THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH: THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS -- BOOK II
BOOK II
CHAP. I.--OCCASION OF WRITING THIS BOOK.
WHEN we had formerly some conversation, my very good friend Autolycus, and
when you inquired who was my God, and for a little paid attention to my
discourse, I made some explanations to you concerning my religion; and then having
bid one another adieu, we went with much mutual friendliness each to his own
house although at first you had home somewhat hard upon me. For you know and
remember that you supposed our doctrine was foolishness. As you then afterwards urged
me to do, I am desirous, though not educated to the art of speaking, of more
accurately demonstrating, by means of this tractate, the vain labour and empty
worship in which you are held; and I wish also, from a few of your own histories
which you read, and perhaps do not yet quite understand, to make the truth
plain to you.
CHAP. II.--THE GODS ARE DESPISED WHEN THEY ARE MADE; BUT BECOME VALUABLE WHEN
BOUGHT.
And in truth it does seem to me absurd that statuaries and carvers, or
painters, or moulders, should both design and paint, and carve, and mould, and
prepare gods, who, when they are produced by the artificers, are reckoned of no
value; but as soon as they are purchased(1) by some and placed in some so-called
temple, or in some house, not only do those who bought them sacrifice to them,
but also those who made and sold them come with much devotion, and apparatus of
sacrifice, and libations, to worship them; and they reckon them gods, not
seeing that they are just such as when they were made by themselves, whether stone,
or brass, or wood, or colour, or some other material. And this is your case,
too, when you read the histories and genealogies of the so-called gods. For when
you read of their births, you think of them as men, but afterwards you call
them gods, and worship them, not reflecting nor understanding that, when born,
they are exactly such beings as ye read of before.
CHAP. III.--WHAT HAS BECOME OF THE GODS?
And of the gods of former times, if indeed they were begotten, the
generation was sufficiently prolific. But now, where is their generation exhibited?
For if of old they begot and were begotten, it is plain that even to the present
time there should be gods begotten and born; or at least if it be not so, such
a race will be reckoned impotent. For either they have waxed old, and on that
account no longer beget, or they have died out and no longer exist. For if the
gods were begotten, they ought to be born even until now, as men, too, are born;
yea, much more numerous should the gods be than men, as the Sibyl says:--
"For if the gods beget, and each remains
Immortal, then the race of gods must be
More numerous than mortals, and the throng
So great that mortals find no room to stand."
For if the children begotten of men who are mortal and short-lived make an
appearance even until now, and men have not ceased to be born, so that cities and
villages are full, and even the country places also are inhabited, how ought
not the gods, who, according to your poets, do not die, much rather to beget and
be begotten, since you say that the gods were produced by generation? And why
was the mount which is called Olympus formerly inhabited by the gods, but now
lies deserted? Or why did Jupiter, in days of yore, dwell on Ida, and was known
to dwell there, according to Homer and other poets, but now is beyond ken? And
why was he found only in one part of the earth, and not everywhere? For either
he neglected the other parts, or was not able to be present everywhere and
provide for all. For if he were, e.g., in an eastern place, he was not in the
western; and if, on the other hand, he were present in the western parts, he was not
in the eastern. But this is the attribute of God, the Highest and Almighty, and
the living God, not only to be everywhere present, but also to see all things
and to hear all, and by no means to be confined in a place; for if He were,
then the place containing Him would be greater than He; for that which contains is
greater than that which is contained. For God is not contained, but is Himself
the place of all. But why has Jupiter left Ida? Was it because he died, or did
that mountain no longer please him? And where has he gone? To heaven? No. But
you will perhaps say, To Crete? Yes, for there, too, his tomb is shown to this
day. Again, you will say, To Pisa, where he reflects glory on the hands of
Phidias to this day. Let us, then, proceed to the writings of the philosophers and
poets.
CHAP. IV.--ABSURD OPINIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHERS CONCERNING GOD.
Some of the philosophers of the Porch say that there is no God at all; or,
if there is, they say that He cares for none but Himself; and these views the
folly of Epicurus and Chrysippus has set forth at large. And others say that
all things are produced without external agency, and that the world is uncreated,
and that nature is eternal;(1) and have dared to give out that there is no
providence of God at all, but maintain that God is only each man's conscience. And
others again maintain that the spirit which pervades all things is God. But
Plato and those of his school acknowledge indeed that God is uncreated, and the
Father and Maker of all things; but then they maintain that matter as well as
God is uncreated, and aver that it is coeval with God. But if God is uncreated
and matter uncreated, God is no longer, according to the Platonists, the Creator
of all things, nor, so far as their opinions hold, is the monarchy(2) of God
established. And further, as God, because He is uncreated, is also unalterable;
so if matter, too, were uncreated, it also would be unalterable, and equal to
God; for that which is created is mutable and alterable, but that which is
uncreated is immutable and unalterable. And what great thing is it if God made the
world out of existent materials?(3) For even a human artist, when he gets
material from some one, makes of it what he pleases. But the power of God is
manifested in this, that out of things that are not He makes whatever He pleases; just
as the bestowal of life and motion is the prerogative of no other than God
alone. For even man makes indeed an image, but reason and breath, or feeling, he
cannot give to what he has made. But God has this property in excess of what man
can do, in that He makes a work, endowed with reason, life, sensation. As,
therefore, in all these respects God is more powerful than man, so also in this;
that out of things that are not He creates and has created things that are, and
whatever He pleases, as He pleases.
CHAP. V.--OPINIONS OF HOMER AND HESIOD CONCERNING THE GODS.
So that the opinion of your philosophers and authors is discordant; for
while the former have propounded the foregoing opinions, the poet Homer is found
explaining the origin not only of the world, but also of the gods, on quite
another hypothesis. For he says somewhere:(4)--
"Father of Gods, Oceanus, and she
Who bare the gods, their mother Tethys, too,
From whom all rivers spring, and every sea."
In saying which, however, he does not present God to us. For who does not know
that the ocean is water? But if water, then not God. God indeed, if He is the
creator of all things, as He certainly is, is the creator both of the water and
of the seas. And Hesiod himself also declared the origin, not only of the
gods, but also of the world itself. And though he said that the world was created,
he showed no inclination to tell us by whom it was created. Besides, he said
that Saturn, and his sons Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, were gods, though we find
that they are later born than the world. And he also relates how Saturn was
assailed in war by his own son Jupiter; for he says:(5)--
"His father Saturn he by might o'ercame,
And 'mong th' immortals ruled with justice wise,
And honours fit distributed to each.
Then he introduces in his poem the daughters of Jupiter, whom he names Muses,
and as whose suppliant he appears, desiring to ascertain from them how all
things were made; for he says:(6)--
"Daughters of Jove, all hail! Grant me your aid
That I in numbers sweet and well-arrayed,
Of the immortal gods may sing the birth;
Who of the starry heav'ns were born, and earth;
Who, springing from the murky night at first,
Were by the briny ocean reared and nursed.
Tell, too, who form unto the earth first gave,
And rivers, and the boundless sea whose wave
Unwearied sinks, then rears its crest on high;
And how was spread yon glittering canopy
Of glistening stars that stud the wide-spread heaven.
Whence sprang the gods by whom all good is given?
Tell from their hands what varied gifts there came,
Riches to some, to others wealth, or fame;
How they have dwelt from the remotest time
In many-nooked Olympus' sunny clime.
These things, ye Muses, say, who ever dwell
Among Olympian shades--since ye can tell:
From the beginning there thy feet have strayed;
Then tell us which of all things first was made.
But how could the Muses, who are younger than the world, know these things? Or
how could they relate to Hesiod [what was happening], when their father was
not yet born?
CHAP. VI.--HESIOD ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD.
And in a certain way he indeed admits matter [as self-existent] and the
creation of the world [without a creator], saying:(1)--
"First of all things was chaos made, and next
Broad-bosom'd earth's foundations firm were fixed,
Where safely the immortals dwell for aye,
Who in the snowy-peak'd Olympus stay.
