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•THE

ANTE-NICENE

• - - . m' • • . ■ • •

TRANSLATIONS OF

T/te IVritings of the Fathers down to A. D. j2^.

THE REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D.,

AND

JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D.,

EDITORS.

AMERICAN REPRINT OF THE EDINBURGH EDITION.

RKVISKD AND CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED, WITH BRIEF PREFACES AND

OCCASIONAL NOTES,

A. CLEVELAND COXE, D.D.

VOLUME IL

FATHEHa OF THE SECOND CENTURY:

HERMAS, TATIAN, ATHENAGORAS, THEOPHILUS, AND CLEMENT OF

ALEXANDRIA (ENTIRE).

O' -Mr

: UMV» r^lTY

Bin^FAL
THE CHRISTIAN LITERATURE PUBLISHING COMPANY.

1885.

• • •••••••♦

• • • .•• • ••• • • •

• ••••,••• •• •••

ELKCTROTYPED AN© FRIN-,SO
BY RAND, AVERY, AND Ct^IPANY,
BOSTON, MASS.

».

FATHERS OF THE SECOND CENTURY:

HERMAS, TATIAN, ATHENAGORAS, THEOPHILUS, AND CLEMENT

OF ALEXANDRIA (ENTIRE).

AMERICAN EDITION.

CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED, WITH NOTES, PREFACES, AND ELUCIDATIONS,

BY
A. CLEVELAND COXE, D.D.

The Nicene Council.

in515;'>

PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT.

The kind reader has here another library in itself; including Hermas, restored to his historic
place, and other Fathers of the second century, with the works complete of the great founder of
the Alexandrian school, the learned and versatile St. Clement. We now touch the period of
TertuUian, who comes next into view, with the first elements of what is known as Latin Chris-
tianity. The vast importance of studying patristic literature, with historic progress from epoch
to epoch, must be evident to all thinkers.

The " Christian Literature Publishing Company " has from the first designed to carry on its
work with the Post-Nicene Fathers, edited on a similar plan, and with like chronological
arrangement.' The Oxford translations, in part, will furnish the base ; but, as these are a mass
of confused material of very unequal merit (some of the translations having been made by young
men, who, though fine classical scholars, were little versed in patristic studies), they have felt,
that, far more than the Ante-Nicene Series, these would demand the most patient editing. Fhe
publishers are now engaged in securing the editorial corps necessary to any wis. u .rc'iMhle
issue of a series so voluminous, and deserving such careful annotation. It shoulu be ojLcr\o<i,
that the original Oxford series mixes up the earlier and later Fathers, and robs the student of the
advantages of progressive comparison, and historical transition from epoch to epoch. Works
of great authors are published piecemeal, apart from their place and sequence ; and younger
students are deprived of that lucid order, in the study of antiquity, on which so much depends.
It may be justly said, that a student never recovers from the confusing effects of reading the
C'hristian Fathers without system, and out of time and place. A libraij of the Fathers is useful,
in a great degree, in proportion as it stands on the reader's shelves, volume after volume, with
consecutive and scientific arrangement.

The following statement is added by our editor-in-chief ; —

The task of correcting the Edinburgh typography has not been mechanically performed, but
has been executed with care and critical skill by the Rev. J. A. Spencer, D.D., of New York.
Especial pains have been taken with the marginal references to Scripture, which seem to have
been transferred from the Migne Edition, with no attempt to verify them. They have been
patiently corrected for this edition. Where Dr. Spencer has kindly added original references,
often valuable, I have insisted upon designating them by the letter " S."

' See advertising page at end of this volume.

Contents of Volume II.

PAGE

I. THE PASTOR OF HERMAS i

II. TATIAN. Address to the Greeks 59 ^

III. THEOPHILUS. Theophilus to Autolvcus • . . . . 85 >v

IV. ATHENAGORAS. A Plea for the Christians 123 -<.

The Resurrection of the Dead 149

V. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. Exhortation to the Heathen ... 163 >

The Instructor 207

The Stromata, or Miscellanies 299

Fracments 569

Who is the Rich Man that shall be saved? 589

••
VII

■ • • « «

• « • • •

• « .«_-- •»,

* •

• • - - - • •

• - • » '• , » • , » '
• • • *

• • • • •»,••• • • •

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

• •

I •

■ •

•••• ••• •

• • • • •

• ••

• • • •

• •

• ••

• «

•

• •••

m * » * • " •

_- • - • -

• •

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[TRANSLATED BY THE REV. F. CROMBIE, M.A.]

[a.d. i6o.] The fragment known as the " Muratorian Canon " is the historic ground for the
date I give to this author.' I desired to prefix Thf Shepherd to the writings of Irenaeus, but
the limits of the volume would not permit. The Shepherd attracted my attention, even in
early youth, as a specimen of primitive romance ; but of course it disappointed me, and excited
repugnance. As to its form, it is even now distasteful. But more and more, as I have studied
it, and cleared up the difficulties which surround it, and the questions it has started, it has become
to me a most interesting and suggestive relic of the primitive age. Dr. Bunsen ' calls it " a good
but dull novel," and reminds us of a saying of Niebuhr (Bunsen's master), that " he pitied the
Athenian ^ Christians for being obliged to hear it read in their assemblies." A very natural, but
a truly superficial, thought, as I trust I shall be able to show.

At first sight, Hermas might seem to have Utde in common with Irenaeus; and, on many
accounts, it would be preferable to pair him with Barnabas. But I feel sure that chronology for-
bids, and that the age of Irenseus, and of the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, is the period which
called for this work, and which accounts for its popularity and its diffusion among the churches.
Its pacific spirit in dealing with a rising heresy, which at first was a puzzle to the Latins,** which
Pius was disposed to meet by this gentle antidote, with which Eleutherus, in the spirit of a pacifi-
cator, tampered to his own hurt, and by which Victor was temporarily compromised, met pre-
cisely what the case seemed to demand in the judgment of Western Christians. They could not
foresee the results of Montanism : it was not yet a defined heresy. And even the wise prudence
of Irenaeus shows anxiety not too hastily to denounce it ; " seeing," as Eusebius affirms, " there
were many other wpnderfijl powers of divine grace yet exhibited, even at that titne^ in different
churches."

Bunsen pronounces magisterially on the Muratorian fragment as an ill-translated excerpt from
Hegesippus, written about a.d. 165. This date may be inaccurate, but the evidence is that of a
contemporary on which we may rely. " Very recently," he says, " in our own times^ in the city
of Rome, Hermas compiled The Shepherd; his brother. Bishop Pius,5 then sitting in the cathedra

> To be found, with copious annoudons, in Routh's ReliquitBt vol. i. pp. 389-434, Oxford, 1846. See alto Wesccott, On the Canon
«f the New Testament ^ Cambridge, 1855.

* Hippdytus and Hi* Age^ vol. i. p. 315.

^ Why " Athenian "t It was read everywhere. But possibly this is a specification based 00 Acts xvii. sx. They may have wel-
cooaed it as a nevel and a novelty.

4 More of this in Athenagoras; but see Kaye's yustin Martyr^ p. 179, note 3, ed. 1853.

* Roman fidnilists know all about Pius, of course, and give us this history: " He was a native of Aquileia, and was elected bishop on
the ijth of January, a.d. 158. ... He governed the Qiurch nine yean, five months, and twenty-seven days." So affirms that favourite of
Popes, Artaud de Mootor {Htstctre de Pie VIII., p. xL Paris, 1830).

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

off^rtte Romaa iChurchi" With the period thus assigned, the internal evidence agrees. It
acCOtfAts foe \he:2D(ti4^ontanism of the whole allegory, and not less for the choice 6i ^ this non-
/<:l>Aty6Yfttsial*fqrm of .anddote. Montanism is not named ; but it is opposed by a reminder of
b'eftel" ^* pfophesyiH^V^^od by setting the pure spirit of the apostolic age over against the fren-
zied ancl Pharisaical pretensions of the fangitics. The pacific policy at first adopted by the
Roman bishops, dictated, no doubt, this effort of Hermas to produce such a refiitation as his
brother ' might commend to the churches.

Let me present, in outline, the views which seem to me necessary to a good understanding of
the work ; and as I am so unfortunate as to differ with the Edinburgh editors, who are entitled,
primd facie, to be supposed correct, I shall venture to apologize for my own conceptions, by a
few notes and elucidations.*

As Eusebius informs us, the charismata were not extinct in the churches when the Phrygian
imitations began to puzzle the faithful. Bunsen considers its first propagators specimens of the
clairvoyant art, and pointedly cites the manipulations they were said to practise (like persons
playing on the harp) , in proof of this. We must place ourselves in those times to comprehend
the difficulties of early Christians in dealing with the counterfeit. " Try the spirits," said St. John ;
and St. Paul had said more expressly, " Quench not the Spirit \ despise not prohesyings ; prove all
things," etc. This very expression suggests that there might often be something despicable in the
form and manner of uttering what was excellent. To borrow a phrase of our days, " the human
element " was painfully predominant at times, even among those who spoke by the Spirit. The
smoke of personal infirmity discoloured genuine scintillations fix>m hearts in which still smoul-
dered the fire of Pentecostal gifts. The reticence of Irenaeus is therefore not to be marvelled at.
He cautioned Eleutherus no doubt, but probably felt, with him, that the rumours from Phrygia
needed further examination. The prophetic gifts were said to be lodged in men and women
austere as John the Baptist, and professing a mission to rebuke the carnal and self-indulgent
degeneracy of a generation that knew not the apostles.

It would not be a very bold conjecture, that Hermas and his brother were elderly grand-
children of the original Hermas, the fiiend of St. Paul. The Shepherd, then, might be based
upon personal recollections, and upon the traditions of a family which the spirit of prophecy had
reproved, and who were monuments of its power. The book supplies us with evidences of the
awakened conscience with which Hermas strove to " bless his household." But, be this as it
may, this second Hennas, with his brother's approbation, undertakes to revive the memory of
those primal days portrayed in the Epistle to Diognetus, when Christians, though sorrowful, were
" always rejoicing." He compiles accordingly a non-metrical idyl ; reproducing, no doubt, tradi-
tional specimens of those " prophesyings," on which St. Paul remarks. Hence we infer, that such
outpourings as became the subject of apostolic censure, when they confused the order of the
Corinthian Church,^ were, in their nobler examples, such " visions," " mandates " and " simili-
tudes " as these ; more or less human as to form, but, in their moral teachings, an impressive
testimony against heathen oracles, and their obscene or blasphemous suggestions.

The permissive wisdom of the Spirit granting, while restraining, such manifestations, is seen
in thus counterbalancing Sibylline and other ethnic utterances. (Acts xvi. 16-19.) With this in
view, Hermas makes his compilation. He casts it into an innocent fiction, as Cowper wrote in
the name of Alexander Selkirk, and introduces Hermas and Clement to identify the times which
are idealized in his allegory. Very gently, but forcibly, therefore, he brings back the original

' The latest learned authority among Roman Catholics, a Benedictine* gives us the dates a.d. 149-156, respectively, as those of his
election and decease. See Series Episcopcrumy etc. P. B. Gams, Ratisbonx, 1873.

' Relying upon the invaluable aid of Dr. Routh, I had not thought of looking into Westcott, till I had worked out my own conclusions.
I am greatly strengthened by his elaborate and very able argument. See his work on the Canon^ pp. 3x3-235.

3 I Cor. xiv. The value of Hermas in helping us to comprehend thb mysterious chapter appears to me very great. Celsus reproached
Christians as Sidyilists. See Origen, Against Celsus^ book v. cap. Ixi.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

Christians a.s antagonists of the Montanistic opinions ; and so exclusively does this idea predomi-
nate in the whole work, as TertuUian's scornful comment implies, that one wonders to find Wake,
with other very learned men, conceding that the Pauline Hermas was its actual author. Were it
so, he must have been a prophet indeed. No doubt those of the ancients who knew nothing of
the origin of the work, and accepted it as the production of the first Hermas, were greatly influ-
enced by this idea. It seemed to them a true oracle fix)m God, like those of the Apocalypse,
though sadly inferior ; preparing the Church for one of its great trials and perils, and fulfilling, as
did the Revelation of St. John, that emphatic promise concerning the Spirit, " He shall show you
things to come."

This view of the subject, moreover, explains historical facts which have been so unaccountable to
many critics ; such as the general credit it obtained, and that its influence was greater in the East
than among Latins. But once commended to the Asiatic churches by Pius, as a useful instruc-
tion for the people, and a safeguard against the Phrygian excesses, it would easily become current
wherever the Greek language prevailed. Very soon it would be popularly regarded as the work
of the Pauline Hermas, and as embodying genuine prophesyings of the apostolic age. A qualified
inspiration would thus be attributed to them, precisely such as the guarded language of Origen '
suggested afterwards : hence the deutero-canonical repute of the book, read, like the Apocrypha,
for instruction and edification, but not cited to establish any doctrine as of the faith.' It must
be remembered, that, although the Roman Church was at first a Grecian colony, and largely com-
posed of those Hellenistic Jews to whom St. Paul's arguments in his Epistle to the Romans were
personally appropriate, yet in the West, generally, it was not so : hence the greater diffusion
of The Shepherd written in Greek, through the Greek churches. There, too, the Montanists
were a raging pestilence long before the West really felt the contagion through the influence of
the brilliant Tertullian. These facts account for the history of the book, its early currency and
credit in the Church. Nor must we fail to observe, that the tedious allegorizing of Hermas,
though not acceptable to us, was by no means displeasing to Orientals. To this day, the common
people, even with us, seem to be greatly taken with story-telling and " similitudes," especially
when there is an interpreter to give them point and application.

After reading Irenseus Against Heresies, then, we may not inappropriately turn to this mild
protest against the most desolating and lasting delusion of primitive times. Most bitterly this
will be felt when we reach the great founder of " Latin Christianity," whose very ashes breathed
coQtagion into the life of such as handled his relics with affection, save only those, who, like
C)T>rian, were gifted with a character as strong as his own. The genius of Tertullian inspired
his very insanity with power, and, to the discipline of the Latin churches, he communicated
something of the rigour of Montanism, with the natural re-actionary relaxation of morals in actual
life. Of this, we shall learn enough when we come to read the fascinating pages of that splendid
but infatuated author. Montanism itself, and the Encratite heresy which we are soon to consider
in the melancholy case of Tatian, were re-actions from those abominations of the heathen with
which Christians were daily forced to be conversant. These Fathers erred through a temptation
in which Satan w^ " transformed as an angel of light." Let us the more admire the penetrating
foresight, and the holy moderation, of Hermas. To our scornful age, indeed, glutted with reading
of every sort, and alike over-cultivated and superficial, taking little time for thought, and almost
as little for study. The Shepherd can furnish nothing attractive. He who brings nothing to it, gets
nothing from it. But let the fastidious who desire at the same time to be competent judges, put
themselves into the times of the Antonines, and make themselves, for the moment, Christians of
that period, and they will awaken to a new world of thought. Let such go into the assemblies of
the primitive faithful, in which it was evident that " not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, were called." There they were, "as sheep appointed to be slain,"

' Westcott, p. 219. Ed. 1855, London. > Uieron., torn. i. p. 988, Benedictine ed.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

"dying daily," and,, like their blessed Master, "the scom of men, and outcast of th^ people," as
they gathered on the day of the Lord to " eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." After the
manner of the synagogue, there came a moment when the " president " said, " Brethren, if ye
have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." But the tongues were ceasing, as the
apostle foretold ; and they who professed to speak by the Spirit were beginning to be doubted.
"Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live forever?" It was gratifying to-
the older men, and excited the curiosity of the young, when the reader stood up, and said,
"Hear, then, the words of Hennas." Blessed were the simple folk, those "lambs among
wolves," who hungered and thirsted after righteousness, and who eagerly drank in the pure and
searching Scriptural morality of The Shepherd^ and then went forth to " shine as lights in the
world," in holy contrast with the gross darkness that surrounded them.

It has been objected, indeed, that the morals of Hermas have a legalizing tone. The same
is said of St. James, and the Sermon on the Mount. Most unjustly and cruelly is tliis objection
made to The Shepherd, Granted its language is not formulated after Augustine, as it could not
be : its text is St. James, but, like St. James, harmonized always with St. Paul.' Faith is always
honoured in its primary place ; and penitence, in its every evangelical aspect, is thoroughly de-
fined. He exposes the emptiness of formal works, such as mere physical fastings, and the carnal
observance of set times and days. That in one instance he favours " works of supererogation '*
is an entire mistake, made by reading into the words of Hermas a heresy of which he never
dreamed. His whole teaching conflicts with such a thought. His orthodoxy in other respects, is
sustained by such masters as Pearson and Bull* And then, the positive side of his teaching is a
precious testimony to the godly living exacted of believers in the second century. How suitable
to all times are the maxims he extracts from the New Law. How searching his exposure of the
perils of lax family discipline, and of wealth unsanctified. What heavenly precepts of life he lays
down for all estates of men. To the clergy, what rules he prescribes against ambition and detrac-
tion and worldly-mindedness. Surely such reproofs gloriiy the epoch, when they who had cast
off, so recently, the lusts and passions of heathenism, were, as the general acceptance of this book
must lead us to suppose, eager to be fed with " truth, severe in rugged fiction drest."

But the reader will now be eager to examine the following Introductory Notice of the
translator : —

The Pastor of Hermas was one of the most popular books, if not the most popular book, in
the Christian Church during the second, third, and fourth centuries. It occupied a position
analogous in some respects to that of Bunyan*s Piigrim^s Progress in modem times ; and critics
have frequently compared the two works.

In ancient times two opinions prevailed in regard to the authorship. The most widely spread
was, that the Pastor of Hermas was the production of the Hermas mentioned in the Epistle to
the Romans. Origen » states this opinion distinctly, and it is repeated by Eusebius ^ and Jerome.^

Those who believed the apostolic Hermas to be the author, necessarily esteemefl the book very
highly ; and there was much discussion as to whether it was inspired or not. ^he early writers
are of opinion that it was really inspired. Irenseus quotes it as Scripture ; ^ Clemens Alexandrinus
speaks of it as making its statements " divinely ; " ^ and Origen, though a few of his expressions are
regarded by some as implying doubt, unquestionably gives it as his opinion that it is " divinely
inspired." * Eusebius mentions that difference of opinion prevailed in his day as to the inspira-
tion of the book, some opposing its claims, and others maintaining its divine origin, especially

< Bull (and Grabe), Harmonia ApcstoUca ; Works, vol. iii.

3 Pearson, y indicia Fgnat.^ i. cap. 4. Bull, Defens. Fid. Nicten.^ i. cap. 9. sec. 3: Works, vol. v. part i. p. 15.
3 Conunent. in Rom. xvi. 14, lib. x. 31. [But see Westcott's fuller account of all this, pp. 9x9, 920.]

< Hist, Ecci. iii. 3. * D« Viris IUustribu*\ c. x. 6 Contra Hteres., iv. 20, 9.
7 Strom., i. xxi. p. 496. * Ut supra.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

because it formed an admirable introduction to the Christian faith. For this latter reason it was
read publicly, he tells us, in the churches.

The only voice of antiquity decidedly opposed to the claim is that of TertuUian. He desig-
nates it apocryphal,' and rejects it with scorn, as favouring anti-Montanistic opinions. Even his
words, however, show that it was regarded in many churches as Scripture.

The second opinion as to the authorship is found in no writer of any name. It occurs only
in two places: a poem falsely ascribed to TertuUian, and a fragment published by Muratori,
on the Canon, the authorship of which is unknown, and the original language of which is still a
matter of dispute.* The fragment says, "The Pastor was written very lately in our times, in
the city of Rome, by Hermas, while Bishop Pius, his brother, sat in the chair of the Church of the
city of Rome."

A third opinion has had advocates in modem times. The Pastor of Hermas is regarded as a
fiction, and the person Hermas, who is the principal character, is, according to this opinion,
merely the invention of the fiction-writer.

Whatever opinion critics may have in regard to the authorship, there can be but one opinion
as to the date. The Pastor of Hermas must have been written at an early period. The fact that
it was recognised by Irenseus as Scripture shows that it must have been in circulation long before
his time. The most probable date assigned to its composition is the reign of Hadrian, or of
Antoninus Pius.

The work is very important in many respects ; but especially as reflecting the tone and style
of books which interested and instructed the Christians of the second and third centuries.

The Pastor of Hermas was written in Greek. It was well known in the Eastern Churches : it
seems to have been but little read in the Western. Yet .the work bears traces of having been
written in Italy.

For a long time the Pastor of Hermas was known to scholars only in a Latin version, occurring
in several mss, with but slight variations. But within recent times the difficulty of settling the
text has been increased by the discovery of various mss. A Latin translation has been edited,
widely differing from the common version. Then a Greek ms. was said to have been found in
Mount Athos, of which Simonides affirmed that he brought away a portion of the original and a
copy of the rest. Then a ms. of the Pastor of Hermas was found at the end of the Sinaitic
Codex of Tischendorf. And in addition to all these, there is an ^Cthiopic translation. The discus-
sion of the value of these discoveries is one of the most difficult that can fall to the lot of critics :
for it involves not merely an examination of peculiar forms of words and similar criteria, but an
investigation into statements made by Simonides and Tischendorf respecting events in their own
lives. But whatever may be the conclusions at which the critic arrives, the general reader does
not gain or lose much. In all the Greek and Latin forms the Pastor of Hermas is substantially
the same. There are many minute differences ; but there are scarcely any of importance, —
perhaps we should say none.

In this translation the text of Hilgenfeld, which is based on the Sinaitic Codex, has been
followed.

The letters vat, mean the Vatican manuscript, the one from which the common or vulgate
version was usually printed.

The letters PaL mean the Palatine manuscript edited by Dressel, which contains the Latin
version, differing considerably from the common version.

The letters Lips, refer to the Leipzig manuscript, partly original and partly copied, furnished
by Simonides from Athos. The text of Anger and Dindorf (Lips., 1856) has been used, though
reference has^Uso been made to the text of Tischendorf in Dressel.

' De Pudicituif c. xx., also c. x. ; D« Orationef c. xvi.

' [This ttaieinent should be compared with Westcott's temperate and very full account of the Muratoxian Fragment, pp. 235-945.],

8 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

The letters Sin, refer to the SinaiHc Codex, as given in Dressel and in Hilgenfeld*$ notes.

The letters yEth, refer to the yEthiopic version, edited, with a Latin translation, by Antonius
D'Abbadie. Leipzig, i860.

iio attempt has been made to give even a tithe of the various readings. Only the most im-
portant have been noted.

[It is but just to direct the reader's attention to an elaborate article of Dr. Donaldson, in the
(London) Theological Review y vol. xiv. p. 564 ; in which he very ingeniously supports his opin-
ions with regard to Hermas, and also touching the Muratorian Canon. In one important partic-
ular he favours my own impression ; viz., that The Shepherd is a compilation, traditional, or
reproduced from memory. He supposes its sentiments '' must have been expressed in innumer-
able oral communications delivered in the churches throughout the world."]

I-

THE PASTOR.

BOOK FIRST. - VISIONS.

VISION FIRST.

AGAINST FILTHY AND PROUD THOUGHTS, AND THE
CARELESSNESS OF HERMAS IN CHASTISING HIS SONS.

CHAP. I.

He who had brought me up, sold me to one
Rhode in Rome.' Many years after this I rec-
ognised her, and I began to love her as a sister.
Some time after, I saw her bathe in the river Ti-
ber ; and I gave her my hand, and drew her out
of the river. The sight of her beauty made me
think with myself, " I should be a happy man if
I could but get a wife as handsome and good as
she is." This was the only thought that passed
through me : this and nothing more. A short
time after this, as I was walking on my road to
the villages,' and magnifying the creatures of
God, and thinking how magnificent, and beauti-
ful, and ix)werful they are,3 I fell asleep. And j
the Spirit carried me away, and took me through !
a pathless place,* through which a man could
not travel, for it was situated in the midst of
rocks ; it was rugged and impassible on account
of water. Having passed over this river, I came
to a plain. I then bent down on my knees, and
began to pray to the Lord,5 and to confess mA
sins. And as I prayed, the heavens were opened,)
and I see the woman whom I had desired salutinaf
me from the sky, and saying, " Hail, Hermas ! '^
And looking up to her, I said, " Lady, what doest
thou here ? " And she answered me, " I have
been taken up here to accuse you of your sins

^ The conunencement varies. In the Vatican: "He who had
brought me up, sold a certain young woman at Rome. Manv years
alter this I saw her and recognised her." So Lips. ; Pal. nas the
name of the woman, Rada. The name Rhode occurs in Acts j
xii. 13. .

f *' On my road to the villages." This seems to mean: as I was I
taking; a walk into the country, or spending my time in travelling |
amid rural scenes. So the iEthiopic version. " Proceeding with i
diese thoughts in my mind." — fai. Afler I had come to the city of
Ostia.;*— /»a/. '^Proccedin^ to some village." -Z,/>j. [The |
Chtistian religion begetting this enthusiasm for nature, and loVe for
nature's God, is to be noted. Where in all heathendom do we find ,
spirit or expression like this?]

^ Creatures. Creature or creation. — Li^s.^ Vai.t /'Etk. I

4 Pathless place. Place on the right hana. — Vat. [Rev. xvii.
3, xxi. xo. Dante, Inferno, i. x-5.]

s Lord, God. — 5/11. alone. '

before the Lord." " Lady," said I, "are you to
be the subject of my accusation?"^ "No,"
said she ; " but hear the words which I am going
to speak to you. God, who dwells in the
heavens, and made out of nothing the things that
exist, and multiplied and increased them on ac-
count of His holy Church,^ is angry with you for
having sinned against me." I answered her,
" Lady, have I sinned against you ? How ? * or
when spoke I an unseemly word to you ? Did I
not always think of you as a lady? Did I not
always respect you as a sister? Why do you
falsely accuse me of this wickedness and im-
purity ? " With a smile she replied to me, " The
desire of wickedness 9 arose within your heart.
Is it not your opinion that a righteous man com-
mits sin when an evil desire arises in his heart ?
There is sin in such a case, and the sin is great,"
said she ; " for the thoughts of a righteous man
should be righteous. For by thinking right-
eously his character is established in the heavens,"
and he has the Lord merciful to him in every
business. But such as entertain wicked thoughts
in their minds are bringing upon themselves
death and captivity; and especially is this the
case with those who set their affections on this
world," and glory in their riches, and look not
forward to the blessings of the life to come.
For many will their regrets be ; for they have no
hope, but have despaired of themselves and their
life." But do thou pray to God, and He will

^ Are yon to be the subject of my accusation f Are you to
accuse me ? — Vat.^ Lips,^ yEth.

7 [Eph. iii. 9, ic]

* tlotv f In what place ? — /'7i/., Sin,

9 Wickedness, The desire of fornication. — £/)**. [Prov. xxi.
xo, xxiv. 9; Matt. v. 28.]

>° Literally, his glory is made straight in the heavens. As long
as his thoughts arc righteous and his way of life correct, he will have
the I^rd in heaven merciful to him. — l^at. When he thinks right-
eously, he corrects himself, and his grace will be in heaven, and lie
will have the Lord merciful in every business. — Pcil. His dignity
will be straight in the skies. — yCM. [Prov. x. 24, xi. 23.J

" [Col. 111. a; Ps. xlix. 6.1

*2 For many . . . life. For the minds of such become empty.
Now this is what the doubters do who have no hope in the Lord, and
despise and neglect their life. — I ^ai. ITicir souls not having the
hope of life, do not resist these luxuries: for they despair of them-
selves and their life. — Pal. [Eph. ii. 12.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book I.

heal thy sins, and the sins of thy whole house,
and of all the saints/' '

* CHAP. 11.

After she had spoken these words, the heavens
were shut. I was overwhelmed with sorrow and
fear, and said to myself, ^* If this sin is assigned
' to me, how can I be saved, or how shall I pro-
pitiate God in regard to my sins,* which are of
the grossest character ? With what words shall
I ask the Lord to be merciful to me ? While I
was thinking over these things, and discussing
them in my mind, I saw opposite to me a chair,
white, made of white wool,^ of great size. And
there came up an old woman, arrayed in a splen-
did robe, and with a book in her hand ; and she
sat down alone, and saluted me, " Hail, Her-
mas ! " And in sadness and tears *♦ I said to her,
" Lady, hail ! " And she said to me, " Why are
you downcast, Hermas? for you were wont to
be patient and temperate, and always smiling.
Why are you so gloomy, and not cheerful ? " I
answered her and said, " O Lady, I have been
reproached by a very good woman, who- says that
I sinned against her." And she said, " Far be
such a deed from a servant of God. But per-
haps a desire after her has arisen within your
heart. Such a wish, in the case of the servants
of God, produces sin. For it is a wicked and
horrible wish in an all-chaste and already well-
tried spirit 5 to desire an evil deed ; and espe-
cially for Hermas so to do, who keeps himself
from all wicked desire, and is full of all simpli-
city, and of great guilelessness.

CHAP. ni.

" But God is not angry with you on account
of this, but that you may convert your house,*
which have committed iniquity against the Lord,
and against you, their parents. And although
you love your sons, yet did you not warn your
house, but permitted them to be terribly cor-
rupted.7 On this account is the Lord angry with
you, but He will heal all the evils which have
been done in your house. For, on account of
their sins and iniquities, you have been destroyed
by the affairs of this world. But now the mercy

« Hob xlii. 8.]

' Oterally. perfect. Hotv . . . sins. How shall I entreat the
Lord in re»rd to mv very numerous uns ? — Kai. How can I pro-
pitiate the Lord Goa in these my sins ? — Pal. How then shall I be
saved, and beg pardon of the Lord for these my many sins ? — j^th.
[Mic. vi. 6, 7, 8.]

\ A chair made of white wool, like snow. — I'at. A chair for
reclining, and on it a coverins of wool, white as hail. — /Eth.

^ And . . . sorrow. 1 leaping in spirit with joy at her saluta-
tion. — Lips. [The Montanisi austerity glanced at.l

5 For . . . spirit. For this hateful thought ought not to be in a
servant of God, nor ought a well-tried spirit to desire an evil deed. —
Vat. [The praise here bestowed on Hermas favours the idea that a
second Hennas was the author.]

^ Bnt that. But God is not angrv with you on your own su:count,
but on account of your house, which nas. — Vat.

' Corrupted. To live riotously. — Vat. [x Sam. iii. ix, 24.
Traditions of the Pauline Hermas may be here preserved.]

of the Lord * has taken pity on you and your
house, and will strengthen you, and establish you
in his glory.9 Only be not easy-minded, '° but be
of good courage and comfort your house. For
as a smith hammers out his work, and accom-
plishes whatever he wishes," so shall righteous
daily speech overcome all iniquity.** Cease not
therefore to admonish ypur sons; for I know
that, if they will repent with all their heart, they
will be enrolled in the Books of Life with the
saints." '^ Having ended these words, she said to-
me, " Do you wish to hear me read? " I say to
her, " Lady, I do." " Listen then, and give ear
to the glories of God." »^ And then I heard from
her, magnificently and admirably, things which
my memory could not retain. For all the words
were terrible, such as man could not endure.' s
The last words, however, I did remember ; for
they were useful to us, and gentle.'^ " Lo, the
God of powers, who by His invisible strong
power and great wisdom has created the world,
and by His glorious counsel has surrounded His
creation with beauty, and by His strong word
has fixed the heavens and laid the foundations
of the earth upon the waters, and by His own
wisdom and providence '' has created His holy '*
Church, which He has blessed, lo !' He removes '^
the heavens and the mountains,*" the hills and the
seas, and all things become plain to His elect,
that He may bestow on them the blessing which
He has promised them,*' with much glory and
joy, if only they shall keep the commandments
of God which they have received in great faith.'*

CHAP. IV.

When she had ended her reading, she rose^
from the chair, and four young men came and
carried off the chair and went away tp the east.
And she called me to herself and touched my
breast, and said to me, " Have you been pleased
with my reading?" And I say to her, "Lady,

' Lord. God. — Vat. [The Montanist dogma representing God
as the reverse of (Neh. ix. 17) '* gentle and easy to be entreated " is
rebuked.]

9 Will strengthen. Has preserved you in glory. — Vat,
Strengthened and established. — Lips, Has saved your house. —
Pal.

^^ Easy-minded, Only wander not, but be calm. — VtU. Omit-
ted in Pal.

'' Accomplishes . . . wishes. And exhibits it to any one to,
whom he wishes. — Vat.

12 So shall you also, teaching the truth daily, cut off great sin. ^
Vat.

*3 I hnow . . . saints. For the Lord knows that they will repent -
with all their h«irt, and He will write you in the Book of life. — Vat.
See Phil. iv. 3; Rev. xx. 15. [He contrasts the mild spirit of the-
Gospel with the severity of the Law in the case of Eli.1
»♦ A nd give ear to the glories of God, omitted in Vat.

13 And then

her. And unfolding a book, she read glori-

ously, magnificently, and admirably. — Vat. [Dan. x. 9.]

** Gentle. For they were few and useful to us. — Vat.

'7 By His own ivisdom and providence. By His mighty IwuTr.
— Vat.^ Pal. [Scripture is here distilled like the dew. Prov. iii. 19.
Ps. xxiv. 2, and marginal references.]

'• Holy omitted by Lips.

*9 Removes. He will remove. — Vat.

«o See 2 Pel. iii. 5.

** [Isa. Ixv. 22. See Faber's Historical Inquiry ^ as to the prim-w
I itive idea of the elect, book ii. 2. New York, 1840.]

Vision II.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

the last woras please me, but the first are cruel
and harsh/* Then she said to me, "The last
are for the righteous : the first are for heathens
and apostates/' And while she spoke to me,
two men appeared and raised her on their shoul-
ders, and they went to where the chair was in
the east. With joyful countenance did she de-
part ; and as she went, she said to me, " Behave
like a man,* Hermas."

VISION SECOND.

AGAIN, OF HIS NEGLECT IN CHASTISING HIS TALKA-
TIVE WIFE AND HIS LUSTFUL SONS, AND OF HIS
CHARACTER.

CHAP. I.

As I was going to the country* about the
same time as on the previous year, in my walk I
recalled to memory the vision of that year. And
again the Spirit carried me away, and took me
to the same place where I had been the year
before.3 On coming to that place, I bowed my
knees and began to pray to the Lord, and to
glorify His name, because He had deemed me
worthy, and had made known to me my former
sins. On rising fhjm prayer, I see opposite me
that old woiQan, whom I had seen the year
before, walking and reading some book. And
she says to me, " Can you carry a report of these
things to the elect of God?" I say to her,
" Lady, so much I cannot retain in my memory,
but give me the book and I shall transcribe it."
** Take it," says she, " and you will give it back
to me." Thereupon I took it, and going away
into a certain part of the country, I transcribed
the whole of it letter by letter ; ^ but the sylla-
bles of it I did not catch. No sooner, however,
had I finished the writing of the book, than all
of a sudden it was snatched from my hands;
but who the person was that snatched it, I saw
not.

CHAP. IL

Fifteen days afler, when I had fasted and
prayed much to the Lord, the knowledge of the
writing was revealed to me. Now the writing
was to this effect : " Your seed, O Hermas, has
sinned against God, and they have blasphemed
against ^ the Lord, and in their great wickedness
they have betrayed their parents. And they
passed as traitors of their parents, and by their
treachery did they not ^ reap profit. And even
now they have added to their sins lusts and in-
iquitous p>ollutions, and thus their iniquities have

' Be strong, or be made strong. — Ka/. f i Cor. xvi, 13.}

* CoMMiry; lit. to tkg villages. From Cum«. — Vat, While I
was joumeymg in the district of the Cumans. — Pal.

' [Ezck. L z, iii. 33.]

4 G^nnr . . . letter. [Ezek. ii. 9; Rev. x. 4.] Now taking
the book, I sat down in one place and wrote the whole of it in order.
— Pal. In the ancient mss. there was nothing to mark out where
ooe word ended and another commenced.

s God . . . aguikttf omitted in Vat.

* J^at, ooutted in Vat.

been filled up. But make known ^ these words
to all your children, and to your wife, who ibto
be your sister. For she does not* restrain her
tongue, with which she commits iniquity ; but,
on hearing these words, she will control herself,
and will obtain mercy. For after you have made
known to them these words which my Lord has
commanded me to reveal to you,' then shall they
be forgiven all the sins which in former times
they committed, and forgiveness will be granted
to all the saints who have sinned even to the
present day, if they repent with all their heart,
and drive all doubts from their minds. *° For the
Lord has sworn by His glory, in regard to His
elect, that if any one of them sin after a certain
day which has been fixed, he shall not be saved.
For the repentance of the righteous has Hmits."
Filled up are the days of repentance to all the
saints; but to the heathen, repentance will be
possible even to the last day. You will tell,
therefore, those who preside over the Church, to
direct their ways in righteousness, that they may
receive in full the promises with great glory.
Stand stedfast, therefore, ye who work righteous-
ness, and doubt not,*' that your passage »3 may
be with the holy angels. Happy ye who endure
the great tribulation that is coming on, and
happy they who shall not deny their own life."*
For the Lord hath sworn by His Son, that those
who denied their Lord have abandoned their life
in despair, for even now these are to deny Him
in the days that are coming.* 5 To those who
denied in earlier times, God became '^ gracious,
on account of His exceeding tender mercy.

CHAP. m.

" But as for you, Hermas, remember not the
wrongs done to you by your children, nor neg-
lect your sister, that they may be cleansed from
their former sins. For they will be instructed
with righteous instruction, if you remember not
the wrongs they have done you* For the re-

7 Make known. Rebuke with these words,
in Christ, i.e., when converted ]

Vat. [Your sister

* Let her restrain her tongue. — Vat. [Jas. iii. s-xo.]

9 For . . . you. For she will be instructed, after you have re-
buked her with those words which the Lord has commanded to be
revealed to you. — Vat.

1° [Against Montanism. Matt. xii. 31, xviii. aa.]

II [To show that the Catholic doctrine does not make Christ the
minister of sin. Gal. ii. 17.]

" Doubt not. [Jas. i. ^.] And so act.— Val.

^^ Passapt, [Luke XVI. aa.] Your journey. — Pal.

«* And whosoever shall not deny his own fife. — Vat. [Seeking
one's life was losing it: hating one's own life was finding it (Matt.
X. 39; Luke xiv. a6.) The great tribulation here referred to, is prob-
ably that mystery of St. Paul (a Thess. ii. 3), which they supposed
nign at hand. Our author probably saw signs of it in Montanus
and his fcjlowers.]

'5 Those . , . coming'. The meaning of this sentence is obscure.
The Vat. is evidendy corrupt, but seems to mean: *'The Lord has
sworn by His Son, that whoever will deny Him and His Son, promis-
ing themselves life thereby, they [God and Hb Son] will deny them
in the days that are to come.' The days that are to come would
mean the day of judgment and the future state. See Matt. x. 33.
[This they supposed would soon follow the great apostasy and tribu-
uition. 'The words " earlier times " are agamst the Pauline date.]

^^ Became gracious. Will be gracious. — Pal.

'. ♦ 1

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book I.

membrance of wrongs worketh death.' And
you, Hermas, have endured great personal * trib-
ulations on account of the transgressions of your
house, because you did not attend to them, but
were careless,' and engaged in your wicked
transactions. But ^ you are saved, because you
did not depart from the living God, and on
account of your simplicity and great self-control.
These have saved you, if you remain stedfast.
And they will save all who act in the same man-
ner, and walk in guilelessness and simplicity.
Those who possess such virtues will wax strong
against every form of wickedness, and will abide
unto eternal life. Blessed are all they who prac-
tise righteousness, for they shall never be de-
stroyed. Now you will tell Maximus : Lo ! s
tribulation cometh on. If it seemeth good to
thee, deny again. The Lord is near to them
who return unto Him, as it is written in Eldad
and Modat,^ who prophesied to the people in
the wilderness."

CHAP. IV.

Now a revelation was given to me, my breth-
ren, while I slept, by a young man of comely
appearance, who said to me, " Who do you think
that old woman is from whom you received the
book ? " And I said, " The Sibyl." " You are
in a mistake," says he ; " it is not the Sibyl."
" Who is it then? " say I. And he said, '' It is
the Church." ' And I said to him, " Why then
is she an old woman?" "Because," said he,
" she was created first of all. On this account
is she old. And for her sake was the world
made." After that I saw a vision in my house,
and that old woman came and asked me, if I
had yet given the book to the presbyters. And
I said that I had not. And then she said, " You
have done well, for I have some words to add.
But when I finish all the words, all the elect will
then become acquainted with them through you.
You will write therefore two books, and you will
send the one to Clerfiens and the other to Grapte.*^
And Clemens will send his to foreign countries,

' The Vat. adds: but forgetfulness of them, eternal life, fl^ev.
xix. 18. See Jeremy Taylor, Of Forgtvetuss^ Discounte xL vol. i.
p. 217. London, Bonn, 1844. 1

a Personal, Worldly. — VaL

3 YoM . . . careless. You neglected them as if they did not
belong to you. — l^at. [Sec cap. iii. su^ra^ "easy-minded."]

4 But you will be saved for not having departed from the living
God. And your simplicity and singular self-control will save you, if
you remain stedfast. — I 'at.

5 Now you will say: Lo! great tribulation cometh on. — Vat.
Lo! exceedingly great tribulation cometh on. — Lt'^s. [Maximus
seems to have been a lapser, thus warned in a spirit of orthodoxy
in contrast with Montanism, but with irony.]

** [The sense is: This is the temptation of those who pervert the
promises made to the penitent, lliey may say, " we are threatened
with terrible persecution: let us save our lives by momentarily deny-
ing Christ: we can turn again ^ and the Lord is nigh to all wno thus
turn, as Eldad and Medad told the Israelites."] Eldad (or Eldat or
Heldat or Heldam) and Modat (Mudat or Modal) are mentioned in
Num. xi. a6, 27. The apocryphal book inscribed writh their name is
now lost. Cotelerius compares, for the passage, Ps. xxxiv. o.

7 The Church. The Church of God. — I at. [See Grabe's note,
BulFs De/ens. Fid. Niaen., 1. cap. 2. sec. 6; Works, vol, v. part x.
p. 67.1

" Grapte is supposed to have been a deaconess.

for permission has been granted to hiVi to do so.'
And Grapte will admonish the widows and the
orphans. But you will read the words in this
city, along with the presbyters who preside over
the Church.

VISION THIRD.

CONCERNING THE BUILDING OF THE TRIUMPHANT
CHURCH, AND THE VARIOUS CLASSES OF REPROBATE
MEN.

CHAP. I.

The vision which I saw, my brethren, was of
the following nature. Having fasted frequently,
and having prayed to the Lord that He would
show me the revelation which He promised to
show me through that old woman, the same night
that old woman appeared to me, and said to me,
" Since you are so anxious and eager to know all
things, go into the part of the country where you
tarry ; and about the fifth '° hour I shall appear
unto you, and show you all that you ought to
see." I asked her, saying " Lady, into what part
of the country am I to go?" And she said,
** Into any part you wish." Then I chose a spot
which was suitable, and retired. Before, how-
ever, I began to speak and to mention the place,
she said to -me, " I will come where you wish."
Accordingly, I went to the country, and counted
the hours, and reached the place where I had
promised to meet her. And I see an ivory seat
ready placed, and on it a linen cushion, and
above the linen cushion was spread a covering
of fine linen." Seeing these laid out, and yet
no one in the place, I began to feel awe, and as
it were a trembling seized hold of me, and my
hair stood on end, and as it were a horror came
upon me when I saw that I was all alone. But
on coming back to myself and calling to mind
the glory of God, I took courage, bent my knees,
and again confessed my sins to God as I had
done before." Whereupon the old woman ap-
proached, accompanied by six young men whom
I had also seen before ; and she stood behind
' me, and listened to me, as I prayed and confessed
my sins to the Lord. And touching me she
said, "Hermas, cease praying continually for
your sins ; pray for righteousness, '^ that you may

9 [Here, as in places that follow, is to be noted a development of
canon law, that could hardly have existed in the days of the Pauline
Hermas. He is supposed to be a lector, who might read for the edi-
fication of the elect, if permitted by the presbyters. Grapte, the dea-
coness, is supposed to have charge of widows and ortinans; while
Clement, only, has canonical right to authenticate books to foreign
churches, as the Eastern bishops were accustomed to authenticate
canonical Scriptures to him and others. The second Hermas faUs
into such anacnronisms innocently, but they betray the fiction of his
work. Compare the A^ost. Constitutions with (apocryphal) authen-
tications by Qemcnt.]

*o Fi/tk. Sixth. — yat. [Here is a probable reference to canoni-
cal hours, borrowed from apostolic usage (Acts iii. x), but not re-
flected in written constitutions in Clement's day.]

** [Compare CypriarCs Life and Martyrdom^ by Pontius the
deacon (sec. 16). This is doubtless a picture of the bishop's cathe-
dra in the davs of Pius, but, for the times of the Pauline Hennas, a
probable anacnronism.]

" [Exek. 1. 28.^

i^ [For justification and sanctification.]

y ^

Vision III.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

have a portion of it immediately in your house."
On this, she took me up by the hand, and brought
me to the seat, and said to the young men, " Go
and build." When the young men had gone and
we were alone, she said to me, " Sit here." I
say to her, *' Lady, permit my elders ' to be seated
first." " Do what I bid you," said she ; " sit
down." When I would have sat down on hei*
right, she did not permit me, but with her hand
beckoned to me to sit down on the left. While
I was thinking about this, and feeling vexed that
she did not let me sit on the right, she said,
"Are you vexed, Hermas? The place to the
right is for others who have already pleased God,
and have suffered for His name's sake ; and you
have yet much to accomplish before you can sit
with them. But abide as you now do in your
simplicity, and you will sit with them, and with
all who do their deeds and bear what they have
borne."

CHAP. n.

" What have they borne ? " said I. " Listen,"
said she : " scourges, prisons, great tribulations,
crosses, wild beasts,' for God*s name's sake. On
this account is assigned to them the division of
santification on the right hand, and to every one
who shall suffer for God's name : to the rest is
assigned the division on the left. But both for
those who sit on the right, and those who sit on
the left, there are the same gifts and promises ;
only those sit on the right, and have some glory.
You then are eager to sit on the right with them,
but your shortcomings are many. But you will
be cleansed from your shortcomings; and all
who are not given to doubts shall be cleansed
from all theu: iniquities up till this day." Saying
this, she wished to go away. But falling down at
her feet, I begged her by ihe Lord that she would
show me the vision which she had promised to
show me. And then she again took hold of me
by the hand, and raised me, and made me sit
on the seat to the left ; and lifting up a splendid
rod,3 she said to me, "Do you see something
great?" And I say, "Lady, I see nothing."
She said to me, " Lo ! do you not see opposite
to you a great tower, built upon the waters, of
splendid square stones?" For the tower was
built square ^ by those six young men who had
come with her. But myriads of men were carry-
ing stones to it, some dragging them from the
depths, others removing them from the land, and
they handed them to these six young men.
They were taking them and building ; and those
of ihe stones that were dragged out of the
depths, they placed in the building just as they

I My elders. Perhaps the translation should be: the presbyters.
[No dcmbt: for here also is a reference to canon law. See Apost.
ConstitMtionx (so called), book ii. sec. vii. 57. J

? [Heb. xi. 36, 37.]

5 [Rev, XI. I.J

■♦ [Rev. xxi. x6.J

were : for they were polished and fitted exactly
into the other stones, and became so united one
with another that the lines of juncture could aot
be perceived.5 And in this way the building of
the tower looked as if it were made out of one
stone. Those stones, however, which were taken
from the earth suffered a different fate ; for the
young men rejected some of them, some they
fitted into the building, and some they cut down,
and cast far away from the tower. Many other
stones, however, lay around the tower, and the
young men did not use them in building; for
some of them were rough, others had cracks
in them, others had been made too short,^ and
others were white and round, but did not fit into
the building of the tower. Moreover, I saw
other stones thrown far away from the tower, and
falling into the public road ; yet they did not re-
main on the road, but were rolled into a pathless
place. And I saw others falling into the fire and
burning, others falling close to the water, and
yet not capable of being rolled into the water,
though they wished to be rolled down, and to
enter the water.

CHAP. ni.

On showing me these visions, she wished to
retire. I said to her, " What is the use of my
having seen all this, while I do not know what it
means?" She said to me, "You are a cunning
fellow, wishing to know everything that relates
to the tower." " Even so, O Lady," said I,
" that I may tell it to my brethren, that, hearing
this, they may know the Lord in much glory." f
And she said, ''Many indeed shall hear, and
hearing, some shall be glad, and some shall weep.
But even these, if they hear and repent, shzdl
also rejoice. Hear, then, the parables of the
tower ; for I will reveal all to you, and give me
no more trouble in regard to revelation : for
these revelations have an end, for they have been
completed. But you will not cease praying for
revelations, for you are shameless.* The tower
which you see building is myself, the Church,
who have appeared to you now and on the for-
mer occasion. Ask, then, whatever you like in
regard to the tower, and I will reveal it to you,
that you may rejoice with the saints." I said
unto her, "Lady, since you have vouchsafed
to reveal all to me this once, reveal it." She
said to me, " Whatsoever ought to be revealed,
will be revealed ; only let your heart be with
God,9 and doubt not whatsoever you shall see."

^ [i Kings vi. 7; z Pet. ii. 4-8. The ai>ostle interprets his own
name, — shows Christ to be the Rock, himself a ttone laid upon the
foundation, by which also all believers are made lively stones ^ uke the
oriranal Cephas.']

° Others had been made too shorty not in Vat.

7 That . . . glory. And that they may be made more joyful,
and, hearing this, may greatly glorify the Lord. — Vat.

" [a Cor. xii. x-ii. The apostle is ashamed to glory in revela-
tions, and this seems to be the reference.]

9 God. Lord. — Vat.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book I.

I asked her," * Why was the tower built upon the
waters, O Lady?" She answered, "I told you
before,' and you still inquire carefully : therefore
innuiring you shall find the truth. Hear then
wity the tower is built upon the waters. It ife
because your life has been, and will be, saved
through water. For the tower was founded on
the word of the almighty and glorious Name,
and it is kept together by the invisible power of
the Lord." »

CHAP. IV.

In reply I said to her, " This is magnificent
and marvellous. But who are the six young
men who are engaged in building?" And she
said, " These are the holy angels of God, who
were first created, and to whom the Lord handed
over His whole creation, that they might increase
and build up and rule over the whole creation.
By these will the building of the tower be fin-
ished." " But who are the other persons who
are engaged in carrying the stones ? " " These
also are holy angels of the Lord, but the former
six are more excellent than these. The building
of the tower will be finished,^ and all will rejoice
together around the tower, and they will glorify
God, because the tower is finished." I asked
her, saying, " Lady, I should like to know what
became of the stones, and what was meant by
the various kinds of stones? " In reply she said
to me, " Not because you are * more deserving
than all others that this revelation should be
made to you — for there are others before you,
and better than you, to whom these visions
should have been revealed — but that the name
of God may be glorified, has the revelation been
made to you, and it will be made on account of
the doubtful who ponder in their hearts whether
these things will be. or not. Tell them that all
these things are true, and that none of them is
beyond the truth. All of them are firm and
sure, and established on a strong foundation.

CHAP. v.

" Hear now with regard to the stones which
are in the building. Those square white stones
which fitted exactly into each other, are apos-
tles, bishops, teachers, and deacons, who have
lived in godly purity, and have acted as bishops
and teachers and deacons chastely and rever-
ently to the elect of God. Some of them have
fallen asleep, and some still remain alive.s And
they have always agreed with each other, and

' I said to vou before, that you were cunning, diligently inquiring
in regard to the Scriptures. — yai. You are cunning in regard to
the Scriptures. — Li/s In some of the mss. of the common Latin
version, " structures '* is read instead of ** Scriptures."

a Tke Lord. God.— Fat. [i Pet. iii. 20: Eph. v. a6. Both
these texts seem in the author's mtnd, but perhaps, also. Num. xxiv.

6,7.]

^ The building. When therefore the building of the tower is
finished, all. — Vat.

* Not btcause you are better. Are you better? — Vat. [See
note 8, preceding chapter.]

S [i Cor. XV. 6, 18.]

been at peace among themselves,^ and listened
to each other. On account of this, they join
exactly into the building of the tower." " But
who are the stones that were dragged from the
depths, and which were laid into the building
and fitted in with the rest of the stones pre-
viously placed in the tower ? " " They are those '
who suffered for the Lord's sake." " But I
wish to know, O Lady, who are the other stones
which were carried from the land." "Those,"
she said, "which go into the building without
being p>olished, are those whom God has ap-
proved of, for they walked in the straight ways
of the Lord and practised His commandments."
" But who are those who are in the act of being
brought and placed in the building?" "They
are those who are young in faith and are faith-
ful. But they are admonished by the angels to
do good, for no iniquity has been found in them."
" Who then are those whom they rejected and
cast away?"* "These are they who have
sinned, and wish to repent. On this account
they have not been thrown far firom the tower,
because they will yet be useful in the building,
if they repent. Those then who are to repent,
if they do repent, will be strong in faith, if they
now repent while the tower is building. For if
the building be finished, there will not be more
room for any one, but he will be rejected.^ This
privilege, however, will belong only to him who
has now been placed near the tower.

CHAP. VI.

" As to those who were cut down and thrown
far away from the tower, do you wish to know
who they are? They are the sons of iniquity,
and they believed in hypocrisy, and wickedness
did not depart from them. For this reason they
are not saved, since they cannot be used in the
building on account of their iniquities. Where-
fore they have been cut off and cast far away on
account of the anger of the Lord, for they have
roused Him to anger. But I shall explain to
you the other stones which you saw lying in great
numbers, and not going into the building. Those
which are rough are those who have known the
truth and not remained in it, nor have they been
joined to the saints. '° On this account are they
unfit for use." " Who are those that have rents ? "
"These are they who are at discord in their
hearts one with another, and are not at peace
amongst themselves : they indeed keep peace
before each other, but when they separate one
from the other, their wicked thoughts remain in

6 [Phil. ii. a, iii. 16; 1 Thcss. v. 13.]

f Are those. They are those who have already fallen asleep, and
who suffered. — Vat.

* Cast away. Placed near the tower. — Vat,

9 [Heb. vi. 6-8; xii. 17. ]

1° [Heb. x. 25. Barnabas (cap. iv.) reproves the same fault, al-
most as if directing his words against anchorites, vol. i. p. i39i this
series.]

Vision III.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

their hearts. These, then, are the rents which
are in the stones. But those which are short-
ened are those who have indeed believed, and
have the larger share of righteousness ; yet they
have also a considerable share of iniquity, and
therefore they are shortened and not whole."
"But who are these. Lady, that are white and
round, and yet do not fit into the building of the
tower ? " She answered and said, " How long will
you be foolish and stupid, and continue to put
every kind of question and understand nothing?
These are those who have faith indeed, but they
have also the riches of this world. When, there-
fore, tribulation comes, on account of their riches
and business they deny the Lord." ' I answered
and said to her, " When, then, will they be use-
ful for the building. Lady ? " " When the riches
that now seduce them have been circumscribed,
then will they be of use to God.* For as a
round stone cannot become square unless por-
tions be cut off and cast away, so also those who
are rich in this world cannot be useful to the
Lord unless their riches be cut down. Learn
this first from your own case. When you were
rich, you were useless ; but now you are useful
and fit for life. Be ye useful to God ; for you
also will be used as one of these stones.'

CHAP. vii.

"Now the other stones which you saw cast
far away from the tower, and falling upon the
public road and rolling from it into pathless
places, are those who have indeed believed, but
through doubt have abandoned the true road.
Thinking, then, that they could find a better,
they wander and become wretched, and enter
upon pathless places. But those which fell into
the fire and were burned,"* are those who have
departed for ever from the living God ; nor does
the thought of repentance ever come into their
hearts, on account of their devotion to their
lusts and to the crimes which they committed.
Do you wish to know who are the others which
fell near the waters, but could not be rolled into
them? These are they who have heard the word,
and wish to be baptized in the name of the Lord ;
but when the chastity demanded by the truth
comes into their recollection, they draw back,5
and again walk after their own wicked desires."
She finished her exposition of the tower. But
I, shameless as I yet was, asked her, ** Is repent-

' [Matt. xiii. ax.]

* use . . . God. Then will they be of use for the building of the
l<wd. — Vat. [ I Cor. iii. 9-15. But, instead of circumscribfa , let us
lead circumcised (with the L^tin) ; with reference to the circumcision
of wealth {0/ trees under the law, Lev. xix. 23), Luke xi. 41. The
Greek of Hernias is orav rcptxoirg avTm¥ o vAoi/ro«.]

^ I^'or . . . sUmes. For you yourself were also one of these
t^otm.— Vtti.

* [Heb. iii. la, vi. B.l

^ The words " draw back" are represented in Greek by the word
elsewhere translated " repent ; " iLvroMotlv is thus used for a change
of mind, either from evil to good, or good to evil.

ance possible for all those stones which have
been cast away and did not fit into the building
of the tower, and will they yet have a place in
this tower?" "Repentance," said she, "is yet
possible, but in this tower they cannot find a
suitable place. But in another* and much in-
ferior place they will be laid, and that, too, only
when they have been tortured and completed
the days of their sins. And on this account will
they be transferred, because they have partaken
of the righteous Word.' And then only will they
be removed from their punishments when the
thought of repenting of the evil deeds which
they have done has come into their hearts. But
if it does not come into their hearts, they will
not be saved, on account of the hardness of
their heart."

CHAP. vm.

When then I ceased asking in regard to all
these matters, she said to me, " Do you wish to
see anything else?" And as I was extremely
eager to see something more, my countenance
beamed with joy. She looked towards me with
a smile, and said, " Do you see seven women
around the tower?" "I do, Lady," said I.
" This tower," said she, " is supported by them
according to the precept of the Lord. Listen
now to their functions. The first of them, who
is clasping her hands, is called Faith. Through
her the elect of God are saved.^ Another, who
has her garments tucked up ^ and acts with vig-
our, is called Self-restraint. She is the daughter
of Faith. Whoever then follows her will become
happy in his life, because he will restrain himself
fi-om all evil works, believing that, if he restrain
himself from all evil desire, he will inherit eter-
nal life." " But the others," said I, " O Lady,
who are they?" And she said to me, "They
are daughters of each other. One of them is
called Simplicity, another Guilelessness, another
Chastity, another Intelligence, another Love.
When then you do all the works of their mother,***
you will be able to live." " I should like to
know," said I, " O Lady, what power each one
of them possesses." " Hear," she said, " what
power they have. Their powers are regulated "
by each other, and follow each other in the

6 [Perhaps the earliest reference to the penitential discipline which
was developed after the Nicene Council, and to the separation of the
Flentes and others from the faithful, in public worship. But compare
Irenaeus (vol. i. p. 335, this series), who refers to this discipline; also
A^st, CoustttMtionSt book ii. cap. 39. I prefer in this chapter
Wake's rendering; and see Bingham, book xviii. cap. i.]

7 [Greek, py^iia. not Aiiyof . To translate this as if it referred to
the Word (St. John i. i) is a great mistake (Heb. xi. 3). Compare
Wake's rendering. It seems a reference to the audienUs^ separated
from the faithful^ but admitted to hear the Word. See Bingham,
and A^si, Constit.y as above.]

' [Salvation is ascribed to faith ; and works of faith follow after,
being faith in action.]

9 [Girded rather, the loins compressed.]

>o [Their mother is Faith (»/ supra) ^ and works of laith are here
represented as deriving their value from fiaith only.]

" Regulated. They have equal powers, but their powers are
connected with each other. — Vai.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book I.

order of their birth. For from Faith arises Self-
restraint; from Self-restraint, Simplicity; from
Simplicity, Guilelessness ; from Guilelessness,
Chastity ; from Chastity, Intelligence ; and from
Intelligence, Love. The deeds, then, of these
are pure, and chaste, and divine. Whoever de-
votes himself to these, and is able to hold fast
by their works, shall have his dwelling in the
tower with the saints of God." Then I asked
her in regard to the ages, if now there is the
conclusion. She cried out with a loud voice,
" Foolish man ! do you not see the tower yet
building? When the tower is finished and built,
then comes the end ; and I assure you it will be
soon finished. Ask me no more questions. Let
you and all the saints be content with what I
have called to your remembrance, and with my
renewal of your spirits. But observe that it is
not for your own sake only that these revelations
have been made to you, but they have been
given you that you may show them to all. For ■
after three days — this you will take care to re-
member— I command you to speak all the
words which I am to say to you into the ears of
the saints, that hearing them and doing them,
they may be cleansed from their iniquities, and
you along with them."

CHAP. IX.

Give ear unto me, O Sons : I have brought
you up in much simplicity, and guilelessness, and
chastity, on account of the mercy of the Lord,*
who has dropped His righteousness down upon
you, that ye may be made righteous and holy ^
from all your iniquity and depravity; but you
do not wish to rest from your iniquity. Now,
therefore, listen to me, and be at peace one with
another, and visit each other, and bear each
other's burdens, and do not partake of God's
creatures alone,* but give abundandy of them to
the needy. For some through the abundance
of their food produce weakness in their flesh,
and thus corrupt their flesh ; while the flesh of
others who have no food is corrupted, because
they have not sufficient nourishment. And on
this account their bodies waste away. This in-
temperance in eating is thus injurious to you
who have abundance and do not distribute
among those who are needy. Give heed to the
judgment that is to come. Ye, therefore, who
are high in position, seek out the hungry as long
as the tower is not yet finished; for after the
tower is finished, you will wish to do good, but
will find no opportunity. Give heed, therefore,

I [Apparently for Casting, and to wait for the appearance of the
interpreter, in cap. x.]

a Tht Lord, God. — Vat, [See Hos. x. la.]

3 Or, that ye may be justified and sanctified.

4 I have translated tne Vat. reading here. The Greek seems to
mean, " Do not partake of God's creatures alone by way of mere rel->
ish." The Pal. nas, "Do not partake of God's creatures alone joy-
lessly, in a way calculated to defeat enjoyment of them."

ye who glory in your wealth, lest those who are
needy should groan, and their groans should
ascend to the Lord,5 and ye be shut out with
all your goods beyond the gate of the tower.
Wherefore I now say to you who preside over
the Church and love the first seats,* " Be not like
to drug-mixers. For the drug-mixers carry their
drugs in boxes, but ye carry your drug and poi-
son in your heart. Ye are hardened, and do
not wish to cleanse your hearts, and to add
unity of aim to purity of heart, that you may
have mercy from the great King. Tsdce heed,
therefore, children, that these dissensions of
yours do not deprive you of your life. How will
you instruct the elect of the Lord, if you your-
selves have not instruction ? Instruct each other
therefore, and be at peace among yourselves,
that 7 I also, standing joyful before your Father,
may give an account of you all to your Lord."**

CHAP. X.

On her ceasing to speak to me, those six
yoimg men who were engaged in building came
and conveyed her to the tower, and other four
lifted up the seat and carried it also to the tower.
The faces of these last I did not see, for they
were turned away from me. And as she was
going, I asked her to reveal to me the meaning
of the three forms in which she appeared to me.
In reply she said to me : "With regard to them,
you must ask another to reveal their meaning to
you." For she had appeared to me, brethren,
in the first vision the previous year under the
form of an exceedingly old woman, sitting in a
chair. In the second vision her face was youth-
ful, but her skin and hair betokened age, and
she stood while she spoke to me. She was also
more joyfiil than on the first occasion. But in
the third vision she was entirely youthftil and
exquisitely beautiful, except only that she had
the hair of an old woman ; but her face beamed
with joy, and she sat on a seat. Now I was ex-
ceeding sad in regard to these appearances, for
I longed much to know what the visions meant.
Then I see the old woman in a vision of the
night saying unto me : " Every prayer should be
accompanied with humility : fast,^ therefore, and
you will obtain from the Lord what you beg."
I fasted therefore for one day.

That very night there appeared to me a young
man, who said, "Why do you frequendy ask
revelations in prayer? Take heed lest by asking
many things you injure your flesh : be content

5 [Jas. V. 1-4.1

6 These that tov* the first seats, omitted in JEth. [Greek, rotv
irpoiiyovn.ivoii r^i c«irXi)<ria« koX roif ir^TOxa^edpiratf. Hennas
seems, purposely, colourless as to technioil distinctions in the clergy;
giving a more primitive cast to his fiction, by this feature. Matt.-
xxiii. 6; Mark xii. 39; Luke xi. 4^, xx. 46.]

7 fRom. ii. 2t; x Thess. v. 13.]
* [Heb. xiii. 17.]

9 I'ast. Believe. — Pal

Vision IV.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

with these revelations. Will you be able to see
greater ' revelations than those which you have
seen ? " I answered and said to him, " Sir, one
thing only I ask, that in regard to these three
forms the revelation may be rendered complete."
He answered me, "How long are ye senseless?*
But your doubts make you senseless, because you
have not your hearts turned towards the Lord."
But I answered and said to him, " From you, sir,
we shall learn these things more accurately."

CHAP. XI.

" Hear then," said he, " with regard to the
three forms, concerning which you are inquiring.
Why in the first vision did she appear to you as
an old woman seated on a chair? Because your
spirit is now old and withered up, and has lost
its power in consequence of your infirmities and
doubts. For, like elderly men who have no hope
of renewing their strength, and expect nothing
but their last sleep, so you, weakened by worldly
occupations, have given yourselves up to sloth,
and have not cast your cares upon the Lord.3
Your spirit therefore is broken, and you have
grown old in yoiu* sorrows." " I should like
then to know, sir, why she sat on a chair?"
He answered, " Because every weak person sits
on a chair on account of his weakness, that his
weakness may be sustained. Lo ! you have the
forai of the first vision.

CHAP. XII.

"Now in the second vision you saw her
standing with a youthful countenance, and more
joyful than before; still she had the skin and
hair of an aged woman. Hear," said he, " this
parable also. When one becomes somewhat old,
he despairs of himself on account of his weak-
ness and poverty, and looks forward to nothing
but the kist day of his life. Then suddenly an
inheritance is left him ; and hearing of this, he
rises up, and becoming exceeding joyful, he puts
on strength. And now he no longer reclines,
but stands up ; and his spirit, already destroyed
by his previous actions, is renewed,* and he no
longer sits, but acts with vigour. So happened
it with you on hearing the revelation which God
gave you. For the Lord had compassion on
you, and renewed your spirit, and ye laid aside
your infirmities. Vigour arose within you, and
ye grew strong in faith ; and the Lord,s seeing
your strength, rejoiced. On this account He
showed you the building of the tower ; and He
will show you other things, if you continue at
peace with each other with all your heart.

' Literany, *' stronger," and thereibre more injurious to the body
^ Htno long. Ve are not senseless. — Vat, [Matt. xvii. 17;
Uke xxtv. as. 1
5 fx Ptt. i. 7.]
^ nit spirit . . . renewed. He is freed from his former sor-

^TktUrd, God.— Ko/.

CHAP. xra.

Now, in the third vision, you saw her still
younger, and she was noble and joyful, and her
shape was beautiful.^ For, just as when some
good news comes suddenly to one who is sad,
immediately he forgets his former sorrows, and
looks for nothing else than the good news which
he has heard, and for the future is made strong
for good, and his spirit is renewed on account
of the joy which he has received ; so ye also
have received the renewal of your spirits by see-
ing these good things. As to your seeing her
sitting on a seat, that means that her position is
one of strength, for a seat has four feet and
stands firmly. For the world also is kept to-
gether by means of four elements. Those,
therefore, who repent completely and with the
whole heart, will become young and firmly es-
tablished. You now have the revelation com-
pletely given you.7 Make no further demands
for revelations. If anything ought to be re-
vealed, it will be revealed to you."

VISION FOURTH.

CONCERNING THE TRIAL AND TRIBULATION THAT
ARE TO COME UPON MEN.

CHAP. I.

Twenty days after the former vision I saw
another vision, brethren * — a representation of
the tribulation 9 that is to come. I was going to
a country house along the Campanian road.
Now the house lay about ten furlongs from the
public road. The district is one rarely *** trav-
ersed. And as I walked alone, I prayed the
Lord to complete the revelations which He had
made to me through His holy Church, that He
might strengthen me," and give repentance to all
His servants who were going astray, that His
great and glorious name might be glorified be-
cause He vouchsafed to show me. His marvels."
And while I was glorifying Him and giving Him
thanks, a voice, as it were, answered me, " Doubt
not, Hermas ; " and I began to think with myself,
and to say, " What reason have I to doubt — I
who have been established by the Lord, and who
have seen such glorious sights? " I advanced a
little, brethren, and, lo ! I see dust rising even to
the heavens. I began to say to myself, "Are
cattle approaching and raising the dust?" It
was about a furlong's distance from me. And,

^ Shape . . . heaMiifnl. Her countenance was serene. — Vai.
7 I As Dupin suj^ests of The Shepherd, generally, one may feel
that these " revelations " would be better without the symbolical
part.)

* [This address to " brethren" sustains the form of the primitive
prophesying^, in the con^g;ation.]

9 [One of the tribulations spoken of in the Apocalypse is probably
intended. This Vision is full of the imagery of the Book of Revela-
tion.]

^^ Rarely. Easily. — Lips., Sin.
" He might strengthen me, omitted in Vat.
>3 For . . . marvel*. This clause is connected with the subse-
quent sentence in Vat.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book I.

]o ! I see the dust rising more and more, so that
I imagined that it was something sent from God.
But the sun now shone out a little, and, lo ! I
see a mighty beast like a whale, and out of its
mouth fiery locusts' proceeded. But the size
of that beast was about a hundred feet, and it
had a head like an urn.* I began to weep, and
to call on the Lord to rescue me from it. Then
I remembered the word which I had heard,
" Doubt not, O Hermas." Clothed, therefore,
my brethren, with faith in the Lord,3 and re-
membering the great things which He had taught
me, I boldly faced the beast. Now that beast
came on with such noise and force, that it could
itself have destroyed a city.^ I came near it,
and the monstrous beast stretched itself out on
the ground, and showed nothing but its tongue,
and did not stir at all until I had passed by it.
Now the beast had four colours on its head —
black, then fiery and bloody, then golden, and
lastly white.

CHAP. n.

Now after I had passed by the wild beast, and
had moved forward about thirty feet, lo ! a virgin
meets me, adorned as if she were proceeding
firom the bridal chamber, clothed entirely in
white, and with white sandals, and veiled up to
her forehead, and her head was covered by a
hood.s And she had white hair. I knew fi*om
my former visions that this was the Church, and
I became more joyful. She saluted me, and
said, " Hail, O man ! " And I returned her
salutation, and said, " Lady, hail ! " And she
answered, and said to me, " Has nothing crossed
your path ? " I say, " I was met by a beast of
such a size that it could destroy peoples, but
through the power of the Lord * and His great
mercy I escaped from it." "Well did you
escape from it," says she, "because you cast
your care ^ on God,* and opened your heart to
the Lord, believing that you can be saved by
no other than by His great and glorious name.^
On this account the Lord has sent His angel,
who has rule over the beasts, and whose name
is Thegri,'® and has shut up its mouth, so that it
cannot tear you. You have escaped from great

* [Rev. ix. 3.]

' Comp. Rev. xi. 7, xii. 3, 4, xiil. z, xvii. 8, xxii. 3. [The beast
was " like a whale " in size and proportion. It was not a sea-monster.
This whole passage is DatUtsque. See InferHo^ canto xxxi., and,
for the colours, canto xvii. 15.I

3 God. — Zi>j., Vat.

4 The Vat. adds: with a stroke.

5 [Those who remember the Vatican collection and other an-
ticuest will recall the exquisite figure and veiling of the PttdicitiaJ]

6 The Lord. God.— Vat.

^ Care. Loneliness and anxiety. — Vai.

■ G0d. The Lord. — Vat.

9 [Acts iv. la.]

>o Tkegri. [Peihaps compounded from (Kip and <lypciS«.] The
name of this angel is variously written, Hegrin [Query. Quasi
<Yf*^ryop<^>'i or corrupted from (Se/i.) tip cal &Yi<K; //t'r in Daniel's
Chaldeel, Tegri. Some have supposed the word to be for ayptov,
iAe wi'M; some have taken it to mean " the watchful/' as in Dan. iv.
zo, 93: and some take it to be the name of a fabulous lion. [See,
also, Dan. vi. aa.]

tribulation on account of your faith, and because
you did not doubt in the presence of such a
beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of the
Lord " His mighty deeds, and say to them that
this beast is a type of the great tribulation that
is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and
repent with all your heart, and turn to the Lord,
it will be possible for you to escape it, if your
heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the
rest of the days of your life in serving the Lord
blamelessly. Cast your cares upon the Lord,
and He will direct them. Trust the Lord, ye
who doubt, for He is all-powerful, and can turn
His anger away from you, and send scourges '*
on the doubters. Woe to those who hear these
words, and despise them : ^ better were it for
them not to have been bom." '^

CHAP. in.

I asked her about the four colours which the
beast had on his head. And she answered, and
said to me, " Again you are inquisitive in regard
to such matters." " Yea, Lady," said I, " make
known to me what they are." "Listen," said
she : " the black is the world in which we dwell :
but the fiery and bloody points out that the
world must perish through blood and fire : but
the golden part are you who have escaped from
this world. For as gold is tested by fire, and
thus becomes useful, so are you tested who
dwell in it. Those, therefore, who continue
stedfast, and are put through the fire, will be
purified by means of it. For as gold casts away
its dross, so also will ye cast away all sadness
and straitness, and will be made pure so as to
fit into the building of the tower. But the white
part is the age that is to come, in which the
elect of God will dwell, since those elected by
God to eternal life will be spodess and pure.
Wherefore cease not speaking these things into
the ears of the saints. This then is the type of
the great tribulation that is to come. If ye wish
it, it will be nothing. Remember those things
which were written down before." And saying
this, she departed. But I saw not into what
place she retired. There was a noise, however,
and I turned round in alarm, thinking that that
beast was coming.'^

VLSION FIFTH.

CONCERNING THE COMMANDMENTS.**

After I had been praying at home, and had
sat down on my couch, there entered a man of

" The Lord. God.— Vat.

>' Send scourges. Send you help. But woe to the doubters who.
— Vat.

" [i Thess. v. so.]

*♦ Matt. xxvi. 94.

'S [Very much resembling Dante, again, in many passages. In-
femot xxi. " AUor mi volsi.' etc.]

i^ [This vision naturally belongs to book ii., to which it is a pref-
ace.]

Vision V.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

glorious aspect, dressed like a shepherd, with a
white goat's skin, a wallet on his shoulders, and
a rod in his hand, and saluted me. I returned
his salutation. And straightway he sat down
beside me, and said to me, " I have been sent
by a most venerable angel to dwell with you the
remaining da)rs of your Hfe." And I thought
that he had come to tempt me, and I said to
him, " Who are you ? For I know him to whom
I have been entrusted." He said to me, " Do
you not know me? " " No," said I. " I," said
he, " am that shepherd to whom you have been
entmsted." And while he yet spake, his figure
was changed ; and then I knew that it was he
to whom I had been entrusted. And straight-
way I became confused, and fear took hold of
me, and I was overpowered with deep sorrow
that I had answered him so wickedly and fool-
ishly. But he answered, and said to me, " Do
not be confounded, but receive strength from
the commandments which I am going to give
you. For I have been sent," said he, " to show
you again all the things which you saw before,

especially those of them which are useful to you.
First of all, then, write down my command-
ments and similitudes, and you will write the
other things as I shall show you. For this pur-
pose," said he, " I command you to write down
the commandments and similitudes first, that
you may read them easily, and be able to keep
them." » Accordingly I wrote down the com-
mandments and similitudes, exactly as he had
ordered me. If then, when you have heard
these, ye keep them and walk in them, and
practise them with pure minds, you will receive
from the Lord all that He has promised to you.
But if, after you have heard them, ye do not
repent, but continue to add to your sins, then
shall ye receive from the Lord the opposite
things. All these words did the shepherd, even
the angel of repentance, command me to write.'

' Ktep tkem. That you may be able to keep them more easily
by readine them from time to time. — Vat.

■ ["Tne Shepherd," then, is the "angel of repentance," here
represented as a guardian an^el. Thu gives the work its character,
as enforcing^ primarily the anti-Montaoist principle of the value of true
repentance m the sight of God.]

THE PASTOR.

BOOK SECOND. - COMMANDMENTS.

COMMANDMENT FIRST.

ON FAITH IN GOD.

First of all, believe ' that there is one God
who created and finished all things, and made
all things out of nothing. He alone is able to
contain the whole, but Himself cannot be con-
tained.* Have faith therefore in Him, and fear
Him ; and fearing Him, exercise self-control.
Keep these commands, and you will cast away
from you all wickedness, and put on the strength
of righteousness, and live to God, if you keep
this commandment.

COMMANDMENT SECOND.

ON AVOIDING EVIL-SPEAKING, AND ON GIVING ALMS

IN SIMPLICITY.

He said to me, " Be simple and guileless, and
you will be as the children who know not the
wickedness that ruins the life of men. First,
then, speak evil of no one, nor listen with pleas-
ure to any one who speaks evil of another. But
if you listen, you will partake of the sin of him

> [These first words are quoted bv Irenaeus, vol. i. p. 488, this
series. Note that this book begins with the fundaunental principle of
faith, which is everywhere identified by Hennas (as in Vision ii.
cap. a) with faith in_ the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is also
everywhere exhibited in this work. But the careful student will dis-
cover a very deep plan in the treatment of this subjeci. Repentance
and faith are the great themes, and the long-suflering of God. against
the Montanisls. But he begins bjr indicating the divine cnaracter
and the law of God. He treats of sin in its relations to the law and
the gospel : little by little, opening the way, he reaches a point, in the
Eighth Similitude, where he introduces the New Law, identifying it,
indeed, with the old, but magnifying the gospel of the Son of God.
Herman takes for granted the Son of man; " but everywhere he
avoids the names of His humanity, and brings out " the Son of God "
with emphasis, in the spirit of St. John's Gospel (cap. i ) and of the
Epistle to the Hebrews (cap. i.), as if he feared the familiarities even
of^ believers in speaking of Jesus or of Christ, without recognising
His eternal power and (?odhead.1

' Contained. — Vat. and Pal. add : and who cannot be defined in
words, nor conceived by the mind. [Here we have the " Incompre-
hensible," so ^miliar m the litur^c formula improperly called the
Aikanaxian Creed. In the Latin imtmensuSt in the Greek avetpof j
L e., ** non mensurabilis, quiA inlocalis^ incircumscriptus, ubique totus,
ubiqtie praesens, ubique potens." Not intelligible is too frequently
supposed to be the sense, but this is feeble and ambiguous. See
WaterUnd, Works, iv. p. 320. London, 1823.]

who speaks evil, if you believe the slander which
you hear;' for believing it, you will also have
something to say against your brother. Thus,
then, will you be guilty of the sin of him who
slanders. For slander is evil ♦ and an unsteady
demon. It never abides in peace, but always
remains in discord. Keep yourself from it, and
you will always be at peace with all. Put on a
holiness in which there is no wicked cause of
offence, but all deeds that are equable and joy-
ful. Practise goodness ; and from the rewards
of your labours, which God gives you, give to all
the needy in simplicity, not hesitating as to whom
you are to give or not to give. Give to all, for
God wishes His gifts to be shared amongst all.
They who receive, will render an account to God
why and for what they have received. For the
afflicted who receive will not be condemned,5
but they who receive on false pretences will suffer
punishment. He, then, who gives is guiltless.
For as he received from the Lord, so has he
accomplished his service in simplicity, not hesi-
tating as to whom he should give and to whom
he should not give. This service, then, if accom-
plished in simplicity, is glorious with God. He,
therefore, who thus ministers in simplicity, will
live to God.^ Keep therefore these command-
ments, as I have given them to you, that your
repentance and the repentance of your house
may be found in simplicity, and your heart ^ may
be pure and stainless."

^ If . . . brother. [Jas. iv. 11.] And if you believe the
slanderer, you will also be guilty of sin, in that you have believed
one who speaks evil of your brother. — Y<^^\ ^^^ >f you give your
assent to the detractor, and believe what is said of one in his absence,
you also will be like to him, and acting ruinously towards your
brother, and you are guilty of the same sin as the person who .slan-
ders. — Pal.

4 For slander is ruinous. — Vat. For it is wicked to slander any
one. — Pal.

5 For . . . condemned^ omitted in Vat.

A This service . . . God. And he has accomplished this service
to God simply and gbriously. — Vat. [Rom. xii. 8.]

7 The Vat. adds: and a blessing may fall on your house.

Commandment IV.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

COMMANDMENT THIRD.

ON AVOIDING FALSEHOOD, AND ON THE REPENTANCE
OF HERMAS FOR HIS DISSIMULATION.

Again he said to me, " Love the truth, and let
nothing but truth proceed from your mouth,*
that the spirit which God has placed in your
flesh may be found truthful before all men ; and
the Lord, who dwelleth in you,^ will be glori-
fied, because the Lord is truthful in every word,
and in Him is no falsehood. They therefore
who lie deny the Lord, and rob Him, not giving
back to Him the deposit which they have re-
ceived. For they received from Him a spirit
free from falsehood.^ If they give him back
this spirit untruthful, they pollute the command-
ment of the Lord, and become robbers." On
hearing these words, I wept most violently.
WTien he saw me weeping, he said to me, " Why
do you weep?" And I said, "Because, sir, I
know not if I can be saved." " Why ? " said
he. And I said, " Because, sir, I never spake a
true word in my life, but have ever spoken cun-
ningly to all,^ and have affirmed a lie for the
tnith to all ; and no one ever contradicted me,
but credit was given to my word. How then
can I live, since I have acted thus ? " And he
said to me, " Your feelings are indeed right and
sound, for you ought as a servant of God to
have walked in truth, and not to have joined an
evil conscience with the spirit of truth, nor to
have caused sadness to the holy and true Spirit." s
And I said to him, " Never, sir, did I listen to
these words with so much attention." And he
said to me, " Now you hear them, and keep
them, that even the falsehoods which you for-
merly told in your transactions may come to be
believed through the truthfulness of your present
statements. For even they can become worthy
of credit. If you keep these precepts, and from
this time forward you speak nothing but the
truth,^ it will be possible for you to obtain life.
And whosoever shall hear this commandment,
and depart from that great wickedness false-
hood, shall live to God."

COMMANDMENT FOURTH.

ON PUTTING one's WIFE AWAY FOR ADULTERY.

CHAP. I.

" I charge you," said he, " to guard your chas-
tity, and let no thought enter your heart of an-

* [Eph. iv. 35, 39.]

' IhvelUtA in yon. Who put the spirit within you. — Vai.

^ [The seven gifts of the Spirit are here referred to, especially
the gift d* " true godliness/' with a reference to the parable of the
<alaits (Matt. xkv. 15), and also to 1 John ii. 20-27.]

* Cunningly to all. Have ever lived in dissimulation. — Vat,
Lived cunninglv with all. — Pal, [Custom-house oaths and business
lies among mociems.]

, > The Vat. adds: of God. [i John iii. 19-21, iv. 6» and Eph.
'^- jjo-I

* For . . . truth. For even they can become worthy of credit,
if 70a will speak the truth in future; and if you keep the truth. —
y»t. [See, under the Tenth Mandate, p. a6, m this book.]

Other man*s wife, or of fornication, or of similar
iniquities ; for by doing this you commit a great
sin. But if you always remember your own wife,
you will never sin. For if this thought ' enter
your heart, then you will sin ; and if, in like
manner, you think other wicked thoughts, you
commit sin. For this thought is great sin in a
servant of God. But if any one commit this
wicked deed, he works death for himself. At-
tend, therefore, and refrain from this thought;
for where purity dwells, there iniquity ought not
to enter the heart of a righteous man." I said
to him, " Sir, permit me to a.sk you a few ques-
tions."* "Say on," said he. And I said to
him, "Sir, if any one has a wife who trusts in
the Lord, and if he detect her in adultery, does
the man sin if he continue to live with her?"
And he said to me, " As long as he remains ig-
norant of her sin, the husband commits no trans-
gression in living with her. But if the husband
know that his wife has gone astray, and if the
woman does not repent, but persists in her forni-
cation, and yet the husband continues to live
with her, he also is guilty of her crime, and a
sharer in her adultery." And I said to him,
" What then, sir, is the husband to do, if his wife
continue in her vicious practices?" And he
said, "The husband should put her away, and
remain by himself. But if he put his wife away
and marry another, he also commits adultery." 9
And I said to him, "What if the woman put
away should repent, and wish to return to her
husband : shall she not be taken back by her
husband?" And he said to me, "Assuredly.
If the husband do not take her back, he sins,
and brings a great sin upon himself; for he ought
to take back the sinner who has repented. But
not frequently.'® For there is but one repentance
to the servants of God. In case, therefore, that
the divorced wife may repent, the husband ought
not to marry another, when his wife has been
put away. In this matter man and woman are to
be treated exactly in the same way. Moreover,
adultery is committed not only by those who
pollute their flesh, but by those who imitate the
heathen in their actions." Wherefore if any one '*

7 This thought. [Matt. v. 28. See, further, Simil. ix. cap. xi.]
The thought of another man's wife or of fornication.

^ Questions. " I charge you," said he, " to g\tard your chastity,
and let no thought enter your heart of another man's marriage (i.e.,
wife) , or of fornication, for this produces a great transgression. But
be always mindful of the Lord at all hours, and you will never sin.
For if tnis very wicked thought enter your heart, you commit a great
sin, and they who practise such deeds follow the way of death. Take
heed, thereK>re, and refrain from this thought. For where chastity
remains in the heart of a righteous man, never ought there to arise
any evil thought." I said to him, ** Sir, permit me to say a few words
to you." *• Say on," said he. — Vat.

9 Matt. V. 32, xix. 9.

*o [Not frequently . . . one repentance. True penitence is a
habit of life. An apparent safe-guard against the reproaches of Mon-
tanism, and a caution not to turn forgiveness into a momentary sponge
without avoiding renewed transgression.]

11 Who . . . actions. But lie who makes an image also commits
adultery. — Vat.

12 Any one. She. — VeU. [s Thess. iii. 14: a John xz.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book II.

persists in such deeds, and repents not, with-
draw from him, and cease to live with him,
otherwise you are a sharer in his sin. Therefore
has the injunction been laid on you, that you
should remain by yourselves, both man and
woman, for in such persons repentance can take
place. But I do not," said he, " give opportunity
for the doing of these deeds, but that he who
has sinned may sin no more. But with regard
to his previous transgressions, there is One who
is able to provide a cure ; ' for it is He, indeed,
who has power over all."

CHAP. II.

I asked him again, and said, " Since the Lord
has vouchsafed to dwell always with me, bear
with me while I utter a few words ; * for I under-
stand nothing, and my heart has been hardened
by my previous mode of life. Give me under-
standing, for I am exceedingly dull, and I under-
stand absolutely nothing." And he answered
and said unto me, " I am set over repentance,
and I give understanding to all who repent. Do
you not think," he said, " that it is great wisdom
to repent ? for repentance is great wisdom.^ For
he who has sinned understands that he acted
wickedly in the sight of the Lord, and remem-
bers the actions he has done, and he repents,
and no longer acts wickedly, but does good mu-
nificently, and humbles and torments his soul
because he has sinned. You see, therefore, that
repentance is great wisdom." And I said to
him, " It is for this reason, sir, that I inquire
carefully into all things, especially because I am
a sinner ; that I may know what works I should
do, that I may live : for my sins are many and
various." And he said to me, " You shall live
if you keep my commandments,** and walk in
them ; and whosoever shall hear and keep these
commandments, shall live to God."

CHAP. ni.

And I said to him, " I should like to continue
my questions." " Speak on," said he. And I
said, " I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that
there is no other repentance than that which
takes place, when we descended into the water s
and received remission of our former sins." He
said to me, "That was sound doctrine which
you heard ; for that is really the case. For he
who has received remission of his sins ought not
to sin any more, but to live in purity. Since,

' There . . . cure. God, who has power to heal, will provide a
remedy. — Fa/. [This whole passage seems to refer to the separation
of penitents under canonical discipline. Tertullian, Pudicit.^ capp.
5, II, and De Penitent. ^ cap. 9. 2 Thess. iii. Z4.]

* Bear . . . words. Give me a few words of explanation. — Vat.
3 Repentance . . . wUdom, For he wha repents obtains great

intelligence. ^ For he feels that he has sinned and acted wickedly. —
Vat. [" Wisdom and understanding; " spiritual gifts here instanced
as requisite to true penitence and spiritual life.]

* [Matt. xix. 17. Saint-Pierre, Harm, de la Nature ^ iii. p. iso.]
3^ [Immersion continues to be the usage, then, even in the West,

at this epoch.]

however, you inquire diligently into all things, I
will point this also out to you, not as giving oc-
casion for error to those who are to believe, or
have lately believed, in the Lord. For those
who have now believed, and those who are to
believe, have not repentance for their sins ; but
they have remission of their previous sins. For
to those who have been called before these days,
the Lord has set repentance. For the Lord,
knowing the heart, and foreknowing all things,
knew the weakness of men and the manifold
wiles of the devil, that he would inflict some
evil on the servants of God, and would act
wickedly towards them.^ The Lord, therefore,
being merciful, has had mercy on the work of
His hand, and has set repentance for them ; and
He has entrusted to me power over this repent-
ance. And therefore I say to you, that if any
one is tempted by the devil, and sins after that
great and holy calling in which the Lord has
called His people to everlasting life,^ he has op-
portunity to repent but once. But if he should
sin frequently after this, and then repent, to such
a man his repentance will be of no avail ; for
with difficulty will he live." * And I said, " Sir,
I feel that life has come back to me in listening
attentively to these commandments ; for I know
that I shall be saved, if in future I sin no more."
And he said, " You will be saved, you and all
who keep these commandments."

CHAP. rv.

And again I asked him, saying, "Sir, since
you have been so patient in listening to me, will
you show me this also?" "Speak," said he.
And I said, " If a wife or husband die, and the
widower or widow marry, does he or she commit
sin?" "There is no sin in marrying again,"
said he ; " but if they remain unmarried, they
gain greater honour and glory with the Lord ; but
if they marry, they do not sin.^ Guard, there-
fore, your chastity and purity, and you will live
to God. What commandments I now give you,
and what I am to give, keep from henceforth,
yea, from the very day when you were entrusted
to me, and I will dwell in your house. And
your former sins will be forgiven, if you keep
my commandments. And all shall be forgiven
who keep these my commandments, and walk
in this chastity."

^ For . . . them. Since God knows the thoughts of all hearts,
and the weakness of men, and the manifold wickedness of the devil
which he practises in plotting against the servants of God, and in
malignant designs against them. — Vat.

f In . . . life. These words occur only in Pal. [Can the follow-
ing words be genuine ? They reflect the very Montanism here so
strictly opposed. Wake has followed a very different text. The
Scriptures, it is true, use very awful language of the same kind: Hcb.
X. 26, 97, xii. x6, 17; X John iii. 9.]

« IVith . . . live. With difficulty will he live to God.— Ttf/.
and Pal.

9 [x Cor. vii. 39; Rom. yii. 3. See my note on Simil. ix. cap. 28.
Here are touching^ illustrations of the new spirit as to the sanctity
of marriage, to which the Gospel was awakening the heathen mind.]

Commandment V.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

COMMANDMENT FIFTH.

OF SADNESS OP HEART, AND OF PATIENCE.

CHAP. I.

"Be patient," said he, "and of good under-
standing, and you will rule over every wicked
work, and you will work all righteousness. For
if you be patient, the Holy Spirit that dwells in
you will be pure. He will not be darkened by
any evil spirit, but, dwelling in a broad region,'
he will rejoice and be glad ; and with the vessel
in which he dwells he will serve God in gladness,
having great peace within himself.* But if any
outburst of anger take place, forthwith the Holy
Spirit, who is tender, is straitened, not having a
pure place, and He seeks to depart. For he is
choked by the vile spirit, and cannot attend on
the Lord as he wishes, for anger pollutes him.
For the Lord dwells in long-suffering, but the
de\^l in anger.^ The two spirits, then, when
dwelling in the same habitation, are at discord
with each other, and are troublesome to that
man in whom they dwell.^ For if an exceed-
ingly small piece of wormwood be taken and
put into a jar of honey, is not the honey entirely
destroyed, and does not the exceedingly small
piece of wormwood entirely take away the sweet-
ness of the honey, so that it no longer affords
any gratification to its owner, but has become
bitter, and lost its use ? But if the wormwood
be not put into the honey, then the honey re-
mains sweet, and is of use to its owner. You
see, then, that patience is sweeter than honey,
and useflil to God, and the Lord dwells in it.
But anger is bitter and useless. Now, if anger
be mingled with patience, the patience is pol-
luted,5 and its prayer is not then useful to God."
"I should like, sir," said I, " to know the power
of anger, that I may guard myself against it."
And he said, " If you do not guard yourself
against it, you and your house lose all hope of
salvation. Guard yourself, therefore, against it.
For I am with you, and all will depart from it
who repent with their whole heart.*^ For I will
be with them, and I will save them all. For all
are justified by the most holy angel.^

' It will be noticed that space is attributed to the heart or soul,
and that joy and goodness expand the heart, and produce width, while
sadness and wickedness contract and straiten.

2 Bui . . . himself. But rejoicins he will be expanded, and he
will feast in the vessel tn which he dwells, and he will serve the Lord
joyfully in the midst of great peace. — Vat. He will serve the Lord
in great gladness, having abundance of all things within himself. —
PaL

i For . . . anger ^ omitted in Vat. ; fuller in Pal. : For the Lord
dwells in calmness and greatness of mind, but anger is the devil's
house of entertainment. [Eph. iv. 36. 37. 1

< Mas. m. I I.J

s Patiemce is Polluted, l*he mind is distressed. — Vat. ; omit-
ted m Pal.

^ / . . . heart, I, the angel [or messenger] of righteousness,
am with you, and all who depart trom anger, and repent with their
whole heart, will live to God. — ^ Vat.

7 A re Justified. Are received into the number of the just by the
most holy angel (or messenger). — Pal. [i.e.. As the instrument of
justification; but the superlative here used seems to identify this
angel with that of the covenant (Mai. iii. z) ; Le., the meritorious
cause, " the Lord."]

CHAP. II.

" Hear now," said he, " how wicked is the
action of anger, and in what way it overthrows
the servants of God by its action, and turns them
from righteousness. But it does not turn away
those who are full of faith, nor does it act on
them, for the power of the Lord is with them.
It is the thoughtiess and doubting that it turns
away.* For as soon as it sees such men stand-
ing stedfast, it throws itself into their hearts, and
for nothing at all the man or woman becomes
embittered on account of occurrences in their
daily life, as for instance on account of their
food, or some superfluous word that has been
uttered, or on account of some friend, or some
gift or debt, or some such senseless affair. For
all these things are foolish and empty and un-
profitable to the servants of God. But patience
is great, and mighty, and strong, and calm in
the midst of great enlargement, joyful, rejoicing,
free from care, glorifying God at all times, hav-
ing no bitterness in her, and abiding continually
meek and quiet. Now this patience dwells with
those who have complete faith. But anger is
foolish, and fickle, and senseless. Now, of folly
is begotten bitterness, and of bitterness anger,
and of anger frenzy. This frenzy, the product
of so many evils, ends in great and incurable sin.
For when all these spirits dwell in one vessel in
which the Holy Spirit also dwells, the vessel
cannot contain them, but overflows. The ten-
der Spirit, then, not being accustomed to dwell
with the wicked spirit, nor with hardness, with-
draws from such a man, and seeks to dwell with
meekness and peacefxilness. Then, when he
withdraws from the man in whom he dwelt, the
man is emptied of the righteous Spirit; and
being henceforward filled with evil spirits,^ he is
in a state of anarchy in every action, being
dragged hither and thither by the evil spirits,
and there is a complete darkness in his mind as
to everything good. This, then, is what happens
to all the angry. Wherefore do you depart from
that most wicked spirit anger, and put on pa-
tience, and resist anger and bitterness, and you
will be found in company with the purity which
is loved by the Lord.'° Take care, then, that
you neglect not by any chance this command-
ment : for if you obey this commandment, you
will be able to keep all the other commandments
which I am to give you. Be strong, then, in
these commandments, and put on power, and

« Hear . . . away, " Hear now," said he, " how great is the
wickedness of anger, and how injurious, and in what way it over-
throws the servants of Cjod. For they who are full of faith receive
no harm from it, for the power of God is with them; for it is the
doubters and those destitute [of faith] that it overturns." — Vat.
[The philosophic difference between ai%er and indignation is here in

vicw.t

[Matt. xii. 45; Luke xi. a6.]
. . Lord.

w You
purity and chastity

You will DC found by God in the company of
Vat.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book II.

let all put on power, as many as wish to walk in
them." «

COMMANDMENT SIXTH.

HOW TO RECOGNISE THE TWO SPIRITS ATTENDANT ON
EACH MAN, AND HOW TO DISTINGUISH THE SUG-
GESTIONS OF THE ONE FROM THOSE OF THE OTHER.

CHAP. I.

" I gave you," he said, " directions in the first
coramandment to attend to faith, and fear, and
self-restraint." " Even so, sir," said I. And he
said, " Now I wish to show you the powers of
these, that you may know what power each pos-
sesses. For their powers are double, and have
relation alike to the righteous and the unright-
eous. Trust you, therefore, the righteous, but
put no trust in the unrighteous. For the path
of righteousness is straight, but that of unright-
eousness is crooked. But walk in the straight
and even way, and mind not the crooked. For
the crooked path has no roads, but has many
pathless places and stumbling-blocks in it, and
it is rough and thorny. It is injurious to those
who walk therein. But they who walk in the
straight road walk evenly without stumbling,
because it is neither rough nor thorny. You
see, then, that it is better to walk in this road."
" I wish to go by this road," said I. " You will I
go by it," said he ; " and whoever turns to the
Lord with all his heart will walk in it."

CHAP. II.

Hear now," said he, "in regard to faith.
There are two angels' with a man — one of
righteousness, and the other of iniquity." And
I said to him, " How, sir, am I to know the
powers of these, for both angels dwell with me ? "
" Hear," said he, and " understand them. The
angel of righteousness is gentle and modest, meek
and peaceful. When, therefore, he ascends into
your heart, forthwith 3 he talks to you of right-
eousness, purity, chastity, contentment, and of
every righteous deed and glorious virtue. When
all these ascend into your heart, know that the
angel of righteousness is with you. These are the
deeds of the angel of righteousness. Trust him,
then, and his works. Look now at the works of
the angel of iniquity. First, he is wrathful, and
bitter, and foolish, and his works are evil, and
ruin the servants of God. When, then, he as-
cends into your heart, know him by his works."

I A nd put . . . them'. That you may live to God, and they who
keep these cominandments will live to Goid. — Vat. [The beauty of
this chapter must be felt by all, especi.'Uly in the eulogy on patience.
A pious and learned critic remarks on the emphasis and frequent re-
currence of scriptural exhoruiions to pat t'ence, which he thinks have
been too little enlatjged uptm in Christian literature.]

' [See Tob. iii. 8, t?. The impure spirit, and the healing
angel. This apocryphal book greatly influenced the Church's ideas
of angels, and may have suggested this early reference to one's good
and evil angel. 'The roedidcval ideas on this subjicct are powerfully
illustrated in the German legends preserved by air W. Scott in TAe
Wiid HuHtjman and The Firt'KiHr.\

3 Forthwith . . . heart, omittedin lipi.

And I said to him, " How, sir, I shall perceive
him, I do not know." " Hear and understand,"
said he. "When anger comes upon you, or
harshness, know that he is in you ; and you will
know this to be the case also, when you are at-
tacked by a longing after many transactions,* and
the richest delicacies, and drunken revels, and
divers luxuries, and things improper, and by a
hankering after women, and by overreaching,
and pride, and blustering, and by whatever is
like to these. When these ascend into your
heart, know that the angel of iniquity is in you.
Now that you know his works, depart from him,
and in no respect trust him, because his deeds
are evil, and unprofitable to the servants of God.
These, then, are the actions of both angels.
Understand them, and trust the angel of right-
eousness ; but depart from the angel of iniquity,
because his instruction is bad in every deed.*
For though a man be most faithfiil,^ and the
thought of this angel ascend into his heart, that
man or woman must sin. On the other hand,
be a man or woman ever so bad, yet, if the works
of the angel of righteousness ascend into his or
her heart, he or she must do something good.
You see, therefore, that it is good to follow the
angel of righteousness, but to bid farewell ^ to
the angel of iniquity.

"This commandment exhibits the deeds of
faith, that you may trust the works of the angel
of righteousness, and doing them you may live
to God. But believe the works of the angel of
iniquity are hard. If you refuse to do them,
you will live to God."

COMMAXDMENT SEVENTH.

ON FEARING GOD, AND NOT FEARING THE DEVIL.

"Fear," said he, "the Lord, and keep His
commandments.^ For if you keep the com-
mandments of God, you will be powerful in
every action, and every one of your actions will
be incomparable. For, fearing the Lord, you
will do all things well. This is the fear which
you ought to have, that you may be saved. But
fear not the devil; for, fearing the Lord, you
will have dominion over the devil, for there is
no power in him. But he in whom there is no
power ought on no account to be an object of
fear ; but He in whom there is glorious power
is truly to be feared. For every one that has
power ought to be feared ; but he who has not

4 Traiuaeiions. I think the writer means, when a longing is felt
to eneage with too great devotedness to business and the pursuit of
wealth. [" That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction."
X Cor. vii. 35.]

3 Trust . . deed. Trust the angel of righteousness, because
his instruction is good. — Vat,

6 Faithful. Most happy. — Vat.

7 But to bid farewell. The Vat. ends quite differently from this
point: If, then, you follow him. and trust to his works, you will live
to God; and they who trust to nis works will live to God. — Vat.

' Ecdes. xii. 13.

Commandment VIIL]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

power is despised by all. Fear, therefore, the
deeds of the devil, since they are wicked. For,
fearing the Lord, you will not do these deeds,
but will refrain from them. For fears are of two
kinds : ' for if you do not wish to do that which
is evil, fear the Lord, and you will not do it ;
but, again, if you wish to do that which is good,
fear the Lord, and you will do it. Wherefore
the fear of the Lord is strong, and great, and
glorious. Fear, then, the Lord, and you will
live to Him, and as many as fear Him and keep
His commandments will live to God." " Why," *
said I, " sir, did you say in regard to those that
keep His commandments, that they will live to
God? " " Because," says he, " all creation fears
the Lord, but all creation does not keep His
commandments. They only who fear the Lord
and keep His commandments have life with
God ; 3 but as to those who keep not His com-
mandments, there is no life in them."

COMMANDMENT EIGHTH.

WE OUGHT TO SHUN THAT WHICH IS EVIL, AND DO
THAT WHICH IS GOOD.

" I told you," said he, " that the creatures of
God are double,* for restraint also is double ;
for in some cases restraint has to be exercised,
in o thers there is no need of restraint." " Make
known to me, sir," say I, " in what cases restraint
has to be exercised, and in what cases it has
not," " Restrain yourself in regard to evil, and
do it not ; but exercise no restraint in regard to
good, but do it. For if you exercise restraint in
the doing of good, you will commit a great sin ; s
but if you exercise restraint, so as not to do that
which is evil, you are practising great righteous-
ness. Restrain yourself, therefore, from all in-
iquity, and do that which is good." "What, sir,"
say I, " are the evil deeds from which we must
restrain ourselves?" " Hear," says he: "from
adultery and fornication, from unlawful revelling,^
from wicked luxury, from indulgence in many
kinds of food and the extravagance of riches,
and from boastfulness, and haughtiness, and in-
solence, and lies, and backbiting, and hypocrisy,
from the remembrance of wrong, and from all
slander. These are the deeds that are most
wicked in the life of men. From all these
deeds, therefore, the servant of God must restrain
himself. For he who does not restrain himself
from these, cannot live to God. Listen, then, to
the deeds that accompany these." "Are there,
sir," said I, "any other evil deeds?" "There

> [Prov. xxriii. 14: z John iv. x8. This chapter seems based on
Jas. hr. 7.]

' \Vhy . . . tluy »mly wko/ear ikt Lord^ omitted in Vat.

3 God, Lofd.~ Vat.

4 [Command, vi. cap. x. p.„24t supra. The idea taken finon
Eoclus. xzxiu. X5j and £ccles. vii. 14.]

3 For . . . siMt omitted in Lipa.
^ [GaL V. Z9, 91 : z Pet. iv. 3. J

are," says he ; " and many of them, too, from
which the servant of God must restrain himself
— theft, lying, robbery, false witness, overreach-
ing, wicked lust, deceit, vainglory, boastfulness,
and all other vices like to these." "Do you not
think that these are really wicked? " " Exceed-
ingly wicked in the servants of God. From all
of these the servant of God must restrain him-
self. Restrain yourself, then, from all these, that
you may live to God, and you will be enrolled
amongst those who restrain themselves in regard
to these matters. These, then, are the things
from which you must restrain yourself.

" But listen," says he, " to the things in regard
to which you have not to exercise self-restraint,
but which you ought to do. Restrain not your-
self in regard to that which is good, but do it."
"And tell me, sir," say I, "the nature of the
good deeds, that I may walk in them and wait
on them, so that doing them I can be saved."
" Listen," says he, " to the good deeds which
you ought to do, and in regard to which there
is no self-restraint requisite. First of all ^ there
is faith, then fear of the Lord, love, concord,
words of righteousness, truth, patience. Than
these, nothing is better in the life of men. If
any one attend to these, and restrain himself not
from them, blessed is he in his life. Then there
are the following attendant on these : helping
widows, looking after orphans and the needy,
rescuing the servants of God from necessities,
the being hospitable — for in hospitality good-
doing finds a field — never opposing any one,
the being quiet, having fewer needs than all
men, reverencing the aged, practising righteous-
ness, watching the brotherhood, bearing inso-
lence, being long-suffering, encouraging those
who are sick in soul, not casting those who have
fallen into sin from the faith, but turning them
back and restoring them to peace of mind, ad-
monishing sinners, not oppressing debtors and
the needy, and if there are any other actions like
these.^ Do these seem to you good?" says he.
"For what, sir," say I, "is better than these?"
"Walk then in them," says he, "and restrain
not yourself from them, and you will live to
God.9 Keep, therefore, this commandment. If
you do good, and restrain not yourself from it,
you will live to God. All who act thus will live
to God. And, again, if you refuse to do evil,
and restrain yourself from it, you will live to
God. And all will live to God who keep these
commandments, and walk in them."

f [First of ally faith, holy fear, love, etc, Then^ works of mercy.
Cavia evangelical morality be more beautifully illustrated ?]

* [i Pet. iv. 0. Who does not feel humbled and instructed by
these rules of hohr living. No wonder Athanasius, while rejecting it
from the canon {Contra ktKresim Arian.,^. 380) calls this a '* most
Mse/ulhooV." DelncarMationef^.'i^. Pans, 1573.]

9 From them . . . all •who act thus will live to God, omitted
in Vat., which ends thus: If you keep all these commandments, you
will live to God, and all who keep these commandments will live to
God.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book II.

COMMANDMENT NINTH.

PRAYER MUST BE MADE TO GOD WITHOUT CEASING,
AND WITH UNWAVERING CONFIDENCE. i

He says to me, " Put away doubting from you,
and do not hesitate to ask of the Lord, saying
to yourself, ' How can I ask of the Lord and
receive from Him, seeing I have sinned so much
against Him ? * Do not thus reason with your-
self, but with all your heart turn to the Lord,
and ask of Him without doubting, and you will
know the multitude of His tender mercies ; that
He will never leave you, but fulfil the request of
your soul. For He is not like men, who re-
member evils done against them ; but He Him-
self remembers not evils, and has compassion
on His own creature. Cleanse, therefore, your
heart from all the vanities of this world, and
from the words already mentioned, and ask of
the Lord and you will receive all, and in none
of your requests will you be denied which you
make to the Lord without doubting. But if you
doubt in your heart, you will receive none of
your requests. For those who doubt regarding
God are double-souled, and obtain not one of
their requests.' But those who are perfect in
faith ask everything, trusting in the Lord ; and
they obtain, because they ask nothing doubting,
and not being double-souled. For every double-
souled man, even if he repent, will with difficulty
be saved.' Cleanse your heart, therefore, from
all doubt, and put on faith, because it is strong,
and trust God that you will obtain from Him all
that you ask. And if at any time, after you
have asked of the Lord, you are slower in ob-
taining your request [than you expected], do
not doubt because you have not soon obtained
the request of your soul ; for invariably it is on
account of some temptation or some sin of
which you are ignorant that you are slower in
obtaining your request. Wherefore do not cease
to make the request of your soul, and you will'
obtain it. But if you grow weary and waver in
your request, blame yourself, and not Him who^
does not give to you. Consider this doubting
state of mind, for it is wicked and senseless, and
turns many away entirely from the faith, even
though they be very strong. For this doubting
is the daughter of the devil, and acts exceed-
ingly wickedly to the servants of God. Despise,
then, doubting, and gain the mastery over it in
everything ; clothing yourself with faith, which
is strong and powerful. For faith promises all
things, perfects all things ; but doubt having no
thorough faith in itself, fails in every work which
it undertakes. You see, then," says he, " that
faith is from above — from the Lord ^ — and has

' [Jas. i. 6-8 is here the text of the Shepherd's comment.]
« tytU difficuity be saved. WiU with difficulty live to God. —
Vat.

^ Urd, God.— rat.

great power; but doubt is an earthly spirit,
coming from the devil, and has no power.
Serve, then, that which has power, namely faith,
and keep away from doubt, which has no power,
and you will live to God. And all will live to
God whose minds have been set on these
things."

COMMANDMENT TENTH.

OF GRIEF, AND NOT GRIEVING THE SPIRIT OF GOD

WHICH IS IN US.

CHAP. I.

" Remove from you," says he, "grief; for she
is the sister of doubt and anger." " How, sir,"
say I, "is she the sister of these? for anger,
doubt, and grief seem to be quite diflferent from
each other." " You are senseless, O man. Do
you not perceive that grief is more wicked than
all the spirits, and most terrible to the servants
of God, and more than all other spirits destroys
man and crushes out the Holy Spirit, and yet,
on the other hand, she saves him ? " "I am
senseless, sir," say I, " and do not understand
these parables. For how she can crush out, and
on the other hand save, I do not perceive."
" Listen," says he. " Those who have never
searched for the truth, nor investigated the na-
ture of the Divinity, but have simply believed,
when they devote themselves to and become
mixed up with business, and wealth, and heathen
friendships, and many other actions of this
world,^ do not perceive the parables of Divinity ;
for their minds are darkened by these actions,
and they are corrupted and become dried up.
Even as beautiful vines, when they are neglected,
are withered up by thorns and divers plants, so
men who have believed, and have afterwards
fallen away into many of those actions above
mentioned, go astray in their minds, and lose all
understanding in regard to righteousness ; for if
they hear of righteousness, their minds are oc-
cupied with their business,* and they give no heed
at ail. Those, on the other hand, who have the
fear of God, and search after Godhead and
truth, and have their hearts turned to the Lord,
quickly perceive and understand what is said to
them, because they have the fear of the Lord in
them. For where the Lord dwells, there is much
understanding. Cleave, then, to the Lord, and
you will understand and perceive all things.

CHAP. n.

"Hear, then," says he, "foolish man, how
grief crushes out the Holy Spirit, and on the

* The Vat. has here a considerable number of sentences, found
in the Greek, the Palatine, and the iflthiopic, in Commandment
Eleventh. In consequence of this transference, the Eleventh Com-
mandment in the Vatican differs considerably from the others in the
position of the sentences, but otherwise it is substantially the same.

i And . . bHsinest. This part is omitted in the I^ipzig Codex ,
and is supplied from the Latin and iEthiopic translations. [Luke
viii. 14.]

Commandment XL]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

other hand saves. When the doubting man at-
tempts any deed, and fails in it on account of
his doubt, this grief enters into the man, and
grieves the Holy Spirit, and crushes him out.
Then, on the other hand, when anger attaches
itself to a man in regard to any matter, and he
is embittered, then grief enters into the heart of
the man who was irritated, and he is grieved at
the deed which he did, and repents that he has
wrought a wicked deed. This grief, then, ap-
pears to be accompanied by salvation, because
the man, after having done a wicked deed, re-
pented.' Both actions grieve the Spirit : doubt,
because it did not accomplish its object; and
anger grieves the Spirit, because it did what was
wicked. Both these are grievous to the Holy
i>pirit — doubt and anger. (^ ^V^herefore remove
grief from you, and crush not the Holy Spirit
which dwells in you, lest he entreat God' against
you, and he withdraw from you. For the Spirit
of God which has been granted to us to dwell in
this body does not endure grief nor straitness.
Wherefore put on cheerfulness, which always is
agreeable and acceptable to God,3 and rejoice
in it. For every cheerful man does what is
good, and minds what is good, and despises
grief;* but the sorrowful man always acts
wickedly. First, he acts wickedly because he
grieves the Holy Spirit, which was given to man
a cheerful Spirit. Secondly, Grieving the Holy
Spirit,5 he works iniquity, neither entreating the
Lord nor confessing** to Him. For the entreaty
of the sorrowful man has no power to ascend to
the altar of God." "Why," say I, "does not
the entreaty of the grieved man ascend to the
altar ? " " Because," says he, " grief sits in his
heart. Grief, then, mingled with his entreaty,
does not permit the entreaty to ascend pure to
the altar of God. For as vinegar and wine,
when mixed in the same vessel, do not give the
same pleasure [as wine alone gives], so grief
mixed with the Holy Spirit does not produce
the same entreaty [as would be produced by the
Holy Spirit alone] . Cleanse yourself from this
wicked grief, and you will live to God ; and all
will live to God who drive away grief from them,
and put on all cheerfulness." ^ A

COMMANDMENT ELEVENTH.

THE SPIRIT AND PROPHETS TO BE TRIED BY THEIR
works; also of the two KINDS OF SPIRIT.

He pK)inted out to me some men sitting on a

1 This . . . Tefentedy omitted in Vat. [9 Cor. vii. xo. Com-
pare this Commandment in Wake's translation and notes.]

2 Cod. 1\vt\jat6^—Vat.,Mth.

3 God. The Lord. — Vai,
* Grief. ^ Injustice. — Veti,

5 [Eph. iv. 30.]

6 <(o|ioAoYOVM.fir<K one would expect here to mean "eiving
thanks," a meaning which it has in the New Testament; but as
c(o|uoAoyoOfMu means to " confess " throuehout the Pastor of Her-
muu, it IS likely that it means " confessing here also.

7 [Matt. VI. x6, 17: Is. Iviii. 5; a Cor. vi. xo; John xvi. 33;
Rom. xiL 8.]

seat, and one man sitting on a chair. And he
says to me, " Do you see the persons sitting on
the seat ? " "I do, sir," said I. " These," says
he, " are the faithful, and he who sits on the
chair is a false prophet, ruining the minds of
the servants of God.* It is the doubters, not the
faithful, that he ruins. These doubters then go
to him as to a soothsayer, and inquire of him
what will happen to them ; and he, the false
prophet, not having the power of a Divine Spirit
in him, answers them according to their inqui-
ries, and according to their wicked desires, and
fills their souls with expectations, according to
their own wishes. For being himself empty, he
gives empty answers to empty inquirers ; for
every answer is made to the emptiness of man.
Some- true words he does occasionally utter ; for
the devil fills him with his own spirit, in die hope
that he may be able to overcome some of the
righteous. As many, then, as are strong in the
faith of the Lord, and are clothed with truth,
have no connection with such spirits, but keep
away from them ; but as many as are of doubt-
ful minds and frequenUy repent, betake them-
selves to soothsaying, even as the heathen, and
bring greater sin upon themselves by their idola-
try. For he who inquires of a false prophet in
regard to any action is an idolater, and devoid
of the truth, and foolish. For no spirit given by
God requires to be asked ; but such a spirit hav-
ing the power of Divinity speaks all things of
itself, for it proceeds from above from the power
of the Divine Spirit. But the spirit which is
asked and speaks according to the desires of
men is earthly,' light, and powerless, and it is
altogether silent if it is not questioned." " How
then, sir," say I, " will a man know which of
them is the prophet, and which the false proph-
et?" "I will tell you," says he, "about both
the prophets, and dien you can try the true and
the false prophet according to my . directions.
Try the man who has the Divine Spirit by his
life. First, he who has the Divine Spirit pro-
ceeding from above is meek, and peaceable, and
humble, and refrains from all iniquity and the
vain desire of this world, and contents himself
with fewer wants than those of other men, and
when asked he makes no reply; nor does he
speak privately, nor when man wishes the spirit
to speak does the Holy Spirit speak, but it
speaks only when God wishes it to speak.
When, then, a man having the Divine Spirit
comes into an assembly of righteous men who

* /r . . . God, He who sits in the chair is a terrestrial spirit. —
Vat. And then follows the dislocation of sentences noticed above.

9 The spirit of all men is eartklv.ttc. This passajge, down to-
" it is not possible that the prophet ot God should ao this," is found
in the Vat. and other Mss. of the common translation, with the ex-
ception of the Lambeth, in Commandment Twelfth. [Consult Wake
upon omissions and transpositions in this and the former Command-
ment. And note, especially, his valuable caution against confound-
ing what is here said, so confusedly, of the Spirit in man, and of the
Spirit of God in his essence (i Cor. ii. ix, xa).]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book II.

have faith in the Divine Spirit, and this assembly
of men offers up prayer to God, then the angel
of the prophetic Spirit,' who is destined for him,
fills the man ; and the man being filled with the
Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude as the Lord
wishes. Thus, then, will the Spirit of Divinity
become manifest. Whatever power therefore
comes from the Spirit of Divinity belongs to the
Lord. Hear, then," says he, " in regard to the
spirit which is earthly, and empty, and power-
less, and foolish. First, the man * who seems to
have the Spirit exalts himself, and wishes to have
the first seat, and is bold, and impudent, and
talkative, and lives in the midst of many luxuries
and many other delusions, and takes rewards
for his prophecy; and if he does not receive
rewards, he does not prophesy. Can, then, the
Divine Spirit take rewards and prophesy? It is
not possible that the prophet of God should do
this, but prophets of this character are possessed
by an earthly spirit. Then it never approaches
an assembly of righteous men, but shuns them.
And it associates with doubters and the vain, and
prophesies to them in a comer, and deceives
them, speaking to them, according to their
desires, mere empty words : for they are empty
to whom it gives its answers. For the empty
vessel, when placed along with the empty, is not
crushed, but they correspond to each other.
When, therefore, it comes into an assembly of
righteous men who have a Spirit of Divinity,
and they offer up prayer, that man is made
empty, and the earthly spirit flees from him
through fear, and that man is made dumb, and
is entirely crushed, being unable to speak. For
if you pack closely a storehouse with wine or oil,
and put an empty jar in the midst of the vessels
of wine or oil, you will find that jar empty as
when you placed it, if you should wish to clear
the storehouse. So also the empty prophets,
when they come to the spirits of the righteous,
are found [on leaving] to be such as they were
when they came. This, then, is the mode of
life of both prophets. Try by his deeds and his
life the man who says that he is inspired. But
as for you, trust the Spirit which comes from
God, and has power; but the spirit which is
earthly and empty trust not at all, for there is no
power in it : it comes from the devil. Hear,
then, the parable which I am to tell you. Take
a stone, and throw it to the sky, and see if you
can touch it. Or again, take a squirt of water
and squirt into the sky, and see if you can pene-
trate the sky." "How, sir," say I, "can these
things take place ? for both of them are impos-
sible." " As these things," says he, " are im-
possible, so also are the earthly spirits powerless

< Anfiti of the prophetic Spirit. The holy messenger (angel)
of Divinity. — VtU, [i Q>r. xvt.^€usim\

* [Here is a caution against diven Phrygian /n^A#jt|«Vv3r.]

and pithless. But look, on the other hand, at
the power which comes from above. Hail is of
the size of a very small grain, yet when it falls
on a man's head how much annoyance it gives
him ! Or, again, take the drop which falls from
a pitcher to the ground, and yet it hollows a
stone.5 You see, then, that the smallest things
coming from above have great power when they
fall upon the earth.^ Thus also is the Divine
Spirit, which comes from above, powerful.
Trust, then, that Spirit, but have nothing to do
with the other."

COMMANDMENT TWELFTH.

ON THE TWOFOLD DESIRE. THE COMMANDMENTS OF
GOD CAN BE KEPT, AND BELIEVERS OUGHT NOT TO
FEAR THE DEVIL.

CHAP. I.

He says to me, " Put away from you all
wicked desire, and clothe yourself with good
and chaste desire ; for clothed with this desire
you will hate wicked desire,5 and will rein your-
self in even .as you wish. For wicked desire is
wild, and is with difficulty tamed. For it is ter-
rible, and consumes men exceedingly by its wild-
ness. Especially is the servant of God terribly
consumed by it, if he falls into it and is devoid
of understanding. Moreover, it consumes all
such as have not on them the garment of good
desire, but are entangled and mixed up with this
world. These it delivers up to death." "What
then, sir," say I, "are the deeds of wicked
desire which deliver men over to death ? Make
them known to me, and I will refrain from
them." " Listen, then, to the works in which
evil desire slays the servants of God." ^

CHAP. n.

" Foremost of all is the desire after another's
wife or husband, and after extravagance, and
many useless dainties and drinks, and many
other foolish luxuries ; for all luxury is foolish
and empty in the servants of God. These, then,
are the evil desires which slay the servants of
God. For this evil desire is the daughter of the
devil. You must refrain from evil desires, that
by refraining ye may live to God.' But as many
as are mastered by them, and do not resist them,
will perish at last, for these desires are fatal.
Put you on, then, the desire of righteousness ;
and arming yourself with the fear of the Lord,

^ [ThiR proverb is found in many languages. Hennas may have
been familiar with Ovid, or with the Greek oi the poetaster Choeriius.
from whom Ovid, with other Latin poets, condescended to borrow it.]

4 Earth. After this the Vatican reads: Join yourself, therefore,
to that which has power, and withdraw from tnat one which is empty.
[Hermas seems to applv to the Spirit, in carrying out his figure, those
words of the Psalmist, Ixxii. 6.]

s [Concupiscence is here shown to have the nature of sin.]

^ rSee the Greek of Athanasius, and Grabe's transposition, in
Wake s version of the Eleventh and Twelfth Commandments.}

7 For . . . God. This desire, therefore, is wicked and destruc-
tive, bringing death on the servants of God. Whoever, therefore,
shall abstain trom evil desire, shall live to God. — VcU,

Commandment XII.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

resist them. For the fear of the Lord dwells in
good desire. But if evil desire see you armed
with the fear of God,' and resisting it, it will flee
far from you, and it will no longer appear to you,
(or it fears your armour. Go, then, garlanded
with the crown which you have gained for vic-
tory over it, to the desire of righteousness, and,
delivering up to it the prize which you have re-
ceived, serve it even as it wishes.* If you serve
good desire, and be subject to it, you will gain
the mastery over evil desire, and make it subject
to you even as you wish." ^

CHAP. III.

" I should like to know," say I, " in what way
I ought to serve good desire." "Hear," says
he : " You will practise righteousness and virtue,
truth and the fear of the Lord, faith and meek-
ness, and whatsoever excellences are like to
these. Practising these, you will be a well-
pleasing servant of God,* and you will live to
Him ; and every one who shall serve good
desire, shall live to God."

He concluded the twelve commandments, and
said to me, "You have now these command-
ments. Walk in them, and exhort your hearers
that their repentance may be pure during the
remainder of their life. Fulfil carefully this
ministry which I now entrust to you, and you will
accomplish much.^ For you will find favour
among those who are to repent, and they will
give heed to your words ; for I will be with you,
and vjHl compel them to obey you." I say to
him, '^ Sir, these commandments are great, and
good, and glorious, and fitted to gladden the
heart of the man who can perform them. But
I do not know if these commandments can be
kept by man, because they are exceeding hard."
He answered and said to me, " If you lay it
down as certain that they can be kept,5 then you
will easily keep them, and they will not be hard.
But if you come to imagine that they cannot be

exceedingly afraid of him, for his figure was
altered so that a man could not endure his
anger. But seeing me altogether agitated and
confused, he began to speak to me in more
gentle tones; and he said: "O fool, senseless
and doubting, do you not perceive how great is
the glory of God, and how strong and marvel-
lous, in that He created the world for the sake
of man,^ and subjected all creation to him, and
gave him power to rule over everything under
heaven? If, then, man is lord of the creatures
of God, and rules over all, is he not able to be
lord also of these commandments? For," says
he, "the man who has the Lord in his heart
can also be lord of all, and of every one of
these commandments. But to those who have
the Lord only on their lips,' but their hearts
hardened,* and who are far from the Lord, the
commandments are hard and difficult. Put,
therefore, ye who are empty and fickle in your
faith, the Lord in your heart, and ye will know
that there is nothing easier or sweeter, or more
manageable, than these commandments. Re-
turn, ye who walk in the commandments of the
devil, in hard, and bitter, and wild licentiousness,
and fear not the devil ; for there is no power in
him against you, for I will be with you, the an-
gel of repentance, who am lord over him. The
devil has fear only, but his fear has no strength.9
Fear him not, then, and he will flee from you."

CHAP. v.

I say to him, " Sir, listen to me for a moment."
" Say what you wish," says he. " Man, sir," say
I, " is eager to keep the commandments of God,
and there is no one who does not ask of the
Lord that strength may be given him for these
commandments, and that he may be subject to
them ; but the devil is hard, and holds sway over
them." " He cannot," says he, " hold sway over
the servants of God, who with all their heart
place their hopes in Him. The devil can wrestle

kept by man, then you will not keep themJ ' against these, overthrow them he cannot. If,

Now I say to you, If you do not keep thei!^
but neglect them, you will not be saved, nor
your children, nor your house, since you have
already determined for yourself that these com-
mandments cannot be kept by man."

CHAP. rv.

These things he said to me in tones of the
deep)est anger, so that I was confounded and

" God. The Loni.— K«/.

^ Go . . . wishes. And you will obtain the victory, and will be
crowned on account of it, and you will arrive at good desire, and you
will deliver up the victory whicn you have obtained to God, and you
will serve Him by acting even as you yourself wish to act. — Vat.

3 Chapters third, fourth, and a part of fifth, are omitted in the
Palatine. [This chapter seems based on Heb. v. 14.]

* [Here is the commission to be a prophet, and to speak prophe-
vfitigs in the congregation. If the Montanists resisted these teach-
ing, they were Mdf-condemned. Such is the idea here conveyed
I Cor. xiv. 3a, 37.]

5 ^ . . . kept^ omitted in Vat.

then, ye resist him, he will be conquered, and
flee in disgrace from you. As many, therefore,"
says he, " as are empty, fear the devil, as possess-
ing power. When a man has filled very suitable
jars with good wine, and a few among those jars
are left empty,*® then he comes to the jars, and
does not look at the full jars, for he knows that
they are full ; but he looks at the empty, being
afraid lest they have become sour. For empty
jars quickly become sour, and the goodness of
the wine is gone. So also the devil goes to all

6 [Boyle beautifully reconciles " those two current assertions, that
(i) God made all things for His own glory, and that (2) He made
all things for man." &e Use/uiness 0/ Nat. Pktios.. part i., essay
3, or Lcighton's Works, vol. lii. p. 235, London, 1870.J

1 Isa xxix. 13; Matt. xv. 8.

» John xii. 40; a Cor. iii. 14.

9 [las. ii. 10, iv. 6, 7.]
» £mPty. Half full.—

Vat.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book II.

the servants of God to try them* As many, then, ;
as are full in the faith, resist him strongly, and he
withdraws from them, having no way by which |
he might enter them. He goes, then, to the
empty, and finding a way of entrance, into them,
he produces in them whatever he wishes, and
they become his servants.'

CHAP. VI.

" But I, the angel of repentance, say to you
Fear not the devil ; for I was sent," says he,
** to be with you who repent with aA\ your heart,
and to make you strong in faith. Trust God,'
then, ye who on account of your sins have de-
spaired of life, and who add to your sins and
weigh down your life ; for if ye return to the
Lord with all your heart, and practise righteous-
ness the rest of your days,^ and serve Him ac-

« [Eph. iv. 97.]

* Trust Goa. Beliere ye, then, who oa account of your
have ibrgotten God. — Vat.

9 Practiu . . . days, oinitted in Vat.

cording to His will, He will heal your former
sins, and you will have power to hold sway over
the works of the devil. But as to the threats of
the devil, fear them not at all, for he is powerless
as the sinews of a dead man. Give ear to me,
then, and fear Him who has all power, both to
save and destroy,^ and keep His commandments,
and ye will live to God." I say to him, " Sir, I
am now made strong in all the ordinances of the
Lord, because you are with me \ and I know
that you will crush all the power of the devil,
and we shall have rule over him, and shall pre-
vail against all his works. And I hope, sir, to
be able to keep all these commandments s which
you have enjoined upon me, the Lord strengthen-
ing me." "You will keep them," says he, " if
your heart be pure towards the Lord ; and all
will keep them who cleanse their hearts from
the vain desires of this world, and they will live
to God."

4 Matt. X. 98 ; Luke xii. 5.

5 Rule ever . . . commandments. But we shall conquer him
oompletely, if we can keep these commandments. — Vat.

THE PASTOR.

BOOK THIRD. - SIMILITUDES.

SIMILITUDE FIRST.«

AS IN THIS WORLD WE HAVE NO ABIDING CITY, W^
OUGHT TO SEEK ONE TO COME.

He says to me, " You know that you who are
the servants of God dwell in a strange land ; for
your city is far away from this one.* If, then,"
he continues, " you know your city in which you
are to dwell, why do ye here provide lands, and
make expensive preparations, and accumulate
dwellings and useless buildings ? He who makes
such preparations for this city cannot return
again to his own. Oh foolish, and unstable, and
miserable man I Dost thou not understand that
all these things belong to another, and are under
the power of another? for the lord of this city
will say, ' I do not wish thee to dwell in my city ;
but depart from this city, because thou obeyest
not my laws.' Thou, therefore, although having
fields and houses, and many other things, when
cast out by him, what wilt thou do with thy land,
and house, and other possessions which thou
hast gathered to thyself? For the lord of this
country justly says to thee, * Either obey my laws
or depart from my dominion.* What, then, dost
thou intend to do, having a law in thine own city,
on account of thy lands, and the rest of thy pos-

\ [We have seen in Justin and Irenxus what seem to us an over-
strained allegorizing, and more will be encountered in Origen. On
this whole subject, nowever, as it struck the Orienul and primitive
instincts, take the following very illustrative remarks, attributed to
/Jart/ey of Witnuick: —

, " Nature, in its proper order, is the book of God. and exhibits
sptntual things in material forms. The knowledge <A correspond-
fnces being so little understood, is one main cause of the obscurity
of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, wkick wrre chiefly written
h^^f^^nles of this science : and not Scripture alone, but man, also,
as an image of the spiritual and natural worlds^ contains in himself the
correspondences of both: of the former, in his mterior, and of the lat-
ter in his exterior or bodily, part, and so is called the microcosm, or
little worW."

. Such texts as Heb. ix. 94, x Cor. ii. 13, 14, go &r to explain to
tts the childlike ^th of the Fathers. See note on Leirkton's St.
Pfier p. 238, vol. iii. Ed. of William West, B.A. 1870.]

, ', [Heb. xiii. i4is the text of this very beautiful chapter. But the
wiginal Greek of Phil. iii. 90 seems, also, to be in the author's mind.
St Paul addressed it to the churcn of a Roman "colony," whose
citisensAif was not Macedonian but Roman: hence its beaut^ul
Ptoptiety.J

sessions ? ^ Thou shalt altogether deny thy law,
and walk according to the law of this city. See
lest it be to thy hurt to deny thy law ; ^ for if
thou shalt desire to return to thy city, thou wilt
not be received, because thou hast denied the
law of thy city, but wilt be excluded from it.
Have a care, therefore : as one living in a for-
eign land, make no further preparations for thy-
self than such merely as may be sufficient ; and
be ready, when the master of this city shall come
to cast thee out for disobeying his law, to leave
his city, and to depart to thine own, and to obey
thine own law without being exposed to annoy-
ance, but in great joy. Have a care, then, ye
who serve the Lord, and have Him in your
heart, that ye work the works of God, remem-
bering His commandments and promises which
He promised, and believe that He will bring
them to pass if His commandments be observed.
Instead of lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls,
according as each one is able, and visit s widows
and orphans, and do not overlook them ; and
spend your wealth and all your preparations,
which ye received from the Lord, upon such
lands and houses. For to this end did the
Master make you rich, that you might perform
these services unto Him ; and it is much better
to purchase such lands, and possessions, and
houses, as you will find in your own city, when
you come to reside in it. This is a noble and
sacred expenditure, attended neither with sorrow
nor fear, but with joy. Do not practise the ex-

s This sentence may be also rendered thus, giving ivtKtv the
meanine of " as regards,** " respecting" — a usiud enough si^ifica*
tion: "What then do you intend to do, as you have a Taw m your
own city regarding your lands and the rest of your possessions ? "
The Vatican punctuates the passage so that it runs as follows:
" What then will you do, who have a law in your own city ? Will
you, on account of your land, or any other of ^ur preparations, be
able to deny your law? " The Vatican also omits several clauses that
are in the Greek, down to '* for if thou shalt deny, and shalt desire to
return," etc.

* See . . . /aw, omitted in Lips. [The ff^nfoiKeia of Jas.,i. 97.]
S The Vatican has: " Acquit widows, and do justice to otphans."

3«

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

penditure of the heathen,' for it is injurious to
you who are the servants of God ; but practise
an expenditure of your own, in which ye can
rejoice ; and do not corrupt » nor touch what
is another's nor covet it, for it is an evil thing to
covet the goods of other men ; but work thine
own work, and thou wilt be saved."

SIMILITUDE SECOND.

AS THE VINE IS SUPPORTED BY THE ELM, SO IS THE
RICH MAN HELPED BY THE PRAYER OF THE POOR.

As I was walking in the field, and observing
an elm and vine, and determining in my own
mind respecting them and their fruits, the Shep-
herd appears to me, and says, " What is it that
you are thinking about the elm and vine ? " "I
am considering," I reply, "that they become
each other exceedingly well." "These two
trees," he continues, " are intended as an exam-
ple for the servants of God." " I would like to
know," said I, " the example which these trees,
you say, are intended to teach." " Do you see,"
he says, " the elm and the vine ? " "I see them,
sir," I replied. "This vine," he continued,
" produces fruit, and the elm is an unfruitful
tree; but unless the vine be trained upon the
elm, it cannot bear much fruit when extended
at length upon the ground ; ^ and the fruit which
it does bear is rotten, because the plant is not
suspended upon the elm. When, therefore, the
vine is cast upon the elm, it yields fruit both
from itself and from the elm. You see, more-
over, that the elm also produces much fruit, not
less than the vine, but even more ; because," ^
he continued, " the vine, when suspended up)on
the elm, yields much fruit, and good ; but when
thrown upon the ground, what it produces is
small and rotten. This similitude,5 therefore, is
for the servants of God — for the poor man and
for the rich." "How so, sir?" said I; "ex-
plain the matter to me." "Listen," he said :
" The rich man has much wealth, but is poor in
matters relating to the Lord, because he is dis-
tracted about his riches ; and he offers very few
confessions and intercessions to the Lord, and
those which he does offer are small and weak,
and have no power above. But when the rich

I The Vatican renders, "Do not covet, therefore, the riches of
the heathen." [Here follows, in the Lambeth MS., an allusion to
Luke xix. 15, which Wake renders: " Trade with your own riches."
Sec, also, Luke xii. 33.]

J The Vatican, rendering jta^\a^9*rtrty adnlterart^ proceeds
as if the reference were to adultery. " Neither touch another man's
wife, nor lust after her, but desire your own work, and you will be
saved."

3 The Vatican reads: " Unless this vine be attached to the elm,
and rest upon it, it cannot bear much fruit. For, lying upon the
ground, it produces bad fruit, because it is not suspended upon the
elm."

4 The Vatican here makes Hennas interrupt the Shepherd, and
ask, " How greater than the vine ? " ^

5 [Based on Jas. i. o-ix, 27. and ii. x-o; introducing the heathen
world to just ideas of numan brotherhood, and the mutual relations
of the poor and the rich.]

]

man refreshes^ the poor, and assists him in his
necessities, believing that what he does to the
poor man will be able to find its reward with
God — because the poor man is rich in interces-
sion and confession, and his intercession has
great power with God — then the rich man helps
the poor in all things without hesitatior^.; and
the poor man, being helped by the rich, inter-
cedes for him, giving thanks to God for him who
bestows gifts upon him. And he still continuejs
to interest himself zealously for the poor man^
that his wants may be constantly supplied. For
/he knows that the intercession of the poor man
is acceptable and influential ^ with God. Both,
accordingly, accomplish their work. The poor
man makes intercession ; a work in which he is
rich, which he received from the Lord, and with
which he recompenses the master who helps
him. And the rich man, in like manner, unhesi-
tatingly bestows upon the poor man the riches
which he received from the Lord. And this is
a great work, and acceptable before God, be-
cause he understands the object of his wealth,
and has given to the poor of the gifts of the
Lord, and rightiy discharged his service to Him.**
Among men, however, the elm appears not to
produce fhiit, and they do not know nor under-
stand that if a drought come, the elm, which
contains water, nourishes the vine; and the
vine, having an unfailing supply of water, yields,
double fruit both for itself and for the elm. So
also poor men interceding with the Lord on
behalf of the rich, increase their riches ; and the
rich, again, aiding the poor in their necessities,
satisfy their souls. Both, therefore, are partners,
in the righteous work. He who does these things
shall not be deserted by God, but shall be enrolled
in the books of the living. Blessed are they who
have riches, and who understand that they are
from the Lord. [For they who are of that mind
will be able to do some good.^]"

SIMILITUDE THIRD.

AS IN WINTER GREEN TREES CANNOT BE DISTIN-
GUISHED FROM WITHERED, SO IN THIS WORLI>
NEITHER CAN THE JUST FROM THE UNJUST.

He showed me many trees having no leaves,

(> The translation of the text b based on the Palatine. Lips,
reads: " When the rich man fills out upon the poor." Hilgenfeld
amends this: " When the rich man recovers breath upon the poor."
Neither gives sense. The iGthiopic has: *' But if the rich man lean
on the poor;" and the Greek of Hilgenfeld might mean: " When
the rich man recovers his breath by leaning on the poor." The Vati-
can is quite diflferent: " When, therefore, the rich man helps_ the

the rich man, and God bestows all blessings upon the rich man,
because the poor man is rich in prayer, and n is prayer has great

poor in those things which he needs, the poor man prays to the Lord
for the rich

ise the pool
merit with God. Then the rich man accordingly assists the poor
man's things, because he feels that he is fuller heard {fxaudiri) by
the Lord: and the more willingly and unhesitatingly does he give
him every help, and takes care that he wants for nothms. The poor

man gives thanks to God for the rich man, because they do their
duty m respect to the Lord (a Domino)."

7 [I note this use of the word "influential/' because it was for-
merly denounced as an Americanism.]

' [Luke xii. 43.]

9 The sentence m brackets is not in Lips. It is taken from Pal.

Similitude V.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

but withered, as it seemed to me ; for all were
alike. And he said to me, " Do you see those
trees?" "I see, sir," I replied, "that all are
alike, and withered." He answered me, and
said, " These trees which you see are those who
dwell in this world." "Why, then, sir," I said,
*' are they withered, as it were, and alike ? " *
" Because," he said, " neither are the righteous
manifest in this life, nor sinners, but they are
alike ; for this life is a winter to the righteous,
and they do not manifest themselves, because
they dwell with sinners : for as in winter trees
that have cast their leaves are alike, and it is
not seen which are dead and which are living,
so in this world neither do the righteous show
themselves, nor sinners, but all are alike one to
another." *

SIMILITUDE FOURTH.

AS tS SUMMER LIVING TREES ARE DISTINGUISHED
FROM WITHERED BY FRUIT AND LIVING LEAVES,
SO IN THE WORLD TO COME THE JUST DIFFER
FROM THE UNJUST IN HAPPINESS.

He showed me again many trees, some bud-
ding, and others withered. And he said to me,
** Do you see these trees?" "I see, sir," I
replied, " some putting forth buds, and others
withered." "Those," he said, "which are bud-
ding are the righteous who are to live in the
world to come ; for the coming world is the
summer 3 of the righteous, but the winter of
sinners. When, therefore, the mercy of the
Lord shines forth, then shall they be made
manifest who are the servants of God,. and all
men shall be made manifest. For as in summer
the fruits of each individual tree appear, and it
is ascertained of what sort they are, so also the
fhiits of the righteous shall be manifest, and all
who have been fruitful in that world shall be
made known.'* But the heathen and sinners,
like the withered trees which you saw, will be
found to be those who have been withered and
unfruitful in that world, and shall be burnt as
wood, and [so] made manifest, because their
actions were evil during their lives. For the
sinners shall be consumed because they sinned
and did not repent, and the heathen shall be
burned because they knew not Him who cre-
ated them. Do you therefore bear fruit, that
in that summer your fruit may be known. And
refrain from much business, and you will never
sin : for they who are occupied with much busi-
ness commit also many sins, being distracted
about their affairs, and not at all serving their
Lord.5 How, then," he continued, "can such

I The Vatican renden thU thus
that are, aa it were, withered ? **
« [Matt. aiii.

* The Vatican
atoTcd in that a^."

* [i Cor. Til. 30-35; Rom. xii. xz.]

Why do they resemble those

on. ao.J

■r. Throne. — L//s. [Rom.Tiii. 99-<t4.1

tican has, " And all the merry and joyiul

shall be re-

a one ask and obtain anything from the Lord,
if he serve Him not? They who serve Him
shall obtain their requests, but they who serve
Him not shall receive nothing. And in the per-
formance even of a single action a man can
serve the Lord ; for his mind will not be per-
verted from the Lord, but he will serve Him^
having a pure mind. If, therefore, you do these
things, you shall be able to bear fruit for the hfe
to come. And ev^ one who will do these
things shall bear fruit."

SIMILITUDE FIFTH.

OF TRUE FASTING AND ITS REWARD: ALSO OF

PURITY OF BODY.

CHAP. I.

While fasting and sitting on a certain moun-
tain, and giving thanks to the Lord for all His
dealings with me, I see the Shepherd sitting
down beside me, and saying, "Why have you
come hither [so] early in the morning? " " Be-
cause, sir," I answered, " I have a station." *
"What is a station?" he asked. "I am fast-
ing, sir," I replied. " What is this fasting," he
continued, "which you are observing?" "As
I have been accustomed, sir," I reply, "so I
fast." " You do not know," he says, " how to
fast unto the Lord : this useless fasting which
you observe to Him is of no value." "Why,
sir," I answered, "do you say this?" "I say
to you," he continued, " that the fasting which
you think you observe is not a fasting. But I
will teach you what is a full and acceptable
fasting to the Lord. Listen," he continued:
"God does not desire such an empty fasting.^
For fasting to God in this way you will do noth-
ing for a righteous life ; but offer to God a fast-
ing of the following kind : Do no evil in your
life, and serve the Lord with a pure heart : keep
His commandments, walking in His precepts,
and let no evil desire arise in your heart ; and
believe in God. If you do these things, and fear
Him, and abstain from every evil thing, you will
live unto God ; and if you do these things, you
will keep a great fast, and one acceptable before
God.

CHAP. II.

"Hear the similitude which I am about to
narrate to you relative to fasting. A certain man
had a field and many slaves, and he planted a
certain part of the field with a vineyard,** and
selecting a faithful and beloved and much valued
slave, he called him to him, and said, *Take

6 [This anachronism betrays the bter origin of " The Pastor."
The Pauline Hennas would not nave used this technical term, lliese
fasts were very eariy fixed by canon for Wednesdays and Fridays.
See Canon Ixix. of canons called " Apostolical ; " also Bingham,
book xiii. cap. ^, and this volume, p. 34, note 4.]

7 [See cap. ui. of this similittide.]

* The Vatican adds, " for his successors."

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

this vineyard which I have planted, and stake '
it until I come, and do nothing else to the vine-
yard ; and attend to this order of mine, and you
shall receive your freedom from me.* And the
master of the slave departed to a foreign coun-
try. And when he was gone, the slave took and
staked the vineyard ; and when he had finished
the staking of the vines, he saw that the vine-
yard was full of weeds. ^ He then reflected, '
saying, * I have kept this order of my master : i
I will dig up the rest of this vineyard, and it :
will be more beautiful when dug up ; and being '
free of weeds, it will yield more fruit, not being
choked by them.* He took, therefore, and dug
up the vineyard, and rooted out all the weeds
that were in it. And that vineyard became very
beautiful and fruitful, having no weeds to choke
it. And after a certain time the master of the
slave and of the field returned, and entered into
the vineyard. And seeing that the vines were
suitably supported on stakes, and the ground,
moreover, dug up, and all the weeds rooted
out, and the vines fruitful, he was greatly
pleased with the work of his slave. And calling
his beloved son who was his heir, and his
friends who were his councillors, he told them
what orders he had given his slave, and what he
had found performed. And they rejoiced along
with the slave at the testimony which his master
bore to him. And he said to them, * I promised
this slave freedom if he obeyed the command
which I gave him ; and he has kept my com-
mand, and done besides a good work to the
vineyard, and has pleased me exceedingly. In
return, therefore, for the work which he has
done, I wish to make him co-heir with my son,
because, having good thoughts, he did not neg-
lect them, but carried them out.' With this
resolution of the master his son and friends were
well pleased, viz., that the slave should be co-
heir with the son. After a few days the master
made a feast,' and sent to his slave many dishes
from his table. And the slave receiving the
dishes that were sent him from his master, took
of them what was sufficient for himself, and dis-
tributed the rest among his fellow-slaves. And
his fellow-slaves rejoiced to receive the dishes,
and began to pray for him, that he might find
still greater favour with his master for having so
treated them. His master heard all these things
that were done, and was again greatly pleased
with his conduct. And the master again calling
together his friends and his son, reported to
them the slave's proceeding with regard to the
dishes which he had sent him. And they were

' i.e., attach the vines to stakes.

' The Vatican adds, " Having called together his friends." [The
gospel parables of the vineyard, and of the sower, and of the man
travelling into a far country, arc here reflected ^ssi'm. I cannot
but refer to a parable which greatly resembles this, and is yet more
beautiful, occurring in Mrs. Sherwood's Storits on the Catechism
{Fijou) , a book for children. It is not unworthy of Bunyan.]

still more satisfied that the slave should become
co-heir with his son."

CHAP. III.

I said to him, " Sir, I do not see the meaning
of these similitudes, nor am I able to compre-
hend them, unless you explain them to me."
" I will explain them all to you," he said, ** and
whatever I shall mention in the course of our
conversations I will show you. [Keep the com-
mandments of the Lord, and you will be ap-
proved, and inscribed amongst the number of
those who observe His commands.] And if
you do any good beyond what is commanded
by God,* you will gain for yourself more abun-
dant'glory, and will be more honoured by (rod
than you would othen^ise be. If, therefore, in
keeping the commandments of God, you do, in
addition, these services, you will have joy if you
observe them according to my command." I
said to him, " Sir, whatsoever you enjoin upon
me I will observe, for I know that you are with
me." " I will be with you," he replied, " ht-
cause you have such a desire for doing good ; and
I will be with all those," he added, " who have
such a desire. This fasting," he continued, " is
very good, provided the commandments of the
Lord be observed. Thus, then, shall you ol^serve
the fasting which you intend to keep.** First of
all,5 be on your guard against every evil word, and
every evil desire, and purify your heart from all
the vanities of this world. If you guard against
these things, your fasting will be perfect. And
you will do also as follows.^ Having fulfilled
what is written, in the day on which you fast
you will taste nothing but bread and water ; and
having reckoned up the price of the dishes of
that day which you intended to have eaten, you
will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to some
person in want, and thus you will exhibit humil-
ity of mind, so that he who has received benefit
from your humility may fill his own soul, and
pray for you to the Lord. If you observe fast-
ing, as I have commanded you, your sacrifice

2 [To read into this passage the idea of '* aupererogatory merit "
is an unpardonable anachronism. (Compare Command, iv. 4.) The
writer everywhere denies human merit, extols merc>[, and imputes
good works to grace. He has in view St. Paul's advice (> ^'* ^•
95-28), or our blessed Lord's saying (Matt. xix. za).^_ The ahuse
of such Scriptures propped up a false system (2 Pet. lii. 16) after it
had been invented by relasians and monastic enthusiasts. But it
has noplace in the mind of Hcrmas, nor in the mind of Christ.]

4 fThus he does not object to the " sution/' if kept with evan-
gelical acts of devotion and penitence. Isa. Iviii. 5-8.]

s Pseudo-Athanastus gives this paragraph as ibllows: ''First of
all be on your guard to fiast from every evil word and evil report, and
purify your heart from every defilement and revenge, and base covct-
ousness. And on the day on which you iast, be content with bread,
and herbs, and water, givmg thanks to (jod. And having calculated
the amount of the cost of the meal which you intended to have eaten
on that day, give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to some one in want,
so that, having clearly filled his own soul, he shall pray to the I^rd
on your behalf. If you therefore perform your fasluig as I enjoined
you, your sacrifice will be accepiaole before the Lord, and inscribed
m the heavens in the day of the requital of the good things that have
been prepared for the righteous."

6 [Note this detailed account of primitive fasting (2 Cor. vi. 5, ix.
37, xi. 27} . Amid all the apostle's sufferings and dying daily, he adds
jastingt to involuntary hunger and thirst. J

Similitude V.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

will be acceptable to God, and this fasting will
be written down ; and the service thus performed
is noble, and sacred, and acceptable to the
Lord. These things, therefore, shall you thus
observe with your children, and all your house,
and in observing them you will be blessed ; and
as many as hear these words and observe them
shall be blessed ; and whatsoever they ask of
the Lord they shall receive."

CHAP. IV.

I prayed him much that he would explain to
me the similitude of the field, and of the master
of the vineyard, and of the slave who staked the
vineyard, and of the stakes, and of the weeds
that were plucked out of the vineyard, and of
the son, and of the friends who were fellow-
councillors, for I knew that all these things were
a kind of parable. And he answered me, and
said, " You are exceedingly persistent * with your
(questions. You ought not," he continued, " to
ask any questions at all ; for if it is needful to
explain anything, it will be made known to you."
I said to him, " Sir, whatsoever you show me,
and do not explain, I shall have seen to no pur-
pose, not understanding its meaning. In like
manner, also, if you speak parables to me, and
do not unfold them, I shall have heard your
words in vain." And he answered me again,
saying, " Every one who is the servant of God,
and has his Lord in his heart, asks of Him un-
derstanding, and receives it, and opens up every
parable ; and the words of the Lord become
known to him which are spoken in parables.'
But those who are weak and slothful in prayer,
hesitate to ask anything from the Lord ; but the
Lord is full of compassion, and gives without
fail to all who ask Him. But you, having been
strengthened by the holy Angel,^ and having
obtained from Him such intercession, and not
being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord
understanding, and receive it from Him?" I
said to him, "Sir, having you with me, I am
necessitated to ask questions of you, for you
show me all things, and converse with me ; but
if I were to see or hear these things without you,
I would then ask the Lord to explain them."

CHAP. v.

" I said to you a little ago," he answered,
" that you were cunning and obstinate in asking
explanations of the parables ; but since you are
so persistent, I shall unfold to you the meaning
of the similitudes of the field, and of all the
others that follow, that you may make them
known to every one.** Hear now," he said, " and

I UteraUy, I' self-willed" {ai^dtris).

Matt. xiii. XI ; Jas. i. 5.]
Luke xxii. 43.]

* [Part of the commission again.]

understand them. The field is this world ; and
the Lord of the field is He who created, and per-
fected, and strengthened all things; [and the
son is the Holy Spirit ; 5] and the slave is the
Son of God ; and the vines are this people, whom
He Himself planted ; and the stakes are the holy
angels of the Lord, who keep His people to-
gether ; and the weeds that were plucked out of
the vineyard are the iniquities of God's servants ;
and the dishes which He sent Him from His
table are the commandments which He gave
His people through His Son ; and the fi*iends and
fellow-councillors are the holy angels who were
first created ; and the Master's absence from
home is the time that remains until His appear-
ing." I said to him, " Sir, all these are great,
and marvellous, and glorious things. Could I,
therefore," I continued, "understand them?
No, nor could any other man, even if exceed-
ingly wise. Moreover," I added, "explain to
me what I am about to ask you." " Say what
you wish," he replied. "Why, sir," I asked,
" is the Son of God in the parable in the form
of a slave ? "

CHAP. VI.

" Hear," he answered : " the Son of God is
not in the form ^ of a slave, but in great power
and might." "How so, sir?" I said; "I do
not understand." "Because," he answered,
" God planted the vineyard, that is to say, He
created the people, and gave them to His Son ;
and the Son appointed His angels over them to
keep them ; and He Himself purged away their
sins, having suffered many trials and undergone
many labours, for no one is able to dig without
labour and toil. He Himself, then, having
purged away the sins of the people, showed
them the paths of life ^ by giving them the law
which He received from His Father. [You
see," he said, " that He is the Lord of the peo-
ple, having received all authority from His
Father.*] And why the Lord took His Son as
councillor, and the glorious angels, regarding
the heirship of the slave, listen. The holy, pre-
existent Spirit, that created every creature, God
made to dwell in flesh, which He chose .' This
flesh, accordingly, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt,
was nobly subject to that Spirit, walking reli-

s This clause occurs only in the Vatican. It does not occur in
Lips., Pal., or in the Mth.

6 [Phil. ii. 7. But no lonnr is He such.]

' iHcb, i. 3; Ps. xvi. I X.J

> The sentence in brackets is omitted in Lips, and i£th., occurs
in Vat. and Pal.

9 This passage varies in each of the forms in which it has come
down, and is corrupt in most, if not in all. The Vatican (Lat.) has.
" Because the messenger hears the Holy Spirit, which was the first of
all that was poured {in/uxus) into a body in which God might dwell.
For understanding {inieilectMs) placed it in a body as seemed proper
to Him." llie Pal. reads: " For that Holy Spirit which was created
pure [first] of all in a body in which it might dwell, God made and
appointed a chosen body which pleased Him." The iflth. reads:
" The Holv Spirit, who created all things, dwelt in a body in which
He wished to dwell." [See Grabe's coUation and emendation here,
in Wake's translation.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

giously and chastely, in no respect defiling the
Spirit ; and accordingly, after living ' excellently
and purely, and after labouring and co-operating
with the Spirit, and having in everything acted
vigorously and courageously along with the Holy
Spirit, He assumed it as a partner with it. For
this conduct » of the flesh pleased Him, because
it was not defiled on the earth while having the
Holy Spirit. He took, therefore, as fellow-coun-
cillors His Son and the glorious angels, in order
that this flesh, which had been subject to the
body without a fault, might have some place of
tabernacle, and that it might not appear that
the reward [of its servitude had been lost 3], for
the flesh that has been found without spot or de-
filement, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt, [will
receive a reward 3]. You have now the explana-
tion ^ of this parable also."

CHAP. VII.

" I rejoice, sir," I said, " to hear this explana-
tion." " Hear," again he replied : " Keep this
flesh pure and stainless, that the Spirit which in-
habits it may bear witness to it, and your flesh
may be justified. See that the thought never
arise in your mind that this flesh of yours is cor-
ruptible, and you misuse it by any act of defile-
ment. If you defile your flesh, you will also
defile the Holy Spirit ; and if you defile your
flesh [and spirit], you will not live." s " And if
any one, sir," I said, " has been hitherto igno-
rant, before he heard these words, how can such
a man be saved who has defiled his flesh?"
" Respecting former sins ^ of ignorance," he said,
" God alone is able to heal them, for to Him be-
longs all power. [But be on your guard now,
and the all-powerful and compassionate God will
heal former transgressions 7], if for the time to
come you defile not your body nor your spirit ;
for botii are common, and cannot be defiled, the

* The Vatican renders this sentence: ** This body, therefore, into
which the Holy Spirit was led, was subject to that Spirit, walking
rightly, modestly, and chastely, and did not at all defile tmit Spirit.
Suioe, then, that body had always obeyed the Holy Spirit, and had
laboured rightly and chastely wiui it, and had not at any time given
way, that weaned body passed its time as a slave; but having strongly
approved itself along with the Holy Spirit, it was received unto Goo.
The Palatine is similar. The JEth. reads: "That body served well
in righteousness and purity, nor did it ever defile that Spirit, and it
became His partner, since that body pleased God."

3 vopci'a. Vatican, ^/rnx cursus,

3 The passages wiihm brackeu are omitted by Lips, and iCth.

4 [ If the reader feels that the explanation itself needs to be ex-
plaincxl, let him attribute it to the contused and inaccurate state of the
text. Grabe says emphatically, that " the created Spirit of Christ as
a man and not the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Trinity," is
spoken of in this chapter chiefly. ^ The apparent confusion of words
and phrases must be the result of ignorant copying. It is a sufficient
answer to certain German critics to cite the providential approval of
Athanasius, a &ct of the utmost moment. Nobody doubts that Atha-
nasius was sensitive to any discoloration of the Nicene Faith. In
the text of Hennas^ therefore, as it was in his copy, there could have
been nothing heretical, or favouring heresy. That Hermas was an
«r/<>/, and purposely gave his fiction a very primitive air, is evident.

cap. ii.1

^ jActs xvii. v>.]
' Omitted in Tips

^th. has simply, " But be on your guard

now.

one without the other : keep both therefore pure,
and you will live imto (jod."

SIMILITUDE SIXTH.

OF THE TWO CLASSES OF VOLUPTUOUS MEN, AND OF
THEIR DEATH, FALLING AWAY, AND THE DURATION
OF THEIR PUNISHMENT.

CHAP. I.

Sitting in my house, and glorifying the Lord
for all 9iat I had seen, and reflecting on the
commandments, that they are excellent, and
powerful, and glorious, and able to save a man's
soul, I said within myself, " I shall be blessed if
I walk in these commandments, and every one
who walks in them will be blessed." While I
was saying these words to myself, I suddenly see
him sitting beside me, and hear him thus speak :
"Why are you in doubt about the command-
ments which I gave you ? They are excellent :
have no doubt about them at all, but put on
faith in the Lord, and you will walk in them, for
I will strengthen you in them. These command-
ments are beneficial to those who intend to re-
pent; for if they do not walk in them, their
repentance is in vain You, therefore, who re-
pent cast away the wickedness of this world
which wears you out ; and by putting on all the
virtues of a holy life, you will be able to keep
these commandments, and will no longer add to
the number of your sins. Walk,^ therefore, in
these commandments of mine, and you will live
unto God. All these things have been spoken
to you by me." And after he had uttered these
words, he said to me, " Let us go into the fields,
and I will show you the shepherds of the flocks."
" Let us go, sir," I replied. And we came to a
certain plain, and he showed me a young man,
a shepherd, clothed in a suit of garments of a
yellow colour : and he was herding very many
sheep, and these sheep were feeding luxuriously,
as it were, and riotously, and merrily skipping
hither and thither. The shepherd himself was
merry, because of his flock ; and the appearance
of the shepherd was joyous, and he was running
about amongst his flock. [And other sheep I
saw rioting and luxuriating in one place, but not,
however, leaping about.^]

CHAP. n.

And he said to me, " Do you see this shep-
herd?" "I see him, sir," I said. "This," he
answered, " is the angel '^ of luxury and deceit :

• The Vatican has a sentence before this: " For if you sin not
afterwards, you will greatly fall away from your former [transgrcs-
sionsj.

9 Found only in Pseudo-Athanasius. It occurs in notie of the
translations.

*° [The use of the word " angel/' here^ mav possibly coincide with
that in the Apocalypse, rebuking an unfaithful and luxurious pastor,
like the angel of Sardis (Rev. in. x-5) . The " yellow " raiment may
be introduced as a contrast to the woids, " thou hast a few names even
in Saidis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk
with me in wAt'ie."]

Similitude VI.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

he wears out the souls of the servants of God,
and perverts them from the truth, deceiving
them with wicked desires, through which they
will perish ; for they forget the commandments
of the living God, and walk in deceits and empty
luxuries ; and they are ruined by the angel, some
being brought to death, others to corruption." '
I said to him, " Sir, I do not know the meaning
of these words, ' to death, and to corruption/ "
*' Listen," he said. " The sheep which you saw
merry and leaping about, are those which have
torn themselves away from God for ever, and
have delivered .themselves over to luxuries and
deceits * [ of this world. Among them there is
no return to life through repentance, because
they have added to their other sins, and blas-
phemed the name of the Lord. Such men,
therefore, are appointed unto death.3 And the
sheep which you saw not leaping, but feeding in
one place, are they who have delivered them-
selves over to luxury and deceit], but have com-
mitted no blasphemy against the Ix)rd. These
have been perverted from the truth : among
them there is the hope of repentance, by which
it is possible to live. Corruption, then, has a
hope of a kind of renewal,^ but death has ever-
lasting ruin." Again I went forward a little way,
and he showed me a tall shepherd, somewhat
savage in his appearance, clothed in a white
goatskin, and having a wallet on his shoulders,
and a very hard staff with branches, and a large
whip. And he had a very sour look, so that I
was afraid of him, so forbidding was his aspect.
This shepherd, accordingly, was receiving the
sheep from the young shepherd, those, viz., that
were rioting and luxuriating, but not leaping ; and
he cast them into a precipitous place, full of this-
tles and thorns, so that it was impossible to extri-
cate the sheep from the thorns and thistles ; but
they were completely entangled amongst them.
These, accordingly, thus entangled, pastured
amongst the thorns and thistles, and were ex-
ceedingly miserable, being beaten by him ; and
he drove them hither and thither, and gave them
no rest ; and, altogether, these sheep were in a
wretched plight.

CHAP. III.

Seeing them, therefore, so beaten and so badly
used, I was grieved for them, because they were
so tormented, and had no rest at all. And I said
to the Shepherd who talked with me, " Sir, who
is this shepherd, who is so pitiless and severe,

< «aTa^#opav, translated in Pal. and Vat. by defectio^ apostasy,
as departure (rom goodness and truth. The /Etniopic has '* ruin."

* Of . . • deceit, omitted in Lips. Our translation is made from
the Vat.

^ Pietido-Athanasius has, " of such men the life is death."

^ Pscudo-Athanasius has, " Corruption, therefore, has a hope of
resurrection up to a certain point.'' [Death here must mean final
apostasy (Heb- vi. 4-6, x. 86-31, xii. 15-17). But a certain death-
in>iiie, which is not final, is instanced in Rev. iii. x ; note also x John
iii. 14, 15, V. 16, 17.1

and so completely devoid of compassion for
these sheep ? " " This," he replied, " is the an-
gel of punishment ; 5 and he belongs to the just
angels, and is appointed to punish. He accord-
ingly takes those who wander away from God,
and who have walked in the desires and deceits
of this world, and chastises them as they deserve
with terrible and diverse punishments." "I
would know, sir," I said, "Of what nature
are these diverse tortures and punishments?"
** Hear," he said, " the various tortures and pun-
ishments. The tortures are such as occur during
life.^ For some are punished with losses, others
with want, others with sicknesses of various
kinds, and others with all kinds of disorder and
confusion ; others are insulted by unworthy per-
sons, and exposed to suffering in many other
ways :♦ for many, becoming unstable in their
plans, try many things, and none of them at all
succeed, and they say they are not prosperous
in their undertakings ; and it does not occur to
their minds that they have done evil deeds, but
they blame the Lord.' When, therefore, they
have been afflicted with all kinds of affliction,
then are they delivered unto me for good train-
ing, and they are made strong in the faith of the
Lord ; and ^ for the rest of the days of their
life they are subject to the Lord with pure hearts,
and are successful in all their undertakings, ob-
taining from the Lord everything they ask ; and
then they glorify the Lord, that they were de-
livered to me, and no longer suffer any evil."

CHAP. IV.

I said to him, " Sir, explain this also to me.**
"AMiat is it you ask?" he said. "Whether,
sir," I continued, " they who indulge in luxury,
and who are deceived, are tortured for the same
period of time that they have indulged in luxury
and deceit ? " He said to me, " They are tor-
tured in the same manner." 9 [" They are tor-

s [The idea is, the minuter of discipline^ as St. Ambrose is
represented with a scourge in his hand. The Greek (cc rStv ayytKtav
ritv Bucaiutv) favours the idea that faithful pastors are.here symbolized,
— just stewards and righteous men.]

6 jSiMTixai. The Vatican and Pal. render this, " the various pun-
ishments and tortures which men sufler daily in their lives." Pseudo-
Athanasius has: " For when they revolt from God, thinking to be in
rest and in wealth, then they are punished, some me^Mg with losses,"
etc. [x Tim. i. 20. Remedial discipline is thus Spoken of, i G)r.
V. 5.]

J Psetido-Athanasius has: " And thev cannot bear for the rest of
their days to turn and serve the Lord witn a pure heart. But if they
repent and become sober again, then they understand that they were
not prosperous on account of their evil deeds; and so they glonfy the
Lord, because He is a just Judge, and because they suflered justly,
and were punished {iiratitvBri<rav) according to their deeds."

B The Vatican inserts the following sentence before this: '* And
when thev begin to repent of their sins, then the works in which they
have wickedly exercised themselves arise in their hearts; and then
they give honour to God, saying that He is a Just Judge, and that they
have deservedly suffered everything accordine to their deeds." So
does Pal. The i'Ethiopic becomes very conoensed in this portion.
[Note this class of offenders, having sunered remedial chastisement,
are not delivered over to Satan finally, but " delivered unto me (the
angel of repentance) for good training."]

9 rpovov. llie Vat. and Pal. have, " for the same time " {/er
idem tem^Ms).

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

mented much less, sir," I replied ; '] " for those
who are so luxurious and who forget God ought
to be tortured seven-fold." He said to me,
"You are foolish, and do not understand the
power of torment." " Why, sir," I said, " if I
had understood it, I would not have asked you
to show me." " Hear," he said, " the power of
both. The time of luxury and deceit is one
hour ; but the hour of torment is equivalent to
thirty days. If, accordingly, a man indulge in
luxury for one day, and be deceived and be
tortured for one day, the day of his torture is
equivalent to a whole year. For all the days of
luxury, therefore, there are as many years of tor-
ture to be undergone. You see, then," he con-
tinued, " that the time of luxury and deceit is
very short,* but that of punishment and torture
long."

CHAP. v.

"Still," I said, "I do not quite understand
about the time of deceit, and luxury, and tor-
ture ; explain it to me more clearly." He an-
swered, and said to me, " Your folly is persistent ;
and you do not wish to purify your heart, and
serve God. Have a care," he added, " lest the
time be fulfilled, and you be found foolish. Hear
now," he added, " as you desire, that you may
understand these things. He who indulges in
luxury, and is deceived for one day, and who
does what he wishes, is clothed with much fool-
ishness, and does not undecstand the act which
he does until the morrow ; for he forgets what
he did the day before. For luxury and deceit
have no memories, on account of the lolly with
which they are clothed ; but when punishment
and torture cleave to a man for one day, he is
punished and tortured for a year; for punish-
ment and torture have powerful memories. While
tortured and punished, therefore, for a whole
year, he remembers at last 3 his luxury and deceit,
and knows that on their account he suffers evil.
Every man, therefore, who is luxurious and de-
ceived is thus tormented, because, although hav-
ing life, they have given themselves over to
death." " What kinds of luxury, sir," I asked,
" are hurtful ? " " Every act of a man which he
performs with pleasure," he replied, " is an act
of luxury; for the sharp-tempered man, when
gratifying his tendency, indulges in luxury ; and
Sie adulterer, and the drunkard, and the back-
biter, and the liar, and the covetous man, and
the thief, and he who does things like these,
gratifies his peculiar propensity, and in so doing
indulges in luxury. All these acts of luxury are
hurtful to the servants of God. On account of

I Omitted in Lips.

' Pseudo-Athanasius has " nothing " (ovScV) instead of cAaxiorof .

3 vorc. [The pleasures of sin are " Sot a season " (Heb. xi. 35),
at most: impenitence is the " treasuring up of wrath against the day
of wrath" (Rom. ii. 5).]

these deceits, therefore, do they suffer, who are
punished and tortured. And there are also acts
of luxury which save men ; for many who do
good indulge in luxury, being carried away by ^
their own pleasure : ^ this luxury, however, is
beneficial to the servants of God, and gains life
for such a man ; but the injurious acts of luxury
before enumerated bring tortures and punish-
ment upon them ; and if they continue in them
and do not repent, they bring death upon them-
selves."

SIMILITUDE SEVENTH.

THEY WHO REPENT MUST BRING FORTH FRUITS
WORTHY OF REPENTANCE.

After a few days I saw him in the same plain
where I had also seen the shepherds ; and he
said to me, " What do you wish with me ? " I
said to him, " Sir, that you would order the shep-
herd who punishes to depart out of my house,
because he afflicts me exceedingly." "It is
necessary," he replied, " that you be afflicted ;
for thus," he continued, " did the glorious angel
command concerning you, as he wishes you to
be tried." " What have I done which is so bad,
sir," I replied, " that I should be delivered over
to this angel? " " Listen," he said : " Your sins
are many, but not so great as to require that
you be delivered over .to this angel ; but your
household has committed great iniquities and
sins, and the glorious angel has been incensed
at them on account of their deeds ; and for this
reason he commanded you to be afflicted for a
certain time, that they also might repent, and
purify themselves from every desire of this
world. When, therefore, they repent and are
purified, then the angel of punishment will de-
part," I said to him, " Sir, if they have done
such things as to incense the glorious angel
against them, yet what have I done ? " He re-
plied, "They cannot be afflicted at all, unless
you, the head of the house, be afflicted : for
when you are afflicted, of necessity they also
suffer affliction ; but if you are in comfort, they
can feel no affliction." "Well, sir," I said,
" they have repented with their whole heart."
" I know, too," he answered, " that they have
repented with their whole heart ; do you think,
however, that the sins of those who repent are
remitted ? s Not altogether, but he who repents
must torture his own soul, and be exceedingly
humble in all his conduct, and be afflicted with
many kinds of affliction ; and if he endure the
afflictions that come upon him. He who created
all things, and endued them with power, will
assuredly have compassion, and will heal him ;
and this will He do when He sees the heart

* [Ps. iv. 6, 7, cxix. Z4, Ixxxiv. xo. Dr. Doddridge's epigram oa
Dum yivintMS I 'ivamus will be brought to mind.]

5 The Vat. and Pal. have protinus, "immediately." [Wake
adopts this reading, which appears to be required by die context.]

Similitude VIIL]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

of every penitent pure from every evil thing : '
and it is profitable for you and for your house
to suffer affliction now. But why should I say
much to you? You must be afflicted, as that
angel of the Lord commanded who delivered
you to me. And for this give thanks to the
Lord, because He has deemed you worthy of
showing you beforehand this affliction, that,
knowing it before it comes, you may be able
to bear it with courage." * I said to him, " Sir,
be thou with me, and I will be able to bear all
affliction." " I will be with you," he said, " and
I will ask the angel of punishment to afflict you
more lightly ; nevertheless, you will be afflicted
for a little time, and again you will be re-estab-
lished in your house. Only continue humble,
and serve the Lord in all purity of heart, you
and your children, and your house, and walk in
my commands which I enjoin upon you, and
your repentance will be deep and pure j and if
you observe these things with your household,
every affliction will depart from you.* And af-
fliction," he added, " will depart from all who
walk in these my commandments."

SIMIUTUDE EIGHTH.

THE SINS OP THE ELECT AND OF THE PENITENT ARE
OF MANY KINDS, BUT ALL WILL BE REWARDED
ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF THEIR REPENT-
ANCE AND GOOD WORKS.

CHAP. I.

He showed me a large willow tree overshad-
owing plains and mountains, and under the
shade of this willow had assembled all those
who were called by the name of the Lord. And
a glorious angel of the Lord, who was very tall,
was standing beside the willow, having a large
pnining-knife, and he was cutting little twigs
from the willow and distributing them among
the people that were overshadowed by the wil-
low ; and the twigs which he gave them were
small, about a cubit, as it were, in length. And
after they had all received the twigs, the angel
laid down the pruning-knife, and that tree was
sound, as I had seen it at first. And I marvelled
within myself, saying, " How is the tree sound,
after so many branches have been cut off?"
And the Shepherd said to me, " Do not be sur-
prised if the tree remains sound after so many
branches were lopped off; [but wait,*] and when
you shall have seen everything, then it will be
explained to you what it means." The angel

' The Lips, has lost here n few words, which are supplied (rom
<he Latin translations. [Mai. iii. y, Isa. i. 22; Ps. xxvi. 2, cxxxix.
33t ^^ Is there not much teaching here for our easy living, and
light Kieas of the sinfulness of sin?]

' The Vatican has: "But rather give thanks to the Lord, that
He, knowing what is to come to pass, has deemed you worthy to tell
Tou beforehand that affliction is coming upon those who are able to
ocar it." [x Cor. x. 13. But the whole argument turns on Jas. x. a,
^ Hernias delights in this practical apostle.}

! [Sanu iii. 31, 3a, 33.]
* Omitted by Lips.

who had distributed the branches among the
people again asked them from them, and in
the order in which they had received them were
they summoned to him, and each one of them
returned his branch. And the angel of the Lord
took and looked at them. From some he re-
ceived the branches withered and moth-eaten ;
those who returned branches in that state the
angel of the Lx)rd ordered to stand apart.
Others, again, returned them withered, but not
moth-eaten; and these he ordered to stand
apart. And others returned them half-withered,
and these stood apart ; and others returned their
branches half-withered and having cracks in
them, and these stood apart. [And others re-
turned their branches green and having cracks
in them ; and these stoixl apart.s] And others
returned their branches, one-half withered and
the other green; and these stood apart. And
others brought their branches two-thirds green
and the remaining third withered; and these
stood apart. And others returned them two-
thirds withered and one-third gre^n ; and these
stood apart. And others returned their branches
nearly all green, the smallest part only, the top,
being withered, but they had cracks in them ;
and these stood apart. And of others very little
was green, but the remaining parts withered;
and these stood apart. And others came bring-
ing their branches green, as they had received
them from the. angel. And the majority of the
crowd returned branches of that kind, and with
these the angel was exceedingly pleased ; and
these stood apart. [And others returned their
branches green and having offshoots ; and these
stood apart, and with these the angel was ex-
ceedingly delighted.^] And others returned
their branches green and with offshoots, and the
offshoots had some fruit, as it were ; ^ and those
men whose branches were found to be of that
kind were exceedingly joyful. And the angel
was exultant because of them ; and the Shepherd
also rejoiced greatly because of them.

CH.4P. n.

And the angel of the Lord ordered crowns to
be brought;* and there were brought crowns,
formed, as it were, of palms ; and he crowned
the men who had returned the branches which
had offshoots and some fruit, and sent them
away into the tower. And the others also he
sent into the tower, those, namely, who had
returned branches that were green and had off-
shoots but no fruit, having given them seals.9
And all who went into the tower had the same

3 Omitted in Lips, and VaU

6 Omitted in Lips.

7 Num. xvii. 8. [Willows are chosen, perhaps, with reference to
Isa. xliv. 4; but Ezckiel's willow supplies the thought here (Ezek.

" 2 Esdras u. 43.
9 [Eph. i. X3, IV. 30.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

clothing — white as snow.* And those who re-
turned their branches green, as they had received
them, he set free, giving them clothing and
seals. Now after the angel had finished these
things, he said to the Shepherd, "I am going
away, and you will send these away within the
walls, according as each one is worthy to have
his dwelling. And examine their branches care-
fully, and so dismiss them ; but examine them
with care. See that no one escape you," he
added ; " and if any escape you, I will try them
at the altar." ' Having said these words to the
Shepherd, he departed. And after the angel
had departed, the Shepherd said to me, " Let us
take the branches of all these and plant them,
and see if any of them will live." I said to
him, "Sir, how can these withered branches
live ? " He answered, and said, " This tree is a
willow, and of a kind that is very tenacious of
life. If, therefore, the branches be planted, and
receive a little moisture, many of them will live.
And now let us try, and pour water 3 upon them ;
and if any of them live I shall rejoice with
them, and if they do not I at least will not be
found neglectful." And the Shepherd bade me
call them as each one was placed. And they
came, rank by rank, and gave their branches to
the Shepherd. And the Shepherd received the
branches, and planted them in rows ; and after
he had planted them he poured much water
upon them, so that the branches could not be
seen for the water ; and after the branches had
drunk it in, he said to me, "Let us go, and
return after a few days, and inspect all the
branches ; for He who created this tree wishes
all those to live who received branches ^ from it.
And I also hope that the greater part of these
branches which received moisture and drank of
the water will live."

CHAP. III.

I said to him, " Sir, explain to me what this
tree means, for I am perplexed about it, because,
after so many branches have been cut off, it
continues sound, and nothing appears to have
been cut away from it. By this, now, I am per-
plexed." " Listen," he said : " This great tree 5
that casts its shadow over plains, and mountains,
and all the earth, is the law of God that was
given to the whole world; and this law is the
Son of God,^ proclaimed to the ends of the
earth ; and the people who are under its shadow
are they who have heard the proclamation, and
have believed upon Him. And the great and

"Rev. xix. 8.]

'Rev. viiL y. Num. xvii. 7.]

[Ezek. xxxix. 29.]

'Rom. xi. 16.]

Matt. xiii. ^2.]
" And by this law the Son of God was preached to all the ends
of the earth." — Vat. [Hennas again introduces here the name
which he made his base m Vision ii. a.]

4
5
6 '

glorious angel Michael is he who has authority
over this people, and governs them ; ^ for this is
he who gave them the law * into the hearts of
believers ; he accordingly superintends them to
whom he gave it, to see if they have kept the
same. And you see the branches of each one,
for the branches are the law. You see, accord-
ingly, many branches that have been rendered
useless, and you will know them all — those who
have not kept the law; and you will see the
dwelling of each one." I said to him, " Sir, why
did he dismiss some into the tower, and leave
others to you ? " " All," he answered, " who
transgressed the law which they received from
him, he left under my power for repentance ;
but all who have satisfied the law, and kept it,
he retains under his own authority." "Who,
then," I continued, " are they who were crowned,
and who go to the tower ? " " These are they
who have suffered on account of the law; but
the others, and they who returned their branches
green, and with offshoots, but without fruit, are
they who have been afflicted on account of the
law, but who have not suffered nor denied''
their law ; and they who returned their branches
green as they had received them, are the vener-
able, and the just, and they who have walked
carefully in a pure heart, and have kept the
commandments of the Lord. And the rest you
will know when I have examined those branches
which have been planted and watered."

CHAP. rv.

And after a few days we came to the place,
and the Shepherd sat down in the angel's place,
and I stood beside him. And he said to me,
" Gird yourself with pure, undressed linen made
of sackcloth ; " and seeing me girded, and ready
to minister to him, " Summon," he said, " the
men to whom belong the branches that were
planted, according to the order in which each
one gave them in." So I went away to the
plain, and summoned them all, and they all
stood in their ranks. He said to them, " Let
each one pull out his own branch, and bring it
to me." The first to give in were those who
had them withered and cut ; and '° because they
were found to be thus withered and cut, he
commanded them to stand apart. And next
they gave them in who had them withered, but
not cut. And some of them gave in their
branches green, and some withered and eaten as
by a moth. Those that gave them in green, ac-
cordingly, he ordered to stand apart ; and those
who gave them in dry and cut, he ordered to
stand along with the first. Next they gave them

7 [Dan. x. ai, xii i; Rev. xii. 7. It is not necessary to accept
this statement as doctrine, but the idea may be traced to these texts.]
^ [That is, the New Law, the gospel of the Son of God.]
9 [Vision ii. a. Denying the Son.]
^^ And . . . cMtf omitted in Pal.

SlMIUTUDK VIII.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

in who had them half-withered and cracked ; '
and many of them gave them in green and with-
out cracks ; and some green and with offshoots,
and fruits upon the offshoots, such as they had
who went, after being crowned, into the tower.
And some handed them in withered and eaten,
and some withered and imeaten ; and some as
they were, half-withered and cracked. And he
commanded them each one to stand apart, some
towards their own rows, and others apart from
them.

CHAP. V.

Then they gave in their branches who had
them green, but cracked : all these gave them
in green, and stood in their own row. And the
Shepherd was pleased with these, because they
were all changed, and had lost their cracks."
And they also gave them in who had them half-
green and half- withered : of some, accordingly,
the branches were found completely green ; of
others, half-withered ; of others, withered and
eaten ; of others, green, and having offshoots.
All these were sent away, each to his own row.
[Next they gave in who had them two parts green
and one-third withered. Many of them gave
them half-withered; and others withered and
rotten ; and others half- withered and cracked,
and a few green. These all stood in their own
row.3] And they gave them in who had them
green, but to a very slight extent withered and
cracked .'^ Of these, some gave them in green,
and others green and with offshoots. And these
also went away to their own row. Next they
gave them who had a very small part green and
the other i>arts withered. Of these the branches
were found for the most part green and having
offshoots, and fruit upon the offshoots, and others
altogether green. With these branches the
Shepherd was exceedingly pleased, because they
were found in this state. And. these went away,
each to his own row.

CHAP. VI.

After the Shepherd had examined the branches
of them all, he said to me, " I told you that this
tree was tenacious of life. You see," he con-
tinued, "how many repented and were saved."
" I see, sir," I replied. " That you may behold,"
he added, " the great mercy of the Lx)rd, that it
is great and glorious, and that He has given His
Spirit to those who are worthy of repentance."
" Why then, sir," I said, " did not all these re-
pent?" He answered, "To them whose heart
He saw would become pure, and obedient to
Him, He gave power to repent with the whole
heart. But to them whose deceit and wicked-

« [Wake reads "deft."]

»{aefts.j

^ Omittea in Lips. Translation is made from Vat.

* The versioDs vaiy in some of the minute particulars.

ness He perceived, and saw that they intended
to repent hypocritically. He did not grant re-
pentance,s lest they should again profane His
name." I said to him, "Sir, show me now,
with respect to those who gave in the branches,
of what sort they are, and their abode, in order
that they hearing it who believed, and received
the seal, and broke it, and did not keep it
whole, may, on coming to a knowledge of their
deeds, repent, and receive from you a seal,
and may glorify the Lord because He had com-
passion upon them, and sent you to renew
their spirits." " Listen," he said : " they whose
branches were found withered and moth-eaten
are the apostates and traitors of the Church,
who have blasphemed the Lord in their sins,
and have, moreover, been ashamed of the name
of the Lord by which they were called.** These,
therefore, at the end were lost unto God. And
you see that not a single one of them repented,
although they heard the words which I spake to
them, which I enjoined upon you. From such
life departed.7 And they who gave them in
withered and undecayed, these also were near
to them ; for they were hypocrites, and intro-
ducers of strange doctrines, and subverters of
the servants of God, especially of those who
had sinned, not allowing them to repent, but
persuading them by foolish doctrines.^ These,
accordingly, have a hope of repentance. And
you see that many of them also have repented
since I spake to them, and they will still repent.
But all who will not repent have lost their lives ;
and as many of them as repented became good,
and their dwelling was appointed within the first
walls ; and some of them ascended even into
the tower. You see, then," he said, " that re-
pentance involves life to sinners, but non-repent-
ance death.

CHAP. vn.

" And as many as gave in the branches half-
withered and cracked, hear also about them.
They whose branches were half-withered to the
same extent are the wavering ; for they neither
live, nor are they dead. And they who have them
half-withered and cracked are both waverers
and slanderers, [railing against the absent,] and
never at peace with one another, but always at
variance. And yet to these also," he continued,
" repentance is possible. You see," he said,
" that some of them have repented, and there
is still remaining in them," he continued, "a
hope of repentance. And as many of them,"
he added, "as have repented, shall have their

A [The by-gone quarrels about foreknowledge and predestination
are innocently enougn anticipated here.]

6 [las. ii. 7.]

7 f Heb* X. 39.]

* [Here is a note of Hermas' time. Not only does it imply the
htslory of heresies as of some proi^ress, but it marks the Montanist
refusal to receive penitent lapsers.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

dwelling in the tower. And those of them who
have been slower in repenting shall dwell within
the walls. And as many as do not repent at all,
but abide in their deeds, shall utterly perish.
And they who gave in their branches green and
cracked were always faithful and good, though
emulous of each other about the foremost places,
and about fame : ' now all these are foolish, in
indulging in such a rivalry. Yet they also, being
naturally good,^ on hearing my commandments,
purified themselves, and soon repented. Their
dwelling, accordingly, was in the tower. But if
any one relapse into strife, he will be cast out
of the tower, and will lose his life.' Life is the
possession of all who keep the commandments
of the Lord ; but in the commandments there is
no rivalry in regard to the first places, or glory
of any kind, but in regard to patience and per-
sonal humihty. Among such persons, then, is
the life of the Lord, but amongst the quarrelsome
and transgressors, death.

CHAP. vm.

" And they who gave in their branches half-
green and half-withered, are those who are im
mersed in business, and do not cleave to the
saints. For this reason, the one half of them is
living, and the other half dead.^ Many, accord-
ingly, who heard my commands repented, and
those at least who repented had their dwelling
in the tower. But some of them at last fell
away : these, accordingly, have not repentance,
for on account of their business they blasphemed
the Lofd, and denied Him. They therefore lost
their lives through the wickedness which they
committed. And many of them doubted.
These still have repentance in their power, if
they repent speedily ; and their abode will be in
the tower. But if they are slower in repenting,
they will dwell within the walls ; and if they do
not repent, they too have lost their lives. And
they who gave in their branches two-thirds
withered and one-third green, are those who
have denied [the Lord] in various ways. Many,
however, repented, but some of them hesitated
and were in doubt. These, then, have repent-
ance within their reach, if they repent quickly,
and do not remain in their pleasures ; 5 but if
they abide in their deeds, these, too, work to
themselves death.

CHAP. IX.

" And they who returned their branches two-
thirds withered and one-third green, are those
that were faithful indeed ; but after acquiring

> [He has in view the passages Matt. xx. 23, Luke xxii. 24,
and hence is lenient in Judgment.]

' [Why "naturally ? Latin, '* de ipsis tamen qui boni fuerunt."
Greek, ayadjot orrct. Gebhardt and Hamack, Lips. 1877.]

^ rJas. iii. 16.]

* Mas. ii. 96.1

* [i Tim. V. 6.]

wealth, and becoming distinguished amongst
the heathen, they clothed themselves with great
pride, and became lofty-minded, and deserted
the truth, and did not cleave to the righteous,
but lived with the heathen, and this way of life
becAme more agreeable to them.^ They did
not, however, depart fi'om God, but remained
in the faith, although not working the works of
faith. Many of them accordingly repented, and
their dwelling was in the tower. And others
continuing to live until the end with the heathen,
and being corrupted by their vain glories, [de-
I>arted from God, serving the works and deeds
of the heathen.7] These were reckoned with
the heathen. But others of them hesitated, not
hoping to be saved on account of the deeds
which they had done ; while others were in
doubt, and caused divisions among themselves.
To those, therefore, who were in doubt on ac-
count of their deeds, repentance is still open ;
but their repentance ought to be speedy, that
their dwelling may be in the tower. And to
those who do not repent, but abide in their
pleasures, death is near.

CHAP. X.

" And they who give in their branches green,
but having the tips withered and cracked, these
were always good, and faithful, and distinguished
before God ; but they sinned a very little tiirough
indulging small desires, and finding little faults
with one another. But on hearing my words the
greater part of them quickly repented, and their
dwelling was upon the tower. Yet some of them
were in doubt ; and certain of them who were
in doubt wrought greater dissension. Among
these, therefore, is hope of repentance, because
they were always good ; and with difficulty will
any one of them perish. And they who gave
up their branches withered,^ but having a very
small part green, are those who believed only,
yet continue working the works of iniquity.
They never, however, departed fix)m God, but
gladly bore His name, and joyfully received His
servants into their houses.^ . Having accordingly
heard of this repentance, they unhesitatingly
repented, and practise all virtue and righteous-
ness ; and some of them even [suffered, being
willingly put to death *°], knowing their deeds
which they had done. Of all these, therefore,
the dwelling shall be in the tower."

CHAP. XI.

And after he had finished the explanations of

* [A note of the time of composing TA^ 5'A«/Arr</. This chapter
^>eaki of experiences of life amon^ heathen and of worldly Chris-
tians, inconsistent with the times of Clement.]

f Omitted in Lips. ; supplied from Vat.

■ •' Withered, all but their tops, which alone were green." — Vat.
and Pal.

9 [Matt. X. 40-43 influences this judgment of Hermas.]

*° Omitted in Lips., which has, inste«l, *' are afraid."

Similitude IX.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

all the branches, he said to me, " Go and tell
them to every one, that they may repent, and
they shall live imto God.' Because Uie Lord,
having had compassion on all men, has sent me
to give repentance, although some are not worthy
of it on account of their works ; but the Lord,
being long-suffering, desires those who were
called by His Son to be saved," ' I said to him,
" Sir, I hope that all who have heard them will
repent ; for I am persuaded that each one, on
coming to a knowledge of his own works, and
fearing the Lord, will repent." He answered
me, and said, " All who with their whole heart
shall purify themselves from their wickedness
before enumerated, and shall add no more to
their sins, will receive healing from the I^rd for
their former transgressions, if they do not hesi-
tate at these commandments ; and they will live
unto God. But do you walk in my command-
ments, and live." Having shown me these
things, and spoken all these words, he said to
me, ** And the rest I will show you after a few
days."

SIMILITUDE NINTH.

THE GREAT MYSTERIES IN THE BUILDING OF THE
MILITANT AND TRIUMPHANT CHURCH.

CHAP. I.

Afler I had written down the commandments
and similitudes of the Shepherd, the angel of
repentance, he came to me and said, " I wish to
explain to you what the Holy Spirit 3 that spake
with you in the form of the Church showed you,
for that Spirit is the Son of God. For, as you
were somewhat weak in the flesh, it was not ex-
plained to you by the angel. When, however,
you were strengthened by the Spirit, and your
strength was increased, so that you were able to
see the angel also, then accordingly was the
building of the tower shown you by the Church.
In a noble and solemn manner did you see every-
thing as if shown you by a virgin ; but now you
see [them] through the same Spirit as if shown
by an angel. You must, however, learn every-
thing from me with greater accuracy. For I
was sent for this purpose by the glorious angel
to dwell in your house, that you might see all
things with power, entertaining no fear, even
as it was before." And he led me away into
Arcadia, to a round hill ; ♦ and he placed me on

* [A cheering conclusion of his severe jtidgroents, and aimed at the
despair created by Montanist prophesy tnss.l

^ Literally, " the calling that was made oy His Son to be saved."
The Vatican renders thu, "He wishes to preserve the invitation made
W His Son." The Pal. has, '* wishes to save His Church, which be-
kmgs to His Son." In the text, KA^<rif is taken as — jrAiyroi.

» The Spirit. — rai, [ He is called " the Spirit of Christ " by St.
Peter (i. ix;; and perhaps this is a key to the non-dogmatic language
of Hennas, if indeed he is here speaking of the Holy Spirit fwrson-
^, and not of the Son exclusively. See Simil. v. 6. Isa. v. i.l
. * To a fruitful hill. — Pal. Omitted in Vat. [Hermas delights
*B the picturesque, and intxxxluces Arcadia in harmony with his pas-
toral fiction.]

the top of the hill, and showed me a large plain,
and round about the plain twelve mountains, all
having different forms. The first was black as
soot ; and the second bare, without grass ; and
the third full of thorns and thistles ; and the
fourth with grass half- withered, the upper parts
of the plants green, and the parts about the
roots withered ; and some of the grasses, when
the sun scorched them, became withered. And
the fifth mountain had green grass, and was
rugged. And the sixth mountain was quite full
of clefts, some small and others large ; and the
clefts were grassy, but the plants were not very
vigorous, but rather, as it were, decayed. The
seventh mountain, again, had cheerful pastures,
and the whole mountain was blooming, and every
kind of cattle and birds were feeding upon that
mountain ; and the more the cattle and the birds
ate, the more the grass of that mountain flour-
ished. And the eighth mountain was full of
fountains, and every kind of the Lord's creatures
drank of the fountains of that mountain. But
the ninth mountain [had no water at all, and
was wholly a desert, and had within it deadly
serpents, which destroy men. And the tenth
mountain 5] had very large trees, and was com-
pletely shaded, and under the shadow of the
trees sheep lay resting and ruminating. And the
eleventh mountain was very thickly wooded, and
those trees were productive, being adorned with
various sorts of fruits, so that any one seeing
them would desire to eat of their fruits. The
twelfth mountain, again, was wholly white, and
its aspect was cheerful, and the mountain in
itself was very beautiful.

CHAP. n.

And in the middle of the plain he showed me
a large white rock that had arisen out of the
plain. And the rock was more lofty than the
mountains, rectangular in shape, so as to be capa-
ble of containing the whole world : and that rock
was old, having a gate cut out of it ; and the
cutting out of the gate seemed to me as if
recently done. And the gate glittered to such
a degree under the sunbeams, that I marvelled
at the splendour of the gate ; ^ and round about
the gate were standing twelve virgins. The four
who stood at the comers seemed to me more
distinguished than the others — they were all,
however, distinguished — and they were stand-
ing at the four parts of the gate; two virgins
between each part. And they were clothed
with linen tunics, and gracefully girded, having
their right shoulders exposed, as if about to bear
some burden. Thus they stood ready ; for they
were exceedingly cheerful and eager. After I
had seen these things, I marvelled in myself,

3 Omitted in Lips.

^ [As of Eden. Gen. iii. 34; Rev. xxi. xx. The TsvAar.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

because I was beholding great and glorious
sights. And again I was • perplexed about the
virgins, because, although so delicate, they were
standing courageously, as if about to carry the
whole heavens. And the Shepherd said to me,
"Why are you reasoning in yourself, and per-
plexing your mind, and distressing yourself? for
the things which you cannot understand, do not
attempt to comprehend, as if you were wise ;
but ask the Lord, that you may receive under-
standing and know them. You cannot see what
is behind you, but you see what is before. What-
ever, then, you cannot see, let alone, and do not
torment yourself about it : but what you see,
make yourself master of it, and do not waste
your labour about other things ; and I will ex-
plain to you everything that I show you. Look,
therefore, on the things that remain."

CHAP. HI.

I saw six men come, tall, and distinguished,
and similar in appearance, and they summoned
a multitude of men. And they who came were
also tall men, and handsome, and powerful ; and
the six men commanded them to build a tower *
above the rock. And great was the noise of
those men who came to build the tower, as they
ran hither and thither around the gate. And the
virgins who stood around the gate told the men
to hasten to build the tower. Now the virgins
had spread out their hands, as if about to receive
something from the men. And the six men
commanded stones to ascend out of a certain
pit, and to go to the building of the tower. And
there went up ten shining rectangular stones, not
hewn in a quarry. And the six men called the
virgins, and bade them carry all the stones that
were intended for the building, and to pass
through the gate, and give them to the men
who were about to build the tower. And the
virgins put upon one another the ten first stones
which had ascended from the pit, and carried
them together, each stone by itself.

CHAP. IV.

And as they stood together around the gate, ^
those who seemed to be strong carried them, and
they stooped down under the corners of the
stone ; and the others stooped down under the
sides of the stones. And in this way they car-
ried all the stones.* And they carried them
through the gate as they were commanded, and
gave them to the men for the tower ; and they
took the stones and proceeded with the building.
Now the tower was built upon the great rock,
and above the gate. Those ten stones were
prepared as the foundation for the building of
the tower. And the rock and gate were the

« [Vision iii. i, a.]

* All carried the gate. — Pa/.

support of the whole of the tower. And after
the ten stones other twenty [five] came up out
of the pit, and these were fitted into the build-
ing of the tower, being carried by the virgins
as before. And after these ascended thirty-
five. And these in like manner were fitted into
the tower. And after these other forty stones
came up ; and all these were cast into the
building of the tower, [and there were four
rows in the foundation of the tower,^ ] and they
ceased ascending from the pit. And the builders
also ceased for a little. And again the six men
commanded the multitude of the crowd to bear
stones from the mountains for the building of the
tower. They were accordingly brought from all
the mountains of various colours, and being hewn
by the men were given to the virgins ; and the
virgins carried them through the gate, and gave
them for the building of the tower. And when
the stones of various colours were placed in the
building, they all became white alike, and lost
their different colours. And certain stones were
given by the men for the building, and these did
not become shining ; but as they were placed,
such also were they found to remain : for they
were not given by the virgins, nor carried through
the gate. Thesfe stones, therefore, were not in
keeping with the others in the building of the
tower. And the six men, seeing these unsuitable
stones in the building, commanded them to be
taken away, and to be carried away down to
their own place whence they had been taken ;
[and being removed one by one, they were laid
aside ; and] they say to the men who brought
the stones, " Do not ye bring any stones at all
for the building, but lay them down beside the
tower, that the virgins may carry them through
the gate, and may give them for the building.
For unless," they said, " they be carried through
the gate by the hands of the virgins, they can-
not change their colours : do not toil, therefore,"
they said, " to no purpose."

CHAP. v.

And on that day the building was finished, but
the tower was not completed ; for additional
building was again about to be added, and there
was a cessation in the building. And the six
men commanded the builders all to withdraw a
little distance, and to rest, but enjoined the
virgins not to withdraw from the tower ; and it
seemed to me that the virgins had been left to
guard the tower. Now after all had withdrawn,
and were resting themselves, I said to the Shep-
herd, " What is the reason that the building of
the tower was not finished?" "The tower," he
answered, " cannot be finished just yet, until the
Lord of it come and examine the building, in

^ Omtucd in Lips.

SlMIUTUDE IX.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

order that, if any of the stones be found to be
decayed, he may change them : for the tower
is built according to his pleasure." " I would
like to know, sir," I said, " what is the meaning
of the building of this tower, and what the rock
and gate, and the mountains, and the virgins
mean, and the stones that ascended from the pit,
and were not hewn, but came as they were to
the building. Why, in the first place, were ten
stones placed in the foundation, then twenty-five,
then thirty-five, then forty? and I wish also to
know about the stones that went to the building,
and were again taken out and returned to their
own place ? On all these points put my mind
at rest, sir, and explain them to me." " If you
are not found to be curious about trifles," he
replied, " you shall know everything. For after
a few days [we shall come hither, and you will
see the other things that happ>en to this tower,
and will know accurately all the similitudes."
After a few days *] we came to the place where
we sat down. And he said to me, " Let us go
to the tower; for the master of the tower is
coming to examine it." And we came to the
tower, and there was no one at all near it, save
the virgins only. And the Shepherd asked the
virgins if perchance the master 6f the tower had
come ; and they replied that he was about to
come * to examine the building.

CHAP. VI.

And, behold, after a little I see an array of
many men coming, and in the midst of them
one man ^ of so remarkable a size as to overtop
the tower. And the six men who had worked
upon the building were with him, and many
other honourable men were around him. And
the virgins who kept the tower ran forward and
kissed him, and began to walk near him around
the tower. And that man examined the build-
ing carefiilly, feeling every stone separately;
and holding a rod in his hand, he struck every
stone in the building three times. And when
he struck them, some of them became black as
soot, and some appeared as if covered with
scabs, and some cracked, and some mutilated,
and some neither white nor black, and some
rough and not in keeping with the other stones,
and some having [very many] stains : such
were the varieties of decayed stones that were
found in the building. He ordered all these to
be taken out of the tower, and to be laid down
beside it, and other stones to be brought and
put in their stead. [And the builders asked
him from what mountain he wished them to be
brought and put in their place.**] And he did

* Omitted in Lips.

' And they replted that he would forthwith come. — Vat,
^ 3 Ecdras li. 43.

* Omitted in Laps. The text is from Vat.; slight variations in
Pid. aad.£ch.

not command them to be brought from the
mountains, [but he bade them be brought from
a certain plain which was near at hand.5] And
the plain was dug up, and shining rectangular
stones were found, and some also of a round
shape; and all the stones which were in that
plain were brought, and carried through the gate
by the virgins. And the rectangular stones were
hewn, and put in place of those that were taken
away ; but the rounded stones were not put into
the building, because they were hard to hew,
and appeared to yield slowly to the chisel ; they
were deposited, however, beside the tower, as if
intended to be hewn and used in the building,
for they were exceedingly brilliant.

CHAP. VII.

The glorious man, the lord of the whole
tower, having accordingly finished these altera-
tions, called to him the Shepherd, and delivered
to him all the stones that were lying beside the
tower, that had been rejected from the building,
and said to him, " Carefully clean all these
stones, and put aside such for the building of
the tower as may harmonize with the others;
and those that do not, throw far away from the
tower." [Having given these orders to the
Shepherd, he departed from the tower ^], with
all those with whom he had come. Now the
virgins were standing around the tower, keeping
it. I said again to the Shepherd, " Can these
stones return to the building of the tower, after
being rejected?" He answered me, and said,
" Do you see these stones ? " " I see them, sir,"
I replied. " The greater part of these stones,"
he said, " I will hew, and put into the building,
and they will harmonize with the others."
" How, sir," I said, " can they, after being cut
all round about, fill up the same space ? " He
answered, " Those that shall be found small will
be thrown into the middle of the building, and
those that are larger will be placed on the out-
side, and they will hold them together." Hav-
ing spoken these words, he said to me, " Let us
go, and after two days let us come and clean
these stones, and cast them into the building ;
for all things around the tower must be cleaned,
lest the Master come suddenly,^ and find the
places about the tower dirty, and be displeased,
and these stones be not returned for the build-
ing of the tower, and I also shall seem to be
neglectful towards the Master." And after two
days we came to the tower, and he said to me,
" Let us examine all the stones, and ascertain
those which may return to the building." I said
to him, " Sir, let us examine them ! "

i Also omitted from Lips. The text is in all the translations.

6 Omitted in Lips. The text in all the translations.

7 [Mark ziii. 30; Matt. zxiv. 46-51.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

CHAP. VIII.

And beginning, we first examined the black
stones. And such as they had been taken out
of the building, were they found to remain ; and
the Shepherd ordered them to be removed out
of the tower, and to be placed apart. Next he
examined those that had scabs; and he took
and hewed many of these, and commanded the
virgins to take them up and cast them into the
building. And the virgins lifted them up, and
put them in the middle of the building of the
tower. And the rest he ordered to be laid down
beside the black ones ; for these, too, were found
to be black. He next examined those that had
cracks ; and he hewed many of these, and com-
manded them to be carried by the virgins to the
building : and they were placed on the outside,
because they were found to be sounder than the
others ; but the rest, on account of the multi-
tude of the cracks, could not be hewn, and for
this reason, therefore, they were rejected from
the building of the tower. He next examined
the chipped stones, and many amongst these
were found to be black, and some to have great
cracks. And these also he commanded to be
laid down along with those which had been re-
jected. But the remainder, after being cleaned
and hewn, he commanded to be placed in the
building. And the virgins took them up, and
fitted them into the middle of the building of
the tower, for they were somewhat weak. He
next examined those that were half white and
half black, and many of them were found to be
black. And he commanded these also to be
taken away along with those which had been
rejected. And the rest were all taken away by
the virgins ; for, being white, they were fitted '
by the virgins themselves into the building.
And they were placed upon the outside, because
they were found to be sound, so as to be able to
support those which were placed in the middle,
for no part of them at all was chipped. He
next examined those that were rough and hard ;
and a few of them were rejected because they
could not be hewn, as they were found exceed-
ingly hard. But the rest of them were hewn,
and carried by the virgins, and fitted into the
middle of the building of the tower; for they
were somewhat weak. He next examined those
that had stains ; and of these a very few were
black, and were thro^Mi aside with the others ;
but the greater part were found to be bright,
and these were fitted by the virgins into the
building, but on account of their strength were
placed on the outside.

CHAP. IX.

He next came to examine the white and
rounded stones, and said to me, " What are we

to do with these stones?" " How do I know,
sir?" I replied. "Have you no intentions re-
garding them?" "Sir," I answered, "I am
not acquainted with this art, neither am I a
stone-cutter, nor can I tell." " Do you not see,"
he said, ".that they are exceedingly round? and
if I wish to make them rectangular, a large por-
tion of them must be cut away ; for some of
them must of necessity be put into the building."
" If therefore," I said, " they must, why do you
torment yourself, and not at once choose for the
building those which you prefer, and fit them
into it?" He selected the larger ones among
them, and the shining ones, and hewed them ;
and the virgins carried and fitted them into the
outside parts of the building. And the rest
which remained over were carried away, and laid
down on the plain from which they were brought.
They were not, however, rejected, "because,"
he said, " there remains yet a little addition to
be built to the tower. And the lord of this
tower wishes all the stones to be fitted into the
building, because they are exceedingly bright."
And twelve women were called, very beautifiil
in form, clothed in black, and with dishevelled
hair. And these women seemed to me to be
fierce. But th^ Shepherd commanded them to
lift the stones that were rejected fi'om the build-
ing, and to carry them away to the mountains
from which they had been brought. And they
were merry, and carried away all the stones, and
put them in the place whence they had been
taken. Now after all the stones were removed,
and there was no longer a single one lying
around the tower, he said, " Let us go round the
tower and see, lest there be any defect in it."
So I went round the tower along with him.
And the Shepherd, seeing that the tower was
beautifully built, rejoiced exceedingly; for the
tower was built in such a way, that, on seeing it,
I coveted the building of it, for it was con-
structed as if built of one stone, without a single
joining. And the stone seemed as if hewn out
of the rock ; having to me the appearance of a
monolith.

CHAP. X.

And as I walked along with him, I was fiiU of
joy, beholding so many excellent things. And
the Shepherd said to me, " Go and bring un-
slacked lime and fine-baked clay, that I may fill
up the forms of the stones that were taken and
thrown into the building ; for everything about
the tower must be smooth." And I did as he
commanded me, and brought it to him. " As-
sist me," he said, " and the work will soon be
finished." He accordingly filled up the forms
of the stones that were returned to the building,
and commanded the places around the tower to
be swept and to be cleaned; and the virgins

Similitude IX.]

OP TH?

UNIVERSITY

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

took brooms and swept the place, and carried
all the dirt out of the tower, and brought water,
and the ground around the tower became cheer-
ful and very beautiful. Says the Shepherd to
me, " Everything has been cleared away ; if the
lord of the tower come to inspect it, he can
have no fault to find with us." Having spoken
these words, he wished to' depart; but I laid
hold of him by the wallet, and began to adjure
him by the Lord that he would explain what he
had showed me. He said to me, " I must rest
a little, and then I shall explain to you every-
thing ; wait for me here until I return." I said
to him, " Sir, what can I do here alone ? " " You
are not alone," he said, " for these virgins are
with you." " Give me in charge to them, then,"
I replied. The Shepherd called them to him,
and said to them, " I entrust him to you until I
come," and went away. And I was alone with
the virgins; and they were rather merry, but
were fnendly to me, especially the four more
distinguished of them.

CHAP. XI.

The virgins said to me, " The Shepherd does
not come here to-day." " What, then," said I,
"am I to do?" They replied, "Wait for him
until he comes ; and if he comes he will con-
verse with you, and if he does not come you will
remain here with us until he does come." I
said to them, " I will wait for him until it is late ;
and if he does ]K>t arrive, I will go away into
the house, and come back early in the morn-
ing." And they answered and said to me, " You
were entrusted to us ; you cannot go away from
U3." "Where, then," I said, "am I to re-
main ? " " You will sleep with us," they replied,
" as a brother, and not as a husband : for you
are our brother, and for the time to come we
intend to abide with you, for we love you ex-
ceedingly ! " But I was ashamed tp remain
with them. And she who seemed to be the first
among them began to kiss me. [And the others
seeing her kissing me, began also to kiss me],
and to lead me round the tower, and to play
with me.* And I, too, became like a young man,
and began to play with them : for some of tjiem
formed a chorus, and others danced, and others

* [This curious chapter, be it remembered, ia but a dream and a
sinoflitude. In the pure homes of Christians, it is ahnost unintelligible.
Amid the abominations of heathenism, it taught a lesson which after-
wards reqtured enforcement by the canons and stem discipline of the
whole Chaich. The Lesson, is, diat what " begins in the spirit " nay
" end in the flesh." Those who* shunning the horrible impurities of
the pagans abused spiritual relationships as " brothers and sisters,"
were on the vetgt of a preciince. " To the pure, all things are pure ; "
but they who presume on this great truth to indulge in icissings and
like familiarities are tempting a dangerous downfall. In this vision,
Hermas resorted to ** wsuchmg and praying ; " and the virgins re-
joiced because he thus saved hunself. The behaviour of the maidens
was what heathen woitaeo constantly practised, and what Christian
women, bred in such habits of life, did. perhaps, without evil thought,
relying on their *' sun-chid pow<r of chastity." Nothing in this pic-
ture is the product of Christianity, except the seif'tnasiery inculcated
as the only safeguard even amongst good women. But see " Eluci-
datkm," at «Dd of tUs book,]

sang ; and I, keeping silence, walked with them
around the tower, and was merry with them.
And when it grew late I wished to go into the
house ; and they would not let me, but detained
me. So I remained with them during the night^^
and slept beside the tower. Now the virgins
spread their linen tunics on the ground, and
made me lie down in the midst of tliem ; and
they did nothing at all but pray ; and I without
ceasing prayed with them, and not less than
they. And the virgins rejoiced because I thus
prayed. And I remained there with the virgins
until the next day at the second hour. Then
the Shepherd returned, and said to the virgins,
" Did you offer him any insult? " " Ask him,"
they said. I said to him, " Sir, I was delighted
that I remained with them." "On what," he
asked, "did you sup?" " I supped, sir," I re-
plied, "on the words of the Lord the whole
night." " Did they receive you well ? " he in-
quired. " Yes, sir," I answered. " Now," he
said, "what do you wish to hear first?" "I
wish to hear in the order," I said, " in which you
showed me from the beginning. I beg of you,
sir, that as I shall ask you, so also you will give
me the explanation." "As you wish," he re-
plied, " so also will 1 explain to you, and will
conceal nothing at all from you."

CHAP. XII.

" First of all, sir," I said, " explain this to me :
What is the meaning of the rock and the gate ? "
"This rock," he answered, "and this gate are
the Son of God." " How, sir? " I said ; " the
rock is old, and the gate is new." "Listen,"
he said, "and understand, O ignorant man.
The Son of God is older than all His creatures,
so that He was a fellow-councillor with the
Father in His work of creation : ' for this reason
is He old." " And why is the gate new, sir?"
I said. " Because," he answered, " He became
manifest ' in the last days of the dispensation :
for this reason the gate was made new, that they
who are to be saved by it might enter into the
kingdom of God. You saw," he said, "that
those stones which came in through the gate
were used for the building of the tower, and
that those which did not come, were again
thrown back to their own place?" "I saw,
sir," I replied. " In like manner," he continued,
"no one shall enter into the kingdom of God
unless he receive His holy name. For if you
desire to enter into a city, and that city is sur-
rounded by a wall, and has but one gate, can
you enter into that city save through. the gate
which it has?" "Why, how can it be other-
wise, sir?" I said. " If, then, you cannot enter

« [Hernias confirms the doctrine of St. John (i. 3) ; also Col. i.
15, x6. Of this Athanasius would approve]
3 [x Pet. i. ao.J

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

into the city except through its gate, so, in like
manner, a man cannot otherwise enter into the
kingdom of God than by the name of His
beloved Son. You saw," he added, " the multi-
tude who were building the tower? " "I saw
them, sir," I said. " Those," he said, " are all
glorious angels, and by them accordingly is the
Lord surrounded. And the gate is the Son of
God. This is the one entrance to the Lord. In
no other way, then, shall any one enter in to
Him except through His Son. You saw," he
continued, " the six men, and the tall and glo-
rious man in the midst of them, who walked
round the tower, and rejected the stones from
the building?" " I saw him, sir," I answered.
"The glorious man," he said, "is the Son of
God, and those six glorious angels are those who
support Him on the right hand and on the left.
None of these glorious angels," he continued,
" will enter in unto God apart from Him. Who-
soever does not receive His » name, shall not
enter into the kingdom of God."

CHAP. xni.

"And the tower," I asked, "what does it
mean?" "This tower," he replied, "is the
Church." " And these virgins, who are they?"
" They are holy spirits, and men cannot other-
wise be found in the kingdom of God unless
these have put their clothing upon them : for if
you receive the name only, and do not receive
from them the clothing, diey are of no advan-
tage to you. For these virgins are the powers
of the Sion of God. If you bear His name but
possess not His power, it will be in vain that
you bear His name. Those stones," he con-
tinued, " which you saw rejected bore His name,
but did not put on the clothing of the virgins."
" Of what nature is their clothing, sir ? " I
asked. " Their very names," he said, " are their
clothing. Every one who bears the name of
the Son of God, ought to bear the names also
of these ; for the Son Himself bears the names '
of these virgins. As many stones," he continued,
" as you saw [come into the building of the
tower through the hands 3] of these virgins, and
remaining, have been clothed with their strength.
For this reason you see that the tower became
of one stone with the rock. So also they who
have believed on the Lord** through His Son,
and are clothed with these spirits, shall become
one spirit, one body, and the colour of their
garments shall be one. And the dwelling of
such as bear the names of the virgins is in the
tower." . " Those stones, sir, that were rejected,"
I inquired, "<5n what account were they re-

« HU. God's. — /,»>».

• (Ex. xxviii. la, 29.1

A Omhted in Lips. Tlic text in Vai. and Pal. The iCtfa. diflerent
in form, but in meaning the same.

* Urd. God. — Vat.

jected? for they passed through the gate, and
were placed by the hands of the virgins in the
building of the tower." "Since you take an
interest in everything," he replied, " and examine
minutely, hear about the stones that were
rejected. These all," he said, " received the
name of God, and they received also the strength
of these virgins. Having received, then, these
spirits, they were made strong, and were with
the servants of (jod ; and theirs was one spirit,
and one body, and one clothing. For they were
of the same mind, and wrought righteousness.
After a certain time, however, they were |>er-
suaded by the women whom you saw clothed in
black, and having their shoulders exposed and
their hair dishevelled, and beautiful in appear-
ance. Having seen these women, they desired
to have them, and clothed themselves with their
strength, and put off the strength of the virgins.
These, accordingly, were rejected from the house
of God, and were given over to these women.
But they who were not deceived by the beauty
of these women remained in the house of God.
You have," he said, " the explanation of those
who were rejected."

CHAP. XIV.

"What, then, sir," I said, "if these men,
being such as they are, repent and put away
their desires after tfiese women, and return again
to the virgins, and walk in their strength and in
their works, shall they not enter into the house
of God ? " " They shall enter in," he said, " if
they put away the works of these women, and
put on again the strength of the virgins, and
walk in their works. For on this account was
there a cessation in the building, in order that,
if these repent, they may depart into the build-
ing of the tower. But if they do not repent,
then others will come in their place, and these
at the end will be cast out For all these things
I gave thanks to the Lord, because He had pity
on all that call upon His name; and sent the
angel of repentance to us who sinned against
Him, and renewed our spirit; and when we
were already destroyed, and had no hope of
life„ He restored us to newness of life." " Now,
sir," I continued, " show me why the tower was
not built upon the ground, but upon the rock
and upon the gate." "Are you still," he said,
" without sense and imderstanding? " " I must,
sir," I said, " ask you of all things, because I
am wholly unable to understand them ; for all
these things are great and glorious, and difficult
for man to understand." "Listen," he said:
" the name of the Son of God is great, and can-
not be contained, and supports the whole world.5
If, then, the whole creation is supported by the

5 [Heb. i. 3. Hennas drips with Scriptuxe like a honeycomb.]

Similitude IX.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

Son of God, what think ye of those who' are
called by Him, and bear the name of the Son
of Gody and walk in His commandments? do
you see what kind of persons He supports?
Those who bear His name with their whole
heart. He Himself, accordingly, became a
foundation' to them, and supports them with
joy, because they are not ashamed to bear His

name

CHAP. XV.*

" Explain to me, sir," I said, " the names of
these virgins, and of those women who were
clothed in black raiment." " Hear," he said,
" the names of the stronger virgins who stood
at the comers. The first is Faith,^ the second
Continence, the third Power, the fourth Patience.
And the others standing in the midst of these
have the following names : Simplicity, Innocence,
Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Har-
mony, Love.. He who bears these names and
that of the Son of God will be able to enter
into the kingdom of God. Hear, also," he con-
tinued, " the names of the women who had the
black garments ; and of these four are stronger
than the rest. The first is Unbelief, the second
Incontinence, the third Disobedience, the fourth
Deceit. And their followers are called Sorrow,
Wickedness, Wantonness, Anger, Falsehood,
Folly, Backbiting, Hatred. The servant of God
who bears these names shall see, indeed, the
kingdom of God, but shall not enter into it."
"And the stones, sir," I said, "which were
uken out of the pit and fitted into the build-
ing: what are they?" "The first," he said,
" the ten, viz., that were placed as a foundation,
are the first generation, and the twenty-five the
second generation, of righteous men ; and the
thirty-five are the prophets of God and His
ministers; and the forty are the apostles and
teachers of the preaching of the Son of God." ^
"Why, then, sir," I asked, "did the virgins
carry these stones also through the gate, and
give them for the building of the tower?"
" Because," he answered, " these were the first
who bore these spirits, and they never departed
from each other, neither the spirits ft'om the
men nor the men from the spirits, but the spirits
remained with them until their falling asleep.
And unless they had had these spirits with them,
they would not have been of use for the build-
ing of this tower."

CHAP. XVI.

" Explain to me a little further, sir," I said.

' risa. xxTiu. x6; x Cor. iit. ix.]

' lilts portion of the Leipzig Codex is much eaten away, and
therefore toe. text is derived to a considerable extent from the trans-
latiom.

^ [The tenacity with which Hermas eversrwhere exalts the pri-
niazy importance of Faith, niakes_ it inexcusable that he should be
charged with mere lega)azinj( morality.]

* [Eph. ii. ao; Rev. xxi. 14.]

" What is it that you desire ? " he asked. " Why,
sir," I said, " did these stones ascend out of the
pit, and be applied to the building of the tower,
after having borne these spirits? " " They were
obliged," he answered, "to ascend through
water in order that they might be made alive ;
for, unless they laid aside the deadness of their
life, they could not in any other way enter into
the kingdom of God. Accordingly, those also
who fell asleep received the seal of the Son of
God. For," he continued, " before a man bears
the name of the Son of God s he is dead ; but
when he receives the seal he lays aside his dead-
ness, and obtains life. The seal, then, is the
water: they descend into the water dead, and
they arise silive. And to them, accordingly, was
this seal preached, and they made use of it that
they might enter into the kingdom of God."
" Why, sir," I asked, " did the forty stones also
ascend with them out of the pit, having already
received the seal?" "Because," he said, "these
apostles and teachers who preached the name
of the Son of God, after falling asleep in the
power and faith of the Son of God, preached it
not only to those who were asleep, but them-
selves also gave them the seal of the preaching.
Accordingly they descended with them into the
water, and again ascended. [But these de-
scended alive and rose up again alive ; whereas
they who had previously fallen asleep descended
dead, but rose up again alive.^] By these, then,
were they quickened and made to know the
name of the Son of God. For this reason also
did they ascend with them, and were fitted
along with them into the building of the tower,
and, untouched by the chisel, were built in along
with them. For they slept in righteousness and
in great purity, but only they had not this seal.
You have accordingly the explanation of these
also."

CHAP. XVII.

" I understand, sir," I replied. " Now, sir,"
I continued, " explain to me, with respect to the
mountains, why their forms are various and
diverse." " Listen," he said : " these mountains
are the twelve tribes, which inhabit the whole
world.7 The Son of God, accordingly, was
preached unto them by the apostles." "But
why are the mountains of various kinds, some
having one form, and others another? Explain
that to me, sir." " Listen," he answered :
" these twelve tribes that inhabit the whole world
are twelve nations. And they vary in prudence
and understanding. As numerous, then, as are
the varieties of the mountains which you saw.

i The name of the Son of God. The name of God. — Lt^t.
[x John V. II, la J

6 All the translations and Clemens Alexandrinus {Strom., vi. 6,
46) have this passage. It is omitted in Lips.

7 [Rev. vii. 4.J

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

are also the diversities of mind and understand-
ing among these nations. And I will explain to
you the actions of each one." " First, sir," I
said, '^ explain this: why, when the mountains
are so diverse, their stones, when placed in
the building, became one colour, shining like
those also that had ascended out of the pit."
" Because," he said, " all the nations that dwell
under heaven were called by hearing and believ-
ing upon the name of the Son of God.' Having,
therefore, received the seal, they had one under-
standing and one mind ; and their ^th became
one, and their love one, and with the name they
bore also the spirits of the virgins.' On this
account the building of the tower became of one
colour, bright as the sun. But after they had
entered into the same place, and became one
body, certain of these defiled themselves, and
were expelled from the race of the righteous,
and became , again what they were before, or
rather worse."

CHAP. xvin.

" How, sir," I said, " did they become worse,
after having known God ? " ' " He that does
not know God," he answered, "and practises
evil, receives a certain chastisement for his
wickedness ; but he that has known God, ought
not any longer to do evil, but to do good. If,
accordingly, when he ought to do good, he do
evil, does not he appear to do greater evil than
he who does not know God ? For this reason,
they who have not known God and do evil are
condemned to death ; but they who have known
God, and have seen His mighty works, and still
continue in evil, shall be chastised doubly, and
shall die for ever.-* In this way, then, will the
Church of God be purified. For as you saw the
stones rejected from the tower, and delivered to
the evil spirits, and cast out thence, so [they
also shall be cast out, and 5 ] there shall be one
body of the purified, as the tower also became,
as it were, of one stone after its purification.
In like manner also shall it be with the Church
of God, after it has been purified, and has re-
jected the wicked, and the hypocrites, and the
blasphemers, and the waverers, and those who
commit wickedness of different kinds. After
these have been cast away, the Church of God
shall be one body, of one mind, of one under-
standing, of one faith, of one love. And then
the Son of God will be exceeding glad, and shall
rejoice over them, because He has received His
people pure." ^ " All these things, sir," I said,
" are great and glorious.

« Name of the Son of Cod. Name of God. — Lips. [Rom. x.

[Rev. xiv. 4.]

J God in Pal. ; Lord in Vat. and iCih. ; Christ in Lips.
4 [I^ke xii. 47* 4^-1
s Omitted in Vat., ^th., Lips
* [Eph. V. 37.]

" Moreover, sir," I said, '* explain to me the
power and the actions of each one of the moun-
tains, that every soul, trusting in the Lord, and
hearing it, may glorify His great, and marvel-
lous, and glorious name." "Hear," he said,
"the diversity of the mountains and of the
twelve nations.

CHAP. XDL

" From the first mountain, which was black,
they that believed are the following : apostates
and blasphemers against the Lord, and betrayers
of the servants of God. To these repentance is
not open ; but death lies before them, and on
this account also are they black, for their race is
a lawless one. And from the second mountain,
which was bare, they who believed are the fol-
lowing : hypocrites, and teachers of wickedness.
And these, accordingly, are like the former, not
having any fruits of righteousness ; for as their
mountain was destitute of fruit, so also such men
have a name indeed, but are empty of faith, and
there is no fruit of truth in them. They indeed
have repentance in their power, if they repent
quickly ; but if they are slow in so doing, they
shall die along with the former." " Why, sir," I
said, "have these repentance, but the former
not? for their actions are nearly the same."
" On this account," he said, " have these repent- ,
ance, because they did not blaspheme their
Lord, nor become betrayers of the servants of
God ; but on account of their desire of posses-
sions they became hypocritical, and each one J
taught according to the desires of men that were
sinners. But they will suffer a certain punish-
ment \ and repentance is before them, because I
they were not blasphemers or traitors.

CHAP. XX.

" And firom the third mountain, which had
thorns and thistles, they who believed are the
following. There are some of them rich, and
others immersed in much business. The thistles
are the rich, and the thorns are they who are im-,
mersed in much business. Those, [accordingly,
who are entangled in many various kinds of
business, do not 7] cleave to the servants of Crod,
but wander away, being choked by their business
transactions ; and the rich cleave with difficulty
to the servants of God, fearing lest these should
ask something of them. Such persons, accord-
ingly, shall have difficulty in entering the king-
dom of God. For as it is disagreeable to walk
among thistles with naked feet, so also it is hard
for such to enter the kingdom of God.* But to
all these repentance, and that speedy, is open,
in order that what they did not ido in former

7 Omitted in Lips. The text from Vat. SulJ^ttantially the same
in the other two. [Matt. xiii. 5.]
* Matt. xix. 33, 34. [Mark x. 23.]

Similitude IX.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

times they may make up for in these days, and \
do some good, and they shall live unto God.
But if they abide in their deeds, they shall be
delivered to those women, who will put them to
death.

CHAP. XXI.

" And from the fourth mountain, which had
much grass, the upper parts of the plants green,
and the parts about the roots withered, and
some also scorched by the sun, they who be-
lieved are the following : the doubtful, and they
who have the Lord uf)on their lips, but have
Him not in their heart. On this account their
foundations are vdthered, and have no strength ;
and their words alone live, while their works
are dead. Such persons are [neither alive nor *]
dead. They resemble, therefore, the waverers :
for the wavering are neither withered nor green,
being neither living nor dead. For as their
blades, on seeing the sun, were withered, so also
the wavering, when they hear of affliction, on
account of their fear, worship idols, and are
ashamed of the name of their Lord.* Such,
then, are neither alive nor dead. But these also
may yet live, 'if they repent quickly ; and if they
do not repent, they are aheady delivered to the
women, who take away their life.

CHAP. XXII.

"And from the fifth mountain, which had
green grass, and was rugged, they who believed
' are the following : believers, indeed, but slow to
learn, and obstinate, and pleasing themselves,
wishing to know everything, and knowing noth-
ing at all. On account of this obstinacy of theirs,
understanding departed from them, and foolish
senselessness entered into them. And they
praise themselves as having wisdom, and desire
to become teachers, although destitute of sense.
On account, therefore, of this loftiness of mind,
many became vain, exalting themselves : for
self-will and empty confidence is a great demon.
Of these, accoidingly, many were rejected, but
some repented and believed, and subjected
themselves to those that had understanding,
knowing their own foolishness. And to the rest
of this class repentance is open ; for they were
not wicked, but rather foolish, and without under-
standing. If these therefore repent, they will
live unto God ; but if they do not repent, they
shall have their dwelling with the women who
wrought wickedness among them.

CHAP. XXIII.

" And those from the sixth mountain, which
had clefts large and small, and decayed grass
in the clefts, who believed, were the following :

* Omitted in Lips.

' [The ima^ry of our Lord's parables everywhere apparent.
Also, the words of Scripture recur constantly.]

they who occupy the small clefts are those who
bring charges against one another, and by rea-
son of their slanders have decayed in the faith.
Many of them, however, repented ; and the rest
also will repent when they hear my command-
ments, for their slanders are small, and they will
quickly repent. But they who occupy the large
clefts are persistent in their slanders, and vin-
dictive in their anger against each other. These,
therefore, were thrown away from the tower, and
rejected from having a part in its building. Such
persons, accordingly, shall have difficulty in liv-
ing. If our God and Lord, who rules over all
things, and has power over all His creation, does
not remember evil against those who confess
their sins, but is merciful, does man, who is cor-
ruptible and full of sins, remember evil against a
fellow-man, as if he were able to destroy or to
save him ? ' I, the angel of repentance, say unto
you, As many of you as are of this way of think-
ing, lay it aside, and repent, and the Lord will
heal your former sins, if you purify yourselves
from this demon ; but if not, you will be deliv-
ered over to him for death.

CHAP. XXIV.

"And those who believed from the seventh
mountain, on which the grass was green and
flourishing, and the whole of the mountain fer-
tile, and every kind of cattle and the fowls of
heaven were feeding on the grass on this moun-
tain, and the grass on which they pastured be-
came more abundant, were the following : they
were always simple, and harmless, and blessed,
bringing no charges against one another, but
always rejoicing greatly because of the servants
of God, and being clothed with the holy spirit
of these virgins, and always having pity on every
man, and giving aid from their own labour to
every man, without reproach and without hesi-
tation.** The Lord, therefore, seeing their sim-
plicity and all their meekness, multiplied them
amid the labours of their hands, and gave them
grace in all their doings. And I, the angel of
repentance, say to you who are such. Continue
to be such as these, and your seed will never be
blotted out ; for the Lord has made trial of you,
and inscribed you in the number of us, and the
whole of your seed will dwell with the Son of
God ; for ye have received of His Spirit.

CHAP. XXV.

** And they who believed from the eighth moun-
tain, where were the many fountains, and where
all the creatures of God drank of the fountains,
were the following : apostles, and teachers, who
preached to the whole world, and who taught
solemnly and purely the word of the Lord, and

3 las. iv. 19. [Matt, rriii. 33.]
* Acdus. XX. 15, xli. 32; Jas. i. 5.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

did not at all fall into evil desires, but walked
always in righteousness and truth, according as
they had received the Holy Spirit. Such peisons,
therefore, shall enter in with the angels. '

CHAP. XXVI.

" And they who believed from the ninth moun-
tain, which was deserted, and had in it creeping
things and wild beasts which destroy men, were
the following : they who had the stains as ser-
vants,* who discharged their duty ill, and who
plundered widows and orphans of their livelihood,
and gained possessions for themselves from the
ministry, which they had received.^ If, therefore,
they remain under the dominion of the same de-
sire, they are dead, and there is no hope of life
for them ; but if they repent, and finish their
ministry in a holy manner, they shall be able to
live. And they who were covered with scabs are
those who have denied their Lord, and have not
returned to Him again ; but becoming withered
and desert-like, and not cleaving to the servants
of God, but living in solitude, they destroy their
own souls. For as a vine, when left within an
enclosure, and meeting with neglect, is destroyed,
and is made desolate by the weeds, and in time
grows wild, and is no longer of any use to its
master, so silso are such men as have given them-
selves up, and become useless to their Lord, from
having contracted savage habits. These men,
therefore, have repentance in their power, unless
they are found to have denied from the heart ;
but if any one is found to have denied from the
heart, I do not know if he may live. And I say
this not for these present days, in order that any
one who has denied may obtain repentance, for
it is impossible for him to be saved who now in-
tends to deny his Lord ; but to those who denied
Him long ago, repentance seems to be possible.
If, therefore, any one intends to repent, let him
do so quickly, before the tower is completed;
for if not, he will be utterly destroyed by the
women. And the chipped stones are the de-
ceitful and the slanderers ; and the wild beasts,
which you saw on the ninth mountain, are the
same. For as wild beasts destroy and kill a man
by their poison, so also do the words of such men
destroy and ruin a man. These, accordingly,
are mutilated in their faith, on account of the
deeds which they have done in themselves ; yet
some repented, and were saved. And the rest,
who are of such a character, can be saved if they
repent; but if they do not repent, they will
perish with those women, whose strength they
have assumed.

« Cf. Donaldson's Hist, of Christ. Lit., vol i. p. 991. [This
beautiUil chapter, and its parable of the fountains of living water, may
well be read with that passage of Leighton which delighted Coleridge:
Com. on z Pet. i. zo-12.]

* Jiajcoi^i. [DfacoMs, evidently, or stewards. Acts vi. z.]

' [EmIc. ziuuv. 3.]

CHAP. XXVII.

"And from the tenth mountain, where were
trees which overshadowed certain sheep, they who
believed were the following : bishops ^ given to
hospitality, who always gladly received into their
houses the servants of God, without dissimula-
tion. And the bishops never failed to protect,
by their service, the widows, and those who were
in want, and always maintained a holy conver-
sation. All these, accordingly, shall be pro-
tected by the Lord for ever. They who do
these things are honourable before God, and
their place is already with the angels, if they
remain to the end serving God.

CHAP. XXVIII.

" And from the eleventh mountain, where were
trees full of fruits, adorned with fruits of vari-
ous kinds, they who believed were the fol-
lowing : they who suffered for the name of the
Son of God, and who also suffered cheerfully
with their whole heart, and laid down their
lives." " Why, then, sir," I said, ** do all these
trees bear fruit, and some of them fairer than
the rest ? " " Listen," he said : "all who once
suffered for the name of the Lord are honour-
able before God ; and of all these the sins were
remitted, because they suffered for the name
of the Son of God.s And why their fruits are of
various kinds, and some of them superior, listen.
All," he continued, " who were brought before
the authorities and were examined, and did not
deny, but suffered cheerfully — these are held in
greater honour with God, and of these the fruit is
superior ; but all who were cowards, and in doubt,
and who reasoned in their hearts whether they
would deny or confess, and yet suffered, of these
the fruit is less, because that suggestion came
into their hearts ; for that suggestion — that a ser-
vant should deny his Lord — is evil. Have a
care, therefore, ye who are planning such things,
lest that suggestion remain in your hearts, and

* Bisht^s. Bishops, that is, presidents of the churches. — Vat.

[This textual peculiarity must have ori^nated at the period when the
gnatian use of episco^us was hecommg naturalized in Rome. It
was originally common to 9\\ fksstcrs, local or regionaiy.j ^

5 [This passa^ (with Vision iii. a, and especially Slimilitude v. 3}
has been pressed into the service of those who seek to find ** super-
ero^tory merit" in the Fathers. See x Cor. vii. 38. But whv

torious cause of salvation? So also Rev. vii. 14, xiv. 4, 5. The

Erimitive Fathers accepted such truths like innocent children, and
)vcd them. They believed St. Paul as to degrees of glory (i Cor.
XV. 41), and our Lord Himself as to the awards (Matt. xx. at-ai)
of mercy to fruits of grace ; and they are no mote responsible for
forced constructions that have been put upon them by afterthoui^ht
and subsequent heresy, than our blessed Lord can be charged with
all that has overloaded His precious sayings (Matt. xix. la or xvi.
j8). The principle of deficient works of faith, which is the corre-
sponding idea on the negative side, appears in St. Paul (i 0)r. iii.
13-15), and has been abused to sustain the whole system of creature
merit, and the monstrous afterthought of purgatonr. Those, there-
fore, who read such ideas into ** The Ante-Nicene Fathers," to dimin-
ish their credit, often, unintentionally, (x) help the perverters of
truth to claim the Fathers, and (a) give them the like aid in claiming
the Scriptures. See p. 34, supra, note 3.]

Similitude IX.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

ye perish unto God. And ye who suffer for His
name ought to glorify God, because He deemed
you worthy to bear His name, that all your sins
might be healed. [Therefore, rather deem your-
selves happy], and think that ye have done a
great thing, if any of you suffer on account of
God. The Lord bestows upon you life, and ye
do not understand, for your sins were heavy;
but if you had not suffered for the name of the
Lord, ye would have died to God on account of
your sins. These things I say to you who are
hesitating about denying or confessing : acknowl-
edge that ye have the Lord, lest, denying Him,
ye be delivered up to prison. If the heathen
chastise their slaves, when one of them denies
his master, what, think ye, will your Lord do,
who has authority over all men? Put away
these counsels out of your hearts, that you may
live continually unto God.

CHAP. XXIX.

"And they who believed from the twelfth
mountain, which was white, are the following :
they are as infant children, in whose hearts no
evil originates ; nor did they know what wicked-
ness is, but always remained as children. Such
accordingly, without doubt, dwell in the king-
dom of God, because they defiled in nothing the
commandments of God ; but they remained like
children all the days of their life in the same
mind. All of you, then, who shall remain sted-
fast, and be as children,' without doing evil, will
be more honoured than all who have been previ-
ously mentioned ; for all infants are honourable
before God, and arelKe first persons with Him.*
Blessed, then, are ye who put away wickedness
from yourselves, and put on innocence. As the
first of all will you live unto God.'*

After he had finished the similitudes of the
mountains, I said to him, "Sir, explain to me
now about the stones that were taken out of
the plain, and put into the building instead of the
stones .that were taken out of the tower ; and
about the round stones that were put into the
building ; and those that still remain roifnd."

CHAP. XXX.

" Hear," he answered, " about all these also.
The stones taken out of the plain and put into
the building of the tower instead of those that
were rejected, are the roots of this white moun-
tain. When, therefore, they who believed from
the white mountain were all found guileless, the
Lord of the tower commanded those from the
roots of this mountain to be cast into the build-
ing of the tower ; for he knew that if these
stones were to go to the building of the tower,
they would remain bright, and not one of them

' Man. xviii. 3.
» [Mark. ix. 36.]

become black.^ But if he had so resolved with
respect to the other mountains, it would have
been necessary for him to visit that tower again,
and to cleanse it. Now all these persons were
found white who believed, and who will yet be-
lieve, for they are of the same race. This is a
happy race, because it is innocent. Hear now,
further, about these round and shining stones.
All these also are from the white mountain.
Hear, moreover, why they were found round :
because their riches had obscured and dark-
ened them a little from the truth, although they
never departed from God ; nor did any evil word
proceed out of their mouth, but all justice, vir-
tue, and truth. When the Lord, therefore, saw
the mind of these persons, that they were bom
good,< and could be good. He ordered their
riches to be cut down, not to be taken 5 away for
ever, that they might be able to do some good
with what was left them ; and they will live unto
God, because they are of a good race. There-
fore were they rounded a little by the chisel, and
put in the building of the tower.

CHAP. XXXI.

"But the other round stones, which had not
yet been adapted to the building of the tower,
and had not yet received the seal, were for this
reason put back into their place, because they
are exceedingly round. Now this age must be
cut down in these things, and in the vanities
of their riches, and then they will meet in the
kingdom of God ; for they must of necessity en-
ter into the kingdom of God, because the Lord
has blessed this innocent race. Of this race,
therefore, no one will perish ; for although any
of them be tempted by the most wicked devil,
and commit sin, he will quickly return to his
Lord. I deem you happy, I, who am the mes-
senger of repentance, whoever of you are inno-
cent as children,^ because your part is good, and
honourable before God. Moreover, I say to
you all, who have received the seal of the Son
of God, be clothed with simplicity, and be not
mindful of offences, nor remain in wickedness.
Lay aside, therefore, the recollection of your of-
fences and bitternesses, and you will be formed
in one spirit. And heal and take away from you
those wicked schisms, that if the Lord of the
flocks come. He may rejoice concerning you.
And He will rejoice, if He find all things sound,
and none of you shall perish. But if He find
any one of these sheep strayed, woe to the shep-
herds ! And if the shepherds themselves have

' Here ends Codex Lipsiensis. The rest of the text is from the
common translation corrected by the Palatine and iEthiopic.

* [Born good. Not in the text of Gebhardt and Hamack (the
Greek is wanting); nor do they note any such text, though the
iGthiopic favours it. See p. 42, supra^ note a.l

s [Here again the Latin has the readins before noted, on the cir-
cumcision of wealth, p. 15, note a, j»r/ra.J

6 Matt, xviii. 3, xix. X4.

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

[Book III.

strayed, what answer will they give Him for their
flocks ? ' Will they perchance say that they were
harassed by their flocks? They will not be be-
lieved, for the thing is incredible that a shep-
herd could suffer from his flock ; rather will he
be punished on account of his falsehood. And
I myself am a shepherd, and I am under a most
stringent necessity of rendering an account of
you.

CHAP. xxxn.

" Heal yourselves, therefore, while the tower is
still building. The Lord dwells in men that love
peace, because He loved peace ; but from the
contentious and the utterly wicked He is far dis-
tant. Restore to Him, therefore, a spirit sound
as ye received it. For when you have given to
a fuller a new garment, and desire to receive it
back entire at the end, if, then, the fuller return
you a torn garment, will you take it from him,
and not rather be angry, and abuse him, saying,
* I gave you a garment that was entire : why have
you rent it, and made it useless, so that it can be
of no use on account of the rent which you have
made in it?' Would you not say all this to the
fuller about the rent which you found in your
garment? If, therefore, you grieve about your
garment, and complain because you have not re-
ceived it entire, what do you think the Lord will
do to you, who gave you a sound spirit, which
you have rendered altogether useless, so that it
can be of no service to its possessor? for its use
began to be unprofitable, seeing it was corrupted
by you. Will not the Lord, therefore, because of
this conduct of yours regarding His Spirit, act
in the same way, and deliver you over to death ?
Assuredly, I say, he will do the same to all those
whom He shall find retaining a recollection of
offences.* Do not trample His mercy under
foot, He says, but rather honour Him, because
He is so patient with your sins, and is not as ye
are. Repent, for it is useful to you.

CHAP. XXXIII.

" All these things which are written above, I,
the Shepherd, the messenger of repentance, have
showed and sf)oken to the servants of God.3 if
therefore ye believe, and listen to my words, and
walk in them, and amend your ways, you shall
have it in your power to live : but if you re-
main in wickedness, and in the recollection of
offences, no sinner of that class will live unto
God. AH these words which I had to say have
been spoken unto you."

The Shepherd said to me, " Have you asked
me everything?" And I replied, "Yes, sir."
" Why did you not ask me about the shape of

er. xiii. 30; Zech. xi. i;-i7.j

as. V. 0. Who can fail to feel the searching spirit of the
lere ? Afatt v. aj. 34> vi. i^.l
Servants of God. Servant of tne Lord. — jSik,

the stones that were put into the building, that
I might explain to you why we filled up the
shapes? " And I said, " I forgot, sir." " Hear
now, then," he said, "about this also. These
are they who have now heard my command*
ments, and repented with their whole hearts.
And when the Lord saw that their repentance
was good and pure, and that they were able to
remain in it, He ordered their former sins to be
blotted out.** For these shapes were their sins,
and they were levelled down, that they might
not appear."

SIMILITUDE TENTH.

CONCERNING REPENTANCE AND ALMS-GIVING.

CHAP. I.

After I had fully written down this book, that
messenger who had delivered me to the Shep-
herd came into the house in which I was, and
sat down upon a couch, and the Shepherd stood
on his right hand. He then called me, and
spoke to me as follows : " I have delivered you
and your house to the Shepherd, that you may
be protected by him." " Yes, sir," I said. " If
you wish, therefore, to be protected," he said,
from dll annoyance, and from all harsh treatment,
and to have success in every good work and
word, and to possess all the virtues of righteous-
ness, walk in these commandments which he has
given you, and you will be able to subdue all
wickedness. For if you keep those command-
ments, every desire and pleasure of the world
will be subject to you, and success will attend
you in every good work. Take unto yourself his
experience and moderation, and say to all that
he is in great honour and dignity with God,
and that he is a president with great power, and
mighty in his office. To him alone throughout
the whole world is the power of repentance as-
signed. Does he seem to you to be powerful?
But you despise his experience, and the moder-
ation which he exercises towards you."

CHAP. U.

I said to him, " Ask himself, sir, whether from
the time that he has entered my house I have
done anything improper, or have offended him
in any respect." He answered, " I also know
that you neither have done nor will do anything
improper, and therefore I speak these words to
you, that you may persevere. For he had a good
report of you to me, and you will say these
words to others, that they also who have either
repented or will still repent may entertain the
same feelings with you, and he may report well
of these to me, and I to the Lord." And I

* [Heb. viii Z3, x. 17.]

Similitude X.]

THE PASTOR OF HERMAS.

said, " Sir, I make known to every man the
great works of God : and I hope that all those
who love them, and have sinned before, on
hearing these words, may repent, and receive
life again." " Continue, therefore, in this min-
istry, and finish it. And all who follow out his
commands shall have life, and great honour with
the Lord.* But those who do not keep his
commandments, flee from his life, and despise
him. But he has his own honour with the Lord.
All, therefore, who shall despise him,* and not
follow his commands, deliver themselves to
death, and every one of them will be guilty
of his own blood. But I enjoin you, that you
obey his commands, and you will have a cure
for your former sins.

CHAP. m.

" Moreover, I sent you these virgins, that they
may dwell with you.^ For I saw that they were
courteous to you. You will therefore have them
as assistants, that you may be the better able to
keep his commands : for it is impossible that
these commandments can be observed without
these virgins. I see, moreover, that they abide
with you willingly ; but I will also instruct them
not to depart at all from your house : do you
only keep your house pure, as they will delight
to dwell in a pure abode^ For they are pure,
and chaste, and industrious, and have all influ-
ence with the Lord. Therefore, if they find
your house to be pure, they will remain with
you ; but if any defilement, even a litde, befall
it, they will immediately withdraw from your
house. For these virgins do not at all like any
defilement." I said to him, " I hope, sir, that
I will please them, so that they may always be
willing to inhabit my house. And as he to whom
you entrusted me has no complaint against me,
so neither will they have." He said to the Shep-
herd, " I see that the servant of God wishes to
live, and to keep these commandments, and will
place these virgins in a pure habitation." ^ When
he had spoken these words he again delivered
me to the Shepherd, and called those virgins,
and said to them, "Since I see that you are
willing to dwell in his house, I commend him
and his house to you, asking that you withdraw

> L4>rd. God. — Pa/.
2 Bui he has his own honour
^ [Cn>. xiu. p. 48, supra.]
*lxFcL'u 22.]

. despise him^ omitted in Vat.

not at all from it." And the virgins heard these
words with pleasure.

CHAP. IV.

The angel s then said to me, " Conduct your-
self manfully in this service, and make known
to every one the great things of God,^ and you
will have favour in this ministry. Whoever,
therefore, shall walk in these commandrijents,
shall have life, and will be happy in his life ;
but whosoever shall neglect them shall not have
life, and will be unhappy in this life. Enjoin
all, who are able to act rightly, not to cease well- .
doing ; for, to practise good works is useful to
them.7 And I say that every man ought to be
saved from inconveniences. For both he who
is in want, and he who suffers inconveniences in
his daily life, is in great torture and necessity.
Whoever, therefore, rescues a soul of this kind
from necessity, will gain for himself great joy.
For he who is harassed by inconveniences of
this kind, suffers equal torture with him who is in
chains. Moreover many, on account of calami-
ties of this sort, when they could not endure
them, hasten their own deaths. Whoever, then,
knows a calamity of this kind afflicting a man,
and does not save him, commits a great sin, and
becomes guilty of his blood.^ Do good works,
therefore, ye who have received good from the
Lord ; lest, while ye delay to do them, the
building of the tower be finished, and you be
rejected from the edifice : there is now no other
tower a-building. For on your account was the
work of building suspended. Unless, then, you
make haste to do rightly, the tower will be com-
pleted, and you will be excluded."

After he had spoken with me he rose up from I
the couch, and taking the Shepherd and the vir-
gins, he departed. But he said to me that he
would send back the Shepherd and the virgins
to my dwelling. Amen.'

5 AngttI, jEth. ; Pastor, Pal. ; omitted in Vat

6 Godf common version; Lord, ^ih.. Pal. ; Lord God, Vat.

f [Here might follow that beautiful frasment of Irenaeus, on God's
goodness accepting the feeblest efforts 3i the soul in drawing near
to Him. Vol. i. Frag. Iv. p. 577, this series.]

* JfJas. V. 19. 20. As St. James conclude with this principle, so
also Hermas, who evidendy delights in this aposde's teaching and
has thrown it into this allegorical metaphrase.]

9 The Vadcan has: " Here ends the Boole of the Shepherd, the
disciple of the blessed aposde Paul. Thanks be to God." The
i£thiopic has : " May the name of him who wrote this book be written
on a pillar of gold. With thanksgiving to Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, this book of the prophet Hermas has been finished. Amen. '
Fmished are the visions, and commandments, and similitudes of the
prophet Hermas, who is Paul, in the year igx of mercy, 33d night
and a2d dav of the month," etc. The writer goes on [fruitlessly] to
show that Hermas is Paul, appealing to Acts xnr. la.

S6 ELUCIDATIONS.

ELUCIDATIONS.
I.

The reader has now had an opportunity of judging for himself whether the internal evidence
favours any other view of the authorship of The Shepherd^ than that which I have adopted. Its
apparent design is to meet the rising pestilence of Montanism, and the perils of a secondary
stage of Christianity. This it attempts to do by an imaginary voice from the first period. Avoid-
ing controversy, Hermas presents, in the name of his earlier synonyme, a portraiture of the morals
and practical godliness which were recognised as " the way of holiness " in the apostolic days.
In so doing, he falls into anachronisms, of course, as poets and romancers must. These are suffi-
ciently numerous to reveal the nature of his production, and to prove that the author was not the
Hermas of the story.

The authorship was a puzzle and a problem during the earlier discussions of the learned. An
anonymous poem (falsely ascribed to Tertullian, but very ancient) did, indeed, give a clue to the
solution : —

" deinde Pius, Hermas cui germine frater,

Angelicus Pastor, quia tradita verba locutus."

To say that there was no evidence to sustain this, is to grant that it doubles the evidence when
sufficient support for it is discovered. This was supplied by the fragment found in Milan, by the
erudite and indefatigable Muratori, about a hundred and fifty years ago. Its history, with very
valuable notes on the fragment itself, which is given entire, may be found in Routh's Reliquice,^
Or the English reader may consult Westcott*s very luminous statement of the case.* I am sorry
that Dr. Donaldson doubts and objects ; but he would not deny that experts, at least his equals,^
accept the Muratorian Canon, which carries with it the historic testimony needed in the case of
Hermas. All difficulties disappear in the light of this evidence. Hermas was brother of Pius,
ninth Bishop of Rome (after Hyginus, circ. a.d. 157), and wrote his prose idyl under the fiction
of his Pauline predecessor's name and age. This accounts (i) for the existence of the work, (2)
for its form of allegory and prophesying, (3) for its anachronisms, (4) for its great currency, and
(5) for its circulation among the Easterns, which was greater than it enjoj^ed in the West ; and
also (6) for their innocent mistake in ascribing it to the elder Hermas.

1. The Phrygian enthusiasm, like the convulsionism of Paris* in the last century, was a phe-
nomenon not to be trifled with ; especially when it began to threaten the West. This work was
produced to meet so great an emergency.

2. " Fire fights fire," and prophesyings are best met by prophesyings. These \Vere rare among
the Orthodox, but Hermas undertook to restore those of the apostolic age ; and I think this is
what is meant by the tradita verba of the old poem, i.e., words " transmitted or bequeathed tradi-
tionally " from the times of Clement. Irenaeus, the contemporary of this Hermas, had\received the
traditions of the same age from Polycarp : hence the greater probability of ray conjecture that
the brother of Pius compiled many traditional prophesyings of the first age. 1

3. Supposing the work to be in fact what it is represented to be in fiction, we have seen that it
abounds with anachronisms. As now explained, we can account for them : the second Hermas
forgets himself, like other poets, and mixes up his own period with that which he -i^ndeavours to
portray.
f.

« Tom. I. pp. 393-434. * Oh the Canon^ p. 335. Ed. 1855. » Such as Lighdbot, Wcstcott, Caiuon Cook, and others.

* Candidly treated by Guctt^, L'Egtue de France t vol. xii. p. 15. Sec also Parton's Voitairet vol. i. pp. atW-370.

ELUCIDATIONS. 57

4 and 5. Written in Greek, its circulation in the West was necessarily limited ; but, as the
plague of Montanism was raging in the East, its Greek was a godsend, and enabled the Easterns
to introduce it everywhere as a useful book. Origen values it as such ; and, taking it without
thought to be the work of the Pauline Hennas, attributes to it, as a fancy of his own,' that kind
of inspiration which pertained to early " proghesyings." This conjecture once started, " it satis-
fied curiosity," says Westcott, " and supplied the place of more certain information ; but, though
it found acceptance, it acquired no new strength." *

6. Eusebius and Jerome 3 merely repeat the report as an on dit, and on this slender authority
it traveUed down. The Pauline Hermas was credited with it ; and the critics, in their researches,
find multiplied traces of the one mistake, as did the traveller whose circuits became a beaten
road under the hoofs of his own horse.

If the reader will now tiun back to the Introductory Note of the Edinburgh editors, he
will find that the three views of which they take any seriods notice are harmonized by that we
have reached, (i) The work is imquestionably, on its face, the work of the Pauline Hermas.
(2) But this is attributable to the fact that it is a fiction, or prose poem. (3) And hence it
must be credited to the later Hermas, whose name and authorship are alone supported by exter-
nal testimony, as well as internal evidence.

•

II.

(Similitude Ninth, cap. xl p. 47, note i.)

Westcott is undoubtedly correct in connecting this strange passage with one of the least
defensible experiments of early Christian living. Gibbon finds in this experiment nothing but an
opportunity for his scurrility.** A true philosopher will regard it very differently ; and here, once
and for all, we may speak of it somewhat at length. The young believer, a member, perhaps, of
a heathen family, daily mixed up with abominable manners, forced to meet everywhere, by day,
ih^ lascivious hetarce of the Greeks or those who are painted by Martial among the Latins, had
no refuge but in fi)nng to the desert, or practising the most heroic self-restraint if he remained
with the relations and companions of his youth. If he went to the bath, it was to see naked
women wallowing with vile men : if he slept upon the housetop, it was to throw down his mat or
rug in a promiscuous stye of men and women.s This alike with rich and poor ; but the latter
were those among whom the Gospel found its more numerous recruits, and it was just these who
were least able to protect themselves from pollutions. Their only resource was in that self-oias-
tery, out of which sprung the Encraty of Tatian and the Montanism of TertuUian. Angelic purity
was supposed to be attainable in this life ; and the experiment was doubtless attended with some
success, among the more resolute in fastings and prayer. Inevitably, however, what was " begun
in the spirit," ended " in the flesh," in many instances. To live as brothers and sisters in the
family of Christ, was a daring experiment ; especially in such a social atmosphere, and amid the
domestic habits of the heathen. Scandals ensued. Canonical censures were made stringent by

* Comment., book x. sec. 31, as quoted in Westcott, p. 319.

* I subjoin Westcott's references: Clem. Alex., Siromatat i- 17, sec. 85; Ibid,^ x. 29, sec. 99: Ibid.f ii. x, sec. 3. Also fht'd,, ii. X3,
sec. 55; iv. 9, sec 76; vi. 6, sec. 46. Also TertuU., Pndiciiia^ capp. 10 and ao. These I have verified in Ed. Oehler, pp. 468, 488. I
add De Oratione^ capp. xvi. p. 3x1. Let me also add Aihanasius, Df Incamationtf p. 38; Contra Hteresim Arian,^ p. 369; Ibid., 380.
To the testimony of this great Father and defender of the faith I attach the greatest importance ; because his approval shows that there was
nothing in the book, as he had it in its pure text, to justify the attempts of modems to disprove its orthodoxy. Athanasius calls it " a most
useful book," and quotes it again (" although that book is not in the Canon ") with great respect. Ed. Paris, X57a.

Modem theories of inspiration appear to me untenable, with reference to canonical Scripture; but they precisely illustrate the sort of
inspiration with which Hhtt^t prophesyingswen probably first credited. The huqj^ element is largely intermixed with divine suggestions;
or you may sute the proposition conversely.

' Eusebius, iii. 3, and Hieronym., catal. x. See Westcott, p. aao.

* Milman's GMom, vol. i. p. 550. The editor's notes are not over severe, and might be greatly strengthened as refutations.
> Van Lennep, B^U-lands, p. 440.

58 ELUCIDATIONS.

the Church ; and, while the vices of men and the peril of persecution miiltiplied the anchorites
of the desert, this mischief was crushed out, and made impossible for Christians. '' The sun-clad
power of chastity/' which Hermas means to depict, was no doubt gloriously exemplified among
holy men and women, in those heroic ages. The power of the Holy Ghost demonstrated, in
many instances, how true it is, that, " to the pure, all things are pure." But the Gospel proscribes
everything like presumption and '' leading into temptation." The Church, in dealing with social
evils, often encouraged a recourse to monasticism, in its pure form ; but this also tended to cor-
ruption. To charge Christianity, however, with rash experiments of Uving which it never tolerated,
is neither just nor philosophical. We have in it an example of the struggles of individuals out
of heathenism, — by no means an institution of Christianity itself. It was a struggle^ which, in its
spirit, demands sympathy and respect. The Gospel has taught us to nauseate what even a regen-
erated heathen conceived to be praiseworthy, until the Christian family had become a developed
product of the Church.*

The Gospel arms its enemies against itself, by elevating them infinitely above what they would
have been without its influences. Refined by its social atmosphere, but refusing its sanctifying
power, they gloat over the failures and falls of those with whom their own emancipation was
begun. Let us rather admire those whom she lifted out of an abyss of moral degradation, but
whose struggles to reach the high levels of her precepts were not always successful. Yet these
very struggles were heroic ; for all their original habits, and all their surroundings, were of the
sort " which hardens all within, and petrifies the feeling."

The American editor has devoted more than his usual amount of annotation to Hermas, and
he affectionately asks the student not to overlook tlie notes, in which he has condensed rather
than amplified exposition. It has been a labour of love to contribute something to a just con-
ception of The Shepherd^ because the Primitive Age has often been reproached with its good
repute in the early churches. So little does one generation comprehend another ! When
Christians conscientiously rejected the books of the heathen, and had as yet none of their own,
save the Sacred Scriptures, or such scanty portions of the New Testament as were the treasures
of the churches, is it wonderful that the first effort at Christian allegory was welcomed, especially
in a time of need and perilous temptation ?

' See Vision iii. cap. 8, for the relation of encraty to faith, in the view of Hennas; also (cap. 7 and ptutiwi) note his uncompro-
mising reproofs of lust, and his beautitul delineations of chastity. The third canon of the -Nicene Synod proscrihed the syfuitactm, and alio
the nineteenth of Ancyn, adopted at Chalcedon into the Catholic discipline.

TATIAN'S ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS.

[TRANSLATED BY J. E. RYLAND.]

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TATIAN THE ASSYRIAN

[TRANSLATED BY J. E. RYLAND.]

[a,d. 1 10-172.] It was my first intention to make this author a mere appendix to his
master, Justin Martyr ; for he stands in an equivocal position, as half Father and half heretic. His
good seems to have been largely due to Justin's teaching and influence. One may trust that his
fisdling away, in the decline of life, is attributable to infirmity of mind and body ; his severe asceti-
cism countenancing this charitable thought. Many instances of human frailty, which the experi-
ence of ages has taught Christians to view with compassion rather than censure, are doubtless to
be ascribed to mental aberration and decay. Early Christians had not yet been taught this lesson ;
for, socially, neither Judaism nor Paganism had wholly surrendered their unloving influences
upon their minds. Moreover, their high valuation of discipline, as an essential condition of self-
preservation amid the fires of surrounding scorn and hatred, led them to practise, perhaps too
sternly, upon offenders, what they often heroically performed upon themselves, — the amputation of
the scandalous hand, or the plucking out of the evil eye.

In Tatian, another Assyrian follows the Star of Bethlehem, from Euphrates and the Tigris.
The scanty facts of his personal history are sufficiently detailed by the translator, in his Introduc-
tory Note. We owe to himself the pleasing story of his conversion fi-om heathenism. But I
think it important to qualify the impressions the translation may otherwise leave upon the stu-
dent's'mind, by a litde more sympathy with the better side of his character, and a more just state-
ment of his great services to the infant Church.

His works, which were very numerous, have perished, in consequence of his lapse from ortho-
doxy. Give him due credit for his Dtafessaron, of which the very name is a valuable testimony
to the Four Gospels as recognised by the primitive churches. It is lost, with the "infinite
number " of other books which St. Jerome attributes to him. All honour to this earliest harmo-
nist for such a work ; and let us believe, with Mill and other learned authorities, that, if Eusebius
had seen the work he censures, he might have expressed himself more charitably concerning it.

We know something of Tatian, already, from the melancholy pages of Irenaeus. Theodoret
finds no other fault with his Diatessaron than its omission of the genealogies, which he, proba-
bly, could not harmonize on any theory of his own. The errors into which he fell in his old age '
were so abstuxl, and so contrary to the Church's doctrine and discipline, that he could not be
tolerated as one of the faithful, without giving to the heathen new groimds for the malignant
slanders with which they were ever assailing the Christians. At the same time, let us reflect,

' " Paul the aged" was only sixty when he gives himself this title ( Philem. 9). See the additional note, Speaker's Commentary^
vol. iii. 843.

62 , INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

that his fall is to be attributed to extravagant ideas of that encraty which is a precept of the
Gospel, and which a pure abhorrence of pagan abominations led many of the orthodox to prac-
tise with extreme rigidity. And this is the place to say, once for all, that the figures of Elijah
upon Mt. Carmel and of John Baptist in the wilderness, approved by our Lord's teachings, but
moderated, as a lesson to others, by his own holy but less austere example, justify the early
Church in making room for the two classes of Christians which must always be found in earnest
religion, and which seem to have their warrant in the fundamental constitution of human
nature. There must be men like St. Paul, living in theVorld, though not of it; gpd there must
be men like the Baptist, of whom the world will say, " he hath a devil." Marvellously the early
Catholics were piloted between the rocks and the whirlpools, in the narrow drift of the Gospel ;
and always the Holy Spirit of counsel and might was their guardian, amid ^eir terrible trials
and temptations. This must suggest, to every reflecting mind, a gratitude the most profound. To
preserve evangelical encraty, and to restrain fanatical asceticism, was the spirit of early Chris-
tianity, as one sees in the ethics of Hermas. But the awful malaria of Montanism was even now
rising like a fog of the marshes, and was destined to leave its lasting impress upon Western Chris-
tianity ; '' forbidding to marry, and commanding to absta^ from meats." Our author, alas, laid the
egg which TertuUian hatched, and invented terms which that great author raised to their highest
power ; for he was rather the disciple of Tatian th3i% of the Phrygians, though they kindled his
strange fire. After TertuUian, the whole subject of marriage became eifengled with sophistries,
which have ever since adhered to the Latin churches, and mtroduced the most corrosive results
into the vitals of individuals and of nations. Southey suggests, that, in the Roman Communion, John
Wesley would have been accommodated with full scope for his genius, and canonized as a saint,
while his Anglican mother had no place for him.' But, on the other hand, let us reflect that
while Rome had no place for Wiclif and Hus, or Jerome of Prague, she has used and glorified
and canonized many fanatics whose errors were far more disgraceful than those of Tatian and
TertuUian. In fact, she would have utilized and beatified these very enthusiasts, had they risen
in the Middle Ages, to combine their foUies with equal extravagance in persecuting the Albi-
genses, while aggrandizing the papal ascendency.

I have enlarged upon the equivocal character of Tatian with melancholy interest, because I
shall make sparing use of notes, in editing his sole surviving work, pronounced by Eusebius his
masterpiece. I read it with sympathy, admiration, and instruction. I enjoy his biting satire of
heathenism, his Pauline contempt for all philosophy save that of the Gospel, his touching refer-
ence to his own experiences, and his brilliant delineation of Christian innocence and of his own
emancipation from the seductions of a deceitful and transient world. In short, I feel that Tatian
deserves critical editing, in the original, at the hand and heart of some expert who can thor-
oughly appreciate his merits, and his relations to primitive Christianity.

The following is Ihe original Introductory Notice : —

We learn from several sources that Tatian was an Assyrian, but know nothing very definite
either as to the time or place of his birth. Epiphanius ( I/ar., xlvi.) declares that he was a
native of Mesopotamia ; and we infer from other ascertained facts regarding him, that he flour-
ished about the middle of the second century. He was at first an eager student of heathen liter-
ature, and seems to have been especiaUy devoted to researches in philosophy. But he found no
satisfaction in the bewildering mazes of Greek speculation, while he became utterly disgusted
with what heathenism presented to him under the name of religion. In these circumstances, he
happily met with the sacred books of the Christians, and was powerfully attracted by the purity of
morals which these inculcated, and by the means of deliverance from the bondage of sin which

' Sec ( vol. ii. p. 331.) Southey's Ltyie of Wesley; an invaluable work, and one which presents this eminent saint in a most interest-
ing light, even to worldly men. Ed. New York, Harpers, 1853.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 63

e ;

they revealed. He seems to have embraced Christianity at Rome, where he became acquainted
with Justin Martyr, and enjoyed the instructions of that eminent teacher of the Gospel. After
the death of Justin, Tatian unfortunately fell under the influence of the Gnostic heresy, and
founded an ascetic sect, which, from the rigid principles it professed, was called that of the En-
cratites, that is, " 77ie self-controlled^^ or, " The masters of themselvesJ^ Tatian latterly established
himself at Antioch, and acquired a considerable number of disciples, who continued after his
death to be distinguished by the practice of those austerities which he had enjoined. The sect
of the Encratites is supposed to have been established about a.d. 166, and Tatian appears to have
died some few years afterwards.

The only extant work of Tatian is his " Address to the Greeks." It is a most unsparing and
direct exposure of the enormities of heathenism. Several other works are said to have been
composed by Tatian ; and of these, a Diatessaron, or Harmony of the Four Gospels, is specially
mentioned. His Gnostic views led him to exclude from the continuous narrative of our Lord's
life, given in this work, all those passages which bear upon the incarnation and true humanity of
Christ. Not withstanding this defect, we cannot but regret the loss of this earliest Gospel har-
mony ; but the very title it bore is important, as showing that the Four Gospels, and these only,
were deemed authoritative about the middle of the second century.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

CHAP. I. — THE GREEKS CLAIM, WITHOUT REASON, am at a loss whom to Call a Greek. And, what is
THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS. Strangest of all, you hold in honour expressions

Be not, O Greeks, so veiy hostilely disposed not of native growth, and by the intermixture of
towards the Barbarians, nor look with ill will on ' parbanc words have made your language a med-
their opinions. For which of your institutions i ^^X* ^^ ^^^ account we have renounced your
has not been derived from the Barbarians? The wisdom, though I was once a great proficient in
most eminent of the Telmessians invented the , ^^ > ^^^' ^ ^^^ ^^^^^ P^^^ ' says, —
art of divining by dreams ; the Carians, that of-' These are gleaners' grapes and small talk,—
prognosticating by the stars ; the Phrygians and : Twittering places of swallows, corrupters of art.

the most ancient Isaurians, augury by the flight I y ^ , , . , , .,

of birds- the rvnrians the art of insnertina ^^\ uiosc wno eageriy pursue ii snoui lUSluy,
^l^S ''T\t^^^u^ -r. inspectmg ^^^ ^^^^^ jj^^ ^ ^ You have, too,

victims. To the Babylonians you owe astron- [ contrived the art of rhetoric to serve iniustice
omy ; to the Persiaas, magic ; to the Egyptians, ^°^ ,!^ Jt i ^7^°"^ ^^ ^T"^ injustice
„^^ \ ^ ^t Til • • . ^ °y u and slander, selling the free power of your speech

geometry: to the Phoenicians, instruction by /. . • « J r* *• *u ^ ^u-

aiDhabetic writing Cease then to miscall these ^^^ ^*^^' ^'^^ ^^^^'^ representing the same thing at
aipnaoetic writing, j^ease, tnen, to miscau tnese ^^^ ^j^^ ^ ^.^ ^^ another time as not good.

imitations inventions of your own. Orpheus, rp, ^ _ . . ^ ' . i * j u

„'^ .1. 4.J c v.- The poetic art, again, you employ to describe

tTCfel'^^^^ tKysSes 'tUTusS^s ! ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^-^ '^ ^' ^^'^ -^ '"^^ --
00, you ieamea the mystenes. ihe Tuscans niption of the soul.

taught you the plastic art ; from the annals of the '^

Eg>ptians you learned to write history ; you chap. n. — the vices and errors of the phi-
acquired the art of playing the flute from Marsyas
and Olympus, — these two rustic Phrygians con-
structed the harmony of the shepherd's pipe.
The Tyrrhenians invented the trumpet ; the Cy-
clopes, the smith's art ; and a woman who was

LOSOPHERS.

you produced by your \
Vho of your most emi- /

What noble thing have
pursuit of philosophy ? Who
nent men has been free from vain boasting? " t

formerly a queen of the Persians, as Hellanicus i Diogenes, ^^o made such a parade of his mde-
tells us, the method of joining together epistolary I Pen<ience with his tub, was seized with a bowel
tablets: « her name was Atossa. Wherefore lay complaint through eating a raw polypus, and
aside this conceit, and be not ever boasting of '^^^^^t his life by gluttony Anstippus, walking
your elegance of diction; for, while you applaud about m a purple robe, led a profligate life, m
yourselves, your own people will of course side accordance with his professed opinions. Plato,
with you. But it becomes a man of sense to ^ Philosopher, was sold by Dionysius for his gor-
wait for the testimony of others, and it becomes niandizing propensities. And Anstode, who ab-
men to be of one accord also in the pronunci- ^"^% P^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^ .^o Providence and made
ation of their language. But, as matters stand, , happiness to consist m the things which give
to you alone it has happened not to speak alike > Pleasure, quite contraiy to his duty as a pre-

even m common intercourse ; for the way of

ceptor flattered Alexander, forgetful that he was

speaking among the Dorians is not the same as ^^^ ^ yP""^} ^ ,^^^ ^^^ ^j^^^^^g ^^^^ ^^" he had
that of the inhabitants of Attica, nor do the 1 i^?"^;^^ ^^^, ^^^sons of his master, because his
-Cohans speak like the lonians. And, since such ' ^^^"^ would not worship him shut him up and

a discrepancy exists where it ought not to be, I ??^ P^^^^^ ^1"^ ^^.^^^ !*^f ^,^^^'* ^^ ^ leopard.

He in fact obeyed strictly the precepts of his

^ <»WToAig tfvrrATTflty, Lc, for tiaxumissioii by Ictter-carrien. —
vrro.

' Aristoph., Ranttf 9a, 93.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

teacher in displaying manliness and courage by
feasting, and transfixing with his spear his inti-
mate and most beloved friend, and then, under
a semblance of grief, weeping and starving him-
self, that he might not incur the hatred of his
friends. I could laugh at those also who in the
present day adhere to his tenets, -^ people who
say that sublunary things are not under the care
of Providence ; and so, being nearer the earth
than the moon, and below its orbit, they them-
selves look after what is thus left uncared for ;
and as for those who have neither beauty, nor
wealth, nor bodily strength, nor high birth, they
have no happiness, according to Aristotle. Let
such men philosophize, for me !

CHAP. m. — RIDICULE OF THE PHILOSOPHERS.

I cannot approve of Heraclitus, who, being
self-taught and arrogant, said, " I have explored
myself" Nor can I praise him for hiding his
poem ' in the temple of Artemis, in order that
it might be published afterwards as a mystery ;
and those who take an interest in such things say
that Euripides the tragic poet came there and
read it, and, gradually learning it by heart, care-
fully handed down to posterity this darkness ' of
Heraclitus. Death, however, demonstrated the
stupidity of this man; for, being attacked by
dropsy, as he had studied the art of medicine as
well as philosophy, he plastered himself with cow-
dung, which, as it hardened, contracted the flesh
of his whole body, so that he was pulled in
pieces, and thus died. Then, one cannot listen
to Zeno, who declares that at the conflagration
the same man will rise again to perform the same
actions as before ; for instance, Anytus and Mile-
tus to accuse, Busiris to murder his guests, and
Hercules to repeat his labours ; and in thisw doc-
trine of the conflagration he introduces more
wicked than just persons — one Socrates and a
Hercules, and a few more of the same class, but
not many, for the bad will be found far more
numerous than the good. And according to him
the Deity will manifestly be the author of evil,
dwelling in sewers and worms, and jn the per-
petrators of impiety. The eruptions of fire in
Sicily, moreover, confute the empty boasting of
Empedocles, in that, though he was no god, he
falsely almost gave himself out for one. I laugh,
too, at the old wife's talk of Pherecydes, and the
doctrine inherited from him by Pythagoras, and
that of Plato, an imitation of his, though some
think otherwise. And who would give his ap-
proval to the cynogamy of Crates, and not rather,
repudiating the wild and tumid speech of those
who resemble him, turn to the investigation of
what truly deserves attention? Wherefore be

' ircpi ^va-CkK.

> He was called h «-Korcir6f for his obscurity.

not led away by the solemn assemblies of philoso-
phers who are no philosophers, who dogmatize
one against the other, though each one vents but
the crude fancies of the moment. They have,
moreover, many collisions an\ong themselves ;
each one hates the other ; they indulge in con-
flicting opinions, and their arrogance makes them
eager for the highest places. It would better
become them, moreover, not to pay court to
kings unbidden, nor to flatter men at the head
of affairs, but to wait till the great ones come to
them.

CHAP. IV.

THE CHRISTIANS WORSHIP GOD
ALONE.

For what reason, men of Greece, do you wish "
to bring the civil powers, as in a pugilistic en-
counter, into collision with us? And, if I am
not disposed to comply with the usages of some
of them, why am I to be abhorred as a vile mis-
creant? 3 Does the sovereign order the payment^
of tribute, I am ready to render it. Does my
master command me to act as a bondsman and .•
to serve, I acknowledge the serfdom. Man is to
be honoured as a fellow-man ; * God alone is to
be feared, — He who is not visible to human
eyes, nor comes within the compass of human
art. Only when I am commanded to deny Him,
will I not obey, but will rather die than show
myself false and ungrateful. Our God did not
begin to be in time : 5 He alone is without be-
ginning, and He Himself is the beginning of all
things. God is a Spirit,^ not pervading matter,
but the Maker of material spirits,^ and of the
forms that are in matter ; He is invisible, impal-
pable, being Himself the Father of both sensible
and invisible things. Him we know from His
creation, and apprehend His invisible power by
His works.* I refuse to adore that workman-
ship which He has made for our sakes. The sun
and moon were made for us : how, then, can I
adore my own servants ? How can I speak of
stocks and stones as gods? For the Spirit that
pervades matter 7 is inferior to the more divine
spirit; and this, even when assimilated to the
soul, is not to be honoured equally with the per-
fect God. Nor even ought the ineffable God to
be presented with gifts ; for He who is in want
of nothing is not to be misrepresented by us as
though He were indigent But I will set forth
our views more distinctly.

3 [Dear Christians of those times; so Jusrin and all the rest appeal
against this odium. Their name an oflence, " cast out as evil," but
fragrant with unrequited love. Matt. x. 22-39.]

* [j. Pet. ii. 17. This claim for man as man u the inspiration of
Christianity. Terence breathes it from his wounded soul in slavery:
and his immortal line, "Homo sum: humani nihil a me alicnum
puto" {HeaMttiontifHor., act i sc. i, verse 25), looks as if it Lad been
written in the second century of illumination. J

5 TKaye's Justin, pp. 56, 158.]

6 John iv. 3^.

7 TOver again Tatian asserts spirits to be material^ though not
Jieshty ; and I think with reference to i Cor. xv. 44.]

* Kom. L 20.

/»

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

CHAP. V. — THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIANS AS
TO THE CREATION OF THE WORLD.

God was in the beginning ; but the beginning,
we have been taught, is the power of the Logos.
For the Lord of the universe, who is Himself
the necessary ground (••roo-rao-is) of all being,
inasmuch • as no creature was yet in existence,
was alone ; but inasmuch as He was all power,
Himself the necessary ground of things visible
and invisible, iwith Him were all things ; with
Him, by Logos-power (8ia Aoyuc^s Suva/Aco)?),
the Logos Himself 4lso, who was in Him, sub-
sists.' And by His simple will the Logos springs
forth ; and the Logos, not coming forth in vain,
becomes the first-begotten work of the Father.
Him (the Logos) we know to be the beginning
of the world. But He came into being by par-
ticipation,^ not by abscission ; for what is cut off
is separated from the original substance, but that
which comes by participation, making its choice
of function,' does not render him deficient from
whom it is taken. For just as from one torch
many fires are lighted, but the light of the first
torch is not lessened by the kindling of many
torches, so the Logos, coming forth from the
Logos-power of the Father, has not divested of
the Logos-power Him who begat Him. I my-
self, for instance, talk, and you hear ; yet, cer-
tainly, I who converse do not become destitute
of speech (Aoyos) by the transmission of speech,
but by the utterance of my voice I endeavour to
reduce to order the unarranged matter in your
minds. And as the Logos,^ begotten in the be-
ginning, begat in turn our world, having first
created for Himself the necessary matter, so also
I, in imitation of the Logos, being begotten
again,5 and having become possessed of the
truth, am trying to reduce to order the confused
matter which is kindred with myself. For mat-
ter is not, like God, without beginning, nor, as
having no beginning, is of equal power with God ;
it is begotten, and not produced by any other
being, but brought into existence by the Framer
of all things alone.

CHAP. VI. — CHRISTIANS' BELIEF IN THE RESUR-
RECTION.

And on this account we believe that there will
be a resurrection of bodies after the consumma-

* [Sec Kaye's Justin Martyr , p. x6i, note; and observe his
soictuxe on Bull and Waterland.f

, ' «sTa fitpurfiov. Some translate/' by division," but the above
u preferable. The sense, according to Otto, is that the Logos, hav-
"^g received a peculiar nature, shares in the rational pcnver of the
Father as a lighted torch partakes of the light of the torch from which
w u kindled Comp. Just. Mar., Dial, c, T. , chap. Ixi.

3 oitfovoftiax rifv aJipca-ti' npoffkafi&v. The above seems the sim-
Pi^t rendering of this difficult passage, but several others have been
proposed. [Se note 4, cap. ix., infra ^ p. 69. J

^ [Matter not eternal. He seems to have understood Gen. i. x,
™ the creation of matter; and verse 3, as beginning the history of our
pbnet and the visible universe.]

^, [Supposed to be a personal reference to his conversion and
Baptism As U) *' confused mailerj" it should be kindred matter,
•od must be set over ^'^ kindred spint." See p. 71, cap. xiii., in/ra.\

tion of all things ; not, as the Stoics affirm, ac-
cording to the return of certain cycles, the same
things being produced and destroyed for no use-
ful purpose,*but a resurrection once for all,^ when
our periods of existence are completed, and in
consequence solely of the constitution of things
under which men alone live, for the purpose of
passing judgment upon them. Nor is sentence
upon us passed by Minos or Rhadamanthus, be-
fore whose decease not a single soul, according
to the mythic tales, was judged ; but the Creator,
God Himself, becomes the arbiter. And, al-
though you regard us as mere triflers and bab-
blers, it troubles us not, since we have faith in
this doctrine. For just as, not existing before I
was bom, I knew not who I was, and only ex-
isted in the potentiality (uTrdoTao-i?) of fleshly
matter, but being born, after a former state of
nothingness, I have obtained through my birth
a certainty of my existence ; in the same way,
having been bom, and through death existing
no longer, and seen no longer, I shall exist again,
just as before I was not, but was afterwards bom.
Even though fire destroy all traces of my flesh,
the world receives the vaporized matter ; 7 and
though dispersed through rivers and seas, or
torn in pieces by wild beasts, I am laid iip in
the storehouses of a wealthy Lord. And, al-
though the poor and the godless know not what
is stored up, yet God the Sovereign, when He
pleases, will restore the substance that is visible
to Him alone to its pristine condition.

CHAP. VII. — CONCERNING THE FALL OF MAN.

For the heavenly Logos, a spirit emanating
from the Father and a Logos from the Logos-
power, in imitation of the Father who begat Him
made man an image of immortality, so that, as
incormption is with God, in like manner, man,
sharing in a part of God, might have the immor-
tal principle also. The Logos,* too, before the
creation of men, was the Framer of angels. And
each of these two orders of creatures was made
free to act as it pleased, not having the nature
of good, which again is with God alone, but is
brought ft perfection in men through their free-
dom of choice, in order that the bad man may
be justly punished, having become depraved
through his own fault, but the just man be de-
sen'edly praised for his virtuous deeds, since in
the exercise of his free choice he refrained from
transgressing the will of God. Such is the con-
stitution of things in reference to angels and
men. And the power of the Logos, having in
itself a faculty to foresee future events, not as

* rComp. cap. xvii., infra, note 5, p. 7a. <V iifiipa <rvvTeA«ias.]

7 [A supposed discovenr of modem science. See Religion and
Chemistry, py Professor Cook of Harvard, pp. 79, loi. Revised
Edition ^ Scribncrs, 1880.]

* [ Kaye's rendering of this passage should be compared. Sec
his Justin^ p. 183.]

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

fated, but as taking place by the choice of free
agents, foretold from time to time the issues
of things to come ; it also became a forbidder of
wickedness by means of prohibitions, and the
encomiast of those who remained good. And,
when men attached themselves to one who was
more subtle than the rest, having regard to his
being the first-bom,* and declau^ed him to be
God, though he was resisting the law of God,
then the power of the Logos excluded the be-
ginner of the folly and his adherents from all
fellowship with Himself. And so he who was
made in the likeness of God, since the more j
powerful spirit is separated from him, becomes
mortal ; but that first-begotten one through his
transgression and ignorance becomes a demon ;
and they who imitated him, that is his illusions,
are become a host_gf demons, and through their
freedom of choice have been given up to their
own infatuation.

CHAP. Vm. — THE DEMONS SIN AMONG MANKIND.

But men form the material ( V7rd^«(rts ) of
their apostasy. For, having shown them a plan
of the position of the stars, like dice-players,
they introduced Fate, a flagrant injustice. For
the judge and the judged are made so by Fate ;
the murderers and the murdered, the wealthy
and the needy, are the offspring of the same Fate ;
and every nativity is regarded as a theatrical
entertainment by those beings of whom Homer
says, —

" Among the gods
Rose laughter irrepressible." '

But must not those who are spectators of single
combats and are partisans on one side or the
other, and he who marries and is a paederast and
an adulterer, who laughs and is angry, who flees
and is wounded, be regarded as mortals ? For, '
by whatever actions they manifest to men their
characters, by these they prompt their hearers to
copy their example. And are not the demons
themselves, with Zeus at their head, subjected
to Fate, being overpowered by the same pas-
sions as men? And, besides, how are those
beings to be worshipped among wh^m there
exists such a great contrariety of opinions ? For
Rhea, whom the inhabitants of the Phrygian
mountains call Cybele, enacted emasculation on
account of Attis, of whom she was enamoured ;
but Aphrodite is delighted with conjugal em-
braces. Artemis is a poisoner; Apollo heals
diseases. And after the decapitation of the
Gorgon, the beloved of Poseidon, whence sprang
the horse Pegasus and Chrysaor, Athene and
Asclepios divided between them the drops of
blood ; and, while he saved men's lives by
means of them, she, by the same blood, became

' Gen. iii. i. [ First-iorn. ayytAof wpmrirfotnn*^
' //., i. 599; Oti.y viti. 336.

a homicide and the instigator of wars. From
regard to her reputation, as it appears to me^
the Athenians attributed to the earth the son*
bom of her connection with Hephaestos, that
Athene might not be thought to be deprived of
her virility by Hephaestos, as Atalanta by Melea-
ger. This limping manufacturer of buckles and
earrings, as is likely, deceived the motherless
child and orphan with these girlish ornaments.
Poseidon frequents the seas ; Ares delights in
wars ; Apollo is a player on the cithara ; Diony-
sus is absolute sovereign of the Thebans ; Kronos
is a tyrannicide ; Zeus has intercourse with his
own daughter, who becomes pregant by him. I
may instance, too, Eleusis, and the mystic
Dragon, and Orpheus, who says, —

" Close the gates against the profane I "

Aidoneus carries off Kor^, and his deeds have
been made into mysteries ; Demeter bewails her-
daughter, and some persons are deceived by the
Athenians. In the precincts of the temple of
the son of Leto is a spot called Omphalos ; but
Omphalos is the burial-place of Dionysus. You
now I laud, O Daphne ! — by conquering the
incontinence of Apollo, you disproved his power
of vaticination ; for, not foreseeing what would
occur to you,3 he derived no advantage from
his art. Let the far-shooting god tell me how
Zephyrus slew Hyacinthus. Zephyrus conquered
him ; and in accordance with the saying of the
tragic poet, —

" A breeze is the most honourable chariot of the
gods."-*-

conquered by a slight breeze, Apollo lost his.
beloved.

CHAP. IX. — THEY GIVE RISE TO SUPERSTTnONS.

Such are the demons; these are they who
laid down the doctrine of Fate. Their funda-
mental principle was the placing of animals in
the heavens. For the creeping things on the
earth, and those that swim in the waters, and
the quadrupeds on the mountains, with which
they lived when expelled from heaven, — these
they dignified with celestial honour, in order
that they might themselves be thought to re-
main in heaven, and, by placing the constella-
tions there, might make to appear rational the
irrational course of life on earth.5 Thus the
high-spirited and he who is crushed with toil,
the temperate and the intemperate, the indigent
and the wealthy, are what they are simply from
the controllers of their nativity. For the delinea-
tioH of the zodiacal circle is the work of gods.
And, when the light of one of them predomi-
nates, as they express it, it deprives all the rest

3 On fleeing from Apollo, she became a bay-tree.

4 It is uncertain from whom this line is quoted.
i Comp. ch. viii. init.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

of their honour ; and he who now is conquered,
at another time gains the predominance. And
the seven planets are well pleased with them,'
as if they were amusing themselves with dice.
But we are superior to Fate, and instead of wan-
dering (TrXavrirCiv) demons, we have learned to
know one Lord who wanders not; and, as we
do not follow the guidance of Fate, we reject
its lawgivers. Tell me, I adjure you,* did Trip-
tolemus sow wheat and prove a benefactor to the
Athenians after their sorrow? And why was not
Demeter, before she lost her daughter, a bene*-
factress to men ? The Dog of Erigone is shown
in the heavens, and the Scorpion the helper of
Artemis, and Chiron the Centaur, and the di-
vided Argo, and the Bear of Callisto. Yet how,
before these performed the aforesaid deeds, were
the heavens unadorned? And to whom will it
not appear ridiculous that the Deltotum 3 should
be placed among the stars, according to some,
on account of Sicily, or, as others say, on ac-
count of the first letter in the name of Zeus
(Aids) ? For why are not Sardinia and Cyprus
honoured in heaven? And why have not the
letters of the names of the brothers of Zeus, who
shared the kingdom with him, been fixed there
too ? And how is it that Kronos, who was put
in chains and ejected from his kingdom, is con-
stituted a manager* of Fate? How, too, can
he give kingdoms who no longer reigns himself?
Reject, then, these absurdities, and do not be-
come transgressors by hating us unjustly.

CHAP. X. — RIDICULE OF THE HEATHEN DIVINrnES.

There are legends of the metamorphosis of
men : with you the gods also are metamor-
phosed. Rhea becomes a tree ; Zeus a dragon,
on account of Persephone ; the sisters of Phae-
thon are changed into poplars, and Leto into a
bird of little value, on whose account what is now
Delos was called Ortygia. A god, forsooth, be-
comes a swan, or takes the form of an eagle,
and, making Ganymede his cupbearer, glories in
a vile affection. How can I reverence gods who
are eager for presents, and angry if they do not
receive them ? Let them have their Fate ! I
am not willing to adore wandering stars. What
is that hair of Berenice ? Where were her stars
before her death ? And how was the dead Anti-
nous fixed as a beautiful youth in the moon?
^Mio carried him thither : unless perchance, as
men, perjuring themselves for hire, are credited
when they say in ridicule of the gods that kings
have ascended into heaven, so some one, in like

' The signs of the Zodiac (Gesner).

^ Uterany, " Tell me by God," or, " in the name of God."

^ The Deltotum was a star of the shape of a triangle. — Otto.

* foixoirofiiK. So cap. xii., zn^ra : "the constitution of the body
IS under one management" puat iarlv otxoKo^ias. Also cap. xxi.,
P' 74. *fi/ra, note 5.]

manner, has put this man also among the gods,5
and been recompensed with honour and reward ?
Why have you robbed God? Why do you
dishonour His workmanship? You sacrifice a
sheep, and you adore the same animal. The
Bull is in the heavens, and you slaughter its
image. The Kneeler^ crushes a noxious ani-
mal ; and the eagle that devours the man-maker
Prometheus is honoured. The swan is noble,
forsooth, because it was an adulterer ; and the
Dioscuri, living on alternate days, the ravishers
of the daughters of I^eucippus, are also noble 1
Better still is Helen, who forsook the flaxen-
haired Menelaus, and followed the turbaned and
gold-adorned Paris. A just man also is Soph-
ron,7 who transported this adulteress to the
Elysian fields ! But even the daughter of Tyn-
darus is not gifted with immortality, and Euripi-
des has wisely represented this woman as putlo
death by Orestes.

CHAP. XI. — THE SIN OF MEN DUE NOT TO FATE,

BUT TO FREE-WILL.

How, then, shall I admit this nativity accord-
ing to Fate, when I see such managers of Fate ?
I do not wish to be a king ; I am not anxious to
be rich ; I decline military command ; I detest
fornication ; I am not impelled by an insatiable
love of gain to go to sea ; I do not contend for
chaplets ; I am free from a mad thirst for fame ;
I despise death ; I am superior to every kind of
disease ; grief does not consume my soul. Am
I a slave, I endure servitude. Am I free, I do
not make a vaunt of my good birth. I see that
the same sun is for all, and one death for all,
whether they live in pleasure or destitution. The
rich man sows, and the poor man partakes of
the same sowing. The wealthiest die, and beg-
gars have the same limits to their life. The rich
lack many things, and are glorious only through
the estimation they are held in ; ^ but the poor
man and he who has very moderate desires, seek-
ing as he does only the things suited to his lot,
more easily obtains his purpose. How is it that
you are fated to be sleepless through avarice?
Why are you fated to grasp at things often, and
often to die ? Die to the world, repudiating the
madness that is in it. Live to God, and by ap-
prehending Him lay aside your old nature.^ We
were not created to die, but we die by our own

i [He uses the ycrbBtoXoytiv »& = Btonoitlv, but Kaye directs
attention to Justin's use of the same s& = io discourse on divine
M/>/^, and again in ca/^/K^ Christ C<h/.]

^ Hercules — a sign in the sky. Leanine on his right knee, he
tries to crush with his left foot the right side crt the dragon's head.

7 A writer of mimes.

* Or, reading with Maranus, kSlv . . . ytv., " even though," etc.

9 [ThinK o! a Chaldean heathen, by the power of grace, thus
transformed. Sapiens solus liher, but the Christian alone is wise.
This chapter compares favourably with the eloquence of Chrysostom
in his letter to Cyriac, which, if spurious, is made up of passages to
be found elsewtere in his works. Tom. iii. p. 683. Ed. Migne,
Paris, 1859.] ^n

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

fault/ Our free-will has destroyed us ; we who
were free have become slaves ; we have been
sold through sin. NoXliiog_evil has beeacreated
by God ; we ourselves have manifested wicked-
ness ; but we, who have manifested it, are able
again to reject it.

CHAP. Xn. — THE TWO KINDS OF SPIRFTS.

We recognise two varieties of spirit, one of
which is called the soul' ('/^x^), but the other is
greater than the soul, an image and likeness of
God : both existed in the first men, that in one
sense they might be material (vXlkoC), and in
another superior to matter. The case stands
thus : we can see that the whole structure of
the world, and the whole creation, has been pro-
duced from matter, and the matter itself brought
into existence ^ by God ; so that on the one
hand it may be regarded as rude and unformed
before it was separated into parts, and on the
other as arranged in beauty and order after the
separation was made. Therefore in that separa-
tion the heavens were made of matter, and the
stars that are in them ; and the earth and all
that is upon it has a similar constitution : so that
there is a common origin of all things. But,
while such is the case, there yet are certain dif-
ferences in the things made of matter, so that
one is more beautiful, and another is beautiful
but surpassed by something better. For as the
constitution of the body is under one manage-
ment, and is engaged in doing that which is the
cause of its having been made,* yet though this
is the case, there are certain differences of dignity
in it, and the eye is one thing, and another the
ear, and another the arrangement of the hair and
the distribution of the intestines, and the com-
pacting together of the marrow and the bones
and the tendons; and though one part differs
from another, there is yet all the harmony of
' a concert of music in their arrangement ; — in
like manner the world, according to the power
of its Maker containing some things of superior
splendour, but some unlike these, received by
the wilh of the Creator a material spirit. And
these things severally it is possible for him to
perceive who does not conceitedly reject those
most divine explanations which in the course of
time have been consigned to writing, and make
those who study them great lovers of God.
Therefore the demons,5 as you call them, hav-

* f Comp. cap. XV., tn/ra, and the note 6, p. 71.]
' [Sec cap. XV., infra A

3 Literally, " brought iorth " or " forward." The word docs not
imply that matter was created by God.

4 Tatian's words art somewhat obscure. We have given substan-
tially the opinion of Worth, as expressed in his translation, llie
sense is: The bodv is evidentlv a unity in its organization and its
activity, and the ultimate end wnich it serves in creation is that with
which It is occupied, yet there are difierences in respect of the parts.
Otto renders: " For as the constitution of the body ts of one plan, and
in reference to the body the cause of its origin is occupied."

5 [PrmoHS. The Paris editors have a note here, bidding us to
read with caution: as our author seems rashly to imagine the demons
to be material creatures. P. 151, ed. 1615.J

ing received their structure from matter and
obtained the spirit which inheres in it, became
intemperate and greedy ; some few, indeed,
turning to what was purer, but others choosing
what was inferior in matter, and conforming
their manner of life to it. These beings, pro-
duced from matter, but very remote from right
conduct, you, O Greeks, worship. For, being
turned by their own folly to vaingloriousness,
and shaking off the reins [of authority], they
have been forward to become robbers of Deity ;
and the Lord of all has suffered them to besport
themselves, till the world, coming to an end, be
dissolved, and the Judge appear, and all those
men who, while assailed by the demons, strive
after the knowledge of the perfect God obtain
as the result of their conflicts a more perfect
testimony in the day of judgment. There is, ■
then, a spirit in the stars, a spirit in angels, a ;
spirit in plants and the waters, a spirit in men,
a spirit in animals; but, though one and the
same, it has differences in itself.^ And while we
say these things not from mere hearsay, nor from
probable conjectures and sophistical reasoning,
but using words of a certain diviner speech, do
you who are willing hasten to learn. And you
who do not reject with contempt the Scythian
Anacharsis, do not disdain to be taught by those
who follow a barbaric code of laws. Give at least
as favourable a reception to our tenets as you
would to the prognostications of the Babylo-
nians. Hearken to us when we speak, if only
as you would to an oracular oak. And yet the
things just referred to are the trickeries of fren-
zied demons, while the doctrines we inculcate
are far beyond the apprehension of the world.

CH.AP. Xm. — THEORY OF THE S0UL*S IMMORTALfTY.

The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks,
but mortal.7 Yet it is possible for it not to die.
If, indeed, it knows not the truth, it dies, and is
dissolved with the body, but rises again at last at
the end of the world with the body, receiving
death by punishment in immortality. But, again,
if it acquires the knowledge of God, it dies not,
although for a time it be dissolved. In itself it
is da]'kness, and there is nothing luminous in it.
And this is the meaning of the saying, "The
darkness comprehendeth not the light." ^ For
the soul does not preserve the spirit, but is pre-
served by it, and the light comprehends the
darkness. The Logos, in truth, is the light of
God, but the ignorant soul is darkness. On this
account, if it continues solitary, it tends down-
ward towards matter, and dies with the flesh ;
but, if it enters into union with the Divine Spirit,

6 [" Which, though one and the same, is thus variously modified."
Kaye^ renderine in his Justittf p. 184.]

7 [Here Bishop Kave has a very full note, quoting a beautiful
passage textually irom Beausobrc, with whom, however, he does not
entirely coincide. JuUin^ p. 184.]

• John i. 5.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

it is no longer helpless, but ascends to the regions
whither the Spirit guides it: for the dwelling-
place of the spirit is above, but the origin of
the soul is from beneath. Now, in the beginning
the spirit was a constant companion of the soul,
but the spirit forsook it because it was not will-
ing to follow. Yet, retaining as it were a spark
of its power, though unable by reason of the
separation to discern the perfect, while seeking
for God it fashioned to itself in its wandering
many gods, following the sophistries of the
demons. But the Spirit of God is not with all,
but, taking up its abode with those who live
justly, and intimately combining with the soul,
by prophecies it announced hidden things to
other souls. And the souls that are obedient to
wisdom have attracted to themselves the cognate
spirit ; * but the disobedient, rejecting the minis-
ter of the suffering God,' have shown themselves
to be fighters against God, rather than His wor-
shippers.

CHAP. XIV. — THE DEMONS SHALL BE PUNISHED
MORE SEVERELY THAN MEN.

And such are you also, O Greeks, — profuse
in words, but with minds strangely warped ; and
you acknowledge the dominion of many rather
than the rule of one, accustoming yourselves to
follow demons as if they were mighty. For, as
the inhuman robber is wont to overpower those
like himself by daring ; so the demons, going to
great lengths in wickedness, have utterly deceived
the souls among you which are left to themselves
by ignorance and fals€ appearances. These
beings do not indeed die easily, for they do not
partake of flesh ; but while living they practise
the ways of death, and die themselves as often
as they teach their followers to sin. Therefore,
what is now their chief distinction, that they do
not die like men, they will retain when about to
suffer punishment : they will not partake of ever-
lasting life, so as to receive this instead of death
in a blessed immortality. And as we, to whom
it now easily happens to die, afterwards receive
the immortal with enjoyment, or the painful with
immortality, so the demons, who abuse the pres-
ent life to purposes of wrong-doing, dying con-
tinually even while they live, will have hereafter
I he same immortality, like that which they had
during the time they lived, but in its nature like
that of men, who voluntarily performed what the
demons prescribed to them during their lifetime.
And do not fewer kinds of sin break out among
men owing to the brevity of their lives,^ while on

■

* rSee cap. v., note, supra^ p. 67.]

2 [rov vcvortforof Bcov. A very noteworthy testimony to the
mv^tery of the Cross, and an early specimen of tne Communicaiio
iaiontatufm: the ai^i£o(ri« or di^i^cTaa'Tacnf of the Greek theolo-
gians. Pearson, On the Creedy p. 3x4. London, 1824. j

^ [The shortening of human life is a gracious limitation of trans-
gressbn and of the peril of probation. " Let not our years be multi-
plied to increase our guilt."]

the part of these demons transgression is more
abundant owing to their boundless existence ?

CHAP. XV. — NECESSFTY OF A UNION WriH THE

HOLY SPIRIT.

But further, it becomes us how to seek for
what we once had, but have lost, to unite the
soul with the Holy Spirit, and to strive after
union with God. The human soul consists of
many parts, and is not simple ; it is composite,
so as to manifest itself through the body ; for
neither could it ever appear by itself without
the body, nor does the flesh rise again without
the soul. Man is not, as the croaking philoso-v
phers say, merely a rational animal, capable of
understanding and knowledge ; for, according to
them, even irrational creatures appear possessed
of understanding and knowledge. But man alone
is the image and likeness of God ; and I mean
by man, not one who performs actions similar to
those of animals, but one who has advanced far
beyond mere humanity — to God Himself. This
question we have discussed more minutely in the ^
treatise concerning animals. But the principal
point to be spoken of now is, what is intended
by the image and likeness of God. That which
caimot be compared is no other than abstract
being ; but that which is compared is no other
than that which is like. The perfect God is
without flesh ; but man is flesh. The bond of
the flesh is the .soul ; * that which encloses the
soul is the flesh. Such is the nature of man's
constitution ; and, if it be like a temple, God is
pleased to dwell in it by the spirit, His represen-
tative j but, if it be not such a habitation, man
excels the wild beasts in articulate language only,
— in other respects his manner of life is like
theirs, as one who is not a likeness of God. But ^
none of the demons possess flesh ; their struc-
ture is spiritual, like that of fire or air. And only
by those whom the Spirit of God dwells in and
fortifies are the bodies of the demons easily seen,
not at all by others, — I mean those who possess
only soul ; 5 for the inferior has not the ability to
apprehend the superior. On this account the
nature of the demons has no place for repent-
ance ; for they are the reflection of matter and
of wickedness. But matter desired to exercise
lordship over the soul ; and according to their
free-will these gave laws of death to men ; but
men, after the loss of immortality, have con-
quered death by submitting to death in faith ; ^
and by repentance a call has been given to them,
according to the word which says, " Since they
were made a little lower than the angels." ^ And,

♦ [Sea/mbf It Tov <rap«bf t^vvij.]

5 Comp. I Cor. ii. 14, 15. [Tlie \^v\iko\, of whom we are to hear
so much in TertuIIian. Comp. cap. xii., supra^ p. 70.]

6 [But Kayc would translate, " by dying to the world through
fiuih.'J

7 rs. viii. 5

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

for every one who has been conquered, it is pos-
sible again to conquer, if he rejects the condition
which brings death. And what that is, may be
easily seen by men who long for immortality.

CHAP. XVI. — VAIN DISPLAY OF POWER BY THE

DEMONS.

But the demons ' who rule over men are not
the souls of men ; for how should these be capa-
ble of action after death ? unless man, who while
living was void of understanding and power,
should be believed when dead to be endowed
with more of active power. But neither could
this be the case, as we have shown elsewhere.*
And it is difficult to conceive that the immortal
soul, which is impeded by the members of the
body, should become more intelligent when it
has migrated from it. For the demons, inspired
with frenzy against men by reason of their ovm
wickedness, pervert their minds, which already
incline downwards, by various deceptive scenic
representations, that they may be disabled from
rising to -the path that leads to heaven. But
from us the things which are in the world are
not hidden, and the divine is easily apprehended
by us if the power that makes souls immortal
visits us. The demons are seen also by the men
possessed of soul, when, as sometimes, they ex-
hibit themselves to men, either that they may be
thought to be something, or as evil-disposed
friends may do harm to them as to enemies, or
afford occasions of doing them honour to those
who resemble them. For, if it were possible,
they would without doubt pull down heaven it-
self with the rest of creation. But now this they
can by no means effect, for they have not the
power; but they make war by means of the
lower matter against the matter that is like them-
selves. Should any one wish to conquer them,
let him repudiate matter. Being anned with
the breastplate 3 of the celestial Spirit, he will be
able to preserve all that is encompassed by it.
There are, indeed, diseases and disturbances of
the matter that is in us ; but, when such things
happen, the demons ascribe the causes of them
to themselves, and approach a man whenever
disease lays hold of him. Sometimes they
themselves disturb the habit of the body by a
tempest of folly ; but, being smitten by the word
of God, they depart in terror, and the sick man
is healed.

CHAP. XVn. THEY FALSELY PROMISE HEALTH TO

THEIR VOTARIES.

Concerning the sympathies and antipathies
of Democritus what can we say but this, that,
according to the common saying, the man of

' PFor a learned and valuable comparison of early patristic Di'-
monoiogies, see Kaye's yustin Martyr^ pp. 30i-aio.J
^ Perhaps in his treatise " On Animals.
^ Comp. Eph. vi. 13, 14, 17.

Abdera is Abderiloquent ? But, as he who gave
the name to the city, a friend of Hercules as it
is said, was devoured by the horses of Diomedes,
so he who boasted of the Magian Ostanes •* will
be delivered up in the day of consummation 5 as
fuel for the eternal fire. And you, if you do not
cease from your laughter, will gain the same pun-
ishment as the jugglers. Wherefore, O Greeks,
hearken to me, addressing you as from an emi-
nence, nor in mockery transfer your own want
of reason to the herald of the truth. A diseased
affection (Tra^os) is not destroyed by a counter-
affection (oi^tTra^cta), nor is a maniac cured by
hanging little amulets of leather upon him.
There are visitations of demons ; and he who is
sick, and he who says he is in love, and he who
hates, and he who wishes to be revenged, accept
them as helpers. And this is the method of
their operation : just as the forms of alphabetic
letters and the lines composed of them cannot
of themselves indicate what is meant, but men
have invented for themselves signs of their
thoughts, knowing by their peculiar combination
what the order of the letters was intended to ex-
press ; so, in like manner, the various kinds of
roots and the mutual relation of the sinews and
bones can effect nothing of themselves, but are
the elemental matter with which the depravity
of the demons works, who have determined for
what purpose each of them is available. And,
when they see that men consent to be served by
means of such things, they take them and make
them their slaves. But how can it be honour-
able to minister to adulteries ? How can it be
noble to stimulate men in hating one another?
Or how is it becoming to ascribe to matter the
relief of the insane, and not to God ? For by
their art they turn men aside from the pious
acknowledgment of. God, leading them to place
confidence in herbs and roots.^ But God, if
He had prepared these things to effect just what
men wish, would be a Producer of evil things ;
whereas He Himself produced everything which
has good qualities, but the profligacy of the de-
mons has made use of the productions of nature
for evil purposes, and the appearance of evil
which these wear is from them, and not from
the perfect God. For how comes it to pass that
when alive I was in no wise evil, but that now I
am dead and can do nothing, my remains, which
are incapable of motion or even sense, should
effect something cognizable by the senses ? And
how shall he who has died by the most miserable
death be able to assist in avenging any one ? If
this were possible, much more might he defend

< Democritus. [The Paris editors add, vide Laertium. As to
Ostanes t see that invaluable thesaurus, Ho/mann's Lex. Universale^
vol. ii. p. 6. Leyden, 1698.]

5 [Comp. cap. vi., note 6, supra^ p. 67.]

6 \Naviget Anticyras. On hellebore, see otherwise useless
learning but illustrative of this place, in Burton, A nat. Melanchol.t
p. 400. Ed. New York, 1847. J

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS. ,

himself from his own enemy ; being able to as-
sist others, much more might he constitute him-
self his own avenger.

CHAP. xvm.

THEY DECEIVE, INSTEAD OF
HEALING.

But medicine and everything included in it is
an invention of the same kind. If any one is
healed by matter, through trusting to it, much
more will he be healed by having recourse to the
power of God. As noxious preparations are
material compounds, so are curatives of the same
nature. If, however, we reject the baser matter,
some persons often endeavour to heal by a
union of one of these bad things with some other,
and will make use of the bad to attain the good.
But, just as he who dines with a robber, though
he may not be a robber himself, partakes of the
punishment on account of his intimacy with him,
so he who is not bad but associates with the bad,
having dealings with them for some supposed
good, will be punished by God the Judge for
partnership in the same object. Why is he who
trusts in the system of matter « not willing to trust
in God ? For what reason do you not approach
the more powerful Lord, but rather seek to cure
yourself, like the dog with grass, or the stag with
a viper, or the hog with river-crabs, or the lion
with apes? Why do you deify the objects of
nature ? And why, when you cure your neigh-
bour, are you called a benefactor? Yield to the
power of the Logos ! The demons dgih ot cure,
but by their arflnake men their captives. And
the most admirable Justin ' has rightly denounced
them as robbers. FoTpas it is the practice of
some to capture persons and then to restore
them to their friends for a ransom, so those who
are esteemed gods, invading the bodies of cer-
tain persons, and producing a sense of their
presence by dreams, command them to come
forth into public, and in the sight of all, when
they have taken their fill of the things of this
world, fly away from the sick, and, destroying
the disease which they had produced, restore
men to their former state

CHAP. XIX. — DEPRAVFTY LIES AT THE BOTTOM OF

DEMON-WORSHIP.

But do you, who have not the perception of
these things, be instructed by us who know
them : though you do profess to despise death,
and to be sufficient of yourselves for everything.
But this is a discipline in which your philoso-
phers are so greatly deficient, that some Of them
' receive from the king of the Romans 600 aurei
yearly, for no useful service they perfonii, but
that they may not even wear a long beard with-

' [iAij* otKovoiiitf. Comp. cap. ix., supra, note 4, p. 69 ]

* ^Ihe laaguage of an afllectionate pupil: 6 tfav/Aoo-twrarof

loiMTTlVOt.]

out being paid for it ! Crescens, who made his
nest in the great city, surpassed all men in un-
natural love (irotScpacma) , and was strongly
addicted to the love of money. Yet this man,
who professed to despise death, was so afraid of
death, that he endeavoured to inflict on Justin,
and indeed on me, the punishment of death, as
being an evil, because by proclaiming the truth
he convicted the philosophers of being gluttons
and cheats. But whom of the philosophers,
save you only, was he accustomed to inveigh
against? If you say, in agreement with our
tenets, that death is not to be dreaded, do not
court death from an insane love of fame among
men, like Anaxagoras, but become despisers of
death by reason of the knowledge of God. The
construction of the world is excellent, but the
life men live in it is bad ; and we may see those
greeted with applause as in a solemn assembly
who know not God. For what is divination ?
and why are ye deceived by it? It is a minister
to thee of worldly lusts. You wish to make war,
and you take Apollo as a counsellor of slaughter.
You want to carry off" a maiden by force, and
you select a divinity to be your accomplice.
You are ill by your own fault ; and, as Agamem-
non 3 wished for ten councillors, so you wish to
have gods with you. Some woman by drinking
water gets into a frenzy, and loses her senses by
the fumes of frankincense, and you say that she
has the gift of prophecy. Apollo was a prog-
nosticator and a teacher of soothsayers : in the
matter of Daphne he deceived himself. An oak.
forsooth, is oracular, and birds utter presages !
And so you are inferior to animals and plants !
It would surely be a fine thing for you to become
a divining rod, or to assume the wings of a bird !
He who makes you fond of money dso foretells
your getting rich; he who excites to seditions
and wars also predicts victory in war. If you
are superior to the passions, you will despise all
worldly things. Do not abhor us who have
made this attainment, but, repudiating the
demons,* follow the one God. "All things s
were made by Him, and without Him not one
thing was made." If there is poison in natural
productions, this has supervened through our
sinfulness. I am able to show the perfect truth
of these things ; only do you hearken, and he
who believes will understand.

CHAP. XX. — THANKS ARE EVER DUE TO GOD.

Even if you be healed by drugs (I grant you
that f>oint by courtesy), yet it behoves you to
give testimony of the cure to God. For the
world still draws us down, and through weakness
I incline towards matter. For the wings of the

3 Comp. Horn., //., ii. 37a.

4 [The baptismal renunciation.]
i John i. 3.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

soul were the perfect spirit, but, having cast this
off through sin, it flutters like a nestling and falls
to the ground. Having left the heavenly com-
panionship, it hankers after communion with in-
ferior things. The demons were driven forth to
another abode ; the first created human beings
were expelled from their place : the one, indeed,
were cast down from heaven ; but the other were
driven from earth, yet not out of this earth, but
from a more excellent order of things than exists
here now. And now it behoves us, yearning
after that pristine state, to put aside everything
:that proves a hindrance. The heavens are not
infinite, O man, but finite and bounded; and
beyond them are the superior worlds which have
, not a change of seasons, by which various dis-
- eases are produced, but, partaking of every
. happy temperature, have perpetual day, and light
unapproachable by men below.* Those who
have composed elaborate descriptions of the
earth have given an account of its various regions
so far as this was possible to man ; but, being un-
able to speak of that which is beyond, because
of the impossibility of personal observation, they
have assigned as the cause the existence of
tides ; and that one sea is filled with weed, and
another with mud ; and that some localities are
burnt up with heat, and others cold and frozen.
We, however, have learned things which were
unknown to us, through the teaching of the
prophets, who, being fully persuaded that the
heavenly spirit ' along with the soul will acquire a
clothing of mortality, foretold things which other
minds were unacquainted with. But it is pos-
sible for every one who is naked to obtain this
apparel, and to return to its ancient kindred.

CHAP. XXI. — DOCTRINES OF THE CHRISTIANS AND
GREEKS RESPECTING GOD COMPARED.

We do not act as fools, O Greeks, nor utter
idle tales, when we announce that God was born
in the form of a man. I call on you who re-
proach us to compare your mythical accounts

' f The flavour of this passaae comes out with more sweetness in
Kayes note (p. 198, yuUtn iT/.)» thus: ** Above the visible heavens
exist the better ages, aimv^K oi Kpctrroi'cf , having no change of seasons
from which various diseases take their origin ; but, blest with a uniform
goodness of temperature, thev enjoy perpetual day, and light inacces-
sible to men who dwell here below.

Here Tatian seems to me to have had in mind a noble passage from
Pindar, one of the most exquisite specimens of Greek poetry, which
he baptizes and sanctifies.

'\OOV 5< VVKT*90\V cue I

*\va h*iv afidpaif oAt-

ov cyoi^cf, aw»vt<rr«poy
"E<r$Xoi. vifiovrat fiio-

Tof, ov ^(^oi'a rapatrcroK-
TCf aAicf xtpiiVy
Ov6i iroyriov v^wp,
KciKdi' wapa Stairav • k.t.A. Olymp. ii.

Truly the Gentiles reflect some light from the window in the ark
of their father Noah. How sweet what follows: oAoKpvv fc/novrai
aiwKa. Comp. Rev. vii. 7, xxi. 4, xxit.]

' [Kaye tnus renders this pa.ssage: " the spirit together with the
soul will receive immortality, the heavenly covering of mortality."
yMitiM,i>. 188.]

with our narrations. Athene, as they say, took
the form of Deiphobus for the sake of Hector,^
and the unshorn Phoebus for the sake of Adme-
tus fed the trailing- footed oxen, and the spouse
of Zeus came as an old woman to Semel^. But,
while you treat seriously such things, how can
you deride us? Your Asclepios died, and he
who ravished fifty virgins in one night at Thespiae
lost his life by delivering himself to the devour-
ing flame. Prometheus, fastened to Caucasus,
suffered punishment for his good deeds to men.
According to you, Zeus is envious, and hides
the dream •* from men, wishing their destruction.
Wherefore, looking at your own memorials, vouch-
safe us your approval, though it were only as
dealing in legends similar to your own. VV^e,
however, do not deal in folly, but your legends
are only idle tales. If you speak of the origin
of the gods, you also declare them to be mortal.
For what reason is Hera now never pregnant ?
Has she grown old ? or is there no one to give
you information? Believe me now, O Greeks, \
and do not resolve your myths and gods into
allegory. If you attempt to do this, the divine
nature as held by you is overthrown by your own
selves ; for, if the demons with you are such as
they are said to be, they are worthless as to
character; or, if regarded as symbols of the
powers of nature, they are not what they are
called. But I cannot be persuaded to pay reli-
gious homage to the natural elements, nor can I
undertake to persuade my neighbour. And Met-
rodorus of Lampsacus, in his treatise concerning
Homer, has argued very foolishly, turning even'-
thing into allegory. For he says that neither
Hera, nor Athene, nor Zeus are what those per-
sons suppose who consecrate to them sacred
enclosures and groves, but parts of nature and
certain arrangements of the elements. Hector
also, and Achilles, and Agamemnon, and all the
Greeks in general, and the Barbarians with Helen
and Paris, being of the same nature, you will of
course say are introduced merely for the sake of
the machinery 5 of the poem, not one of these
personages having really existed. But these
things we have put forth only for argumeni's
sake ; for it is not allowable even to compare
our notion of God with those who are wallowing
in matter and mud.

CHAP. XXIL — RIDICULE OF THE SOLEMNITIES OF

THE GREEKS.

And of what sort are your teachings ? Who
must not treat with contempt your solemn fes-
tivals, which, being held in honour of wicked
demons, cover men with infamy? I have often

3 //., xxii. 927.
* //., ii. init.

^ [Xapii' otKoviJiiai, Compare divers uses of this word in Kayt'^
7MsttH, p. 174.]

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

seen a man » — and have been amazed to see,
and the amazement has ended in contempt, to
think how he is one thing internally, but out-
wardly counterfeits what he is not — giving him-
self excessive airs of daintiness and indulging in
all sorts of effeminacy; sometimes darting his
eyes about ; sometimes throwing his hands hither
and thither, and raving with his face smeared
with mud; sometimes personating Aphrodite,
sometimes Apollo ; a solitary accuser of all the
gods, an epitome of superstition, a vituperator
of heroic deeds, an actor of murders, a clironi-
cler of adultery, a storehouse of madness, a
teacher of cynaedi, an instigator of capital sen-
tences ; — and yet such a man is praised by all.
But I have rejected all his falsehoods, his im-
piety, his practices, — in short, the man alto-
gether. But you are led captive by such men,
while you revile those who do not take a part in
your pursuits. I have no mind to stand agape
at a number of singers, nor do I desire to be
aft'ected in sympathy with a man when he is
winking and gesticulating in an unnatural man-
ner. What wonderful or extraordinary thing is
performed among you ? They utter ribaldry in
aifected tones, and go through indecent move-
ments; your daughters and your sons behold
them giving lessons in adultery on the stage.
Admirable places, forsooth, are your lecture-
rooms, where every base action perpetrateH" by
nigHt is proclaimed aloud, and the hearers are
regaled with the utterance of infamous discourses !
Admirable, too, are your mendacious poets, who
by their fictions beguile their hearers from the
truth!

CHAP. XXIII. — OF THE PUGIUSTS AND GLADIATORS.

I have seen men weighed down by bodily ex-
ercise, and carrying about the burden of their
flesh, before whom rewards and chaplets are set,
while the adjudicators cheer them on, not to
deeds of virtue, but to rivalry in violence and
discord ; and he who excels in giving blows is
crowned. These are the lesser evils ; as for the
greater, who would not shrink from telling them ?
Some, giving themselves up to idleness for the
sake of profligacy, sell themselves to be killed ;
and the indigent barters himself away, while the
rich man buys others to kill him. And for these
the witnesses take their seats, and the boxers
meet in single combat, for no reason whatever,
nor does any one come down into the arena to
succour. Do such exhibitions as these redound
to your credit? He who is chief among you
collects a legion of blood-stained murderers,
engaging to maintain them; and these ruffians
are sent forth by him, and you assemble at the

' Tatian here describes an acior. [And in America heathenism
^os returned upon us in most of the indecencies here exposed. Are
we Christians ?]

spectacle to be judges, partly of .the wickedness
of the adjudicator, and partly of that of the men
who engage in the combat. And he who misses
the murderous exhibition is grieved, because he
was not doomed to be a spectator of wicked and
impious and abominable deeds. You slaughter
animals for the purpose of eating their flesh, and
you purchase men to supply a cannibal banquet
for the soul, nourishing it by the most impi-
ous bloodshedding. The robber commits mur-
der for the sake of plunder, but the rich man
purchases gladiators for the sake of their being
killed.'

CHAP. XXIV. — OF THE OTHER PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS.

What advantage should I gain from him who
is brought on die stage by Euripides raving mad,
and acting the matricide of Alcmaeon ; who does
not even retain his natural behaviour, but with his
mouth wide open goes about sword in hand, and,
screaming aloud, is burned to death, habited in a
robe unfit for man? Away, too, with the mythi-
cal tales of Acusilaus, and Menander, a versifier of
the same class ! And why should I admire the
mythic piper ? Why should I busy myself about
the Theban Antigenides,' like Aristoxenus ? We
leave you to these worthless things ; and do you
either beheve our doctrines, or, hke us, give up
yours.

CHAP. XXV. — BOASTINGS AND QUARRELS OF THE

PHILOSOPHERS.

What great and wonderful things have your ^"N^
philosophers effected? They leave uncovered
one of their shoulders ; they let their hair grow
long ; they cultivate their beards ; their nails are
like the claws of wild beasts.^ Though they say
that they want nothing, yet, like Proteus,^ they
need a currier for their wallet, and a weaver for
their mantle, and a wood-cutter for their staff",
and the rich,5 and a cook also for their gluttony.
O man competing with the dog,^ you know not
God, and so have turned to the imitation of an
irrational animal. You cr)' out in pubhc with an
assumption of authority, and take upon you to
avenge your own self; and if you receive noth-
ing, you indulge in abuse,, and philosophy is with
you the art of getting money.'f'You follow the
doctrines of Plato, and a disciple of Epicurus
lifts up his voice to oppose you. Again, you
wish to be a disciple of Aristotle, and a follower
of Democritus rails at you]^ Pythagoras says that
he was Euphorbus, and ne is the heir of the

» [Here Christianity began to aven^ itself on the brutal specta-
cles oT the Coliseum, which stands a gigantic monument of the reli-
gious system of which they were a part. See Athenagoras, Embassy^
cap. XXXV.]

3 Antigenides was a flute-player, and Aristoxenus a writer on mu-
sic and musical instnunents.

* The Cynic Percgrinus is meant.

5 They need the nch to invite them to banquets.

* The Cynic.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

doctrine of Pherecydes ; but Aristotle impugns
the immortality of the soul. You who receive
from your predecessors doctrines which clash
with one another, you the inharmonious, are
fighting against the harmonious. One of you as-
serts that God is body, but I assert that He is
without body ; that the world is indestructible,
but I say that it is to be destroyed ; that a con-
flagration will take place at various times, but I
say that it will come to pass once for all ; that
Minos and Rhadamanthus are judges, but I say
that God Himself is Judge ; that the soul alone
is endowed with immortality, but I say that the
flesh also is endowed with it.* What injury do
we inflict upon you, O Greeks? Why do you
I hate those who follow the word of God, as if they
' were the vilest of mankind ? It is not we who eat
human flesh' — they among you who assert such
a thing have been suborned as false witnesses ;
it is among you that Pelops is made a supper for
the gods, although beloved by Poseidon, and
Kronos devours his children, and Zeus swallows
Metis.

CHAP. XXVl. — RIDICULE OF THE STUDIES OF THE

GREEKS.

Cease to make a parade of sayings which you
have derived from others, and to deck yourselves
like the daw in borrowed plumes. If each state
were to take away its contribution to your speech,
your fallacies would lose their power. While
inquiring what God is, you are ignorant of what
is in yourselves ; and, while staring all agape at
the sky, you stumble into pitfalls. The reading
of your books is like walking through a labyrinth,
and their readers resemble the cask of the
Danaids. Why do you divide time, saying that
one part is past, and another present, and an-
other future ? For how can the future be passing
when the present exists ? As those who are sail-
ing imagine in their ignorance, as the ship is
borne along, that the hills are in motion, so you
do not know that it is you who are passing along,
but that time (6 auiiv) remains present as long
as the Creator wills it to exist. Why am I called
to account for uttering my opinions, and why are
you in such haste to put them all down? Were
not you born in the sanie manner as ourselves,
and placed under the same government of the
world ? Why say that wisdom is with you alone,
who have not another sun, nor other risings of
the stars, nor a more distinguished origin, nor
a death preferable to that of other men ? The
grammarians have been the beginning of this
idle talk ; and you who parcel out wisdom are

< [ The vigor of this passage, and the impact of its truths upon
heathen idols, are noble snecimens of our author's power.]

* r They ate and dranlc bread and wine hallowed to be the koivw-
via of die flesh and blood of Christ (i Cor. x. i6) ; but the^r knew
nothing of the modem doctrine of the Latin churches, which is pre-
cisely what Tatian denies.]

cut off" from the wisdom that is according to
truth, and assign the names of the several parts
to particular men ; and you know not God, but
in your fierce contentions destroy one another.
And on this account you are all nothing worth.
While you arrogate to yourselves the sole right
of discussion, vou discourse like the blind man
with the deaf. Why do you handle the builder's
tools without knowing how to build ? Why do
you busy yourselves with words, while you keep
aloof from deeds, pufled up with praise, but cast
down by misfortunes? Your modes of acting
are contrary to reason, for you make a pompous
app>earance in public, but hide your teaching in
comers. Finding you to be such men as these,
we have abandoned you, and no longer concern
ourselves with your tenets, but follow the word
of God. Why, O man, do you set the letters of
the alphabet at war with one another ? Why do
you, as in a boxing match, make their sounds
clash together with your mincing Attic way of
speaking, whereas you ought to speak more ac-
cording to nature ? For if you adopt the Attic
dialect though not an Athenian, pray why do you
not speak like the Dorians ? How is it that one
appears to you more rugged, the other more
pleasant for intercourse?

