for them, \u201cseeking,\u201d and finding by the law and the word, \u201cthat\nwhich was lost;\u201d since, in truth, the law is spiritual and leads\nto felicity. For that which has arisen through the Holy Spirit is\nspiritual. And he is truly a legislator, who not only announces what is\ngood and noble, but understands it. The law of this man who possesses\nknowledge is the saving precept; or rather, the law is the precept of\nknowledge. For the Word is \u201cthe power and the wisdom of God.\u201d[1061]\nAgain, the expounder of the laws is the same one by whom the law was\ngiven; the first expounder of the divine commands, who unveiled the\nbosom of the Father, the only-begotten Son.\n\nThen those who obey the law, since they have some knowledge of\nHim, cannot disbelieve or be ignorant of the truth. But those who\ndisbelieve, and have shown a repugnance to engage in the works of the\nlaw, whoever else may, certainly confess their ignorance of the truth.\n\nWhat, then, is the unbelief of the Greeks? Is it not their\nunwillingness to believe the truth which declares that the law was\ndivinely given by Moses, whilst they honour Moses in their own\nwriters? They relate that Minos received the laws from Zeus in nine\nyears, by frequenting the cave of Zeus; and Plato, and Aristotle,\nand Ephorus write that Lycurgus was trained in legislation by going\nconstantly to Apollo at Delphi. Cham\u00e6leo of Heraclea, in his book\n_On Drunkenness_, and Aristotle in _The Polity of Locrians_,\nmention that Zaleucus the Locrian received the laws from Athene.\n\nBut those who exalt the credit of Greek legislation, as far as in them\nlies, by referring it to a divine source, after the model of Mosaic\nprophecy, are senseless in not owning the truth, and the archetype of\nwhat is related among them.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVII.\n\n THE LAW, EVEN IN CORRECTING AND PUNISHING, AIMS\n AT THE GOOD OF MEN.\n\n\nLet no one, then, run down law, as if, on account of the penalty,\nit were not beautiful and good. For shall he who drives away bodily\ndisease appear a benefactor; and shall not he who attempts to deliver\nthe soul from iniquity, as much more appear a friend, as the soul is\na more precious thing than the body? Besides, for the sake of bodily\nhealth we submit to incisions, and cauterizations, and medicinal\ndraughts; and he who administers them is called saviour and healer,\neven though amputating parts, not from grudge or ill-will towards\nthe patient, but as the principles of the art prescribe, so that the\nsound parts may not perish along with them, and no one accuses the\nphysician\u2019s art of wickedness; and shall we not similarly submit,\nfor the soul\u2019s sake, to either banishment, or punishment, or bonds,\nprovided only from unrighteousness we shall attain to righteousness?\n\nFor the law, in its solicitude for those who obey, trains up to piety,\nand prescribes what is to be done, and restrains each one from sins,\nimposing penalties even on lesser sins.\n\nBut when it sees any one in such a condition as to appear incurable,\nposting to the last stage of wickedness, then in its solicitude for\nthe rest, that they may not be destroyed by it (just as if amputating\na part from the whole body), it condemns such an one to death, as the\ncourse most conducive to health. \u201cBeing judged by the Lord,\u201d says the\napostle, \u201cwe are chastened, that we may not be condemned with the\nworld.\u201d[1062] For the prophet had said before, \u201cChastening, the Lord\nhath chastised me, but hath not given me over unto death.\u201d[1063] \u201cFor\nin order to teach thee His righteousness,\u201d it is said, \u201cHe chastised\nthee and tried thee, and made thee to hunger and thirst in the desert\nland; that all His statutes and His judgments may be known in thy\nheart, as I command thee this day; and that thou mayest know in thine\nheart, that just as if a man were chastising his son, so the Lord our\nGod shall chastise thee.\u201d[1064]\n\nAnd to prove that example corrects, he says directly to the purpose: \u201cA\nclever man, when he seeth the wicked punished, will himself be severely\nchastised, for the fear of the Lord is the source of wisdom.\u201d[1065]\n\nBut it is the highest and most perfect good, when one is able to lead\nback any one from the practice of evil to virtue and well-doing, which\nis the very function of the law. So that, when one falls into any\nincurable evil,--when taken possession of, for example, by wrong or\ncovetousness,--it will be for his good if he is put to death. For the\nlaw is beneficent, being able to make some righteous from unrighteous,\nif they will only give ear to it, and by releasing others from present\nevils; for those who have chosen to live temperately and justly, it\nconducts to immortality. To know the law is characteristic of a good\ndisposition. And again: \u201cWicked men do not understand the law; but they\nwho seek the Lord shall have understanding in all that is good.\u201d[1066]\n\nIt is essential, certainly, that the providence which manages all,\nbe both supreme and good. For it is the power of both that dispenses\nsalvation--the one correcting by punishment, as supreme, the other\nshowing kindness in the exercise of beneficence, as a benefactor. It\nis in your power not to be a son of disobedience, but to pass from\ndarkness to life, and lending your ear to wisdom, to be the legal slave\nof God, in the first instance, and then to become a faithful servant,\nfearing the Lord God. And if one ascend higher, he is enrolled among\nthe sons.\n\nBut when \u201ccharity covers the multitude of sins,\u201d[1067] by the\nconsummation of the blessed hope, then may we welcome him as one who\nhas been enriched in love, and received into the elect adoption, which\nis called the beloved of God, while he chants the prayer, saying, \u201cLet\nthe Lord be my God.\u201d\n\nThe beneficent action of the law, the apostle showed in the passage\nrelating to the Jews, writing thus: \u201cBehold, thou art called a Jew\nand restest in the law, and makest thy boast in God, and knowest the\nwill of God, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being\ninstructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself art a\nguide of the blind, a light of them who are in darkness, an instructor\nof the foolish, a teacher of babes, who hast the form of knowledge and\nof truth in the law.\u201d[1068] For it is admitted that such is the power\nof the law, although those whose conduct is not according to the law,\nmake a false pretence, as if they lived in the law. \u201cBlessed is the\nman that hath found wisdom, and the mortal who has seen understanding;\nfor out of its mouth,\u201d manifestly Wisdom\u2019s, \u201cproceeds righteousness,\nand it bears law and mercy on its tongue.\u201d[1069] For both the law and\nthe gospel are the energy of one Lord, who is \u201cthe power and wisdom of\nGod;\u201d and the terror which the law begets is merciful and in order to\nsalvation. \u201cLet not alms, and faith, and truth fail thee, but hang them\naround thy neck.\u201d[1070] In the same way as Paul, prophecy upbraids the\npeople with not understanding the law. \u201cDestruction and misery are in\ntheir ways, and the way of peace have they not known.\u201d[1071] \u201cThere is\nno fear of God before their eyes.\u201d[1072] \u201cProfessing themselves wise,\nthey became fools.\u201d[1073] \u201cAnd we know that the law is good, if a man\nuse it lawfully.\u201d[1074] \u201cDesiring to be teachers of the law, they\nunderstand,\u201d says the apostle, \u201cneither what they say, nor whereof they\naffirm.\u201d[1075] \u201cNow the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure\nheart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned.\u201d[1076]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXVIII.\n\n THE FOURFOLD DIVISION OF THE MOSAIC LAW.\n\n\nThe Mosaic philosophy is accordingly divided into four parts,--into\nthe historic, and that which is specially called the legislative,\nwhich two properly belong to an ethical treatise; and the third, that\nwhich relates to sacrifice, which belongs to physical science; and\nthe fourth, above all, the department of theology, \u201cvision,\u201d[1077]\nwhich Plato predicates of the truly great mysteries. And this species\nAristotle calls metaphysics. Dialectics, according to Plato, is, as he\nsays in _The Statesman_, a science devoted to the discovery of the\nexplanation of things. And it is to be acquired by the wise man, not\nfor the sake of saying or doing aught of what we find among men (as\nthe dialecticians, who occupy themselves in sophistry, do), but to be\nable to say and do, as far as possible, what is pleasing to God. But\nthe true dialectic, being philosophy mixed with truth, by examining\nthings, and testing forces and powers, gradually ascends in relation\nto the most excellent essence of all, and essays to go beyond to the\nGod of the universe, professing not the knowledge of mortal affairs,\nbut the science of things divine and heavenly; in accordance with\nwhich follows a suitable course of practice with respect to words and\ndeeds, even in human affairs. Rightly, therefore, the Scripture, in\nits desire to make us such dialecticians, exhorts us: \u201cBe ye skilful\nmoney-changers,\u201d[1078] rejecting some things, but retaining what is\ngood. For this true dialectic is the science which analyses the\nobjects of thought, and shows abstractly and by itself the individual\nsubstratum of existences, or the power of dividing things into genera,\nwhich descends to their most special properties, and presents each\nindividual object to be contemplated simply such as it is.