Afterwards gloomy Tartarus had birth
In the recesses of broad-pathwayed earth,
And Love, ev'n among gods most beauteous still,
Who comes all-conquering, bending mind and will,
Delivering from care, and giving then
Wise counsel in the breasts of gods and men.
From chaos Erebus and night were born,
From night and Erebus sprung air and morn.
Earth in her likeness made the starry heaven,
That unto all things shelter might be given,
And that the blessed gods might there repose.
The lofty mountains by her power arose,
For the wood-nymphs she made the pleasant caves,
Begot the sterile sea with all his waves,
Loveless; but when by heaven her love was sought,
Then the deep-eddying ocean forth she brought."
And saying this, he has not yet explained by whom all this was made. For if
chaos existed in the beginning, and matter of some sort, being uncreated, was
previously existing, who was it that effected the change on its condition, and
gave it a different order and shape? Did matter itself alter its own form and
arrange itself into a world (for Jupiter was born, not only long after matter, but
long after the world and many men; and so, too, was his father Saturn), or was
there some ruling power which made it; I mean, of course, God, who also
fashioned it into a world? Besides, he is found in every way to talk nonsense, and to
contradict himself. For when he mentions earth, and sky, and sea, he gives us
to understand that from these the gods were produced; and from these again [the
gods] he declares that certain very dreadful men were sprung,--the race of the
Titans and the Cyclopes, and a crowd of giants, and of the Egyptian gods,--or,
rather, vain men, as Apollonides, surnamed Horapius, mentions in the book
entitled Semenouthi, and in his other histories concerning the worship of the
Egyptians and their kings, and the vain labours in which they engaged.(2)
CHAP. VII.--FABULOUS HEATHEN GENEALOGIES.
Why need I recount the Greek fables,--of Pluto, king of darkness, of
Neptune descending beneath the sea, and embracing Melanippe and begetting a cannibal
son,--or the many tales your writers have woven into their tragedies
concerning the sons of Jupiter, and whose pedigree they register because they were born
men, and not gods? And the comic poet Aristophanes, in the play called "The
Birds," having taken upon him to handle the subject of the Creation, said that in
the beginning the world was produced from an egg, saying:(3)--
"A windy egg was laid by black-winged night
At first."
But Satyrus, also giving a history of the Alexandrine families, beginning from
Philopator, who was also named Ptolemy, gives out that Bacchus was his
progenitor; wherefore also Ptolemy was the founder of this(4) family. Satyrus then
speaks thus: That Dejanira was born of Bacchus and Althea, the daughter of
Thestius; and from her and Hercules the son of Jupiter there sprang, as I suppose,
Hyllus; and from him Cleodemus, and from him Aristomachus, and from him Temenus,
and from him Ceisus, and from him Maron, and from him Thestrus, and from him
Acous, and from him Aristomidas, and from him Caranus, and from him Coenus, and
from him Tyrimmas, and from him Perdiccas, and from him Philip, and from him
AEropus, and from him Alcetas, and from him Amyntas, and from him Bocrus, and from
him Meleager, and from him Arsinoe, and from her and Lagus Ptolemy Soter, and
from him and Arsinoe Ptolemy Euergetes, and from him and Berenice, daughter of
Maga, king of Cyrene, Ptolemy Philopator. Thus, then, stands the relationship of
the Alexandrine kings to Bacchus. And therefore in the Dionysian tribe there
are distinct families: the Althean from Althea, who was the wife of Dionysus and
daughter of Thestius; the family of Dejanira also, from her who was the
daughter of Dionysus and Althea, and wife of Hercules;--whence, too, the families
have their names: the family of Ariadne, from Ariadne, daughter of Minos and wife
of Dionysus, a dutiful daughter, who had intercourse with Dionysus in another
form; the Thestian, from Thestius, the father of Althea; the Thoantian, from
Thoas, son of Dionysus; the Staphylian, from Staphylus, son of Dionysus; the
Euaenian, from Eunous, son of Dionysus; the Maronian, from Maron, son of Ariadne and
Dionysus;--for all these are sons of Dionysus. And, indeed, many other names
were thus originated, and exist to this day; as the Heraclidae from Hercules,
and the Apollonidae from Apollo, and the Poseidonii from Poseidon, and from Zeus
the Dii and Diogenae.
CHAP. VIII.--OPINIONS CONCERNING PROVIDENCE.
And why should I recount further the vast array of such names and
genealogies? So that all the authors and poets, and those called philosophers, are
wholly deceived; and so, too, are they who give heed to them. For they plentifully
composed fables and foolish stories about their gods, and did not exhibit them
as gods, but as men, and men, too, of whom some were drunken, and others
fornicators and murderers. But also concerning the origin of the world, they uttered
contradictory and absurd opinions. First, some of them, as we before explained,
main-mined that the world is uncreated. And those that said it was uncreated
and self-producing contradicted those who propounded that it was created. For by
conjecture and human conception they spoke, and not knowing the truth. And
others, again, said that there was a providence, and destroyed the positions of
the former writers. Aratus, indeed, says:(1)--
"From Jove begin my song; nor ever be
The name unuttered: all are frill of thee;
The ways and haunts of men; the heavens and sea:
On thee our being hangs; in thee we move;
All are thy offspring and the seed of Jove.
Benevolent, he warns mankind to good,
Urges to toil and prompts the hope of food.
He tells where cattle best may graze, and where
The soil, deep-furrowed, yellow grain will bear.
What time the husbandman should plant or sow,
'Tis his to tell,' tis his alone to know."
Who, then, shall we believe: Aratus as here quoted, or Sophocles, when he
says:(2)--
"And foresight of the future there is none;
'Tis best to live at random, as one can"?
And Homer, again, does not agree with this, for he says(3) that virtue
"Waxes or wanes in men as Jove decrees."
And Simonides says:--
"No man nor state has virtue save from God;
Counsel resides in God; and wretched man
Has in himself nought but his wretchedness."
So, too, Euripides:--
"Apart from God, there's nothing owned by men."
And Menander:--
"Save God alone, there's none for us provides."
And Euripides again:--
"For when God wills to save, all things He'll bend
To serve as instruments to work His end."
And Thestius:--
"If God design to save you, safe you are,
Though sailing in mid-ocean on a mat."(4)
And saying numberless things of a like kind, they contradicted themselves.
At least Sophocles, who in another place denied Providence, says:--
"No mortal can evade the stroke of God."
Besides, they both introduced a multitude of gods, and yet spoke of a Unity;
and against those who affirmed a Providence they maintained in opposition that
there was no Providence. Wherefore Euripides says:--
"We labour much and spend our strength in vain,
For empty hope, not foresight, is our guide."
And without meaning to do so, they acknowledge that they know not the
truth; but being inspired by demons and puffed up by them, they spoke at their
instance whatever they said. For indeed the poets,--Homer, to wit, and Hesiod,
being, as they say, inspired by the Muses,--spoke from a deceptive fancy,(5) and
not with a pure but an erring spirit. And this, indeed, clearly appears from the
fact, that even to this day the possessed are sometimes exorcised in the name
of the living and true God; and these spirits of error themselves confess that
they are demons who also formerly inspired these writers. But sometimes some of
them wakened up in soul, and, that they might be for a witness both to
themselves and to all men, spoke things in harmony with the prophets regarding the
monarchy of God, and the judgment and such like.
CHAP. IX.--THE PROPHET'S INSPIRED BY THE HOLY GHOST.
But men of God carrying in them a holy spirit(6) and becoming prophets,
being inspired and made wise by God, became God-taught, and holy, and righteous.
Wherefore they were also deemed worthy of receiving this reward, that they
should become instruments of God, and contain the wisdom that is from Him, through
which wisdom they uttered both what regarded the creation of the world and all
other things. For they predicted also pestilences, and famines, and wars. And
there was not one or two, but many, at various times and seasons among the
Hebrews; and also among the Greeks there was the Sibyl; and they all have spoken
things consistent and harmonious with each other, both what happened before them
and what happened in their own time, and what things are now being fulfilled in
our own day: wherefore we are persuaded also concerning the future things that
they will fall out, as also the first have been accomplished.