CHAP. XXVII.

THE CHRISTIANS ARE HATED UN-
JUSl'LY.

And if you adhere to Iknr teaching, why do
you fight against me for choosing such views of
doctrine as I approve? Is it not unreasonable "
that, while the robber is not to be punished for
the name he bears,^ but only when the truth
about him has been clearly ascertained, yet we
are to be assailed with abuse on a judgment
formed without examination ? Diagoras was an
Athenian, but you punished him for divulging
the Athenian mysteries ; yet you who read his
Phrygian discourses hate us. You possess the
commentaries of Leo, and are displeased with
our refutations of them ; and having in your
hands the opinions of Apion concerning the
Egyptian gods, you denounce us as most impi-
ous. The tomb of Olympian Zeus is shown
among you,* though some one says that the Cre-
tans are liars.s Your assembly of many gods is
nothing. Though their despiser Epicurus acts as
a torch-bearer,^ I do not any the more conceal
from the rulers that view of God which I hold
in relation to His government of the universe.
Why do you advise me to be false to my princi-
ples? Why do you who say that you desj)ise
death exhort us to use art in order to escape it?
I have not the heart of a deer; but your zeal

3 [Athenagoras, Embassy ^ cap. ii., in/ra.^
* In Crete.

s Comp. Tit. i. xa. Callimachus is probably the author referred
to, though others express the same opinion respecting the Cretans.
6 Accommodating himself to the popular opinions, through fear.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

for dialectics resembles the loquacity of Thersites.
How can I believe one who tells me that the sun
is a red-hot mass and the moon an earth ? Such
assertions are mere logomachies, and not a sober
exposition of truth. How can it be otherwise
than foolish to credit the books of Herodotus
relating to the history of Hercules, which tell of
an upper earth from which the lion came down
that was killed by Hercules ? And wh

uiaila-Sv

the Atticp sfry^p^ th^ f^^rites of philosophers, the ^"^- ^""^-
. •' ^*- • - " • "^ tTof 'y

plausibilities of syllogisms, the measurements

ions on himself as if they were laws. ^

CHAP,

XXVni. — CONDEMNATION
LEGISLATION.

OF THE GREEK

soul being taught of God, I discern that the
former class of writings lead to condemnation,
but that these put an end to the slavery that is-
m the world, and rescue us from a multiplicity \
of rulers and ten thousand tyrants, while they
give us, not indeed what we had not before re-
ceived, but what we had received but were pre-
vented by error from retaining.

HOW HE RESOLVED TO RESIST THE
DEVIL.

Therefore, being initiated and instructed in
these things, I wish to put away my former errors
the foUies of childhood. For we know that
the nature of wickedness is like that of the small-
est seeds ; since it has waxed strong from a small
beginning, but will again be destroyed if we obey
the words of God and do not scatter ourselves.
On this account I reject your legislation also N For He has become master of all we have by
for there ought to be one common polity for all ; jmeans of a certain " hidden treasure," ^ which

but now there are as many different codes as there
are states, so that things held disgraceful in som^^
are honourable in others. The Greeks consider
intercourse with a mother as unlawful, but this
practice is esteemed most becoming by the Per-
sian Magi ; paederasty is condemned by the Bar-
barians, but by the Romans, who endeavour to
collect herds of boys like grazing horses, it is
honoured with certain privileges^ .,/ \ >- '

CRAP. XXIX. — ACX:OUNT OF TATIAN*S CONVERSION.

. Wherefore, having seen these things, and more-
over also having been admitted to the mysteries,|
and having everywhere examined the religion^
rites performed by the effeminate and the pathic,
and having found among the Romans their La-
tiarian Jupiter delighting in human gore and the
blood of slaughtered men, and Artemis not far
from the great city ' sanctioning acts of the same
kind, and one demon here and another there in-
stigating to the perpetration of evil, — retiring
by myself, I sought how I might be able to dis-

while we are digging for we are indeed covered
with dust, but we secure it as our fixed posses-
sion. He who receives the whole of this treasure
has obtained command of the most precious
wealth. Let these things, then, be said to our
friends. But to you Greeks what can I say, ex-
cept to request you not to rail at those who are
better than yourselves, nor if they are called Bar-
barians to make that an occasion of banter?'
For, if you are willing, you will be able to find
out the cause of men*s not being able to under-
stand one another's language ; for to those who-
wish to examine our principles I will give a simple
and copious account of them.

CHAP. XXXI. — THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE CHRIS-
TIANS MORE ANCIENT THAN THAT OF THE GREEKS^

But now it seems proper for me to demon-
strate that our philosophy is older than the sys-
tems of the Greeks. Moses and Homer shalLV
be our limits, each of them being of great an-
tiquity ; the one being the oldest of poets and
cover the truth. And, while I was giving my\ historians, and the other the founder of all bar-
most earnest attention to the matter, I happened! barian wisdom. Let us, then, institute a compar-
to meet with certain barbaric writings, too old J ison between them ; and we shall find that our
to be compared with the opinions of the Greeks/ doctrines are older, not only than those of the
and too divine to be compared with their errors ; Greeks, but than the invention of letters.^ And
and I was led to put faith in these by the unpreA 1 1 will not bring fon^'ard witnesses from among
/ lending cast of the language, the inartificial char-ll ourselves, but rather have recourse to Greeks,
acterof the writers, the foreknowledge displayed;; To do the former would be foolish, because it
of future events, the excellent quality of the pre- J would not be allowed by you ; but the other will

cepts, and the declaration of the government of/
the universe as centred in one Being.^ And, my

' At Alicia, near Rome.

f [A memorable tribute to the light-giving power of the Holv
Scriptures. "Barbarian books" {barbaric means something else)
they wen; but well says Dr. Watts in a paraphrase of Ps. cxix. 96
(and camp. capp. xl , xli., infra) ^ —

" L«t all the heathen writers join to form one perfect book.
Great God if once compared with thine, how mean their writings
kwk!"

See his //^fpvitr, p. 238. Ed. Worcester, 1836.]

surprise you, when, by contending against you
with your own weapons, I adduce arguments of
which you had no suspicion. Now the poetry
of Homer, his parentage, and the time in which
he flourished have been investigated by the most
ancient writers, — by Theagenes of Rhegium,
who lived in the time of Cambyses, Stesimbrotus

3 Comp. Matt. xiii. 44. [Cogent reasoning with Greeks.]

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

of Thasos and Antimachus of Colophon, Herod-
otus of Halicamassus, and Dionysius the Olyn-
thian ; after them, by Ephorus of Cumae, and
Philochorus the Athenian, Megaclides and Cha-
maeleon the Peripatetics ; afterwards by the gram-
marians, Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callimachus,
Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus, and Apollo-
dorus. Of these, Crates says that he flourished
before the return of the Heraclidae, and within
80 years after the Trojan war ; Eratosthenes says
that it was after the looth year from the taking
of Ilium ; Aristarchus, that it was about the time
of the Ionian migration, which was 140 years
after that event ; but, according to Philochorus,
after the Ionian migration, in the archonship of
Archippus at Athens, 180 years after the Trojan
war ; Apollodoms says it was 100 years after the
Ionian migration, which would be 240 years after
the Trojan war. Some say that he lived 90 years
before the Olympiads, which would be 317 years
after the taking of Troy. Others carry it down
to a later date, and say that Homer was a con-
temporary of Archilochus ; but Archilochus flour-
ished about the 23d Olympiad, in the time of
Gyges the Lydian, 500 years after Troy. Thus,
concerning the age of the aforesaid poet, I mean
Homer, and the discrepancies of those who have
spoken of him, we have said enough in a sum-
mary manner for those who are able to investi-
gate with accuracy. For it is possible to show
that the opinions held about the facts themselves
also are false. For, where the assigned dates do
not agree together, it is impossible that the his-
tory should be true. For what is the cause of
error in writing, but the narrating of things that
are not true ?

CHAP. XXXII. — THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIANS,
IS OPPOSED TO DISSENSIONS, AND FTTTED FOR
ALL.

But with US there is no desire of vainglory,
V. nor do we indulge in a variety of opinions. For
/having renounced the popular and earthly, and

nheving the (^^mmands nf Crnd^ anH fnlln^^'pg
the Father nf immortality^ ^e reject

everything which rests upon human npjpjpn
Not only do the rich among us pursue our phi-
losophy, but the poor enjoy instruction gratui-
tously ; » for the things which come from God
surpass the requital of worldly gifts. Thus we
admit all who desire to hear, even old women
and striplings ; and, in short, persons of every
age are treated by us with respect, but ever>'
kind of licentiousness is kept at a distance. And
in speaking we do not utter falsehood. It would
be an excellent thing if your continuance in un-
belief should receive a check ; but, however that

\ I

' rCompare cap. xi. p. 69. And note, thus early, the Christian free-
schools, such as Julian closed and then imitated, confessing their
power. I

may be, let our cause remain confirmed by the
judgment pronounced by God. Laugh, if you
please ; but you will have to weep hereafter. 1>
it not absurd that Nestor,* who was slow at cut-
ting his horses* reins owing to his weak and slug-
gish old age, is, according to you, to be admired
for attempting to rival the young men in fighting,
while you deride those among us who struggle
against old age and occupy themselves with the
things pertaining to God ? Who would not laugh
when you tell us that the Amazons, and Semi-
ramis, and certain other warlike women existed,
while you cast reproaches on our maidens?
Achilles was a youth, yet is believed to have
been very magnanimous ; and Neoptolemus was
younger, but strong ; Philoctetes was weak, but
the divinity had need of him against Troy. What
sort of man was Thersites ? yet he held a com-
mand in the army, and, if he had not through
doltishness had such an unbridled tongue, he
would not have been reproached for being peak-
headed and bald. As for those who wish to
learn our philosophy, we do not test them by
their looks, nor do we judge of those who come
to us by their outward appearance ; for we argiie
that there may be strength of mind in all, though
they may be weak in body. But your proceed-
ings are full of envy and abundant stupidity.

CHAP. XXXin. — VINDICATION OF CHRISTIAN WOMEN.

Therefore I have been desirous to prove from
the things which are esteemed honourable among
you, that our institutions are marked by sober-
mindedness, but that yours are in close affinity
with madness.3 You who say that we talk non-
sense among women and boys, among maidens
and old women, and scoff at us for not being
with you, hear what silliness prevails among the
Greeks. For their works of art are devoted to
worthless objects, while "^ey are held in higher
estimation by you than even your gods ; and
you behave yourselves unbecomingly in what
relates to woman. For Lysippus cast a statue
of Praxilla, whose poems contain nothing useful,
and Menestratus one of Learchis, and Selanion
one of Sappho the courtezan, and Naucydes
one of Erinna the Lesbian, and Boiscus one of
Myrtis, and Cephisodotus one of Myro of Byzan-
tium, and Gomphus one of Praxigoris, and Am-
phistratus one of Clito. And what shall I say
about Anyta, Telesilla, and Mystis ? Of the first
Euthycrates and Cephisodotus made a statue,
and of the second Niceratus, and of the third
Aristodotus ; Euthycrates made one of Mnesi-
archis the Ephesian, Selanion one of Corinna,
and Euthycrates one of Thalarchis the Argive.
My object in referring to these women is, that
you may not regard as something strange what

a //., ix.

^ [See note 3, next page.]

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

you find among us, and that, comparing the
statues which are before your eyes, you may not
treat the women with scorn who among us pur-
sue philosophy. This Sappho is a lewd, love-
sick female, and sings her own wantonness ; ' but
all our women are chaste, and the maidens at
their distaffs sing of divine things' more nobly
than that damsel of yours. Wherefore be
ashamed, you who are professed disciples of
women yet scoff at those of the sex who hold
our doctrine, as well as at the solenin assemblies
they frequent.' What a noble infant did Glau-
cipp^ present to you, who brought forth a prodi-
gy, as is shown by her statue cast by Niceratus,
the son of Euctemon the Athenian ! But, if
Glaucipp^ brought forth an elephant, was that a
reason why she should enjoy public honours?
Praxiteles and Herodotus made for you Phryn6
the courtezan, and Eu thy crates cast a brazen
statue of Panteuchis, who was pregnant by a
whoremonger ; and Dinomenes, because Besantis
queen of the Paeonians gave birth to a black
infant, took pains to preserve her memory by his
art. I condemn Pythagoras too, who made a
figure of Europa on the bull ; and you also, who
honour the accuser of Zeus on account of his
artistic skill. And I ridicule the skill of Myron,
who made a heifer and upon it a Victory be-
cause by carrying off the daughter of Agenor it
had borne away the prize for adultery and lewd-
ness. The Olynthian Herodotus made statues
of Glycera the courtezan and Argeia the harper.
Bryaxis made a statue of Pasiphae ; and, by hav-
ing a memorial of her lewdness, it seems to have
been almost your desire that the women of the
present time should be like her.s A certain
Melanipp>e was a wise woman, and for that rea-
son Lysistratus made her statue. But, forsooth,
you will not believe that among us there are wise
women !

CHAP. XXXIV. — RIDICULE OF THE STATUES
ERECTED BY THE GREEKS.

Worthy of very great honour, certainly, was

\ [Sl Clirysostom speaks of the heathen as oi rats ararayucalv
^U KaTaariw6iitvot.. In Psalmum, cxvii. torn. v. p. 533. Ed.
MigneJ

' [buch as the Magnificat c/[ xbit Viigin, the Twenty-third Psalm,
or the Christian Hymn for Eventide^ which they learned in the
Christian schools (cap. xxxii. p. 78) . Cold is the heart of any mother's
^ tKat does not warm over such a chapter as this on the enfran-
chisement of womanhood by Christ. Observe our author's scorn for
the heathen "affinity with unreason" (this chapter, supra")^ and
then enjoy this glimpse of the contrast afforded by the Gospel m its
influence upon women. Intensely should we delight in the pictures
of eariy Christian society, of which the Fathers give us these sugges-
tive outlines. Rejecting the profane and wanton songs they heard
around them, — * salanic minstrelsies," as St. Chrysostom names
Ijicni, — they beguiled thcift toUs and soothed their sorrows with
^1 Psalms axM hymns and^^Rritual songs." As St. Jerome relates,
' You could not go into thtWield, but you might hear the ploughman's
^^lujahs. the oMwer's hymns, and the vine-dresser's chant of the
Psalms of David." See Cave's Primitive Christianity, p. 132.]^

\ [St. Paul's spirit was stirred within him, beholding the alx>mina-
^ idolatries of the Athenians : and who can wonder at the loathing of
Christians, whose wives and children could not escape from these
shameful spectacles. The growing asceticism and fanatical views of
sexual relations, which were now rising in the Church, were a morbid
hut Yiituous revolt of fiuth against these impurities.]

the tyrant Bhalaris, who devoured sucklings, and
accordingly is e;5chibited by the workmanship of
Polystratus the Ambraciot, even to this day, as a
very wonderful man ! The Agrigentines dreaded
to look on that countenance of his, because of
his cannibalism ; but people of culture now
make it their boast that they behold him in his
statue ! Is it not shameful that fratricide is
honoured by you who look on the statues of
Polynices and Eteocles, and that you have not
rather buried them with their maker Pythagoras ?
Destroy these memorials of iniquity ! Why
should I contemplate with admiration the figure
of the woman who bore thirty children, merely
for the sake of the artist Periclymenus? One
ought to turn away with disgust from one who
bore off the fruits of great incontinence, and
whom the Romans* compared to a sow, which
also on a like account, they say, was deemed
worthy of a mystic worship. Ares committed
adultery with Aphrodite, and Andron made an
image of their offspring Harmonia. Sophron,
who committed to writing trifles and absurdities,
was more celebrated for his skill in casting
metals, of which specimens exist even now. And
not only have his tales kept the fabulist ^sop
in everlasting remembrance, but also the plastic
art of Aristodemus has increased his celebrity.
How is it then that you, who have so many
poetesses whose productions are mere trash, and
innumerable courtezans, and worthless men, are
not ashamed to slander the reputation of our ^
women? What care I to know that Euanth^
gave birth to an infant in the Peripatus, or to
gape with wonder at the art of Callistratus, or to
fix my gaze on the Neaera of Calliades? For
she was a courtezan. Lais was a prostitute, and
Tumus made her a monument of prostitution.
Why are you not ashamed of the fornication of
Hephaestion, even though Philo has represented
him very artistically ? And for what reason do
you honour the hermaphrodite Gan)niiede by
Leochares, as if you possessed something admir-
able ? Praxiteles even made a statue of a woman
with the stain of impurity upon it. It behoved
you, repudiating everything of this kind, to seek
what is truly worthy of attention, and not to turn .
with disgust from our mode of life while receiv-
ing with approval the shameful productions of
Philaenis and Elephantis.

CHAP. XXXV. — TATIAN SPEAKS AS AN EVE-WTTNESS.

The things which I have thus set before you
I have not learned at second hand. I have \
visited many lands ; I have followed rhetoric, like '
yourselves ; I have fallen in with many arts and '
inventions ; and finally, when sojourning in the
city of the Romans, I inspected the multiplicity
of statues brought thither by you : for I do not at-
tempt, as is the custom with many, to strengthen

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

(

my own views by the opinions of others, but I
wish to give you a distinct ac<jount of what I
myself have seen and felt. 4^So, bidding farewell
to the arrogance of Romans and the idle talk of
Athenians, and all their ill-connected opinions,
I embraced our barbaric philosophy. I began
to show how this was more ancient than your
institutions,' but left my task unfinished, in order
to discuss a matter which demanded more im-
mediate attention ; but now it is time I should
attempt to speak concerning its doctrines. Be
not offended with our teaching, nor undertake an
elaborate reply filled with trifling and ribaldry,
saying, "Tatian, aspiring to be above the Greeks,
above the infinite number of philosophic in-
quirers, has struck out a new path, and embraced
the doctrines of Barbarians." For what griev-
ance is it, that men manifestly ignorant should
be reasoned with by a man of like nature with
themselves ? Or how can it be irrational, accord-
ing to your own sophist,* to grow old always
learning something?

CHAP. XXXVI. — TESTIMONY OF THE CHALDEANS
TO THE ANTIQUITY OF MOSES.

But let Homer be not later than the Trojan
war ; let it be granted that he was contemporary
with it, or even that he was in the army of Aga-
memnon, and, if any so please, that he lived be-
fore the invention of letters. The Moses before
mentioned will be shown to have been many years
older than the taking of Troy, and far more
ancient than the building of Troy, or than Tros
and Dardanus. To demonstrate this I will call
in as witnesses the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians,
and the Egyptians. And what more need I say ?
For it behoves one who professes to persuade
his hearers to make his narrative of events very
concise. Berosus, a Babylonian, a priest of their
god Belus, bom in the time of Alexander, com-
posed for Antiochus, the third after him, the
history of the Chaldeans in three books; and,
narrating the acts of the kings, he mentions one
of thetn, Nabuchodonosor by name, who made
war against the Phoenicians and the Jews, —
events which . we know were announced by our
prophets, and which happened much later than
the age of Moses, seventy years before the Per-
sian empire. But Berosus is a very trustworthy
man, and of this Juba is a witness, who, writing
concerning the Assyrians, says that he learned
the history from Berosus : there are two books
of his concerning the Assyrians.

CHAP. XXXVn. — TESTIMONY OF THE PHCENICIANS.

After the Chaldeans, the testimony of the

' Chap. xxxi. [With what calm superiority he professes himself
a barbarian / I honour the eye-witness who tells not only what he
had seen, but what ht/elt amid such evidences of man's degradation
and impiety.]

^ Solon. Bergh., Poet4e Gnec. Lyr , fr. i8. [The interest and
biographical importance of this chapter must be apparent.]

; Phoenicians is as follows. There were among^
them three men, Theodotus, Hyi)sicrates, and
Mochus; Chaitus translated their books into
Greek, and also composed with exactness the
lives of the philosophers. Now, in the histories
of the aforesaid writers it is shown that the ab-
duction of Europa happened under one of the
kings, and an account is given of the coming of
Menelaus into Phoenicia, and of the matters re-
lating to Chiramus,^ who gave his daughter in
marriage to Solomon the king of the Jews, and
supplied wood of all kind of trees for the build-
ing of the temple. Menander of Pergamus com-
posed a history concerning the same things.
But the age of Chiramus is somewhere about the
Trojan war ; but Solomon, the contemporary of
Chiramus, lived much later than the age of
Moses.

CHAP. XXXVni. — THE EGYPTIANS PLACE MOSES IN
THE REIGN OF INACHUS.

Of the Egyptians also there are accurate
chronicles. Ptolemy, not the king, but a priest
of Mendes, is the interpreter of their affairs.
This writer, narrating the acts of the kings, says
that the departure of the Jews from Egypt to
the places whither they went occurred in the time
of king Amosis, under the leadership of Moses.
He thus speaks : " Amosis lived in the time of
king Inachus." After him, Api^n the gramma-
rian, a man most highly esteemed, in the fourth
book of his i£gyptiaca (there are five books of
his), besides many other things, says that Amo-
sis destroyed Avaris in the time of the Argive
Inachus, as the Mendesian Rolemy wrote in his
annals. But the time from Inachus to the tak-
ing of Troy occupies twenty generations. The
steps of the demonstration are the following : —

CHAP. XXXIX. — CATALOGUE OF THE ARGIVE KINGS.

The kings of the Argives were these : Inachus,
Phoroneus, Apis, Criasis, Triopas, Argeius, Phor-
bas, Crotopas, Sthenelaus, Danaus, Lynceus,
Proetus, Abas, Acrisius, Perseus, Sthenelaus,
Eurystheus, Atreus, Thyestes, and Agamemnon,
in the eighteenth year of whose reign Troy was
taken. And every intelligent person will most
carefully observe that, according to the tradition
of the Greeks, they possessed no historical com-
position ; for Cadmus, who taught them letters,
came into Boeotia many generations later. But
after Inachus, under Phoroneus, a check was
with difficulty given to their savage and nomadic
life, and they entered upon a new order of things.
Wherefore, if Moses is shown to be contempo-
rary with Inachus, he is four hundred years older
than the Trojan war. But this is demonstrated
from the succession of the Attic, [and of the

3 Called Hiram in our authorized translation.

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

Macedonian, the Ptolemaic, and the Antiochian]'
kings. Hence, if the most illustrious deeds
among the Greeks were recorded and made
known after Inachus, it is manifest that this must
have been after Moses. In the time of Phoro-
neus, who was after Inachus, Ogygus is mentioned
among the Athenians, in whose time was the first
deluge ; and in the time of Phorbas was Actaeus,
from whom Attica was called Actaea ; and in the
time of Triopas were Prometheus, and Epime-
theus, aqd Atlas, and Cecrops of double nature,
and lo ; fn the time of Crotopas was the burning
of Phaethon and the flood of Deucalion ; in tlje
time of Sthenelus was the reign of Amphictyon
and the coming of Danaus into Peloponnesus,
and the founding of Dardania by Dardanus, and
the return of Europa from Phoenicia to Crete ;
in the time of Lynceus was the abduction of
Kor^, and the founding of the temple in Eleusis^
and the husbandry of Triptolemus, and the com-
ing of Cadmus to Thebes, and the reign of
Minos; in the time of Proetus was the war of
Eumolpus against the Athenians; in the time
of Acrisius was the coming over of Pelops from
Phrygia, and the coming of Ion to Athens, and
the second Cecrops, and the deeds of Perseus
and Dionysus, and Musaeus, the disciple of Or-
pheus ; and in the reign of Agamemnon Troy
was taken.

CHAP. XL. — MOSES MORE ANCIENT AND CREDI-
BLE THAN THE HEATHEN HEROES.

. Therefore, from what has been said it is evi-
dent that Moses was older than the ancient
heroes, wars, and demons. And we ought rather
to believe him, who stands before them in point
of age, than the Greeks, who, without being
aware of it,* drew his doctrines [as] from a
fountain. For many of the sophists among them,
stimulated by curiosity, endeavoured to adulter-
ate whatever they learned from Moses,^ and from
those who have philosophized like him, first that
they might be considered as having something
of their own, and .secondly, that covering up by
a certain rhetorical artifice whatever things they
did not understand, they might misrepresent the
truth as if it were a fable. But what the learned
among the Greeks have said concerning our
polity and the history of our laws, and how many
and what kind of men have written of these
things, will be shown in the treatise against those
who have discoursed of divine things/

I The woitls within brackets, though they occur in the Mss. and
in Eusebius, are supposed by some scholars to be a very old interpo-
lation.

> This expression admits of several meanings: " Without properly
understanding them/' — Worth ; " not with a proper sense of grau-
tude." — Maranus.

^ [There is increasing evidence of the obligations of the Greek
sages to that '* light shining in a dark place," i.e., amid an idolatrous
workl.l

* rLeC it be noted as the moral of our author's review, that there is
no seu-degiadatkm of which man is not capable when he rejects the
true God. Rom. i. 38.]

CHAP. XU.

But the matter of principal importance is to
endeavour with all acciuracy to make it clear that
Moses is not only older than Homer, but than
all the writers that were before him — older than
Linus, Philammon, Thamyris, Amphion, Musae-
us, Orpheus, Demodocus, Phemius, Sibylla, Epi-
menides of Crete, who came to Sparta, Aristaeus
of Proconnesus, who wrote the Arimaspia, Asbo-
lus the Centaur, Isatis, Drymon, Euclus the Cyp-
rian, Horus the Samian, and Pronapis the
Athenian. Now. Linus was the teacher of Her-
cules, but Hercules preceded the Trojan war by
one generation; and this is manifest from his
son Tlepolemus, who served in the army against
Troy. And Orpheus lived at the same time as
Hercules ; moreover, it is said that all the works
attributed to him were composed by Onomacri-
tus the Athenian, who lived during the reign of
the Pisistratids, about the fiftieth Olympiad. Mu-
saeus was a disciple of Orpheus. Amphion, since
he preceded the siege of Troy by two genera-
tions, forbids our collecting Rirther particulars
about him for those who are desirous of informa-
tion. Demodocus and Phemius lived at the
very time of the Trojan war ; for the one resided
with the suitors, and the other with the Phaea-
cians. Thamyris and Philammon were not much
earlier than these. Thus, concerning their sev-
eral performances in each kind, and their times
and the record of them, we have written very
fully, and, as I think, with all exactness. But,
that .we may complete what is still wanting, I
will give my explanation respecting the men who
are esteemed wise.. Minos, who has been thought
to excel in every kind of wisdom, and mental
acuteness, and legislative capacity, lived in the
time of Lynceus, who reigned after Danaus in
the eleventh generation after Inachus. Lycur-
gus, who was bom long after the taking of Troy,
gave laws to the Lacedemonians. Draco is
found to have lived about the thirty-ninth Olym-
piad, Solon about the forty-sixth, and Pythagoras
about the sixty-second. We have shown that
the Olympiads commenced 407 years after the
taking of Troy. These facts being demonstrated,
we shall briefly remark concerning the age of the
seven wise men. The oldest of these, Thales,
lived about the fiftieth Olympiad; and I have
already spoken briefly of those who came after
him.

CHAP. XUI. — CONCLUDING STATEMENT AS TO THE

AUTHOR.

These things, O Greeks, I Tatian, a disciple
of the barbarian philosophy,' have composed for
you. I was bom in the land of the Assyrians,
having been first instmcted in your doctrines,

5 [Comp. cap. xxix. p. 77, fu/ra.]

Iff

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

and afterwards in those which I now undertake
to proclaim. Henceforward, knowing who God
is and what is His work, I present myself to you
prepared for an examination ' concerning my doc-
trines, while I adhere immoveably to that mode
of life which is according to God.>

FRAGMENTS.*

In his treatise, Concerning Ptrfection accord-
ing to the Saviour, he writes, " Consent indeed
fits for prayer, but fellowship in corruption
weakens supplication. At any rate, by the per-
mission he certainly, though delicately, forbids ;
for while he permits them to return to the same
on accoimt of Satan and incontinence, he ex-
hibits a man who will attempt to serve two
masters — God by the * consent * (i Cor. vii. 5),
but by want of consent, incontinence, fornica-
tion, and the devil." — Clem. Alex. : Strom, , iii.

c. 12.

A certain person inveighs against generation,
calling It corruptible and destructive ; and some
one does violence [to Scripture], applying to
pro-creation the Saviour's words, " Lay not up
treasure on earth, where moth and rust corrupt ; "
and he is not ashamed to add to these the woids
of the prophet : *' You all shall grow old as a
garment, and the moth shall devour you."

And, in like manner, they adduce the saying
concerning the resurrection of the dead, " The
sons of that world neither marry nor are given
in marriage." — Clem. Alex. : iii. c. 12, § ^6,

III

Tatian, who maintaining the imaginary fiesh
of Christ, pronounces all sexual connection im-
pure, who was also the very violent heresiarch
of the Encratites, employs an argument of this
sort : " If any one sows to the flesh, of the flesh
he shall reap corruption ; " but he sows to the
flesh who is joined to a woman ; therefore he
who takes a wife and sows in the flesh, of the
flesh he shall reap corruption. — Hieron. : Com,
in Ep, ad Gal.

IV.

Seceding from the Church, and being elated
and puffed up by a conceit of his teacher,* as if

' [Compare the boastful Rousseau: " Que la trompette du juge-
ment sonne quand die voudra, je viendrai ct livre d la main, me
presenter devant le souverain Juge." CoM/gssiens^ livre t p< a.]

s ["Adhere immoveably r Alas! *' let him that thtnketh he
standeth", etc. But I cannot part with Tatian nor think of Tertul-
lian without recalling David's threnode : " There the shield of the
mighty is vilely cast awav. ... I am distressed for thee, mv brother:
. . . very pleasant hast mou been unto me. . . . How are the mizhty
fallen, and the weapons of war perished! " Our own sad times have
taught us similar lamenutions for some who seemed for a time to be
*' burning and shining lights." God be merciful to poor frail men.}

3 From the lost works of Tatian. Ed. Otto,

*> i.e., Justin Martyr.

he were superior to the rest, he formed his own
peculiar type of doctrine. Imagining certain
invisible ^ons like those of Valentinus, and
denouncing marriage as defilement and fornica-
tion in the same way as Marcion and Satumi-
nus, and denying the salvation of Adam as an
opinion of his own. — lRENi£us ; Adv. Hcer.y i. 28.

Tatian attempting from time to time to make
use of Paul's language, that in Adam all die, but
ignoring that ''where sin abounded, grace has
n\uch more abounded." — iRENiCUS : Adv. Heres,,
iii. 37.

VI.

Against Tatian, who says that the words, " Let
there be light," are to be taken as a prayer. If
He who uttered it knew a superior God, how is
it that He says, ''I am God, and there is none
beside me " ?

He said that there are punishments for blas-
phemies, foolish talking, and licentious words,
which are punished and chastised by the Logos.
And he said that women were punished on
account of their hair and ornaments by a
power placed over those things, which also gave
strength to Samson by his hair, and punishes
those who by the ornament of their hair are
urged on to fornication. — Clem. Alex. : Frag.

VIL

But Tatian, not understanding that the ex-
pression " Let there be " is not always precative
but sometimes imperative, most impiously im-
agined concerning God, who said " Let there be
light," that He prayed rather than commanded
light to be, as if, as he impiously thought, God
was in darkness. — Origen : De Orat.

VIIL

Tatian separates the old man and the new,
but not, as we say, understanding the old man
to be the law, and the new man to be the Gos- i
pel. We agree with him in saying the same
thing, but not in the sense he wishes, abrogating
the law as if it belonged to another Gk)d. —
Clem. Alex. : Strom. , iii. 12.

IX.

Tatian condemns and rejects not only mar-
riage, but also meats which God has created for
us^. — Hieron. : Adv. Jovin., i. 3.

"But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink,
and commanded the prophets, saying. Prophesy
not." On this, perhaps, Tatian the chief of the
Encratites endeavours to build his heresy, as-
serting that wine is not to be drunk, since it was

ADDRESS OF TATIAN TO THE GREEKS.

commanded in the law that the Nazarites were
not to drink wine, and now those who give the
Nazarites wine are accused by the prophet. —
HiERON. : Com. in Amos,

XI.

Tatian, the patriarch of the Encratites, who
himself rejected some of Paul's Epistles, be-
lieved this especially, that is [addressed] to Ti-
tus, ought to be declared to be the aposde's,
thinking litde of the assertion of Marcion and

others, who agree with him on this point —
HiERON. : Prc^. in Com. ad Tit

XII.

[Archelaus (a.d. 280), Bishop of Carrha in
Mesopotamia, classes his countryman Tatian
with " Marcion, Sabellius, and others who have
made up for themselves a peculiar science," i.e.,
a theology of their own. — Routh: ReUquicty
torn. V. p. 137. But see Edinburgh Series of
this work, vol. xx. p. 267.]

THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCR

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH

[TRANSLATED BY THE REV. MARCUS DODS, A.M.]

[a.d. 115-168-181.] Eusebius praises the pastoral fidelity of the primitive pastors, in their
unwearied labours to protect their flocks from the heresies with which Satan contrived to endan-
ger the souls of believers. By exhortations and admonitions, and then again by oral discussions
and refutations, contending with the heretics themselves, they were prompt to ward off the
devouring beasts from the fold of Christ. Such is the praise due to Theophilus, in his opinion ;
and he cites especially his lost work against Marcion as ^' of no mean character.*' ' He was one of
the earliest commentators upon the Gospels, if not the first ; and he seems to have been the
earliest Christian historian of the Church of the Old Testament. His only remaining work, here
presented, seems to have originated in an " oral discussion," such as Eusebius instances. But
nobody seems to accord him due praise as the founder of the science of Biblical Chronology
among Christians, save that his great successor in modem times, Abp. Usher, has not forgotten
to pay him this tribute in the Prolegomena of his Annals. {^Ed, Paris, 1673.)

Theophilus occupies an interesting position, after Ignatius, in the succession of faithful men
who represented Barnabas and other prophets and teachers of Antioch,' in that ancient seat, from
which comes our name as Christians. I cannot forbear another reference to those recent authors
wno have so brilliantly illustrated and depicted the Antioch of the early Christians ; ' because, if
we wish to understand Autolycus, we xa\ysXfeel the state of society which at once fascinated him,
and disgusted Theophilus. The Fathers are dry to those only who lack imagination to reproduce
their age, or who fail to study them geographically and chronologically. Besides this, one should
bring to the study of their works, that sympathy springing from a burning love to Christ, which
borrows its motto, in slightly altered words, from the noble saying of the African poet : " I am
a Christian, and nothing which concerns Christianity do I consider foreign to myself."

Theophilus comes down to us only as an apologist intimately allied in spirit to Justin and
Irenaeus ; and he should have been placed with Tatian between these two, in our series, had not
the inexorable laws of our compilation brought them into this volume. I need add no more to
what follows from the translator, save only the expression of a hope that others will enjoy this
author as I do, rating him very highly, even at the side of Athenagoras. He is severe, yet gentle
too, in dealing with his antagonist ; and he cannot be charged with a more sublime contempt for
heathenism than St. Paul betrays in all his writings, abjuring even Plato and Socrates, and accen-

* Book IT. cap. 34. Thus he with others met the " grievous wolves" ibretold by St. Paul " night and day with teara," three yean
CQoUnually (Acts xx. 39-31).

* Actt xiaL X. * Renan, Si Paul, cap. i., Ferrar, Li/t qf St. Paul, cap. xvi.

88 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

tuating his maxim, " The world by wisdom knew not God." For him it was Christ to live ; and
I love Theophilus for this very fault, if it be such. He was of Antioch ; and was content to be,
simply and altogether, nothing but a Christian.
The following is the original Introductory Notice : —

LriTLE is known of the personal history of Theophilus of Antioch. We gather from the fol-
lowing treatise that he was bom a pagan (i. 14), and owed his conversion to Christianity to the
careful study of the Holy Scriptures. Eusebius {Hist EccL, iv. 20) declares that he was the
sixth bishop of Antioch in Syria from the aposdes, the names of his supposed predecessors being
Eros, Cornelius, Hero, Ignatius, and Euodius. We also learn from the same writer, that The-
ophilus succeeded to the bishopric of Antioch in the eighth year of the reign of Marcus Aurelius,
that is, in a.d. 168. He is related to have died either in a.d. 181, or in a.d. 188 ; some assign-
ing him an episcopate of thirteen, and others of twenty-one, years.

Theophilus is said by Eusebius, Jerome, and others, to have written several works against the
heresies which prevailed in his day. He himself refers in the following treatise (ii. 30) to another
of his compositions. Commentaries on the Gospels, arranged in the form of a harmony, and on
the Book of Proverbs, are also ascribed to him by Jerome ; but the sole remaining specimen of
his writings consists of the three books that follow, addressed to his friend Autolycus, The occa-
sion which called these forth is somewhat doubtful. It has been thought that they were written
in refutation of a work which Autolycus had published against Christianity ; but the more proba-
ble opinion is, that they were drawn forth by disparaging remarks made in conversation. The
language of the writer (ii. i ) leads to this conclusion.

In handling his subject, Theophilus goes over much the same ground as Justin Martyr and the
rest of the early apologists. He is somewhat fond of fanciful interpretations of Scripture ; but he
evidently had a profound acquaintance with the inspired writings, and he powerfully exhibits their
immense superiority in every respect over the heathen poetry and philosophy. The whole treatise
was well fitted to lead on an intelligent pagan to the cordial acceptance of Christianity.

[I venture to assign to Theophilus a conjectural date of birth, circiter a. d. 115.*]

' [Our chronological arrangement must yield in minute accuracy to other considerations; and we may borrow an excuse from our
author, who notes the difficulty of microscopic a4cpb0«ia in his own chronological laboun (book iit. cap ag). It was impossible to crowd
Tatiaa and Theophilus into vol i. of this scries, without dividing Irenaeus, and putting part of his works in toI. ii. But, in the case of con-
temporaries, this dislocation is trifling, and creates no confusion.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

Book h

CHAP. I. AUTOLYCUS AN IDOLATER AND SCORNER

OF CHRISTIANS.

A FLUENT tongue and an elegant style afford
pleasure and such praise as vainglory delights in,
to wretched men who have been corrupted in
mind ; the lover of truth does not give heed to
ornamented speeches, but examines the real
matter of the speech, what it is, and what kind
it is. Since, then, my friend, you have assailed
me with empty words, boasting of your gods of
wood and stone, hammered and cast, carved and
graven, which neither see nor hear, for they are
idols, and the works of men's hands ; and since,
besides, you call me a Christian, as if this were
a damning name to bear, I, for my part, avow
that I am a Christian,' and bear this name be-
loved of God, hoping to be serviceable * to God.
For it is not the case, as you suppose, that the
name of God is hard to bear ; but possibly you
entertain this opinion of God, because you are
yourself yet unserviceable to Him.

CHAP. 11. — THAT THE EYES OF THE SOUL MUST BE
PURGED ERE GOD CAN BE SEEN.

But if you say, " Show me thy God,'* I would
reply, " Show me yourself,^ and I will show you
my God." Show, then, that the eyes of your
soul are capable of seeing, and the ears of your
heart able to hear ; for as those who look with
the eyes of the body perceive earthly objects and
what concerns this life, and discriminate at the
same time between things that differ, whether
light or darkness, white or black, deformed or
beautiful, well-proportioned and symmetrical
or disproportioned and awkward, or monstrous
or mutilated ; and as in like manner also, by the
sense of hearing, we discriminate either sharp,

' [Acts xi 96 Note this as from an Antiochian, glorying in
^ name of Chnstian ]

' EvxP^'K'^i^t'Punxung on the name Christian. [Comp cap xii.,
infra. So Jtistin, p. 164, vol. i., this series. But he also puns on his
own name, " beloved of God/' in tne text ^opt* rb ^o^iA^ hvoyko.

TOVTO, «.T>.] , ...

' literally, "your man; " the invisible soul, as the noblest part
of laaii, being probably intended.

or deep, or sweet sounds ; so the same holds
good regarding the eyes of the soul and the ears
of the heart, that it is by them we are able to
behold God. For God is seen by those who are
enabled to see Him when they have the eyes of
their soul opened : for all have eyes ; but in some
they are overspread,* and do not see the light
of the sun. Yet it does not follow, because the
blind do not see, that the light of the sun does
not shine ; but let the blind blame themselves
and their own eyes. So also thou, O man, hast
the eyes of thy soul overspread by thy sins and
evil deeds. As a burnished mirror, *o ought
man to have his soul pure. When there is rust
on the mirror, it is not possible that a man's face
be seen in the mirror; so also when there is
sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God.
Do you, therefore, show me yourself, whether
you are not an adulterer, or a fornicator, or a
thief, or a robber, or a purloiner ; whether you
do not corrupt boys ; whether you are not in-
solent, or a slanderer, or passionate, or envious,
or proud, or supercilious ; whether you are not a
brawler, or covetous, or disobedient to parents ;
and whether you do not sell your children ; for
to those who do these things God is not mani-
fest, unless they have first cleansed themselves
firom all impurity. All these things, then, involve
you in darkness, as when a filmy defiuxion on
the eyes prevents one firom beholding the light
of the sun : thus also do iniquities, O man, in-
volve you in darkness, so that you cannot see
God.

CHAP. III. — NATURE OF GOD.

You will say, then, to me, " Do you, who see
God, explain to me the appearance of God."
Hear, O man. The appearance of God is in-
effable and indescribable, and cannot be seen by
eyes of flesh. For in glory He is incomprehen-
sible, in greatness unfathomable, in height in-
conceivable,, in power incomp^irable, in wisdom

4 The technical word for a disease of the eye, Ukc cataract.

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book I.

unrivalled, in goodness inimitable, in kindness
unutterable. For if I say He is Light, I name
but His own work ; if I call Him Word, I name
but His sovereignty; if I call Him Mind, I
speak but of His wisdom ; if I say He is Spirit,
I speak of His breath ; if I call Him Wisdom, I
speak of His offspring ; if I call Him Strength,
I speak of His sway ; if I call Him Power, I
am mentioning His activity; if Providence, I
but mention His goodness ; if I call Him King-
dom, I but mention His glory ; if I call Him
Lord, I mention His being judge ; if I call Him
Judge, I speak of Him as being just ; if I call
Him Father, I speak of all things as being from
Him ; ' if I call Him Fire, I but mention His
anger. You will say, then, to me, " Is God an-
gry?" Yes; He is angry with those who act
wickedly, but He is good, and kind, and merci-
ful, to those who love and fear Him ; for He is
a chastener ' of the godly, and father* of the
righteous; but he is a judge and punisher of
the impious.

CHAP. IV. — ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

And He is without beginning, because He is
unbegotten; and He is unchangeable, because
He is immortal. And he is called God [0eo9]
on account of His having placed [tc^cuccmu] aU
things on. security afforded by Himself; and on
account of [tf^civ], for Siw^ means running, and
moving, and being active, and nourishing, and
foreseeing, and governing, and making all things
alive. But he is Lord, because He rules over
the universe; Father, because he is before all
things; Fashioner and Maker, because He is
creator and maker of the universe ; the Highest,
because of His being above all ; and Almighty,
because He Himself rules and embraces all.
For the heights of heaven, and the depths of
the abysses, and the ends of the earth, are in
His hand, and there is no place of His rest.
For the heavens are His work, the earth is His
creation, the sea is His handiwork ; man is His
formation and His image ; sun, moon, and stars
are His elements, made for signs, and seasons,
and days, and years, that they, may serve and be
slaves to man ; and all things God has made out
of things that were not 3 into things that are, in
order that through His works His greatness may
be known and understood.

CHAP. v. — THE INVISIBLE GOD PERCEIVED THROUGH

HIS WORKS.

For as the soul in man is not seen, being
invisible to men, but is perceived through the
motion of the body, so God cannot indeed be

> The tianslation Kere ibllows the Hambuxg editor; others read,
" If Father, I sav everything "

* Maranus ooserres that llieophilus means to indicate the difler-
cnce between God's chastisement of the righteous and His puaish-
nent of the wicked.

» [K«3F«'» yustin, p. X73.]

seen by human eyes, but is beheld and per-
ceived through His providence and works. For,
in like manner, as any person, when he sees a
ship on the sea rigged and in sail, and making
for the harbour, will no doubt infer that there is
a pilot in her who is steering her ; so we must
perceive that God is the governor [pilot] of the
whole universe, though He be not visible to the
eyes of the flesh, since He is incomprehensible.
For if a man cannot look upon the sun, though
it be a very small heavenly body, on account of
its exceeding heat and power, how shall not a
mortal man be much more unable to face the
glory of God, which is unutterable ? For as the
pomegranate, with the rind containing it, has
within it many cells and compartments which are
separated by tissues, and has also many seeds
dwelling in it, so the whole creation is contained i
by the spirit * of God, and the containing spirit
is along with the creation contained by the hand
of God. As, therefore, the seed of the pomegran-
ate, dwelling inside, cannot see what is outside
the rind, itself being within ; so neither can man,
who along with the whole creation is enclosed
by the hand of God, behold God. Then again,
an earthly king is believed to exist, even though
he be not seen by all, for he is recognised by
his laws and ordinances, and authorities, and
forces, and statues ; and are you unwilling that
God should be recognised by His works and
mighty deeds ?

CHAP. VL — GOD IS KNOWN BY HIS WORKS.

Consider, O man. His works, — the timely
rotation of the seasons, and the changes of
temperature; the regular march of the stars;
the well-ordered course of days and nights, and
months, and years ; the various beauty of seeds,
and plants, and fruits ; and the divers species ^
of quadrupeds, and birds, and reptiles, and
fishes, both of the rivers and of the sea ; or
consider the instinct implanted in these animals
to beget and rear offspring, not for their own
profit, but for the use of man ; and the provi-
dence with which God provides nourishment for
all flesh, or the subjection in which He has
ordained that all things subserve mankind.
Consider, too, the flowing of sweet fountains
and never-failing rivers, and the seasonable
supply of dews, and showers, and rains ; the
manifold movement of the heavenly bodies, the
morning star rising and heralding the approach
of the perfect luminary; and the constellation
of Pleiades, and Orion, and Arcturus, and the
orbit of the other stars that circle through the
heavens, all of which the manifold wisdom of

4 The reference here is not to the Holv Spirit, but to that viuU
power which is supposed to be diffiiicd throughout the universe.
Comp. book ii. 4.

i Literally, '* propagation."

CUAF. IX.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

God has called by names of their own. He
is God alone who made light out of darkness,
and brought forth light from His treasures,
and formed the chambers of the south wind,* and
the treasure-houses of the deep, and the bounds
of the seas, and the treasuries of snows and
hail-storms, collecting the waters in the store-
houses of the deep, and the darkness in His
treasures, and bringing forth the sweet, and
desirable, and pleasant light out of His treas-
ures ; ** who causeth the vapours to ascend from
the ends of the earth : He maketh lightnings
for the rain ; " ' who sends forth His thunder to
terrify, and foretells by the lightning the peal of
the thunder, that no soul may faint with the
sudden shock ; and who so moderates the vio-
lence of the lightning as it flashes out of heaven,
that it does not consume the earth ; for, if the
lightning were allowed all its power, it would
bum up the earth ; and were the thunder allowed
all its power, it would overthrow all the works
that are therein.

CHAP. VII. — WE SHALL SEE GOD WHEN WE PUT

ON IMMORTAUTY.

This is my God, the Lord of all, who alone
stretched out the heaven, and established the
breadth of the earth under it; who stirs the
deep recesses of the sea, and makes its waves
roar ; who rules its power, and stills the tumult
of its waves ; who founded the earth upon the
waters, and gave a spirit to nourish it; whose
breath giveth light to the whole, who, if He with-
draw His breath, the whole will utterly fail. By
Him you speak, O man ; His breath you breathe,
yet Him you know not. And this is your condi-
tion, because of the blindness of your soul, and
the hardness of your heart. But, if you will,
you may be healed. Entnist yoiurself to the
Physician, and He will couch the eyes of your
soul and of your heart. Who is the Physician ?
God, who heals and makes alive through His
word and wisdom. God by His own word and
wisdom made all things; for "by His word
were the heavens made, and all the host of them
by the breath of His mouth." ^ Most excellent
is His wisdom. By His wisdom God founded
the earth ; and by knowledge He prepared the
heavens ; and by understanding were the foun-
tains of the great deep broken up, and the clouds
poured out their dews. If thou perceivest these
things, O man, living chastely, and holily, and
righteously, thou canst see God. But before all
let faith and the fear of God have rule in thy
heart, and then shalt thou understand these
things. When thou shalt have put off the mor-
tal, and put on incorruption, then shalt thou see

' Fii xxxiit. D.

God worthily. For God will raise thy flesh
immortal with thy soul; and then, having be-
come immortal, thou shalt see the Immortal, if
now you believe on Him; and then you shall
know that you have spoken unjustly against
Him.

CHAP. VIU. — FArra REQUIRED IN ALL MATTERS.

But you do not believe that the dead are '
raised. When the resurrection shall take place, '
then you will believe, whether you will or no ;
and your faith shall be reckoned for unbelief,
tmless you believe now. And why do you not
believe? Do you not know that faith is the
leading principle in all matters ? For what hus-
bandman can reap, unless he first trust his seed
to the earth ? Or who can cross the sea, unless
he first entrust himself to the boat and the pilot?
And what sick person can be healed, unless first
he trust himself to the care of the physician ? .
And what art or knowledge can any one learn,
unless he first apply and entrust himself to the
teacher? If, then, the husbandman trusts the
earth, and the sailor the boat, and the sick
the physician, will you not place confidence in
God, even when you hold so many pledges at
His hand? For first He created you out of
nothing, and brought you into existence (for if
your father was not, nor your mother, much more
were you yourself at one time not in being), and
formed you out of a small and moist substance,
even out of the least drop, which at one time
had itself no being ; and God introduced you
into this life. Moreover, you believe that the
images made by men are gods, and do great
things ; and can you not believe that the God
who made you is able also to make you after-
wards?*

CHAP. IX. — aiMORALmES OF THE GODS.

And, indeed, the names of those whom you
say you worship, are the names of dead men.
And these, too, who and what kind of men were
they? Is not Saturn found to be a cannibal,
destroying and devouring his own children ? And
if you name his son Jupiter, hear also his deeds
and conduct — first, how he was suckled by a
goat on Mount Ida, and having slain it, accord-
ing to the myths, and flayed it, he made him-
self a coat of the hide. And his other deeds, —
his incest, and adultery, and lust, — will be bet-
ter recounted by Homer and the rest of the
poets. Why should I further speak of his sons ?
How Hercules burnt himself; and about the
drunk and raging Bacchus ; and of Apollo fear-
ing and fleeing from Achilles, and falling in love
with Daphne, and being unaware of the fate of
Hyacinthus; and of Venus wounded, and of

4 Le , in the resurrection.

U.. T

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book L

Mars, the pest of mortals ; and of the ichor flow-
ing from the so-called gods. And these, indeed,
are the milder kinds of legends ; since the god
who is called Osiris is found to have been torn
limb from limb, whose mysteries are celebrated
annually, as if he had perished, and were being
found, and sought for limb by limb. For neither
is it known whether he perished, nor is it shown
whether he is found. And why should I speak
of Atys mutilated, or of Adonis wandering in the
wooQf and wounded by a Boar while hunting ; or
of ^sculapius struck by a thunderbolt ; or of
the fugitive Serapis chased from Sinope to Alex-
andria; or of the Scythian Diana, herself, too,
a fugitive, and a homicide, and a huntress, and
a passionate lover of Endymion? Now, it is not
we who publish these things, but your own writers
and poets.

CHAP. X. — ABSURDITIES OF IDOLATRY.

Why should I further recount the multitude
of animals worshipped by the Egyptians, both
reptiles, and cattle, and wild beasts, and birds,
and river-fishes ; and even wash-pots » and dis-
graceful noises?' But if you cite the Greeks
and the other nations, they worship stones and
wood, and other kinds of material substances, —
the images, as we have just been saying, of dead
men. For Phidias is found in Pisa making for
the Eleians the Olympian Jupiter, and at Athens
the Minerva of the Acropolis. And I will inquire
of you, my friend, how many Jupiters exist For
there is, firstly, Jupiter sumamed Olympian, then
Jupiter Latiaris, and Jupiter Cassius, and Jupiter
Tonans, and Jupiter Prppator, and Jupiter Pan-
nychius, and Jupiter toliuchus, and Jupiter Capi-
tolinus ; and that Jupiter, the son of Saturn, who
is king of the Cretans, has a tomb in Crete, but
the rest, possibly, were not thought worthy of
tombs. And if you speak of the mother of those
who are called gods, &r be it from me to utter
with my lips her deeds, or the deeds of those by
whom she is worshipped (for it is unlawful for
us so much as to name such things), and what
vast taxes and revenues she and her sons furnish
to the king. For these are not gods, but idols,
as we have akeady said, the works of men's
hands and unclean demons. And such may all
those become who make them and put their
trust in them !

CHAP. XI. — THE KING TO BE HONOURED, GOD TO

BE WORSHIPPED.

Wherefore I will rather honour the king [than
your gods], not, indeed, worshipping him, but
praying for him. But God, the living and true

' [Foot-baths. A reference to Amasis, and his stoiy in Herodotus,
ii. 17a. See RawliiuoH*s Vtrsion and Noies^ vol. ii. p. aai, ed.
Appletons, x8<q. See also Athenagoras, infra ^ Embassy , cap. xxvi.]

' [The iaDic of Echo and her shameuil gossip may serve for an
example.]

God, I worship, knowing that the king is made
by Him. You will say, then, to me, " Why do
you not worship the king ? " Because he is not
made to be worshipped, but to be reverenced
with lawful honour, for he is not a god, but a
man appointed by God, not to be worshipped,
but to judge justly. For in a kind of way his
government is committed to him by God : as He
will not have those called kings whom He has
appointed under Himself; for "king" is his
title, and it is not lawful for another to use it ; so
neither is it lawful for any to be worshipped but
God only. Wherefore, O man, you are wholly .
in error. Accordingly, honour the king, be sub-
ject to him, and pray for him with loyal mind ;
for if you do this, you do the will of God. For
the law that is of God, says, " My son, fear thou
the Lord and the king, and be not disobedient
to them ; for suddenly they shall take vengeance
on their enemies." ^

CHAP. XII. — MEANING OF THE NAME CHRISTIAN.

And about your laughing at me and calling
me " Christian," you know not what you are say-
ing. First, because that which is anointed * is
sweet and serviceable, and far from contemptible.
For what ship can be serviceable and seaworthy,
unless it be first caulked [anointed] ? Or what
castle or house is beautiful and serviceable when
it has not been anointed? And what man,
when he enters into this life or into the ^gymna-
sium, is not anointed with oil ? And what work
has either ornament or beauty unless it be
anointed and burnished ? Then the air and all
that is under heaven is in a certain sort anointed
by light and spirit ; and are you unwilling to be
anointed with the oil of God? Wherefore we
are called Christians on this account, because
we are anointed with the oil of God.*

CHAP. XIII. — THE RESURRECTION PROVED BY EX-
AMPLES.

Then, as to your denying that the dead are
raised — for you say,^ " Show me even one who
has been raised from the dead, that seeing I may
believe," — first, what great thing is it if you
believe when you have seen the thing done?
Then, again, you believe that Hercules, who
burned himself, lives ; and that ^sculapius, who

3 Prov. xxiv. aiy aa. The Greek of Theophilus has ** honour"
instead of " fear."

4 " The ar^mentation of this chapter depends on the literal
meaning which Theophilus attaches to ChrisUs, the Anointed One:
and he plays on this meaning, and also on the similarity of pronuo-
ciation between xP'f^^t ' useful/ and x/m0T(S«, ' anointed.' " — Don-
aldson.

' [Not material oil probably, for it is not mentioned in such Scrip-
tures as Acts viii. 17, xix 6, Heb. vi. a; but the anointing (1 John »•
20) of the Holy Ghost. As a symbol, oil was used at an early period,
however; and the Latins are not slow to press this in £svour of material
oil in the chrism ^ or confirmation.]

*> [This is the &mous challenf^e which affords Gibbon (cap. xt.)
a most pleasing opportunity for hts cavils. But our author was n«(
asserting that the dead was raised in his day, but only that they should
be at the last day.]

Chap. XIV.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

was struck with lightning, was raised ; and do
you disbelieve the things that are told you by
God ? But, suppose I should show you a dead
man raised and alive, even this you would dis-
believe. God indeed exhibits to you many
proofs that you may believe Him. For consider,
if you please, the dying of seasons, and days,
and nights, how these also die and rise again.
And what ? Is there not a resurrection going on
of seeds and fruits, and this, too, for the use of
men ? A seed of wheat, for example, or of the
other grains, when it is cast into the earth, first
dies and rots away, then is raised, and becomes
a stalk of com. And the nature of trees and
fruit-trees, — is it not that according to the ap-
pointment of God they produce their fruits in
their seasons out of what has been unseen and
invisible ? Moreover, sometimes also a sparrow
or some of the other birds, when in drinking it
has swallowed a seed of apple or fig, or some-
thing else, has come to some rocky hillock or
tomb, and has left the seed in its droppings, and
the seed, which was once swallowed, and has
passed though so great a heat, now striking root,
a tree has grown up. And all these things does
the wisdom of God effect, in order to manifest
even by these things, that God is able to effect
the general resurrection of all men. And if you
would witness a more wonderful sight, which may
prove a resurrection not only of earthly but of
heavenly bodies, consider the resurrection of the
moon, which occurs monthly ; how it wanes,
dies, and rises again. Hear further, O man, of
the work of resurrection going on in yourself,
even though you are unaware of it. For perhaps
you have sometimes fallen sick, and lost flesh,
and strength, and beauty ; but when you received
again from God mercy and healing, you picked
up again in flesh and appearance, and recovered
also your strength. And as you do not know
where your flesh went away and disappeared
to, so neither do you know whence it grew, or
whence it came again. But you will say, '^ From
meats and drinks changed into blood." Quite
so ; but this, too, is the work of God, who thus
operates, and not of any other.

CHAP. XIV. — THEOPHILUS AN EXAMPLE OF CON-
VERSION.

Therefore, do not be sceptical, but believe ;
for I myself also used to disbelieve that this would
take place, but now, having taken these things

into consideration, I believe. At the same time,
I met with the sacred Scriptures ' of the holy . ^
prophets, who also by the Spirit of God foretold \
the things that have already happened, just as \
they came to pass, and the things now occurring /
as they are now happening, and things future in /
the order in which they shall be accomplished. '
Admitting, therefore, the proof which events hap-
pening as predicted afford, I do not disbelieve,
but I believe, obedient to God, whom, if you
please, do you also submit to, believing Him,
lest if now you continue unbelieving, you be con-
vinced hereafter, when you are tormented with
eternal punishments ; which punishments, when
they had been foretold by the prophets, the later- •
bom poets and philosophers stole from the holy
Scriptures, to make their doctrines worthy of
credit. Yet these also have spoken beforehand
of the punishments that are to light upon the pro-
fane and unbelieving, in order that none be left
without a witness, or be able to say, " We have
not heard, neither have we known.V But do you
also, if you please, give reverential attention to
the prophetic Scriptures,' and they will make
your way plainer for escaping the eternal punish-
ments, and obtaining the eternal prizes of God.
For He who gave the mouth for speech, and
formed the ear to hear, and made the eye to see,
will examine all things, and will judge righteous
judgment, rendering merited awards to each.
To those who by patient continuance in well-
doing ^ seek immortality. He will give life ever-
lasting, joy, peace, rest, and abundance of good
things, which neither hath eye seen, nor ear
heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man
to conceive.^ But to the unbelieving and de-
spisers, who obey not the truth, but are obedient
to unrighteousness, when they shall have been
filled with adulteries and fornications, and filthi-
ness, and covetousness, and unlawful idolatries,
there shall be anger and wrath, tribulation and
anguish,^ and at the last everlasting fire shall
possess such men. Since you said, ** Show me
thy God," this is my God, and I counsel you to
fear Him and to trust Him.

' [ Ps. cxix. x-^o. Note this tribute to the inspired Scriptures and
their converting power: 1 might almost say their sacramenud energy,
referring to John vi 6^.]

' fKev. xix. la 1 cannot reconcile what Scripture says o( itself
with tne modern r^fiMtments as to the human and divine element,
while fully admitting that there are such elements, intermixed and
interpenetrated mutually, beyond all power of dissection by us. I
prefer the childlike dociu^ of the Fathers.]

s Rom. ii. 7.

* X Cor. ii. 9.

s Rom. li. 8, 9.

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

BOOK II.

CHAP. I. — OCCASION OF WRITING THIS BOOK.

When we had formerly some conversation, my
very good friend Autolycus, and when you in-
quired who was my God, and for a little paid
attention to my discourse, I made some expla-
nations 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 borne 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 desir-
ous, 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. JI. — 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 ' 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 appa-
ratus 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 them-
selves, whether stone, or brass, or wood, or col-
our, or some other material. And this is your
case, too, when you read the histories and gene-
alogies 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

' The words " by some and placed in '
tionsy but occtur in the best mss.

axe omitted in some edi«

them, not reflecting nor understanding that, when
bom, they are exactly such beings as ye read of
before.

CHAP. m. — 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 ex-
hibited? 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 bom
even until now, as men, too, are bom; 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 bom,
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 genera-
tion ? And why was the mount which is called
Olympus formerly inhabited by the gods, but
now lies deserted ? Or why did Jupiter, in da>'s
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 every-
where ? 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 east-
em place, he was not in the western ; and if, on
the other hand, he were present in the western

CiiAP. v.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

parts, he was not in the eastern. But this is the
•Attribute of God, the Highest and Almighty, and
the living Gk)d, 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
^ 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 philoso-
phers and poets.

CHAP. IV. ABSURD OPINIONS OF THE PHILOSO-
PHERS 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
Jias set forth at large. And others say that all
/fihiDgs are produced without external agency, and
I that the world is uncreated, and that nature is
I eternal ; " and have dared to give out that there
I 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 un-
created, 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 * of G6d 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 altera-
ble, but that which is uncreated is immutable
and unalterable. And what great thing is it if
God made the world out of existent materials ? ^
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

* This is according to the Benedictine reading: the reading of
Wolf, •* nature is left to itself," is also worthy of consideration.
' That is, the existence of God as sole first principle.
^ literally, '* subject-matter."

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, there-
fore, 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 : ^ —

" 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 de-
clared 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 bom 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 :^ —

" Daughters of Tove, all hail I Grant me your aid
That I in numbers sweet and well-arrayed.
Of the immortal gods may sing the birth ;
Who of the starry heavens 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 cr.est 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 begmning there thy feet have strayed ;
Then tell us which of all things first was made.

< //., xiv. aox.

5 Hesiod, Theog.^ 74.

* Tkeog.^ X04.

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

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 bom ?

CHAP. VI. — HESIOD ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD.

And in a certain way he indeed admits matter

Eas self-existent] and the creation of the world
without a creator], saying : ' —

" 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 ^ods most beauteous still,
Who comes all-conquermg, 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 mat-
ter itself alter its own form and arrange itself
into a world (for Jupiter was bom, not only long
after matter, but long after the world and many
men j 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 Apol-
lonides, sumamed Horapius, mentions in the
book entitled Semenouthiy and in his other his-
tories concerning the worship of the Egyptians
and their kings, and the vain labours in which
they engaged.*

CHAP. Vll. — FABULOUS HEATHEN GENEALOGIES.

Why need I recount the Greek fables, — of
Pluto, king of darkness, of Neptune descending

* The Mnedictine editor proposes to read these words after the
first clause of c. 7. We follow the reading of Wolf and Fell, who
understaxid the pyramids to be referred to.

beneath the sea, ^nd embracing Melanippe and
begetting a cannibal son, — or the many tales
your writers have woven into their tragedies con-
cerning the sons of Jupiter, and whose pedigree
they register because they were bom 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 pro-
duced from an egg, saying : 3 —

** A windy egg was laid by black-winged night
At first."

But Satyrus, also giving a history of the Alexan-
drine families, beginning from Philopator, who
was also named Ptolemy, gives out that Bacchus
was his progenitor ; wherefore also Ptolemy was
the founder of this * family. Satyrus then speaks
thus : That Dejanira was bom 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 Cleode-
mus, and from him Aristomachus, and from
him Temenus, and from him Ceisus, and fxx)m
him Maron, and from him Thestnis, 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 iCropus, and from him
Alcetas, and from him Amyntas, and from him
Bocms, and from him Meleager, and from
him Arsinoe, and from her and Lagus Ptolemy
Soter, and from him and Arsinoe Ptolemy Euer-
getes^ and from him and Berenice, daughter of
Maga, king of Cyrene, Ptolemy Philopator. Thus,
then, stands the relations(iip of the Alexandrine
kings to Bacchus. And thei^ore in the Dionysian
tribe there are distinct families : the Althean from
Althea, who was the wife of Dionysus and daugh-
ter 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 origi-
nated, and exist to this day ; as the Heraclidas
from Hercules, and the Apollonidae from Apollo,
and the Poseidonii from Poseidon, and from
Zeus the Dii and Diogenae.

3 Aristoph., Av,f 694. A ¥rind*«gg being one produced without
impregnation! and coming to nothing.

* The Dionysian family taking its name from Diooyras or
Bacchus.

Chap. X.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

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 phi-
losophers, are wholly deceived ; and so, too, are
they who give heed to them. For they plenti-
fully 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-
tained 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 con-
ception they spoke, and not knowing the truth.
And others, again, said that there was a provi-
dence, and destroyed the positions of the former
writers. Aratus, indeed, says : * —

" From Jove begin my song ; nor ever be
The name unutterea : all are full 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 : * —

"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 ^ 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 desi^ to save you, safe you are,
Though sailmg in mid-ocean on a mat." *

And saying numberless things of a like kind,
they contradicted themselves. At least Sopho-

* The fbHowing lines are partly from the translation of Hughes.

* (Edi/Ms Rtx, line 978
' IL,xx. 94a.

* Thu Terse is bv Plutarch hesitatingly attributed to Pindar. The
expression, *' Though you swim in a wicker basket," was proverbial.

cles, 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 acknowl-
edge that they know not the truth ; but being in-
spired by demons and puffed up by them, they ^
spoke at theirlnstance 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 mon-
archy of God, and the judgment and such like.

CHAP. IX. — THE PROPHEl'S INSPIRED BY THE

HOLY GHOST.

But men of God carrying in them a holy
spirit* and becoming prophets, being inspired
and made wise by God, became God-taught, and
holy, and righteous. \Vherefore 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 con-
sistent 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 per-
suaded also concerning the future things that they
will fall out, as also the first have been accom-
plished:

CHAP. X, — THE WORLD CREATED BY GOD THROUGH

THE WORD.

And first, they taught us with one consent that

i Literally, " in fancy and error."

^^ Wolf prefers irt^ev^a-ro^opot, carried or borne along by the
Spirit. [Kaye's yusti'n Af., p. 180, comparing this view of the inspi-
ratioQ of^prophets, with those of Justin and Athenagoras. ]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

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 pre-
pared 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 ' within His own bowels, begat Him,
emitting » Him along with His own wisdom be-
fore 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 " gov-
erning principle " [apxv]» because He rules, and
IT'Lofd' of all things fashioned by Him. He,
then, being Spirit of God, and governing prin-
ciple, and wisdom, and power of the highest,
came down upon the prophets, and through them
spake 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." ^
And Moses, who lived many years before Solo-
mon, or, rather, the Word of God by him as by
an instrument, says, " In the beginning God cre-
ated the heavens and the earth." First he named
the "beginning,"^ and '* creation," s 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

I iy6ii9*Tov, [Here the Lo^os is spoken of in the entire spirit of
the Nicene Council. Ps. xlv. i is a favourite text against Arius;
and {Advs. Judeeos. b. ii. 3) Cyprian presses it against the Jews,
which shows that they accepted the Hebretv and the LXX. in a mys-
tical sense.]

3 Literally^ belching or vomitin{^. [The reference is to Ps. xlv.
where the LaX. read e^ifpev^aro i^ Kap6ia fnov \6yov ayaSov, and
the Latin eructavit cor meum bonum Verbum ; i.e., ** My heart hath
breathed forth a glorious Word." The well-chosen language of the
franslator (emitted) is degraded by his note.]

^ Prov. viii. 37. Theophilus reads with the Septuagint, '* I was
with Him, putting thines into order," instead of " I was hy Him as
one brought up with Him." [Here the Logos is the <ro<^ia as with
the Fathers generally; e.g.. Cyprian, Advs. Judges ^ book ii. a. But
see cap. xv. p. 101. infra,\

* That is, the first principle, whom he has just shown to be the
Woid.

3 In the Greek version of Gen. i. i, the word " created" stands
before " God."

made and fashioned the world, was in some
manner created, being produced by God. ^

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 tihe first day. And God said. Let
there be a firmament in the midst of the wateR.
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 firma-
ment firom the waters which were above' the fir-
mament. 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 waten>
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 like-
ness : 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

^ Theophilus, therefore, understands that when in the first vene
it is said that God created the earth, it is meant that He created the
matter of which the earth is formed.

7 The words, *' and light was: and God saw the light, that it was
good," are omitted in the two best Mss. and in some editions; hot
they seem to be necessary, and to have fallen out by the mistake of
transcribers.

Chap. XIII.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

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 vnnged 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. Be-
hold 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 w6rthy
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 nar-
rated. Many writers indeed have imitated [the
nanation], 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, be-
cause the multitude of their nonsensical frivoli-
ties 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 in-
jurious 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 " Sab-
bath," is translated into Greek the " Seventh "
(c^Softas), 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 Idtds
it over ^/>[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 ail base pleasure and
wicked lust.

CHAP. Xin. — 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 possi-
ble with God." ' 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 foun-
dation, as by " the deep " he means the multi-
tude of waters ; and " darkness " he speaks of,
on account of the heaven which God made cov-
ering the waters and the earth like a lid. And
by the Spirit which is borne above the waters.

I Luke xvHL 37.

ICX>

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

he means that which God gave for animating the
creation, as he gave Hfe to man,' 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,* was between the water and the heaven, in
Older 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.* 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 nomencla-
ture 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 man-
kind. 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 its 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 res-
urrection 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

' [See book i. cap. v., supra^ note a; also, the important remark
of Kaye, Justin Martyr^ p. 179.]

3 litis follows the Benedictine reading. Other editors, as Hum-
phrey, read [^rbf] Twvof, " resembling light."

3 Isa. xl. 33.

■♦ Following Wolfs rendering.

s Or, suiubly arranged and appointed it.

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 sweet-
ness, 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, ^"
semblies ^ — 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 judg-
ment 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 ^ — 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,^ drive them
on the fore-mentioned places, that they may spoil
them : so also it happens in the case of those wha
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 t>'pe
of a great mystery. For the . sun is a type of
Qod, 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 al-
ways 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
bom again, and is crescent, for a pattern of the
future resurrection. In like manner also the

6 Literally, synagogues. j

7 [ The ports and happy havens beautifully contrasted with rocls |
and shoals and barren or inhospitable isles.] i

B That is^ as the Benedictine edition suggests, when they have |
filled them with unsuspecting passengers. ;

:hap. XVIII.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

lOI

hree days which were before the luminaries,'
ire types of the Trinity,' of God, and His Word,
ind His wisdom.*^ And the fourth is the type of
nan, who"*needs light, that so there may be God,
Jie Word, wisdom, man. Wherefore also on the
burth day the lights were made. The disposi-
:ion of the stars, too, contains a type of the ar-
rangement and order of the righteous and pious,
uid of those who keep the law and command-
ments of God. For the brilliant and bright stars
ire an imitation of the prophets, and therefore
[hey remain fixed, not declinmg, 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,
fthich change their position, and flee from place
to place, which also are called planets,* they too
ire a type of the men who have wandered from
God, abandoning His law and commandments.

CHAP. XVI. — OF THE HFTH DAY.

On the fifth day the living creatures which
proceed from the waters were produced, through
A'hich 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 Gk>d, 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,
md are bom 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
ire of one nature, — some indeed abide in their
oatural 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,
igain, transgress the law of God, and eat flesh,
ind injure those weaker than themselves : thus,
too, the righteous, keeping the law of God, bite
md injure none, but live holily and righteously.
But robbers, and murderers, and godless persons
ire like monsters of the deep, and wild beasts,
mfl birds of prey ; for they virtually devour those
weaker than themselves. The race, then, of fishes
ind of creeping things, though partaking of God's
blessing, received no very distinguishing prop-
erty.

* Following Wolfs reading.

' rpiaJoc. rXhc earliest use of this word "Trinity." It seems to
tare been used dv this writer in his lost works, also; and, as a learned
nend suggests, the use he makes of it is familiar. He does not lug it
D as something novel : " types of the Trinity," he says, illustrating an
iccepted word, not introducing a new one.]

} [An eminent authority says, "It is certain, that, according to
he notions of Theophilus, God, His Word, and His wisdom consti-
utc a Trinity; and it should seem a Trinity of persons." He notes
hat the title iro^'a, is here assigned to the Holv Spirit, although he
umself elsewhere gives this title to the Son (book ii. cap. x., j»>ra),
H is more usual with the Fathers." Consult Kayc's yusttn Mar^
y* p. 157. Ed. 1853.]

^ Le., wandering surs.

CHAP. XVII. ^"OJ^ H>E &D«TH DAY. *

» •-

And on the sixth day, God having made the
quadrupeds, and vald .Le^ts,. ^na '^he; Uril' rep-
tiles, pronounced rio* \)idssifig upon ' them,' re-
serving His blessing for man, whom He was
about to create on the sixth day. The quadru-
peds, 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 [^pta],
from their being hunted [^lypcuco-^ou], not as if
they had been made evil or venomous from the
first — for nothing^was made evil by God,s but
all things goo3^ 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 sub-
ject 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 sHalTbe restored to their original gentleness.

CHAP. XVni. — 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 Woj;d and wisdom did He say,
" Let Us make." And whe^j 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

5 TNote the solid truth that God is not the author of evil, and the
probaole suggestion that all nature sympathized with man's transgres-
sion. Rom. viii. 33.]

I02

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book IL

the anin^dls be '\>f ^stj^ jmilar torn an's, that

they al§o ^ighf eat bfall fPke^^eeds of the earth.
• • • • ,•• •^••« • • • «

;o|^Js•*5^r7••|ilii.^3/L^eE:6 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." " 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 crea-
tion 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." * 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, ex-
cellent 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. I'he name of the first is Pison :

« Gen. ii. 4, 5.

* Gen. ii. 7. [The Hebrew must not be overlooked: " the breath
of Ih'es" spiracHlum vitarum ; on which see Bartholinus, in De-
litxsch, System of Bib, Psychol. ^ p. 27. Also, Luther's Trichotomy ^
ibid.f p. 460.^ with another work of similar character I am only
slightly acquainted, but, recall with great satisfaction a partial exam-
ination of it when it first appeared. I refer to The Tripartite
Nature of Man ^ by the Rev. J. B. Heard, M.A. 3d ed. Edinburgh,
x87x,T. &T. QarkJ

3 [But compare Tatian (cap. xiii. p. 70) , and the note of the Pari-
sian editors in margin (p. 15a), where they begin by distinctions to
make him orthodox, but at last accuse him of downright heresy. Ed.
Paris, 1615.]

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 ever}' tree
that is in the garden thou mayest freely eat ; bui
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 b
not good that the man should be alone ; let U^
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 liv-
ing 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 oi
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 gar-
den 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 there-
of, 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, ami
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to l)e
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 H
leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walk-

Chap. XXIV.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

ing in the garden in the cool of the day, and
Adam and his wife hid themselves from the pres-
ence 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 ser-
pent, Because thou hast done this, thou art ac-
cursed 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 be-
tween thy seed and her seed ; it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' 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 * 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 Scriptiure of the history of man and of
Paradise.

CHAP. XXII. — WHY god IS SAID TO HAVE WALKED.

You win 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 Para-
dise ? " 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, assum-
ing the person * of the Father and Lord of all,
went to the garden in the person of God, and
conversed with Adam. For the divine writing

' TheophQus reads, " It shall watch tby head, and thou shah
watch his heel."

« Or, "bythjr works."

^ Gen. ii S-iii. 19. [See Justin M., Dial.^ cap. Ivi. p. 233, vol. i.
ihjs series.]

< The annotators here warn us a£;a'!tast supposing that "person "
is used as it was afterwards employed ;n discussing the doctrine of the
Trijiit^, and show that the vrora is used in its original meaning,
and widi reference to an actor taking up a mask and personating a
character.

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 thoughts
But when God wished to make all that He de-
termined on. He begot this Word, uttered,5 the
first-bom of all creation, not Himself being emp-
tied 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," ^ 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 ^ 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. XXm. — 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 ful-
filled, and that the race of men may increase
and multiply?^ 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

3 Hpo^ptjcof, the term used of the Logos as manifested; the Word
as uttered by the Father, in distinction from the Word immanent in
Him. [ Theophilus is the first author who distinguishes between the
Logos cMtdtfcrof (cap. x., su^ra) and the Logos vpo^optKO^ ; the Word
interna/ f and the Word emitted. Kaye's yustin, p. 171.]

* John i. I.

7 Ihat is, being produced by generation, not by creation.

' The Benedictine editor remarks: " Women bring forth ivith
labour and pain as the punishment awarded to sin : they forget thu
pain, that the propagation of the race may not be hinderra."

I04

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

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 j but the two trees, —
the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, — the
rest of the earth possessed not, but only Para-
dise. And that Paradise is earth, and is planted
on the earth, the Scripture states, saying : ' "And
the Lord God planted Paradise in Eden east-
wards, 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 be-
coming perfect, and being even declared a god,
he might thus ascend into heaven in possession
of immortahty. For man had been made a
middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor alto-
gether 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," » 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 him-
self, 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.^ But Adam,

* Gen. ii. 8.

^ In the Greek the word is, " work " or " labour," as we also
speak of working land.

^ ["Pulchra, si quis ea recte utatur," is the rendering of the
A noble motto for a college.]

being yet an infant in age, was on this account
as yet unable to receive knowledge worthily.
For now, also, when a child is bom 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 com-
mand 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,*
to remain for some time longer simple and sin-
cere. For this is holy, not only with God, but
also with men, that in simplicity and guileless-
ness 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 wis-
dom. But as when a law has commanded absti-
nence from anything, and some one has not
obeyed, it is obviously not the law which causes
punishment, but the disobedience and transgres-
sion;— 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 disobe-
dience ; and in this case the actions themselves
are not the [cause of] stripes, but the disobe-
dience procures punishment for him who dis-
obeys ; — 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. — G0D*S GOODNESS IN

MAN FROM PARADISE.

EXPELLING

And God showed great kindness to man in
this, that He di^ not suffer him to remain in sin
for ever ; but, as it were, by a kind of banish-
ment, cast him out of Paradise, in order that,
having by punishment expiated, within an ap-
pointed time, the sin, and having been disciplined,
he should afterwards be restored. Wherefore
also, when man had l>een formed in this world,
j 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 re-
made, that it may become new and entire ; so
also it happens to man by death. For somehow

4 [No need of a lon^: argument here, to show, as some editors have
done, that our author calls Adam an in/ant^ only with reference to
time, not physical development. He was but a few days old.]

Chap. XXIX.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

105

or other he is broken up, that he may rise in the
resurrection whole ; I mean spotless, and right-
eous, 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 repent-
ance 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 mor-
tal 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 com-
mandment 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 him-
self be the cause of death to himself. For God
made man free, and with power over himself.'
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.*
For as man, disobeying, drew death upon him-
self; 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 command-
ments ; and every one who keeps these can be
saved, and, obtaining the resurrection, can in-
herit incomiption.

CHAP. XXVin. — 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 sup-
posed that one God made the man and another
the woman, therefore He made them both ; and
God made the woman together with the man,

' [A noble sentence: cAcvtfcpoy yip cat avrt^ovaiov jiroii|«rev 6

' Apparently meaning, that God turns death, which man brought
on Uinaelf by diuobediencc, into a blessing.

not only that thus the mystery of God's sole
government might be exhibited, but also that
their mutual affection might be greater. There-
fore 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 : " ^
which also itself has its fiilfilment in ourselves.
For who that marries lawfully does not despise
mother and father, and his whole family connec-
tion, and all his household, cleaving to and
becoming one with his own wife, fondly prefer-
ring 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 ser-
pent, and who works even to this day in those
men that are possessed by him, invokes as Eve.*
And he is called " demon " and " dragon," on
account of his [ dTroScS/KiiccVat ] revolting from
God. For at first he was an angel. And con-
cerning his history there is a great deal to be
saidj 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 : ^ 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 repent-
ance and confession, said, " Where is Abel thy
brother?" But Cain answered God contuma-

3 Gen. ii 34. [ Kaye justly praises our author's high estimate of
Christian marriage, ^e nis justtu Af., p. 128.]

* Referring to the bacchanalian oreies in which " Eva " waH
shouted, and which the Fathers professed to believe was an uninten-
tional invocation of Eve, the authoress of all sin.

5 Gen. iv. 1. 2.

6 J He speaks of the ctconomy of the narrative: ri^i' oixoyofiiar
T^« c{i7Yi|(rc«K. Kaye's yustin, p. 175.]

io6

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

ciously, 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,' no, nor the blood of
any animal ; by which it appears that it is not
the cause [of death], but man, who trans-
gressed.

CHAP. XXX. — gain's family AND THEIR INVEN-
TIONS.

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 3 not as Homer
falsely says : ' —

** Not yet had men a city built."

And to Enoch was bom a son, by name Gaidad ;
who begat a son called Meel ; and Meel begat
Mathusala ; and Mathusala, Lamech. And La-
mech 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
rnade known the psaltery and the harp ; and
Tubal became a smith, a forger in brass and iron.
So far the s«ed of Cain is registered ; and for
the rest, the seed of his line has sunk into obliv-
ion, 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 pardy handled by us in another dis-
course, in the first book of The_JiisJory? And
all these things the Holy Spirit teaches us, who
speaks through Moses and the rest of the proph-
ets, 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

' Fell remarks, " Blood shed at once coagulates, and does not
easily enter the earth." [ On the field of Antietam, after the batde,
I observed the WooAJtaked upon the soil, not absorbed by it.]

' //., XX. ai6. But Homer refers only to Troy.

^ [Of the founder of Christian chronology this must be noted.]

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 ex-
plained 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 Nine-
veh 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 compen-
dious 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 lan-
guages 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.-* And
in the land of Shinar, among those called Chal-

4 But the Benedictine editor understands the words to mean, that
the succeeding kings were in like manner called Pharaoh.

Chap. XXXIV.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

107

dasans, the first king was Arioch, and next after
him EUasar, 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 Zoai.
And the napies 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' These served Chedorlaomer, the
king of the Assyrians, for twelve years, and in
the thirteenth year they revolted from Chedor-
laomer ; 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 Kamaim, 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 Melchise-
dek, in the city of Salem, which now is Jerusalem.
This was the first priest of all priests* of the
Most High God ; and from him the above-named
city Hierosolyma was called Jerusalem.^ 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, sumamed 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 Adramme-
lech the Ethiopian, who also reigned over Egypt,
was his triarch ; — though these things, in com-
parison with our books, are quite recent.

CHAP. XXXn. — HOW THE HUMAN RACE WAS DIS-
PERSED.

Hence, therefore, may the lovers 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.* For though

' llieophilus spells some of the names difTerently from what they
are given in our text. For Tidal he has Thargal; for Bera, Ballas;
for Birsha, Barsas: (or Shinab, Senaar; for Shemeber, Hymoor.
Kephalac is taken to be a corruption for Balak, which in the previous
sentence is inserted by many editors, though it is not in the best mss.

^ { St. Paul seems to teach us that the whole story of Melchisedck
IS a ** similitude," and that the one Great High Priest of our profes-
sion apj^ared to Abraham in that character, as to Joshua in another,
the " Capuin of our salvation" (Heb. vii. 1-3: Josh. v. 13-15).
We need a carefully digested work on the apparitions of the Word
bdbre His incarnation, or the theophanies of the OM TestameutJ]

^ [Certainly a striking etymon, " Salem of the priest." But we
can only accept it as a beautiuil play upon words.]

* Proving the antiquity of Scripture, by showing that no recent
occurrences are mentioned in it. Wolf, however, gives another read-
ing, which would be rendered, " understand whether those things are
mxnt which we utter on the authority of the holy prophets."

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 Pam-
phylia, 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 inhabit-
ants. 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. XXXm. — PROFANE HISTORY GIVES NO >^C-
COUNT OF THESE MATTERS.

Who, then, of those called sages, and poets,,
and historians, could tell us truly of these things,
themselves being much later bom, and introdu-
cing a multitude of gods, who were born so many
years after the cities, and are more modem 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 Egyp-
tian 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, inas- /
much as we are taught by the Holy Spirit, who '
spoke in the holy prophets, and foretold all
things.

CH.\P. XXXIV. — THE PROPHETS ENJOINED HOU-

NESS OF LIFE.

And, for the rest, would that in a kindly spirit

io8

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

you would investigate divine things ' — 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 * 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 tradi-
tion 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 incon-
tinence 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 foun-
tains, 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."'* 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 He
has not set these things before you that you
should go after them." s And Isaiah himself
also says : " Thus saith the Lord God who es-

' rComp. book i. cap. xiv., su^ra, p. 93
' Benedicttne editor proposes they."

]

5 Literally, " a nod.
* Prov. iv. 2^.
i Cf. Deut. IV. 29.

tablished 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."^ 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 under-
standing."* So, too, Jeremiah says: "Who
hath made the earth by His power, and estab-
lished 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, in-
deed, 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." '° 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." " 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." " Like-
wise 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, ac-
curately 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 begin-
ning of her prophecy, reproaches the race of
men, saying : —

6 Isa. xlii. 5.

7 Isa. xlv. 12.
* Isa. xl. a8.

9 Jer. X. 12, 13.
«o Jer. li. 17, 18.
*' Fs. xiv. I, 3.
" Hab. ii. x8.

Chap. XXXVIL]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

109

'* How are ye still so auickly 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 anv 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 all 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 are said to
have been bom, she said : —

•* If all things that are bom must also die,
God cannot be produced by mortal man.
But there is only One, the All-Supreme,
Who made the neavens, 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 i>estilence, 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 wcome the prey of worms.
And hosts of creatures noisome and unclean.
O fools 1 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 joy
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 ;
Ana 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 tor 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 pun-
ished 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. iEschylus 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 meed."

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,
^schylus declared, saying : —

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book II.

*' Swift-footed 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, stem watch you cannot break.

" 'Twill follow you, or cross your path ;
And even nignt 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 ;
Hut 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 wick-
edness, 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 corrobo-
rate the testimony of the prophets.

CHAP. XXXVni. — 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. Con-
cerning 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." * And Isaiah : " For the wrath of
God is as a violent hail-storm, and as a rushing
mountain torrent." ' The Sibyl, then, and the
other prophets, yea, and the poets and philoso-

> Mai. iv. I.
' Isa. XXX. 30.

phers, have clearly taught both concerning right-
eousness, 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, Solo-
mon said of the dead, " There shall be healing
to thy flesh, and care taken of thy bones." ^ And
the same says David, " The bones which Thou
hast broken shall rejoice." ^ 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 im-
punity confessed there would be a judgment, and
those who denied that there is a sensation after
death acknowledged that there is. Homer, ac-
cordingly, though he had said, —

" Like fleeting vision passed the soul away,"*

says in another place : —

" To Hades went the disembodied soul ; " *
And again : —

" That I may quickly pass through Hades' gates,
Mebury."^

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,
"VVho 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."® He, then, who is desirous of learn-
ing, should learn much.^ Endeavour therefore
to meet [with me] more frequently, that, by
hearing the living voice, you may accurately
ascertain the truth.

4
5

7
«

Prov. iii. 8.

Ps. 11. 8.

Od.f xi. 99a.

//., xvi. 856,

xxiii. 71.

Hos. xiv. 9.

9 We have adopted the reading of Wolf in the text. The read-
ing of the Mss. is, " He who desires to learn should desire to learn."
Perhaps the most satisfactory emendation is that of Heumann, who
reads ^iXofivBtlv instead of ^tkofiaBtly. " He who desires to learn
should also desire to discuss subjects, and hold conversations on
them." In this case, Theophilus most probably borrows his remark
from Aristotle, Metapkysic. i. c. 9.

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS,

BOOK III.

CHAP. I. — AUTOLYCUS NOT YET CONVINCED.

Theophilus to Autolycus, greeting: Seeing
that writers are fond of composing a multitude
of books for vainglory, — some concerning gods,
and wars, and chronology, and some, too, con-
cerning useless legends, and other such labour
in vain, in which you also have been used to
employ yourself until now, and do not grudge
to endure that toil ; ' but though you conversed
with me, are still of opinion that the word of
truth is an idle tale, and suppose that our writ-
ings are recent and modern ; — on this account
I also will not grudge the labour of compendi-
ously setting forth to you, God helping me, the
antiguity of our books, reminding you of it in
few words, that you may not grudge the labour
of reading it, but may recognise the folly of the
other authors.

CHAP. II. — PROFANE AUTHORS HAD NO MEANS OF
KNOWING THE TRUTH.

For it was fit that they who wrote should
themselves have been eye-witnesses of those
things concerning which they made assertions,
or should accurately have ascertained them from
those who had seen them ; for they who write
of things unascertained beat the air. For what
did it profit Homer to have composed the
Trojan war, and to have deceived many; or
Hesiod, the register of the theogony of those
whom he calls gods ; or Orpheus, the three hun-
dred and sixty-five gods, whom in the end of
his life he rejects, maintaining in his precepts
that there is one God? What profit did the
; sphaerography of the world's circle confer on
Aratus, or those who held the same doctrine as
he, except glory among men? And not even
that did they reap as they deserved. And what
truth did they utter ? Or what good did their
tragedies do to Euripides and Sophocles, or the
other tragedians ? Or their comedies to Menan-
der and Aristophanes, and the other comedians ?
Or their histories to Herodotus and Thucydides?

Or the shrines ' and the pillars of Hercules to
Pythagoras, or the Cynic philosophy to Dioge-
nes ? What good did it do Epicurus to main-
tain that there is no providence ; or Empedocles
to teach atheism ; or Socrates to swear by the
dog, and the goose, and the plane-tree, and
iEsculapius struck by lightning, and the dernons
whom he invoked? And why did he willingly
die? What reward, or of what kind, did he
expect to receive after death ? What did Plato's
system of culture profit him ? Or what benefit
did the rest of the philosophers derive from
their doctrines, not to enumerate the whole of
them, since they are numerous? But these
things we say, for the purpose of exhibiting their
useless and godless opinions.

CHAP. III. — THEIR CONTRADICTIONS.

For all these, having fallen in love with vain
and empty reputation, neither themselves knew
the trudi, nor guided others to the truth : for
the things which they said themselves convict
them of speaking inconsistently; and most of
them demolished their own doctrines. For not
only did they refute one another, but some, too,
even stultified their own teachings ; so that their
reputation has issued in shame and folly, for they
are condemned by men of understanding. For
either they made assertions concerning the gods,
and afterwards taught that there was no god ; or
if they spoke even of the creation of the world,
they finely said that all things were produced
spontaneously. Yea, and even speaking of prov-
idence, they taught again that the world was not
ruled by providence. But what ? Did they not,
when they essayed to write even of honourable
conduct, teach the perpetration of lascivious-
ness, and fornication, and adultery; and did
they not introduce hateful and unutterable wick-
edness? And they proclaim that their gods
took the lead in committing unutterable acts of

' While in Egypt, Pythagoras was admitted to the penetralia of
the temples and the arcana of religion.

Ill

112

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book III.

adultery, and in monstrous banquets. For who
does not sing Saturn devouring his own children,
and Jove his son gulping down Metis, and pre-
paring for the gods a horrible feast, at which
also they say that Vulcan, a lame blacksmith,
did the waiting ; and how Jove not only married
Juno, his own sister, but also with foul mouth
did abominable wickedness? And the rest of
his deeds, as many as the poets sing, it is likely
you are acquainted with. Why need I further
recount the deeds of Neptune and Apollo, or
Bacchus and Hercules, of the bosom-loving
Minerva, and the shameless Venus, since in an-
other place' we have given a more accurate
account of these?

CHAP. IV. — HOW AUTOLYCUS HAD BEEN MISLED
BY FALSE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST THE CHRISTUNS.

Nor indeed was there any necessity for my
refuting these, except that I see you still in
dubiety about the word of the truth. For
though yourself prudent, you endure fools gladly.
Otherwise you would not have been moved by
senseless men to yield yourself to empty words,
. and to give credit to the prevalent rumor where-
/ with godless lips falsely accuse us, who are wor-
' shippers of God, and are called Christians,
alleging that the wives of us all are held in com-
mon and made promiscuous use of; and that
we even commit incest with our own sisters, and,
what is most impious and barbarous of all, that
we eat human flesh.* But further, they say that
our doctrine has but recently come to light, and
that we have nothing to allege in proof of what
we receive as truth, nor of our teaching, but
that our doctrine is foolishness. I wonder, then,
chiefly that you, who in other matters are studi-
ous, and a scrutinizer of all things, give but a
careless hearing to us. For, if it were possible
for you, you would not grudge to spend the night
in the libraries

CHAP. V. — PHILOSOPHERS INCULCATE CANNI-

BAUSM.

Since, then, you have read much, what is your
opinion of the precepts of Zeno, and Diogenes,
and Cleanthes, which their books contain, incul-
cating the eating of human flesh : that fathers
be cooked and eaten by their own children ;
and that if any one refuse or reject a part of
this infamous food, he himself be devoured who
will not eat? An utterance even more godless
than these is found, — that, namely, of Diogenes,
who teaches children to bring their own parents
in sacrifice, and devour them. And does not

' Vix., in the first book to Autolycus.

> [The body of Chnst is human flesh. If, then, it had been the
primitive doctnne, that the bread and wine cease to exist in the Eu>
charist, and are changed into natural flesh and blood, our author could
not have resented this charge as " most barbarous and impious."]

the historian Herodotus narrate that Cambyses,'
when he had slaughtered the children of Harpa-
gus, cooked them also, and set them as a meal
before their father? And, still further, he nar-
rates that among the Indians the parents are
eaten by their own children. Oh ! the godless
teaching of those who recorded, yea, rather,
inculcated such things ! Oh ! their wickedness
and godlessness ! Oh ! the conception of those
who thus accurately philosophized, and profess
philosophy ! For they who taught these doc-
trines have filled the world with iniquity.

CHAP. VI.

OTHER OPINIONS OF THE PHILOS-
OPHERS.

And regarding lawless conduct, those who '
have blindly wandered into the choir of philos-
ophy have, almost to a man, spoken with one
voice. Certainly Plato, to mention him first who !
seems to have been the most respectable philos- ,
opher among them, expressly, as it were, legislates
in his first book,-* entitled Thg RepubliCy that
the wives of all be common, using the precedent
of the son 5 of Jupiter and the lawgiver of the
Cretans, in order that under this pretext there
might be an abundant offspring from the best
persons, and that those who were worn with toil
might be comforted by such intercourse.* And
Epicurus himself, too, as well as teaching athe-
ism, teaches along with it incest with mothers
and sisters, and this in transgression of the laws
which forbid it; for Solon distinctly legislated
regarding this, in order that from a married
parent children might lawfully spring, that they
might not be born of adultery, so that no one
should honour as his father him who was not
his father, or dishonour him who was really his
father, through ignorance that he was so. And ,
these things the other laws of the Romans and
Greeks also prohibit. Why, then, do Epicurus
and the Stoics teach incest and sodomy, >vith
which doctrines they have filled libraries, so
that from boyhood 7 this lawless intercourse is
learned? And why should I further spend time
on them, since even of those they call gods they
relate similar things?

CHAP. VII. — VARYING DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE

GODS.

For after they had said that these are gods,
they again made them of no account. For

s It was not Cambysesy but Astyages, who did this; see Herod, i.
X19.

4 Not in the first, but the fifth book of the Republict p. 460.

* Minos.

6 As this sentence cannot be intelligibly rendered without its origi-
nal in Plato, we subjoin the latter: " As for those youths who excel
either in war or other pursuits, they oug^ht both to have other rewards
and prizes given them : and specially this, of being allowed the freest
intercourse with women, that, at tKe same time, under this pretext
the greatest number of children may spring from such parents.

' [This statement reflects light upon some passages of Hennas,
and snows with what delicacy he has reproved the gross vices with
which Christians could not escape familiarity.]

Chap.] IX.

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

some said that they were composed of atoms ;
and others, ^igain, that they eventuate in atoms ;
and they say that the gods have no more
power than men. Plato, too, though he says
these are gods, would have them composed of
matter. And Pythagoras, after he had made
such a toil and moil about the gods, and travelled
up and down [for information], at last deter-
mines that all things are produced naturally and
spontaneously, and that the gods care nothing
for men. And how many atheistic opinions
Clitomachus the academician introduced, [ I
need not recount.] And did not Critias and
Protagoras of Abdera say, " For whether the
gods exist, I am not able to affirm concerning
them, nor to explain of what nature they are ;
for there are many things would prevent me " ?
And to speak of the opinions of the most athe-
istical, Euhemerus, is superfluous. For having
made many daring assertions concerning the
gods, he at last would absolutely deny their
existence, and have all things to be governed
by self-regulated action.' And Plato, who spoke
so much of the unity of God and of the soul of
man, asserting that the soul is immortal, is not
he himself afterwards found, inconsistently with
himself, to maintain that some souls pass into
other men, and that others take their departure
into irrational animals? How can his doctrine
fail to seem dreadful and monstrous — to those
at least who have any judgment — that he who
was once a man shall afterwards be a wolf, or a
dog, or an ass, or some other irrational brute ?
Pythagoras, too, is found venting similar nonsense,
besides his demolishing providence. Which of
them, then, shall we believe? Philemon, the
comic poet, who says, —

" Good hope have they who praise and serve the gods ; "

or those whom we have mentioned — Euheme-
rus, and Epic^jns, and Pythagoras, and the
others who deny that the gods are to be wor-
shipped, and who abolish providence? Con-
cerning God and providence, Ariston said : —

"Be of good courage : God will still preserve
And greatly help all those who so deserve.
If no promotion waits on faithful men.
Say what advantage goodness offers then.
*l'is granted — yet I often see the just
Faring but ill, from ev'ry honour thrust ;
While they whose own advancement is their aim.
Oft in this present life have all they claim.
But we must look beyond, and wait the end.
That consummation to which all things tend.
Tis not, as vain and wicked men have said.
By an unbridled destiny we're led :
It is not blinded chance that rules the world.
Nor uncontrolled are all things onward hurled.
The wicked blinds himself with this belief;
But be ye sure, of all rewards, the chief
Is still reserved for those who holy live;
And Providence to wicked men will give

Only the just reward which is their meed,
Ana fitting punishment for each bad deed.*'

And one can see how inconsistent with each
other are the things which others, and indeed
almost the majority, have said about God and
providence. For some have absolutely cancelled
God and providence ; and others, again, have
affirmed God, and have avowed that all things
are governed by providence. The intelligent
hearer and reader must therefore give minute
attention to their expressions; as also Simylus
said : " It is the custom of the poets to name by
a common designation the surpassingly wicked
and the excellent ; we therefore must discrimi-
nate." As also Philemon says : " A senseless
man who sits and merely hears is a troublesome
feature ; for he does not blame himself, so foolish
is he." We must then give attention, and con-
sider what is said, critically inquiring into what
has been uttered by the philosophers and the
poets.

CHAP. Vin. — WICKEDNESS ATTRIBUTED
GODS BY HEATHEN WRFFERS.

TO THE

For, denying that there are gods, they again
acknowledge their existence, and they said they
committed grossly wicked deeds. And, first, of
Jove the poets euphoniously sing the wicked
actions. And Chrysippus, who talked a deal of
nonsense, is he not found publishing that Juno
had the foulest intercourse with Jupiter? For
why should I recount the impurities of the so-
called mother of the gods, or of Jupiter Latiaris
thirsting for human blood, or the castrated Attis ;
or of Jupiter, surnamed Tragedian, and how he
defiled himself, as they say, and now is wor-
shipped among the Romans as a god ? I am
silent about the temples of Antinous, and of the
others whom you call gods. For when related
to sensible persons, they excite laughter. They
who elaborated such a philosophy regarding
either the non-existence of God, or promiscuous
intercourse and beastly concubinage, are them-
selves condemned by their own teachings.
Moreover, we find from the writings they com-
posed that the eating of human flesh was re-
ceived among them ; and they record that those
whom they honour as gods were the first to do
these things.

CHAP. IX. — CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF GOD AND

HIS LAW.

Now we also confess that God exists, but that
He is one, the creator, and maker, and fashioner
of this universe ; and we know that all things are
arranged by His providence, but by Him alone.
And we have learned a holy law ; but we have
as lawgiver Him who is really God, who teaches
us to act righteously, and to be pious, and to do

114

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book III.

g(X)d. And concerning piety ' He says, " Thou
shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or
that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth : thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them, nor serve them : for I am the
Lord thy God." * And of doing good He said :
"Honour thy father and thy mother; that it
may be well with thee, and that thy days may be
long in the land which I the Lord God give
thee." Again, concerning righteousness : "Thou
shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife, thou shalt not covet
thy neighbour's house, nor his land, nor his man-
servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his
beast of burden, nor any of his cattle, nor any-
thing that is thy neighbour's. Thou shalt not
wrest the judgment of the poor in his cause.^
From every unjust matter keep thee far. The
innocent and righteous thou shalt not slay ; thou
shalt not justify the wicked ; and thou shalt not
take a gift, for gifts blind the eyes of them that
see and pervert righteous words." Of this divine
law, then, Moses, who also was God's servant,
was made the minister both to all the world, and
chiefly to the Hebrews, who were also called
Jews, whom an Egyptian king had in ancient
days enslaved, and who were the righteous seed
of godly and holy men — Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob. God, being mindful of them, and
doing marvellous and strange miracles by the
hand of Moses, delivered them, and led them
out of Egypt, leading them through what is
called the desert ; whom He also settled again
in the land of Canaan, which afterwards was
called Judaea, and gave them a law, and taught
them these things. Of this great and wonderful
law, which tends to all righteousness, the ten
heads are such as we have sdready rehearsed.

CHAP. X. — OF HUMANTn' TO STRANGERS.

Since therefore they were strangers in the
^ land of Egypt, being by birth Hebrews from
the land of Chaldaea, — for at that time, there
being a famine, they were obliged to migrate
to Egypt for the sake of buying food there,
where also for a time they sojourned ; and these
things befell them in accordance with a predic-
tion of God, — having sojourned, then, in Egypt
for 430 years, when Moses was about to lead
them out into the desert, God taught them by
the law, sayingy " Ye shall not afflict a stranger ;
for ye know the heart of a stranger : for your-
selves were strangers in the land of Egypt." ^

' Or, right worship.

• Ex. XX. 3.

3 Ex. xxiii. 6.

* "Ex. xxii. 91.

CHAP. XI. — OF REPENTANCE.

And when the people transgressed the law
which had been given to them by God, God
being good and pitiful, unwilling to destroy
them, in addition to His giving them the law,
afterwards sent forth also prophets to them from
among their brethren, to teach and remind them
of the contents of the law, and to turn them to
repentance, that they might sin no more. But
if they persisted in their wicked deeds, He fore-
warned them that they should be delivered into
subjection to all the kingdoms of the earth ; and
that this has already happened them is manifest.
Concerning repentance, then, Isaiah the prophet,
generally indeed to all, but expressly to the peo-
ple, says : " Seek ye the Lord while He may
be found, call ye upon Him while He is near :
let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unright-
eous man his thoughts : and let him return unto
the Lord his God, and he will find mercy, for
He will abundantly pardon." 5 And another
prophet, Ezekiel, says : " If the wicked will turn
from all his sins that he hath committed, and
keep all My statutes, and do that which is right
in My sight, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
All his transgressions that he hath committed,
they shall not be mentioned unto him ; but in
his righteousness that he hath done he shall
live : for I desire not the death of the sinner,
saith the Lord, but that he turn from his wicked
way, and live." * Again Isaiah : " Ye who take
deep and wicked counsel, turn ye, that ye may
be saved." ' And another prophet, Jeremiah :
" Turn to the Lord your God, as a grape-gath-
erer to his basket, and ye shall find mercy." *
Many therefore, yea rather, countless are the
sayings in the Holy Scriptures regarding repent-
ance, God being always desirous that the race
of men turn from all their sins.

CHAP. Xn. — OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Moreover, concerning the righteousness which
the law enjoined, confirmatory utterances are
found both with the prophets and in the Gospels,
because they all spoke inspired by one Spirit of
God. Isaiah accordingly spoke thus : " Put away
the evil of your doings from your souls ; learn to
do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." 9 And
again the same prophet said : " Loose every band
of wickedness, dissolve every oppressive contract,
let the oppressed go free, and tear up every un-
righteous bond. Deal out thy bread to the hungi)*,
and bring the houseless poor to thy home. When
thou seest the naked, cover him, and hide not
thyself from thine own flesh. Then shall thy light

5 Isa. Iv. 6.

6 Ezek. xviii. 21.

7 Isa. xxxi. 6.
• Icr. yi. Q.

9 Isa. i. ID, 17.

Chap. XV.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

115

break forth as the morning, and thine health shall
spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall
go before thee." ' In like manner also Jeremiah
says : " Stand in the ways, and see, and ask which
is the good way of the Lord your God, and walk
in it and ye shall find rest for your souls. Judge
just judgment, for in this is the will of the Lord
your God." * So also says Hosea : " Keep judg-
ment, and draw near to your God, who established
the heavens and created the earth." 3 And an-
other, Joel, spoke in agreement with these :
" Gather the people, sanctify the congregation,
assemble the elders, gather the children that are
in armsj let the bridegroom go forth of his
chamber, and the bride out of her closet, and
pray to the Lord thy God urgently that he may
have mercy upon you, and blot out your sins." ^
In like manner also another, Zachariah : " Thus
saith the Lord Almighty, Execute true judgment,
and show mercy and compassion every man to
his brother ; and oppress not the widow, nor the
fatherless, nor the stranger ; and let none of you
imagine evil against his brother in your heart,
saith the Lord Almighty." s

CHAP. Xm. — OF CHASTFTY.

And concerning chastity, the holy word teaches
us not only not to sin in act, but not even in
thought, not even in the heart to think of any
e\il, nor look on another man's wife with our
eyes to lust after her. Solomon, accordingly, who
was a king and a prophet, said : " Let thine eyes
look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight
before diee : make straight paths for your feet." ^
And the voice of the Gospel teaches still more
urgently concerning chastity, saying : *' Whoso-
ever looketh on a woman who is not his own wife,
to lust after her, hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart." ^ "And he that mar-
rieth," says [the Gospel], "her that is divorced
from her husband, committeth adultery ; and who-
soever putteth away his wife, saving for the cause
of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery."®
Because Solomon says : " Can a man take fire in
his bosom, and his clothes not be burned ? Or
can one walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be
burned ? So he that goeth in to a married woman
shall not be innocent." 9

CHAP. XIV. — OF LOVING OUR ENEMIES.

And that we should be kindly disposed, not
only towards those of our own stock, as some
suppose, Isaiah the prophet said : " Say to those

' Isa. Iviii. 6.

* ler. Ti 16.
3 Hos. xii. 6.

* Joel ii. 16.

^ Zech. vii. 9, xo.

* Prov. iv. 25.
7 Matt. V. 28.

* Matt. V. 3a.

9 Prov. vi. 37-29.

that hate you, and that cast you out. Ye are our
brethren, that the name of the Lord may be
glorified, and be apparent in their joy." *° And
the Gospel says : " Love your enemies, and pray
for them that despitefully use you. For if ye love
them who love you, what reward have ye ? This
do also the robbers and the publicans." " And
those that do good it teaches not to boast, lest
they become men-pleasers. For it says : " Let
not your left hand know what your right hand
doeth." " Moreover, concerning subjection to
authorities and powers, and prayer for them, the
divine word gives us instructions, in order that
" we may lead a quiet and peaceable life." '^ And
it teaches us to render all things to all,'** "honour
to whom honour, fear to whom fear, tribute to
whom tribute ; to owe no man anything, but to
love all."

CHAP. XV. — THE INNOCENCE OF THE CHRISTIANS

DEFENDED.

Consider, therefore, whether those who teach
such things can possibly live indifferently, and be
commingled in unlawful intercourse, or, most im-
pious of all, eat human flesh, especially when we
are forbidden so much as to witness shows of
gladiators, lest we become partakers and abettors
of murders. But neither may we see the other
spectacles, '5 lest our eyes and ears be defiled,
participating in the utterances there sung. For
if one should speak of cannibalism, in these
spectacles the children of Thyestes and Tereus
are eaten ; and as for adultery, both in the case
of men and of gods, whom they celebrate in ele-
gant language for honours and prizes, this is made
the subject of their dramas. But far be it from
Christians to conceive any such deeds ; for with
them temperance dwells, self-restraint is prac-
tised, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded,
iniquity exterminated, sin extirpated, righteous-
ness exercised, law administered, worship per-
formed, God acknowledged : truth governs, grace
guards, peace screens them ; the holy word
guides, wisdom teaches, life directs, God reigns.
Therefore, though we have much to say regarding
our manner of life, and the ordinances of God,
the maker of all creation, we yet consider that
we have for the present reminded you of enough
to induce you to study these things, especially
since you can now read [ our writings ] for your-
self, that as you have been fond of acquiring
information, you may still be studious in this di-
rection also.

*o Isa. Ixvi. 5.

" Matt. V. 44, 46.

" Matt. vi. 3.

*^ I Tim. ii. 2.

** Rom. xiii. 7, 8.

*s At the theatres. [N.B. — Let the easy Christians of our age be
lemindcd of this warning: frequenting, as they do, plays and operas
equally defiling, impure in purport often, even when not gross in
language.]

ii6

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book III.

CHAP. XVI. — UNCERTAIN CONJECTURES OF THE

PHILOSOPHERS.

But I wish now to give you a more accurate
demonstration, God helping me, of the historical
periods, that you may see that our doctrine is
not modem nor fabulous, but more ancient and
true than all poets and authors who have written
in uncertainty. For some, maintaining that the
world was uncreated, went into infinity ; ' and
others, asserting that it was created, said that
already 153, 075 years had passed. This is stated
by ApoUonius flie Egyptian. And Plato, who is
esteemed to have been the wisest of the Greeks,
into what nonsense did he run ? For in his book
entitled T)u Republic^ we find him expressly
saying : " For if things had in all time remained
in their present arrangement, when ever could
any new thing be discovered ? For ten thousand
times ten thousand years elapsed without record,
and one thousand or twice as many years have
gone by since some things were discovered by
Daedalus, and some by Orpheus, and some by
Palamedes." And when he says that these
things happened, Jie implies that ten thousand
times ten thousand years elapsed from the flood
to Daedalus. And after he has said a great deal
about the cities of the world, and the settle-
ments, and the nations, he owns that he has said
these things conjecturally. For he says, "If
then, my friend, some god should promise us,
that if we attempted to make a survey of legisla-
tion, the things now said,"' etc., which shows
that he was speaking by guess ; and if by guess,
then what he says is not true.

CHAP. XVn. — ACCURATE INFORMATION OF THE

CHRISTIANS.

It behoved, therefore, that he should the rather
become a scholar of God in this matter of legisla-
tion, as he himself confessed that in no other way
could he gain accurate information than by God's
teaching him through the law. And did not
the poets Homer and Hesiod and Orpheus pro-
fess that they themselves had been instructed
by Divine Providence ? Moreover, it is said that
among your writers there were prophets and
prognosticators, and that those wrote accurately
who were informed by them. How much more,
then, shall we know the truth who are instructed
by the holy prophets, who were possessed by*
the Holy Spirit of God ! On this account all
the prophets spoke harmoniously and in agree-
ment with one another, and foretold the things
that would come to pass in all the world. For

> i.e., tracing back its history through an infinite duration.

' The followine quotation is not from the Republic^ but from the
third book of the Laws, p. 676.

3 Plato goes on to say, tnat if he had this pledge of divine assist-
ance, he would go further in his speculation ; and therefore Theophi-
lus argues that what he said without this assistance he felt to be un-
safe.

* Literally, ** conuined."

the very accomplishment of predicted and al-
ready consummated events should demonstrate
to those who are fond of information, yea rather,
who are lovers of truth, that those things are
really true which they declared concerning the
epochs and eras before the deluge : s to wit, how
the years have run on since the world was created
until now, so as to manifest the ridiculous men-
dacity of your authors, and show that their state-
ments are not true.

CHAP. XVm. — ERRORS OF THE GREEKS ABOUT

THE DELUGE,

For Plato, as we said above, when he had de-
monstrated that a deluge had happened, said
that it extended not over the whole earth, but
only over the plains, and that those who fled to
the highest hills saved themselves. But others
say that there existed Deucalion and !fyrrha, and
that they were preserved in a chest; and that
Deucalion, after he came out of the chest, flung
stones behind him, and that men were produced
from the stones : from which circumstance thev
say that men in the mass are named " people." ^
Others, again, say that Clymenus existed in a
second flood. From what has already been said,
it is evident that they who wrote such things and
philosophized to so litde purpose are miserable,
and very profane and sensele^ persons. But
Moses, our prophet and the servant of God, in
giving an account of the genesis of the world,
related in what manner the flood came upon the
earth, telling us, besides, how the details of the
flqod came about, and relating no fable of Pyrrha
nor of Deucalion or Clymenus; nor, forsooth,
that only the plains were submerged, and that
those only who escaped to the mountains were
saved.

CHAP. XIX. — ACCURATE ACCOUNT OF THE DELUGE.

And neither does he make out that there was
a second flood : on the contrary, he said that
never again would there be a flood of water on
the world ; as neither indeed has there been, nor
ever shall be. And he says that eight human be-
ings were preserved in the ark, in that which had
been prepared by God's direction, not by Deuca-
lion, but by Noah ; which Hebrew word means in
English 7 "rest," as we have elsewhere shown
that Noah, when he announced to the men then
alive that there was a flood coming, prophesied
to them, saying, Come thither, God calls you to
repentance. On this account he was fitly called
Deucalion.* And this Noah had three sons (as
we "mentioned in the second book), whose names

s [ See supra^ book i. cap. 14, p. 93, the author's account of his
own conversion.]

^ AaiSf , from Aaa(, stone.

7 Literally, in Greek, ai'airavv'tf.

* Deucalion, from Acvrc, come, and koA^oi, 1 call. ^

Chap. XXII.]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

117

were Shem, and Ham, and Japhet; and these
had three wives, one wife each ; each man and
his wife. This man some have surnamed Eu-
nuchus. All the eight persons, therefore, who
were found in the ark were preserved. And
Moses showed that the flood lasted forty days
and forty nights, torrents pouring from heaven,
and from the fountains of the deep breaking up,
so that the water overtopped every high hill 15
cubits. And thus the race of all the men that
then were was destroyed, and those only who
were protected in the ark were saved ; and these,
we have already said, were eight. And of the ark,
the remains are to this day to be seen in the Ara-
bian mountains. This, then, is in sum the history
of the deluge.

CHAP. XX. — ANTIQUrrY OF MOSES.

And Moses, becoming the leader of the Jews,
as we have already stated, was expelled from the
land of Egypt by the king, Pharaoh, whose name
was Amasis, and who, they say, reigned after the
expulsion of the people 25 years and 4 months,
as Manetho assumes. And after him [reigned]
Chebron, 13 years. And after him Amenophis,
20 years 7 months. And after him his sister
Amessa, 21 years i month. And after her
Mephres, 12 years 9 months. And after him
Methramuthosis, 20 years and 10 months. And
after him Tythmoses, 9 years 8 months. And
after him Damphenophis, 30 years 10 months.
And after him Orus, 35 years 5 months. And
after him his daughter, 10 years 3 months. After
her Mercheres, 12 years 3 months. And after
him his son Armais, 30 years i month. After
him Messes, son of Miammus, 6 years 2 months.
After him Rameses, i year 4 months. After him
Amenophis, 19 years 6 months. After him his
sons Thoessus and Rameses, 10 years, who, it is
said, had a large cavalry force and naval equip-
ment. The Hebrews, indeed, after their own
separate history, having at that time migrated
into the land of Egypt, and been enslaved by the
king Tethmosis, as already said, built for him
strong cities, Peitho, and Rameses, and On, which
is Heliopolis ; so that the Hebrews, who also are
our ancestors, and from whom we have those
sacred books which are older than all authors,
as ah-eady said, are proved to be more ancient
than the cities which were at that time renowned
among the Egyptians. And the country was
called Egypt from the king Sethos. For the
word Sethos, they say, is pronounced " Egypt." *
And Sethos had a brother, by name Armais. He
is called Danaus, the same who passed from
Egypt to Argos, whom the other authors mention
as being of very ancient date.

' Or, reading o yap JdBtat, ** Sethos is also called Egyptus."

CHAP. XXI. — OF MANETHO'S INACCtmACY.

And Manetho, who among the Egyptians gave
out a great deal of nonsense, and even impiously
charged Moses and the Hebrews who accom-
panied him with being banished from Egypt on
account of leprosy, could give no accurate
chronological statement. For when he said they
were shepherds, and enemies of the Egyptians,
he uttered truth indeed, because he was forced
to do so. For our forefathers who sojourned in
Egypt were truly shepherds, but not lepers. For
when they came into the land called Jerusalem,
where also they afterwards abode, it is well known
how their priests, in pursuance of the appoint-
ment of God, continued in the temple, and there
healed every disease, so that they cured lepers
and every unsoundness. The temple was built
by Solomon the king of Judaea. And from
Manetho*s own statement his chronological error
is manifest. (As it is also in respect of the king
who expelled them, Pharaoh by name. For he
no longer ruled them. For having pursued the
Hebrews, he and his army were engulphed in the
Red Sea. And he is in error still further, in
saying that the shepherds made war against the
Egyptians.) For they went out of Egypt, and
thenceforth dwelt in the country now called
Judaea, 313 ^ years before Danaus came to Argos.
And that most people consider him older than
any other of the Greeks is manifest. So that
Manetho has unwillingly declared to us, by his
own writings, two particulars of the truth : first,
avowing that they were shepherds ; secondly,
saying that they went out of the land of Egypt.
So that even from these writings Moses and his
followers are proved to be 900 or even 1000
years prior to the Trojan war.^

CHAP. XXII. — ANTIQUITY OF THE TEMPLE.

Then concerning the building of the temple
in Judaea, which Solomon the king built 566 years
after the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, there
is among the Tyrians a record how the temple
was built ; and in their archives writings have
been preserved, in which the temple is proved
to have existed 143 ** years 8 months before the
Tyrians founded Carthage (and this record was
made by Hiram 5 (that is the name of the king
of the Tyrians), the son of Abimalus, on ac-
count of the hereditary friendship which existed
between Hiram and Solomon, and at the same
time on account of the surpassing wisdom pos-
sessed by Solomon. For they continually en-
gaged with each other in discussing difficult
problems. And proof of this exists in their cor-
respondence, which to this day is preserved

> The Benedictine editor shows that this should be 393 years.
3 The correct date would be about 400 years.
* Others read 134 years.
s Literally, Hieromus.

ii8

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book IIL

among the Tynans, and the writings that passed
between them) ; as Menander the Ephesian,
while narrating the history of the Tyrian king-
dom, records, speaking thus : " For when Abim-
alus the king of the Tyrians died, his son Hiram
succeeded to the kingdom. He lived 53 years.
And Bazorus succeeded him, who lived 43, and
reigned 1 7 years. And after him followed Me-
thuastartus, who lived 54 years, and reigned 12.
And after him succeeded his brother Atharymus,
who lived 58 years, and reigned 9. He was
slain by his brother of the name of Helles, who
lived 50 years, and reigned 8 months. He was
killed by Juthobalus, priest of Astarte, who hved
40 years, and reigned 12. He was succeeded by
his son Bazorus, who lived 45 years, and reigned
7. And to him his son Metten succeeded, who
lived 32 years, and reigned 29. Pygmalion, son
of Pygmalius succeeded him, who lived 56 years,
and reigned 7.' And in the 7th year of his
reign, his sister, fleeing to Libya, built the city
which to this day is called Carthage." The
whole period, therefore, from the reign of Hiram
to the founding of Carthage, amounts to 155
years and 8 months. And in the 12 th year of
the reign of Hiram the temple in Jerusalem was
built. So that the entire time from the building
of the temple to the founding of Carthage was
143 years and 8 months.

CHAP. XXni. — PROPHETS MORE ANCIENT THAN

GREEK WRITERS.

So then let what has been said suffice for the
testimony of the Phoenicians and Egyptians, and
for the account of our chronology given by the
writers Manetho the Egyptian, and Menander
the Ephesian, and also Josephus, who wrote the
Jewish war, which they waged with the Romans.
For from these very old records it is proved that
the writings of the rest are more recent than the
writings given to us through Moses, yes, and than
the subsequent prophets. For the last of the
prophets, who was called 2^chariah, was contem-
porary with the reign of Darius. But 6ven the
lawgivers themselves are all found to have legis-
lated subsequently to that period. For if one
were to mention Solon the Athenian, he lived in
the days of the kings Cyrus and Darius, in the time
of the prophet 2^chariah first mentioned, who
was by many years the last of the prophets.' Or
if you mention the lawgivers Lycurgus, or Draco,
or Minos, Josephus tells us in his writings that
the sacred books take precedence of them in an-
tiquity, since even before the reign of Jupiter
over the Cretans, and before the Trojan war, the
writings of the divine law which has been given
to us through Moses were in existence. And

'In this register it seems that the number of years during which
each person lived does not include the years of his reign.

> But the meaning here is obscure in the original. Malachi was
much later than Zechariah.

that we may give a more accurate exhibition of
eras and dates, we will, God helping us, now give
an account not only of the dates after the deluge,
but also of those before it, so as to reckon the
whole number jof all the years, as far as possible ;
tracing up to the very beginning of the creation
of the world, which Moses the servant of Ood
recorded through the Holy Spirit. For having
first spoken of what concerned the creation and
genesis of the world, and of the first man, and
all that happened after in the order of events, he
signified also the years that elapsed before the
deluge. And I pray for favour from the only
God, that I may accurately speak the whole truth
according to His will, that you and every one
who reads this work may be guided by His truth
and favour. I will then begin first with the re-
corded genealogies, and I begin my narration
with the first man.^

CHAP. XXIV. — CHRONOLOGV FROM ADAM.

Adam lived till he begat a son,^ 230 years.
And his son Seth, 205. And his son Enos, 190.
And his son Cainan, 1 70. And his son Maha-
leel, 165. And his son Jared, 162. And his son
Enoch, 165. And his son Methuselah, 167. And
his son Lamech, 188. And Lamech's son was
Noah, of whom we have spoken above, who begat
Shem when 500 years old. During Noah*s life, in
his 600th year, the flood came. The total numl)er
of years, therefore, till the flood, was 22^2. And
immediately after the flood, Shem, who was 100
years old, begat Arphaxad. And Arphaxad, when
135 years old, begat Salah. And Salah begat a
son when 130. And his son Eber, when 134.
And from him the Hebrews name their race.
And his son Phaleg begat a son when 130. And
his son Reu, when 132. And his son Serug,
when 130. And his son Nahor, when 75. And
his son Terah, when 70. And his son Abraham,
our patriarch, begat Isaac when he was 100 years
old. Until Abraham, therefore, there are 3278
years. The fore- mentioned Isaac lived until ne
begat a son, 60 years, and begat Jacob. Jacob,
till the migration into Egypt, of which we have
spoken above, lived 130 years. And the sojourn-
ing of the Hebrews in Egypt lasted 430 years ;
and after their departure from the land of Egypt
they spent 40 years in the wilderness, as it is
called. All these years, therefore, amount to
3^8. And at that time, Moses having died,
Jesus the sun of Nun succeeded to his rule, and
governed them 2 7 years. And after Jesus, when
the people had transgressed the commandments
of God, they served the king of Mesopotamia,
by name Chusarathon, 8 years. Then, on t'

3 rUsher, in his A nnais, honours our author as the faiher of ■ ' . .
tian chronology, p. 3. Paris, 1673-]

* i.e., lill ne begat Seth. [A fragment of the Chroni »:
Julius Alricanus, a.d. 333, is given in Kouth's Religuiet^ torn. 11 o.
338, with very rich annotations, pp. 357-509.]

Col

> ^"

Chap. XXVIL]

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS:

119

repentance of the people, they had judges :
Gothonoel, 40 years; Eglon, 18 years; Aoth, 8
years. Then having sinned, they were subdued
by strangers for 20 years. Then Deborah judged
them 40 years. Then they served the Midianites
7 years. Then Gideon judged them 40 years ;
Abimelech, 3 years; Thola, 22 years; Jair, 22
years. Then the Philistines and Ammonites
ruled them 18 years. After that Jephthah judged
them 6 years ; Esbon, 7 years ; Ailon, 10 years ;
Abdon, 8 years. Then strangers niled them 40
years. Then Samson judged them 20 years.
Then there was peace among them for 40 years.
Then Samera judged them one year; Eli, 20
years ; Samuel, 1 2 years.

CHAP. XXV.

FROM SAUL TO THE CAPTIVrrV.

And after the judges they had kings, the first
named Saul, who reigned 20 years ; Sien David,
our forefather, who reigned 40 years. Accord-
ingly, there are to the reign of David [from
' i Ifitioj) 496 years. And after these kings Solo-
mon reigned, who also, by the will of God, was
the first to build the temple in Jerusalem ; he
reigned 40 years. And after him Rehoboam, 1 7
years ; and after him Abias, 7 years ; and after
him Asa, 41 years ; and after him Jehoshaphat,
25 years ; and after him Joram, 8 years ; and
after him Ahaziah, 1 year ; and after him Athaliah,
6 years ; and after her Josiah, 40 years ; and
after him Amaziah, 39 years; and after him
Uzziah, 52 years; and after him Jotham, 16
years ; and after him Ahaz, 1 7 years ; and after
him Hezekiah, 29 years ; and after him Manas-
seh, 55 years; and after him Amon, 2 years;
and after him Josiah, 31 years; and after him
Jehoahaz, 3 months ; and after him Jehoiakim,
n years. Then another Jehoiakim, 3 months
10 days ; and after him Zedekiah, 1 1 years. And
after these kings, the people, continuing in their
sins, and not repenting, the king of Babylon,
named Nebuchadnezzar, came up into Judaea,
according to the prophecy of Jeremiah. He
transferred the people of the Jews to Babylon,
and destroyed the temple which Solomon had
built. And in the Babylonian banishment the
people passed 70 years. Until the sojourning in
the land of Babylon, there are therefore, in all,
435.4 y^^"^ ^ months and 10 days. And accord-
ing as God had, by the prophet Jeremiah, fore-
told that the people should be led captive to
Babylon, in like manner He signified beforehand
that they should also return into their own land
after 70 years. These 70 years then being ac-
complished, Cyrus becomes king of the Persians,
who, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah,
issued a decree in the second year of his reign,
enjoining by his edict that all Jews who were in
his kingdom should return to their own country,
and rebuild their temple to God, which the fore-

mentioned king 0/ Babylon had demolished.
Moreover, Cyrus, ift compliance with tlie instruc-
tions of GooTgave orders to his own body-
guards, Sabessar and Mithridates, that the vessels
which had been taken out of the temple of Judaea
by Nebuchadnezzar should be restored, and
placed again in the temple. In the second year,
therefore, of Darius are fulfilled the 70 years
which were foretold by Jeremiah.

CHAP. XXVI. — CONTRAST BETWEEN HEBREW AND

GREEK WRITINGS.

Hence one can see how our sacred writings
are shown to be more ancient and true than
those of the Greeks and Egyptians, or any other
historians. For Herodotus and Thucydides, as
also Xenophon, and most other historians, be-
gan their relations from about the reign of Cyrus
and Darius, not being able to speak with accu-
racy of prior and ancient times. For what
great matters did they disclose if they spoke of
Darius and Cyrus, barbarian kings, or of the
Greeks Zopyrus and Hippias, or of the wars of
the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, or the deeds
of Xerxes or of Pausanias, who ran the risk of
starving to death in the temple of Minerva, or
the history of Themistocles and the Peloponne-
sian war, or of Alcibiades and Thrasybulus?
For my purpose is not to furnish mere matter of
much talk, but to throw light upon the number
of years frorp the foundation of the world, and
to condemn the empty labour and trifling of
these authors, because there have neither been
twenty thousand times ten thousand years from
the flood to the present time, as Plato said,
affirming that there had been sp many years ;
nor yet 15 times 10,375 years, as we have
already mentioned ApoUonius the Egyptian
gave out; nor is the world uncreated, nor is
there a spontaneous production of all things, as
Pythagoras and the rest dreamed ; but, being
indeed created, it is also governed by the provi-
dence of God, who made all things; and the
whole course of time and the years are made
plain to those who wish to obey the truth.'
Lest, then, I seem to have made things plain up
to the time of Cyrus, and to neglect the subse-
quent periods, as if through inability to exhibit
them, I will emdeavour, by God's help, to give
an accoimt, according to my ability, of the
course of the subsequent times.

CHAP. XXVn. — ROMAN CHRONOLOGY TO THE
DEATH OF M. AURELIUS.

When C)Tus, then, had reigned twenty-nine
years, and had been slain by Tomyris in the
country of the Massagetae, this being in the 6 2d
Olympiad, then the Romans began to increase

' [Usher notes this as affirmed in general terms only, and qualified
afterwiards, in cap. xxix., tn/rUf note z, p. i2x.]

I20

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

[Book IIL

in power, God strengthening them, Rome having
been founded by Romulus, the reputed child of
Mars and Ilia, in the 7th Olympiad, on the 21st
day of April, the year being then reckoned as
consisting of ten months. Cyrus, then, having
died, as we have already said, in the 6 2d Olym-
piad, this date falls 220 A.U.C., in which year
also Tarquinius, sumamed Superbus, reigned
over the Romans, who was the first who banished
Homans and corrupted the youth, and made
eunuchs of the citizens, and, moreover, first
defiled virgins, and then gave them in mar-
riage. On this account he was fitly called
Superbus in the Roman language, and that is
translated "the Proud." For he first decreed
that those who saluted him should have their
salute acknowledged by some one else. He
reigned twenty-five years. After him yearly
consuls were introduced, tribunes also and ediles
for 453 years, whose names we consider it long
and superfluous to recount. For if any one
is anxious to learn them, he will ascertain
them from the tables which Chryserus the no-
menclator compiled : he was a freedman of
Aurelius Verus, who composed a very lucid
record of all things, both names and dates, from
the founding of Rome to the death of his own
patron, the Emperor Verus. The annual magis-
trates ruled the Romans, as we say, for 453
years. Afterwards those who are called em-
perors began in this order : first, Caius Julius,
who reigned 3 years 4 months 6 (Jays; then
Augustus, 56 years 4 months i day; Tiberius,
2 2 years ; then another Caius, 3 years 8 months
7 days ; Claudius, 23 years 8 months 24 days ;
Nero, 13 years 6 months 28 days; Galba, 2
years 7 months 6 days ; Otho, 3 months 5 days ;
Vitellius, 6 months 22 days; Vespasian, 9 years
II months 22 days; Titus, 2 years 22 days;
Domitian, 15 years 5 months 6 days; Nerva, i
year 4 months 10 days; Trajan, 19 years 6
months 16 days ; Adrian, 20 years 10 months
28 days ; Antoninus, 22 years 7 months 6 days ;
Verus, 19 years 10 days. The time therefore
of the Caesars to the death of the Emperor
Verus is 237 years 5 days. From the death of
Cyrus, therefore, and the reign of Tarquinius
Superbus, to the death of the Emperor Vgrus,
the whole time amounts to 744 years.

CHAP. XXVm. — LEADING CHRONOLOGICAL EPOCHS.

And from the foundation of the world the
whole time is thus traced, so far as its main
epochs are concerned. From the creation of
the world to the deluge were 2242 years. And
from the deluge to the time when Abraham our
forefather begat a son, 1036 years. And from
Isaac, Abraham's son, to the time when the
people dwelt with Moses in the desert, 660 years.
And from the death of Moses and the rule of

Joshua the son of Nun, to the death of the
patriarch David, 498 years. And from the death
of David and the reign of Solomon to the so-
journing of the people in the land of Babylon,
518 years 6 months 10 days. And from the gov-
ernment of Cyrus to the death of the Emperor
Aurelius Verus, 744 years. All the years from
the creation of the world amount to a total of
5698 years, and the odd months and days.'

CHAP. XXIX. — ANTIQUrrV OF CHRISTL^FTY.

These periods, then, and all the above-men-
tioned facts, being viewed collectively, one can
see the antiquity of the prophetical writings and
the divinity of our doctrine, that the doctrine is
not recent, nor our tenets mythical and false,
as some think, but very ancient and true. For
Thallus mentioned Belus, king of the Assyrians,
and Saturn, son of Titan, alleging that Belus with
the Titans made war against Jupiter and the
so-called gods in his alliance ; and on this occa-
sion he says that Gyges, being defeated, fled to
Tartessus. At that time Gyges ruled over that
country, which then was called Acte, but now is
named Attica. And whence the other countries
and cities derived their names, we think it un-
necessary to recount, especially to you who are
acquainted with history. That Moses, and not
he only, but also most of the prophets who
followed him, is proved to be older than all
writers, and than Saturn and Belus and tlie
Trojan war, is manifest. For according to the
history of Thallus, Belus is found to be 322
years prior to the Trojan war. But we have
shown above that Moses lived somewhere about
900 or 1000 years before the sack of Troy. And
as Saturn and Belus flourished at the same time,
most people do not know which is Saturn and
which is Belus. Some worship Saturn, and call
him Bel or Bal, especially the inhabitants of the
eastern countries, for they do not know who
either Saturn or Belus is. And among the
Romans he is called Saturn, for neither do they
know which of the two is more ancient — Saturn
or Bel. So far as regards the commencement
of the Olympiads, they say that the observance
dates from Iphitus, but according to others from
Linus, who is also called Ilius. The order which
the whole number of years and Olympiads holds,
we have shown above. I think I have now, ac-
cording to my ability, accurately discoursed both
of the godlessness of your practices,^ and of the
whole number of the epochs of history. For if
even a chronological error has been committed
by us, of, e.g., 50 or 100, or even 200 years, yet

Z-*'^ ;

( ' [As Venis died a.d. 169, the computation of our author makes
the creation, B.C. 5539. Hales, who says B.C. 54x1, inspires us with
great respect for Tneophilus, by the degree of accuracy he attabed,
Using (the LXX.) the same authority as his base. Sbght variations
in the copies used in his day might have led, one would think, to
greater discrepancies.]

' Another reading gives, " both of the antiqiuiy of our irUeion."

f •

• J

^ ,

Chap. XXXJ

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS.

121

not of thousands and tens of thousands, as Plato
and ApoUonius and other mendacious authors
have hitherto written. And perhaps our knowl-
edge of the whole number of the. years is not
quite accurate, because the odd months and
davs are not set down in the sacred books.' But
so far as regards the periods we speak of, we are
corroborated by Berosus,* the Chaldaean philoso-
pher, who made the Greeks acquainted with the
Chaldaean literature, and uttered some things
concerning the deluge, and many other points
of history, in agreement with Moses ; and with
the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel also, he spoke
in a measure of agreement. For he mentioned
what happened to the Jews under the king of the
Babylonians, whom he calls Abobassor, and who
is called by the Hebrews Nebuchadnezzar. And
he also spoke of the temple of Jerusalem, how
it was desolated by the king of the Chaldaeans,
and that the foundations of the temple having
been laid the second year of the reign of Cyrus,
the temple was completed in the second year
of the reign of Darius.

CHAP. XXX. WHY THE GREEKS DID NOT MEN-
TION OUR HISTORIES.

But the Greeks make no mention of the his-
tories which give the truth : first, because they

} [Usher quotes this concession as to die axpifitia or minute
delicacy he could not attain, l/t su/ra^ p. zsg, note xj
' TCTOsus flourished in the reign of Alexander the Great.

themselves only recently became partakers of
the knowledge of letters ; and they themselves
own it, alleging that letters were invented, some
say among the Chaldaeans, and others with the
Egyptians, and others again say that they are
derived from the Phoenicians. And secondly,
because they sinned, and still sin, in not making
mention of God, but of vain and useless matters.
For thus they most heartily celebrate Homer
and Hesiod, and the rest of the poets, but the
glory of the incorruptible and only God they not
only omit to mention, but blaspheme ; yes, and
they persecuted, and do daily persecute, those
who worship Him. And not only so, but they
even bestow prizes and honours on those who in
harmonious language insult God ; but of those
who are zealous in the pursuit of virtue and
practise a holy life, some they stoned, some they,
put to death, and up to the present time they
subject them to savage tortures. Wherefore such
men have necessarily lost the wisdom of God,
and have not found the truth.

If you please, then, study these things care-
fully, that you may have a compendium 3 and
pledge of the truth.

^ Otto prefers <rvf<,^ovAol' instead of crv/i^oAov, on the authority of
one MS. The sense then is, *' that you may have a counsellor and
pledge of the truth." — the counsellor and pledge of the truth being the
Dook written by Tneophilus for Autolycus. [This has been supposed
to mean^ " that you may have a token and pledge (or earnest) of the
truth," ue., in Christian baptism. Our author uses St. Paul's word
(appafiitv), " the earnest ol the spirit/' as in s Cor. i. 23, and Eph.
Lx4.]

WRITINGS OF ATHENAGORAS.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

TO THB

WRITINGS OF ATHENAGORAS.

[TRANSLATED BY THE REV. B. P. PRATTENJ

[a.d. 177.] In placing Athenagoras here, somewhat out of the order usually accepted, I
commit no appreciable violence against chronology, and I gain a great advantage for the reader.
To some extent we must recognise, in collocation, the principles of affinity and historic growth.
Closing up the bright succession of the earlier Apologists, this favourite author affords also a fitting
introduction to the great founder of the Alexandrian School, who comes next into view. His
work opens the way for Clement's elaboration of Justin's claim, that the whole of philosophy is
embraced in Christianity. It is charming to find the primal fountains of Christian thought uniting
here, to flow on for ever in the widening and deepening channel of Catholic orthodoxy, as it gathers
into itself all human culture, and enriches the world with products of regenerated mind, harvested
from its overflow into the fields of philosophy and poetry and art and science. More of this when
we come to Clement, that man of genius who introduced Christianity to itself, as reflected in the
burnished mirror of his intellect. Shackles are falling from the persecuted and imprisoned faculties
of the faithfiil, and soon the Faith is to speak out, no more in tones of apology, but as mistress of
the human mind, and its pilot to new worlds of discovery and broad domains of conquest. All
hail the fireedom with which, henceforth. Christians are to assume the overthrow of heathenism as
a foregone conclusion. The distasteful exposure of heresies was the inevitable task after the first
victory. It was the chase and following-up of the adversary in his limping and cowardly retreat,
" the scattering of the rear of darkness." With Athenagoras, we touch upon tokens of things to
come ; we see philosophy yoked to the chariot of Messiah ; we begin to realize that sibylline sur-
render of outworn Paganism, and its forecast of an era of light ; —

" Magnus ab integro sxclorum nascitur ordo,

quo ferrea primum

Desinet, ac toto surget gens aurea mundo."

In Athenagoras, whose very name is a retrospect, we discover a remote result of St. PauFs

speech on Mars Hill. The apostle had cast his bread upon the waters of Ilissus and Cephisus to

find it after many days. " When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked ; "

but here comes a philosopher, from the Athenian agora, a convert to St. Paul's argument in his

Epistle to the Corinthians, confessing " the unknown God," demolishing the marble mob of deities

that so " stirred the apostle's spirit within him," and teaching alike the Platonist and the Stoic to

sit at the feet of Jesus, " Dionysius the Areopagite, and the woman named Damaris," are no

longer to be despised as the scanty first-fruits of Attica. They too have found a voice in this

splendid trophy of the Gospel ; and, " being dead, they yet speak " through him.

125

126 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

To the meagre facts of his biography, which appear below, there is nothing to be added ; * and I
shall restrain my disposition to be a commentator, within the limits of scanty annotations. In the
notes to Tatian and Theophilus, I have made the student acquainted with that useful addition to
his treatise on Justin Martyr, in which the able and judicious Bishop Kaye harmonizes those
authors with Justin. The same harmony enfolds the works of Athenagoras,' and thus affords a
( synopsis of Christian teaching under the Antonines ; in which precision of theological language is
yet unattained, but identity of faith is clearly exhibited. While the Germans are furnishing the
scholar with critical editions of the ancients, invaluable for their patient accumulations of fact and
illustration, they are so daring in theory and conjecture when they come to exposition, that one
enjoys the earnest and wholesome tone of sober comment that distinguishes the English theologian.
It has the great merit of being inspired by profound sympathy with primitive writers, and unadul-
terated faith in the Scriptures. Too often a German critic treats one of these venerable witnesses,
who yet live and yet speak, as if they were dead subjects on the dissecting-table. They cut and
and carve with anatomical display, and use the microscope with scientific skill ; but, oh ! how fre-
quentiy they surrender the saints of God as mere corpses, into the hands of those who count them
victims of a blind faith in a dead Christ.

It will not be necessary, after my quotations from Klaye in the foregoing sheets, to do more
than indicate similar illustrations of Athenagoras to be found in his pages. The dry version often
requires lubrications of devoutly fragrant exegesis ; and providentially they are at hand in that
elaborate but modest work, of which even this generation should not be allowed to lose sight

The annotations of Conrad Gesner and Henry Stephans would have greatly enriched this edi-
tion, had I been permitted to enlarge the work by adding a version of them. They are often
curious, and are supplemented by the interesting letter of Stephans to Peter Nannius, " the emi-
nent pillar of Louvain," on the earliest copies of Athenagoras, from which modem editions have
proceeded. The Paris edition of Justin Martyr (1615) contains these notes, as well as the Greek
of Tatian, Theophilus, and Athenagoras, with a Latin rendering. As Bishop Kaye constantly
refers to this edition. I have considered myself fortunate in possessing it ; using it largely in
comparing his learned comments with the Edinburgh Version.

A few words as to the noble treatise of our author, on the Resurrection. As a firm and loving
voice to this keynote of Christian faith, it rings like an anthem through all the variations of his
thought and argument. Comparing his own blessed hope with the delusions of a world lying in
wickedness, and looking stedfestly to the life of the world to come, what a sublime contrast we
find in this figure of Christ's witness to the sensual life of the heathen, and even to the groping
wisdom of the Attic sages. I think this treatise a sort of growth from the mind of one who had
studied in the Academe, pitying yet loving poor Socrates and his disciples. Yet more, it is the
outcome of meditation on that sad history in the Acts, which expounds St. Paul's bitter reminis-
cences, when he says that his gospel was, " to the Greeks, foolishness." They never " heard him
again on this matter." He left them under the confiised impressions they had expressed in the
agora, when they said, " he seemeth to be a setter-forth of new gods." St. Luke allows himself a
smile only half suppressed when he adds, " because he preached unto them Jesus and Anastasis^'
which in their ears was only a barbarian echo to their own Phmbus and Artemis ; and what did
Athenians want of any more wares of that sort, especially under the introduction of a poor Jew
from parts unknown? Did the apostle's prophetic soul foresee Athenagoras, as he "departed from
among them"? However that may be, his blessed Master "knew what he would do." He
could let none of Paul's words fall to the ground, without taking care that some seeds should bring
forth -fiiiit a thousand- fold. Here come the sheaves at last. Athenagoras proves, also, what our
Saviour meant, when he said to the Galileans, " Ye are the hght of the world."

' But LaTdoer tells the whole story much better. Credibility ^ vol. ii. p. 193.

' The dogmatic value of a patristic quotadon depends on the support it finds in other Fathers, under the supremacy of Scripture: heace
the utility of Kaye's collocations.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 127

The following is the original Introductory Notice : —

It is one of the most singular facts in early ecclesiastical history, that the name of Athenagoras
is scarcely ever mentioned. Only two references to him and his writings have been discovered.
One of these occurs in the work of Methodius, On the Resurrection of the Body, as preserved by
Epiphanius {liar,, Ixiv.) and Photius {Bidiioth,, ccxxxiv.). The other notice of him is found in
the writings ' of Philip of Side, in Pamphylia, who flourished in the early part of the fifth century.
It is very remarkable that Eusebius should have been altogether silent regarding him ; and that
)*Titings, so elegant and powerful as are those which still exist under his name, should have been
allowed in early times to sink into almost entire oblivion.

We know with certainty regarding Athenagoras, that he was an Athenian philosopher who had
embraced Christianity, and that his Apology, or, as he styles it, " Embassy" (Trpco-^Seta), was pre-
sented to the Emperors Aurelius and Commodus about a.d. 177. He is supposed to have written
a considerable number of works, but the only other production of his extant is his treatise on the
Resurrection. It is probable that this work was composed somewhat later than the Apology (see
chap, xxxvi.), though its exact date cannot be determined. Philip of Side also states that he
preceded Pantaenus as head of the catechetical school at Alexandria ; but this is probably incor-
rect, and is contradicted by Eusebius. A more interesting and perhaps well-founded statement
is made by the same writer respecting Athenagoras, to the effect that he was won over to Chris-
tianity while reading the Scriptures in order to controvert them.' Both his Apology and his trea-
tise on the Resurrection display a practised pen and a richly cultured mind. He is by far the
most elegant, and certainly at the same time one of the ablest, of the early Christian Apologists.

' The fragment in which the notice occurs Was extracted from the works of Philip by some unknown writer. It is published as an
appendix to Dodwell's Disstrtationes in Irtnetum.

* [Here a picture suggests itself. We go back to the times of Hadrian. A persecution is raging against the " Nazarenes." A boy-
ish, but well-cultured Athenian saunters into the market-place to hear some new thing. They are talking of those enemies of the human
race, the Christians. Curiosity leads him to their assemblies. He finds them keeping the feast of the resurrection. Quadratus is preaching.
He mocks, but is persuaded to open one of St. Paul's Epistles. " What will this babbler say ? " He reads the fifteenth chapter of First Cor-
inthians, and resents it with all the objections still preserved in his pages. One can see him inquiring more about this Paul, and reading the
seventeenth chapter of the Acts. What an animated description of his own Athens, and in what a new light it reflects the familiar scenes !
He must refute this Paul. But, when he undertakes it, he falls in love with the intrepid assailant of the gods of Greece. Scales fall from his
own eyes. How he sees it all at last, we find in the two works here presented, corresponding as they do, first and last, with the two parts of
the apostle's speech to the men of Athens.]

A PLEA" FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

BY ATHENAGORAS THE ATHENIAN: PHILOSOPHER AND CHRISTIAN.

To the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Aironinus
and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, conquerors of
Armenia and Sarmatia, and more than all, philos-
ophers.

CHAP. I. — INJUSTICE SHOWN TOWARDS THE

CHRISTIANS.

In your empire, greatest of sovereigns, differ-
ent nations have different customs and laws ; and
no one is hindered by law or fear of punishment
from following his ancestral usages, however
ridiculous these may be. A citizen of Ilium calls
Hector a god, and pays divine honours to Helen,
taking her for Adrasteia. The Lacedaemonian
venerates Agamemnon as Zeus, and Phylonoe
the daughter of Tyndarus; and the man of Tene-
dos worships Tennes.^ The Athenian sacrifices
to Erechtheus as Poseidon. The Athenians also
perform religious rites and celebrate mysteries in
honour of Agraulus and Pandrosus, women who
were deemed guilty of impiety for opening the
box. In short, among every nation and people,
men offer whatever sacrifices and celebrate what-
ever mysteries they please. The Egyptians
reckon among their gods even cats, and croco-
diles, and serpents, and asps, and dogs. And to
all these both you and the laws give permission
so to act, deeming, on the one hand, that to be-
lieve in no god at all is impious and wicked, and
on the other, that it is necessary for each ma^
to worship the gods he prefers, in order that,
through fear of the deity, men may be kept from
wong-doing. But why — for do not, like the
multitude, be led astray by hearsay — why is a
mere name odious to you ? ^ Names are not de-
serving of hatred : it is the unjust act that calls
for penalty and punishment. And accordingly,,
with admiration of your mildness and gentleness,
and your peaceful and benevolent disposition
towards every man, individuals live in the pos-

* Literally, "embassy." [By this name best known to scholars.]
' There are here many vane ties of reading: we have followed the
text siurgested by Gesner.

3 We here follow the text of Otto: others read tit^lv.

session of equal rights ;. and the cities, according
to their rank, share in equal honour; and the
whole empire, under your intelligent sway, enjoys^
profound peace. But for us who are called
Christians ^ you have not in like manner cared ;
but although we commit no wrong — nay, as will
appear in the sequel of this discourse, are of all
men most piously and righteously disposed to-
wards the Deify and towards your government —
you allow us to be harassed, plundered, and per-
secuted, the multitude making war upon us for^^
our name alone. We venture, therefore, to lay
a statement of our case before you — and you will
learn from this discourse that we suffer unjustly,
and contrary to all law and reason — and we be-
seech you to bestow some consideration upon
us also, that we may cease at length to be
slaughtered at the instigation of false accusers.
For the fine imposed by our persecutors does
not aim merely at our proj;ierty, nor their insujts
at our reputation, nor the damage they do us at
any other of our greater interests. These we
hold in contempt, though to the generality they
appear matters of great importance ; for we have
learned, not only not to return blow for blow, nor
to go to law with those who plunder and rob us,
but to those who smite us on one side of the face
to offer the other side also, and to those who take
away our coat to give likewise our cloak. But,
when we have surrendered our property, they
plot against our very bodies and souls,^ pouring
— , — _ — . — ■ — -

* [Kaye, 153.]

5 [For three centuries the faithful were made witnesses for Jesus
and the resurrection, even unto death ; with " spoiling of their goods,"
not only, but dying daily, and '* counted as sheep for the slaughter."
What can refute such testimony? 'l*hey con(^uered through sufTering.

The reader will be pleaded with this citation from an author, ihc
neglect of whose heavenly writings is a sad token of spiritual decline
in the spirit of our religion : —

'• The Lord is sure of His designed advantages out of the sufferings
of His Church and of His saints for His name. He loses nothing, and
ihey lose nothing ; but their enemies, when they rage most and prevail
most, are ever ine greatest losers. His own glory grows, the graces
of His people grow; y^/t, their very uh tuber grows ^ and that, some-
times, most by ihcir greatest suffenng*-.. This was evident in the first
ages of the Christian Church. Where were the giory 0/ so ni»ch^
inviucibU lo-s'e and patience, if they had not been so put to it ? "
Leighlon. Comm. on St. Peter, Works, vol. iv. p. 478. West's ad-
mirable edition, London, Longmans, 1870.]

129

I30

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

upon us wholesale charges of crimes of which we
are guiltless even in thought, but which belong
to these idle praters themselves, and to the whole
tribe of those who are like them.

CHAP. II.

CLAIM TO BE TREATED AS OTHERS
ARE WHEN ACCUSED.

If, indeed, any one can convict us of a crime,
be it small or great, we do not ask to be excused
from punishment, but are prepared to undergo
the sharpest and most merciless inflictions. But
if the accusation relates merely to our name —
and it is undeniable, that up to the present time
the stories told about us rest on nothing better
than the common undiscriminating popular talk,
nor has any Christian » been convicted of crime —
it will devolve on you, illustrious and benevolent
and most learjied sovereigns, to remove by law
this despiteful treatment, so that, as throughout
the world both individuals and cities partake of
your beneficence, we also may feel grateful to
you, exulting that we are no longer the victims
of false accusation. For it does not comport
with your justice, that others when charged with
crimes should not be punished till they are con-
victed, but that in our case the^ame we bear
should have more force than the evidence ad-
duced on the trial, when the judges, instead of
inquiring whether the person arraigned have com-
mitted any crime, vent their insults on the name,
as if that were itself a crime.* But no name in
and by itself is reckoned either good or bad ;
names appear bad or good according as the ac-
tions underlying them are bad or good. You,
however, have yourselves a clear knowledge of
this, since you are well instructed in philosophy
and all learning. For this reason, too, those who
are brought before you for trial, though they may
be arraigned on the gravest charges, have no
fear, because they know that you will inquire re-
specting their previous Hfe, and not be influenced
by names if they mean nothing, nor by the
charges contained in the indictments if they
should be false : they accept with equal satisfac-
tion, as regards its fairness, the sentence whether
of condemnation or acquittal. What, therefore,
is conceded as the common right of all, we claim
for ourselves, that we shall not be hated and pun-
ished because we are called Christians (for what
has the name* to do with our being bad men?),
but be tried on any charges which may be brought
against us, and either be released on our disprov-
ing them, or punished if convicted of crime —
not for the name (for no Christian is a bad man
unless he falsely profess our doctrines), but for
the wrong which has been done. It is thus that
we see the philosophers judged. None of them

« [Kaye, 154.]

3 [Tauan, cap. xxvii., fai/ra, p. 76.]

before trial is deemed by the judge either goo<i
or bad on account of his science or art, but if
found guilty of wickedness he is punished, with-
out thereby affixing any stigma on philosophy
(for he is a bad man for not cultivating philoso-
phy in a lawful manner, but science is blameless),
while if he refutes the false charges he is acquitted.
Let this equal justice, then, be done to us. Let
the life of the accused persons be investigated, i
but let the name stand free from all imputation. '
I must at the outset of my defence entreat you.
illustrious emperors, to listen to me impartially :
not to be carried away by the common irrational
talk and prejudge the case, but to apply your de-
sire of knowledge and love of truth to the exam-
ination of our doctrine also. Thus, while you on
your part will not err through ignorance, we also,
by disproving the charges arising out of the un-
disceming rumour of the multitude, shall cease
to be assailed.

CHAP. in. CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST THE

CHRISTIANS.

/^ Three things are alleged against us : atheism,
Thyestean feasts,^ (Edipodean intercourse. But
if these charges are true, spare no class : proceed
at once against our crimes ; destroy us root and
branch, with our wives and children, if any Chris-
tian *• is found to live like the brutes. And yet
even the brutes do not touch the flesh of their,
own kind ; and they pair by a law of nature, and*
only at the regular season, not from simple wan-
tonness; they also recognise those from whom
they receive benefits. If any one, therefore, is
more savage than the brutes, what punishment
that he can endure shall be deemed adequate to
such offences ? But, if these things are only idle
tales and empty slanders, originating in the fact
that virtue is opposed by its very nature to vice,
and that contraries war against one another by a
divine law (and you are yourselves witnesses that
no such iniquities are committed by us, for you '
forbid informations to be laid against us), it re-
mains for you to make inquiry concerning our
life, our opinions, our loyalty and obedience to
you and your house and government, and thus
at length to grant to us the same rights (we ask
nothing more) as to those who persecute us.
For we shall then conquer them, unhesitatingly
surrendering, as we now do, our very lives for
the truth's sake.

CHAP. IV. — THE CHRISTIANS ARE NOT ATHEISTS,
BUT ACKNOWLEDGE ONE ONLY GOD.

As regards, first of all, the allegation that we
are atheists — for I will meet the charges one

3 [See cap. xxxl. Our Lord was " perfect man," yet our author
resents the iaea of eating the flesh of one's own kind as worse than ,
brutal. As to the Eucharist the inference is plain.l

* Thus Otto: others read, " if any one of^men.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

131

by one, that we may not be ridiculed for having
no answer to give to those who make them —
with reason did the Athenians adjudge Diagoras
guilty of atheism, in that he not only divulged
the Orphic doctrine, and published the mys-
teries of Eleusis and of the Cabiri, and chopped
up the wooden statue of Hercules to boil his
turnips, but openly declared that there was n<
(Jod at all. But to us, who distinguish Go<

usually assigned, underlying them (" Zeus," for
instance : " who Zeus is I know not, but by re-
port"), nor that any names were given to reali-
ties which actually do exist (for of what use are
names to those who have no real existences
underlying them?) ; but Him he did see by
means of His works, considering with an eye
to things unseen the things which are manifest
in air, in ether, on earth. Him therefore, from

Who made the heavens, and the broad earth be-
neath."»

[Euripides is speaking] of the nature of God,
which fills His works with beauty, and teaching
both where God must be, and that He must be
One.

CHAP. VI. — OPINIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHERS

TO THE ONE GOD.

from matter,' and teach that matter is one thing] whom proceed all created things, and by whose

and God another, and that they are separated. bw Spirit they are governed, he concluded to be

a wide interval (for that the Deity is uncreated God ; and Sophocles agrees with him, when he

and eternal, to be beheld by the understanding I says : —

and reason alone, while matter is created and/ .^rni. • i- j • * *u ..u • v ^
O.WVA i^,c»v/ii ttiwixv,, fTiiiiv. i^i»i.bv,A 10 v.«v,c»i.v.v« *^*^ " Therc IS onc God, in truth there IS but One,

perishable), is it not absurd to apply the name

of atheism ? If our sentiments were like those

of Diagoras, while we have such incentives to

piety — in the established order, the universal

harmony, the magnitude, the colour, the form,

the arrangement of the world — with reason

might our reputation for impiety, as well as the

cause of our being thus harassed, be charged

on ourselves. But, since our doctrine acknowl-
edges one God, the Maker of this universe, who

is Himself uncreated (for that which is does! Philolaus, too, when he says that all things

not come to be, but that which is not) but has\are included in God as in a stronghold, teaches

made all things by the Logos which is fronv'that He is one, and that He is superior to mat-

' ,,.,-. ^^j. Lysis and Opsimus ^ thus define God : the

one says that He is an ineffable number, the
other that He is the excess of the greatest num-
ber beyond that which comes nearest to it So
that since ten is the greatest number according
to the Pythagoreans, being the Tetractys,^ and
containing all the arithmetic and harmonic prin-
ciples, and the Nine stands next to it, God is a
unit — that is, one. For the greatest number
exceeds the next least by one. Then there are
Plato and Aristode — not that I am about to go
through all that the philosophers have said about
God, as if I wished to exhibit a complete sum-
mary of their opinions ; for I know that, as you
excel all men in intelligence and in the power
of your rule, in the same proportion do you
surpass them all in an accurate acquaintance
with all learning, cultivating as you do each sev-
eral branch with more success than even those
who have devoted themselves exclusively to any
one. But, inasmuch as it is impossible to de-
monstrate without the citation of names that we
are not alone in confining the notion of God to
unity, I have ventured on an enumeration of
opinions. Plato, then, says, "To find out the
Maker and Father of this universe is difficult ;
and, when found, it is impossible to declare
Him to all," * conceiving of one imcreated and

Him, we are treated unreasonably in both re
spects, in that we are both defamed and perse-
cuted.

CHAP. v. — TESTIMONY OF THE POETS TO THE

UNFTY OF GOD.*

Poets and philosophers have not been voted
atheists for inquiring concerning God. Euripi-
des, speaking of those who, according to popu-
lar preconception, are ignorantly called gods,
says doubtingly : —

" If Zeus indeed does reign in heaven above,
He ought not on the righteous ills to send." '

But speaking of Him who is apprehended by
the understanding as matter of certain knowl-
edge, he gives his opinion decidedly, and with
intelligence, thus : —

" Scest thou on high him who, with humid arms,
Clasps both the boundless ether and the earth ?
Him reckon Zeus, and him regard as God." *

For, as to these so-called gods, he neither
saw any real existences, to which a name is

» [Kayc, p. 7.]

^ [De Maistre, who talks nothing but sophistry when he rides his
hobby, and who shocked the pope himself by his fanatical eflfort to
demonstrate the papal system, is, nevertheless, very suggestive and
interesting when he condescends to talk simply as a Christian. See
his citations showing the heathen consciousness of one Supreme
lieing. Soiries de St. Pitersbaurg^ vol. i. pp. 825, 280; vol. ii.
PP- 379, 380.]

' From an unknown play.

4 From an unknown play; the original is ambiguous: comp. Cic,
De Nat Deorum^ ii. c. 25, where the words are translated — " Seest
thou thi^ boundless ether on high which embraces the earth in its
moist arms ? Reckon this Zeus. Athenagoras cannot so have im-
dentood Euripides.

5 Not found in his extant works.

6 Common text has o^ei : we follow the text of Otto. [Gesner
notes this corruption, and conjectures that it should be the name of
some philosopher.]

7 One, two, three, and four together forming ten.
^ TimteuSf p. 28, C.

132

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

eternal God. And if he recognises others as
well, such as the sun, moon, and stars, yet he
recognises them as created : " gods, offspring
of gods, of whom I am the Maker, and the
Father of works which are indissoluble apart
from my will ; but whatever is compounded can
be dissolved." ' If, therefore, Plato is not an
atheist for conceiving of one uncreated God,
the Framer of the universe, neither are we athe-
ists who acknowledge and firmly hold that He
is God who has framed all things by the Logos,
and holds them in being by His Spirit. Aris-
totle, again, and his followers, recognising the
existence of one whom they regard as a sort of
compound living creature (fwov), speak of God
as consisting of soul and body, thinking His
body to be the etherial space and the planetary
stars and the sphere of the fixed stars, moving
in circles ; but His soul, the reason which pre-
sides over the motion of the body, itself not
subject to motion, but becoming the cause of
motion to the other. The Stoics also, although
by the appellations they employ to suit the
changes of matter, which they say is permeated
by the Spirit of God, they multiply the Deity
in name, yet in reality they consider God to be
one.' For, if God is an artistic fire advancing
methodically to the production of the several
things in the world, embracing in Himself all
the seminal principles by which each thing is
produced in accordance with fate, and if His
Spirit pervades the whole world, then God is
one according to them, being named Zeus in
respect of the fervid part (to few) of matter,
and Hera in respect of the air (6 ai^p), and
called by other names in respect of that particu-
lar part of matter which He pervades.

CHAP. Vn. — SUPERIOWTY OF THE CHRISTIAN DOC-
TRINE RESPECTING GOD.

Since, therefore, the unity of the Deity is con-
fessed by almost all, even against their will, when
they come to treat of the first principles of the
universe, and we in our turn likewise assert that
He who arranged this universe is God, — why is
it that they can say and write with impunity
what they please concerning the Deity, but that
against us a law lies in force, though we are able
to demonstrate what we apprehend and justly
believe, namely that there is one God, with proofs
and reason accordant with truth ? For poets and
philosophers, as to other subjects so also to this,
have applied themselves in the way of conjecture,
moved, by reason of their affinity with the afflatus

* TifMiTtts, p. 41 , A.

^ [Wc must not wooder at the scanty praise accorded by the
Apologists 10 the truths embedded everywhere in Plato and other
Heathen writers. They felt intensely, that *' the world, by wisdom,
knew not God : and that it was their own mission to lead men to the
ooly source of true philosophy.]

firom God,3 each one by his own soul, to try
whether he could find out and apprehend the
I truth ; but they have not been found competent
I fully to apprehend it, because they thought fit
j to learn, not from God concerning God, but
each one from himself; hence they came each
to his own conclusion respecting God, and mat-
ter, and forms, arid the world. But we have for
witnesses of the things we apprehend and believe,
prophets, men who have pronounced concerning
God and the things of God, guided by the Spirit
of God. And you too will admit, excelling all
others as you do in intelligence and in piety
towards the true God {to ovrta^ ^elbv), that it
would be irrational for us to cease to believe in
^the Spirit from God, who moved the mouths of
the prophets like musical instruments, and to give
\heed to mere human opinions.

CHAP. Vni. — ABSURDmES OF POLYTHEISM.

As regards, then, the doctrine that there was
from the beginning one God, the Maker of this
universe, consider it in this wise, that you may
be acquainted with the argumentative grounds
also of our faith. If there were from the be-
ginning two or more gods, they were either in
one and the same place, or each of them sepa-
rately in his own. In one and the same place
they could not be. For, if they are gods, they
are not alike ; but because they are uncreated
they are unlike : for created things are like their
patterns ; but the uncreated are unlike, being
neither produced from any one, nor formed
after the pattern of any one. Hand and eye
and foot are parts of one body, making up
together one man : is God in this sense one ? ♦
And indeed Socrates was compounded and
divided into parts, just because he was created
and perishable ; but God is uncreated, and, im-
passible, and indivisible — does not, therefore,
consist of parts. But if, on the contrary, each
of them exists separately, since He that made
the world is above the things created, and about
the things He has made and set in order, where
can the other or the rest be ? For if the world,
being made spherical, is confined within the
circles of heaven, and the Creator of the world
is above the things created, managing that s by
His providential care of these, what place is
there for the second god, or for the other gods?
For he is not in the world, because it belongs
to the other ; nor about the world, for God the
Maker of the world is above it. But if he is

neither in the world nor about the world (for

3 [See cap. xxx., t'ttfra. Important, as showing the degree of
value attributed by the Fathers to tne Sibylline and Orphic sayings-
Comp. Kaye, p. 177.I

4 i. e., Do several gods make up one God ? — Otto. Others read
affirmatively, " God is one."

s i.e., the world.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

133

all that surrounds it is occupied by this one*),
where is he ? Is he above the world and [the
first] God? In another world, or about an-
other ? But if he is in another or about another,
then he is not about us, for he does not govern
the world ; nor is his power great, for he exists
in a circumscribed space. But if he is neither
in another world (for all things are filled by the
other), nor about another (for all things are oc-
cupied by the other), he clearly does not exist
at all, for there is no place in which he can be.
Or what does he do, seeing there is another to
whom the world belongs, and he is above the
Maker of the world, and yet is neither in the
world nor about the world? Is there, then,
some other place where he can stand? But
God, and what belongs to God, are above him.
And what, too, shall be the place, seeing that
the other fills the regions which are above the
world ? Perhaps he exerts a providential care ?
[By no means.] And yet, unless he does so,
he has done nothing. If, then, he neither does
anything nor exercises providential care, and if
there is not another place in which he is, then this
Being of whom we speak is the one (Jod from the
beginning, and the sole Maker of the world.

CHAP. IX. THE TESTIMONIES OF THE PROPHETS.

If we satisfied ourselves with advancing such
considerations as these, our doctrines might by
some be looked upon as, human. But, since the
voices of the prophets confirm our arguments —
for I think that you also, with your great zeal
for knowledge, and your great attainments in
learning, cannot be ignorant of the writings
either of Moses or of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and
the other prophets, who, lifted in ecstasy above
the natural operations of their minds by the
impulses of the Divine Spirit, uttered the things
with which they were inspired, the Spirit making
use of them as a flute-player' breathes into a
flute ; — what, then, do these men say ? " The
Lord is our God; no other can be compared
with Him." 3 And again : " I am God, the first
and the last, and besides Me there is no God." *•
In like manner : " Before Me there was no other
God, and after Me there shall be none ; 1 am
God, and there is none besides Me." s And as
to His greatness : " Heaven is My throne, and
the earth is the footstool of My feet : what house
will ye build for Me, or what is the place of My
rest?"^ But I leave it to you, when you meet
with the books themselves, to examine carefully
the prophecies contained in them, that you may

* i. e., the Creator, or first God.

' TKaye^ 179. An important comment: comp. cap. vii., supra. ^
' Isa xli. 4; "Ex. XX. 3, 3 (as to sense).

* Isa. xHv. 6.

S Isa. xliii. xo, 11.

* Isa. Ixvi. I.

on fitting grounds defend us from the abuse cast
upon us.

CHAP. X. — THE CHRISTIANS WORSHIP THE FATHER,
SON, AND HOLY GHOST.

That we are not atheists, therefore, seeing that
we acknowledge one God, uncreated, eternal, »
invisible, impassible, incomprehensible, illimita-
ble, who is apprehended by the understanding
only and the reason, who is encompassed by
light, and beauty, and spirit, and power ineffable,
by whom the universe has been created through
His Logos, and set in order, and is kept in being
— I filve sufficiently demonstrated. [I say
" His Logos " ], for we acknowledge also a Son
of God. Nor let any one think it ridiculous ■
that God should have a Son. For though the
poets, in their fictions, represent the gods as no
better than men, our mode of thinking is not the
same as theirs, concerning either God the Father
or the Son. But the Son of God is the Logos
of the Father, in idea and in operation ; fort^
after the^pattenyof Him and by Him 7 were all
things niade, the Father and the Son t>eing one.
And, the Son being in the Father and the Father
in the Son, in oneness and power of spirit, the
understanding and reason (vow kolI Xoyo?) of
the Father is the Son of God. But if, in your
surpassing intelligence,** it occurs to you to in-
quire what is meant by the Son, I will state briefly
that He is the first product of the Father, not
as having been brought into existence (for from
the beginning, God, who is the eternal mind
[vovs], had the Logos in Himself, being from
eternity instinct with Logos [Xoyucds]) ; but in-
asmuch as He came forth to be the idea and
energizing power of all material things, whicb
lay like a nature without attributes, and an in-
active earth, the grosser particles being mixed,
up with the lighter. The prophetic Spirit also I
agrees with our statements. "The Lord," it'
says, " made me, the beginning of His ways to
His works." 9 The Holy Spirit Himself also,
which operates in the prophets, we assert to be
an effluence of God, flowing from Him, and re-
turning back again like a beam of the sun.
Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men
who speak of God the Father, and of God the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit,*® and who declare
both their power in union and their distinction
in order, called atheists? Nor is our teaching
in what relates to the divine nature confined to
these points ; but we recognise also a multitude
of angels^and ministers," whom God the Maker
and Framer of the world distributed and ap-

7 " Or, by Him and through Him." [Kaye, pp. 155, 175.]
• [Kaye, p i66.J
9 Prov. viii. 2a.

*o [Compare Theophilus, supra ^ p. 101, and Kaye's note, p. 156.]
'* [Heb. i. 14, the express doctrine of St. Paul. They are minis-
ters to men, not objects of any sort of worship. " Let no man beguile
you," etc. Col. ii. 4, x8.]

134

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

pointed to their several posts by His Logos, to
occupy themselves about the elements, and the
heavens, and the world, and the things in it, and
the goodly ordering of them all.

CHAP. XI. — THE MORAL TEACHING OF THE CHRIS-
TIANS REPELS THE CHARGE BROUGHT AGAINST
THEM.

If I go minutely into the particulars of our
doctrine, let it not surprise you. It is that you
may not be carried away by the popular and
irrational opinion, but may have the truth clearly
before you. For presenting the opinions them-
selves to which we adhere, as being not human,
but uttered and taught by God, we shall be able
to persuade you not to think of us as atheists.
What, then, are those teachings in which we are
brought up ? "I say unto you. Love your ene-
mies ; bless them that curse you ; pray for them
that persecute you ; that ye may be the sons of
your Father who is in heaven, who causes His
sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends
rain on the just and the unjust." ' Allow me here
to lift up my voice boldly in loud and audible out-
cry, pleading as I do before philosophic princes.
For who of those that reduce syllogisms, and

. clear up ambiguities, and explain etymologies,'
or of those who teach homonyms and synonyms,
and predicaments and axioms, and what is the
subject and what the predicate, and who prom-
ise their disciples by these and such like instruc-
tions to make them happy : who of them have
so purged their souls as, instead of hating their
enemies, to love them ; and, instead of speaking
ill of those who have reviled them (to abstain
from which is of itself an evidence of no mean
forbearance), to bless them; and to pray for
those who plot against their lives? On the
contrary, they never cease with evil intent to
search out skilfully the secrets of their art,^ and
are ever bent on working some ill, making the
art of words and not the exhibition of deeds

r their business and profession. But among us
you will find uneducated persons, and artisans,
and old women, who, if they are unable in words
to prove the benefit of our doctrine, yet by their
deeds exhibit the benefit arising from their
persuasion of its truth : they do not rehearse
speeches, but exhibit good works ; when struck,
they do not strike again ; when robbed, they do
not go to law ; they give to those that ask of
them, and love their neighbours as themselves.

CRAP. XII. — CONSEQUENT ABSURDITY OF THE
CHARGE OF ATHEISM.

Should we, then, unless we believed that a
God presides over the human race, thus purge

' Luke vL a7, 28; Matt. v. 44, 45.
* [Kaye, pp. aia-aij.]

3 The meaning is here doubtful ; but the probable reference is to
the practices of the Sophists.

ourselves from evil ? Most certainly not. But,
because we are persuaded that we shall give an
account of everything in the present life to God,
who made us and the world, we adopt a tem-
perate and benovolent and generally despised
method of life, believing that we shall suffer no
such great evil here, even should our lives be
taken from us, compared with what we shall
there receive for our meek and benevolent and
moderate life from the great Judge. Plato in-
deed has said that Minos and Rhadamanthus
will judge and punish the wicked ; but we say
that, even if a man be Minos or Rhadaman-
thus himself, or their father, even he will not
escape the judgment of God. Are, then, those
who consider life to be comprised in this, " Let
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," and
who regard death as a deep sleep and forgetful-
ness ("sleep and death, twin-brothers" * ), to
be accounted pious ; while men who reckon the
present life of very small worth indeed, and who
are conducted to the future life by this one thing
alone, that they know God and His Logos, what
is the oneness of the Son with the Father, what
the communion of the Father with the Son,
what is the Spirit, what is the unity of these
three, the Spirit, the Son, the Father, and their
distinction in unity ; and who know that the
life for which we look is far better than can
be described in words, provided we arrive at
it pure from all wrong-doing; who, moreover,
carry our benevolence to such an extent, that
we not only love our friends ( " for if ye love
them," He says, " that love you, and lend to them
that lend to you, what reward will ye have?" s),
— shall we, I say, when such is our character,
and when we live such a life as this, that we may
escape condemnation at last, not be accounted
pious? These, however, are only small matters
taken from great, and a few things from many,
that we may not further trespass on your i)a-
tience ; for those who test honey and whey,
judge by a small quantity whether the whole is
good.

CHAP. Xra. — WHY THE CHRISTIANS DO NOT OFFER

SACRIFICES.

But, as most of those who charge us with
atheism, and that because they have not even
the dreamiest conception of what God is, and
are doltish and utterly unacquainted with natural
and divine things, and such as measure piety
by the rule of sacrifices, charges us with not
acknowledging the same gods as the cities, be
pleased to attend to the following considerations,
O emperors, on both points. And first, as to
our not sacrificing : the Framer and Father of

* Horn., //., xvi. 672.

s Luke vi. 32, 34 ; Matt. v. 46.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

135

this universe does not need blood, nor the odour
of burnt- offerings, nor the fragrance of flowers
and incense,* forasmuch as He is Himself per-
fect fragrance, needing nothing either within or
without ; but the noblest sacrifice ' to Him is for
us to know who stretched out and vaulted the
heavens, and fixed the earth in its place like a
centre, who gathered the water into seas and
divided the light from the darkness, who adorned
the sky with stars and made the earth to bring
forth seed of every kind, who made animals and
fashioned man. When, holding God to be this
Framer of all things, who preserves them in
being and superintends them all by knowledge
and administrative skill, we " lift up holy hands "
to Him, what need has He further of a heca-
tomb?

" For they, when mortals have transgress'd or faird
To do aright, by sacrifice and pray r,
Libations and burnt-offerings, may be soothed."'

And what have I to do with holocausts, which
God does not stand in need of? — though indeed
it does behove us to offer a bloodless sacrifice
and " the service of our reason." *

CH-\p. xrv.

INCONSISTENCY OF THOSE WHO AC-
CUSE THE CHRISTIANS.

Then, as to the other complaint, that we do
I not pray to and believe in the same gods as the
cities, it is an exceedingly silly one. Why, the
very men who charge us with atheism for not
admitting the same gods as they acknowledge,
are not agreed among themselves concerning the
gods. The Athenians have set up as gods Celeus
and Metanira : the Lacedaemonians Menelaus ;
and they offer sacrifices and hold festivals to
him, while the men of Ilium cannot endure the
very sound of his name, and pay their adoration
to Hector. The Ceans worship Aristaeus, con-
sidering him to be the same as Zeus and Apollo ;
the Thasians Theagenes, a man who committed
murder at the Olympic games; the Samians
Lysander, notwithstanding all the slaughters and
all the crimes perpetrated by him ; Alcman and
Hesiod Medea, and the Cilicians Niobe ; the
Sicilians Philip the son of Butacides ; the Ama- 1
thusians Onesilus ; the Carthaginians Hamilcar. \
Time would fail me to enumerate the whole.
When, therefore, they differ among themselves
concerning their gods, why do they bring the

* [Hannless as flowers and incense may be, the Fathers disown
them in this way continually.]

* [This brilliant condensation of the Benedicite {Song of the
Three Children) aflfords Kaye occasion to observe that our author
is silent as to the sacraments, p. 105.]

3 Horn., //., ix. 499 sq., Lord Derby's translation, which version
the translator has for the most part used.

* Comp. Rom. xii. x. [Mai. i. 11. ** A pun Mincha" (Lev. ii.
i) was the unbloody sacrifice of the Jews. This was to be the
Chnstiaui oblation: nence the offering of Christ's natural blood, as
the Latins now teach, was unknown to Theophilus.]

charge against us of not agreeing with them?
Then look at the practices prevailing among the
Egyptians: are they not perfectly ridiculous?
For in the temples at their solemn festivals they
beat their breasts as for the dead, and sacrifice
to the same beings as gods; and no wonder,
when they look upon the brutes as gods, and
shave themselves when they die, and bury them
in temples, and make public lamentation. If,
then, we are guilty of impiety because we do not
practise a piety corresponding with theirs, then
all cities and all nations are guilty of impiety,
for they do not all acknowledge the same gods.

CHAP. XV. — THE CHRISTL^NS DISTINGUISH GOD

FROM MATTER.

But grant that they acknowledge the same.
What then? Because the multitude, who can-
not distinguish between matter and God, or see
how great is the interval which lies between
them, pray to i(^s made of matter, are we there-
fore, who do distinguish and separate the uncre-
ated and the created, that which is and that
which is not, that which is apprehended by the
understanding and that which is perceived by
the senses, and who give the fitting name to each
of them, — are we to come and worship images?
If, indeed, matter and God are the same, two
names for one thing, then certainly, in not
regarding stocks and stones, gold and silver, as
gods, we are guilty of impiety. But if they are
at the greatest possible remove from one another
— as far asunder as the artist and the materials
of his art — why are we called to account ? For
as is the potter and the clay (matter being the
clay, and the artist the potter), so is God, the
Framer of the world, and matter, which is sub-
servient to Him for the purposes of His art.s
But as the clay cannot become vessels of itself
without art, so neither did matter, which is
capable of taking all forms, receive, apart from
God the Framer, distinction and shape and
order. And as we do not hold the pottery of
more worth than him who made it, nor the ves-
sels of glass and gold than him who wrought
them ; but if there is anything about them ele-
gant in art we praise the artificer, and it is he
who reaps the glory of the vessels : even so with
matter and God — the glory and honour of the
orderly arrangement of the world belongs of
right not to matter, but to God, the Framer
of matter. So that, if we were to regard the
various forms of matter as gods, we should seem
to be without any sense of the true God, because
we should be putting the things which are dissol-
uble and perishable on a level with that which is
eternal.

5 [Kaye, p. 172.]

136

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

CHAP. XVI. — THE CHRISTIANS DO NOT WORSHIP

THE UNIVERSE.

Beautiful without doubt is the world, excel-
ling,' as well in its magnitude as in the arrange-
j ment of its parts, both those in the oblique
' circle and those about the north, and also in its
spherical form.* Yet it is not this, but its Arti-
ficer, that we must worship. For when any of
your subjects come to you, they do not neglect
to pay their homage to you, their rulers and
lords, from whom they w^ill obtain whatever they
need, and address themselves to the magnifi-
cence of your palace ; but, if they chance to
come upon the royal residence, Ihey bestow a
passing glance of admiration on its' beautiful
structure : but it is to you yourselves that they
show honour, as being " all in all." You sover-
eigns, indeed, rear and adorn your palaces for
yourselves ; but the world was not created be-
cause God needed it ; for God is Himself every-
thing to Himself, — light unapproachable, a
perfect world, spirit, power, reason. If, there-
fore, the world is an instrument in tune, and
moving in well- measured time, I adore the Being
who gave its harmony, and strikes its notes, and
sings the accordant strain, and not the instrument.
For at the musical contests the adjudicators do
not pass by the lute-players and crown the lutes.
Whether, then, as Plato says, the world be a
product of divine art, I admire its beauty, and
adore the Artificer ; or whether it be His essence
and body, as the Peripatetics affirm, we do not
neglect to adore God, who is the cause of the
motion of the body, and descend " to the poor
and weak elements," adoring in the impassible 3
air (as they term it), passible matter ; or, if any
one apprehends the several parts of the world to
be powers of God, we do not approach and do
homage to the powers, but their Maker and Lord.
I do not ask of matter what it has not to give,
nor passing God by do I pay homage to the ele-
ments, which can do nothing more than what they
were bidden ; for, although they are beautiful to
look upon, by reason of 9ie art of their Framer,
yet they still have the nature of matter. And to
this view Plato also bears testimony ; " for," says
he, " that which is called heaven and earth has
received many blessings from the Father, but yet
partakes of body ; hence it cannot possibly be
free from change." * If, therefore, while I ad-
mire the heavens and the elements in respect of
their art, I do not worship them as gods, know-
ing that the law of dissolution is upon them, how

* Thus Otto; others render '* comprising."

* [The Ptolemaic univer>c is conceived of as a sort of hollow
ball, or bubble, within which are the spheres moving about the earth.
Milton adopis from Homer the idea oi such a globe, or bubble, hang-
ing by a chain from heaven {Paradise Lost, ii. lo, 51). The obhc^ue
circle is the zoJiac. The Scptentriones are referred to also, bee
Paradise Lost, viii. 65-168.J

^ Some refer this to the human spirit.

* Polit., p 269, D.

can I call those objects gods of which I know
the makers to be men ? Attend, I beg, to a few
words on this subject.

CHAP. XVn. — THE NAMES OF THE GODS AND
THEIR IMAGES ARE BUT OF RECENT DATE.

An apologist must adduce more precise argu-
ments than I have yet given, both concenng the
names of the gods, to show that they are of recent
origin, and concerning their images, to show that
they are, so to say, but of yesterday. You your-
selves, however, are thoroughly acquainted with
these matters, since you are versed in all depart-
ments of knowledge, and are beyond all other
men familiar with the ancients. I assert, then,
^at it was Orpheus, and Homer, and Hesiod
who 5 gave both genealogies and names to those
whom they call gods. Such, too, is the testimony
of Herodotus.^ "My opinion," he says, "is
that Hesiod and Homer preceded me by four
hundred years, and no more; and it was they
who framed a theogony for the Greeks, and gave
the gods their names, and assigned them their
several honours and functions, and described
their forms." Representations of the gods,
again, were not in use at all, so long as statuary,
and painting, and sculpture were unknown ; nor
did they become common until Saurias the Sa-
mian, and Crato the Sicyonian, and Cleanthes
the Corinthian, and the Corinthian damsel 7 ap-
peared, when drawing in outline was invented by
Saurias, who sketched a horse in the sun, and
painting by Crato, who painted in oil on a whi-
tened tablet the outlines of a man and woman ;
and the art of making figures in relief (#copo7r-
\aBiKq) was invented by the damsel,^ who, being
in love with a person, traced his shadow on a
wall as he lay asleep, and her father, being de-
lighted with the exactness of ^ the resemblance
(he was a potter), carved out the sketch and
filled it up with clay : this figure is still preserved
at Corinth. After these, Dsedaliis and Theodo-
rus the Milesian further invented sculpture and
statuary. You perceive, then, ^hat the time
since representations of form and the making of
images began is so short, that we c^an n^me the
artist of each particular god. Tflje image of
Artemis at Ephesus, for example, and that of,
Athena (or rather of Athela, for so ils she named
by those who speak more in the Style of the
mysteries ; for thus was the ancient image made
of the olive-tree called), and the sitting figure
of the same goddess, were made by Endoeus,
a pupil of Daedalus ; the Pythian god was the
work of Theodorus and Telecles ; arid the Delian

5 We here follow the text of Otto; others place the clause in the

following sentence.

* ii. 53-

f Or, Kor6. It is doubtful whether or not this should be regarded

as a proper name.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

^37

god and Artemis are due to the art of Tectxus
and Angelio ; Hera in Samos and in Argos came
from the hands of Smilis, and the other statues '
were by Phidias ; Aphrodite the courtezan in
Cnidus is the production of Praxiteles ; Asclep-
ius in Epidaurus is the work of Phidias. In a
word, of not one of these statues can it be said
that it was not made by man. If, then, these
are gods, why did they not exist from the begin-
ning? Why, in sooth, are they younger than
those who made them ? Why, in sooth, in order
to their coming into existence, did they need the
aid of men and art? They are nothing but
earth, and stones, and matter, and curious art.'

CHAP. XVm. THE GODS THEMSELVES HAVE BEEN

CREATED, AS THE POETS CONFESS.

But, since it is affirmed by some that, although
these are only images, yet there exist gods in
honour of whom they are made ; and that the
supplications and sacrifices presented to the
images are to be referred to the gods, and are
in fact made to the gods ; ^ and that there is not
any other way of coming to them, for

" *Tis hard for man
To meet in presence visible a God ; " *

and whereas, in proof that such is the fact, they
adduce the ener^gies possessed by certain im-
ages, let us examine into the power attached to
their names. And I would beseech you, greatest
of emperors, before I enter on this discussion,
to be indulgent to me while I bring forward true
considerations ; for it is not my design to show
the fallacy of idols, but, by disproving the cal-
umnies vented against us, to offer a reason for
the course of life we follow. May you, by con-
sidering yourselves, be able to discover the
heavenly kingdom also ! For as all things are
subservient to you, father and son,5 who have
received the kingdom from above (for "the
king's soul is in the hand of God,"^ saith the pro-
phetic Spirit), so to the one G^yi and the Logos
proceeding from Him, the Son, apprehended by
us as inseparable from Him, all things are in like
manner subjected. This then especially I beg
you carefully to consider. The gods, as they
affirm, were not from the beginning, but every
one of them has come into existence just like
ourselves. And in this opinion they all agree.
Homer speaks of

* The reading is here doubtful.

^ ^ [^There were no imaees or pictures, therefore, in the earliest
Chrisuan places of prayer. J

I [This was a heathen justification of imaKe-worship, and entirely
foreign to ilie Christian nund. Leighton, IVor/ts, vol. v. p. 323, ]

* Horn., //., XX. 131.^

* (See Kayc's very impoitant note, refuting Gibbon's cavil, and
illustrating the purpose of Bishop Bull, in his quotation. On the
VfpiXMp)|7tf , sec Bull, //■</. Nictemr, iv. cap. 4. J

* Pifov. xxi. I.

" Old Oceanus,
The sire of gods, and Tethys ; " '

and Orpheus (who, moreover, was the first to
invent their names, and recounted their births,
and narrated the exploits of each, and is believed
by them to treat with greater truth than others
of divine things, whom Homer himself follows in
most matters, especially in reference to the gods)
— he, too, has fixed their first origin to be from
water : —

*' Oceanus, the origin of , all."

For, according to him, water was the beginning
of all things, and from water mud was formed,
and from both was produced an animal, a dragon
with the head of a lion growing to it, and be-
tween the two heads there was the face of a
god, named Heracles and Kronos. This Hera-
cles generated an egg of enormous size, which,
on becoming full, was, by the powerful friction
of its generator, burst into two, the part at the
top receiving the form of heaven (ovpavos), and
the lower part that of earth (y?). The goddess
Ge, moreover, came forth with a body ; and
Ouranos, by his union with Ge, begat females,
Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos ; and males, the
hundred-handed Cottys, Gyges, Briareus, and
the Cyclopes Brontes, and Steropes, and Argos,
whom also he bound and hurled down to Tar-
tarus, having learnt that he was to be ejected
from his government by his children ; where-
upon Ge, being enraged, brought forth the
Titans.*

** The godlike Gaia bore to Ouranos
Sons who are by the name of Titans known,
Because they vengeance ' took on Ouranos,
Majestic, ghtt'ring with his starry crown." *®

CHAP. XDC. — THE PHILOSOPHERS AGREE WFTH THE
POETS RESPECTING THE GODS.

Such was the beginning of the existence both
of their gods and of the universe. Now what
are we to make of this? For each of those
things to which divinity is ascribed is conceived
of as having existed from the first. For, if they
have come into being, having previously had no
existence, as those say who treat of the gods,
they do not exist. For, a thing is either uncre-
ated and eternal, or created and perishable.
Nor do I think one thing and the philosophers
another. "What is that which always is, and
has no origin ; or what is that which has been
originated, yet never is ? " " Discoursing of the
intelligible and the sensible, Plato teaches that

7 Horn., //., xiv. 201, 30a.

* Horn., //., xiv. 246.

9 TiadfrByfv.

*o Orpheus, Fragments.
" Plat., Tim., p. 27, D.

138

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

that which always is, the intelligible, is unorigi-
nated, but that that which is not, the sensible,
is originated, beginning to be and ceasing to
exist. In like manner, the Stoics also say that
all things will be burnt up and will again exist,
the world receiving another beginning. But if,
although there is, according to them, a twofold
cause, one active and governing, namely provi-
dence, the other passive and changeable, namely
matter, it is nevertheless impossible for the
world, even though under the care of Provi-
dence, to remain, in the same state, because it
is created — how can the constitution of these
gods remain, who are not self- existent,' but have
been originated? And in what are the gods
superior to matter, since they derive their con-
stitution from water? But not even water, ac-
cording to them, is the beginning of all things.
From simple and homogeneous elements what
could be constituted? Moreover, matter re-
quires an artificer, and the artificer requires
matter. For how could figures be made with-
out matter or an artificer? Neither, again, is it
reasonable that matter should be older than
God ; for the efficient cause must of necessity
exist before the things that are made.

CHAP. XX. — ABSURD REPRESENTATIONS OF THE

GODS.

If the absurdity of their theology were con-
fined to saying that the gods were created, and
owed their constitution to water, since I have
demonstrated that nothing is made which is not
also liable to dissolution, I might proceed to the
remaining charges. But, on the one hand, they
have described their bodily forms : speaking of
Hercules, for instance, as a god in the shape
of a dragon coiled up ; of others as hundred-
handed ; of the daughter of Zeus, whom he
begat of his mother Rhea; or of Demeter, as
having two eyes in the natural order, and two in
her forehead, and the face of an animal on the
back part of her neck, and as having also horns,
so that Rhea, frightened at her monster of a
child, fled from her, and did not give her the
breast (Orjki^), whence mystically she is called
Athela, but commonly Phersephon^ and Kor^,
though she is not the same as Athena,* who is
called Kor6 from the pupil of the eye; — and,
on the other hand, they have described their
admirable ^ achievements, as they deem them :
how Kronos, for instance, mutilated his father,
and hurled him down from his chariot, and how
he murdered his children, and swallowed the
males of them ; and how Zeus bound his father,
and cast him down to Tartanis, as did Ouranos

also to his sons, and fought with the Titans for
the government ; and how he persecuted his
mother Rhea when she refused to wed him,
and, she becoming a she-dragon, and he himself
being changed into a dragon, bound her with
what is called the Herculean knot, and accom-
plished his purpose, of which fact the rod of
Hermes is a symbol ; and again, how he vio-
lated his daughter Phersephon^, in this case
also assuming the form of a dragon, and became
the father of Dionysus. In face of narrations
like these, I must say at least this much, What
that is becoming or useful is there in such
a history, that we must believe Kronos, Zeus,
Kor^, and the rest, to be gods? Is it the de-
scriptions of their bodies ? Why, what man of
judgment and reflection will believe that a viper
was begotten by a god (thus Orpheus : —

" But from the sacred womb Phanes begat
Another offspring, horrible and fierce,
In sight a frightful viper, on whose head
Were hairs : its face was comely ; but the rest.
From the neck downwards, bore the aspect dire
Of a dread dragon " *) ;

or who will admit that Phanes himself, being a
first- bom god (for he it was that was produced
from the egg), has the body or shape of a dragon,
or was swallowed by Zeus, that Zeus might be too
large to be contained? For if they differ in no
respect from the lowest brutes (since it is evi-
dent that the Deity must differ from the things
of earth and those that are derived from matter),
they are not gods. How, then, I ask, can we
approach them as suppliants, when their origin
resembles that of cattle, and they themselves have
the form of brutes, and are ugly to behold ?

CHAP. XXI. — IMPURE LOVES ASCRIBED TO THE

GODS.

But should it be said that they only had fleshly
forms, and possess blood and seed, and the affec-
tions of anger and sexual desire, even then we
must regard such assertions as nonsensical and
ridiculous ; for there is neither anger, nor desire
and appetite, nor procreative seed, in gods. Let
them, then, have fleshly forms, but let them be
superior to wrath and anger, that Athena may
not be seen

" Burning with rage and inly wroth with Jove;'*'
nor Hera appear thus : —

" Tuno*s breast
Could not contain her rage."*

And let them be superior to grief : —

« LitCTally, " by nature."

^ i.e., Minerva.

* Or, *■ have accurately described.

* Fragments.

5 Horn., //., iv. 23.

* litti.f iv. 34.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

139

** A woful sight mine eyes behold : a man
I love in flight around the walls! My heart
For Hector grieves." '

For I call even men rude and stupid who give
way to anger and grief. But when the " father
of men and gods " mourns for his son, —

" Woe, woe ! that fate decrees my best belov*d
Sarpedon, by Patroclus* hand to fall ; " *

and is not able while he mourns to rescue him
from his peril : —

" The son of Jove, yet Jove preserved him not ; " *

who would not blame the folly of those who, with
tales like these, are lovers of the gods, or rather,
live without any god? Let them have fleshly
forms, but let not Aphrodite be wounded by
Diomedes in her body : —

" The haughty son of Tydeus, Diomed,
Hath wounded me ; " *

or by Ares in her soul : —

" Me, awkward me, she scorns j and yields her charms
To that fair lecher, the strong god of arms." *

"The weapon pierced the flesh."*

He who was terrible in battle, the ally of Zeus
against the Titans, is shown to be weaker than
Diomedes : —

** He raged, as Mars, when brandishing his spear." '

Hush ! Homer, a god never rages. But you
describe the god to me as blood-stained, and
the bane of mortals : —

" Mars, Mars, the bane of mortals, stained with blood ; " "

and you tell of his adultery and his bonds : —

•'Then, nothing loth, th* enamour'd fair he led,
And sunk transported on the conscious bed.
Down rushed the toils." '

Do they not pour forth impious stuff of this sort
in abundance concerning the gods ? Ouranos is
mutilated ; Kronos is bound, and thrust down to
Tartarus ; the Titans revolt ; Styx dies in battle :
yea, they even represent them as mortal ; they
are in love with one another ; they are in love
with human beings : —

" ^neas, amid Ida's jutting peaks,
Immortal Venus to Anchises bore." *°

Are they not in love ? Do they not suffer? Nay,
verily, they are gods, and desire cannot touch
them ! Even though a god assume flesh in pur-

' /it'd., xxiL 168 sq.
' I6zd.,xy\. 433 sq.
3 /hid., xvi. 522.
■• I6td., V. 376.

^ Horn., Oa.f viit. 308 sq., Pope's transl.
<> Horn., //., V. 858.
' Horn., //., XV. 605.
• Horn., //., V. 31, 455.
9 Horn., Od.. viii. 296-398, Pope's transl.
» Horn., //., li. 820.

suance of a divine purpose," he is therefore the
slave of desire.

For never yet did such a flood of love,
For goddess or for mortal, fill my soul ;
Not for Ixion's beauteous wife, who bore
Firithous, sage in council as the gods ;
Nor the neat-footed maiden Danae,
Acrisius' daughter, her who Perseus bore,
Th* observ'd of all ; nor noble Phoenix' child ;
. . . . . nor for Semele ;
Nor for Alcmena fair ; . . .
No, nor for Ceres, golden-tressed queen ;
Nor for Latona bright ; nor for thyself." "

He is created, he is perishable, with no trace of
a god in him. Nay, they are even the hired
servants of men : —

" Admetus* halls, in which I have endured
To praise the menial table, though a god." **

And they tend cattle : —

*' And coming to this land, I cattle fed.
For him that was my host, and kept this house." **

Admetus, therefore, was superior to the god. O

prophet and wise one, and who canst foresee for

others the things that shall be, thou didst not

divine the slaughter of thy beloved, but didst

even kill him with thine own hand, dear as he

was: —

" And I believed Apollo's mouth divine
Was full of truth, as well as prophet's art.

(iEschylus is reproaching Apollo for being a
false prophet :) —

" The very one who sings while at the feast,
The one who said these things, alas I is he
Who slew my son." **

CHAP. XXII. — PRETENDED SYMBOLICAL EXPLANA-
TIONS.

But perhaps these things are poetic vagary,
and there is some natural explanation of them^
such as this by Empedocles : —

" Let Tove be fire, and Juno source of life.
With Pluto and Nestis, who bathes with tears
The human founts."

If, then, Zeus is fire, and Hera the earth, and
Aidoneus the air, and Nestis water, and these
are elements — fire, water, air — none of them
is a god, neither Zeus, nor Hera, nor Aidoneus ;
for from matter separated into parts by God is
their constitution and origin : —

" Fire, water, earth, and the air's gentle height,
And harmony with these."

Here are things which without harmony can-
not abide ; which would be brought to ruin by
strife : how then can any one say that they are

IX [o'lKovoitiav. Kaye, p. 174. And see Paris ed,, 16x5.]

*2 Hom., //., xiv. 3x5 sqq.

*3 Eurip., Alcest.f i sq.

«♦ rdid., 8 sq.

'5 From an unknown play of i'Elschylus.

140

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

gods? Friendship, according to Empedocles,
has an aptitude to govern, things that are com-
pounded are governed, and that which is apt to
govern has the dominion ; so that if we make the
power of the governed and the governing one
and the same, we shall be, unawares to ourselves,
putting perishable and fluctuating and change-
able matter *on an equality with the uncreated,
and eternal, and ever self-accordant God. Zeus
is, according to the Stoics, the fervid part of na-
ture ; Hera is the air (arjp) — the very name, if
it be joined to itself, signifying this ; ' Poseidon
is what is drunk (water, 7rd<rt9). But these
things are by different persons explained of nat-
ural objects in different ways. Some call Zeus
twofold masculine- feminine air ; others the season
which brings about mild weather, on which ac-
count it was that he alone escaped from Kronos.
But to the Stoics it may be said. If you acknowl-
edge one God, the supreme and uncreated and
eternal One, and as many compound bodies as
there are changes of matter, and say that the
Spirit of God, which pervades matter, obtains
according to its variations a diversity of names,
the forms of matter will become the body of God ;
but when the elements are destroyed in the con-
flagration, the names will necessarily perish along
with the forms, the Spirit of God alone remain-
ing. Who, then, can believe that those bodies,
of which the variation according to matter is
allied to corruption, are gods? But to those
who say that Kronos is time, and Rhea the earth,
and that she becomes pregnant by Kronos, and
brings forth, whence she is regarded as the moth-
er of all ; and that he begets and devours his
offspring ; and that the mutilation is the inter-
course of the male with the female, which cuts
off the seed and casts it into the womb, and gen-
erates a human being, who has in himself the
sexual desire, which is Aphrodite ; and that the
madness of Kronos is the tjirn of season, which
destroys animate and inanimate things ; and that
the bonds and Tartarus are time, which is changed
by seasons and disappears ; — to such persons
we say, If Kronos is time, he changes ; if a sea-
son, he turns about ; if darkness, or frost, or the
moist part of nature, none of these is abiding ;
but the Deity is immortal, and immoveable, and
unalterable : so that neither is Kronos nor his
image God. As regards Zeus again : If he is air,
bom of Kronos, of which the male part is called
Zeus and the female Hera (whence both sister
and wife), he is subject to change ; if a season,
he turns about : but the Deity neither changes
nor shifts about. But why should I trespass on
your patience by saying more, when you know
so well what has been said by each of those who
have resolved these things into np.ture, or what

' Perhaps ijp (ai|P) a.

various writers have thought concerning nature,
or what they say concerning Athena, whom they
affirm to be the wisdom ((^poKi/o-is) pervading
all things ; and concerning Isis, whom they call
the birth of all time (<^v(rts audvos), from whom
all have sprung, and by whom all exist ; or con-
cerning Osiris, on whose murder by Typhon his
brother Isis with her son Orus sought after his
limbs, and flnding them honoured diem with a
sepulchre, which sepulchre is to this day called
the tomb of Osiris ? For whilst they wander up
and down about the forms of matter, they miss
to find the God who can only be beheld by the
reason, while they deify the elements and their
several parts, applying different names to them
at different times : calling the sowing of the com,
for instance, Osiris (hence they say, that in the
mysteries, on the finding of the members of his
body, or the fmits, Isis is thus addressed : W'e
have found, we wish thee joy), the fmit of the
vine Dionysus, the vine itself Semel6, the heat of
the sun the thunderbolt. And yet, in fact, they
who refer the fables to actual gods, do anything
rather than add to their divine character; for
they do not perceive, that by the very defence
they make for the gods, they confirm the things
which are alleged concerning them. What have
Europa, and the bull, and the swan, and Leda,
to do with the earth and air, that the abominable
intercourse of Zeus with them should be taken
for the intercourse of the earth and air? But
missing to discover the greatness of God, and
not being able to rise on high with their reason
(for they have no affinity for the heavenly place),
they pine away among the forms of matter, and
rooted to the earth, deify the changes of the
elements : just as if any one should put the ship
he sailed in in the place of the steersman. But
as the ship, although equipped with everything,
is of no use if it have not a steersman, so
neither are the elements, though arranged in
perfect order, of any service apart from the provi-
dence of God. For the ship will not sail of
itself; and the elements without their Framer
will not move.

CHAP. XXm. — OPINIONS OF THALES AND PLATO.

You may say, however, since you excel all
men in understanding. How comes it to pass,
then, that some of the idols manifest power, if
those to whom we erect the statues are not
gods? For it is not likely that images destitute
of life and motion can of themselves do any-
thing without a mover. That in various places,
cities, and nations, certain effects are brought
about in the name of idols, we are far from
denying. None the more, however, if some
have received benefit, and others, on the con-
trary, suffered harm, shall we deem those to be
gods who have produced the effects in either

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

141

case. But I have made careful inquiry, both
why it is that you think the idols to have this
power, and who they are that, usurping their
names, produce the effects. It is necessary for
me, however, in attempting to show who they
are that produce the effects ascribed to the
idols, and that they are not gods, to have re-
course to some witnesses from among the phi-
losophers. First Thales, as those who have
accurately examined his opinions report, divides
[superior beings] into God, demons, and heroes.
(Jod he recognises as the Intelligence (vovs) of
the world; by demons he understands beings
possessed of soul ^jrvxi'^aC) ; and by heroes the
separated souls of men, the good being the good
souls, and the bad the worthless. Plato again,
while withholding his assent on other points,
also divides [superior beings] into the uncreated
God and those produced by the uncreated One
for the adornment of heaven, the planets, and
the fixed stars, and into demons ; concerning
which demons, while he does not think fit to
speak himself, he thinks that those ought to be
listened to who have spoken about them. " To
speak concerning the other demons, and to
know their origin, is beyond our powers ; but
we ought to believe those who have before
spoken, the descendants of gods, as they say —
and surely they must be well acquainted with
their own ancestors : it is impossible, therefore,
to disbelieve the sons of gods, even though they
speak without probable or convincing proofs;
but as they profess to tell of their own family
afiairs, we are bound, in pursuance of custom,
to believe them. In this way, then, let us hold
and speak as they do concerning the origin of
the gods themselves. Of Ge and Ouranos were
bom Oceanus and Tethys ; and of these Phor-
cus, Kronos, and Rhea, and the rest; and of
Kronos and Rhea, Zeus, Hera, and all the others,
who, we know, are all called their brothers ; be-
sides other descendants again of these." ' Did,
then, he who had contemplated the eternal Intel-
ligence and God who is apprehended by reason,
and declared His attributes — His real existence,
the simplicity of His nature, the good that flows
forth from Him that is truth, and discoursed of
primal power, and how "all things are about the
King of all, and all things exist for His sake, and
He is the cause of all ; " and about two and three,
that He is " the second moving about the sec-
onds, and the third about the thirds;"' — did
this man think, that to learn the truth concerning
those who are said to have been produced from
sensible things, namely earth and heaven, was a
task transcending his powers? It is not to be
believed for a moment. But because he thought

* Tim., p 40, D. E.

2 Pseudo-Ptat., jE/m/., ii. p. 3x2, D. E. The meaning is very ob-
scure.

it impossible to believe that gods beget and are
brought forth, since everything that begins to be
is followed by an end, and (for this is much
more difficult) to change the views of the mul-
titude, who receive the fables without examina-
tion, on this account it was that he declared it
to be beyond his powers to know and to speak
concerning the origin of the other demons, since
he was unable either to admit or teach that gods
were begotten. And as regards that saying of
his, " The great sovereign in heaven, Zeus, driv-
ing a winged car, advances first, ordering and
managing all things, and there follow him a host
of gods and demons," ^ this does not refer to
the Zeus who is said to have sprung from Kro-
nos ; for here the name is given to the Maker
of the universe. This is shown by Plato him-
self ; not being able to designate Him by another
title that should be suitable, he availed himself
of the popular name, not as peculiar to God,
but for distinctness, because it is not possible
to discourse of God to all men as fully as one
might ; and he adds at the same time the epi-
thet " Great," so as to distinguish the heavenly
from the earthly, the uncreated from the created,
who is younger than heaven and earth, and
younger than the Cretans, who stole him away,
that he might not be killed by his father.

CHAP. XXIV. — CONCERNING TOE ANGELS AND

GIANTS.

What need is there, in speaking to you who
have searched into every department of knowl-
edge, to mention the poets, or to examine
opinions of another kind ? Let it suffice to say
thus much. If the poets and philosophers did
not acknowledge that there is one God, and
concerning these gods were not of opinion,
some that they are demons, others that they are
matter, and others that they once were men, —
there might be some show of reason for our
being harassed as we are, since we employ
language which makes a distinction between
God and matter, and the natures of the two.
For, as we acknowledge a God, and a Son his
Logos, and a Holy Spirit, united in essence, —
the Father, the Son, the Spirit, because the Son
is the Intelligence, Reason, Wisdom of the
Father, and the Spirit an effluence, as light from
fire ; so also do we apprehend the existence of
other powg^rs, which exercise dominion about
matter, and by means of it, and one in particular,
which is hostile to God : not that anything is
really opposed to God, like strife to friendship,
according to Empedocles, and night to day,
according to the appearing and disappearing of
the stars (for even if anything ha^ placed itself
in opposition to God, it would have ceased to

» Plat., Pheedr.^ p. 246, E.

142

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

exist, its structure being destroyed by the power
and might of God), but that to the good that is
in God, which belongs of necessity to Him, and
co-exists with Him, as colour with body, without
which it has no existence (not as being part of
it, but as an attendant property co-existing with
it, united and blended, just as it is natural for
fire to be yellow and the ether dark blue), —
to the good that is in God, I say, the spirit
which is about matter,' who was created by God,
just as the other angels were created by Him,
and entrusted with the control of matter and
the forms of matter, is opposed. For this is the
office of the angels, — to exercise providence for
God over the things created and ordered by
Him ; so that God may have the universal and
general providence of the whole, while the par-
ticular parts are provided for by the angels
appointed over them.* Just as with men, who
have freedom of choice as to both virtue and
vice (for you would not either honour the good
or punish the bad, unless vice and virtue were in
their own power ; and some are diligent in the
matters entrusted to them by you, and others
faithless), so is it among the angels. Some, free
agents, you will observe, such as they were
created by God, continued in those things' for
which God had made and over which He had
ordained them ; but some outraged both the
constitution of their nature and the government
entrusted to them : namely, this ruler of matter
and its various forms, and others of those who
were placed about this first firmament (you know
that we say nothing without witnesses, but state
the things which have been declared by the
prophets) ; these fell into impure love of virgins,
and were subjugated by the flesh, and he be-
came negligent and wicked in the management
of the things entrusted to him. Of these lovers
of virgins, therefore, were begotten those who
are called giants.^ And if something has been
said by the pTJets, too, about the giants, be not
surprised at this : worldly wisdom and divine
differ as much from each other as truth and
plausibility : the one is of heaven and the other
of earth ; and indeed, according to the prince
of matter, —

** We know we oft speak lies that look like truths." *

CHAP. XXV. — THE POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS HAVE
DENIED A DIVINE PROVIDENCE.

These angels, then, who have fallen from
heaven, and haunt the air and the earth, and are

' IComp. cap. xxvii., iu/ra.]

' [KiyCf 19a. And see cap. x., supra^ p. 133. Divine Providence
does not exclude the ministry of angels by divine appointment.
Resurrection^ cap. xvtii., in/ra.\

3 [The Paris editors caution us against^ yielding to this inter*

yretation of Gen. vi. 1-4. It was the Rabbinical interpretation. See
osephus, book i. cap. 3.]

4 Hesiod, Theog.^ 27. [Traces of the Nefkilim are found in all
mythologies.]

no longer able to rise to heavenly things, and the
souls of the giants, which are the demons who
wander about the world, perform actions similar,
the one (that is, the demons) to the natures they
have received, the other (that is, the angels) to
the appetites they have indulged. But the prince
of matter, as may be seen merely from what
transpires, exercises a control and management
contrary to the good that is in God : —

" Ofttimes this anxious thought has crossed my mind.
Whether 'tis chance or deity that rules
The small affairs of men ; and, spite of hope
As well as justice, drives to exile some
Stripped of all means of life, while others still
Contmue to enjoy prosperity." '

Prosperity and adversity, contrary to hope and
justice, made it impossible for Euripides to say
to whom belongs the administration of earthly
affairs, which is of such a kind that one might
say of it : —

" How then, while seeing these things, can we say
There is a race of gods, or yield to laws ? " *

The same thing led Aristotle to say that the
things below the heaven are not under the care
of Providence, although the eternal providence
of God concerns itself equally with us below, —

•* The earth, let willingness move her or not,
Must herbs produce, and thus sustain my flocks,"^ —

and addresses itself to the deserving individually,
according to truth and not according to opinion ;
and all other things, according to the general
constitution of nature, are provided for by the
law of reason. But because the demoniac move-
ments and operations proceeding from the ad- y
verse spirit produce these disorderly sallies, and
moreover move men, some in one way and some
in another, as individuals and as nations, sepa-
rately and in common, in accordance with the
tendency of matter on the one hand, and of the
affinity for divine things on the other, from with-
in and from without, — some who are of no mean
reputation have therefore thought that this uni-
verse is constituted without any definite order,
and is driven hither and thither by an irrational
chance. But they do not understand, that of
those things which belong to the constitution
of the whole world there is nothing out of order
or neglected, but that each one of them has been
produced by reason, and that, therefore, they do
not transgress the order prescribed to them ; and
that man himself, too, so far as He that made
him is concerned, is well ordered, both by his
original nature, which has one common charac-
ter for all, and by the constitution of his body,
which does not transgress, the law imposed upon

5 Eurip.: from an unknown play.

6 Ibid.

7 Eurip., CycLf 332 sq.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

it, and by the termination of his life, which re-
mains equal and common to all alike ; * but that,
according to the character peculiar to himself
and the operation of the ruling prince and of the
(lemons his followers, he is impelled and moved
in this direction or in that, notwithstanding that
all possess in common the same original constitu-
tion of mind.'

CHAP. XXVI. — THE DEMONS ALLURE MEN TO THE

WORSHIP OF IMAGES.

They who draw jnen to idols, then, are the
aforesaid demons, who are eager for the blood
of the sacrifices, and hck them ; but the gods
that please the multitude, and whose names are
given to the images, were men, as may be
learned from their history. And that it is the
demons who act under their names, is proved by
the nature of their operations. For some cas-
trate, as Rhea ; others wound and slaughter, as
Artemis ; the Tauric goddess puts all strangers
to death. I pass over those who lacerate with
knives and scourges of bones, and shall not at-
tempt to describe all the kinds of demons ; for
it is not the part of a god to incite to things
against nature.

** But when the demon plots against a man,
He first inflicts some hurt upon his mind.'* ^

But God, being perfectly good, is eternally doing
good. That, moreover, those who exert the
power are not the same as those to whom the stat-
ues are erected, very strong evidence is afforded
bv Troas and Parium. The one has statues of
Xeryllinus, a man of our own times ; and Parium
of Alexander and Proteus : both the sepulchre
and the statue of Alexander are still in the forum.
The other statues of Neryllinus, then, are a pub-
lic ornament, if indeed a city can be adorned by
such objects as these ; but one of them is sup-
posed to utter oracles and to heal the sick, and
on this account the people of the Troad offer
sacrifices to this statue, and overlay it with gold,
and hang chaplets upon it. But of the statues
of Alexander and Proteus (the latter, you are
aware, threw himself into the fire near Olympia),
that of Proteus is likewise said to utter oracles ;
and to that of Alexander —

" Wretched Paris, though in form so fair,
Thou slave of woman " * —

sacrifices are offered and festivals are held at the
public cost, as to a god who can hear. Is it,
then, Neryllinus, and Proteus, and Alexander who
exert these energies in connection with the stat-
ues, or is it the nature of the matter itself? But

» [Kaye, p. 190.I

* Or, "powers of reasoning" (Koynrtio^)'

' From an unknown tragedian. [A passage which I cannot but
apply to the lapse of Tatian. J

* Horn., //, iti. 39.

the matter is brass. And what can brass do of
itself, which may be made again into a different
form, as Amasis treated the footpan,5 as told by
Herodotus? And Neryllinus, and Proteus, and
Alexander, what good are they to the sick? For
what the image is said now to effect, it effected
when Neryllinus was alive and sick.

CHAP. XXVII. — ARTIFICES OF THE DEMONS.

What then? In the first place, the irrational
and fantastic movements of the soul about opin-
ions produce a diversity of images (ctSoiXa) from
time to time : some they derive from matter, and
some they fashion and bring forth for themselves ;
and this happens to a soul especially when it par-
takes of the material spirit^ and becomes mingled
with it, looking not at heavenly things and their
Maker, but downwards to earthly things, wholly
at the earth, as being now mere flesh and blood,
and no longer pure spirit.^ These irrational and
fantastic movements of the soul, then, give birth
to empty visions in the mind, by which it becomes
madly set on idols. When, too, a tender and
susceptible soul, which has no knowledge or ex-
perience of sounder doctrines, and is unaccus-
tomed to contemplate truth, and to consider
thoughtfully the Father and Maker of all things,
gets impressed with false opinions respecting
itself, then the demons who hover about matter,
greedy of sacrificial odours and the blood of
victims, and ever ready to lead men into error,
avail themselves of these delusive movements of
the souls of the multitude ; and, taking posses-
sion of their thoughts, cause to flow into the
mind empty visions as if coming from the idols
and the statues ; and when, too, a soul of itself,
as being immortal,^ moves comformably to rea-
son, either predicting the future or healing the
present, the demons claim the glory for them-
selves.

CHAP. XXVra. — THE HEATHEN GODS WERE SIMPLY

MEN.

But it is perhaps necessary, in accordance with
what has already been adduced, to say a little
about their names. Herodotus, then, and Alex-
ander the son of Philip, in his letter to his mother
(and each of them is said to have conversed with
the priests at Heliopolis, and Memphis, and
Thebes), affirm that they learnt from them that
the gods had been men. Herodotus speaks
thus : " Of such a nature were, they said, the
beings represented by these images, they were
very far indeed from being gods. However, in
the times anterior to them it was otherwise ; then

See note to Theophilus, cap. x., supra^ p. 92.]
|Kayc, p. X91: and comp. cap. xxiv., jw/ra, p. 143.]
jComp. On the Resurrtciion^ cap. xiii., infra^ p. 439 of ed.
Edinburgh. Also Kaye, p. 199.]
» [Kaye, p. 190.]

144

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

Egypt had gods for its rulers, who dwelt upon
the earth with men, one being always supreme
above the rest. The last of these was Horus the
son of Osiris, called by the Greeks Apollo. He
deposed Typhon, and ruled over Egypt as its
last god-king. Osiris is named Dionysus (Bac-
chus) by the Greeks." » " Almost all the names
of the gods came into Greece from Egypt."'
Apollo was the son of Dionysus and Isis, as He-
rodotus likewise affirms : " According to the
Egyptians, Apollo and Diana are the children of
Bacchus and Isis; while Latona is their nurse
and their preserver." ^ These beings of heavenly
origin they had for their first kings : partly from
ignorance of the true worship of the Deity, partly
from gratitude for their government, they es-
teemed them as gods together with their wives.
" The male kine, if clean, and the male calves,
are used for sacrifice by the Egyptians univer-
sally ; but the females, they are not allowed to
sacrifice, since they are sacred to Isis. The
statue of this goddess has the form of a woman,
but with horns like a cow, resembling those oif
the Greek representations of lo."* And who
can be more deserving of credit in making these
statements, than those who in family succession,
son from father, received not only the priest-
hood, but also the history ? For it is not likely
that the priests, who make it their business to
commend the idols to men's reverence, would
assert falsely that they were men. If Herodotus
alone had said that the Egyptians spoke in their
histories of the gods as of men, when he says,
" What they told me concerning their religion it
is not my intention to repeat, except only the
names of their deities, things of very trifling im-
portance," 5 it would behove us not to credit
even Herodotus as being a fabulist. But as
Alex^der*and Herflaes sumamed Trismegistus,
who sKares with them in the attribute of efemity,
and innumerable others, not to name them indi-
vidually, [declare the same], no room is left even
for doubt that they, being kings, were esteemed
gods. That they were men, the most learned of
the Egyptians also testify, who, while saying that
ether, earth, sun, moon, are gods, regard the rest
as mortal men, and the temples as their sepul-
chres. ApoUodorus, too, asserts the same thing
in his treatise concerning the gods. But Herodo-
tus calls even their sufferings mysteries. " The
ceremonies at the feast of Isis in the city of Bu-
siris have been already spoken of. It is there
that the whole multitude, both of men and
women, many thousands in number, beat them-

I ii. 144. Mr. Rawlinson's translation is used in the extracts
from Herodotus.

* ii. 156.

* i\ 4t.

s ii. 7. The text is here uncertain, and difiers from that of Herod-
otus. [Herodotus, initiated in Eeyptian^ mysteries, was doubtless
sworn to maintain certain secrets of the priests of Osiris.]

selves at the close of the sacrifice in honour of
a god whose name a religious scruple forbids
me to mention."^ If they are gods, they are
also immortal ; but if people are beaten for them,
and their sufferings are mysteries, they are men,
as Herodotus himself says : ** Here, too, in this
same precinct of Minerva at Saifs, is the burial-
place of one whom I think it not right to men-
tion in such a connection. It stands behind the
temple against the back wall, which it entirely
covers. There are also some large stone obelisks
in the enclosure, and there is a lake near them,
adorned with an edging of stone. In form it is
circular, and in size, as it seemed to me, about
equal to the lake at Delos called the Hoop. On
this lake it is that the Egyptians represent by
night his sufferings whose name I refrain from
mentioning, and this representation they call their
mysteries." ^ And not only is the sepulchre of
Osiris shown, but also his embalming : " When a
body is brought to them, they show the bearer
various models of corpses made in wood, and
painted so as to resemble nature. The most
perfect is said to be after the manner of him
whom I do not think it religious to name in con-
nection with such a matter." *

CHAP. XXIX. — PROOF OF THE SAME FROM THE

POETS.

But among the Greeks, also, those who are
eminent in poetry and history say the same
thing. Thus of Heracles : —

" That lawless wretch, that man of brutal strength,
Deaf to Heaven's voice, the social rite transgressed." '

Such being his nature, deservedly did he go mad,
and deservedly did he light the funeral pile and
bum himself to death. Of Asklepius, Hcsiod
says : —

" The mighty father both of gods and men
Was filled with wrath, and from Olympus* top
With flaming thunderbolt cast down and slew
Latona's welMov'd son— such was his ire." *"

And Pindar ; —

" But even wisdom is ensnared by gain.
The brilliant bribe of gold seen in the hand
Ev*n him '* perverted : therefore Kronos* son
With both hands quickly stopp*d his vital breath.
And by a bolt of fire ensured his doom." "

Either, therefore, they were gods and did not
hanker after gold —

*' O ffold, the fairest prize to mortal men,
Which neither mother equals in delight,
Nor children dear " " —

6 ii. 6t. [The name of Osiris.]

7 ii. 170.
« ii. 86.

9 Horn., Od.f xxt. 28 sq.
»o Hesiod, Frt^.
" i.e., iGsculapius.
" Pyth.y iii. 96 sq.
'^ Ascribed by Seneca to the Belleropkon of Eurip.

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

145

for the Deity is in want of nought, and is superior
to carnal desire, nor did they die ; or, having
been bom men, they were wicked by reason
of ignorance, and overcome by love of money.
WTiat more need I say, or refer to Castor, or
Pollux, or Amphiaraus, who, having been born,
so to speak, only the other day, men of men, are
looked upon as gods, when they imagine even
Ino after her madness and its consequent suffer-
ings to have become a goddess ?

" Sea-rovers will her name Leucothea." *

And her son : —

" August Palaemon, sailors will invoke."

CHAP. XXX. — REASONS WHY DIYlNFrV HAS BEEN

ASCRIBED TO MEN.

For if detestable and god-hated men had the
reputation of being gods, and the daughter of Der-
ceto, Semiramis, a lascivious and blood-stained
woman, was esteemed a Syrian goddess ; and if,
on account of Derceto, the Syrians worship doves
and Semiramis (for, a thing impossible, a woman
was changed into a dove : the story is in Ctesias),
what wonder if some should be called gods by
their f)eople on the ground of their rule and sov-
ereignty (the Sibyl, of whom Plato also makes
mention, says : —

"It was the generation then the tenth,
Of men endow'd with speech, since forth the flood
Had burst upon the men of former times,
And Kronos, Japetus, and Titan reigned.
Whom men, of Ouranos and Gaia
Proclaimed the noblest sons, and named them so,"
Because of men endowed with gift of speech
They were the first '*) ; '

and others for their strength, as Heracles and
Perseus ; and others for their arj, as Asclepius ?
Those, therefore, to whom either the subjects gave
honour or the rulers themselves [assumed it],
obtained the name, some from fear, others from
revenge. Thus Antinous, through the benevo-
.lence of your ancestors towards their subjects,
came to be regarded as a god. But those who
came after adopted the worship without examina-
tion.

" The Cretans always lie ; for they, O king.
Have built a tomb to thee who art not dead." *

Though you believe, O Callimachus, in the nativity
of Zeus, you do not believe in his sepulchre ;
and whilst you think to obscure the truth, you in
fact proclaim him dead, even to those who are

' Fxx>in the /mo, a lost play of Eurip.

' i.e., after Gala and Ouranos, Earth and Heaven.

3 Oracc., Stbyll.t m. 10^x13. [Kaye, p. 2ao, and compare cap.
vtL, snpra. The inspiration of Balaam, and likewise that of the
ass, must, in my opinion, illustrate that of the Sibyls.]

4 Callim., H^m, yov.^ 8 sq. [Tit. i. xa. But St, Paul's quoution
is from Eptmenides.]

ignorant ; and if you see the cave, you call to
mind the childbirth of Rhea ; but when you see
the coffin, you throw a shadow over his death, not
considering that the unbegotten God alone is eter-
nal. For either the tales told by the multitude
and the poets about the gods are unworthy of
credit, and the reverence shown them is super-
fluous (for those do not exist, the tales concern-
ing whom are untrue) ; or if the births, the
amours, the murders, the thefts, the castrations,
the thunderbolts, are true, they no longer exist,
having ceased to be since they were bom, having
previously had no being. And on what princi-
ple must we believe some things and disbelieve
others, when the poets have written their stories
in order to gain greater veneration for them?
For surely those through whom they have got to
be considered gods, and who have striven to rep-
resent their deeds as worthy of reverence, cannot
have invented their sufierings. That, therefore,
we are not atheists, acknowledging as we do God
the Maker of this universe and His Logos, has
been proved according to my ability, if not ac-
cording to the importance of the subject.

CHAP. XXXI. — CONFUTATION OF THE OTHER
CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS.

But they have further also made up stories ^
against us of impious feasts s and forbidden in-
tercourse between the sexes, both that they may
appear to themselves to have rational grounds
of hatred, and because they think either by fear
to lead us away from our way of life, or to ren-
der the rulers harsh and inexorable by the mag- ^
nitude of the charges they bring. But they lose
their labour with those who know that from of
old it has been the custom, and not in our time
only, for vice to make war on virtue. Thus
Pythagoras, with three hundred others, was
burnt to death ; Heraclitus and Democritus were
banished, the one from the city of the Ephe-
sians, the other from Abdera, because he was
charged with being mad ; and the Athenians
condemned Socrates to death. But as they
were none the worse in respect of virtue be-
cause of the opinion of the multitude, so neither
does the undiscriminating calumny of some per-
sons cast any shade upon us as regards recti-
tude of life, for with God we stand in good
repute. Nevertheless, I will meet these charges
also, although I am well assured that by what
has been already said I have cleared myself to
you. For as you excel all men in intelligence,
you know that those whose life is directed
towards God as its rule, so that each one among

5 fThyestian feasts" (p. 130, *«/ra) : a charge which the Chris-
tian Fathers perpetually repel. Of course the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper lent colour to this charge; but it could not have been repelled,
had they belieyed the material body and blood of the " man Christ
Jesus," present in this sacrament, ace cap. iii. , note J

146

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

us may be blameless and irreproachable before
Him, will not entertain even the thought of the
slightest sin. For if we believed that we should
live only the present life, then we might be sus-
pected of sinning, through being enslaved to
flesh and blood, or overmastered by gain or car-
nal desire ; but since we know that God is wit-
ness to what we think and what we say both by
night and by day, and that He, being Himself
light, sees all things in our heart, we are per-
suaded that when we are remo\ced from the
present life we shall live another life, better than
the present one, and heavenly, not earthly (since
we shall abide near God, and with God, free
from all change or suffering in the soul, not as
flesh, even though we shall have flesh,' but as
heavenly spirit), or, falling with the rest, a worse
one and in fire ; for God has not made us as
sheep or beasts of burden, a mere by-work, and
that we should perish and be annihilated. On
these grounds it is not likely that we should wish
to do evil, or deliver ourselves over to the great
Judge to be punished.

CHAP. XXXn. — ELEVATED MORALFTY OF THE

CHRISTIANS.

It is, however, nothing wonderful that they
should get up tales about us such as they tell of
their own gods, of the incidents of whose lives
they make mysteries. But it behoved them, if
they meant to condemn Sihameless and promis-
cuous intercourse, to hate either Zeus, who begat
children of his mother Rhea and his daughter
Kor6, and took his own sister to wife, or Or-
pheus, the inventor of these tales, which made
Zeus more unholy and detestable than Thyestes
himself; for the latter defiled his daughter in
pursuance of an oracle, and when he wanted to
obtain the kingdom and avenge himself. But
we are so far from practising promiscuous inter-
course, that it is not lawful among us to indulge
even a lustful look. " For," saith He, " he that
looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath com-
mitted adultery already in his heart." * Those,
then, who are forbidden to look at anything
more than that for which God formed the eyes,
which were intended to be a light to us, and to
whom a wanton look is adultery, the eyes being
made for other purposes, and who are to be
called to account for their very thoughts, how
can any one doubt that such persons practise
self-control? For our account lies not with hu-
man laws, which a bad man can evade (at the
outset I proved to you, sovereign lords, that our
doctrine is from the teaching of God), but we
have a law which makes the measure of rectitude
to consist in dealing with our neighbour as our-

* [i Cor. XV. 44. A very clear representation of the apostle's doc-
trine. See Kaye, 199: and compare On the Resurrection^ cap. xiii.J
2 Matt. V. s8.

selves.^ On this account, too, according to age,
we recognise some as sons and daughters, others
we regard as brothers and sisters,* and to the
more advanced in life we give the honour due to
fathers and mothers. On behalf of those, then,
to whom we apply the names of brothers and
sisters, and other designations of relationship, we
exercise the greatest care that their bodies
should remain undefiled and uncorrupted ; for
the Logos 5 again says to us, " If any one kiss a
second time because it has given him pleasure,
[he sins] ; " adding, " Therefore the kiss, or
rather the salutation, should be given with the
greatest care, since, if there be mixed with it
the least defilement of thought, it excludes us
from eternal life." *

CHAP. XXXni. — CHASTriY OF THE CHRISTL%NS
WITH RESPECT TO MARRIAGE.

Therefore, having the hope of eternal life, we
despise the things of this life, even to the pleas-
ures of the soul, each of us reckoning her his
wife whom he has married according to the laws
laid down by us, and that only for the purpose
of having children. For as the husbandman
throwing the seed into the ground awaits the
harvest, not sowing more upon it, so to us the
procreation of children is the measure of our
indulgence in appetite. Nay, you would find
many among us, both men and women, growing
old unmarried, in hope of living in closer com-
munion with God.7 But if the remaining in
virginity and in the state of an eunuch brings
nearer to God, while the indulgence of carnal
thought and desire leads away from Him, in
those cases in which we shun the thoughts, much
more do we reject the deeds. For we bestow
our attention, qpt on the study of words, but on
the exhibition and teaching of actions, — that a
person should either remain as he was bom,
or be content with one marriage ; for a second
marriage is only a specious adultery.** " For
whosoever puts away his wife," says He, " and

s Otto translates: " which has made us and our neighbours attain
the highest degree of rectitude." The text is obscure, but the above
seems the probable meaning: comp. Matt. xxii. 39, etc. ^

4 I Hennas, p. 47, note, suid P.|»7, this volume; Elucidation, ii.]

5 [The Logos never said, it excludes us from eternal life: "
that is sure: and the passage, though ambiguous, is not so interpreted
in the Latin of Gesner. Jones remarks that At^nagoras never in-
troduces a saying of our Lord in this way. Compare Clem. Alexan-
drin. {Ptedagogue^ b. iii cap. v. p. 297, Edinburgh Series), where
he quotes Matt. v. 38, with variation. Lardner (cap. xviii. sec. 20)
gives a probable explanation. Jones on The Canon (vol. i. p. 436) is
noteworthy. Kaye (p. 221) does not solve the puzzle.]

6 Probably^ from some apocryphal writing. [C^me from what
source it may, it suggests a caution of the utmost importance to Ameri-
cans. In the newer parts of the country, the practice, here corrected,
has cropped out among "brothers and sisters" of divers religious
names, and consequent scandals have arisen. To all Christians
comes the apostolic appeal, " Let it not be once named among you."]

7 [This our Lord commends (Matt. xix. za) as a voluntary act
of private self-devotion.]

B [There is perhaps a touch of the rising Phrygian influence in
this passage: vet the langtiage of St. Paul (z Tim. v. 9) iavouied
this view, no doubt, in primitive opinion. See S/eahrr's Comm, oa
I Tim. ill. a. £d. Scnbners, New York.]

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

147

marries another, commits adultery ; " ' not per-
mitting a man to send her away whose virginity
he has brought to an end, nor to marry again.
For he who deprives himself of his first wife,
even though she be dead, is a cloaked adulterer,*
resisting the hand of God, because in the begin-
ning God made one man and one woman, and
dissolving the strictest union of flesh with flesh,
foraied for the intercourse of the race.

CHAP. XXXIV. — THE VAST DIFFERENCE IN MORALS
BEFWEEN THE CHRISTIANS AND THEIR ACCUSERS.

But though such is our character (Oh ! why
should I speak of things unfit to be uttered?),
the things said of us are an example of the prov-
erb, "The harlot reproves the chaste." For
those who have set up a market for fornication,
and established infamous resorts for the young
for ever)' kind of vile pleasure, — who do not
abstain even from males, males with males com-
mitting shocking abominations, outraging all the
noblest and comeliest bodies in all sorts of ways,
so dishonouring the fair workmanship of God
(for beauty on earth is not self-made, but sent
hither by the hand and will of God), — these
men, 1 say, revile us for the very things which
they are conscious of themselves, and ascribe to
their own gods, boasting of them as noble deeds,
and worthy of the gods. These adulterers and
paederasts defame the eunuchs and the once-
married (while they themselves live like fishes ; '
for these gulp down whatever falls in theu: way,
and the stronger chases the weaker : and, in fact,
this is to feed upon human fiesh, to do violence
in contravention of the very laws which you and
your ancestors, with due care for all that is fair
and right, have enacted), so that not even the
I governors of the provinces sent by you suffice for
the hearing of the complaints against those, to
whom it even is not lawful, when they are struck,
not to offer themselves for more blows, nor when
defamed not to bless : for it is not enough to be
just (and justice is to return like for like), but it
is incumbent on us to be good and patient of
evil.

CHAP. XXXV. — THE CHRISTIANS CONDEMN AND
DETEST ALL CRUELTY.

What mai^ of sound mind, therefore, will affirm,
while such is our character, that we are murder-
ers? For we cannot eat human flesh till we have
killed some one. The former charge, therefore,
being false, if any one should ask them in regard
to the second, whether they have seen what they
assert, not one of them would be so barefaced

* Matt. xix. 9.

' [But CalliMus, heretical Bishop of Rome (a.d. ai8.)> authorized
even third marriases in the clergy. Hippolytus, vol. vi. p. 343,
Ante-Nicent Faihert^ Edinburgh Series.]

^ [An allusion to the fable of the Sargus; and see Burton's Anat.
Mel., p. 445.]

as to say that he had. And yet we have slaves,
some more and some fewer, by whom we could
not help being seen ; but even of these, not one
has been found to invent even such things against
us. For when thpy know that we cannot endure
even to see a man put to death, though justly,
who of them can accuse us of murder or canni-
balism ? Who does not reckon among the things
of greatest interest the contests of gladiators and
wild beasts, especially those which are given by
you ? But we, deeming that to see a man put
to death is much the same as killing him, have
abjured such spectacles.* How, then, when we
do not even look on, lest we should contract
guilt and pollution, can we put people to death ? ^
And when we say that those women who use
drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and
will have to give an account to Gods for the
abortion, on what principle should we commit
murder? For it does not belong to the same
person to regard the very foetus in the womb as
a created being, and therefore an object of God's
care, and when it has passed into life, to kill it ;
and not to expose an infant, because those who \
expose them are chargeable with child- murder,
and on the other hand, when it has been reared to
destroy it. But we are in all things always alike
and the same, submitting ourselves to reason, and
not ruling over it.

CHAP. XXXVI. — BEARING OF THE DOCTRINE OF
THE RESURRECTION ON THE PRACTICES OF THE
CHRISTIANS.

Who, then, that believes in a resurrection,
would make himself into a tomb for bodies that
will rise again? For it is not the part of the
same persons to believe that our bodies will rise
again, and to eat them as if they would not ; and
to think that the earth will give back the bodies '
held by it, but that those which a man has en-
tombed in himself will not be demanded back.
On the contrary, it is reasonable to suppose, that
those who think they shall have no account to
give of the present life, ill or well spent, and that

4 [See Tatian, cap. xxiii., su^ra, p. 75. ^ But here the lan^ai^ of
Gibbon is worthy to be auotcd : though the icy-hearted infidel failed to
understand that just sucn philosophers as he enjoyed these spectacles,
till Christianity taught even such to profess a refined abhorrence of what
the Gospel abolished, with no help from them. He says, " the first
Christian emperor may claim the honour of the first edict which con*
demned the art and amusement di shedding human blood : but this
benevolent law expressed the wishes of the prince, w^ithout reforming
an inveterate abuse which degraded a civtlized(?) MiXion beiow the
condition 0/ savage cannibais. Several hundred, /^rA/T/>jjrt/^ra/
thousand, \\c\im% were annually slaughtered in the great cities of the
empire." He tells the story of the heroic Telcmachus, without eulogy ;
how his death, while struggling to separate the combatants abolished
forever the inhuman sports and sacrinces of the amphitheatre This
happened under Hononus. Milman's Gibbon, iii. 310 |

' [Let Americans read this, and ask whether a relapse into heath-
enism is not threatening our civilization, in this respect. May 1 ven-
ture to refer to Moral Reforms (ed. 186^, Lippincotts, Philadelphia),
a little book of mv own, rebuking this iniquity, and tracing the earliest
violation of this law of Christian morals, aiid of nature itself, to an
unhappy Bishop of Rome, rebuked by Hippolytus. See vol. vi.
p. 345, Edinburgh Series of Ante-Nicene Fatkers,\

148

A PLEA FOR THE CHRISTIANS.

there is no resurrection, but calculate on the
soul perishing with the body, and being as it
were quenched in it, will refrain from no deed of
daring ; but as for those who are persuaded that
nothing will escape the scrutiny of God, but that
even the body which has ministered to the irra-
tional impulses of the soul, and to its desires,
will be punished along with it, it is not likely that
they will commit even the smallest sin. But if
to any one it appears sheer nonsense that the
body which has mouldered away, and been dis-
solved, and reduced to nothing, should be recon-
structed, we certainly cannot with any reason be
accused of wickedness with reference to those
that believe not, but only of folly ; for with the
opinions by which we deceive ourselves we in-
jure no one else. But that it is not our belief
alone that bodies will rise again, but that many
philosophers also hold the same view, it is out of
place to show just now, lest we should be thought
to introduce topics irrelevant to the matter in
hand, either by speaking of the intelligible and
the sensible, and the nature of these respectively,
or by contending that the incorporeal is older than
the corporeal, and that the intelligible precedes
the sensible, although we become acquainted
with the latter earliest, since the corporeal is
formed from the incorporeal, by the combination
with it of the intelligible, and that the sensible
is formed from the intelligible; for nothing
hinders, according to Pythagoras and Plato,
that when the dissolution of bodies takes place,
they 'should, from the very same elements of

which they were constructed at first, be con-
structed again.' But let us defer the discourse
concerning the resurrection.^

CHAP. XX^I. — ENTREATY TO BE FAIRLY JUDGED.

And now do you, who are entirely in ever)--
thing, by nature and by education, upright, and
moderate, and benevolent, and worthy of your
rule, now that I have disposed of the several
accusations, and proved that we are pious, and
gentle, and temperate in spirit, bend your royal
head in approval. For who are more desen'ing
to obtain the things they ask, than those who,
like us, pray for your government, that you may.
as is most equitable, receive, the kingdom, son
from father, and that your empire may receive
increase and addition, all men becoming subject
to your sway ? And this is also for our advan-
tage, that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life,
and may ourselves readily perform all that is
commanded us.^

* [Comp. cap. xxxi., supra, p. 146. The science of their limes Jcnt
itself to the notions of the Fathers necessarily: but neither Holy
Scripture nor theology binds us to any theory of the how, in thii
^leat mystery : hence rlato and Pythagoras are only useful, as shrm*-
ing that even they saw nothing impossible in the resurrection of the
dead. As to " the same elements, identity; does not consist in ihe
same particles of material, but in the continuity of material, by which
every seed reproduces ** its own body." i Cor. xv. 38.J ^

B [It is a fair inference that The Discourse was written after the
Embassy " In it," says Kaye, " may be found nearly all the argu-
ments which human reason has been able to advance in support of
the resurrection." p. aoo.]

3 [x Tim. ii. x,a. Kaye, p. 154. They refused worship, however,
to imperial images; and for this they sunered. ** Bend 3rour royal
head is an amusing reference to the nodoi the Thunderer. J

THE TREATISE OF ATHENAGORAS

THE ATHENIAN, PHILOSOPHER AND CHRISTIAN, ON THE RESURRECTION

OF THE DEAD.

CHAP. I. — DEFENCE OF THE TRUTH SHOULD PRE-
CEDE DISCUSSIONS REGARDING FT.'

By the side of every opinion and doctrine
which agrees with the truth of things, there
springs up some falsehood ; and it does so, not
because it takes its rise naturally from some fun-
damental principle, or from some cause peculiar
to the matter in hand, but because it is invented
on purpose by men who set a value on the spu-
rious seed, for its tendency to corrupt the truth.
This is apparent, in the first place, from those
who in former times addicted themselves to such
inquiries, and their want of agreement with their
predecessors and contemporaries, and then, not
least, from the very confusion which marks the
discussions that are now going on. For such
men have left no truth free from their calum-
nious attacks — not the being of God, not His
knowledge, not His operations, not those books
which follow by a regular and strict sequence
from these, and delineate for us the doctrines of
piety. On the contrary, some of them utterly,
and once for all, give up in despair the truth
concerning these things, and some distort it to
suit theif own views, and some of set purpose
doubt even of things which are palpably evi-
dent. Hence I think that those who bestow
attention on such subjects should adopt two
lines of argument, one in defence of the truth,
another concerning the truth : that in defence
of the truth, for disbelievers and doubters ; that
concerning the truth, for such as are candid and
receive the truth with readiness. Accordingly
it behoves those who wish to investigate these
matters, to keep in view that which the necessity

* [This argument was adapted to the times, and to those to whom
it was addressed, with great rhetorical art and concealment of art.
Its faults arise from the defective science of the age, and from the
habits of thought and of public instruction then in fashion. He
does not address himself to Dclievers, but to sceptics, and meets them
on their highest levels of speech and of reason.]

of the case in each instance requires, and to
regulate their discussion by this ; to accommo-
date the order of their treatment of these sub-
jects to what is suitable to the occasion, and not
for the sake of appearing always to preserve
the same method, to disregard fitness and the
place which properly belongs to each topic.
For, so far as proof and the natural order are
concerned, dissertations concerning the truth
always take precedence of those in defence of
it ; but, for the purpose of greater utility, the
onler must be reversed, and arguments in
defence of it precede those concerning it. For
the farmer could not properly cast the seed into
the ground, unless he first extirpated the wild
wood, and whatever would be hurtful to the
good seed; nor the physician introduce any
wholesome medicines into the body that needed
his care, if he did not previously remove the
disease within, or stay that which was approach-
ing. Neither surely can he who wishes to teach
the truth persuade any one by speaking about it,
so long as there is a false opinion lurking in the
mind of his hearers, and barring the entrance
of his arguments. And, therefore, from regard
to greater utility, I myself sometimes place argu-
ments in defence of the truth before those con-
cerning the truth ; and on the present occasion
it appears to me, looking at the requirements
of the case, not without advantage to follow the
same method in treating of the resurrection.
For in regard to this subject also we find some
utterly disbelieving, and some others doubting,
and even among those who have accepted the
first principles some who are as much at a loss
what to believe as those who doubt ; the most
unaccountable thing of all being, that they are
in this state of mind without having any ground
whatsoever in the matters themselves for their
disbelief, or finding it possible to assign any

149

ISO

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

reasonable cause why they disbelieve or experi-
ence any perplexity.

CHAP. II. — A RESURRECTION IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE.

Let us, then, consider the subject in the way
I have indicated. If all disbelief does not arise
from levity and inconsideration, but if it springs
up in some minds on strong grounds and accom-
panied by the certainty which belongs to truth,
[well and good] ; for it then maintains the ap-
pearance of being just, when the thing itself to
which their disbelief relates appears to them
unworthy of belief; but to disbelieve things
which are not deserving of disbelief, is the act
of men who do not employ a sound judgment
about the truth. It behoves, therefore, those
who disbelieve or doubt concerning the resurrec-
tion, to form their opinion on the subject, not
from any view they have hastily adopted, and
from what is acceptable to profligate men, but
either to assign the origin of men to no cause
(a notion which is very easily refuted), or, as-
cribing the cause of all things to God, to keep
steadily in view the principle involved in this
article of belief, and from this to demonstrate
that the resurrection is utterly unworthy of credit.
This they will succeed in, if they are able to
show that .it is either impossible for God, or
contrary to His will, to unite and gather together
again bodies that are dead, or even entirely dis-
solved into their elements, so as to constitute
the same p>ersons. If they cannot do this, let
them cease from this godless disbelief, and from
this blasphemy against sacred things : for, that
they do not speak the truth when they say that
it is impossible, or not in accordance with the
divine will, will clearly appear from what I am
about to say. A thing is in strictness of lan-
guage considered impossible to a person, when
it is of such a kind that he either does not know
what is to be done, or has not sufficient power
for the proper doing of the thing known. For
he who is ignorant of anything that requires to
be done, is utterly unable either to attempt or
to do what he is ignorant of ; and he, too, who
knows ever so well what has to be done, and by
what means, and how, but either has no power
at all to do the thing known, or not power suf-
ficient, will not even make the attempt, if he be
wise and consider his powers; and if he did
attempt it without due consideration, he would
not accomplish his purpose. But it is not possi-
ble for God to be ignorant, either of the nature
of the bodies that are to be raised, as regards
both the members entire and the particles of
which they consist, or whither each of the dis-
solved particles passes, and what part of the
elements has received that which is dissolved
and has passed into that with which it has affin-
ity, although to men it may appear quite impos-

sible that what has again combined according to
its nature with the universe should be separable
from it again. For He from whom, antece-
dently to the peculiar formation of each, was
not concealed either the nature of the elements
of which the bodies of men were to consist, or
the parts of these from which He was about to
take what seemed to Him suitable for the forma-
tion of the human body, will manifestly, after
the dissolution of the whole, not be ignorant
whither each of the particles has passed which
He took for the construction of each. For,
viewed relatively to the order of things now-
obtaining among us, and the judgment we fomi
concerning other matters, it is a greater thing
to know beforehand that which has not yet come
to pass ; but, viewed relatively to the majesty
and wisdom of God, both are according to na-
ture, and it is equally easy to know beforehand
things that have not yet come into existence,
and to know things which have been dissolved.

CHAP. III. — HE WHO COULD CREATE, CAN ALSO

RAISE UP THE DEAD.

Moreover also, that His power is sufficient for
the raising of dead bodies, is shown by the crea-
tion of these same bodies. For if, when they
did not exist. He made at their first formation
the bodies of men, and their original elements,
He will, when they are dissolved, in whatever
manner that may take place, raise them again
with equal ease : for this, too, is equally possible
to Him. And it is no damage to the argument,
if some suppose the first beginnings to be from
matter, or the bodies of men at least to be de-
rived from the elements as the first materials, or
from seed. For that power which could give
shape to what is regarded by them as shapeless
matter, and adorn it, when destitute of form and
order, with many and diverse forms, and gather
into one the several portions of the elements,
and divide the seed which was one and simple
into many, and organize that which was unorga-
nized, and give life to that which had no life, —
that same power can reunite what is disserved,
and raise up what is prostrate, and restore the
dead to life again, and put the corruptible into
a state of incorruption. And to the same Being
it will belong, and to the same power and skill,
to separate that which has been broken up and
distributed among a multitude of animals of all
kinds which are wont to have recourse to such
bodies, and glut their appetite upon them, — to
separate this, I say, and unite it again with the
proper members and parts of members, whether
it has passed into some one of those animals, or
into many, or thence into others, or, after being
dissolved along with these, has been carried back
again to the original elements, resolved into
these according to a natural law — a matter this

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

151

which seems to have exceedingly confounded
some, even of those admired for wisdom, who,
I cannot tell why, think those doubts worthy of
serious attention which are brought forward by
the many.

CHAP. IV. OBJECTION FROM THE FACT THAT

SOME HUMAN BODIES HAVE BECOME PART OF
OTHERS.

These persons, to wit, say that many bodies of
those who have come to an unhappy death in
shipwrecks and rivers have become food for
fishes, and many of those who perish in war, or
who from some other sad cause or state of things
are deprived of burial, lie exposed to become the
food of any animals which may chance to light
upon them. Since, then, bodies are thus con-
sumed, and the members and parts composing
them are broken up and distributed among a
great multitude of animals, and by means of
nutrition become incorporated with the bodies of
those that are nourished by them, — in the first
place, they say, their separation from these is
impossible ; and besides this, in the second place,
they adduce another circumstance more difficult
still. When animals of the kind suitable for
human food, which have fed on the bodies of
men, pass through their stomach, and become
incorporated with the bodies of those who have
partaken of them, it is an absolute necessity, they
say, that the parts of the bodies of men which
have served as nourishment to the animals which
have partaken of them should pass into other
bodies of men, since the animals which mean-
while have been nourished by them convey the
nutriment derived from those by whom they were
nourished into those men of whom they become
the nutriment. Then to this they tragically add
the devouring of offspring perpetrated by people
in famine and madness, and the children eaten
by their own parents through the contrivance of
enemies, and the celebrated Median feast, and
the tragic banquet of Thyestes ; and they add,
moreover, other such like unheard-of occurrences
which have taken place among Greeks and bar-
barians : and from these things they establish, as
they suppose, the impossibihty of the resurrec-
tion, on the ground that the same parts cannot
rise again wiA one set of bodies, and with another
as well ; for that either the bodies of the former
possessors cannot be reconstituted, the parts
which composed them having passed into others,
or that, these having been restored to the former,
the bodies of the last possessors will come short.

CHAP. v. — REFERENCE TO THE PROCESSES OF DI-
GESTION. AND NUTRFIION.

But it appears to me that such persons, in the
first place, are ignorant of the power and skill of
Him that fashioned and regulates this universe.

who has adapted to the nature and kind of each
animal the nourishment suitable and corre-
spondent to it, and has neither ordained that
everything in nature shall enter into union and
combination with every kind of body, nor is at
any loss to separate what has been so united,
but grants to the nature of each several created
being or thing to do or to suffer what is naturally
suited to it, and sometimes also hinders and al-
lows .or forbids whatever He wishes, and for the
purpose He wishes; and, moreover, that they
have not considered the power and nature of
each of the creatures that nourish or are nour-
ished. Otherwise they would have known that
not everything which is taken for food under the
pressure of outward necessity turns out to be
suitable nourishment for the animal, but that
some things no sooner come into contact with
the plicatures of the stomach than they are wont
to be corrupted, and are vomited or voided, or
disposed of in some other way, so that not even
for a little time do they undergo the first and
natural digestion, much less become incorporated
with that which is to be nourished ; as also, that
not even everything which has been digested in
the stomach and received the first change actu-
ally arrives at the parts to be nourished, since
some of it loses its nutritive power even in the
stomach, and some during the second change,
and the digestion that takes place in the liver is
separated and passes into something else which
is destitute of the power to nourish ; nay, that
the change which takes place in the liver does
not all issue in nourishment to men, but the mat-
ter changed is separated as refuse according to its
natural purpose ; and that the nourishment which
is left in the members and parts themselves
that have to be nourished sometimes changes to
something else, according as that predominates
which is present in greater or less ' abundance,
and is apt to corrupt or to turn into itself that
which comes near it.

CHAP. VI. — EVERYTHING THAT IS USELESS OR
HURTFUL IS REJECTED.

Since, therefore, great difference of nature
obtains in all animals, and the very nourishment
which is accordant with nature is varied to suit
each kind of animal, and the body which is
nourished ; and as in the nourishment of every
animal there is a threefold cleansing and separa-
tion, it follows that whatever is alien from the
nourishment of the animal must be wholly
destroyed and carried off to its natural place, or
change into something else, since it cannot coa-
lesce with it ; that the power of the nourishing
body must be suitable to the nature of the
animal to be nourished, and accordant with its
powers ; and that this, when it has passed

I The common reading is " excessive."

152

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

through the strainers appointed for the purpose,
and been thoroughly purified by the natural
means of purification, must become a most gen-
uine addition to the substance, — the only thing,
in fact, which any one calling things by their
right names would call nourishment at all ; be-
cause it rejects everything that is foreign and hurt-
ful to the constitution of the animal nourished,
and that mass of superfluous food introduced
merely for filling the stomach and gratifying
the appetite. This nourishment, no one can
doubt, becomes incorporated with the body
that is nourished, interwoven and blended with
all the members and parts of members ; but
that which is different and contrary to nature is
speedily corrupted if brought into contact with
a stronger power, but easily destroys that which
is overcome by it, and is converted into hurtful
humours and poisonous qualities, because pro-
ducing nothing akin or friendly to the body
which is to be nourished. And it is a very clear
proof of this, that in many of the animals nour-
ished, pain, or disease, or death follows from
these things, if, owing to a too keen appetite,
they take in mingled with their food something
poisonous and contrary to nature; which, of
course, would tend to the utter destruction of
the body to be nourished, since that which is
nourished is nourished by substances akin to it
and which accord with its nature, but is de-
stroyed by those of a contrary kind. If, there-
fore, according to the different nature of animals,
different kinds of food have been provided suit-
able to their nature, and none of that which the
animal may have taken, not even an accidental
part of it, admits of being blended with the
body which is nourished, but only that part
which has been purified by an entire digestion,
and undergone a complete change for union
with a particular body, and adapted to the parts
which are to receive nourishment, — it is very
plain that none of the things contrary to nature
can be united with those bodies for which it is
not a suitable and correspondent nourishment,
but either passes off by the bowels before it
produces some other humour, crude and cor-
rupted ; or, if it continue for a longer time,
produces suffering or disease hard to cure,
destroying at the same time the natural nour-
ishment, or even the flesh itself which needs
nourishment. But even though it be expelled
at length, overcome by certain medicines, or by
better food, or by the natural forces, it is not
got rid of without doing much harm, since it
bears no peaceful aspect towards what is natural,
because it cannot coalesce with nature.

CHAP. VII. — THE RESURRECTION-BODY DIFFERENT

FROM THE PRESENT.

Nay, suppose we were to grant that the nour-

ishment coming from these things (let it be so
called, as more accordant with the common way
of speaking), although against nature, is yet sep-
arated and changed into some one of the moist
or dry, or warm or cold, matters which the body
contains, our opponents would gain nothing by
the concession : for the bodies that rise again
are reconstituted from the parts which properly
belong to them, whereas no one of the things
mentioned is such a part, nor has it the form or
place of a part ; nay, it does not remain always
with the parts of the body which are nourished,
or rise again with the parts that rise, since no
longer does blood, or phlegm, or bile, or breath,
contribute anything to the life. Neither, again,
will the bodies nourished then require the things
they once required, seeing that, along lyith the
want and corruption of the bodies nourished, the
need also of those things by which they were
nourished is taken away. To this must be added,
that if we were to suppose the change arising
from such nourishment to reach as far as flesh,
in that case too there would be no necessity that
the flesh recently changed by food of that kind,
if it became united to the body of some other
man, should again as a part contribute to the
formation of that body, since neither the flesh
which takes it up always retains what it takes,
nor does the flesh so incorporated abide and re-
main with that to which it was added, but is sub-
ject to a great variety of changes, — at one time
being dispersed by toil or care, at another time
being wasted by grief or trouble or disease, and
by the distempers arising from being heated or
chilled, the humours which are changed with the
flesh and fat not receiving the nourishment so
as to remain what they are. But while such are
the changes to which the flesh is subject, we
should find that flesh, nourished by food unsuited
to it, suffers them in a much greater degree ; now
swelling out and growing fat by what it has re-
ceived, and then again rejecting it in some way
or other, and decreasing in bulk, from one or
more of the causes already mentioned ; and that
that alone remains in the parts which is adapted
to bind together, or cover, or warm the flesh that
has been chosen by nature, and adheres to those
parts by which it sustains the life which is accord-
ing to nature, and fulfils the labours of that life.
So that whether the investigation in which we
have just been engaged be fairly judged of, or
the objections urged against our position be con-
ceded, in neither case can it be shown that what
is said by our opponents is true, nor can the
bodies of men ever combine with those of the
same nature, whether at any time, through igno-
rance and being cheated of their perception by
some one else, men have partaken of such a
body, or of their own accord, impelled by want
or madness, they have defiled themselves with

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

153

the body of one of like form ; for we are very
well aware that some brutes have human forms,
or have a nature compounded of men and
brutes, such as the more daring of the poets are
accustomed to represent.

CHAP. Vni. — HUMAN FLESH NOT THE PROPER OR
NATURAL FOOD OF MEN.

But what need is there to speak of, bodies not
allotted to be the food of any animal, and des-
tined only for a burial in the earth in honour of
nature, since the Maker of the world has not
alloted any animal whatsoever as food to those
of the same kind, although some others of a dif-
ferent kind serve for food according to nature ?
If, indeed, they are able to show that the flesh
of men was alloted to men for food, there will
be nothing to hinder its being according to na-
ture that they should eat one another, just like
anything else that is allowed by nature, and
nothing to prohibit those who dare to say such
things from regaling themselves with the bodies
of their dearest friends as delicacies, as being
espcially suited to them, and to entertain their
living friends with the same fare. But if it be
unlawful even to speak of this, and if for men to
partake of the flesh of men is a thing most hate-
ful and abominable, and more detestable than
any other unlawful and unnatural food or act ;
and if what is against nature can never pass
into nourishment for the limbs and parts re-
quiring it, and what does not pass into nourish-
ment can never become united with that which it
is not adapted to nourish, — then can the bodies
of men never combine with bodies like them-
selves, to which this nourishment would be
against nature, even though it were to pass many
times through their stomach, owing to some most
bitter mischance ; but, removed from the influ-
ence of the nourishing power, and scattered to
those parts of the universe again from which
they obtained their first origin, they are united
with these for as long a period of time as may be
the lot of each ; and, separated thence again by
the skill and power of Him who has fixed the
nature of every animal, and furnished it with its
peculiar powers, they are united suitably, each
to each, whether they have been burnt up by
fire, or rotted by water, or consumed by wild
beasts, or by any other animals, or separated
from the entire body and dissolved before the
other parts ; and, being again united with one
another, they occupy the same place for the ex-
act construction and formation of the same body,
and for the resurrection and life of that which
was dead, or even entirely dissolved. To expa-
tiate further, however, on these topics, is not
suitable ; for all men are agreed in their decis-
ion respecting them, — those at least who are
not half brutes.

CHAP. DC. — ABSURDrrV OF ARGUING FROM MAN'S

IMPOTENCV.

As there are many things of more importance
to the inquiry before us, I beg to be excused
from replying for the present to those who take
refuge in the works of men, and even the con-
structors of them, who are unable to make anew
such of their works as are broken in pieces, or
worn out by time, or otherwise destroyed, and
then from the analogy of potters and carpenters
attempt to show that God neither can will, nor
if He willed would be able, to raise again a body
that is dead, or has been dissolved, — not con-
sidering that by such reasoning they ofier the
grossest insult to God, putting, as they do, on
the same level the capabilities of things which
are altogether different, or rather the natures of
those who use them, and comparing the works
of art with those of nature. To bestow any
serious attention on such arguments would be
not undeserving of censure, for it is really foolish
to reply to superficial and trifling objections. It
is surely far more probable, yea, most absolutely
true, to say that what is impossible with men is
possible with God. And if by this statement of
itself as probable, and by the whole investigation
in which we have just been engaged reason shows
it to be possible, it is quite clear that it is not
impossible. No, nor is it such a thing as God
could not will.

CHAP. X. — rr CANNOT BE SHOWN THAT GOD DOES
NOT WILL A RESURRECTION.

For that which is not accordant with His will
is so either as being unjust or as unworthy of
Him. And again, the injustice regards either
him who is to rise again, or some other than he.
But it is evident that no one of the beings exte-
rior to him, and that are reckoned among the
things that have existence, is injured. Spiritual
natures {v(yrp-al ^vo-cis) cannot be injured by the
resurrection of men, for the resurrection of men
is no hindrance to their existing, nor is any loss
or violence inflicted on them by it ; nor, again,
would the nature of irrational or inanimate beings
sustain wrong, for they will have no existence
after the resurrection, and no wrong can be done
to that which is not. But even if anyone should
suppose them to exist for ever, they would not
suffer wrong by the renewal of human bodies :
for if now, in being subservient to the nature of
men and their necessities while they require
them, and subjected to the yoke and every kind
of drudgery, they suffer no wrong, much more,
when men have become immortal and free from
want, and no longer need their service, and when
they are themselves liberated from bondage, will
they suffer no wrong. For if they had the gift of
speech, they would not bring against the Creator
the charge of making them, contrary to justice,

154

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

inferior to men because they did not share in
the same resurrection. For to creatures whose
nature is not alike the Just Being does not as-
sign a like end. And, besides, with creatures
that have no notion of justice there can be no
complaint of injustice. Nor can it be said either
that there is any injustice done as regards the
man to be raised, for he consists of soul and
body, and he suffers no wrong as to either soul
or body. No person in his senses will affirm
that his soul suffers wrong, because, in speaking
so, he would at the same time be unawares re-
flecting on the present life also; for if now,
while dwelling in a body subject to corruption
and suffering, it has had no wrong done to it,
much less will it suffer wrong when living in
conjunction with a body which is free from cor-
ruption and suffering. The body, again, suffers
no wrong; for if no wrong is done to it now
while united a corruptible thing with an incor-
ruptible, manifestly will it not be wronged when
united an incorruptible with an incorruptible.
No ; nor can any one say that it is a work
unworthy of God to raise up and bring together
again a body which has been dissolved : for if
the worse was not unworthy of Him, namely,
to make the body which is subject to corruption
and suffering, much more is the better not un-
worthy, to make one not liable to corruption or
suffering.

CHAP. XI. — RECAPrrULATION.

If, then, by means of that which is by nature
first and that which follows from it, each of the
points investigated has been proved, it is very
evident that the resurrection of dissolved bodies
is a work which the Creator can i>erform, and
can will, and such as is worthy of Him : for by
these considerations the falsehood of the con-
trary opinion has been shown, and the absurdity
of the position taken by disbelievers. For why
should I speak of their correspondence each
with each, and of their connection with one
another? If indeed we ought to use the word
connection, as though they were separated by
some difference of nature ; and not rather say,
that what God can do He can also will, and that
what God can will it is perfectly possible for
Him to do, and that it is accordant with the
dignity of Him who wills it. That to discourse
concerning the truth is one thing, and to dis-
course in defence of it is another, has been
sufficiently explained in the remarks already
made, as also in what respects they differ from
each other, and when and in dealing with whom
they are severally useful ; but perhaps there is
no reason why, with a view to the general cer-
tainty, and because of the connection of what
has been said with what remains, we should not
make a fresh beginning from these same points

and those which are allied to them. To the one
kind of argument it naturally pertains to hold
the foremost place, to the other to attend upon
the first, and clear the way, and to remove what-
ever is obstructive or hostile. The discourse
concerning the truth, as being necessary to all
men for certainty and safety, holds the first
place, whether in nature, or order, or usefulness :
in nature, as furnishing the knowledge of the
subject ; in order, as being in those things and
along with those things which it informs us of;
in usefulness, as being a guarantee of certainty
and safety to those who become acquainted with
it. The discourse in defence of the truth is
inferior in nature and force, for the refutation of
falsehood is less important than the establish-
ment of truth ; and second in order, for it em-
ploys its strength against those who hold false
opinions, and false opinions are an aftergrowth
from another sowing and fh)m degeneration.
But, notwithstanding all this, it is often placed
first, and sometimes is found more useful, be-
cause it removes and clears away beforehand the
disbelief which disquiets some minds, and the
doubt or false opinion of such as have but
recentiy come over. And yet each of them is
referrible to the same end, for thd refutation
of falsehood and the establishment of truth both
have piety for their object: not, indeed, that
they are absolutely one and the same, but the
one is necessary, as I have said, to all who be-
lieve, and to those who are concerned about
the truth and their own salvation ; but the other
proves to be more useful on some occasions,
and to some persons, and in dealing with some.
Thus much by way of recapitulation, to recall
what has been already said. We must now pass
on to what we proposed, and show the truth of
the doctrine concerning the resurrection, both
from the cause itself, according to which, and
on account of which, the first man and his
posterity were created, although they were not
brought into existence in the same maimer, and
from the common nature of all men as men;
and further, from the judgment of their Maker
upon them according to the time each has
lived, and according to the rules by which each
has regulated his behaviour, — a judgment which
no one can doubt will be just.

CHAP. XII. — ARGUMENT FOR THE RESURRECTIOX
FROM THE PURPOSE CONTEMPLATED IN MAN'S
CREATION.

The argument from the cause will appear, if
we consider whether man was made at random
and in vain, or for some purpose ; and if for
some purpose, whether simply that he might live
and continue in the natural condition in which
he was created, or for the use of another ; and
if with a view to use, whether for that of the

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

155

Creator Himself, or of some one of the beings
who belong to Him, and are by Him deemed
worthy of greater care. Now, if we consider
this in the most general way, we find that a
person of sound mind, and who is moved by a
rational judgment to do anything, does nothing
in vain which he does intentionally, but either for
his own use, or for the use of some other person
for whom he cares, or for the sake of the work it-
self, being moved by some natural inclination and
affection towards its production. For instance
(to make use of an illustration, that our mean-
ing may be clear), a man makes a house for his
own use, but for cattle and camels and other
animals of which he has need he makes the
shelter suitable for each of them ; not for his
own use, if we regard the appearance only,
though for that, if we look at the end he has in
view, but as regards the immediate object, from
concern for those for whom he cares. He has
children, too, not for his own use, nor for the
sake of anything else belonging to him, but that
those who spring from him may exist and con-
tinue as long as possible, thus by the succession
of children and grandchildren comforting him-
self respecting the close of his own life, and
hoping in this way to immortalize the mortal.
Such is the procedure- of men. But God can
neither have made man in vain, for He is wise,
and no work of wisdom is in vain ; nor for His
own use, for He is in want of nothing. But to a
Being absolutely in need of nothing, no one of
His works can contribute anything to His own
use. Neither, again, did He make man for the
sake of any of the other works which He has
made. For nothing that is endowed with rea-
son and judgment has been created, or is cre-
ated, for the use of another, whether greater or
less than itself, but for the sake of the life and
continuance of the being itself so created. For
reason cannot discover any use which might be
deemed a cause for the creation of men, since
immortals are free from want, and in need of no
help from men in order to their existence ; and
in-aiional beings are by nature in a state of sub-
jection, and perform those services for men for
which each of them was intended, but are not
intended in their turn to make use of men : for
it neither was nor is right to lower that which
niles and takes the lead to the use of the infe-
rior, or to subject the rational to the irrational,
which is not suited to rule. Therefore, if man
has been created neither without cause and in
vain (for none of God's works is in vain, so far
at least as the purpose of their Maker is con-
cerned), nor for the use of the Maker Himself,
or of any of the works which have proceeded
from Him, it is quite clear that although, ac-
cording to the first and more general view of
the subject, God made man for Himself, and in

pursuance of the goodness and wisdom which
are conspicuous throughout the creation, yet,
according to the view which more nearly touches
the beings created, He made him for the sake
of the life of those created, which is not kindled
for a little while and then extinguished. For to
creeping things, I suppose, and birds, and fishes,
or, to speak more generally, all irrational crea-
tures, God has assigned such a life as that ; but
to those who bear upon them the image of the
Creator Himself, and are endowed with under-
standing, and blessed with a rational judgment,
the Creator has assigned perpetual duration, in
order that, recognising their own Maker, and
His power and skill, and obeying law and jus-
tice, they may pass their whole existence free
from suffering, in the possession of those quali-
ties with which they have bravely borne their
preceding life, although they lived in corruptible
and earthly bodies. For whatever has ' been
created for the sake of something else, when
that has ceased to be for the sake of which it
was created, will itself also fitly cease to be, and
will not continue to exist in vain, since, among
the works of God, that which is useless can
have no place ; but that which was created for
the very purpose of existing and living a life
naturally suited to it, since the cause itself is
bound up with its nature, and is recognised only
in connection with existence itself, can never
admit of any cause which shall utterly annihilate
its existence. But since this cause is seen to
lie in perpetual existence, the being so created
must be preserved for ever, doing and experi-
encing what is suitable to its nature, each of the
two parts of which it consists contributing what
belongs to it, so that the soul may exist and
remain without change in the nature in which it
was made, and discharge its appropriate func-
tions (such as presiding over the impulses of
the body, and judging of and measuring that
which occurs from lime to time by the proper
standards and measures), and the body be
moved according to its nature towards its appro-
priate objects, and undergo the changes allotted
to it, and, among the rest (relating^ to age, or
appearance, or size), the resurrection. For the
resurrection is a species of change, and the last
of all, and a change for the better of what still
remains in existence at that time.

CHAP. Xra. — CDNTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENT.

' Confident of these things, no less than of
those which have already come to pass, and re-
flecting on our own nature, we are content with
a life associated with neediness and corruption,
as suited to our present state of existence, and

I [The calm sublimity of this paragraph excels all that ever came
from an Athenian before. In the Phoedon we have conjectures: here
is certain hope and patient submission as our reasonable service.]

156

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

we stedfastly hope for a continuance of being
in immortality ; and this we do not take without
foundation from the inventions of men, feeding
ourselves on false hopes, but our belief rests on
a most infallible guarantee — the purpose of Him
who fashioned us, according to which He made
man of an immortal soul ' and a body, and fur-
nished him with understanding and an innate law
for the preservation and safeguard of the things
given by Him as suitable to an intelligent exist-
ence and a rational life : for we know well that
He would not have fashioned such a being, and
furnished him with everything belonging to per-
petuity, had He not intended that what was so
created should continue in perpetuity. If, there-
fore, the Maker of this universe made man with
a view to his partaking of an intelligent life, and
that, having become a spectator of His grandeur,
and of the wisdom which is manifest in all things,
he might continue always in the contemplation
of these ; then, according to the purpose of his
Author, and the nature which he has received,
the cause of his creation is a pledge of his con-
tinuance for ever, and this continuance is a pledge
of the resurrection, without which man could
not continue. So that, from what has been said,
it is quite clear that the resurrection is plainly
proved by the cause of man's creation, and the
purpose of Him who made him. Such being
the nature of the cause for which man has been
brought into this world, the next thing will be to
consider that which immediately follows, natu-
rally or in the order proposed ; and in our inves-
tigation the cause of their creation is followed by
the nature of the men so created, and the nature
of those created by the just judgment of their
Maker upon them, and all these by the end of
their existence. Having investigated therefore
the point placed first in order, we must now go
on to consider the nature of men.

CHAP. XrV. — THE RESURRECTION DOES NOT REST
SOLELY ON THE FACT OF A FUTURE JUDGMENT.

The proof ' of the several doctrines of which
the truth consists, or of any matters whatsoever
proposed for examination, if it is to produce an
unwavering confidence in what is said, must be-
gin, not from anything without, nor from what
certain persons think or have thought,^ but from
the common and natural notion ^ of the matter,
or from the connection of secondary truths with
primary ones. For the question relates either to
primary beliefs, and then all that is necessary is

* [Kaye, p. 199. Compare ^w3ajjy, cap. xxvii.,j»^r<t, p. 143.]
^ [This chapter of itself establishes the fact that Christians have

a right to demand the evidence for what they are required to believe.
It refutes the idea that what any single bishop or saint has said or
thought is doctrine, for that reason only ; but it leaves the fact that
concurrent testimony is evidence, on certain conditions, in all its
force.]

' [Not strong enough for the force of the original : ovS' ck twi'
TMrt 5oKovi^ti>»' 1) 6t6oyfi.tini»v.\

* [From the natural common sense of the thing.]

reminiscence, so as to stir up the natural notion ;
or to things which naturally follow from the first
and to their natural sequence. And in these
things we must observe order, showing what
strictly follows from the first truths, or from those
which are placed first, so as neither to be un-
mindful of the truth, or of our certainty respect-
ing it, nor to confound the things arranged by
nature and distinguished from each other, or
break up the natural order. Hence I think it
behoves those who desire to handle the subject
with fairness, and who wish to form an intelligent
judgment whether there is a resurrection or not,
first to consider attentively the force of the ar-
guments contributing to the proof of this, and
what place each of them holds — which is first,
which second, which third, and which last. And
in the arrangement of these they should place
first the cause of the creation of men, — namely,
the purpose of the Creator in making man ; and
then connect with this, as is suitable, the nature
of the men so created ; not as being second in
order, but because we are unable to pass our
judgment on both at the same time, although
they have the closest natural connection with
each other, and are of equal force in reference
to the subject before us. ^But while from these
proofe as the primary ones, and as being derived
from the work of creation, the resurrection is
clearly demonstrated, none the less can we gain
conviction respecting it from the arguments
taken from providence, — I mean from the re-
ward or punishment due to each man in accord-
ance with just judgment, and from the end of
human existence. For many, in discussing the
subject of the resurrection, have rested the whole
cause on the third argument alone, deeming that
the cause of the resurrection is the judgment.
But the feUacy of this is very clearly shown, from
the fact that, although all human beings who die
rise again, yet not all who rise again are to be
judged : for if only a just judgment were the
cause of the resurrection, it would of course fol-
low that those who had done neither evil nor
good — namely, very young children s — would
not rise again; but seeing that all are to rise
again, those who have died in infancy as well as
others, they too justify our conclusion that the
resurrection takes place not for the sake of the
judgment as the primary reason, but in conse-
quence of the purpose of God in forming men,
and the nature of the beings so formed.

CHAP. XV. — ARGUMENT FOR THE RESURRECTION
FROM THE NATURE OF MAN.

But while the cause discoverable in the crea-
tion of men is of itself sufficient to prove that
the resurrection follows by natural sequence on

s [A beautiful and cogent argument for his proposition, and a pre-
cious testimony to the innocence of babes falling aslceo b CbrisL
See Kaye, 190.]

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

157

the dissolution of bodies, yet it is perhaps right
not to shrink from adducing either of the pro-
posed arguments, but, agreeably to what has
been said, to point out to those who are not able
of themselves to discern them, the arguments
from each of the truths evolved from the pri-
mary ; and first and foremost, the nature of the
men created, which conducts us to the same
notion, and has the same force as evidence of
the resurrection. For if the whole nature of
men in general is composed of an immortal soul
and a body which was fitted to it in the creation,
and if neither to the nature of the soul by itself,
nor to the nature of the body separately, has
God assigned such a creation of such a life and
entire course of existence as this, but to men
compounded of the two, in order that they may,
when they have passed through their present
existence, arrive at one common end, with the
same elements of which they are composed at
their birth and during life, it unavoidably follows,
since one living-being is formed from the two,
experiencing whatever the soul experiences and
whatever the body experiences, doing and per-
forming whatever requires the judgment of the
senses or of the reason, that the whole series of
these things must be referred to some one end,
in order that they all, and by means of all, —
namely, man's creation, man's nature, man's life,
man's doings and sufferings, his course of exist-
ence, and the end suitable to his nature, — may
concur in one hanxiony and the same common
experience. But if there is some one harmony
and community of experience belonging to the
whole being, whether of the things which spring
from the soul or of those which are accomplished
by means of the body, the end for all these must
also be one. And the end will be in strictness
one, if the being whose end that end is remains
the same in its constitution ; and the being will
be exactly the same, if all those things of which
the being consists as parts are the same. And
they will be the same in respect of their peculiar
union, if the parts dissolved are again united for
the constitution of the being. And the constitu-
tion of the same men of necessity proves that a
resurrection will follow of the dead and dissolved
bodies ; for without this, neither could the same
parts be united according to nature with one
another, nor could the nature of the same men
be reconstituted. And if both understanding
and reason have been given to men for the dis-
cernment of things which are perceived by the
understanding, and not of existences only, but
also of the goodness and wisdom and rectitude
of their Giver, it necessarily follows that, since
those things continue for the sake of which the
rational judgment is given, the judgment given
for these things should also continue. But it is
impossible for this to continue, unless the nature

which has received it, and in which it adheres,
continues. But that which has received both
understanding and reason is man, not the soul
by itself. Man, therefore, who consists of the
two parts, must continue for ever. But it is im-
possible for him to continue unless he rise again.
For if no resurrection were to take place, the
nature of men as men would not continue. And
if the nature of men does not continue, in vain
has the soul been fitted to the need of the body
and to its experiences; in vain has the body
been fettered so that it cannot obtain what it
longs for, obedient to the reins of the soul, and
guided by it as with a bridle ; in vain is the un-
derstanding, in vain is wisdom, and the observ-
ance of rectitude, or even the practice of every
virtue, and the enactment and enforcement of
laws, — to say all in a word, whatever is noble
in men or for men's sake, or rather the very
creation and nature of men. But if vanity is
utterly excluded from all the works of God, and
from all the gifts bestowed by Him, the conclu-
sion is unavoidable, that, along with the inter-
minable duration of the soul, there will be a
perpetual continuance of the body according to
its proper nature.

CHAP. XVI. — ANALOGY OF DEATH AND SLEEP,
AND CONSEQUENT ARGUMENT FOR THE RESUR-
RECTION.

And let no one think it strange that we call by
the name of life a continuance of being which
is interrupted by death and corruption ; but let
him consider rather that this word has not one
meaning only, nor is there only one measure of
continuance, because the nature also of the
things that continue is not one. For if each of
the things that continue has its continuance ac-
cording to its peculiar nature, neither in the case
of those who are wholly incorruptible and im-
mortal shall we find the continuance like ours,
because the natures of superior beings do not
take the level of such as are inferior ; nor in men
is it proper to look for a continuance invariable
and unchangeable ; inasmuch as the former are
from the first created immortal, and continue to
exist without end by the simple will of their
Maker, and men, in respect of the soul, have
from their first origin an unchangeable continu-
ance, but in respect of the body obtain immor-
tality by means of change. This is what is meant
by the doctrine of the resurrection ; and, look-
ing to this, we both await the dissolution of the
body, as the sequel to a life of want and cor-
ruption, and after this we hope for a continuance
with immortality, 'not putting either our death

V %

« f Job xix. 95. On which see St. Jerome, Ad Paulinnm, cap.
10, torn iv. 569, ed. Bened. And, on the text itself, see Pusey on
Daniely p. 504, London, 1864. A fine passage in Calvin, ad locum:
" En igiturqualis debate esse nostra Fides, etc. Opp.^ torn. ii. p.
a6o, ed. Amsterdam, 1676.]

158

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

on a level with the death of the irrational animals,
or the continuance of man with the continuance
of immortals, lest we should unawares in this way
put human nature and life on a level with things
with which it is not proper to compare them.
It ought not, therefore, to excite dissatisfaction,
if some inequality appears to exist in regard to
the duration of men ; nor, because the separation
of the soul from the members of the body and
the dissolution of its parts interrupts the conti-
nuity of life, must we therefore despair of the
resurrection. For although the relaxation of
the senses and of the physical powers, which
naturally takes place in sleep, seems to interrupt
the sensational life when men sleep at equal in-
tervals of time, and, as it were, come back to life
XLgain, yet we do not refuse to call it life ; and
for this reason, I suppose, some call sleep the
brother of death," not as deriving their origin
from the same ancestors and fathers, but because
those who are dead and those who sleep are
subject to similar states, as regards at least the
stillness and the absence of all sense of the pres-
ent or the past, or rather of existence itself and
their own life. If, therefore, we do not refuse to
call by the name of life the life of men full of
such inequality from birth to dissolution, and in-
terrupted by all those things which we have before
mentioned, neither ought we to despair of the life
succeeding to dissolution, such as involves the
resurrection, although for a time it is interrupted
by the separation of the soul from the body.

CHAP. XVn. — THE SERIES OF CHANGES WE CAN
NOW TRACE IN MAN RENDERS A RESURRECTION
PROBABLE.

For this nature of men, which has inequality
allotted to it from the first, and according to the
purpose of its Maker, has an unequal life and
continuance, interrupted sometimes by sleep, at
another time by death, and by the changes inci-
dent to each period of life, whilst those which
follow the first are not clearly seen beforehand.
Would any one have believed, unless taught by
experience, that in the soft seed alike in all its
parts there was deposited such a variety and
number of great powers, or of masses, which
in this way arise and become consolidated — I
mean of bones, and nerves, and cartilages, of
muscles too, and flesh, and intestines, and the
other parts of the body ? For neither in the yet
moist seed is anything of this kind to be seen,
nor even in infants do any of those things make
their appearance which pertain to adults, or in
the adult period what belongs to those who are
past their prime, or in these what belongs to
such as have grown old. But ahhough some
of the things 1 have said exhibit not at all, and

' [Homer, ///V14/, b. xiv. 331, and Virgil, ^n , vi. 378.]

Others but faintly, the natural sequence and the
changes that come upon the nature of men, yet
all who are not blinded in their judgment of
these matters by vice or sloth, know that there
must be first the depositing of the seed, and that
when this is completely organized in respect of
every member and part and the progeny comes
forth to the light, there comes the growth be-
longing to the first period of life, and the ma-
turity which attends growth, and after the
maturity the slackening of the physical jx>wers
till old age, and then, when the body is worn
out, its dissolution. As, therefore, in this matter,
though neither the seed has inscribed upon it
the life or form of men, nor the life the dissolu-
tion into the primary elements, the succession
of natural occurrences makes things credible
which have no credibility fi'om the phenomena
themselves, much more does reason, tracing out
the truth fix)m the natural sequence, affoni
ground for believing in the resurrection, since it
is safer and stronger than experience for estab-
lishing the truth.

CHAP. XVIII. — JUDGMENT MUST HAVE REFERENCE
BOTH TO SOUL AND BODY ; THERE WILL THERE-
FORE BE A RESURRECTION.

The arguments I just now proposed for ex-
amination, as establishing the truth of the res-
urrection, are all of the same kind, since they
all start from the same point ; for their starting-
point is the origin of the first men by creation.
But while some of them derive their strength
from the starting-point itself from which they
take their rise, others, consequent upon the
nature and the life of men, acquire their cred-
ibility firom the superintendence of God over us ;
for the cause according to which, and pn ac-
count of which, men have come into being,
being closely connected with the nature of men,
derives its force fix)m creation; but the argu-
ment from rectitude, which represents God as
judging men according as they have lived well
or ill, derives its force from the end of their
existence : they come into being on the former
ground, but their state depends more on God's
superintendence. And now that the matters
which come first have been demonstrated by me
to the best of my ability, it will be well to prove
our proposition by those also which come after
— I mean by the reward or punishment due to
each man in accordance with righteous judg-
ment, and by the final cause of human existence ;
and of these I put foremost that which takes the
lead by nature, and inquire first into the argu-
ment relating to the judgment : premising only
one thing, from concern for the principle which
appertains to the matters before us, and for
order — namely, that it is incumbent on those
who admit God to be the Maker of this universe,

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

159

to ascribe to His wisdom and rectitude the pres-
ervation and .care of all that has been created,
if they wish to keep to their own principles ;
and with such views to hold that nothing either
in earth or in heaven is without guardianship or
providence, but that, on the contrary, to every-
thing, invisible and visible alike, small and great,
the attention of the Creator reaches; for all
created things require the attention of the Crea-
tor," and each one in particular, according to
its nature and the end for which it was made ;
though I think it would be a useless expenditure
of trouble to go through the list now, or distin-
guish between the several cases, or mention in
detail what is suitable to each nature. Man, at
all events, of whom it is now our business to
speak, as being in want, requires food ; as being
mortal, posterity ; as being rational, a process
of judgment. But if each of these things be-
longs to man by nature, and he requires food
for his life, and requires posterity for the con-
tinuance of the race, and requires a judgment
in order that food and posterity may be accord-
ing to law, it of course follows, since food and
posterity refer to both tc^ther, that the judg-
ment must be referred to them too (by both
together I mean man, consisting of soul and
body), and that such man becomes accountable
for all his actions, and receives for them cither
reward or punishment. Now, if the righti

to every one, — namely, that, in the language
of the apostle, " this corruptible (and dissoluble)
must put on incomiption,'" in order that those
who were dead, having been made alive by the
resurrection, and the parts that were separated
and entirely dissolved having been again united,
each one may, in accordance with justice, re-
ceive what he has done by the body, whether
it be good or bad.

CHAP. XIX. — MAN WOULD BE MORE traFAVOtm-
ABLV SrrOATED THAN THE BEASTS IF THERE

WERE NO resi;rrection.

In replying, then, to those who acknowledge
a divine superintendence, and admit the same
principles as we do, yet somehow depart from
their own admissions, one may use such argu-
ments as those which have been adduced, and
many more than these, should he be disposed
to amplify what has been said only concisely
and in a cursory manner. But in dealing with
those who differ from us concerning primary
truths, it will perhaps be well to lay down
another principle antecedent to these, joining
with them in doubting of the things to which
their opinions relate, and examining the matter
along with them in this manner — whether the
hfe of men, and their entire course of existence,
is (■i\-erlooked, and a sort of dense darkness is
red dou)] upon the earth, hiding in ignorance

judgment awards to both together its retribution I -.imi mlcijce l)Oth the men themselves and thei
for the deeds wrought ; and if it is nnt pmper miction, ; or whether it is much safer to be of

that either the soul alone shot

wages of the deeds wrought in uni

body (for (his of itself has no in

the faults which are committed in connci

with the pleasure or food and culture

body), or that the body alone should

of itself is incapable of distinguishing

justice), but man, composed of ihi

jected to trial for each of the dftds.

him ; and if reason does not find ihia^

either in this life (for the

merit finds no place in the present

since many atheists and persons who practise

every iniquity and wickedness live on to the last,

unvisited by calamity, whilst, on the Mntrary,

those who have manifestly liveiflK^idinplaiy

life in respect of every virtue, H(fririijitiin, in

insult, in calumny and outrage, ^^Iw^eiing of

all kinds) or after death (for bA'lvigcttier no

longer exist, the soul being sepirdcdTiftfini the

body, and the body itself hcingvnmtitffit again

into the materials out of which itffaaTciMjioscd,

and no longer retaining atiythiiifc'iirf- itajjormer

stmcture or form, much less thaKfretniaifcrance

of Its actions) : the result of all tHiS.ttiJftw plain

. rir.l ■■ fti.i'

uli^^<>f.(lcAU. Kayt,

opBnitm;lbai ihe Maker presides over the things
wholh H<^ Himself has made, inspecting all
t'ungs- wlKUsoever which exist, or come into
idge of both deeds and purposes.
yy^ if nil judgment whatever were to be passed
I ip the :Kiiiins of men, men would have no
ivantage over the irrational creatures, but
ther would fare worse than these do, inas-
uch as they keep in subjection their pas-
ons, and concern themselves about piety, and
righteousncf;s. and the other virtues ; and a life
after the manner of brutes would be the best,
virtue would be absurd, the threat of judg-
ment a matter for broad laughter, indulgence in
every kind of pleasure the highest good, and the
common resolve of all these and their one law
would be that maxim, so dear to the intemperate
and lewd, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow
(ve die." For the termination of such a life is
not even pleasure, as some suppose, but utter
insensibility. But if the Maker of men takes
any concern about His own works, and the dis-
tinction is anywhere to be found between those
who have lived well and ill, it must be either in
the present life, while men are still living who
have conducted themselves virtuously or vicious-

i6o

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

ly, OT after death, when men are in a state of
separation and dissolution. But according to
neither of these suppositions can we find a just
judgment taking place ; for neither do the good
in the present life obtain the rewards of virtue,
nor yet do the bad receive the wages of vice.
I pass over the fact, that so long as the nature
we at present possess is preserved, the moral
nature is not able to bear a punishment com-
mensurate with the more numerous or more
serious faults. For the robber, or ruler, or
tyrant, who has unjustly put to death myriads
on myriads, could not by one death make resti-
tution for these deeds ; and the man who holds
no true opinion concerning God, but lives in all
outrage and blasphemy, despises divine things,
breal^ the laws, commits outrage against boys
and women alike, razes cities unjustly, bums
houses with their inhabitants, and devastates a
country, and at the same time destroys inhabit-
ants of cities and peoples, and even an entire
nation — how in a mortal body could he endure
a penalty adequate to these crimes, since death
prevents the deserved punishment, and the mor-
tal nature does not suffice for any single one of
his deeds? It is proved, therefore, that neither
in the present life is there a judgment accord-
ing to men's deserts, nor after death,

CHAP. XX. — MAN MUST BE POSSESSED
A BODV AND SOUL HEREAFTER,
MENT PASSED UPON HIM MAY BE

For either death is the entire extinci
the soul being dissolved and corrupt
with the body, or the soul remains by
capable of di^olution, of dispersion, of
tion, whilst the body is corrupted and dissoil
retaining no longer any remembrance of
actions, nor sense of what it experienced in
nection with the soul. If the life of men
be utterly extinguished, it is manifest there will
be no care for men who are not living, no judg-
ment respecting those who have lived
or in vice ; but there will rush in again upon us
whatever belongs to a lawless life, and the swarin
of absurdities which follow from it, and that which
is the summit of this lawlessness — atheism. But
if the body were to be corrupted, and each of the
dissolved particles to pass to its kindred element,
yet the soul to remain by itself as immortal,
neither on this supposition would any judgment
on the soul take place, since there woulil be an
absence of equity : for it is unlawful to suspect
that any judgment can proceed out of God anil
from God which is wanting in equity. Yet equity
is wanting to the judgment, if the being is not
preserved in existence who practised righteous-
ness or lawlessness : for that which practised each
of the things in life on which the judgment is
passed was man, not soul by itself. To sum up

all in a word, this view will in no case consist with
equity.

CHAP. XXI. — CONTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENT.

For if good deeds are rewarded, the body will
clearly be wronged, inasmuch as it has shared

with the sou! in the toils connected with well-
doing, but does not share in the reward of the
good deeds, and because, though the soul is
often excused for certain faults on the ground
of the body's needlness and want, the body
itself is deprived of all share in the good deeds
done, the toils on behalf of which it helped to
bear during life. Nor, again, if faults are judged,
is the soul dealt fairly with, supposing it alone
to pay the penalty for the faults it committed
through being solicited by the body and drawn
away by it to its own appetites and motions, at
one time being seized upon and carried off, at
another attracted in some very violent manner,
and sometimes concurring with it by way of
kindness and attention to its preservation. How
can it possibly be other than unjust for the soul
to be judged by itself in respect of things
towards which in its own nature it feels no appe-
tite, no motion, no impulse, such as licentious-
ness, violence, covetousness, injustice, and the
unjust acts arising out of these? For if the
majority of such evils come from men's not hav-
ing the ma.stery of the passions which solicit
ihem. and they are solicited by the neediness
of the body, and the care and atten-
jtion required by it (for these are the motives for
'ery acquisition of property, and especially for
using of it, and moreover for marriage and
of life, in which things, and in
:tion with which, is seen what is faulty and
lot so), how can it be just for the soul
judged in resf)ect of those things
lody is the first to be sensible of, and
the soul away to sympathy and
actions with a view to things
:s ; and that the appetites and
ind moreover the fears and sorrows,
whatever exceeds the proper bounds is
amenabl; to judgment, should be set in motion

that the sins arising from
])unishments for the sins corn-
fall upon the soul alone, which
ivthing of this sort, nor desires
Tfcrs of itself any such thing as
iiilTer? But even if we hold that
do not pertain to the body
an, in saying which we should
because the life of man is one,
'd of the two, yet surely we shall
hese things belong to the soul,
imply at its peculiar nature,
tely without need of food, it
Ltivcr de^n.' those things which it does not

i 'i

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

i6i

in the least require for its subsistence ; nor can
it feel any impulse towards any of those things
which it is not at all fitted to use ; nor, again,
can it be grieved at the want of money or other
property, since these are not suited to it. And
if, too, it is superior to corruption, it fears nothing
whatever as destructive of itself : it has no dread
of famine, or disease, or mutilation, or blemish,
or fire, or sword, since it cannot suffer from any
of these any hurt or pain, because neither bodies
nor bodily powers touch it at all. But if it is
absurd to attach the passions to the soul as be-
longing specially to it, it is in the highest degree
unjust and unworthy of the judgment of God to
lay upon the soul alone the sins which spring
from them, and the consequent punishments.

CHAP. XXII. — CONTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENT.

In addition to what has been said, is it not
absurd that, while we cannot even have the no-
tion of virtue and vice as existing separately in
the soul (for we recognise the virtues as man's
virtues, even as in like manner vice, their oppo-
site, as not belonging to the soul in separation
from the body, and existing by itself), yet that
the reward or punishment for these should be
assigned to the soul alone ? How can any one
have even the notion of courage or fortitude as
existing in the soul alone, when it has no fear of
death, or wounds, or maiming, or loss, or mal-
treatment, or of the pain connected with these,
or the suffering resulting from them ? And what
shall we say of self-control and temperance,
when there is no desire drawing it to food or
sexual intercourse, or other pleasures and enjoy-
ments, nor any other thing soliciting it from
within or exciting it from without ? And what
of practical wisdom, when things are not pro-
posed to it which may or may not be done, nor
things to be chosen or avoided, or rather when
there is in it no motion at all or natural impulse
towards the doing of anything? And how in
any sense can equity be an attribute of souls,
either in reference to one another or to anything
else, whether of the same or of a different kind,
when they are not able from any source, or by
any means, or in any way, to bestow that which
is equal according to merit or according to anal-
ogy, with the exception of the honour rendered
to God, and, moreover, have no impulse or mo-
tion towards the use of their own things, or
abstinence from those of others, since the use
of those things which are according to nature,
or the abstinence from them, is considered in
reference to those who are so constituted as to
use them, whereas the soul neither wants any-
thing, nor is so constituted as to use any things
or any single thing, and therefore what is called
the independent action of the parts cannot be
found in the soul so constituted ?

CHAP. XXIIL — CONTINUATION OF THE ARGUMENT.

But the most irrational thing of all is this : to
impose properly sanctioned laws on men, and
then to assign to their souls alone the recom-
pense of their lawful or unlawful deeds. For if
he who receives the laws would also justly receive
the recompense of the transgression of the laws,
and if it was man that received the laws, and not
the soul by itself, man must also bear the recom-
pense for the sins committed, and not the soul
by itself, since God has not enjoined on souls
to abstain from things which have no relation to
them, such as adultery, murder, theft, rapine,
dishonour to parents, and every desire in general
that tends to the injury and loss of our neigh-
bours. For neither the command, " Honour
thy father and thy mother," is adapted to souls
alone, since such names are not applicable to
them, for souls do not produce souls, so as to
appropriate the appellation of father or mother,
but men produce men ; nor could the command,
"Thou shalt not commit adultery," ever be
properly addressed to souls, or even thought of
in such a connection, since the difference of male
and female does not exist in them, nor any apti-
tude for sexual intercourse, nor appetite for it ;
and where there is no appetite, there can be no
intercourse ; and where there is no intercourse
at all, there can be no legitimate intercourse,
namely marriage ; and where there is no lawful
intercourse, neither can there be unlawful desire
of, or intercourse with, another man's wife, namely
adultery. Nor, again, is the prohibition of thefl,
or of the desire of having more, applicable to
souls, for they do not need those things, through
the need of which, by reason of natural indi-
gence or want, men are accustomed to steal or to
rob, such as gold, or silver, or an animal, or some-
thing else adapted for food, or shelter, or use ;
for to an immortal nature everything which is
desired by the needy as useful is useless. But
let the fuller discussion of these matters be left
to those who wish to investigate each point more
exactly, or to contend more earnestly with oppo-
nents. But, since what has just been said, and
that which concurs with this to guarantee the
resurrection, suffices for us, it would not be sea-
sonable to dwell any longer upon them ; for we
have not made it our aim to omit nothing that
might be said, but to point out in a summary
manner to those who have assembled what ought
to be thought concerning the resurrection, and
to adapt to the capacity of those present the
arguments bearing on this question.

CHAP. XXIV. — ARGUMENT FOR THE RESURRECTION
FROM THE CHIEF END OF MAN.

The points proposed for consideration having
been to some extent investigated, it remains to

l62

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

examine the argument from the end or final
cause, which indeed has already emerged m
what has been said, and only requires just so
much attention and further discussion as may
enable us to avoid the appearance of leaving
immentioned any of the matters briefly referred
to by us, and thus indirectly damaging the sub-
ject or the division of topics made at the outset.
For the sake of those present, therefore, and of
others who may pay attention to this subject, it
may be well just to signify that each of those
things which are constituted by nature, and of
those which are made by art, must have an end
peculiar to itself, as indeed is taught us by
the common sense of all men, and testified by the
things that pass before our eyes. For do we not
see that husbandmen have one end, and physi-
cians another ; and again, the things which spring
out of the earth another, and the animals nour-
ished upon it, and produced according to a cer-
tain natural series, another? If this is evident,
and natural and artificial powers, and the actions
arising from these, must by all means be accom-
panied by an end in accordance with nature, it
is absolutely necessary that the end of men, since
it is that of a peculiar nature, should be sepa-
rated from community with the rest ; for it is not
lawful to suppose the same end for beings desti-
tute of rational judgment, and of those whose
actions are regulated by the innate law and rea-
son, and who live an intelligent life and observe
justice. Freedom from pain, therefore, cannot
be the proper end for the latter, for this they
would have in common with beings utterly devoid
of sensibility : nor can it consist in the enjoy-
ment of things which nourish or delight the
body, or in an abundance of pleasures ; else a
life like that of the brutes must hold the first
place, while that regulated by virtue is without a
final cause. For such an end as this, I suppose,
belongs to beasts and cattle, not to men pos-
sessed of an immortal soul and rational judg-
ment.

CHAP. XXV. — ARGUMENT CONTINUED AND CON-
CLUDED.

Nor again is it the happiness of soul sepa-
rated from body : for we are not inquiring about

which man consists, but of the being who is
composed of both ; for such is every man who
has a share in this present existence, and there
must be some appropriate end proposed for this
life. But if it is the end of both parts together,
and this can be discovered neither while they
are still living in the present state of existence
through the numerous causes already mentioned,
nor yet when the soul is in a state of separation,
because the man cannot be said to exist when
the body is dissolved, and indeed entirely scat-
tered abroad, even though the soul continue by
itself — it is absolutely necessary that the end of
a man*s being should appear in some reconstitu-
tion of the two together, and of the same living
being. And as this follows of necessity, there
must by all means be a resurrection of the bodies
which are dead, or even entirely dissolved, and
the same men must be formed anew, since the
law of nature ordains the end not absolutely, nor
as the end of any men whatsoever, but of the
same men who passed through the previous life ;
but it is impossible for the same men to be re-
constituted unless the same bodies are restored
to the same souls. But that the same soul
should obtain the same body is impossible in
any other way, and possible only by the resur-
rection ; for if this takes place, an end befitting
the nature of men follows also. And we shall
make no mistake in saying, that the final cause
of an intelligent life and rational judgment, is to
be occupied uninterruptedly with those objects
to which the natural reason is chiefly and pri-
maily adapted, and to delight unceasingly in
the contemplation of Him who is, and of His
decrees, notwithstanding that the majority of
men, because they are affected too passionately
and too violently by things below, pass through
life without attaining this object. For the large
number of those who fail of the end that be-
longs to them does not make void the common
lot, since the examination relates to individuals,
and the reward or punishment of lives ill or
well spent is proportioned to the merit of each.

[This concluding chapter is of itself a masterpiece, and comfom
my own soul unspeakably, as proving that this life is very precious,
if only directed to the end for which w« are created. Blest be Athen-
agoras for completing what St. Paul beean on the Areopagus, and
for giving us " beauty for ashes " out of the gardens of Plato. Nov

4.u« i;r«- ^. A«.»i ^»,.^«. ^f ^:4.u.^. ^r *.u^ i.^ ^r we find what power tnere was in the apostle's word, when he preached

the hfe or final cause of either of the parts of j to the Athenians, "Jesus and the resiu«ction."]

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

[a.d. 1 5 3-1 93-2 1 7.] The second century of illumination is drawing to a close, as the great
name of this Father comes into view, and introduces us to* a new stage of the Church's progress.
From Britain to the Ganges it had already made its mark. In all its Oriental identity, we have
found it vigorous in Gaul and penetrating to other regions of the West. From its primitive base
on the Orontes, it has extended itself to the deltas of the Nile ; and the Alexandria of Apollos
and of St. Mark has become the earliest seat of Christian learning. There, already, have the
catechetical schools gathered the finest intellectual trophies of the Cross ; and under the aliment of
its library springs up something like a Christian university. Pantaenus, " the Sicilian bee *' from
the flowery fields of Enna, comes to frame it by his industry, and store it with the sweets of his
eloquence and wisdom. Clement, who had followed Tatian to the East, tracks Pantaenus to
Egypt, and comes with his Attic scholarship to be his pupil in the school of Christ. After Justin
and Irenaeus, he is to be reckoned the founder of Christian literature ; and it is noteworthy how
sublimely he begins to treat Paganism as a creed outworn, to be dismissed with contempt, rather
than seriously wrestled with any longer.

His merciless exposure of the entire system of " lords many and gods many," seems to us,
indeed, unnecessarily offensive. Why not spare us such details ? But let us reflect, that, if such
are our Christian instincts of delicacy, we owe it to this great reformer in no small proportion.
For not content to show the Pagans that the very atmosphere was polluted by their mythologies,
so that Christians, turn which way they would, must encounter pestilence, he becomes the ethi-
cal philosopher of Christians ; and while he proceeds to dictate, even in minute details, the trans-
formations to which the faithful must subject themselves in order " to escape the pollutions of
the world," he sketches in outline the reformations which the Gospel imposes on society, and
which nothing but the Gospel has ever enabled mankind to realize. " For with a celerity unsur-
passable, and a benevolence to which we have ready access," says Clement, " the Divine Power
hath filled the universe with the seed of salvation." Socrates and Plato had talked sublimely
four hundred years before ; but Lust and Murder were yet the gods of Greece, and men and
women were like what they worshipped. Clement had been their disciple ; but now, as the dis-
ciple of Christ, he was to exert a power over men and manners, of which they never dreamed.

Alexandria becomes the brain of Christendom : its heart was yet beating at Antioch, but the

West was still receptive only, its hands and arms stretched forth towards the sunrise for further

enlightenment. From the East it had obtained the Scriptures and their authentication, and from

the same soiurce was deriving the canons, the Ikurgies, and the creed of Christendom. The

universal language of Christians is Greek. To a pagan emperor who had outgrown the ideas of

165

i66 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

Nero's time, it was no longer Judaism ; but it was not less an Oriental superstition, essentially
Greek in its features and its dress. " All the churches of the West," ' says the historian of Latin
Christianity, "were Greek religious colonies. Their language was Greek, their organization
Greek, their writers Greek, their Scriptures and their ritual were Greek. Through Greek, the
communications of the churches of the West were constantly kept up with the East. . . . Thus
the Church at Rome was but one of a confederation of Greek religious republics founded by
Christianity." Now this confederation was the Holy Catholic Church.

Every Christian must recognise the career of Alexander, and the history of his empire, as an
immediate precursor of the Gospel. The patronage of letters by the Rolemies at Alexan-
dria, the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into the dialect of the Hellenes, the creation of
a new terminology in the language of the Greeks, by which ideas of faith and of truth might find
access to the mind of a heathen world, — these were preliminaries to the preaching of the Gospel
to mankind, and to the composition of the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour. He Him-
self had prophetically visited Egypt, and the idols were now to be removed before his presence.
There a powerful Christian school was to make itself felt for ever in the definitions of orthodoxy ;
and in a new sense was that prophecy to be understood, " Out of Egypt have I called my Son."

The genius of Apollos was revived in his native city. A succession of doctors was there to
arise, like him, " eloquent men, and naighty in the Scriptures." Clement tells us of his masters
in Christ, and how, coming to Pantaenus, his soul was filled with a deathless element of divine
knowledge,* He speaks of the apostolic tradition as received through his teachers hardly at
second-hand. He met in that school, no doubt, some, at least, who recalled Ignatius and Poly-
carp ; some, perhaps, who as children had heard St. John when he could only exhort his congre-
gations to ** love one another." He could afterwards speak of himself as in the next succession
afler the apostles.

He became the successor of Pantaenus in the catechetical school, and had Origen for his
pupil, with other eminent men. He was also ordained a presbyter. He seems to have compiled
his Stromata in the reigns of Commodus and Severus. If, at this time, he was about forty years
of age, as seems likely, we must conceive of his birth at Athens, while Antoninus Pius was
emperor, while Polycarp was yet living, and while Justin and Irenasus were in their prime.

Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, speaks of Clement, in turn, as his master : " for we acknowl-
edge as fathers those blessed saints who are gone before us, and to whom we shall go after a little
time ; the truly blest Pantaenus, I mean, and the holy Clemens, my teacher, who was to me so
greatly usefiil and helpful." St. Cyril of Alexandria calls him " a man admirably learned and
skilful, and one that searched to the depths all the learning of the Greeks, with an exactness
rarely attained before." So Theodoret says, " He surpassed all others, and was a holy man**
St. Jerome pronounces him the most learned of all the ancients; while Eusebius testifies to
his theological attainments, and applauds him as an " incomparable master of Christian philoso-
phy." But the rest shall be narrated by our translator, Mr. Wilson.

The following is the original Introductory Notice : —

Titus Flavius Clemens, the illustrious head of the Catechetical School at Alexandria at the
close of the second century, was originally a pagan philosopher. The date of his birth is unknown.
It is also uncertain whether Alexandria or Athens was his birthplace.^

On embracing Christianity, he eagerly sought the instructions of its most eminent teachers ; for
this purpose travelling extensively over Greece, Italy, Egypt, Palestine, and other regions of the
East.

Only one of these teachers (who, from a reference in the Stromatay all appear to have been

> Milman, vol. i. pp. 38, 29, condensed. He fails, however, to observe the immense importance of the facts he chronicles.
* I have felt that Pantsntis and his school require a few words in my cl^cidatioas.
' Epiph., Har.t xxxiL 6.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 167

alive when he wrote ') can be with certainty identified, viz., Pantsenus, of whom he speaks in terms
of profound reverence, and whom he describes as the greatest of them all. Returning to Alexan-
dria, he succeeded his master Pantsenus in the catechetical school, probably on the latter departing
on his missionary tour to the East, somewhere about a.d. 189.' He was also made a presbyter of
the Church, either then or somewhat later.' He continued to teach with great distinction till
A.D. 202, when the persecution under Severus compelled him to retire from Alexandria. In the
beginning of the reign of Caracalla we find h:m at Jerusalem, even then a great resort of Christian,
and especially clerical, pilgrims. We also hear of him travelling to Antioch, furnished with a letter
of recommendation by Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem.^* The close of his career is covered with
obscurity. He is supposed to have died about a.d. 220.

Among his pupils were his distinguished successor in the Alexandrian school, Origen, Alexan-
der bishop of Jerusalem, and, according to Baronius, Combefisius, and Bull, also Hippolytus.

The above is positively the sum of what we know of Clement's history.

His three great works. The Exhortation to the Heathen (Xoyof 6 irporpeTrrucb^ irpoq ^EXXrjva^),
The Instructor y or Padagogus (TratSaywyos) , The Miscellanies, or Stromata (Srpoi/Aarcr?), are
among the most valuable remains of Christian antiquity, and the largest that belong to that early
period.

The Exhortation, the object of which is to win pagans to the Christian faith, contains a com-
plete and withering exposure of the abominable licentiousness, the gross imposture and sordidness
of paganism. With clearness and cogency of argument, great earnestness and eloquence, Clement
sets forth in contrast the truth as taught in the inspired Scriptures, the true God, and especially
the personal Christ, the living Word of God, the Saviour of men. It is an elaborate and masterly
work, rich in felicitous classical allusion and quotation, breathing throughout the spirit of philoso-
phy and of the Gospel, and abounding in passages of power and beauty.

The Pcedagogus, or Instructor, is addressed to those who have been rescued from the darkness
and pollutions of heathenism, and is an exhibition of Christian morals and manners, — a guide
for the formation and development of Christian character, and for living a Christian life. It con-
sists of three books. It is the grand aim of the whole work to set before the converts Christ as
the only Instructor, and to expound and enforce His precepts. In the first book Clement exhib-
its the person, the function, the means, methods, and ends of the Instructor, who is the Word
and Son of God ; and lovingly dwells on His benignity and philanthropy, His wisdom, faithfulness,
and righteousness.

The second and third books lay down rules for the regulation of the Christian, in all the rela-
tions, circumstances, and actions of life, entering most minutely into the details of dress, eating,
drinking, bathing, sleeping, etc. The delineation of a life in all respects agreeable to the Word,
a tnily Christian life, attempted here, may, now that the Gospel has transformed social and private
life to the extent it has, appear unnecessary, or a proof of the influence of ascetic tendencies.
But a code of Christian morals and manners (a sort of " whole duty of man " and manual of
good breeding combined) was eminendy needed by those whose habits and characters had been
moulded under the debasing and polluting influences of heathenism ; and who were bound, and
were aiming, to shape their lives according to the principles of the Gospel, in the midst of
the all but incredible licentiousness and luxury by which society around was incurably tainted.
The disclosures which Clement, with solemn sternness, and often with caustic wit, makes of the

* Strom, t lib. i. c. ▼.

' EosebiuSy Hist. EccL, vL 6.

' Hieron., Lib. de Viris lUustribuSy c. 38; Ph., Bibl., iix.

* [The reader is already acquainted (Hennas, p. la, note 9) with permissive canons, by which bishops might commend to their breth-
ren, books fit to be read, which they sent, authenticated, not only by hand and seal, but by a clerical messenger whose duty it was (in the
language of Bingham) " to go on the bishop's embassies, with his letters or messages to foreign churches: for in those days, by reason of the
persecutions, a bishop did not so much as send a letter to a foreign church, but by the hands of one of his clergy. Whence Cyprian calls them
liierttclericti** AtUiquties, book iii. cap. ii. 3.]

1 68 INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

prevalent voluptuousness and vice, form a very valuable contribution to our knowledge of that
period.

The full title of the Stromata, according to Cusebius and Photius, was TiVov ^XxlvIov KAiz/acvto?
Twv fcara r^y aXriBrj t^iXoo-o^uiv yviiicrruct^^v vr ofivrffiAToyv aTp<t>fiaT€U ■ — " TituS Flavius Clement's
miscellaneous collections of speculative (gnostic) notes bearing upon the true philosophy." The
aim of the work, in accordance with this title, is, in opposition to Gnosticism, to furnish the mate-
rials for the construction of a true gnosis, a Christian-, philosophy, on the basis of faith, and to lead
on to this higher knowledge those who, by the discipline of the Psedagogus, had been trained for
it. The >^ork consisted originally of eight books. The eighth book is lost ; that which appears
under this name has plainly no connection with the rest of the Stromata. Various accounts have
been given of the meaning of the distinctive word in the title (Srpcu/aircvs) ; but all agree in
regarding it as indicating the miscellaneous character of its contents. And they are very miscel-
laneous. They consist of the speculations of Greek philosophers, of heretics, and of those who
cultivated the true Christian gnosis, and of quotations from sacred Scripture. The latter he
affirms to be the source from which the higher Christian knowledge is to be drawn ; as it was that
from which the germs of truth in Plato and the Hellenic philosophy were derived. He describes
philosophy as a divinely ordered preparation of the Greeks for faith in Christ, as the law was for
the Hebrews ; and shows the necessity and value of literature and philosophic culture for the
attainment of true Christian knowledge, in opposition to the numerous body among Christians
who regarded learning as useless and dangerous. He proclaims himself an eclectic, believing in
the existence of fragments of truth in all systems, which may be separated from error ; but declar-
ing that the truth can be found in unity and completeness only in Christ, as it was from Him that
all its scattered germs originally proceeded. The Stromata are written carelessly, and even con-
fusedly ; but the work is one of prodigious learning, and supplies materials of the greatest value
for understanding the various conflicting systems which Christianity had to combat.

It was regarded so much as the author's great work, that, on the testimony of Theodoret, Cas-
siodorus, and others, we learn that Clement received the appellation of SrpcD/aircvs (the Stroma-
tist). In all probability, the first part of it was given to the world about a.d. 194. The latest
date to which he brings down his chronology in the first book is the death of Commodus, which
happened in a.d. 192 ; from which Eusebius* concludes that he wrote this work during the reign
of Severus, who ascended the imperial throne in a.d. 193, and reigned till a.d. 211. It is likely
that the whole was composed ere Clement quitted Alexandria in a.d. 202. The publication of
the Pcedagogus preceded by a short time that of the Stromata ; and the Cohortatio was written a
short time before the Padagogus^ as is clear from statements made by Clement himself.

So multifarious is the erudition, so multitudinous are the quotations and the references to
authors in all departments, and of all countries, the most of whose works have perished, that the
works in question could only have been composed near an extensive library — hardly anywhere
but in the vicinity of the famous library of Alexandria. They are a storehouse of curious ancient
lore, — a museum of the fossil remains of the beauties and monstrosities of the world of pagan
antiquity, during all the epochs and phases of its history. The three compositions are really parts
of one whole. The central connecting idea is that of the Logos — the Word — the Son of God ;
whom in the first work he exhibits drawing men from the superstitions and corruptions of heathen-
ism to faith ; in the second, as training them by precepts and disciphne ; and in the last, as con-
ducting them to that higher knowledge of the things of God, to which those only who devote
themselves assiduously to spiritual, moral, and intellectual culture can attain. Ever before 1
is the grand form of the living personal Christ, — the Word, who " was with God, and w"
God, but who became man, and dwelt among us."

' Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.^ vi. 13; Phot. Bibl., itt.
« Hut. Eccl., vi. 6.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 169

Of course there is throughout plenty of false science, and frivolous and fanciful speculation.
If'Tio is the rich man that shall be saved? {rL% 6 a-io^ofjievo^ TrXovcrtos j) is the title of a practical
treatise, in which Clement shows, in opposition to those who interpreted our Lord's words to the
young ruler as requiring the renunciation of worldly goods, that the disposition of the soul is the
great essential. Of other numerous works of Clement, of which only a few stray fragments have
been preserved, the chief are the eight books of The Hypotyposes^ which consisted, of expositions
of all the books of Scripture. Of these we have a few undoubted fragments. The Adumbrations j
or Commentaries on some of the Catholic Epistles, and The Selections from the Prophetic Scriptures,
are compositions of th^ same character, as far as we can judge, as The Hypotyposes, and are
supix)sed by some to have formed part of that work.
Other lost works of Clement are : —

The Treatise of Clement, the Stromatist, on the Prophet Amos.

On Providence.

Treatise on Easter.

On Evil-speaking.

Discussion on Fasting.

Exhortation to Patience ; or. To the newly baptized.

Ecclesiastical Canon ; or, Against the Judaizers.

Different Terms.
The following are the names of treatises which Clement refers to as written or about to be
written by him, but of which otherwise we have no trace or mention : — On First Principles ;
On Prophecy ; On the Allegorical Interpretation of Members and Affections when ascribed to
God; On Angels ; On the Devil; On the Origin of the Universe ; On the Unity and Excellence
of the Church ; On the Offices of Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, and Widows ; On the Soul; On
the Resurrection ; On Marriage ; On Continence ; Against Heresies,

Preserved among Clement's works is a fragment called Epitomes of the Writings of Theodotus,
and of the Eastern Doctrine, most likely abridged extracts made by Clement for his own use,
and giving considerable insight into Gnosticism.

Clement's quotations from Scripture are made from the Septuagint version, often inaccurately
from memory, sometimes from a different text from what we possess^ often with verbal adaptations ;
and not rarely different texts are blended together.'

The works of Clement present considerable difficulties to the translator; and one of the chief
is the state of the text, which greatly needs to be expurgated and amended. For this there are
abundant materials, in the copious annotations and disquisitions, by various hands, collected
together in Migne's edition ; where, however, corruptions the most obvious have been allowed to
remain in the text.

The publishers are indebted to Dr. W. L. Alexander for the poetical translations of the
Hymns of Clement.

* [I am glad that our learned translator makes nothing of the statement of Photius, that one of the works of Clement (now lost) con-
tained many things unworthy of his orthodoxy and piety; but it may be well to say here, that Photius himself suggests that heretics had
corrupted some of his writings, and that his genuine works testify against these very corruptions. Dupin thinks that if Clement ever wrote
such things they must have crept into his works from fragments of his earlier writings, while he was a mere Platonist, at most an inquirer
into Christianity. But his great repute in the Catholic Church after his decease, is sufficient to place his character liur above all suspicions
of his having ever swerved from the " faith of the Church. "J

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

CHAP. I. — EXHORTATION TO ABANDON THE IM-
PIOUS MYSTERIES OF IDOLATRY FOR THE ADO-
RATION of' THE DIVINE WORD AND GOD THE
FATHER.

AAfPHiON of Thebes and Arion of Methymna
were both minstrels, and both were renowned in
story. They are celebrated in song to this day
in the chorus of the Greeks ; the one for having
allured the fishes, and the other for having
surrounded Thebes with walls by the power of
music. Another, a Thracian, a cunning master
of his art (he also is the subject of a Hellenic
legend), tamed the wild beasts by the mere
might of song ; and transplanted trees — oaks —
by music. I might tell you also the story of
another, a brother to these — the subject of a
myth, and a minstrel — Eunomos the Locrian
and the Pythic grasshopper. A solemn Hellenic
assembly had met at Pytho, to celebrate the
death of the Pythic serpent, when Eunomos sang
the reptile's epitaph. Whether his ode was a
hymn in praise of the serpent, or a dirge, I am
not able to say. But there was a contest, and
Eunomos was playing the lyre in the summer
time : it was when the grasshoppers, warmed by
the sun, were chirping beneath the leaves along
the hills ; but they were singing not to that dead
dragon, but to God All-wise, — a lay unfettered
by rule, better than the numbers of Eunomos.
The Locrian breaks a string. The grasshopper
sprang on the neck of the instrument,, and sang
on it as on a branch ; and the minstrel, adapting
his strain to the grasshopper's song, made up for
the want of the missing string. The grasshopper
then was attracted by the song of Eunomos, as
the fable represents, according to which also a
brazen statue of Eunomos with his lyre, and
the Locrian's ally in the contest, was erected at
Pytho. But of its own accord it flew to the lyre,
and of its own accord sang, and was regarded
by the Greeks as a musical performer.
' • How, let me ask, have you believed vain fables,
and supposed animals to be charmed by music ;
while Truth's shining face alone, as would seem,
appears to you disguised, and is looked on with

incredulous eyes? And so Cithaeron, and Heli-
con, and the mountains of the Odrysi, and the
initiatory rites of the Thracians, mysteries of
deceit, are hallowed and celebrated in hymns.
For me, I am pained at such calamities as form
the subjects of tragedy, though but myths ; but '
by you the records of miseries are turned into I
dramatic compositions. ^

But the dramas and the raving poets, now
quite intoxicated, let us crown with ivy ; and
distracted outright as they are, in Bacchic fash-
ion, with the satyrs, and the frenzied rabble, and
the rest of the demon crew, let us confine to
Cithaeron and Helicon, now antiquated.

But let us bring from above out of heaven,
Truth, with Wisdom in all its brightness, and the
sacred prophetic choir, down to the holy mount
of God \ and let Truth, darting her light to the
most distant points, cast her rays all around on
those that are involved in darkness, and deliver
men from delusion, stretching out her very
strong* right hand, which is wisdom, for their
salvation. And raising their eyes, and looking
above, let them abandon Helicon and Cithaeron,
and take lip their abode in Sion. " For out of
Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem," ' — the celestial Word,
the true athlete crowned in the theatre of the
whole universe. What my Eunomos sings is not
the measure of Terpander, nor that of Capito,
nor the Phrygian, nor Lydian, nor Dorian, but
the immortal measure of the new harmony which
bears God's name — the new, the Levitical song.'

** Soother of pain, calmer of wrath, producing forgetful-
ness of all ills." *

Sweet and true is the charm of persuasion
which blends with this strain.

To me, therefore, that Thracian Orpheus,
that Theban, and that Methymnaean, — men,

> The Greek is vrt^frrirnv^ lit. highest. Potter appeals to the use
of inr^prtpov in Sophocles, Eiectr. 45s, in the sense of stronger, as
giving a clue to the meanins here. The scholiast in Klotz takes the
words to mean that the hand is held over them.

* Isa. ii. 3.

3 Ps. xcvi. I, xcviii. i.

♦ Odyssey f iv. 220.

171

172

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

and yet unworthy of the name, — seem to have
been deceivers, who, under the pretence of
poetry corrupting human Hfe, possessed by a
spirit of artful sorcery for purposes of destruc-
tion, celebrating crimes in their orgies, and
making human woes the materials of religious
worship, were the first to entice men to idols ;
nay, to build up the stupidity of the nations
with blocks of wood and stone, — that is, stat-
ues and images, — subjecting to the yoke of
extremest bondage the truly noble freedom of
those "who- lived as free citizens under heaven,
by their songs and incantations. But not such
is my song, which has come to lo(^e, and that
speedily, the bitter bondage of tyrannizing de-
mons; and leading us back to the mild and
loving yoke of piety, recalls to heaven those
that had been cast prostrate to the earth. It
alone has tamed men, the most intractable of
animals; the frivolous among them answering
to the fowls of the air, deceivers to reptiles, the
irascible to lions, the voluptuous to swine, the
rapacious to wolves. The silly are stocks and
stones, and still more senseless than stones is
a man who is steeped in ignorance. As our
witness, let us adduce the voice of prophecy
accordant with truth, and bewailing those who
are crushed in ignorance and folly ; " For God
is able of these stones to raise up children to
Abraham ; " » and He, commiserating their great
ignorance and hardness of heart who are petri-
fied against the truth, has raised up a seed of
piety, sensitive to virtue, of those stones —
of the nations, that is, who trusted in stones.
Again, therefore, some venomous and false hyp-
ocrites, who plotted against righteousness. He
once called " a brood of vipers." * But if one
of those serpents even is willing to repent, and
follows the Word, he becomes a man of God.

Others he figuratively calls wolves, clothed in
sheep-skins, meaning thereby monsters of ra-
pacity in human form. And so all such most
savage beasts, and all such blocks of stone, the
celestial song has transformed into tractable
men. " For even we ourselves were sometime
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful, hating one another." Thus speaks the
apostolic Scripture : " But after that the kind-
ness and love of God our Saviour to man ap-
peared, not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to His mercy, He
saved us." 3 Behold the might of the new song !
It has made men out of stones, men out of
beasts. Those, moreover, that were as dead,
not being partakers of the true life, have come
to life again, simply by becoming listeners to

* Matt. iii. 9; Luke iii. 8.
3 Matt. iii. 7: Luke iii. 7.