\n\nWherefore it alone conducts to the true wisdom, which is the divine\npower which deals with the knowledge of entities as entities, which\ngrasps what is perfect, and is freed from all passion; not without the\nSaviour, who withdraws, by the divine word, the gloom of ignorance\narising from evil training, which had overspread the eye of the soul,\nand bestows the best of gifts,\n\n \u201cThat we might well know or God or man.\u201d[1079]\n\nIt is He who truly shows how we are to know ourselves. It is He who\nreveals the Father of the universe to whom He wills, and as far as\nhuman nature can comprehend. \u201cFor no man knoweth the Son but the\nFather, nor the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall\nreveal Him.\u201d[1080] Rightly, then, the apostle says that it was by\nrevelation that he knew the mystery: \u201cAs I wrote afore in few words,\naccording as ye are able to understand my knowledge in the mystery\nof Christ.\u201d[1081] \u201cAccording as ye are able,\u201d he said, since he knew\nthat some had received milk only, and had not yet received meat,\nnor even milk simply. The sense of the law is to be taken in three\nways,[1082]--either as exhibiting a symbol, or laying down a precept\nfor right conduct, or as uttering a prophecy. But I well know that it\nbelongs to men [of full age] to distinguish and declare these things.\nFor the whole Scripture is not in its meaning a single Myconos, as the\nproverbial expression has it; but those who hunt after the connection\nof the divine teaching, must approach it with the utmost perfection of\nthe logical faculty.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XXIX.\n\n THE GREEKS BUT CHILDREN COMPARED WITH THE HEBREWS.\n\n\nWhence most beautifully the Egyptian priest in Plato said, \u201cO Solon,\nSolon, you Greeks are always children, not having in your souls a\nsingle ancient opinion received through tradition from antiquity.\nAnd not one of the Greeks is an old man;\u201d meaning by old, I suppose,\nthose who know what belongs to the more remote antiquity, that is,\nour literature; and by young, those who treat of what is more recent\nand made the subject of study by the Greeks,--things of yesterday and\nof recent date as if they were old and ancient. Wherefore he added,\n\u201cand no study hoary with time;\u201d for we, in a kind of barbarous way,\ndeal in homely and rugged metaphor. Those, therefore, whose minds are\nrightly constituted approach the interpretation utterly destitute of\nartifice. And of the Greeks, he says that their opinions \u201cdiffer but\nlittle from myths.\u201d For neither puerile fables nor stories current\namong children are fit for listening to. And he called the myths\nthemselves \u201cchildren,\u201d as if the progeny of those, wise in their own\nconceits among the Greeks, who had but little insight; meaning by\nthe \u201choary studies\u201d the truth which was possessed by the barbarians,\ndating from the highest antiquity. To which expression he opposed the\nphrase \u201cchild fable,\u201d censuring the mythical character of the attempts\nof the moderns, as, like children, having nothing of age in them,\nand affirming both in common--their fables and their speeches--to be\npuerile.\n\nDivinely, therefore, the power which spoke to Hermas by revelation\nsaid, \u201cThe visions and revelations are for those who are of double\nmind, who doubt in their hearts if these things are or are not.\u201d\n\nSimilarly, also, demonstrations from the resources of erudition,\nstrengthen, confirm, and establish demonstrative reasonings, in so\nfar as men\u2019s minds are in a wavering state like young people\u2019s. \u201cThe\ngood commandment,\u201d then, according to the Scripture, \u201cis a lamp,\nand the law is a light to the path; for instruction corrects the\nways of life.\u201d[1083] \u201cLaw is monarch of all, both of mortals and of\nimmortals,\u201d says Pindar. I understand, however, by these words, Him who\nenacted law. And I regard, as spoken of the God of all, the following\nutterance of Hesiod, though spoken by the poet at random and not with\ncomprehension:\n\n \u201cFor the Saturnian framed for men this law:\n Fishes, and beasts, and winged birds may eat\n Each other, since no rule of right is theirs;\n But Right (by far the best) to men he gave.\u201d\n\nWhether, then, it be the law which is connate and natural, or that\ngiven afterwards, which is meant, it is certainly of God; and both\nthe law of nature and that of instruction are one. Thus also Plato,\nin _The Statesman_, says that the lawgiver is one; and in _The Laws_,\nthat he who shall understand music is one; teaching by these words\nthat the Word is one, and God is one. And Moses manifestly calls the\nLord a covenant: \u201cBehold I am my Covenant with thee,\u201d[1084] having\npreviously told him not to seek the covenant in writing.[1085] For it\nis a covenant which God, the Author of all, makes. For God is called\n\u0398\u03b5\u03cc\u03c2, from \u03b8\u03ad\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 (placing), and order or arrangement. And in the\n_Preaching_[1086] of Peter you will find the Lord called Law and Word.\nBut at this point, let our first Miscellany[1087] of gnostic notes,\naccording to the true philosophy, come to a close.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Epiph. _H\u00e6r._ xxxii. 6.\n\n[2] _Strom._ lib. i. c. v.\n\n[3] Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._ vi. 6.\n\n[4] Hieron. _Lib. de Viris illustribus_, c. 38; Ph. _Bibl._\n111.\n\n[5] Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._ vi. 13, Phot. _Bibl._ 111.\n\n[6] _Hist. Eccl._ vi. 6.\n\n[7] The Greek is \u1f51\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03c4\u03ac\u03c4\u03b7\u03bd, lit. highest. Potter appeals to the use of\n\u1f51\u03c0\u1f10\u03c1\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2 in Sophocles, _Electr._ 455, in the sense of _stronger_, as\ngiving a clue to the meaning here. The scholiast in Klotz takes the\nwords to mean that the hand is held over them.\n\n[8] Isa. ii. 3.\n\n[9] Ps. xcvi. 1, xcviii. 1.\n\n[10] _Odyssey_, v. 220.\n\n[11] Matt. iii. 9; Luke iii. 8.\n\n[12] Matt. iii. 7; Luke iii. 7.\n\n[13] Tit. iii. 3\u20135.\n\n[14] Probably a quotation from a hymn.\n\n[15] Ps. cx. 3. Septuagint has, \u201cbefore the morning star.\u201d\n\n[16] John i. 1.\n\n[17] Tit. ii. 11\u201313.\n\n[18] Eph. ii. 2.\n\n[19] Phil. ii. 6, 7.\n\n[20] John i. 23.\n\n[21] Isa. xl. 3.\n\n[22] Isa. liv. 1.\n\n[23] This may be translated, \u201cof God the Christ.\u201d\n\n[24] John x. 9.\n\n[25] Matt. xi. 27.\n\n[26] What this is, is not known; but it is likely that the word is a\ncorruption of \u1f31\u03b5\u03c1\u1f70\u03bd \u1f44\u03c1\u1fe6\u03bd, the sacred oath.\n\n[27] \u1f02\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03b1 \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1\n\n[28] The text has \u1f00\u03bd\u03b9\u1f10\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5, the imperative of \u1f00\u03bd\u03b9\u03b5\u03c1\u03cc\u03c9, which in\nclassical Greek means \u201cto hallow;\u201d but the verb here must be derived\nfrom the adjective \u1f00\u03bd\u03af\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2, and be taken in the sense \u201cdeprive of their\nholiness,\u201d \u201cno longer count holy.\u201d Eusebius reads \u1f00\u03bd\u03b9\u1f10\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2: \u201cunholy\ninterpreters.\u201d\n\n[29] The cernos some take to be a vessel containing poppy, etc.,\ncarried in sacrificial processions. The scholiast says that it is a fan.\n\n[30] Proserpine or Pherephatta.\n\n[31] The scholiast takes the \u1fe5\u1f40\u03bc\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2 to mean a piece of wood attached to\na cord, and swung round so as to cause a whistling noise.\n\n[32] This sentence is read variously in various editions.\n\n[33] Eph. ii. 12.\n\n[34] Euripides.\n\n[35] Eph. ii. 3\u20135.\n\n[36] _Iliad_, v. 31.\n\n[37] _Iliad_, v. 385.\n\n[38] _Iliad_, xviii. 410.\n\n[39] _Iliad_, iii. 243. Lord Derby\u2019s translation is used in extracts\nfrom the _Iliad_.