CHAP. X.--THE WORLD CREATED BY GOD THROUGH THE WORD.
And first, they taught us with one consent that God made all things out of
nothing; for nothing was coeval with God: but He being His own place, and
wanting nothing, and existing before the ages, willed to make man by whom He might
be known; for him, therefore, He prepared the world. For he that is created is
also needy; but he that is uncreated stands in need of nothing. God, then,
having His own Word internal(1) within His own bowels, begat Him, emitting(2) Him
along with His own wisdom before all things. He had this Word as a helper in the
things that were created by Him, and by Him He made all things. He is called
"governing principle" [<greek>arkh</greek>], because He rules, and is Lord of
all things fashioned by Him. He, then, being Spirit of God, and governing
principle, and wisdom, and power of the highest, came down upon the prophets, and
through them spoke of the creation of the world and of all other things. For the
prophets were not when the world came into existence, but the wisdom of God which
was in Him, and His holy Word which was always present with Him. Wherefore He
speaks thus by the prophet Solomon: "When He prepared the heavens I was there,
and when He appointed the foundations of the earth I was by Him as one brought
up with Him."(3) And Moses, who lived many years before Solomon, or, rather,
the Word of God by him as by an instrument, says, "In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth." First he named the "beginning,"(4) and "creation,"(5)
then he thus introduced God; for not lightly and on slight occasion is it
right to name God. For the divine wisdom foreknew that some would trifle and name a
multitude of gods that do not exist. In order, therefore, that the living God
might be known by His works, and that [it might be known that] by His Word God
created the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, he said, "In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Then having spoken of their
creation, he explains to us: "And the earth was without form, and void, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved upon the water."
This, sacred Scripture teaches at the outset, to show that matter, from which
God made and fashioned the world, was in some manner created, being produced by
God.(6)
CHAP. XI.--THE SIX DAYS' WORK DESCRIBED.
Now, the beginning of the creation is light; since light manifests the
things that are created. Wherefore it is said: "And God said, Let light be,(7) and
light was; and God saw the light, that it was good," manifestly made good for
man. "And God divided the light from the darkness; and God called the light
Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the
first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and
let it divide the waters from the waters: and it was so. And God made the
firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters
which were above the firmament. And God called the firmament Heaven: and God saw
that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God
said, Let the water under the heaven be gathered into one place, and let the
dry land appear: and it was so. And the waters were gathered together into their
places, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land Earth, and the
gathering together of the waters He called Seas: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed after his
kind and in his likeness, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind,
whose seed is in itself, in his likeness: and it was so. And the earth brought
forth grass, the herb yielding seed after his kind, and the fruit-tree yielding
fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind, on the earth: and God saw that
it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said,
Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light on earth, to
divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and
for days, and for years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the
heaven, to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He
made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give
light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide
the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and
the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth the
creeping things that have life, and fowl flying over the earth in the firmament
of heaven: and it was so. And God created great whales, and every living
creature that creepeth, which the waters brought forth after their kind and every
winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them
saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let fowl
multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God
said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and
creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God
made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind,
and all the creeping things of the earth. And God said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man:
in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God
blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
heaven, and over all cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creeping
things that creep upon the earth. And God said, Behold I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the
which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat, and
to all the beasts of the earth, and to all the fowls of heaven, and to every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, which has in it the breath of life;
every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw everything that He had
made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the
sixth day. And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the sixth day God finished His works which He made, and rested on the
seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day, and
sanctified it; because in it He rested from all His works which God began to
create."
CHAP. XII.--THE GLORY OF THE SIX DAYS' WORK.
Of this six days' work no man can give a worthy explanation and
description of all its parts, not though he had ten thousand tongues and ten thousand
mouths; nay, though he were to live ten thousand years, sojourning in this life,
not even so could he utter anything worthy of these things, on account of the
exceeding greatness and riches of the wisdom of God which there is in the six
days' work above narrated. Many writers indeed have imitated [the narration], and
essayed to give an explanation of these things; yet, though they thence derived
some suggestions, both concerning the creation of the world and the nature of
man, they have emitted no slightest spark of truth. And the utterances of the
philosophers, and writers, and poets have an appearance of trustworthiness, on
account of the beauty of their diction; but their discourse is proved to be
foolish and idle, because the multitude of their nonsensical frivolities is very
great; and not a stray morsel of truth is found in them. For even if any truth
seems to have been uttered by them, it has a mixture of error. And as a
deleterious drug, when mixed with honey or wine, or some other thing, makes the whole
[mixture] hurtful and profitless; so also eloquence is in their case found to be
labour in vain; yea, rather an injurious thing to those who credit it.
Moreover, [they spoke] concerning the seventh day, which all men acknowledge; but the
most know not that what among the Hebrews is called the "Sabbath," is translated
into Greek the "Seventh" (<greek>ebdomas</greek>), a name which is adopted by
every nation, although they know not the reason of the appellation. And as for
what the poet Hesiod says of Erebus being produced from chaos, as well as the
earth and love which lords it over his [Hesiod's] gods and men, his dictum is
shown to be idle and frigid, and quite foreign to the truth. For it is not meet
that God be conquered by pleasure; since even men of temperance abstain from all
base pleasure and wicked lust.
CHAP. XIII.--REMARKS ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.
Moreover, his [Hesiod's] human, and mean, and very weak conception, so far
as regards God, is discovered in his beginning to relate the creation of all
things from the earthly things here below. For man, being below, begins to build
from the earth, and cannot in order make the roof, unless he has first laid
the foundation. But the power of God is shown in this, that, first of all, He
creates out of nothing, according to His will, the things that are made. "For the
things which are impossible with men are possible with God."(1) Wherefore,
also, the prophet mentioned that the creation of the heavens first of all took
place, as a kind of roof, saying: "At the first God created the heavens"--that is,
that by means of the "first" principle the heavens were made, as we have
already shown. And by "earth" he means the ground and foundation, as by "the deep" he
means the multitude of waters; and "darkness" he speaks of, on account of the
heaven which God made coveting the waters and the earth like a lid. And by the
Spirit which is borne above the waters, he means that which God gave for
animating the creation, as he gave life to man,(1) mixing what is fine with what is
fine. For the Spirit is fine, and the water is fine, that the Spirit may nourish
the water, and the water penetrating everywhere along with the Spirit, may
nourish creation. For the Spirit being one, and holding the place of light,(2) was
between the water and the heaven, in order that the darkness might not in any
way communicate with the heaven, which was nearer God, before God said, "Let
there be light." The heaven, therefore, being like a dome-shaped covering,
comprehended matter which was like a clod. And so another prophet, Isaiah by name,
spoke in these words: "It is God who made the heavens as a vault, and stretched
them as a tent to dwell in."(3) The command, then, of God, that is, His Word,
shining as a lamp in an enclosed chamber, lit up all that was under heaven, when
He had made light apart from the world.(4) And the light God called Day, and
the darkness Night. Since man would not have been able to call the light Day, or
the darkness Night, nor, indeed, to have given names to the other things, had
not he received the nomenclature from God, who made the things themselves. In
the very beginning, therefore, of the history and genesis of the world, the holy
Scripture spoke not concerning this firmament [which we see], but concerning
another heaven, which is to us invisible, after which this heaven which we see
has been called "firmament," and to which half the water was taken up that it
might serve for rains, and showers, and dews to mankind. And half the water was
left on earth for rivers, and fountains, and seas. The water, then, covering all
the earth, and specially its hollow places, God, through His Word, next caused
the waters to be collected into one collection, and the dry land to become
visible, which formerly had been invisible. The earth thus becoming visible, was
yet without form. God therefore formed and adorned it(5) with all kinds of herbs,
and seeds and plants.
CHAP. XIV.--THE WORLD COMPARED TO THE SEA.
