장음표시 사용
91쪽
CHAP. IX. ternat punishment not a mere threat.
cares not for men, and net ther Viriue nor vice is anythinnand, as me said before, laWgivers uniustly punish thoso who transgress good commandmenta. But sinco these are not
more at large. But at present I return to the subjeci. CHAP. X.-Christ compared with Socrates.
they elaborated by finding and contemplating some part of tho Word. But since thoy did not know the whole of tho es, whicli is Christ, they osten contradicted thenaseives. And thoso who is human birth mere inore ancient than Christ, when they attempted to consider and prove things by
92쪽
reason, Were brought betore the tribunals as implous persons and busybodies. And Socrates, who was more gealous in this direction than ali of them, Was accused of the very fame crimes as ourselves. For they said that he was introducingnow divinities, and did not consider those to be gods whomthe stato recognised. But he cast out hom tho state both Homery and the rest of the poets, and tauot men to rejectilis miched demons and thoso who did tho things whieli thopoeis related; and he exhorted them to becomo acquainted with the God who was to them unknown, by means of the investigation os reason, saying, That it is neither easy to
it sala to declare Him to all. ' But theso things our Christdid through His oWn poWer. For no one trusted in Socratesso as to die for this doctrine, but in Christ, Who Was partialty . known even by Socrates for He Was and is tho Word who is in every man, and who foretoid the things that mere to comoto pass both through the propheis and in His oWn person When He Was made of like passions, and taught these things), notonly philosophers and scholars belleved, but also artisans and
peopte entirely uneducated, despising both glory, and sear, and death; since Ho is a power of tho ineffabis Father, and
not the mero instrument of human remon. CHAP. XI.-How Christiana vieis death.
opportune to teli here, for the salis of Crescens and those Whorave as he does, What is related by Xenophon. Hercules, says Xenophon, coming to a place Where three Ways mei, found Virtuo and Vice, Who appeared to him in the form ofWomen: Vice, in a luxurious dress, and with a seductive expression rendered blooming is such ornamenis, and her
y Plato, Rep. X. c. i. p. 595.
93쪽
ilis lito in pleasum and adorned with the most gracesul orn mendi, Such as Were then upon her oWn person; and Viriue, who Was of squalid i h and dress, sald, But ii you obey me, you inali adorn yourself not With ornament nor beauty that passes aWay and perishes, but Willi evertasting and precio graces. And we are persuaded that every one who fleesthose things that seem to bo good, and tollows hard aster What are rechoned difficuli and strange, enters into bIessetiness. For Vico, When by imitation of What is incorruptibio for What is reatly incorruptibie sile netther has nor can pr duce she has thrown around her oWn actions, as a disgulae, the properties of Viriue, and qualities Which are reatly excellent, leads captivo earthly-minded men, attaching to Virtueher oWn evit properties. But those Who underetand theoxcellences which belong to that Which is reat, are also uncorrupi in virtuo. And this eVery sensibio person ought to think both of Christians and of the athlotes, and of those who did what the poets relate of the s called gods, conclud-ing as much from our contempt os deast, even When it could
For I myself, too, when I was delighting in the Metrines of Plato, and heard the Christians standered, and in themfearless of death, and of ali other things Whicli are countsdiearsul, perceived that it was impossibio that they could beli ving in Wichedness and pleasura. For What sensual orintemperate man, or Who that counts it good to feast onhuman flesh,' could weleomo death that he might be deprived
94쪽
of his eni monis, and Would not raster continue alWays thepresent lira, and attempt to escape the observation of thorulere; and much less Would he denounce himself whon tho consequence Would be death This also the wichod demons have noW caused to be done by evit men. For having putsomo to death on account of the accusations falsely brought against us, they also dragged to the torturo our domestic' sither children or Weis Women, and by dreadfui torments forcod them to admit those fabulous actions whicli they them-selves openly perpetrate; about Whicli me are the less con- cerned, because none of these actions are reatly ours, and we have the unbogotten and ineffabio God as witness both ofour thoughis and deeds. For Why did me not even publiclyprofess that these mere the things Which We esteemed good, and prove stat these are the divine philosophy, saying that the mysteries of Saturn are performed When Slay a man,
95쪽
CHAP. XIII.-How the Mord has been in ali men.
For I myself, when I discovored the wiched disguiso whichtho ovit spiriis had thrown around the divino doctrines of tho Christians, to turn aside osters hom joining them, laughed both at thoso who framed theso falsehoods, and at the dis-guise itself, and at popular opinion; and I confess that Ιboth boast and with ait my strongili strive to bo found a
Christian; not becauso the teachings of Plato are difforent hom thoso of Christ, but hecause they are not in ali respecissimilar, as neither are those of the others, stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spohe weli in proportion totho fharo ho had of the spermatic Word,y seeing What Wasrelated to it. But they Who contradici themselves on themore important potnis appear not to have possessed the heavenlyy Wisdom, and the knowledge Whicli cannot be spoken against. Whatever things Were rightly said among ali men, are the proper of us Christians. For nexi to God, me orship and love the Word Who is hom the Unbegotion and Ineffabio God, since also He became man for Our Sahes, that, coming a partaher of our sufferings, He mirat also bringus healing. For est the writers mero able to spe realities
known to others, and that these persons may have a fair chance of being Deed hom erroneous notions and ignorance of good,
who by thoir own fauit are become subject to punishment; stat so these things may be published to men, because it is in the nature of man to know good and evit; and by their
a Tho mord disseminated among men.
97쪽
This Xystus, in os authorio ol Euseb. iv. 18), Waa at Ephesus. There, Philostratua mentiona, Apollonius Maa Wont to have disputations.
98쪽
truly the duty os philosophy, to investigato tho Deityi'
be immortes and immateriai, bellove that though they have committed evit thoy will not sussor punishment for that Whichis immateriat is insensibis , and that the foui, in consequenceos iis immortali , needs nothing from God. And he, smiling gentin sald, Teli us your opinion of
τίς συ ἐσσι, φέριστε, καταθοπων ἀνθρωπων.
99쪽
CHAP. II. ustis deseribes his studies in philosoph. I will tolt you,' said L What seems to me; ior philosophyis, in faci, the greatest possession, and most honourable berare God,J to whom it leads us and alone commenti us; and theseare trub holy men who have bestowed attention on philosophy. What philosophy is, hoWever, and the reason Why it has beensent dom to men, have escaped the observation os most; forthere would bo neither Platonisis, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoreti ,' nor Pythagoreans, this knoWledgo being one
is those Who made no investigations concerning truth, butonj admired the perseverance and seindisciplino of tho former, as Weli as the novelty of the doctrines; and eachthought that to bs truo Which ho learned from his teacher: then, momoVer, those lalter persona handed down to theis Successors such things, and others similar to them; and this system Was called by the name of him Who was styled the fallier of the doctrine. Being at first destrous of personalty conversing With one of these men, I surrendered myseli to a certain Stoic; and having spent a considerable time with him, When I had not acquired any further knowledge of God sorho did not know himself, and said such instruetion Was unn cossa ), I lest him and betook myself to another, Who Wascalled a Peripatetic, and as he sancied, shreWd. And this man, after having entertained me for the firat feW dus, requested