\n\n[40] The MSS. read \u201c_small_,\u201d but the true reading is doubtless\n\u201c_tall_.\u201d\n\n[41] _Iliad_, i. 527.\n\n[42] _Iliad_, viii. 324.\n\n[43] Meursius proposed to read, \u201cat Agra.\u201d\n\n[44] _The beams of Sol or the Sun_ is an emendation of Potter\u2019s. The\nMSS. read \u201c_the Elean Augeas_.\u201d\n\n[45] _Odyss._ xix. 163.\n\n[46] So Liddel and Scott. Commentators are generally agreed that the\nepithet is an obscene one, though what its precise meaning is they can\nonly conjecture.\n\n[47] An obscene epithet, derived from \u03c7\u03bf\u1fd6\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2, a sow, used metonymically\nfor _muliebria_, and \u03b8\u03bb\u03af\u03b2\u03c9, to press or rub.\n\n[48] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, I. i. 250.\n\n[49] _Iliad_, iv. 49.\n\n[50] Plutarch, xx.\n\n[51] _Iliad_, iii. v. 33.\n\n[52] If we read \u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u1f10\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, this is the only sense that can be put on\nthe words. But if we read \u03c7\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd, we may translate, \u201ca memorial of\ngratified lust.\u201d\n\n[53] _Odyss._ xx. v. 351.\n\n[54] Vulg. _Sybillini_, p. 253.\n\n[55] Pantarkes is said to have been the name of a boy loved by Phidias;\nbut as the word signifies \u201call-assisting,\u201d \u201call-powerful,\u201d it might\nalso be made to apply to Zeus.\n\n[56] _Iliad_, xvi. 433.\n\n[57] _Iliad_, i. v. 22; \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u1f70 \u1f78\u03b1\u03af\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2 \u1f04\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2.\n\n[58] _Odyss._ viii. v. 266.\n\n[59] Sibyl. Justin Martyr, _Cohort. ad Gr\u00e6cos_, p. 81; English Transl.\n(A.N. Lib.), p. 304.\n\n[60] Ex. xx. 4.\n\n[61] Ps. xcvi. 5.\n\n[62] Ps. xxxiii. 6.\n\n[63] Ps. viii. 4.\n\n[64] Gal. iv. 9.\n\n[65] _Tim\u00e6us._\n\n[66] Deut. xxv. 13, 15.\n\n[67] The _Sibyl_.\n\n[68] Or Asseus, native of Asso.\n\n[69] _Il._ iii. 405.\n\n[70] _Il._ vi. 132.\n\n[71] _Orestes_, 590.\n\n[72] _Ion_, 422.\n\n[73] Jer. xxiii. 24.\n\n[74] Isa. xl. 12.\n\n[75] Isa. lxiv. 1, 2.\n\n[76] Isa. lxvi. 1.\n\n[77] Jer. viii. 2, xxx. 20, iv. 6.\n\n[78] Deut. xxxii. 39.\n\n[79] Amos iv. 13.\n\n[80] Isa. xlv. 19, 20.\n\n[81] Isa. xlv. 21\u201323.\n\n[82] Isa. xl. 18, 19.\n\n[83] Isa. x. 10, 11.\n\n[84] Isa. x. 14.\n\n[85] Prov. viii. 22.\n\n[86] Prov. xi. 6.\n\n[87] Prov. vi. 9.\n\n[88] Prov. vi. 11.\n\n[89] Prov. vi. 23.\n\n[90] Jer. x. 12.\n\n[91] Deut. xi. 4, 13, x. 20.\n\n[92] Ps. ii, 12, 13.\n\n[93] Ps. iv. 3.\n\n[94] Rom. i. 21, 23, 25.\n\n[95] Gen. i. 1.\n\n[96] This is made up of several passages, as Isa. xiii. 10, Ezek.\nxxxii. 7, Joel ii. 10, 31, iii. 15.\n\n[97] Matt. v. 18.\n\n[98] Prov. iii. 11.\n\n[99] Heb. xii. 21.\n\n[100] Matt. xxv. 41, 46.\n\n[101] Eph. iv. 17\u201319.\n\n[102] Eph. v. 14.\n\n[103] Ps. cx. 3.\n\n[104] Ps. xcv. 8, 9.\n\n[105] Ps. xcv. 9\u201311.\n\n[106] Ps. xcv. 7.\n\n[107] 1 Tim. i. 14.\n\n[108] 1 Tim. iv. 10.\n\n[109] 2 Tim. iii. 15.\n\n[110] 1 Tim. iii. 16, 17.\n\n[111] Matt. iv. 17.\n\n[112] Phil. iv. 5.\n\n[113] Ps. xxxiv. 8, where Clem. has read \u03a7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u1f41\u03c2 for \u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u1f41\u03c2.\n\n[114] Ps. xxxiv. 12.\n\n[115] Zech. iii. 2.\n\n[116] _Iliad_, ii. 315.\n\n[117] Isa. i. 3.\n\n[118] Isa. liv. 17.\n\n[119] Isa. liv. 17, where Sept. reads, \u201cye shall be righteous.\u201d\n\n[120] Isa. lv. 1.\n\n[121] 1 Cor. ii. 9.\n\n[122] Deut. xxx. 15.\n\n[123] Isa. i. 20.\n\n[124] Isa. i. 20, xxxiii. 11.\n\n[125] Minerva.\n\n[126] Gen. i. 26.\n\n[127] John iii. 19.\n\n[128] _Odyss._ xiii. 203.\n\n[129] A translation in accordance with the Latin version would\nrun thus: \u201cWhile a certain previous conception of divine power is\nnevertheless discovered within us.\u201d But adopting that in the text the\nargument is: there is unquestionably a providence implying the exertion\nof divine power. That power is not exercised by idols or heathen\ngods. The only other alternative is, that it is exercised by the one\nself-existent God.\n\n[130] Ps. xxiv. 1; 1 Cor. x. 26, 28.\n\n[131] The expression \u201cconquered by brass or iron\u201d is borrowed from\nHomer (_Il._ viii. 534). Brass, or copper, and iron were the\nmetals of which arms were made.\n\n[132] Matt. vi. 20, 21.\n\n[133] Ps. lviii. 4, 5.\n\n[134] \u201cThey\u201d seems to refer to sanctity and the word.\n\n[135] Ps. lxxii. 9.\n\n[136] Ps. lxii. 8.\n\n[137] Ps. lxx. 4.\n\n[138] Ex. xx. 13\u201316; Deut. vi. 3.\n\n[139] Luke vi. 29.\n\n[140] Matt. v. 28.\n\n[141] Gal. iii. 28, vi. 15.\n\n[142] _Iliad_, v. 128.\n\n[143] Ps. xix. 11.\n\n[144] Ps. xxii. 23.\n\n[145] Rom. viii. 17.\n\n[146] Heb. ii. 11.\n\n[147] Aratus.\n\n[148] Heb. viii. 10\u201312; Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.\n\n[149] _Il._ vi. 236.\n\n[150] Eph. vi. 14\u201317.\n\n[151] Isa. lviii. 9.\n\n[152] _Odys._ xii. 226.\n\n[153] _Odys._ xii. 184.\n\n[154] 1 Cor. ii. 9.\n\n[155] Eurip. _Bacch._ 916.\n\n[156] Matt. xi. 28, 29, 30.\n\n[157] Clement here draws a distinction, frequently made by early\nChristian writers, between the image and likeness of God. Man never\nloses the image of God; but as the likeness consists in moral\nresemblance, he may lose it, and he recovers it only when he becomes\nrighteous, holy, and wise.\n\n[158] Ps. lxxxii. 6.\n\n[159] Ps. lxxiii. 1.\n\n[160] The p\u00e6dagogus.\n\n[161] Num. vi. 9.\n\n[162] Num. vi. 2.\n\n[163] Ps. lxxxvi. 2, 3.\n\n[164] Mark ii. 11.\n\n[165] John xi. 23.\n\n[166] Bishop Kaye (_Some Account of the Writings and Opinions of\nClement of Alexandria_, p. 48) translates, \u201creceiving from man that\nwhich made man (that on account of which man was made).\u201d But it seems\nmore likely that Clement refers to the ideal man in the divine mind,\nwhom he identifies elsewhere with the Logos, the \u1f05\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03c9\u03c0\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f70\u03c0\u03b1\u03b8\u03ae\u03c2, of\nwhom man was the image. The reader will notice that Clement speaks of\nman as existing in the divine mind before his creation, and creation is\nrepresented by God\u2019s _seeing_ what He had previously within Him merely\nas a hidden power.\n\n[167] John xvi. 27.\n\n[168] John xvii. 23.\n\n[169] Matt. xv. 14.\n\n[170] John i. 14.\n\n[171] Luke xx. 34.\n\n[172] John xxi. 4, 5.\n\n[173] Matt. xix. 14.\n\n[174] Matt. xviii. 3.\n\n[175] Matt. xxi. 9.\n\n[176] Matt. xxi. 16; Ps. viii. 3.\n\n[177] John xiii. 33.\n\n[178] Matt. xi. 16, 17.\n\n[179] Ps. cxiii. 18.\n\n[180] Isa. viii.\n\n[181] Matt. xxv. 33.\n\n[182] Matt. x. 16.\n\n[183] Lev. xv. 29, xii. 8; Luke ii. 24.\n\n[184] Matt. xxiii. 37.\n\n[185] Isa. lxv. 15, 16.\n\n[186] Jer. v. 8.\n\n[187] Zech. ix. 9; Gen. xlix. 11.\n\n[188] Isa. xl. 11.\n\n[189] Matt. xviii. 1.\n\n[190] Theodoret explains this to mean that, as the animal referred to\nhas only one horn, so those brought up in the practice of piety worship\nonly one God.\n\n[191] Matt. vi 34.\n\n[192] Ps. v. 6.\n\n[193] 2 Cor. xi. 2.\n\n[194] Eph. iv. 13\u201315.\n\n[195] 1 Thess. ii. 6, 7.\n\n[196] Isa. lxvi. 2.\n\n[197] Rom. xvi. 19.\n\n[198] Matt. xi. 27; Luke x. 28.\n\n[199] Isa. lxvi. 12, 13.\n\n[200] Gen. xxvi. 8.\n\n[201] Isa. ix. 6.\n\n[202] Luke vii. 28.\n\n[203] John i. 29, 36.\n\n[204] In allusion apparently to John viii. 35, 36.\n\n[205] Ps. lxxxii. 6.\n\n[206] \u03c7\u03ac\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1.\n\n[207] John i. 4.\n\n[208] John v. 24.\n\n[209] viz. the result of His will.\n\n[210] 1 Thess. iv. 9.\n\n[211] Eph. v. 8.\n\n[212] \u03c6\u1ff6\u03c2, light; \u03c6\u03ce\u03c2, a man.\n\n[213] John vi. 40.\n\n[214] John iii. 36.\n\n[215] Matt. ix. 29.\n\n[216] Migne\u2019s text has \u1f70\u03c0\u03bf\u03ba\u03ac\u03bb\u03c5\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2. The emendation \u1f70\u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b7\u03c8\u03b9\u03c2 is\npreferable.\n\n[217] Gal. iii. 23\u201325.\n\n[218] Gal. iii. 26\u201328.\n\n[219] 1 Cor. xii. 13.\n\n[220] Luke x. 21.\n\n[221] Luke x. 21.\n\n[222] 1 Cor. xiv. 20.\n\n[223] 1 Cor. xiii. 11.\n\n[224] viz. simple or innocent as a child, and _foolish_ as a child.\n\n[225] 1 Cor. xiii. 11.\n\n[226] Gal. iv. 1\u20135.\n\n[227] Gal. iv. 7.\n\n[228] 1 Cor. iii. 2.\n\n[229] Ex. iii. 8.\n\n[230] Rev. i. 8.\n\n[231] 1 Cor. iii. 1.\n\n[232] 1 Cor. iii. 3.\n\n[233] John vi. 56.\n\n[234] 1 Cor. xiii. 12.\n\n[235] Rom. viii. 9.\n\n[236] 1 Cor. ii. 9.\n\n[237] 2 Cor. xii. 2\u20134.\n\n[238] Jer. ix. 23; 1 Cor. i. 31; 2 Cor. x. 17.\n\n[239] John vi. 54.\n\n[240] The emendation \u1f70\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03ae\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 is adopted instead of the reading in\nthe text.