Consider, further, their variety, and diverse beauty, and multitude, and
how through them resurrection is exhibited, for a pattern of the resurrection of
all men which is to be. For who that considers it will not marvel that a
fig-tree is produced from a fig-seed, or that very huge trees grow from the other
very little seeds? And we say that the world resembles the sea. For as the sea,
if it had not had the influx and supply of the rivers and fountains to nourish
it, would long since have been parched by reason of its saltness; so also the
world, if it had not had the law of God and the prophets flowing and welling up
sweetness, and compassion, and righteousness, and the doctrine of the holy
commandments of God, would long ere now have come to ruin, by reason of the
wickedness and sin which abound in it. And as in the sea there are islands, some of
them habitable, and well-watered, and fruitful, with havens and harbours in which
the storm-tossed may find refuge,--so God has given to the world which is
driven and tempest-tossed by sins, assemblies(6)--we mean holy churches(7)--in which
survive the doctrines of the truth, as in the island-harbours of good
anchorage; and into these run those who desire to be saved, being lovers of the truth,
and wishing to escape the wrath and judgment of God. And as, again, there are
other islands, rocky and without water, and barren, and infested by wild beasts,
and uninhabitable, and serving only to injure navigators and the storm-tossed,
on which ships are wrecked, and those driven among them perish,--so there are
doctrines of error--I mean heresies(7)--which destroy those who approach them.
For they are not guided by the word of truth; but as pirates, when they have
filled their vessels,(8) drive them on the fore-mentioned places, that they may
spoil them: so also it happens in the case of those who err from the truth, that
they are all totally ruined by their error.
CHAP. XV.--OF THE FOURTH DAY.
On the fourth day the luminaries were made; because God, who possesses
foreknowledge, knew the follies of the vain philosophers, that they were going to
say, that the things which grow on the earth are produced from the heavenly
bodies, so as to exclude God. In order, therefore, that the truth might be
obvious, the plants and seeds were produced prior to the heavenly bodies, for what is
posterior cannot produce that which is prior. And these contain the pattern and
type of a great mystery. For the sun is a type of God, and the moon of man.
And as the sun far surpasses the moon in power and glory, so far does God surpass
man. And as the sun remains ever full, never becoming less, so does God always
abide perfect, being full of all power, and understanding, and wisdom, and
immortality, and all good. But the moon wanes monthly, and in a manner dies, being
a type of man; then it is born again, and is crescent, for a pattern of the
future resurrection. In like manner also the three days which were before the
luminaries,(1) are types of the Trinity,(2) of God, and His Word, and His
wisdom.(3) And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be
God, the Word, wisdom, man. Wherefore also on the fourth day the lights were made.
The disposition of the stars, too, contains a type of the arrangement and
order of the righteous and pious, and of those who keep the law and commandments of
God. For the brilliant and bright stars are an imitation of the prophets, and
therefore they remain fixed, not declining, nor passing from place to place.
And those which hold the second place in brightness, are types of the people of
the righteous. And those, again,, which change their position, and flee from
place to place, which also are cared planets,(4) they too are a type of the men
who have wandered from God, abandoning His law and commandments.
CHAP. XVI.--OF THE FIFTH DAY.
On the fifth day the living creatures which proceed from the waters were
produced, through: which also is revealed the manifold wisdom of God in these
things; for who could count their multitude and very various kinds? Moreover, the
things proceeding from the waters were blessed by God, that this also might be
a sign of men's being destined to receive repentance and remission of sins,
through the water and laver of regeneration,--as many as come to the truth, and
are born again, and receive blessing from God. But the monsters of the deep and
the birds of prey are a similitude of covetous men and transgressors. For as
the fish and the fowls are of one nature,--some indeed abide in their natural
state, and do no harm to those weaker than themselves, but keep the law of God,
and eat of the seeds of the earth; others of them, again, transgress the law of
God, and eat flesh, and injure those weaker than themselves: thus, too, the
righteous, keeping the law of God, bite and injure none, but live holily and
righteously. But robbers, and murderers, and godless persons are like monsters of the
deep, and wild beasts, and birds of prey; for they virtually devour those
weaker than themselves. The race, then, of fishes and of creeping things, though
partaking of God's blessing, received no very distinguishing property.
CHAP. XVII.--OF THE SIXTH DAY.
And on the sixth day, God having made the quadrupeds, and wild beasts, and
the land reptiles, pronounced no blessing upon them, reserving His blessing
for man, whom He was about to create on the sixth day. The quadrupeds, too, and
wild beasts, were made for a type of some men, who neither know nor worship God,
but mind earthly things, and repent not. For those who turn from their
iniquities and live righteously, in spirit fly upwards like birds, and mind the things
that are above, and are well-pleasing to the will of God. But those who do not
know nor worship God, are like birds which have wings, but cannot fly nor soar
to the high things of God. Thus, too, though such persons are called men, yet
being pressed down with sins, they mind grovelling and earthly-things. And the
animals are named wild beasts [<greek>qhria</greek>], from their being hunted
[<greek>qhreuesqai</greek>], not as if they had been made evil or venomous from
the first--for nothing was made evil by God,(5) but all things good, yea, very
good,--but the sin in which man was concerned brought evil upon them. For when
man transgressed, they also transgressed with him. For as, if the master of the
house himself acts rightly, the domestics also of necessity conduct themselves
well; but if the master sins, the servants also sin with him; so in like
manner it came to pass, that in the case of man's sin, he being master, all that was
subject to him sinned with him. When, therefore, man again shall have made his
way back to his natural condition, and no longer does evil, those also shall
be restored to their original gentleness.
CHAP. XVIII.--THE CREATION OF MAN.
But as to what relates to the creation of man, his own creation cannot be
explained by man, though it is a succinct account of it which holy Scripture
gives. For when God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness," He
first intimates the dignity of man. For God having made all things by His Word,
and having reckoned them all mere bye-works, reckons the creation of man to be
the only work worthy of His own hands. Moreover, God is found, as if needing
help, to say, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." But to no one
else than to His own Word and wisdom did He say, "Let Us make." And when He had
made and blessed him, that he might increase and replenish the earth, He put
all things under his dominion, and at his service; and He appointed from the
first that he should find nutriment from the fruits of the earth, and from seeds,
and herbs, and acorns, having at the same time appointed that the animals be of
habits similar tom an's, that they also might eat of an the seeds of the earth.
CHAP. XIX.--MAN IS PLACED IN PARADISE.
God having thus completed the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all
that are in them, on the sixth day, rested on the seventh day from all His
works which He made. Then holy Scripture gives a summary in these words: "This is
the book of the generation of the heavens and the earth, when they were
created, in the day that the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and every green
thing of the field, before it was made, and every herb of the field before it grew.
For God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to
till the ground."(1) By this He signifies to us, that the whole earth was at
that time watered by a divine fountain, and had no need that man should till it;
but the earth produced all things spontaneously by the command of God, that man
might not be wearied by tilling it. But that the creation of man might be made
plain, so that there should not seem to be an insoluble problem existing among
men, since God had said, "Let Us make man;" and since His creation was not yet
plainly related, Scripture teaches us, saying: "And a fountain went up out of
the earth, and watered the face of the whole earth; and God made man of the dust
of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a
living soul."(2) Whence also by most persons the soul is called immortal.(3)
And after the formation of man, God chose out for him a region among the places
of the East, excellent for light, brilliant with a very bright atmosphere,
[abundant] in the finest plants; and in this He placed man.
CHAP. XX.--THE SCRIPTURAL ACCOUNT OF PARADISE.
Scripture thus relates the words of the sacred history: "And God planted
Paradise, eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And
out of the ground made God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and
good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of Paradise, and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil. And a river flows out of Eden, to water the
garden; thence it is parted into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that
is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; and the
gold of that land is good, and there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the
name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land
of Ethiopia. And the third river is Tigris: this is it which goeth toward
Syria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the LORD God took the man whom He had
made, and put him in the garden, to till and to keep it. And God commanded
Adam, saying, Of every tree that is in the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ye shall not eat of it; for in the
day ye eat of it ye shall surely die. And the LORD God said, It is not good that
the man should be alone; let Us make him an helpmeet for him. And out of the
ground God formed all the beasts of the field, and all the fowls of heaven, and
brought them to Adam. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was
the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowls of the
air, and to all the beasts of the field. But for Adam there was not found an
helpmeet for him. And God caused an ecstasy to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and
He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib,
which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto
Adam. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she
shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they two shall
be one flesh. And they were both naked, Adam and his wife, and were not
ashamed.
