장음표시 사용
231쪽
that breege, and What the contrary breast. It is disgracesia, thereiore, for a man os talent in say that, which is you Were to deny it, hs Would bo unable to prove. Lasib, he Who says that tho assent must be Withheld becauso it is ius pari os a Dolish man rashly to assent to things Whicham unisoWn in him, he, I say, altogether belloved the opinio of ths vulgar and uninstructed, Who thiis that it is fortunowhich gives to men good and evit things. For they representhor imago With the horn os plenty and with a rudder, as thoughaho both gavo wealth and had the goverament of humanassaira. d to this opinion Virgil assentari Who calis fortuno omnipotent; and the historian who says, But assuredly fortuno bears sWay in everything. What place, then, remains for the
envies men, and destres their destruction, though she is relugio ly Worshipped by them; Why sho is mors favourabis totho Miched and mors unimo abis to the Mod; Why shs plora, inlicis, deceives, exterminates; Who appotnted her as the pe petuat harasser of the race of men; Why, in shori, ahe has obtained so mischievous a poWer, that sho rendere ali iningsillustrious or obscure according to her caprico rather than in accordanco Ma ths truth. Philosophera, I say, ought ratheris havs inquired into theso things, than rashly to havo accused fortuno, Who ia innocent: for although ahe has somo existencs, yet no reason can bo brought forWard by them Why ins shouldbe as hostile to men as ahe is supposed to bs. Theroforo allinoso spesches in Whicli they rail at tho injustico os fortune, and in opposition to fortuno arrogantly boast of their oWn virtves, are nothing elas but tho ravings of thoughuess levi . Whereiora tot them not eno us, io Whom God has revealedtho truth: Who, as me knoW stat fortune is nothing, εο also knon that thero is a miched and crasty spirit Who is uniriendlyto tho good, and the ene- of righteo ness, Who acta in opposition to God; tho cause of Whose enis havs explained in the second bookJ He thereiora lus plata against ali; but
232쪽
they are corrupted by the blandishments of sin, may impet themto death; or, it ho shali have not succe ed is stratagem, beattempla to cast them down is fores and violence. For on this account ho mas not at once thrust doWn by God in punishmentat the original transgression, that by his malice lis may exerciso man to viriue: for untem this is in constant agitation, unless itis strengthened by continuat harassing, it cannot be perfeci, inasmuch as virtuo is davnti s and unconquered patienco inenduring eviis. From Whicli it comes to para that thero is no, virtve it an adversary is manting. When, therelare, they perceived the fores of this perverse pomer opposed to Viriue, and were ignorant os iis name, they invented for themselves thesensetem namo os fortune; and hoW far this is removed Dommisdom, Juvenal declares in these verses: λ μ No divine poWeris absent is thero is prudenco; but κε mahe you a goddess, o Fortune, and place you in heaven.' It was folly, there ore, and error, and blindness, and, as Cicero says,' ignorance os facta and causas, Whicli introduced the names of Nature and Fortune.
Satira x. 365: Nullum numen abeat.' Othere rein, Nullum numen habes.' You havs no divine poWer, O Fortune, it there is prudenos,
233쪽
tho philosophers held a courso widely deviating hom the truth. 'I porceive, homuer, hoW many things I have omittod, becauseit Was not my province to enter into a disputation against phil sophera. But it Was necessary for me to mari a digression tothis subieci, that I might shou stat so many and great intellecta havo expended stemselves in vain on falso subjecta, testany one by chance being shut out is corrupi superstitions, should wish to botahe himself to thom as though about to findsomo certainu. Therelare tho onb hope, the onj saseu forman, is placed in this doctrine, Which We desond. Ni thowisdom of man consista in this alone, the linoWledge and worshipot God: this is our tenet, this our opinion. Theretore mith allino poWer os my vesco I testisn I proclaim, I declare: Here, here is that which ali philosophers have fought throughout thelawholo liis; and yet, they havs not been ablo to investigato, tograsp, and to attain to it, because they either retained a religionwhicli mas corrupi, or took it aWay altogether. Let them there- sors ali depari, who do not instruct human lis' but throw itinio eonfusion. For What do they teachi or Whom do thoyinstruci, Who have not yet instructed themselves Whom arotho sicli abis to heia, Whom can tho blind guide Let us ali,
thingi or Anxagoras finia light in the darisess or uniit D mocritus dram fortii truth hom the welli or Empedocles intenti the paths of his foui or untii Arcesilas and Carneadessee, and seel, and perceive L' a voice iram heaven inaching the truth, and displayingio us a light brighter than the sun ilaeis. Why are We unjustis o solves, and delu to talis up Wisdom, Whita learned mon, though they Wasted their lives in iis purauit, Were never ablo todiscoveri Lot him Who Wishes to M Wiss and hapy hear the voles of God, learn righteo ness, underatand tho mystery of his blath, despiso human affaira, embram divine things, that ho
234쪽
indicato What is truo religion and what true Wisdom.