\n\n[241] John vi. 53, 54.\n\n[242] 1 Pet. ii. 1\u20133. Clement here reads \u03a7\u03c1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2, _Christ_, for\n\u03c7\u03c1\u03b7\u03c3\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2, _gracious_, in Text. Rec.\n\n[243] 1 Cor. vi. 13.\n\n[244] 1 Cor. iii. 2.\n\n[245] John iv. 32\u201334.\n\n[246] Matt. xx. 22, etc.\n\n[247] John vi. 32, 33, 51.\n\n[248] Gen. xlix. 11.\n\n[249] 1 Cor. iii. 2.\n\n[250] _Il._ xiv. 113.\n\n[251] _Il._ i. 248.\n\n[252] Ps. xix. 10.\n\n[253] Deut. xxxii. 13, 14.\n\n[254] Isa. vii. 15.\n\n[255] Phil. iii. 12\u201314.\n\n[256] Phil. iii. 15.\n\n[257] John x. 11.\n\n[258] John x. 16.\n\n[259] \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03cc\u03c2.\n\n[260] \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b5\u03c5\u03c4\u03ae\u03c2; Hos. v. 2.\n\n[261] \u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03b3\u03c9\u03b3\u03af\u03b1.\n\n[262] Deut. xxxii. 10\u201312.\n\n[263] Ex. xx. 1.\n\n[264] Gen. xvii. 1, 2.\n\n[265] Gen. xxviii. 15.\n\n[266] Gen. xxxii. 24.\n\n[267] Or, \u201cagainst the evil one.\u201d\n\n[268] Gen. xxxii. 30.\n\n[269] Gen. xlvi. 3.\n\n[270] Ex. xxxii. 33, 34.\n\n[271] Ex. xxxii. 33, 34.\n\n[272] Ezek. xviii. 23, 32.\n\n[273] Gen. xlix. 6.\n\n[274] Deut. vi. 2.\n\n[275] Matt. xxii. 37.\n\n[276] Jer. i. 7.\n\n[277] Jer. i. 5.\n\n[278] John i. 17.\n\n[279] John i. 3.\n\n[280] Deut. xviii. 15.\n\n[281] Deut. xviii. 19.\n\n[282] Isa. xi. 1, 3, 4.\n\n[283] Ps. cxviii. 18.\n\n[284] Ps. ii. 9.\n\n[285] 1 Cor. iv. 21.\n\n[286] Ps. cx. 2.\n\n[287] Ps. xxiii. 4.\n\n[288] Ecclus. xxi. 7.\n\n[289] Ps. ciii. 14.\n\n[290] Wisd. xi. 25.\n\n[291] John i. 1.\n\n[292] For \u1f00\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2, there are the readings \u1f00\u03c0\u03b1\u03b8\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 and \u1f00\u03c4\u03b9\u03bc\u03af\u03b1\u03c2.\n\n[293] Ecclus. xxii. 6\u20138.\n\n[294] John xv. 1, 2.\n\n[295] Ex. xx. 20.\n\n[296] Ecclus. xxxiv. 14, 15.\n\n[297] Isa. liii. 6.\n\n[298] Deut. xxxii. 23\u201325.\n\n[299] Ecclus. i. 27, 28.\n\n[300] Plato, _Rep._ x. 617 E.\n\n[301] Rom. iii. 5, 6.\n\n[302] Deut. xxxii. 41, 42.\n\n[303] Ecclus. i. 22.\n\n[304] Amos iv. 11.\n\n[305] Deut. xxxii. 20.\n\n[306] Rom. xi. 22.\n\n[307] Matt. v. 44.\n\n[308] John xvii. 21\u201323.\n\n[309] Ex. iii. 14.\n\n[310] John xvii. 24\u201326.\n\n[311] Ex. xx. 5, 6.\n\n[312] Matt. xx. 21, xxv. 33.\n\n[313] Matt. xix. 17.\n\n[314] Ecclus. xvi. 13.\n\n[315] Ecclus. xvi. 12, 3.\n\n[316] Luke vi. 35, 36.\n\n[317] Matt. xix. 17.\n\n[318] Matt. v. 45.\n\n[319] Ps. viii. 4.\n\n[320] Ps. ii. 4, xi. 5, ciii. 19.\n\n[321] Matt. vi. 9.\n\n[322] Rom. iii. 21, 22.\n\n[323] Rom. iii. 26.\n\n[324] Rom. vii. 12.\n\n[325] Luke x. 22; John xvii. 25.\n\n[326] Ecclus. vii. 25, 26.\n\n[327] Matt. xxiii. 37.\n\n[328] Jer. iii. 9, vii. 9, xi. 13, xxxii. 29.\n\n[329] Ezek. ii. 6, 7.\n\n[330] Ex. iii. 18, 19.\n\n[331] Isa. xxix. 13.\n\n[332] Jer. v. 8, 9.\n\n[333] Prov. i. 7.\n\n[334] Hos. iv. 11; \u201cunderstood not\u201d in the Septuagint.\n\n[335] Isa. i. 2, 3.\n\n[336] Jer. i. 16, ii. 13, 19.\n\n[337] Or, rebuke.\n\n[338] Isa. xxx. 1.\n\n[339] Lowth conjectures \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd or \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bc\u03af\u03b6\u03c9\u03bd, instead of \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03bf\u03bc\u1ff6\u03bd.\n\n[340] Isa. i. 4.\n\n[341] Jer. ii. 12, 13.\n\n[342] Lam. i. 8.\n\n[343] H. reads \u03b4\u03b7\u03ba\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03bd, for which the text has \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03b4\u03b5\u03b9\u03ba\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03bd.\n\n[344] Prov. iii. 12.\n\n[345] Ecclus. xxxii. 21.\n\n[346] Ps. cxli. 5.\n\n[347] Jer. vi. 10.\n\n[348] Jer. ix. 26.\n\n[349] Isa. xxx. 9.\n\n[350] Matt. xxiii. 37\u201339.\n\n[351] Isa. i. 4.\n\n[352] Nothing similar to this is found in the fourth Gospel; the\nreference may be to the words of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 7, Luke iii. 7.\n\n[353] Ps. xviii. 43\u201345.\n\n[354] Jer. iii. 8.\n\n[355] Jer. v. 11, 12.\n\n[356] Lam. i. 1, 2.\n\n[357] Jer. iii. 3, 4.\n\n[358] Nahum iii. 4.\n\n[359] Deut. xxxii. 5, 6.\n\n[360] Isa. i. 23.\n\n[361] Ecclus. xviii. 13, 14.\n\n[362] Ecclus. xvi. 12.\n\n[363] Prov. xxiii. 14.\n\n[364] Prov. xxiii. 13.\n\n[365] Rom. xiii. 3, 4.\n\n[366] Gal. iv. 16.\n\n[367] John iv. 13, 14.\n\n[368] Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.\n\n[369] Ezek. xxxiv. 14, 15, 16.\n\n[370] Ezek. xxxiv. 14\u201316.\n\n[371] Isa. lviii. 9.\n\n[372] Isa. xliii. 2.\n\n[373] Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45.\n\n[374] John iv. 6.\n\n[375] Matt. xx. 28.\n\n[376] Here Clement gives the sense of various passages, _e.g._\nJer. vi., Lev. xxvi.\n\n[377] Prov. i. 24, 25.\n\n[378] Ps. lxxviii. 8, 10.\n\n[379] Ps. lxxviii. 32\u201335.\n\n[380] Ecclus. xxx. 8.\n\n[381] Ps. lxxviii. 38.\n\n[382] Ps. lxxxix. 14.\n\n[383] Luke x. 22.\n\n[384] Prov. viii. 4, 6.\n\n[385] Ps. i. 1, 2.\n\n[386] Matt. xi. 5, 6; Luke vii. 19, 22, 23.\n\n[387] Ps. xlviii. 8.\n\n[388] Matt. xxii. 13, xxv. 30.\n\n[389] Ezek. xviii. xxiii.\n\n[390] Matt. xi. 28.\n\n[391] Prov. iii. 13.\n\n[392] In Prov. ii. 4. 5, iii. 15, Jer. ii. 24, we have the sense of\nthese verses.\n\n[393] Baruch iv. 4.\n\n[394] Baruch iii. 9.\n\n[395] Deut. xxxi. 20.\n\n[396] Isa. lvi. 7.\n\n[397] Ps. i. 1\u20133.\n\n[398] Ps. i. 4.\n\n[399] Baruch iii. 13.\n\n[400] Jer. vi. 9.\n\n[401] Jer. vi. 16.\n\n[402] Deut. xxx. 6.\n\n[403] Isa. lvii. 21, xlviii. 22.\n\n[404] Prov. i. 10\u201312.\n\n[405] Ezek. xviii. 4\u20139.\n\n[406] Matt. xiii. 31; Luke xiii. 19.\n\n[407] Ex. xxxii. 6; 1 Cor. x. 7.\n\n[408] Gal. iii. 24.\n\n[409] Matt. xvii. 5.\n\n[410] John i. 3.\n\n[411] John x. 11.\n\n[412] Gen. i. 26.\n\n[413] Matt. vi. 34.\n\n[414] Ps. xlix. 12, 20.\n\n[415] Ecclus. xxxiii. 6.\n\n[416] Prov. xxiii. 3.\n\n[417] 1 Cor. vi. 13.\n\n[418] 1 Cor. vi. 13.\n\n[419] \u1f44\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd, an emendation for \u1f41\u03bd.\n\n[420] Love, or love-feast, a name applied by the ancients to public\nentertainments.\n\n[421] Luke xiv. 8, 10.\n\n[422] Luke xiv. 12, 13.\n\n[423] Luke xiv. 16.\n\n[424] 1 Cor. xiii. 7, 8.\n\n[425] Luke xiv. 15.\n\n[426] 1 Cor. xiii. 3.\n\n[427] Rom. xiv. 16, 17.\n\n[428] Wisd. vi. 19.\n\n[429] Wisd. xvi. 17.\n\n[430] Deut. viii. 3; Matt. iv. 4.\n\n[431] Isa. xxii. 13.\n\n[432] Ecclus. xviii. 32.\n\n[433] 1 Cor. x. 20.\n\n[434] 1 Cor. viii. 7, 8.\n\n[435] Matt. xv. 11.\n\n[436] 1 Cor. viii. 8.\n\n[437] Luke xv. 11.\n\n[438] 1 Cor. x. 27.\n\n[439] 1 Cor. x. 25.\n\n[440] Rom. xiv. 3.\n\n[441] Rom. xiv. 6.\n\n[442] 1 Cor. viii. 13.\n\n[443] 1 Cor. ix. 14.\n\n[444] 1 Cor. viii. 6, 11, 12.\n\n[445] 1 Cor. v. 11.\n\n[446] Rom. xiv. 21.\n\n[447] Rom. xiv. 20.\n\n[448] 1 Cor. xi. 21, 22.\n\n[449] 1 Cor. xi. 33, 34.\n\n[450] Literally, \u201cslave-manners,\u201d the conduct to be expected from\nslaves.\n\n[451] 1 Cor. x. 31.\n\n[452] Matt. xxii. 21.\n\n[453] 1 Cor. x. 23.\n\n[454] Matt. vi. 25, etc.\n\n[455] Prov. xiii. 5.\n\n[456] A bulbous root, much prized in Greece, which grew wild.\n\n[457] Luke xxiv. 41\u201344.\n\n[458] A play here on the words \u03b5\u1f50\u03b4\u03b1\u03af\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd and \u03b4\u03b1\u03af\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd.\n\n[459] \u1f00\u03ba\u03c1\u03cc\u03b4\u03c1\u03c5\u03b1, hard-shelled fruits.\n\n[460] Acts x. 10\u201315.\n\n[461] Matt. xv. 11.\n\n[462] Gen. ix. 2, 3.\n\n[463] Prov. xv. 17.\n\n[464] In allusion to the agap\u00e6, or love-feasts.\n\n[465] 1 Kings vi. 17\u201319, Septuagint.\n\n[466] \u1f44\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, perhaps the hake or cod.\n\n[467] Phil. iii. 19.\n\n[468] 1 Tim. i. 25.\n\n[469] Ex. xvii.; Num. xx.\n\n[470] The exact derivation of _acrothorakes_ is matter of doubt. But we\nhave the authority of Aristotle and Erotian for believing that it was\napplied to those who were slightly drunk. Some regard the clause here\nas an interpolation.\n\n[471] Ecclus. xxxi. 36.\n\n[472] Pentheus in Euripides, _Bacch._\n\n[473] Attributed to Sophocles.\n\n[474] Ecclus. xxx. 38.\n\n[475] Ecclus. xxxi. 31.\n\n[476] Prov. xxiii. 20.\n\n[477] Prov. xxiii. 21.\n\n[478] Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.\n\n[479] Prov. xx. 1.\n\n[480] \u1f00\u03bd\u03b8\u03bf\u03c3\u03bc\u03af\u03b1\u03c2. Some suppose the word to be derived from the name of a\ntown: \u201cThe Anthosmian.\u201d\n\n[481] Amos vi. 4, 6.\n\n[482] Ecclus. xxxi. 30.\n\n[483] Mark xiv. 25; Matt. xxvi. 29.\n\n[484] Matt. xi. 19.\n\n[485] Ecclus. xxvi. 11.\n\n[486] 1 Cor. xi. 20.\n\n[487] \u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2, an emendation for \u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03c9.\n\n[488] _Odyss_. xi. 65.\n\n[489] _Iliad_, i. 589.