CHAP. XXI.--OF THE FALL OF MAN.
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And the serpent said to the woman, Why hath God said, Ye shall
not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We
eat of every tree of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the
midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch
it, lest ye die. And the serpent Said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise; and having taken of the fruit thereof, she did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her: and they did eat. And the eyes of them
both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves
together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the
LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said unto
Him, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked,
and I hid myself. And He said unto him, Who told thee that thou wast naked,
unless thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not
eat? And Adam said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of
the tree, and I did eat. And God said to the woman, What is this that thou hast
done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art accursed above
all the beasts of the earth; on thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and dust
shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and
the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel.(1) And to the woman He said, I will greatly multiply
thy sorrow and thy travail: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy
desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam He
said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of
the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is
the ground in(2) thy works: in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy
life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, till thou
return unto the earth; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return."(3) Such is the account given by holy Scripture of
the history of man and of Paradise.
CHAP. XXII.--WHY GOD IS SAID TO HAVE WALKED.
You will say, then, to me: "You said that God ought not to be contained in
a place, and how do you now say that He walked in Paradise?" Hear what I say.
The God and Father, indeed, of all cannot be contained, and is not found in a
place, for there is no place of His rest; but His Word, through whom He made all
things, being His power and His wisdom, assuming the person(4) of the Father
and Lord of all, went to the garden in the person of God, and conversed with
Adam. For the divine writing itself teaches us that Adam said that he had heard
the voice. But what else is this voice but the Word of God, who is also His Son?
Not as the poets and writers of myths talk of the sons of gods begotten from
intercourse [with women], but as truth expounds, the Word, that always exists,
residing within the heart of God. For before anything came into being He had Him
as a counsellor, being His own mind and thought. But when God wished to make
all that He determined on, He begot this Word, uttered,(5) the first-born of all
creation, not Himself being emptied of the Word [Reason], but having begotten
Reason, and always conversing with His Reason. And hence the holy writings teach
us, and all the spirit-bearing [inspired] men, one of whom, John, says, "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,"(6) showing that at first
God was alone, and the Word in Him. Then he says, "The Word was God; all things
came into existence through Him; and apart from Him not one thing came into
existence." The Word, then, being God, and being naturally(7) produced from God,
whenever the Father of the universe wills, He sends Him to any place; and He,
coming, is both heard and seen, being sent by Him, and is found in a place.
CHAP, XXIII.--THE TRUTH OF THE ACCOUNT IN GENESIS.
Man, therefore, God made on the sixth day, and made known this creation
after the seventh day, when also He made Paradise, that he might be in a better
and distinctly superior place. And that this is true, the fact itself proves.
For how can one miss seeing that the pains which women suffer in childbed, and
the oblivion of their labours which they afterwards enjoy, are sent in order that
the word of God may be fulfilled, and that the race of men may increase and
multiply?(8) And do we not see also the judgment of the serpent,--how hatefully
he crawls on his belly and eats the dust,--that we may have this, too, for a
proof of the things which were said aforetime?
CHAP. XXIV.--THE BEAUTY OF PARADISE,
God, then, caused to spring out of the earth every tree that is beautiful
in appearance, or good for food. For at first there were only those things
which were produced on the third day,--plants, and seeds, and herbs; but the things
which were in Paradise were made of a superior loveliness and beauty, since in
it the plants were said to have been planted by God. As to the rest of the
plants, indeed, the world contained plants like them; but the two trees,--the tree
of life and the tree of knowledge,--the rest of the earth possessed not, but
only Paradise. And that Paradise is earth, and is planted on the earth, the
Scripture states, saying:(1) "And the LORD God planted Paradise in Eden eastwards,
and placed man there; and out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every
tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." By the expressions,
therefore, "out of the ground," and "eastwards," the holy writing clearly teaches us
that Paradise is under this heaven, under which the east and the earth are. And
the Hebrew word Eden signifies "delight." And it was signified that a river
flowed out of Eden to water Paradise, and after that divides into four heads; of
which the two called Pison and Gihon water the eastern parts, especially Gihon,
which encompasses the whole land of Ethiopia, and which, they say, reappears in
Egypt under the name of Nile. And the other two rivers are manifestly
recognisable by us--those called Tigris and Euphrates--for these border on our own
regions. And God having placed man in Paradise, as has been said, to till and keep
it, commanded him to eat of all the trees,--manifestly of the tree of life
also; but only of the tree of knowledge He commanded him not to taste. And God
transferred him from the earth, out of which he had been produced, into Paradise,
giving him means of advancement, in order that, maturing and becoming perfect,
and being even declared a god, he might thus ascend into heaven in possession of
immortality. For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor
altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was
made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the
expression, "till it,"(2) no other kind of labour is implied than the observance of
God's command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did
destroy himself, by sin.
CHAP. XXV.--GOD WAS JUSTIFIED IN FORBIDDING MAN TO EAT OF THE TREE OF
KNOWLEDGE.
The tree of knowledge itself was good, and its fruit was good. For it was
not the tree, as some think, but the disobedience, which had death in it. For
there was nothing else in the fruit than only knowledge;. but knowledge is good
when one uses it discreetly.(3) But Adam, being yet an infant in age, was on
this account as yet unable to receive knowledge worthily. For now, also, when a
child is born it is not at once able to eat bread, but is nourished first with
milk, and then, with the increment of years, it advances to solid food. Thus,
too, would it have been with Adam; for not as one who grudged him, as some
suppose, did God command him not to eat of knowledge. But He wished also to make
proof of him, whether he was submissive to His commandment. And at the same time He
wished man, infant as he was,(4) to remain for some time longer simple and
sincere. For this is holy, not only with God, but also with men, that in
simplicity and guilelessness subjection be yielded to parents. But if it is right that
children be subject to parents, how much more to the God and Father of all
things? Besides, it is unseemly that children in infancy be wise beyond their years;
for as in stature one increases in an orderly progress, so also in wisdom. But
as when a law has commanded abstinence from anything, and some one has not
obeyed, it is obviously not the law which causes punishment, but the disobedience
and transgression;--for a father sometimes enjoins on his own child abstinence
from certain things, and when he does not obey the paternal order, he is
flogged and punished on account of the disobedience; and in this case the actions
themselves are not the [cause of] stripes, but the disobedience procures
punishment for him who disobeys;--so also for the first man, disobedience procured his
expulsion from Paradise. Not, therefore, as if there were any evil in the tree
of knowledge; but from his disobedience did man draw, as from a fountain,
labour, pain, grief, and at last fall a prey to death.
CHAP. XXVI.--GOD'S GOODNESS IN EXPELLING MAN FROM PARADISE.
And God showed great kindness to man in this, that He did not suffer him
to remain in sin for ever; but, as it were, by a kind of banishment, cast him
out of Paradise, in order that, having by punishment expiated, within an
appointed time, the sin, and having been disciplined, he should afterwards be restored.
Wherefore also, when man had been formed in this world, it is mystically
written in Genesis, as if he had been twice placed in Paradise; so that the one was
fulfilled when he was placed there, and the second will be fulfilled after the
resurrection and judgment. For just as a vessel, when on being fashioned it has
some flaw, is remoulded or remade, that it may become new and entire; so also
it happens to man by death. For somehow or other he is broken up, that he may
rise in the resurrection whole; I mean spotless, and righteous, and immortal.
And as to God's calling, and saying, Where art thou, Adam? God did this, not as
if ignorant of this; but, being long-suffering, He gave him an opportunity of
repentance and confession.
CHAP. XXVII.--THE NATURE OF MAN.
But some one will say to us, Was man made by nature mortal? Certainly not.