235쪽
HEN I refleet, o Emperor Constantine, and ostenrevolvo in my mind the original condition of men, it is accustomed to appear alias Wonderfui ando orthy that, by the folly os one age embracingvarious superstitions, and belloving in the existence of many gods, they suddenly arrived at such ignorance of themselves, that tho truth being tahen a V Dom their ves, the religion oftho tres God Was not observed, nor the condition os humannatum, sinco men did not seeh the chiet good in heaven, buton earth. d on this account assuredly the happiness of thoancient ages Was changed. For, liming leti God, the parentand founder os ali things, men began to Worship the sensetessWorksy os their own hands. And what more tho offocis of this corruption, or What eviis it introduced, tho subjeci itasti sum- ciently declares. For, turning aWay hom ins chisi good, vhichis blessed and evertasting on this account, becauso it cannot beseen, or touched, or comprehended, and hom tho virtves whicham in agreement With that good, and Whicli are equalty immo
236쪽
dy, beeauso ali bodies are subject to death. Superstitions os this End, thereiare, mere follo ed is injustice and implet' as must
yet, besors the discovery of this philosophy, as it is termed,
there are said to havo been seven,J Who, because they venturedio inquiro into and discum natural subjecta, deserved to boesteemed and called Wiso men.
The seven vim men vere, Thales, Pittacus, Bias, Solon, Cleobulus,
Chilo, and Periander. To theae somo add Macharaia tho Scythian.
237쪽
by so many intellecta, and during so many ages, unieas it bethat philosophera fouot for it out of their οπn limita And
λ Thia πω the opinion es Pythagoras. See Book iii. 2.3 Ses 1 cor. i. 20 2.
238쪽
s Worship of the mds, as I have tauot in the formor Moh, does not imply Wisdom; not Only because it oves up man, Who is a divine animal, to earthly and friat things, butbecausa nothing is fixed in it Which may avail for the cultiv tion of the character and the haming of tho lite; nor does it contain any investigation of the truth, but only the rito os WoNahip, Which does not consist in the service of the mind, but in the employment of the body. And thereiore that is not tobo deemed trus religion, because it instructa and improves menis no precepta os righteousness and virtve. Thus philosophy, in much as it does not possess true religion, that is, the highest pisty, is not true Wisdom. For is tho divinity Whieli goverasinis Worid supporta mankind with incredibie beneficence, and chorishes it as mith paternat indulgenco, Wiahes truly that gratitudo inould M paid, and honour inven to itseli, man cannot preserve his piety is lis ahali provo ungratetes for tho heavenlybenefiis; and this is certainly not the part of a Wise man. Since, sterelare, as I have said, philosoplis and the religious system of tho goti ars separated, and far removed hom eachother; feeing that some are prosessors of Wisdom, throughwhom it is manifest that there is no approach in the goti, and
239쪽
that othere ars priesis os religion, through Whom Wisdom is notlearned; it is manifest that the one is not true Wisdom, and that tho other is not truo religion. Therefore philosophy Wasnot able to conceive the truth, nor mas the religious system of
is referred to one fource, and to one supremo authori r in ahori, sto tincters of Wisdom aro the fame, Who arct also the
philosophy is not, hoWoer, ioined With religion; but philosophy
240쪽
whicli it is evident, that the fame person is both sather of his flaves' and loes of his sons. Lassy, the son is set at liberu
of his patron, as it ho mero a son. But is a man is namediather of a household, that it may appear that he is possessed os a double pomer, because as a fallier he ought is indulge, andas a lord in restrain, it solioWs that he vlio is a son is also aflave, and that he who is a fallier is also a lord. As, theretare, by the necessity of nature, there cannot be more than one fallier,so there can only be one lord. For What will the flavo do is many lords ' shali give commands at variance With each other
Theretore the worship of many gods is contrary in reasonand to nature, aince there cannot be many iathere or torti;