\n\n[490] Ecclus. xxxi. 23.\n\n[491] Shem and Japheth.\n\n[492] See Ecclus. xxxi. 22, where, however, we have a different reading.\n\n[493] Limpet-shaped cups.\n\n[494] 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30.\n\n[495] Matt. xix. 21.\n\n[496] Baruch iii. 16\u201319.\n\n[497] Or, proud.\n\n[498] \u03ba\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u1fe6\n\n[499] Hag. i. 6.\n\n[500] 1 Tim. vi. 10.\n\n[501] The reading \u1f04\u03bb\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2 is here adopted. The passage is obscure.\n\n[502] Rom. xiii. 12, 13.\n\n[503] Ps. cl. 3\u20135.\n\n[504] Col. iii. 16.\n\n[505] Ps. xxxiii. 1\u20133.\n\n[506] Eph. v. 19; Col. iii. 16.\n\n[507] Wisd. Sirach xxxix. 20, 23.\n\n[508] Ps. cxlix. 3.\n\n[509] Ps. cxlix. 1, 2.\n\n[510] Ps. cxlix. 4.\n\n[511] Matt. vii. 18; Luke vi. 43.\n\n[512] Ecclus. xxi. 23.\n\n[513] _Odyss._ xiv. 461.\n\n[514] Matt. xv. 18.\n\n[515] Eph. iv. 29.\n\n[516] Eph. v. 3, 4.\n\n[517] Matt. v. 22.\n\n[518] Matt. xiii. 36.\n\n[519] Rom. xii. 9.\n\n[520] Gen. ix. 23.\n\n[521] Ex. xx. 14, 17.\n\n[522] Prov. x. 19.\n\n[523] Ecclus. xx. 5.\n\n[524] Ecclus. xx. 8.\n\n[525] Ecclus. xxxi. 41.\n\n[526] Prov. xiv. 3.\n\n[527] Eph. v. 4.\n\n[528] Ecclus. xiv. 1.\n\n[529] Ecclus. ix. 12.\n\n[530] Ecclus. ix. 13.\n\n[531] Ecclus. xxxi. 19\u201321.\n\n[532] Ecclus. xxxii. 15.\n\n[533] Acts vi. 2.\n\n[534] Acts xv. 23, 28, 29.\n\n[535] Prov. x. 14.\n\n[536] Prov. xxiv. 28; Ex. xxiii. 1.\n\n[537] Ecclus. xxxii. 10, 11, 13.\n\n[538] _Iliad_, ii. 213.\n\n[539] Ecclus. ix. 25.\n\n[540] Ecclus. ix. 25.\n\n[541] Matt. xxvi. 7, etc.\n\n[542] Luke vii. 47.\n\n[543] Ps. xix. 5; Rom. x. 18.\n\n[544] Ps. cxxxii.\n\n[545] Matt. xxvi. 23.\n\n[546] Isa. xxix. 13.\n\n[547] John xiii. 5.\n\n[548] 2 Cor. ii. 14\u201316.\n\n[549] Ps. xlv. 9.\n\n[550] Ecclus. xxxviii. 1, 2, 7.\n\n[551] Prov. xvii. 6.\n\n[552] Matt. xxvii. 29.\n\n[553] Isa. i. 3.\n\n[554] 1 Cor. xv. 55.\n\n[555] Ecclus. xxxix. 17, 18, 19.\n\n[556] Ecclus. xxxix. 31, 32.\n\n[557] _Iliad_, xvi. 155.\n\n[558] Luke xii. 35\u201337.\n\n[559] John i. 5.\n\n[560] John i. 3, 4.\n\n[561] Prov. viii. 34.\n\n[562] 1 Thess. v. 5\u20138.\n\n[563] For obvious reasons, we have given the greater part of this\nchapter in the Latin version.\n\n[564] Gen. i. 27.\n\n[565] Deut. xiv. 7.\n\n[566] Rom. i. 26, 27.\n\n[567] Jer. xii. 9.\n\n[568] Ex. xx. 14.\n\n[569] Jer. v. 8.\n\n[570] Lev. xviii. 22.\n\n[571] Lev. xviii. 20.\n\n[572] Prov. xix. 29.\n\n[573] Ecclus. xxiii. 4, 5, 6.\n\n[574] Gen. ii. 23.\n\n[575] Eph. v. 3.\n\n[576] Ecclus. xxiii. 18, 19.\n\n[577] Isa. xxix. 15.\n\n[578] John i. 5.\n\n[579] Wisd. vii. 10 is probably referred to.\n\n[580] Matt. xxii. 30.\n\n[581] That is, the Jewish.\n\n[582] 1 Cor. vi. 15.\n\n[583] Ecclus. xviii. 30.\n\n[584] Ecclus. xix. 2, 3, 5.\n\n[585] Chap. xi. is not a separate chapter in the Greek, but appears as\npart of chap. x.\n\n[586] Luke xii. 22, 23.\n\n[587] Luke xii. 24.\n\n[588] Luke xii. 24.\n\n[589] Luke xii. 27.\n\n[590] Luke xii. 28.\n\n[591] \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ad\u03c9\u03c1\u03bf\u03c2.\n\n[592] Matt. vi. 32.\n\n[593] Clement uses here Platonic language, \u03b4\u03cc\u03be\u03b1 meaning opinion\nestablished on no scientific basis, which may be true or may be false,\nand \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03bc\u03b7 knowledge sure and certain, because based on the reasons\nof things.\n\n[594] Dan. vii. 9.\n\n[595] Rev. vi. 9, 11.\n\n[596] Ecclus. xi. 4.\n\n[597] Luke vii. 25.\n\n[598] Prodicus, of the island of Ceus.\n\n[599] Or by a conjectural emendation of the text, \u201cIf in this we must\nrelax somewhat in the case of women.\u201d\n\n[600] Various kinds of robes.\n\n[601] Alluding to the practice of covering the fleeces of sheep with\nskins when the wool was very fine, to prevent it being soiled by\nexposure.\n\n[602] Mark i. 6.\n\n[603] 2 Chron. i. 8.\n\n[604] Isa. xx. 2.\n\n[605] Jer. xiii. 1.\n\n[606] Ps. civ. 2.\n\n[607] _Iliad_, v. 83.\n\n[608] Flax grown in the island of Amorgos.\n\n[609] \u1f51\u03c0\u03bf\u03b4\u03b5\u03b4\u03ad\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c4\u1ff7 \u03b4\u03b5\u03b4\u03ad\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9. \u201cWearing boots is near neighbour to\nwearing bonds.\u201d\n\n[610] \u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03c0\u03bf\u03b4\u03b5\u03c2.\n\n[611] Mark i. 7; Luke iii. 16.\n\n[612] Matt. vi. 33.\n\n[613] 1 Cor. x. 23.\n\n[614] _Iliad_, ii. 872.\n\n[615] \u1f19\u03bb\u03bb\u03cc\u03b2\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd by conjecture, as more suitable to the connection than\n\u1f19\u03bb\u03bb\u03ad\u03b2\u03bf\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd or \u1f19\u03bb\u03ad\u03b2\u03bf\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd, Hellebore of the MS., though Hellebore\nmay be intended as a comic ending.\n\n[616] Luke vii. 19, 20.\n\n[617] Zeph. i. 18.\n\n[618] Logos is identified with reason; and it is by reason, or the\ningenuity of man, that gold is discovered and brought to light.\n\n[619] \u03b5\u1f34\u03b4\u03c9\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd, an appearance, an image.\n\n[620] Hos. ii. 8.\n\n[621] Hos. ii. 13.\n\n[622] By mistake for Paul. Clement quotes here, as often, from memory\n(1 Tim. ii. 9, 10).\n\n[623] Prov. xix. 17.\n\n[624] Prov. x. 4.\n\n[625] Prov. iii. 13\u201315.\n\n[626] 1 Cor. ii. 9.\n\n[627] _Odyss._ iv. 457.\n\n[628] Phil. ii. 7.\n\n[629] 1 Cor. xiii. 4.\n\n[630] Isa. liii. 2, 3.\n\n[631] Aristophanes, _Lysistrata_.\n\n[632] Prov. ix. 18.\n\n[633] Wealth.\n\n[634] 1 Thess. ii. 17.\n\n[635] Jer. iv. 30.\n\n[636] 2 Cor. iv. 18.\n\n[637] 1 Sam. xvi. 7.\n\n[638] 2 Cor. v. 7.\n\n[639] _Iphigenia in Aulis_, 71.\n\n[640] _Phaethon_ of Euripides.\n\n[641] Gen. vi. 1, 2.\n\n[642] Dan. vii. 9.\n\n[643] Matt. v. 36.\n\n[644] Ecclus. xxv. 6.\n\n[645] Eph. iv. 20\u201324.\n\n[646] Matt. x. 30.\n\n[647] \u1f10\u03b3\u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03bc\u03b7\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b7\u03bd seems to be here used in a middle, not a passive\nsense, as \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b8\u03bc\u03b7\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2 is sometimes.\n\n[648] 2 Cor. xiii. 5.\n\n[649] Deut. xxiii. 17.\n\n[650] Rom. viii. 28, 29.\n\n[651] Lev. xix. 29.\n\n[652] Ps. cxxxiii. 2.\n\n[653] Ecclus. xix. 26, 27.\n\n[654] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, i. 232.\n\n[655] Of which they drink.\n\n[656] 1 Sam. viii. 13.\n\n[657] Ex. xxiii. 2.\n\n[658] Ecclus. xi. 31.\n\n[659] Ecclus. xi. 31.\n\n[660] Ecclus. ix. 22.\n\n[661] Eph. v. 3.\n\n[662] \u03a6\u03bf\u03be\u03cc\u03c2, in allusion to Thersites, to which Homer applies this\nepithet.\n\n[663] Prov. xix. 17.\n\n[664] Matt. xxv. 40.\n\n[665] Prov. x. 4.\n\n[666] Hes. _Works and Days_, ii. 371.\n\n[667] Matt. v. 28.\n\n[668] John i. 3.\n\n[669] Prov. viii. 10, 11.\n\n[670] Prov. viii. 19.\n\n[671] Prov. xi. 24.\n\n[672] Ps. cxii. 9.\n\n[673] Matt. vii. 7, 8.\n\n[674] Prov. iii. 5.\n\n[675] 1 Kings xix. 4, 6.\n\n[676] Luke x. 4.\n\n[677] Prov. xiii. 8.\n\n[678] Deut. viii. 3; Matt. iv. 4.\n\n[679] The word used by Clement here for frugality is \u03b5\u1f50\u03c4\u03ad\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1, and he\nsupposes the word to mean originally \u201cspending well.\u201d A proper way of\nspending money is as good as unfailing riches, since it always has\nenough for all that is necessary.\n\n[680] Euripid. _Orestes_, 587.\n\n[681] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, i. 291.\n\n[682] _Ibid._\n\n[683] _Ibid._\n\n[684] Jude 5, 6.\n\n[685] Following Lowth\u2019s conjecture of \u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03c6\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03c9\u03bd instead of that of the\ntext, \u03ba\u03b1\u03ba\u03cc\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b1\u03c2.\n\n[686] \u1f00\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03c9\u03c0\u03bf\u03b3\u03bd\u03b1\u03c6\u03b5\u1fd6\u03b1.\n\n[687] Matt. xxiii. 27.\n\n[688] Matt. xxiii. 25, 26.\n\n[689] Isa. iv. 4.\n\n[690] Prov. xxxi. 19, 20, Septuagint.\n\n[691] Gen. xviii. 6.\n\n[692] Gen. xxix. 9.\n\n[693] _Ibid._\n\n[694] \u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03af\u03bd\u03b4\u03b1 or \u03c6\u03b5\u03bd\u03bd\u03af\u03c2.\n\n[695] The text has \u1f26\u03bb\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd. The true reading, doubtless, is \u1f24\u03bb\u03b7\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd. That\nPittacus exercised himself thus, is stated by Isidore of Pelusium,\nDiogenes, Laertius, Plutarch.\n\n[696] Gen. xxx. 37. Not poplar, as in A. V.\n\n[697] Gen. xviii. 8.\n\n[698] 1 Pet. ii. 12.\n\n[699] Plato\u2019s words are: \u201cThe web is not to be more than a woman\u2019s work\nfor a month. White colour is peculiarly becoming for the gods in other\nthings, but especially in cloth. Dyes are not to be applied, except for\nwarlike decorations.