* Tit. iii. 3-5.

this song. It also composed the universe into
melodious^ordcfi, aiid tuaed the discord of the
elenients to harmonious arrangement, so that
the whole world might become harmony. It let
loose the fluid ocean, and yet has prevented
it from encroaching on the land. The earth,
again, which had been in a state of commotion,
it has established, and fixed the sea as its bound-
ary. The violence of fire it has softened by
the atmosphere, as the Dorian is blended with
the Lydian strain ; and the harsh cold of the
air it has moderated by the embrace of fire,
harmoniously arranging these the extreme tones
of the universe. And this deathless strain,—
the support of the whole and the harmony of
all, — reaching from the centre to 'the circum-
ference, and from the extremities to the central
part, has harmonized this universal frame of
things, not according to the Thracian music. '
which is like that invented by Jubal, but accord-
ing to the paternal counsel of God, which fired
the zeal of David. And He who is of David,
and yet before him, the Word of God, despising
the lyre and harp, which are but lifeless instru-
ments, and having tuned by the Holy Spirit the
universe, and especially man, — who, composed
of body and soul, is a universe in miniature, —
makes melody to God on this instrument of
many tones ; and to this intrument — I mean
man — he sings accordant : " For thou art my
harp, and pipe, and temple." •♦ — a harp for
harmony — a pipe by reason of the Spirit — a
temple by reason of the word ; so that the first
may sound, the second breathe, the third con-
tain the Lord. And David the king, the harper
whom we mentioned a little above, who ex-
horted to the truth and dissuaded from idols.
was so far from celebrating demons in song, that
in reality they were driven away by his music.
Thus, when Saul was plagued with a demon,
he cured him by merely playing. A beautiful
breathing instrument of music the Lord made
man, after His own image. And He Himself
also, surely, who is the supramundane Wisdom,
the celestial Word, is the all-harmonious, melo-
dious, holy instrument of God. What, then,
does this instrument — the Word of God, the
Lord, the New Song — desire? To open the
eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf,
and to lead the lame or the erring to right-
eousness, to exhibit God to the foolish, to put
a stop to corruption, to conquer death, to rec-
oncile disobedient children to their father. The
instrument of God loves mankind. The Lord
pities, instructs, exhorts, admonishes, saves,
shields, and of His bounty promises us the king-
dom of heaven as a reward for learning ; and
the only advantage He reaps is, that we are

4 Probably a quotation from a hymn.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

173

saved. For wickedness feeds on men's destruc-
tion ; but truth, like the bee, harming nothing,
delights only in the salvation of men.

You have, then, God's promise ; you have His
love : become partaker of His grace. And do
not suppose the song of salvation to be new, as
a vessel or a house is new. For " before the
morning star it was ; " ' and " in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God."' Error seems old, but
truth seems a new thing.

Whether, then, the Phrygians are shown to
be the most ancient people by the goats of the
fable ; or, on the other hand, the Arcadians by
the poets, who describe them as older than the
moon ; or, finally, the Egyptians by those who
dream that this land first gave birth to gods and
men : yet none of these at least existed before
the world. But before the foundation of the
world were we, who, because destined to be in
Him, pre-existed in the eye of God before, — we
the rational creatures of the Word of God, on
whose account we date from the beginning ; for
" in the beginning was the Word." Well, inas-
much as the Word was from the first. He was
and is the divine source of all things ; but inas-
much as He has now assumed the name Christ,
consecrated of old, and worthy of power, he has
been called by me the New Song. This Word,
then, the Christ, the cause of both our being at
first (for He was in God) and of our well-being,
this very Word has now appeared as man. He
alone being both, both God and man — the Au-
thor of all blessings to us ; by whom we, being
taught to live well, are sent on our way to life
eternal. For, according to that inspired apostle
of the Lord, " the grace of God which bringeth
salvation hath api>eared to all men, teaching us,
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in
this present world ; looking for the blessed hope,
and appearing of tiie glory of the great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ." ^

This is the New Song,-* the manifestation of
the Word that was in the beginning; and before
the beginning. The Saviour, who existed before,
has in recent days appeared. He, who is in Him
that truly is, has appeared ; for the Word, who
" was with God," and by whom all things were
created, has appeared as our Teacher. The
Word, who in the beginning bestowed on us life
as Creator when He formed us, taught us to live
well when He appeared as our Teacher ; that as
God He might afterwards conduct us to the life
which never ends. He did not now for the first

* Ps. ex. 3. Septuagint has, *' before ihe morning star."

* John i I.

^ Tit. ii. X1-X3.

* I Isa. xlii 10.^ Note that in all the Psalms where this expres-
Bon is used, there is a ibretaste of the New Covenant and of the mani-
festation of the Word.]

time pity us for our error ; but He pitied us from
the first, from the beginning. But now, at His
appearance, lost as we already were. He accom-
plished our salvation. For that wicked reptile
monster, by his enchantments, enslaves and
plagues men even till now ; inflicting, as seems
to me, such barbarous vengeance on them as
those who are said to bind the captives to corpses
till they rot together. This wicked tyrant and
serpent, accordingly, binding fast with the mis-
erable chain of superstition whomsoever he can
draw to his side from their birth, to stones, and
stocks, and images, and such like idols, may with
truth be said to have taken and buried living
men with those dead idols, till both suffer cor-
ruption together.

Therefore (for the seducer is one and the
same) he that at the beginning brought Eve
down to death, now brings thither the rest of
mankind. Our ally and helper, too, is one and
the same — the Lord, who from the beginning
gave revelations by prophecy, but now plainly
calls to salvation. In obedience to the apostolic
injunction, therefore, let us flee from " the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now work-
eth in the children of disobedience," s and let us
run to the Lord the Saviour, who now exhorts to
salvation, as He has ever done, as He did by
signs and wonders in Egypt and the desert, both
by tlie bush and the cloud, which, through the
favour of divine love, attended the Hebrews like
a handmaid. By the fear which these inspired
He addressed the hard-hearted ; while by Moses,
learned in all wisdom, and Isaiah, lover of
truth, and the whole prophetic choir, in a way
appealing more to reason. He turns to the Word
those who have ears to hear. Sometimes He
upbraids, and sometimes He threatens. Some
men He mourns over, others He addresses with
the voice of song, just as a good physician treats
some of his patients with cataplasms, some with
rubbing, some with fomentations ; in one case
cuts open with the lancet, in another cauterizes,
in another amputates, in order if possible to cure
the patient's diseased part or member. The
Saviour has many tones of voice, and many
methods for the salvation of men ; by threaten-
ing He admonishes, by upbraiding He converts,
by bewailing He pities, by the voice of song He
cheers. He spake by the burning bush, for the
men of that day needed signs and wonders.

He awed men by the fire when He made
flame to burst from the pillar of cloud — a token
at once of grace and fear : if you obey, there is
the light ; if you disobey, there is the fire ; but,
vince humanity is nobler than the pillar or
the bush, after them the prophets uttered their
voice, — the Lord Himself speaking in Isaiah,

i £ph. ii. a.

174

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

in Elias, — speaking Himself by the mouth of
the prophets. But if thou dost not believe the
prophets, but supposest both the men and the
fire a myth, the Lord Himself shall speak to thee,
" who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, but humbled
Himself," ' — He, the merciful God, exerting
Himself to save man. And now the Word Him-
self clearly speaks to thee, shaming thy unbelief;
yea, I say, the Word of God became man, that
thou mayest learn from man how man may be-
come God. Is it not then monstrous, my friends,
that while God is ceaselessly exhorting us to
virtue, we should spurn His kindness and reject
salvation ?

Does not John also invite to salvation, and is he
not entirely a voice of exhortation ? Let us then
ask him, " Who of men art thou, and whence ? "
He will not say Elias. He will deny that he is
Christ, but will profess himself to be " a voice
cr)'ing in the wilderness." Who, then, is John ? *
In a word, we may say, " The beseeching voice
of the Word crying in the wilderness." What
criest thou, O voice ? Tell us also. " Make
straight the paths of the Lord." ' John is the
forerunner, and that voice the precursor of the
Word; an inviting voice, preparing for salva-
tion, — a voice urging men on to the inheritance
of the heavens,, and through which the barren
and the desolate is childless no more. This
fecundity the angePs voice foretold; and this
voice was also the precursor of the Lord preach-
ing glad tidings to the barren woman, as John
did to the wilderness. By reason of this voice
of the Word, therefore, the barren woman bears
children, and the desert becomes fruitful, llie
two voices which heralded the Lord's — that of
the angel and that of John — intimate, as I think,
the salvation in store for us to be, that on the
appearance of this Word we should reap, as
the fruit of this productiveness, eternal life. The
Scripture makes this all clear, by referring both
the voices to the same thing : " Let her hear who
has not brought forth, and let her who has not
had the pangs of childbirth utter her voice : for
moretare the children of the desolate, than of
her who hath an husband." -♦

The angel announced to us the glad tidings
of a husband. John entreated us to recognise
the husbandman, to seek the husband. For this
husband of the barren woman, and this husband-
man of the desert — who filled with divine power
the barren woman and the desert — is one and
the same. For because many were the children
of the mother of noble race, yet the Hebrew
woman, once blessed with many children, was

* PhH. «. 6, 7.
■ John i. 83.

3 Isa. xl. 3.

4 Isa. liv. I.

made childless because of unbelief: the barren
woman receives the husband, and the desert the
husbandman ; then both become mothers through
the word, the one of fruits, the other of believcR.
But to the unbelieving the barren and the desert
are still reserved. For this reason John, the her-
ald of the Word, besought men to make them-
selves ready against the coming of the Christ of
God. 5 And it was this which was signified by
the dumbness of 2^charias, which waited for fniit
in the person of the harbinger of Christ, that the
Word, the light of truth, by becoming the Gos-
pel, might break the mystic silence of the pro-
phetic enigmas. But if thou desirest truly to see
God, take to thyself means of purification worthy
of Him, not leaves of laurel fillets interwoven
with wool and purple ; but wreathing thy brow-s
with righteousness, and encircling them with the
leaves of temperance, set thyself earnestly to find
Christ. "For I am," He says, "the door,"^
which we who desire to understand God must
discover, that He may throw heaven's gates wide
open to us. For the gates of the Word being
intellectual, are opened by the key of faith. No
one knows God but the Son, and he to whom
the Son shall reveal Him.' And I know well
that He who has opened the door hitherto shut,
will afterwards reveal what is within ; and will
show what we could not have known before, had
we not entered in by Christ, through whom alone
God is beheld.

CHAP. II. — THE ABSURDrrV AND IMPIETY OF THE
HEATHEN MYSTERIES AND FABLES ABOUT THE
BIRTH AND DEATH OF THEIR GODS.

Explore not then too curiously the shrines of
impiety, or the mouths of caverns full of mon-
strosity, or the Thesprotian caldron, or the Cirr-
hsean tripod, or the Dodonian copper. The
Gerandryon,* once regarded sacred in the midst
of desert sands, and the oracle there gone to de-
cay with the oak itself, consigned to the region
of antiquated fables. The fountain of Castalia
is silent, and the other fountain of Colophon;
and, in like manner, all the rest of the springs
of divination are dead, and stripped of their vain-
glory, although at a late date, are shown with
their fabulous legends to have run dry. Recount
to us also the useless ^ oracles of that other kind
of divination, or rather madness, the Clarian, the
Pythian, the Didymaean, that of Amphiaraus, of
Apollo, of Amphilochus ; and if you will, couple '**

S This may be translated. " of God the Christ."

* John X. 9.

' Matt. XL 27.

* What this is, is not known: but it is likely that the word is a
corruption of itpav 6pvvj the sacred oak.

*° The text has dvicpov, the imperative ofavtep^, which in daso*
cal Greek means " to hallow: " but the veib here must be derived
from the adjective artcpof , and be taken in the sense " deprive </
their holiness," " no longer count holy." Eusebius reads minifumi
" unholy interpreters."

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

175

with them the expounders of prodigies, the au-
gurs, and the interpreters of drearos. And bring
and place beside the Pythian those that divine
by flour, and those that divine by barley, and the
\'entriIoquists still held in honour by many. Let
the secret shrines of the Egyptians and the
necromancies of the Etruscans be consigned to
darkness. Insane devices truly are they all of
unbelieving men. Goats, too, have been con-
federates in this art of soothsaying, trained to
divination; and crows taught by men to give
oracular responses to men.

And what if I go over the mysteries ? I will
not divulge them dn mockery, as they say Alci-
biades did, but I will expose right well by the
word of truth the sorcery hidden in them ; and
those so-called gods of yours, whose are the mys-
tic rites, I shall display, as it were, on the stage
of life, to the spectators of truth. The bac-
chanals hold their orgies in honour of the fren-
zied Dionysus, celebrating their sacred frenzy
by the eating of raw flesh, and go through the
distribution of the parts of butchered victims,
crowned with snakes, shrieking out the name of
that Eva by whom error came into the world.
The symbol of the Bacchic orgies is a conse-
crated serpent. Moreover, according to the
strict interpretation of the Hebrew term, the
name Hevia, aspirated, signifles a female ser-
pent.

Bemeter and Proserpine have become the
heroines of a mystic drama ; and their wander-
ings, and seizure, and grief, Eleusis celebrates by
torchlight processions. I think that the deriva-
tion of orgies and mysteries ought to be traced,
the former to the wrath (opyiy) of Demeter
against Zeus, the latter to the nefarious wicked-
ness (ftvcros) relating to Dionysus; but if from
Myus of. Attica, who Pollodorus says was killed

, in hunting — no matter, I don't grudge your
mysteries the glory of funeral honours. You
may understand mysteria in another way, as
mytheria (hunting fables), the letters of the two
words being interchanged; for certainly fables
of this sort hunt after the most barbarous of the
Thracians, the most senseless of the Phrygians,

\ and the superstitious among the Greeks.

Perish, then, the man who was the author of
this imposture among men, be he Dardanus, who
taught the mysteries of the mother of the gods,
or Eetion, who instituted the orgies and mys-
teries of the Samothracians, or that Phrygian
Midas who, having learned the cunning impos-
ture from Odrysus, communicated it to his sub-
jects. For I will never be persuaded by that
Cyprian Islander Cinyras, who darnd to bring
forth from night to the light of day the lewd
orgies of Aphrodite in his eagerness to deify a
strumpet of his own country. Others say that
Melampus the son of Amythaon iini>orted the

festivals of Ceres from Egypt into Greece, cele-
brating her grief in song.

These I would instance as the prime authors
of evil, the parents of impious fables and of
deadly superstition, who sowed in human life
that seed of evil and ruin — the mysteries.

And now, for it is time, I will prove their
orgies to be full of imposture and quackery.
And if you have been initiated, you will laugh
all the more at these fables of yours which have
been held in honour. I publish without reserve
what has been involved in secrecy, not ashamed
to tell what you are not ashamed to worship.

There is then the foam-bom and Cyprus-bom,
the darling of Cinyras, — I mean Aphrodite,
lover of the virilia, because spmng from them,
even from those of Uranus, that were cut off, —
those lustful members, that, after being cut off,
offered violence to the waves. Of members so
lewd a worthy fruit — Aphrodite — is born. In
the rites which celebrate this enjoyment of the
sea, as a symbol of her birth a lump of salt and
the phallus are handed to those who are initiated
into the art of uncleanness. And those initi-
ated bring a piece of money to her, as a cour-
tesan's paramours do to her.

Then there are the mysteries of Demeter, and
Zeus's wanton embraces of his mother, and the
wrath of Demeter ; I know not what for the future
I shall call her, mother or wife, on which ac-
count it is that she is called Brimo, as is said ;
also the entreaties of Zeus, and the drink of
gall, the plucking out of the hearts of sacrifices,
and deeds that we dare not name. Such rites
the Phrygians perform in honour of Attis and
Cybele and the Corybantes. And the story goes,
that Zeus, having torn away the orchites of a
ram, brought them out and cast them at the
breasts of Demeter, paying thus a fraudulent
penalty for his violent embrace, pretending to
have cut out his own. The symbols of initiation
into these rites, when set before you in a vacant
hour, I know will excite your laughter, although
on account of the exposure by no means in-
clined to laugh. " I have eaten out of the dmm,
I have drunk out of the cymbal, I have carried
the Cemos,* I have slipped into the bedroom.'*
Are not these tokens a disgrace ? Are not the
mysteries absurdity?

What if I add the rest? Demeter becomes
a mother. Core * is reared up to womanhood.
And, in course of time, he who begot her, —
this same Zeus has intercourse with his own daugh-
ter Pherephatta, — after Ceres, the mother, —
forgetting his former abominable wickedness.
Zeus is both the father and the seducer of Core,

I The cernos some take to be a vessel containing popiiy, etc.,
carried in sacrificial processions. The scholiast says that it is a fan.
[I have marked this as a quotation. See below: Eleusinion rites.]

3 Proserpine or Pherephatta.

176

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

and shamefully courts her in the shape of a

dragon j his identity, however, was discovered.

The token of the Sabazian mysteries to the

initiated is " the deity gliding over the breast," —

the deity being this serpent crawling over the

breasts of the initiated. Proof surely this of the

unbridled lust of Zeus. Pherephatta has a child,

though, to be sure, in the form of a bull, as an

idolatrous poet says, —

" The bull
The dragon's father, and the father of the bull the

dragon,
On a hill the herdsman's hidden ox-goad,** —

alluding, as I believe, under the name of the
herdsman's ox-goad, to the reed wielded by
bacchanals. Do you wish me to go into the
story of Persephatta's gathering of flowers, her
basket, and her seizure by Pluto (Aidoneus),
and the rent in the earth, and the swine of
Eubouleus that were swallowed up with the two
goddesses; for which reason, in the Thesmo-
phoria, speaking the Megaric tongue, they thrust
out swine ? This mythological story the women
celebrate variously in different cities in the
festivals called Thesmophoria and Scirophoria;
dramatizing in many forms the rape of Phere-
phatta or Persephatta (Proserpine).

The mysteries of Dionysus are wholly inhu-
man ; for while still a child, and the Curetes
danced around [his cradle] clashing their weap-
ons, and the Titans having come upon them by
stealth, and having beguiled him with childish
toys, these very Titans tore him limb from limb
when but a child, as the bard of this mystery,
the Thracian Orpheus, says : —

** Cone, and spinning-top, and limb-moving rattles.
And fair golden apples from the clear-toned Hesperi-
des.'*

And the useless symbols of this mystic rite it
will not be useless to exhibit for condemnation.
These are dice, ball, hoop, apples, top,* looking-
glass, tuft of wool.

Athene (Minerva), to resume our account,
having abstracted the heart of Dionysus, was
called Pallas, from the vibrating of the heart ;
and the Titans who had torn him limb from
limb, setting a caldron on a tripod, and throw-
ing into it the members of Dionysus, first boiled
them down, and then fixing them on spits, " held
them over the fire." But Zeus having appeared,
since he was a god, having speedily perceived
the savour of the pieces of flesh that were being
cooked, — that savour which your gods agree to
have assigned to them as their perquisite, —
assails the Titans with his thunderbolt, and con-
signs the members of Dionysus to his son Apollo
to be interred. And he — for he did not disobey

< The scholiast takes the fUnfio^ to mean a piece of wood attached
to a cord, and swung round so as to cause a whistling noise.

Zeus — bore the dismembered corpse to Par-
nassus, and there deposited it.

If you wish tJ inspect the orgies of the Cory-
banfes, then know that, having killed their third
brother, they covered the head of the dead
body with a purple cloth, crowned it, and carry-
ing it on the point of a spear, buried it under
the roots of Olympus. These mysteries are, in
short, murders and funerals. And the priests of
these rites, who are called kings of the sacred
rites by those whose business it is to name them,
give additional strangeness to the tragic occur-
rence, by forbidding parsley with the roots from
being placed on the table, for they think that
parsley grew from the Corybantic blood that
flowed forth /just as the women, in celebrating
the Thesmophoria, abstain from eating the seeds
of the pomegranate which have fallen on the
ground, from the idea that pomegranates sprang
from the drops of the blood of Dionysus. • lliose
Corybantes also they call Cabiric ; and the cere-
mony itself they announce as the Cabiric mysterj'.

For those twoJdentical fratricides, having ab-
stracted the box in which the phallus of Bacchus
was deposited, took it to Etruria — dealers in
honourable wares truly. They lived there as
exiles, employing themselves in communicating
the precious teaching of their superstition, and
presenting phallic symbols and the box for the
Tyrrhenians to worship. And some will have it,
not improbably, that for this reason Dionysus
was called Attis, because he was mutilated. And
what is surprising at the Tyrrhenians, who were
barbarians, being thus initiated into these foul
indignities, when among the Athenians, and in
the whole of Greece — I blush to say it — the
shameful legend about Demeter holds its ground?
For Demeter, wandering in quest of her daughter
Core, broke down with fatigue near Eleusis, a
place in Attica, and sat down on a well over-
whelmed with grief. This is even now prohibited
to those who are initiated, lest they should appear
to mimic the weeping goddess. The indigenous
inhabitants then occupied Eleusis : their names
were Baubo, and Dusaules, and Triptolemus;
and besides, Eumolpus and Eubouleus. Trip-
tolemus was a herdsman, Eumolpus a shepherd,
and Eubouleus a swineherd ; from whom came
the race of the Eumolpidae and that of the Her-
alds— a race of Hierophants — who flourish 'ti
at Athens.

Well, then (for I shall not refrain from ihe
recital), Baubo having received Demeter hos;>i
tably, reaches to her a refreshing draught ; and
on her refusing it, not having any inclination to
drink (for she was very sad), and Baubo hav-n^
become annoyed, thinking herself slighted, -in-
covered her shame, and exhibited her nudity >
the goddess. Demeter is delighted at the si ht,
and takes, though with difficulty, the draugh' —

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

177

pleased, I repeat, at the spectacle. These are
the secret mysteries of the' Athenians ; these
Orpheus records. I shall produce the very
words of Orpheus, that you may have the great
authority on the mysteries himself, as evidence
for this piece of turpitude : —

** Having thus spoken, she drew aside her garments,
And showed all that shape of the body which it is

improper to name,
And with her own hand Baubo stripped herself under

the breasts.
Blandly then the goddess laughed and laughed in her

mmd,
And received the glancing cup in which was the

draught."

Mnd the following is the token of the Eleu-
sinian mysteries : / have fasted, I have drunk
the cup ; I have received from the box; having
done, I put it into the basket, and out of the
basket into the chests ><Fine sights truly, and
becoming a goddess ; mysteries worthy of the
night, and flame, and the magnanimous or rather
silly people of the Erechthidae, and the other
Greeks besides, " whom a fate they hope not for
awaits after death." And in truth against these
Heraclitus the Ephesian prophesies, as " the
night-walkers, the magi, the bacchanals, the Len-
aean revellers, the initiated." These he threatens
with what will follow death, and predicts for
them fire. E^For what are regarded among men
as mysteries, they celebrate sacrilegiously. Law,
then, and opinion, are nugatory. And the mys-
teries of the dragon are an imposture, which
celebrates religiously mysteries that are no mys-
teries at all, and observes with a spurious piety
profane rites. lAvhat are these mystic chests? —
for I must expose their sacred things, and divulge
things not fit for speech. >^Are they not sesame
cakes, and pyramidal cakes, and globular and
flat cakes, embossed all over, and lumps of salt,
and a serpent the symbol of Dionysus Bassareus ?
■^And besides these, are they not pomegranates,
and branches, and rods, and ivy leaves ?*^d
besides, round cakes and poppy seeds? And
further, there are the unmentionable symbols of
Themis, marjoram, a lamp, a sword, a woman's
comb, which is a euphemism and mystic expres-
sion for the muliebria.

0 unblushing shamelessness ! Once on a time
night was silent, a veil for the pleasure of tem-
perate men ; but now for the initiated, the holy
night is the tell-tale of the rites of licentious-
ness; and the glare of torches reveals vicious
indulgences. Quench the flame, O Hierophant ;
reverence, O Torch-bearer, the torches. That
light exposes lacchus ; let thy mysteries be
honoured, and command the orgies to be hidden
in night and darkness.'

^ [See x«t/ra, p 175, where I have affixed auotation'inarks, and
^opted the wotd " tokens" (instead of " signs") to harmonize these
two places ]

' This sentence is read variously in various editions.

The fire dissembles not ; it exposes and pun-
ishes what it is bidden.

Such are the mysteries of the Atheists.^ And
with reason I call those Atheists who know not
the true God, and pay shameless worship to a
boy torn in pieces by the Titans, and a woman
in distress, and to parts of the body that in
truth cannot be mentioned for shame, held, fast
as they are in the double impiety, first in that
they know not God, not acknowledging as God
Him who truly is ; the other and second is the
error of regarding those who exist not, as exist-
ing and calling those gods that have no real ex-
istence, or rather no existence at all, who have
nothing but a name. Wherefore the apostle re-
proves us, saying, " And ye were strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no hope, and with-
out God in the world." ^

All honour to that king of the Scythians, who-
ever Anacharsis was, who shot with an arrow one
of his subjects who imitated among the Scythians
the mystery of the Mother of the gods, as prac-
tised by the inhabitants of Cyzicus, beating a drum
and sounding a cymbal strung from his neck like
a priest of Cybele, condemning him as having
become effeminate among the Greeks, and a
teacher of the disease of effeminacy to the rest
of the Cythians.

Wherefore (for I must by no means conceal
it) I cannot help wondering how Euhemerus of
Agrigentum, and Nicanor of Cyprus, and Diago-
ras, and Hippo of Melos, and besides these, that
Cyrenian of the name of Theodorus, and num-
bers of others, who lived a sober life, and had a
clearer insight than the rest of the world into
the prevailing error respecting those gods, were
called Atheists ; for if they did not arrive at the
knowledge of the truth, they certainly suspected
the error of the common opinion ; which suspi-
cion is no insignificant seed, and becomes the
germ of true wisdom. One of these charges
the Egyptians thus : " If you believe them to be
gods, do not mourn or bewail them ; and if you
mourn and bewail them, do not any more regard
them as gods." And another., taking an image
of Hercules made of wood (for he happened
most likely to be cooking something at home),
said, " Come now, Hercules ; now is the time to
undergo for us this thirteenth labour, as you did
the twelve for Eurystheus, and make this ready
for Diagoras," and so cast it into the fire as a
log of wood. For the extremes of ignorance are
atheism and superstition, from which we must
endeavour to keep. And do you not see Moses,
the hierophant of the truth, enjoining that no
eunuch, or emasculated man, or son of a harlot,
should enter the congregation ? By the two first

3 [A scathing retort upon those who called Christians atheists,
and accused them of shameful rites.]

4 Eph. ii. X2.

178

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

|l he alludes to the impious custom by which men
,; were deprived both of divine energy and of their
"' virility ; and by the third, to him who, in place
of the only real God, assumes many gods falsely
so called, — as the son of a harlot, in ignorance
of his true father, may claim many putative
fathers.

There was an innate original communion be-
tween men and heaven, obscured through igno-
rance, but which now at length has leapt forth
instantaneously from the darkness, and shines
resplendent ; as has been expressed by one * in
the following lines : —

" See'st thou this lofty, this boundless ether,
Holding the earth in the embrace of its humid arms."

And in these : —

" O Thou, who makest the earth Thy chariot, and in the
earth hast Thy seat,
Whoever Thou be, bafHing our efforts to behold Thee."

And whatever else the sons of the poets sing.

But sentiments erroneous, and deviating from
what is right, and certainly pernicious, have
turned man, a creature of heavenly origin, away
from the heavenly life, and stretched him on the
earth, by inducing him to cleave to earthly ob-
jects. For some, beguiled by the contemplation
of the heavens, and trusting to their sight alone,
while they looked on the motions of the stars,
straightway were seized with admiration, and
deified them, calling the stars gods from their
motion (^co? from Oelv) ; and worshipped the
sun, — as, for example, the Indians; and the
moon, as the Phrygians. Others, plucking the be-
nignant fruits of earth-bom plants, called grain
Demeter, as the Athenians, and the vine Dionysus,
as the Thebans. Others, considering the penal-
ties of wickedness, deified them, worshipping
various forms of retribution and calamity. Hence
the Erinnyes, and the Eumenides, and the piacu-
lar deities, and the judges and avengers of crime,
are the creations of the tragic poets.

And some even of the philosophers, after the
poets, make idols of forms of the affections in
your breasts, — such as fear, and love, and joy,
and hope ; as, to be sure, Epimenides of old,
who raised at Athens the altars of Insult and Im-
pudence. Other objects deified by men take
their rise from events, and are fashioned in bodily
shape, such as a Dike, a Clotho, and Lachesis,
and Atropos, and Heimarmene, and Auxo, and
Thallo, which are Attic goddesses. There is a
sixth mode of introducing error and of manufac-
turing gods, according to which they number the
twelve gods, whose birth is the theme of which
Hesiod sings in his Theogony, and of whom
Homer speaks in all that he says of the gods.
The last mode remains (for there are seven in

' Euripides.

all) — that which takes its rise from the divine
beneficence towards men. For, not understand-
ing that it is God that does us good, they have
invented saviours in the persons of the Dioscuri,
and Hercules the averter of evil, and Asclepius
the healer. These are the slippery and hurtful
deviations from the truth which draw man down
from heaven, and cast him into the abyss. I
wish to show thoroughly what like these gods of
yours are, that now at length you may abandon
your delusion, and speed your flight back to hea-
ven. " For we also were once children of \\Tath,
even as others; but God, being rich -in mercy,
for the great love wherewith He loved us, when
we were now dead in trespasses, quickened us
together with Christ." * For the Word is living,
and having been " buried with Christ, is exalted
with God. But those who are still unbelieving
are called children of wrath, reared for wrath.
We who have been rescued from error, and re-
stored to the truth, are no longer the nun>lings
of wrath. Thus, therefore, we who were once
the children of lawlessness, have through the
philanthropy of the Word now become the sons
of God.

But to you a poet of your own, Empedocles
of Agrigentum, comes and says : —

" Wherefore, distracted with grievous evils,
You will never ease your soul .of its miserable woes."

The most of what is told of your gods is fa-
bled and invented ; and those things which are
supposed to have taken place, are recorded of
vile men who lived licentious lives : —

"You walk in pride and madness.
And leaving the right and straight path, you have

gone away
Through thorns and briars. Why do ye wander }
Cease, foolish men, from mortals ;
Leave the darkness of night, and lay hold on the
light."

These counsels the Sibyl, who is at once pro-
phetic and poetic, enjoins on us ; and truth enjoins
them on us too, stripping the crowd of deities of
those terrifying and threatening masks of theirs,
disproving the rash opinions formed of them by
showing the similarity of names. For there are
those who reckon three Jupiters : him of ^^ther
in Arcadia, and the other two sons of Kronos;
and of these, one in Crete, and the others again
in Arcadia. And there are those that reckon
five Athenes : the Athenian, the daughter of He-
phaestus ; the second, the Egyptian, the daughter
of Nilus j the third the inventor of war, the daugh-
ter of Kronos ; the fourth, the daughter of Zeus,
whom the Messenians have named Coryphasia,
from her mother; above all, the daughter of
Pallas and Titanis, the daughter of Oceanus,
who, having wickedly killed her father, adomei^

* Eph. ii. 3-5.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

179

herself with her father's skin, as if it had been
the fleece of a sheep. Further, Aristotle calls
the first Apollo, the son of Hephaestus and
Athene ( consequently Athene is no more a vir-
gin ) ; the second, that in Crete, the son of Cory-
bas ; the third, the son Zeus ; the fourth, the
Arcadian, the son of Silenus ( this one is called
by the Arcadians Nomius ) ; and in addition to
these, he specifies the Libyan Apollo, the son
of Ammon ; and to these Didymus the gramma-
rian adds a sixth, the son of Magnes. And now
how many Apollos are there ? They are number-
less, mortal men, all helpers of their fellow-men, !
who similarly with those already mentioned have
been so called.* And what were I to mention
the many Asclepiuses, or all the Mercuries that
are reckoned up, or the Vulcans of fable ? Shall
I not appear extravagant, deluging your ears
with these numerous names ?

At any rate, the native countries of your gods,
and their arts and lives, and besides especially
their sepulchres, demonstrate them to have been
men. Mars, accordingly, who by the poets is
hekl in the highest possible honour : —

" Mars, Mars, bane of men, blood-stained stormer of
walls," ' —

this deity, always changing sides, and implaca-
ble, as Epicharmus says, was a Spartan ; Siopho-
cles knew him for a Thracian ; others say he was
an Arcadian. This god, Homer says, was bound
thirteen months : —

" Mars had his suffering ; by Aldeus' sons,
Otus and Ephialtes, strongly bound,
He thirteen months in brazen fetters lay." *

Good luck attend the Carians, who sacrifice dogs
to him ! And may the Scythians never leave
off sacrificing asses, as Apollodorus and Callima-
chus relate : —

** Phoebus rises propitious to the Hyperboreans,
Then they offer sacrifices of asses to him."

And the same in another place : —

■

** Fat sacrifices of asses' flesh delight Phoebus."

Hephaestus, whom Jupiter cast from Olympus,
from its divine threshold, having fallen on Lem-
nos, practised the art of working in brass,
maimed in his feet : —

" His tottering knees were bowed beneath his weight."^

You have also a doctor, and not only a brass-
worker among the gods. And the doctor was
greedy of gold ; Asclepius was his name. 1 1
shall produce as a witness your own poet, the j
Boeotian Pindar : —

" Him even the gold glittering in his hands,
Amounting to a splendid fee, persuaded
To rescue a man, already death's capture, from his
grasp;

* ///ik/, ▼. 31.
' /had, v. 385.
^ Wat/f xviii. 411.

But Saturnian Jove, having shot his bolt through both.
Quickly took the breath from their breasts,
And his flaming thunderbolt sealed their doom."

And Euripides : —

" For Zeus was guilty of the murder of my son
Asclepius, by casting the lightning flame at his breast."

He therefore lies struck with lightning in the
regions of Cynosuris. Philochorus also says, that
Poseidon was worshipped as a physician in Te-
nos ; and that Kronos settled in Sicily, and there
was buried. Patroclus the Thurian, and Sopho-
cles the younger, in three tragedies, have told
the story of the Dioscuri ; and these Dioscuri
were only two mortals, if Homer is worthy of
of credit : —

" but they beneath the teeming earth,

In Lacedaemon lay, their native land."*

And, in addition, he who wrote the Cyprian
poems sa)^ Castor was mortal, and death was
decreed to him by fate ; but Pollux was immor-
tal, being the progeny of Mars. This he has
poetically fabled. But Homer is more worthy
of credit, who spoke as above of both the Dios-
curi ; and, besides, proved Herucles to be a mere
phantom : —

" The man Hercules, expert in mighty deeds."

Hercules, therefore, was known by Homer him-
self as only a mortal man. And Hieronymus
the philosopher describes the make of his body,
as 1all,s bristling-haired, robust; and Dicaear-
chus says that he was square-built, muscular,
dark, hook-nosed, with greyish eyes and long
hair. This Hercules, accordingly, after living
fifty- two years, came to his end, and was burned
in a funeral pyre in ffita.

As for the Muses, whom Alcander calls the
daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and the rest
of the poets and authors deify and worship, —
those Muses, in honour of whom whole states
have already erected museums, being handmaids,
were hired by Megaclo, the daughter of Macar.
This Macar reigned over the Lesbians, and was
always quarrelling with his wife ; and Megaclo
was vexed for her mother's sake. What would
she not do on her account? Accordingly she
hires those handmaids, being so many in num-
ber, and calls them Mysae, according to the dia-
lect of the -Cohans. These she taught to sing
deeds of the olden time, and play melodiously on
the lyre. And they, by assiduously playing the
lyre, and singing sweetly to it, soothed Macar,
and put a stop to his ill-temper. Wherefore
Megaclo, as a token of gratitude to them, on
her mother's account erected brazen pillars, and
ordered them to be held in honour in all the
temples. Such, then, are the Muses. This ac-
count is in Myrsilus of Lesbos.

* Iliad , iii. 343. Lord Derby's translation is used in extracts from
the Iliad.

5 The MS5. road " small" but the true reading is doubtless *' tail.'*

i8o

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

And now, then, hear the loves of your gods,
and the incredible tales of their licentiousness,
and their wounds, and their bonds, and their
laughings, and their, fights, their servitudes too,
and their banquets ; and furthermore, their em-
braces, and tears, and sufferings, and lewd
delights. Call me Poseidon, and the troop of
damsels deflowered by him, Amphitrite Amy-
mone, Alope, Melanippe, Alcyone, Hippothoe,
Chione, and myriads of others; with whom,
thbugh so many, the passions of your Poseidon
were not satiated.

Call me Apollo ; this is Phoebus, both a holy
prophet and a good adviser. But Sterope will
not say that, nor <^thousa, nor Arsinoe, nor
Zeuxippe, nor Prothoe, nor Marpissa, nor Hyp-
sipyle. For Daphne alone escaped the prophet
and seduction.

And, above all, let the father of gods and men,
according to you, himself come, who was so
given to sexual pleasure, as to lust after all, and
indulge his lust on all, like the goats of the
Thmuitae. And thy poems, O Homer, fill me
with admiration !

" He said, and nodded with his shadowy brows ;
Waved on the immortal head the amorosial locks,
And all Olympus trembled at his nod." *

Thou makest Zeus venerable, O Homer ; and
the nod which thou dost ascribe to him is most
reverend. But show him only a woman*s girdle,
and Zeus is exposed, and his locks are dishon-
oured. To what a pitch of licentiousness did
that Zeus of yours proceed, who spent so many
nights in voluptuousness with Alcmene? For
not even these nhie nights were long to this in-
satiable monster. But, on the contrary, a whole
lifetime were short enough for his lust ; that he
might beget for us the evil-averting god.

Hercules, the son of Zeus — a true son of
Zeus — was the offspring of that long night, who
with hard toil accomplished the twelve labours
in a long time, but in one night deflowered the
fifty daughters of Thestius, and thus was at once
the debaucher and the bridegroom of so many
virgins. It is not, then, without reason that the
poets call him a cruel wretch and a nefarious
scoundrel. It were tedious to recount his adul-
teries of all sorts, and debauching of boys. For
your gods did not even abstain from boys, one
having loved Hylas, another Hyacinthus, another
Pelops, another Chrysippus, and another Gany-
mede. Let such gods as these be worshipped
by your wives, and let them pray that their hus-
bands be such as these — so temperate; that,
emulating them in the same practices, they may
be like the gods. Such gods let your boys be
trained to worship, that they may grow up to
be men with the accursed Ukeness of fornication
on them received from the gods.

I Iliad, i. 5a8.

But it is only the male deities, perhaps, that
are impetuous in sexual indulgence.

" The female deities stayed each in the house,
for shame,*' ' says Homer ; the goddesses blush-
ing, for modesty's sake, to look on Aphrodite
when she had been guilty of adultery. But these
are more passionately licentious, bound in the
chains of adultery ; Eos having disgraced herself
with Tithonus, Selene with Endymion, Nereis
with -^acus, Thetis with Peleus, Demeter with
Jason, Persephatta with Adonis. And Aphrodite
having disgraced herself with Ares, crossed over
to Cinyra and married Anchises, and laid snares
for Phaethon, and loved Adonis. She contended
with the ox-eyed Juno ; and the goddesses un-
robed for the sake of the apple, and presented
themselves naked before the shepherd, that he
might decide which was the fairest.

But come, let us briefly go the round of the
games, and do away with those solemn assem-
blages at tombs, the Isthmian, Nemean, and
Pythian, and finally the Olympian. At Pytho
the Pythian dragon is worshipped, and the festi-
val-assemblage of the serpent is called by the
name Pythia. At the Isthmus the sea spit out
a piece of miserable refuse ; and the Isthmian
games bewail Melicerta.

At Nemea another — a little boy, Archemonis
— was buried ; and the funeral games of the
child are called Nemea. Pisa is the grave of
the Phrygian charioteer, O Hellenes of all tribes ;
and the Olympian games, which are nothing else
than the funeral sacrifices of Pelops, the Zeus of
Phidias claims for himself. The mysteries were
then, as is probable, games held in honour of
the dead ; so also were the oracles, and both be-
came public. But the mysteries at Sagra ^ and
in Alimus of Attica were confined to Athens.
But those contests and phalloi consecrated to
Dionysus were a world's shame, pervading life
with their deadly influence. For Dionysus,
eagerly desiring to descend to Hades, did not
know the way ; a man, by name Pros)m[inus, of-
fers to tell him, not without reward. The reward
was a disgraceful one, though not so in the opin-
ion of Dionysus : it was an Aphrodisian favour
that was asked of Dionysus as a reward. The
god was not reluctant to grant the request made
to him, and promises to fulfil it should he return,
and confirms his promise with an oath. Having
learned the way, he departed and again returned :
he did not find Prosymnus, for he had died.* In
order to acquit himself of his promise to his
lover, he rushes to his tomb, and burns with un-
natural lust. Cutting a fig-branch that came to
his hand, he shaped the phallus, and so per-
formed his promise to the dead man. As a
mystic memorial of this incident, phalloi are

* Odyss., viii. 324.

3 Meursius proposed to read, " at Agra."

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

i8i

raised aloft in honour of Dionysus through the
various cities. " For did they not make a pro-
cession in honour of Dionysus, and sing most
shameless songs in honour of the pudenda, all
would go wrong," says Heraclitus. This is that
Pluto and Dionysus in whose honour they give
themselves up to frenzy, and play the bacchanal,
— not so much, in my opinion, for the sake of
intoxication, as for the sake of the shameless
ceremonial practised. With reason, therefore,
such as have become slaves of their passions are
your gods !

Furthermore, like the Helots among the Lace-
demonians, Apollo came under the yoke of slave-
ry to Admetus in Pherse, Hercules to Omphale
in Sardis. Poseidon was a drudge to Laomedon ;
and so was Apollo, who, like a good-for-nothing
sen^ant, was unable to obtain his freedom from
his former master ; and at that time the walls of
Troy were built by them for the Phrygian. And
Homer is not ashamed to speak of Athene as
appearing to Ulysses with a golden lamp in her
hand. And we read of Aphrodite, like a wanton
ser>'ing-wench, taking and setting a seat for
Helen opposite the adulterer, in order to entice
him.

Panyasis, too, tells us of gods in plenty be-
sides those who acted as servants, writing thus : —

"* Demeter underwent servitude, and so did the famous
lame god ;
Poseidon underwent it, and Apollo too, of the silver

bow,
With a mortal man for a year. And fierce Mars
Underwent it at the compulsion of his father.*'

And so on.

Agreeably to this, it remains for me to bring
before you those amatory and sensuous deities
of yours, as in every respect having human feel-
ings.

" For theirs was a mortal body."

This Homer most distinctly shows, by intro-
ducing Aphrodite uttering loud and shrill cries
on account of her wound ; and describing the
most warlike Ares himself as wounded in the
stomach by Diomede. Polemo, too, says that
Athene was wounded by Ornytus ; nay. Homer
says that Pluto even was struck with an arrow by
Hercules; and Panyasis relates that the beams
of Sol were struck by the arrows of Hercules ; *
and the same Panyasis relates, that by the same
Hercules Hera the goddess of marriage' was
wounded in sandy Pylos. Sosibius, too, relates
that Hercules was wounded in the hand by the
sons of Hippocoon. And if there are wounds,
there is blood. For the ic/ior of the poets is
more repulsive than blood ; for the putrefaction
of blood is called tc/ior. Wherefore cures and
means of sustenance of which thev stand in need

' Tke f>eams of Sol or the Sun is an emendation of Poller's.
The Mss. read " tht Elean A ugetu."

must be furnished. Accordingly mention is
made of tables, and potations, and laughter, and
intercourse; for men would not devote them-
selves to love, or beget children, or sleep, if they
were immortal, and had nb wants, and never
grew old. Jupiter himself, when the guest of
Lycaon the Arcadian, partook of a human table
among the Ethiopians — a table rather inhuman
and forbidden. For he satiated himself with
human flesh unwittingly; for the god did not
know that Lycaon the Arcadian, his entertainer,
had slain his son (his name was Nyctimus), and

served him up cooked before Zeus.

This is Jupiter the good, the prophetic, the
patron of hospitality, the protector of suppliants,
the benign, the author of omens, the avenger of
wrongs ; rather the unjust, the violater of right \
and of law, the impious, the inhuman, the violent, j
the seducer, the adulterer, the amatory. But I
perhaps when he was such he was a man ; but ■
now these fables seem to have grown old on our [
hands. Zeus is no longer a serpent, a swan, nor ;
an eagle, nor a licentious man ; the god no longer '
flies, nor loves boys, nor kisses, nor offers vio-
lence, although there are still many beautiful
women, more comely than Leda, more blooming
than Semele, and boys of better looks and man-
ners than the Phrygian herdsman. Where is
now that eagle? where now that swan? where
now is Zeus himself? He has grown old with
his feathers ; for as yet he does not repent of his
amatory exploits, nor is he taught continence.
The fable is exposed before you : Leda is dead,
the swan is dead. Seek your Jupiter. Ran-
sack not heaven, but earth. The Cretan, in
whose country he was buried, will show him to
you, — I mean Callimachus, in his hymns : — ^ '^

** For thy tomb, O king,
The Cretans fashioned I "

For Zeus is dead, be not distressed, as Leda
is dead, and the swan, and the eagle, and the
libertine, and the serpent. And how even the
superstitious seem, although reluctantly, yet truly,
to have come to understand their error respect-
ing the Gods.

'* For not from an ancient oak, nor from a rock,
But from men, is thy descent." *

But shortly after this, they will be found to be
but oaks and stones. One Agamemnon is said
by Staphylus to be worshipped as a Jupiter
in Sparta; and Phanocles, in his book of the
Brave and Fair^ relates that Agamemnon king
of the Hellenes erected the temple of Argennian
Aphrodite, in honour of Argennus his friend. An
Artemis, named the Strangled, is worshipped by
the Arcadians, as Callimachus says in his Book
of Causes ; and at Methymna another Artemis
had divine honours paid her, vxz.^ Artemis Con-

2 Odyss.y xix. X63.

X82

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

dylitis. There is also the temple of another
Artemis — Artemis Podagra (or, the gout) — in
Laconica, as Sosibius says. Polemo tells of an
image of a yawning Apollo ; and again of another
image, reverenced in Elis, of the guzzling Apollo.
Then the Eleans sacrifice to Zeus, the averter of
flies ; and the Romans sacrifice to Hercules, the
averter of flies ; and to Fever, and to Terror,
whom also they reckon among the attendants of
Hercules. (I pass over the Argives, who wor-
shipped Aphrodite, opener of graves.) The
Argives and Spartans reverence Artemis Chelytis,
or the cougher, from x^^^'-Vy which in their
speech signifies to cough.

Do you imagine from what source these de-
tails have been quoted? Only such as are fur-
nished by yourselves are here adduced ; and you
do not seem to recognise your own writers,
whom I call as witnesses against your unbelief.
Poor wretches that ye are, who have filled with
unholy jesting the whole compass of your life —
a life in reality devoid of life !

Is not 2^us the Baldhead worshipped in Argos ;
and another Zeus, the avenger, in Cyprus ? Do
not the Argives sacrifice to Aphrodite Peribaso
(the protectress),* and the Athenians to Aphro-
dite Hetaera (the courtesan), and the Syracusans
to Aphrodite Kallipygos, whom Nicander has
somewhere called Kalliglutos (with beautiful
rump) . I pass over in silence just now Dionysus
Choiropsales.' The Sicyonians reverence this
deity, whom they have constituted the god of
the muliebria — the patron of filthiness — and
religiously honour as the author of licentious-
ness. • Such, then, are their gods ; such are they
also who make mockery of the gods, or rather
mock and insult themselves. How much better

are the Egyptians, who in their towns and vil-
lages pay divine honours to the irrational crea-
tures, than the Greeks, who worship such gods
as these?

For if they are beasts, they are not adulterous
or libidinous, and seek pleasure in nothing that
is contrary to nature. And of what sort these
deities are, what need is there further to say, as
they have been already sufficiently exposed?
Furthermore, the Egyptians whom I have now
mentioned are divided in their objects of wor-
ship. The Syenites worship the braize-fish ; and
the maiotes — this is another fish — is wor-
shipped by those who inhabit Elephantine : the
Oxyrinchites likewise worship a fish which takes
its name from their country. Again, the Herac-
litopolites worship the ichneumon, the inhab-
itants of Sais and of Thebes a sheep, the
Leucopolites a wolf, the Cynopolites a dog, the

' So LiddeU and Scott. Commentators are generally agreed that
the epithet is an obscene one, though what its precise meaning is they
can only conjecture.

3 An obscene epithet, derived from xo^po<> ^ sow, and 0Ai/3oi, to
press.

Memphites Apis, the Mendesians a goat. And
you, who are altogether better than the Egyp-
tians (I shrink from saying worse), who never
cease laughing every day of your lives at the
Egyptians, what are some of you, too, with re-
gard to brute beasts ? For of your number the
Thessalians pay divine homage to storks, in ac-
cordance with ancient custom ;. and the Thebans
to weasels, for their assistance at the birth of
Hercules. And again, are not the Thessalians
reported to worship ants, since they have learned
that Zeus in the likeness of an ant had inter-
course with Eurymedusa, the daughter of Cletor^
and begot Myrmidon? Polemo, too, relates
that the people who inhabit the Troad worship
the mice of the country, which they call Smin-
thoi, because they gnawed the strings of their
enemies' bows ; and from those mice Apollo has
received his epithet of Sminthian. Heraclides,
in his work. Regarding the Building of Temples
in Acamania, says that, at the place where the
promontory of Actiura is, and the temple of
Apollo of Actium, they offer to the flies the sac-
rifice of an ox.

Nor shall I forget the Samians : the Samians,
as Euphorion says, reverence the sheep. Nor
shall I forget the Syrians, who inhabit Phoenicia,
of whom some revere doves, and others fishes^
with as excessive veneration as the Eleans do
Zeus. Well, then, since those you worship are
not gods, it seems to me requisite to ascertain if
those are really demons who are ranked, as you
say, in this second order [next the gods]. For
if the lickerish and impure are demons, indige-
nous demons who have obtained sacred honours
may be discovered in crowds throughout your
cities : Menedemus among the Cythnians ;
among the Tenians, Callistagoras ; among the
Delians, Anius ; among the Laconians, Astraba-
cus ; at Phalerus, a hero affixed to the prow of
ships is worshipped ; and the Pythian priestess
enjoined the Plataeans to sacrifice to Androcrates
and Democrates, and Cyclseu6 and Leuco while
the Median war was at its height. Other demons
in plenty may be brought to light by any one
who can look about him a little.

" For thrice ten thousand are there in the all-nourishing
earth
Of demons immortal, the guardians of articulate-
speaking men." *

Who these guardians are, do not grudge, 0
Boeotian, to tell. Is it not clear that they are
those we have mentioned, and those of more re-
nown, the great demons, Apollo, Artemis, Leto,
Demeter, Core, Pluto, Hercules, and Zeus him-
self?

But it is from running away that they guard
us, O Ascraean, or perhaps it is from sinning, as
forsooth they have never tried their hand at sin

3 Hcsiod, l^or/es and Dajfs, I. i. 250.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

183

themselves ! In that case verily the proverb
naay fitly be uttered : —

**The father who took no admonition admonishes his

son.

»»

If these are our guardians, it is not because
they have any ardour of kindly feeling towards
us, but intent on your ruin, after the manner of
flatterers, they prey on your substance, enticed
by the smoke. These demons themselves indeed
confess their own gluttony, saying : —

" For with drink-offerings due, and fat of lambs,
My altar still hath at their hands been fed;
Such honour hath to us been ever paid." '

^Vhat other speech would they utter, if indeed
the gods of the Egyptians, such as cats and
weasels, should receive the faculty of speech,
than that Homeric and poetic one which pro-
claims their liking for savoury odours and cook-
ery? Such are your demons and gods, and
demigods, if there are any so called, as there
are demi-asses (mules) ; for you have no want
of terras to make up compound names of im-
piety.

CHAP. m. — THE CRUELTY OF THE SACRIFICES TO

THE GODS.

Well, now, let us say in addition, what inhu-
man demons, and hostile to the human race,
your gods were, not only delighting in the in-
sanity of men, but gloating over human slaugh-
ter, — now in the armed contests for superiority
in the stadia, and now in the numberless con-
tests for renown in the wars providing for them-
selves the means of pleasure, that they might
be able abundantly to satiate themselves with
the murder of human beings.

And now, like plagues invading cities and
nations, they demanded cruel oblations. Thus,
Aristomenes the Messenian slew three hundred
human beings in honour of. Ithometan Zeus,
thinking that hecatombs of such a number and
quality would give good omens ; among whom
was Theopompos, king of the Lacedemonians,
a noble victim.

The Taurians, the people who inhabit the
Tauric Chersonese, sacrifice to the Tauric Arte-
mis forthwith whatever strangers they lay hands
on on their coasts who have been cast adrift on
the sea. These sacrifices Euripides represents
in tragedies on the stage. Monimus relates, in
his treatise on marvels, that at Pella, in Thessaly,
a man of Achaia was slain in sacrifice to Peleus
and Chiron. That the Lyctii, who are a Cretan
race, slew men in sacrifice to Zeus, Anticlides
shows in his Homnuard Journeys ; and that the
Lesbians offered the like sacrifice to Dionysus,
is said by Dosidas. The Phocaeans also (for
I will not pass over such as they are), Pytho-

» Iliad, iv. 48.

eles informs us in his third book, On Concord^
offer a man as a burnt-sacrifice to the Taurian
Artemis.

Erechtheus of Attica and Marius the Roman *
sacrificed their daughters, — the former to Phere-
phatta, as Demaratus mentions in his first book
on Trc^c Subjects ; the latter to the evil-avert-
ing deities, as Dorotheus relates in his first book
of Italian Affairs, Philanthropic, assuredly,
the demons appear, from these examples ; and
how shall those who revere the demons not be
correspondingly pious ? The former are called
by the fair name of saviours ; and the latter ask
for safety from those who plot against their
safety, imagining that they sacrifice with good
omens to them, and forget that they themselves
are slaying men. For a murder does not become
a sacrifice by being committed in a particular
spot. You are not to call it a sacred sacrifice,
if one slays a man either at the altar or on
the highway to Artemis or Zeus, any more than
if he slew him for anger or covetousness, —
other demons very like the former ; but a sacri-
fice of this kin^ is murder and human butchery.
Then why is it, O men, wisest of all creatures,
that you avoid wild beasts, and get out of the
way of the savage animals, if you fall in with a
bear or hon ?

" As when some traveller spies,

Coiled in his path upon the mountain side,

A deadly snake, back he recoils in haste, —

His limbs all trembling, and his cheek all pale.**'

But though you perceive and understand de-
mons to be deadly and wicked, plotters, haters
of the human race, and destroyers, why do you
not turn out of their way, or turn them out of
yours? What truth can the wicked tell, or what
good can they do any one ?

I can then readily demonstrate that man is
better than these gods of yours, who are but
demons ; and can show, for instance, that Cyrus
and Solon were superior to oracular Apollo.
Your Phoebus was a lover of gifts, but not a lover
of men. He betrayed his friend Croesus, and
forgetting the reward he had got (so carefiil was
he of his fame), led him across the Halys to the
stake. The demons love men in such a way as
to bring them to the fire [unquenchable].

But O man, who lovest the human race better,
and art truer than Apollo, pity him that is bound
on the pyre. Do thou, O Solon, declare truth ;
and thou, O Cyrus, command the fire to be ex-
tinguished. Be wise, then, at last, O Croesus,
taught by suffering. He whom you worship is
an ingrate ; he accepts your reward, and after
taking the gold plays false. " Look again to the
end," O Solon. It is not the demon, but the
man that tells you this. It is not ambiguous

2 Plutarch, xx.

3 liiadt iii. 33.

1 84

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

oracles that Solon utters. You shall easily take
him up. Nothing but true, O Barbarian, shall
you find by proof this oracle to be, when you
are placed on the pyre. Whence I cannot help
wondering, by what plausible reasons those who
first went astray were impelled to preach super-
stition to men, when they exhorted them to
worship wicked demons, whether it was Pho-
roneus or Merops, or whoever else that raised
temples and altars to them ; and besides, as is
fabled, were the first to offer sacrifices to them.
But, unquestionably, in succeeding ages men
invented for themselves gods to worship. It is
beyond doubt that this Eros, who is said to be
among the oldest of the gods, was worshipped
by no one till Charmus took a little boy and
raised an altar to him in Academia, — a thing
more seemly ' than the lust he had gratified ;
and the lewdness of vice men called by the
name of Eros, deifying thus unbridled lust. The
Athenians, again, knew not who Pan was till
Philippides told them.

Superstition, then, as was to be expected,
having taken its rise thus, became the fountain
of insensate wickedness ; and not being subse-
quently checked, but having gone on augmenting
and rushing along in full flood, it became the
originator of many demons, and was displayed
in sacrificing hecatombs, appointing solemn as-
semblies, setting up images, and building temples,
which were in reality tombs : for I will not pass
these over in silence, but make a thorough ex-
posure of them, though called by the august
name of temples ; that is, the tombs which got
the name of temples. But do ye now at length
quite give up your superstition, feeling ashamed
to regard sepulchres with religious veneration. In
the temple of Athene in Larissa, on the Acropolis,
is the grave of Acrisius ; and at Athens, on the
Acropolis, is that of Cecrops, as Antiochus says
in the ninth book of his Histories, What of
Erichthonius ? was he not buried in the temple
of Polias? And Immarus, the son of Eumolpus
and Daira, were they not buried in the precincts
of the Elusinium, which is under the Acropolis ;
and the daughters of Celeus, were they not in-
terred in Eleusis ? Why should I enumerate to
you the wives of the Hyperboreans ? They were
called Hyperoche and Laodice ; they were buried
in the Artemisium in Delos, which is in the
temple of the Delian Apollo. Leandrius says
that Clearchus was buried in Miletus, in the
Didymaeum. Following the Myndian Zeno, it
were unsuitable in this connection to pass over
the' sepulchre of I^ucophryne, who was buried
in the temple of Artemis in Magnesia; or the
altar of Apollo in Telmessus, which is reported

' If we read ^^apieirrepov, this is the only sense that can be put on
the words. But if we read xa^*.atr\^QVy we may translate " a memo-
rial of gratified lust."

to be the tomb of Telmisseus the seer. Further,
Ptolemy the son of Agesarchus, in his first book
about Philopator, says that Cinyras and the de-
scendants of Cinyras were interred in the temple
of Aphrodite in Paphos. But all time would not
be sufficient for me, were I to go over the tombs
which are held sacred by you. And if no shame
for these audacious impieties steals over you, it
comes to this, that you are completely dead,
putting, as really you do, your trust in the dead.

" Poor wretches, what misery is this you suffer ?
Your heads are enveloped in the darkness of night." *

CHAP. IV. THE ABSURDrrV AND SHAMEFULNESS OF

THE IMAGES BY WHICH THE GODS ARE WOR-
SHIPPED.

If, in addition, I take and set before you for
inspection these very images, you will, as you
go over them, find how truly silly is the custom
in which you have been reared, of worshipping
the senseless works of men's hands.

Anciently, then, the Scythians worshipped
their sabres, the Arabs stones, the Persians
rivers. And some, belonging to other races
still more ancient, set up blocks of wood in
conspicuous situations, and erected pillars of
stone, which were called Xoana, from the can-
ing of the material of which they were made.
The image of Artemis in Icarus was doubtless
unwrought wood, and that of the Cithaeronian
Here was a felled tree-trunk; and that of the
Samian Here, as Aethlius says, was at first a
plank, and was afterwards during the govern-
ment of Proclus carved into human shape.
And when the Xoana began to be made in the
likeness of men, they got the name of Brete, —
a term derived from Brotos (man). In Rome,
the historian Varro says that in ancient times
the Xoaron of Mars — the idol by which he was
worshipped — was a spear, artists not having yet
applied themselves to this specious pernicious
art; but when art flourished, error increased.
That of stones and stocks — and, to speak
briefly, of dead matter — you have made images
of human form, by which you have produced a
counterfeit of piety, and slandered the truth, is
now as clear as can be ; but such proof as the
point may demand must not be declined.

That the statue of Zeus at Olympia, and that
of Polias at Athens, were executed of gold and
ivory by Phidias, is known by everybody ; and
that the image of Here in Samos was formed by
the chisel of Euclides, Olympichus relates in his
Samiaca, Do not, then, entertain any doubt,
that of the gods called at Athens venerable,
Scopas made two of the stone called Lychnis,
and Calos the one which they are reported to
have had placed between them, as Polemon
shows in the fourth of his books addressed to

* Odyss.f XX. 351.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

185

Timaeus. Nor need you doubt respecting the
images of Zeus and Apollo at Patara, in Lycia,
which Phidias executed, as well as the Uons that
recline with them; and if, as some say, they
were the work of Bryxis, I do not dispute, —
you have in him another maker of images.
Whichever of these you like, write down. Fur-
tiiermore, the statues nine cubits in height of
Poseidon and Amphitrite, worshipped in Tenos,
are the work of Telesius the Athenian, as we
are told by Philochorus. Demetrius, in the
second book of his ArgoHcs, writes of the image
of Here in Tiryns, both that the material was
pear-tree and the artist was Argus.

Many, perhaps, may be surprised to learn that
the Palladium which is called the Diopetes —
that is, fallen from heaven — which Diomede and
Ulysses are related to have carried off from Troy
and deposited at Demophoon, was made of the
bones of Pelops, as the Olympian Jove of other
bones — those of the Indian wild beast. I ad-
duce as my authority Dionysius, who relates this
in the fifth part of \\\s Cycle, And Apellas, in the
DelphicSy says that there were two Palladia, and
that both were fashioned by men. But that no
one may suppose that I have passed over them
through ignorance, I shall add that the image of
Dionysus Morychus at Athens was made of the
stones called Phellata, and was the work of Simon
the son of Eupalamus, as Polemo says in a letter.
There were also two other sculptors of Crete, as
I think : they were called Scyles and Dipoenus ;
and these executed the statues of the Dioscuri in
Argos, and the image of Hercules in Tiryns, and
the effigy of the Munychian Artemis in Sicyon.
Why should I Hnger over these, when I can point
out to you the great deity himself, and show you
who he was, — whom indeed, conspicuously above
all, we hear to have been considered worthy of
veneration ? Him they have dared to speak of
as made without hands — I mean the Egyptian
Serapis. For some relate that he was sent as a
present by the people of Sinope to Ptolemy Phila-
delphus, king of the Egyptians, who won their
favour by sending them com from Egypt when
they were perishing with famine ; and that this
idol was an image of Pluto ; and Ptolemy, having
received the statue, placed it on the promontory
which is now called Racotis ; where the temple
of Serapis was held in honour, and the sacred
enclosure borders on the spot ; and that Blisti-
chis the courtesan having died in Canopus, Ptole-
my had her conveyed there, and buried beneath
the fore- mentioned shrine.

Others say that the Serapis was a Pontic idol,
and was transported with solemn pomp to Alex-
andria. Isidore alone says that it was brought
from the Seleucians, near Antioch, who also had
been visited with a dearth of corn, and had been
fed by Ptolemy. But Athenodorus the son of

Sandon, while wishing to make out the Serapis to
be ancient, has somehow slipped into the mistake
of proving it to be an image fashioned by human
hands. He says that Sesostris the Egyptian king,
having subjugated the most of the Hellenic races,
on his return to Egypt brought a number of crafts-
men with him. Accordingly he ordered a statue
of Osiris, his ancestor, to be executed in sump-
tuous style ; and the work was done by the artist
Bryaxis, not the Athenian, but another of the
same name, who employed in its execution a
mixture of various materials. For he had filings
of gold, and silver, and lead, and in addition,
tin ; and of Egyptian stones not one was wanting,
and there were fragments of sapphire, and hema-
tite, and emerald, and topaz. Having ground
down and mixed together all these ingredients,
he gave to the composition a blue colour, whence
the darkish hue of the image ; and having mixed
the whole with the colouring matter that was left
over from the funeral of Osiris and Apis, moulded
the Serapis, the name of which points to its con-
nection with sepulture and its construction from
funeral materials, compounded as it is of Osiris
and Apis, which together make Osirapis.

Another new deity was added to the number
with great religious pomp in Egypt, and was near
being so in Greece by the king of the Romans,
who deified Antinous, whom he loved as Zeus
loved Ganymede, and whose beauty was of a very
rare order : for lust is not easily restrained, desti-
tute as it is of fear ; and men now observe the
sacred nights of Antinous, the shameful character
of .which the lover who spent them with him knew
well. Why reckon him among the gods, who is
honoured on account of uncleanness ? And why
do you command him to be lamented as a son ?
And why should you enlarge on his beauty?
Beauty blighted by vice is loathsome. Do not
play the tyrant, O man, over beauty, nor offer foul
insult to youth in its bloom. Keep beauty pure,
that it may be truly fair. Be king over beauty,
not its tyrant. Remain free, and then I shall
acknowledge thy beauty, because thou hast kept
its image pure : then will I worship that true
beauty which is the archetype of all who are beau-
tifiil. Now the grave of the debauched boy is the
temple and town of Antinous. For just as tem-
ples are held in reverence, so also are sepulchres,
and pyramids, and mausoleums, and labyrinths,
which are temples of the dead, as the others are
sepulchres of the gods. As teacher on this point,
I shall produce to you the Sibyl prophetess : —

" Not the oracular lie of Phoebus,
Whom silly men called God, and falsely termed

Prophet ;
But the oracles of the great God, who was not made

by men's hands,
Like dumb idols of sculptured stone." *

' Vulg,, Sibyilim, p. 253.

1 86

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

She also predicts the ruin of the temple, fore-
telling that that of the Ephesian Artemis would
be engulphed by earthquakes and rents in the
ground, as follows : —

" Prostrate on the ground Ephesus shall wail, weeping
by the shore,
And seeking a temple that has no longer an inhabit-
ant."

She says also that the temple of Isis and Serapis
would be demolished and burned : —

*' Isis, thrice-wretched goddess, thou shalt linger by the
streams of the Nile ;
Solitary, frenzied, silent, on the sands of Acheron."

Then she proceeds : —

"And thou, Serapis, covered with a heap of white
stones,
Shalt lie a huge ruin in thrice-wretched Egypt."

But if you attend not to the prophetess, hear at
least your own philosopher, the Ephesian Hera-
clitus, upbraiding images with their senselessness :
" And to these images they pray, with the same
result as if one were to talk to the walls of his
house." For are they not to be wondered at
who jvorship stones, and place them before the
doors, as if capable of activity? They worship
Hermes as a god, and place Aguieus as a door-
keeper. For if people upbraid thfem with being
devoid of sensation, why worship them as gods ?
And if they are thought to be endowed with
sensation, why place them before the door ? The
Romans, who ascribed their greatest successes
to Fortune, and regarded her as a very great
deity, took her statue to the privy, and erected
it there, assigning to the goddess as a fitting
temple — the necessary. But senseless wood
and stone, and rich gold, care not a whit for
either savoury odour, or blood, or smoke, by
which, being at once honoured and fumigated,
they are blackened ; no more do they for honour
or insult. And these images are more worthless
than any animal. I am at a loss to conceive
how objects devoid of sense were deified, and
feel compelled to pity as miserable wretches
those that wander in the mazes of this folly : for
if some living creatures have not all the senses,
as worms and caterpillars, and such as even from
the first appear imperfect, as moles and the
shrew-mouse, which Nicander says is blind and
uncouth ; yet are they superior to those utterly
senseless idols and images. For they have some
one sense, — say, for example, hearing, or touch-
ing, or something analogous to smell or taste ;
while images do not possess even one sense.
There are many creatures that have neither sight,
nor hearing, nor speech, such as the genus of
oysters, which yet live and grow, and are affected
by the changes of the moon. But images, being
motionless, inert, and senseless, are bound, nailed,
glued, — are melted, filed, sawed, polished,
carved. The senseless earth is dishonoured by

the makers of images, who change it by their
art from its proper nature, and induce men to
worship it ; and the makers of gods worship not
gods and demons, but in my view earth and art,
which go to make up images. For, in sooth,
the image is only dead matter shaped by the
craftsman's hand. But we have no sensible
image of sensible matter, but an image that is
perceived by the mind alone, — God, who alone
is truly God.'

And again, when involved in calamities, the
superstitious worshippers of stones, though they
have learned by the event that senseless matter
is not to be worshipped, yet, yielding to the
pressure of misfortune, become the victims of
their superstition; and though despising the
images, yet not wishing to appear wholly to
neglect them, are found fault with by those gods
by whose names the images are called.

For Dionysius the tyrant, the younger, having
stripped off the golden mantle from the statue
of Jupiter in Sicily, ordered him to be clothed
in a woollen one, remarking facetiously that the
latter was better than the golden one, being
lighter in summer and warmer in winter. And
Antiochus of Cyzicus, being in difficulties for
money, ordered the golden statue of 2^us, fifteen
cubits in height, to be melted ; and one like it,
of less valuable material, plated with gold, to be
erected in place of it. And the swallows and
most birds fly to these statues, and void their
excrement on them, paying no respect either to
Olympian Zeus, or Epidaurian Asclepius, or even
to Athene Polias, or the Egyptian Serapis ; but
not even from them have you learned the sense-
lessness of images.' But it has happened that
miscreants or enemies have assailed and set fire
to temples, and plundered them of their votive
gifts, and melted even the images themselves,
from base greed of gain. And if a Camb)^ses
or a Darius, or any other madman, has made
such attempts, and if one has killed the Egyp-
tian Apis, I laugh at him kilUng their god, while
pained at the outrage being perpetrated for the
sake of gain. I will therefore willingly forget
such villany, looking on acts like these more as
deeds of covetousness, than as a proof of the
impotence of idols. But fire and earthquakes
are shrewd enough not to feel shy or frightened
at either demons or idols, any more than at peb-
bles heaped by the waves on the shore.

I know fire to be capable of exposing and
curing superstition. If thou art willing to aban-
don this folly, the element of fire shall light thy
way. This same fire burned the temple in Argos, ,
with Chrysis the priestess j and that of Artemis
in Ephesus the second time after the Amazons.

< [The Trent Creed makes the saints and ikezr images objects d
worship. It is evident that Clement never imagined the existence
of an image among Christians. See p. 188, t»/ra,\

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

187

And the Capitol in Rome was often wrapped in
flanies ; nor did the fire spare the temple of
Serapis, in the city of the Alexandrians. At Athens
it demolished the temple of the Eleutherian
Dionysus ; and as to the temple of Apollo at
Delphi, first a storm assailed it, and then the
discerning fire utterly destroyed it. This is told
as the preface of what the fire promises. And
the makers of images, do they not shame those of
you who are wise into despising matter? The
Athenian Phidias inscribed on the finger of the
Olympian Jove, Pantarkes ' is beautiful. It was
not Zeus that was beautiful in his eyes, but the
man he loved. And Praxiteles, as Posidippus
relates in his book about Cnidus, when he fash-
ioned the statue of Aphrodite of Cnidus, made
it like the form of Cratine, of whom he was
enamoured, that the miserable people might
have the paramour of Praxiteles to worship.
' And when Phryne the courtesan, the Thespian,
was in her bloom, all the painters made their
pictures of Aphrodite copies of the beauty of
Phryne ; as, again, the sculptors at Athens made
their Mercuries like Alcibiades. It remains for
you to judge whether you ought to worship cour-
tesans. Moved, as I believe, by such facts, and
despising such fables, the ancient kings unblush-
ingly proclaimed themselves gods, as this in-
volved no danger from men, and thus taught that
on account of their glory they were made immor-
tal. Ceux, the son of Eolus, was styled Zeus by
his wife Alcyone ; Alcyone, again, being by her
husband styled Hera. Ptolemy the Fourth was
called Dionysus ; and Mithridates of Pontus was
also called Dionysus ; and Alexander wished to
be considered the son of Ammon, and to have
his statue made homed by the sculptors — eager
to disgrace the beauty of the human form by
the addition of a horn. And not kings only,
but private persons dignified themselves with
the names of deities, as Menecrates the physician,
who took the name of Zeus. What need is
there for me to instance Alexarchus? He, hav-
ing been by profession a grammarian, assumed
the character of the sun-god, as Aristus of Sala-
rais relates. And why mention Nicagorus ? He
was a native of Zela [in Pontus], and lived in
the days of Alexander. Nicagorus was styled
Hermes, and used the dress of Hermes, as he
himself testifies. And whilst whole nations, and
cities with all their inhabitants, sinking into
self-flattery, treat the myths about the gods with
contempt, at the same time men themselves,
assuming the air of equality with -the gods, and
being puffed up with vainglory, vote themselves
extravagant honours. There is the case of the
Macedonian Philip of Pella, the son of Amyntor,

'Pantarkes is said to have been the name of a boy loved by
Phidias: but as the word signifies " all-assisting," " all-powerful," it
ought also be made to apply to Zeus.

to whom they decreed divine worship in Cynos-
argus, although his collar-bone was broken, and
he had a lame leg, and had one of his eyes
knocked out. And again that of Demetrius, who
was raised to the rank of the gods ; and where
he alighted from his horse on his entrance into
Athens is the temple of Demetrius /Ae Alighter ; I
and altars were raised to him everywhere, and !
nuptials with Athene assigned to him by the l
Athenians. But he disdained the goddess, as{
he could not marry the statue; and taking the
courtesan Lamia, he ascended the Acropolis, and
lay with her on the couch of Athene, showing to
the old virgin the postures of the young cour-
tesan.

There is no cause for indignation, then, at
Hippo, who immortalized his own death. For
this Hippo ordered the following elegy to be
inscribed on his tomb : —

** This is the sepulchre of Hippo, whom Destiny
Made, through death, equal to the immortal gods."

Well done. Hippo ! thou showest to us the de-
lusion of men. If they did not believe thee
speaking, now that thou art dead, let them be-
come thy disciples. This is the oracle of Hippo ;
let us consider it. The objects of your worship
were once men, and in process of time died;
and fable and time have raised them to honour.
For somehow, what is present is wont to be
despised through familiarity; but what is past,
being separated through the obscurity of time
from the temporary censure that attached to it,
is invested with honour by fiction, so that the
present is viewed with distrust, the past with
admiration. Exactly in this way is it, then, that
the dead men of antiquity, being reverenced
through the long prevalence of delusion respect-
ing them, are regarded as gods by posterity.
As grounds of your behef in these, there are your
mysteries, your solemn assemblies, bonds and
wounds, and weeping deities.

" Woe, woe ! that fate decrees my best-belov'd,
Sarpedon, by Patroclus' hand to fall."*

The will of Zeus was overruled ; and Zeus be-
ing worsted, laments for Sarpedon. With reason,
therefore, have you yourselves called them shades
and demons, since Homer, paying Athene and
the other divinities sinister honour, has styled
them demons : —

" She her heavenward course pursued
To join the immortals in the abode of Jove." *

How, then, can shades and demons be still .
reckoned gods, being in reality unclean and im- !
pure spirits, acknowledged by all to be of an
earthly and watery nature, sinking downwards by
their own weight, and flitting about graves and
tombs, about which they appear dimly, being but

« Ih'ad, xvi. 433.

^ Iliad f i. 231 ; /A«rd 5atfiovas oAAovc.

i88

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

shadowy phantasms? Such things are your
gods — shades and shadows; and to these add
those maimed, wrinkled, squinting divinities the
Litae, daughters of Thersites rather than of 2^us.
So that Bion — wittily, as I think — says, How
in reason could men pray Zeus for a beautiful
progeny, — a thing he could not obtain for him-
self?

The incorruptible being, as far as in you lies,
you sink in the earth ; and that pure and holy
essence you have buried in the grave, robbing
the divine of its true nature.

Why, I pray you, have you assigned the pre-
rogatives of God to what are no gods ? Why, let
me ask, have you forsaken heaven to pay divine
honour to earth? What else is gold, or silver,
or steel, or iron, or brass, or ivory, or precious
stones ? Are they not earth, and of the earth ?

Are not all these things which you look on the
progeny of one mother — the earth ?

Why, then, foolish and silly men (for I will
repeat it), have you, defaming the super-celestial
region, dragged religion to the ground, by fash-
ioning to yourselves gods of earth, and by going
after those created objects, instead of the un-
created Deity, have sunk into deepest darkness ?

The Parian stone is beautiful, but it is not yet
Poseidon. The ivory is beautiful, but it is not
yet the Olympian 2^us. Matter always needs
art to fashion it, but the deity needs nothing.
Art has come forward to do its work, and the
matter is clothed with its shape ; and while the
preciousness of the material makes it capable of
being turned to profitable account, it is only on
account of its form that it comes to be deemed
worthy of veneration. Thy image, if considered
as to its origin, is gold, it is wood, it is stone, it
is earth, which has received shape from the
artist's hand. But I have been in the habit of
walking on the earth, not of worshipping it.
For I hold it wrong to entrust my spirit's hopes
to things destitute of the breath of life. We
must therefore approach as close as possible to
the images. How peculiarly inherent deceit is
m them, is manifest from their very look. For
the forms of the images are plainly stamped
with the characteristic nature of demons. If
one go round and inspect the pictures and im-
ages, he will at a glance recognise your gods from
their shameful forms : Dionysus from his robe ;
Hephaestus from his art; Demeter from her
calamity ; Ino from her head-dress ; Poseidon
from his trident ; Zeus from the swan ; the pyre
indicates Heracles ; and if one sees a statue of
a naked woman without an inscription, he under-
stands it to be the golden Aphrodite. Thus that
Cyprian Pygmalion became enamoured of an
image of ivory : the image was Aphrodite, and
it was nude. The Cyprian is made a conquest
of by the mere shape, and embraces the image.

This is related by Philostephanus. A different
Aphrodite in Cnidus was of stone, and beautiful.
Another person became enamoured of it, and
shamefully embraced the stone. Posidippus
relates this. The former of these authors, in
his book on Cyprus, and the latter in his book
on Cnidus. So powerful is art to delude, by
seducing amorous men into the pit. Art is*"'
powerful, but it cannot deceive reason, nor
those who live agreeably to reason. The doves
on the picture were represented so to the Hfe by
the painter's art, that the pigeons flew to them ;
and horses have neighed to well-executed pic-
tures of mares. They say that a girl became
enamoured of an image, and a comely youth
of the statue at Cnidus. But it was the eyes
of the spectators that were deceived by art ; for
no one in his senses ever would have embraced
a goddess, or entombed himself with a lifeless
paramour, or become enamoured of a demon
and a stone. But it is with a different kind of
spell that art deludes you, if it leads you not to
the indulgence of amorous affections : it leads
you to pay religious honour and worship to
images and pictures.

The picture is like. Well and good ! Let
art receive its meed of praise, but let it not
deceive man by passing itself off for truth, llie
horse stands quiet; the dove flutters not, itb
wing is motionless. But the cow of Daedalus,
made of wood, allured the savage bull ; and art
having deceived him, compelled him to meet a
woman full of licentious passion. Such frenzy
have mischief-working arts created in the minds
of the insensate. On the other hand, apes are
admired by those who feed and care for them,
because nothing in the shape of images and
girls' ornaments of wax or clay deceives them.
You then will show yourselves inferior to apes by
cleaving to stone, and wood, and gold, and
ivory images, and to pictures. Your maken>
of such mischievous toys — the sculptors and
makers of images, the painters and workers in
metal, and the poets — have introduced a mot-
ley crowd of divinities : in the fields. Satyrs and
Pans ; in the woods. Nymphs, and Oreads, and
Hamadryads ; and besides, in the waters, the
rivers, and fountains, the Naiads ; and in the sea
the Nereids. And now the Magi boast that
the demons are the ministers of their impiety,
reckoning them among the number of their do-
mestics, and by their charms compelling them
iq^ be their slaves. Besides, the nuptials of the
deities, their begetting and bringing forth of
children that are recounted, their adulteries cele-
brated in song, their carousals represented in
comedy, and bursts of laughter over their cups,
which your authors introduce, urge me to cry out,
though I would fain be silent. Oh the godless-
ness ! You have turned heaven into a stage ;

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

189

the Divine has become a drama; and what is
sacred you have acted in comedies under the
masks of demons, travestying true religion by
your demon- worship [superstition],

" But he, striking the lyre, began to sing beautifully." '

Sing to us, Homer, that beautiful song

"About the amours of Ares and Venus with the beauti-
ful crown :

How first they slept together in the palace of Hephaes-
tus

Secretly ; and he gave many gifts, and dishonoured the
bed and chamber of king Hephaestus."

Stop, O Homer, the song I It is not beautiful ;
it teaches adultery, and we are prohibited from
polluting our ears with hearing about adultery :
for we are they who bear about with us, in this
living and moving image of our human nature,
the likeness of God, — a likeness which dwells
with us, takes counsel with us, associates with
us, is a guest with us, feels with us, feels for us.
We have become a consecrated offering to God
for Christ's sake : we are the chosen generation,
the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar
people, who once were not a people, but are now
the people of God ; who, according to John, are
not of those who are beneath, but have learned
all from Him who* came from above ; who have
come to understand the dispensation of God;
who have learned to walk in newness of life,
^ut these are not the sentiments of the many ;
but, casting off shame and fear, they depict in
their houses the unnatural passions of the de-
mons. Accordingly, wedded to impurity, they
adorn their bed-chambers with painted tablets *-
hung up in them, regarding licentiousness as
religion ; and lying in bed, in the midst of their
embraces, they look on that Aphrodite locked
in the embrace of her paramour. And in the
hoops of their rings they cut a representation
of the amorous bird that fluttered round Leda,
— having a strong predilection for representa-
tions of effeminacy, — and use a seal stamped
with an impression of the licentiousness of Zeus.
Such are examples of your voluptuousness, such
are the theologies of vice, such are ^ the instruc-
tions of your gods, who commit fornication along
with you ; for what one wishes, that he thinks,
according to the Athenian orator. And of what
kind, on the other hand, are your other images?
Diminutive Pans, and naked girls, and drunken
Satyrs, and phallic tokens, painted naked in pic-
tures disgraceful for filthiness. And more than
this : you are not ashamed in the eyes of all to
look at representations of all forms of licentious-
ness which are portrayed in public places, but
set them up and guard them with scrupulous
care, consecrating these pillars of shamelessness

* Odyss., viii. a66.

* [Is not this a rebulee to many of the figures and pictures which
vulgarize abodes of wealth in America T]

at home, as if, forsooth, they were the images of
your gods, depicting on them equally the postures
of Philaenis and the labours of Heracles. Not
only the use of these, but the sight of them, and
the very hearing of them, we denounce as de-
serving the doom of oblivion. Your ears are
debauched, your eyes commit fornication, your
looks commit adultery before you embrace. O
ye that have done violence to man, and have
devoted to shame what is divine in this handi-
work of God, you disbelieve everything that you
may indulge your passions, and that ye may be-
lieve in idols, because you have a craving after
their licentiousness, but disbelieve God, because
you cannot bear a life of self-restraint. You
have hated what was better, and valued what
was worse, having been spectators indeed of vir-
tue, but actors of vice. Happy, therefore, so to
say, alone are all those with one accord, —

*' Who shall refuse to look on any temples
And altars, worthless seats of dumb stones.
And idols of stone, and images made by hands.
Stained with the Hfe's-blood, and with sacrifices
Of quadrupeds, and bipeds, and fowls, and butcheries
of wild beasts." *

For we are expressly prohibited from exercising
a deceptive art : " For thou shalt not make,"
sajrs the prophet, " the likeness of anything
which is in heaven above or in the earth be-
neath." ^

For can we possibly any longer suppose the
Demeter, and the Core, and the mystic lacchus
of Praxiteles, to be gods, and not rather regard
the art of Leucippus, or the hands of Apelles,
which clothed the material with the form of the
divine glory, as having a better title to the hon-
our? But while you bestow the greatest pains
that the image may be fashioned with the most
exquisite beauty possible, you exercise no care
to guard against your becoming like images for
stupidity. Accordingly, with the utmost clear-
ness and brevity, the prophetic word condemns
this practice : " For all the gods of the nations
are the images of demons ; but God made the
heavens, and what is in heaven." s Some, how-
ever, who have fallen into error, I know not how,
worship God's work instead of God Himself, —
the sun and the moon, and the rest of the starry
choir, — absurdly imagining these, which are but
instruments for measuring time, to be gods ; " for
by His word they were estabhshed, and all their
host by the breath of His mouth." *

Human art, moreover, produces houses, and
ships, and cities, and pictures. But how shall I
tell what God makes? Behold the whole uni-
verse ; it is His work : and the heaven, and

3 Sibyl. Justin Martyr, Cohort, ad GntcoSt p. 8z. Sec p. aSo,
vol. i of this series.

4 Ex. XX. A. [Qement even regards the art of painters and
sculptors as umawiul for Christians.]

* Ps. xcvi. 5.
*» Ps. xxxiii. 6.

190

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

the sun, and angels, and men, are the works of
His fingers." How great is the power of God !
His bare volition was the creation of the uni-
verse. For God alone made it, because He
alone is truly God. By the bare exercise of
volition He creates ; His mere willing was fol-
lowed by the springing into being of what He I
willed. Consequently the choir of philosophers
are in error, who indeed most nobly confess
that man was made for the contemplation of
the heavens, but who worship the objects that
appear in the heavens and are apprehended by
sight. For if the heavenly bodies are not the
works of men, they were certainly created for
man. Ijet none of you worship the sun, but set
his desires on the Maker of the sun ; nor deify
the universe, but seek after the Creator of the
universe. The only refuge, then, which remains
for him who would reach the portals of salvation
is divine wisdom. From this, as from a sacred
asylum, the man who presses after salvation, can
be dragged by no demon.

CHAP. v. — THE OPINIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHERS

RESPECTING GOD.

Let us then run over, if you choose, the
opinions of the philosophers, to which they give
boastful utterance, respecting the gods ; that we
may discover philosophy itself, through its con-
ceit making an idol of matter ; although we are
able to show, as we proceed, that even while
deifying certain demons, it has a dream of the
truth. The elements were designated as the
first principles of all things by some of them :
by Thales of Miletus, who celebrated water, and
Anaximenes, also of Miletus, who celebrated air
as the first principle of aJl things, and was
followed afterwards by Diogenes of Apollonia.
Parmenides of Elia introduced fire and earth as
gods ; one of which, namely fire, Hippasus of
Metapontum and Heraclitus of Ephesus sup-
posed a divinity. Empedocles of Agrigentum
fell in with a multitude, and, in addition to
those four elements, enumerates disagreement
and agreement. Atheists surely these are to be
reckoned, who through an unwise wisdom wor-
shipped matter, who did not indeed pay religious
honour to stocks and stones, but deified earth,
the mother of these, — who did not make an
image of Poseidon, but revered water itself.
For what else, according to the original signifi-
cation, is Poseidon, but a moist substance? the
name being derived from J^osis (drink) ; as,
beyond doubt, the warlike Ares is so called,
firom arst's (rising up) and anceresis (destroy-
ing) . For this reason mainly, I think, many fix
a sword into the ground, and sacrifice to it as to
Ares. The Scythians have a practice of this

I p

s. viu. 3,

nature, as Eudoxus tells us in the second book
of his Travels. The Sauromatae, too, a tribe of
the Scythians, worship a sabre, as Ikesius say-s
in his work on Mysteries,

This was also the case with Heraclitus and his
followers, who worshipped fire as the first cause ;
for this fire others named Hephaestus. The Per-
sian Magi, too, and many of the inhabitants of
Asia, worshipped fire ; and besides them, the
Macedonians, as Diogenes relates in the first
book of his Persica. Why specify the Sauroma-
tae, who are said by Nymphodorus, in his Bar-
baric Customs y to pay sacred honours to fire?
or the Persians, or the Medes, or the Magi?
These, Dino tells us, sacrifice beneath the open
sky, regarding fire and water as the only images
of the gods.

Nor have I failed to reveal their ignorance ;
for, however much they think to keep clear of
error in one form, they slide into it in another.

They have not supposed stocks and stones to
be images of the go3s, like the Greeks; nor
ibises and ichneumons, like the Egyptians ; but
fire and water, as philosophers. Berosus, in the
third book of his Chaldaics, shows that it was
after many successive periods of years that men
worshipped images of human shape, this practice
being introduced by Artaxerxes, the son of Da-
rius, and father of Ochus, who first set up the
image of Aphrodite Anaitis at Babylon and Susa ;
and Ecbatana set the example of worshipping it
to the Persians ; the Bactrians, to Damascus and
Sardis.

Let the philosophers, then, own as their
teachers the Persians, or the Sauromatae, or the
Magi, firom whom they have learned the impious
doctrine of regarding as divine certain first
principles, being ignorant of the great First
Cause, the Maker of all things, and Creator of
those very first principles, the unbeginning God,
but reverencing " these weak and beggarly ele-
ments,*' * as the apostle says, which were made
for the service of man. And of the rest of the
philosophers who, passing over the elements,
have eagerly sought after something higher and
nobler, some have discanted on the Infinite, of
whom were Anaximander of Miletus, Anaxagoras
of Clazomenae, and the Athenian Archelaus, both
of whom set Mind {virus) above Infinity ; while
the Milesian I^ucippus and the Chian Metrodo-
rus apparently inculcated two first principles —
fulness and vacuity. Democritus of Abdera,
while accepting these two, added to them images
(cfSoXa) ; while Alcmaeon of Crotona supposed
the stars to be gods, and endowed with life (I
will not keep silence as to their effrontery).
Xenocrates of Chalcedon indicates that the
planets are seven gods, and that the universe,

• Gal. iv. 9.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

191

comjx>sed of all these, is an eighth. Nor will I
pass over those of the Porch, who say that the
Divinity pervades all matter, even the vilest, and
thus clumsily disgrace philosophy. Nor do I
think will it be taken ill, having reached this
point, to advert to the Peripatetics. The father
of this sect, not knowing the Father of all things,
thinks that He who is called the Highest is
the soul of the universe ; that is, he supposes the
soul of the world to be God, and so is pierced
by his own sword. For by first limiting the
sphere of Providence to the orbit of the moon,
and then by supposing the universe to be God,
he confutes himself, inasmuch as he teaches that
that which is without God is God. And that
Eresian Theophrastus, the pupil of Aristotle, con-
jectures at one time heaven, and at another
spirit, to be God. Epicurus alone I shall gladly
forget, who carries impiety to its full length, and
thinks that God takes no charge of the world.
What, moreover, of Heraclides of Pontus ? He
is dragged everywhere to the images — the et8o)Aa
— of Democritus.

CHAP. VI. — BY DmNE INSPIRATION PHILOSOPHERS
SOMETIMES HIT ON THE TRUTH.

A great crowd of this description rushes on
my mind, introducing, as it were, a terrifying
apparition of strange demons, speaking of fabu-
lous and monstrous shapes, in old wives* talk.
Far frorti enjoining men to listen to such tales
are we, who avoid the practice of soothing our
cr>'ing children, as the saying is, by telling them
fabulous stories, being afraid of fostering in their
minds the impiety processed by those who,
though wise in their own conceit, have no more
knowledge of the truth than infants. For why
(in the name of truth !) do you make those who
believe you subject to ruin and corniption, dire
and irretrievable ? Wliy, I beseech you, fill up
life with idolatrous images, by feigning the
winds, or the air, or fire, or earth, or stones, or
stocks, or steel, or this universe, to be gods ;
and, prating loftily of the heavenly bodies in this
much vaunted science of astrology, not astron-
omy, to those men who have truly wandered, talk
of the wandering stars as gods ? It is the Lord
of the spirits, the Lord of the fire, the Maker of
the universe. Him who lighted up the sun,
that I long for. I seek after God, not the
works of God. Whom shall I take as a helper
in my inquiry? We do not, if you have no ob-
jection, wholly disown Plato. How, then, is
God to be searched out, O Plato ? " For both
to find the Father and Maker of this universe is
a work of difficulty ; and having found Him, to
declare Him fiiUy, is impossible." '

AVhy so ? by Himself, I beseech you ! For

' Timitus,

He can by no means be expressed. Well done,
Plato ! Thou hast touched on the truth. But
do not flag. Undertake with me t^le inquiry
respecting the Good. For into all men what-
ever, especially those who are occupied with
intellectual pursuits, a certain divine effluence
has been instilled ; wherefore, though reluc-
tantly, they confess that God is one, indestruc-
tible, unbegotten, and that somewhere above in
the tracts of heaven, in His own peculiar appro-
priate eminence, whence He surveys all things.
He has an existence true and eternal.

" Tell me what I am to conceive God to be,
Who sees all things, and is Himself unseen,"'

Euripides says. Accordingly, Menander seems
to me to have fallen into error when he said : —

** O sun 1 for thou, first of gods, ought to be worshipped.
By whom it is that we are able to see the other gods." •

For the sun never could show me the true God ;
but that healthful Word, that is the Sun of the
soul, by whom alone, when He arises in the
depths of the soul, the eye of the soul itself is
irradiated. Whence accordingly, Democritus,
not without reason, says, " that a few of the men 1
of intellect, raising their hands upwards to what I
we Greeks now call the air (aiyp), called the
whole expanse Zeus, or God : He, too, knows
all things, gives and takes away, and He is King
of all."

Of the same sentiments is Plato, who some-
where alludes to God thus : " Around the King
of all are all things, and He is the cause of all
good things." Who, then, is the King of all?
God, who is the measure of the truth of all exist-
ence. As, then, the things that are to be
measured are contained in the measure, so also
the knowledge of God measures and compre-
hends truth. And the truly holy Moses says :
" There shall not be in thy bag a balance and a
balance, great or small, but a true and just bal-
ance shall be to thee,"» deeming the balance
and measure and number of the whole to be
God. For the unjust and unrighteous idols are
hid at home in the bag, and, so to speak, in the
polluted soul. But the only just measure is the
only true God, always just, continuing the self-
same ; who measures all things, and weighs them
by righteousness as in a balance, grasping
and sustaining universal nature in equilibrium.
" God, therefore, as the old saying has it, occu-
pying the beginning, the middle, and the end ,
of all that is in being, keeps the straight course, '
while He makes the circuit of nature ; and jus-
tice always follows Him, avenging those who
violate the divine law."

Whence, O Plato, is that hint of the truth 1
which thou givest? Whence this rich copious-

* Deut. XXV. 13, 15.

192

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

ness of diction, which proclaims piety with orac-
ular utterance? The tribes of the barbarians,
he says, are wiser than these ; I know thy teach-
ers, even if thou wouldst conceal them. You
have learned geometry from the Egyptians, as-
tronomy from the Babylonians; the charms of
healing you have got from the Thracians; the
Assyrians also have taught you many things ; but
. for the laws that are consistent with truth, and
j your sentiments respecting God, you are indebted
to the Hebrews,'

I "Who do not worship through vain deceits

' The works of men, of gold, and brass, and silver, and

' ivory,

And images of dead men, of wood and stone,
' Which other men, led by their foolish inclinations,

worship ;
. But raise to heaven pure arms :

When they rise from bed, purifying themselves with
water.

And worship alone the Eternal, who reigns for ever

)

more.

And let it not be this one man alone — Plato ;
but, O philosophy, hasten to produce many others
also, who declare the only true God to be God,
through His inspiration, if in any measure they
have grasped the truth. For Antisthenes did
not think out this doctrine of the C)mics ; but
it is in virtue of his being a disciple of Socrates
that he says, " that God is not like to any ;
wherefore no one can know Him from an im-
age." And Xenophon the Athenian would have
in his own person committed freely to writing
somewhat of the truth, and given the same testi-
mony as Socrates, had he not been afraid of the
cup of poison, which Socrates had to drink. But
he hints nothing less ; he says : " How great
and powerful He is who moves all things, and is
Himself at rest, is manifest ; but what He is in
form is not revealed. The sun himself, intended
to be the source of light to all around, does not
deem it fitting to allow himself to be looked at ;
but if any one audaciously gazes on him, he is
deprived of sight." Whence, then, does the son
of Gryllus learn his wisdom? Is it not mani-
festly from the prophetess of the Hebrews,* who
prophesies in the following style ? —

" What flesh can see with the eye the celestial,
The true, the immortal God, 'who inhabits the vault

of heaven?
Nay, men born mortal cannot even stand
Before the rays of the sun.**

Cleanthes Pisadeus,^ the Stoic philosopher,
who exhibits not a poetic theogony, but a true
theology, has not concealed what sentiments he
entertained respecting God : —

" If you ask me what is the nature of the good, listen :
That which is regular, just, holy, pious.

' [This great truth comes forcibly from an Attic scholar. Let
me refer to a very fine passage in another Christtau scholar, William
Cowper ( TtuA, book ii.) : " All truth is from the sempiternal source,"
etc.]

* The Si6yl.

^ Or Asseus, native of Asso.

Self-governing, useful, fair, fitting.

Grave, independent, always beneficial ;

That feels no fear or grief ; profitable, painless,

Helpful, pleasant, safe, friendly ;

Held in esteem, agreeing with itself, honourable ;

Humble, careful, meek, zealous,

Perennial, blameless, ever-during :

Mean is every one who looks to opinion

With the view of obtaining some advantage from it."

Here, as I think, he clearly teaches of what na-
ture God is ; and that the common opinion and
religious customs enslave those that follow them,
but seek not after God.

We must not either keep the Pythagoreans in
the back-ground, who say : " God is one ; and
He is not, as some suppose, outside of this frame
of things, but within it ; but, in all the entireness
of His being, is in the whole circle of existence,
surveying all nature, and blending in harmonious
union the whole, — the author of all His own
forces and works, the giver of light in heaven,
and Father of all, — the mind and vital power
of the whole world, — the mover of all things."
For the knowledge of God, these utterances,
written by those we have mentioned through the
inspiration of God, and selected by us, may suf-
fice even for the man that has but small power
to examine into truth.

CHAP. VII. — THE POETS ALSO BEAR TESTIMONY

TO THE TRUTH.

Let poetry also approach to us (for philoso-
phy alone will not suffice) : poetry which is
wholly occupied with falsehood — which scarcely
will make confession of the truth, but will rather
own to God its deviations into fable, tet who-
ever of those poets chooses advance first. Ara-
tus considers that the power of God pervades
all things : —

" That all may be secure.
Him ever they propitiate first and last,
Hail, Father 1 great marvel, great gain to man."

Thus also the Ascrsean Hesiod dimly speaks of
God: —

" For He is the King of all, and monarch
Of the immortals ; and there is none that may vie
with Him in power."

Also on the stage they reveal the triith : —

" Look on the ether and heaven, and regard that as
God,"

says Euripides. And Sophocles, the son of Soph-
ilus, says : —

" One, in truth, one is God,
Who made both heaven and the far-stretching earth,
And ocean's blue wave, and the mighty winds ;
But many of us mortals, deceived in heart,
Have set up for ourselves, as a consolation in our

afflictions,
Images of the gods of stone, or wood, or brass.
Or gold, or ivory ;
And, appointing to those sacrifices and vain festal

assemblages.
Are accustomed thus to practise religion."

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

193

In this venturous manner has he on the stage
brought truth before the spectators. But the
Thracian Orpheus, the son of (Eagrus, hiero-
phant and poet at once, after his exposition of
the orgies, and his theology of idols, introduces
a palinode of truth with true solemnity, though
tardily singing the strain : —

" I shall utter to whom it is lawful ; but let the doors

be closed,
Nevertheless, against all the profane. But do thou

hear,
O Mus2:us, offspring of the light-bringing moon,
For I will declare what is true. And let not these

things
Which once appeared in your breast rob you of dear

life;
But looking to the divine word, apply yourself to it,
Keeping right the seat of intellect and feeling ; and

walk well
In the straight path, and to the immortal King of the

universe alone
Direct your gaze."

Then proceeding, he clearly adds : —

** He is one, self-proceeding ; and from Him alone all
things proceed,

And in them He Himself exerts his activity : no mor-
tal

Beholds Him, but He beholds all."

Thus far Orpheus at last understood that he had
been in error : —

" But linger no longer, O man, endued with varied wis-
dom;
But turn and retrace your steps, and propitiate God."

For if, at the most, the Greeks, having received
certain scintillations of the divine word, have
given forth some utterances of truth, they bear
indeed witness that the force of truth is not
hidden, and at the same time expose their own
weakness in not having arrived at the end. For
I think it has now become evident to all, that
those who do or speak aught without the word
of truth are like people compelled to walk with-
out feet. Let the strictures on your gods, which
the poets, impelled by the force of truth, intro-
duce in their comedies, shame you into salvation.
Menander, for instance, the comic poet, in his
drama of the Charioteer, says : —

" No God pleases me that goes about
With an old woman, and enters houses
Carrying a trencher."

For such are the begging priests of Cybele.
Hence Antisthenes. replies appropriately to their
request for alms : —

*' I do not maintain the mother of the gods,
^ For the gods maintain her."

Again, the same writer of comedy, expressing
his dissatisfaction with the common usages, tries
to expose the impious arrogance of the prevail-
ing error in the drama of the Priestess, sagely
declaring : —

" If a man drags the Deity
Whither he will by the sound of cymbals,
He that does this is greater than the Deity ;
But these are the instruments of audacity and means

of living
Invented by men."

And not only Menander, but Homer also, and
Euripides, and other poets in great numbers,
expose your gods, and are wont to rate them,
and that soundly too. For instance, they call
Aphrodite dog-fly, and Hephaestus a cripple.
Helen says to Aphrodite : —

" Thy godship abdicate I
Renounce Olympus 1 " '

And of Dionysus, Homer writes without re-
serve : —

" He, mid their frantic orgies, in the groves
Of lovely Nyssa, put to shameful rout
The youthful Bacchus* nurses ; they in fear,
Dropped each her thyrsus, scattered by the hand

' Of fierce Lycurgus, with an ox-goad armed." •

Worthy truly of the Socratic school is Eurip-^|
ides, who fixes his eye on truth, and despises
the spectators of his plays. On one occasion,
Apollo,

" Who inhabits the sanctuary that is in the middle of
the earth,
Dispensing most certain oracles to mortals, "

is thus exposed : —

" It was in obedience to him that I killed her who

brought me forth ;
Him do you regard as stained with guilt — put him

to death ;
It was he that sinned, not I, uninstructed as I was
In right and justice." *

He introduces Heracles, at one time mad, at
another drunk and gluttonous. How should he
not so represent the god who, when entertained
as a guest, ate green figs to flesh, uttering dis-
cordant howls, that even his barbarian host
remarked it? In his drama of Ion, too, he
barefacedly brings the gods on the stage : —

" How, then, is it right for you, who have given laws
to mortals.
To be yourselves guilty of wrong ?
And if — what will never take place, yet' I will state

the supposition —
You will ^ive satisfaction to men for your adulteries,
You, Poseidon, and you, Zeus, the ruler of heaven, —
You will, in order to make recompense for your mis-
deeds.
Have to empty your temples." *

CHAP. VIII. — THE TRUE DOCTRINE IS TO BE
SOUGHT IN THE PROPHETS.

It is now time, as we have despatched in
order the other points, to go to the prophetic
Scriptures ; for the oracles present us with the
appliances necessary for the attainment of piety,

* //., ill. 406.

* //., vi 13a.

3 Orestes, 590.

4 lon^ 44a.

194

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

and so establish the truth. The divine Scrip-
tures and institutions of wisdom form the short
road to salvation. Devoid of embellishment, of
outward beauty of diction, of wordiness and
seductiveness, they raise up humanity strangled
by wickedness, teaching men to despise the
casualties of life ; and with one and the same
voice remedying many evils, they at once dis.-
suade us from pernicious deceit, and clearly ex-
hort us to the attainment of the salvation
set before us. Let the Sibyl ' prophetess, then,
be the first to sing to us the song of salva-
; tion : —

I " So He is all sure and unerring :
I Come, follow no longer darkness and gloom ;
I See, the sun's sweet-glancing light shines gloriously.
I Know, and lay up wisdom in your hearts :
I There is one God, who sends rains, and winds, and
earthquakes.
Thunderbolts, famines, plagues, and dismal sorrows,
And snows and ice. But why detail particulars ?
He reigns over heaven, He rules earth,
He truly is ; " —

where, in remarkable accordance with inspira-
tion* she compares delusion to darkness, and
the knowledge of God to the sun and light, and
subjecting both to comparison, shows the choice
we ought to make. For falsehood is not dissi-
pated by the bare presentation of the truth, but
by the practical improvement of the truth it is
ejected and put to flight.

Jeremiah the prophet, gifted with consummate
wisdom,^ or rather the Holy Spirit in Jeremiah,
exhibits God. "Am I a God at hand," he
says, " and not a God afar off? Shall a man do
ought in secret, and I not see him? Do I not
fill heaven and earth ? Saith the Lord. " ^

And again by Isaiah, "Who shall measure

heaven with a span, and the whole earth' with his

hand ? " s Behold God*s greatness, and be filled

with amazement. Let us worship Him of whom

the prophet says, "Before Thy face the hills

^hall melt, as wax melteth before the fire ! " ^

This, says he, is the God "whose throne is

heaven, and His footstool the earth ; and if He

.open heaven, quaking will seize thee." 7 Will

' you hear, too, what this prophet says of idols ?

"And they shall be made a spectacle of in the face

of the sun, and their carcases shall be meat for

the fowls of heaven and the wild beasts of the

earth ; and they shall putrefy before the sun and

' [Note her remarkable accord with inspiration, clearly distin-
guishing between such and the oracles of God. But see, supruy
p. 13a and p. 145,]

3 [Having shown what truth there is to be found in heathen
poets, he ascends to the Sibyl, and thus comes to the prophets;
showing them how to climb upward in this way, and cleverly indu*
cing them to maJce the best use of their own prophets and poets, by
following them to the sources of their noblest ideas.]

"low sublimely he now intzoduces the oracles of truth.]
xxiii. 33.
xl. la.
^ Isa. Ixiv. I , a.
7 Isa. Ixvi. X.

lowing
3 [Ho
* Jer.
3 Isa.

the moon, which they have loved and served ; |
and their city shall be burned down." ^ He says,
too, that the elements and the world shall be
destroyed. "The earth," he says, "shall grovr
old, and the heaven shall pass away; but the
word of the Lord endureth for ever." What,
then, when again God wishes to show Himself
by Moses : " Behold ye, behold ye, that I AM,
and there is no other God beside Me. I will
kill, and I will make to Hve ; I will strike, and I
will heal ; and there is none who shall deliver
out of My hands." 9 But do you wish to hear
another seer? You have the whole prophetic
choir, the associates of Moses. What the Holy
Spirit says by Hosea, I will not shrink from
quoting : " Li), I am He that appointeth the
thunder, and createth spirit ; and His hands have

established the host of heaven." '° And once"*!

more by Isaiah. And this utterance I will re-
peat : " I am," he says, " I am the Lord ; I who
speak rightetousness, announce truth. Gather
yourselves together, and come. Take counsel
together; ye that are saved from the nations.
They have not known, they who set up the block
of wood, their carved work, and pray to gods
who will not save them." " Then proceeding :
" I am God, and there is not beside Me a just
God, and a Saviour : there is none except Me.
Turn to Me, and ye will be saved, ye that are
from the end of the earth. I am God, and there
is no other ; by Myself I swear." " But againsf '
the worshippers of idols he is exasperated, say-
ing, "To whom will ye liken the Lord, or to
what likeness will ye compare Him ? Has not
the artificer made the image, or the goldsmith
melted the gold and plated it with gold? " '^ —
and so on. Be not therefore idolaters, but even
now beware of the threatenings ; " for the graven
images and the works of men's hands shall wail,
or rather they that trust in them," '^ for matter is
devoid of sensation. Once more he says, " The
Lord will shake the cities that are inhabited,
and grasp the world in His hand like a nest." '>
Why repeat to you the mysteries of wisdom, and
sayings from the writings of the son of the
Hebrews, the master of wisdom ? " The Lord
created me the beginning of His ways, in order
to His works." *^ And, " The Lord giveth ws-
dom, and from His face proceed knowledge and
understanding." ^^ " How long wilt thou lie in
bed, O sluggard ; and when wilt thou be aroused
from sleep?"'** "but if thou show thyself no

• Jer. viii. 2, xxx. ao, iv. 6.

9 Deut. xxxii. 39.
*° Amos iv. 13.
** Isa. xlv. 19, 20.
** Isa. xlv. 21-23.
*^ Isa. xl. 18, 19.
'* Isa. X. 10, IX.
W Isa. X. i-^.
** Prov. viii. aa.
" Prov. ii. 6.
*• Prov. vi. 9.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

195

sluggard, as a fountain thy harvest shall come," *
the " Word of the Father, the benign light, the
Lord that bringeth light, faith to all, and salva-
tion." * For " the Lord who created the earth by
His power," as Jeremiah says, " has raised up the
world by His wisdom ; " ' for wisdom, which is
His word, raises us up to the truth, who have
fallen prostrate before idols, and is itself the first
resurrection from our fall. Whence Moses, the
man of God, dissuading from all idolatry, beauti-
fully exclaims, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God
is one Lord ; and thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve."'*
" Now therefore be wise, O men," according to
that blessed psalmist David ; " lay hold on in-
struction, lest the Lord be angry, and ye perish
from the way of righteousness, when His wrath
has quickly kindled. Blessed are all they who
put their trust in Him." s But already the Lord,
in His surpassing pity, has inspired the song of
salvation, sounding like a battle march, "Sons
of men, how long will ye be slow of heart?
Why do you love vanity, and seek after a lie ? " ^
What, then, is the vanity, and what the lie?
The holy apostle of the Lord, reprehending the
Greeks, will show thee : " Because that, when
they knew (}od, they glorified Him not as God,
neither were thankful ; but became vain in their
imaginations, and changed the glory of God into
the likeness of corruptible man, and worshipped
^nd served the creature more than the Creator." ^
And verily this is the God who " in the begin-
ning made the heaven and the earth." * But
you do not know God, and worship the heaven,
and how shall you escape the guilt of impiety ?
Hear again the prophet speaking: "The sun
shall suffer eclipse, and the heaven be darkened ;
but the Almighty shall shine for ever : while the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and the
heavens stretched out and drawn together shall
be rolled as a parchment-skin (for these are the
prophetic expressions), and the earth shall flee
away from before the face of the Lord." 9

CHAP. IX. — "THAT THOSE GRIEVOUSLY SIN WHO
DESPISE OR NEGLECT GOD'S GRACIOUS CALLING."

I could adduce ten thousand Scriptures of
which not " one tittle shall pass away " '° without
being fulfilled ; for the mouth of the Lord the
Holy Spirit hath spoken these things. " Do not
any longer," he says, "my son, despise the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art

• Prov. vi. XI.

* Prov. vi. 23.

3 Jer. X. 12.

4 Deut. vi. 4, X3, x. ao.
i Ps. ii. xo, xa.

* P«. iv.9.

7 Rom. i. 9x, 23, 25.
■ Gen. i. x.

9 This is made up of several passages, as Isa. xuL xo, Esek. xxxii.
-J, Joel ii. xo, 31, iii. 1$.
»o Matt. V. x8.

rebuked of Him." " O surpassing love for man !
Not as a teacher speaking to his pupils, not as a
master to his domestics, nor as God to men, but
as a father, does the Lord gently admonish his
children. Thus Moses confesses that " he was
filled with quaking and terror" '^ while he listened
to God speaking concerning the Word. And
art not thou afraid as thou hearest the voice of
the Divine Word? Art not thou distressed?
Do you not fear, and hasten to learn of Him, —
that is, to salvation, — dreading wrath, loving
grace, eagerly striving after the hope set before
us, that you may shun the judgment threatened ?
Come, cbme, O my young people ! For if you
become not again as little children, and be bom
again, as saith the Scripture, you shall not re-
ceive the truly existent Father, nor shall you
ever enter into the kingdom of heaven. For in
what way is a stranger permitted to enter? Well,
as I take it, then, when he is enrolled and made
a citizen, and receives one to stand to him in the
relation of father, then will he be occupied with
the Father's concerns, then shall he be deemed
worthy to be made His heir, then will he share
the kingdom of the Father with His own dear
Son. For this is the first-born Church, composed
of many good children ; these are " the first-bom
enrolled in heaven, who hold high festival with
so many myriads of angels." We, too, are first-
bom sons, who are reared by God, who are the
genuine friends of the First-bom, who first of
all other men attained to the knowledge of God,
who first were wrenched away from our sins,
first severed from the devil. And now the more
benevolent God is, the more impious men are ;
for He desires us from slaves to become sons,
while they scom to become sons. O the prodi-
gious folly of being ashamed of the Lord ! He
offers freedom, you flee into bondage ; He be-
stows salvation, you sink down into destruction ;
He confers everlasting life, you wait for punish-
ment, and prefer the fire which the Lord " has
prepared for the devil and his angels." '3 Where-
fore the blessed apostle says : " I testify in the
Lord, that ye walk no longer as the Gentiles
walk, in the vanity of their mind ; having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in
them, because of the hardness of their heart :
who, being past feeling, have given themselves
over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness
and concupiscence." '* After the accusation of
such a witness, and his invocation of God, what
else remains for the unbelieving than judgment
and condemnation ? And the Lord, with cease-
less assiduity, exhorts, terrifies, urges, rouses,

'* Prov. in. ix.
i> Heb. xii. 21.
13 Matt. xxv. 41, 46.
** Eph. iv. 17-19.

196

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

admonishes ; He awakes from the sleep of dark-
ness, and raises up those who have wandered in
error. " Awake," He sa)rs, " thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee light," * — Christ, the Sun of the Resurrec-
tion, He "who was bom before the morning
star,"* and with His beams bestows life. Let
no one then despise the Word, lest he unwit-
tingly despise himself. For the Scripture some-
where says, " To-day, if ye will hear His voice,
harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in
the day of temptation in the wilderness, when
your fathers proved Me by trial." ^ And what
was the trial? If you wish to learn, the Holy
Spirit will show you : " And saw my works," He
says, " forty years. Wherefore I was grieved
with that generation, and said. They do always
err in heart, and have not known My ways. So I
sware in my wrath, they shall not enter into My
rest." ^ Look to the threatening ! Look to the
exhortation ! Look to the punishment ! Why,
then, should we any longer change grace into
wrath, and not receive the word with open ears,
and entertain God as a guest in pure spirits?
For great is the grace of His promise, " if to-day
we hear His voice." s And that to-day is length-
ened out day by day, while it is called to-day.
And to the end the to-day and the instruction
continue ; and then the true to-day, the never-
ending day of God, extends over eternity. Let
us then ever obey the voice of the divine word.
For the to-day signifies eternity. And day is
the symbol of light ; and the light of men is the
Word, by whom we behold God. Rightly, then,
to those that have believed and obey, grace will
superabound ; while with those that have been
unbelieving, and err in heart, and have not
known the Lord's ways, which John commanded
to make straight and to prepare, God is incensed,
and those He threatens.

And, indeed, the old Hebrew wanderers in the
desert received typically the end of the threaten-
ing ; for they are said not to have entered into
the rest, because of unbelief, till, having followed
the successor of Moses, they learned by experi-
ence, though late, that they could not be saved
otherwise than by believing on Jesus. But the
Lord, in His love to man, invites all men to the
knowledge of the truth, and for this end sends
the Paraclete. What, then, is this knowledge?
Ck)dliness ; and " godliness," according to Paul,
" is profitable for sdl things, having the promise
of the life that now is, and of that which is to
come." * If eternal salvation were to be sold,
for how much, O men, would you propose to

« Eph. V. 14:
" P». ex, 3.
3 Ps. xcv. 8, 9.

* Ps. xcv. 9-1 1.
S Ps. xcv. 7.

* X Tim. iv. 8.

purchase it? Were one to estimate the value
of the whole of Pactolus, the fabulous river of
gold, he would not have reckoned up a price
equivalent to salvation.

Do not, however, faint. You may, if you
choose, purchase salvation, though of inestimable
value, with your own resources, love and living
faith, which will be reckoned a suitable price.
This recompense God cheerfully accepts ; " for
we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of
all men, especially of those who believe." ^

But the rest, round whom the world's growths
have fastened, as the rocks on the sea-shore
are covered over with sea-weed, make light of
immortality, like the old man of Ithaca, eagerly
longing to see, not the truth, not the fatherland
in heaven, not the true light, but smoke. But
godliness, that makes man as far as can be like
God, designates God as our suitable teacher, who
alone can worthily assimilate man to God. This
teaching the apostle knows as truly divine.
'* Thou, O Timothy," he says, " from a child hast
known the holy letters, which are able to make
thee wise unto salvation, through faith that is in
Christ Jesus." \ For truly holy are those letters
that sanctify arid deify ; and the writings or vol-
umes that consist of those holy letters and
syllables, the same apostle consequently calls
" inspired of God, being profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God may be per-
fect, thoroughly furnished to every good work." ^
No one will be so impressed by the exhortations
of any of the saints, as he is by the words of the
Lord Himself, the lover of man. For this, and
nothing but this, is His only work — the salva-
tion of man. Therefore He Himself, urging
them on to salvation, cries, "The kingdom of
heaven is at hand." *° Those men that draw near
through fear, He converts. Thus also the apos-
tle of the Lord, beseeching the Macedonians,
becomes the interpreter of the divine voice, when
he says, " The Lord is at hand ; take care that
ye be not apprehended empty." " But are ye so
devoid of fear, or rather of faith, as not to be-
lieve the Lord Himself, or Paul, who in Christ's
stead thus entreats : " Taste and see that Christ
is God ? " " Faith will lead you in ; experience
will teach you ; Scripture will train you, for it
says, " Come hither, O children ; listen to me»
and I will teach you the fear of the Lord."
Then, as to those who already believe, it briefly
adds, "What man is he that desireth life, that
loveth to see good days? " '^ It is we, we shall

7 1 Tim. iv. xo.
• 9 Tim. iii. 15.

9 2 Tim. iii. x6, 17. [Here note the testimony of Qement to tbe
universal diffusion and study of the Scriptures.]
w Matt, iv. 17.
" PhU. iv. 5.

'2 Ps. xxxiv. 8, where Clem, has read T£pi(rr^ for XRW^'
*3 Ps. xxxiv. II.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

197

say — we who are the devotees of good, we who
eagerly desire good things. Hear, then, ye who
are far off, hear ye who are near : the word has
not been hidden from any ; light is common, it
shines ** on all men." No one is a Cimmerian
in respect to the word. Let us haste to salva-
tion, to regeneration ; let us who are many haste
that we may be brought together into one love,
according to the union of the essential unity;
and let us, by being made good, conformably
follow after union, seeking after the good Monad.
The union of many in one, issuing in the pro-
duction of divine harmony out of a medley of
sounds and division, becomes one symphony
following one choir- leader and teacher,' the
Word, reaching and resting in the same truth,
and crying Abba, Father. This, the true utter-
ance of His children, God accepts with gracious
welcome — the first-fruits He receives from
them.

CHAP. X. ANSWER TO THE OBJECTION OF THE

HEATHEN, THAT FT WAS NOT RIGHT TO ABAN-
DON THE CUSTOMS OF THEIR FATHERS.

But you say it is not creditable to subvert the
customs handed down to us from our fathers.
And why, then, do we not still use our first nour-
ishment, milk, to which our nurses accustomed
us from the time of our birth ? Why do we in-
crease or diminish our patrimony, and not keep
it exactly the same as we got it ? Why do we
not still vomit on our parents' breasts, or still do
the things for which, when infants, and nursed
by our mothers, we were laughed at, but have
corrected ourselves, even if we did not fall in
with good instructors ? Then, if excesses in the
indulgence of the passiops, though pernicious
and dangerous, yet are accompanied with pleas-
ure, why do we not in the conduct of life aban-
don that usage which is evil, and provocative of
passion, and godless, even should our fathers
feel hurt, and betake ourselves to the truth, and
seek Him who is truly our Father, rejecting cus-
tom as a deleterious drug? For of all that I
have undertaken to do, the task I now attempt
is the noblest, viz., to demonstrate to you how
inimical this insane and most wretched custom
is to 'godliness. For a boon so great, the great-
est ever given by God to the human race, would
never have been hated and rejected, had not
yon been carried away by custom, and then shut
your ears against us ; and just as unmanageable
horses throw off the reins, and take the bit be-
t^'een their teeth, you nish away from the argu-
ments addressed to you, in your eager desire to
shake yourselves clear of us, who seek to guide

I [ Here srems to be a running allusion to the privileges of the
Christian Church in its unity, and to the " Psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs,** which were so charming a feature of Christian
worship. Bunsen, Hij^olytus^ etc., vol. ii. p. 157.]

the chariot of your life, and, impelled by your
folly, Jash towards the precipices of destruction,
and regard the holy word of God as an accursed
thing. The reward of your choice, therefore,
as described by Sophocles, follows : —

" The mind a blank, useless ears, vain thoughts."

And you know not that, of all truths, this is the
truest, that the good and godly shall obtain
the good reward, inasmuch as they held good-
ness in high esteem ; while, on the other hand,
the wicked shall receive meet punishment. For
the author of evil, torment has been prepared ;
and so the prophet Zecharias threatens him :
" He that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee ; lo,
is not this a brand plucked from the fire ? " ' What
an infatuated desire, then, for voluntary death is
this, rooted in men's minds ! Why do they flee
to this fatal brand, with which they shall be
burned, when it is within their power to live
nobly according to God, and not according to
custom ? For God bestows life freely ; but evil
custom, after our departure from this world,
brings on the sinner unavailing remorse with
punishment. By sad experience^ even a child
knows how superstition destroys and piety saves.
Let any of you look at those who minister before
the idols, their hair matted, their persons dis-
graced with filthy and tattered clothes ; who
never come near a bath, and let their nails grow
to an extraordinary length, like wild beasts;
many of them castrated, who show the idol's
temples to be in reality graves or prisons. These^
appear to me to bewail the gods, not to worship
them, and their sufferings to be worthy of pity
rather than piety. And seeing these things, do
you still continue blind, and will you not look
up to the Ruler of all, the Lord of the universe ?
And will you not escape from those dungeons,
and flee to the mercy that comes down from
heaven ? For God, of His great love to man,
comes to the help of man, as the mother-bird
flies to one of her young that has fallen out
of the nest ; and if a serpent open its mouth
to swallow the little bird, " the mother flutters
round, uttering cries of grief over her dear pro-
geny ; " 5 and God the Father seeks His crea-
ture, and heals his transgression, and pursues the
serpent, and recovers the young one, and incites
it to fly up to the nest.

Thus dogs that have strayed, track out their
master by the scent ; and horses that have thrown
their riders, come to their master's call if he but
whistle. "The ox," it is said, "knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master's crib ; but Israel
hath not known Me."^ What, then, of the
Lord? He remembers not our ill desert; He
still pities. He still urges us to repentance.

^ Zech. iii. a.

3 Iliad ^ ii. 315.

4 Isa. i. 3.

198

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

And I would ask you, if it does not appear to
you monstrous, that you men who are God's
handiwork, who have received your souls from
Him, and belong wholly to God, should be sub-
ject to another master, and, what is more, serve
the tyrant instead of the rightful King — the evil
one instead of the good ? For, in the name of
truth, what man in his senses turns his back on
good, and attaches himself to evil ? What, then,
is he who flees from God to consort with de-
mons ? Who, that may become a son of God,
prefers to be in bondage? Or who is he that
pursues his way to Erebus, when it is in his
power to be a citizen of heaven, and to cultivate
Paradise, and walk about in heaven and partake
of the tree of life and immortality, and, cleaving
his way through the sky in the track of the lumi-
nous cloud, behold, like Elias, the rain of salva-
tion ? Some there are, who, like worms wallowing
in marshes and mud in the streams of pleasure,
feed on foolish and useless delights — swinish
men. For swine, it is said, like mud better
than pure water ; and, according to Democritus,
" doat upon dirt."

Let us not then be enslaved or become swin-
ish ; but, as true children of the light, let us
raise our eyes and look on the light, lest the Lord
discover us to be spurious, as the sun does the
eagles. Let us therefore repent, and pass from
ignorance to knowledge, from foolishness to wis-
dom, from licentiousness to self-restraint, from
unrighteousness to righteousness, from godless-
ness to God. It is an enterprise of noble daring
to take our way to God ; and the enjoyment
of many other good things is within the reach of
the lovers of righteousness, who pursue eternal
life, specially those things to which God Himself
alludes, speaking by Isaiah : " There is an inherit-
ance for those who serve the Lord." ' Noble
and desirable is this inheritance : not gold, not
silver, not raiment, which the moth assails, and
things of earth which are assailed by the robber,
whose eye is dazzled by worldly wealth ; but it
is that treasure of salvation to which we must
hasten, by becoming lovers of the Word. Thence
praise-worthy works descend to us, and fly with
us on the wing of truth. This is the inheritance
with which the eternal covenant of God invests
us, conveying the everlasting gift of grace ; and
thus our loving Father — the true Father —
ceases not to exhort, admonish, train, love us.
For He ceases not to save, and advises the best
course : " Become righteous," says the Lord.^
Ye that thirst, come to the water ; and ye that
have no money, come, and buy and drink with-
out money .3 He invites to the laver, to salvation,
to illumination, all but crying out and saying.

' Isa. Hv. 17.

> Isa. Hv. 17, where Sept. reads, " ye shall be righteous.'

^ Isa. Iv. I.

The land I give thee, and. the sea, my child,
and heaven too ; and all the living creatures in
them I freely bestow upon thee. Only, O child,
thirst for thy Father ; God shall be revealed to
thee without price ; the truth is not made mer-
chandise of. He gives thee all creatures that fly
and swim, and those on the land. These the
Father has created for thy thankful enjoyment.
What the bastard, who is a son of perdition,
foredoomed to be the slave of mammon, has to
buy for money. He assigns to thee as thine own,
even to His own son who loves the Father ; for
whose sake He still works, and to whom alone
He promises, saying, " The land shall not be sold
in perpetuity," for it is not destined to corrup-
tion. " For the whole land is mine ; " and it is
thine too, if thou receive God. Wherefore the
Scripture, as might have been expected, pro-
claims good news to those who have believed.
" The saints of the Lord shall inherit the glor>'
of God and His power." What glory, tell me,
O blessed One, which " eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of
man ; " ^ and " they shall be glad in the kingdom
of their Lord for ever and ever ! Amen." You
have, O men, the divine promise of grace ; you
have heard, on the other hand, the threatening
of punishment : by these the Lord saves, teach-
ing men by fear and grace. Why do we delay?
Why do we not shun the punishment? Why
do we not receive the free gift ? Why, in fine, do
we not choose the better part, God instead of
the evil one, and prefer wisdom to idolatry', and
take life in exchange for death? " Behold," He
says,- " I have set before your face death and
life." 5 The Lord tries you, that " you may
choose life." He counsels you as a father to
obey God. " For if ye hear Me," He says, ** and
be willing, ye shall eat the good things of the
land : " ^ this is the grace attached to obedience.
" But if ye obey Me not, and are unwilling, the
sword and fire shall devour you : " ' this is the
penalty of disobedience. For the mouth of
the Lord — the law of truth, the word of the Lord
— hath spoken these things. Are you willing
that I should be your good counsellor ? Well, do
you hear. I, if possible, will explain. You
ought, O men, when reflecting on the Good,
to have brought forward a witness inborn and
competent, viz., faith, which of itself, and from
its own resources, chooses at once what is best,
instead of occupying yourselves in painfully in-
quiring whether what is best ought to be followed.
For, allow me to tell you, you ought to doubt
whether you should get drunk, but you get dnink
before reflecting on the matter; and whether

< X Cor. ii. 9.

5 Deut. XXX. 15.

^ Isa. i. 19.

7 Isa. i. ao, xxxiii. ix.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

199

you ought to do an injury, but you do injury with
the utmost readiness. The only thing you make
the subject of question is, whether God should
be worshipped, and whether this wise God and
Christ should be followed : and this you think
requires deliberation and doubt, and know not
what is worthy of God. Have faith in us, as you
have in drunkenness, that you may be wise ; have
faith in us, as you have in injury, that you may
hve. But if, acknowledging the conspicuous
trustworthiness of the virtues, you wish to trust
them, come and I will set before you in abun-
dance, materials of persuasion respecting the
Word. But do you — for your ancestral customs,
by which your minds are preoccupied, divert you
from the truth, — do you now hear what is the
real state of the case as follows.

And let not any shame of this name pre-
occupy you, which does great harm to men, and
seduces them from salvation. Let us then
op>enly strip for the contest, and nobly strive in
the arena of truth, the holy Word being the
judge, and the Lord of the universe prescribing
the contest. For 'tis no insignificant prize, the
guerdon of immortality which is set before us.
Pay no more regard, then, if you are rated by
some of the low rabble who lead the dance of
impiety, and are driven on to the same pit
by their folly and insanity, makers of idols and
worshippers of stones. For these have dared to
deify men, — Alexander of Macedon, for ex-
ample, whom they canonized as the thirteenth
god, whose pretensions Babylon confuted, which
showed him dead. I admire, therefore, the
divine sophist. Theocritus was his name. After
Alexander's death, Theocritus, holding up the
vain opinions entertained by men respecting the
gods, to ridicule before his fellow-citizens, said :
** Men, keep up your hearts as long as you see
the gods dying sooner than men." And, truly,
he who worships gods that are visible, and the
promiscuous rabble of creatures begotten and
born, and attaches himself to them, is a far
more wretched object than the very demons.
For God is by no manner of means unrighteous,
as the demons are, but in the very highest de-
gree righteous; and nothing more resembles
God than one of us when he becomes righteous
in the highest possible degree : —

•*Go into the way, the whole tribe of you handicrafts-
men,

Who worship Jove*s fierce-eyed daughter,' the working
goddess,

With fans duly placed, fools that ye are " —

fashioners of stones, and worshippers of them.
I^t your Phidias, and Polycletus, and your
Praxiteles and Apelles too, come, and all that
are engaged in mechanical arts, who, being

* Minerva.

themselves of the earth, are workers of the earth.
" For then," says a certain prophecy, " the af-
fairs here turn out unfortunately, when men put
their trust in images." Let the meaner artists,
too — for I will not stop calling — come. None
of these ever made a breathing image, or out of
earth moulded soft flesh. Who liquefied the 1
marrow? or who solidified the bones? Who '
stretched the nerves ? who distended the veins ?
Who poured the Wood into them? Or who
spread the skin? Who ever could have made
eyes capable of seeing? Who breathed spirit
into the hfeless form? Who bestowed right-
eousness? Who promised immortality? The
Maker of the universe alone ; the Great Artist
and Father has formed us, such a living image
as man is. But your Olympian Jove, the image
of an image, greatly out of harmony with truth,
is the senseless work of Attic hands. For the
image of, God is His Word, the genuine Sdn of
Mind, the Divine Word, the archetypal light
of light ; and the image of the Word is the true
man, the mind which is in man, who is therefore
said to have been made " in the image and like-
ness of God," * assimilated to the Divine Word
in the affections pf .the soul, and therefore ra-
tional ; but effigies sculptured in human form,
the earthly image of that part of man which is
visible and earth- bom, are but a perishable im-
press of humanity, manifestly wide of the truth.
That life, then, which is occupied with so much
earnestness about matter, seems to me to be
nothing else than full of insanity. And custom,
which has made you taste bondage and unrea-
sonable care, is fostered by vain opinion ; and
ignorance, which has proved to the human race
the cause of unlawful rites and delusive shows,
and also of deadly plagues and hateful images,
has, by devising many shapes of demons, stamped
on all that follow it the mark of long-continued
death. Receive, then, the water of the word ;
wash, ye polluted ones ; purify yourselves from
custom, by sprinkling yourselves with the drops
of truth.3 The pure must ascend to heaven.
Thou art a man, if we look to that which is
most common to thee and others — seek Him
who created thee ; thou art a son, if we look to
that which is thy peculiar prerogative — ac-
knowledge thy Father. But do you still con-
tinue in your sins, engrossed with pleasures?
To whom shall the Lord say, "Yours is the
kingdom of heaven?" Yours, whose choice is
set on God, if you will ; yours, if you will only
believe, and comply with the brief terms of the
announcement ; which the Ninevites having
obeyed, instead of the destruction they looked
for, obtained a signal deliverance. How, then,

* Gen. L a6.

3 [Immersion was surely the fonn of primitive baptism, but these
words, if not a reference to that sacrament, must recall Isa. lii. 15.]

200

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

may I ascend to heaven, is it said? The Lord
is the way; a strait way, but leading from
heaven, strait in truth, but leading back to
heaven, strait, despised on earth ; broad, adored
in heaven.

Then, he that is uninstructed in the word, has
ignorance as the excuse of his error ; but as for
him into whose ears instruction has been poured,
and who deliberately maintains his incredulity in
his soul, the wiser he appears to be, the more
harm will his understanding do him ; for he has
his own sense as his accuser for not having
chosen the best part. For man has been other-
wise constituted by nature, so as to have fellow-
ship with God. As, then, we do not compel the
horse to plough, or the bull to hunt, but set each
animal to that for which it is by nature fitted ;
so, placing our finger on what is man's peculiar
and distinguishing characteristic above other crea-
tures, we invite him — bom, as he i% for the
contemplation of heaven, and being, as he is, a
truly heavenly plant — to the knowledge of God,
counselling him to furnish himself with what is
his sufficient provision for eternity, namely piety.
Practise husbandry, we say, if you are a husband-
man ; but while you till your fields, know God.
Sail the sea, you who are devoted to navigation,
yet call the whilst on the heavenly Pilot.' Has
knowledge taken hold of you while engaged in
military service ? Listen to the commander, who
orders what is right. As those, then, who have
been overpowered with sleep and drunkenness, do
ye awake ; and using your eyes a little, consider
what mean those stones which you worship, and
the expenditure you frivolously lavish on matter.
Your means and substance you squander on
ignorance, even as you throw away your lives to
death, having found no other end of your vain
hope than this. Not only unable to pity your-
selves, you are incapable even of yielding to the
persuasions of those who commiserate you ; en-
slaved as you are to evil custom, and, clinging to
it voluntarily till your last breath, you are hurried
to destruction : "because light is come into the
world, and men have loved the darkness rather
than the light," * while they could sweep away
those hindrances to salvation, pride, and wealth,
and fear, repeating this poetic utterance : —

" Whither do I bear these abundant riches ? and whither
Do I myself wander ? " ^

If you wish, then, to cast aside these vain phan-
tasies, and bid adieu to evil custom, say to vain
opinion : —

** Lying dreams, farewell ; you were then nothing."

For what, think you, O men, is the Hermes of
Typho, and that of Andocides, and that of Amye-

' [lliis fine (xissage will be recalled by what Clement afterward, in
the Stromata, says of prayer. Book vii. vol. ii. p. 43a. £diH.\
* John iii. i^.
3 Odyss.t xi". 203-

tus ? Is it not evident to all that they are stones,
as is the veritable Hermes himself? As the
Halo is not a god, and as the Iris is not a god, but
are states of the atmosphere and of the clouds ;
and as, likewise, a day is not a god, nor a year,
nor time, which is made up of these, so neither
is sun nor moon, by which each of those men-
tioned above is determined. Who, then, in his
right senses, can imagine Correction, and Punish-
ment, and Justice, and Retribution to be gods?
For neither the Furies, nor the Fates, nor Destiny
are gods, since neither Government, nor G)or)%
nor Wealth are gods, which last [as Plutus]
painters represent as blind. But if you deify
Modesty, and Love, and Venus, let these be fol-
lowed by Infamy, and Passion, and Beauty, and
Intercourse. Therefore Sleep and Death cannot
reasonably any more be regarded as twin deities,
being merely changes which take place naturally
in living creatures ; no more will you with pro-
priety call Fortune, or Destiny, or the Fates god-
desses. And if Strife and Battle be not gods, no
more are Ares and Enyo. Still further, if the
lightnings, and thunderbolts, and rains are not
gods, how can fire and water be gods? how can
shooting stars and comets, which are produced
by atmospheric changes ? He who calls Fortune
a god, let him also so call Action. If, then,
none of these, nor of the images formed by
human hands, and destitute of feeling, is held to
be a God, while a providence exercised about
us is evidently the result of a divine power,^ it
remains only to acknowledge this, that He alone
who is truly God, only truly is and subsists. But
those who are insensible to this are like men
who have drunk mandrake or some other drug.
May God grant that you may at length awake
from this slumber, and know God ; and that
neither Gold, nor Stone, nor Tree, nor Action,
nor Suffering, nor Disease, nor Fear, may appear
in your eyes as a god. For there are, in sooth,
" on the fruitful earth thrice ten thousand " de-
mons, not immortal, nor indeed mortal ; for they
are not endowed with sensation, so as to render
them capable of death, but only things of wood
and stone, that hold despotic sway over men in-
sulting and violating life through the force of
custom. " The earth is the Lord's," it is said,
" and the fulness thereof." s Then why darest
thou, while luxuriating in the bounties of the
Lord, to ignore the Sovereign Ruler? "Leave
my earth," the Lord will say to thee. " Touch
not the water which I bestow. Partake not of
the fruits of the earth produced by my hus-

4 A translation in accordance with the Latin version would ruo
thus : " While a certain previous conception of divine power is never-
theless discovered within us." But adopting that in the text the
arg[ument is: there is unquestionably a providence implying the ex-
ertion of divine power. That power is not exerciseci by idols or
heathen gods. ^ Tne only other alternative is* that it is exercised by
the one self-existent God.

^ Ps. xxiv. X ; z Cor. x. 96, 38.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

20I

bandry." Give to God recompense for your
sustenance ; acknowledge thy Master. Thou art
God's cteature. What belongs to Him, how
can it with justice be alienated ? For that which
is alienated, being deprived of the properties
that belonged to it, is also deprived of truth.
For, after the fashion of Niobe, or, to express
myself more mystically, like the Hebrew woman
called by the ancients Lot's wife, are ye not
turned into a state of insensibility ? This woman,
we have heard, was turned into stone for her
love of Sodom. And those who are godless,
addicted to impiety, hard-hearted and foolish,
are Sodomites. Believe that these utterances
are addressed to you from God. For think not
that stones, and stocks, and birds, and serpents
are sacred things, and men are not ; but, on the
contrary, regard men as truly sacred,' and take
beasts and stones for what they are. For there
are miserable wretches of human kind, who con-
sider that God utters His voice by the raven and
the jackdaw, but says nothing by man ; and
honour the raven as a messenger of God. But
the man of God, who croaks not, nor chatters,
but speaks rationally and instructs lovingly, alas,
they persecute ; and while he is inviting them
to cultivate righteousness, they try inhumanly to
slay him, neither welcoming the grace which
comes from above, nor fearing the penalty. For
they believe not God, nor understand His power,
whose love to man is ineffable ; and His hatred
of evil is inconceivable. His anger augments
punishment against sin ; His love bestows bless-
ings on repentance. It is the height of wretch-
edness to be deprived of the help which comes
from God. Hence this blindness of eyes and
dulness of hearing are more grievous than other
inflictions of the evil one ; for the one deprives
them of heavenly vision, the other robs them of
divine instruction. But ye, thus maimed as re-
spects the truth, blind in mind, deaf in under-
standing, are not grieved, are not pained, have
had no desire to see heaven* and the Maker of
heaven, nor, by fixing your choice on salvation,
have sought to hear the Creator of the universe,
and to learn of Him ; for no hindrance stands
in the way of him who is bent on the knowledge
of God. Neither childlessness, nor poverty, nor
obscurity, nor want, can hinder him who eagerly
strives after the knowledge of God; nor does
any one who has conquered* by brass or iron
the true wisdom for himself choose to exchange
it, for it is vastly preferred to everything else.
Christ is able to save in every place. For he
that is fired with ardour and admiration for right-
eousness, being the lover of One who needs

' [i Pet. ii. 17. This appeal in behalf of the sanctity of man as
mas, shows the workings of the apostolic precept.]

' The expression *' conquered by brass or iron " is borrowed from
Homer (//., viii. 534). Brass, or copper, and iron were the metals
of which arms were made. '

nothing, needs himself but little, having treas-
ured up his bliss in nothing but himself and God,
where is neither moth,^ robber, nor pirate, but
the eternal Giver of good. With justice, then,
have you been compared to those serpents who
shut their ears against the charmers. For " their
mind," says the Scripture, " is like the serpent,
like the deaf adder, which stoppeth her ear, and
will not hear the voice of the charmers." ^ But
allow yourselves to feel the influence of the
charming strains of sanctity, and receive that
mild word of ours, and reject the deadly poison,
that it may be granted to you to divest yourselves
as much as possible of destruction, as they 5 have
been divested of old age. Hear me, and do
not stop your ears ; do not block up the avenues
of hearing, but lay to heart what is said. Excel-
lent is the medicine of immortality ! Stop at
length your grovelling reptile motions.-* " For
the enemies of the Lord," says Scripture, ** shall
lick the dust." ^ Raise your eyes from earth to
the skies, look up to heaven, admire the sight,
cease watching with outstretched head the heel
of the righteous, and hindering the way of truth.
Be wise and harmless. Perchance the Lord will
endow you with the wing of simplicity (for He
has resolved to give wings to those that are
earth-bom), that you may leave your holes and
dwell in heaven. Only let us with our whole
heart repent, that we may be able with our whole
heart to contain God. "Trust in Him, all ye
assembled people ; pour out all your hearts be-
fore Him." 7 He says to those that have newly
abandoned wickedness, " He pities them, and
fills them with righteousness." Believe Him who
is man and God ; believe, O man. Believe, O
man, the living God, who suffered and is adored.
Believe, ye slaves,* Him who died ; believe, all
ye of human kind. Him who alone is God of all
men. Believe, and receive salvation as your re-
ward. Seek God, and your soul shall live. He
who seeks God is busying himself about his own
salvation. Hast thou found God? — then thou
hast life. Let us then seek, in order that we
may live. The reward of seeking is life with
God. " Let all who seek Thee be glad and re-
joice in Thee ; and let them say continually,
God be magnified." 9 A noble hymn of God is i ,
an immortal man, established in righteousness, i
in whom the oracles of truth are engraved. For
where but in a soul that is wise can you write
truth? where love? where reverence? where
meekness? Those who have had these divine

3 Matt. vi. 20, ax.

4 Ps. Iviii. 4, 5. [It was supposed that adders deafened themselves
by laying one ear on the earth, and closing the other with the tail.]

5 ** They " seems to refer to sanctity and the word.
^ Ps. Ixxii. 9.

7 Ps. Ixii. 8.

^ [The impact of the Gospel on the slavery and helotism of the
Pagans.]

9 Ps. Ixx. 4.

202

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

characters impressed on them, ought, I think, to
regard wisdom as a fair port whence to embark,
to whatever lot in life they turn ; and likewise to
deem it the calm haven of salvation : wisdom,
• by which those who have betaken themselves to
the Father, have proved good fathers to their
children ; and good parents to their sons, those
who have known the Son ; and good husbands
to their wives, those who remember the Bride-
groom ; and good masters to their servants,'
those who have been redeemed from utter slavery.
Oh, happier far the beasts than men involved in
error ! who live in ignorance as you, but do not
counterfeit the truth. There are no tribes of
flatterers among them. Fishes have no super-
stition : the birds worship not a single image ;
only they look with admiration on heaven, since,
deprived as they are of reason, they are unable
to know God. So are you not ashamed for liv-
ing through so many periods of life in impiety,
making yourselves more irrational than irrational
creatures ? You were boys, then striplings, then
youths, then men, but never as yet were you
good. If you have respect for old age, be wise,
now that you have reached lifers sunset; and
albeit at the close of life, acquire the knowledge
of God, that the end of life may to you prove
the beginning of salvation. You have becdme
old in superstition ; as young, enter on the prac-
tice of piety. God regards you as innocent
children. Let, then, the Athenian follow the
laws of Solon, and the Argive those of Phoro-
neus, and the Spartan those of Lycurgus : but if
thou enrol thyself as one of God*s people, heaven
is thy country, God thy lawgiver. And what are
the laws? " Thou shalt not kill ;. thou shalt not
commit adultery ; thou shalt not seduce boys ;
thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false
witness; thou shalt love the Lord thy God."*
And the complements of these are those laws
of reason and words of sanctity which are in-
scribed on men's hearts : " Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself; to him who strikes thee on
the cheek, present also the other ; " ^ « thou
shalt not lust, for by lust alone thou hast com-
mitted adultery." * How much better, therefore,
is it for men from the beginning not to wish to
desire things forbidden, than to obtain their de-
sires ! But ye are not able to endure the aus-
terity of salvation ; but as we delight in s^eet
things, and prize them higher for the agreeable-
ness of the pleasure they yield, while, on the
other hand, those bitter things which are dis-
tasteful to the palate are curative and healing,
and the harshness of medicines strengthens peo-
ple of weak stomach, thus custom pleases and

' [See above, p. 2oz, and below, the command *' thou shalt love thy
neighbour."]

« Ex. XX. 13-16; Dcut. vi. 5.

' Luke vi
4 Matt

. V. a8.

tickles ; but custom pushes into the abyss, while
truth conducts to heaven. Harsh it is at first,
but a good nurse of youth ; and it is at once the
decorous place where the household maids and
matrons dwell together, and the sage council-
chamber. Nor is it difficult to approach, or
impossible to attain, but is very near us in our
very homes; as Moses, endowed with ail wis-
dom, says, while referring to it, it has its abode
in three departments of our constitution — in the
hands, the mouth, and the heart : a meet emblem
this of truth, which is embraced by these three
things in all — will, action, speech. And be not
afraid lest the multitude of pleasing objects which
rise before you withdraw you from wisdom. You
yourself will spontaneously surmount the frivo-
lousness of custom, as boys when they have be-
come men throw aside their toys. For with a
celerity unsurpassable, and a benevolence to
which we have ready access, the divine power,
casting its radiance on the earth, hath filled the
universe with the seed of salvation. For it was \
not without divine care that so great a work was
accomphshed in so brief a space by the Lord,
who, though despised as to appearance, was in
reality adored, the expiator of sin, the Saviour, .
the clement, the Divine Word, He that is truly |
most manifest Deity, He that is made equal to
the Lord of the universe ; because He was His
Son, and the Word was in God, not disbelieved
in by all when He was first preached, nor alto-
gether unknown when, assuming the character of
man, and fashioning Himself in flesh. He enacted
the drama of human salvation : for He was a
true champion and a fellow-champion with the
creature. And being communicated most speed-
ily to men, having dawned from His Father's
counsel quicker than the sun, with the most per-
fect ease He made God shine on us. Whence
He was and what He was. He showed by what
He taught and exhibited, manifesting Himself
as the Herald of the Covenant, the Reconciler,
our Saviour, the Word, the Fount of life, the
Giver of peace, diffused over the whole face of
the earth ; by whom, so to speak, the universe
has already become an ocean of blessings.^

CHAP. XI. — HOW GREAT ARE THE BENEFTTS CON-
FERRED ON MAN THROUGH THE ADVENT OF
CHRIST.

Contemplate a little, if agreeable to you, the
divine beneficence. The first man, when in
Paradise, sported free, because he was the child
of God ; but when he succumbed to pleasure
(for the serpent allegorically signifies pleasure I
crawling on its belly, earthly wickedness nour- ^

5 [Good tvill to nten made emphatic Slavery already modified,
free-schools established, and homes cieated. As soon as persecutkn
ceased, we find the Christian hospital. Forster ascribes the first
foundation of this kind to Ephraim Syrus. A (riend refers me to his
Mokamtnedanism Unveiled, vol. i. p. 283.]

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

203

ished for fuel to the flames) , was as a child se-
duced by lusts, and grew old in disobedience ;
and by disobeying his leather, dishonoured God.
Such was the influence of pleasure. Man, that
had been free by reason of simplicity, was found
fettered to sins. The Lord then wished to re-
lease him from his bonds, and clothing Himself
with flesh — O divine mystery! — vanquished
the serpent, and enslaved the tyrant death ; and,
most marvellous of all, man that had been de-
ceived by pleasure, and bound fast by corruption,
had his hands unloosed, and was set free. O
mystic wonder ! The Lord was laid low, and
man rose up ; and he that fell from Paradise
receives as the reward of obedience something
greater [than Paradise] — namely, heaven itself.
Wherefore, since the Word Himself has come
10 us from heaven, we need not, I reckon, go
any more in search of human learning to Athens
and the rest of Greece, and to Ionia. For if we
have as our teacher Him that filled the universe
\*'ith His holy energies in creation, salvation,
beneficence, legislation, prophecy, teaching, we
have the Teacher from whom all instruction
comes ; and the whole world, with Athens and
Greece, has already become the domain of the
Word.' For you, who believed the poetical fable
which designated Minos the Cretan as the bosom
friend of Zeus, will not refuse to believe that we
who have become the disciples of God have
received the only true wisdom ; and that which
the chiefs of philosophy only guessed at, the
disciples of Christ have both apprehended and
proclaimed. And the one whole Christ is not
divided : " There is neither barbarian, nor Jew,
nor Greek, neither male nor female, but a new
man," ' transformed by God's Holy Spirit. Fur-
tlier, the other counsels and precepts are unim-
portant, and respect particular things, — as, for
example, if one may marry, take part in public
affairs, beget children ; but the only command
that is universal, and over the whole course of
existence, at all times and in all circumstances,
tends to the highest end, viz., life, is piety ,3 —
all that is necessary, in order that we may live
for ever, being that we live in accordance with
it. Philosophy, however, as the ancients say, is
"a long-lived exhortation, wooing the eternal
love of wisdom ; " while the commandment of
the Lord is far-shining, " enlightening the eyes."
Receive Christ, receive sight, receive thy light,

"In order that you may know well both Go^and man."**

"Sweet is the Word that gives us light,
precious above gold and gems ; it is to be
desired above honey and the honey-comb." 5

. ,' [The Catholic instinct is here; and an all-embracing benevolence
IS its characteristic, not worldly empire.]

' Gal. iii. 28, vi. 15.

^ [He seems to be thinking of z Tim. vi. 6, and x Tim. iv. 8.]

* /Had, V. 128.

^ Ps. xix. lu.

For how can it be other than desirable, since it
has filled with light the mind which had been
buried in darkness, and given keenness to the
" light-bringing eyes " of the soul ? For just as,
had the sun not been in existence, night would
have brooded over the universe notwithstanding
the other luminaries of heaven ; so, had we not
known the Word, and been illuminated by Him,
we should have been nowise different from fowls
that are being fed, fattened in darkness, and
nourished for death. Let us then admit the
light, that we may admit God ; let us admit the
light, and become disciples to the Lord. This,
too, He has been promised to the Father : " I
will declare Thy name to my brethren ; in the
midst of the Church will I praise Thee. " ^
Praise and declare to me Thy Father God;
Thy utterances save ; Thy hymn teaches 7 that
hitherto I have wandered in error, seeking God.
But since Thou leadest me to the light, O Lord,
and I find God through Thee, and receive the
Father from Thee, I become " Thy fellow-heir," *
since Thou " wert not ashamed of me as Thy
brother." 9 Let us put away, then, let us put
away oblivion of the truth, viz., ignorance ; and
removing the darkness which obstructs, as dim-
ness of sight, let us contemplate the only true
God, first raising our voice in this hymn of
praise : *** Hail, O light ! For in us, buried in
darkness, shut up in the shadow of death, light
has shone forth from heaven, purer than the sun,
sweeter than life here below. That light is
eternal life ; and whatever partakes of it lives.
But night fears the light, and hiding itself in
terror, gives place to the day of the Lord.
Sleepless light 'is now over all, and the west has
given credence to the east. For this was the
end of the new creation. For "the Sun of
Righteousness," who drives His chariot over all,
pervades equally all humanity, like " His Father^
who makes His sun to rise on all men," and
distils on them the dew of the truth. He hath
changed sunset into sunrise, and through the
cross brought death to life ; and having wrenched
man from destruction. He hath raised him to
the skies, transplanting mortality into immor-
tality, and translating earth to heaven — He,
the husbandman of God,

" Pointing out the favourable signs and rousing the na-
tions
To good works, putting them in mind of the true sus-
tenance ; " "

having bestowed on us the truly great, divine,
and inalienable inheritance of the Father, deify-
ing man by heavenly teaching, putting His laws

* Ps. xjcii. 23. _

7 [£ph. V. 14, is probably from a hymn of the Church, which is
here referred to as His, as it is adopted mto Scripture. ]

* Rom. viii. 17.
9 Heb. ii. 11.

^° [A quotation from another hymn, in all probability.]
»* Aratus.

204

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

into our minds, and writing them on our hearts.
What laws does He inscribe ? " That all shall
know God, from small to great ; " and, " I will
be merciful to them," says God, " and will not
remember their sins." ' Let."us receive the laws
of life, let us comply with God's expostulations ;
let us become acquainted with Him, that He
rtiay be gracious. And though God needs
nothing let us render to Him the grateful recom-
pense of a thankful heart and of piety, as a kind
of house- rent for our dwelling here below.

" Gold for brass,
A hundred oxen's worth for that of nine ; " *

that is, for your little faith He gives you the earth
of so great extent to till, water to drink and also
to sail on, air to breathe, fire to do your work,
a world to dwell in ; and He has permitted you
to conduct a colony from here to heaven : with
these important works of His hand, and benefits
in such numbers. He has rewarded your little
faith. Then, those who have put faith in necro-
mancers, receive from them amulets and charms,
to ward off evil forsooth ; and will you not allow
the heavenly Word, the Saviour, to be bound on
to you as an amulet, and, by trusting in God's
own charm, be delivered from passions which are
the diseases of the mind, and rescued from sin?
— for sin is eternal death. Surely utterly dull
and blind, and, like moles, doing nothing but
eat, you spend your lives in darkness, surrounded
with corruption. But it is truth which cries,
** The light shall shine forth from the darkness."
Let the light then shine in the hidden part of
man, that is, the heart; and let the beams of
knowledge arise to reveal and irradiate the hid-
den inner man, the disciple of the Light, the
familiar friend and fellow-heir of Christ ; espe-
cially now that we have come to know the most
precious and venerable name of the good Father,
who to a pious and good child gives gentle coun-
sels, and commands what is salutary for His child.
He who obeys Him has the advantage in all
things, follows God, obeys the Father, knows
Him through wandering, loves God, loves his
neighbour, fulfils the commandment, seeks the
prize, claims the promise. But it has been God's
fixed and constant purpose to save the flock of
men : for this end the good God sent the good
Shepherd. And the Word, having unfolded the
truth, showed to men the height of salvation,
that either repenting they might be saved, or
refusing to obey, they might be judged. This
is the proclamation of righteousness : to those
that obey, glad tidings ; to those that disobey,
judgment. The loud trumpet, when sounded,
collects the soldiers, and proclaims war. And

* Heb. viii. xo-ia; Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.

' //., vi. 336. [The exchange of Claucus.]

shall not Christ, breathing a strain of peace to
the ends of the earth, gather together His own
soldiers, the soldiers of peace? Well, by His
blood, and by the word. He has gathered the
bloodless host of peace, and assigned to them
the kingdom of heaven. The trumpet of Christ |
is His Gospel, v He hath blown it, and we have
heard. " Let us array ourselves in the annpur
of peace, putting on the breastplate of righteous-
ness, and taking the shield of faith, and binding
our brows with the helmet of salvation ; and the
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," '
let us sharpen. So the apostle in the spirit of
peace commands. These are our invulnerable
weapons : armed with these, let us face the evil
one ; " the fiery darts of the evil one " let us
quench with the sword-points dipped in water, that
have been baptized by the Word, returning grate-
ful thanks for the benefits we have received, and
honouring God through the Divine W^ord. " For
while thou art yet speaking," it is said, " He will
say. Behold, I am beside thee."^ O this holy
and blessed power, by which God has fellowship
with men ! Better far, then, is it to become at
once the imitator and the servant of the best of
all beings ; for only by holy service will any one
be able to imitate God, and to serve and worship
Him only by imitating Him. The heavenly and
truly divine love comes to men thus, when in the
soul itself the spark of true goodness, kindled
in the soul by the Divine Word, is able to burst
forth into flame ; and, what is of the highest im-
portance, salvation runs parallel with sincere
willingness — choice and life being, so to speak,
yoked together. Wherefore this exhortation of
the truth alone, like the most faithful of our
friends, abides with us till our last breath, and is
to the whole and perfect spirit of thq soul the
kind attendant on our ascent to heaven. What,
then, is the exhortation I give you? I urge you
to be saved. This Christ desires. In one word.
He freely bestows life on you. And who is He ?
Briefly learn. The Word of truth, the Word of
incorruption, that regenerates man by bringing
him back to the truth — the goad that urges to
salvation — He who expels destruction and pur-
sues death — He who builds up the temple of
God in men, that He may cause God to take up
His abode in men. Cleanse the temple; and
pleasures and amusements abandon to the winds
and the fire, as a fading flower ; but wisely cul-
tivate the fruits of self-command, and present
thyself to God as an offering of first-fruits, that
there may be not the work alone, but also the
grace of God ; and both are requisite, that the
friend of Christ may be rendered worthy of
the kingdom, and be counted worthy of the
kingdom.

3 Eph. vi. 14-17.
* Isa. Iviii. 9.

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

205

CHAP. XII. — EXHORTATION TO ABANDON THEIR
OLD ERRORS AND LISTEN TO THE INSTRUCTIONS
OF CHRIST.

Let US then avoid custom as we would a
dangerous headland, or the threatening Charyb-
dis, or the mythic sirens. It chokes man, turns
him away from truth, leads him away from life :
custom is a snare, a gulf, a pit, a mischievous
winnowing fan.

" Urge the ship beyond that smoke and billow." *

Let us shun, fellow-mariners, let us shun this
billow ; it vomits forth fire : it is a wicked island,
heaped with bones and corpses, and in it sings a
fair courtesan. Pleasure, delighting with music
for the common ear.

" Hie thee hither, far-famed Ulysses, great glory of the
Achaeans ;
Moor the ship, that thou mayest hear a diviner voice."*

She praises thee, O mariner, and calls the''e|llus-
trious ; and the courtesan tries to win to herself
the glory of the Greeks. Leave her to prey
on the dead ; a heavenly spirit comes to thy help :
pass by Pleasure, she beguiles.

" Let not a woman with flowing train cheat you of your
senses,
With her flattering prattle seeking your hurt"

Sail past the song ; it works death. Exert your
will only, and you have overcome ruin ; bound
to the wood of the cross, thou shalt be freed
from destruction : the word of God will be thy
pilot, and the Holy Spirit will bring thee to an-
chor in the haven of heaven. Then shalt thou
see my God, and be initiated into the sacred
mysteries, and come to the fruition of those
things which are laid up in heaven reserved for
me, which " ear hath not heard, nor have they
entered into the heart of any." ^

** And in sooth methinks I see two suns.
And a double Thebes,"*

said one frenzy-stricken in the worship of idols,
intoxicated with mere ignorance. I would pity
him in his frantic intoxication, and thus frantic I
would invite him to the sobriety of salvation ; for
the Lord welcomes a sinner's repentance, and
not his death.

Come, O madman, not leaning on the thyrsus,
not crowned with ivy; throw away the mitre,
throw away the fawn-skin ; come to thy senses.
I will show thee the Word, and the mysteries of
the Word, expounding them after thine own
fashion. This is the mountain beloved of God,
not the subject of tragedies like Cithaeron, but
consecrated to dramas of the truth, — a mount
of sobriety, shaded with forests of purity ; and
there revel on it not the Maenades, the sisters

' Odvss., xii. 2x9.
« Oa^st.j xii. 184.

3 X Cor. li. 9.

4 Eurip., Bacch,^ 9x8.

of Semele, who was struck by the thunderbolt,
practising in their initiatory rites unholy divis-
ion of flesh, but the daughters of God, the fair
lambs, who celebrate the holy rites of the Word,
raising a sober choral dance. The righteous are
the chorus ; the music is a hymn of the King of
the universe. The maidens strike the lyre, the
angels praise, the prophets speak ; the sound of
music issues forth, they run and pursue the jubi-
lant band; those that are called make haste,
eagerly desiring to receive the Father.

Come thou also, O aged man, leaving Thebes,
and casting away from thee both divination and
Bacchic firenzy, allow thyself to be led to the
truth. I give thee the staff [of the cross] on
which to lean. Haste, Tiresias; believe, and
thou wilt see. Christ, by whom the eyes of the
blind recover sight, will shed on thee a light
brighter than the sun ; night will flee from thee,
fire will fear, death will be gone ; thou, old man,
who saw not Thebes, shalt see the heavens. O
truly sacred mysteries ! O stainless light ! My
way is lighted with torches, and I survey the
heavens and God ; I become holy whilst I am
initiated. The Lord is the hierophant, and seals
while illuminating him who is initiated, and pre-
sents to the Father him who believes, to be kept
safe for ever. Such are the reveries of my mys-
teries. If it is thy wish, be thou also initiated ;
and thou shalt join the choir along with angels
around the unbegotten and indestructible and
the only true God, the Word of God, raising the
hymn with us.* This Jesus, who is eternal, the
one great High Priest of the one God and of
His Father, prays for and exhorts men.

" Hear, ye myriad tribes, rather whoever among
men are endowed with reason, both barbarians
and Greeks. I call on the whole race of men,
whose Creator I am, by the will of the Father.
Come to Me, that you may be put in your due
rank under the one God and the one Word of
God ; and do not only have the advantage of the
irrational creatures in the possession of reason ;
foD'to you^of all mortals I grant the enjoyment
oijmmort^ality. For I want, I want to impart to
you this grace, bestowing on you the perfect boon
of immortality ; and I confer on you both the
Word and the knowledge of God, My complete
self. This am I, this God wills, this is symphony,
this the harmony of the Father, this is the §on,
this is Christ, this the Word of God, the arm
of the Lord, the power of the universe, the will of
the Father ; of which things there were images
of old, but not all adequate. I deeire to restore
you according to the original model, that ye may
become also like Me. I anoint you with the
ungent of faith, by which yc^ throw off corrup-

5 [Here are references to baptism and the Eucharist, and to the
TrisagioHy " Therefore with smgels and archangels," which was
univenally diflused in the Christian Church. Bunsen, aippd., iii. 63.]

206

EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN.

tion, and show you the naked form of righteous-
ness by which you ascend to (jod. Come to
Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you,
and learn of Me ; for I am meek and lowly in
heart : and ye shall find rest to your souls. For
My yoke is easy, and My burden light." '

Let us haste, let us run, my fellow-men — us,
who are God-loving and God-like images of the
Word. Let us haste, let us run, let us take His
yoke, let us receive, to conduct us to immortality,
the good charioteer of men. Let us love Christ.
He led the colt with its parent; and having
yoked the team of humanity to God, directs His
chariot to immortality, hastening clearly to fulfil,
by driving now into heaven, what He shadowed
forth before by riding into Jerusalem, A spec-
tacle most beautiful to the Father is the eternall
ISon crowned with victory.* Let us aspire, then,
after what is good; let us become God-loving
men, and obtain the greatest of all things which
are incapable of being harmed — God and life.
Our helper is the Word ; let us put confidence
in Him ; and never let us be visited with such a
craving for silver and gold, and glory, as for the
Word of truth Himself. For it will not, it will
not be pleasing to God Himself if we vaAue least
those things which are worth most, and hold in
the highest estimation the manifest enormities
and the utter impiety of folly, and ignorance, and
thoughtlessness, and idolatry. For not improp-
erly the sons of the philosophers consider that
the foolish are guilty of profanity and impiety
in whatever they do ; and describing ignorance
itself as a species of madness, allege that the
multitude are nothing but madmen. There is
therefore no room to doubt, the Word will say,
whether it is better to be sane or insane ; but
holding on to truth with our teeth, we must with
all our might follow God, and in the exercise of
wisdom regard all things to be, as they are, His ;
and besides, having learned that we are the most
excellent of His possessions, let us commit our-
selves to God, loving thfli Lord God, and regard-
ing this as our business all our life long. And
if what belongs to firiends be reckoned common
property, and man be the friend of God — for
through the mediation of the Word has he been
made the friend of God — then accordingly all

' Matt. xi. 38, 39, 30.

2 ["Who is this that cometh from Edom/' seems to be in mind.
Isa. Ixiii. x.]

things become man's, because all things are
God's, and the common property of both the
friends, God and man.

It is time, then, for us to say that the pious .
Christian alone is rich and wise, and of noble
birth, and thus call and believe him to be God's
image, and also His likeness,^ having become
righteous and holy and wise by Jesus Christ,
and so far already like God. Accordingly this
grace is indicated by the prophet, when he says,
"I said that ye are gods, and all sons of the
Highest." * For us, yea us, He has adopted,
and wishes to be called the Father of us alone,
not of the unbelieving. Such is then our posi-
tion who are the attendants of Christ.

" As are men*s wishes, so are their words ;
As are their words, so are their deeds ;
And as their works, such is their life."

Good is the whole life of those who have known
Christ.

Enough, methinks, of words, though, impelled
by love to man, I might have gone on to pour
out what I had from God, that I might exhort
to what is the greatest of blessings — salvation.5
For discourses concerning the life which has no
end, are not readily brought to the end of their
disclosures. To you still remains this conclu-
sion, to choose which will profit you most —
judgment or grace. For I do not think there is
even room for doubt which of these is the bet-
ter; nor is it allowable to compare life with
destruction.

^ Clement here draws a distinction, frequently made by early
Christian writers, between the image and Iflceness of God. Ma:i
never loses the image of God; but as the likeness consisu» in moral
resemblance, he mav lose it, and he recovers it only when he becomes
righteous, holy, ana wise.

* Ps. Ixxxii. 6.

5 [Let me ouote from an excellent author: *' We ought to give
the Fathers creoit for knowing what arguments were best calculated
to affect the minds of those whom they were addressing. It was un-
necessaiv for them to establish, by a long train of reasoning, the ^rflh-
abiliiy that a revelation may be n^e from heaven to man, or to prove
the credibility of miracles. . . . The majority, both of the learned
and unlearned, were fixed in the belief that the Deity exeirised an
immediate control over the human race, and consequendy felt no pre-
disposition to reject that which purported to be a communication of
His will. . . . Accustomed as they were, however, to regard the van-
ous systems proposed by philosophers as matters of curious specula-
tion, designed to exercise the understanding, not ic inflneHce the
conduct, the chief difficulty of the advocate of Christianity was 10
prevent them from treating it with ike same levity, and to induct
tljem to view it in its true light as a revelation declanng truths of the
highest practical importance."

This remark of Bishop Kaye is a hint of vast importance in our
study of the early Apologists. It is taken from that author's Accotini
0/ the Writings of Clement 0/ Alexandria (London, 1835), w
which I would refer the student, as the best introduction to these
works that I know of. It is full of valuable comment and exposiiioo
I make only sparing reference to it, however, in these pages, as
otherwise I should hardly know what to omit, or to include.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[P-^DAGOGUSJ

THE INSTRUCTOR.

BOOK I.

CHAP. I. THE OFFICE OF THE INSTRUCTOR.

As there are these three things in the case of
man, habits^ actions, and passions; habits are
the department appropriated by hortatory dis-
course the guide to piety, which, Hke the ship's
keel, is laid beneath for the building up of faitfi ;
in which, rejoicing exceedingly, and abjuring
our old opinions, through salvation we renew
our youth, singing with the hymning prophecy,
*' How good is God to Israel, to such as are
upright in heart ! " ' All actions, again, are the
province of preceptive discourse ; while persua-
sive discourse applies itself to heal the passions.
It is, however, one and the self-same word which
rescues man from the custom of this world in
which he has been reared, and trains him up
in the one salvation of faith in God.

When, then, the heavenly guide, the Word,
was inviting' men to salvation, the appellation
of hortatory was properly applied to Him : his
same word was called rousing (the whole from
a part). For the whole of piety is hortatory,
engendering in the kindred faculty of reason a
yearning after true life now and to come. But
now, being at once curative and preceptive, fol-
lowing in His own steps, He makes what had
been prescribed the subject of persuasion, prom-
ising the cure of the passions within us. Let us
then designate this Word appropriately by the
one name Tutor (or Pcedagogue^ or Instructor) .

The Instructor being practical, not theoretical.
His aim is thus to improve the soul, not to teach,
and to train it up to a virtuous, not to an intel-
lectual life. Although this same word is didactic,
but not in the present instance. For the word
which, in matters of doctrine, explains and re-
veals, is that whose province it is to teach. But
our Educator ' being practical, first exhorts to

* P«. Ixxiii. 1.

^ [See Exhortation to the Heathen^ cap. xi. p. 203, xv/ro.]
^ The pxdago^ut. [This word seems to be used bjr Clement,
with frequent allusion, at least, to its original idea, of one who leads
the child to his instructor; which is the true idea, I suppose, in Gal.
»ila4.]

the attainment of right dispositions and charac-
ter, and then persuades us to the energetic
practice of our duties, enjoining on us pure
commandments, and exhibiting to such as come
after representations of those who formerly wan-
dered in error. Both are of the highest utility,
— that which assumes the form of counselling
to obedience, and that which is presented in the
form of example ; which latter is of two kinds,
corresponding to the former duality, — the one
having for its purpose that we should choose and
imitate the good, and the other that we should
reject and turn away from the opposite.

Hence accordingly ensues the healing of our
passions, in consequence of the assuagements of
those examples; the Psedagogue strengthening
our souls, and by His benign commands, as by
gentle medicines, guiding the sick to the perfect
knowledge of the truth.

There is a wide difference between health and
knowledge ; for the latter is produced by learn-
ing, the former by healing. One, who is ill, will
not therefore learn any branch of instruction till
he is quite well. For neither to learners nor to
the sick is each injunction invariably expressed
similarly ; but to the former in such a way as to
lead to knowledge, and to the latter to health.
As, then, for those of us who are diseased in
body a physician is required, so also those .who
are diseased in soul require a pedagogue to cure
our maladies ; and then a teacher, to train and
guide the soul to all requisite knowledge when
it is made able to admit the revelation of the
Word. Eagerly desiring, then, to perfect us by
a gradation conducive to salvation, suited for
efficacious discipline, a beautiful arrangement is
observed by the all-benignant Word, who first
exhorts, then trains, and finally teaches.

CHAP. II. — OUR instructor's TREATMENT OF OUR

SINS.

Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is
like His Father God, whose son He is, sinless,

309

2IO

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion ;
God in the form of man, stainless, the minister
of His Father's will, the VVord who is God, who
is in the Father, who is at the Father's right
hand, and with the form of God is God. He
is to us a spotless image ; to Him we are to try
with all our might to assimilate our souls. He
is wholly free from human passions ; wherefore
also He alone is judge, because He alone is
sinless. As far, however, as we can, let us try
to sin as little as possible. For nothing is so
urgent in the first place as deliverance from
passions and disorders, and then the checking
of our liability to fall into sins that have become
habitual. It is best, therefore, not to sin at all
in any way, which we assert to be the preroga-
tive of God alone ; next to keep clear of volun-
tary transgressions, which is characteristic of
the wise man ; thirdly, not to fall into many
involuntary offences, which is peculiar to those
who have been excellently trained. Not to
continue long in sins, let that be ranked last.
But this also is salutary to those who are called
back to repentance, to renew the contest.

And the Instructor, as I think, very beautifully
says, through Moses : " If any one die suddenly
by him, straightway the head of his consecration
shall be polluted, and shall be shaved," ' desig-
nating involuntary sin as sudden death. And
He says that it pollutes by defiling the soul :
wherefore He prescribes the cure with all speed,
advising the head to be instantly shaven ; that
is, counselling the locks of ignorance which
shade the reason to be shorn clean off, that
reason (whose seat is in the brain), being left
bare of the dense stuff of vice, may speed its
way to repentance. Then after a few remarks
He adds, "The days before are not reckoned
irrational," * by which manifestly sins are meant
which are contrary to reason. The involuntary
act He calls " sudden,^'' the sin He calls " irra-
tional." Wherefore the Word, the Instructor,
has taken the charge of us, in order to the pre-
vention of sin, which is contrary to reason.

Hence consider the expression of Scripture,
" Therefore these things saith the Lord ; " the
sin that had been committed before is held
up to reprobation by the succeeding expression
"therefore," according to which the righteous
judgment follows. This is shown conspicuously
by the prophets, when they said, " Hadst thou
not sinned. He would not have uttered these
threatenings." " Therefore thus saith' the
Lord ; " " Because thou hast not heard these
words, therefore these things the Ix)rd ; " and,
" Therefore, behold, the Lord saith." For
prophecy is given by reason both of obedience
and disobedience : for obedience, that we may

• Num. vi. 9.
« Num. vi. la.

be saved ; for disobedience, that we may be
corrected.

Our Instructor, the Word, therefore cures the
unnatural passions of the soul by means of ex-
hortations. For with the highest propriety the
help of bodily diseases is called the healing art
— an art acquired by human skill. But the
paternal Word is the only Paeonian physician of
human infirmities, and the holy charmer of the
sick soul. " Save," it is said, " Thy servant, O
my God, who trusteth in Thee. Pity me, O
Lord ; for I will cry to Thee all the day." ^
For a while the " physician's art," according to
Democritus, " heals the diseases of the body ;
wisdom frees the soul from passion." But the
good Instructor, the Wisdom, the Word of the
Father, who made man, cares for the whole
nature of His creature : the all-sufficient Phvsi-
cian of humanity, the Saviour, heals both body
and soul. " Rise up," He said to the paralytic ;
" take the bed on which thou liest, and go away
home ; " * and straightway the infirm man re-
ceived strength. And to the dead He said,
" Lazarus, go forth ; " s and the dead man is-
sued from his coffin such as he was ere he died,
having undergone resurrection. Further, He
heals the soul itself by precepts and gifts — by
precepts indeed, in course of time, but being
liberal in His gifts. He says to us sinners, " Thy
sins be forgiven thee." ^

We, however, as soon as He conceived the
thought, became His children, having had as-
signed us the best and most secure rank by His
orderly arrangement, which first circles about the
world, the he^iVens, and the sun's circuits, and
occupies itself with the motions of the rest of the
stars for man's behoof, and then busies itself wth
man himself, on whom all its care is concen-
trated ; and regarding him as its greatest work,
regulated his soul by wisdom and temperance,
and tempered the body with beauty and propor-
tion. And whatever in human actions is right
and regular, is the result of the inspiration of its
rectitude and order.

CHAP. III. — THE PHILANTHROPY OF THE

INSTRUCTOR.

The Lord ministers all good and all help, both
as man and as God : as God, forgiving our sins ;
and as man, training us not to sin. Man is
therefore jusdy dear to God, since he is His
workmanship. The other works of creation He
made by the word of command alone, but man
He framed by Himself, by His own hand, and
breathed into him what was peculiar to Himself.
What, then, was fashioned by Him, and after He
likeness, either was created by God Himself as

3 Ps. Ixxxvi. a, 3.

4 Mark ii. xi.

5 lohn xi. 43.

6 Matt. ix. 3.

Chap. IV.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

211

being desirable on its own account, or was formed
as being desirable on account of something else.
If, then, man is an object desirable for itself, then
He who is good loved what is good, and the love- j
(harm is within even in man, and is that very ,
thing which is called the inspiration [or breath]
of (iod ; but if man was a desirable object on
account of something else, God had no other
reason for creating him, than that unless he came
into being, it was not possible for God to be a
good Creator, or for man to arrive at the knowl-
edge of God. For God would not have ac-
complished that on account of which man was
created otherwise than by the creation of man ;
and what hidden power in willing God possessed.
He carried fully out by the forth-putting of His
might externally in the act of creating, receiving
from man what He made man ; ' and whom
He had He saw, and what He wished that came
to pass ; and there is nothing which God cannot
do. Man, then, whom God made, is desirable
for himself, and that which is desirable on his
account is allied to him to whom it is desirable
on his account ; and this, too, is acceptable and
liked.

But what is loveable, and is not also loved by
Him ? And man has been proved to be love-
able ; consequently man is loved by God. For
how shall he not be loved for whose sake the
only-begotten Son is sent from the Father's
bosom, the Word of faith, the faith which is
superabundant ; the Lord Himself distincdy con-
fessing and saying, " For the Father Himself
loveth you, because ye have loved Me ; " * and
again, " And hast loved them as Thou hast loved
Me ? " 3 What, then, the Master desires and
declares, and how He is disposed in deed and
word, how He commands what is to be done,
and forbids the opposite, has already been
shown.

Plainly, then, the other kind of discourse, the
didactic, is powerful and spiritual, observing
precision, occupied in the contemplation of
mysteries. But let it stand over for the present.
Now, it is incumbent on us to return His love,
who lovingly guides us to that life which is best ;
and to live in accordance with the injunctions of
His will, not only fulfilling what is commanded,
or guarding against what is forbidden, but turn-
ing away from some examples, and imitating
others as much as we can, and thus to perform
the works of the Master according to His simili-

* Bishop Kave {Some Account of the Writings and Opinions
of Clement of Alexandria y p. 48) translates, " receiving from man that
which made man (that on account of which man was made)/' But it
Kcms more likely that Qement refers to the ideal man in the divine
niind, whom he indentifies elsewhere with the Logos, the ai^Opwiroc
airaS^, of whom man was the image. The reader will notice that
Clement speaks of^ man as existing in the divine mind before his
creation, and creation is represented by God's seeing what He had
previously within Him merely as a hid<Kn power.

' John xvi. 27.

^ John zvii. 23.

tude, and so fulfil what Scripture says as to our
being made in His image and likeness. For,
wandering in life as in deep darkness, we need
a guide that cannot stumble or stray ; and our
guide is the best, not blind, as the Scripture
says, " leading the blind into pits." ^ But the
Word is keen-sighted, and scans the recesses of
the heart. As, then, that is not light which
enlightens not, nor motion that moves not, nor
loving which loves not, so neither is that good
which profits not, nor guides to salvation. Let
us then aim at the fulfilment of the command-
ments by the works of the Lord ; for the Word
Himself also, having openly become flesh,*
exhibited the same virtue, both practical and
contemplative. Wherefore let us regard the
Word as law, and His commands and counsels
as the short and straight paths to immortahty ;
for His precepts are full of persuasion, not of
fear.

CHAP. IV, — MEN AND WOMEN ALIKE UNDER THE
instructor's CHARGE.

Let us, then, embracing more and more this
good obedience, give ourselves to the Lord, cling-
ing to what is surest, the cable of faith in Him,
and understanding that the virtue of man and ]
woman is the same. For if the God of both is
one, the master of both is also one ; one chun^h,
one temperance, one modesty; their food is
common, marriage an equal yoke; respiration,
sight, hearing, knowledge, hope, obedience, love
all alike. And those whose life is common, have
common graces and a common salvation ; com-
mon to them are love and training. " For in this
world," he says, "they marry, and are given in
marriage,"* in which alone the female is distin-
guished from the male ; "but in that world it is
so no more." There the rewards of this social y
and holy life, which is based on conjugal union, ,.
are laid up, not for male and female, but for map, i
the sexual desire which divides humanity being '
removed. Common therefore, too, to men and •
women, is the name of man. For this reason I
think the Attics called, not boys only, but girls,
TTflu&iptov, using it as a word of common gender ;
if Men^nder the comic poet, in Rhapizomena,
appears to any one a sufficient authority, who
thus speaks : —

" My little daughter ; for by nature
The child {Ttaidiipun') is most loving."

"Apvc?, too, the word for lambs, is a common
name of simplicity for the male and female
animal.

Now the Lord Himself will feed us as His flock
forever. Amen. But without a sheperd, neither

< Matt. XV. 14.
s John i. 14.
6 Luke XX. 34.

212

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book. L

can sheep nor any other animal live, nor children
without a tutor, nor domestics without a master.

CHAP. V. — ALL WHO WALK ACCORDING TO TRUTH
ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.

That, then, Paedagogy is the training of chil-
dren (voLSiav aycoyiy), is clear from the word itself.
It remains for us to consider the children whom
Scripture points to ; then to give the paedagogue
charge of them. VVe are the children. In many
ways Scripture celebrates us, and describes us
in manifold figures of speech, giving variety to
the simplicity of th^ faith by diverse names.
Accordingly, in the Gospel, " the Lord, standing
on the shore, says to the disciples " — they hap-
pened to be fishing — " and called aloud. Chil-
dren, have ye any meat?" ' — addressing those
that were already in the position of disciples as
children. " And they brought to Him," it is said,
" children, that He might put His hands on them
and bless them ; and when His disciples hindered
them, Jesus said, Suffer the children, and forbid
them not to come to Me, for of such is the king-
dom of heaven." * What the expression means,
the Lord Himself shall declare, sa)dng, " Except
ye be converted, and become as little chidren,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven ; " ^
not in that place speaking figuratively of regen-
eration, but setting before us, for our imitation,
the simplicity that is in children."*

The prophetic spirit also distinguishes us as
children. " Plucking," it is said, " branches of
olives or palms, the children went forth to meet
the Lord, and cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son
of David ! Blessed is He that cometh in the name
of the Lord ; " s light, and glory, and praise, with
supplication to the Lord : for this is the meaning
of the expression Hosanna when rendered in
Greek. And the Scripture appears to me, in al-
lusion to the prophecy just mentioned, reproach-
fully to upbraid the thoughtless : " Have ye never
read. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
Thou hast perfected praise ? " ^ In this way the
Lord in the Gospels spurs on His disciples, urging
them to attenci to Him, hastening as He was to
the Father ; rendering His hearers more eager by
the intimation that after a little He was to depart,
and showing them that it was requisite that they
should take more unsparing advantage of the
truth than ever before, as the Word was to ascend
to heaven. Again, therefore, He calls them chil-
dren ; for He says, "Children, a little while I am
with you." 7 And, again, He likens the kingdom

* John xxi. 4, 5.
' Matt. xix. 14.
3 Malt, xviii. 3.

* [The dignity ajtcribed to Christian childhood in this chapter is
something noteworthy. The Gospel glorifying children, sanctifies
marriage, and creates the home.]

5 Matt. xxi. 9.

* Matt. xxi. x6; Ps. viii. 2.
' John xiii. 33.

of heaven to children sitting in the market-places
and saying, " We have piped unto you, and ye
have not danced ; we have mourned, and ye have
not lamented ; " ^ and whatever else He added
agreeably thereto. And it is not alone the Gospel
that holds these sentiments. Prophecy *^lso
agrees with it. David accordingly say^, "Praise,
O children^ the Lord ; praise the name of the
Lord." 9 It says also by Esaias, ^^ Here am /,
and the children that God hath given me" *° Are
you amazed, then, to hear that men who belong
to the nations are sons in the Lord's sight ? You
do not in that case appear to give ear to the Attic
dialect, from which you may learn that beautiful,
comely, and freebom young maidens are still
called Trou^tiTKai, and servant-girls iraihuTKapui ;
and that those last also are, on account of the
bloom of youth, called by the flattering name of
young maidens.

And when He says, " Let my lambs stand on
my right," " He alludes to the simple children,
as if they were sheep and lambs in nature, not
men ; and the lambs He counts worthy of pref-
erence, from the superior regard He has to that
tenderness and simplicity of disposition in men
which constitutes innocence. Again, when He
says, ''as suckling calves," He again alludes
figuratively to us ; and " as an innocent and gen-
tle 3ove," " the reference is again to us. Again,
by Moses, He commands " two young pigeons
or a pair of turtles to be offered for sin ; " ^^ thus
saying, thatSHe harmlessness and innocence and
placable nature of ihese tender young birds are
acceptable to Go37 and explaining that like is
an expiation for filce. Further, the timorousness
of the turtle-doves typifies fear in reference to
sin.

And that He calls us chickens the Scripture
testifies : " As a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings." ^^ Thus are we the Lord's
chickens ; the Wgrd thus marvellously and mysti-
cally describing the simplicity of childhood. For
sometimes He calls us children, sometimes chick-
ens, sometimes infants, and at other times sons,
and "a new__people," and "a recent people."
"And my servants shall be called by a new
name " '5 (a new name. He says, fresh and eter-
nal, pure and simple, and childlike and true),
which shall be blessed on the earth. And again,
He figuratively calls us colts unyoked to vice,
not broken in by wickedness ; but simple, and
bounding joyously to the Father alone ; not such
horses "as neigh after their neighbours* wives,

• Matt. xi. i6, 17. [In the Pcshito-Syraic version, where are
probably found the very words our Saviour thus quotes from childitn
in Nazareth, this saying is seen to be metrical and allitezative.]

9 Ps. cxiii. 1.

»o Isa. viii. x8.

** Matt. XXV. 33.

"* Matt. X. 16.

13 I^v. XV. 39, xii. 8; Luke ii. 34.

*♦ Matt, xxiii. 37.

*s Isa. Ixv. 15, 16.

Chap. V.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

213

that are under the yoke, and are female- mad ; " '
but free and new-born, jubilant by means of
faith, ready to run to the truth, swift to speed to
salvation, that tread and stamp under foot the
things of the world.

" Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion ; tell
aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem : behold, thy
King cometh, just, meek, and bringing salvation ;
meek truly is He, and riding on a beast of bur-
den, and a young colt." » It was not enough to
have said colt alone, but He added to it also
young, to show the youth of humanity in Christ,
and the eternity of simplicity, which shall know
no old age. And we who are little ones being
such colts, are reared up by our divine colt-
tamer. But if the new man in Scripture is repre-
sented by the ass, this ass is also a colt, " And
he bound," it is said, " the colt to the vine,"
having bound this simple and childlike people
to the word, whom He figuratively represents as
a vine. For the vine produces wine, as the Word
produces blood, and both drink for health to
men — wine for the body, blood for the spirit.

And that He also calls us lambs, the Spirit by
the mouth of Isaiah is an unimpeachable wit-
ness : " He will feed His flock like a shepherd,
He will gather the lambs with His arm," 3 — using
the figurative appellation of lambs, which are
still more tender than sheep, to express simpli-
city. And we also in truth, honouring the fairest
and most perfect objects in life with an appella-
tion derived from, the word child, have named
training TratScta, and discipline 7rat8ay<iryta. Dis-
cipline (irai&iy<iryta) we declare to be right guid-
ing from chiMKood to virtue. Accordingly, our
Lord revealed more distinctly to us what is sig-
nified by the appellation of children. On the
question arising among the apostles, " which of
them should be the greater," Jesus placed a
little child in the midst, saying, "Whosoever
shall humble himself as this little child, the same
shall be the greater in the kingdom of heaven." ^
He does not then use the appellation of children
on account of their very limited amount of un-
derstanding from their age, as some have thought.
Nor, if He says, " Except ye become as these
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
God," are His words to be understood as mean-
ing "without learning." We, then, who are
infants, no longer roll on the ground, nor creep
on the earth like serpents as before, crawling
*with the whole body about senseless lusts ; but,
stretching upwards in soul, loosed from the world
and our sins, touching the earth on tiptoe so as
to appear to be in the world, we pursue holy
wisdom, although this seems folly to those whose

' Jer. V. 8.

' Zech. ix. 9: Gen. xlix. ii.

3 Isa. xl. II.

^ Matt, xviii. 4.

w^its are whetted for wickedness. RightFy, then,
are those called children who know Him who is
God alone as their Father, who are wmple, and
infants, and guileless, who are lovers of the horns
of the unicoms.5

To those, therefore, that have made progress
in the word, He has proclaimed this utterance,
bidding them dismiss anxious care of the things
of this world, and exhorting them to adhere
to the Father alone, in imitation of children.
Wherefore also in what follows He says : " Take
no anxious thought for the morrow; sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof."^ Thus He
enjoins them to lay aside the cares of this life, r
and depend on the Father alone. And he who
fulfils this commandment is in reality a child and
a son to God and to the world, — to the one as
deceived, to the other as beloved. And if we
have one Master in heaven, as the Scripture says,
then by common consent those on the earth will
be rightly called disciples. For so is the truth,
that perfection is with the Lord, who is always
teaching, and infancy and childishness with us,
who are always learning. Thus prophecy hath i
honoured perfection , by applying to it the appel-
lation man. For instance, by David, He says
of the devil : " The Lord abhors the man of
blood ; " 7 he calls him man, as perfect in wicked-
ness. And the Lord is called man, because He
is perfect in righteousness. Directly in point is
the instance of the apostle, who says, writing the
Corinljiians : " For I have espoused you to one
man, that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ," ** whether as children or saints, but to
the Lord alone. And writing to the Ephe§ians,
he has unfolded in the clearest manner the point
in question, speaking to the following effect:
" Till we all attain to the unity of the feith, and
of the knowledge of God, to a perfect man, to
the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ : that we be no longer children, tossed to
and fro by every wind of doctrine, by the craft
of men, by their cunning in stratagems of deceit ;
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up to
Him in all things," ^ — saying these things in .
order to the edification of the body of Christ, \
who is the head and man, the only one perfect
in righteousness ; and we who are children
guarding against the blasts of heresies, which
blow to our inflation ; and not puttmg our trust
in fathers who teach us otherwise, are then made
perfect when we are the church, having received '
Christ the head. Then it is right to notice, with
respect to the appellation of infant (n/Trto?), that

s Theodoret explains this to mean that, as the animal referred to
has only one horn, so those brought up in the practice of piety wor-
ship only one God. [It mieht mean lovers of those promises which
are introduced by these wonu in the marvellous twenty-second Psalm.]

* Malt. vi. 34.
7 Ps. V. 6.

• 2 Cor. xi. 2.

9 Eph. iv. X3-15.

214

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

TO vrfiriov is not predicated of the silly : for the
silly man is called n/mrrtos : and n/Trto? is vt-qTno^
(since he that is tender-hearted is called ^109),
as being one that has newly become gentle and
meek in conduct. This the blessed Paul most
clearly pointed out when he said, "When we
might have been burdensome as the apostles
of Christ, we were gentle (^toi) among you, as
a nurse cherisheth her children." » The child

I {yrfjTuyi) is therefore gentle (tttw?), and therefore
more tender, delicate, and simple, guileless, and
destitute of hypocrisy, straightforward and up-
right in mind, which is the basis of simplicity
and truth. For He says, " Upon whom shall I
look, but upon him who is gentle and quiet?***
For such is the virgin speech, tender, and free
of fraud; whence also a virgin is wont to be
called " a tender bride,*' and a child " tender-
hearted.** And we are tender who are pliant to
the power of persuasion, and are easily drawn
to goodness, and are mild, and free of the stain
of malice and perverseness, for the ancient race
was perverse and hard-hearted ; but the band of
infants, the new. people which we are, is delicate
as a child. On account of the hearts of the
innocent, the apostle, in the Epistle to the
Romans, owns that he rejoices, and furnishes a
kincfof definition of children, so to speak, when
he says, " I would have you wise toward good,
but simple towards evil.** 3 For the name of
child, vi/7r«)5, is not understood by us privatively,
though the sons of the grammarians make the vq

\ a privative particle. For if they call us who
follow after childhood foolish, see how they utter
blasphemy against the Lord, in regarding those
as foolish who have betaken themselves to God,
But if, which is rather the true sense, they
themselves understand the designation children
of simple ones, we glory in the name. For
the new minds, which have newly become
wise, which have sprung into being according to
the new covenant, are infantile in the old folly.
Of late, then, God was known by the coming
of Christ : " For no man knoweth God but the
Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal
Him.** ^

In contradistinction, therefore, to the older
people, the new people are called young, hav-
ing learned the new blessings ; and we have
the exuberance of life*s morning prime in this
youth which knows no old age, in which we
are always growing to maturity in intelligence,
are always young, always mild, always new : for
those must necessarily be new, who have be-
come partakers of the new Word. And that
which participates in • eternity is wont to be

* I Thess. ii. 6, 7.

* Isau Ixvi. 2.

3 Rom. xvi. 19.

4 Matt. x\. 37: Luke x. 39.

assimilated to the incorruptible : so that to us
appertains the designation of the age of child-
hood, a lifelong. $pring-time, because the truth
that is in us, and our habits saturated with the
truth, cannot be touched by old age ; but Wis-
dom is ever blooming, ever remains consistent
and the same, and never changes. " Their chil-
dren,** it is said, " shall be borne upon their
shoulders, and fondled on their knees ; as one
whom his mother comforteth, so also shall I
comfort you.** 5 The mother draws the children
to herself; and we seek our mothpr the Church.
Whatever is feeble and tender, as needing hel]>
on account of its feebleness, is kindly looked on,
and is sweet and pleasant, anger changing into
help in the case of such : for thus horses* colls,
and the little calves of cows, and the lion's
whelp, and the stag*s fawn, and the child of
man, are looked upon with pleasure by their
fathers and mothers. Thus also the Father of
the universe cherishes affection towards those
who have fled to Him ; and having begotten
them again by His Spirit to the adoption of
children, knows them as gentle, and loves those
alone, and aids and fights for them ; and there-
fore He bestows on them the name of child.
The word Isaac I also connect with child. Isaac
means laughter. He was seen sporting with his
wife and helpmeet Rebecca by the prying king.''
The king, whose name was Abimelech, appears '
to me to represent a supramundane wisdom
contemplating the mystery of sport. They in-
terpret Rebecca to mean endurance. O wise
sport, laughter also assisted by endurance, and
the king as spectator ! The spirit of those that
are children in Christ, whose lives are ordered
in endurance, rejoice. And this is the divine
sport. " Such a sport, of his own, Jove sports,"
says Heraclj,tus. For what other employment is
seemly for a wise and perfect man, than to sport
and be glad in the endurance of what is good-
and, in the administration of what is good, hold^
ing festival with God ? That which is signified
by the prophet may be interpreted differently, —
namely, of our rejoicing for salvation, as Isaac.
He also, delivered from death, laughed, sporting
and rejoicing with his spouse, who was the type
of the Helper of our salvation, the Church, to
whom the stable name of endurance is given;
for this cause surely, because she alone remains
to all generations, rejoicing ever, subsisting as
she does by the endurance of us believers, who
are the members of Christ. And the witness
of those that have endured to the end, and die
rejoicing on their account, is the mystic sport,
and the salvation accompanied with decorous
solace which brings us aid.

i Isa. Ixvi. 12, 13.
6 Gen. xxvi. 8.

Chap. VI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

215

The King, then, who is Christ, beholds from
above our laughter, and looking through the
window, as the Scripture says, views the thanks-
giving, and the blessing, and the rejoicing, and
the gladness, and furthermore the endurance
which works together with them and their em-
brace : views His Church, showing only His face,
which was wanting to the Church, which is made
perfect by her royal Head. And where, then,
was the door by which the Lord showed Him-
self? The flesh by which He was manifested.
He is Isaac (for the narrative may be interpreted
otherwise), who is a type of the Lord, a child
as a son ; for he was the son of Abraham, as
Christ the Son of God, and a sacriflce as the
Lord, but he was not immolated as the Lord.
Isaac only bore the wood of the sacrifice, as the
Lord the wood of the cross. And he laughed
mystically, prophesying that the Lord should All
us with joy, who have been redeemed from cor-
ruption by the blood of the Lord. Isaac did
everything but suffer, as was right, yielding the
precedence in suffering to the Word. Further-
more, there is an intimation of the divinity of the
Lord in His not being slain. For Jesus rose again
after His burial, having suffered no harm, like
Isaac released from sacrifice. And in defence
of the point to be established, I shall adduce
another consideration of the greatest weight.
ITie Spirit calls the Lord Himself a child, thus
prophesying by Esaias : *' Lo, to us a child has
been bom, to us a son has been given, on
whose own shoulder the government shall be ;
and His name has been called the Angel of great
Counsel." Who, then, is this infant child? He
according to whose image we are made little
children. By the same prophet is declared His
greatness : " Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace; that He
might fulfil His discipline : and of His peace
there shall be no end." ' O the great God ! O
the perfect child ! The Son in the Father, and
the Father in the Son. And how shall not the
discipline of this child be perfect, which extends
to all, leading as a schoolmaster us as children,
who are His little ones ? He has stretched forth
to us those hands of His that are conspicuously
worthy of trust. To this child additional testi-
mony is borne by John, " the greatest prophet
among those bom of women : " * " Behold the
Lamb of God ! " 3 For since Scripture calls
the infant children lambs, it has also called
Him — God the Word — who became man for
our sakes, and who wished in all points to be
made hke to us — " the Lamb of God " — Him,
namely, that is the Son of God, the child of the
Father.

' Isa. ix. 6.
' Luke vii. a8.
3 John i. 39, 36.

CHAP, VI. — THE NAME CHILDREN DOES NOT IMPLY
INSIRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES.

We have ample means of encountering those
who are given to carping. For we are not
termed children and infants with reference to
the childish and contemptible character of our 1 '
education, as those who are inflated on ac- >
count of knowledge have calumniously alleged.
Straightway, on our regeneration, we attained
that perfection after which we aspired. For we
were illuminated, which is to know God. He is
not then imperfect who knows what is perfect.
And do not reprehend me when I profess to
know God ; for so it was deemed right to speak
to the Word, and He is free.-* For at the mo-
ment of the Lord's baptism there sounded a
voice from heaven, as a testimony to the Be-
loved, " Thou art My beloved Son, to-day have
I begotten Thee." Let us then ask the wise.
Is Christ, begotten to-day, already perfect, or
— what were most monstrous — imperfect ? If
the latter, there is some addition He requires yet
to make. But for Him to make any addition to
His knowledge is absurd, since He is God. For
none can be superior to the Word, or the teacher
of the only Teacher. Will they not then own,
though reluctant, that the perfect Word bom of
the perfect Father was begotten in perfection,
•according to oeconoipic fore-ordination? And
if He was perfect, why was He, the perfect one,
baptized? It was necessary, they say, to fulfil
the profession that pertained to humanity.
Most excellent. Well, I assert, simultaneously
with His baptism by John, He becomes perfect ?
Manifestly. He did not then learn anything
more from him? Certainly not. But He is
perfected by the washing — of baptism — alone,
and is sanctified by the descent of the Spirit?
Such is the case. The same also takes place in
our case, whose exemplar Christ became. Be-
i ing baptized, we are illuminated ; illuminated,
we become sons; being made sons, we are
made perfect ; being made perfect, we are made
immortal. "I," says He, "have said that ye
are gods, and all sons of the Highest." s This
work is variously called grace,* and illumination,
and perfection, and washing : washing, by which ,^
we cleanse away our sins ; grace, by which the
penalties accruing to transgressions are remit-
ted ; and illumination, by which that holy light
of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see
God clearly. Now we call that perfect which
wants nothing. For what is yet wanting to him
who knows God ? For it were truly monstrous
that that which is not complete should be called
a gifl (or act) of God's grace. Being perfect.
He consequently bestows perfect gifts. As at

4 In allusion apparently to John viii. 35, 36.

5 Ps. Ixxxii. 6.

6 )^dfMri».a,

2l6

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

His command all things were made, so on His
bare wishing to bestow grace, ensues the per-
fecting of His grace. For the future of time is
anticipated by the power of His volition.

Further release from evils is the beginning of
salvation. We then alone, who first have touched
the confines of life, are already perfect ; and we
already live who are separated from death.

' Salvation, accordingly, is the following of Christ :
" For that which is in Him is life." » " Verily,
verily, I say unto you. He that heareth My
words, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath
eternal life, and cometh not into condemnation,
but hath passed from death to life."* Thus
believing alone, and regeneration, is perfection
in life ; for God is never weak. For as His
will is work, and this ^ is named the world ; so
also His counsel is the salvation of men, and
this has been called the church. He knows,
therefore, whom He has called, and whom He
has saved ; and at one and the same time He
called and saved them. "For ye are," says
the apostle, " taught of God." ♦ It is not then
allowable to think of what is taught by Him as
imperfect ; and what is learned from Him is the
eternal salvation of the eternal Saviour, to whom
be thanks for ever and ever. Amen. And he
who is only regenerated — as the name neces-
sarily indicates — and is enlightened, is deliv-^
ered forthwith from darkness, and on the instant
receives the light.

As, then, those who have shaken off sleep
forthwith become all awake within ; or rather, as
those who try to remove a film that is over the
eyes, do not supply to them from without the
light which they do not possess, but removing
the obstacle from the eyes, leave the pupil free ;
thus also we who are baptized, having wiped off
the sins which obscure the light of the Divine
Spirit, have the eye of the spirit free, unimpeded,
and full of light, by which alone we contemplate
the Divine, the Holy Spirit flowing down to us
from above. This is the eternal adjustment of
the vision, which is able to see the eternal light,
since like loves like; and that which is holy,
loves that from which holiness proceeds, which
has appropriately been termed light. " Once ye
were darkness, now are ye light in the Lord." s
Hence I am of opinion man was called by the

i ancients <Ixd<s,^ But he has not yet received, say
they, the perfect gift. I also assent to this ; but
he is in the light, and the darkness comprehend-
eth him not. There is nothing intermediate
between light and darkness. But the end is
reserved till the resurrection of those who be-

* John i. 4.

2 John V. 34.

3 viz., the result of His will.

* 1 Thess. iv. 9.
5 Eph. V. 8.

^ ^w«» light ; ^Ci a man.

lieve ; and it is not the reception of some other
thing, but the obtaining of the promise pre-
viously made. For we do not say that both
take place together at the same time — both the
arrival at the end, and the anticipation of that
arrival. For eternity and time are not the same,
neither is the attempt and the final result ; but
both have reference to the same thing, and one
and the same person is concerned in both.
Faith, so to speak, is the attempt generated in
time ; the final result is the attainment of the
promise, secured for eternity. Now the Lord
Himself has most clearly revealed the equality
of salvation, when He said : " For this is the will
of my Father, that every one that seeth the Son,
and believeth on Him, should have everlasting
life ; and I will raise him up in the last day." 7
As far as possible in this world, which is what he
means by the last day, and which is preserved
till the time that it shall end, we believe that we
are made perfect. Wherefore He says, " He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life," ^
If, then, those who have believed have life, what
remains beyond the possession of eternal life?
Nothing is wanting to &ith, as it is p>erfect and
complete in itself. If aught is wanting to it, it
is not wholly perfect. But faith is not lame in
any respect ; nor after our departure from this
world does it make us who have believed, and
received without distinction the earnest of fiiture
good, wait ; but having in anticipation grasped
by faith that which is future, after the resurrection
we receive it as present, in order that that may
be fiilfilled which was spoken, " Be it according
to thy faith." 9 And where faith is, there is the
promise ; and the consummation of the promise
is rest. So that in illumination what we receive
is knowledge, and the end of knowledge is rest —
the last thing conceived as the object of aspira-
tion. As, then, inexperience comes to an end
by experience, and perplexity by finding a clear
outlet, so by illumination must darkness dis-
appear. The darkness is ignorance, through
which we fall into sins, purblind as to the tnith.
Knowledge, then, is the illumination we receive,
which makes ignorance disappear, and endow-s
us with clear vision. Further, the abandonment
of what is bad is the adopting *° of what is better.
For what ignorance has bound ill, is by knowledge
loosed well ; those bonds are with all speed slack-
ened by human faith and divine grace, our trans-'
gressions being taken away by one Poeonian"
medicine, the baptism of the Word. We are
washed from all our sins, and are no longer en-
tangled in evil. This is the one grace of illu-

7 John vi.-40.

• John iii. 36.

9 Matt. ix. 29.

*° Migne's text has airoxcLXvifrif. The emendation dvoAif^ic is
preferable.

»» [///W, V. 401.]

Chap. VI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

217

mination, that our characters are not the same
as before our washing. And since knowledge
springs up with illumination, shedding its beams
around the mind, the moment we hear, we who
were untaught become disciples. Does this, I
ask, take place on the advent of this instruction ?
You cannot tell the time. For instruction leads
to faith, and faith with baptism is trained by the
Holy Spirit. For that feiih is the one universal
salvation of hucQanity, and that there is the same
equality before the righteous and loving God,. and
the same fellowship between Him and all, the
apostle most clearly showed, speaking to the fol-
lowing effect : " Before faith came, we were kept
under the law, shut up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed, so that the law became
our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we
might be justified by faith ; but after that faith
is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." *
Do you not hear that we are no longer under
that law which was accompanied with fear, but
under the Word, the master of free choice?
Then he subjoined the utterance, clear of all
partiality : " For ye are all the children of God
through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
bond nor free, there is neither male nor female :
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." * There are
not, then, in the same Word some " illuminated
(gnostics) ; and some animal (or natural) men ; "
but all who have abandoned the desires of the
flesh are equal and spiritual before the Lord.
And again he writes in another place : " For by
one spirit are we all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free,
and we have all drunk of one cup." ^ Nor were
it absurd to employ the expressions of those who
call the reminiscence of better things the filtra-
tion of the spirit, understanding by filtration the
separation of what is baser, that results from the
reminiscence of what is better. There follows
of necessity, in him who has come to the recol-
lection of what is better, repentance for what is
worse. Accordingly, they confess that the spirit
in repentance retraces its steps. In the same
way, therefore, we also, repenting of our sins,
renouncing our iniquities, purified by baptism,
speed back to the eternal light, children to the
Father. Jesus therefore, rejoicing in the spirit,
said : " I thank Thee, O Father, God of heaven
and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to
babes ; " -♦ the Master and Teacher applying the

* Gal. iii. a3-«5. [Here the schoolmastey should be the child-
gitide ; for the law leads us to the Master, says Clement, and we are
no longer under the disciplinary guide, but under the Word, the
master of our free choice. The schoolmaster then is the Word, and
the law merely led us to his school.]

* Gal. iii. 26-28.
^ I Cor. xii. 13.
4 Luke X. 21.

name babes to us, who are readier to embrace
salvation than the wise in the world, who, think-
ing themselves wise, are inflated with pride.
And He exclaims in exultation and exceeding
joy, as if lisping with the children, " Even so,
Father ; for so it seemed good in Thy sight," s
Wherefore those things which have been con-
cealed from the wise and prudent of this present
world have been revealed to babes. Truly, then,
are we the children of God, who have put aside
the old man, and stripped off the garment of
wickedness, and put on the immortality of Christ ;
that we may become a new, holy people by re-
generation, and may keep the man undefiled.
And a babe, as God's httle one,*^ is cleansed from
fornication and wickedness. With the greatest
clearness the blessed Paul has solved for us this
question in his First Epistle to the CorintJiians,
writing thus : " Brethren, be not children in un-
derstanding ; howbeit in malice be children, but
in understanding be men."^ And the expres-
sion, " When I was a child, I thought as a child,
I spake as a child," ^ points out his mode of life
according to the law, according to which, think-
ing childish things, he persecuted, and speaking
childish things he blasphemed the Word, not as
having yet attained to the simplicity of childhood,
but as being in its folly ; for the word vrpriov has
two meanings.9 " When I became a man," again
Paul says, " I put away childish things." '** It is
not incomplete size of stature, nor a definite
measure of time, nor additional secret teachings
in things that are manly and more perfect, that
the apostle, who himself professes to be a preach-
er of childishness, alludes to. when he sends it,
as it were, into banishment ; but he applies the
name "children" to those who are under the
law, who are terrified by fear as children are by
bugbears ; and " men " to us who are obedient
to the Word and masters of ourselves, who have
believed, and are saved by voluntary choice, and
are rationally, not irrationally, frightened by ter-
ror. Of this the apostle himself shall testify,
calling as he does the Jews heirs according to
the first covenant, and us heirs according to
promise : " Now I say, as long as the heir is a
child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though
he be lord of all; but is under tutors and govern-
ors, till the time appointed by the father. So
also we, when we were children, were in bondage
under the rudiments of the world: but when the
fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to

S Luke X. 21.

^ J Clement here considers all believers as babes, in the sense he
explains; but the tenderness towards children of the allusions running
through this chapter are not the less striking.]

' I Cor. xiv. ao.

' X Cor. xiii. ix. [A text much misused by the heretical gnostics
whom Clement confutes.]

9 viz., simple or innocent as a child, and /ooitsh as a child.

1° z Cor. xiii. xi.

2l8

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

redeem them that were under the law, that we
might receive the adoption of sons '* * by Him.
See how He has admitted those to be children
who are under fear and sins ; but has conferred
manhood on those who are imder faith, by calling
them sons, in contradistinction from the children
that are under the law : " For thou art no more
a servant," he says, " but a son ; and if a son,
then an heir through God."* What, then, is
lacking to the son after inheritance ? Wherefore
the expression, " When I was a child," may be
elegantly expounded thus : that is, when I was
a Jew (for he was a Hebrew by extraction) I
thought as a child, when I followed the law ; but
after becoming a man, I no longer entertain the
sentiments of a child, that is, of the law, but of
a man, that is, of Christ, whom aione the Scrip-
ture calls man, as we have said before. " I put
away childish things." But the childhood which
is in Christ is maturity, as compared with the
law. Having reached this point, we must defend
our childhood. And we have still to explain what
is said by the apostle : " I have fed you with
milk (as children in Christ), not with meat ; for
ye were not able, neither yet are ye now able." ^
For it does not appear to me that the expression
I is to be taken in a Jewish sense ; for I shall op-
• pose to it also that Scripture, " I will bring you
into that good land which flows with milk and
honey." ^ A very great difficulty arises in refer-
ence to the comparison o£ these^Scriptures, when
we consider. For if the infancy which is charac-
terized by the milk is the beginning of faith in
Christ, then it is disparaged as childish and im-
perfect. How is the rest that comes after the
meat, the rest of the man who is perfect and
endowed with knowledge, again distinguished
by infant milk? Does not this, as explaining a
parable, mean something like this, and is not the
expression to be read somewhat to the following
effect : " / have fed you with milk in Christ; "
and after a slight stop, let us add, " as children,"
that by separating the words in reading we may
make out some such sense as this : I have in-
structed you in Christ with simple, true, and
natural nourishment, — namely, that which is
spiritual : for such is the nourishing substance
of milk swelling out from breasts of love. So
that the whole matter may be conceived thus :
As nurses nourish new-bom children on milk, so
do I also by the Word, the milk of Christ, instill-
ing into you spiritual nutriment.

Thus, then, the milk which is perfect is per-
fect nourishment, and brings to that consumma-
tion which cannot cease. Wherefore also the
same milk and honey were promised in the rest.

' Gal. iv. 1-5.
» Gal. iv ;.
^ I Cor. til. a.
* Ex. iii. 8.

Rightly, therefore, the Lord again promises milk
to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly
shown to be both, "the Alpha and Omega,
beginning and end ; " s the Word being figura-
tively represented as milk. Something hke tRis
Hpmer oracularly declares against his will, when
he calls righteous men milk- fed (ToAoicro^ayoi).^
So also may we take the Scripture: "And I,
brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes
in Christ ; " ^ so that the carnal may be under-
stood as those recently instructed, and still bab*^
in Christ. For he called thdse who had already
believed on tiie Holy Spirit spiritual, and
those newly instructed and not yet purified
carnal ; whom with justice he calls still carnal,
as minding equally with the heathen the things
of the flesh : " For whereas there is among you
envy and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as
men?"*^ "Wherefore also I have given you
milk to drink," he says; meaning, I have in-
stilled into you the knowledge which, from
instruction, nourishes up to life eternal. But
the expression, " I have given you to drink "
{hroTUTo), is the symbol of perfect appropria-
tion. For those who are full-grown are said to
drink, babes to suck. "For my blood," sa)'s
the Lord, " is true drink." 9 In saying, therefore,
" I have given you milk to drink," has he not
indicated the knowledge of the truth, the perfect
gladness in the Word, who is the milk? And
what follows next, " not meat, for ye were not
able," may indicate the clear revelation in the
future world, Uke food, face to face. " For now
we see as through a glass," the same apostle
says, " but then face to face." *° Wherefore also
he has added, " neither yet are ye now able, for
ye are still carnal," minding the things of the
flesh, — desiring, loving, feehng jealousy, ^Tath,
envy. " For we are no more in the flesh," " as
some suppose. For with it [they say], having
the face which is like an angel's, we shall see the
promise face to face. How then, if that is truly
the promise after our departure hence, say they
that they know " what eye hath not known, nor
hath entered into the mind of man," who have
not perceived by the Spirit, but received from
instruction " what ear hath not heard," '* or that
ear alone which " was rapt up into the thirtl
heaven ? " '3 But it even then was commanded
to preserve it unspoken.

But if human wisdom, as it remains to under-
stand, is the glorying in knowledge, hear the law

i Rev. i. 8.
* \IUady xiii. 6. S.]
^ I Cor. iii. i.
■ 1 Cor. iii. 3.
9 John vi. 55.
'o I Cor. xiii. xa.
'* Rom. viii. 9.
'2 Cor. ii. 9.
*^ Cor. xii. a-4.

Chap. VI.|

THE INSTRUCTOR.

219

of Scripture : " Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in
his might ; but let him that glorieth glory in the
Lord." " But we are God-taught, and glory in
the name of Christ. How then are we not to
regard the apostle as attaching this sense to the
milk of the babes? And if we who preside over
the Churches are shepherds after the image of
the gooci Shepherd, and you the sheep, are we
not to regard the Lord as preserving consistency
in the use of figurative speech, when He speaks
also of the milk of the flock ? And to this mean-
ing we may secondly accommodate the expres-
sion, " I have given you milk to drink, and not
given you food, for ye are not yet able," regard-
ing the meat not as something diflerent from the
milk, but the same in substance. For the very
same Word is fluid and mild as milk, or solid
and compact as meat. And entertaining this
view, we may regard the proclamation of the
Gospel, which is universally diffused, as milk;
ana as meat, faith, which from instruction is
compacted into a foundation, which, being more
substantial than hearing, is likened to meat, and
assimilates to the soul itself nourishment of this
kind. Elsewhere the Lord, in the Gospel ac-
cording to John, brought this out by symbols,
when He said" " Eat ye my flesh, and drink my
blood ; " ' describing distinctly by metaphor the
drinkable properties of faith and the promise,
by means of which the Church, like a human
being consisting of many members, is refreshed
and grows, is welded together and compacted of
both, — of faith, which is the body, and of hope,
which is the soul ; as also the Lord of flesh and
\blood. For in reahty the blood of faith is hope,
in which faith is held as by a vital principle.
And when hope expires, it is as if blood flowed
forth ; and the vitality of faith is destroyed. If,
then, some would oppose, saying that by milk
is meant the first lessons — as it were, the first
food — and that by meat is meant those spiritual
cognitions to which they attain by raising them-
selves to knowledge, let them understand that,
in saying that meat is solid food, and the flesh
and blood of Jesus, they are brought by their
own vainglorious wisdom to the true simplicity.
For the bbod is found to be an original product
in man, and some have consequently ventured
to call it the substance of the soul. And this
blood, transmuted by a natural process of assimi-
lation in the pregnancy of the mother, through
the sympathy of parental affection, effloresces
and grows old, in order that there may be no
fear for the child. Blood, too, is the moister
part of flesh, being a kind of liquid flesh ; and
milk is the sweeter and finer part of blood. For
whether it be the blood supplied to the foetus,

« Jer. ix. 23; X Cor. i. 31; 2 Cor. x. 17.
3 John vi. 54.

and sent through the navel of the mother, or
whether it be the menses themselves shut out
from their proper passage, and by a natural
diffusion, bidden by the all-nourishing and creat-
ing God, proceed to the already swelling breasts,
and by the heat of the spirits transmuted,
[whether it be the one or the other] that is
formed into food desirable for the babe, that
which is changed is the blood. For of all the
members, the breasts have the most sympathy
with the womb. When there is parturition^ the
vessel by which blood was conveyed to the foetus
is cut off : there is an obstruction of the flow,
and the blood receives an impulse towards
the breasts ; and on a considerable rush taking
place, they are distended, and change the blood
to milk in a manner analogous to the change of
blood into pus in ulceration. Or if, on the other
hand, the blood from the veins in the vicinity of
the breasts, which have been opened in preg-
nancy, is poured into the natural hollows of
the breasts ; and the spirit discharged from the
neighbouring arteries being miVed with it, the
substance of the blood, still remaining pure, it
becomes white by being agitated like a wave ;
and by an interruption such as this is changed
by frothing it, like what takes place with the
sea, which at the assaults of the winds, the poets
say, "spits forth briny foam." Yet still the
essence is supplied by the blood.

In this way also the rivers, borne on with rush-
ing motion, and fretted by contact with the
surrounding air, murmur forth foam. The moist-
ure in our mouth, too, is whitened by the breath.
What an absurdity ^ is it, then, not to acknowledge
that the blood is converted into that very bright
and white substance by the breath ! The change
it suffers is in quality, not in essence. You will
certainly find nothing else more nourishing, or
sweeter, or whiter than milk. In every respect,
accordingly, it is like spiritual nourishment, which
is sweet through grace, nourishing as life, bright
as the day of Christ.

The blood of the Word has been also exhibited
as milk. Milk being thus provided in parturi-
tion, is supplied to the infant ; and the breasts,
which till then looked straight towards the hus-
band, now bend down towards the child, being
taught to furnish the substance elaborated by na-
ture in a way easily received for salutary nourish-
ment. For the breasts are not like fountains full of
milk, flowing in ready prepared ; but, by effecting
a change in the nutriment, form the milk in them-
selves, and discharge it. And the nutriment
suitable and wholesome for the new-formed and
new-bom babe is elaborated by God, the nourisher
and the Father of all that are generated and
regenerated, — as manna, the celestial food of

3 The emendation dvoAiipijaif is adopted instead of the reading^
i in the text.

220

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

angels, flowed down from heaven on the ancient
Hebrews. Even now, in fact, nurses call the first-
poured drink of milk by the same name as that
food — manna. Further, pregnant women, on
becoming mothers, discharge milk. But the
Lord Christ, the fruit of the Virgin, did not pro-
nounce the breasts of women blessed, nor selected
them to give nourishment ; but when the kind
and loving Father had rained down the Word,
Himself became spiritual nourishment to the
good. O mptic marvel ! The universal Father
is one, and one the universal Word ; and the
Holy Spirit is one and the same everywhere, and
one is the only virgin mother. I love to call her
the Church. This mother, when alone, had not
milk, because alone she was not a woman. But
5he is once virgin and mother — pure as a virgin,
loving as a mother. And calling her children to
her, she nurses them with holy milk, viz., with
the Word for childhood. Therefore she had not
milk ; for the milk was this child fair and comely,
the body of Christ, which nourishes by the Word
the young brood, which the Lord Himself brought
forth in throes of the flesh, which the Lord
Himself swathed in His precious blood. O
amazing birth ! O holy swaddling bands ! The
Word is all to the child, both father and mother,
and tutor and nurse. "Eat ye my flesh," He
says, " and drink my blood.'* ' Such is the suit-
able food which the Lord ministers, and He
offers His flesh and pours forth His blood, and
nothing is wanting for the children's growth.
O amazing mystery ! We are enjoined to cast
off" the old and caiiial corruption, as also the old
nutriment, receiving in exchange another new
regimen, that of Christ, receiving Him if we can,
to hide Him within; and that, enshrining the
Saviour in our souls, we may correct the affec-
tions of our flesh.

But you are not inclined to understand it thus,
but perchance more generally. Hear it also in
the following way. The flesh figuratively repre-
sents to us the Holy Spirit ; for the flesh was
created by Him. The blood points out to us
the Word, for as rich blood the Word has been
infused into life ; and the union of both is the
Lord, the food of the babes — the Lord who is
Spirit and Word. The food — that is, the Lord
Jesus — that is, the Word of God, the Spirit
made flesh, the heavenly flesh sanctified. The
nutriment is the milk of the Father, by which
alone we infants are nourished. The Word Him-
self, then, the beloved One, and our nourisher,
hath shed His own blood for us, to save human-
ity ; and by Him, we, believing on God, flee to
the Word, "the care-soothing breast" of the
Father. And He alone, as is befitting, supplies
us children with the milk of love, and those only

» John vi. 53, 54-

are truly blessed who suck this breast. Where-
fore also Peter says : " Laying therefore aside all
malice, and all guile, and hypocrisy, and envy,
and evil speaking, as new-bom babes, desire the
milk of the word, that ye may grow by it to salva- i
tion ; if ye have tasted that the Lord is Christ." ' '
And were one to concede to them that the
meat was something different from the milk, then
how shall they avoid being transfixed on their
own spit, through want of consideration of
nature? 3 For in winter, when the air is con-
densed, and prevents the escape of the heat
enclosed within, the food, transmuted and di-
gested and changed into blood, passes into the
veins, and these, in the absence of exhalation,
are greatly distended, and exhibit strong pul-
sations ; consequently also nurses are then fullest
of milk. And we have shown a little above, that
on pregnancy blood passes into milk by a change
which does not affect its substance, just as in old
people yellow hair changes to grey. But again
in summer, the body, having its pores more open,
affords greater facility for diaphoretic action in
the case of the food, and the milk is least abun-
dant, since neither is the blood full, nor is the
whole nutriment retained. If, then, the diges-
tion of the food results in the production of
blood, and the blood becomes milk, then blood
is a preparation for milk, as blood is for a human
being, and the grape for the vine. With milk,
then, the Lord's nutriment, we are nursed directly
we are bom ; and as soon as we are regenerated,
we are honoured by receiving the good news of
the hope of rest, even the Jemsalem above, in
which it is written that milk and honey fall in
showers, receiving through what is material the
pledge of the sacred food. " For meats are done
away with,""* as the apostle himself says; but
this nourishment on milk leads to the heavens,
rearing up citizens of heaven, and members of
the angelic choirs. And since the Word is tlie
gushing fountain of life, and has been called a
river of olive oil, Paul, using appropriate figu-
rative language, and calling Him milk, adds : " I
have given you to drink ;" 5 for we drink in the
word, the nutriment of the tmth. In tmth, also
liquid food is called drink ; jind the same thing
may somehow be both meat and drink, according
to the different aspects in which it is considered,
just as cheese is the solidification of milk or milk
solidified ; for I am not concemed here to make
a nice selection of an expression, only to say
that one substance supplies both articles of food.
Besides, for children at the breast, milk alone
suffices ; it serves both for meat and drink. " I,"

> X Pet. ii. 1-3. Cleraent here reads Xpi<rrof» Ckristt for xp^f'
T^Si gracious y in Text. Rcc.

3 [Clement here argues from what was scientific in his day, intro-
ducing a curious, but to us not very pertinent, episode.]

* I Cor. vi. 13.

5 z Cor. iii. a.

Chap. VI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

221

says the Lord, " have meat to eat that ye know
not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that
sent Me." ' You see another kind of food which,
similarly with milk, represents figuratively the will
of God. Besides, also, the completion of His
own passion He called catachrestically " a cup,'* '
when He alone had to drink and drain it. Thus

' to Christ the fulfilling of His Father's will was
food ; and to us infants, who drink the milk of
the word of the heavens, Christ Himself is food.
Hence seeking is called sucking; for to those
babes that seek the Word, the Father's breasts

^ of love supply milk.

y Further, the Word declares Himself to be the
^bread of heaven. " For Moses," He says, " gave
you not that bread from heaven, but My Father
giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the
bread of God is He that cometh down from
heaven, and giveth life to the world. And the
bread which I will give is My flesh,, which I will
give for the life of the world." ^ Here is to be
noted the mystery of the bread, inasmuch as He
speaks of it as flesh, and as flesh, consequently,
that has risen through fire, as the wheat springs
up from decay and gennination ; and, in truth,
it has risen through fire for the joy of the Church,
as bread baked. But this will be shown bv and
by more clearly in the chapter on the resur-
rection. But since He said, "And the bread
which I will give is My flesh," and since flesh is
moistened with blood, and blood is figuratively
termed wine, we are bidden to know that, as
bread, crumbled into a mixture of wine and
water, seizes on the wine and leaves the watery
portion, so also the flesh of Christ, the bread of
heaven, absorbs the blood ; that is, those among
men who are heavenly, nourishing them up to
immortality, and leaving only to destruction the
lusts of the flesh.

Thus in many ways the Word is figuratively
described, as meat, and flesh, and food, and
bread, and blood, and milk. The Lord is all
these, to give enjoyment to us who have believed
on Him. Let no one then think it strange, when
we say that the Lord's blood is figuratively repre-
sented as milk. For is it not figuratively repre-
'sented as wine ? " Who washes," it is said, " His

*' garment in wine. His robe in the blood of the
grape." "♦ In His own Spirit He says He will

; deck the body of the Word ; as certainly by His
own Spirit He will nourish those who hunger for

. the Word.

And that the blood is the Word, is testified by
the blood of Abel,5 the righteous interceding
with God. For the blood would never have ut-
tered a voice, had it not been regarded as the

' John iv. 33-34.
^ Matt. XX. 32, etc.
5 John vi. 32, 33, 51.
^ Gen. xlix. XI.
i [Matt, xxiii. 35. S.]

Word : for the righteous man of old is the type
of the new righteous one ; and the blood of old
that interceded, intercedes in the place of the
new blood. And the blood that is the Word
cries to God, since it intimated that the Word
was to suffer.

Further, this flesh, and the blood in it, are by
a mutual sympathy moistened and increased by
the milk. And the process of formation of the
seed in conception ensues when it has mingled
with the pure residue of the menses, which re-
mains. For the force that is in the seed coagulat-
ing the substances of the blood, as the rennet
curdles milk, effects the essential part of the form-
ative process. For a suitable blending conduces
to fiiiitfulness; but extremes are adverse, and
tend to sterihty. For when the earth itself is
flooded by excessive rain, the seed is swept away,
while in consequence of scarcity it is dried up ;
but when the sap is viscous, it retains the seed,
and makes it germinate. Some also hold the
hypothesis, that the seed of an animal is in sub-
stance the foam of the blood, which being by
the natural heat of the male agitated and shaken
out is turned into foam, and deposited in the
seminal veins. For Diogenes Apollionates will
have it, that hence is derived the word aphro-
disiac

From all this it is therefore evident, that the
essential principle of the human body is blood.
The contents of the stomach, too, at first are
milky, a coagulation of fluid; then the same
coagulated substance is changed into blood ; but
when it is formed into a compact consistency
in the womb, by the natural and warm spirit by
which the embryo is fashioned, it becomes a
living creature. Further also, the child after
birth is nourished by the same blood. For the
flow of milk is the product of the blood ; and
the source of nourishment is the milk ; by which
a woman is shown to have brought forth a child,
and to be truly a mother, by which also she re-
ceives a potent charm of affection. Wherefore
the Holy Spirit in the apostle, using the voice ,
of the Lord, says mystically, " I have given you
milk to drink." 7 For if we have been regener-
ated unto Christ, He who has regenerated us.
nourishes us with His own milk, the Word ; for it
is proper that what has procreated should forth-
with supply nourishment to that which has been
procreated. And as the regeneration was con-
formably spiritual, so also was the nutriment of
man spiritual. In all respects, therefore, and in
all things, we are brought into union with Christ,
into relationship through His blood, by which ^
we are redeemed ; and into sympathy, in con-
sequence of the nourishment which flows from

6 [ i.e., Not from the a^pbv , of the sea, but of 4hc blood.]
t z Cor. iii. 2.

222

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

the Word; and into immortality, through His
guidance : —

** Among men the bringing up of children
Often produces stronger impulses to love than the
4)rocreating of them."

The same blood and milk of the Lord is there-
fore the symt)ol of the Lord's passion and teach-
ing. Wherefore each of us babes is permitted
to make our boast in the Lord, while we pro-
claim : —

"Yet of a noble sire and noble blood I boast me

sprung

»» I

And that milk is produced from blood by a
change, is already clear; yet we may learn it
from the flocks and herds. For these animals,
in the time of the year which we call spring,
when the air has more humidity, and the grass
and meadows are juicy and moist, are first filled
with blood, as is shown by the distension of the
veins of the swollen vessels ; and from the blood
the milk flows more copiously. But in summer,
again, the blood being burnt and dried up by the
heat, prevents the change, and so they have less
milk.

Further, milk has a most natural affinity for
water, as assuredly the spiritual washing has for
the spiritual nutriment. Those, therefore, that
swallow a little cold water, in addition to the
above-mentioned milk, straightway feel benefit ;
for the milk is prevented from souring by its
combination with water, not in consequence of
any antipathy between them, but in consequence
of the water taking kindly to the milk while it is
undergoing digestion.

And such as is the union of the Word with
baptism, is the agreement of milk with water ;
for it receives it alone of all liquids, and admits
of mixture with water, for the purpose of cleans-
ing, as baptism for the remission of sins. And
it is mixed naturally with honey also, and this
for cleansing along with sweet nutriment. For
the Word blended with love at once cures our
passions and cleanses our sins ; and the saying,

t«

Sweeter ihan honey flowed the stream of speech," *

seems to me to have been spoken of the Word,
who is honey. And prophecy oft extols Him
" above honey and the honeycomb." ^

Furthermore, milk is mixed with sweet wine ;
and the mixture is beneficial, as when suffering
is mixed in the cup in order to immortality.
For the milk is curdled by the wine, and sepa-
rated, and whatever adulteration is in it is drained
off. And in the same way, the spiritual com-
munion of faith with suffering man, drawing off

' //., xiv. XX 3.
a //., i. 348.
* P». xix. 10.

as serous matter the lusts of the flesh, commits
man to eternity, along with those who are divine,
immortalizing him.

Further, many also use the fat of milk, called
butter, for the lamp, plainly indicating by this
enigma the abundant unction of the Word, since
He alone it is who nourishes the infants, makes
them grow, and enHghtens them. Wherefore
also the Scripture says respecting the Lord, " He
fed them wiuT the produce of the fields ; they
sucked honey from the rock, and oil from the
solid rock, butter of kine, and milk of sheep,
with fat of lambs ; " * and what follows He gave
them. But he that prophesies the birth of the
child says : " Butter and honey shall He eat" 5
And it occurs to me to wonder how some dare
call themselves perfect and gnostics, with ideas ,
of themselves above the apostle, inflated and '
boastful, when Paul even owned respecting him-
self, " Not that I have already attained, or am
already perfect ; but I follow after, if that I may
apprehend that for which I am apprehended of
Christ. Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended : but this one thing I do, forgetting
the things which are behind, and stretching forth
to those that are before, I press toward the mark,
for the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus." *
And yet he reckons himself perfect, because he
has been emancipated from his former Hfe, and
strives after the better life, not as perfect in
knowledge, but as aspiring after perfection.
Wherefore also he adds, " As many of us as are
perfect, are thus minded," 7 manifestly describ-
ing perfection as the renunciation of sin, and
regeneration into the faith of the only perfect
One, and forgetting our former sins.

CHAP. Vn. — WHO THE INSTRUCTOR IS, AND RE-
SPECTING HIS INSTRUCTION.

Since, then, we have shown that all of us are
by Scripture called children ; and not only so,
but tfiat we who have followed Christ are figura-
tively called babes ; and that the Father of all ^
alone is perfect, for the Son is in Him, and
the Father is in the Son ; it is time for us in due
course to say who our Instructor is.

He is called Jesus. Sometimes He calls Him-
self a shepherd, and says, " I am the good Shep-
herd." * According to a metaphor drawn from
shepherds, who lead the sheep, is hereby under-
stood the Instructor, who leads the children —
the Shepherd who tends the babes. For the
babes are simple, being figuratively described as
sheep. " And they shall all," it is said, " be one
flock, and one shepherd." 9 The Word, then,

* Dcut. xxxii. 13, X4.
i Isa. vii. 15.

* Phil. lii. 12-14.
7 Phil, iii. 15.

]ohn X. II.
lohn X. 16.

9 Jc

Chap. VII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

223

who leads the children to salvation, is appropri-
ately called the Instructor^ (Paedagogue).

With the greatest clearness, accordingly, the
Word has spoken respecting Himself by Ho§fi^ :
" I am your Instructor." * Now piety is instruc-
tion, being the learning of the service of God,
and training in the knowledge of the truth, and
right guidance which leads to heaven. And
the word " instruction " ^ js employed variously.
For there is the instruction of him who is led
and learns, and that of him who leads and !
teaches ; and there is, thirdly, tte guidance
itself; and fourthly, what is taught, as the com-
mandments enjoined.

Now the instruction which is of God is the
right direction of truth to the contemplation of
(iod, and the exhibition of holy deeds in ever-
lasting perseverance.

As therefore the general directs the phalanx,
consulting the safety of his soldiers, and the
pilot steers the vessel, desiring to save the pas-
sengers ; so also the Instructor guides the chil-
dren to a saving course of conduct, through
solicitude for us ; and, in general7 whatever we
ask in accordance with reason from God to be
done for us, will happen to those who believe in
the Instructor. And just as the helmsman does
not always yield to the winds, but sometimes,
turning the prow towards them, opposes the
whole force of the hurricanes ; so the Instructor
never yields to the blasts that blow in this world,
nor commits the child to them like a vessel to
make shipwreck on a wild and licentious course
of life ; but, wafted on by the favouring breeze
of the Spirit of truth, stoutly holds on to the
child's helm, — his ears, I mean, — until He bring
him safe to anchor in the haven of heaven.

What is called by men an ancestral custom
passes away in a moment, but the divine guid-
ance is a possession which abides for ever.

They say that Phoenix was the instructor of
Achilles, and Adrastus of the children of Croe-
sus ; and Leonides of Alexander, and Nausith-
ous of Philip. But Phoenix was women-mad,
Adrastus was a fugitive. Leonides did not curtail
the pride of Alexander, nor Nausithous reform
the drunken Pellaean. No more was the Thra-
cian Zopynis able to check the fornication of
Alcibiades; but Zopyrus was a bought slave,
and Sicinnus, the tutor of the children of The-
mistocles, was a lazy domestic. They say also
that he invented the Sicinnian dance. Those
have not escaped our attention who are called
royal instructors among the Persians ; whom, in
number four, the kings of the Persians select
with the greatest care from all the Persians,
and set over their sons. But the children only

' votAayiryof.

^ vat£«vnj«; Hoa. v. a.

learn the use of the bow, and on reaching
maturity have sexual intercourse with sisters,
and mothers, and women, wives and courtesans
innumerable, practised in intercourse like the
wild boars.

But our Instructor is the holy God Jesus, the \^
Word, who is the guide of all humanity. The
loving God Himself is our Instructor. Some-
where in song the Holy Spirit says with regard
to Him, " He provided sufficiently for the people
in the wilderness. He led him about in the
thirst of summer heat in a dry land, and instructed
him, and kept him as the apple of His eye, as
an eagle protects her nest, and shows her fond
solicitude for her young, spreads abroad her
wings, takes them, and bears them on her back.
The Lord alone led them, and there was no
strange god with them."* Clearly, I trow, has
the Scripture exhibited the Instructor in the ac-
count it gives of His guidance.

Again, when He speaks in His own person,
He confesses Himself to be the Instructor : " I
am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of
the land of Egypt." 5 Who, then, has the power
of leading in and out? Is it not the Instructor?
This was He who appeared to Abraham, and
said to him, " I am thy God, be accepted before
Me ; " ^ and in a way most befitting an instructor,
forms him into a faithful child, saying, " And be
blameless ; and I will make My covenant be-
tween Me and thee, and thy seed." There is
the communication of the Instructor's friendship.
And He most manifestly appears as Jacob's in-
structor. He says accordingly to him, "Lo, I
am with thee, to keep thee in all the way in
which thou shalt go ; and I will bring thee back
into this land : for I will not leave thee till I do
what I have told thee."' He is said, too, to
have wrestled with Him. " And Jacob was left
alone, and there wrestled with him a man (the
Instructor) till the morning."* This was the
man who led, and brought, and wrestled with,
and anointed the athlete Jacob against evil.^
Now that the Word was at once Jacob's trainer
and the Instructor of humanity [appears from
this] — " He asked," it is said, " His name, and
said to him. Tell me what is Thy name." And
he said, " Why is it that thou askest My name ? "
For He reserved the new name for the new
people — the babe ; and was as yet unnamed,
the Lord God not having yet become man. Yet
Jacob called the name of the place, " Face of
God." " For I have seen," he says, " God. face
to face ; and my life is preserved." '** The face
of God is the Word by whom God is manifested

4 Deut. xxxii. 10-12.

5 Ex. XX. 2.

* Gen. xvii. I, a.
"f Gen. xxviji. 15.

* Gen. xxxii. 34.

9 Or, " against the evil one.**
*** Gen. xxxii. 30.

224

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

and made known. Then also was he named
Israel, because he saw God the Lord. It was
God, the Word, the Instructor, who said to him
again afterwards, " Fear not to go down into
Egypt." * See how the Instructor follows the
f. righteous man, and how He anoints the athlete,
teaching him to trip up his antagonist. ""

It is He also who teaches Moses to act as
instructor. For the Lord says, " If any one sin
before Me, him will I blot out of My book ; but
now, go and lead this people into the place which
I told thee." " Here He is the teacher of the
art of instruction. For it was really the Lord
that was the instructor of the ancient people by
Moses; but He is the instructor of the new
people by Himself, face to face. " For behold,"
He says to Moses, " My angel shall go before
thee," representing the evangelical and com-
manding power of the Word, but guarding the
Lord's prerogative. "In the day on which I
will visit them," ^ He says, " I will bring their
sins on them; that is, on the day on which I
will sit as judge I will render the recompense of
their sins." For the same who is Instructor is
judge, and judges those who disobey Him ; and
the loving Word will not pass over their trans-
gression in silence. He reproves, that they may
repent. For " the Lord willeth the repentance
of the sinner rather than his death."* And let
us as babes, hearing of the sins of others, keep
from similar transgressions, through dread of the
threatening, that we may not have to undergo
like sufferings. What, then, was the sin which
they committed ? " For in their wrath they slew
men, and in their impetuosity they hamstrung
bulls. Cursed be their anger." s Who, then,
would train us more lovingly than He? For-
merly the older people had an old covenant, and
the law disciplined the people with fear, and the
Word was an angel ; but to the fresh and new
people has also been given a new covenant, and
the Word has appeared, and fear is turned to
love, and that mystic^^gel is bom — Jesus. For
this same Instructor said then, " Thou shalt fear
the Lord God ; " ^ but to us He has addressed
the exhortation, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God." 7 Wherefore also this is enjoined on us :
"Cease from your own works, from your old
sins ; " " Learn to do well ; " " Depart from evil,
and do good ; " " Thou hast loved righteousness,
and hated iniquity." This is my new covenant
written in the old letter. The newness of the
word must not, then, be made ground of re-
proach. But the Lord hath also said in Jere-
miah : " Say not that I am a youth : before I

* Gen. xlvi. 3.

« Ex. xxxii. 33, 34.

5 Ex. xxxii. 33, 34.

4 Ecek. xviii. 33, 3a.

5 Gen. xlix. 6.

6 Deut. vi. 2.

7 Matt. xxii. 37.

formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before
I brought thee out of the womb I sanctified
thee." * Such allusions prophecy can make to
us, destined in the eye of God to faith before
the foundation of the world ; but now babes,
through the recent fulfilment of the will of God,
according to which we are bom now to calling
and salvation. Wherefore also He adds, " I have
set thee for a prophet to the nations," ^ saying
that he must prophesy, so that the appellation
of " youth " should not become a reproach to
those who ar^ called babes.

Now the law is ancient grace given through j
Moses by the Word. Wherefore also the Scrip- '
ture says, "The law was given through Moses,"'**
not by Moses, but by the Word, and through
Moses His servant. Wherefore it was only tem-
porary ; but eternal grace and truth were by Jesus
Christ. Mark the expressions of Scripture ; of
the law only is it said " was given ; " but truth
being the grace of the Father, is the eternal work
of the Word ; and it is not said to de given,
but to be by Jesus, without whom nothing was.^"^
Presently, therefore, Moses prophetically, giving
place to the perfect Instructor the Word, predicts
both the name and the office of Instructor, and
committing to the people the commands of
obedience, sets before them the Instmctor. " A
prophet," says he, " like Me shall God raise up
to you of your brethren," pointing out Jesus the
Son of God, by an allusion to Jesus the son of .
Nun ; for the name of Jesus predicTed in the law
was a shadow of Christ. He adds, therefore,
consulting the advantage of the people, " Him
shall ye hear ; " " and, " The man who will not
hear that Prophet," *3 him He threatens. Such a
name, then, he predicts as that of the Instructor,
who is the author of salvation. Wherefore proph-
ecy invests Him with a rod, a rod of discipline,
of rule, of authority ; that those whom the per-
suasive word heals not, the threatening may heal ;
and whom the threatening heals not, the rod
may heal ; and whom the rod heals not, the fire
may devour. "There shall come forth," it is
said, " a rod out of the root of Jesse." '*

See the care, and wisdom, and power of the
Instructor: "He shall not judge according to
opinion, nor according to report ; but He shall
dispense judgment to the humble, and reprove
the sinners of the earth." And by David : " The
Lord instructing, hath instructed me, and not
given me over to death." *5 For to be chastised
of the Lord, and instructed, is deliverance from
death. And by the same prophet He sav*s:

* Jcr. i. 7.

9 Jcr. i. 5.
*° John i. 17.
** John i. 3.
." Deut. xviii. 15.
'3 Deut. xviii. 19.
'* Isa. xi. 1^ 3, 4.
>5 Ps. cxviii. x8.

C HAP. VIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

225

" Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron." '
Thus also the apostle, in the Epistle to the Corin-
thians, being moved, says, " What will ye ? Shall
I come unto you with a rod, or in love, in the
spirit of meekness?"' Also, "The Lord shall
send the rod of strength out of Sion," 3 He says
by another prophet. And this same rod of in-
struction, "Thy rod aiid staff have comforted
me," ^ said some one else. Such is the power
of the Instructor — sacred, soothing, saving.

CH.AP. VIII. — AGAINST THOSE WHO THINK THAT
WHAT IS JUST IS NOT GOOD.

At this stage some rise up, saying that the
Lord, by reason of the rod, and threatening,
and fear, is not good ; misapprehending, as ap-
pears, the Scripture which says, "And he that
feareth the Lord will turn to his heart ; " 5 and
most of all, oblivious of His love, in that for
us He became man. For more suitably to Him,
the prophet prays in these words : " Remember
us, for we are dust ; " ^ that is, Sympathize with
us ; for Thou knowest from personal experience
of suffering the weakness of the flesh. In this
respect, therefore, the I-X)rd the Instructor is
most good and unimpeachable, sympathizing as
He does from the exceeding greatness of His
tove with the nature of each man. " For there
is nothing which the Lord hates." ^ For assur-
edly He does not hate anything, and yet wish
that which He hates to exist. Nor does He wish
anything not to exist, and yet become the cause
of existence to that which He wishes not to
exist. Nor does He wish anything not to exist
which yet exists. If, then, the Word hates any-
thing, He does not wish it to exist. But nothing
' exists, the cause of whose existence is not sup-
plied by God. Nothing, then, is hated by God,
1 nor yet by the Word. For both are one — that is,
LGod. For He has said, " In the beginning the
Word was in God, and the Word was God." * If
then He hates none of the things which He has
made, it follows that He loves them. Much
more than the rest, and with reason, will He love
man, the noblest of all objects created by Him,
and a God-loving being. Therefore God is lov-
ing ; consequently the Word is loving.

But he who loves anything wishes to do it
good. And that which does good must be every
way better than that which does not good. But
nothing is better than the Good. The Good,
then, does good. And God is admitted to be
good. God therefore does good. And the
Good, in virtue of its being good, does nothing

* Ps. ii. ^.

* I Cor. IV. 21.
' Ps. ex. a.

* Ps. xxiii. 4.

^ Ecclus. xxi. 6.

* Ps. ciii. 14.

7 Wis<L xi. 24.

* John i. X.

else than do good. Consequently God does all
good. And He does no good to man without
caring for him, and He does not care /or him
without taking care 0/ him. For that which
does good purposely, is better than what does
not good purposely. But nothing is better than
God. And to do g6od purposely, is nothing
else than to take care of man, God therefore
cares for man, and takes care of him. And He
shows this practically, in instructing him by the
Word, who is the true coadjutor of God's love
to man. But the good is not said to be good,
on account of its being possessed of virtue ; as
also righteousness is not said to be good on
account of its possessing virtue — for it is itself ^
virtue — but on account of its being in itself
and by itself good.

In another way the useful is called good, not
on account of its pleasing, but of its "doing
good. All which, therefore, is righteousness,
being a good thing, both as virtue and as desir-
able for its own sake, and not as giving pleasure ;
for it does not judge in order to win favour, but
dispenses to each according to his merits. And
the beneficial follows the useful. Righteousness,
therefore, has characteristics corresponding to
all the aspects in which goodness is examined,
both possessing equal properties equally. And
things which are characterized by equal proper-
ties are equal and similar to each other. Right-
eousness is therefore a good thing.

" How then," say they, " if the Lord loves
man, and is good, is He angry and punishes ? "
We must therefore treat of this point with all
possible brevity ; for this mode of treatment is
advantageous to the right training of the chil-
dren, occup)dng the place of a necessary help.
For many of the passions are cured by punish-
ment, and by the inculcation of the sterner
precepts, as also by instruction in certain princi-
ples. For reproof is, as it were, the surgery of
the passions of the soul ; and the passions are,
as it were, an abscess of the truth,^ which must
be cut open by an incision of the lancet of re-
proof. ^

Reproach is like the application of medicines,
dissolving the callosities of the passions, and
purging the impurities of the lewdness of the
life ; and in addition, reducing the excrescences
of pride, restoring the patient to the healthy and
true state of humanity.

Admonition is, as it were, the regimen of the
diseased soul, prescribing what it must take, and
forbidding what it must not. And all these tend
to salvation and eternal health.

Furthermore, the general of an army, by in- ;
flicting fines and corporeal punishments with
chains and the extremest disgrace on offenders,

9 For a\tf$*iaKt there are the readings avaBtia^ and dri^ta«.

226

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

and sometimes even by punishing individuals
with death, aims at good, doing so for the admo-
nition of the officers under him.

Thus also He who is our great General, the
' Word, the Commander-in-chief of the universe,
by admonishing those who throw off the re-
straints of His law, that He may effect their re-
lease from the slavery, error, and captivity of the
adversary, brings them peacefully to the sacred
concord of citizen§)iip.

As, therefore in addition to persuasive dis-
course, there is the hortatory and the consolatory
form ; so also, in addition to the laudatory, there
is the inculpatory and reproachful. And this
latter constitutes the art of censure. Now cen-
sure is a mark of good-will, not of ill-will. For
both he who is a friend and he who is not, re-
proach; but the enemy does so in scorn, the
friend in kindness. It is not, then, from hatred
that the Lord chides men ; for He Himself suf-
fered for us, whom He might have destroyed
for our faults. For the Instructor also, in virtue
of His being good, with consummate art glides
into censure by rebuke ; rousing the sluggish-
ness of the mind by His sharp words as by a
scourge. Again in turn He endeavours to exhort
the same persons. For those who are not in-
duced by praise are spurred on by censure ; and
those whom censure calls not forth to salvation,
being as dead, are by denunciation roused to
the truth. " P'or the stripes and correction of
wisdom are in all time." " For teaching a fool
is gluing a potsherd ; and sharpening to sense a
hopeless blockhead is bringing earth to sensa-
tion." ' Wherefore He adds plainly, " rousing
the sleeper from deep sleep," which of all things
else is likest death.

Further, the Lord shows very clearly of Him-
self, when, describing figuratively His manifold
and in many ways serviceable culture, — He says,
" I am the true vine, and my P'ather is the hus-
bandman." Then He adds, " Every branch in
me that bearetK not fruit He taketh away ; and
every branch that beareth fruit He pruneth, that
it may bring forth more fruit." * For the vine
that is not pruned grows to wood. So also man.
The Word — the knife — clears away the wanton
shoots ; compelling the impulses of the soul to
fructify, not to indulge in lust. Now, reproof
addressed to sinners has their salvation for its
aim, the word being harmoniously adjusted to
each onje's conduct; now with tightened, now
with relaxed cords. Accordingly it was very
plainly said by Moses, " Be of good courage :
God has drawn near to try you, that His fear
may be among you, that ye sin not."' And
Plato, who had learned from this source, says

I Ecclus. xxii. 6-S.
* John XV. I, 2.
3 Ex. XX. ao.

beautifully : ** For all who suffer punishment are
in reality treated well, for they are benefited ;
since the spirit of those who are justly punished
is improved." And if those who are corrected
receive good at the hands of justice, and, ac-
cording to Plato, what is just is acknowledged
to be good, fear itself does good, and has been
found to be for men*s good. " For the soul that
feareth the Lord shall live, for their hope is in
Him who saveth them." * And this same Word
who inflicts punishment is judge ; regarding
whom Esaias also says, " The Lord has assigned
Him to our sins,"5 plainly as a corrector and
reformer of sins. Wherefore He alone is able to
forgive our iniquities, who has been appointed
by the Father, Instructor of us all ; He alone it
is who is able to distinguish between disobedience
and obedience. And while He threatens. He
manifestly is unwilling to inflict evil to execute
His threatenings ; but by inspiring men with
fear. He cuts off the approach to sin, and shows
His love to man, still delaying, and declaring
what they shall suffer if they continue sinners,
and is not as a serpent, which the moment it
fastens on its prey devours it.

Ggd, then, is^^^pd. And the Lord speaks
many a time and oft before He proceeds to act.
" For my arrows," He says, " will make an end
of them ; they shall be consumed with hunger,
and be eaten by birds ; and there shall be in-
curable tetanic incurvature. I will send the teeth
of wild beasts upon them, with the rage of ser-
pents creeping on the earth. Without, the sword
shall make them childless ; and out of their
chambers shall be fear." ^ For the Divine Being
is not angry in the way that some think ; but often
restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows
what ought to be done. And this is a good de-
vice, to terrify lest we sin. " For the fear of the
Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear
cannot be justified," ^ says the Scripture. And
God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but
for the ends of justice ; since it is not expedient
that justice should be neglected on our account.
Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will
chooses punishment, and the blame lies with him
who chooses. ** God is without blame. "But if
our unrighteousness commend the righteousness
of God, what shall we say ? Is God unrighteous,
who taketh vengeance ? God forbid." 9 He says,
therefore, threatening, " I will sharpen my sword,
and my hand shall lay hold on judgment ; and
I will render justice to mine enemies, and requite
those who hate me. I will make mine arrows
drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour

* Ecclus. xxxiv. 14, 15.
5 Isa. liii. 6.

* Dcut. xxxii. 23-25.
7 Fxclus. i. 21, 22.

« Plato, /•<•/., X. 617 E.

* Rom. iiL 5, 6.

Chap. VIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

227

flesh from the blood of the wounded." ' It is
clear, then, that those who are not at enmity with
the truth, and do not hate the Word, will not hate
their own salvation, but will escape the punish-
ment of enmity. " The crown of wisdom," then,
as the book of Wisdom says, " is the fear of the
Lord." ^ Very clearly, therefore, by the prophet
.Amos has the Lord unfolded His method of deal-
ing, saying, " I have overthrown you, as God over-
threw Sodom and Gomorrah ; and ye shall be as
a brand plucked from the fire : and yet ye have
not returned unto me, saith the Lord." 3

See how God, through His love of goodness,
seeks repentance ; and by means of the plan He
pursues of threatening silently, shows His own
love for man. " I will avert," He says, " My face
from them, and show what shall happen to
them." -» For where the face of the Lord looks,
there is peace and rejoicing; but where it is
averted, there is the introduction of evil. The
Lord, accordingly, does not wish to look on evil
things; for He is good. But on His looking
away, evil arises spontaneously through human
unbelief. " Behold, therefore," says Paul, " the
goodness and severity of God : on them that fell,
severity ; but upon thee, goodness, if thou con-
tinue in His goodness," 5 that is, in faith in Christ.
Now hatred of evil attends the good man, in
nrtue of His being in nature good. Wherefore
I will grant that He punishes the disobedient
(for punishment is for the good and advantage of
him who is punished, for it is the correction of a
refractory subject) ; but I will not grant that He
wishes to take vengeance. Revenge is retribution
for evil, imposed for the advantage of him who
takes the revenge. He will not desire us to take
revenge, who teaches us " to pray for those that
despitefully use us." ^ But that God is good, all
willingly admit ; and that the same God is just,
I require not many more words to prove, after
adducing the evangelical utterance of the Lord ;
He speaks of Him as one, " That they all may be
one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee,
that they also m^-y be one in Us : that the world
also may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And
the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given
them ; that they may be one, as We are one : I
in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made
perfect in one." 7 God is one, and beyond the
\ one and above the Monad itself. Wherefore also
the particle " ThouT^ having a demonstrative
emphasis, points out God, who alone truly is,
"who was, and is, and is to come," in which three
divisions of time the one name (6 w*'), " who is,"^

* Dcut. xxxii. 41, 42.

* Ecclus. i. 18.
^ Amos iv. II.

* Dcut. xxxii. 9o.

* Rom. xi. 22.

* Matt. V. 44.

' John xvii. 21-23
' Ex. iii. 14.

has its place. And that He who alone is God is
also alone and truly righteous, our Lord in the
Gospel itself shall testify, saying " Father, I will
that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with
Me where I am ; that they may behold My glory,
which Thou hast given Me : For Thou lovedst
Me before the foundation of the world. O right-
eous Father, the world hath not known Thee :
but I have known Thee, and these have known
that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared
to them Thy name, and will declare it." ^ This
is He " that visits the iniquities of the fathers
upon the children, to them that hate Him, and
shows mercy to those that love Him." ^° For He
who placed some " on the right hand, and others
on the left," " conceived as Father, being good,
is called that which alone He is — " good ; " "
but as He is the Son in the Father, being his
Word, from their mutual relation, the name of
power being measured by equality of love. He is
called righteous. "He will judge," He says, "a
man according to his works," '3 — a good balance,
even God having made known to us the face of
righteousness in the person of Jesus, by whom
also, as by even scales, we know God. Of this
also the book of Wisdom plainly says, " For
mercy and wrath are with Him, for He alone is
Lord of both," Lord of propitiations, and pour-
ing forth wrath according to the abundance of
His mercy. " So also is His reproof." '* For
the aim of mercy and of reproof is the salvation
of those who are reproved.

Now, that the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus is good, the Word Himself will again
avouch : " For He is kind to the unthankful and
the evil ; " and further, when He says, " Be mer-
ciful, as your Father is merciful." *5 Still further
also He plainly says, " None is good, but My
Father, who is in heaven." *** In addition to
these, again He says, " My Father makes His
sun to shine on all." '^ Here it is to be noted
that He proclaims His Father to be good, and
to be the Creator. And that the Creator is just,
is not disputed. And again he says, " My Father
sends rain on the just, and on the unjust." In
respect of His sending rain. He is the Creator
j of the waters, and of the clouds. And in respect
of His doing so on all. He holds an even balance
justly and rightly. And as being good. He does
so on just and unjust alike.

Very clearly, then, we conclude Him to be one
and the same Ciod, thus. For the Holy Spirit
has sung, " I will look to the heavens, the works

'f John xvii. 24-26.

*° Ex. XX. 5, 6.

*' Matt. XX. 21, XXV. 33.

*^ Matt. xix. 17.

*3 Ecclus. xvi. 12.
** Ecclus. xvi. 12.

"5 Luke vi. 35, 36.

^** Malt. xix. 17.

>7 Malt. V. 45.

228

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

of Thy hands ; " ' and, " He who created the
heavens dwells in the heavens ; " and, " Heaven
is Thy throne."^ And the Lord says in His
prayer, " Our Father, who art in heaven." ^ And
the heavens belong to Him, who created the
world. It is indisputable, then, that the Lord is
the Son of the Creator. And if the Creator
above all is confessed to be just, and the Lord
to be the Son of the Creator ; then the Lord is
the Son of Him who is just Wherefore also
Paul says, " But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested ; " -♦ and again,
that you may better conceive of God, " even
the righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus
Christ upon all that believe ; for there is no
difference." 5 And, witnessing further to the
truth, he adds after a little, " through the for-
bearance of God, in order to show that He is
just, and that Jesus is the justifier of him who
is of faith." And that he knows that what is
just is good, appears by his saying, " So that the
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and
just, and good,"^ using both names to denote
the same power. But " no one is good," except
His Father. It is this same Father of His, then,
who being one is manifested by many powers.
And this was the import of the utterance, " No
man knew the Father," ^ who was Himself every-
thing before the coming of the Son. So that it
is veritably clear that the God of all is only one
good, just Creator, and the Son in the Father,
to whom be glory for ever and ever, Amen. But
it is not inconsistent with the saving Word, to
administer rebuke dictated by solicitude. For
this is the medicine of the divine love to man,
by which the blush of modesty breaks forth, and
shame at sin supervenes. For if one must cen-
sure, it is necessary also to rebuke ; when it is
the time to wound the apathetic soul not mor-
tally, but salutarily, securing exemption from
everlasting death by a little pain.

Great is the wisdom displayed in His instruc-
tion, and manifold the modes of His dealing in
order to salvation. For the Instructor testifies
to the good, and summons forth to better things
those that are called ; dissuades those that are
hastening to do wrong from the attempt, and
exhorts them to turn to a better life. For the
one is not without testimony, when the other
has been testified to ; and the grace which pro-
ceeds from the testimony is very great. Besides,
the feeling of anger (if it is proper to call His
admonition anger) is full of love to man, God
condescending to emotion on man's account ; for
whose sake also the Word of God became man.

* Ps. viii. 4.

* Ps. ii. 4^ xi. 5, ciii. 19.
3 Matt. yi. 9

* Rom. iii. at, 22.
i Rom. iii. 26.

* Rom. vii. la.

7 Luke X. aa; John xvii. 35.

CHAP. IX. — THAT rr IS THE PREROGATIVE OF THE
SAME POWER TO BE BENEFICENT AND TO PUN-
ISH JUSTLY. ALSO THE MANNER OF THE IN-
STRUCTION OF THE LOGOS.

With all His power, therefore, the Instructor
of humanity, the Divine Word, using all the
resources of wisdom, devotes Himself to the
saving of the children, admonishing, upbraiding,
blaming, chiding, reproving, threatening, healing,
promising, favouring ; and as it were, by many
reins, curbing the irrational impulses of humanity.
To speak briefly, therefore, the Lord acts towards
us as we do towards our children. ** Hast thou
children? correct them," is the exhortation of
the book of Wisdom, " and bend them from their
youth. Hast thou daughters? attend to their
body, and let not thy face brighten towards
them,"* — although we love our children ex-
ceedingly, both sons and daughters, above aught
else whatever. For those who speak with a man
merely to please him, have little love for him,
seeing they do not pain him ; while those that
speak for his good, though they inflict pain for
the time, do him good for ever after. It is not
immediate pleasure, but future enjoyment, that
the Lord has in view.

Let us now proceed to consider the mode of
His loving discipline, with the aid of the i)ro-
phetic testimony.

Admonition, then, is the censure of loving
care, and produces understanding. Such is the
Instructor in His admonitions, as when He says
in the Gospel, " How often would I have gath-
ered thy children, as a bird gathers her young
ones under her wings, and ye would not!"''
And again, the Scripture admonishes, saying,
" And they committed adultery with stock and
stone, and burnt incense to Baal." '** For it is a
very great proof of His love, that, though know-
ing well the shamelessness of the people that
had kicked and bounded away. He notwith-
standing exhorts them to repentance, and says
by Ezekiel, " Son of man, thou dwellest in the
midst of scorpions ; nevertheless, speak to them,
if peradventure they will hear." " Further, to
Moses He says, " Go and tell Pharaoh to send
My people forth ; but I know that he will not
send them forth." " For He shows both things :
both His divinity in His foreknowledge of what
would take place, and His love in affording an
opportunity for repentance to the self-determi-
nation of the soul. He admonishes also by
Esaias, in His care for the people, when He
says, "This people honour Me with their lips.
but their heart is far from Me." What follows
is reproving censure : " In vain do they worship

* Pxdus. vii. 33, 24.

9 Mall, xxiii. 37.

10 Jer. iii. 9, vti. 9, xi. 13, xxxii. 99.
»" Rzck. ii. 6, 7.
^ Ex. iii. 18, 19.

Chap. IX.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

229

Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men." ' Here His loving care, having shown
their sin, shows salvation side by side.

Upbraiding is censure on account of what is
base, conciliating to what is noble. This is
shown by Jeremiah : " They were female- mad
horses ; each one neighed after his neighbour's
wife. Shall I not visit for these things? saith
the Lord : shall not my soul be avenged on
such a nation as this? " * He everywhere inter-
weaves fear, because " the fear of the Lord is
the beginning of sense." 3 And again, by Hosea,
He says, " Shall I not visit them ? for they them-
selves were mingled with harlots, and sacrificed
with the initiated ; and the people that under-
stood embraced a harlot."* He shows their
offence to be clearer, by declaring that they
understood, and thus sinned wilfully. Under-
standing is the eye of the soul ; wherefore also
Israel means, "he that sees God" — that is,
he that understands God.

Complaint is censure of those who are regarded
as despising or neglecting. He employs this
form when He says by Esaias : " Hear, O
heaven ; and give ear, O earth : for the Lord
hath spoken, I have begotten and brought up
children, but they have disregarded Me. The
ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's
crib : but Israel hath not known Me." s For
how shall we not regard it fearful, if he that
knows God, shall not recognise the Lord ; but
while the ox and the ass, stupid and foolish
animals, will know him who feeds them, Israel is
found to be more irrational than these? And
having, by Jeremiah, complained against the
people on many grounds, He adds : " And they
have forsaken Me, saith the Lord." ^

Invective 7 is a reproachful upbraiding, or
chiding censure. This mode of treatment the
Instructor employs in Isaiah, when He says,
**Woe to you, children revolters. Thus saith
the Lord, Ye have taken counsel, but not by Me ;
and made compacts, but not by My Spirit." ^
He uses the very bitter mordant of fear in each
case repressing 9 the people, and at the same
time turning them to salvation ; as also wool
that is undergoing the process of dyeing is wont
to be previously treated with mordants, in order
to prepare it for taking on a fast colour.

Reproof is the bringing forward of sin, laying
it before one. This form of instruction He
employs as in the highest degree necessary, by
reason of the feebleness of the faith of many.

* Isa. xxix. X3.

' rrov. I. 7.

* Hos. iv. 14: ** understood not" in the A.V.
5 Isa. i. a, 3.

* Jer i. i6, ii. 13, 9g.
' Or, rebuke.

* Isa. XXX. 1.

9 Lowth conjectures iwurroiiAv or iwitrroiti^tiVf instead of ai'a(r-

For He says by Esaias, " Ye have forsaken the
Lord, and have provoked the Holy One of
Israel to anger." *° And He says also by Jere-
miah : " Heaven was astonished at this, and the
earth shuddered exceedingly. For My people
have committed two evils ; they have forsaken
Me, the fountain of living waters, and have hewn
out to themselves broken cisterns, which will
not be able to hold water." " And again, by the
same : " Jerusalem hath sinned a sin ; therefore
it became commotion. All that glorified her
dishonoured her, when they saw her baseness." "
And He uses the bitter and. biting '^ language of
reproof in His consolations by Solomon, tacitly
alluding to the love for children that charac-
terizes His instruction : " My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord; nor faint
when thou art rebuked of Him : for whom the
Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth
every son whom He receiveth ; " *^ " For a man
who is a sinner escapes reproof." «5 Conse-
quently, therefore, the Scripture says, " Let the
righteous reprove and correct me ; but let not
the oil of the sinner anoint my head." '^

Bringing one to his senses (<^p€i/<Dcri9) is cen-
sure, which makes a man think. Neither from
this form of instruction does he abstain, but
says by Jeremiah, " How long shall I cry, and
you not hear? So your ears are uncircum-
cised." *7 O blessed forbearance ! And again, by
the same : " All the heathen are uncircumcised,
but this people is uncircumcised in heart :" ''^
" for the people are disobedient ; children,"
says He, " in whom is not faith." *9

Visitation is severe rebuke. He uses this
species in the Gospel : " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
that killest the prophets, and stonest them that
are sent unto thee ! " The reduplication of the
name gives strength to the rebuke. For he that
knows God, how does he persecute God's ser-
vants ? Wherefore He says, " Your house is left
desolate ; for I say unto you. Henceforth ye shall
not see Me, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that
Cometh in the name of the Lord." ^ For if you
do not receive His love, ye shall know His power.

Denunciation is vehement speech. And He
employs denunciation as medicine, by Isaiah,
saying, "Ah, sinful nation, lawless sons, people
full of sins, wicked seed ! " '' And in the Gospel
by John He says, " Serpents, brood of vipers.'* "

»o Isa. i. 4.

** Tcr. ii. 13, 13.

'^ Lam. i. 8.

>3 H. reads Ji7>rTiicoi', for which the text has iniStucriKov,

** Prov. iii. ii,.i2

'5 EU:clu5. xxxii. az.

** Ps. cxli. 5.

*' Jer. vi. JO.
** Ter. ix. a6.
'9 Isa. XXX. Q.

*o Matt. xxiu. 37-39.
« Isa i. 4.

32 Nothing simitar to this is found in the fourth Gospel ; the refer-
ence may be to the words of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 7, Luke iii. 7.

230

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

Accusation is censure of wrong-doers. This
mode of instruction He employs by David, when
He says : " The people whom I knew not served
me, and at the hearing of the ear obeyed me.
Sons of strangers lied to me, and halted from
their ways." * And by Jeremiah : " And I gave
her a writing of divorcement, and covenant-
breaking Judah feared not." ' And again : " And
the house of Israel disregarded Me; and the
house of Judah lied to the Lord."^

Bewailing one's fate is latent censure, and by
artful aid ministers salvation as under a veil. He
made use of this by Jeremiah : " How did the
city sit solitary that was full of people ! She
that ruled over territories became as a widow ;
she came under tribute ; weeping, she wept in
the night." ^

Objurgation is objurgatory censure. Of this
help the Divine Instructor made use by Jere-
miah, saying, " Thou hadst a whore's forehead ;
thou wast shameless towards all ; and didst not
call me to the house, who am thy father, and
lord of thy virginity." s " And a fair and grace-
ful harlot skilled in enchanted potions." ^ With
consummate art, after applying to the virgin the
opprobrious name of whoredom. He thereupon
calls her back to an honourable life by filling her
with shame.

Indignation is a rightful upbraiding; or up-
braiding on account of ways exalted above what
is right. In this way He instructed by Moses,
when He said, " Faulty children, a generation
crooked and perverse, do ye thus requite the
Lord? This people is foolish, and not wise.
Is not this thy father who acquired thee ? " 7 He
says also by Isaiah, " Thy princes are disobedi-
ent, companions of thieves, loving gifts, following
after rewards, not judging the orphans." *

In fine, the system He pursues to inspire fear
is the source of salvation. And it is the pre-
rogative of goodness to save : " The mercy of
the Lord is on all flesh, while He reproves,
corrects, and teaches as a shepherd His flock.
He pities those who receive His instruction, and
those who eagerly seek union with Him." 9 And
with such guidance He guarded the six hundred
thousand footmen that were brought together in
the hardness of heart in which they were found ;
scourging, pitying, striking, healing, in com-
passion and discipline : " For according to the
greatness of His mercy, so is His rebuke." '° For
it is indeed noble not to sin ; but it is good also
for the sinner to repent ; just as it is best to be

* Ps. xviii. 43-45.

* Jer. iii. 8.

3 Jcr. V. II, 12.

* Lam. i. I, a.
5 ler. iii. 3,4.
^ Nahum iii. 4.

7 Deut. xxxii. 5, 6.

' Isa. i. 23.
• 9 Ecclus. xviii. i3» 14.
!*o Rectus, xvi. 12.

always in good health, but well to recover from dis-
ease. So He commands by Solomon : ** Strike
thou thy son with the rod, that thou mayest
deliver his soul from death." " And again : " Ab-
stain not from chastising thy son, but correct
him with the rod ; for he will not die." »*

For reproof and rebuke, as also the original
term implies, are the stripes of the soul, chas-
tizing sins, preventing death, and leading to self-
control those carried away to licentiousness.
Thus also Plato, knowing reproof to be the
greatest power for reformation, and the most
sovereign purification, in accordance with what
has been said, observes, " that he who is in the
highest degree impure is uninstnicted and base,
by reason of his being unreproved in those
respects in which he who is destined to be truly
happy ought to be purest and best."

For if rulers are not a terror to a good work,
how shall God, who is by nature good, be a
terror to him who sins not ? " If thou doest eril,
be afraid," '^ says the apostle. Wherefore the
apostle himself also in every case uses stringent
language to the Churches, after the Lord^,
example ; and conscious of his own boldness,
and of the weakness of his hearers, he says to
the Galatians : " Am I your enemy, because I
tell you tlie truth? " ** Thus also people in health
do not require a physician, do not require him
as long as they are strong ; but those who are ill
need his skill. Thus also we who in our lives
are ill of shameful lusts and reprehensible ex-
cesses, and other inflammatory effects of the
passions, need the Saviour. And He administers
not only mild, but also stringent medicines. The
bitter roots of fear then arrest the eating sores
of our sins. Wherefore also fear is salutar\'. if
bitter. Sick, we truly stand in need of the
Saviour ; having wandered, of one to guide us ;
blind, of one to lead us to the light ; thirsty, " of
the fountain of life, of which whosoever partakes^
shall no longer thirst ; " 's dead, we need life ;
sheep, we need a shepherd ; we who are children
need a tutor, while universal humanity stands in
need of Jesus ; so that we may not continue
intractable and sinners to the end, and thus fall
into condemnation, but may be separated from
the chaff, and stored up in the paternal gamer.
" For the fan is in the IiOrd*s hand, by which
the chaff due to the fire is separated from the
wheat." *^ You may learn, if you will, the crown-
ing wisdom of the all-holy Shepherd and Instruct-
or, of the omnipotent and paternal Word, when
He figuratively represents Himself as the Shep-
herd of the sheep. And He is the Tutor of the

** Prov. xxiii. 14.

** Prov. xxiU. 13.

13 Rom. xiii. 3, 4.

^* Gal. iv. 16.

*5 John iv. 13, 14.

16 Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.

Chap. IX.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

231

children. He says therefore by Ezekiel, direct-
ing His discourse to the elders, and setting before
them a salutary description of His wise solicitude :
" And that which is lame I will bind up, and that
which is sick I will heal, and that which has
wandered I will turn back ; and I will feed them
on my holy mountain." ' Such are the promises
of the good Shepherd.

Feed us, the children, as sheep. Yea, Master,
fill us with righteousness, Thine own pasture ;
yea, O Instructor, feed us on Thy holy mountain
the Church, which towers aloft, which is above
the clouds, which touches heaven. " And I will
be," He says, "their Shepherd,"* and will be
near them, as the garment to their skin. He
wishes to save my flesh by enveloping it in the
robe of immortality, and He hath anointed my
body. " They shsdl call Me," He says, " and I
will say, Here am I." ^ Thou didst hear sooner
than I expected, Master. "And if they pass
over, they shall not slip," * saith the Lord. For
we who are passing over to immortality shall not
£a\\ into corruption, for He shall sustain us. For
so He has said, and so He has willed. Such is
our Instructor, righteously good. " I came not,"
He says, " to be ministered unto, but to minis-
ter." 5 Wherefore He is introduced in the Gospel
" wearied," ^ because toiling for us, and promis-
ing " to give His life a ransom for many." 7 For
him alone who does so He owns to be the good
shepherd. Generous, therefore, is He who gives
for us the greatest of all gifts, His own life ; and
beneficent exceedingly, and loving to men, in
that, when He might have been Lord, He wished
to be a brother man ; and so good was He that
He died for us.

Further, His righteousness cried, " If ye come
straight to me, I also will come straight to you ;
but if ye walk crooked, I also will waJk crooked,
saith the Lord of hosts ; " * meaning by the
crooked ways the chastisements of sinners. For
. the straight and natiural way which is indicated
by the lofa of the name of Jesus is His goodness,
which is firm and sure towards those who have
believed at hearing : " When I called, ye obeyed
not, saith the Lord ; but set at nought my coun-
sels, and heeded not my reproofs." ^ Thus the
Lord's reproof is most beneficial. David also
says of them, " A perverse and provoking race ;
a race which set not their heart aright, and whose
spirit was not faithful with God : they kept not the
covenant of God, and would not walk in His law." '°

' Ezek. xxxiv. 14, 15, 16.

2 Ezek. xxxiv. 14-16.

3 Isa. Iviti. 9.

* Isa. xliii. 2.

5 Mail. XX. 28: Mark x. 45.

* John iv. 6.

7 Matt. XX. 28.

* Here Clement gives the sense of various passages, e.g., Jer. vi.,
Lev. xxvi.

9 Prov. i. 24, 25.
w Ps. Ixxviii. 8, xo.

Such are the causes of provocation for which
the Judge comes to inflict punishment on those
that would not choose a life of goodness.
Wherefore also afterwards He assailed them more
roughly ; in order, if possible, to drag them back
from their impetuous rush towards death. He
therefore tells by David the most manifest cause
of the threatening : " They believed not in His
wonderful works. When He slew them, they
sought after Him, and turned and inquired early
after Gk)d ; and remembered that God was their
Helper, and God the Most High their Redeem-
er." " Thus He knew that they turned for fear,
while they despised His love : for, for the most
part, that goodness which is always mild is de-
spised ; but He who admonishes by the loving
fear of righteousness is reverenced.

There is a twofold species of fear, the one of
which is accompanied with reverence, such as \ ^
citizens show towards good rulers, and we towards |
God, as also right-minded children towards their
fathers. " For an unbroken horse turns out un-
manageable, and a son who is let take his own
way turns out reckless." " The other species of
fear is accompanied with hatred, which slaves
feel towards hard masters, and the Hebrews felt,
who made God a master, not a father. And as
far as piety is concerned, that which is volun-
tary and spontaneous differs much, nay entirely,
from what is forced. " For He," it is said, " is
merciful ; He will heal their sins, and not de-
stroy them, and fully turn away His anger,
and not kindle all His wrath." '3 See how the
justice of the Instructor, which deals in rebukes,
is shown ; and the. goodness of God, which deals
in compassions. Wherefore David — that is, the
Spirit by him — embracing them both, sings of
God Himself, " Justice and judgment are the
preparation of His throne : mercy and truth shall
go before Thy face." '* He declares that it be-
longs to the same power both to judge and to
do good. For there is power over both together,,
and judgment separates that which is just from
its opposite. And He who is truly God is just
and good ; who is Himself all, and all is He ;
for He is God, the only God.

For as the mirror is not evil to an ugly man
because it shows him what like he is; and as
the physician is not evil to the sick man because
he tells him of his fever, — for the physician is
not the cause of the fever, but only points out
the fever ; — so neither is He, that reproves, ill-
disposed towards him who is diseased in soul.
For He does not put the transgressions on him,
but only shows the sins which are there ; in order
to turn him away firom similar practices. So

** Ps. Ixxviit. 32-35.
" Ecclus. XXX. 8.
" Ps. Ixxviii. 38.
'* Ps. Ixxxix. 14.

232

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

God is good on His own account, and just also
on ours, and He is just because He is good. '
And His justice is shown to us by His own Word
from there from above, whence the Father was.
For before He became Creator He was God ;
He was good. And therefore He wished to be
Creator and Father. And the nature of all that
love was the source of righteousness — the cause,
too, of His lighting up His sun, and sending
down His own Son. And He first announced
the good righteousness that is from heaven^ when
He said, " No man knoweth the Son, but the
Father ; nor the Father, but the Son." ' This
mutual and reciprocal knowledge is the symbol
of primeval justice. Then justice came down
to men both in the letter and in the body, in the
Word and in the law, constraining humanity to
saving repentance ; for it was good. But do you
not obey God ? Then blame yourself, who drag
to yourself the judge.

CHAP. X. — THAT THE SAME GOD, BY THE SAME
WORD, RESTRAINS FROM SIN BY THREATENING,
AND SAVES HyMANITY BY EXHORTING.

If, then, we have shown that the plan of deal-
ing stringently with humanity is good and salu-
tary, and necessarily adopted by the Word, and
conducive to repentance and the prevention of
sins ; we shall have now to look in order at the
mildness of the Word. For He has been demon-
strated to be just. He sets before us His own
inclinations which invite to salvation ; by which,
in accordance with the Father's will, He wishes
to make known to us the good and the useful.
Consider these. The good (to koKov) belongs
to the panegyrical form of speech, the useful to
the persuasive. For the hortatory and the de-
hortatory are a form of the persuasive, and the
laudatory and inculpatory of the panegyrical.

For the persuasive style of sentence in one
form becomes hortatory, and in another dehorta-
tory. So also the panegyrical in one form be-
comes inculpatory, and in another laudatory.
And in these exercises the Instructor, the Just
One, who has proposed our advantage as His
aim, is chiefly occupied. But the inculpatory
and dehortatory forms of speech have been
already shown us ; and we must now handle the
persuasive and the laudatory, and, as on a beam,
balance the equal scales of justice. The exhor-
tation to what is useful, the Instructor employs
by Solomon, to the following effect : " I exhort
you, O men ; and I utter my voice to the sons
of men. Hear me ; for I will speak of excellent
things ; " * and so on. And He counsels what
is salutary : for counsel has for its end, choosing
or refusing a certain course ; as He does by
David, when He says, " Blessed is the man who

' Luke X. as.
2 Prov. viii. 4, 6.

walketh not in the counsels of the ungodly, and
standeth not in the way of sinners, and sitteth
not in the chair of pestilences ; but his will is in
the law of the Lord." 3 And there are three
departments of counsel : That which takes ex- ,
amples from p^ times ; as what the Hebrews
suffered when tfiey worshipped the golden calf,
and what they suffered when they committed
fornication, and the like. The second, whose
meaning is understood from the present times, '
as being apprehended by perceptiorf; as it was
said to those who asked the Lord, " If He was
the Christ, or shall we wait for another? Go
and tell John, the blind receive their sight, the
deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are
raised up ; and blessed is he who shall not be
offended in Me." ♦ Such was that which David
said when he prophesied, " As we have heard, so
have we seen." 5 And the third department of
counsel consists of what is future, by which we
are bidden guard against what i^ to happen ; as
also that was said, "They that fall into sins
shall be cast into outer darkness, where there
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth," ^ and the
like. So that from these things it is clear that
the Lord, going the round of all the methods of
curative treatment, calls humanity to salvation.

By encouragement He assuages sins, reducing
lust, and at the same time inspiring hope for
salvation. For He says by Ezekiel, " If ye re-
turn with your whole heart, and say. Father, I
will hear you, as a holy people." ' And again
He says, " Come all to Me, who labour, and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest ; " * and
that which is added the Lord speaks in His own
person. And very clearly He calls to goodness
by Solomon, when He says, " Blessed is the man
who hath found wisdom, and the mortal who
hath found understanding." 9 " For the good is
found by him who seeks it; and is wont to be
seen by him who has found it." *** By Jeremiah,
too. He sets forth prudence, when he says,
" Blessed are we, Israel ; for what is pleasing to
God is known by us ; " " — and it is known by
the Word, by whom we are blessed and wise.
For wisdom and knowledge are mentioned by
the same prophet, when he says, "Hear, O
Israel, the commandments of life, and give ear
to know understanding." " By Moses, too, by
reason of the love He has to man. He promises
a gift to those who hasten to salvation. For He
says, " And I will bring you into the good land,

3 Ps. i. I, a.

♦ Malt. xi. 3-6; Luke vii. 19, aa, 23.
5 Ps. xlviii. 8.

* Matt. xxii. 13, xxv. 30.
7 Elzek. xviii., xxxiii.

" Matt. xi. 28.
9 Prov. iii. 13.

*o In Prov. ii. 4, 5, iii. 15, Jer. ii. 34, wc have the sense of these
verses.

" Baruch iv. 4.
>3 Baruch iii. 9.

Chap. X.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

233

which the Lord sware to your fathers." ' And
further, "And I will bring you into the holy
mountain, and make you glad,"' He says by
Isaiah. And still another form of instruction is
benediction. " And blessed is he," He saith by
David, " who has not sinned ; and he shall be as
the tree planted near the channels of the waters,
which will yield its fruit in its season, and his
leaf shall not wither "^ (by this He made an
allusion to the resurrection) ; " and whatsoever
he shall do shall prosper with him." Such He
wishes us to be, that we may be blessed. Again,
showing the opposite scale of the balance of jus-
tice. He says, "But not so the ungodly — not
so ; but as the dust which the wind sweeps away
from the face of the earth," ^ By showing the
punishment of sinners, and their easy dispersion,
and carrying off by the wind, the Instructor dis-
suades from crime by means of punishment ;
and by holding up the merited penalty, shows
the benignity of His beneficence in the most
skilful way, in order that we may possess and
enjoy its blessings. He invites us to knowledge
also, when He says by Jeremiah, " Hadst thou
walked in the way of God, thou wouldst have
dwelt for ever in peace ; " 5 for, exhibiting there
the reward of knowledge. He calls the wise to
the love of it. And, granting pardon to him
who has erred. He says, " Turn, turn, as a grape-
gatherer to his basket."^ Do you see the
goodness of justice, in that it counsels to repent-
ance ? And still further, by Jeremiah, He enlight-
ens in the truth those who have erred. "Thus
saith the Lord, Stand in the ways, and look, and
ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, what is
the good path, and walk in it, and ye shall find
purification for your souls." ^ And in order to
promote our salvation. He leads us to repent-
ance. Wherefore He says, " If thou repent, the
Lord will purify thy heart, and the heart of thy
seed."* We might have adduced, as support-
ers on this question, the philosophers who say
that only the perfect man is worthy of praise,
and the bad man of blame. But since some
slander beatitude, as neither itself taking any
trouble, nor giving any to any one else, thus
not understanding its love to man ; on their
account, and on account of those who do not
associate justice with goodness, the following
remarks are added. For it were a legitimate
inference to say, that rebuke and censure are
suitable to men, since they say that all men are
bad ; but God alone is wise, from whom cometh
wisdom, and alone perfect, and therefore alone

> Deut xxxi. ao.

* Isa. Ivi. 7.
» Ps. i. 1-3.

4 Ps. i. 4.

5 Baruch iii. 13.

* Jer. vi. 9.
y Jer. vi. x6.

' Deut. XXX. 6.

worthy of praise. But I do not employ such
language. I say, then, that praise or blame, or
whatever resembles praise or blame, are medi-
cines most essential of all to men. Some are ill
to cure, and, like iron, are wrought into shape
with fire, and hammer, and anvil, that is, with
threatening, and reproof, and chastisement ;
while others, cleaving to faith itself, as self-
taught, and as acting of their own free-will, grow
by praise : —

" For virtue that is praised
Grows like a tree.

And comprehending this, as it seems to me, the
Samian Pythagoras gives the injunction : —

" When you have done base things, rebuke yourself;
But wnen you have done good things, be glad."

Chiding is also called admonishing; and the
etymology of admonishing (vovderiyo-ts) is {yw
ivO€fiaTurfjL6^) putting of understanding into
one ; so that rebuking is bringing one to one's
senses.

But there are myriads of injunctions to be
found, whose aim is the attainment of what is
good, and the avoidance of what is evil. " For
there is no peace to the wicked, saith the
Lord." 9 Wherefore by Solomon He commands
the children to beware : " My son, let not sin-
ners deceive thee, and go not after their ways ;
and go not, if they entice thee, saying, Come
with us, share with us in innocent blood, and
let us hide unjustly the righteous man in the
earth ; let us put him out of sight, all alive as he
is into Hades." '° This is accordingly likewise a
prediction concerning the Lord's passion. And
by Ezekiel, the life supplies commandments :
"The soul that sinneth shall die; but he that
doeth righteousness shall be righteous. He eat-
eth not upon the mountains, and hath not set ^
his eyes on the devices of the house of Israel,
and will not defile his neighbour's wife, and will
not approach to a woman in her separation, and
will not oppress a man, and will restore the
debtor's pledge, and will not take plunder : he
will give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the
naked. His money he will not give on usury,
and will not take interest ; and he will turn away
his hand from wrong, and will execute righteous
judgment between a man and his neighbour.
He has walked in my statutes, and kept my judg-
ments to do them. This is a righteous man.
He shall surely live, saith the Lord."" These
words contain a description of the conduct of
Christians, a notable exhortation to the blessed
life, which is the reward of a life of goodness —
everlasting life.

9 Isa. Ivii. 91, xlviii. 23.
'° Prov. i. xo^ia.
<' Ezek. xviii. 4-9.

234

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

CHAP. XI.

-THAT THE WORD INSTRUCTED BY THE
LAW AND THE PROPHETS.

/ The mode of His love and His instruction we
have shown as we could. Wherefore He Him-
self, declaring Himself very beautifully, likened
Himself to a grain of mustard-seed ; * and
pointed out the spirituality of the word that is
sown, and the productiveness of its nature, and
the magnificence and conspicuousness of the
power of the word ; and besides, intimated that
the pungency and the purifying virtue of punish-
ment are profitable on account of its sharpness.

" By the little grain, as it is figuratively called, He
bestows salvation on all humanity abundantly.
Honey, being very sweet, generates bile, as
goodness begets contempt, which is the cause
of sinning. But mustard lessens bile, that is,
anger, and stops inflammation, that is, pride.
From which Word springs the true health of
the soul, and its eternal happy temperament
(cvKpocrui) .

Accordingly, of old He instructed by Moses,
and then by the prophets. Moses, too, was a
prophet. For the law is the training of refrac-
tory children. "Having feasted to the full,"
accordingly, it is said, " they rose up to play ; " '
senseless repletion with victuals being called
XopraxTyua. (fodder), not fipiotia (food). And
when, having senselessly filled themselves, they
senselessly played ; on that account the law was
given them, and terror ensued for the preven-
tion of transgressions and for the promotion of
right actions, securing attention, and so winning
to obedience to the true Instructor, being one
and the same Word, and reducing to conformity
with the urgent demands of the law. For Paul
says that it was given to be a " schoolmaster to
bring us to Christ." 3 So that from this it is
clear, that one alone, true, good, just, in the
image and likeness of the Father, His Son Jesus,
the Word of God, is our Instructor; to whom
God hath entrusted us, as an affectionate father
commits his children to a worthy tutor, expressly
charging us, " This is my beloved Son ; hear
Him." * The divine Instructor is trustworthy,
adorned as He is with three of the fairest orna-
ments — knowledge, benevolence, and authority
of utterance ; — with knowledge, for He is the
paternal wisdom : " All Wisdom is from the
Lord, and with Him for evermore;" — with
authority of utterance, for He is God and Crea-
tor : " For all things were made by Him, and
without Him was not anything made ; " ^ —
and with benevolence, for He alone gave Him-
self a sacrifice for us : " For the good Shepherd

' Matt. xiti. 31 ; Luke xiii. 19.
' Ex. xxxti. 6; i Cor. x. 7.
3 Gal. iii 24^.
* Matt, xvii, 5.
S John i. 3.

giveth His life for the sheep ; " ^ and He has so
given it. Now, benevolence is nothing but
wishing to do good to one's neighbour for his
sake.

CHAP. XII. — THE INSTRUCTOR CHARACTERIZED BY
THE SEVERriY AND BENIGNITY OF PATERNAL
AFFECTION.

Having now accomplished those things, it
were a fitting sequel that our instructor Jesus
should draw for us the model of the true life, and
train humanity in Christ.

Nor is the cast and character of the life He
enjoins very formidable; nor is it made alto-
gether easy by reason of His benignity. He
enjoins His commands, and at the same time
gives them such a character that they may be
accomplished.

The vie^ I ^ke is, that He Himself formed
man of the dust, and regenerated him by water ;
and made him grow by his Spirit ; and trained
him by His word to adoption and salvation, di-
recting him by sacred precepts ; in order that,
transforming earth-bom man into a holy and
heavenly being by His advent, He might fulfil
to the utmost that divine utterance, " Let Us
make man in Our own image and likeness."'
And, in truth, Christ became the perfect realiza-
tion of what God spake ; and the rest of hu-
manity is conceived as being created merely in
His image.

But let us, O children of the good Father—
nurslings of the good Instructor — fulfil the
Father's will, listen to the Word, and take on
the impress of the truly saving life of our Sav-
iour ; and meditating on the heavenly mode of
life according to which we have been deified, let
us anoint ourselves with the perennial immortal
bloom of gladness — that ointment of sweet fra-
grance — having a clear example of immortalit)'
in the walk and conversation of the Lord ; and
following the footsteps of God, to whom alone it
belongs to consider, and whose care it is to see
to, the way and manner in which the life of men
may be made more healthy. Besides, He makes
preparation for a self-sufficing mode of life, for
simphcity, and for girding up our loins, and for
free and unimpeded readiness of our journey;
in order to -the attainment of an eternity of be-
atitude, teaching each one of us to be his own
storehouse. For He says, "Take no anxious
thought for to-morrow," * meaning that the man
who has devoted himself to Christ ought to he
sufficient to himself, and servant to himself, and
moreover lead a life which provides for each day ^
by itself. For it is not in war, but in peace, that i

*'John X. II.
' Gen. i. a6.
* Matt. vi. 34.

Chap. XIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

235

we are trained. War needs great preparation,
and luxury craves profusion; but peace and
love, simple and quiet sisters, require no arms
nor excessive preparation. The Word is their
sustenance.

Our superintendence in instruction and disci-
pline is the office of the Word, from whom we
learn frugality and humility, and all that pertains
to love of truth, love of man, and love of excel-
lence. And so, in a word, being assimilated to
God by a participation in moral excellence, we
must not retrograde into carelessness and sloth.
But labour, and faint not. Thou shalt be what
thou dost not hope, and canst not conjecture.
And as there is one mode of training for philoso-
phers, another for orators, and another for ath-
letes ; so is there a generous disposition, suitable
to the choice that is set upon moral loveliness,
resulting from the training of Christ. And in
the case of those who have been trained accord-
ing to this influence, their gait in walking, their
sitting at table, their food, their sleep, their go-
ing to bed, their regimen, and the rest of their
mode of life, acquire a superior dignity.' For
such a training as is pursued by the Word is not
overstrained, but is of the right tension. Thus,
therefore, the Word has been called also the Sav-
iour, seeing He has found out for men those
rational medicines which produce vigour of the
senses and salvation ; and devotes Himself to
watching for the favourable moment, reproving
evil, exposing the causes of evil affections, and
striking at the roots of irrational lusts, pointing
out what we ought to abstain from, and supply-
ing all the antidotes of salvation to those who
are diseased. For the greatest and most regal
work of God is the salvation of humanity. The
sick are vexed at a physician, who gives no ad-
vice bearing on their restoration to health. But
how shall we not acknowledge the highest grati-
tude to the divine Instructor, who is not silent,
who omits not those threatenings that point to-
wards destruction, but discloses them, and cuts
off the impulses that tend to them ; and who in-
doctrinates in those counsels which result in the
true way of living? We must confess, therefore,
the deepest obligations to Him. For what else
do we say is incumbent on the rational creature
— I mean man — than the contemplation of the
Divine? I say, too, that it is requisite to con-
template human nature, and to live as the truth
directs, and to admire the Instructor and His
injunctions, as suitable and harmonious to each
other. According to which image also we ought,
conforming ourselves to the Instructor, and mak-
ing the word and our deeds agree, to live a real
life.

* [The secondary, civtlizine, and socializing power of the Gospel,
mu«t have alrcHady produced all this change from heathen manners,
under Clement's own observation.]

CHAP. Xin. — VIRTUE RATIONAL, SIN IRRATIONAL.

Everything that is contrary to right reason is \
sin. Accordingly, therefore, the philosophers
think fit to define the most generic passions thus :
lust, as desire disobedient to reason; fear, as
weakness disobedient to reason ; pleasure, as an
elation of the spirit disobedient to reason. If,
then, disobedience in reference to reason is the
generating cause of sin, how shall we escape the
conclusion, that obedience to reason — the Word
— which we call faith, will of necessity be the
efficacious cause of duty ? For virtue itself is a
state of the soul rendered harmonious by reason
in respect to the whole life. Nay, to crown all,
philosophy itself is pronounced to be the culti-
vation of right reason; so that, necessarily,
whatever is done through error of reason is '
transgression, and is rightly called (afidfynjfjia)
sin. Since, then, the first man sinned and dis-
obeyed God, it is said, " And man became like
to the beasts : " ' being rightly regarded as ir-
rational, he is likened to the beasts. Whence
Wisdom says : " The horse for covering ; the
libidinous and the adulturer is become like to an
irrational beast." ^ Wherefore also it is added :
" He neighs, whoever may be sitting on him."
The man, it is meant, no longer speaks ; for he
who transgresses against reason is no longer ra-
tional, but an irrational animal, given up to lusts
by which he is ridden (as a horse by his rider) .

But that which is done right, in obedience to
reason, the followers of the Stqics call TrpwrrjKov
and KaOrJKov, that is, incumbent and fitting. What
is fitting is incumbent. And obedience is founded
on commands. And these being, as they are,
the same as counsels — having truth for their
aim, train up to the ultimate goal of aspiration^
which is conceived of as the en/i^ {t€X,os;). And
the end of piety is eternal rest in God. And
the beginning of eternity is our end. The right
operation of piety perfects duty by works;
Whence, according to just reasoning, duties con-
sist in actions, not in sayings. And Christian
conduct is the operation of the rational soul in
accordance with a correct judgment and aspira-
tion after the truth, which attains its destined
end through the body, the soul's consort and
ally.** Virtue is a will in conformity to God and
Christ in life, rightly adjusted to life everlasting.
For the life of Christians, in which we are now
trained, is a system of reasonable actions — that
is, of those things taught by the Word — an un-
failing energy which we have called faith. The
system is the commandments of the Lord, which,
being divine statues and spiritual counsels, have
been written for ourselves, being adapted for
ourselves and our neighbours. Moreover, they

* Ps. xlix. X2, 20.

3 Ecclus. xxxiii. 6.

* [Note this definition in Christian ethics.]

236

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book I.

turn back on us, as the ball rebounds on him
that throws it by the repercussion. Whence
also duties are essential for divine discipline, as
being enjoined by God, and furnished for our
salvation. And since, of those things which are
necessary, some relate only to life here, and
others, which relate to the blessed life yonder,
wing us for flight hence; so, in an analogous

manner, of duties, some are ordained with refer-
ence to life, others for the blessed life. The
commandments issued with respect to natural
life are published to the multitude ; but those
that are suited for living well, and from which
eternal life springs, we have to consider, as in a
sketch, as we read them out of the Scriptures.

THE INSTRUCTOR,

BOOK II.

CHAP. I. — ON EATING.

Keeping, then, to our aim, and selecting the
Scriptures which bear on the usefulness of train-
ing for life, we must now compendiously describe
what the man who is called a Christian ought
to be during the whole of his life. We must
accordingly begin wtSi ourselves, and how we
ought to regulate ourselves. We have therefore,
preserving a due regard to the symmetry of this
work, to say how each of us ought to conduct
himself in respect to his body, or rather how to
regulate the body itself. For whenever any one,
who has been brought away by the Word from
external things, and from attention to the body
itself to the mind, acquires a clear view of what
happens according to_nature in man, he will
know that he is not to be eamestiy occupied
about external things, but about what is proper
and peculiar to man — to purge the eye of the
soul, and to sanctify also his flesh. For he that
is clean rid of those things which constitute him
still dust, what else has he more serviceable than
himself for walking in the way which leads to
the comprehension of God.

Some men, in truth, live that they may eat, as
the irrational creatures, "whose life is their belly,
and nothing else." But the Instructor enjoins
us to eat that we may live. For neither is fopd
our business, nor is pleasure our aim ; but both
are on account of our fife here, which the Word
is training up to immortality. Wherefore also
there is discrimination to be employed in refer-
ence to food. And it is to be simple, truly
plain, suiting precisely simple and artless chil-
dren— as ministering to Ufe, not to luxury.
And the life to which it conduces consists of
two things — health and strength ; to which
plainness of fare is most suitable, being condu-
cive both to digestion and lightness of body,
from which come growth, and health, and right
strength, not strength that is wrong or danger-
ous and wretched, as is that of athletes produced
by compulsory feeding.

We must therefore reject • different varieties,
which engender various mischiefs, such as a
depraved habit of body and disorders of the
stomach, the taste being vitiated by an unhappy
art — that of cookery, and the useless art of "
making pastry. For people dare to call by the
name of food their dabbling in luxuries, which
glides into mischievous pleasures. Antiphanes,
the Delian physician, said that this variety of
viands was the one cause of disease ; there
being people who dislike the truth, and through
various absurd notions abjure moderation of
diet, and put themselves to a world of trouble
to procure dainties from beyond seas. ^

For my part, I am sorry for this disease, while \
they are not ashamed to sing the praises of their :
delicacies, giving themselves great trouble to get '
lampreys in the Straits of Sicily, the eels of the
Maeander, and the kids found in Melos, and
the mullets in Sciathus, and the mussels of Pelo-
rus, the oysters of Abydos, not omitting the i
sprats found in Lipara, and the Mantinican tur- '
nip; and furthermore, the beetroot that grows ;
among the Ascraeans : they seek out the cockles
of Methymna, the turbols of Attica, and the
thrushes of ]3aphnis, and the reddish-brown
dried figs, on account of which the ill-starred
Persian marched into Greece with five hundred |
thousand men. Besides these, they purchase \
birds from Phasis, the Egyptian snipes, and the ]
Median peafowl. Altering these by means of •
condiments, the gluttons gape for the sauces, ;
" Whatever earth and the depths of the sea, and
the unmeasured space of the air produce," they ,'
cater for their gluttony. In their greed and
solicitude, the gluttons seem absolutely to sweep
the world with a drag-net to gratify their luxu-
rious tastes. These gluttons, surrounded with
the sound of hissing frying-pans, and wearing
their whole life away at the pestle and mortar,
cling to matter like fire. More than that, they
emasculate plain food, namely bread, by strain-
ing off the nourishing part of the grain, so that .

237

238

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book IL

the necessary part of food becomes matter of
reproach to luxury. There is no limit to epicu-
rism among men. For it has driven them to
sweetmeats, and honey-cakes, and sugar-plums ;
inventing a multitude of desserts, hunting after
all manner of dishes. A manJikeJliis seems to
me to be all jaw, and nothing else. " Desire
not," says^e"Scriptnre, ^ilch men's dainties ;"'
for they belong to a false and base life. They
partake of luxurious dishes, which a little after
go to the dunghill. But we who seek the heav-
enly bread must rule the belly, which is beneath
heaven, and much more the things which are
agreeable to it, which "God shall destroy,"'
says the apostle, justly execrating glutton6us
desires. For " meats are for the belly," ^ for on
them depends this truly carnal and destructive
life ; whence ^ some, speaking with unbridled
tongue, dare to apply the name agape,^ to piti-
ful suppers, redolent of savour and sauces. Dis-
honouring the good and saving work of the
Word, the consecrated azape^ with pots and
pouring of sauce ; and by drink and delicacies
and smoke desecrating that name, they are de-
ceived in their idea, having expected that the
promise of God might be bought with suppers.
Gatherings for the sake of mirth, and such en-
tertainments as are called by ourselves, we name
rightly suppers, dinners, and banquets, after the
example of the Lord. But such entertainments
the Lord has not called agapa. He says accord-
ingly somewhere, "When thou art called to a
wedding, recline not on the highest couch ; but
when thou art called, fall into the lowest place ; "^
and elsewhere, " When thou makest a dinner or
a supper ; " and again, " But when thou makest
an entertainment, call the poor,"^ for whose
sake chiefly a supper ought to be made. And
further, "A certain man made a great supper,
and called many." ^ But I perceive whence the
specious appellation of suppers flowed : " from
the gullets and furious love for suppers" —
according to the comic p>oet. For, in truth, " to
many, many things are on account of the sup-
per." For they have not yet learned that God
has provided for His creature (man I mean)
food and drink, for sustenance, not for pleasure ;
since the body derives no advantage from ex-
travagance in viands. For, quite the contrary,
those who use the most frugal fare are the
strongest and the healthiest, and the noblest ; as
domestics are healthier and stronger than their
masters, and husbandmen than the proprietors ;

* Prov. xxiii. 3

Cor.

VI. 13.

5 I Cor. vi. 13.

4 o^ci', an emendation ibr oi'.

' Love, or love-feast, a name applied by the ancients to public
entertainments. [ But surely he is here rebuking, with St. Jude (v.
13), abuses of the Christian aga^ by heretics and others.]

* Luke xiv. 8, 10.

7 Luk< xiv. 12, 13.

' Luke xiv. 16.

and not only more robust, but wiser, as philoso-
phers are wiser than rich men. For they have
not buried the mind beneath food, nor deceived
it with pleasures. But love {agape) is in truth
celestial food, the banquet of reason. " It bear-
eth all things, endureth all things, hopeth all
things. Love never faileth." 9 " Blessed is he
who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." '**
But the hardest of all cases is for charity, which
faileth not, to be cast from heaven above to the
ground into the midst of sauces. And do you
imagine that I am thinking of a supper that is
to be done away with? " For if," it is said, ** I
bestow all my goods, and have not love, I am
nothing." " On this love alone depend the law
and the Word ; and if " thou shalt love the Lord
thy God and thy neighbour," this is the celes-
tial festival in the heavens. But the earthly is
called a supper, as has been shown from Scrip-
ture. For the supper is made for love, but "the
supper is not love {agape) ; only a proof of
mutual and reciprocal kindly feeling. " Let not,
then, your good be evil spoken of; for the king-
dom of God is not meat and drink," says the
apostle, in order that the meal spoken of may
not be conceived as ephemeral, " but righteous-
ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." "
He who eats of this meal, the best of all, shall
possess the kingdom of God, flxing his regards
here on the holy assembly of love, the heavenly
Church. Love, then, is something pure~ and
wortHy of God, and its work is communication.
" And the care of discipline is love," as Wisdom
says ; " and love is the keeping of the law." '^
And these joys have an inspiration of love from
the public nutriment, which accustoms to ever-
lasting dainties. Love {agape), then, is not a
supper. But let the entertainment depend on
love. For it is said, " Let the children whom
Thou hast loved, O Lord, learn that it is not the
products of fruits that nourish man ; but it is
Thy word which preserves those who believe on
Thee." '-♦ " For the righteous shall not live by
bread." *s But let our diet be light and digesti-
ble, and suitable for keeping awake, unmixed
with diverse varieties. Nor is this a point which
is beyond the sphere of discipline. For love is
a good nurse for communication ; having as its
rich provision sufficiency, which, presiding over
diet measured in due quantity, and treating the
body in a healthful way, distributes something
from its resources to those near us. But the
diet which exceeds sufficiency injures a man,
deteriorates his spirit, and renders his body
prone to disease. Besides, those dainty tastes,

9 I Cor. xiii. 7, 8.
*o Luke xiv. 15.
** I Cor. xiii. 3.
" Rom. xiv. 16, 17.
w Wisd. vi. 17, 18.
»4 Wisd. xvi. 26.
>3 Deut. viii. 3; Matt. iv. 4.

Chap. I.J

THE INSTRUCTOR.

239

which trouble themselves about rich dishes,
drive to practices of ill-repute, daintiness, glut-
tony, greed, voracity, insatiability. Appropriate
designations of such pedple as so indulge are
flies, weasels, flatterers, gladiators, and the mon-
strous tribes of parasites — the one class surren-
dering reason, the other friendship, and the
other life, for the gratification of the belly;
crawling on their bellies, beasts in human shape
after the image of their father, the voracious
beast. People first called the abandoned dcron-ous,
and so appear to me to indicate their end, un-
derstanding them as those who are (do-ioarow)
unsaved, excluding the o-. For those that are
absorbed in pots, and exquisitely prepared nice-
ties of condiments, are they not plainly abject,
earth-bom, leading an ephemeral kind of life,
as if they were not to live [hereafter] ? Those
the Holy Spirit, by Isaiah, denounces as wretched,
depriving them tacitly of the name of love
(agape) y since their feasting was not in accord-
ance with the word. "But they made mirth,
killing calves, and sacrificing sheep, saying. Let
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.*' And
that He reckons such luxury to be sin, is shown
by what He adds, " And your sin shall not be
forgiven you till you die," ' — not conveying the
idea that death, which deprives of sensation, is
the forgiveness of sin, but meaning that death
of salvation which is the recompense of sin.
"Take no pleasure in abominable delicacies,"
says Wisdom.* At this point, too, we have to
advert to what are called things sacrificed to
idols, in order to show how we are enjoined
to abstain from them. Polluted and abomina-
ble those things seem to me, to the blood of
which, fly

" Souls from Erebus of inanimate corpses." 3-.

" For I would not that ye should have fellowship
with demons," ^ says the apostle ; since the food
of those who are saved andthose who perish is
separate. We must therefore abstain from these
viands not for fear (because there is no power
in them) ; but on account of our conscience,
which is holy, and out of detestation of The de-
mons to which they are dedicated, are we to
loathe them ; and further, on account of the in-
stability of those who regard many things in a
way that makes them prone to fall, " whose con-
science, being weak, is defiled : for meat com-
mendeth us not to God." s " For it is not that
which entereth in that defileth a man, but that
which goeth out of his mouth." ^ The natural
use of food is then indifferent. " For neither if
we eat are we the better," it is said, " nor if we

I Isa xxit. x^, 14.

' Ecclus xvtu. 3a.

5 Od^ss.^ xi 37.

* X Cbr. X. ao.

5 X Cor. viii. 7, 8.

^ Matt. XV. IX. t

eat not are we the worse." 7 But it is inconsist-
ent with reason, for those that have been made
worthy to share divine and spiritual food, to
partake of the ^tables of demons. "Have we
not power to eat and to drink," says the apostle,
" and to lead about wives " ? But by keeping v ^
pleasures under command we prevent lusts.
See, then, that this power of yours never " be-
come a stumbling-block to the weak."

For it were not seemly that we, after the fash-
ion of the rich man's son in the Gospel,^ should,
as prodigals, abuse the Father's gifts; but we
should use them, without undue attachment to
them, as having command over ourselves. For
we are enjoined to reign and rule over meats, not
to be slaves to them. It is an admirable thing,
therefore, to raise our eyes aloft to what is true, to
depend on that divine food above, and to satiate
ourselves with the exhaustless contemplation of
that which truly exists, and so taste of the only
sure and pure delight. For such is the agape^
which, the food that comes from Christ shows
that we ought to partake of. But totally irra-
tional, futile, and not human is it for those that
are of the earth, fattening themselves like cattle,
to feed themselves up for death ; looking down-
wards on the earth, and bending ever over tables \
leading a life of gluttony ; burying all the good
of existence here in a Hfe that by and by will
end ; courting voracity alone, in respect to which
cooks are held in higher esteem than husband- .
men. ' For we do not abolish social intercourse,
but look with suspicion on the snares of custom,
and regard them as a calamity. Wherefore
daintiness is to be shunned, and we are to par-
take of few and necessary things. " And if one
of the unbelievers call us to a feast, and we de-
termine to go" (for it is a good thing not to
mix with the dissolute), the apostle bids us "eat
what is set before us, asking no questions for
conscience sake."^ Similarly he has enjoined
to purchase "what is sold in the shambles,"
without curious questioning. *°

We are not, then, to abstain wholly from vari-
ous kinds of food, but only are not to be taken
up about them. We are to partake of what is
set before us, as becomes a Christian, out of re-
spect to him who has invited us, by a harmless
and moderate participation in the social meet-
ing; regarding the sumptuousness oflvhat is
put on the table as a matter of indifference, de-
spising the dainties, as after a little destined to
perish. " Let him who eateth, not despise him
who eatheth not ; and let him who eateth not,
not judge him who eateth." " And a little way
on he explains the reason of the command, when

7 1 Cor. viii. 8.

* Luke XV. 1 1 .

9 I Cor. X. 97.
*° X Cor. X. 25.
** Rom. xiv. 3.

240

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

he says, " He that eateth, eateth to the Lord,
and giveth God thanks ; and he that eateth not,
to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God
thanks." * So that the right food is thanks-
giving. And he who gives thanks does not
occupy his time in pleasures. And if we would
persuade any of our fellow-guests to virtue, we
are all the more on this account to abstain from
those dainty dishes ; and so exhibit ourselves as
a bright pattern of virtue, such as we ourselves
have in Christ. " For if any of such meats make
a brother to stumble, I shall not eat it as long as
the world lasts," says he, " that I may not make
my brother stumble."* I gain the man by a
little self-restraint. '* Have we not power to eat
and to drink ? " ^ And " we know " — he says the
truth — " that an idol is nothing in the world ;
but we have only one true God, of whom are all
things, and one Lord Jesus. But," he says,
" through thy knowledge thy weak brother per-
ishes, for whom Christ died ; and they that wound
the conscience of the weak brethren sin against
Christ." -♦• Thus the apostle, in his solicitude for
us, discriminates in the case of entertainments,
saying, that "if any one called a brother be
found a fornicator, or an adulterer, or an idola-
ter, with such an one not to eat ; " s neither in
discourse or food are we to join, looking with
suspicion on the pollution thence proceeding, as
on the tables of the demons. " It is good, then,
neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine," ^ as both
he and the Pythagoreans acknowledge. For
this is rather characteristic of a beast ; and the
fumes arising from them being dense, darken the
soul. If one partakes of them, he does not sin.
Only let him partake temperately, not depend-
ent on them, nor gaping after fine fare. For a
voice will whisper to him, saying, " Destroy not
the work of God for the sake of food." ' For it
is the mark of a silly mind to be amazed and
stupified at what is presented at vulgar banquets,
after the rich fare which is in the Word ; and
much sillier to make one's eyes the slaves of the
delicacies, so that one's greed is, so to speak,
carried round by the servants. And how foolish
for people to raise themselves on the couches,
all but pitching their faces into the dishes,
stretching out from the couch as from a nest,
according to the common saying, "that they
may catch the wandering steam by breathing it
in ! " And how senseless, to besmear their hands
with the condiments, and to be constantly reach-
ing to the sauce, cramming themselves immoder-
ately and shamelessly, not like people tasting,
but ravenously seizing ! For you may see such

* Rom. xiv. 6.

* I Cor. yiii. X3.

* I Cor. ix. X4.

* I Cor. viii. 6, 11, i3.

* I Cor. V. II.

^ Rom. xiv. 31.
7 Rom. xiv. 20.

people, liker swine or dogs for gluttony than
men, in such a hurry to feed themselves full, that
both jaws are stuffed out at once, the veins about
the face raised, and besides, the perspiration
running all over, as they are tightened with their
insatiable greed, and panting with their excess ;
the food pushed with unsocial, eagerness into
their stomach, as if they wefS^towing away their
victuals for provision for a journey, not for diges-
tion. Excess, which in all things is an evil, is
very highly reprehensible in the matter of food.
Gluttony, called oi/^o^yto, is nothing but excess
in the use of relishes (oil/ov) ; and XaifjMpyia is
insanity with respect to the gullet ; and yturrptfL'
apyia is excess with respect to food — insanity
in reference to the belly, as the name implies ;
for fidpyo^ is a madman. The aposde, checking
those that transgress in their con'3uct at enter-
tainments,^ says : " For every one taketh before-
hand in eating his own supper; and one is
hungry, and another drunken. Have ye not
houses to eat and to drink in ? Or despise ye
the church of God, and shame those who have
not? " 9 And among those who have, they, who
eat shamelessly and are insatiable, shame them-
selves. And both act badly ; the one by paining
those who have not, the other by exposing their
own greed in the presence of those who have.
Necessarily, therefore, against those who have
cast off shame and unsparingly abuse meals,
the insatiable to whom nothing is sufficient, the
apostle, in continuation, again breaks forth in a
voice of displeasure : "So that, my brethren, when
ye come together to eat, wait for one another.
And if any one is hungry, let him eat at home,
that ye come not together to condemnation." '"^
From all slavish habits " and excess we must
abstain, and touch what is set before us in a
decorous way ; keeping the hand and couch and !
chin free of stains ; preserving the grace of the
countenance undisturbed, and committing no '
indecorum in the act of swallowing ; but stretch-
ing out'the hand at intervals in an orderly man-
ner. We must guard against speaking anything
while eating: for the voice becomes disagree-
able and inarticulate when it is confined by full
jaws ; and the tongue, pressed by the food and
impeded in its natural energy, gives forth a
compressed utterance. Nor is it suitable to eat
and to drink simultaneously. For it is the very
extreme of intemperance to confound the times
whose uses are discordant. And "whether ye
eat or drink, do all to the glory of God,""
aiming after true frugality, which the Lord also
seems to me to have hinted at when He blessed

* {Clement seems to think this abuse was connected with the
agaptTy not — one might trust — with the Lord's supper.]

9 I Cor. xi. 31, 22.

»o I Cor. xi. 33, J4.

i> Literally, " slave-manners,'
slaves.

** X Cor. x. 31.

the conduct to be expected froo

Chap. IJ

THE INSTRUCTOR,

241

the loaves and the cooked fishes with which He
feasted the disciples, introducing a beautiful ex-
ample of simple food. That fish then which, at
the command of the Lord, Peter caught, points
to digestible and God-given and moderate food.
And by those who rise from the water to the,
bait of righteousness, He admonishes us to take
away luxury and avarice, as the coin from the
fish ; in order that He might displace vainglory;
and by giving the stater to the tax-gathereirs, ard
" rendering to Caesar the things which a-e
Caesar's," might preserve "to God the thhgs
which are God's.** ' The stater is cag^iMe of
other explanations not unknown to us, iut the
present is not a suitable occasion for Jheir treat-
ment. Let the mention we make *i>r our pres-
ent purpose suffice, as it is not 'unsuitable to the
flowers of the Word ; and we have often done
this, drawing to the urgent pcint of the question
the most beneficial fountah, in order to water
those who have been p.knted by the Word.
" For if it is lawful for me to partake of all
things, yet all things aie not expedient.*' ' For
those that do all that is lawful, quickly fall into
doing what is unlaw^. And just as righteous-
ness is not attaiiie<? by avarice, nor temperance
by excess ; so neither is the regimen of a Chris-
tian formed by indulgence ; for the table of truth
is far from lascivious dainties. For though it
was chiefly (or men's sake that all things were
made, yet it i$ not good to use all things, nor at
all times. For the occasion, and the time, and
the mode, and the intention, materially turn the
balance witfi reference to what is useful, in the
view of one who is rightiy instructed ; and this
is suitable, and has influence in putting a stop
to a life of gluttony, which wealth is prone to
choose, not that wealth which sees clearly, but
that ab^indaDce which makes a man blind with
reference to gluttony. No one is poor as regards
necessaries, and a man is never overlooked.
For there is one God who feeds the fowls and
the fishes, and, in a word, the irrational crea-
tures ; and not one thing whatever is wanting to
them, though "they take no thought for their
food." 5 And we are better than they, being
their lords, and more closely allied to God, as
beiiig wiser; and we were made, not that we
might cat and drink, but that we might devote
oun,elves to the knowledge of God. " For the
just man who eats is satisfied in his soul, but
the belly of the wicked shall want," * filled with
the appetites of insatiable gluttony. Now lavish
«p)ense is adapted not for enjoyment alone, but
al»> for social communication. Wherefore we
naust guard against those articles of food which

i Matt. sxu. ax.

5 Mar . yi. m, etc.
«Piov. xiitsl

persuade us tr eat when we are not hungry,
bewitching tie appetite. For is there not
within a tenfierate. simplicity a wholesome va-
rie|vji^ eatables? Bulbs,5 olives, certain herbs,,
milky cheese, fruits, all kinds of cooked food
without sauces ; and if flesh is wanted, let roast
rather than boiled be set down. Have you any-
thing to eat here ? said the Lord ^ to the disci-
ples after the resurrection ; and they, as taught
by Him to practise frugality, " gave Him a piece
of broiled fish ; " and having eaten before them,
says Luke, He spoke to them what He spoke.""
And in addition to these, it is not to be over-
looked that those who feed according to the
Word are not debarred from dainties in the
shape of honey-combs. For of articles of food,
those are the most suitable which are fit for
immediate use without fire, since they are readi-
est ; and second to these are those which are
simplest, as we said before. But those who
bend around inflammatory tables, nourishing
their own diseases, are ruled by a most lickerish
demon, whom I shall not blush to call the Beljy-
d«pon, and the worst and most abandoned
ofdemons. He is therefore exactly like the one
who is called the Ventriloquist-demon. Itjs
far better to be. happy 7 than toTiave a demon
dwelling with us. And happiness is found in
the practice of virtue. Accordingly, the apostle
Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts,^ and vege-
tables, without flesh. And John, who carried
temperance to the extreme, "ate locusts and
wild honey." Peter abstained from swine ; " but
a trance fell on him," as is written in the Acts
of the Apostles, "and he saw heaven opened,
and a vessel let down on the earth by the four
comers, and all the four-footed beasts and creep-
ing things of the earth and the fowls of heaven
in it ; and there came a voice to him. Rise, and
slay, and eat. Ajid Peter said. Not so, Lord,
for I have never eaten what is common or un-
clean. And the voice came again to him the
second time. What God hath cleansed, call not
thou common." ^ The use of them is accord-
ingly indifferent to us. " For not what entereth
into the mouth defileth the man," '° but the vain
opinion respecting uncleanness. For God, when
He created. man, said, "All things shall be to
you for meat."'* "And herbs, with love, are
better than a calf with fraud." '* This well re-
minds us of what was said above, that herbs are
not love, but that our meals are to be taken
with love j '3 and in these the medium state is

s A bulbous root, much prized in Greece, which grew wild.
*> Luke xxiv. 41-44.

7 A play here on the words tvBaifitav and BaifMU,
B aKp66pvaf hard-shelled fruits.
9 Acts X. X0-15.
*o Matt. XV. IX.

'* Gen. ix. 2, 3. .

" Prov. XV. 17.
>^ In allusion to the aga/uTf or love-feasts.

242

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

good. In all things, indeed, tKs is the case,
and not least in the preparation mide for feast-
ing, since the extremes are dangeroiK,, and mid-
dle courses good. And to be in no waif, of
necessaries is the medium. For the desires
which are in accordance with nature are bounded
by sufficiency. The Jews had frugality enjoined
on them by the law in the most systematic man-
ner. For the Instructor, by Moses, deprived
them of the use of innumerable things, adding
reasons — the spiritual ones hidden ; the carnal
ones apparent, to which indeed they have
trusted; in the case of some animals, because
they did not part the hoof, and others because
they did not ruminate their food, and others be-
cause alone of aquatic animals they were devoid
of scales ; so that altogether but a few were left
appropriate for their food. And of those that
he permitted them to touch, he prohibited such
as had died, or were offered to idols, or had
been strangled ; for to touch these was unlaw-
ful. For since it is impossible for those who
use dainties to abstain from partaking of them,
he appointed the opposite mode of life, till he
should break down the propensity to indulgence
arising from habit. Pleasure has often produced
in men harm and pain ; and full feeding begets
in the soul uneasiness, and forgetfulness, and
foolishness. And they say that the bodies of
children, when shooting up to their height, are
made to grow right by deficiency in nourish-
ment. For then the spirit, which pervades the
body in order to its growth, is not checked by
abundance of food obstructing the freedom of
> its course. Whence that truth^seeking philoso-
I pher Plato, fanning the spark of the Hebrew
I philosophy when condemning a life of luxury,
I says : " On my coming hither, the life which is
Ihere called happy, full of Italian and Syracusan
[tables, pleased me not by any means, [consist-
ing as it did] in being filled twice a day, and
lever sleeping by night alone, and whatever
Dther accessories attend the mode of life. For
lot one man under heaven, if brought up from
lis youth in such practices, will ever turn out a
{wise man, with however admirable a natural
kenius he may be endowed." For Plato was
:not unacquainted with David, who " placed the
pacred ark in his city in the midst of the taber-
nacle ; " and bidding all his subjects rejoice
f * before the Lord, divided to the whole host of
Israel, man and woman, to each a loaf of bread,
and baked bread, and a cake from the frying-
pan." »

This was the sufficient sustenance of the
Israelites. But that of the Gentiles was over-
abundant. No one who uses it will ever study
to become tempetate, burying as he does his

' 3 Kings vi. 17-19, Septuagint: 2 Sam. vi. X7-19. A. V.

I •

mind in his belly, very like the fish called ass,^
which, Aristotle says, alone of all creatures has
its heart in its stomach. This fish Epicharmus
the comic poet calls " monster-paunch."

Such are the men who believe in their belly,

j" whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their

shame, who mind earthly things." To them the

apostle predicted no good when he said, " whose

Old is destruction." ^

CHAP. II. — ON DRINKING.

^*Use a little wine," says the aposde to Timo-
thy, \^o drank water, " for thy stomach's sake ; " ♦
most prjDerly applying its aid as a strengthening
tonic suiti>le to a sickly body enfeebled with
watery humours ; and specifying " a little," lest
the remedy should, on account of its quantity,
unobserved, crei^ the necessity of other treat-
ment.

The natural, temperate, and necessar>^ bever-
age, therefore, for the thirsty is water.s This
was the simple drink di sobriety, which, flowing
from the smitten rock, wis supplied by the Ix)rd
to the ancient Hebrews.* It was most requisite
that in their wanderings they should be temper-
ate.'

Afterwards the sacreij vine produced the pro-
phetic cluster. This was a sign to them, when
trained fi-om wandering to their rest ; represent-
ing the great cluster the Word, bruised for us.
For the blood of the grape — that is, the Word
— desired to be mixed with water, as His blood
is mingled with salvation.

And the blood of the Lord is tw(>fold. For<J
there is the blood of His flesh, by which we are I
redeemed from corruption; and the spiritual,/
that by which we are anointed. And to drink |
the blood of Jesus, is to become paitaker of
the Lord's immortality; the Spirit being the
energetic principle of the Word, as blood is of
flesh.8

Accordingly, as wine is blended with urater,"^
so is the Spirit with man. And the on«, tlie
mixture of wine and water, nourishes to faith ;
while the other, the Spirit, conducts to imnior-
tality.

And the mixture of both — of the water and
of the Word — is called Eucharisty renovned
and glorious grace ; and they who by faith par-
take of it are sanctified both in body and >oul.J
For the divine mixture, man, the Father's will

3 ovof , perhaps the hake or cod.
3 Phil. lii. 19.

* I Tim. V. 23.

5 [This remarkable chapter seems to begin with the authors
recollections of Pindar (apiaroi' ^lei' vSwp), but to lay down ^'cry
justly the Scriptural ideas of temperance and abstinence.]

^ Ex. xvii.; Num. xx.

f [Clement reckons only two classes as living faithfully wit)> (*'
spect to drink, the abstinent and the totally aistinent.J

* [This seems Clement's exposition of St. John (vi. 65), and •* clear
statement as to the Eucharist, which he pronounces spirituaV''^-l

9 [A plain reference to the use of the mixed cup in ^c Lords
supper.]

Chap. II.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

243

has mystically compounded by the Spirit and the
Word. For, in truth, the spirit is joined to the
soul, which is inspired by it ; and the flesh, by
reason of which the Word became flesh, to the
Word.

I therefore admire those who have adopted
jan austere life, and who are fond of water, the
' medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possi-
ble from wine, shunning it as they would the
danger of fire.' It is proper, therefore, that
*boys and girls should keep as v much as possible
away from this medicine. For it is not right
to pour into the burning season of life the hot-
test of all liquids — wine — adding, as it were,
fire to fire.* For hence wild impulses and burn-
ing lusts and fiery habits are kindled ; and young
men inflamed from within become prone to the
indulgence of vicious propensities ; so that signs
of injury appear in their body, the members of
lust coming to maturity sooner than they ought.
The breasts and organs of generation, inflamed
with wine, expand and swell in a shameful way,
already exhibiting beforehand the image of for-
nication ; and the body compels the wound of
the soul to inflame, and shameless pulsations
follow abundance, inciting the man of correct
behaviour to transgression ; and hence the vo-
lupiuou.sness of youth overpasses the bounds of
modesty. And we must, as far as possible, try
to quench the impulses of youth by removing
the Bacchic fuel of the threatened danger ; and
by pouring the antidote to the inflammation, so
keep down the burning soul, and keep in the
swelling members, and allay the agitation of lust
when it is already in commotion. And in the
case of grown-up people, let those with whom
It agrees sometimes partake of dinner, tasting
bread only, and let them abstain wholly fi-om
drink ; in order that their superfluous moisture
may be absorbed and drunk up by the eating of
dry food. For constant spitting and wiping ofl"
perspiration, and hastening to evacuations, is the
sign of excess, from the immoderate use of
liquids supplied in excessive quantity to the
body. And if thirst come on, let the appetite
be satisfied with a little water. For it is not
proper that water should be supplied in too
great profusion ; in order that the food may not
be drowned, but ground down in order to diges-
tion ; and this takes place when the victuals are
collected into a mass, and only a small portion
is evacuated.