Was he, then, immortal? Neither do we affirm this. But one will say, Was he,
then, nothing? Not even this hits the mark. He was by nature neither mortal nor
immortal. For if He had made him immortal from the beginning, He would have
made him God. Again, if He had made him mortal, God would seem to be the cause of
his death. Neither, then, immortal nor yet mortal did He make him, but, as we
have said above, capable of both; so that if he should incline to the things of
immortality, keeping the commandment of God, he should receive as reward from
Him immortality, and should become God; but if, on the other hand, he should
turn to the things of death, disobeying God, he should himself be the cause of
death to himself. For God made man free, and with power over himself.(1) That,
then, which man brought upon himself through carelessness and disobedience, this
God now vouchsafes to him as a gift through His own philanthropy and pity, when
men obey Him.(2) For as man, disobeying, drew death upon himself; so, obeying
the will of God, he who desires is able to procure for himself life everlasting.
For God has given us a law and holy commandments; and every one who keeps
these can be saved, and, obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption.
CHAP. XXVIII.--WHY EVE WAS FORMED OF ADAM'S RIB.
And Adam having been cast out of Paradise, in this condition knew Eve his
wife, whom God had formed into a wife for him out of his rib. And this He did,
not as if He were unable to make his wife separately, but God foreknew that man
would call upon a number of gods. And having this prescience, and knowing that
through the serpent error would introduce a number of gods which had no
existence,--for there being but one God, even then error was striving to disseminate
a multitude of gods, saying, "Ye shall be as gods;"--lest, then, it should be
supposed that one God made the man and another the woman, therefore He made them
both; and God made the woman together with the man, not only that thus the
mystery of God's sole government might be exhibited, but also that their mutual
affection might be greater. Therefore said Adam to Eve, "This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh." And besides, he prophesied, saying, "For this
cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife;
and they two shall be one flesh;"(3) which also itself has its fulfilment in
ourselves. For who that marries lawfully does not despise mother and father, and
his whole family connection, and all his household, cleaving to and becoming
one with his own wife, fondly preferring her? So that often, for the sake of
their wives, some submit even to death. This Eve, on account of her having been in
the beginning deceived by the serpent, and become the author of sin, the
wicked demon, who also is called Satan, who then spoke to her through the serpent,
and who works even to this day in those men that are possessed by him, invokes
as Eve.(4) And he is called "demon" and "dragon," on account of his
[<greek>apodedrakenai</greek>] revolting from God. For at first he was an angel. And
concerning his history there is a great deal to be said; wherefore I at present omit
the relation of it, for I have also given an account of him in another place.
CHAP. XXIX.--CAIN'S CRIME.
When, then, Adam knew Eve his wife, she conceived and bare a son, whose
name was Cain; and she said, "I have gotten a man from God." And yet again she
bare a second son, whose name was Abel, "who began to be a keeper of sheep, but
Cain tilled the ground."(5) Their history receives a very full narration, yea,
even a detailed explanation:(6) wherefore the book itself, which is entitled
"The Genesis of the World," can more accurately inform those who are anxious to
learn their story. When, then, Satan saw Adam and his wife not only still living,
but also begetting children--being carried away with spite because he had not
succeeded in putting them to death,--when he saw that Abel was well-pleasing to
God, he wrought upon the heart of his brother called Cain, and caused him to
kill his brother Abel. And thus did death get a beginning in this world, to find
its way into every race of man, even to this day. But God, being pitiful, and
wishing to afford to Cain, as to Adam, an opportunity of repentance and
confession, said, "Where is Abel thy brother?" But Cain answered God contumaciously,
saying, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" God, being thus made angry with
him, said, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me
from the earth, which opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy
hand. Groaning and trembling shalt thou be on the earth." From that time the
earth, through fear, no longer receives human blood,(1) no, nor the blood of any
animal; by which it appears that it is not the cause [of death], but man, who
transgressed.
CHAP. XXX.--CAIN'S FAMILY AND THEIR INVENTIONS.
Cain also himself had a son, whose name was Enoch; and he built a city,
which he called by the name of his son, Enoch. From that time was there made a
beginning of the building of cities, and this before the flood; not as Homer
falsely says:(2)--
"Not yet had men a city built."
And to Enoch was born a son, by name Gaidad; who begat a son called Meel; and
Meel begat Mathusala; and Mathusala, Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two
wives, whose names were Adah and Zillah. At that time there was made a beginning of
polygamy, and also of music. For Lamech had three sons: Jabal, Jubal, Tubal.
And Jabal became a keeper of cattle, and dwelt in tents; but Jubal is he who made
known the psaltery and the harp; and Tubal became a smith, a forger in brass
and iron. So far the seed of Cain is registered; and for the rest, the seed of
his line has sunk into oblivion, on account of his fratricide of his brother.
And, in place of Abel, God granted to Eve to conceive and bear a son, who was
called Seth from whom the remainder of the human race proceeds until now. And to
those who desire to be informed regarding all generations, it is easy to give
explanations by means of the holy Scriptures. For, as we have already mentioned,
this subject, the order of the genealogy of man, has been partly handled by us
in another discourse, in the first book of The History.(3) And all these things
the Holy Spirit teaches us, who speaks through Moses and the rest of the
prophets, so that the writings which belong to us godly people are more ancient,
yea, and are shown to be more truthful, than all writers and poets. But also,
concerning music, some have fabled that Apollo was the inventor, and others say
that Orpheus discovered the art of music from the sweet voices of the birds. Their
story is shown to be empty and vain, for these inventors lived many years
after the flood. And what relates to Noah, who is called by some Deucalion, has
been explained by us in the book before mentioned, and which, if you wish it, you
are at liberty to read.
CHAP. XXXI.--THE HISTORY AFTER THE FLOOD.
After the flood was there again a beginning of cities and kings, in the
following manner:--The first city was Babylon, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh,
in the land of Shinar. And their king was called Nebroth [Nimrod]. From these
came Asshur, from whom also the Assyrians receive their name. And Nimrod built
the cities Nineveh and Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and
Calah; and Nineveh became a very great city. And another son of Shem, the son of
Noah, by name Mizraim, begat Ludim, and those called Anamim, and Lehabim, and
Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, out of whom came Philistin. Of the three
sons of Noah, however, and of their death and genealogy, we have given a
compendious register in the above-mentioned book. But now we will mention the remaining
facts both concerning cities and kings, and the things that happened when
there was one speech and one language. Before the dividing of the languages these
fore-mentioned cities existed. But when men were about to be dispersed, they
took counsel of their own judgment. and not at the instigation of God, to build a
city, a tower whose top might reach into heaven, that they might make a
glorious name to themselves. Since, therefore, they had dared, contrary to the will of
God, to attempt a grand work, God destroyed their city, and overthrew their
tower. From that time He confounded the languages of men, giving to each a
different dialect. And similarly did the Sibyl speak, when she declared that wrath
would come on the world. She says:--
"When are fulfilled the threats of the great God,
With which He threatened men, when formerly
In the Assyrian land they built a tower,
And all were of one speech, and wished to rise
Even till they climbed unto the starry heaven,
Then the Immortal raised a mighty wind
And laid upon them strong necessity;
For when the wind threw down the mighty tower,
Then rose among mankind fierce strife and hate.
One speech was changed to many dialects,
And earth was filled with divers tribes and kings."
And so on. These things, then, happened in the land of the Chaldaeans. And in
the land of Canaan there was a city, by name Haran. And in these days, Pharaoh,
who by the Egyptians was also called Nechaoth, was first king of Egypt, and
thus the kings followed in succession.(4) And in the land of Shinar, among those
called Chaldaeans, the first king was Arioch, and next after him Ellasar, and
after him Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and after him Tidal, king of the nations
called Assyrians. And there were five other cities in the territory of Ham, the
son of Noah; the first called Sodom, then Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Balah,
which was also called Zoar. And the names of their kings are these: Bera, king
of Sodom; Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah; Shemeber, king of
Zeboiim; Bela, king of Zoar, which is also called Kephalac.(1) These served
Chedorlaomer, the king of the Assyrians, for twelve years, and in the thirteenth
year they revolted from Chedorlaomer; and thus it came to pass at that time that
the four Assyrian kings waged war upon the five kings. This was the first
commencement of making war on the earth; and they destroyed the giants Karnaim, and
the strong nations that were with them in their city, and the Horites of the
mountains called Seir, as far as the plain of Paran, which is by the wilderness.