\u201d--PLATO, _De Legibus_, xii. 992.\n\n[700] \u039a\u03b1\u03c4\u1f70 \u039b\u03cc\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd. The reading in the text is \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03ac\u03bb\u03bf\u03b3\u03bf\u03bd.\n\n[701] Rom. xiii. 14.\n\n[702] Prov. xi. 22.\n\n[703] \u0395\u1f50\u03c4\u03c5\u03c7\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2, for which the text has \u1f11\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03c7\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03b9\u03c2.\n\n[704] Ecclus. xxi. 24.\n\n[705] Masculine.\n\n[706] \u03b3\u03b5\u03b3\u03bb\u03c5\u03bc\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, written on the margin of Reg. for \u03b3\u03b5\u03b3\u03c5\u03bc\u03bd\u03c9\u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2\n(naked) of the text.\n\n[707] Ps. cxxxiii. 2.\n\n[708] \u201cNot\u201d does not occur in the MSS.\n\n[709] For \u03b4\u03b5\u03b4\u03bf\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2, the conjectural emendation \u03b4\u03b5\u03b4\u03c5\u03ba\u03cc\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 has been\nadopted.\n\n[710] \u03a6\u03c5\u03bb\u03ac\u03c3\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd, Sylburg and Bod. Reg., agrees better than \u03bc\u03b1\u03bb\u03ac\u03c3\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd\nwith the context.\n\n[711] 1 Cor. xi. 3. Nov. reads \u201cChrist,\u201d as in St. Paul, instead of\n\u201cGod.\u201d\n\n[712] 1 Tim. ii. 9.\n\n[713] 1 Pet. iii. 1\u20134.\n\n[714] In reference to Prov. xxxi. 22.\n\n[715] Prov. xxxi. 26, 27, 28, 30, quoted from memory, and with variety\nof reading.\n\n[716] Prov. xii. 4.\n\n[717] Prov. v. 3\u20135, Septuagint.\n\n[718] We have read from Nov. \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b7 for \u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03cd\u03bd\u03b7\u03c2.\n\n[719] From some comic poet.\n\n[720] Nov. reads \u1f64\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b5\u03af\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9. In the translation the conjecture \u1f64\u03c1\u03b1\n\u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b5\u03af\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd is adopted.\n\n[721] An adaptation of Prov. v. 5, 6.\n\n[722] An imitation of Zeno\u2019s saying, \u201cIt is better to slip with the\nfeet than the tongue.\u201d\n\n[723] Quoting from memory, he has substituted \u1f14\u03ba\u03ba\u03bf\u03c8\u03bf\u03bd for \u1f14\u03be\u03b5\u03bb\u03b5 (Matt.\nv. 29).\n\n[724] Prov. x. 10.\n\n[725] Ecclus. xxvi. 12.\n\n[726] Col. iii. 5, 6.\n\n[727] Prov. ix. 13\u201318.\n\n[728] \u03c4\u1f78 \u1f04\u03c3\u03c7\u03b7\u03bc\u03bf\u03bd \u03c3\u03c7\u1fc6\u03bc\u03b1 (Isa. iii. 16, 17), Sept.\n\n[729] \u03ac \u03ba\u03cd\u03c9\u03bd, catella. The literal English rendering is coarser and\nmore opprobrious than the original, which Helen applies to herself\n(_Iliad_, vi. 344, v. 356).\n\n[730] 1 Pet. ii. 18.\n\n[731] 1 Pet. iii. 8. Clement has substituted \u03c4\u03b1\u03c0\u03b5\u03b9\u03bd\u03cc\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 for\n\u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03cc\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 (courteous).\n\n[732] This passage has been variously amended and translated. The\nreading of the text has been adhered to, but \u1f40\u03c1\u03b8\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5 has been coupled\nwith what follows.\n\n[733] Sylburg suggests \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03c2 (passing by) instead of \u03c0\u03b1\u03c1\u03b9\u03b6\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b1\u03c2.\n\n[734] \u03ba\u03cd\u03b2\u03bf\u03c2, a die marked on all the six sides.\n\n[735] \u03b4\u03b9\u1f70 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03c9\u03bd. The \u1f00\u03c3\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1\u03b3\u03ac\u03bb\u03bf\u03b9 were dice marked on four sides\nonly. Clement seems to use these terms here indifferently.\n\n[736] Lowth\u2019s conjecture of \u1f14\u03c1\u03c9\u03c2 instead of \u1f10\u03c1\u1fb6 has been adopted.\n\n[737] Lev. xi. 13, 14; Deut. xiv. 12.\n\n[738] Ps. i. 1, Septuagint.\n\n[739] Acts iii. 14.\n\n[740] \u1f00\u03bd\u03b1\u03bc\u03b9\u03be\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 adopted instead of the reading \u1f00\u03bc\u03b9\u03be\u03af\u03b1\u03c2, which is\nplainly wrong.\n\n[741] \u03bb\u03b9\u03c7\u03bd\u03b5\u03c5\u03bf\u03cd\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2 on the authority of the Pal. MS. Nov. Reg.\nBod.\n\n[742] Ex. xx. 7.\n\n[743] In allusion to the cleansing of the temple (John ii. 13\u201317; Matt.\nxxi. 12, 13; Luke xix. 45, 46).\n\n[744] 1 Cor. xi. 5.\n\n[745] Matt. viii. 22.\n\n[746] 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.\n\n[747] Rom. xvi. 16.\n\n[748] 1 John iv. 7.\n\n[749] Matt. v. 13.\n\n[750] Prov. xxvii. 14.\n\n[751] Prov. iv. 25.\n\n[752] 2 Cor. viii. 20, 21.\n\n[753] Ecclus. ix. 8.\n\n[754] Ecclus. ix. 8.\n\n[755] 1 Pet. i. 17\u201319.\n\n[756] 1 Pet. iv. 3.\n\n[757] Ps. xxxiii. 16, 17; 1 Pet. iii. 13.\n\n[758] Prov. x. 10, Sept.\n\n[759] Ezek. xviii. 23.\n\n[760] 1 Cor. ii. 9.\n\n[761] Ps. i. 6.\n\n[762] Isa. xlv. 3.\n\n[763] Rom. xi. 33.\n\n[764] Luke vi. 31.\n\n[765] Matt. xxii. 37, 39, 40.\n\n[766] Ex. xx.; Deut. v.\n\n[767] Isa. i. 16, 17, 18.\n\n[768] Where, no one knows.\n\n[769] Isa. lviii. 7, 8, 9.\n\n[770] Isa. i. 7, 11, 13.\n\n[771] Isa. i. 11\u201313.\n\n[772] Ps. li. 19.\n\n[773] Not in Scripture.\n\n[774] Luke xvii. 3, 4.\n\n[775] Prov. xiii. 11.\n\n[776] 1 Pet. iv. 8.\n\n[777] Matt. xxii. 21; Mark xii. 17; Luke xx. 28.\n\n[778] In Jer. vii. 22, 23, and Zech. viii. we find the substance of\nwhat Clement gives here.\n\n[779] Isa. v. 20, 21.\n\n[780] Luke xiv. 11, xviii. 14.\n\n[781] Prov. xvi. Sept.\n\n[782] Matt. v. 40; Luke vi. 27\u201329.\n\n[783] Matt. xxi. 22.\n\n[784] Prov. xiii. 24.\n\n[785] Luke xi. 43.\n\n[786] Matt. xxv. 34\u201336, 40, 46.\n\n[787] \u1f78\u03b9 \u1f10\u03bc\u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03bf\u1fe6. The reading here adopted is found in Bod. and Reg.\n\n[788] \u03c6\u03c1\u03cc\u03bd\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03b9, not found in Eph. v. 1.\n\n[789] Eph. iv. 25\u201329, v. 1, 2, 22, 25, vi. 1, 4\u20139.\n\n[790] Gal. v. 25, 26, vi. 2, 7, 9.\n\n[791] 1 Thess. v. 13\u201315, 19\u201322.\n\n[792] Col. iv. 2, 5, 6.\n\n[793] 1 Tim. iv. 6\u20138.\n\n[794] 1 Tim. vi. 2.\n\n[795] That is, he who undertakes the instruction of those that are\nfull-grown, as Clement does in the _Stromata_.\n\n[796] 1 John ii. 2\u20136.\n\n[797] _Iliad_, xviii. 483\u2013485; spoken of Vulcan making the shield\nof Achilles.\n\n[798] Phil. ii. 15.\n\n[799] \u0391\u03b9\u1ff6\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2, \u201ccelestial spirits and angels.\u201d--GRABE, in a note on\nBull\u2019s _Defence of the Nicene Creed_.\n\n[800] The translator has done what he could to render this hymn\nliterally. He has been obliged, however, to add somewhat to it in the\nway of expansion, for otherwise it would have been impossible to secure\nanything approaching the flow of English versification. The original\nis in many parts a mere string of epithets, which no ingenuity could\nrender in rhymed verse without some additions.\n\n[801] Or, \u201cships:\u201d \u03bd\u03b7\u1ff6\u03bd, instead of \u03bd\u03b7\u03c0\u03af\u03c9\u03bd, has been suggested as\nbetter sense and better metre.\n\n[802] Or, \u201crejoicing in eternity.\u201d\n\n[803] By altering the punctuation, we can translate thus: \u201cGuide, O\nholy King, Thy children safely along the footsteps of Christ.\u201d\n\n[804] The word used here is \u03c8\u03ac\u03bb\u03c9\u03bc\u03b5\u03bd, originally signifying, \u201cLet us\ncelebrate on a stringed instrument.\u201d Whether it is so used here or not,\nmay be matter of dispute.\n\n[805] Prov. ii. 1, 2.\n\n[806] Prov. iii. 1.\n\n[807] Matt. xiii. 13.\n\n[808] Matt. xviii. 32; Luke xix. 22; Matt. xxv. 30.\n\n[809] 2 Tim. ii. 1, 2.\n\n[810] Gal. vi. 8, 9.\n\n[811] 2 Cor. vi. 4, 10, 11.\n\n[812] 1 Tim. v. 21.\n\n[813] 1 Cor. xi. 27, 28.\n\n[814] 1 Thess. ii. 5, 6, 7.\n\n[815] Matt. ix. 37, 38; Luke x. 2.\n\n[816] John vi. 27.\n\n[817] Matt. vi. 9.\n\n[818] 1 Cor. iii. 8, 9.\n\n[819] Isa. vii. 9.\n\n[820] Gal. vi. 10.\n\n[821] Ps. li. 9\u201314.\n\n[822] _i.e._ perfect men.\n\n[823] Isa. lv. 1.\n\n[824] Prov. v. 15.\n\n[825] 1 Cor. xi. 31, 32. \u201cYou\u201d is the reading of New Testament.\n\n[826] The first probably Tatian, the second Theodotus.\n\n[827] Most likely Pant\u00e6nus, master of the catechetical school in\nAlexandria, and the teacher of Clement.\n\n[828] Prov. xxix. 3.\n\n[829] Matt. v. 15; Mark iv. 21.