And, besides, it suits divine studies not to be
heavy with wine. " For unmixed wine is far
from compelling a man to be wise, much less
temperate," according to the comic poet. But

but

' [If i^ temperate do well, he thinks, the abstinent do better;
nobody is temperate who does not often and habitually abstain.]
^ [A very important principle; for, if wine be "the milk of
a^c " the use of it in youtti deprives age of any benefit from its sober

use].

towards evening, about supper- time, wine may
be used, whdn we are no longer engaged in more
serious readings. Then also the air becomes
colder than it is during the day; so that the
failing natural warmth requires to be nourished
by the introduction of heat. But even then it
must only be a little wine that is to be used \ for
we must not go on to intemperate potations.
Those who are already advanced in life may par-
take more cheerfully of the draught, to warm by
the harmless medicine of the vine the chill of
age, whicK the decay of time has produced. For
old men's passions are not, for the most part,
stirred to such agitation as to drive them to the
shipwreck of drunkenness. For being moored
by reason and time, as by anchors, they stand
with greater ease the storm of passions which
rushes down from intemperance. They also may 1 j
be permitted to indulge in pleasantry at feasts.
But to them also let the limit of their potations
be the point up to which they keep their reason
unwavering, their memory active, and their body
unmoved and unshaken by wine. People in such
a state are called by those who are skilful in
these matters, acroihorakes^ It is well, there-
fore, to leave ofl" betimes, for fear of tripping.

One Artorius, in his book On Long Life (for
so I remember), thinks that drink should be
taken only till the food be moistened, that we
may attain to a longer life. It is fitting, then,
that some apply wine by way of physic, for the
sake of health alone, and others for purposes of
relaxation and enjoyment. For first wine makes
the man who has drunk it more benignant than
before, more agreeable to his boon companions,
kinder to his domestics, and more pleasant to
his friends. But when intoxicated, he becomes
violent instead. For wine being warm, and hav-
ing sweet juices when duly mixed, dissolves the
foul excrementitious matters by its warmth, and
mixes the acrid and base humours with the agree-
able scents.

It has therefore been well said, " A joy of the
soul and heart was wine created from the begin-
ning, when drunk in moderate sufficiency."^
And it is best to mix the wine with as much water
as possible, and not to have recourse to it as to
water, and so get enervated to drunkenness, and
not pour it in as water from love of wine. For
both are works of God ; and so the mixture of
both, of water and of wine, conduces together to
health, because life consists of what is necessary
and of what is useful. With water, then, which
is the necessary of life, and to be used in abun-
dance, there is also to be mixed the useful.

By an immoderate quantity of wine the tongue

3 The exact derivation o\ acrothorakes is matter of doubt. But
we have the authority of Aristotle and Erotian for believing that it
was applied to those who were slightly dnuik. Some regard the
clause here as an interpolation.

4 Ecclus. xxxi. 37.

244

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book IL

is impeded ; the lips are relaxed ; the eyes roll
wildly, the sight, as it were, swimming through
the quantity of moisture ; and compelled to
deceive, they think that everything is revolving
round them, and cannot count distant objects j
as single. " And, in truth, methinks I see two I
I suns," ' said the Theban old man in his cups, j
For the sight, being disturbed by the heat of
the wine, frequently fancies the substance of one
object to be manifold. And there is no differ-
ence between moving the eye or the object seen.
For both have the same effect on the sight, which,
on account of the fluctuation, cannot accurately
obtain a perception of the object. And the feet
are carried from beneath the man as by a flood,
and hiccuping and vomiting and maudlin non-
sense follow ; " for every intoxicated man," ac-
cording to the tragedy,* —

" Is conquered by anger, and empty of sense,
And likes to pour forth much silly speech ;
And is wont to hear unwillingly,
What evil words he with his will hath said."

And before tragedy. Wisdom cried, " Much wine
drunk abounds in irntation and all manner of
mistakes." 3 Wherefore most people say that
you ought to relax over your cups, and postpone
serious business till morning. I however think
that then especially ought reason to be intro-
duced to mix in the feast, to act the part of
director (paedagogue) to wine-drinking, lest
conviviaHty imperceptibly degenerate to drunk-
enness. For as no sensible man ever thinks it
requisite to shut his eyes before going to sleep,
so neither can any one rightly wish reason to be
absent from the festive board, or can well study
to lull it asleep till business is begim. But the
Word can never quit those who belong to Him,
not even if we are asleep ; for He ought to be
invited even to our sleep.-* For perfect wisdom,
which is knowledge of things divine and human,
which comprehends all that relates to the over-
sight of the flock of men, becomes, in reference
to life, art ; and so, while we live, is constantly
with us, always accomplishing its own proper
work, the product of which is a good life.

But the miserable wretches who expel temper-
ance from conviviality, think excess in drinking
to be the happiest life ; and their life is nothing
but revel, debauchery, baths, excess, urinals, idle-
ness, drink. You may see some of them, half-
drunk, staggering, with crowns round their necks
like wine jars, vomiting drink on one another in
the name of good fellowship ; and others, full of
the effects of their debauch, dirty, pale in the
face, livid, and still above yesterday's bout pour-
ing another bout to last till next morning. It is

* Pentheus in Euripides, Bacck.^ 918.

* Attributed to Sophocles.
^ Ecclus. xxxi. 39.
4 [A beautiful maxim, and proving the habit of eariy Christians to

use completory prayers. This the drunkard is in no state to do.]

well, my friends, it is well to make our acquaint-
ance with this picture at the greatest possible dis-
tance from it, and to frame ourselves to what is
better, dreading lest we also become a like spec-
tacle and laughing-stock to others.

It has been appropriately said, "As the fur-
nace prove th the steel blade in the process
of dipping, so wine proveth the heart of the
haughty." s A debauch is the immoderate use
of wine, intoxication the disorder that results from
such use ; crapulousness (K/KHTroXiy) is the dis-
comfort and nausea that follow a debauch, so
called from the head shaking (Kopa n-oAActv).

Such a life as this (if life it must be called,
which is spent in idleness, in agitation about
voluptuous indulgences, and in the hallucinations
of debauchery) the divine Wisdom looks on with
contempt, and commands her children, " Be not
a wine-bibber, nor spend your money in the
purchase of flesh ; for every drunkard and forni-
cator shall come to beggary, and every sluggard
shall be clothed in tatters and rags."^ For
every one that is not awake to wisdom, but is
steeped in wine, is a sluggard. " And the drunk-
ard," he says, ** shall be clothed in rags, and be
ashamed of his drunkenness in the presence of
onlookers." 7 For the wounds of the sinner are
the rents of the garment of the flesh, the holes
made by lusts, through which the shame of the
soul within is seen — namely sin, by reason of
which it will not be easy to save the garment*
that has been torn away aJl round, that has rotted
away in many lusts, and has been rent asunder
from salvation.

So he adds these most monitory words. " Who
has woes, who has clamour, who has contentions,
who has disgusting babblings, who has unavail-
ing remorse ? " ^ You see, in all his raggedness,
the lover of wine, who despises the Word Him-
self, and has abandoned and given himself to
drunkenness. You see what threatening Scrip-
ture has pronounced against him. And to its
threatening it adds again : " Whose are red eyes?
Those, is it not, who tarry long at their wine, and
hunt out the places where drinking goes on ? "
Here he shows the lover of drink to be already
dead to the Word, by the mention of the blood-
shot eyes, — a mark which appears on corpses,
announcing to him death in the Lord. For for-
getfulness of the things which tend to true life
turns the scale towards destruction. With reason
therefore, the Instnictor, in His solicitude for our
salvation, forbids us, " Drink not wine to dnmk-
enness." Wherefore? you will ask. Because,
says He, " thy mouth will then speak pen*erse
things, and thou liest down as in the heart of the

S Ecclus. xxxi. 96.
* Prov. xxiii. 20.
7 Prov. xxiii. ai.
■ Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.

Chap. II.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

245

sea, and as the steersman of a ship in the midst
of huge billows." Hence, too, poetry comes to
our help, and ssCys : —

•* Let wine which has strength eaual to fire come to men.
Then will it agitate them, as the north or south wind
agitates the Libyan waves."

And further : —

*• Wine wandering in speech shows all secrets.
Soul-deceiving wine is the ruin of those who drink it."

And so on.

You see the danger of shipwreck. The heart
is drowned in much drink. The excess of drunk-
enness is compared to the danger of the sea, in
which when the body has once been sunken like
a ship, it descends to the depths of turpitude,
overwhelmed in the mighty billows of wine ; and
the helmsman, the human mind, is tossed about
on the surge of drunkenness, which swells aloft ;
and buried in the trough of the sea, is blinded
by the darkness of the tempest, having drifted
away from the haven of truth, till, dashing on the
rocks beneath the sea, it perishes, driven by
itself into voluptuous indulgences.

With reason, therefore, the apg^tle enjoins,
" Be not drunk with wine, in which there is much
excess ; ** by the term excess {ajruyrui) intimating
the inconsistence of drunkenness with salvation
(to aa-tooTov), For if He made water wine at
the marriage. He did not give permission to get
drunk. He gave life to the watery element of
the meaning of the law, filling with His blood the
doer of it who is of Adam, that is, the whole
world ; supplying piety with drink from the vine
of truth, the mixture of the old law and of the
new word, in order to the fulfilment of the pre-
destined time. The Scripture, accordingly, has
named wine the symbol of the sacred blood ; '
but reproving the base tippling with the dregs of
wine, it says : "Intemperate is wine, and insolent
is drunkenness." * It is agreeable, therefore, to
right reason, to drink on account of the cold of
winter, till the numbness is dispelled from those
who are subject to feel it ; and on other occa-
sions as a medicine for the intestines. For, as
we are to use food to satisfy hunger, so also are |
we to use drink to satisfy thirst, taking the most I
careful precautions against a slip : " for the intro-
duction of wine is perilous." And thus shall our
soul be purie, and dry, and luminous ; and the
soul itself is wisest and best when dry. And
thus, too, is it fit for contemplation, and is not
humid with the exhalations, that rise from wine,
forming a mass like a cloud. We must not there-
" fore trouble ourselves to procure Chian wine if it
is absent, or Ariousian when it is not at hand.
For thirst is a sensation of want, and craves
means suitable for supplying the want, and not

^ [A passage not to be overlooked. Greek, tiwriKov av^/SoAoK.]
' Prov. XX. 1.

sumptuous liquor. Importations of wines from
beyond seas are for an appetite enfeebled by
excess, where the soul even before drunkenness
is insane in its desires. For there are the fra-
grant Thasian wine, and the pleasant-breathing
Lesbian, and a sweet Cretan wine, and sweet
Syracusan wine, and Mendusian, an Egyptian
wine, and the insular Naxian, the " highly per-
fumed and flavoured," 3 another wine of the land
of Italy. These are many names. For the tem-
perate drinker, one wine suffices, the product of
the cultivation of the one God. For why should
not the wine of their own country satisfy men's
desires, unless they were to import water also,
like the foolish Persian kings? The Choaspes,
a river of India so called, was that from which
the best water for drinking — the Choaspian —
was got. As wine, when taken, makes people
lovers of it, so does water too. The Holy Spirit,
uttering His voice by Amos, pronounces the rich
to be wretched on account of their luxury : ♦
" Those that drink strained wine, and recline on
an ivory couch," he says ; and what else similar
he adds by way of reproach.

Especial regard is to be paid to decency 5 (as
the myth represents Athene, whoever she was,
out of regard to it, giving up the pleasure of the
flute because of the unseemliness of the sight) :
so that we are to drink without contortions of the
face, not greedily grasping the cup, nor before
drinking making the eyes roll with unseemly
motion ; nor from intemperance are we to drain
the cup at a draught ; nor besprinkle the chin,
nor splash the garments while gulping down all
the liquor at once, — our face all but filling the
bowl, and drowned in it. For the gurgling oc-
casioned by the drink rushing with violence, and
by its being drawn in with a great deal of breath,
as if it were being poured into an earthenware
vessel, while the throat makes a noise through
the rapidity of ingurgitation, is a shameful and
unseemly spectacle of intemperance. In addi-
tion to this, eagerness in drinking is a practice
injurious to the the partaker. Do not haste to
mischief, my friend. Your drink is not being
taken from you. It is given you, and waits you.
Be not eager to burst, by draining it down with
gaping throat. Your thirst is satiated, even if
you drink slower, observing decorum, by taking
the beverage in small portions, in an orderly way.
For that which intemperance greedily seizes, is
not taken away by taking time.

" Be not mighty," he says, " at wine ; for wine
has overcome many."^ The Scythians, the Celts,
the Iberians, and the Thracians, all of them war-

3 livBovfiiai. Some suppose the word to be derived from the name
of a town: " The Anthosmian."

* Amos vi. 4, 6.

5 [Here Clement satirizes heathen manners, and qtiotes Athene,
to shame Christians who imiute them.]

^ Ecclus. xxxi. 35.

246

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[Book II.

like races, are greatly addicted to intoxication,
and think that it is an honourable, happy pursuit
to engage in. But we, the people of peace, feast-
ing for lawful enjoyment, not to wantonness,
drink sober cups of friendship, that our friend-
ships may be shown in a way truly appropriate
to the name.

In what manner do you think the Lord drank
when He became man for our sakes ? As shame-
lessly as we? Was it not with de^rum and
propriety? Was it not deliberately? For rest
assured. He Himself also partook of wine ; for
He, too, was man. And He blessed the wine, say-
ing, "Take, drink : this is my blood" — the blood
of the vine.' He figuratively calls the Word
" shed for many, for the remission of sins " —
the holy stream of gladness. And that he who
drinks ought to observe moderation, He clearly
showed by what He taught at feasts. For He
did not teach affected by wine. And that it was
wine which was the thing blessed, He showed
again, when He said to His disciples, " I will not
drink of the fruit of this vine, till I drink it with
you in the kingdom of my Father.*" But that it
was wine which was drunk by the Lord, He tells
us again, when He spake concerning Himself,
reproaching the Jews for their hardness of heart :
" For the Son of man," He says, " came, and
they say. Behold a glutton and a wine-bibber,
a friend of publicans." ^ Let this be held fast by
I us against those that are called Encratites.

But women, making a profession, forsooth, of
aiming at the graceful, that their lips may not be
rent apart by stretching them on broad drinking
cups, and so widening the mouth, drinking in an
unseemly way out of alabastra quite too narrow
in the mouth, throw back their heads and bare
their necks indecently, as I think ; and distend-
ing the throat in swallowing, gulp down the
liquor as if to make bare all they can to their
boon companions ; and drawing hiccups like
men, or rather like slaves, revel in luxurious riot.
For nothing disgraceful is proper for man, who
is endowed with reason ; much less for woman,
to whom it brings modesty even to reflect of what
nature she is.

" An intoxicated woman is great wrath," it is
said, as if a drunken woman were the wrath of
God. Why? " Because she will not conceal
her shame." "♦ For a woman is quickly drawn
down to licentiousness, if she only set her choice
on pleasures. And we have not prohibited
drinking from alabastra ; but we forbid studying
to drink from them alone, as arrogant ; counsel-
ling women to use with indifference what comes

' [The blood of the vine is Christ's blood. According to Clement,
then, It remains in the Eucharist unchanged.]

' Mark xvi. 25; Matt. xxvi. 29. [This also is a noteworthy use of
the text.]

3 Matt. xi. 19.

* Ecclus. xxvi. 8.

in the way, and cutting up by the roots the dan-
gerous appetites that are in them. Let the rush
of air, then, which regurgitates so as to produce
hiccup, be emitted silently.

But by no manner of means are women to l)e
allowed to uncover and exhibit any part of their
person, lest both fall, — the men by being ex-
cited to look, they by drawing on themselves
the eyes of the men.

But always must we conduct ourselves as in
the Lord's presence, lest He say to us, as the
apostle in indignation said to the Corinthians,
" When ye come together, this is not to eat the
Lord's supper." s

To me, the star called by the mathematicians
Acephalus (headless), which is numbere3 before
the wandering star, his head resting on his
breast, seems to be a type of the gluttonous, the
voluptuous, and those that are prone to drunken-
ness. For in such * the faculty of reasoning is
not situated in the head, but among the intesti-
nal appetites, enslaved to lust and anger. For
just as Elpenor broke his neck through intoxica-
tion,7 so the brain, dizzied by drunkenness, falls
down from above, with a great fall to the liver
and the heart, that is, to voluptuousness and
anger : as the sons of the poets say Hephaestus
was hurled by Zeus from heaven to earth.'*
"The trouble of sleeplessness, and bile, and
cholic, are with an insatiable man," it is said.9

W^herefore also Noah's intoxication was re-
corded in writing, that, with the clear and writ-
ten description of his transgression before us, we
might guard with all our might against drunken-
ness. For which cause they who covered the
shame *° of his drunkenness are blessed by the
Lord. The Scripture accordingly, giving a most
comprehensive compend, has expressed all in
one word : " To an instructed man sufficiency is
wine, and he will rest in his bed." "

CHAP. III. — ON COSTLY VESSELS.

And so the use of cups made of silver and
gold, and of tohers inlaid with precious stones,
is out of place, being only a deception of the
vision. For if you pour any warm liquid into
them, the vessels becoming hot, to touch them
is painful. On the other hand, if you pour in
what is cold, the material changes its quality,
injuring the mixture, and the rich potion is hurt-
ful. Away, then, with Thericleian cups and

5 X Cor. xi. 30. [Clement has already hinted his opintan, t'"Jt
this referred lo a shameful custom of the Corinthians to let an (T/i/#
precede the Eucharist : an abuse erowine out of our Lord's eating «*>/
the Passover before he instituted the Eucnarist.]

** rouToif . an emendation for rovry.

7 Odyss.y xi. 65.

' Iliad, i. 591.

9 Ivrclus. xxxi. ao.
*° Shem and Japheth.

" See Ecclus. xxxi. 19, where, however, we have a diflerent read-
ing.

Chap. III.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

247

Antigonides, and Canthari, and goblets, and Le-
pastae,' and the endless shapes of drinking ves-
sels, and wine-coolers, and wine-pourers also.
For, on the whole, gold and silver, both publicly
and privately, are an invidious possession when
they exceed what is necessary, seldom to be ac-
quired, difficult to keep, and not adapted for
use. The elaborate vanity, too, of vessels in
glass chased, more apt to break on account of
the art, teaching us to fear while we drink, is to
be banished from our well-ordered constitution.
And silver couches, and pans and vinegar-saucers,
and trenchers and bowls ; and besides these,
vessels of silver and gold, some for serving food,
and others for other uses which I am ashamed
to name, of easily cleft cedar and thyine wood,
and ebony, and tripods fashioned of ivory, and
couches with silver feet and inlaid with ivory,
and folding-doors of beds studded with gold and
variegated with tortoise-shell, and bed-clothes of
purple and other colours difficult to produce,
pro6fs of tasteless luxury, cunning devices of
envy and effeminacy, — are all to be relinquished,
as having nothing whatever worth our pains.
" For the time is short," as says the apostle.
This then remains that we do not make a ridicu-
lous figure, as some are seen in the public spec-
tacles outwardly anointed strikingly for imposing
effect, but wretched within. Explaining this
more clearly, he adds, " It remains that they that
have wives be as though they had none, and they
that buy as though they possessed not." * And
if he speaks thus of marriage, in reference to
which God says, "Multiply," how do you not
think that senseless display is by the Lord's
authority to be banished ? Wherefore also the
Lord says, " Sell what thou hast, and give to
the poor ; and come, follow me." '

Follow God, stripped of arrogance, stripped
of fading display, possessed of that which is thine,
which is good, what alone cannot be taken away
— faith towards god, confession towards Him
who suffered, beneficence towards men, which is
the most precious of possessions. For my part,
I approve of Plato, who plainly lays it down as a
law, that a man is not to labour for wealth of
gold or silver, nor to possess a useless vessel
which is not for some necessary purpose, and
moderate ; so that the same thing may serve for
many purposes, and the possession of a variety
of things may be done away with. Excellently,
therefore, the Divine Scripture, addressing boast-
ers and lovers of their own selves, says, " Where
are the rulers of the nations, and the lords of the
wild beasts of the earth, who sport among the
birds of heaven, who treasured up silver and
gold, in whom men trusted, and there was no

I Limpet-shaped cup«. [On this chapter consuh Kaye, p. 74.]
' I Cor. vii. 29, 30.
^ Matt. xix. 21.

end of their substance, who fashioned silver and
gold, and were full of care ? There is no finding
of their works. They have vanished, and gone
down to Hades." ^ Such is the reward of dis-
play. For though such of us as cultivate the \
soil need a mattock and plough, none of us will
make a pickaxe of silver or a sickle of gold, but
we employ the material which is serviceable for
agriculture, not what is costly. What prevents
those who are capable of considering what is sim-
ilar from entertaining- the same sentiments with
respect to household utensils, of which let use, not
expense, be the measure? For tell me, does
the table-knife not cut unlest it be studded with
silver, and have its handle made of ivory? Or
must we forge Indian steel in order to divide
meat, as when we call for a weapon for the fight?
What if the basin be of earthenware ? will it not ,
receive the dirt of the hands ? or the footpan the,
dirt of the foot? Will the table that is fashioned
with ivory feet be indignant at bearing a three-
halfpenny loaf? Will the lamp not dispense
light because it is the work of the potter, not of
the goldsmith ? I affirm that truckle-beds afford
no worse repose than the ivory couch ; and the
goatskin coverlet being amply sufficient to spread
on the bed, there is no need of purple or scarlet
coverings. Yet to* condemn, notwithstanding,
frugality, through the stupidity of luxury, the
author of mischief, what a prodigious error, what
senseless conceit ! See. The Lord ate from a
common bowl, and made the disciples recline
on the grass on the ground, and washed their
feet, girded with a linen towel — He, the lowly-
minded God, and Lord of the universe. He tlid
not bring down a silver foot-bath from heaven.
He asked to drink of the Samaritan woman, wl^o
drew the water from the well in an earthenware
vessel, not seeking regal gold, but Teaching us
how to quench thirst easily. For He made use,
not extravagance His aim. And He ate and
drank at feasts, not digging metals from the earth,
nor using vessels of gold and silver, that is, ves-
sels exhaling the odour of rust — such fumes as
the rust of smoking 5 metal gives off.

1^'or in fine, in food, and clothes, and vessels,
and everything else belonging to the house, I
say comprehensively, that one must follow the
institutions of the Christian^ man, as is service-
able and suitable to one's person, age, pursuits,
time of life. For it becomes those that are
servants of one (Jod, that their possessions and
furniture should exhibit the tokens of one beau-
tiful 7 life ; and that each individually should be
seen in faith, which shows no difference, practis-
ing all other things which are conformable to

* Baruch iii. 16-19.

5 Or, proud.

6 [See Elucidation I. eKO-raacaiK rov Xpurriavov.]

7 KoAou.

248

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

this uniform mode of life, and harmonious with
this one scheme.

What we acquire without difficulty, and use
with ease, we praise, keep easily, and communi-
cate freely. The things which are useful are
preferable, and consequently cheap things are
better than dear. In fine, wealth, when not
properly governed, is a stronghold of evil, about
which many casting their eyes, they will never
reach the kingdom of heaven, sick for the things
of the world, and living proudly through luxury.
But those who are in earnest about salvation
must settle this beforehand in their mind, " that
all that we possess is given to us for use, and use
for sufficiency, which one may attain to by a few
things." For silly are they who, from greed,
take delight in what they have hoarded up.
" He that gathereth wages," it is said, " gathereth
into a bag with holes." ' Such is he who gathers
corn and shuts it up ; and he who giveth to no
one, becomes poorer.

It is a farce, and a thing to make one laugh
outright, for men to bring in silver urinals and
crystal vases de nuit, as they usher in their
counsellors, and for silly rich women to get gold
receptacles for excrements made ; so that being
rich, they cannot even ease themselves except
in superb way. I would that in their whole life
they deemed gold fit for dung.

But now love of money is found to be the
stronghold of evil, which the apostle says " is
the root of all evils, which, while some coveted,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced
themselves through with many sorrows." "

But the best riches is poverty of desires ; and
the true magnanimity is not to be proud of
wealth, but to despise it. Boasting about one's
plate is utterly base. For it is plainly wrong to
care much about what any one who likes may
buy from the market. But wisdom is not bought
with coin of earth, nor is it sold in the market-
place, but in heaven. And it is sold for true
coin, the immortal Word, the regal gold.

CHAP. IV. — HOW TO CONDUCT OURSELVES AT

FEASTS.

Let revelry keep away from our rational enter-
tainments, and foolish vigils, too, that revel in
intemperance. For revelry is an inebriating pipe,
the chain ^ of an amatory bridge, that is, of sor-
row. And let love, and intoxication, and senseless
passions, be removed from our choir. Burlesque
singing is the boon companion of drunkenness.
A night spent over drink invites drunkenness,
rouses lust, and is audacious in deeds of shame.
For if people occupy their time with pipes, and
psalteries, and choirs, and dances, and Egyptian

' Hag. i. 6.

2 I Tim. vi. lo.

3 The reading aAv(rif is here adopted. The passage is obscure.

clapping of hands, and such disorderly frivolities,
they become quite immodest and intractable,
beat on cymbals and drums, and make a noise
on instruments of delusion ; for plainly such a
banquet, as seems to me, is a theatre of drunken-
ness. For the apostle decrees that, "putting
off the works of darkness, we should put on the
armour of light, walking honestly as in the day,
not spending our time in rioting and drunken-
ness, in chambering and wantonness." ^ Let the
pipe be resigned to the shepherds, and the flute
to the superstitious who are engrossed in idolafry.
For, in truth, such instruments are to be banished
firom the temperate banquet^ being more suitable
to beasts than men, and the more irrational por-
tion of mankind. For we have heard of stags
being charmed by the pipe, and seduced by
music into the toils, when hunted by the hunts-
men. And when mares are being covered, a tune
is played on the flute — a nuptial song, as it were.
And every improper sight and sound, to speak in
a word, and every shameful sensation of licen-
tiousness — which, in truth, is privation of sensa-
tion — must by all means be excluded ; and we
must be on our guard against whatever pleasure
titillates eye and ear, and efleminates. For the
various spells of the broken strains and plaintive
numbers of the Carian muse corrupt men's
morals, drawing to perturbation of mind, by the
licentious and mischievous art of music.5

The Spirit, distinguishing from such revelr}''
the divine service, sings, " Praise Him with the
sound of trumpet ; " for with sound of trumpet
He shall raise the dead. " Praise Him on the
psaltery ; " for the tongue is the psaltery of the
Lord. " And praise Him on the lyre." ^ By
the lyre is meant the mouth stnick by the Spirit, as
it were by a plectrum. " Praise with the timbrel
and the dance," refers to the Chuich meditating
on the resurrection of the dead in the resounding
skin. " Praise Him on the chords and organ."
Our body He calls an organ, and its nerves are
the strings, by which it has received harmonious
tension, and when stnick by the Spirit, it gives
forth human voices. " Praise Him on the clash-
ing cymbals." He calls the tongue the cymbal
of the mouth, which resounds with the pulsation
of the lips. Therefore He cried " hur-.-j-^ity,
" Let every breath praise the toRD,* ')• ( a'>. He
cares for every breathing thing whi. 'i Ih ath
made. For man is tnily a pacifi« r^^ir \, nt ;
while other instruments, if you invest :., ■ you
will find to be warlike, inflaming to lists. >: kin-
dling up amours, or rousing wrath.

In their wars, therefore, the Etiis. an< ii^v- the
trumpet, the Arcadians the pipe, the Si« iii;* the

* Rom.iiix. 12, x

?•

5 [He distinguishes between the lewd miiMv ,
(Tatian, cap. xxxiii. p. 79, jx/ra), and anothei - 1 o* mu >>«
he will soon speak.]

*» Ps. cl. 3, 5.

c odes
' which

Chap. V.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

249

pectides, the Cretans the lyre, the I^cedaemo-
niaiis the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyp-
tians the drum, and the Arabians the cymbal.
The one instrument of peace,"lHe Word alone by
which we honour God, is what we employ. We
no longer employ the ancient psaltery, and trum-
pet, and timbrel, and flute, which those expert in
war and contemners of the fear of God were
wont to make use of also in the choruses at their
festive assemblies ; that by such strains they might
raise their dejected minds. But let our genial
feeling in drinking be twofold, in accordance with
the law. For " if thou shalt love the Lord thy
God," and then "thy neighbour," let its first
manifestation be towards God in thanksgiving
and psalmody, and the second toward our neigh-
bour in decorous fellowship. For says the apos-
tle, "Let the Word of the Lord dwell in you
richly." ' And this Word suits and conforms
Himself to seasons, to persons, to places.

In the present instance He is a guest with us.
For the apostle adds again, " Teaching and ad-
monishing one another in all wisdom, in psalms,
and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your heart to God." And again, " What-
soever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and His
Father." This is our thankful revelry. And
even if you wish to sing and play to the harp or
lyre, there is no blame. ^ Thou shalt imita'te the
righteous Hebrew king in his thanksgiving to
God. " Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous ; praise
is comely to the upright," 3 says the prophecy.
" Confess to the Lord on the harp ; play to Him
on the psaltery of ten strings. Sing to Him a
new song." And does not the ten-stringed psal-
tery indicate the Word Jesus, who is manifested
bv the element of the decad ? And as it is be-
fitting, before partaking of food, that we should
bless the Creator of all ; so also in drinking it is
suitable to praise Him on partaking of His crea-
tures."* For the psalm is a melodious and sober
blessing. The apostle calls the psalm " a spirit-
ual song." 5

Finally, before partaking of sleep, it is a sacred
duty to give thanks to God, having enjoyed His
grace and love, and so go straight to sleep.^
" And confess to Him in songs of the lips," he
says, " because in His command all His good
pleasure is done, and there is no deficiency in
His salvation." 7

Further, among the ancient Greeks, in their

' Col. lii. 16.

2 [Here instrumental music is allowed, though he turas everything
into a type.]

■^ Ps. xxxiii. T-3.

< ( Even the heathen had such forms. The Christian grace before
and after meat is here recognised as a matter of course, z Tim.

«v. 3.4-]

s Eph. V. zg: Col. tii. z6.

6 [Besides the hymn on lighting the lamps ^ he notes completory
prayer at bedtime.]

7 Wisd. Sizach (Ecclus.) xxxix. z5, z6.

banquets over the brimming cups, a song was
sung called a skolion, after the manner of the
Hebrew psalms, all together raising the paean with
the voice, and sometimes also taking turns in
the song while they drank healths round ; while
those that were more musical than the rest sang
to the lyre. But let amatory songs be banished
far away, and let our songs be hymns to God. '
" Let them praise," it is said, " His name in the
dance, and let them play to Him on the timbrel
and psaltery."* And what is the choir which
plays ? The Spirit will show thee : " Let His praise
be in the congregation (church) of the saints ;
let them be joyful in their King." ^ And again
he adds, " The Lord will take pleasure in His
people." *** For temperate harmonies" are to
be admitted ; but we are to banish as far as possi-
ble from our robust mind those liquid harmonies,
which, through pernicious arts in the modulations
of tones, train to effeminacy and scurrility. But
grave and modest strains say farewell to the tur-
bulence of drunkenness." Chromatic harmonies
are therefore to be abandoned to immodest rev-
els, and to florid and meretricious music.

CHAP. v. — ON LAUGHTER.

People who are imitators of ludicrous sensa-
tions, or rather of such as deserve derision, are
to be driven from our polity. '^

For since all forms of speech flow from mind
and manners, ludicrous expressions could not
be uttered, did they not proceed from ludicrous
practices. For the saying, "It is not a good y
tree which produces corrupt fruit, nor a corrupt
tree which produces good fruit," *'♦ is to be ap-
plied in this case. For speech is the fruit of
the mind. If, then, wags are to be ejected from •
our society, we ourselves must by no manner of
means be allowed to stir up laughter. For it
were absurd to be found imitators of things of
which we are prohibited to be listeners ; and
still more absurd for a man to set about making
himself a laughing-stock, that is, the but of insult
and derision. For if we could not endure to
make a ridiculous figure, such as we see some do
in processions, how could we with any propriety
bear to have the inner man made a ridiculous
figure of, and that to one's face? Wherefore
we ought never of our own accord to assume a
ludicrous character. And how, then, can we
devote ourselves to being and appearing ridicu-

■ Ps. cxlix. 3.

9 Ps cxlix. z, a.

»o Ps clxix. 4.

" [Observe the contrast between the modest harmonies he praises,
and the operatic strains he censures. Yet modem Christians delight
m these florid and meretricious compositions, and they have intruded
mto the solemnities of worship. In Europe, dramatic composers of
a sensual school have taken possession of the I^tin ceremonial.]

12 [On gluttony and drinking, our author borrows much from Plato.
Kaye, p. 74.].

»i Or, society.

»♦ Matt. vii. 18; Luke vi. 43.

250

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

lous in our conversation, thereby travestying
speech, which is the most precious of all human
endowments ? It is therefore disgraceful to set
one's self to do this ; since the conversation of
wags of this description is not fit for our ears,
inasmuch as by the very expressions used it
familiarizes us with shameful actions.'

Pleasantry is allowable, not waggery. Be-
sides, even laughter must be kept in check ; for
when given vent to in the right manner it indi-
cates orderliness, but when it issues differently
it shows a want of restraint.

For, in a word, whatever things are natural to
men we must not eradicate frpm them, but
rather impose on them limits and suitable times.
For man is not to laugh on all occasions be-
cause he is a laughing animal, any more than
the horse neighs on all occasions because he is
a neighing animal. But as rational beings, we
are to regulate ourselves suitably, harmoniously
relaxing the austerity and over-tension of our
serious pursuits, not inharmoniously breaking
them up altogether.

For the seemly relaxation of the countenance
in a harmonious manner — as of a musical in-
strument — is called a smije. So also is laughter
on the face of well-regulated men termed. But
the discordant relaxation of countenance in the
case, of women is called a giggle, and is meretri-
cious laughter; in the case" of men, a guffaw,
and is savage and insulting laughter. " A fool
raises his voice in laughter," * says the Scripture ;
but a clever man smiles almost imperceptibly.
The clever man in this case he calls wise, inas-
much as he is differently affected from the fool,
iiut, on the other hand, one needs not be
gloomy, only grave. For I certainly prefer a
man to smile who has a stern countenance than
the reverse ; for so his laughter will be less apt
to become the object of ridicule.

Smiling even requires to be made the subject
of discipline. If it is at what is disgraceful, we
ought to blush rather than smile, lest we seem
to take pleasure in it by sympathy ; if at what is
painful, it is fitting to look sad rather than to
seem pleased. For to do the former is a sign
of rational human thought ; the other infers sus-
picion of cruelty.

v\\'e are not to laugh perpetually, for that is
going beyond bounds ; nor in the presence of
elderly persons, or others worthy of respect,
unless they indulge in pleasantry for our amuse-
ment. Nor are we to laugh before all and sun-
dry, nor in every place, nor to every one, nor
about everything. For to children and women
especially laughter is the cause of slipping into

' [Our author is a terrible satirist; but it is instructive to see
Christianity thus prescribing the minor morals, and banishing pagan
brutality with holy scorn.]

- Ecclu!». xxi. 20.

scandal. And even to appear stem serves to
keep those about us at their distance. For grav-
ity can ward off the approaches of licentiousness
by a mere look. All senseless people, to si>eak
in a word, wine

" Commands both to laugh luxuriously and to dance,"
changing effeminate manners to softness. We
must consider, too, how consequently freedom
of speech leads impropriety on to filthy speak-
ing.

"And he uttered a word which had been better un-
said." »

Especially, therefore, in liquor crafty men's
characters are wont to be seen through, stripped
as they are of their mask through the caitiff
licence of intoxication, through which reason,
weighed down in the soul itself by drunkenness,
is lulled to sleep, and unruly passions are roused,
which overmaster the feebleness of the mind.

CHAP. VI. — ON HLTHY SPEAKING.

From filthy speaking we ourselves must en-
tirely abstain, and stop the mouths of those who
practise it by stem looks and averting the face,
and by what we call making a mock of one :
often also by a harsher mode of speech. " For
what proceedeth out of the mouth," He savs,
" defileth a man," ^ — shows him to be unclean,
and heathenish, and untrained, and licentious,
and not select, and proper, and honourable, and
temperate.5

And as a similar mle holds with regard to
hearing and seeing in the case of what is ob-
scene, the divine Instructor, following the same
course with both, arrays those children who are
engaged in the stmggle in words of modesty, as
ear-guards, so that the pulsation of fornication
may not penetrate to the bmising of the soul ;
and He directs the eyes to the sight of what is
honourable, saying that it is better to make a
slip with the feet than with the eyes. This filthy
speaking the apostle beats off, saying, " Let no
corrupt communication proceed out of your
mouth, but what is good."^ And again, *'As
becometh saints, let not filthiness be named
among you, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which things are not seemly, but rather giving
of thanks." 7 And if " he that calls his brother
a fool be in danger of the judgment," what
shall we pronounce regarding him who speaks
what is foolish? Is it not written respecting
such : " Whosoever shall speak an idle word,
shall give an account to the Lord in the day of
judgment? " ^ And again, " By thy speech thou

3 Odyss., xiv 463-466.
< Matt. XV. 18.

5 \ May the young Christian who reads this passage leani to m-
reedom of speech of this kind. This is a very precious

chapter
t Ep^

7 Ep

1. IV. 39.

h. V. 3, 4.

' Matt. V. 23, xii. 36

Chap. VIZ.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

251

shalt be justified," He says, " and by thy speech
thou shait be condemned." * What, then, are
the salutary ear-guards, and what the regulations
for slippery eyes ? Conversations with the right-
eous, preoccupying and forearming the ears
against those that would lead away from the
truth.

** Evil communications corrupt good manners,"

says Poetry. More nobly the apostle says, " Be
haters of the evil ; cleave to the good." * For
he who associates with the saints shall be sancti-
fied. From shameful things addressed to the
ears, and words and sights, we must entirely
abstain.3 And much more must we* keep pure
from shameful deeds : on the one hand, from
exhibiting and exposing parts of the body which
we ought not ; and on the other, from beholding
what is forbidden. For the modest son could
not bear to look on the shameful exposure of
the righteous man ; and modesty covered what
intoxication exposed — the spectacle of the
transgression of ignorance.-* No less ought we
to keep pure from calumnious reports, to which
the ears of those who have believed in Christ
ought to be inaccessible.

It is on this account, as appears to me, that
the Instructor does not permit us to give utter-
ance to aught unseemly, fortifying us at an early
stage against licentiousness. For He is admirable
always at cutting out the roots of sins, such as,
" Thou shalt not commit adultery," by " Thou
shalt not lust."s For adultery is the fruit of
lust, which is the evil root. And so likewise also
in this instance the Instnictor censures licence
in names, and thus cuts off the licentious inter-
course of excess. For licence in names produces
the desire of being indecorous in conduct ; and
the observance of modesty in names is a training
in resistance to lasciviousness. We have shown
* in a more exhaustive treatise, that neither in the
names nor in the members to which appellations
not in common use are applied, is there the
designation of what is really obscene.

For neither are knee and leg, and such other
members, nor are the names applied to them,
and the activity put forth by them, obscene.
And even the pudenda are to be regarded as
objects suggestive of modesty, not shame. It
is their unlawful activity that is shameful, and
deserving ignominy, and reproach, and punish-
ment. For the only thing that is in reality
shameful is wickedness, and what is done through
it. In accordance with these remarks, conver-
sation about deeds of wickedness is appropriately
termed filthy [shameful] speaking, as talk about

' Matt, xii, 37.

2 Rom. xii. 9.

3 [How then can Christians frequent theatrical shows, and listen
to lewd and profane plays?]

* Gen. ix. v^.
s £x. XX. 14, 17.

adultery and paederasty and the like. Frivolous
prating, too, is to be put to silence.* " For," it
is said, " in much speaking thou shalt not escape
sin." 7 " Sins of the tongue, therefore, shall be
punished." " There is he who is silent, and is
found wise ; and there is that is hated for much
speech."^ But still more, the prater makes
himself the object of disgust. " For he that
multiplieth speech abominates his own soul." 9

CHAP. VII. — DIRECTIONS FOR THOSE WHO LIVE

TOGEl'HER.

Let US keep away from us jibing, the origina-
tor of insult, from which strifes and contentions,
and enmities burst forth. Insult, we have said,
is the servant of drunkenness. A man is judged,
not from his deeds alone, but from his words.
" In a banquet," it is said, " reprove not thy
neighbour, nor say to him a word of reproach." '**
For if we are enjoined especially to associate
with saints, it is a sin to jibe at a saint : " For
from the mouth of the foolish," says the Scrip-
ture, " is a staff of insult," *' — meaning by stsiff
the prop of insult, on which insult leans and
rests. Whence I admire the apostle, who, in
rjeference to this, exhorts us not to utter " scur-
rilous nor unsuitable words." " For if the assem-
blies at festivals take place on account of
affection, and the end of a banquet is friendli-
ness towards those who meet, and meat and
drink accompany affection, how should not
conversation be conducted in a rational manner,
and puzzling people with questions be avoided
from affection ? For if we meet together for the
purpose of increasing our good-will to each
other, why should we stir up enmity by jibing ?
It is better to be silent than to contradict, and
thereby add sin to ignorance. " Blessed," in
truth, " is the man who has not made a slip
with his mouth, and has not been pierced by the
pain of sin ; " '3 or has repented of what he has
said amiss, or has spoken so as to wound no one.
On the whole, let young men and young women
altogether keep away from such festivals, that
they may not make a slip in respect to what is
unsuijtable. For things to which their ears are
unaccustomed, and unseemly sights, inflame the
mind, while faith within them is still wavering ;
and the instability of their age conspires to make
them easily carried away by lust.. Sometimes
also they are the cause of others stumbling, by

6 [An example may not be out of place, as teaching how we may
put such things to silence. ** Since the ladies have wiihdrawn," said
one, ** I will tell a little anecdote." " But," interposed a dignified oer-
son, " let me ask you to count mc as representing the ladies; (or I
am the husband ofone of them, and should be sorry to hear what would
degrade me in her estimation."]

' Prov. x. 19.

• Ecclus. XX. 5.

9 Ecclus. XX. 8
*° Ecclus. xxxi 31.

'* Prov. xiv. 3.

" Eph. V. 4.

'3 Ecclus. xiv. 1.

252

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

displaying the dangerous charms of their time of
life. For Wisdom appears to enjoin well : " Sit
not at all with a married woman, and - recline
not on the elbow with her ; " * that is, do not
sup nor eat with her frequently. Wherefore he
adds, " And do not join company with her in
wine, lest thy heart incline to her, and by thy
blood slide to ruin." * For the licence of intox-
ication is dangerous, and prone to deflower.
And he names " a married woman," because the
danger is greater to him who attempts to break
the connubial bond.

But if any necessity arises, commanding the
presence of married women, let them be well
clothed — without by raiment, within by modesty.
But as for such as are unmarried, it is the
extremest scandal for them to be present at a
banquet of men, especially men under the in-
fluence of wine. And let the men, fixing their
eyes on the couch, and leaning without moving
on their elbows, be present with their ears alone ;
and if they sit, let them not have their feet
crossed, nor place one thigh on another, nor
apply the hand to the chin. For it is vulgar
not to bear one's self without support, and con-
sequently a fault in a young man. And perpet-
ually moving and changing one's position is a
sign of frivolousness. It is the part of a tem-
perate man also, in eating and drinking, to take
a small portion, and deliberately, not eagerly,
both at the beginning and during the courses,
and to leave off betimes, and so show his in-
difference. " Eat," it is said, " like a man what
is set before you. Be the first to stop for the
sake of regimen ; and, if seated in the midst of
several people, do not stretch out your hand
before them."^ You must never rush forward
under the influence of gluttony ; nor must you,
though desirous, reach out your hand till some
time, inasmuch as by greed one shows an uncon-
trolled appetite. Nor are you, in the midst of
the repast, to exhibit yourselves hugging your
food like wild beasts ; nor helping yourselves to
too much sauce, for man is not by nature a
sauce-consumer, but a bread-eater. A temperate
man, too, must rise before the general company,
and retire quietly from the banquet. " For at
the time for rising," it is said, " be not the last ;
haste home."-* The twelve, having called to-
gether the multitude of the disciples, said, " It
is not meet for us to leave the word of God and
serve tables." 5 If they avoided this, much
more did they shun gluttony. And the apostles
themselves, writing to the brethren at Antioch,
and in Syria and Cilicia, said : " It seemed good
to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you

* Ecclus. ix. 9. [i.e., reclining at the table.]

* Ecclus. ix. ^.

' Ecclus. XXXI. 16-18.

4 Ecclus. xxxii. ii.

5 Acts vi. a.

no Other burden than these necessary things, to
abstain from things offered to idols, and from
blood, and from things strangled, and from
fornication, from which, if you keep yourselves,
ye shall do well."^ But we must guard against
drunkenness as against hemlock ; for both drag
down to death. We must also check excessive
laughter and immoderate tears. For often people
under the influence of wine, after laughing im-
moderately, then are, I know not how, by some
impulse of intoxication moved to tears ; for both
effiminacy and violence are discordant with the
word. And elderly people, looking on the young
as children, may, though but very rarely, be
playful with them, joking with them to train
them in good behaviour. For example, before
a bashful and silent youth, one might by way of
pleasantry speak thus: "This son of mine (I
mean one who is silent) is perpetually talking."
For a joke such as this enhances the youth's
modesty, by showing the ' good qualities that
belong to him playfully, by censure of the bad
quatities, which do not. For this device is in-
structive, confirming as it does what is present
by what is not present.. Such, certainly, is the
intention of him who says that a water-drinker
and a sober man gets intoxicated and drunk.
But if there are those who like to jest at people,
we must be silent, and dispense with superfluous
words like full cups. For such sport is danger-
ous. " The mouth of the impetuous approaches
to contrition." ^ " Thou shalt not receive a
foolish report, nor shalt thou agree with an
unjust person to be an unjust witness," ^ neither
in calumnies nor in injurious speeches, much
less evil practices. I also should think it right
to impose a limit on the speech of rightly
regulated persons, who are impelled to speak to
one who maintains a conversation with them.
" For silence is the excellence of women, and
the safe prize of the young ; but good speech
is characteristic of experienced, mature age.
Speak, old man, at a banquet, for it is becoming
to you. But speak without embarrassment, and
with accuracy of knowledge. Youth, Wisdom
also commands thee. Speak, if you must, with
hesitation, on being twice asked ; sum up your
discourse in a few words." ^ But let both
speakers regulate their discourse according to
just proportion. For loudness of utterance is
most insane ; while an inaudible utterance
is characteristic of a senseless man, for people will
not hear : the one is the mark of pusillanimity,
the pther of arrogance. Let contentiousncB^p
words, for the sake of a useless triumph, be
banished ; for our aim is to be free from pertur-

6 Acts XV. 23, a8, 99.

7 Prov. X. 14.

' Prov. xxiv. 28: Ex. xxiii. i.
9 Ecclus. xxxii. 3, 4, 8.

Chap. VII I.]

OF THF-

UNIVERSITY

THE INSTRUCTOR.

253

bation. Such is the meaning of the phrase/
" Peace to thee." Answer not a word before
you hear. An enervated voice is the sign of
efieminacy. But modulation in the voice is
cKaracteristic of a wise man, who keeps his
utterance from loudness, from drawling, from
rapidity, from prolixity. For we ought not to
speak long or much, nor ought we to speak
frivolously. Nor must we converse rapidly and
rashly. For the voice itself, so to speak, ought
to receive its just. dues; and those who are
vociferous and clamorous ought to be silenced.
For this reason, the wise Uljrsses chastised
Xhersites with stripes : —

" Only Thersites, with unmeasured words,
Of which he had good store, to rate the chiefs,
Not over-seemly, but wherewith he thought
To move the crowd to laughter, brawled aloud." *

" For dreadful in his destruction is a loqua-
cious man." 3 And it is with trifiers as with
old shoes \ all the rest is worn away by evil ;
the tongue only is left for destruction. Wherefore
Wisdom gives these most useful exhortations :
" Do not talk trifles in the multitude of the
elders." Further, eradicating frivolousness, be-
ginning with God, it lays down the law for our
regulation somewhat thus : " Do not repeat your
words in your prayer." * Chirruping and whis-
tling, and sounds made through the fingers, by
. which domestics are called, being irrational signs,

• are to be given up by rational men. Frequent
■ spitting, too, and violent clearing of the throat,

and wiping one's nose at an entertainment, are

* to be shunned. For respect is assuredly to be
had to the guests, lest they turn in disgust from

; such filthiness, which argues want of restraint.
I For we are not to copy oxen and asses, whose
I manger and dunghill are together. For many
wipe their noses and spit even whilst supping.

If any one is attacked with sneezing, just as in
the case of hiccup, he must ilbt startle those
near him with the explosion, and so give proof
of his bad breeding ; but the hiccup is to be
quietly transmitted with the expiration of the
breath, the mouth being composed becomingly,
and not gaping and yawning like the tragic masks. *
So the disturbance of hiccup may be avoided
by making the respirations gently ; for thus the
threatening symptoms of the ball of wind will
be dissipated in the most seemly way, by mana-
ging its egress so as also to conceal anything which
the air forcibly expelled may bring up with it.
To wish to add to the noises, instead of diminish-
ing them, is the sign of arrogance and disorder-
liness. Those, too, who scrape their teeth,
bleeding the wounds, are disagreeable to them-

I \A primitive form of Christian salutation, borrowed from the
great Example. John xx. 19.]
* Iliad t ii. 313.

3 Ecclus. ix. 18.

4 Ecclus. ix. 15.

selves and detestable to their neighbours.
Scratching the ears and the irritation of sneezing
are swinish itchings, and attend unbridled forni-
cation. Both shameful sights and shameful
conversation about them are to be shunned.
Let the look be steady, and the turning and
movement of the neck, and the motions of the
hands in conversation, be decorous. In a word,
the Christian is characterized by composure, j
tranquillity, calrtiness, and peace.s

CHAP. VIII. — ON THE USE OF OINTMENTS AND

CROWNS.

The use of crowns and ointments is not neces-
sary for us ; for it impels to pleasures and indul-
gences, especially on the approach of night. I
know that the woman brought to the sacred
supper "an alabaster box of ointment,"^ and
anointed the feet of the Lord, and refreshed
Him ; and I know that the apcient kings of the
Hebrews were crowned with gold and precious
stones. But the woman not having yet received
the Word (for she was still a sinner), honoured
the Lord with what she thought the most pre-
cious thing in her possession — the ointment;
and with the ornament of her person, with her
hair, she wiped off the superfluous ointment,
while she expended on the Lord tears of repent-
ance : " wherefore her sins are forgiven." 7

This may be a symbol of the Lord's teaching,
and of His suflering."" For the feet anointed with
fragrant ointment mean divine instruction travel-
ling with renown to the ends of the earth. '
" For their sound hath gone forth to the ends of
the earth." ^ And if I seem not to insist too
much, the feet of the Lord which were anointed
are the apo^es, having, according to prophecy,
received the fragrant unction of the Holy Ghost.
Those, therefore, who travelled over the world
and preached the Gospel, are figuratively called
the feet of the Lord, of whom aiso the Holy
Spirit foretells in the psalm, " Let us adore at
the place where His feet stood," 9 that is, where
the apostles, His feet, arrived ; since, preached
by them, He came to the ends of the earth.
And tears are repentance; and the loosened
hair proclaimed deliverance from the love of
finery, and the affliction in patience which, on
account of the Lord, attends preaching, the
old vainglory being done away with by reason
of the new faith. ^°

Besides, it shows the Lord's passion, if you
understand it mystically thus : the oil (c\atoi') is
the Lord Himself, from whom comes the mercy
(e^co?) which reaches us. But the ointment,.

5 f « Against such there is no law." Emollit mores^ etc.]

* Malt. xxvi. 7, etc.
7 Luke vii. 47.

* Ps. xtx. ^', Rom. X. 18.
9 Ps. cxxxii.

>o [We need not refuse this efflorescence as poetry, nor accept it;
as exposition.]

254

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

which is adulterated oil, is the traitor^Judas, by
whom the Lord was,anointed on the feet, being
released from His sojourn in the world. For
the dead are anointed. And the tears are we
repentant sinners, who have believed in Him,
and to whom He has forgiven our sins. And the
dishevelled hair is mourning Jerusalem, the de-
serted, for whom the prophetic lamentations were
uttered. The Lord Himself shall teach us that
Judas the deceitful is meant : " He that dippeth
with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me." '
You see the treacherous guest, and this same
Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss. For he
was a hypocrite, giving a treacherous kiss, in
imitation of another hypocrite of old. And He
reproves that people respecting whom it was
said, " This people honour Me with their lips ;
but their heart is far from Me." * It is not im-
probable, therefore, that by the oil He means
that disciple to whom was shown mercy, and by
the tainted and poisoned oil the traitor.

This was, then, what the anointed feet prophe-
sied — the treason of Judas, when the Lord went
to His passion. And the Saviour Himself wash-
ing the feet of the disciples,^ and despatching
them to do good deeds, pointed out their pil-
grimage for the benefit of the nations, making
them beforehand fair and pure by His power.
Then the ointment breathed on them its fra-
grance, and the work of sweet savour reaching
to all was proclaimed; for the passion of the
Lord has filled us with sweet fragrance, and the
Hebrews with guilt. This the apostle most
clearly showed, when he said, "thanks be to
God, who always makes us to triumph in Christ,
and maketh manifest the savour of His knowl-
edge by US in every place. For we are to God a
sweet savour of the Lord, in them that are saved,
and them that are lost ; to one a savour of death
unto death, to the other a savour of life unto
life."^ And the kings of the Jews using gold
and precious stones and a variegated crown, the
anointed ones wearing Christ symbolically on the
head, were unconsciously adorned with the head
of the Lord. The precious stone, or pearl, or
emerald, points out the Word Himself. The gold,
again, is the incorruptible Word, who admits not
the poison of corruption. The Magi, accord-
ingly, brought to Him on His birth, gold, the
symbol of royalty. And this crown, after the
image of the Lord, fades not as a flower.

I know, too, the words of Aristjppus the Cy-
renian. Aristippus was a luxurious man. He
asked an answer to a sophistical proposition in the
following terms : " A horse anointed with oint-
ment is not injured in his excellence as a horse.

* Matt. xxvi. 23.
' Isa. xxix. 13.

^ John xiii. 5.

* a Cor. ii. 14-16.

nor is a dog which has been anointed, in his ex-
cellence as a dog ; no more is a man," he added,
and so finished. But the dog and horse take
no account of the ointment, whilst in the case
of those whose perceptions are more rational,
applying girlish scents to their persons, its use
is more censurable. Of these ointments there
are endless varieties, such as the Brenthian, the
Metallian, and the royal ; the Plangonian and the
Psagdian of Egypt. Simonides is not ashamed J
in Iambic lines to say, —

" I was anointed with ointments and perfumes,
And with nard."

For a merchant was present. They use, too, the j
unguent made from lilies, and that from the cy-
press. Nard is in high estimation with them, '
and the ointment prepared from roses and the '
others which women use besides, both moist and
diy, scents for rubbing and for fumigating ; for
day by day their thoughts are directed to the
gratification of insatiable desire, to the exhaust- i
less variety of fragrance. Wherefore also they 1
are redolent of an excessive luxuriousness. And
they fumigate and sprinkle their clothes, their |
bed-clothes, and their houses. Luxury all but
compels vessels for the meanest uses to smell of I
perfume. ^

There are some who, annoyed at the attention
bestowed on this, appear to me to be rightly so
averse to perfumes on account of their rendering
manhood effeminate, as to banish their com-
pounders and vendors from well-regulated states,
and banish, too, the dyers of flower-coloured
wools. For it is not right that ensnaring gar- v^
ments and unguents should be admitted into the
city ^f truth ; but it is highly requisite for the
men who belong to us to give forth the odour
not of ointments, but of nobleness and goodness.
And let woman breathe the odour of the true
royal ointment, that of Christ, not of unguents
and scented powders ; and let her always be
anointed with the ambrosial chrism of modesty,
and find delight in the holy unguent, the Spirit,
This ointment of pleasant fragrance Christ pre-
pares for His disciples, compounding the oint-
ment of celestial aromatic ingredients. ^

Wherefore also the Lord Himself is anointed
with an ointment, as is mentioned by David :
" Wherefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee
with the oil of gladness above thy fellows ; myrrh,
and stacte, and cassia from thy garments." 5 But
let us not unconsciously abominate unguents,
like vultures or like beetles (for these, they say,
when smeared with ointment, die) ; and let a
few unguents be selected by women, such as will '
not be overpowering to a husband. For excess-
ive anointings with unguents savour of a funeral

* Ps. xlv. 7, 8.

Chap. VIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

255

and not of connubial life. Yet oil itself is inimi-
cal to bees and insects ; and some men it bene-
fits, and some it summons to the fight; and
those who were formerly friends, when anointed
with it, it turns out to deadly combat.

Ointment being smooth oil, do you not think
that it is calculated to render noble manners
efleminate ? Certainly. And as we have aban-
doned luxury in taste, so certainly do we re-
nounce voluptuousness in sights and odours ;
lest through the senses, as through unwatched
doors, we unconsciously give access into the soul
to that excess which we have driven away. If,
then, we say that the Lord the great High Priest
' offers to God the incense of sweet fragrance, let
us not imagine that this is a sacrifice and sweet
fragrance of incense ; ' but let us understand it
to mean, that the Lord lays the acceptable offer-
ing of love, the spiritual fragrance, on the altar.

To resume : oil itself suffices to lubricate the
skin, and relax the nerves, and remove any
heavy smell from the body, if we require oil for
this purpose. But attention to sweet scents is a
bait which draws us in to sensual lust. For the
licentious man is led on every hand, both by
his food, his bed, his conversation, by his eyes,
his ears, his jaws, and by his nostrils too. As
oxen are pulled by rings and ropes, so is the
voluptuary by fumigations and unguents, and the
sweet scents of crowns. But since we assign no
place to pleasure which is linked to no use ser-
' viceable to life, come let us also distinguish here
too, selecting what is useful. For there are
sweet scents which neither make the head heavy
nor provoke love, and are not redolent of em-
braces and licentious companionship, but, along
with moderation, are salutary, nourishing the
brain when labouring under indisposition, and
strengthening the stomach. One must not there-
fore refrigerate himself with flowers when he
wishes to supple his nerves. For their use is
not wholly to be laid aside, but ointment is to
be employed as a medicine and help in order
to bring up the strength when enfeebled, and
against catarrhs, and colds, and ennui, as the
comic poet says : —

" The nostrils are anointed ; it being
A most essential thing for health to fill the brain with
good odours."

The rubbing of the feet also with the fatness of
warming or cooling unguents is practised on
account of its beneficial effects ; so consequently,
in the case of those who are thus saturated, an
attraction and flow take place from the head to
the inferior members. But pleasure to which
no utility attaches, induces the suspicion of mere-
tricious habits, and is a drug provocative of the

* [Considering the use of incense in Hebrew worship, and the
imagery of the Apocalypse, the emphasis with which the Fathers
'eject material incense, is to be noted.]

passions. Rubbing one's self with ointment is
entirely different from anointi/ig one's self with
ointment. The former is effeminate, while anoint-
ing with ointment is in some cases beneficial.
Aristippus the philosopher, accordingly, when
anointed with ointment, said " that the wretched
Cincedi deserved to perish miserably for bring-
ing the utility of ointment into bad repute."
" Honour the physician for his usefulness," says
the Scripture, ** for the Most High made him ;
and the art of healing is of the Lord." Then
he adds, "And the compounder of unguents will
make the mixture,"* since unguents have been
given manifestly for use, not for voluptuousness.
For we are by no means to care for the exciting
properties of unguents, but to choose what is
useful in them, since God hath permitted the
production of oil for the mitigation of men's
pains.

And silly women, who dye their grey hair
and anoint their locks, grow speedily greyer by
the perfumes they use, which are of a drying
nature. Wherefore also those that anoint them-
selves become drier, and the dryness makes them
greyer. For if greyness is an exsiccation of the
hair, or defect of heat, the dryness drinking up
the moisture which is the natural nutriment of
the hair, and making it grey, how can we any
longer retain a liking for unguents, through which
ladies, in trying to escape grey hair, become
grey? And as dogs with fine sense of smell
track the wild beasts by the scent, so also the
temperate scent the licentious by the super-
fluous perfume of unguents.

Such a use of crowns, also, has degenerated to
scenes of revelry and intoxication. Do not en-
circle my head with a crown, for in the spring-
time it is delightful to while away the time on
the dewy meads, while soft and many-coloured
flowers are in bloom, and, like the bees, enjoy a
natural and pure fragrance.^ But to adorn one's
self with " a crown woven from the fresh mead,"
and wear it at home, were unfit for a man of
temperance. For it is not suitable to fill the
wanton hair with rose-leaves, or violets, or lilies,
or other such flowers, stripping the sward of its
flowers. For a crown encircling the head cools
the hair, both on account of its moisture and its
coolness. Accordingly, physicians, determining
by physiology that the brain is cold, approve of
anointing the breast and the points of the nos-
trils, so that the warm exhalation passing gently
through, may salutarily warm the chill. A man
ought not therefore to cool himself with flowers.
Besides, those who crown themselves destroy the
pleasure there is in flowers : for they enjoy neither
the sight of them, since they wear the crown

2 Ecclus. xxxviii. t, a, 8.

3 [An idyllic passage illustrative of our author's delight in rural
scenes and pleasures. J

256

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

above their eyes ; nor their fragrance, since they
put the flowers away above the organs of respira-
tion. For the fragrance ascending and exhaling
naturally, the organ of respiration is left destitute
of enjoyment, the fragrance being carried away.
As beauty, so also the flower delights when looked
at; and it is meet to glorify the Creator by
the enjoyment of the sight of beautiful objects.*
The use of them is injurious, and passes swiftly
away, avenged by remorse. Very soon their
evanescence is proved ; for both fade, both the
flower and beauty. Further, whoever touches
them is cooled by the former, inflamed by the
latter. In one word, the enjoyment of them ex-
cept by sight is a crime, and not luxury. It
becomes us who truly follow the Scripture to en-
joy ourselves temperately, as in Paradise. We
must regard the woman's crown to be her hus-
band, and the husband's crown to be marriage ;
and the flowers of marriage the children of both,
which the divine husbandman plucks from mead-
ows of flesh. " Children's children are the crown
of old men." " And the glory of children is their
fathers, it is said ; atid our glory is the Father of
all ; and the crown of the whole church is Christ.
As roots and plants, so also have flowers their
individual properties, some beneficial, some in-
jurious, some also dangerous. The ivy is cool-
ing; nux emits a stupefying effluvium, as the
etymology shows. The narcissus is a flower with
a heavy odour ; the name evinces this, and it in-
duces a torpor (ydpKriv) in the nerves. And the
effluvia of roses and violets being mildly cool,
relieve and prevent headaches. But we who are
not only not permitted to drink with others to
mtoxication, but not even to indulge in much
wine,3 do not need the crocus or the flower of
the cypress to lead us to an easy sleep. Many
of them also, by their odours, warm the brain,
which is naturally cold, volatilizing the effusions
of the head. The rose is hence said to have
received its name (poSov) because it emits a
copious stream (pcOfia) of odour (63o)Si;).
Wherefore also it quickly fades.

But the use of crowns did not exist at all
among the ancient Greeks ; for neither the suit-
ors nor the luxurious Phaeacians used them. But
at the games there was at first the gift to the
athletes ; second, the rising up to applaud ; third,
the strewing with leaves ; lastly, the crown,
Greece after the Median war having given her-
self up to luxury.

Those, then, who are trained by the Word are
restrained from the use of crowns ; and do not
thmk that this Word, which has its seat in the
brain, ought to be bound about, not because the

> JChristianitv delights in natural beauty, and always associates
its enjoyment witd praise to its Author. Ecclus. xliii. i i.J

2 Prov. xvii. 6.

^ [ This was a mariced characteristic of Christian manners at war
with heathenism.]

crown is the symbol of the recklessness of rev-
elry, but because it has been dedicated to idols.
Sophocles accordingly called the narcissus ** the
ancient coronet of the great gods," speaking of
the earth-born divinities ; and Sappho crowns
the Muses with the rose : —

" For thou dost not share in roses from Pieria."

They say, too, that Here delights in the lily,
and Artemis in the myrtle. For if the flowers
were made especially for man, and senseless
people have taken them not for their own proper
and grateful use, but have abused them to the
thankless service of demons, we must keep from
them for conscience sake. The crown is the
symbol of untroubled tranquillity. For this rea-
son they crown the dead, and idols, too, on the
same account, by this fact giving testimony to
their being dead. For revellers do not without
crowns celebrate their orgies; and when once
they are encircled with flowers, at last they are
inflamed excessively. We must have no com-
munion with demons. Nor" must we crown the
living image of God after the manner of dead
idols. For the fair crown of dmaranth is laid
up for those who have lived well. This flower
the earth is not able to bear; heaven alone
is competent to produce it.* Further, it were
irrational in us, who have heard that the Lord
was crowned with thoms,5 to crown ourselves
with flowers, insulting thus the sacred passion
of the Lord. For the Lord's crown propheti-
cally pointed to us, who once were barren, but
are placed around Him through the Church of
which He is the Head. But it is also a type of
faith, of life in respect of the substance of the
wood, of joy in respect of the appellation of
crown, of danger in respect of the thorn, for
there is no approaching to the Word without
blood. But this platted crown fades, and the
plait of perversity is untied, and the flower
withers. For the glory of those who have not
believed on the Lord fades. And they crowned
Jesus raised aloft, testifying to their own igno-
rance. For being hard of heart, they under-
stood not that this very thing, which they called
the disgrace of the Lord, was a prophecy wisely
uttered : " The Lord was not known by the
people " ^ which erred, which was not circum-
cised in understanding, whose darkness was not
enlightened, which knew not God, denied the
Lord, forfeited the place of the true Israel, per-
secuted God, hoped to reduce the Word to
disgrace ; and Him whom they crucified as a
malefactor they crowned as a king. Wherefore
the Man on whom they believed not, they shall

4 [" Immortal amaranth, a flower which once

In Paradise fast by the tree of life

Began to bloom."

/^aradist Lost, iii. 3S>-]
i Matt, xxvii. 39.
*» Isa. i. 3.

Chap. IX.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

257

know to be the loving God the Lord, the Just.
Whom they provoked to show Himself to be
the Lord, to Him when lifted up they bore
witness, by encircling Him, who is exalted above
every name, with the diadem of righteousness
by the ever-blooming thorn. This diadem, be-
ing hostile to those who plot against Him, co-
erces them ; and friendly to those who form the
Church, defends them. This crown is the flower
of those who have believed on the glorified One,
but covers with blood and chastises those who
have not believed. It is a symbol, too, of the
Lord's successful work. He having borne on His
head, the princely part of His body, all our
iniquities by which we were pierced. For He
by His own passion rescued us from offences,
and sins, and such like thorns ; and having de-
stroyed the devil, deservedly said in triumph,
"O Death, where is thy sting?" ' And we eat
grapes from thorns, and figs from thistles ; while
those to whom He stretched forth His hands —
the disobedient and unfruitful people — He
lacerates into wounds. I can also show you
another mystic meaning in it.* For when the
Almighty Lord of the universe began to legislate
by the Word, and wished His power to be mani-
fested to Moses, a godlike vision of light that
had assumed a shape was shown him in the
burning bush (the bush is a thorny plant) ; but
when the Word ended the giving of the law and
His stay with men, the Lord was again mysti-
cally crowned with thorn. On His departure
from this world to the place whence He came.
He repeated the beginning of His old descent,
in order that the Word beheld at first in the
bush, and afterwards taken up crowned by the
thorn, might show the whole to be the work of
one power, He Himself being one, the Son
of the Father, who is truly one, the beginning
and the end of time.

But I have made a digression from the paeda-
gogic style of speech, and introduced the di-
dactic.3 I return accordingly to my subject.

To resume, then : we have showed that in the
department of medicine, for healing, and some-
times also for moderate recreation, the delight
derived from flowers, and the benefit derived
from unguents and perfumes, are not to be over-
looked. And if some say, What pleasure, then,
is there in flowers to those that do not use them ?
let them know, then, that unguents are prepared
from them, and are most useful. The Susinian
ointment is-; made from various kinds of lilies;
and it is waipiing, aperient, drawing, moistening,
abstergent, subtle, antibilious, emollient. The

Narcissinian 'is made from the narcissus, and is

' 1 Cor. XV. 55.

^ [See note 10, p.fe53. The beauty of this mysticism need not be
pouited out, but it need not be pressed as exposition.]

3 [This illustrates, in part, the difference between the esoteric, or
mystic, and the more popular teaching of our author.]

equally beneficial with the Susinian. The Myr-
sinian, made of myrtie and myrtle berries, is a
styptic, stopping effusions from the body; and
that from roses is refrigerating. For, in a word,
these also were created for our use. " Hear
me," it is said, " and grow as a rose planted by
the streams of waters, and give forth a sweet
fragrance like frankincense, and bless the Lord
for His works." -* We should have much to say
respecting them, were we to speak of flowers
and odours as made for necessary purposes, and
not for the excesses of luxury. And if a con-
cession must be made, it is enough for people to
enjoy the fragrance of flowers; but let them
not crown themselves with them. For the
Father takes great care of man, and gives to
him alone His own art. The Scripture there-
fore says, " Water, and fire, and iron, and milk,
and fine flour of wheat, and honey, the blood of
the grape, and oil, and clothing, — all these
things are for the good of the godly." s

CHAP. IX. — ON SLEEP.

How, in due course, we are to go to sleep, in
remembrance of the precepts of temperance,
we must now say. P'or after the repast, having
given thanks to God for our participation in our
enjoyments, and for the [happy] passing of the
day,^ our talk must be turned to sleep. Mag-
nificence of bed-clothes, gold-embroidered car-
pets, and smooth carpets worked with gold, and
long fine robes of purple, and costly fleecy
cloaks, and manufactured rugs of purple, and
mantles of thick pile, and couches softer than
sleep, are to be banished.

For, besides the reproach of voluptuousness,
sleeping on downy feathers is injurious, when our
bodies fall down as into a yawning hollow, on
account of the softness of the bedding.

For they are not convenient for sleepers turn-
ing in them, on account of the bed rising into a
hill on either side of the body. Nor are they
suitable for the digestion of the food, but rather
for burning it up, and so destroying the nutri-
ment. But stretching one's self on even couches,
affording a kind of natural gymnasium for sleep,
contributes to the digestion of the food. And
those that can roll on other beds, having this, as
it were, for a natural gymnasium for sleep, digest
food more easily, and render themselves fitter for
emergencies. Moreover, silver-footed couches
argue great ostentation ; and the ivory on beds,
the body having left the soul,7 is not permissible
for holy men, being a lazy contrivance for rest.

* £x:clu5. xxxix. 13, 14.
s Ecclus. xxxix. a6, 37.

* [Family prayers, apparently.]

7 [See p. 258, iujra. Sleep, he supposes, frees the soul as really,
not so absolutely, as death: —

" Th' immortal mind that hath forsook
Her mansion in this fleshly nook."

. PenserosOf line 91.]

/
\

258

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book IL

We must not occupy our thoughts about these
things, for the use of them is not forbidden to
those who possess them ; but solicitude about
them is prohibited, for happiness is not to be
found in them. On the other hand, it savours
of cynic vanity for a man to act as Diomede, —

*' And he stretched himself under a wild bull's hide," ' —

unless circumstances compel.

Ulysses rectified the unevenness of the nuptial
couch with a stone. Such frugality and self-help
was practised not by private individuals alone,
but by the chiefs of the ancient Greeks. But
why speak of these ? Jacob slept on the ground,
and a stone served him for a pillow ; and then
was he counted worthy to behold the vision —
that was above man. And in conformity with
reason, the bed which we use must be simple
and frugal, and so constructed that, by avoiding
the extremes [of too much indulgence and too
much endurance], it may be comfortable : if it
is warm, to protect us ; if cold, to warm us. But
let not the couch be elaborate, and let it have
smooth feet ; for elaborate turnings form occa-
sionally paths for creeping things which twine
themselves about the incisions of the work, and
do not slip off.

Especially is a moderate softness in the bed
suitable for manhood ; for sleep ought not to be
for the total enervation of the body, but for its
relaxation. Wherefore I say that it ought not
to be allowed to come on us for the sake of in-
dulgence, but in order to rest from action. We
must therefore sleep so as to be easily awaked.
For it is said, " Let your loins be girt about, and
your lamps burning ; and ye yourselves like to
men that watch for their lord, that when he re-
turns from the marriage, and comes and knocks,
they may straightway open to him. . Blessed are
those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh,
shall find watching."' For there is no use of a
sleeping man, as there is not of a dead man.
Wherefore we ought often to rise by night and
bless God.3 For blessed are they who watch for
Him, and so make themselves like the angels,
whom we call " watchers." But a man asleep is
worth nothing, any more than if he were not
alive.

But he who has the light watches, " and dark-
ness seizes not on him," * nor sleep, since dark-
ness does not. He that is illuminated is therefore
awake towards Godj and such an one lives.
" For what was made in Him was life." s
" Blessed is the man," says Wisdom, "who shall

' Iliady X. 1^5. [Note the Scriptural moderation with which he
censures, recognising what is allowable, and rejecting the " pride that
apes huimlir|r. J

* Luke xii. 35-37. f Concerning " sleep," see p. 259, infra.]

3 [Holy men, on waxing in the night, nave always used ejacula-
tions, even when unable to rise. Ps. cxix. 6a; Acts xvi. 25.]

* John i. 5

s John i. 3, 4.

hear me, and the man who shall keep my ways,
watching at my doors, daily observing the posts
of my entrances." ^ " Let us not then sleep, as
do others, but let us watch," says the Scripture,
"and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in
the night ; and they that be drunken, are drunken
in the night," that is, in the darkness of ignorance.
" But let us who are of the day be sober. For
ye are all children of the light, and children of
the day'; we are not of the night, nor of the
darkness." ^ But whoever of us is most solici-
tous for living the true life, and for entertaining
noble sentiments, will keep awake for as long
time as possible, reserving to himself only what
in this respect is conducive to his own health ;
and that is not very usual.

But devotion to activity begets an everlasting
vigil after toils. Let not food weigh us down,
but lighten us ; that we may be injured as little
as possible by sleep, as those that swim with
weights hanging to them are weighed down.
But, on the other hand, let temperance raise us
as from the abyss beneath to the enterprises of
wakefulness. For the oppression of sleep is like
death, which forces us into insensibility, cutting
ofif the light by the closing of the eyelids. Let
not us, then, who are sons of the true light,
close the door against this light ; but turning in
on ourselves, illumining the eyes of the hidden
man, and gazing on the truth itself, and receiving
its streams, let us clearly and intelligibly reveal
such dreams as are true.

But the hiccuping of those who are loadeJ^ i
with wine, and the snortings of those who are '
stuffed with food, and the snoring rolled in the
bed-clothes, and the rumblings of pained stom-
achs, cover over the clear-seeing eye of the soul,
by filling the mind with ten thousand phantasies.
And the cause is too much food, which drags
the rational part of man down to a condition of
stupidity. For much sleep brings advantage
neither to our bodies nor our souls ; nor is it
suitable at all to those processes which have
truth for their object, £dthough agreeable to
nature.

Now, just Lot (for I pass over at present the
account of the economy of regeneration ^) would
not have been drawn into that unhallowed inter-
course, had he not been intoxicated by his
daughters, and overpowered by sleep. If, there-
fore, we cut off the causes of great tendency to
sleep, we shall sleep the more soberly. For
those who have the sleepless Word*- dwelling in

* Prov. viii. 34. '
7 1 Thess. V. 5-8.

* [ Does our author here use the term " regeneration " with refer-
ence to the restitution of all things? (Matt. xix. 20: Acts tii. ax.)
He touched upon the subject above, speaking af one that is (V/mjwj-
noted: then he begins upon the true life, and to this he naL}[ refer.
But it strikes me, that naming Lot, his place in the dispensatioos of
grace strikes htm as needing some commentj and so he apologizes fiar
passing on.]

ClIAP. X.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

259

them, ought not to sleep the livelong night ; but
they ought to rise by night, especially when the
days are coming to an end, and one devote him-
self to literature, another begin his art, the women
handle the distaff, and all of us should, so to
speak, fight against sleep, accustoming ourselves
to this gently and gradually, so that through
wakefulness we may partake of life for a longer
period.

We, then, who assign the best part of the night
to wakefulness, must by no manner of means
sleep by day ; and fits of uselessness, and nap-
ping and stretching one's self, and yawning, are
manifestations of frivolous uneasiness of soul.
And in addition to all, we must know this, that
the need of sleep is not in the soul. For it is
ceaselessly active. But the body is relieved by
being resigned to rest, the soul whilst not acting
through the body, but exercising intelligence
within itself.* Thus also, such dreams as are
true, in the view of him who reflects rightly, are
the thoughts of a sober soul, undistracted for the
time by the affections of the body, and counsel-
ling with itself in the best manner. For the
soul to cease from activity within itself, were de-
struction to it. Wherefore always contemplating
God, and by perpetual converse with Him inocu-
lating the body with wakefulness, it raises man
to equality with angelic grace, and from the
practice of wakefulness it grasps the eternity of
life.^

CHAP. X.3 — QU^NAM DE PROCREATIONE UBERO-

RUM *rRACTANDA SrNT.*

Tempus autem opportunum conjunctionis solis
iis relinquitur considerandum, qui juncti sunt
matrimonio ; qui autem matrimonio juncti sunt,
iis Scopus est et institutum, liberorum susceptio :
finis autem, ut boni sint liberi : quemadmodum
agricolae seminis quidem dejectionis causa est,
quod nutrimenti habendi curam gerat ; agricul-
turae autem finis est, fructuum perceptio. Multo
autem melior est agricola, qui terram colit ani-
matara : ille enim ed tempus alimentum expe-
tens, hie vero ut universum permaneat, curam
gerens, agricolse officio fungitur : et ille quidem
propter se, hie vero propter Deum plantat ac
seminat. Dixit enim : " Multiplicemini ; '* s ubi
hoc subaudiendum est : " Et ea ratione fit homo
Dei imago, quatenus homo co-operatur ad gen-
erationem hominis." Non est quaelibet terra
apta ad suscipienda semina : quod si etiam sit

* [ See note, 7 su^ra^ p. 257. Here the immaterial soul is recog-
nised as wholly independent of oodily organs, and sleep is expounded
as the image of death freeing the mind.]

' [ The psychokM;y of Clement is noteworthy, but his ethical re-
flections are pure goui.]

^ For obvious reasons, we have given the greater part of this chap-
ter in the Latin version. [ Much of this chapter requires this sacri-
fice to a proper verecundta; but the learned translators have possibly
heen too cautious, erring, however, on the right side of the question. J

^ [For the substance of this chapter, see Kaye, p. 84.]

^ Gen. t. 37, a8.

quaelibet, non tamen eidem agricolae. Neque
vero seminandum est supra petram, neque semen
est contumlia afficiendum, quod quidem dux est
et princeps generationis, estque substantia, quae
simul habet insitas naturae rationes. Quae sunt
autem secundum naturam rationes, absque ra-
tione praetematuralibus mandando meatibus, ig-
nominia afficere, valde est impium. Videte
itaque quomodo sapientissimus Moyses infrugif-
eram aliquando sationem symbolice repulerit :
"Non comedes, inquiens, leporem, nee hyae-
nam." ^ Non vult homines esse qualitatis eorum
participes, neque eis aequalem gustare libidinem :
haec enim animalia ad explendum coitum vene-
reum feruntur insano quodam furore. Ac lepo-
rem quidem dicunt quotannis multiplicare anum,
pro numero annorum, quos vixit, habentem foram-
ina : et ea ratione dum leporis esum prohibet,
significat se dehortari puerorum amorem. Hyae-
nam autem vicissim singulis annis masculicum
sexum mutare in femininum : significare autem
non esse illi ad adulteria prorumpendum, qui ab
hyaena abstinet.^

Well, I also agree that the consummately wise
Moses confessedly indicates by the prohibition
before us, that we must not resemble these ani-
mals ; but I do not assent to the explanation of
what has been symbolically spoken. For nature
never can be forced to change. What once has
been impressed on it, may not be transformed
into the opposite by passion. For passion is not
nature, and passion is wont to deface the form,
not to cast it into a new shape. Though many
birds are said to change with the seasons, both * .
in colour and voice, as the blackbird {KWT(Tv<^kosi) y
which becomes yellow from black, and a chat-
terer from a singing-bird. Similarly also the
nightingale changes by turns both its colour and
note. But they do not alter their nature itself,
so as in the transformation to become female
from male. But the new crop of feathers, like
new clothes, produces a kind of colouring of the
feathers, and a little after it evaporates in the rig-
our of winter, as a flower when its colour fades.
And in like manner the voice itself, injured by
the cold, is enfeebled. For, in consequence of
the outer skin being thickened by the surround-
ing air, the arteries about the neck being com-
pressed and filled, press hard on the breath;
which being very much confined, emits a stifled
sound. When, again, the breath is assimilated
to the surrounding air and relaxed in spring, it is
freed from its confined condition, and is carried
through the dilated, though till then obstnicted
arteries, it warbles no longer a dying melody,
but now gives forth a shrill note ; and the voice

6 Deut. xiv. 7.

7 [ He lays down the law, that marriage was instituted for the one
result of replenishing the earth; and he thinks certain unclean ani-
mals of (he Mosaic system to be types of the sensuality which is not
less forbidden to the married than to others.]

26o

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book IL

flows wide, and spring now becomes the song of
the voice of birds.

Nequaquara ergo credendum est, hyaenam un-
quam mutare naturam : idem enim animal non
habet simul ambo pudenda maris et feminae, sicut
nonnulli existimarunt, qui prodigiose hermaphro-
ditos finxerunt, et inter marem et feminara, banc
masculo-feminam naturam innovarunt. Valde
autem falluntur, ut qui non animadverterint, quam
sit filiorum amans omnium mater et genetrix Na-
tura : quoniam enim hoc animal, hyaena inquam,
est salacissimum, sub cauda ante excrementi
meatum, adnatum est ei quoddam cameum tu-
berculum, feminino pudendo figura persimile.
Nullum autem meatum habet haec figura camis,
qui in utilem aliquam desinat partem, vel in
matricem inquam, vel in rectum intestinum : tan-
tum habet magnam concavitatem, quae inanem
excipiat libidinem, quando aversi fuerint meatus,
qui in concipiendo fetu occupati sunt. Hoc ip-
sum autem et masculo et feminae hyaenae adnatum
est, quod sit insigniter pathica : masculus enim
vicissim et agit, et patitur : unde etiam rarissime
inveniri potest hyaena femina : non enim frequen-
ter concipit hoc animal, cum in eis largiter re-
dundet ea, quae praeter naturam est, satio. Hac
etiam ratione mihi videtur Plato in Ph^dro,
amorem puerorum repellens, eum appellare bes-
tiam, quod frenum mordentes, qui se voluptatibus
dedlint, libidinosi, quadrupedum coeunt more,
et filios seminare conantur. Impios "autem
tradidit Deus," ut ait Apostolus,' " in perturba-
tiones ignomini» : nam et feminae eorum muta-
verunt naturalem usum in eum, qui est praeter
naturam : similiter autem et masculi eorum, re-
lic to usu naturali, exarserunt in desiderio sui in-
ter se invicera, masculi in masculos turpitudinem
operantes, et mercedem, quam oportuit, erroris
sui in se recipientes." At vero ne libidinosissi-
mis quidem animantibus concessit natura in ex-
crementi meatum semen immittere : urina enim
in vesicam excemitur, humefactum alimentum
in ventrum, lacryma vero in oculum, sanguis in
venas, sordes in aures, mucus in nares defertur :
fini autem recti intestini, sedes cohaeret, per quam
excrementa exponuntur. Sola ergo varia in
hyaenis natura, superfluo coitui sup>erfluam hanc
partem excogitavit, et ideo est etiam aliquantis-
per concavum, ut prurientibus partibus inserviat,
exinde autem excaecaturconcavitas : non fuitenim
res fabricata ad generationem. Hinc nobis
manifestum atque adeo in confesso est, vitandos
esse cum masculis concubitus, et infrugiferas sa-
tiones, et Venerem praeposteram, et quae natura
coalescere non possunt, androgynorum conjunc-
tiones, ipsam naturam sequentibus, quae id per
partium prohibet constitutionem, ut quae mascu-
lum non ad semen suscipiendum, sed ad id

* Rom. i. 26, 97.

effundendum fecerit. Jeremias autem, hoc est,
per ipsum loquens Spiritus, quando dicit : " Spe-
lunca hyaenae facta est domus mea,"* id quod
ex mortuis constabat corporibus detestans ali-
mentum, sapienti allegoria reprehendit cultum
simulacrorum : vere enim oportet ab idolis esse
puram domum Dei viventis. Rursus Moyses le-
pore quoque vesci prohibet. Omni enim tem-
pore coit lepus, et salit, assidente femina, eam a
tergo aggrediens : est enim ex iis, quae retro in-
siliunt. Concipit autem singulis mensibus, et
superfetat; init autem, et pant; postquam au-
tem peperit, statim a quovis initur lepore (neque
enim uno contenta est matrimonio) et rursus
concipit, adhuc lactans : habet enim matricem,
cui sunt duo sinus, et non unus solus matricis
vacuus sinus, est ei sufficiens sedes ad receptacu-
lum coitus (quidquid enim est vacuum, desiderat
repleri) ; verum accidit, ut cum uterum gerunt,
altera pars matricis desiderio teneatur et libidine
furiat; quocirca fiunt eis superfetationes. A
vehementibus ergo appetitionibus, mutuisque
congressionibus, et cum praegnantibus feminis
conjunctionibus, altemisque initibus, puerorum-
que stupris, adulteriis et libidine abstinere, hujus
nos aenigmatis adhortata est prohibitio. Idcirco
aperte, et non per aenigmata Moyses prohibuit,
" Non fomicaberis ; non moechaberis ; pueris
stuprum non inferes,"^ inquiens. Logi itaque
praescriptum totis viribus observandum, neque
quidquam contra leges uUo modo faciendum est,
neque mandata sunt infirmanda. Malae enim
cupiditati nomen est vPpL%, . " petulantia ; " et
equum cupiditatis, " petulantem " vocavit Plato,
cum legissit, " Facti estis mihi equi furentes in.
feminas." * Libidines autem supplicium notum
nobis facient illi, qui Sodomam accesserunt, an-
geli. li eos, qui probro illos afficere voluerunt,
una cum ipsa civitate combusserunt, evident!
hoc indicio ignem, qui est fructus libidinis, de-
scribentes. Quae enim veteribus accidenmt, si-
cut ante diximus, ad nos admonendos scripta
sunt, ne eisdem teneamur vitiis, et caveamus, ne in
poenas similes incidamus. Oportet autem filios
existimare, pueros ; uxores autem alienas intueri
tanquam proprias filias : voluptates quippe con-
tinere, ventrique et iis quae sunt infra ventrem,
dominari, est maximi imperii. Si enim ne digi-
tum quidem temere movere permittit sapienti
ratio, ut confitentur Stoici, quomodo^ non multo
magis iis, qui sapientiam persequuntur, in eam,
qua coitur, particulam dominatus est obtinendus ?
Atque hac quidem de causa videtur esse nomina-
tum pudendum, quod hac corporis parte magis,
quam qualibet alia, cum pudore utendum sit ;
natura enim sicut alimentis, ita etiam legitimis

' Jer. xii. 9. [ The empirical science of the day is here enlarged
upon, by Dement, for he cannot forbear to make lust detestable by a
natural parable of the foul hyaena, j

^ Ex. XX. 14.

* Jer. V. 8.

Chap. X.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

261

nuptiis, quantum convenjJiirt, utile est, et decet,
nobis uti permisit : pttermisit autem appetere
liberorum procreatioFliem. Quicumque autem,
quod modum excediit, persequuntur, labimtur in
eo quod est secu^iifura naturam, per congressus,
qui sunt prseteivMeges, seipsos laedentes. Ante
omnia enim re':ite habet, ut nunquam cum ado-
lescentibus perinde ac cum feminis, Veneris uta-
mur consuetudine. Et ideo " non esse in petris
et lapidibus seminandum" dicit, qui a Moyse
factus est philosophus, " quoniam nunquam actis
radicibus genitalem sit semen naturam susceptu-
rum." Logos itaque per Moysen appertissime
praecepit : " Et cum masculo non dormies femi-
nino concubitu : est enim abominatio." ' Ac-
cedit his, quod " ab omni qooque arvo feminino
esse abstinendum " prseterquam a proprio, ex
divinis Scripturis colligens praeclarus Plato con-
suluit lege illinc accepta : " Et uxori proximi tui
non dabis concubitum seminis, ut polluaris apud
ipsam.' Irrita autem sunt et adulterina concu-
binarum semina. Ne semina, ubi non vis tibi
nasci quod seminatum est. Neque uUam omni-
no tange mulierem, praeterquam tuam ipsius uxo-
rem," ex qua sola, tibi licet carnis voluptates
percipere ad suscipiendam legitimam succes-
sionem. Hsec enim Logo sola sunt legitima.
Eis quidem certe, qui divini muneris in produ-
cendo opjficio sunt participes, semen non est
abjiciendum, neque injuria afficiendum, neque
tanquam si comibus semen mandes seminandum
est. Hie ipse ergo Moyses cum ipsis quoque
prohibet uxoribus congredi, si forte eas detineant
purgationes menstruae. Non enim purgamento
corporis genitale semen, et quod mox homo fu-
turum est, polluere est aequum, nee sordido
materiae profluvio, et, quae expurgantur, inquina-
mentis inundare ac obruere ; semen autem gen-
erationis degenerat, ineptumque redditur, si
matricis sulcis privetur. Neque vero ullum un-
quam induxit veterum Hebraeorum coeuntem
cum sua uxore praegnante. Sola enim voluptas,
si quis ea etiam utatur in conjugio, est praeter
leges, et injusta, et a ratione aliena. Rursus
autem Moyses abducit viros a praegnantibus,
quousque pepererint. Revera enim matrix sub
vesica quidem coUocata, super intestinum autem,
quod rectum appellatur, posita, extendit coUum
inter humeros in vesica ; et os colli, in quod ve-
nit semen, impletum occluditur, ilia autem rursus
inanis redditur, cum partu purgata fuerit : fructu
autem deposito, deinde semen suscipit. Neque
vero nobis turpe est ad auditorum utilitatem
nominare partes, in quibus fit fetus conceptio,
quae quidem Deum fabricari non puduit. Ma-
trix itaque sitiens filiorum procreationem, semen
suscipit, probrosumque et vituperandum negat
coitum, post sationem ore clauso omnino jam

* Lev. xviii. aa.
' Lev. xviii. ao.

libidinem excludens. Ejus autem appetitiones,
quae prius in amicis versabantur complexibus, in-
tro conversae, in procreatione sobolis occupatae,
operantur una cum Opifice. Nefas est ergo
operantem jam naturam adhuc molestia afiicere,
superflue ad petulantem prorumpendo libidinem.
Petulantia autem, quae multa quidem habet
nomina, et multas species, cum ad banc vene-
ream intemperantiam deflexerit, Xayvcta, id est
" lascivia," dicitur ; quo nomine significatur libid-
inosa, publica, et incesta in coitum propensio :
quae cum aucta fuerit, magna simul morborum
convenit multitudo, obsoniorum desiderium,
vinolentia et amor in mulieres ; luxus quoque, et
simul universarum voluptatum studium ; in quae
omnia tyrannidem obtinet cupiditas. His autem
cognatae innumerabiles augentur affectiones, ex
quibus mores intemperantes ad sum mum prove-
huntur. Dicit autem Scriptura : " Parantur in-
temperantibus flagella, et supplicia humeris
insipientium : " ^ vires intemperantiae, ejusque
constantem tolerantiam, vocans " humeros insi-
pientium." Quocirca, " Amove a servis tuis
spes inanes, et indecoras," inquit, " cupiditates
averte a me. Ventris appetitio et coitus ne me
apprehendant." -♦ Longe ergo sunt arcenda
multifaria insidiatorum maleficia ; non ad solam
enim Cratetis Peram, sed etiam ad nostram civi-
tatem non navigat stultus parasitus, nee scortator
libidinosus, qui posteriori delectatur parte : non
dolosa meretrix, nee ulla ejusmodi alia voluptatis
bellua. Multa ergo nobis per totam vitam semi-
netur, quae bona sit et honesta, occupatio. In
summa ergo, vel jungi matrimonio, vel omnino a
matrimonio purum esse oportet ; in quaestione
enim id versatur, et hoc a nobis declaratum est
in libro De continentia. Quod si hoc ipsum, an
ducenda sit uxor, veniat in considerationem :
quomodo libere permittetur, quemadmodum nu-
trimento, ita etiam coitu semper uti, tanquam
re necessaria? Ex eo ergo videri possunt nervi
tanquam stamina distrahi, et in vehementi con-
gressus intensione disrumpi. Jam vero offundit
etiam caliginem sensibus, et vires enervat. Patet
hoc et in animantibus rationis expertibus, et in
iis, quae in exercitatione versantur, corporibus;
quorum hi quidem, qui abstinent, in certamin-
ibus superant adversarios ; ilia vero a coitu ab-
ducta circumaguntur, et tantum non trahuntur,
omnibus viribus et omni impetu tandem quasi
enervata. " Parvam epilepsiam " dicebat " coi-
tum " sophista Abderitesmorbum immedicabilem
existimans. Annon enim consequuntur resolu-
tiones, quae exinanitionis ejusque, quod abscedit,
magnitudini ascribuntur ? " homo enim ex hom-
ine nascitur et evellitur." Vide damni magni-
tudinem : totus homo per exinanitionem coitus
abstrahitur. Dicit enim : " Hoc nunc os ex

3 Prov. xix. a^.

4 Ecclus. xxiii. 4, 5» 6.

262

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

ossibus meis, et caro ex came mea." * Homo
ergo tantum exinanitur semine, quantus videtur
corpore ; est enim generationis initium id, quod
recedit ; quin etiam conturbat ebullitio materiae
et compagem corporis labefactat et commovet.
Lepide ergo ille, qui interroganti, " Quomodo ad-
huc se haberet ad res venereas," respondit:
" Bona verba, quaeso : ego vero lubentissime
isthinc, tanquam ab agresti et insano domino,
profugi." Verum concedatur quidem et admit-
tatur matrimonium : vult enim Dominus huma-
num genus repleri ; sed non dicit, Estote
libidinosi : nee vos, tanquam ad coitum natos,
voluit esse deditos voluptati. Pudore autem nos
afficiat Psedagogus, damans per Ezechielem :
" Circumcidamini fomicationem vestram." Ali-
quod tempus ad seminandum opportunum ha-
bent quoque rationis expertia animantia. Aliter
autem coire, quam ad liberorum procreationem,
est facere injuriam naturae ; * qua quidem oportet
magistra, quas prudenter introducit temporis
commoditates, diligenter observare, senectutem,
inquam, et puerilem aetatem. His enim nondum
concessit, illos autem non vult amplius uxores
ducere. Sed non vult homines semper dare
operam matrimonio. Matrimonium autem est
filiorum procreationis app>etitio, non inordinata
seminis excretio, quae est et praeter leges et a
ratione aliena. Secundum naturam autem nobis
vita universa processerit,' si et ab initio cupidita-
tes contineamus, et hominum genus, quod ex
divina providentia nascitur, improbis et malitiosis
non toUamus artibus : eae enim, ut fomicatio-
nem celent, exitialia medicamenta adhibentes,
quae prorsus in pemiciem ducunt, simul cum
fetu omnem humanitatem perdunt. Caetemm,
quibus uxores ducere concessum est, iis Paeda-
gogo opus fuerit, ut non interdiu mystica naturae
celebrentur orgia, nee ut aliquis ex ecclesia, ver-
bi gratia, aut ex foro mane rediens, galli more
coeat, quando orationis, et lectionis, et eorum
quae interdiu facere convenit, operum tempus
est. Vespere autem oportet post convivium
quiescere, et post gratiamm actionem, quae fit
Deo pro bonis quae percepimus. Non semper
autem concedit tempus natura, ut peragatur con-
gressus matrimonii ; est enim eo desiderabilior
conjunctio, quo diuturnior. Neque vero noctu,
tanquam in tenebris, immodeste sese ac imtem-
peranter gerere oportet, sed verecimdia, ut quae
sit lux rationis, in animo est includenda. Nihil
enim a Penelope telam texente differemus, si
interdiu quidem texamus dogmata temperantiae ;
noctu autem ea resolvamus, cum in cubile veneri-
mus. Si enim honestatem exercere oportet,

* (»cn. ii. 23.

- [Tamen possunt scnes et sicrilcs matrimonium sanctum contra-
here, et de re conjugali aliter docet Lactantius de naturft singular!
mulicrum argute disserens: g. v. in libro ejus de z'tro cuiiu, vi. cap.
23, p. 280, cd. Basilix, 1521.]

^ [ Naturft duce, sub lege I.Agi, omnia fidclibus licent non omnia
tamen expediunt. Conf. Paulum, I., Ad CortMiA, vi. 13.]

multo magis tuae uxor: honestas est ostendenda,
inhonestas vitando conjunctiones : et quod caste
cum proximis verseris, fide dignum e domo ad-
sit testimonium. Non enim potest aliquid ho-
nestum ab ea existimari, apud quam honestas in
acribus illis non probatur certo quasi testimonio
voluptatibus. Benevolentia autem quae praeceps
fertur ad congressionem, exiguo tempore floret,
et cum corpore consenescit ; nonnunquam autem
etiam praesenescit, flaccescente jam libidine,
quando matrimoniaJem temperantiam meretriciae
vitiaverint libidines. Amantium enim corda sunt
volucria, amorisque irritamenta exstinguuntur
saepe poenitentia; amorque saepe vertitur in
odium, quando reprehensionem senserit satietas.
Impudicorum vero Verbomm, et turpium figura-
rum, meretriciorumque osculoram, et hujusmodi
lasciviarum nomina ne sunt quidem memoranda,
beatum sequentibus Apostolum, qui aperte dicit :
"Fomicatio autem et omnis immunditia, vel
plura habendi cupiditas, ne nominetur quidem in
vobis, sicut decet sanctos." * Recte ergo vide-
tur dixisse quispiam : ** Nulli quidem profuit
coitus, recte autem cum eo agitur, quem non
laeserit." Nam et qui legitimus, est periculosus,
nisi quatenus in liberomm procreatione versatiir.
De eo autem, qui est praeter leges, dicit Scrip-
tura : " Mulier meretrix apro similis reputabitur.
Quae autem viro subjecta est, turris est mortis iis,
qui ea utuntur." Capro, vel apro, meretricls
comparavit aflectionem. " Mortem " autem dixit
"quaesitam," adulterium, quod committitur in
meretrice, quae custoditur. ** Domum " autem,
et " urbem," in qua suam exercent intemperan-
tiam. Quin etiam quae est apud vos poetica,
quodammodo ea exprobrans, scribit : —

Tecum et adulterium est, tecum coitusque nefandus,
Fcedus, femineusque, urbs pessima, plane impura.

Econtra autem pudicos admiratur : —

Quos desiderium tenuit nee turpe cubilis
Alterius, nee tetra invisaque stupra tulerunt
UUa unquam maribus.

5 For many think such things to be pleasures
only which are against nature, such as these sins
of theirs. And those who are better than they,
know them to be sins, but are overcome by
pleasures, and 'darkness is the veil of their
vicious practices. For he violates his marriage
adulterously who uses it in a meretricious way.
and hears not the voice of the Instmctor, cn'-
ing, " The man who ascends his bed, who says
in his soul, Who seeth me ? darkness is around
me, and the walls are my covering, and no one
sees my sins. Why do I fear lest the Highest
will remember?"^ Most wretched is such a

* Eph. V. 3.

s f He has argued powerfully on the delicacy and refinement which
shoula be observed in Christian marriage, to wnich Lactantius in the
next age will be found attributing the giory of chastity ^ as reallv as
to a pure celibacy. He now continues the argument in a form uhich
our translators do not scruple to EngUsh.j

6 Ecdus. xxiii. i8» 19.

Chap. XI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

263

man, dreading men's eyes alone, and thinking
that he will escape the observation of God.
** For he knoweth not," says the Scripture, " that
brighter ten thousand times than the sun are the
eyes of the Most High, which look on all the
ways of men, and cast their glance into hidden
parts.*' Thus again the Instructor threatens
them, speaking by Isaiah : " Woe be to those
who take counsel in secret, and say, Who seeth
us?" ' For one may escape the light of sense,
but that of the mind it is impossible to escape.
For how, says Heraclitus, can one escape the
notice of that which never sets ? Let us by no
means, then, veil our selves with the darkness ;
for the light dwells in us. " For the darkness,"
it is said, " comprehendeth it not." » And the
very night itself is illuminated by temperate
reason. The thoughts of good men Scripture
has named "sleepless lamps; "^ although for
one to attempt even to practise concedment,
with reference to what he does, is confessedly
to sin. And every one who sins, directly wrongs
not so much his neighbour if he commits adul-
tery, as himself, because he has committed adul-
tery, besides making himself worse and less
thought of. For he who sins, in the degree in
which he sins, becomes worse apd is of less
estimation than before ; and he who has been
overcome by base pleasures, has now licen-
tiousness wholly attached to him. Wherefore
he who commits fornication is wholly dead to
God, and is abandoned by the Word as a dead
body by the spirit. For what is holy, as is right,
abhors to be polluted. But it is dways lawful
for the pure to touch the pure. Do not, I pray,
put off modesty at the same time that you put
off your clothes ; because it is never right for
the just man to divest himself of continence.
For, lo, this mortal shall put on immortality;
when the insatiableness of desire, which rushes
into licentiousness, being trained to self-restraint,
and made free from the love of corruption, shall
consign the man to everlasting chastity. " For
in this world they marry and and are given in
marriage."^ But having done with the works
of the flesh, and having been clothed with im-
mortality, the flesh itself being pure, we pursue
after that which is according to the measure of
the angels.

Thus in the Phiiebus, Plato, who had been
the disciple of the barbarian s philosophy, mys-
tically called those Atheists who destroy and
pollute, as far as in them lies, the Deity dwell-
ing in them — that is, the Logos — by associa-
tion with their vices. Those, therefore, who
are consecrated to God must never live mor-

* Isa. XXIX. 15.

* lohn i. 5.

^ w isd. viL 10 is probably referred to.

* Matt.xxii. 30.

' That is, the Jewish.

tally (^vt;tcos). "Nor," as Paul says, "is it
meet to make the members of Christ the mem-
bers of an harlot ; nor must the temple of God
be made the temple of base affections."^ Re-
member the four and twenty thousand that were
rejected for fornication.^ But the experiences
of those who have committed fornication, as I
have already said, are tj^es which correct our
lusts. Moreover, the Paedagogue warns us most
distinctiy : " Go not after thy lusts, and abstain
from thine appetites ; ** for wine and women will
remove the wise ; and he that cleaves to har-
lots will become more daring. Corruption and
the worm shall inherit him, and he shall be
held up as public example to greater shame." ^
And again — for he wearies not of doing good —
" He who averts his eyes from pleasure crowns
his life."

Non est ei^o justum vinci a rebus venereis,
nee libidinibus stolide inhiare, nee a ratione
alienis appetitionibus moveri, nee desiderare
poUui. £i autem soli, qui uxorem duxit, ut qui
ttmc sit agricola, serere permissum est ; quando
tempus sementem admittit Adversus aliam
autem intemperantiam, optimum quidem est
medicamentum, ratio.*** Fert etiam auxilium
penuria satietatis, per quam accensae libidines
prosiliimt ad voluptates.

CHAP. XI. " — ON CLOTHES.

Wherefore neither are we to provide for our-
selves costly clothing any more than variety of
food. The Lord Himself, therefore, dividing
His precepts into what relates to the body, the
soul, and thirdly, external things, counsels us to
provide external things on account of the body ;
and manages the body by the soul (i/'vx^), and
disciplines the soul, saying, " Take no thought for
your life(i/a;xS), what ye shall eat; nor yet for
your body, what ye shall put on ; for the life is
more than meat, and the body more than rai-
ment." " And He adds a plain example of in-
struction : " Consider the ravens : for they neither
sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor
barn ; and God feedeth them." '^ " Are ye not
better than the fowls?" »^ Thus far as to food.
Similarly He enjoins with respect to clothing,
which belongs to the third division, that of things
external, saying, " Consider the lilies, how they
spin not, nor weave. But I say unto you, that

* I Cor. vi. 15.

' [i Cor. X. 8; Num. xxv. 1-9. Gement says twenty-four thou-
sand, with the Old Testament, but St. Paul says twenty-three
thousand; on which, ad locum ^ see Speaker's Commentary."}

* Ecclus. xviii. 30.

9 Ecclus. xix. a, 3, 5.

1° [Right reason is the best remedy against all excesses, argues
our author, but always subject to the express law of the Gospel. ]

I' Chap. xi. is not a separate chapter in the Greek, but appears
as part of chap. x.

*^ Luke xii. 22, 23.

i^ Luke xii. 24.

*4 Luke xii. 24.

264

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

not even Solomon was arrayed as one of these." '
And Solomon the king plumed himself exceed-
ingly on his riches.

What, I ask, more graceful, more gay-coloured,
than flowers ? What, I say, more delightful than
lilies or roses ? " And if God so clothe the grass,
which is to-day in the field, and to morrow is
cast into the oven, how much more will He
clothe you, O ye of little faith ! " * Here the
particle what (rt) banishes variety in food. For
this is sHown from the Scripture, "Take no
thought what things ye shall eat, or what things
ye shall drink." For to take thought of these
things argues greed and luxury. Now eating,
considered merely by itself, is the sign of neces-
sity ; repletion, as we have said, of want. What-
ever is beyond that, is the sign of superfluity.
And what is superfluous, Scripture declares to be
of the devil. The subjoined expression makes
the meaning plain. For having said, " Seek not
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink," He
added, " Neither be ye of doubtful (or lofty) ^
mind." Now pride and luxury make men waver-
ers (or raise them aloft) from the truth ; and the
voluptuousness, which indulges in superfluities,
leads away from the truth. Wherefore He says
very beautifully, "And all these things do the
nations of the world seek after." ^ The nations
are the dissolute and the foolish. And what are
these things which He specifies ? Luxury, volup-
tuousness, rich cooking, dainty feeding, glut-
tony. These are the "What?" And of bare
sustenance, dry and moist, as being necessaries,
He says, "Your Father knoweth that ye need
these." And if, in a word, we are naturally given
to seeking, let us not destroy the faculty of seek-
ing by directing it to luxury, but let us excite it
to the discovery of truth. For He says, " Seek
ye the kingdom of God, and the materials of
sustenance shall be added to you."

If, then, He takes away anxious care for
clothes and food, and superfluities in general, as
unnecessary ; what are we to imagine ought to
be said of love of ornament, and dyeing of wool,
and variety of colours, and fastidiousness about
gems, and exquisite working of gold, and still
more, of artificial hair and wreathed curls ; and
furthermore, of staining the eyes, and plucking
out hairs, and painting with rouge and white lead,
and dyeing of the hair, and the wicked arts that
are employed in such deceptions ? May we not
very well suspect, that what was quoted a little
above respecting the grass, has been said of those
unomamental lovers of ornaments ? For the field
is the world, and we who are be<lfewed by the
grace of God are the grass ; and though cut down,

' Luke xii. 97.
' Luke xii. 38.

* Matt. vi. 3a.

we spring up again, as will be shown at greater
length in the book On the Resurrection. But hay
figuratively designates the vulgar rabble, attached
to ephemeral pleasure, flourishing for a little,
loving ornament, loving praise, and being every-
thing but truth-loving, good for nothing but to be
burned with fire. " There was a certain man," ;
said the Lord, narrating, " very rich, who was '
clothed in purple and scarlet, enjoying himself
splendidly every day." This was the hay. " And
a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at
the rich man's gate, full of sores, desiring to be
filled with the crumbs which fell from the rich
man's table." This is the grass. Well, the rich
man was punished in Ha^y being made par-
taker of the fire ; while the other flourished again
in the Father's bosom. I admire that ancient
city of the Lacedaemonians which permitted
harlots alone to wear flowered clothes, and orna-
ments of gold, interdicting respectable women
fi'om love of ornament, and allowing courtesans
alone to deck themselves. On the other hand,
the archons of the Athenians, who affected a
polished mode of life, forgetting their manhood,
wore tunics reaching to the feet, and had on the
crobulus — a kind of knot of the hair — adorned
with a fastening of gold grasshoppers, to show
their origin from the soil, forsooth, in the osten- ,
tation of licentiousness. Now rivalry of these
archons extended also to the other lonians,
whom Homer, to show their efleminancy, calls
" Long-robed." Those, therefore, who are de-
voted to the image of the beautiful, that is, love
of finery, not the beautiful itself, and who un-
der a fair name again practise idolatry, are to
be banished far fi-om the truth, as those who by
opinion,^ not knowledge, dream of the nature
of the beautiful ; and so life here is to them only
a deep sleep of ignorance ; from which it be-
comes us to rouse ourselves and haste to that
which is truly beautiful and comely, and desire
to grasp this alone, leaving the ornaments of
earth to the world, and bidding them farewell
before we fall quite asleep. I say, then, that
man requires clothes for nothing else than the
covering of the body, for defence against excess
of cold and intensity of heat, lest the inclemency
of the air injure us. And if this is the object of
clothing, see that one kind be not assigned to
men and another to women. For it is common
to both to be covered, as it is to eat and drink.
The necessity, then, being common, we judge
that the provision ought to be similar. For as it is
common to both to require things to cover them,
so also their coverings ought to be similar;
although such a covering ought to be assumed

s Clement uses here Platonic language, do^a meaning opinioo
established on no scientific basis, which may be true or may be false,
and ciricrr^»iTr knowledge sure and certain, because based on the
reasons of things.

Chap. XI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

265

as is requisite for covering the eyes of women.
For if the female sex, on account of their weak-
ness, desire more, we ought to blame the habit
of that evil training, by which often men reared
up in bad habits become more effeminate than
women. But this must not be yielded to. And
if some accommodation is to be made, they may
be permitted to use softer clothes, provided they
put out of the way fabrics foolishly thin, and of
curious texture in weaving ; bidding farewell to
embroidery of gold and Indian silks and elaborate
Bombyces (silks), which is at first a worm, then
from it is produced a hairy caterpillar; after
which the creature suffers a new transformation
into a third form which they call lava, from which
a long filament is produced, as the spider's thread
from the spider. For these superfluous and
diaphanous materials are the proof of a weak
mind, covering as they do the shame of the body
with a slender veil. For luxurious clothing,
which cannot conceal the shape of the body, is
no more a covering. For such clothing, falling
close to the body, takes its form more easily, and
adhering as it were to the flesh, receives its shape,
and marks out the woman's figure, so that the
whole make of the body is visible to spectators,
though not seeing the body itself.'

Dyeing of clothes is also to be rejected.
For it is remote both from necessity and truth,
in addition to the fact that reproach in manners
spring from it.* For the use of colours is not
beneficial, for they are of no service against cold ;
nor has it anything for covering more than other
clothing, except the opprobrium alone. And
the agreeableness of the colour afflicts greedy
eyes, inflaming them to senseless blindness.
But for those who are white and unstained
within, it is most suitable to use white and simple
garments. Clearly and plainly, therefore, D^el
the prophet says, "Thrones were set, and upon
them sat one like the Ancient of days, and His
vesture was white as snow." 3 The Apocalypse
says also that the Lord Himself appeared^wear-
ing such a robe. It says also, " I saw the souls
of those that had witnessed, beneath the altar,
and there was given to each a white robe."-*
And if it were necessary to seek for any other
colour, the natural colour of truth should sufflce.s
But garments which are like flowers are to be
abandoned to Bacchic fooleries, and to those of
the rites of initiation, along with purple and sil-
ver plate, as the comic poet says : —

" Useful for tragedians, not for life."

And our life ought to be anything rather than

I [Martial, Epigrams^ passim. '\

' rThe reproacn and opprobrium of foppery.]

3 Dan. vn. 9.

* Rev. vi. 9, II.

5 [This refers to the natural tint of unbleached linetK or to wool
not whitened by the art of the fuller. Hermas speaks m'*PKre un-
dressed linen." Book iii. 4, p. 40, supra.]

a pageant. Therefore the dye of Sardis, and
another of olive, and another green, a rose-col-
oured, and scarlet, and ten thousand other dyes,
have been invented with much trouble for mis-
chievous voluptuousness. Such clothing is for
looking at, not for covering. Garments, too,'!
variegated with gold, and those that are purple,
and that piece of luxury which has its name from '
beasts (figured on it), and that saffron-coloured
ointment-dipped robe, and those costly and
many-coloured garments of flaring membranes,
we are to bid farewell to, with the art itself.
" For what prudent thing can these women have •
done," says the comedy, "who sit covered
with flowers, wearing a saffron-coloured dress,^ •
painted ? "

The Instructor expressly admonishes, " Boast
not of the clothing of your garment, and be not
elated on account of any glory, as it is unlaw-
ful." 7

Accordingly, deriding those who are clothed
in luxurious garments. He says in the Gospel :
"Lo, they who live in gorgeous apparel and
luxury are in earthly palaces." ^ He says in
perishable palaces, where are love of display,
love of popularity, and flattery and deceit. But
those that wait at the court of heaven around the
King of all, are sanctified in the immortal vesture
of the Spirit, that is, the flesh, and so put on
incorruptibility.

As therefore she who is unmarried devotes
herself to God alone, and her care is not divided,
but the chaste married woman divides her life
between God and her husband, while she who is
otherwise disposed is devoted entirely to mar-
riage, that is, to passion : in the same way I
think the chaste wife, when she devotes herself
to her husband, sincerely serves God ; but when
she becomes fond of finery, she falls away from
God and from chaste wedlock, exchanging her
husband for the world, after the fashion of that
Argive courtesan, I mean Eriphyle, —

" Who received gold prized above her dear husband."

Wherefore I admire the Ceian sophist,^ who de-
lineated like and suitable images of Virtue and
Vice, representing the former of these, viz.. Vir-
tue, standing simply, white-robed and pure,
adorned with modesty alone (for such ought to
be the true wife, dowered with modesty). But
the other, viz., Vice, on the contrary, he intro-
duces dressed in superfluous attire, brightened
up with colour not her own ; and her gait and
mien are depicted as studiously framed to give
pleasure, fonfiing a sketch of wanton women.
But he who follows the Word will not addict

^ [The colour (probably, for mss. differ) reprehended as the dress
of the false shephera in Hermas. See note 10, Dook iii. Simil. 6. cap.
I. p. 30, this volume.]

7 Ecclus. xi. 4.

■ Luke vii

.25.
, of

9 Prodicus. of the island of Ceus.

266

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book IT.

himself to any base pleasure ; wherefore also what
is useful in the article of dress is to be preferred.
And if the Word, speaking of the Lord by David,
sings, " The daughters of kings made Thee glad
by honour ; the queen stood at Thy right hand,
clad in cloth of gold, girt with golden fringes,"
it is not luxurious raiment that he indicates ; but
he shows the immortal adornment, woven of
faith, of those that have found mercy, that is, the
Church ; in which the guileless Jesus shines con-
spicuous as gold, and the elect are the golden
tassels. And if such must be woven' for the
women, let us weave apparel pleasant and soft
to the touch, not flowered, like pictures, to de-
light the eye. For the picture fades in course
of time, and the washing and steeping in the
medicated juices of the dye wear away the wool,
and render the fabrics of the garments weak;
and this is not favourable to economy. It is the
height of foolish ostentation to be in a flutter

^ about peploi, and xystides, and ephaptides,* and
" cloaks," and tunics, and "what covers shame,"
says Homer. For, in truth, I am ashamed when
I see so much wealth lavished on the covering
of the nakedness. For primeval man in Paradise
provided a covering for his shame of branches
and leaves; and now, since sheep have been
created for us, let us not be as silly as sheep, but
trained by the Word, let us condemn sumptu-
ousness of clothing, saying, "Ye are sheep's
wool." Though Miletus boast, and Italy be
praised, and the wooI7 about which many rave,

' be protected beneath skins,^ yet are we not to
set our hearts on it.

r The blessed John, despising the locks of sheep
!as savouring ofHuxury, chose "camel's hair,"
and was clad in it, making himself an example
of frugality and simplicity of life. For he also
" ate locusts and wild honey," ^ sweet and spirit-
ual fare ; preparing, as he was, the lowly and
chaste ways of the Lord. For how possibly
could he have worn a purple robe, who turned
away from the pomp of cities, and retired to the
solitude of the desert, to live in calmness with
God, far from all frivolous pursuits — from all
false show of good — from all meanness ? Elias
used a sheepskin mantle, and fastened the sheep-
skin with a girdle made of hair.5 And Esaias,
another prophet, was naked and barefooted,^
and often was clad in sackcloth, the garb of
humility. And if you call Jeremiah, he had only
" a linen girdle." 7

I Or by a conjectural emendation of the text, " If in this we must
relax somewhat in the case of women."

* Various kinds of robes. [The ^pius, or shawl of fine wool,
seems to be specified in condemning the boast below, which asserts
real wool and no imitation.]

3 AiludinK to the practice of covering the fleeces of sheep with
•kins, when the wool was very fine, to prevent it being soiled by
eximsiirc.

4 Mark i. 6.

5 2 Kings i. 8.

6 Isa. XX. 2.
' Jer. xiii. i.

For as well-nurtured bodies, when stripped,
show their vigour more manifestly, so also beauty
of character shows its magnanimity, when not
involved in ostentatious fooleries. But to drag
one's clothes, letting them down to the soles of his
feet, is a piece of consummate foppery, imped-
ing activity in walking, the garment sweeping the
surface dirt of the ground like a broom ; since
even those emasculated creatures the dancers,
who transfer their dumb shameless profligacy to
the stage, do not despise the dress which flows
away'^o such indignity; whose curious vest-
ments, and appendages of fringes, and elaborate
motions of flgures, show the trailing of sordid
effeminacy.*

If one should adduce the garment of the Lord
reaching down to the foot, that many-flowered
coat 9 shows the flowers of wisdom, the varied
and unfading Scriptures, the oracles of the Lord,
resplendent with tiie rays of truth. In such an-
other robe the Spirit arrayed the Lord through
David, when he sang thus : " Thou wert clothed
with confession and comeliness, putting on light
as a garment." '°

As, then, in the fashioning of our clothes, we
must keep clear of all strangeness, so in the use
of them we must beware of extravagance. For
neither is it seemly for the clothes to be above
the knee, as they say was the case with the Lace-
daemonian virgins ; " nor is it becoming for any
part of a woman to be exposed. Though you
may with great propriety use the language ad-
dressed to him who said, " Your arm is beauti-
ful ; yes, but it is not for the public gaze. Your
thighs are beautiful ; but, was the reply, for my
husband alone. And your face is comely. Yes ;
but only for him who has married me." -But I
do not wish chaste women to afford cause for
such praises to those who, by praises, hunt after
grounds of censure ; and not only because it is
prohibited to expose the ankle, but because it
has also been enjoined that the head should be
veiled and the face covered ; for it is a wicked
thing for beauty to be a snare to men. Nor is
it seemly for a woman to wish to make herself
conspicuous, by using a purple veil. Would it
were possible to abolish purple in dress, so as
not to turn the eyes of spectators on the face of
those that wear it ! But the women, in the
manufacture of all the rest of their dress, have
made everything of purple, thus inflaming the
lusts. And, in truth, those women who are crazy

" [The bearing of this chapter on ecclesiastical vestments must be
evident. It is wholly inconsistent with au^ht but very simple attire
in public worship; and rebukes even the fashionable costumes of women
and much of our mediaeval xstheticism, with primitive severity. On
the whole sul^ect, see the Vestiartum ChrutianufH of the Rev.
Wharton B. Nlarriott. London, RivineioHS^ i868.]

9 [Based upon the idea that Josephs coat of many colours, which
was afterwards dipped in blood, was a symbol of our Lord's raiment,
on which lots were cast.]

*° Ps. civ. a.

^i [Women's lunics tucked up to give freedom to the knee, are
familiar objects in ancient art. J

Chap. XIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

267

about these stupid and luxurious purples, " pur-
ple (dark) death has seized," ' according to the
poetic saying. On account of this purple, then,
Tyre and Sidon, and the vicinity of the Lacedae-
monian Sea, are very much desired ; and their
dyers and purple- fishers, and the purple fishes
themselves, because their blood produces purple,
are held in high esteem. But crafty women and
effeminate men, who blend these deceptive dyes
with dainty fabrics, carry their insane desires be-
yond all bounds, and export their fine linens no
ionger from Egypt, but some other kinds from
the land of the Hebrews and the Cilicians. I

' say nothing of the linens made of Amorgos * and
Byssus. Luxury has outstripped nomenclature.

The covering ought, in my judgment, to show
that which is covered to be better than itself, as
the image is superior to the temple, the soul to
the body, and the body to the clothes.^ But
now, quite the contrary, the body of these ladies,
if sold, would never fetch a thousand Attic
drachms. Buying, as they do, a single dress at

* the price of ten thousand talents, they prove
themselves to be of less use and less value than
cloth. Why in the world do you seek after what
is rare and costly, in preference to what is at
hand and cheap? It is because you know not
what is really beautiful, what is really good, and
seek with eagerness shows instead of realities,
from fools who, like people out of their wits,
imagine black to be white.

CHAP. XII. — ON SHOES.

Women fond of display act in the same man-
ner with regard to shoes, showing also in this
matter great luxuriousness. Base, in truth, are
those sandals on which golden ornaments are
fastened ; but they are thought worth having
nails driven into the soles in winding rows.
Many, too, carve on them* amorous embraces,
as if they would by their walk communicate to
the earth harmonious movement, and impress
on it the wantonness of their spirit. Farewell,
therefore, must be bidden to gold-plated and
jewelled mischievous devices of sandals, and At-
tic and Sicyonian half-boots, and Persian and
^ TjTrhenian buskins; and setting before us the
right aim, as is the habit with our truth, we are
bound to select what is in accordance with na-
ture.

For the use of shoes is partly for covering,
partly for defence in case of stumbling against
objects, and for saving the sole of the foot from
the roughness of hilly paths.

Women are to be allowed a white shoe, except

' litad, V. 83.

' Flax grown in the island of Amorgos.
^ [Matt vi. 25.]

* [It was sucn designs which early Christian art endeavoured to
supplant^ by the devices on lamps, XP. An., etc.]

when on a journey, and then a greased shoe
must be used. When on a journey, they require
nailed shoes. Further, they ought for the most
part to wear shoes ; for it is not suitable for the :
foot to be shown naked : besides, woman is a
tender thing, easily hurt. But for a man bare
feet are quite in keeping, except when he is on ■
military service. " For being shod is near neigh- '
hour toBeing bound." *

To go with bare feet is most suitable for exer- [
cise, and best adapted for health and ease, unless)
where necessity prevents. But if we are not oni
a journey, and cannot endure bare feet, we may
use slippers or white shoes; dusty-foots^ the
Attics called them, on account of their bringing
the feet near the dust, as I think. As a witness
for simplicity in shoes let John suffice, who
avowed that " he was not worthy to unloose the*
latchet of the Lord's shoes." ^ For he who ex-
hibited to the Hebrews the type of the true phi-
losophy wore no elaborate shoes. What else
this may imply, will be shown elsewhere.

CHAP. XIII. — AGAINST EXCESSIVE TONDNESS FOR
JEWELS AND GOLD ORNAMENTS.

It is childish to admire excessively dark or
green stones, and things cast out by the sea on
foreign shores, particles of the earth.* For to
rush after stones that are pellucid and of pecul-
iar colours, and stained glass, is only character-
istic of silly people, who are attracted by things
that have a striking show. Thus children, on
seeing the fire, rush to it, attracted by its bright-
ness ; not understanding through senselessness
the danger of touching it. Such is the case
with the stones which silly women wear fastened
to chains and set in necklaces, amethysts, cera-
unites, jaspers, topaz, and the Milesian

" Emerald, most precious ware."

And the highly prized pearl has invaded the
woman's apartments to an extravagant extent.
This is produced in a kind of oyster like mus-
sels, and is about the bigness of a fish's eye of
large size. And the wretched creatures are not
ashamed at having bestowed the greatest pains
about this little oyster, when they might adorn
themselves with the sacred jewel, the Word of
God, whom the Scripture has somewhere called
a pearl, the pure and pellucid Jesus, the eye
that watches in the flesh, — the transparent
Wo^d, by whom the flesh, regenerated by water,
becomes precious. For that oyster that is in

s viroB«6t<r0at. r^ 5eM(r0ai. " Wearing boots is near neighbour
to wearing bonds."

* KOftiroficf.

7 Mark i. 7: Luke iii. x6. [It was reserved for Chrysostom to give
a more terrible counterblast against costly cAaussure, in commenting
upon Matt. xvi. 13, et seq. Opera, torn. vii. p. 502, ed. Migne.]

^ [Amber is referred to, and the extravagant values attributed to
it. llie mysterious enclosure of bees and other insects in amber,
gave It superstitious importance. Clement may have fancied these
to be remnants of a pre-adamite earth.]

268

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

the water covers the flesh all round, and out of
it is produced the pearl.

We have heard, too, that the Jeru^em above
is walled with sacred stones ; and we allow that
the twelve gates of the celestial city, by being
made like precious stones, indicate the transcend-
ent grace of the apostolic voice. For the col-
ours are laid on in precious stones, and these
colours are precious ; while the other parts re-
main of earthy material. With these symboli-
cally, as is meet, the city pf the saints, which is
spiritually built, is walled. By that brilliancy of
stones, therefore, is meant the inimitable bril-
liancy of the spirit, the immortality and sanctity
of being. But these women, who comprehend
not the symbolism of Scripture, gape all they
can for jewels, adducing the astounding apology,
** Why may I not use what God hath exhibited ?"

/ and, "I have it by me, why may I not enjoy it?"
and, " For whom were these things made, then,
if not for us?" Such are the utterances of
those who are totally ignorant of the will of God.
For first necessaries, such as water and air. He
supplies free to all ; and what is not necessary
He has hid in the earth and water. Wherefore
ants dig, and griffins guard gold, and the sea
hides the pearl-stone. But ye busy yourselves

/about what you need not. Behold, the whole
heaven is lighted up, and ye seek not God ; but
gold which is hidden, and jewels, are dug up by
those among us who are condemned to death.

But you also oppose Scripture, seeing it ex-
pressly cries, " Seek first the kingdom of heaven,
and all these things shall be added unto you." '
But if all things have been conferred on you,
and all things allowed you, and ''if all things
are lawful, yet all things are not expedient,"'
says the apostle. God brought our race into
/communion by first imparting what was His own,
when He gave His own Word, common to all,
and made aJl things for all. All things therefore
are common, and not for the rich to appropriate

11 an undue share. That expression, therefore, " I

I possess, and possess in abundance : why then
should I not enjoy ? " is suitable neither to the
man, nor to society. But more worthy of love
is that : " I have : why should I not give to those
who need ? " For such an one — one who fulfils
the command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself" — is perfect. For this is the tnie
luxury — the treasured wealth. But that which
is squandered on foolish lusts is to be reckoned
waste, not expenditure. For God has given to
us, I know well, the liberty of use, but only so
far as necessary ; and He has determined that

I the use should be common. And it is monstrous
for one to live in luxury, while many are in want.
How much more glorious is it to do good to

' Matt. vi. 33.
* I Cor. X. 23.

many, than to live sumptuously ! How much
wiser to spend money on human beings,^ than
on jewels and gold ! How much more useful to
acquire decorous friends, than lifeless ornaments !
Whom have lands ever benefited so much as
conferring favours has ? It reipains for us, there-
fore, to do away with this allegation : Who, then,
will have the more sumptuous things, if all select
the simpler? Men, I would say, if they make
use of them impartially and indifferently. But
if it be impossible for all to exercise self-re-
straint, yet, with a view to the use of what is
necessary, we must seek after what can be most
readily procured, bidding a long farewell to these
superfluities.

In fine, they must accordingly utterly cast off
ornaments as girls* gewgaws, rejecting adornment
itself entirely. For they ought to be adorned
within, and show the inner woman beautiful.
For in the soul alone are beauty and deformity
shown. Wherefore also only the virtuous man
is really beautiful and good. And it is laid down
as a dogma, that only the beautiful is good.
And excellence alone appears through the beauti-
ful body, and blossoms out in the flesh, exhibiting
the amiable comeliness of self-control, when-
ever the character like a beam of light gleams
in the form. For the beauty of each plant and
animal consists in its individual excellence. And
the excellence of man is righteousness, and tem-
perance, and manliness, and godliness. The
beautiful man is, then, he who is just, temperate,
and in a word, good, not he who is rich. But
now even the soldiers wish to be decked with
gold, not having read that poetical saying : —

" With childish folly to the war he came.
Laden with store of gold." *

But the love of ornament, which is far from
caring for virtue, but claims the body for itself,
when the love of the beautiful has changed to
empty show, is to be utterly expelled. For ap-
plying things unsuitable to the body, as if they
were suitable, begets a practice of Ijdng and a
habit of falsehood ; and shows not what is deco-
rous, simple, and truly childlike, but what is
pompous, luxurious, and effeminate. But these
women obscure true beauty, shading it with
gold. And they know not how great is their
transgression, in fastening around themselves ten
thousand rich chains; as they say that among
the barbarians malefactors are bound with gold.
The women seem to me to emulate these rich
prisoners. For is not the golden necklace a
collar, and do not the necklets, which they call
catheters s occupy the place of chains ? and in-

3 rChrvsostom cnlar]ge$ on this Christian thought most elo-
quentlVj in several of his homilies: e.g., on the First Epistle 10 the
Corintnians. Horn. xxi. torn. x. p. X78. O//., ed. Migne. ]

* //I'aJ, ii. 872.

5 [The necklace called Kidtita or KoBiiiia seems to be refeiicd to.
Ezifk. xvi. XX, and Isa. iiu 19, Sgj^t,}

Chap. XIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

269

deed among the Attics they are called by this
very name. The ungraceful things round the
feet of women, Philemon in the Synephebus
called ankle-fetters : —

*' Conspicuous garments, and a kind of a golden fetter."

What else, then, is this coveted adorning of your-
selves, O ladies, but the exhibiting of yourselves
fettered? For if the material does away with
the reproach, the endurance [of your fetters] is
a thing indifferent. To me, then, those who
voluntarily put themselves into bonds seem to
glory in rich calamities.

Perchance also it is such chains that the poetic
fable says were thrown around Aphrodite when
committing adultery, referring to ornaments as
nothing but the badge of adultery. For Homer
called those, too, golden chains. But now wo-
men are not ashamed to wear the most manifest
badges of the evil one. For as the serpent de-
ceived Eve, so also has ornament of gold mad-
dened other women to vicious practices, using as
a bait the form of the serpent, and by fashioning
lampreys and serpents for decoration. Accord-
ingly the comic poet Nicostratus says, " Chains,
collars, rings, bracelets, serpents, anklets, ear-
rings." '

In terms of strongest censure, therefore, Aris-
tophanes in the Thesmophoriazousa exhibits the
whole array of female ornament in a catalogue : —

'* Snoods, fillets, natron, and steel ;
Pumice-stone, band, back-band,
Back- veil, paint, necklaces,
Paints for the eyes, soft garment, hair-net.
Girdle, shawl, nne purple border,
Long robe, tunic. Barathrum, round tunic."

But I have not yet mentioned the principal of
them. Then what?

" Ear-pendants, jewelry, ear-rings ;
Mallow-coloured cluster-shaped anklets ;
Buckles, clasps, necklets.
Fetters, seals, chains, rings, powders,
Bosses, bands, olisbi, Sardian stones,
Fans, helicters."

I am weary and vexed at enumerating the
multitude of ornaments ; * and I am compelled
to wonder how those who bear such a burden
are not worried to death. O foolish trouble !
O silly craze for display ! They squander mere-
triciously wealth on what is disgraceful ; and in
their love for ostentation disfigure God's gifts,
emulating the art of the evil one. The rich man
hoarding up in his bams, and saying to himself,
" Thou hast much goods laid up for many years ;
eat, drink, be merry," the Lord in the Gospel
plainly called " fool." " For this night they shall

> 'EAA6/3toi' by conjecture, as more suitable to the connection
than 'EAAc/Sooov or 'EAc^opov, Hellebore of the ms., though Helle-
bore may be intended as a comic ending.

* £Tlie Greek satirist seems to have borrowed Isaiah's catalogue,
cap. iu* 18-33.]

take of thee thy soul ; whose then shall those
things which thou hast prepared be? " ^

Apelles, the painter, seeing one of his pupils
painting a figure loaded with gold colour to rep-
resent Helen, said to him, " Boy, being incapa-
ble of painting her beautiful, you have made her
rich."

Such Helens are the ladies of the present day,
not truly beautiful, but richly got up. To these
the Spirit prophesies by Zephaniah : " And their
silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver
them in the day of the Lord's anger." *

But for those women who have been trained
under Christ, it is suitable to adorn themselves
not with gold, but with the Word, through whom
alone the gold comes to light.^

Happy, then, would have been the ancient
Hebrews, had they cast away their women's orna-
ments, or only melted them; but having cast
their gold into the form of an ox, and paid it
idolatrous worship, they consequently reap no
advantage either from their art or their attempt.
But they taught our women most expressively ta
keep clear of ornaments. The lust which com-
mits fornication with gold becomes an idol, and
is tested by fire ; for which alone luxury is re-
served, as being an idol, not a reality.^ Hence
the Word, upbraiding the Hebrews by the proph-
et, says, " They made to Baal things of silver and
gold," that is, ornaments. And most distinctly
threatening, He says, " I will punish her for the
days of Baalim, in which they offered sacrifice
for her, and she put on her ear-rings and her
necklaces." ' And He subjoined the cause of the
adornment, when He said, " And she went after
her lovers, but forgot Me, saith the Lord.*

Resigning, therefore, these baubles to the
wicked master of cunning himself, let us not take
part in this meretricious adornment, nor commit
idolatry through a specious pretext. Most admir-
ably, therefore, the blessed Peter 9 says, " In like
manner also, that women adorn themselves not
with braids, or gold, or costly array, but (which
become th women professing godliness) with
good works." For it is with reason that he bids
decking of themselves to be kept far from them.
For, granting that they are beautiful, nature suf-
fices. Let not art contend against nature ; that
is, let not falsehood strive with truth. And if they
are by nature ugly, they are convicted, by the
things they apply to themselves, of what they do
not possess [i.e., of the want of beauty]. It is

3 Luke xii. 19, 20.

4 Zeph. i. 18.

5 Logos is identified with, reason; and it is by reason, or the in*
genuity of man, that gold is discovered and brought to light. [But
here he seems to have in view the comparisons between goul and wis-
dom, in Job xxviii.]

6 «i JwAof, an appearance, an image.
^ Hos. ii. 8.

• Hos. ii. 13.

9 By mistake for Paul. Clement quotes here, as often, from mem-
ory (x Tim. ii. 9, 10).

270

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book II.

suitable, therefore, for women who serve Christ to
adopt simplicity. For in reality simplicity pro-
vides for sanctity, by reducing redundancies to
equality, and by furnishing from whatever is at
hand the enjoyment sought from superfluities.
For simplicity, as the name shows, is not con-
spicuous, is not inflated or puffed up in aught,
but is altogether even, and gentle, and equal, and
free of excess, and so is sufficient. And suf-
ficiency is a condition which reaches its proper
end without excess or defect. The mother of
these is Justice, and their nurse " Indepen-
dence ; " and this is a condition which is satisfied
with what is necessary, and by itself furnishes
what contributes to the blessed life.

Let there, then, be in the fruits of thy hands,
sacred order, liberal communication, and acts of
economy. "For he that giveth to the poor,
lendeth to God." ' " And the hands of the
manly shall be enriched."* Manly He calls
those who despise wealth, and are free in bestow-

* Prov. xu. 17.
« Prov. X. 4.

ing it. And on your feet * let active readiness
to well-doing appear, and a journeying to right-
eousness. Modesty and chastity are collars and
necklaces ; such are the chains which God forges.
" Happy is the man who hath found wisdom, and
the mortal who knows understanding," says the
Spirit by Solomon ; " for it is better to buy her
than treasures of gold and silver ; and she is more
valuable than precious stones." * For she is the
true decoration.

And let not their ears be pierced, contrary to
nature, in order to attach to them ear-rings and
ear-drops. For it is not right to force nature
against her wishes. Nor could there be any
better ornament for the ears than true instruction,
which finds its way naturally into the passages of
hearing. And eyes anointed by the Word, and
ears pierced for perception, make a man a hearer
and contemplator of divine and sacred things,
the Word truly exhibiting the true beauty " which
eye hath not seen nor ear heard before." s

3 [Eph. vi, 15.]
* Prov. Hi. 13-15.
3 X Cor. ii. 9.

THE INSTRUCTOR.

BOOK III.

CHAP. I. — ON THE TRUE BEAUTY.

It is then, as appears, the greatest of all les-
[ sons to know one's self. For if one knows him-
self, he will know God ; and knowing God, he
will be made like God, not by wearing gold or
long robes, but by well-doing, and by requiring
as few things as possible.'

Now, God alone is in need of nothing, and
rejoices most when He sees us .bright with the
omament of intelligence ; and then, too, rejoices
in him who is arrayed in chastity, the sacred
stole of the body. Since then the squI consists
of three divisions ; ' the intellect, which is called
the reasoning faculty, is the inner man, which is
the ruler of this man that is seen. And that
one, in another respect, God guides. But the
irascible part, being brutal, dwells near to insan-
ify. TVnd appetite, which is the third department,
is many-shapecT above Proteus, the varying sea-
god, who changed himself now into one shape,
now into another ; and it allures to adulteries, to
licentiousness, to seductions.

" At first he was a lion with ample beard." '

While he yet retained the omament, the hair of
the chin showed him to be a man.

" But after that a serpent, a pard, or a big sow."

Love of omament has degenerated to wanton-
ness. A man no longer appears like a strong
wild beast,

"But he became moist water, and a tree of lofty
branches."

Passions break out, pleasures overflow; beauty
fades, and falls quicker than the leaf on the
ground, when the amorous storms of lust blow on
it before the coming of autumn, and is withered
by destruction. For lust becomes and fabricates

* [On this book, Kaye's comments extend from p 91 to p. iii of
his analvsis.]

* [Note this psychological dissection. Compare Aristotle, JV^ico-
inackean Ethics ^ book vi. cap. 2, aia^o-if, vows, ope^tc, sense,
intellect, appetition. Also, book i. cap. ix, or 13 in some editions.]

* Odyss-t iv. 456-458.

all things, and wishes to cheat, so as to conceal
the man. But that man with whom the Word
dwells does not alter himself, does not get him-
self up : he has the form which is of the Word ;
he is made like to God ; he is beautiful ; he does
not omament himself: his is beauty, the true
beauty, for it is God; and that man becomes
God, since God so wills. Heraclitus, then,
rightly said, " Men are gods, and gods are men."
For the Word Himself is the manifest mystery :
God in man, and man God. And the Mediator
executes the Father's will ; for the Mediator is
the Word, who is common to both — the Son of
God, the Saviour of men ; His • Servant, our
Teacher. And the flesh being a slave, as Paul
testifies, how can one with any reason adorn the
handmaid Hke a pimp? For that which is of
flesh has the form of a servant. Paul says,
speaking of the Lord, "Because He emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant," * calling
the outward man servant, previous to the Lord
becoming a servant and wearing flesh. But the
compassionate God Himself set the flesh firee,
and releasing it from destruction, and from bitter
and deadly bondage, endowed it with incorrupti-
bihty, arraying the flesh in this, the holy embel-
lishment of eternity — immortality.

There is, too, another beauty of men — love.
"And love," according to the apostle, "suffers
long, and is kind; envieth not; vaunteth not
itself, is not puffed up." s For the decking of
one's self out — carrying, as it does, the look
of superfluity and uselessness — is vaunting one's
self. Wherefore he adds, " doth not behave it-
self unseemly : " for a figure which is not one's
own, and is against nature, is unseemly; but
what is artificial is not one's own, as is clearly
explained : " seeketh not," it is said, " what is
not her own." For truth calls that its own which
belongs to it ; but the love of finery seeks what
is not its own, being apart from God, and the
Word, from love.

* Phil. ii. 7.
i I Cor. xiii. 4.

271

272

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III,

And that the Lord Himself was uncomely in
aspect, the Spirit testifies by Esaias : " And we
saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness ;
but His foiin was mean, inferior to men." ' Yet
who was more admirable than the Lord? But
it was not the beauty of the flesh visible to the
eye, but the true beauty of both soul and body,
which He exhibited, which in the former is
beneficence ; in the latter — that is, the flesh —
immortality.

CHAP. II. — AGAINST EMBELLISHING THE BODY.

It is not, then, the aspect of the outward man,
but the soul that is to be decorated with the
ornament of goodness; we may say also the
flesh with the adornment of temperance. But
those women who beautify the outside, are una-
wares all waste in the inner depths, as is the
case with the ornaments of the Egyptians;
among whom temples with their porticos and
vestibules are carefully constructed, and groves
and sacred fields adjoining; the halls are sur-
rounded with many pillars ; and the walls gleam
with foreign stones, and there is no want of
artistic painting ; and the temples gleam with
gold, and silver, and amber, and glitter with
« / parti-coloured gems from Ii^a and Ethjppia ;
and the shrines are veiled with gold-embroidered
hangings.
-f. But if you enter the penetralia of the enclos-
ure, and, in haste to behold something better,
seek the image that is the inhabitant of the
temple, and if any priest of those that offer
sacrifice there, looking grave, and singing a
paean in the Egyptian tongue, remove a little of
the veil to show the god, he will give you a
hearty laugh at the object of worship. For the
deity that is sought, to whom you have rushed,
will not be found within, but a cat, or a crocodile,
or a serpent of the country, or some such beast
unworthy of the temple, but quite worthy of a
den, a hole, or the dirt. The god of the Egyp-
tians appears a beast rolling on a purple couch.

So those women who wear gold, occupying
themselves in curling at their locks, and engaged
in anointing their cheeks, painting their eyes,
and dyeing their hair, and practising the other
pernicious arts of luxury, decking the covering
of flesh, — in truth, imitate the Egyptians, in
order to attract their infatuated lovers.

But if one withdraw the veil of the temple, —
I mean the head-dress, the dye, the clothes, the
gold, the paint, the cosmetics, — that is, the web

' Isa. liii. 2, 3. [ But see also Ps. xlv. 3, which was often cited
by the ancients to prove the reverse. Both may be reconciled: he
was a fair and comely child like his father David : but, as " the man
of sorrows," he became old in looks, and his countenance was marred.
For David's beauty, see i Sam. xvi, 12. For our Lortl's at twelve
years of aee, when the virgin was seeking her child. Canticles, v.
7-16. ForTtis appearance at three and thirty, when the ^ews only
ventured to credit him with less than fifty years, John viu. 57. See
also Irencus, Against Heresies, cap. xxii. note 12, p. 391, this series. J

consisting of them, the veil, with the view of
finding within the true beauty, he will be dis-
gusted, I know well. For he will not find the
image of God dwelling within, as is meet ; but
instead of it a fornicator and adulteress has
occupied the shrine of the soul. And the true
beast will thus be detected — an ape smeared
with white paint. And that deceitful serpent,
devouring the understanding part of man through
vanity, has the soul as its hole, filling all with
deadly poisons ; and injecting his own venom of
deception, this pander of a dragon has changed
women into harlots. For love of display is not
for a lady, but a courtesan. Such women care
little for keeping at home with their husbands ;
but loosing their husbands' purse-strings, they
spend its supplies on their lusts, that they may
have many witnesses of their seemingly fair ap-
pearance ; and, devoting the whole day to their
toilet, they spend their time with their bought
slaves. Accordingly they season the flesh like a
pernicious sauce ; and the day they bestow on
the toilet shut up in their rooms, so as not to be
caught decking themselves. But in the evening
this spurious beauty creeps out to candle-light as .
out of a hole ; for drunkenness and the dimness
of the light aid what they have put on. The
woman who dyes her hair yellow, Menander the
comic poet expels from the house : — •

" Now get out of this house, for no chaste
Woman ought to make her hair yellow,"

nor, I would add, stain her cheeks, nor paint her
eyes. Unawares the poor wretches destroy their
own beauty, by the introduction of what is spu-
rious. At the dawn of day, mangling, racking,
and plastering themselves over with certain com-
positions, they chill the skin, fiirrow the flesh
with poisons, and with curiously prepared washes,
thus blighting their own beauty. Wherefore they
are seen to be yellow from the use of cosmetics,
and susceptible to disease, their flesh, which has
been shaded with poisons, being now in a melt-
ing state. So they dishonour the Creator of
men, as if the beauty given by Him were nothing
worth. As you might expect, they become lazy
in housekeeping, sitting like painted things to be
looked at, not as if made for domestic economy.
Wherefore in the comic poet the sensible woman
says, " What can we women do wise or brilliant,
who sit with hair dyed yellow, outraging the
character of gentlewomen ; causing the over-
throw of houses, the ruin of nuptials, and accu-
sations on the part of children ? " * In the same
way, Antiphanes the comic poet, in Malihaca,
ridicules the meretriciousness of women in words
that apply to them all, and are framed against
the rubbing of themselves with cosmetics, say-
ing:—

' Aristophanes, Lysistrata,

Chap. II.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

273

"She comes.
She goes back, she approaches, she goes back.
She has come, she is here, she washes herself, she ad-
vances,
She is soaped, she is combed, she goes out, is rubbed,
She washes herself, looks in the glass, robes herself,
Anoints herself, decks herself, besmears herself ;
And if aught is wrong, chokes [with vexation].**

Thrice, I say, not once, do they deserve to per-
ish, who use crocodiles' excrement, and anoint
themselves with the froth of putrid humours, and
stain their eyebrows with soot, and rub their
cheeks with white lead.

These, then, who are disgusting even to the
heathen poets for their fashions, how shall they
not be rejected by the truth ? * Accordingly an-
other comic poet, AJgxis, reproves them. For I
shall adduce his words, which with extravagance
of statement shame the obstinacy of their impu-
dence. For he was not very far beyond the
mark. And I cannot for shame come to the
assistance of women held up to such ridicule in
comedy.

Then she ruins her husband.

** For first, in comparison with gain and the spoiling of
neighbours.
All else IS in their eyes superfluous."

•* Is one of them little ? She stitches cork into her shoe-
sole.

Is one tall ? She wears a thin sole.

And goes out keeping her head down on her shoulder :

This takes away from her height. Has one no flanks ?

She has something sewed on to her, so that the
si>ectators

May exclaim on her fine shape behind. Has she a
prominent stomach ?

By making additions, to render it straight, such as the
nurses we see in the comic poets,

She draws back, as it were, by these poles, the protu-
berance of the stomach in front.

Has one yellow eyebrows? She stains them with
soot.

Do they happen to be black } She smears them with
ceruse.

Is one very white-skinned ? She rouges.

Has one any part of the body beautiful ? She shows
it bare.

Has she beautiful teeth ? She must needs laugh.

That those present may see what a pretty mouth she
has;

But if not in the humour for laughing, she passes the
day within,

\Vith a slender sprig of myrtle between her lips.

Like what cooks have always at hand when they have
goats' heads to sell.

So that she must keep them apart the whilst, whether
she will or not."

I set these quotations from the comic p)oets '
before you, since the Word most strenuously
wishes to save us. And by and by I will fortify
them with the divine Scriptures. For he who
does not escape notice is wont to abstain from

* [John xvii. 17. "Thy word is truth," is here in mind; and,
soon after, he speaks of the Scriptures and the Word (Logo*) in the
S4me way.]

^ [He rebukes heathen women out of their own poets; while he
warns Chrisliaa women also to resist the contagion 01 their example,
iortified by the Scriptures.]

sins, on account of the shame of reproof. Just
as the plastered hand and the amointed eye ex-
hibit from their very look the suspicion of a per-
son in illness, so also cosmetics and dyes indicate
that the soul is deeply diseased.

The divine Instructor enjoiYis us not to ap-
proach to another's river, meaning by the figura-
tive expression "another's river," "another's
wife ; " the wanton that flows to all, and out of
licentiousness gives herself up to meretricious
enjoyment with all. " Abstain from water that
is another's," He says, " and drink not of an-
other's well," admonishing us to shun the stream
of " voluptuousness," that we may live long, and
that years of life may be added to us ; ^ both by
not hunting after pleasure that belongs to an-
other, and by diverting our inclinations.

Love of dainties and love of wine, though
great vices, are not of such magnitude as fond-
ness for finery.* "A fiiU table and repeated
cups " are enough to satisfy greed. But to those
who are fond of gold, and purple, and jewels,
neither the gold that is above the earth and
below it is sufficient, nor the Tyrian Sea, nor
the freight that comes from Indja and Ethiopia,
nor yet Pacj£)lus flowing with gold ; not even
were a man to become a Midas would he be
satisfied, but would be still poor, craving other
wealth. Such people are ready to die with their
gold.

And if Plutus s is blind, are not those women
that are crazy about him, and have a fellow-
feeling with him, blind too? Having, then,
no limit to their lust, they push on to shame-
lessness. For the theatre, and pageants, and
many spectators, and strolling in the temples, .
and loitering in the streets, that they may be seen
conspicuously by all, are necessary to them. For
those that glory in their looks, not in heart,^ dress
to please others. For as the brand shows the
slave, so do gaudy colours the adulteress. " For
though thou clothe thyself in scarlet, and deck
thyself with ornaments of gold, and anoint thine
eyes with stibium, in vain is thy beauty," 7 says
the Word by Jeremiah. Is it not monstrous,
that while horses, birds, and the rest of the ani-
mals, spring and bound from the grass and
meadows, rejoicing in ornament that is their own,
in mane, and natural colour, and varied plumage ;
woman, as if inferior to the brute creation, should
think herself so unlovely as to need foreign, and
bought, and painted beauty?

Head-dresses and varieties of head-dresses, I
and elaborate braidings, and infinite modes of j
dressing the hair, and costly specimens of mir- >

3 Prov. ix. XX.

4 FThis is 'worth noting. Worse than love of wine, because he
regaras a love for finery as tending to loss of chastity. 1

5 Wealth.

* 1 ITiess. ii. 17.
7 Jer. iv. 30.

2 74

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

rors, in which they arrange their costume, —
hunting after those that, like silly children, are
crazy about their figures, — are characteristic of
women who have lost all sense of shame. If
any one were to call these courtesans, he would
make no mistake, for they turn their faces into
masks. But us the Word enjoins " to look not
on the things that are seen, but the things that
are not seen ; for the things that are seen are
temporal, but the things that are not seen are
eternal." '

But what passes beyond the bounds of ab-
surdity, is that they have invented mirrors for
this artificial shape of theirs, as if it were some
excellent work or masterpiece. The deception
rather requires a veil thrown over it. For as the
Greek fable has it, it was not a fortunate thing
for the beautiful Narcissus to have been the be-
holder of his own image. And if Moses com-
manded men to make not an image to represent
God by art, how can these women be right, who
by their own reflection produce an imitation
of their own likeness, in order to the falsifying of
their faces? Likewise also, when Samuel the
prophet was sent to anoint one of the sons of
Jesse for king, and on seeing the eldest of his
sons to be fair and tall, produced the anointing
oil, being delighted with him, the Lord said to
him, "Look not to his appearance, nor the
height of his stature : for I have rejected him.
For man looketh on the eyes, but the Lord into
the heart." ^

And he anointed not him that was comely in
person, but him that was comely in soul. If,
then, the Lord counts the natural beauty of the
body inferior to that of the soul, what thinks He
of spurious beauty, rejecting utterly as He does
all falsehood ? " For we walk by faith, not by
sight." 3 Very clearly the Lord accordingly
teaches by Abraham, that he who follows God
must despise country, and relations, and posses-
sions, and all wealth, by making him a stranger.
And therefore also He called him His friend,
who had despised the substance which he had
possessed at home. For he was of good par-
entage, and very opulent ; and so with three
hundred and eighteen servants of his own he
subdued the four kings who had taken Lot cap-
tive.

Esther alone we find justly adorned. The
spouse adorned herself mystically for her royal
husband ; but her beauty turns out tlie redemp-
tion price of a people that were about to be
massacred. And that decoration makes women
courtesans, and men effeminate and adulterers,
the tragic poet is a witness; thus discours-
ing : —

* 2 Cor. iv. i8.
' 1 Sam. xvi. 7.
3 2 Cor. V. 7.

'^ He that judged the goddesses.
As the myth of the Argives has it, having come from

Phrygia
To Lacedaemon, arrayed in flowery vestments,
Glittering with gold and barbaric luxury,
Loving, departed, carr\'ing away her he loved,
Helen, to the folds of Ida, having found that
Menelaus was away from home. *

O "adulterous beauty ! Barbarian finery and
effeminate luxury overthrew Greece ; Lacedae-
monian chastity was corrupted by clothes, and
luxury, and graceful beauty; barbaric display
proved Jove's daughter a courtesan.

They had no instructor s to restrain their
lusts, nor one to say, " Do not commit adul-
tery;" nor, "Lust not;" or, "Travel not by
lust into adultery ; " or further, " Influence not
thy passions by desire of adornment."

What an end was it that ensued to them, and
what woes they endured, who would not restrain
their self-will ! Two continents were corvvulsed
by unrestrained pleasures, and all was thrown
into confusion by a barbarian boy. The whole
of Hellas puts to sea; the ocean is burdened
with the weight of continents ; a protracted war
breaks out, Und fierce battles are waged, and the
plains are crowded with dead : the barbarian
assails the fleet with outrage ; wickedness pre-
vails, and the eye of that poetic Jove looks on
the Thracians : —

** The barbarian plains drink noble blood.
And the streams of the rivers are choked with dead
bodies."

Breasts are beaten in lamentations, and grief
desolates the land; and all the feet, and the
summits of many-fountained Ida, and the cities
of the Trojans, and the ships of the Achaeans,
shake.

Where, O Homer, shall we flee and stand?
Show us a spoTbf ground that is not shaken ! —

" Touch not the reins, inexperienced boy,
Nor mount the seat, not having learned to drive."*

Heaven delights in two charioteers, by whom
alone the chariot of fire is guided. For the
mind is carried away by pleasure ; and the un-
sullied principle of reason, when not instructed
by the Word, slides down into licentiousness,
and gets a fall as the due reward of its trans-
gression. An example of this are the angels,
who renounced the beauty of God for a beaut)'
which fades, and so fell from heaven to earth. "

The Shechemites, too, were punished by an
overthrow for dishonouring the holy virgin. The
grave was their punishment, and the monument
of their ignominy leads to salvation.

* Iphigenia in AuliSf 7X-77.

s [The law was the paedagogue of the Jews (Gal. iti. 34} : and
therefore, as to Gentiles, they were a law unto themselves (Rom. li.
14, 15), with some truth in their philosophy to guide them.]

* Phaeihon of Euripides.

7 Gen. vL 1,2. [It is surprising with what tenacity this interpret
tation clings to the ancient mind of the Church. The Ifephilim and
Gibhorim need a special investigation. The Oriental tales of the
genii are probably connected with their fabulous history.]

Chap. III.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

275

CHAP, III. — AGAINST MEN WHO EMBELLISH

THEMSELVES.

To such an extent, then, has luxury advanced,
that not only are the female sex deranged about
this frivolous pursuit, but men also are infected
with the disease.' For not being free of the
love of finery, they are not in health ; but in-
clining to voluptuousness, they become effem-
inate, cutting their hair in an ungentlemanlike
and meretricious way, clothed in fine and trans-
])arent garments, chewing mastich,* smelling of
.perfiime.3 What can one say on seeing them ?
Like one who judges people by their foreheads,
he will divine them to be adulterers and effem-
inate, addicted to both kinds of venery, haters
of hair, destitute of hair, detesting the bloom
of manliness, and adorning their locks like
women. " Living for unholy acts of audacity,
these fickle wretches do reckless and nefarious
deeds," says the Sibyl. For their service the
towns are full of tEose who take out hair by
{)itch-plasters, shave, and pluck out hairs fi"om
these womanish creatures. And shops are erect-
. ed and opened everywhere ; and adepts at this
meretricious fornication make a deal of money
openly by those who plaster themselves, and
give their hair to be pulled out in all ways by
those who make it their trade, feeling no shame
before the onlookers or those who approach, nor
before themselves, being men. Such are those
addicted to base passions, whose whole body is
made smooth by the violent tuggings of pitch-
plasters. It is utterly impossible to get beyond
such effrontery. If nothing is left undone by
them, neither shall anything be left unspoken by
me. Diogenes, when he was being sold, chiding
like a teacher one of these degenerate creatures,
said very manfully, " Come, youngster, buy for
yourself a man," chastising his meretricious-
ness by an ambiguous speech. But for those
who are men to shave and smooth themselves,
how ignoble ! As for dyeing of hair, and
' anointing of grey locks, and dyeing them yellow,
these are practices of abandoned effeminates ;
and their feminine combing of themselves is a
thing to be let alone. For they think, that like
serpents they divest themselves of the old age
of their head by painting and renovating them-
selves. But though they do doctor the hair
cleverly, they will not escape wrinkles, nor will
they elude death by tricking time. For it is not
dreadful, it is not dreadful to appear old, when
you are not able to shut your eyes to the fact
that you are so.
The more, then, a man hastes to the end, the

^ * [Heathen manners are here depicted as a warning to Christians.
We caDnot suppose Christians, as yet, to any extent, corrupted in
their manners Dy fashion and frivolity; for to l>e a Christian excluded
one from temptations of this kind.]

[Query, de re Nicoiianaf\
[Smelling of Nicotine?]

more truly venerable is he, having God alone
as his senior, since He is the eternal aged One,
He who . is older than all things. Prophecy
has called him the "Ancient of days; and the
hair of His head was as pure wool," says the
prophet* " And none other," says the Lord,
" can make the hair white or black." s How,
then, do these godless ones work in rivalry with
God, or rather violently oppose Him, when they
transmute the hair made white by Him ? " The
crown of old men is great experience,"^ says
Scripture ; and the hoary hair of their coun-
tenance is the blossom of large experience.
But these dishonour the reverence of age, the
head covered with grey hairs. It is not, it is not
possible for him to show the head true who has
a fraudulent head. " But ye have not so learned
Christ ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and
have been taught by Him, as the truth is in
Jesus : that ye put off, concerning the former
conversation, the old man (not the hoary man,
but him that is) corrupt according to deceitful
lusts ; and be renewed (not by dyeings and
ornaments), but in the spirit of your mind;
and put on the new man, which after God is
created in righteousness and true holiness." '

But for one who is a man to comb himself and
shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine
effect, to arrange his hair at the looking-glass, to
shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and
smooth them, how womanly ! And, in truth,
unless you saw them naked, you would suppose
them to be women. For although not allowed
to wear gold, yet out of effeminate desire they
enwreath their latches and fringes with leaves
of gold ; or, getting certain spherical figures of
the same metal made, they fasten them to their
ankles, and hang them from their necks. This
is a device of enervated men, who are dragged
to the women's apartments, amphibious and
lecherous beasts. For this is a meretricious
and impious form of snare. For God wished
women to be smooth, and rejoice in their locks
alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his
mane ; but has adorned man, like the lions, with
a beard, and endowed him, as an attribute of
manhood, with shaggy breasts, — a sign this
of strength and rule. So also cocks, which
fight in defence of the hens, he has decked with
combs, as it were helmets ; and so high a value
does God set on these locks, that He orders
them to make their appearance on men simul-
taneously with discretion, and delighted with a
venerable look, has honoured gravity of coun-
tenance with grey hairs. But wisdom, and
discriminating judgments that are hoary with

4 Dan. vii. 9. [A truly eloquent passage.]

5 Mall. V. 36.

*> Ecclus. XXV. 6.
^ Eph. iv. 20-24.

276

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

wisdom, attain maturity with time, and by the
vigour of long experience give strength to old
age, producing grey hairs, the admirable flower
of venerable wisdom, conciliating confidence.
This, then, the mark of the man, the beard, by
which he is seen to be a man, is older than Eve,
and is the token of the superior nature. In this
God deemed it right that he should excel, and
dispersed hair over man's whole body. What-
ever smoothness and softness was in him He
abstracted from his side when He formed the
woman Eve, physically receptive, his partner in
parentage, his help in household management,
while he (for he had parted with all smoothness)
remained a man, and shows himself man. And
to him has been assigned action, as to her suffer-
ing; for what is shaggy is drier and warmer
than what is smooth. Wherefore males have
both more hair and more heat than females,
animals that are entire than the emasculated,
perfect than imperfect. It is therefore impious
to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness."
But the embellishment of smoothing (for I am
warned by the Word), if it is to attract men, is
the act of an effeminate person, — if to attract
women, is the act of an adulterer ; and both
must be driven as far as possible from our soci-
ety. " But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered," says the Lord;' those on the chin,
too, are numbered, and those on the whole body.
There must be therefore no plucking out, con-
trary to God's appointment, which has counted 3
them in according to His will. " Know ye not
yourselves," says the apostle, " that Christ Jesus
is ia you ? " ♦ Whom, had we known as dwelling
in us, I know not how we could have dared to
dishonour. But the using of pitch to pluck out
hair (I shrink from even mentioning the shame-
lessness connected with this process), and in the
act of bending back and bending down, the
violence done to nature's modesty by stepping
out and bending backwards in shameful post-
ures, yet the doers not ashamed of themselves,
but conducting themselves without shame in the
midst of the youth, and in the gymnasium, where
the prowess of man is tried ; the following of this
unnatural practice, is it not the extreme of licen-
tiousness? For those who engage in such prac-
tices in public will scarcely behave with modesty
to any at home. Their want of shame in public
attests their unbridled licentiousness in private. 5

' I On the other hand, this was Esau's symbol : and the sensual
** satyrs " ( Isa. xiii. 2) are " hairy eoats," in ine original. So also the
originals of " devils" in Lev. xvii. j, and a Chron. xi. 15. See the
learned note of Mr. West, in his edition of Lcighton, vol. v. p. 161.]

* Matt. X. 30.

3 iyKaTapiUfLrifttvi^v aecms to be here used in a middle, not a
passive sense, as icarapttf^ii^ci'ov is sometimes.

* a Cor. xiii. 5.

^ I Such were the manners with which the Gospel was forced ever>'-
where to contend. That they were against nature is sufficiently clear
from the remains of decency in some heathen. Herodotus (book i.
cap. 8) tells us that the Lydians counted it disgraceful even (or a man
to be seen naked.]

For he who in the light of day denies his man-
hood, will prove himself manifestly a woman by
night. " There shall not be," said the Word by
Moses, " a harlot of the daughters of Israel ;
there shall not be a fornicator of the sons of
Israel." ^

But the pitch does good, it is said. Nay, it
defames, say I. No one who entertains right
sentiments would wish to appear a fornicator,
were he not the victim of that vice, and study to
defame the beauty of his form. No one would,
I say, voluntarily choose to do this. " For if
God foreknew those who are called, according
to His purpose, to be conformed to the image of
His Son," for whose sake, according to the bless-
ed apostle, He has appointed " Him to be the
first-bom among many brethren," 7 are they not
godless who treat with indignity the body which
is of like form with the Lord ?

The man, who would be beautiful, must adorn
that which is tlie most beautiful thing in man,
his mind, which every day he ought to exhibit
in greater comeliness ; and should pluck out not
hairs, but lusts. I pity the boys possessed by ^
the slave-dealers, that are decked for dishonour.
But they are not treated with ignominy by them-
selves, but by command the wretches are adorned
for base gain. But how disgusting are those w^ho
willingly practise the things to which, if com-
pelled, they would, if they were men, die rather
than do?

But life has reached this pitch of licentious-
ness through the wantonness of wickedness, and
lasciviousness is diffused over the cities, ha\'ing
become law. Beside them women stand in the
stews, offering their own flesh for hire for lewd
pleasure, and boys, taught to deny their sex, act
the part of women.

Luxury has deranged all things ; it has dis-
graced man. A luxurious niceness seeks ever)'-
thing, attempts everything, forces everything,
coerces nature. Men play the part of women,
and women that of men, contrary to nature ;
women are at once wives and husbands : no
passage is closed against libidinousness ; and
their promiscuous lechery is a public institution,
and luxury is domesticated. O miserable spec-
tacle ! horrible conduct ! Such are the trophies
of your social licentiousness which are exhibited :
the evidence of these deeds are the prostitutes.
Alas for such wickedness ! Besides, the wretches
know not how many tragedies the uncertainty of
intercourse produces. For fathers, unmindful of
children of theirs that have been exposed, often
without their knowledge, have intercourse with
a son that has debauched himself, and daughters
that are prostitutes ; and licence in lust shows
them to be the men that have begotten them.

^ Deut. xxili. 17.
7 Rom. viii. 28, 29.

Chap. IV.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

277

These things your wise laws allow : people may
sin legally; and the execrable indulgence in
pleasure they call a thing indifferent. They who
commit adultery against nature think themselves
free from adultery. Avenging justice follows
their audacious deeds, and, dragging on them-
selves inevitable calamity, they purchase death
for a small sum of money. The miserable deal-
ers in these wares sail, bringing a cargo of forni-
cation, like wine or oil ; and others, far more
wretched, traffic in pleasures as they do in bread
and sauce, not heeding the words of Moses,
" Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to
be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredom, and
the land become full of wickedness." *

Such was predicted of old, and the result is
notorious : the whole earth has now become full
of fornication and wickedness. I admire the
ancient legislators of the Romans : these detested
effeminacy of conduct; and the giving of the
body to feminine purposes, contrary to the law
of nature, they judged worthy of the extremest
penalty, according to the righteousness of the
law.

For it is not lawful to pluck out the beard,'
man's natural and noble ornament.

** A youth with his first beard : for with this, youth is
most graceful."

By and by he is anointed, delighting in the
beard " on which descended " the prophetic
*' ointment " ^ with which Aaron was honoured.

And it becomes him who is rightly trained,
on whom peace has pitched its tent, to preserve
peace also with his hair.

What, then, will not women with strong pro-
pensities to lust practise, when they look on men
perpetrating such enormities ? Rather we ought
not to call such as these men, but lewd wretches
(^ttToXoc), and effeminate (ywt&s), whose voices
are feeble, and whose clothes are womanish both
m feel and dye. And such creatures are mani-
festly shown to be what they are from their
external appearance, their clothes, shoes, form,
walk, cut of their hair, look. "For from his
look shall a man be known," says the Scripture,
'* and from meeting a man the man is known :
the dress of a^ man, the step of his foot, the
laugh of his teeth, tell tales of him." ♦

For these, for the most part, plucking out the
rest of their hair, only dress that on the head, all
but binding their locks with fillets Uke women.
Lions glory in their shagg\' hair, but are armed
by their hair in the fight; and boars even are
made imposing by their mane ; the hunters are

* Lev, xix. 39.

' [When the loss of the beard was a token of foppery and often
of v>nicthine worse, shaving would be frivolity; but here be treats 'of
extirpation.]

^ Ps. cxxxiii. a.

* Kcclus. xix. 39, 30.

afraid of them when they see them bristling
their hair.

" The fleecy sheep are loaded with their wool." '

And their wool the loving Father has made
abundant for thy use, O man, having taught thee
to sheer their fleeces. Of the nations, the Celts
and Scythians wear their hair long, but do not
deck themselves. The bushy hair of the barba-
rian has something fearful in it ; and its auburn
QavOov) colour threatens war, the hue being
somewhat akin to blood. Both these barbarian
races hate luxury. As clear witnesses will be
produced by the German, the Rhine ; ^ and by
the Scythian, the waggon. Sometimes the Scy-
thian despises even the waggon : i/ts size seems
sumptuousness to the barbarian ; and leaving its
luxurious ease, the Scythian man leads a frugal ^
life. For a house sufficient, and less encumbered
than the waggon, he takes his horse, and mount-
ing it, is borne where he wishes. And when
faint with hunger, he asks his horse for suste-
nance ; and he offers his veins, and supplies his
master with all he possesses — his blood. To
the nomad the horse is at once conveyance
and sustenance; and the warlike youth of the
Arabians (these are other nomads) are mounted
on camels. They sit on breeding camels ; and
these feed and run at the same time, carrying
their masters the whilst, and bear the house with
them. And if drink fail the barbarians, they
milk them ; and after that their food is spent,
they do not spare even their blood, as is reported
of furious wolves. And these, gentler than the
barbarians, when injured, bear no remembrance
of the >\Tong, but sweep bravely over the desert,
carrying and nourishing their masters at the
same time.

Perish, then, the savage beasts whose food is
blood ! For it is unlawful for men, whose body
is nothing but flesh elaborated of blood, to touch
blood. For human blood has become a partaker
of the Word : ^ it is a participant of grace by the
Spirit; and if any one injure him, he will not
escape unnoticed. Man may, though naked in
body, address the Lord. But I approve the
simplicity of the barbarians : loving an unencum- '
bered life, the barbarians have abandoned luxury.
Such the Lord calls us to be — naked of finery,
naked of vanity, wrenched from our sins, bearing
only the wood of life, aiming only at salvation.

CHAP. IV. WITH WHOM WE ARE TO ASSOCIATE.

But really I have unwittingly deviated in spirit
from the order, to which I must now revert, and
must find fault with having large numbers of do-
mestics. For, avoiding working with their own

3 Hesiod, Works and Days, \. 232.

^ Of whicb they drink.

7 [He took upon him our nature, flesh and blood. Heb. ii. 14-16.]

278

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

hands and serving themselves, men have recourse
to servants, purchasing a great crowd of fine
' cooks, and of people to lay out the table, arid of
others to divide the meat skilfully into pieces.
And the staif of servants is separated into many
divisions ; some labour for their gluttony, carvers
and seasoners, and the compounders and makers
of sweetmeats, and honey-cakes, and custards ;
others are occupied with their too numerous
clothes ; others guard the gold, like griffins ;
others keep the silver, and wipe the cups, and
make ready what is needed to furnish the festive
table ; others rub down the horses ; and a crowd
of cup-bearers exert themselves in their service,
and herds of beautiful boys, like cattle, from
whom they milk away their beauty. And male
and female assistants at the toilet are employed
about the ladies — some for the mirrors, some
for the head-dresses, others for the combs.
Many are eunuchs ; and these panders serve
without suspicion those that wish to be free to
enjoy their pleasures, because of the belief that
they are unable to indulge in lust. But a true
eunuch is not one who is unable, but one who is
unwiUing, to indulge in pleasure. The Word,
testifying by the prophet Samuel to the Jews,
who had transgressed when the people asked for
a king, promised not a loving lord, but threat-
ened to give them a self-willed and voluptuous
tyrant, " who shall," He says, " take your daugh-
ters to be perfumers, and cooks, and bakers," '
ruling by the law of war, not desiring a peaceful
administration. And there are many Celts, who
bear aloft on their shoulders women's litters.
But workers in wool, and spinners, and weavers,
and female work and housekeeping, are nowhere.

But those who impose on the women, spend
the day with them, telling them silly amatory
stories, and wearing out body and soul with their
false acts and words. " Thou shalt not be with
many," it is said, " for evil, nor give th5rself to a
multitude ; " ' for wisdom shows itself among few,
but disorder in a multitude. But it is not for
grounds of propriety, on account of not wishing to
be seen, that they purchase bearers, for it were
commendable if out of such feelings they put
themselves under a covering j but it is out of lux-
uriousness that they are carried on their domes-
tics* shoulders, and desire to make a show.

So, opening the curtain, and looking keenly
round on all that direct their eyes towards them,
they show their manners ; and often bending
forth from within, disgrace this superficial pro-
priety by their dangerous restlessness. *' I^ok
not round," it is said, " in the streets of the city,
and wander not in its lonely places." ^ For that
is, in truth, a lonely place, though there be a

' 1 Sam. yiii. 13.
2 Ex. xxiii. 2.
^ Ecdus. ix. 7.

crowd of the licentious in it, where no wise man
is present.

And these women are carried about over the
temples, sacrificing and practising divination day
by day, spending their time with fortune-tellers,
and begging priests, and disreputable old women ;
and they keep up old wives' whisperings over
their cups, learning charms and incantations from
soothsayers, to the ruin of the nuptial bonds.
And some men they keep ; by others they are
kept; and others are promised them by the
diviners. They know not that they are cheatin::
themselves, and giving up themselves as a vessel
of pleasure to those that wish to indulge in wan-
tonness ; and exchanging their purity for the
foulest outrage, they think what is the most
shameful ruin a great stroke of business. And
there are many ministers to this meretricious
licentiousness, insinuating themselves, one from
one quarter, another from another. For the
licentious rush readily into uncleanness, like swine
rushing to that part of the hold of the ship which
is depressed. Whence the Scripture most strenu-
ously exhorts, " Introduce not every one into thy
house, for the snares of the crafty are many."^
And in another place, "Let just men be thy
guests, and in the fear of the Lord let thy boast
remain." 5 Away with fornication. " For know
this well," says the apostle, " that no fornicator,
or unclean person, or covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God." ^

But these women delight in intercourse with
the effeminate. And crowds of abominable
creatures (KtvatSc?) flow in, of unbridled tongue,
filthy in body, filthy in language ; men enough
for lewd offices, ministers of adultery, giggling
and whispering, and shamelessly making through
their noses sounds of lewdness and fornication
to provoke lust, endeavouring to please by lewd
words and attitudes, inciting to laughter, the pre-
cursor of fornication. And sometimes, when
inflamed by any provocation, either these forni-
cators, or those that follow the rabble of abomi-
nable creatures to destruction, make a sound in
their nose like a frog, as if they had got anger
dwelling in their nostrils. But those who are
more refined than these keep Indian birds and
Medianpea-fowls, and recline with pe'at-headed '
creatures ; playing with satyrs, delighting in mon-
sters. They laugh when they hear Thersites:
and these women, purchasing Thersiteses highly
valued, pride themselves not in their husbands,
but in those wretches which are a burden on the
earth, and overlook the chaste widow, who is ot
far higher value than a Melitaean pup, and look

* Ecclus. xi. 29.
S Eoclus. ix. 16.

* Eph. V. 5.

7 ^0(09, in allusion to Thersites, to which Homer applies this epn
thet.

Chap. VI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

279

askance at a just old man, who is lovelier in my
estimation than a monster purchased for money.
And though maintaining parrots and curlews,
; they do not receive the orphan child ; ' but they
I expose children that are born at home, and take
up the young of birds, and prefer irrational to
rational creatures ; although they ought to un-
dertake the maintenance of old people with a
character for sobriety, who are fairer in my mind
than apes, and capable of uttering something
better than nightingales ; and to set before them
that saying, " He that pitieth the poor lendeth
to the Lord ; " * and this, " Inasmuch as ye have
done it unto the least of these My brethren, ye
have done it to Me." ' But these, on the other
hand, prefer ignorance to wisdom, turning their
wealth into stone, that is, into pearls and Indjan
emeralds. And they squander and throw away
their wealth on fading dyes, and bought slaves ;
like crammed fowls scraping the dung of life.
" Poverty," it is said, " humbles a man." * By
poverty is meant that niggardliness by which the
rich are poor, having nothing to give away.

CHAP. v. — BEHAVIOUR IN THE BATHS. ^

And of what sort are their baths? Houses
skilfully constructed, compact, portable, trans-
parent, covered with fine linen. And gold-plated
chairs, and silver ones, too, and ten thousand
vessels of gold and silver, some for drinking,
some for eating, some for bathing, are carried
about with them. Besides these, there are even
braziers of coals ; for they have arrived at such
a pitch of self-indulgence, that they sup and get
drunk while bathing. And articles of silver with
which they make a show, they ostentatiously set
out in the baths, and thus display perchance their
wealth out of excessive pride, but chiefly the
capricious ignorance, through which they brand
effeminate men, who have been vanquished by
women ; proving at least that they themselves
cannot meet and cannot sweat without a multi-
tude of vessels, although poor women who have
no display equally enjoy their baths. The dirt
of wealth, then, has an abundant covering of
censure. With this, as with a bait, they hook
the miserable creatures that gape at the glitter
of gold. For dazzling thus those fond of dis-
play, they artfully try to win the admiration of
their lovers, who after a Httle insult them naked.
They will scarce strip before their own husbands,
affecting a plausible pretence of modesty; but
any others who wish, may see them at home shut
up naked in their baths. For there they are not

* [The wasting on pet dogs, pups, and other animals, expense and

Bins which might help an orphan child, is a sin not yet uprooted.
ere Clement's plea for widows, orphans, and aged men, prepares the
way for Christian institutions in behalf of these classes. 1 he same
argutnients should prevail with Christians in America.]
^ Prov. xix. 17.
3 Matt. XXV. 40.

* Prov. X. 4.

ashamed to strip before spectators, as if expos-
ing their persons for sale. But Hesiod advises
" Not to wash the skin in the women's bath." *

The baths are opened promiscuously to men and
women; and there they strip for Ucentious in-
dulgence (for from looking, men get to loving),
as if their modesty had been washed away in
the bath.^ Those who have not become utterly
destitute of modesty shut out strangers ; but
bathe with their own servants, and strip naked
before their slaves, and are rubbed by them ;
giving to the crouching menial liberty to lust, by
permitting fearless handling. For those who are
introduced before their naked mistresses while
in the bath, study to strip themselves in order to
audacity in lust, casting off fear in consequence
of the wicked custom. The ancient athletes,'
ashamed to exhibit a man naked, preserved their
modesty by going through the contest in drawers ;
but these women, divesting themselves of their
modesty along with their tunic, wish to appear
beautiful, but contrary to their wish are simply
proved to be wicked.^ For through the body
itself the wantonness of lust shines clearly ; as in
the case of dropsical people, the water covered
by the skin. Disease in both is known from the
look. Men, therefore, affording to women a
noble example of truth, ought to be ashamed at
their stripping before them, and guard against
these dangerous sights ; " for he who has looked
curiously," it is said, "hath sinned already." 9
At home, therefore, they ought to regard with
modesty parents and domestics; in the ways,
those they meet ; in the baths, women ; in soli-
tude, themselves; and everywhere the Word,
who is everywhere, " and without Him was not
anything." *° For so only shall one remain with-
out falling, if he regard God as ever present
with him.

CHAP. VI. — THE CHRISTIAN ALONE RICH.

Riches are then to be partaken of rationally,
bestowed lovingly, not sordidly, or pompously ;
nor is the love of the beautiful to be turned
into self-love and ostentation; lest perchance
some one say to us, "His horse, or land, or
domestic, or gold, is worth fifteen talents ; but
the man himself is dear at three coppers."

5 Hesiod, Works and days ^ ii. 371.

* [Such were women before the Gospel came. See note to
Hermas, cap. xi. note 1, p. 47, this volume, and Elucidation (p. 57)
of the same. ]

7 [The barbarians were more decent than the Greeks, being
nearer to the state of nature, which is a better euide than pagan civi-
lization. But see the interesting note of Rawlinson {Herod.^ vol. i.
p. 135, ed. f<few York), <vho quotes Thucydides (i. 6) to prove the
recent invasion of immodest exposure even among athletes. Our
author has this same quotation in mind, for he almost translates it
here.]

8 [Attic girls raced in the games quite naked. Spartan girls wore
only the linen chiton^ even in the company of men ; and this was es-
teemed nudity f not unjustly. David's " uncovering himself" (2 Sam.
vi. 30) was nudity of the same sort. Married women assumed the
t^lusA

9 Malt. v. 28.
" John i. 3.

28o

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

Take away, then, directly the ornaments from
women, and domestics from masters, and you
will find masters in no respect different from
bought slaves in step, or look, or voice, so like
are they to' their slaves. But they differ in that
they are feebler than their slaves, and have a
more sickly upbringing.

This best of maxims, then, ought to be per-
petually repeated, "That the good man, being
temperate and just," treasures up his wealth in
heaven. He who has sold his worldly goods, and
given them to the poor, finds the imperishable
treasure, "where is neither moth nor robber."
Blessed truly is he, " though he be insignificant,
and feeble, and obscure ; " and he is truly rich
with the greatest of all riches. "Though a
man, then, be richer than Cinyras and Midas,
and is wicked," and haughty as he who was lux-
uriously clothed in purple and fine linen, and
despised Lazarus, " he is miserable, and lives in
trouble," and shall not live. fWealth seems to
me to be like a serpent, which will twist round
the hand and bite ; unless one knows how to lay
hold of it without danger by the point of the tail.
And riches, wriggling either in an experienced
or inexperienced grasp, are dexterous at adhering
and biting ; unless one, despising them, use them
skilfully, so as to crush the creature by the charm
of the Word, and himself escape unscathe3\

But, as is reasonable, he alone, who possesses
what is worth most, turns out truly rich, though
not recognised as such. And it is not jewels,
or gold, or clothing, or beauty of person, that |
are of high value, but virtue ; which is the Word j
given by the Instructor to be put in practice.
This is the Word, who abjures luxury, but calls
self-help as a servant, and praises frugality, the
progeny of temperance. " Receive," he says,
" instruction, and not silver, and knowledge
rather than tested gold ; for Wisdom is better
than precious stones, nor is anything that is val-
uable equal in worth to her." ' And again :
" Acquire me rather than gold, and precious
stones, and silver ; for my produce is better than
choice silver." *

But if we must distinguish, let it be granted
that he is rich who has many p>ossessions, loaded
with gold like a dirty purse ; but the righteous
alone is graceful, because grace is order, observ-
ing a due and decorous measure in managing
and distributing. " For there are those who
sow and reap more," 3 of whom it is written,
" He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor ;
his righteousness endureth for ever." ♦ So that
it is not he who has and keeps, but he who
gives away, that is rich ; and it is giving away,

* Prov. viiK lo, II.
' Prov. viii. 19.

* Prov. xi. 24.

* Ps. cxii. 9.

not possession, which renders a man happy ;
and the fruit of the Spirit is generosity. It
is in the soul, then, that riches are. Let it,
then, be granted that good things scre the prop-
erty only of good men ; and Christians are
good. Now, a fool or a libertine can neither
have any perception of what is good, nor obtain
possession of it. Accordingly, good things are
possessed by Christians alone. And nothing is
richer than these good things; therefore these
alone are rich. For righteousness is true riches ;
and the Word is more valuable than all treasure,
not accruing from cattle and fields, but given
by God — riches which cannot be taken away.
The soul alone is its treasure. It is the best
possession to its possessor, rendering man truly
blessed. For he whose it is to desire nothing
that is not in our power, and to obtain by ask-
ing from God what he piously desires, does he
not possess much, nay all, having God as his
everlasting treasure ? " To him that asks," it is
said, " shall be given, and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened." s If God denies nothing,
all things belong to the godly.

CHAP. VII. — FRUGALrrV A GOOD PROVISION FOR

THE CHRISTIAN.

Delicacies spent on pleasures become a dan-
gerous shipwreck to men ; for this voluptuous
and ignoble life of the many is alien to true love
for the beautiful and to refined pleasures. For
man is by nature an erect and majestic being,
aspiring after the good as becomes the creature
of the One. But the life which crawls on its
belly is destitute of dignity, is scandalous, hate-
ful, ridiculous. And to the divine nature volup-
tuousness is a thing most alien ; for this is for a
man to be like sparrows in feeding, and swine
and goats in lechery. For to regard pleasure as
a good thing, is the sign of utter ignorance of
what is excellent. Love of wealth displaces a
man from the right mode of life, and induces
him to cease from feeling shame at what is
shameful ; if only, like a beast, he has p)ower to
eat all sorts of things, and to drink in like man-
ner, and to satiate in every way his lewd desires.
And so very rarely does he inherit the kingdom
of God. For what end, then, are such dainty-
dishes prepared, but to fill one belly? The
filthiness of gluttony is proved by the sewers
into which our bellies discharge the refuse of our
food. For what end do they collect so many
cupbearers, when they might satisfy themselves
with one cup? For what the chests of clothes?
and the gold ornaments for what ? Those things
are prepared for clothes-stealers, and scoundrels,
and for greedy eyes. " But let alms and faitlu
not fail thee," ^ says the Scripture.

5 Matt. vii. 7, 8.
* Prov. iii. 5.

Chap. VIII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

281

Look, for instance, to Elias the Thesbite, in
whom we have a beautiful example of frugality,
when he sat down beneath the thorn, and the
angel brought him food. " It was a cake of
barley and a jar of water." ' Such the Lord sent
as best for him. We, then, on our journey to
the truth, must be unencumbered. " Carry not,"
said the Lord, " purse, nor scrip, nor shoes ; " *
that is, possess not wealth, which is only treas-
ured up in a purse ; fill not your own stores, as
if laying up produce in a bag, but communicate
to those who have need. Do not trouble your-
selves about horses and servants, who, as bearing
burdens when the rich are travelling, are alle-
gorically called shoes.

We must, then, cast away the multitude of
vessels, silver and gold drinking cups, and the
crowd of domestics, receiving as we have done
from the Instructor the fair and grave attendants.
Self-help and Simplicity. And we must walk
suitably to the Word ; and if there be a wife and
children, the house is not a burden, having learned
to change its place along with the sound-minded
traveller. The wife who loves her husband must
be furnished for travel similarly to her husband.
A fair provision for the journey to heaven is theirs
who bear frugality with chaste gravity. And as
the foot is the measure of the shoe, so also is the
body of what each individual possesses. But
that which is superfluous, what they call orna-
ments and the furniture of the rich, is a burden,
not an ornament to the body. He who climbs
to the heavens by force, must carry with him the
fair staff of beneficence, and attain to the true
rest by communicating to those who are in dis-
tress. For the Scripture avouches, "that the
true riches of the soul are a man's ransom," ^
that is, if he is rich, he will be saved by dis-
tributing it. For as gushing wells, when pumped
out, rise again to their former measure,^ so giving
away, being the benignant spring of love, by
communicating of its drink to the thirsty, again
increases and is replenished, just as the milk is
wont to flow into the breasts that are sucked or
milked. For he who has the almighty God, the
Word, is in want of nothing, and never is in
straits for what he needs. For the Word is a
possession that wants nothing, and is the cause
of all abundance. If one say that he has often
seen the righteous man in need of food, this is
rare, and happens only where there is not an-
other righteous man.s Notwithstanding let him
read what follows : " For the righteous man shall
not live by bread alone, but by the word of the
Lord,"^ who is the true bread, the bread of

* I Kings xix. 4, 6.
' Luke X. 4.

' Prov. xiii. 8.

* [Kave, p. 07.]

' [A Deautiiul apophthegm, and admirably interpretative of Ps.
«xxvii. 25.]

* Deut. viii. 3 ; Matt, iv. 4. #

the heavens. The good man, then, can never be
in difliculties so long as he keeps intact his con-
fession towards God. For it appertains to him
to ask and to receive whatever he requires from
the Father of all ; and to enjoy what is his own,
if he keep the Son. And this also appertains to
him, to feel no want.

This Word, who trains us, confers on us the
true riches. Nor is the growing rich an object
of envy to those who possess through Him the
privilege of wanting nothing. He that has this
wealth shall inherit the kingdom of God.

CHAP. Vin. — SIMILITUDES AND EXAMPLES A MOST
IMPORTANT PART OF RIGHT INSTRUCTION.

And if any one of you shall entirely avoid lux-
ury, he will, by a frugal upbringing, train himself
to the endurance of involuntary labours, by em-
ploying constantly voluntary afflictions as training
exercises for persecutions ; so that when he comes
to compulsory labours, and fears, and griefs, he
will not be unpractised in endurance.

Wherefore we have no country on earth, that
we may despise earthly possessions. And fru-
gality 7 is in the highest degree rich, being equal
to unfailing expenditure, bestowed on what is
requisite, and to the degree requisite. For TtXrj
has the meaning of expenses.

How a husband is to live with his wife; and
respecting self-help, and housekeeping, and the
employment of domestics ; and further, with re-
spect to the time of marriage, and what is suita-
ble for wives, we have treated in the discourse
concerning marriage. What pertains to disci-
pline alone is reserved now for description, as we
delineate the life of Christians. The most in-
deed has been already said, and laid down in the
form of disciplinary rules. What still remains
we shall subjoin ; for examples are of no small
moment in determining to salvation.^

See, says the tragedy,

" The consort of Ulysses was not killed
By Telemacbus; for she did not take a husband in

addition to a husband.
But in the house the marriage-bed remains unpolluted." ^

Reproaching foul adultery, he showed the fair
image of chastity in affection to her husband.

The Lacedaemonians compelling the Helots,
their servants (Helots is the name of their ser-
vants), to get drunk, exhibited their drunken
pranks before themselves, who were temperate,
for cure and correction.

Observing, accordingly, their unseemly behav-
iour, in order that they themselves might not fall
into like censurable conduct, they trained them-

7 The word used by Clement here for frugahty is evrcAcia, and
he supposes the word to mean originally "spending well." A proper
way ofspen.'ling money is as good as unfailing riches, since it always
has enouj^h tor all that is necessary.

B [This plea for simiU'tudgs illustrates the principle of Hermas,
and the ground of the currency of his Pastoral

9 Euripides, Orestes^ 588-590.

282

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

selves, turning the reproach of the drunkards to
the advantage of keeping themselves free from
fault.

For some men being instructed are saved;
and others, self-taught, either aspire after or seek
virtue.

*' He truly is the best of all who himself perceives all
things." '

Such is Abraham, who sought God.

"And good, again, is he who obeys him who advises
well."*

Such are those disciples who obeyed the Word.
Wherefore the former was called " friend," the
latter " apostles ; '* the one diligently seeking,
and the other preaching one and the same God.
_ ^ And both are peoples, and both these have
hearers, the one who is profited through seeking,
the other who is saved through finding.

"But whoever neither himself perceives, nor, hearing
another,
Lays to heart — he is a worthless man."*

The Other people is the Gentile — useless;
' ' this is the people that foUoweth not Christ.
Nevertheless the Instructor, lover of man, help-
ing in many ways, partly exhorts, partly upbraids.
Others having sinned. He shows us their base-
ness, and exhibits the punishment consequent
upon it, alluring while admonishing, planning to
dissuade us in love from evil, by the exhibition
of those who have suffered from it before. By
which examples He very manifestly checked
those who had been evil-disposed, and hindered
those who were daring like deeds ; and others
He brought to a foundation of patience ; others
He stopped from wickedness; and others He
cured by the contemplation of what is like,
bringing them over to what is better.

For who, when following one in the way, and
then on the former falling into a pit, would not
guard against incurring equal danger, by taking
care not to follow him in his slip ? What athlete,
again, who has learned the way to glory, and
has seen the combatant who had preceded him
receiving the prize, does not exert himself for
the crown, imitating the elder one ?

Such images of divine wisdom are many ; but
I shall mention one instance, and expound it in
a few words. The fate of the Sodomites was
judgment to those who had done wrong, instruc-
tion to those who hear. The Sodomites having,
through much luxury, fallen into uncleanness,
practising adultery shamelessly, and burning
with insane love for boys ; the All-seeing Word,
whose notice those who commit impieties cannot
escape, cast His eye on them. Nor did the
sleepless guard of humanity observe their licen-

* Hesiod, H^orAs and Days, i. 291.

2 Ihd.

3 Ibui.

tiousness in silenoe; but dissuading us from the
imitation of them, and training us up to His own
temperance, and falling on some sinners, lest
lust being unavenged, should break loose from
all the restraints of fear, ordered Sodom to be
burned, pouring forth a. little of the sagacious
fire on licentiousness ; lest lust, through want of
punishment, should throw wide the gates to
those that were rushing into voluptuousness.
Accordingly, the just punishment of the Sodom-
ites became to men an image of the salvation
which is well calculated for men. For those
who have not committed like sins with those who
are punished, will never receive a like punish-
ment. By guarding against sinning, we guard
against suffering. " For I would have you know,"
says Jude, "that God, having once saved His
people from the land of Egypt, afterwards de-
stroyed them that believed not ; and the angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their
own habitation. He hath reserved to the judg-
ment of the great day, in everlasting chains under
darkness of the savage angels."* And a little
after he sets forth, in a most instructive manner,
representations of those that are judged : " \Voe
unto them, for they have gone in the way of
Cain, and run greedily after the error of Balaam,
and perished in the gainsaying of Core." For
those, who cannot attain the privilege of adoption,
fear keeps from growing insolent. For punish-
ments and threats are for this end, that fearing
the penalty we may abstain from sinning. I
might relate to you punishments for ostentation,
and punishments for vainglory, not only for licen-
tiousness ; and adduce the censures pronounced
on those whose hearts are bad through wealth,-^
in which censures the Word through fear restrains
from evil acts. But sparing prolixity in my trea-
tise, I shall bring forward the following precepts
of the Instructor, that you may guard again<t
His threatenings.

CHAP. IX. — WHY WE ARE TO USE THE BATH.

There are, then, four reasons for the bath (for
from that point I digressed in my oration), for
which we frequent it : for cleanliness, or heat,
or health, or lastly, for pleasure. Bathing for
pleasure is to be omitted. For unblushing
pleasure must be cut out by the roots ; and the
bath is to be taken by women for cleanliness
and health, by men for health alone.^ To bathe
for the sake of heat is a superfluity, since one
may restore what is frozen by the cold in other
ways. Constant use of the bath, too, impairs
strength and relaxes the physical energies, and
often induces debility and fainting. For in a

* Jude 5, 6.

5 Following Lowth's conjecture of Koito^pov^v instead of that of
the text, KaKO^pova^.

** [The morals of Clement as to decency in bathing need 10 be
enforced among modem Christians, at scasi^ places of resort.]

Chap. X.)

THE INSTRUCTOR.

283

way the body drinks, like trees, not only by the
mouth, but sdso over the whole body in bathing,
by what they call the pores. In proof of this,
often people, when thirsty, by going afterwards
into the water, have assuaged their thirst. Un-
less, then, the bath is for some use, we ought
not to indulge in it. The ancients called them
places for fulling » men, since they Mrrinkle men*s
bodies sooner than they ought, and by cooking
them, as it were, compel them to become pre-
maturely old. The flesh, like iron, being soft-
ened by the heat, hence we require cold, as it
were, to temper and give an edge. Nor nAust
we bathe always ; but if one is a little exhausted,
or, on the other hand, filled to repletion, the
bath is to be forbidden, regard being had to
the age of the body and the season of the year.
For the bath is not beneficial to all, or always,
as those who are skilled in these things own.
But due proportion, which on all occasions we
call as our helper in life, suffices for us. For we
must not so use the bath as to require an assist-
ant, nor are we to bathe constantly and often in
the day as we frequent the market-place. But
to have the water poured over us by several
people is an outrage on our neighbours, through
fondness for luxuriousness, and is done by those
who will not understand that the bath is com-
mon to all the bathers equally.

But most of all is it necessary to wash the soul
in the cleansing Word (sometimes the body too,
on account of the dirt which gathers and grows
to it, sometimes also to relieve fatigue). " Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites ! "
saith the Lord, ** for ye are like to whited sepul-
chres. Without, the sepulchre appears beautiful,
but within it is full of dead men's bones and all
uncleanness." * And again He says to the same
I)eople, " Woe unto you ! for ye cleanse the out-
side of the cup and platter, but within are full
of uncleanness. Cleanse first the inside of the
cup, that the outside may be clean also." 3 The
best bath, then, is what rubs off the pollution of
the soul, and is spiritual. Of which prophecy
speaks expressly : " The Lord will wash away the
filth of the sons and daughters of Israel, and will
purge the blood from the midst of them " * — the
blood of crime and the murders of the prophets.
And the mode of cleansing, the Word subjoined,
saying, " by the spirit of judgment and the spirit
of burning." The bathing which is carnal, that
is to say, of the body, is accomplished by water
alone, as often in the country where there is not
a bath.5

' av$ptanoyvai^tla.

* Matt, xxjii. 37.

^ Matt, xxiii. 25, 26.

* Isa. iv. 4.

^ [That is, water applied by cloths or sponges. Clement does
not oppose bathiivg, except in excess, and with the processes used in
heaihen baths. St. John was fond of the bath; and see the story of
his encounter with Cerinthus, in Eusebius, book iv. cap. xiv.J

CHAP. X. — THE EXERaSES SUITED TO A GOOD

LIFE,

The gymnasium is sufficient for boys, even if I
a bath is within reach. And even for men to
prefer gymnastic exercises by far to the baths, is
perchance not bad, since they are in some re-
spects conducive to the health of young men, and
produce exertion — emulation to aim at not only
a healthy habit of body, but courageousness of
soul. When this is done without dragging a man
away from better employments, it is pleasant,
and not unprofitable. Nor are women to be de-
prived of bodily exercise. But they are not to •
be encouraged to engage in wrestling or running, '
but are to exercise themselves in spinning, and
weaving, and superintending the cooking if
necessary. And they are, with their own hand,
to fetch from the store what we require. And it
is no disgrace for them to apply themselves to the
mill. Nor is it a reproach to a wife — house-
keeper and helpmeet — to occupy herself in
cooking, so that it may be palatable to her hus-
band. And if she shake up the couch, reach
drink to her husband when thirsty, set food on
the table as neatly as possible, and so give her-
self exercise tending to sound health, the In-
structor will approve of a woman like this, who
" stretches forth her arms to useful tasks, rests
her hands on the distaff, opens her hand to the
poor, and extends her wrist to the beggar."^

She who emulates Sarah is not ashamed of that
highest of ministries, helping wayfarers. For
Abraham said to her, " Haste, and knead three
measures of meal, and make cakes." 7 " And
Rachel, the daughter of Laban, came," it is
said, " with her father's sheep." * Nor was this
enough ; but to teach humility it is added, " for
she fed her father's sheep." ^ And innumerable
such examples of frugality and self-help, and
also of exercises, are furnished by the Scriptures.
In the case of men, let some strip and engage
in wrestling; let some play at the small ball,
especially the game they call Pheninda,*® in the
sun. To others who walk into the country, or
go down into the town, the walk is sufficient
exercise. And were they to handle the hoe,
this stroke of economy in agricultural labour
would not be ungentleman like.

I had almost forgot to say that the well-known
Pittacus, king of Miletus, practised the laborious
exercise of turning the mill.'* It is respectable
for a man to draw water for himself, and to cut
billets of wood which he is to use himself.
Jacob fed the sheep of Laban that were left in

<> Prov. xxxi. 19, ao, Scptuagint.

7 Gen. xviii. 6.

^ Gen. xxix. 9.

9 /6td.

'o ibfvivSa or ^tvvi^.

II llie text has ^KBtv. The true reading, doubtless, is ^kuBtv.
That Pittacus exercised himself thus, is stated by Isidore of Pelu-
bium, Diogenes, Lacrtius, Plutarch.

^84

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

his charge, having as a royal badge " a rod of
«torax," ' which aimed by its wood to change
and improve nature. And reading aloud is
often an exercise to many. But let not such
athletic contests, as we have allowed, be under-
I taken for the sake of vainglory, but for the
^ exuding of manly sweat. Nor are we to struggle
with cunning and showiness, but in a stand-up
wrestling bout, by disentangling of neck, hands,
and sides. For such a struggle with graceful
strength is more becoming and manly, being
undertaken for the sake of serviceable and prof-
itable health. But let those others, who profess
the practice of illiberal postures in gymnastics,
be dismissed. We must always aim at modera-
tion. For as it is best that labour should pre-
cede food, so to labour above measure is both
very bad, very exhausting, and apt to make us
ill. Neither, then, should we be idle altogether,
nor completely fatigued. For similarly to what
we have laid down with respect to food, are
we to do everywhere and with everything. Our
mode of life is not to accustom us to volup-
tuousness and licentiousness, nor to the opposite
extreme, but to the medium between these, that
which is harmonious and temperate, and free of
either evil, luxury and parsimony. And now, as
we have also previously remarked, attending to
one's own wants is an exercise free of pride, —
as, for example, putting on one*s own shoes,
washing one's own feet, and also rubbing one's
self when anointed with oil. To render one
who has rubbed you the same service in return,
is an exercise of reciprocal justice ; and to sleep
beside a sick friend, help the infirm, and supply
him who is in want, are proper exercises. " And
Abraham," it is said, " served up for three, din-
ner under a tree, and waited on them as they
ate."* ITie same with fishing,^ as in the case
of Peter, if we have leisure from necessary in-
structions in the Word. But that is the better
enjoyment which the Lord assigned to the dis-
ciple, when He taught him to " catch men " as
fishes in the water.

CHAP. XI. — A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE CHRIS-
TIAN LIFE.

Wherefore the wearing of gold and the use of
softer clothing is not to be entirely prohibited.
But irrational impulses must be curbed, lest,
carrying us away through excessive relaxation,
tliey impel us to voluptuousness. For luxury,
that has dashed on to surfeit, is prone to kick
up its heels and toss its mane, and shake off the

* Gen. XXX. 37. Not "poplar," as in A. V. [Sec Abp. Leigh-
ton on '* Laban's lambs," Comm. on St. Peter, part i. p. 360, and
<]uestionabIe note of an admirable editor, same page.]

* Gen. xviii. 8.

^ [The old canons allowed to clergymen the recreation of fishing,
but not the chase, or fowling. Of this, the godly Izaak Walton fails
not to remind us. Complete A ngler, p. 38, learned note, and pref-
ace by the late Dr. Bethune. New York, 1847.J

charioteer, the Instructor ; who, pulling back the
reins from far, leads and drives to salvation
the human horse — that is, the irrational part of
the soul — which is wildly bent on pleasures,
and vicious appetites, and precious stones, and
gold, and variety of dress, and other luxuries.

Above all, we are to keep in mind what was
spoken sacredly : " Having your conversation
honest among the Gentiles ; that, whereas they
speak against you as evil-doers, they may, by the
good works which they behold, glorify God." *

Clothes,

The Instructor permits us, then, to use simple
clothing, and of a white colour, as we said
before. So that, accommodating ourselves not
to variegated art, but to nature as it is produced,
and pushing away whatever is deceptive and
belies the truth, we may embrace the uniformity
and simplicity of the truth.5

Sophocles, reproaching a youth, says : —

•* Decked in women's clothes."

For, as in the case of the soldier, the sailor, and
the ruler, so also the propef dress of the tem-
perate man is what is plain, becoming, and clean.
Whence also in the law, the law enacted by
Moses about leprousy rejects what has many
colours and spots, like the various scales of the
snake. He therefore wishes man, no longer
decking himself gaudily in a variety of colours,
but white all over from the crown of the head
to the sole of the foot, to be clean ; so that, by
a transition from the body, we may lay aside
the varied and versatile passions of the man,
and love the unvaried, and unambiguous, and
simple colour of truth. And he who also in this
emulates Moses — Plajto best of all — approves
of that texture on which not more than a chaste
woman's work has been employed. And white
colours well become gravity. And elsewhere he
says, " Nor apply dyes or weaving, except for
warlike decorations." ^

To men of peace and of light, therefore, white
is appropriate.^ As, then, signs, which are very
closely allied to causes, by their presence indi-
cate, or rather demonstrate, the existence of the
result ; as smoke is the sign of fire, and a good
complexion and a regular pulse of health ; so
also clothing of this description shows the char-
acter of our habits. Temperance is pure and
simple ; since purity is a habit which ensures
pure conduct unmixed with what is base. Sim-
plicity is a habit which does away with super-
fluities.

* I Pet. ii. 12.

2 [Surely the costly and gorgeous ecclesiastical raiment of the
Middle A^cs is condemned by Clement's primitive maxims.]

^ Plato's words are: *' The web is not to be more than a woman '»
work for a month. White colour is peculiarly becoming for the sods
in other things, but especially in cloth. Dyes are not to be appUed,
except for warlike decorations " — Plato: De Legtbtu, xii. 992.

7 [Another law against colours in clerical attire.]

Chap. XL]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

285

Substantial clothing also, and chiefly what is
unfulled, protects the heat which is in the body ;
not that the clothing has heat in itself, but that
it turns back the heat issuing from the body, and
refuses it a passage. And whatever heat falls
upon it, it absorbs and retains, and being warmed
by it, warms in turn the body. And for this
reason it is chiefly to be worn in winter.

It also (temperance) is contented. And con-
tentment is a habit which dispenses with super-
fluities, and, that there may be no failure, is
receptive of what suffices for the healthful and
blessed life according to the Word.'

Let the women wear a plain and becoming
dress, but softer than what is suitable for a man,
yet not quite immodest or entirely gone in luxury.
And let the garments be suited to age, person,
figure, nature, pursuits. For the divine ap>ostle
most beautifully counsels us " to put on Jesus
Christ, and make no provision for the lusts of the
flesh." »

Ear-rings,

The Word prohibits us from doing violence to
nature 3 by boring the lobes of the ears. For why
not the nose too ? — so that, what was spoken,
may be fulfilled : " As an ear-ring in a swine's
nose, so is beauty to a woman without discre-
tion." ♦ For, in a word, if one thinks himself
made beautiful by gold, he is inferior to gold ;
and he that is inferior to gold is not lord of it.
But to confess one's self less ornamental than the
Lydian ore, how 'monstrous ! As, then, the gold
is polluted by the dirtiness of the sow, which
stirs up the mire with her snout, so those women
that are luxurious to excess in their wantonness,
elated by wealth, dishonour by the stains of ama-
tory indulgences what is the true beauty.

Finger-rings.

The Word, then, permits them a finger-ring of
gold.5 Nor is this for ornament, but for sealing
things which are worth keeping safe in the house,
in the exercise of their charge of housekeeping.

For if all were well trained, there would be^
no need of seals, if servants and masters were
equally honest. But since want of training pro-
duces an inclination to dishonesty, we require
seals.

But there are circumstances in which this strict-
ness may relaxed. For allowance must some-
times be made in favour of those women who

* Kara \6yov. The reading In the text is KoraXoyov.
^ Rom. xiii. 14.

^ [Natural instinct is St. Paul's araument (i Cor. xi. 14, 15) ; and
that it rules for modesty in man as wen as woman, is finely illustrated
by an instructive story in Herodotus (book i. 8-1 a). The wife of
Oyees could be guilty of a heathcnbh revenge, but nature taught her
to abhor exposure. A woman who puts onher raiment, puts oflT her
modesty," said Candaules to her foolish husband.]

* Prov. xi. aa.

' [Posubly used thus early as a distinction of matrons.]

have not been fortunate^ in falling in with
chaste husbands, and adorn themselves in order
to please their husbands. But let desire for the
admiration of their husbands alone be propos^hi'
as their aim. I would not have •them to devote
themselves to personal display, but to attract their
husbands by chaste love for them — a powerful
and legitimate charm. But since they wish their
wives to be unhappy in mind, let the latter, if they
would be chaste, make it their aim to allay by
degrees the irrational impulses and passions of
their husbands. And they are to be gently drawn
to simplicity, by gradually accustoming them to-
sobriety. For decency is not produced by the
imposition of what is burdensome, but by the
abstraction of excess. For women's articles of
luxury are to be prohibited, as things of swift
wing producing unstable follies and empty de-
lights ; by which, elated and furnished with wings,
they often fly away fi"om the marriage bonds.
Wherefore also women ought to dress neatly, and
bind themselves around with the band of chaste
modesty, lest through giddiness they slip away
from the truth. It is right, then, for men to re-
pose confidence in their wives, and commit the
charge of the household to them, as they are
given to be their helpers in this.

;And if it is necessary for us, while engaged
iit public business, or discharging other avoca-
tions in the country, and often away from our
wives, to seal anything for the sake of safety. He
(the Word) allows us a signet for this purpose
only. Other finger-rings are to be cast off, since,
according to the Scripture, "instruction is a
golden ornament for a wise man." /

But women who wear gold Seeih to me to be
afraid, lest, if one strip them of their jewellery,
they should be taken for servants, without their
ornaments. But the nobility of truth, discovered
in the native beauty which has its seat in the soul,
judges the slave not by buying and selUiig, but
by a servile disposition. And it is incumbent on
us not to seem, but to be free, trained by God,,
adopted by God.

Wherefore we must adopt a mode of standing,
and motion, and a step, and dress, and in a word,
a mode of life, in all respects as worthy as possible
of freemen. But men are not to wear the ring
on the joint ; for this is feminine ; but to place
it on the little finger at its root. For so the hand
will be freest for work, in whatever we need it ;
and the signet will not very easily fall off, being
guarded by the large knot of the joint.

And let our seals be either a dove, or a fish,
or a ship scudding before the wind, or a musical
lyre, which Polycrates used, or a ship's anchor,
which Seleucus got engraved as a device ; and
if there be one fishing, he will remember the

6 Evrvxov<raif , for which the text has ivroxi^vWA^,

7 Ecclus. xxi. ai.

286

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

apostle, and the children drawn out of the
wj3*-»r. For we are not to delineate the faces
Ca^.'^idols,* we who are prohibited to cleave to
t»ftm ; nor a sword, nor a bow, following as we
do, peace ; nor drinking-cups, being temperate'.j
Many of the licentious have their lovers*
engraved,^ or their mistresses, as if they wished
to make it impossible ever to forget their amatory
indulgences, by being perpetually put in mind
of their licentiousness.

The Hair.

About the hair, the following seems right.
Let the head of men be shaven, unless it has
curly hair. But let the chin have the hair. But
let not twisted locks hang far down from the
head, gliding into womanish ringlets. For an
ample beard suffices for men. And if one, too,
shave a part of his beard, it must not be made
entirely bare, for this is a disgraceful sight. The
shaving of the chin to the skin is reprehensible,
approaching to plucking out the hair and smooth-
ing. For instance, thus the Psalmist, delighted
with the hair of the beard, says, " As the oint-
ment that descends on the beard, the beard of
Aaron." ^

Having celebrated the beauty of the beard by
a repetition, he made the face to shine with the
ointment of the Lord.

Since cropping is to be adopted not for the
sake of elegance, but on account of the neces-
sity of the case ; the hair of the head, that it
may not grow so long as to come down and
interfere with the eyes, and that of the mous-
tache similarly, which is dirtied in eating, is to
be cut round, not by the razor, for that were not
well-bred, but by a pair of cropping scissors.
But the hair on the chin is not to be disturbed,
as it gives no trouble, and lends to the face
dignity and paternal terror.s

Moreover, the shape instructs many not to
sin, because it renders detection easy. To
those who do [not] ^ wish to sin openly, a habit
that will escape observation and is not conspicu-
ous is most agreeable, which, when assumed,
will allow them to transgress without detection ;
so that, being undistinguishable from others,
they may fearlessly go their length in sinning.^
A cropped head not only shows a man to be
grave, but renders the cranium less liable to
injury, by accustoming it to the presence of

* [How this was followed, is proved by the early Christian devices
of the catacombs, contrasted with the engraved gems from Pompeii,
in the Museo Borbonico at Naples.]

^ Masculine.

3 y«YAv;xMci'ov9, written on the margin of Codex clxv. for
'ff>iv\Lvuty,ivov^ (naked) of the text. [Royal Library, Naples.]

< Ps. cxxxiii. 2.

s [Here Clement's rules are arbitrary, and based on their existing
ideas of propriety. If it be not improper to shave the head, much
less to shave the face, which he allows in part.]

* " Not " does not occur in the mss.

7 For £c5oiicbTcc, the conjectural emendation ficivctfrct has been
adopted.

both cold and heat ; and it averts the mischiefs
! arising from these, which the hair absorbs into
i itself like a sponge, and so inflicts on the brain
constant mischief from the moisture.

It is enough for women to protect* their
locks, and bind up their hair simply along the
neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste
locks with simple care to true beauty. For
meretricious plaiting of the hair, and putting
it up in tresses, contribute to make them look
ugly, cutting the hair and plucking off it those
treacherous braidings ; on account of which
they do not touch their head, being afraid of
disordering their hair. Sleep, too, comes on,
not without fear lest they pull down without
knowing the shape of the braid.

But additions of other people's hair are en-
tirely to be rejected, and it is a most sacrilegious
thing for spurious hair to shade the head, cover-
ing the skull with dead locks. For on whom
does the presbyter lay his hand?? Whom does
he bless? Not the woman decked out, but
another's hair, and through them another head.
And if " the man is head of the woman, and
God of the man," ^° how is it not impious that
they should fall into double sins? For they
deceive the men by the excessive quantity of
their hair; and shame the Lord as far as in
them lies, by adorning themselves meretri-
ciously, in order to dissemble the truth. And
they defame the head, which is truly beautiful.

Consequently neither is the hair to be dyed,
nor grey hair to have its colour changed. For
neither are we allowed to diversify our dress.
And above all, old age, which conciliates trust,
is not to be concealed. But God's mark of
honour is to be shown in the light of day, to win
the reverence of the young. For sometimes,
when they have been behaving shamefully, the
appearance of hoary hairs, arriving like an in-
structor, has changed them to sobriety, and para-
lysed juvenile lust with the splendour of the
sight. ■

Painting the Face.

Nor are the women to smear their faces with
the ensnaring devices of wily cunning. But let
us show to them the decoration of sobriety.

For, in the first place, the best beauty is that
which is spiritual, as we have often pointed out.
For when the soul is adorned by the Holy Spirit,
and inspired with the radiant charms which pro-
ceed from Him, — righteousness, wisdom, forti-
tude, temperance, love of the good, modest)',

s (^vAa(r<r«(v, Sylburg and Bod. Reg., agree better than ^aAaa<rct»-
' with the context.

9 [The chrism (confirmation) was thus administered then, not

^ with material oil, and was called anointings with reference to i John,

ii. 37. Consult Bunseny however, who attributes great antiquity to

his canons (collected in vol. iii. Hippolytus)^ p. 29, Church and

House Book.\

^^ X Cor. XI. 3. Nov. reads " Christ," as in St. Paul, instead <rf
" God."

Chap. XL]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

287

than which no more blooming colour was ever
seen, — then let coporeal beauty be cultivated
too, symmetry of limbs and members, with a fair
complexion. The adornment of health is here
in place, through which the transition of the arti-
ficial image to the truth, in accordance with the
form which has been given by God, is effected.
But temperance in drinks, and moderation in
articles of food, are effectual in producing beauty
according to nature ; for not only does the body
maintain its health from these, but they also
make beauty to appear. For from what is fiery
arises a gleam and sparkle ; and from moisture,
brightness and grace ; and from dryness, strength
and firmness; and from what is aerial, free-
breathing and equipoise ; from which this well-
proportioned and beautiful image of the Word is
adorned. Beauty is the free flower of health ;
for the latter is produced within the body ; while
the former, blossoming out from the body,
exhibits manife.st beauty of complexion. Ac-
cordingly, these most decorous and healthful
practices, by exercising the body, produce true
and lasting beauty, the heat attracting to itself
all the moisture and cold spirit. Heat, when
agitated by moving causes, is a thing which at-
tracts to itself; and when it does attract, it gently
exhales through the flesh itself, when warmed,
the abundance of food, with some moisture, but
with excess of heat. Wherefore also the first
food is carried off. But when the body is not
moved, the food consumed does not adhere, but
falls away, as the loaf from a cold oven, either
entire, or leaving only the lower part. Accord-
ingly, th^fac^s are in excess in the case of those
who do not throw off the excrementitious matters
by the rubbings necessitated by exercise. And
other superfluous matters abound in their case
too, and also perspiration, as the food is not as-
similated by the body, but is flowing out to waste.
Thence also lusts are excited, the redundance
flowing to the pudenda by commensurate mo-
tions. Wherefore this redundance ought to be
liquefied and dispersed for digestion, by which
beauty acquires its ruddy hue. But it is mon-
strous for those who are made in " the image and
likeness of God," to dishonour the archetype by
assuming a foreign ornament, preferring the mis-
chievous contrivance of man to the divine crea-
tion.

The Instructor orders them to go forth " in
l^ecoming apparel, and adorn themselves with
shamefacedness and sobriety," * " subject to their
own husbands ; that, if any obey not the word,
they may without the word be won by the con-
versation of the wives ; while they behold," he
says, " your chaste conversation. Whose adorn-
ing, let it not be that outward adorning of plait-

> z Tim. ii. 9.

ing the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting
on of apparel ; but let it be the hidden man of
the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even
the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
is in the sight of God of great price."*

For the labqur of their own hands, above all,
adds genuine beauty to women, exercising their
bodies and adorning themselves by their own
exertions ; not bringing unomamental ornament
wrought by others, which is vulgar and meretri-
cious, but that of every good woman, supplied
and woven by her own hands whenever she most
requires. For it is never suitable for women
whose lives are framed according to God, to ap-
pear arrayed in things bought from the market, *
but in their own home-made work. For a most
beautiful thing is a thrifty wife, who clothes both
herself and her husband with fair array of her
own working ; * in which all are glad — the chil-
dren on account of their mother, the husband on
account of his wife, she on their account, and all
in God.

In brief, " A store of excellence is a woman
of worth, who eateth not the bread of idleness ;
and the laws of mercy are on her tongue ; who
openeth her mouth wisely and rightly; whose
children rise up and call her blessed," as the
sacred Word says by Solomon : " Her husband
also, and he praise th her. For a pious woman
is blessed ; and let her praise the fear of the
Lord." ^

And again, " A virtuous woman is a crown to
her husband." s They must, as far as possible,
correct their gestures, looks, steps, and speech.
For they must not do as some, who, imitating
the acting of comedy, and practising the min-
cing motions of dancers, conduct themselves in
society as if on the stage, with voluptuous move-
ments, and gliding steps, and affected voices,
casting languishing glances round, tricked out
with the bait of pleasure. "For honey drops
from the lips of a woman who is an harlot ; who,
speaking to please, lubricates thy throat.' But
at last thou wilt find it bitterer than bile, and
sharper than a two-edged sword. For the feet
of folly lead those who practise it to hell after
death." 6

The noble Samson was overcome by the har-
lot, and by another woman was shorn of his man-
hood. But Joseph was not thus beguiled by
another woman. The Egyptian harlot was con-
quered. And chastity,^ assuming to itself bonds,
appears ^iperior to dissolute licence. Most ex-
cellent is what has been said : —

» X Pet. iii. 1-4.

3 In reference to Prov. xxxi. ^9.

* Prov. xxxi. a6, 27, 28, 30, quoted from memory, and with vari-
ety of reading.

5 Prov. XII. 4.

6 Prov. V. 3-5, Septuagint.

7 We have read from the New College MS. <rw^po(rvin) for

288

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

" In fine, I know not how
To whisper, nor effeminately,
To walk about with my neck awry,
As I see others — lechers there
In numbers in the city, with hair plucked out." *

But feminine motions, dissoluteness, and luxury,
are to be entirely prohibited. For voluptuous-
ness of motion in walking, " and a mincing gait,"
as Anacreon says, are altogether meretricious.

" As seems to me," says the comedy, " it is
time ' to abandon meretricious steps and luxury."
And the steps of harlotry lean not to the truth ;
for they approach not the paths of life. Her
tracks are dangerous, and not easily known.^
The eyes especially are to be sparingly used,
since it is better to slip with the feet than with
the eyes.^ Accordingly, the Lord very summa-
rily cures this malady; "If thine eye offend
thee, cut it out," s He says, dragging lust up from
the foundation. But languishing looks, and
ogling, which is to wink with the eyes, is nothing
else than to commit adultery with the eyes, lust
skirmishing through them. For of the whole
body, the eyes are first destroyed. "The eye
contemplating beautiful objects (icaXa), gladdens
the heart ; " that is, the eye which has learned
rightiy (koXw?) to see, gladdens. "Winking
with the eye, with guile, heaps woes on men." ^
Such they introduce the effeminate Sardanapalus,
king of the Assyrians, sitting on a couch with
his legs up, fumbling at his purple robe, and
casting up the whites of his eyes. Women that
follow such practices, by their looks offer them-
selves for prostitution. " For the light of the
body is the eye," says the Scripture, by which
the interior illuminated by the shining light ap-
pears. Fornication in a woman is in the raising
of the eyes.7

"Mortify therefore your members which are
upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inor-
dinate affection, and concupiscence, and covet-
ousness, which is idolatry : for which things'
sake cometh the wrath of God upon the chil-
dren of disobedience," ^ cries the apostle.

But we enkindle the passions, and are not
ashamed.

Some of these women eating mastich,^ going
about, show their teeth to those that come near.
And others, as if they had not fingers, give
themselves airs, scratching their heads with pins ;
and these made either of tortoise or ivory, or
some other dead creature they procure at much

' From some comic poet.

2 Some read HtfHLv airoActVct. [New College MS.] In the trans-
lation the conjecture wpa airoAciirci^ is adopted.
^ An adaptation of Prov. v. 5, 6.

* An imitation of Zeno's saying, '* It is better to slip with the feet
than the tongue."

i Quoting from mexnoiy, he has substituted iKKOffioy for c'^cAc
fMatt. V. 39).

* Prov. X. 10.

7 Ecclus. xxvi. 9.

* Col. iii. 5, 6.

9 [A similar practice, verv gross and unbecoming, prevails among
the lower class of girls biOugnt together in our common schools. J

pains. And others, as if they had certain efflo-
rescences, in order to appear comely in the
eyes of spectators, stain their faces by adorning
them with gay-coloured unguents. Such a one
is called by Solomon " a foolish and bold
woman," who " knows not shame. She sits at
the door of her house, conspicuously in a seat,
calling to all that pass by the way, who go right
on their ways ; " by her style and whole life
manifestly saying, "Who among you is very
silly? let him turn to me." And those devoid
of wisdom she exhorts, saying, " Touch sw^eetly
secret bread, and sweet stolen water;" mean-
ing by this, clandestine love (from this point
the Boeotian Pindar, coming to our help, say's,
"The clandestine pursuit of love is something
sweet"). But the miserable man "knoweth
not that the sons of earth perish beside her, and
that she tends to the level of hell." But says
the Instructor : " Hie away, and tarry not in the
place ; nor fix thine eye on her : for thus shalt
thou pass over a strange water, and cross to
Acheron." '^ Wherefore thus saith the Lord by
Isaiah, " Because the daughters of Sion walk
with lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes,
and sweeping their garments as they walk, and
playing with their feet ; the Lord shall humble
the daughters of Sion, and will uncover their
form"" — their deformed form. I deem it
wrong that servant girls, who follow women of
high rank, should either speak or act unbecom-
ingly to them. But I think it right that they
should be corrected by their mistresses. With
very sharp censure, accordingly, the comic poet
Philemon says : " You may follow at the back
of a pretty servant girl, seen behind a gende-
woman ; and any one fix)m the Plataeicum may
follow close, and ogle her." For the wanton-
ness of the servant recoils on the mistress;
allowing those who attempt to take lesser liber-
ties not to be afraid to advance to greater ; since
the mistress, by allowing improprieties, shows
that she does not disapprove of them. And not
to be angry at those who act wantonly, is a clear
proof of a disposition inclining to the like.
" For like mistress like wench," " as they say in
the proverb.

IValktng,

Also we must abandon a furious mode of
walking, and choose a grave and leisurely, but
not a lingering step.

Nor is one to swagger in the ways, nor throw
back his head to look at those he meets, if they
look at him, as if he were strutting on the stage,
and pointed at with the finger. Nor, when
pushing up hill, are they to be shoved up by

*o Prov. ix. 13-18.

11 TO i<rxyif*-*** <fXVI*-^ (Isa. iii. x6, 17), Sept.

12 a Kvwf , catella. The literal En^^lish rendering is coarser and
more opprobrious than the original, which Helen applies to herself
(//<W, vi. 344, 356).

Chap. XI.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

289

their domestics, as we see those that are more
luxurious, who appear strong, but are enfeebled
by effeminacy of soul.

A true gentleman must have no mark of
effeminacy visible on his face, or any other part
of his body. Let no blot on his manliness,
then, be ever found either in his movements or
habits. Nor is a man in health to use his ser-
vants as horses to bear him. For as it is en-
joined on them, " to be subject to their masters
with all fear, not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the fro ward, " * as Peter says; so
fairness, and forbearance, and kindness, are
what ^ell becomes the masters. For he says :
*' Finally, be ye all of one mind, having com-
passion one of another ; love as brethren, be
pitiful, be humble," and so forth, " that ye may
inherit a blessing," ' excellent and desirable.

The Model Maiden,

Zeno the Cittiaean thought fit to represent the
image of a young maid, and executed the statue
thus : " Let her face be clean, her eyebrows not
let down, nor her eyelids open nor turned back.
Let her neck not be stretched back, nor the
members of her body be loose. But let the
parts that hang from the body look as if they
were well strung ; let there be the keenness of
a well-regulated mind 3 for discourse, and reten-
tion of what has been rightly spoken \ and let
her attitudes and movements give no ground
of hope to the licentious ; but let there be the
bloom of modesty, and an expression of firm-
ness. But far from her be the wearisome
trouble that comes from the shops of perfumers,
and goldsmiths, and dealers in wool, and that
which comes from the other shops where women,
meretriciously dressed, pass whole days as if
sitting in the stews."

Amusements and Associates,

And let not men, therefore, spend their time
in barbers' shops and taverns, babbling non-
sense; and let them give up hunting for the
women who sit near,^ and ceaselessly talking
slander against many to raise a laugh.

The game of dice 5 is to be prohibited, and
the pursuit of gain, especially by dicing,^ which
many keenly follow. Such things the prodi-
gality of luxury invents for the idle. For the
cause is idleness, and a love 7 for frivolities

* \ Pet ii. 18.

\ I Pet. iii 8. Clement has substituted raircii'd^povcf for
^lAo^povcf (couiteousX

3 This passage has been variously amended and translated. The
reading of the text has been adhered to, but opBovov has been coupled
*iih what follows.

^ Sylburg suggests irapioutraf (passing by) instead of irapi^o-

^ Ky/3o«, a die marked on all the six sides. [This prohibition
would include cards in modem ethics.]

* Jca T«v doToayoAwi'. The aarpoyoAoi were dice marked on
four sides only. Clemens seems to use these terms here indiflferently.

' Lowth's conjectuxe of cpwf instead of <p« has been adopted.

apart from the truth. For it is not possible
otherwise to obtain enjoyment without injury;
and each man's preference of a mode of life is
a counterpart of his disposition.

But, as appears, only intercourse with good
men benefits ; on the other hand, the all- wise
Instructor, by the mouth of Moses, recognising
companionship with bad men as swinish, for-
bade the ancient people to partake of swine ; to
point out that those who call on God ought not
to mingle with unclean men, who, like swine,
delight in corporeal pleasures, in impure food,
and in itching with filthy pruriency after the
mischievous delights of lewdness.

Further, He says : " Thou art not to eat a
kite or swift-winged ravenous bird, or an eagle," *
meaning : Thou shalt not come near men who
gain their living by rapine. And other things
also are exhibited figuratively.

With whom, then, are we to associate ? With
the righteous. He says again, speaking figura-
tively; for everything "which parts the hoof
and chews the cud is clean." For the parting
of the hoof indicates the equilibrium of right-
eousness, and ruminating points to the proper
food of righteousness, the word, which enters
fi-om without, like food, by instruction, but is
recalled from the mind, as from the stomach, to
rational recollection. And the spiritual man,
having the word in his mouth, ruminates the
spiritual food ; and righteousness parts the hoof
rightly, because it sanctifies us in this life, and
sends us on our way to the world to come.

Public Spectacles,

The Instructor will not then bring us to public
spectacles; nor inappropriately might one call
the racecourse and the theatre "the seat of
plagues ; " 9 for there is evil counsel as against
the Just One,'° and therefore the assembly against
Him is execrated. These assemblies, indeed,,
are full of confusion" and iniquity; and these
pretexts for assembling are the cause of disorder
— men and women assembling promiscuously
for the sight of one another. In this respect
the assembly has already shown itself bad : for
when the eye is lascivious," the desires grow
warm ; and the eyes that are accustomed to
look impudently at one's neighbours during the
leisure granted to them, inflame the amatory
desires. Let spectacles, therefore, and plays
that are full of scurrility and of abundant gossip,
be forbidden. »3 For what base action is it that is

* Lev. xi. 13, 14; Deut. xiv. 12.

9 Ps. i. 1 , Scptuagint.

*° Acts iii. 14.

<' ai^a^t^iaf adopted instead of the reading a^i^taf, which is
plainly wrong.

12 \K\v€vo\iin^ on the authority of the Pal. MS. Nov. Reg. Bod.

*3 [Jeremy Collier's Short P inv of the Immorality and Pro-
faneness of the English Stage (Ix)ndon, 1698) and the discussions
that followed belong to literature, and ought to be republished with
historic notes.]

290

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book IIL

not exhibited in the theatres ? And what shame-
less saying is it that is not brought forward by the
buffoons ? And those who enjoy the evil that is
in them, stamp the clear images of it at home.
And, on the other hand, those that are proof
against these things, and unimpressible, will never
make a stumble in regard to luxurious pleasures.
I For if people shall say that they betake them-
selves to the spectacles as a pastime for recrea-
tion, I should say that the ckies which make a
serious business of pastime are not wise ; for cruel
contests for glory which have been so fatal are
not sport. No more is senseless expenditure of
money, nor are the riots that are occasioned by
thenn sport. And ease of mind is not to be pur-
chased by zealous pursuit of frivolities, for no
one who has his senses will ever prefer what is
pleasant to what is good. ^

Religion in Ordinary Life,

But it is said we do not all philosophize. Do
we not all, then, follow after life ? What sayest
thou? How hast thou believed? How, pray,
dost thou love God and thy neighbour, if thou
dost not philosophize ? And how dost thou love
thyself, if thou dost not love life ? It is said, I
have not learned letters; but if thou hast not
j learned to read, thou canst not excuse thyself in
' the case of hearing, for it is not taught. And
faith is the possession not of the wise according
to the world, but of those according to God;
and it is taught without letters ; and its hand-
book, at once rude and divine, is called love —
a spiritual book. It Is in your power to listen
to divine wisdom, ay, and to frame your life in
accordance with it. Nay, you are not prohibited
from conducting affairs in the world decorously
according to God. Let not him who sells or
' buys aught name two prices for what he buys or
sells ; but stating the net price, and studying to
s|)eak the truth, if he get not his price, he gets
the truth, and is rich in the possession of recti-
tude. But, above all, let an oath on account of
what is sold be far from you ; and let swearing,
too, on account of other things be banished.

And in this way those who frequent the mar-
ket-place and the shop philosophize. " For thou
shalt not take the name of the Ix)RD thy God in
vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless
that taketh His name in vain." '

But those who act contrary to these things —
the avaricious, the liars, the hypocrites, those
who make merchandise of the truth — the Lord
cast out of His Father's court,^ not willing that
the holy house of God should be the house of
unrighteous traffic either in words or in material
things.

* Ex. XX. 7,

' In allusion to the cleansing of the temple (John ii. 13-17 > Matt.
xxL 12, 13; Luke xix. 45, 46).

Going to Church,

Woman and man are to go to church ^ de-
cently attired, with natural step, embracing si-
lence, possessing unfeigned love, pure in body,
pure in heart, fit to pray to God. Let the wo-
man observe this, further. Let her be entireh-
covered, unless she happen to be at home. For
that style of dress is grave, and protects from
being gazed at. And she will never fall, who
puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl:
nor will she invite another to fall into sin by un-
covering her face. For this is the wish of the
Word, since it is becoming for her to pray
veiled.-*

They say that the wife of iEneas, through ex-
cess of propriety, did not, even in her terror at
the capture of Troy, uncover herself ; but, though
fleeing from the conflagration, remained veiled.

Out of Church,

Such ought those who are consecrated to
Christ appear, and frame themselves in their
whole life, as they fashion themselves in the
church 5 for the sake of gravity ; and to be, not to
seem such — so meek, so pious, so loving. But
now I know not how people change their fashions
and manners with the place. As they say that f
polypi, assimilated to the rocks to which they ad- /
here, are in colour such as they ; so, laying aside/
the inspiration of the assembly, after their depart-|
ure from it, they become like others with whom
they associate. Nay, in laying aside the artificial
mask of solemnity, they are proved to be what
they secretly were. After having paid reverence
to the discourse about God, they leave within [the
church] what they have heard. And outside
they foolishly amuse themselves with impious
playing, and amatory quavering, occupied with'
flute-playing, and dancing, and intoxication, and
all kinds of trash. They who sing thus, and sing
in response, are those who before hymned im-
mortality, — found at last wicked and wickedly
singing this most pernicious palinode, " Let us
eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." But not
to-morrow in truth, but already, are these dead
to God ; burying their dead,^ that is, sinking
themselves down to death. The apostle ver)'
firmly assails them •. " Be not deceived ; neither
adulterers, nor efTeminate, nor abusers of them-
selves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous
nor drunkards, nor railers," and whatever else he
adds to these, " shall inherit the kingdom of
God." 7

^ [This early use of the word "church ** for the place or house of
worship, is lo be note J. Sec Ehicidation ii.]

4 I Cor. xi. 5. [This helps lu the due rendering of c'^ouatar c'i
lyfi K*i>aXr^^ in I Cor. xi. 10. J

5 [ I Cor. xi. 32. But I cannot say that the word <«KAif0>ia is osci
for the place of Christian worship, even in this text, where it teems to
be in antithesis with the dwelling>house.]

6 Matt. viii. 32.

7 X Cor. vi. 9f xo

Chap. XII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

291

Love and the Kiss of Charity,

And if we are called to the kingdom of God,
let us walk worthy of the kingdom, loving God
and our neighbour. But love is not proved by a
kiss, but by kindly feeling. But there are those,
that do nothing but make the churches resound
with a kiss,' not having love itself within. For
this very thing, the shameless use of a kiss, which
ought to be mjrstic, occasions foul suspicions
and evil reports. The apostle calls the kiss
holy.'

When the kingdom is worthily tested, we dis-
pense the affection of the soul by a chaste and
closed mouth, by which chiefly gentle manners
are expressed.

But there is another unholy kiss, full of poison,
counterfeiting sanctity. Do you not know that
spiders, merely by touching the mouth, afflict
men with pain? And often kisses inject the
poison of licentiousness. It is then very mani-
fest to us, that a kiss is not love. For the love
meant is the love of God. " And this is the love
of God," says John, " that we keep His com-
mandments ; " 3 not that we stroke each other on
the mouth. " And His commandments are not
grievous." But salutations of beloved ones in
the ways, full as they are of foolish boldness, are
characteristic of those who wish to be conspicu-
ous to those without, and have not the least
particle of grace. For if it is proper mystically
'* in the closet " to pray to God, it will follow
that we are also to greet mystically our neighbour,
whom we are commanded to love second sim-
ilarly to God, within doors, " redeeming the
time." " For we are the salt of the earth." *
"Whosoever shall bless his friend early in the
morning with a loud voice, shall be regarded not
to differ from cursing." s

The Government of the Eyes.

But, above all, it seems right that we turn
away from the sight of women. For it is sin
not only to touch, but to look; and he who
is rightly trained must especially avoid them.
" Let thine eyes look straight, and thine eyelids
wink right." ^ For while it is possible for one
who looks to remain stedfast ; yet care must be
taken against falling. For it is possible for one
who looks to slip ; but it is impossible for one,
who looks not, to lust. For it is not enough for
jjkt chaste to be pure ; but they must give all dili-

' [The sexes sat apart in the primitive churches, and the kiss of
peace was given by women only to women (Bunsen, HippoLy iii. p.
15)' Does the author, here, imply that unholy kissing had crept in ?
Among the Germans, even in our days, nothing is more common than
to sec men, not at all related, salute one another in this way. It was
therefore all one with shaking hands, in the apostolic ordinance. For
some very fine reflections on the baiser de paix^ see De Maisire,
Soirees, li. p. 199, ed. Paris, 1850.]

^ Rom. xvi. x6.

gence, to be beyond the range of censure, shut-
ting out all ground of suspicion, in order to the
consummation of chastity ; so that we may not
only be faithful, but appear worthy of trust. For
this is also consequently to be guarded against,
as the apostle says, "that no man » should blame
us ; providing things honourable, not only in the
sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men." 7
" But turn away thine eyes from a graceful
woman, and contemplate not another's beauty,"
says the Scripture.** And if you require the
reason, it will further tell you, " For by the beauty
of woman many have gone astray, and at it af-
fection blazes up like fire ; " ^ the affection which
arises from the fire which we call love, leading to .
the fire which will never cease in consequence
of sin.

CHAP. XII. — CONTINUATION : WriH TEXTS FROM

SCRIPTURE.

I would counsel the married never to kiss
their wives in the presence of their domestics.
For Aristotle does not allow people to laugh to
their slaves. And by no means must a wife be
seen saluted in their presence. It is moreover
better that, beginning at home with marriage,
we should exhibit propriety in it. Fqr it is the
greatest bond of chastity, breathing forth pure
pleasure. Very admirably the tragedy says : —

" Well I well ! ladies, how is it, then, that among men,
Not gold, not empire, or luxury of wealth,
Conferred to such an extent signal delights,
As the right and virtuous disposition
Of a man of worth and a dutiful wife ? "

Such injunctions of righteousness uttered by
those who are conversant with worldly wisdom are
not to be refused. Knowing, then, the duty of
each, " pass the time of your sojourning here in
fear : forasmuch as ye know that ye were not re-
deemed with corruptible things, such as silver or
gold, from your vain conversation received by tra-
dition from your fathers ; but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot." *° " For," says Peter, " the time
past of our life may suffice us to have wrought
the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in las-
civiousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, ban- .
quetings, and abominable idolatries." " We have
as a limit the cross of the Lord, by which we are
fenced and hedged about from our former sins.
Therefore, being regenerated, let us fix ourselves
to it in truth, and return to sobriety, and sanctify
ourselves ; " for the eyes of the Lord are on the
righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer ;
but the face of the Lord is against them that do
evil." *^ *' And who is he that will harm us, if we

' I John V. 3.

* MatL V. 13.
3 Prov. XXVII. 14.

* Prov. iv. 95.

7 2 Cor. viii. 20, ai.

* Ecclus. ix. 8.

9 Ecclus. ix. 8.

>o I Pet. i. 17-19.

" I Pet. iv. 3.

" Ps. xxxiv. 15, 16.

292

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

be followers of that which is good?" ' — "us"
for " you." But the best training is good order,
which is perfect decorum, and stable and orderly
power, which in action maintains consistence in
what it does. If these things have been adduced
by me with too great asperity, in order to effect
the salvation which follows from your correction ;
they have been spoken also, says the Instructor,
by me : " Since he who reproves with boldness
IS a peacemaker." * And if ye hear me, ye shall
be saved. And if ye attend not to what is spoken,
it is not my concern. And yet it is my concern
thus: "For he desires the repentance rather
than the death of a sinner." ^ " If ye shall hear
me, ye shall eat the good of the land," the In-
structor again says, calling by the appellation
" the good of the land," beauty, wealth, health,
strength, sustenance. For those things which
are really good, are what " neither ear hath heard,
noi hath ever entered into the heart " * respect-
ing Him who is really King, and the resdities
truly good which await us. For He is the giver
and the guard of good things. And with respect
to their participation. He applies the same names
of things in this world, the Word thus training in
God the feebleness of men from sensible things
to understanding.

What has to be observed at home, and how
our life is to be regulated, the Instructor has
abundantly declared. And the things which He
is wont to say to children by the way,5 while He
conducts them to the Master, these He suggests,
and adduces the Scriptures themselves in a com-
pendious form, setting forth bare injunctions, ac-
commodating them to the period of guidance,
and assigning the interpretation of them to the
Master.^ For the intention of His law is to dis-
sipate fear, emancipating free-will in order to
faith. "Hear," He says, "O child," who art
rightly instructed, the principal points of salva-
tion. For I will disclose my ways, and lay be-
fore thee good commandments ; by which thou
wilt reach salvation. And I lead thee by the
way of salvation. Depart from the paths of
deceit.

" For the Lord knoweth the way of the right-
eous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish." ^
" Follow, therefore, O son, the good way which
I shall describe, lending to me attentive ears."
" And I will give to thee the treasures of dark-
ness, hidden and unseen " ^ by the nations, but
seen by us. And 'the treasures of wisdom are
unfailing, in admiration of which the apostle
says, " O the depth of the riches and the wis-

* 1 Pet. iii. 13.

* Prov. X. 10, Sept.
3 Ezek. xviii. 23.

* X Cor. ii. 9.

i [Here ^^p<edagogue is the child-guide, leading to the Teacher. J

6 t Important foot-note, Kaye, p. 105.]

7 Ps. 1. 6.

■ I&a. xlv. 3.

dom ! " 9 And by one God are many treasures
dispensed; some disclosed by the law, others
by the prophets ; some to the divine mouth, and
others to the heptad of the spirit singing accord-
ant. And the Lord being one, is the same
Instructor by all these. Here is then a compre-
hensive precept, and an exhortation of life, all-
embracing : " As ye would that men should do
unto you, do ye likewise to them." '° We may
comprehend the commandments in two, as the
Lord says, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all
thy strength; and thy neighbour as thyself."
Then from these He infers, " on this hang the
law and the prophets." " Further, to him that
asked, "What good thing shall I do, that I
may inherit eternal life ? " He answered, " Thou
knowest the commandments?" And on him
replying Yea, He said, " This do, and thou shall
be saved." Especially conspicuous is the love
of the Instructor set forth in various salutary
commandments, in order that the discovery may
be readier, from the abundance and arrangement
of the Scriptures. We have the Decalogue"
given by Moses, which, indicating by an element-
ary principle, simple and of one kind, defines
the designation of sins in a way conducive to
salvation : " Thou shalt not commit adulters
Thou shalt not worship idols. Thou shalt not
corrupt boys. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Honour thy fiather and
thy mother." '3 And so forth. These things are
to be observed, and whatever else is commanded
in reading the Bible. And He enjoins on us by
Isaiah : " Wash you, and make you clean. Put
away iniquities from your souls before mine eyes.
Learn to do well. Seek judgment. Deliver the
wronged. Judge for the orphan, and justify the
widow. And come, and let us reason together,
saith the Lord." ^^ And we shall find many ex-
amples also in other places, — as, for instance,
respecting prayer : " Gk)od works are an accept-
able prayer to the Lord," says the Scripture.'^
And the manner of prayer is described. **If
thou seest," it is said, " the naked, cover him ;
and thou shalt not overlook those who belong to
thy seed. Then shall thy light spring forth
early, and thy healing shall spring up quickly ;
and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and
the glory of God shall encompass thee." What,
then, is the fruit of such prayer ? " Then shalt
thou call, and God will hear thee ; whilst thwi
art yet speaking, He will say, I am here." **
In regard to fasting it is said, " Wherefore do

9 Rom. xi. 33.
*o Luke vi. ji.
*' Matt. xxii. 37, 39, ^o.
>3 [See Irenaeus, vol. i. p. 482, this scries.
*3 Ex. XX. ; Deut. v.
** Isa. i. 16, 17, 18.
'5 Where, no one. knows.
** Isa. Iviii. 7, 8, 9.

Stromaia, vi. 36ai

Chap. XII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

293

ve fast to me ? saith the Lord. Is it such a fast
that I have chosen, even a day for a man to
humble his soul? Thou shalt not bend thy
neck like a circle, and spread sackcloth and
ashes under thee. Not thus shall ye call it an
acceptable fast."

What means a fast, then ? '* Lo, this is the
fast which I have chosen, saith the Lord. Loose
every band of wickedness. Dissolve the knots
of oppressive contracts. Let the oppressed go
free, and tear every unjust bond. Break thy
bread to the hungry; and lead the houseless
poor into thy house. If thou see the naked,
cover him." ' About sacrifices too : " To what
purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to
me ? saith the Lord. I am full of burnt-offerings
and of rams ; and the fat of lambs, and the
blood of bulls and kids I do not wish ; nor that
ye should come to appear before me. Who
hath required this at your hands ? You shall no
more tread my court. If ye bring fine flour, the
vain oblation is an abomination to me. Your
new moons and your sabbaths I cannot away
with." ' How, then, shall I sacrifice to the Lord ?
*' The sacrifice of the Lord is," He says, " a
broken heart." ^ How, then, shall I crown
mj-self, or anoint with ointment, or offer incense
to the Lord ? " An odour of a sweet fragrance,"
it is said,^ *' is the heart that glorifies Him who
made it." These are the crowns and sacrifices,
aromatic odours, and flowers of God.

Further, in respect to forbearance. " If thy
brother," it is said, "sin against thee, rebuke
him ; and if he repent, forgive him. If he sin
against thee seven times in a day, and turn to
thee the seventh time, and say, I repent, for-
give him." 5 Also to the soldiers, by John, He
commands, "to be content with their wages
only ; " and to the publicans, " to exact no more
than is appointed." To the judges He says,
"Thou shalt not show partiaUty in judgment.
For gifts blind the eyes of those who see, and
cormpt just words. Rescue the wronged."

And to householders : " A possession which
is acquired with iniquity becomes less." ^

Also of " love." " Love," He says, " covers
a multitude of sins." '

And of civil government : " Render to Caesar
the things which are Caesar's; and unto God
the things which are God*s." ^

Of swearing and the remembrance of injuries :
" Did I command your fathers, when they went
out of Egypt, to offer burnt-ofTerings and sacri-
fices? But I commanded them, Let none of

* Isa. Iviii. 6, 7. ^
^ Isa. 1. 11-14.

^ Ps. li. 17.

* Not in Scripture. [Iren^cus, iv. 17, vol. i. 444, this series.]
3 Luke xVii. 3, 4.

* Prov. xiii. 11.
^ 1 Pet. iv. 8.

* Matt. xxii. az; Marie xii. 17; Luke xx. 35.

you bear malice in his heart against his neigh-
bour, or love a false oath." 9

The liars and the proud, too. He threatens ;
the former thus : " Woe to them that call bitter
sweet, and sweet bitter ; " and the latter : " Woe
unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight. "*° " For he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that
exalteth himself shall be humbled." "

And " the merciful " He blesses, " for they
shall obtain mercy."

Wisdom pronounces anger a wretched thing,
because " it will destroy the wise." " And now
He bids us " love otir enemies, bless them that
curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use
us." And He says : " If any one strike thee on
the one cheek, turn to him the other also ; and
if any one take away thy coat, hinder him not
from taking thy cloak also." ^^

Of faith He says : " Whatsoever ye shall ask
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." »4 " To
the unbelieving nothing is trustworthy," accord-
ing to Pindar.

DomesUcs, too, are to be treated like ourselves ;
for they are human beings, as we are. For God
is the same to free and bond, if you consider.

Such of our brethren as transgress, we must not
punish, but rebuke. " For he that spareth the
rod hateth his son," 's

Further, He banishes utterly love of glory,
saying, " Woe to you, Pharisees ! for ye love the
chief seat in the synagogues, and greetings in
the markets." ** But He welcomes the repent-
ance of the sinner — loving repentance — which
follows sins. For this Word of whom we speak
alone is sinless. For to sin is natural and com-
mon to all. But to return [to God] after sinning
is characteristic not of any man, but only of a
man of worth.

Respecting liberality He said : " Come to me,
ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world : for I was an
hungry, and ye gave Me meat ; I was thirsty,
and ye gave Me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye
took Me in ; naked, and ye clothed Me ; sick,
and ye visited Me ; in prison, and ye came unto
Me." And when have we done any of these
things to the Lord ?

The Instructor Himself will say again, loving
to refer to Himself the kindness of the brethren,
" Inasmuch as ye have done it to these least, ye
have done it to Me. And these shall go away
into everlasting life." '7

9 In Jer. vii. 23, 33, and Zech. viii. we find the substance of
what Clement gives here.
'° Isa. v. 20, 21.
'< Luke xiv. iz, xviii. 14.
'2 Prov. xvi. Sept.
*3 Matt. V. 40; Luke vi. 37^-99.
'* Malt. xxi. 32.
•5 Prov. xiii. 24.
'* Luke xi. 43.
*7 Matt. XXV. 34-36, 40, 46.

294

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

Such are the laws of the Word, the consola-
tory words not on tables of stone which were
written by the finger of the Lord, but inscribed
on men's hearts, on which alone they can remain
imperishable. Wherefore the tablets of those
who had hearts of stone are broken, that the faith
of the children may be impressed on softened
hearts.

However, both the laws served the Word for
the instruction of humanity, both that given by
Moses and that by the apostles. What, therefore,
is the nature of the training by the apostles, ap-
pears to me to require to be treated of. Under
this head, I, or rather the Instructor by me,' will
recount; and 1 shall again set before you the
precepts themselves, as it were in the germ.

" Putting away lying, speak every man truth
with his neighbour : for we are members one of
another. Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath ; neither give place to the devil. Let him
that stole steal no more : but rather let him la-
bour, working with his hands the thing which is
good, that he may have to give to him that need-
eth. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away
from you, with all malice : and be ye kind one
to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
as God in Christ hath forgiven you. Be there-
fore wise,* followers of God, as dear children;
and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us.
Let wives be subject to their own husbands, as
to the Lord. And let husbands love their wives,
as Christ also hath loved the Church." Let
those who are yoked together love one another
" as their own bodies." " Children, be obedient
to your parents. Parents, provoke not your
children to wrath ; but bring them up in the nur-
ture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be
obedient to those that are your masters accord-
ing to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the
singleness of your hearts, as unto Christ ; with
good-will from the soul doing service. And,
ye masters, treat your servants well, forbearing
threatening : knowing that both their and your
Lord is in heaven ; and there is no respect of
persons with Him." ^

" If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the
Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vainglory,
provoking one another, envying one another.
Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the
law of Christ. Be not deceived ; God is not
mocked. Let us not be weary in well-doing :
for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not," ^

** Be at peace among yourselves. Now we
admonish you, brethren, warn them who are
unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the

' 5i ifiavTov, The reading here adopted is found in Bod. and
Reg.

• (in>6vtfA.oi, not found in Kph. v. i.
3 Eph. iv. 25-ag, V. I, '.', 22, 25, vi. 1, 4-9.
M Gal. V. 25, j6, vi. 2, 7, y.

weak, be patient toward all men. See that none
render evil for evil to any man. Quench not
the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove*
all things : hold fast that which is good. Ab-
stain from every form of evil." s

" Continue in prayer, watching thereunto with
thanksgiving. Walk in wisdom towards them
that are without, redeeming the time. Let your
speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt,
that ye may know how ye ought to answer every

man.

»»6

" Nourish yourselves up in the words of faith.
Exercise yourselves unto godliness : for bodily
exercise profiteth little ; but godliness is profit-
able for all things, having the promise of the life
which now is, and that which is to come." ^

" Let those who have faithful masters not
despise them, because they are brethren ; but
rather do them service, because they are faith-
ful." 8

" He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity ;
he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that showeth
mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without
dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil ; cleave
to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned
one to another with brotherly love, in honour
preferring one another. Not slothful in busi-
ness ; fervent in spirit, serving the I^rd. Rejoi-
cing in hope ; patient in tribulation ; continuing
instant in prayer. Given to hospitality; com-
municating to the necessities of the saints." "*

Such are a few injunctions out of many, for
the sake of example, which the Instructor, run-
ning over the divine Scriptures, sets before His
children ; by whTch, so to speak, vice is cut up
by the roots, and iniquity is circumscribed.

Innumerable commands such as these are
written in the holy Bible appertaining to cho>en
persons, some to presbyters, some to bishoi)s.
some to deacons, others to widows, *° of whom
we shall have another opportunity of speaking.
Many things spoken in enigmas, many in para-
bles, may benefit such as fall in with them.
But it is not my province, sslvs the Instructor,
to teach these any longer. But we need a
Teacher of the exposition of those sacred
words, to whom we must direct our steps.

And now, in tnith, it is time for me to cease
from my instruction, and for you to listen to the
Teacher." And He, receiving you who have
been trained up in excellent discipline, will
teach you the oracles. To noble purpose hx^

* I Thess. V. 13-15, 19-aa.

6 Col. iv. a, 5, Q.

7 I Tim. iv. 6-8.

• 1 Tim. vi. 2.

9 Rom. xii. 8-13.

'° [^Consult Runsen'.« Handbook^ book iv. pp. 75-82. Thus did
primitive Christianity labour to uproot the social estate of hcjthen-
ism.]

" That is, he who undertakes the instruction of those that jrc
full-grown, as Clemens does in the Stromata. [Where see his f**^i-
eric doctrine.]

Chap. XII.]

THE INSTRUCTOR.

295

the Church sung, and the Bridegroom also, the
only Teacher,' die good Counsel, of the good
Father, the true Wisdom, the Sanctuary of
knowledge. "And He is the propitiation for
our sins," as John says ; Jesus, who heals both
our body and soul — which are the proper man.
"And not for our sins only, but also for the
whole world. And by this we know that we
know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not
His commandments, is a liar; and the truth is
not in Him. But whoso keepeth His word, in
him verily is the love of God perfected. Here-
by know we that we are in Him. He that saith
he abideth in Him, ought himself to walk even
as' He also walked." ' O nurslings of His
blessed training ! let us complete the fair face of
the church ; and let us run as children to our
good mother. And if we become listeners to
the Word, let us glorify the blessed dispensation
by which man is trained and sancti^ed as a
child of God, and has his conversation in
heaven, being trained from earth, and there
receives the Father, whom he learns to know on
earth. The Word both does and teaches all
things, and trains in all things.

A horse is guided by a bit, and a bull is guided
by a yoke, and a wild beast is caught in a noose.
But man is transformed by the Word, by whom
wild beasts are tamed, and fishes caught, and
birds drawn down. He it is, in truth, who fash-
ions the bit for the horse, the yoke for the bull,
the noose for the wild beast, the rod for the fish,
the snare for the bird. He both manages the
state and tills the ground ; commands, and
helps, and creates the universe.

*' There were figured earth, and sky, and sea,
The ever-circhng sun, and full-orbed moon,
And all the signs that crown the vault of heaven." '

O divine works ! O divine commands ! " Let
this water undulate within itself; let this fire re-
strain its wrath ; let this air wander into ether ;
and this earth be consolidated, and acquire
motion ! When I want to form man, I want
matter, and have matter in the elements. I dwell
with what 1 have formed. If you know me, the
fire will be your slave."

Such is the Word, such is the Instructor, the
Creator of the world and of man : and of Him-
self, now the world's Instructor, by whose com-
mand we and the universe subsist, and await
judgment. "For it is not he who brings a
stealthy vocal word to men," as Bacchylidis
says, " who shatl be the Word of Wisdom ; " but
" the blameless, the pure, and faultless sons of
God," accordiibg to Paul, " in the midst of a

' 1 John il. a^-6.

* //tad, xviii. 483-485; spoken of Vulcan making the shield of
Achilles. 1

crooked and perverse generation, to shine as
lights in the world. " ^

All that remains therefore now, in such a cele-
bration of the Word as this, is that we address
to the Word our prayer.

PRAYER TO THE PiEDAGOGUS.

Be gracious, O Instructor, to us Thy children,
Father, Charioteer of Israel, Son and Father,
both in One, O Lord. Grant to us who obey
Thy precepts, that we may perfect the likeness
of the image, and with all our power know Him
who is the good God and not a harsh judge.
And do Thou Thyself cause that all of us who
have our conversation in Thy peace, who have
been translated into Thy commonwealth, having *
sailed tranquilly over the billo^51l3f sin, may be
wafted in calm by Thy Holy Spirit, by the inef-
fable wisdom, by night and day to the perfect
day ; and giving thanks may praise, and praising
thank the Alone Father and Son, Son and Father,
the Son, Instructor and Teacher, with the Holy
Spirit, all in One, in whom is all, for whom all
is One, for whom is eternity, whose members
we all are, whose glory the aeons ^ are ; for the
All-good, All-lovely, All-wise, All-just One. To
whom be glor}' both now and for ever. Amen.

And since the Instructor, by translating us in-
to His Church, has united us to Himself, the
teaching and all-sur\'eying Word, it were right
that, having got to this point, we should offer
to the Lord the reward of due thanksgiving —
praise suitable to His fair instruction.

A HYMN TO CHRIST THE SAVIOUR.

COMPOSED BY ST. CLEMENT.*
I.

Bridle of colts untamed,

Over our wills presiding ;
Wing of unwandering birds,

Our flight securely guiding.
Rudder of youth unbending,

Firm against adverse shock ;
Shepherd, with wisdom tending

Lambs of the roval flock :
Thy simple children bring
In one, that they may sing
In solemn lays
Their hymns of praise
With guileless lips to Christ their King.

3 Phil, ii i^.

* Acwi'cf, *' celestial spirits and angels." — Grabe, in a note on
Bull's Defence 0/ the Nicene Creed. [I wish a more definite refer-
ence had been furnished by the learned translator. Even Kaye's
reference is not precise. ConsuUine Grabe's annotations in vain, I
was then obliged to go through the Toot-notes, where, at last (vol. v.

fart i. p. 246), I foupd in comparative obscurity Grabe's language,
t may be rendered: " These words I think should be thus construed —
cujus gloria sunt saecula — whose glory are the heavenly spirits or
angels. Concerning which signification of twi' aiwccoi', note what I
have said among divers annotations on Irenseus, p. 32, ed. Benedict."]
5 [Elucidation III.) The translator ha.s done what he could to
I render this hymn literally. He has been obliged, however, to add some-
what to it in the way of expansion, for otherwise it would have been
' impossible to secure an^thmg approaching the flow of English versi-
I fication. The original is in many parts a mere string of epithets,
which no ingenuity could render in rhymed verse without some addi-
i lions.

296

THE INSTRUCTOR.

[Book III.

II.
King o£ saints, almighty Word
Of me Father highest Lord ;
Wisdom's head and chief ;
Assuagement of all grief;
Lord^of all time and space,
Jesus, Saviour of our race ;
Shepherd, who dost us keep ;

Husbandman, who tillest,
Bit to restrain us. Rudder

To guide us as Thou wiliest ;
Of the all-holy flock celestial wing ;
Fisher of men, whom Thou to life dost bring ;
From evil sea of sin.

And from the billowy strife,
Gathering pure fishes in.

Caught with sweet bait of life :
Lead us, Shepherd of the sheep,

Reason-gifted, holy One ;
King of youths, whom Thou dost keep,

So tnat they pollution shun :
Steps of Christ, celestial Way ;

Word eternal. Age unending;
Life that never can decay ;

Fount of mercy, virtue-sending;
Life august of those who raise
Unto God their hymn of praise,

Jesus Christ I

III.

Nourished by the milk of heaven,

To our tender palates given ; ^

Milk of wisdom from the breast *" -

Of that bride of grace exprest ;

By a dewy spirit filled

From fair Reason's breast distilled ;

Let us sucklings join to raise

With pure lips our hymns of praise

As our grateful offermg,

Clean and pure, to Christ our King.

Let us, with hearts undeflled,

Celebrate the mighty Child.

We, Christ-bom, the choir of peace ;

We, the people of His love.
Let us sing, nor ever cease,

To the God of peace above.

We subjoin the following literal translation of
the foregoing hymn : —

Bridle of untamed colts, Wing of unwandering
birds, sure Helm of babes,' Shepherd of royal
lambs, assemble Thy simple children to praise
holily, to hymn guilelessly with innocent mouths,
Christ the guide of children. O King of saints,
all-subduing Word of the most high Father,
Ruler of wisdom, Support of sorrows, that re-
joicest in the ages,^ Jesus, Saviour of the human
race. Shepherd, Husbandman, Helm, Bridle,
Heavenly Wing of the all-holy flock, Fisher of

' Or, "ships: " m^wv, instead of Kifiriwi', has been suggested as
better sense and better metre.
2 Or, " rejoicing in eternity."

men who are saved, catching the chaste fishes
with sweet life from the hateful wave of a sea of
vices, — Guide [us], Shepherd of rational sheep ;
guide unharmed children, O holy King,' O foot-
steps of Christ, O heavenly way, perennial Word,
immeasurable Age, Eternal Light, Fount of
mercy, performer of virtue ; noble [is the] life
of those who hymn God, O Christ Jesus, heav-
enly milk of the sweet breasts of the graces of
the Bride, pressed out of Thy wisdom. Babes
nourished with tender mouths, filled with the
dewy spirit of the rational pap, let us sing to-
gether simple praises, true hymns to Christ
[our] King, holy fee for the teaching of life ;
let us sing in simplicity thfe powerful Child, O
choir of peace, the Christ-begotten, O chaste
people, let us sing together* the God of peace.s

TO THE PAEDAGOGUS.

Teacher, to Thee a chaplet I present.

Woven of words culled from the spotless mead.

Where Thou dost feed Thy flocks ; like to the bee.

That skilful worker, which from many a flower

Gathers its treasures, that she may convey

A luscious offering to the master's hand.

Though but the least, I am Thy servant still,

(Seemly is praise to Thee for Thy behests).

O King, great Giver of good gifts to men,

Lord of the good. Father, of all the Maker,

Who heaven and heaven's adornment, by Thy word

Divine fitly disposed, alone didst make ;

Who broughtest forth the sunshine and the day ;

Who didst appoint their courses to the stars,

And how the earth and sea their place should keep;

And when the seasons, in their circling course.

Winter and summer, spring and autumn, each •

Should come, according to well-ordered plan;

Out of a tonfused heap who didst create

This ordered sphere, and from the shapeless mass

Of matter iidst the universe adorn ; —

Grant to me liitf artd be that life well spent,

Thy grace enj<i^g ; let me act and speak

In all things as^hy Holy Scriptures teach ; '

Thee and Thy co^ternal Word, All-wise,

From Thee procee^ng, ever may I praise ;

Give me nor povert)^nor wealth, but what is meet.

Father, in life, and then tiff's happy close.'

can

translate thus: "Guide, 0
footsteps of Christ."
iginally signifying, *' Let us

ther It is so used here or

^ By altering the punctuation, we
holy King, Thv children safely along tK)

* The word used here is ^aXmfitv. on
celebrate on a stringed instrument." Wl
not, may be matter of dispute. , . ^ , ^ j^ . ■

5 [The holy virgin of Nazareth is the atf^^^^r of the first Chnstian
hymn, Tke Magntyicat. It is a sequel tol the psalms of her father
David, and interprets them. To Clement df Alexandna belongs the
praise of leading the choir of uninspired Chriipan poets, whom he thus
might seem to invoke to cany on the strain ^hrough all time.]

6 [The hymn suffixed to Thomson's Seasons might seem to have
been suggested by this ancient example of prluse to the Maker. But.
io/eet this hymn, we must reflect upon lls^supe^o^ty, in a moral
point of view, to all the Attic Muse had ever j^roduccd before.]

7 [The Scriptures are the rule of faith.] »

f [Kave's careful criticism of M. Barbcyra^c's capuous complamts
against Clement, arc specially instructive, p. zo9*J

ELUCIDATIONS. 297

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Paedagogue, book ii. cap. 3, p. 247.)

This fine paragraph is in many ways interesting. The tourist who has visited the catacombs,
is familiar, among tokens of the first rude art of Christians, with relics of various articles, realizing
this idea of Clement's, that even our furniture should be distinctively Christian. In Pompeii, one
finds lamps and other vessels marked by heathenish devices, some of them gross and revoltiijg.
On the contrary, these Christian utensils bear the sacred monograms XP, AO, or the figure of the
fish, conveying to the user, by the letters of the Greek word for a fish (IX0YS), the initials of the
words " Jesus Christ, Son of God, The Saviour." Often we have the anchor, the palm-branch, or
the cross itself. But I never looked at one of those Christian lamps without imagining its owner,
singing, as it was lighted, the eventide hymn (of which see Elucidation III.), and reciting probably,
therewith, the text, " Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning," etc. For a valuable
elucidation of subjects illustrated by Christian art, see Testimony of the Catacombs^ by the late
Wharton B. Marriott (London, Hatchards, 1870).

II.

(Book iii. Going to Church, p. 290, supra^

Frequent references become necessary, at this point, to the ecclesiastical usages of the early
Christians. These have been largely treated of by the great Anglican divines, whose works are
recognised as part of the standard literature of Christendom ; but the nature of this publication
seems to impose on me the duty of choosing from external sources, rather than from authors who
have been more or less associated with the controversies of our great " Anglo-Saxon " family.
Happily the writings of the late Dr. Bunsen supply us with all that is requisite of this sort. In
that very curious and characteristic medley, Hippolytus and His Age, he has gathered into a con-
venient form nearly every point which requires antiquarian elucidation, under the title of The
Church and Home Book of the Ancient Christians. Its contents he professes to have rescued
" from the rubbish in which they were enveloped for centuries, and disencumbered of the fraud and
misunderstanding by which they are defaced." Now, while by no means satisfied with this work
myself, it affords an interesting specimen of the conclusions to which an earnest and scholarly
mind has been brought, in the course of original and industrious research. It is the more inter-
esting, as illustrating a conviction, which he expresses elsewhere, that, in shaping " the Church of
the future," all Christians must revert to these records of primitive antiquity, as of practical in-
terest for our own times. The proverbial faults of its author are indeed conspicuous in this work,
which, though the product of a mere inquirer, is presented to us with entire self-reliance, as if he
were competent to pronounce upon all questions with something like pontifical infallibility. It is
also greatly mixed up with his personal theories, which are always interesting, but rarely satisfactory
to his readers. In spite of all this, he has brought together, in a condensed form, what is un-
doubtedly the result of patient investigation. It is the rather useful, because it is the work of a
genuine disciple of Niebuhr, who doubts and questions at every step, and who always suspects a
fraud. He is committed, by his religious persuasions, to no system whatever, with respect to such
matters, and he professes to have produced a manual of Christian antiquity, entirely scientific ;
that is to say, wholly impartial, indifferent as to consequences, and following only the lead of truth

298 ELUCIDATIONS.

and evidence. In my references to Bunsen, therefore, let it be understood, that, without accepting
him as my own master, I yet wish to respect his opinion and to commend his performance to the
candid investigation of others.

III.

The one ancient hymn, not strictly liturgical, which probably was not new even to Clement, and
to which we have already made reference once or twice, is the following, which we give from
Bunsen. He calls it " The Evening Hymn of the Greek Christians," but it was not confined to
the Greeks any more than was the Greek of the Gospels and the Creeds. Its proper name is
*'The Eventide Hymn," or "The Hymn for the Lighting of the Lamps," and was doubdess uttered
in the family at " candlelight," as we say a grace before meat. It is thus rendered : —

HYMN.

Serene light of the Holy Glory

Of the Father Everlasting,
Jesus Christ :
Having come to the setting of the sun,
And seeing the evening light,

We praise the Father and the Son,

And the Holy Spirit of God.
It behooveth to praise Thee,
At all times with holy songs,

Son of God, who hast given life ;

Therefore the world glorifieth Thee.

The modem Itahans, at sunset, recite the Ave Maria, which has been imposed upon them by
mediaeval Rome. Nothing but the coincidence of the hour reminds us of the ancient bran
which it has superseded ; and a healthy mind, one would think, would note the contrast. This
pure " hymn to Christ as God," and to the Godhead in unity, gives place to an act of worship
addressed to the creature, more than to the Creator. One might indeed call this Ave Maria the
eventide hymn of modern Italy ; but the scatter-brain processes of Dr. Bunsen come out in the
strange reversal of thought, by which he would throw back the utterly incongruous title of its
Italian substitute upon a primitive hymn to the Trinity, — " the Ave-Maria hymn, as we mi^ht
call it from the present Italian custom," etc. The strange confusion of ideas which constantly
characterizes this author, whenever some association, however remote, strikes his fancy, is well
illustrated by this instance. Let it serve as a caution in following his lead. See Hippolytus (vol.
iii. pp. 68, 138, etc.) and also Routh {Reiiquice, vol. iii. pp. 515-520). Concerning the morning
hymn, Gloria in Excelsisy which Dr. Bunsen gives from the Alexandrian ms., and to which refer-
ence is made in his AnaUcia Ante-Niccena (iii. 2>(}i)y see Warren's Celtic Liturgy (p. 197, and
index references. Ed. Oxford, 1881).

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK I.

CHAP. I. — PREFACE — THE AUTHOR'S OBJECT —
, THE UTHJTY OF WRITTEN COMPOSFTIONS.'

[_ Wants the beginning] that

you may read them under your hand, and may
be able to preserve them. Whether written
compositions are not to be left behind at all ; or
if they are, by whom ? And if the former, what
need there is for written compositions ? , and if
the latter, is the composition of them to be as-
signed to earnest men, or the opposite ? It were
certainly ridiculous for one to disapprove of the
writing of earnest men, and approve of those,
who are not such, engaging in the work of com-
position. Theopompus and Timaeus, who com-
posed fables and slanders, and Epicurus the
leader of atheism, and. Hipponax and Archilo-
chus, are to be allowed to write in their own
shameful manner. But he who proclaims the
truth is to be prevented from leaving behind him
what is to benefit posterity. It is a good thing,
I reckon, to leave to posterity good children.
This is the case with children of our bodies.
But words are the progeny of the soul. Hence
we call those who have instnicted us, fathers.
Wisdom is a commimicative and philanthropic
thing. Accordingly, Solomon says, " My son,
if thou receive the saying of my commandment,
and hide it with thee, thine ear shall hear wis-
dom."' He points out that the word that is
sown is hidden in the soul of the learner, as in
the earth, and this is spiritual planting. Where-
fore also he adds, " And thou shalt apply thine
heart to understanding, and apply it for the
admonition of thy son." For soul, methinks,
joined with soul, and spirit with spirit, in the
sowing of the word, will make that which is sown
grow and germinate. And every one who is in-
structed, is in respect of subjection the son of

' [It IS impossible to illustrate the Stromata by needed notes, on
the plan of this publication. It would double the size of the work, and
require time and such scholarship as belongs to experts. Important
matters are briefly discussed at the end of each book. Elucidation I.J

- Prov. ii. 1, a.

his instructor. " Son," says he, " forget not my
laws." 3

And if knowledge belong not to all (set an
ass to the lyre, as the proverb goes), yet written
compositions are for the maiiy. " Swine, for in-
stance, delight in dirt more than in clean water." •
" Wherefore," says the Lord, " I speak to them
in parables : because seeing, they see not j and
hearing, they hear not, and do not understand ; " *
not as if the Lord caused the ignorance : for it
were impious to think so. But He prophetically
exposed this ignorance, that existed in them, and
intimated that tliey would not understand the
things spoken. And now the Saviour shows
Himself, out of His abundance, dispensing goods
to His servants according to the ability of the
recipient, that they may augment them by exer-
cising activity, and then returning to reckon with
them ; when, approving of those that had in-
creased His money, those faithful in little, and
commanding them to have the charge over many
things, He bade them enter into the joy of the
Lord. But to him who had hid the money, en-
trusted to him to be given out at interest, and
had given it back as he had received it, without
increase. He said, "Thou wicked and slothful
servant, thou oughtest to have given my money
to the bankers, and at my coming I should have
received mine own." Wherefore the useless
servant " shall be cast into outer darkness." s
" Thou, therefore, be strong," says Paul, " in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things
which thou hast heard of me among many wit-
nesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also." ^ And
again : " Study to show thyself approved unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth."

If, then, both proclaim the Word — the one

3 Prov. iii. 1

-* Matt. xiii. 13.

5 Matt, xviii. 32; Luke xix. 22; Matt. xxv. 30.

* a Tim. ii. i, 2.

299

300

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

by writing, the other by speech — are not both
then to be approved, making, as they do, faith
active by love ? It is by one's own fault that he
does not choose what is best; God is free of
blame. As to the point in hand, it is the busi-
ness of some to lay out the word at interest, and
of others to test it, and either choose it or not.
And the judgment is determined within them-
selves. But there is that species of knowledge
which is characteristic of the herald, and that
which is, as it were, characteristic of a messen-
ger, and it is serviceable in whajtever way it
operates, both by the hand and tongue. " For
he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary
in well-doing." ' On him who by Divine Provi-
dence meets in with it, it confers the very highest
advantages, — the beginning of faith, readiness
for adopting a right mode of life, the impulse
towards the truth, a movement of inquiry, a
trace of knowledge; in a word, it gives the
means of salvation. And those who have been
rightly reared in the words of truth, and received
provision for eternal life, wing their way to
heaven. Most admirably, therefore, the apostle
says, " In everything approving ourselves as the
servants of God ; as poor, and yet making many
rich ; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.
Our mouth is opened to you." * "I charge
thee," he says, writing to Timothy, " before God,
and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou
observe these things, without preferring one be-
fore another, doing nothing by partiality." ^

Both must therefore test themselves : the one,
if he is qualified to speak and leave behind him
written records ; the other, if he is in a right
state to hear and read : as also some in the dis-
pensation of the Eucharist, according to* custom,
enjoin that each one of the people individually
should take his part. One's own conscience is
best for choosing accurately or shunning. And
its firm foundation is a right life, with suitable
instruction. But the imitation of those who have
already been proved, and who have led correct
lives, is most excellent for the understanding and
practice of the commandments. " So that who-
soever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of
the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of the bread and
drink of the cup." s It therefore follows, that
every one of those who undertake to promote
the good of their neighbours, ought to consider
whether he has betaken himself to teaching
rashly and out of rivalry to any ; if his commu-
nication of the word is out of vainglory ; if the

* Gal. vi. 8, 9.

* a Cor. vi. 4, 10, ix.
3 X Tim. V. ai.

* [To be noted as apparently allowed, yet exceptionally so.]
i X Cor. xi. 27, 28.

only reward he reaps is the silvati<.}i i^f those
who hear, and if he speaks not in (HWt to win
favour ; if so, he who speaks by wTf ii._j escapes
the reproach of mercenary nn ^v .. " For
neither at any time used we hatu nr.i ^ -ds, as
ye know," says the apostle, * iK^r h -. . .k of
covetousness. God is witneh^. N«. - men
sought we glory, neither of you, nor yt i . >i ^hers,
when we might have been bur- 1. i>y.)'\-\-^ . the
apostles of Christ. But we were ^ti l i long
you, even as a nurse cherisheth her ch'l' ' i "*

In the same way, therefore, ti dsc \ i^ • rake
part in the divine words, ought to t' urd : linst
betaking themselves to this, as thf } » Mid ; the
building of cities, to examine thr .- i:.(i / iri-
osity; that they do not come to i: \'.-'; he

sake of receiving worldly things, 'i...! _ t-

tained that they who are consecrrti { ' / st
are given to communicate the nece-> ua ^ : : ?.
But let such be dismissed as hypoc rj,.LS. * * .f
any one wishes not to seem, but to b. r. i.*,

to him it belongs to know the thin^.- si. .
best. If, then, "the harvest is plv t.-f^ .
the labourers few," it is incumben* n .. • >
pray " that there may be as great ab ."^'\xc ..(
labourers as possible.^

But the husbandry is twofold, — th*. «• ^.*
written, and the other written. And in whatever
way the Lord's labourer sow the good wheat, and
grow and reap the ears, he shall appear a truly
divine husbandman. " Labour," says the Lord,
" not for the meat which perisheth, but for that
which endureth to everlasting life." * And nutri-
ment is received both by bread and by words.
And truly "blessed are the peace- make rs, " '
who instructing those who are at war in their
life and errors here, lead them back to the peace
which is in the Word, and nourish for the life
which is according to God, by the distribution
of the bread, those " that hunger after righteous-
ness." For each soul has its own proper nutri-
ment ; some growing by knowledge, jnd science,
and others feeding on the Hellenic, philosophy,
the whole of which, like nuts, is not eatable.
" And he that planteth and he that watereth,"
"being ministers" of Him "that gives the in-
crease, are one " in the ministry. " But every
one shall receive his own reward, according to
his own work. For we are God's husbandmen.
God's husbandry. Ye are God's building," " ac-
cording to the apostle. Wherefore the hearers
are not permitted to apply the test of compari-
son. Nor is the word, given for investigation,
to be committed to those who have been reared
in the arts of all kinds of words, and in the
power of inflated attempts at proof; whose

6 I Thcss. ii. s, 6, 7.

7 Matt. ix. 37, 38 ; Luke x. a.
■ [ohn vi. 27.

9 Matt. V. 9.
'*> I Cor. iii. 8, 9.

Chap. I.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

301

minds are already pre-occupied, and have not
been previously emptied. But whoever chooses
to banquet on faith, is stedfast for the reception
of the divine words, having acquired already
faith as a power of judging, according to reason.
Hence ensues to him persuasion in abundance.
And this was the meaning of that saying of
prophecy, "If ye believe not, neither shall ye
understand." » " As, then, we have opportunity,
let us do good to all, especially to the household
of faith." * And let each of these, according to
the blessed David, sing, giving thanks. " Thou
shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be
cleansed. Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be
whiter than the snow. Thou shalt make me to
hear gladness and joy, and the bones which have
been humbled shall rejoice. Turn Thy face
from my sins. Blot out mine iniquities. Create
in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit in my inward parts. Cast me not away
from Thy face, and take not Thy Holy Spirit
from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salva-
tion, and establish me with Thy princely spirit." 3
He who addresses those who are present be-
fore him, both tests them by time, and judges
by his judgment, and from the others distin-
guishes him who can hear ; watching the words,
the manners, the habits, the life, the motions, the
attitudes, the look, the voice ; the road, the rock,
the beaten path, the fruitful land, the wooded
region, the fertile and fair and cultivated spot,
that is able to multiply the seed. But he that
speaks through books, consecrates himself be-
fore God, crying in writing thus : Not for gain,
not for vainglory, not to be vanquished by par-
tiality, nor enslaved by fear nor elated by pleas-
ure ; but only to reap the salvation of those who
read, which he does, not at present participate
in, but awaiting in expectation the recompense
which will certainly be rendered by Him, who
has promised to bestow on the labourers the re-
ward that is meet. But he who is enrolled in
the number of men ^ ought not to desire recom-
pense. For he that vaunts his good services,
receives glory as his reward. And he who does
any duty for the sake of recompense, is he not
held fast in the custom of the world, either as
one who has done well, hastening to receive a
reward, or as an evil-doer avoiding retribution ?
We must, as far as we can, imitate the Lord.
And he will do so, who complies with the will
of God, receiving freely, giving freely, and re-
ceiving as a worthy reward the citizenship itself.
" The hire of an harlot shall not c6me into the
sanctuary," it is said : accordingly it was forbid-
den to bring to the altar the price of a dog.

' Isa. vii. 9.

* Gal- vi. 10.
J Ps. li. 7-12.

* i.c., perfect men.

And in whomsoever the eye of the soul has been
blinded by ill-nurture and teaching, let him ad-
vance to the true light, to the truth, which shows
by writing the things that are unwritten. "Ye
that thirst, go to the waters," s says Ksaias. And
" drink water from thine own vessels," ^ Solomon
exhorts. Accordingly in " The Laws," the philos-
opher who learned from the Hebrews, Plato,
commands husbandmen not to irrigate or take
water from others, until they have first dug down -^
in their own ground to what is called the virgin
soil, and found it dry. For it is right to supply
want, but it is not well to support laziness. For
Pythagoras said that, " although it be agreeable
to reason to take a share of a burden, it is not a
duty to take it away."

Now the Scripture kindles the living spark of
the soul, and directs the eye suitably for con-
templation; perchance inserting something, as
the husbandman when he ingrafts, but, accord-
ing to the opinion of the divine apostle, exciting
what is in the soul. "For there are certainly
among us many weak and sickly, and many
sleep. But if we judge ourselves, we shall not
be judged." 7 Now this work of mine in writing
is not artfully constructed for display ; but my
memoranda are stored up against old age, as a
remedy against forgetfulness, truly an image
and outiine of those vigorous and animated dis-
courses which I was privileged to hear, and of
blessed and truly remarkable men.

Of these the one, in Greece, an Ionic ; ^ the
other in Magna Graecia : the first of these from
Ccele-Syria, the second from Egypt, and others
in the East. The one was bom in the land of
Assyria, and the other a Hebrew in Palestine.

When I came upon the last 9 (he was the first
in power), having tracked him out concealed in,
Egypt, I found rest. He, the true, the Sicilian
bee, gathering the spoil of the flowers of the
prophetic and apostolic meadow, engendered in
the souls of his hearers a deathless element of
knowledge.

Well, they preserving the tradition of the ^
blessed doctrine derived directly from the holy
apostles, Peter, James, John, and Paul, the sons •
receiving it from the father (but few were like
the fathers), came by God*s will to us also to
deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds.
And well I know that they will exult ; I do not
mean delighted with this tribute, but solely on
account of the preservation of the truth, accord-
ing as they delivered it. For such a sketch as -
this, will, 1 think, be agreeable to a soul desirous^ y
of preserving from escape the blessed tradition.***

5 Isa. Iv. I. -"^

* Prov. V. 15.

7 X Cor. xi. 31. 3a. " Vou " is the reading of New Testament.
' The first probably Tatian, the second Theodoius.
9 Most likely Pantaenus, master of the catechetical school in
Alexandria, and the teacher of Clement. [EUucidation 1 1. J
10 [See Elucidation III., in/ra.^

302

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[IJOOK I.

" In a man who loves wisdom the father will be
glad." ' Wells, when pumped out, yield purer
water ; and that of which no one partakes, turns
to putrefaction. Use keeps steel brighter, but
disuse produces rust in it. For, in a word, exer-
cise produces a healthy condition both in souls
and bodies. "No one lighteth a candle, and
putteth it under a bushel, but upon a candle-
stick, that it may give light to those who are
regarded worthy of the feast." ' For what is the
use of wisdom, if it makes not him who can
hear it wise ? For still the Saviour saves, " and
always works, as He sees the Father." 3 For by
teaching, one learns more ; and in speaking, one
is often a hearer along with his audience. For
the teacher of him who speaks and of him who
hears is one — who waters both the mind and
the word. Thus the Lord did not hinder from
doing good while keeping the Sabbath ; * but
allowed us to communicate of those divine mys-
teries, and of that holy light, to those who are
able to receive them. He did not certainly dis-
close to the many what did not belong to the
many ; but to the few to whom He knew that
they belonged, who were capable of receiving
and being moulded according to them. But
secret things are entrusted to speech, not to
writing, as is the case with God.s

And if one say that it is written, " There is
nothing secret which shall not be revealed, nor
hidden which shall not be disclosed," ^ let him
also hear from us, that to him who hears secretly,
even what is secret shall be manifested. This is
what was predicted by this oracle. And to him
who is able secretly to observe what is delivered
to him, that which is veiled shall be disclosed as
truth ; and what is hidden to the many, shall
^appear manifest to the few. For why do not all
know the truth ? why is not righteousness loved,
if righteousness belongs to all? But the mys-
teries are delivered mystically, that what is spoken
may be in the mouth of the speaker ; rather not
in his voice, but in his understanding. " God
gave to the Church, some apostles, and some
prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ." 7

The writing of these memoranda of mine, I
well know, is weak when compared with that
spirit, full of grace, which I was privileged to
hear.*^ But it will be an image to recall the
archetype to him who was struck with the thyr-

* Prov. xxLx. 3.

' Matt. V. 15; Mark iv. ai.
3 John V. 17, 19.

* [ rhis reference to the Jewish Sabbath to be noted in connection
with what Clement says elsewhere.]

Sec Klucidation I\., in/ra.X
like viii. 17, xu. a.

7 Eph. iv. IT, la.

An aflfectionate reference to Pantaenus and his other masters.]

sus. For " speak," it is said, " to a wise man,
and he will grow wiser ; and to him that hath,
and there shall be added to him." And we pro-
fess not to explain secret things sufficiendy — far
from it — but only to recall them to memory,
whether we have forgot aught, or whether for the
purpose of not forgetting. Many things, I well
know, have escaped us, through length of time,
that have dropped away unwritten. Whence, to
aid the weakness of my memory, and provide for
myself a salutary help to my recollection in a
systematic arrangement of chapters, I necessarily
make use of this form. There are then some
things of which we have no recollection ; for the
power that was in the blessed men was great.*
There are also some things which remained un-
noted long, which have now escaped ; and others
which are effaced, having faded away in the
mind itself, since such a task is not easy to those
not experienced ; these I revive in my commen-
taries. Some things I purposely omit, in the
exercise of a wise selection, afraid to write what
I guarded against speaking : not grudging — for
that were wrong — but fearing for my readers,
lest they should stumble by taking them in a
wrong sense ; and, as the proverb says, we should
be found " reaching a sword to a child." For it
is impossible that what has been written should
not escape, although remaining unpublished by
me. But being always revolved, using the one
only voice, that of writing, they answer nothing
to him that makes inquiries beyond what is writ-
ten; for they require of necessity the aid of
some one, either of him who wrote, or of some
one else who has walked in his footsteps. Some
things my treatise will hint; on some it will
linger ; some it will merely mention. It will try
to speak imperceptibly, to exhibit secretly, and
to demonstrate silently. The dogmas*laught by
remarkable sects will be adduced ; and to these
will be opposed all that ought to be premised in
accordance with the profoundest contemplation
of the knowledge, which, as we proceed to the
renowned and venerable canon of tradition, from
the creation of the world,^ will advance to our
view ; setting before us what according to natural
contemplation necessarily has to be treated of
beforehand, and clearing off what stands in the
way of this arrangement./ So that we may have
pur ears ready for the recej^tion of the tradition
JDf true knowledge ; the soil being previously
jcleared of the thorns and of every weed by the
[husbandman, in order to the planting of the vine.
For there is a contest, and the prelude to the
•contest ; and-4here are some mysteries before
/other mysteries^

Our book will not shrink from making use of
what is best in philosophy and other preparatory

9 [Sec Elucidation V., t'n/raJ]

Chap. II.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

303

instruction. " For not only for the Hebrews
and those that are under the law," according to
the apostle, "is it right to become a Jew, but
also a Greek for the sake of the Greeks, that we
may gain all." * Also in the Epistle to the Colos-
sians he writes, " Admonishing every man, and
teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may
present every man perfect in Christ." * The
nicety of speculation, too, suits the sketch pre-
sented in my commentaries. In this respect the
resources of learning are like a relish mixed with
the fodS of an athlete, who is not indulging in
luxury, but entertains a noble desire for distinc-
tion.

By music we harmoniously relax the excessive
tension of gravity. And as those who wish to
address the people, do so often by the herald,
that what is said may be better heard ; so also
in this case. For we have the word, that was
spoken to many, before the common tradition.
Wherefore we must set forth the opinions and
utterances which cried individually to them, by
which those who hear shall more readily turn.

And, in truth, to speak briefly : Among many
small pearls there is the one ; and in a great
lake of fish there is the beauty-fish ; and by time
and toil truth will gleam forth, if a good helper
is at hand. For most benefits are supplied, ft'om
God, through men. All of us who make use of
our eyes see what is presented before them.
But some look at objects for one reason, others
for another. For instance, the cook and the
shepherd do not survey the sheep similarly : for
the one examines it if it be fat ; the other watches
\ to see if it be of good breed. Let a man milk
the sheep's milk if he need sustenance : let him
shear the wool if he need clothing. And in this
', way let me produce the fruit of the Greek erudi-
tion.3

For I do not imagine that any composition
can be so fortunate as that no one will speak
against it. But that is to be regarded as in
accordance with reason, which nobody speaks
against, with reason. And that course of action
and choice is to be approved, not which is
faultless, but which no one rationally finds
fault with. For it does not follow, that if a man
accomplishes anything not purposely, he does it
through force of circumstances. But he will do
it, managing it by wisdom divinely given, and in
accommodation to circumstances. For it is not
he who has virtue that needs the way to virtue,
any more than he, that is strong, needs recovery.
For, like farmers who irrigate the land before-
^•^and, so we also water with the liquid stream of
Greek learning what in it is earthy ; so that it

* t Cor. ix. ao, ax.

* Col. i. 28.

^ [Every referenoe of our author to his use of Greek learning

^J^ (eclectic) philosophy, is important in questions about his ortho*
doxy.]

may receive the spiritual seed cast into it, and
may be capable of easily nourishing it. The
Stromata will contain the truth mixed up in the
dogmas of philosophy, or rather covered over
and hidden, as the edible part of the nut in
the shell. For, in my opinion, it is fitting that th?
seeds of truth be kept for the husbandmen of
faith, and no others. I am not oblivious _
what is babbled by some, who in their ignorance
are frightened at every noise, and say that we \
ought to occupy ourselves with what is most
necessary, and which contains the faith; and
that we should pass over what is beyond and
superfluous, which wears out and detains us to
no purpose, in things which conduce nothing to
the great end. Others think that philosophy
was introduced into life by an evil influence, for •
the ruin of men, by an evil inventor.' But I
shall show, throughout the whole of these Stro-
mata^ that evil has an evil nature, and can never
turn out the producer of aught that is good;
indicating that philosophy is in a sense a work 1
of Divine Providence.^

CHAP. II. — OBJECnON TO THE NUMBER OF EX-
TRACTS FROM PHILOSOPHICAL WRITINGS IN THESE
BOOKS ANTICIPATED AND ANSWERED.

In reference to these commentaries, which — J
contain as the exigencies of the case demand,
the Hellenic opinions, I say thus much to those
who are fond of finding fault. First, even if
philosophy were useless, if the demonstration of
its uselessness does good, it is yet useful. The
those cannot condemn the Greeks, who have
only a mere hearsay knowledge of their opinions,
and have not entered into a minute investigation
in each department, in order to acquaintance
with them. For the refutation, which is based
on experience, is entirely trustworthy. For the
knowledge of what is condemned is found the
most complete demonstration. Many things,
then, though not contributing to the final result,
equip the artist. And otherwise erudition com-
mends him, who sets forth the most essential
doctrines so as to produce persuasion in his
hearers, engendering admiration in those who
are taught, and leads them to the truth. And
such persuasion is convincing, by which those
that love learning admit the truth ; so that
philosophy does not ruin life by being the
originator of false practices and base deeds,
although some have calumniated it, though it be
the clear image of truth, a divine gift to the
Greeks ; ^ nor does it drag us away from the
faith, as if we were bewitched by some delusive "I '3
art, but rather, so to speak, by the use of an i
ampler circuit, obtains a common exercise demon- 1
strative of the faith. Further, the juxtaposition J

♦ [Noteworthy with his caveat about comparison. He deals
with Greek philosophers as surgeons do with comparative anatomy.]

304

THE STROM ATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book L

eof doctrines, by comparison, saves the truth,
from which follows knowledge.

Philosophy came into existence, not on its
own account, but for the advantages reaped by
us from knowledge, we receiving a firm persua-
sion of true perception, through the knowledgi
of things comprehended by the mind. For
do not mention that the Stromaia, forming
body of varied erudition, wish artfully to con-
ceal the seeds of knowledge. As, then, he wh<
is fond of hunting captures the game after seek-
ing, tracking, scenting, hunting it down with^
dogs ; so truth, when sought and got with toil^
appears a delicious ' thing. Why, then, you wilj
ask, did you think it fit that such an arrange-
ment should be adopted in your memoranda
Because there is great danger in divulging the
secret of the true philosophy to those, whose
delight it is unsparingly to speak against every-
thing, not jusdy ; and who shout forth all kinds
of names and words indecorously, deceiving
themselves and beguiling those who adhere to
them. "For the Hebrews seek signs," as the
apostle says, "and the Greeks seek after wis-
dom."» . . •/

' '••#■•

CHAP. III. — AGAINST THE SOPHISTS.

There is a great crowd of this description :
some of them, enslaved to pleasures and willing
to disbelieve, laugh at the truth which is worthy
of all reverence, making sport of its barbarous-
ness. Some others, exalting themselves, en-
deavour to discover calumnious objections to
our words, furnishing captious questions, hunters
out of paltry sayings, practisers of miserable
artifices, wranglers, dealers in knotty points^ as
that Abderite says : —

" For mortals* tongues are glib, and on them are many
speeches ;
And a wide range for words of all sorts in this place
and that."

And —

**Of whatever sort the word you have spoken, of the
same sort you must hear."

Inflated with this art of theirs, the wretched
Sophists, babbling away in their own jargon;
toiling their whole life about the division of
names and the nature of the composition and
' conjunction of sentences, show themselves greater
chatterers than turtle-doves ; scratching and tick-
ling, not in a manly way, in my opinion, the ears
of those who wish to be tickled.

" A river of silly words — not a dropping ; "

just as in old shoes, when all the rest is worri
and is falling to pieces, and the tongue alone
remains. The Athenian Solon most excellently
enlarges, and writes : —

I Adopting the emendation yAvKv ri instead of ykvKVTifn,
' z Coir. i. aa.

" Look to the tongue, and to the words of the glozing
man,
But you look on no work that has been done ;
But each one of you walks in the steps of a fox.
And in all of you is an empty mind."

'This, I think, is signified by the utterance of the
Saviour, " The foxes have holes, but the Son of
man hath not where to lay His head." 3 For
on the believer alone, who is separated entirely
from the rest, who by the Scripture are called
wild beasts, rests the head of the universe, the
kind and gentie Word, " who taketh the wise in
their own craftiness. For the Lord knoweth
the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain ; "^
the Scripture calling those the wise (o>o^ov9) who
are skilled in words and arts, sophists (ono^iora?).
Whence the Greeks also applied the denomina-
tive appellation of wise and sophists (<ro4>oi,
<ro<f>i<Trai) to those who were versed in anything.
Cratinus accordingly, having in the Archilochii
enumerated the poets, said : —

" Such a hive of sophists have ye examined.**

And similarly lophon, the comic poet, in Fluk-
playing Satyrs, sa)'s : —

** For there entered

A band of sophists, all equipped."

Of these and the like, who devote their atten-
tion to empty words, the divine Scripture most
excellentiy says, " I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise, and bring to nothing the understand-
ing of the pmdent." 5

CHAP. IV. — HUMAN ARTS AS WELL AS DI\TNE
KNOWLEDGE PROCEED FROM GOD.

Homer calls an artificer wise; and of Mar-
gites, if that is his work, he thus writes : —

** Him, then, the Gods made neither a delver nor a
ploughman,
Nor in any other respect wise ; but he missed every
art."

Hesiod further said the musician Linus was
"skilled in all manner of wisdom;" and does
not hesitate to call a mariner wise, seeing he
writes : —

" Having no wisdom in navigation."

And Daniel the prophet says, "The mystery
which the king asks, it is not in the power of the
wise, the Magi, the diviners, the Gazarenes, to
tell the king; but it is God in heaven who
revealeth it." ^

Here he terms the Babylonians wise. And
that Scripture calls every secular science or art
by the one name wisdom (there are other arts
and sciences invented over and above by human
reason), and that artistic and skilful invention is
from God, will be clear if we adduce the follow-

^ Matt. viii. so; Luke ix. 58.

* Job V. 13; X Cor. iii. 19, 20; Ps. xciv. 11.

' Isa. xxix. 14; X Cor. i. 19.

^ Dan. ii. 27, a8.

Chap. V.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

305_^

understanding, and treasures up help for the I

righteous." For to those who have been justi- A

fied 7 by philosophy, the knowledge which leads • \
to piety is laid up as a help. )

ing statement : " And the Lord spake to Moses,
See, I have called Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the
son of Or, of the tribe of Judah ; and I have
filled him with the divine spirit of wisdom, and
understanding, and knowledge, to devise and to
execute in all manner of work, to work gold, and
silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scar-
let, and in working stone work, and in the art
of working wood," and even to " all works." '
And then He adds the general reason, " And to
every understanding heart I have given under-
standing;"* that is, to every one capable of
acquiring it by pains and exercise. And again,
it is written expressly in the name of the Lord :
'* And speak thou to all that are wise in mind,
whom I have filled with the spirit of percep-
tion." 3

Those who are wise in mind have a certain
attribute of nature peculiar to themselves ; and
they who have shown themselves capable, receive
from the Supreme Wisdom a spirit of perception
in double measure. For those who practise the
common arts, are in what pertains to the senses
highly gifted : in hearing, he who is commonly
called a musician ; in touch, he who moulds clay ;
in voice the singer, in smell the perfumer, in sight
the engraver of devices on seals. Those also
that are occupied in instruction, train the sensibil-
ity according to which the poets are susceptible
to the influence of measure ; the sophists appre-
hend expression ; the dialecticians, syllogisms ;
and the philosophers are capable of the contem-
plation of which themselves are the objects. For
sensibility finds and invents ; since it persuasively
exhorts to application. And practice will increase
the application which has knowledge for its end.
VV'ith reason, therefore, the apostle has called the
wisdom of God " manifold," and which has mani-
fested its power " in many departments and in
many modes "^ — by art, by knowledge, by faith,
by prophecy — for our benefit. " For all wisdom
is from the Lord, and is with Him for ever," as
says the wisdom of Jesus. *
^^ For if thou call on wisdom and knowledge with
a loud voice, and seek it as treasures of silver,
and eagerly track it out, thou shalt understand
godliness and find divine knowledge."^ The
prophet says this in contradiction to the knowl-
edge according to philosophy, which teaches us
to investigate in a magnanimous and noble man-
ner, for our progress in piety. He opposes,
therefore, to it the knowledge which is occupied
with piety, when referring to knowledge, when he
speaks as follows : " For God gives wisdom out
of His own mouth, and knowledge along with

* Ex xxjci. a-5.
^ Ex. xxxi. 6.

* Ex. xxviii. 3.

* Eph. iii 10: Heb. i. i.
5 Ecclus. i. 1.

* Prov. ii. 3-5.

CHAP. V. — PHILOSOPHY THE HANDMAID OF

THEOLOGY.

phil

Accordingly, before the advent of the Lord,

was necessary to the Greeks for right-

And now it becomes conducive to

feparaR

os<

eousness.

id or

ttpse who attain to faith througK demonstratipja,
" Forthy f&Ot," 11 is said, '^ wiITnot stumble, if thou
refer what is good, whether belonging to the
Greeks or to us, to Providence." 9 For God is the
cause of all good things ; but of some primarily,
as of the Old and the New Testament ; and of
others by consequence, as philosophy. Per-
chance, too, philosophy was given to the Greeks
directly and primarily, till the Ix)rd should call
the Greeks. For this was a schoolmaster to bring
the Hellenic mifld," as the law, the Hebrews,
to Christ." '"^^Philosophy, therefore, was a
preparation, pavipg the way for him who is per-
fected in Christy

" Now," says^Solomon, " defend wisdom, and
it will exalt thee, and it will shield thee with
a crown of pleasure." " For when thou hast
strengthened wisdom with a cope by philosophy,
and with right expenditure, thou wilt preserve it
unassailable by sophists. The way of truth is
therefore one. But into it, as into a perennial
river, streams flow from all sides. It has been
therefore said by inspiration : " Hear, my son,
and receive my words ; that thine may be the
many ways of life. For I teach thee the ways of
wisdom ; that the fountains fail thee not," *' which
gush forth fronf the earth itself. Not only did
He enumerate several ways of salvation for any
one righteous man, but He added many other
ways of many righteous, speaking thus : " The
paths of the righteous shine like the light." '*
The commandments and the modes of prepara-
tory training are to be regarded as the ways and
appliances of life.

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I
have gathered thy children, as a hen her chick-
ens ! " *^ And Jerusalem is, when interpreted,
" a vision of peace." He therefore shows pro-
phetically, that those who peacefully contemplate
sacred things are in manifold ways trained to
their calling. What then ? He " would," and
could not. How often, and where ? Twice ; by

f [A passage much reflected upon, in questions of Clement's Catho-
lic ortnoaoxy. See Elucidation vl., i»/ra.]

* [In connection with note 3, p. 303, su/ra, see Elucidation VII.]

9 Prov. iii. 23.

'o Gal. iii. 34 .

" Prov. iv. 8, 9.

" Prov. iv. 10, zx, at.

" Prov. iv. «8.

'4 Matt, xxiii. 37; Luke xiii. 34.

3o6

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

say

the prophets, and by the advent. The expres-
sion, then, " Hovsr often," shows wisdom to be
manifold ; and in every mode of quantity and
quality, it by all means saves some, both in time
and in eternity./ " For the Spirit of the Lx)rd
fills the earth." ' And if any should violently
say that the reference is to the Hellenic cul-
ture, when it is said, " Give not heed to an evil
woman ; for honey drops from the lips of a har-l
lot," let him hear what foUews : "who lubricates
thy throat for the time."LjBut philosophy does
not flatter. Who, then, does He allude to
having committed fornication? He adds ex
pressly, " For the feet of folly lead those who
use her, after death, to Hades. But her steps
are not supported." Therefore remove thy way
far from silly pleasure. " Stand not at the doors
of her house, that thou yield not thy life to
others." And He testifies, "Then shalt thou
repent in old age, when the flesh of thy body is
consumed." For this is the end of fooHsh pleas-
ure. Such, indeed, is the case. And when He
says, "Be not much with a strange woman,"*
e admonishes us to use indeed, but not to

brought forth to Abraham aught allied to virtue.
And she, as was proper, thought that he, being
now in the time of progress, should have inter-
course with secular culture first (by Egyptian
the world is designated figuratively) ; and after-
wards should approach to her according to
divine providence, and beget Isaac." 5

And Philo interprets Hagar to mean " sojourn-
ing."^ For it is said in connection with this,
Be not much with a strange woman." ^ Sarah
e interprets to mean "my princedom." He,
then, who has received previous training is at
liberty to approach to wisdom, which is supreme,
pm which grows up the race of Israel. These
things show that that wisdom can be acquired
through instniction, to which Abraham attained,
passing from the contemplation of heavenly
things to the faith and righteousness which are
according to God. And Isaac is shown to mean
" self-taught ; " wherefore also he is discovered
to be -a type of Christ. He was the husband of
one wife Rebecca, which they translate " Pa-
tience." And Jacob is said to have consorted
with several, his name being interpreted " FJxer-
inger and spend time with, secular culti^^yciser." And exercises are engaged in by means
For what was bestowed on each generatiotT of many and various dogmas. Whence, also, he

advantageously, and at seasonable times, is a
preliminary training for the word of the Lord.
" For already some men, ensnared by the charms
of handmaidens, have despised their consort
philosophy, and have grown old, some of them
in music, some in geometry, otheft in grammar,
the most in rhetoric." 3 " But as the encyclical
branches of study contribute to philosophy,
which is their mistress; so also philosophy it-
self co-operates for the acquisition of wisdom.

For philosophy is the study of wisdom, and wis- the studious Judas (whose name is interpreted

dom is the knowledge of things divine and human ;
and their causes." Wisdom is therefore queen
of philosophy, as philosophy is of preparatory
culture. For if philosophy " professes control of
the tongue, and the belly, and the parts below
the belly, it is to be chosen on its own account.
But it appears more worthy of respect and pre-
eminence, if cultivated for the honour and knowl-
edge of God."^ And Scripture will afford a
testimony to what has been said in what follows.
Sarah was at one time barren, being Abraham's
wife. Sarah having no child, assigned her maid,
by name Hagar, the Egyptian, to Abraham, in
order to get children. Wisdom, therefore, who
dwells with the man of faith (and Abraham was
reckoned faithful and righteous), was still barren
and without child in that generation, not having

1 [A favourite expression of the Fathers, expressing hope for the
heathen. See Elucidation VI 1 1 . , in/ra . ]

2 Prov. V. a, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11, ao.

3 Philo Judaeus, Oh seeking Instmction^ 435. See Bohn's trans-

who is really " endowed with the power of see-
ing " is called Israel,'* having much experience,
and being fit for exercise.

Something else may also have been shown by
the three patriarchs, namely, that the sure seal
of knowledge is composed of nature, of educa-
tion, and exercise.

You may have also another image of what has
been said, in Thamar sitting by the way, and
presenting the appearance of a harlot, on whom

lation, ii. 171.

4 Quoted from Philo with some alterations,
tion, voL ii. p. 173.

See Bohn's transla-

" powerful"), who left nothing unexamined and
uninvestigated, looked ; and turned aside to her.
preserving his profession towards God. Where-
fore also, when Sarah was jealous at Hagar being
preferred to her, Abraham, as choosing only
what was profitable in secularphilosophy, said,
" Behold, thy maid is in thinenands : deal with
her as it pleases thee ; " ^ manifestly meaning,
" I embrace secular culture as youthful, and a
handmaid; but thy knowledge I honour and
reverence as true wife." And Sarah afflicted
her; which is equivalent to corrected and ad-
monished her. It has therefore been well said,
" My son, despise not thou the correction of
God ; nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him.
For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and

5 Sec Philo, Meeting to seek Instruction^ Bohn's translation,
vol. ii. 160.

^ Bohn's trans., vol. ii. 161.

7 Prov. V. ao. Philo, On meeting to seek Knowledge^ near
beginning.

8 Philo, in the book above cited, interprets *' Israel," " seeing
God." From this book all the instances and etymologies occurring
here are taken.

9 Gen. xvi. 6.

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

307

scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." *
And the foresaid Scriptures, when examined in
other places, will be seen to exhibit other mys-
teries. We_ merely therefore assert here, that
pWjToQTkp^y fg- — hnrf^^tirrirrrl_DjLlJlvntillitinn latr
truth and the nature of things (this is the truth
of which the i-ora mirlselr said, " I am the
truth "^) ; and that, again, the preparatory
training for rest in Christ exercises the mind,
rouses the intelligence, and begets an inquiring
shrewdness, by means of the true philosophy,
which the initiated possess, haying found it, or
rather receiyed it, from the truth itself.

CHAP. VI. — THE BENEFrr OF CULTURE.

The readiness acquired by previous training
conduces much to the perception of such things
as are requisite ; but those things which can be
perceived only by mind are the special exercise
for the mind. And their nature is triple accord-
ing as we consider their quantity, their magni-
tude, and what can be predicated of them. For
the discourse which consists of demonstrations,
implants in the spirit of him who follows it,
clear faith ; so that he cannot conceive of that
which is demonstrated being different ; and so
it does not allow us to succumb to those who
assail us by fraud. In such studies, therefore,
the soul is purged from sensible things, and
is excited, so as to be able to see truth dis-
tinctly. For nutriment, and the training which
is maintained gentle, make noble natures ; and
noble natures, when they have received such
training, become still better than before both in
other respects, but especially in productiveness,
as is the case with the other creatures. Where-
fore it is said, " Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and
become wiser than it, which provideth much and
varied food in the harvest against the inclem-
ency of winter." 3 Or go to the bee, and learn
how laborious she is; for she, feeding on the
whole meadow, produces one honey-comb. And
if " thou prayest in the closet," as the Lord
taught, " to worship in spirit," ^ thy manage-
ment will no longer be solely occupied about
the house, but also about the soul, what must be
bestowed on it, and how, and how much ; and
what must be laid aside and treasured up in it ;
and when it ought to be produced, and to whom.
For it is not by nature, but by learning, that
people become noble and good, as people also
become physicians and pilots. We all in com-
mon, for example, see the vine and the horse.
But the husbandman will know if the vine be
good or bad at fruit-bearing ; and the horseman
will easily distinguish between the spiritless and

* Prov. iii. ix, la; Heb. xii. 5, 6.

* John Jtiy. 6.

* Prov. vi. 6, 8, [The bee is not instanced in Scripture.]

* Matt. vi. 6; John iv. 33.

the swift animal. But that some are naturally
predisposed to virtue above others, certain pur-
suits of those, who are so naturally predisposed
above others, show. But that perfection in vir-
tue is not the exclusive property of those, whose
natures are better, is proved, since also those
who by nature are ill-disposed towards virtue, in
obtaining suitable training, for the most part
attain to excellence ; and, on the other hand,
those whose natural dispositions are apt, become
evil through neglect.

Again, God has created us naturally social
and just; whence justice must not be said to
take its rise from implantation alone. But the
good imparted by creation is to be conceived
of as excited by the commandment ; the soul
being trained to be willing to select what is
noblest.

But as we say that a man can be a believer
without leaming,5 so also we assert that it is
impossible for a man without learning to com-
prehend the things which are declared in the-'
faith. But to adopt what is wpH said, and nnf.
to adopt the reverse^ is caused not simply by

But if ignorance is want of training and of in-
struction, then teaching produces knowledge of
divine and human things. But just as it is pos-
sible to live rightly in penury of this world's
good things, so also in abundance. And we
avow, that at once with more ease and more
speed will one attain to virtue through previous
training. But it is not such as to be unattain-
able"" without it; but it is attainable only when
they have learned, and have had their senses
exercised.^ " For hatred," says Solomon, " raises
strife, but instruction guardeth the ways of
life ; " 7 in such a way that we are not deceived nor
deluded by those who are practised in base arts
for the injury of those who hear. " But instruc-
tion wanders reproachless," '^ it is said. We
must be conversant with the art of reasoning,
for the purpose of confuting the deceitful opin-
ions of the sophists. Well and felicitously,
therefore, does Anaxarchus write in his book
respecting " kingly rule : " " Erudition benefits
greatly and hurts greatly him who possesses it ;
it helps him who is worthy, and injures him who
utters readily every word, and before the whole
people. It is necessary to khow the measure of
time. For this is the end of wisdom. And
those who sing at the doors, even if they sing
skilfully, are not reckoned wise, but have the
reputation of folly." And Hesiod : —

"Of the Muses, who make a man loquacious, divine,
vocal."

s [Illustrative of the esoteric principle of Qcment. See Eluci-
dation IX., infra.]

6 Heb. v. X4.

7 Prov. X. la, 17.
• Prov. X. 19.

3o8

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

For him who is fluent in words he calls loqua-
cious ; and him who is clever, vocal ; and " di-
vine," him who is skilled, a philosopher, and
acquainted with the truth.

CHAP. VII. THE ECLECnC PHILOSOPHY PAVES THE

WAY FOR DIVINE VIRTUE.

f The Greek preparatory culture, therefore, with
y philosophy itself, is shown to have come down
I from God to men, not with a definite direction,
1 but in the way in which showers fall down on
j\ the good land, and on the dunghill, and on the
K-^uses. And similarly both the grass and|
the wheat sprout; and the figs and any othe
reckless trees grow on sepulchres. And things
that grow, appear as a type of truths. For they
enjoy the same influence of the rain. But they
have not the same grace as those which spring
up in rich soil, inasmuch as they are withered or
plucked up. And here we are aided by the
parable of the sower, which the Lord interpreted.
For the husbandman of the soil which is among
men is one ; He who from the beginning, from
the foundation of the world, sowed nutritious
seeds; He who in each age rained down the
Lord, the Word. But the times and places
which received [such gifts], created the differ-
ences which exist. Further, the husbandman
sows not only wheat (of which there are many
varieties), but also other seeds — barley, and
beans, and peas, and vetches, and vegetable and
flower seeds. And to the same husbandry be-
longs both planting and the operations necessary
in the nurseries, and gardens, and orchards, and
the planting and rearing of all sorts of trees.

In like manner, not only the care of sheep,
but the care of herds, and breeding of horses,
and dogs, and bee-craft, all arts, and to speak
comprehensively, the care of flocks and the
Tearing of animals, differ from each^other more
-nmsless, but are all useful for life. (And philoso-
. phy — I do not mean the Stoic, ortlie Platonic,
; or the Epicurean, or the Aristotelian, but what-
ever has been well said by_each of those secte,
which' teacli righteousness along with a" scTeme
pervaded, by plety^^^tJiis eclectic yvhole I call
:QfiiIosTyullV.' Bui such conclusions of human
reasonings,~9S men have cut away and falsified,
I would never call divine.

And now we must look also at this, that if ever
those who know not how to do well, live well ; *
for they have lighted on well-doing. Some, too,
have aimed well at the word of truth through
imderstanding. " But Abraham was not justified
by works, but by faith. "3 it is therefore of no
advantage to them after the end of life, even if

> [Most tinporunt as defining Clement's system, and his use of
this word, " philosophy."]

3 Something seems wanting to complete the sense.
) Rom. iv.

they do good works now, if they have not faith.
Wherefore also the Scriptures'* were translated
into the language of the Greeks, in order that
tliey might never be able to allege the excuse
of ignorance, inasmuch as they are able to hear
also what we have in our hands, if they only
wish. One speaks in one way of the truth, in
another way the truth interprets itself. The
guessing ajLjruth is one thing, and truth itself is
another. Resemblance is one thing, the thing
itself is another. And the one results from
learning and practice, the other from power and
faith. For the teaching of piety is a gift, but
faith is graCeH " For by doing the will of God
we know the will of God." 5 " Open, then," says
the Scripture, " the gates of righteousness ; and
I will enter in, and confess to the Lord." ^ But
the paths to righteousness (since God saves in
many ways, for He is good) are many and vari-
ous, and lead to the Lord's way and gate. And
if you ask the royal and true entrance, you will
hear, " This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous
shall enter in by it." ^ While there are many
gates open, that in righteousness is in Christ, by
which all the blessed enter, and direct their st£ps
in the sanctity of knowledge. Now Clemens^ in
his Epistle to the Corinthians, while expounding
the differences of those who are approved ac-
cording to the Church, says expressly, " One may
be a believer ; one may be powerful in uttering
knowledge ; one may be wise in discriminating
between words ; one may be terrible in deeds." *

CHAP. Vra. — THE SOPHISnCAL ARTS USELESS.

But the art of sophistry, which the Greeks
cultivated, is a fantastic power, which makes false
opinions like true by means of words. For it
produces rhetoric in order to persuasion, and
disputation for wrangling. These arts, therefore,
if not conjoined with philosophy, will be inju-
rious to every one. For Plato openly called
sophistry " an evil art." And Aristotle, follow-
ing him, demonstrates it to be a dishonest art,
which abstracts in a specious manner the whole
business of wisdom, and professes a wisdom
which it has not studied. To speak briefly, as
the beginning of rhetoric is the probable, and an
attempted proofs the process, and the end per-
suasion, so the beginning of disputation is what
is matter of opinion, and the process a contest,
and the end victory. For in the same manner,
also, the beginning of sophistry is the apparent,
and the process twofold ; one of rhetoric, con-
tinuous and exhaustive ; and the other of logic,
and is interrogatory. And its end is admiration.

*> fStillin^eet, Originei Sacra, vol. i. p. 55. Important refcreocc]

s John vii. 17.

* Fs. cxviii. 19.

7 Ps. cxviii. 20. ^

s [See vol. i. p. x8, Fint Epistle of Qement, chap, xlviil. S.]

9 tjt^x!ti.pTiti^*k,

I'HAP. IX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

309

The dialectic in vogue in the schools, on the
other handy is the exercise of a philosopher in
matters of opinion, for the sake of the faculty
of disputation. But truth is not in these at all.
AVith reason, therefore, the noble apostle, depre-
<:iating these superfluous arts occupied about
words, says, " If any man do not give heed to
wholesome words, but is puffed up by a kind of
teaching, knowing nothing, but doting (voo'mv)
about questions and strifes of words, whereof
Cometh contention, envy, railings, evil surmisings,
perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds,
destitute of the truth." *

You see how he is moved against them, call-
ing their art of logic — on which, those to whom
this garrulous mischievous art is dear, whether
Greeks or barbarians, plume themselves — a dis-
ease (vo(ro^). Very beautifully, therefore, the
tragic poet Euripides says in the Pkosnissa^ —

" But a wrongful speech
Is diseased in itself, and needs skilful medicines."'

For the saving Word ^ is called " wholesome,"
He being the truth; and what is wholesome
(healthful) remains ever deathless. But separa-
tion from what is healthful and divine is impiety,
and a deadly malady. These are rapacious
wolves hid in sheep-skins, men-stealers, and gloz-
ing soul -seducers, secretly, but proved to be
robbers ; striving by fraud and force to catch us
who are unsophisticated and have less power of
speech.

** Often a man, impeded through want of words, carries

less weight
In expressing what is right, than the man of eloquence.
But now in fluent mouths the weightiest truths
They disguise, so that they do not seem what they

ought to seem,"

says the tragedy. Such are these wranglers,
whether they follow the sects, or practise miser-
able dialectic arts. These are they that " stretch
the warp and weave nothing," says the Scrip-
ture ; * prosecuting a bootless task, which the
apostle has called "cunning craftiness of men,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive." s " For
there are," he says, "many unruly and vain talk-
ers and deceivers." ^ Wherefore it was not said
to all, " Ye are the salt of the earth." 7 For
there are some even of the hearers of the word
who are like the fishes of the sea, which, reared
from their birth in brine, yet need salt to dress
them for food. Accordingly I wholly approve
of the tragedy, when it says : —

*• O son, false words can be well spoken,
And truth may be vanquished by beauty of words.

* I Tim. vi. 3-5. [He treats the sophists with Platonic scorn, but
ad<>p(« St Paul's enlai^ed idea of sophistry.]

Phctnisstt^ ^71, 47a.
' [He has no laea of salvation by any other name, though he re-
gards Gentile illumination as coming through philosophy.]

* Where, nobody knows.
' Eph. iv. 14.

* Tit. i. xo.

' Matt. V. 13.

But this is not what is most correct, but nature and

what is right ;
He who practises eloquence is indeed wise,
But I consider deeds always better than words.*'

We must not, then, aspire to please the multi-
tude. For we do not practise what will please
them, but what we know is remote from their
disposition. " Let us not be desirous of vain-
glory," says the apostle, " provoking one another,
envying one another." ^

Thus the truth-loving Plato says, as if divinely
inspired, " Since I am such as to obey nothing
but the word, which, after reflection, appears to
me the best." 9

Accordingly he charges those who credit opin-
ions without intelligence and knowledge, with
abandoning right and sound reason unwarrant-
ably, and believing him who is a partner in false-
hood. For to cheat one's self of the truth is
bad ; but to speak the truth, and to hold as our
opinions positive realities, is good.

Men are deprived of what is good unwillingly.
Nevertheless they are deprived either by being
deceived or beguiled, or by being compelled and
not believing. He who believes not, has already
made himself a willing captive ; and he who
changes his persuasion is cozened, while he for-
gets that time imperceptibly takes away some
things, and reason others. And after an opinion
has been entertained, pain and anguish, and on
the other hand contentiousness and anger, com-
pel. Above all, men are beguiled who are either
bewitched by pleasure or terrified by fear. And
all these are voluntary changes, but by none of
these will knowledge ever be attained.

CHAP. IX. — HUMAN KNOWLEDGE NECESSARY FOR
THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCRIPTURES.

Some, who think themselves naturally gifted,
do not wish to touch either philosophy or logic ;
nay more, they do not wish to learn natyral
science. They demand bare faith alone, as if
they wished, without bestowing any care on the
vine, straightway to gather clusters from the first^
Now the Lord is figuratively described as the
vine, from which, with pains and the art of hus-
bandry, according to the word, the fruit is to be
gathered.

We must lop, dig, bind, and perform the other
operations. The pruning-knife, I should think,
and the pick-axe, and the other agricultural im-
plements, are necessary for the culture of the
vine, so that it may produce eatable fruit. And
as in husbandry, so also in medicine : he has
learned to purpose, who has practised the various
lessons, so as to be able to cultivate and to heal.
So also here, I call him truly learned who brings
everything to bear on the truth ; so that, from

■ Gal. V. 26.

9 Plato, Crito, vi. p. 46.

3IO

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

I geometry, and music, and grammar, and phi-
' losophy itself, culling what is useful, he guards
the faith against assault. Now, as was said, the
athlete is despised who is not furnished for the
contest. For instance, too, we praise the ex-
perienced helmsman who " has seen the cities
of many men," and the physician who has had
large experience ; thus also some describe the
empiric* \And he who brings everything to bear
on a right life, procuring examples from the
Greeks and barbarians, this man is an experienced
searcher after tnith, and in reality a man of much
counsel, like the touch-stone (that is, the Lyd-
ian), which is believed to possess the power of
distinguishing the spurious from the genuine
gold. And our much-knowing gnostic can dis-
tinguish sophistry from philosophy, the art of
• / decoration from gymnastics, cookery from physic,
^ and rhetoric from dialectics, and the other sects
which are according to the barbarian philosophy,
from the truth itself. And how necessary is it
for him who desires to be partaker of the power
of God, to treat of intellectual subjects by phi-
losophising ! And how serviceable is it to dis-
tinguish expressions which are ambiguous, and
which in the Testaments are used s)alonymously^|
For the Lord, at the time of His temptati^
skilfully matched the devil by an ambiguous ex-
pression. And I do not yet, in this connection,
see how in the world the inventor of philosophy
and dialectics, as some suppose, is seduced
through being deceived by the form of speech
which consists in ambiguity. And if the prophets
and apostles knew not the arts by which the ex-
ercises of philosophy are exhibited, yet the mind
of the prophetic and instructive spirit, uttered
secretly, because all have not an intelligent ear,
demands skilful modes of teaching in order to
clear exposition. For the prophets and disciples
of the Spirit knew infallibly their mind. For
they knew it by faith, in a way which others
could not easily, as the Spirit has said. But it
is not possible for those who have not learned to
receive it thus. " Write," it is said, " the com-
mandments doubly, in counsel and knowledge,
that thou mayest answer the words of truth to
them who send unto thee." ' What, then, is the
knowledge of answering ? or what that of asking ?
It is dialectics. What then? Is not speaking
our business, and does not action proceed from
the Word ? For if we act not for the Word, we
shall act against reason. But a rational work is
accomplished through God. " And nothing," it
is said, " was made without Him " — the Word
of God.3

And did not the Lord make all things by the

' The empirics were a class of physicians who held practice to be
the one thing essential.

' Prov. xxii. 20, 21. The Septuagint and Hebrew both differ from
the reading here.

3 John L 3.

Word ? Even the beasts work, driven by com-
pelling fear. And do not those who are called
orthodox apply themselves to good works, know-
ing not what they do ?

CHAP. X. — TO ACT WELL OF GREATER CONSE-
QUENCE THAN TO SPEAK WELL.