And at that time there was a righteous king called Melchisedek, in the city of
Salem, which now is Jerusalem. This was the first priest of all priests(2) of
the Most High God; and from him the above-named city Hierosolyma was called
Jerusalem.(3) And from his time priests were found in all the earth. And after him
reigned Abimelech in Gerar; and after him another Abimelech. Then reigned
Ephron, surnamed the Hittite. Such are the names of the kings that were in former
times. And the rest of the kings of the Assyrians, during an interval of many
years, have been passed over in silence unrecorded, all writers narrating the
events of our recent days. There were these kings of Assyria: Tiglath-Pileser, and
after him Shalmaneser, then Sennacherib; and Adrammelech the Ethiopian, who also
reigned over Egypt, was his triarch;--though these things, in comparison with
our books, are quite recent.
CHAP. XXXII.--HOW THE HUMAN RACE WAS DISPERSED.
Hence, therefore, may the loves of learning and of antiquity understand
the history, and see that those things are recent which are told by us apart from
the holy prophets.(4) For though at first there were few men in the land of
Arabia and Chaldaea, yet, after their languages were divided, they gradually
began to multiply and spread over all the earth; and some of them tended towards
the east to dwell there, and others to the parts of the great continent, and
others northwards, so as to extend as far as Britain, in the Arctic regions. And
others went to the land of Canaan, which is called Judaea, and Phoenicia, and the
region of Ethiopia, and Egypt, and Libya, and the country called torrid, and
the parts stretching towards the west; and the rest went to places by the sea,
and Pamphylia, and Asia, and Greece, and Macedonia, and, besides, to Italy, and
the whole country called Gaul, and Spain, and Germany; so that now the whole
world is thus filled with inhabitants. Since then the occupation of the world by
men was at first in three divisions,--in the east, and south, and west:
afterwards, the remaining parts of the earth were inhabited, when men became very
numerous. And the writers, not knowing these things, are forward to maintain that
the world is shaped like a sphere, and to compare it to a cube. But how can they
say what is true regarding these things, when they do not know about the
creation of the world and its population? Men gradually increasing in number and
multiplying on the earth, as we have already said, the islands also of the sea and
the rest of the countries were inhabited.
CHAP. XXXIII.--PROFANE HISTORY GIVES NO ACCOUNT OF THESE MATTERS.
Who, then, of those called sages, and poets, and historians, could tell us
truly of these things, themselves being much later born, and introducing a
multitude of gods, who were born so many years after the cities, and are more
modern than kings, and nations, and wars? For they should have made mention of all
events, even those which happened before the flood; both of the creation of the
world and the formation of man, and the whole succession of events. The
Egyptian or Chaldaean prophets, and the other writers, should have been able
accurately to tell, if at least they spoke by a divine and pure spirit, and spoke truth
in all that was uttered by them; and they should have announced not only
things past or present, but also those that were to come upon the world. And
therefore it is proved that all others have been in error; and that we Christians
alone have possessed the truth, inasmuch as we are taught by the Holy Spirit, who
spoke in the holy prophets, and foretold all things.
CHAP. XXXIV.--THE PROPHETS ENJOINED HOLINESS OF LIFE.
And, for the rest, would that in a kindly spirit you would investigate
divine things(1)--I mean the things that are spoken by the prophets--in order
that, by comparing what is said by us with the utterances of the others, you may be
able to discover the truth. We(2) have shown from their own histories, which
they have compiled, that the names of those who are called gods, are found to be
the names of men who lived among them, as we have shown above. And to this day
their images are daily fashioned, idols, "the works of men's hands." And these
the mass of foolish men serve, whilst they reject the maker and fashioner of
all things and the nourisher of all breath of life, giving credit to vain
doctrines through the deceitfulness of the senseless tradition received from their
fathers. But God at least, the Father and Creator of the universe did not abandon
mankind, but gave a law, and sent holy prophets to declare and teach the race
of men, that each one of us might awake and understand that there is one God.
And they also taught us to refrain from unlawful idolatry, and adultery, and
murder, fornication, theft, avarice, false swearing, wrath, and every incontinence
and uncleanness; and that whatever a man would not wish to be done to himself,
he should not do to another; and thus he who acts righteously shall escape the
eternal punishments, and be thought worthy of the eternal life from God.
CHAP. XXXV.--PRECEPTS FROM THE PROPHETIC BOOKS.
The divine law, then, not only forbids the worshipping of idols, but also
of the heavenly bodies, the sun, the moon, or the other stars; yea, not heaven,
nor earth, nor the sea, nor fountains, nor rivers, must be worshipped, but we
must serve in holiness of heart and sincerity of purpose only the living and
true God, who also is Maker of the universe. Wherefore saith the holy law: "Thou
shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false
witness; thou shalt not desire thy neighbour's wife." So also the prophets. Solomon
indeed teaches us that we must not sin with so much as a turn of the eye,(3)
saying, "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thy eyelids look straight before
thee."(4) And Moses, who himself also was a prophet, says, concerning the sole
government of God: "Your God is He who establishes the heaven, and forms the
earth, whose hands have brought forth all the host of heaven; and has not set
these things before you that you should go after them."(5) And Isaiah himself also
says: "Thus saith the LORD God who established the heavens, and founded the
earth and all that is therein, and giveth breath unto the people upon it, and
spirit to them that walk therein. This is the LORD your God."(6) And again,
through him He says: "I have made the earth, and man upon it. I by my hand have
established the heavens."(7) And in another chapter, "This is your God, who created
the ends of the earth; He hungereth not, neither is weary, and there is no
searching of His understanding."(8) So, too, Jeremiah says: "Who hath made the
earth by His power, and established the world by His wisdom, and by His discretion
hath stretched out the heavens, and a mass of water in the heavens, and He
caused the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth; He made lightnings with
rain, and brought forth winds out of His treasures."(9) One can see how
consistently and harmoniously all the prophets spoke, having given utterance through one
and the same spirit concerning the unity of God, and the creation of the world,
and the formation of man. Moreover, they were in sore travail, bewailing the
godless race of men, and they reproached those, who seemed to be wise, for their
error and hardness of heart. Jeremiah, indeed, said: "Every man is brutishly
gone astray from the knowledge of Him; every founder is confounded by his graven
images; in vain the silversmith makes his molten images; there is no breath in
them: in the day of their visitation they shall perish."(10) The same, too,
says David: "They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; there is none
that doeth good, no, not one; they have all gone aside, they have together become
profitless."(11) So also Habakkuk: "What profiteth the graven image that he has
graven it a lying image? Woe to him that saith to the stone, Awake; and to the
wood, Arise."(12) Likewise spoke the other prophets of the truth. And why
should I recount the multitude of prophets, who are numerous, and said ten thousand
things consistently and harmoniously? For those who desire it, can, by reading
what they uttered, accurately understand the truth, and no longer be carried
away by opinion and profitless labour. These, then, whom we have already
mentioned, were prophets among the Hebrews,--illiterate, and shepherds, and uneducated.
CHAP. XXXVI.--PROPHECIES OF THE SIBYL.
And the Sibyl, who was a prophetess among the Greeks and the other
nations, in the beginning of her prophecy, reproaches the race of men, saying:--
"How are ye still so quickly lifted up,
And how so thoughtless of the end of life,
Ye mortal men of flesh, who are but nought?
Do ye not tremble, nor fear God most high?
Your Overseer, the Knower, Seer of all,
Who ever keeps those whom His hand first made,
Puts His sweet Spirit into all His works,
And gives Him for a guide to mortal men.
There is one only uncreated God,
Who reigns alone, all-powerfuL very great,
From whom is nothing hid. He sees all things,
Himself unseen by any mortal eye.
Can mortal man see the immortal God,
Or fleshly eyes, which Shun the noontide beams,
Look upon Him who dwells beyond the heavens?