\n\n[830] John v. 17, 19.\n\n[831] Luke viii. 16, xi. 33.\n\n[832] Eph. iv. 11, 12.\n\n[833] 1 Cor. ix. 20, 21.\n\n[834] Col. i. 28.\n\n[835] Adopting the emendation \u03b3\u03bb\u03c5\u03ba\u03cd \u03c4\u03b9 instead of \u03b3\u03bb\u03c5\u03ba\u03cd\u03c4\u03b7\u03c4\u03b9.\n\n[836] 1 Cor. i. 22.\n\n[837] Matt. viii. 20; Luke ix. 58.\n\n[838] Job v. 13; 1 Cor. iii. 19, 20; Ps. xciv. 11.\n\n[839] Isa. xxix. 14; 1 Cor. i. 19.\n\n[840] Dan. ii. 27, 28.\n\n[841] Ex. xxxi. 2\u20135.\n\n[842] Ex. xxxi. 6.\n\n[843] Ex. xxviii. 3.\n\n[844] Eph. iii. 10; Heb. i. 1.\n\n[845] Ecclus. i. 1.\n\n[846] Prov. ii. 3\u20135.\n\n[847] Prov. iii. 23.\n\n[848] Gal. iii. 24.\n\n[849] Prov. iv. 8, 9.\n\n[850] Prov. iv. 10, 11, 21.\n\n[851] Prov. iv. 18.\n\n[852] Matt. xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34.\n\n[853] Prov. v. 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 20.\n\n[854] Philo Jud\u00e6us, _On seeking Instruction_, 435. See Bohn\u2019s\ntranslation, ii. 173.\n\n[855] Quoted from Philo with some alterations. See Bohn\u2019s translation,\nvol. ii. p. 173.\n\n[856] See Philo, _Meeting to seek Instruction_, Bohn\u2019s translation,\nvol. ii. 160.\n\n[857] Bohn\u2019s trans. vol. ii. 161.\n\n[858] Prov. v. 20. Philo, _On meeting to seek Knowledge_, near\nbeginning.\n\n[859] Philo, in the book above cited, interprets \u201cIsrael,\u201d \u201cseeing\nGod.\u201d From this book all the instances and etymologies occurring here\nare taken.\n\n[860] Gen. xvi. 6.\n\n[861] Prov. iii. 11, 12; Heb. xii. 5, 6.\n\n[862] John xiv. 6.\n\n[863] Prov. vi. 6, 8.\n\n[864] Matt. vi. 6; John iv. 23.\n\n[865] Heb. v. 14.\n\n[866] Prov. x. 12, 17.\n\n[867] Prov. x. 19.\n\n[868] Something seems wanting to complete the sense.\n\n[869] Rom. iv.\n\n[870] John vii. 17.\n\n[871] Ps. cxviii. 19.\n\n[872] Ps. cxviii. 20.\n\n[873] \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c7\u03b5\u03af\u03c1\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1.\n\n[874] 1 Tim. vi. 3\u20135.\n\n[875] _Ph\u0153niss\u00e6_, 474, 475.\n\n[876] Where, nobody knows.\n\n[877] Eph. iv. 14.\n\n[878] Tit. i. 10.\n\n[879] Matt. v. 13.\n\n[880] Gal. v. 26.\n\n[881] Plato, _Crito_, 34.\n\n[882] The empirics were a class of physicians who held practice to be\nthe one thing essential.\n\n[883] Prov. xxii. 20, 21. The Septuagint and Hebrew both differ from\nthe reading here.\n\n[884] John i. 3.\n\n[885] A victory disastrous to the victor and the vanquished.\n\n[886] Ps. xlix. 9, 10, Sept.\n\n[887] Ecclus. xix. 22.\n\n[888] Prov. xiv. 6.\n\n[889] Prov. x. 31.\n\n[890] Plato\u2019s _Politicus_, p. 261.\n\n[891] Plato\u2019s _The\u00e6tetus_, p. 184 _c._\n\n[892] The story of \u0152dipus being a myth.\n\n[893] The possessor of true divine knowledge.\n\n[894] 2 Tim. ii. 14, 16, 17.\n\n[895] 1 Cor. iii. 19, 20.\n\n[896] Jer. ix. 23, 24.\n\n[897] 2 Cor. i. 9,10; 1 Cor. ii. 5, 15.\n\n[898] Col. ii. 4, 8.\n\n[899] Col. ii. 8.\n\n[900] Acts xvii. 18.\n\n[901] The apostle says \u201cfoolish,\u201d 2 Tim. ii. 23.\n\n[902] Matt. vii. 7.\n\n[903] Col. ii. 4.\n\n[904] Col. ii. 6, 7.\n\n[905] Col. ii. 8.\n\n[906] _i.e._ of the gospel.\n\n[907] Phil. i. 9, 10.\n\n[908] Gal. iv. 3, 1, 2.\n\n[909] Gen. xxi. 10; Gal. iv. 30.\n\n[910] Heb. v. 14.\n\n[911] Heb. v. 13.\n\n[912] 1 Thess. v. 21.\n\n[913] Prov. xv. 14.\n\n[914] The substance of these remarks is found in Prov. ii.\n\n[915] 1 Cor. iv. 19, 20.\n\n[916] 1 Cor. viii. 1, 2, 3.\n\n[917] Matt. vii. 6.\n\n[918] 1 Cor. ii, 14.\n\n[919] Matt. x. 27.\n\n[920] Namely Jesus: John viii. 12.\n\n[921] We have adopted the translation of Potter, who supposes a\nreference to the fate of Pentheus. Perhaps the translation should be:\n\u201cexcluding Christ, as the apartments destined for women exclude the\nman\u201d [all males].\n\n[922] Eccles. i. 16, 17, 18.\n\n[923] Eccles. vii. 13, according to Sept.\n\n[924] Prov. viii. 9, 10, 11.\n\n[925] Tit. i. 12, 13.\n\n[926] 1 Cor. xv. 32, 33.\n\n[927] \u201cNequid nimis.\u201d \u039c\u03b7\u03b4\u1f72\u03bd \u1f04\u03b3\u03b1\u03bd.\n\n[928] _Odyss._ ix. 351.\n\n[929] \u039c\u03b5\u03bb\u03ad\u03c4\u03b7 \u03c0\u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1 \u03ba\u03ac\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9\u03c1\u03b5\u1fd6.\n\n[930] Or Eubulus.\n\n[931] \u1f41\u03bc\u03b1\u03ba\u03bf\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bf\u03bd.\n\n[932] Greece is ample, O Cebes, in which everywhere there are good\nmen; and many are the races of the barbarians, over all of whom you\nmust search, seeking such a physician, sparing neither money nor\npains.--_Ph\u00e6do_, p. 78 A.\n\n[933] This sense is obtained by the omission of \u03bc\u03cc\u03bd\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 from the text,\nwhich may have crept in in consequence of occurring in the previous\ntext, to make it agree with what Plato says, which is, \u201cAnd both\namong Greeks and barbarians, there are many who have shown many and\nillustrious deeds, generating virtue of every kind, to whom many\ntemples on account of such sons are raised.\u201d--_Symp._ p. 209 E.\n\n[934] Plato, _Tim\u00e6us_, p. 47 A.\n\n[935] A mistake of Clement for _The Republic_.\n\n[936] _Tim\u00e6us_, p. 22 B.\n\n[937] About which the learned have tortured themselves greatly. The\nreference is doubtless here to some pillar inscribed with what was\ndeemed a writing of importance. But as to Acicarus nothing is known.\n\n[938] Otherwise Zaratus, or Zabratus, or Zaras, who, Huet says, was\nZoroaster.\n\n[939] Adopting Lowth\u2019s emendation, \u03a3\u03b9\u03b2\u03cd\u03bb\u03bb\u03b7\u03bd \u03c6\u03ac\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9.\n\n[940] Or, according to the reading in Pausanias, and the statement of\nPlutarch, \u201cwho was the daughter of Poseidon.\u201d\n\n[941] Or Saman\u00e6i.\n\n[942] Altered for \u1f08\u03bb\u03bb\u03cc\u03b2\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9 in accordance with the note of Montacutius,\nwho cites Strabo as an authority for the existence of a sect of Indian\nsages called Hylobii, \u1f50\u03bb\u03cc\u03b2\u03b9\u03bf\u03b9--Silvicol\u00e6.\n\n[943] \u0392\u03bf\u03cd\u03c4\u03c4\u03b1.\n\n[944] C\u00e6sar, _Gallic War_, book i. chap. 50.\n\n[945] Sozomen also calls Philo a Pythagorean.\n\n[946] \u03bd\u03ac\u03b2\u03bb\u03b1 and \u03bd\u03b1\u03cd\u03bb\u03b1; Lat. _nablium_; doubtless the Hebrew \u05e0\u05b5\u05d1\u05b6\u05dc\n(psaltery, A.V.), described by Josephus as a lyre or harp of twelve\nstrings (in Ps. xxxiv. it is said ten), and played with the fingers.\nJerome says it was triangular in shape.\n\n[947] \u1f00\u03c5\u03c4\u03cc\u03c7\u03b8\u03c9\u03bd, Eusebius. The text has \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u03c3\u03c7\u03b5\u1f78\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd, off-hand.\n\n[948] Literally, fist-straps, the c\u00e6stus of the boxers.\n\n[949] \u03c3\u03b1\u03bc\u03b2\u03cd\u03ba\u03b7, a triangular lyre with four strings.\n\n[950] \u201cKing of the Egyptians\u201d in the MSS. of Clement. The\ncorrection is made from Eusebius, who extracts the passage.\n\n[951] 1 Cor. xiv. 9, 10, 11, 13.\n\n[952] By one or other of the parties in the case, it being a practice\nof advocates in ancient times to compose speeches which the litigants\ndelivered.\n\n[953] John x. 8.\n\n[954] Prov. ix. 3.\n\n[955] John viii. 44.\n\n[956] Clement reads \u03c0\u03c1\u03cc\u03b3\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd for \u03c0\u03c1\u03cc\u03b8\u03b5\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd.\n\n[957] Eph. iii. 10, 11.\n\n[958] Ex. xxviii. 3.\n\n[959] 1 Cor. ii. 13.\n\n[960] John i. 16.\n\n[961] John vii. 16, 18.\n\n[962] 2 Tim. iii. 2.\n\n[963] Or, \u201cinquirers.\u201d\n\n[964] 1 Cor. i. 19, 20.\n\n[965] 1 Cor. i. 21\u201324; where the reading is \u0398\u03b5\u03cc\u03bd, not \u0391\u1f50\u03c4\u03cc\u03bd.\n\n[966] Tit. ii. 14.\n\n[967] Acts ii. 41.\n\n[968] Isa. i. 19.\n\n[969] Eph. iv. 24, 25, 27\u201329.\n\n[970] Acts xvii. 22\u201328.\n\n[971] Acts xxvi. 17, 18.\n\n[972] Viz., \u201cThe Unknown God.\u201d\n\n[973] There is no such utterance in the _Demodocus_. But in the\n_Amatores_, Basle Edition, p. 237, Plato says: \u201cBut it is not so,\nmy friend; nor is it philosophizing to occupy oneself in the arts, nor\nlead a life of bustling meddling activity, nor to learn many things:\nbut it is something else. Since I, at least, would reckon this a\nreproach; and that those who devote themselves to the arts ought to be\ncalled mechanics.\u201d\n\n[974] According to the emendation of Menagius: \u201c\u1f61\u03c2 \u1f04\u03c1\u03b1 \u1f21 \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03c5\u03bc\u03ac\u03b8\u03b5\u03b9\u03b1\n\u03bd\u03cc\u03bf\u03bd \u03bf\u1f50\u03c7\u03b9 \u03b4\u03b9\u03b4\u03ac\u03c3\u03ba\u03b5\u03b9.