Wherefore the Saviour, taking the bread, first
spake and blessed. Then breaking the bread/
He presented it, that we might eat it, according
to reason, and that knowing the Scriptures 5 we
might walk obediently. And as those whose
speech is evil are no better than those whose
practice is evil (for calumny is the servant of the
sword, and evil-speaking inflicts pain ; and from
these proceed disasters in life, such being the
effects of evil speech) ; so also those who are
given to good speech are near neighbours to
those who accomplish good deeds. Accordingly
discourse refreshes the soul and entices it to
nobleness ; and happy is he who has the use of
both his hands. Neither, therefore, is he who
can act well to be vilified by him who is able to
speak well ; nor is he who is able to speak well
to be disparaged by him who is capable of act-
ing well. But let each do that for which he is
naturally fitted. What the one exhibits as actu-
ally done, the other speaks, preparing, as it were,
the way for well-doing, and leading the hearers
to the practice of good. For there is a sa\'ing
word, as there is a saving work. Righteousness,
accordingly,^ is not constituted without discourse.
And as the receiving of good is abolished if we
abolish the doing of good ; so obedience and
faith are abolished when neither the command,
nor one to expound the command, is taken along
with us.7 But now we are benefited mutually
and reciprocally by words and deeds ; but we
must repudiate entirely the art of wrangling and
sophistry, since these sentences of the sophists
not only bewitch and beguile the many, but
sometimes by violence win a Cadmean victor}."
For true above all is that Psalm, " The just shall
live to the end, for he shall not see corruption,
when he beholds the wise dying." ' And whom
does he call wise ? Hear from the Wisdom of
Jesus : " Wisdom is not the knowledge of evil." '"*
Such he calls what the arts of speaking and of
discussing have invented. "Thou shalt there-
fore seek wisdom among the wicked, and shalt
not find it." " And if you inquire again of what
sort this is, you are told, "The mouth of the
righteous man will distil wisdom." " And simi-

* [" Eat it according- to reason** Spiritual food does not stultify
reason, nor conflict with the evidence of the senses.]

This constant appeal to the Scriptures, noteworthy.]

o Matt. xii. 37.]

7 [Acts viii. ^o.]

B A victory dfisastrous to the victor and the vanquished.

9 Ps. xlviii. 10, IX, Sept.
10 Ecclus. xix. 32.
*' Prov. xiv. 6.
*^ Prov. x. 31.

Chap. XI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

311

larly with truth, the art of sophistry is called
wisdom.

But it is my purpose, as I reckon, and not
without reason, to live according to the Word,
and to understand what is revealed ; ' but never
affecting eloquence, to be content merely with
indicating my meaning. And by what term that
which I wish to present is shown, I care not.
For I well know that to be saved, and to aid
those who desire to be saved, is the best thing,
and not to compose paltry sentences like gew-
gaws. "And if,*' says the Pythagorean in the
Politicus of Plato, " you guard against solicitude
about terms, you will be richer in wisdom against
old age." ' And in the Thecetetus you will find
again, " And carelessness about names, and ex-
pressions, and the want of nice scrutiny, is not
\'ulgar and illiberal for the most part, but rather
the reverse of this, and is sometimes necessary." 3
This the Scripture ^ has expressed with the great-
est possible brevity, when it said, " Be not occu-
pied much about words." For expression is like
the dress on the body. The matter is the flesh
and sinews. We must not therefore care more
for the dress than the safety of the body. For
not only a simple mode of life, but also a style
of speech devoid of superfluity and nicety, must
be cultivated by him who has adopted the true
life, if we are to abandon luxury as treacherous
and profligate, as the ancient Lacedaemonians ad-
jured ointment and purple^ deeming and calling
them rightly treacherous garments and treacher-
ous unguents; since neither is that mode of
preparing food right where there is more of sea-
soning than of nutriment ; nor is that style of
speech elegant which^an please rather than
benefit the hearers. jPythagoras exhorts us to
consider the Muses moTFpleasant than the Sireny
teaching us to cultivate wisdom apart firom pltStS^
ure, and exposing the other mode of attracting
the soul as deceptive. For sailing past the Si-
rens one man has sufficient strength, and for
answering the Sphinx another one, or, if you
please, not even one.s We ought never, then,
out of desire for vainglory, to make broad the
phylacteries. It suffices the. gnostic ^ if only one
hearer is found for him.7 [You may hear there-
fore Pindar the Boeotian,* wKo writes, " Divulge
not before all the ancient sp^eech. The way of
silence is sometimes the surestj And the mighti-

' [RevelatioD is complete, and nothing new to be expected. Gal.

1.8,9

^ Plato's Politicus^ p. a6x £.

3 Plato's TketrtetMS, p. 184 C.

* [a Tim. ii. i4j[

^ l*he story of CEdipus being a myth.

** The possessor of true divine knowledge.

7 [" Fit audience find though few."

Paradise Lost^ book vii. 31.
Dante has the same thought. Pindar's ^wi'drra wwralvv. Olyntp.^
ii. 35.J

' [Here I am sorry I cannot supply the proper reference. Clem-
ent shows his Attic prejudice in adding the epithet, here and else-
where (Boeotian) , which Pindar felt so keenly, and resents more than
once. Olymp.t vi. vol. i. p. 75. Ed. Heyne, London, 1823.]

est word is a spur to the fight." Accordingly, the
blessed apostle very appropriately and urgently
exhorts us ** not to strive about words to no prof-
it, but to the subverting of the hearers, but to
shun profane and vain babblings, for they in-
crease unto more ungodliness, and their word
will eat as doth a canker.*' 9

CHAP. XI. — WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY WHICH THE
APOSTLE BIDS US SHUN?

ClTiis, then, " the wisdom of the world is fool-
isnness with God," and of those who are " the
wise the^J^d knoweth their thoughts that they
are vainT^ Let no man therefore glory on ac-
count oT^re-eminence in human thought. For
it is written well in Jeremiah, " Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty
man glory in his might, and let not the rich man
glory in his riches : but let him that glorieth glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth that
I am the Lord, that executeth mercy and judg-
ment and righteousness upon the earth : for in
these things is my delight, saith the Lord.""
" That we should trust not in ourselves, but in
God who raiseth the dead," says the apostle,
" who delivered us from so great a death, that
our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God." " For the spiritual
man judgeth all things, but he himself is judged
of no man." *» I hear also those words of his,
" And these things I say, lest any man should
beguile you with enticing words, or one should
enter in to spoil you." ** And again, " Beware
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ ; " '*
branding not all philo.sophy, but the Epicurean^
which Paul mentions in the Acts of the Apostles,^^
which abolishes providence and deifies pleasure,
and whatever other philosophy honours the ele-
ments, but places not over them the efficient
cause, nor apprehends the Creator.*^

The Stoics also, whom he mentions too, say
not well that the Deity> being a body, pervades
the vilest matter. He rails tUw j>ig>ji»]>.i>' Of lO^tg
"the tradition^ ^qf men." _ Wherefore also he
adds, "Avoid juvenile '^ gueotinngi For such
contentionsar^ pucfile." ^'But virtue is no lover
of boys," says the philosopher Plato. .And our
struggle, according to Gorgias Leontinus, requires
two virtues — boldness and wisdom, — boldness
to undergo danger, and wisdom to understand
the enigma. For the Word, like the Olympian

9 2 Tim. ii. 14, x6, X7.
'o I Cor. iii. 19, ao.
** Jer. ix. 23, 24.
12 3 Cor i. 9, 10: I Cor. ii. 5, 15.
>3 Col. u. 4, 8.
u Col. ii. 8.
'5 Acts xvii. 18.

'* [Revived by some " scientists " of our days.]
'7 The apostle says " foolish," a Tim. ii. 23.

312

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

prociamation, calls him who is willing, and crowns
him who is able to continue unmoved as far as
the truth is concerned. And, in truth, the Word
does not wish him who has believed to be idle.
For He says, " Seek, and ye shall find." ' But
seeking ends in finding, driving out the empty
trifling, and approving of the contemplation
which confirms our faith. " And this I say, lest
any man beguile you with enticing words," ' says
the apostle, evidently as having learned to dis-
tinguish what was said by luip, and as being
taught to meet objections. Cl?^ V^ ^^^'^ there-
fore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in
Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished
in the faith." ' Now persuasJQP is [the means
of] being established iiTtKefkUh^* Beware lest
any man spoil you of faith in Christ by philoso-
ph)r and y-ain^' deceit," Which does away with
providence, -^ afl^r llie "tradition of men ; " for
^*the philosophy which is in accordance with di-
vine tradition establishes and confirms provi-
dence, which, being done away with, the economy
of the Saviour appears a inyth, while we are in-
fluenced " after the elements of the world, and
not after Christ."* For the teaching which is
agreeable to Christ deifies the Creator, and traces
providence in particular events,5 and knows the
nature of the elements to be capable of change
and production, and teaches that we ought to
aim at rising up to the power which assimilates
to God, and to prefer the dispensation ^ as hold-
ing the first rank and superior to all training.

The elements are worshipped, — the air by
Diogenes, the water by Thales, the fire by Hip-
pasus ; and by those who suppose atoms to be
the first principles of things, arrogating the name
of philosophers, being wretched creatures de-
voted to pleasure.^ "Wherefore I pray," says
the apostle, "that your love may abound yet
more and more, in knowledge and in all judg-
ment, that ye may approve things that are ex-
cellent."^ "Since, when we were children,"
says the same apostle, " we were kept in bond-
age under the rudiments of the world. And the
child, though heir, differeth nothing from a ser-
vant, till the time appointed of the father." 9
Philosophers, then, are children, unless they have
been made men by Christ. " For if the son of
the bond woman shall not be heir with the son
of the free," '^^ at least he is the seed of Abra-
ham, though not of promise, receiving what
belongs to him by free gift. " But strong meat

belongeth to those that are of full age, even

•I ' — —

' Matt. vii. 7.
a Col ii. 4.
3 Col. ii. 6, 7.

* Col. ii. 8.
s [ A special Providence notably recognised as Christian truth.]

* I.e., of the Gospel.

7 rXhe Epicureans whom he censures just before. ]
■ Phil. i. 9. 10.
9 (lal, iv. 1, a, 3.

'° Gen. xxi. lo; Gal. iv. 30.

those who by reason of use have their senses
exercised to discern both good and evil." ' * " For
every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word
of righteousness ; for he is a babe," " and not yet
acquainted with the word, according to which
he has believed and works, and not able to give
a reason in himself. " Prove all things," the
apostle says, " and hold fast that which is good," '^
speaking to spiritual men, who judge what is said
according to truth, whether it seems or truly
holds by the truth. " He who is not corrected
by discipline errs, and stripes and reproofs give
the discipline of wisdom," the reproofs mani-
festly that are with love. " For the right heart
seeketh knowledge." ** " For he that seeketli
the Lord shall find knowledge with righteous-
ness ; and they who have sought it rightly have
found peace." *5 " And I will know," it is said,
" not the speech of those which are puffed up,
but the power." In rebuke of those who are
wise in appearance, and think themselves wise,
but are not in reality wise, he writes : " For the
kingdom of God is not in word." '^ It is not in
that which is not true, but which is only probable
according to opinion ; but he said " in power,"
for the truth alone is powerful. And again : '' If
any. man thinketh that he knoweth anything, he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." For
truth is never mere opinion. But the " suppo-
sition of knowledge inflates," and fills with pride ;
" but charity edifieth," which deals not in sup-
position, but in truth. Whence it is said, " If
any man loves, he is known." '7

CHAP. XII. THE MYSTERIES OF THE FArTH NOT

TO BE DIVULGED TO ALL.

But since this tradition is not published alone
for him who perceives the magnificence of the
word ; it is requisite, therefore, to hide in a mys-
tery the wisdom spoken, which the Son of God
taught. Now, therefore, Isaiah the prophet has
his tongue purified by fire, so that he may be
able to tell the vision. And we must purify not
the tongue alone, but also the ears, if we attempt
to be partakers of the truth.

Such were the impediments in the way of my
writing. And even now I fear, as it is said, ** to
cast the pearls before swine, lest tliey tread them
under foot, and turn and rend us." '^ (^or it is
difficult to exhibit the really pure aii3 trans-
parent words respecting the true light, to swinish '
and untrained hearersT] For scarcely could any-
thing which they could hear be more ludicrous
than these to the multitude ; nor any subjects

" Heb. V. 14.

" Heb. V. 13.

** I Thcss. V. 21.

*♦ Prov. XV. 14.

15 The substance of these remarks is (bund in Prov. li.

*6 X Cor. iv. 19, ao.

»' I Cor. viii. i, a, 3.

** Mati. vii. 6.

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

313

on the other hand more admirable or more
inspiring to those of noble nature. " But the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God ; for they are foolishness to him." * But
the wise do not utter with their mouth what they
reason in council. " But what ye hear in the ear,"
says the Lord, " proclaim upon the houses ; " *
bidding them receive the secret traditions' of
the true knowledge, and expound them aloft
and conspicuously ; and as we have heard in the
ear, so to deliver them to whom it is requisite ;
but not enjoining us to communicate to all with-
out distinction, what is said to them in parables.
But there is only a delineation in the memo-
randa, which have the truth sowed sparse ^ and
broadcast, that it may escape the notice of those
who pick up seeds like jackdaws ; but when
they find a good husbandman, each one of them
i will germinate and produce com.

CHAP. XIII. — ALL SECTS OF PHILOSOPHY CONTAIN

A GERM OF TRUTH.

Since, therefore, truth is one (for falsehood
has ten thousand by-paths) ; just as the Bacchan-
tes tore asunder the limbs of Pentheus, so the
sects both of barbarian and Hellenic philosophy
have done with truth, and each vaunts as the
whole truth the portion which has fallen to its|
. lot. But all, in my opinion,5 are illuminated by
^the dawn of Light.** Let all, therefore, both
(ireeks and barbarians, who have aspired after
the truth, — both those who possess not a little,
and those who have any portion, — produce

whatever they have of the word of truth.

Eternity, for instance, presents in an instant
the future and the present, also the past of time.
But truth, much more powerful than limitless
duration, can collect its proper germs, though
they have fallen on foreign soil. For we shall
find that very many of the dogmas that afe held by
such sects as have not become utterly senseless,
and are not cut out from the order of nature (by
cutting off Christ, as the women of the fable dis-
membered the man), 7 though appearing unlike
one another, correspond in their origin and with
the truth as a whole. For they coincide in one,
either as a part, or a species, or a genus. For
instance, though the highest note_i§JiflGerent
from the lowest iiote, yet poth compose one har-
mony. And in numbers an even number differs
from an odd numt)er ; bulbotH suit. in arithmetic :
as also is the case with figure, the circle, and the

' 1 Cor. ii. 14,

' Malt. X. 27.

^ rS«c Elucidation X., t'nfra.]

* [A word (sparse) hitherto branded as an " Americanism. "]
s [Here he expresses merely as an opinion, his "gnostic" 1

as to philosophy, and the salvability of the heathen.]

* Namely Jesus: John viii. 12.

' We have adopted the translation of Potter, who supposes a refer-
ence to the fate of Pentheus. Perhaps the translation should be: " ex-
dudins Christ, as the apartments destined for women exclude the
man; i.e., all males.

triangle, and the square, and whatever figures
differ from one another. Also, in the whole uni- ' ]
verse, all the parts, though differing one from
another, preserve their relation to the whole.
So, then, the barbarian and Hellenic philosophy
has torn off a fragment of eternal truth not from
the mythology of Dionysus, but from the theolo-
gy of the ever-living Word. And He who brings
again together the separate fragments, and makes
them one, will without peril, be assured, contem-
plate the perfect Word, the truth. Therefore it "
is written in Ecclesiastes : " And I added wisdom
above all who were before me in Jerusalem ; and
my heart saw many things ; and besides, I knew
wisdom and knowledge, parables and understand-
ing. And this also is the choice of the spirit,
because in abundance of wisdom is abundance.^
of knowledge." * He who is conversant with all I
kinds of wisdom, will be pre-eminently a gnostic.^ \
Now it is written, " Abundance of the knowledge
of wisdom will give life to him who is of it." '**
nd again, what is said is confirmed more clearly
y this saying, " All things are in the sight of
hose who understand " — all things, both Hel-
lenic and barbarian ; but the one or the other i«
not all. " They are right to those who wish to
receive understanding. Choose instruction, and
not silver, and knowledge above tested gold/1.
and prefer also sense to pure gold ; " for wisddm
is better than precious stones, and no precious
thing is worth it." "

CHAP. XIV. — SUCCESSION OF PHILOSOPHERS IN

GREECE.

The Greeks say, that after Orpheus and Linus,
and the most ancient of the poets that appeared
among them, the seven, called wise, were the
first that were admired for their wisdom. Of
whom four were of Asia — Thales of Miletus,
and Bias of Priene, Pittacus of Mitylene, and
Cleobulus of Lindos ; and two of Europe, Solon
the Athenian, and Chilon the Lacedaemonian ;
and the seventh, some say, was Periander of
Corinth ; others, Anacharsis the Scythian ; others,
Epimenides the Cretan, whom Paul knew as a
Greek prophet, whom he mentions in the Epistle
to Titus, where he speaks thus : " One of them-
selves, a prophet of their own, said, Th^ Cretans
are always iiars, evil /feasts, slow bellies. And
this witness is true." " You see how even to the
prophets of the Greeks he attributes something
of the truth, and is not ashamed,'^ when discours-

ideas

* Eccles. i. 16, 17, 18.

9 [His grud^n^ of the term " gnostic " to unworthy pretenders, il-
lustrates the spirit m which we must refuse to recognise the modern
(Trent) theolo^ of the I^tms, as in any sense Catholic]

>° Eccles. vu. 13, according to Sept.

** Prov. viii. 9, 10, 11.

*' Tit. i. 12, 13.

1^ [Though Canon Farrar minimizes the Greek scholarship 01 St.
Paul, as is now the fashion, I think Clement credits him with Greek
learning. The apostle's example seems to have inspired the philosoph-
ical arguments of Clement, as well as his exuberance of poetical and
mythological quotation.]

3^4

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

ing for the edification of some and the shaming
of others, to make use of Greek poems. Ac-
cordingly to the Corinthians (for this is not the
only instance), while discoursing on the resurrec-
tion of the dead, he makes use of a tragic Iam-
bic line, when he said, " What advantageth it
me if the dead are not raised ? Let us eat and
drink, for to-morrow we die. Be not deceived ;
evil communications corrupt good manners.'* '
Others have enumerated Acusilaus the Argive
among the seven wise men ; and others, Phere-
cydes of Syros. And Plato substitutes Myso the
Chenian for Periander, whom he deemed unwor-
thy of wisdom, o;i account of his having reigned
as a tyrant. That the wise men among the
Greeks flourished after the age of Moses, will, a
little after, be shown. But the style of philoso-
phy among them, as Hebraic and enigmatical, is
now to be considered. They adopted brevity,
as suited for exhortation, and most useful. Even
Plato says, that of old this mode was purposely
in vogue among all the Greeks, especially the
Lacedaemonians and Cretans, who enjoyed the
best laws.
^ The expression, " Know thjrself," some sup-
/posed to be Chilon's. But Chamaeleon, in his
book About the GodSy ascribes it to Thales ; Aris-
totle to the Pythian. It may be an injunction
to the pursuit of knowledge. For it is not pos-
sible to know the parts without the essence of
the whole ; and one must study the genesis of. the
universe, that thereby .we may be able to learn
the nature of man. Again, to Chilon the Lace-
daemonian they attribute, " Let nothing be too
much." * Strato, in his book Of Inventions^ as-
cribes the apophthegm to Stratodemus of Tegea.
Didymus assigns it to Solon ; as also to Cleobu-
liis the saying, " A middle course is best." And
the expression, "Come under a pledge, and
mischief is at hand," Cleomenes says, in his
book Concerning Hesiod^ was uttered before by
Homer in the lines : : —

•• Wretched pledges, for the wretched, to be pledged." '

The Aristotelians judge it to be Chilon*s; but
Didymus says the advice was that of Thales.
Then, next in order, the saying, " All men are
bad," or, "The most of men are bad " (for the
same apophthegm is expressed in two ways),
Sotades the Byzantian says that it was Bias's.
And the aphorism, " Practice conquers every-
thing," ^ they will have it to be Periander*s ; and
likewise the advice, " Know the opportunity," to
have been a saying of Pittacus. Solon made
laws for the Athenians, Pittacus for the Mityle-
nians. And at a late date, Pythagoras, the pupil

* I Cor. XV. 3a, 35.

* " Nequid nimis. MijWk ayaF.

* Odyss.f viii. 351.

* McAenj vavra. KoBaipti,

of Pherecydes, first called himself a philosopher.
Accordingly, after the fore-mentioned three men,
there were three schools of philosophy, named
after the places where they lived : the Italic from
Pythagoras, the Ionic from Thales, the Eleatic
from Xenophanes. Pythagoras was a Samian,
the son of Mnesarchus, as Hippobotus says : ac-
cording to Aristoxenus, in his life of Pythagoras
and Aristarchus and Theopompus, he was a Tus-
can ; and according to Neanthes, a Syrian or a
Tyrian. So that P)rthagoras was, according to
the most, of barbarian extraction. Thales, too,
as Leander and Herodotus relate, was a Phoeni-
cian j as some suppose, a Milesian. He alone
seems to have met the prophets of the Egyp-
tians. But no one is described as his teacher,
nor is any one mentioned as the teacher of Phe-
recydes of Syros, who had Pythagoras as his
pupil. But the Italic philosophy, that of Py-
thagoras, grew old in Metapontum in Italy.
Anaximander of Miletus, the son of Praxiades,
succeeded Thales ; and was himself succeeded
by Anaximenes of Miletus, the son of Eurus-
tratus ; after whom came Anaxagoras of Clazo-
menae, the son of Hegesibulus.* He transferred
his school from Ionia to Athens. He was suc-
ceeded by Archelaus, whose pupil Socrates was.

** From these turned aside, the stone-mason ;
Talker about laws ; the enchanter of the Greeks,"

says Timon in his Satirical Poems, on account
of his quitting physics for ethics. Antisthenes,
after being a pupil of Socrates, introduced the
Cynic philosophy ; and Plato withdrew to the
Academy. Aristotle, after studying philosophy
under Plato, withdrew to the Lyceum, and
founded the Peripatetic sect. He was suc-
ceeded by Theophrastus, who was succeeded
by Strato, and he by Lycon, then Critolaus, and
then Diodorus. Speusippus was the successor
of Plato ; his successor was Xenocrates ; and
the successor of the latter, Polemo. And the
disciples of Polemo were Crates and Crantor, in
whom the old Academy founded by Plato ceased.
Arcesilaus was the associate of Crantor; from
whom, down to Hegesilaus, the Middle Academy
flourished. Then Cameades succeeded Hegesi-
laus, and others came in succession. The disci-
ple of Crates was Zeno of Citium, the founder
of the Stoic sect. He was succeeded 6y Clean-
thes ; and the latter by Chrysippus, and others
after him. Xenophanes of Colophon was the
founder of the Eleatic school, who, Timaeus
says, lived in the time of Hiero, lord of Sicily,
and Epicharmus the poet ; and Apollodorus sa)-s
that he was bom in the fortieth Olympiad, and
reached to the times of Darius and Cyrus.
Parmenides, accordingly, was the disciple of
Xenophanes, and Zeno of him ; then came Leu-

3 Or Eubulus.

Chap. XV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

315

cippus, and then Democritus. Disciples of
Democritus were Protagoras of Abdera, and
Metrodorus of Chios, whose pupil was Diogenes
of Smyrna ; and his again Anaxarchus, and his
Pyrrho, and his Nausiphanes. Some say that
Epicurus was a scholar of his.

Such, in an epitome, is the succession of the
philosophers among the Greeks. The periods
of the originators of their philosophy are now
to be specified successively, in order that, by'
comparison, we may show that the Hebrew
philosophy was older by many generations.'

It has been said of Xenophanes that he was
the founder of the Eleatic philosophy. And
Eudemus, in the Astrological Histories, says that
Thales foretold the eclipse of the sun, which
took place at the time that the Medians and the
Lydians fought, in the reign of Cyaxares the
father of Astyages over the Medes, and of
Alyattus the son of Croesus over the Lydians.
Herodotus in his first book agrees with him.
The date is about the fiftieth Olympiad. Pythag-
oras is ascertained to have lived in the days
of Polycrates the tyrant, about the sixty-second
Olympiad. Mnesiphilus is described as a fol-
lower of Solon, and was a contemporary of
Themistocles. Solon therefore flourished about
the forty-sixth Olympiad. For Heraclitus, the
son of Bauso, persuaded Melancomas the tyrant
to abdicate his sovereignty. He despised the
invitation of king Darius to visit the Persians.

CHAP. XV. — THE GREEK PHILOSOPHY IN GREAT
PART DERIVED FROM THE BARBARIANS.

These are the times of the oldest wise men
and philosophers among the Greeks. And that
the most of them were barbarians by extraction,
and were trained among barbarians, what need
is there to say? Pythagoras is shown to have
been either a Tuscan or a Tyrian. And Antis-
thenes was a Phrygian. And Orpheus was an
Odrysian or a Thracian. The most, too, show
Homer to have been an Egyptian. Thales was
a Phoenician by birth, and was said to have con-
sorted with the prophets of the Egyptians; as
also Pythagoras did with the same persons, by
whom he was circumcised, that he might enter
the adjtum and learn from the Egyptians the
mystic philosophy. He held converse with the
chief of the Chaldeans and the Magi ; and he
gave a hint of the church, now so called, in
the common hall * which he maintained.

And Plato does not deny that he procured "alT
that is most excellent in philosophy from the
barbarians ; and he admits that he came into
Egypt. Whence, writing in the Pficedo that the

philosopher can receive aid from all sides, he
said : " Great indeed is Greece, O Cebes, in
which everywhere there are good men, and many
are the races of the barbarians." ^ Thus Plato
thinks that some of the barbarians, too, are phi-
losophers. But Epicurus, on the other hand, sup-
poses that only Greeks can philosophise. And
in the Symposium, Plato, lauding the barbarians
as practising philosophy with conspicuous excel-
lence,* truly says : " And in many other instances
both among Greeks and barbarians, whose tem-
ples reared for such sons are already numerous."
And it is clear that the barbarians signally
honoured their lawgivers and teachers, designat-
ing them gods. For, according to Plato, " they
think that good souls, on quitting the super-
celestial region, submit to come to this Tartarus,
and assuming a body, share in all the ills which
are involved in birth, from their solicitude for
the race of men ; " and these make laws and
publish philosophy, "than which no greater
boon ever came from the gods to the race of
men, or will tome." 5

And as appears to me, it was in consequence
of perceiving the great benefit which is conferred
through wise men, that the men themselves were
honoured and philosophy cultivated publicly by
all the Brahmins, and the Odrysi, and the Getae.
And such were strictly deified by the race of the
Egyptians, by the Chaldeans and the Arabians,
called the Happy, and those that inhabited
Palestine, by not the least portion of the Persian
race, and by innumerable other races besides
these. And it is well known that Plato is found
perpetually celebrating the barbarians, remem-
bering that both himself and Pythagoras learned
the most and the noblest of their dogmas among
the barbarians. Wherefore he also called the
races of the barbarians, "races of barbarian
philosophers," recognising, in the Phaedrus, the
Egyptian king, and shows him to us wiser than
Theut, whom he knew to. be Hermes. But in
the Charmides, it is manifest that he knew cer-
tain Thracians who were said to make the soul
immortal. And Pythagoras is reported to have
been a disciple of Sonches the Egyptian arch-
prophet ; and Plato, of Sechnuphis of Heliopolis ;
and Eudoxus, of Cnidius of Konuphis, who was
also an Egyptian. And in his book, On the
Soul^ Plato again manifestly recognises proph-
ecy, when he introduces a prophet announcing

' [Clement's Attic scholarship never seduces him from this fidelity
to^ the Scriptures. The argument from superior antiauity was one
Greeks were sure to feel when demonstrated.]

whiphthc

' OMOJCOciOK.

3 Greece is ample, O Cebes, in which everywhere there are good
men; and many are the races of the barbarians, over all of whom
you must search, seeking such a physician, sparing neither money
nor pains. — Phcedo^ p. 78 A.

4 This sense is obtained by the omission of \l6vovk from the text,
which may have crept in in consequence of occurring in the previous
text, to make it agree with what Pbio says, which is, " And both
among Greeks and barbarians, there are many who have shown
many and illustrious deeds, generating virtue of every kind, to whom
many temples on account of such sons are raised." — Symp,^ p. 209 E.

5 Plato, TimauSy p. 47 A.

^ A mistake of Clement for The Republic.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

the word of I^chesis, uttering predictions to the
souls whose destiny is becoming fixed. And in
the Titnaus he introduces Solon, the very wise,
learning from the barbarian. The substance of
the declaration is to the following effect : ** 0
Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children.
And no Greek is an old man. For you have no
learning that is hoary with age." '

Democritus appropriated the Babylonian ethic
discourse, for he is said to have combined with
his own compositions a translation of the column
of Acicarus.' And you may find the distinction
notified by him when he writes, "Thus says
Democritus.*' About himself, too, where, plum-
ing himself on his erudition, he says, " I have
roamed over the most ground of any man of my
time, investigating the most remote parts. I have
seen the most skies and lands, and I have heard
of learned men in very great numbers. And
in composition no one has surpassed me ; in
•demonstration, not even those among the Egyp-
tians who are called Arpenodaptae, with all of
whom I lived in exile up to eighty years." For
he went to Babylon, and Persis, and Egypt, to
learn from the Magi and the priests.

Zoroaster the Magus, Pythagoras showed to
be a Persian." Of the secret books of this man,
those who follow the heresy of Prodicus boast
to be in possession. Alexander, in his book On
the Pythagorean Symbols , relates that Pythagoras
was a pupil of Nazaratus the Assyrian * (some
think that he is Ezekiel ; but he is not, as will
afterwards be shown), and will have it that, in
addition to these, Pythagoras was a hearer of the
Galatae and the Brahmins. Clearchus the Peri-
patetic says that he knew a Jew who associated
with Aristotle.** Heraclitus says that, not human-
ly, but rather by God*s aid, the Sibyl spoke.s
They say, accordingly, that at Delphi a stone
was shown beside the oracle, on which, it is said,
sat the first Sibyl, who came from Helicon, and
had been reared by the Muses. But some say
that she came from Milea, being the daughter of
Lamia of Sidon.^ And Serapion, in his epic
verses, says that the Sibyl, even when dead,
ceased not from divination. And he writes that,
what proceeded from her into the air after her
death, was what gave oracular utterances in voices
and omens; and on her body being changed
into earth, and the grass as natural growing out
of it, whatever beasts happening to be in that
place fed on it exhibited to men an accurate

* Timteus^ p. aa B.

' About which the learned have tortured themselves ^atlv. The
reference is doubtless here to some pillar inscribed with what was
<feemed a writing of imponance. But as to Acicarus nothing is known.

^ Otherwise Zaratus, or Zabratus, or Zaras, who, Huet says, was
Zoroaster.

4 r Direct testimony, establishing one important fact in the history
of philosophy.]

' Adopting Lowth's emendation, St^vAAi^v ^avat.

6 Or, according to the reading in Pausanias, and the statement of
Plutarch. " who was the daughter of Poseidon."

knowledge of futurity by their entrails. He
thinks also, that the face seen in the moon is her
soul. So much for the Sibyl.

Numa the king of the Romans was a Pytha-
gorean, and aided by the precepts of Moses,
prohibited from making an image of God in
human form, and of the shape of a living crea-
ture. Accordingly, during the first hundred and
seventy years, though building temples, they
made no cast or graven image. For Numa se-
cretly showed them that the Best of Beings
could not be apprehended except by the mind
alone. Thus philosophy, a thing of the highest
utility, flourished in antiquity among the bar-
barians, shedding its light over the nations. And
afterwards it came to Greece. First in its ranks
were the prophets of the Egyptians; and the
Chaldeans among the Assyrians ; and the Druids
among the Gauls; and the Samanaeans among
the Bactrians ; and the philosophers of the Celts ;
and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the
Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judjea
guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists
are also in the number, and the other barbarian
philosophers. And of these there are two classes,
some of them called Sarmanae,^ and others Brah-
mins. And those of the Sarmanae who are called
Hylobii* neither inhabit cities, nor have roofs
over them, but are clothed in the bark of trees,
feed on nuts, and drink water in their hands.
Like those called Encratites in the present day,
they know not marriage nor begetting of children.

Some, too, of the Indians obey the precepts
of Buddha ; ^ whom, on account of his extraor-
dinary sanctity, they have raised to divine hon-
ours.

Anacharsis was a Scythian, and is recorded to
have excelled many philosophers among the
Greeks. And the Hyperboreans, Hellanicus
relates, dwelt beyond the Riphaean mountains,
and inculcated justice, not eating flesh, but
using nuts. Those who are sixty years old they
take without the gates, and do away with.
There are also among the Germans those called
sacred women, who, by inspecting the whirl-
pools of rivers and the eddies, and observing the
noises of streams, presage and predict future
events.'® These did not allow the men to fight
against Caesar till the new moon shone.

Of all these, by far the oldest is the Jewish
race ; and that their philosophy committed to
writing has the precedence of philosophy ai
fhc tjre ek s, ' Tli e 'Pj tli ago rean Philo ' ' show^
large ; and, besi Jes him, Aristobulus the Peri-
patetic, and several others, not tojwaste time. In

7 Or Samanaei.

B Ahered for 'AAAtf^toi in accordance with the note of Montacu-
tius^ who cites Strabo as an authority for the existence of a sect oC
Indian sages called Hylobii, vAo/Jioi — Silvioolae.
9 BouTTa.

*o Caesar, Gallic JVar, book i. chap. 50.
'' So2onien also calls Philo a Pythagorean.

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

317

going over them by name. Very clearly the
author Megasthenes, the contemporary of Seleu-
cus Nicanor, writes as follows in the third of his
books. On Indian Affairs : " All that was said
about nature by the ancients is said also by those
who philosophise beyond Greece : some things
by the Brahmins among the Indians, and others
by those called Jews in Syria." Some more
fabulously say that certain of those called the
Idaean Dactyli were the first wise men ; to whom
are attributed the invention of what are called
the " Ephesian letters," and of numbers in mu-
sic. For which reason dactyls in music re-
ceived their name. And the Idaean Dactyli
were Phrygians and barbarians. Herodotus
relates that Hercules, having grown a sage and
a student of physics, received from the barba-
rian Atlas, the Phrygian, the columns of the
universe; the fable meaning that he received
by instruction the knowledge of the heavenly
bodies. And Hermippus of Berytus calls Charon
the Centaur wise ; about whom, he that wrote
The Battle of the Titans says, " that he first led
the race of mortals to righteousness, by teaching
them the solemnity of the oath, and propitiatory
sacrifices and the figures of Olympus." By him
Achilles, who fought at Troy, was taught. And
Hippo, the daughter of the Centaur, who dwelt
with -^olus, taught him her father's science,
the knowledge of physics. Euripides also testi-
fies of Hippo as follows : —

" Who first, by oracles, presaged.
And by the rising stars, events divine."

By this iEolus, Uljrsses was received as a guest
after the taking of Troy. Mark the epochs by
comparison with the age of Moses, and with the
high antiquity of the philosophy promulgated by
him.

> CHAP. XVI. — THAT THE INVENTORS OF OTHER ARTS

WERE MOSILY BARBARIANS.

And barbarians were inventors not only of
philosophy, but almost of every art. The Egyp-
tians were the first to introduce astrology among
men. Similarly also the Chaldeans. The Egyp-
tians first showed how to bum lamps, and divided
the year into twelve months, prohibited inter-
course with women in the temples, and enacted
that no one should enter the temples* from a
woman without bathing. Again, they were the
inventors of geometry. There are some who
say that the Carians invented prognostication
by the stars. The Phrygians were the first who
attended to the flight of birds. And the Tus-
cans, neighbours of Italy, were adepts at the art
of the Haruspex. The Isaurians and the Ara-
bians invented augury, as the Telmesians divina-
tion by dreams. The Etruscans invented the

* [Elucidation XI. infra; also p. 428, in/ra,\

trumpet, and the Phrygians the flute. For
Olympus and Marsyas were Phrygians. And
Cadmus, the inventor of letters among the
Greeks, as Euphorus says, was a Phoenician;
vyhence also Herodotus writes that they were
called Phoenician letters. And they say that the
Phoenicians and the Syrians first invented letters ;
and that Apis, an aboriginal inhabitant of Egypt,
invented the healing art before lo came into
Egypt. But afterwards they say that Asclepius
improved the art. Atlas the Libyan was the
first who built a ship and navigated the sea.
Kelmis and Damnaneus, Idaean Dactyli, first
discovered iron in Cyprus. Another Idaean dis-
covered the tempering of brass ; according to
Hesiod, a Scythian. The Thracians first in-
vented what is called a scimitar (apiny), — it is a
curved sword, — and were the first to use shields
on horseback. Similarly also the lUyrians in-
vented the shield (flrcA.ny). Besides, they say
that the Tuscans invented the art of moulding
clay; and that Itanus (he was a Samnite) first
fashioned the oblong shield (^vpcos). Cadmus
the Phoenician invented stonecutting, and dis-
covered the gold mines on the Pangsean moun-
tain. Further, another nation, the Cappadocians,
first invented the instrument called the nabla,»
and the Assyrians in the same way the dichord.
The Carthaginians were the first that constructed
a trireme ; and it was built by Bosporus, an abo-
riginal.3 Medea, the daughter of iEetas, a Col-
chian, first invented the dyeing of hair. Besides,
the Noropes (they are a Pseonian race, and are
now called the Norici) worked copper, and were
the first that purified iron. Amycus the king
of the Bebryci was the first inventor of boxing-
gloves.** In music, Olympus the Mysian prac-
tised the Lydian harmony; and the people
called Troglodytes invented the sambuca,5 a
musical instrument. It is said that the crooked
pipe was invented by Satyrus the Phrygian ;
likewise also diatonic harmony by Hyagnis, a
Phrygian too ; and notes by Olympus, a Phry-
gian ; as also the Phrygian harmony, and the
half-Phrygian and the half-Lydian, by Marsyas,
who belonged to the same region as those men-
tioned above. And the Doric was invented by
Thamyris the Thracian. We have heard that
the Persians were the first who fashioned the
chariot, and bed, and footstool ; and the Sido-
nians the first to construct a trireme. The
Sicilians, close to Italy, were the first inventors
of the phorminx, which is not much inferior to
the lyre. And they invented castanets. In the

s va/iAa and vavAa, Lat. nablium', doubtless the Hebrew 73 J

(psaltery, A. V.), described by Josephus as a lyre or harp of twelve
strings (in Ps. xxxiit. it is said ten), and played vdlh the fingers.
Jerome says it was triangular in shape.

3 avrox^wF, Euscbius. The text has avro7x'^<>*'* off-hand.

4 Literally, fist-straps, the caestus of the boxers.

5 orajui/3vKi|, a triangtilar lyre with four strings.

3i8

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

time of Semiramis queen of the Assyrians/ they
relate that linen garments were invented. And
Hellanicus says that Atossa queen of the Per-
sians was the first who composed a letter.
These things are reported by Scamo of Mitylene,
. Theophrastus of Ephesus, Cydippus of Man tinea,
also Antiphanes, Aristodemus, and Aristotle;
■ and besides these, Philostephanus, and also
. Stratp the Peripatetic, in his books Concerning
Inventions. I have added a few details from
them, in order to confirm the inventive and
practically useful genius of the barbarians, by
whom the Greeks profited in their studies. And
if any one objects to the barbarous language,
Anacharsis says, " All the Greeks speak Sc)rthian
to me." It was he who was held in admiration
by the Greeks, who said, "My covering is a
cloak ; my supper, milk and cheese." You see
that the barbarian philosophy professes deeds,
not words. The apostle thus speaks : " So like-
wise ye, except ye utter by the tongue a word
easy to be understood, how shall ye know what
is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.
There are, it may be, so many kind of voices
in the world, and none of them is without sig-
nification. Therefore if I know not the mean-
ing of the voice, I shall be unto him that
speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall
be a barbarian unto me." And, " Let him that
speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he
niay interpret." "

Nay more, it was late before the teaching and
writing of discourses reached Greece. Alcmseon,
the son of Perithus, of Crotona, first composed
a treatise on nature. And it is related that An-
axagoras of Clazomenae, the son of Hegesibulus,
first published a book in writing. The first to
adapt music to poetical compositions was Ter-
pander of Antissa ; and he set the laws of the
Lacedsemonians to music. I^asus of Hermione
invented the dithyramb ; Stesichorus of Himera,
the hymn ; Alcman the Spartan, the choral
song ; Anacreon of Teos, love songs ; Pindar
the Theban, the dance accompanied with song.
Timotheus of Miletus was the first to execute
those musical compositions called voimi on the
lyre, with dancing. Moreover, the iambus was
invented by Archilochus of Paros, and the cho-
liambus by Hipponax of Ephesus. Tragedy
owed its origin to Thespis the Athenian, and
comedy to Susarion of Icaria. Their dates are
handed down by the grammarians. But it were
tedious to specify them accurately : presently,
however, Dionysus, on whose account the Dio-
nysian spectacles are celebrated, will be shown
to be later than Moses. They say that Antiphon
of Rhamnusium, the son of Sophilus, first in-

* " King of the Egyptians" in the mss. of Clement. The cor-
rection is made from Eiisebius, who extracts the passage.
- I Cor. xiv. 9, lo, ii, 13.

vented scholastic discourses and rhetorical fig-
ures, and was the first who pled causes for a fee,
and wrote a forensic speech for delivery ,' as
Diodorus says. And Apollodorus of Cuma first
assumed the name of critic, and was called a
grammarian. Some say it was Eratosthenes of
Gyrene who was first so called, since he published
two books which he entitled Grammatica, The
first who was called a grammarian, as we now use
the term, was Praxiphanes, the son of Dishy-
sophenes of Mitylene. 2^leucus the Locrian
was reported to have been the first to have
framed laws (in writing) Others say that it
was Menos the son of Zeus, in the time of Lyn-
ceus. He comes after Danaus, in the eleventh
generation fi'om Inachus and Moses ; as we shall
show a little further, on. And Lycurgus, who
lived many years after the taking of Troy, legis-
lated for the Lacedaemonians a hundred and fifty
years before the Olympiads. We have spoken
before of the age of Solon. Draco (he was a
legislator too) is discovered to have lived about
the three hundred and ninth Olympiad. Antilo-
chus, again, who wrote of the learned men from
the age of P)rthagoras to the death of Epicurus,
which took place in the tenth day of the month
Gamelion, makes up altogether three hundred
and twelve years. Moreover, some say that
Phanothea, the wife of Icarius, invented the
heroic hexameter; others Themis, one of the
Titanides. Didymus, however, in his work On
the Pythagorean Philosophy ^ relates that Theano
of Crotona was the first woman who cultivated
philosophy and composed poems. The Hellenic
philosophy then, according to some, apprehended
the truth accidentally, dimly, partially ; as others
will have it, was set a-going by the devil. Sev-
eral suppose that certain powers, descending
from heaven, inspired the whole of philosophy.
But if the Hellenic philosophy comprehends not
the whole extent of the truth, and besides is
destitute of strength to perform the command-
ments of the Lord, yet it prepares the way for
the truly royal teaching ; training in some way
or other, and moulding the character, and fitting
him who believes in Providence for the reception
of the truth/

CHAP. XVII. — ON THE SAYING OF THE SAVIOUR,
"all that CAME BEFORE ME WERE THIEVES
AND ROBBERS." 5

But, say they, it is written, "All who were
before the Lord's advent are thieves and rob-
bers." All, then, who are in the Word (for it
is these that were previous to the incarnation of
the Word) are understood generally. But the

3 By one or other of the parties in the case, it beine a practice of
advocates in ancient times to compose speeches whicn the litigants
delivered.

■♦ [Elucidation XII., tnfra,^

5 John X. 8.

Chap. XVIIJ

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

319

prophets, being sent and inspired by the Lord,
were not thieves, but servants. The Scripture
accordingly says, "Wisdom sent her servants,

»» I

consti-'^
■hy^ut I

\vine.

But philosophy, it is said, was not sent by the
Lord, but came stolen, or given by a thief. It
was then some power or angel that had learned
something of the truth, but abode not in it, that
inspired and taught these things, not without the
Lord's knowledge, who knew before the consti- '
tution of each essence the issues of fi^tarity,^
without His prohibition.

For the theft which reached men then, had
some advantage ; not that he who perpetrated
the theft had utility in his eye, but Providence
directed the issue of the audacious deed to
utility. I know that many are perpetually as-
sailing us with the allegation, that not to prevent
a thing happening, is to be the cause of it hap-
pening. For they say, that the man who does
not take precaution against a theft, or does not
prevent it, is the cause of it ; as he is the cause
of the conflagration who has not quenched it at
the beginning ; and the master of the vessel who
does not reef the sail, is the cause of the ship-
wreck. Certainly those who are the causes of
such events are punished by the law. For to
him who had power to prevent, attaches the
blame of ^hat happens. We say to them, that
causation is seen in doing, working, acting ; but
the not preventing is in this respect inoperative.-
Further, causation attaches to activity ; as in the
case of the shipbuilder in relation to the origin
of the vessel, and the builder in relation to the
construction of the house. But that which does
not prevent is separated from what takes place.
Wherefore the effect will be accomplished ; be-
cause that which could have prevented neither
acts nor prevents. For what activity does that
which prevents not exert? Now their assertion
is reduced to absurdity, if they shall say that the
cause of the wound is not the dart, but the shield,
which did not prevent the dart from passing
through ; and if they blame not the thief, but
the man who did not prevent the theft. Let
them then say, that it was not Hector that
burned the ships of the Greeks, but Achilles;
because, having the power to prevent Hector,
he did not prevent him ; but out of anger (and
it depended on himself to be angry or not) did
not keep back the fire, and was a concurrin
cause. Now the devil, being possessed of free-
will, was able both to repent and to steal ; and
it was he who was the author of the theft, no,
the Lord, who did not prevent him. But neithef
was the gift hurtful, so as to require that pre
vention should intervene.

' Prov. ix. 3.

But if Strict accuracy must be employed in
dealing with them, let them know, that that
which does not prevent what we assert to have

inviting with loud proclamation to a goblet of taken place in the theft, is not a cause at all ;

^ but that what prevents is involved in the accusa-
ion of being a cause. For he that protects with
'a shield is the cause of him whom he protects
ot being wounded ; preventing him, as he does,
om being wounded. For the demon of Socra- j
^ was a cause, not by not preventing, buTby
xhorting, even if (strictly speaking) he did not
xhort. And neither praises nor censures, neither
"rewards nor punishments, are right, when the
soul has not the power of inclination and dis-
inclination, but evil is involuntary. Whence he
who prevents is a cause ; while he who prevents
not judges justly the soul's choice. So in no re-
spect is God the author of evil. But since free
choice and inclination originate sins, and a mis-
taken judgment sometimes prevails, from which,
since it is ignorance and stupidity, we do not
take pains to recede, punishments are rightly
inflicted. For to take fever is involuntary ; but
when one takes fever through his own fault, from
excess, we blame him. Inasmuch, then, as evil
is involuntary, — for np one^prefgjrs.jevil as eviLi_.
but induced by tTie pleasure that is in it, and
inggjmhg' it_^;ood, considers it desirable C^

SUChEeing the case, to ffp-f^ nnrsely^j^ frnnn iprnn-

rance, and from evil and voluptuous choice^ and
atove all, to withhold our assent from thqsejde^
lubive phantasies, depends on ourselves. The

devil is"called " thief and robber ; '* havlng'ilrtxed
false prophets with the prophets, as tares with
the wheat. "All, then, that came before the
Lord, were thieves and robbers ; " not absolutely
all men, but all the false prophets, and all who
were not properly sent by Him. For the false
prophets possessed the prophetic name dis-
honestly, being prophets, but prophets of the
liar. For the Lord says, " Ye are of your father
the devil ; and the lusts of your father ye will
do. He was a murderer fix)m the beginning, and
abod^ not in the truth, because there is no truth
in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of
his own ; for he is a liar, and the father of it."^_-

Bu^ among the^hes^ thej^se prophet.^ akn-^-
told some tmcthin^. And in reality they proph-*^
esTed "in an ecstasy,^*^ as 3 the servants of the '
apostate. And the Shepherd, the angel of repent-
ance, says to Hennas, of the false prophet :
" For he speaks some truths. For the devil

Us him with his own spirit, if perchance he may
be able to cast down any one from what is right."
All things, therefore, are dispensed from heaven

or good, " that by the Church may be made
known the manifold wisdom of God, according

* John viii. 44.

3 [The devil can quote Scripture. Hennas, p. 37, this volume.
See, on this impoitant chapter, Elucidation XIII., infra.]

320

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book L

to the eternal foreknowledge,* which He pur-
posed in Christ." " Nothing withstands God :
nothing opposes Him : seeing He is Lord and
omnipotent.. Further, the counsels and activi-
ties of those who have rebelled, being partial,
proceed from a bad disposition, as bodily dis-
eases from a bad constitution, but are guided. by
universal Providence to a salutary issue, even
though the cause be productive of disease. £Tft
1^ is accordingly the greatest achievement of divine
[Providence, not to allow the evil, which has
sprung from voluntary apostasy, to remain use-
less, and for n<^good, and not to become in all
respects injuriousTTFor it is the work of the divine
[wisdom, and elCCcfience, and power, not alone to
do good (for this is, so to speak, the nature of
God, as it is of fire to warm and of light to illu-
mine), but especially to ensure that what happens
through the evils hatched by any, may come to
a good and useful issue, and to use to advantage
those things which appear to be evils, as also the
estimony which accrues from temptation.

There is then in philosophy, though stolen as
the fire by Prometheus, a slender spark, capable
of being fanned into flame, a trace of wisdom
and an impulse from God. Well, be it so that
" the thieves and robbers " are the philosophers
among the Greeks, who from the Hebrew proph-
ets before the coming of the Lord received
fragments of .the truth, not with full knowledge,
and claimed these as their own teachings, dis-
guising some points, treating others sophistically
by their ingenuity, and discovering other things,
for perchance they had " the spirit of percep-
tion." 3 Aristotle, too, assented to Scripture,
and declared sophistry to have stolen wisdom,
as we intimated before. And the apostle says,
" Which things we speak, not in the words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth."* For of the prophets it is
said, "We have all received of His fulness," s
that is, of Christ's. So that the prophets are not
thieves. " And my doctrine is not Mine," saith
the Lord, "but the Father's which sent me."
And of those who steal He says : " But he that
speaketh of himself, seeketh his own glory." ^
Such are the Greeks, " lovers of their own selves,
and boasters." 7 L^Scripture, when it speaks of
these as wise, does not brand those who are really
wise, but those who are wise in appearance^

CHAP. XVIII. — HE ILLUSTRATES THE APOSTLE'S

SAVING, " I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE

WISE.

And of such it is said, "I will destroy the

I Qement reads wftoyvtiViv for irpo^catf.
3 Eph. iii. lo, XX.
3 Ex. xxviii. 3.

* X Cor. ii. 13.
5 John i. 16.

* John vii. i6, t8.
3 lim. m. 2.

wisdom of the wise : I will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent." The apostle
accordingly adds, " Where is the wise ? Where
is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world?" setting in contradistinction to the
scribes, the disputers'* of this world, the phi-
losophers of the Gentiles. " Hath not (k)d
made foolish the wisdom of the world ? " ^ which
is equivalent to, showed it to be foolish, and not
true, as they thought. And if you ask the cause
of their seeming wisdom, he will say, " because
of the blindness of their heart ; " since " in the
wisdom of God," that is, as proclaimed by the
prophets, " the world knew not," in the wisdom
" which spake by the prophets," " Him," *° that
is, God, — "it pleased Cxod by the foolishness
of preaching" — what seemed to the Greeks
foolishness — " to save them that believe. For
the Jews require signs," in order to faith ; " and
the Greeks seek after wisdom," plainly those
reasonings styled "irresistible," and those others,
namely, syllogisms. " But we preach Jesus
Christ crucified ; to the Jews a stumbling-block,"
because, though knowing prophecy, they did
not believe the event : " to the Greeks, foohsh-
ness ; " for those who in their own estimation
are wise, consider it fabulous that the Son of
God should speak by man and that God should
have a Son, and especially that that Son should
have suffered. Whence their precoribeived idea
inclines them to disbelieve. For the advent of
the Saviour did not make people foolish, and
hard of heart, and unbelieving, but made them
understanding, amenable to persuasion, and be-
lieving. But those that would not believe, by
separating themselves from the voluntary adher-
ence of those who obeyed, were proved to be
without understanding, unbelievers and fools.
"But to them who are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ is the power of God, and the
wisdom of God." Should we not understand
(as is better) the words rendered, "Hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"
negatively: "God hath not made foolish the
wisdom of the world?" — so that the cause of
their hardness of heart may not appear to have
proceeded from God, " making foolish the wis-
dom of the world." For on all accounts, being
wise, they incur greater blame in not believing
the proclamation. For the preference and
choice of truth is voluntary. But that declara-
tion, " I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,"
declares Him to have sent forth light, by bring-
ing forth in opposition , the despised and con-
temned barbarian philosophy; as the lamp,
when shone upon by the sun, is said to be
extinguished, on account of its not then exert-

* Or, " inquirers."
9 I Cor. i. 19, 20.
*° X Cor. i. a 1-34: where the reading is Oc^i^, not ▲vr^i'.

Chap. XIX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

321

ing the same power. All having been therefore
called, those who are willing to obey have been
named* '^called." £ J^'oT* there is no unright-
eousness with GocTTj Those of either race who
have believed, afST^ a peculiar people."* And
in the Acts of the Aposties you will find this,
word for word, " Those then who received his
word were baptized ; " ^ but those who would
not obey kept themselves aloof. To these
prophecy says, " If ye be willing and hear me,
ye shall eat the good things of the land;"*
proving that choice or refusal depends on our-
selves. The apostle designates the doctrine
which is according to the Lord, "the wisdom
of God," in order to show that the true philoso-
phy has been communicated by the Son. Fur-
ther, he, who has a show of wisdom, has certain
exhortations enjoined on him by the apostle :
" That ye put on the new man, which after God
is renewed in righteousness and true holiness.
Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man
truth. Neither give place to the devil. Let
him that stole, steal no more ; but rather let
him labour, working that which is good " (and
to work is to labour in seeking the truth ; for it
is accompanied with rational well-doing), " that
ye may have to give to him that has need," 5
both of worldly wealth and of divine wisdom.
For he wishes both that the word be taught,
and that the money be put into the bank, accu-
rately tested, to accumulate interest. Whence
he adds, " Let no corrupt communication pro-
ceed out of your mouth," — that is "corrupt
communication " which proceeds out of con-
ceit, — " but that which is good for the use of
edifvii^g^ that it may minister grace to the hear-
ers. "^^^3"^e word of the good God must
needs be good. And how isJt possible that he
who saves shall not be good?)

CHAP. XIX. — THAT THE PHILOSOPHERS HAVE AT-
TAINED TO SOME PORTION OF TRUTH.

Since, then, the Greeks are testified to , have
laid down some true opinions, we may from this
point take a glance at the testimonies. Paul, in
the Acts of the Apostles, is recorded to have said
to the Areopagites, " I perceive that ye are more
than ordinarily religious. For as I passed by,
and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with
the inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom
therefore ye ignorandy worship. Him declare I
unto you. God, that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that He is Lx)rd of heaven
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with
hands ; neither is worshipped with men's hands,
as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth

' [He thus expounds the EccUsia.]

* Til. ii. 14.

' Acts. ii. 41.

* laa. i.^ 19.

3 Eph. iv. 34, 9$t Vf-^i^

to all life, and breath, and all things ; and hath
made of one blood all nations of men to dwell
on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed, and the bounds of
their habitation ; that tney should seek God, if
haply they might feel after Him, and find Him ;
though He be not far from every one of us : for •
in Him we live, and move, and have our being ;
as certain also of your own poets have said. For
we also are His offspring." ^ Whence it is evi- ■
dent that the apostle, by availing himself of
poetical examples from the Phenomena of Aratus,
approves of what had been well spoken by the *
Greeks; and intimates that, by the unknown
God, God the Creator was in a roundabout way
worshipped by the Greeks ; but that it was ne-
cessary by positive knowledge to apprehend and
learn Him by the Son. "Wherefore, then, I
send thee to the Gentiles," it is said, " to open
their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to
light, and firom the power of Satan unto God ;
that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and
inheritance among them that are sanctified by
faith which is in Me." ' Such, then, are the eyes
of the blind which are opened. The knowl-
edge of the Father by the Son is the comprehen-
sion of the " Greek circumlocution ; " ^ and to
turn from the power of Satan is to change from
sin, through which bondage was produced. We
do not, indeed, receive absolutely all philosophy,
but that of which Socrates' speaks in Plato.
" For there are (as they say) in the mysteries
many bearers of the thyrsus, but few bacchanals ; "
meaning, "that many are called, but few chosen."
He accordingly plainly adds : " These, in my
opinion, are none else than those who have phi-
losophized right ; to belong to whose number, I
myself have left nothing undone in life, as far as
I could, but have endeavoured in every way.
Whether we have endeavoured rightly and
achieved aught, we shall know when we have
gone there, if God will, a little afterwards."
Does he not then seem to declare from the '
Hebrew Scriptures the righteous, man's hope,
through faith, after death ? And in Demodocus '**
(if that is really the work of Plato) : " And do
not imagine that I call it philosophizing to spend
life pottering about the arts, or learning many

6 Acts xvii. 22-98.

^ Acts xxvi. 17, 18.

» Viz , •• The Unknown God." [Hereafter to be noted.]

9 [Not original with Socrates, but a common adage: —

Multi thyrsigeri^ pauci Bacchi.

The original Greek hexameter is given by Erasmus, in his Adagta
(p. 650), with numerous equivalents, among which take this: \fln
ontues episcopi qui mitraui gerutit bicornem. He reminds us that
Plato borrows it in the Pherao, and he quotes the parallel saying of
Herodes Atticus, " I see a beard and the cloak, but as yet do not dis-
cover the philosopher " ]

>° There is no such utterance in the Demodocus. But in the
Amatores, Basle Edition, p. 337, Plato says: " But it is not so, my
friend; nor is it philosophizing to occupy oneself in the arts, nor lead
a life of bustling, meddline activity, nor to learn many things: but it
is something else. Since I, at least, would reckon this a reproach;
and that those who devote themselves to the arts ought to be called
in^^hqni<rH.*'

322

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

things, but something different ; since I, at least,
would consider this a disgrace." For he knew, I
reckon, "that the knowledge of many things
does not educate the mind," ' according to
Heraclitus. And in the fifth book of the Re-
public^ he says, " * Shall we then call all these,

* and the others which study such things, and
those who apply themselves to the meaner arts,
philosophers? * ' By no means,' I said, * but like
philosophers.' *And whom,* said he, *do you
call true? * * Those,' said I, * who delight in the
contemplation of truth. For philosophy is not
in geometry, with its postulates and hypotheses ;
nor in music, which is conjectural ; nor in as-
tronomy, crammed full of physical, fluid, and
probable causes. But the knowledge of the good

, and truth itself are requisite, — what is good be-
ing one thing, and the ways to the good another.* '* ^
So that he does not allow that the curriculum of
training suffices for the good, but co-operates in
rousing arid training the soul to intellectual ob-

. jects. Whether, then, they say that the Greeks
gave forth some utterances of the true philosophy
by accident, it is the accident of a divine admin-
istration (for no one will, for the sake of the
present argument with us, deify chance) ; or by
good fortune, good fortune is not unforeseen.
Or were one, on the other hand, to say that the
Greeks possessed a natural conception of these
things, we know the one Creator of nature ; just
as ' we also call righteousness natural ; or that
they had a common intellect, let us reflect who
is its father, and what righteousness is in the
mental economy. For were one to name " pre-
diction,'** and assign as its cause "combined
utterance," 5 he specifies forms of prophecy.
Further, others will have it that some truths were
uttered by the philosophers, in appearance.

The divine apostle writes accordingly respect-
ing us : " For now we see as through a glass ; " *
knowing ourselves in it by reflection, and simul-
taneously contemplating, as we can, the efficient
cause, from that, which, in us, is divine. For it
is said, " Having seen thy brother, thou hast seen
thy God : " methinks that now the Saviour God
is declared to us. But after the laying aside of
the flesh, " face to face," — then definitely and
comprehensively, when the heart becomes pure.
And by reflection and direct vision, those among
the Greeks who have philosophized accurately,
see God. For such, through our weakness, are
our true views, as images are seen in the water,
and as we see things through pellucid and trans-
parent bodies. Excellently therefore Solomon

' According to the emendations of Menagius: *' oif opa 17 iroAvfia
9ffia yoov ovxl £iid<rK(c."

* [Sect. xix. XX. p. 475.]

^ Adopting the emendations, £«< circa>riqM^ instead of Si' c»<m|-
fii)f , and raYa^iui/ for rayatfot), omitting aMrirep.

4 irpoaya0<iit<i|a'(v.

^ t Cor. xiii. la.

says : " He who soweth righteousness, worketh
faith." 7 " And there are those who, sewing their
own, make increase." * And again : " Take care
of the verdure on the plain, and thou shalt cut
grass and gather ripe hay, that thou mayest have
sheep for clothing." 9 You see how care must
be taken for external clothing and for keeping.
" And thou shalt intelligendy know the souls of
thy flock." '° " For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things con-
tained in the law, these, having not the law, are
a law unto themselves ; uncircumcision observing
the precepts of the law," " according to the apos-
tle, both before the law and before the advent.
As if making comparison of those addicted to
philosophy with those called heretics,'* the Word
most clearly says : " Better is a fi*iend that is
near, than a brother that dwelleth afar off." '^
" And he who relies on falsehoods, feeds on the
winds, and pursues winged birds.** '* I do not
think that philosophy directly declares the Word,
although in many instances philosophy attempts
and persuasively teaches us probable arguments ;
but it assails the sects. Accordingly it is added ;
" For he hath forsaken the ways of his own vine-
yard, and wandered in the tracks of his own
husbandry." Such are the sects which deserted
the primitive Church." Now he who has fallen
into heresy passes through an arid wilderness,
abandoning the only true God, destitute of God,
seeking waterless water, reaching an uninhabited
and thirsty land, collecting sterility with his
hands. And those destitute of prudence, that
is, those involved in heresies, " I enjoin," re-
marks Wisdom, saying, "Touch sweetly stolen
bread and the sweet water of theft ; " 's the Scrip-
ture manifestly applying the terms bread and
water to nothing else but to those heresies, which
employ bread and water in the oblation, not
according to the canon of the Church. For diere
are those who celebrate the Eucharist with mere
water. " But begone, stay not in her place : "
place is the synagogue, not the Church, He calls
it by the equivocal name, place, "T'hen He sub-
joins : " For so shalt thou pass through the water
of another ; " reckoning heretical baptism not
proper and true water. " And thou shalt pass
over another's river," that rushes along and
sweeps down to the sea ; into which he is cast
who, having diverged from the stability which is
according to truth, rushes back into the heathen-
ish and tumultous waves of life.

' Prov. xi. ai.
■ Prov. xi. 34.
9 Prov. xxvii. 25, a6.
'<* Prov. xxvii. 23.
" Rom. ii. 14, 15.

12 [His ideas of the condition of the Gnostics, Montanists, and other
heretical sects who divided the primitive unity, is important as il)u>-
tratine Irenaeus. Note his words, the primitivt^ etc.]
'^ rrov. xxvii. 10.
'* Prov. ix. la.
*5 Prov. ix. 17.

Chap. XX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

323

CHAP. XX. — IN WHAT RESPECT PHILOSOPHY CON-
TRIBUTES TO THE COMPREHENSION OF DIVINE
TRUl'H.

As many men drawing down the ship, cannot
be called many causes, but one cause consisting
of many ; r— for each individual by himself is not
the cause of the ship being drawn, but along with
the rest; — s(Lalso philosophy, being the search

for truth, contributes to the comprehensiQll_pf
truth ; not as being the cause of comprehension,
but a cause along witn olTier" TTittig^ and^co-
operator : pf>rhapg a)^n a joint cause.^ And as
tne several virtues are causes of the happiness of
one individual; and as both the sun, and the
fire, and the bath, and clothing are of one get-
ting warm : so while truth is one, many things
contribute to its investigation. But its discovery
is by the Son. If then we consider, virtue is,
in power, one. But it is the case, that when
exhibited in some things, it is called prudence,
in others temperance, and in others manliness
or righteousness. By the same analogy, while
truth is one, in geometry there is the truth of
geometry ; in music, that of music ; and in the
right philosophy, there will be Hellenic truth.
But that is the only authentic truth, unassailable,
in which we are instructed by the Son of God.
In the same way we say, that the drachma being
one and the same, when given to the shipmaster,
is called the fare ; to the tax-gatherer, tax ; to the
landlord, rent ; to the teacher, fees ; to the seller,
an earnest. And each, whether it be virtue or
truth, called by the same name, is the cause of
its own peculiar effect alone ; and from the
blending of them arises a happy life. For we
are not made happy by names alone, when we
say that a good life is happiness, and that the
man who is adorned in his soul with virtue is
happy. But if philosophy contributes remotely
to the discovery of truth, by reaching, by diverse
essays, after the knowledge which touches close
on the truth, the knowledge possessed by us, it
aids him who aims at grasping it, in accordance
with the Word, to apprehend knowledge. But
the Hellenic truth is distinct from that held by
us (although it has got the same name), both
in respect of extent of knowledge, certainly of
demonstration, divine power, and the like. For
we are taught of God, being instructed in the
tnily " sacred letters " ' by the Son of God.
Whence those, to whom we refer, influence souls
not in the way we do, but by different teaching.
And if, for the sake of those who are fond of
fault-finding, we must draw a distinction, by
saying that philosophy is a concurrent and co-
operating cause of true apprehension, being the
search for truth, then we shall avow it to be a

* iepa ypa^fiara (a Tim. iii. 15), translated in A. V. "sacred
Scriptures: " also in contradistinction to the so-called sacred letters
of tm Egyptians, Chaldeans, etc.

preparatory training for the enlightened man (rov
yvtaa-TLKov) ; not assigning as the' cause that
which is but the joint-cause ; nor as the uphold-
ing cause, what is merely co-operative ; nor
giving to philosophy the place of a stn^ quA
non. Since almost all of us, without training in
arts and sciences, and the Hellenic philosophy,
and some even without learning at all, through
the influence of a philosophy divine and barbar-
ous, and by power, have through faith received
the word concerning God, trained by self-oper-
ating wisdom. But that which acts in conjunc-
tion with something else, being of itself incapable
of operating by itself, we describe as co-operat-
ing and concausing, and say that it becomes a
cause only in virtue of its being a joint-cause,
and receives the name of cause only in respect
of its concurring with something else, but that it
cannot by itself produce the right effect.

Although at one time philosophy justified the
Grookoyg ■ not rQnductuag-.4Xuem.-to. .mat . QXiXa&
righteousness. ^to^ which it is ascertained to co-
operate, as the first ancT'seCOIlTl' flight wf siepg
help you in your ascent to the upper room, and
the grammarian helps the philosopher. ' *Not as
if by its^atstractibn, the perrecrWord would be
rendered incomplete, or truth perish ; since also
sight, and hearing, and the voice contribute to
truth, but it is the mind which is the appropriate
faculty for knowing it. But of those things which
co-operate, some contribute a greater amount of
power; some, a less. Perspicuity accordingly
aids in the communication of truth, and logic in
preventing us from falling under the heresies by
which we are assailed. But the teaching, which
is according to the Saviour, is complete in itself
and without defect, being " the power and wis-
dom of God ; " 3 and the Hellenic philosophy
does not, by its approach, make the truth more
powerful ; but rendering powerless the assault of
sophistry against it, and frustrating the treach-
erous plots laid against the truth, is said to be
the proper "fence and wall of the vineyard."
And the truth which is according to faith is as
necessary for life as bread ; while the prepara-
tory discipline is like sauce and sweetmeats.
" At the end of the dinner, the dessert is pleas-
ant," according to the Theban Pindar. And the
Scripture has expressly said, " The innocent will
become wiser by understanding, and the wise
will receive knowledge." * " And he that speak-
eth of himself," saith the Lord, " seeketh his
own glory ; but He that seeketh His glory that
sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness
in Him." 5 On the other hand, therefore, he
who appropriates what belongs to the barbarians,

2 [Kaye, p. 436. A most valuable exposition of these passages on
justification.^ See Elucidation XIV., i>r/ra.]

3 1 Cor. i. 24.

* Prov. xxi. II.
5 John vii. 18.

324

THE STRQMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

and vaunts it is his own, does wrong, increasing
his own glory, and falsifying the truth. It is
such an one that is by Scripture called a " thief."
It is therefore said, "Son, be not a liar; for
falsehood leads to theft." Nevertheless the
thief possesses really, what he has possessed
himself of dishonestly,* whether it be gold, or
silver, or speech, or dogma. The ideas, then,
which they have stolen, and which are partially
true, they know by conjecture and necessary
logical deduction : on becoming disciples, there-
fore, they will know them with inteUigent appre-
hension.

CHAP. XXI. — THE JEWISH INSTITUTIONS AND LAWS
OF FAR HIGHER ANTIQUITY THAN THE PHI-
LOSOPHY OF THE GREEKS.

On the plagiarizing of the dogmas of the
philosophers from the Hebrews, we shall treat
a little afterwards. But first, as due order de-
mands, we must now speak of the epoch of
Moses, by which the philosophy of the Hebrews
will be demonstrated beyond all contradiction
to be the most ancient of all wisdom. This has
been discussed with accuracy by Tatian in his
book To the Greeks, and by Cassian In the first
book of his Exegetics, Nevertheless our com-
mentary demands that we too should run over
what has been said on the point. Apion, then,
the grammarian, surnamed Pleistonices, in the
fourth book of The Egyptian Histories^ although
of so hostile a disposition towards the Hebrews,
being by race an Egyptian, as to compose a
work against the Jews, when referring to Amosis
king of the Egyptians, and his exploits, adduces,
as a witness, Ptolemy of Mendes. And his re-
marks are to the following effect : Amosis, who
lived in the time of the Argive Inachus, over-
threw Athyria, as Ptolemy of Mendes relates in
his Chronology. Now this Ptolemy was a priest ;
and setting forth the deeds of the Egyptian kings
in three entire books, he says, that the exodus
of the Jews from Egypt, under the conduct of
Moses, took place while Amosis was king of
Egypt. Whence it is seen that Moses flourished
in the time of Inachus. And of the Hellenic
states, the most ancient is the Argolic, I mean
that which took its rise from Inachus, as Diony-
sius of Halicamassus teaches in his Times, And
younger by forty generations than it was Attica,
founded by Cecrops, who was an aboriginal of
double race, as Tatian expressly says ; and Ar-
cadia, founded by Pelasgus, younger too by nine
generations ; and he, too, is said to have been
an aboriginal. And more recent than this last
by fifty- two generations, was Pthiotis, founded
by Deucalion. And from the time of Inachus

* IThts ingenious statement explains the author*s constant asser-
tion that truth, and to some extent saving truth, wa$ lo be found in
Greek philosophy.]

to the Trojan war twenty generations or more
are reckoned ; let us say, four hundred years and
more. And if Ctesias says that the Assyrian
power is many years older than the Greek, the
exodus of Moses from Egypt will appear to have
taken place in the forty-second year of the As-
syrian empire,' in the thirty-second year of the
reign of Belochus, in the time of Amosis the
Egyptian, and of Inachus the Argive. And in
Greece, in the time of Phoroneus, who suc-
ceeded Inachus, the flood of Ogyges occurred ;
and monarchy subsisted in Sicyon first in the
person of -^gialeus, then of Europs, then of
Telches ; in Crete, in the person of Cres. For
Acusilaus says that Phoroneus was the first man.
Whence, too, the author of Phoronis said that
he was " the father of mortal men." Thence
"Plato in the TimceuSy following Acusilaus, writes :
" And wishing to draw them out into a discus-
sion respecting antiquities, he 3 said that he ven-
tured to speak of the most remote antiquities of
this city * respecting Phoroneus, called the fir^t
man, and Niobe, and what happened after the
deluge," And in the time of Phorbus lived
Actaeus, from whom is derived Actaia, Attica ;
and in the time of Triopas lived Prometheus, and
Atlas, and Epimetheus, and Cecrops of double
race, and Ino. And in the time of Crotopus
occurred the burning of Phaethon, and the del-
uge 5 of Deucalion ; and in the time of Sthenelus,
the reign of Amphictyon, and the arrival of
Danaus in the Peloponnesus; and under Dar-
danus happened the building of Dardania, whom,
says Homer,

First doud-compelling Zeus begat," —

and the transmigration from Crete into Phoenicia.^
And in the time of Lynceus took place the ab-
duction of Proserpine, and the dedication of the
sacred enclosure in Eleusis, and the husbandry
of Triptolemus, and the arrival of Cadmus in
Thebes, and the reign of Minos. And in the
time of Proetus the war of Eumolpus with the
Athenians took place ; and in the time of Acri-
sius, the removal of Pelops from Phrygia, the ar-
rival of Ion at Athens ; and the second Cecrops
appeared, and the exploits of Perseus and Diony-
sus took place, and Orpheus and Musaeus lived.
And in the eighteenth year of the reign of Aga-
memnon, Troy was taken, in the first year of the
reign of Demophon the son of Theseus at .Athens,
on the twelfth day of the month Thargelion, as
Dionysius the Argive says ; but ^gias and Dercy-
lus, in the third book, say that it was on the
eighth day of the last division of the month Pa-
nemus ; Hellanicus says that it was on the twelfth

2 The deficiencies of the text in this place have been suppbed
from Eusebius's Chronicles.

^ i.e., Solon, in his conversation with the Egyptian priests.
4 ir6X«i, " city," is not in Plato.

Chap. XXI.]

THE STROMATA. OR MISCELLANIES.

325

of the month Thargelion ; and some of the au-
thors of the Attica say that it was on the eighth
of the last division of the month in the last year
of Menestheus, at full moon.

** It was midnight,"

says the author of the Little Iliad,

** And the moon shone clear/*

Others say, it took place on the same day of
Scirophorion. But Theseus, the rival of Her-
cules, is older by a generation than the Trojan
war. Accordingly Tlepolemus, a son of Her-
cules, is mentioned by Homer, as having served
at Troy.

Moses, then, is shown to have preceded the
deification of Dionysus six hundred and four
years, if he was deified in the thirty-second year
of the reign of Perseus, as Apollodorus says
in his Chronology, From Bacchus to Hercules
and the chiefs that sailed with Jason in the ship
Argo, are comprised sixty-three years, ^scu-
lapius and the Dioscuri sailed with them, as
Apollonius Rhodius testifies in his Argonautics.
And from the reign of Hercules, in Argos, to
the deification of Hercules and of ^sculapius,
are comprised thirty-eight years, according to
Apollodorus the chronologist ; from this to the
deification of Castor" and Pollux, fifty- three
years. And at this time Troy was taken. And
if we may believe the poet Hesiod, let us hear
him : —

** Then to Jove, Maia, Atlas* daughter, bore renowned

Hermes,
Herald of the immortals, having ascended the sacred

couch.
And Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, too, bore an

illustrious son,
Dionysus, the joy-inspiring, when she mingled with

him in love. *

Cadmus, the father of Semele, came to Thebes
in the time of Lynceus, and was the inventor of
the Greek letters. Triopas was a contemporary
of Isis, in the seventh generation from Inachus.
And Isis, who is the same as lo, is so called, it
is said, from her going (uVai) roaming over the
whole earth. Her, Istrus, in his work on the
migration of the Egyptians, calls the daughter
of Prometheus. Prometheus lived in the time of
Triopas, in the seventh generation after Moses.
So that Moses appears to have flourished even
before the birth of men, according to the chro-
nology of the Greeks. Leon, who treated of the
Egyptian divinities, says that Isis by the (Greeks
was called Ceres, who lived in the time of Lyn-
ceus, in the eleventh generation after Moses.
And Apis the king of Argos built Memphis, as
Aristippus says in the first book of the Arcadica,
And Aristeas the Argive says that he was named
Serapis, and that it is he that the Egyptians

17'A«^.,938.J

worship. And Nymphodorus of Amphipolis, in
the third book of the Institutions of Asia, says
that the bull Apis, dead and laid in a coffin
{cropo'i), was deposited in the temple of the god
{hoi\ijosvQ%^ there worshipped, and thence was
called Soroapis, and afterwards Serapis by the
custom of the natives. And Apis is third after
Inachus. Further, Latona lived in the time of
Tityus. " For he dragged Latona, the radiant
consort of Zeus.'* Now Tityus was contempo-
rary with Tantalus. Rightly, therefore, the
Boeotian Pindar writes, ** And in time was Apollo
bom ; " and no wonder when he is found along
with Hercules, serving Admetus " for a long
year." Zethus and Amphion, the inventors of
music, lived about the age of Cadmus. And
should one assert that Phemonoe was the first
who sang oracles in verse to Acrisius, let him
know that twenty-seven years after Phemonoe,
lived Orpheus, and Musaeus, and Linus the
teacher of Hercules. And Homer and Hesiod
are much more recent than the Trojan war;
and after them the legislators among the Greeks
are far more recent, Lycurgus and Solon, and
the seven wise men, and Pherecydes of Syros,
and Pythagoras the great, who lived later, about
the Olympiads, as we have shown. We have
also demonstrated Moses to be more ancient,
not only than those called poets and wise men
among the Greeks, but than the most of their
deities. Nor he alone, but the Sibyl also is more '
ancient than Orpheus. For it is said, that
respecting her appellation and her oracular utter-
an':es there are several accounts ; that being a
Phrygian, she was called Artemis ; and that on
her arrival at Delphi, she sang —

" O Delphians, ministers of far-darting Apollo,
I come to declare the mind of >Egis-bearing Zeus,
Enraged as I am at my own brother Apollo."

There is another also, an Erythraean, called Her-
ophile. These are mentioned by Heraclides of
Pontus in his work On Oracles, I pass over
the Egyptian Sibyl, and the Italian, who inhabited -
the Carrnentale in Rome, whose son was Evan-
der, who built the temple of Pan in Rome, called
the Lupercal.

It is worth our while, having reached this
point, to examine the dates of the other prophets
among the Hebrews who succeeded Moses.
After the close of Moses's life, Joshua succeeded
to the leadership of the people, and he, after
warring for sixty- five years, rested in the good
land other five-and- twenty. As the book of
Joshua relates, the above mentioned man was
the successor of Moses twenty-seven years.
Then the Hebrews having sinned, were delivered
to Chusachar" king of Mesopotamia for eight
years, as the book of Judges mentions. But

' Chushan-rishathaim: Judg. iii. 8.

326

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

having afterwards besought the Lord, they re-
ceive for leader Gothoniel,' the younger brother
of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, who, having slain
the king of Mesopotamia, ruled over ^e people
forty years in succession. And having again
sinned, they were delivered into the hands of
^glom * king of the Moabites for eighteen years.
But on their repentance, Aod,^ a man who had
equal use of both hands, of the tribe of Ephraim,
was their leader for eighty years. It was he that
despatched -^glom. On the death of Aod, and
on their sinning again, they were delivered into
the hand of Jabim * king of Canaan twenty years.
After him Deborah the wife of Lapidoth, of the
tribe of Ephraim, prophesied ; and Ozias the son
of Rhiesu was high priest. At her instance
Barak the son of Bener,5 of the tribe of Naphtali,
commanding the army, having joined battle with
Sisera, Jabim *s commander-in-chief, conquered
him. And after that Deborah ruled, judging the
people forty years. On her death, the people
having again sinned, were delivered into the hands
of the Midianites seven years. After these events,
Gideon, of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of
Joas, having fought with his three hundred men,
and killed a hundred and twenty thousand, ruled
forty years ; after whom the son of Ahimelech,
three years. He was succeeded by Boleas, the
son of Bedan, the son of Charran,^ of the tribe of
Ephraim, who ruled twenty- three years. After
whom, the people having sinned again, were de-
livered to the Ammonites eighteen years ; and on
their repentance were commanded by Jephtha the
Gileadite, of the tribe of Manasseh ; and he ruled
six years. After whom, Abatthan ^ of Bethlehem,
of the tribe of Juda, ruled seven years. Then
Ebron ^ the Zebulonite, eight years. Then Eglom
of Ephraim, eight years. Some add to the
seven years of Abatthan the eight of Ebrom.^
And after him, the people having again trans-
gressed, came under the power of the foreigners,
the Philistines, for forty years. Bui on their re-
turning [to God], they were led by Samson, of
the tribe of Dan, who conquered the foreigners
in battle. He ruled twenty years. And after
him, there being no governor, Eli the priest
judged the people for forty years. He was suc-
ceeded by Samuel the prophet ; contemporane-
ously with whom Saul reigned, who held sway
for twenty-seven years. He anointed David.
Samuel died two years before Saul, while Abime-
lech was high priest. He anointed Saul as king,

1 Oihniel.

^ Eg Ion.

3 Ehud.
* Jabin.

5 Abinoam; Judg. iv. 6. _

6 St'c. 9a>Aeac may be the right reading instead of Bu>Acac.

Judg. X I, says Tola, the son of Puah, the son of Dodo.
' Ibzan, A. V., Judg. xii. 8; 'A/iatcro-ai', Septuagi
ing to Judg. xii. ii, Elon the Zebulonite succeeded Ibzan.

But

xii. 8; •A/iatcro-ai', Septuagint. Accord-

' Not mentioned in Scripture.
9 Sic.

who was the first that bore regal sway over Israel
after the judges ; the whole duration of whom,
down to Saul, was four hundred and sixty- three
years and seven months.

Then in the first book of Kings there are
twenty years of Saul, during which he reigned
after he was renovated. And after the death
of Saul, David the son of Jesse, of the tribe of
Judah, reigned next in Hebron, forty years, as is
contained in the second book of Kings. And
Abiathar the son of Abimelech, of the kindred
of Eli, was high priest. In his time Gad and
Nathan prophesied. From Joshua the son of
Nun, then, till David received the kingdom,
there intervene, according to some, four hundred
and fifty years. But, as the chronology set forth
shows, fi\^ hundred and twenty-three years and
seven months are comprehended till the death
of David.

And after this Solomon the son of David
reigned forty years. Under him Nathan con-
tinued to prophesy, who also exhorted him
respecting the building of the temple. Achias
of Shilo also prophesied. And both the kings,
David and Solomon, were prophets. And Sadoc
the high priest was the first who ministered in
the temple which Solomon built, being the eighth
from Aaron, the first high priest. From Moses,
then, to the age of Solomon, as some say, are
^v^ hundred and ninety-five years, and as others,
five hundred and seventy-six.

And if you count, along with the four hundred
and fifty years from Joshua to David, the forty
years of the rule of Moses, and the other eight)-
years of Moses's life previous to the exodus of
the Hebrews from Egypt, you will make up the
sum in all of six hundred and ten years. But
our chronology will run more correctly, if to the
five hundred and twenty- three years and seven
months till the death of David, you add the
hundred and twenty years of Moses and the forty
years of Solomon. For you will make up in all,
down to tRe death of Solomon, six hundred and
eighty-three years and seven months.

Hiram gave his daughter to Solomon about
the time of the arrival of Menelaus in Phoenicia,
after the capture of Troy, as is said by Menan-
der of Pergamus, and Laetus in The Phcsnicia.
And after Solomon, Roboam his son reigned for
seventeen years; and Abimelech the son of
Sadoc was high priest. In his reign, the king-
dom being divided, Jeroboam, of the tribe of
Ephraim, the servant of Solomon, reigned in
Samaria ; and Achias the Shilonite continued to
prophesy ; also Samseas the son of Amame, and
he who came from Judah to Jeroboam, '° and
prophesied against the altar. After him his son

*o See 1 Kings xiii. i, 2. The text has riri *Po/3oaM> which, if re-
tained, must be translated, " in the reign of Roboam." But Jeroboam
was probably the original reading.

Chap. XXL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

327

Abijam, twenty-three years ; and likewise his
son Asaman.' The last, in his old age, was dis-
eased in his feet ; and in his reign prophesied
Jehu the son of Ananias.

After him Jehosaphat his son reigned twenty-
five years.* In his reign prophesied Elias the
Thesbite, and Michseas the son of Jebla, and
Abdias the son of Ananias. And in the time of
Michaeas there was also the false prophet Zede-
kias, the son of Chonaan. These were followed
by the reign of Joram the son of Jehosaphat,
for eight years ; during whose time prophesied
Elias ; and after Elias, Elisseus the son of Saphat.
In his reign the people in Samaria ate doves'
dung and their own children. The period of
Jehosaphat extends from the close of the third
book of Kings to the fourth. And in the reign
of Joram, EUas was translated, and Elisaeus the
son of Saphat commenced prophesying, and
prophesied for six years, being forty years old.

Then Ochozias reigned a year. In his time
Elisaeus continued to prophesy, and along with
him Adadonaeus.3 After him the mother of
Ozias,** Gotholia,5 reigned eight ^ years, having
slain the children of her brother.^ For she was
of the family of Ahab. But the sister of Ozias,
Josabaea, stole Joas the son of Ozias, and in-
vested him afterwards with the kingdom. And
in the time of this Gotholia, Elisaeus was still
prophesying. And after her reigned, as I said
before, Joash, rescued by Josabaea the wife of
Jodae the high priest, and lived in all forty years.

There are comprised, then, from Solomon to
the death of Elisaeus the prophet, as some say,
one hundred and fivQ years ; according to others,
one hundred and two ; and, as the chronology
before us shows, from the reign of Solomon an
hundred and eighty-one.

Now from the Trojan war to the birth of
Homer, according to Philochorus, a hundred and
eighty years elapsed ; and he was posterior to
the Ionic migration. But Aristarchus, in the
Archilochian Memoirs^ says that he lived during
the Ionic migration, which took place a hundred
and twenty years after the siege of Troy. But
Apollodorus alleges it was an hundred and
twenty years after the Ionic migration, while
Agesilaus son of Doryssaeus was king of the Lace-
daemonians : so that he brings Lycurgus the
legislator, while still a young man, near him.
Euthymenes, in the Chronicles^ says that he
flourished contemporaneously with Hesiod, in
the time of Acastus, and was bom in Chios,
about the four hundredth year after the capture

1 Asa.

2 So Lowth corrects the text, which has five.

' Supposed to be " son of Oded " or " Adad," i.e., Azarias.
^ i.e., of Ochozias.
' Athalia.

^ She was slain in the seventh year of her reisn.
7 Not of her brother, but of her son Ahazian, all of whom she
slew except Joaah.

of Troy. And Archimachus, in the third book
of his Eubcsan History, is of this opinion. So
that both he and Hesiod were later than Elisaeus,
the prophet. And if you choose to follow the
grammarian Crates, and say that Homer was bom
about the time of the expedition of the Hera-
clidae, eighty years after the taking of Troy, he
will be found to be later again than Solomon, in
whose days occurred the arrival of Menelaus in
Phenicia, as was said above. Eratosthenes says
that Homer's age was two hundred years after
the capture of Troy. Further, Theopompus, in
the forty-third book of the Philippics, relates
that Homer was bom five hundred years after
the war at Troy. And Euphorion, in his book
about the AleuadeSy maintains that he was bom
in the time of Gyges, who began to reign in the
eighteenth Olympiad, who, also he says, was the
first that was called tyrant (rvpai^o^). So-
sibius Lacon, again, in his Record of DateSy
brings Homer down to the eighth year of the
reign of Charillus the son of Polydectus. Cha-
rillus reigned for sixty-four years, after whom the
son of Nicander reigned thirty-nine years. In
his thirty-fourth year it is said that the first
Olympiad was instituted ; so that Homer was
ninety years before the introduction of the Olym-
pic games.

After Joas, Amasias his son reigned as his suc-
cessor thirty-nine years. He in like manner was
succeeded by his son Ozias, who reigned for
fifty-two years, and died a leper. And in his
time prophesied Amos, and Isaiah his son,^ and
Hosea the son of Beeri, and Jonas the son of
Amathi, who was of Geth-chober, who preached
to the Ninevites, and passed through the whale's
belly.

Then Jonathan the son of Ozias reigned for
sixteen years. In his time Esaias still prophesied,
and Hosea, and Michaeas the Morasthite, and
Joel the son of Bethuel.

Next in succession was his son Ahaz, who
reigned for sixteen years. In his time, in the
fifteenth year, Israel was carried away to Baby-
lon. And Salmanasar the king of the Assyrians
carried away the people of Samaria into the
country of the Medes and to Babylon.

Again Ahaz was succeeded by Osee,^ who
reigned for eight years. Then followed Heze-
kiah, for twenty-nine years. For his sanctity,
when he had approached his end, God, by Isaiah,
allowed him to live for other fifteen years, giving
as a sign the going back of the sun. Up to his
times Esaias, Hosea, and Micah continued proph-
esying.

And these are said to have lived after the age

B Clement is wrong in asserting that Amos the prophet was the
father of Isaiah. The names are written differently in Heorew, though
the same in Greek.

9 By a stranec mistake Hosea king of Israel is reckoned among
the kings of Judah.

328

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book L

of Lycurgus, the legislator of the Lacedaemonians.
For Dieuchidas, in the fourth book of the Me-
garicSy places the era of Lycurgus about the two
hundred and ninetieth year after the capture of
Troy.

After Hezekiah, his son Manasses reigned for
fifty-five years. Then his son Amos for two
years. After him reigned his son Josias, distin-
guished for his observance of the law, for thirty-
one years. He " laid the carcases of men upon
the carcases of the idols," as is written in the
book of Leviticus.' In his reign, in the eigh-
teenth year, the passover was celebrated, not
having been kept from the days of Samuel in
the intervening period.' Then Chelkias the
priest, the father of the prophet Jeremiah, hav-
ing fallen in with the book of the law, that had
been laid up in the temple, read it and died.3
And in his days Olda-* prohesied, and Sopho-
nias,5 and Jeremiah. And in the days of Jere-
miah was Ananias the son of Azor,^ the false
prophet. He 7 having disobeyed Jeremiah the
prophet, was slain by Pharaoh Necho king of
Egypt at the river Euphrates, having encoun-
tered the latter, who was marching on the As-
syrians.

Josiah was succeeded by Jechoniah, called
also Joachas,^ his son, who reigned three months
and ten days. Necho king of Egypt bound him
and led him to Egypt, after making his brother
Joachim king in his stead, who continued his
tributary for eleven years. After him his name-
sake 9 Joakim reigned for three months. Then
Zedekiah reigned for eleven years; and up
to his time Jeremiah continued to prophesy.
Along with him Ezekiel '® the son of Buzi, and
Urias " the son of Samseus, and Ambacum "
prophesied. Here end the Hebrew kings.

There are then fi-om the birth of Moses till
^Jthis captivity nine hundred and seventy-two
years ; but according to strict chronological ac-
curacy, one thousand and eighty-five, six months,
ten days. From the reign of David to the cap-
tivity by the Chaldeans, four hundred and fifty-
two years and six months ; but as the accuracy
I we have observed in reference to dates makes
I out, four hundred and eighty- two and six months
/ ten days.

* Lev. XX vi. -^o.

' 2 Kings xxTii. 23.
^ 3 Kings xxii. 8.

* Huldah.

^ Zephaniah.

* 6 'Iwaiov, the reading of the text, is probably corrupt.
7 Josias.

> o Ktti 'Iwdxa^, instead of which the text has *fai 'Iwdx^^c*
9 The names, however, were not the same. The name of the
latter was Jehoiachtn. The former in Hebrew is written D^p'irTi

the latter TD*!?!*. By copyists they were often confounded, as here

by Clement.

*o Ixiwth supplies 'Ic^«ici^A, which is wanting in the text.

I' He was a contemporary of Jeremiah, but was killed before the
time of Zedekiah by Joa^.hin. Jer. xxvi. 30.

>^ Habakkuk.

And in the twelfth year of the reign of Zede-
kiah, forty years before the supremacy of the
Persians, Nebuchodonosor made war against the
Phoenicians and the Jews, as Berosus asserts in
his Chaldaan Histories. And Joabas,'^ writing
about the Assyrians, acknowledges that he had
received the history from Berosus, and testifies
to his accuracy. Nebuchodonosor, therefore,
having put out the eyes of 2^dekiah, took him
away to Babylon, and transported the whole
people (the captivity lasted seventy years), w-ith
the exception of a few who fled to Egypt.

Jeremiah and Ambacum were still prophesy-
ing in the time of Zedekiah. In the fifth year
of his reign Ezekiel prophesied at Babylon;
after him Nahum, then Daniel. After him,
again, Haggai and Zechariah prophesied in the
time of Darius the First for two years ; and then
the angel among the twelve.'* After Haggai
and 2^chariah, Nehemiah, the chief cup-bearer
of Artaxerxes, the son of Acheli the Israelite,
built the city of Jerusalem and restored the
temple. During the captivity lived Esther and
Mordecai, whose book is still extant, as also
that of the Maccabees. During this captivity
Mishael, Ananias, and Azarias, refusing to wor-
ship the image, and being thrown into a furnace
of fire, were saved by the appearance of an
angel. At that time, on account of the serpent, 's
Daniel was thrown into the den of lions ; but
being preserved through the providence of God
by Ambacub, he is restored on the seventh day.
At this period, too, occurred the sign of Jona ;
and Tobias, through the assistance of the angel
Raphael, married Sarah, the demon having killed
her seven first suitors; and after the marriage
of Tobias, his father Tobit recovered his sight.
At that time Zorobabel, having by his wisdom
overcome his opponents, and obtained leave
from Darius for the rebuilding of Jerusalem, re-
turned with Esdras to his native land ; and by
him the redemption of the people and the re-
visal and restoration of the inspired oracles were
effected ; and the passover of deliverance cele-
brated, and marriage with aliens dissolved.

Cyrus had, by proclamation, previously en-
joined the restoration of the Hebrews. And
his promise being accomplished in the time of
Darius, the feast of the dedication was held, as
also the feast of tabernacles.

There were in all, taking in the duration of
the captivity down to the restoration of the
people, from the birth of Moses, one thousand
one hundred and fifty-five years, six months,
and ten days ; and from the reign of David, ac-
cording to some, four hundred and fifty-t^o;

" Juba.

>4 Malachi, my angel or messenger. [Again, p. 331, in/ra.]
15 On account of killing the serpent, as is related in the apocryphal
book, " Bel and the Dragon, or Serpent."

Chap. XXI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

329

more correctly, five hundred and seventy-two
years, six months, and ten- days.

From the captivity at Babylon, which took
place in the time of Jeremiah the prophet, was
fulfilled what was spoken by Daniel the prophet
as follows : " Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to
finish the transgression, and to seal sins, and to
wipe out and make reconciliation for iniquity,
and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to
seal the vision and the prophet, and to anoint
the Holy of Holies. Know therefore, and un-
derstand, that from the going forth of the word
commanding an answer to be given, and Jerusa-
lem to be built, to Christ the Prince, are seven
weeks and sixty-two weeks ; and the street shall
be again built, and the wall ; and the times shall
be expended. And after the sixty-two weeks
the anointing shall be overthrown, and judgment
shall not be in him ; and he shall destroy the
city and the sanctuary along with the coming
Prince. And they shall be destroyed in a flood,
and to the end of the war shall be cut off by
desolations. And he shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week ; and in the middle of
the week the sacrifice and oblation shall be
taken away ; and in the holy place shall be the
alx)mination of desolations, and until the con-
summation of time shall the consummation be
assigned for desolation. And in the midst of
the week shall he make the incense of sacrifice
cease, and of the wing of destruction, even till
the consummation, like the destruction of the
oblation." ' That the temple accordingly was
built in seven weeks, is evident ; for it is written
in Ksdras. And thus Christ became King of
the Jews, reigning in Jerusalem in the fulfilment
of the seven weeks. And in the sixty and two
weeks the whole of Judaea was quiet, and with-
out wars. And Christ our Lord, " the Holy of
Holies," having come and fulfilled the vision
and the prophecy, was anointed in His flesh by
the Holy Spirit of His Father. In those " sixty
and two weeks," as the prophet said, and " in
the one week," was He Lord. The half of the
week Nero held sway, and in the holy city Jeru-
salem placed the abomination ; and in the half
of the week he was taken away, and Otho, and
Galba, and Vitellius. And Vespasian rose to
the supreme power, and destroyed Jerusalem,
and desolated the holy place. And that such
are the facts of the case, is clear to him that is
able to understand, as the prophet said.

On the completion, then, of the eleventh
year, in the beginning of the following, in the
reign of Joachim, occurred the carrying away
captive to Babylon by Nabuchodonosor the king,
in the seventh year of his reign over the As-

* Dan. ix. 34-97. [Speaker's Commentary, Excursus, adiocum.^

Syrians, in the second year of the reign of
Vaphres over the Egyptians, in the archonship
of Philip at Athens, in the first year of the forty- »
eighth Olympiad. The captivity lasted for sev-
enty years, and ended in the second year of
Darius Hystaspes, who had become king of the
Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians; in whose
reign, as I said above, Haggai and Zechariah and
the angel of the twelve prophesied. And the
high priest was Joshua the son of Josedec. And
in the second year of the reign of Darius, who,
Herodotus says, destroyed the power of the Magi,
Zorobabel the son of Salathiel was despatched
to raise and adorn the temple at Jerusalem.

The times of the Persians are accordingly
summed up thus : Cyrus reigned thirty years ;
Cambyses, nineteen ; Darius, forty-six ; Xerxes,
twenty-six ; Artaxerxes, forty-one ; Darius, eight ;
Artaxerxes, forty-two; Ochus or Arses, three.
The sum total of the years of the Persian mon-
archy is two hundred and thirty-five years.

Alexander of Macedon, having despatched
this Darius, during this period, begati to reign.
Similarly, therefore, the times of the Macedonian
kings are thus computed : Alexander, eighteen
years ; Ptolemy the son of Lagus, forty years ;
Rolemy Philadelphus, twenty-seven years ; then
Euergetes, five-and-twenty years ; then Philopa-
tor, seventeen years ; then Epiphanes, four-and-
twenty years ; he was succeeded by Philometer,
who reigned five-and- thirty years ; after him
Physcon, twenty-nine years; then Lathurus,
thirty-six years; then he that was sumamed
Dionysus, twenty-nine years ; and last Cleopatra
reigned twenty-two years. And after her was
the reign of the Cappadocians for eighteen days.

Accordingly the period embraced by the
Macedonian kings is, in all, three hundred and
twelve years and eighteen days.

Therefore those who prophesied in the time
of Darius Hystaspes, about the second year of
his reign, — Haggai, and 2^chariah, and the
angel of the twelve, who prophesied about the
first year of the forty-eighth Olympiad, — are
demonstrated to be older than Pythagoras, who I
is said to have lived in the sixty-second Olympiad,
and than Thales, the oldest of the wise men of
the Greeks, who lived about the fiftieth Olym-
piad. Those wise men that are classed with
Thales were then contemporaneous, as Andron
says in the Tripos, For Heraclitus being poste-
rior to Pythagoras, mentions him in his book.
Whence indisputably the first Olympiad, which
was demonstrated to be four hundred and seven
years later than the Trojan war, is found to be
prior to the age of the above-mentioned proph-
ets, together with those called the seven wise
men. Accordingly it is easy to perceive that
Solomon, who lived in the time of Menelaus
(who was during the Trojan war), was earlier by

330

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book L

many years than the wise men among the Greeks.
And how many years Moses preceded him we
showed^ in what we said above. And Alexander,
sumamed Polyhistor, in his work on the Jews,
has transcribed some letters of Solomon to
Vaphres king of Egypt, and to the king of the
Phoenicians at Tyre, and theirs to Solomon ; in
which it is shown that Vaphres sent eighty thou-
sand Egyptian men to him for the building of
the temple, and the other as many, along with a
Tyrian artificer, the son of a Jewish mother, of
the tribe of Dan,' as is there written, of the name
of Hyperon.* Further, Onomacritus the Athe-
nian, who is said to have been die author of the
poems ascribed to Orpheus, is ascertained to
have lived in the reign of the Pisistratidae, about
the fiftieth Olympiad. And Orpheus, who sailed
with Hercules, was the pupil of Musaeus. Am-
phion precedes the Trojan war by two generations.
And Demodocus and Phemius were posterior to
the capture of Troy ; for they were famed for play-
ing on the lyre, the former among the Phaeacians,
and the latter among the suitors. And the Ora-
cles ascribed to Musaeus are said to be the pro-
duction of Onomacritus, and the Crate res of
Orpheus the production of Zopyrus of Heraclea,
and The Descent to Hades that of Prodicus of
Samos. Ion of Chios relates in the Triagmif
that Pythagoras ascribed certain works [of his
own] to Orpheus. Epigenes, in his book respect-
ing The Poetry attributed to Orpheus^ says that
The Descent to Hades and the Sacred Discourse
were the production of Cecrops the Pythagorean ;
and the Peplus and the Physics of Brontinus.
Some also make Terpander out ancient. Hel-
lanicus, accordingly, relates that he lived in the
time of Midas : but Phanias, who places Lesches
the Lesbian before Terpander, makes Terpander
younger than Archilochus, and relates that
Lesches contended with Arctinus, and gained
the victory. Xanthus the Lydian says that he
lived about the eighteenth Olympiad ; as also
Dionysius says that Thasus was built about the
fifteenth Olympiad : so that it is clear that Ar-
chilochus 5 was already known after the twentieth
Olympiad. He accordingly relates the destruc-
tion of Magnetes as having recently taken place.
Simonides is assigned to the time of Archilochus.
Callinus is not much older ; for Archilochus re-
fers to Magnetes as destroyed, while the latter
refers to it as flourishing. Eumelus of Corinth
being older, is said to have met Archias, who
founded Syracuse.

> Th€ text has David.

3 Hiram or Huram was his name (i Kings vit. 13, 40). Clement
seems to have mistaken the words vircp Lv occurring in the epistle
referred to for a proper name.

^ Suchj according to Harpocration, was the title of this work. In
the text it is called ipcypa^Moi. Suidns calls it ipiaff/uioi.

< The passai;c seems incomplete. The bearing of the date of the
building olThasos on the determination of the age of Archilochus,
may be, that it was built by Telesiclus his son.

We were induced to mention these things,
because the poets of the epic cycle are placed
amongst those of most remote antiquity. Al-
ready, too, among the Greeks, many diviners
are said to have made their appearance, as the
Bacides, one a Boeotian, the other an Arcadian,
who uttered many predictions to many. By
the counsel of Amphiletus the Athenian,^ who
showed the time for the onset, Pisistratus, too,
strengthened his government. For we may pass
over in silence Cometes of Crete, Cinyras of
Cyprus, Admetus the Thessalian, Aristaeas the
Cyrenian, Amphiaraus the Athenian, Timoxeus ^
the Corcyraean, Demsenetus the Phocian, Flpi-
genes the Thespian, Nicias the Carystian, Aristo
the Thessalian, Dionysius the Carthaginian,
Cleophon the Corinthian, Hippo the daughter
of Chiro, and Bceo, and Manto, and the host
of Sibyls, the Samian, the Colophonian, the Cu-
msean, the Erythraean, the Pythian,^ the Tarax-
andnan, the Macetian, the Thessalian, and the
Thesprotian. And Calchas again, and Mopsus,
who lived during the Trojan war. Mopsus, how-
ever, was older, having sailed along with the Ar-
gonauts. And it is said that Battus the Cyrenian
composed what is called the Divination of Mop-
sus. Dorotheus in the first Pandect relates that
Mopsus was the disciple of Alcyon and Corone.
And Pythagoras the Great always applied his
mind to prognostication, and Abaris the Hyper-
borean, and Aristaeas the Proconnesian, and Epi-
menides the Cretan, who came to Sparta, and
Zoroaster the Mede, and Empedocles of Agri-
gentum, and Phormion the Lacedaemonian ;
Polyaratus, too, of Thasus, and Empedotinius
of Syracuse ; and in addition to these, Socrates
the Athenian in particular. " For," he says in
the TheageSy " I am attended by a su[>ematural
intimation, which has been assigned me from
a child by divine appointment. This is a voice
which, when it comes, prevents what I am about
to do, but exhorts never." * And Execestus, the
tyrant of the Phocians, wore two enchanted
rings, and by the sound which they uttered one
against the other determined the proper times
for actions. But he died, nevertheless, treach-
erously murdered, although warned beforehand
by the sound, as Aristotle says in the Polity of
the Phocians,

Of those, too, who at one time lived as men
among the Egyptians, but were constituted gods
by human opinion, were Hermes the Theban,
and Asclepius of Memphis ; Tireseus and Manto.
again, at Thebes, as Euripides says. Helenas,
too, and Laocoon, and CEnone, and Crenus in

5 Called so because he sojoumed at Athens. His biithpUce was
Acamania.

6 Another reading is Ti^o^of : By Ibu^gtus conjectures TtftdfenK.

7 The text has <^utw, which Sylburgius conjettures has been
changed from nv9w.

B Plato's Tkeages^ xi. p. laS.

Chap. XXI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

331

Ilium. For Crenus, one 0/ the Heraclidae, is
said to have been a noted prophet. Another
was Jamus in Elis, from whom came the Jamidae ;
and Polyidus at Argos and Megara, who is
mentioned by the tragedy. Why enumerate Te-
lemus, who, being a prophet of the Cyclops, pre-
dicted to Polyphemus the events of Ulysses*
wandering ; or Onomacritus at Athens ; or Am-
phiaraus, who campaigned with the seven at
Thebes, and is reported to be a generation older
than the capture of Troy ; or Theoclymenus in
Cephalonia, or Telmisus in Caria, or Galeus in
Sicily ?

There are others, too, besides these : Idmon,
who was with the Argonauts, Phemonoe of Del-
phi, Mopsus the son of Apollo and Manto in
Pamphylia, and Amphilochus the son of Am-
phiaraus in Ciiicia, Alcmaeon among the Acama-
niansy Anias in Delos, Aristander of Telmessus,
who was along with Alexander. Philochorus
also relates in the first book of the work, On
Divination^ that Orpheus was a seer. And
Theopompus, and Ephorus, and Timaeus, write
of a seer called Chthagoras ; as the Samian
Pythocles in the fourth book of The Itaiics
writes of Caius Julius Nepos.

But some of these " thieves and robbers," as
the Scripture says, predicted for the most part
from observation and probabilities, as physicians
and soothsayers judge from natural signs ; and
others were excited by demons, or were dis-
turbed by waters, and fumigations, and air of
a peculiar kind. But among the Hebrews the
prophets were moved by the power and inspi-
ration of God. Before the law, Adam spoke
prophetically in respect to the woman, and the
naming of the creatures ; Noah preached repent-
ance ; ' Abraham, Isaac, And Jacob gave many
clear utterances respecting future and present
things. Contemporaneous with the law, Moses
and Aaron ; and after these prophesied Jesus
the son of Nave, Samuel, Gad, Ndthan, Achias,
Samxas, Jehu, Elias, Michaeas, Abdiu, Elisaeus,
Abbadonai, Amos, Esaias, Osee, Jonas, Joel,
Jeremias, Sophonias the son of Buzi, Ezekiel,
Urias, Ambacum, Naum, Daniel, Misael, who
wrote the syllogisms, Aggai, Zacharias, and the
angel among the twelve. These are, in all, five-
and- thirty prophets. And of women (for these
too prophesied), Sara, and Rebecca, and Mari-
am. and Debbora, and Olda, i.e., Huldah.

Then within the same period John proph-
esied till the baptism of salvation;* and after
the birth of Christ, Anna and Simeon.' For

' [Not to be lightly passed over. This whole paragraph is of
-value. Noah is the txAMi preacher (a Pet. ii. O of righteousness.]

2 [The baptism of Jesus as distinguished m>ni the bapii&m of
repentance. John is clearly recognised, here, as of the old dispen-
sation John iv. 1 ]

^ [It IS extraordinary that he fails to mention the blessed vin^n
and htx Afaptijicatf the earliest Christian hymn; i.e., the first a^er
the incarnation.]

Zacaharias, John's father, is said in the Gospels
to have prophesied before his son. Let us then
draw up the chronology of the Greeks from
Moses.

From the birth of Moses to the exodus of the
Jews from Egypt, eighty years ; and the period
down to his death, other forty years. The
exodus took place in the time of Inachus, be-
fore the wandering of Sothis,* Moses having
gone forth from Egypt three hundred and forty-
five years before. From the rule of Moses, and
from Inachus to the flood of Deucalion, I mean
the second inundation, and to the conflagration
of Phaethon, which events happened in the time
of Crotopus, forty generations are enumerated
(three generations being reckoned for a cen-
tury). From the flood to the conflagration of
Ida, and the discovery of iron, and the Idaean
Dactyls, are seventy- three years, according to
Thrasyllus ; and from the conflagration of Ida to
the rape of Ganymede, sixty-five years. From
this to the expedition of Perseus, when Glaucus
established the Isthmian games in honour of
Melicerta, fifteen years ; and from the expedi-
tion of Perseus to the building of Troy, thirty-
four years. From this to the voyage of the
Argo, sixty-four years. From this to -Theseus
and the Minotaur, thirty- two years ; then to the
seven at Thebes, ten years. And to the Olym-
pic contest, which Hercules instituted in honour
of Pelops, three years ; and to the expedition
of the Amazons against Athens, and the rape of
Helen by Theseus, nine years. From this
to the deification of Hercules, eleven years;
then to the rape of Helen by Alexander, four
years. From the taking of Troy to the descent
of iEneas and the founding of Lavinium, ten
years; and to the government of Ascanius,
eight years; and to the descent of the Hera-
clidae, sixty-one years ; and to the Olympiad of
Iphitus, three hundred and thirty- eight years.
Eratosthenes thus sets down the dates : " From
the capture of Troy to the descent of the
Heraclidae, eighty years. From this to the
founding of Ionia, sixty years ; and the period
following to the protectorate of Lycurgus, a
hundred and fifty-nine years ; and to the first
year of the first Olympiad, a hundred and eight
years. From which Olympiad to the invasion
of Xerxes, two hundred and ninety-seven years ;
from which to the beginning of the Peloponne-
sian war, forty-eight years ; and to its close, and
the defeat of the Athenians, twenty-seven years ;
and to the battle at Leuctra, thirty- four years ;
after which to the death of Philip, thirty-five
years. And after this to the decease of Alexan-
der, twelve years."

Again, from the first Olympiad, some say, to the

4 i.e., of lo, the daughter of Inachus.

332

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

building of Rome, are comprehended twenty-
four years ; and after this to the expulsion of the
kings,' when consuls were created, about two
hundred and forty-three years. And from the
taking of Babylon to the death of Alexander, a
hundred and eighty-six years. From this to the
victory of Augustus, when Antony killed himself
at Alexandria, two hundred and ninety-four years,
when Augustus was made consul for the fourth
time. And from this time to the games which
Domitian instituted at Rome, are a hundred
and fourteen years ; and from the first games to
the death of Commodus, a hundred and eleven
years.

There are some that from Cecrops to Alex-
ander of Macedon reckon a thousand eight
hundred and twenty - eight years ; and from
Demophon, a thousand two hundred and fifty ;
and from the taking of Troy to the expedition
of the Heraclidae, a hundred and twenty or a
hundred and eighty years. From this to the
archonship of Evaenetus at Athens, in whose
time Alexander is said to have marched into
Asia, according to Phanias, are seven hundred
and fifty years ; according to Ephorus, seven
hundred and thirty-five ; according to Timaeus
and Clitarchus, eight hundred and twenty ; ac-
cording to Eratosthenes, seven hundred and
seventy- four. As also Duris, from the taking
of Troy to the march of Alexander into Asia,
a thousand years ; and from that to the archon-
ship of Hegesias, in whose time Alexander died,
eleven years. From this date to the reign of
Germanicus Claudius Caesar, three hundred and
sixty-five years. From which time the years
summed up to the death of Commodus are
, — manifest.

After the Grecian period, and in accordance
with the dates, as computed by the barbarians,
j^er)' large intervals are to be assigned.

From Adam to the deluge are comprised two
thousand one hundred and forty-eight years,
four days. From Shem to Abraham, a thousand
two hundred and fifty years. From Isaac to
the division of the land, six hundred and sixteen
years. Then from the judges to Samuel, four
hundred and sixty-three years, seven months.
And after the judges there were five hundred and
seventy- two years, six months, ten days of kings.

After which periods, there were two hundred
and thirty-five years of the Persian monarchy.
Then of the Macedonian, till the death of An-
tony, three hundred and twelve years and eigh-
teen days. After which time, the empire of the
Romans, till the death of Commodus, lasted for
two hundred and twenty-two years.

* For Ba^vAwi'ov. fiaaiXinty has been substituted. In an old
chronoloKi<(t, as quoted by Clement elsewhere, the latter occurs; and
the date of the expulsion of the kines harmoni/es with the number
of years here given, which that of toe destruction of Babylon does
not.

Then, from the seventy years* captivity, and
the restoration of the people into their own
land to the captivity in the time of Vespasian,
are comprised four hundred and ten years.
Finally, from Vespasian to the death of Com-
modus, there are ascertained to be one hundred
and twenty-one years, six months, and twenty-
four dz^ys.

Demetrius, in his book. On the Kings injud(ea^
says that the tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi
were not taken captive by Sennacherim ; but that
there were from this captivity to the last, wliich
Nabuchodonosor made out of Jerusalem, a hun-
dred and twenty-eight years and six months ;
and from the time that the ten tribes were
carried captive from Samaria till Ptolemy the
Fourth, were five hundred and seventy-three
years, nine months ; and from the time that the
captivity from Jerusalem took place, three hun-
dred and thirty-eight years and three months.

Philo himself set down the kings differently
from Demetrius.

Besides, Eupolemus, in a similar work, says
that all the years from Adam to the fifth year
of Ptolemy Demetrius, who reigned twelve years
in Egypt, when added, amount to ^vt thousand
a hundred and forty-nine ; and fix)m the time
that Moses brought out the Jews from Egypt to
the above-mentioned date, there are, in all, two
thousand five hundred and eighty years. And
from this time till the consulship in Rome of
Caius Domitian and Casian, a hundred and
twenty years are computed.

Euphorus and many other historians say that
there are seventy-five nations and tongues, in
consequence of hearing the statement made by
Moses : " All the souls that sprang fi'om Jacob,
which went down into Egypt, were seventy-
five." * According to the true reckoning, there
appear to be seventy-two generic dialects, as our
Scriptures hand down. The rest of the vulgar
tongues are formed by the blending of two, or
three, or more dialects. A dialect is a mode of
speech which exhibits a character peculiar to a
locality, or a mode of speech which exhibits a
character peculiar or common to a race. The
Greeks say, that among them are ^wt dialects —
the Attic, Ionic, Doric, iColic, and the fifth the
Common ; and that the languages of the bar-
barians, which are innumerable, are not called
dialects, but tongues.

Plato attributes a dialect also to the gods,
forming this conjecture mainly from dreams and
oracles, and especially from demoniacs, who do
not speak their own language or dialect, but that
of the demons who have taken possession of
them. He thinks also that the irrational crea-
tures have dialects, which those that belong to

' Gen. xlvi. 37, Sept.

Chap. XXL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

333

the same genus understand.' Accordingly, when
an elephant falls into the mud and bellows out,
any other one that is at hand, on seeing what
has happened, shortly turns, and brings with him
a herd of elephants, and saves the one that has
fallen in. It is said also in Libya, that a scor-
pion, if it does not succeed in stinging a man,
goes away and returns with several more ; and
that, hanging on one to the other like a chain,
they make in this way the attempt to succeed in
their cunning design.

The irrational creatures do not make use of
an obscure intimation, or hint their meaning by
assuming a particular attitude, but, as I think,
by a dialect of their own.« And some others
say, that if a fish which has been taken escape
by breaking the line, no fish of the same kind
will be caught in the same place that day. But
the first and generic barbarous dialects have
terms by nature, since also men confess that
prayers uttered in a barbarian tongue are more
powerful. And Plato, in the CraiyluSy when
washing to interpret -nvp (fire), says that it is a
barbaric term. He testifies, accordingly, that
the Phrygians use this term with a slight deviation.

And nothing, in my opinion, after these de-
tails, need stand in the way of stating the periods
of the Roman emperors, in order to the demon-
stration of the Saviour's birth. Augustus, forty-
three years ; Tiberius, twenty-two years ; Caius,
four years ; Claudius, fourteen years ; Nero,
fourteen years; Galba, one year; Vespasian,
ten years ; Titus, three years ; Domitian, fifteen
years ; Nerva, one year ; Trajan, nineteen years ;
Adrian, twenty-one years ; Antoninus, twenty-one
years ; likewise again, Antoninus and Commodus,
thirty-two. In dl, from Augustus to Commodus,
are two hundred and twenty- two years; and
from Adam to the death of Commodus, five
thousand seven hundred and eighty-four years,
two months, twelve days.

Some set down the dates of the Roman em-
perors thus : —

Caius Julius Caesar, three years, four months,
five days ; after him Augustus reigned forty-six
years, four months, one day. Then Tiberius,
twenty-six years, six months, nineteen days. He
was succeeded by Caius Caesar, who reigned
three years, ten months, eight days ; and he by
Claudius for thirteen years, eight months, twenty-
eight days. Nero reigned thirteen years, eight
months, twenty-eight days ; Galba, seven months
and six da)rs ; Otho, five months, one day ;
Vitellius, seven months, one day; Vespasian,
eleven years, eleven months, twenty-two days ;
Titus, two years, two months ; Domitian, fifteen
years, eight months, five days ; Nerva, one year,
four months, ten days ; Trajan, nineteen years,

I [This assent to Plato's whim, on the part of our author, is sug-
gestive.]

seven months, ten days ; Adrian, twenty years,
ten months, twenty-eight days. Antoninus,
twenty- two yeairs, three months, and seven days ;
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, nineteen years,
eleven days ; Commodus, twelve years, nine
months, fourteen days.

From Julius Caesar, therefore, to the death of
Commodus, are two hundred and thirty-six years,
six months. And the whole from Romulus, who
founded Rome, till the death of Commodus,
amounts to nine hundred and fifty- three years,
six months. And our Lord was bom in the
twenty-eighth year, when first the census was
ordered to be taken in the reign of Augustus^
And to prove that this is true, it is written in
the Gospel by Luke as follows : " And in the
fifteenth year, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the
word of the Lord came to John, the son of
Zacharias." And again in the same book:
" And Jesus was coming to His baptism, being
about thirty years old," * and so on. And that
it was necessary for Him to preach only a year,,
this also is written : 3 "He hath sent Me to pro-
claim the acceptable year of the Lord." This
both the prophet spake, and the Gospel. Ac-
cordingly, in fifteen years of Tiberius and fifteen
years of Augustus ; so were completed the thirty
years till the time He suffered. And from the
time that He suffered till the destruction of
Jerusalem are forty-two years and three months ;
and from the destruction of Jerusalem to the
death of Commodus, a hundred and twenty-
eight years, ten months, and three days. From
the birth of Christ, therefore, to the death of
Commodus are, in all, a hundred and ninety-
four years, one month, thirteen days. And there
are those who have determined not only the
year of our Lord's birth, but also the day ; and
they say that it took place in the twenty-eighth
year of Augustus, and in the twenty-fifth day of
Pachon. And the followers of Basilides hold,
the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the
night before in readings. i

And they say that it was the fifteenth year of '
Tiberius Caesar, the fifteenth day of the month
Tubi ; and some that it was the eleventh of the
same month. And treating of His passion, with
very great accuracy, some say that it took place
in the sixteenth year of Tiberius, on the twenty-
fifth of Phamenoth ; and others the twenty-fifth
of Pharmuthi and others say that on the nine-
teenth of Pharmuthi the Saviour suffered. Fur-
ther, others say that He was bom on the twenty-
fourth or twenty-fifth of Pharmuthi.**

We have still to add to our chronology the

3 Luke iii. i, 3. 23.

^ I A fair parallel to the amazing traditional statement of Irenaeus,
and his objection to this very idea, vol. i. p. 391, this series. Is?. Ixi.

I, 2.j

* [Mosheim, Christ. 0/ First Three Cent., i. 43a; and Josephus,
Antiquities, ii. 14.]

334

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book L

following, — I mean the days which Daniel in-
dicates from the desolation of Jerusalem, the
seven years and seven months of the reign of
Vespasian. For the two years are added to the
seventeen months and eighteen days of Otho,
and Galba, and Vitellius ; and the result is three
years and six months, which is " the half of the
week," as Daniel the prophet said. For he said
that there were two thousand three hundred days
from the time that the abomination of Nero
stood in the holy city, till its destruction. For
thus the declaration, which is subjoined, shows :
" How long shall be the vision, the sacrifice
taken away, the abomination of desolation, which
is given, and the power and the holy place shall
be trodden under foot? And he said to him,
Till the evening and morning, two thousand three
hundred days, and the holy place shall be taken
away." '

These two thousand three hundred days, then,
make six years four months, during the half of
which Nero held sway, and it was half a week ;
and for a half, Vespasian with Otho, Galba, and
Vitellius reigned. And on this account Daniel
says, " Blessed is he that cometh to the thousand
three hundred and thirty-five days.'** For up
to these days was war, and after them it ceased.
And this number is demonstrated from a subse-
quent chapter, which is as follows : " And from
the time of the change of continuation, and of
the giving of the abomination of desolation,
there shall be a thousand two hundred and nine-
ty days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh
to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five
davs." 3

Flavius Joseghus the Jew, who composed the
history of the Jews, computing the periods, says
that from Moses to David were five hundred and
eighty- five years ; from David to the second year
of Vespasian, a thousand one hundred and
seventy-nine ; then fi*om that to the tenth year 1
of Antoninus, seventy-seven. So that from I
Moses to the tenth year of Antoninus there '
are, in all, two thousand on^ hundred and thirty-
three years.

Of others, counting fi-om Inachus and Moses
to the death of Commodus, some say there were
three thousand one hundred and forty- two years ;
and others, two thousand eight hundred and
thirty-one years.

And in the Gospel according to Matthew, the
genealogy which begins with Abraham is con-
tinued down to Mary the mother of the Lord.
" For," it is said,* " from Abraham to David are
fourteen generations ; and from David to the
carrying away into Babylon are fourteen genera-

* Dan. viii. 13, 14.

2 Dan. xii. X2.

3 Dan. xii. 11, 13.

4 Matt. i. 17.

tions ; and from the carrying away into Babylon
till Christ are likewise other fourteen genera-
tions,"— three mystic intervals completed in
six weeks.5 ^

CHAP. xxn.

-ON THE GREEK TRANSLATION
THE OLD TESTAMENT.

So much for the details respecting dates, as
stated variously by many, and as set down by us.
v It is said that the Scriptures both of the law and
of the prophets were translated from the dialect
of the Hebrews into the Greek language in the
reign of Ptolemy the son of Lagos, or, according
to others, of Ptolemy sumamed Philadelphus ;
Demetrius Phalereus bringing to this task the
greatest earnestness, and employing painstaking
accuracy on the materials for the translation.
For the Macedonians being still in possession of
Asia, and the king being ambitious of adorning
the library he had at Alexandria with all writings,
desired the people of Jerusalem to translate the
prophecies they possessed into the Greek dialect.
And they being the subjects of the Macedonians,
selected from those of highest character among
them seventy elders, versed in the Scriptures, and
skilled in the Greek dialect, and sent them to
him with the divine books. And each having
severally translated each prophetic book, and all
the translations being compared together, they
agreed both in meaning and expression. For it
was the counsel of God carried out for the benefit
of Grecian ears. It was not alien to the inspira-
tion of God, who gave the prophecy, also to
produce the translation, and make it as it were
Greek prophecy. Since the Scriptures having
perished in the captivity of Nabuchodonosor,
Esdras^ the Levite, the priest, in the time of Arta-
xerxes king of the Persians, having become in-
spired in the exercise of prophecy restored again
the whole of the ancient Scriptures. And Aristo-
bulus, in his first book addressed to Philometor,
writes in these words : " And Plato followed the
laws given to us, and had manifestly studied all
that is said in them." And before Demetrius there
had been translated by another, previous to the
dominion of Alexander and of the Persians, the
account of the departure of our countr>'men
the Hebrews from Egypt, and the fame of all that
happened to them, and their taking possession
of the land, and the account of the whole code of
laws ; so that it is perfectly clear that the above-
mentioned philosopher derived a great deal from
this source, for he was very learned, as also
Pythagoras, who transferred many things from our
books to his own system of doctrines. And
Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, express-
ly writes : " For what is Plato, but Moses speak-

[As to our author's chronology, see Elucidation XV., in/ra.]

[The • '"• '"' -■' • - •■ "*

work of Ezra^ as Clement testifies concerning it, adds im-
mensely to the common ideas of his place in the history of the canon.]

Chap. XXIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

335

ing in Attic Greek?*' This Moses was a
theologian and prophet, and as some say, an
interpreter of sacred laws. His family, his deeds,
and life, are related by the Scriptures themselves,
which are worthy of all credit ; but have neverthe-
less to be stated by us also as well as we can.*

CHAP. XXm. — THE AGE, BIRTH, AND LIFE OF

MOSES.

Moses, originally of a Chaldean* family, was
born in Egypt, his ancestors having migrated
from Babylon into Egypt on account of a pro-
tracted famine. Bom in the seventh generation,^
and having received a royal education, the fol-
lowing are the circumstances of his history. The
Hebrews having increased in Egypt to a great
multitude, and the king of the country being
afraid of insurrection in consequence of their
numbers, he ordered all the female children bom
to the Hebrews to be reared (woman being un-
fit for war), but the male to be destroyed, being
suspicious of stalwart youth. But the child
being goodly, his parents nursed him secretly
three months, natural affection being too strong
for the monarch's cruelty. But at last, dreading
lest they should be destroyed along with the
child, they made a basket of the papyrus that
grew there, put the child in it, and laid it on the
banks of the marshy river. The child's sister
stood at a distance, and watched what would
happen. In this emergency, the king's daughter,
who for a long time had not been pregnant, and
who longed for a child, came that day to the
river to bathe and wash herself; and hearing the
child cry, she ordered it to be brought to her ;
and touched with pity, sought a nurse. At that
moment the child's sister ran up, and said that,
if she wished, she could procure for her as nurse
one of the Hebrew women who had recently had
a child. And on her consenting and desiring
her to do so, she brought the child's mother to
be nurse for a stipulated fee, as if»she had been
some other person. Thereupon the queen gave
the babe the name of Moses, with etymological
propriety, from his being drawn out of " the
' water," ^ — for the Egyptians call water " mou,"
' — in which he had been exposed to die. For
they call Moses one who " who breathed [on
being taken] from the water." It is clear that
previously the parents gave a name to the child
on his circumcision ; and he was called Joachim.
And he had a third name in heaven, after his
ascension,^ as the mystics say — Melchi. Hav-

' [Concerning the LXX., see cap. vii. p. 308, note 4, su^ra.]

* This is the account given by Philo, ol whose book on tne life of
Moses thiK chapter is an epitome, for the most part in Philo's words.

^ *• He was the seventh in descent from the first, who, being a for-
eigner, was the founder of the whole Jewish race." — Philo.

* rSce Ex. ii. xo.]

^ 1 Concerning this, see Deut. xxxiii. 5. And as to " mystics,"
with cauibn, may be read advantageously, the article " Mysteries,"
Encyclop, BrtiaMH., vol. xxiii. p. 124.]

ing reached the proper age, he was taught arith-
metic, geometry, poetry, harmony, and besides,
medicine and music, by those that excelled in
these arts among the Egyptians ; and besides,
the philosophy which is conveyed by symbols,
which they point out in the hieroglyph ical in-
scriptions. The rest of the usual course of in-
struction, Greeks taught him in Egypt as a royal
child, as Philo says in his life of Moses. He
learned, besides, the literature of the Egyptians,
and the knowledge of* the heavenly bodies from
the Chaldeans and the Egyptians ; whence in the
Acts ^ he is said " to have been instructed in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians." And Eupole-
mus, in his book On the Kings in Judea, says
ttet " Moses was the first wise man, and the first
that imparted grammar to the Jews, that the
Phoenicians received it from the Jews, and the
Greeks from the Phoenicians." And betaking
himself to their philosophy,? he increased his
wisdom, being ardendy attached to the training
received from his kindred and ancestors, till he
struck and slew the Egyptian who wrongfully
attacked the Hebrew. And the mystics say that
"he slew the Egyptian by a word only ; as, cer-
tainly, Peter in the Acts is related to have slain
by speech those who appropriated part of the
price of the field, and lied.® And so Artapanus,
in his work On the Jews, relates " that Moses,
being shut up in custody by Chenephres, king
of the Egyptians, on account of the people
demanding to be let go from Egypt, the prison
being opened by night, by the interposition of
God, went forth, and reaching the palace, stood
before the king as he slept, and aroused him ;
and that the latter, struck with what had taken
place, bade Moses tell him the name of the God
who had sent him ; and that he, bending Tor-
ward, told him in his ear ; and that the king on
hearing it fell speechless, but being supported by
Moses, revived again." And respecting the edu-
cation of Moses, we shall find a harmonious
account in Ezekiel,^ the composer of Jewish
tragedies in the drama entitled The Exodus,
He thus writes in the person of Moses : —

" For, seeing our race abundantly increase,
His treacherous snares King Pharaoh 'gainst us laid,
And cruelly in brick-kilns some of us,
And some, in toilsome works of building, plagued.
And towns and towers by toil of ill-starred men
He raised. Then to the Hebrew race proclaimed,
That each male child should in deep-flowing Nile
Be drowned. My mother bore and hid me then
Three months (so afterwards she told). Then took,
And me adorned with fair array, and placed
On the deep sedgy marsh by Nil us bankj
While Miriam, my sister, watched afar.
Then, with her maids, the daughter of the king.
To bathe her beauty in the cleansing stream,

* Acts vii. 22.

f Adopting the reading ^ikwro^av ai(ai instead of ^vaiv a^oi,

• Acts V. I.

9 [Eusebius, Pro/. Evatig;.^ ix. 4.]

336

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book L

Came near, straight saw, and took and raised me up;

And knew me for a Hebrew. Miriam

My sister to the princess ran, and said,

* Is it thy pleasure, that I haste and find

A nurse for thee to rear this child

Among the Hebrew women?* The princess

Gave assent. The maiden to her mother sped,

And told, who quick appeared. My own

Dear mother took me in her arms. Then said

The daughter of the king: * Nurse me this child,

And I will give thee wages.* And my name

Moses she called, because she drew and saved

Me from the waters on the river's bank.

And when the days of childhood had flown by,

My mother brought me to the palace where

The princess dwelt, after disclosing all

About my ancestry, and God*s great gifts.

In boyhood's years I royal nurture had,

And in all princely exercise was trained.

As if the princess's very son. But when

The circling days had run their course,

I left the royal palace.**

Then, after relating the combat between the
Hebrew and the Egyptian, and the burying of
the Egyptian in the sand, he says of the other
contest : —

•* Why strike one feebler than thyself ^
Ana he rejoined : Who made tnee judge o*er us,
Or ruler ? Wilt thou slay me, as thou didst
Him yesterday ? And I in terror said.
How is this known ? **

Then he fled from Egypt and fed sheep, being
thus trained beforehand for pastoral rule. For
the shepherd's life is a preparation for sovereignty
in the case of him who is destined to rule over
the peaceful flock of men, as the chase for those
who are by nature warlike. Thence God brought
him to lead the Hebrews. Then the Egyptians,
oft admonished, continued unwise ; and the
Hebrews were spectators of the calamities that
others suffered, learning in safety the power of
God. And when the Egyptians gave no heed
to the effects of that power, through their foolish
infatuation disbelieving, then, as is said, "the
children knew " what was done ; and the He-
brews afterwards going forth, departed carrying
much spoil from the Egyptians, not for avarice,
as the cavillers say, for God did not persuade
them to covet what belonged to others. But, in
the first place, they took wages for the services
they had rendered the Egyptians all the time ;
and then in a way recompensed the Egyptians,
by afflicting them in requital as avaricious, by
the abstraction of the booty, as they had done
the Hebrews by enslaving them. Whether, then,
as may be alleged is done in war, they thought
it proper, in the exercise of the rights of con-
querors, to take away the property of their ene-
mies, as those who have gained the day do from
those who are worsted (and there was just cause
of hostilities. The Hebrews came as suppliants
to the Egyptians on account of famine ; and
they, reducing their guests to slavery, compelled
them to serve them after the manner of captives,

giving them no recompense) ; or as in peace,
took the spoil as wages against the will of those
who for a long period had given them no recom-
pense, but rather had robbed them, [it is all
one.]

CHAP. XXrV. — HOW MOSES DISCHARGED THE PART
OF A MILfTARY LEADER.

Our Moses then is a prophet, a legislator,
skilled in military tactics and strategy, a poli-
tician, a philosopher. And in what sense he
was a prophet, shall be by and by told, when
we come to treat of prophecy. Tactics belong
to military command, and the ability to com-
mand an army is among the attributes of kingly
rule. Legislation, again, is also one of the
functions of the kingly office, as also judicial
authority.

Of the kingly office one kind is divine, — that
which is according to God and His holy Son, by
whom both the good things which are of the
earth, and external and perfect felicity too, are
supplied. " For," it is said, " seek what is great,
and the little things shall be added." ' And
there is a second kind of royalty, inferior to that
administration which is purely rational and di-
vine, which brings to the task of government
merely the high mettle of the soul ; after which
fashion Hercules ruled the Argives, and Alexan-
der the Macedonians. The third kind is what
aims after one thing — merely to conquer and
overturn ; but to turn conquest either to a good
or a bad purpose, belongs not to such rule.
Such was the aim of the Persians in their cam-
paign against Greece. For, on the one hand,
fondness for strife is solely the result of passion,
and acquires power solely for the sake of domi-
nation ; while, on the other, the love of good is
charactcftfetic of a soul which uses its high spirit
for noble ends. The fourth, the worst of all, is
the sovereignty which acts according to the
promptings of the passions, as that of Sarda-
napalus, and those who propose to themselves
as their end the gratification of the passions to
the utmost. But the instrument of regal sway

— the instrument at once of that which over-
comes by virtue, and that which does so by force

— is the power of managing (or tact) . And it
varies according to the nature and the material.
In the case of arms and of fighting animals ihe
ordering power is the soul and mind, by means
animate and inanimate ; and in the case of the
passions of the soul, which we master by virtue,
reason is the ordering power, by affixing the seal
of continence and self-restraint, along with holi-
ness, and sound knowledge with truth, making
the result of the whole to terminate in piety
towards God. For it is wisdom which regulates

I Not in Scripture. The reference may be to Matt. vi. 33.

Chap. XXIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

337

in the case of those who so practise virtue ; and
divine things are ordered by wisdom, and human
affairs by politics — all things by the kingly fac-
ulty. He is a king, then, who governs according
to the laws, and possesses the skill to sway will-
ing subjects. Such is the Lord, who receives all
who believe on Him and by Him. For the
Father has delivered and subjected all to Christ
our King, " that at the name of Jesus every knee
may bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth, and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father." '

Now, generalship involves three ideas : cau-
tion, enterprise, and the union of the two. And
each of these consists of three things, acting as
they do either by word, or by deeds, or by both
together. And all this can be accomplished
either by persuasion, or by compulsion, or by
inflicting harm in the way of taking vengeance
on those who ought to be punished ; and this
either by doing what is right, or by telling what
is untrue, or by telling what is true, or by adopt-
ing any of these means conjointly at the same
time.

Now, the Greeks had the advantage of receiv-
ing from Moses all these, and the knowledge of
how to make use of each of them. And, for
the sake of example, I shall cite one or two
instances of leadership. Moses, on leading the
people forth, suspecting that the Eg}'ptians would
pursue, left the short and direct route, and turned
to the desert, and marched mosdy by night.
For it was another kind of arrangement by
which the Hebrews were trained in the great
wilderness, and for a protracted time, to belief
in the existence of one God alone, being inured
by the wise discipline of endurance to which
they were subjected. The strategy of Moses,
therefore, shows the necessity of discerning what
will be of service before the approach of dan-
gers, and so to encounter them. It turned out
precisely as he suspected, for the Egyptians pur-
sued with horses and chariots, but were quickly
destroyed by the sea breaking on them and over-
whelming them with their horses and chariots,
so that not a remnant of them was left. After-
wards the pillar of fire, which accompanied them
(for it went before them as a guide), conducted
the Hebrews by night through an untrodden
region, training and bracing them, by toils and
hardships, to manliness and endurance, that after
their experience of what appeared formidable dif-
ficulties, the benefits of the land, to which from
the trackless desert he was conducting them,
might become apparent. Furthermore, he put
to flight and slew the hostile occupants of the
land, falling upon them from a desert and rugged

' Phil. u. xo, zi.

line of march (such was the excellence of his
generalship). For the taking of the land of
those hostile tribes was a work of skill and
strategy.

Perceiving this, Miltiades, the Athenian gen-
eral, who conquered the Persians in battle at
Marathon, imitated it in the following fashion.
Marching over a trackless desert, he led on the
Athenians by night, and eluded the barbarians
that were set to watch him. For Hippias, who
had deserted from the Athenians, conducted the
barbarians into Attica, and seized and held the
points of vantage, in consequence of having a
knowledge of the ground. The task was then to
elude Hippias. Whence rightly Miltiades, trav-
ersing the desert and attacking by night the
Persians commanded by Dates, led his soldiers
to victory.

But further, when Thrasybulus was bringing
back the exiles from Phyla, and wished to elude
observation, a pillar became his guide as he
marched over a trackless region. To Thrasybu-
lus by night, the sky being moonless and stormy,
a fire appeared leading the way, which, having
conducted them safely, left them near Munychia,
where is now the altar of the light-bringer (Phos-
phorus) .

From such an instance, therefore, let our ac-
counts become credible to the Greeks, namely,
that it was possible for the omnipotent God to
make the pillar of fire, which was their guide on
their march, go before the Hebrews by night.
It is said also in a certain oracle, —

" A pillar to the Thebans is joy-inspiring Bacchus,"

from the history of the Hebrews. Also Euripides
says, in Antiope, —

" In the chambers within, the herdsman,
With chaplet of ivy, piUar of the Evoean god."

The pillar indicates that God cannot be por-
trayed. The pillar of light, too, in addition to
its pointing out that God cannot be represented,
shows also the stability and the permanent dura-
tion of the Deity, and His unchangeable and
inexpressible light. Before, then, the invention
of the forms of images, the ancients erected pil-
lars, and reverenced them as statues of the Deity.
Accordingly, he who composed the Fhoronis
writes, —

" Callithoe, key-bearer of the Olympian queen :
Argive Hera, who first with fillets and with fringes
The queen*s tall column all around adorned."

Further, the author of Europia relates that the
statue of Apollo at Delphi was a pillar in these
words : —

" That to the god first-fruits and tithes we may
On sacred pillars and on lofty column hang.

Apollo, interpreted mystically by " privation of

338

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

many," * means the one God. Well, then, that
fire like a pillar, and the fire in the desert, is the
symbol of the holy light which passed through
from earth and returned again to heaven, by the
wood [of the cross], by which also the gift of
intellectual vision was bestowed on us.

XXV. — PLATO AN IMITATOR OF MOSES IN
FRAMING LAWS.

r-N Plato the philosopher, aided in legislation by

( the books of Moses, censured the polity of

I Minos, and that of Lycurgus, as having bravery

/alone as their aim; while he praised as more

I seemly the polity which expresses some one

\^thing, and directs according to one precept. For

ne says that it becomes us to philosophize with

strength, and dignity, and wisdom, — holding

unalterably the same opinions about the same

things, with reference to the dignity of heave

Accordingly, therefore, he interprets what is i

the law, enjoining us to look to one God and to

do justly. Of politics, he says there are two

kinds, — the department of law, and that of

politics, strictly so called.

And he refers to the Creator, as the Statesma
(6 iroAtTucd?) by way of eminence, in his boo
of this name (6 itoXitiko^) ; and those who lea
an active and just life, combined with contem
plation, he calls statesmen {vo\itlkoi) . That
department of politics which is called ** Law,"
he divides into administrative magnanimity and
private good order, which he calls orderliness,
and harmony, and sobriety, which are seen when
rulers suit their subjects, and subjects are obe-
dient to their rulers ; a result which the system
of Moses sedulously aims at effecting. Further,
that the department of law is founded on gen-
eration, that of politics on friendship and con-
sent, Plato, with the aid he received, affirms;
and so, coupled with the laws the philosopher in
the Epinomis^ who knew the course of all gener-
ation, which takes place by the instrumentality
of the planets ; and the other philosopher, Ti-
mceuSj who was an astronomer and student of the
motions of the stars, and of their sympathy and
association with one another, he consequently
joined to the "polity" (or " republic " ). Then,
in my opinion, the end both of the statesman,
and of him who lives according to the law, is
contemplation. It is necessary, therefore, that
public affairs should be rightly managed. But
to philosophize is best. For he who is wise will
live concentrating all his energies on knowledge,
directing his life by good deeds, despising the
opposite, and following the pursuits which con-
tribute to truth. And the law is not what is de-
cided by law (for what is seen is not vision), nor
every opinion (not certainly what is evil). But

' a priyadve, and iroAAoi, many.

law is the opinion which is good, and what is
good is that which is true, and what is true is
that which finds " true being," and attains to it.
" He who is," » says Moses, " sent me." In ac-
cordance with which, namely, good opinion, some
have called law, right reason, which enjoins what
is to be done and forbids what is not to be done.

CH/IP. XXVI. — MOSES RIGHTLY CALLED A DI\TXE
LEGISL.\T0R, AND, THOUGH INFERIOR TO CHRIST,
FAR SUPERIOR TO THE GREAT LEGISLATORS OF
THE GREEKS, MINOS AND LYCURGUS.

Whence the law was rightly said to have been
given by Moses, being a rule of right and wTong ;
and we may call it with accuracy the divine
ordinance (^ccr/xd?^)^ inasmuch as it was given
by God through Moses. It accordingly con-
ducts to the divine. (Paul says : " The law was
instituted because of transgressions, till the seed
should come, to whom the promise was made."
Then, as if in explanation of his meaning, he
dds : " But before faith came, we were kept
nder the law, shut up," manifestly through fear,
in consequence of sins, " unto the faith which
should afterwards be revealed ; so that the law
was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that
we should be justified by faith.^ The true
legislator is he who assigns to "each department
of the soul what is suitable to it and to its
operations. Now Moses, to speak comprehen-
sively, was a living law, governed by the benign
Word. Accordingly, he furnished a good polity,
which is the right discipline of men in social
life. He also handled the administration of
justice, which is that branch of knowledge which
deals with the correction of transgressors in the
interests of justice. Co-ordinate with it is the
faculty of dealing viath pimishments, which is a
knowledge of the due measure to be observed
in punishrhents. And punishment, in virtue of
its being so, is the correction of the soul. In a
word, the whole system of Moses is suited for
the training of such as are capable of becoming
good and noble men, and for hunting out men
like them ; and this is the art of command.
And that wisdom, which is capable of treating
rightly those who have been caught by the Word,
is legislative wisdom. For it is the property of
this wisdom, being most kingly, to possess and
use.

It is the wise man, therefore, alone whom the
philosophers proclaim king, legislator, general,
just, holy, God-beloved. And if we discover
these qualities in Moses, as shown firom the
Scriptures themselves, we may, with the most
assured persuasion, pronounce Moses to be truly
wise. As then we say that it belongs to the

» "I AM," A. v.: Ex. iii, 14.

3 From the ancient derivation of this word from 9«of .

4 Gal. iii. 29, 33, 34.

Chap. XXVII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

339

shepherd's art to care for the sheep; for so
"the good shepherd giveth his life for the
sheep ; " ' so also we shall say that legislation,
inasmuch as it presides over and cares for the
flock of men, establishes the virtue of men, by
fanning into flame, as far as it can, what good
there is in humanity.

And if the flock figuratively spoken of as
belonging to the Lord is nothing but a flock of
men, then He Himself is the good Shepherd
and Lawgiver of the one flock, " of the sheep
who hear Him," the one who cares for them,
'* seeking," and finding by the law and the word,
" that which was lost ; " since, in truth, the law
is spiritual and leads to felicity. For that which
has arisen through the Holy Spirit is spiritual.
And he is truly a legislator, who not only an-
nounces what is good and noble, but understands
it. The law of this man who possesses knowl-
edge is the saving precept ; or rather, the law is
the precept of knowledge. For the Word is
" the power and the wisdom of God." ' Again,
the expounder of the laws is the same one by
whom the law was given ; the first expounder of
the divine commands, who unveiled the bosom
of the Father, the only-begotten Son.

Then those who obey the law, since they have
some knowledge of Him, cannot disbelieve or
be ignorant of the truth. But those who disbe-
lieve, and have shown a repugnance to engage
in the works of the law, whoever else may, cer-
tainly confess their ignorance of the truth.

What, then, is the unbelief of the Greeks ?
Is it not their unwillingness to believe the truth
which declares that the law was divinely given
by Moses, whilst they honour Moses in their
own writers? They relate that Minos received
the laws from Zeus in nine years, by frequenting
the cave of Zeus ; and Plato, and Aristode, and
Ephorus write that Lycurgus was trained in legis-
lation by going constantly to Apollo at Delphi.
Chamaeleo of Heraclea, in his book On Drunk-
enness, and Aristotle in The Polity of LocrianSy
mention that Zaleucus the Locrian received the
laws from Athene.

■

But those who exalt the credit of Greek legis-
lation, as far as in them lies, by referring it to
a divine source, after the model of Mosaic
prophecy, are senseless in not owning the truth,
and the archetype of what is related among
them.

CHAP. XXVII. — THE LAW, EVEN IN CORRECTING
AND PUNISHING, AIMS AT THE GOOD OF MEN.

Let no one, then, run down law, as if, on
account of the penalty, it were not beautiful and
good. For shall he who drives away bodily dis-
ease appear a benefactor ; and shall not he who

* John X. n.
' 1 Cor. i, 94.

attempts to deliver the soul from iniquity, as
much more appear a friend, as the soul is a
more precious thing than the body? Besides,
for the sake of bodily health we submit to
incisions, and cauterizations, and medicinal
draughts ; and he who administers them is
called saviour and healer,^ even though ampu-
tating parts, not from grudge or ill-will towards
the patient, but as the principles of the art pre-
scribe, so that the sound parts may not perish
along with them, and no one accuses the phy-
sician's art of wickedness ; and shall we not
similarly submit, for the soul's sake, to either
banishment, or punishment, or bonds, provided
only from unrighteousness we shall attain to
righteousness ?

For the law, in its solicitude for those who
obey, trains up to piety, and prescribes what is
to be done, and restrains each one from sins,
imposing penalties even on lesser sins.

But when it sees any one in such a condition
as to appear incurable, posting to the last stage
of wickedness, then in its solicitude for the rest,
that they may not be destroyed by it (just as if
amputating a part from the whole body), it con-
demns such an one to death, as the course most
conducive to health. " Being judged by the
Lord," says the apostle, "we are chastened,
that we may not be condemned with the world."'*
For the prophet had said before, " Chastening,
the Lord hath chastised me, but hath not given
me over unto death." s " For in order to teach
thee His righteousness," it is said, " He chas-
tised thee and tried thee, and made thee to
hunger and thirst in the desert land ; that all
His statutes and His judgments may be known
in thy heart, as I command thee this day ; and
that thou mayest know in thine heart, that just
as if a man were chastising his son, so the Lord
our God shall chastise thee."^

And to prove that example corrects, he says
directly to the purpose : " A clever man, when
he seeth the wicked punished, will himself be
severely chastised, for the fear of the Lord is the
source of wisdom." 7

But it is the highest and most perfect good,
when one is able to lead back any one from the
practice of evil to virtue and well-doing, which
is the very function of the law. So that, when
one falls into any incurable evil, — when taken
possession of, for example, by wrong or covet-
ousness, — it will be for his good if he is put to
death. For the law is beneficent, being able to
make some righteous from unrighteoils, if they
will only give ear to it, and by releasing others
from present evils ; for those who have chosen

3 [So, the Good Physician. Jer. viii. 23.]
* I Cor. xi. 32.
s Ps. cxviii. 18.

6 Deut. viii. 2, 3, 5.

7 Prov. xxii. 3, 4.

340

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book I.

to live temperately and justly, it conducts to im-
mortality. To know the law is characteristic of
a good disposition. And again : " Wicked men
do not understand the law ; but they who seek
the Lord shall have understanding in all that is
good." »

It is essential, certainly, that the providence
which manages all, be both supreme and good.
For it is the power of both that dispenses sal-
vation— the one correcting by punishment, as
supreme, the other showing kindness in the ex-
ercise of beneficence, as a benefactor. It is in
your power not to be a son of disobedience, but
to pass from darkness to life, and lending your
ear to wisdom, to be the legal slave of God, in
the first instance, and then to become a faithfiil
servant, fearing the Lord God. And if one as-
cend higher, he is enrolled among the sons.

But when " charity covers the multitude of
sins,"^ by the consummation of the blessed hope,
then may we welcome him as one who has been
enriched in love, and received into the elect
adoption, which is called the beloved of God,
while he chants the prayer, saying, " Let the
Lord be my God."

The beneficent action of the law, the apostle
showed in the passage relating to the Jews, writ-
ing thus : " Behold, thou art called a Jew and
restest in the law, and makest thy boast in God,
and knowest the will of God, and approvest the
things that are more excellent, being instructed
out of the law, and art confident that thou thy-
self art a guide of the blind, a light of them who
are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a
teacher of babes, who hast the form of knowl-
edge and of truth in the law." 3 For it is ad-
mitted that such is the power of the law, although
those whose conduct is not according to the law,
make a false pretence, as if they lived in the law.
" Blessed is the man that hath found wisdom,
and the mortal who has seen understanding ; for
out of its mouth," manifestly Wisdom*s, " pro-
ceeds righteousness, and it bears law and mercy
on its tongue."^ For both the law and the
Gospel are the energy of one Lord, who is " the
power and wisdom of God ; " and the terror
which the law begets is merciful and in order to
salvation. " Let not alms, and faith, and truth
fail thee, but hang them around thy neck." 5 In
the same way as Paul, prophecy upbraids the
people with not understanding the law. " De-
struction and misery are in their ways, and the
way of peace have they not known." ^ " There
is no fear of God before their eyes." 7 " Pro-

* Prov. xxviii. 5.

2 I Pel. iv. 8.

3 Rom. ii. 17-20.

* Prov. iii. 13, x6.

* Prov. iii. 3.

^ Isa. lix. 7> 8; Rom. iii. 16, 17.
7 Ps. XXX VI. i; Rom. iii. 18.

fessing themselves wise, they became fools." ^
" And we know that the law is good, if a man
use it lawfully." 9 " Desiring to be teachers of
the law, they understand," says the apostle, " nei-
ther what they say, nor whereof they aflfirm." "^
" Now the end of the commandment is charitv
out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and
faith unfeigned." "

CHAP. XXVm. — THE FOURFOLD DIVISION OF THE

MOSAIC LAW.

The Mosaic philosophy is accordingly divided
into four parts, — into the historic, and that
which is specially called the legislative, which
two properly belong to an ethical treatise ; and
the third, that which relates to sacrifice, which
belongs to physical science ; and the fourth,
above all, the department of theology, " vision," "
which Plato predicates of the truly great mys-
teoes. And this species Aristotle calls meta-
physics. Dialectics, according to Plato, is, as
he says in T^f StaUsmattj a science devoted to
the discovery of the explanation of things. And
it is to be acquired by the wise man, not for the
sake of saying or doing aught of what we find
among men (as the dialecticians, who occupy
themselves in sophistry, do), but to be able to
say and do, as far as possible, what is pleasing
to God. But the true dialectic, being philosophy
mixed with truth, by examining things, and test-
ing forces and powers, gradually ascends in
relation to the most excellent essence of all, and
essays to go beyond to the God of the universe,
professing not the knowledge of mortal affairs,
but the science of things divine and heavenly ;
in accordance with which follows a suitable
course of practice with respect to words and
deeds, even in human affairs. Rightly, therefore,
the Scripture, in its desire to make us such
dialecticians, exhorts us : " Be ye skilful money-
changers," *3 rejecting some things, but retaining
what is good. For this true dialectic is the science
which analyses the objects of thought, and shows
abstractly and by itself the individual substratum
of existences, or the power of dividing things
into genera, which descends to their most special
properties, and presents each individual object
to be contemplated simply such as it is.

Wherefore it alone conducts to the true wis-
dom, which is the divine power which deaU
with the knowledge of entities as entities, which
grasps what is perfect, and is freed from all
passion ; not without the Saviour, who withdraws,
by the divine word, the gloom of ignorance

' Rom. i. 33.

9 1 Tim. i. 8.

»o I Tim. i. 7.

" I Tim. i. 5.

12 «iroirTcia, the third and highest grade of ra' *tioa into tbe
mysteries.

'3 A saying not in Scripture: but by several of the ancient Fathers
attributed to Christ or an apostle. [Jones, Cattcn, i. 438.J

Chap. XXIX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

341

arising from evil training, which had overspread the
eye of the soul, and bestows the best of gifts, —

That we might well know or God or man." *

It is He who truly shows how we are to know
ourselves. It is He who reveals the Father of
the universe to whom He wills, and as far as
human nature can comprehend. " For no man
knoweth the Son but the Father, nor the Father
but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall
reveal Him."* Rightly, then, the apostle says
that it was by revejation that he knew the
mystery : " As I wrote afore in few words, accord-
ing as ye are able to understand my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ.'* ^ « According as ye
are able," he said, since he knew that some had
received milk only, and had not yet received
meat, nor even milk simply. The sense of the
law is to be taken in three ways,* — either as
exhibiting a symbol, or laying down a precept
for right conduct, or as uttering a prophecy.
But I well know that it belongs to men [of full
age] to distinguish and declare these things.
For the whole Scripture is not in its meaning a
single Myconos, as the proverbial expression has
it ; but those who hunt after the connection of
the divine teaching, must approach it with the
utmost perfection of the logical faculty.

CHAP. XXIX. — THE GREEKS BUT CHILDREN COM-
PARED WITH THE HEBREWS.

Whence most beautifully the Egyptian priest
in Plato said, " O Solon, Solon, you Greeks are
always children, not having in your souls a single
ancient opinion received through tradition from
antiquity. And not one of the Greeks is an old
man ; " s meaning by old, I suppose, those who
know what belongs to the more remote antiquity,
that is, our literature ; and by young, those who
treat of what is more recent and made the sub-
ject of study by the Greeks, — things of yester-
day and of recent date as if they were old and
ancient. Wherefore he added, **and no study
hoary with time ; " for we, in a kind of barbar-
ous way, deal in homely and rugged metaphor.
Those, therefore, whose minds are rightly con-
stituted approach the interpretation utterly des-
titute of artifice. And of the Greeks, he says
that their opinions " differ t)ut little from myths."
For neither puerile fables nor stories current
among children are fit for listening to. And he
called the myths themselves " children," as if
the progeny of those, wise in their own conceits

^ ** That thou may'st well know whether he be a god or a num." —
Homer.

^ Matt. xi. 27,

^ Eph. iii. 3, 4.

* The text has rtrpaxia^t which is either a mistake for rpixta^,
or belongs to a clause which is wanting. The author asserts the
triple sense of Scripture, — the mystic, the moral, and the prophetic.
[And thus lays the egg which his pupil Origen was to hatch, and to
nurse into a brood of mysticism.]

5 [ Timteus, p. aa, "B. — S.]

among the Greeks, who had but little insight j
meaning by the " hoary studies " the truth which
was possessed by the barbarians, dating from the
highest antiquity. To which expression he op-
posed the phrase "child fable," censuring the
mythical character of the attempts of the mod-
ems, as, like children, having nothing of age in
them, and aflfirming both in common — their
fables and their speeches — to be puerile.

Divinely, therefore, the power which spoke to
Hermas by revelation said, " The visions and rev-
elations are for those who are of double mind,
who doubt in their hearts if these things are or
are not."^

Similarly, also, demonstrations from the re-
sources of erudition, strengthen, confirm, and
establish demonstrative reasonings, in so far as
men's minds are in a wavering state like young
people's. "The good commandment," then,
according to the Scripture, "is a lamp, and the
law is a light to the path ; for instruction cor-
rects the ways of life." ^ " Law is monarch of
all, both of mortals and of immortals," says
Pindar. I understand, however, by these words.
Him who enacted law. And I regard, as spoken
of the God of all, the following utterance of
Hesiod, though spoken by the poet at random
and not with comprehension : —

** For the Saturnian framed for men this law :
Fishes, and beasts, and wineed birds may cat
Each other, since no rule of right is theirs ;
But Right (by far the best) to men he gave."

Whether, then, it be the law which is connate
and natural, or that given afterwards, which is
meant, it is certainly of God ; and both the law /
of nature and that of instruction are one. Thus
also Plato, in 77ie Statesman, says that the law-
giver is one ; and in The Laws, that he who
shall understand music is one ; teaching by these
words that the Word is one, and God is one.
And Moses manifestly calls the Lord a covenant :
" Behold I am my Covenant with thee," ^ having
previously told him not to seek the covenant in
writing.9 For it is a covenant which God, the
Author of all, makes. For God is called %w,
from Oicri^ (placing), and order or arrangement.
And in the Preaching ^° of Peter you will find
the Lord called I^aw and Word. But at this
point, let our first Miscellany " of gnostic notes,
according to the true philosophy, come to a close.

* [See Shepherd of Hermas^ i. p. 14. ante, S.]

7 Prov. vi. 23.

" Gen. xvii. 4. " As for me, behold, My covenant is with thee."
— A.V.

9 The allusion here is obscure. The suggestion has been made
that it is to ver. 2 of the same chapter, which is thus taken to mii-
mate that the covenant would be verbal, not written.

10 Referring to an apocryphal book so called. [Tbis book is not
cited as Scripture, but {va/eat quantum) as contaming a saying at-
tributed to St. Peter. Clement quotes it not infrequently. A very
full and valuable account of it maybe found in I^rdner, vol. ii. p. 353,
et seqq. Not less valuable is the account given by Jones, On the
CanoHy vol. i. p. 355. See all Clement's ciutions, same volume,

p. 345. ft^ *'W],
*' Srpw/taTffvf.

342 ELUCIDATIONS.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Purpose of the Stramata})

The Alexandrian Gnostics were the pestilent outgrowth of pseudo-Platonism ; and nobody
could comprehend their root-errors, and their branching thorns and thistles, better than Clement,
His superiority in philosophy and classical culture was exhibited, therefore, in his writings, as a
necessary preliminary. Like a good nautical combatant, his effort was to "get to windward," and
so bear down upon the enemy (to use an anachronism) with heavy-shotted broadsides. ^\nd we
must not blame Clement for his plan of " taking the wind out of their sails," by showing that an
eclectic philosophy might be made to harmonize with the Gospel^ His plan was that of melting
the gold out of divers ores, and throwing the dross away. Pure^old, he argues, is gold wherever
it may be found, and even in the purse of " thieves and robbers." So, then, he " takes from them
the armour in which they trusted, and divides the spoils." He will not concede to them the
name of " Gnostics," but wrests it from them, just as we reclaim the name of " Catholics " from
the Tridentine innovators, who have imposed a modern creed (and are constantly adding to it)
upon the Latin churches. Here, then, let me quote the Account of Bishop Kaye. He says,
" The object of Clement, in composing the Stromatdy was to describe the true * Gnostic,* or perfect
Christian, in order to furnish the believer with a model for his imitation, and to prevent him from
being led astray by the representations of the Valentinians and other gnostic sects." ..." Before
we proceed to consider his description of the Gnostic, however, it will be necessary briefly to
review his opinions respecting the nature and condition of man."

Here follows a luminous analysis (occupying pp. 229-238 of Kaye's work), after which he
says,—

"The foregoing brief notice of Clement's opinions respecting man, his soul, and his fallen state,
appeared necessary as an introduction to the description of the true Gnostic, By yvwo-ts, Clement
understood the perfect knowledge of all that relates to God, His nature, and dispensations. He
speaks of a twofold knowledge, — one, common to all men, and bom of sense ; the other, the
genuine yvcio-is, bred from the intellect, the mind, and its reason. This latter is not bom w^ith
men, but must be gained and by practice formed into a habit. The initiated find its perfection in
a loving mysticism, which this never-failing love makes lasting."

So, further, this learned analyst, not blindly, but always with scientific conscience and judicial
impartiality, expounds his author ; and, without some such guide, I despair of securing the real
interest of the youthful student. Butler's Analogy and Aristotle's Ethics are always analyzed for
learners, by editors of their works ; and hence I have ventured to direct attention to this " guide,
philosopher, and friend " of my own inquiries.*

II.

(Pantaenus and His School.')

The catechetical school at Alexandria was already ancient ; for Eusebius describes it as cf
&PXaiov c^ovs, and St. Jerome dates its origin from the first planting of Christianity. Many thiiiir^
conspired to make this city the very head of Catholic Christendom, at this time ; for the whole

' Book i. cap, i. p. 299, noic i. * Ed. Rivingtons, I^ndon, 1835. * Book i. cap. i. p. 301, n«Hc 9.

ELUCIDATIONS. 343

East centred here, and the East was Christendom while the West was yet a missionary field
almost entirely. Demetrius, then bishop, at the times with which we are now concerned, sent
Pantaenus to convert the Hindoos, and, whatever his success or failure there, he brought back
reports that Christians were there before him, the offspring of St. Bartholomew's preaching ; and,
in proof thereof, he brought with him a copy of St. Matthew's Gospel in the Hebrew tongue,'
which became one of tlie treasures of the church on the Nile.

But it deserves note, that, because of the learning concentrated in this place, the bishops of
Alexandria were, from the begiiming, the great authorities as to the Easter cycle and the annual
computation of Easter, which new created the science of astronomy as one result. The Council
of Nice, in settling the laws for the observance of the Feast of the Resurrection, extended the
function of the Alexandrian See in this respect ; for it was charged with the duty of giving notice
of the day when E^ter should fall every year, to all the churches. And easily might an ambitions
primate of Egypt have imagined himself superior to all other bishops at that time ; for, as Bingham
observes,' he was the greatest in the world, " for the absoluteness of his power, and the extent
of his jurisdiction." And this greatness of Alexandria was anden/, we must remember, at the
Nicene epoch ; for their celebrated canon (VI.) reads, " Ze/ ancieni customs prevail; so that
in Egypt, Lybia, and Pentapolis, the Bishop of Alexandria shall have power over all these."
Similar powers and privileges, over their own regions, were recognised in Rome and Antioch.

•

III.

(Tradition.^)

The apostles distinguish between vain traditions of the Jews, and their own Christian iropaSd-
<r€is, the tradita apostoHca (2 Tim. i. 13, 14; 2 Tim. ii. 2 ; i Cor, xi. 2 ; 2 Thess. ii. 15;
2 Thess. iii. 6 ; i Cor, v. 8 ; i Cor. xvi. 2). Among these were (i) the authentication of their
own Scriptures; {2) certain "forms of sound words," afterwards digested into liturgies; (3) the
rules for celebrating the Lx)rd's Supper, and of administering baptism ; (4) the Christian Passover
and the weekly Lord's Day ; (5) the Jewish Sabbath and ordinances, how far to be respected while
the temple yet stood ; (6) the kiss of charity, and other observances of public worship ; (7) the
agap(B, the rules about widows, etc.

In some degree these were the secret of the Church, with which " strangers intermeddled not"
lawfully. The Lord's Supper was celebrated after the catechumens and mere hearers had with-
drawn, and nobody was suffered to be present without receiving the sacrament. But, after the
conversion of the empire, the canons and constitutions universally dispersed made public all
these tradita; and the liturgies also were everywhere made known. It is idle, therefore, to
shelter under theories of the Disciplina Arcaniy those Middle-Age inventions, of which antiquity
shows no trace but in many ways contradicts emphatically ; e.g., the Eucharist, celebrated after
the withdrawal of the non-communicants, and received, in both kinds, by all present, cannot be
pleaded as the " secret " which justifies a ceremony in an unknown tongue and otherwise utterly
different ; in which the priest alone partakes, in which the cup is denied to the laity and which
is exhibited with great pomp before all comers with no general participation.

IV.

(Esoteric Doctrine.*)

Early Christians, according to Clement, taught to all alike, (i) all things necessary to salvation,
(2) all the whole Scriptures, and (3) all the apostolic traditions. This is evident from passages

' See Jones, On the CanoHy vol. iii. p. 44. ' Antiquities ^ vol. i. p. 66, ed. Bohn. ^ Book i. cap. i. p. 301, note 10.

* Book i. cap. i. p. 302, note 5.

__J

344 ELUCIDATIONS.

noted here and hereafter. But, in the presence of the heathen, they remembered our Lord*s
words, and were careful not " to cast pearls before swine." Like St. Paul before Felix, they " rea-
soned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," when dealing with men who knew
not God, preaching Christ to them in a practical way. In their instructions to the churches, they
were able to say with the same apostle, " I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.^^ Yet, even in the Church, they fed babes
with milk, and the more intelligent with the meat of God's word. What that meat was, we dis-
cover in the Stromata, when our author defines the true Gnostic, who follows whithersoever God
leads him in the divinely inspired Scriptures. He recognises many who merely taste the Scrip
tures as believers ; but the true Gnostic is a gnomon of truth, an index to others of the whole knowl-
edge of Christ.

What we teach children in the Sunday school, and what we teach young men in the theologi-
cal seminary, must illustrate the two ideas ; the same truths to babes in element, but to men in
all their bearings and relations.

The defenders of the modem creed of Pius the Fourth (a.d. 1564), finding no authority in
Holy Scripture for most of its peculiarities, which are all imposed as requisite to salvation as if it
were the Apostles' Creed itself, endeavour to support them, by asserting that they belonged to
the secret teaching of the early Church, of which they claim Clement as a witness. But the
fallacy is obvious. Either they were thus secreted, or they were not. If not, as is most evident
(because they contradict what was openly professed) , then no ground for the pretence. But sup-
pose they were, what follows ? Such secrets were no part of the faith, and could not become so
at a later period. If they were kept secret by the new theologians, and taught to " Gnostics "
only, they would still be without primitive example, but might be less objectionable. But, no !
they are imposed upon all, as if part of the ancient creeds ; imposed, as if articles of the Catholic
feith, on the most illiterate peasant, whose mere doubt as to any of them excludes him from the
Church here, and from salvation hereafter. Such, then, is a fatal departure from Catholic ortho-
doxy and the traditions of the ancients. The whole system is a novelty, and the product of the
most barren and corrupt period of Occidental history.

The Church, as Clement shows, never made any secret of any article of the Christian faith ; and,
as soon as she was free from persecution, the whole testimony of the Ante-Nicene Fathers was
summed up in the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan Confession. This only is the Catholic faith, and
the council forbade any additions thereto, in the way of a symbol. See Professor Shedd's Chris-
tian Doctrine, vol. ii. p. 438. Ed. 1864, New York.

(p. 302, note 9, Elucidation III., continued.)

This is a valuable passage for the illustration of our author's views of the nature of tradition,
(icara rov G€fiv6v rrjq 7rapa3oo-€(09 Kavova) as a canon " from the creation of the world ; " a tradition
preluding the tradition of true knowledge ; a divine mystery preparing for the knowledge of m\-s-
teries, — clearing the ground from thorns and weeds, beforehand, so that the seed of the Word may
not be choked. Now, in this tradition, he includes a true idea of Gentilism as well as of the He-
brew Church and its covenant relations ; in short, whatever a Christian scholar is obliged to learn
from " Antiquities '* and " Introductions " and " Bible Dictionaries," authenticated by universal
and orthodox approbation. These are the providential provisions of the Divine G^xonomy, for the
communication of truth. Dr. Watts has a sermon on the Inward Witness to Christianity, which
I find quoted by Vicesimus Knox (Works, vol. vii. p. 73, et seqq.) in a choice passage that
forcibly expands and expounds some of Clement*s suggestions, though without referring to our
author.

ELUCIDATIONS. 345

VI.

(Justification, p. 305, note 7.)

Without reference to my own vievi's on this great subject, and desiring merely to illustrate our
author, it shall suffice to remark, here, that to suppose that Clement uses the word technically^ as
we now use the language of the schools and of post-Reformation theologians, would hopelessly
confuse the argument of our author. It is clear that he has no idea of any justification apart from
the merits of Christ : but he uses the term loosely to express his idea, that as the Law led the
Hebrews to the great Healer, who rose from the dead for our justification, in that sense, and in no
other, the truth that was to be found in Greek Philosophy, although a minimum, did the same for
heathen who loved truth, and followed it so far as they knew. Whether his views even in
this were correct, it would not become me, here, to express any opinion. (See below, Elucida-
tion XIV.)

VII.

(Philosophy, p. 305, note 8.)

It is so important to grasp just what our author understands by this " philosophy," that I had
designed to introduce, here, a long passage from Bishop Kaye*s lucid exposition. Finding, however,
that these elucidations are already, perhaps, over multiplied, I content myself with a reference to
his Account, etc, (pp. 118-121).

VIII.

(Overflow of the Spirit, p. 306, note i.)

Here, again, I wished to introduce textual citations from several eminent authors : I content
myself with a very short one from Kaye, to illustrate the intricacy, not to say the contradictory
character, of some of Clement's positions as to the extent of grace bestowed on the heathen.
" Clement says that an act, to be right, must be done through the love of God. He says that every
action of the heathen is sinful, since it is not sufficient that an action is right : its object or aim
must also be right'^ {Account, etc., p. 426). For a most interesting, but I venture to think over-
drawn, statement of St. Paul's position as to heathen " wisdom," etc., see Farrar's Life of St
Paul (p. 20, et seqq,, ed. New York). Without relying on this popular author, I cannot but refer
the reader to his Hulsean Lecture (1870, p. 135, et segq.).

IX.

(Faith without Learning, p. 307, note 5.)

The compassion of Christ for poverty, misery, for childhood, and for ignorance, is everywhere
illustrated in Holy Scripture ; dji^ faith, even "as a grain of mustard seed," is magnified, accord-
ingly, in the infinite love of his teaching. Again I am willing to refer to Farrar (though I read
him always with something between the lines, before I can adopt his sweeping generalizations) for
a fine passage, I should quote entire, did space permit {The Witness of History to Christ, p. 172,
ed. London, 1872). See also the noble sermon of Jeremy Taylor on John vii. 17 (Works, vol. ii.
p. 53, ed. Bohn, 1844).

(The Open Secret, p. 313, note 3.)

The esoteric system of Clement is here expounded in few words : there is nothing in it which
may not be proclaimed from the house-tops, for all who have ears to hear. It is the mere swine
(with seed-pickers and jack-daws, the (nr^pfioXoyoi of the Athenians) who must be denied the
pearls of gnostic truth. And this, on the same merciful principle on which the Master was silent
before Pilate, and turned away from cities where they were not prepared to receive his message.

346 ELUCIDATIONS.

XI.

(Bodily Purity, p. 317, note i.)

From a familiar quotation, I have often argued that the fine instinct of a woman, even among
heathen, enfqrces a true idea : " If from her husband's bed, as soon as she has bathed : if from
adulterous commerce, not at all." This is afterwards noted by our author ; » but it is extraordinary
to find the mind of the great missionary to our Saxon forefathers, troubled about such questions,
even in the seventh century. I have less admiration for the elaborate answers of the great Patri-
arch of Rome (Gregory), to the scrupulous inquiries of Augustine, than for the instinctive and
aphoristic wisdom of poor Theano, in all the darkness of her heathenism. (See Ven. Bede,
Eccles, Hist.y book i. cap. 27, p. 131. Works, ed. London, 1843.)

XII.

(Clement's View of Philosophy, p. 318, note 4.)

I note the concluding words of this chapter (xvi.), as epitomizing the whole of what Clement
means to say on this great subject ; and, for more, see the Elucidation infra, on Justification.

XIII.
(The Ecstacy of Sibyl, etc., p. 319, note 3.)

No need to quote Virgil's description {/Eneidy vi. 46, with Heyne*s references in Excursus V.) ;
but I would compare with his picture of Sibylline inspiration, that of Balaam (Num. xxiv. 3, 4,
15, 16), and leave with the student an inquiry, how far we may credit to a divine motion, the ora-
cles of the heathen, i.e., some of them. I wish to refer the student, also, as to a valuable bit of
introductory learning, to the essay of Isaac Casaubon {Exercitationes ad Baronii Prolegom.y

pp. 65-85, ed. Genevse, 1663).

XIV.

(Justification, p. 323, note 2.)

Casaubon, in the work just quoted above {Exercital,, i.) examines this passage of our author,,
and others, comparing them with passages from St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine, and with Jus-
tin Martyr (see vol. i. p. 178, this series, cap. 46). Bishop Kaye (p. 428) justly remarks : "The
apparent incorrectness of Clement's language arises from not making that clear distinction which
the controversies at the time of the Reformation introduced." The word " incorrectness," though
for myself I do not object to it, might be said " to beg the question ; " and hence I should prefer
to leave it open to the divers views of readers, by speaking, rather, of his lack of precision in the
use of a term not then defined with theological delicacy of statement.

XV.

(Chronology, p. 334, note 5.)

Here an invaluable work for comparison and reference must be consulted by the student ;
viz., the Chronicon of Julius Africanus, in Routh's Reliquiae (tom ii. p. 220, et seqq.), with learned
annotations, in which (e.g., p. 491) Clement's work is cited. Africanus took up chronological
science in the imperfect state where it was left by Clement, with whom he was partially contem-
porary ; for he was Bishop of Emmaus in Palestine (called also Nicopolis) , and composed his
fine books of chronological history, under Marcus Aurelius.* On the Alexandrian era consult a
paragraph in Encyc. Britannica (vol. v. p. 714). It was adopted for Christian computation, after
Africanus. See Eusebius (book \i. cap. 31), and compare (this volume, p. 85) what is said of
Theophilus of Antioch, by Abp. Usher.3

^ p 4281 infra. - See also Fragtncnts^ p. 164, vol. ix., this series, Edin. edition.

3 For matters further pertaining to Clement, consult Routh, i. 140, i. 148, i. 127, i. 169, it. 59 (Eusebius, vi. 13^ ii. 165, 167, t6S,
171-172, 179, 307, 416, 491.

THE STROMATA. OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK 11.

CHAP. I. — INTRODUCTORY.'

As Scripture has called the Greeks pilferers of
the Barbarian ^ philosophy, it will next have to
be considered how this may be briefly demon-
strated. For we shall not only show that they
have imitated and copied the marvels recorded
in our books ; but we shall prove, besides, that
they have plagiarized and falsified (our writings
being, as we have shown, older) the chief dog-
mas they hold, both on faith and knowledge and
science, and hope and love, and also on repent-
ance and temperance and the fear of God, — a
whole swarm, verily, of the virtues of truth.

Whatever the explication necessary on the
point in hand shall demand, shall be embraced,
and especially what is occult in the barbarian
philosophy, the department of sy^nbol and enig-
ma ; which those who have subjected the teach-
ing of the ancients to systematic philosophic
study have affected, as being in the highest de-
gree serviceable, nay, absolutely necessary to the
knowledge of truth. In addition, it will in my
opinion form an appropriate sequel to defend
those tenets, on account of which the Greeks
assail us, making use of a few Scriptures, if per-
chance the Jew also may listen ^ and be able
quietly to turn from what he has believed to
Him on whom he has not believed. The ingen-
uous among the philosophers will then with pro-
priety be taken up in a friendly exposure both
of their life and of the discovery of new dogmas,
not in the way of our avenging ourselves on our
detractors (for that is far from being the case

I I** The Epistles of the New Testament have all a particular ref-
erence ia the condition and usages of Ike Christian world at the
time they luere -written. Therefore as they cannot be thoroughly
understood, unless that condition and those usages are known ana at-
tended to, so further, though they be known, yet if they be discon-
tinued or changed . . .references to such circumstances, now ceased
or altered, cannot, at this time, be ur^ed in that manner and with that
force which they were to the primitive Christians." This quotation
from one of Bishop Buder's Ethical Sermons has many bearings on
the study of our author; but the sermon itself, with its sefiueT, On
Human Nature ^ may well be read in connection with the Siromata.
See Butler, Ethical Discourses^ p. 77. Philadelphia, 1855 ]

' Referring in particular to the Jew^.

3 [Col. iv. 6.]

with those who have learned to bless those who
curse, even though they needlessly discharge
on us words of blasphemy) , but with a view to
their conversion ; if by any means these adepts
in wisdom may feel ashamed, being brought to
their senses by barbarian demonstration ; so as
to be able, although late, to see clearly of what
sort are the intellectual acquisitions for which
they make pilgrimages over the seas. Those
they have stolen are to be pointed out, that we may
thereby pull down their conceit ; and of those on
the discovery of which through investigation they
plume themselves, the refutation will be furnished.
By consequence, also we must treat of what is
called the curriculum of study — how far it is ser-
viceable ; * and of astrology, and mathematics,
and magic, and sorcery. For all the Greeks
boast of these as the highest sciences. " He
who reproves boldly is a peacemaker." s We
have often said already that we have neither
practised nor do we study the expressing our-
selves in pure Greek ; for this suits those who
seduce the multitude from the truth. But true
philosophic demonstration will contribute to the
profit not of the listeners* tongues, but of their
minds. And, in my opinion, he who is solicitous
about truth ought not to frame his language with
artfulness and care, but only to try to express his
meaning as he best can. For those who are par-
ticular about words, and devote their time to
them, miss the things.** It is a feat fit for the
gardener to pluck without injury the rose that is
growing among the thorns ; and for the crafts-
man to find out the pearl buried in the oyster's
flesh. And they say that fowls have flesh of the
most agreeable quality, when, through not being
supplied with abundance of food, they pick their
sustenance with difficulty, scraping with their
feet. If any one, then, speculating on what is

♦ The text reads axpi»<rr<K : Sylburg prefers the reading €wxp»j<r-

TO?.

5 Prov. X. 10, Septuagint.
^ [fiiaJiJpa^rfcri rd irpayMora. A truly Platonic thnist at sophis-
tical rnetoricians.]

347

348

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

similar, wants to arrive ' at the truth [that is] in
the numerous Greek plausibilities, like the real
face beneath masks, he will hunt it out with
much pains. For the power that appeared in
the vision to Hermas said, " Whatever may be
revealed to you, shall be revealed." *

CHAP. II. — THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD CAN BE AT-
TAINED ONLY THROUGH FAIIH.

" Be not elated on account of thy wisdom,"
say the Proverbs. " In all thy ways acknowledge
her, that she may direct thy ways, and that thy
foot may not stumble." By these remarks he
means to show that our deeds ought to be con-
formable to reason, and to manifest further that
we ought to select and possess what is useful out
of all culture. Now the ways of wisdom are
various that lead right to the way of truth. Faith
is the way. " Thy foot shall not stumble " is
said with reference to some who seem to oppose
the one divine administration of Providence.
Whence it is added, " Be not wise in thine own
eyes," according to the impious ideas which re-
volt against the administration of God. ** But
fear God," who alone is powerful. Whence it
follows as a consequence that we are not to op-
pose God. The sequel especially teaches clearly,
that " the fear of God is departure from evil ; "
for it is said, " and depart from all evil." Such
is the discipline of wisdom (" for whom the
Lord loveth He chastens "'), causing pain in
order to produce understanding, and restoring
to peace and immortality. Accordingly, the
Barbarian philosophy, which we follow, is in
reality perfect and true. And so it is said in the
book of Wisdom : " For He hath given me the
unerring knowledge of things that exist, to know
the constitution of the word," and so forth, down
to " and the virtues of roots." Among all these
he comprehends natural science, which treats of
all the phenomena in the world of sense. And
in continuation, he alludes also to intellectual
objects in what he subjoins : " And what is hid-
den or manifest I know ; for Wisdom, the arti-
ficer of all things, taught me."'» You have, in
brief, the professed aim of our philosophy ; and
the learning of these branches, when pursued
with right course of conduct, leads through Wis-
dom, the artificer of all things, to the Ruler of
all, — a Being difficult to grasp and apprehend,
ever receding and withdrawing from him who
pursues. But He who is far off has — oh ineffa-
ble marvel ! — come very near. " I am a God
that draws near," says the I^rd. He is in es-
sence remote ; *' for how is it that what is begot-
ten can have approached the Unbegotten ? "

I 6it?<rtXv9tvai, suggested by Sylb. as more suitable than the
ZiaXtXn9«va.i of the text.

* Hennas — close of third vision, [cap. 13. p. 17, su/ra.]

3 Prov. iii. 5, 6, 7, 12, 23.

4 Wisd. vii. 17, 20, 21, 22.

But He is very near in virtue of that power
which holds all things in its embrace. "Shall
one do aught in secret, and I see him not?"^
For the power of God is always present, in con-
tact with us, in the exercise of inspection, of
beneficence, of instruction. Whence Moses, per-
suaded that God is not to be known by human
wisdom, said, "Show me Thy glory ; " ^ and into
the thick darkness where God's voice was, pressed
to enter — that is, into the inaccessible and in-
visible ideas respecting Existence. For God is
not in darkness or in place, but above both space
and time, and qualities of objects. Wherefore
neither is He at any time in a part, either as con-
taining or as contained, either by limitation or by
section. " For what house will ye build to Me ? "
saith the Lord.^ Nay, He has not even built one
for Himself, since He cannot be contained. And
though heaven be called His throne, not even
thus is He contained, but He rests delighted in
the creation.

It is clear, then, that the truth has been hidden
from us ; and if that has been already shown by
one example, we shall establish it a little after by
several more. How entirely worthy of approba-
tion are they who are both willing to learn, and
able, according to Solomon, " to know wisdom
and instruction, and to perceive the words of
wisdom, to receive knotty words, and to per-
ceive true righteousness," there being another
[righteousness as well], not according to the
truth, taught by the Greek laws, and by the rest
of the philosophers. " And to direct judgments, ' *
it is said — not those of the bench, but he means
that we must preserve sound and free of error
the judicial faculty which is within us — " That
I may give subtlety to the simple, to the young
man sense and understanding." * "For the wise
man," who has been persuaded to obey the
commandments, "having heard these things,
will become wiser " by knowledge ; and " the
intelligent man will acquire rule, and will under-
stand a parable and a dark word, the sayings
and enigmas of the wise." 9 For it is not spu-
rious words which those inspired by God and
those who are gained over by them adduce, nor
is it snares in which the most of the sophists en-
tangle the young, spending their time on nought
true. But those who possess the Holy Spirit
" search the deep things of God," '° — that is,
grasp the secret that is in the prophecies. " To
impart of holy things to the dogs " is forbidden,
so long as they remain beasts. For never ought
those who are envious and perturbed, and still
infidel in conduct, shameless in barking at inves-

Jer. xxui. 23, 24.
Ex.

*> Ex. xxxiii. z8.
7 Isa. Ixvi. I.

B ei'i'oiai', not et;i'Oia>', as in the text.
9 Prov. i. 2-6.
*° I Cor. ii. la

Chap. IV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

349

ligation, to dip in the divine and clear stream of
the living water. "Let not the waters of thy
fountain overflow, and let thy waters spread over
thine own streets." * For it is not many who
understand such things as they fall in with ; or
know them even after learning them, though
they think they do, according to the worthy
Heraclitus. Does not even he seem to thee to
censure those who believe not? " Now my just
one shall live by faith," ' the prophet said. And
another prophet also says, " Except ye believe,
neither shall ye understand." 3 For how ever
could the soul admit the transcendental contem-
plation of such themes, while unbelief respecting
what was to be learned struggled within ? But
faith, which the Greeks disparage, deeming it
futile and barbarous, is a voluntary preconcep-
tion,^ the assent of piety — " the subject of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," ac-
cording to the divine apostle. " For hereby,"
pre-eminently, " the elders obtained a good re-
port. But without faith it is impossible to please
God." 5 Others have defined faith to be a unit-
ing assent to an unseen object, as certainly the
proof of an unknown thing is an evident assent.
If then it be choice, being desirous of something,
the desire is in this instance intellectual. And
since choice is the beginning of action, faith is
discovered to be the beginning of action, being
the foundation of rational choice in the case of
any one who exhibits to himself the previous
demonstration through faith. Voluntarily to fol-
low what is useful, is the first principle of un-
derstanding. Unswerving choice, then, gives
considerable momentum in the direction of
knowledge. The exercise of faith directly be-
comes knowledge, reposing on a sure foundation.
Knowledge, accordingly, is defined by the sons
of the philosophers as a habit, which cannot be
overthrown by reason. Is there any other true
condition such as this, except piety, of which
alone the Word is teacher?^ I think not. Theo-
phrastus says that sensation is the root of faith.
For from it the rudimentary principles extend to
the reason that is in us, and the understanding.
He who believeth then the divine Scriptures with
sure judgment, receives in the voice of God, who
bestowed the Scripture, a demonstration that
cannot be impugned. Faith, then, is not estab-
lished by demonstration. " Blessed therefore
those who, not having seen, yet have believed." ^
The Siren's songs, exhibiting a power above hu-
man, fascinated those that came near, conciliating

* Prov. V. i6.

* Hab. ii. 4.
3 Isa. vii. 9.

* Or anticipation, irpdAi)i^i9.
^ Heb. xi. I, 2, 6.

^ Adopting Lowth's conjecture of supplying irA^v before 0fo<rt-

7 John XX. 39. I Note this definition of true knowledge^ followed
by an appeal to the Scriptures as infallible teaching. No need to say
that no other infallibility is ever hinted, or dreamed of, by Clement.]

them, almost against their will, to the reception
of what was said.

CHAP. III. — FAITH NOT A PRODUCT OF NATURE.

Now the followers of Basilides regard faith as
natural, as they also refer it to choice, [repre-
senting it] as finding ideas by intellectual com-
prehension without demonstration ; while the
followers of Valentinus assign faith to us, the
simple, but will have it that knowledge springs
up in their own selves (who are saved by nature)
through the advantage of a germ of superior ex-
cellence, saying that it is as far removed from
faith as ^ the spiritual is from the animal. Fur-
ther, the followers of Basilides say that faith as
well as choice is proper according to every inter-
val ; and that in consequence of the supramun-
dane selection mundane faith accompanies all
nature, and that the free gift of faith is comform-
able to the hope of each. Faith, then, is no
longer the direct result of free choice, if it is a
natural advantage.

Nor will he who has not believed, not being the
author [of his unbelief], meet with a due recom-
pense ; and he that has believed is not the cause
[of his belief]. And the entire peculiarity and
difference of belief and unbelief will not fall under
either praise or censure, if we reflect rightly,
since there attaches to it the antecedent natural
necessity proceeding from the Almighty. And
if we are pulled like inanimate things by the pup-
pet-strings of natural powers, willingness ^ and
unwillingness, and impulse, which is the antece-
dent of both, are mere redundancies. And for
my part, I am utterly incapable of conceiving
such an animal as has its appetencies, which are
moved by external causes, under the dominion
of necessity. And what place is there any longer
for the repentance of him who was once an un-
believer, through which comes forgiveness of
sins? So that neither is baptism rational, nor
the blessed seal,*° nor the Son, nor the Father.
But God, as I think, turns out to be the distribu-
tion to men of natural powers, which has not as
the foundation of salvation voluntary faith.

CHAP. IV. — FAFTH THE FOUNDATION OF ALL

KNOWLEDGE.

But we, who have heard by the Scriptures that
self-determining choice and refusal have been
given by the Lord to men, rest in the infallible
criterion of faith, manifesting a willing spirit, since
we have chosen life and believe God through
His voice. And he who has believed the Word
knows the matter to be true ; for the Word is

' The text reads ^: but Sylb. suggests jj, which we have adopted.

9 ical rb tKovxriov is supplied as required by the sense. The text
has oKova-tov only, for which Lowth proposes to read ixoviriov.

1° Either baptism or the imposition of hands after baptism. [For
an almost pontifical decision as to this whole matter, witn a very just
eulogy of the German (Lutheran) confirmation-office, see Bunaen,
//i/>poi., iii. pp. 214, 369.J

350

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book If.

truth. But he who has disbelieved Him that
speaks, has disbelieved God.

'* By faith we understand that the worlds were
framed by the word of God, so that what is seen
was not made of things which appear," says the
apostle. " By faith Abel offered to God a fuller
sacrifice than Cain, by which he received testi-
mony that he was righteous, God giving testimony
to him respecting his gifts ; and by it he, being
dead, yet speaketh," and so forth, down to " than
enjoy the pleasures pf sin for a season." ' Faith
having, therefore, justified these before the law,
made them heirs of the divine promise. Why
then should I review and adduce any further testi-
monies of faith from the history in our hands ?
" For the time would fail me were I to tell of
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephtha, David, and
Samuel, and the prophets," and what follows.*
Now, inasmuch as there are four things in which
the truth resides — Sensation, Understanding,
Knowledge, Opinion, — intellectual apprehension
is first in the order of nature ; but in our case,
and in relation to ourselves, Sensation is first,
and of Sensation and Understanding the essence
of Knowledge is formed ; and evidence is com-
mon to Understanding and Sensation. Well,
Sensation is the ladder to Knowledge ; while
Faith, advancing over the pathway of the objects
of sense, leaves Opinion behind, and speeds to
things free of deception, and reposes in the
truth.

Should one say that Knowledge is founded on
demonstration by a process of reasoning, let him
hear that first principles are incapable of demon-
stration ; for they are known neither by art nor
sagacity. For the latter is conversant about
objects that are susceptible of change, while the
former is practical solely, and not theoretical.^
Hence it is thought that the first cause of
the universe can be apprehended by faith alone.
For all knowledge is capable of being taught;
and what is capable of being taught is founded
on what is known before. But the first cause of
the universe was not previously known to the
Greeks ; neither, accordingly, to Thales, who
came to the conclusion that water was the first
cause ; nor to the other natural philosophers who
succeeded him, since it was Anaxagoras who was
the first who assigned to Mind the supremacy over
material things. But not even he preserved the
dignity suited to the efficient cause, describing
as he did certain silly vortices, together with the
inertia and even foolishness of Mind. Where-
fore also the Word says, " Call no man master
on earth." '♦ For knowledge is a state of mind
that results from demonstration ; but faith is a

* Heb. xi. 3, 4, 25.

* Heb. xi. ^2.

3 Instead of fiovovovxi, Petavius and Lowth read fjLovov, ovxi, as
above.

* Matt, xjctii 9.

grace which from what is indemonstrable con-
ducts to what is universal and simple, what is
neither with matter, nor matter, nor under matter.
But those who beheve not, as to be expected,
drag all down from heaven, and the region of the
invisible, to earth, " absolutely grasping with their
hands rocks and oaks," according to Plato.
For, clinging to all such things, they asseverate
that that alone exists which can be touched and
handled, defining body and essence to be iden-
tical : disputing against themselves, they ver)'
piously defend the existence of certain intellec-
tual and bodiless forms descending somewhere
from above from the invisible world, vehemently
maintaining that there is a true essence. " Lo,
I make new things," saith the Word, "which
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it
entered into the heart of man." 5 With a new
eye, a new ear, a new heart, whatever can be
seen and heard is to be apprehended, by the
faith and understanding of the disciples of the
Lord, who speak, hear, and act spiritually. For
there is genuine coin, and other that is spuri-
ous ; which no less deceives unprofessionals, that
it does not the money-changers; who know
through having learned how to separate and
distinguish what has a false stamp from what is
genuine. So the money-changer only says to
the unprofessional man that the coin is counter-
feit. But the reason why, only the banker's
apprentice, and he that is trained to this depart-
ment, learns.

/ Now Aristotle says that the judgment which
[follows knowledge is in truth faith. Accordingly,
I faith is something superior to knowledge, and is
its criterion. Conjecture, which is only a feeble
I supposition, counterfeits faith ; as the flatterer
t counterfeits a fiiend, and the wolf the dog. And
as the workman sees that by learning certain
things he becomes an artificer, and the helmsman
by being instructed in the art will be able to
steer ; he does not regard the mere wishing to
become excellent and good enough, but he must
learn it by the exercise of obedience. But to
obey the Word, whom we call Instructor, is to
believe Him, going against Him in nothing. For
how can we take up a position of hostility to
God ? Knowledge, accordingly, is characterized
by faith ; and faith, by a kind of divine mutual
and reciprocal correspondence, becomes charac-
terized by knowledge.

Epicurus, too, who very greatly preferred
pleasure to truth, supposes faith to be a precon-
ception of the mind ; and defines preconception
to be a grasping at something evident, and at
the clear understanding of the thing ; and asserts
that, without preconception, no one can either
inquire, or doubt, or judge, or even argue. How

5 Isa. Ixiv. 4 : I Cor. ii. 9.

Cmap. v.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

351

can one, without a preconceived idea of what
he is aiming after, learn about that which is the
subject of his investigation? He, again, who
has learned has already turned his precon-
ception ' into comprehension. And if he who
learns, learns not without a preconceived idea
which takes in what is expressed, that man has
ears to hear the truth. And happy is the man
that speaks to the ears of those who hear; as
happy certainly also is he who is a child of obe-
dience. Now to hear is to understand. If,
then, faith is nothing else than a preconception
of the mind in regard to what is the subject of
discourse, and obedience is so called, and under-
standing and persuasion; no one shall learn
aught without faith, since no one [learns aught]
without preconception. Consequently there is
a more ample demonstration of the complete
truth of what was spoken by the prophet, " Un-
less ye believe, neither will ye understand."
Paraphrasing this oracle, Heraclitus of Ephesus
says, " If a man hope not, he will not find that
which is not hoped for, seeing it is inscrutable
and inaccessible." Plato the philosopher, also,
in The LawSy says, "that he who would be
blessed and happy, must be straight from the
"beginning a partaker of the truth, so as to live
true for as long a period as possible ; for he is a
man of faith. But the unbeliever is one to whom
voluntary falsehood is agreeable ; and the man
to whom involuntary falsehood is agreeable is
senseless ; * neither of which is desirable. For
he who is devoid of friendliness, is faithless and
ignorant." And does he not enigmatically say
in EuthydemuSy that this is " the regal wisdom " ?
In TTie Statesman he says expressly, "So that
the knowledge of the true king is kingly ; and
he who possesses it, whether a prince or private
person, shall by all means, in consequence of
this act, be rightly styled royal." Now those
who have believed in Christ both are and are
called Chrestoi (good) ,3 as those who are cared
for by the true king are kingly. For as the wise
are wise by their wisdom, and those observant
of law are so by the law ; so also those who be-
long to Christ the King are kings, and those that
are Christ's Christians. Then, in continuation,
he adds clearly, " What is right will turn out to
be lawful, law being in its nature right reason,
and not found in writings or elsewhere." And
the stranger of Elea pronounces the kingly and
statesmanlike man " a living law^ Such is he
who fulfils the law, " doing the will of the
Father," ^ inscribed on a lofty pillar, and set as
an example of divine virtue to all who possess

^ ov (moi' is here interpolated into the text, not being found in
Plato.

3 Xpio-r<k and xP^<'^<>c are very frequently compared in the
-patristic authors.

4 Malt. xxi. 31.

the power of 'seeing. The Greeks are ac-
quainted with the staves of the Ephori at Lace-
dsemon, inscribed with the law on wood. But
my law, as was said above, is both royal and liv-
ing ; and it is right reason. " Law, which is king
of all — of mortals and immortals," as the Boeo-
tian Pindar sings. For Speusippus,* in the first
book against Cleophon, seems to write like Plato
on this wise : " For if royalty be a good thing,
and the wise man the only king and ruler, the
law, which is right reason, is good ; " ^ which is
the case. The Stoics teach what is in conform-
ity with this, assigning kinghood, priesthood,
prophecy, legislation, riches, true beauty, noble
birth, freedom, to the wise man alone. But that
he is exceedingly difficult to find, is confessed
even by them.

CHAP. V. — HE PROVES BY SEVERAL EXAMPLES
THAT THE GREEKS DREW FROM THE SACRED
WRriERS.

Accordingly all those above-mentioned dogmas /
appear to have been transmitted from Moses the
great to the Greeks. That all things belong to
the wise man, is taught in these words : " And
because God hath showed me mercy, I have all
things." 7 And that he is beloved of God, God
intimates when He says, " The God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." ^ For
the first is found to have been expressly called
" friend ; " 9 and the second is shown to have
received a new name, signifying " he that sees
God ; " '° while Isaac, God in a figure selected for
Himself as a consecrated sacrifice, to be a type
to us of the economy of salvation.

Now among the Greeks, Minos the king of
nine years* reign, and familiar friend of Zeus, is
celebrated in song ; they having heard how once
God conversed with Moses, "as one speaking
with his friend." " Moses, then, was a sage, king,
legislator. But our Saviour surpasses all human \
nature." He is so lovely, as to be alone loved by
us, whose hearts are set on the true beauty, for
" He was the true light." *3 He is shown to be a
King, as such hailed by unsophisticated children
and by the unbelieving and ignorant Jews, and
heralded by the prophets. So rich is He, that
He despised the whole earth, and the gold above
and beneath it, with all glory, when given to Him
by the adversary. What need is there to say that
He is the only High Priest, who alone possesses

s Plato's sister's son and successor.

6 o-irov6at(K.

7 The words of Tacob to Elsau slightly changed from the Septuagint :
" For God hath shown mercy tome, and I have all things" — on
itXtwri fit o ^cb« xol flcm ^oi irayra (Gen. xxxiii. xi).

" Ex. iii. 16.

9 las. ii. 33.

i<^ So the name Israel is explained, Siromaiaf t. p. 334, Potter; [see
p. 300, sM/ra.\

" Ex. xxxiu. II.

12 [This passage, down to the reference to Plato, is unsoeakably
sublime One loves Clement for this exclusive loyalty to the saviour. J

'■* John. i. 9.

352

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

the knowledge of the worship of God ? ' He is
Melchizedek, " King of peace," * the most fit of
all to head the race of men. A legislator too,
inasmuch as He gave the law by the mouth of
the prophets, enjoining and teaching most dis-
tinctly what things are to be done, and what not.
Who of nobler lineage than He whose only P'ather
is God ? Come, then, let us produce Plato as-
senting to those very dogmas. The wise man he
calls rich in the Phcedrus, when he says, " O dear
Pan, and whatever other gods are here, grant me
to become fair within ; and whatever external
things I have, let them be agreeable to what is
within. I would reckon the wise man rich." 3
And the Athenian stranger,^ finding fault with
those who think that those who have many pos-
sessions are rich, speaks thus : " For the very rich
to be also good is impossible — those, I mean,
whom the multitude count rich. Those they call
rich, who, among a few men, are owners of the
possessions worth most money ; which any bad
man may possess. " " The whole world of wealth
belongs to the believer," s Solomon says, " but
not a penny to the unbeliever." Much more,
then, is the Scripture to be believed which says,
" It is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle, than for a rich man " ^ to lead a
philosophic life. But, on the other hand, it
blesses " the poor ; " 7 as Plato understood when
he said, " It is not the diminishing of one's re-
sources, but the augmenting of insatiableness,
that is to be considered poverty ; for it is not
slender means that ever constitutes poverty, but
insatiableness, firom which the good man being
free, will also be rich." And in Alcibiades he
calls vice a servile thing, and virtue the attribute
of freemen. " Take away fix)m you the heavy
yoke, and take up the easy one," * says the
Scripture ; as also the poets call [vice] a slavish
yoke. And the expression, " Ye have sold your-
selves to your sins," agrees with what is said
above : " Every one, then, who committeth sin
is a slave ; and the slave abideth not in the house
for ever. But if the Son shall make you fi*ee,
then shall ye be free, and the truth shall make
you free." ^

And again, that the wise man is beautifiil, the
Athenian stranger asserts, in the same way as if
one were to affirm that certain persons were just,
even should they happen to be ugly in their per-
sons. And in speaking thus with respect to
eminent rectitude of character, no one who
should assert them to be on this account beauti-

I The Stoics defined piety as " the knowledge of the worship of
God."
a Heb.

VII. 2.

3 Socrates in the PkeedruSj near the end, [p. 279.]
* Introduced by Plato in The Laws, conversing with

Socrates.

3 Taken likely from some apocryphal writing.

6 Matt. xix. 34.

7 Matt. V. 3.
■ Matt. xi. 28-30.
9 John viii. 32-36.

fill would be thought to speak extravagantly.
And "His appearance was inferior to all the
sons of men," '** prophecy predicted.

Plato, moreover, has called the wise man a
king, in The Statesman, The remark is quoted
above. ^

These points being demonstrated, let us recur
again to our discourse on faith. Well, with the
fullest demonstration, Plato proves, that there is
need of faith everywhere, celebrating peace at
the same time : " For no man will ever be trustv
and sound in seditions without entire virtue.
There are numbers of mercenaries fiill of fight,
and willing to die in war ; but, with a very few
exceptions, the most of them are desperadoes
and villains, insolent and senseless." If these
observations are right, " every legislator who is
even of slight use, will, in making his laws, have
an eye to the greatest virtue. Such is fidelity," "
which we need at all times, both in peace and
in war, and in all the rest of our life, for it ap-
pears to embrace the other virtues. " But the
best thing is neither war nor sedition, for the
necessity of these is to be deprecated. But
peace with one another and kindly feeling are
what is best." From these remarks the greatest
prayer evidently is to have peace, according to
Plato. And faith is the greatest mother of the
virtues. Accordingly it is rightly said in Solo-
mon, " Wisdom is in the mouth of the faithful." "
Since also Xenocrates, in his book on " Intelli-
gence," says " that wisdom is the knowledge of
first causes and of intellectual essence." He
considers intelligence as twofold, practical and
theoretical, which latter is human wisdom. Con-
sequently wisdom is intelligence, but all intelli-
gence is not wisdom. And it has been shown,
that the knowledge of the first cause of the uni-
verse is of faith, but is not demonstration. For
it were strange that the followers of the Samian
Pythagoras, rejecting demonstrations of subjects
of question, should regard the bare ipse dixit '^ as
ground of belief; and that this expression alone
sufficed for the confirmation of what they heard,
while those devoted to the contemplation of the
truth, presuming to disbelieve the trustworthy
Teacher, God the only Saviour, should demand
of Him tests of His utterances. But He sa\'s,
" He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." And
who is he ? Let Epicharmus say : —

" Mind sees, mind hears ; all besides is deaf and blind." **

Eating some as unbelievers, Heraclitus says,

^° Isa. liii. 3. [That is after he became the Man of Sorrows; not
originally.]

** iricrrdi-i^.

'* Ecclus. XV. 10.

*^ Laertius, in opposition to the general acoount, ascribes the cek^
brated avrh^ t^a to Pythagoras Zacynthus. Suidas, who with the
most ascribes it to the Samian Pythagoras, says that it meant " God
has said." as he profcsse^ to have received his doctrines from God.

'4 This famous line of Epicharmus the comic poet is quoted by
TertuUian {Je Anirna), by Plutarch, by Jamblichus, and Porphyxy.

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

353

'* Not knowing how to hear or to speak ; " aided
doubtless by Solomon, who says, " If thou lovest |
to hear, thou shalt comprehend ; and if thou in-
cline thine ear, thou shalt be wise." »

CHAP. VI. — THE EXCELLENCE AND UTILITY OF

FAITH.

" Ix)rd, who hath believed our report ? " *
Isaiah says. For " faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God," saith the apostle.
"How then shall they call on Him in whom
they have not beheved? And how shall they
believe on Him whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent ?
As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of
those that publish glad tidings of good things ! " 3
You see how he brings faith by hearing, and the
preaching of the apostles, up to the word of
the Lord, and to the Son of God. We do not
yet understand the word of the Lord to be
demonstration.

As, then, playing at ball not only depends on
one throwing tiie ball skilfully, but it requires
besides one to catch it dexterously, that the
game may be gone through according to the
rules for ball ; so also is it the case that teaching
is reliable when faith on the part of those who
hear, being, so to speak, a sort of natural art,
contributes to the process of learning. So also
the earth co-operates, through its productive
I^ower, being fit for the sowing of the seed.
For there is no good of the very best instruction
without the exercise of the receptive faculty on
the part of the learner, not even of prophecy,
when there is the absence of docility on the
part of those who hear. For dry twigs, being
ready to receive the power of fire, are kindled
with great ease; and the far-famed stone ^ at-
tracts steel through affinity, as the amber tear-
drop drags to itself twigs, and the lump sets
chaff in motion. And the substances attracted
obey them, influenced by a subtle spirit, not as a
cause, but as a concurring cause.

There being then a twofold species of vice —
that characterized by craft and stealth, and that
which leads and drives with violence — the di-
vine Word cries, calling all together; knowing
perfectly well those that will not obey ; notwith-
standing then since to obey or not is in our own
power, provided we have not the excuse of igno-
rance to adduce. He makes a just call, and de-
mands of each according to his strength. For
some are able as well as willing, having reached
this point through practice and being purified ;
while others, if they are not yet able, already

* Ecduft. vi. 33.
' Isa. liii. I.
' Rom. X. 17, 14, 15.

, * Loadstone. [Philosophy of the second century.
Migne.]

See note in

have the will. Now to will is the act of the
soul, but to do is not without the body. Nor
are actions estimated by their issue alone ; but
they are judged also according to the element
of free choice in each, — if he chose easily, if
he repented of his sins, if he reflected on his
failures and repented (/xcreyvw), which is (/lera
ravra €yv<t>) " afterwards knew." For repentance
is a tardy knowledge, and primitive innocence is
knowledge. Repentance, then, is an eff"ect of
faith. For unless a man believe that to which
he was addicted to be sin, he will not abandon
it ; and if he do not believe punishment to be
impending over the transgressor, and salvation
to be the portion of him who lives according to
the commandments, he will not reform.

Hope, too, is based on faith. Accordingly
the followers of Basilides define faith to be, the
assent of the soul to any of those things, that
do not affect the senses through not being
present. And hope is the expectation of the
possession of good. Necessarily, then, is ex-
pectation founded on faith. Now he is faithful
who keeps inviolably what is entrusted to him ;
and we are entrusted with the utterances respect-
ing God and the divine words, the commands
along with the execution of the injunctions.
This is the faithful servant, who is praised by
the Lord. And when it is said, " God is faith-
ful," it is intimated that He is worthy to be
believed when declaring aught. Now His Word
declares ; and " God " Himself is « faithful." s
How, then, if to believe is to suppose, do the
philosophers think that what proceeds from
themselves is sure ? For the voluntary assent to
a preceding demonstration is not supposition,
but it is assent to something sure. Who is more
powerful than God? Now unbelief is the feeble
negative supposition of one opposed to Him ;
as incredulity is a condition which admits faith
with difficulty. Faith is the voluntary supposi-
tion and anticipation of pre-compreheasion.
Expectation is an opinion about the future, and
expectation about other things is opinion about
uncertainty. Confidence is a strong judgment
about a thing. Wherefore w^e believe Him in
whom we have confidence unto divine glory and
salvation. And we confide in Him, who is (iod
alone, whom we know, that those things nobly
promised to us, and for this end benevolently
created and bestowed by Him on us, will not
fail.

Benevolence is the wishing of good things to
another for his sake. For He needs nothing;
and the beneficence and benignity which flow
from the I^ord terminate in us, being divine
benevolence, and benevolence resulting in benefi-
cence. And if to Abraham on his believing it

i I Cor. i. 9, X. 13.

354

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

was counted for righteousness ; and if we are
the seed of Abraham, then we must also believe
through hearing. For we are Israelites, who are
convinced not by signs, but by hearing. Where-
fore it is said, " Rejoice, O barren, that barest
not ; break forth and cry, thou that didst not
travail with child : for more are the children of
the desolate than of her who hath an husband.*' '
" Thou hast lived for the fence of the people, ^
thy children were blessed in the tents of their |
fathers." ^ And if the same mansions are prom-
ised by prophecy to us and to the patriarchs, \
the God of both the covenants is shown to be j
one. Accordingly it is added more clearly,
** Thou hast inherited the covenant of Israel," ^
speaking to those called from among the nations,
that were once barren, being formerly destitute
of this husband, who is the Word, — desolate
formerly, — of the bridegroom. " Now the just
shall live by faith," * which is according to the
covenant and the commandments ; since these,
which are two in name and time, given in accord-
ance with the [divine] economy — being in
power one — the old and the new, are dispensed
through the Son by one God. As the apostle
also says in the Epistle to the Romans, " For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith," teaching the one salvation
which from prophecy to the Gospel is perfected
by one and the same Lord. " This charge," he
says, " I commit to thee, son Timothy, accord-
ing to the prophecies which went before on thee,
that thou by them mightest war the good war-
fare ; holding faith, and a good conscience ;
which some having put away concerning faith
have made shipwreck," s because they defiled by
unbelief the conscience that comes from God.
Accordingly, faith may not, any more, with rea-
son, be disparaged in an offhand way, as simple
and vulgar, appertaining to anybody. For, if
it were a mere human habit, as the Greeks sup-
posed, it would have been extinguished. But
if it grow, and there be no place where it is
not ; then I affirm, that faith, whether founded
in love, or in fear, as its disparagers assert, is
something divine ; which is neither rent asunder
by other mundane friendship, nor dissolved by
the presence of fear. For love, on account of
its friendly alliance with faith, makes men believ-
ers ; and faith, which is the foundation of love,
in its turn introduces the doing of good ; since
also fear, the pedagogue of the law, is believed
to be fear by those, by whom it is believed.
For, if its existence is shown in its working, it
is yet believed when about to do and threaten-
ing, and when not working and present; and

* Isa, liv. 1.

* Not in Script.
3 Where?

* Rom. i, 17, etc.
i I Tim. i. 18, 19.

being believed to exist, it does not itself gen-
erate faith, but is by faith tested and proved
trustworthy. Such a change, then, from unbe-
lief to faith — and to tmst in hope and fear, is
divine. And, in truth, faith is discovered, by
us, to be the first movement towards salvation ;
after which fear, and hope, and repentance,
advancing in company with temperance and pa-
tience, lead us to love and knowledge. Rightly,
therefore, the Apostle Barnabas says, " From thtr
portion I have received I have done my diligenc e
to send by little and little to you ; that aloiit;
with your faith you may also have perfect knowl-
edge.^' Fear and patience are then helpers of
your faith ; and our allies are long-suffering and
temperance. These, then," he says, " in what
respects the Lord, continuing in purity, there
rejoice along with them, wisdom, understanding,
intelligence, knowledge." The fore-mentione<i
virtues being, then, the elements of knowledge ;
the result is that faith is more elementary, being
as necessary to the Gnostic,^ as respiration to
him that lives in this world is to life. And as
without the four elements it is not possible to
live, so neither can knowledge be attained with-
out faith. It is then the support of truth.

CHAP. VII. — THE UTILITY OF FEAR. OBJECTIONS

ANSWERED.

Those, who denounce fear, assail the law ;
and if the law, plainly also God, who gave the
law. For these three elements are of necessity
presented in the subject on hand : the ruler, his
administration, and the ruled. If, then, accord-
ing to hypothesis, they abolish the law; then,
by necessary consequence, each one who is led
by lust, courting pleasure, must neglect what is
right and despise the Deity, and fearlessly in-
dulge in impiety and injustice together, having
dashed away from the truth.

Yea, say they, fear is an irrational aberration/
and perturbation of mind. What sayest thou?
And how can this definition be any longer main-
tained, seeing the commandment is given me by
the Word? But the commandment forbids,
hanging fear over the head of those who have
incurred 9 admonition for their discipline.

Fear is not then irrational. It is thereft)re
rational. How could it be otherwise, exhort in^^
as it does, T/tou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not
commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou
shalt not bear false witness? But if they will
quibble about the names, let the philosopher>
term the fear of the law, cautious fear, {<diKa.^€iii^)

** [Clement accepts the Epistle of Barnabas as an apostolic isi-nt-
ing. For this quotation, see vol. i. p. 137, this scries.]

7 The man of perfect knowledge.

' Instead of eKxAKriv, it has Deen proposed to read cjcAvcrir. a
term applied by the Stoics to fear; but we have cKirAiirtf unmediatrely
after.

9 According te the correction and translation of Lowth, who rea.l«
rwc ovrwv kit%.ht\tiy^ivtnv instead oirhv ovraof, etc., of the text.

Chap. VIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

355

which is a shunning {IkkXxo-l^) agreeable to reason.
Such Critolaus of Phasela not inaptly called
fighters aboutnames {ovofiaTOfidxoi) . The com-
mandment, then, has already appeared fair and
lovely even in the highest degree, when con-
ceived under a change of name. Cautious fear
{evXd^eia) is therefore shown to be reasonable,
being the shunning of what .hurts ; from which
arises repentance for previous sins. " For the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ;
good understanding is to all that do it." ' He
calls wisdom a doing, which is the fear of the |
Lord paving the way for wisdom. But if the :
law produces fear, the knowledge of the law is
the beginning of wisdom ; and a man is not wise
without law. Therefore those who reject the
law are unwise ; and in consequence they are
reckoned godless (a^cot). Now instruction is the
beginning of wisdom. " But the ungodly despise
wisdom and instruction," * saith the Scripture.

Let us see what terrors the law announces.
If it is the things which hold an intermediate
place between virtue and vice, such as poverty,
disease, obscurity, and humble birth, and the
like, these things civil laws hold forth, and are
praised for so doing. And those of the Peripa-
tetic school, who introduce three kinds of good
things, and think that their opposites are evil,
this opinion suits. But the law given to us en-
joins us to shun what are in reality bad things
— adultery, uncleanness, paederasty, ignorance,
wickedness, soul-disease, death (not that which
severs the soul from the body, but that which
severs the soul from truth). For these are vices
in reality, and the workings that proceed from
them are dreadful and terrible. '* For not un-
justly," say the divine oracles, "are the nets
spread for birds ; for they who are accomplices
in blood treasure up evils to themselves." 3
How, then, is the law still said to be not good
by certain heresies that clamorously appeal to
the apostle, who says, "For by the law is the
knowledge of sin ? " ♦ To whom we say. The
law did not cause, but showed sin. For, enjoin-
ing what is to be done, it reprehended w^hat
ought not to be done. And it is the part of the
good to teach what is salutary, and to point out
what is deleterious ; and to counsel the practice
of the one, and to command to shun the other.
Now the apostle, whom they do not compre-
hend, said tiiat by the law the knowledge of sin
was manifested, not that from it it derived its
existence. And how can the law be not good,
which trains, which is given as the instructor
(TTcu&iycuyos) to Christ,^ that being corrected by

' Ps. cxi, lo.

* Prov. i. 7.

3 Prov. i. 17, 18, " Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of
any bird, and tney lay wait u>r their own blood."

* Rom. iti. 20.
' Gal. iii. 34.

fear, in the way of discipline, in order to the
attainment of the perfection which is by Christ?
" I will not," it is said, " the death of the sinner,
as his repentance."^ Now the commandment
works repentance ; inasmuch as it deters 7 from
what ought not to be done, and enjoins good
deeds. By ignorance he means, in my opinion,
death. " And he that is near the Ix)rd is full
of stripes."** Plainly, he, that draws near to
knowledge, has the benefit of perils, fears, trou-
bles, afflictions, by reason of his desire for the
truth. " For the son who is instructed turns out
wise, and an intelligent son is saved from burn-
ing. And an intelligent son will receive the
commandments." 9 And Barnabas the apostle
having said, "Woe to those who are wise in their
own conceits, clever in their own eyes," '° added,
" Let us become spiritual, a perfect temple to
God ; let us, as far as in us lies, practise the fear
of God, and strive to keep His commands, that
we may rejoice in His judgments."" Whence
" the fear of God " is divinely said to be the
beginning of wisdom."

CHAP. Vm. — THE VAGARIES OF BASILIDES AND
VALENl'INUS AS TO FEAR BEING THE CAUSE OF
THINGS.

Here the followers of Basilides, interpreting
this expression, say, " that the Prince, '^ having
heard the speech of the Spirit, who was being
ministered to, was stmck with amazement both
with the voice and the vision, having had glad
tidings beyond his hopes announced to him ;
and that his amazement was called fear, which
became the origin of wisdom, which distinguishes
classes, and discriminates, and perfects, and re-
stores. For not the world alone, but also the
election. He that is over all has set apart and
sent forth."

And Valentinus appears also in an epistle to
have adopted such views. For he writes in these
very words : " And as *"♦ terror fell on the angels at
this creature, because' he uttered things greater
than proceeded from his formation, by reason
of the being in him who had invisibly communi-
cated a germ of the supernal essence, and who
spoke with free utterance ; so also among the
tribes of men in the world, the works of meT.
became terrors to those who made them, -^- as?,
for example, images and statues. And the hands
of all fashion things to bear the name of God :

^ Ezek. xxxiii. ii, xviii. 33, 3a.

7 Adopting the conjecture which, by a chanjge from the accusative
to the nominative, refers " deters," and " enioms," to the command-
ment instead of to repentance, according to tne teaching of the text.
■ Judith viii. 27.
9 Prov. X. 4, 5, 8.
*° Isa. V. 21.

** [See vol. i. p. 139. S.]
" Prov. i. 7.

^^ Viz., of the angels, who according to them was Jehovah, the
God of the Jews.

^ Instead of itt ir<pi^^o« of the text, we read with Grabe waircpct,

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book H.

for Adam formed into the name of man inspired
the dread attaching to the pre-existent man, as
having his being in him ; and they were terror-
stricken, and speedily marred the work."

But there being but one First Cause, as will
be shown afterwards, these men will be shown to
be inventors of chatterings and chirpings. But
since God deemed it advantageous, that from
the law and the prophets, men should receive a
preparatory discipline by the Lord, the fear of
the Lord was called the beginning of wisdom,
being given by the Lord, through Moses, to the
disobedient and hard of heart. For those whom
reason convinces not, fear tames; which also
the Instructing Word, foreseeing from the first,
and purifying by each of these methods, adapted
the instrument suitably for piety. Consternation
is, then, fear at a strange apparition, or at an
unlooked-for representation — such as, for ex-
ample, a message ; while fear is an excessive
wonderment on account of something which
arises or is. They do not then perceive that
they represent by means of amazement the God
who is highest and is extolled by them, as sub-
ject to perturbation and antecedent to amazement
as having been in ignorance. If indeeed igno-
rance preceded amazement ; and if this amaze-
ment and fear, which is the beginning of wisdom,
is the fear of God, then in all Hkelihood igno-
rance as cause preceded both the wisdom of
God and all creative work, and not only these,
but restoration and even election itself. Whether,
then, was it ignorance of what was good or what
was evil?

Well, if of good, why does it cease through
amazement? And minister and preaching and
baptism are [in that case] superfluous to them.
And if of evil, how can what is bad be the cause
of what is best? For had not ignorance pre-
ceded, the minister would not have come down,
nor would have amazement seized on "the
Prince," as they say ; nor would he have attained
to a beginning of wisdom from fear, in order to dis-
crimination between the elect and those that are
mundane. And if the fear of the pre-existent
man made the angels conspire against their own
handiwork, under the idea that an invisible germ
of '^he supernal essence was lodged within that
creation, or through unfounded suspicion excited
emvy, \ which is incredible, the angels became
murderers of the creature which had been en-
trusted to them, as a child might be, they being
thus convicted of the grossest ignorance. Or
suppose they were influenced -by being involved
in foreknowledge. But they would not have
conspired against what they foreknew in the
assault they made ; nor would they have been
terror-struck at their own work, in consequence
of foreknowledge, on their perceiving the super-
nal germ. Or, finally, suppose, tnisting to their

knowledge, they dared (but this also were im-
possible for them), on learning the excellence
that is in the Pleroma, to conspire against man.
Furthermore also they laid hands on that w^hich
was according to the image, in which also is the
archetype, and which, along with the knowledge
that remains, is indestmctible.

To these, then, and certain others, especially
the Marcionites, the Scripture cries, though they
listen not, " He that heareth Me shall rest with
confidence in peace, and shall be tranquil, fear-
less of all evil." *

What, then, will they have the law to be?
They will not call it evil, but just ; distinguishing
what is good from what is just. But the Lord,
when He enjoins us to dread evil, does not ex-
change one evil for another, but abolishes what
is opposite by its opposite. Now evil is the
opposite of good, as what is just is of what is
unjust. If, then, that absence of fear, which
the fear of the Lord produces, is called the be-
ginning of what is good,* fear is a good thing.
And the fear which proceeds from the law is not
only just, but good, as it takes away evil. But
introducing absence of fear by means of fear, it
does not produce apathy by means of mental
perturbation, but moderation of feeling by dis-
cipline. When, then, we hear, " Honour the
Lord, and be strong : but fear not another be-
sides Him," 3 we understand it to be meant
fearing to sin, and following the commandments
given by God, which is the honour that cometh
from God. For the fear of God is ^w []in
Greek]. But if fear is perturbation of mind, as
some will have it that fear is perturbation of
mind, yet all fear is not perturbation. Supersti-
tion is indeed perturbation of mind ; being the
fear of demons, that produce and are subject to
the excitement of passion. On the other hand,
consequently, the fear of God, who is not sub-
ject to perturbation, is free of perturbation.
For it is not God, but falling away from God,
that the man is terrified for. And he who fears,
this — that is, falling ' into evils — fears and
dreads those evils. And he who fears a fall,
wishes himself to be free of corruption and per-
turbation. *' The wise man, fearing, avoids evil :
but the foolish, trusting, mixes himself with it,"
says the Scripture ; and again it says, " In the
fear of the Lord is the hope of strength."*

CHAP

. A —

THE CONNECTION OF THE CHRISTIAN
VIRTUES.

Such a fear, accordingly, leads to repentance
and hope. Now hope is the expectation of
good things, or an expectation sanguine of ab-

' Pmv. i. 33.

^ The text reads tcaKwv. Lowth conjectures the changCp which,
we have adopted, jcaAwv.
3 Prov. vii. 2.
* Prov. xiv. 16, 26.

Chap. IX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

357

sent good; and favourable circumstances are
assumed in order to good hope, which we have
learned leads on to love. Now love turns out
to be consent in what pertains to reason, life, |
and manners, or in brief, fellowship in life, or it
is the intensity of friendship and of affection,
with right reason, in the enjoyment of associates.
And an associate (Iratpos) is another self; ' just
as we call those, brethren, who are regenerated
by the same word. And akin to love is hospi-
tality, being a congenial art devoted to the
treatment of strangers. And those are stran-
gers, to whom the things of the 'vorld are
strange. For we regard as worldly those, who
hope in the earth and carnal lusts. "Be not
conformed," says the apostle, " to this world :
but be ye transformed in the renewal of the
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God." »

Hospitality, therefore, is occupied in what is
useful for strangers ; and guests (^ifcvot) are
strangers (fevot) ; and friends are guests ; and
brethren are friends. "Dear brother," s says
Homer.

Philanthropy, in order to which also, is natu-
ral affection, being a loving treatment of men,
and natural affection, which is a congenial habit
p exercised in the love of friends or domestics,
follow in the train of love. And if the real man
within us is the spiritual, philanthropy is broth-
erly love to those who participate, in the same
spirit. Natural affection, on the other hand, is
the preservation of good-will, or of affection ;
and affection is its perfect demonstration ; ^ and
to be beloved is to please in behaviour, by draw-
ing and attracting. And persons are brought to
sameness by consent, which is the knowledge
of the good things that are enjoyed in common.
For community of sentiment {ofioyvtofworvvyj) is
harmony of opinions {(rvfi<l><avia yvtafilav). " Let
your love be without dissimulation," it is said ;
" and abhorring what is evil, let us become at-
tached to what is good, to brotherly love," and
so on, down to "If it be possible, as much as
lieth in you, living peaceably with all men."
Then "be not overcome of evil," it is said,
" but overcome evil with good." s And the
same apostle owns that he bears witness to the
Jews, "that they have a zeal of God, but not
according to knowledge. For, being ignorant
of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish
their own, they have not submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God."'* For they did
not know and do the will of the law ; but what
they supposed, that they thought the law wished.

* tTtpo^ tytoj alter ego, deriving craipof from irtpot,

* Rom. xii. a.

3 ^lAe ica(rt7in7T«, litad, v. 339

* avoJe^if has been conjectured in place of airo^et^ic.
' Rom. xii. 9, 10, 18, 21.

* Rom. X. a, 3.

And they did not believe the law as prophesying,
but the bare word ; and they followed through
fear, not through disiX)sition and faith. " For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness," f
who was prophesied by the law to every one
that believeth. Whence it was said to them by
Moses, " I will provoke you to jealousy by them
that are not a people ; and I will anger you by
a foolish nation, that is, by one that has become
disposed to obedience." ^ And by Isaiah it is
said, " I was found of them that sought Me not ;
I was made manifest to them that inquired not
after Me," 9 — manifestly previous to the coming
of the Lx)rd ; after which to Israel, the things
prophesied, are now appropriately spoken : " I
have stretched out My hands all the day long to
a disobedient and gainsaying people." Do you
see the cause of the calling from among the na-
tions, clearly declared, by the prophet, to be the
disobedience and gainsaying of the people?
Then the goodness of God is shown also in
their case. For the apostle says, " But through
their transgression salvation is come to the Gen-
tiles, to provoke them to jealousy," ^^ and to
willingness to repent. And the Shepherd, speak-
ing plainly of those who had fallen asleep, recog-
nises certain righteous among Gentiles and Jews,
not only before the appearance of Christ, but
before the law, in virtue of acceptance before
God, — as Abel, as Noah, as any other righteous
man. He says accordingly, " that the apostles
and teachers, who had preached the name of the
Son of God, and had fallen asleep, in power and
by faith, preached to those that had fallen asleep
before." Then he subjoins : " And they gave
them the seal of preaching. They descended,
therefore, with them into the water, and again
ascended. But these descended alive, and
again ascended alive. But those, who had fallen
asleep before, descended dead, but ascended
alive. By these, therefore, they were made
alive, and knew the name of the Son of God.
Wherefore also they ascended with them, and
fitted into the structure of the tower, and un-
hewn were built up together : they fell asleep in
righteousness and in great purity, but wanted
only this seal." " " For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things
of the law, these, having not the law, are a law
unto themselves," " according to the apostle.

As, then, the virtues follow one another, why
need I say what has been demonstrated already,
that faith hopes through repentance, and fear
through faith ; and patience and practice in
these along with learning terminate in love,

7 Rom, X. 4.

^ Rom. X. 19: Deut. xxxii. ai.
9 Isn. xlv. 1.2; Rom x. ao, 21.
*° Rom. xi. IT.

'• Hernias. \SimiliiHdes, p. 49, supra.\
*- Rom. ii. 14.

358

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

whicli is perfected by knowledge ? But that is
necessarily to be noticed, that the Divine alone
is to be regarded as naturally wise. Therefore
also wisdom, which has taught the truth, is the
power of God ; and in it the perfection of
knowledge is embraced. The philosopher loves
and likes the truth, being now considered as a
friend, on account of his love, from his being
a true servant. The beginning of knowledge is
wondering at objects, as Plato says is in his
ThecBtetus; and Matthew exhorting in the Tra-
ditions, says, " Wonder at what is before you ; "
laying this down first as the foundation of fur-
ther knowledge. So also in the Gospel to the
Hebrews it is written, " He that wonders shall
reign, and he that has reigned shall rest. It is
impossible, therefore, for an ignorant man, while
he remains ignorant, to philosophize, not having
apprehended the idea of wisdom ; since philos-
ophy is an effort to grasp that which truly is, and
the studies that conduce thereto. And it is not
the rendering of one ' accomplished in good
habits of conduct, but the knowing how we are
to use and act and labour, according as one is
assimilated to God. I mean God the Saviour,
by serving the God of the universe through the
High Priest, the Word, by whom what is in truth
good and right is beheld. Piety is conduct suit-,
able and corresponding to God.

CHAP. X.

TO WHAT THE PHIlX)SOPHER APPLIES
HIMSELF.

These three things, therefore, our philosopher
attaches himself to : first, speculation ; second,
the performance of the precepts; third, the
forming of good men; — which, concurring,
form the Gnostic. Whichever of these is want-
ing, the elements of knowledge limp. Whence
the Scripture divinely says, " And the Lord
spake to Moses, saying, Speak to the children
of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, I am the
Lord your God. According to the customs of
the land of Egypt, in which ye have dwelt, ye
shall not do ; and according to the customs of
Canaan, into which I bring you, ye shall not do ;
and in their usages ye shall not walk. Ye shall
perform My judgments, and keep My precepts,
and walk in them : I am the Lord your God.
And ye shall keep all My commandments, and
do them. He that doeth them shall live in
them. I am the Lord your God." ^ Whether,
then, Egypt and the land of Canaan be the
symbol of the world and of deceit, or of suffer-
ings and afflictions ; the oracle shows us what
must be abstained from, and what, being divine
and not worldly, must be observed. And when it
is said, " The man that doeth them shall live in

' This clause is hx^peicssly corrupt: the text is utterly unintelli-
gible, and the emendation of Sylbuiguis is adopted in the translation.
* I^v. xviii. 1-5.

them," 3 it declares both the correction of the
Hebrews themselves, and the training and ad-
vancement of us who are nigh : ^ it declares at
once their life and ours. For " those who were
dead in sins are quickened together with Christ," 5
by our covenant. For Scripture, by the frequent
reiteration of the expression, " I am the Lord
your God," shames in such a way as most power-
fully to dissuade, by teaching us to follow God
who gave the commandments, and gently ad-
monishes us to seek God and endeavour to
know Him as far as possible ; which is the high-
est speculation, that which scans the greatest
mysteries, the real knowledge, that which be-
comes irrefragable by reason. This alone is the
knowledge of wisdom, from which rectitude of
conduct is never disjoined.

CHAP. XI. — THE KNOWLEDGE WHICH COMES
THROUGH FAFFH THE SUREST OF ALL.

But the knowledge of those who think them-
selves wise, whether the barbarian sects or the
philosophers among the Greeks, according to
the apostle, " puffeth up." ^ But that knowledge,
which is the scientific demonstration of what is
delivered according to the true philosophy,
is founded on faith. Now, we may say that it
is that process of reason which, from what is
admitted, procures faith in what is disputed.
Now, faith being twofold — the faith of knowl-
edge and that of opinion — nothing prevents
us from calling demonstration twofold, the one
resting on knowledge, the other on opinion;
since also knowledge and foreknowledge are
designated as twofold, that which is essentially
accurate, that which is defective. And is not
the demonstration, which we possess, that alone
which is true, as being supplied out of the divine
Scriptures, the sacred writings, and out of the
" God-taught wisdom," according to the apostle?
Learning, then, is also obedience to the command-
ments, which is faith in God. And faith is a
power of God, being the strength of the truth.
For example, it is said, " If ye have faith as a
grain of mustard, ye shall remove the moun-
tain." 7 And again, " According to thy faith
let it be to thee."^ And one is cured, re-
ceiving healing by faith ; and the dead is raised
up in consequence of the power of one believing
that he would be raised. The demonstration,
however, which rests on opinion is human, and
is the result of rhetorical arguments or dialectic
syllogisms. For the highest demonstration, to
which we have alluded, produces intelligent faith
by the adducing and opening up of the Scrip-

3 Gal. iii. xa.

4 '* lliem that are far oflf, and them that are nigh " (Eph. ii. 13).

5 Eph. ii. g.

*> 1 Cor. viii. I.
7 Matt. xvii. 20.
" Matt. ix. 29.

Chap. XII.]

THE STROM ATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

359

tures to the souls of those who desire to learn ; '
the result of which is knowledge (gnosis) . For i
if what is adduced in order to prove the point i
at issue is assumed to be true, as being divine ;
and prophetic, manifestly the conclusion arrived j
at by inference from it will consequently be in- \
ferred truly ; and the legitimate result of the
demonstration will be knowledge. When, then, [
the memorial of the celestial and divine food
was commanded to be consecrated in the golden
pot, it was said, "The omer was the tenth of
the three measures." * For in ourselves^ by the
three measures are indicated three criteria ; sen-
sation of objects of sense, speech, — of spoken
names and words, and the mind, — of intel-
lectual objects. The Gnostic, therefore, will
abstain from errors in speech, and thought, and
sensation, and action, having heard " that he
that looks so as to lust hath committed adul-
tery ; "* and reflecting that "blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God ; " ^ and know-
mg this, " that not what enters into the mouth
defileth, but that it is what cometh forth by
the mouth that defileth the man. For out of the
heart proceed thoughts." * This, as I think, is
the true and just measure according to God, by
which things capable of measurement are meas-
ured, the decad which is comprehensive of man ;
which summarily the three above-mentioned
measures pointed out. There are body and
soul, the ^w^ senses, speech, the power of repro-
duction — the intellectual or the spiritual faculty,
or whatever you choose to call it. And we
must, in a word, ascending above all the others,
stop at the mind ; as also certainly in the uni-
verse overleaping the nine divisions, the first
consisting of the four elements put in one place
for equal interchange : and then the seven
wandering stars and the one that wanders not,
the ninth, to the perfect number, which is above
the nine, 5 and the tenth division, we must reach
to the knowledge of God, to speak briefly,
desiring the Maker after the creation. Where-
fore the tithes both of the ephah and of the
.sacrifices were presented to God ; and the paschal
feast began with the tenth day, being the transi-
tion from all trouble, and from all objects of
sense.

The Gnostic is therefore fixed by faith ; but
the man who thinks himself wise touches not
what pertains to the truth, moved as he is by
unstable and wavering impulses. It is therefore
reasonably written, "Cain went forth from the
face of God, and dwelt in the land of Naid, over
against Eden." Now Naid is interpreted com-

« Ex. xvi. 36, Septuagint; " the tenth part of an ephah," A.V.
2 Matt. V. aS.
^ Matt. XV. II, 19.
* Malt. V. 8.

s The text here reads Btmv, arisini; in all probability from the
transcriber mistaking the numeral & for the above.

motiofiy and Eden delight; and Faith, and Knowl-
edge, and Peace are delight, from which he that
has disobeyed is cast out. But he that is wise
in his own eyes will not so much as listen to the
beginning of the divine commandments; but,
as if his own teacher, throwng off* the reins,
plunges voluntarily into a billowy commotion,
sinking down to mortal and created things from
the uncreated knowledge, holding various opin-
ions at various times. " Those who have no
guidance fall like leaves." ^

Reason, the governing principle, remaining
unmoved and guiding the soul, is called its pilot.
For access to the Immutable is obtained bv a
truly immutable means. Thus Abraham was sta-
tioned before the Lord, and approaching spoke.7
And to Moses it is said, " But do thou stand there
with Me." * And the followers of Simon wish to
be assimilated in manners to the standing form
which they adore. Faith, therefore, and the knowl-
edge of the truth, render the soul, which makes
them its choice, alwa)rs uniform and equable. For
congenial to the man of falsehood is shifting,
and change, and turning away, as to the Gnostic
are calmness, and rest, and peace. As, then,
philosophy has been brought into evil repute by
pride and self-conceit, so also gnosis by false
gnosis called by the same name ; of which the
apostle writing sa>'s, "O Timothy, keep that
which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the
profane and vain babblings and oppositions of
science (gnosis) falsely so called; which some
professing, have erred concerning the faith." '^

Convicted by this utterance, the heretics reject ^
the Epistles to Timothy. '° Well, then, if the
Lord is the truth, and wisdom, and power of
God, as in truth He is, it is shown that the real
Gnostic is he that knows Him, and His Father
by Him. For his sentiments are the same with
him who said, " The lips of the righteous know
high things." "

CHAP. XII. — TWOFOLD FAHH.

Faith as also Time being double, we shall find
virtues in pairs both dwelling together. For
memory is related to past time, hope to future.
We believe that what is past did, and that what
is fiiture will take place. And, on the other
hand, we love, persuaded by faith that the past
was as it was, and by hope expecting the future.
For in everything love attends the Gnostic,
who knows one God. " And, behold, all things
which He created were very good." " He both
knows and admires. Godliness adds length of

6 Prov. xi. 14, Septuagint; " Where no counsel is, the people fall,"
A.V.

^ Gen. xviii. aa, 23.
* Ex. xxxiv. a.
9 1 Tim. vi. 20, ai.

1° [See Elucidation III. at the end of ihis second book.]
** Prov. X. 21, Septuagint; "feed many," A.V.
12 Gen. i. 31.

36o

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

life ; and the fear of the Lord adds days. As,
then, the days are a portion of life in its prog-
ress, so also fear is the beginning of love, be- !
coming by development faith, then love. But
it is not as I fear and hate a wild beast (since
fear is twofold) that I fear the father, whom I
fear and love at once. Again, fearing lest I be ;
punished, I love myself in assuming fear. He
who fears to offend his father, loves himself.
Blessed then is he who is found possessed of
faith, being, as he is, composed of love and fear.
And faith is power in order to salvation, and
strength to eternal life. Again, prophecy is fore-
knowledge; and knowledge the understanding
of prophecy; being the knowledge of those
things known before by the Lord who reveals all
things.

The knowledge, then, of those things which
have been predicted shows a threefold result,
— either one that has happened long ago, or
exists now, or about to be. Then the extremes '
either of what is accomplished or of what is
hoped for fall under faith ; and the present action
furnishes persuasive arguments of the confirma-
tion of both the extremes. For if, prophecy
being one, one part is accomplishing and another
is fulfilled ; hence the truth, both what is hoped
for and what is passed is confirmed. For it was
first present ; then it became past to us ; so that
the belief of what is past is the apprehension of
a past event, and a hope which is future the ap-
prehension of a future event.

And not only the Platonists, but the Stoics,
say that assent is in our own power. All opinion
then, and judgment, and supposition, and knowl-
edge, by which we live and have perpetual inter-
course with the human race, is an assent ; which
is nothing else than faith. And unbelief being
defection from faith, shows both assent and faith
to be possessed of power; for non-existence
cannot be called privation. And if you consider
the truth, you will find man naturally misled so as
to give assent to what is false, though possessing
the resources necessary for belief in the truth.
" The virtue, then, that encloses the Church in its
grasp," as the Shepherd says,' "is Faith, by
which the elect of God are saved ; and that
which acts the man is Self-restraint. And these
are followed by Simplicity, Knowledge, Inno-
cence, Deconim, Love," and all these are the
daughters of Faith. And again, " Faith leads
the way, fear upbuilds, and love perfects." Ac-
cordingly he 3 says, the lx>Td is to be feared in
order to edification, but not the devil to destruc-
tion. And again, the works of the Ix)rd — that
is. His commandments — are to be loved and

' i.e., Past and Future, between which Hes the Present.
* /'itsior of HcrtnaSy book i. vision iii. chap. viii. vol. i. p. 15.
^ Sec J'ititor of Utrtnas, book ii. coniniandt. iv. ch. ii. [vol. i.
p. 2j], for the sense of this passage.

done ; but the works of the devil are to be
dreaded and not done. For the fear of God
trains and restores to love ; but the fear of the
works of the devil has hatred dwelling along with
it. The same also says " that repentance is high
intelligence. For he that repents of what he
did, no longer does or says as he did. But by
torturing himself for his sins, he benefits his
soul. Forgiveness of sins is therefore different
from repentance ; but both show what is in our
power."

CHAP. XIII. — ON nRST AND SECOND REPENTANCE.

He, then, who has received the forgiveness of
sins ought to sin no more. For, in addition to
the first and only repentance from sins (this is
from the previous sins in the first and heathen
life — I mean that in ignorance), there is forth-
with proposed to those who have been called,
the repentance which cleanses the seat of the
soul from transgressions, that faith may be
established. And the Lord, knowing the heart,
and foreknowing the fixture, foresaw both the
fickleness of man and the craft and subtlety of
the devil from the first, from the beginning;
how that, envying man for the forgiveness of
sins, he would present to the servants of God
certain causes of sins ; skilfully working mischief,
that they might fall together with himself. Ac-
cordingly, being very merciful, He has vouch-
safed, in the case of those who, though in faith,
fall into any transgression, a second repentance ;
so that should any one be tempted after his
calling, overcome by force and fraud, he may
receive still a repentance not to be repented of.
" For if we sin wilfully after that we have received
the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no
more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful look-
ing for of judgment and fiery indignation, which
shall devour the adversaries."^ But continual
and successive repentings for sins differ nothing
from the case of those who have not believed at
all, except only in their consciousness that they
do sin. And I know not which of the two is
worst, whether the case of a man who sins know-
ingly, or of one who, after having repented of
his sins, transgresses again. For in the process
of proof sin appears on each side, — the sin
which in its commission is condemned by the
worker of the iniquity, and that of the man who,
foreseeing what is about to be done, yet puts his
hand to it as a wickedness. And he who per-
chance gratifies himself in anger and pleasure,
gratifies himself in he knows what ; and he who,
repenting of that in which he gratified himself,
by rushing again into pleasure, is near neighbour
to him who has sinned wilfully at first. For one,
who does again that of which he has repented,

* Hcb. X. 26, 27.

Chap. XV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

361

and condemning what he does, performs it
willingly.

He, then, who from among the Gentiles and
from that old life has betaken himself to faith,
has obtained forgiveness of sins once. But he
who has sinned after this, on his repentance,
though he obtain pardon, ought to fear, as one
no longer washed to the forgiveness of sins.
For not only must the idols which he formerly
held as gods, but the works also of his former
life, be abandoned by him who has been " bom
again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh," '
but in the Spirit ; which consists in repenting by
not giving way to the same fault. For frequent
repentance and readiness to change easily from
want of training, is the practice of sin again.*
The frequent asking of forgiveness, then, for
those things in which we often transgress, is the
semblance of repentance, not repentance itself.
"But the righteousness of the blameless cuts
straight paths," 3 says the Scripture. And again,
"The righteousness of the innocent will make
his way right." ^ Nay, " as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear
Him." 5 David writes, " They who sow," then,
" in tears, shall reap in joy ; " ^ those, namely,
who confess in penitence. " For blessed are all
those that fear the Lord." 7 You see the cor-
responding blessing in the Gospel. " Fear not,"
it is said, " when a man is enriched, and when
the glory of his house is increased : because
when he dieth he shall leave all, and his glory
shall not descend after him." * " But I in Thy
mercy will enter into Thy house. I will worship
toward Thy holy temple, in Thy fear : Lord,
lead me in Thy righteousness." 9 Appetite is
then the movement of the mind to or from
something.*'' Passion is an excessive appetite
exceeding the measures of reason, or appetite
unbridled and disobedient to the word. Pas-
sions, then, are a perturbation of the soul con-
trary to nature, in disobedience to reason. But
revolt and distraction and disobedience are in
our own power, as obedience is in our power.
Wherefore voluntary actions are judged. But
should one examine each one of the passions, he
will find them irrational impulses.

CHAP. XIV. — HOW A THING MAY BE INVOLUNTARY.

What is involuntary is not matter for judg-
ment. But this is twofold, — what is done in

' John i. 13.

^ [The penitential system of the early Church was no mere sponge
like that of the later Latins, which turns Christ into " the minister of
sin."]

3 Prov. xi. 5.

* Prov. xiii, 6.

5 Ps. ciii. 13.

*> Ps. cxxvi. 5.

' Ps. cxxviii. 1.

■ Ps. xlix. 16, 17.

9 Ps. V. _7, 8.
^ Adopting the emendationi opfiti fiiv oZv ^opa.

ignorance, and what is done through necessity.
For how will you judge concerning those who
are said to sin in involuntary modes? For
either one knew not himself, as Cleomenes and
Athamas, who were mad ; or the thing which he
does, as ^schylus, who divulged the mysteries
on the stage, who, being tried in the Areopagus,
was absolved on his showing that he had not
been initiated. Or one knows not what is done,
as he who has let off his antagonist, and slain
his domestic instead of his enemy ; or that by
which it is done, as he who, in exercising with
spears having buttons on them, has killed some
one in consequence of the spear throwing off
the button ; or knows not the manner how, as
he who has killed his antagonist in the stadium,
for it was not for his death but for victory that
he contended ; or knows not the reason why it
is done, as the physician gave a salutary antidote
and killed, for it was not for this purpose that
he gave it, but to save. The law at that time
punished him who had killed involuntarily, as
e.g., him who was subject involuntarily to gonor-
rhoea, but not equally with him who did so vol-
untarily. Although he also shall be punished as
for a voluntary action, if one transfer the affec-
tion to the truth. For, in reality, he that cannot
contain the generative word is to be punished ;
for this is an irrational passion of the soul ap-
proaching garrulity. " The faithful man chooses
to conceal things in his spirit." '* Things, then,
that depend on choice are subjects for judg-
ment. " For the Lord searcheth the hearts and
reins." '* " And he that looketh so as to lust " '^
is judged. Wherefore it is said, "Thou shalt
not lust." ^* And " this people honoureth Me
with their lips," it is said, " but their heart is far
from Me." '* For God has respect to the very
thought, since Lot*s wife, who had merely vol-
untarily turned towards worldly wickedness, He
left a senseless mass, rendering her a pillar of
salt, and fixed her so that she advanced no fur-
ther, not as a stupid and useless image, but to
season and salt him who has the power of spirit-
ual perception.

CHAP. XV. — ON THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF VOL-
UNTARY ACTIONS, AND THE SINS THENCE PRO-
CEEDING.

What is voluntary is either what is by desire,
or what is by choice, or what is of intention.
Closely allied to each other are these things —
sin, mistake, crime. It is sin, for example, to
live luxuriously and licentiously ; a misfortune,
to wound one's friend in ignorance, taking him
for an enemy ; and crime, to violate graves or

'* Prov. xi. 13.

*^ Ps. vii. 9.

" Matt. V. 28.

** Ex. XX. 17.

^s Isa. xxix. 13; Malt. xv. 8: Mark vii. 6.

362

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

commit sacrilege. Sinning arises from being
unable to determine what ought to be done, or
being unable to do it ; as doubtless one falls
into a ditch either through not knowing, or
through inability to leap across through feeble-
ness of body. But application to the training
of ourselves, and subjection to the command-
ments, is in our own power ; with which if we
will have nothing to do, by abandoning ourselves
wholly to lust, we shall sin, nay rather, wrong
our own soul. For the noted Laius says in the
tragedy : —

" None of these things of which you admonish me have
escaped me ;
But notwithstanding that I am in my senses, Nature
compels me ; "

i.e., his abandoning himself to passion. Medea,
too, herself cries on the stage : —

" And I am aware what evils I am to |>erpetrate,
But passion is stronger than my resolutions." *

Further, not even Ajax is silent ; but, when about
to kill himself, cries : —

** No pain gnaws the soul of a free man like dishonour.
Thus do I suffer ; and the deep stain of calamity
Ever stirs me from the depths, agitated
By the bitter stings of rage." *

Anger made these the subjects of tragedy, and
lust made ten thousand others — Phaedra, Anthia,
Eriphyle, —

" Who took the precious gold for her dear husband."

For another play represents Thrasonides of the
comic drama as saying : —

" A worthless wench made me her slave."

Mistake is a sin contrary to calculation ; and
voluntary sin is crime (d&Kta) ; and crime is vol-
untary wickedness. Sin, then, is on my part
voluntary. Wherefore says the apostle, "Sin
shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are
not under the law, but under grace." ^ Address-
ing those who have believed, he says, " For by
His stripes we were healed.** ■♦ Mistake is the
involuntary action of another towards me, while
a crime (d&Kia) alone is voluntary, whether my
act or another's. These differences of sins are
alluded to by the Psalmist, when he calls those
blessed whose iniquities (dvoftta?) God hath
blotted out, and whose sins (d/xapTia? ) He hath
covered. Others He does not impute, and the
rest He forgives. For it is written, "Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins
are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Ix)RD will not impute sin, and in whose mouth
there is no fraud.'* s This blessedness came on

* Eurip.t Afetffa, 1078.

2 The.sc lines, which are not found in the Ajax of Sophocles, have
been amended bv various hands. Instead of <rvn^pov<rn, we have
ventured to read (rv^^opaj. — Ki}Atc <rvfi4>op^i being a Sophoclean
phrase, and avH^opovaa being unsuitable.

^ Rom. iv. 7, 8.

* I Pet. ii. 24.

s Ps. xxxii. 1,2; Rom. iv. 7, 8,

those who had been chosen by God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. For "love hides the
multitude of sins.** ^ And they are blotted out
by Him "who desireth the repentance rather
than the death of a sinner.**' And those are
not reckoned that are not the effect of choice ;
" for he who has lusted has already committed
adultery,*'* it is said. And the illuminating
Word forgives sins : " And in that time, saith the
Lord, they shall seek for the iniquity of Israel,
and it shall not exist ; and the sins of Judah, and
they shall not be found." "^ " For who is like
Me? and who shall stand before My face?"'°
You see the one Ciod declared good, rendering
according to desert, and forgiving sins. John,
too, manifestly teaches the differences of sins, in
his larger Epistle, in these words : " If any man
see his brother sin a sin that is not unto death,
he shall ask, and he shall give him life : for these
that sin not unto death,*' he says. For " there
is a sin unto death : I do not say that one is to
pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin ; and
there is a sin not unto death.** "

David, too, and Mpses before David, show the
knowledge of the three precepts in the following
words : " Blessed is the man who walks not in
the counsel of the ungodly ; ** as the fishes go
down to the depths in darkness ; for those which
have not scales, which Moses prohibits touching,
feed at the bottom of the sea. " Nor standeth
in the way of sinners,** as those who, while ap-
pearing to fear the Lord, commit sin, like the
sow, for when hungry it cries, and when full
knows not its owner. " Nor sitteth in the chair
of pestilences," as birds ready for prey. And
Moses enjoined not to eat the sow, nor the eagle,
nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish without
scales. So far Barnabas." And I heard one
skilled in such matters say that " the counsel of
the ungodly " was the heathen, and "the way of
sinners" the Jewish persuasion, and explain "the
chair of pestilence " of heresies. And another
said, with more propriety, that the first blessing
was assigned to those who had not followed
wicked sentiments which revolt from God ; the
second to those who do not remain in the wide
and broad road, whether they be those who have
been brought up in the law, or Gentiles who
have repented. And " the chair of pestilences "
will be the theatres and tribunals, or rather the
compliance with wicked and deadly powers, and
complicity with their deeds. "But his delight
is in the law of the Lord.** '^ Peter in his Preaih-

*> X Pel. iv. 8.

7 Ezek. xxxtii. 11.

* Matt. V. 28.

9 Jer. i. 20.
'° Jer. xlix. 19.
*' I John V. 16, 17.

*^ Ps. i. I (quotea from Barnabas, with some additions and omis-
sions). [Sec vol. i. p. 143, this bcries.I
" Ps. I. a.

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

^63

/>/;f called the Lord^Law^.and.X(Qgos. The legis-
lator seems to teach differently the interpretation
of the three forms of sin — understanding by the
mute fishes sins of word, for there are times in
which silence is better than speech, for silence has
d safe recompense; sins of deed, by the rapacious
and carnivorous birds. The sow delights in dirt
and dung ; and we ought not to have " a con-
science " that is " defiled." '

Justly, therefore, the prophet says, "The un-
uodlv are not so : but as the chaff which the
wind driveth away fi-om the face of the earth.
Wherefore the ungodly shall not stand in the
judgment"* (being already condemned, for "he
that believeth not is condemned already "3),
"nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous,"
inasmuch as they are already condemned, so as
not to be united to those that have lived without
stumbling. " For the Lord knoweth the way of
the righteous ; and the way of the ungodly shall
perish." *

Again, the Lord clearly shows sins and trans-
gressions to be in our own power, by prescribing
modes of cure corresponding to the maladies ;
showing His wish that we should be corrected
by the shepherds, in Ezekiel ; blaming, I am of
opinion, some of them for not keeping the com-
mandments. "That which was enfeebled ye
have not strengthened," and so forth, down to,
"and there was none to search out or turn

" 5

awav.

For " great is the Joy before the Father when
one sinner is saved," ^ saith the Lord. So Abra- \
ham was much to be praised, because " he walked '
as the Lord spake to him." Drawing from this
instance, one of the wise men among the Greeks '
uttered the maxim, "Follow God." 7 "The
godly," says Esaias, " framed wise counsels." *
Now counsel is seeking for the right way of act-
ing in present circumstances, and good counsel
is wisdom in our counsels. And what? Does
not God, after the pardon bestowed on Cain,
suitably not long after introduce Enoch, who had
repented ? ^ showing that it is the nature of re-
pentance to produce pardon ; but pardon does
not consist in remission, but in remedy. An
instance of the same is the making of the calf
by the people before Aaron. Thence one of the
wise men among the Greeks uttered the maxim,
" Pardon is better than punishment \ " as also,
"Become surety, and mischief is at hand," is
derived from the utterance of Solomon which

* I Cor. viii. 7.
' Ps. i. ^. 5.

* John ill. 18.
< Ps. i. 5, 6.

' F^ek. xxxiv. 4-6.

^ These words are not in Scripture, but the substance of them is
contained in Luke xv. 7, 10.

' One of the precepts of the seven wise men.

* Isa. xxxii. 8, Sept.

9 Philo explains Enoch's translation allegorically, as denoting
reformation or repentance.

says, "My son, if thou become surety for thy
friend, thou wilt give thine hand to thy enemy ;
for a man's own lips are a strong snare to him,
and he is taken in the words of his own mouth." ***
And the saying, " Know thyself," has been taken
rather more mystically from this, "Thou hast
seen thy brother, thou hast seen thy God." "
Thus also, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself; "
for it is said, " On these commandments the law
and the prophets hang and are suspended." '*
With these also agree the following : " These
things have I spoken to you, that My joy might
be fulfilled : and this is My commandment.
That ye love one another, as I have loved you." '^
"For the Lord is merciful and pitiful; and
gracious *^ is the Lord to all." 's " Know thyself"
is more clearly and often expressed by Moses,,
when he enjoins, " Take heed to thyself." *^ " By
alms then, and acts of faith, sins are purged." '^
" And by the fear of the Lord each one departs-
from evil." *^ " And the fear of the Lord is in-
struction and wisdom." '9

CHAP. XVI. — HOW WE ARE TO EXPLAIN THE PAS-
SAGES OF SCRIPrURE WHICH ASCRIBE TO GOD
HUM.\N AFFECTIONS.

Here again arise the cavillers, who say that joy
and pain are passions of the soul : for they define
joy as a rational elevation and exultation, as re-
joicing on account of what is good ; and pity as
pain for one who suffers undeservedly ; and that
such affections are moods and passions of the
soul. But we, as would appear, do not cease in
such matters to understand the Scriptures car-
nally ; and starting from our own affections, in-
terpret the will of the impassible Deity similarly
to our perturbations ; and as we are capable of
hearing ; so, supposing the same to be the case
with the Omnipotent, err impiously. For the
Divine Being cannot be declared as it exists
but as we who are fettered in the flesh were able
to listen, so the prophets spake to us ; the Lord
savingly accommodating Himself to the weakness
of men.*° Since, then, it is the will of God that
he, who is obedient to the commands and repents
of his sins should be saved, and we rejoice on
account of our salvation, the Lord, speaking by
the prophets, appropriated our joy to Himself;

*° Prov. vi. I, a.

'' Quoted as if in Scripture, but not found there. The allusion
may be, as is (»niectured, to what God said to Moses respecting him
and Aaron, to wnom he was to be as God; or to Jacob saying to
Esau, " I have seen thy face as it were the face of God."

** Luke x. 27, etc.

" John XV. 11, 12.

14 ypijoTik instead of \^\.9Titii which is in the text.

*s Ps. ciii. 8, cxi. 4.

'* Ex. X. 28, xxxiy. la; Deut. iv. 9.

1' Prob. Ecclus. iii. 29.

** Prov. iii. 7.

'9 Ea;c1us. i. 27.

20 [This anthro/h^thy is a figure by which God is interpreted to
us afler the intelligible fonns of humanity. Language framed by
human usage makes this figure necessary to revelation.]

364

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

as speaking lovingly in the Gospel He says, " I
was hungry, and ye gave Me to eat : I was thirsty,
and ye gave Me to drink. For inasmuch as ye
did it to one of the least of these, ye did it to
Me." * As, then, He is nourished, though not
personally, by the nourishing of one whom He
wishes nourished ; so He rejoices, without suffer-
ing change, by reason of him who has repented
being in joy, as He wished. And since God
pities richly, being good, and giving commands
by the law and the prophets, and more nearly
still by the appearance of his Son, saving and
pitying, as was said, those who have found mercy ;
and properly the greater pities the less j and a
man cannot be greater than man, being by na-
ture man ; but God in everything is greater than
man ; if, then, the greater pities the less, it is God
alone that will pity us. For a man is made to
•communicate by righteousness, and bestows what
he received from God, in consequence of his
natural benevolence and relation, and the com-
mands which he obeys. But God has no natural
relation to us, as the authors of the heresies will
have it ; neither on the supposition of His having
made us of nothing, nor on that of having formed
us from matter ; since the former did not exist
at all, and the latter is totally distinct from God,
unless we shall dare to say that we are a part of
Him, and of the same essence as God. And I
know not how one, who knows God, can bear to
hear this when he looks to our life, and sees in
what evils we are involved. For thus .it would
turn out, which it were impiety to utter, that God
sinned in [certain] portions, if the portions are
parts of the whole and complementary of the
whole ; and if not complementary, neither can
they be parts. But God being by nature rich in
pity, in consequence of His own goodness, car^s
for us, though neither portions of Himself, nor
by nature His children. And this is the greatest
proof of the goodness of God : that such being
our relation to Him, and being by nature wholly
estranged. He nevertheless cares for us. For
the affection in animals to their progeny is natu-
ral, and the friendship of kindred minds is the
result of intimacy. But the mercy of God is
rich toward us, who are in no respect related
to Him ; I say either in our essence or nature,
or in the peculiar energy of our essence, but only
in our being the w^ork of His will. And him who
willingly, with discipline and teaching, accepts
the knowledge of the tnith. He calls to adop-
tion, which is the greatest advancement of all.
** Transgressions catch a man ; and in the cords
of his own sins each one is bound." ' And God
is without blame. And in reality, " blessed is
the man who feareth alway through piety." ^

* Matt. XXV. 35, 40.

^ Prov. V. -22.

-* Prov. xxvtii. 14.

CHAP. XVn. — ON THE VARIOUS KINDS OF KNOWL-
EDGE.

As, then, Knowledge {iirum^firj) is an intel-
lectual state, from which results the act of know-
ing, and becomes apprehension irrefragable by
reason ; so also ignorance is a receding impres-
sion, which can be dislodged by reason. And
that which is overthrown as well as that which
is elaborated by reason, is in our power. Akin
to Knowledge is experience^ cognition (ciST/o-is),
Comprehension (crwco-t?), perception, and Sci-
ence. Cognition (ciSj/o-t?) is the knowledge of
universals by species ; and Experience is com-
prehensive knowledge, which investigates the
nature of each thing. Perception (Koiyo-t?) is
the knowledge of intellectual objects ; and
Comprehension (ot;i/€o-i9) is the knolwedge of
what is compared, or a comparison that cannot
be annulled, or the faculty of comparing the
objects with which Judgment and Knowledge
are occupied, both of one and each and all
that goes to make up one reason. And Science
(yvcoo-is) is the knowledge of the thing in itself,
or the knowledge which harmonizes with what
takes place. Truth is the knowledge of the
true ; and the mental habit of truth is the
knowledge of the things which are true. Now
knowledge is constituted by the reason, and can-
not be overthrown by another reason."* What
we do not, we do not either from not being
able, or not being willing — or both. Accord-
ingly we don't fly, since we neither can nor
wish ; we do not swim at present, for example,
since we can indeed, but do not choose ; and
we are not as the Lord, since we wish, but can-
not be : " for no disciple is above his master,
and it is sufficient if we be as the master :" 5 not
in essence (for it is impossible for that, which is
by adoption, to be equal in substance to that,
which is by nature) ; but [we are as Him] only
in our* having been made immortal, and our
being conversant with the contemplation of reali-
ties, and beholding the Father through what
belongs to Him.

Therefore volition takes the precedence of
all ; for the intellectual powers are ministers of
the Will. " Will," it is said, " and thou shalt be
able." 7 And in the Gnostic, Will, Judgment,
and Exertion are identical. For if the determi-
nations are the same, the opinions and judg-
ments will be the same too ; so that both his
words, and life, and conduct, are conformable
to rule. " And a right heart seeketh knowl-

4 cvrav^a riyv yi^o'ii' iroXvirpay^ovci appeats in the text, which,
with great probability, is supposed to be a marginal note which g>>t
into the text, the indicative being substituted for the imperative.

5 Matt. X. 34, 25; Luke vi. 40.

6 Adopting Sylburgius' conjecture of rtji hi for to hi.

7 Perhaps in allusion to the leper's words to Christ, ** If Thmi
wilt, I'liuu canst make me clean " (Alark i. 40).

Chap. XVIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

365

edge, and heareth it." " God taught me wis- 1
dom, and I knew the knowledge of the holy." ' |

CHAP. XVIII. THE MOSAIC LAW THE FOUNTAIN !

OF ALL ETHICS, AND THE SOURCE FROM WHICH '
THE GREEKS DREW THEIRS.*

It is then clear also that all the other virtues,
delineated in Moses, supplied the Greeks with
the nidiraents of the whole department of morals.
I mean valour, and temperance, and wisdom,
and justice, and endurance, and patience, and
decomm, and self-restraint ; and in addition to
these, piety.

But it is clear to every one that piety, which
teaches to worship and honour, is the highest
and oldest cause; and the law itself exhibits
justice, and teaches wisdom, by abstinence from
sensible images, and by inviting to the Maker
and Father of the universe. And from this sen-
timent, as from a fountain, all intelligence in-
creases. " For the sacrifices of the wicked are
abomination to the Lord; but the prayers of
the upright are acceptable before Him," ^ since
"righteousness is more acceptable before God
than sacrifice." Such also as the following we
find in Isaiah : " To what purpose to me is the
multitude of your sacrifices? saith the Lord;"
and the whole section.* " Break every bond of
wickedness ; for this is the sacrifice that is ac-
ceptable to the Lord, a contrite heart that seeks
its Maker." s " Deceitful balances are abomina-
tion before God ; but a just balance is accepta-
ble to Him." ^ Thence Pythagoras exhorts " not
to step over the balance ; " and the profession
of heresies is called deceitful righteousness ; and
"the tongue of the unjust shall be destroyed,
but the mouth of the righteous droppeth wis-
dom." ^ " For they call the wise and prudent
worthless."^ But it were tedious to adduce
testimonies respecting these virtues, since the
whole Scripture celebrates them. Since, then,
they define manliness to be knowledge ^ of things
formidable, and not formidable, and what is inter-
mediate ; and temperance to be a state of mind
which by choosing and avoiding preserves the
judgments of wisdom ; and conjoined with man-
liness is patience, which is called endurance, the
knowledge of what is bearable and what is un-
bearable ; and magnanimity is the knowledge
which rises superior to circumstances. With
temperance also is conjoined caution, which is
avoidance in accordance with reason. And ob-

* Prov. XXX. 3.

' [See p. 192, supra^ and the note.]
^ Frov. XV. 8.

4 Isa. i. IT, etc.

5 Isa. Iviii. 6.

* Prov. xi. I.
^ Prov. x. 31.

* Prov. XVI. 31, misquoted, or the text is corrupt; " The wise in
heart shall be called prudent," A.V.

9 For the use of knowledge in this connection, Philo, Sextus Elm-
piricus, and Zeno are quoted.

servance of the commandments, which is the
innoxious keeping of them, is the attainment of
a secure life. And there is no endurance with-
out manliness, nor the exercise of self-restraint
without temperance. And these virtues follow
one another ; and with whom are the sequences
of the virtues, with him is also salvation, which
is the keeping of the state of well-being. Rightly,
therefore, in treating of these virtues, we shall
inquire into them all ; for he that has one virtue
gnostically, by reason of their accompanying
each other, has them all. Self-restraint is that
quality which does not overstep what appears
in accordance with right reason. He exercises
self-restraint, who curbs the impulses that are
contrary to right reason, or curbs himself so as
not to indulge in desires contrary to right reason.
Temperance, too, is not without manliness ; since
from the commandments spring both wisdom,
which follows God who enjoins, and that which
imitates the divine character, namely righteous-
ness ; in virtue of which, in the exercise of self-
restraint, we address ourselves in purity to piety
and the course of conduct thence resulting, in
conformity with God ; being assimilated to the
Lord as far as is possible for us beings mortal in
nature. And this is being just and holy with
wisdom ; for the Divinity needs nothing and
suffers nothing ; whence it is not, strictly speak-
ing, capable of self-restraint, for it is never sub-
jected to perturbation, over which to exercise
control ; while our nature, being capable of per-
turbation, needs self-constraint, by which disci-
plining itself to the need of little, it endeavours
to approximate in character to the divine nature.
For the good man, standing as the boundary
between an immortal and a mortal nature, has
few needs ; having wants in consequence of his
body, and his birth itself, but taught by rational
self-control to want few things.

What reason is there in the law's prohibiting
a man from " wearing woman's clothing " ? '° Is
it not that it would have us to be manly, and not
to be effeminate neither in person and actions,
nor in thought and word ? For it would have
the man, that devotes himself to the truth, to
be masculine both in acts of endurance and pa-
tience, in life, conduct, word, and discipline by
night and by day ; even if the necessity were to
occur, of witnessing by the shedding of his blood.
Again, it is said, " If any one who has newly built
a house, and has not previously inhabited it ; or
cultivated a newly- planted vine, and not yet par-
taken of the fruit; or betrothed a virgin, and
not yet married her ; " *' — such the humane law
orders to be relieved from military service : from
military reasons in the first place, lest, bent on

»o Deut. xxii. 5.

>* " These words are more like Philo Judaeus, i. 740, than those
of Moses, Deui. xx. 5-7." — Pottbr.

360

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

their desires, they turn out sluggish in war ; for
it is those who are untrammelled by passion that
boldly encounter perils ; and from motives of
humanity, since, in view of the uncertainties of
war, the law reckoned it not right that one should |
not enjoy his own labours, and another should, |
without bestowing pains, receive what belonged
to those who had laboured. The law seems also
to point out manliness of soul, by enacting that
he who had planted should reap the fruit, and
he that built should inhabit, and he that had be-
trothed should marry : for it is not vain hopes
which it provides for those who labour ; accord-
ing to the gnostic word : " For the hope of a ;
good man dead or living does not perish," ' says I
Wisdom ; " I love them that love me j and they ,
who seek me shall find peace," ' and so forth. ;
What then? Did not the women of the Mid-
ianites, by their beauty, seduce from wisdom '
into impiety, through licentiousness, the Hebrews \
when making war against them? For, having j
seduced them from a grave mode of life, and by ,
their beauty ensnared them in wanton delights, ,
they made them insane upon idol sacrifices and
strange women ; and overcome by women and |
by pleasure at once, they revolted from God, I
and revolted fi-om the law. And the whole peo- 1
pie was within a little of falling under the power '
of the enemy through female stratagem, until, j
when they were in peril, fear by its admonitions I
pulled them back. Then the survivors, valiantly
undertaking the struggle for piety, got the upper j
hand of their foes. "The beginning, then, of |
wisdom is piety, and the knowledge of holy things |
is understanding ; and to know the law is the \
characteristic of a good understanding." 3 Those,
then, who suppose the law to be productive of j
agitating fear, are neither good at understanding
the law, nor have they in reality comprehended j
it ; for " the fear of the Lord causes life, but he |
who errs shall be afflicted with pangs which
knowledge views not." * Accordingly, Barna-
bas says mystically, "May God who niles the
universe vouchsafe also to you wisdom, and un-
derstanding, and science, and knowledge of His
statutes, and patience. Be therefore God- taught,
seeking what the Lord seeks from you, that He
may find you in the day of judgment lying in
wait for these things." " Children of love and
peace," he called them gnostically.5

Respecting imparting and communicating,
though much might be said, let it suffice to re-
mark that the law prohibits a brother from taking
usury : designating as a brother not only him
who is born of the same parents, but also one of
the same race and sentiments, and a participator

* Prov. X 7, xi. 7.

* Prov. viii. 17.
3 Prov. ix. 10.

* Prov. xix 73.

s [5>ee Epiitle of Bartiobas^ vol. p. i. 149, S.]

in the same word ; deeming it right not to take
usury for money, but with open hands and heart
to bestow on those who need. For God, the
author and the dispenser of such grace, takes as
suitable usury the most precious things to be
found among men — mildness, gentleness, mag-
nanimity, reputation, renown. Do you not re-
gard this command as marked by philanthropy?
As also the following, " To pay the wages of the
poor daily," teaches to discharge without delay
the wages due for service ; for, as I think, the
alacrity of the poor with reference to the future is
paralyzed when he has suffered want. Further,
it is said, " Let not the creditor enter the debtor's
house to take the pledge with violence." But let
the former ask it to be brought out, and let not
the latter, if he have it, hesitate.'* And in the
har\'est the owners are prohibited from appro-
priating what falls from the handfuls ; as also in
reaping [the law] enjoins a part to be left
unreaped ; signally thereby training those who
possess to sharing and to large-heartedness, by
foregoing of their own to those who are in want,
and thus providing means of subsistence for the
poor.7 You see how the lav^ proclaims at once
the righteousness and goodness of God, who dis-
penses food to all ungrudgingly. And in the
vintage it prohibited the grape-gatherers from
going back again on what had been left, and
from gathering the fallen grapes ; and the same
injunctions are given to the olive-gatherers.^
Besides, the tithes of the fniits and of the flocks
taught both piety towards the Deity, and not
covetously to grasp everything, but to communi-
cate gifts of kindness to one's neighbours. For
it was from these, I reckon, and from the first-
fruits that the priests were maintained. W^e now
therefore understand that we are instructed in
piety, and in liberality, and in justice, and in
humanity by the law. For does it not command
the land to be left fallow in the seventh year,
and bids the poor fearlessly use the fruits that
grow by divine agency, nature cultivating the
ground for behoof of all and sundry^?' How,
then, can it be maintained that the law is not hu-
mane, and the teacher of righteousness ? Again,
in the fiftieth year, it ordered the same things
to be performed as in the seventh ; besides re-
storing to each one his own land, if from any
circumstance he had parted with it in the mean-
time ; setting bounds to the desires of those who
covet possession, by measuring the period of en-
joyment, and choosing that those who have paid
the penalty of protracted penury should not
suffer a life-long punishment, " But alms and
acts of faith are royal guards, and blessing is on

* Dcut. xxiv. 10, II.

7 I^v. xix. 9, xxiii. 22: Deut. xxiv. 19.

• l^v. xix, xo; Deut. xxiV. 20, 21.
9 Ex. xxiii. 10, 11; Lev. xxv. a-7.

Chap. XVIIL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.-

2>(>1

the head of him who bestows ; and he who pities
the poor shall be blessed." ' For he shows love
to one like himself, because of his love to the
Creator of the human race. The above-men-
tioned particulars have other explanations more
natural, both respecting rest and the recovery of
the inheritance ; but they are not discussed at
present.

Now love is conceived in many ways, in the
form of meekness, of mildness, of patience, of
liberality, of freedom from envy, of absence of
hatred, of forgetfulness of injuries. In all it is
incapable of being divided or distinguished : its
nature is to communicate. Again, it is said, " If
you see the beast of your relatives, or friends,
or, in general, of anybody you know, wandering
in the wilderness, take it back and restore it ; *
and if the owner be far away, keep it among
your own till he return, and restore it." It
teaches a natural communication, that what is
found is to be regarded as a deposit, and that we
are not to bear mahce to an enemy. " The com-
mand of the Lord being a fountain of life " truly,
** causeth to turn away from the snare of death." ^
And what ? Does it not command us " to love
strangers not only as friends and relatives, but as
ourselves, both in body and soul ? " * Nay more,
it honoured the nations, and bears no grudge 5
against those who have done ill. Accordingly it
is expressly said, "Thou shalt not abhor an
Egyptian, for thou wast a sojourner in Egypt ; " ^
designating by the term Egyptian either one of
that race, or any one in the world. And enemies,
although drawn up before the walls attempting
to take the city, are not to be regarded as enemies
till they are by the voice of the herald summoned
to peace.7

Further, it forbids intercourse with a female
captive so as to dishonour her. " But allow
her," it says, " thirty days to mourn according to
her wish, and changing her clothes, associate
with her as your lawful wife."* For it regards
it not right that this should take place either in
wantonness or for hire like harlots, but only for
the birth of children. Do you see humanity
combined with continence? The master who
has fallen in love with his captive maid it does
not allow to gratify his pleasure, but puts a check
on his lust by specifying an interval of time;
and further, it cuts off the captive's hair, in order
to shame disgraceful love : for if it is reason
that induces him to marry, he will cleave to her

* Prov. XX. 28, xi. 26, xiv. 21.

"*■ Quoted from Philo, with slight alterations, giving the sense ol
£z. xxiii. 4, Deut. xxii. 22, 3.

^ Prov. xiv. 27.

< Lev. xix. 33, 34; Deut. x. 19, xxiii. 7.

s Mvi?<riiroin7pci[ (equivalent to \k}rn9*M.aK€X in the passage of
Philo from which Clement is quoting) has been substituted by Sylb

ioX M»70irOKI}p«r.

^ Deut. xxiii. 7.
' Deut. xx.^ 10.

* Detit. xxi. 10-13.

even after she has become disfigured. Then if
one, after his lust, does not care to consort any
longer with the captive, it ordains that it shall
not be lawful to sell her, or to have her any
longer as a servant, but desires her to be freed
and released from service, lest on the introduc-
tion of another wife she bear any of the intoler-
able miseries caused through jealousy.

What more ? The Lord enjoins to ease and
raise up the beasts of enemies when labouring
beneath their burdens ; remotely teaching us not
to indulge in joy at our neighbour's ills, or exult
over our enemies ; in order to teach those who
are trained in these things to pray for their ene-
mies. For He does not allow us either to grieve
at our neighbour's good, or to reap joy at our
neighbour's ill. And if you find any enemy's
beast straying, you are to pass over the incen-
tives of difference, and take it back and restore
it. For oblivion of injuries is followed by good-
ness, and the latter by dissolution of enmity.
From this we are fitted for agreement, and this
conducts to felicity. And should you suppose
one habitually hostile, and discover him to be
unreasonably mistaken either through lust or
anger, turn him to goodness. Does the law then
which conducts to Christ appear humane and
mild ? And does not the same God, good, while
characterized by righteousness from the begin-
ning to the end, employ each kind suitably in
order to salvation? "Be merciful," says the
Lord, " that you may receive mercy ; forgive,
that you may be forgiven. As ye do, so shall it
be done to you ; as ye give, so shall it be given
to you ; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged ; as
ye show kindness, so shall kindness be shown to
you : with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again." 9 Furthermore, [the
law] prohibits those, who are in servitude for
their subsistence, to be branded with disgrace ;
and to those, who have been reduced to slavery
through money borrowed, it gives a complete
release in the seventh year. Further, it pro-
hibits suppliants from being given up to pun-
ishment. True above all, then, is that oracle.
" As gold and silver are tried in the furnace, so
the Lord chooseth men's hearts. The merciful
man is long-suffering; and in every one who
shows solicitude there is wisdom. For on a wise
man solicitude will fall ; and exercising thought,
he will seek life ; and he who seeketh God shall
find knowledge with righteousness. And they who
have sought Him rightly have found peace." '°
And Pythagoras seems to me, to have derived
his mildness towards irrational creatures from the
law. For instance, he interdicted the immediate
use of the young in the flocks of sheep, and
goats, and herds of cattle, on the instant of their

9 Matt. v. vi, vii. ; Luke vi.
*° Prov. xix. II, xiv. 23, xvii. la.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

birth ; not even on the pretext of sacrifice allow-
ing it, both on account of the young ones and
of the mothers ; training man to gentleness by
what is beneath him, by means of the irrational
creatures. " Resign accordingly," he says, " the
young one to its dam for even the first seven
days." For if nothing takes place without a
cause, and milk comes in a shower to animals
in parturition for the sustenance of the progeny,
he that tears that, which has been brought forth,
away from the supply of the milk, dishonours
nature. Let the Greeks, then, feel ashamed, and
whoever else inveighs against the law ; since it
shows mildness in the case of the irrational crea-
tures, while they expose the offspring of men ;
though long ago and prophetically, the law, in
the above-mentioned commandment, threw a
check in the way of their cruelty. For if it pro-
hibits the progeny of the irrational creatures to
be separated from the dam before sucking, much
more in the case of men does it provide before-
hand a cure for cruelty and savageness of dispo-
sition ; so that even if they despise nature, they
may not despise teaching. For they are permit-
ted to satiate themselves with kids and lambs,
and perhaps there might be some excuse for
separating the progeny from its dam. But what
cause is there for the exposure of a child ? For
the man who did not desire to beget children
had no right to marry at first ; certainly not to
have become, through licentious indulgence, the
murderer of his children. Again, the humane
law forbids slaying the offspring and the dam
together on the same day. Thence also the
Romans, in the case of a pregnant woman being
condemned to death, do not allow her to un-
dergo punishment till she is delivered. The law,
too, expressly prohibits the slaying of such ani-
mals as are pregnant till they have brought forth,
remotely restraining the proneness of man to do
wrong to man. Thus also it has extended its
clemency to the irrational creatures ; that firom
the exercise of humanity in the case of creatures
of different species, we might practise among
those of the same species a large abundance of ,
it. Those, too, that kick the bellies of certain
animals before parturition, in order to feast on
flesh mixed with milk, make the womb created
for the birth of the fcetus its grave, though the
law expressly commands, "But neither shalt thou
seethe a lamb in its mother's milk." ' For the
nourishment of the living animal, it is meant, may
not become sauce for that which has been deprived
of life ; and that, which is the cause of life, may
not co-operate in the consumption of the body.
And the same law commands " not to muzzle the
ox which treadeth out the com : for the labourer
must be reckoned worthy of his food." '

* Dcui. xiv. 21.

2 Deut. XXV. 4; X Tim. v. 18.

And it prohibits an ox and ass to be yoked in
the plough together; 3 pointing perhaps to the
want of agreement in the case of the animals ;
and at the same time teaching not to wrong any
one belonging to another race, and bring him
under the yoke, when there is no other cause to
allege than difference of race, which is no cause
at all, being neither wickedness nor the effect
of wickedness. To me the allegory also seems
to signify that the husbandry of the Word is not
to be assigned equally to the clean and the un-
clean, the believer and the unbeliever ; for the
ox is clean, but the ass has been reckoned
among the unclean animals. But the benignant
Word, abounding in humanity, teaches that
neither is it right to cut down cultivated trees,
or to cut down the grain before the harvest, for
mischiefs sake; nor that cultivated fruit is to
be destroyed at all — either the fruit of the soil
or that of the soul : for it does not permit the
enemy's country to be laid waste.

Further, husbandmen derived advantage from
the law in such things. For it orders newly
planted trees to be nourished three years in
succession, and the superfluous growths to be
cut off, to prevent them being loaded and
pressed down; and to prevent their strength
being exhausted from want, by the nutriment
being frittered away, enjoins tilling and digging
round them, so that [the tree] may not, by
sending out suckers, hinder its growth. And it
does not allow imperfect fruit to be plucked
from immature trees, but after three years, in
the fourth year; dedicating the first-fruits to
God after the tree has attained maturity.

This type of husbandry may serve as a mode
of instruction, teaching that we must cut the
growths of sins, and the useless weeds of the
mind that spring up round the vital fhiit, till
the shoot of faith is perfected and becomes
stropg.** For in the fourth year, since there is
need of time to him that is being solidly
catechized, the four virtues are consecrated to
God, the third alonfc being already joined to the
fourth,5 the person of the Lord. And a sacri-
fice of praise is above holocausts : " for He," it
is said, " giveth strength to get power." ^ And
if your affairs are in 8ie sunshine of prosperit)',
get and keep strength, and acquire power in
knowledge. For by these instances it is shown
that both good things and gifts are supplied by
God ; and that we, becoming ministers of the
divine grace, ought to sow the benefits of God,
and make those who approach us noble and

3 Deui. xxii. 10.

* I Sec Hernias, Visions^ note a, p. 15, this volume.]

s do Clement seems to designate the human nature of Christ, —
as being a guartum qnid in addition to the three persons of the CkxH-
head. [A strange note : borrowed from ed. Migae. The incarnation
of the second person is a quartum quid^ of course; but not, in our
author's view, " an addition to the three persons of the Godhead. 1

** DeuL viii. 18.

Chap. XIX.J

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

369

good ; so that, as far as possible, the temperate
man may make others continent, he that is
manly may make them noble, he that is wise
may make them intelligent, and the just may
make them just.

CHAP. XIX. — THE TRUE GNOSTIC IS AN IMITATOR
OF GOD, ESPEaALLY IN BENEFICENCE.

He is the Gnostic, who is after the image and
likeness of God, who imitates God as far as
possible, deficient in none of the things which
contribute to the likeness as far as compatible,
practising self-restraint and endurance, living
righteously, reigning over the passions, bestowing
of what he has as far as possible, and doing
good both by word and deed. " He is the
greatest," it is said, " in the kingdom who shall
do and teach ; " ' imitating God in conferring
like benefits. For God's gifts are for the com-
mon good. " Whoever shall attempt to do aught
with presumption, provokes God,'*^ it is said.
For haughtiness is a vice of the soul, of which,
as of other sins, He commands us to repent;
by adjusting our lives from their state of de-
rangement to the change for the better in these
three things — mouth, heart, hands. These
are signs — the hands of action, the heart of
volition, the mouth of speech. Beautifully,
therefore, has this oracle been spoken with re-
spect to penitents : " Thou hast chosen God
this day to be thy God ; and God hath chosen
thee this day to be His people." ^ For him who
hastes to serve the self-existent One, being a
suppliant,* God adopts to Himself; and though
he be only one in number, he is honoured
equally with the people. For being a part of
the people, he becomes complementary of it,
being restored from what he was ; and the
whole is named from a part.

But nobility is itself exhibited in choosing and
practising what is best. For what benefit to
Adam was such a nobility as he had ? No mor-
tal was his father ; for he himself was father of
men that are born. What is base he readily
chose, following his wife, and neglected what is
true and good ; on which account he exchanged
his immortal life for a mortal life, but not for
ever. And Noah, whose origin was not the same
as Adam's, was saved by divine care. For he
took and consecrated himself to God. And
Abraham, who had children by three wives, not
for the indulgence of pleasure, but in the hope,
as I think, of multiplying the race at the first,
was succeeded by one alone, who was heir of his
father's blessings, while the rest were separated
from the family ; and of the twins who sprang

' Matt. V. 19.

* Num. XV. j3o.

3 Deut. XXVI. X7, 18.

* iKiniv has been adopted from Philo, instead of oiic«nfv of the
text.

from him, the younger having won his father's
favour and received his prayers, became heir, and
the elder served him. For it is the greatest boon
to a bad man not to be master of himself.^

And this arrangement was prophetical and
typical. And that all things belong to the wise.
Scripture clearly indicates when it is said, " Be-
cause God hath had mercy on me, I have all
things." ^ For it teaches that we are to desire
one thing, by which are all things, and what is
promised is assigned to the worthy. Accord-
ingly, the good man who has become heir of
the kingdom, it registers also as fellow-citizen,
through divine wisdom, with the righteous of
the olden time, who under the law and before
the law lived according to law, whose deeds have
become laws to us ; and again, teaching that the
wise man is king, introduces people of a differ-
ent race, saying to him, " Thou art a king before
God among us ; " ^ those who were governed
obeying the good man of their own accord, from
admiration of his virtue.

Now Plato the philosopher, defining the end *
of happiness, says that it is likeness to God as
far as possible ; whether concurring with the pre-
cept of the law (for great natures that are free
of passions somehow hit the mark respecting the
truth, as the Pythagorean PJiilo says in relating
the history of Moses), or whether instructed by
certain oracles of the time, thirsting as he always .
was for instruction. For the law says, "Walk
after the Lord your God, and keep my com-
mandments."* For the law calls assimilation
following ; and such a following to the utmost
of its power assimilates. " Be," says the Lord,
" merciful and pitiful, as your heavenly Father is
pitifiil." 9 Thence also the Stoics have laid down
the doctrine, that living agreeably to nature is
the end, fitly altering the name of God into na-
ture ; since also nature extends to plants, to
seeds, to trees, and to stones. It is therefore
plainly said, " Bad men do not understand the
law ; but they who love the law fortify themselves
with a wall." '° " For the wisdom of the clever
knows its ways ; but the folly of the foolish is

For on whom will I look, but on

»> II ((

m error.

him who is mild and gentle, and trembleth at

my words? " says the prophecy.

We are taught that there are three kinds of
friendship : and that of these the first and the
best is that which results from virtue, for the love
that is founded on reason is firm ; that the sec-
ond and intermediate is by way of recompense,
and is social, hberal, and useful for life ; for the
friendship which is the result of favour is mutual.

s [A noteworthy aphorism.]

6 Gen. xxxiii. 11.

7 Gen. xxiii. 6.
B Deut. xiii. 4.
9 Luke vi. 36.

JO Prov. xxvtii. 4, 5.
" Prov. xiv. 8.

370

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

And the third and last we assert to be that which
is founded on intimacy ; others, again, that it is
that variable and changeable form which rests on
pleasure. And Hippodamus the Pythagorean
seems to me to describe friendships most ad-
mirably : " That founded on knowledge of the
gods, that founded on the gifts of men, and that
on the pleasures of animals." There is the
friendship of a philosopher, — that of a man
and that of an animal. For the image of God
is really the man who does good, in which also
he gets good : as the pilot at once saves, and is
saved. Wherefore, when one obtains his request,
he does not say to the giver. Thou hast given
well, but. Thou hast received well. So he re-
ceives who gives, and he gives who receives.
" But the righteous pity and show mercy." '
" But the mild shall be inhabitants of the earth,
and the innocent shall be left in it. But the
transgressors shall be extirpated from it." * And
Homer seems to me to have said prophetically
of the faithful, " Give to thy friend." And an
enemy must be aided, that he may not continue
an enemy. For by help good feeling is com-
pacted, and enmity dissolved. " But if there be
present readiness of mind, according to what a
man hath it is acceptable, and not according to
what he hath not : for it is not that there be ease
to others, but tribulation to you, but of equality
at the present time," and so forth.3 " He hath
dispersed, he hath given to the poor ; his right-
eousness endureth for ever," the Scripture says.*
For conformity with the image and likeness is
not meant of the body (for it were wrong for
what is mortal to be made like what is immortal),
but in mind and reason, on which fitly the Lord
impresses the seal of likeness, both in respect of
doing good and of exercising rule. For govern-
ments are directed not by corporeal qualities,
but by judgments of the mind. For by the
counsels of holy men states are managed well,
and the household also.

CHAP. XX. — THE TRUE GNOSTIC EXERCISES PA-
TIENCE AND SELF-RESTRAINT.

Endurance also itself forces its way to the
divine likeness, reaping as its fruit impassibility
through patience, if what is related of Ananias
be kept in mind ; who belonged to a number,
of whom Daniel the prophet, filled with divine
faith, was one. Daniel dwelt at Babylon, as Lot
at Sodom, and Abraham, who a little after became
the friend of God, in the land of Chaldea. The
king of the Babylonians let Daniel down into a
pit full of wild beasts ; the King of all, the faith-
ful Lord, took him up unharmed. Such patience

* Prov. xxi. 26.

* Prov. ii. ai, 23.

3 2 Cor. yiii. 12, 13, 14.

4 Ps. cxii. 9.

will the Gnostic, as a Gnostic, possess. He wiJJ
bless when under trial, like the noble Job ; like
Jonas, when swallowed up by the whale, he will
pray, and faith will restore him to prophesy to
the Ninevites; and though shut up with lions,
he will tame the wild beasts ; though cast into
the fire, he will be besprinkled with dew, but not
consumed. He will give his testimony by night ;
he will testify by day ; by word, by life, by con-
duct, he will testify. Dwelling with the Lord,?
he will continue his familiar friend, sharing the
same hearth according to the Spirit; pure in
the flesh, pure in heart, sanctified in word.
"The world," it is said, "is crucified to him,
and he to the world." ^ He, bearing about the
cross of the Saviour, will follow the Lord's foot-
steps, as God, having become holy of holies.

The divine law, then, while keeping in mind
all virtue, trains man especially to self-restraint,
laying this as the foundation of the virtues ; and
disciplines us beforehand to the attainment of
self-restraint by forbidding us to partake of such
things as are by nature fat, as the breed of
swine, which is full- fleshed. For such a use is
assigned to epicures. It is accordingly said that
one of the philosophers, giving the etymolog)'
of v% (sow), said that it was ^?, as being fit
only for slaughter (Bxxriv) and killing; for life
was given to this animal for no other purpose
than that it might swell in flesh. Similarly,
repressing our desires, it forbade partaking of
fishes which have neither fins nor scales ; for
these surpass other fishes in fleshiness and fat-
ness. From this it was, in my opinion, that the
mysteries not only prohibited touching certain
animals, but also withdrew certain parts of those
slain in sacrifice, for reasons which are known
to the initiated. If, then, we are to exercise
control over the belly, and what is below the
belly, it is clear that we have of old heard from
the Lord that we are to check lust by the law.

And this will be completely effected, if we
unfeignedly condemn what is the fiiel of lust : I
mean pleasure. Now they say that the idea of
it is a gentle and bland excitement, accompa-
nied with some sensation. Enthralled by this,
Menelaus, they say, after the capture of Troy,
having rushed to put Helen to death, as having
been the cause of such calamities, was neverthe-
less not able to effect it, being subdued by her
beauty, which made him think of pleasure.
! Whence the tragedians, jeering, exclaimed
insultingly against him : —

"But thou, when on her breast thou lookedst, thy
sword
Didst cast away, and with a kiss the traitress.
Ever-beauteous wretch/ thou didst embrace."

^ Substituting <*h' for ck tw Kvptw after ovvottcof.

6 [Gal. vi. 14. S.]

1 jcvi'tt, Eurip., Androtnachtf 609.

riiAP. XIX.)

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

2>7^

And again : —

** Was the sword then by beauty blunted ? "

Antl I agree with Antisthenes when he says,
** Could I catch Aphrodite, I would shoot her ;
for she has destroyed many of our beautiful and
good women." And he says that " Love * is a
vice of nature, and the wretches who fall under
its power call the disease a deity." For in these
words it is shown that stupid people are over-
come from ignorance of pleasure, to which we
ought to give no admittance, even though it be
called a god, that is, though it be given by God
for the necessity of procreation. And Xeno-
phon, expressly calling pleasure a vice, says :
" Wretch, what good dost thou know, or what
honourable aim hast thou ? which does not even
wait for the appetite for sweet things, eating
before being hungry, drinking before being
thirsty; and that thou mayest eat pleasantly,
seeking out fine cooks ; and that thou mayest
drink pleasantly, procuring costly wines ; and in
summer runnest about seeking snow ; and that
thou mayest sleep pleasandy, not only providest
soft beds, but also supports* to the cOuches."
Whence, as Aristo said, " against tlie whole tet-
rachord of pleasure, pain, fear, and lust, there
is need of much exercise and struggle."

" For it is these, it is these that go through our bowels,
And throw into disorder men*s hearts."

" For the minds of those even who are deemed
grave, pleasure makes waxen," according to
Plato ; since " each pleasure and pain nails to
the body the soul " of the man, that does not
sever and cmcify himself from the passions.
" He that loses his life," says the Lord, " shall
save it ; " either giving it up by exposing it to
danger for the Lord's sake, as He did for us, or
loosing it from fellowship with its habitual life.
For if you would loose, and withdraw, and sep-
arate (for this is what the cross means) your
soul from the delight and pleasure that is in this
life, you will possess it, found and resting in the
looked- for hope. And this would be the exer-
cise of death, if we would be content with those
desires which are measured according to nature
alone, which do not pass the limit of those
which are in accordance with nature — by
going to excess, or going against nature — in
which the possibility of sinning arises. "We
must therefore put on the panoply of God, that
we may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil ; since the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strongholds, casting down reasonings,
and every lofty thing which exalteth itself against
the knowledge of God, and bringing every

* 'Epwf, Cupid.

* Or, "carpets." Xenoph., Memorahilitty II. i. 30; The Words
of Virtue to Vice.

thought into captivity unto the obedience of
Christ," 3 says the divine apostle. There is need
of a man who shall use in a praiseworthy and
discriminating manner the things from which
passions take their rise, as riches and poverty,
honour and dishonour, health and sickness, life
and death, toil and pleasure. For, in order
that we may treat things, that are different,
indifferently, there is need of a great difference
in us, as having been previously afflicted with
much feebleness, and in the distortion of a bad
training and nurture ignorantly indulged our-
selves. The simple word, then, of our philos-
ophy declares the passions to be impressions on
the soul that is soft and yielding, and, as it were,
the signatures of the spiritual powers with whom
we have to struggle. For it is the business, in
my opinion, of the malifi^ent powers to en-
deavour to produce somewhat of their own con-
stitution in everything, so as to overcome and
make their own those who have renounced them.
And it follows, as might be expected, that some
are worsted ; but in the case of those who
engage in the contest with more athletic energy,
the powers mentioned above, after carrying on
the conflict in all forms, and advancing even as
far as the crown wading in gore, decline the bat-
tle, and admire the victors.

For of objects that are moved, some are
moved by impulse and appearance, as animals ;
and some by transposition, as inanimate objects.
And of things without life, plants, they say, are
moved by transposition in order to growth, if
we will concede to them that plants are without
life. To stones, then, belongs a permanent
state. Plants have a nature ; and the irrational
animals possess impulse and perception, and
likewise the two characteristics already specified .■♦
But the reasoning faculty, being peculiar to the
human soul, ought not to be impelled similarly
with the irrational animals, but ought to dis-
criminate appearances, and not to be carried
away by them. The po\^rs, then, of which we
have spoken hold out beautiful sights, and hon-
ours, and adulteries, and pleasures, and such
like alluring phantasies before facile spirits ; as
those who drive away cattle hold out branches
to them. Then, having beguiled those incapa-
ble of distinguishing the true from the false
pleasure, and the fading and meretricious from
the holy beauty, they lead them into slavery.
And each deceit, by pressing constantly on the
spirit, impresses its image on it ; and the soul
unwittingly carries about the image of the pas-
sion, which takes its rise from the bait and our
consent.

The adherents of Basilides are in the habit of

3 Eph. vi. II.

4 i.e., Permanent state and nature.

5 [Sec Epiphan., 6?//., ti. 391, ed. Oehler.].

Or TH»=.

UNIVEIRSITY

372

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

calling the passions appendages : saying that
these are in essence certain spirits attached to
the rational soul, through some original perturba-
tion and confusion ; and that, again, other bas-
tard and heterogeneous natures of spirits grow
on to them, like that of the wolf, the ape, the
lion, the goat, whose properties showing them-
selves around the soul, they say, assimilate the
lusts of the soul to the likeness of the animals.
For they imitate the actions of those whose
properties they bear. And not only are they
associated with the impulses and perceptions
of the irrational animals, but they affect * the
motions and the beauties of plants, on account
of their bearing also the properties of plants
attached to them. They have also the proper-
ties of a particular state, as the hardness of steel.
But against this dogma we shall argue subse-
quently, when we treat of the soul. At present
this only needs to be pointed out, that man,
according to Basilides, preserves the appearance
of a wooden horse, according to the poetic
myth, embracing as he does in one body a host
of such different spirits. Accordingly, Basilides'
son himself, Isidorus, in his book. About the
Soul attached to us, while agreeing in the dogma,
as if condemning himself, writes in these words :
" For if I persuade any one that the soul is
undivided, and that the passions of the wicked
are occasioned by the violence of the append-
ages, the worthless among men will have no
slight pretence for saying, * I was compelled, I
was carried away, I did it against my will, I acted
unwillingly ; * though he himself led the desire
of evil things, and did not fight against the
assaults of the appendages. But we must, by
acquiring superiority in the rational part, show
ourselves masters of the inferior creation in us,"
For he too lays down the hypothesis of two
souls in us, like the Pythagoreans, at whom we
shall glance afterwards.

Valentinus too, in a letter to certain people,
writes in these very words respecting the append-
ages : *' There is one good, by whose presence *
is the manifestation, which is by the Son, and by
Him alone can the heart become pure, by the
expulsion of every evil spirit from the heart : for
the multitude of spirits dwelling in it do not suf-
fer it to be pure ; but each of them performs his
own deeds, insulting it oft with unseemly lusts.
And the heart seems to be treated somewhat like
a caravanserai. For the latter has holes and ruts
made in it, and is often filled with dung ; men
living filthily in it, and taking no care for the
place as belonging to others. So fares it with
the heart as long as there is no thought taken for
it, being unclean, and the abode of many demons.
But when the only good Father visits it, it is

sanctified, and gleams with light. And he who
possesses such a heart is so blessed, that ** he
shall see God." 3

I What, then, let them tell us, is the cause of
such a soul not being cared for from the begin-
ning? Either that it is not worthy (and some-
how a care for it comes to it as from repentance),
or it is a saved nature, as he would have it ; and
this, of necessity, from the beginning, being
cared for by reason of its affinity, afforded nu
entrance to the impure spirits, unless by being
forced and found feeble. For were he to grant
that on repentance it preferred what was better,
he will say this unwillingly, being what the tmth
we hold teaches ; namely, that salvation is from
a change due to obedience, but not from nature.
For as the exhalations which arise from the earth,
and from marshes, gather into mists and cloudy
masses ; so the vapours of fleshly lusts bring on
the soul an evil condition, scattering about the
idols of pleasure before the soul. Accordingly
they spread darkness over the light of intelli-
gence, the spirit attracting the exhalations that
arise from lust, and thickening the masses of the
passions by persistency in pleasures. Gold is
not taken from the earth in the lump, but is
purified by smelting ; then, when made pure, it
is called gold, the earth being purified. For
" Ask, and it shall be given you," -♦ it is said to
those who are able of themselves to choose what
is best. And how we say that the powers of the
devil, and the unclean spirits, sow into the sin-
ner's soul, requires no more words from me, on
adducing as a witness the apostolic Barnabas
(and he was one of the seventy,5 and a fellow-
worker of Paul), who speaks in these words:
" Before we believed in God, the dwelling-place
of our heart was unstable, truly a temple bulk
with hands. For it was full of idolatry, and was
a house of demons, through doing what was
opposed to God." ^

He says, then, that sinners exercise activities
appropriate to demons ; but he does not say
that the spirits themselves dwell in the soul of

.the unbeliever. Wherefore he also adds, "See
that the temple of the Lord be gloriously built.
Learn, having received remission of sins ; and
having set our hope on the Name, let us become
new, created again from the beginning." For
what he says is not that demons are driven out
of us, but that the sins which like them we com-
mit before believing are remitted. Rightly thus
he puts in opposition what follows : ** Wherefore
God truly dwells in our home. He dwells in us.

I How? The word of His faith, the calling of

I His promise, the wisdom of His statutes, the

' Or, vie with.

' vofwvaif »ubstituicd by Grabe for irappqaia.

3 Mail. V. 8. [On the Beatitudes, sec book iv. cap. 6, i>s/ra.]

* Malt. vii. 7.

3 rSce note, book ii. cap. 7, p. 352, x«//-<i.]

*> Bamabab, Kpist.^ cap. xvi. vol. 1. p. 147.

(HAP. XIX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

373

<:ommandments of His communication, [dwell
in us]."

** I know that I have come upon a heresy ;
and its chief was wont to say that he fought with
pleasure by pleasure, this worthy Gnostic advan-
cing on pleasure in feigned combat, for he said
he was a Gnostic ; since he said it was no great
thing for a man that had not tried pleasure to
abstain from it, but for one who had mixed in it
not to be overcome [was something] ; and that
therefore by means of it he trained himself in it.
The wretched man knew not that he was deceiv-
ing himself by the artfulness of voluptuousness.
To this opinion, then, manifestly Aristippus the
Cyrenian adhered — that of the sophist who
boasted of the truth. Accordingly, when re-
proached fpr continually cohabiting with the
Corinthian courtezan, he said, " I possess Lais,
and am not possessed by her."

Such also are those who say that they follow
Nicolaus, quoting an adage of the man, which
they pervert,' " that the flesh must be abused."
But the worthy man showed that it was necessary
to check pleasures and lusts, and by such train-
ing to waste away the impulses and propensities
of the flesh. But they, abandoning themselves
to pleasure like goats, as if insulting the body,
lead a life of self-indulgence ; not knowing that
the body is wasted, being by nature subject to
dissolution ; while their soul is buried in the
mire of vice ; following as they do the teaching
of pleasure itself, not of the apostolic man. For
in what do they differ from Sardanapalus, whose
life is shown in the epigram : —

to self-indulgence ? Diogenes writes significantly
in a tragedy : —

'• Who to the pleasures of effeminate
And filthy luxury attached in heart,
Wish not to undergo the slightest toil."

And what follows, expressed indeed in foul
language, but in a manner worthy of the volup-
tuaries.

Wherefore the divine law appears to me ne-
cessarily to menace with fear, that, by caution
and attention, the philosopher may acquire and
retain absence of anxiety, continuing without
fall and without sin in all things. For peace and
freedom are not otherwise won, than by ceaseless
and unyielding struggles with our lusts. For these
stout and Olympic antagonists are keener than
wasps, so to speak ; and Pleasure especially, not
by day only, but by night, is in dreams with
witchcraft ensnaringly plotting and biting. How,
then, can the Greeks any more be right in run-
ning down the law, when they themselves teach
that Pleasure is the slave of fear? Socrates ac-
cordingly bids "people guard against entice-
ments to eat when they are not hungry, and to
drink when not thirsty, and the glances and
kisses of the fair, as fitted to inject a deadlier
poison than that of scorpions and spiders." And
Antisthenes chose rather " fo be demented than
delighted y And the Theban Crates says : —

" Master these, exulting in the disposition of the soul,
Vanquished neither by gold nor by languishing love,
Nor are they any longer attendants to the wanton."

And at length infers : —

"I have what I ate — what I enjoyed wantonly;
And the pleasures I felt in love. But those
Manv objects of happiness are left,
For 1 too am dust, who ruled great Ninus."

For the feeling of pleasure is not at all a ne-
cessity, but the accompaniment of certain natu-
ral needs — hunger, thirst, cold, marriage. If,
then, it were possible to drink without it, or take
food, or beget children, no other need of it
could be shown. For pleasure is neither a func-
tion, nor a state, nor any part of us ; but has
been introduced into life as an auxiliary, as they
say salt was to season food. But when it casts
off restraint and rules the house, it generates
first concupiscence, which is an irrational pro-
pension and impulse towards that which gratifies
it ; and it induced Epicurus to lay down pleas-
ure as the aim of the philosopher. Accordingly
he deifies a sound condition of body, and the
certain hope respecting it. For what else is lux-
ury than the voluptuous gluttony and the super-
fluous abundance of those who are abandoned

"Those, unenslaved and unbended by servile Pleasure,
Love the immortal kingdom and freedom."

He writes expressly, in other words, " that tjie
stop^ to the unbridled propensity to amorous-
ness is hunger or a halter."

And the comic poets attest, while they depre-
ciate the teaching of Zeno the Stoic, to be to the
following effect : —

" For he philosophizes a vain philosoph}^ :
He teaches to want food, and gets pupils
One loaf, and for seasoning a dry fig, and to drink
water.'*

All these, then, are not ashamed clearly to con-
fess the advantage which accrues from caution.
And the wisdom which is tnie and not contrary
to reason, trusting not in mere words and oracu-
lar utterances, but in invulnerable armour of
defence and energetic mysteries, and devoting
itself to divine commands, and exercise, and
practice, receives a divine power according to
its inspiration from the Word.

' [Clement docs not credit the apostasy of the deacon Nicolas
(Acts vi. 5), though others of the Fathers surrender him to the Nico-
laiians. See book iii. cap. iv. zn/ra.j

2 Karanawrtia (in I'heodoret) , for which the text reads tcara-
irAatrixa.

374

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IL

Already, then, the aegis of the poetic Jove is
described as

" Dreadful, crowned all around by Terror,
And on it Strife and Prowess, and chilling Rout;
On it, too, the Gorgon's head, dread monster.
Terrible, dire, the sign of ^gis-bearing Jove." '

But to those, who are able rightly to under-
stand salvation, I know not what will appear
dearer than the gravity of the Law, and Rever-
ence, which is its daughter. For when one is
said to pitch too high, as also the Lord says,
with reference to certain ; so that some of those
whose desires are towards Him may not sing out
of pitch and tune, I do not understand it as
pitching too high in reality, but only as spoken
with reference to such as will not take up the
divine yoke. For to those, who are unstrung
and feeble, what is medium seems too high ; and
to those, who are unrighteous, what befdls them
seems severe justice. For those, who, on ac-
count of the favour they entertain for sins, are
prone to pardon, suppose truth to be harshness,
and severity to be savageness, and him who does
not sin with them, and is not dragged with them,
to be pitiless. Tragedy writes therefore well of
Pluto : —

'' And to what sort of a deity wilt thou come,' dost thou
ask,
Who knows neither clemency nor favour,
But loves bare justice alone.

For although you are not yet able to do the
things enjoined by the Law, yet, considering that
the noblest examples are set before us in it, we
are able to nourish and increase the love of
liberty ; and so we shall profit more eagerly as
far as we can, inviting some things, imitating
some things, and fearing others. For thus the
righteous of the olden time, who lived according
to the law, " were not from a storied oak, or from
a rock ; " because they wish to philosophize truly,
took and devoted themselves entirely to God, and
were classified under faith. Zeno said well of
the Indians, that he would rather have seen one
Indian roasted, than have learned the whole of
the arguments about bearing pain. But we have
exhibited before our eyes every day abundant
sources of martyrs that are burnt, impaled, be-
headed. All these the fear inspired by the law,

— leading as a paedagogue to Christ, trained so
as to manifest their piety by their blood. " God
stood in the congregation of the gods ; He
judgeth in the midst of the gods." ^ who are
they? Those that are superior to Pleasure, who
rise above the passions, who know what they do

— the Gnostics, who are greater than the world.

" I said, Ye are Gods ; and all sons of the High-
est.'** To whom speaks the Lord? To those
who reject as far as possible all that is of man.
And the apostie says, " For ye are not any longer
in the flesh, but in the Spirit." 5 And again he
says, " Though in the flesh, we do not war after
the flesh." ^ "For flesh and blood cannot in-
herit the kingdom of God, heither doth corrup-
tion inherit incorruption." ^ "Lo, ye shall die
like men," the Spirit has said, confuting us.

We must then exercise ourselves in taking care
about those things which fall under the power of
the passions, fleeing like those who are truly phi-
losophers such articles of food as excite lust, and
dissolute licentiousness in chambering and luxu-
ry ; and the sensations that tend to luxury, which
are a solid reward to others, must no longer be
so to us. For God*s greatest gift is self-restraint.
For He Himself has said, " I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee," ^ as having judged thee
worthy according to the true election. Thus,
then, while we attempt piously to advance, we
shall have put on us the mild yoke of the Lord
from faith to faith, one charioteer driving each
of us onward to salvation, that the meet fruit of
beatitude may be won. " Exercise is " accord-
ing to Hippocrates of Cos, " no^ only the health
of the body, but of the soul — fearlessness of la-
bours— a ravenous appetite for food, ^^

CHAP. XXI.

OPINIONS OF V.\RIOUS PHILOSOPHERS
ON THE CHIEF GOOD.

* Iliad, V. 739.

^ After this comes w« (pura, which yields no meaning, and has
been variously amended, but not satisfactorily . Most likely some
words have dropped out of the text. [The note in ed. Mignc, never-
theless, is worth consultation ]

^ Ps. Ixxxii. 1.

Epicurus, in placing happiness in not being
hungry, or thirsty, or cold, uttered that godlike
word, saying impiously that he would fight in
these points even with Father Jove ; teaching, as
if it were the case of pigs that live in filth and
not that of rational philosophers, that happiness
was victory. For of those that are ruled by
pleasure are the Cyrenaics and Epicurus ; for
these expressly said that to live pleasantly was
the chief end, and that pleasure was the only
perfect good. Epicurus also says that the re-
moval of pain is pleasure ; and says that that is
to be preferred, which first attracts from itself
to itself, being, that is, wholly in motion. Di-
nomachus and Callipho said that the chief end
was for one to do what he could for the attain-
ment and enjoyment of pleasure ; and Hierony-
mus the Peripatetic said the great end was to
live unmolested, and that the only final good was
happiness ; and Diodorus likewise, who belonged
to the same sect, pronounces the end to be 10
live undisturbed and well. Epicurus indeed,
and the Cyrenaics, say that pleasure is the first
duty ; for it is for the sake of pleasure, they say.

* Ps. Ixxxii. 6.
5 Rom. viii. 9.
^ 2 Cor. X. 3.

7 I Cor. XV. 50.

* Heb. xiii. 5.

Chap. XXIL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

375

that virtue was introduced, and produced pleas-
ure. According to the followers of Calliphon,
virtue was introduced for the sake of pleasure,
but that subsequently, on seeing its own beauty,
it made itself equally prized with the first prin-
ciple, that is, pleasure.

But the Aristotelians lay it down, that to live
in accordance with virtue is the end, but that
neither happiness nor the end is reached by
every one who has virtue. For the wise man,
vexed and involved in involuntary mischances,
and wishing gladly on these accounts to flee
from life, is neither fortunate nor happy. For
virtue needs time; for that is not acquired in
one day which exists [only] in the perfect man ;
since, as they say, a child is never happy. But
human life is a perfect time, and therefore hap-
piness is completed by the three kinds of good
things. Neither, then, the poor, nor the mean,
nor even the diseased, nor the slave, can be one
of them.

Again, on the other hand, Zeno the Stoic
thinks the end to be living according to virtue ;
and Cleanthes, living agreeably to nature in
the right exercise of reason, which he held to
consist of the selection of things according to
nature. And Antipatrus, his friend, supposes
the end to consist in choosing continually and
unswervingly the things which are according to
nature, and rejecting those contrary to nature.
Archedamus, on the other hand, explained the
end to be such, that in selecting the greatest and
chief things according to nature, it was impossi-
ble to overstep it. In addition to these, Panse-
tius pronounced the end to be, to live according
to the means given to us by nature. And final-
ly, Posidonius said that it was to live engaged in
contemplating the truth and order of the uni-
verse, and forming himself as he best can, in
nothing influenced by the irrational part of his
soul. And some of the later Stoics defined the
great end to consist in living agreeably to the
constitution of man. Why should I mention
Aristo? He said that the end was indiflerence ;
but what is indifierent simply abandons the in-
different. Shall I bring forward the opinions of
Herillus? Herillus states the end to be to live
according to science. For some think that the
more recent disciples of the Academy define
the end to be, the steady abstraction of the mind
to its own impressions. Further, Lycus the Peri-
patetic used to say that the final end was the
true joy of the soul ; as Leucimus, that it was
the joy it had in what was good. Cuitolaus, also
a Peripatetic, said that it was the perfection of a
life flowing rightly according to nature, referring
to the perfection accomplished by the three kinds
according to tradition.

We must, however, not rest satisfied with
these, but endeavour as we best can to adduce

the doctrines laid down on the point by the n^it-
uralist; for they say that Anaxagoras of Cla-
zomenae affirmed contemplation and the freedom
flowing from it to be the end of life ; Heraclitus
the Ephesian, complacency. The Pontic Hera-
clides relates, that Pythagoras taught that the
knowledge of the perfection of the numbers*
was happiness of the soul. The Abderites also
teach the existence of an end. Democritus, in
his work On the Chief End, said it was cheerful-
ness, which he also called well-being, and often
exclaims, " For dehght and its absence are the
boundary of those who have reached full age ; "
Hecataeus, that it was sufficiency to one's self;
Apollodotus of Cyzicum, that it was delectation ;
as Nausiphanes, that it was undauntedness,^ for
he said that it was this that was called by Democ-
ritus imperturbability. In addition to these still,
Diotimus declared the end to be perfection of
what is good, which he said was termed well-
being. Again, Antisthenes, that it was humility.
And those called Annicereans, of the Cyrenaic
succession, laid down no definite end for the
whole of life ; but said that to each action be-
longed, as its proper end, the pleasure accruing
from the action. These Cyrenaics reject Epicu-
rus' definition of pleasure, that is the removal of
pain, calling that the condition of a dead man ;
because we rejoice not only on account of pleas-
ures, but companionships and distinctions ; while
Epicurus thinks that all joy of the soul arises from
previous sensations of the flesh. Metrodorus, in
his book On the Source of Happiness in Ourselves
being greater than thatwhich arises from Objects y
says : What else is the good of the soul but the
sound state of the flesh, and the sure hope of its
continuance ?

.»o

CHAP. XXII. — PI.ATOS OPINION, THAT THE CHIEF
GOOD CONSISl^ IN ASSIMILATION TO GOD, AND
rre AGREEMENT WITH SCRIPTURE.

Further, Plato the philosopher says that the
end is twofold : that which is communicable,
and exists first in the ideal forms themselves,
which he also calls " the good ; " and that which
partakes of it, and receives its likeness from it,
as i§ the case in the men who appropriate virtue
and true philosophy. Wherefore also Cleanthes,
in the second book. On Pleasure, says that Soc-
rates everywhere teaches that the just man and
the happy are one and the same, and execrated
the first man who separated the just from the
useful, as having done an impious thing. For
those are in truth impious who separate the
useful from that which is right according to the
law. Plato himself says that happiness (cvSat-

' The text has apeTiF, virtues, for which, in accordance with
Pythagoras' well-known opinion, kpxAyMv has lieen substituted from
Theodore t.

^ For (toTan-ATj^ii' of the text, Heinsius reads awoTdn-ATjfn', which
corresponds to the other term ascribed to Democritus — a0a^/3ii7r.

376

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

fjiovLo) is to possess rightly the daemon, and that
the ruling faculty of the soul is called the daemon ;
and he terms happiness (cvSai/Aovta) the most
perfect and complete good. Sometimes he calls
it a consistent and harmonious life, sometimes
the highest perfection in accordance with virtue ;
and this he places in the knowledge of the Ciood,
and in likeness to God, demonstrating likeness
to be justice and holiness with wisdom. For is
it not thus that some of our writers have under-
stood that man straightway on his creation re-
ceived what is " according to the image," but
that what is according " to the likeness *' he will
receive afterwards on his perfection ? Now Plato,
teaching that the virtuous man shall have this
likeness accompanied with humility, explains the
following : " He that humbleth himself shall be
exalted." ' He says, accordingly, in T/te Laws :
" God indeed, as the ancient saying has it, occu-
pying the beginning, the middle, and the end of
all things, goes straight through while He goes
round the circumference. And He is always
attended by Justice, the avenger of those who
revolt from the divine law." You see how he
connects fear with the divine law. He adds,
therefore : " To which he, who would be happy,
cleaving, will follow lowly and beautified." Then,
connecting what follows these words, and admon-
ishing by fear, he adds : "What conduct, then,
is dear and conformable to God ? That which is
characterized by one word of old date : Ltkf will
be dear to like^ as to what is in proportion ; but
things out of proportion are neither dear to one
another, nor to those which are in proportion.
And that therefore he that would be dear to God,
must, to the best of his power, become such as
He is. And in virtue of the same reason, our
self-controlling man is dear to God. But he that
has no self-control is unlike and diverse." In
saying that it was an ancient dogma, he indicates
the teaching which had come to him from the
law. And having in the Theatatus admitted that
evils make the circuit of mortal nature and of this
spot, he adds : " Wherefore we must try to flee
hence as soon as possible. For flight is likeness
to God as far as possible. And likeness is to
become holy and just with wisdom." Speusip-
pus, the nephew of Plato, says that happiness is
a perfect state in those who conduct themselves
in accordance with nature, or the state of the
good : for which condition all men have a desire,
but the good only attained to quietude ; conse-
(juently the virtues are the authors of happiness.
And Xenocrates the Chalcedonian defines hap-
piness to be the possession of virtue, strictly so
called, and of the power subservient to it. Then
he clearly says, that the seat in which it resides
is the soul ; that by which it is effected, the vir-

' Luke xiv. ii.

tues ; and that of these as parts are formed praise-
worthy actions, good habits and dispositions, and
motions, and relations ; and that corporeal and
external objects are not without these. For
Polemo, the disciple of Xenocrates, seems of the
opinion that happiness is sufficiency of all good
things, or of the most and greatest. He lays
down the doctrine, then, that happiness never
exists without virtue ; and that virtue, apart from
corporeal and external objects, is sufficient for
happiness. I-^t these things be so. The contra-
dictions to the opinions specified shall be ad-
duced in due time. But on us it is incumbent
to reach the unaccomplished end, obeying the
commands — that is, God — and living according
to them, irreproachably and intelligently, through
knowledge of the divine will ; and assimilation
as far as possible in accordance with right reason
is the end, and restoration to perfect adoption by
the Son, which ever glorifies the Father by the
great High Priest who has deigned to call us
brethren and fellow-heirs. And the apostle, suc-
cinctly describing the end, writes in the Epistle
to the Romans : " But now, being made free from
sin, and become ser\'ants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."*
And viewing the hope as twofold — that which
is expected, and that which has been received —
he now teaches the end to be the restitution of
the hope. " For patience," he says, " worketh ex-
perience, and experience hope : and hope maketh
not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that xs
given to us." ^ On account of which love and
the restoration to hope, he says, in another place,
" which rest is laid up for us." * You will find
in Ezekiel the like, as follows : " The soul that
sinneth, it shall die. And the man who shall be
righteous, and shall do judgment and justice, who
has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted his
eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and hath
not defiled his neighbour's wife, and hath not
approached to a woman in the time of her un-
cleanness (for he does not wish the seed of raan
to be dishonoured), and will not injure a man ;
will restore the debtor's pledge, and will not take
usury ; will turn away his hand ftx)m wrong ; i^ill
do true judgment between a man and his neigh-
bour ; will walk in my ordinances, and keep my
commandments, so as to do the truth ; he is
righteous, he shall surely live, saith Adonai the
Ix)rd."5 Isaiah too, in exhorting him that hath
not believed to gravity of life, and the Gnostic to
attention, proving that man's virtue and God's
are not the same, speaks thus : " Seek the Lord,
and on finding Him call on Him. And when

2 Rom. vi. 22.

3 Rom. V. 4, 5.

* Probably Hcb. iv. 8, 9.
S Ezck. xviii. 4-9.

Chap. XXIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

He shall draw near to you, let the wicked forsake
his ways, and the unrighteous man his ways ; and
let him return to the Lord, and he shall obtain
mercy," down to " and your thoughts from my
thoughts." ' "We," then, according to the noble
apostle, " wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. For in Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which
worketh by love." ' And w^e desire that every one
of you show the same diligence to the full assur-
ance of hope," down to "made an high priest for
ever, after the order of Melchizedek." ^ Similarly
^nth Paul " the All-virtuous Wisdom " says, " He
that heareth me shall dwell trusting in hope." ^
For the restoration of hope is called by the same
term " hope." To the expression " will dwell "
it has most beautifully added " trusting," showing
that such an one has obtained rest, having re-
ceived the hope for which he hoped. Wherefore
also it is added, " and shall be quiet, without fear
of any evil." And openly and expressly the
apostle, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians,
says, " Be ye followers of me, as also I am of
Christ," 5 in order that that may take place. If
ye are of me, and I am of Christ, then ye are
imitators of Christ, and Christ of God. Assimi-
lation to Gody then J so that as far as possible a
man becomes righteous and holy with wisdom^
he lays down as the aim of faith, and the end to
be that restitution of the promise which is effect-
ed by faith. From these doctrines gush the foun-
tains, which we specified above, of those who
have dogmatized about " the end." But of these
enough.

CHAP. /XXm. — ON MARRIAGE.

Since pleasure and lust seem to fall under
marriage, it must also be treated of. Marriage
is the first conjunction of man and woman for
the procreation of legitimate children.^ Ac-
cordingly Menander the comic poet says ; —

" For the begetting of legitimate children,
I give thee my daughter."

We ask if we ought to marry ; which is one of
the points, which are said to be relative. For
some must marry, and a man must be in some
condition, and he must marry some one in
some condition. For every one is not to marry,
nor always. But there is a time in which it is
suitable, and a person for whom it is suitable,
and an age up to which it is suitable. Neither
ought every one to take a wife, nor is it every
woman one is to take, nor always, nor in every

• Isa. Iv. 6, 7, 9.
2 Gal. V. 5, 6.

^ Hcb. vi. xi-20.

♦ Prov. i. 33.
^ X Cor. XI. I.

^ [He places the essence of marriage in the chaste consummation
itself, the brst after lawful nuptials. Such is the force of this defini-
tion, which the note in ed. Migne misrepresents, as if it were a denial
that second nuptials are marriage.]

way, nor inconsiderately. But only he who is
in certain circumstances, and such an one and
at such time as is requisite, and for the sake of
children, and one who is in every respect simi-
lar, and who does not by force or compulsion
love the husband who loves her. Hence Abra-
ham, regarding his wife as a sister, says, " She is
my sister by my father, but not by my mother ;
and she became my wife," ^ teaching us that
children of the same mothers ought not to enter
into matrimony. Let us briefly follow the his-
tory. Plato ranks marriage among outward
good things, providing for the perpetuity of our
race, and handing down as a torch a certain
perpetuity to children's children. Democritus
repudiates marriage and the procreation of chil-
dren, on account of the many annoyances thence
arising, and abstractions from more necessary
things. Epicurus agrees, and those who place
good in pleasure, and in the absence of trouble
and pain. According to the opinion of the
Stoics, marriage and the rearing of children are
a thing indifferent ; and according to the Peri-
patetics, a good. In a word, these, following
out their dogmas in words, became enslaved to
pleasures; some using concubines, some mis-
tresses, and the most youths. And that wise
quaternion in the garden with a mistress, hon-
oured pleasure by their acts. Those, then, will
not escape the curse of yoking an ass with an
ox, who, judging certain things not to suit them,
command others to do them, or the reverse.
This Scripture has briefly showed, when it says,
"What thou hatest, thou shalt not do to
another." ®

But they who approve of marriage say. Nature
has adapted us for marriage, as is evident from
the structure of our bodies, which are male and
female. And they constantly proclaim that
command, " Increase and replenish." 9 And
though this is the case, yet it seems to them
shameful that man, created by Ciod, should be
more licentious than the irrational creatures,
which do not mix with many licentiously, but
with one of the same species, such as pigeons
and ringdoves, '° and creatures Hke them. Fur-
thermore, they say, "' The childless man fails in
the perfection which is according to nature, not
having substituted his proper successor in his
place. For he is perfect that has produced
from himself his like, or rather, when he sees
that he has produced the same ; that is, when
that which is begotten attains to the same nature
with him who begat." Therefore we must by
all means marry, both for our country's sake,

7 Gen, XX. la.

■ Tob. ir. 1 5.

9 Gen. i. 28.

**^ [The oflfering of the purification has a beautiful regard to the
example of the turtle-dove; and the marriage- ring may have been
suggested by the ringdove, a symbol of constancy in nature.]

378

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book II.

for the succession of children, and as far as we
are concerned, the perfection of the world ;
since the poets also pity a marriage half-perfect
and childless, but pronounce the fruitful one
happy. But it is the diseases of the body that
principally show marriage to be necessary. For
a wife's care and the assiduity of her constancy
appear to exceed the endurance of all other
relations and friends, as much as to excel them
in sympathy ; and most of all, she takes kindly
to patient watching. And in truth, according
to Scripture, she is a needful help.' The comic
poet then, Menander, while running down mar-
riage, and yet alleging on the other side its
advantages, replies to one who had said : —

((

»»

I am averse to the thing,
For you take it awkwardly.