Worship Him then, the self-existent God,
The unbegotten Ruler of the world,
Who only was from everlasting time,
And shall to everlasting still abide.
Of evil counsels ye shall reap the fruit,
Because ye have not honoured the true God,
Nor offered to Him sacred hecatombs.
To those who dwell in Hades ye make gifts,
And unto demons offer sacrifice.
In madness and in pride ye have your walk;
And leaving the right way, ye wander wide,
And lose yourselves in pitfalls and in thorns.
Why do ye wander thus, O foolish men?
Cease your vain wanderings in the black, dark night;
Why follow darkness and perpetual gloom
When, see, there shines for you the blessed light?
Lo, He is clear--in Him there is no spot.
Turn, then, from darkness, and behold the day;
Be wise, and treasure wisdom in your breasts.
There is one God who sends the winds and rains,
The earthquakes, and the lightnings, and the plagues,
The famines, and the snow-storms, and the ice,
And alI the woes that visit our sad race.
Nor these alone, but all things else He gives,
Ruling omnipotent in heaven and earth,
And self-existent from eternity."
And regarding those [gods] that axe said to have been born, she said:-
"If all things that are born must also die,
God cannot be produced by mortal man.
But there is only Once, the All-Supreme,
Who made the heavens, with all their starry host,
The sun and moon; likewise the fruitful earth,
With all the waves of ocean, and the hills,
The fountains, and the ever flowing streams;
He also made the countless multitude
Of ocean creatures, and He keeps alive
All creeping things, both of the earth and sea;
And all the tuneful choir of birds He made,
Which cleave the air with wings, and with shrill pipe
Trill forth at morn their tender, clear-voiced song.
Within the deep glades of the hills He placed
A savage race of beasts; and unto men
He made all cattle subject, making man
The God-formed image, ruler over all,
And putting in subjection to his sway
Things many and incomprehensible.
For who of mortals can know all these things?
He only knows who made them at the first,
He the Creator, incorruptible,
Who dwells in upper air eternally;
Who proffers to the good most rich rewards,
And against evil and unrighteous men
Rouses revenge, and wrath, and bloody wars,
And pestilence, and many a tearful grief.
O man exalted vainly--say why thus
Hast thou so utterly destroyed thyself?
Have ye no shame worshipping beasts for gods?
And to believe the gods should steal your beasts,
Or that they need your vessels--is it not
Frenzy's most profitless and foolish thought?
Instead of dwelling in the golden heavens,
Ye see your gods become the prey of worms,
And hosts of creatures noisome and unclean.
O fools! ye worship serpents, dogs, and cats,
Birds, and the creeping things of earth and sea,
Images made with hands, statues of stone,
And heaps of rubbish by the wayside placed.
All these, and many more vain things, ye serve,
Worshipping things disgraceful even to name:
These are the gods who lead vain men astray,
From whose mouth streams of deadly poison flow.
But unto Him in whom alone is life,
Life, and undying, everlasting light;
Who pours into man's cup of life a
Sweeter than sweetest honey to his taste,--
Unto Him bow the head, to Him alone,
And walk in ways of everlasting peace.
Forsaking Him, ye all have turned aside,
And, in your raving folly, drained the cup
Of justice quite unmixed, pure, mastering, strong;
And ye will not again be sober men,
Ye will not come unto a sober mind,
And know your God and King, who looks on all:
Therefore, upon you burning fire shall come,
And ever ye shall daily burn in flames,
Ashamed for ever of your useless gods.
But those who worship the eternal God,
They shall inherit everlasting life,
Inhabiting the blooming realms of bliss,
And feasting on sweet food from starry heaven."
That these things are true, and useful, and just, and profitable to all men,
is obvious. Even the poets have spoken of the punishments of the wicked.
CHAP. XXXVII.--THE TESTIMONIES OF THE POETS.
And that evil-doers must necessarily be punished in proportion to their
deeds, has already been, as it were, oracularly uttered by some of the poets, as
a witness both against themselves and against the wicked, declaring that they
shall be punished. AEschylus said:--
"He who has done must also suffer."
And Pindar himself said:--
"It is fit that suffering follow doing."
So, too, Euripides:--
"The deed rejoiced you--suffering endure;
The taken enemy must needs be pain'd."
And again:--
"The foe's pain is the hero's raced."
And, similarly, Archilochus:--
"One thing I know, I hold it ever true,
The evil-doer evil shall endure."
And that God sees all, and that nothing escapes His notice, but that, being
long-suffering, He refrains until the time when He is to judge-concerning this,
too, Dionysius said:--
"The eye of Justice seeing all,
Yet seemeth not to see."
And that God's judgment is to be, and that evils will suddenly overtake the
wicked,--this, too, AEschylus declared, saying:--
"Swift-looted is the approach of fate,
And none can justice violate,
But feels its stern hand soon or late.
"'Tis with you, though unheard, unseen;
You draw night's curtain in between,
But even sleep affords no screen.
"'Tis with you if you sleep or wake;
And if abroad your way you take,
Its still, stern watch you cannot break.
"'Twill follow you, or cross your path;
And even night no virtue hath
To hide you from th' Avenger's wrath.
"To show the ill the darkness flees;
Then, if sin offers joy or ease,
Oh stop, and think that some one sees!"
And may we not cite Simonides also?--
"To men no evil comes unheralded;
But God with sudden hand transforms all things."
Euripides again:--
"The wicked and proud man's prosperity
Is based on sand: his race abideth not;
And time proclaims the wickedness of men."
Once more Euripides:--
"Not without judgment is the Deity,
But sees when oaths are struck unrighteously,
And when from men unwilling they are wrung."
And Sophocles:--
"If ills you do, ills also you must bear."
That God will make inquiry both concerning false swearing and concerning every
other wickedness, they themselves have well-nigh predicted. And concerning the
conflagration of the world, they have, willingly or unwillingly, spoken in
Conformity with the prophets, though they were much more recent, and stole these
things from the law and the prophets. The poets corroborate the testimony of the
prophets.
CHAP. XXXVIlI. --THE TEACHINGS OF THE GREEK POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS
CONFIRMATORY OF THOSE OF THE HEBREW PROPHETS.
But what matters it whether they were before or after them? Certainly they
did at all events utter things confirmatory of the prophets. Concerning the
burning up of the world, Malachi the prophet foretold: "The day of the Lord
cometh as a burning oven, and shall consume all the wicked."(1) And Isaiah: "For the
wrath of God is as a violent hail-storm, and as a rushing mountain
torrent."(2) The Sibyl, then, and the other prophets, yea, and the poets and philosophers,
have clearly taught both concerning righteousness, and judgment, and
punishment; and also concerning providence, that God cares for us, not only for the
living among us, but also for those that are dead: though, indeed, they said this
unwillingly, for they were convinced by the truth. And among the prophets
indeed, Solomon said of the dead, "There shall be healing to thy flesh, and care
taken of thy bones."(3) And the same says David, "The hones which Thou hast broken
shall rejoice."(4) And in agreement with these sayings was that of Timocles:--
"The dead are pitied by the loving God."
And the writers who spoke of a multiplicity of gods came at length to the
doctrine of the unity of God, and those who asserted chance spoke also of
providence; and the advocates of impunity confessed there would be a judgment, and those
who denied that there is a sensation after death acknowledged that there
is.Homer, accordingly, though he had said,--
"Like fleeting vision passed the soul away,"(5)
says in another place:--
"To Hades went the disembodied soul;"(5)
And again:--
"That I may quickly pass through Hades' gates,
Me bury."(7)
And as regards the others whom you have read, I think you know with
sufficient accuracy how they have expressed themselves. But all these things will
every one understand who seeks the wisdom of God, and is well pleasing to Him
through faith and righteousness and the doing of good works. For one of the
prophets whom we already mentioned, Hosea by name, said, "Who is wise, and he shall
understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the
Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall
therein."(8) He, then, who is desirous of learning, should learn much.(9)
Endeavour therefore to meet [with me] more frequently, that, by hearing the living
voice, you may accurately ascertain the truth.