\u201d\n\n[975] Adopting the emendations, \u03b4\u03b5\u1fd6 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03bc\u03b7\u03c2 instead of \u03b4\u03b9\u2019 \u1f10\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03bc\u03b7\u03c2,\nand \u03c4\u1f00\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u1ff6\u03bd for \u03c4\u1f00\u03b3\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u1fe6, omitting \u1f61\u03c3\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1.\n\n[976] \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c6\u03ce\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2.\n\n[977] \u03c3\u03c5\u03bd\u03b5\u03ba\u03c6\u03ce\u03bd\u03b7\u03c3\u03b9\u03c2.\n\n[978] 1 Cor. xiii. 12.\n\n[979] Prov. xi. 21.\n\n[980] Prov. xi. 24.\n\n[981] Prov. xxvii. 25, 26.\n\n[982] Prov. xxvii. 23.\n\n[983] Rom. ii. 14, 16.\n\n[984] Prov. xxvii. 10.\n\n[985] Prov. ix. 12.\n\n[986] Prov. ix. 17.\n\n[987] \u1f30\u03b5\u03c1\u03b1 \u03b3\u03c1\u03ac\u03bc\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 (2 Tim. iii. 15), translated in A. V. \u201csacred\nscriptures;\u201d also in contradistinction to the so-called sacred letters\nof the Egyptians, Chaldeans, etc.\n\n[988] 1 Cor. i. 24.\n\n[989] Prov. xxi. 11.\n\n[990] John vii. 18.\n\n[991] The deficiencies of the text in this place have been supplied\nfrom Eusebius\u2019 _Chronicles_.\n\n[992] _i.e._ Solon, in his conversation with the Egyptian priests.\n\n[993] \u03c0\u03cc\u03bb\u03b5\u03b9, \u201ccity,\u201d is not in Plato.\n\n[994] \u1f10\u03c0\u03bf\u03bc\u03b2\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1.\n\n[995] Chushan-rishathaim; Judg. iii. 8.\n\n[996] Othniel.\n\n[997] Eglon.\n\n[998] Ehud.\n\n[999] Jabin.\n\n[1000] Abinoam; Judg. iv. 6.\n\n[1001] _Sic._ \u0398\u03c9\u03bb\u03b5\u1fb6\u03c2 may be the right reading instead of \u0392\u03c9\u03bb\u03b5\u1fb6\u03c2.\nBut Judg. x. 1 says Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo.\n\n[1002] Ibzan, A.V., Judg. xii. 8; \u1fba\u03b2\u03b1\u03b9\u03c3\u03c3\u03ac\u03bd, _Septuagint_.\nAccording to Judg. xii. 11, Elon the Zebulonite succeeded Ibzan.\n\n[1003] Not mentioned in Scripture.\n\n[1004] _Sic._\n\n[1005] See 1 Kings xiii. 1, 2. The text has \u1f10\u03c0\u1f76 \u1fec\u03bf\u03b2\u03bf\u1f70\u03bc, which, if\nretained, must be translated, \u201cin the reign of Roboam.\u201d But Jeroboam\nwas probably the original reading.\n\n[1006] Asa.\n\n[1007] So Lowth corrects the text, which has five.\n\n[1008] Supposed to be \u201cson of Oded\u201d or \u201cAdad,\u201d _i.e._ Azarias.\n\n[1009] _i.e._ of Ochozias.\n\n[1010] Athalia.\n\n[1011] She was slain in the seventh year of her reign.\n\n[1012] Not of her brother, but of her son Ahaziah, all of whom she slew\nexcept Joash.\n\n[1013] Clement is wrong in asserting that Amos the prophet was the\nfather of Isaiah. The names are written differently in Hebrew, though\nthe same in Greek.\n\n[1014] By a strange mistake Hosea king of Israel is reckoned among the\nkings of Judah.\n\n[1015] Lev. xxvi. 30.\n\n[1016] 2 Kings xxiii. 22.\n\n[1017] 2 Kings xxii. 8.\n\n[1018] Huldah.\n\n[1019] Zephaniah.\n\n[1020] \u1f41 \u1f38\u03c9\u03c3\u03af\u03bf\u03c5, the reading of the text, is probably corrupt.\n\n[1021] Josias.\n\n[1022] \u1f41 \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f38\u03c9\u03ac\u03c7\u03b1\u03c2, instead of which the text has \u03ba\u03b1\u1f76 \u1f38\u03c9\u03ac\u03c7\u03b1\u03c2.\n\n[1023] The names, however, were not the same. The name of the latter\nwas Jehoiachin. The former in Hebrew is written \u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d9\u05e7\u05d9\u05dd, the latter\n\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d9\u05db\u05d9\u05df. By copyists they were often confounded, as here by Clement.\n\n[1024] Lowth supplies \u1f38\u03b5\u03b6\u03b5\u03ba\u03b9\u1f74\u03bb, which is wanting in the text.\n\n[1025] He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, but was killed before the\ntime of Zedekiah by Joachin. Jer. xxvi. 20.\n\n[1026] Habakkuk.\n\n[1027] Juba.\n\n[1028] Malachi, my angel or messenger.\n\n[1029] On account of killing the serpent, as is related in the\napocryphal book, \u201cBel and the Dragon, or Serpent.\u201d\n\n[1030] Dan. ix. 24\u201327.\n\n[1031] The text has David.\n\n[1032] Hiram or Huram was his name (1 Kings vii. 13, 40). Clement seems\nto have mistaken the words \u1f51\u03c0\u1f72\u03c1 \u1f66\u03bd occurring in the epistle referred to\nfor a proper name.\n\n[1033] Such, according to Harpocration, was the title of this work. In\nthe text it is called \u03a4\u03c1\u03b9\u03b3\u03c1\u03ac\u03bc\u03bc\u03bf\u03b9. Suidas calls it \u03a4\u03c1\u03b9\u03b1\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1\u03af.\n\n[1034] The passage seems incomplete. The bearing of the date of the\nbuilding of Thasos on the determination of the age of Archilochus, may\nbe, that it was built by Telesiclus his son.\n\n[1035] Called so because he sojourned at Athens. His birthplace was\nAcarnania.\n\n[1036] Another reading is \u03a4\u03b9\u03bc\u03bf\u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u03c2; Sylburgius conjectures \u03a4\u03b9\u03bc\u03cc\u03be\u03b5\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2.\n\n[1037] The text has \u03a6\u03c5\u03c4\u1f7c, which Sylburgius conjectures has been changed\nfrom \u03a0\u03c5\u03b8\u03ce.\n\n[1038] Plato\u2019s _Theages_, p. 93.\n\n[1039] _i.e._ of Io, the daughter of Inachus.\n\n[1040] For \u0392\u03b1\u03b2\u03c5\u03bb\u1ff6\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2, \u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03ad\u03c9\u03bd has been substituted. In an old\nchronologist, as quoted by Clement elsewhere, the latter occurs; and\nthe date of the expulsion of the kings harmonizes with the number of\nyears here given, which that of the destruction of Babylon does not.\n\n[1041] Gen. xlvi. 27.\n\n[1042] Luke iii. 1, 2, 23.\n\n[1043] Isa, lxi. 1, 2.\n\n[1044] Dan. viii. 13, 14.\n\n[1045] Dan. xii. 12.\n\n[1046] Dan. xii. 11, 12.\n\n[1047] Matt. i. 17.\n\n[1048] This is the account given by Philo, of whose book on the life of\nMoses this chapter is an epitome, for the most part in Philo\u2019s words.\n\n[1049] \u201cHe was the seventh in descent from the first, who, being a\nforeigner, was the founder of the whole Jewish race.\u201d--PHILO.\n\n[1050] Acts vii. 22.\n\n[1051] Adopting the reading \u03c6\u03b9\u03bb\u03bf\u03c3\u03bf\u03c6\u03af\u03b1\u03bd \u1f00\u0390\u03be\u03b1\u03c2 instead of \u03c6\u03cd\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd \u1f04\u03be\u03b1\u03c2.\n\n[1052] Acts v. 1.\n\n[1053] Or Chenephres.\n\n[1054] Not in Scripture. The reference may be to Matt. vi. 33.\n\n[1055] Phil. ii. 10, 11.\n\n[1056] \u1f70 privative, and \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03af, many.\n\n[1057] \u201cI am,\u201d A.V.; Ex. iii. 13.\n\n[1058] From the ancient derivation of this word from \u03b8\u03b5\u03cc\u03c2.\n\n[1059] Gal. iii. 19, 23, 24.\n\n[1060] John x. 11.\n\n[1061] 1 Cor. i. 24.\n\n[1062] 1 Cor. xi. 32.\n\n[1063] Ps. cxviii. 18.\n\n[1064] Deut. viii. 2, 3, 5, 11.\n\n[1065] Prov. xxii. 3, 4.\n\n[1066] Prov. xxviii. 5.\n\n[1067] 1 Pet. iv. 8.\n\n[1068] Rom. ii. 17\u201320.\n\n[1069] Prov. iii. 13, 16.\n\n[1070] Prov. iii. 3.\n\n[1071] Isa. lix. 7, 8; Rom. iii. 16, 17.\n\n[1072] Ps. xiii. 3; Rom. iii. 18.\n\n[1073] Rom. i. 22.\n\n[1074] 1 Tim. i. 8.\n\n[1075] 1 Tim. i. 7.\n\n[1076] 1 Tim. i. 5.\n\n[1077] \u1f10\u03c0\u03bf\u03c0\u03c4\u03b5\u03af\u03b1, the third and highest grade of initiation into the\nmysteries.\n\n[1078] A saying not in Scripture; but by several of the ancient fathers\nattributed to Christ or an apostle.\n\n[1079] \u201cThat thou may\u2019st well know whether he be a god or a\nman.\u201d--HOMER.\n\n[1080] Matt. xi. 27.\n\n[1081] Eph. iii. 3, 4.\n\n[1082] The text has \u03c4\u03b5\u03c4\u03c1\u03b1\u03c7\u1ff6\u03c2, which is either a mistake for \u03c4\u03c1\u03b9\u03c7\u1ff6\u03c2, or\nbelongs to a clause which is wanting. The author asserts the triple\nsense of Scripture--the mystic, the moral, and the prophetic.\n\n[1083] Prov. vi. 23.\n\n[1084] Gen. xvii. 4. \u201cAs for me, behold, my covenant is with\nthee.\u201d--A.V.\n\n[1085] The allusion here is obscure. The suggestion has been made that\nit is to ver. 2 of the same chapter, which is thus taken to intimate\nthat the covenant would be verbal, not written.\n\n[1086] Referring to an apocryphal book so called.\n\n[1087] \u03a3\u03c4\u03c1\u03c9\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c2.\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes:\n\n1. Obvious printers\u2019, punctuation and spelling errors have been\ncorrected silently.\n\n2. Where hyphenation is in doubt, it has been retained as in the\noriginal.\n\n3. Some hyphenated and non-hyphenated versions of the same words have\nbeen retained as in the original.\n\n4. Italics are shown as _xxx_.","title":"The writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 1 (of 2)","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":153541}