Then he adds : —

** You see the hardships and the things which annoy you
in it.
But you do not look on the advantages."

And so forth.

Now marriage is a help in the case of those
advanced in years, by furnishing a spouse to
take care of one, and by rearing children of her
to nourish one*s old age.

" For to a man after death his children bring renown.
Just as corks bear the net,
Saving the fishing-line from the deep." *

according to the tragic poet Sophocles.

Legislators, moreover, do not allow those who
are unmarried to discharge the highest magiste-
rial offices. For instance, the legislator of the
Spartans imposed a fine not on bachelorhood
only, but on monogamy,^ and late marriage, and
single life. And the renowned Plato orders the
man who has not married to pay a wife's main-
tenance into the public treasury, and to give to
the magistrates a suitable sum of money as ex-
penses. For if they shall not beget children,
not having married, they produce, as far as in
them lies, a scarcity of men, and dissolve states
and the world that is composed of them, impi-
ously doing away with divine generation. It is
also unmanly and weak to shun living with a
wife and children. For of that of which the
loss is an evil, the possession is by all means
a good ; and this is the case with the rest of
things. But the loss of children is, they say,
among the chiefest evils : the possession of
children is consecjuently a good thing ; and if it
be so, so also is marriage. It is said : —

" Without a father there never could be a child,
And without a mother conception of a child could not

be.
Marriage makes a father, as a husband a mother." *

Accordingly Homer makes a thing to be ear-
nestly prayed for : —

" A husband and a house ; "

yet not simply, but along with good agreement.
For the marriage of other people is an agree-
ment for indulgence ; but that of philosophers
leads to that agreement which is in accordance
with reason, bidding wives adorn themselves not
in outward appearance, but in character; and
enjoining husbands not to treat their wedded
wives as mistresses, making corporeal wanton-
ness their aim ; but to take advantage of mar-
riage for help in the whole of life, and for the
best self-restraint.

Far more excellent, in my opinion, than the
seeds of wheat and barley that are sown at ap-
propriate seasons, is man that is sown, for
whom all things grow ; and those seeds temper-
ate husbandmen ever sow. Every foul and pol-
luting practice must therefore be purged away
from marriage ; that the intercourse of the irra-
tional animals may not be cast in our teeth, as
more accordant with nature than human con-
junction in procreation. Some of these, it must
be granted, desist at the time in which they are
directed, leaving creation to the working of
Providence.

By the tragedians, Polyxena, though being
murdered, is described nevertheless as having,
when dying, taken great care to fall decently, —

"Concealing what ought to be hid from the eyes of

men.

^ Gen. H. x8. [A beautiful tribute lo the true wife.]

2 The corrections of Stanley on these lines h.tve been adopted.

They occur in the Chofphone of ^+'s<:hyhis, so;, but may nave

been found in Sophocles, as the lra>;ic pocti> borrowed from one

another.

•* i.e., not entering into a second niarnage after a wife's death.

Hut invtc.td of Mo^'OYa^tof some read Ka.Koya.in.ov — bad marriage.

Marriage to her was a calamity. To be sub-
jected, then, to the passions, and to yield to
them, is the extremest slavery ; as to keep them
in subjection is the only liberty. The divine
Scripture accordingly says, that those who ha\e
transgressed the commandments are sold to
strangers, that is, to sins alien to nature, till they
return and repent. Marriage, then, as a sacred
image, must be kept pure from those things
which defile it.s We are to rise from our slum-
I bers with the Lord, and retire to sleep with
thanksgiving and prayer, —

** Both when you sleep, and when the holy light como,**

confessing the Lord in our whole life ; possess-
ing piety in the soul, and extending self-control
to the body. For it is pleasing to God to lead
decorum from the tongue to our actions. Filthy
speech is the way to effrontery ; and the end of
both is filthy conduct.

* [To be a mrtker, indeed, one must be first a ivty'e : the woman
who has a child out nf wedlfKk is not entitled to this holy name.]

2 [A holy marriage, as here so beautifully defined, was somethim;
i wholly unknown to Roman and Ctreek civilization. Here we And the
; Christian family established.]

ELUCIDATIONS.

379

Now that the Scripture counsels marriage,
and allows no release from the union, is expressly
contained in the law, " Thou shalt not put away
thy wife, except for the cause of fornication ; "
and it regards as fornication, the marriage of
those separated while the other is alive. Not
to deck and adorn herself beyond what is be-
coming, renders a wife free of calumnious sus-
picion, while she devotes herself assiduously to
prayers and supplications; avoiding frequent
departures from the house, and shutting herself
up as far as possible from the view of all not
related to her, and deeming housekeeping of
more consequence than impertinent trifling.
** He that taketh a woman that has been put
away," it is said, " committeth adultery ; and if
one puts away his wife, he makes her an adul-
teress," ' that is, compels her to commit adul-
tery. And not only is he who puts her away
guilty of this, but he who takes her, by giving to
the woman the opportunity of sinning ; for did
he not take her, she would return to her hus-
band. What, then, is the law?' In order to
check the impetuosity of the passions, it com-
mands the adulteress to be put to death, on be-

' Matt. V. 32, xix. 9.

2 Lev. XX. 10; Dcut. xxii. 22.

ing convicted of this ; and if of priestly family,
to be committed to the flames.3 And the adul-
terer also is stoned to death, but not in the
same place, that not even their death may be in
common. And the law is not at variance with
the Gospel, but agrees with it. How should it
be otherwise, one Lord being the author of
both? She who has committed fomication liv-
eth in sin, and is dead to the commandments ;
but she who has repented, being as it were bora
again by the change in her life, has a regenera-
tion of life ; the old harlot being dead, and she
who has been regenerated by repentance having
come back again to life. The Spirit testifies to
what has been said by Ezekiel, declaring, " I
desire not the death of the sinner, but that he
should turn." * Now they are stoned to death ;
as through hardness of heart dead to the law
which they believed not. But in the case of a
priestess the punishment is increased, because
" to whom much is given, from him shall more
be required." s

Let us conclude this second book of the
Stromata at this point, on account of the length
and number of the chapters.

3 Lev. xxi. 9.

4 Ezek. xxxiii. xx.

5 Luke xii. 48.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(On the Greeks, cap. i. note 3, p. 347.)

The admirable comments of Stier on the Greeks, who said to Philip, " We would see Jesus y^^ seem
to me vindicated by the history of the Gospel, and by the part which the Greeks were called to
take in its propagation. Clement seems to me the man of Providence, who gives rich significance
to " the com of wheat," and its multiplication in Gentile discipleship. And in this I am a convert
to Stier's view, against my preconceptions. That the Greeks who were at Jenisalem at the Pass-
over were other than Hellenistic Jews, or Greek proselytes, always seemed to me improbable ; but,
more and more, I discover a design in this narrative, which seems to me thoroughly sustained by
the history of the Gentile churches, which were Greek everywhere originally, and for the use of which
the Septuagint had been prepared in the providence of God. To say nothing of the New-Testa-
ment Scriptures, the whole symbolic and liturgic system of the early Christians and all the Catho-
lic councils which were Greek in their topography, language, and legislation, confirm the sublime
thV)ught which Stier has elucidated. " The Pharisees said, The world is gone after him ; and there
wdfre certain Greeks," etc. So the story is introduced. Jesus is told of their desire to see him ;
an^he answers, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified ; " and he goes on
to sp>eak of his death as giving life to the world. I feel grateful to Stier for his bold originality in

6 Reden Jcsu. St. John xii. 23-26.

38o ELUCIDATIONS.

treating the subject ; and I trust others will find that it invests the study of the ante-Nicene Fathers
with a fresh interest, and throws back from their writings a peculiar reflex light on the New-Testa-
ment Scriptures themselves.

II.

(See p. 352, note 9.)

MdK09 6 (TCK^os cAcv^cpo?. Sticr, in his comments ' on St. John (viii. 32-36) , may well be compared
with this chapter of Clement's. The eighteenth chapter of this book must also be kept in view
if we would do full justice to the true position of Clement, who recognises nothing in heathen
philosophy as true wisdom, save as it flows from God, in Moses, and through the Hebrew Church.
That Greek philosophy, so viewed, did lead to Christ, and that this great principle is recognised
in the apostolic teachings, seems to me indisputable. This illustrates what has been noted above
in Elucidation I.

III.
(See p. 359.)

Clement notes that the false Gnostics rejected the Epistles to Timothy,* chiefly because of
I Tim. vi. 20. Beausobre {Hisioire du ManichHsme^ tom. ii. p. v.) doubts as to Basilides, whether
he is open to this charge ; but Jerome accuses him expressly of rejecting the pastoral epistles, and
that to the Hebrews. For this, and Neander's qualifying comment, see Kaye, p. 263. Clement
is far from charging Basilides, personally, with an immoral life, or from lending his sanction to
impurity ; but a study of the Gnostic sects, with whom our Alexandrian doctor was forced to con-
tend, will show that they were introducing, under the pretence of Christianity, such abominations
as made their defeat and absolute overthrow a matter of life and death for the Church. To let
such teachers be confounded with Christians, was to neutralize the very purpose for which the
Church existed. Now, it was in the deadly grapple with such loathsome errorists, that the idea of
** Catholic orthodoxy " became so precious to the primitive faithful. They were forced to make
even the heathen comprehend the existence of that world-wide confederation of churches already
explained,' and to exhibit their Scriptural creed and purity of discipline, in the strongest contrast
with these pestilent " armies of the aliens," who were neither Gnostics nor Christians indeed,
much less Catholic or Orthodox teachers and believers.

Now, if in dealing with counterfeits Clement was obliged to meet them on their own grounds,
and defeat them on a plan, at once intelligible to the heathen, and enabling all believers to " fight
the good fight of faith** successfully, we must concede that he knew better than we can, what was
suited to the Alexandrian schools, their intellect, and their false mjrsticism. His works were a great
safeguard to those who came after him ; though they led to the false system of exposition by which
Origen so greatly impaired his services to the Church, and perhaps to other evils, which, in the issue,
shook the great patriarchate of Alexandria to its foundations. It is curious to trace the influence
of Clement, through Tertullian and St. Augustine, upon the systems of the sch^^men, and again,
through them, on the Teutonic reformers. The mysticism of F^nelon as well, ?^y be traced,
more than is generally credited, to the old Alexandrian school, which was itself the^^oduct of
some of the most subtle elements of our nature, sanctified, but not wholly controlled, by thb wisdom
that is from above. Compare the intenninable controversies of the period, in the writings of FJi'jelon
and Bossuet ; and, for a succinct history, see LHistoire de Peglise de France^ par TAbb^ Guett^C,
tom. xi. p. 156 et seqq.

I "Words of Jesus." Translation (vol. r. p. 354, cd. Edinburgh, 1856). ^ Stromaia^ Book ii. cap. xi. p. 358, supra.

3 Quotation from Mtlman, p. 166, this volume.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK III;

CAPUT I. — BASILIDIS SENTENTIAM DE CONTINENTIA
ET NUPTIIS REFXJTAT.

Ac Valentiniani quidem, qui desuper ex divinis
emissionibus deduxere conjugationes, acceptum
habent matrimonium : Basilidis autem sectatores,
" Cum interrogassent, inquiunt, apostoli, nun sit
melius uxorem non ducere, dicunt respondisse
Dominum : * Non omnes capiunt verbum hoc.
Sunt enim eunuchi alii a nativitate, alii vero a
necessitate.* " * Hoc dictum autem sic inter-
pretantur : " Quidam ex quo nati sunt, naturali-
ter feminam aversantur, qui quidem hoc naturali
utentes temperamento, recte faciunt, si uxorem
non ducant. Hi, inquiunt, eunuchi sunt ex na-
tivitate. Qui autem sunt a necessitate, ii sunt
theatrici exercitatores, qui, gloriae studio retracti,
se continent. Quinetiam qui casu aliquo excisi
sunt, eunuchi facti sunt per necessitatem. Qui
itaque eunuchi fiunt per necessitatem, non fiunt
eunuchi secundum logon, seu rationem. Qui
autem regni sempitemi gratia seipsos castrarunt,
id ad declinandas, inquiunt, conjugii molestias
fecerunt, quod procurandae rei familiaris onus ac
sollicitudinem timerent. Et illud : * Melius est
nubere quam uri,* ^ dicentem Apostolum aiunt
velle : Ne animam tuam in ignem injicias, noctu
et interdiu resistens, et timens ne a continentia
excidas. Nam cum in resistendo occupata fuerit
anima, a spe est divisa " — Patienter igitur sus-
tine,*' inquit his verbis Isidorus in Moralidus,
" contentiosam mulierem, ne a Dei gratia avella-
ris ; et cum ignem in semine excreveris, cum

' After much consideration, the Editors have deemed it best to

S've the whole of this Book in Latin. [In the former Book, Qement
\& shown, not without a decided leaning to chaste celibacy, that
marriage is a holy estate, and consi«itent with the perfect man in Christ.
He now enters upon the refutation of the false-Gnostics and their licen-
tious tenets. Professing a stricter rule to begin with, and despising
the ordinances of the Creator, their result was the grossest immorality
in practice. The melancholy consequences of an enforced celibacy
are, here, all foreseen and foreshown; and this Book, though neces-
sarily offensive to our Christian tastes, is most useful as a commen-
tary upon the history of monaslicism, and the celibacy of priests, in
the Western churches. The resolution of the Edinburgh editors to
give this Book to scholars only^ in the Latin, is probably wise. I
subjoin a succint analysis, in the elucidations.]

* Matt. xix. II. 12.

5 I Cor. vii. 9.

bona ores conscientia. Quando autem, inquit,
tua gratiarum actio delapsa fuerit in petitionem,
et deinceps steteris, ut tamen labi ac titubare
non desinas, due uxorem. Sin est aliquis juvenis,
vel pauper, vel infirmus, et non ei libet logo, seu
rationi, convenienter uxorem ducere, is a fratre
ne discedat ; dicat : Ingressus sum in sancta, nihil
possum pati. Quod si eum suspicio aliqua subeat,
dicat : Frater, impone mihi manum, ne peccem ;
et confestim tum in mente, tum in corpore opem
experietur. Velit modo quod bonum est per-
ficere, et assequetur. Nonnunquam autem ore
tenus dicimus : Nolumus peccare ; animus autem
noster propendet in pectatum. Qui est ejus-
modi, propter metum, quod vult, non facit, ne
ei constituatur supplicium. At hominum generi
qusedam necessaria sunt ac naturalia duntaxat.
Quod indumentis egeat, necessarium simul est et
naturale : est autem venerea voluptas naturalis,
sed non necessaria." Has voces adduxi ad rep-
rehendendos Basilidianos, qui non recte vivunt,
ut qui vel peccandi potestatem habeant propter
perfectionem, vel omnino quidem natura salvi
futuri sint, etsi nunc peccent, quod naturae dig-
nitate sunt electi. Neque vero primi dogmatum
architecti eorumdem perpetrandorum potestatem
illis faciunt. Ne ergo Christi nomen suspicien-
tes, et iis, qui sunt in gentibus intemperantissimi,
incontinentius viventes, nomini maledictum inu-
rant. " Qui enim sunt ejusmodi, pseudapostoli,
operarii dolosi," usque ad illud : " Quorum finis
erit secundum opera eorum." ■♦ Est ergo conti-
nentia, corporis despicientia secundum confes-
sionem in Deum ; non solum enim in rebus
venereis, .sed etiam in aliis, quae anima perperam
concupiscit, non contenta necessariis, versatur
continentia. Est autem et in lingua, et in ac-
quirendo, et in utendo, et in concupiscendo
continentia. Non docet autem ea solummodo
esse temperantes, siquidem praebet nobis tem-
perantiam, ut quae sit divina potestas et gratia.
Dicendum est ergo, quidnam nostris videatur de

♦ 2 Cor. ix. 13, 15.

381

382

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III.

eo, quod est propositum. Nos quidem castita-
tem, et eos, quibus hoc a Deo datum est, beatos
decimus : monogamiam autem, et quae consistit
in uno solum matrimonio, honestatem admira-
mur ; dicentes tamen oportere aliorum misereri,
et " alterum alterius onera portare/' ' ne " quis,
cum " recte " stare videatur," * ipse quoque " ca-
dat." De secundis autum nuptiis : " Si uraris,"
inquit Apostolus, " jungere matrimonio.'* 3

CAPUT 11. — CARPOCRATIS ET EPIPHANIS SENTEN-
llAM DE FEMINARUM COMMUNITATE REFUTAT.

Qui autem a Carpocrate descendunt et Epi-
phane, censent oportere uxores esse communes ;
a quibus contra nomen Christi maximum emana-
vit probrum. Hie autem Epiphanes, cujus etiam
scripta feruntur, filius erat Carpocratis, et matris
Alexandriae nomine, ex patre quidem Alexandri-
nus, ex matre vero Cephalleneus. Vixit autem
-solum septemdecim annos, et Samse, quae est
urbs Cephalleniae, ut deus est honore affectus.
Quo in loco templum ex ingentibus lapidibus,
altaria, delubra, museum, aedificatum est et con-
secratum ; et cum est nova luna, convenientes
Cephallenei, diem natalem, quo in deos relatus
est Epiphanes, sacrificant, libantque, et convi-
■vantur, et hymnos canunt. A patre autem didicit
et orbem disciplinarum et Platonis philosophiam.
Fuit autem princeps monadic.^? -♦ cognitionis. A
quo etiam profluxit haeresis eorum, qui nunc
sunt, Carpocratianorum. Is ergo dicit in libro
De justitia^ " Justitiam Dei esse quamdam cum
sequalitate communionem. -^quale quidem
certe caelum undequaque extensum totam terram
cingit. Et nox ex aequo Stellas omnes ostendit ;
et diei auctorem et lucis patrem, solem, Deus ex
.alto aequalem effudit omnibus, qui possunt videre
(illi autem omnes communiter respiciunt), quo-
niam non discemit divitem vel pauperem vel
populi principem, insipientes et sapientes, fem-
mas et masculos, liberos, servos. Sed neque
secus facit in brutis. Cum autem omnibus
animantibus aeque ipsum communem effuderit,
bonis et malis justitiam suam confirmat, cum
nemo p>ossit plus habere, neque auferre a proxi-
mo, ut ipse illi us lucem habeat duplicatam. Sol
facit omnibus animantibus communia exoriri
nutrimenta, communi justitia ex aequo data
omnibus : et ad ea, quae sunt hujusmodi, simili-
ter se habet genus boum, ut boves ; et suum,
ut sues, et ovium, ut oves ; et reliqua omnia.
Justitia enim in iis apparet esse communitas.
Deinde per communitatem omnia similiter se-
cundum sua genera seminantur, et commune
nutrimentum editur humi pascentibus jumentis
omnibus, et omnibus ex aequo ; ut quod nulla

* Gal. vi. 2.

• X Cor. X. 12.

3 I Cor. vii. Q.

4 I'id. Irensum, lib. i. c. 3, p. 51.

lege circumscriptum sit, sed ejus, qui donat,
jubentis suppeditatione, convenienter justeque
adsit omnibus. Sefi neque generationi posita
est lex, esset enim jamdiu abolita : ex aequo
autem seminant et generant, habentia innatam a
justitia communionem : ex aeq\io communiter
omnibus oculum ad videndum, creator et pater
omnium, sua justitia legem ferens, praebuit, non
discemens feminam a masculo, non id quod est
rationis particeps, ab experte rationis, et, ut
semel dicam, nullum a nullo ;«sed aequalitate et
communitate visum similiter dividens, uno jussu
omnibus est largitus. Leges autem, inquit, homi-
num, cum ignorationem castigare non possent,
contra leges facere docuerunt : legum enim pro-
prietas dissecuit divinae legis communionem et
arrodit ; non intelligens dictum Apostoli dicen-
tis : ' Per legem peccatum cognovi.* Et meum
et tuum dicit subiisse per leges, ut quae non
amplius communiter fruantur (sunt enim com-
munia), neque terra, neque possessionibus, sed
neque matrimonio. Fecit enim vites commu-
niter omnibus, quae neque passerem, neque
furem abnegant ; et frumentum similiter, et alios
fructus. Violata autem communio et sequalitas,
genuit furem pecorum et fructuum. Cum ergo
Deus communiter omnia fecisset homini, et
feminam cum masculo communiter conjunxisset,
et omnia similiter animantia conglutinasset, pro-
nuntiavit justitiam, communionem cum aequali-
tate. Qui autem sic nati sunt, communionem,
quae eorum conciliat generationem, abnegave-
runt. Et dicit, si unam ducens habeat, cum
omnium possint esse participes, sicut reliqua
fecit animantia." Haec cum his verbis dixisset,
subjungit nirsus his verbis : " Intensam enim et
vehementiorem ingeneravit masculis cupiditatem
ad genenim perpetuitatem, quam nee lex, nee
mos, nee aliquid aliud potest abolere : est enim
Dei decretum." Et quomodo amplius hie in
nostra examinetur oratione, cum legem et Evan-
gelium per haec aperte destruat ? Ilia enim dicit :
" Non mcechaberis." 5 Hoc autem dicit : ** Qui-
cunque respicit ad concupiscentiam, jam moecha-
tus est."^ Illud enim: "Non concupisces," '
quod a lege dicitur, ostendit unum esse Deum,
qui praedicatur per legem et prophetas et Evan-
gelium. Dicit enim : " Non concupisces uxoreni
proximi tui." Proximus autem non est Judaeus
Judaeo : frater enim est et eumdem habet Spiri-
tum ; restat ergo, ut propinquum dicat eum qui
est alterius gentis. Quomodo autem non pro-
pinquus, qui aptus est esse Spiritus particeps?
Non solum enim Hebrseorum, sed etiam gentium
pater est Abraham. Si autem quae est adulterata,
et qui in eam fornicatus est, capite punitur : ^

^ Ex. XX. 13.

* Matt. V. 28.
7 Ex. XX. \^.

* Deut. xxii. 22.

Chap. III.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

383

clanim est iitique preeceptum, quod dicit : " Non
concupisces uxorem propinqui tui," loqui de
gentibus : ut cum quis secundum legem et ab
uxore proximi et a sorore abstinuerit, aperte
audiat a Domino : " Ego autem dico, non concu-
pisces." Additio autem hujus particulae, " ego,"
majorem praecepti vim ostendit. Quod autem
cum Deo bellum gerat Carpocrates, et Epiphanes
etiam in eo, qui vulgo jactatur, libro De justitia,
patet ex eo quod subjungit his verbis : " Hinc
ut qui ridiculura dixerit, legislatoris hoc verbum
audiendum est : ' Non concupisces : ' usque ad
id, quod magis ridicule dicit : ' Res proximi tui/
Ipse enim, qui dedit cupiditatem, ut quae con-
tineret generationem, jubet earn auferre, cum a
nuUo eam auferat animali. Illud autem : * Uxo-
rem proximi tui,* quo communionem cogit ad
proprietatem, dixit adhuc magis ridicule." Et
hsec quidem dogmata constituunt egregii Carpo-
cratiani. Hos dicunt et aliquos alios similium
malorum aemulatores, ad coenas convenientes
(neque enim dixerim " agapen " eorum con-
gressionem) ' viros simul et mulieres, postquam
cibis venerem excitantibus se expleverint, lumine
amoto, quod eorum fomicatoriam hanc justitiam
pudore afficiebat, aversa lucema, coire quomodo
velint, et cum quibus velint : meditatos autem in
ejusmodi " agape " communionem, interdiu jam,
a quibus velint mulieribus exigere Carpocrateae
(divinae enim nefas est discere) legis obedien-
tiam. Has leges, ut sentio, ferre opportuit Car-
pocratem canum et suum et hircorum libidinibus.
Mihi autem videtur, Platonem quoque male in-
tellexisse, in Republica dicentem, oportere esse
communes omnium uxores : ut qui diceret eas
quidem, quae nondum nupserant, esse communes
eorum, qui essent petituri, queniadmodum thea-
trum quoque est commune spectatorum ; esse
autem unamquamque uniusciijusque qui praeoc-
cupasset, et non amplius communem esse eam
quae nupsisset. Xanthus autem in iis, quae scri-
\>MTi\x\x Magica : "Coeunt autem," inquit, "magi
cum matribus et filiabus : et fas esse aiunt coire
cum sororibus, et communes esse uxores, non vi
et clam, sed utrisque consentientibus, cum velit
alter ducere uxorem alterius." De his et simili-
bus haeresibus existimo Judam prophetice dixisse
in epistola : " Similiter quidem hi quoque som-
niantes " (non enim vigilantes ad veritatera se
apphcant), usque ad illud : " Et os eorum loqui-
tur superba." ^

CAPUT III. QUATENUS PLATO ALIIQUE E VETERI-

BUS PR/EIVERINT MARClONmS ALIISQUE H^RETI-
CIS, QUI A NUPTIIS IDEO ABSTINENT QUIA
CREAITJRAM MALAM EXISTIMANT ET NASCl
HOMINES IN PTENAM OPINANTUR.

Jam vero si et ipse Plato et Pythagorei, sicut

< r Elucidation II.]
« Jude 8-17.

etiam postea Marcionitae, malam existimarunt
' esse generationem, longe abfuit, ut communes
ipse poneret uxores. Sed Marcionitae ^ quidem
dicunt malam esse naturam, ex mala materia, et
a justo factam opifice ac Creatore. Qua quidem
ratione nolentes implere mundum, qui factus est
a Creatore, volunt abstinere a nuptiis, resistentes
suo Great ori, et contendentes ad bonum, qui vo-
cavit : sed non ad eum, qui, ut dicunt, Deus est
diversis moribus praeditus. Unde cum nihil hie
velint relinquere proprium, non sunt ex destinato
animi proposito continentes, sed propter odium
conceptum adversum eum, qui creavit, nolentes
iis uti, quae ab ipso sunt creata. Sed hi quidem,
qui propter impium, quod cum Deo gerunt, bel-
lum, emoti sunt ab iis cogitationibus, quae sunt
secundum naturam, Dei longanimitatem contem-
nentes et benignitatem, etsi nolunt uxorem ducere,
cibis tamen utuntur creatis, et aerem respirant
Creatoris, ut qui et ejus sint opera, et in iis, quae
sunt ejus, permaneant, et inauditam ac novam
quamdam, ut aiunt, annuntiatam audiunt cognitio-
nem, etiamsi hoc quoque nomine mundi Domino
deberent agere gratias, quod hie acceperint Evan-
gelium. Sed adversus eos quidem, cum de prin-
cipiis tractabimus, accuratissime disseremus.
Philosophi autem, quorum mentionem fecimus,
a quibus cum malam esse generationem impie
didicissent Marcionitae, tanquam suo dogmate
gloriantur, non eam volunt esse natura malam,
sed anima, quae veritatem divulgavit. Animam
enim, quam esse divinam fatentur, in hunc mun-
dum deducunt, tanquam in locum supplicii.
Oportet autem animas in corpus immissas expiari
ex eorum sententia. Non convenit autem am-
plius hoc dogma Marcionistis, sed iis, qui censent
in corpora intrudi, et iis alligari, et quasi ex vase
in vas aliud transfundi animas. Adversus quos
fuerit aliud dicendi tempus, quando de anima
tractabimus. Videtur itaque Heraclitus male-
dictis insequi generationem : "Quoniam autem,"
inquit, " nati volunt vivere, et mortes habere, vel
potius quiescere ; filios quoque relinquunt, ut
mortes fiant." Clarum est autem cum eo con-
venire Empedoclem quoque dicentem : —

Deflevi et luxi, insolitum cemens miser orbem.

; Et amplius : —

Mortua nam ex vivis fecit, species commutans.

Et rursus : —

Hei mihi ! quam infelix hominum genus atque misellumi
Litibus ex quantis prognati et planctibus estis ?

Dicit autem Sibylla quoque : —

Mortales homines, caro qui tantum, et nihil estis ;

Similiter atque poeta, qui scribit : —

Haud homine infelix tellus mage quidquam alit alma.

3 [Elucidation III.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III

Quin etiam Theognis malara ostendit esse gene-
rationem, dicens hoc modo : —

Optima non nasci res est mortalibus acgris,

Nee nitidi solis luce micante frui,
Extemplo ^ut natum portas invadere Ditis.

His autem consequentia scribit quoque Euripides,
poeta tragicus : -. —

Nam nos decebat convenire publice, et
Deflere natum, quod tot ingreditur mala :
Ast mortuum, cuique jam quies data est,
Efferre Istis gratulationibus.

Et riirsus sirailia sic dicit : —

Quis novit, an vivere quidem sict mori,
Siet mori autem vivere ?

Idem quod hi, videtur Herodotus quoque indu-
cere dicentem Solonern : " O Creese, quivis homo
nihil est aliud quam calami tas." Jam vero ejus
de Cleobide et Bitone fabula plane nihil aliud
vult, quam vituperare generationem, laudare au-
tem mortem.

£^ qualisfolii^ est hominum generatio talis y ait
Homerus. Plato autem in Cratylo^ Orpheo tri-
buit eum sermonem, quo anima puniri in corpore
dicitur : " Nempe corpus hoc animae cr^fta,"
monumentum^ " quidam esse tradunt : quasi ipsa
praesenti in tempore sit sepulta ; atque etiam quia
anima per corpus cn/ftatVct," significat, "qusecun-
que significare potest : iedo o-Jj^xa jure vocari.
Videatur mihi pneterea Orpheus nomen hoc ob
id potissimum imposuisse, quod anima in corpore
hoc delictorum luat poenas." Operae pretium
est autem meminisse etiam eorum, quae dicit
Philolaus. Sic enini dicit hie Pythagoreus :
" Testantur autem veteres quoque theologi et
vates, ad luenda supplicia animam conjunctam
esse corpori, et in eo tanquam in monumento esse
sepultam." Quin etiam Pindarus de iis, quae
sunt in Eleusine, mysteriis loquens, infert :
" Beatus, qui cum ilia sub terra viderit com-
munia, novit quidem vitae finem, novit autem
datum Jovis imperium." Et Plato similiter in
Phadone non veretur hoc modo scribere : " Por-
ro autem hi, qui nobis haec constituerunt myste-
ria, non aliquid aliud," usque ad : " Et cum diis
habitatione." Quid vero, cum dicit : " Quandiu
corpus habuerimus, et anima nostra cum ejusmo-
di malo admista fiierit, illud, quod desideramus,
nunquam satis assequemur?** annon significat
generationem esse causam maximonim malorum?
Jam vero in Phadone quoque testatur : " Evenit
enim, ut qui recte philosophantur, non animadver-
tantur ab aliis in nuUam rem aliam suum studium
conferre, quam ut emoriantur, et sint mortui."
Et rursus : " Ergo hie quoque philosophi anima
corpus maxime vilipendit, et ab eo fugit, ipsa
autem secum seorsim esse quaerit." Nunquid
autem consentit cum divino Apostolo, qui dicit :
" Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit a corpore

mortis hujus ? " * nisi forte eorum consensionem,
qui trahuntur in vitium, "corpus mortis" dicit
tropice. Atque coitum quoque, qui est principi-
um generationis, vel ante Marcionem videtur
Plato aversari in primo De republica : ubi cum
laudasset senectutem, subjungit : " Velim scias,
quod quo magis me deficiunt aliae," nempe cor-
poris, ** voluptates, eo magis confabulandi cupidi-
tas, et voluptas, quam ex ea re capio, augetur."
Et cum rei venereae injecta esset mentio : " Bona
verba quaeso," inquit : "ego vero lubenter isthinc,
tanquam ad insano aliquo et agresti domino^
effugi." Rursus in Phcedone, vituperans genera-
tionem, dicit : " Quae ergo de his in arcanis dici-
tur, haec est oratio, quod nos homines sumus in
custodia aliqua." Et rursus : " Qui autem pie
prae caeteris vixisse mveniuntur, hi sunt, qui ex
his terrenis locis, tanquam e carcere, soluti atque
liberati, ad puram in altioribus locis habitationem
transcendunt." Sed tamen quam vis ita se habeat,
recte a Deo mundum administrari existimat ; unde
dicit : " Non oportet autem seipsum solvere, nee
effiigere." Et ut paucis dicam, non dedit Mar-
cioni occasionem, ut malam existimaret materiam,
cum ipse pie de mundo haec dixerit : " Ab eo
enim, qui ipsum construxit, habet omnia bona :
a priori autem deformitate incommoda et injusta
omnia, quae intra coelum nascuntur, mundus ipse
sustinet, et animantibus inserit." Adhuc autem
subjungit manifestius : " Cujus quidem defectus
est coporea temperatura, priscae naturae comes ;
nam quiddam valde deforme erat, et ordinis ex-
pers, priusquam praesenti omatu decoraretur."
Nihilominus autem in Legibus quoque deflet hu-
manum genus, sic dicens : " Dii autem hominum
genus laboribus naturae pressum miserati, remis-
siones ipsis statuerunt laborum, solemnium vide-
licit festorum vicissitudines." Et in Epinomide
persequitur etiam causas, cur sint hominum
miserti, et sic dicit : " Ab initio ipsum esse geni-
tum, est grave cuilibet animanti : primum qui-
dem, quod eorum constitutionis sint participes,
quae in utero gestantur ; deinde ipsum nasci, et
praeterea nutriri et erudiri, per innumerabiles ia-
bores universa fiunt, ut omnes dicimus." Quid
vero? annon Heraclitus generationem quoque
dicit esse mortem ? Pythagoras autem similiter
atcjue Socrates in Gorgiay cum dicit : " Mors
est, quaecunque experrecti videmus : quaecunque
autem dormientes, somnus." Sed de his quidem
satis. Quando autem tractabimus de principiis,
tunc et has repugnantias, quas et innuunt phi-
losophi, et suis dogmatibus decernunt Marcio-
nistae, considerabimus. Caeterum satis dilucide
ostensas esse existimo, extemorum alienonimque
dogmatum occasiones Marcionem ingrate et in-
docte accepisse a Platone. Nobis autem proce-
dat sermo de continentia. Dicebamus autem

I Rom. vii. 24.

Chap. IV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIPIS.

385

Graecos adversus liberorum generationera multa
dixisse, incommoda, quae comitari earn solent,
respicientes : quai cum irapie excepissent Mar-
cionitae, impie fuisse ingratos in Creatorem.
Dicit enim tragoedia : —

Non nascier praestat homines, quam nascier.
Dein filios acerbis cum coloribus
Enitor, ast enixa, si stolidi scient,
Afflictor, intuendo quod servo malos,
Bonosque perdo. Si bonos servo, tamen

Mihi miscellum cor timore liquitur.

Quid hie boni ergo est ? unicam annon sufficit

Kfifundere animam, nisi crucieris amplius ?

Et adhuc similiter : —

Vetus Stat mihi persuasio,
Plantare filios nunquam hominem oportuit,
Dum cernit ad quot gignimus natos mala.

In his autem, quae deinceps sequuntur, malorum
quoque causam evidenter reducit ad principia,
sic dicens : —

O ! miser natus, malisque obnoxius
Edit us, homo, es, vitae tuaeque miseriam
Hinc inchoasti: coepit aether omnibus
Spiramen unde alens tradere mortalibus ;
Mortalis aegre ne feras mortalia.

Rursus autem his similia tradit : —

Mortal ium omnium beatus non fuit
Quisquam, molestia et nemo carens fuit.

Et deinde rursus ; —

Heu I quanta, quotque hominibus eveniunt mala,
Quam varia, quorum terminus nullus datur.

Et adhuc similiter : —

Nemo beatus semper est mortalium.

Hac itaque ratione dicunt etiam Pythagoreos
abstinere a rebus venereis. Mihi autem contra
videntur uxores quidem ducere, ut liberos sus-
cipiant, velle autem a venerea voluptate se con-
tinere post susceptos liberos. Proinde mystice
uti fabis prohibent, non quod sit legumen flatum
excitans, et concoctu difficile, et somnia efficiat
turbulenta ; neque quod hominis capiti sit similis,
ut vult ille versiculus : —

Idem est namque fabam atque caput corrodere patris;

sed potius quod fabse, si comedantur, steriles
efficiant mulieres. Theophrastus quidem certe
in quinto libro De causis plantarum, fabarum
siliquas, si ponantur ad radices arborum quae
nuper sunt plantatae, refert plantas exsiccare.
Quinetiam gallinae domesticae, quae eas assidue
comedunt, efficiuntur steriles.

CAPUT IV. — QUIBUS PRiETEXTIBUS UTANTUR H^-
RETICI AD OMNIS GENERIS LICENTIAM ET UBIDI-
NEM EXERCENDAM.

Ex iis autem, qui ab haeresi ducuntur, Marcio-
nis quidem Pontici fecimus mentionem, qui
propter certamen, quod adversus Creatorem
suscepit, mundanarum rerum usum recusat.

Ei autem continentiae causa est, si modo est ea
dicenda continentia, ipse Creator, cui se adver-
sari existimans gigas iste cum Deo pugnans, est
invitus continens, dum in creationem et Dei
opus invehitur. Quod si usurpent vocem Domi-
ni, qui dicit Philippo : ** Sine mortuos sepelire
mortuos suos, tu autem sequere me : " ' at illud
considerent, quod similem camis formationem
fert quoque Philippus, non habens cadaver pollu-
tum. Quomodo ergo cum camem haberet, non
habuit cadaver? Quoniam surrexit ex monu-
mento, Domino ejus vitia morte afficiente, vixit
autem Christo. Meminimus autem nefarise quo-
que ex Carpocratis sententia mulierum commu-
nionis. Cum autem de dicto Nicolai loqueremur,
illud praitermisimus : Cum formosam, aiunt, ha-
beret uxorem, et post Servatoris assumptionem
ei fuisset ab apostolis exprobrata zelotypia, in
medium adducta muliere, permisit cui vellet earn
nubere. Aiunt enim banc actionem illi voci
consentaneam, quae dicit, quod " came abuti
oporteat." Proinde ejus factum et dictum abso-
lute et inconsiderate sequentes, qui ejus haeresim
persequuntur, impudenter effuseque fomicantur.
Ego autem audio Nicolaum quidem nulla un-
quam alia, quam ea, quae ei nupserat, uxore
usum esse ; et ex illius liberis, filias quidem con-
senuisse virgines, filium autem permansisse in-
corruptum. Quae cum ita se habeant, vitii erat
depulsio atque expurgatio, in medium apostolo-
rum circumactio uxoris, cujus dicebatur laborare
zelotypia : et continentia a voluptatibus, quae
magno studio parari solent, docebat illud, " abuti
carne," hoc est, exercere camem. Neque enim,
ut existimo, volebant, convenienter Domini prae-
cepto, " duobus dominis servire," * voluptali et
Deo. Dicunt itaque Matthiam ' quoque sic
docuisse : " Cum came quidem pugnare, et ea
uti, nihil ei impudicum largiendo ad voluptatem ;
augere autem animam per fidem et cognitio-
nem." Sunt autem, qui etiam publicam venerem
pronuntiant mysticam communionem ; et sic
ipsum nomen contumelia afficiunt. Sicut enim
operari eum dicimus, tum qui malum aliquod
facit, tum etiam qui bonum, idem nomen utrique
tribuentes; baud aliter "communio" usurpari
solet ; nam bona quidem est in communicatione
tum pecuniae, tum nutriment! et vestitus : illi
autem quamlibet veneream conjunctionem impie
vocavemnt " communionem." Dicunt itaque
ex iis quemdam, cum ad nostram virginem vultu
formosam accessisset, dixisse : Scriptum est :
" Da omni te petenti : " -♦ illam autem honeste
admodum respondisse, ut quae non inteliigeret
hominis petulantiam : At tu matrem conveni de
matrimonio. O impietatem ! etiam voces Domini

1 Matt. viii. aa; Luke Ix. 60.

2 Matt. vi. 24; Luke xvi. 13.

3 r Elucidation I v.]

4 Malt. V. 34; Luke vi. 30

386

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III

• . •

ementiuntur isti mtemperantiae communicatores,
fratresque libidinis, non solum probrum philoso-
phiae, sed etiam totius vitge ; qui veritatem, quan-
tum in eis situm est, adulterant ac corrumpunt,
vel potius defodiunt ; homines infelicissimi car-
nalem concubitus communionem consecrant, et
banc ipsos putant ad regnum Dei perducere.
Ad lupanaria ergo deducit haec communio, et
cum eis communicaverint sues et hirci, maxima-
que apud illos in spe fuerint meretrices, quae in
prostibulis pnesto sunt, et volentes omnes admit-
tunt. " Vos autem non sic Christum didicistis,
siquidem ipsum audiistis, et in eo docti estis,
quemadmodum est Veritas in Christo Jesu, ut
deponatis quae sunt secundum veterem conver-
sationem, veterem hominem, qui corrumpitur
secundum desideria deceptionis. Renovamini
autem spiritu mentis vestrae, et induatis novum
hominem, qui creatus est secundum Deum in
justitia et sanctitate veritatis," « ad Dei similitu-
dinem. " Efficimini ergo Dei imitatores, ut filii
dilecti, et ambulate in dilectione, sicut Christus
quoque dilexit nos, et tradidit seipsum pro nobis
oblationem et hostiam Deo in odorem suavitatis.
Fornicatio autem, et omnis immunditia, vel avari-
tia, ne nominetur quidem in vobis, sicut decet
sanctos, et turpitudo, et stultiloquium."* Etenim
docens Apostolus meditari vel ipsa voce esse
castos, scribit : " Hoc enim scitote, quod omnis
fornicator," et caetera, usque ad illud : " Magis
autem arguite." 3 Eflfluxit autem eis dogma ex
quodam apocrypho libro. Atque adeo afferam
dictionem, quae mater eorum intemperantiae et
origo est: et sive ipsi hujus libri scriptores se
. fateantur, en eorum vecordiam, licet Deo eum
falso ascribant libidinis intemperantia ducti : sive
ab aliis, eos perverse audientes, hoc praeclarum
dogma acceperint, sic porro se habent ejus verba :
" Unum erant omnia : postquam autem ejus uni-
tati visum est non esse solam, exiit ab eo inspiratio,
et cum ea iniit communionem, et fecit dilectum.
Exhinc autem egressa est ab ipso inspiratio, cum
qua cum communionem iniisset, fecit potestates,
quae nee possunt videri nee audiri," usque ad
illud, "unamquamque in nomine proprio." Si
enim hi quoque, sicut Valentiniani, spiri tales
posuissent communiones, suscepisset forte aliquis
eorum opinionem : camalis autem libidinis com-
munionem ad sanctam inducere prophetiam, est
ejus qui desperat salutem. Talia etiam statuunt
Prodici quoque asseclae, qui seipsos falso nomine
vocant Gnosticos : seipsos quidem dicentes esse
natura filios primi Dei ; ea vero nobilitate et
libertate abutentes, vivunt ut volunt ; volunt autem
libidinose ; se nulla re teneri arbitrati, ut " do-
mini sabbati," et qui sint quovis genere superiores,
filii regales. Regi autem, inquiunt, lex scripta

* Eph. iv. 30-34.
' Eph. V. 1-4.
3 Eph. V. 5-1 1.

non est. Primum quidem, quod non faciant
omnia quae volunt : multa enim eos prohibebunt,
etsi cupiaat et conentur. Quinetiam quae faci-
unt, non faciunt ut reges, sed ut mastigise :
clanculum enim committunt adulteria, timentes
ne deprehendantur, et vitantes ne condemntur.
et metuentes ne supplicio afficiantur. Quomodo
etiam res est libera, intemperantia et turpis
sermo? "OmnLs enim, qui peccat, est servus,"
inquit Ajxjstolus.'* Sed quomodo vitiam ex Deo
instituit, qui seipsum praebuit dedititium cuivis
concupiscentiae ? cum dixerit Dominus : " Ego
autem dico : Ne concupiscas." Vultne autem
aliquis sua sponte peccare, et decemere adulteria
esse committenda, voluptatibusque et deliciis se
explendum, et aliorum violanda matrimonia, cum
aliorum etiam, qui inviti peccant, misereamur?
Quod si in externum mundum venerint, qui in
alieno non fuerint fideles, verum non habebunt.
Afficit autem hospes aliquis cives contumelia, et
eis injuriam facit ; et non potius ut peregrinus,
utens necessariis, vivit, cives non offendens?
Quomodo autem, cum eadem faciant, ac ii, quos
gentes odio habent, quod legibus obtemperare
nolint, nempe iniqui, et incontinentes, et avari,
et adulteri, dicunt se solos Deum nosse ? Opor-
teret enim eos, cum in alienis adsunt, recte
vivere, ut revera regiam indolem ostenderent.
Jam vero et humanos legislatores, et divinam
legem habent sibi infensam, cum inique et praeter
leges vivere instituerint. Is certe, qui scortato-
rem " confodit," a Deo pius esse ostenditur in
Numeris. " Et si dixerimus," inquit Joannes in
epistola, "quod societatemhabemus cum eo,"
nempe Deo, " et in tenebris ambulamus, menti-
mur, et veritatem non facimus. Si autem in luce
ambulamus, sicut et ipse est in luce, societatem
habemus cum ipso, et sanguis Jesu filii ejus
emundat nos a peccato." 5 Quomodo ergo sunt
hi hujus mundi hominibus meliores, qui haec
faciunt, et vel pessimis hujus mundi sunt similes?
sunt enim, ut arbitror, similes natura, qui sunt
factis similes. Quibus autem se esse censent
nobilitate superiores, eos debent etiam sup>erare
moribus, ut vitent ne includantur in carcere.
Revera enim, ut dixit Dominus' : " Nisi abun-
daverit justitia vestra plus quam scribarum et
Pharisaeorum, non intrabitis in regnum Dei."^
De abstinentia autem a cibis ostenditur a Dani-
ele.7 Ut semel autem dicam, de obedientia
dicit psallens David : " In quo diriget junior
viam suam ? " ^ Et statim audit : "In custodi-
endo sermones tuos in toto corde." Et dicit
Jeremias : " Haec autem dicit Dominus : Per
vias gentium ne ambulaveritis." ^ Hinc nioti

♦ Rom. vi. 16.

5 Num. XXV. 8; x John i. 6, 7.

• Matt. V. 20.
' Dan. i. i.

8 Ps. cxviii. 9.

9 Jcr. X. 3.

<HAP. IV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

387

aliqui alii, pusilli et nullius pretii, dicunt forma-
tum fuisse hominem a diversis potestatibus : et
(juse sunt quidem usque ad urabilicum esse artis
divinioris; quae autem subter, minoris; qua de
causa coitum quoque appetere. Non animad-
vertunt autem, quod superiores quoque partes
nutrimentum appetunt, et quibusdam libidinan-
tur. Adversantur autem Christo quoque, qui
dixit Pharisseis, eundem Deum et " internum "
nostrum et " externum " fecisse hominem.'
Quinetiam appetitio non est corporis, etsi fiat
per corpus. Quidam alii, quos etiam vocamus
Antitactas, hoc est " adversarios " et repugnan-
tes, dicunt quod Deus quidem universorum nos-
ter est natura pater, et omnia quaecunque fecit,
bona sunt ; unus autem quispiam ex iis, qui ab
ipso facti sunt, seminatis zizaniis, malorum natu-
ram generavit : quibus etiam nos omnes impli-
cavit, ut nos efficeret Patri adversarios. Quare
nos etiam ipsi huic adversamur ad Patrem ulcis-
cendum, contra secundi voluntatem facientes.
Quoniam ergo hie dixit : " Non moechaberis : "
nos, inquiunt, mcechamur, ut ejus mandatum dis-
soivamus. Quibus responderimus quoque, quod
pseudoprophetas, et eos qui veritatem simulant,
ex operibus cognosci accepimus : si male audi-
unt autem vestra opera, quomodo adhuc dicetis
vos veritatem tenere? Aut enim nullum est
malum, et non est utique dignus reprehensione
is, quem vos insimulatis, ut qui Deo sit adversa-
tus, neque fuit alicujus mali effector ; una enim
cum malo arbor quoque interimitur : aut si est
malum ac consistit, dicant nobis, quid dicunt
esse ea, quae data sunt, pnecepta, de justitia, de
continentia, de tolerantia, de patientia, et iis,
quae sunt hujusmodi, bona an mala? et si fuerit
quidem malum praeceptum, quod plurima pro-
hibet facere turpia, adversus seipsum legem feret
vitium, ut seipsum dissolvat, quod quidem non
potest fieri ; sin autem bonum, cum bonis adver-
sentur praeceptis, se bono adversari, et mala
facere confitentur. Jam vero ipse quoque Ser-
vator, cui soli censent esse parendum, odio ha-
bere, et maledictis insequi prohibuit • et, " Cum
adversario," inquit, " vadens, ejus amicus conare
discedere."^ Aut ergo Christi quoque negabunt
suasionem, adversantes adversario : aut, si sint
amici, contra eum certamen suscipere nolunt.
Quid vero ? an nescitis, viri egregii (loquor enim
lanquam praesentibus) , quod cum praeceptis,
quae se recte habent, pugnantes, propriae saluti
resistis ? Non enim ea, quae sunt utiliter edicta,
sed vos ipsos evertitis. Et Dominus : " Luce-
ant " quidem, inquit, " bona vestra opera : " ^
vos autem libidines et intemperantias vestras
manifestas redditis. Et alioqui si vultis legisla-
toris prjecepta dissolvere, quanam de causa, illud

I Luke xi. 40.

' Matt. V. 25: Luke xii. 58.

J Matt. V. 16.

quidem : " Non moechaberis ; " et hoc : " Stu-
prum puero non inferes," et quaecxmque ad conti-
nentiam conferunt, dissolvere conamini, propter
vestram intemperantiam : non dissolvitis autem,
quae ab ipso fit, hiemem, ut media adhuc hieme
aestatera faciatis : neque terram navigabilem,
mare autem pedibus pervium, facitis, ut qui
historias composuerunt, barbanim Xerxem di-
cunt voluisse facere? Cur vero non omnibus
praeceptis repugnatis ? Nam cum ille dicat ;
"Crescite et multiplicamini,"'^ oporteret vos, qui
adversamini, nullo modo uti coitu. Et cum
dixit : " Dedi vobis omnia ad vescendum '* 5 et
fruendum, vos nullo frui oportuit. Quinetiam
eo dicente : " Oculum pro oculo," ^ oportuit vos
decertationem contraria non rependere decerta-
tione. Et cum furem jusserit reddere " quadru-
plum," 7 oportuit vos furi aliquid etiam adhere.
Rursus vero similiter, cum praecepto ; " Diliges
Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo," ^ repugnetis,
oportuit nee universorum quidem Deum diligere.
Et rursus, cum dixerit : " Non facies sculptile
neque fusile," ^ consequens erat ut etiam sculp-
tilia adoraretis. Quomodo ergo non impie faci-
tis, qui Creatori quidem, ut dicitis, resistitis ;
quae sunt autem meretricibus et adulteris similia,
sectamini? Quomodo autem non sentitis vos
eum majorem facere, quem pro imbecillo habe-
tis ; si quidem id fit, quod hie vult ; non autem
illud, quod voluit bonus ? contra enim ostenditur
quodam modo a vobis ipsis, imbecillum esse,
quem vestrum patrem dicitis. Recensent etiam
ex quibusdam locis propheticis decerptas dictio-
nes, et male consarcinatas, quae allegorice dicta
sunt tanquam recto ductu et citra figuram dicta
sumentes. Dicunt enim scriptum esse : " Deo
restiterunt, et salvi facti sunt : " '° illi autem " Deo
impudenti " addunt ; et hoc eloquium tanquam
consilium praeceptum accipiunt : et hoc ad sa-
lutem conferre existimant, quod Creatori resis-
tant. At " impudenti " quidem " Deo," non est
scriptum. Si autem sic quoque habeat, eum,
qui vocatus est diabolus, inteligite impudentem :
vel quod homhiem calumniis impetat, vel quod
accuset peccatores, vel quod sit apostata. Popu-
lus ergo, de quo hoc dictum est, cum castigaretur
propter sua peccata, aegre ferentes et gementes,
his verbis, quae dicta sunt, murmurabant, quod
aliae quidem gentes cum inique se gerant non
puniantur, ipsi autem in singulis vexentur ; adeo
ut Jeremias quoque dixerit : " Cur via impiorum
prosperatur ? " " quod simile est ie, quod prius
allatum est ex Malachia : " Deo restiterunt, et
salvi facti sunt." Nam prophetae divinitus in-

* Gen. i. 28, ix. i.

5 Gen. i. 29, ix. 2, 3.
*> Ex. xxi. 24.
7 Ex. xxii I.

• Dcut. vi 5.

9 Deui. xxvii. 15
»o Mai. iii. 15
** Jcr xii. 1.

388

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III.

spirati, non solum quae a Deo audierint, se loqui
profitentur; sed et ipsi etiam solent ea, quae
vulgo jactantur a populo, exceptionis modo,
edicere, et tanquam qusestiones ab hominibus
motas referre : cujusmodi est illud dictum, cujus
mentio jam facta est. Nunquid autem ad hos
verba sua dirigens, scribit Apostolus in Epistola
ad Romanos : " Et non sicut blasphemamur, et
sicut dicunt aliqui nos dicere : Faciamus mala,
ut eveniant bona, quorum justa est damnatio? " '
li sunt, qui inter legendum tono vocis pervertunt
Scripturas ad proprias voluptates, et quorumdam
accentuum et punctorum transpositione, quae
pnidenter et utiliter praecepta sunt, as suas tra-
hunt delicias. " Qui irritatis Deum sermonibus
vestris," inquit Malachias, "et dicitis^ in quonam
cum irritavimus ; Dum vos dicitis : Quicunque
facit malum, bonus est coram Domino, et ipse
in eis complacuit ; et ubi est Deus justitiae ? " *

CAPUT V. — DUO GENERA ILCRETICORUM NOTAT :
PRIUS ILLORUM QUI OMNIA OMNIBUS LICERE PRO-
NUNITANT, QUOS REFUTAT.

Ne ergo hunc locum ungue amplius fodicantes,
plurium absurdarum haeresium meminerimus;
nee rursus dum in singulis adversus unamquam-
que dicere necesse habemus, propterea pudore
afficiamur, et nimis prolixos hos faciamus com-
mentarios, age in duo dividentes omnes haereses,
eis respondeamus.5 Aut enim docent indiscrete
vivere : aut modum excedentes, per inpietatem
et odium profitentur continentiam. Prius autem
tractandum est de prima parte. Quod si quod-
libet vitae genus licet eligere, tum earn scilicet
etiam licet, quae est continens : et si electus tute
poterit quodlibet vitae genus sectari, manifestum
est eam, quae temperanter et secundum virtutem
agitur, longe tutissimam esse. Nam cum " do-
mino sabbati," etiamsi intemperanter vivat, nulla
ratio reddenda sit, multo magis qui vitam mo-
derate et temperate instituit, nulli erit rationi
reddendae obnoxius. " Omnia enim licent, sed
non omnia expediunt,"* ait Apostolus. Quod
si omnia licent, videlicet moderatum quoque
esse et temperantem. Quemadmodum ergo is
est laudandus, qui libertate sua usus est ad viven-
dum ex virtute : ita multo magis qui dedit nobis
liberam nostri potestatem, et concessit vivere ut
vellemus, est venerandus et adorandus, quod
non permiserit, ut nostra electio et vitatio cui-
quam necessario serviret. Si est autem uterque
aeque securus, et qui incontinentiam, et qui
continentiam elegerit, non est tamen ex aequo
honestum et decorum. Qui enim impegit in
voluptates, gratificatur corpori : temperans autem
animam corporis dominam liberat a perturba-

* Rom. iii. 8.
2 Mai. ii. 17.

» [EJucidation V.]

♦ 1 Cor. vi. 13, X. 33.

tionibus. Et si dicant nos " vocatos fuisse in
libertatem, solummodo ne praebeamus libertatem,
in occasionem cami," s ex sententia Apostoli.
Si autem cupiditati est obsequendum, et qu?e
probrosa est et turpis vita tanquam indifferens
est eligenda, ut ipsi dicunt; aut cupiditatibus
est omnino parendum, et si hoc ita est, facienda
sunt quaevis impudicissima et maxime nefaria,
eos sequendo, qui nobis persuadent : aut sunt
aliquae declinandae cupiditates, et non est am-
plius vivendum indifferenter, neque est impu-
denter serviendum vilissimis et abjectissimis
nostris partibus, ventri et pudendis, dum cu]>i-
date ducti nostro blandimur cadaveri. Nutritur
enim et vivificatur cupiditas, dum ei voluptates
ministrantur : quemadmodum rursus si impedia-
tur et interturbetur, flaccescit. Quomodo autem
fieri potest, ut qui victus est a voluptatibus
corporis. Domino assimiletur, aut Dei hai)eat
cognitionem? Omnis enim voluptatis princij)-
ium est cupiditas : cupiditas autem est molestia
et sollicitudo, quae propter egestatem aliquid
appetit. Quare nihil aliud mihi videntur, qui
hanc vitae rationem suscipiunt, quam quod
dicitur,

Ultra ignominiam sentire dolores ;

ut qui malum a se accersitum, nunc et in poste-
rum eligant. Si ergo " omnia licerent," nee
timendum esset ne a spe excideremus propter
malas actiones, esset fortasse eis aliquis pne-
textus, cur male viverent et miserabiliter. Quo-
niam autem vita beata nobis ostensa est per
praecepta, quam oportet omnes sequentes, nee
aliquid eorum, quae dicta sunt, perperam intel-
ligentes, nee eorum, quae convenit, aliquid, etsi
sit vel minimum, eontemnentes, sequi quo logos
ducit ; quia, si ab eo aberraverimus, in malum
immortale incidamus necesse est ; si divinam
autem Scripturam secuti fuerimus, per quam
ingrediuntur, qui crediderunt, ut Domino, quoad
fieri potest, assimilentur, non est vivendum in-
differenter, sed pro viribus mundos esse oportet
a voluptatibus et cupiditatibus, euraque est ge-
renda animae, qua apud solum Deum perseve-
randum est. Mens enim, quae est munda et ab
omni vitio libera, est quodammodo apta ad po-
testatem Dei suscipiendam, cum divina in ea
assurgat imago : " Et quicunque habet hanc
spem in Domino, seipsum," inquit, "mundum
castumque facit, quatenus ille est castus." ^ Ut
ii autem accipiant Dei cognitionem, qui adhuc
ducuntur ab affectibus, minime potest fieri :
ergo nee ut finem assequantur, cum nullam ha-
beant Dei cognitionem. Et eum quidem, qui
hunc finem non assequitur, accusare videtur Dei
ignoratio ; ut Deus autem ignoretur, efficit vitae
institutio. Omnino enim fieri non potest, ut

i Gal. y._x3.
6 John iii. 3.

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

389

quis simul sit et scientia praeditus, et blandiri
corpori non eriibescat. Neque enim potest
unquam convenire, quod voluptas sit bonum,
cum eo, quod bonum sit solum pulchrum et
honestum : vel etiam cum eo, quod sohis sit
pulcher Dominus, et solus bonus Deus, et solus
amabilis. " In Christo autem circumcisi estis,
circumcisione non manu facta, in exspoliatione
corporis carnis, in circumcisione Christi.' Si
ergo cum Christo consurrexistis, quae sursum
sunt quaerite, quae sursum sunt sapite, non quae
sunt super terram. Mortui enim estis, et vita
vestra absconsa est cum Christo in Deo ; " non
autem ea, quara exercent, fomicatio. " Mor-
tificate ergo membra, quae sunt super terram,
fomicationem, immunditiam, passionem, desi-
derium, propter quae venit ira Dei. Deponant
ergo ipsi quoque iram, indignationem, vitium,
maledictum, turpera sermonem ex ore suo, exu-
entes veterem hominem cum concupiscentiis,
et mduentes novum, qui renovatur in agniti-
onem, ad imaginem ejus, qui creavit ipsum."^
Vitae enim institutio aperte eos arguit, qui man-
data novere : qualis enim sermo, talis est vita.
Arbor autem cognoscitur ex fructibus, non ex
floribus et foliis ac ramis. Cognitio ergo est ex
fructu et vitae institutione, non ex sermone et
flore. Non enim nudum sermonem diciraus
esse cognitionem, sed quamdam divinam scien-
tiam, et lucem illam, quae innata animae ex
praeceptorum obedientia, omnia, quae per ge-
nerationem oriuntur, manifesta facit, et hominem
instruit, ut seipsum cognoscat, et qua ratione
compos fieri possit, edocet. Quod enim oculus
est in corpore, hoc est in mente cognitio. Neque
dicant libertatem, qua quis voluptati servit, sicut
ii, qui bilem dicunt dulcem. Nos enim didi-
cimus libertatem, qua Dominus noster nos lib-
erat a voluptatibus, et a cupiditatibus, et aliis
perturbationibus solvens. " Qui dicit : Novi
Dominum, et mandata ejus non servat, mendax
est, et in eo Veritas non est," ' ait Joannes.

CAPUT VI. — SECUNDUM GENUS HiERETICORUM AG-
GREDrrUR, ILLORUM SCILICET QUI EX IMPIA DE
DEO OMNIUM CONDrrORE SENTENIIA, CONTINEN-
TIAM EXERCENT.

Adversus autem alterum genus haereticorum,^
qui speciose per continentiam impie se gerunt,
turn in creaturam, tum in sanctum Opificem, qui
est solus Deus omnipotens; et dicunt non esse
adraittendum matrimonium et liberorum procrea-
tionem, nee in mundum esse inducendos alios
infelices futuros, nee suppeditandum morti nu-
trimentum, haec sunt opponenda : primum qui-
dem illud Joannis : ** Et nunc antichristi multi

' Col ii. XI.

2 Col. iii. fl, 10.

3 I John ii 4.

* [Elucidation VI.]

facti sunt, unde scimus quod novissima hora est.
Ex nobis exierunt, sed non erant ex nobis.
Nam si fuissent ex nobis, permansissent utique
nobiscum." 5 Deinde sunt etiam evertendi, et
dissolvenda, quae ab eis afferuntur, hoc modo :
" Salomae interroganti, quousque vigebit mors,"
non quasi vita esset mala, et mala creatura,
"Dominus, Quoadusque, inquit, vos mulieres
paritis," sed quasi naturalem docens consequen-
tiam : ortum enim omnino sequitur interitus.
Vult ergo lex quidem nos a deliciis omnique
probro et dedecore educere. Et hie est ejus
finis, ut nos ab injustitia ad justitiam deduca-
mur, honesta eligendo matrimonia, et liberorum
procreationem, bonamcjue vitae institutionem.
Dominus autem " Non venit ad solvendam

I legem, sed ad implendam : " ^ ad implendam
autem, non ut cui aliquid deesset, sed (juod legis
prophetiae per ejus adventum completae fuerint.
Nam recta vitae institutio, iis etiam, qui juste vix-
erunt ante legem, per Logon praedicabatur. Vul-
gus ergo hominum, quod non novit continentiam,
corpore vitam degit, sed non spiritu : sine spiritu
autem corpus nihil aliud est quam terra et cinis.
Jam adulterium judicat Dominus ex cogitatione.
Quid enim? annon licet etiam continenter uti
matrimonio, et non conari dissolvere, quod
"conjunxit Deus?"^ Talia enim docent con-
jugii divisores, propter quod nomen probris ac
maledictis appetitur inter gentes. Sceleratum
autem dicentes isti esse coitum, qui ipsi quoque
suam essentiam ex coitu accepere, quomodo non
fuerint scelerati ? Eorum autem, qui sunt sanc-
tificati, sanctum quoque, ut puto, semen est. Ac
nobis quidem debet esse sanctificatus, non solum
spiritus, sed et mores, et vita, et corpus. Nam
quanam ratione dicit Paulus apostolus esse
" sanctificatam mulierem a viro," aut " virum a
muliere?"** Quid est autem, quod Dominus
quoque dixit iis, qui interrogabant de divortio :
"An liceat uxorem dimittere, cum Moyses id
permiserit ? " " Ad duritiam cordis vestri, inquit,

; Moyses haec scripsit. Vos autem non legistis,
quod protoplasto Deus dixit : * Eritis duo in
came una? Quare qui dimittit uxorem, praeter-
quam fornication is causa, facit eam moechari.^
Sed post resurrectionem, inquit, nee uxorem du-
cunt, nee nubunt.' " '° Etenim de ventre et cibis
dictum est : " Escae ventri, et venter escis ; Deus
autem et lUum et has destruet ;" " hos impetens,
qui instar caprorum et hircorum sibi vivendum
esse censent, ne secure ac sine terrore comessent
et coirent. Si resurrectionem itaque receperint,
ut ipsi dicunt, et ideo matrimonium infirmant et
abrogant ; nee comedant, nee bibant : " destrui "

5 X John ii. x8, 19.

6 Matt. V. 17.

7 Matt. xix. 6; Mark x. 9.
* 1 Cor. vii 14.

9 Matt. xix. 3: Mark x. 2.
^° Matt. xxii. 30; Mark xii. 33; Luke xx. 35.
** I Cor. vi. X3.

390

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III.

enim "ventrem et cibos," dicit Apostolus in
resurrectione. Quomodo ergo esuriunt, et siti-
unt, et camis patiuntur affectiones, et alia, quae
non patietur, qui per Christum accepit perfectam,
quae speratur, resurrectionem ? Quin etiam ii,
qui colunt idola, a cibis et venere abstinent.
" Non est " autem, inquit, " regnum Dei cibus
est potus." ' Certe magis quoque curae est, qui
angelos colunt et daemones, siraul a vino et ani-
matis et rebus abstinere venereis. Quemadmo-
dum autem humilitas est mansuetudo, non autem
afHictio corporis : ita etiam continentia est ani-
mae virtus, quae non est in manifesto, sed in
occulto. Sunt autem etiam, qui matrimonium
aperte dicunt fomicationem, et decernunt id
traditum esse a diabolo. Dicunt autem gloriosi
isti jactatores se imitari Dominum, qui neque
uxorem duxit, neque in mundo aliquid possedit ;
se magis quam alii Evangelium intellexisse glori-
antes. Eis autem dicit Scriptura : " Deus su-
perbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam."^
Deinde nesciunt causam cur Dominas uxorem
non duxerit. Primum quidem, propriam spon-
sam habuit Ecclesiam : deinde vero, nee homo
erat communis, ut opus haberet etiam adjutore
alicjuo secundum carnem ; neque erat ei necesse
procreare filios, qui manet in aetemum, et natus
est solus Dei Filius. Hie ipse autem Dominus
dicit : " Quod Deus conjunxit, homo ne sepa-
ret." 3 Et rursus : " Sicut autem erat in diebus
Noe, erant nubentes, et nuptui dantes, aedifican-
tes, et plantantes ; et sicut erat in diebus I^t,
ita erit adventus Filii hominis." * Et quod hoc
non dicit ad gentes, ostendit, cum subjungit :
" Num cum venerit Filius hominis, inveniet
fidem in terra? " s Et rursus : ** Vae praegnanti-
bus et lactantibus in illis diebus."^ Quanquam
haec quoque dicuntur allegorice. Propterea nee
" tempora " praefiniit, " quae Pater posuit in sua
po testate," ^ ut permaneret mundus per genera-
tiones. Illud autem : " Non omnes capiunt ver-
bum hoc : sunt enim eunuchi, qui sic nati sunt ;
et sunt eunuchi, qui castrati sunt ab hominibus ;
et sunt eunuchi, qui seipsos castranmt propter
regnum ccelorum. Qui potest capere, capiat ; " ^
nesciunt quod, postquam de divortio esset locu-
tus, cum quidam rogassent : " Si sic sit causa
uxoris, non expedit homini uxorem ducere ; "
tunc dixit Dominus : " Non omnes capiunt ver-
bum hoc, sed quibus datum est." ^ Hoc enim
qui rogabant, volebant ex eo scire, an uxore
damnata et ejecta propter fomicationem, conce-
dat aliam ducere. Aiunt autem athletas quoque

* Rom. xiv. 17.

* las. iv. 6 : I Pet. v. 5.

' Matt. xix. 6; Mark x. 9.^

* Matt. xxiv. 37 ; Luke xvti. 38.
5 Luke xviii. 8.

^ Matt. xxiv. 19; Mark xtii. 17; Luke xxi. 23.
7 Acts i. 7.

* Matt. XIX. II, 13.
9 Matt. xix. 10, XI.

non paucos abstinere a venere, propter exerci-
tationem corporis continentes : quemadmodum
Crotoniatem Astylum, et Crisonem Himeraeum.
Quinetiam Amoebeus citharoedus, cum recenter
matrimonio junctus esset, a sponsa abstinuit : et
Cyrenaeus Aristoteles amantem Laidem solus de-
spexit. Cum meretrici itaque jurasset, se earn
esse in patriam abducturum, si sibi adversus de-
certantes advesarios in aliquibus opem tulisset,
postquam id perfecisset, lepide a se dictum jus-
jurandum exsequens, cum curasset imaginem
ejus quam simillimam depingi, eam Cyrenae
statuit, ut scribit Ister in libro De proprietate
certaminum. Quare nee castitas est bonum, nisi
fiat propter delectionem Dei. Jam de iis, qui
matrimonium abhorrent, dicit beatus Pauliis :
" In novissimis diebus deficient quidam a fide,
attendentes spiritibus erroris, et doctrinis daemo-
niorum, prohibentium nubere, abstinere a cibis." '**
Et rursus dicit : " Nemo vos seducat in volunta-
ria humilitatis religione, et parcimonia corporis." • •
Idem autem ilia quoque scribit : " Alligatus es
uxori? ne quaeras solutionem. Solutus es ab ux-
ore? ne quaeras uxorem." " Et rursus : " Unus-
quisque autem suam uxorem habeat, ne tentet
vos Satanas." '3 Quid vero? non etiam justi
ve teres creaturam cum gratiarum actione partici-
pabant ? Aliqui autem etiam liberos susceperunt*
continenter versati in matrimonio. Et Eliae qui-
dem corvi alimentum afferebant, panes et cames.
Quinetiam Samuel propheta armuni, quem ex iis,
quae comedisset, reliquerat, allatum, dedit eden-
dum Sauli. Hi autem, qui se eos dicunt vitae
institutis excellere, cum illorum actionibus ne
potenmt quidem conferri. " Qui " itaque " non
comedit, comedentem ne spernat. Qui autem
comedit, eum qui non comedit non judicet :
Deus enim ipsum accepit." '-♦ Quin etiam
Dominus de seipso dicens : "Venit," inquit,
" Jq^nes, nee comedens, nee bibens, et dicunt :
daemonium habet; venit Filius hominis come-
dans et bibens, et dicunt : Ecce homo vorax et
vini potor, amicus publicanorum, et peccator." 'S
An etiam reprobant apostolos ? Petrus enim et
Philippus *^ filios procrearunt : Philippus autem
filias quoque suas viris locavit. Et Paulus qui-
dem certe non veretur in quadam epistola suam
appellare " conjugem," quam non circumferebat»
quod non magno ei esset opus ministerio. Dicit
itaque in quadam epistola : " Non habemus po-
testatem sororem uxorem circumducendi, sicut
et reliqui apostoli?" '^ Sed hi quidem, ut erat
consentaneum, ministerio, quod divelli non pote-
rat, praedicationi scilicet, attendentes, non ut ux-

*° I Tim. iv. I, 3.

** Col. li. 18, 33.

*2 1 Cor. vii. 37.

'* I Cor. vii. 3, 5.

** Rom. xiv. 3.

*5 Matt. xi. 18, 10.

»«» [Elucidation VI L J

*7 I Cor. ix. 5. ^

Chap. VII.J

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

391

ores, sed ut sorores circumducebant mulieres,
quae una ministraturae essent apud mulieres quae
domos custodiebant : per quas etiam in gynae-
ceum, absque ulla reprehensione malave suspi-
cione, ingredi posset doctrina Domini. Scimus
enim quaecunque de feminis diaconis in altera
ad Timotheum praestantissimus ' docet Paulus.
Atqui hie ipse exclamavit : " Non est regnum
Dei esca et potus : " neque vero abstinentia a
vino et camibus ; " sed justitia, et pax, et gau-
dium in Spiritu sancto."^ Quis eorum, ovilla
pelle indutus, zona pellicea accinctus, circuit ut
Elias? Quis cilicium induit, caetera nudus, et
discalceatus, ut Isaias? vel subligaculum tantum
hal^et lineum, ut Jeremias ? Joannis autem vitae
institutum gnosticum quis imitabitur? Sed sic
quoque viventes, gratias Creatori agebant beati
prophetae. Carpocratis autem justitia, et eorum,
c^ui aeque atque ipse impudicam prosequuntur
communionem, hoc modo dissolvitur; simul
enim ac dixerit : "Te petenti des ; ** subjungit :
'* Et eum, qui velit mutuo accipere, ne averse-
ris ; " 3 hanc docens communionem, non autem
illam incestam et impudicam. Quomodo autem
fuerit is qui petit et accipit, et is qui mutuatur,
si nullus sit qui habeat et det mutuo? Quid
vero? quando dicit Dominus : " Esurivi, et me;
pavistis ; sitii, et potum mihi dedistis ; hospes I
eram, et me coUegistis ; nudus, et me vestiis-
tis ; " ♦ deinde subjungit : " Quatenus fecistis uni
horum minimorum, mihi fecistis." 5 Nunquid
easdem quoque tulit leges in Veteri Testamento ? i
** Qui dat mendico, fceneratur Deo." ^ Et : *' Ne '
abstinueris a benefaciendo egeno," ^ inquit. Et
rursus ; " Eleemosynae et fides ne te deficiant," *
inquit. ** Pauper^as " autem " virum humiliat,
ditant autem manus virorum." *> Subjungit
autem : '* Qui pecuniam suam non dedit ad
usuram, fit acceptus." Et : " Pretium redemp-
tionis anima, proprise judicantur divitiae." '°
Annon aperte indicat, quod sicut mundus com-
jx)nitur ex contrariis, nempe ex calido et frigido,
humido et sicco, ita etiam ex iis qui dant, et ex
iis qui accipiunt? Et rursus cum dixit : " Si vis
perfectus esse, vende quae habes, et da pauperi-
bus," refellit eum qui gloriabatur quod ** omnia
a juventute praecepta servaverat ; " non enim
impleverat illud : " Diliges proximum tuum sicut
teipsum:"" tunc autem cum a Domino perfice-
retur, docebatur communicare et impertiri per
charitatem. Honeste ergo non prohibuit esse
divitem, sed esse divitem injuste et inexplebiliter.

' [De diaconissa primitiva, confer Bunsgntum, apud HippoL^
vol. ill. p. 41.]

* Rom. xiv. 17.
^ Matt. V. 42.

* Matt. XXV, 35, 36.
' Matt XXV. 40.

* Frov. xix. 17.
7 Prov. iii. 27.

* Prov. tii. 3.
9 Prov. X. 4.

»o Prov. xiii. 8.

** Matt. xix. 16; Mark x. 17; Luke xviii. 18.

"Possessio (enim,) quae cum iniquitate accele-
ratur, minor redditur." " '* Sunt (enim,) qui
seminantes multiplicant, et qui coUigentes minus
habent." *' De quibus scriptum est : " Dispersit,
dedit pauperibus, justitia ejus manet in saeculum
saeculi." '*♦ Qui enim " seminat et plura colligit,"
is est, qui per terrenam et temporalem commu-
nicationem ac distributionem, coelestia acquirit
et aeterna. Est autem alius, qui nemini impertit,
et incassum " thesauros in terra colligit, ubi aeru-
go et tinea destruunt." '5 De quo scriptum est :
** Qui colligit mercedes, colligit in saccum per-
foratum." '^ Hujus " agrum " Dominus in Evan-
gelio dicet " fuisse fertilem : " '' deinde cum
vellet fructus reponere, et esset " majora horrea
aedificaturus," sibi dixisse per prosopopceiam :
" Habes bona multa reposita tibi in multos an-
nos, ede, bibe, laetare : " " Stulte ergo, inquit,
hac nocte animam tuam a te repetunt ; quae ergo
parasti, cujus erunt?"

CAPUT VU. — QUA IN RE CHRISTIANORUM CONTI-
NENTIA EAM QUAM SIBI VINDICANT PHILOSOPHl
ANTECELLAT.

Humana ergo continentia,'* ea, inquam, quae
est ex sententia philosophorum Graecorum, profi-
tetur pugnare cum cupiditate, et in factis ei non
inservire ; quae est autem ex nostra sententia
continentia, non concupiscere ; non ut quis
concupiscens se fortiter gerat, sed ut etiam a con-
cupiscendo se contineat. Non potest autem ea
aliter comparari continentia, nisi gratia I )ei. Et
ideo dixit : " Petite, et dabitur vobis." ''^ Hanc
gratiam Moyses quoque accepit, qui indigo cor-
pore erat indutus, ut quadraginta diebus neque
esuriret, neque sitiret. Quemadmodum autem
melius est sanum esse, quam aegrotantem dis-
serere de sanitate : ita lucera esse, quam loqui
de luce ; et quae est ex veritate continentia, ea
quae docetur a philosophis. Non enim ubi est
lux, illic tenebrae : ubi autem sola insidet cupi-
ditas, etiamsi quiescat a corporea operatione, at
memoria cum eo, quod non est praesens, con-
greditur. Generatim autem nobis procedat ora-
tio de matrimonio, nutrimento, et aliis, ut nihil
faciamus ex cupiditate, velimus autem ea sola,
quae sunt necessaria. Non sumus enim filii
cupiditatis, sed voluntatis \ et eum, qui uxorem
duxit propter liberorum procreationem, exercere
oportet continentiam, ut ne suam quidem con-
cupiscat uxorem, quam debet diligere, honesta
et moderata voluntate operam dans liberis. Non
enim " camis curam gerere ad concupiscentias "
didicimus; "honeste autem tanquam in die,"

^' Prov. xiii. ii.

*^ Prov. xi 23.

** Ps, cxi, 9.

'5 Malt. vi. 19.

'* Hagg. i. 6.

*7 Luke xii. 16-20.

" rKlucid.niion VIII.]

•9 Matt. vii. 7.

392

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III.

Christo, et Dominica lucida vitae institutione,
"ambulantes, non in comessationibiis et ebrie-
tatibus, non in cubilibus et impudicitiis, non in
litibus et contentionibus." ' Verumenimvero
non oportet considerare continentiam in uno
solum genere, nempe in rebus venereis, sed
etiam in quibuscunque aliis, quae luxuriosa con-
cupiscit anima, non contenta necessariis, sed
sollicita de deliciis. Continentia est pecuniam
despicere ; voluptatem, possessionem, spectacu-
lum magno et excels© animo contemnere ; os
continere, ratione quae sunt mala vincere. Jam
vero angeli quocjue quidam, cum fuissent incon-
tinentes, victi cupiditate, hue e coelo deciderunt.
Valentinus autem in Epistola ad Agathopodem :
" C'unx omnia, inquit, sustinuisset, erat continens,
divinitatem sibi comparavit Jesus ; edebat et
bibebat peculiari modo, non reddens cibos;
tanta ei inerat vis continentiae, ut etiam nutri-
mentum in eo non interierit, quoniam ipse non
habuit interitum." Nos ergo propter dilectio-
nem in Dominum, et propter ipsum honestum,
amplectimur continentiam, templum Spiritus
sanctificantes. Honestum enim est, "propter
regnum coelorum seipsum castrare " ' ab omni
cupiditate, et " emundare conscientiam a mor-
tuis operibus, ad serviendum Deo viventi." ^
Qui autem propter odium adversus carnem sus-
ceptum a conjugali conjunctione, et eorum qui
conveniunt ciborum participatione, liberari desi-
derant, indocti sunt et impii, et absque ratione
continentes, sicut aliae gentes plurimae. Brach-
manes quidem certe neque animatum comedunt,
neque vinum bibunt ; sed aliqui quidem ex iis
quotidie sicut nos cibum capiunt ; nonnulli au-
tem ex iis tertio quoque die, ut ait Alexander
Polyhistor in Indicts; mortem autem contem-
nunt, et vivere nihili faciunt ; credunt enim esse
regenerationem : aliqui autem colunt Herculem
et Pana. Qui autem ex Indis vocantur Se/ivoi,
hoc est, venerandi, nudi totam vitam transigunt :
ii veritatem exercent, et futura praedicunt, et
colunt quamdam pyramidem, sub qua existimant
alicujus dei ossa reposita. Neque vero Gym-
nosophistae, nee qui dicuntur Sc/ivoi, utuntur
mulieribus, hoc enim praeter naturam et iniquum
esse existimant ; qua de causa seipsos castos
conservant. Virgines autem sunt etiam mulieres,
quae dicuntur !Sc/tvai, hoc est, veneranda. Vi-
dentur autem observare ccelestia, et per eonim
significationem quaedam futura praedicere.

CAPUT VIII. — LOCA S. SCRIPTURiE AB HiERETICIS IN
VITUPERIUM MATRIMONII ADDUCI'A EXPLICAT ; ET
PRIMO VERBA APOSTOLI ROM. VI. 1 4, AB R«RETI-
CORUM PERVERSA INTERPRETATIONE VINDICAT.^

Quoniam autem qui introducunt indifferen-

tiam, paucas quasdam Scripturas de torque ntes,
titillanti suae voluptati eas suffragari existimant ;
tum praecipue illam quoque : " Peccatum enim
vestri non dominabitur ; non estis enim sub lege,
sed sub gratia ; '* ^ et aliquas ahas hujusmodi,
quarum post haec non est rationi consentaneum
ut faciam mentionem (non enim navem instruo
piraticam), age paucis eorum argumentum per-
fringamus. Ipse enim egregius Apostolus in
verbis, quae praedictae dictioni subjungit, inten-
tati cri minis afferet solutionem : " Quid ergo ?
peccabimus, quia non sumus sub lege, sed sub
gratia? Absit."^ Adeo divine et prophetice e
vestigio dissolvit artem voluptatis sophisticam.
Non intelligunt ergo, ut videtur, quod "omiies
nos oportet manifestari ante tribunal Christi, ut
refefat unusquisque per corpus ea quae fecit,
sive bonum, sive malum : " ^ ut quae per coqjus
fecit aliquis, recipiat. "Quare si quis est in
Christo, nova creatura est," nee amplius pec-
catis dedita: "Vetera praeterierunt," vitam an-
tiquam exuimus : " Ecce enim nova facta sunt," ^
castitas ex fornicatione, et continentia ex incon-
tinentia, justitia ex injustitia. " Quae est enim
participatio justitiae et injustitiae? aut quae luci
cum tenebris societas ? quae est autem conventio
Christo cum Belial? quae pars est fideli cum
infideli? quae est autem consensio templo Dei
cum idolis ? 9 Has ergo habentes promissiones,
mundemus nos ipsos ab omni inquinamento car-
nis et spiritus, perficientes sanctitatem in timore
Dei." '°

CAPUT IX. — DICTUM CHRISTTI AD SALOMEN EXPO-
Nn', QUOD TANQUAM IN VITUPERIUM NUPTIARUM
PROLATUM HiERETICI ALLEGABANT.

Qui autem Dei creaturae resistunt per speci-
osam illam continentiam, ilia quoque dicunt,
quae ad Salomen dicta sunt, quorum prius me-
minimus : habentur alitem, ut existimo, in Evan-
gelio secundum -^gyptios." Aiunt enim ipsum
dixisse Servatorem : ** Veni ad dissolvendura
opera feminae ; " feminae quidem, cupiditatis \
opera autem generationem et interitum. Quid
ergo dixerint ? Desiit haec administratio ? Non
dixerint : manet enim mundus in eadem oecono-
mia. Sed non falsum dixit Dominus; revera
enim opera dissolvit cupiditatis, avaritiam, con-
tentionem, gloriae cupiditatem, mulierum insa-
num amorem, paedicatum, ingluviem, luxum et
profusionem, et quae sunt his similia. Horum
autem ortus, est animae interitus : siquidem
"delictis mortui " efficimur." Ea vero femina*
est intemperantia. Ortum autem et interitum

I Rom. xiii. i3, 13, 14.

' Matt. xix. la.

3 Hcb. ix. 14.

* [Elucidation I X.J

' Rom. vi 14.

* Rom. vi. 15.
7 a Cor. V. 10.

* a Cor. V. 16, 17.

9 2 Cor. vi. 14, 15, x6.
*° 2 Cor. vii. 1.
I* [Elucidation X.]
" Eph. ii. 5.

Chap. X.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

393

creaturarum propter ipsorum naturas fieri necesse
est, usque ad perfectam distinctionem et restitu-
tionera electionis, per quam, quse etiam sunt
mundo permistse et confusae substantiae, proprie-
tati suae restituuntur. Unde merito cum de
consummatione Logos locutus fuerat, ait Salome :
"Quousque morientur homines?" Hominem
autem vocat Scriptura dupliciter: et eum, qui
apparet, et animam ; et eum mrsus, qui servatur,
et eum qui non. Mors autem animae dicitur
peccatum. Quare caute et considerate respon-
det Dominus : " Quoadusque pepererint mu-
lieres," hoc est quandiu operabuntur cupiditates.
" Et ideo quemadmodum per unum hominem
peccatum ingressum est in mundum, per pecca-
tum quoque mors ad omnes homines pervasit,
quatenus omnes peccaverunt ; et regnavit mors
ab Adam usque ad Moysen." ' inquit Apostolus :
naturali autem divinae ceconomiae necessitate
mors sequitur generationem : et corporis et ani-
mae conjunctionem consequitur eorum dissolutio.
Si est autem propter doctrinam et agnitionem
generatio, restitutionis causa erit dissolutio.
Quomodo autem existimatur mulier causa mor-
tis, propterea quod pariat : ita etiam dicetur dux
vitae propter eamdem causam. Proinde quae
prior inchoavit transgressionem, Vita est appel-
lata,' propter causam successionis : et eorum,
qui generantur, et qui peccant, tam justorum
quam injustorum, mater est, unoquoque nostrum
seipsum justificante, vel contra inobedientem
constituente. Unde non ego quidem arbitror
Apostolum abhorrere vitam, quae est in came,
cum dicit : " Sed in omni fiducia, ut semper,
nunc quoque Christus magnificabitur in corpore
meo, sive per vitam, sive per mortem. Mihi
enim vivere Christus et mori lucrum. Si autem
vivere in carne, et hoc quoque mihi fructus operis,
quid eligam nescio, et coarctor ex duobus, cu-
piens resolvi, et esse cum Christo : multo enim
melius : manere autem in carne, est magis ne-
cessarium propter vos."^ Per haec enim, ut
puto, aperte ostendit, exitus quidem e corpore
perfectionem, esse in Dei dilectionem : ejus au-
tem praesentiae in came, ex grato animo profec-
tam tolerantiam, propter eos, qui salute indigent.
Quid vero? non etiam ea, quae deinceps se-
quuntur, ex iis, quae dicta sunt ad Salomen,
subjungunt ii, qui quidvis potius quam quae est
ex veritate, evangelicam regulam sunt secuti?
Cum ea enim dixisset : " Recte ergo feci, quae
non peperi : " scilicet, quod generatio non esset
ut oportet assumpta ; excipit Dominus, dicens :
"Omni herba vescere, ea autem, quae habet
amaritudinem, ne vescaris." Per haec enim sig-
nificat, esse in nostra po testate, et non esse
necessarium ex prohibitione praecepti, vel con-

* Rom. V. 12-14.

* Gen. iii. 20,

3 PhiL i. 90-34.

tinentiam, vel etiam matrimonium ; et quod
matrimonium creationi aliquid affert auxilii, prae-
terea explicans. Ne quis ergo eum deliquisse
existimet, qui secundum Logon matrimonium
inierit, nisi existimet amaram esse filiomm edu-
cationem : contra tamen, permultis videtur esse
molestissimum liberis carere. Neque amara cui-
quam videatur liberorum procreatio, eo quod
negotiis implicatos a divinis abstrahat. Est enim,
qui vitam solitariam facile ferre non valens, ex-
petit matrimonium : quandoquidem res grata,
qua quis temperanter fruitur, et innoxia : et unus-
quisque nostmm eatenus sui dominus est, ut
eligat, an velit liberos procreare. Intelligo autem,
quod aliqui quidem, qui praetextu matrimonii
difficultatum ab eo abstinuemnt, non convenien-
ter sanctae cognitioni ad inhumanitatem et odium
hominum defiuxemnt, et perit apud ipsos chari-
tas ; alii autem matrimonio ligati, et luxui ac
voluptatibus dediti, lege quodammodo eos com-
itante, fuerunt, ut ait Propheta, " assimilati ju-
mentis." ^

CAPUT X. VERBA CHRISTI MATT. XVIII. 20, MYS-

TICE EXPONIT.5

Quinam sunt autem illi "duo et tres, qui
congregantur in nomine Domini, in " quomm
"medio" est Dominus?^ annon virum et mu-
lierem et filium tres dicit, quoniam mulier cum
viro per Deum conjungitur? Quod si accinctus
quis esse velit et expeditus, non volens procreare
liberos, propter eam, quae est in procreandis
liberis, molestiam et occupationem, "maneat,"
inquit Apostolus, absque uxore "ut ego."^ Qui-
dam vero effatum Domini exponunt, ac si dix-
isset, cum pluribus quidem esse Creatorem ac
praesidem generationis Deum ; cum uno autem,
nempe electo, Servatorem, qui alterius, boni
scilicet, Dei Filius sit. Hoc autem non ita
habet : sed est quidem etiam cum iis, qui ho-
neste ac moderate in matrimonio versati sunt, et
liberos susceperunt, Deus per Filium : est autem
etiam cum eo, qui secundum Ix)gon, seu ratio-
nem, fuit continens, idem Deus. Fuerint autem
aliter quoque tres quidem, ira, cupiditas, et
ratio : caro autem at anima et spiritus, alia
ratione. Forte autem et vocationem et elec-
tionem secundam, et tertium genus, quod in
primo honore collocatur, innuit trias prius dicta :
cum quibus est, quae omnia considerat, Dei
potestas, absque divisione cadens in divisionem.
Qui ergo animae naturalibus, ita ut oportet,
utitur operationibus, desiderat quidem ea, quae
sunt convenientia, odio autem habet ea, quae
laedunt, sicut jubent mandata ; " Benedices "
enim, inquit, " benedicenti, et maledices male-

* Ps. xlviii. 21.
i [Elucidation XI.]
^ Nf att. xyiii. 20.
7 I Cor. vii. 7.

.94

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III.

dicenti." Quando autem his, ira scilicet et
cupiditate, superior factus, et creaturae amore
vere affectus propter eum, qui est Deus et
effector omnium, gnostice vitam instituerit, et
Salvatori similis evadens, facilem temperantiae
habitum acquisiverit, et cognitionem, fidem, ac
dilectionem conjunxerit, simplici hac in parte
judicio utens, et vere spiritalis factus, nee earum,
quae ex ira et cupiditate procedunt, cogitationum
omnino capax, ad Domini imaginem ab ipso
artifice efficitur homo perfectus, is sane dignus
jam est, qui frater a Domino nominetur, is simul
est amicus et filius. Sic ergo " duo et tres " in
eodem " congregantur," nempe in homine gnos-
tico. Poterit etiam multorum quoque concordia
ex tribus sestimata, cum quibus est Dominus,
significare unam Ecclesiam, unum hominem,
genus unum. Annon cum uno quidem Judaeo
erat Dominus, cum legem tulit : at prophetans,
et Jeremiam mittens Babylonem, quinetiam eos
qui erant ex gentibus vocans per prophetiam,
congregavit duos populos : tertius autem est
unus, qui ex duobus " creatur in novum homi-
nem, quo inambulat et inhabitat" in ipsa Ec-
clesia? Et lex simul et prophetae, una cum
Evangelio, in nomine Christi congregantur in
unam cognitionem. Qui ergo propter odium
uxorem non ducunt, vel propter concupiscentiam
came indifferenter abutuntur, non sunt in numero
illorum qui servantur, cum quibus est Dominus.

CAPUT XI. — LEGIS ET CHRISTI MANDATUM DE
NON CONCUPISCENDO EXPONIT.*

His sic ostensis, age Scripturas, quae adversan-
tur sophistis haereticis, jam adducamus, et regulam
continentiae secundum logon seu rationem ob-
servandam declaremus. Qui vero intelligit, quae
Scriptura cuique haeresi contraria sit, eam tem-
pestive adhibendo refutabit eos, qui dogmata
mandatis contraria fi ngunt. Atcjue ut ab alto
rem repetamus, lex quidem, sicut prius diximus,
illud, " Non concupisces uxorem proximi tui," *
prius exclamavit ante conjunctam Domini in
Novo Testamento vocem, quae dicit ex sua ipsius
persona : " Audivistis legem praecipientem : Non
moechaberis. Ego autem dico : Non concupis-
ces." 3 Quod enim vellet lex viros uti moderate
uxoribus, et propter solam liberorum susceptio-
nem, ex eo clarum est, quod prohibet quidem
eum, qui non habet uxorem, statim cum " cap-
tiva" habere consuetudinem.** Quod si semel
desideraverit, ei, cum .tonsa fuerit capillos, per-
mittere ut lugeat triginta diebus. Si autem ne
sic quidem emarcescat cupiditas, tunc liberis
operam dare, cum quae dominatur impulsio, pro-
bata sit praefinito tempore consentanea rationi

> [Elucidation XII.]
' fex. XX. 17.
^ Matt. V. 27, 28.
* Deut. xxi. zi, I a, 13.

appetitio. Unde nullum ex veteribus ex Scrip-
tura ostenderis, qui cum praegnante rem habu-
erit : sed postquam gestavit uterum, et postqiiam
editum fetum a lacte depulit, nirsus a viris cogni-
tas fuisse uxores. Jam hunc scopum et institu-
tum invenies servantem Moysis patrem, cum
triennium post Aaronem editum intermisisset,
genuisse Moysem. Et rursus Levitica tribus,
servans hanc naturae legem a Deo traditam, aliis
numero minor ingressa est in terram promissam.
Non enim facile multiplicatur genus, cum viri
quidem seminant, legitimo juncti matrimonio ;
exspectant autem non solum uteri gestationem,
sed etiam a lacte depulsionem. Unde merito
Moyses, quoque Judaeos paulatim provehens ad
continentiam, cum "tribus diebus "5 deinceps
consequentibus a venerea voluptate abstinuissent,
jussit audire verba Dei. " Nos ergo Dei templa
sumus, sicut dixit propheta : Inhabitabo in eis,
et inambulabo, et ero eorum Deus, et ipsi enint
meus populus," si ex praeceptis vitam institua-
mus, sive singuli nostrum, sive tota simul Ec-
clesia. " Quare egredimini e medio ipsorum, et
separamini, dicit Dominus, et immundum ne
tangatis ; et ego vos suscipiam, et ero vobis in
patrem, et vos eritis mihi in filios et filias, dicit
Dominus omnipotens." ^ Non ab iis, qui uxores
duxerunt, ut aiunt, sed a gentibus, quae adhuc
vivebant in fornicatione, praeterea autem a prius
quoque dictis haeresibus, ut immundis et impiis,
prophetice nos jubet separari. Unde etiam Pau-
lus quoque verba dirigens ad eos, qu ierant iis,
qui dicti sunt, similes : " Has ergo promissiones
habete, inquit, dilecti : mundemus corda nostra
ab omni inquinamento camis et spiritus, perfi-
cientes sanctitatem in timore Dei.^ Zelo enim
vos zelo Dei ; despondi enim vos uni viro, virgi-
nem castam exhibere Christo." ^ Et Ecclesia qui-
dem alii non jungitur matrimonio, cum sponsum
habeat : sed unusquisque nostrum habet potes-
tatem ducendi, quamcunque velit, legitimam uxo-
rem, in primis, inquam, nuptiis. " Vereor autem,
ne sicut serpens seduxit Evam in astutia, cor-
rumpantur sensus vestri a simplicitate, quae in
Christo est," 9 pie admodum et doctoris instar
dixit Apostolus. Quocirca admirabilis quoque
Petrus : " Charissimi, inquit, obsecro vos tan-
quam advemas et peregrinos, abstinete vos a
camalibus desideriis, quae militant adversus ani-
mam, conversationem vestram inter gentes ha-
bentes bonam : quoniam sic est voluntas Dei, ut
bene facientes obmutescere faciatis impruden-
tium hominum ignorantiam ; quasi liberi, et non
quasi velamen habentes malitiae libertatem, sed
ut servi Dei." *° Similiter etiam scribit Paulus in

i Ex. xix. ao

* 2 Cor. vi. i6, 17, 18.
7 2 Cor. vii. I.

* a Cor. xi. a.
9 a Cor. xi. 3.

*° I Pet. ii. IX, 12, 15, 16.

Chap. XII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

395

Epistola ad Romanos : " Qui mortui sumus pec-
cato, quomodo adhuc vivemus in ipso? Quo-
niam vetus homo noster simul est crucifixus,
ut destruatur corpus peccati/' ' usque ad illud :
" Neque exhibete membra veslra, arma injustitiae
peccato." * Atque adeo cum in hunc locum
devenerini, videor raihi non esse prsetermissurus,
quin notem, quod eumdem Deum per legem et
prophetas et Evangelium pnedicet Apostolus.
Ilhid enim : " Non concupisces,*' quod scriptum
est in Evangelio, legi attribuit in Epistola ad
Romanos, sciens esse unum eum, qui praedicavit
per legem et prophetas, Patrem, et qui per ipsum
est annuntiatus. Dicit enim : " Quid dicemus ?
Lex estne peccatum? Absit. Sed peccatum
non cognovi, nisi per legem. Concupiscentiam
enim non cognovissem, nisi lex diceret : Non
concupisces." ^ Quod si ii, qui sunt diversae sen-
tentiae, repugnantes, existiment Paulum verba sua
dirigentem adversus Creatorem, dixisse ea, quae
deinceps sequuntur : " Novi enim, quod non
habitat in me, hoc est, in came mea, bonum ; "♦
legant ea, quae prius dicta sunt ; et ea, quae
consequuntur. Prius enim dixit : " Sed inhabi-
tans in me peccatum ; " propter quod consenta-
neum erat dicere illud : " Non habitat in came
mea bonum." 5 Consequenter subjunxit : " Si
autem quod nolo, hoc ego facio, non utique ego
id operor, sed quod inhabitat in me peccatum : '*
quod " repugnans," inquit, " legi " Dei et " men-
tis meae, captivat me in lege peccati, quae est in
membris meis. Miser ego homo, quis me libera-
bit de corpore mortis hujus ? " ^ Et rursus (nun-
quam enim quovis modo juvando defatigatur)
non veretur veluti concludere : ** Lex enim spiri-
tus liberavit me a lege peccati et mortis : "
(luoniam " per Filium Deus condemnavit pec-
catum in came, ut justificatio legis impleatur in
nobis, qui non secundum, camem ambulamus,
sed secundum spiritum."^ Praeter haec- adhuc
declarans ea, quae prius dicta sunt, exclamat :
"Corpus quidem mortuum propter peccatum : "
significans id non esse templum, sed sepulcrum
animae. Quando enim sanctificatum fuerit Deo,
"Spiritus ejus," infert, "qui suscitavit Jesum a
mortuis, habitat in vobis : qui vivificabit etiam
raortalia vestra corpora, per ejus Spiritum, qui
habitat in vobis.""* Rursus itaque voluptarios
increpans, ilia adjicit : " Prudentia enim camis,
mors; quoniam qui ex came vivunt, ea, quae
sunt camis, cogitant; et pmdentia carnis est
cum Deo gerere inimicitias ; legi enim Dei non
subjicitur. Qui autem sunt in came," non ut
quidam decemunt, " Deo placere non possunt,"

* Rom. vi. a, 6.

* Rom. vi. 13.
^ Rom. vii. 7.

* Rom. vii. x8.

* Rom. vii. 17.

* Rom. vii. ao, 23, 24
' Rom. viii. 2, 3, 4.

' Rom. viii. 10, xi.

sed Ut prius diximus. Deinde ut eos distinguat,
dicit Ecclesiae : " Vos autem non estis in carne,
sed in spiritu, si quidem spiritus Dei habitat in
vobis. Si quis autem spiritum Christi non ha-
bet, is non est ejus. Si autem Christus in vobis,
corpus quidem est mortuum per peccatum, spiri-
tus auterri vivus per justitiam. Debitores itaque
sumus, fratres, non cami, ut secundum camem
vivamus. Si enim secundum camem vivitis, estis
morituri : si vero spiritu facta carnis mortifica-
veritis, vivetis. Quicunque enim spiritu Dei
aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei." Et adversus nobilita-
tem et adversus libertatem, quae exsecrabiliter ab
iis, qui sunt diversae sententiae, introducitur, qui
de libidine gloriantur, subjungit dicens : " Non
enim accepistis spiritum servitutis rursus in timo-
rem, sed accepistis spiritum adoptionis filiomm,
in quo clamamus, Abba Pater ; "9 hoc ^st, ad hoc
accepimus, ut cognoscamus eum, quem oramus,
qui est vere Pater, qui remm omnium solus est
Pater, qui ad salutem emdit et castigat ut pater,
et timorem minatur.

CAPUT XII. — VERBA APOSTOLI I COR. VII. 5, 39,
40, ALIAQUE S. SCRIFIUR^ LOCA EODEM SPEC-
TANTIA EXPUCAT.

Quod autem "ex consensu ad tempus ora-
tioni vacat" conjugium, doctrina est continen-
tiae. Adjecit enim illud quidem, " ex consensu,"
ne quis dissolveret matrimonium ; " ad tempus
autem," '° ne, dum ex necessitate exercet conti-
nentiam is, qui uxorem duxerit, labatur in pecca-
tum, et dum suo conjugio parcit, alienum con-
cupiscat. Qua ratione eum, qui se indecore
gerere existimat, quod virginem alat, recte eam
dicit esse nuptum datumm. Vemm unusquisque,
tam is qui castitatem, delegit, quam is qui propter
liberorum procreationem seipsum conjunxit ma-
trimonio, in suo proposito firmiter debet perse-
verare, nee in deterius deflectere. Si enim vitae
suae institutum augere ac intendere poterit, ma-
jorem sibi apud Deum acquirit dignitatem, prop-
ter puram et ex ratione profectam continentiam.
Si autem eam, quam elegit, regulam superaverit,
in majorem deinde ad spem gloriam recidet.
Habet enim sicut castitas, ita etiam matrimonium
propria munera et ministeria, quae ad Dominum
pertinent, fiHomm, inquam, curam gerere et
uxoris. Quod enim honeste causatur is, qui est
in matrimonio perfectus, est conjugii necessi-
tudo, ut qui omnium curam ac providentiam in
domo communi ostenderit. Ac proinde " epis-
copos," inquit, oportet constitui, qui ex domo
propria toti quoque Ecclesiae praeesse sint medi-
tati. "Unusquisque" ergo, "in quo vocatus
est"" opere ministerium peragat, ut liber in
Christo fiat, et debitam ministerio suo mercedem

9 Rom. viii. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, lu, 13, 14, 15.
'° I Cor. vii. 5.
*' I Cor. vii. 24.

396

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IIL

accipiat. Kt rursiis de lege disserens, utens ;
allegoria : " Nam quae sub viro est mulier,"
inquit, " viventi viro alligata est lege," ' et quae
sequuntur. Et rursus : " Mulier est alligata,
quandiu vivit vir ejus ; sin autem mortuus fuerit,
libera est ut nubat, modo in Domino. Beata'
est autem si sic permanserit, mea quidem sen- 1
tentia." ^ Sed in priore quidem particula, " mor-
tificati estis," inquit, "legi," non matrimonio,
"ut efficiamini vos alteri, qui excitatus est ex
raortuis,"3 sponsa et Ecclesia; quam castam
esse oportet, et ab iis quae sunt intus, cogitationi-
bus, quae sunt contrariae veritati ; et ab iis, qui
tentant extrinsecus, hoc est ab iis, qui sectantur
haereses, et persuadent vobis fomicari ab uno
viro, nempe omnipotent! Deo : " Ne sicut ser-
pens decepit Evam," ^ quae " vita " dicitur, nos '
quoque inducti callidis haeresium illecebris, trans-
grediamur mandata. Secunda autem particula
statuit monogamiam : non enim, ut quidam
existimarunt, mulieris cum viro alligationem,
carnis cum corrupteli connexionem, significari
putandum est ; impiorum enim hominum, qui
matrimonii inventionem diabolo aperte tribuunt,
opinionem reprehendit, unde in periculum venit
legislator ne incessatur maledictis. Tatianum
arbitror Symm talia audere dogmata tradere.s
His verbis quidem certe scribit in libro De perfec-
tione secundum Servatorem : Consensum quidem
conjungit orationi : communio autem corrupte-
lae, interitus solvit interpellationem. Admodum
certe circumspecte arcet per concessionem.
Nam cum rursus permisit "simul convenire
propter Satanam et intemperantiam," ^ pronun-
tiavit eum, qui est obtemperaturus, " serviturum
duobus dominis:"7 per consensum quidem,
Deo ; per dissensionem autem, intemperantiae
et fomicationi et diabolo. Haec autem dicit,
Apostolum exponens. Sophistice autem eludit
veritatem, per verum, falsum confirmans : intem-
perantiam enim et fomicationem, diabolica vitia
et aifectiones nos quoque confitemur ; intercedit
autem moderati matrimonii consensio, quae turn
ad precationem continenter deducit, tum ad
procreandos liberos cum honestate conciliat.
" Cognitio " quidem certe a Scriptura dictum
est tempus liberorum procreation is, cum dixit :
^* Cognovit autem Adam Evam uxorem suam ; et
concepit, et peperit filium, et nominavit nomen
ejus Seth : Suscitavit enim mihi Deus aliud
semen pro Abel." ^ Vides, quemnam maledictis
mcessant, qui honestam ac moderatam inces-
sunt seminationem, et diabolo attribuunt gene-
rationem. Non enim simpliciter Deum dixit,

* Rom. VII. 2.

* 1 Cor. vii. 39, 40.
3 Rom. vii. 4.

* a Cor. xi. 3.

s [Elucidation XIII.]

* 1 Cor. vii. 5.
^ Matt. vi. 34.

* Gen. iv. 35.

qui articuli praemissione, nempe 6 0€O5 dicens,
significavit eum, qui est omnipotens. Quod ab
Apostolo autem. subjungitur : " Et rursus simul
convenite propter Satanam," 9 in eum finem
dicitur, ut occasionem toUat ad alias declinandi
cupiditates. Non enim penitus repellit natune
appetitiones, qui fit ad tempus, consensus : per
quem rursus inducit Apostolus conjugationem
matrimonii, non ad intemperantiam et fomica-
tionem et opus diaboli, sed ne subjugetur intem-
perantiae, fornicationi, et diabolo. Distinguit
autem veterem quoque hominem et novum
Tatianus, sed non ut dicimus, " Veterem " qui-
dem "virum," legem; "novum" autem, Evan-
gelium. Assentimur ei nos quoque, sed non eo
modo, quo vult ille, dissolvens legem ut alteri us
Dei : sed idem vir et Dominus, dum vetera
renovat, non amplius concedit polygamiam (nam
banc quidem expetebat Deus, quando oportebat
homines augeri et multiplicari), sed monogami-
am introducit propter liberomm procreationem
et domus curam, ad quam data est mulier adju-
trix : et si cui Apostolus propter intemperantiam
et ustionem, veniam secundi concedit matri-
monii ; nam hie quoque non peccat quidem ex
Testamento (non est enim a lege prohibitus),
non implet autem summam illam vitae perfec-
tionem, quae agitur ex Evangelio. Gloriani
autem sibi acquirit coelestem, qui apud se man-
serit, eam, quae est morte dissoluta, impoUutam
servans conjunctionem, et grato ac lubente animo
paret oeconomiae, per quam effectum est, ut
divelli non possit a Domini ministerio. Sed nee
eum, qui ex conjugali surgit cubili, similiter ut
olim, tingi nunc quoque jubet divina per Domi-
num providentia : non enim necessario a libe-
rorum abducit procreatione, qui credentes per
unum baptismum ad consuetudinem omni ex
parte perfectam abluit, Dominus, qui etiam multa
Moysis baptismata per unum comprehendit bap-
tismum. Proinde lex, ut per carnalem gene-
rationem nostram praediceret regenerationeni,
genitali seminis facultati baptismum olim adhi-
buit, non vero quod ab hominis generatione ab-
horreret. Quod enim apparet homo generatus.
hoc valet seminis dejectio. Non sunt ergo multi
coitus geni tales, sed matricis susceptio fatetur
generationem, cum in naturae officina semen
formatur in fetum. Quomodo autem vetus qui-
dem est solum matrimonium et legis inventum,
alienum autem est, quod est ex Domino, ma-
trimonium, cum idem Deus servetur a nobis?
"Non" enim "quod Deus conjunxit, homo"
jure " dissolvent ; " '° multo autem magis quae
jussit Pater, servabit quoque Filius. Si autem
idem simul est et legislator et evangelista, nun-
quam ipse secum pugnat. Vivit enim lex, cum
sit spiritalis, et gnostice intelligatur : nos autem

9 1 Cor. vii. 5.
'o Matt. xix. 6.

Chap. XJI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

397

" mortui " sumus " legi per corpus Christi, ut
gigneremur alteri, qui resurrrexit ex mortuis,"
qui praedictus fuit a lege, " ut Deo fructificare-
mus." ' Quare " lex quidem est sancta, et man-
datum sanctum, et justum, et bonum." ^ Mortui
ergo sumus legi, hoc est, peccato, (juod a lege
significatur, quod ostendit, non autem generat
lex, per jussionem eorum quae sunt facienda, et
prohibitionem eorum quae non facienda ; repre-
hendens subjectum peccatum, ** ut appareat pec-
catum." Si autem peccatum est matrimonium,
quod secundum legem initur, nescio quomodo
quis dicet se Deum nosse, dicens Dei jussum
esse peccatum. Quod si "lex sancta" est,
sanctum est matrimonium. Mysterium ergo hoc
ad Christum et Ecclesiam ducit Apostolus : que-
raadmodum "quod ex carne generatur, caro
est ; ita quod ex spiritu, spiritus," ^ non solum
in pariendo, sed etiam in discendo. Jam " sancti
sunt filii,"^ Deo gratae oblectationes verborum
Dominicorum, quae desponderunt animam. Sunt
ergo separata fornicatio et matrimonium, quo-
niam a Deo longe abest diabolus. " Et vos ergo
mortui estis legi per corpus Christi, ut vos gig-
neremini alteri, qui surrexit a mortuis." 5 Simul
autem proxime exauditur, si fueritis obedientes :
quamdoquidem etiam ex veritate legis eidem
Domino obedimus, qui praecipit eminus. Nun-
(juid autem de ejusmodi hominibus merito aperte
" dicit Spiritus, quod in posterioribus temporibus
deficient quidam a fide, attendentes spiritibus
erroris, et doctrinis daemoniorum, in hypocrisi
falsiloquorum, cauteriatam habentium conscien-
tiam, et prohibentium nubere, abstinere a cibis,
quos Deus creavit ad participationem cum gratia-
rum actione fidelibus, et qui agnoverunt verita-
tem, quod omnis creatura Dei bona est, et nihil
est rejiciendum quod sumitur cum gratiarum
actione. Sanctificatur enim per verbum Dei et
orationem ? " ^ Omnino igitur non est prohiben-
dum jungi matrimonio, neque camibus vesci, aut
vinum bibere. Scriptum est enim : " Bonum est
camem non comedere, nee vinum bibere, si quis
comedat per offendiculum." 7 Et : " Bonum est
manere sicut ego."^ Sed et qui utitur, "cum
gratiarum actione," 9 et qui rursus non utitur,
ipse quoque " cum gratiarum actione," et cum
moderata ac temperanti vivat perceptione, logo
seu rationi convenienter. Et, ut in summa dicam,
omnes Apostoli epistolae, quae moderationem
docent et continentiam, cum et de matrimonio,
et de liberorum procreatione, et de domus
administratione innumerabilia praecepta con-

* Rom. "vh. 4.

* Rom. vii. 12.
3 John iii. 6.

* I Cor. yii. 14.
' Rom. vii. 4.

6 X Tim. iv. x, 2, 3, 4, 5.

7 Rom. xiv. 21.

* 1 Cor. viL 8.
9 Rom. xiv. 19.

tineant, nusquam honestum moderatumque ma-
trimonium prohibuerunt aut abrogarunt : sed
legis cum Evangelio servantes convenientiam,
utrumque admittunt : et eum, qui deo agendo
gratias, moderate utitur matrimonio ; et eum,
qui, ut vult Dominus, vivit in castitate, quemad-
modum " vocatus est unusquisque " inoffense et
perfecte eligens. " Et erat terra Jacob laudata
supra omnem terram," '° inquit propheta, ipse vas
spiritus gloria afficiens. Insectatur autem aliqui.s
generationem, in eam dicens interitum cadere,
eamque perire : et detorquet aliquis ad filiorum
procreationem illud dictum Servatoris : " Non
oportere in terra thesauros recondere, ubi tinea
et aerugo demolitur ; " " nee erubescit his addere
ea, quae dicit propheta : " Omnes vos sicut vesti-
mentum veterascetis, et tinea vos exedet." "
Sed neque nos contradicimus Scripturae, neque
in nostra corpora cadere interitum, eaque esse
fluxa, negamus. Fortasse autem iis, quos ibi
alloquitur propheta, ut peccatoribus, praedicit
interitum. Servator autem de liberorum pro-
creatione nil dixit, sed ad impertiendum ac
communicandum eos hortatur, qui solum opibus
abundare, egentibus autem nolebant opem ferre.
Quamobrem dicit : " Operamini non cibum, qui
perit ; sed eum, qui manet in vitam aeternam." *3
Similiter autem afferunt etiam illud dictum de
resurrectione mortuorum : " Filii illius saeculi
nee nubunt, nee nubuntur." '-♦ Sed banc inter-
rogationem et eos qui interrogant, si quis con-
sideraverit, inveniet Dominum non reprobare
matrimonium, sed remedium afferre exspecta-
tioni camalis cupiditatis in resurrectione. Illud
autem, " filiis hujus saeculi," ^^ non dixit ad distinc-
tionem alicujus alius saeculi, sed perinde ac si
diceret : Qui in hoc nati sunt saeculo, cum per
generationem sint filii, et gignunt et gignuntur ;
quoniam non absque generatione banc quis vitam
praetergreditur : sed haec generatio, quae similem
suscipit interitum, non amplius competit ei qui
ab hac vita est separatus. " Unus est ergo Pater
noster, qui est in coelis : " '^ sed is ipse quoque
Pater est omnium per creationem. " Ne voca-
veritis ergo, inquit, vobis patrem super terram." '7
Quasi diceret : Ne existimetis eum, qui camali
vos sevit satu, auctorem et causam vestrae essen-
tiae, sed adjuvantem causam generationis, vel
ministrum potius. Sic ergo nos rursus conversos
vult effici ut pueros, eum, qui vere Pater est,
agnoscentes, regeneratos per aquam, cum haec
sit alia satio in creatione. At, inquit, " Qui est
caelebs, curat quae sunt Domini ; qui autem duxit
uxorem, quomodo placebit uxori." Quid vero?

^° Sophon. iii. 19.
" Matt. vi. 19.
" Isa. I. 9.

*3 John VI, 27.
'♦ Luke XX. 35.
*5 Luke XX. 34.
ift Matt, xxiii. 9.
'7 Matt, xxiii. 9.

398

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Hook III.

annon licet etiam eis, (lui secundum Deum
placent uxori, Deo gratias agere? Annon per-
mittitur etiam ei, qui uxorem duxit, una cum
conjugio etiam esse soUicitum de iis quae sunt
Domini ?• Sed quemadmodum " quae non nup-
sit, sollicita est de iis, quae sunt Domini, ut sit
sancta corpore et spiritu : " » ita etiam quae nup-
sit, et de iis, quae sunt mariti, et de iis, quae sunt
Domini, est in Domino sollicita, ut sit sancta et
corpore et spiritu. Ambae enim sunt sanctae
in Domino : hiec quidem ut uxor, ilia vero ut
virgo. Ad eos autem pudore afficiendos et
reprimendos, qui sunt proclives ad secundas
nuptias, apte Apostolus alto quodam tono elo-
quitur ; inquit enim : " Ecce, omne peccatum
est extra corpus ; qui autem fomicatur, in pro-
prium corpus peccat.** ^ Si quis autem matrimo-
nium audet dicere fornicationem, rursus, legem
et Dominum insectans, maledictis impetit.
Quemadmodum enim avaritia et plura habendi
cupiditas dicitur fomicatio, ut quae adversetur
^ufficientiae : et ut idololatria est ab uno in mul-
tos Dei distributio, ita fomicatio est ab uno
matrimonio ad plura prolapsio. Tribus enim
modis, ut diximus, fomicatio et adulterium sumi-
tur apud Apostolum. De his dicit propheta :
" Peccatis vestris venundati estis." Et rursus :
" Pollutus es in terra aliena : " 3 conjunctionera
sceleratam existimans, quae cum alieno corpore
facta est, et non cum eo, quod datur in conjugio,
ad liberomm procreationem, Unde etiam Apos-
tolus : " Volo, inquit, juniores nubere, filios pro-
creare, domui praeesse, nullam dare occasionem
adversario maledicti gratia. Jam enim quaedara
diverterunt post Satanam.*** Quin et unius
quoque uxoris virum utique admittit ; seu sit
presbyter, seu diaconus, seu laicus, utens matri-
monio citra reprehensionem : " Servabitur autem
per filiorum procreationem." s Et rursus Serv-a-
tor dicens Judaeos " generationem pravam et
adulteram," docet eos legem non cognovisse, ut
lex vult : " sed seniomm traditionem, et homi-
num praecepta sequentes," adulterare legem,
perinde ac si non esset data vir et dominus
eomm virginitatis. Fortasse autem eos quoque
innuit esse alienis mancipatos cupiditatibus, prop-
ter quas assidue quocjue servientes peccatis,
vendebantur alienigenis. Nam apud Judaeos
non erant admissae communes mulieres : verum
prohibitum erat adulterium. Qui autem dicit :
"Uxorem duxi, non possum venire,"^ ad divi-
nam ccenam, est quidem exemplum ab eos argu-
endos, qui propter voluptates abscedunt a divino
mandato : alioquin nee qui justi fuere ante ad-
•ventum, nee qui post adventum uxores duxerunt,

» I Cor. VII. 32, 33, 34.

* I Cor. vi. 18.
3 Isa. 1. I.

* X Tim. y, 14, 15.

* I Tim. ii. 15.
6 Luke xiv. 20.

servabuntur, etiamsi sint apostoli. Quod si tlhid
attulerint, quod propheta quoque dicit : " Invete-
ravi inter omnes inimicos meos," ^ per inimicos
peccata intelligant. Unum quoddara autem est
peccatum, non matrimonium, sed fomicatio :
alioqui generationem quoque dicunt peccatum,
et creatorem generationis.

CAPUT XIII. — JULII CASSUNI H/ERETia VERBIS RE-
SPONDEl* ; FTEM LOCO QUEM EX EVANGEUO APO-
CRYPHO IDEM ADDUXERAT.

Talibus argumentis utitur quoque Julius Cassi-
anus,'* qui fuit princeps sectae Docetarum. In
opere certe Z>e continentiay vel De castitate^ his
verbis dicit : " Nee dicat aliquis, quod quoniani
talia habemus membra, ut aliter figurata sit
femina, aliter vero ma.sculus : ilia quidem ad
suscipiendum, hie vero ad seminandum, con-
cessam esse a Deo consuetudinem. Si enim a
Deo, ad quem tendimus, esset haec constitutio,
non beatos dixisset esse eunuchos ; neque pro-
pheta dixisset, eos * non esse arborem infmgife-
ram ; ^ transferens ab arbore ad hominem, qui
sua sponte et ex instituto se castrat tali cogita-
tione." Et pro impia opinione adhuc decertans,
subjungit: "Quomodo autem non jure quis
reprehenderit Servatorem, si nos transformavit,
et ab errore liberavit, et a conjunctione mem-
bromm, et additamentorum, et pudendomm ? "
in hoc eadem decemens cum Tatiano : hie autem
prodiit ex sehola Valentini. Propterea dicit
Cassianus : " Cum interrogaret Salome, quando
cognoscentur, ea, de quibus interrogabat, ait
Dominus : Quando pudoris indumentum eoncul-
caveritis, et quando duo facta fuerint unum, et
masculum cum femina, nee masculum nee femi-
neum." Primum quidem, in nobis traditis qua-
tuor Evangeliis non habemus hoe dictum, sed in
eo, quod est secundum -^gyptios. Deinde mihi
videtur ignorare, iram quidem, maseulam appe-
titionem ; feminam vero, significare cupiditatem :
quomm operationem pcenitentia et pudor con-
sequuntur. Cum quis ergo neque irae neque
cupiditati obsequens, quae quidem et eonsuetu-
dine et mala educatione auctae, obumbrant et
contegunt rationem, sed quae ex iis proficiscitur
exuens caliginem, et pudore affectus ex pceni-
tentia, spiritum et animam unierit in obedientia
Logi seu rationis ; tunc, ut ait Paulus, ** non
inest in nobis nee masculus, nee femina."
Recedens enim anima ab ea figura, qua dis-
cemitur masculus et femina, traducitur ad unio-
nem, cum ea nutmm sit. Existimat autem hie
vir praeclarus plus, quam par sit, Platoniee, ani-
mam, cum sit ab initio divina, eupiditate effemi-
natam, hue venire ad generationem et interitum.

7 Ps. vi. 8.

« [Elucidation XIV.]

9 isa. Ivi. 3.

Chap. XV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

399

<:aput XIV. — 2 COR. XI. 3, et eph. IV. 24,

EXPONn\

Jam vero vel invitum cogit Paulum genera-
tionem ex deceptione deducere, cum dicit :
** Vereor autem, ne sicut serpens Evam decepit,
comipti sint sensus vestri a simplicitate, quae est
in Christo." ' Sed certum est, Dominum quoque
** venisse " ad ea, " quae aberraverant." ' Aber-
ravemnt autem, non ab alto repetita origine in
cam, cjuae hie est, generationem (est enim ge-
ne ratio creatura Omnipotentis, qui nunquam ex
melioribus ad deteriora deduxerit animam) ; sed
ad eos, qui sensibus seu cogitationibus aberra-
verant, ad nos, inquam, venit Servator : qui quidem
ex nostra in praeceptis inobedientia comipti sunt,
dum nimis avide voluptatem persequeremur ;
cum utique protoplastus nostep tempus praeve-
nisset, et ante debitum tempus matrimonii gratiam
appetiisset et aberrasset : quoniam " quicunque
aspicit mulierem ad concupiscendum earn, jam
mcjechatus est eam," ^ ut qui voluntatis tempus
non exspectaverit. Is ipse ergo erat Dominus,
(jui tunc quoque damnabat cupiditatem, quae
pnevenit matrimonium. Cum ergo dicit Aposto-
lus : " Induite novum hominem, qui secundum
Deum creatur,"^ nobis dicit, qui ab Omnipo-
tentis voluntate efficti sumus, sicut sumus efficti.
** Veterem " autem dixit, non rescipiens ad ge-
nerationem et regenerationem, sed ad vitam ino-
bedientiae et obedientiae. " Pelliceas " autem
'* tunicas "5 existimat Cassianus esse corpora : in
quo postea et eum, et qui idem cum eo sentiunt,
aberrasse ostendemus, cum de ortu hominis, iis
consequenter, quae prius dicenda sunt, aggredie-
mur expositionem. " Quoniam, inquit, qui a
terrenis reguntur, et generant, et generantur :
Nostra autem conversatio est in ccsloy ex quo
^tiam Salvatorem exspectamus,'* ^ Recte ergo
nos haec quoque dicta esse scimus, quoniam ut
hospites et advenae peregrinantes debemus vitam
instituere ; i\\\\ uxorem habent, ut non habentes ;
(|ui possident, ut non possidentes ; qui liberos
procreant, ut mortales gignentes, ut relicturi pos-
sessiones, ut etiam sine uxore victuri, si opus sit ;
non cum immodico actione, et animo excelso.

CAPUT XV. I COR. VII. i; LUC. XIV. 26; ISA.

LVI. 2, 3, EXPLICAT.

Et nirsus cum dicit : " Bonum est homini
uxorem non tangere, sed propter fomicationes
imusquisque suam uxorem habeat ; " 7 id ve-
luti exponens, rursus dicit : " Ne vos tentet Sa-
tanas." ^ Non enim iis, qui continenter utuntur
matrimonio propter solam liberorum procrea-

* 2 Cor. xi. ^.

* Matt, xviii. ii, la.
3 Matt. V. 38.

* Eph. iv 24.
s Gen. iii. 21.

* Phil. iii. 20.

' I Cor. vii. 1, 2.
■ X Cor. vii. 5.

tionem, dicit, " propter intemperantiam ; " sed
iis, qui finem liberorum procreationis cupiunt
; transilire : ne, cum nimium annuerit noster adver-
I sarins, excitet appetitionem ad alienas voluptates.
Fortasse autem quoniam iis, qui juste vivunt,
resistit propter aemulationem, et sidversus eos
contendit, volens eos ad suos ordines traducere,
per laboriosam continentiam eis vult praebere
occasionem. Merito ergo dicit : " Melius est
matrimonio jungi quam uri," ^ ut " vir reddat
debitum uxori, et uxor viro, et ne frustrentur
invicem " '° hoc divino ad generationem dato
auxilio. " Qui autem, inquiunt, non oderit pa-
trem, vel matrem, vel uxorem, vel filios, non
potest meus esse discipulus." " Non jubet odisse
proprium genus : " Honora " enim, inquit, " pa-
trem et matrem, ut tibi bene sit : " '* sed ne abdu-
caris, inquit, per appetitiones a ratione alienas,
sed neque civilibus moribus conformis fias. Do-
mus enim constat ex genere, civitates autem ex
domibus ; quemadmodum Paulus quoque eos,
qui occupantur in matrimonio, "mundo dixit
placere." *^ Rursus dicit Dominus : " Qui uxorem
duxit, ne expellat ; et qui non duxit, ne ducat ; " **
qui ex proposito castitatis professus est uxorem
non ducere maneat caelebs. Utri.sque ergo idem
Dominus per prophetam Isaiam convenientes dat
promissiones sic dicens : " Ne dicat eunuchus :
Sum lignum aridum ; " haec enim dicit Dominus
eunuchis : " Si custodieritis sabbata mea, et fe-
ceritis quaecunque praecipio, dabo vobis locum
meliorem filiis et filiabus." '5 Non sola enim
justificat castitas, sed nee sabbatum eunuchi, nisi
fecerit mandata. Infert autem iis, qui uxorem
duxerunt, et dicit : " Electi mei non laborabunt
in vanum, neque procreabunt filios in exsecra-
tionem, quia semen est benedittum a Domino." »^
Ei enim, qui secundum Logon filios procreavit
et educavit, et erudivit in Domino, sicut etiam
ei, qui genuit per veram catechesim et institu-
tionem, merces quaedam est proposita, sicut etiam
electo semini. Alii autem " exsecrationem " ac-
cipiunt esse ipsam liberorum procreationem, et
non intelligunt adversus illos ipsos ea dicere
Scripturam. Qui enim sunt revera electi Domini,
non dogmata decemunt, nee filios progignunt,
qui sunt ad exsecrationem, et haereses. Eunu-
chus ergo, non qui per vim excisas habet partes,
sed nee qui caelebs est, dictus est, sed qui non
gignit veritatem. Lignum hie prius erat aridum ;
si autem Logo obedierit, et sabbata custodieri,
per abstinentiam a peccatis, et fecerit mandata
erit honorabilior iis, qui absque recta vitae insti-
tutione solo sermone erudiuntur. " Filioli, modi-

9 1 Cor. vii. 9.

*o I Cor. vii. 3, 5.

" Luke xiv. 26.

" Ex. XX. 12.

" X Cor. vii. 33.

'* 1 Cor. vii. 10, IX.

«s Isa. Ivi. 3,4.5-

>^ Isa. Ixv. 23.

400

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book III.

cum adhuc sum vobiscum," ' inquit Magister.
Quare Paulus quoque scribens ad Galatas, dicit :
*' Filioli mei, quos ilerum parturio, donee for-
metur in vobis Christus." ^ Rursus ad Corinthios
scribens : " Si enim decies mille paedagogos," '
inquit, " habeatis in Christo, seel non multos
palres. In Christo enim per Evangelium ego
vosgenui."3 Propterea "non ingrediatur eunu- ,
chus in Ecclesiam Dei," ^ qui est sterilis, et non '
fert fructum, nee vitae institutione, nee sermone.
Sed " qui se " quidem " castrarunt " ab omni
peeeato " propter regnum eoelonim," 5 ii sunt
beati, qui a mundo jejunant.

CAPUT XVI. — JER. XX. I4 ; JOB XIV. 3; PS. L.
5 ; I COR. IX. 27, EXPONIT.

" Exsecranda " autem " dies in qua natus sum,
et ut non sit optanda," ^ inquit Jeremias : non
absolute exsecrandam dicens generationem, sed
populi peceata segre ferens et inobedientiam.
Subjungit itaque : " Cur enim natus sum ut
viderem labores et dolores, et in perpetuo pro-
bro fuerunt dies mei?"^ Quin etiam omnes,
qui praedicabant veritatem, propter eorum, qui
audiebant, inobedientiam, quaerebantur ad poe-
nam, et veniebant in perieulum. "Cur enim
non fuit uterus matris meae sepulcrum, ne vi-
derem afflietionem Jacob et laborem generis
Israel ? " ^ ait Esdras propheta, " NuUus est a
sorde mundus,'* ait Job, "nee si sit quidem
una dies vita ejus.**^ Dicant ergo nobis, ubi
fomieatus est infans natus? vel quomodo sub
Adae cecidit exsecrationem, qui nihil est opera-
tus? Restat ergo eis, ut videtur, consequen-
ter, ut dicant malam esse generationem, non
solum corporis, sed etiam animae, per quam
exsistit corpus. Et quando dixit David : " In
peccatis conceptus sum, et in iniquitatibus
coneepit me mater mea : " '° dicit prophetiee
quidem matrem Evam; sed Eva quidem fuit
" mater viventium ; " et si is "in peccatis fuit
conceptus," at non ipse in peeeato, neque vero
ipse peecatum. Utrum vero quicunque etiam
a peeeato ad fidem eonvertitur, a peecandi con-
suetudine tanquam a " matre " converti dieatur
ad "vitam," feret mihi testimonium unus ex
duodeeim prophetis, qui dixit : "Si dedero
primogenita pro impietate fructum ventris mei,
pro peccatis animae meae." ** Non aceusat eum,
qui dixit : " Crescite et multiplieamini : " " sed
primos post generationem motus, quorum tem-

* John xiii. 33.

* Gal. iv. 19.

3 1 Cor iv. 15.

* Deut. xxiii. z.
5 Matt. xix. 12.

* Jcr. XX. 14.
7 Jcr. XX. x8.

* 4 ^r- ^- 35.

9 Job XIV. 4, 5.
w Ps. I. 7.
" Mic. vi. 7.

«2 Gen.

VI. 7.

i. 28.

pore Deum non eognoseimus, dicit " impie-
tates." Si quis autem ea ratione dicit malam
generationem, idem eam dicat bonam, quate-
nus in ipso veritatem eognoseimus. " Ablu-
amini juste, et ne peccetis. Ignorationem enim
Dei quidam habent," '^ videlicet qui peccant.
" Quoniam nobis est eoUuclatio non ad versus
earnem et sanguinem, sed adversus spiritalia." '^
Potentes autem sunt ad tentandum " principes
tenebrarum hujus mundi," et ideo datur venia.
Et ideo Paulus quoque : " Corpus meum," in-
quit, " castigo, et in servitutem redigo ; quoniam
qui certat, omnia continet," hoe est, in omni-
bus continet, non ab omnibus abstinens, sed
continenter utens iis, quae utenda judieavit, " illi
quidem ut comiptibilem coronam accipiant;
nos autem ut incorruptibilem," 's in lucta vin-
centes, non autem sine pulvere coronam aceipi-
entes. Jam nonnulli quoque praeferunt viduam
virgini, ut quae, quam experta est, voluptatem
magno animo eontempserit.

CAPUT XVII. QUI NUPTLAS ET GENERATIONEM MA-
LAS ASSERUNT, II ET DEI CREATIONEM ET IPS.\M
EVANGELII DISPENSATIONEM VFTUPERANT.

Sin autem malum est generatio, in male blas-
phemi dicant fuisse Dominum qui fuit parti-
ceps generationis, in malo Virginem quae genuit.
Hei mihi ! quot et quanta mala ! Dei volunta-
tem maledictis ineessunt, et mysterium erea-
tionis, dum invehuntur in generationem. Et
hine " Docesin " fingit Cassianus ; hinc etiam
Mareioni, et Valentino quoque est corpus ani-
male ; quoniam homo, inquiunt, operam dans
veneri, " assimilatus est jumentis." '^ Atqui pro-
feeto, eum libidine vere insaniens, aliena inire
voluerit, tune revera, qui talis est, efferatur:
" Equi in feminas furentes facti sunt, unusquis-
que hinniebat ad uxorem proximi sui." '^ Quod
si dicat serpentem, a brutis animantibus aceepta
eonsilii sui ratione, Adamo persuasisse ut cum
Eva coire eonsentiret, tanquam alioqui, ut qui-
dam existimant, protoplasti hac natura usuri non
fuissent : rursus vituperatur ereatio, ut quae rati-
onis expertium animantium natura homines
fecerit imbecilliores, quorum exempla eonsecuti
sunt, qui a Deo primi formati fuere. Sin autem
natura quidem eos sicut bruta deduxit ad filio-
rum proereationem ; moti autem sunt eitius
quam oportuit, fraude indueti, eum adhue es.sent
juvenes ; justum quidem est Dei judicium in eos
qui non exspectarunt ejus voluntatem : sancta
est autem generatio, per quam mundus con-
sistit, per quam essentiae, per quam naturae, per
quam angeli, per quam potestates, per quam

>3 X Cor. XV. 34. Qement reads here iicvt^far*, *' wash," in-
stead of cKf^^are, *' awake."
** Eph. vi. 12.
*5 1 Cor. ix. 27, 25,
"6 Ps. xlviii. 13, 21.
" Jer. V. 8.

Chap. XVIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

401

animae, per quam praecepta, per quam lex, per
quam Evangelium, per quam Dei cognitio. " Et
omnis caro fenum, et omnis gloria ejus quasi flos
feni ; et fenum quidem exsiccatur, flos autem de-
cidit, sed verbum Domini manet," * quod unxit
animam et uniit spiritui. Quomodo autem, quae
est in Ecclesia nostra,* ceconomia ad finem per-
duci potuisset absque corpore, cum etiam ipse,
qui est caput Ecclesiae, in came quidem infor-
mis et specie carens vitam transiit, ut doceret
nos respicere ad naturam divinae causae infor-
mem et incorpoream? "Arbor enim vitae,"
inquit propheta, " est in bono desiderio," ^ do-
cens bona et munda desideria, quae sunt in
Domino vivente. Jam vero volunt viri cum
uxore in matrimonio consuetudinem, quae dicta
est " cognitio," esse peccatum : eam quippe
indicari ex esu "ligni boni et mali,"* per sig-
nificationem hujus vocabuli " cognovit," s quae
mandati transgressionem notat. Si autem hoc
ita est, veritatis quoque cognitio, est esus ligni
vitae. Potest ergo honestum ac moderatum
matrimonium illius quoque ligni esse particeps.
Nobis autem prius dictum est, quod licet bene
et male uti matrimonio; et hoc est lignum
" cognitionis," si non transgrediamur leges ma-
trimonii. Quid vero? annon Servator noster,
sicut animam, ita etiam corpus curavit ab af-
fectionibus? Neque vero si esset caro inimica
animae, inimicam per sanitatis restitutionem ad-
versus ipsam muniisset. " Hoc autem dico, fra-
tres, quod caro et sanguis regnum Dei non
possunt possidere, neque corruptio possidet in-
corruptionem." ^ Peccatun enim, cum sit " cor-
ruptio," non potest habere societatem cum
incorruptione," quae est justitia. " Adeo stulti,"
inquit, "estis? cum spiritu coeperitis, nunc
came consummamini." '

CAPUT XVin. — DUAS EXTREMAS OPINIONES ESSE
VITANDAS: PRIMAM ILLORUM QUI CREATORIS
ODIO A NUPTHS ABSTINENT; ALTERAM ILLORUM
QUI HINC OCCASIONEM ARRIPIUNT NEFARIIS LI-
BIDINIBUS INDULGENDI.

Justitiam ergo et salutis harmoniam, quae est
veneranda firmaque, alii quidem, ut ostendimus,
nimium intenderunt, blaspheme ac maledice cum
quavis impietate suscipientes continentiam ; cum
pie liceret castitatem, quae secundum sanam reg-
ulam instituitur, eligere ; gratias quidem agendo
propter datam ipsis gratiam, non habendo autem
odio creaturam, neque eos aspemando, qui junc-
ti sunt matrimonio ; est enim creatus mundus,
creata est etiam castitas ; ambo autem agant

> Isa. xl. 6, 7, 8.

2 [Elucidation XV.]

3 Prov. xiii. la.
^ Gen. iii. 5.

5 Gen. iv. x.
^ X Cor. XV. 50.
7 Gal. iii. 3.

gratias in iis, in quibus sunt coUocati, si modo
ea quoque norunt, in quibus sunt coUocati. Alii
autem effrenati se petulanter et insolenter gesse-
runt, revera " effecti equi in feminas insanientes,
et ad proximorum suorum uxores hinnientes ; " ^
ut qui et ipsi contineri non possint, et proximis
suis persuadeant ut dent operam voluptati ; in-
feliciter illa^ audientes Scripturas : " Quae tibi
obtigit, partem pone nobiscum, crumenam autem
unam possideamus communem, et unum fiat no-
bis marsupium."9 Propter eos idem propheta
dicit, nobis consulens : " Ne ambulaveris in via
cum ipsisy declina pedem tuum a semitis eorum.
Non enim injuste tenduntur retia pennatis. Ipsi
enim, cum sint sanguinum participes, thesauros
malorum sibi recondunt ; " '° hoc est, sibi affec-
tantes immunditiam, et proximos similia do-
centes, bellatores, percussores caudis suis," ait
propheta, quas quidem Graeci KtpKov^ appellant.
Fuerint autem ii, quos significat prophetia, libi-
dinosi intemperantes, qui sunt caudis suis pug-
naces, tenebrarum " iraeque filii," '* caede polluti,
manus sibi afferentes, et homicidae propinquo-
rum. "Expurgate ergo vetus fermentum, ut
sitis novo conspersio," *3 nobis exclamat Aposto-
lus. Et rursus, propter quosdam ejusmodi ho-
mines indignans, praecipit, " Ne conversari qui-
dem, si quis frater nominetur vel fornicator, vel
avarus, vel idololatra, vel maledicus, vel ebriosus,
vel raptor ; cum eo, qui est talis, ne una quidem
comedere. Ego enim per legem legi mortuus
sum," inquit ; " ut Deo vivam, cum Christo sum
crucifixus; vivo autem non amplius ego," ut
vivebam per cupiditates; "vivit autem in me
Christus," caste et beate per obedientiam prae-
ceptorum. Quare tunc quidem in carne vivebam
carnaliter : " quod autem nunc vivo in came, in
fide vivo Filii Dei." '^ — "Inviam gentium ne
abieritis, et ne ingrediamini in urbem Samarita-
norum," 's a contraria vitae institutione nos de-
hortans dicit Dominus ; quoniam " Iniquorum
virorum mala est conversatio ; et hae sunt viae
omnium, qui ea, quae sunt iniqua, efficiunt." *^ —
"Vae homini illi," inquit Dominus; "bonum
esset ei, si non natus esset, quam ut unum ex
electis meis scandalizaret.*^ Melius esset, ut ei
mola circumponeretur, et in mari demergeretur,
quam ut unum ex meis perverteret.'^ Nomen
enim Dei blasphematur propter ipsos." '^ Unde
praeclare Apostolus : " Scripsi," inquit, " vobis in
epistola, non conversari cum fomicatoribus," ^^

« Jer. V. 8.

9 Prov. i. 14.
»o Prov. i. 15, 16, 17.
'* Apoc. ix. 10.
«2 Eph. ii. 3.
*3 I Cor. V. 7.
14 Gal. ii. 19, ao.
»5 Matt. X. 5.
'* Prov. i. 18, 19.
17 Matt. xxvi. 24.
I' Matt, xviii. 6 seqq.
'9 Rom. ii. 34.
20 I Cor. V. XI.

402

ELUCIDATIONS.

usque ad illud : " Corpus autem non fomicationi, i
sed Domino, et Dominus corpori." ' Et quod
matrimonium non dicat fomicationem, ostendit
eo, quod subjungit : " An nescitis, quod qui ad-
haeret meretrici, unum est corpus? " * An mere-
tricem quis dicet virginem, priusquam nubat?
" Et ne fraudetis,*' inquit, " vos invicem, nisi ex
consensu ad tempus : " ^ per dictionem, " frau-
detis," ostendens matrimonii debitum esse libero-
rum procreationem : quod quidem in iis, quae
praecedunt, ostendit, dicens : " Mulieri vir debi-
tum reddat; similiter autem mulier quoque
viro -y"^ post quam exsolutionem, in domo cus-
todienda, et in ea quae est in Christo fide, adju-
trix est. Et adhuc apertius, dicens : " lis, qui
sunt juncti matrimonio, praecipio, inquit, non ego,
sed Dominus, uxorem a viro non separari ; sin
autem separata fuerit, maneat innupta, vel viro
reconcilietur ; et virum uxorem non dimittere.
Reliquis autem dico ego, non Dominus : Si quis
frater," 5 usque ad illud : " Nunc autem sancta
est." ^ Quid autem ad haec dicunt, qui in legem
invehuntur, et in matrimonium, quasi sit solum a
lege concessum, non autem etiam in Novo Tes-
tamento? Quid ad has leges latas possunt di-
cere, qui sationem abhorrent et generationem ?
cum "episcopum" quoque, "qui domui recte
praesit,"7 Ecclesiae ducem constituat; domum
autem Dominicam " unius mulieris " constituat
conjugium.*^ " Omnia " ergo dicit esse " munda
mundis; pollutis autem et infidelibus nihil est
mundum, sed polluta est eorum et mens, et con-
scientia."9 De ea autem voluptate, quae est

* I Cor. vi. X3.

* I Cor. vi. 16.
3 z Cor. vii. 5.

* 1 Cor. vii. 3.

s X Cor. vii. 10, 11, 12.

* X Cor. vii. 14.

7 X Tim. iii. 2, 4: Tit. i. 6.
» fElucidation XVI.]
9 Til. i. 15.

praeter regulam : " Ne erretis," inquit ; ** nee
fomicatores, nee idololatrae, nee adulteri, nee
molles, nee masculorum concubitores, neque
avari, neque fures, neque ebriosi, neque male-
dici, nee raptores, regnum Dei possidebunt ; et
nos quidem abluti sumus," *° qui in his eramus ;
qui autem in banc tingunt intemperantiam, ex
temperantia in fomicationem baptizant, volupta-
tibus et affectibus esse indulgendum decementes,
incontinentes ex moderatis fieri docentes, et in
spe sua membrorum suorum impudentiae aflSxi ;
ut a regno Dei abdicentur, non autem ut inscri-
bantur, qui ad eos ventitant, efficientes ; sub false
nominatae cognitionis titulo, eam, quae ad exte-
riores ducit tenebras, viam ingredientes. " Quod
reliquum est, fratres, quaecunquevera, quaecunque
honesta, quaecunque justa, quaecunque casta,
quaecunque amabilia, quaecunque bonae famae ;
si qua virtus, et si qua laus, ea considerate ; quae
et didicistis ; quae etiam accepistis et audiistis et
vidistis in me, ea facite ; et Deus pacis erit vo-
biscum." " Et-Petrus similia dicit in Epistola :
" Ut fides vestra et spes sit in Deum, cum animas
vestras castas effeceritis inobedientia veritatis ; " "
quasi filii obedientiae, non configurati prioribus
desideriis, quae fiierunt in ignorantia ; sed secun-
dum eum, qui vocavit vos, sanctum, et ipsi sanc-
ti sitis in omni conversatione. Quoniam scrip-
tum est : " Sancti eritis, quoniam ego sanctus
sum." '3 Verumtamen quae adversus eos, qui
cognitionem falso nomine simulant, necessario
suscepta est a nobis disputatio, nos longius, quam
par sit, abduxit, et orationem effecit prolixiorem.
Unde tertius quoque liber Stromateus eorum,
quae sunt de vera philosophia, commentariorum,
hunc finem habeat.

" z Cor. vi. 9, 10, XI.
" Phil. iv. 8, 9.
" z Pet. i. 2x, 22.
*^ X Pet. i. 14, Z5, x6.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(See p. 381, cap. i.)

In his third book, Clement exposes the Basilidians and others who perverted the rule of our
Lord, which permissively, but not as of obligation, called some to the self-regimen of a single life,
on condition of their possessing the singular gift requisite to the same. True continence, he
argues, implies the command of the tongue, and all manner of concupiscence, such as greed of
wealth, or luxury in using it. If, by a divine faculty and gift of grace, it enables us to practise
temperance, very well ; but more is necessary. As to marriage, he states what seems to him to be
the truth. We honour celibate chastity, and esteem them blest to whom this is God's gift. We

ELUCIDATIONS. 403

also admire a single marriage, and the dignity which pertains to one marriage only ; admitting,
nevertheless, that we ought to compassionate others, and to bear one another's burdens, lest any one,
when he thinks he stands, should himself also fall. The apostle enjoins, with respect to a second
marriage, " If thou art tempted by concupiscence, resort to a lawful wedlock."

Our author then proceeds to a castigation of Carpocrates, and his son Epiphanes, an Alexan-
drian on his father's side, who, though he lived but seventeen years, his mother being a Cephal-
lenian, received divine honours at Sama, where a magnificent temple, with altars and shrines, was
erected to him ; the Cephallenians celebrating his apotheosis, by a new-moon festival, with sacri-
fices, libations and hymns, and convivialities. This youth acquired, from his father, a knowledge
of Plato's philosophy and of the circle of the sciences. He was the author of the jargon about
monads,' of which see Irenaeus ; and from him comes the heresy of those subsequently known as
Carpocratians. He left a book, De Justitia, in which he contends for what he represents as Plato's
idea of a community of women in sexual relations. Jusdy does our author reckon him a de-
stroyer alike of law and Gospel, unworthy even of being classed with decent heretics ; and he
attributes to his followers all those abominations which had been charged upon the Christians.
This illustrates the terrible necessity, which then existed, of drawing a flaming line of demarcation
between the Church, and the wolves in sheeps' clothing, who thus dishonoured the name of
Christ, by associating such works of the devil with the adoption of a nominal discipleship. It
should be mentioned that Mosheim questions the story of Epiphanes. (See his Hist of the First
Three Centuries, vol. i. p. 448.)

II.

(See p. 383, cap. ii. note i.)

ITie early disappearance of the Christian agapcB may probably be attributed to the terrible
abuse of the word here referred to, by the licentious Carpocratians. The genuine agapcB were of
apostolic origin (2 Pet. ii. 13 ; Jude 12), but were often abused by hypocrites, even under the
apostolic eye (i Cor. xi. 21). In the Gallican Church, a survival or relic of these feasts of
charity is seen in the pain beni ; and, in the Greek churches, in the di^iS<i>pov, or eulogice dis-
tributed to non-communicants at the close of the Eucharist, from the loaf out of which the bread
of oblation is supposed to have been cut.

III.

(See p. 383, note 3.)

Next, he treats of the Marcionites, who rejected marriage on the ground that the material crea-
tion is in itself evil. Promising elsewhere to deal with this general false principle, he refutes
Marcion, and with him the Greeks who have condemned the generative law of nature, specifying
Heraclitus, Empedocles, the Sibyl, Homer, and others ; but he defends Plato against Marcion, who
represents him as teaching the depravity of matter. He proceeds to what the dramatists have
exhibited of human misery. He shows the error of those who represent the Pythagoreans as on
that account denying themselves the intimacies of conjugal society ; for he says they practised this
restraint, only after having given themselves a family. He explains the prohibition of the bean,
by Pythagoras, on the very ground, that it occasioned sterility in women according to Theophras-
tus. Clement expounds the true meaning of Christ's words, perverted by those who abstained
from marriage not in honour of encraty, but as an insane impeachment of the divine wisdom in
the material creation.

* Sec vol. L p. 333, note 4, thi$ series.

404 ELUCIDATIONS.

IV.

(See p. 385, note 3.)

He refutes the Carpocratians, also, in their slanders against the deacon Nicolas, showing that
the Nicolaitans had abused his name and words. Likewise, concerning Matthias, he exposes a
similar abuse. He castigates one who seduced a maiden into impurity by an absurd perversion
of Scripture, and thoroughly exposes this blasphemous abuse of the apostolic text. He subjoins
another refutation of one of those heretics, and allows that some might adopt the opinion of his
dupes, if, as the Valentinians would profess, only spiritual communion were concerned.

Seeing, however, that these heretics, and the followers of Prodicus, who wrongfully call them-
selves gnostics y claimed a practical indulgence in all manner of disgusting profligacies, he convicts
them by arguments derived from right reason and from the Scriptures, and by human laws as well.
Further, he exposes the folly of those who pretended that the less honourable parts of man are not
the work of the Creator, and overwhelms their presumption by abundant argument, exploding, at
the same time, their corruptions of the sacred text of the Scriptures.

(See p. 388, note 3.)

To relieve himself of a more particular struggle with each individual heresy, he proceeds to
reduce them under two heads : (i) Those who teach a reckless mode of life (<18(a<^f>co9 £5*')> ^"^^
(2) those who impiously affect continence. To the first, he opposes the plain propriety and duty
of a decorous way of living continently ; showing, that as it cannot be denied that there are
certain abominable and filthy lusts, which, as such, must be shunned, therefore there is no such
thing as living " indifferently '* with respect to them. He who lives to the flesh, moreover, is con-
demned ; nor can the likeness and image of God be regained, or eternal life be ensured, save by a
strict observance of divine precepts. Further, our author shows that true Christian liberty con-
sists, not, as they vociferate, in self-indulgence, but, on the contrary, is founded in an entire free-
dom from perturbations of mind and passion, and from all filthy lusts.

VI.

(See p. 389, note 4.)

As to the second class of heretics, he reproves the contemners of God's ordinance, who boast
of a false continence, and scorn holy matrimony and the creation of a family. He contends with
them by the authority of St. John, and first answers objections of theirs, based on certain apoc-
ryphal sayings of Christ to Salome ; next, somewhat obscurely, he answers their notions of laws
about marriage imposed in the Old Law, and, as they pretend, abrogated in the New; thirdly, he
rebukes their perpetual clatter about the uncleanness of conjugal relations ; and, fourth, he pulver-
izes their arguments derived from the fact, that the children of the resurrection " neither nnarn-.
nor are given in marriage."

Then he gives his attention to another class of heretics boasting that they followed the ex-
ample of Christ, and presuming to teach that marriage is of the devil. He expounds the excep-
tional celibacy of the Messiah, by the two natures of the Godman, which need nothing but a
reverent statement to expose the fallacy of arguing from His example in this particular, seeing
He, alone, of all the sons of men, is thus supreme over all considerations of human nature, pure
and simple, as it exists in the sons of Adam. Moreover, He espoused the Church, which is His

ELUCIDATIONS. 405

wife. Clement expounds very wisely those sayings of our Lord which put honour upon voluntary
celibacy, where the gift has been imparted, for His better service.

And here let it be noted, how continually the heresies of these times seem to turn on this
matter of the sexes. It is impossible to cleanse a dirty house, without raising a dust and a bad
smell ; and heathenism, which had made lust into a religion, and the worship of its gods a school
of gross vice, penetrating all classes of society, could not be exorcised, and give place to faith,
hope and charity, without this process of conflict, in which Clement distinguishes himself At
the same time, the wisdom of our Lord's precepts and counsels are manifest, in this history.
Alike He taught the sanctity and blessedness of marriage and maternity, and the exceptional bless-
edness of the celibate when received as a gift of God, for a peculiar ministry. Thus heathen
morals were rebuked and castigated, womanhood was lifted to a sphere of unwonted honour, and
the home was created and sanctified in the purity and chastity of the Christian wife ; while yet a
celibate chastity was recognised as having a high place in the Christian system. The Lord pre-
scribes to all, whether married or unmarried, a law of discipline and evangelical encraty. The
Christian homes of England and America may be pointed out, thank God, as illustrating the divine
wisdom ; while the degraded monasteries of Italy and Spain and South America, with the horrible
history of enforced celibacy in the Latin priesthood, are proofs of the unwisdom of those who
imported into the Western churches the very heresies and abortive argumentations which Clement
disdains, while he pulverizes them and blows them away, thoroughly purging his floor, and burn-
ing up this chaff.

VII.

(See p. 390, note 16.)

Here it is specially important to observe what Clement demonstrates, not only from the teach-
ings of the apostles, of Elijah and Samuel and the Master Himself, but, finally and irrefragably,
from the apostolic example. He names St. Peter here as elsewhere, and notes his memorable his-
tory as a married man.* He supposes St. Paul himself to have been married ; and he instances St.
Philip the deacon, and his married daughters, besides giving the right exposition of a passage
which Carpocrates had shamefully distorted from its plain significance.

VIIL
(See p. 391, note 18.)

He passes to a demonstration of the superiority of Christian continence over the sort of self-
constraint lauded by Stoics and other philosophers. God only can enable man to practise a genuine
continence, not merely contending with depraved lusts, but eradicating them. Here follow some
interesting examples drawn from the brahmins and fakirs of India ; interesting tokens, by the way,
of the assaults the Gospel had already made upon their strongholds about the Ganges.

IX.

(See p. 392, note 4.)

Briefly he explains another text, " Sin shall not have dominion over you,*' which the heretics
"wrested from the purpose and intent of St. Paul. He also returns to a passage from the apocry-
phal Gkjspel of the Hebrews, and to the pretended conversation of Christ with Salome, treating it,
perhaps, with more consideration than it merits.

' See the touching story of St. Peter's words to his wi£e as she was led to martyrdom (Stromata, book vii. p. 451, Edinburgh Edition).

4o6 ELUCIDATIONS.

(See p. 392, note 11.)

But this Gospel of the Hebrews, and another apocryphal Gospel, that of the Egyptians, may be
worthy of a few words just here. Jones (^On the Canon, vol. i. p. 206) very learnedly maintains
that Clement " never saw it," nor used it for any quotation of his own. And, as for a Gospel written
in the Hebrew tongue, Clement could not read Hebrew ; the single citation he makes out of it,
being, probably, at second hand. Greatly to the point is the argument of Lardner,' therefore, who
says, as settling the question of the value of these books, " If Clement, who lived at Alexandria, and
was so well acquainted with almost all sorts of books^ had (but a slight, or) no knowledge at all
of them, how obscure must they have been ; how little regarded by Catholic Christians."

XI.

(See p. 393, note 5; also Elucidation xvii. p. 408, infra)

Ingenious is Clement's exposition of that saying of our Lord, ** Where two or three aire met
together in my name," etc. He explodes a monstrous exposition of the text, and ingeniously
applies it to the Christian family. The husband and the wife living in chaste matrimony, and the
child which God bestows, are three in sweet society, who may claim and enjoy the promise. This
reflects great light upon the Christian home, as it rose, like a flower, out of the " Church in the
house." Family prayers, the graces before and after meat, the hymn " On lighting the lamps at
eventide," and the complines, or prayers at bedtime, are all the products of the divine contract to be
Mrith the " two or three " who are met in His name to claim that inconceivably precious promise.
Other texts from St. Matthew are explained, in their Catholic verity, by our venerable author.

XII.

(See p. 394, note i.)

He further expounds the Catholic idea of marriage, and rescues, from heretical adulteration, the
precept of Moses (Ex. xix. 15) ; introducing a lucid parallel, with the Apostolic command,^
" Come out from among them, and be separate," etc. He turns the tables on his foul antagonists ;
showing them that this very law obliges the Catholic Christian to separate himself alike from the
abominations of the heathen, and from the depraved heretics who abuse the word of God, and
" wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction." This eleventh chapter of the third book abounds
in Scriptural citations and expositions, and is to be specially praised for asserting the purity of
married life, in connection with the inspired law concerning fasting and abstinence (i Cor. vii. 3-5),
laid down by the reasonably ascetic St. Paul.

XIII.

(See p. 396, note 5.)

The melancholy example of Tatian is next instanced, in his departures from orthodox encraty.
Against poor Tatian's garrulity, he proves the sanctity of marriage, alike in the New and the Old
Testaments. A curious argument he adduces against the ceremonial washing prescribed by the

I Works, ii. 253. See, also, the apocryphal collection in this series, hereafter.
^ 3 Cor. vi. 17. Compare £x. xxix. 45, and Lev. xxvi. 12.

ELUCIDATIONS. 407

law (Lev. xv. 18), but not against the same as a dictate of natural instinct. He considers that
particular ceremonial law a protest against the polygamy which God tolerated, but never authorized,
under Moses ; and its abrogation (i.e., by the Synod of Jerusalem) , is a testimony that there is no
uncleanness, whatever, in the chaste society of the married pair, in Christ. He rescues other
texts from the profane uses of the heretics, proving that our duty to abstain from laying up treas-
ures here, merely favours the care of the poor and needy ; and that the saying, that " the children of
the kingdom neither marry nor are given in marriage," respects only their estate after the resur-
rection. So the command about " caring for the things of God," is harmonized with married life.
But our author dwells on the apostle's emphatic counsels against second marriages. It is note-
worthy how deeply Clement's orthodoxy has rooted itself in the Greek churches, where the clergy
must be once married, but are not permitted to marry a second time.

A curious objection is •met and dismissed. The man who excused himself " because he had
married a wife," was a great card for heretical manipulations ; but no need of saying that Clement
knows how to turn this, also, upon their own hands.

XIV.

(See p. 398, note 8.)

Julius Cassianus (assigned by Lardner to a.d. 190) was an Alexandrian Encratite, of whom,
whatever his faults, Clement speaks not without respect. He is quoted with credit in the Stromaia
(book i. cap. xxi. p. 324) , but comes into notice here, as having led off the school of Docetism. But
Clement does not treat him as he does the vulgar and licentious errorist. He reproves him for his
use of the Gospel according to the Egyptians, incidentally testifying to the Catholic recognition of
only four Gospels. He refutes a Platonic idea of Cassian, as to the pre-existence of the soul. Also,
he promises a full explanation, elsewhere, of " the coats of skins " (which Cassian seems to have
thought the flesh itself), wherewith Adam and Eve were clothed. Lardner refers us to Beausobre
for a curious discussion of this matter. Clement refutes a false argument from Christ's hyperbole
of hatred to wife and children and family ties, and also gives lucid explanations of passages from
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezra, which had been wrested to heretical abuse. In a similar manner, he
overthrows what errorists had built upon Job's saying, " who can bring a clean thing out of the
unclean ; " as also their false teachings on the texts, " In sin hath my mother conceived me,"

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul," and the apostoUc instance of the athlete who is

temperate in all things."

XV.

(See p. 400, cap. xvii. and 401, note 2.)

He proclaims the purity of physical generation, because of the parturition of the Blessed Vir-
gin ; castigating the docetism of Cassian, who had presumed to speak of the body of Jesus as a
phantasm, and the grosser blasphemies of Marcion and Valentinus, equally destructive to the Christ
of the Gospel.' He overturns the whims of these latter deceivers, about Adam's society with
his wife, and concludes that our Lord's assumption of the flesh of His mother, was a sufficient cor-
roboration of that divine law by which the generations of mankind are continued.

XVI.

(See p. 402, note 8.)

From all which Clement concludes that his two classes of heretics are alike wanderers from
Catholic orthodoxy ; whether, on the one hand, under divers pretexts glorifying an unreal continence

' In using the phrase ecclesia nostra (17 xara rnv 'ExxA^aiai' Koff ^mac), which I take to refer to the Church Militant, we encounter
a (brmula which we use differently in our day.

4o8 ELUCIDATIONS.

against honourable marriage, or, on the other, persuading themselves as speciously to an unlimited
indulgence of their sinful lusts and passions. Once more he quotes the Old Testament and the
New, which denounce uncleanness, but not the conjugal relations. He argues with indignation up>on
those who degrade the estate to which a bishop is called as " the husband of one wife, ruling his
own house and children well." Then he reverts to his idea of " the two or three," maintaining that a
holy marriage makes the bishop's home " a house of the Lord " (see note 75, p. 121 1, ed, Migne).
And he concludes the book by repeating his remonstrance against the claim of these heretics to
be veritable Gnostics^ — a name he will by no means surrender to the enemies of truth.

XVII.
(On Matt, xviii. 20, p. 393; and, see Supra^ Elucidation XI.)

To the interpretation I have thought preferable, and which I ventured to enlarge, it should
be added that our author subjoins others, founded on flesh, soul, and spirit ; on vocation, election,
and the Gnostic accepting both ; and on the Jew and the Gentile, and the Church gathered from
each race.

Over and over again Clement asserts that a life of chaste wedlock is not to be accounted
imperfect.

On the celibate in practice, see Le Celibat des PrStres, par Tabb^ Chavard, Gen6ve, 1874-

XVIII.

The Commentaria of Le Nourry have been my guide to the brief analysis of these Elucida-
tions, though I have not always allowed the learned Benedictine to dictate an opinion, or to
control my sense of our author's argument.

THE STROMATA. OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK IV.

CHAP. I. -^ ORDER OF CONTENTS.

It will follow, I think, that I should treat of
martyrdom, and of who the perfect man is.
With these points shall be included what follows
in accordance with the demands of the points
to be spoken about, and how both bond and
free must equally philosophize, whether male or
female in sex. And in the sequel, after finishing
what is to be said on faith and inquiry, we shall
set forth the department of symbols ; so that,
on cursorily concluding the discourse on ethics,
we shall exhibit the advantage which has accrued
to the Greeks from the barbarian philosophy.
After which sketch, the brief explanation of the
Scriptures both against the Greeks and against
the Jews will be presented, and whatever points
we were unable to embrace in the previous Mis-
cellanies (through having respect necessarily to
the multitude of matters), in accordance with
the commencement of the proem, purposing fo
finish them in one commentary. In addition to
these points, afterwards on completing the sketch,
as far as we can in accordance with what we
propose, we must give an accouiit of the physical
doctrines of the Greeks and of the barbarians,
respecting elementary principles, as far as their
opinions have reached us, and argue against the
principal views excogitated by the philosophers.

It will naturally fall after these, after a cursory
new of theology, to discuss the opinions handed
down respecting prophecy; so that, having
demonstrated that the Scriptures which we be-
lieve are valid from their omnipotent authority,
we shall be able to go over them consecutively,
and to show thence to all the heresies one God
and Omnipotent Lord to be .truly preached by
the law and the prophets, and besides by the
blessed Gospel. Many contradictions against
the heterodox await us while we attempt, in
writing, to do away with the force of the allega-
tions made by them, and to persuade them
against their will, proving by the Scriptures
themselves.

On completing, then, the whole of what we
propose in the commentaries, on which, if the
Spirit will, we ministering to the urgent need,
(for it is exceedingly necessary, before coming
to the truth, to embrace whajt ought to be said
by way of preface), shall address ourselves to
the true gnostic science of nature, receiving
initiation into the minor mysteries before the
greater ; so that nothing may be in the, way of
the truly divine declaration of sacred things, the
subjects requiring preliminary detail and state-
ment being cleared away, and sketched before-
hand. The science of nature, then, or rather
observation, as contained in the gnostic tradition
according to the rule of the truth, depends on
the discussion concerning cosmogony, ascending
thence to the department of theology. Whence,
then, we shall begin our account of what is
handed down, with the creation as related by
the prophets, introducing also the tenets of the
heterodox, and endeavouring as far as we can to
confute them. But it shall be written if God
will, and as He inspires; and now we must
proceed to what we proposed, and complete the
discourse on ethics.

CHAP. II. — THE MEANING OF THE NAME STROMATA

OR MISCELLANIES.

Let these notes of ours, as we have often said
for the sake of those that consult them carelessly
and unskilfully, be of varied character — and as
the name itself indicates, patched together —
passing constantly from one thing to another,
and in the series of discussions hinting at one
thing and demonstrating another. " For those
who seek for gold," says Heraclitus, " dig much
earth and find little gold." But those who are
of the truly golden race, in mining for what is
allied to them, will find the much in Httle. For
the word will find one to understand it. The
■ Miscellanies of notes contribute, then, to the
recollection and expression of truth in the case
of him who is able to investigate with reason.

409

4IO

THE STROM ATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

And you must prosecute, in addition to these,
other labours and researches ; since, in the case
of people who are setting out on a road with
which they are unacquainted, it is sufficient
merely to point out the direction. After this
they must walk and find out the rest for them-
selves. As, they say, when a certain slave once
asked at the oracle what he should do to please
his master, the Pythian priestess replied, " You
will find if you seek." It is truly a difficult
matter, then, as turns out, to find out latent
good ; since

" Before virtue is placed exertion,
And long and steep is the way to it,
And rouph at first ; but when the summit is reached,
Then is it easy, though difficult [before]."

" For narrow," in truth, " and strait is the way "
of the Lord. And it is to the " violent that
the kingdom of God belongs." '

Whence, "Seek, and ye shall find," holding
on by the truly royal road, and not deviating.
As we might expect, then, the generative power
of the seeds of the doctrines comprehended in
this treatise is great in small space, as the " uni-
versal herbage of the field," * as Scripture saith.
Thus the Miscellanies of notes have their proper
title, wonderfully like that ancient oblation
culled from all sorts of things of which Sopho-
cles writes : —

" For there was a sheep's fleece, and there was a vine,
And a libation, and grapes well stored;
And there was mixed with it fruit of all kinds,
And the fat of the olive, and the most curious
Wax-formed work of the yellow bee."

Just SO our Stromata, according to the husband-
man of the comic poet Timocles, produce
" figs, olives, dried figs, honey, as from an all-
fruitful field ; " on account of which exuber-
ance he adds : —

" Thou speakest of a harvest-wreath not of husbandry."

For the Athenians were wont to cry : —

»«

" The harvest-wreath bears figs and fat loaves,
And honey in a cup, and olive oil to anoint you.

We must then often, as in winnowing sieves,
shake and toss up this the great mixture of
seeds, in order to separate the wheat.

CHAP. III. — THE TRUE EXCELLENCE OF MAN.

The most of men have a disposition unstable
and heedless, like the nature of storms. " Want
of faith has done many good things, and faith
evil things." And Epicharmus says, "Don't
forget to exercise incredulity ; for it is the
sinews of the soul." Now, to disbelieve truth
brings death, as to believe, life ; and again, to
believe the lie and to disbelieve the truth hur-

' Malt. vii. 14, xi. xa, vii. 7.
* Job V. 25.

ries to destruction. The same is the case with
self-restraint and licentiousness. To restrain
one's self from doing good is the work of vict .
but to keep from wrong is the beginning of sal-
vation. So the Sabbath, by abstinence froir.
evils, seems to indicate self-restraint. And what,
I ask, is it in which man differs from beasts, an-
the angels of God, on the other hand, are wiser
than he? "Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels." ^ For some do not interpret
this Scripture of the Lord, although He 3\<*>
bore flesh, but of the perfect man and the gnos-
tic, inferior in comparison with the angels in
time, and by reason of the vesture [of the
body] . I call then wisdom nothing but science,
since life differs not from life. For to live is
common to the mortal nature, that is to man,
with that to which has l^een vouchsafed immor-
tality ; as also the faculty of contemplation and
of self-restraint, one of the two being more
excellent. On this ground Pythagoras seems to
me to have said that God alone is wise, since
also the apostle writes in the Epistle to the
Romans, "For the obedience of the faith
among all nations, being made known to the
only wise God through Jesus Christ ; " -* and
that he himself was a philosopher, on account
of his friendship with God. Accordingly it is
said, " God talked with Moses as a friend with
a friend." s That, then, which is true l^eing
clear to God, forthwith generates truth. And
the gnostic loves the tnith. "Go," it is said,
" to the ant, thou sluggard, and be the disciple
of the bee;" thus speaks Solomon.^ For if
there is one function belonging to the peculiar
nature of each creature, alike of the ox, and
hprse, and dog, what shall we say is the peculiar
function of man ? He is like, it appears to me.
the Centaur, a Thessalian figment, compKJunded
of a rational and irrational part, of soul and
body. Well, the body tills the ground, ai^d
hastes to it; but the soul is raised to God:
trained in the true philosophy, it speeds to its
kindred above, turning away from the lusts of
the body, and besides these, from toil and fear,
although we have shown that patience and fear
belong to the good man. For if " by the law is
the knowledge of sfn,"^ as those allege who
disparage the law, and " till the law sin was in
the world ; " * yet " without the law sin was
dead," 9 we opp)ose them. For when you take
away the cause of fear, sin, you have taken
away fear; and much more, punishment, when
you have taken away that which gives rise to
lust. "For the law is not made for the ju>t

3 Ps. viii. 5.

* Rom. XVI. 26, 97.
5 Ex. xxxiii. II.

* Prov. yi. 6, 8.
7 Rom. iii. 20.

* Rom. V. 13.
9 Rom. vii. 6.

Chap. I V.J

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

4ir

man," ' says the Scripture. Well, then, says ,
Heraclitus, "They would not have known the
name of Justice if these things had not been."
And Socrates says, " that the law was not made
for the sake of the good." But the cavillers
did not know even this, as the apostle says,
*' that he who loveth his brother worketh not
evil ; " for this, " Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt
not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal ; and
if there be any other commandment, it is com-
prehended in the word, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself.**' So also is it said,
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy-
self." 3 And " if he that loveth his neighbour
worketh no evil," and if " every commandment
IS comprehended in this, the loving our neigh-
bour," the commandments, by menacing with
fear, work love, not hatred. Wherefore the law
is productive of the emotion of fear. " So that
the law is holy," and in truth "spiritual,".* ac-
cording to the aposde. We must, then, as is fit,
in investigating the nature of the body and the
essence of the soul, apprehend the end of each,
and not regard death as an evil. " For when ye
were the servants of sin," says the apostle, " ye
were free from righteousness. What fruit had
ye then in those things in which ye are now
ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
But now, being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holi-
ness, and the end everlasting life. For the
wages of sin is death : but the gift of God is
eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 5
The assertion, then, may be hazarded, that it
has been shown that death is the fellowship of
the soul in a state of sin with the body ; and
life the separation from sin. And many are the
stakes and ditches of lust which impede us, and
the pits of wrath and anger which must be over-
leaped, and all the machinations we must avoid
of those who plot against us, — who would no
longer see the knowledge of God " through a
glass."

** The half of virtue the far-seeing Zeus takes
From man, when he reduces him to a state of slavery."

As slaves the Scripture views those " under sin "
and "sold to sin," the lovers of pleasure and
of the body ; and beasts rather than men, " those
who have become like to cattle, horses, neighing
after their neighbours' wives." ^ The licentious
is " the lustful ass," the covetous is the " savage
wolf," and the deceiver is "a serpent." The
severance, therefore, of the soul from the body,
made a life-long study, produces in the phi-

* I llm. I. 9.

' Rom. xiii. 8>io.
3 Luke X. 37.

* Rom. vii. 12, 14.

* Rom. vi. ao-23.

<> Jex. V. 8, etc. •

losopher gnostic alacrity, so that he is easily
able to bear natural death, which is the disso-
lution of the chains which bind the soul to the
body. " For the world is crucified to me, and
I to the world," the [apostle] says ; " and now I
live, though in the flesh, as having my conversa-
tion in heaven." ^

CHAP. IV. — THE PRAISES OF MARTYRDOM.

Whence, as is reasonable, the gnostic, when
called, obeys easily, and gives up his body to him
who asks ; and, previously divesting himself of
the affections of this carcase, not insulting the
tempter, but rather, in my opinion, training him
and convincing him, —

" From what honour and what extent of wealth fallen,"

as says Empedocles, here for the future he walks
with mortals. He, in truth, bears witness to him-
self that he is faithful and loyal towards God ;
and to the tempter, that he in vain envied him
who is faithful through love ; and to the Lord, of
the inspired persuasion in reference to His doc-
trine, from which he will not depart through fear
of death ; further, he confirms also the truth of
preaching by his deed, showing that God to
whom he hastes is powerful. You will wonder
at his love, which he conspicuously shows with
thankfulness, in being united to what is allied to
him, and besides by his precious blood, shaming
the unbelievers. He then avoids denying Christ
through fear by reason of the command ; nor
does he sell his faith in the hope of the gifts
prepared, but in love to the Lord he will most
gladly depart from this life; perhaps giving
thanks both to him who afforded the cause of
his departure hence, and to him who laid the
plot against him, for receiving an honourable
reason which he himself furnished not, for show-
ing what he is, to him by his patience, and to
the Lord in love, by which even before his birth
he was manifested to the Lord, who knew the
martyr's choice. With good courage, then, he
goes to the Lord, his friend, for whom he vol-
untarily gave his body, and, as his judges hoped,
his soul, hearing from our Saviour the words of
poetry, " Dear brother," by reason of the simi-
larity of his life. We call martyrdom perfection,
not because the man comes to the end of his
life as others, but because he has exhibited the
perfect work of love. And the ancients laud
the death of those among the Greeks who died
in war, not that they advised people to die a
violent death, but because he who ends his life
in war is released without the dread of dying,
severed from the body without experiencing pre-
vious suffering or being enfeebled in his soul, as
the people that suffer in diseases. For they de-

7 Gal. vi. 14; Phil. iii. 20.

412

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

part in a state of effeminacy and desiring to live ;
and therefore they do not yield up the soul pure,
but bearing with it their lusts like weights of lead ;
all but those who have been conspicuous in vir-
tue. Some die in battle with their lusts, these
being in no respect different from what they
would have been if they had wasted away by
disease.

If the confession to God is martyrdom, each
soul which has lived purely in the knowledge of
God, which has obeyed the commandments, is a
witness both by life and word, in whatever way
it may be released from the body, — shedding
faith as blood along its whole life till its depart-
ure. For instance, the Lord says in the Gospel,
** Whosoever shall leave father, or mother, or
brethren," and so forth, "for the sake of the
(jospel and my name," ' he is blessed ; not in-
dicating simple martyrdom, but the gnostic
martyrdom, as of the man who has conducted
himself according to the rule of the Gospel, in
love to the Lord (for the knowledge of the
Name and the understanding of the Gospel
point out the gnosis, but not the bare appella-
tion), so as to leave his worldly kindred, and
wealth, and every possession, in order to lead
a life free from passion. " Mother " figuratively
means country and sustenance ; " fathers " are
the laws of civil polity : which must be con-
temned thankfully by the high-souled just man ;
for the sake of being the friend of God, and
of obtaining the right hand in the holy place, as
the Apostles have done.

Then Heraclitus says, " Gods and men honour
those slain in battle ;" and Plato in the fifth
book of the Republic writes, " Of those who die
in military service, whoever dies after ■ winning
renown, shall we not say that he is chief of the
golden race ? Most assuredly." But the golden
race is with the gods, who are in heaven, in the
fixed sphere, who chiefly hold command in the
providence exercised towards men. Now some
of the heretics who have misunderstood the
Lord, have at once an impious and cowardly love
of life ; saying that the true martyrdom is the
knowledge of the only true God (which we also
admit), and that the man is a self-murderer and
a suicide who makes confession by death ; and
adducing other similar sophisms of cowardice.
To these we shall reply at the proper time ; for
they differ with us in regard to first principles.
Now we, too, say that those who have rushed on
death (for there are some, not belonging to us,
but sharing the name merely, who are in haste
to give themselves up, the poor wretches dying
through hatred to the Creator') — these, we
say, banish themselves without being martyrs,
, even though they are punished publicly. For

' Matt. xtx. 39.

' DemLurgus.

they do not preserve the characteristic mark of
believing martyrdom, inasmuch as they have not
known the only true God, but give themselves
up to a vain death, as the Gymnosophists of the
Indians to useless fire. —

But since these falsely named ^ calumniate the
body, let them learn that the harmonious mechan-
ism of the body contributes to the understanding
which leads to goodness of nature. Wherefore
in the third book of the RepubliCy Plato, whom
they appeal to loudly as an authority that dis-
parages generation, says, " that for the sake of
harmony of soul, care must be taken for the
body," by which, he who announces the procla-
mation of the truth, finds it possible to live, and
to live well. For it is by the path of life and
health that we learn gnosis. But is he who can-
not advance to the height without being occupied
with necessary things, and through them doing
what tends to knowledge, not to choose to live
well? In living, then, living well is secured.
And he who in the body has devoted himself to
a good life, is being sent on to the state of
immortality.

CHAP. V. — ON CONTEMPT FOR PAIN, POVERTV, AND
OTHER EXTERNAL THINGS.

Fit objects for admiration are the Stoics, who
say that the soul is not affected by the body,
either to vice by disease, or to virtue by health ;
but both these things, they say, are indifferent.
And indeed Job, through exceeding continence,
and excellence of faith, when from rich he be-
came poor, from being held in honour dishon-
oured, from being comely unsightly, and sick
from being healthy, is depicted as a good exam-
ple, putting the Tempter to shame, blessing his
Creator ; bearing what came second, as the first,
and most clearly teaching that it is possible for
the gnostic to make an excellent use of all
circumstances. And that ancient achievements
are proposed as images for our correction, the
apostle shows, when he says, " So that my bonds
in Christ are become manifest in all the palace,
and to all the rest ; and several of the brethren
in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are
much more bold to speak the word of God
without fear," * — since martyrs' testimonies are
examples of conversion gloriously sanctified.
" For what things the Scripture speaks were
written for our instruction, that we, through
patience and the consolation of the Scriptures,
might have the hope of consolation." s When
pain is present, the soul appears to decline from
it, and to deem release from present pain a
precious thing. At that moment it slackens
from studies, when the other virtues also are

3 [o( ^(vJwioffiot. i.e., the gnostic heretics. Clement does not
approve of the surrender of a good name 10 false pretenders.]

4 Phil. i. 13, 14.

5 Rom. XV. 4.

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

413

neglected. And yet we do not say that it is
virtue itself which suffers, for virtue is not
affected by disease. But he who is partaker of
both, of virtue and the disease, is afflicted by
the pressure of the latter ; and if he who has not
yet attained the habit of self-command be not a
high-souled man, he is distraught; and the
inability to endure it is found equivalent to flee-
ing from it.

The same holds good also in the case of pov-
erty. For it compels the soul to desist from
necessary things, I mean contemplation and
from pure sinlessness, forcing him, who has not
wholly dedicated himself to God in love, to oc-
cupy himself about provisions ; as, again, health
and abundance of necessaries keep the soul free
and imimpeded, and capable of making a good
use of what is at hand. " For," says the apos-
tle, " such shall have trouble in the flesh. But I
spare you. For I would have you without anx-
iety, in order to decorum and assiduity for the
Ix)rd, without distraction." *

These things, then, are to be abstained from,
not for their own sakes, but for the sake of the
body ; and care for the body is exercised for
the sake of the soul, to which it has reference.
For on this account it is necessary for the man
who lives as a gnostic to know what is suitable.
Since the fact that pleasure is not a good thing
is admitted from the fact that certain pleasures
are evil, by this reason good appears evil, and
evil good. And then, if we choose some pleas-
ures and shun others, it is not every pleasure
that is a good thing.

Similarly, also, the same rule holds with pains,
some of which we endure, and others we shun.
But choice and avoidance are exercised accord-
ing to knowledge ; so that it is not pleasure that
is the good thing, but knowledge by which we
shall choose a pleasure at a certain time, and
of a certain kind. Now the martyr chooses
the pleasure that exists in prospect through the
present pain. If pain is conceived as existing
in thirst, and pleasure in drinking, the pain that
has preceded becomes the efficient cause of
pleasure. But evil cannot be the efficient cause
of good. Neither, then, is the one thing nor
the other evil. Simonides accordingly (as also
Aristotle) writes, " that to be in good health is
the best thing, and the second best thing is to
be handsome, and the third best thing is to be
rich without cheating."

And Theognis of Megara says : —

•* You must, to escape poverty, throw
Yourself, O Cyrnus, down from
The steep rocks into the deep sea."

On the other hand, Antiphanes, the comic poet,
says, " Plutus (Wealth), when it has taken hold

* X Cor. vii. 28, 32, 35.

of those who see better than others, makes them
blind." Now by the poets he is proclaimed as
blind from his birth : —

" And brought him forth blind who saw not the sun."

Says the Chalcidian Euphorion : —

" Riches, then, and extravagant luxuries.
Were for men the worst training for manliness."

Wrote Euripides in Alexander : —

" And it is said.
Penury has attained wisdom through misfortune ;
But much wealth will capture not
Sparta alone, but every city."

" It is not then the only coin that mortals have,
that which is white silver or golden, but virtue
too," as Sophocles says.

CHAP. VI. — SOME POINTS IN THE BEATFTUDES.

Our holy Saviour applied poverty and riches,
and the like, both to spiritual things and objects
of sense. For when He said, " Blessed are they
that are persecuted for righteousness' sake,"*
He clearly taught us in every circumstance to
seek for the martyr who, if poor for righteous-
ness' sake, witnesses that the righteousness
which he loves is a good thing; and if he
** hunger and thirst for righteousness* sake,"
testifies that righteousness is the best thing.
Likewise he, that weeps and mourns for right-
eousness' sake, testifies to the best law that it
is beautiful. As, then, "those that are perse-
cuted," so also " those that hunger and thirst "
for righteousness' sake, are called " blessed " by
Him who approves of the true desire, which not
even famine can put a stop to. And if " they
hunger after righteousness itself," they are bless-
ed. " And blessed are the poor," whether " in
spirit " or in circumstances — that is, if for right-
eousness' sake. It is not the poor simply, but
those that have wished to become poor for
righteousness' sake, that He pronounces blessed
— those who have despised the honours of this
world in order to attain " the good ; " likewise
also those who, through chastity, have become
comely in person and character, and those
who are of noble birth, and honourable, having
through righteousness attained to adoption, and
therefore " have received power to become the
sons of God," ^ and " to tread on serpents and
scorpions," and to nile over demons and " the
host of the adversary." * And, in fine, the
Lord's discipline 5 draws the soul away gladly
from the body, even if it wrench itself away in
its removal. " For he that loveth his life shall
lose it, and he that loseth his life shall find it," ^
if we only join that which is mortal of us with

2 Mail. V. lo.

3 John i. 12.
* Luke X. ip.

s [Canons Apostolical (so called) , li. liii. But see Elucidation I.]
^ [Matt. X. 39; John xii. 25. S.]

414

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[liOOK IV

the immortality of God. It is the will of God |
[that we should attain] the knowledge of God,
which is the communication of immortality, i
He therefore, who, in accordance with the word
of repentance, knows his life to be sinful will
lose it — losing it from sin, from which it is
wrenched ; but losing it, will find it, according
to the obedience which lives again to faith, but
dies to sin. This, then, is what it is " to find
one's hfe," " to know one's self."

The conversion, however, which leads to
divine things, the Stoics say, is affected by a
change, the soul being changed to wisdom.
And Plato : " On the soul taking a turn to what
is better, and a change from a kind of nocturnal
day." Now the philosophers also allow the
good man an exit from life in accordance with
reason, in the case of one depriving him of active
exertion, so that the hope of action is no longer
left him. And the judge who compels us to
deny Him whom we love, I regard as showing
who is and who is not the friend of God. In
that case there is not left ground for even exam-
ining what one prefers — the menaces of man or
the love of God. And abstinence from vicious
acts is found, somehow, [to result in] the dim-
inution and extinction of vicious propensities,
their energy being destroyed by inaction. And
this is the import of " Sell what thou hast, and
give to the poor, and come, follow Me " » —
that is, follow what is said by the Lord. Some
say that by what " thou hast " He designated
the things in the soul, of a nature not akin to it,
though how these are bestowed on the poor they
are not able to say. For God dispenses to all
according to desert. His distribution being
righteous. Despising, therefore, the possessions
which God apportions to thee in thy magnifi-
cence, comply with what is spoken by me ; haste
to the ascent of the Spirit, being not only justi-
fied by abstinence from what is evil, but in
addition also perfected, by Christlike benefi-
cence.' In this instance He convicted the man,
who boasted that he had. fulfilled the injunctions
of the law, of not loving his neighbour ; and it is
by beneficence that the love which, according to
the gnostic ascending scale, is Lord of the
Sabbath, proclaims itself.^ We must then, ac-
cording to my view, have recourse to the word
of salvation neither from fear of punishment nor
promise of a gift, but on account of the good
itself. Such, as do so, stand on the right hand
of the sanctuary ; but those who think that by
the gift of what is perishable they shall receive
in exchange what belongs to immortality are in
the parable of the two brothers called "hire-

' Matt. xix. ai.

' Kvpiaxji cviroiia.

3 [If love, exerting itself in doing eood, overruled the letter of the
Sabbatic law, rise to this supremacy of love, which is, of itself, " the
fulfilling of the law."]

lings." And is there not some light thrown here
on the expression " in the likeness and image,'*
in the fact that some live according to the like-
ness of Christ, while those who stand on the
left hand live according to their image ? There
are then two things proceeding from the truth,
one root lying beneath both, — the choice being,
however, not equal, or rather the difference that
is in the choice not being equal. To choose bf
way of imitation differs, as appears to me, from
the choice of him who chooses according to
knowledge, as that which is set on fire differs
from that which is illuminated. Israel, then, is
the light of the likeness which is according to
the Scripture. But the image is another thing.
What means the parable of Lazarus, by showing
the image of the rich and poor? And what the
saying, " No man can serve two masters, God
and Mammon?" — the Lord so terming the
love of money. For instance, the covetous,
who were invited, responded not to the invitation
to the supper, not because of their possessing
property, but of their inordinate affection to
what they possessed. " The foxes," then, have
holes. He called those evil and earthly men
who are occupied about the wealth which is
mined and dug from the ground, foxes. ITius
also, in reference to Herod : " Go, tell that fox.
Behold, I cast out devils, and perform cures
to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall
be perfected."* For He applied the name
" fowls of the air " to those who were distin<:t
from the other birds — those really pure, those
that have the power of flying to the knowledge
of the heavenly Word. For not riches only, but
also honour, and marriage, and poverty, have
ten thousand cares for him who is unfit for them.s
And those cares He indicated in the parable of
the fourfold seed, when He said that " the seed
of the word which fell unto the thorns" and
hedges was choked by them, and could not
bring forth fruit. It is therefore necessary to
learn how to make use of every occurrence, so
as by a good life, according to knowledge, to be
trained for the state of eternal life. For it said,
" I saw the wicked exalted and towering as
the cedars of Lebanon ; and I passed," says the
Scripture, " and, lo, he was not ; and I sought
him, and his place was not found. Keep inno-
cence, and look on uprightness : for there is a
remnant to the man of peace." ^ Such will he
be who believes unfeignedly with his whole heart,
and is tranquil in his whole soul. " For the
different people honour me with their lips, but
their heart is far from the Lord." ' " They bless

* Luke xiii. ^2.

5 [ He reganls the estate of marriage and the estate of povertjr, as
gifts redounding to the benefit of those who accept them as such, and
adapt themselves to the same, as stewards.]

^ Ps. xxxvii 35-37,'

7 Isa. xxix 13 (b cTcpo« inserted).

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

415

with their mouth, but they curse in their heart." '
" They loved Him with their mouth, and lied to
Him with their tongue ; but their heart was not
Tight with Him, and they were not faithful to
His covenant." Wherefore " let the false lips
become speechless, and let the Lord destroy
the boastful tongue : those who say, We shall
magnify our tongue, and our lips are our own ;
who is Lord over us ? For the affliction of the
poor and the groaning of the needy now will I
arise, saith the Lord ; I will set him in safety ;
I will speak out in his case." * For it is to the
humble that Christ belongs, who do not exalt
themselves against His flock. " Lay not up for
yourselves, therefore, treasures on the earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and thieves break
through and steal," ^ says the Lord, in reproach
perchance of the covetous, and perchance also
of those who are simply anxious and full of cares,
and those too who indulge their bodies. For
amours, and diseases, and evil thoughts " break
through " the mind and the whole man. But
our true " treasure " is where what is allied to our
mind is, since it bestows the communicative
power of righteousness, showing that we must
assign to the habit of our old conversation what
we have acquired by it, and have recourse to
God, beseeching mercy. He is, in truth, " the
bag that waxeth not old," the provisions of
eternal life, " the treasure that faileth not in
heaven." * " For I will have mercy on whom I
will have mercy ," s saith the Lord. And they
say those things to those who wish to be poor
for righteousness* sake. For they have heard in
the commandment that "the broad and wide
way leadeth to destruction, and many there are
who go in by it." ^ It is not of anything else
that the assertion is made, but of profligacy, and
love of women, and love of glory, and ambition,
and similar passions. For so He says, " Fool,
this night shall thy soul be required of thee ;
and whose shall those things be which thou hast
prepared? "7 And the commandment is ex-
pressed in these very words, " Take heed, there-
fore, of covetousness. For a man's life does not
consist in the abundance of those things which
he possesses. For what shall it profit a man, if
he 'shall gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his soul ? " ^ " Wherefore I say) Take no thought
for your life, what ye shall eat ; neither for your
body, what ye shall put on. For your life is
more than meat, and your body than raiment." 9

* Ps. Ixii. 4.

* Ps. xii. 3-5.
^ Matt. vi. 19.

* Luke xii. 33.
' Rom. ix. 15.

* Matt, vii 13.
^ Luke xii. 20.

* Malt. xyi. a6.

9 Matt. vi. 31 ; Luke xii. 2a, 33.

And again, " For your Father knoweth that ye
have need of all these things." " But seek first
the kingdom of heaven, and its righteousness,"
for these are the great things, and the things
which are small and appertain to this life " shall
be added to you." '° Does He not plainly then
exhort us to follow the gnostic life, and enjoin
us to seek the truth in word and deed ? There-
fore Christ, who trains the soul, reckons one
rich, not by his gifts, but by his choice. It is
said, therefore, that Zaccheus, or, according to
some, Matthew, the chief of the publicans, on
hearing that the Lord had deigned to come to
him, said, " Lord, and if I have taken anything
by false accusation, I restore him fourfold ; " on
which the Saviour said, "The Son of man, on
coming to-day, has found that which was lost." "
Again, on seeing the rich cast into the treasury
according to their wealth, and the widow two
mites, He said " that the widow had cast in
more than they all," for " they had contributed
of their abundance, but she of her destitution."
And because He brought all things to bear on
the discipline of the soul, He said, " Blessed are
the meek : for they shall inherit the earth." **
And the meek are those who have quelled the
battle -of unbelief in the soul, the battle Of wrath,
and lust, and the other forms that are subject to
them. And He praises those meek by choice,
not by necessity. For there are with the Lord
both rewards and " many mansions," correspond-
ing to men*s lives. " Whosoever shall receive,"
says He, "a prophet in the name of a prophet,
shall receive a prophet^s reward ; and whosoever
shall receive a righteous man in the name of a
righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's
reward ; and whoso shall receive one of the
least of these my disciples, shall not lose his
reward." *3 And again, the differences of virtue
according to merit, and the noble rewards, He
indicated by the hours unequal in number ; and
in addition, by the equal reward given to each
of the labourers — that is, salvation, which is
meant by the penny — He indicated the equality
of justice; and the diff*erence of those called
He intimated, by those who worked for unequal
portions of time. They shall work, therefore, in
accordance with the appropriate mansions of .
which they have been deemed worthy as rewards,
being fellow-workers in the ineffable administra-
tion and service.*^ "Those, then," says Plato,
" who seem called to a holy life, are those who,
freed and released from those earthly localities
as from prisons, have reached the pure dweUing-
place on high." In clearer terms again he

*° Matt. vi. 32, 33; Luke xii. 30, 31.
** Luke xix, 8, 9, lo.
»2 Matt. V. 5.
" Malt. X. 41, 42.

^* Translated as completed, and amended by Heinsius. In the
text it is plainly mutilated and corrupt.

4i6

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

expresses the same thing : " Those who by phi-
losophy have been sufficiently purged from those
things, live without bodies entirely for all time.
Although they are enveloped in certain shapes ;
in the case of some, of air, and others, of fire."
He adds further : " And they reach abodes
fairer than those, which it is not easy, nor is
there sufficient time now to describe." Whence
with reason, " blessed are they that mourn : for
they shall be comforted ; " » for they who have
repented of their former evil life shall attain to
" the calling " (kXtjclv), for this is the meaning of
being comforted (irapoKkrfOrivai) . And there are
two styles of penitents.' That which is more
common is fear on account of what is done ;
but the other which is more special, the shame
which the spirit feels in itself arising from con-
science. Whether then, here or elsewhere (for
no place is devoid of the beneficence of God),
He again says, " Blessed are the merciful : for
they shall obtain mercy." And mercy is not,
as some of the philosophers have imagined, pain
on account of others' calamities, but rather
• something good, as the prophets say. For it is
said, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." ^
And He ■• means by the merciful, not only those
who do acts of mercy, but those who wish to do
them, though they be not able ; who do as far
as purpose is concerned. For sometimes we
wish by the gift of money or by personal effort
to do mercy, as to assist one in want, or help
one who is sick, or stand by one who is in any
emergency ; and are not able either from poverty,
or disease, or old age (for this also is natural
disease), to carry out our purpose, in reference
to the things to which we are impelled, being
unable to conduct them to the end we wished.
Those, who have entertained the wish whose
purpose is equal, share in the same honour with
those who have the ability, although others have
the advantage in point of resources.s And since
there are two paths of reaching the perfection of
salvation, works and knowledge. He called the
" pure in heart blessed, for they shall see God." ^
And if we really look to the truth of the matter,
knowledge is the purification of the leading
faculty of the soul, and is a good activity. Some
things accordingly are good in themselves, and
others by participation in what is good, as we
say good actions are good. But without things
intermediate which hold 'the place of material,
neither good nor bad actions are constituted, such
I mean as life, and health, and other necessary

' Matt. V. 4.

* [Clement describes the attHtion of the schoolmen (which they
say suffices) with the contrition exacted by ihe Gospel. He knows
nothins but the latter, as having promise of the Comforter.]

3 Hos. vi. 6; Malt. ix. 13, xii. 7.

* [Matt. V. 7. S.] /

s I A cheering comment on the widow's mites, and the apostolic
principle of 2 Cor. viii. 13.]
«> [Matt. V. 8. S.]

things or circumstantials. Pure then as respects
corporeal lusts, and pure in respect of holy
thoughts, he means those are, who attain to the
knowledge of God, when the chief faculty of the
soul has nbthing spurious to stand in the way of
its power. When, therefore, he who partakes
gnostically of this holy quality devotes himself to
contemplation, communing in purity with the
divine, he enters more nearly into the state of
impassible identity, so as no longer to have
science and possess knowledge, but to be science
and knowledge.

" Blessed, then, are the peacemakers," ^ who
have subdued and tamed the law which wars
against the disposition of the mind, the menaces
of anger, and the baits of lust, and the other pas-
sions which war against the reason ; who, having
lived in the knowledge both of good works
and true reason, shall be reinstated in adoption,
which is dearer. It follows that the perfect
peacemaking is that which keeps unchanged in
all circumstances what is peaceful ; calls Provi-
dence holy and good ; and has its being in the
knowledge of divine and human affairs, by which
it deems the opposites that are in the world to
be the fairest harmony of creation. They also
are peacemakers, who teach those who war
against the stratagems of sin to have recourse to
faith and peace. And it is the sum of all virtue,
in my opinion, when the Lord teaches us that
for love to God we must gnostically despise
death. " Blessed are they," says He, " who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake, for they shall
be called the sons of God ; " ^ or, as some of
those who transpose the Gospels 9 say, " Blessed
are they who are persecuted by righteousness,
for they shall be perfect." And, " Blessed are
they who are persecuted for my sake ; for they
shall have a place where they shall not be perse-
cuted." And, " Blessed are ye when men shall
hate you, when they shall separate you, when
they shall cast out your name as evil, for the
Son of man's sake ; " *° if we do not detest
our persecutors, and undergo punishments at
their hands, not hating them under the idea
that we have been put to trial more tardily than
we looked for ; but knowing this also, that ever>*
instance of trial is an occasion for testifying.

CHAP. VII. — THH! BLESSEDNESS OF THE MARTV'R.

Then he who has lied and shown himself un-
faithful, and revolted to the deviPs army, in what
evil do we think him to be ? He belies, there-
fore, the Lord, or rather he is cheated of his own
hope who believes not God ; and he believes not
who does not what He has commanded.

7 [Matt. V. 9. S].
* Matt. V. 10.

9 [Note that thus in the second century there were those (scho-
liasts) who interlined and transposed the Gospels, in mss.]

*0 LulcC VL 29.

Chaf. VII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

417

And what ? Does not he, who denies the j
Lord, deny himself? For does he not rob his
Master of His authority, who deprives himself
of his relation to Him ? He, then, who denies
the Saviour, denies life ; for " the light was life." '
He does not term those men of little faith, but
faithless and hypocrites,* who have the name in-
scribed on them, but deny that they are really
believers. But the faithful is called both servant
and friend. So that if one loves himself, he
loves the Lord, and confesses to salvation that
he may save his soul. Though you die for your
neighbour out of love, and regard the Saviour as
our neighbour (for God who saves is said to be
nigh in respect to what is saved) ; you do so,
choosing death on account of life, and suffering
for your own sake rather than his. And is it not
for this that he is called brother? he who, suffer-
ing out of love to God, suffered for his own sal-
vation j while he, on the other hand, who dies
for his own salvation, endures for love to the
Lord. For he being life, in what he suffered,
wished to suffer that we might live by his suffer-
ing.

** Why call ye me Lord, Lord," He says, " and
do not the things which I say? "3 For "the
people that loveth with their lips, but have their
heart far away from the Lord," * is another
people, and trust in another, and have willingly
sold themselves to another ; but those who per-
form the commandments of the Lord, in every
action " testify," by doing what He wishes, and
consistently naming the Lord's name ; and " tes-
tifying " by deed to Him in whom they trust,
that they are those "who have crucified the
flesh, with the affections and lusts." " If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." s
" He that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh
reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." ^

But to those miserable men, witness to the
Ijovd by blood seems a most violent death, not
knowing that such a gate of death is the begin-
ning of the true life ; and they will understand
neither the honours after death, which belong to
those who have lived holily, nor the punishments
of those who have lived unrighteously and im-
purely.7 I do not say only from our Scriptures
(for almost all the commandments indicate
them) ; but they will not even hear their own
discourses. For the Pythagorean Theano writes,
" Life were indeed a feast to the wicked, who,
having done evil, then die ; were not the soul
immortal, death would be a godsend." And

* John L 4.

2 Matt, vi 30.

3 Luke vL 46.

* Isa. xxix. 15.

3 Gal. V. 24, 25.

6 Gal. vi. 8.

7 [This is important testimony as to the primitive understanding
oi the awards of a future life.]

Plato in the Phczdo, " For if death were re-
lease from everything," and so forth. We are
not then to think according to the Telephus of
^schylus, " that a single path leads to Hades."
The ways are many, and the sins that lead thither.
Such deeply erring ones as the unfaithful are,
Aristophanes properly makes the subjects of
comedy. " Come," he says, " ye men of obscure
life, ye that are like the race of leaves, feeble,
wax figures, shadowy tribes, evanescent, fleeting,
ephemeral." And Epicharmus, " This nature of
men is inflated skins." And the Saviour has said
to us, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak." ^ " Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God," explains the apostle : " for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be. And they that are in the flesh cannot please
God." And in further explanation continues,
that no one may, like Marcion,^ regard the
creature as evil. " But if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin ; but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness." And again : " For if
ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared to the glory which shall
be revealed in us. If we suffer with Him, that
we also may be glorified together as joint-heirs
of Christ. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them
that are called according to the purpose. For
whom He did foreknow. He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the first-born among many brethren.
And whom He did predestinate, them He also
called ; and whom He called, them He also justi-
fied ; and whom He justified, them He also glo-
rified." '°

You see that martyrdom for love's sake is
taught. And should you wish to be a martyr
for the recompense of advantages, you shall hear
again. " For we are saved by hope : but hope
that is seen is not hope : for what a man seeth,
why doth he yet hope for ? But if we hope for
that we see not, then do wc with patience wait
for it." " " But if we also suffer for righteous-
ness* sake," says Peter, "blessed are we. Be
not afraid of their fear, neither be troubled.
But sanctify the Lord God in • your hearts : and
be ready always to give an answer to him that
asks a reason of the hope that is in you, but with
meekness and fear, having a good conscience ;
so that in reference to that for which you are
spoken against, they may be ashamed who calum-
niate your good conversation in Christ. For it is
better to suffer for well-doing, if the will of God,
than for evil-doing." But if one should cap-

• Matt, xxvi.^^i.

9 [See book iii., cap. iii., supra,\
'° Rom. viii. 7, 8, 10, 13, 17, 18, 28, 29, 30.
" Rom. viii. 24, 25.

4i8

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

tiously say, And how is it possible for feeble flesh
to resist the energies and spirits of the Powers ? *
well, let him know this, that, confiding in the
Almighty and the Lord, we war against the prin-
cipalities of darkness, and against death. " Whilst
thou art yet speaking," He says, " Lo, here am
I." See the invincible Helper who shields us.
"Think it not strange, therefore, concerning the
burning sent for your trial, as though some strange
thing happened to you; But, as you are par-
takers in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice ; that at
the revelation of His glory ye may rejoice exult-
ant. If ye be reproached in the name of Christ,
happy are ye ; for the Spirit of glory and of God
resteth on you." * As it is written, " Because
for Thy sake we are killed all the day long ; we
are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay,
in aU these things we are more than conquerors,
through Him that loved us." ^

** What you wish to ascertain from my mind,
You shall not ascertain, not were you to apply
Horrid saws from the crown of my head to die soles of

my feet,
Not were you to load me with chains,"

says a woman acting manfully in the tragedy.
And Antigone, contemning the proclamation of
Creon, says boldly : —

" It was not Zeus who uttered this proclamation."

But it is God that makes proclamation to us,
and He must be believed. " For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the
mouth confession is made unto salvation. Where-
fore the Scripture saith, "Whosoever believeth on
Him shall not be put to shame." ^ Accordingly
Simonides justly writes, "It is said that virtue
dwells among all but inaccessible rocks, but that
she speedily traverses a pure place. Nor is she
visible to the eyes of all mortals. He who is not
penetrated by heart-vexing sweat will not scale
the summit of manliness." And Pindar says-: —

"But the anxious thoughts of youths, revolving with
toils,
Will find glory : and in time their deeds
Will in resplendent ether splendid shine."

^schylus, too, having grasped this thought,
says : —

" To him who toils is due,

As product of his toil, glorj' from the gods."

" For great Fates attain great destinies," accord-
ing to Heraclitus : —

" And what slave is there, who is careless of death ? "

" For God hath not given us the spirit of bond-
age again to fear ; but of power, and love, and
of a sound mind. Be not therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, or of me his pris-

< In allusion to Eph. vi. la.

* I Pet. iv. 12, 13, 14.

* Rom. viii. 36, 37.

* Rom. X. 10, II.

oner," he writes to Timothy. s Such shall he be
who cleaves to that which is good," according
to the apostle,^ " who hates evil, having love un-
feigned ; for he that loveth another fulfilleth the
law." 7 If, then, this God, to whom we bear
witness, be as He is, the God of hope, we ac-
knowledge our hope, speeding on to hope,
" saturated with goodness, filled with all knowl-
edge." ^

The Indian sages say to Alexander of Mace-
don : ** You transport men's bodies from place
to place. But you shall not force our souls to
do what we do not wish. Fire is to men the
greatest torture, this we despise." Hence Hera-
clitus preferred one thing, glory, to all else ;
and professes " that he allows the crowd to stuff
themselves to satiety like cattie."

" For on account of the body are many toils,
For it we have invented a roofed house,
And discovered how to dig up silver, and sow the land.
And all the rest which we know by names."

To the multitude, then, this vain labour is desir-
able. But to us the apostle says, " Now we know
this, that our old man is crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin." 9 Does
not the apostle then plainly add the following,
to show tiie contempt for faith in the case of
the multitude ? " For I think that God hath set
forth us the apostles last, as appointed to death :
we are made a spectacle to the world, and to
angels, and to men. Up to this present hour we
both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are
beaten, and are feeble, and labour, working with
our hands. Being reviled, we bless ; being per-
secuted, we endure ; being defamed, we entreat :
we are become as it were the offscourings of the
world." '° Such also are the words of Plato in
the Republic: " "The just man, though stretched
on the rack, though his eyes are dug out, viW\. be
happy." The Gnostic will never then have the
chief end placed in life, but in being alwa>-s
happy and blessed, and a kingly friend of God.
Although visited with ignominy and exile, and
confiscation, and above all, death, he will never
be wrenched from his freedom, and signal love
to God. "The charity which bears ^1 things,
endures all things," " is assured that Divine Prov-
idence orders all things well. " I exhort you,"
therefore it is said, " Be followers of me." The
first step to salvation *3 is the instruction accom-
panied with fear, in consequence of which we
abstain from what is wrong \ and the second is

s 2 Tim. i. 7, 8; Rom. viii. 15.
* Rom. xii. 9.
7 Rom. xiii. 8.

B Instead of jutryioroi, read from Rom. xv. 13, 14, M'crot.
9 Rom. vi. 6.
*° I, Cor. iv. 9, II, 12, 13.
** [ii. 5. Compare Cicero's Rcp.^ iii. 17.]
" 1 Cor. xiii. 7.
13 For o'MM'ATOf read awnipiac.

Chap. VIII.J

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

419

hope, by reason of which we desire the best
things ; but love, as is fitting, perfects, by train-
ing now according to knowledge. For the
Greeks, I know not how, attributing events to
unreasoning necessity, own that they yield to
them unwillingly. Accordingly Euripides says : —

** What I declare, receive from me, madam :
Xo mortal exists who has not toil ;
He buries children, and begets others.
And he himself dies. And thus mortals are afflicted.*'

Then he adds : —

** We must bear those things which are inevitable ac-
cording to nature, and eo through them :
Not one of the things which are necessary is formida-
ble for mortals.

And for those who are aiming at perfection there
is proposed the rational gnosis, the foundation
of which is " the sacred Triad." " Faith, hope,
love ; but the greatest of these is love." ' Truly,
*' all things are lawful, but all things are not ex-
pedient," says the apostle : " all things are lawful
for me, but all things edify not." ' And, " Let
no one seek his own advantage, but also that of
his neighbour," ^ so as to be able at once to do
and to teach, building and building up. For
that " the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness
thereof," is admitted ; but the conscience of the
weak is supported. " Conscience, I say, not his
own, but that of the other ; for why is my lib-
erty judged of by another conscience ? For if I
by grace am partaker, why am I evil spoken of
for that for which I give thanks ? Whether there-
fore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all
to the glory of God." ^ " For though we walk
in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh ; for
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the demolition of fortifi-
cations, demolishing thoughts, and every high
thing which exalteth itself against the knowledge
of Christ." 5 Equipped with these weapons, the
Gnostic says : O Lord, give opportunity, and
receive demonstration ; let this dread event pass ;
I contemn dangers for the love I bear to Thee.

*' Because alone of human things
Virtue receives not a recompense from without,
But has itself as the reward of its toils."

" Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humble-
ness, meekness, long-suffering. And above all
these, love, which is the bond of perfection.
And let the peace of God reign in your hearts,
to which also ye are called in one body ; and be
thankful," ^ ye who, while still in the body, like
the just men of old, enjoy impassibility and tran-
quillity of soul.

* I Cor. xiii. 13. [Not without allusion 10 the grand Triad, how-
ever, p. loi, this volume.]

* I Cor. X. 93.
3 I Cor. X. 2

•> I Cor. X. 2A.

* 1 Cor. X. 20, 28, 29, 30, 31.
i 2 Cor.x. 3, 4, 5.

* Col. ui. 12, 14, 15.

CHAP. Vin. — WOMEN AS WELL AS MEN, SLAVES
AS WELL AS FREEMEN, CANDIDATES FOR THE
martyr's CROWN.

Since, then, not only the i^sopians, and Mace-
donians, and the Lacedaemonians endured when
subjected to torture, as Eratosthenes says in his
work. On Things Good and Evil ; but also Zeno
of Elea, when subjected to compulsion to divulge
a secret, held out against the tortures, and con-
fessed nothing ; who, when expiring, bit out his
tongue and spat it at the tyrant, whom some
term Nearchus, and some Demulus. Theodotus
the Pythagorean acted also similarly, and Paulus
the friend of Lacydes, as Timotheus of Perga-
mus says in his work on The Fortitude of Philos-
ophers, and Achaicus in The Ethics. Posthumus
also, the Roman, when captured by Peucetion,
did not divulge a single secret ; but putting his
hand on the fire, held it to it as if to a piece of
brass, without moving a muscle of his face. I
omit the case of Anaxarchus, who exclaimed,
"Pound away at the sack which holds Anax-
archus, for it is not Anaxarchus you are pound-
ing," when by the tyrant's orders he was being
pounded with iron pestles. Neither, then, the
hope of happiness nor the love of God takes
what befalls ill, but remains free, although thrown
among the wildest beasts or into the all-devour-
ing fire ; though racked with a tyrant's tortures.
Depending as it does on the divine favour, it as-
cends aloft unenslaved, surrendering the body
to those who can touch it alone. A barbarous
nation, not cumbered with philosophy, select, it
is said, annually an ambassador to the hero Za-
molxis. Zamolxis was one of the disciples of
Pythagoras. The one, then, who is judged of
the most sterling worth is put to death, to the
distress of those who have practised philosophy,
but have not been selected, at being reckoned
unworthy of a happy service.

So the Church is full of those, as well chaste
women as men, who all their life have contem-
plated the death which rouses up to Christ.^
For the individual whose life is framed as ours is,
may philosophize without Learning, whether bar-
barian, whether Greek, whether slave — whether
an old man, or a boy, or a woman.^ For self-
control is common to all human beings who have
made choice of it. And we admit that the same
nature exists in every race, and the same virtue.
As far as respects human nature, the woman
does not possess one nature, and the man ex-
hibit another, but the same : so also with virtue.
If, consequently, a self-restraint and righteous-
ness, and whatever qualities are regarded as

7 [The Edin. translator says ** courted the death;" but surely
(/meAenfo-aKrwi') the original merely states the condition of Christians
in the second century, " dyine daily," and accepting in daily contem-
plation the very probable death " by which ihcy should glorify God."]

^ [Note the Catholic democracy of Christianity, which levels up
and not downward.]

420

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

following them, is the virtue of the male, it be-
longs to the male alone to be virtuous, and to
the woman to be licentious and unjust. But it
is offensive even to say this. Accordingly woman |
is to practise self-restraint and righteousness,
and every other virtue, as well as man, both bond
and free ; since it is a fit consequence that the
same nature possesses one and the same virtue.'
We do not say that woman's nature is the same
as man's, as she is woman. For undoubtedly it
stands to reason that some difference should
exist between each of them, in virtue of which
one is male and the other female. Pregnancy
and parturition, accordingly, we say belong to
woman, as she is woman, and not as she is a
human being. But if there were no difference be-
tween man and woman, both would do and suffer
the same things. As then there is sameness, as
far as respects the soul, she will attain to the
same virtue ; but as there is difference as re-
spects the peculiar construction of the body, she
is destined for child-bearing and housekeeping.
" For I would have you know," says the apostle,
" that the head of every man is Christ ; and the
head of the woman is the man : for the man is
not of the woman, but the woman of the man.
For neither is the woman without the man, nor
the man without the woman, in the Lord."^
For as we say that the man ought to be conti-
nent, and superior to pleasures ; so also we reckon
that the woman should be continent and prac-
tised in fighting against pleasures. " But I say,
Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts
of the flesh," counsels the apostolic command ;
" for the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the
spirit against the flesh. These, then, are con-
trary " (not as good to evil, but as fighting advan-
tageously), he adds therefore, " so that ye cannot
do the things that ye would. Now the works of
the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication,
uncleanness, profligacy, idolatry, witchcrafts, en-
mities, strifes, jealousies, wrath, contentions,
dissensions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, rev-
ellings, and such like ; of which I tell you be-
fore, as I have also said before, that they which
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
(lod. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, temperance,
goodness, faith, meekness." 3 He calls sinners,
as I think, " flesh," and the righteous " spirit."
Further, manliness is to be assumed in order to
produce confidence and forbearance, so as " to
him that strikes on the one cheek, to give to him
the other ; and to him that takes away the cloak,
to yield to him the coat also," strongly restrain-
ing anger. For we do not train our women like !

' [This vindication of the equality of the sexes is a comment on
what the Gospel found woman's estate, and on what it created for
her among Christians.]

2 I Cor. xi. 3, 8, ii.

^ [Gal. V. i6, 17, 19-23. S.J

Amazons to manliness in war ; since we wish the
men even to be peaceable. I hear that the Sar-
matian women practise war no less than the
men ; and the women of the Sacae besides, who
shoot backwards, feigning flight as well as the
men. I am aware, too, that the women near
Iberia practise manly work and toil, not refrain-
ing from their tasks even though near their de-
livery; but even in the v6ry struggle of her
pains, the woman, on being delivered, taking up
the infant, carries it home. Further, the females
no less than the males manage the house, and
hunt, and keep the flocks : —

" Cressa the hound ran keenly in the stag's track."

Women are therefore to philosophize equally
with men, though the males are preferable at
everything, unless they have become effeminate.*
To the whole human race, then, discipline and
virtue are a necessity, if they would pursue after
happiness. And how recklessly Euripides writes
sometimes this and sometimes that ! On one
occasion, " For every wife is inferior to her
husband, though the most excellent one marr>'
her that is of fair fame." And on another : —

" For the chaste is her husband's slave,
While she that is unchaste in her folly despises her

consort.
.... For nothing is better and more excellent,
Than when as husband and wife ye keep house,
Harmonious in your sentiments."

The ruling power is therefore the head. And if
" the Lord is head of the man, and the man is
head of the woman," the man, " being the im-
age and glory of God, is lord of the woman." s
Wherefore also in the Epistle to the Ephesians
it is written, "Subjecting yourselves one to
another in the fear of God. Wives, submit
yourselves to your own husbands, as to the
Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as
also Christ is the head of the Church ; and He
is the Saviour of the body. Husbands, love
your wives, as also Christ loved the Church. So
also ought men to love their wives as their own
bodies : hp that loveth his wife loveth himself.
For no man ever yet hated his owti flesh." ^
And in that to the Colossians it is said, " Wives,
submit yourselves to your own husbands, as
is fit in the Lord.7 Husbands, love your wives,
and be not bitter against them. Children, obey
your parents in all things ; for this is well pleas-
ing to the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your
children to anger, lest they be discouraged.
Servants, be obedient in all things to those who

•♦ [The Edin. trans, has "best at everything," but I have cor-
rected it in closer accord with the comparative degree in the Greek. ]

i 1 Cor. xi. 3, 7.

* Eph. V. 21-29.

7 [It is a sad token of our times that some women resent this law
of the Christian family. In every society there mtist be presidency
even among equals: and even Christ, though "equal to tKe Father,
in the Catholic theology, is vet subordiaate. See Bull, Defens. fid,^
Nicetn, Works, vol. v. p. 685.]

Chap. IX.J

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

421

are your masters according to the flesh ; not
with eye-service, as men-pleasers ; but with
singleness of heart, fearing the Lx)rd. And
whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as serving the
Lord and not men ; knowing that of the Lord
ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance :
for ye serve the Lord Christ. For the wrong-
doer shall receive the wrong, which he hath
done ; and there is no respect of persons. Mas-
ters, render to your servants justice and equity ;
knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven,
where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circum-
cision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bond, free : but Christ is all, and in all." * And
the earthly Church is the image of the heavenly,
as we pray also " that the will of God may be
done upon the earth as in heaven." ' " Putting
on, therefore, bowels of mercy, gentleness,
humbleness, meekness, long-suffering; forbear-
ing one another, and forgiving one another, if
one have a quarrel against any man ; as also
Christ hath forgiven us, so also let us. And
above all these things put on charity, which is
the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of
(Jod rule in your hearts, to which ye are called
in one body ; and be thankful." 3 For there is
no obstacle to adducing frequently the same
Scripture in order to put Marcion ♦ to the blush,
if perchance he be persuaded and converted ;
by learning that the faithful ought to be grateful
to God the Creator, who hath called us, and
who preached the Gospel in the body. From
these considerations the unity of the faith is
clear, and it is shown who is the perfect man ;
so that though some are reluctant, and offer as
much resistance as they can, though menaced
with punishments at the hand of husband or
master, both the domestic and the wife will
philosophize. Moreover, the free, though
threatened with death at a tyrant's hands, and
brought before the tribunals, and all his sub-
stances imperilled, will by no means abandon
piety ; nor will the wife who dwells with a wicked
husband, or the son if he has a bad father, or
the domestic if he has a bad master, ever fail in
holding nobly to virtue. But as it is noble for a
man to die for virtue, and for liberty, and for
himself, so also is it for a woman. For this is
not peculiar to the nature of males, but to the
nature of the good. Accordingly, both the old
man, the young, and the servant will live faith-
fully, and if need be die ; which will be to be
made ^ive by death. So we know that both
children, and women, and servants have often,
against their fathers', and masters', and hus-

bands' will, reached the highest degree of ex-
cellence. Wherefore those who are determined
to live piously ought none the less to exhibit
alacrity, when some seem to exercise compulsion
on them ; but much more, I think, does it be-
come them to show eagerness, and to strive with
uncommon vigour, lest, being overcome, they
abandon the best and most indispensable coun-
sels. For it does not, I think, admit of com-
parison, whether it be better to be a follower
of the Almighty than to choose the darkness of
demons. For the things which are done by us
on account of others we are to do always,
endeavouring to have respect to those for whose
sake it is proper that they be done, regarding
the gratification rendered in their case, as what
is to be our rule ; but the things which are done
for our own sake rather than that of others, are
to be done with equal earnestness, whether
they are like to please certain people or not.
If some indifferent things have obtained such
honour as to appear worthy of adoption, though
against the will of some ; much more is virtue
to be regarded by us as worth contending for,
looking the while to nothing but what can be
rightly done, whether it seem good to others or
not. Well then, Epicurus, writing to Menoe-
ceus, says, " Let not him who is young delay
philosophizing, and let not the old man grow
weary of philosophizing; for no one is either
not of age or past age for attending to the
health of his soul. And he who says that the
time for philosophizing is not come or is past,
is like the man who says that the time for happi-
ness is not come or has gone. So that young s
as well as old ought to philosophize : the one,
in order that, while growing old, he may grow
young in good things out of favour accruing
from what is past ; and the other, that he may
be at once young and old, from want of fear for
the future."

CHAP. IX. — CHRIST'S SAVINGS RESPECTING MAR-
TYRDOM.

On martyrdom the I^rd hath spoken expli-
citly, and what is written in different places we
bring together. "But I say unto you. Whoso-
ever shall confess in Me before men, the Son of
man also shall confess before the angels of God ;
but whosoever shall deny Me before men, him
will I deny before the angels."^ "WHiosoever
shall be ashamed of Me or of My words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, of him shall
the Son of man also be ashamed when He com-
eth in the glory of His Father with His angels.

* Col. ui. 18-25, *'V' '» *"• 'I*

' Matt. yi. lo.

3 Col. iii. I2-IS. [Atrain let us note this Catholic democracy of
the Christian brotherhood (sec p. 416, supra), for which indeed wc
should he thankful as Christ's freemen. J

-* [Book iii. cap. iii., supra.'\

5 f He who studies the Sapiential books of the Bible and Apocry-
pha and the Sennon on the Mount, is a philosopher of the sort here
commended.]

<» Luke xii. 3.

422

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV

Whosoever therefore shall confess in Me before
men, him will I also confess before my Father
in heaven." ' " And when they bring you before
synagogues, and rulers, and powers, think not
beforehand how ye shall make your defence, or
what ye shall say. For the Holy Spirit shall
teach you in the same hour what ye must say."*
In explanation of this passage, Heracleon, the
most distinguished of the school of Valentinians,
says expressly, "that there is a confession by
faith and conduct, and one with the voice. The
confession that is made with the voice, and before
the authorities, is what the most reckon the only
confession. Not soundly : and hypocrites also
can confess with this confession. But neither
will this utterance be found to be spoken univer-
sally ; for all the saved have confessed with the
confession made by the voice, and departed.^
Of whom are Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi,
and many others. And confession by the lip is
not universal, but partial. But that which He
specifies now is universal, that which is by deeds
and actions corresponding to faitii in Him. This
confession is followed by that which is partial,
that before the authorities, if necessary, and rea-
son dictate. For he will confess rightly with his
voice who has first confessed by his disposition.^
And he has well used, with regard to those who
confess, the expression * in Me,* and applied to
those who deny the expression * Me.* For those,
though they confess Him with the voice, yet
deny Him, not confessing Him in their conduct
But those alone confess ' in Him,' who live in the
confession and conduct according to Him, in
which He also confesses, who is contained in them
and held by them. Wherefore ' He never can
deny Himself.* And those deny Him who are
not in Him. For He said not, ' Whosoever shall
deny * in Me, but * Me.' For no one who is in
Him will ever deny Him. And the expression
* before men * applies both to the saved and the
heathen similarly by conduct before the one, and
by voice before the other. Wherefore they never
can deny Him. But those deny Him who are
not in Him.** So far Heracleon. And in other
things he seems to be of the same sentiments
with us in this section ; but he has not adverted
to this, that if some have not by conduct and
in their life " confessed Christ before men,** they
are manifested to have believed with the heart,
by confessing Him with the mouth at the tribu-
nals, and not denying Him when tortured to
the death. And the disposition being confessed,
and especially not being changed by death at

' Malt. X. 32.

2 Luke xii. 11, xa.

3 [Kom. X. 10. The indifference of our times is based on an
abuse of the principle that God sees the heart, and needs no public
(sacramental) proiession of faith. Had this been Christ's teaching,
there would have been no martyrs and no visible Church to hand down
the faith. J

any time, cuts away all passions which were en-
gendered by corporeal desire. For there is, so
to speak, at the close of life a sudden repentance
in action, and a true confession toward Christ
in the testimony of the voice. But if the Spirit
of the Father testifies in us, how can we be any
more hypocrites, who are said to bear testimony
with the voice alone ? But it will be given to
some, if expedient, to make a defence, that by
their witness and confession all may be benefited
— those in the Church being confirmed, and
those of the heathen who have devoted them-
selves to the search after salvation wondering and
being led to the faith ; and the rest seized with
amazement. So that confession is by all means
necessary ."♦ For it is in our power. But to
make a defence for our faith is not universally
necessary. For that does not depend on us.
" But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.*'
For who of those who are wise would not choose
to reign in God, and even to serve ? So some
" confess that they know God,** according to the
apostle ; " but in works they deny Him, being
abominable and disobedient, and to every good
work reprobate.'* s And these, though they con-
fess nothing but this, will have done at the end
one good work. Their witness, then, appears to
be the cleansing away of sins with glory. For
instance, the Shepherd ^ says : " You will escape
the energy of the wild beast, if your heart become
pure and blameless." Also the Lord Himself
says : " Satan hath desired to sift you ; but I have
prayed.** 7 Alone, therefore, the Lord, for the
purification of the men who plotted against Him
and disbelieved Him, " drank the cup ; ** in imi-
tation of whom the apostles, that they might be
in reality Gnostics, and perfect, suffered for the
Churches which they founded. So, then, also
the Gnostics who tread in the footsteps of the
aposties ought to be sinless, and, out of love to
the Lord, to love also their brother ; so that, if
occasion call, enduring without stumbling, afflic-
tions for the Church, " they may drink the cup.'*
Those who witness in their life by deed, and at
the tribunal by word, whether entertaining hope
or surmising fear, are better than those who con-
fess salvation by their mouth alone. But if one
ascend also to love, he is a really blessed and
true martyr, having confessed perfectly both tc
the commandments and to God, by the Lord :
whom having loved, he acknowledged a brother,
giving himself up wholly for God, resigning pleas-
antly and lovingly the man when asked, like a
deposit.^

* [Absolutely necessary (i.e., open profession of Christ) to the
conversion of otners, and the perpetuation of the Christian Church.

5 Tit, i. i6.

*» [See p. i8, this volume.]

7 Luke xxii. 31, 32.

B [As a reflection of the condition and fidelity of Christians, stifl
" sheep for the slaughter." At such a period the tone and argument A
this touching chapter are suggestive.]

Chak XII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

423

CHAP. X. — THOSE WHO OFFERED THEMSELVES
FOR MARTYRDOM REPROVED.

When, again, He says, " When they persecute
you in this city, flee ye to the other," ' He does
not advise flight, as if persecution were an evil
thing; nor does He enjoin them by flight to
avoid death, as if in dread of it, but wishes us
neither to be the authors nor abettors of any evil
to any one, either to ourselves or the persecutor
and murderer. For He, in a way, bids us take
care of ourselves. But he who disobeys is rash
and foolhardy. If he who kills a man of God
sins against God, he also who presents himself
before the judgment-seat becomes guilty of his
death. And such is also the case with him who
does not avoid persecution, but out of daring
presents himself for capture. Such a one, as far
as in him lies, becomes an accomplice in the
crime of the persecutor. And if he also uses
provocation, he is wholly guilty, challenging the
wild beast. And similarly, if he afford any
cause for conflict or punishment, or retribution
or enmity, he gives occasion for persecution.
Wherefore, then, we are enjoined not to cling to
anything that belongs to this life ; but " to him
that takes our cloak to give our coat," not only
that we may continue destitute of inordinate
affection, but that we may not by retaliating
make our persecutors savage against ourselves,
and stir them up to blaspheme the name.*

CHAP. XI. — THE OBJECTION, WHY DO YOU SUFFER
IF GOD CARES FOR YOU, ANSWERED.

But, say they, if God cares for you, why are
you persecuted and put to death? Has He
delivered you to this? No, we do not suppose
that the Lord wishes us to be involved in calam-
ities, but that He foretold prophetically what
would happen — that we should be persecuted
for His name's sake, slaughtered, and impaled.
So that it was not that He wished us to be per-
secuted, but He intimated beforehand what we
shall suffer by the prediction of what would take
place, training us to endurance, to which He
promised the inheritance, although we are pun-
ished not alone, but along with many. But those,
it is said, being malefactors, are righteously pun-
ished. Accordingly, they unwillingly bear testi-
mony to our righteousness, we being unjustly
punished for righteousness* sake. But the in-
justice of the judge does not affect the providence
of God. For the judge must be master of his
own opinion — not pulled by strings, like inani-
mate machines, set in motion only by external
causes. Accordingly he is judged in respect to
his judgment, as we also, in accordance with our
choice of things desirable, and our endurance.

1 Matt. X. 23.

2 [An exceflent rendering, which the Latin translator misses
[see ed. Migne, atf /oc.), the reference being to Jas. ii. 7. J

Although we do not wrong, yet the judge looks
on us as doing wrong, for he neither knows nor
wishes to know about us, but is influenced by
unwarranted prejudice ; wherefore also he is
judged.3 Accordingly they persecute us, not
from, the supposition that we are wrong-doers,
but imagining that by the very fact of our being
Christians we sin against life in so conducting
ourselves, and exhorting others to adopt the like
life.

But why are you not helped when persecuted ?
say they. What wrong is done us, as far as we
are concerned, in being released by death to go
to the Lord, and so undergoing a change of life,
as if a change from one time of life to another ?
Did we think rightly, we should feel obliged to
those who have afforded the means for speedy
departure, if it is for love that we bear witness ;
and if not, we should appear to the multitude to
be base men. Had they also known the truth,
all would have bounded on to the way, and there
would have been no choice. But our faith, be-
ing the light of the world, reproves unbelief.
" Should Anytus and Melitus kill me, they will
not hurt me in the least ; for I do not think it
right for the better to be hurt by the worse,"
[says Socrates]. So that each one of us may
with confidence say, " The Lord is my helper ;
I will not fear: what shall man do to me?"*
" For the souls of the righteous are in the hand
of the Lord, and no plague shall touch them." s

CHAP. XII. — BASILIDES* IDEA OF MARTYRDOM RE-
FUTED.

Basilides, in the twenty-third book of the JSx-
egeti'cs, respecting those that are punished by
martyrdom, expresses himself in the following
language : " For I say this, Whosoever fall under
the afflictions mentioned, in consequence of un-
consciously transgressing in other matters, are
brought to this good end by the kindness of
Him who brings them, but accused on other
grounds; so that they may not suffer as con-
demned for what are owned to be iniquities, nor
reproached as the adulterer or the murderer, but
because they are Christians ; which will console
them, so that they do not appear to suffer. And
if one who has not sinned at all incur suffering
— a rare case — yet even he will not suffer
aught through the machinations of power, but
will suff*er as the child which seems not to have
sinned would suffer." Then further on he
adds : " As, then, the child which has not sinned
before, or committed actual sin in itself, but has
that which committed sin, when subjected to

5 [Sclf-condemned. A pathetic description of the indifference of
the Roman law to the rights of the people. Pilatcs all were these
judges of Christ's followers or Gallios at best.]

* Ps. cxviii. 6.

5 Wisd. lii. I. [This is pronounced canonical Scripture by the
Trent theology, and yet the same theology asserts a purgatory to
which none but the faithful are committed.J

424

THE STROM ATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

suffering, gets good, reaping the advantage of
many difficulties ; so also, although a perfect
man may not have sinned in act, while he en-
dures afflictions, he suffers similarly with the
child. Having within him the sinful principle,
but not embracing the opportunity of commit-
ting sin, he does not sin ; so that he is not to be
reckoned as not having sinned. For as he who
wishes to commit adultery is an adulterer,
although he does not succeed in committing
adultery ; and he that wishes to commit murder
is a murderer, although he is unable to kill ; so
also, if I see the man without sin, whom I spe-
cify, suffering, though he have done nothing bad,
I should call him bad, on account of his wishing
to sin. For I will affirm anything rather than
call Providence evil." Then, in continuation,
he says expressly concerning the Lord, as con-
cerning man : "If then, passing from all these
obser\'ations, you were to proceed to put me to
shame by saying, perchance impersonating cer-
tain parties. This man has then sinned ; for this
man has suffered ; — if you permit, I will say,
He has not sinned ; but was like a child suffer-
ing. If you were to insist more urgently, I
would say. That the man you name is man, but
that God is righteous : * For no one is pure,' as
one said, * from pollution.* " * But the hypoth-
esis of Basilides* says that the soul, having
sinned before in another life, endures punish-
ment in this — the elect soul with honour by
martyrdom, the other purged by appropriate
punishment. How can this be true, when the
confessing and suffering punishment or not de-
pends on ourselves? For in the case of the
man who shall deny. Providence, as held by
Basilides, is done away with. I will ask him,
then, in the case of a confessor who has been
arrested, whet*her he will confess and be pun-
ished in virtue of Providence or not? For in
the case of denying he will not be punished.
But if, for the sake of escaping and evading the
necessity of punishing such an one, he shall say
that the destruction of those who shall deny is
of Providence, he will be a martyr against his
will. And how any more is it the case, that
there is laid up in heaven the very glorious rec-
ompense to him who has witnessed, for his wit-
nessing? If Providence did not permit the
sinner to get the length of sinning, it is unjust
in both cases ; both in n9t rescuing the man
who is dragged to punishment for righteousness*
sake, and in having rescued him who wished to
do wrong, he having done it as far as volition
was concerned, but [Providence] having pre-
vented the deed, and unjustly favoured the sin-

* lob xiv. 4. ^

2 [This exposition of Basilides is noteworthy. It is vcrj' doubt-
ful, whether, even in poctrj', the Platonic idea of pre-c\isience should
be encouraged by Chrisiians, as, e.g., in ih-^t sublimest of modern
lyrics, Word:»worih's ode on Immortality and Chr,dlu>od.\

ner. And how impious, in deifying the devil,
and in daring to call the Lord a sinful man !
For the devil tempting us, knowing what we are,
but not knowing if we will hold out, but wishing
to dislodge us from the faith, attempts also to
bring us into subjection to himself. Which is
all that is allowed to him, partly from the neces-
sity of saving us, who have taken occasion from
the commandment, from ourselves ; partly for
the confusion of him who has tempted and
failed ; for the confirmation of the members of
the Church, and the conscience of those who
admire the constancy [displayed]. But if mar-
tyrdom be retribution by way of punishment,
then also faith and doctrine, on account of
which martyrdom comes, are co-operators in
punishment — than which, what other absurdity
could be greater ? But with reference to these
dogmas, whether the soul is changed to another
body, also of the devil, at the proper time men-
tion will be made. But at present, to what has
been already said, let us add the following:
Where any more is faith in the retribution of
sins committed before martyrdom takes place ?
And where is love to God, which is persecuted
and endures for the truth? And where is the
praise of him who has confessed, or the censure
of him who has denied? And for what use is
right conduct, the mortification of the lusts, and
the hating of no creature ? But if, as Basilides
himself says, we suppose one part of the de-
clared will of God to be the loving of all things
because all things bear a relation to the Whole,
and another " not to lust after anything," and
a third " not to hate anything," by the will of
God these also will be punishments, which it
were impious to think. For neither did the
Lord suffer by the will of the Father, nor are
those who are persecuted persecuted by the
will of God ; since either of two things is the
case : either persecution in consequence of
the will of God is a good thing, or those who
decree and afflict are guiltless. But nothing is
without the will of the Lord of the univen>e.
It remains to say that such things happen with-
out the prevention of God ; for this alone saves
lx)th the providence and the goodness of Ciod.
We must not therefore think that He activel)
produces afflictions (far be it that we should
think this !) \ but we must be persuaded that
He does not prevent those that cause them, but
overrules for good the crimes of His enemies :
" I will therefore," He says, " destroy the wall,
and it shall be for treading under foot." ^ I^ov-
idence being a disciplinary art ; * in the case of
others for each individual's sins, and in the case
of the Lord and His aposdes for ours. To thi>

^ Isa. V. 5.

* The text has iroiSevTir^y Tev'''?^ "^ Tocafie, for which Sylbur-
. gius suggests roiao'de, as translated above.

Chap. XIII.]

T.HE.\STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

425

...4-

point says the divine apostle : " For this is the
will of God, even your sanctification, that ye
abstain from fornication : that each one of you
should know how to possess his vessel in sancti-
fication and honour ; not in the lust of concu-
piscence, as the Gentiles who know not the
Ix)rd : that none of you should overreach or
take advantage of his brother in any matter;
because the Lord is the avenger in respect of
all such, as we also told you before, and testi-
fied. For God hath not called us unto un-
cleanness, but to holiness. Wherefore he that
despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who
hath also given His Holy Spirit to you." '
AVTierefore the Lord was not prohibited from
this sanctification of ours. If, then, one of them
were to say, in reply, that the martyr is pun-
ished for sins committed before this embodying,
and that he will again reap the fruit of his con-
duct in this life, for that such are the arrange-
ments of the [divine administration], we shall
ask him if the retribution takes place by Prov-
idence. For if it be not of the divine admin-
istration, the economy of expiations is gone,
and their hypothesis falls to the ground ; but if
expiations are by Providence, punishments are
by Providence too. But Providence, although
it begins, so to speak, to move with the Ruler,
yet is implanted in substances along with their
origin by the God of the universe. Such being
the case, they must confess either that punish-
ment is not just, and those who condemn and
persecute the martyrs do right, or that persecu-
tions even are wrought by the will of God.
Labour and fear are not, then, as they say, inci-
dent to affairs as rust to iron, but come upon
the soul through its own will. And on these
points there is much to say, which will be re-
served for future consideration, taking them up
in due course.

CHAP. XIII. — VALENTINIAN'S VAGARIES ABOUT THE
ABOUTIGN OF DEATH REFUTED.

Valentinian, in a homily, writes in these
words : "Ye are originally immortal, and chil-
dren of eternal life, and ye would have death
distributed to you, that ye may spend and lavish
it, and that death may die in you and by you ;
for when we dissolve the world, and are not
yourselves dissolved, ye have dominion over
creation and all corruption." For he also, simi-
larly with Basilides, supposes a class saved by
nature, and that this different race has come
hither to us from above for the abolition of
death, and that the origin of death is the work of
the Creator of the world. Wherefore also he so
expounds that Scripture, " No man shall see the
face of God, and Uve," as if He were the cause

* I Thess. iv. 3-8.

of death. Respecting this God, he makes those
allusions when writing in these expressions :
" As much as the image is inferior to the living
face, so much is the world inferior to the living
^on. What is, then, the cause of the image?
The majesty of the face, which exhibits the fig-
ure to the painter, to be honoured by his name ;
for the form is not found exactly to the life,
but the name supplies what is wanting in the
effigy. The invisibility of God co-operates also
in order to the faith of that which has been
fashioned." For the Creator, called God and
Father, he designated as " Painter," and " Wis-
dom," whose image that which is formed is, to
the glory of the invisible One ; since the things
which proceed from a pair are complements,
and those which proceed from one are images.
But since what is seen is no part of Him, the
soul comes from what is intermediate, which is
different ; and this is the inspiration of the dif-
ferent spirit, and generally what is breathed into
the soul, which is the image of thfe spirit. And
in general, what is said of the Creator, who was
made according to the image, they say was fore-
told by a sensible image in the book of Genesis
respecting the origin of man ; and the likeness
they transfer to themselves, teaching that the
addition of the different spirit was made, un-
known to the Creator. VVhen, then, we treat
of the unity of the God who is proclaimed in
the law, the prophets, and the Gospel, we shall
also discuss this ; for the topic is supreme.'
But we must advance to that which is urgent.
If for the purpose of doing away with death the
peculiar race has come, it is not Christ who has
abolished death, unless He also is said to be of
the same essence with them. And if He abol-
ished it to this end, that it might not touch the
peculiar race, it is not these, the rivals of the
Creator, who breathe into the image of their
intermediate spirit the life from above — in
accordance with the principle of their dogma —
that abolish death. But should they say that
this takes place by His mother,^ or should they
say that they, along with Christ, war against
death, let them own their secret dogma that
they have the hardihood to assail the divine
power of the Creator, by setting to rights His
creation, as if they were superior, endeavouring
to save the vital image which He was not able to
rescue from corruption. Then the Lord would
be superior to God the Creator; for the son
would never contend with the father, especially
among the gods. But the point that the Crea-
tor of all things, the omnipotent Lord, is the
Father of the Son, we have deferred till the dis-
cussion of these points, in which we have under-

2 [Kaye, p. 322.]

3 [See the Valentinian jargon about the Demiurge (rival of the
true Creator), in Irenaeus, vol. i. p. 39a, this series.]

426

THE STROMATA, OR MISCEL

taken to dispute against the heresies, showing
that He alone is the God proclaimed by Him,

But the apostle, writing to us with reference
to the endurance of afflictions, says, " And this
is of God, that it is given to you on behalf of
Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to
suffer for His sake ; having the same conflict
which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
If there is therefore any consolation in Christ, if
any comfort of love, if any communion of spirit,
if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that
ye may be of the same mind, having the same
love, unanimous, thinking one thing. And if he
is offered on the sacrifice and service of faith,
joying and rejoicing " * with the Philippians, to.
whom the apostle speaks, calling them " fellow-
partakers of joy," ' how does he say that they
are of one soul, and having a soul ? Likewise,
also, writing respecting Timothy and himself, he
says, " For I have no one like-souled, who will
nobly care for your state. For all seek their
own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's." 3

Let not the above-mentioned people, then,
call us, by way of reproach, "natural men"
{{j/vxtKOi)f nor the Phrygians* either; for these
now call those who do not apply themselves to
the new prophecy "natural men" (ilntxtKol),
with whom we shall discuss in our remarks on
" Prophecy." s The perfect man ought therefore
to practise love, and thence to haste to the
divine friendship, fulfilling the commandments
from love. And loving one's enemies does not
mean loving wickedness, or impiety, or adultery,
or theft; but the thief, the impious, the adul-
terer, not as far as he sins, and in respect of the
actions by which he stains the name of man, but
as he is a man, and the work of God. Assuredly
sin is an activity, not an existence : and there-
fore it is not a work of God. Now sinners are
called enemies of God — enemies, that is, of the
commands which they do not obey, as those who
obey become friends, the one named so from
their fellowship, the others from their estrange-
ment, which is the result of free choice ; for there
is neither enmity nor sin without the enemy and
the sinner. And the command " to covet noth-
ing," not as if the things to be desired did not
belong to us, does not teach us not to entertain
desire, as those suppose who teach that the Crea-
tor is different from the first God, not as if crea-
tion was loathsome and bad (for such opinions
are impious) . But we say that the things of the
world are no/ our owtiy not as if they were mon-
strous, not as if they did not belong to God, the
Lord of the universe, but because we do not

' Phil, i, 2Q, ^o, u. I, a. 17.

2 Phil. i. 7. "

3 Phil. ii. 30, ax. «
* [Kayc, p. 405.]

s [The valuable note of Routh, on a fragment of Melito, should
be consulted Reliquiee^ vol. i. p. 140.]

[Book IV

continue among them for ever ; being, in respect
of possession, not ours, and passing from one to
another in succession,; but belonging to us, for
whom they were made in respect of use, so long
as it is necessary to continue with them. In
accordance^ therefore, with natural appetite,
things disallowed are to be used rightly, avoiding
all excess and inordinate affection.

CHAP. XIV. — THE LOVE OF AU., EVEN OF OUR

ENEMIES.

How great also is benignity ! " Love your
enemies," it is said, " bless them who curse you,
and pray for them who despitefully use you," ^
and the like; to which it is added, "that ye
may be the children of your Father who is in
heaven," in allusion to resemblance to God.
Again, it is said, " Agree with thine adversary
quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him." '
The adversary is not the body, as some would
have it, but the devil, and those assimilated to
him, who walks along with us in the person of
men, who emulate his deeds in this earthly life.
It is inevitable, then, that those who confess
themselves to belong to Christ, but find them-
selves in the midst of the devil's works, suffer
the most hostile treatment. For it is written,
"Lest he deliver thee to the judge, and the
judge deliver thee to the officers of Satan's king-
dom." "For I am persuaded that neither
death," through the assault of persecutors, " nor
life " in this world, " nor angels," the apostate
ones, " nor powers " (and Satan's power is the
life which he chose, for such are the powers and
principalities of darkness belonging to him),
" nor things present," amid which we exist dur-
ing the time of life, as the hope entertained by
the soldier, and the merchant's gain, " nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature," in conse-
quence of the energy proper to a man, — op-
poses the faith of him who acts according to free
choice. " Creature " is synonymous with ac-
tivity, being our work, and such activity " shall
not be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." * You have
got a compendious account of the gnostic martyr.

CHAP. XV. — ON AVOIDING OFFENCE.

"We know that we all have knowledge" —
common knowledge in common things, and the
knowledge that there is one God. For he was
writing to believers ; whence he adds, *' But
knowledge {gnosis) is not in all," being commu-
nicated to few. And there are those who say that
the knowledge about things sacrificed to idols is
not promulgated among all, " lest our liberty
prove a stumbling-block to- the weak. For by

6 Matt. V. 44, 43.

7 Matt. V. 25.

* Kora. vJii. 38, 39.

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

427

thy knowledge he that is weak is destroyed. " '
Should they say, "Whatsoever is sold in the
shambles, ought that to be bought?" adding, by
way of interrogation, " asking no questions," ^ as
if equivalent to "asking questions," they give a
ridiculous interpretation. For the apostle says,
'" All other things buy out of the shambles, ask-
ing no questions," with the exception of the
things mentioned in the Catholic epistle of all
the apostles,3 "with the consent of the Holy
Ghost," which is written in the Acts of the Apos-
tles, and conveyed to the faithful by the hands
of Paul himself For they intimated " that they
must of necessity abstain from things offered to
idols, and from blood, and from things strangled,
and from fornication, from which keeping them-
selves, they should do well." It is a different
matter, then, which is expressed by the apostle :
*• Have we not power to eat and to drink ? Have
we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as
the rest of the apostles, as the brethren of the
Lord and Cephas ? But we have not used this
power," he says, "but bear all things, lest we
should occasion hindrance to the Gospel of
Christ ; " namely, by bearing about burdens,
when it was necessary to be untrammelled for all
things ; or to become an example to those who
wish to exercise temperance, not encouraging
each other to eat greedily of what is set before us,
and not to consort inconsiderately with woman.
And especially is it incumbent on those entrusted
with such a dispensation to exhibit to disciples
a pure example. " For though I be free from
all men, I have made myself servant to all,"
it is said, "that I might gain all. And every
one that striveth for mastery is temperate in all
things." ^ " But the earth is the Lord's, and the
fulness thereof." 5 For conscience* sake, then,
we are to abstain from what we ought to abstain.
" Conscience, I say, not his own," for it is en-
dued with knowledge, " but that of the other,"
lest he be trained badly, and by imitating in
ignorance what he knows not, he become a
despiser instead of a strong-minded man. " For
why is my liberty judged of by another con-
science ? For if I by grace am a partaker, why
am I evil spoken of for that for which I give
thanks? Whatever ye do, do all to the glory of
God"^ — what you are commanded to do by
the rule of faith.

CHAP. XVI. — PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE RESPECTING
THE CONSTANCY", PATIENCE, AND LOVE OF THE
MARTYRS.

** With the heart man believeth unto righteous-

' I Cor. viii. i, 7, 9, xi.

* I Cor. X. 25.

^ Acts XV. 24, etc.

* 1 Cor. ix. 19-25.
' 1 Cor. X. 26.

* I Cor. X. 28-31.

ness, and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. Wherefore the Scripture saith. Who-
soever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed ;
that is, the word of faith which we preach : for
if thou confess the word with thy mouth that
Jesus is Lord, and believe in thy heart that God
hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." ' There is clearly described the perfect
righteousness, fulfilled boUi in practice and con-
templation. Wherefore we are " to bless those
who persecute us. Bless, and curse not." ® " For
our rejoicing is this, the testimony of a good con-
science, that in holiness and sincerity we know
God " by this inconsiderable instance exhibiting
the work of love, that " not in fleshly wisdom, but
by the grace of God, we have had our conversa-
tion in the world." 9 So far the apostle respect-
ing knowledge \ and in the second Epistle to the
Corinthians he calls the common " teaching of
faith " the savour of knowledge. " For unto this
day the same veil remains on many in the read-
ing of the Old Testament," »** not being uncovered
by turning to the Lord. Wherefore also to those
capable of perceiving he showed resurrection,
that of the life still in the flesh, creeping on its
belly. Whence also he applied the name " brood
of vipers " to the voluptuous, who serve the belly
and the pudenda, and cut off" one another's
heads for the sake of worldly pleasures. " Little
children, let us not love in word, or in tongue,"
says John, teaching them to be perfect, " but in
deed and in truth ; hereby shall we know that
we are of the truth." " And if " God be love,"
piety also is love : " there is no fear in love ; but
perfect love casteth out fear." " " This is the
love of God, that we keep His commandments." '3
And again, to him who desires to become a Gnos-
tic, it is written, " But be thou an example of
the believers, in word, in conversation, in love,
in faith, in purity." '* For perfection in faith
differs, I think, from ordinary faith. And the
divine apostle furnishes the rule for the Gnostic
in these words, writing as follows : " For I have
learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content.
I know both how to be abased, and I know how
to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am
instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both
to abound and to lack. I can do all things
through Him who strengtheneth me." '5 And also
when discussing with others in order to put them,
to shame, he does not shrink from saying, " But
call to mind the former days, in which, after ye
were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of

^ Rom. X lo, II, 8, 9.

^ Rom. xii. 14.

9 2 Cor, i. 12.
^° 2 Cor. Hi. 14.
*' I John iii. 18, ic

John

IV.

le, 19.
16, 18.

X John V. 3.
** I Tim. iv. 12.
*S Phil. iv. 11-13.

428

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

afflictions ; partly, whilst ye were made a gazing-
stocky both by reproaches and afflictions ; and
partly, whilst ye became companions of them
that were so used. For ye had compassion of
me in my bonds, and took with joy the spoiling
of your goods, knowing that you have a better
and enduring substance. Cast not away there-
fore your confidence, which hath great recom-
pense of reward. For ye have need of patience,
that, after doing the will of God, ye may obtain
the promise. For yet a little while, and He that
Cometh will come, and will not tarry. Now the
just shall live by faith : and if any man draw back,
my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we
are not of them that draw back unto perdition,
but of them that believe to the saving of the
soul."' He then brings forward a swarm of di-
vine examples. For was it not " by faith," he
says, this endurance, that they acted nobly who
''had trial of mockeries and scourgings, and,
moreover, of bonds and imprisonments? They
were stoned, they were tempted, were slain with
the sword. They wandered about in sheep-skins
and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, torment-
ed, of whom the world was not worthy. They
wandered in deserts, in mountains, in dens, and
caves of the earth. And all having received a
good report, through faith, received not the
promise of God " (what is expressed by a para-
siopesis is left to be understood, viz., "alone ").
He adds accordingly, " God having provided
some better thing for us (for He was good), that
they should not without us be made perfect.
Wherefore also, having encompassing us such a
cloud," holy and transparent, " of witnesses, lay-
ing aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, let us run with patience the race
set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith." * Since, then, he specifies
one salvation in Christ of the righteous,^ and of us
he has expressed the former unambiguously, and
saying nothing less respecting Moses, adds, " Es-
teeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than
the treasures of Egypt ; for he had respect to the
recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook
Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king : for he
endured as seeing Him who is invisible." * The
divine Wisdom says of the martyrs, "They seemed
in the eyes of the foolish to die, and their depart-
ure was reckoned a calamity, and their migration
from us an affliction. But they are in peace.
For thoug:h in the sight of men they were pun-
ished, their hope was full of immortality." s He
then adds, teaching martyrdom to be a glorious
purification, " And l)eing chastened a little, they
shall be benefited much ; because God proved

* Heb. X. 3a-3q.

2 Hcb. xi. 36-40. xii. 1, 2.

^ Who livetl l>cf()rc Christ. [Moses was a Christian.]

* Heb. xi. 26. 27. [.Moses suffered " the reproach of Christ."]
5 WimI. iii. 2, 3, 4.

them," that is, suffered them to be tried, tc
put them to the proof, and to put to shame the
author of their trial, "and found them worthy
of Himself," plainly to be called sons. " As gold
in the furnace He proved them, and as a whole
burned-offering of sacrifice He accepted them.
And in the time of their visitation they will
shine forth, even as sparks run along the stubble.
They shall judge the nations, and rule over the
peoples, and the Lord shall reign over them for-

ever.

»»6

CHAP. XVII. — PASSAGES FROM CLEMENT'S EPISTLE
TO THE CORINTHIANS ON NLARTYRDOM.

Moreover, in the Epistle to the Corinthians,
the Apostle ^ Clement also, drawing a picture of
the Gnostic, says : ^ " For who that has sojourned
among you has not proved your perfect and firm
faith? and has not admired your sound and
gentle piety? and has not celebrated the munifi-
cent style of your hospitality? and has not fe-
licitated your complete and sure knowledge?
For ye did all things impartially, and walked in
the ordinances of God ; " and so forth.

Then more clearly : " Let us fix our eyes on
those who have yielded perfect service to Hij>
magnificent glory. Let us take Enoch, who.
being by his obedience found righteous, was
translated ; and Noah, who, having believed,
was saved ; and Abraham, who for his faith and
hospitality was called the friend of God, and was
the father of Isaac." " For hospitality and piet\'.
Lot was saved from Sodom." " For faith and
hospitality, Rahab the harlot was saved." " From
patience and faith they walked about in goat-
skins, and sheep-skins, and folds of camels* hair,
proclaiming the kingdom of Christ. We name
His prophets Elias, and Eliseus, and Ezekiel,
and John."

" For Abraham, who for his free faith was
called *the friend of God,* was not elated by
glory, but modestly said, *I am dust and ashes.' '
And of Job it is thus written : * Job was just and
blameless, true and pious, abstaining from ail
evil.' *' '° He it was who overcame the tempter
by patience, and at once testified and was testi-
fied to by God; who keeps hold of humility,
and says, " No one is pure from defilement, not
even if his life were but for one day.** " " Moses.
' the servant who was faithful in all his house.'
said to Him who uttered the oracles from the
bush, ' Who ani I, that Thou sendest me ? I am
slow of speech, and of a stammering tongue,* t«>
minister the voice of God in human speech.
And again : * I am smoke from a pot.* " *• For

^ Wisd. iii. 5, 6, 7, 8.

7 [The use of ihis title is noticeable here, oa many accounts, i»
historic]

* [Sec vol. i. p. 5-11, ct seqq. S.]

9 (Icn. xviii. 27.
»o Job i. I,
'* Job xiv. 4, 5, Sept.

Chap. XVIH.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

429

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the
humble." '

" David too, of whom the Lord, testifying,
says, * I found a man after my own heart, David
the son of Jesse. With my holy oil I anointed
him.' * But he also says to God, ' Pity me, O
God, according to Thy mercy; and according
to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from
mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For
I know my transgression, and my sin is ever be-
fore me.' " 3 Then, alluding to sin which is not
subject to the law, in the exercise of the mod-
eration of true knowledge, he adds, "Against
Thee only have I sinned, and done evil in Thy
sight.*'* For the Scripture somewhere says,
"The Spirit of the Lord is a lamp, searching the
recesses of the belly." 5 And the more of a
Gnostic a man becomes by doing right, the
nearer is the illuminating Spirit to him. " Thus
the Lord draws near to the righteous, and
none of the thoughts and reasonings of which
we are the authors escape Him — I mean the
Lord Jesus," the scrutinizer by His omnipotent
will of our heart, "whose blood was consecrated^
for us. Let us therefore respect those who are
over us, and reverence the elders ; let us honour
the young, and let us teach the discipline of
God." For blessed is he who shall do and
teach the Lord's commands worthily ; and he is
of a magnanimous mind, and of a mind contem-
plative of truth. " Let us direct our wives to
what is good ; let them exhibit," says he, " the
lovable disposition of chastity; let them show
the guileless will of their meekness; let them
manifest the gentleness of their tongue by si-
lence ; let them give their love not according to
their inclinations, but equal love in sanctity to all
that fear God. Let our children share in the
discipline that is in Christ ; let them learn what
humility avails before God ; what is the power
of holy love before God, how lovely and great is
the fear of the Lord, saving all that walk in it
holily, with a pure heart : for He is the Searcher
of the thoughts and sentiments, whose breath is
in us, and when He wills He will take it away."

" Now all those things are confirmed by the
faith that is in Christ. *Come, ye children,'
says the Lord, * hearken to me, and I will teach
you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man that
desireth life, that loveth to see good days?' 7
Then He subjoins the gnostic mystery of the
numbers seven and eight. 'Stop thy tongue
from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace,

* Jas. iv. 6; i Pet. v. 5,
^ Ps. Ixxxix. 21.

» Ps. H. 1-4.

* Ps. li. 6.

' PrOV, XX. 27.

^ wyt'OtrBri. Clemens Romanus has iS6$Ji. [Vol. i. p. i x , this series. ]

7 T*Wt. WViV T^

a:nd pursue it.' * For in these words He alludes
to knowledge (gnosis) , with abstinence from
evil and the doing of what is good, teaching
that it is to be perfected by word and deed.
* The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and
His ears are to their prayer. But the face of
God is against those that do evil, to root out
their memory from the earth. The righteous
cried, and the Lord heard, and delivered him
out of all his distresses.' ^ * Many are the stripes
of sinners ; but those who hope in the Lord,
mercy shall compass about.' " *° "A multitude
of mercy," he nobly says, " surrounds him that
trusts in the Lord."

For it is written in the Epistle to the Corin-
thians, "Through Jesus Christ our foolish and
darkened mind springs up to the light. By Him
the Sovereign Lord wished us to taste the knowl-
edge that is immortal." And, showing more ex-
pressly the peculiar nature of knowledge, he
added : " These things, then, being clear to us,
looking into the depths of divine knowledge, we
ought to do all things in order which the Sover-
eign Lord commanded us to perform at the ap-
pointed seasons. Let the wise man, then, show
his wisdom not in words only, but in good deeds.
Let the humble not testify to himself^ but allow
testimony to be borne to him by another. Let
not him who is pure in the flesh boast, knowing
that it is another who furnishes him with con-
tinence. Ye see, brethren, that the more we are
subjected to peril, the more knowledge are we
counted worthy of."

CHAP. XVIII. — ON LOVE, AND THE REPRESSING OF

OUR DESIRES.

" The decorous tendency of our philanthropy,
therefore," according to Clement, "seeks the
common good ; " whether by suffering martyr-
dom, or by teaching by deed and word, — the
latter being twofold, unwritten and written. This
is love, to love God and our neighbour. " This
conducts to the height which is unutterable."
' Love covers a multitude of sins." Love beareth
all things, suffereth all things.' '^ Love joins us
to God, does all things in concord. In love, all
the chosen of God were perfected. Apart from
love, nothing is well pleasing to God." " Of its
perfection there is no unfolding," it is said.
**' Who is fit to be found in it, except those whom
God counts worthy ? " To the point the Apostle
Paul speaks, " If I give my body, and have not
love, I am sounding brass, and a tinkling cym-
bal." *^ If it is not from a disposition determined
by gnostic love that I shall testify, he means ;

* Ps. xxxiv. 13, 14.

9 Ps. xxxiv. 15-X7.
*o Ps. XXX ii. 10.
" rSce vol. i. p. 18. S.l
** Jas. V. 20; 1 Pet. iv. 8.
'3 I Cor. xiii. 7.
^* I Cor. xiii. i, 3.

430

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

but if through fear and expected reward, mov-
ing my lips in order to testify to the Lord that I
shall confess the Lord, I am a common man,
sounding the Lord's name, not knowing Him.
" For there is the people that loveth with the
lips ; and there is another which gives the body
to be burned." " And if I give all my goods in
alms," he says, not according to the principle of
loving communication, but on account of rec-
ompense, either from him who has received the
benefit, or the Lord who has promised ; " and if
I have all faith so as to remove mountains," and
cast away obscuring passions, and be not faithful
to the Lord from love, " I am nothing," as in
comparison of him who testifies as a Gnostic,
and the crowd, and being reckoned nothing better.

" Now all the generations fi*om Adam to this
day are gone. But they who have been per-
fected in love, through the grace of God, hold
the place of the godly, who shall be manifested
at the visitation of the kingdom of Christ."
Love permits not to sin ; but if it fall into any
such case, by reason of the interference of the
adversary, in imitation of David, it will sing : " I
' %ill confess unto the Lord, and it will please Him
above a young bullock that has horns and hoofs.
Let the poor see it, and be glad." For he says,
" Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay
to the Lord thy vows ; and call upon me in the
day of trouble, and I ^^-ill deliver thee, and thou
shalt glorify me." ' " For the sacrifice of God
is a broken spirit." '

"God," then, being good, "is love," it is
said.3 Whose " love worketh no ill to his neigh-
bour," * neither injuring nor revenging ever, but,
in a word, doing good to all according to the
image of God. " Love is," then, " the fulfilling
of the law ; " * like as Christ, that is the presence
of the Lord who loves us ; and our loving teach-
ing of, and discipline according to Christ. By
love, then, the commands not to commit adul-
tery, and not to covet one's neighbour's wife, are
fulfilled, [these sins being] formerly prohibited
by fear.

The same work, then, presents a difference,
according as it is done by fear, or accomplished
by love, and is wrought by faith or by knowl-
edge. Rightly, therefore, their rewards are dif-
ferent. To the Gnostic " are prepared what
eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath en-
tered into the heart of man ; " but to him who
has exercised simple faith He testifies a hundred-
fold in return for what he has left, — a promise
which has turned out to fall ^dthin human com-
prehension.

Come to this point, I recollect one who called

» Ps. 1. 14, 15.
a Ps. li. 17.
3 X John iv 8. 16.
* Rom. xiii. 10.

himself a Gnostic. For, expounding the words,
" But I say unto you, he that looketh on a woman
to lust after,- hath committed adultery," s he
thought that it was not bare desire that was con-
demned ; but if through the desire the act that
results from it proceeding beyond the desire is
accomplished in it. For dream employs phan-
tasy and the body. Accordingly, the historian^
relate the following decision of Bocchoris the
just.^ A youth, falling in love with a courtezan,
persuades the girl, for a stipulated reward, to
come to him next day. But his desire being
unexpectedly satiated, by laying hold of the girl
in a dream, by anticipation, when the object of
his love came according to stipulation, he pro-
hibited her from coming in. But she, on learning
what had taken place, demanded the reward.
sa3ring that in this way she had sated the lover's
desire. They came accordingly to the judge.
He, ordering the youth to hold out the purse
containing the reward in the sun, bade the
courtezan take hold of the shadow ; facetiously
bidding him pay the image of a reward for the
image of an embrace.

Accordingly one dreams, the soul assenting to
the vision. But he dreams waking, who looks
so as to lust ; not only, as that Gnostic said, if
along with the sight of the woman he imagine
in his mind intercourse, for this is already the
act of lust, as lust ; but if one looks on Ijeauiy
of person (the Word says), and the flesh seem
to him in the way of lust to be fair, looking on
carnally and sinfully, he is judged because he
admired. For, on the other hand, he who in
chaste love looks on beauty, thinks not that the
flesh is beautiful, but the spirit, admiring, as I
judge, the body as an image, by whose beaut)*
he transports himself to the Artist, and to the
true beauty ; exhibiting the sacred symbol, the
bright impress of righteousness to the angels
that wait on the ascension ; ^ I mean the unction
of acceptance, the quality of disposition which
resides in the soul that is gladdened by the
communication of the Holy Spirit. This glor>-.
which shone forth on the face of Moses, the
people could not look on. Wherefore he took a
veil for the glory, to those who looked carnally.
For those, who demand toll, detain those who
bring in any worldly things, who are burdened
with their own passions. But him that is free
of all things which are subject to duty, and is
full of knowledge, and of the righteousness of
works, they pass on with their good wishes,
blessing the man with his work. " And his life
shall not fall away " — the leaf of the living tree
that is nourished " by the water-courses." * Now

Matt. Y. 28.
fOr. •• the Wise.

7 I.e., of blessed souls.

8 P». i. 3.

See Rawlinson, HerodohUy n. p. 317.]

Chap. XIX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

431

the righteous is likened to fruit-bearing trees,
and not only to such as are of the nature » of
tall-growing ones. And in the sacrificial obla-
tions, according to the law, there were those
who looked for blemishes in the sacrifices.
They who are skilled in such matters distinguish
propension * (opc^c^) from lust {imBvfjUa) ; and
assign the latter, as being irrational, to pleasures
and licentiousness ; and propension, as being a
rational movement, they assign to the necessities
of nature.

CHAP. XIX. — WOMEN AS WELL AS MEN CAPABLE

OF PERFECTION.

In this perfection it is possible for man and
woman equally to share. It is not only Moses,
then, that heard from God, " I have spoken to
thee once, and twice, saying, I have seen this
people, and lo, it is stifif-necked. Suffer me to
exterminate them, and blot out their name from
under heaven ; and I will make thee into a great
and wonderful nation much greater than this ; "
who answers not regarding himself, but the com-
mon salvation : " By no means, O Lord ; forgive
this people their sin, or blot me out of the book
of the living." ^ How great was his perfection,
in wishing to die together with the people, rather
than be saved alone !

But Judith too, who became perfect among
women, in the siege of the city, at the entreaty
of the elders went forth into the strangers' camp,
despising all danger for her country's sake, giving
herself into the enemy's hand in faith in God ;
and straightway she obtained the reward of her
faith, — though a woman, prevailing over the
enemy of her faith, and gaining possession of
the head of Holofemes. And again, Esther per-
fect by faith, who rescued Israel from the power
of the king and the satrap's cruelty : a woman
alone, afflicted with fastings,* held back ten
thousand armed ^ hands, annulling by her faith
the tyrant's decree ; him indeed she appeased,
Haman she restrained, and Israel she preserved
scathless by her perfect prayer to God. I pass
over in silence Susanna and the sister of Moses,
since the latter was the prophet's associate in
commanding the host, being superior to all the
women among the Hebrews who were in repute
for their wisdom ; and the former in her surpass-
ing modesty, going even to death condemned by
licentious admirers, remained the unwavering
martyr of chastity.

Dion, too, the philosopher, tells that a certain
woman Lysidica, through excess of modesty,

' The text has Bvaiavt for which il>vaiv has been suggested as
pn^bly the tnxe reading.

2 ofK^iK the Stoics define to be a desire agreeable to reason ;
ivi^fiia, a desire contrary to reason.

3 Ex. xxxii. o, 10, 3a.

4 So rendered by the Latin translator, as if the reading were tc0>

s Sylbuiguis' conjecture of wvXMr^cya^ instead of 6irAt<raMcyac
is here adopted.

bathed in her clothes ; and that Philotera, when
she was to enter the bath, gradually drew back
her tunic as the water covered the naked parts ;
and then rising by degrees, put it on. And did
not Lesena of Attica manfiilly bear the torture ?
She being privy to the conspiracy of Harmodius
and Aristogeiton against Hipparchus, uttered not
a word, though severely tortured. And they say
that the Argolic women, under the guidance of
Telesilla the poetess, turned to flight the doughty
Spartans by merely showing themselves ; and
that she produced in them fearlessness of death.
Similarly speaks he who composed the Danais
respecting the daughters of Danaus : —

" And then the daughters of Danaus swiftly armed them-
selves,
Before the fair-flowing river, majestic Nile ; "

and so forth.

And the rest of the poets sing of Atalanta's
swiftness in the chase, of Anticlea's love for
children, of Alcestis's love for her husband, of
the courage of Makseria and of the Hyacinthides.
What shall I say ? Did not Theano the Pytha-
gorean make such progress in philosophy, that
to him who looked intently at her, and said,
" Your arm is beautiful," she answered " Yes,
but it is not public." Characterized by the same
propriety, there is also reported the following
reply .^ When asked when a woman after being
with her husband attends the Thesmophoria,
said, " From her own husband at once, from a
stranger never." Themisto too, of Lampsacus,
the daughter of Zoilus, the wife of Leontes of
Lampsacus, studied the Epicurean philosophy,
as Myia the daughter of Theano the Pythago-
rean, and Arignote, who wrote the history of
Dion3rsius.

And the daughters of Diodorus, who was
called Kronus, all became dialecticians, as Philo
the dialectician says in the Menexenus, whose
names are mentioned as follows — Menexene,
Argia, Theognis, Artemesia, Pantaclea. I also
recollect a female Cynic, — she was called
Hipparchia, a Maronite, the wife of Crates, — in
whose case the so-called dog-wedding was cele-
brated in the Poecile. Arete of Cyrene, too, the
daughter of Aristippus, educated her son Aristip-
pus, who was surnamed Mother-taught. Las-
theneia of Arcis, and Axiothea of Phlius, studied
philosophy with Plato. Besides, Aspasia of
Miletus, of whom the writers of comedy write
much, was trained by Socrates in philosophy, by
Pericles in rhetoric. I omit, on account of the
length of the discourse, the rest ; enumerating
neither the poetesses Corinna, Telesilla, Myia,
and Sappho ; nor the painters, as Irene the
daughter of Cratinus, and Anaxandra the daugh-
ter of Nealces, according to the account of

6 [Theano. See, also, p. 417. Elucidation II.]

432

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV

Didymus in the S)niiposiaci. The daughter of
Cleobulus, the sage and monarch of the Lindii,
was not ashamed to wash the feet of her father's
guests. Also the wife of Abraham, the blessed
Sarah, in her own person prepared the cakes
baked in the ashes for the angels ; and princely
maidens among the Hebrews fed sheep. Whence
also the Nausicaa of Homer went to the washing-
tubs.

The wise woman, then, will first choose to
persuade her husband to be her associate in
what is conducive to happiness. And should
that be found impracticable, let her by herself
eamestiy aim at virtue, gaining her husband's
consent in everything, so as never to do any-
thing against his will, with exception of what is
reckoned as contributing to virtue and salvation.
But if one keeps from such a mode of life either
wife or maid-servant, whose heart is set on it ;
what such a person in that case plainly does is
nothing else than determine to drive her away
from righteousness and sobriety, and to choose
to make his own house wicked and licentious.

It is not then possible that man or woman
can be conversant with anything whatever, with-
out the advantage of education, and application,
and training ; and virtue, we have said, depends
not on others, but on ourselves above all. Other
things one can repress, by waging war against
them ; but with what depends on one's self, this
is entirely out of the question, even with the
most strenuous persistence. For the gift is one
conferred by God, and not in the power of
any other. Whence licentiousness should be
regarded as the evil of no other one than of him
who is guilty of licentiousness ; and temperance,
on the other hand, as the good of him who is
able to practise it.

CHAP. XX. — A GOOD WIFE.

The woman who, with propriety, loves her hus-
band, Euripides describes^ while admonishing, —

" That when her husband says aught,
She ought to regard him as speaking well if she say

nothing ;
And if she will say anything, to do her endeavour to

gratify her husband."

And again he subjoins the like : —

" And that the wife should sweetly look sad with her
husband,
Should aught evil befall him,
And have m common a share of sorrow and joy."

Then, describing her as gentle and kind even in
misfortunes, he adds : —

** And I, when you are ill, will, sharing your sickness
bear it;
And I will bear my share in your misfortunes."

And : —

" Nothing is bitter to me,
For with friends one ought to be happy,
For what else is friendship but this ? "

The marriage, then, that is consummated accord-
ing to the word, is sanctified, if the union bt
under subjection to God, and be conducted
"with a true heart, in full assurance of faith,
having hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience,
and the body washed with pure water, and hold-
ing the confession of hope; for He is faithful
that promised." And the happiness of marriage
ought never to be estimated either by wealth or
beauty, but by virtue.

" Beauty," says the tragedy, —

" Helps no wife with her husband^
But virtue has helped many ; for every good wife
Who is attached to her husband knows how to prac-
tise sobriety."

Then, as giving admonitions, he says : —

•• First, then, this is incumbent on her who is endowed
with mind,

That even if her husband be ugly, he must appear good-
looking ;

For it is for the mind, not the eye, to judge."

And so forth.

For with perfect propriety Scripture has said
that woman is given by God as " an help " to
man. It is evident, then, in my opinion, that
she will charge herself with remedying, by good
sense and persuasion, each of the annoyances
that originate with her husband in domestic
economy. And if he do not yield, then she will
endeavour, as far as possible for human nature,
to lead a sinless life ; whether it be necessary to
die, in accordance with reason, or to live ; con-
sidering that Grod is her helper and associate in
such a course of conduct, her true defender and
Saviour both for the present and for the future ;
making Him the leader and guide of all her
actions, reckoning sobriety and righteousness
her work, and making the favour of God her end.
Gracefiilly, therefore, the apostle says in the
Epistle to Titus, " that the elder women should
be of godly behaviour, should not be slanderers,
not enslaved to much wine ; that they should
counsel the young women to be lovers of their
husbands, lovers of their children, discreet,
chaste, housekeepers, good, subject to their own
husbands ; that the word of God be not blas-
phemed." ' But rather, he says, " Follow peace
with all men, and holiness, without which no
man shall see the Lord : looking diligendy, lest
there be any fornicator or profane person, as
Esau, who for one morsel surrendered his birth-
right ; and lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." '
And then, as putting the finishing stroke to the
question about marriage, he adds : " Marriage is
honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but
whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." ^

' Tit. ii. 3-5.

* Hcb. xiii. X4-16.

3 Heb. xiii. 4.

Chap. XXL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

433

And one aim and one end, as far as regards per-
fection, being demonstrated to belong to the
man and the woman, Peter in his Epistle says,
'• Though now for a season, if need be, ye are in
heaviness through manifold temptations ; that
the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than that of gold which perisheth, though it be
tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and
honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus
Christ ; whom, having not seen, ye love ; in
whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory,
receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of
your souls." ' Wherefore also Paul rejoices for
Christ's sake that he was "in labours more
abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths
oft." ^

CHAP. XXI. — DESCRIPTION OF THE PERFECT MAN,

OR GNOSTIC.

Here I find perfection apprehended variously
in relation to Him who excels in every virtue.
Accordingly one is perfected as pious, and as
patient, and as continent, and as a worker, and
as a martyr, and as a Gnostic. But I know no
one of men perfect in all things at once, while
still human, though according to the mere letter
of the law, except Him alone who for us clothed
Himself with humanity. Who then is perfect?
He who professes abstinence from what is bad.
^Vell, this is the way to the Gospel and to well-
doing. But gnostic perfection in the case of the
legal man is the acceptance of the Gospel, that
he that is after the law may be perfect. For so '
he, who was after the law, Moses, foretold that
it was necessary to hear in order that we might,
according to the apostle, receive Christ, the ful-
ness of the law.5 But now in the Gospel the
Gnostic attains proficiency not only by making
use of the law as a step, but by understanding
and comprehending it, as the Ix)rd who gave the
Covenants delivered it to the apostles. And if
he conduct himself rightly (as assuredly it is im-
possible to attain knowledge (gnosis) by bad
conduct) ; and if, further, having made an emi-
nently right confession, he become a martyr out
of love, obtaining considerable renown as among
men ; not even thus will he be called perfect in
the flesh beforehand ; since it is the close of life
which claims this appellation, when the gnostic
martyr has first shown the perfect work, and
rightly exhibited it, and having thankfully shed
his blood, has yielded up the ghost : blessed
then will he be, and truly proclaimed perfect,
"that the excellency of the power may be of
God, and not of us," as the apostle says. Only
let us preserve free-will and love : " troubled on

« X Pet. i. 6-9.

2 a Cor. x\. 33.

3 Deut. xviii. 15; Rom. .x. 4.

every side, yet not distressed ; perplexed, but
not in despair ; persecuted, but not forsaken ;
cast down, but not destroyed." * For those who
strive after perfection, according to the same
apostle, must " give no offence in anything, but
in everything approve themselves not to men,
but to God." And, as a consequence, also they
ought to yield to men ; for it is reasonable, on
account of abusive calumnies. Here is the
specification : " in much patience, in afflictions,
in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in impris-
onments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in
fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suf-
fering, in kindness, in the Holy Ghost, in love
unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of
God," 5 that we may be the temples of God,
purified " from all filthiness of the flesh and of
the spirit." "And I," He says, "will receive
you ; and I will be to you for a Father, and ye
shall be to Me for sons and daughters, saith the
Lord Almighty." * " Let us then," he says, " per-
fect holiness in the fear of God." For though
fear beget pain, " I rejoice," he says, " not that
ye were made sorry, but that ye showed suscepti-
bility to repentance. For ye sorrowed after a
godly sort, that ye might receive damage by us
in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repent-
ance unto salvation not to be regretted ; but the
sorrow of the world worketh death. For this
same thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sort,
what earnestness it wrought in you ; yea, what
clearing of yourselves ; yea, what compunction ;
yea, what fear ] yea, what desire ; yea, what zeal ;
yea, revenge ! In all things ye have showed
yourselves clear in the matter." 7 Such are the
preparatory exercises of gnostic discipline. And
since the omnipotent God Himself " gave some
apostles, and some prophets, and some evangel-
ists, and some pastors and teachers, for the per-
fecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all
attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowl-
edge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ; " *^
we are then to strive to reach manhood as befits
the Gnostic, and to be as perfect as we can while
still abiding in the flesh, making it our study
with perfect concord here to concur with the
will of God, to the restoration of what is the truly
perfect nobleness and relationship, to the fulness
of Christ, that which perfectly depends on our
perfection.

And now we perceive where, and how, and
when the divine apostle mentions the perfect
man, and how he shows the differences of the
perfect. And again, on the other hand : " The

* a Cor. iv. 8. 9.
S 2 Cor. vj. 3-7.

*» 2 Cor. vii. I, vi. 16, 17, 18.
7 2 Cor. vii. i-ii.

* Eph. iv. J I, 12, 13.

434

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLAHIES.

[Book IV

manifestation of the Spirit is given for our profit.
For to one is given the word of wisdom by the
Spirit ; to another the word of knowledge ac-
cording to the same Spirit ; to another faith
through the same Spirit ; to another the gifts of
healing through the same Spirit ; to another the
working of miracles ; to another prophecy ; to
another discernment of spirits; to another di-
versities of tongues ; to another the interpreta-
tion of tongues : and all these worketh the one
and the same Spirit, distributing to each one
according as He wills." ' Such being the case,
the prophets are perfect in prophecy, the right-
eous in righteousness, and the martyrs in confes-
sion, and others in preaching, not that they are
not sharers in the common virtues, but are profi-
cient in those to which they are appointed. For
what man in his senses would say that a prophet
was not righteous ? For what ? did not righteous
men like Abraham prophesy?

" For to one God has given warlike deeds,
To another the accomplishment of the dance,
To another the lyre and song," *

says Homer. "But each has his own proper
gift of God," 3 — one in one way, another in an-
other. But the apostles were perfected in all.
You will find, then, if you choose, in their acts
and writings, knowledge, life, preaching, right-
eousness, purity, prophecy. We must know,
then, that if Paul is young in respect to time * —
having flourished immediately after the Lord's
ascension — yet his writings depend on the Old
Testament, breathing and speaking of them.
For faith in Christ and the knowledge of the
Gospel are the explanation and fulfilment of the
law ; and therefore it was said to the Hebrews,
"If ye believe not, neither shall you under-
stand ; " 5 that is, unless you believe what is
prophesied in the law, and oracularly delivered
by the law, you will not understand the Old
Testament, which He by His coming expounded.

CHAP. XXII. THE TRUE GNOSTIC DOES GOOD,

NOT FROM FEAR OF PUNISHMENT OR HOPE OF
REWARD, BUT ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF GOOD
ITSELF.

The man of understanding and perspicacity
is, then, a Gnostic. And his business is not ab-
stinence from what is evil (for this is a step to
the highest perfection), or the doing of good out
of fear. For it is written, " Whither shall I flee,
and where shall I hide myself from Thy pres-
ence ? If I ascend into heaven. Thou art there ;
if I go away to the uttermost parts of the sea,
there is Thy right hand ; if I go down into the
depths, there is Thy Spirit." ^ Nor any more is

* 1 Cor. xii. 7-1 1.
2 //tad, xiii, 730.
•* 1 Cor. vii. 7.

* rKlucidaiion III.]
5 Isa. vii, ^

^ Ps. ex. \ XIX. 7-10.

he to do so from hope of promised recompense.
For it is said, " Behold the Lord, and His re-
ward is before His face, to give to every one
according to his works ; what eye hath not seen,
and ear hath not heard, and hath not entered
into the heart of man what God hath prepared
for them that love Him." 7 But only the doing
of good out of love, and for the sake of its own
excellence, is to be the Gnostic's choice. Now,
in the person of God it is said to the Lord,
"Ask of Me, and I will give the heathen for
Thine inheritance ; " * teaching Him to ask a
truly regal request — that is, the salvation of men
without price, that we may inherit and posses^
the Lord. For, on the contrary, to desire knowl-
edge about God for any practical purpose, that
this may be done, or that may not be done, i>
not proper to the Gnostic ; but the knowledge
itself suffices as the reason for contemplation.
For I will dare aver that it is not because he
wishes to be saved that he, who devotes hiniself
to knowledge for the sake of the divine science
itself, chooses knowledge. For the exertion of
the intellect by exercise is prolonged to a per-
petual exertion. And the perpetual exertion of
the intellect is the essence of an intelligent being,
which results from an uninterrupted process of
admixture, and remains eternal contemplation, a
living substance. Could we, then, suppose any
one proposing to the Gnostic whether he would
choose the knowledge of God or everlasting sal-
vation ; and if these, which are entirely identical,
were separable, he would without the least hesi-
tation choose the knowledge of God, deeming
that property of faith, which from love ascentls
to knowledge, desirable, for its own sake. This,
then, is the perfect man's first form of doing
good, when it is done not for any advantage in
what pertains to him, but because he judges it
right to do good ; and the energy being vigor-
ously exerted in all things, in the very act be-
comes good ; not, good in some things, and not
good in others ; but consisting in the habit of
doing good, neither for glory, nor, as the phi-
losophers say, for reputation, nor from reward
either from men or God ; but so as to pass life
after the image and likeness of the Lord.

And if, in doing good, he be met with any-
thing adverse, he will let the recompense pa>s
without resentment as if it were good, he being
just and good " to the just and the unjust." To
such the Lord says, " Be ye, as your Father is
perfect."

To him the flesh is dead ; but he himself
lives alone, having consecrated the sepulchre
into a holy temple to the Lord, having turned
towards God the old sinful soul.

Such an one is no longer continent, but has

7 Isa. xl. 10, Ixii. 11; Ps. Ixii. la; Rev. xxii. la; Rom. it. 6.

8 Ps. ii. 8.

Chap. XXII.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

435

reached a state of passionlessness, waiting to put
on the divine image. " If thou doest alms," it
is said, " let no one know it ; and if thou fastest,
anoint thyself, that God alone may know," ' and
not a single human being. Not even he himself
who shows mercy ought to know that hie does
show mercy ; for in this way he will be some-
times merciful, sometimes not. And when he
shall do good by habit, he will imitate the nature
of good, and his disposition will be his nature
and his practice. There is no necessity for re-
moving those who are raised on high, but there
is necessity for those who are walking to reach
the requisite goal, by passing over the whole of
the narrow way. For this is to be drawn by the
Father, to become worthy to receive the power
of grace from God, so as to run without hindrance.
And if some hate the elect, such an one knows
their ignorance, and pities their minds for its
folly.

As is right, then, knowledge itself loves and
teaches the ignorant, and instructs the whole
creation to honour God Almighty. And if such
an one teaches to love God, he will not hold
virtue as a thing to be lost in any case, either
awake or in a dream, or in any vision ; since the
habit never goes out of itself by falling from
being a habit. Whether, then, knowledge be
said to be habit or disposition ; on account of
diverse sentiments never obtaining access, the
guiding faculty, remaining unaltered, admits no
alteration of appearances by framing in dreams
visionary conceptions out of its movements
by day. Wherefore also the Lord enjoins " to
watch," so that our soul may never be perturbed
with passion, even in dreams ; but also to keep
the life of the night pure and stainless, as if spent
in the day. For assimilation to God, as far as
we can, is preserving the mind in its relation to
the same things. And tjiis is the relation of mind
as mind.

But the variety of disposition arises from in-
ordinate affection to material things. And for
this reason, as they appear to me, to have called
night Euphrone ; since then the soul, released
from the perceptions of sense, turns in on itself,
and has a truer hold of intelligence (<f>p6vrfa-Ls) ,^
Wherefore the mysteries are for the most part
celebrated by night, indicating the withdrawal
of the soul from the body, which takes place by
night. "Let us not then sleep, as do others;
but let us watch and be sober. For they that
sleep, sleep in the night ; and they that are
drunken, are drunken in the night. But let us
who are of the day be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love, and as an helmet
the hope of salvation." 3 And as to what, again.

* Matt. vi. 2^ etc.

2 Kuphrone is plainly " kindly, cheerful."

3 X lliess. V. 6-8.

they say of sleep, the very same things are to
be understood of death. For each exhibits the
departure of the soul, the one more, the other
less ; as we may also get this in Heraclitus :
" Man touches night in himself, when dead and
his light quenched ; and alive, when he sleeps
he touches the dead ; and awake, when he shuts
his eyes, he touches the sleeper." ^ " For blessed
are those that have seen the Lord," s according
to the apostle ; " for it is high time to awake out
of sleep. For now is our salvation nearer than
when we beheved. The night is far spent, the
day is at hand. Let us therefore cast oif the
works of darkness, and put on the armour of
light." ^ By day and light he designates figura-
tively the' Son, and by the armour of light meta-
phorically the promises.

So it is said that we ought to go washed to
sacrifices and prayers, clean and bright ; and that
this external adornment and purification are
practised for a sign. Now purity is to think
holy thoughts. Further, there is the image of
baptism, which also was handed down to the
poets from Moses as follows : —

'* And she having drawn water, and wearing on her body
clean clothes." ^

It is Penelope that is going to prayer : —

" And Telemachus,
Having washed his hands in the hoary sea, prayed to
Athene." «

It was a custom of the Jews to wash frequently
after being in bed. It was then well said, —

" Be pure, not by washing of water, but in the mind."

For sanctity, as I conceive it, is perfect pureness
of mind, and deeds, and thoughts, and words too,
and in its last degree sinlessness in dreams.

And sufficient purification to a man, I reckon,
is thorough and sure repentance. If, condemn-
ing ourselves for our former actions, we go
forward, after these things taking thought,^ and
divesting our mind both of the things which
please us through the senses, and of our former
transgressions.

If, then, we are to give the etymology of cVicr-
t^/xt;, knowledge, its signification is to be derived
from oTourt?, placing ; for our soul, which was
formerly borne, now in one way, now in another,
it settles in objects. Similarly faith is to be ex-
plained etymologically, as the settling (o-rao-ts)
of our soul respecting that which is.

But we desire to learn about the man who is
always and in all things righteous ; who, neither
dreading the penalty proceeding from the law,

* As it stands in the text the passage is unintelligible, and has
been variously amended successfully.

5 Clement seems to have read Kvpiov for Kaipov in Rom. xiii. zi.

6 Rom. xiii. ii, 12.

7 Homer, Odyss.^ iv. 750, 760; xvii. 48, 58.

* Odyss., ii. 261.

9 Explaining /AcraFocw etymologically.

436

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV.

nor fearing to entertain hatred of evil in the case
of those who live with hira and who prosecute
the injured, nor dreading danger at the hands of
those who do wrong, remains righteous. For he
who, on account of these considerations, abstains
from anything wrong, is not voluntarily kind, but
is good from fear. Even Epicurus says, that the
man who in his estimation was wise, " would not
do wrong lo any one for the sake of gain ; for
he could not persuade himself that he would
escape detection." So that, if he knew he would
not be detected, he would, according to him, do
evil. And such are the doctrines of darkness.
If, too, one shall abstain from doing wrong from
hope of the recompense given by God on account
of righteous deeds, he is not on this supposition
spontaneously good. For as fear makes that
man just, so reward makes this one ; or rather,
makes him appear to be just. But with the hope
after death — a good hope to the good, to the bad
the reverse — not only they who follow after Bar-
barian wisdom, but also the Pythagoreans, are
acquainted. For the latter also proposed Rope
as an end to those who philosophize. Whereas
Socrates ' also, in the Plicedoy says " that good
souls depart hence with a good hope ; " and again,
denouncing the wicked, he sets against this the
assertion, " For they live wdth an evil hope."
With him Heraclitus manifestly agrees in his
dissertations concerning men : " There awaits
man after death what they neither hope nor
think." Divinely, therefore, Paul writes ex-
pressly, "Tribulation worketh patience, and
patience experience, and experience hope ; and
hope maketh not ashamed." ^ For the patience
is on account of the hope in the future. Now
hope is synonymous with the recompense and
restitution of hope ; which maketh not ashamed,
not being any more vilified.

But he who obeys the mere call, as he is called,
neither for fear, nor for enjoyments, is on his
way to knowledge (yi/wo-t^). For he does not
consider whether any extrinsic lucrative gain or
enjoyment follows to him; but drawn by the
love of Him who is the true object of love, and
led to what is requisite, practises piety. So that
not even were we to suppose him to receive from
God leave to do things forbidden with impunity ;
not even if he were to get the promise that he
would receive as a reward the good things of the
blessed ; but besides, not even if he could per-
suade himself that God would be hoodwinked
with reference to what he does (which is impos-
sible), would he ever wish to do aught contrary
to right reason, having once made choice of
what is truly good and worthy of choice on its
own account, and therefore to be loved. For it
is not in the food of the belly, that we have

» [Elucidation IV.]
' kom. V. 3-5.

heard good to be situated. But he has heard
that "meat will not commend us,"^ nor mar-
riage, nor abstinence from marriage in igno-
rance ; but virtuous gnostic conduct. For the
dog, which is an irrational animal, may be said
to be continent, dreading as it does the uplifted
stick, and therefore keeping away from the meat.
But let the predicted promise be taken away,
and the threatened dread cancelled, and the im
pending danger removed, and the disposition ot
such people will be revealed.

^CHAP. XXIII. — THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

For it is not suitable to the nature of the thing
itself, that they should apprehend in the tmiy
gnostic manner the truth, that all things which
were created for our use are good ; as, for ex-
ample, marriage and procreation, w^hen used in
moderation \ and that it is better than good to
become free of passion, and virtuous by assimila-
tion to the divine. But in the case of externa'
things, agreeable or disagreeable, from some they
abstain, from others not. But in those things
from which they abstain from disgust, they plainly
find fault with the creature and the Creator ; antl
though in appearance they walk faithfully, the
opinion they maintain is impious. That com-
mand, " Thou shalt not lust," needs neither the
necessity arising from fear, which compels to
keep from things that are pleasant ; nor the re-
ward, which by promise persuades to restrain the
impulses of passion.

And those who obey God through the prom-
ise, caught by the bait of pleasure, choose obe-
dience not for the sake of the commandment
but for the sake of the promise. Nor will turn-
ing away from objects of sense, as a matter of
necessary consequence, produce attachment to
intellectual objects. On the contrary, the at-
tachment to intellectual objects naturally be-
comes to the Gnostic ait influence which draws
away from the objects of sense ; inasmuch as he.
in virtue of the selection of what is good, ha-
chosen what is good according to knowledge
(yj^oKjTucws) , admiring generation, and by sancti-
fying the Creator sanctifying assimilation to the
divine. But I shall free myself from lust, lei
him say, O Lord, for the sake of alliance will.
Thee. For the economy of creation is goo<:.
and all things are well administered : nothing
happens without a cause. I must be in what :>
Thine, O Omnipotent One. And if I am there,
I am near Thee. And I would be free of fear
that I may be able to draw near to Thee, and to
be satisfied with little, practising Thy just choi< t
between things good and things like.

Right mystically and sacredly the apostle,
teaching us the choice which is truly gracious,

* I Cor. viii. 8.

<:iiAP. XXIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

437

not in the way of rejection of other things as
bad, but so as to do things better than what is
good, has spoken, saying, " So he that giveth his
virgin in marriage doeth well ; and he that giveth
her not doeth better ; as far as respects seemli-
ness and undistracted attendance on the Lord." «

Now we know that things which are difficult
are not essential ; but that things which are es-
sential have been graciously made easy of attain-
ment by God. Wherefore Democritus well says,
that " nature and instruction " are like each
other. And we have briefly assigned the cause.
For instruction harmonizes man, and by harmo-
nizing makes him natural ; and it is no matter
whether one was made such as he is by nature,
or transformed by time and education. The
Lord has furnished both ; that which is by crea-
tion, and that which is by creating again and
renewal through the covenant. And that is pref-
erable which is advantageous to what is superior ;
hut what is superior to everything is mind. So,
then, what is really good is seen to be most
pleasant, and of itself produces the fruit which is
desired — tranquillity of soul. "And he who
hears Me," it is said, " shall rest in peace, confi-
dent, and shall be calm without fear of any
evil." * " Rely with all thy heart and thy mind
on God." 3

On this wise it is possible for the Gnostic
already to have become God. " I said. Ye are
gods, and ^ sons of the highest." And Emped-
ocles says that the souls of the wise become
gods, writing as follows : —

** At last prophets, minstrels, and physicians,
And the foremost among mortal men, approach;
Whence spring gods supreme in honours."

Man, then, generically considered, is formed
in accordance with the idea of the connate spirit.
For he is not created formless and shapeless in
the workshop of nature, where mystically the
production of man is accomplished, both art and
essence being common. But the individual man
is stamped according to the impression produced
in the soul by the objects of his choice. Thus
we say that Adam was perfect, as far as respects
his formation ; for none of the distinctive charac-
teristics of the idea and form of man were want-
ing to him ; but in the act of coming into being
he received perfection. And he was justified by
obedience; this was reaching manhood, as far
as depended on him. And the cause lay in his
choosing, and especially in his choosing what
was forbidden. God was not the cause.

For production is twofold — of things pro-
created, and of things that grow. And manli-
ness in man, who is subject to j^erturbation, as

* I Cor. vii. 38, 35.
2 Prov. i, 33,

•* Prov. iii. 5.

* Ps. Ixxxii. 6.

they say, makes him who partakes of it essen-
tially fearless and invincible ; and anger is the
mind's satellite in patience, and endurance, and
the like ; and self-constraint and salutary sense
are set over desire. But God is impassible, free
of anger, destitute of desire. And He is not
free of fear, in the sense of avoiding what is
terrible ; or temperate, in the sense of having
command of desires. For neither can 'the
nature of God fall in with anything terrible, nor
does God flee fear ; just as He will not feel de-
sire, so as to rule over desires. Accordingly
that Pythagorean saying was mystically uttered
respecting us, " that man ought to become one ; "
for the high priest himself is one, God being one
in the immutable state of the perpetual flow s 01
good things. Now the Saviour has taken away
wrath in and with lust, wrath being lust of ven-
geance. For universally liability to feeling
belongs to every kind of desire ; and man, when
deified purely into a passionless state, becomes
a unit. As, then, those, who at sea are held by
an anchor, pull at the anchor, but do not drag
it to them, but drag themselves to the anchor ;
so those who, according to the gnostic life, draw
God towards them, imperceptibly bring them-
selves to God : for he who reverences God,
reverences himself. In the contemplative life,
then, one in worshipping God attends to himself,
and through his own spotless purification beholds
the holy God holily; for self-control, being
present, surveying and contemplating itself unin-
terruptedly, is as far as possible assimilated to
God.

CHAP. XXIV. — THE REASON AND END OF DIVINE

PUNISHMENTS.

Now that is in our power, of which equally
with its opposite we are masters, — as, say, to
philosophize or not, to believe or disbelieve. In
consequence, then, of our being equally masters
of each of the opposites, what depends on us is
found possible. Now the commandments may
be done or not done by us, who, as is rea.sonable,
are liable to praise and Wame. And those,
again, who are punished on account of sins com-
mitted by them, are punished for them alone ;
for what is done is past, and what is done can
never be undone. The sins committed before
faith are accordingly forgiven by the I>ord, not
that they may be undone, but as if they had not
been done. " But not all," says Basilides,^ " but
only sins involuntary and in ignorance, are for-
given ; " as would be the case were it a man, and
not God, that conferred such a boon. To such
an one Scripture says, " Thou thoughtest that I
would be like thee." 7 But if we are punished

5 Be'iv . . . Bed^.

6 [Ehiciclaiion V.]

7 Ps. 1. 21,

438

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV

for voluntary sins, we are punished not that the
sins which are done may be undone, but because
they were done. But punishment does not
avail to him who has sinned, to undo his sin,
but that he may sin no more, and that no one
else fall into the like. Therefore the good God
corrects for these three causes : First, that he
who is corrected may become better than his
former self; then that those who are capable of
being saved by examples may be driven back,
being admonished ; and thirdly, that he who is
injured may not be readily despised, and be apt
to receive injury. And there are two methods
of correction — the instructive and the punitive,
which we have called the disciplinary. It ought
to be known, then, that those who fall into sin
after baptism ' are those who are subjected to
discipline ; for the deeds done before are re-
mitted, and those done after are purged. It is
in reference to the unbelieving that it is said,
" that they are reckoned as the chaff which the
wind drives from the face of the earth, and the
drop which falls from a vessel." *

CHAP. XXV. — TRUE PERFECTION CONSISTS IN THE
KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF GOD.

"Happy he who possesses the culture of
knowledge, and is not moved to the injury of the
citizens or to wrong actions, but contemplates
the undecaying order of immortal nature, how
and in what way and manner it subsists. To
such the practice of base deeds attaches not."
Rightly, then, Plato says, " that the man who de-
votes himself to the contemplation of ideas will
live as a god among men ; now the mind is the
place of ideas, and God is mind." He says that
he who contemplates the unseen God lives as a
god among men. And in the Sophist, Socrates
calls the stranger of Elea, who was a dialectician,
" god : " " Such are the gods who, like stranger
guests, frequent cities. For when the soul, rising
above the sphere of generation, is by itself apart,
and dwells amidst ideas," like the Coryphaeus in
Theaetetus, now become as an angel, it will be
with Christ, being rapt in contemplation, ever
keeping in view the will of God ; in reality

" Alone wise, while these flit like shadows." *

" For the dead bury their dead." Whence Jere-
miah says : " I will fill it with the earth-bom
dead whom mine anger has smitten." ^

God, then, being not a subject for demonstra-
tion, cannot be the object of science. But the
Son is wisdom, and knowledge, and truth, and
all else that has affinity thereto. He is also
susceptible of demonstration and of description.
And all the powers of the Spirit, becoming col-

* Aovrpoi'. [Sec Elucidation VI. J

2 Ps. i. 4: Isa. xl. 15.

3 Horn., Od^ss., x. 495,

* Jcr. xxxiii. 5.

lectively one thing, terminate in the same point —
that is, in the Son. But He is incapable of bein::
declared, in respect of the idea of each one ot*
His powers. And the Son is neither simply one
thing as one thing, nor many things as parts, but
one thing as all things ; whence also He is all
things. For He is the circle of all powers rolled
and united into one unity. Wherefore the Word
is called the Alpha and the Omega, of whom
alone the end becomes beginning, and ends again
at the original beginning without any break.
Wherefore also to believe in Him, and by Him.
is to become a unit, being indissolubly united in
Him ; and to disbelieve is to be separated, dis-
joined, divided.

" Wherefore thus saith the Lord, Every alien
son is uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised
in flesh" (that is, unclean in body and soul) :
" there shall not enter one of the strangers into
the midst of the house of Israel, but the Le-
vites." 5 He calls those that would not believe,
but would disbelieve, strangers. Only those who
live purely being true priests of God. Wherefore,
of all the circumcised tribes, those anointed to
be high priests, and kings, and prophets, were
reckoned more holy. Whence He command^
them not to touch dead bodies, or approach the
dead ; not that the body was polluted, but that
sin and disobedience were incarnate, and em-
bodied, and dead, and therefore abominable.
It was only, then, when a father and mother, a
son and daughter died, that the priest was al-
lowed to enter, because these were related only
by flesh and seed, to whom the priest was w.-
debted for the immediate cause of his entrant e
into life. And they purify themselves seven days,
the period in which Creation was consunimatcu.
For on the seventh day the rest is celebrated ;
and on the eighth he brings a propitiation, as is
written in Ezekiel, according to which propitia-
tion the promise is to be received.^ And the
perfect propitiation, I take it, is that propitious
faith in the Gospel which is by the law and the
prophets, and the purity which shows itself in
universal obedience, with the abandonment of
the thin^<5 of the world ; in order to that grateful
surrender of the tabernacle, which results from
the enjoyment of the soul. Whether, then, the
time be that which through the seven periods
enumerated returns to the chiefest rest,^ or the
seven heavens, which some reckon one abo\e
the other; or whether also the fixed sphere
which borders on the intellectual world be calleu
the eighth, the expression denotes that the Gno>-
tic ought to rise out of the sphere of creation
and of sin. After these seven days, sacrifice>
are offered for sins. For there is still fear of

5 Ezek. xliv. 9, 10.

*> Ezek. xliv. 27.

7 'ITie jubilee. [Elucidation VII.]

Chap. XXVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

439

change, and it touches the seventh circle. The
righteous Job says : " Naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return
there ;" ' not naked of possessions, for that were
a trivial and common thing ; but, as a just man,
he departs naked of evil and sin, and of the un-
sighdy shape which follows those who have led
bad lives. For this was what was said, " Unless
ye be converted, and become as children," ' pure
in flesh, holy in soul by abstinence from evil
deeds; showing that He would have us to be
such as also He generated us from our mother —
the water.3 For the intent of one generation
succeeding another is to immortalize by progress.
" But the lamp of the wicked shall be put out." ^
That purity in body and soul which the Gnostic
partakes of, the all-wise Moses indicated, by em-
ploying repetition in describing the incorruptibil-
ity of body and of soul in the person of Rebecca,
thus : ** Now the virgin was fair, and man had
not known her." 5 And Rebecca, interpreted,
means "glory of God ; " and the glory of God
is immortality.^ This is in reality righteousness,
not to desire other things, but to be entirely the
consecrated temple of the Lord. Righteousness
is peace of life and a well-conditioned state, to
which the Lord dismissed her when He said,
" Depart into peace." ^ For Salem is, by inter-
pretation, peace ; of which our Saviour is enrolled
King, as Moses says, Melchizedek king of Salem,
priest of the most high God, who gave bread
and wine, furnishing consecrated food for a type
of the Eucharist. And Melchizedek is inter-
preted " righteous king ; " and the name is a
synonym for righteousness and peace. Basilides,
however, supposes that Righteousness and her
daughter Peace dwell stationed in the eighth
sphere.

But we must pass from physics to ethics, which
are clearer ; for the discourse concerning these
will follow after the treatise in hand. The Sav-
iour Himself, then, plainly initiates us into the
mysteries, according to the words of the tra-
gedy :* —

" Seeing those who see, he also giv.es the orgies."

And if you ask,

" These orgies, what is their nature ? "
You will hear again : —

" It is forbidden to mortals uninitiated in the Bacchic
rites to know."

And if any one will inquire curiously what they
are, let him hear : —

' Job i. 21.

* Matt, xviii, 3.
^ i. c, Baptism.

* Job [xviii. 5; Prov. xiii. 9.]
' Gen. xxiv. 16.

* [On Qement's Hebrew, see Elucidation Vlll.]
^ Mark v. 34.

^ Eurip.y SaccAa, 465, etc.

"It is not lawful for thee to hear, but they are worth
knowing ;
The rites of the God detest him who practises im-
piety."

Now God, who is without beginning, is the per-
fect beginning of the universe, and the producer
of the beginning. As, then. He is being, He is
the first principle of the department of action, as
He is good, of morals ; as He is mind, on the
other hand. He is the first principle of reasoning
and of judgment. Whence also He alone is
Teacher, who is the only Son of the Most High
Father, the Instructor of men.

CHAP. XXVI. — HOW THE PERFECT MAN TREATS
THE BODY AND THE THINGS OF THE WORLD.

Those, then, who run down created existence
and vilify the body are wrong ; not considering
that the frame of man was formed erect for the
contemplation of heaven, and that the organiza-
tion of the senses tends to knowledge ; and that
the members and parts are arranged for good,
not for pleasure. Whence this abode becomes
receptive of the soul which is most precious
to God; and is dignified with the Holy Spirit
through the sanctification of soul and body, per-
fected with the perfection of the Saviour. And
the succession of the three virtues is found in
the Gnostic, who morally, physically, and logi-
cally occupies himself with God. For wisdom is '
the knowledge of things divine and human ; and
righteousness is the concord of the parts of the
soul ; and holiness is the service of God. But
if one were to say that he disparaged the flesh,
and generation on account of it, by quoting
Isaiah, who says, " All flesh is grass, and all the
glory of man as the flower of grass : the grass is
withered, and the flower has fallen ; but the word
of the Lord endureth for ever ; " ^ let him hear
the Spirit interpreting the matter in question by
Jeremiah, " And I scattered them like dry sticks,
that are made to fly by the wind into the desert.
This is the lot and portion of your disobedience,
saith the Lord. As thou hast forgotten Me, and
hast trusted in lies, so will I discover thy hinder
parts to thy face ; and thy disgrace shall be seen,
thy adultery, and thy neighing," and so on.'°
For " the flower of grass," and " walking after
the flesh," and " being carnal," according to the
apostle, are those who are in their sins. The
soul of man is confessedly the better part of
man, and the body the inferior. But neither is
the soul good by nature, nor, on the other hand,
is the body bad by nature. Nor is that which is
not good straightway bad. For there are things
which occupy a middle place, and among them
are things to be preferred, and things to be re-

*■ ¥

9 Isa. xl. 6-8.
*° Jcr. xiii. 24-27.

440

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book IV

jected. The constitution of man, then, which
has its place among things of sense, was necessa-
rily composed of .things diverse, but not opposite
— body and soul.

Always therefore the good actions, as better,
attach to the better and ruling spirit ; and volup-
tuous and sinful actions are attributed to the
worse, the sinful one.

Now the soul of the wise man and Gnostic, as
sojourning in the body, conducts itself towards
it gravely and respectfully, not with inordinate
affections, as about to leave the tabernacle if the ,
time of departure summon. " I am a stranger
in the earth, and a sojourner with you," it is
said.^ And hence Basilides says, that he appre-
hends that the election are strangers to the world,
being supramundane by nature. But this is not
the case. For all things are of one God. And
no one is a stranger to the world by nature, their
essence being one, and God one. But the elect
man dwells as a sojourner, knowing all things to
be possessed and disposed of ; and he makes use
of the things which the Pythagoreans make out
to be the threefold good things. The body, too,
as one sent on a distant pilgrimage, uses inns
and dwellings by the way, having care of the
/- things of the world, of the places where he halts ;
but leaving his dwelling-place and property with-
out excessive emotion ; readily following him that
leads him away- from life ; by no means and on
no occasion turning back ; giving thanks for his
sojourn, and blessing [God] for his departure,
embracing the mansion that is in heaven. " For
we know, that, if the earthly house of our taber-
nacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, an
house not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 1
ens. For we that are in this tabernacle do
groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our
house which is from heaven : if so be that being
clothed we shall not be found naked. For we
walk by faith, not by sight," ' as the apostle says ;
" and we are willing rather to be absent from the
body, and present with God." The rather is in
comparison. And comparison obtains in the
case of things that fall under resemblance ; as the
more valiant man is more valiant among the val-
iant, and most valiant among cowards. Whence
he adds, " Wherefore we strive, whether present
or absent, to be accepted with Him," 3 that is,
God, whose work and creation are all things,
both the world and things supramundane. I ad-
mire Epicharmus, who clearly says : —

" Endowed with pious mind, vou will not, in dying,
Suffer aught evil. The spirit will dwell in heaven
above ; "

and the minstrel ■» who sings : —

" The souls of the wicked flit about below the skies on
earth,
In murderous pains beneath inevitable yokes of evils ;
But those of the pious dwell in the heavens,
Hymning in songs the Great, the Blessed One."

The soul is not then sent down from heaven to
what is worse. For God works all things up
to what is better. But the soul which has chosen
the best life — the life that is from God and
righteousness — exchanges earth for heaven.
With reason therefore, Job, who had attained to
knowledge, said, " Now I know that thou canst
do all things ; and nothing is impossible to Thee.
For who tells me of what I know not, great and
wonderful things with which I was unacquainted?
And I felt myself vile, considering myself to be
earth and ashes." s For he who, being in a state
of ignorance, is sinful, "is earth and ashes ; " while
he who is in a state of knowledge, being assimi-
lated as far as possible to God, is already spiritual,
and so elect. And that Scripture calls the sense-
less and disobedient " earth," will be made clear
by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, in reference to
Joachim and his brethren " Earth, earth, hear
the word of the Lord ; Write this man, as man
excommunicated." ^ And another prophet says
again, " He^r, O heaven ; and give ear, O earth," '
calling understanding " ear," and the soul of the
Gnostic, that of the man who has applied him-
self to the contemplation of heaven and divine
things, and in this way has become an Israelite,
"heaven." For again he calls him who has
made ignorance and hardness of heart his choice,
"earth." And the expression "give ear" he
derives from the "organs of hearing," " the ears."
attributing carnal things to those who cleave to
the things of sense. Such are they of whom
Micah the prophet says, " Hear the word of the
I/Ord, ye peoples who dwell with pangs." * And
Abraham said, " By no means. The Lord is
He who judgeth the earth ; " 9 " since he that l>e-
lieveth not, is," according to the utterance of the
Saviour, " condemned already." '° And there is
written in the Kings " the judgment and sentence
of the Ix)rd, which stands thus : "The Lord hears
the righteous, but the wicked He saveth not, l)e-
cause they do not desire to know God." For the
Almighty will not accompHsh what is absurd.
What do the heresies say to this utterance, seeing
Scripture proclaims the Almighty (k)d to W
good, and not the author of evil and wrong, if
indfeed ignorance arises from one not knowing?
But (iod does nothing absurd. " For this God,"
it is said, " is our God, and there is none to save
besides Him." " " For there is no unrighteou>-

» Cicn. xxiii 4". P*- xxxix. i2.

2 2 Cor. V. 1, ^, 3, 7.

^ 2 Cor. V. q.

* Pindar, according 10 Thcodorct.

5 Job xlii. 2, 3, 6.
*> Ter. xxii. 29, 30.

« Mic. i. 2, where, however, the concluding words are ncrt founi.

9 (Jen. xviii. 25.

»o John iii. 18. '

" Where?
" Isa. xlv. 21.

ELUCIDATIONS.

441

ness with God," ' according to the apostle. And
clearly yet the prophet teaches the will of God,
and the gnostic proficiency, in these words :
" And now, Israel, what doth the Lord God re-
quire of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and
walk in all His ways, and love Him, and serve
Him alone ? " * He asks of thee, who hast the
power of choosing salvation. What is it, then,
that the Pythagoreans mean when they bid us
" pray with the voice " ? As seems to me, not
that they thought the Divinity could not hear
those who speak silently, but because they wished
prayers to be right, which no one would be
ashamed to make in the knowledge of many.
We shall, however, treat of prayer in due course
by and by. But we ought to have works that
cry aloud, as becoming " those who walk in the
the day." ' " Let thy works shine," ^ and behold
a man and his works before his face. '* For
behold God and His works." ^ For the gnostic
must, as far as is possible, imitate God. And
the poets call the elect in their pages godlike

' Rom. ix. 14.
2 Dcut. X. 12.
^ Rom. xiii. 13.
* Matt. y. 16.
s Isa. Ixii. II.

and gods, and equal to the gods, and equal in
sagacity to 2^us, and having counsels like the
gods, and resembling the gods, — nibbling, as
seems to me, at the expression, " in the image
and likeness." ^

Euripides accordingly says, ** Golden wings
are round my back, and I am shod with the
winged sandals of the Sirens ; and I shall go
aloft into the wide ether, to hold converse with
Zeus."

»But I shall pray the Spirit of Christ to wing
me to my Jerusalem. For the Stoics say that
heaven is properly a city, but places here on
earth are not cities ; for they are called so, but
are not. For a city is an important thing, and
the people a decorous body, and a multitude of
men regulated by law as the church by the word
— a city on earth impregnable — free from tyr-
anny ; a product of the divine will on earth as
in heaven. Images of this city the poets create
with their pen. For the Hyperboreans, and the
Arimaspian cities, and the Elysian plains, are
commonwealths of just men. And we know
Plato's city placed as a pattern in heaven.^

6 Gen. i. 26.

7 [Elucidation IX.]

ELUCIDATIONS.

(The Lord's Discipline, book iv. cap. vi. p. 413.)

rj Kvpiaicrj darKvp-t^, Casaubon explains this as Dominica exercitatio (the religion which the
Lord taught), and quotes the apostolic canons (li. and lii.), which, using this word (ao-icT/o-t?), or-
dain certain fasts on account of pious exercise. Baronius, mote suo^ grasps at this word dcrKrfo-L^y as
a peg to hang the system of monkery upon. Casaubon answers : " If so, then all the early Christians
were monks and nuns ; ais this word is always used by the Fathers for the Christian discipline, or
Christianity itself." Such are the original asceticsy nothing more. The Christian Fathers transferred
the word from heathen use to that of the Church, to signify the training to which all the faithful
should subject themselves, in obedience to St. Paul (i Cor. ix. 24-27). See Isaaci Casauboni, De
Annalibus Baronianis Exercitationes, p. 171.

11.

(Theano, cap. xix. p. 431.)

The translator has not been happy in this rendering, but I retain it as in the Edinburgh Edi-
tion, which leaves one in doubt whether this second saying was Theano's ; for, possibly, the trans-
lator meant to leave it so. But the Migne note is very good : " Jamblichus mentions two Theanos,
one the wife of Brontinus, or Brotinus, and the other of Pythagoras. Both alike were devoted to
the Pythagorean philosophy ; and it is not certain, therefore, to which of them these dicta belong."

442 ELUCIDATIONS.

Theodoret quotes both, but decides not this doubt. Hoffman says, " There were many of the
name ; " and he mentions five different ones. Suidas makes mention of Theano of Crotona as the
wife of Pythagoras, " the first woman who philosophized and wrote poetry ; " and Hoffman doubts
not this lady is the one quoted by Clement. She seems to have presided over the school of her
husband after his death. Of the beauty and morality of the second dictuniy I have spoken already
(p. 348, Elucidation XI.) ; and I think it worth whole volumes of casuistry on a subject w^hich
(natura duce, sub lege Logi) the Gospel modestly leaves to natural decency and enlightened
conscience. (See Clement's fine remarks, on p. 435.)

III.

( St. Paul, note 4, p. 434. )

Better rendered, " Paul is more recent (or later) in respect of time." This seems a strangely
apologetic way to speak of this glorious apostie ; though the reference may be to his own wortls
(i Cor. XV. 8), " as of one born out of due time." And it suggests to me, that, among the Alexan-
drian Christians, there were many Jewish converts who said, " I am of Apollos," ^and with
whom the name of the great aposde of the Gentiles was still unsavoury. This goes to confirm
the Pauline origin of the Epistle to the Hebrews, so far as it accounts for (what is testified by
Eusebius, vi. 14) his omission of his own name from his treatise, lest it should prejudice his argu-
ment with his Hebrew kinsmen. Apollos may have sent it to Alexandria.

IV.

(Socrates, cap. xxii. p. 436,)

Who can read the Hiado, and think of Plato and Socrates, without hope that the myster\' of
redemption applies to them in some effectual way, under St. Paul's maxims (Rom. ii. 26, 27) ? It
would torture me in reading such sayings as are quoted here, were I not able reverendy to indulge
such hope, and then to desist from speculation. Cannot we be silent where Scripture is silent,
and leave all to Him who loved the Gentiles, and died for them on the cross? I suspect the itch
of our times, on this and like subjects, to be presumption (2 Cor. x. 5) "against the obedience
of Christ." As if our own concern for the heathen were greater than His who died for the unjust,
praying for His murderers ! Why not leave the ransomed world to the world's Redeemer? The
cross bore the inscription in Greek, and Latin also ; for the Jews scorned it ;n Hebrew : and who
can doubt that those outstretched arms embraced all mankind ?

(Basilides answered, cap. xxiv. p. 437.)

Note the pith and point of this chapter, and the beauty of Clement's dictuniy " So it would
be, were it a man and not God that justifies ! As it is written. Thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such an one as thyself." (Compare Matt. xx. 14.) But let us not overlook his exposi-
tion of the ends and purposes of chastisement. The great principle which he lays down destroys
the whole Trent theology about penance, and annihilates the logical base of its figment about
" Rirgatory." " Punishment does not avail to him who has sinned, to undo his sin." The precious
blood of Christ " speaketh better things."

VI.

(Sin after Baptism, cap. xxiv. p. 438.)

Not to broach any opinion of my own, it is enough to remark, that this reference to primiti^•e
discipline shows that a defined penitential system in the early Church was aimed at by the Mon-

ELUCIDATIONS. 44J

tanists, and inspired their deadly animosity, not merely as a theory, but as a system. Although
differing on many points with Dr. Bunsen (he is both Baron and Doctor, and I give him the more
honourable title of the two) , I feel it due to my contract with the reader of this series to refer
him to what he says of the baptismal vow, etc. {Hippoi., iii. p. 187), as furnishing a valuable
commentary on the text, and on the whole plan of Alexandrian teaching and discipline.

VII.

(Jubilee, cap. xxv. p. 438.)

Here the reader may feel that an Elucidation is requisite to any intelligent idea of what Clem-
ent means to say. " We wish he would explain his explanation " of Ezekiel. Let me give a brief
rendering of the annotations in Migne, as all that can here be furnished. ( i ) The tabernacle is
the body, as St. Paul uses the word (2 Cor. v. 1-4), and St. Peter (2 Ep. i. 13, 14). (2) The
sei*e7i periods are the Sabbatical weeks of years leading up to the year of Jubilee. (3) The
tt^rXav^? X^P<* refers to the old system of astronomy, and its division of the heavens into an octave
oi spheres y of which the seven inner spheres are those of the seven planets ; the fixt stars being in
the eighth, which "borders on the intellectual world," — the abode of spirits, according to Clement.

The Miltonic student will recall the perplexity with which, perhaps, in early years, he first

read : —

" They pass the planets seven, and pass the fixt,
And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs
The trepidation talked, and that first moved.

Paradise Lost, book iii. 481.

The Copemican system was, even in Milton's time, not generally accepted ; but, for one who had
personally conversed with Galileo, this seems incorrigibly bad. The true system would have given
greater dignity, and in fact a better topography, to his great poem.

vm.

(Rebecca, p. 439.)

Le Nourry, as well as Barbeyrac (see Kaye, pp. 109 and 473), regards Clement as ignorant of
the Hebrew language. Kaye, though he shows that some of the attempts to demonstrate this are
fanciful, inclines to the same opinion ; remarking that he borrows his interpretations from Philo.
On the passage here under consideration, he observes, that, " having said repeatedly * that Re-
bekah in Hebrew is equivalent to vwofiovrf in Greek, he now makes it equivalent to ®€ov B6$a.
He elsewhere refers our Saviour's exclamation, Eli, Eli, etc., to the Greek word 17X109, and the name
Jesus to laa-OoL."

'IX.

(Plato's City, cap. xxvi. p. 441.)

This is worth quoting from the Republic (book ix. p. 423, Jowett) : " In heaven there is laid
up a pattern of such a city ; and he who desires may behold this, and, beholding, govern himself
accordingly. He will act according to the laws of that city, and of no other." Sublime old Gen-
tile ! Did not the apostle of the Gentiles think of Socrates, when he wrote Heb. xii. 28, and xiii. 14 ?
On this noble passage, of which Clement has evidently thought very seriously, Schleiermacher's
remarks seem to me cold and unsatisfactory. (See his Introductions ^ translated by Dobson ; ed.
Cambridge, 1836.)

* e.g., this vol., p. 309.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK V.

CHAP. I. — ON FAITH.

Of the Gnostic so much has been cursorily, as
it were, written. We proceed now to the sequel,
and must again contemplate faith ; for there are
some that draw the distinction, that faith has
reference to the Son, and knowledge to the
Spirit. But it has escaped their notice that, in
order to believe truly in the Son, we must believe
that He is the Son, and that He came, and how,
and for what, and respecting His passion ; and
we must know who is the Son of God. Now
neither is knowledge without faith, nor faith
without knowledge. Nor is the Father without
the Son ; for the Son is with the Father. And
the Son is the true teacher respecting the Father ;
and that we may believe in the Son, we must
know the Father, with whom also is the Son.
Again, in order that we may know the Father,
we must believe in the Son, that it is the Son of
God who teaches ; for from faith to knowledge
by the Son is the Father. And the knowledge
of the Son and Father, which is according to the
gnostic rule — that which in reality is gnostic —
is the attainment and comprehension of the
truth by the truth.

We, then, are those who are believers in what
is not believed, and who are Gnostics as to what
is unknown ; that is. Gnostics as to what is un-
known and disbelieved by all, but believed and
known by a few ; and Gnostics, not describing
actions by speech, but Gnostics in the exercise
of contemplation. Happy is he who speaks in
the ears of the hearing. Now faith is the ear of
the soul. And such the Lord intimates faith to
be, when He says, " He that hath ears to hear,
let him hear ; *' ' so that by believing he may
comprehend what He says, as He says it. Ho-
mer, too, the oldest of the poets, using the word
" hear " instead of " perceive " — the specific for
the generic term — writes : —

" Him most thev heard." *

1 Matt. xi. 15.

2 Otiyss., vi. 185.

For, in fine, the agreement and harmony of the
faith of both ^ contribute to one end — salvation.
We have in the apostle an unerring witness :
" For I desire to see you, that I may impart
unto you some spiritual gift, in order that ye
may be strengthened ; that is, that I may be
comforted in you, by the mutual faith of you and
me." ^ And further on again he adds, " The
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith." 5 The apostle, then, manifestly announces
a twofold faith, or rather one which admits of
growth and perfection ; for the common faith
lies beneath as a foundation.^ To those, there-
fore, who desire to be healed, and are moved bv
faith. He added, "Thy faith hath saved thee.">
But that which is excellently built upon is con-
summated in the believer, and is again perfected
by the faith which results from instruction and
the word, in order to the performance of the
commandments. Such were the apostles, in
whose case it is said that " faith removed moim-
tains and transplanted trees."* Whence, per-
ceiving the greatness of its power, they asked
"that faith might be added to them j"^ a faith
which salutarily bites the soil " like a grain of
mustard," and grows magnificently in it, to such
a degree that the reasons of things sublime rest
on it. For if one by nature knows God, as
Basilides thinks, who calls intelligence of a
superior order at once faith and kingship, and
a creation worthy of the essence of the Creator ;
and explains that near Him exists not jxjwer,
but essence and nature and substance ; ami
says that faith is not the rational assent of the
soul exercising free-will, but an undefined beauty,
belonging immediately to the creature ; — the
precepts both of the Old and of the New Testa-
ment are, then, superfluous, if one is saved by

• Teacher and scholar.

* Rom. i. II, I a.
5 Rom. i. 17.

*> ["The common faith" (q icoiioi iri<mc) is no "secret," then,
and cannot be in its nature.]
7 Matt. ix. 22.

^ Matt. xvii. 20; Luke xvii. 6; x Cor. xiit. 2.
9 Luke xvii. 5.

444

Chap. I.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

44 '^

nature, as Valentinus would have it, and is a
believer and an elect man by nature, as Basilides
thinks ; and nature would have been able, one
time or other, to have shone forth, apart from
the Saviour's appearance. But were they to say
that the visit of the Saviour was necessary, then
the properties of nature are gone from them, the
elect being saved by instruction, and purification,
and the doing of good works. Abraham, accord-
ingly, who through hearing believed the voice,
which promised under the oak in Mamre, " I
will give this land to thee, and to thy seed,"
was either elect or not. But if he was not, how
did he straightway believe, as it were naturally ?
And if he was elect, their hypothesis is done
away with, inasmuch as even previous to the
coming of the Lord an election was found, and
that saved : " For it was reckoned to him for
righteousness." ' For if any one, following
Marcion, should dare to say that the Creator
(Arjfjuovpyov) saved the man that believed on
him, even before the advent of the Lord, (the
election being saved with their own proper
salvation) ; the power of the good Being will be
eclipsed ; inasmuch as late only, and subsequent
to the Creator spoken of by them in words of
good omen, it made the attempt to save, and by
his instruction, and in imitation of him. But if,
being such, the good Being save, according to
them ; neither is it his own that he saves, nor is
it with the consent of him who formed the
creation that he essays salvation, but by force or
fraud. And how can he any more be good,
acting thus, and being posterior? But if the
locality is different, and the dwelling-place of
the Omnipotent is remote from the dwelling-
place of the good God ; yet the will of him who
saves, having been the first to begin, is not
inferior to that of the good God. From what
has been previously proved, those who believe
not are proved senseless : " For their paths are
perverted, and they know not peace," saith
the prophet.* " But foolish and unlearned ques-
tions " the divine Paul exhorted to " avoid, be-
cause they gender strifes." 3 And ^schylus
exclaims : —

" In what profits not, labour not in vain."

For that investigation, which accords with faith,
which builds, on the foundation of faith,^ the au-
gust knowledge of the truth, we know to be the
best. Now we know that neither things which
are clear are made subjects of investigation,
such as if it is day, while it is day ; nor things
unknown, and never destined to become clear,
as whether the stars are even or odd in number ;

* Gen. XV. 6; Rom. iv. 3.
2 Isa. lix. 8.

a Iim. 11. 33.

* [All such expressions noteworthy for manifold uses among
divines.]

nor things convertible ; and those are so which
can be said equally by those who take the oppo-
site side, as if what is in the womb is a living
creature or not. A fourth mode is, when, from
either side of those, there is advanced an unan-
swerable and irrefragable argument. If, then,
the ground of inquiry, according to all of these
modes, is removed, faith is established. For we
advance to them the unanswerable consideration,
that it is God who speaks and comes to our help
in writing, respecting each one of the points re-
garding which I investigate. Who, then, is so
impious as to disbelieve God, and to demand
proofs from God as from men? Again, some
questions demand the evidence of the senses,^ as
if one were to ask whether the fire be warm, or
the snow white ; and some admonition and re-
buke, as the question if you ought to honour
your parents. And there are those that deserve
punishment, as to ask proofs of the existence of
Providence. There being then a Providence, it
were impious to think that the whole of prophecy
and the economy in reference to a Saviour did
not take place in accordance with Providence-
And perchance one should not even attempt to
demonstrate such points, the divine Providence
being evident from the sight of all its skilful and
wise works which are seen, some of which take
place in order, and some appear in order. And
He who communicated to us being and life, has
communicated to us also reason, wishing us to live
rationally and rightly. For the Word of the
Father of the universe is not the uttered word
(Xoyo9 irpo<t>opui6s) , but the wisdom and most
manifest kindness of God, and His power too,
which is almighty and truly divine, and not in-
capable of being conceived by those who do not
confess — the all-potent will. But since some
are unbelieving, and some are disputatious, all
do not attain to the perfection of the good. For
neither is it possible to attain it without the ex-
ercise of free choice ; nor does the whole depend
on our own purpose ; as, for example, what is des-
tined to happen. " For by grace we are saved : "
not, indeed, without good works ; but we must,
by being formed for what is good, acquire an incli-
nation for it. And we must possess the healthy
mind which is fixed on the pursuit of the good ;
in order to which we have the greatest need of
divine grace, and of right teaching, and of holy
susceptibility, and of the drawing of the Father
to Him. For, bound in this earthly body, we
apprehend the objects of sense by means of the
body ; but we grasp intellectual objects by means
of the logical faculty itself. But if one expect
to apprehend all things by the senses, he has fall-
en far from the truth. Spiritually, therefore, the
apostle writes respecting the knowledge of God,

5 [Fatal to not a little of the scholastic theology, and the Trent
dogmas.]

446

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

" For now we see as through a glass, but then
face to face." ' For the vision of the truth is
given but to fe«v. Accordingly, Plato says in the
Epinomis, " I do not say that it is possible for
all to be blessed and happy ; only a few. Whilst
we live, I pronounce thus to be the case. But
there is a good hope that after death I shall at-
tain all." To the same effect is what we find in
Moses : " No man shall see My face, and live." *
For it is evident that no one during the period
of life has been able to apprehend God clearly.
But " the pure in heart shall see God," 3 when they
arrive at the final perfection. For since the soul
became too enfeebled for the apprehension of
realities, we needed a divine teacher. The Sav-
iour is sent down — a teacher and leader in the
acquisition of the good — the secret and sacred
token of the great Providence. " Where, then,
is the scribe ? where is the searcher of this world ?
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this
world? " ^ it is said. And again, " I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent," 5 plainly of those
wise in their own eyes, and disputatious. Ex-
cellently therefore Jeremiah says, "Thus saith
the Lord, Stand in the ways, and ask for the
eternal paths, what is the good way, and walk
in it, and ye shall find expiation for your souls." ^
Ask, he says, and inquire of those who know,
without contention and dispute. And on learn-
ing the way of truth, let us walk on the right way,
without turning till we attain to what we desire.
It was therefore with reason that the king of the
Romans (his name was Numa), being a Pytha-
gorean, first of all men, erected a temple to
Faith and Peace. " And to Abraham, on believ-^
ing, righteousness was reckoned." ^ He, prose
cuting the lofty philosophy of aerial phenomena,
and the sublime philosophy of the movements
in the heavens, was called Abram, which is inter-
preted "sublime father."^ But afterwards, on!
looking up to heaven, whether it was that he saw*,
the Son in the spirit, as some explain, or a glori-
ous angel, or in any other way recognised God
to be superior to the creation, and all the order
in it, he receives in addition the Alpha, the
knowledge of the one and only God, and is called
Abraam, having, instead of a natural philosopher,
become wise, and a lover of God. For it is in-
terpreted, "elect father of sound." For by
sound is the uttered word : the mind is its
father ; and the mind of the good man is elect.
I cannot forbear praising exceedingly the poet

Cor.

XIII. IS.

* Ex. xxxiii. 20.
3 Matt. y. 8.

* I Cor. i. 2o.
5 1 Cor, i. 19.

* Ter. vi. i6.

" Rom. iv. J, 5, 9, 22.

' Philo Judxus, De Ahrahatne^ p. 413, vol. ii.
sec Khicidaiion l.J

Bohn. [But

of Agrigentum, who celebrates faith as fol-
lows : —

" Friends, I know, then, that there is truth in the m)th-»
"Which I will relate. But very difficult to men,
And irksome to the mind, is the attempt of faith.*' '

Wherefore also the apostle exhorts, " that your
faith should not be in the wisdom of men," who
profess to persuade, "but in the power of God," ""
which alone without proofs, by mere faith, is able
to save. " For the most approved of those that
are reputable knows how to keep watch. And
justice will apprehend the forgers and witnesses
of lies," says the Ephesian." For he, having de-
rived his knowledge from the barbarian philoso-
phy, is acquainted with the purification by fire
of those who have led bad lives, which the
Stoics afterwards called the Conflagration {IkitC-
poKTt?), in which also they teach that each will
arise exactly as he was, so treating of the resur-
rection ; while Plato says as follows, that the
earth at certain periods is purified by fire and
water : " There have been manv destructions of
men in many ways ; and there shall be very great
ones by fire and water; and others briefer by
innumerable causes." And after a little he adds :
" And, in truth, there is a change of the objects
which revolve about earth and heaven ; and in
the course of long periods there is the destruc-
tion of the objects on earth by a great conflagra-
tion." Then he subjoins respecting the deluge :
" But when, again, the gods deluge the earth to
purify it with water, those on the mountains,
herdsmen and shepherds, are saved; those in
your cities are carried down by the rivers into
tjie sea." And we showed in the first Miscellany '-
that the philosophers of the Greeks are called
thieves, inasmuch as they have taken without
acknowledgment their principal dogmas from
Moses and the prophets. To which also we
shall add, that the angels who had obtained the
superior rank, having simk into pleasures, told to
the women ^^ the secrets which had come to their
knowledge ; while the rest of the angels con-
cealed them, or rather, kept them against the
coming of the Lord. Thence emanated the
doctrine of providence, and the revelation of
high things ; and prophecy having already been
imparted to the philosophers of the Greeks, the
treatment of dogma arose among the philoso-
phers, sometimes true when they hit the mark,
and sometimes erroneous, when they compre-
hended not the secret of the prophetic allegory.
And this it is proposed briefly to indicate in
running over the points requiring mention.
Faith, then, we say, we are to show must not be

9 Empedocles

*° \ Cor. ii. 5.

^^ Her.icUlus.
\^

See p. 318, supraA
See vol. i. p. 190, this

series.]

CHA£\ II.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

447

inert and alone, but accompanied with investiga-
tion. For I do not say that we are not to in-
(luire at all. For " Search, and thou shalt find," '
it is said.

" What is sought may be captured,
But what is neglected escapes,"

according to Sophocles.

The like also says Menander the comic poet : —

" All things sought,
The wisest say, need anxious thought."

But we ought to direct the visual faculty of the
soul aright to discovery, and to clear away ob-
stacles ; and to cast clean away contention, and
envy, and strife, destined to perish miserably
from. among men.

For very beautifully does Timon of Phlius
write : —

** And Strife, the Plague of Mortals, stalks vainly shriek-
ing,
The sister of Murderous Quarrel and Discord,
Which rolls blindly over all things. But then
It sets its head towards men, and casts them on hope."

Then a little below he adds : —

** For who hath set these to fight in deadly strife ?
A rabble keeping pace with Echo; for, enraged at

those silent.
It raised an evil disease against men, and many per-
ished ; "

of the speech which denies what is false, and of
the dilemma, of that which is concealed, of the
Sk)rites, and of the Crocodilean, of that which
is open, and of ambiguities and sophisms. To
inquire, then, respecting God, if it tend not to
strife, but to discovery, is salutary. For it is
written in David, " The poor eat, and shall be
filled ; and they shall praise the Lord that seek
Him. Your heart shall live for ever."* For
they who seek Him after the true search, prais-
ing the Lord, shall be filled with the gift that
comes from God, that is, knowledge. And their
soul shall live ; for the soul is figuratively termed
the heart, which ministers life : for by the Son is
the Father known.

We ought not to surrender our ears to all who
speak and write rashly. For cups also, which
are taken hold of by many by the ears, are
dirtied, and lose the ears ; and besides, when
they fall they are broken. In the same way also,
those, who have polluted the pure hearing of faith
by many trifles, at last becoming deaf to the
truth, become useless and fall to the earth. It
is not, then, without reason that we commanded
boys to kiss their relations, holding them by the
ears ; indicating this, that the feeling of love is
engendered by hearing. And "God," who is
known to those who love, " is love," ^ as " God,"

who by instruction is communicated to the faith-
ful, " is faithful ; " ^ and we must be allied to
Him by divine love : so that by like we may see
like, hearing the word of truth guilelessly and
purely, as children who obey us. And this was
what he, whoever he was, indicated who wrote
on the entrance to the temple at Epidaurus the
inscription : —

" Pure he must be who goes within
The incense-perfumed fane."

And purity is " to think holy thoughts." " Ex-
cept ye become as these litde children, ye shall
not enter," it is said, "into the kingdom of
heaven." s For there the temple of God is seen
established on three foundations — faith, hope,
and love.

CHAP. II. — ON HOPE.

Respecting faith we have adduced sufficient
testimonies of writings among the Greeks. But
in order not to exceed bounds, through eager-
ness to collect a very great many also respecting
hope and love, suffice it merely to say that in the
Crifo Sog:?.tes, who prefers a good life and death
to life itself, thinks that we have hope of another
life after death.

Also in the Phadrus he says, " That only
when in a separate state can the soul become
partaker of the wisdom which is true, and sur-
passes human power ; and when, having reached
the end of hope by philosophic love, desire shall
waft it to heaven, then," says he, " does it re-
ceive the commencement of another, an immor-
tal life." And in the Symposium he says, "That
there is instilled into all the natural love of gen-
erating what is like, and in men of generating
men alone, and in the good man of the genera-
tion of the counterpart of himself. But it is
impossible for the good man to do this without
possessing the perfect virtues, in which he will
train the youth who have recourse to him."
And as he says in the Thece/etus, " He will beget
and finish men. For some procreate by the
body, others by the soul ; " since also with the
barbarian philosophers to teach and enlighten is
called to regenerate ; and " I have begotten you
in Jesus Christ," ^ says the good apostle some-
where.

Empedocles, too, enumerates friendship
among the elements, conceiving it as a com-
bining love : —

" Which do you look at with your mind ; and don't sit
gaping with your eyes."

Parmenides, too, in his poem, alluding to
hope, speaks thus : —

' Matt, vii, 7.
* Ps. xxii. 26.
3 I John iv. 16.

* I Cor. i. 9. X. 13

5 Matt, xviii. 3.
* I Cor. iv. 15.

[Again this tender love of children.]

448

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

" Yet look with the mind certainly on what is absent as

present.
For it will not sever that which is from the grasp it

has of that which is
Not, even if scattered in every direction over the

world or combined."

CHAP. III. — THE OBJECTS OF FAITH AND HOPE
PERCEIVED BY THE MIND ALONE.

For he who hopes, as he who believes, sees
intellectual objects and future things with the
mind. If, then, we affirm that aught is just,
and affirm it to be good, and we also say that
truth is something, yet we have never seen any
of such objects with our eyes, but with our mind
alone. Now the Word of God says, " I am the
truth." * The Word is then to be contemplated
by the mind. " Do you aver," it was said,' " that
there are any true philosophers?" "Yes," said
I, "those who love to contemplate the truth."
In the Phcedrus also, Plato, speaking of the
truth, shows it as an idea. Now an idea is a
conception of God ; and this the barbarians have
termed the Word of God. The words are as
follow : " For one must then dare to speak the
truth, especially in speaking of the truth. For
the essence of the soul, being colourless, form-
less, and intangible, is visible only to God,3 its
guide." Now the Word issuing forth was the
cause of creation ; then also he generated him-
self, "when the Word had become flesh," -♦ that
He might be seen. The righteous man will
seek the discovery that flows from love, to which
if he hastes he prospers. For it is said, " To him
that knocketh, it shall be opened : ask, and it
shall be given to you." s " For the violent that
storm the kingdom " ^ are not so in disputatious
speeches ; but by continuance in a right life and
unceasing prayers, are said " to take it by force,"
wiping away the blots left by their previous sins.

" You may obtain wickedness, even in great abundance.'
And him who toils God helps ;
For the gifts of the Muses, hard to win,
Lie not before you, for any one to bear away."

The knowledge of ignorance is, then, the first
lesson in walking according to the Word. An
ignorant man has sought, and having sought, he
finds the teacher ; and finding has believed, and
believing has hoped ; and henceforward having
loved, is assimilated to what was loved — en-
deavouring 10 be what he first loved. Such is
the method Socrates shows Alcibiades, who thus
questions : " Do you not think that I shall know
about what is right otherwise?" "Yes, if you
have found out." " But you don't think I have

* John xiv. 6.
a By Plato.

3 In Plato we have i'^' instead of 9ew.

* Tohn i. 14.

5 Matt. vii. 7.
^ Matt. xi. 12.

7 Hesiod, first line, Works and Days^ 285. The other thfcc are
variously ascribed to diflferent authors.

found out?" "Certainly, if you have sought."
"Then you don't think that I have sought?"
"Yes, if you think you do not know."** So
with the lamps of the wise virgins, lighted at
night in the great darkness of ignorance, which
the Scripture signified by " night." Wise souls,
pure as virgins, understanding themselves to be
situated amidst the ignorance of the world, kin-
dle the light, and rouse the mind, and illumine
the darkness, and dispel ignorance, and seek
truth, and await the appearance of the Teacher.

"The mob, then," said I, "cannot become a philoso-
pher."'

" Many rod-bearers there are, but few Bacchi,"
according to Plato. " For many are called, but
few chosen." '° " Knowledge is not in all," " says
the apostle. "And pray that we may be de-
livered from unreasonable and wicked men : for
all men have not faith." '* And the Poetics of
Cleanthes, the Stoic, writes to the following
effect : —

" Look not to glory, wishing to be suddenly wise,
And fear not the undiscerning and rash opinon of the

many;
For the multitude has not an intelligent, or wise, or

right judgment,
And it is in few men that you will find this." "

And more sententiously the comic poet briefly
says : —

" It is a shame to judge of what is right by much noise."

For they heard, I think, that excellent wisdom,
which says to us, "Watch your opportunity in
the midst of the foolish, and in the midst of the
intelligent continue." '^ And again, " The wise
will conceal sense." 's For the many demand
demonstration as a pledge of truth, not satisfied
with the bare salvation by faith.

" But it is strongly incumbent to disbelieve the dominant
wicked,
And as is enjoined by the assurance of our muse,
Know by dissecting the utterance within your breast."

" For this is habitual to the wicked," says Em-
pedocles, " to wish to overbear what is true by
disbelieving it." And that our tenets are proba-
ble and worthy of belief, the Greeks shall know,
the point being more thoroughly investigated in
what follows. For we are taught what is like by
What is like. For says Solomon, "Answer a fool
according to his folly." '5 Wherefore also, to
those that ask the wisdom that is with us, we are
to hold out things suitable, that with the greatest
possible ease they may, through their own ideas,
be likely to arrive at faith in the truth. For " I

* Plato, AlcibiadeSy book i.

9 Plato, Repnhlicy vi. p. 678.
»o Matt. XX. 16.
'* I Cor. viii. 7.
*2 3 Thcss. iii. I, 2.

*3 Quoted by Socrates in the Phttdo, p. 5a.
** Ecclus. xjcvii. I a.
*5 Prov. X. 14.
*<» Prov. xxvi. 5.

C!£AP. IV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

449

became all things to all men, that I might gain
all men." ' Since also *^ the rain " of the divine
grace is sent down "on the just and the unjust."^
" Is He the God of the Jews only, and not also
of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles: if
indeed He is one God," ^ exclaims the noble
apostle.

CHAP. IV. DIVINE THINGS WRAPPED UP IN FIG-
URES BOTH IN THE SACRED AND IN HEATHEN
^V^«TERS.

But since they will believe neither in what is
good justly nor in knowledge unto salvation, we
ourselves reckoning what they claim as belonging
to us, because all things are God's ; and espe-
cially since what is good proceeded from us to
the Greeks, let us handle those things as they
are capable of hearing. For intelligence or rec-
titude this great crowd estimates not by truth,
but by what they are delighted with. And they
will be pleased not more with other things than
with what is like themselves. For he who is still
blind and dumb, not having understanding, or
the undazzled and keen vision of the contempla-
tive soul, which the Saviour confers, like 'the un-
initiated at the mysteries, or the unmusical at
dances, not being yet pure and worthy of the
pure truth, but still discordant and disordered
and material, must stand outside of the divine
choir. "For we compare spiritual things with^
spiritual." ^ Wherefore, in accordance with the
method of concealment, the truly sacred Word,
truly divine and most necessary for us, deposited
in the shrine of truth, was by the Egyptians indi-
cated by what were called among them adyta^
and by the Hebrews by the veil. Only the con-
secrated — that is, those devoted to God, cir-
cumcised in the desire of the passions for the
sake of love to that which is alone divine — were
allowed access to them. For Plato also thought
it not lawful for " the impure to touch the pure."

Thence the prophecies and oracles are spoken
in enigmas, and the mysteries are not exhibited
incontinently to all and sundry, but only after
certain purifications and previous instmctions.

" For the Muse was not then
Greedy of gain or mercenary ;
Nor were Terpsichore's sweet,
Honey-toned, silvery soft-voiced
Strains made merchandise of."

Now those instructed among the Egyptians
learned first of all that style of the Eg}^ptian
letters which is called Epistolographic ; and
second, the Hieratic, which the sacred scribes
practise ; and finally, and last of all, the Hiero-
glyphic, of which one kind which is by the first

' I Cor. ix. 32.
2 Matt. V. 45.
^ Rom. iii. 29, 30.
< 1 Cor. ii. 13.

! elements is literal (Kyriologic), and the qther
SymboHc. Of the Symbolic, one kind speaks
literally by imitation, and another writes as it
were figuratively ; and another is quite allegori-
cal, using certain enigmas.

Wishing to express Sun in writing, they make
a circle ; and Moon, a figure like the Moon, like
its proper shape. But in using the figurative

j style, by transposing and transferring, by chan-
ging and by transforming in many ways as suits

, them, they draw characters. In relating the
praises of the kings in theological myths, they
write in anaglyphs.^ Let the following stand as
a specimen of the third species — the Enigmatic.
For the rest of the stars, on account of their
oblique course, they have figured like the bodies
of serpents ; but the sun, like that of a beetle,
because it makes a round figure of ox-dung,^ and
rolls it before its face. And they say that this
creature lives six months under ground, and the
other division of the year above ground, and
emits its seed into the ball, and brings forth ; and
that there is not a female beetle. All then, in a
word, who have spoken of divine things, both
Barbarians and Greeks, have veiled the first
principles of things, and delivered the truth in
enigmas, and symbols, and allegories, and meta-
phors, and such like tropes.^ Suth also are the
oracles among the Greeks. And the Pythian
Apollo is called Loxias. Also the maxims of

^hose among the Greeks called wise men, in a
few sayings indicate the unfolding of matter of
considerable importance. Such certainly is that
maxim, " Spare Time : " either because life is
short, and we ought not to expend this time in
vain ; or, on the other hand, it bids you spare
your personal expenses ; so that, though you live
many years, necessaries may not fail you. Simi-

I larly also the maxim ^^ Know thyself^'' shows

I many things ; both that thou art mortal, and that
thou wast bom a human being ;. and also that,
in comparison with the other excellences of life,
thou art of no account, because thou sayest that
thou art rich or renowned ; or, on the other
hand, that, being rich or renowned, you are not
honoured on account of your advantages alone.
And it says, Know for what thou wert born, and
whose image thou art ; and what is thy essence,
and what thy creation, and what thy relation to
God, and the like. And the Spirit says by Isaiah
the prophet, " I will give thee treasures, hidden,
dark." ** Now wisdom, hard to hunt, is the treas- 1
ures of God and unfailing riches. But those, '
taught in theology by those prophets, the poets, '
philosophize much by way of a hidden sense. I
mean Orpheus, Linus, Musaeus, Homer, and

s Has relief.

Elucidation II.]
Prov. i. 6.J
sa. xlv. 3.

450

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

Hesiod, and those in this fashion wise. The
persuasive style of poetry is for them a veil for
the many. Dreams and signs are all more or
less obscure to men, not from jealousy (for it
were wrong to conceive of God as subject to
passions), but in order that research, introducing
to the understanding of enigmas, may haste to
the discovery of truth. Thus Sophocles the
tragic poet somewhere says : —

** And God I know to be such an one,
Ever the revealer of enigmas to the wise,
But to the perverse bad, although a teacher in few
words," —

putting bad instead of simple. Expressly then
respecting all our Scripture, as if spoken in a
parable, it is written in the Psalms, " Hear, O
My people. My law: incline your ear to the
words of My mouth. I will open My mouth in
parables, I will utter My problems from the be-
ginning." ^ Similarly speaks the noble apostle
to the following effect : " Howbeit we speak
wisdom among those that are perfect ; yet not
the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of
this world, that come to nought. But we speak
the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery ; which
none of the princes of this world knew. For
had they known it, they would not have cruci-
fied the Lord of glory." *

The philosophers did not exert themselves
in contemning the appearance of the Lord. It
therefore follows that it is the opinion of the
wise among the Jews which the apostle inveighs
against it. Wherefore he adds, " But we preach,
as it is written, what eye hath not seen, and ear
hath not heard, and hath not entered into the
heart of man, what God hath prepared for them
that love Him. For God hath revealed it to us
by the Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things,
even the deep things of God." 3 For he recog-
nises the spiritual man and the Gnostic as the dis-
ciple of the Holy Spirit dispensed by God, which
is the mind of Christ. " But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit, for they
are foolishness to him." * Now the apostle, in
contradistinction to gnostic perfection, calls the
common faith s the foundation^ and sometimes
milk, writing on this wise : " Brethren, I could
not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal,
to babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk,
not with meat : for ye were not able. Neither
yet are ye now able. For ye are yet carnal : for
whereas there is among you envy and strife, are
ye not carnal, and walk as men ? " ^ Which things
are the choice of those men who are sinners.
But those who abstain from these things give

^ Ps. Ixxviii. I, 2.

^ I Cor. ii. 6-8,

3 T Cor. ii. 9, lo.

* I Cor. ii. 14.

-* [See cap. i. p. 444, note 6, supra.\

** \ Cor. ui. 1-3.

their thoughts to divine things, and partake of
gnostic food. " According to the grace," it is
said, " given to me as a wise master builder, I
have laid the foundation. And another buildeth
on it gold and silver, precious stones." ^ Such is
the gnostic superstructure on the foundation of
faith in Christ Jesus. But " the stubble, and the
wood, and the hay," are the additions of heresies.
" But the fire shall try every man's work, of what
sort it is." In allusion to the gnostic edifice also
in the Epistle to the Romans, he says, " For I
desire to see you, that I may impart unto you a
spiritual gift, that ye may be established." ^ It
was impossible that gifts of this sort could be
written without disguise.

CHAP. V. — ON THE SYMBOLS OF PYTHAGORAS.

Now the Pythagorean symbols were connected
with the Barbarian philosophy in the most recon-
dite way. For instance, the Samian counsels
" not to have a swallow in the house ; " that is,
not to receive a loquacious, whispering, garrulous
man, who cannot contain what has been com-
municated to him. " For the swallow, and the
turtle, and the sparrows of the field, know the
times of their entrance," 9 says the Scripture ; and
one ought never to dwell with trifles. And the
turtle-dove murmuring shows the thankless slan-
der of fault-finding, and is rightly expelled the
house.

" Don*t mutter against me, sitting by one in one place,
another in another." *^

The swallow too, which suggests the fable of
Pandion, seeing it is right to detest the incidents
reported of it, some of which we hear Tereus
suffered, and some of which he inflicted. It
pursues also the musical grasshoppers, whence he
who is a persecutor of the word ought to be
driven away.

" By sceptre-bearing Here, whose eye surveys Olympus,
I have a rusty closet for tongues, "

says Pj>etry. -^schylus also says : —

" But, I, too, have a key as a guard on my tongue."

Again Pythagoras commanded, "When the pot is
lifted off the fire, not to leave its mark in the
ashes, but to scatter them ; " and " people on
getting up firom bed, to shake the bed-clothes."
For he intimated that it was necessary not only
to efface the mark, but not to leave even a trace
of anger ; and that on its ceasing to boil, it was
to be composed, and all memory of injury to l>e
wiped out. "And let not the sun," says the
Scripture, " go down upon your wrath." " And
he that said, " Thou shalt not desire," " took
away all memory of wrong ; for wrath is found

7 I Cor. iii. 10-13.

■ Rom. i. II.

9 Jer. viii. 6.
*o Ih'adf IX. 311.
" Kph. iv. 26.
*•* Ex. XX. 17.

<:iiAP. v.]

THK STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

451

to be the impulse of concupiscence in a mild
soul, especially seeking irrational revenge. In
the same way " the bed is ordered to be shaken
up," so that there may be no recollection of efifu-
sion in sleep/ or sleep in the day-time ; nor,
besides, of pleasure during the night. And he
intimated that the vision of the dark ought to be
dissipated speedily by the light of truth. " Be
angry, and sin not," says David, teaching us that
we ought not to assent to the impression, and
not to follow it up by action, and so confirm
wrath.

Again, " Don't sail on land " is a Pythagorean
saw, and shows that taxes and similar contracts,
being troublesome and fluctuating, ought to be
declined. Wherefore also the Word says that
the tax-gatherers shall be saved with difficulty.'

Ajid again, " Don't wear a ring, nor engrave
on it the images of the gods," enjoins Pythago-
ras ; as Moses ages before enacted expressly,
that neither a graven, nor molten, nor moulded,
nor painted likeness should be made ; so that
we may not cleave to things of sense, but pass to
intellectual objects : for familiarity with the sight
disparages the reverence of what is divine ; and
to worship that which is immaterial by matter,
is to dishonour it by sense.' Wherefore the
wisest of the Egyptian priests decided that the
temple of Athene should be hypoethral, just as
the Hebrews constructed the temple without an
image. And some, in worshipping God, make a
representation of heaven containing the stars;
and so worship, although Scripture says, " Let
Us make man in Our image and likeness." * I
think it worth while also to adduce the utterance
of Eurysus the Pythagorean, which is as follows,
who in his book On Fortune, having said thai
the " Creator, on making man, took Himself as
an exemplar," added, " And the body is like the
other things, as being made of the same material,
and fashioned by the best workman, who wrought
it, taking Himself as the archetype." And, in
fine, Pythagoras and his followers, witli Plato
also, and most of the other philosophers, were
l)est acquainted with the Lawgiver, as may be
concluded from their doctrine. And by a happy
utterance of divination, not without divine help,
concurring in certain prophetic declarations, and
seizing the truth in portions and aspects, in
terms not obscure, and not going beyond the
explanation of the things, they honoured it on as
certaining the appearance of relation with the
truth. Whence the Hellenic philosophy is like
the torch of wick which men kindle, artificially
stealing the light from the sun. But on the

I rjudc as.]

' It is so said of the rich: Matt. xix. 23; Mark x. ^; Luke xviii.

24- , .

3 ^Against images. But see Catechism 0/ the Council of Trent^
part ill cap. a, quaest. xxiv.J

^ Gen. i. 26.

proclamation of the Word all that holy light
shone forth. Then in houses by night the stolen
light is useful ; but by day the fire blazes, and
all the night is illuminated by such a sun of in-
tellectual light.

Now Pythagoras made an epitome of the
statements on righteousness in Moses, when he
said, " Do not step over the balance ; " that is,
do not transgress equality in distribution, hon-
ouring justice so.

" Which friends to friends for ever, binds.
To cities, cities — to allies, allies,
For equality is what is right for men ;
But less to greater ever hostile grows,
And days of hate begin,"

as is said with poetic grace.

Wherefore the Lord says, " Take My yoke, for
it is gentle and light." s And on the disciples,
striving for the pre-eminence, He enjoins equal-
ity with simplicity, saying " that they must be-
come as little children." ^ Likewise also the
apostle writes, that " no one in Christ is bond
or free, or Greek or Jew. For the creation in
Christ Jesus is new, is equality, free of strife —
not grasping — just." For envy, and jealousy,
and bitterness, stand without the divine choir.

Thus also those skilled in the mysteries forbid
" to eat the heart ; " teaching that we ought not
to gnaw and consume the soul by idleness and
by vexation, on account of things which happen
against one's wishes. Wretched, accordingly,
was the man whom Homer also says, wandering
alone, " ate his own heart." But again, seeing
the Gospel supposes two ways — the apostles,
too, similarly with all the prophets — and seeing
they call that one " narrow and confined " which
is circumscribed according to the command-
ments and prohibitions, and the opposite one,
which leads to perdition, " broad and roomy,"
open to pleasures an^wrath, and say, " Blessed
is the man who walketh not in the counsel of
the ungodly, and standeth not in* the way of sin-
ners." 7 Hence also comes the fable of Prodi-
cus of Ceus about Virtue and Vice.^ And Py-
thagoras shrinks not from prohibiting to walk on
the public thoroughfares, enjoining the necessity
of not following the sentiments of the many,
I which are crude and inconsistent. And Aristoc-
j ritus, in the first book of his Positions against
\ Heracliodorusy mentions a letter to this effect :
" Atceeas king of the Scythians to the people of
Byzantium : Do not impair my revenues in case
my mares drink your water ; " for the Barbarian
indicated symbolically that he would make war
on them. Likewise also the poet Euphorion in-
troduces Nestor saying, —

" We have not yet wet the Achaean steeds in Simois."

5 Matt, xi . 29. 30.

6 Matt, xviii. 3.

7 Ps. i. 1.

8 [Sec PadagogHCt ii. 11, p. 265, supra.\

452

THE STROMATA, QR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

Therefore also the Egyptians place Sphinxes '
before their temples, to signify that the doctrine
respecting God is enigmatical and obscure ; per-
haps also that we ought both to love and fear
the Divine Being : to love Him as gentle and
benign to the pious ; to fear Him as inexorably
just to the impious ; for the sphinx shows the
image of a wild beast and of a man together.

CHAP. VI. — THE MYSTIC MEANING OF THE TAB-
ERNACLE AND ITS FURNI'lTJRE.

It were tedious to go over all the Prophets
and the Law, specifying what is spoken in enig-
mas ; for almost the whole Scripture gives its
utterances in this way. It may suffice, I think,
for any one possessed of intelligence, for the
proof of the point in hand, to select a few ex-
amples.

Now concealment is evinced in the reference
of the seven circuits around the temple, which
are made mention of among the Hebrews ; and
the equipment on the robe, indicating by the
various symbols, which had reference to visible
objects, the agreement which from heaven
reaches down to earth. And the covering and
the veil were variegated with blue, and purple,
and scarlet, and linen. And so it was suggested
that the nature of the elements contained the
revelation of God, For purple is from water,
linen from the earth ; blue, being dark, is like
the air, as scarlet is like fire.

In the midst of the covering and veil, where
the priests were allowed to enter, was situated
the altar of incense, the symbol of the earth
placed in the middle of this universe ; and from
it came the fumes of incense. And that place
intermediate between the inner veil, where the
high priest alone, on prescribed days, was per-
mitted to enter, and the external court which
surrounded it — free to all the Hebrews — was,
they say, the middlemost point of heaven and
earth. But others say it was the symbol of the
intellectual world, and that of sense. The cov-
ering, then, the barrier of popular unbelief, was
stretched in front of the five pillars, keeping
back those in the surrounding space.

So very mystically the five loaves are broken
by the Saviour, and fill the crowd of the listeners.
For great is the crowd that keep to the things ;
of sense, as if they were the only things in ex-
istence. ** Cast your eyes round, and see," says
Plato, "that none of the uninitiated listen."
Such are they who think that nothing else exists,
but what they can hold tight with their hands ;
but do not admit as in the department of exist-
ence, actions and processes of generation, and
the whole of the unseen. For such are those
who keep by the dve senses. But the knowledge

* [Rawlinson, Herod. ^ ii. 293.]

of God is a thing inaccessible to the ears and
like organs of this kind of people. Hence the
Son is said to be the Father's face, being the re-
vealer of the Father's character to the five senses
by clothing Himself with flesh. " But if we hve
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." ^
" For we walk by faith, not by sight," 3 the noble
apostle says. Within the veil, then, is concealed
the sacerdotal service ; and it keeps those en-
gaged in it far from those without.

Again, there is the veil of the entrance into
the holy of holies. Four pillars there are, the
sign of the sacred tetrad of the ancient cove-
nants.'* Further, the mystic name of four letters
which was affixed to those alone to whom the
adytum was accessible, is called Jave, which is
interpreted, " Who is and shall be." The name
of God, too, among the Greeks contains four
letters.

Now the Lord, having come alone into the
intellectual world, enters by His sufferings, intro-
duced into the knowledge of the Ineffable, as-
cending above every name which is known by
sound. The lamp, too, was placed to the south
of the altar of incense ; and by it were shown
the motions of the seven planets, that perform
their revolutions towards the south. For three
branches rose on either side of the lamp, and
lights on them ; since also the sun, like the lamp,
set in the midst of all the planets, dispenses with
a kind of divine music the light to those above
and to those below.

The golden lamp conveys another enigma as
a symbol of Christ, not in respect of form alone,
but in his casting light, "at sundry times and
divers manners," s on those who beheve on Him
and hope, and who seel^y means of the ministr)-
of the First-bom. And they say that the seven
eyes of the Lord " are the seven spirits resting
on the rod that springs from the root of Jesse. "^

North of the altar of incense was placed a
table, on which there was " the exhibition of the
loaves ; " for the most nourishing of the winds
are those of the north. And thus are signified
certain seats of churches conspiring so as to
form one body and one assemblage.^

And the things recorded of the sacred ark
signify the properties of the world of thought,
which is hidden and closed to the many.

And those golden figures, each of them with
six wings, signify either the two bears, as some
will have it, or rather the two hemispheres. And
the name cherubim meant " much knowledge."
But both together have twelve wings, and by the
zodiac and time, which moves on it, point out

2 Gal. V. 25.

^ 2 Cor. V. 7.

•♦ [Elucidation III.]

5 Hcb. i. I.

<» Rev, V. 6: Isa. xi. lo. [Elucidation IV.]

7 [" The communion of saints."]

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

453

the world of sense. It is of them, I think, that
Tragedy, discoursing of Nature, says : —

** Unwearied Time circles full in perennial flow,
Producing itself. And the twin-bears
On the swift wandering motions of their wings,
Keep the Atlantean pole."

And Atlas,' the unsuffering pole, may mean the
fixed sphere, or better perhaps, motionless eter-
nity. But I think it better to regard the ark, so
called from the Hebrew word Thebotha,* as
signifying something else. It is interpreted, one
instead of one in all places. Whether, then, it is
the eighth region and the world of thought, or
(iod, all-embracing, and without shape, and in-
visible, that is indicated, we may for the present
defer saying. But it signifies the repose which
dwells with the adoring spirits, which are meant
by the cherubim.

For He who prohibited the making of a graven
image, would never Himself have made an image
in the likeness of holy things.^ Nor is there at
all any composite thing, and creature endowed
with sensation, of the sort in heaven. But the
face is a symbol of the rational soul, and the
wings are the lofty ministers and energies of
j)owers right and left ; and the voice is delight-
some glory in ceaseless contemplation. Let it
suffice that the mystic interpretation has ad-
vanced so far.

Now the high priest's robe is the symbol of
the world of sense. The seven planets are repre-
sented by the five stones and the two carbuncles,
for Saturn and the Moon. The former is south-
ern, and moist, and earthy, and heavy ; the
latter aerial, whence she is called by some Arte-
mis, as if Aerotomos (cutting the air) ; and the
air is cloudy. And co-operating as they did in
the production of things here below, those that
by Divine Providence are set over the planets
are rightly represented as placed on the breast
and shoulders ; and bv them was the work of
creation, the first week. And the breast is the
seat of the heart and soul.

Differently, the stones might be the various
phases of salvation ; some occupying the upper,
some the lower parts of the entire body saved.
The three hundred and sixty bells, suspended
from the robe, is the si)ace of a year, " the ac-
ceptable year of the Lord," proclaiming and
resounding the stupendous manifestation of the
Saviour. Further, the broad gold mitre indicates
the regal power of the Ix)rd, " since the Head of
the Church " is the Saviour.'* The mitre th^t is
on it [i.e., the head] is, then, a sign of most
princely rule ; and otherwise we have heard it

* 'A — rAav . unsuflcring.

' The Chaldaic J^HOP. The Hebrew is HSP* Sept. Ki^a(T6f,

T T -

Vulg. area.

^ [KlucidationV.]
^ Kph. V. 23.

said, "The Head of Christ is the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." 5 Moreover,
there was the breastplate, comprising the ephod,
which is the symbol of work, and the oracle
(Aoyt'ov) ; and this indicated the Word (\6yofi)
by which it was framed, and is the symbol of
heaven, made by the Word,^ and subjected to
Christ, the Head of all things, inasmuch as it
moves in the same way, and in a like manner.
The luminous emerald stones, therefore, in the
ephod, signify the sun and moon, the helpers of
nature. The shoulder, I take it, is the com-
mencement of the hand.

The twelve stones, set in four rows on the
breast, describe for us the circle of the zodiac,
in the four changes of the year. It was other-
wise requisite that the law and the prophets
should be placed beneath the Lord's head,
because in both Testaments mention is made of
the righteous. For were we to say that the
apostles were at once prophets and righteous,
we should say well, " since one and the self-same
Holy Spirit works in all." 7 And as the Lord is
above the whole world, yea, above the world of
thought, so the name engraven on the plate has
been regarded to signify, above all rule and
authority; and it was inscribed with reference
both to the written commandments and the
manifestation to sense. And it is the name of
God that is expressed ; since, as the Son sees
the goodness of the Father, God the Saviour
works, being called the first principle of all
things, which was imaged forth from the invisible
God first, and before the ages, and which
fashioned all things which came into being after
itself. Nay more, the oracle^ exhibits the
prophecy which by the Word cries and preaches,
and the judgment that is to come ; since it is
the same Word which prophesies, and judges,
and discriminates all things.

And they say that the robe prophesied the
ministry in the flesh, by which He was seen in
closer relation to the world. So the high priest,
putting off his consecrated robe (the universe,
and the creation in the universe, were conse-
crated by Him assenting that, what was made,
was good), washes himself, and puts on the
other tunic — a holy-of- holies one, so to speak
— which is to accompany him into the adytum ;
exhibiting, as seems to me, the Levite and
Gnostic, as the chief of other priests (those
bathed in water, and clothed in faith alone, and
expecting their own individual abode), himself
distinguishing the objects of the intellect from
the things of sense, rising alxn-e other priests,

5 I Cor. xi. 3; 2 Cor. xi. 31.

* And the whole place is very correctly called the I^gciim
(Aoyeioi-), since everything in heaven has* been created and arranged
in accordance with riRht reason (Aoyoi«) and proportion (Philo, vol.
iii. p. 195, Hohn's translation).

7 1 Cor. xii. n

^ i.e., the oracular breastplate.

454

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

hasting to the entrance to the world of ideas, to
wash himself from the things here below, not in
water, as formerly one was cleansed on being |
enrolled in the tribe of Levi. But purified
already by the gnostic Word in his whole heart,
and thoroughly regulated, and having improved
that mode of life received from the priest to the
highest pitch, being quite sanctified both in
word and life, and having put on the bright
array of glory, and received the ineffable inherit-
ance of that spiritual and perfect man, " which
eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard, and
it hath not entered into the heart of man ; "
and having become son and friend, he is now
replenished with insatiable contemplation face
to face. For there is nothing hke hearing the
Word Himself, who by means of the Scripture
inspires fuller intelHgence. For so it is said,
*' And he shall put off the linen robe, which he
had put on when he entered into the holy place ;
and shall lay it aside there, and wash his body
in water in the holy place, and put on his robe." *
But in one way, as I think, the Lord puts off
and puts on by descending into the region of
sense ; and in another, he who through Him has
believed puts off and puts on, as the apostle
intimated, the consecrated stole. Thence, after
the image of the Lord, the worthiest were
chosen from the sacred tribes to be high priests,
and those elected to the kingly office and to
prophecy were anointed.

CHAP. Vn. — THE EGYPTIAN SYMBOLS AND ENIGMAS

OF SACRED THINGS.

Whence also the Egyptians did not entrust
the mysteries they possessed to all and sundry,
and did not divulge the knowledge of divine
things to the profane ; but only to those destined
to ascend the throne, and those of the priests
that were judged the worthiest, from their nur-
ture, culture, and birth. Similar, then, to the
V Hebrew enigmas in respect to concealment, are
those of the Egyptians also. Of the Egyptians,
some show the sun on a ship, others on a croco-
dile. And they signify hereby, that the sun,
making a passage through the delicious and
moist air, generates time ; which is symbolized
by the crocodile in some other sacerdotal ac-
count. Further, at Diospolis in Egypt, on the
temple called Pylon, there was figured a boy
as the symbol of production, and an old man as
that of decay. A hawk, on the other hand, was
the symbol of God, as a fish of hate ; and, ac-
cording to a different symbolism, the crocodile
of impudence. The whole symbol, then, when
put together, appears to teach this : " Oh ye who
are bom and die, (Jod hates impudence."

And there are those who fashion ears and eyes

* I^v. xvi. 23, 24.

of costly material, and consecrate them, dedicat-
ing them in the temples to the gods — by this
plainly indicating that God sees and hears all
things. Besides, the lion is with them the sym-
bol of strength and prowess, as the ox clearly is
of the earth itself, and husbandry and food, and
the horse of fortitude and confidence ; while, on
the other hand, the sphinx, of strength combineii
with intelligence — as it had a body entirely that
of a lion, and the face of a man. Similarly to
these, to indicate intelligence, and memory, and
power, and art, a man is sculptured in the tem-
ples. And in what is called among them the
Komasije of the gods, they carry about golden
images — two dogs, one hawk, and one ibis ;
and the four figures of the images they call
four letters. For the dogs are symbols of the
two hemispheres, which, as it were, go round
and keep watch ; the hawk, of the sun, for it i<
fiery and destructive (so they attribute pestilen-
tial diseases to the sun) ; the ibis, of the moon,
likening the shady parts to that which is dark
in plumage, and the luminous to the light. An*!
some will have it that by the dogs are meant the
tropics, which guard and watch the sun's passage
to the south and north. The hawk signifies the
equinoctial line, which is high and parched with
heat, as the ibis the ecliptic. For the ibis seems,
above other animals, to have furnished to the
Egyptians the first rudiments of the invention of
number and measure, as the oblique line did o\
circles.

CHAP. VIII. THE USE OF THE SYMBOUC STV LE

BY POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS.

But it was not only the most highly intellectual
' of the Egyptians, but also such of other bar ja-
I rians as prosecuted philosophy, that affected the
symbolical style. They say, then, that Idanthuris
king of the Scythians,* as Pherecydes of S\tos
' relates, sent to Darius, on his passing the Ister
in threat of war, a symbol, instead of a letter.
consisting of a mouse, a frog, a bird, a javelin,
a plough. And there being a doubt in reference
to them, as was to be expected, Orontopagas the
Chiliarch said that they were to resign the king-
dom ; taking dwellings to be meant by the
mouse, waters by the frog, air by the bird, lan<I
by the plough, arms by the javelin. But Xipho-
dres interpreted the contrary ; for he said, " If
we do not take our flight like birds, or like mice
get below the earth, or like frogs beneath the
water, we shall not escape their arrows ; for we
are not lords of the territory."

It is said that Anacharsis the Scythian, while
asleep, covered the pudenda with his left hand,
and his mouth with his right, to intimate that
both ought to be mastered, but that it was a
greater thing to master the tongue than volup-
tuousness.

Chap. VIII.]

THE STROMATA. OR MISCELLANIES.

455

And why should I linger over the barbarians, '"And bright water is poured down, the Bedu of the
when I can adduce the Greeks as exceedingly / nymphs."

addicted to the use of the method of conceal-^Dion Thytes also seems to write similarly : —
ment? Androcydes the Pythagorean says the

far-famed so-called Ephesian letters were of the
class of symbols. For he said that da-Kiov (shad-
owless) meant darkness, for it has no shadow ;
and KaraxTKuov (shadowy) light, since it casts
with its rays the shadow ; and Atf is the earth,
according to an ancient appellation ; and rcrpa?
IS the year, in reference to the seasons; and
^/xva/t€V€V9 is the sun, which overpowers .(&i/iui-
^iov) ; and ra aXarui is the true voice. And then
the symbol intimates that divine things have
been arranged in harmonious order — darkness
to light, the sun to the year, and the earth to
nature's processes of production of every sort.

" And taking Bedu, pour it on your hands, and turn to
divination."

On the other hand, the comic poet, Philydeus,
understands by Bedu the air, as being (Biodoros)
life-giver, in the following lines : —

" I pray that I may inhale the salutary Bedu,
Which is the most essential part of health ;
Inhale the pure, the unsullied air."

In the same opinion also concurs Neanthes of
Cyzicinii, who writes that the Macedonian priests
invoke Bedu, which they interpret to mean //le
air, to be propitious to them and to their chil-
dren. And Zaps some have ignorantly taken for

Also Dionysius Thrax, the grammarian, in his fire (from l(Jivw^ boiling) ; for so the sea is called,
book, Respecting the Exposition of the Symbolical I as Euphorion, in his reply to Theoridas : —
Signification in Circles, says expressly, "Some
signified actions not by words only, but also by
symbols : by words, as is the case of what are

called the Delphic maxims, * Nothing in excess,*
* Know thyself,' and the like ; and by symbols,
as the wheel that is turned in the temples of
the gods, derived from the Egyptians, and the
branches that are given to the worshippers. For

the Thracian Orpheus says : —

"Whatever works of branches are a care to men on

earth,
Not one has one fate in the mind, but all things
Revolve around ; and it is not lawful to stand at one

point,
But each one keeps an equal part of the race as they

began.'

»♦

The branches either stand as the symbol of the
first food, or they are that the multitude may
know that fruits spring and grow universally,
remaining a very long time ; but that the dura-
tion of life allotted to themselves is brief. And
it is on this account that they will have it that
the branches are given ; and perhaps also that
they may know, that as these, on the other hand,
are burned, so also they themselves speedily
leave this life, and will become fuel for fire.

Very useful, then, is the* mode of symbolic
interpretation for many puq:)oses ; and it is help-
ful to the right theology, and to piety, and to the
display of intelligence, and the practice of brev-
ity, and the exhibition of wisdom. " For the
use of symbohcal speech is characteristic of the
wise man," appositely remarks the grammarian
Didymus, " and the explanation of what is signi-
fied by it." And indeed the most elementary
instruction of children embraces the interpre-
tation of the four elements ; for it is said that
the Phrygians call water Bedu, as also Oqjheus
savs : » —

» [Kaye, p. 181.I

*^ And Zaps, destroyer of ships, wrecked it on the rocks."
And Dionysius Iambus similarly : —
, ** Briny Zaps moans about the maddened deep.'*

Similarly Cratinus the younger, the
poet: —

" Zaps casts forth shrimps and little fishes."

comic

^-And Simmias of Rhodes : —

" Parent of the Ignetes and the Telchines briny Zaps
was born."*

And yOiliv is the earth (ic€xv/i,er»y), spread forth
to bigness. And Plectron, according to some,
is the sky (ttoAo?), according to others, it is the
air, which strikes (^ATyo-o-ovra) and moves to na-
ture and increase, and which fills all things. But
these have not read Cleanthes the philosopher,
who expressly calls Plectron the sun ; for darting
his beams in the east, as if striking the world,
he leads the light to its harmonious course. And
from the sun it signifies also the rest of the stars.
And the Sphinx is not the comprehension i of
the universe, and the revolution of the world,
according to the poet Aratus ; but perhaps it is
the spiritual tone which pervades and holds to-
gether the universe. But it is better to regard
it as the ether, which holds together and presses
all things ; as also Empedocles says : —

" But come now, first will I speak of the -Sun, the first
principle of all things,
From which all, that we look upon, has sprung.
Both earth, and billowy deep, and humid air ;
Titan and Ether too, which binds all things around."

And ApoUodorus of Corcyra says that these lines
were recited by Branchus the seer, when purify-
ing the Milesians from plague ; for he, sprinkling

2 This line hasgivcn commenutors considerable trouble. Diodo-
rus says that the Telchines — fabled sons of Ocean — were the first
inhabitants of Rhodes.

3 <rvvtai^. Sylburgius, with much probability, conjectures ai'i'Sc-

(Tif , binding together.

456

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

the multitude with branches of laurel, led off the
hymn somehow as follows : —

"Sing Boys Hecaergus and Hecaerga."

And the people accompanied him, saying, " Be-
du,' Zaps, Chthon, Electron, Sphinx, Cnaxzbi,
Chthyptes, Phlegmos, Drops." Callimachus re- '
lates the story in iambics. Cnaxzbi is, by deri- ;
vation, the plague, from its gnawing (/cvotcti/) and
destroying (5ta</>^€tp€tv),and ^vi/rat is to consume .
with a thunderbolt. Thespis the tragic poet
says that something else was signified by these,
writing thus : " Lo, I offer to thee a libation of
white Cnaxzbi, having pressed it from the yellow
nurses. I^, to thee, O two-horned Pan, mixing
Chthyptes cheese with red honey, I place it on !
thy sacred altars. Lo, to thee I pour as a liba- .
tion the sparkling gleam of Broraius." He sig- !
nifies, as I think, the soul's first milk-like j
nutriment of the four-and-twenty elements, after
which solidified milk comes as food. And last,
he teaches of the blood of the vine of the Word,
the sparkhng wine, the perfecting gladness of
instruction. And Drops is the operating Word,
which, beginning with elementary training, and
advancing to the growth of the man, inflames
and illumines man up to the measure of matu-
rity.

The third is said to be a writing copy for chil- !
dren — /xapwTcs, o'^Cyi, Kkiaxj/^ ^wxOrjSov. And it
signifies, in my opinion, that by the arrangement
of the elements and of the world, we must ad-
vance to the knowledge of what is more perfect,
since eternal salvation is attained by force and
toil ; for fuLpij/ai is to grasp. And the harmony
of the world is meant by the Sphinx ; and fvy-
xOrfSov means difficulty ; and kAwi/t? means at '
once the secret knowledge of the Lord and day, ;
Well ! does not Epigenes, in his book on the I
Poetry of Orpheus^ in exhibiting the peculiari-
ties found in Orpheus,' say that by ** the curved
rods " (Kcpaio-i) is meant " ploughs ; " and by
the warp (crrTy/xcMrt), the furrows; and the woof
(/iiVos) is a figurative exi)ression for the seed ;
and that the tears of Zeus signify a shower ; and
that the " parts " (/Aoipat) are, again, the phases
of the moon, the thirtieth day, and the fifteenth,
and the new moon, and that Orpheus accord-
ingly calls them " white-robed," as being parts of
the light? ' Again, that the Spring is called
" flowery," from its nature ; and Night " still,"
on account of rest ; and the Moon " (iorgonian,"
on account of the face in it ; and that the time
in which it is necessary to sow is called Aphro- 1
dite by the ** Theologian." ' In the same way, j
too, the Pythagoreans figuratively called the ■

' B»6i', Zflii^, X0WC, IIA^KTpoM, 2<fr(-y^, K»a^(»'6t, X^vb-ttjc, ^hty- \
Mo«. ApMi^. On the interpretation of which, much learning and in-
genuiH' have been cx|)cndeil.

* [See vahiablc references and note on the Sibylline and Orphic
layinns. IiCi;;hlon, li'orAs, vol. vi. pp. 131, 178. j

■* Orpheus.

planets the " dogs of Persephone ; " and to the
sea they applied the metaphorical appellation of
" the tears of Kronus." Myriads on myriads of
enigmatical utterances by both poets and philo>-
ophers are to be found ; and there are also
whole books which present the mind of the
writer veiled, as that of Heraclitus On Nature,
who on this very account is called " Obscure."
Similar to this book is the Theology of Phere-
cydes of Syrus ; for Euphorion the poet, and
the Causes of Callimachus, and the Alexandn
of Lycophron, and the like, are proposed as an
exercise in exposition to all the grammarians.

It is, then, proper that the Barbarian philoso-
phy, on which it is our business to speak, should
prophecy also obscurely and by symbols, as was
evinced. Such are the injunctions of Moses:
" These common things, the sow, the hawk, the
eagle, and the raven, are not to be eaten." *♦ For
the sow is the emblem of voluptuous and unclean
lust of food, and lecherous and filthy licentious-
ness in venery, always prurient, and material, and
lying in the mire, and fattening for slaughter and
destruction.

Again, he commands to eat that which parts
the hoof and ruminates ; " intimating," says Bar-
nabas, " that we ought to cleave to those who
fear the Lord, and meditate in their heart on that
portion of the word which they have received, to
those who speak and keep the Lord's statutes,
to those to whom meditation is a work of glad-
ness, and who ruminate on the word of the loird.
And what is the parted hoof? That the right-
eous walks in this world, and expects the holy
eternity to come." Then he adds, "See how
well Moses enacted. But whence could they
understand or comprehend these things? We
who have rightly understood speak the com-
mandments as the Lord wished ; wherefore He
circumcised our ears and hearts, that we may
comprehend these things. And when he says.
'Thou shalt not eat the eagle, the hawk, the kite,
and the crow ; * he says, * Thou shalt not adhere
to or become like those men who know not how
to procure for themselves subsistence by toil and
sweat, but live by plunder, and lawlessly.' For
the eagle indicates robbery, the hawk injustice,
and the raven greed. It is also written, * With
the innocent man thou wilt be innocent, and
with the chosen choice, and with the perverse
thou shalt pervert.' 5 It is incumbent on us
to cleave to the saints, because they that cleave to
them shall be sanctified."^

Thence Theognis writes : —

" For from the good you will learn good things ;
But if vou mix with the bad, you will destroy anv mind
you may have."

* I^v, xi.; Deut. xiv.

5 Ps. xviii. 25, 26.

6 [Ept'stU' 0/ Barnabas, vol. i, p. 143, 144. S.]

Chap. IX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

457

And when, again, it is said in the ode, " For
He hath triumphed gloriously : the horse and his
rider hath He cast into the sea ; " ' the many-
limbed and brutal affection, lust, with the rider
mounted, who gives the reins to pleasures, " He
has cast into the sea," throwing them away into
the disorders of the world. Thus also Plato, in
his book On tJu Souly says that the charioteer
and the horse that ran off — the irrational part,
which is divided in two, into anger and concupis-
cence — fall down ; and so the myth intimates
that it was through the licentiousness of the steeds
that Phaethon was thrown out. Also in the case
of Joseph : the brothers having envied this young
man, who by his knowledge was possessed of
uncommon foresight, stripped off the coat of
many colours, and took and threw him into a pit
(the pit was ^mpty, it had no water), rejecting
the good man's varied knowledge, springing from
his love of instruction ; or, in the exercise of
the bare faith, which is according to the law, they
threw him into the pit empty of water, selling
him into Egypt, which was destitute of the divine
word. And the pit was destitute of knowledge ;
into which being thrown and stript of his knowl-
edge, he that had become unconsciously wise,
stript of knowledge, seemed like his brethren.
Otherwise interpreted, the coat of many colours
is lust, which takes its way into a yawning pit.
** And if one open up or hew out a pit," it is
said, "and do not cover it, and there fall in
there a calf or ass, the owner of the pit shall
pay the price in money, and give it to his
neighbour ; and the dead body shall be his." ^
Here add that prophecy : " The ox knoweth his
owner, and the ass his master's crib : but Israel
hath not understood Me." 3 in order, then, that
none of those, who have fallen in with the knowl-
edge taught by thee, may become incapable of
holding the truth, and disobey and fall away, it is
said, Be thou sure in the treatment of the word,
and shut up the living spring in the depth from
those who approach irrationally, but reach drink
to those that thirst for truth. Conceal it, then,
from those who are unfit to receive the depth of
knowledge, and so cover the pit. The owner
of the pit, then, the Gnostic, shall himself be
punished, incurring the blame of the others
stumbling, and of being overwhelmed by the
greatness of the word, he himself l^eing of small
capacity; or transferring the worker into the
region of speculation, and on that account dis-
lodging him from off-hand faith. "And will pay
money," rendering a reckoning, and submitting
his accounts to the " omnipotent Will."

This, then, is the type of " the law and the

' Ex. XV. 1.

; Ex. xxi. 33, 36.

^ Isa. 1. 3.

prophets which were until John ; " ^ while he,
though speaking more perspicuously as no longer
prophesying, but pointing out as now present,
Him, who was proclaimed symbolically from the
beginning, nevertheless said, " I am not worthy
to loose the latchet of the lord's shoe." s For
he confesses that he is not worthy to baptize
so great a Power; for it behooves those, who
purify others, to free the soul from the body
and its sins, as the foot from the thong. Per-
haps also this signified the final exertion of the
Saviour's power toward us — the immediate, I
mean — that by His presence, concealed in the
enigma of prophecy, inasmuch as he, by point-
ing out to sight Him that had l)een prophesied
of, and indicating the Presence which had come,
walking forth into the light, loosed the latchet
of the oracles of the [old] economy, by unveil-
ing the meaning of the symbols.

And the observances practised by the Ro-
mans in the case of wills have a place here ;
those balances and small coins to denote jus-
tice, and freeing of slaves, and rubbing of the
ears. For these observances are, that things
may be transacted with justice ; and those for
the disp)ensing of honour ; and the last, that he
who happens to be near, as if a burden were im-
posed on him, should stand and hear and take
the post of mediator.

CHAP. IX. — REASONS FOR VEILING THE TRUTH IN

SYMBOLS.

But, as appears, I have, in my eagerness to
establish my point, insensibly gone beyond what
is requisite. For life would fail me to adduce
the multitude of those who philosophize in a
symbolical manner. For the sake, then, of
memory and brevity, and of attracting to the
truth, such are the Scriptures of the Barbarian
philosophy.

For only to those who often approach them,
and have given them a trial by faith and in their
whole life, will they supply the real philosophy
and the true theology. They also wish us to
require an interpreter and guide. For so they
considered, that, receiving truth at the hands of
those who knew it well, we would be more
earnest and less liable to deception, and those
worthy of them would profit. Besides, all things
that shine through a veil show the truth grander
and more imposing ; as fruits shining through
water, and figures through veils, which give
added reflections to them. For, in addition to
the fact that things unconcealed are perceived
in one way, the rays of light shining round re-
veal defects. Since, then, we may draw several
meanings, as we do from what is expressed in

I * Matt, xi. 13; Luke xvi. 16.

I 5 Mark i. 7; Luke iii. 16; John i. 27.

458

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

veiled form, such being the case, the ignorant
and unlearned man fails. But the Gnostior ap-
prehends. Now, then, it is not wished that all
things should be exposed indiscriminately to all
and sundry, or the benefits of wisdom communi-
cated to those who have not even in a dream
been purified in soul, (for it is not allowed to
hand to every chance comer what has been pro-
cured with such laborious efforts ) ; nor are the
mysteries of the word to be expounded to the
profane.

They say, then, that Hipparchus the Pythago-
rean, being guilty of writing the tenets of Pythag-
oras in plain language, was expelled from the
school, and a pillar raised for him as if he had
been dead. Wherefore also in the Barbarian
philosophy they call those dead who have fallen
away from the dogmas, and have placed the
mind in subjection to carnal passions. " For
what fellowship hath righteousness and iniquity ? "
according to the divine apostle. " Or what com-
munion hath light with darkness ? or what con-
cord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion
hath the believer with the unbeliever?**' For
the honours of the Olympians and of mortals lie
apart. " Wherefore also go forth from the midst
of them, and be separated, "saith the Lord, and
touch not the unclean thing ; and I will receive
you, and will be to you for a Father, and ye
shall be my sons and daughters." '

It was not only the Pythagoreans and Plato,
then, that concealed many things ; but the Epi-
cureans too say that they have things that may
not be uttered, and do not allow all to peruse
those writings. The Stoics also say that by the
first Zeno things were written which they do not
readily allow disciples to read, without their first
giving proof whether or not they are genuine
philosophers. And the disciples of Aristotle say
that some of their treatises are esoteric, and
others common and exoteric. Further, those
who instituted the mysteries, being philosophers,
buried their doctrines in myths, so as not to be
obvious to all. Did they then, by veiling human
opinions, prevent the ignorant from handling
them ; and was it not more beneficial for the
holy and blessed contemplation of realities to be
concealed? But it was not only the tenets of
the Barbarian philosophy, or the Pythagorean
myths. But even those myths in Plato (in the
Republic, that of Hero the Armenian ; and in the
Gorgias, that of i^ilacus and Rhadamanthus \ and
in the PhadOy that of Tartarus ; and in the Pro-
tagoras, that of Prometheus and Epimetheus ;
and besides these, that of the war between the
Atlantini and the Athenians in the Atlanticum)
are to be expounded allegorically, not absolutely
in all their ex[)ressions, but in those which ex-

press tne general sense. And these we shall
find indicated by symbols under the veil of alle-
gory. Also the association of Pythagoras, and-
the twofold intercourse with the associates which
designates the majority, hearers (dicawr/AaTt#coc).
and the others that have a genuine attachment
to philosophy, disciples (fiaOrffLariKoi) , yet signi-
fied that something was spoken to the multitude,
and something concealed fi-om them. Per-
chance, too, the twofold species of the Peripa-
tetic teaching — that called probable, and that
called knowable — came very near the distinction
between opinion on the one hand, and glory and
truth on the other.

" To win the flowers of fair renown from men.
Be not induced to speak aught more than right.*'

The Ionic muses accordingly expressly say,
" That the majority of people, wise in their own
estimation, follow minstrels and make use of
laws, knowing that many are bad, few good ;
but that the best pursue glory : for the best
make choice of the everlasting glory of men
above all. But the multitude cram themselves
like brutes, measuring happiness by the belly ami
the pudenda, and the basest things in us." And
the great Parmenides of Elea is introduced de-
scribing thus the teaching of the two ways : —

" The one is the dauntless heart of convincing truth ;
The other is in the opinions of men, in w-hom i> in
true faith."

CHAP. X. — THE OPINION OF THE APOSTLES
VEILING THE MYSTERIES OF THE FAriH.

' a Cor. vi. 14, 15.
- 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18.

Rightly, therefore, the divine apostle says,
" By revelation the mystery was made known to
me (as I wrote before in brief, in accordance
with which, when ye read, ye may understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which
in other ages was not made known to the sons of
men, as it is now revealed to His holy apostles
and prophets." ^ For there is an instruction of
the perfect, of which, writing to the Colossians, he
says, ** We cease not to pray for you, and beseech
that ye may be filled with the knowledge of Hi^
will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding :
that ye may walk worthy of the Lord to all pleas-
ing ; being fruitful in every good work, and in-
creasing in the knowledge of God ; strengthened
with all might according to the glory of His
power." * And again he says, "According to the
disposition of the grace of God which is g:iven
me, that ye may fulfil the word of God ; the m\-^-
tery which has been hid from ages and genera-
tions, which now is manifested to His saints : to
whom God wished to make known what is the
riches of the glory of this mystery among the
' nations." s So that, on the one hand, then, are

3 Eph. iii. 3-5.
* Col, i. 9-11.
I 5 Coi. i. 25-27,

Chap. X.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

459

the mysteries which were hid till the time of the
apostles, and were delivered by them as they re-
ceived from the Lord, and, concealed in the Old
Testament, were manifested to the saints. And,
on the other hand, there is " the riches of the
glory of the mystery in the Gentiles," which is
faith and hope in Christ ; which in another place
he has called the " foundation." ' And again,
as if in eagerness' to divulge this knowledge, he
thus writes : " Warning every man in all wisdom,
that we may present every man (the whole man)
perfect in Christ ; " not every man simply, since
no one would be unbelieving. Nor does he call
every man who believes in Christ perfect ; but
he ^ says all the man, as if he said the whole man,
as if purified in body and soul. For that the
knowledge does not appertain to all, he expressly
adds : " Being knit together in love, and unto
all the riches of the full assurance of knowledge,
to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God
in Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and of knowledge." ^ " Continue in
prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving." *
And thanksgiving has place not for the soul and
spiritual blessings alone, but also for the body,
and for the good things of the body. And he
still more clearly reveals that knowledge belongs
not to all, by adding : " Praying at the same time
for you, that God would open to us a door to
speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am
'bound ; that I may make it known as I ought
to speak." s For there were certainly, among
the Hebrews, some things delivered unwritten.
" For when ye ought to be teachers for the time,"
it is said, as if they had grown old in the Old
Testament, " ye have again need that one teach
you which be the first principles of the oracles of
God ; and are become such as have need of milk,
and not of solid food. For every one that par-
taketh of milk is unskilful in the word of right-
eousness ; for he is a babe, being instructed with
the first lessons. Rut solid food belongs to those
who are of full age, who by reason of use have
their senses exercised so as to distinguish be-
tween good and evil. AVherefore, leaving the first
principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
to perfection."^

Barnabas, too, who in person preached the
word along with the apostle in the ministry of
the Gentiles, says, " I write to you most simply,
that ye may understand." Then below, exhibit-
ing already a clearer trace of gnostic tradition,
he says, " What says the other prophet Moses to
them? Lo, thus saith the Lord God, Enter ye
into the good land which the Lord God sware,

* Col. i. 27.

2 [Elucidation VI.]
^ Col. ii. 2, 3.

^ Col. iv. 2.

3 Col. iv. 3, 4.

6 Hcb. V. 12, 13, 14, vi. I.

the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob ; and
ye received for an inheritance that land, flowing
with milk and honey .7 What says knowledge?
Learn, hope, it says, in Jesus, who is to be mani-
fested to you in the flesh. For man is the suffier-
ing land ; for from the fact of the ground was
the formation of Adam. What, then, does it say
in reference to the good land, flowing with milk
and honey ? Blessed be our Lord, brethren, who
has put into our hearts >\'isdom, and the under-
standing of His secrets. For the prophet says,
"Who shall understand the Lord's parable but
the wise and understanding, and he that loves
his Lord?" It is but for few to comprehend
these things. For it is not in the way of envy
that the Lord announced in a Gospel, " My mys-
tery is to me, and to the sons of my house ; "
placing the election in safety, and beyond anx-
iety ; so that the things pertaining to what it
has chosen and taken may be above the reach
of envy. For he who has not the knowledge
of good is wicked : for there is one good, the
Father; and to be ignorant of the Father is
death, as to know Him is eternal life, through
participation in the power of the incorrupt One.
And to be incorruptible is to participate in di-
vinity ; but revolt from the knowledge of God
brings cormption. Again the prophet says :
"And I will give thee treasures, concealed,
dark, unseen ; that they may know that I am
the Lord." ^ Similarly David sings : " For, lo,
Thou hast loved truth ; the obscure and hidden
things of wisdom hast Thou showed me."^
" Day utters speech to day " '** (what is cleady
written), "and night to night proclaims knowl-
edge " (which is hidden in a mystic veil) ; " and
there are no words or utterances whose voices
shall not be heard " by God, who said, " Shall
one do what is secret, and I shall not see
him?"

Wherefore instruction, Avhich reveals hidden
things, is called illumination, as it is the teacher
only who uncovers the lid of the ark, contrary
to what the poets say, that " Zeus stops up the
jar of good things, but opens that of evil."
" For I know," says the apostle, " that when I
come to you, I shall come in the fulness of the
blessing of Christ ; " " designating the spiritual
gift, and the gnostic communication,* which be-
ing present he desires to impart to them pres-
ent as " the fulness of Christ, according to the
revelation of the mystery sealed in the ages of
eternity, but now manifested by the prophetic
Scriptures, according to the command of the
eternal God, made known to all the nations, in
order to the obedience of faith," that is, those

7 [Ex. xxxiii. 1 ;
* Isa. xlv. TL.
9 Ps. li. 6, Sept.
'o Ps. xix. 2, 3.
'* Rom. XV. 29.

Lev. XX. 24. S.J

460

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

of the nations who believe that it is. But only
to a few of them is shown what those things
are which are contained in the mystery.

Rightly then, Plato, in the Epistles^ treating
of Grod, says ; " We must speak in enigmas ;
that should the tabtet come by any mischance
on its leaves either by sea or land, he who reads
may remain ignorant." For the God of the uni-
verse, who is above all speech, all conception,
all thought, can never be committed to writing,
being inexpressible even by His own power.
And this too Plato showed, by saying : '^Con-
sidering, then, these things, take care lest some
time or other you repent on account of the
present things, departing in a manner unworthy.
The greatest safeguard is not to write, but learn ;
for it is utterly impossible that what is written
will not vanish."

Akin to this is what the holy Apostle Paul
says, preserving the prophetic and truly ancient
secret from which the teachings that were good
were derived by the Greeks : " Howbeit we
speak wisdom among them who are perfect;
but not the wisdom of this world, or of the
princes of this world, that come to nought ; but
we speak the wisdom of God hidden in a mys-
tery." ' Then proceeding, he thus inculcates
the caution against the divulging of his words
to the multitude in the following terms : " And
I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spirit-
ual, but as to carnal, even to babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, not with meat : for
ye were not yet able ; neither are ye now able.
Fpr ye are yet carnal." '

If, then, " the milk " is said by the apostle to
belong to the babes, and " meat "to be the
food of the full -grown, milk will be understood
to bd catechetical instruction — the first food,
as it were, of the soul. And meat is the mystic
contemplation ; for this is the flesh and the
blood of the Word, that is, the comprehension
of the divine power and essence. " Taste and
see that the Ixyrd is Christ," ^ it is said. For so
He imparts of Himself to those who partake of
such food in a more spiritual manner; when
now the soul nourishes itself, according to the
truth-loving Plato. For the knowledge of the
divine essence is the meat and drink of the di-
vine Word. Wherefore also Plato says, in the
second book of the Republic, "It is those that
sacrifice not a sow, but some great and difficult
sacrifice," who ought to inquire respecting Cxod.
And the apostle writes, " Christ our passover
was sacrificed for us ; "•♦ — a sacrifice hard to
procure, in truth, the Son of God consecrated
for us.

* I Cor. ii. 6, 7.
2 I Cor. iii. 1-3.

■* Ps. XXX iv. 3; according to the reading Xpi<rrof for xpmvro^.

* 1 Cor. V. 7.

CHAP. XI. — ABSTRACTION FROM MATERIAL THING?;
NECESSARY IN ORDER TO ATTAIN TO THE TRLF
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

Now the sacrifice which is acceptable to God
is unswerving abstraction from the body and its
passions. This is the really true piety. And is
not, on this account, philosophy rightly called
by Socrates the practice of Death ? For he who
neither employs his eyes in the exercise of
thought, nor draws aught from his other senses,
but with pure mind itself applies to objects,
practises the true philosophy. This is, then, the
import of the silence of five years prescribed by
Pythagoras, which he enjoined on his disciples :
that, abstracting themselves from the objects of
sense, they might with the mind alone contem-
plate the Deity. It was from Moses that the
chief of the (keeks drew these philosophical
tenets.5 For he commands holocausts to be
skinned and divided into parts. For the gnostic
soul must be consecrated to the light, stript of
the integuments of matter, devoid of the frivo-
lousness of the body and of all the passions,
which are acquired through vain and lying
opinions, and divested of the lusts of the flesh.
But the most of men, clothed with what is per-
ishable, like cockles, and rolled all round in a
ball in their excesses, like hedgehogs, entertain
the same ideas of the blessed and incorruptible
God as of themselves. But it has escaped their,
notice, though they be near us, that God has
bestowed on us ten thousand things in which He
does not share : birth, being Himself unborn ;
food, He wanting nothing; and growth. He
being always equal ; and long life and immor-
tality. He being immortal and incapable of grow-
ing old. Wherefore let no one imagine that
hands, and feet, and mouth, and eyes, and going
in and coming out, and resentments and threats,
are said bv the Hebrews to be attributes of God.
By no means ; but that certain of these appella-
tions are used more sacredly in an allegorical
sense, which, as the discourse proceeds, we shall
explain at the proper time.

"Wisdom of all medicines is the Panacea."
writes Callimachus in the Epigrams. "And
one becomes wise from another, both in past
times and at present," says Bacchylides in the
Pceans; "for it is not very easy to find the
portals of unutterable words." Beautifully, there-
fore, Isocrates writes in the Panathenaic, having
put the question, " Who, then, are well trained?"
adds, " P^irst, those who manage well the things
which occur each day, whose opinion jumps
with opportunity, and is able for the most part
to hit on what is beneficial ; then those who
behave becomingly and rightly to those who ap-
proach them, who take lightly and easily annoy-

5 [See p. 316, note 4, supra.]

Chap. XI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

461

ances and molestations offered by others, but
conduct themselves as far as possible, to those
with whom they have intercourse, with consum-
mate care and moderation ; further, those who
have the command of their pleasures, and are
not too much overcome by misfortunes, but
conduct themselves in the midst of them with
manliness, and in a way worthy of the nature
which we share ; fourth — and this is the greatest
— those who are not corrupted by prosperity,
and are not put beside themselves, or made
haughty, but continue in the class of sensible
people." Then he puts on the top-stone of the
discourse : " Those who have the disposition of
their soul well suited not to one only of these
things, but to them all — those I assert to be
wise and perfect men, and to possess all the
virtues."

Do you see how the Greeks deify the gnostic
life (though not knowing how to become ac-
quainted with it) ? And what knowledge it is,
they know not even in a dream. If^ then, it is
agreed among us that knowledge is the food of
reason, " blessed truly are they," according to
the Scripture, " who hunger and thirst after
truth : for they shall be filled " with everlasting
food. In the most wonderful harmony with
these words, Euripides, the philosopher of the
drama, is found in the following words, — mak-
ing allusion, I know not how, at once to the
Father and the Son : —

" To thee, the Lord of all, I bring
Cakes and libations too, O Zeus,
Or Hades would*st thou choose be called j
Do thou accept my offering of all fruits,
Rare, full, poured forth.'*

For a whole bumt-offering and rare sacrifice for
us is Christ. And that unwittingly he mentions
the Saviour, he will make plain, as he adds : —

** For thou who, 'midst the heavenly gods,
Jove's sceptre sway'st, dost also snare
The rule of those on earth."

Then he says expressly : —

" Send light to human souls that fain would know
Whence conflicts spring, and what the root of ills,
And of the blessed gods to whom due rites
Of sacrifice we needs must pay, that so
We may from troubles find repose."

It is not then without reason that in the mys-
teries that obtain among the Greeks, lustrations
hold the first place ; as also the laver among the
Barbarians. After these are the minor * myste-
ries, which have some foundation of instruction
and of preliminary preparation for what is to
come after; and the great mysteries, in which
nothing remains to be learned of the universe,
but only to contemplate and comprehend nature
and things.

« [Analogies in Bunsen, Hippol.^ iii. 75, and notes, p. 123.]

We shall understand the mode of purification
by confession, and that of contemplation by
analysis, advancing by analysis to the first no-
tion, beginning with the properties underlying
it ; abstracting from the body its physical prop-
erties, taking away the dimension of depth,
then that of breadth, and then that of length.
For the point which * remains is a unit, so to
speak, having position ; from which if we ab-
stract position, there is the conception of unity.

If, then, abstracting all that belongs to bodies
and things called incorporeal, we cast ourselves
into the greatness of Christ, and thence advance
into immensity by holiness, we may reach some-
how to the conception of the Almighty, knowing
not what He is, but what He is not. And form
and motion, or standing, or a throne, or place,
or right hand or left, are not at all to be con-
ceived as belonging to the Father of the uni-
verse, although it is so written. But what each
of these means will be shown in its proper
place. The First Cause is not then in space,
but above both space, and time, and name, and
conception.

Wherefore also Moses says, " Show Thyself
to me," * — intimating most clearly that God is
not capable of being taught by man, or ex-
pressed in speech, but to be known only by His
own power. For inquiry was obscure and dim ;
but the grace of knowledge is from Him by the
Son. Most clearly Solomon shall testify to us,
speaking thus : " The prudence of man is not in
me : but God giveth me wisdom, and I know
holy things." ^ Now Moses, describing allegor-
ically the divine prudence, called it the tree of
life planted in Paradise ; which Paradise may
be the world in which all things proceeding
from creation grow. In it also the Word blos-
somed and bore fruit, being " made flesh," and
gave life to those " who had tasted of His
graciousness ; " since it was not without the
wood of the tree that He came to our knowl-
edge. For our life was hung on it, in order
that we might believe. And Solomon again
says : " She is a tree of immortality to those
who take hold of her." * " Behold, I set before
I thy face life and death, to love the Lord thy
God, and to walk in His ways, and hear His
voice, and trust in life. But if ye transgress the
statutes and the judgments which I have given
you, ye shall be destroyed with destruction.
For this is life, and the length of thy days, to
love the Lord thy God." s

Again : " Abraham, when he came to the
place which God told him of on the third day,
looking up, saw the place afar off"." ^ For the

2 Ex. xxxiii. 18.

3 Prov. XXX. 2.
< Prov. iii. 18.

5 Deut. XXX. 15, 16, etc.

6 Gen. xxii. 3, 4.

462

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

first day is that which is constituted by the sight
of good things ; and the second is the soul's '
best desire ; on the third, the mind perceives
spiritual things, the eyes of the understanding
being opened by the Teacher who rose on the
third day. The three days may be the m)rstery
of the seal,' in which God is really believed.
It is consequently afar 'off that he sees the
place. For the region of God is hard to at-
tain ; which Plato called the region of ideas,
having learned from Moses that it was a place
which contained all things universally. But it is
seen by Abraham afar off, rightly, because of
his being in the realms of generation, and he is
forthwith initiated by the angel. Thence says
the apostle : " Now we see as through a glass,
but then face to face," by those sole pure and
incorporeal applications of the intellect. In
reasoning, it is possible to divine respecting
God, if one attempt without any of the senses,
by reason, to reach what is individual ; and do
not quit the sphere of existences, till, rising up
to the things which transcend it, he apprehends
by the intellect itself that which is good, moving
in the very confines of the world of thought,
according to Plato.

Again, Moses, not allowing altars and temples
to be constructed in many places, but raising one
temple of God, announced that the world was
only-begotten, as Basilides says, and that God is
one, as does not as yet appear to Basilides. And
since the gnostic Moses does not circumscribe
within space Him that cannot be circumscribed,
he set up no image in the temple to be worshipped ;
showing that God was invisible, and incapable
of being circumscribed ; and somehow leading
the Hebrews to the conception of God by the
honour for His name in the temple. Further,
the Word, prohibiting the constructing of tem-
ples and all sacrifices, intimates that the Almighty
is not contained in anything, by what He says :
*' What house will ye build to Me ? saith the Lord.
Heaven is my throne,'* 3 and so on. Similarly
respecting sacrifices : " I do not desire the blood
of bulls and the fat of lambs," * and what the
Holy Spirit by the prophet in the sequel forbids.

Most excellently, therefore, Euripides accords
with these, when he writes : —

" What house constructed by the workmen's hands,
With folds of walls, can clothe the shape divine ? "

And of sacrifices he thus speaks : —

" For God needs nought, if He is truly God.
These of the minstrels are the wretched myths."

" For it was not from need that God made
the world ; that He might reap honours from

* Or, '* the desire of a very good soul," according to the text
which reads 'H i^v'x^c apiarn^. The other reading is dpivn}.

2 Baptism. [Into the Triad.]

* Isa. Ixvi. I.

* Vs. 1. 13.

men and the other gods and demons, Tjvinning
a kind of revenue from creation, and from us,
fumes, and from the gods and demons, their
proper ministries," says Plato. Most instruc-
tively, therefore, says Paul in the Acts of the
Apostles : " The God that made the world, and
all things in it, being the Lord of heaven and
earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands ;
neither is worshipped by men's hands, as if He
needed anything ; seeing that it is He Himself
that giveth to all breath, and life, and all things." ?
And Zeno, the founder of the Stoic sect, says in
this book of the RepubliCy "that we ought to
make neither temples nor images; for that no
work is worthy of the gods." And he was not
afraid to write in these very words : " There will
be no need to build temples. For a temple is
not worth much, and ought not to be re^rded
as holy. For nothing is worth much, and holy,
which is the work of builders and mechanics."
Rightly, therefore, Plato too, recognising the
world as God's temple, pointed out to the citi-
zens a spot in the city where their idols were to
be laid up. " Let not, then, any one again," he
says, "consecrate temples to the gods. For
gold and silver in other states, in the case of
private individuals and in the temples, is an in-
vidious possession ; and ivory, a body which has
abandoned the life, is not a sacred votive offer-
ing ; and steel and brass are the instruments of
wars ; but whatever one wishes to dedicate, let it
be wood of one tree, as also stone for common
temples." Rightly, then, in the great Epistle
he says : " For it is not capable of expression,
like other branches of study. But as the result
of great intimacy with this subject, and living
with it, a sudden light, like that kindled by a
coruscating fire, arising in the soul, feeds itself."
Are not these statements like those of Zephaniah
the prophet ? " And the Spirit of the Lord took
me, and brought me up to the fifth heaven, and
I beheld angels called Lords ; and their diadem
was set on in the Holy Spirit \ and each of them
had a throne sevenfold brighter than the light
of the rising sun \ and they dwelt in temples of
salvation, and hymned the ineffable. Most High
God."^

CHAP. XII. — GOD C.\NNOT BE EMBRACED IN
WORDS OR BY THE MIND.

" For both is it a difficult task to discover the
Father and Maker of this universe ; and having
found Him, it is impossible to declare Him to
all. For this is by no means capable of expres-
sion, like the other subjects of instruction," says
the truth-loving Plato. For he that had heard
right well that the all-wise Moses, ascending the
mount for holy contemplation, to the summit of

5 Acts xvii. 34, 25.

6 From some apocryphal writing.

Chap. XII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

463

intellectual objects, necessarily commands that
the whole people do not accompany him. And
when the Scripture says, " Moses entered into
the thick darkness where God was," this shows
to those capable of understanding, that God is
invisible and beyond expression by words. And
^* the darkness*' — which is, in truth, the unbe-
lief and ignorance of the multitude — obstructs
the gleam of truth. And again Orpheus, the
theologian, aided from this quarter, says : —

** One is perfect in himself, and all things are made the
progeny of one,"

or, " are bom ; " for so also is it written. He

adds : —

"Him
No one of mortals has seen, but He sees all.*'

And he adds more clearly : —

** Him see I not, for round about, a cloud
Has settled; for in mortal eyes are small,
And mortal pupils — only flesh and bones grow there."

To these statements the apostle will testify : " I
know a man in Christ, caught up into the third
heaven, and thence into Paradise, who heard
unutterable words which it is not lawful for a
man to speak," — intimating thus the impossi-
bility of expressing God, and indicating that
what is divine is unutterable by human ' power ;
if, indeed, he begins to speak above the third
heaven, as it is lawful to initiate the elect souls
in the mysteries there. For I know what is in
Plato (for the examples from the barbarian phi-
losophy, which are many, are suggested now by
the composition which, in accordance with prom-
ises previously given, waits the suitable time).
For doubting, in Timaus, whether we ought to
regard several worlds as to be understood by
many heavens, or this one, he makes no distinc-
tion in the names, calling the world and heaven
by the same name. But the words of the state-
ment are as follows : " Whether, then, have we
rightly spoken of one heaven, or of many and
infinite ? It were more correct to say one, if in-
deed it was created according to the model."
Further, in the Epistle of the Romans to the
Corinthians ' it is written, " An ocean illimitable
by men and the worlds after it." Consequently,
therefore, the noble apostle exclaims, " Oh the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
the knowledge of God ! " 3

And was it not this which the prophet meant,
when he ordered unleavened cakes ^ to be made,
intimating that the truly sacred mystic word, re-
specting the unbegotten and His powers, ought
to be concealed? In confirmation of these

' n-yca is the reading of the text. This is with great probability
supposed to be changed from avjj, a usual contraction for avBputinvjf.

* li.e., as written by St. Gement of Rome. Sec vol. i, p. lo. S.]
3 Rom. xi. 33.

* Alluding to Gen. xviii. 6; the word u.sed is cyirpv^iai, which
Clement, following Philo, from its derivation, takes to signify occult
mysteries.

things, in the Epistle to the Corinthians the apos-
tle plainly says : " Howbeit we speak w^isdom
among those who are perfect, but not the wisdom
of this world, or of the princes of this world, that
come to nought. But we speak the wisdom of
God hidden in a mystery." s And again in another
place he says : " To the acknowledgment of the
mystery of God in Christ, in whom are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."* These
things the Saviour Himself seals when He says :
" To you it is given to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven." ^ And again the Gospel
says that the Saviour spake to the apostles the
word in a mystery. For prophecy says of Him :
" He will open His mouth in parables, and will
utter things kept secret from the foundation of
the world." ^ And now, by the parable of the
leaven, the Lord shows concealment; for He
sa)rs, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three measures
of meal, till the whole was leavened." ^ For the
tripartite soul is saved by obedience, through the
spiritual power hidden in it by faith ; or because
the power of the w^ord which is given to us, being
strong *° and powerful, draws to itself secretly and
invisibly every one who receives it, and keeps it
within himself, and brings his whole system into
unity.

Accordingly Solon has written most wisely
respecting God thus : —

** It is most difficult to apprehend the mind's invisible
measure
Which alone holds the boundaries of all things."

For " the divine," says the poet of Agrigen-
tum,*' —

" Is not capable of being approached with our eyes,
Or grasped with our hanas ; but the highway
Of persuasion, highest of all, leads to men's minds."

And John the apostle says : " No man hath seen
God at any time. The only-begotten God, who
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared
Him," " — calling invisibility and ineffableness
the bosom of God. Hence some have called it
the Depth, as containing and embosoming all
things, inaccessible and boundless.

This discourse respecting God is most difficult
to handle. For since the first principle of every-
thing is difficult to find out, the absolutely first
and oldest principle, which is the cause of all
other things being and having been, is difficult
to exhibit. For how can that be expressed
which is neither genus, nor difference, nor spe-
cies, nor individual, nor number ; nay more, is

5 I Cor, li. 6, 7.

6 Col. ii. 2, 3.

" Matt. xiii. xx; Mark iv. ix; Luke viii. 10.

* Ps. Ixxviii. 2.

9 Matt. xiii. 33. ^

^° According to the conjecture of Sylburgius, (tvvtovqs is adopted
for ffvvrofio^.
<i Empedocles.
" John i. x8.

464

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

neither an event, nor that to which an event
happens? No one can rightly express Him
wholly. For on account of His greatness He is
ranked as the All, and is the Father of the uni-
verse. Nor are any parts to be predicated of
Him. For the One is indivisible ; wherefore
also it is infinite, not considered with reference
to inscrutability, but with reference to its being
without dimensions, and not having a limit. And
therefore it is without form and name. And if
we name it, we do not do so properly, terming
it either the One, or the Good, or Mind, or
Absolute Being, or Father, or God, or Creator,
or Lord. We speak not as supplying His name ;
but for want, we use good names, in order that
the mind may have these as points of support,
so as not to err in other respects. For each one
by itself does not express God ; but all together
are indicative of the power of the Omnipotent.
For predicates are expressed either from what
belongs to things themselves, or from their
mutual relation. But none of these are admissi-
ble in reference to God. Nor any more is He
apprehended by the science of demonstration.
For it depends on primary and better known
principles. But there is nothing antecedent to .
the Unbegotten.

It remains that we understand, then, the Un- 1
known, by divine grace, and by the word alone
that proceeds from Him ; as Luke in the Acts
of the Apostles relates that Paul said, " Men of
Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too ;
superstitious.' For in walking about, and be-
holding the objects of your worship, I found an
altar on which was inscribed. To the Unknown
God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship.
Him declare I unto you:" »

CHAP. XIII. — THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD A DIVINE
GIFT, ACCORDING TO THE PHILOSOPHERS.

Everything, then, which falls under a name, is
originated, whether they will or not. Whether,
then, the Father Himself draws to Himself every
one who has led a pure life, and has reached the
conception of the blessed and incorruptible na-
ture ; or whether the free-will which is in us, by
reaching the knowledge of the good, leaps and
bounds over the barriers, as the gymnasts say ;
yet it is not without eminent grace that the soul
is winged, and soars, and is raised above the
higher spheres, laying aside all that is heavy,
and surrendering itself to its kindred element.

Plato, too, in Afeno, says that virtue is (iod-
given, as the following expressions show : " From
this argument then, O Meno, virtue is shown to
come to those, in whom it is found, by divine
providence." Does it not then appear that " the
gnostic disposition " which has come to all is

1 f Elucidation VII. 1

2 Acts xvii. 23, 1/3.

enigmatically called " divine providence ? " And
he adds more explicitly : "If, then, in this whole
treatise we have investigated well, it results that
virtue is neither by nature, nor is it taught, but is
produced by divine providence, not without intel-
ligence, in those in whom it is foimd." Wisdom
which is God-given, as being the power of the
Father, rouses indeed our free-will, and admits
faith, and repays the application of the elect
with its crowning fellowship.

And now I will adduce Plato himself, who
clearly deems it fit to believe the children of
God. For, discoursing on gods that are visible
and bom, in TtmceuSy he says : " But to speak
of the other demons, and to know their birth,
is too much for us. But we must credit those
who have formerly spoken, they being the off-
spring of the gods, as they said, and knowing
well their progenitors, although they speak with-
out probable and necessary proofs." I do not
think it possible that clearer testimony could be
borne by the Greeks, that our Saviour, and those
anointed to prophesy (the latter being called the
sons of God, and the Lord being His own Son),
are the true witnesses respecting divine things.
Wherefore also they ought to be believed, being
inspired, he added. And were one to say in a
more tragic vein, that we ought not to believe,

"For it was not Zeus that told me these things,"

yet let him know that it was God Himself that
promulgated the Scriptures by His Son. And
he, who announces what is his own, is to be be-
lieved. " No one," says the Lord, " hath known
the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son
shall reveal Him." ^ This, then, is to be believed,
according to Plato, though it is announced and
spoken " without probable and necessary proofs,"
but in the Old and New Testament. " For ex-
cept ye believe," says the Lord, " ye shall die in
your sins." * And again : " He that believeth
hath everlasting life." s "Blessed are all they
that put their trust in Him." ^ For trusting is
more than faith. For when one has believed '
that the Son of God is our teacher, he trusts "^
that his teaching is true. And as " instruction,"
according to Empedocles, " makes the mind
grow," so trust in the Lord makes faith grow.

We say, then, that it is characteristic of the
same persons to vilify philosophy, and run down
faith, and to praise iniquity and felicitate a libid-
inous life. But now faith, if it is the voluntar\-
assent of the soul, is still the doer of good things,
the foundation of right conduct ; and if Aristode
defines strictly when he teaches that rrouw is ap-
plied to the irrational creatures and to inanimate

3 Matt. xt. 27; Luke x. 22.

4 John viii. 24.
3 John lit. 15, 16, 36, V. 24.
* Ps. ii. 12.

7 The text ivivrtrrat., but the sense seems to require ixK9r*w*,
B ireiroi0ei' has confidence.

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

465

things, while TrparrtLv is applicable to men only,
let him correct those who say that God is the
maker (TroiTynys) of the universe. And what
is done {ttpoktov), he says, is as good or as
necessary. To do wrong, then, is not good, for
no one does wrong except for some other thing ;
and nothing that is necessary is voluntary. To
do wrong, then, is voluntary, so that it is not
necessary. But the good differ especially from
the bad in inclinations and good desires. For
all depravity of soul is accompanied with want
of restraint ; and he who acts from passion, acts
from want of restraint and from depravity.

I cannot help admiring in every particular
that divine utterance : " Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that entereth not in by the door into the
sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the
same is a thief and a robber. But he that en-
tereth in by the door is the shepherd of the
sheep. To him the porter openeth." Then
the I^rd says in explanation, " I am the door
of the sheep." ' Men must then be saved by
learning the truth through Christ, even if they
attain philosophy. For now that is clearly shown
*• which was not made known to other ages, which
is now revealed to the sons of men."' For
there was always a natural manifestation of the
one Almighty God, among all right-thinking
men ; and the most, who had not quite divested
themselves of shame with respect to the truth,
apprehended the eternal beneficence in divine
providence. In fine, then, Xenocrates the
Chalcedonian was not quite without hoj^e that
the notion of the Divinity existed even in the
irrational creatures. And Democritus, though
against his will, will make this avowal by the
consequences of his dogmas ; for he represents
the same images as issuing, from the divine
essence, on men and on the irrational animals.'
Far from destitute of a divine idea is man, who,
it is written in Genesis, partook of inspiration,
being endowed with a purer essence than the
other animate creatures. Hence the Pythagore-
ans say that mind comes to man by divine provi-
dence, as Plato and Aristotle avow ; but we assert
that the Holy Spirit inspires him who has be-
lieved. The Platonists hold that mind is an
effluence of divine dispensation in the soul, and
they place the soul in the body. For it is ex-
pressly said by Joel, one of the twelve prophets,
" And it shall come to pass after these things, I
will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh, and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy." ^ But
it is not as a portion of God that the Spirit is in
each of us. But how this dispensation takes
place, and what the Holy Spirit is, shall be

» John X. 1-3, 7.
2 flph. iii. 5.
i fElucidation VIII. 1
* Joel ii. 38.

shown by us in the books on prophecy, and
in those on the soul. But ** incredulity is good
at concealing the depths of knowledge," accord-
ing to Heraclitus -, " for increduhty escapes from
ignorance."

CHAP. XIV. — GREEK PLAGIARISM FROM THE

HEBREWS.

Let US add in completion what follows, and
exhibit now with greater clearness the plagiarism
of the Greeks from the Barbarian philosophy.

Now the Stoics say that God, like the soul,
is essentially body and spirit. You will find all
this expliciUy in their writings. Do not consider
at present their allegories as the gnostic truth
presents them ; whether they show one thing
and mean another, like the dexterous athletes.
Well, they say that God pervades all being ; while
we call Him solely Maker, and Maker by the
Word. They were misled by what is said in
the book of Wisdom : " He pervades and passes
through all by reason of His purity ; " s since
they did not understand that this was said of
Wisdom, which was the first of the creation of
God.

So be it, they say. But the philosophers, the
Stoics, and Plato, and Pythagoras, nay more,
Aristotle the Peripatetic, suppose the existence
of matter among the first principles ; and not
one first principle. Let them then know that
what is called matter by them, is said by them to
be without quality, and without form, and more
daringly said by Plato to be non-existence. And
does he not say ver>' mystically, knowing that
the true and real first cause is one, in these very
words : " Now, then, let our opinion be so. As
to the first principle or principles of the universe,
or what opinion we ought to entertain about all
these points, we are not now to speak, for no
other cause than on account of its being difficult
to explain our sentiments in accordance with the
present form of discourse." But undoubtedly
that prophetic expression, " Now the earth was
invisible and formless," supplied them with the
ground of material essence.

And the introduction of " chance " was hence
suggested to Epicurus, who misapprehended the
statement, " Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity."
And it occurred to Aristotle to extend Providence
as far as. the moon from this psalm : " Lord,
Thy mercy is in the heavens ; and Thy truth
reacheth to the clouds." ^ For the explanation
of the prophetic mysteries had not yet been re-
vealed previous to the advent of the Lord.

Punishments after death, on the other hand,
and penal retribution by fire, were pilfered from
the Barbarian philosophy both by all the poetic
Muses and by the Hellenic philosophy. Plato,

5 Wisd. vii. 24.
* Ps. xxxvi. 5.

466

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

accordingly, in the last book of the Republic,
says in these express terms : " Then these men
fierce and fiery to look on, standing by, and
hearing the sound, seized and took some aside ;
and binding Aridseus and the rest hand, foot,
and head, and throwing them down, and flaying
them, dragged them along the way, tearing their
flesh with thorns." For the fiery men are meant
to signify the angels, who seize and punish the
wicked. " Who maketh," it is said, " His angels
spirits ; His ministers flaming fire." ' It follows
from this that the soul is immortal. For what is
tortured or corrected being in a state of sensation
lives, though said to suffer. Well ! Did not Plato
know of the rivers of fire and the depth of the
earth, and Tartarus, called by the Barbarians Ge-
henna, naming, as he does prophetically,' Cocytus,
and Acheron, and Pyriphlegethon, and intro-
ducing such corrective tortures for discipline ?

But indicating " the angels," as the Scripture
says, " of the little ones, and of the least, which
see God," and also the oversight reaching to us
exercised by the tutelary angels,* he shrinks not
from writing, "That when all the souls have
selected their several lives, according as it has
fallen to their lot, they advance in order to
Lachesis; and she sends along with each one,
as his guide in life, and the joint accomplisher
of his purposes, the demon which he has chosen."
Perhaps also the demon of Socrates suggested to
him something similar.

Nay, the philosophers, having so heard firom
Moses, taught that the world was created.^ And
so Plato expressly said, "Whether was it that
the world had no beginning of its existence, or
derived its beginning from some beginning ? For
being visible, it is tangible ; and being tangible,
it has a body." Again, when he says, " It is a
difficult task to find the Maker and Father of
this universe," he not only showed that the uni-
verse was created, but points out that it was
generated by him as a son, and that he is called
its father, as deriving its being from him alone,
and springing from non-existence. The Stoics,
too, hold the tenet that the world was created.

And that the devil so spoken of by the Barba-
rian philosophy, the prince of the demons, is a
wicked spirit, Plato asserts in the tenth book of
the Laws, in these words : " Must we not say that
spirit which pervades the things that are moved
on all sides, pervades also heaven ? Well, what ?
One or more ? Several, say I, in reply for you.
Let us not suppose fewer than two — that which
is beneficent, and that which is able to accomplish
the opposite." Similarly in the Ph(€drus he writes
as follows : " Now there are other evils. But

* Ps. civ. 4.

2 Kusebius reads iroiifriKtas.

3 [(luardian angels. Matt, xviii. 10.]

some demon has mingled pleasure with the most
things at present." Further, in the tenth book of
the Laws, he expressly emits that apostolic sen-
timent,5 " Our contest is not with flesh and blood,
but principalities, with powers, with the spiritual
things of those which are in heaven ; " writing
thus : " For since we are agreed that heaven is
full of many good beings ; but it is also full of
the opposite of these, and more of these ; and as
we assert such a contest is deathless, and re-
quiring marvellous watchfulness."

Again the Barbarian philosophy knows the
world of thought and the world of sense — the
former archetypal, and the latter the image of
that which is called the model ; and assigns the
former to the Monad, as being perceived by
the mind, and the world of sense to the number
six. For six is called by the Pythagoreans mar-
riage, as being the genital number; and he
places in the Monad the invisible heaven and
the holy earth, and intellectual light. For " in
the beginning," it is said, " God made the heaven
and the earth ; and the earth was invisible."
And it is added, " And God said. Let there be
light ; and there was light." ^ And in the ma-
terial cosmogony He creates a solid heaven (and
what is solid is capable of being perceived by
sense), and a visible earth, and a light that is
seen. Does not Plato hence appear to have left
the ideas of living creatures in the intellectual
world, and to make intellectual objects into sen-
sible species according to their genera ? Rightly
then Moses says, that the body which Plato
calls " the earthly tabernacle " was formed of the
ground, but that the rational soul was breathed
by God into man*s face. For there, they say,
the ruling faculty is situated; interpreting the
access by the senses into the first man as the
addition of the soul.

Wherefore also man is said "to have been
made in [God's] image and likeness." For the
image of God is the divine and royal Word, the
impassible man ; and the image of the image is
the human mind. And if you wish to apprehend
the likeness by another name, you will find it
named in Moses, a divine correspondence. For
he says, "Walk after the Lord your God, and
keep His commandments." 7 And I reckon
all the virtuous, servants and followers of God.
Hence the Stoics say that the end of philosophy
is to live agreeable to nature ; and Plato, likeness
to God, as w^e have shown in the second Miscel-
lany. And Zeno the Stoic, borrowing from Plato,
and he from the Barbarian philosophy, says that
all the good are friends of one another. For
Socrates says in the Phcedrus, " that it has not
been ordained that the bad should be a friend

5 [Compare Tayler Lewis, Plato against the Atktists, p. 342.]
*» Gen, 1. 1-3.
7 Deut. xiii. 4,

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

467

to the bad, nor the good be not a friend to
the good ; " as also he showed sufficiently in the
LysiSy that friendship is never preserved in
wickedness and vice. And the Athenian stranger
similarly says, "that there is conduct pleasing and
conformable to God, based on one ancient
ground-principle, That like loves like, provided
it be within measure. But things beyond meas-
ure are congenial neither to what is within nor
what is beyond measure. Now it is the case
that God is the measure to us of all things."
Then proceeding, Plato ' adds : " For every good
man is like every other good man ; and so being
like to God, he is liked by every good man and
by God." At this point I have just recollected
the following. In the end of the Timaus he
says : " You must necessarily assimilate that
which perceives to that which is perceived, ac-
cording to its original nature ; and it is by so
assimilating it that you attain to the end of the
highest life proposed by the gods to men,* for
the present or the future time." For those have
equal power with these. He, who seeks, will not
stop till he find ; and having found, he will won-
der ; and wondering, he will reign ; and reigning,
he will rest. And what? Were not also those
expressions of Thales derived from these ? The
fact that God is glorified for ever, and that He
is expressly called by us the Searcher of hearts,
he interprets. For Thales being asked. What is
the divinity? said. What has neither beginning
nor end. And on another asking, "If a man
could elude the knowledge of the Divine Being
while doing aught? " said, " How could he who
cannot do so while thinking ? "

Further, the Barbarian philosophy recognises
good as alone excellent, and virtue as sufficient
for happiness, when it says, " Behold, I have set
before your eyes good and evil, life and death,
that ye may choose life." 3 For it calls good,
"life," and the choice of it excellent, and the
choice of the opposite " evil."^ And the end of
good and of life is to become a lover of God :
" For this is thy life and length of days," to love
that which tends to the truth. And these points
are yet clearer. For the Saviour, in enjoining to
love God and oiu- neighbour, says, " that on these
two commandments hang the whole law and the
prophets." Such are the tenets promulgated by
the Stoics ; and before these, by Socrates, in the
Phcedrus, who prays, " O Pan, and ye other gods,
give me to be beautiful within." And in the
Thecetetus he savs expressly, " For he that speaks
well (koAo)?) i^ both beautiful and good." And
in ^t Protago*'(!\ he avers to the companions of
Protagoras tiitt iv ii;;s met with one more beauti-
ful than Alcilii:ui- s, if indeed that which is wisest

* The tcxi has ff(»At. Eusebius reads Tlkoxav.

^ The trxt K'(.< -\ *i Lnui Plato and Eusebius, at'^puiroic.

* Deut X' %. i>, ;.^, jo.

is most beautiful. For he said that virtue was
the souFs beauty, and, on the contrary, that vice
was the soul's deformity. Accordingly, Antipa-
tnis the Stoic, who composed three books on the
point, " That, according to Plato, only the beauti-
ful is good," shows that, according to him, virtue
is sufficient for happiness ; and adduces several
other dogmas agreeing with the Stoics. And by
Aristobulus, who lived in the time of Ptolemy
Philadelphus, who is mentioned by the composer
of the epitome of the books of the Maccabees,
there were abundant books to show that the Peri-
patetic philosophy was derived from the law of
Moses and fi-om the other prophets. Let such
be the case.

Plato plainly calls us brethren, as being of one
God and one teacher, in the following words :
" For ye who are in the state are entirely breth-
ren (as we shall say to them, continuing our
story). But the God who formed you, mixed
gold in the composition of those of you who are
fit to rule, at your birth, wherefore you are most
highly honoured ; and silver in the case of those
who are helpers ; and steel and brass in the case
of farmers and other workers." Whence, of
necessity, some embrace and love those things
to which knowledge pertains ; and others matters
of opinion. Perchance he prophesies of that
elect nature which is bent on knowledge ; if by
the supposition he makes of three natures he
does not describe three polities, as some sup-
posed : that of the Jews, the silver ; that of the
Greeks, the third ; and that of the Christians,
with whom has been mingled the regal gold, the
Holy Spirit, the golden.**

And exhibiting the Christian life, he writes in
the Thecetetus in these words : " Let us now
speak of the highest principles. For why should
we speak of those who make an abuse of philoso-
phy ? These know neither the way to the forum,
nor know they the court or the senate-house, or
any other public assembly of the state. As for
laws and decrees spoken or s written, they neither
see nor hear them. But party feelings of politi-
cal associations and public meetings, and revels
with musicians [occupy them] ; but they never
even dream of taking part in affairs. Has any
one conducted himself either well or ill in the
state, or has aught evil descended to a man from
his forefathers? — it escapes their attention as
much as do the sands of the sea. And the man
does not even know that he does not know all
these things ; but in reality his body alone is sit-
uated and dwells in the state,^ while the man
himself flies, according to Pindar, beneath the
earth and above the sky, astronomizing, and ex-
ploring all nature on all sides.

* •rr\v xpv<rTJi» is supplied, according to a very probable conjecture.

5 " Spoken or" supplied from Plato and Eusebius.

6 y^ovQv iv T^ iroAci is here supplied from Plato. [Note in Migne.]

468

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book Y

Again, with the Lord's saying, " Let your yea
be yea, and your nay nay," may be compared
the following : " But to admit a falsehood, and
destroy a truth, is in nowise lawful." With the
prohibition, also, against swearing agrees the say-
ing in the tenth book of the Laws : " Let praise
and an oath in everything be absent."

And in general, Pythagoras, and Socrates, and
Plato say that they hear God's voice while closely
contemplating the fabric of the universe, made
and preserved unceasingly by God. For they
heard Moses say, " He said, and it was done,"
describing the word of God as an act.

And founding on the formation of man from
the dust, the philosophers constantly term the
body earthy. Homer, too, does not hesitate to
put the following as an imprecation : —

" But may you all become earth and water.*'

As Esaias says, "And trample them down as
clay." And Callimachus clearly writes ; —

" That was the year in which
Birds, fishes, quadrupeds,
Spoke like Prometheus* clay.**

And the same again : —

" If thee Prometheus formed,
And thou art not of other clay.**

Hesiod says of Pandora : —

" And bade Hephaestus, famed, with all his speed.
Knead earth with water, and man*s voice and mind
Infuse.**

The Stoics, accordingly, define nature to be
artificial fire, advancing systematically to genera-
tion. And God and His Word are by Scripture
figuratively termed fire and light. But how?
Does not Homer himself, is not Homer himself,
paraphrasing the retreat of the water from the
land, and the clear uncovering of the dry land,
when he says of Tethys and Oceanus : —

" For now for a long time they abstain from
Each other's bed and love ? " *

Again, power in all things is by the most intel-
lectual among the Greeks ascribed to God ;
Epicharmus — he was a Pythagorean — say-
ing:—

" Nothing escapes the divine. This it behoves thee to
know.
He is our observer. To God nought is impossible.'*

And the lyric poet : —

" And God from gloomy night
Can raise unstamed light.
And can in darksome gloom obscure
The day's refulgence pure.**

He alone who is able to make night during the
period of day is God.

In the Phcenomena Aratus writes thus : —

* Iliad^ xiv. ao6.

" With Zeus let us begin ; whom let us ne'er.
Being men, leave unexpressed. All full of Zeus,
The streets, and throngs of men, and full the sea»
And shores, and everywhere we Zeus enjoy.**

He adds : —

His offspring; . .

" For we also are

that is, by creation.

** Who, bland to men.
Propitious signs displays, and to their tasks
Arouses. For these signs in heaven He fixed.
The constellations spread, and -crowned the year
With stars ; to show to men the seasons* tasks.
That all things may proceed in order sure.
Him ever first, Him last too, they adore :
Hail Father, marvel great — great boon to men."

And before him. Homer, framing the world in
accordance with Moses on the Vulcan-wrought
shield, says : —

" On it he fashioned earth, and sky, and sea.
And all the signs with which the heaven is crowned." *

For the Zeus celebrated in poems and prose
compositions leads the mind up to God. And
already, so to speak, Democritus writes, " that a
few men are in the light, who stretch out their
hands to that place which we Greeks now call
the air. Zeus speaks all, and he hears all, and
distributes and takes away, and he is king of all."
And more mystically the Boeotian Pindar, being
a Pythagorean, says : —

" One is the race of gods and men.
And of one mother both have breath ;

that is, of matter : and names the one creator
of these things, whom he calls Father, chief
artificer, who furnishes the means of advance-
ment on to divinity, according to merit.

For I pass over Plato ; he plainly, in the
Epistle to Erastus and Coriscus, is seen to exhibit
the Father and Son somehow or other from the
Hebrew Scriptures, exhorting in these words :
" In invoking by oath, with not illiterate gravity,
and with culture, the sister of gravity, God the
author of all, ana invoking Him by oath as the
Lord, the Father of the Leader, and author;
whom if ye study with a truly philosophical spirit,
ye shall know." And the address in the TimcRus
calls the creator, Father, speaking thus : " Ye
gods of gods, of whom I am Father ; and the
Creator of your works." So that when he says,
" Around the king of all, all things are, and be-
cause of Him are all things ; and he [or that] is
the cause of all good things ; and around the
second are the things second in order; and
around the third, the third," I understand noth-
' ing else than the Holy Trinity to be meant ; for
; the third is the Holy Spirit, and the Son is the
second, by whom all things were made accord-
ing to the will of the Father.^

' Iliad ^ xviii. 183.

3 [On the Faitn, see p. 444, note 6, jar/m.]

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

469

And the same, in the tenth book of the Re-
public, mentions Eros the son of Armeniiis, who
is Zoroaster. Zoroaster, then, writes : " 'I'hese
were coiTTposed by Zoroaster, the son of Arme-
niiis, a Pamphylian by birth : having died in
battle, and been in Hades, I learned them of the
gods." This Zoroaster, Plato says, having been
placed on the funeral pyre, rose again to life in
twelve days. He alludes perchance to the resur-
rection, or perchance to the fact that the path
for souls to ascension lies through the twelve
signs of the zodiac ; and he himself says, that
the descending pathway to birth is the same. In
the same way we are to understand the twelve
labours of Hercules, after which the soul obtains
release from this entire world.

I do not pass over Empedocles, who speaks
thus physically of the renewal of all things, as
consisting in a transmutation into the essence of
fire, which is to take place. And most plainly
of the same opinion is Heraclitus of Ephesus,
who considered that there was a world everlast-
ing, and recognised one perishable — that is, in
its arrangement, not being different from the
former, viewed in a certain aspect. But that
he knew the imperishable world which consists of
the universal essence to be everlastingly of a cer-
tain nature, he makes clear by speaking thus :
" The same world of all things, neither any of
the gods, nor any one of men, made. But there
was, and is, and will be ever-living fire, kindled
according to measure,' and quenched according
to measure." And that he taught it to be gen-
erated and perishable, is shown by what follows :
"There are transmutations of fire, — first, the
sea ; and of the sea the half is land, the half fiery
vapour." For he says that these are the effects
of power. For fire is by the Word of God, which
governs all things, changed by the air into moist-
ure, which is, as it were, the germ of cosmical
change ; and this he calls sea. And out of it again
is produced earth, and sky, and all that they con-
tain. How, again, they are restored and ignited,
he shows clearly in these words : " The sea is
diffused and measured according to the same
rule which subsisted before it became earth."
Similarly also respecting the other elements, the
same is to be understood. The most renowned
of the Stoics teach similar doctrines with him,
in treating of the conflagration and the govern-
ment of the world, and both the world and man
properly so called, and of the continuance of
our souls.

Plato, again, in the seventh book of the Re-
public, has called " the day here nocturnal," as
I suppose, on account of "the world-rulers of
this darkness ; " ^ and the descent of the soul

I Mtrpa is the reading of the text, but is plainly an error for
fi-trptf, which is the reading of Eusebius.
* Eph. vi. 13.

into the body, sleep and death, similarly with
Heraclitus. And was not this announced, oracu-
larly, of the Saviour, by the Spirit, saying by
David, " I slept, and slumbered ; I awoke : for
the Lord will sustain me ? " ^ For He not only
figuratively calls the resurrection of Christ rising
from sleep ; but to the descent of the Lord into
the flesh he also applies the figurative term sleep.
The Saviour Himself enjoins, " Watch ; " -♦ as
much as to say, " Study how to live, and endeav-
our to separate the soul from the body."

And the Lord's day Plato prophetically speaks
of in the tenth book of the Republic, in these
words : " And when seven days have passed to
each of them in the meadow, on the eighth they
are to set out and arrive in four days." 5 By the
meadow is to be understood the fixed sphere,
as being a mild and genial spot, and the locality
of the pious ; and by the seven days each motion
of the seven planets, and the whole practical art
which speeds to the end of rest. But after the
wandering orbs the journey leads to heaven, that
is, to the eighth motion and day. And he says
that souls are gone on the fourth day, pointng
out the passage through the four elements. But
the seventh day is recognised as sacred, not by
the Hebrews only, but also by the Greeks ; ac-
cording to which the whole world of all animals
and plants revolve. Hesiod says of it : —

" The first, and fourth, and seventh day were held sa-
cred."

And again : —

" And on the seventh the sun*s resplendent orb.

And Homer : —

" And on the seventh then came the sacred day.

And : —

" The seventh was sacred."

And again : —

♦»

"It was the seventh day, and all things were accom-
plished."

And again : —

" And on the seventh morn we leave the stream of
Acheron."

Callimachus the poet also writes : —

" It was the seventh morn, and they had all things done."

And again : —

"Among good days is the seventh day, and the seventh
race. "

And : —

" The seventh is among the prime, and the seventh is
perfect"

3 Ps. iii, 5.
* Matt. xxiv. 42, etc.

5 [The bearing of this passage on questions of Sabbatical and
Dominical observances, needs only to be indicated. ]

470

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

And: —

" Now all the seven were made in starry heaven,
In circles shining as the years appear."

The Elegies of Solon, too, intensely deify the
seventh day.

And how ? Is it not similar to Scripture when
it says, " Let us remove the righteous man from
us, because he is troublesome to us?" ' when
Plato, all but predicting the economy of salva-
tion, says in the second book of the Republic
as follows : " Thus he who is constituted just
shall be scourged, shall be stretched on the
rack, shall be bound, have his eyes put out ; and
at last, having suffered all evils, shall be cruci-
fied." '

And the Socratic Antisthenes, paraphrasing
that prophetic utterance, "To whom have ye
likened me ? saith the Lord," ' says that " God
is like no one ; wherefore no one can come to
the knowledge of Him from an image."

Xenophon too, the Athenian, utters these sim-
ilar sentiments in the following words : " He who
shakes all things, and is Himself immoveable, is
manifestly one great and powerful. But what
He is in form, appears not. No more does the
sun, who wishes to shine in all directions, deem
it right to permit any one to look on himself.
But if one gaze on him audaciously, he loses his
eyesight."

" What flesh can see with eyes the Heavenly, True,
Immortal God, whose dwelling is the poles ?
Not even before the bright beams of the sun
Are men, as being mortal, fit to stand," —

the Sibyl had said before. Rightly, then, Xeno-
phanes of Colophon, teaching that God is one
and incorporeal, adds : —

" One God there is 'midst gods and men supreme ;
In form, in mind, unlike to mortal men."

And again : —

** But men have the idea that gods are born,
And wear their clothes, and have both voice and
shape."

And again : —

*' But had the oxen or the lions hands,
Or could with hands depict a work like men.
Were beasts to draw the semblance of the gods.
The horses would them like to horses sketch.
To oxen, oxen, and their bodies make
Of such a shape as to themselves belongs."

Let us hear, then, the lyric poet Bacchylides
speaking of the divine : —

" Who to diseases dire * never succumb.
And blameless arc ; in nought resembling men."

And also Cleanthes, the Stoic, who writes thus in
a poem on the Deity : 5 —

* Wisd. ii. 12.

* [Sec Leighton, IVorks, vol. v. p. 62, the very rich and copious note
of the editor, William West, of Nairn, Scotland. Klucidation IX.]

3 Isa. xl. 18, 35.

* H. Stephanus, in his Frapynents o( hacchyXida,, reads aiKtXtnov
(ibul) instead of act xat Atai- of the text.

S Quoted in Exhortntion to the Heathen, p. 192, ante, and is here
corrected from the text there.

If you ask what is the nature of the good, listen —

That which is regular, just, holj, pious.

Self-governing, useful, fair, fitting,

Grave, independent, always beneficial.

That feels no fear or grief, profitable, painless.

Helpful, pleasant, safe, friendly,

Held in esteem, agreeing with itself: honourable,

Humble, careful, meek, zealous.

Perennial, blameless, ever-during.'

And the same, tacitly vilifying the idolatry of the
multitude, adds : —

" Base is every one who looks to opinion.
With the view of deriving any good from it."

We are not, then, to think of God according to
the opinion of the multitude.

" For I do not think that secretly.
Imitating the guise of a scoundrel.
He would go to thy bed as a man,"

says Amphion " to Antiope. And Sophocles
plainly writes : —

" His mother Zeus espoused.
Not in the likeness of gold, nor covered
With swan's plumage, as the Pleuronian girl
He impregnated ; but an out and out man.**

He further proceeds, and adds : —
" And quick the adulterer stood on the bridal steps."

Then he details still more plainly the licentious-
ness of the fabled Zeus : —

"But he nor food nor cleansing water touched.
But heart-stung went to bed, and that whole night
Wantoned."

But let these be resigned to the follies of the
theatre.

Heraclitus plainly says : " But of the word
which is eternal men are not able to understand,
both before they have heard it, and on first hear-
ing it" And the lyrist Melanippides says in
song : —

" Hear me, O Father, Wonder of men.
Ruler of the ever-living soul."

And Parmenides the great, as Plato says in the
Sophisty writes of God thus : —

** Very much, since unborn and indestructible He is.
Whole, only-begotten, and immoveable, and unorigi-
nated.*'

Hesiod also says : —

" For He of the immortals all is King and Lord.
With God * none else in might may strive."

Nay more, Tragedy, drawing away from idols,
teaches to look up to Jieaven. Sophocles, as
Hecataeus, who composed the histories in the
work about Abraham and the Egyptians, says,
exclaims plainly on the stage : —

" One in very truth, God is One,
Who made the heaven and the far-stretching earth.

6 This is quoted in Exhortation to the Heathen^ p. 19a, ch. \i\
The reading varies, and it has been variously amended. **<•• is suh-
stituted above for <rco. Perhaps the simplest of the emendations pro-
posed on this passage is the change of aco into aot, wf/A Thre.

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA. OR MISCELLANIES.

471

The Deep's blue billow, and the might of winds.

But of us mortals, many erring far

In heart, as solace for our woes, have raised

Images of gods — of stone, or else of brass,

Or ngures wrought of gold or ivory ;

And sacrifices and vain festivals

To these appointing, deem ourselves devout."

And Euripides on the stage, in tragedy, says : —

" Dost thou this lofty, boundless Ether see,
Which holds the earth around in the embrace
Of humid arms ? This reckon Zeus,
And this regard as God."

And in the drama of Pirithous, the same writes
those lines in tragic vein : —

" Thee, self-sprung, who on Ether*s wheel
Flast universal nature spun.
Around whom Light and du3ky spangled Night,
The countless host of stars, too, ceaseless dance."

For there he says that the creative mind is self-
sprung. What follows applies to the universe,
in which are the opposites of light and darkness,
^schylus also, the son of Euphorion, says
with very great solemnity of God : —

" Ether is Zeus, Zeus earth, and Zeus the heaven ;
The universe is Zeus, and all above."

I am aware that Plato assents to Heraclitus, who
writes : " The one thing that is wise alone will
not be expressed, and means the name of Zeus."
And again, " Law is to obey the will of one."
And if you wish to adduce that saying, " He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear," you will find it
expressed by the Ephesian ' to the following ef-
fect : " Those that hear without understanding
are like the deaf. The proverb witnesses against
them, that when present they are absent."

But do you want to hear from the Greeks ex-
pressly of one first principle ? Timaeus the Lo-
crian, in the work on Nature, shall testify in the
following words : "There is one first principle of
all things unoriginated. For were it originated,
it would be no longer the first principle ; but the
first principle would be that from which it origi-
nated." For this true opinion was derived from
what follows : " Hear," it is said, " O Israel ; the
Lord thy God is one, and Him only shalt thou
serve.

" 2

((

Lo ^ He all sure and all unerring is,*

says the Sibyl.

Homer also manifestly mentions the Father
and the Son by a happy hit of divination in the
following words : —

" If Outis,* alone as thou art, offers thee violence.
And there is no escaping disease sent by Zeus, —
For the Cyclopes heed not itgis-bearing Zeus." '

I Henu:litus.

^ Dcut, vi 4.

5 Sec Exhortation^ p. 104, where for " So" read " Ix)."

4 " OwTtf , Noman, Nobocly ; a fallacious name assumed by Ulysses
(with a primary allusion lo m.>7Ti«, fi^rif, Odyss.^ xx. 20), to deceive
Polyphemus." — - Liddell and Scott. The ihird line is 374 of same
booK,

3 OdysM.t ix. 410.

And before him Orpheus said, speaking of the
point in hand : —

" Son of great Zeus, Father of ^gis-bearing Zeus."

And Xenocrates the Chalcedonian, who men-
tions the supren^e Zeus and the inferior Zeus,
leaves an indication of the Father and the Son.
Homer, while representing the gods as subject
to human passions, appears to know the Divine
Being, whom Epicurus does not so revere. He
says accordingly : —

" Why, son of Peleus, mortal as thou art.
With swift feet me pursuest, a god
Immortal ? Hast thou not yet known
That I am a god.?"*

For he shows that the Divinity cannot be cap-
tured by a mortal, or apprehended either with
feet, or hands, or eyes, or by the body at all.
" To whom have ye likened the Lord ? or to
what likeness have ye likened Him?" says the
Scripture.7 Has not the artificer made the im-
age? or the goldsmith, melting the gold, has
gilded it, and what follows.

The comic poet Epicharmus speaks in the
Republic clearly of the Word in the following
terms : —

** The life of men needs calculation and number alone.
And we live by number and calculation, for these
save mortals."'

He then adds expressly : —

" Reason governs mortals, and alone preserves man-
ners."

Then : —

"There is in man reasoning; and there is a divine

Reason.'
Reason is implanted in man to provide for life and

sustenance.
But divine Reason attends the arts in the case of all.
Teaching them always what it is advantageous to do.
For it was not man that discovered art, but God

brought it ;
And the Reason of man derives its origin from the

divine Reason."

The Spirit also cries by Isaiah : " Wherefore
the multitude of sacrifices? saith the Lord. I
am full of holocausts of rams, and the fat of
lambs and the blood of bulls I wish not ; " and
a littie after adds : " Wash you, and be clean.
Put away wickedness from your souls," '° and so
forth.

Menander, the comic poet, writes in these
very words : —

" If one by offering sacrifice, a crowd
Of bulls or kids, O Pamphilus, by Zeus.
Or such like things ; by making works of art.
Garments of gold or purple, images

^ Iliad, xxii. 8.
' Isa. xl. 18, 35.

8 All these lines from Epichannus : they have been rendered as
amended by Grotius.

9 Adyoc [or Word].
^^ Isa. i 11, 16.

472

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V

Of ivory or emerald, deems by these

God can be made propitious, ne does err,

And has an empty mind. For the man must prove

A man of worth, who neither maids deflowers,

Nor an adulterer is, nor steals, nor kills

For love of worldly wealth, O Pamphilus.

Nay, covet not a needle's thready For God

Thee sees, being near beside thee." ... *

" I am a God at hand," it is said by Jeremiah,* |
" and not a God afar off. Shall a man do aught j
in secret places, and I shall not see him ? "

And again Menander, paraphrasing that Scrip-
ture, " Sacrifice a sacrifice of righteousness, and
trust in the Lord," ^ thus writes : —

" And not a needle even that is
Another's ever covet, dearest friend ;
For God in righteous works delights, and so
Permits him to increase his worldly wealth.
Who toils, and ploughs the land both night and day.
But sacrifice to God, and righteous be.
Shining not in bright robes, but in thy heart ;
And when thou hear'st the thunder, do not flee,
Beins conscious to thyself of nought amiss,
Good sir, for thee God ever present sees." *

" \Vhilst thou art yet speaking," says the Scrip-
ture, " I will say, Lo, here I am." 5

Again Diphilus, the comic poet, discourses as
follows on the judgment : —

" Think'st thou, O Niccratus, that the dead,
Who in all kinds of luxury in life have shared.
Escape the Deity, as if forgot ?
There is an eye of justice, which sees all.
For two ways, as we deem, to Hades lead —
One for the good, the other for the bad.
But if the earth hides both for ever, then
Go plunder, steal, rob, and be turbulent.
But err not. For in Hades judgment is.
Which God the Lord of all will execute,
Whose name too dreadful is for me to name,
Who gives to sinners length of earthly life.
If any mortal thinks, that day by day,
While doing ill, he eludes the gods' keen sight,
His thoughts are evil ; and when justice has
The leisure, he shall then detected be
So thinking. Look, whoe'er you be that say
That there is not a God. There is, there is.
If one, by nature evil, evil docs,
I^t him redeem the time ; for such as he
Shall by and by due punishment receive." *

And with this agrees the tragedy 7 in the follow- '
ing lines : —

" For there shall come, shall come • that point of time, j
When Ether, golden-eyed, shall ope its store |

Of treasured nre ; ana the devouring flame,
Raging, shall burn all things on eartn below.
And all above." . . .

' This passage, with four more lines^ is quoted by Justin Martyr
[Pf yfonarchidy vol. i. p. 291, this senes], and axcrioed by him to
Fhilemon.

* Jer. xxiii. 23, 34.
3 Ps

And after a little he adds : —

" And when the whole world fades,
And vanished all the abyss of ocean's waves.
And earth of trees is bare ; and wrapt in flames.
The air no more begets the winged tribes ;
Then He who all destroyed, shall all restore.**

We shall find expressions similar to these also
in the Orphic hymns, written as follows : —

** For having hidden all, brought them again
To gladsome light, forth from his sacred heart.
Solicitous."

And if we live throughout holily and righteously,
we are happy here, and shall be happier after
our departure hence ; not possessing happiness
for a time, but enabled to rest in eternity.

" At the same hearth and table as the rest
Of the immortal gods, we sit all free
Of human ills, utiharmed,"

says the philosophic poetry of Empedocles.
And so, according to the Greeks, none is so
great as to be above judgment, none so insig-
nificant as to escape its notice.
And the same Orpheus speaks thus : —

'S. IV. 5.

4 ]n Justm Martyr, in the place above quoted, these lines are
joined to the preceding. They are also quoted by Eusebius, but |
difTerently arranged. The translation adopts the arrangement of \
("•rotJUR.

5 Isa. Ixv. 24. ,
*» These lines are quoted by Justin {De Monarchia [vol. i. p.

3^1, this series]) , but ascribed by him part to Philemon, part to Eurip-

ioes.

' Ascribed by Justin to Sophocles. '

^ Adopting tne reading xcii^i instead of icai^of in the text.

But to the word divine, looking, attend,
Keeping aright the heart's receptacle
Of intellect, and tread the straight path well.
And only to the world's immortal King
Direct thy gaze." '

And again, respecting God, saying that He was
invisible, and that He was known to but one.
a Chaldean by race — meaning either by this
Abraham or his son — he speaks as folloi%'s : —

" But one a scion of Chaldean race ;
For he the sun's path knew right well.
And how the motion of the sphere about
The earth proceeds, in circle moving
Equally around its axis, how the winds
Their chariot guide o'er air and sea.'*

Then, as if paraphrasing the expression, " Heaven
is my throne, and earth is my footstool," '° he
adds : —

" But in great heaven, He is seated firm
Upon a throne of gold, and 'neath His feet
The earth. ' His right hand round the ocean's bound
He stretches ; and the hills' foundations shake
To the centre at His wrath, nor can endure
His mighty strength. He all celestial is.
And all things finishes upon the earth.
He the Beginning, Middle is, and End.
But Thee I dare not speak. In limbs
And mind I tremble. He rules from on high."

And SO forth. For in these he indicates the>e
prophetic utterances : " If Thou openest the
heaven, trembling shall seize the mountains from
Thy presence; and they shall melt, as wax
melteth before the fire ; " " and in Isaiah, *• Who
hath measured the heaven with a span, and the
whole earth ^vith His fist? " " Again, when it i-
said : —

9 Quoted in Exhortation^ p. 193.
*o Isa Ixvi. I.
** Isa. Ixiv. I, a, xl. i3.
" [On the Orphica^ see Lewis' Plato cont. /fM., p. 99.]

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

473

*' Ruler of Ether, Hades, Sea, and Land,
Who with Thy bolts Olympus* strong-built home
Dost shake. Whom demons dread, and whom the

throng
Of gods do fear. Whom, too, the Fates obey,
Relentless though they be. O deathless One',
Our mother's Sire ! whose wrath makes all things reel;
W^ho mov'st the winds, and shroud*st in clouds the

world,
Broad Ether cleaving with Thy lightning gleams, —
Thine is the order *mongst the stars, which run
As Thine unchangeable behests direct.
Before Thy burning throne the angels wait.
Much-working, charged to do all things for men.
Thy young Spring shines, all prank'd with purple

flowers;
Thy Winter with its chilling clouds assails ;
Thine Autumn noisy Bacchus distributes."

Then he adds, naming expressly the Almighty
God: —

" Deathless Immortal, capable of being
To the immortals only uttered ! Come,
Greatest of gods, with strong Necessity.
Dread, invincible, great, deathless One,
Whom Ether crowns." . . .

By the expression " Sire of our Mother " (fiYp-po-
irartap) he not only intimates creation out of
nothing, but gives occasion to those who intro- j
duce emissions of imagining a consort of the
Deity. And he paraphrases those prophetic
Scriptures — that in Isaiah, " I am He that fixes
the thunder, and creates the wind ; whose hands
have founded the host of heaven ; " ' and that
in Moses, " Behold, behold that I am He, and
there is no god beside me : I will kill, and I will
make to live ; I will smite, and I will heal : and
there is none that shall deliver out of my hands." ^

" And He, from good, to mortals planteth ill.
And cruel war, and tearful woes,"

according to Orpheus.

Such also are the words of the Parian Archil-
ochus.

*' O Zeus, thine is the power of heaven, and thou
Inflict'st on men things violent and wrong." *

Again let the Thracian Orpheus sing to us : —

" His right hand all around to ocean's bound
He stretches ; and beneath His feet is earth."

These are plainly derived from the following :
"The Lord will save the inhabited cities, and
grasp the whole land in His hand like a nest; "*
"It is the Lord that made the earth by His
power," as saith Jeremiah, " and set up the earth
by His wisdom." s Further, in addition to these,
Phocylides, who calls the angels demons, ex-
plains in the following words that some of them
are good, and others bad (for we also have
learned that some are apostate) : —

* Amos iv. i;j.

" Deut. xxxii. 39. _

3 For ovpai^vf opac we read ai'^pwirovf (which is the readinj^ of
Eusebius); and ifirfi (Sylburgius's conjecture), also from Eusebius,
instead of a 0c/iAif a9iyn.<Tra.

* Isa. X. 14.

* Jcr. X. la.

Demons there are — some here, some there — set over

men;
Some, on man's entrance [into life], to ward off ill."

Righriy, then, also Philemon, the comic poet,
demolishes idolatry in these words : —

** Fortune is no divinity to us :
There's no such god. But what befalls by chance
And of itself to each, is Fortune called."

And Sophocles the tragedian says : —

" Not even the gods have all things as they choose,
Excepting Zeus ; for he beginning is and end."

And Orpheus : —

" One Mi^ht, the great, the flaming heaven, was
One Deity. All things one Being were ; in whom
All these revolve fire, water, and the earth."

And so forth.

Pindar, the lyric poet, as if in Bacchic frenzy,
plainly says : —

"What is God? The All."

And again : —

" God, who makes all mortals."

And when he says, —

" How little, being a man, dost thou expect
Wisdom for man ? *Tis hard for mortal mind
The counsels of the gods to scan ; and thou
Wast of a mortal mother born,"

he drew the thought from the following : " Who
hath known the mind of the Lord, or who was
His counsellor?"^ Hesiod, too, agrees with
what is said above, in what he writes : —

" No prophet, sprung of men that dwell on earth,
Can know the mind of iEgis-bearing Zeus."

Similarly, then, Solon the Athenian, in the Elegies ^
following Hesiod, writes : —

" The immortal's mind to men is quite unknown."

Again Moses, having prophesied that the woman
would bring forth in trouble and pain, on ac-
count of transgression, a poet not undistinguished
writes : —

" Never by day
From toil and woe shall they have rest, nor yet
By night from groans. Sad cares the gods to men
Shall give."

Further, when Homer says, —

" The Sire himself the golden balance held," '

he intimates that God is just.

And Menander, the comic poet, in exhibiting
God, says : —

" To each man, on his birth, there is assigned
A tutelary Demon, as his life's good guide.
For that the Demon evil is, and harms
A good life, is not to be thought."

Then he adds : —

" 'kvavra 6' ayadhv tivai rdv Oeov"

*> Isa. xl. 13.
7 Iliad^ viii. 69.

474

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V.

meaning either " that every one good is God,"
or, what is preferable, " that God in all things is
good."

Again, iEschylus the tragedian, setting forth
the power of God, does not shrink from calling
Him the Highest, in these words : —

" Place God apart from mortals ; and think not
That He is, like thyself, corporeal.
Thou know*st Him not. Now He appears as fire,
Dread force ; as water now ; and now as gloom ;
And in the beasts is dimly shadowed forth,
In wind, and cloud, in lightning, thunder, rain ;
And minister to Him the seas and rocks,
Each fountain and the water's floods and streams.
The mountains tremble, and the earth, the vast
Abyss of sea, and towering height of hills,
When on them looks the Sovereign's awful eye:
Almighty is the glory of the Most High God. *

Does he not seem to you to paraphrase that
text, " At the presence of the Lord the earth
trembles?"^ In addition to these, the most
prophetic Apollo is compelled — thus testifying
to the glory of God — to say of Athene, when
the Medes made war against Greece, that she
besought and supplicated Zeus for Attica. The
oracle is as follows : —

*' Pallas cannot Olympian Zeus propitiate,
lOugh with mar
he will give to
the immortals,
Who now stand shaking with terror, and bathed in
sweat ; " ^

and so forth.

Thearidas, in his book On Nature y writes :
"There was then one really true beginning [first
principle] of all that exists — one. For that
Being in the beginning is one and alone."

" Nor is there any other except the Great King,"

says Orpheus.' In accordance with whom, thq

comic poet Diphilus says very sententiously,"*

the

•* Father of all,
To Him alone incessant reverence pay,
The inventor and the author of such olessings."

Rightiy therefore Plato " accustoms the best
natures to attain to that study which formerly
we said was the highest, both to see the good
and to accomplish that ascent. And this, as
appears, is not the throwing of the potsherds ; 5
but the turning round of the soul from a noc-
turnal day to that which is a true return to that
which really is, which we shall assert to be the

true philosophy." Such as are partakers of this
he judges * to belong to the golden race, when
he says : " Ye are all brethren ; and those who
are of the golden race are most capable of judg-
ing most accurately in every respect." '

The Father, then, and Maker of all things is
apprehended by all things, agreeably to all, by
innate power and without teaching, — things in-
animate, sympathizing with the animate creation ;
and of living beings some are already immorul,
working in the light of day. But of those thai
are still mortal, some are in fear, and carried still
in their mother's womb ; and others regulate
themselves by their own independent reason.
And of men all are Greeks and Barbarians. But
no race anywhere of tillers of the soil, or nomads,
and not even of dwellers in cities, can live, with-
out being imbued with the faith of a superior
being.** Wherefore every eastern nation, and
every nation touching the western shore ; or the
north, and each one towards the south,' — all
have one and the same preconception respecting
Him who hath appointed government ; since the
most universal of His operations equally per\'ade

all. Much more did the philosophers among the

raiias cannot uiympian ^us propitiate, TGreeks, devoted to investigation, starting from

Although with many words and sage advice she prays J ^ ^^"-^j «^ vruv^v* ^^ *iTv.ov.5«i..v/n, oi^iwt.g »*vriii

But he will give to the dcvourine fire many temples of ^^ Barbarian philosophy, attribute providence >■=»

to the " Invisible, and sole, and most powerful,
and most skilful and supreme cause of all things
most beautiful ; " — not knowing the inferences
from these truths, unless instructed by us, and
not even how God is to be known naturallv ; but
only, as we have already often said, by a true
periphrasis." Rightly therefore the apostie says,
" Is He the God of the Jews only, and not also
of the. Greeks? " — not only saying prophetically
that of the Greeks believing Greeks would know
God ; " but also intimating that in power the Lord
is the God of all, and truly Universal King. For
They know neither what He is, nor how He is
Lx)rd, and Father, and Maker, nor the rest of
the system of the truth, without being taught by
it. Thus also the prophetic utterances have the
same force as the apostolic word. For Isaiah
says, " If ye say. We trust in the Lord our God :
now make an alliance with my Lord the king of
the Assyrians." And he adds : " And now, was
it without the Lord that we came up to this land
to make war against it ? " '^ And Jonah, himself
a prophet, intimates the same thing in what he
says : " And the shipmaster came to him, and

* These lines of iCschylus are also quoted by Justyn Martyr {De
Monarchia^ vol. i. p. 290). Dread force, an-Aarof 6p/A^: Eusebius
reads op^ ]7, dative. J. I.angus has suggested (airAaoroc) uncreated:
ttn-Aifarof (insatiate) has also been suggested.) The epithet of the
text, which means primarily unapproachable, then dread or terrible,
is applied by Pindar to fire.

* Ps. Ixviii, 8. [Comp. Coleridge's Hymn in CAamonnix.}

3 This Pythian oracle is given by Herodotus, and is quoted also
by Eusebius and Thcodoret.

* yvtitfuKtuTara. Eusebius reads yeyimuiTaTov, agreeing with
ir arc'pa.

^ A game in which a potsherd with a black and white side was
cast on a line: and as the black or white turned up, one of the players
fled and the other pursued.

^ Eusebius has icpii'ci, which we have adopted, for cptrccr o£ the
text.

7 Plato, /!e/.t book vii.

• [Pearson, On the Creed^ p 47.]

9 According to the reading m Eusebius, rav c0vo« kyav ray i*
itrvtpiuy r}6vuiv, fiofMiov T« koX r6, x.r.A.

'<* Instead of irpoi'oiai', Eusebius has npovofiiav (privilege).

>' Clement seems to mean that they knew God only in a round-
about and inaccurate way. llie text has vcpi^^oo'ii': but ir<p(^pa0tr,
which is in Eusebius, is preferable.

*2 rSce p. 379, Elucidation 1,, su/ra.]

'3 Isa xxxvi 7, 8, 10.

Chap. XIV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

475

said to him, Why dost thou snore ? Rise, call on
thy God, that He may save us, and that we may
not perish." * For the expression " thy God "
he makes as if to one who knew Him by way
of knowledge ; and the expression, " that God
may save us," revealed the consciousness in the
minds of heathens who had applied their mind
to the Ruler of all, but had not yet believed.
And again the same : " And he said to them,
1 am the servant of the Lord ; and I fear the
Lord, the God of heaven." And again the
same : " And he said, Let us by no means
perish for the life of this man." And Malachi
the prophet plainly exhibits God saying, " I will
not accept sacrifice at your hands. For from
the rising of the sun to its going down, My name
is glorified among the Gentiles ; and in every
place sacrifice is offered to Me." ' And again :
** Because I am a great King, saith the Lord
omnipotent ; and My name is manifest among
the nations." What name? The Son declar-
ing the Father among the Greeks who have
believed.

Plato in what follows gives an exhibition of
free-will : " Virtue owns not a master ; and in
proportion as each one honours or dishonours it,
in that proportion he will be a partaker of it.
The blame lies in the exercise of free choice."
But (iod is blameless. For He is never the
author of evil.

*' O warlike Trojans," says the lyric poet,3 —

'* High ruling Zeus, who beholds all things,
Is not the cause of great woes to mortaL» ;
But it is in the power of all men to find
Justice, holy, pure,
Companion of order,
And of wise Themis
The sons of the blessed are ye
In finding her as your associate."

And Pindar expressly introduces also Zeus Soter,
the consort of Themis, proclaiming him King,
Saviour, Just, in the following lines : —

" First, prudent Themis, of celestial birth,
On golden steeds, by Ocean's rock.
The Fates brought to the stair sublime,
The shining entrance of Olympus,
Of Saviour Zeus for aye* to be the spouse,
And she, the Hours, gold-diademed, fair-fruited, good,
brought forth."*

He, then, who is not obedient to the truth, and
is puffed up with human teaching, is wretched
and miserable, according to Euripides : —

" Who these things seeing, yet apprehends not God,
But mouthing lofty themes, casts far
Perverse deceits ; stubborn in which, the tongue
Its shafts discharges, about things unseen,
Devoid of sense."

' Jonah i. 6, 9, 14.

' Mai. i. 10, II, 14 . [The prophetic present-future.]

^ Perhaps Bacchylides.

* apxaiay. ^

^ The reading of H. Stephanus, ayaBat'tlfioft is adopted in the
translation. The text has a^a0a <ra»T^pas. Some supply *npav, and
•It the !»aiiie time retain wrrifMis.

Let him who wishes, then, approaching to the
true instruction, learn from Parmenides the
Eleatic, who promises : —

" Ethereal nature, then, and all the signs
In £ther thou shalt know, and the effects,
AH viewless, of the sacred Sun's clear torch
And whence produced. The round-eyed Moon's
Revolving influences and nature thou
Shalt learn ; and the ensphering heaven shalt know ;
Whence sprung; and how Necessity took it
And chained so as to keep the starry bounds."

And Metrodoms, though an Epicurean, spoke
thus, divinely inspired : " Remember, O Menes-
tratus, that, being a mortal endowed with a cir-
cumscribed life, thou hast in thy soul ascended,
till thou hast seen endless time, and the infinity
of things- and what is to be, and what has
been ; " when with the blessed choir, according
to Plato, we shall gaze on the blessed sight and
vision ; we following with Zeus, and others with
other deities, if we may be permitted so to say,
to receive initiation into the most blessed mys-
tery : which we shall celebrate, ourselves being
perfect and untroubled by the ills which awaited
us at the end of our time ; and introduced to
the knowledge of perfect and tranquil visions,
and contemplating them in pure sunlight; we
ourselves pure, and now no longer distinguished
by that, which, when carrying it about, we call
the body, being bound to it like an oyster to its
shell.

The Pythagoreans call heaven the Antichthon
[the opposite Earth]. And in this land, it is
said by Jeremiah, " I will place thee among the
children, and give thee the chosen land as in-
heritance of God Omnipotent ; " ^ and they who
inherit it shall reign over the earth. Myriads
on myriads of examples ^ rush on my mind which
I might adduce. But for the sake of symmetry
the discourse must now stop, in order that we
may not exemplify the saying of Agatho the
tragedian : —

" Treating our by-work as work.
And doing our work as by-work."

It having been, then, as I think, clearly shown
in what way it is to be understood that the Greeks
were called thieves by the Lord, I willingly leave
the dogmas of the philosophers. For were we
to go over their sayings, we should gather to-
gether directly such a quantity of notes, in show-
ing that the whole of the Hellenic wisdom was
derived from the Barbarian philosophy. But
this speculation, we shall, nevertheless, again touch
on, as necessity requires, when we collect the
opinions current among the Greeks respecting
first principles.

But from what has been said, it tacitly devolves
on us to consider in what way the Hellenic books

** Jcr. iii. I
7 [Thib str

strong testimony of Clement is worthy of special note.]

476

ELUCIDATIONS.

are to be perused by the man who is able to
pass through the billows in them. Therefore

** Happy is he who possesses the wealth of the divine
mind,"

as appears according to Empedocles,

** But wretched he, who cares for dark opinion about the
Gods."

He divinely showed knowledge and ignorance
to be the boundaries of happiness and misery.
'^* For it behoves philosophers to be acquainted
with very many things/* according to Heraclitus ;
and truly must

** He, who seeks to be good, err in many things."
It is then now clear to us, from what has been

said, that the beneficence of God is eternal, an^.
that, from an unbeginning principle, equal naturi
righteousness reached all, according to the worth
of each several race, — never having had a begin-
ning. For God did not make a beginning of
being Lord and Good, being always what He i>.
Nor will He ever cease to do good, although He
bring all things to an end. And each one of us
is a partaker of His beneficence, as far as He
wills. For the difference of the elect is made
by the intervention of a choice worthy of the
soul, and by exercise.

Thus, then, let our fifth Miscellany of gnostic
notes in accordance with the true philosophy be
brought to a close.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Clement's Hebrew, p. 446, note 8.)

On this matter having spoken in a former Elucidation (see Elucidation VIII. p. 443), I mu>t
here translate a few words from Philo Judaeus. He says, " Before Abram was called, such was h>
name ; but afterward he was named Adraam, by the simple duplication of one letter, which never-
theless enfolds a great significance. For Abram is expounded to mean sublime father, but Abraam
means elect father of sound,*' Philo goes on to give his personal fancies in explication of this
whim. But, with Clement, Philo was an expert, to whom all knowledge was to be credited in his
specialty. This passage, however, confirms the opinion of those who pronounce Clement destitute
of Hebrew, even in its elements. No need to say that Abram means something like what
Philo gives us, but Abraham is expounded in the Bible itself (Gen. xvii. 3, 4, 5). The text of
the LXX. seems to have been dubious to our author's mind, and hence he falls back on Philo. Bu:
this of itself appears decisive as to Clement's Hebrew scholarship.

II.

(The Beetle, cap. iv. p. 449, note 6.)

Cicero notes the scarabaus on the tongue, as identifying Apis,' the calf-god of the Egyptians.
Now, this passage of our author seems to me to clear up the Scriptural word gillulim in Deut. xxix.
1 7, where the English margin reads, literally enough, dungy-gods. The word means, things rolUd
about (Lev. xxvi. 30 ; Hab. ii. 18, 19 ; i Kings xv. 12) ; on which compare Leigh ton {St. Peter,
pp. 239, 746, and note). Scripture seems to prove that this story of Clement's about the beetle
of the Egyptians, was known to the ancient Hebrews, and was the point in their references to the
gillulim (see Herod,, book iii. cap. 28., or Rawlinson's Trans., vol. ii. 353). The note in Migne
ad loc. is also well-worthy to be consulted.

III.

(The Tetrad, cap. vi. p. 452, note 4.)

It is important to observe that " the patriarchal dispensation," as we too carelessly speak, i-^
pluralized by Clement. He clearly distinguishes the three patriarchal dispensations, as given in
Adam, Noah, and Abraham ; and then comes the Mosaic. The editor begs to be pardoned for refer-

* I)e Xtit. Deer., cd. Dclphin., vol. xiv. p. 85a.

ELUCIDATIONS.

477

ring to his venerated and gifted father's division (sustained by Clement's authority), which he used
to insist should be further enlarged so as to subdivide the first and the last, making stiJen complete,
and thus honouring the system of sevens which runs through all Scripture. Thus Adam embraces
Paradise, and the first covenant after the fall ; and the Christian covenant embraces a mil-
lenial period. So that we have (i) Paradise, (2) Adam, (3) Noah, (4) Abraham, (5) Moses,
(6) Christ, (7) a w//7<r«/tf//^r/W, preluding the Judgment and the Everlasting Kingdom. My
venerated and most erudite instructor in theology, the late Dr. Jarvis, in his Church of the Re-
deemed, expounds a dispensation as identified by (i) a covenant, original or renewed, (2) a sign
or sacrament, and (3) a closing judgment. (See pp. 4, 5, and elsewhere in the great work I have
named.) Thus (i) the Tree of Life, (2) the institution of sacrifice, (3) the rainbow, (4) cir-
cumcision, (5) the ark, (6) the baptismal and eucharistic sacraments, and (7) the same renewed
and glorified by the conversion of nations are the symbols. The covenants and the judgments
are easily identified, ending with the universal Judgment.

Dr. Jarvis died, leaving his work unfinished ; but the Church of the Redeemed is a book com-
plete in itself, embod)ring the results of a vast erudition, and of a devout familiarity with Scripture.
It begins with Adam, and ends with the downfall of Jerusalem (the typical judgment), which closed
the Mosaic dispensation. It is written in a pellucid style, and with a fastidious use of the English
language ; and it is the noblest introduction to the understanding of the New Testament, with
which I am acquainted. That such a work should be almost unknown in American literature,
of which it should be a conspicuous ornament, is a sad commentary upon the taste of the period
when it was given to the public*

IV.

(The Golden Candlestick, cap. vi. p. 452, note 6.)

The seven gifts of the Spirit seem to be prefigured in this symbol, corresponding to the seven
(spirits) lamps before the throne in the vision of St. John (see Rev. i. 4, iii. i, iv. 5, and v. 6 ;
also Isa. xi. i, 2, and Zech. iii. 9, and iv. 10). The prediction of Isaiah intimates the anointing
of Jesus at his baptism, and the outpouring of these gifts upon the Christian Church.

(Symbols, cap. vi. p. 453, note 3.)

Clement regards the symbols of the divine law as symbols merely, and not images in the sense
of the Decalogue. Whatever we may think of this distinction, his argument destroys the fallacy
of the Trent Catechism, which pleads the Levitical symbols in favour of images in " the likeness of
holy things," and which virtually abrogates the second commandment. Images of God the Father
(crowned with the Papal tiara) are everywhere to be seen in the Latin churches, and countless
images of all heavenly things are everywhere worshipped under the fallacy which Clement rejects.
Pascal exposes the distinctions without a difference, by which God's laws are evacuated of all force
in Jesuit theology ; but the hair-splitting distinctions, about " bowing down to images and wor-
shipping them," which infect the Trent theology, are equal to the worst of Pascal's instances.* It
is with profound regret that I insert this testimony ; but it seems necessary, because garblings of
patristic authorities, which begin to appear in America, make an accurate and intelligent study
of the Ante-Nicene Fathers a necessity for the American theologian.

' Boston, 1850. * In xhc Provincial Letters fPtusim.

478 ELUCIDATIONS.

VI.

(Perfection, cap. x. p. 459, note 2.)

The TcActot of the ancient canons were rather the complete than the perfect , as understood by
the ancients. Clement's Gnostic is " complete," and goes on to moral perfection. Now, doc^
not St. Paul make a similar distinction between babes in Christ, and those " complete in Him"?
(Col. ii. 10.) The v€wXr}piafi€voi of this passage, referring to the " thoroughly furnished " Chribtian
(fully equipped for his work and warfare), has thrown light on many passages of the Father
and of the old canons, in my experience ; and I merely make the suggestion for what it may \k
worth. See Bunsen's Church and Home Book {Jflippol.^ iii. 82, 83, et seqq,) for the rules ( i i
governing all Christians, and (2) those called " the faithful," by way of eminence. So, in our daw
not all believers are communicants.

VII.

(The Unknown God, cap. xii. p. 464, note i.)

Must we retain " too superstitious," even in the Revised Version? (Which see ad loc.) Bun-
sen's rendering of Scurt&u/Liona, by demon-fear,^ is not English ; but it suggests the common view
of scholars, upon the passage, and leads me to suppose that the learned and venerable company uf
revisers could not agree on any English that would answer. That St. Paul paid the Athenians 1
compliment, as devout in their way, i.e., God-fearing towards their divinities, will not be denied
Clement seems to have so understood it, and hence his constant effort to show that we mi>:
recognise, in dealing with Gentiles, whatever of elementary good God has permitted to exi^i
among them. May we not admit this principle, at least so far as to believe that Divine Pro\i
dence led the Athenians to set up the very inscription which was to prompt Christ's apostle i •
an ingenious interpretation, and to an equally ingenious use of it, so avoiding a direct conflict
with their laws? This they had charged on him (Acts xvii. 18), as before on Socrates.

VIII.

(Xenocrates and Democritus, cap. xiii. p. 465, note 3.)

My grave and studious reader will forgive me, here, for a reference to Stromata of a widely d::
ferent sort. Dulce est desipere, etc. One sometimes finds instruction and relief amid the intense
nonsense of "agnostic " and other " philosophies " of our days, in turning to a healthful intellett
which " answers fools according to their folly." I confess myself an occasional reader of the
vastly entertaining and suggestive Nodes of Christopher North, which may be excused by thi
famous example of a Father of the Church, who delighted in Aristophanes.* To illustrate this p::-
sage of Clement, then, let me refer to Professor Wilson's intense sympathy with animals. See t!.
real eloquence of his reference to the dogs of Homer and of Sir Walter Scott.' " The Ettrii k
Shepherd " somewhere wondered, whether some dogs are not gifted with souls ; and, in the pa^sajt
referred to, it is asked, whether the dog of Ulysses could have been destitute of an immortal spin:.
On another occasion, Christopher breaks out with something like this : " Let me prefer the \^
who thinks so, to the miserable atheist whose creed is dust." He looks upon his dog " Fro," anc
continues (while the noble animal seems listening), "Yes, better a thousand times, O Fro, t>.
believe that ' my faithful dog shall bear me company,' than that the soul of a Newton perishes i'.
death," etc. How often have I regaled myself with the wholesome tonic of such dog-loving sjx^rt.
after turning with disgust from some God-hating and man- destroying argument of "moder
science," falsely so called.

* Hippol., vol. lii. p 200. * Chrysoslom. ^ Vol iv. pp. 104-107. American cd., 1854, Redfield, New York.

ELUCIDATIONS. 479

IX.

(Plato's Prophecy, cap. xiv. p. 470, note 2.)

My references at this point axe worthy of being enlarged upon. I subjoin the following as
additional. On this subUme passage, Jones of Nayland remarks,' " The greatest moral philoso-
pher of the Greeks declared, with a kind of prescience, that, if a man perfectly just were to come
upon earth, he would be impoverished and scourged, and bound as a criminal ; and, when he had
suffered all manner of indignities, would be put to the shameful death of (suspension or) cruci-
fixion." " Several of the Fathers," he adds, " have taken notice of this extraordinary passage in
Plato, looking upon it as a prediction of the sufferings of the Just One, Jesus Christ." He refers
us to Grotius i^De Verttate, iv. sec. 12) and to Meric Casaubon {On Credulity , p. 135). The
passage from Plato {Rep., ii. 5) impressed the mind of Cicero. (See his Rep., iii. 17.)

* Works, vol. iv. p. 205,

THE STROMATA. OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK VI.

CHAP. I. — PLAN.'

The sixth and also the seventh Miscellanv of
gnostic notes, in accordance with the true phi-
losophy, having delineated as well as possible the
ethical argument conveyed in them, and having
exhibited what the Gnostic is in his life, proceed
to show the philosophers that he is by no means
impious, as they suppose, but that he alone is
truly pious, by a compendious exhibition of the
Gnostic's form of religion, as far as it is possible,
without danger, to commit it to writing in a book
of reference. For the Lord enjoined " to labour
for the meat which endureth to eternity." ' And
the prophet says, " Blessed is he that soweth into
all waters, whose ox and ass tread," ^ [that is,]
the people, from the Law and from the Gentiles,
gathered into one faith.

** Now the weak eateth herbs," according to
the noble apostle.^ The Instructor^ divided by
us into three books, has already exhibited the
training and nurture up from the state of child-
hood, that is, the course of life which from ele-
mentary instruction grows by faith ; and in the
case of those enrolled in the number of men,
prepares beforehand the soul, endued with virtue,
for the reception of gnostic knowledge. The
Greeks, then, clearly learning, from what shall be
said by us in these pages, that in profanely per-
secuting the God-loving man, they themselves act
impiously ; then, as the notes advance, in accord-
ance with the style, of the Miscellanies^ we must
solve the difficulties raised both by Greeks and
Barbarians with respect to the coming of the Lord.

In a meadow the flowers blooming variously,
and in a park the plantations of fruit-trees, are not
separated according to their species from those
of other kinds. If some, culling varieties, have
composed learned collections, Meadows, and
Helicons, and Honeycombs, and Robes ; then,

3 Is

(On Qement's pUtn^ see Elucidation I. p. 343, supra.\
ohn vi, 27.
sa. xxxii. 30.
4 Rom. xiv. 2.

480

with the things which come to recollection by
haphazard, and are expurgated neither in order
nor expression, but purposely scattered, the form
of the Miscellanies is promiscuously variegated 1 ike
a meadow. And such being the case, my notes
shall serve as kindling sparks ; and in the case
of him, who is fit for knowledge, if he chance to
fall in with them, research made with exertion
will turn out to his benefit and advantage. For
It is right that labour should precede not only food
but also, much more knowledge, in the case of
those that are advancing to the eternal and bless-
ed salvation by the "strait and narrow way/'
which is truly the Lord's.

Our knowledge, and our spiritual garden, is
the Saviour Himself; into whom we are planted,
being transferred and transplanted, from our old
life, into the good land. And transplanting con-
tributes to fruitfulness. The Lord, then, into
whom we have been transplanted, is the Light
and the true Knowledge.

Now knowledge is otherwise spoken of in a
twofold sense : that, commonly so called, which
appears in all men (similarly also comprehension
and apprehension), universally, in the knowledge
of individual objects ; in which not only the
rational powers, but equally the irrational, share,
which I would never term knowledge, inasmuch
as the apprehension of things through the senses
comes naturally. But that which par excellence
is termed knowledge, bears the impress of judg-
ment and reason, in the exercise of which there
will be rational cognitions alone, applying purely
to objects of thought, and resulting from the
bare energy of the soul. " He is a good man."
says David,5 " who pities " (those ruined through
error) ," and lends " (from the communication
of the word of truth) not at haphazard, for " he
will dispense his words in judgment : " with pro-
found calculation, " he hath dispersed, he hath
given to the poor."

s Ps. cxii. 5, 9.

Chap. II.]

THE STROM AT A, OR MISCELLANIES.

481

CHAP. II. — THE SUBJECT OF PLAGIARISMS RESUMED.
THE GREEKS PLAGIARIZED FROM ONE ANOTHER.

Before handling the point proposed, we musv}
by way of preface, add to the close of the fifth
lx)ok what is wanting. For since we have shown
that the symbolical style was ancient, and was
employed not only by our prophets, but also by
the majority of the ancient Greeks, and by not
a few of the rest of the Gentile Barbarians, it
was requisite to proceed to the mysteries of the
initiated. I postpone the elucidation of these
till we advance to the confutation of what is said
by the Greeks on first principles; for we shall
show that the mysteries belong to the same
branch of speculation. And having proved that
the declaration of Hellenic thought is illuminated
all round by the truth, bestowed on us in the
Scriptures, taking it according to the sense, we
have proved, not to say what is invidious, that u'^e": —
the theft of the truth passed to them. ^

Come, and let us adduce the Greeks as wit-
nesses against themselves to the theft. For, in-
asmuch as they pilfer fi^om one another, they
establish the fact that they are thieves; and
although against their will, they are detected,
clandestinely appropriating to those of their own

Again, Musaeus having composed the lines : —

" And as the fruitful field produceth leaves,
And on the ash trees some fade, others grow,
' So whirls the race of man its leaf," ^ —

Homer transcribes : —

" Some of the leaves the wind strews on the ground.
The budding wood bears some ; in time of spring,
They come. So springs one race of men, and one
departs." *

Again, Homer having said : —

\ " It is unholy to exult over dead men," * —

Archilochus and Cratinus write, the former : —

I " It is not noble at dead men to sneer ; "

nd Cratinus in the Lacones : —

" For men *tis dreadful to exult
Much o*er the stalwart dead."

i^gain, Archilochus, transferring that Homeric

" I erred, nor say I nay : instead of many " * —

writes thus : —

"I erred, and this mischief hath somehow 'seized
another."

As certainly also that line : —

" Even-handed ' war the slayer slays." '

race the truth which belongs to us. For if they
do not keep their hands from each other, they ' He also, altering, has given forth thus : —
will hardly do it from our authors. I shall say
nothing of. philosophic dogmas, since the very
persons who are the authors of the divisions into
sects, confess in writing, so as not to be con-
victed of ingratitude, that they have received
from Socrates the most important of their dog-
mas. But after availing myself of a few testi-
monies of men most tadked of, and of repute
among the Greeks, and exposing their plagiariz-
ing style, and selecting them from various peri-
ods, I shall turn to what follows.
Orpheus, then, having composed the line : —

" I will do it.
For Mars to men in truth is even-handed." '

Also, translating the following : —

" The issues of victory among men depend on the
gods," 9

he openly encourages youth, in the following
iambic : —

** Since nothing else is more shameless and wretched
than woman," —

Homer plainly says : —

" Since nothing else is more dreadful and shameless
than a woman." *

And Musaeus having written : —

*• Since art is greatly superior to strength," —

Homer says : —

" By art rather than strength is the woodcutter greatly
superior." *

' Odyss.t xi. 427.

* Homer, Iliads xxiii 315: ixiy' aiAtiwiv is ibund in the //'Virf as

" Victory's issues on the gods depend."
Again, Homer having said : —

" With feet unwashed sleeping on the ground," "

Euripides writes in Erechtheus: —

" Upon the plain spread with no couch they sleep,
Nor in the streams of water lave their feet."

Archilochus having likewise said : — :-

" But one with this and one with that
His heart delights," —

in correspondence with the Homeric line : —

** For one in these deeds, one in those delights," " —

Euripides says in CEneus: —

3 4>v\\ov, for which Sylburg. suggests ^vkov.

* Iliad ^ vi. 1^^7-149.
3 Odyss.y xxii. 412.

6 Iliad f XX 116.

7 Bvi'Of. So Livy, "communis Mars;" and Cicero, "cum
omnis belli Mara communis."

* Iliad t xviii. 309.
9 The text has: tiiKi^ avBptinrouri BtStv ix wtipara Ktlrai, In

in Musatus. In the text occurs instead irepiyiVcrai, which is taken

from line 318. I

" By art rather than strength is the woodcutter greatly superior; ' /Had, vii. loi, loa, we read: — . » «

By art the helmsman on the dark sea , ayrop vntpStv ^

Guides the swift ship when driven by winds: Ni«ij« neipar ixovrai ty aBavaroiVt. Btoiviv,

By airt one charioteer excels (n-cpiyii^crai) another.

Iliad, xxiii. 315-318.

*o Iliad, xvi. 235.
" Odyss., xiv. 228.

482

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

"But one in these ways, one in those, has more de-
light."

And I have heard -^schylus saying : —

" He who is happy ought to stay at home ;
There should he also stay, who speeds not well."

And Euripides, too, shouting the like on the
stage : —

" Happy the man who, prosperous, stays at home."

Menander, too, on comedy, saying : —

** He ought at home to stay, and free remain,
Or be no longer rightly happy."

Again, Theognis having said : —

" The exile has no comrade dear and true," —

Euripides has written : —

" Far from the poor flies every friend."

And Epicharmus, saying : —

" Daughter, woe worth the day I
Thee who art old I marry to a youth ; " *

and adding : —

" For the young husband takes some other girl,
And for another husband longs the wife," —

Euripides * writes : —

" * Tis bad to joke an old wife to a youth ;
For he desires to share another's bed.
And she, by him deserted, mischief plots."

Euripides having, besides, said in the Medea : —

" For no good do a bad man's gifts," —

Sophocles in Ajax FlagelUfer utters this iam-
bic : —

*' For foes' gifts are no gifts, nor any boon." *

Solon having written : —

" For surfeit insolence begets.
When store of wealth attends."

Theognis writes in the same way : —

" For surfeit insolence begets,
When store of wealth attends the bad."

Whence also Thucydides, in the Histories, says :
" Many men, to whom in a great degree, and in
a short time, unlooked-for prosperity comes,
are wont to turn to insolence." And Philistus *
likewise imitates the same sentiment, expressing
himself thus : " And the many things which turn
out prosperously to men, in accordance with
reason, have an incredibly dangerous s tendency
to misfortune. For those who meet with un-
locked success beyond their expectations, are
for the most part wont to turn to insolence."
Again, Euripides having written : —

* The text is corrupt and unintelligible. It has been restored as
above.

* In some lost tragedy.

3 Said by Ajax of the sword received from Hector, with which he
killed himself.

* The imitator of Thucydides, said to be weaker but clearer than
his mo<lcl. He is not specially clear here.

5 The text has, ao-tpoAcarepa vapd 6d{ai' ical Kaicoirpayiai' : for
which Lowth reads, «vi0>4^aA<<rr<pa irp<K KajKovp«yi«y, as translated
above.

For children sprung of parents who have led
A hard and toilsome life, superior are; "

Critias writes : " For I begin with a man's origin :
how far the best and strongest in body will he
be, if his father exercises himself, and eats in a
hardy way, and subjects his body to toilsome
labour ; and if the mother of the future child be
strong in body, and give herself exercise."

Again, Homer having said of the Hephaestus-
made shield : —

" Upon it earth and heaven and sea he made.
And Ocean's rivers* mighty strength portrayed," —

Pherecydes of Syros says : " Zas makes a cloak
large and beautiful, and works on it earth and
Ogenus, and the palace of Ogenus."
And Homer having said : —

" Shame, which greatly hurts a man or helps,"* —
Euripides writes in Erechtheus : —

" Of shame I find it hard to judge ;
* Tis needed. * Tis at times a great mischief."

Take, by way of parallel, such plagiarisms as the
following, from those who flourished together,
and were rivals of each other. From the OresUs
of Euripides : —

" Dear charm of sleep, aid in disease.*

From the Eriphyle of Sophocles : —

"Hie thee to sleep, healer of that disease.'

And from the Antigone of Sophocles ; —

" Bastardy is opprobrious in name ; but the nature is
equal ; " '

And from the Akuades of Sophocles : —

" Each good thing has its nature equal."
Again, in the Ctimenus^ of Euripides : —
" For him who toils, God helps ; "

And in the Minos of Sophocles : —

" To those who act not, fortune is no ally ; "

And from the Alexander of Euripides : —

" But time will show ; and learning, by that test,
I shall know whether thou art good or bad ; "

And from the Hipponos of Sophocles : —

" Besides, conceal thou nought ; since Time,
That sees all, hears all, all things will unfold."

But let US similarly run over the following ; for
Eumelus having composed the line,

" Of Memory and Olympian Zeus the daughters nine,"

Solon thus begins the elegy : —

" Of Memory and Olympian Zeus the children bright."

6 Iliad^ xxiv. 44, 45. Clement's quoution diAen somewhat from
the passage as it stands in Homer.

' The text has 6041}, which Stobseus has changed into <* Xv^. »
above. Stobacus gives this quotation as follows: —

*' The bastard has equal strength with the le^iioiate;
£lach good thing has its nature legitimaie.'
■ As no play bearing this name is mentioned by any one else,
various conjectures have oeen made as to the true reading: anoa^
which arc Clymene Temenos or Temenides.

Chap. II.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

483

Again, Euripides, paraphrasing the Homeric
line : —

** What, whence art thou ? Thy citv and thy parents,
where ? " '

employs the following iambics in /Egeus : —

" What country shall we say that thou hast left
To roam in exile, what thy land — the bound
Of thine own native soil ? Who thee begat ?
And of what father dost thou call thyself the son ? "

And what? Theognis ' having said : —

** Wine largely drunk is bad ; but if one use
It with discretion, 'tis not bad, but good," —

does not Panyasis write ?

" Above the gods' best gift to men ranks wine,
In measure drunk ; but in excess the worst."

Hesiod, too, saying : —

" But for the fire to thee I'll give a plague,'
For all men to delight themselves withal," ^

Euripides writes : —

" And for the fire
Another fire greater and unconquerable,
Sprung up m the shape of women." *

And in addition, Homer, saying : —

" There is no satiating the greedy paunch.
Baneful, which many plagues has caused to men." '

Euripides says : —

Dire need and baneful paunch me overcome ;
From which all evils come."

Besides, Callias the comic poet having written : —

" With madmen, all men must be mad, they say," —

Menander, in the Poloumenoi^ expresses himself
similarly, saying : —

" The presence of wisdom is not always suitable :
One sometimes must with others play* the fool."

And Antimachus of Teos having said : —

" From gifts, to mortals many ills arise," —
Augias composed the line : —

" For gifts men's mind and acts deceive."
And Hesiod having said : —

Than a good wife, no man a better thing
Ere gained ; than a bad wife, a worse," —

Simonides said :

* Odyss.^ xiv. 187.

2 [See, supray book ii. cap. ii p. 243.] In Theognis the quota-
tion stands thus: —

Oti^ov TOi iriVciy irovAb*' iceucov, nv hi Ttf avrbf
HiV]) «irt<rra/ui<Vb>«, ov kcucjk aAA ayatfof.

" To drink much wine is bad; but if one drink
It with discretion, 'tis not bad, but good."

3 From Jupiter's address (referring to Pandora) to Prometheus,
after stealing nre from heaven. The passage in Hesiod runs thus : —

" You rejoice at stealing fire and outwitting my mind;
But I will give you, and to future men, a great plague.
And for the fire will give to them a bane in which
All will delight their heart, embracing their own bane.'

4 Translated as arranged by Grotius.
s ^t/yxj., xvii. 286.

6 avinLayj^vm. is doubtless here the true reading, for which the
text has 9V\k^yivoA.

" A better prize than a good wife no man
Ere gained, than a bad one nought worse."

Again, Epicharmas having said : —

" As destined long to live, and yet not long.
Think of thyself' —

Euripides writes ; —

" Why } seeing the wealth we have uncertain is,
Why don't we live as free from care, as pleasant
As we may ? "

Similarly also, the comic poet Diphilus having
said : —

The life of men is prone to change," —

Posidippus says : —

*' No man of mortal mould his life has passed
From suffering free. Nor to the end again
Has continued prosperous."

Similarly ^ speaks to thee Plato, writing of man
as a creature subject to change.
Again, Euripides having said : —

*' Oh life to mortal men of trouble full,
How slippery in everjrthing art thou 1
Now crow'st thou, and thou now decay'st away.
And there is set no limit, no, not one.
For mortals of their course to make an end,
Except when Death's remorseless final end
Comes, sent from Zeus," —

Diphilus writes : —

" There is no life which has not its own ills.
Pains, cares, thefts, and anxieties, disease ;
And Death, as a physician, coming, gives
Rest to their victims in his quiet sleep." ■

Furthermore, Euripides having said : —

'* Many are fortune's shapes.
And many things contrary to expectation the gods
perform," —

The tragic poet Theodectes similarly writes : —

" The instability of mortals' fates."

And Bacchylides having said : —

" To few 9 alone of mortals is it given
To reach hoary aee, being prosperous all the while,
And not meet with calamities," —

Moschion, the comic poet, writes : —

'* But he of all men is most blest,
Who leads throughout an equal life."

And you will find that, Theognis having said : —

" For no advantage to a man grown old
A young wife is, who will not, as a ship
The helm, obey," —

Aristophanes, the comic poet, writes : —

** An old man to a young wife suits but ill."

For Anacreon, having written : —

7 The text has Kar* aAAa. And although Sylburjgius very properly
remarks, that ihe conjecture itaTa\A7)Aa instead is uncertain, it is
so suitable to the sense here, that we have no hesitation in adopt>
ing it.

* IIr above is translated as amended by Grotius.

9 iravpoKTi, " few^" instead of irap'ot<ri, and irpaa-<roi'T«f instead
of irpaaiTorra, and duaif , " calamities," instead of 2i/<^, are adopted
from Lyric Fragmtnti.

484

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

" Luxurious love I sing.
With flowery garlands graced,
He is of gods the king,
He mortal men subdues," —

Euripides writes : —

" For love not only men attacks,
And women ; but disturbs
The souls of gods above, and to the sea
Descends."

But not to protract the discourse further, in
our anxiety to show the propensity of the Greeks
to plagiarism in expressions and dogmas, allow
, us to adduce the express testimony of Hippias,
the sophist of Elea, who discourses on the point
in hand, and speaks thus : " Of these things some
perchance are said by Orpheus, some briefly by
Musaeus; some in one place, others in other
places ; some by Hesiod, some by Homer, some
by the rest of the poets; and some in prose
compositions, some by Greeks, some by Barba-
rians And I from all these, placing together
the things of most importance and of kindred
character, will make the present discourse new
and varied."

And in order that we may see that philosophy
and history, and even rhetoric, are not free of a
like reproach, it is right to adduce a few instances
.from tfiem. For Alcmaeon of Crotona having
said, *' It is easier to guard against a man who
is an enemy than a friend," Sophocles wrote in
the Antigone : —

" For what sore more grievous than a bad friend ? "

And Xenophon said : " No man can injure ene-
mies in any way other than by appearing to be
a friend."

And Euripides having said in Tdephus: —

"Shall we Greeks be slaves to Barbarians?" —

Thrasymachus, in the oration for the Larissae-
ans, says : " Shall we be slaves to Archelaus —
Greeks to a Barbarian?"

And Orpheus having said : —

" Water is the change for soul, and death for water ;
From water is earth, and what comes from earth is

again water,
And from that, soul, which changes the whole
ether ; "

and Heraclitus, putting together the expressions
from these lines, writes thus : —

• " It is death for souls to become water, and death for
water to become earth ; and from earth comes water,
and from water soul."

And Athamas the Pythagorean having said,
" Thus was produced the beginning of the uni-
verse ; and there are four roots — fire, water, air,
earth : for from these is the origination of what
is produced," — Empedocles of Agrigentum
wrote : —

** The four roots of all things first do thou hear —
Fire, water, earth, and ether's boundless height :
For of these all that was, is, shall be, comes."

And Plato having said, '* Wherefore also the
gods, knowing men, release sooner from life
those they value most," Menander wrote : —

" Whom the gods love, dies young."

And Euripides having written in the CEno-
maus : —

" We judge of things obscure from what we see ; "

and in the Phosnix : —

" By signs the obscure is fairly grasped," —

Hyperides says, "But we must investigate
things unseen by learning from signs and proba-
bilities." And Isocrates having said, " We must
conjecture the future by the past," Andocides
does not shrink from saying, "For we must
make use of what has happened previously as
signs in reference to what is to be." Besides,
Theognis having said : —

" The evil of counterfeit silver and gold is not intoler-
able,
O Cyrnus, and to a wise man is not difficult of detec-
tion ;
But if the mind of a friend is hidden in his breast.
If he is false,' and has a treacherous heart within.
This is the basest thing for mortals, caused by God»
And of all things the hardest to detect," —

Euripides writes : — .

" Oh Zeus, why hast thou given to men clear tests
Of spurious gold, while on the body grows
No mark sumcing to discover clear
The wicked man ? "

Hyperides himself also says, " There is no fea-
ture of the mind impressed on the countenance
of men."

Again, Stasinus having composed the line : —

" Fool, who, having slain the father, leaves the chil-
dren,"—

Xenophon ' says, " For I seem to myself to have
acted in like manner, as if one who killed the
father should spare his children." And Sopho-
cles having written in the Antigone: —

" Mother and father being in Hades now,
No brother ever can to me spring forth," —

Herodotus says, "Mother and father being no
more, I shall not have another brother." In
addition to these, Theopompus having writ-
ten : —

" Twice children are old men in very truth ;

And before him Sophocles in Peleus: —

** Peleus, the son of ^acus, I, sole housekeeper.
Guide, old as he is now, and train again,
For the aged man is once again a child," —

Antipho the orator says, "For the nursing of
the old is like the nursing of children." Also the

' ^vhvo^ — ^vdpof — whidi, however, occurs nowhere but here —
is adopted as preferable to ^tlvo^ f bald) , which yields no sense, or
i^vxp<K. Sylbttivius ms. Paris; Ruhnk reads '^vb^.

2 A mistake (or Herodotus.

Chap. II.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

485

philosopher Plato says, " The old man then, as
seems, will be twice a child." Further, Thucydi-
des having said, " We alone bore the brunt at
Marathon,"* — Demosthenes said, "By those'
who bore the bmnt at Marathon." Nor will 1 1
omit the following. Cratinus having said in the :
Pytine .* * —

" The preparation perchcince you know,"

Andocides the orator says, "The preparation,
gentlemen of the jury, and the eagerness of our
enemies, almost all of you know." Similarly also
Nicias, in the speech on the deposit, against Ly-
sias, says, " The preparation and the eagerness of
the adversaries, ye see, O gentlemen of the jury."
After him i^schines says, " You see the prepara-
tion, O men of Athens, and the line of battle."
Again, Demosthenes having said, " What zeal and
what canvassing, O men of Athens, have been
employed in this contest, I think almost all of
you are aware ; " and Philinus similarly, " What
zeal, what forming of the line of batde, gentle-
men of the jury, have taken place in this contest,
I think not one of you is ignorant." Isocrates,
again, having said, "As if she were related to
his wealth, not him," Lysias says in the Orphics,
'* And he was plainly related not to the persons,
but to the money." Since Homer also having
written : —

" O friend, if in this war, by taking flight,
We should from age and death exemption win,
I would not fight among the first myseH,
Nor would I send thee to the glorious fray ;
But now — for myriad fates of death attend
In any case, which man may not escape
Or shun — come on. To some one we shall bring
Renown, or some one shall to us," ' —

■

Theopompus writes, " For if, by avoiding the
present danger, we were to pass the rest of our
time in security, to show love of life would not
be wonderful. But now, so many fatalities are
incident to life, that death in battle seems pref-
erable." And what? Chilo the sophist having
uttered the apophthegm, " Become surety, and
mischief is at hand," did not Epicharmus utter
the same sentiment in other terms, when he said,
" Suretyship is the daughter of mischief, and loss
that of suretyship ? " * Further, Hippocrates the
physician having written, " You must look to
time, and locality, and age, and disease," Eurip-
ides says in Hexameters .-5 —

** Those who the healing art would practise well,

Must study people's modes of life, and note
. The soil, and the diseases so consider."

^ Instead of Mapa^wvirai, as in the text, we read from Thucyd-
ides yiapaBoivi Tf.

2 Hvrivji (not, as in the text, IloinVn), a flask covered with
plaited osiers. The name of a comedy by Cratinus (Liddell and
Scott's Lexicon). [Elucidation I. ]

3 liiadf xii. 32a. Sarpedon to Cilaucus.

* Grotius's correction has been adopted, iyyva^ 6« t^a/uiia, instead
of tyyva ik ^a/Aia$.

Sin the text before In Hexameters we have TTjp»j<rei. which has
occasioned much trouble to the critics. Although not entirely satis-
factory, yet the mosr probable is the correcticn BtKovoi as above.

Homer again, having written : —

" I say no mortal man can doom escape," —

Archinus says, " All men are bound to die either
sooner or later ; " and Demosthenes, " To all
men death is the end of life, though one should
keep himself shut up in a coop,"

And Herodotus, again, having said, in his
discourse about Glaucus the Spartan, that the
Pythian said, " In the case of the Deity, to say
and to do are equivalent," Aristophanes said : —

" For to think and to do are equivalent."

And before him, Parmenides of Elea said : —

" For thinking and being are the same."

And Plato having said, " And we shall show, not
absurdly perhaps, that the beginning of love is
sight ; and hope diminishes the passion, memory
nourishes it, and intercourse preserves it ; "
does not Philemon the comic poet write : —

" First all see, then admire;
Then gaze, then come to hope ;
And thus arises love ? "

Further, Demosthenes having said, " For to all
of us death is a debt," and so forth, Phanocles
writes in Loves ^ or Tlie Beautiful: —

" But from the Fates' unbroken thread escape
Is none for those that feed on earth."

You will also find that Plato having said, " For
the first sprout of each plant, having got a fair
start, according to the virtue of its own nature,
is most powerful in inducing the appropriate
end ; " the historian writes, " Further, it is not
natural for one of the wild plants to become cul-
tivated, after they have passed the eariier period
of growth ; " and the following of Empedo-
cles : —

** For I already have been boy and girl,
And bush, and bird, and mute fish in the sea," —

Euripides transcribes in Chrysippus : —

" But nothing dies
Of things that are ; but being dissolved.
One from the other.
Shows another form."

And Plato having said, in the Republic^ that
women were common, Euripides writes in the
Protesilaus : —

" For common, then, is woman's bed."

Further, Euripides having written : —

" For to the temperate enough sufficient is," —

Epicurus expressly says, " Sufficiency is the great-
est riches of all."

Again, Aristophanes having written : —

" Life thou securely shalt enjoy, being just
And free from turmoil, ana from fear live well," —

Epicurus says, ** The greatest fruit of righteous-
ness is tranquillity."

486

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VT.

Let these species, then, of Greek plagiarism
of sentiments, being such, stand as sufficient for a
clear specimen to him who is capable of per-
ceiving.

And not only have they been detected pirat-
ing and paraphrasing thoughts and expressions,
as will be shown ; but they will also be convicted
of the possession of what is entirely stolen. For
stealing entirely what is the production of others,
they have published it as their own ; as Eugamon
of Cyrene did the entire book on the Thespro-
tians from Musaeus, and Pisander of Camirus the
Heraclea of Pisinus of Lindus, and Panyasis of
Halicarnassus, the capture of CEchalia from Cle-
ophilus of Samos.

You will also find that Homer, the great poet,
took from Orpheus, from the Disappearance of
Dionysus, those words and what follows verba-
tim : —

" As a man trains a luxuriant shoot of olive." '

And in the T}ieogony\ it is said by Orpheus of
Kronos : —

" He lay, his thick neck bent aside ; and him
All-conquering Sleep had seized."

These Homer transferrred to the Cyclops.' And
Hesiod writes of Melampous : —

" Gladly to hear, what the immortals have assigned
To men, the brave from cowards clearly marks ; **

and so forth, taking it word for word from the
poet Musaeus.

And Aristophanes the comic poet has, in the
first of the Thesmophoriazusce, transferred the
words from the Etupiprameni of Cratinus. And
Plato the comic poet, and Aristophanes in Dceda-
iuSj steal from one another. Cocalus^ composed
by Araros,^ the son of Aristophanes, was by the
comic poet Philemon altered, and made into the
comedy called Hypobolimvens.

Eumelus and Acusilaus the historiographers
changed the contents of Hesiod into prose, and
published them as their own. Gorgias of Leon-
tium and Eudemus of Naxus, the historians,
stole from Melesagoras. And, besides, there is
Bion of Proconnesus, who epitomized and tran-
scribed the writings of the ancient Cadmus,
and Archilochus, and Aristotle, and Leandrus, and
Hellanicus, and Hecataeus, and Androtion, and
Philochorus. Dieuchidas of Megara transferred
the beginning of his treatise from the Deucalion
of Hellanicus. I pass over in silence HeracHtus
of Ephesus, who took a very great deal from
Orpheus.

From Pythagoras Plato derived the immor-
tality of the soul ; and he from the Egyptians.
And many of the Platonists composed lx>oks, in

which they show that the Stoics, as we said
in the beginning, and Aristotle, took the most
and principal of their dogmas from Plato. Epi-
curus also pilfered his leading dogmas from I>e-
mocritus. Let these things then be so. For
life would fail me, were I to undertake to go
over the subject in detail, to expose the selfish
plagiarism of the Greeks, and how they claim
the discovery of the best of their doctrines, which
they have received from us.

CHAP. III. — PLAGURISM BY THE GREEKS OF THE
MIRACLES RELATED IN THE SACRED BOOKS OF
THE HEBREWS.

And now they are convicted not only of bor-
rowing doctrines from the Barbarians, but also
of relating as prodigies of Hellenic mythology
the marvels found in our records, wrought
through divine power fix)ra above, by those
who led holy lives, while devoting attention to
us. And we shall ask at them whether those
things which they relate are true or false. But
they will not say that they are false; for they
will not with their will condemn themselves of
the very great silliness of composing falsehoods,
but of necessity admit them to be tnie. And
how will the prodigies enacted by Moses and
the other prophets any longer appear to them
incredible ? For the Almighty God, in His care
for all men, turns some to salvation by com-
mands, some by threats, some by miraculous
signs, some by gentle promises.

Well, the Greeks, when once a drought had
wasted Greece for a protracted period, and a
dearth of the fruits of the earth ensued, it is
said, those that survived of them, having, be-
cause of the famine, come as suppliants to Del-
phi, asked the Pythian priestess how they should
be released from the calamity. She announceii
that the only help in their distress was, that they
should avail themselves of the prayers of ^Eacua.
Prevailed on by them, ifi^cus, ascending the
Hellenic hill, and stretching out pure *♦ hands to
heaven, and invoking the common ^ God, be-
sought him to pity wasted Greece. And as he
prayed, thunder sounded, out of the usual course
of things, and the whole surrounding atmosphere
was covered with clouds. And impetuous and
continued rains, bursting down, filled the whole
region. The result was a copious and rich fer-
tility wrought by the husbandry of the prayers
of .^fiacus.

" And Samuel called on the Lord," it is said,
" and the Lord gave forth His voice, and rain
in the day of harvest."^ Do you see that " He
who sendeth His rain on the just and on the

* fiiad, xvii 5^.

^ I.e., Polyphemus, Ot/yss., ix. 372.

^ According to the correction of Casaubon, who, instead of apa-
p^TMc of the text, rcad& 'ApofMac. Others ascribed the comedy to
Aristophanes himself.

* i.e., washed.

5 Eusebius reads, ** invokinj; the common Father, Godi" viz ,
llavtX\r}vio^ Z€V9. as Paiisanias relates.

6 I Sam. xi. 18.

Chap. III.j

THE STROM AT A, OR MISCELLANIES.

487

unjust " ' by the subject powers is the one God ?
And the whole of our Scripture is full of instances
of God, in reference to the prayers of the just,
hearing and performing each one of their peti-
tions.

Again, the Greeks relate, that in the case of a
failure once of the Etesian winds, Aristaeus once
sacrificed in Ceus to Isthmian 2^us. For there
was great devastation, everything being burnt
up with the heat in consequence of the winds,
which had been wont to refresh the productions
of the earth, not blowing, and he easily called
them back.

And at Delphi, on the expedition of Xerxes
against Greece, the Pythian priestess having
made answer : —

" O Delphians, pray the winds, and it will be better," —

they having erected an altar and performed sacri-
fice to the winds, had them as their helpers.
For, blowing violently around Cape Sepias, they
shivered the whole preparations of the Persian
expedition. Empedocles of Agrigentum was
called " Checker of Winds." Accordingly it is
said, that when, on a time, a wind blew from
the mountain of Agrigentum, heavy and pes-
tiferous for the inhabitants, and the cause also
of barrenness to their wives, he made the wind
to cease. Wherefore he himself writes in the
lines : —

" Thou shalt the might of the unwearied winds make
still.
Which rushing to the earth spoil mortals' crops,
And at thy will bring back the avenging blasts."

And they say that he was followed by some that
used divinations, and some that had been long
vexed by sore diseases.* They plainly, then,
believed in the performance of cures, and signs
and wonders, from our Scriptures. For if certain
powers move the winds and dispense showers,
let them hear the psalmist : " How amiable are
thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! " ^ This is
the Lord of powers, and principalities, and
authorities, of whom Moses speaks ; so that we
may be with Him. "And ye shall circumcise
your hard heart, and shall not harden your neck
any more. For He is lx)rd of lords and God
of- gods, the great God and strong," * and so
forth. And Isaiah says, " Lift your eyes to the
height, and see who hath produced all these
things." 5

And some say that plagues, and hail-storms,
and tempests, and the like, are wont to take
place, not alone in consequence of material dis-
turbance, but also through anger of demons and
bad angels. For instance, they say that the

* Matt. V. 45.

' Instead otvovirov irtiripov, the sense requires that we should,
with Sylburgius, read i^ovaoio'i Sripov.
^ r%. Ixxxiv. z.

* Deut. X. 16, 17.
S Isa. xl. a6.

Magi at Cleone, watching the phenomena of the
skies, when the clouds are about to discharge
hail, avert the threatening of wrath by incanta-
tions and sacrifices. And if at any time there is
the want of an animal, they are satisfied with
bleeding their own finger for a sacrifice. The
prophetess Diotima, by the Athenians offering
sacrifice previous to the pestilence, effected a
delay of the plague for ten years. The sacrifices,
too,vOf Epimenides of Crete, put off the Persian
war for an equal period. And it is considered
to be all the same whether we call these spirits
gods or angels. And those skilled in the matter
of consecrating statues, in many of the temples
have erected tombs of the dead, calling the souls
of these Daemons, and teaching them to be wor-
shipped by men ; as having, in consequence of
the purity of their life, by the divine foreknowl-
edge, received the power of wandering about the
space around the earth in order to minister to
men. For they knew that some souls were by
nature kept in the body. But of these, as the
work proceeds, in the treatise on the angels, we
shall discourse.

Democritus, who predicted many things from
observation of celestial phenomena, was called
"Wisdom " (^o^ui). On his meeting a cordial
reception from his brother Damasus, he pre-
dicted that there would be much rain, judging
from certain stars. Some, accordingly, convinced
by him, gathered their crops ; for being in sum-
mer-time, they were still on the threshing-floor.
But others lost all, unexpected and heavy show-
ers having burst down.

How then shall the Greeks any longer disbe-
lieve the divine appearance on Mount Sinai, when
the fire burned, consuming none of the things
that grew on the mount ; and the sound of trum-
pets issued forth, breathed without instruments?
For that which is called the descent on the
mount of God is the advent of divine power,
pervading the whole world, and proclaiming
" the light that is inaccessible." ^

For such is the allegory, according to the
Scripture. But the fire was seen, as Aristobulus '
says, while the whole multitude, amounting to
not less than a million, besides those under age,
were congregated around the mountain, the cir-
cuit of the mount not being less than five days'
journey. Over the whole place of the vision the
burning fire was seen by them all encamped as it
were around ; so that the descent was not local.
For God is everywhere.

Now the compilers of narratives say that in
the island of Britain'* there is a cave situated
under a mountain, and a chasm on its summit ;

6 I Tim, vi. 16.

7 [Of this Aristobulus, sec 3 Maccab. i. 10, and Euseb., Hist.^
book vii. cap. 32. Elucidation II.]

' [Sec tnc unsatisfactory note in ed. Nf igne, ad locum. \

488

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

and that, accordingly, when the wind falls into
the cave, and rushes into the bosom of the cleft, a
sound, is heard like cymbals clashing musically.
And often in the woods, when the leaves are
moved by a sudden gust of wind, a sound is
emitted like the song of birds.

Those also who composed the Persies relate
that in the uplands, in the country of the Magi,
three mountains are situated on an extended
plain, and that those who travel through the
locality, on coming to the first mountain, hear a
confused sound as of several myriads shouting,
as if in battle array ; and on reaching the middle
one, they hear a clamour louder and more dis-
tinct ; and at the end hear people singing a
paean, as if victorious. And the cause, in my
opinion, of the whole sound, is the smoothness
and cavernous character of the localities ; and
the air, entering in, being sent back and going to
the same point, sounds with considerable force.
Let these things be so. But it is possible for God
Almighty,* even without a medium, to produce
a voice and vision through the ear, showing that !
His greatness has a natural order beyond what
is customary, in order to the conversion of the
hitherto unbelieving soul, and the reception of
the commandment given. But there being a
cloud and a lofty mountain, how is it not possi-
ble to hear a different sound, the wind moving
by the active cause? Wherefore also the
prophet says, " Ye heard the voice of words, and
saw no similitude.*'* You see how the Lord's
voice, the Word, without shape, the power of the
Word, the luminous word of the Lord, the truth
from heaven, from above, coming to the assem-
bly of the Church, wrought by the luminous
immediate ministry.

CHAP. rv. — THE GREEKS DREW MANY OF THEIR
PHILOSOPHICAL TENE-re FROM THE EGVPTLIN
AND INDIAN GYMNOSOPHlS-l-S.

We shall find another testimony in confirma-
tion, in the fact that the best of the philoso-
phers, having appropriated their most excellent
dogmas from us, boast, as it were, of certain of
the tenets which pertain to each sect being culled
from other Barbarians, chiefly from the Egyptians
— both other tenets, and that especially of the
transmigration of the soul. For the Egyptians
pursue a philosophy of their own. This is prin-
cipally shown by their sacred ceremonial. For
first advances the Singer, bearing some one of
the symbols of music. For they say that he
must learn two of the books of Hermes, the one
of which contains the hymns of the gods, the
second the regulations for the king's life. And

* [Sec imcresiing remarks of Professor Cook, ReligioH and Chent
istry ( firsi ciiition), p. 44. This whole passa>:c of our author, on the
sounds of Sinui an(i the anii^elic trumpets, touches a curious matter,
which must be referred, as here, to the unlimited power of God.]

2 Dcut. iv. 12.

after the Singer advances the Astrologer,^ with a
horologe in his hand, and a palm, the symbols
of astrology. He must have the astrological
books of Hermes, which are four in number,
always in his mouth. Of these, one is about
the order of the fixed stars that are visible, and
another about the conjunctions and luminous
appearances of the sun and moon ; and the rest
respecting their risings. Next in order advances
the sacred Scribe, with wings on his head, and
in his hand a book and rule, in which were writ-
ing ink and the reed, with * which they write.
And he must be acquainted with what are called
hieroglyphics, and know about cosmography and
geography, the position of the sun and moon,
and about the fiw^ planets ; also the description
of Egypt, and the chart of the Nile ; and the
description of the equipment of the priests ami
of the places consecrated to them, and about
the measures and the things in use in the sacred
rites. Then the Stole-keeper follows those pre-
viously mentioned, with the cubit of justice and
the cup for libations. He is acquainted with all
points called Paedeutic (relating to training) and
Moschophatic (sacrificial). There are also ten
books which relate to the honour paid by them
to their gods, and containing the Egyptian wor-
ship ; as that relating to sacrifices, first-fruits,
hymns, prayers, processions, festivals, and the
like. And behind all walks the Prophet, with
the water- vase carried openly in his arms : who
is followed by those who carry the issue of
loaves. He, as being the governor of the temple,
learns the ten books called " Hieratic ; " and
they contain all about the laws, and the gods,
and the whole of the training of the priests.
For the Prophet is, among the Egyptians, also
over the distribution of the revenues. There are
then forty-two books of Hermes indispensably
necessary ; of which the six- and -thirty contain-
ing the whole philosophy of the Egyj^tians are
learned by the forementioned personages ; and
the other six, which are medical, by the Pasto-
phoroi (image-bearers), — treating of the stmt -
ture of the body, and of diseases, and instmments.
and medicines, and about the eyes, and the la>t
about women.'* Such are the customs of the
Egyptians, to speak briefly.

The philosophy of the Indians, too, has been
celebrated. Alexander of Macedon, having
taken ten of the Indian Gymnosophists, that
seemed the best and most sententious, proposed
to them problems, threatening to put to death
him that did not answer to the purpose ; order-
ing one, who was the eldest of them, to decide.

The first, then, being asked whether he
thought that the living were more in number
than the dead, said. The living; for that the

■} 'n<}o<rKoiro«. [Elucidation HI.]
< [Elucidation iV.]

Chap. V.]

THE STROM ATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

;

489

dead were not. The second, on being asked
whether the sea or the land maintained larger
beasts, said. The land ; for the sea was part of
it. And the third being asked which was the
most cunning of animals ? The one, which has
not hitherto been known, man. And the fourth
being interrogated, For what reason they had
made Sabba, who was their prince, revolt, an-
swered, Because they wished him to live well
rather than die ill. And the fifth being asked.
Whether he thought that day or night was first,
said, One day. For puzzling questions must
have puzzling answers. And the sixth being
posed with the query, How shall one be loved
most? By bemg most powerful; in order that
he may not be timid. And the seventh being
asked. How any one of men could become God ?
said. If he do what it is impossible for man to
do. And the eighth being asked, Which is the
stronger, life or death ? said. Life, which bears
such ills. And the ninth being interrogated. Up
to what point it is good for a man to live ? said,
Till he does not think that to die is better than
to live. And on Alexander ordering the tenth
to say something, for he was judge, he said,
" One spake worse than another." And on
Alexander saying, Shall you not, then, die first,
having given such a judgment? he said, And
how, O king, wilt thou prove true, after saying
that thou wouldest kill first the first man that
answered very badly?

And that the Greeks are called pilferers of all
manner of writing, is, as I think, sufficiently de-
monstrated by abundant proofs.*

CHAP. v. — THE GREEKS HAD SOME KNOWLEDGE OF

THE TRUE GOD.

And that the men of highest repute among
the Greeks knew God, not by positive knowl-
edge, but by indirect expression,* Peter says in
the Preaching: "Know then that there is one
God, who made the beginning of all things, and
holds the power of the end ; and is the Invisi-
ble, who sees all things; incapable of being
contained, who contains all things; needing
nothing, whom all things need, and by whom
they are ; incomprehensible, everlasting, unmade,
who made all things by the * Word of His power,'
that is, according to the gnostic scripture. His
Son." 3

Then he adds : " Worship this God not as the
Greeks," — signifying plainly, that the excellent

' [Instructive remarks on the confusions, etc., in Greek authors,
may &e seen in Schliemann, MycencB^ p, 36, cd. New York, 1878.]

^ We have the same statement made, Stromata, i. i^, p. -^ri^yanif.
Potter p. 372; also v. 14, p. 46s, anttt Potter p. 730, — in all of which
Lowth adopts ircpn^paatf as the true reading, instead of irepicfraaii'.
In the first of these passages, Clement instances as one of the cir-
cumlocutions or roundubout expressions by which God w^s known to
the (Jreek poets and philosophers, " The L/nkn<Kvn God." Joannes
Clericus proposes to read irapa^aoiv {paipitatio) , touching, feeling
after, [Sec Strom. ^ p. 321, and p. 464, note r.]

^ i.e., ** The Word of God's power is His Son."

among the Greeks worshipped the same God as
we, but that they had not learned by perfect
knowledge that which was delivered by the Son.
" Do not then worship," he did not say, the
God whom the Greeks worship, but "as the
Greeks," — changing the manner of the worship
of God, not announcing another God. W'hat,
then, the expression "not as the Greeks " means,
Peter himself shall explain, as he adds : " Since
they are carried away by ignorance, and know
not God " (as we do, according to the perfect
knowledge) ; "but giving shape to the things*
of which He gave them the power for use —
stocks and stones, brass and iron, gold and silver
— matter; — and setting up the things which
are slaves for use and possession, worship them.s
And what God hath given to them for food —
the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea, and
the creeping things of the earth, and the wild
beasts with the four-footed cattle of the field,
weasels and mice, cats and dogs and apes, and
their own propter food — they sacrifice as sacri-
fices to mortals ; and offering dead things to the
dead, as to gods, are unthankful to God, deny-
ing His existence by these things." And that it
is said, that we and -the Greeks know the same
God, though not in the same way, he will infer
thus : " Neither worship as the Jews ; for they,
thinking that they only know God, do not know
Him, adoring as they do angels and archangels,
the month and the moon. And if the moon be
not visible, they do not hold the Sabbath, which
is called the first ; ^ nor do they hold the new
moon, nor the feast of unleavened bread, nor
the feast, nor the great day." ^ Then he gives
the finishing stroke to the question : " So that
do ye also, learning holily and righteously what
we deliver to you ; keep them, worshipping God
in a new way, by Christ." For we find in the
Scriptures, as the Lord says : " Behold, I make
with you a new covenant, not as I made with
your fathers in Mount Horeb."^ He made a
new covenant with us ; for what belonged to the
Greeks and Jews is old. But we, who worship
Him in a new way, in the third fomi, are Chris-
tians. For clearly, as I think, he showed that
the one and only God was known by the Greeks
in a Gentile way, by the Jews Judaically, and in
a new and spiritual way by us.

And further, that the same God that furnished
both the Covenants was the giver of Greek phi-
losophy to the Greeks, by which the Almighty is
glorified among the Greeks, he shows. And it
is clear from this. Accordingly, then, from the

< Instead of 17 1' . . . efown**?, as in the text, we n^d wi' €fov<riai'.

5 None of the attempts to amend this passage are entirely suc-
cessful. 1'^ translation adopts the best suggestions made.

6 [A strange passage; but its "darkness visible " seems to lend
some nclp to the understanding of the puzzle about the second-first
Sabbath of Luke vi. i.J

7 i.e., of atonement.

8 Jer. xxxi. 31, 3^; Hcb. viii. 8-xo.

490

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VL

Hellenic tiaining, and also from that of the law,
are gathered into the one race of the saved peo-
ple those who accept faith : not that the three
peoples are separated by time, so that one might
suppose three natures, but trained in different
Covenants of the one Lord, by the word of the
one Lord. For that, as God wished to save the
Jews by giving to them prophets, so also by rais-
ing up prophets of their own in their own tongue,
as they were able to receive God's beneficence,
He distinguished the most excellent of the
Greeks from the common herd, in addition to
" Peter's Preaching,'' the Aposde Paul will show,
saying : " Take also the Hellenic books, read the
Sibyl, how it is shown that God is one, and how
the future is indicated. And taking Hystaspes,
read, and you will find much more luminously
and distinctiy the Son of God described, and
how many kings shall draw up their forces against
Christ, hating Him and those that bear His name,
and His faithful ones, and His patience, and His
coming." Then in one word he asks us, " Whose
is the world, and all that is in the world ? Are
they not God's ? " ' Wherefore Peter says, that the
Lord said to the apostles : " If any one of Israel,
then, wishes to repent, and by my name to be-
lieve in God, his sins shall be forgiven him, after
twelve years. Go forth into the world, that no
one may say, We have not heard."

CHAP. VI.

-THK GOSPEL WAS PREACHED TO JEWS
AND GENTILES IN HADES.*

But as the proclamation [of the Gospel] has
come now at the fit time, so also at the fit time
were the Law and the Prophets given to the
Barbarians, and Philosophy to the Greeks, to fit
their ears for the Gospel. " Therefore," says the
Lord who delivered Israel, ** in an acceptable
time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation
have I helped thee. And I have given thee for a
Covenant to the nations ; that thou mightest in-
habit the earth, and receive the mheritance of
the wilderness ; saying to those that are in bonds,
Come forth ; and to those that are in darkness.
Show yourselves." For if the " prisoners " are
the Jews, of whom the Lord said, " Come forth,
ye that will, from your bonds," — meaning the
voluntary bound, and who have taken on them
" the burdens j^riex^ous to be borne " ^ by human
injunction — it is plain that " those in darkness"
are they who have the ruling faculty of the soul
buried in idolatry.

Vox to those who were righteous according to
the law, faith was wanting. Wherefore also the
Ix)rd, in healing them, said, "Thy faith hath

saved thee." * But to those that were righteous
according to philosophy, not only faith in the
Lord, but also the abandonment of idolatry,
were necessary. Straightway, on the revelation
of the truth, they also repented of their previou-*
conduct.

Wherefore the Lord preached the Gosp)el to
those in Hades. Accordingly the Scripture sa\*^,
" Hades says to Destruction, We have not seen
His form, but we have heard His voice." ^ It
is not plainly the place, which, the words above
say, heard the voice, but those who have been
put in Hades, and have abandoned themselves
to destruction, as persons who have thrown
themselves voluntarily from a ship into the sea.
They, then, are those that hear the divine i)ower
and voice. For who in his senses can suppose
the souls of the righteous and those of sinners
in the same condemnation, charging ProvideDce
with injustice?

But how ? Do not [the Scriptures] show that
the Lord preached* the Gospel to those that
perished in the flood, or rather had been chained,
and to those kept " in ward and guard " ? ^
And it has been shown also,® in the second book
of the Stromata^ that the aposdes, following the
Lord, preached the Gospel to those in Hades.
For it was requisite, in my opinion, that as here,
so also there, the best of the disciples should
be imitators of the Master ; so that He should
bring to repentance those belonging to the
Hebrews, and they the Gentiles ; that is, thtwe
who had lived in righteousness according to the
Law and Philosophy, who had ended life nut
perfectly, but sinfully. For it was suitable to the
divine administration, that those possessed of
greater worth in righteousness, and whose life
had been pre-eminent, on repenting of their
transgressions, though found in another place,
yet being confessedly of the number of the
people of God Almighty, should be saved, each
one according to his individual knowledge.

And, as I think, the Saviour also exerts liis
might because it is His work to save ; which
accordmgly He also did by drawing to salvation
those who became willing, by the preaching [of
the Gospel], to believe on Him, wherever they
were. If, then, the Lord descended to Hade^
for no other end but to preach the Gospel, as
He did descend ; it was either to preach the
Gospel to all or to the Hebrews only. If, ac-
cordingly, to all, then all who beheve shall l>e
saved, although they may be of the Gentiles, on
making their profession there ; since God's i)un-

* Most likely taken from some apocryphal book bearing the name
of Paul.

' [The ideas on which our author bases his views of Christ's
descent into the invisible world, are well expounded by Kaye, p. 189.]

^ Matt, xxiii. 4: Luke xi. 46

* MatL ix. 22, etc.

3 The passage which seems to be alluded to here is Job xxviiL y2.
" Destruction and Death say, We have heard the hxoK. thereof «i<^

our ears.

<> evi)-yry«Aia-9a( used actively for cvayycAiVai, as also immediatcy
I after fVTiyyfAtir^ci'Oi for cvaYY«At<rdM«*'0^>
I 7 I Pet. iii. 19, 20.
' ■ Potter, p. 452. [See ii. p 357, *«>rrt,]

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

491

ishments are saving and disciplinary, leading to
conversion, and choosing rather the repentance
than the death of a sinner ; ' and especially
since souls, although darkened by passions, when
released from their bodies, are able to perceive
more clearly, because of their being no longer
obstructed by the paltry flesh.

If, then. He preached only to the Jews, who
wanted the knowledge and faith of the Saviour,
it is plain that, since God is no respecter of
persons, the apostles also, as here," so there,
preached the Gospel to those of the heathen
who were ready for conversion. And it is well
said by the Shepherd, " They went down with
them therefore into the water, and again ascended.
But these descended alive, and again ascended
alive. But those who had fallen asleep, de-
scended dead, but ascended alive." ^ Further,
the Gospel ^ says, " that many bodies of those
that slept arose," — plainly as having been trans-
lated to a better state.* There took place, then,
a universal movement and translation through
the economy of the Saviour.s

One righteous man, then, differs not, as right-
eous, from another righteous man, whether he
be of the Law or a Greek. For (k)d is not only
Lord of the Jews, but of all men, and more
nearly the Father of those who know Him.
For if to live well and according to the law is to
live, also to live rationally according to the law
is to live ; and those who lived rightly before
the Law were classed under faith,^ and judged
to be righteous, — it is evident that those, too,
who were outside of the Law, having lived rightly,
in consequence of the peculiar nature of the
voice,7 though they are in Hades and in ward,**
on hearing the voice of the Lord, whether that
of His own person or that acting through His
apostles, with all speed turned and believed.
For we remember that the Lord is ** the power
of God," 9 and power can never be weak. .-^

So 1 think it is demonstrated that the God
being good, and the Lord powerful, they save
with a righteousness and equality which extend
to all that turn to Him, whether here or elsewhere.
For it is not here alone that the active power of
(iod is beforehand, but it is everywhere and is
always at work. Accordingly, in the Preaching
of Peter, the Lord says to the disciples after the
resurrection, " I have chosen you twelve disci-
ples, judging you worthy of me," whom the

> Ezek. xviii. 23, ^3, xxxiii. xx, etc.

^ HermaSf book iii. chap. xvi. p. 49. Quoted also in Stromata^
ii. p. 3S7, anieybom which the text here is corrected; Potter, 45a.
^ Matt, xxvii. 53.

^ Jin connection with John v. 25, we may suppose that the open-
ing of the graves, at the passion and resurrection, is an intimation of
some sublime myster/, perhaps such as here intimated.]

6 Rom. lii. 39t X. la, etc.

7 Apparently Cod's voice to them. Sylburgius proposes to read
^vcrecoc mstead of ^vr^ here.

* 1 Pet. iii. 19.
9 I Cor. i. 24.

Lord wished to be apostles, having judged them
faithful, sending them into the world to the men
on the earth, that they may know that there is
j one God, showing clearly what would take place
by the faith of Christ ; that they who heard and
believed should be saved ; and that those who
believed not, after having heard, should bear
witness, not having the excuse to allege. We
have not heard.

What then? Did not the same dispensation
obtain in Hades, so that even there, all the souls,
on hearing the proclamation, might either exhib-
it repentance, or confess that their punishment
was just, because they believed not? And it
were the exercise of no ordinary arbitrariness, for
those who had departed before the advent of the
Lord (not having the Gospel preached to them,
and having afforded no ground from themselves,
in consequence of believing or not) to obtain
either salvation or punishment. For it is not
right that these should be condemned without
trial, and that those alone who lived after the
, advent should have the advantage of the divine
'righteousness. But to all rational souls it was
•said from above, "Whatever one of you has
done in ignorance, without clearly knowing God,
if, on becoming conscious, he repent, all his
! sins will be forgiven him." '° " For, behold," it
, is said, " I have set before your face death and
life, that ye may choose life." " God says that
He set, not that He made both, in order to the
comparison of choice. And in another Scripture
He says, " If ye hear Me, and be willing, ye shall
eat the good of the land. But if ye hear Me
not, and are not willing, the sword shall devour
you : for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
these things." "

Again, David expressly (or rather the Lord in
the person of the saint, and the same from the
foundation of the world is each one who at dif-
ferent periods is saved, and shall be saved by
faith) says, " My heart was glad, and my tongue
rejoiced, and my flesh shall still rest in hope.
For Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, nor
wilt Thou give Thine holy one to see corruption.
Thou hast made known to me the paths of life.
Thou wilt make me full of joy in Thy presence." *'
As, then, the people was precious to the Lord,
so also is the entire holy people ; he also who is
converted from the Gentiles, who was prophe-
sied under the name of proselyte, along with the
Jew. For rightly the Scripture says, that " the
ox and the bear shall come together." *-♦ For the
Jew is designated by the ox, from the animal
under the yoke being reckoned clean, according

><> Alluding apparently to such passages as Acts iii. 17, 19, and
xvii. 30.

" Deut. XXX. 15, 19.

* ' Isa. i. 19, 30.

'3 P«t. xvi. 9-ix; Acts ii. 26-28.

'* Isa. xi. 7.

492

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[KooK VI.

to the law ; for the ox both parts the hoof and
chews the cud. And the Gentile is designated
by the bear, which is an unclean and wild beast.
And this animal brings forth a shapeless lump
of flesh, which it shapes into the likeness of a
beast solely by its tongue. For he who is con-
verted from among the Gentiles is formed from
a beastlike life to gentleness by the word ; and,
when once tamed, is made clean, just as the ox.
For example, the prophet says, " The sirens, and
the daughters of the sparrows, and all the beasts
of the field, shall bless me.'* ' Of the number
of unclean animals, the wild beasts of the field
are known to be, that is, of the world ; since
those who are wild in respect of faith, and pol-
luted in life, and not purified by the righteous-
ness which is according to the law, are called
wild beasts. But changed from wild beasts by
the faith of the Lord, they become men of God,
advancing from the wish to change to the fact.
For some the Lord exhorts, and to those who
have already made the attempt he stretches forth
His hand, and draws them up. " For the Lord
dreads not the face of any one, nor will He re-
gard greatness; for He hath made small and
great, and cares alike for all."' And David
says, " For the heathen are fixed in the destruc-
tion they have caused ; their foot is taken in the
snare which they hid." ^ " But the IjORD was a
refuge to the poor, a help in season also in
affliction." -♦ Those, then, that were in affliction
had the Gospel seasonably proclaimed. And
therefore it said, "Declare among the heathen
his pursuits," s that they may not be judged
unjustly.

If, then. He preached the Gospel to those in
the flesh that they might not be condemned un-
justly, how is it conceivable that He did not for
the same cause preach the Gospel to those who
had departed this life before His advent? " For
the righteous Lord loveth righteousness : His
countenance beholdeth uprightness."^ "But I
he that loveth wickedness hateth his own soul." ^

If, then, in the deluge all sinful flesh perished,
punishment having been inflicted on them for
correction, we must first believe that the will of
God, which is disciplinary and beneficent,^ saves
those who turn to Him. Then, too, the more
subtle substance, the soul, could never receive
any injury from the grosser element of water, its
subtle and simple nature rendering it impalpable,
called as it is incorporeal. But whatever is gross,
made so in consequence of sin, this is cast away

' Tsa. xHii. 20.

2 WijMi. vi. 7.

3 Ps. ix. 15.

* Ps. ix.9.

5 Ps. ix. II.

* Ps. xi. 7.

7 Ps. xi. 6, Scptuagint version.

* Sylbiirijiiis' conjcciure, eu«pY<Tucd»', seems greatly preferable to
the reading of the text, ivrpyviriKov.

along with the carnal spirit which lusts against
the soul.9

Now also Valentinus, the Coryphaeus of those
who herald community, in his book on 71^ In-
tercourse of Friends^ writes in these words
" Many of the things that are written, though in
common books, are found written in the church
of God, For those sayings which proceed from
the heart are vain. For the law written in the
heart is the People '° of the Beloved — loved and
loving Him." For whether it be the Jewsh'
writings or those of the philosophers that he calU
" the Common Books," he makes the truth com-
mon. And Isidore,'* at once son and disciple t<»
Basilides, in the first book of the Expositions of
the Prophet Parchor, writes also in these words :
"The Attics say that certain things were inti-
mated to Socrates, in consequence of a daemon
attending on him. And Aristotle says that all
men are provided with daemons, that attend on
them during the time they are in the body, —
having, taken this piece of prophetic instruction
and transferred it to his own books, without ac-
knowledging whence he had abstracted this state-
ment." And again, in the second book of his
work, he thus writes : " And let no one think
that what we say is peculiar to the elect, was said
before by any philosophers. For it is not a diN-
covery of theirs. For having appropriated it
from our prophets, they attributed it to him who
is wise according to them." Again, in the same :
" For to me it appears that those who profess to
philosophize, do so that they may learn what is
the winged oak," and the variegated robe on it,
all of which Pherecydes has employed as theo-
logical allegories, having taken them from the
prophecy of Cham."

CHAP. VII. — WHAT TRUE PHILOSOPHY IS, ANI>

WHENCE SO CALLED.

As we have long ago pointed out, what wc
propose as our subject is not the discipline
which obtains in each sect, but that which i^
really philosophy, strictly systematic Wisdom,
which furnishes acquaintance with the things
which pertain to life. And we define Wisdom
to be certain knowledge, being a sure and ir-
refragable apprehension of things divine and
human, comprehending the present, past, and
future, which the Ix)rd hath taught us, both by
His advent and by the prophets. And it is
irrefragable by reason, inasmuch as it has been
communicated. And so it is wholly true at-
cording to [God's] intention, as being kno^^n
through means of the Son. And in one aspect

9 [Kaye, p. 189.I

>o Orabc reads Aoyo? for Aao*. " Word of the Beloved," etc
" [See Epiphan, Op^.^ ii. ^i» ed. Oehler, Bertin, 1859: a!v>

Mosheim, P^rst Three Cfniurtes, vol. i. p. 434.]

*3 Grabe suggests, instead of 6pvc here, 6pvo^, a kind of wox-

pecker, mentioned by Aristophanes.

Chap. VII.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

493

it is eternal, and in another it becomes useful in
time. Partly it is one and the same, partly many
and indifferent — partly without any movement
of passion, partly with passionate desire — partly j
perfect, partly incomplete. |

This wisdom, then — rectitude of soul and
of reason, and purity of life — is the object of
the desire of philosophy, which is kindly and
lovingly disposed towards wisdom; and does
everjrthing to attain it.

Now those are called philosophers, among us,
who love Wisdom, the Creator and Teacher of
all things, that is, the knowledge of the Son of
God ; and among the Greeks, those who under-
take arguments on virtue. Philosophy, then,
consists of such dogmas found in each sect (I
mean those of philosophy) as cannot be im-
pugned, with a corresponding Hfe, collected into
one selection ; and these; stolen from the Barba-
rian God-given grace, have been adorned by
Greek speech. For some they have borrowed,
and others they have misunderstood. And in
the case of others, what they have spoken, in
consequence of being moved, they have not yet
perfecdy worked out; and others by human
conjecture and reasoning, in which also they
"stumble. And they think that they have hit the
truth perfectly ; but as we understand them, only
partially. They know, then, nothing more than
this world. And it is just like geometry, which
treats of measures and magnitudes and forms,
by delineation on plane-surfaces; and just as
painting appears to take in the whole field of
view in the scenes represented. But it gives a
false description of the view, according to the
rules of the art, employing the signs that result
from the incidents of the lines of vision. By this
means, the higher and lower points in the view,
and those between, are preserved; and some
objects seem to appear in the foreground, and
others in the background, and others to appear
in some other way, on the smooth and level
surface. So also the philosophers copy the
truth, after the manner of painting. And always
in the case of each one of them, their self-love
is the cause of all their mistakes. Wherefore
one ought not, in the desire for the glory that
terminates in men, to be animated by self-love ;
but loving God, to become really holy with wis-
dom. If, then, one treats what is particular as
universal, and regards that, which serves, as the
Lord, he misses the truth, not understanding
what was spoken by David by way of confes-
sion : " I have eaten earth [ashes] like bread." »
Now, self-love and self-conceit are, in his view,
earth and error. But if so, science and knowl-
edge are derived from instruction. And if there

' Ps. cii. p. The text reads, y^i' <riTo&6v. Clement seems to have
rcud in Ps. cii. 9, yr^v and arroiov. The readins of the Septtiagint may
have crept into the text from the margin. [Elucidation V.j

is instruction, you must seek for the master.
Clean thes claims Zeno, and Metrodorus Epi-
curus, and Theophrastus Aristotle, and Plato
Socrates. But if I come to Pythagoras, and
Pherecydes, and Thales, and the first wise men,
I come to a stand in my search for their teacher.
Should you say the Egyptians, the Indians, the
Babylonians, and the Magi themselves, I will
not stop from asking their teacher. And I lead
you up to the first generation of men ; and from
that point I begin to investigate Who is their
teacher. No one of men ; for they had not yet
learned. Nor yet any of the angels : for in the
way that angels, in virtue of being angels, speak,
men do not hear; nor, as we have ears, have
they a tongue to correspond ; nor would any
one attribute to the angels organs of speech, lips
I mean, and the parts contiguous, throat, and
windpipe, and chest, breath and air to vibrate.
And God is far from calling aloud in the un-
approachable sanctity, separated as He is from
even the archangels.

And we also have already heard that angels
learned the truth, and their rulers over them ; '
for they had a beginning. It remains, then, for
us, ascending to seek their teacher. And since
the unoriginated Being is one, the Omnipotent
God ; one, too, is the First-begotten, " by whom
all things were made, and without whom not
one thing ever was made." ^ " For one, in
truth, is God, who formed the beginning of all
things ; " pointing out " the first-begotten Son,"
Peter writes, accurately comprehending the
statement, " In the beginning God made the
heaven and the earth." *♦ And He is called
Wisdom by all the prophets. This is He who-
is the Teacher of all created beings, the Fel-
low-counsellor of God, who foreknew all things ;■
and He from above, fi-om the first foundation of
the world, " in many ways and many times," 5
trains and perfects ; whence it is rightly said,
" Call no man your teacher on earth." ^

You see whence the true philosophy has its
handles ; though the Law be the image and-
shadow of the truth : for the Law is the shadow
of the truth. But the self-love of the Greeks,
proclaims certain men as their teachers. As,
then, the whole family runs back to God the
Creator ; 7 so also all the teaching of good
things, which justifies, does to the Lord, and
leads and contributes to this.

But if from any creature they received in any
way whatever the seeds of the Truth, they did
not nourish them ; but committing them to a
barren and rainless soil, they choked them with

' [See the interesting passage in Justin Martyr (and note), vol. i...
p. 164, this series.]
3 John i. 3.
* Cren. 1. I.

5 Heb. i. I.

6 Matt, xxiii 8-10.

7 Eph. iii. 14, 15.

494

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book \'l.

weeds, as the Pharisees revolted from the Law,
by introducing human teachings,^ the cause
of these being not the Teacher, but those who
choose to disobey. But those of them who be-
Ueved the Lord's advent and the plain teaching
of the Scriptures, attain to the knowledge of
the law; as also those addicted to philosophy,
by the teaching of the Lord, are introduced
into the knowledge of the true philosophy :
*' For the oracles of the Lord are pure oracles,
melted in the fire, tried in the earth,' purified
seven times." * Just as silver often purified, so
is the just man brought to the test, becoming
the Lord's coin and receiving the royal image.
Or, since Solomon also calls the " tongue of the
righteous man gold that has been subjected to
fire," 3 intimating that the doctrine which has
been proved, and is wise, is to be praised and
received, whenever it is amply tried by the
earth : that is, when the gnostic soul is in mani-
fold ways sanctified, through withdrawal from
earthy fires. And the body in which it dwells
IS purified, being appropriated to the pureness
of a holy temple. But the first purification
which takes place in the body, the soul being
first, is abstinence from evil things, which some
consider perfection, and is, in truth, the perfec-
tion of the common believer — Jew and Greek.
But in the case of the Gnostic, after that which
is reckoned perfection in others, his righteous-
ness advances to activity in well-doing. And
in whomsoever the increased force ^ of right-
eouness advances to the doing of good, in his
case perfection abides in the fixed habit of well-
doing after the likeness of God. For those
who are the seed of Abraham, and besides ser-
vants of God, are " the called ; " and the sons
of Jacob are the elect — they who have tripped
up the energy of wickedness.

If, then, we assert that Christ Himself is Wis-
dom, and that it was His working which showed
itself in the prophets, by which the gnostic tradi-
tion may be learned, as He Himself taught the
apostles during His presence ; then it follows that
the gnosis^ which is the knowledge and appre-
hension of things present, future, and past, which
is sure and reliable, as being imparted and re-
vealed by the Son of God, is wisdom.

And if, too, the end of the wise man is con-
templation, that of those who are still philoso-
phers aims at it, but never attains it, unless by
the process of learning it receives the prophetic
utterance which has been made known, by which
It grasps both the present, the future, and the
past — how they are, were, and shall be.

And the gnosis itself is that which ha.**
descended by transmission to a few, having been
imparted unwritten by the apostles. Hence,
then, knowledge or wisdom ought to be exer-
cised up to the eternal and unchangeable habit
of contemplation.

CHAP. VIII. — PHILOSOPHY IS

BY GOD.

KNOWLEDGE GIVEN

» " Tried in a furnace of earth ; " Jerome, " tried in the fire, sep-
arated from earth."

2 Ps. xii. 6.

^ Prov. X. 20.

* The Latin translator appears to have read what seems the true
reading, cirircurts, and not, as in the text, ciri<rra<rt«.

For Paul too, in the Epistles, plainly does not
disparage philosophy ; but deems it unworthy of
the man who has attained to the elevation of the
Gnostic, any more to go back to the Hellenic
" philosophy," figuratively calling it " the rudi-
ments of this world," * as being most rudimen-
tary, and a preparatory training for the truth.
Wherefore also, writing to the Hebrews, who
were declining again from faith to the law, he
says, " Have ye not need again of one to teach
you which are the first principles of the oracles
of God, and are become such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat ? " * So also to the
Colossians, who were Greek converts, " Beware
lest any min spoil you by philosophy and vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudi-
ments of this world, and not after Christ," ^ —
enticing them again to return to philosophy, the
elementary doctrine.

And should one say that it was through human
understanding that philosophy was discovered by
the Greeks, still I find the Scriptures saying that
imderstanding is sent by God. The psalmist, ac-
cordingly, considers understanding as the great-
est free gift, and beseeches, saying, " I am Thy
servant; give me understanding."* And does
not David, while asking the abundant experience
of knowledge, write, " Teach me gentleness, and
discipline, and knowledge : for I have believed
in Thy commandments? "9 He confessed the
covenants to be of the highest authority, and
that they were given to the more excellent.
Accordingly the psalm again says of God, " He
hath not done thus to any nation ; and He hath
not shown His judgments to them." '** The ex-
pression " He hath not done so " shows that Bf
hath done, but not " thus." The " thus," then,
is put comparatively, with reference to pre-emi-
nence, which obtains in our case. The prophet
might have said simply, " He hath not done."
without the " thus."

Further, Peter in the Acts says, " Of a truth. I
perceive that God is no respecter of persons :
but in every nation he that feareth Him, and
worketh righteousness, is accepted by Him." ^'

5 Col. ii. 8. [This is an interesting comment oo the apasiie»
system, and very noteworthy.]
* Heb. V. 12.
7 Col. ii. 8.
■ Ps. cxix. 125
9 Ps. cxix. 66.
*° Ps. cxlvii. 20.
" Acts X. 34, 35.

Chap. VIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

495

The absence of respect of persons in God is
not then in time, but from eternity. Nor had
His beneficence a beginning ; nor any more is it
limited to places or persons. For His benefi-
cence is not confined to parts. " Open ye the
gates of righteousness," it is said ; " entering into
them, I will confess to the Lord. This is the
gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter by
it." « Explaining the prophet's saying, Barna-
bas adds, " There being many gates open, that
which is in righteousness is the gate which is
in Christ, by which all who enter are blessed."
Bordering on tHe same meaning is also the fol-
lowing prophetic utterance : " The Lord is on
many waters ; " * not the different covenants
alone, but the modes of teaching, those among
the Greek and those among the Barbarians, con-
ducing to righteousness. And already clearly
David, bearing testimony to the truth, sings, " Let
sinners be turned into Hades, and all the nations
that forget God." 3 They forget, plainly. Him
whom they formerly remembered, and dismiss
Him whom they knew previous to forgetting
Him. There was then a dim knowledge of God
also among the nations. So much for those points.

Now the Gnostic must be erudite. And since
the Greeks say that Protagoras having led the
way, the opposing of one argument by another
was invented, it is fitting that something be said
with reference to arguments of this sort. For
Scripture says, " He that says much, shall also
hear in his turn." * And who shall understand
a parable of the Lord, but the wise, the intelli-
gent, and he that loves his Lord? Let such a
man be faithful ; let him be capable of uttering
his knowledge ; let him be wise in the discrimi-
nation of words ; let him be dexterous in action ;
let him be pure. " The greater he seems to be,
the more huipble should he be," says Clement
in the Epistle to the Corinthians, — " such an
one as is capable of complying with the precept,
* And some pluck firom the fire, and on others
have compassion, making a difference.' " 5

The pruning-hook is made, certainly, princi-
pally for pruning ; but with it we separate twigs
that have got intertwined, cut the thorns which
grow along with the vines, which it is not very
easy to reach. And all these things have a ref-
erence to pruning. Again, man is made princi-
pally for the knowledge of God ; but he also
measures land, practises agriculture, and phi-
losophizes ; of which pursuits, one conduces to
life, another to living well, a third to the study
of the things which are capable of demonstra-
tion. Further, let those who say that philoso-
])hy took its rise from the devil know this, that

* Ps. cxviii. 19, ao.

* Ps. xxix. 3.
3 Ps. ix. 17.

* Job xi. 2.

* Jude 22, 23.

the Scripture says that " the devil is transformed
into an angel of light" ^ When about to do
what? Plainly, when about to prophesy. But
if he prophesies as an angel of light, he will
speak what is true. And if he prophesies what
is angelical, and of the light, then he prophesies
what is beneficial when he is transformed ac-
cording to the likeness of the operation, though
he be different with respect to the matter of
apostasy. For how could he deceive any one,
without drawing the lover of knowledge into fel-
lowship, and so drawing him afterwards into
falsehood ? Especially he will be found to know
the truth, if not so as to comprehend it, yet so
as not to be unacquainted with it.

Philosophy is not then false, though the thief
and the liar speak truth, through a transforma-
tion of operation. Nor is sentence of condem-
nation to be pronounced ignorantly against what
is said, on account of him who says it (which
also is to be kept in view, in the case of those
who arc now alleged to prophesy) ; but what is
said must be looked at, to see if it keep by the
truth.

And in general terms, we shall not err in al-
leging that all things necessary and profitable for
life came to us from God, and that philosophy
more especially was given to the Greeks, as a
covenant peculiar to them — being, as it is, a
stepping-stone to the philosophy which is accord-
ing to Christ — although those who applied
themselves to the philosophy of the Greeks shut
their ears voluntarily to the truth, despising the
voice of Barbarians, or also dreading the danger
suspended over the believer, by the laws of the
state.

And as in the Barbarian philosophy, so also in
the Hellenic, " tares were sown " by the proper
husbandman of the tares ; whence also heresies
grew up among us along with the productive
wheat ; and those who in the Hellenic philoso-
phy preach the impiety and voluptuousness of
Epicurus, and whatever other tenets are dissem-
inated contrary to right reason, exist among the
Greeks as spurious fruits of the divinely be-
stowed husbsindry. This voluptuous and selfish
philosophy the apostle calls " the wisdom of this
world ; " in consequence of its teaching the
things of this world and about it alone, and its
consequent subjection, as far as respects ascend-
ancy, to those who nile here. Wherefore also
this fragmentary philosophy is very elementary,
while truly perfect science deals with intellect-
ual objects, which are beyond the sphere of the
world, and with the objects still more spiritual
than those which " eye saw not, and ear heard
not, nor did it enter into the heart of men," till
the Teacher told the account of them to us;

* 2 Cor. xi. X4.

496

THE STROM AT A, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book Vi.

unveiling the holy of holies ; and in ascending
order, things still holier than these, to those who
are truly and not spuriously heirs of the Lord's
adoption. For we now dare aver (for here is
the faith that is characterized by knowledge *)
that such an one knows all things, and compre-
hends all things in the exercise of sure appre-
hension, respecting matters difficult for us, and
really pertaining to the true gnosis,* such as were
James, Peter, John, Paul, and the rest of the
apostles. For prophecy is full of knowledge
{gnosis), inasmuch as it was given by the Lord,
and again explained by the Lord to the aposdes.
And is not knowledge {gnosis) an attribute of
the rational soul, which trains itself for this, that
by knowledge it may become entitled to im-
mortality? For both are powers of the soul,
both knowledge and impulse. And impulse is
found to be a movement after an assent. For
he who has an impulse towards an action, first
receives the knowledge of the action, and sec-
ondly the impulse. Let us further devote our
attention to this. For since learning is older
than action ; (for naturally, he who does what
he wishes to do learns it first ; and knowledge
comes from learning, and impulse follows knowl-
edge ; after which comes action ;) knowledge
turns out the beginning and author of all ration-
al action. So that rightly the peculiar nature of
the rational soul is characterized by this alone ;
for in reality impulse, like knowledge, is excited
by existing objects. And knowledge (gnosis)
is essentially a contemplation of existences on
the part of the soul, either of a certain thing or
of certain things, and when perfected, of all to-
gether. Although some say that the wise man
is |>ersuaded that there are some things incom-
prehensible, in such wise as to have respecting
them a kind of comprehension, inasmuch as he
comprehends that things incomprehensible are
incomprehensible ; which is common, and per-
tains to those who are capable of perceiving
litde. For such a man affirms that there are
some things incomprehensible.

But that Gnostic of whom I speak, himself
comprehends what seems to be incomprehensible
to others; believing that nothing is incompre-
hensible to the .Son of God, whence nothing
incapable of being taught. For He who suffered
out of His love for us, would have suppressed no
element of knowledge requisite for our instruc-
tion. Accordingly this faith becomes sure dem-
onstration ; since tnith follows what has been
delivered by God. But if one desires extensive
knowledge, " he knows things ancient, and con-
jectures things future ; he understands knotty

sayings, and the solutions of enigmas. The <iis-
ciple of wisdom foreknows signs and omens, and
the issues of seasons and of times." ^

CHAP. IX.

THE GNOSTIC FREE OF ALL PERTL^R-
BATIONS OF THE SOUL.

* Yva»<rruci|.

' yvmrriKuiVt for which Hervetus, reading yi'untriKov, has trans-
lated, ** qui vere est cognitionc praeditus." lliis is suitable and
easier, but doubtful.

The Gnostic is such, that he is subject only to
the affections that exist for the maintenance of
the body, such as hunger, thirst, and the liktr.
But in the case of the Saviour, it were ludicrous
[to suppose] that the body, as a body, demanded
the necessary aids in order to its duration.
For He ate, not for the sake of the body, which
was kept together by a holy energy, but in order
that it might not enter into the minds of those
who were with Him to entertain a different
opinion of Him ; in like manner as certainly
some afterwards supposed that He apf)eared in
a phantasmal shape (&)Ki}<r«) . But He was en-
tirely impassible (aTro^) ; inaccessible to any
movement of feeling — either pleasure or pain.
While the apostles, having most gnostically mas-
tered, through the Lord's teaching, anger, and
fear, and lust, were not liable even to such of
the movements of feeling, as seem good, courage,
zeal, joy, desire, through a steady condition of
mind, not changing a whit; but ever con-
tinuing unvarying in a state of training after the
resurrection of the Lord.

And should it be granted that the affections
specified above, when produced rationally, are
good, yet they are nevertheless inadmissible in
the case of the perfect man, who is incapable
of exercising courage : for neither does he meet
what inspires fear, as he regards none of the
things that occur in life as to be dreaded ; nor
can aught dislodge him from this — the love he
has towards God. Nor does he need cheerful-
ness of mind ; for he does not fall into pain, be-
ing persuaded that all things happen well. Nor
is he angry ; for there is nothing to move him to
anger, seeing he ever loves God, and is entirely
turned towards Him alone, and therefore hates
none of God's creatures. No more does he env}' ;
for nothing is wanting to him, that is requi-
site to assimilation, in order that he may be
excellent and good. Nor does he consequently
love any one with this common affection, but
loves the Creator in the creatures. Nor, conse-
quently, does he fall into any desire and eager-
ness ; nor does he want, as far as respects his
soul, aught appertaining to others, now that he
associates through love with the Beloved One,
to whom he is allied by free choice, and by the
habit which results from training, approaches
closer to Him, and is blessed through the abun-
dance of good things.

So that on these accounts he is compelled to

3 Wisd. vu. 17, 18.

Chap. IX.]

f ^ OF ^Ht

8 UNIVERSITY

LIFOR^^

THE STROMATATtflrMISCELLANIES.

fi UNT

iataT

497

become like his Teacher in impassibility. For ,
the Word of God is intellectual, according as |
the image of mind is seen * in man alone. Thus ,
also the good man is godlike in form and sem-
blance as respects his soul. And, on the other
hand, God is like man. For the distinctive
form of each one is the mind by which we are
characterized. Consequently, also, those who
sin against man are unholy and impious. For it
were ridiculous to say that the gnostic and per-
fect man must not eradicate anger and courage,
inasmuch as without these he will not struggle
against circumstances, or abide what is terrible.
But if we take from him desire, he will be quite
overwhelmed by troubles, and therefore depart
from this life very basely. Unless possessed of it,
as some suppose, he will not conceive a desire
for what is like the excellent and the good. If,
then, all alliance with what is good is accompanied
with desire, how, it is said, does he remain im-
passible who desires what is excellent ?

But these people know not, as appears, the di-
vinity of love. For love is not desire on the part
of him who loves ; but is a relation of affection,
restoring the Gnostic to the unity of the faith,
— independent of time and place. But he who
by love is already in the midst of that in which
he is destined to be, and has anticipated hope by
knowledge, does not desire anything, having, as
far as possible, the very thing desired. Accord-
ingly, as to be expected, he continues in the ex-
ercise of gnostic love, in the one unvarying state.

Nor will he, therefore, eagerly desire to be
assimilated to what is beautiful, possessing, as
he does, beauty by love. What more need of
courage and of desire to him, who has obtained
the affinity to the impassible God which arises
from love, and by love has enrolled himself
among the friends of God?

We must therefore rescue the gnostic and per-
fect man from all passion of the soul. For knowl-
edge {gnosis) produces practice, and practice
habit or disposition \ and such a state as this pro-
duces impassibility, not moderation of passion.
And the complete eradication of desire reaps as
its fruit impassibility. But the Gnostic does not
share either in those affections that are common-
ly celebrated as good, tnat is, the good things of
the affections which are allied to the passions :
such, I mean, as gladness, which is allied to
pleasure ; and dejection, for this is conjoined
with pain ; and caution, for it is subject to fear.
Nor yet does he share in high spirit, for it takes
its place alongside of wrath ; although some say
that these are no longer evil, but already good.
For it is impossible that he who has been once
made perfect by love, and feasts eternally and
insatiably on the boundless joy of contemplation,

' Adopting the various reading Ka6' 6, and the conjecture oparai,
instead oSKaJrov and opao-ei in the text, as suggested by Sylburgius.

should delight in small and grovelling things.
For what rational cause remains any more to the
man who has gained " the light inaccessible," ^
for reverting to the good things of the world ?
Although not yet true as to time and place, yet
by that gnostic love through which the inheritance
and perfect restitution follow, the giver of the
reward makes good by deeds what the Gnostic,
by gnostic choice, had grasped by anticipation
through love.

For by going away to the Lord, for the love
he bears Him, though his tabernacle be visible
on earth, he does not withdraw himself from life.
For that is not permitted to him. But he has
withdrawn his soul from the passions. For that
is granted to him. And on the other hand he
lives, having put to death his lusts, and no longer
makes use of the body, but allows it the use of
necessaries, that he may not give cause for dis-
solution.

How, then, has he any more need of fortitude,
who is not in the midst of dangers, being not
present, but already wholly with the object of
love? And what necessity for self-restraint to
him who has not need of it? For to have such
desires, as require self-restraint in order to their
control, is characteristic of one who is not yet
pure, but subject to passion. Now, fortitude is
assumed by reason of fear and cowardice. For
it were no longer seemly that the friend of God,
whom " God hath fore-ordained before the foun-
dation of the world " ^ to be enrolled in the
highest "adoption,** should fall into pleasures
or fears, and be " occupied in the repression of
the passions. For I venture to assert, that as
he is predestinated through what he shall do, and
what he shall obtain, so also has he predestinated
himself by reason of what he knew and whom
he loved ; not having the future indistinct, as the
multitude live, conjecturing it, but having grasped
by gnostic faith what is hidden from others.
And through lote, the future is for him already
present. For he has believed, through prophecy
and the advent, on God who lies not. And
what he believes he possesses, and keeps hold
of the* promise. And He who hath promised is
truth. And through the trustworthiness of Him
who has promised, he has firmly laid hold of the
end of the promise by knowledge. And he, who
knows the sure comprehension of the future
which there is in the circumstances, in which
he is placed, by love goes to meet the future.
So he, that is persuaded that he will obtain the
things that are really good, will not pray to ob-
tain what is here, but that he may always cling
to the faith which hits the mark and succeeds.
And besides, he will pray that as many as possi-
ble may become like him, to the glory of God,

2 I Tim. vL x6.

3 Eph. i. 4, 5.

498

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Booic vr

which is perfected through knowledge. For he
who is made like the Saviour is also devoted
to saving ; performing unerringly the command-
ments as far as the human nature may admit
of the image. And this is to worship God by
deeds and knowledge of the true righteousness.
The Lord will not wait for the voice of this man
in prayer. " Ask," He says, " and I will do it ;
think, and I will give." ^

For, in fine, it is impossible that the immutable
should assume firmness and consistency in the
mutable. But the ruling faculty being in per-
petual change, and therefore unstable, the force
of habit is not maintained. For how can he who
is perpetually changed by external occurrences
and accidents, ever possess habit and disposition,
and in a word, grasp of scientific knowledge
(eVto-riy/xTy) ? Further, also, the philosophers
regard the virtues as habits, dispositions, and
sciences. And as knowledge (gnosis) is not
bom with men, but is acquired,* and the ac-
quiring of it in its elements demands application,
and training, and progress ; and then from inces-
sant practice it passes into a habit ; so, when
perfected in the mystic habit, it abides, being
infallible through love. For not only has he
apprehended the first Cause, and the Cause pro-
duced by it, and is sure about them, possessing
firmly firm and irrefragable and immoveable
reasons ; but also respecting what is good and
what is evil, and respecting all production, and
to speak comprehensively, respecting all about
which the IvOrd has spoken, he has learned, from
the truth itself, the most exact truth from the
foundation of the world to the end. Not pre-
ferring to the truth itself what appears plausible,
or, according to Hellenic reasoning, necessary ;
but what has been spoken by the Lord he ac-
cepts as clear and evident, though concealed
from others ; and he has already received the
knowledge of all things. And the oracles we
possess give their utterances respecting what ex-
ists, as it is ; and respecting what is future, as it
shall be ; and respecting what is past, as it was.

In scientific matters, as being alone possessed
of scientific knowledge, he will hold the pre-
eminence, and will discourse on the discussion
respecting the good, ever intent on intellectual
objects, tracing out his procedure in human
affairs from the archetypes above ; as navigators
direct the ship according to the star ; prepared
to hold himself in readiness for every suitable
action ; accustomed to despise all difficulties and
dangers when it is necessar}' to undergo them ;
never doing anything precipitate or incongnious
either to himself or the common weal ; fore-
seeing; and inflexible by pleasures both of

* Quoted afterwards, chap, xii., and book vii. chap. ii.
^ The text h.is iwifiiKTo^, which on account of its harshness has
been rejected by the authorities for «iriKn|To«.

waking hours and of dreams. For, accustomed
to spare living and frugality, he is moderate,
active, and grave ; requiring few necessaries for
life ; occupying himself with nothing superfluous.
But desiring not even these things as chief, but
by reason of fellowship in life, as necessary for
his sojourn in life, as far as necessary.

CHAP. X, — THE GNOSTIC AVAILS HIMSELF OF THE
HELP OF ALL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

For to him knowledge {gnosis) is the princi-
pal thing. Consequently, therefore, he applie-i
to the subjects that are a training for knowledge,
taking from each branch of study its contribution
to the truth. Prosecuting, then, the proportion
of harmonies in music ; and in arithmetic noting
the increasing and decreasing of numbers, and
their relations to one another, and how the
most of things fall under some proportion of
numbers ; studying geometr}', which is al>stra< t
essence, he perceives a continuous distance, and
an immutable essence which is different from
these bodies. And by astronomy, again, raise<l
from the earth in his mind, he is elevated along
with heaven, and will revolve with its revolution ;
studying, ever divine things, and their harmony
with each other ; from which Abraham starting,
ascended to the knowledge of Him who created
them. Further, the Gnostic will avail himself
of dialectics, fixing on the distinction of genera
into species, and will master ^ the distinction of
existences, till he come to what are primary and
simple.

But the multitude are frightened at the Hel-
lenic philosophy, as children are at masks, being
afraid lest it lead them astray. But if the faith
(for I cannot call it knowledge) which they
possess be such as to be dissolved by plausible
speech, let it be by all means dissolved,* and let
them confess that they will not retain the truth.
For truth is immoveable ; but false opinion dis-
solves. We choose, for instance, one purple by
comparison with another purple. So that, if one
confesses that he has not a heart that has been
made right, he has not the table of the money-
changers or the test of words.s And how car.
he be any longer a money-changer, who is not
able to prove and distinguish spurious coin, even
offhand ?

Now David cried, "The righteous shall not
be shaken for ever ; " ^ neither, consequently,
by deceptive speech nor by erring pleasure.

3 Our choice lies between the reading of the text, «'po«'to'«T4n : tha:
of Hervetus, irpoaoiacrai : the conjectuic of Sylburgius, wptMnivtrci,
or irpoarjatTai, used a lililc after in the phrase vpooifoYTau tt
a\rf$rtai'.

* Tliere is some difficulty in the sentence as it stands. Hervetus
omits in his translation the words rendered here, " let it be by ' '
mcins dissolved." Wc have omitted 5ii tovtoi;*, which follows m
mediately' after, but which is generally retained and translated " M
thc>c," I.e., philoM^phers.

3 tCov Abytui', Sylburgius; toi* \oyof is the reading of the texL

6 Ps. cxii. 6.

Chap. XI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

499

Whence he shall never be shaken from his
own heritage. " He shall not be afraid of evil
tidings ; " ' consequently neither of unfounded
calumny, nor of the false opinion around him.
No more will he dread cunning words, who is
capable of distinguishing them, or of answering
rightly to questions asked. Such a bulwark are
dialectics, that truth cannot be trampled under
foot by the Sophists. " For it behoves those who
praise in the holy name of the Lord," according
to the prophet, " to rejoice in heart, seeking the
I>ord. Seek then Him, and be strong.. Seek
His face continually in every way." * '* For,
ha\ang spoken at sundry times and in divers
manners," ^ it is not in one way only that He is
known.

It is, then, not by availing himself of these as
virtues that our Gnostic will be deeply learned.
But by using them as helps in distinguishing
what is common and what is peculiar, he will
admit the truth. For the cause of all error and
false opinion, is inability to distinguish in what
respect things are common, and in what rer
spects they differ. For unless, in things that
are distinct, one closely watch speech, he will
inadvertently confound what is common and
what is peculiar And where this takes place,
he must of necessity fall into pathless tracts and
error. .

The distinction of names and things also in
the Scriptures themselves produces great light in
men's souls. For it is necessary to understand
expressions which signify several things, and
several expressions when they signify one thing.
The result of which is accurate answering. But
it is necessary to avoid the great futility which
occupies itself in irrelevant matters ; since the
(inostic avails himself of branches of learning as
auxiliary preparatory exercises, in order to the
accurate communication of the truth, as far as
attainable and with as little distraction as possible,
and for defence against reasonings that plot for
the extinction of the truth. He will not then be
deficient in what contributes to proficiency in
the curriculum of studies and the Hellenic phi-
losophy ; but not principally, but necessarily,
secondarily, and on account of circumstances.
For what those labouring in heresies use wick-
edly, the Gnostic will use rightly.

Therefore the truth that appears in the Hel-
lenic philosophy, being partial, the real tnith, like
the sun glancing on the colours both white and
black, shows what like each of them is. So also
it exposes all sophistical plausibility. Rightly,
then, was it proclaimed also by the Greeks : —

" Truth the queen is the beginning of great virtue." *

CHAP. XI. — THE MYSTICAL MEANINGS IN THE PRO-
PORTIONS OF NUMBERS, GEOMETRICAL RATIOS,
AND MUSIC.

As then in astronomy we have Abraham as an
instance, so also in arithmetic we have the same
Abraham. " For, hearing that I^t was taken
captive, and having numbered his own servants,
bom in his house, 318 (n^^)," he defeats a very
great number of the enemy.

They say, then, that the character representing
300 is, as to shape, the type of the Lord's sign,'^
and that the Iota and the Eta indicate the
Saviour's name ; that it was indicated, accord-
ingly, that Abraham's domestics were in salvation,
who having fled to the Sign and the Name be-
came lords of the captives, and of the very many
unbelieving nations that followed them.

Now the number 300 is, 3 by 100. Ten is
allowed to be the perfect number. And 8 is the
first cube, which is equality in all the dimensions
— length, breadth, depth. " The days of men
shall be," it is said, " 120 (p/) years." ^ And
the sum is made up of the numbers from i to 1 5
added together.* And the moon at 15 days is
full.

On another principle, 120 is a triangular ^
number, and consists of the equality '® of the
number 64, [which consists of eight of the odd
numbers beginning with unity]," the addition of
which (i, 3, 5, 7, 9, II, 13, 15) in succession
generate squares ; " and of the mequality of the
number 56, consisting of seven of the even num-
bers beginning with 2 (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14),
which produce the numbers that are not squares '^

Again, according to another way of indicating,
the number 1 20 consists of four numbers — of
one triangle, 15 ; of another, a square, 25 ; of a
third, a pentagon, 35 ; and of a fourth, a hexagon,
45. The 5 is taken according to the same ratio
in each mode. For in triangular numbers, from
the unity 5 comes 15 ; and in squares, 25 ; and
of those in succession, proportionally. Now 25,
which is the number 5 from unity, is said to
be the symbol of the Levitical tribe. And the

* Ps. cxii. 7.
^ Ps. cv. 3, 4.
3 Heb. t.i.

* Pindar.

5 Gen. xiv. 14. In Greek mimerals.

6 The Lord's sign is the cross, whose form is represented by T;
I1} (the other two letters of tii}, 318) are the first two letters of the
name 'lT)<Toi)c (Jesus).

7 Gen. vi. 3.

B The sum of the numbers from i to 15 inclusive is lao.

9 " Triangular numbers arc those which can be disposed in a

triangle, a83.*.,6'.\, etc, being represented by the formula

(Liddell and Scott's Lexicon). Each side of the triangle of courcs
contains an equal number of units, the sum of which amounts to the
number. [Elucidation VI.]

*° This number is called equality , because it is composed of eight
numbers, an even number: as fift>'-six is called inequality, because it
is composed of seven numbers, an odd number.

" The clause within brackets has been suggested by Hervetus to
complete the sense.

" That is, 1-^3+5 + 7 + 9+11 + 13 + 15=- lao; and i + 3 ~
4 + 5 = 9 + 7 = 16 + o = 25 + II = 36 + 13 =^ 49 + 15 = 64, givmcj
us the numbers 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, ^9, 64, the sauares of a, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

*3 JTtpoM^xeic, the product of two unequal factors, i.e., 2 + 4 + 6 +
8 + 10 + 13 + 14 = 56; and a + 4 = 6 = 3^2, 6 + 4 = 10 =5X 2,
and so on.

500

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book V'I.

number 35 depends also on the arithmetic, geo-
metric, and harmonic scale of doubles — 6, 8, 9,
12 ; the addition of which makes 35. In these
days, the Jews say that seven months* children
are formed. And the number 45 depends on
the scale of triples — 6, 9, 12, 18 — the addition
of which makes 45 ; and similarly, in these days
they say that nine months* children are formed.

Such, then, is the style of the example in arith-
metic. And let the testimony of geometry be
the tabernacle that was constructed, and the ark
that was fashioned, — constructed in most regu-
lar proportions, and through divine ideas, by
the gift of understanding, which leads us from
things of sense to intellectual objects, or rather
from these to holy things, and to the holy of
holies. For the squares of wood indicate thai
the square form, producing right angles, i>ervades
all, and points out security. And the length of
the structure was three hundred cubits, and the
breadth fifty, and the height thirty ; and above,
the ark ends in a cubit, narrowing to a cubit
from the broad base like a pyramid, the symbol
of those who are purified and tested by fire.
And this geometrical proportion has a place, for
the transport of those holy abodes, whose differ-
ences are indicated by the differences of the
numbers set down below.

And the numbers introduced are sixfold, as
three hundred is six times fifty ; and tenfold, as
three hundred is ten times thirty ; and containing
one and two-thirds {iviSifwipoi) , for fifty is one
and two-thirds of thirty.

Now there are some who say that three hun-
dred cubits are the symbol of the Lord's sign ; *
and fifty, of hope and of the remission given at
Pentecost ; and thirty, or as in some, twelve, they
say points out the preaching [of the Gospel] ;
because the Lord preached in His thirtieth year ;
and the apostles were twelve. And the struc-
ture's terminating in a cubit is the symbol of the
advancement of the righteous to oneness and to
" the unity of the faith." '

And the table which was in the temple was
six cubits ; ^ and its four feet were about a cubit
and a half.

They add, then, the twelve cubits, agreeably
to the revolution of the twelve months, in the
annual circle, during which the earth produces
and matures all things ; adapting itself to the
four seasons. And the table, in my opinion,
exhibits the image of the earth, supported as it
is on four feet, summer, autumn, spring, winter,
by which the year travels. Wherefore also it is
said that the table has " wavy chains ; " * either

because the universe revolves in the circuits of
the times, or perhaps it indicated the earth sur-
rounded with ocean's tide.

Further, as an example of music, let us adduce
David, pla)dng at once and prophesying, melcxli-
ously praising God, Now the Enarmonic 5 suits
best the Dorian harmony, and the Diatonic the
Phrygian, as Aristoxenus says. The harmony,
therefore, of the Barbarian psaltery, which ex-
hibited gravity of strain, being the most ancient,
most certainly became a model for Terpander,
for the Dorian harmony, who sings the praise of
Zeus thus : —

" O Zeus, of all things the Beginning, Ruler of all :
O Zeus, I send thee this beginning of hymns.'*

The lyre, according to its primary signification,
may by the psalmist be used figuratively for the
Lord ; according to its secondary, for those who
continually strike the chords of their soub under
the direction of the Choir-master, the Lord.
And if the people saved be called the lyre, it
will be understood to be in consequence of their
giving glory musically, through the inspiration
of the Word and the knowledge of God, being
struck by the Word so as to produce faith. Vou
may take music in another way, as the ecclesias-
tical symphony at once of the law and the
prophets, and the apostles along with the Gospel,
and the harmony which obtained in each prophet,
in the transitions of the persons.

But, as seems, the most of those who are in-
scribed with the Name,^ like the companions of
Ulysses, handle the word unskilfully, passing
by not the Sirens, but the rhythm and the melody,
stopping their ears with ignorance ; since they
know that, after lending their ears to Hellenic
studies, they will never subsequently be able to
retrace their steps.

But he who culls what is useful for the advan-
tage of the catechumens, and especially when
they are Greeks (and the earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof), must not abstain from
erudition, like irrational animals; but he must
collect as many aids as possible for his hearers.
But he must by no means linger over these
studies, except solely for the advantage accniinj:
from them ; so that, on grasping and obtaining
this, he may be able to take his departure home
to the true philosophy, which is a strong cable
for the soul, providing security from ever}'thin^.

Music is then to be handled for the sake of
the embellishment and composure of manners.
For instance, at a banquet we pledge each other
while the music is playing ; ^ soothing by song
the eagerness of our desires, and glorifying Ciod

* The cross.

^ Eph. iv. 13.

^ Ex. XXV. 23. The table is said to be two cubits in length, a
cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height; therefore it was six
cubits round. «

* Ex. XXV. 24.

i The three styles of Greek music were the ivapfioviKiv, iuiroto*,
and ^^pttifiariKov.^

<» i,e., of Christ.

7 I Cor. X. 26, etc.

* ^oAAoFTec is substituted by Lowtfa for ^oAActv ol' the text; i*
Tip i^aAAcii/ has also been proposed.

Cmap. XL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

501

for the copious gift of human enjoyments, for
His perpetual supply of the food necessary for
the growth of the body and of the soul. But we
must reject superfluous music, which enervates
men's souls, and leads to variety, — now mourn-
ful, and then licentious and voluptuous, and then
frenzied and frantic.

The same holds also of astronomy. For treat-
ing of the description of the celestial objects,
about the form of the universe, and the revolu-
tion of the heavens, and the motion of the stars,
leading the soul nearer to the creative power, it
teaches to quickness in perceiving the seasons
of the year, the changes of the air, and the ap-
pearance of the stars ; since also navigation and
husbandry derive from this much benefit, as
architecture and building from geometry. This
branch of learning, too, makes the soul in the
highest degree observant, capable of perceiving
the true and detecting the false, of discovering
correspondences and proportions, so as to hunt
out for similarity in things dissimilar ; and con-
ducts us to the discovery of length without
breadth, and superficial extent without thickness,
and an indivisible point, and transports to intel-
lectual objects from those of sense.

The studies of philosophy, therefore, and phi-
losophy itself, are aids in treating of the truth.
For instance, the cloak was once a fleece ; then
it was shorn, and became warp and woof; and
then it was woven. Accordingly the soul must
be prepared and variously exercised, if it would
become in the highest degree good. For there
is the scientific and the practical element in
truth ; and the latter flows from the speculative ;
and there is need of great practice, and exercise,
and experience.

But in speculation, one element relates to one's
neighbours and another to one's self. Wherefore
also training ought to be so moulded as to be
adapted to both. He, then, who has acquired a
competent acquaintance with the subjects which
embrace the principles which conduce to scien-
tific knowledge {gnosis), may stop and remain
for the future in quiet, directing his actions in
conformity with his theory.

But for the benefit of one's neighbours, in the
case of those who have proclivities for writing,
and those who set themselves to deliver the
word, both is other culture beneficial, and the
reading of the Scriptures of the Lord is neces-
sary, in order to the demonstration of what is
said, and especially if those who hear are ac-
cessions from Hellenic culture.

Such David describes the Church : " The
(|ueen stood on thy right hand, enveloped in a
golden robe, variegated ; " * and with Hellenic
and superabundant accomplishments, " clothed

» Ps. xlv. 9.

variegated with gold-fringed garments."^ And
the Truth says by the Lord, " For who had
known Thy counsel, hadst Thou not given wis-
dom, and sent Thy Holy Spirit from the High-
est ; and so the ways of those on earth were
corrected, and men learned Thy decrees, and
were saved by wisdom?" For the Gnostic
knows things ancient by the Scripture, and
conjectures things future : he understands the
involutions of words and the solutions of enig-
mas. He knows beforehand signs and wonders,
and the issues of seasons and periods, as we
have said already. Seest thou the fountain of
instructions that takes its rise from wisdom?
But to those who object. What use is there in
knowing the causes of the manner of the sun's
motion, for example, and the rest of the heaven-
ly bodies, or in having studied the theorems of
geometry or logic, and each of the other branches
of study ? — for these are of no service in the
discharge of duties, and the Hellenic philosophy
is human wisdom, for it is incapable of teaching*
the truth — the following remarks are to be
made. First, that they stumble in reference to
the highest of things — namely, the mind's free
choice. " For they," it is said, " who keep holy
holy things, shall be made holy ; and those who
have been taught will find an answer."-* For
the Gnostic alone will do holily, in accordance
with reason all that has to be done, as he hath
learned through the Lord's teaching, received
through men.

Again, on the other hand, we may hear :
" For in His hand, that is, in His power and
wisdom, are both we and our words, and all
wisdom and skill in works ; for God loves noth-
ing but the man that dwells with wisdom." s
And again, they have not read what is said by
Solomon ; for, treating of the construction of the
temple, he says expressly, " And it was Wisdom
as artificer that framed it ; and Thy providence,
O Father, governs throughout."^ And how irra-
tional, to regard philosophy as inferior to archi-
tecture and shipbuilding ! And the Lord fed
the multitude of those that reclined on the grass
opposite to Tiberias with the two fishes and
the fvwQ barley loaves, indicating the preparatory
training of the Greeks and Jews previous to the
divine grain, which is the food cultivated by the
law. For barley is sooner ripe for the harvest
than wheat ; and the fishes signified the Hellenic
philosophy that was produced and moved in the
midst of the Gentile billow, given, as they were,
for copious food to those lying on the ground,
increasing no more, like the fragments of the

2 Ps. xlv. 14. [Elucidation VII.]

3 ^lioLKTiKTiv, proposed by Sylburgius, seems greatly preferable
to the readinf^ of the text, £i6<ucti}v, and has been adopted above.

* Wisd. VI. 10.

5 Wisd. vii. 16.

6 Wisd. xiv. 2, 3.

502

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

loaves, but having partaken of the Lord's bless-
ing, and breathed into them the resurrection
of Godhead* through the power of the Word.
But if you are curious, understand one of the
fishes to mean the curriculum of study, and
the other the philosophy which supervenes. The
gatherings' point out the word of the Lord.

" And the choir of mute fishes rushed to it,"

says the Tragic Muse somewhere.

" I must decrease,** said the prophet John,3
and the Word of the Lord alone, in which the
law terminates, " increase." Understand now
for me the mystery of the truth, granting pardon
if I shrink from advancing further in the treat-
ment of it, by announcing this alone : " All
things were made by Him, and without Him
was not even one thing." ^ Certainly He is
called " the chief comer stone ; in whom the
whole building, fitly joined together, groweth
into an holy temple of God," s according to the
divine apostle.

I pass over in silence at present the parable
which says in the Gospel : " The kingdom of
heaven is like a man who cast a net into the sea ,
and out of the multitude of the fishes caught,
makes a selection of the better ones." ^

And now the wisdom which we possess an-
nounces the four virtues ^ in such a way as to
show that the sources of them were communi-
cated by the Hebrews to the (ireeks. This may
be learned from the following : " And if one loves
justice, its toils are virtues. For temperance and
prudence teach justice and fortitude ; and than
these there is nothing more useful in life to

men.

Above all, this ought to be known, that by
nature we are adapted for virtue ; not so as to
be possessed of it from our birth, but so as to be
adapted for acquiring it.

CHAP. XII. — HUMAN NATURE POSSESSES AN ADAPTA-
TION FOR PERFECTION ; THE GNOSTIC ALONE
ATTAINS FT.

By which consideration ^ is solved the ques-
tion propounded to us by the heretics, Whether
Adam was created perfect or imperfect? Well,
if imperfect, how could the work of a perfect
God — above all, that work being man — be im-
perfect ? And if perfect, how did he transgress
the commandments ? For they shall hear from

' That is, resuiTcctlon eflTected by divine power

* Such seems the only sense possible of this clause, — obtained,
however, by substituting for avK^oAoyot Aoyov, ic.r.A., avAAoyoi Xdyov,

K.T.A.

3 John iii. 30.

* John i. 3.

* Eph. it. 20, 21.

^ Matt. xiii. 47, 48.

7 Prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance. [Known as the phil-
osophical virtues.]

" i.e., that mentioned in the last sentence of chap xi., which
would more appropriately be transferred to chap. xii.

us that he was not perfect in his creation, but
adapted to the reception of virtue. For it is of
great importance in regard to virtue to be made
fit for its attainment. And it is intended that
we should be saved by ourselves. This, then, is
the nature of the soul, to move of itself Then,
as we are rational, and philosophy being rational,
we have some affinity with it. Now an aptitude
is a movement towards virtue, not virtue itself.
All, then, as I said, are naturally constituted for
the acquisition of virtue.

But one man applies less, one more, to learn-
ing and training. Wherefore also some have
been competent to attain to perfect virtue, and
others have attained to a kind of it. And some,
on the other hand, through negligence, althoui^h
in other respects of good dispositions, have
turned to the opposite. Now much more is that
knowledge which excels all branches of culture
in greatness and in truth, most difficult to acquire,
and is attained with much toil. "But, as seems,
they know not the mysteries of God. For God
created man for immortality, and made him an
image of His own nature ; " ^ according to which
nature of Him who knows all, he who is a Gnostic,
and righteous, and holy with prudence, hastes
to reach the measure of perfect manhood. For
not only are actions and thoughts, but words also,
pure in the case of the Gnostic : " Thou hast
proved mine heart ; Thou hast visited me by
night," it is said ; " Thou hast subjected me to
the fire, and unrighteousness was not found in
me : so that my mouth shall not speak the
works of men.*' '°

And why do I say the works of men? He
recognises sin itself, which is not brought forward
in order to repentance (for this is common to
all behevers) ; but what sin is. Nor does he
condemn this or that sin, but simply all sin ; nor
is it what one has done ill that he brings up, but
what ought not to be done. Whence also re-
pentance is twofold : that which is common, on
account of having transgressed ; and that which,
from learning the nature of sin, persuades, in the
first instance, to keep from sinning, the result of
which is not sinning.

Let them not then say, that he who does wrong
and sins transgresses through the agency of de-
mons ; for then he would be guiltless. But by
choosing the same things as demons, by sinning,
being unstable, and light, and fickle in his desires,
like a demon, he becomes a demoniac man.
Now he who is bad, having become, through evil,
sinfiil by nature, becomes depraved, having what
he has chosen ; and being sinful, sins also in hi^
actions. And again, the good man does right.
Wherefore we call not only the virtues, but also
right actions, good. And of things that are

9 Wisd. ii. 22, 25.
i *° Ps. xvii. 3, 4.

Chap. XII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

503

good we know that some are desirable for them-
selves, as knowledge ; for we hunt for nothing
from it when we have it, but only [seek] that it
be with us, and that we be in uninterrupted con-
templation, and strive to reach it for its own
sake. But other things are desirable for other
considerations, such as faith, for escape from
punishment, and the advantage arising from re-
ward, which accrue from it. For, in the case of
many, fear is the cause of their not sinning ; and
the promise is the means of pursuing obedience,
by which comes salvation. Knowledge, then,
desirable as it is for its own sake, is the most
perfect good ; and consequently the things which
follow by means of it are good. And punish-
ment is the cause of correction to him who is
punished ; and to those who are able to see be-
fore them he becomes an example, to prevent
them falling into the like.

Let us then receive knowledge, not desiring
its results, but embracing itself for the sake of
knowing. For the first advantage is the habit
of knowledge (yvtaa-TLicrj) , which furnishes harm-
less pleasures and exultation both for the present
and the future. And exultation is said to be glad-
ness, being a reflection of the virtue which is
according to truth, through a kind of exhila-
ration and relaxation of soul. And the acts
which partake of knowledge are good and fair
actions. For abundance in the actions that are
according to virtue, is the true riches, and des-
titution in decorous ' desires is poverty. For
the use and enjoyment of necessaries are not in-
jurious in quality, but in quantity, when in excess.
Wherefore the Gnostic circumscribes his desires
in reference both to possession and to enjoyment,
not exceeding the limit of necessity. Therefore,
regarding life in this world as necessary for the
increase of science (cVicn-iJ/xTy) and the acquisition
of knowledge (yvwo-t?) , he will value highest, not
IK'ing, but living well. He will therefore prefer
neither children, nor marriage, nor parents, to
love for God, and righteousness in life. To such
an one, his wife, after conception, is as a sister,
and is judged as if of the same father ; then only
recollecting her husband, when she looks on the
children ; as being destined to become a sister
in reality after putting off the flesh, which sepa-
rates and limits the knowledge of those who are
spiritual by the peculiar characteristics of the
sexes. For souls, themselves by themselves, are
equal. Souls are neither male nor female, when
they no longer marry nor are given in marriage.
And is not woman translated into man, when she
is become equally unfeminine, and manly, and
perfect ? Such, then, was the laughter of Sarah ^

when she received the good news of the birth of
a son ; not, in my opinion, that she disbelieved
the angel, but that she felt ashamed of the inter-
course by means of which she was destined to
become the mother of a son.

And did not Abraham, when he was in danger
on account of Sarah's beauty, with the king of
Egypt, properly call her sister, being of the same
father, but not of the same mother ? ^

To those, then, who have repented and not
firmly believed, God grants their requests through
their supplications. But to those who live sinless-
ly and gnostically, He gives, when they have but
merely entertained the thought. For example,
to Anna, on her merely conceiving the thought,
conception was vouchsafed of the child Samuel.^
" Ask," says the Scripture,. " and I will do.
Think, and I will give." For we have heard
that God knows the heart, not judging s the soul
from [external] movement, as we men ; nor yet
from the event. For it is ridiculous to think so.
Nor was it as the architect praises the work when
accomplished that God, on making the light and
then seeing it, called it good. But He, knowing
before He made it what it would be, praised that
which was made, He having potentially made
good, from the first by His purpose that had
no beginning, what was destined to be good act-
ually. Now that which has future He already
said beforehand was good, the phrase concealing
the truth by hyperbaton. Therefore the Gnostic
prays in thought during ever}' hour, being by love
allied to God. And first he will ask forgiveness
of sins ; and after, that he may sin no more ; and
further, the power of well-doing and of compre-
hending the whole creation and administration
by the Lord, that, becoming pure in heart through
the knowledge, which is by the Son of God, he
may be initiated into the beatific vision face to
face, having heard the Scripture which says,
" Fasting with prayer is a good thing." ^

Now fastings signify abstinence from all evils
whatsoever, both in action and in word, and in
thought itself. As appears, then, righteousness
is quadrangular ; ^ on all sides equal and like in
word, in deed, in abstinence from evils, in be-
neficence, in gnostic perfection ; nowhere, and in
no respect halting, so that he does not appear
unjust and unequal. As one, then, is righteous,
so certainly is he a behever. But as he is a be-
liever, he is not yet also righteous — I mean ac-

I —

* Sylburgius proposes KOcr/uitKaf, worldly, instead of Kofffiia^t
decorous: in which case ihe sentence would read: "and [true] pov-
trty, destitution in worldly desires."

^ Gen, xviii. la.

3 The reading of the text has, *' not of the same mother, much less
of the same father," which contradicts Gen. xx. la, anci has been
therefore amended as above.

* I Sam. I. 13.

5 Or, "judging from the motion of the soul;" the text reading here
ov KivrffxaroK ^vx^jf , for which, as above, is proposed, ovk c« Kiyiqixa'
TO? tf/vx^v.

6 Tob. xii. 8.

7 Metaphorical expression for perfect. The phrase " a quadran-
gular man is found in Plato and Aristotle. [The proverbial reTpo-
yoi/o« ai'ci' xlfoyov, of the Nicomack. Ethics, i. 10, and of Plato in
the Protagoras y p 154. Ed, Bipont, 1782.]

5^4

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

cording to the righteousness of progress and
perfection, according to which the Gnostic is
called righteous.

For instance, on Abraham becoming a be-
liever, it was reckoned to him for righteousness,
he having advanced to the greater and more
perfect degree of faith. For he who merely
abstains from evil conduct is not just, unless
he also attain besides beneficence and knowl-
edge ; and for this reason some things are to
be abstained from, others are to be done. " By
the armour of righteousness on the right hand
and on the left," ' the apostle says, the right-
eous man is sent on to the inheritance above, —
by some [arms] defended, by others putting
forth his might. For the defence of his pan-
oply alone, and abstinence from sins, are not
sufficient for perfection, unless he assume in
addition the work of righteousness — activity in
doing good.

Then our dexterous man and Gnostic is re-
vealed in righteousness already even here, as
Moses, glorified in the face of the soul,^ as we
have formerly said, the body bears the stamp of
the righteous soul. For as the mordant of the
dyeing process, remaining in the wool, produces
in it a certain quality and diversity from other
wool ; so also in the soul the pain is gone, but
the good remains ; and the sweet is left, but the
base is wiped away. For these are two qualities
characteristic *of each soul, by which is known
that which is glorified, and that which is con-
demned.

And as in the case of Moses, from his right-
eous conduct, and from his uninterrupted inter-
course with God, who spoke to him, a kind of
glorified hue settled on his face ; so also a
divine power of goodness clinging to the right-
eous soul in contemplation and in prophecy,
and in the exercise of the function of govern-
ing, impresses on it something, as it were, of
intellectual radiance, like the solar ray, as a visi-
ble sign of righteousness, uniting the soul with
light, through unbroken love, which is (iod-
bearing and God-borne. Thence assimilation
to God the Saviour arises to the Gnostic, as far
as permitted to human nature, he being made
perfect " as the Father who is in heaven." ^

It is He Himself who says, " Little children, a
little while I am still with you." * Since also
God Himself remains blessed and immortal,
neither molested nor molesting another ; s not
in consequence of being by nature good, but in
consequence of doing good in a manner pe-
culiar to Himself. God being essentially, and

* a Cor. vi. 7.

* Ex. xxxiv. 29.
3 Mall. V. 48.

* John xiii. 33.

s This is cited by Diogenes Laertiiis as the first dictum of Epi-
curus. It is also referred to as such by Cicero, De Natura Deo-
Tttm, and by oihers.

proving Himself actually, both Father and
good, continues immutably in the self- same
goodness. For what is the use of good that
does not act and do good ?

CHAP. Xlk. — DEGREES OF GLORY IN HEAVEN
CORRESPONDING WITH THE DIGNFriES OF THE
CHURCH BELOW,

He, then, who has first moderated his passions
and trained himself for impassibility, and de-
veloped to the beneficence of gnostic perfection.
is here equal to the angels. Luminous already,
and like the sun shining in the exercise of
beneficence, he speeds by righteous knowledge
through the love of God to the sacred abode.
like as the aposdes. Not that they became
apostles through being chosen for some dis-
tinguished peculiarity^ of nature, since also
Judas was chosen along with them. But they
were capable of becoming apostles on being
chosen by Him who foresees even ultimate
issues. Matthias, accordingly, who was not
chosen along with them, on showing himself
worthy of becoming an apostle, is substituted for
Judas.

Those, then, also now, who have exercised
themselves in the Lord's commandments, and
lived perfectly and gnostically according to the
(lOspel, may be enrolled in the chosen body of
the apostles. Such an one is in reality a pres-
byter of the Church, and a true minister (deacon )
of the will of God, if he do and teach what is
the Ix)rd*s ; not as being ordained 7 by men, nor
regarded righteous because a presbyter, but
enrolled in the presbyterate ^ because righteous.
And although here upon earth he be not honoured
with the chief seat,9 he will sit down on the four-
and- twenty thrones, '° judging the people, as John
says in the Apocalypse.

For, in truth, the covenant of salvation, reach-
ing down to us from the foundation of the world,
through different generations and times, is one,
though conceived as different in respect of gift.
For it follows that there is one unchangeable
gift of salvation given by one God, through one
Lord, benefiting in many ways. For which
cause the middle wall** which separated the
Greek from the Jew is taken away, in order that
there might be a peculiar people. And so both
meet in the one unity of faith ; and the selection
out of both is one. And the chosen of the
chosen are those who by reason of perfect
knowledge are called [as the best] from the

** In opposition to the heretical opinion, that those who are saAxd
have an innate ori{^naI excellence, on account of which they arc
saved. [Elucidation VIII.J

"^ Or, " elected " -— xciporofovfiei'Of . Acts xiv. 23, " And when
they had ordained (xc(poTo»^ayrc<) them elders in every church."
A different verb (icadionjMi) is used in Tit. i. 5.
' Piesbytery or eldership.
9 nfMOTOKaStipia, Mark xii. 39, Luke xx. 46.
*" Rev. iv. 4, xi. 16.
*' Eph ii. 14, 15, 16, iv. 13.

Chap. XIV]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

505

Church itself, and honoured with the most
august glory — the judges and rulers — four-and-
twenty (the grace being doubled) equally from
Jews' and Greeks. Since, according to my
opinion, the grades* here in the Church, of
bishops, presbyters, deacons, are imitations of the
angelic glory, and of that economy which, the
Scriptures say, awaits those who, following
the footsteps of the apostles, have Hved in per-
fection of righteousness according to the Gospel.
For these taken up in the clouds, the apostle '
writes, will first minister [as deacons], then be
classed in the presbyterate, by promotion in
glory (for glory differs ^ from glory) till they
grow into " a perfect man." *

CHAP. XIV. — DEGREES OF GLORY IN HEAVEN.

Such, according to David, " rest in the holy hill
of (xod," 5 in the Church far on high, in which
are gathered the philosophers of God, " who are
Israelites indeed, who are pure in heart, in whom
there is no guile ; *' ^ who do not remain in the
seventh seat, the place of rest, but are promoted,
through the active beneficence of the divine
likeness, to the heritage of beneficence which is
the eighth grade ; devoting themselves to the
pure vision 7 of insatiable contemplation.

" And other sheep there are also," saith the
Lord, " which are not of this fold " ^ — deemed
worthy of another fold and mansion, in propor-
tion to their faith. " But My sheep hear My
voice,'* 9 understanding gnostically the command-
ments. And this is to be taken in a magnani-
mous and worthy acceptation, along with also
the recompense and accompaniment of works.
So that when we hear, "Thy faith hath saved
thee," '° we do not understand Him to say abso-
lutely that those who have believed in any way
whatever shall be saved, unless also works follow.
But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this
utterance, who kept the law and lived blame-
lessly, who wanted only faith in the Lord. No
one, then, can be a believer and at the same
time be licentious ; but though he quit the fle^,
he must put off the passions, so as to be capa-
ble of reaching his own mansion.

Now to know is more than to believe, as to
be dignified with the highest honour after being
saved is a greater thing than being saved. Ac-
cordingly the believer, through great discipline,
divesting himself of the passions, passes to the
mansion which is better than the former one.

* npoKoirai. [Book vii. cap. i, infra.}
' I Thess. iv. xy,

^ 1 Cor. XV. 41.

* Eph. iv. 13.

' P«. XV I

* John i 47 : Matt v. 8.

' iirowTtia, the third and highest grade of initiation of the Eleusin-
»an mysteries (Liddell and Scott's Lexicon).
' John X. 1 6.
9 John X. 27.
'° Mark v. 34, etc.

viz., to the greatest torment, taking with him the
characteristic of repentance from the sins he has
committed after baptism. He is tortured then
still more — not yet or not quite attaining what
he sees others to have acquired. Besides, he is
also ashamed of his transgressions. The great-
est torments, indeed, are assigned to the be-
liever. For God's righteousness is good, and
His goodness is righteous. And though the
punishments cease in the course of the comple-
tion of the expiation and purification of each
one, yet those have very great and permanent
grief who " are found worthy of the other fold,
on account of not being along with those that
have been glprified through righteousness.

For instance, Solomon, calling the Gnostic,
wise, speaks thus of those who admire the dig-
nity of his mansion : " For they shall see the
end of the wise, and to what a degree the Lord
has established him." " And of his glory they
win say, " This was he whom we once held up
to derision, and made a byword of reproach ;
fools that we were ! We thought his life mad-
ness, and his end dishonourable. How is he
reckoned among the sons of God, and his in-
heritance among the saints ? " '^

Not only then the believer, but even the
heathen, is judged most righteously. For since
God knew in virtue of His prescience that he
would not believe, He nevertheless, in order
that he might receive his own perfection gave
him philosophy, but gave it him previous to
faith. And He gave the sun, and the moon,
and the stars to be worshipped J " which God,"
the Law says,** made for the nations, that they
might not become altogether atheistical, and so
utterly perish. But they, also in the instance
of this commandment, having become devoid of
sense, and addicting themselves to graven im-
ages, are judged unless they repent ; some of
them because, though able, they would not be-
lieve God ; and others because, though willing,
they did not take the necessary pains to become
believers. There were also, however, those who,
from the worship of the heavenly bodies, did not
return to the Maker of them. For this was the
way given to the nations to rise up to God, by
means of the worship of the heavenly bodies.
But those who would not abide by those heav-
enly bodies assigned to them, but fell away
from them to stocks and stones, " were counted,"
it is said, " as chaff-dust and as a drop from a
jar," >5 beyond salvation, cast away from tKfe
body.

As, then, to be simply saved is the result of

'^ The text here has ori, for which has been substituted (Potter
and Sylb.) oi, as above; nfy after avA^« (fold) requires to be omitted
also in rendering the sentence as we have done.

** Wisd. iv. 17.

" Wisd. y. 3-5.

** Deut. iv. 19.

*s Isa. xl. 15.

5o8

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book YI.

service in the case of cultivated trees. And
" the engrafting into the good oHve " mentioned
by the apostle, may be [engrafting into] Christ
Himself; the uncultivated and unbelieving na-
ture being transplanted into Christ — that is, in
the case of those who believe in Christ. But it
is better [to understand it] of the engrafting '
of each one's faith in the soul itself. For also
the Holy Spirit is thus somehow transplanted by
distribution, according to the circumscribed ca-
pacity of each one, but without being circum-
scribed.

Knowledge and love.

Now, discoursing on knowledge, Solomon
speaks thus : " For wisdom is resplendent and
fadeless, and is easily beheld by those who
love her. She is beforehand in making herself
known to those who desire her. He that rises
early for her shall not toil wearily. For to
think about her is the perfection of good sense.
And he that keeps vigils for her shall quickly
be relieved of anxiety. For she goes about,
herself seeking those worthy of her (for knowl-
edge belongs not to all) ; and in all ways she
benignly shows herself to them."' Now the
paths are the conduct of life, and the variety
that exists in the covenants. Presently he adds :
" And in every thought she meets them," 3 be-
ing variously contemplated, that is, by all disci-
pline. Then he subjoins, adducing love, which
perfects by syllogistic reasoning and true prop-
ositions, drawing thus a most convincing and
tnie inference, " For the beginning of her is the
tniest desire of instruction," that is, of knowl-
edge ; " prudence is the love of instruction, and
love is the keeping of its laws ; and attention to
its laws is the confirmation of immortality ; and
immortality causes nearness to God. The de-
sire of wisdom leads, then, to the kingdom." *♦

For he teaches, as I think, that true instruc-
tion is desire for knowledge ; and the practical
exercise of instruction produces love of knowl-
edge. And love is the keeping of the command-
ments which lead to knowledge. And the
keeping of them is the establishment of the com-
mandments, from which immortality results.
" And immortality brings us near to God."

True knowledge found in the teaching of Christ

alone.

If, then, the love of knowledge produces im-
mortality, and leads the kingly man near to God
the King, knowledge ought to be sought till it is
found. Now seeking is an effort at grasping,
and finds the subject by means of certain signs.
And discovery is the end and cessation of in-

^ Or inoculation («»'o^OaA/*ia/*(k).

2 Wisd. vi. 12-15.
' Wibd. ii. x6.
* Wist! \i. 17-20

quiry, which has now its object in its grasp. And
this is knowledge. And this discovery, properly
so called, is knowledge, which is the apprehen-
sion of the object of search. And they say that
a proof is either the antecedent, or the coinci-
dent, or the consequent. The discovery, then,
of what is sought respecting God, is the teaching
through the Son ; and the proof of our Saviour
being the very Son of God is the prophecitr^
which preceded His coming, announcing Him ;
and the testimonies regarding Him which at-
tended His birth in the world ; in addition, His
powers proclaimed and openly shown after His
ascension.

The proof of the truth being with us, is the
fact of the Son of God Himself having taught
us. For if in every inquiry these universals are
found, a person and a subject, that which is truly
the truth is shown to be in our hands alone.
For the Son of God is the person of the tnith
which is exhibited ; and the subject is the power
of faith, which prevails over the opposition of
every one whatever, and the assault of the whole
world.

But since this is confessedly established by
eternal facts and reasons, and each one who
thinks that there is no Providence has already
been seen to deserve punishment and not con-
tradiction, and is truly an atheist, it is our aim
to discover what doing, and in what manner liv-
ing, we shall reach the knowledge of the sover-
eign God, and how, honouring the Divinity, we
may become authors of our own salvation.
Knowing and learning, not from the Sophists,
but from God Himself, what is well-pleasing to
Him, we endeavour to do what is just and holy.
Now it is well-pleasing to Him that we should
be saved \ and salvation is effected through both
well-doing and knowledge, of both of which the
Lord is the teacher.

If, then, according to Hato, it is only possible
to learn the truth either from God or from the
progeny of God, with reason we, selecting testi-
monies from the divine oracles, boast of learn-
ing the truth by the Son of God, prophesied at
first, and then explained.

Philosophy and heresies, aids in discovering the

truth.

But the things which co-operate in the dis-
covery of truth are not to be rejected. Philoso-
phy, accordingly, which proclaims a Providence,
and the recompense of a life of felicity, and the
punishment, on the other hand, of a life of
misery, teaches theology comprehensively; but
it does not preserve accuracy and particular
points ; for neither respecting the Son of God,
nor respecting the economy of Providence, does
it treat similarly with us ; for it did not know the
worship of (iod.

Chap. XV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

509

Wherefore also the heresies of the Barbarian
philosophy, although they speak of one God,
though they sing the praises of Christ, speak
without accuracy, not in accordance with truth ;
for they discover another God, and receive
Christ not as the prophecies deliver. But their
false dogmas, while they oppose the conduct that
is according to the truth, are against us. For
instance, Paul circumcised Timothy because of
the Jews who believed, in order that those who
had received their training from the law might
not revolt from the faith through his breaking
such points of the law as were understood more
carnally, knowing right well that circumcision
does not justify; for he professed that "all
things were for aH" by conformity, preserving
those of the dogmas that were essential, " that
he might gain all.** ' And Daniel, under the
king of the Persians, wore "the chain,"* though
he despised not the afflictions of the people.

The liars, then, in reality are not those who
for the sake of the scheme of salvation conform,
nor those who err in minute points, but those
who are wrong in essentials, and reject the Lord,
and as far as in them lies deprive the Lord of
the true teaching ; who do not quote or deliver
the Scriptures in a manner worthy of God and
of the Lord ; 3 for the deposit rendered to God,
according to the teaching of the Lord by His
apostles, is the understanding and the practice
of the godly tradition. " And what ye hear in
the ear " — that is, in a hidden manner, and in a
mystery (for such things are figuratively said to be
spoken in the ear) — " proclaim," He says, " on
the housetops," understanding them subHmely,
and delivering them in a lofty strain, and accord-
ing to the canon of the truth explaining the
Scriptures ; for neither prophecy nor the Saviour
Himself announced the divine mysteries simply
so as to be easily apprehended by all and sun-
dry, but express them in parables. The apostles
accordingly say of the Lord, that " He spake
all things in parables, and without a parable
spake He nothing unto them;"** and if "all
things were made by Him, and without Him was
not anything made that was made," s conse-
quently also prophecy and the law were by Him,
and were spoken by Him in parables. " But all
things are right," says the Scripture,^ "before
those who understand," that is, those who re-
ceive and observe, according to the ecclesias-
tical rule, the exposition of the Scriptures
explained by Him ; and the ecclesiastical rule is
the concord and harmony of the law and the

* 1 Cor. ix. 19. [Note tA Kvpia ntv IhytLarw,]

* Dan. V. 7, 29.

3 [The Scriptures the authority; the canon of interpretation is the
harmony of law and Gospel as first opened by Christ xlimself in the
walk to Emmaus. Luke xxiv. 13.]

* Matt. xiii. 34.
^ John t. 3.

^ Prov. v»ii. 9.

prophets in the covenant delivered at the com-
ing of the I>ord. Knowledge is then followed
by practical wisdom, and practical wisdom by
self-control : for it may be said that practical
wisdom is divine knowledge, and exists in those
who are deified ; but that self-control is mortal,
and subsists in those who philosophize, and are
not yet wise. But if virtue is divine, so is also
the knowledge of it ; while self-control is a sort
of imperfect wisdom which aspires after wisdom,
and exerts itself laboriously, and is not contem-
plative. As certainly righteousness, being hu-
man, is, as being a common thing, subordinate
to holiness, which subsists through the divine
righteousness ; ^ for the righteousness of the per-
fect man does not rest on civil contracts, or on
the prohibition of law, but flows from his own
spontaneous action and his love to God.

/Reasons for the meaning of Scripture being

veiled.

For many reasons, then, the Scriptures hide
the sense. First, that we may become inquisi-
tive, and be ever on the watch for the discovery
of the words of salvation. Then it was not suit-
able for all to understand, so that they might not
receive harm in consequence of taking in an-
other sense the things declared for salvation by
the Holy Spirit, Wherefore the holy mysteries
of the prophecies are veiled in the parables —
preserved for chosen men, selected to knowledge
in consequence of their faith ; for the style of
the Scriptures is parabolic. Wherefore also the
Lord, who was not of the world, came as one
who was of the world to men. For He was
clothed with all virtue ; and it was His aim to
lead man, the foster-child of the world, up to
the objects of intellect, and to the most essential
truths by knowledge, from one world to another.

Wherefore also He employed metaphorical
description ; for such is the parable, — a narra-
tion based on some subject which is not the
principal subject, but similar to the principal
subject, and leading him who understands to
what is the true and principal thing ; or, as some
say, a mode of speech presenting with vigour,
by means of other circumstances, what is the
principal subject.

And now also the whole economy which
prophesied of the Lord appears indeed a parable
to those who know not the truth, when one
speaks and the rest hear that the Son of God —
of Him who made the universe — assumed flesh,
and was conceived in the virgin's womb (as His
material body was produced), and subsequently.

7 Heinsius, in a note, remarks that Plato regarded oaiori?^ and
SiKatoavnf as identical, while others ascribe the former to the iminor-
tais (as also 9i^ki.%) \ oo-tonif , as the greater, comprehends StxaiocrvKi}.
He also amends the text. Instead of kokvw he reads i»^ KQf,vw n,
supplies Kara before 9tiaM hvnoxuvvv^v, and changes virapx'^vaai'
into vvapxovan.

510

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Hook VI.

a.s was the case, suffered and rose again, being
" to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the
(jreeks foolishness," as the apostle says.

But on the Scriptures being opened up, and
declaring the truth to those who have ears;, they
proclaim the very suffering endured by the flesh,
which the Lord assumed, to be " the power and
wisdom of God." And finally, the parabolic
style of Scripture being of the greatest antiquity,
as we have shown, abounded most, as was to be
expected, in the prophets, in order that the Holy
Spirit might show that the philosophers among
the Greeks, and the wise men among the Bar-
barians besides, were ignorant of the future
coming of the Lord, and of the mystic teaching
that was to be delivered by Him. Rightly then,
prophecy, in proclaiming the Lord, in order not
to seem to some to blaspheme while speaking
what was bevond the ideas of the multitude,
embodied its declarations in expressions capable
of leading to other conceptions. Now all the
prophets who foretold the Lord's coming, and
the holy mysteries accompanying it, were per-
secuted and killed. As also the Lord Himself,
in explaining the Scriptures to them, and His
disciples who preached the word like Him, and
subsequently to His life, used parables.' Whence
also Peter, in his Preachings speaking of the
apostles, says : " But we, unrolling the books of
the prophets which we possess, who name Jesus
Christ, partly in parables, partly in enigmas,
partly expressly and in so many words, find His
coming and death, and cross, and all the rest of
the tortures which the Jews inflicted on Him, and
His resurrection and assumption to heaven pre-
vious to the capture ' of Jerusalem. As it is writ-
ten. These things are all that He behoves to suffer^
and what should be after Him. Recognising
them, therefore, we have believed in God in con-
sequence of what is written respecting Him."

And after a little again he draws the inference
that the Scriptures owed their origin to the
divine providence, asserting as follows : " For
we know that God enjoined these things, and we
say nothing apart from the Scriptures."

Now the Hebrew dialect, like all the rest, has
certain properties, consisting in a mode of speech
which exhibits the national character. Dialect
is accordingly defined as a style of speech pro-
duced by the national character. But prophecy
is not marked by those dialects. For in the
Hellenic writings, what are called changes of
figures purposely produce obscurations, deduced
after the style of our prophecies. But this is
effected through the voluntary departure from

* fxer' aisTov to ^171' 1^ap*^aAo^^o. The translation of Hcrvcius,
which wc have followed, supposes the reading avroO instead of auroi^.
Others, retaining the latter, translated to Ctjiv naptfiaAovro (sacri-
ficed life). But the former is most to the author's purpose.

* If wc retain the reading of the text, we must translate ''found-
ing," and understand the reference to be to the descent of the new
Jerusalem. But it seems better to change the reading as above.

direct speech which takes place in metrical or
offhand diction. A figure, then, is a form of
speech transferred from what is literal to what is
not literal, for the sake of the composition, and
on account of a diction useful in speech.

But prophecy does not employ figurative
forms in the expressions for the sake of beauty
of diction. But from the fact that truth apper-
tains not to all, it is veiled in manifold way^.
causing the light to arise only on those who are
initiated into knowledge, who seek the truth
through love. The proverb, according to the
Barbarian philosophy, is called a mode of proph-
ecy, and the parable is so called, and the enigma
in addition. Further also, they are called "wis-
dom ; " and again, as something different from
it, " instruction and words of prudence," and
" turnings of words," and " true righteousness ; "
and again, " teaching to direct judgment," and
" subtlety to the simple," which is the result of
training, "and perception and thought," with
which the young catechumen is imbued.^ " He
who hears these prophets, being wise, will lie
wiser. And the intelligent man will acquire rule,
and will understand a parable and a dark saying,
the words and enigmas of the wise." *

And if it was the case that the Hellenic dia-
lects received their appellation from Hellen, the
son of Zeus, sumamed Deucalion, from the chro-
nology which we have already exhibited, it is
comparatively easy to perceive by how many
generations the dialects that obtained among
the Greeks are posterior to the language of the
Hebrews.

But as the work advances, we shall in each
section, noting the figures of speech mentione<i
above by the prophet,^ exhibit the gnostic motie
of life, showing it systematically according to the
rule of the truth.

Did not the Power also, that appeared to Her-
mas in the Vision, in the form of the Church,
give for transcription the book which she wished
to be made known to the elect? And this, he
says, he transcribed to the letter, without finding
how to complete the syllables.^ And this signi-
fied that the Scripture is clear to all, when taken
according to the bare reading; and that thi^
is the faith which occupies the place of the rudi-
ments. Wherefore also the figurative expression
is employed, " reading according to the letter ; *
while we understand that the gnostic unfolding
of the Scriptures, when faith has already reached
an advanced state, is likened to reading accord-
ing to the syllables.

Further, Esaias the prophet is ordered to take
" a new book, and write in it " 7 certain things ;

3 Prov. i. 1-4.

* Prov. i. 5, 6. [Elucidation IX.]

3 i.e., Solomon.

6 [This volume, p. ii, su^ra.]

7 Isa. viii. x.

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

5^1

the Spirit prophesying that through the exposition
of the Scriptures there would come afterwards
the sacred knowledge, which at that period was
still unwritten, because not yet known. For it
was spoken from the beginning to those only
who understand. Now that the Saviour has
taught the apostles, the unwritten rendering * of
the written [Scripture] has been handed down
also to us, inscribed by the power of God on
hearts new, according to the renovation of the
book. Thus those of highest repute among the
Greeks, dedicate the fruit of the pomegranate to
Hermes, who they say is speech, on account of
its interpretation. For speech conceals much.
Rightly, therefore, Jesus the son of Nave saw
Moses, when taken up [to heaven], double, —
one Moses with the angels, and one on the moun-
tains, honoured with burial in their ravines. And
Jesus saw this spectacle below, being elevated
by the Spirit, along also with Caleb. But both
do not see similarly But the one descended
ynih greater speed, as if the .weight he carried
was great ; while the other, on descending after
him, subsequently related the glory which he be-
held, being able to perceive more than the other,
as having grown purer; the narrative, in my
opinion, showing that knowledge is not the privi-
lege of all. Since some look at the body of the
Scriptures, the expressions and the names as
to the body of Moses ; while others see through to ■
the thoughts and what is signified by the names,
seeking the Moses that is with the angels.

Many also of those who called to the Lord
said, " Son of David, have mercy on me." ' A
few, too, knew Him as the Son of God ; as
Peter, whom also He pronounced blessed, " for
flesh and blood revealed not the truth to him,
but His Father in heaven," ' — showing that the
Gnostic recognises the Son of the Omnipotent,
not by His flesh conceived in the womb, but by
the F'ather's own power. That it is therefore
not only to those who read simply that the ac-
quisition of the truth is so difficult, but that not
even to those whose prerogative the knowledge
of the truth is, is the contemplation of it vouch-
safed all at once, the history of Moses teaches,
until, accustomed to gaze, a.' the Hebrews on
the glory of Moses, and the prophets of Israel
on the visions of angels, so we also become able
to look the splendours of truth in the face.

CHAP. XVI. — GNOSTIC EXPOSmON OF THE DECA-
LOGUE.

I^t the Decalogue be set forth cursorily by
us as a specimen for gnostic exposition.

* [In the walk to Emmaus. and by the Spirit bringing all things
to remembrance. John xiv. 26.]
« Mark x. 48, etc.
3 Matt. xvi. 17.

Thf number " Tenr

That ten is a sacred number, it is superfluous
to say now. And if the tables that were written
were the work of God, they will be found to
exhibit physical creation. For by the " finger
of God " is understood the power of God, by
which the creation of heaven and earth is ac-
complished ; of both of which the tables will
be understood to be symbols. For the writing
and handiwork of God put on the table is the
creation of the world.

And the Decalogue, viewed as an image of
heaven, embraces sun and moon, stars, clouds,
light, wind, water, air, darkness, fire. This is
the physical Decalogue of the heaven.

And the representation of the earth contains
men, cattle, reptiles, wild beasts ; and of the
inhabitants of the water, fishes and whales ; and
again, of the winged tribes, those that are car-
nivorous, and those that use mild food ; and of
plants likewise, both fruit-bearing and barren.
This is the physical Decalogue of the earth.

And the ark which held them ♦ will then be
the knowledge of divine and human things and
wisdom.5

And perhaps the two tables themselves may
be the prophecy ot the two covenants. They
were accordingly mystically renewed, as igno-
rance along with sin abounded. The command-
ments are written, then, doubly, as appears, for
twofold spirits, the niling and the subject.
" For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh." ^

And there is a ten in man himself: the five
senses, and the power of speech, and that of
reproduction ; and the eighth is the spiritual
principle communicated at his creation ; and
the ninth the ruling faculty of the soul ; and
tenth, there is the distinctive characteristic of the
Holy Spirit, which comes to him through faith.

Besides, in addition to these ten human parts,
the law appears to give its injunctions 7 to sight,
and hearing, and smell, and touch, and taste, and
to the organs subservient to these, which are
double — the hands and the feet. For such is
the formation of man. And the soul is intro-
duced, and previous to it the ruling faculty, by
which we reason, not produced in procreation ;
so that without it there is made up the number
ten, of the faculties by which all the activity of
man is carried out. For in order, straightway
on man*s entering existence, his life begins with
sensations. We accordingly assert that rational
and niling power is the cause of the constitution

4 i.e., the Commandments.

5 For perfect wisdom, which is knowledge of things divine and
human, wnich comprehends all that relates to the oversight of the
flock of men, becomes, in reference to life, art {^Instructors book ii.
chap. ii. p. 244, supra).

o Gal. V. 17.

7 The text reads ei^oAalf , which, however, Hervetus, Heinsius,
and Sylburgius, all concur in changing to the accusative, as above.

512

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

of the living creature ; also that this, the irra-
tional part, is animated, and is a part of it. Now
the vital force, in which is comprehended the
power of nutrition and growth, and generally of
motion, is assigned to the carnal spirit, which has
great susceptibility of motion, and passes in all
directions through the senses and the rest of the
body, and through the body is the primary sub-
ject of sensations. But the power of choice, in
which investigation, and study, and knowledge,
reside, belongs to the ruling faculty. But all
the faculties are placed in relation to one — the
ruling faculty : it is through that man lives, and
lives in a certain way. .

Through the corporeal spirit, then, man per-
ceives, desires, rejoices, is angry, is nourished,
grows. It is by it, too, that thoughts and con-
ceptions advance to actions. And when it mas-
ters the desires, the ruling faculty reigns.

The commandment, then, "Thou shalt not
lust," says, thou shalt not serve the carnal spirit,
but shall rule over it ; " For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit,"* and excites to disorderly
conduct against nature ; '' and the Spirit against
the flesh " exercises sway, in order that the con-
duct of the man may be according to nature.

Is not man, then, rightly said " to have been
made in the image of God?" — not in the
form of his [corporeal] structure ; but inasmuch
as God creates all things by the Word (Xo^),
and the man who has become a Gnostic per-
forms good actions by the faculty of reason (t<P
XoyLKw), properly therefore the two tables are
also said to mean the commandments that were
given to the twofold spirits, — those communi-
cated before the law to that which was created,
and to the ruling faculty ; and the movements
of the senses are both copied in the mind, and
manifested in the activity which proceeds from
the body. For apprehension results from both
combined. Again, £is sensation is related to the
world of sense, so is thought to that of intellect.
And actions are twofold — those of thought,
those of act.

T/ie First Commandment

The first commandment of the Decalogue
shows that there is one only Sovereign God ; ^
who led the people from the land of Egypt
through the desert to their fatherland ; that they
might apprehend His power, as they were able,
by means of the divine works, and withdraw
from the idolatry of created things, putting all
their hope in the true God.

The Second Commandment.
The second word ' intimated that men ought

« Gal. V. 17.
* Elx. XX. a, 3.

^ i. e., comnumdiiienu The Decalogue is in Hebrew called " the
tea words."

not to take and confer the august power of Go<i
(which is the name, for this alone were many
even yet capable of learning), and transfer His
title to things created and vain, which human
artificers have made, among which " He that is "
is not ranked. For in His uncreated identitv,
" He that is " is absolutely alone.

The Fourth Commandment.

And the fourth * word is that which intimates
that the world was created by God, and that
He gave us the seventh day as a rest, on ac-
count of the trouble that there is in life. For
God is incapable of weariness, and suflfering.
and want. But we who bear flesh need rest.
The seventh day, therefore, is proclaimed a rest
— abstraction from ills — preparing for the Pri-
mal Day,5 our true rest ; which, in truth, is the
first creation of light, in which all things are
viewed and possessed. From this day the first
wisdom and knowledge illuminate us. For the
light of truth — alight true, casting no shadow,
is the Spirit of God indivisibly divided to all.
who are sanctified by faith, holding the place of
a luminary, in order to the knowledge of real
existences. By following Him, therefore, through
our whole life, we become impassible ; and this
is to rest.^

Wherefore Solomon also says, that before
heaven, and earth, and all existences. Wisdom
had arisen in the Almighty; the participation
of which — that which is by power, I mean, not
that by essence — teaches a man to know by
apprehension things divine and human. Hav-
ing reached this point, we must mention these
things by the way; since the discourse ha^s
turned on the seventh and the eighth. For the
eighth may possibly turn out to be properly
the seventh, and the seventh manifestly the sixth,
and the latter properly the Sabbath, and the
seventh a day of work. For the creation of
the world was concluded in six days. For
the motion of the sun from solstice to solstice
is completed in six months — in the course of
which, at one time the leaves fall, and at
another plants bud and seeds come to maturity.
And they say that the embryo is perfected ex-
actly in the sixth month, that is, in one hundred
and eighty days in addition to the two and a
half, as Polybus the physician relates in his
book On the Eighth Months and Aristotle the
philosopher in his book On Nature. Hence
the Pythagoreans, as I think, reckon six the
perfect number, from the creation of the world,
according to the prophet, and call it Me-

4 The text has rpirof, but Sylburgius reads T^a^»nK, the third
being either omitted, or embraced in what is said of the second. The
next mentioned is the fifth.

5 i.e., Christ. [And the first day, or the Chrutian Sabbath.]

6 [Barnabas, vol. i. chap. xv. p. 146, this series.]

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

513

seuthys ' and Marriage, from its being the mid-
dle of the even numbers, that is, of ten and two.
For it is manifestly at an equal distance from
both.

And as marriage generates from male and
female, so six is generated from the odd number
three, which is called the masculine number, and
the even number two, which is considered the
feminine. For twice three are six.

Such, again, is the number of the most general
motions, according to which all origination takes
place — up, down, to the right, to the left, for-
ward, backward. Rightly, then, they reckon the
number seven motherless and childless, interpret-
ing the Sabbath, and figuratively expressing the
nature of the rest, in which " they neither marry
nor are given in marriage any more,"* For
neither by taking from one number and adding
to another of those within ten is seven produced ;
nor when added to any number within the tpn
does it make up any of them.

And they called eight a cube, counting the
fixed sphere along with the seven revolving ones,
by which is produced " the great year," as a
kind of period of recompense of what has been
promised.

Thus the Lord, who ascended the mountain,
the fourth,^ becomes the sixth, and is illuminated
all round with spiritual light, by laying bare the
power proceeding from Him, as far as those
selected to see were able to behold it, by the
Seventh, the Voice, proclaimed to be the Son of
God ; in order that they, persuaded respecting
Him, might have rest ; while He by His birth,
which was indicated by the sixth conspicuously
marked, becoming the eighth, might appear to be
Ck>d in a body of flesh, by displaying His power,
being numbered indeed as a man, but being con-
cealed as to who He was. For six is reckoned
in the order of numbers, but the succession of
the letters acknowledges the character which is
not written. In this case, in the numbers them-
selves, each unit is preserved in its order up to
seven and eight. But in the number of the
characters, 2^ta becomes six and Eta seven.

And the character* having somehow slipped
into writing, should we follow it out thus, the
seven became six, and the eight seven.

Wherefore also man is said to have been made
on the sixth day, who became faithful to Him
who is the sign (t<3 cTrwny/xwS), so as straightway
to receive the rest of the Lord*s inheritance.
Some such thing also is indicated by the sixth

' fi«rrv0vf , Pkitrm and cv^'c, between the even ones, applied by
the Pythagoreans to 6, a half-way between a and 10, the first and the
last even numbers of the dinary scale.

* Luke XX. 35.

^ i.e., with the three disciples.
^ * The numeral ^' = 6. This is said to be the Digamma in its
ori^nal place in the alphabet, and afterwards used in mss. and old
editions as a short form of o-t (Liddell and Scott's Lexicon).

5 That is, Christ, who answers to the numeral six.

hour in the scheme of salvation, in which man
was perfected. Further, of the eight, the in-
termediates are seven ; and of the seven, the
inter\'als are shown to be six. For that is another
ground, in which seven glorifies eight, and " the
heavens declare to the heavens the glory of
God."^

The sensible types of these, then, are the
sounds we pronounce. Thus the Lord Himself
IS called " Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end," ^ " by whom all things were made, and
without whom not even one thing was made." **
God*s resting is not, then, as some conceive, that
God ceased from doing. For, being good, if He
should ever cease from doing good, then would
He cease from being God, which it is sacrilege
even to say. The resting is, therefore, the order-
ing that the order of created things should be
preserved inviolate, and that each of the crea-
tures should cease from the ancient disorder.
For the creations on the different days followed
in a most important succession ; so that all things
brought into existence might have honour from
priority, created together in thought, but not
being of equal worth. Nor was the creation of
each signified by the voice, inasmuch as the
creative work is said to have made them at once.
For something must needs have been named first.
Wherefore those things were announced first,
from which came those that were second, all
things being originated together from one essence
by one power. For the will of God was one, in
one identity. And how could creation take place
in time, seeing time was born along with things
which exist.

And now the whole world of creatures bom
alive, and things that grow, revolves in sevens.
The first-bom princes of the angels, who have
the greatest power, are seven.' The mathema-
ticians also say that the planets, which perform
their course around the earth, are seven ; by
which the Chaldeans think that all which con-
cerns mortal life is effected through sympathy,
in consequence of which they also undertake to
tell things respecting the future.

And of the fixed stars, the Pleiades are seven.
And the Bears, by the help of which agriculture
and navigation are carried through, consist of
seven stars. And in periods of seven days the
moon undergoes its changes. In the first week
she becomes half moon ; in the second, full
moon ; and in the third, in her wane, again half
moon ; and in the fourth she disappears. Fur-
ther, as Seleucus the mathematician lays down,
she has seven phases. First, from being invisi-
ble she becomes crescent-shaped, then half

6 Ps. xix. I.

7 Rev, xxi, 6.
■ John i. -x.

9 [By RaSbinical tradition. But see Calmet, Diet. Bib., p. 78.]

514

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

moon, then gibbous and full ; and in her wane
again gibbous, and in like manner half moon and
crescent-shaped.

" On a seven-stringed lyre we shall sing new hymns,"

writes a poet of note, teaching us that the ancient
lyre was seven-toned. The organs of the senses
situated on our face are also seven — two eyes,
two passages of hearing, two nostrils, and the
seventh the mouth.

And that the changes in the periods of life
take place by sevens, the Elegies of Solon teach
thus : —

" The child, while still an infant, in seven years.
Produces and puts forth its fence of teeth ;
And when God seven years more completes,
He shows of puberty's approach the signs ;
And in the third, the beard on growing cheek
With down o'erspreads the bloom of changing skin;
And in the fourth septenniad, at his best
In strength, of manliness he shows the signs ;
And in the fifth, of marriage, now mature,
And of posterity, the man bethinks;
Nor does he yet desire vain works to see.
The seventh and eighth septenniads see him now
In mind and speech mature, till fifty years ;
And in the ninth he still has vigour left.
But strength and body arc for virtue great
Less than of yore ; when, seven years more, God brings
To end, then not too soon may he submit to die."

Again, in diseases the seventh day is that of
the crisis ; and the fourteenth, in which nature
struggles against the causes of the diseases. And
a myriad such instances are adduced by Her-
mippus of Berytus, in his book On the Number
Seven^ regarding it as holy.' And the blessed
David delivers clearly to those who know the
mystic account of seven and eight, praising thus :
" Our years were exercised like a spider. The
days of our years in them are seventy years ; but
if in strength, eighty years. And that will be to
reign." ' That, then, we may be taught that
the world was originated, and not suppose that
God made it in time, prophecy adds : " This is
.the book of the generation : also of the things in
them, when they were created in the day that
God made heaven and earth." ' For the ex-
pression " when they were created " intimates an
indefinite and dateless production. But the
expression " in the day that God made," that is,
in and by which God made " all things," and
" without which not even one thing was made,"
points out the activity exerted by the Son. As
David says, "This is the day which the Lord
hath made ; let us be glad and rejoice in it ; " ^
that is, in consequence of the knowledge s im-
parted by Him, let us celebrate the divine festi-

' [The honour pul upon this number in the Holy Scriptures is
obvious to all, and it seems to be wrought into nature by the author
of Scripture. But see Dan. viii. 13, the original, and {PahnoNt)
£ng. margin.]

2 Ps. xc. 9, 10.

3 Gen. ii. ^.

* Ps. cxviii. 24.
3 [i Cor. V. 7. J

val ; for the Word that throws light on things
hidden, and by whom each created thing came
into life and being, is called day.

And, in. fine, the Decalogue, by the letter
lota,^ signifies the blessed name, presenting
Jesus, who is the Word.

The Fifth Commandment,

Now the fifth in order is the command on the
honour of father and mother. And it clearly
announces God as Father and Lord. Where-
fore also it calls those who know Him sons and
gods. The Creator of the universe is their
Lord and Father ; and the mother is not, as
some say, the essence from which we sprang,
nor, as others teach, the Church, but the divine
knowledge and wisdom, as Solomon says, when
he terms wisdom " the mother of the just,"
and says that it is desirable for its own sake.
And the knowledge of all, again, that is love-
ly and venerable, proceeds from God through
the Son.

The Seiicnth Commandment,

This is followed by the command respecting
adultery. Now it is adultery, if one, abandon-
ing the ecclesiastical and true knowledge, and
the persuasion respecting God, accedes to false
and incongruous opinion, either by deifying any
created object, or by making an idol of any-
thing that exists not, so as to overstep, or rather
step from, knowledge. And to the Gnostic
false opinion is foreign, as the true belongs to
him, and is allied with him. Wherefore the
noble ap)ostle calls one of the kinds of fornica-
tion, idolatry,' in following the prophet, who
says : " [My people] hath committed fornica-
tion with stock and stone. They have said to
the stock. Thou art my father; and to the
stone, Thou hast begotten me." **

The Sixth Commandment.

Then follows the command about murder.
Now murder is a sure destruction. He, then,
that wishes to extirpate the true doctrine of
God and of immortality, in order to introduce
falsehood, alleging either that the universe is
not under Providence, or that the world is un-
created, or affirming anything against true doc-
trine, is most pernicious.

The Eighth Commandment.

And after this is the command respecting
theft. As, then, he that steals what is another's,
doing great wrong, rightly incurs ills suitable to

6 The first letter of the name of Jesus, and used as the sign ttf

ten.

7 In close conjunction with idolatry, fornication is mentionc<i,
I Col. iii. 5, Gal. v. 20, i Pet. iv. 3.
I * Jer. li. 27, iii. 9.

Chap. XVII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

515

his deserts ; so also does he, who arrogates to
himself divine works by the art of the statuary
or the painter, and pronounces himself to be
the maker of animals and plants. Likewise
those, too, who mimic the true philosophy are
thieves. Whether one be a husbandman or the
father of a child, he is an agent in depositing
seeds. But it is God who, ministering the
growth and perfection of all things, brings the
things produced to what is in accordance with
their nature. But the most, in comm'on also
with the philosophers, attribute growth and
changes to the stars as the primary cause, rob-
bing the Father of the universe, as far as in
them lies, of His tireless might.

The elements, however, and the stars — that
is, the administrative powers — are ordained for
the accomplishment of what is essential to the
administration, and are influenced and moved
by what is commanded to them, in the way in
which the Word of the Lord le^ds, since it is
the nature of the divine power to work all
things secretly. He, accordingly, who alleges
that he has conceived or made anything which
pertains to creation, will suffer the punishment
of his impious audacity.

The Tenth Commandments

And the tenth is the command respecting all
lusts. As, then, he who entertains unbecoming
desires is called to account ; in the same way
he is not allowed to desire things false, or to
suppose that, of created objects, those that are
animate have power of themselves, and that in-
animate things can at all save or hurt. And
should one say that an antidote cannot heal or
hemlock kill, he is unwittingly deceived. For
none of these operates except one makes use
of the plant and the drug ; just as the axe does
not without one to cut with it, or a saw with-
out one sawing with it. And as they do not
work by themselves, but have certain physical
quahties which accomplish their proper work by
the exertion of the artisan ; so also, by the uni-
versal providence of God, through the medium
of secondary causes, the operative power is prop-
agated in succession to individual objects.

CHAP. XVII. — PHILOSOPHY CONVEYS ONLY AN IM-
PERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

But, as appears, the philosophers of the
Greeks, while naming God, do not know Him.
But their philosophical speculations, according to
Empedocles, " as passing over the tongue of the
multitude, are poured out of mouths that know
little of the whole." For as art changes the
light of the sun into fire by passing it through

* [The ninth is not altogether omitted, but is supposed to be in-
cluded in the eighth. False testimony is theft of another's credit, or
ci another's truth. Migne, Strom. ^ vi. 361. Elucidation X.]

a glass vessel full of water, so also philosophy,
catching a spark from the divine Scripture, is
visible in a few. Also, as all animals breathe
the same air, some in one way, others in another,
and to a different purpose ; so also a consider-
able number of people occupy themselves with
the truth, or rather with discourse concerning
the truth. For they do not say aught respecting
God, but expound Him by attributing their own
affections to God. For they spend life in seek-
ing the probable, not the true. But truth is not
taught by imitation, but by instruction. For it
is not that we may seem good * that we believe
in Christ, as it is not alone for the purpose of
being seen, while in the sun, that we pass into
the sun. But in the one case for the purpose of
being warmed ; and in the other, we are com-
pelled to be Christians in order to be excellent
and good. For the kingdom belongs pre-emi-
nently to the violent,^ who, from investigation,
and study, and discipline, reap this fruit, that
they become kings.

He, then, who imitates opinion shows also
preconception. When then one, having got an
inkling of the subject, kindles it within in his
soul by desire and study, he sets everything in
motion afterwards in order to know it. For that
which one does not apprehend, neither does he
desire it, nor does he embrace the advantage
flowing from it. Subsequently, therefore, the
Gnostic at last imitates the Lord, as far as allowed
to men, having received a sort of quality akin
to the Lord Himself, in order to assimilation to
God. But those who are not proficient in
knowledge cannot judge the truth by rule. It
is not therefore possible to share in the gnostic
contemplations, unless we empty ourselves of
our previous notions. For the truth in regard
to ever)' object of intellect and of sense is thus
simply universally declared. For instance, we
may distinguish the truth of painting from that
which is vulgar, and decorous music from licen-
tious. There is, then, also a truth of philosophy
as distinct from the other philosophies, and a
true beauty as distinct from the spurious. It is
not then the partial truths, of which truth is predi-
cated, but the truth itself, that we are to inves-
tigate, not seeking to learn names. For what is
to be investigated respecting God is not one
thing, but ten thousand. There is a difference
between declaring God, and declaring things
about God. And to speak generally, in every-
thing the accidents are to be distinguished from
the essence.

Suffice it for me to say, that the Lord- of all
is God ; and I say the Lord of all absolutely,
nothing being left by way of exception.

Since, then, the forms of truth are two —

3 a-ya9ol ci« are supplied here to complete.
9 [Matt. xi. 4.]

5i6

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

the names and the things — some discourse of
names, occupying themselves with the beauties
of words : such are the philosophers among the
Greeks. But we who are Barbarians have the
things. Now it was not in vain that the Lord
chose to make use of a mean form of body ; so
that no one praising the grace and admiring the
beauty might turn his back on what was said,
and attending to what ought to be abandoned,
might be cut off from what is intellectual. We
must therefore occupy ourselves not with the
expression, but the meaning.

To those, then, who are not gifted ' with the
power of apprehension, and are not inclined to
knowledge, the word is not entrusted ; since also
the ravens imitate human voices, having no
understanding of the thing which they say. And
intellectual apprehension depends on faith.
Thus also Homer said : —

" Father of men and gods," ' —

knowing not who the Father is, or how He is
Father.

And as to him who has hands it is natural to
grasp, and to him who has sound eyes to see
the light ; so it is the natural prerogative of him
who has received faith to apprehend knowledge,
if he desires, on " the foundation " laid, to work,
and build up "gold, silver, precious stones." ^

Accordingly he does not profess to wish to
participate, but begins to do so. Nor does it
belong to him to intend^ but to be regal, and
illuminated, and gnostic. Nor does it appertain
to him to wish to grasp things in name, but in fact.

For God, being good, on account of the
principal part of the whole creation, seeing He
wishes to save it, was induced to make the rest
also ; conferring on them at the beginning this
first boon, that of existence. For that to be is
fer better than not to be, will be admitted by
every one. Then, according to the capabilities
of their nature, each one was and is made, ad-
vancing to that which is better.

So there is no absurdity in philosophy having
been given by Divine Providence as a prepara-
tory discipline for the perfection which is by
Christ ; unless philosophy is ashamed at learning
from Barbarian knowledge how to advance to
truth .^ But if " the very hairs are numbered,
and the most insignificant motions," how shall
not philosophy be taken into account ? For to
Samson power was given in his hair, in order
that he might perceive that the worthless arts
that refer to the things in this life, which lie and
remain on the ground after the departure of the
soul, were not given without divine power.

But it is said Providence, from above, from

* ovK drrtAiyirriicoif is substituted here for ovv arriAi^irTOic of the

text.

* Iliad, i, 544.

* I Cor. iii. la.

4 [See p. 303, sn/ra, this volume.]

what is of prime importance, as from the head,
reaches to all, " as the ointment," it is said,
" which descends to Aaron's beard, and to the
skirt of his garment " 5 (that is, of the great High
Priest, "by whom all things were made, and
without whom not even one thing was made "^) ;
not to the ornament of the body ; for Philosophy
is outside of the People, like raiment.^ The
philosophers, therefore, who, trained to their
own peculiar power of perception by the spirit
of perception, when they investigate, not a part
of philosophy, but philosophy absolutely, testify
to the truth in a truth-loving and humble spirit ;
if in the case of good things said by those even
who are of different sentiments they advance to
understanding, through the divine administra-
tion, and the ineffable Goodness, which always,
as far as possible, leads the nature of existences
to that which is better. Then, by cultivating the
acquaintance not of Greeks alone, but also oi
Barbarians, frgm the exercise common to their
proper intelligence, they are conducted to Faith.
And when they have embraced the foundation
of truth, they receive in addition the power of
advancing further to investigation. And thence
they love to be learners, and aspiring after
knowledge, haste to salvation.

Thus Scripture says, that " the spirit of per-
ception " was given to the artificers from God.^
And this is nothing else than Understanding,
a faculty of the soul, capable of studying
existences, — of distinguishing and comparing
what succeeds as like and unlike, — of enjoining
and forbidding, and of conjecturing the future.
And it extends not to the arts alone, but even to
philosophy itself.

Why, then, is the serpent called wise? Be-
cause even in its wiles there may be found a
connection, and distinction, and combination,
and conjecturing of the future. And so very
many crimes are concealed ; because the wicked
arrange for themselves so as by all means to
escape punishment.

And Wisdom being manifold, pervading the
whole world, and all human affairs, varies its ap-
pellation in each case. When it applies itself to
first causes, it is called Understanding {vorfm^).
When, however, it confirms this by demonstra
tive reasoning, it is termed Knowledge, and Wis-
dom, and Science. When it is occupied in what
pertains to piety, and receives without specula-
tion the primal Word ^ in consequence of the
maintenance of the operation in it, it is called
Faith. In the sphere of things of sense, estab-
lishing that which appears as being truest, it is

s Ps. cxxxiii. 3.

6 John i. 3.

7 i.e.f the body is the Jewish people, and philosophy is something
external to it, like the garment.

• Ex. xxviii. 3.
9 Christ.

Chap. XVII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

517

Right Opinion. In operations, again, performed
by skill of hand, it is Art But when, on the
other hand, without the study of primary causes,
by the observation of similarities, and by trans-
position, it makes any attempt or combination,
it is called Experiment. But belonging to it,
and supreme and essential, is the Holy Spirit,
which above all he who, in consequence of [di-
vine] guidance, has believed, receives after strong
faith. Philosophy, then, partaking of a more ex-
quisite perception, as has been shown from the
above statements, participates in Wisdom.

Logical discussion, then, of intellectual sub-
jects, with selection and assent, is called Dia-
lectics ; which establishes, by demonstration,
allegations respecting truth, and demolishes the
doubts brought forward.

Those, then, who assert that philosophy did
not come hither from God, all but say that God
does not know each particular thing, and that
He is not the cause of all good things ; if, indeed,
each of these belongs to the class of individual
things. But nothing that exists could have sub-
sisted at all, had God not willed. And if He
willed, then philosophy is from God, He having
willed it to be such as it is, for the sake of those
who not otherwise than by its means would
abstain from what is evil. For God knows all
things — not those only which exist, but those
also which shall be — and how each thmg shall
be. And foreseeing the particular movements,
" He surveys all things, and hears all things,"
seeing the soul naked within ; and possesses
from eternity the idea of each thing individually.
And what applies to theatres, and to the parts
of each object, in looking at, looking round, and
taking in the whole in one view, applies also to
God. For in one glance He views all things to-
gether, and each thing by itself; but not all
things, by way of primary intent.

Now, then, many things in life take their rise in
some exercise of human reason, having received
tlie kindling spark from God. For instance, health
by medicine, and soundness of body through
gymnastics, and wealth by trade, have their origin
and existence in consequence of Divine Provi-
dence indeed, but in consequence, too, of human
co-operation. Understanding also is from God.

But God's will is especially obeyed by the
free-will of good men. Since many advantages
are common to good and bad men : yet they are
nevertheless advantageous only to men of good-
ness and probity, for whose sake God -created
them. For it was for the use of good men that
the influence which is in God's gifts was origi-
nated. Besides, the thoughts of virtuous men are
produced through the inspiration ' of God ; the
soul being disposed in the way it is, and the di-

I iviirvoiav, preferred by Sylburgtus and the Latin translator to
the reading inivoiav.

vine will being conveyed to human souls, par-
ticular divine ministers contributing to such
services. For regiments of angels are distributed
over the nations and cities.* And, perchance,
some are assigned to individuals.^

The Shepherd, then, cares for each of his
sheep ; and his closest inspection is given to
those who are excellent in their natures, and are
capable of being most useful. Such are those fit
to lead and teach, in whom the action of Provi-
dence is conspicuously seen ; whenever either by
instruction, or government, or administration,
God wishes to benefit. But He wishes at all
times. Wherefore He moves those who are
adapted to useful exertion in the things which
pertain to virtue, and peace, and beneficence.
But all that is characterized by virtue proceeds
from virtue, and leads back to virtue. And it
is given either in order that men may become
good, or that those who are so may make use
of their natural advantages. For it co-operates
both in what is general and what is particular.
How absurd, then, is it, to those who attribute
disorder and wickedness to the devil, to make
him the bestower of philosophy, a virtuous thing !
For he is thus all but made more benignant to
the Greeks, in respect of making men good, than
the divine providence and mind.

Again, I reckon it is the part of law and of
right reason to assign to each one what is ap-
propriate to him, and belongs to him, and falls
to him. For as the lyre is only for the harper,
and the flute for the flute-player ; so good things
are the possessions of good men. As the na-
ture of the beneficent is to do good, as it is of
the fire to warm, and the light to give light, and
a good man will not do evil, or light produce
darkness, or fire cold ; so, again, vice cannot do
aught virtuous. For its activity is to do evil, as
that of darkness to dim the eyes.

Philosophy is not, then, the product of vice,
since it makes men virtuous ; it follows, then,
that it is the work of God, whose work it is
solely ,to do good. And all things given by
God are given and received well.

Further, if the practice of philosophy does
not belong to the wicked, but was accorded to
the best of the Greeks, it is clear also from what
source it was bestowed — manifestly from Provi-
dence, which assigns to each what is befitting in
accordance with his deserts." ^

Rightly, then, to the Jews belonged the Law,

' " When the Most High divided the nations, as He separated the
sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the nations according to the an-
gels of God" (Deut. xxxii. 8, Sept.). The Hcbrewr and the Latin
and A. V. have, " according to the number of the children of Israel."
[See this chapter, further, i»/ra.\

^ Lowth proposes to read Kara rovf ivi fxipovv instead of Kai ruii',
etc.; and Moiitfaucon, instead of ci'i'oi? ai^i? for avOptunois, But
the sense is, in any case, as given above.

* [ Here I venture to commend, as worthy of note, the speculations
of Edward King, on Malt. xxv. 32. Morsels of Criticiini^ vol. i.
p. 333. Ed. London, 1788.]

5i8

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI.

and to the Greeks Philosophy, until the Advent ;
and after that came the universal calling to be
a peculiar people of righteousness, through the
teaching which flows from faith, brought to-
gether by one Lord, the only God of both
Greeks and Barbarians, or rather of the whole
race of men. We have often called by the name
philosophy that portion of truth attained through
philosophy, although but partial/

Now, too what is good in the arts as arts,*
have their beginning from God. For as the
doing of anything artistically is embraced in the
rules of art, so also acting sagaciously is classed
under the head of sagacity {4>p6vr}arL^) , Now
sagacity is virtue, and it is its function to know
other things, but much more especially what
l^elongs to itself. And Wisdom (2.></>ta) being
power, is nothing but the knowledge of good
things, divine and human.

But " the earth is God's, and the fulness
thereof," ^ says the Scripture, teaching that good
things come from God to men ; it being through
divine p)ower and might that the distribution of
them comes to the help of man.

Now the modes of all help and communica-
tion from one to another are three. One is, by
attending to another, as the master of gymnas-
tics, in training the boy. The second is, by
assimilation, as in the case of one who exhorts
another to benevolence by practising it before.
The one co-operates with the learner, and the
other benefits him who receives. The third
mode is that by command, when the gymnastic
master, no longer training the learner, nor show-
ing in his own person the exercise for the boy to
imitate, prescribes the exercise by name to him,
as already proficient in it.

The Gnostic, accordingly, having received
from God the power to be of service, benefits
some by disciplining them, by bestowing atten-
tion on them ; others, by exhorting them, by as-
similation ; and others, by training and teaching
them, by command. And certainly he himself is
equally benefited by the Lord. Thus, then, the
benefit that comes fi'om God to men becomes
known — angels at the same time lending en-
couragement.^ For by angels, whether seen or
not, the divine power bestows good things. Such
was the mode adopted in the advent of the Lord.
And sometimes also the power "breathes" in
men's thoughts and reasonings, and " puts in "
their hearts " strength " and a keener percep-
tion, and furnishes " prowess " and " boldness of
alacrity " 5 both for researches and deeds.

* [Cap. xyiii., i>{/ra.]_

2 r or u*c ei* rtxvf^a it is proposed to read wf av ai rex^o*.

3 Ps. xxiv, i; 1 Cor. x. 26.

* [Sec sH^ra, this chapter; and, in/ra, book vii. \:ap. i.)

5 Bhic-eycd .Athene inspired him with prowess." — Iliad, x. 482.
" And put excessive boldness m his breast." — I liad^ xvii. 570.
"To Diomede son of Tydeus Pallas Athene gave strength and \
boldness." — Iliady v. i, a.

But exposed for imitation and assimilation are
truly admirable and holy examples of virtue in
the actions put on record. Further, the depart-
ment of action is most conspicuous both in the
testaments of the Lord, and in the laws in force
among the Greeks, and also in the precepts of
philosophy.

And to speak comprehensively, all benefit
appertaining to life, in its highest reason, pro-
ceeding from the Sovereign God, the Father who
is over all, is consummated by the Son, who also on
this account " is the Saviour of all men," says the
apostle, " but especially of those who believe." '■
But in respect of its immediate reason, it is from
those next to each, in accordance with the com-
mand and injunction of Him who is nearest the
First Cause, that is, the Lord.

CHAP. XVm. — THE USE OF PHILOSOPHY TO THE

GNOSTIC.

Greek philosophy the recreation of the Gnostic.

Now our Gnostic always occupies himself with
the things of highest importance. But if at any
time he has leisure and time for relaxation from
what is of prime consequence, he applies him-
self to Hellenic philosophy in preference to other
recreation, feasting on it as a kind of dessert at sup-
per.^ Not that he neglects what is superior ; but
that he takes this in addition, as long as proper, for
the reasons I mentioned above. But those who
give their mind to the unnecessary and superfluo'.>
points of philosophy, and addict themselves to
wrangling sophisms alone, abandon what is nectri-
sary and most essential, pursuing plainly the
shadows of words.

It is well indeed to know all. But the man
whose soul is destitute of the ability to reach to
acquaintance with many subjects of study, will
select the principal and better subjects alone.
For real science (cTrtonyftiy, which we affirm the
Gnostic alone possesses) is a sure comprehension
(KaraAT/i/ri?), leading up through true and sure
reasons to the knowledge (Tvwo-t?) of the cause.
And he, who is acquainted with what is true
respecting any one subject, becomes of couibc
acquainted with what is false respecting it.

Philosophy necessary.

For truly it appears to me to be a proper
point for discussion, Whether we ought to phil-
osophize : for its terms are consistent.

But if we are not to philosophize, what then ?
(For no one can condemn a thing without fir^i
knowing it) : the consequence, even in that
case, is that we must philosophize.^

* I Tim. iv. 10.

7 [The proportion to be observed between the study of what is
secular and that of the Scriptures, according to Clement. J

' The author's meaning is, that it is only by a process of ;'•
osophic.'tl reasoning that you can decide whetMr philosophy is po&sr -.
valid, or useful. Vou must philosophic in order to decide whcth^-
you ought or ought not to philosophize.

Chap. XVIIL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

5^9

First of all, idols are to be rejected.

Such, then, being the case, the Greeks ought
by the Law and the Prophets to learn to worship
one God only, the only Sovereign ; then to be
taught by the apostle, "but to us an idol is
nothing in the world," ' since nothing among '
created things can be a likeness of God ; and
further, to be taught that none of those images
which they worship can be similitudes : for the
race of souls is not in form such as the Greeks
fashion their idols. For souls are invisible ; not
only those that are rational, but those also of the
other animals. And their bodies never become
parts of the souls themselves, but organs — pEU'tly
as seats, partly as vehicles — and in other cases
possessions in various ways. But it is not pos-
sible to copy accurately even the likenesses
of the organs ; since, were it so, one might
model the sun, as it is seen, and take the like-
ness of the rainbow in colours.

After abandoning idols, then, they will hear
the Scripture, " Unless your righteousness exceed
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees " *
(who justified themselves in the way of abstinence
from what was evil), — so as, along with such
perfection as they evinced, and ** the loving of
your neighbour," to be able also to do good, —
you shall not " be kingly." 3

For intensification of the righteousness which :
is according to the law shows the Gnostic. So
one who is placed in the head, which is that
which rules its own body — and who advances
to the summit of faith, which is the knowledge
{gnosis) itself, for which all the organs of per-
ception exist — will likewise obtain the highest
inheritance.

The primacy of knowledge the apostle shows
to those capable of reflection, in writing to those
Greeks of Corinth, in the following terms : " But
having hope, when your faith is increased, that ;
we shall be magnified in you according to our
rule abundantly, to preach the Gospel beyond
you." ^ He does not mean the extension of his
preaching locally : for he says also that in Achaia
faith abounded ; and it is related also in the Acts
of the Apostles that he preached the word
in Athens.5 But he teaches that knowledge
(gnosis), which is the perfection of faith, goes
beyond catechetical instruction, in accordance
with the magnitude of the Lord's teaching and
the rule of the Church.^ Wherefore also he pro-
ceeds to add, " And if I am rude in speech, yet
I am not in knowledge." 7

* I Cor. viii. 4.

^ Matt. ▼. 30; Jas. ii. 8

3 ^oaiAtKo*, Jas. ii. 8 (royal law).

♦ 2 Cor. X. 15, 16.
5 Acts xvii.

*• [Canon-law referred to as already recognised. And see 2 Cor.
'• *3~i5 (Greek), as to a certain ecclesiastical rule or canon observed
by the apostles. It may refer, primarily, to (Gal. ii. 9) limitations
of apostolic work and jurisdiction. See Bunsen, iii. 217.]

^ 2 Cor xi. 6.

Whence is the knowledge of truth ?

But let those who vaunt on account of having
apprehended the truth tell us from whom they
boast of having heard it. They will not say
from God, but will admit that it was from men.
And if so, it is either from themselves that they
have learned it lately, as some of them arrogantly
boast, or fi'om others like them. But human
teachers, speaking of God, are not reliable, as
men. For he that is man cannot speak worthily
the truth concerning God : the feeble and mor-
tal [cannot speak worthily] of the Unoriginated
and Incorruptible — the work, of the Workman.
Then he who is incapable oif speaking what is
true respecting himself, is he not much less relia-
ble in what concerns God ? For just as far as
man is inferior to God in power, so much feebler
is man's speech than Him ; although he do not
declare God, but only speak about God and the
divine word. For human speech is by nature
feeble, and incapable of uttering God. I do not
say His name. For to name it is common, not
to philosophers only, but also to poets. Nor
[do I say] His essence ; for this is impossible,
but the power and the works of God.

Those even who claim God as their teacher,
with difficulty attain to a conception of God,
grace aiding them to the attainment of their
modicum of knowledge ; accustomed as they are
to contemplate the will [of God] by the will,
and the Holy Spirit by the Holy Spirit. " For
the Spirit searches the deep things of God. But
the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit." «

The only wisdom, therefore, is the God-taught
wisdom we possess ; on which depend all the
sources of wisdom, which make conjectures at
the truth.

Intimations of the Teacher* s advent.

Assuredly of the coming of the Lord, who has
taught us, to men, there were a myriad indicators,
heralds, preparers, precursors, from the begin-
ning, from the foundation of the world, intimat-
ing beforehand by deeds and words, prophesying
that He would come, and where, and how, what
should be the signs. From afar certainly Law
and Prophecy kept Him in view beforehand.
And then the precursor pointed Him out as
present. After whom the heralds point out by
their teaching the virtue of His manifestation.

Universal diffusion of the Gospel a contrast to

philosophy.

The philosophers, however, chose to [teach
philosophy] to the Greeks alone,^ and not even
to all of them ; but Socrates to Plato, and Plato

* I Cor. ii. 10, 14.

9 Following Hcrvetus, the Latin translator, who interpolates into
the text here, as seems necessary, oi ^iAo<r(M^ot Tots'EAAijo-i.

520

ELUCIDATIONS.

to Xenocrates, Aristotle to Theophrastus, and
Zeno to Cleanthes, who persuaded their own
followers alone.

But the word of our Teacher remained not in
Judea alone, as philosophy did in Greece ; but
was diffused over the whole world, over every
nation, and village, and town, bringing already
over to the truth whole houses, and each individ-
ual of those who heard it by him himself, and
not a few of the philosophers themselves.

And if any one ruler whatever prohibit the
Greek philosophy, it vanishes forthwith.' But
our doctrine on its very first proclamation was
prohibited by kings and tyrants together, as well
as particular rulers and governors, with all their
mercenaries, and in addition by innumerable
men, warring against us, and endeavouring as
far as they could to exterminate it. But it

< fThe imperishable nature of the Gospel, forcibly contrasted
with the evanesoence of philosophy.]

flourishes the more. For it dies not, as human
doctrine dies, nor fades as a fragile gift. For
no gift of God is fragile. But it remains un-
checked, though prophesied as destined to be
persecuted to the end. Thus Plato writes of
poetry : " A poet is a light and a sacred thing,
and cannot write poetry till he be inspired and
lose his senses." And Democritus similarly :
** Whatever things a poet writes with divine
afflatus, and with a sacred spirit, are very beau-
tiful." And we know what sort of things poets
say. And shall no one be amazed at the proph-
ets of God Almighty becoming the organs of
the divine voice ?

Having then moulded, as it were, a statue of
the Gnostic, we have now shown who he is ;
indicating in outline, as it were, both the great-
ness and beauty of his character. What he is
as to the study of physical phenomena shall be
shown afterwards, when we begin to treat of the
creation of the world.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Gentlemen of the Jury, cap. ii. p. 485.)

This strange rendering of a> SvSpt^ Sucaxrral (which we were taught to translate O ju/fic^s, in
our school-days) occurs three times on this page, and I felt bound to retain it. But why impon
such an anachronism into the author's work, and the forensic eloquence of the Athenians ? Better
do violence to idiom, like our English Bible (" men and brethren "), and say, O men and judges.
Why not Juices ? See Sharon Turner {Atigio- Saxons, i. p. 476) and Freeman {Norman Conqt4^st,
V. p. 451).

II.

(Aristobulus, cap. iii. p. 487, note 7.)

In addition to the note in ioc, it may be well to mention the Stromata (book i. cap. xv.
p. 316), as another place where this name occurs. The learned Calmet (Works, tom. ix. p. 1 2 1 ),
in his Diet Critic^ has a valuable statement as to the difficulties connected with this name and
the probability that there were two so called, who have been confused in the citations and refer-
ences of authors.

III.

(Egyptians, cap. iv. p. 488.)

The paradoxical genius of Warburton ought not to dissuade us from enjo>ang the amusement
and instruction to be found in his Diinne Legation, In many respects he reminds me of this great
Alexandrian Father, and they are worthy of being studied together. I^t me instance, in connec-
tion with this subject, the second book, e.g. p. 151, on Metempsychosis (Kurd's Edition, vol. ii.
1811).

ELUCIDATIONS. 521

/ ■■ ■ :-.^ -■.,•■ •

IV. -„/, ., .- . ,

(Egyptian Women, book vi. cap. iv. p. 488.) ^ ' > « . ^ ♦ a >

" Last^ about women," says our author ; and one would infer least But Rawlinson {Herod,,
vol. ii. p. 47, ed. New York) has a long and learned note on this subject. " Queens made of-
ferings with the kings, and the monuments show that an order of women were employed in the
service of the gods." . . . Then he says, " A sort of monastic institution seems to have originated
in Egypt at an early time, and to have been imitated afterwards, when the real conventual system
was set on foot by the Christians, in the same country." This may be worthy of being borne in
mind, when we come to the coenobitic life of the Thebaid, which lies, indeed, beyond the limits
of our ante-Nicene researches. But persecution had already driven Christians to the desert ; and
the ascetic type of piety, with which the age and its necessities imprinted the souls of many devout
women, may have led them at a very early period to the " imitation " of which Rawlinson speaks.
The " widows " recognised by the ante-Nicene canons, would naturally become the founders of
" widows* houses," such as are to be seen among the pious Moravians in our times. (See Bunsen,
HippoLy iii. p. 81.)

(Philosophy, cap. vii. p. 493.)

In justice to Clement's eulogies of philosophy, we must constantly bear in mind his reiterated
definitions. We have here a very important outline of his Christian Eclecticism^ which, so far
from clashing with St. Paul's scornful references to Geiltile wisdom, seems to me in absolute cor-
respondence with his reference to " science /^liJf^r/^' so called^' (i Tim. vi. 20). So, when the
apostle identifies philosophy with " the rudiments of the world," he adds, " and not after Christ."
Now, Clement's eclectic system yokes all true philosophy to the chariot-wheels of the Messiah,
as in this instance ; making all true science hinge upon " the knowledge of the Son of God."
How these chapters shine in contrast even with Plato.

VI.

(Numbers, cap. xi. p. 499.)

The marvellous system of numbers which runs through all revelation, and which gives us the
name Palmont (English m£u-gin) in a remarkable passage of Daniel (viii. 13), has lately excited
fresh interest among the learned in England and America. Doubtless the language of St. John
(Rev. xiii. 18), " Here is wisdom," etc., influenced the early Church in what seems to us purely
fanciful conjectures and combinations like these. Two unpretending little books have lately struck
me as quite in the spirit of the ante-Nicene Fathers : The Number Counted^ and the Name
Counted^ by J. A. Upjohn (Appleton, Wis., 1883).

VII.

(The Gnostic, cap. xi. p. 501.)

The Gnostic " conjectures things future," i.e., by the Scriptures. " He shall show you things to
come," said the Divine Master, speakmg of the Blessed Comforter. To what extent did these
ancients, in their esoteric conjectures, anticipate the conversion of the empire, and the evils that
were to follow ? This they could not publish ; but the inquiry deserves thought, and there are
clues for inquirers.

522 ELUCIDATIONS.

VIII.

(Ultimate Issues, cap. xiii. p. 504.)

With reference to the choice of Judas to be an apostle, and like mysteries, this seems to me a bit
of calm philosophy, worthy of the childlike faith of the early Christians. I confess great obliga-
tions to a neglected American author, with reference to such discussions (see Bledsoe, Huodicy,
New York, 1854).

IX.

(Enigmas, cap. xv. p. 510.)

We are often troubled by this Oriental tendency to teach by myths and mysteries ; but the
text here quoted from the Proverbs, goes far to show that it is rooted in human nature, and that
God himself has condescended to adopt it. Like every gift of God, it is subject to almost
inevitable corruption and abuse.

(Omissions, cap. xvi. p. 515.)

The omissions in Clement's Pecalogue are worthy of remark, and I can only account for
them by supposing a defective text. Kaye might have said more on the subjeet ; but he suggests
this as the solution of the difficulty, when he says (p. 201), ^^ As the text now stands^ Clement
interprets only eight out of the ten."

P.S. — I have forebome to say anything on "the descent into hell," in my annotations (on
cap. vi.), for obvious reasons of propriety ; but, for an entire system of references to the whole
subject, I name Ezra Abbot's Catalogue^ appended to Alger's History, etc. (Philadelphia, 1864.)

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK VII.

CHAP. I. — THE GNOSTIC A TRUE WORSHIPPER OF
GOD, AND UNJUSTLY CALUMNIATED BY UNBE-
LIEVERS AS AN ATHEIST.

It is now time to show the Greeks that the
Gnostic alone is truly pious ; so that the phi-
losophers, learning of what description the true
Christian is, may condemn their own stupidity
in rashly and inconsiderately persecuting the
[Christian] name, and without reason calling
those impious who know the tme God. And
clearer arguments must be employed, I reckon,
with the philosophers, so that they may be able,
from the exercise they have already had through
their own training, to understand, although they
have not yet shown themselves worthy to par-
take of the power of believing.

The prophetic sayings we shall not at present
advert to, as we are to avail ourselves of the
Scriptures subsequently at the proper places.
But we shall point out summarily the points
indicated by them, in our delineation of Chris-
tianity, so that by taking the Scriptures at once
(especially as they do not yet comprehend their
utterances), we may not interrupt the continuity
of the discourse. But after pointing out the
things indicated, proofs shall be shown in abun-
dance to those who have believed.

But if the assertions made by us appear to
certain of the multitude to be different from the
Scriptures of the Lord, let it be known that it is
from that source that they have breath and life ;
and taking their rise from them, they profess to
adduce the sense only, not the w^ords. For fur-
ther treatment, not being seasonable, will rightly
appear superfluous. Thus, not to look at what
is urgent would be excessively indolent and
defective ; and " blessed, in tnith, are they
who, investigating the testimonies of the Lord,
shall seek Him with their whole heart." ' And
the law and the prophets witness of the Lord.

' Ps. cxlx. a.

It is, then, our purpose to prove that the
Gnostic alone is holy and pious, and worships the
true God in a manner worthy of Him ; and that
worship meet for God is followed by loving and
being loved by God. He accordingly judges all
excellence to be honourable according to its
worth ; and judges that among the objects per-
ceived by our senses, we are to esteem rulers,
and parents, and every one advanced in years ;
and among subjects of instruction, the most
ancient philosophy and primeval prophecy ; and
among intellectual ideas, what is oldest in origin,
the timeless and unoriginated First Principle,
and Beginning of existences — the Son — from
whom we are to learn the remoter Cause, the
Father, of the universe, the most ancient and
the most beneficent of all ; not capable of ex-
pression by the voice, but to be reverenced with
reverence, and silence, and holy wonder, and
supremely venerated ; declared by the Lord, as
far as those who learned were capable of com-
prehending, and understood by those chosen by
the Lord to acknowledge ; " whose senses," says
the apostle, "were exercised."*

The service of God, then, in the case of the
Gnostic, is his soul's continual study ' and occu-
pation, bestowed on the Deity in ceaseless love.
For of the service bestowed on men, one kind
is that whose aim is improvement, the other
ministerial. The improvement of the body is
the object of the medical art, of the soul of
philosophy. Ministerial service is rendered to
parents by children, to rulers by subjects.

Similarly, also, in the Church, the elders
attend to the department which has improve-
ment for its object; and the deacons to the
ministerial. In both these ministries the angels*
serve God, in the management of earthly affairs ;
and the Gnostic himself ministers to God, and

* Heb. V. 14.

3 Or, as rendered by the Latin translator, " continual care for his
soul and occupaiion, bestowed on the Deity," etc.

* [Book VI. cap. 13, x7</ra.J

524

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII.

exhibits to men the scheme of improvement, in
the way in which he has been appointed to
discipline men for their amendment. For he is
alone pious that serves God rightly and unblame-
ably in human affairs. For as that treatment of
plants is best through which their fniits are pro-
duced and gathered in, through knowledge and
skill in husbandry, affording men the benefit
accming from them ; so the piety of the Gnostic,
taking to itself the fruits of the men who by his
means have believed, when not a few attain to
knowledge and are saved by it, achieves by his
skill the best harvest. And as Godliness (Oeo-
TTpcVcia) is the habit which preserves what is
becoming to God, the godly man is the only
lover of God, and such will he be who knows
what is becoming, both in respect of knowledge
and of the life which must be lived by him, who
is destined to be divine (d€a»), and is already
being assimilated to God. So then he is in the
first place a lover of God. For as he who hon-
ours his father is a lover of his father, so he who
honours God is a lover of God.

Thus also it appears to me that there are
three effects of gnostic power : the knowledge
of things ; second, the performance of whatever
the Word suggests ; and the third, the capability
of delivering, in a way suitable to God, the
secrets veiled in the truth.

He, then, who is persuaded that God is om-
nipotent, and has learned the divine mysteries
from His only-begotten Son, how can he be an
atheist (a^cos) ? For he is an atheist who thinks
that God does not exist. And he is superstitious
who dreads the demons ; who deifies all things,
both wood and stone ; and reduces to bondage
spirit, and man who possesses the life of reason.'

CHAP. II. — THE SON THE RULER AND SAVIOUR OF

ALL.

To know * God is, then, the first step of faith ;

( then, through confidence in the teaching of the

Saviour, to consider the doing of wrong in any

way as not suitable to the knowledge of God.

y^ So the best thing on earth is the most pious

f man ; and the best thing in heaven, the nearer in

place and purer, is an angel, the partaker of the

eternal and blessed life. But the nature of

the Son, which is nearest to Him who is alone

the Almighty One, is the most perfect, and most

. X. ; M»l most potent, and most princely, and

•^ t .i.:.;!y, and most beneficent. This is the

. -;! •^t excellence, which orders all things in

1 t\<A.iV' c with the Father's will, and holds the

' oi the universe in the best way, with un-

* Potter's text has iraraSc^vAw/ui«i^i' —which Lowth changes
into KaTajS^iovkftfiiviKf nominative; and this has been adopted in the
translation. The thought is the •same aus in ExhortatioH to the
I /eat Mr n [cap. ii. p. 177, supra.^

2 This sentence has been thus rendered by Sylburgius and by Bp.
Kaye. Ixjwth, however, suggests the suppl>;ing of ivtpytl, or some-
thing similar, to govern ire trot 9i}<n»', confidence.

wearied and tireless power, working all things in
which it operates, keeping in view its hidden de-
signs. For from His own point of view the Son of
God is never displaced ; not being divided, not
severed, not passing from place to place ; being
always everywhere, and being contained nowhere :
complete mind, the complete paternal light : all
eyes, seeing all things, hearing all things, know-
ing all things, by His power scrutinizing the
powers. To Him is placed in subjection all the
host of angels and gods ; He, the paternal Word,
exhibiting 3 the holy administration for Him who
put [all] in subjection to Him.

Wherefore also all men are His ; some through
knowledge, and others not yet so ; and some as
friends, some as faithful servants, some as ser-
vants merely. This is the Teacher, who trains
the Gnostic by mysteries, and the believer by
good hopes, and the hard of heart by corrective
discipline through sensible operation. 'I'hence
His providence is in private, in public, and
everywhere.

And that He whom we call Saviour and Lord
is the Son of God, the prophetic Scriptures ex-
plicitly prove. So the Lord of all, of Greeks and
of Barbarians, persuades those who are willing.
For He does not compel him* who (through
choosing and fulfilling, from Him, what pertains
to laying hold of it the hope) is able to receive
salvation from Him. -^

It is He who also gave philosophy to the
Greeks by means of the inferior angels. For by
an ancient and divine order the angels are dis-
tributed among the nations.s But the glor}- of
those who believe is ** the Lord's portion." For
either the Lord does not care for all men ; and
this is the case either because He is unable
(which is not to be thought, for it would be a
proof of weakness), or because He is unwilling,
which is not the attribute of a good being. And
He who for our sakes assumed flesh capable of
suffering, is far from being luxuriously indolent.
Or He does care for all, which is befitting for
Him who has become Lord of all. For He is
Saviour; not [the Saviour] of some, and of
others not. But in proportion to the adaptation
possessed by each. He has dispensed His benefi-
cence both to Greeks and Barbarians, even to
those of them that were predestinated, and in
due time called, the faithful and elect. Nor can
He who called all equally, and assigned special
honours to those who have believed in a specially
excellent way, ever envy any. Nor can He who
is the Lord of all, and serves above all the will of
the good and almighty Father, ever be hindered

3 XvaB^bttyyiivw. Instead of this, avoJcJc-yMci^t *' having iv-
ceived," has been su^ested by Sylburgius.

* By omitting " him" {rov), as Sylbutgius does, the translatton
would run thus: " For He compeb no one to receive salvation froa:
Him, because he is able to choose and fulfil from himself what per-
tains to the laying hold of the hope."

s Deut. xxxii. 8, 9, Scptuagint, quoted already more than onoe.

Chap. II.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

525

by another. But neither does envy touch the
Lord, who without beginning was impassible ; nor
are the things of men such as to be envied by the
I ^ord. But it is another, he whom passion hath
touched, who envies. And it cannot be said
that it is from ignorance that the Lord is not
willing to save humanity, because He knows not
how each one is to be cared for. For ignorance
applies not to the God who, before the founda-
tion of the world, was the counsellor of the
F'ather. For He was the Wisdom " in which "
the Sovereign God "delighted.'* ' For the Son
is the power of God, as being the Father's most
ancient Word before the production of all things,
and His Wisdom. He is then properly called
the Teacher of the "beings formed by Him. Nor
does He ever abandon care for men, by being
drawn aside from pleasure, who, having assumed
flesh, which by nature is susceptible of suffering,
trained it to the condition of impassibility.

And how is He Saviour and Lord, if not the

Saviour and Lord of all ? But He is the Saviour

of those who have believed, because of their

wishing to know ; and the Lord of those who

have not believed, till, being enabled to confess

him, they obtain the peculiar and appropriate

boon which comes by Him.

/- Now the energy of the Lord has a reference

to the Almighty ; and the Son is, so to speak,

an energy of the Father. Therefore, a hater of

man, the Saviour can never be ; who, for His

exceeding love to human flesh, despising not its

susceptibility to suffering, but investing Himself

with it, came for the common salvation of men \

for the faith of those who have chosen it, is

common. Nay more. He will never neglect His

own work, because man alone of all the other

living creatures was in his creation endowed

with a conception of God. Nor can there be

any other better and more suitable government

for men than that which is appointed by God.

It is then always proper for the one who is
superior by nature to be over the inferior, and
for him who is capable of managing aught well
to have the management of it assigned to him.
Now that which truly rules and presides is the
Divine Word and His providence, which inspects
all things, and despises the care of nothing be-
longing to it.

Those, then, who choose to belong to Him,
are those who are perfected through faith. He,
the Son, is, by the will of the Almighty Father,
the cause of all good things, being the first
efficient cause of motion — a power incapable
of being apprehended by sensation. For what
He was, was not seen by those who, through the
weakness of the flesh, were incapable of taking
in [the reality]. But, having assumed sensitive

* Prov. ^ii. 30.

flesh, He came to show man what was possible
through obedience to the commandments. Be-
ing, then, the Father's power, He easily prevails
in what He wishes, leaving not even the minutest
point of His administration unattended to. For
othenvise the whole would not have been well
executed by Him.

But, as I think, characteristic of the highest
power is the accurate scrutiny of all the parts,
reaching even to the minutest, terminating in
the first Administrator of the universe, who by
the will of the Father directs the salvation of all ;
some overlooking, who are set under others, who
are set over them, till you come to the great
High Priest. For on one original first Principle,
which acts according to the [Father's] will, the
first and the second and the third depend.
Then at the highest extremity of the visible
world is the blessed band of angels ; * and down
to ourselves there are ranged, some under others,
those who, from One and by One, both are
saved and save.

As, then, the minutest particle of steel is moved
by the spirit of the Heraclean stone,^ when dif-
fused ^ over many steel rings ; so also, attracted
by the Holy Spirit, the virtuous are added by ,
affinity to the first abode, and the others in suc-
cession down to the last. But those who are
bad from infirmity, having fallen from vicious
insatiableness into a depraved state, neither con-
trolling nor controlled, rush round and round,
whirled about by the passions, and fall down to
the ground.

For this was the law from the first, that virtue
should be the object of voluntary choice.
Wherefore also the commandments, according
to the Law, and before the Law, not given to
the upright (for the law is not appointed for a
righteous man 5), ordained that he should receive
eternal life and the blessed prize, who chose them.

But, on the other hand, they allowed him who
had been delighted with vice to consort with the
objects of his choice ; and, on the other hand,
that the soul, which is ever improving in the ac-
quisition^ of virtue and the increase of righteous-
ness, should obtain a better place in the universe,
as tending in each step of advancement towards
the habit of impassibility, till " it come to a per-
fect man," ^ to the excellence at once of knowl-
edge and of inheritance.

These salutary revolutions, in act •.)••] :n< c \mOi
the order of change, are distinguihh^vl 1 < t.i .>\
times, and places, and honours, an' i-^ iii:.,j ^,
and heritages, and ministries, acc'^rd.-.ig tu {h/

2 [So called from HeracUa in Lydia.]

3 The magnet. [So called from the Lydian Magnesia.]

4 Lowth here reads eirrc *'0|AeVy, agreeing with irFcvfiari, instead
of ctcTcifOM'Cn}, as in the Oxford text.

5 I Tim. i. o.

6 Instead of ciriy^vii', the corrupt reading of the text, i.itiK'n^i.v
(as above), <irt£o<rti', and kxt' ^khrV^^ have been proposed.

7 Eph. iv. 13.

526

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII

particular order of each change, up to the tran-
scendent and continual contemplation of the
Lord in eternity.

Now that which is lovable leads, to the con-
templation of itself, each one who, from love of
knowledge, applies himself entirely to contem-
plation. Wherefore also the Ix)rd, drawing the
commandments, both the first which He gave,
and the second, from one fountain, neither al-
lowed those who were before the law to be
without law, nor permitted those who were un-
acquainted with the principles of the Barbarian
philosophy to be without restraint. For, having
furhished the one with the commandments, and
the other with philosophy, He shut up unbelief
to the Advent. Whence ' every one who be-
lieves not is without excuse. For by a different
process of advancement, both Greek and Barba-
rian, He leads to the perfection which is by
faith.^'

And if any one of the Greeks, passing over the
preliminary training of the Hellenic philosophy,
proceeds directly to the tnie teaching, he dis-
tances others, though an unlettered man, by
choosing 3 the compendious process of salvation
by faith to perfection.

Everything, then, which did not hinder a
man*s choice from being free, He made and
rendered auxiliary to virtue, in order that there
might be revealed somehow or other, even to
those capable of seeing but dimly, the one only
almighty, good God — from eternity to eternity
saving by His Son.

And, on the other hand. He is in no respect
whatever the cause of evil. For all things are
arranged with a view to the salvation of the uni-
verse by the Lord of the universe, both generally
and particularly. It is then the function of the
righteousness of salvation to improve everything
as far as practicable. For even minor matters
are arranged with a view to the salvation of that
which is better, and for an abode suitable for
people's character. Now everything that is vir-
tuous changes for the better; having as the
proper^ cause of change the free choice of knowl-
edge, which the soul has in its own power. But
necessary corrections, through the goodness of
the great overseeing Judge, both by the attendant
angels, and by various acts of anticipative judg-
ment, and by the perfect' judgment, compel
egregious sinners to repent.

* The text has ore but the sense seems to require, as Sylburgius
suggests, 60tv or btcrrc.

^ [The salvabiliiy of the heathen through Christ, is everywhere
conspicuous in our author's system; but there is a solemn dignity in
the com hiding paragraphs ot this chapter, which deserves rcrtection.
It would not \yc becoming for me to express my own views upon the
subject here, but it is one assuminf^ fresh importance in our dav ]

-* Instead of«Ad^el'ov, Sylburgius proposes aAa/ici'OC, making a
leap bv f.iith to jjcrfcciion.

* 'rhc reading varies here. For o(«rn(r<i« of the text, Heinsius
and the I^ntin translatcir adopt oi«r«i«f, which, on the whole, seems
preferable to oiK-rfcnt' or rfKovtrifi.

CHAP. m. — THE GNOSTIC AIMS AT THE KEARP>:
LIKENESS POSSIBLE TO GOD AND HIS SON.

Now I pass over other things in silence, glori-
fying the Lord. But I affirm that gnostic souIm,
that surpass in the grandeur of contemplation iht;
mode of life of each of the holy ranks, anions
whom the blessed abodes of the gods are allotteii
by distribution, reckoned holy among the holy,
transferred entire from among the entire, reaching:
places better than the better places, embracing
the divine vision not in mirrors or by means of
mirrors, but in the transcendently clear and ab-
solutely pure insatiable vision which is the privi-
lege of intensely loving souls, holding fe*>tivai
through endless ages, remain honoured with the
indentity of all excellence. Such is the vision
attainable by " the pure in heart." 5 This is the
function of the Gnostic, who has been perfected,
to have converse with God through the great
High Priest, being made like the Lord, iip ti>
the measure of his capacity, in the whole ser-
vice of God, which tends to the salvation of men,
through care of the beneficence which has us for
its object ; and on the other side through wor-
ship, through teaching and through beneficence
in deeds. The Gnostic even forms and creaie>
himself; and besides also, he, like to Go<l.
adorns those who hear him ; assimilating as far
as possible the moderation which, arising from
practice, tends to impassibility, to Him who by
nature possesses impassibility; and especially
having uninterrupted converse and fellowshi;-
with the Lord. Mildness, I think, and philan-
thropy, and eminent piety, are the rules of
gnostic assimilation. I affirm that these virtne>
" are a sacrifice acceptable in the sight of God ; "
Scripture alleging that " the humble heart with
right knowledge is the holocaust of God ; " '
each man who is admitted to holiness beiiu
illuminated in ordex to indissoluble union.

For " to bring themselves into captivity," ami
to slay themselves, putting to death " the oKl
man, who is through lusts corrupt," and raisin^'
the new man from death, " from the old conver-
sation," by abandoning the passions,- and Ix*-
coming free of sin, both the Gospel and the
apostle enjoin.*

It w^as this, consequently, which the Law inti-
mated, by ordering the sinner to be cut off, and
translated from death to life, to the impassibilit>
that is the result of faith ; which the teacher^
of the Law, not comprehending, inasmuch as
they regarded the law as contentious, they have
given a handle to those who attempt idly iv
calumniate the I^w. And for this reason wc
rightly do not sacrifice to God, who, needini:

5 Matt. V. 8.

6 Phil. iv. i8.

7 Vs. li. 17, 19.

■ Rom. vi. 6, 7;- 3 Cor. x 5; Eph. iv. aa-24; Col. iii. 8, 9, cit.

Chap. III.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

527

nothing, supplies all men with all things; but
we glorify Him who gave Himself in sacrifice
for us, we also sacrificing ourselves ; from that
which needs nothing to that which needs noth-
ing, and to that which is impassible from that
which is impassible. For in our salvation alone
God delights. We do not therefore, and with
reason too, offer sacrifice to Him who is not
overcome by pleasures, inasmuch as the fumes
of the smoke stop far beneath, and do not even
reach the thickest clouds ; b;it those they reach
are far from them. The Deity neither is, then,
in want of aught, nor loves pleasure, or gain, or
money, being full, and suppl3ring all things to
everything that has received being and has
wants. And neither by sacrifices nor offerings,
nor on the other hand by glory and honour, is
the Deity won over; nor is He influenced by
any such things ; but He appears only to excel-
lent and good men, who will never betray justice
for threatened fear, nor by the promise of con-
siderable gifts.

But those who have not seen the self-deter-
mination of the human soul, and its incapability
of being treated as a slave in what respects the
choice of life, being disgusted at what is done
through rude injustice, do not think that there
is a God. On a par with these in opinion, are
they who, falling into licentiousness in pleasures,
and grievous pains, and unlooked-for accidents,
and bidding defiance to events, say that there is
no God, or that, though existing. He does not
oversee all things. And others there are, who
are persuaded that those they reckon gods
are capable of being prevailed upon by sacri-
fices and gifts, favouring, so to speak, their prof-
ligacies; and will not believe that He is the
only true God, who exists in the invariableness
of righteous goodness.

The Gnostic, then, is pious, who cares first
for himself, then for his neighbours, that they
may become very good. For the son gratifies a
good father, by showing himself good and like
his father ; and in like manner the subject, the
governor. For believing and obeying are in our
own power.

But should any one suppose the cause of
evils to be the weakness of matter, and the in-
voluntary impulses of ignorance, and (in his
stupidity) irrational necessities; he who has
become a Gnostic has through instruction supe-
riority over these, as if they were wild beast's ;
and in imitation of the divine plan, he does
good to such as are willing, as far as he can.
And if ever placed in authority, like Moses, he
will rule for the salvation of the governed ; and
will tame wildness and faithlessness, by record-
ing honour for the most excellent, and punish-
ment for the wicked, in accordance with reason
for the sake of discipline.

For pre-eminently a divine image, resembling
God, is the soul of a righteous man ; in which,
through obedience to the commands, as in a
consecrated spot, is enclosed and enshrined the
Leader of mortals and of immortals. King and
Parent of what is good, who is truly law, and
right, and eternal Word, being the one Saviour
individually to each, and in common to all.

He is the true Only-begotten, the express
image of the glory of the universal King and
Almighty Father, who impresses on the Gnostic
the seal of the perfect contemplation, according
to His own image ; so that there is now a third
divine image, made as far as possible like the
Second Cause, the Essential Life, through which
we live the true life ; the Gnostic, as we regard
him, being described as moving amid things sure
and wholly immutable.

Ruling, then, over himself and what belongs
to him, and possessing a sure grasp, of divine
science, he makes a genuine approach to the truth.
For the knowledge and apprehension of intel-
lectual objects must necessarily be called certain
scientific knowledge, whose function in reference
to divine things is to consider what is the First
Cause, and what that " by whom all things were
made, and without whom nothing was made ; " '
and what things, on the other hand, are as per-
vasive, and what is comprehensive ; what con-
joined, what disjoined ; and what is the position
which each one of them holds, and what power
and what service each contributes. And again,
among human things, what man himself is, and
what he has naturally or pretematurally ; and
how, again, it becomes him to do or to suffer ;
and what are his virtues and what his vices ; and
about things good, bad, and indifferent; also
about fortitude, and prudence, and self-restraint,
and the virtue which is in all respects complete,
namely, righteousness.

Further, he employs prudence and righteous-
ness in the acquisition of wisdom, and fortitude,
not only in the endurance of circumstances, but
also in restraining* pleasure and desire, grief
and anger ; and, in general, to withstand ^ every-
thing which either by any force or fraud entices
us. For it is not necessary to endure vices and
virtues, but it is to be persuaded to bear things
that inspire fear.

Accordingly, pain is found beneficial in the
healing art, and in discipline, and in punishment ;
and by it men's manners are corrected to their
advantage. Forms of fortitude are endurance,
magnanimity, high spirit, liberality, and grandeur.
And for this reason he neither meets with the
blame or the bad opinion of the multitude ; nor
is he subjected to opinions or flatteries. But in

* John i. 3.

2 Kpareiy is hear supplied to complete the sense.

3 avTiTaaataOat, is suggested instead of avTiTd<r<rtrtu of the text.

528

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI r.

the indurance of toils and at the same time *
in the discharge of any duty, and in his manly
superiority to all circumstances, he appears truly
a man (aioyp) among the rest of human beings.
And, on the other hand, maintaining prudence,
he exercises moderation in the calmness of his
soul ; receptive of what is commanded, as of
what belongs to him, entertaining aversion to
what is base, as alien to him ; become decorous
and supramundane,' he does everything with
decorum and in order, and transgresses in no re-
spect, and in nothing. Rich he is in the highest
degree in desiring nothing, as having few wants ;
and being in the midst of abundance of all good
through the knowledge of the good. For it is the
first effect of his righteousness, to love to spend
his time and associate with those of his own race
both in earth and heaven. So also he is liberal
of what he possesses. And being a lover of men,
he is a hater of the wicked, entertaining a perfect
aversion to all villany. He must consequently
learn to be faithful both to himself and his neigh-
bours, and obedient to the commandments. For
he is the true servant of God who spontaneously
subjects himself to His commands. And he who
already, not through the commandments, but
through knowledge itself, is pure in heart, is the
friend of God. For neither are we bom by
nature possessing virtue, nor after we are born
. does it grow naturally, as certain parts of the
body ; since then it would neither be voluntary
nor praiseworthy. Nor is virtue, like speech,
perfected by the practice that results from every-
day occurrences (for this is very much the way
in which vice originates) . For it is not by any
art, either those of acquisition, or those which
relate to the care of the body, that knowledge is
attained. No more is it from the curriculum of
instruction. For that is satisfied if it can only
prepare and sharpen the soul. For the laws of
the state are perchance able to restrain bad
actions ; but persuasive words, which but touch
the surface, cannot produce a scientific perma-
nence of the truth.

Now the Greek philosophy, as it were, purges
the soul, and prepares it beforehand for the
reception of faith, on which the Truth builds up
the edifice of knowledge.

This is the true athlete — he who in the great
stadium, the fair world, is crowned for the true
victory over all the passions. For He who
prescribes the contest is the Almighty God, and
He who awards the prize is the only-begotten
Son of God. Angels and gods are spectators ;
and the contest, embracing all the varied exer-
cises, is " not against flesh and blood," ^ but

* afia is here, on the authority of a MS., and with the approval
of Svlburguis, to be substituted for aA/ma.

^ Koafixot KoX vvtfMoatinK. The author plays on the double
meaning of K6attoK, world or order.

^ Eph. vi. 12.

against the spiritual powers of inordinate pas-
sions that work through the flesh. He who
obtains the mastery in these struggles, and over-
throws the tempter, menacing, as it were, with
certain contests, wins immortality. For the
sentence of God in most righteous judgment i^
infallible. The spectators ^ are summoned to the
contest, and the athletes contend in the stadium ;
the one, who has obeyed the directions of the
trainer, wins the day. For to all, all rewards
proposed by God are equal ; and He Himself i>
unimpeachable. And he who has power receives
mercy, and he that has exercised will is mighty.

So also we have received mind, that we may
know what we do. And the maxim " Know thy-
self " means here to know for what we are bom.
And we are bom to obey the commandments, it
we choose to be willing to be saved. Such is
the Nemesis,5 through which there is no escap-
ing from God. Man's duty, then, is obedience
to God, who has proclaimed salvation manifold
by the commandments. And confession in
thanksgiving. For the beneficent first begins to
do good. And he who on fitting consideration^
readily receives and keeps the commandments, is
faithful (TTtorTo?) ; and he who by love requites
benefits as far as he is able, is already a friend.
One recompense on the part of men is of para-
mount importance — the doing of what is pleas-
ing to God. As being His own production,
and a result akin to Himself, the Teacher and
Saviour receives acts of assistance and of improve-
ment on the part of men as a personal favour
and honour ; as also He regards the injuries in-
flicted on those who believe on Him as ingrati-
tude and dishonour to Himself. For what other
dishonour can touch God ? Wherefore it is im-
possible to render a recompense at all equivalent
to the boon received from the Lord.

And as those who maltreat property insult the
owners, and those who maltreat soldiers insult
the commander, so also the ill-usage of His
consecrated ones is contempt for the Lord.

For, just as the sun not only illumines heaven
and the whole world, shining over land and sea,
but also through windows and small chinks sends
his beams into the innermost recesses of houses
so the Word diffused everywhere casts His eye-
glance on the minutest circunastances of the
actions of life.

CHAP. IV. — THE HEATHENS MADE GODS LIKE
THEMSELVES, WHENCE SPRINGS ALL SUPERSTFTION.

Now, as the Greeks represent the gods as pos-
sessing human forms, so also do they as possess-
ing human passions. And as each of them

4 TO Narpov used for the place, the spectacle, and the spectators.

5 'ASpa^TCMi, a name given to Nemesis, said to be from an altar
erected to her by Adrastus ; but as used here, and when employed as
an adjective qu^ifying Nemesis, it has reference to iUpao^mm.

Chap. IV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

529

depict their forms similar to themselves, as Xeno-
phanes says, " Ethiopians as black and apes, the
Thracians ruddy and tawny ; " so also they as-
similate their souls to those who form them :
the Barbarians, for instance, who make them
savage and wild; and the Greeks, who make
them more civilized, yet subject to passion.

Wherefore it stands to reason, that the ideas
entertained of God by wicked men must be bad,
and those by good men most excellent. And
therefore he who is in soul truly kingly and
gnostic, being likewise pious and free from su-
perstition, is persuaded that He who alone is
God is honourable, venerable, august, benefi-
cent, the doer of good, the author of all good
things, but not the cause of evil. And respect-
ing the Hellenic superstition we have, as I think,
shown enough in the book entitled by us The
Exhortation^ availing ourselves abundandy of
the history bearing on the point. There is no
need, then, again to make a long story of what
has already been clearly stated. But in as far as
necessity requires to be pointed out on coming
to the topic, suffice it to adduce a few out of
many considerations in proof of the impiety of
those who make the Divinity resemble the worst
men. For either those Gods of theirs are in-
jured by men, and are shown to be inferior to
men on being injured by us ; or, if not so, how
is it that they are mcensed at those by whom
they are not injured, like a testy old wife roused
to wrath ?

As they say that Artemis was enraged at the
.^^tolians on account of GEneus.' For how, be-
ing a goddess, did she not consider that he had
neglected to sacrifice, not through contempt, but
out of inadvertence, or under the idea that he
had sacrificed ?

And Latona,' arguing her case with Athene, on
accoimt of the latter being incensed at her for
having brought forth in the temple, says : —

" Man-slaying spoils
Tom from the dead you love to see. And these
To you are not unclean. But you regard
My parturition here a horrid thing,
Though other creatures in the temple do
No harm by bringing forth their young."

It is natural, then, that having a superstitious
dread of those irascible [gods], they imagine
that all events are signs and causes of evils. If
a mouse bore through an altar built of clay, and
for want of something else gnaw through an oil
flask ; if a cock that Is being fattened crow in
the evening, they determine diis to be a sign of
something.

Of such a one Menander gives a comic de-
scription in T}ie Superstitious Man : —

* ///W, ix. S33» e«C' .

' The text has 'H airrf^^ which is plainly unsuitable; hence the
suggestion q Airrw.

" A. Good luck be mine, ye honoured gods I
Tying my right shoe's string,
I broke it."

" B, Most likely, silly fool.
For it was rotten, and you, niggard, you
Would not buy new ones." ^

It was a clever remark of Antiphon, who (when
one regarded it as an ill omen that the sow
had eaten her pigs), on seeing her emaciated
through the niggardliness of the person that
kept her, said. Congratulate yourself on the
omen that, being so hungry, she did not eat
your own children.

" And what wonder is it," says Bion, " if the
mouse, finding nothing to eat, gnaws the bag? "
For it were wonderful if (as Arcesilaus argued
in fiin) " the bag had eaten the mouse."

Diogenes accordingly remarked well to one
who wondered at finding a serpent coiled round
a pestle : " Don't wonder ; for it would have
been more surprising if you had seen the pestle
coiled round the serpent, and the serpent
straight."

For the irrational creatures must run, and
scamper, and fight, and breed, and die ; and
these things being natural to them, can never be
unnatural to us.

" And many birds beneath the sunbeams walk."

And the comic poet Philemon treats such points
in comedy : —

" When I see one who watches who has sneezed.
Or who has spoke ; or looking, who goes on,
I straightway in the market sell him off.
Each one of us walks, talks, and sneezes too,
For his own self, not for the citizens :
According to their nature things turn out."

Then by the practice of temperance men seek
health : and by cramming themselves, and wal-
lowing in potations at feasts, they attract dis-
eases.

There are many, too, that dread inscriptions
set up. Very cleverly Diogenes, on finding in
the house of a bad man the inscription, " Her-
cules, for victory famed, dwells here ; let nothing
bad enter," remarked, " And how shall the
master of the house go in ? "

The same people, who worship every stick
and greasy stone, as the saying is, dreads tufts
of tawny wool, and lumps of salt, and torches,
and squills, and sulphur, bewitched by sorcerers,
in certain impure rites of expiation. But God,
the true God, recognises as holy only the charac-
ter of the righteous man, — as unholy, wrong
and wickedness.

You may see the eggs,^ taken from those who
have been purified, hatched if subjected to the
necessary warmth. But this could not take

3 These lines are quoted by Theodoret, and have been amended
and arranged by Sylburgius and Grotius. The text has 'Aya06i' n;
Theodoret and Grotius omit ri as above.

4 Which were used in lustrations, wd. The text has Zna.

530

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VIL

place if they had had transferred to them the
sins of the man that had undergone purification.
Accordingly the comic poet Diphilus facetiously
writes, in comedy, of sorcerers, in the following
words : —

" Purifying Proetus' daughters, and their father
Prcetus Abantades, and fifth, an old wife to boot,
So many people's persons with one torch, one squill.
With sulphur and asphalt of the loud-sounding sea.
From the placid-flowmg, deei>flowing ocean.
But blest air through the clouds send Anticyra
That I may make this bug into a drone."

For well Menander remarks : * —

" Had you, O Phidias, any real ill.
You needs must seek for it a real cure ;
Now 'tis not so. And for the unreal ill
IVe found an unreal cure Believe that it
Will do thee good. Let women in a ring
Wipe thee, and from three fountains water bring.
Add salt and lentils; sprinkle then thyself.
Each one is pure, who's conscious of no sin."

For instance, the tragedy says : —

Menelaus. " What disease, Orestes, is destroying thee } "
Orestes. " Conscience. For horrid deeds I know I've
done." *

For in reality there is no other purity but absti-
nence from sins. Excellently then Epicharmus
says : —

" If a pure mind thou hast.
In thy whole body thou art pure."

Now also we say that it is requisite to purify
the soul from corrupt and bad doctrines by
right reason ; and so thereafter to the recollec-
tion of the principal heads of doctrine. Since
also before the communication' of the mysteries
they think it right to apply certain purifications
to those who are to be initiated ; so it is requi-
site for men to abandon impious opinion, and
thus turn to the true tradition.

CHAP. V. — THE HOLY SOUL A MORE EXCELLENT
TEMPLE THAN ANY EDIFICE BUILT BY MAN.

For is it not the case that rightly and truly we
do not circumscribe in any place that which
cannot be circumscribed ; nor do we shut up in
temples made with hands that which contains
all things ? What work of builders, and stone-
cutters, and mechanical art can be holy? Su-
perior to these are not they who think that the
air, and the enclosing space, or rather the whole
world and the universe, are meet for the excel-
lency of God ?

It were indeed ridiculous, as the philosophers
themselves say, for man, the plaything ^ of God,
to make God, and for God to be the plaything ^
of art; since what is made is similar and the
same to that of which it is made, as that which

* Translated as arranged and amended by Grolius.

2 Euripides, Orestes^ 395, 396

' A Platonic phrase : iraiyi'ioi' ©eoi).

4 So Sylburgius, who, instead of irai54a( rixvi^ of the text, reads

is made of ivory is ivory, and that which is made:
of gold golden. Now the images and temples
constructed by mechanics are made of inert
matter ; so that they too are inert, and material,
and profane ; and if you perfect the art, they
partake of mechanical coarseness. Works of
art cannot then be sacred and divine.

And what can be localized, there being noth-
ing that is not localized? Since all things are
in a place. And that which is localized having
been formerly not localized, is localized by some-
thing. If, then, God is localized by men. He
was once not localized, and did not exist at all.
For the non-existent is what is not localized ;
since whatever does not exist is not localized
And what exists cannot be localized by what
does not exist ; nor by another entity. For it is
also an entity. It follows that it must be by
itself. And how shall anything generate itself ?
Or how shall that which exists place itself as to
being? Whether, being formerly not localized,
has it localized itself ? But it was not in exist-
ence; since what exists not is not localized.
And its localization being supposed, how can it
afterwards make itself what it previously was ?

But how can He, to whom the things that are
belong, need anything ? But were God possessed
of a human form, He would need, equally with
man, food, and shelter, and house, and the at-
tendant incidents. Those who are like in form
and affections will require similar sustenance.
And if sacred (ro Upov) has a ti^'ofold appli-
cation, designating both God Himself and the
structure raised to His honour,5 how shall we
not with propriety call the Church holy, through
knowledge, made for the honour of God, sacre<l
(Icpov) to God, of great value, and not con-
structed by mechanical art, nor embellished by
the hand of an impostor, but by the will of God
fashioned into a temple ? For it is not now the
place, but the assemblage of the elect,^ that I
call the Church. This temple is better for the
reception of the greatness of the dignity of Cxo^L
For the living creature which is of high value,
is made sacred by that which is worth all, ur
rather which has no equivalent, in virtue of tlic
exceeding sanctity of the latter. Now this is
the Gnostic, who is of great value, who is hon-
oured by God, in whom God is enshrined, that
is, the knowledge respecting God is consecrated.
Here, too, we shall find the divine likeness and
the holy image in the righteous soul, when it is
blessed in being purified and performing blessed
deeds. Here also we shall find that which is
localized, and that which is being localized, —
the former in the case of those who are already
Gnostics, and the latter in the case of those

5 God Himself is iepiif , and everything dedicated to Htm.
^ Montacutius suggests JKirAnrwi', from its connection «itH
£icKAi}o-ia, instead of ckAcktwi'. [Notes 3 and 5, p. 390, jar/ra.]

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

capable of becoming so, although not yet worthy
of receiving the knowledge of God. For every
being destined to believe is already faithful in
the sight of God, and set up for His honour, an
image, endowed with virtue, dedicated to God.

CHAP. VI. — PRAYERS AND PRAISE FROM A PURE
MIND, CEASELESSLY OFFERED, FAR BETfER THAN
SACRIFICES.

As, then, God is not circumscribed by place,
neither is ever represented by the form of a liv-
ing creature ; so neither has He similar passions,
nor has He wants like the creatures, so as to
desire sacrifice, from hunger, by way of food.
Those creatures which are affected by passion
are all mortal. And it is useless to bring food
to one who is not nourished.

And that comic poet Pherecrates, in The
Fugitives, facetiously represents the gods them-
selves as finding fault with men on the score of
their sacred rites : —

" When to the gods you sacrifice,
Selecting what our portion is,
'Tis shame to tell, do ye not take,
And both the thighs, clean to the groins,
The loins quite bare, the backbone, too.
Clean scrape as with a file.
Them swallow, and the remnant give
To us as if to dogs ?" And then.
As if of one another 'shamed,
With heaps of salted barley hide." '

And Eubulus, also a comic poet, thus writes
respecting sacrifices : —

" But to the gods the tail alone
And thigh, as if to paederasts you sacrifice."

And introducing Dionysus in Semele, he repre-
sents him disputing : —

" First if they offer aught to me, there are
Who offer blood, the bladder, not the heart
Or caul. For I no flesh do ever eat
That's sweeter than the thigh."*

And Menander writes : —

" The end of the loin.
The bile, the bones uneatable, they set
Before the gods ; the rest themselves consume."

For is not the savour of the holocausts avoided
by the beasts ? And if in reality the savour is
the guerdon of the gods of the Greeks, should
they not first deify the cooks, who are dignified
with equal happiness, and worship the chimney
itself, which is closer still to the much-prized
savour ?

And Hesiod says that Zeus, cheated in a
division of flesh by Prometheus, received the
white bones of an ox, concealed with cunning
art, in shining fat : —

" Whence to the immortal gods the tribes of men
The victim's white bones on the altars burn."

* Translated as arranged by Groiius.
. "^ These lines are translated as arranged by Grotius, who dificrs
m some parts from the text.

But they will by no means say that the Deity,
enfeebled through the desire that springs from
want, is nourished. Accordingly, they will rep-
resent Him as nourished without desire like a
plant, and like beasts that burrow. They say
that these grow innoxiously, nourished either by
the density in the air, or from the exhalations
proceeding from their own body. Though if the
Deity, though needing nothing, is according to
them nourished, what necessity has He for food,
wanting nothing? But if, by nature needing
nothing. He delights to be honoured, it is not
without reason that we honour God in prayer ;
and thus the best and holiest sacrifice with right-
eousness we bring, presenting it as an offering to
the most righteous Word, by whom we receive
knowledge, giving glory by Him for what^
we have learned.

The altar, then, that is with us here, the
terrestrial one, is the congregation of those who
devote themselves to prayers, having as it were
one common voice and one mind.

Now, if nourishing substances taken in by
the nostrils are diviner than those taken in by the
mouth, yet they infer respiration. What, then,
do they say of God ? Whether does He exhale
like the tribe of oaks ? ^ Or does He only inhale,
like the aquatic animals, by the dilatation of
their gills? Or does He breathe all round, like
the insects, by the compression of the section by
means of their wings? But no one, if he is in
his senses, will liken God to any of these.

And the creatures that breathe by the expan-
sion of the lung towards the thorax draw in the
air. Then if they assign to God viscera, and
arteries, and veins, and nerves, and parts, they
will make Him in nothing different from man.

Now breathing together (o-v/xTn/ota) is prop-
erly said of the Church. For the sacrifice of
the Church is the word breathing as incense^
from holy souls, the sacrifice and the whole
mind being at the same time unveiled to God.
Now the very ancient altar in Delos they cele-
brated as holy ; which alone, being undefiled by
slaughter and death, they say Pythagoras ap-
proached. And will they not believe us when
we say that the righteous soul is the truly sacred
altar, and that incense arising from it is holy
prayer? But I believe sacrifices were invented
by men to be a pretext for eating flesh. 7
But without such idolatry he who wished might
have partaken of flesh.

For the sacrifices of the Law express figura-

3 e^* oI«, substituted by Lowth for a in the text.

^ {pvuf, a probable conjecture of Gataker for the reading of the
text, ha.\.ik6viiiv ,

5 dv^pwirov supplied by Lowth.

^ Again the spiritualizing of incense.]

7 'This is extraordinary language in Clement, whose views of
Gentilisni are so charitable. Possibly it is mere pleasantry, though
he speaks of idolatry only. He recognises the divine institution of
sacrifice, elsewhere.]

532

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII.

lively the piety which we practise, as the turtle-
dove and the pigeon offered for sins point out
that the cleansing of the irrational part of the
soul is acceptable to God. But if any one of
the righteous does not burden his soul by the
eating of flesh, he has the advantage of a rational
reason, not as Pythagoras and his followers
dream of the transmigration of the soul.

Now Xenocrates, treating by himself of " the
food derived from animals,'* and Polemon in his
work On Life according to NaturCy seem clearly
to say that animal food is unwholesome, inas-
much as it has already been elaborated and
assimilated to the souls of the irrational creatures.

So also, in particular, the Jews abstain from
swine's flesh on the ground of this animal being
unclean ; since more than the other animals it
roots up, and destro)rs the productions of the
ground. But if they say that the animals were
assigned to men — and we agree with them —
yet it was not entirely for food. Nor was it all
animals, but such as do not work. Wherefore
the comic poet Plato says not badly in the
drama of The Feasts : —

" For of the quadrupeds we should not slay
In future aught but swine. For these have flesh
Most toothsome ; and about the pig is nought
For us, excepting bristles, mud, and noise.

Whence ^sop said not badly, that "swine
squeaked out very loudly, because, when they
were dragged, they knew that they were good
for nothing but for sacrifice."

Wherefore also Cleanthes says, "that they
have soul » instead of salt," that their flesh may
not putrefy. Some, then, eat them as useless,
others as destructive of fruits. And others do
not eat them, because the animal has a strong
sensual propensity.

So, then, the law sacrifices not the goat, ex-
cept in the sole case of the banishment of sins ; *
since pleasure is the metropolis of vice. It is
to the point also that it is said that the eating of
goat's flesh contributes to epilepsy. And they
say that the greatest increase is produced by
swine's flesh. Wherefore it is beneficial to
those who exercise the body ; but to those who
devote themselves to the development of the
soul it is not so, on account of the hebetude
that results from the eating of flesh. Perchance
also some Gnostic will abstain from the eating
of flesh for the sake of training, and in order
that the flesh may not grow wanton in amorous-
ness. " For wine," says Androcydes, " and glut-
tonous feeds of flesh make the body strong, but
the soul more sluggish." Accordingly such
food, in order to clear understanding, is to be
rejected.

' 4fv\ri, animal life.

- i.e., in the institution of the scape-goat.

Wherefore also the Egyptians, in the purifica-
tions practised among them, do not allow the
priests to feed on flesh ; but they use chicken^,
as lightest; and they do not touch fish, on
account of certain fables, but especially on ac-
count of such food making the flesh flabby. But
now terrestrial animals and birds breathe the
same air a^ our vital spirits, being possessed of a
vital principle cognate with the air. But it is
said that fishes do not breathe this air, but thai
which was mixed with the water at the instant of
its first creation, as well as with the rest of the
elements, which is also a sign of the jjennanencc
of matter.3

Wherefore we ought to offer to God sacrifices
not costly, but such as He loves. And that
compounded incense which is mentioned in the
Law, is that which consists of many tongues and
voices in prayer,* or rather of different nations
and natures, prepared by the gift vouchsafed in
the dispensation for "the unity of the faith."
and brought together in praises, with a pure
mind, and just and right conduct, from holy
works and righteous prayer. For in the elegant
language of poetry, —

" Who is so great a fool, and among men
So very easy of belief, as thinks
The gods, with fraud of fleshless bones and bile
All burnt, not fit for hungry dogs to eat,
Delighted are, and take this as their prize,
And favour show to those who treat them thus,"

though they happen to be tyrants and robbers ?
But we say that the fire sanctifies 5 not flesh,
but sinful souls ; meaning not the all-devouring
vulgar fire,^ but that of wisdom, which pervades
the soul passing through the fire.

CHAP. Vn. — WHAT SORT OF PRAYER THE GNOSTIC
EMPLOYS, AND HOW FT is HEARD BY GOD.

Now we are commanded to reverence and to
honour the same one, being persuaded that He
is Word, Saviour, and Leader, and by Him, the
Father, not on special days, as some others, but
doing this continually in our whole life, and in
every way. Certainly the elect race justified by
the precept says, "Seven times a day have I
praised Thee." ^ Whence not in a specified
place,^ or selected temple, or at certain festivals
and on appointed days, but during his whole life,
the Gnostic in every place, even if he be alone
by himself, and wherever he has any of tht>^e
\\'ho have exercised the like faith, honours Cxod,

3 Or, of water. For instead of vXiir^ in the text, it is propo^ci
to read viari*^?.

* [Again, for the Gospel-day, he spiriinalizes the incense of tbc
Law.J

5 Consult Matt. iii. xi; Luke iii. x6; Heb. iv. xa. [See what i^
said of the philosophic (Kirvpci><rif (book v. cap. x. p. 446, su^ra, ihi>
volume) by our author. These passages bear on another tlieok?gi<.Ju
mailer, of which see Kayc, p. 466.]

6 [See useful note of Kaye, p. 309.]
' rs. cxix. 164.

' [It is hardly needful to say that our author means *' ««f mtrrrJ''
in a specified place," etc. See p. 290, sti^ra, as to time and place j

Chap. VIL]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

533

that is, acknowledges his gratitude for the knowl-
edge of the way to live.

And if the presence of a good man, through
the respect and reverence which he inspires,
always improves him with whom he associates,
with much more reason does not he who always
holds uninterrupted converse with God by knowl-
edge, life, and thanksgiving, grow at every step
superior to himself in all respects — in conduct, in
words, in disposition ? Such an one is persuaded
that God is ever beside him, and does not sup-
pose that He is confined in certain limited places ;
so that under the idea that at times he is with-
out Him, he may indulge in excesses night and
day.

Holding festival, then, in our whole life, per-
suaded that God is altogether on every side
present, we cultivate our fields, praising ; we sail
the sea, hymning ; in all the rest of our conversa-
tion we conduct ourselves according to rule.' The
Gnostic, then, is very closely allied to God, being
at once grave and cheerful in all things, — grave
on account of the bent of his soul towards the
Divinity, and cheerful on account of his con-
sideration of the blessings of humanity which
God hath given us.

Now the excellence of knowledge is evidently
presented by the prophet when he says, " Benig-
nity, and instruction, and knowledge teach me," *
magnifying the supremacy of perfection by a
climax.

He is, then, the truly kingly man ; he is the
sacred high priest of God. And this is even
now observed among the most sagacious of the
Barbarians, in advancing the sacerdotal caste to
the royal power. He, therefore, never surren-
ders himself to the rabble that rules supreme
over the theatres, and gives no admittance even
in a dream to the things which are spoken, done,
and seen for the sake of alluring pleasures ;
neither, therefore, to the pleasures of sight, nor
the various pleasures which are found in other
enjoyments, as costly incense and odours, which
•bewitch the nostrils, or preparations of meats,
and indulgences in different wines, which ensnare
the palate, or fragrant bouquets of many flowers,
which through the senses effeminate the soul.
But always tracing up to God the grave enjoy-
ment of all things, he offers the first-fruits of
food, and drink, and unguents to the Giver of
all, acknowledging his thanks in the gift and in
the use of them by the Word given to him. H6
rarely goes to convivial banquets of all and sun-
dry, unless the announcement to him of the
friendly and harmonious character of the enter-
tainment induce him to go. For he is convinced
that God knows and perceives all things — not
the words only, but also the thought ; since even

* [Sec p. 200, this volume; also, infra, this chapter, p. 537.]
- Ps. cxix. 66.

our sense of hearing, which acts through the
passages of the body, has the apprehension [be-
longing to it] not through corporeal power, but
through a psychical perception, and the intelli-
gence which distinguishes significant sounds.
God is not, then, possessed of human form, so
as to hear ; nor needs He senses, as the Stoics
have decided, " especially hearing and sight ;
for He could never otherwise apprehend." But
the susceptibility of the air, and the intensely
keen perception of the angels,^ and the power
which reaches the souPs consciousness, by in-
effable power and without sensible hearing, know
all things at the moment of thought. And should
any one say that the voice does not reach God,
but is rolled downwards in the air, yet the
thoughts of the saints cleave not the air only, but
the whole world. And the divine power, with the
speed of light, sees through the whole soul. Well !
Do not also volitions speak to God, uttering
their voice? And are they not conveyed by
conscience ? And what voice shall He wait for,
who, according to His purpose, knows the elect
already, even before his birth, knows what is to
be as already existent? Does not the light of
power shine down to the very bottom of the
whole soul ; " the lamp of knowledge," as the
Scripture says, searching " the recesses " ? God
is all ear and all eye, if we may be permitted to
use these expressions.

In general, then, an unworthy opinion of
God preserves no piety, either in hymns, or
discourses, or writings, or dogmas, but diverts
to grovelling and unseemly ideas and notions.
Whence the commendation of the multitude
diffiers nothing from censure, in consequence of
their ignorance of the truth. The objects, then,
of desires and aspirations, and, in a word, of the
mind's impulses, are the subjects of prayers.
Wherefore, no man desires a draught, but to
drink what is drinkable ; and no man desires an
inheritance, but to inherit. And in like manner
no man desires knowledge, but to know ; or a
right government, but to take part in the gov-
ernment. The subjects of our prayers, then,
are the subjects of our requests, and the sub-
jects of requests are the objects of desires.
Prayer, then, and desire, follow in order, with
the view of possessing the blessings and advan-
tages offered.

The Gnostic, then, who is such by possession,
makes his prayer and request for the truly good
things which appertain to the soul, and prays, he
himself also contributing his efforts to attain to
the habit of goodness, so as no longer to have
the things that are good as certain lessons be-
longing to him, but to be good.

W^herefore also it is most incumbent on such

^ [Pioiis men have been strict in their conduct when (]uite alone,
from a devout conviction of the presence of angelic guardians.]

534 THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES. [Book yil

to pray, knowing as they do the Divinity rightly, , introduced by certain of the heterodox, that is,
and having the moral excellence suitable to ; the followers of the heresy of Prodicus. Thi-
him ; who know what things are really good, i they may not then be inflated with conceit atxu:
and what are to be asked, and when and how in , this godless wisdom of theirs, as if it were
each individual case. It is the extremest stu- i strange, let them learn that it was embraced
pidity to ask of them who are no gods, as if they before by the philosophers called Cyrenaics.
were gods ; or to ask those things which are not | Nevertheless, the unholy knowledge (jrnosis) o:
beneficial, begging evils for themselves under those falsely called [Gnostics] shall meet w i":,
the appearance of good things. I confutation at a fitting time ; so that the a^-a-ilr

Whence, as is right, there being only one good ' on them, by no means brief, may not, by bem,
God, that some good things be given from Him , introduced into the commentary, break the ui>
alone, and that some remain, we and the angels \ course in hand, in which we are showing tiu:
pray. But not similarly. For it is not the same ; the only really holy and pious man is he wh«j
thing to pray that the gift remain, and to en- 1 is truly a Gnostic according to the rule of the
deavour to obtain it for the first time. Church, to whom alone the petition made in

The averting of evils is a species of prayer ; , accordance with the will of God is granted.' un
but such prayer is never to be used for the ' asking and on thinking. For as God can do all
injury of men, except that the Gnostic, in de- that He wishes, so the Gnostic receives all tha:
voting attention to righteousness, may make use I he asks. For, universally, God knows those who
of this petition in the case of those who are past are and those who are not worthy of good things .
feeling. , whence He gives to each what is suitable.

Prayer is, then, to speak more boldly, converse Wherefore to those that are unworthy, thoii|:':i
with God. Though whisp)ering, consequently, : they ask often, He will not give ; but He wdl

and not opening the lips, we speak in silence,
yet we cry inwardly.' For God hears continu-
ally all the inward converse. So also we raise
the head and lift the hands to heaven, and set
the feet in motion' at the closing utterance
of the prayer, following the eagerness of the
spirit directed towards the intellectual essence ;
and endeavouring to abstract the body from the
earth, along with the discourse, raising the soul
aloft, winged with longing for better things, we

give to those who are worthy.

Nor is petition superfluous, though good things
are given without claim.

Now thanksgiving and request for the conver-
sion of our neighbours is the function of the
Gnostic ; as also the Lord prayed, giving thanks
for the accomplishment of His ministr}', praying
that as many as possible might attain to kno\il-
edge ; that in the saved, by salvation, throiuA
knowledge, God might be glorified, and He w u>

compel it to advance to the region of holiness, is alone good and alone Saviour might be ac
magnanimously despising the chain of the flesh. I knowledged through the Son from age to age.
For we know right well, that the Gnostic will- ' But also faith, that one will receive, is a species
ingly passes over the whole world, as the Jews of prayer gnostically laid up in store,
certainly did over Egypt, showing clearly, above | But if any occasion of converse with Goil U-
all, that he will be as near as possible to God. comes prayer, no opportunity of access to (iui
Now, if some assign definite hours for prayer , ought to be omitted. Without doubt, the h»)l.-
— as, for example, the third, and sixth, and ' ness of the Gnostic, in union with [God*s] blessed
ninth — yet the Gnostic prays throughout his | Providence, exhibits in voluntary confession the
whole life, endeavouring by prayer to have fel- ' perfect beneficence of God. For the holinc^J.
lowship with God,^ And, briefly, having reached , of the Gnostic, and the reciprocal benevoleme
to this, he leaves behind him all that is of no j of the friend of God, are a kind of correspondini:
service, as having now received the perfection , movement of providence. For neither is God
of the man that acts by love. But the distribu- i involuntarily good, as tlie fire is warming ; but in
tion of the hours into a threefold division, hon- Him the imparting of good things is voluntar}-.
oured with as many prayers, those are ac(iuainted ' even if He receive the request previously. Nor
with, who know the blessed triad of the holy shall he who is saved be saved against his \*ill

abodes.-*

for he is not inanimate ; but he will above all

Having got to this point, I recollect the doc- voluntarily and of free choice speed to salvation,
trines about there being no necessity to pray. Wherefore also man received the commandmentN

in order that he might be self-impelled, to what-
ever he wished of things to be chosen and to be

is variously explained. It "seems to refer to some change aVOided. WhereforC God doCS nOt do gOOCl In*
in Christian assemblies, at the close of worship or in ■. t ^ r tt- /• i • -l ^^^ ^l '

of praise 1 ncccssity, but from His free choice benefits those

' fi Sam. i. 13. .*>ce this same chapter, infra ^ p. 535 ]
a [This' '

of position

ascriptions of praise]

^ [See, supra ^ cap. vii. note 8, p. sv^l

inth I

* ['l*he third, sixth, and ninth hours were deemed sacred to the
three persons o(^ the Trinity, respectively. AUo thev were hon- ' fOf thcve. «>ce ed. Migne, «// /rvww.J

oured as the hours of the beginning, middle, and close of our Lords \ According to Heinwus' reading, who substitutes aa-o»«r«Mi?f*«> 1

passion.] for ajroi'ei'e/A»j/i.«»y.

Chap. VII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

535

who spontaneously turn. For the Providence
which extends to us from God is not ministerial,
as that service which proceeds from inferiors to
superiors. But in pity for our weakness, the
continual dispensations of Providence work, as
the care of shepherds towards the sheep, and
of a king towards his subjects ; we ourselves also
conducting ourselves obediently towards our
superiors, who take the management of us, as
appointed, in accordance with the commission
from God with which they are invested.

Conse(iuently those who render the most free
and kingly service, which is the result of a pious
mind and of knowledge, are servants and attend-
ants of the Divinity. Each place, then, and
time, in which we entertain the idea of Grod, is
in reality sacred.

When, then, the man who chooses what is
right, and is at the same time of thankful heart,
makes his request in prayer, he contributes to
the obtaining of it, gladly taking hold in prayer
of the thing desired. For when the Giver of
good things perceives the susceptibility on our
I)art, all good things follow at once the concep-
tion of them. Certainly in prayer the character
is sifted, how it stands with respect to duty.

But if voice and expression are given us, for
the sake of understanding, how can God not
hear the soul itself, and the mind, since assuredly
soul hears soul, and mind, mind ? Whence God
does not wait for loquacious tongues, as inter-
jjreters among men, but knows absolutely the
thoughts of all ; and what the voice intimates to
us, that our thought, which even before the crea-
tion He knew would come into our mind, speaks
to God. Prayer, then, may be uttered without
the voice, by concentrating the whole spiritual
nature within on expression by the mind, in un-
distracted turning towards God.

And since the dawn is an image of the day of
birth, and from that point the light which has
shone forth at first from the darkness increases,
there has also dawned on those involved in dark-
ness a day of the knowledge of truth. In corre-
spondence with the manner of the sun*s rising,
prayers are made looking towards the sunrise in
the east. Whence also the most ancient temples
looked towards the west, that people might be
taught to turn to the east when facing the im-
ages.' " Let my prayer be directed before Thee
as incense, the uplifting of my hands as the even-
ing sacrifice," ' say the Psalms.

In the case of wicked men, therefore, prayer
is most injurious, not to others alone, but to
themselves also. If, then, they should ask and
receive what they call pieces of good fortune,
these injure them after they receive them, being

* [Christians adopted this habit at an early period, on various
grounds, as will hert:after appear in this series.]
^ Ps. cxli. 2.

ignorant how to use them. For they pray to
possess what they have not, and they ask things
which seem, but are not, good things.^ But
the Gnostic will ask the permanence of the
things he possesses, adaptation for what is to
take place, and the eternity of those things which
he shall receive. And the things which are
really good, the things which concern the soul,
he prays that they may belong to him, and re-
main with him. And so he desires not anything
that is absent, being content with what is pres-
ent. For he is not deficient in the good things
which are proper to him ; being already sufficient
for himself, through divine grace and knowledge.
But having become sufficient in himself, he stands
in no want of other things. But knowing the
sovereign will, and possessing as soon as he
prays, being brought into close contact with the
almighty power, and earnestly desiring to be
spiritual, through boundless love, he is united to
the Spirit.

Thus he, being magnanimous, possessing,
through knowledge, what is the most precious of
all, the best of all, being quick in applying himself
to contemplation, retains in his soul the perma-
nent energy of the objects of his contemplation,
that is the perspicacious keenness of knowledge.
And this power he strives to his utmost to ac-
quire, by obtaining command of all the influences
which war against the mind ; and by applying
himself without intermission to speculation, by
exercising himself in the training of abstinence
from pleasures, and of right conduct in what he
does ; and besides, furnished with great experi-
ence both in study and in life, he has freedom of
speech, not the power of a babbling tongue, but
a power which employs plain language, and which
neither for favour nor fear conceals aught of the
things which may be worthily said at the fitting
time, in which it is highly necessary to say them.
He, then, having received the things respecting
God from the mystic choir of the truth itself, em-
ploys language which urges the magnitude of vir-
tue in accordance with its worth ; and shows its
results with an inspired elevation of prayer, being
associated gnostically, as far as possible, with
intellectual and spiritual objects.

Whence he is always mild and meek, accessi-
ble, affable, long-sufiering, gratefiil, endued with
a good conscience. Such a man is rigid, not
alone so as not to be corrupted, but so as not
to be tempted. For he never exposes his soul to
submission, or capture at the hands of Pleasure
and Pain. If the Word, who is Judge, call ; he,
having grown inflexible, and not indulging a
whit the passions, walks unswerx-^ingly where jus-
tice advises him to go ; being very well persuaded
that all things are managed consummately well.

3 [Jas. iv. 3.]

536

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI L

and that progress to what is better goes on in
the case of souls that have chosen virtue, till they
come to the Good itself, to the Father's vesti-
bule, so to speak, close to the great High Priest.
Such is our Gnostic, faithful, persuaded that the
affairs of the universe are managed in the best
way. Particularly, he is well pleased with all
that happens. In accordance with reason, then,
he asks for none of those things in life required
for necessary use ; being persuaded that God,
who knows all things, supplies the good with
whatever is for their benefit, even though they
do not ask.

For my view is, that as all things are supplied
to the man of art according to the rules of art,
and to the Gentile in a Gentile way, so also to the
Gnostic all things are supplied gnostically. And
the man who turns from among the Gentiles will
ask for faith, while he that ascends to knowledge
will ask for the perfection of love. And the
Gnostic, who has reached the summit, will pray
that contemplation may grow and abide, as the
common man will for continual good health.

Nay, he will pray that he may never fall from
virtue ; giving his most strenuous co-operation
in order that he may become infallible. For he
knows that some of the angels, through careless-
ness, were hurled to the earth, not having yet
quite reached that state of oneness, by extricating
themselves from the propensity to that of duality.

But him, who from this has trained himself
to the summit of knowledge and the elevated
height of the perfect man, all things relating to
time and place help on, now that he has made
it his choice to live infallibly, and subjects him-
self to training in order to the attainment of
the stability of knowledge on each side. But
in the case of those in whom there is still a
heavy corner, leaning doA\Ti wards, even that
part which has been elevated by faith is dragged
down. In him, then, who by gnostic training
has ac(|uired virtue which cannot be lost, habit
becomes nature. And just as weight in a stone,
so the knowledge of such an one is incapable
of being lost. Not without, but through the
exercise of will, and by the force of reason,
and knowledge, and Providence, is it brought to
become incapable of being lost. Through care
it becomes incapable of being lost. He will
employ caution so as to avoid sinning, and con-
sideration to prevent the loss of virtue.

Now knowledge appears to produce consider-
ation, by teaching to perceive the things that
are capable of contributing to the permanence
of virtue. The highest thing is, then, the
knowledge of (iod ; wherefore also by it virtue
is so preserved as to be incapable of being lost.
And he who knows God is holy and pious.
The (Jnostic has consequently been demon-
strated by us to be the only pious man.

He rejoices in good things present, and is
glad on account of those promised, as if they
were already present. For they do not elude
his notice, as if they were still absent, because
he knows by anticipation what sort they are.
Being then persuaded by knowledge how each
future thing shall be, he possesses it. For want
and defect are measured with reference to what
appertains to one. If, then, he possesses wis-
dom, and wisdom is a divine thing, he who par-
takes of what has no want will himself have ntj
want. For the imparting of wisdom does no:
take place by activity and receptivity moving
and stopping each other, or by aught bein^
abstracted or becoming defective. Activity b»
therefore shown to be undiminished in the a<i
of communication. So, then, our Gnostic pos-
sesses all good things, as far as possible ; but
not likewise in number; since othen^ise he
would be incapable of changing his place
through the due inspired stages of advancement
and acts of administration.

Him God helps, by honouring him with
closer oversight. For were not all things made
for the sake of good men, for their possession
and advantage, or rather salvation ? He will not
then deprive, of the things which exist for the
sake of virtue, those for whose sake they were
created. For, evidently in honour of their ex-
cellent nature and their holy choice, he inspire>
those who have made choice of a good life unth
strength for the rest of their salvation ; exhort-
ing some, and helping others, who of them-
selves have become worthy. For all good in
capable of being produced in the Gnostic ; if
indeed it is his aim to know and do everythin^:
intelligently. And as the physician minister^
health to those who co-operate with him in
order to health, so also God ministers etema.
salvation to those who co-operate for the attain
ment of knowledge and good conduct ; and
since what the commandments enjoin are in
our own power, along with the performance of
them, the promise is accomplished.

And what follows seems to me to be excellently
said by the Greeks. An athlete of no mea-i
reputation among those of old, having for a long
time subjected his body to thorough training in
order to the attainment of manly strength, on
going up to the Olympic games, cast his eye on
the statue of the Pisaean Zeus, and said : ** 0
Zeus, if all the requisite preparations for the
contest have been made by me, come, give mc
the victory, as is right." For so, in the case of
the Cjnostic, who has unblameably and with a
good conscience fulfilled all that depends on
him, in the direction of teaming, and trainin.:.
and well-doing, and pleasing God, the wholt
contributes to carry salvation on to perfection.
From us, then, are demanded the things which

Chap. VIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

537

are in our own power, and of the things which per-
tain to us, both present and absent, the choice,
and desire, and possession, and use, and perma-
nence.

Wherefore also he who holds converse with
Ciod must have his soul immaculate and stain-
lessly pure, it being essential to have made him-
self perfectly good.

But also it becomes him to make all his
prayers gently with the good. For it is a danger-
ous thing to take part in others' sins. Accordingly
the Gnostic will pray along with those who have
more recently believed, for those things in re-
spect of which it is their duty to act together.
And his whole life is a holy festival.' His sacri-
fices are prayers, and praises, and readings in
the Scriptures before meals, and psalms and
hymns during meals and before bed, and prayers
also again during night. By these he unites
himself to the divine choir, from continual recol-
lection, engaged in contemplation which has
everlasting remembrance.

And what? Does he not also know the
other kind of sacrifice, which consists in the giv-
ing both of doctrines and of money to those who
need ? Assuredly. But he does not use wordy
prayer by his mouth ; having learned to ask
of the Lord what is requisite. In every place,
therefore, but not ostensibly and visibly to the
multitude, he will pray. But while engaged in
walking, in conversation, while in silence, while
engaged in reading and in works according to
reason, he in every mood prays.^ If he but
form the thought in the secret chamber of his
soul, and call on the Father "with unspoken
groanings,*' 3 He is near, and is at his side, while
yet speaking. Inasmuch as there are but three
ends of all action, he does everything for its
excellence and utility ; but doing aught for the
sake of pleasure,^ he leaves to those who pursue
the common life.

CHAP. VIII. — THE GNOSTIC SO ADDICTED TO
TRUTH AS NOT TO NEED TO USE AN OATH.

The man of proved character in such piety is
far from being apt to lie and to swear. For an
oath is a decisive affirmation, with the taking of
the divine name. For how can he, that is once
faithful, show himself unfaithful, so as to require
an oath ; and so that his life may not be a sure
and decisive oath? He lives, and walks, and
shows the tmstworthiness of his affirmation in

* [Sec, j«/rfl, this c

^ L^«/'"''.!.P' 535, als
3 Rom. viii. 26.

chapter, p. S33, note i.]
also note i, 534. J

* TO 6i itriTtXtiv J5ia toi' Sv<roi<rTou koivov fiiov is the reading of
the text; which Potter amend"*, so as to bring out what is plainly the
idea of the author, the reference to plea«iure as the third end of actions,
and the end pursued by ordinary men, by changing £ia into y}S4ai,
which is simple, and leaves &v<roi<rTov (intolerable) to stand. Syl-
burgius notes that the Latin translator renders as if he read 5ia nju
:7£ot^i', which is adopted above.

an unwavering and sure life and speech. And
if the wrong lies in the judgment of one who
does and says [something], and not in the suf-
fering of one who has been wronged,^ he will
neither lie nor commit perjury so as to wrong
the Deity, knowing that it by nature is incapable
of being harmed. Nor yet will he lie or com-
mit any transgression, for the sake of the neigh-
bour whom he has learned to love, though he
be not on terms of intimacy. Much more, con-
sequently, will he not lie or perjure himself on
his own account, since he never with his will can
be found doing wrong to himself.

But he does not even swear, preferring to
make averment, in affirmation by " yea," and in
denfel by " nay." For it is an oath to swear, or
to produce^ anything from the mind in the way
of confirmation in the shape of an oath. It suf-
fices, then, with him, to add to an affirmation or
denial the expression " I say truly," for confirma-
tion to those who do not perceive the certainty
of his answer. For he ought, I think, to main-
tain a life calculated to inspire confidence
towards those without, so that an oath may not
even be asked ; and towards himself and those
with whom he associates,^ good feeling, which
is voluntar}' righteousness.

The Gnostic swears truly, but is not apt to
swear, having rarely recourse to an oath, just as
we have said. And his speaking truth on oath
arises from his accord with the truth. This
speaking tmth on oath, then, is found to be
the result of correctness in duties. Where, then,
is the necessity for an oath to him who lives in
accordance with the extreme of tnith?^ He,
then, that does not even swear will be far from
perjuring himself. And he who does not trans-
gress in what is ratified by compacts, will never
swear ; since the ratification of the violation and
of the fulfilment is by actions ; as certainly
lying and perjury in affirming and swearing are
contrary to duty. But he who lives justly,
transgressing in none of his duties, when the
judgment of truth is scrutinized, swears truth by
his acts. Accordingly, testimony by the tongue
is in his case superfluous.

Therefore, persuaded always that God is every-
where, and fearing not to speak the truth, and
knowing that it is unworthy of him to lie, he is
satisfied with the divine consciousness and his
own alone.'' And so he lies not, nor does aught
contrary to his compacts. And so he swears
not even when asked for his oath ; nor does he

5 Or, " persecuted; " for aSiKovnifov (l/owth) and SitoKotitvov
(Potter and Latin translator) have been both suggested instead of
the reading of the text, 6iaKovovft.ivov.

'^ irpo<r^ep(o'9ai and ■irfu>4>ift*<rBai are both found here.

7 crvficVraf, and (Sylburgius) o-vi'ioi'Tair.

* I^Our Lord answered when adjured by the magistrate; but
(Christians objected to all extra-judicial oaths, their whole life being
sworn to truth.]

9 [This must be noted, because our author seems to tolerate a de-
parture from strict truth in the next chapter.]

538

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VIT.

ever deny, so as to speak falsehood, though he
should die by tortures.

CHAP. DC. — THOSE WHO TEACH OTHERS, OUGHT
TO EXCEL IN VIRTUES.

The gnostic dignity is augmented and in-
creased by him who has undertaken the first
place in the teaching of others, and received the
dispensation by word and deed of the greatest
good on earth, by which he mediates contact
and fellowship with the Divinity. And as those
who worship terrestrial things pray to them as if
they heard, confirming compacts before them ;
so, in men who are living images, the true
majesty of the Word is received by the trust-
worthy teacher ; and the beneficence exerted
towards them is carried up to the Lord, after
whose image he who is a tnie man by instruc-
tion creates and harmonizes, renewing to salva-
tion the man who receives instruction. For as
the Greeks called steel Ares, and wine Dionysus,
on account of a certain relation ; so the Gnostic,
considering the benefit of his neighbours as his
own salvation, may be called a living image of
the Lord, not as respects the peculiarity of form,
but the symbol of power and similarity of
preaching.

Whatever, therefore, he has in his mind, he
bears on his tongue, to those who are worthy to
hear, speaking as well as living from assent and
inclination. For he both thinks and speaks the
truth ; unless at any time, medicinally, as a
physician for the safety of the sick, he may
deceive or tell an untnith, according to the
Sophists.'

To illustrate : the noble apostle circumcised
Timothy, though loudly declaring and writing
that circumcisioa made with hands profits noth-
ing.' But that he might not, by dragging all at
once away from the law to the circumcision of
the heart through faith those of the Hebrews
who were reluctant listeners, compel them to
break away from the synagogue, he, "accom-
modating himself to the Jews, became a Jew
that he might gain all." 3 He, then, who sub-
mits to accommodate himself merely for the bene-
fit of his neighbours, for the salvation of those for
whose sake he accommodates himself, not par-
taking in any dissimulation through the peril
impending over the just from those who envy
them, such an one by no means acts with com-
pulsion.* But for the benefit of his neighbours
alone, he will do things which would not have

I [Philo is here quoted by editors, and a passage from Plato.
" Sopnists," indeed ! With insane persons, and in like cases, looser
moralists have argued thus, but Clement justly credits it to Sophistry.
Elucidation I.]

^ Kom. ii. 25; F.ph. ii. ii. [Plainly, he introduces this example
of an apfntrtut inconsistency, because only so far he supposes the
(inoslic may allow himself, without playing faUe, to tcm[>ori7e. ]

^ 1 C'or. ix. ly, etc.

4 Thi!» sentence is obscure, and has l)ccn construed and amended
variously.

been done by him primarily, if he did not do
them on their account. Such an one gives him-
self for the Church, for the disciples whom he
has begotten in faith ; for an example to tho>c
who are capable of receiving the supreme econ-
omy of the philanthropic and God-loving In-
structor, for confirmation of the truth of hJN
words, for the exercise of love to the Lord.
Such an one is unenslaved by fear, true in won!,
enduring in labour, never willing to lie by uttertrd
word, and in it always securing sinlessness ; sine e
falsehood, being spoken with a certain deceit, i>
not an inert word, but operates to mischief.

On every hand, then, the Gnostic alone te^ll-
fies to the truth in deed and word. For he
always does rightly in all things, both in word
and action, and in thought itself.

Such, then, to speak cursorily, is the piet)' of
the Christian. If, then, he does these things
according to duty and right reason, he doe<
them piously and justly. And if such be the
case, the Gnostic alone is really both pious, and
just, and God-fearing.

The Christian is not impious. For this wa>
the point incumbent on us to demonstrate 10
the philosophers ; so that he will never in any
way do aught bad or base (which is unjust).
Consequently, therefore, he is not impious ; but
he alone fears God, holily and dutifully worship-
ping the true God, the universal Ruler, and
King, and Sovereign, with the true piety.

CHAP. X. — STEPS TO PERFECflON.

For knowledge {gnosis), to speak generally, a
perfecting of man as man, is consummated i \
acquaintance with divine things, in character,
life, and word, accordant and conformable t"
itself and to the divine Word. For by it faith
is perfected, inasmuch as it is solely by it that
the behever becomes perfect. Faith is an in-
ternal good, and without searching for CkMJ.
confesses His existence, and glorifies Him as ex-
istent. Whence by starting from this faith, and
being developed by it, through the grace of G<xl.
the knowledge respecting Him is to be acquired
as far as possible.

Now we assert that knowledge (gnosis) differ^
from the wisdom (o-o^ia), which is the result of
teaching. For as far as anything is knowledge,
so far is it certainly wisdom ; but in as far as
aught is wisdom, it is not certainly knowledge.
For the term wisdom appears only in the knowl-
edge of the uttered word.

But it is not doubting in reference to Go<l,
but believing, that is the foundation of knowl-
edge. But Christ is both the foundation an<:
the superstructure, by whom are both the begin
ning and the ends. And the extreme points, thr
beginning and the end — I mean faith and love —
are not taught. But knowledge, conveyed from

Chap. X.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

539

communication through the grace of God as a
deposit, is entrusted to those who show them-
selves worthy of it ; and from it the worth of
love beams forth from light to light. For it is
said, " To him that hath shall be given : " ' to
faith, knowledge ; and to knowledge, love ; and
to love, the inheritance.

And this takes place, whenever one hangs on
the Lord by faith, by knowledge,, by love, and
ascends along with Him to where the God and
i^uard of our faith and love is. Whence at last
(^on account of the necessity for very great prep-
aration and previous training in order both to
hear what is said, and for the composure of life,
and for advancing intelligently to a point beyond
the righteousness of the law) it is that knowledge
is committed to those fit and selected for it. It
leads us to the endless and perfect end, teaching
us beforehand the future life that we shall lead,
according to God, and with gods ; after we are
freed from all punishment and penalty which we
undergo, in consequence of our sins, for salu-
tary discipline. After which redemption the re-
ward and the honours are assigned to those who
have become perfect ; when they have got done
with purification, and ceased from all service,
though it be holy service, and among saints.
Then become pure in heart, and near to the
Lord, there awaits them restoration to everlast-
ing contemplation ; and they are called by the
aj^pellation of gods, being destined to sit on
thrones with the other gods that have been first
put in their places by the Saviour. —

Knowledge is therefore quick in purifying,
and fit for that acceptable transformation to the
better. Whence also with ease it removes [the
soul] to what is akin to the soul, divine and
holy, and by its own light conveys man through
the mystic stages of advancement ; till it restores
the pure in heart to the crowning place of rest ;
teaching to gaze on God, face to face, with
knowledge and comprehension. For in this
consists the perfection of the gnostic soul, in its
being with the Lord, where it is in immediate
subjection to Him, after rising above all purifica-
tion and service. ^

Faith is then, so to speak, a comprehensive
knowledge of the essentials;* and knowledge
is the strong and sure demonstration of what is
received by faith, built upon faith by the Lord's
teaching, conveying [the soul] on to infallibility,
science, and comprehension. And, in my view,
the first saving change is that from heathenism
to faith, as I said before ; and the second, that
from faith to knowledge. And the latter termi-
nating in love, thereafter gives the loving to the

loved, that which knows to that which is known.
And, perchance, such an one has already attained
, the condition of " being equal to the angels." ^
Accordingly, after the highest excellence in the
flesh, changing always duly to the better, he urges
his flight to the ancestral hall, through the holy
septenniad [of heavenly abodes] to the Lord's
own mansion ; to be a light, steady, and continu-
ing eternally, entirely and in every part immutable.

The first mode of the Lord's operation men-
tioned by us is an exhibition of the recompense
resulting from piety. Of the ver}^ great number
of testimonies that there are, I shall adduce one,
thus summarily expressed by the prophet David :
" Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord, or
who shall stand in His holy place ? He who is
guiltless in his hands, and pure in his heart;
who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, or
sworn deceitfully to his neighbour. He shall
receive blessing from the Lord, and mercy from
God his Saviour. This is the generation of them
that seek the Lord, that seek the face of the God
of Jacob." ^ The prophet has, in my opinion,
concisely indicated the Gnostic. David, as ap-
pears, has cursorily demonstrated the Saviour to
be God, by calling Him " the face of the Cxod of
Jacob," who preached and' taught concerning
the Spirit. Wherefore also the apostle desig-
nates as " the express image (xapa^pa) of
the glory of the Father " 5 the Son, who taught the
truth respecting God, and expressed the fact
that the Almighty is the one and only God and
1 Father, "whom no man knowelh but the Son,
and he to whom the Son shall reveal Him."^
That God is one is intimated by those '*who
seek the face of the God of Jacob ; " whom
being the only God, our Saviour and God char-
acterizes as the Good Father. And " the gener-
ation of those that seek Him " is the elect race,
devoted to inquiry after knowledge. Wherefore
also the apostie says, " I shall profit you nothing,
unless I speak to you, either by revelation, or by
knowledge, or by prophecy, or by doctrine." ^

Although even by those who are not Gnostics
some things are done rightiy, yet not according
to reason ; as in the case of fortitude. For
some who are naturally high-spirited, and have
afterwards without reason fostered this disposi-
tion, rush to many things, and act like brave
men, so as sometimes to succeed in achieving
the same things ; just as endurance is easy for
mechanics. But it is not from the same cause,
or with the same object ; not were they to give
their whole body. " For they have not love,"
according to the apostle.^

* Luke xix. 26.

2 [Tfeii/ KareircfyoiTb)!' yvvtax.^. This definition must be borne in
mind. It destroys all pretences that anything belonging to the faith,
i.e., dogma, might belong to an esoteric sybtcm.]

3 Luke XX. 36.

* Ps. xxiv. 3-6.

5 Heb. i. 3.

6 NLitt. xi. 27.

7 I Cor. xiv. 6.

* I Cor. xiii. 3.

540

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII

All the action, then, of a man possessed of
knowledge is right action ; and that done by a
man not possessed of knowledge is wrong ac-
tion, though he observe a plan ; since it is not
from reflection that he acts bravely, nor does he
direct his action in those things which proceed
from virtue to virtue, to any useful purpose.

The same holds also with the other virtues.
So too the analogy is preserved in religion.
Our Gnostic, then, not only is such in reference
to holiness ; but corresponding to the piety of
knowledge are' the commands respecting the
rest of the conduct of life. For it is our pur-
pose at present to describe the life of the Gnos-
tic,* not to present the system of dogmas, which
we shall afterwards explain at the fitting time,
preserving the order of topics.

CHAP. XI. — DESCRIFFION OF THE GNOSTIC'S LIFE.

Respecting the universe, he conceives truly
and grandly in virtue of his reception of divine
teaching. Beginning, then, with admiration of
the Creation, and affording of himself a proof
of his capability for receiving knowledge, he
becomes a ready pupil of the Lord. Directly
on hearing of God and Providence, he believed
in consequence ofethe admiration he enter-
tained. Through the power of impulse thence
derived he devotes his energies in every way to
learning, doing all those things by means of
which he shall be able to acquire the knowledge
of what he desires. And desire blended with
inquiry arises as faith advances. And this is to
become worthy of speculation, of such a charac-
ter, and such importance. So shall the Gnostic
taste of the will of God. For it is not his ears,
but his soul, that he yields up to the things sig-
nified by what is spoken. Accordingly, appre-
hending essences and things through the words,
he brings his soul, as is fit, to what is essential ;
apprehending (e.g.) in the peculiar way in
which they are spoken to the Gnostic, the com-
mands, " Do not commit adultery," " Do not
kill ; " and not as they are understood by other
people.^ Training himself, then, in scientific
speculation, he proceeds to exercise himself in
larger generalizations and grander propositions ;
knowing right well that " He that teacheth man
knowledge," according to the prophet, is the
Ix)rd, the Ix)rd acting by man's mouth. So
also He assumed flesh.

As is right, then, he never prefers the pleas-
ant to the useful ; not even if a beautiful woman
were to entice him, when overtaken by circum-
stances, by wantonly urging him : since Joseph's
master's wife was not able to seduce him from

* [Here, also, the morality of the true Gnostic is distinjB;uished
from the system of dogmiis, tiji' twi' Soyfidruty Otiupiav. Klucidation
II.J

2 [Others see the letter only, but the true Gnostic penetrates to
the spirit, of the law.]

his stedfastness ; but as she violently held hi^^
coat, divested himself of it, — becoming bare
of sin, but clothed with seemliness of character.
For if the eyes of the master — the Egyptian, I
mean — saw not Joseph, yet those of the Al-
mighty looked on. For we hear the voice, and
see the bodily forms ; but God scrutinizes the
thing itself, from which the speaking and the
looking proceed.

Consequently, therefore, though disease, and
accident, and what is most terrible of all, death,
come upon the Gnostic, he remains inflexible ir.
soul, — knowing that all such things are a neces-
sity of creation, and that, also by the power
of God, they become the medicine of salvation,
benefiting by discipline those who are diflftciilt
to reform ; allotted according to desert, by
Providence, which is truly good.

Using the creatures, then, when the Woni
prescribes, and to the extent it prescribes, in the
exercise of thankfulness to the Creator, he be-
comes master of the enjoyment of them.

He never cherishes resentment or harbours a
grudge against any one, though deserving of
hatred for his conduct. For he worships the
Maker, and loves him, who shares life, pitying
and praying for him on account of his igno-
rance. He indeed partakes of the affections of
the body, to which, susceptible as it is of suffer-
ing by nature, he is bound. But in sensation he
is not the primary subject of it.

Accordingly, then, in involuntary circum-
stances, by withdrawing himself from troubles
to the things which really belong to him, he i^
not carried away with what is foreign to him.
And it is only to things that are necessary for
him that he accommodates himself, in so far as
the soul is i)reserved unharmed. For it is not
in supposition or seeming that he wishes to l>e
faithful ; but in knowledge and truth, that is.
in sure deed and effectual word.^ \Vherefore
he not only praises what is noble, but endeavour*
himself to be noble ; changing by love from a
good and faithful servant into a friend, through
the perfection of habit, which he has acquire*!
in purity from true instruction and great di>-
cipline.

Striving, then, to attain to the summit of
knowledge (gnosis) ; decorous in character :
composed in mien ; possessing all those ad-
vantages which belong to the true Gnostic :
fixing his eye on fair models, on the many
patriarchs who have lived rightly, and on ver>'
many prophets and angels reckoned without
numl^er, and above all, on the Lord, who taught
and showed it to be possible for him to attain
that highest life of all, — he therefore loves not
all the good things of the world, which are within

3 [Here is no toleration of untruth. See p. 538, su/ra.}

Chap. XI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

541

his grasp, that he may not remain on the ground,
but the things hoped for, or rather already
known, being hoped for so as to be apprehended.

So then he undergoes toils, and trials, and
afflictions, not as those among the philosophers
who are endowed with manliness, in the hope of
present troubles ceasing, and of sharing again in
what is pleasant; but knowledge has inspired
him with the firmest persuasion of receiving the
hopes of the future. Wherefore he contemns
not alone the pains of this world, but all its
pleasures.

They say, accordingly, that the blessed Peter,
on seeing his wife led to death, rejoiced on
account of her call and conveyance home, and
called very encouragingly and comfortingly, ad-
dressing her by name, "Remember thou the
Lord." Such was the marriage of the blessed,
and their perfect disposition towards those dearest
to them.*

Thus also the apostle sa)rs, "that he who
marries should be as though he married not," ^
and deem his marriage free of inordinate affec-
tion, and inseparable from love to the Lord ;
to which the true husband exhorted his wife to
cling on her departure out of this life to the
Lord.

Was not then faith in the hope after death
conspicuous in the case of those who gave thanks
to God even in the very extremities of their
punishments ? For firm, in my opinion, was the
faith they possessed, which was followed by
works of faith.

In all circumstances, then, is the soul of the
Gnostic strong, in a condition of extreme health
and strength, like the body of an athlete.

For he is prudent in human affairs, in judging
what ought to be done by the just man ; having
obtained the principles from God firom above,
and having acquired, in order to the divine
resemblance, moderation in bodily pains and
pleasures. And he struggles against fears boldly,
trusting in God. Certainly, then, the gnostic
soul, adorned with perfect virtue, is the earthly
image of the divine power; its development
being the joint result of nature, of training, of
reason, all together. This beauty of the soul
becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit, when it
actjuires a disposition in the whole of life corre-
sponding to the Gospel. Such an one conse-
quently withstands all fear of everything terrible,
not only of death, but also poverty and disease,
and ignominy, and things akin to these ; being
unconquered by pleasure, and lord over irrational
desires. For he well knows what is and what
is not to be done ; being perfectly aware what
things are really to be dreaded, and what not.

' [The bearing of this beautiful anecdote upon clerical wedlock
and the sanctity of the married life must be obvious.]
* [1 Cor. vii. 29. S.]

Whence he bears intelligently what the Word
intimates to him to be requisite and necessary ;
intelligently discriminating what is really safe
(that is, good), from what appears so; and
things to be dreaded from what seems so, such
as death, disease, and poverty ; which are rather
so in opinion than in truth.

This is the really good man, who is without
passions ; having, through the habit or disposi-
tion of the soul endued with virtue, transcended
the whole life of passion. He has everything
dependent on himself for the attainment of the
end. For those accidents which are called ter-
rible are not formidable to the good man, be-
cause they are not evil. And those which are
really to be dreaded are foreign to tlie gnostic
Christian, being diametrically opposed to what is
good, because evil ; and it is impossible for con-
traries to meet in the same person at the same
time. He, then, who faultlessly acts the drama
of life which God has given him to play, knows
both what is to be done and what is to be
endured.

Is it not then from ignorance of what is and
what is not to be dreaded that cowardice arises ?
Consequently the only man of courage is the
Gnostic, who knows both present and future
good things; along with these, knowing, as I
have said, also the things which are in reality not
to be dreaded. Because, knowing vice alone to
be hateful, and destructive of what contributes
to knowledge, protected by the armour of the
Lord, he makes war against it.

For if anything is caused through folly, and
the operation or rather co-operation of the devil,
this thing is not straightway the devil or folly.
For no action is wisdom. For wisdom is a
habit. And no action is a habit. The action,
then, that arises from ignorance, is not abready
ignorance, but an evil through ignorance, but
not ignorance. For neither perturbations of
mind nor sins are vices, though proceeding fi'om
vice.

No one, then, who is irrationally brave is a
Gnostic ; * since one might call children brave,
who, through ignorance of what is to be dreaded,
undergo things that are frightful. So they touch
fire even. And the wild beasts that rush close
on the points of spears, having a brute courage,
might be called valiant. And such people might
perhaps call jugglers valiant, who tumble on
swords with a certain dexterity, practising a mis-
chievous art for sorry gain. But he who is truly
brave, with the peril arising fi*om the bad feeling
of the multitude before his eyes, courageously
awaits whatever comes. In this way he is distin-

3 [Brute bravery is here finely contrasted with real courage; a
distinction rarely recognised by the multitude. Thus the man who
trembles, yet goes into peril in view of duty, is the real hero. Vet the
insensible brute, who does not appreciate the danger, often passes for
his superior, with the majority of men.]

542

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII.

guished from others that are called martyrs, inas-
much as some furnish occasions for themselves,
and rush into the heart of dangers, I know not how
(for it is right to use mild language) ; while they,
in accordance with right reason, protect them-
selves ; then, on God really calling them, prompt-
ly surrender themselves, and confirm the call,
from being conscious of no precipitancy, and
present the man to be proved in the exercise of
true rational fortitude. Neither, then, enduring
lesser dangers from fear of greater, like other
people, nor dreading censure at the hands of their
equals, and those of like sentiments, do they
continue in the confession of their calling ; but
from love, to God they willingly obey the call,
with no other aim in view than pleasing God,
and not for the sake of the reward of their toils.

For some suffer from love of glory, and others
from fear of some other sharper punishment,
and others for the sake of pleasures and delights
after death, being children in faith; blessed
indeed, but not yet become men in love to God,
as the Gnostic is. For there are, as in the gym-
nastic contests, so also in the Church, crowns
for men and for children. But love is to be
chosen for itself, and for nothing else. There-
fore in the Gnostic, along with knowledge, the
perfection of fortitude is developed from the
discipline of life, he having always studied to
acquire mastery over the passions.

Accordingly, love makes its own athlete fear-
less and dauntless, and confident in the Lord,
anointing and training him ; as righteousness
secures for him truthfiilness in his whole life.'
For it was a compendium of righteousness to say,
** Let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay." '

And the same holds with self-control. For it
is neither for love of honour, as the athletes
for the sake of crowns and fame ; nor on the
other hand, for love of money, as some pretend
to exercise self-control, pursuing what is good
with terrible suffering. Nor is it from love of
the body for the sake of health. Nor any more
is any man who is temperate from rusticity, who
has not tasted pleasures, truly a man of self-con-
trol. Certainly those who have led a laborious
life, on tasting pleasures, forthwith break down
the inflexibility of temperance into pleasures.
Such are they who are restrained by law and
fear. For on finding a favourable opportunity
they defraud the law, by giving what is good
the slip. But self-control, desirable for its own
sake, perfected through knowledge, abiding ever,
makes the man lord and master of himself; so
that the Gnostic is teijiperate and passionless,
incapable of being dissolved by pleasures and
pains, as they say adamant is by fire.

I [Again note our author's fidelity to the law of intrepid truth*
fulness, and compare pp. 538, 540.J
' f jas. V. la. S.]

The cause of these, then, is love, of all science
the most sacred and most sovereign.

For by the service of what is best and mar.t
exalted, which is characterized by unity, it ren-
ders the Gnostic at once friend and son, ha\ing
in truth grown " a perfect man, up to the measure
of full stature." 3

Further, agreement in the same thing is con-
sent. But what is the same is one. And friend-
ship is consummated in likeness ; the community
lying in oneness. The Gnostic, consequently,
in virtue of being a lover of the one true God, is
the really perfect man and fiiend of God, and is
placed in the rank of son. For these are names
of nobility and knowledge, and perfection in
the contemplation of God ; which crowning step
of advancement the gnostic soul receives, when
it has become quite pure, reckoned worthy to
behold everlastingly God Almighty, " face," it is
said, "to face." For having become wholly
spiritual, and having in the spiritual Church
gone to what is of kindred nature, it abides in
the rest of God.

CHAP. Xn. — THE TRUE GNOSTIC IS BENEFICENT,
CONTINENT, AND DESPISES WORLDLY THINCii-

Let these things, then, be so. And such
being the attitude of the Gnostic towards the
body and the soul — towards his neighbours,
whether it be*a domestic, or a lawful enemy, or
whosoever — he is found equal and like. For he
does not " despise his brother," who, according
to the divine law, is of the same father and
mother. Certainly he relieves the aflflicted,
helping him with consolations, encouragements,
and the necessaries of life ; giving to all that
need, though not similarly, but justly, according
to desert; furthermore, to him who persecutes
and hates, even if he need it ; caring little for
those who say to him that he has given out of
fear, if it is not out of fear that he does so, but
to give help. For how much more are those,
who towards their enemies are devoid of love of
money, and are haters of evil, animated with
love to those who belong to them ?

Such an one from this proceeds to the accurate
knowledge of whom he ought chiefly to give to,
and how much, and when, and how.

And who could with any reason become the
enemy of a man who gives "no cause for enmity
in any way ? And is it not just as in the case of
God ? We say that God is the adversary of no
one, and the enemy of no one (for He is the
Creator of all, and nothing that exists is what
He wills it not to be ; but we assert that the
disobedient, and those who walk not according
to His commandments, are enemies to Him, as
being those who are hostile to His covenant).

3 Eph. iv. 13.

Chap. XII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

543

VVe shall find the very same to be the case with
the Gnostic, for he can never in any way become
an enemy to any one ; but those may be regarded
enemies to him who turn to the contrary path.

In particular, the habit of liberality ' which pre-
vails among us is called " righteousness ; " but
the power of discriminating according to desert,
as to greater and less, with reference to those
who are proper subjects of it, is a form of the
very highest righteousness.

There are things practised in a vulgar style by
some people, such as control ov6r pleasures.
For as, among the heathen, there are those who,
from the impossibility of obtaining what one
sees,^ and from fear of men, and also for the
sake of greater pleasures, abstain from the de-
lights that are before them ; so also, in the case
of faith, some practise self-restraint, either out
of regard to the promise or from fear of God.
Well, such self-restraint is the basis of knowledge,
and an approach to something better, and an
effort after perfection. For "the fear of the
Lord," it is said, " is the beginning of wisdom." 3
But the perfect man, out of love, " beareth all
things, endureth all things," ^ " as not pleasing
man, but Grod." 5 Although praise follows him
as a consequence, it is not for his own advantage,
but for the imitation and benefit of those who
praise him.

According to another view, it is not he who
merely controls his passions that is called a
continent man, but he who has also achieved
the mastery over good things, and has acquired
surely the great accomplishments of science,
from which he produces as fiiiits the activities
of virtue. Thus the Gnostic is never, on the
occurrence of an emergency, dislodged from
the habit peculiar to him. For the scientific
possession of what is good is firm and un-
changeable, being the knowledge of things
divine and human. Knpwledge, then, never
becomes ignorance ; nor does good change into
evil. Wherefore also he eats, and drinks, and
marries, not as principal ends of existence,
but as necessary. I name marriage even, if the
Word prescribe, and as is suitable. For having
become perfect, he ^ has the apostles for exam-
ples ; and one is not really shown to be a man
in the choice of single hfe ; but he surpasses
men, who, disciplined by marriage, procreation
of children, and care for the house, without
pleasure or pain, in his solicitude for the house
has been inseparable from God's love, and with-

* [The habit of beneficence is a form of virtue, which the Gospel
alone nas bred among mankind.]

2 op4'» or, desires, cpa, as Sylburgius suggests.

3 Prov. i. jr.

* I Cor. xili. 7.
5 I Thess. ii. 4.

* [This striking tribute to chaste marriage as consistent with Chris-
tian perfection exemplified by apostles, and in many things superior
to the selfishness ot celibacy, is of the highest importance m the
support of a true Catholicity, against the false, p. 541, note x.J

Stood all temptation arising through children,
and wife, and domestics, and possessions. But
he that has no family is in a great degree free
of temptation. Caring, then, for himself alone,
he is surpassed by him who is inferior, as far as
his own personal salvation is concerned, but
who is superior in the conduct of life, preserv-
ing certainly, in his care for the truth, a minute
image.

But we must as much as possible subject the
soul to varied preparatory exercise, that it may
become susceptible to the reception of knowl-
edge. Do you not see how wax is softened and
copper purified, in order to receive the stamp
applied to it? Just as death is the separation of
the soul from the body, so is knowledge as it
were the rational death urging the spirit away,
and separating it from the passions, and leading
it on to the life of well-doing, that it may then
say with confidence to God, " I live as Thou
wishes t." For he who makes it his purpose to
please men cannot please God, since the mul-
titude choose not what is profitable, but what is
pleasant. But in pleasing God, one as a con-
sequence gets the favour of the good among
men. How, then, can what relates to meat,
and drink, and amorous pleasure, be agreeable
to such an one ? since he views with suspicion
even a word that produces pleasure, and a
pleasant movement and act of the mind. " For
no one can serve two masters, God and Mam-
mon," 7 it is said ; meaning not simply money,
but the resources arising from money bestowed
on various pleasures. In reality, it is not possi-
ble for him who magnanimously and truly knows
God, to serve antagonistic pleasures.

There is one alone, then, who from the begin-
ning was free of concupiscence — the philan-
thropic Lord, who for us became man. And
whosoever endeavour to be assimilated to the
impress given by Him, strive, from exercise, to
become free of concupiscence. For he who
has exercised concupiscence and then restrained
himself, is like a widow who becomes again a
virgin by continence. Such is the reward of
knowledge, rendered to the Saviour and Teacher,
which He Himself asked for, — abstinence from
what is evil, activity in doing good, by which sal-
vation is acquired.

As, then, those who have learned the arts
procure their living by what they have been
taught, so also is the Gnostic saved, procuring
life by what he knows. For he who has not
formed the wish to extirpate the passion of the
soul, kills himself. But, as seems, ignorance is
the starvation of the soul, and knowledge its
sustenance.

Such are the gnostic souls, which the Gospel

7 Matt. vi. 24; Luke xvi. 13.

544

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI I

,»gened to the consecrated virgins who wait for ';
the Lord. For they are virgins, in respect of
their abstaining from what is evil. And in re-
spect of their waiting out of love for the Lord,
and kindling their light for the contemplation of
things, they are wise souls, saying, " Ix)rd, for
long we have desired to receive Thee ; we have
lived according to what Thou hast enjoined, trans-
gressing none of lliy commandments. Where-
fore also we claim the promises. And we pray
for what is beneficial, since it is not requisite to
ask of Thee what is most excellent. And we
shall take everything for good ; even though the
exccises that meet us, which Thine arrangement
brings to us for the discipline of our stedfastness,
appear to be evil."

The Gnostic, then, from his exceeding holiness,
is better prepared to fail when he asks, than to
get when he does not ask.

His whole life is prayer and converse with
God.» And if he be pure from sins, he will by
all means obtain what he wishes. For God says
to the righteous man, " Ask, and I will give thee ;
think, and I will do." If beneficial, he will re-
ceive it at once ; and if injurious, he will never
ask it, and therefore he will not receive it. So
it shall be as he wishes.

But if one say to us, that some sinners even
obtain according to their requests, [wc should
say] that this rarely takes place, by reason of the
righteous goodness of God. And it is granted
to those who are capable of doing others good.
Whence the gift is not made for the sake of him
that asked it ; but the divine dispensation, fore-
seeing that one would be saved by his means,
renders the boon again righteous. And to those
who are worthy, things which are really good are
given, even without their asking.

Whenever, then, one is righteous, not from
necessity or out of fear or hope, but fi-om free
choice, this is called the royal road, which the
royal race travel. But the byways are slippery
and precipitous. If, then, one take away fear
and honour, I do not know if the illustrious
among the philosophers, who use such freedom
of speech, will any longer endure afflictions.

Now lusts and other sins are called " briars
and thorns." Accordingly the Gnostic labours in
the Lord's vineyard, planting, pruning, watering ;
being the divine husbandman of what is planted
in faith. Those, then, who have not done evil,
think it right to receive the wages of ease. But
he who has done good out of fi*ee choice,
demands the recompense as a good workman.
He certainly shall receive double wages — both
for what he has not done, and for what good he
has done.

^ [" Rapt into still communion that transcends
The imperfect offices of prayer and praise."

Wordsworth: Ejccurs/ou, book i. 208. J

Such a Gnostic is tempted by no one exce|it
with God's permission, and that for the benefit
of those who are with him ; and he strengthen^
them for faith, encouraging them by manly
endurance. And assuredly it was for this end^
for the establishment and confirmation of the
Churches, that the blessed apostles were brought
into trial and to martyrdom.

The Gnostic, then, hearing a voice ringing in
his ear, which says, " Whom I shall strike, do
thou pity," beseeches that those who hate him
may repent. For the pimishment of malefactors,
to be consummated in the highways, is for chil-
dren to behold ; ' for there is no possibilit}- of
the Gnostic, who has from choice trained himself
to be excellent and good, ever being instructed or
delighted with such spectacles.^ And so, having
become incapable of being softened by pleasures,
and never falling into sins, he is not corrected by
the examples of other men's sufferings. And far
from being pleased with earthly pleasures and
spectacles is he who has shown a noble contempt
for the prospects held out in this world, although
they are divine.

" Not every one," therefore, " that says Lord.
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God ; but
he that doeth the will of God." ^ Such is the
gnostic labourer, who has the mastery of worldly
desires even while still in the flesh ; and who, in
regard to things future and still invisible, which
he knows, has a sure persuasion, so that he
regards them as more present than the things
within reach. This able workman rejoices in
what he knows, but is cramped on account of
his being involved in the necessities of life ; not
yet deemed worthy of the active participation in
what he knows. So he uses this life as if it be-
longed to another, — so far, that is, as is neces-
sary.

He knows also the enigmas of the fasting of
those days s — I mean the Fourth and the Prep-
aration. For the one has its name from Her-
mes, and the other from Aphrodite. He fasts
in his life, in respect of covetousness and volup-
tuousness, fi-om which all the vices grow. For
we have already often above shown the three
varieties of fornication, according to the apKJsile
— love of pleasure, love of money, idolatr}-. He
fasts, then, according to the Law, abstaining from
bad deeds, and, according to the perfection of
the Gospel, from evil thoughts. Temptations
are applied to him, not for his purification, but,
as we have said, for the good of his neighbours.

* According to the text, instead of " to behold," as above, it would
be "not to behold." Ixjwth su^ests ihe omission of "not," (wn).
Retaining it, and translating " is not even for children to bebuold,"
the clause yields a suitable sense.

3 i/irb ToiovTttf is here substituted by Heinsius for vvb Twr avrMr.

* Matt. vii. 21.

5 [The stationary days, Wednesday and Friday. Sec constitu-
tions cailed Apostohcal, v. 19, and vii. 24; also Hernias, Skf^Merd^
p. 33, this volume, and my note.]

Chap. XII.]

THE STROMATA," OR MISCELLANIES.

■^45

if, making trial of toils and pains, he has despised
and passed them by.

•The same holds of pleasure. For it is the
highest achievement for one who has had trial
of it, afterwards to abstain. For what great thing
is it,. if a man restrains himself in what he knows
not? He, in fulfilment of the precept, accord-
ing to the Gospel, keeps the Lord's day,' when
he abandons an evil disposition, and assumes
that of the Gnostic, glorifying the Lord's resur-
rection in himself. Further, also, when he has
received the comprehension of scientific specula-
tion, he deems that he sees the Lord, directing
his eyes towards things invisible, although he
seems to look on what he does not wish to look
on ; chastising the faculty of vision, when he
perceives himself pleasurably affected by the ap-
plication of his eyes ; since he wishes to see and
hear that alone which concerns him.

In the act of contemplating the souls of the
brethren, he beholds the beauty of the flesh also,
with the soul itself, which has become habituated
to look solely upon that which is good, without
carnal pleasure. And they are really brethren ;
inasmuch as, by reason of their elect creation,
and their oneness of character, and the nature
of their deeds, they do, and think, and speak the
same holy and good works, in accordance with
the sentiments with which the Lord wished them
as elect to be inspired.

For faith shows itself in their making choice
of the same things ; and knowledge, in learning
and thinking the same things ; and hope, in de-
siring ^ the same things.

And if, through the necessity of life, he spend
a small portion of time about his sustenance, he
thinks himself defrauded, being diverted by busi-
ness.3 Thus not even in dreams does he look
on aught that is imsuitable to an elect man. For
thoroughly^ a stranger and sojourner in the
whole of life is every such one, who, inhabiting
the city, despises the things in the city which
are admired by others, and lives in the city as
in a desert, so that the place may not com-
pel hiin, but his mode of life show him to be
just.

This Gnostic, to speak compendiously, makes
up for the absence of the apostles, by the recti-
tude of his life, the accuracy of his knowledge,
by benefiting his relations, by "removing the
mountains " of his neighbours, and putting away

) [Rom vi. 5. The original of Clement's argument seems to me
to imply that he is here speaking of the Paschal festival, and the
true keeping of it by a moral resurrection (i Cor. v 7, 8). But
the weekly Lord's day eqforces the same principle as the great
dominical anniversary.!

' TtoBtlv suggested by Lowth instead of irottif.

^ [The periTof wealtn and "business," thus enforced in the mar-
^yr-age, is too little insisteH ••pon in our day ; if, indeed, it is not wholly
overlooked.J

4 art^i^wc adopted mstead of ar^xfuf of the text, and transferred
to the beginnmg of this sentence from the close of the preceding,
where it appears in the text.

the irregularities of their soul. Although ea< ..
of us is his 5 own vineyard and labourer.

He, too, while doing the most excellent things,
wishes to elude the notice of men, persuading the
Lord along with himself that he is living in accord-
ance with the ^ commandments, preferring these
things from believing them to exist. " For where
any one's mind is, there also is his treasure.'^ ^

He impoverishes himself, in order that he
may never overlook a brother who has been
brought into affliction, through the perfection
that is in love, especially if he know that he will
bear want himself easier than his brother. He
considers, accordingly, the other's pain his awn
grief; and if, by contributing from his own indi-
gence in order .to do good, he suffer any hardship,
he does not fret at this, but augments his be-
neficence still more. For he |X)ssesses in its sin-
cerity the faith which is exercised in reference to
the affairs of life, and praises the Gospel in prac-
tice and contemplation. And, in truth, he wins
his praise " not from men, but from God," ^ by
the performance of what the Lord has taught.

He, attracted by his own hope, tastes not the
good things that are in the world, entertaining
a noble contempt for all things here ; pitying
those that are chastised after death, who through
punishment unwillingly make confession ; hav-
ing a clear conscience with reference to his de-
parture, and being always ready, as " a stranger
and pilgrim," with regard to the inheritances
here ; mindful only of those that are his own,
and regarding all things here as not his own;
not only admiring the Lord's commandments,
but, so to speak, being by knowledge itself par-
taker of the divine will ; a truly chosen intimate
of the Lord and His commands in virtue of be-
ing righteous ; and princely and kingly as being
a Gnostic ; despising all the gold on earth and
under the earth, and dominion from shore to
shore of ocean, so that he may cling to the sole
service of the Lord. Wherefore also, in eating,
and drinking, and marrying (if the Word enjoin) ,
and even in seeing dreams,^ he does and thinks
what is holy.

So is he always pure for prayer. He also
prays in the society of angels, as being already
of angelic rank, and he is never out of their holy
keeping ; and though he pray alone, he has the
choir of the saints '° standing with him.

He recognises a twofold [element in faith],
both the activity of him who believes, and the

5 See Matt. xx. 21 , Markxi. 23: i Cor. xiii. 2, etc.

6 Or His, i.e., the Lord's.

7 Referring to Matt. vi. 2X.
* Rom. ii. 29.

9 [Again, the sanctity of chaste marriage. The Fathers attach
responsibility to the conscience for impure dreams. See su^ra, this
page.]

i<^ a-ytwi'. as in the best authorities; orayy^Awv, as in recent edi-
tions. [" Where two or three are gathered, etc. 'This principle is
insisted upon by the Fathers, as the great idea of public worship. And
see the Trisgion, Bunsen's Hippolytus^ vol. iii. p. 63.]

546

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII

excellence of that which is believed according
to its worth ; since also righteousness is twofold,
that which is out of love, and that from fear. ,
Accordingly it is said, " The fear of the Lord
is pure, remaining for ever and ever." ' For
those that from fear turn to faith and righteous-
ness, remain for ever. Now fear works absti-
nence from what is evil ; but love exhorts to the
doing of good, by building up to the point of
spontaneousness ; that one may hear from the
Lord, " I call you no longer servants, but
friends," and may now with confidence apply
himself to prayer.

And the form of his prayer is thanksgiving for
the past, for the present, and for the future as
already through faith present. This is preceded
by the reception of knowledge. And he asks
to live the allotted life in the flesh as a Gnostic,
as free from the flesh, and to attain to the best
things, and flee from the worse. He asks, too,
relief in those things in which we have sinned,
and conversion to the acknowledgment of th^m.^

He follows, on his departure. Him who calls,
as quickly, so to speak, as He who goes before
calls, hasting by reason of a good conscience to
give thanks ; and having got there with Christ,
shows himself worthy, through his purity, to pos-
sess, by a process of blending, the power of God
communicated by Christ. For he does not wish
to be warm by participation in heat, or luminous
by participation in flame, but to be wholly light.

He knows accurately the declaration, "Un-
less ye hate father and mother, and besides your
own life, and unless ye bear the sign [of the
cross] ."3 For he hates the inordinate affections
of the flesh, which possess the powerful spell of
pleasure ; and entertains a noble contempt for
all that belongs to the creation and nutriment of
the flesh. He also withstands the corporeal^
soul, putting a bridle-bit on the restive irrational
spirit : " For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit." s
And " to bear the sign of [the cross] " is to bear
about death, by taking farewell of all things while
still alive ; since there is not equal love in " hav-
ing sown the flesh," ^ and in having formed the
soul for knowledge.

He having acquired the habit of doing good,
exercises beneficence well, (quicker than speak-
ing ; praying that he may get a share in the sins
of his brethren, in order to confession and con-
version on the part of his kindred ; and eager to
give a share to those dearest to him of his own
good things. And so these are to him, friends.
Promoting, then, the growth of the seeds depos-

* Ps. xix. 9.

2 Luke xviii. 18.

3 Luke xiv. 26, 27.

4 i c., The sentient soul, which he culls the irrational spirit, in
contra'it with the rational soul.

5 (Jal. V. 17.

^ In alhision to Gal. vi. 8, where, however, the apostle speaks of
sowing to the flesh.

ited in him, according to the husbandry enjoined
by the Lord, he continues free of sin, and be-
comes continent, and lives in spirit with thoM.-
who are like him, among the choirs of the saint*,
though still detained on earth.

He, all day and night, speaking and doing the
Lord's commands, rejoices exceedingly, not only
on rising in the morning and at noon, but aKn
when walking about, when asleep, when dressini;
and undressing ; 7 and he teaches his son, if he
has a son. He is inseparable from the command-
ment and from hope, and is ever giving thanks
to God, like the living creatures figuratively
spoken of by Esaias, and submissive in every trial,
he says, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away."* For such also was Job; who
after the spoiling of his effects, along wth the
health of his body, resigned all through love to
the Lord. For " he was," it is said, "just, holy,
and kept apart fi-om all wickedness." 9 Now the
word " holy " points out all duties toward God.
and the entire course of life. Knowing which, he
was a Gnostic. For we must neither cling loo
much to such things, even if they are good, see-
ing they are human, nor on the other hand detest
them, if they are bad ; but we must be above tx>th
[good and bad], trampling the latter under
foot, and passing on the former to those who
need them. But the Gnostic is cautious in ac-
commodation, lest he be not perceived, or lest
the accommodation become disposition.

CHAP. XIII. — DESCRIPTION OF THE GNOSTIC CON-
TINUED.

He never remembers those who have sinned
against him, but forgives them. Wherefore also
he righteously prays, saying, " Forgive us ; for
we also forgive." '° For this also is one of the
things which God wishes, to covet nothing, to
hate no one. For all men are the work of one
will. And is it not the Saviour, who wishes tht
Gnostic to be perfect as " the heavenly Father." '•'
that is. Himself, who says, "Come, ye children,
hear from me the fear of the Lord?"'^ He
wishes him no longer to stand in need of help
by angels, but to receive it from Himself, having
become worthy, and to have protection from
Himself by obedience.

Such an one demands from the Lord, and doe?
not merely ask. And in the case of his breth-
ren in want, the Gnostic will not ask himself for
abundance of wealth to bestow, but will pray
that the supply of what they need may be fur-
nished to them. For so the Gnostic gives h>
prayer to those who are in* need, and by his

' rSee, su/ra, cap. vii. p. 533.]

* Job i. 21.

9 Job i. I,

*o Mall. vi. 12; Luke xi. 4.
" Matt. V. 48.
*^ Ps. xxxiv. II.

Chap. XIV. ]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

547

prayer they are supplied, without his knowledge,
and without vanity.

Penury and disease, and such trials, are often
sent for admonition, for the correction of the
past, and for care for the future. Such an one
prays for relief from them, in virtue of possess-
ing the prerogative of knowledge, not out of vain-
glory; but from the very fact of his being a
Gnostic, he works beneficence, having become
the instrument of the goodness of God.

They say in the traditions * that Matthew the
apostle constantly said, that "if the neighbour
of an elect man sin, the elect man has sinned.
For had he conducted himself as the Word pre-
scribes, his neighbour also would have been filled
with such reverence for the life he led as not to

sin.

»»

What, then, shall we say of the Gnostic him-
self? " Know ye not," says the apostle, " that
ye are the temple of God?"' The Gnostic is
consequently divine, and already holy, God-bear-
ing, and God-borne. Now the Scripture, show-
ing that sinning is foreign to him, sells those
who have fallen away to strangers, saying, " Look
not on a strange woman, to lust," ^ plainly pro-
nounces sin foreign and contrary to the nature of
the temple of God. Now the temple is great, as
the Church, and it is small, as the man who pre-
serves the seed of Abraham. He, therefore, who
has God resting in him will not desire aught else.
At once leaving all hindrances, and despising all
matter which distracts him, he cleaves the heaven
by knowledge. And passing through the spirit-
ual Essences, and all rule and authority, he
touches the highest thrones, hasting to that alone
for the sake of which alone he knew.

Mixing, then, " the serpent with the dove," ^
he Hves at once perfectly and with a good con-
science, mingling faith with hope, in order to the
expectation of the future. For he is conscious
of the boon he has received, having become
worthy of obtaining it ; and is translated from
slavery to adoption, as the consequence of knowl-
edge ; knowing God, or rather known of Him,
for the end, he puts forth energies corresponding
to the worth of grace. For works follow knowl-
edge, as the shadow the body.

Rightly, then, he is not disturbed by anything
which happens ; nor does he suspect those things,
which, through divine arrangement, take place
for good. Nor is he ashamed to die, having a
good conscience, and being fit to be seen by
the Powers. Cleansed, so to speak, from all the
stains of the soul, he knows right well that it
will be better with him after his departure.

' [Sec book ii. p. 358, also book vii. cap. 17, in/ra.]
' I Cor. iii. i6.

3 These words arc not found in Scripture. Solomon often warns
against strange women, and there are our Lord's words in Matt. v. 28.
• Matt. X. 16.

Whence he never prefers pleasure and profit
to the divine arrangement, since he trains him-
self by the commands, that in all things he may
be well pleasing to the Lord, and praisew^orthy
in the sight of the world, since all things depend
on the one Sovereign God. The Son of God,
it is said, came to His own, and His own re-
ceived Him not. Wherefore also in the use of
the things of the world he not only gives thanks
and praises the creation, but also, while using
them as is right, is praised ; since the end he
has in view terminates in contemplation by gnos-
tic activity in accordance with the command-
ments.

Thence now, by knowledge collecting materials
to be the food of contemplation, having embraced
nobly the magnitude of knowledge, he advances
to the holy recompense of translation hence.
For he has heard the Psalm which says : " Encir-
cle Zion, and encompass it, tell upon its towers." s
For it intimates, I think, those who have sub-
limely embraced the Word, so as to become lofty
towers, and to stand firmly in faith and knowl-
edge.

Let these statements concerning the Gnostic, '
containing the germs of the matter in as brief
terms as possible, be made to the Greeks. But
let it be known that if the [mere] believer do
rightly one or a second of these things, yet he
will not do so in all nor with the highest knowl-
edge, Hke the Gnostic.

CHAP. XIV. — DESCRIPTION OF THE GNOSTIC FUR-
NISHED BY AN EXPOSITION OF I COR. VI. I, ETC.

Now, of what I may call the passionlessness
which we attribute to the Gnostic (in which the
perfection of the believer, " advancing by love,
comes to a perfect man, to the measure of full
stature," ^ by being assimilated to God, and by
becoming truly angelic), many other testimonies
from the Scripture, occur to me to adduce. But
I think it better, on account of the length of the
discourse, that such an honour should be de-
volved on those who wish to take pains, and
leave it to them to elaborate the dogmas by the
selection of Scriptures.

One passage, accordingly, I shall in the brief-
est terms advert to, so as not to leave the topic
unexplained.

For in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the
divine apostle says : " Dare any of you, having
a matter against the other, go to law before the
unrighteous, and not before the saints? Know
ye not that the saints shall judge the world? "^
and so on.

The section being ver}- long, we shall exhibit
the meaning of the apostle's utterance by em-

S Ps. xlyiii. 12.
*» Eph. iv. 13.
7 I Cor. vi. I, a.

548

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

IBooK vri.

ploying such of the apostolic expressions as are
most pertinent, and in the briefest language, and
in a sort of cursory way, interpreting the dis-
course in which he describes the perfection of
the Gnostic. For he does not merely instance
the Gnostic as characterized by suffering wrong
rather than do wrong ; but he teaches that he is
not mindful of injuries, and does not allow him
even to pray against the man who has done him
wrong. For he knows that the Lord expressly
enjoined " to pray for enemies." '

To say, then, that the man who has been
injured goes to law before the unrighteous, is
nothing else than to say that he shows a wish to re-
taliate, and a desire to injure the second in return,
which is also to do wrong likewise himself.

And his saying, that he wishes " some to go
to law before the saints," points out those who
ask by prayer that those who have done wrong
should suffer retaliation for their injustice, and
intimates that the second are better than the
former ; but they are not yet obedient,^ if they
do not, having become entirely free of resent-
ment, pray even for their enemies.

It is well, then, for them to receive right dis-
positions from repentance, which results in faith.
For if the truth seems to get enemies who enter-
tain bad feeling, yet it is not hostile to any one.
" For God makes His sun to shine on the just
and on the unjust," ^ and sent the Lord Himself
to the just and the unjust. And he that earnestly
strives to be assimilated to God, in the exercise
of great absence of resentment, forgives seventy
times seven times, as it were all his life through,
and in all his course in this world (that being
indicated by the enumeration of sevens) shows
clemency to each and any one ; if any during
the whole time of his life in the flesh do the
Gnostic wrong. For he not only deems it right
that the good man should resign his property
alone to others, being of the number of those
who have done him wrong ; but also wishes that
the righteous man should ask of those judges
forgiveness for the offences of those who have
done him wrong. And with reason, if indeed it
is only in that which is external and concerns
the body, though it go to the extent of death
even, that those who attempt to wrong him take
advantage of him ; none of which truly belong
to the Gnostic.

And how shall one " judge " the apostate
" angels," who has become himself an apostate
from that forgetfulness of injuries, which is ac-
cording to the Gospel ? " Why do ye not rather
suffer wrong? " he says ; " why are ye not rather
defrauded? Yea, ye do wrong and defraud," ■•

« Matt. V. A4.

' cv«>c(0«(« here substituted by Sylburgius for avtiBtU, May not
the true reading be avatfcif , as the topic is avaStia ?
3 Matt. V. 45.
* I Cor. vi. 7, 8.

manifestiy by praying against those who trans-
gress in ignorance, and deprive of the philan-
thropy and goodness of God, as far as in yn :
lies, those against whom you pray, " and thtr^c
your brethren," — not meaning those in the faith
only, but also the proselytes. For whether he
who now is hostile shall afterwards believe, wc
know not as yet. From which the conclusion
follows clearly, if all are not yet brethren to u>.
they ought to be regarded in that light. Ami
now it is only the man of knowledge who reco:^-
nises all men to be the work of one God, an;.
invested with one image in one nature, althouuli
some may be more turbid than others ; and i-:
the creatures he recognises the operation, 1 \
which again he adores the will of God.

" Know ye not that the unrighteous shall n^-t
inherit the kingdom of God?"5 He acts un-
righteously who retaliates, whether by deed c»r
word, or by the conception of a wish, which,
after the training of the Law, the Gospel rejet.i^,

" And such were some of you " — such mar.i-
festly as those still are whom you do not forgi\ t ,
"but ye are washed,"^ not simply as the rtr>t,
but with knowledge ; ye have cast off the j)a<
sions of the soul, in order to become assimilatcti.
as far as possible, to the goodness of Goii-
providence by long-suffering, and by forgiveno^
"towards the just and the unjust," casting on
them the g^eam of benignity in word and deed^.
as the sun.

The Gnostic will achieve this either by great-
ness of mind, or by imitation of what is better.
And that is a third cause. " Forgive, and it
shall be forgiven you ; " the commandment, a>
it were, compelling to salvation through super-
abundance of goodness.

" But ye are sanctified." For he who ha*
come to this state is in a condition to be hob,
falling into none of the passions in any way, but
as it were already disembodied and already
grown holy without 7 this earth.

" Wherefore," he says, " ye are justified in the
name of the Lord." Ye are made, so to speak,
by Him to be righteous as He is, and are blen<l-
ed as far as possible with the Holy Spirit. l\ r
" are not all things lawful to me ? yet I will not
be brought under the power of any," * so a^ to
do, or think, or speak aught contrary to the
Gospel. " Meats for the belly, and the belly for
meats, which God shall destroy," ^ — that is, such
as think and live as if they were made for eatin.:.
and do not eat that they may live as a conse-
quence, and apply to knowledge as the priman
end. And does he not say that these are, as i:
were, the fleshy parts of the holy body ? As a

5 1 Cor. vi. 9.

* I Cor. vi. II.

7 ivtv: or above, aiw.

• I Cor. vi. 12.
9 1 Cor. vi. 13.

Chap. XV.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

549

body, the Church of the Lord, the spiritual and
holy choir, is symbolized.' Whence those, who
are merely called, but do not live in accordance
with the word, are the fleshy parts. " Now "
this spiritual "body," the holy Church, "is not
for fornication." Nor are those things which
belong to heathen life to be adopted by apostasy
from the Gospel. For he who conducts himself
heathenishly in the Church, whether in deed, or
word, or even in thought, commits fornication
with reference to the Church and his own body.
He who in this way " is joined to the harlot,"
that is, to conduct contrary to the Covenant,
becomes another "body," not holy, "and one
flesh," and has a heathenish life and another
hope. "But he that is joined to the Lord in
spirit " becomes a spiritual body by a different
kind of conjunction.

Such an one i» wholly a son, an holy man,
passionless, gnostic, perfect, formed by the
teaching of the Lord ; in order that in deed, in
word, and in spirit itself, being brought close to
the Lord, he may receive the mansion that is
due to him who has reached manhood thus.

Let the specimen suffice to those who have
ears. For it is not required to unfold the mys-
tery, but only to indicate what is sufficient for
those who are partakers in knowledge to bring it
to mind ; who also will comprehend how it was
said by the Lord, " Be ye perfect as your father,
])erfectly,"* by forgiving sins, and forgetting
injuries, and living in the habit of passionlessness.
For as we call a physician perfect, and a phi-
losopher perfect, so also, in my view, do we call
a (inostic perfect. But not one of those points,
although of the greatest importance, is assumed
in order to the likeness of God. For we do not
say, as the Stoics do most impiously, that virtue
in man and God is the same. Ought we not
then to be perfect, as the Father wills ? For it
is utterly impossible for any one to become
perfect as God is. Now the Father wishes us to
be perfect by living blamelessly, according to
the obedience of the (Gospel.

If, then, the statement being elliptical, we
understand what is wanting, in order to complete
the section for those who are incapable of under-
standing what is left out, we shall both know the
will of (iod, and shall walk at once piously and
magnanimously, as befits the dignity of the
commandment.

CHAP. XV. — THE OBJECTION TO JOIN THE CHURCH
ON ACCOUNl' OF THE DIVERSIIV OF HF.RESIF^
ANSWERED.

Since it comes next to reply to the objections

* [Ps, Ixxiti. I. The " Israelite indeed " is thus recognised as the
wheat, although tares grow with it in the Militant Church. See cap
XV., I'ft/ra.]

* .Matt, v.; stc, reAeiot, TeAciw^.

alleged against us by Greeks and Jews ; and
since, in some of the questions previously dis-
cussed, the sects also who adhere to other
teaching give their help, it will be well first to
clear away the obstacles before us, and then,
prepared thus for the solution of the difficulties,
to advance to the succeeding Miscellany.

First, then, they make this objection to us,
saying, that they ought not to believe on account
of the discord of the sects. For the truth is
warped when some teach one set of dogmas,
others another.

To whom we say, that among you who are
Jews, and among the most famous of the philos-
ophers among the Greeks, very many sects have
sprung up. And yet you do not say that one
ought to hesitate to philosophize or Judaize,
because of the want of agreement of the sects
among you between themselves. And then,
that heresies should be sown among the truth,
as " tares among the wheat," was foretold by the
Lord ; and what was predicted to take place
could not but happen.^ And the cause of this
is, that everything that is fair is followed by
a foul blot. If one, then, violate his engage-
ments, and go aside from the confession which
he makes before us, are we not to stick to the
truth because he has belied his profession?
But as the good man must not prove false or
fail to ratify what he has promised, although
others violate their engagements; so also are
we bound in no way to transgress the canon of
the Church.** And especially do we keep our
profession in the most imj^ortant points, while
they traverse it.

Those, then, are to be believed, who hold
firmly to the truth. And we may broadly make
use of this reply, and say to them, that physicians
holding opposite opinions according to their own
schools, yet equally in point of fact treat patients.
Does one, then, who is ill in body and needing
treatment, not have recourse to a physician, on
account of the different schools in medicine?
No more, then, may he who in soul is sick and
full of idols, make a pretext of the heresies, in
reference to the recovery of health and conver-
sion to God.

Further, it is said that it is on account of
" those that are approved that heresies exist." 5
[The apostle] calls " ai)proved," either those
who in reaching faith ai)ply to the teaching of
the Ix)rd with some discrimination (as those are
called skilful^ money-changers, who distinguish
the spurious coin from the genuine by the false

' [.Matt, xiii 28. But for our Ix)rd's foreshowing, the existence
of so much evil in the Church would be the greatest stumbling-block
of the faithful.]

* [The " eccleisastical canon "here recognised, marks the exist-
ence, at this period, of canon-law. See Bunsen, liippol.^ book iii.
p. 105.]

s I Cor. XI. 19.

*> ioKiiiovf, same word as above translated " approved."

550

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book ML

stamp), or those who have already become
approved both in life and knowledge.

For this reason, then, we require greater
attention and consideration in order to investi-
gate how precisely we ought to live, and what is
the true piety. For it is plain that, from the
very reason that truth is difficult and arduous of
attainment, questions arise from which spring the
heresies, savouring of self-love and vanity, of
those who have not learned or apprehended
truly, but only caught up a mere conceit of
knowledge. With the greater care, therefore,
are we to examine the real truth, which alone
has for its object the true God. And the toil is
followed by sweet discovery and reminiscence.

On account of the heresies, therefore, the toil
of discovery must be undertaken ; but we must
not at all abandon [the truth]. For, on fruit
being set before us, some real and ripe, and
some made of wax, as like the real as possible,
we are not to abstain from both on account
of the resemblance. But by the exercise of the
apprehension of contemplation, and by reason-
ing of the most decisive character, we must
distinguish the true from the seeming.

-^nd as, while there is one royal highway,
there are many others, some leading to a preci-
pice, some to a rushing river or to a deep sea,
no one will shrink from travelling by reason of
the diversity, but will make use of the safe, and
royal, and frequented way ; so, though some say
this, some that, concerning the truth, we must
not abandon it ; but must seek out the most
accurate knowledge respecting it. Since also
among garden-grown vegetables weeds also spring
up, are the husbandmen, then, to desist from
gardening ?

Having then from nature abundant means for
examining the statements made, we ought to
discover the se(iuence of the truth. Wherefore
also we are rightly condemned, if we do not
assent to what we ought to obey, and do not
distinguish what is hostile, and unseemly, and
unnatural, and false, from what is true, consistent,
and seemly, and according to nature. And these
means must be employed in order to attain to the
knowledge of the real truth.

This pretext is then, in the case of the Greeks,
futile ; for those who are willing may find the
truth. But in the case of those who adduce un-
reasonable excuses, their condemnation is un-
answerable. For whether do they deny or admit
that there is such a thing as demonstration ? I
am of opinion that all will make the admission,
except those who take away the senses. There
being demonstration, then, it is necessary to
conciescend to questions, and to ascertain by
way of demonstration by the St riptures them-
selves how the heresies failed, and how in the
truth alone and in the ancient Church is both

the exactest knowledge, and the truly best set of
principles (afjoeo-ts) .'

Now, of those who diverge from the truth, some
attempt to deceive themselves alone, and some
also their neighbours. Those, then, wKo arc
called {So$6<To<f>oL) wise in their own opinion--
who think that they have found the truth. ':/.:
have no true demonstration, deceive theniiiel\ l-*
in thinking that they have reached a resting-
place. And of whom there is no inconsiderable
multitude, who avoid investigations for fear of
refutations, and shun instmctions for fear of con-
demnation. But those who deceive those whn
seek access to them are very astute ; who, aware
that they know nothing, yet darken the truth
with plausible arguments.

But, in my opinion, the nature of plausible
arguments is of one character, and that of true
arguments of another. And ye know that it is
necessary that the appellation of the heresies
should be expressed in contradistinction to the
truth ; from which the Sophists, drawing certain
things for the destruction of men, and burjini,^
them in human arts invented by themselves,
glory rather in being at the head of a Stho.l
than presiding over the Church.^

CHAP. XVI. — SCRIPTURE THE CRrfERION BY WHICH
TRUTH AND HERESY ARE DISTINGUISHED.^

But those who are ready to toil in the mo>i
excellent ptu^uits, will not desist from the seart i.
after truth, till they get the demonstration from
the Scriptures themselves.

There are certain criteria common to men. as
the senses ; and others that belong to those who
have employed their wills and energies in wha:
is true, — the methods which are pursued by the
mind and reason, to distinguish between true and
false propositions.

Now, it is a very great thing to abandon
opinion, by taking one's stand between accurjtc
knowledge and the rash wisdom of opinion, an<i
to know that he who hopes for everlasting re>t
knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome " and
strait." And let him who has once received the
Gospel, even in the very hour in which he has
come to the knowledge of salvation, *' not turn
back, hke Lx)t's wife," as is said ; and let him
not go back either to his former life, which ad-
heres to the things of sense, or to heresies. For
they form the character, not knowing the true
God. " For he that loveth father or mother
more than Me," the Father and Teacher of the
truth, who regenerates and creates anew, an*.*

* [A most important testimony to the primitive rule of faitL
NcKativcly it demonstrates the impossibilitv of any primitive c.t-
ccption of the modem Trent doctrine, that the holder of a particular see
is the arbiter of truth and the end of controversy.]

^ [A just comment on the late Vatican Council, and its shipwreck
of the faith. Sec Janus, /V»/r ami Counct'/, p. 182.]

3 [One of the most important testimonies of primitive aiiti«iuii>'
Ehicidation III. I

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

551

nourishes the elect soul, " is not worthy of Me '*
— He means, to be a son of God and a disciple
of God, and at the same time also to be a friend,
and of kindred nature. " For no man who looks
back, and puts his hand to the plough, is fit for
the kingdom of God." *

But, as appears, many even down to our own
time regard Mary, on account of the birth of
her child, as having been in the puerperal state,
although she was not. For some say that, after
she brought forth, she was found, when exam-
ined, to be a virgin.*

Now such to us are the Scriptures of the Lord,
which gave birth to the truth and continue virgin,
in the concealment of the mysteries of the truth.
'* And she brought forth, and yet brought not
forth," 3 says the Scripture ; as having conceived
of herself, and not from conjunction. Wherefore
the Scriptures have conceived to Gnostics ; but
the heresies, not having learned them, dismissed
them as not having conceived.

Now all men, having the same judgment,
some, following the Word speaking, frame for
themselves proofs; while others, giving them-
selves up to pleasures, wrest Scripture, in ac-
cordance with their lusts.-* And the lover of
truth, as I think, needs force of soul. For those
who make the greatest attempts must fail in
things of the highest importance ; * unless, re-
ceivmg from the truth itself the rule of the truth, |
they cleave to the truth. But such people, in 1
consequence of falHng away from the right path,
err in most individual points ; as you might
expect from not having the faculty for judging of
what is true and false, strictly trained to select
what is essential. For if they had, they would
have obeyed the Scriptures.s

As, then, if a man should, similarly to those
drugged by Circe, become a beast ; so he, who
has spurned the ecclesiastical tradition, and
darted off to the opinions of heretical men, has
ceased to be a man of God and to remain faith-
ful to the Lord. But he who has returned from
this deception, on hearing the Scriptures, and
turned his hfe to the truth, is, as it were, from
being a man majde a god.

For we have, as the source of teaching, the
Lord, both by the prophets, the Gospel, and the
blessed apostles, "in divers manners and at
sundry times," ^ leading from the beginning of
knowledge to the end. But if one should sup-

' Luke ix. 6z.

2 [A reference to the sickening and profane history of an apocry-
phal book, hereafter to be noted. But this language is most note-
worthy as an absolute refutation of modem Mariolatry.]

3 lenullian, who treats of the above-mentioned topic, attributes
these words to clzekicl; but they are sought for in vain in Ezekiel, or
in any other part of Scripture. [The ivordssive. not found in F^ckiel,
but such was his understanding of E/ck. xllv. 2.]

* [2 Pet. iii. 16,]

5 [Nothing IS Catholic dogma, according to our author, that is. not
proved by the Scriptures. 1

6 Heb. i. I.

pose that another origin ' was required, then no
longer truly could an origin be preser\'ed.

He, then, who of himself believes the Scrip-
ture and voice of the Lord, which by the Lord
acts to the benefiting of men, is rightly [Re-
garded] faithful. Certainly we use it as a
criterion in the discovery of things.^ What is
subjected to criticism is not believed till it is so
subjected ; so that what needs criticism cannot
be a first principle. Therefore, as is reasonable,
grasping by faith the indemonstrable first prin-
ciple, and receiving in abundance, from the first
principle itself, demonstrations in reference to
the first principle, we are by the voice of the
Lord trained up to the knowledge of the truth.

For we may not give our adhesion to men on
a bare statement by them, who might equally
state the opposite. But if it is not enough
merely to state the opinion, but if what is stated
must be confirmed, we do not wait for the testi-
mony of men, but we establish the matter that is
in question by the voice of the Lord, which is the
surest of all demonstrations, or rather is the only
demonstration ; in which knowledge those who
have merely tasted the Scriptures are believers ;
while those who, having advanced further, and
become correct expounders of the truth, are
Gnostics. Since also, in what pertains to life,
craftsmen are superior to ordinary people, and
model what is beyond common notions ; so,
consequently, we also, giving a complete ex-
hibition of the Scriptures from the Scriptures
themselves, from faith persuade by demonstra-
tion.9

And if those also who follow heresies venture
to avail themselves of the prophetic Scriptures ;
in the first place they will not make use of all
the Scriptures, and then they will not quote them
entire, nor as the body and texture of prophecy
prescribe. But, selecting ambiguous expressions,
they wrest them to their own opinions, gathering
a few expressions here and there ; not looking
to the sense, but making use of the mere words.
For in almost all the quotations they make, you
will find that they attend to the names alone,
while they alter the meanings ; neither knowing,
as they affirm, nor using the quotations they
adduce, according to their true nature.

But the truth is not found by changing the
meanings (for so people subvert all true teach-
ing), but in the consideration of what perfectly
belongs to and becomes the Sovereign God, and
in establishing each one of the points demon-
strated in the Scriptures again from similar Scrip-
tures. Neither, then, do they want to turn to the

'' [Absolutely exclusive of anv other source of dogma, than " the
faith once delivered to the saints. ' Jude 3; Gal. i. 6-9.]

^ [rf, Kvpiax^ ypo^n • • • ^^V XP*^^'^^ Kptrv)pi<ft. Can anything;
be more decisive, save what follows?]

9 [An absolute demonstration of the rule of Catholic faith against
the Trent dogmas.]

552

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII.

truth, being ashamed to abandon the claims of
self-love ; nor are they able to manage their opin-
ions, by doing violence to the Scriptures. But
having first promulgated false dogmas to men ;
plainly fighting against almost the whole Scrip-
tures, and constantly confuted by us who contra-
dict them ; for the rest, even now partly they
hold out against admitting the prophetic Scrip-
tures, and partly disparage us as of a different
nature, and incapable of understanding what is
peculiar to them. And sometimes even they
deny their own dogmas, when these are confuted,
being ashamed openly to own what in private they
glory in teaching. For this may be seen in all
the heresies, when you examine the iniquities
of their dogmas. For when they are overturned
by our clearly showing that they are opposed
to the Scriptures,' one of two things may be
seen to have been done by those who defend
the dogma. For they either despise the con-
sistency of their own dogmas, or despise the
prophecy itself, or rather their own hope. And
they invariably prefer what seems to them to
be more evident to what has been spoken by
the Lord through the prophets and by the Gos-
pel, and, besides, attested and confirmed by the
apostles.

Seeing, therefore, the danger that they are in
(not in respect of one dogma, but in reference
to the maintenance of the heresies) of not dis-
covering the truth ; for while reading the books
we have ready at hand, they despise them as
useless, but in their eagerness to surpass com-
mon faith, they have diverged from the truth.
For, in consequence of not learning the myste-
ries of ecclesiastical knowledge, and not having
capacity for the grandeur of the truth, too indo-
lent to descend to the bottom of things, reading
superficially, they have dismissed the Scrip-
tures.* Elated, then, by vain opinion, they are in-
cessantly wrangling, and plainly care more to seem
than to be philosophers. Not laying as founda-
tions the necessary first principles of things ;
and influenced by human opinions, then making
the end to suit them, by compulsion ; on ac-
count of being confuted, they spar with those
who are engaged in the prosecution of the true
philosophy, and undergo everything, and, as
they say, ply every oar, even going the length
of impiety, by disbelieving the Scriptures,^*
rather than be removed from the honours of
the heresy and the boasted first seat in their
churches ; on account of which also they eager-
ly embrace that convivial couch of honour in the
Agape, falsely so called.

The knowledge of the truth among us from
what is already believ<,*d, produces faith in what
is not yet believed ; which [faith] is, so to

* ['^PIKJsition to the Scriptures is the self-refutation of false dojfma.]
' [Sec, e.g., Epochs 0/ the Papacy ^ p. 469. New York, 1S83.J

speak, the essence of demonstration. But, a^
appears, no heresy has at all ears to hear what
is useful, but opened only to what leads to pleas-
ure. Since also, if one of them would only
obey the tnith, he would be healed.

Now the cure of self-conceit (as of ever}-
ailment) is threefold : the ascertaining of the
cause, and the mode of its removal ; anti
thirdly, the training of the soul, and the accus-
toming it to assume a right attitude to the judg-
ments come to. For, iust like a disordered eye,
so also the soul that has been darkened by
unnatural dogmas cannot perceive distinctly the
light of truth, but even overlooks what is before
it.

They say, then, that in muddy water eels are
caught by being blinded. And just as knavi>h
boys bar out the teacher, so do these shut out
the prophecies from their Church, regarding
them with suspicion by reason of rebuke and
admonition. In fact, they stitch together a
multitude of lies and figments, that they may
appear acting in accordance with reason in not
admitting the Scriptures. So, then, they are
not pious, inasmuch as they are not pleased
with the divine commands, that is, with the
Holy Spirit. And as those almonds are called
empty in which the contents are worthless, not
those in which there is nothing ; so also we call
those heretics empty, who are destitute of the
counsels of God and the traditions of Christ :
bitter, in truth, like the wild almond, their dog-
mas originating >vith themselves, with the excep-
tion of such truths as they could not, by reason
of their evidence, discard and conceal.

As, then, in war the soldier must not leave the
post which the commander has assigned him, so
neither must we desert the post assigned by the
Word, whom we have received as the guide of
knowledge and of life. But the most have not
even inquired, if there is one that we ought t«^
follow, and who this is, and how he is to be fol-
lowed. For as is the Word, such also must the
believer's life be, so as to be able to follow Cuk*.
who brings all things to end from the beginninj^
by the right course.

But when one has transgressed against the
Word, and thereby against God ; if it is throui^h
becoming powerless in consequence of some
impression being suddenly made, he ought tu
see to have the impressions of reasons at ham:.
And if it is that he has become " common," a^
the Scripture 3 says, in consequence of l>einc
overcome by the habits which formerly had sway
over him, the habits must be entirely put -
stop to, and the soul trained to oppose them.
And if it appears that conflicting dogmas draw-
some away, these must be taken out of the way.

3 An apocryphal Scripture probably.

Chap. XVI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

553

and recourse is to be had to those who reconcile
dogmas, and subdue by, the charm of the Scrip-
tures such of the untutored as are timid, by
explaining the truth by the connection of the
Testaments.*

But, as appears, we incline to ideas founded
on opinion, though they be contrary, rather than
to the truth. For it is austere and grave. Now,
since there are three states of the soul — igno-
rance, opinion, knowledge — those who are in
ignorance are the Gentiles, those in knowledge,
the true Church, and those in opinion, the Here-
tics. Nothing, then, can be more clearly seen
than those, who know, making affirmations about
what they know, and the others respecting what
they hold on the strength of opinion, as far as
respects affirmation without proof.

'rhey accordingly despise and laugh at one
another. And it happens that the same thought
is held in the highest estimation by some, and
by others condemned for insanity. And, indeed,
we have learned that voluptuousness, which is
to be attributed to the Gentiles, is one thing ;
and wrangling, which is preferred among the
heretical sects, is another ; and joy, which is to
be appropriated to the Church, another; and
delight, which is to be assigned to the true Gnos-
tic, another. And as, if one devote himself to
Ischomachus, he will make him a farmer ; and to
l^mpis, a mariner ; and to Charidemus, a mili-
tary commander ; and to Simon, an equestrian ;
and to Perdices, a trader; and to Crobylus, a
cook ; and to Archelaus, a dancer ; and to Ho-
mer, a poet ; and to Pyrrho, a wrangler ; and to
Demosthenes, an orator ; and to Chrysippus, a
dialectician ; and to Aristotle, a naturalist ; and
to Plato, a philosopher : so he who listens to the
Lord, and follows the prophecy given by Him,
will be formed perfectly in the likeness of the
teacher — made a god going about in flesh.*

Accordingly, those fall from this eminence who
follow not God whither He leads. And He leads
us in the inspired Scriptures.

Though men's actions are ten thousand in
number, the sources of all sin are but two, igno-
rance and inability. And both depend on our-
selves ; inasmuch as we will not learn, nor, on
the other hand, restrain lust. And of these, the
one is that, in consequence of which people do
not judge well, and the other that, in consecjuence
of which they cannot comply with right judg-
, ments. For neither will one who is deluded in
his mind be able to act rightly, though perfectly
able to do what he knows ; nor, though capable
of judging what is requisite, will he keep himself
free of blame, if destitute of power in action.
Consequently, then, there are assigned two kinds

' [At every point in this chapter, the student may recognise the
primitive rule of faith clearly estaoli.shed.]

^ [Strong as this language is, it is based on a Pet. i. 4.]

of correction applicable to both kinds of sin :
for the one, knowledge and clear demonstration
from the testimony of the Scriptures ; and for
the other, the training according to the Word,
which is regulated by the discipline of faith and
fear. And both develop into perfect love. For
the end of the Gnostic here is, in my judgment,
twofold, — partly scientific contemplation, partly
action.

Would, then, that these heretics would learn
and be set right by these notes, and turn to the
sovereign God ! But if, like the deaf serpents,
they listen not to the song called new, though
very old, may they be chastised by God, and
undergo paternal admonitions previous to the
Judgment, till they become ashamed and repent,
but not rush through headlong unbelief, and pre-
cipitate themselves into judgment.

For there are partial corrections, which are
called chastisements, which many of us who
have been in transgression incur, by falling away
from the Lord's people. But as children are
chastised by their teacher, or their father, so are
we by Providence. But God does not punish,
for punishment is retaliation for evil. He chas-
tises, however, for good to those who are chas-
tised, collectively and individually.

I have adduced these things from a wish to
avert those, who are eager to learn, from the
liability to fall into heresies, and out of a desire
to stop them from superficial ignorance, or
stupidity, or bad disposition, or whatever it
should be called. And in the attempt to per-
suade and lead to the truth those who are not
entirely incurable, I have made use of these
words. For there are some who cannot bear at
all to listen to those who exhort them to turn to
the truth ; and they attempt to trifle, pouring
out blasphemies against the truth, claiming for
themselves the knowledge of the greatest things
in the universe, without having learned, or in-
quired, or laboured, or discovered the consecu-
tive train of ideas, — whom one should pity
rather than hate for such perversity.

But if one is curable, able to bear (like fire
or steel) the outspokenness of the trutii, which
cuts away and bums their false opinions, let him
lend the ears of the soul. And this will be the
case, unless, through the propensity to sloth, they
push truth away, or through the desire of fame,
endeavour to invent novelties. For those are
slothful who, having it in their power to provide
themselves with proper proofs for the divine
Scriptures from the Scriptures themselves, select
only what contributes to their own pleasures.
And those have a craving for glory who volun-
tarily evade, by arguments of a diverse sort,
the things delivered by the blessed apostles and
teachers, which are wedded to inspired words ;
opposing the divine tradition by human teach-

554

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII

ings, in order to establish the heresy.' For, in
truth, what remained to be said — in ecclesiastical
knowledge I mean — by such men, Marcion, for
example, or Prodicus, and such like, who did
not walk in the right way ? For they could not
have surpassed their predecessors in wisdom, so
as to discover anything in addition to what had
been uttered by them ; for they would have
been satisfied had they been able to learn the
things laid down before.

Our Gnostic then alone, having grown old in
the Scriptures, and maintaining apostolic and
ecclesiastic orthodoxy in doctrines, lives most
correctly in accordance with the Gospel, and dis-
covers the proofs, for which he may have made
search (sent forth as he is by the Lord), from
the law and the prophets. For the life of the
Gnostic, in my view, is nothing but deeds and
words corresponding to the tradition of the Lord.
But " all have not loiowledge. For I would not
have you to be ignorant, brethren," says the
apostle, "that all were under the cloud, and
partook of spiritual meat and drink ; " * clearly
affirming that all who heard the word did not
take in the magnitude of knowledge in deed and
word. Wherefore also he added : " But with all
of them He was not well pleased." Who is
this ? He who said, " Why do you call Me Lord,
and do not the will of My Father?" ^ That is
the Saviour's teaching, which to us is spiritual
food, and drink that knows no thirst, the water
of gnostic life. Further it is said, knowledge is
said " to puff up." To whom we say : Per-
chance seeming knowledge is said to puff up,
if one ^ suppose the expression means "to be
swollen up." But if, as is rather the case, the
expression of the apostle means, "to entertain
great and true sentiments," the difficulty is solved.
Following, then, the Scriptures, let us establish
what has been said : "Wisdom," says Solomon,
" has inflated her children." For the Lord did
not work conceit by the particulars of His teach-
ing ; but He produces trust in the truth and
expansion of mind, in the knowledge that is
communicated by the Scriptures, and contempt
for the things which drag into sin, which is the
meaning of the expression " inflated." It teaches
the magnificence of the wisdom implanted in
her children by instruction. Now the apostle
says, " I will know not the speech of those that
are puffed up, but the power ; " s if ye under-
stand the Scriptures magnanimously (which
means truly; for nothing is greater than truth).
For in that lies the power of the children of
wisdom who are puffed up. He says, as it were.

' [The divine tradition is here identified with " things delivered
by the blc&sed a[X>stlcs."]
2 I Cor. X. I, 3, 4.
^ Luke vi. 46, combined with Malt. vii. 21.

* el Ttv instead of 17x1?.

* 1 Cor. iv. ly.

I shall know if ye rightly entertain great thoughts
respecting knowledge. " For God," according
to David, " is known in Judea," that is, those
that are Israelites according to knowledge. For
Judea is interpreted "Confession." It is, then,
rightly said by the apostle, " This Thou^ shaii
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steals Thou
shalt not covet; and if there be any other com-
mandment, it is comprehended in this word.
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself y ^

For we must never, as do those who follow thtr
heresies, adulterate the truth, or steal the canon
of the Church, by gratifying our own lusts and
vanity, by defrauding our neighbours ; whom
above all it is our duty, in the exercise of love
to them, to teach to adhere to the truth. It :s
accordingly expressly said, " Declare among the
heathen His statutes," that they may not Ik:
judged, but that those who have previously
given ear may be converted. But those who
speak treacherously with their tongues have the
penalties that are on record.^

CHAP. XVII. — THE TRADrriON OF THE CHL'RCH
PRIOR TO THAT OF THE HERESIES.

Those, then, that adhere to impious words, and

dictate them to others, inasmuch as they do nut

make a right but a perverse use of the divine

words, neither themselves enter into the kingdom

of heaven, nor permit those whom they have

deluded to attain the truth. But not having the

key of entrance, but a false (and as the common

phrase expresses it), a counterfeit key (dn-txXcI^).

by which they do not enter in as we enter in.

through the tradition of the Ix)rd, by drawing

I aside the curtain ; but bursting through the side-

! door, and digging clandestinely through the wall

\ of the Church, and stepping over the truth, they

j constitute themselves the Mystagogues * of the

' soul of the impious.

For that the human assemblies which they
held were posterior to the Catholic Church,** re-
quires not many words to show.

For the teaching of our Lord at His advent
beginning with Augustus and Tiberius, was com-
pleted in the middle of the times of Tiberius.

o 10

6 Rom. xiii. 9.

^ [When we reach The Commoniiorv of Vincent of Lerins (a.u.
450), we shall find a strict adherence to what is taught by Clement.]

8 Those who initiate into the mysteries.

9 [See the quotation from Milman,^ p. 166, su/ra."]

*<^ ti. fiiv ydp roO Kvpiov Kara tiiv irapovoriaf bi^turmmXia, iv*
\vyov<rrov koX Tl^«ptov KatVapof ap^atitvn, fitawvnaf rm*- Ar-
yovoTov xpoMOf TcActovrat. In the translation, the change^ recom-
mended, on high authority, of Avyovarov into Ti3«ptow in.'the U<
clause, is adopted, as on the whole the best way of aolvins it*c ur-
questionable difficulty here. If we retain AuyoiiaTov, the cLaux
must then be made parentlictical, and the sense would be: *• For iHe
teaching of the Lord on His advent, beginning with Augu&tus jcJ
Tiberius (in the middle of the times- of Augustus), was corni>leteil '
liie objection to this (not by any means conclusive) is, that it do
not specify the end of the period.

The first 15 years of the life of our Lord were the last 15 of tie
reign of Augustus; and in the 15th year of the reign of his ^^cccs"- :
Tiberius our Ix>rd was bapti7ed. Clement elsewhere broaches t>r

! sinjiular opinion, that our Lord's ministry lasted only a year. 3rd.

. coii.sci|uently that He died in the year in wnich He was baptised. .V<

Chap. XVIII.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

555

And that of the apostles, embracing the min-
istry of Paul, ends with Nero. It was later, in
the times of Adrian the king, that those who in-
vented the heresies arose ; and they extended to
the age of Antoninus the elder, as, for instance,
Hasilides, though he claims (as they boast) for
his master, Glaucias, the interpreter of Peter.

Likewise they allege that Valentinus was a
hearer of Theudas.* And he was the pupil of
Paul. For Marcion, who arose in the same age
with them, lived as an old man with the younger *
[heretics]. And after him Simon heard for a
little the preaching of Peter.

Such being the case, it is evident, from the
high antiquity and perfect truth of the Church,
that these later heresies, and those yet subse-
quent to them in time, were new inventions falsi-
fied [from the truth].

From what has been said, then, it is my opin-
ion that the true Church, that which is really
ancient, is one, and that in it those who accord-
ing to God's purpose are just, are enrolled.^
For from the very reason that God is one, and
the Lord one, that which is in the highest degree
honourable is lauded in consequence of its single-
ness, being an imitation of the one first principle.
In the nature of the One, then, is associated in a
joint heritage the one Church, which they strive
to cut asunder into many sects.

Therefore in substance and idea, in origin, in
pre-eminence, we say that the ancient and Catho-
lic ■• Church is alone, collecting as it does into
the unity of the one faith — which results from
the peculiar Testaments, or rather the one Tes-
tament in different times by the will of the one
God, through one Lord — those already or-
dained, whom God predestinated, knowing be-
fore the foundation^ of the world that they would
be righteous.

But the pre-eminence of the Church, as the
principle of union, is, in its oneness, in this sur-
passing all things else, and having nothing like
or equal to itself. But of this afterwards.

Augustus reigned, according to one of the chronologies of Clement,
43, and according to the other 46 years 4 months x day, and Ti-
berius 32 or 36 years 6 months 19 days, the period of the teaching of
the Gospel specified above began during the reign of Augustus, and
ended durine the reign of Tiberius.

* %toSaii oKiiKoivaL is the reading, which eminent authorities
(Bcntley, Grabe, etc.) have changed into iitoAa (or 9cv5a) Jiojciyico-
cVou.

' Much learning and ingenuity have been expended on this sen-
tence, which, read as it stands in the text, appears to state that Mar-
cion was an old man while Basilides and Valentinus were young men ;
and that Simon (Magus) was posterior to them in time. Nlarcion
was certainly not an old man when Valentinus and Basilides were
young men, as thev flourished in the first half of the second century.
and he was bom about the beginning of it. The difficulty in regard
to Simon is really best got over by supposing that Clement, fspeaking
of these heresiarchs in ascending order, describes Marcion as further
back in time; which sense f*.«B 6v of course will bear, although it
does seem somewhat harsh, as " after" thus means *' before."

^ [This chapter illustrutos what the Nicene Fathers understood
by their language about the " One Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Church."]

* [I restore this important word of the Greek text, enfeebled by
the translator, who renders it by the word " universal", which, though
not wrong, disguises the force of the argument.]

Of the heresies, some receive their appella-
tion from a [person's] name, as that which is
called after Valentinus, and that after Marcion,
and that after Basilides, although they^ boast
of adducing the opinion of Matthew, [without
truth] ; for as the teaching, so also the tradition
of the apostles was one. Some take their desig-
nation from a place, as the Peratici ; some from
a nation, as the [heresy] of the Phrygians ; some
from an action, as that of the Encratites ; and
some from peculiar dogmas, as that of the
Docetae, and that of the Haematites ; and some
from suppositions, and from individuals they
have honoured, as those called Cainists, and the
Ophians; and some from nefarious practices
and enormities, as those of the Simonians called
Entychites.

CHAP. XVIII. — THE DISTINCTION BEl-WEEN CLEAN
AND UNCLEAN ANIMALS IN THE LAW SYMBOLICAL
OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE CHURCH, AND
JEWS, AND HERETICS.

After showing a little peep-hole to those who
love to contemplate the Church from the law of
sacrifices respecting clean and unclean animals
(inasmuch as thus the common Jews and the
heretics are distinguished mystically from the
divine Church), let us bring the discourse to a
close.

For such of the sacrifices as part the hoof,
and mminate, the Scripture represents as clean
and acceptable to (}od; since the just obtain
access to the Father and to the Son by faith.
For this is the stability of those who part the
hoof, those who study the oracles of God night
and day, and ruminate them in the soul's re-
ceptacle for instructions ; which gnostic exer-
cise the Law expresses under the figure of the
rumination of the clean animal. But such as
have neither the one nor the other of those quali-
ties it separates as unclean.

Now those that ruminate, but do not part the
hoof, indicate the majority of the Jews, who
have indeed the oracles of God, but have not
faith, and the step which, resting on the truth,
conveys to the Father by the Son. Whence also
this kind of cattle are apt to slip, not having a
division in the foot, and not resting on the two-
fold support of faith. For " no man," it is said,
" knoweth the Father, but he to whom the Son
shall reveal Him." 5

And again, those also are likewise unclean
that part the hoof, but do not ruminate.^ For
these point out the heretics, who indeed go upon
the name of the Father and the Son, but are in-

5 Luke X. 22.

^ [The swine, e.g., has the parted hoof, but does not ruminate;
' hence he is the hypocrite, — an outward sign with no inward quality to
, correspond, the foulest of the unclean.]

556

ELUCIDATIONS.

capable of triturating and grinding down the clear
declaration of the oracles, and who, besides,
perform the works of righteousness coarsely and
not with precision, if they perform them at all.
To such the Lord says, " Why will ye call me
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I
say ? " '

And those that neither part the hoof nor chew
the cud are entirely unclean.

** But ye Megareans,** says Theognis, " are neither third,
nor fourth,
Nor twelfth, neither in reckoning nor in number,"

" but as chaff which the wind drives away from
the face of the earth," » "and as a drop from a
vessel." 5

These points, then, having been formerly thor-
oughly treated, and the department of ethics
having been sketched summarily in a fragment-
ary way, as we promised ; and having here and
there interspersed the ^og"^^ which are the
germs ■• of true knowledge, so that the discovery
of the sacred traditions may not be easy to any

' Luke vi. 46.
2 P$. i. 4.
^ Isa. xj. 15.

* [Clement re^rds dogma as framing practical morals. The
comment is found m the history of nations, nominally Christian.]

one of the uninitiated, let us proceed to what we
promised.

Now the Miscellanies are not like parts laid
out, planted in regular order for the delignt of
the eye, but rather like an umbrageous and
shaggy hill, planted with laurel, and ivy, and
apples, and olives, and figs ; the planting being
purposely a mixture of fruit-bearing and fruitless
trees, since the composition aims at conceal-
ment, on account of those that have the daring
to pilfer and steal the ripe fruits ; from which,
however, the husbandmen, transplanting shoois
and plants, will adorn a beautiful park and a de-
lightful grove.

The Miscellanies, then, study neither arrange-
ment nor diction ; since there are even cases in
which the Greeks on purpose wish that ornate
diction should be absent, and imperceptibly cast
in the seed of dogmas, not according to the
truth, rendering such as may read laborious an<i
quick at discovery. For many and various arc
the baits for the various kinds of fishes.

And now, after this seventh Miscellany of
ours, we shall give the account of what follows
in order from another commencement.^

5 [The residue is lost, for the eighth book has little connectkio
with the Gnostic as hitherto developed.]

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Deception, cap. ix. p. 538.)

More and more, the casuistry exposed by Pascal in the Provincial Letters ' becomes an im-
portant subject for the investigation of Americans. Nobody who has any pretensions to scholar-
ship can afford to be ignorant of these letters ; for they belong to literature, and not merely
to theology. But they belong in a sense to the past ; not that " the Society of Jesus " has ceased to
maintain all that Pascal has exposed, and to practise even worse, but that the Latin churches
have, since the days of Pascal, been formally subjected to a system of casuistry, in some respet b
superficially reformed, but in all other respects radically bad, and corrosive to society. In Pascal's
day this casuistry could only be charged upon individuals, and upon societies and communities :
the Roman Church everywhere adopted it, but was not formally committed to it. But in the
system of Liguori this corrupt morality has been made authoritative and dogmatic ; so that in all
the Latin churches it becomes the base of the confessional. For moral purposes, it is the BibW
of the millions who resort to their confessors and " directors." These remarks, however, are here
introduced merely with reference to the morals of Clement with regard to truth.*

I have briefly indicated, in the footnotes, the points which are to be noted in forming an
opinion of our author's conceptions of this vital principle. They seem to me conformed to the
Gospel ; to the teachings of Him who allows no hair-splittings, but says, " Let your yea be yea.

* A good translation of the letters was published in New York, in 1864, by Hurd & Houghton.
2 For a good article on St. Aiphonsusdc' Liguori, sec the Eucyc. Britanntca,

ELUCIDATIONS. 557

and your nay, nay." But, as the text stood in the Edinburgh translation, it did injustice to
Clement in one passage, which I have modified. It reads, " He (the Gnostic) both thinks and
speaks the truth, unless, at any time, medicinally, as a physician for the safety of the sick, he may
//>, or tell an untruth.*' To this, Clement adds significantly, " according to the Sophists." That
is to say, our author tolerates the Christian who has not got beyond the Sophists with respect to
benevolent deceptions. As killing is not always murder^ so some, even among stem moralists,
have maintained that deception by word of mouth is not always lying. This is the extent to which
Clement tolerates sophistry, and he goes on to demand the practice of truth in Gospel terms.
Now, thank God, the English word " lie " is always infamous ; and there is nothing like it, in this
respect, in other languages. The Sophists themselves did not so understand the Greek word
(i/rcvSo?), when they apply it to the benevolent deception of a physician, or to the untruths used
benevolently with the insane. Nothing infamous attaches to the French word mensonge when
used for what are deemed " innocent deceptions." With this whole system of sophistry I have
no patience at all ; but, in justice to the Sophists, let us not make them worse than they were.
They did not understand that such deceptions were Ues, Hence, for " lie," I have used the word
deceive^ correcting a needless rendering of the text, and one to which Clement should not be made
to extend even a contemptuous toleration.

In this respect, the holy Jeremy Taylor and Dr. Johnson go further than Clement, and seem
to allow that benevolent deceptions may be innocent. Sanderson sustains a sterner morality, and
is more generally accepted. Liguori's system is verbally as strong as the Gospel itself : l}ing is a
mortal sin, and never justifiable. But, when he comes to the definition of a lie, it is made so
feeble, that the worst liar that ever lived need never resort to it. He may practise all manner
of subterfuge, and even perjury, without telling a lie. As, e.g., if he points up his sleeve, while
he swears that he did not see the criminal there, he tells no lie : it is the business of the judge
and jury to watch his fingers, etc.

II.

(True Gnostic, cap. x. p. 540, note i.)

This unfortunate word Gnostic hides the force of Clement's teaching, throughout this work.
Here he virtually expounds it, and we see that it refers even more to the heart than to the head.
It carries with it the conduct of life by knowledge ; i.e., by " the true Light which lighteneth every
man that cometh into the world." (See p. 607, footnote.)

III.

(The Scriptures, cap. xvi. p. 550, note 3.)

The Primitive Fathers never dream of anything as dogma which cannot be proved by the
Scriptures, save only that the apostolic traditions, clearly proved to be such, must be referred to
in proving what is Holy Scripture. It is not possible to graft on this principle the slightest argu-
ment for any tradition not indisputably apostolic, so far as the de fide is concerned. Quod semper
is the touchstone, in their conceptions, of all orthodoxy. No matter who may teach this or that,
now or in any post-apostolic age, their test is Holy Scripture, and the inquiry, Was it always so
taught and understood ?

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

BOOK Vill.

CHAP. I. — THE OBJECr OF PHILOSOPHICAL AND
THEOLOGICAL INQUIRY — THE DISCOVERY OF
TRUTH.'

But the most ancient of the philosophers were
not carried away to disputing and doubting,
much less are we, who are attached to the
really true philosophy, on whom the Scripture
enjoins examination and investigation. For it is
the more recent of the Hellenic philosophers
who, by empty and futile love of fame, are led
into useless babbling in refuting and wrangling.
But, on the contrary, the Barbarian philosophy,
expelling all contention, said, " Seek, and ye
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto
you ; ask, and it shall be given you."*

Accordingly, by investigation, the point pro-
posed for inquiry and answer knocks at the door
of truth, according to what appears. And on an
opening being made through the obstacle in the
process of investigation, there results scientific
contemplation. To those who thus knock, ac-
cording to my view, the subject under investi-
gation is opened.

And to those who thus ask questions, in the
Scriptures, there is given from God (that at
which they aim) the gift of the God-given
knowledge, by way of comprehension, through
the true illumination of logical investigation.
For it is impossible to find, without having
sought ; or to have sought, without having ex-
amined ; or to have examined, without having
unfolded and opened up the question by interro-
gation, to produce distinctness ; or again, to have
gone through the whole investigation, without
thereafter receiving as the prize the knowledge
of the point in question.

But it belongs to him who has sought, to find ;
and to him to seek, who thinks previously that
he does not know. Hence drawn by desire to
the discovery of what is good, he seeks thought-

* [This book is a mere fragment, an imperfect exposition of logic,
and not properly part of the Siromata. Kaye, 221. J
2 Matt. vii. 7.; Luke xi 9. [Elucidation I.]

fiilly, without love of strife or glory, asking,
answering, and besides considering the state-
ments made. For it is incumbent, in applying
ourselves not only to the divine Scriptures, but
also to common notions, to institute investiga-
tions, the discovery ceasing at some useful end.
For another place and crowd await turbulent
people, and forensic sophistries. But ii is
suitable for him, who is at once a lover and
disciple of the truth, to be pacific even in investi-
gations, advancing by scientific demonstration,
without love of self, but with love of truth, to
comprehensive knowledge.

CHAP. IL — THE NECESSrrY OF PERSPICUOUS

DEFINrnON.

What better or clearer method, for the com-
mencement of instruction of this nature, can
there be than discussion of the term advanced,
so distinctly, that all who use the same language
may follow it? Is the term for demonstration
of such a kind as the word Biityri, which is a
mere sound, signifying nothing? But how is it
that neither does the philosopher, nor the orator,
— no more does the judge, — adduce demonstra-
tion as a term that means nothing ; nor is any of
the contending parties ignorant of the fact, that
the meaning does not exist ?

Philosophers, in fact, present demonstration
as having a substantial existence, one in one way.
another in another. Therefore, if one would
treat aright of each question, he cannot cairj*
back the discourse to another more generally
admitted fundamental principle than what iN
admitted to be signified by the term by all of
the same nation and language.

Then, starting from this point, it is necessan
to inquire if the proposition has this signification
or not. And next, if it is demonstrated to have,
it is necessary to investigate its nature accurately,
of what kind it is, and whether it ever passes
over the class assigned. And if it suffices not to
say, absolutely, only that which one thinks (for

Chap. III.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

559

one's opp)onent may equally allege, on the other
side, what he likes) ; then what is stated must
be confirmed. If the decision of it be carried
back to what is likewise matter of dispute, and
the decision of that likewise to another disputed
point, it will go on ad infinitum^ and will be
incapable of demonstration. But if the belief
of a point that is not admitted be carried back
to one admitted by all, that is to be made the
comniencement of instruction. Every term,
therefore, advanced for discussion is to be con-
verted into an expression that is admitted by
those that are parties in the discussion, to form
the starting point for iristruction, to lead the
way to the discovery of the points under investi-
gation. For example, let it be the term " sun"
that is in question. Now the Stoics say that it
is "an intellectual fire kindled from the waters
of the sea." Is not the definition, consequently,
obscurer than the term, requiring another dem-
onstration to prove if it be true ? It is there-
fore better to say, in the common and distinct
form of speech, "that the brightest of the
heavenly bodies is named the sun." For this
expression is more credible and clearer, and is
likewise admitted by all.

CHAP. III. — DEMONSTRATION DEFINED.

Similarly, also, all men will admit that dem-
onstration is discourse,' agreeable to reason,
producing belief in points disputed, from points
admitted.

Now, not only demonstration and belief and
knowledge, but foreknowledge also, are used in
a twofold manner. There is that which is scien-
tific and certain, and that which is merely based
on hope.

In strict propriety, then, that is called demon-
stration which produces in the souls of learners
scientific belief. The other kind is that which
merely leads to opinion. As also, both he that
is really a man, possessing common judgment,
and he that is savage and brutal, — each is a
man. Thus also the Comic poet said that " man
is graceful, so long as he is man." The same
holds with ox, horse, and dog, according to the
goodness or badness of the animal. For by
looking to the perfection of the genus, we come
to those meanings that are strictly proper. For
instance, we conceive of a physician who is de-
ficient in no element of the power of healing,
and a Gnostic who is defective in no element of
scientific knowledge.

Now demonstration differs from syllogism ;
inasmuch as the point demonstrated is indicative
of one thing, being one and identical ; as we say
that to be with child is the proof of being no

* It is necessary to read Adyoi' here, though not in the text, on
account of cxvopt'^oi'Ta which lullows; and as rvAoyov cii'ai Xayov
occurs aftcrwaxds, tt seems better to retain cOAoyoi' than to substitute
A0701' for it.

longer a virgin. But what is apprehended by
syllogism, though one thing, follows from several ;
as, for example, not one but several proofs are
adduced of Pytho having betrayed the Byzan-
tines, if such was the fact. And to draw a con-
clusion from what is admitted is to syllogize \
while to draw a conclusion firom what is true is
to demonstrate.

So that there is a compound advantage of dem-
onstration : from its assuming, for the proof of
points in question, true premisses, and from its
drawing the conclusion that follows from them.
If the first have no existence, but the second
follow from the first, one has not demonstrated,
but syllogized. For, to draw the proper conclu-
sion from the premisses, is merely to syllogize.
But to have also each of the premisses true, is
not merely to have syllogized, but also to have
demonstrated.

And to conclude, as is evident from the word,
is to bring to the conclusion. And in every
train of reasoning, the point sought to be de-
termined is the end, which is also called the
conclusion. But no simple and primary state-
ment is termed a syllogism, although true ; but
it is compounded of three such, at the least, —
of two as premisses, and one as conclusion.

Now, either all things require demonstration,
or some of them are self-evident. But if the
first, by demanding the demonstration of each
demonstration we shall go on ad infinitum ; and
so demonstration is subverted. But if the second,
those things which are self-evident will become
the starting points [and fundamental grounds]
of demonstration.

In point of fact, the philosophers admit that
the first principles of all things are indemonstra-
ble. So that if there is demonstration at all,
there is an absolute necessity that there be
something that is self-evident, which is called
primary and indemonstrable.

Consequently all demonstration is traced up
to indemonstrable faith .^

It will also turn out that there are other start-
ing points for demonstrations, after the source
which takes its rise in faith, — the things which
appear clearly to sensation and understanding.
For the phenomena of sensation are simple, and
incapable of being decompounded ; but those of
understanding are simple, rational, and primary'.
But those produced from them are compound,
but no less clear and reliable, and having more
to do with the reasoning faculty than the first.
For therefore the peculiar native power of reason,
which we all have by nature, deals with agree-
ment and disagreement. If, then, any argument
be found to be of such a kind, as from points
already believed to be capable of producing

^ [Wc liegin, that is, with axioms: and he ingeniously identities
faith with axiomatic truth. Hence the faith not esoteric]

56o

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII :

belief in what is not yet believed, we shall aver
that this is the very essence of demonstration.

Now it is affirmed that the nature of demon-
stration, as that of belief, is twofold : that which
produces in the souls of the hearers persuasion
merely, and that which produces knowledge.

If, then, one begins with the things which are
evident to sensation and understanding, and then
draw the proper conclusion, he truly demon-
strates. But if [he begin] with things which
are only probable and not primauy, that is evident
neither to sense nor understanding, and if he
draw the right conclusion, he will syllogize indeed,
but not produce a scientific demonstration ; but
if [he draw] not the right conclusion, he will
not syllogize at all.

Now demonstration differs from analysis. For
each one of the points demonstrated, is demon-
strated by means of points that are demonstrat-
ed ; those having been previously demonstrated
by others ; till we get back to those which are
self-evident, or to those evident to sense and to
understanding; which is called Analysis. But
demonstration is, when the point in question
reaches us through all the intermediate steps.
The man, then, who practises demonstration,
ought to give great attention to the truth, while
he disregards the terms of the premisses, whether
you call them axioms, or premisses, or assump-
tions. Similarly, also, special attention must be
paid to what suppositions a conclusion is based
on ; while he may be quite careless as to whether
one choose to term it a conclusive or syllogistic
proposition.

For I assert that these two things must be
attended to by the man who would demonstrate

— to assume true premisses, and to draw from
them the legitimate conclusion, which some also
call " the inference," as being what is inferred
from the premisses.

Now in each proposition respecting a question,
there must be different premisses, related, how-
ever, to the proposition laid down ; and what is
advanced must be reduced to definition. And
this definition must be admitted by all. But
when premisses irrelevant to the proposition
to be established are assumed, it is impossible to
arrive at any right result ; the entire proposition

— which is also called the question of its nature

— being ignored.

In all questions, then, there is something which
is previously known, — that which being self-
evident is believed without demonstration ; which
must be made the starting-point in their investi-
gation, and the criterion of apparent results.

CHAP. IV. — TO PREVENT AMBIGUrTY, WE MUST
BEGIN WriH CLEAR DEFINITION.

For every question is solved from pre-existing [
knowledge. And the knowledge pre-existing of |

each object of investigation is sometimes naert-ly
of the essence, while its functions are unknowTj
(as of stones, and plants, and animals, of who^c
operations we are ignorant) , or [the knowledge]
of the properties, or p)owers, or (so to speak ) of
the qualities inherent in the objects. And some-
times we may know some one or more of th<j^c
powers or properties, — as, for example, the
desires and affections of the soul, — and l«r
ignorant of the essence, and make it the object
of investigation. But in many instances, our
understanding having assumed all these, the
question is, in which of the essences do they
thus inhere ; for it is after forming conceptions
of both — that is, both of essence and operation
— in our mind, that we proceed to the question.
And there are also some objects, whose opera-
tions, along with their essences, we know, but
are ignorant of their modifications.

Such, then, is the method of the discover}-
[of truth]. For we must begin with the knowl-
edge of the questions to be discussed. For
often the form of the expression deceives and
confuses and disturbs the mind, so that it is not
easy to discover to what class the thing is to be
referred; as, for example, whether the foetus
be an animal. For, having a conception of an
animal and a foetus, we inquire if it be the ca^
that the foetus is an animal ; that is, if the sub-
stance which is in the foetal state possesses the
power of motion, and of sensation besides. So
that the inquiry is regarding functions and sensa-
tions in a substance previously known. Conse-
quently the man who proposes the question is to
be first asked, what he calls an animal. Espe-
cially is this to be done whenever we find the
same term applied to various purposes ; and we
must examine whether what is signified by the
term is disputed, or admitted by all. For were
one to say tliat he calls whatever grows and is
fed an animal, we shall have again to ask further,
whether he considered plants to be animals ;
and then, after declaring himself to this effect
he must show what it is which is in the foetal
state, and is nourished.

For Plato calls plants animals, as partaking of
the third species of life alone, that of appetency.'
But Aristotle, while he thinks that plants anr
possessed of a life of vegetation and nutrition,
does not consider it proper to call them animals ;
for that alone, which possesses the other life —
that of sensation — he considers warrantable to
be called an animal. The Stoics do not call the
power of vegetation, life.

Now, on the man who proposes the question
denying that plants are animals, we shall show-
that he affirms what contradicts himself. For.
having defined the animal by the fact of its

* 'Eirt^/Aip-ucoO, which accords with what Plato says in the
TifMtettSf p« X078. Lowth^ however, reads ^vrixov.

Chap. IV.] i.

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

561

nourishment and growth, but having asserted
that a plant is not an animal, it appears that he
says nothing else than that what is nourished and
grows is both an animal and not an animal.

Let him, then, say what he wants to learn. Is
it whether what is in the womb grows and is
nourished, or is it whether it possesses any sen-
sation or movement by impulse ? For, according
to Plato, the plant is animate, and an animal ;
but, according to Aristotle, not an animal, for
it wants sensation, but is animate. Therefore,
according to him, an animal is an animate sen-
tient being. But according to the Stoics, a plant
is neither animate nor an animal ; for an animal
is an animate being. If, then, an animal is ani-
mate, and life is sentient nature, it is plain that
what is animate is sentient. If, then, he who
has put the question, being again interrogated if
he still calls the animal in the foetal state an
animal on account of its being nourished and
growing, he has got his answer.

But were he to say that the question he asks
is, whether the foetus is already sentient, or
capable of moving itself in consequence of any
impulse, the investigation of the matter becomes
clear, the fallacy in the name no longer remain-
ing. But if he do not reply to the interrogation,
and will not say what he means, or in respect of
what consideration it is that he applies the term
" animal " in prop>ounding the question, but bids
us define it ourselves, let him be noted as dis-
putatious.

But as there are two methods, one by question
and answer, and the other the method of expo-
sition, if he decline the former, let him listen to
us, while we expound all that bears on the prob-
lem. Then when we have done, he may treat
of each point in turn. But if he attempt to
interrupt the investigation by putting questions,
he plainly does not want to hear.

But if he choose to reply, let him first be
asked. To what thing he applies the name, ani-
mal. And when he has answered this, let him
be again asked, what, in his view, the foetus
means, whether that which is in the womb, or
things already formed and living ; and again, if
the foetus means the seed deposited, or if it is
only when members and a shape are formed that
the name of embryos is to be applied. And on
his replying to this, it is proper that the point in
hand be reasoned out to a conclusion, in due
order, and taught.

But if he wishes us to speak without him
answering, let him hear. Since you will not say
in what sense you allege what you have pro-
pounded (for I would not have thus engaged in
a discussion about meanings, but I would now
have looked at the things themselves), know
that you have done just as if you had propound-
ed the question, Whether a dog were an animal ?

For I might have rightly said, Of what dog do
you speak ? For I shall speak of the land dog
and the sea dog, and the constellation in heaven,
and of Diogenes too, and all the other dogs in
order. For I could not divine whether you
inquire labout all or about some one. What you
shall do subsequently is to learn now, and say
distincdy what it is that your question is about.
Now if you are shuffling about names, it is plain
to everybody that the name foitus is neither an
animal nor a plant, but a name, and a sound,
and a body, and a being, and anything and
everything rather than an animal. And if it is
this that you have propounded, you are an-
swered.

But neither is that which is denoted by the
nameyfeA/j an animal. But that is incorporeal,
and may be called a thing and a notion, and
everything rather than an animal. The nature
of an animal is different. For it was clearly
shown respecting the very point in question, I
mean the nature of the embryo, of what sort it
is. The question respecting the meanings ex-
pressed by the name animal is different.

I say, then, if you affirm that an animal is
what has the power of sensation and of moving
itself from appetency, that an animal is not
simply what moves through appetency and is
possessed of sensation. For it is also capable
of sleeping, or, when the objects of sensation
are not present, of not exercising the power of
sensation. But the natural power of appetency
or of sensation is the mark of an animal. For
something of this nature is indicated by these
things. First, if the foetus is not capable of
sensation or motion from appetency; which is
the point proposed for consideration. Another
point is ; if the foetus is capable of ever exercis-
ing the power of sensation or moving through
appetency. In' which sense no one makes it a
question, since it is evident.

But the question was, whether the embryo is
already an animal, or still a plant. And then
the name animal was reduced to definition, for
the sake of perspicuity. But having discovered
that it is distinguished from what is not an ani-
mal by sensation and motion from appetency ;
we again separated this from its adjuncts ; assert-
ing that it was one thing for that to be such
potentially^ which is not yet possessed of the
power of sensation and motion, but will some
time be so, and another thing to be already so
actually ; and in the case of such, it is one thing
to exert its powers, another to be able to exert
them, but to be at rest or asleep. And this is
the question.

For the embryo is not to be called an animal
from the fact that it is nourished ; which is
the allegation of those who turn aside from the
essence of the question, and apply their minds

562

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VII I

to what happens otherwise. But in the case of
all conclusions alleged to be found out, demon-
stration is applied in common, which is discourse
(koyoi), establishing one thing from others.
But the grounds from which the point in question
is to be established, must be admitted and known
by the learner. And the foundation of all these
is what is evident to sense and to intellect.

Accordingly the primary demonstration is com-
posed of all these. But the demonstration which,
from points already demonstrated thereby, con-
cludes some other point, is no less reliable than
the former. It cannot be termed primary,
because the conclusion is not drawn from pri-
mary principles as premisses.

The first species, then, of the different kinds
of questions, which are three, has been exhibited,
— I mean that, in which the essence being known,
some one of its powers or properties is unknown.
The second variety of propositions was that in
which we all know the powers and prop)erties,
but do not know the essence ; as, for example,
in what part of the body is the principal faculty
of the soul.

CHAP. V. — APPLICATION OF DEMONSTRATION TO
SCEPTICAL SUSPENSE OF JUDGMENT.

Now the same treatment which applies to dem-
onstration applies also to the following question.

Some, for instance, say that there cannot be
several originating causes for one animal. It is
impossible that there can be several homogeneous
originating causes of an animal ; but that there
should be several heterogeneous, is not absurd.

Suppose the Pyrrhonian suspense of judgment,
as they say, [the idea] that nothing is certain :
it is plain that, beginning with itself, it first invali-
dates itself. It either grants that something is
true, that you are not to suspend your judgment
on all things ; or it persists in saying that there is
nothing true. And it is evident, that first it will
not be true. For it either affirms what is true
or it does not affirm what is true. But if it
affirms what is true, it concedes, though unwill-
ingly, that something is true. And if it does
not affirm what is true, it leaves true what it
wished to do away with. For, in so far as the
scepticism which demolishes is proved false, in
so far the positions which are being demolished
are proved true ; like the dream which says that
all dreams are false. For in confuting itself, it
is confirmatory of the others.

And, in fine, if it is true, it will make a be-
ginning with itself, and not be scepticism of any-
thing else bur of itself first. Then if [such a
man] apprehends that he is a man, or that he is
sceptical, it is evident that he is not sceptical.*

' [The young student must be on his euard as to the philosophical
scepticism here treated, which is not the habit of unbelief coaiinonly
so called.]

And how shall he reply to the interrogation?
For he is evidently no sceptic in respect to this.
Nay, he affirms even that he. does doubt.

And if we must be persuaded to suspend our
judgment in regard to everything, we shall first sus-
pend our judgment in regard to our suspense of
judgment itself, whether we are to credit it or not.

And if this position is true, that we do not
know what is true, then absolutely nothing is
allowed to be true by it. But if he will say that
even this is questionable, whether we know what
is true; by this very statement he grants that
truth is knowable, in the very act of appearing
to establish the doubt respecting it.

But if a philosophical sect is a leaning toward
dogmas, or, according to some, a leaning to a
number of dogmas which have consistency with
one another and with phenomena, tending to a
right life ; and dogma is a logical conception,
and conception is a state and assent of the
mind : not merely sceptics, but every one who
dogmatizes is accustomed in certain things to
suspend his judgment, either through want of
strength of mind, or want of clearness in the
things, or equal force in the reasons.

CHAP. VI. — DEFINinONS, GENERA, AND SPECIES.

The introductions and sources of questions
are about these points and in them.

But before definitions, and demonstrations,
and divisions, it must be propounded in what
ways the question is stated ; and equivocal terms
are to be treated ; and synomyms stated ac-
curately according to their significations.

Then it is to be inquired whether the prop-
osition belongs to those points, which are consid-
ered in relation to others, or is taken by itself.
Further, If it is, what it is, what hapj>ens to
it ; or thus, also, if it is, what it is, why it is.
And to the consideration of these points, the
knowledge of Particulars and Universak, and the
Antecedents and the Differences, and their divis-
ions, contribute.

Now, Induction aims at generalization and
definition; and the divisions are the species,
and what a thing is, and the individual. The
contemplation of the How adduces the as-
sumption of what is |>eculiar ; and doubts bring
the particular differences and the demonstrations,
and otherwise augment the speculation and its
consequences ; and the result of the whole is
scientific knowledge and truth.

Again, the summation resulting from Division
becomes Definition. For Definition is adopted
before division and after : before, when it is
admitted or stated ; after, when it is demon-
strated. And by Sensation the Universal i^
summed up from the Particular. For the start-
ing point of Induction is Sensation ; and the end
is the Universal.

Chap. VI.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

563

Induction, accordingly, shows not what a
thing is, but that it is, or is not. Division shows
what it is ; and Definition similarly with Division
teaches the essence and what a thing is, but not
if it is ; while Demonstration explains the three
points, if it is, what it is, and tvhy it is.

There are also Definitions which contain the
Cause. And since it may be known when we
see, when we see the Cause ; and Causes are
four — the matter, the moving power, the species,
the end ; Definition will be fourfold.

Accordingly we must first take the genus, in
which are the points that are nearest those above ;
and after this the next difference. And the suc-
cession of differences, when cut and divided,
completes the " What it is." There is no necessi-
ty for expressing all the differences of each thing,
but those which form the species.

Geometrical anal)rsis and synthesis are similar
to logical division and definition ; and by divis-
ion we get back to what is simple and more
elementary. We divide, therefore, the genus of
what is proposed for consideration into the
species contained in it ; as, in the case of man,
we divide animal, which is the genus, into the
species that appear in it, the mortal, and the im-
mortai. And thus, by continually dividing those
genera that seem to be compound into the simpler
species, we arrive at the point which is the sub-
ject of investigation, and which is incapable of
further division.

For, after dividing " the animal " into mortal
and immortal, then into terrestrial and aquatic ;
and the terrestrial again into those who fly and
those who walk ; and so dividing the species
which is nearest to what is sought, which also con-
tains what is sought, we arrive by division at the
simplest species, which contains nothing else, but
what is sought alone.

For again we divide that which walks into
rational and irrational ; and then selecting from
the species, apprehended by division, those next
to man, and combining them into one formula,
we state the definition of a man, who is an animal,
mortal, terrestrial, walking, rational.

Whence Division furnishes the class of matter,
seeking for the definition the simplicity of the
name ; and the definition of the artisan and
maker, by composition and construction, pre-
sents the knowledge of the thing as it is ; not of
those things of which we have general notions.
To these notions we say that explanatory expres-
sions belong. For to these notions, also, divis-
ions are applicable.

Now one Division divides that which is divided
into species, as a genus ; and another into parts,
as a whole ; and another into accidents.

The division, then, of a whole into the parts,
is, for the most part, conceived with reference to
magnitude ; that into the accidents can never be

entirely explicated, if, necessarily, essence is in-
herent in each of the existences.

Whence both these divisions are to be rejected,
and only the division of the genus into species is
approved, by which both the identity that is in
the genus is characterized, and the diversity
which subsists in the specific differences.

The species is always contemplated in a part.
On the other hand, however, if a thing is part of
another, it will not be also a species. For the
hand is a part of a man, but it is not a species.
And the genus exists in the species. For [the
genus] is both in man and the ox. But the whole
is not in the parts. For the man is not in his feet.
Wherefore also the species is more important than
the part ; and whatever things are predicated of
the genus will be all predicated of the species.

It is best, then, to divide the genus into two, if
not into three species. The species then being
divided more generically, are characterized by
sameness and difference. And then being divid-
ed, they are chacterized by the points generically
indicated.

For each of the species is either an essence ;
as when we say, Some substances are corporeal
and some incorporeal ; or how much, or what re-
lation, or where, or when, or doing, or suffering.

One, therefore, will give the definition of what-
ever he possesses the knowledge of; as one can
by no means be acquainted with that which he
cannot embrace and define in speech. And in
consequence of ignorance of the definition, the
result is, that many disputes and deceptions arise.
For if he that knows the thing has the knowledge
of it in his mind, and can explain by words
what he conceives ; and if the explanation of
the thought is definition ; then he that knows
the thing must of necessity be able also to give the
definition.

Now in definitions, difference is assumed,
which, in the definition, occupies the place of
sign. The faculty of laughing, accordingly, being
added to the definition of man, makes the whole
— a rational, mortal, terrestrial, walking, laughing
animal. For the things added by way of differ-
ence to the definition are the signs of the prop-
erties of things ; but do not show the nature of
the things themselves. Now they say that the
difference is the assigning of what is peculiar ; and
as that which has the difference differs from all
the rest, that which belongs to it alone, and is
predicated conversely of the thing, must in defini-
tions be assumed by the first genus as principal'
and fundamental.

Accordingly, in the larger definitions the
number of the species that are discovered are in
the ten Categories ; and in the least, the prin-
cipal points of the nearest species being taken,
mark the essence and nature of the thing. But
the least consists of three, the genus and two

564

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VIII.

essentially necessary species. And this is done
for the sake of brevity.

We say, then, Man is the laughing animal.
And we must assume tliat which pre-eminendy
happens to what is defined, or its peculiar virtue,
or its peculiar function, and the like.

Accordingly, while the definition is explana-
tory of the essence of the thing, it is incapable
of accurately comprehending its nature. By
means of the principal species, the definition
makes an exposition of the essence, and almost
has the essence in the quality.

CHAP. VII. — ON THE CAUSES OF DOUBT OR ASSENT.

The causes productive of scepticism are two
things principally. One is the changefulness
and instability of the human mind, whose nature
it is to generate dissent, either that of one with
another, or that of people with themselves. And
the second is the discrepancy which is in things ;
which, as to be expected, is calculated to be
productive of scepticism.

For, being unable either to beheve in all views,
on account of their conflicting nature ; or to
disbelieve all, because that which says that all
are untrustworthy is included in the number of
those that are so ; or to believe some and dis-
believe others on account of the equipoise, we
are led to scepticism.

But among the principal causes of scepticism
is the instability of the mind, which is productive
of dissent. And dissent is the proximate cause
of doubt. Whence life is full of tribunals and
councils; and, in fine, of selection in what is
said to be good and bad ; which are the signs of
a mind in doubt, and halting through feebleness,
on account of conflicting matters. And there
are libraries full of books,' and compilations and
treatises of those who differ in dogmas, and are
confident that they themselves know the truth
that there is in things.

CHAP. VIII.

THE METHOD OF CLASSIFYING THINGS
AND NAMES.

In language there are three things : — Names,
which are primarily the symbols of conceptions,
and by consequence also of subjects. Second,
there are Conceptions, which are the likenesses
and impressions of the subjects. Whence in all,
the conceptions are the same ; in consequence
of the same impression being produced by the
subjects in all. But the names are not so, on
account of the difference of languages. And
thirdly, the Subject-matters by which the Con-
ceptions are impressed in us.

The names are reduced by grammar into the
twenty- four general elements ; for the elements
must be determined. For of Particulars there

^ [The Alexandrians must have recognised this as an ad homi-
ntm remark. But see Ecclcs. xii. 12.]

is no scientific knowledge, seeing they are infi-
nite. But it is the property of science to rest
on general and defined principles. Whence also
Particulars are resolved into Universals. And
philosophic research is occupied with Concep-
tions and Real subjects. But since of these the
Particulars are infinite, some elements have
been found, under which every subject of inves-
tigation is brought ; and if it be shown to enter
into any one or more of the elements, we prove
it to exist ; but if it escape them all, that it doe^
not exist.

Of things stated, some are stated without con-
nection; as, for example, "man" and " nms/
and whatever does not complete a sentence,
which is either true or false. And of thing>
stated in connection, some point out " essence."
some "quality," some " quantity," some "rela-
tion," some " where," some " when," some
" position," some " possession," some " action.*
some " suffering," which we call the elemenis
of material things after the first principles. For
these are capable of being contemplated j\
reason.

But immaterial things are capable of bein^i
apprehended by the mind alone, by priman
application.

And of those things that are classed under the
ten Categories, some are predicated by them-
selves (as the nine Categories), and others in
relation to something.

And, again, of the things contained under these
ten Categories, some are Univocal, as ox and
man, as ^ as each is an animal. For those are
Univocal terms, to both of which belongs the
common name, animal ; and the same principle,
that is definition, that is animate essence. And
Heteronyms are those which relate to the same
subject under different names, as ascent or de-
scent ; for the way is the same whether upwards
or downwards. And the other species of Heter-
onyms, as horse and black, are those which have
a different name and definition from each other,
and do not possess the same subject But they
are to be called different, not Heteronyms.
And Polyonyms are those which have the same
definition, but a different name, as, hanger,
sword, scimitar. And Paronyms are those which
are named from something different, as " manly"
from " manliness."

Equivocal terms have the same name, but
not the same definition, as man — both the animal
and the picture. Of Equivocal terras, some re-
ceive their Equivocal name fortuitously, as Ajax,
the Locrian, and the Salaminian ; and some firom
intention ; and of these, some from resemblance.
as man both the living and the painted ; and
some from analogy, as the foot of Mount Ida, and
our foot, because they are beneath ; some from
action, as the foot of a vessel, by which the vessel

Chap. IX.]

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

565

sails, and our foot, by which we move. Equivo-
cal terms are designated from the same and to
the same ; as the book and scalpel are called
surgical, both from the surgeon who uses them,
and with reference to the surgical matter itself

CHAP. DC. — ON THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF CAUSES.

Of Causes, some are Procatarctic and some
Synectic, some Co-operating, some Causes sine
qud non.

Those that afford the occasion of the origin
of anything first, are Procatarctic ; as beauty is
the cause of love to the licentious ; for when seen
by them, it alone produces the amorous inclina-
nation, but not necessarily.

Causes are Synectic (which are also univo-
caliy perfect of themselves) whenever a cause
is capable of producing the effect of itself,
independently.

Now all the causes may be■sho^^^l in order in
the case of the learner. The father is the Pro-
catarctic cause of learning, the teacher the
Synectic, and the nature of the learner the co-
operating cause, and time holds the relation of
the Cause sine qud non.

Now that is properly called a cause which is
capable of effecting anything actively ; since we
say that steel is capable of cutting, not merely
while cutting, but also while not cutting. Thus,
then, the capability of causing {ro irapucriKov)
signifies both ; both that which is now acting,
and that which is not yet acting, but which pos-
sesses the power of acting.

Some, then, say that causes are properties of
bodies ; and others of incorporeal substances ;
others say that the body is properly speaking
cause, and that what is incorporeal is so only cata-
chrestically, and a quasi- cause. Others, again,
reverse matters, saying that corporeal substances
are properly causes, and bodies are so improper-
ly ; as, for example, that cutting, which is an
action, is incorporeal, and is the cause of cutting
which is an action and incorporeal, and, in the
case of bodies, of being cut, — as in the case of
the sword and what is cut [by it] .

The cause of things is predicated in a three-
fold manner. One, What the cause is, as the
statuary ; a second, Of what it is the cause of
becoming, a statue ; and a third. To what it is
the cause, as, for example, the material : for he
is the cause to the brass of becoming a statue.
The being produced, and the being cut, which
are causes to what they belong, being actions,
are incorporeal.

According to which principle, causes belong
to the class of predicates {Karriyofyrffidr<av)j or,
as others say, of tfic/a (Acicrwv) (for Cleanthes
and Archedemus call predicates dicta) ; or rather,
some causes will be assigned to the class of predi-
cates, as that which is cut, whose case is to be

cut ; and some to that of axioms, — as, for ex-
ample, that of a ship being made, whose case
again is, that a ship is constructing. Now Aris-
totle denominates the name of such things as a
house, a ship, burning, cutting, an appellative.
But the case is allowed to be incorporeal. There-
fore that sophism is solved thus : What you say
passes through your mouth. Which is true.
You name a house. Therefore a house passes
through your mouth. Which is false. For we
do not speak the house, which is a body, but the
case, in which the house is, which is incorporeal.

And we say that the house-builder builds the
house, in reference to that which is to be pro-
duced. So we say that the cloak is woven ; for
that which makes is the indication of the opera-
tion. That which makes is not the attribute of
one, and the cause that of another, but of the
same, both in the case of the cloak and of the
house. For, in as far as one is the cause of any-
thing being produced, in so far is he also the
maker of it. Consequently, the cause, and that
which makes, and that through which (&' o)p
are the same. Now, if anything is " a cause "
and "that which effects,'* it is certainly also
" that through which." But if a thing is " that
through which," it does not by any means follow
that it is also " the cause." Many things, for in-
stance, concur in one result, through which the
end is reached ; but all are not causes. For
Medea would not have killed her children, had
she not been enraged. Nor would she have
been enraged, had she not been jealous. Nor
would she have been this, if she had not loved.
Nor would she have loved, had not Jason sailed
to CMchi. Nor would this have taken place,
had the Argo not been built. Nor would this
have taken place, had not the timbers been cut
from Pelion. For though in all these things
there is the case of ** that through which," they
are not all " causes " of the murder of the chil-
dren, but only Medea was the cause. Where-
fore, that which does not hinder does not act.
Wherefore, that which does not hinder is not a
cause, but that which hinders is. For it is in
acting and doing something that the cause is
conceived.

Besides, what does not hinder is separated
from what takes place ; but the cause is related
to the event. That, therefore, which does not
hinder cannot be a cause. Wherefore, then, it
is accomplished, because that which can hinder
is not present. Causation is then predicated in
four ways : The efficient cause, as the statuary ;
and the material, as the brass ; and the form, as
the character; and the end, as the honour of
the Gymnasiarch.

The relation of the cause sine qud non is held
by the brass in reference to the production of
the statue \ and likewise it is a [true] cause. For

566

THE STROMATA, OR MISCELLANIES.

[Book VI I

everything without which the effect is incapable
of being produced, is of necessity a cause ; but
a cause not absolutely. For the cause sine qud
non is not S)mectic, but Co-operative. And
everything that acts produces the effect, in con-
junction with the aptitude of that which is acted
on. For the cause disposes. But each thing is
affected according to its natural constitution ;
the aptitude being causative, and occupying the
place of causes sine qud non. Accordingly, the
cause is inefficacious without the aptitude ; and
is not a cause, but a co-efficient. For all causa-
tion is conceived in action. Now the earth
could not make itself, so that it could not be the
cause of itself. And it were ridiculous to say
that the fire was not the cause of the burning,
but the logs, — or the sword of the cutting, but
the flesh, — or the strength of the antagonist the
cause of the athlete being vanquished, but his
own weakness.

The S)mectic cause does not require time. For
the cautery produces pain at the instant of its
application to the flesh. Of Procatarctic causes,
some require time till the effect be produced,
and others do not require it, as the case of frac-
ture.

Are not these called independent of time, not
by way of privation, but of diminution, as that
which is sudden, not that which has taken place
without time?

Every cause, apprehended by the mind as a
cause, is occupied with something, and is con-
ceived in relation to something; that is, some
effect, as the sword for cutting; and to some
object, as p)ossessing an aptitude, as the fire to
the wood. For it will not bum steel. The
cause belongs to the things which have relation
to something. For it is conceived in its rela-
tion to another thing. So that we apply our
minds to the two, that we may conceive the
cause as a cause.

The same relation holds with the creator, and
maker, and father. A thing is not the cause of
itself. Nor is one his own father. For so the
first would become the second. Now the cause
acts and affects. That which is produced by
the cause is acted on and is affected. But the
same thing taken by itself cannot both act and
be affected, nor can one be son and father.
And otherwise the cause precedes in being what
is done by it, as the sword, the cutting. And
the same thing cannot precede at the same in-
stant as to matter, as it is a cause, and at the
same time, also, be after and ix)sterior as the
effect of a cause.

Now being differs from becomings as the cause
from the effect, the father from the son. For
the same thing cannot both be and become at
the same instant ; and consequently it is not the
cause of itself. Things are not causes of one

another, but causes to each other. For tht
splenetic affection preceding is not the cause of
fever, but of the occurrence of fever; and the
fever which precedes is not the cause of spleen,
but of the affection increasing.

Thus also the virtues are causes to each other,
because on account of their mutual correspond-
ence they cannot be separated. And the stents
in the arch are causes of its continuing in ihi?
category, but are not the causes of one another.
And the teacher and the learner are to one
another causes of progressing as respects the
predicate.

And mutual and reciprocal causes are predi-
cated, some of the same things, as the merchant
and the retailer are causes of gain ; and some-
times one of one thing and others of another, as
the sword and the flesh; for the one is the
cause to the flesh of being cut, and the flesh to
the sword of cutting. [It is well said,] "An
eye for an eye, life for life." For he who has
wounded another mortally, is the cause to him
of death, or of the occurrence of death. But on
being mortally wounded by him in turn, he his
had him as a cause in turn, not in respect of be-
ing a cause to him, but in another respecL Fur
he becomes the cause of death to him, not tha:
it was death returned the mortal stroke, but the
wounded man himself. So that he was the cau^
of one thing, and had another cause. And he
who has done wrong becomes the cause to an-
other, to him who has been wronged. But the
law which enjoins punishment to be inflicted i^
the cause not of injury, but to the one of retn-
bution, to the other of discipline. So that the
things which are causes, are not causes to ea( h
other as causes.

It is still asked, if many things in conjunction
become many causes of one thing. For the
men who pull together are the causes of the
ship being drawn down ; but along with otheri,
unless what is a joint cause be a cause.

Others say, if there are many causes, each by
itself becomes the cause of one thing. For in-
stance, the virtues, which are many, are causes
of happiness, which is one ; and of warmth ano
pain, similarly, the causes are many. Are not.
then, the many virtues one in power, and the
sources of warmth and of pain so, also ? and
does not the multitude of the virtues, being one
in kind, become the cause of the one result
happiness ?

But, in truth, Procatarctic causes are more
than one both generically and specifically ; as,
for example, cold, weakness, fatigue, dysf>epsia.
drunkenness, generically, of any disease; and
specifically, of fever. But Synectic causes are
so, generically alone, and not also specifically.

For of pleasant odour, which is one thini
generically, there are many specific causes, a>

ELUCIDATIONS.

567

frankincense, rose, crocus, styrax, myrrh, oint-
ment. For the rose has not the same kind of
sweet fragrance as myrrh.

And the same thing becomes the cause of
contrary effects ; sometimes through the magni-
tude of the cause and its power, and sometimes
in consequence of the susceptibility of that on
which it acts. According to the nature of the
force, the same string, according to its tension or
relaxation, gives a shrill or deep sound. And
honey is sweet to those who are well, and bitter
to those who are in fever, according to the state
of susceptibility of those who are affected. And
one and the same wine inclines some to rage,
and others to merriment. And the same sun
melts wax and hardens clay.

Further, of causes, some are apparent ; others
are grasped by a process of reasoning; others
are occult ; others are inferred analogically.

And of causes that are occult, some are occult
temporarily, being hidden at one time, and at
another again seen clearly ; and some are occult
by nature, and capable of becoming at no time
visible. And of those who are so by nature,
some are capable of being apprehended; and
these some would not call occult, being appre-
hended by analogy, through the medium of signs,
as, for example, the symmetry of the passages of
the senses, which are contemplated by reason.
And some are not capable of being apprehended ;
which cannot in any mode fall under apprehen-
sion ; which are by their very definition occult.

Now some are Procatarctic, some Synectic,
some Joint-causes, some Co-operating causes.
And there are some according to nature, some
beyond nature. And there are some of disease
and by accident, some of sensations, some of
the greatness of these, some of times and of
seasons.

Procatarctic causes being removed, the effect

remains. But a Synectic cause is that, which
being present, the effect remains, and being
removed, the effect is removed.

llie Synectic is also called by the synonymous
expression "perfect in itself." Since it is of
itself sufficient to product the effect.

And if the cause manifests an operation suffi-
cient in itself, the co-operating cause indicates
assistance and service along with the other. If,
accordingly, it effects nothing, it will not be
called even a co-operating cause ; and if it does
effect something, it is wholly the cause of this,
that is, of what is produced by it. That is, then,
a co-operating cause, which being present, the
effect was produced — the visible visibly, and
the occult invisibly.

The Joint-cause belongs also to the genus of
causes, as a fellow-soldier is a soldier, and as a
fellow-youth is a youth.

The Co-operating cause further aids the
Sjmectic, in the way of intensifying what is pro-
duced by it. But the Joint-cause does not fall
under the same notion. For a thing may be a
Joint-cause, though it be not a Synectic cause.
For the Joint-cause is conceived in conjunction
with another, which is not capable of producing
the effect by itself, being a cause along with a
cause. And the Co-operating cause differs from
the Joint-cause in this particular, that the Joint-
cause produces the effect in that which by itself
does not act. But the Co-operating cause, while
effecting nothing by itself, yet by its accession to
that which acts by itself, co-operates with it, in
order to the production of the effect in the in-
tensest degree. But especially is that which
becomes co-operating from being Procatarctic,
effective in intensifying the force of the cause.'

I [The book reaches no conclusion, and is evidently a fragment,
merely. See Elucidation II.; also Kaye, p. 334.]

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Scripture, cap. i. p. 558.)

On the i8th of July, 1870, Pius the Ninth, by the bull Pastor y£iemus proclaiming himself
infaUibU, and defining that every Roman bishop from the times of the apostles were equally so,
placed himself in conflict, not merely with Holy Scripture (which repeatedly proves the falli-
bility of St. Peter himself, when speaking apart from his fellow-apostles), but with the torrent of
all antiquity. Yes, and with the great divines of his own communion, such as Bossuet ; includ-
ing divers pontiffs, and the Galileans generally. But note, here, what St. Clement says of the
Holy Scripture, and of the search after truth. Is it conceivable, that he knew of any living
infallible oracle, when he wrote this book, never once hinting the existence of any such source

568 ELUCIDATIONS.

of absolute gnostic perfection? A like ignorance of such an oracle characterizes Vincent
of Lerins, the great expounder of the rule of fiaiith as understood by the four great councils of
antiquity.

Clearly, Clement had never seen in Irenaeus the meaning read into his words by the modem
flatterers of the Roman See.' The discovery of 1870 comes just eighteen centuries too late for
practical purposes.

II.

(Of Book the Eighth, note i, p. 567.)

In the place of this book, according to some mss., Photius found the tract rts 6 a-w^ofLan^
irXjova-io^ ; in other mss., a book beginning as this does. He accused the Stromata of unsound
opinions ; but, this censure not being supported by anything we possess, some imagine that the
eighth book is lost, and that it is no great loss after all. A rash judgment as to its value ; but
possibly this, which is called the eighth book, is from the lost Hypotyposes, Kaye's suggestion i>.
that, as the seventh book closed with a promise of something quite fresh, we may discover it in
this contribution towards forming his Gnostic, to further knowledge.

It should be regarded as of great importance, that Christianity appears as the friend of all
knowledge, and of human culture, from the very start. To our author's versatile genius, much
credit is due for the elements out of which Christian universities took their rise.

' Vol. i. p. 4x5, and Elucidation I. p. 460, thb series.

FRAGMENTS OF CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS.

[TRANSLATED BY REV. WILLLAM WILSON, M.A.]

FRAGMENTS.

I. — FROM THE LATIN TRANSLATION OF

CASSIODORUS.'

I. COMMENTS ^ ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PETER.

Chap. i. 3. " Blessed he the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by His great
mercy hath regenerated us." For if God gener-
ated us of matter, He afterwards, by progress
in life, regenerated us.

" The Father of our Lord, by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ : " who, according to your faith,
rises again in us ; as, on the other hand. He dies
in us, through the operation of our unbelief.
For He said again, that the soul never returns a
second time to the body in this life ; and that
which has become angelic does not become
unrighteous or evil, so as not to have the oppor-
tunity of again sinning by the assumption of
flesh ; but that in the resurrection the soul 3
returns to the body, and both are joined to one
another according to their peculiar nature,
adapting themselves, through the composition
of each, by a kind of congruity like-* a building
of stones.

Besides, Peter says,5 "Ye also, as living

' [M. Aurelius Cassiodorus (whose name U also Senator) was an
author and public man of the sixth centuiy, and a very voluminous
writer. He would shine with a greater lustre were he not so nearly
lost in the brighter light of Boethius, his illustrious contemporary.
After the death of his patron, Theodoric. he continued for a time m
the public service, and tn high positions, out, at seventy years of age,
began another career, and for twenty years devoted hiinself to letters
and tlM practice of piety in a monastery which he established in the
Neapolitan kingdom, near his native Squillace. Died about a. d.
560J

2 G>mments, ie., Adumbratione$. Cassiodorus says that he had
in his translation corrected what he considered erroneous in the
originaL So Fell states: and he is also inclined to believe that these
fragments are from Clement's lost work, the ' YirorviriiMreiv, of which
he believes The Adumbrationes of Cassiodorus to be a translation.

3 *' Utramque " is the reading, which is plainly corrupt. We have
conjectured " animam." The rest of the sentence is so ungrammattcal
and impracticable as it stands, that it is only by taking considerable
liberties with it that it is translateable at all.

* The text here has like a drag-net or {stent sagrna T'r/), which
we have omitted, being utterly incapable of divining any conceivable
resemblance or analogy which a dra^-net can aflbrd for the re-union
of the soul and body. " Sagena " is either a blimdcr for something
else which we cannot conjecture, or the sentence is here, as else-
where, mutilated. But it is possible that it may have been the
imion of the blessed to each other, and their conjunction with
one another according to their affinities, which was the point
handled in the original sentences, of which we have only these
obscure and confusing remains. [A very good conjecture, on the
strength of which the text might have been left as it stood.]

5 Chap. ii. 5.

Stones, are built up a spiritual house ; " meaning
the place of the angelic abode, guarded in
heaven**. " For you," he says, " who are kept
by the power of God, by faith and contempla-
tion, to receive the end of your faith, the sal-
vation of your souls."

Hence it appears that the soul is not naturally
immortal ; but is made immortal by the grace
of God, through faith and righteousness, and by
knowledge. "Of which salvation," he says,7
" the prophets have inquired and searched dili-
gently," and what follows. It is declared by
this that the prophets spake with wisdom, and
that the Spirit of Christ was in them, according
to the possession of Christ, and in subjection to
Christ. For God works through archangels and
kindred angels, who are called spirits of Christ.

" Which are now," he says,** " reported unto
you by them that have preached the Gospel
unto you." The old things which were done by
the prophets and escape the observation of most,
are now revealed to you by the evangelists. " For
to you," he says,^ " they are manifested by the
Holy Ghost, who was sent ; " that is the Para-
clete, of whom the Lx)rd said, " If I go not away.
He will not come." '° " Unto whom," " it is said,
" the angels desire to look ; " not the aix)state
angels, as most suspect, but, what is a divine
truth, angels who desire to obtain, the advantage
of that perfection.

" By precious blood," he says," "as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot." Here he
touches on the ancient Levitical and sacerdotal
celebrations ; but means a soul pure through
righteousness which is offered to God.

"Verily foreknown before the foundation of
the world." '^ Inasmuch as He was foreknown
before every creature, because He was Christ.

6 " Coeli," plainly a mistake for^coelo" or"ca;lis." There is
apparently a hiatus here. " The angelic abode, guarded in heaven,"
most probably is the explanation of " an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, reserved in heaven."

7 Vcr. 10.
* Ver. la.
9 /bid.

*° John xvi. 7.
' " Ibid.
" Ver. 19.
" Vcr. 20.

572

FRAGMENTS FROM CASSIODORUS.

■** But manifested in the last times " by the gen-
eration of a body.

" Being born again, not of corruptible seed.** '
The soul, then, which is produced along with the
body is corruptible, as some think.

"But the word of the Lord," he says,* " endur-
eth for ever : " as well prophecy as divine doc-
trine.

" But ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood." 3 That we are a chosen race by the
election of God is abundantly clear. He says
royal, because we are called to sovereignty and
belong to Christ ; and priesthood on account of
the oblation which is made by prayers and in-
structions, by which are gained the souls which
are offered to God.

" Who, when He was reviled,** he says,^ " re-
viled not ; when He suffered, threatened not.**
The Lord acted so in His goodness and patience.
" But committed Himself to him that judged
Him unrighteously : '* 5 whether Himself, so that,
regarding Himself in this way, there is a trans-
position.^ He indeed gave Himself up to those
who judged according to an unjust law ; because
He was unserviceable to them, inasmuch as He
was righteous : or. He committed to God those
who judged unrighteously, and without cause
insisted on His death, so that they might be
instructed by suffering punishment.

"For he that will love life, and see good
days ; ** 7 that is, who wishes to become eternal
and immortal. And He calls the Lord life, and
the days good, that is holy.

" For the eyes of the Lord,** he says, "are upon
the righteous, and His ears on their prayers : '*
he means the manifold inspection of the Holy
Spirit. " The face of the Lord is on them that
do evil;'*^ that is, whether judgment, or ven-
geance, or manifestation.

" But sanctify the Lord Christ,** he says, " in
your hearts.** ^ For so you have in the Lord's
prayer, " Hallowed be Thy name.'* *°

" For Christ,** he says," "hath once suffered
for our sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
present " us to God ; being put to death in the
flesh, but quickened in the spirit." He says
these things, reducing them to their faith. That
is. He became alive in our spirits.

" Coming,** he says, '3 " He preached to those
who were once unbelieving." They saw not His
form, but they heard His voice.

» Vcr. 23.

2 Vcr. 25.

3 Chap. li. 9.
-♦ Vcr. 23.

s Sic,

* Hyperbaton.
7 Chap. iii. lo.
« Vcr. la.
9 Vcr 15.
*o Matt. vi. 9.
" Ver. 18.
" O^erret.
*^ Vcr. 20.

"When the long-suffering of God'*'* holc>
out. God is so good, as to work the result b>
the teaching of salvation.

"By the resurrection,*' it is said,»5 "of Je!>u>
Christ : " that, namely, which is effected in u-
by faith.

" Angels being subjected to Him," '^ which arir
the first order ; and " principalities " being sub-
ject, who are of the second order ; and "poweni ''
being also subject, which are said to belong to
the third order.

" Who shall give account," he says,*^ " to Him
I who is ready to judge the quick and the dead."

These are trained through previous judgments.'"
Therefore he adds, " For this cause was the Gos-
pel preached also to the dead " — to us, namely,
who were at one time unbelievers. " That they
might be judged according to men," he sa>>,''
" in the flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit." Because, that is, they have fallen away
from faith ; whilst they are still in the flesh they
are judged according to preceding judgments,
that they might repent. Accordingly, he al><»
adds, saying, " That they might live according to
God in the spirit." So Paul also ; for he, loo.
states something of this nature when he say^,
" Whom I have delivered to Satan, that he might
live in the spirit ; " *° that is, " as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God." Similarly aW.^
Paul says, " Variously, and in many ways, God
of old spake to our fathers." **

" Rejoice,*' it is said, ** " that ye are partakers
in the sufferings of Christ : *' that is, if ye are
righteous, ye suffer for righteousness' sake, as
Christ suffered for righteousness. " Happy are
ye, for the Spirit of God, who is the Spirit of
His glory and virtue, resteth on you." Thi>
possessive " His " signifies also an angelic spirit ;
inasmuch as the glory of God those are, through
whom, according to faith and righteousness. He
is glorified, to honourable glory, according to the
advancement of the saints who are brought in.
" The Spirit of God on us," may be thus under-
stood ; that is, who through faith comes on the
soul, like a gracefulness of mind and beauty of
soul.

" Since," it is said,*^ " it is time for judgmeni
beginning at the house of God." For judgment
will overtake these in the appointed persecutions.

" But the God of all grace,** he says.'* " Of
all grace,** he says, because He is good, and the
giver of all good things.

u I6id.
>S Vcr. 21.
16 Ver. 22.
" Chap. iv. 5.
" Ver. 6.
»9 /<i/V/
20 I Cor. V. 5.
a» Heb. i. i.
" Ver. 15

23 Ver. 17.

24 Chap. V. xo.

FRAGMENTS FROM CASSIODORUS.

571

" Marcus, my son, salute th you." ' Mark, the
follower of Peter, while Peter publicly preached
the Gospel at Rome before some of Caesar's
equites, and adduced many testimonies to
Christ, in order that thereby they might be able
to commit to memory what was spoken, of what
was spoken by Peter, wrote entirely what is
called the Gospel according to Mark. As Luke
also may be recognised * by the style, both to
have composed the Acts of the Apostles, and
to have translated Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews.

II. — COMMENTS ON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE.

Jude, who wrote the Catholic Epistle, the
brother of the sons of Joseph, and very religious,
whilst knowing the near relationship of the Lord,
yet did not say that he himself was His brother.
But what said he ? ^ " Jude, a servant of Jesus
Christ," — of Him as Lord ; but " the brother of
James." For this is true ; he was His brother,
(the son)* of Joseph. " For 5 certain men have
entered unawares, ungodly men, who had been
of old ordained and predestined to the judgment
of our God ; " not that they might become im-
pious, but that, being now impious, they were
ordained to judgment. *' For the Lord God,"
he says, ^ " who once delivered a people out of
Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed
not ; " that is, that He might train them through
punishment. For they were indeed punished,
and they perished on account of those that are
saved, until they turn to the Lord. " But the
angels," he says, ^ " that kept not their own pre-
eminence,", that, namely, which they received
through advancement, " but left their own habi-
tation," meaning, that is, the heaven and the
stars, became, and are called apostates. "He
hath reserved these to the judgment of the great
day, in chains, under darkness." He means the
place near the earth,^ that is, the dark air.
Now he called " chains " the loss of the honour
in which they had stood, and the lust of feeble
things; since, bound by their own lust, they
cannot be converted. "As Sodom and Go-
morrha," he says. ^ ... By which the Lord
signifies that pardon had been granted ; *° and
that on being disciplined they had repented.
" Similarly " to the same," he says," " also those
dreamers," — that is, who dream in their imagi-

« Vcr. 13.

2 The reading is " agnosceiet." To yield any sense it must have
been " agnoscatur" or '* agnosccretur."

i Ver. I.

* " Sop" supplied.

5 Ver. 4.

^ Ver. 5.

7 Ver. 6.

■ Terris.

9 Ver. 7.

»o " Quibus significat Dorainus remissius esse," the reading here,
deiie^ translation and emendation. We suppose a hiatus here, and
change " remissius" into " remissum" to get the above sense. The
statement cannot apply to Sodom and Gomorrha.
II .Similiter iisdem.
" Ver. 8.

nation lusts and wicked desires, regarding as
good not that which is truly good, and superior
to all good, — " defile the flesh, despise domin-
ion, and speak evil of majesty," that is, the only
Lord, ^3 who is truly our Lord, Jesus Christ, and
alone worthy of praise. They "speak evil of
majesty," that is, of the angels.

" When Michael, the archangel,** disputing
with the devil, debated about the body of
Moses." Here he confirms the assumption of
Moses. He is here called Michael, who through
an angel near to us debated with the devil.

" But these," he says,'5 " speak evil of those
things which they know not; but what they
know naturally, as brute beasts, in these things
they corrupt themselves." He means that they
eat, and drink, and indulge in uncleanness, and
says that they do other things that are common
to them with animals, devoid of reason.

" Woe unto them !" he says,'^ " for they have
gone in the way of Cain." For so also we lie
under Adam*s sin through similarity of sin.
" Clouds," he says,*7 ♦< without water ; who do not
possess in themselves the divine and fruitful
word." Wherefore, he says, " men of this kind
are carried about both by winds and violent
blasts." '^ " Trees," he says, " of autumn, with-
out fruit," — unbelievers, that is, who bear no
fruit of fidelity. " Twice dead," he says : once,
namely, when they sinned by transgressing, and
a second time when delivered up to punishment,
according to the predestined judgments of God ;
inasmuch as it is to be reckoned death, ev^n
when each one does not forthwith deserve the
inheritance. "Waves," he says,*9 "of a raging
sea." By these words he signifies the life of the
Gentiles, whose end is abominable ambition.*®
"Wandering stars," — that is, he means those
who err and are apostates are of that kind of
stars which fell from the seats of the angels, —
" to whom," for their apostasy, " the blackness of
darkness is reserved for ever. Enoch also, the
seventh from Adam," he says,*' "prophesied of
these." In these words he verifies the prophecy.

"Those," he says," "separating " the faithful
from the unfaithful, be convicted according
to their own unbelief. And again those separating
from the flesh.*^ He says, " Animal ** not having

i^ Dominus — Dominium, referring to the clause "despise do-
minion." [Jude 8.J

»* Ver. 9.

w Ver. 10.

«6 Ver. II.

" Ver. 12.

** Spiritibus.

»9 Ver. 13.

^ The reading " vitam Gentilem significat quorum ambitionis
abominabilis est finis," is manifestly corrupt. *' The end of whose
ambition is abominable " would be obtained by a slighter change thau
what is given above.

21 Ver. 14.

22 Ver. 19.

23 " Discernentes a camibus/' — a sentence which has got either
displaced or corrupted, or both.

24 Animales.

574

FRAGMENTS FROM CASSIODORUS.

the spirit ; " that is, the spirit which is by faith,
which supervenes through the practice of right-
eousness.

" But ye, beloved,** he says,^ " building up
yourselves on your most holy faith, in the Holy
Spirit." " But some," he says,' " save, pluck-
ing them from the fire ; " ^ « but of some have
compassion in fear," that is, teach those who fall
into the fire to free themselves. " Hating," he
says,** " that spotted garment, which is carnal : "
that of the soul, namely ; the spotted garment is
a, spirit polluted by carnal lusts.5

** Now to Him," he says,^ " who is able to
Iceep you without stumbling, and present you
faultless before the presence of His glory in joy."
In the presence of His glory : he means in the
presence of the angels, to be presented faultless,
having become angels.' When Daniel speaks
of the people and comes into the presence of
the Lord, he does not say this, because he saw
God : for it is impossible that any one whose
heart is not pure should see God ; but he says
this, that everything that the people did was in
the sight of God, and was manifest to Him ; that
is, that nothing is hid from the Lord.

Now, in the Gospel according to Mark, the
Lord being interrogated by the chief of the
priests if He was the Christ, the Son of the blessed
God, answering, said, " I am ; ^ and ye shall see
the Son of man sitting at the right hand of
power." 9 But powers '° mean the holy angels.
Further, when He says "at the right hand of
God," He means the self-same [beings], by
reason of the equality and likeness of the angelic
and holy powers, which are called by the name
of God. He says, therefore, that He sits at the
right hand ; that is, that He rests in pre-eminent
honour. In the other Gospels, however. He is
said not to have replied to the high priest, on
his asking if He was the Son of God. But
what said He? "You say."" Answering suffi-
ciently well. For had He said. It is as you
understand, he would have said what was not
true, not confessing Himself to be the Son of
God ; [for] they did not entertain this opinion
of Him ; but by saying " You say," " He spake
truly. For what they had no knowledge of, but
expressed in words, that he confessed to be true.

« Vcr. «o.
« Ver. 22.

3 Vcr. 23.

4 Ver. 23.

3 By a slight change of punctuation, and by substituting " macu-
lata" for " macula," we get the sense as above. Animz videlicet
tunica macula est " is the reading of the text.

6 Ver. 24,

^ We have here with some hesitation altered the punctuation. In
the text, " To be presented " begins a new sentence.

■ Mark xiv. 62. There is blundering here as to the differences
between the evangelists' accounts, as a comparison of them shows.

9 Virtutis.

'o Virtuies.

** Matt. xxvi. 64: "Thou hast said: nevertheless, I say unto you,
Hereafter ye shall see ihe Son of man sitting on the rignt hand of
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

1^ i.e., It is aa you say.

III. — COMMENTS ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF

JOHN.

Chap. i. I. "That which was from the begin-
ning ; which we have seen with our eyes ; which
we have heard."

Following the Gospel according to John, and
in accordance with it, this Epistle also contains
the spiritual principle.

What therefore he says, "from the begin-
ning," the Presbyter explained to this effect,
that the beginning of generation is not sepa-
rated from the beginning of the Creator. For
when he says, " That which was from the begin-
ning," he touches upon the generation without
beginning of the Son, who is co-existent with
the Father. There was, then, a Word import-
ing an unbeginning eternity ; as also the V\ oni
itself, that is, the Son of God, who being, by
equality of substance, one with the Father, is
eternal and uncreate. That He was always the
Word, is signified by saying, " In the beginning
was the Word." But by the expression, "we
have seen with our eyes," he signifies the Lord's
presence in the flesh, "and our hands have
handled," he says, " of the Word of life." He
means not only His flesh, bat the virtues of
the Son, like the sunbeam which penetrates to
the lowest places, — this sunbeam coming in the
flesh became palpable to the disciples. It is ac-
cordingly related in traditions, that John, touch-
ing the outward body itself, sent his hand deep
down into it, and that the solidity of the flesh
offered no obstacle, but gave way to the hand
of the disciple.

" And our hands have handled of the Wonl
of life ; " that is. He who came in the flesh
became capable of being touched. As also,

Ver. 2. "The life was manifested." For in
the Gospel he thus speaks : " And what was
made, in Him was life, and the life was the light
of men." ^3

"And we show unto you that eternal Ufe,
which was with the Father, and was manifesteti
unto you."

He signifies by the appellation of Father, that
the Son also existed always, without beginning.

Ver. 5. " For God," he says, " is light."

He does not express the divine essence, but
wishing to declare the majesty of God, he has
applied to the Divinity what is best and mo>t
excellent in the view of men. Thus also Paul
when he speaks of " light inaccessible." »♦ Bui
John himself also in this same Episde says,
" God is love : " 's pointing out the excellenceN
of God, that He is kind and merciful ; antl
because He is light, makes men righteous,
according to the advancement of the soul,

" John i. 3, 4.
*♦ I Tim. VI. 16.
** I John iv. 16.

FRAGMENTS FROM CASSIODORUS.

575

through charity. God, then, who is ineffable
in respect of His substance, is light.

" And in Him is no darkness at all," — that
is, no passion, no keeping up of evil respecting
any one, [He] destroys no one, but gives sal-
vation to all. Light moreover signifies, either
the precepts of the Law, or faith, or doctrine.
Darkness is the opposite of these things. Not
as if there were another way; since there is
only one way according to the divine precepts.
For the work of God is unity. Duality and all
else that exists, except unity, arises firom perver-
sity of life.

Ver. 7. " And the blood of Jesus Christ His
Son," he says, " cleanses us." For the doctrine
of the Lord, which is very powerful, is called
His blood.

Ver. 10. "If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
His doctrine, that is, or word is truth.

Chap. ii. I. "And if any man sin," he says,
*' we have an advocate ' with the Father, Jesus
Christ." For so the Lord is an advocate with
the Father for us. So also is there, an advo-
cate, whom, after His assumption. He vouchsafed
to send- For these primitive and first-created
virtues are unchangeable as to substance, and
along with subordinate angels and archangels,
whose names they share, effect divine operations.
Thus also Moses names the virtue of the angel
Michael, by an angel near to himself and of lowest
grade. The like also we find in the holy proph-
ets ; but to Moses an angel appeared near and
at hand. Moses heard him and spoke to him,
manifestly, face to face. On the other prophets,
through the agency of angels, an impression was
made, as of beings hearing and seeing.

On this account also, they alone heard, and
they alone saw ; as also is seen in the case of
Samuel.' Elisaeus also alone heard the voice by
which he was called.^ If the voice had been
open and common, it would have been heard by
all. In this instance it was heard by him alone,
in whom the impression made by the angel
w^orked.

Ver. 2. "And not only for our sins," — that is,
for those of the faithful, — is the Lord the propi-
tiator, does he say, " but also for the whole
world." He, indeed, saves all ; but some [He
saves], converting them by punishments ; others,
however, who follow voluntarily [He saves]
with dignity of honour; so "that every knee
should bow to Him, of things in heaven, and
things on earth, and things under the earth ; " -♦
that is, angels, men, and souls that before His
advent have departed from this temporal life.

> Consolatorem.
" I Ssun. iii. 3, 4.
3 I Kings xix.
* Phil. u. 10.

Ver. 3. "And by this we know that we know
Him, if we keep His commandments." For the
Gnostic 5 [he who knows] also does the works
which pertain to the province of virtue. But he
who performs the works is not necessarily also a
Gnostic. For a man may be a doer of right
works, and yet not a knower of the mysteries of
science. Finally, knowing that some works are
performed from fear of punishment, and some
on account of the promise of reward, he shows
the perfection of the man gifted with knowledge,
who fulfils his works by love. Further, he adds,
and says : —

Ver. 5. " But whoso keepeth His word, in him
verily is the love of God perfected: hereby
know we that we are in Him," — by faith and
love.

Ver. 7. " I write no new commandment unto
you, but an old commandment, which ye had
from the beginning," — through the Law, that
is, and the prophets; where it is said, God is
one. Accordingly, also, he infers, " For the old
commandment is the word which ye have heard."

Again, however, he says : —

Ver. 8. "This is the commandment; for the
darkness" of perversion, that is, "has passed
away, and, lo, the true light hath already shone,"
— that is, through faith, through knowledge,
through the Covenant working in men, through
prepared judgments.

Ver. 9. " He that saith he is in the light," —
in the light, he means in the truth, — "and
hateth," he says, " his brother." By his brother,
he means not only his neighbour, but also the
Lord. For unbelievers hate Him and do not
keep His commandments. Therefore also he
infers : —

Ver. 10. " He that lov^th his brother abideth
in the light; and there is none occasion of
stumbling in him."

Vers. 12-14. He then indicates the stages of
advancement and progress of souls that are still
located in the flesh ; and calls those whose sins
have been forgiven, for the Lord's name's sake,
"little children," for many believe on account
of the name only. He styles " fathers " the
perfect, " who have known what was from the
beginning," and received with understanding, —
the Son, that is, of whom he said above, " that
which was from the beginning."

" I write," says he, " to you, young men, be-
cause ye have overcome the wicked one." Young
man strong in despising pleasures. " The wicked
one " points out the eminence of the devil.
"The children," moreover, know the Father;
having fled from idols and gathered together to
the one God.

Ver. 15. " For the world," he says, "is in the

5 " Intellcctor " in Latin translation. [See p. 607, footnote.]

576

FRAGMENTS FROM CASSIODORUS.

wicked one." Is not the world, and all that is
in the world, called God's creation and very
good ? Yes. But,

Ver. 1 6. "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the ambition of the world," which arise
from the perversion of life, "are not of the
Father, but of the world," and of you.

Ver. 17. "Therefore also the world shall pass
away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth
the will of God " and His commandments "abid-
eth for ever."

Ver. 19. "They went out from us; but they
were not of us" — neither the apostate angels,
nor men falling away ; — " but that they may be
manifested that they are not of us." With suffi-
cient clearness he distinguishes the class of the
elect and that of the lost, and that which remain-
mg in faith "has an unction from the Holy One,"
which comes through faith. He that abideth
not in faith.

Ver. 22. "A liar" and "an antichrist, who
denieth that Jesus is the Christ." For Jesus,
Saviour and Redeemer, is also Christ the King.

Ver. 23. " He who denies the Son," by ignor-
ing Him, "has not the Father, nor does he
know Him." But he who knoweth the Son and
the Father, knows according to knowledge,
and when the Lord shall be manifested at His
second advent, shall have confidence and not be
confounded. Which confusion is heavy punish-
ment.

Ver. 29. "Every one," he says, "who doeth
righteousness is bom of God ; " being regener-
ated, that is, according to faith.

Chap. iii. i. "For the world knoweth us not,
as it knew Him not." He means by the world
those who live a worldly life in pleasures.

Ver. 2. " Beloved," says he, " now are we the
sons of God," not by natural affection, but be-
cause we have God as our Father. For it is the
greater love that, seeing we have no relationship
to God, He nevertheless loves us and calls us
His sons. " And it hath not yet appeared what
we shall be ; " that is, to what kind of glory we
shall attain. " For if He shall be manifested,"
— that is, if we are made perfect, — " we shall
be like Him," as reposing and justified, pure in
virtue, "so that we may see Him" (His counte-
nance) "' as He is," by comprehension.

Ver. 8. " He that doeth unrighteousness is of
the devil," that is, of the devil as his father,
following and choosing the same things. " The
devil sinneth from the beginning," he says. From
the beginning from which he began to sin, in-
corrigibly persevering in sinning.

Ver. 9. He says, " Whosoever is bom of God
does not commit sin, for His seed remaineth
in him ; " that is, His word in him who is bom
again through faith.

Ver. 10. "Thus we know the children of God,

as likewise the children of the devil," who cho<.»>c
things like the devil ; for so also they are sai^
to be of the wicked one.

Ver. 15. " Every one who hateth his brother i^
a murderer." For in him through unbelief Chn'-:
dies. Rightly, therefore, he continues, " And yc
know that no murderer and unbeliever hat:,
etemal life abiding in him." For the li\inj^
Christ ^ abides in the believing soul.

Ver. 16. " For He Himself laid down His life
for us ; " that is, for those who believe ; tha:
is, for the aposties. If then He laid down His life
for the apostles, he means His apostles them-
selves : as if he said. We, I say, the apostles, for
whom He laid down His life, "ought to b>
down our lives for the brethren ; " for the salva-
tion of their neighbours was the glory of the
apostles.

Ver. 20. He says, " For God is greater than
our heart ; " that is, the virtue of God [is greater]
than conscience, which will follow the soul.
Wherefore he continues, and says, " and knoweth
all things."

Ver. 21. "Beloved, if our heart condenm U5
not, it will have confidence before God."

Ver. 24. "And hereby we know that He dwell-
eth in us by His Spirit, which He hath given
us ; " that is, by superintendence and foresight
of future events.

Chap. iv. 18. He says, "Perfect love casteth
out fear." For the perfection of a believing
man is love.

Chap. V. 6. He says, "This is He who came
by water and blood ; " and again, —

Ver. 8. " For there are three that bear witness,
the spirit," which is life, " and the water," which
is regeneration and faith, "and the blood."
which is knowledge ; " and these three are one."
For in the Saviour are those saving virtues, and
life itself exists in His own Son.

Ver. 14. " And this is the confidence which
we have towards Him, that if we ask anything
according to His will. He will hear us." He
does not say absolutely what we shall ask, but
what we ought to ask.

Ver. 19. "And the whole word lieth in the
wicked one ; " not the creation, but worldly men.
and those who live according to their lusts.

Ver. 20. "And the Son of God hath come
and given us understanding," which comes to
us, that is, by faith, and is also called the Holy
Spirit.

IV. — COMMENTS ON THE SECOND EPISTLE OF

JOHN.

The second Epistle of John, which is written
to Virgins, is very simple. It was written to a
Babylonian lady, by name Electa, and indicates

I The text reads " Christi," which yields no suitable sense» 32>i
or which we have substituted " Christus."

FRAGMENTS FROM NICETAS.

577

the election of the holy Church. He establishes
in this Epistle that the following out of the faith
is not without charity, and so that no one divide
Jesus Christ; but only to believe that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh. For he who has
the Son by apprehension in his intellect knows
also the Father, and grasps with his mind intel-
ligibly the greatness of His power working with-
out beginning of time.

Ver. lo. He says, " If any come unto you and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into
)'our house, neither bid him God speed ; for he
that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his
evil deeds." He forbids us to salute such, and
to receive them to our hospitality. For this is
not harsh in the case of a man of this sort. But
he admonishes them neither to confer nor dis-
pute with such as are not able to handle divine
things with intelligence, lest through them they
be seduced from the doctrine of truth, influenced
by plausible reasons. Now, I think that we are
not even to pray with such, because in the
prayer which is made at home, after rising from
prayer, the salutation of joy is also the token of
peace.

II. — NICETAS' BISHOP OF HERACLEA.
FROM HIS CATENA.

I. — JOB I. 21.

But Job's words may be more elegantly under-
stood thus : ** Naked " of evil and sin was I
formed from the earth at the beginning, as if
from a " mother's womb : naked to the earth
shall I also depart ; " naked,^ not of possessions,
for that were a trivial and common thing, but of
evil and sin, and of the unsightly shape which
follows those who have led bad lives. Obviously,
all of us human beings are born naked, and
again are buried naked, swathed only in grave-
clothes. For God hath provided for us another
life, and made the present life the way for the
course which leads to it ; appointing the supplies
derived from what we possess merely as provisions
for the way ; and on our quitting this way, the
wealth, consisting of the things which we pos-
sessed, journeys no farther with us. For not a
single thing that we possess is proi)erly our own :
of one possession alone, that is godliness, are we
properly owners. Of this, death, when it over-
takes us, will not rob us ; but from all else it
will eject us, though against our will. For it is
for the support of life that we all have received
what we possess ; and after enjoying merely the
use of it, each one dei)arts, obtaining from life
a brief remembrance. For this is the end of all
prosperity; this is the conclusion of the good

* iJS.is Catena on Job was edited by Patrick Young, London, 1637.]

* This down to "lives" is quoted in Strom. , book iv. ch. xxv.

P 439. "'/'•'»•

things of this life. Well, then, does the infant,
on opening its eyes, after issuing from the womb,
immediately begin with crying, not with laughter.
For it weeps, as if bewailing life, at whose
hands from the outset it tastes of deadly gifts.
For immediately on being bom its hands and
feet are swaddled ; and swathed in bonds it takes
the breast. O introduction to life, precursor of
death ! The child has but just entered on life,
and straightway there is put upon it the raiment
of the dead : for nature reminds those that are
born of their end. Wherefore also the child, on
being bom, wails, as if crying plaintively to its
mother. Why, O mother, didst thou bring me
forth to this life, in which prolongation of life is
progress to death ? Why hast thou brought me
into this troubled world, in which, on being born,
swaddling bands are my first experience ? Why
hast thou delivered me to such a life as this, in
which both a pitiable youth wastes away before old
age, and old age is shunned as under the doom of
death ? Dreadful, O mother, is the course of life,
which has death as the goal of the runner. Bitter
is the road of life we travel, with the grave as the
wayfarer's inn. Perilous the sea of life we sail ;
for it has Hades as -a pirate to attack us. Man
alone is bom in all respects naked, without a
weapon or clothing bom with him ; not as being
inferior to the other animals, but that nakedness
and your bringing nothing with you may produce
thought ; and that thought may bring out dex-
terity, expel sloth, introduce the arts for the
supply of our needs, and beget variety of con-
trivances. For, naked, man is full of contri-
vances, being pricked on by his necessity, as by
a goad, how to escape rains, how to elude cold,
how to fence off blows, how to till the earth, how
to terrify wild beasts, how to subdue the more
powerful of them. Wetted with rain, he con-
trived a roof; having suffered from cold, he
invented clothing ; being stmck, he constructed
a breastplate ; bleeding his hands with the thorns
in tilling the ground, he availed himself of the
help of tools ; in his naked state liable to become
a prey to wild beasts, he discovered from his
fear an art which frightened what frightened him.
Nakedness begat one accomplishment after
another ; so that even his nakedness was a gift
and a master-favour. Accordingly, Job also
being made naked of wealth, possessions, of the
blessing of children, of a numerous offspring,
and having lost everything in a short time, uttered
this grateful exclamation : " Naked came I out
of the womb, naked also shall I depart thither ; "
— to God, that is, and to that blessed lot and
rest.

n. — FROM THE SAME.

Job xxxiv. 7. Calmness is a thing which, of all
other things, is most to be prized. As an exam-

578

FRAGMENTS FROM THE HYPOTYPOSES.

pie of this, the word proposes to us the blessed
Job. For it is said of him, " What man is
like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? " j
For truly enviable, and, in my judgment, worthy '
of all admiration, a man is, if he has attained
to such a degree of long-suffering as to be able
with ease to grapple with the pain, truly keen,
and not easily conquered by everybody, which
arises from being wronged.

III. — FROM NICETAS' CATENA ON MATTHEW.

Matt. V. 42. Alms are to be given, but with
judgment, and to the deserving, that we may
obtain a recompense from the Most High.
But woe to those who have and who take under
false pretences, or who are able to help them-
selves and want to take from others. For he
who has, and, to carry out false pretences or
out of laziness, takes, shall be condemned.

IV. — FROM THE SAME.

Matt. xiii. 31, 32. The word which proclaims
the kingdom of heaven is sharp and pungent as
mustard, and represses bile, that is, anger, and
checks inflammation, that is, pride ; and from
this word the soul's true health and eternal
soundness ' flow. To such increased size did
the growth of the word come, that the tree
which sprang from it (that is the Church of
Christ established over the whole earth) filled
the world, so that the fowls of the air — that is,
divine angels and lofty souls — dwelt in its
branches.

v. — FROM THE SAME.

Matt. xiii. 46. A pearl, and that pellucid and
of purest ray, is Jesus, whom of the lightning
flash of Divinity the Virgin bore. For as the
pearl, produced in flesh and the oyster-shell and
moisture, appears to be a body moist and trans-
parent, full of light and spirit ; so also God the
VVord, incarnate, is intellectual light,^ sending
His rays, through a body luminous and moist.

III. — FROM THE CATENA ON LUKE, EDITED

BY CORDERIUS.

Luke iii. 22. God here assumed the " like-
ness " not of a man, but " of a dove," because
He wished, by a new apparition of the Spirit in
the likeness of a dove, to declare His simplicity
and majesty.

Luke xvi. 17. Perhaps by the iota and tittle
His righteousness cries, " If ye come right unto
Me, I will also come right to you ; but if crooked,
I also will come crooked, saith the Lord of
hosts ; " intimating that the ways of sinners are

* cvicpao-ia.

3. ^Toc here has probably taken the place of <^a*rc(i^v. [This
passage b in the Stromata; and also a similar figure, p. 347, this
scries?]

intricate and crooked. For the way right an«.
agreeable to nature which is intimated by the
iota of Jesus, is His goodness, which constant] v
directs those who believe from hearing. '* There
shall not, therefore, pass from the law one iou
or one tittle," neither from the right and go<.Ml
the mutual promises, nor from the crooked an«i
unjust the punishment assigned to them. " For
the Lord doeth good to the good, but those who
turn aside into crooked ways God will lead with
the workers of iniquity." ^

IV. — FROM THE BOOKS OF THE HYPOTY-
POSES.

CECUMENIUS FROM BOOK III. ON I COR. XI. 10.

" Because of the angels." By the angels he
means righteous and virtuous men. Let her
be veiled then, that she may not lead them to
stumble into fornication. For the real angels
in heaven see her though veiled.

THE SAME, BOOK IV. ON 2 COR. V. 1 6.

" And if we have known Christ after the flesh. "
As " after the flesh " in our case is being in the
midst of sins, and being out of them is ** not
after the flesh ; " so also " after the flesh " in the
case of Christ was His subjection to natural
affections, and His not being subject to them is
to be " not after the flesh." But, he says, as He
was released, so also are we.

THE SAME, BOOK IV. ON 2 COR. VI. II.

"Our heart is enlarged," to teach you all
things. But ye are straitened in your own bowels.
that is, in love to God, in which ye ought to love
me.

THE SAME, BOOK V. ON GAL. V. 24.

" And they that are Christ's [have crucified]
the flesh." And why mention one aspect of
virtue after another? For there are some who
have crucified themselves as far as the passion>
are concerned, and the passions as far as respect>
themselves. According to this interpretation
the " and " is not superfluous. " And they thai
are Christ's " — that is, striving after Him —
" have crucified their own flesh."

MOSCHUS : SPIRITUAL MEADOW, BOOK V. CHAP. I 76.

Yes, truly, the apostles were baptised, as
Clement the Stromatist relates in the fifth book
of the Hypotyposes. For, in explaining the apos-
tolic statement, " I thank God that I baptise*!
none of you," he says, Christ is said to have
baptised Peter alone, and Peter Andrew, and
Andrew John, and they James and the rest.*

3 Ps. cxxv. 4, 5.

4 [See Kaye, p. 442, and the eleventh chapter entire.]

FRAGMENTS FROM THE HYPOTYPOSES.

579

EUSEBIUS : ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, BOOK VI. 11. I.

Now Clement, writing in the sixth book of the
Hypotyposes, makes this statement. For he
says that Peter and James and John, after the
Saviour's ascension, though pre-eminently hon-
oured by the Lord, did not contend for glory,
but made James the Just, bishop of Jerusalem.

EUSEBIUS: ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, II. I5.

So, then, through the visit of the divine word
to them, the power of Simon was extinguished,
and immediately was destroyed along with the
man himself. And such a ray of godliness shone
forth on the minds of Peter's hearers, that they
were not satisfied with the once hearing or with
the unwritten teaching of the divine proclama-
tion, but with all manner of entreaties importuned
Mark, to whom the Gospel is ascribed, he being
the companion of Peter, that he would leave in
writing a record of the teaching which had been
delivered to them verbally ; and did not let the
man alone till they prevailed upon him ; and so
to them we owe the Scripture called the " Gos-
pel by Mark." On learning what had been
done, through the revelation of the Spirit, it is
said that the apostle was delighted with the
enthusiasm of the men, and sanctioned the com-
position for reading in the Churches. Clemens
gives the narrative in the sixth book of the j
Hypotyposes.

EUSEBIUS: IBID.

Then, also, as the divine Scripture says,
Herod, on the execution of James, seeing that
what was done pleased the Jews, laid hands also
on Peter ; and having put him in chains, would
have presently put him to death, had not an
angel in a divine vision appeared to him by
night, and wondrously releasing him from his
bonds, sent him away to the ministry of preaching.

EUSEBIUS: ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, VI. 1 4.

And in the Hypotyposes, in a word, he has
made abbreviated narratives of the whole testa-
mentary Scripture ; and has not passed over the
disputed books, — I mean Jude and the rest of
the Catholic Epistles and Barnabas, and what
is called the Revelation of Peter. And he says
that the Epistle to the Hebrews is Paul's, and
was written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew
language ; but that Luke, having carefully trans-
lated it, gave it to the Greeks, and hence the
same colouring in the expression is discoverable
in this Epistle and the Acts ; and that the name
" Paul an Apostle " was very properly not pre-
fixed, for, he says, that writing to the Hebrews,
who were prejudiced against him and suspected,
he with great wisdom did not repel them in the
beginning by putting down his name.

EUSEBIUS: BOOK vn.

I Tim. ii. 6. "In his times ; " that is, when
men were in a condition of fitness for faith.

I Tim. iii. i6. "Was seen of angels." O
mystery ! The angels saw Christ while He was
with us, not having seen Him before. Not as
by men.

I Tim. V. 8. " And especially those oi his own
house." He provides for his own and those
of his own house, who nofonly provides for his
relatives, but also for himself, by extirpating the
passions.

I Tim. V. 10. " If she have washed the feet
of saints ; " that is, if she has performed without
shame the meanest offices for the saints.

I Tim. V. 21. " Without prejudice ; " ' that is,
without falling under the doom and punishment
of disobedience through making any false step.

1 Tim. vi. 13. " Who witnessed before Pontius
Pilate." For He testified by what he did that
He was Christ the Son of God.

2 Tim. ii. 2. "By many witnesses ; " ^ that is,
the law and the prophets. For these the apostle
made witnesses of his own preaching.

EUSEBIUS : ECCLESIASTCAL HISTORY, BOOK. VII. ii. I.

To James the Just, and John and Peter, the
Lord after His resurrection imparted knowledge
(ttjv yvioa-iv.) These imparted it to the rest of
the apostles, and the rest of the apostles to the
Seventy, of whom Barnabas was one.

EUSEBIUS : THE SAME, II. 2.

And of this James, Clement also relates an
anecdote worthy of remembrance in the seventh
book of the Hypotyposes, from a tradition of
his predecessors. He says that the man who
brought him to trial, on seeing him bear his
testimony, was moved, and confessed that he
was a Christian himself. Accordingly, he says,
they were both led away together, and on the
way the other asked James to forgive him. And
he, considering a little, said, " Peace be to thee,"
and kissed him. And so both were beheaded
together.

EUSEBIUS : THE SAME, VI. 1 4.

And now, as the blessed Presbyter used to say,
since the Lord, as the Apostle of the Almighty,
was sent to the Hebrews, Paul, as having been
sent to the Gentiles, did not subscribe himself
apostle of the Hebrews, out of modesty and rev-
erence for the Ix)rd, and because, being the
herald and apostle of the Gentiles, his writing to
the Hebrews was something over and above [his
assigned function.]

> irpo«cpt>aT<K , " without preferring one before another." — A. V.
a 6id. A. v. " before."

58o

FRAGMENTS FROM ANTONIUS MELISSA.

EUSEBIUS : THE SAME.

Again, in the same books Clement has set
down a tradition which he had received from the
elders before him, in regard to the order of the
Gospels, to the following effect. He says that
the Gospels containing the genealogies were
written first, and that the Gospel according to
Mark was composed in the following circum-
stances : —

Peter having preached the word publicly at
Rome, and by the Spirit proclaimed the Gospel,
those who were present, who were numerous,
entreated Mark, inasmuch as he had attended
him from an early period, and remembered what
had been said, to write down what had been
spoken. On his composing the Gospel, he
handed it to those who had made the request
to him ; which coming to Peter's knowledge, he
neither hindered nor encouraged. But John,
the last of all, seeing that what was corporeal
was set forth in the Gospels, on the entreaty of
his intimate friends, and inspired by the Spirit,
composed a spiritual Gospel.

v. — FROM THE BOOK ON PROVIDENXE.
S. MAXIMUS, VOL. II. 1 1 4.

Being is in God. God is divine being, eternal
and without beginning, incorporeal and illimit-
able, and the cause of what exists. Being is that
which wholly subsists. Nature is the truth of
things, or the inner reality of them. According
to others, it is the production of what has come
to existence ; and according to others, again, it
is the providence of God, causing the being, and
the manner of being, in the things which are
produced.

S. MAXIMUS: IN THE SAME, P. 1 5 2.

Willing is a natural power, which desires what
is in accordance with nature. Willing is a natu-
ral appetency, corresponding with the nature of
the rational creature. Willing is a natural sponta-
neous movement of the self-determining mind,
or the mind voluntarily moved about anything.
Spontaneity is the mind moved naturally, or an
intellectual self- determining movement of the
soul.

VL — FROM THE BOOK ON THE SOUL.
MAXLMUS AND ANTONIUS MELISSA.'

Souls that breathe free of all things, possess life,
and though separated from the body, and found
possessed of a longing for it, are borne immortal
to the bosom of God : as in the winter season
the vapours of the earth attracted by the sun*s
rays rise to him.

* Sennon 53, On The Soul^ p. 156. [Anton. Melissa, a Greek
monk of the twelfth century, has left works not infrequently referred
to by modern authors. Flourished a. d. 1140.]

THE BAROCC. MS.*

All souls are immortal, even those of the ivick-
ed, for whom it were better that they were not
deathless. For, punished with the endless ven-
geance of quenchless fire, and not dying, it is
impossible for them to have a period put to their
misery.

VII. — FRAGMENT FROM THE BOOK OX

SLANDER.

ANTONIUS MELISSA, BOOK. II. SERMON 69 .^

Never be afraid of the slanderer who addresses
you. But rather say. Stop, brother ; I daily com-
mit more grievous errors, and how can I judge
him? For you will gain two things, healing with
one plaster both yourself and your neighl>our.
He shows what is really evil. Whence, by these
arguments, God has contrived to make each one's
disposition manifest.

ANTONIUS MELISSA, BOOK I. SERMON 64, AND BCX>K
II. SERMON 87. ALSO MAXIMUS, SERMON 59.
P. 669 ; JOHN OF DAMASCUS, BOOK H.

It is not abstaining from deeds that justifies
the believer, but purity and sincerity of thoughts.

VIIL— OTHER FRAGMENTS FROM ANTONIUS

MELISSA.

I. — BOOK I. SERMON I 7, ON CONFESSION.

Repentance then becomes capable of wiping
out every sin, when on the occurrence of the
sours fault it admits no delay, and does not let
the impulse pass on to a long space of time.
For it is in this way that evil will be unable to
leave a trace in us, being plucked away at the
moment of its assault like a newly planted planL

As the creatures called crabs are easy to catch,
from their going sometimes forward and some-
times backward ; so also the soul, which at one
time is laughing, at another weeping, and at
another giving way to luxury, can do no good.

He who is sometimes grieving, and is some-
times enjoying himself and laughing, is like a
man pelting the dog of voluptuousness with
bread, who chases it in appearance, but in fact
invites it to remain near him.

2. BOOK I. SERMON 5 1, ON PRAISE.

Some flatterers were congratulating a wise
man. He said to them. If you stop praising
me, I think myself something great after your
departure ; but if you do not stop praising me,
I guess my own impurity.

Feigned praise is worth less than true censure.

2 143, fol. i8i, p. X, chapter On Care F<>r The Soul.

3 On Slanderers and Insult. The evidence oa which ihb is.
ascribed to Clement is very slender.

GREEK FRAGMENTS IN OXFORD EDITION.

581

3. BOOK II. SERMON 46, ON THE LAZY AND INDO-

LENT.

To the weak and infirm, what is moderate
appears excessive.

4. BOOK II. SERMON 55, ON YOUR NEIGHBOUR —
THAT YOU ARE TO BEAR HIS BURDENS, ETC.

The reproof that is given with knowledge is
very faithful. Sometimes also the knowledge of
those who are condemned is found to be the
most perfect demonstration.

5. BOOK II. SERMON 74, ON THE PROUD, AND THOSE

DESIROUS OF VAINGLORY.

To the man who exalts and magnifies him-
self is attached the quick transition and the fall
to low estate, as the divine word teaches.

6. BOOK II. SERMON 87.

Pure speech and a spotless life are the throne
and true temple of God.

IX. — FRAGMENT OF THE TREATISE ON

MARRIAGE.

AL\XLMUS, SERMON III. P. 538, ON MODESTY AND
CHASTrrV. ALSO, JOHN OF DAAL\SCUS, BOOK III.
— PARALLEL CHAP. 27.

It is not only fornication, but also the giving
in marriage prematurely, that is called fornica-
tion ; when, so to speak, one not of ripe age is
given to a husband, either of her own accord or
by her parents.

X. — FRAGMENTS OF OTHER LOST BOOKS.

MAXLMUS, SERMON 2. — JOHN OF DAMASCUS, H.
CHAP. 70. — ANTONIUS MELISSA, BOOK I. SER-
MON 52.

Flattery is the bane of friendship. Most
men are accustomed to pay court to the good
fortune of princes, rather than to the princes
themselves.

MAXIMUS, SERMON 1 3, P. 5 74. — ANTONIUS ME-
LISSA, SERMON 32, P. 45, AND SERMON 33, P. 57.

The lovers of .frugality shun luxury as the
bane of soul and body. The possession and
use of necessaries has nothing injurious in
quality, but it has in quantity above measure.
Scarcity of food is a necessary benefit.

MAXIMUS, SERMON 52, P. 654. — ANTONIUS ME-
LISSA, BOOK I. SERMON 54.

The vivid remembrance of death is a check
upon diet ; and when the diet is lessened, the
passions are diminished along with it.

MAXIMUS, SERMON 55, P. 66 1.

Above all, Christians are not allowed to cor-
rect with violence the delinquencies of sins.
For it is not those that abstain from wickedness
from compulsion, but those that abstain from
choice, that God crowns. It is impossible for
a man to be steadily good except by his own
choice. For he that is made good by compul-
sion of another is not good ; for he is not what
he is by his own choice. For it is the freedom
of each one that makes true goodness and
reveals real wickedness. Whence through these
dispositions God contrived to make His own dis-
position manifest.

XL — FRAGMENTS FOUND IN GREEK ONLY
IN THE OXFORD EDITION.

FROM THE LAST WORK ON THE PASSOVER.
Quoted in the Paschal Chronicle.

Accordingly, in the years gone by, Jesus went
to eat the passover sacrificed by the Jews, keep-
ing the feast. But when he had preached He
who was the Passover, the Lamb of God, led as
a sheep to the slaughter, presently taught His
disciples the mystery of the type on the thirteenth
day, on which also they inquired, " Where wilt
Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the pass-
over?"' It was on this day, then, that both
the consecration of the unleavened bread and
the preparation for the feast took place. Whence
John naturally describes the disciples as already
previously prepared to have their feet washed
by the Lord. And on the following day our
Saviour suffered, He who was the Passover, pro-
pitiously sacrificed by the Jews.

THE SAME.

Suitably, therefore, to the fourteenth day, on
which He also suffered, in the morning, the
chief priests and the scribes, who brought Him
to Pilate, did not enter the Praetorium, that they
might not be defiled, but might freely eat the
passover in the evening. With this precise de-
termination of the days both the whole Scrip-
tures agree, and the Gospels harmonize. The
resurrection also attests it. He certainly rose
on the third day, which fell on the first day of
the weeks of harvest, on wffich the law prescribed
that the priest should offer up the sheaf.

PARABLE OF THE
ORATION ON LUKE

MACARIUS CHRYSOCEPHALUS :
PRODIGAL SON, LUKE XV.
XV., TOWARDS THE CLOSE.

I . What choral dance and high festival is held
in heaven, if there is one that has become an
exile and a fugitive from the life led under the
Father, knowing not that those who put them-

* Matt. xxvi. 17.

582

GREEK FRAGMENTS IN OXFORD EDITION.

selves far from Him shall perish ; if he has
squandered the gift, and substance, and inherit-
ance of the Father ; if there is one whose faith
has failed, and whose hope is spent, by rushing
along with the Gentiles into the same profligacy
of debauchery; and then, famished and desti-
tute, and not even filled with what the swine eat,
has arisen and come to his Father !

But the kind Father waits not till the son
comes to Him. For perchance he would never
be able or venture to approach, did he not find
Him gracious. Wherefore, when he merely
wishing, when he straightway made a beginning,
when he took the first step, while he was yet a
great way off, He [the Father] was moved with
compassion, and ran, and fell upon his neck
and kissed him. And then the son, taking cour-
age, confessed what he had done.

Wherefore the Father bestows on him the glory
and honour that was due and meet, putting on
him the best robe, the robe of immortality ; and
a ring, a royal signet and divine seal, — impress
of consecration, signature of glory, pledge of
testimony (for it is said, "He hath set to his
seal that God is true,") * and shoes, not those
perishable ones which he hath set his foot on
holy ground is bidden take off, nor such as he
who is sent to preach the kingdom of heaven is
forbidden to put on, but such as wear not, and
are suited for the journey to heaven, becoming
and adorning the heavenly path, such as un-
washed feet never put on, but those which are
washed by our Teacher and Lord.

Many, truly, are the shoes of the sinful soul, '
by which it is bound and cramped. For each
man is cramped by the cords of his own sins.
Accordingly, Abraham swears to the king of
Sodom, " I will not take of all that is thine, from
a thread to a shoe-latchet."^ On account of
these being defiled and polluted on the earth,
every kind of wrong and selfishness engrosses
life. As the Lord reproves Israel by Amos,
saying, ** For three iniquities of Israel, yea, for
four, I will not turn him back ; because they have
given away the righteous for silver, and the
needy for ^ pair of shoes, which tread upon the
dust of the ground." 3

2. Now the shoes which the Father bids the
servant give to the fepentant son who has be-
taken himself to Him, do not impede or drag
to the earth (for the earthly tabernacle weighs
down the anxious mind) ; but they are buoyant,
and ascending, and waft to heaven, and serve as
such a ladder and chariot as he requires who has
turned his mind towards the Father. For,
beautiful after being first beautifully adorned
with all these things without, he enters into the

» John iij. 33.
* (Jen. xiv. 23.
^ Ainub ii. 6.

gladness within. For " Bring out " was said by
Him who had first said, " VVhile he was vet a
great way off, he ran and fell upon his neck."
For it is here ^ that all the preparation for en-
trance to the marriage to which we are invited
must be accomplished. He, then, who has been
made ready to enter will say, " This my joy is
fulfilled." 5 But the unlovely and unsightly man
will hear, " Friend, how camest thou in here,
without having a wedding garment?" * And the
fat and unctuous food, — the delicacies abun-
dant and sufficing of the blessed, — the fatted
calf is killed ; which is also again spoken of as
a lamb (not literally) ; that no one may sup-
pose it small ; but it is the great and greatest.
For not small is " the Lamb of God who taketh
away the sin of the world," 7 who " was led as a
sheep to the slaughter," the sacrifice full of mar-
row, all whose fat, according to the sacred law.
was the Lord's. For He was wholly devoted
and consecrated to the Lord ; so well grown, an<i
to such excessive size, as to reach and extend
over all, and to fill those who eat Him and feed
upon Him. For He is both flesh and bread,
and has given Himself as both to us to be eaten.

To the sons, then, who come to Him, the
Father gives the calf, and it is slain and eaten.
But those who do not come to Him He pursues
and disinherits, and is found to be a most power-
ful bull. Here, by reason of His size and
prowess, it is said of Him, " His glory is as that
of an unicorn."^ And the prophet Habakkuk
sees Him bearing horns, and celebrates His
defensive attitude — "horns in His hands." «
Wherefore the sign shows His power and author-
ity, — horns that pierce on both sides, or rather,
on all sides, and through everything. And those
who eat are so strengthened, and retain such
strength from the life-giving food in them, that
they themselves are stronger than their ene-
mies, and are all but armed with the horns of a
bull ; as it is said, " In thee shall we butt our
enemies." '°

3. Gladness there is, and music, and dances :
although the elder son, who had ever been with
and ever obedient to the Father, takes it ill, when
he who never had himself been dissipated or
profligate sees the guilty one made happy.

Accordingly the Father calls him, saying.
" Son, thou art ever with me." And what greater
joy and feast and festivity can be than being
continually with God, standing by His side and
serving Him ? " And all that is mine is thine."
And blessed is the heir of God, for whom the

* We have ventured to substitute erravOa instead of irrfif^et.
He is showing that the preparation must be made before we go in.
5 lohn iti. 29.
^ Matt. xxii. 12.

' Tohn i. 29.
^ Numb, xxiii. 22.
9 Hab. iii. 4.
»o Ps. xliv. 5.

GREEK FRAGMENTS IN OXFORD EDITION.

583

Father holds possession, — the faithful, to whom
the whole world of possessions belongs.

" It was meet that we should be glad, and
rejoice ; for thy brother was dead, and is alive
again." Kind Father, who givest all things life,
and raisest the dead, "And was lost, and is
found." And " blessed is the man whom Thou
hast chosen and accepted," » and whom having
sought, Thou dost find. " Blessed are those
whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are
covered." ^ It is for man to repent of sins ; but
let this be accompanied with a change that will
not be checked. For he who does not act so
shall be put to shame, because he has acted not
with his whole heart, but in haste.

And it is ours to flee to God. And let us en-
deavour after this ceaselessly and energetically.
For He says, " Come unto Me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." ^
And prayer and confession with humility are
voluntary acts. Wherefore it is enjoined, " First
tell thy sins, that thou mayest be justified."^
What afterwards we shall obtain, and what we
shall be, it is not for us to judge.

4. Such is the strict meaning of the parable.s
The repentant son came to the pitying Father,

never hoping for these things, — the best robe,
and the ring, and the shoes, — or to taste the
fatted calf, or to share in gladness, or enjoy
music and dances ; but he would have been con-
tented with obtaining what in his own estimation
he deemed himself worth. " Make me," he had
made up his mind to say, " as one of thy hired
servants." But when he saw the Father's wel-
come meeting him, he did not say this, but said
what he had in his mind to say first, " Father, I
have sinned against Heaven, and before thee."
And so both his humility and his accusation be-
came the cause of justification and glory. For
the righteous man condemns himself in his first
words. So also the publican departed justified
rather than the Pharisee. The son, then, knew
not either what he was to obtain, or how to take
or use or put on himself the things given him ;
since he did not take the robe himself, and put
it on. But it is said, " Put it on him." He did
not himself put the ring on his finger, but those
who were bidden " Put a ring on his hand."
Nor did he put the shoes on himself, but it was
they who heard, " and shoes on his feet."

And these things were perhaps incredible to
him and to others, and unexpected before they
took place ; but gladly received and praised were
the gifts with which he was presented.

5. The parable exhibits this thought, that the

» Ps. Ixv. ^.

2 Ps. xxxii. I.

3 Matt. xi. 28.
* Isa. xliii. 26.

5 Here Grabe notes that what follows is a new exposition of the
parable, and is by another and a later hand, as is shown by the refu-
tation of Novatus towards the end.

exercise of the faculty of reason has been ac-
corded to each man. Wherefore the prodigal is
introduced, demanding from his father his por-
tion, that is, of the state of mind, endowed by
reason. For the possession of reason is granted
to all, in order to the pursuit of what is good,
' and the avoidance of what is bad. But many
I who are furnished by God with this make a bad
use of the knowledge that has been given them,
and land in the profligacy of evil practices, and
wickedly waste the substance of reason, — the eye
on disgraceful sights, the tongue on blasphemous
• words, the smell on foetid licentious excesses of
pleasures, the mouth on swinish gluttony, the
hands on thefts, the feet on running into plots,
the thoughts on impious counsels, the inclina-
tions on indulgence on the love of ease, the
mind on brutish pastime. They preserve noth-
ing of the substance of reason unsquandered.
Such an one, therefore, Christ represents in the
parable, — as a rational creature, with his reason
darkened, and asking from the Divine Being
what is suitable to reason ; then as obtaining
from God, and making a wicked use of what had
been given, and especially of the benefits of
baptism, which had been vouchsafed to him ;
whence also He calls him a prodigal ; and then,
after the dissipation of what had been given him,
and again his restoration by repentance, [He
represents] the love of God shown to him.

6. For He says, " Bring hither the fatted calf,
kill it, and let us eat and be merry ; for this my
son " — a name of nearest relationship, and sig-
nificative of what is given to the faithful — " was
dead and lost," — an expression of extremest
alienation ; for what is more alien to the living
than the lost and dead? For neither can be
possessed any more. But having from the near-
est relationship fallen to extremest alienation,
again by repentance he returned to near rela-
tionship. For it is said, " Put on him the best
robe," which was his the moment he obtained
baptism. I mean the glory of baptism, the re-
mission of sins, and the communication of the
other blessings, which he obtained immediately
he had touched the font.

** And put a ring on his hand." Here is the
mystery of the Trinity ; which is the seal im-
pressed on those who believe.

" And put shoes on his feet," for " the prepa-
ration of the Gospel of peace," ^ and the whole
course that leads to good actions.

7. But whom Christ finds lost, after sin com-
mitted since baptism, those Novatus, enemy of
God, resigns to destruction. Do not let us then
reckon any fault if we repent ; guarding against
falling, let us, if we have fallen, retrace our steps.
And while dreading to offend, let us, after offend-

* Eph. vi. 15.

584

FRAGMENTS NOT IN OXFORD EDITION.

ing, avoid despair, and be eager to be confirmed ;
and on sinking, let us haste to rise up again.
I^t us obey the Lord, who calls to us, " Corae
unto Me, all ye that labour, and I will give you
rest." * Let us employ the ^ift of reason for
actions of prudence. Let us learn now absti-
nence from what is wicked, that we may not be
forced to learn in the future. Let us employ
life as a training school for what is good ; and
let us be roused to the hatred of sin. Let us
bear about a deep love for the Creator ; let us
cleave to Him with our whole heart ; let us not
wickedly waste the substance of reason, like the
prodigal. Let us obtain the joy laid up, in which
Paul exulting, exclaimed, "Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ ? " » To Him belongs
glory and honour, with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, world without end. Amen.

MACARIUS CHRYSOCEPHALUS : ORATION VIII. ON
MAIT. VIII., AND BOOK VII. ON LUKE XIII.

Therefore God does not here take the sem-
blance of man, but of a dove, because He wished
to show the simplicity and gentleness of the new \
manifestation of the Spirit by the likeness of the
dove. For the law was stem, and punished with
the sword ; but grace is joyous, and trains by
the word of meekness. Hence the Lord also
says to the apostles, who said that He should
punish with fire those who would not receive
Him, after the manner of Elias : " Ye know not
what manner of spirit ye are of." ^

FROM THE SAME. — BOOK XIII. CHAP. IX.

Possibly by the "iota and the tittle" His
righteousness exclaims, " If ye come right to me,
I also will come right to you ; if ye walk crooked,
I also will walk crooked, saith the Lord of
hosts," ^ alluding to the offences of sinners under
the name of crooked ways. For the straight way,
and that according to nature, which is pointed
out by the iota of Jesus, is His goodness, which is
immoveable towards those who have obediently
believed. There shall not then pass away from
the law neither the iota nor the tittle ; that is,
neither the promise that applies to the straight
in the way, nor the punishment threatened
against those that diverge. For the Lord is
good to the straight in the way ; but "those that
turn aside after their crooked ways He shall lead
forth with thqse that work iniquity." 5 " And
with the innocent He is innocent, and with the
froward He is froward ; " ^ and to the crooked
He sends crooked ways.

> Matt, xj. 28.

2 Rom. viii, 35.

3 Luke ix. 55.

* I^v. xxvi. 34.
- Ps. cxxv. 5.
^ Ps. xviii. 26.

His own luminous image God impressed a>
with a seal, even the greatest, — on man made
in His hkeness, that he might be ruler and lord
over all things, and that all things might serve
him. Wherefore God judges man to be wholly
His, and His own image. He is invisible ; bm
His image, man, is visible. Whatever one, then.
does to man, whether good or bad, is referred to
Himself. Wherefore from Him judgment shall
proceed, appointing to all according to desert ;
for He will avenge His own image. /

XII.— FRAGMENTS NOT GIVEN IN THE OX-
FORD EDITION.

I. IN ANASTASIUS SINArTA, QUEST. 96.

As it is possible even now for man to form
men, according to the original formation of
Adam, He no longer now creates, on account
of His having granted once for all to man the
power of generating men, saying to our nature.
" Increase, and multiply, and replenish the
earth." 7 So also, by His omnipotent and om-
niscient power, He arranged that the dissolution
and death of our bodies should be effected bv a
natural sequence and order, through the change
of their elements, in accordance with His divine
knowledge and comprehension.

2. JOANNES VECCUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTI-
NOPLE, ON THE PROCESSION OF THE SPIRIT. IX
LEO ALLATIUS, VOL. I. P. 248.

Further, Clement the Stromatist, in the various
definitions which he framed, that thev mishi
guide the man desirous of studying theolog}' in
every dogma of religion, defining what spirit
is, and how it is called spirit, says : " Spirit is a
substance, subtle, immaterial, and which issuer
forth without form."

3. FROM THE UNPUBUSHED DISPUTATION AGAIN-r
ICONOCLASTS, OF NICEPHORUS OF CONSTANTi-

nople; EorrED in greek and latin by n:

NOURRV in his APPARATUS TO THE UBRARV
OF THE FATHERS, VOL. I. P. 1 334 A.B. FROM
CLEMENT THE PRESENTER OF ALEXANDRL\'>
BOOK AGAINST JUDAIZERS.

Solomon the son of David, in the books st}-leci
"The Reigns of the Kings," comprehending no:
only that the structure of the true temple wa>
celestial and spiritual, but had also arefereme
to the flesh, which He who was both the son
and Lord of David was to build up, both for Hi-
own presence, where, as a living image. He re-
solved to make His shrine, and for the church
that was to rise up through the union of faith,
says expressly, " Will God in very deed dwel.
with men on the earth? " ^

7 Gen. i. 28.

^ I Kings viii. 37.

FRAGMENTS NOT IN OXFORD EDITION.

585

He dwells on the earth clothed in flesh, and
His abode with men is effected by the conjunc-
tion and harmony which obtains among the
righteous, and which build and rear a new tem-
ple. For the righteous are the earth, being still
encompassed with the earth ; and earth, too,
in comparison with the greatness of the Lxjrd.
Thus also the blessed Peter hesitates not to say,
** Ye also, as living stones, are built up, a spiritual
house, a holy temple, to offer up spiritual sacri-
fices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.*' "

And with reference to the body, which by cir-
cumscription He consecrated as a hallowed place
for Himself upon earth, He said, " Destroy this
temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.
The Jews therefore said. In forty-six years was
this temple built, and wilt thou raise it up in
three days ? But He spake of the temple of His
body." »

4. FROM MS. MARKED 243 1 IN THE LIBRARY
OF THE MOST CHRISTIAN KING. — IBID. P. 1 336
A. FROM THE VERY HOLY AND BLESSED CLEM-
ENT, PRESBYTER OF ALEXANDRIA, THE STROMA-
TIST*S BOOK ON PROVIDENCE.

What is God? "God," as the Lord saith,
*' is a Spirit." Now spirit is properly substance,
incorporeal, and uncircumscribed. And that is
incorporeal which does not consist of a body, or
whose existence is not according to breadth,
length, and depth. And that is uncircumscribed ^
which has no place, which is wholly in all, and
in each entire, and the same in itself.

5. FROM THE SAME MS. — IBID. 1 335 D.

^o-is (nature) is so called from to 7r€<f>vK€vaL
(to be born) . The first substance is everything
which subsists by itself, as a stone is called a
substance. The second is a substance capable
of increase, as a plant grows and decays. The
third is animated and sentient substance, as
animal, horse. The fourth is animate, sentient,
rational substance, as man. Wherefore each
one of us is made as consisting of all, having an
immaterial soul and a mind, which is the image
of God.

6. IN JOHN OF DAMASCUS — PARALLEL. — VOL. II.

P. 307.

The fear of God, who is impassible, is free of
perturbation. For it is not God that one dreads,
but the falling away from God. He who dreads
this, dreads falling into what is evil, and dreads

« I Pet. ii. 5.
* John ti. 19-21.

3 With an exclamation of surprise at the Latin translator giving a
translation which is utterly unintelligible, Capperonn amends the text,
•substituting oi totto? ovjeif tw, etc., forov Toiro« ov£<tf towovtOjCIC,
and translates accordingly. The emendation is adopted, with >the
exception of the xtji, instead of which to is retained.

what is evil. And he that fears a fall wishes
'; himself to be immortal and passionless.

7. THE SAME, p. 341.

Let there be a law against those who dare to
look at things sacred and divine irreverently,
and in a way unworthy of God, to inflict on
them the punishment of blindness.

8. THE SAME, p. 657.

Universally, the Christian is friendly to soli-
tude, and quiet, and tranquillity, and peace.

9. FROM THE CATENA ON THE PENTATEUCH, PUB-
LISHED IN LATIN BY FRANCIS ZEPHYRUS, P. 1 46.

That mystic name which is called the Tetra-
grammaton, by which alone they who had access
to the Holy of Holies were protected, is pro-
nounced Jehovah, which means, " Who is, and
who shall be." The candlestick which stood at
the south of the altar signified the seven planets,
which seem to us to revolve around the merid-
ian,'^ on either side of which rise three branches ;
since the sun also, like the lamp, balanced in the
midst of the planets by divine wisdom, illumines
by its light those above and below. On the
other side of the altar was situated the - table
on which the loaves were displayed, because
from that quarter of the heaven vital and nourish-
ing breezes blow.

10. FROM J. A. CRAMER'S CATENAE GRiECORUM
PATRUM IN NOV. TF.ST. OXFORD 184O, VOL. III.

On Acts vii. 24, 25. The mystics say that it
was by his word alone that Moses slew the
Egyptian ; as certainly afterwards it is related in
the Acts that [Peter] slew with his word those
who kept back part of the price of the land,
and lied.

II. THE SAME, VOL. IV. P. 29 1.

On Rom. viii. 38. " Or life, that of our pres-
ent existence,'* and " death," — that caused by
the assault of persecutors, and "angels, and
principalities, and powers," apostate spirits.

12. p. 369, CHAP. X. 3.

And having neither kno>vn nor done the re-
quirement of the law, what they conceived, that
they also thought that the law required. And
they did not believe the law, as prophesying, but
the bare word ; and followed it from fear, but
not with their disposition and in faith.

13. VOL. VI. p. 385.

On 2 Cor. V. 16. "And if we have known
Christ after the flesh."

* See Stromaia, book v. chap. vi. p. 452, which is plainly the
source from which this extract is taken.

586

FRAGMENTS NOT IN OXFORD EDITION.

And so far, he says, no one any longer lives
after the flesh. For that is not life, but death.
For Christ also, that He might show this,» ceased
to live after the flesh. How? Not by putting
off" the body ! Far be it ! For with it as His
own He shall come, the Judge of all. But by
divesting Himself of physical affiections, such as
hunger, and thirst, and sleep, and weariness. For
now He has a body incapable of suffering and
of injury.

As " after the flesh " in our case is being in
the midst of sins, and being out of them is to be
" not after the flesh ; " so also after the flesh, ui
the case of Christ, was His subjection to natural
affections, and not to be subject to them was
not to be " after the flesh.** " But,** he says,
** as He was released, so also are we.** • Let
there be no longer, he says, subjection to the
influences of the flesh. Thus Clement, the
fourth book of the Hypotyposes,

14. FROM THE SAME, P. 39 1.

On 2 Cor. vi. II. "Our heart is enlarged.**
For as heat is wont to expand, so also love.
For love is a thing of warmth. As if he would
say, I love you not only with mouth, but with
heart, and have you all within. Wherefore he
says : "ye are not straitened in us, since desire
itself expands the soul.** "Our heart is en-
larged ** to teach you all things ; " but ye are
straitened in your own bowels,** that is, in love
to God, in which you ought to love me.

Thus Clement, in the fourth book of the
Hypotyposes,

15. FROM VOL. VII. p. 286.

Heb. i. I. "At sundry times and divers man-
ners.**

Since the Lord, being the Apostle of the
Almighty, was sent to the Hebrews, it was out
of modesty that Paul did not subscribe himself
apostle of the Hebrews, from reverence for the
Lord, and because he was the herald and apostle
of the Gentiles, and wrote the Epistle to the
Hebrews in addition [to his proper work].^

16. FROM THE SAME.

The same work contains a passage from The
Instructor, book i. chap, vi.** The passage is

' We omit on, which the text has after fi«cfj7, which seems to
indicate the omission of a clause, but as it stands is superfluous.
The Latin translator retains it; and according to his rendering, the
translation would be, *' showed that He cc.iscd."

* This extract, down to " are we," has already been given among
the extracts from the II y f»oty poses ^ p. 578.

3 This extract, almost verbatim, has been already given from
Eusebius, among the extracts from the ffyf>oty/>oses, p. 579.

* bee p. 219, and the argument following, supra.

that beginning, " For the blood is found to be,"
down to " potent charms of affection.*'

Portions, however, are omitted. There are a
good many various readings ; but although the
passage in question, as found in Cramer's work,
is printed in full in Migne*s edition, on the
alleged ground of the considerable variation
from the text of Clement, the variation is not
such as to make a translation of the passage as
found in Cramer of any special interest or value.

We have noted the following readings : —

yti'CTttt, where, the verb being omitted, we ha\L
inserted is : There is an obstruction, etc.

(Tvpiyyasy tubes, instead of onjpayyas (hollows 1 ,
hollows of the breasts.

ytiTvuL^ova-u}v, for yctTvwwrwv, neighbouring
(arteries).

cTTiAi/i^ci, for ^/iTTcpcAi/i^ci, interruption (such a.^
this).

airoKXi^poxris Occurs as in the text, for which
the emendation airoXi^prfa-u^f as specified in the
note, has been adopted.

i^Tts i<rriy omitted here, which is " sweei
through grace,** is supplied.

p. 142.

yoXa, milk, instead of fidwa, manna, (that
food) manna.

p. 149.

Xpyf Sc Karavo^ax rrfv ifiwriv (but it is necessar>'
to consider nature), for ov icarovcvoi/Korcv, r. ^^
through want of consideration of nature.

KaTaLK\€vofi€vrfy agreeing with food, for Kara-
K\€iofi€i^, agreeing with heat (enclosed within).

yiveran for yap (which is untranslated), (the
blood) is (a preparation) for milk.

p. 144.

Totvw Tov Aoyov is supplied, and ciKorai^ omitted
in the clause, Paul using appropriate figurative
language.

P. 145-

irXrfv is supplied before dXAa to or aurg, anc
the blood in it, etc., is omitted.

p. 146.

" For Diogenes ApoUoniates will have it " i<
omitted.

^avny, rendered " in all respects/* is connected
with the preceding sentence.

p. 147.

an TOLvw, for 'ih 8*. And that (milk is prch
duced) .
^ TTjvtKavra for -n/vticaSc in the clause, " and ihe

FRAGMENTS NOT IN OXFORD EDITION;

587

^ass and meadows are juicy and moist," not
ranslated.

Trpo€iprjfi€Vio, above mentioned (milk), omitted.

Tpvifyq^ for rpwp^^, (sweet) nutriment.

TiZ omitted before -yAvKct, sweet (wine), and
caOdirepy " as, when suffering."

TO Xnrapov for r^ AiTra/xp, and dpiSi/Acos for
ipi^i^Aov, in the sentence : " Further, many use

the fat of milk, called butter, for the lamp, plain-
ly," etc.

N. B.

[Le Nourry decides that the Adumbrations
were not translated from the Hypotyposes^ but
Kaye (p. 473) thinks on insufficient grounds.
See, also (p. 5), Kaye's learned note.]

CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS

ON THE

SALVATION OF THE RICH MAN.

[TRANSLATED BY REV. WILLIAM WILSON, M.A.]

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

I. Those who bestow laudatory addresses on
the rich ' appear to me to be rightly judged not
only flatterers and base, in vehemently pretend-
ing that things which are disagreeable give them
pleasure, but also godless and treacherous ; god-
less, because neglecting to praise and glorify
God, who is alone perfect and good, " of whom
are all things, and by whom are all things, and
for whom are all things," * they invest ' with di-
vine honours men wallowing in an execrable and
alx)minable life, and, what is the principal thing,
liable on this account to the judgment of God ;
and treacherous, because, although wealth is of
itself sufficient to puff up and corrupt the souls
of its possessors, and to turn them from the path
by which salvation is to be attained,' they stupefy
them still more, by inflating the minds of the
rich with the pleasures of extravagant praises,
and by making them utterly despise all things
except wealth, on account of which they are ad-
mired ; bringing, as the saying is, fire to fire,
pouring pride on pride, and adding conceit to
wealth, a heavier burden to that which by nature
is a weight, from which somewhat ought rather
to be removed and taken away as being a dan-
gerous and deadly disease. For to him who
exalts and magnifies himself, the change and i
downfall to a low condition succeeds in turn, as
the divine word teaches. For it appears to me
to be far kinder, than basely to flatter the rich
and praise them for what is bad, to aid them in
working out their salvation in every possible
way ; asking this of God, who surely and sweetly
bestows such things on His own children; and
thus by the grace of the Saviour healing their
souls, enlightening them and leading them to

' [The solemn words of our Lord about the perils of wealth and
*' the dcceitfulness of riches" are much insisted on by He rmas, es-
pecially in the beautiful opening of the Similitudes (book lii.) : and
It seems remarkable, that, even in the age of martyrs and confessors,
such warnings should have seemed needful. Clement is deeply im-
pressed with the duty of enforcing such doctrine: and perhaps the j
germ of this veiy interesting essay is to be found in that eloquent
passage in his Stromata (book ii. cap. 5, pp. 351, 3S3), to which j
the reader may do well to recur, using tt as a preface to the following
pages. Elucidation I.]

' Rom. xi. 36.

3 This clause is defective in the MS., and is translated as supple
lacQied by Fell from conjecture.

the attainment of the truth ; and whosoever ob- .
tains this and distinguishes himself in good works
shall gain the prize of everlasting life. Now
prayer that runs its course till the last day of
life needs a strong and tranquil soul; and the
conduct of life needs a good and righteous dis-
position, reaching out towards all the command-
ments of the Saviour.

II. Perhaps the reason of salvation appearing
more difficult to the rich than to poor men, is
not single but manifold. For some, merely
hearing, and that in an off*-hand way, the utter-
ance of the Saviour, " that it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven," *
despair of themselves as not destined to live,
surrender all to the world, cling to the present
life as if it alone was left to them, and so diverge
more from the way to the life to come, no longer
inquiring either whom the Lord and Master calls
rich, or how that which is impossible to man be-
comes possible to God. But others rightly and.
adequately comprehend this, but attaching slight
importance to the works which tend to salvation,
do not make the requisite preparation for attain-
ing to the objects of their hope. And I affirm
both of these things of the rich who have learned
both the Saviour's power and His glorious salva-
tion. With those who are ignorant of the truth
I have little concern.

III. Those then who are actuated by a love
of the truth and love of their brethren, and
neither are rudely insolent towards such rich as
are called, nor, on the other hand, cringe to them
for their own avaricious ends, must first by the
word relieve them of their groundless despair,
and show with the requisite explanation of the
oracles of the Lord that the inheritance of the
kingdom of heaven is not quite cut off" from them,
if they obey the commandments ; then admonish
them that they entertain a causeless fear, and
that the Lord gladly receives them, provided
they are willing ; and then, in addition, exhibit
and teach how and by what deeds and disposi-

4 Matt. xix. 34.

59«

592

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

tions they shall win the objects of hope, inasmuch
as it is neither out of their reach, nor, on the
other hand, attained without effort; but, as is
the case with athletes — to compare things small
and perishing with things great and immortal —
let the man who is endowed with worldly wealth
reckon that this depends on himself. For among
those, one man, because he despaired of being
able to conquer and gain crowns, did not give
in his name for the contest ; while another,
whose mind was inspired with this hope, and yet
did not submit to the appropriate labours, and
diet, and exercises, remained uncrowned, and
was balked in his expectations. So also let not
the man that has been invested with worldly
wealth proclaim himself excluded at the outset
from the Saviour's lists, provided he is a believer
and one who contemplates the greatness of God's
philanthropy; nor let him, on the other hand,
expect to grasp the crowns of immortality with-
out struggle and effort, continuing untrained, and
without contest. But let him go and put himself
under the Word as his trainer, and Christ the
President of the contest ; and for his prescribed
food and drink let him have the New Testament
of the Lord ; and for exercises, the command-
ments ; and for elegance and ornament, the fair
dispositions, love, faith, hope, knowledge of the
truth, gentleness, meekness, pity, gravity : so
that, when by the last trumpet the signal shall
be given for the race and departure hence, as
from the stadium of life, he may with a good
conscience present himself victorious before the
Judge who confers the rewards, confessedly
worthy of the Fatherland on high, to which he
returns with crowns and the acclamations of
angels.

IV. May the Saviour then grant to us that,
having begun the subject from this point, we
may contribute to the brethren what is true, and
suitable, and saving, first touching the hope itself,
and, second, touching the access to the hope.
He indeed grants to those who beg, and teaches
those who ask, and dissipate signorance and dis-
pels despair, by introducing again the same words
about the rich, which become their own inter-
preters and infallible expounders. For there is
nothing like listening again to the very same
statements, which till now in the Gospels were
distressing you, hearing them as you did without
examination, and erroneously through puerility :
** And going forth into the way, one approached
and kneeled, saying, Good Master, what good
thing shall I do that I may inherit everlasting
life? And Jesus saith. Why callest thou Me
good? There is none good but one, that is,
God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do
not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness, Defraud not. Honour
thy father and thy mother. And he answering

saith to Him, All these have I observed- An :
Jesus, looking upon him, loved him, and said.
One thing thou lackest If thou wouldest be
perfect, sell what thou hast and give to the p<K»r.
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : ani
come, follow Me. And he was sad at that say-
ing, and went away grieved : for he was rich,
having great possessions. And Jesus looked
round about, and saith to HLs disciples, How
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of God ! And the disciples were a5-
tonished at His words. But Jesus answercth
again, and saith unto them, Children, how ban:
is it for them that trust in riches to enter into
the kingdom of God ! More easily shall a camel
enter through the eye of a needle than a rich
man into the kingdom of God. And they were
astonished out of measure, and said. Who then
can be saved? And He, looking upon them,
said. What is impossible with men is possible with
God. For with God all things are possible.
Peter began to say to Him, Lo, we have left all
and followed Thee. And Jesus answered anil
said, Verily I say unto you, Wliosoever shall
leave what is his own, parents, and brethren, and
possessions, for My sake and the Gospel's, shall
receive an hundred-fold now in this world, lands
and possessions, and house, and brethren, ^ith
persecutions ; and in the world to come is life
everlasting. But many that are first shall be
last, and the last first." '

•V. These things are written in the Gospel ac-
cording to Mark ; and in all the rest correspond-
ingly ; although perchance the expressions van-
slightly in each, yet all show identical agreement
in meaning.

But well knowing that the Saviour teaches
nothing in a merely human way, but teaches all
things to His own with divine and m)*stic wis-
dom, we must not listen to His utterances
carnally ; but with due investigation and intelli-
gence must search out and learn the meaning
hidden in them. For even those things which
seem to have been simplified to the disciples by
the Lord Himself are found to require not les<,
even more, attention than what is expressed
enigmatically, from the surpassing superabun-
dance of wisdom in them. And whereas the
things which are thought to have been explained
by Him to those within — those called by Him
the children of the kingdom — require still more
consideration than the things which seemed to
have been expressed simply, and respecting
which therefore no questions were asked by
those who heard them, but which, pertaining tu
the entire design of salvation, and to be contem-
plated with admirable and supercelestial depth
of mind, we must not receive superficially with

' Mark x. 17-31. Clement does not give always Mark's t^sissi-
tna verba.

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

593

OUT ears, but with application of the mind to the
very spirit of the Saviour, and the unuttered
meaning of the declaration.

VI. For our Lord and Saviour was asked
|)leasantly a question most appropriate for Him,
— the Life respecting life, the Saviour respecting
salvation, the Teacher respecting the chief doc-
trines taught, the Truth respecting the tnie im-
mortality, the Word respecting the word of the
Father, the Perfect respecting the perfect rest,
the Immortal respecting the sure immortality.
He was asked respecting those things on ac-
coimt of which He descended, which He in-
culcates, which He teaches, which He offers,
in order to show the essence of the Gospel,
that it is the gift of eternal life. For He foresaw
as God, both what He would be asked, and
what each one would answer Him. P'or who
should do this more than the Prophet of proph-
ets, and the Lord of every prophetic spirit?
And having been called " good," and taking the
starting note from this first expression. He com-
mences His teaching with this, turning the pupil
to God, the good, and first and only dispenser
of eternal life, which the Son, who received it of
Him, gives to us.

Vn. Wherefore the greatest and chiefest point
of the instructions which relate to life must be
implanted in the soul from the beginning, — to
know the eternal God, the giver of what is eter-
nal, and by knowledge and comprehension to
possess God, who is first, and highest, and one,
and good. For this is the immutable and im-
moveable source and support of life, the knowl-
edge of God, who really is, and who bestows
the things which really are, that is, those which
are eternal, from whom both being and the con-
tinuance » of it are derived to other beings. For
Ignorance of Him is death ; but the knowledge
and appropriation of Him, and love and likeness
to Him, are the only life.

VHL He then who would live the true life is
enjoined first to know Him "whom no one
knows, except the Son reveal (Him)."' Next
is to be learned the greatness of the Saviour
after Him, and the newness of grace ; for, ac-
cording to the apostle, " the law was given by
Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ ; " ^
and the gifts granted through a faithful servant
are not equal to those bestowed by the true Son.
If then the law of Moses had been sufficient to
confer eternal life, it were to no purpose for the
Saviour Himself to come and suffer for us, ac-
complishing the course of human life from His
birth to His cross ; and to no purpose for him
who had done all the commandments of the law
from his youth to fall on his knees and beg from

< Instead of fitlva^ Fell here suggests tiii elvai, non-being.
- Matt. xi. 27.
3 John i. 17.

another immortality. For he had not only ful-
filled the law, but had begun to do so from his
very earliest youth. For what is there great or
pre-eminently illustrious in an old age which is
unproductive of faults? But if one in juvenile
froHcsomeness and the fire of youth shows a
mature judgment older than his years, this is
a champion admirable and distinguished, and
hoary pre-eminently in mind.

But, nevertheless, this man being such, is per-
fectly persuaded that nothing is wanting to him
as far as respects righteousness, but that he is
entirely destitute of life. Wherefore he asks it
from Him who alone is able to give it. And
with reference to the law, he carries confidence ;
but the Son of God he addresses in supplication.
He is transferred from faith to faith. As peril-
ously tossing and occupying a dangerous anchor-
age in the law, he raaJtes for the Saviour to find
a haven.

IX. Jesus, accordingly, does not charge him
with not having fulfilled all things out of the law,
but loves him, and fondly welcomes his obedi-
ence in what he had learned ; but says that he
is not perfect as respects eternal life, inasmuch
as he had not fulfilled what is perfect, and that
he is a doer indeed of the law, but idle at the tnie
life. Those things, indeed, are good. Who
denies it? For " the commandment is holy,"*
as far as a sort of training with fear and pre-
paratory discipline goes, leading as it did to the
culmination of legislation and to grace. s But
Christ is the fulfilment " of the law for right-
eousness to every one that belie veth ; " and not
as a slave making slaves, but sons, and brethren,
and fellow-heirs, who perform the Father's
will.

X. " If thou wilt be perfect." ^ Consequently
he was not yet perfect. For nothing is more
perfect than what is petect. And divinely the
expression " if thou wilt " showed the self-deter-
mination of the soul holding converse with Him.
For choice depended on the man as being free ;
but the gift on God as the Lord. And He gives
to those who are willing and are exceedingly ear-
nest, and ask, that so their salvation may become
their own. For God compels not (for compul-
sion is repugnant to God), but supplies to those
who seek, and bestows on those who ask, and
opens to those who knock. If thou wilt, then,
if thou really wiliest, and art not deceiving thy-
self, acquire what thou lackest. One thing is
lacking thee, — the one thing which abides, the
good, that which is now above the law, which the
law gives not, which the law contains not, which
is the prerogative of those who live. He for-
sooth who had fulfilled all the demands of the

♦ Rom. vii. 12.
5 («al. iii. 24.
^ Matt. xix. 21.

594

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

law from his youth, and had gloried in what was
magnificent, was not able to complete the whole '
with this one thing which was specially required
by the Saviour, so as to receive the eternal life
which he desired. But he departed displeased, |
vexed at the commandment of the life, on ac-
count of which he supplicated. For he did not
truly wish life, as he averred, but aimed at the
mere reputation of the good choice. And he
was capable of busying himself about many
things ; but the one thing, the work of life, he
was powerless, and disinclined, and unable to
accomplish. Such also was what the Lord said
to Martha, who was occupied with many things,
and distracted and troubled with serving ; while
she blamed her sister, because, leaving serv-
ing, she set herself at His feet, devoting her
time to learning : " Thou art troubled about
many things, but Mary hath chosen the good part,
which shall not be taken away from her." * So
also He bade him leave his busy life, and cleave
to One and adhere to the grace of Him who
offered everlasting life.

XI. What then was it which persuaded him
to flight, and made him depart from the Master,
from the entreaty, the hope, the life, previously
pursued with ardour? — " Sell thy possessions.'*
And what is this ? He does not, as some con-
ceive off-hand, bid him throw awav the sub-
stance he possessed, and abandon his property ;.
but bids him banish from his soul his notions
about wealth, his excitement and morbid feeling i
about it, the anxieties, which are the thorns of i
existence, which choke the seed of life. For it
is no great thing or desirable to be destitute of
wealth, if without a special object, — not except
on account of life. For thus those who have
nothing at all, but are destitute, and beggars for
their daily bread, the poor dispersed on the
streets, who know not God and God's righteous-
ness, simply on account of their extreme want
and destitution of subsistence, and lack even of
the smallest things, were most blessed and most
dear to God, and sole possessors of everlasting
life.

Nor was the renunciation of wealth and the
bestowment of it on the poor or needy a new
thing ; for many did so before the Saviour's
advent, — some because of the leisure (thereby
obtained) for learning, and on account of a dead
wisdom ; and others for empty fame and vain-
glory, as the Anaxagorases, the Democriti, and
the Crateses.

XII. Why then command as new, as divine,
as alone life-giving, what did not save those of
former days? And what peculiar thing is it

* The reading of the MS. is npaB^vai, which is corrupt. Wc
have chaiiRcd it into ntpiOelfai. Various other emendations have
been prn|xis>cd. Perhaps it should be irpoatfeiKai, " to add."

- Luke X. 4T, 42.

that the new creature ^ the Son of God intimates
and teaches? It is not the outward act whirr.
others have done, but something else indicate,
by it, greater, more godlike, more perfect, the
stripping off of the passions from the soul itself
and from the disposition, and the cutting u\»
by the roots and casting out of what is alien to
the mind. For this is the lesson peculiar to
the believer, and the instruction worthy of the
Saviour. For those who formerly despised ex-
ternal things relinquished and squandered their
property, but the passions of the soul, I believe,
they intensified. For they indulged in arnn
gance, pretension, and vainglor)', and in con-
tempt of the rest of mankind, as if they had
done something superhuman. How then would
the Saviour have enjoined on those destineii to
live for ever what was injurious and hurtful with
reference to the life which He promised ? P\>r
although such is the case, one, after ridding him-
self of the burden of wealth, may none the less
have still the lust and desire for money innate
and living ; and may have abandoned the use c»f
it, but being at once destitute of and desinn^
what he spent, may doubly grieve both on at -
count of the absence of attendance, and the
presence of regret. For it is imj)ossibIe and
inconceivable that those in want of the neceii^a-
ries of life should not be harassed in mind, and
hindered from better things in the endeavour 10
provide them somehow, and from some source.

XIII. And how much more beneficial the
opposite case, for a man, through possessing a
competency, both not himself to be in straits
about money, and also to give assistance to those
to whom it is requisite so to do ! For if no one
had anything, what room would be left anion^'
men for giving ? And how can this dogma fail
to be found plainly opposed to and conflicting
with many other excellent teachings of the Lord?
" Make to yourselves friends of the mammor.
of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may
receive you into the everlasting habitations/'*
*' Acquire treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys, nor thieves break
through." 5 How could one give food to the
hungry, and drink to the thirsty, clothe the
naked, and shelter the houseless, for not doing
which He threatens with fire and the outer dark-
ness, if each man first divested himself of all
these things? Nay, He bids Zaccheus and
Matthew, the rich tax-gathers, entertain Him
hospitably. And He does not bid them pan

3 The application ol the words ij Koivif im<ri« to Christ has Vcf.
much discussed. Segaar has a long note on it, the purport of «K: '
he thus sums up: 17 Kaivii fcricrtc is a creature to wnom nothing Ki-;
ever existed on earth equal or like, man but also God, through «h )C.
is true hght and everlasting life. [The translator has laiveiy a^ A>k
himself of the valuable edition and notes of Charles Scs^mt v'*^
Utrecht, 1816), concerning whom see Elucidation IL]

* Luke xvi. 9.

5 Matt. vi. 19.

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED? 595

with their property, but, applying the just and
removing the unjust judgment, He subjoins,
" To-day salvation has come to this house, for-
asmuch as he also is a son of Abraham." ' He
so praises the use of property as to enjoin, along
with this addition, the giving a share of it, to
give drink to the thirsty, bread to the hungry,
to take the houseless in, and clothe the naked.
But if it is not possible to supply those needs
without substance, and He bids people abandon
their substance, what else would the Lord be
doing than exhorting to give and not to give the
same things, to feed and not to feed, to take in
and to shut out, to share and not to share?
which were the most irrational of all things.

XIV. Riches, then, which benefit also our
neighbours, are not to be thrown away. For
they are possessions, inasmuch as they are pos-
sessed, and goods, inasmuch as they are useful
and provided by God for the use of men ; and
they lie to our hand, and are put under our
])()wer, as material and instruments which are for
good use to those who know the instniment.
I f you use it skilfully, it is skilful ; if you are
deficient in skill, it is affected by your want of
skill, being itself destitute of blame. Such an
instrument is wealth. Are you able to make a
right use of it? It is subservient to righteous-
ness. Does one make a wrong use of it? It is,
on the other hand, a minister of wrong. For
its nature is to be subservient, not to rule.
That then which of itself has neither good nor
evil, being blameless, ought not to be blamed ;
but that which has the power of using it well
and ill, by reason of its possessing voluntary
choice. And this is the mind and judgment
of man, which has freedom in itself and self-
determination in the treatment of what is
assigned to it. So let no man destroy wealth,
rather than the passions of the soul, which are
incompatible with the better use of wealth. So
that, becoming virtuous and good, he may be
able to make a good use of these riches. The
renunciation, then, and selhng of all possessions,
is to be understood as spoken of the passions of
the soul.

XV. I would then say this. Since some
things are within and some without the soul,
and if the soul make a good use of them, they
also are reputed good, but if a bad, bad; —
whether does He who commands us to alienate
our possessions repudiate those things, after the
removal of which the passions still remain, or
those rather, on the removal of which wealth
even becomes beneficial ? If therefore he who
casts away worldly wealth can still be rich in the
passions, even though the material [for their
gratification] is absent, — for the disposition

* Luke V. 29; xix. 9.

produces its own effects, and strangles the rea-
son, and presses it down and inflames it with its
inbred lusts, — it is then of no advantage to him
to be poor in purse while he is rich in passions.
For it is not what ought to be cast away that
he has cast away, but what is indifferent ; and he
has deprived himself of what is serviceable, but
set on fire the innate fuel of evil through want of
the external means [of gratification]. We must
therefore renounce those possessions that are
injurious, not those that are capable of being
serviceable, if one knows the right use of them.
And what is managed with wisdom, and sobriety,
and piety, is profitable ; and what is hurtful
must be cast away. But things external hurt
not. So then the Ix)rd introduces the use of
external things, bidding us put away not the
means of subsistence, but what uses them badly.
And these are the infirmities and passions of the
soul.

XVI. The presence of wealth in these is deadly
to all, the loss of it salutary. Of which, making
the soul pure, — that is, poor and bare, — we
must hear the Saviour speaking thus, " Come,
follow Me." For to the pure in heart He now
becomes the way. But into the impure soul the
grace of God finds no entrance. And that (soul)
is unclean which is rich in lusts, and is in the
throes of many worldly affections. For he who
holds possessions, and gold, and silver, and
houses, as the gifts of God ; and ministers from
them to the God who gives them for the salva-
tion of men ; and knows that he possesses them
more for the sake of the brethren than his own ;
and is superior to the possession of them, not the
slave of the things he possesses ; and does not
carry them about in his soul, nor bind and cir-
cumscribe his life within them, but is ever labour-
ing at some good and divine work, even should
he be necessarily some time or other deprived of
them, is able with cheerful mind to bear their
removal equally with their abundance. This is
he who is blessed by the Lord, and called poor
in spirit, a meet heir of the kingdom of heaven,
not one who could not live rich.

XVII. But he who carries his riches in his
soul, and instead of God's Spirit bears in his
heart gold or land, and is always acquiring pos-
sessions without end, and is perpetually on the
outlook for more, bending downwards and fet-
tered in the toils of the world, being earth and
destined to depart to earth, — whence can he
be able to desire and to mind the kingdom of
heaven, — a man who carries not a heart, but
land or metal, who must perforce be found in
the midst of the objects he has chosen? P'or
where the mind of man is, there is also his treas-
ure. The Lord acknowledges a twofold treasure,
— the good : " For the good man, out of the
good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth good ; "

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

and the evil : for " the evil man, out of the evil
treasure, bringeth forth evil : for out of the abun-
dance of the heart the mouth speaketh." ' As
then treasure is not one with Him, as also it is
with us, that which gives the unexpected great
gain in the finding, but also a second, which is
profitless and undesirable, an evil acquisition,
hurtful ; so also there is a richness in good things,
and a richness ixi bad things, since we know that
riches and treasure are not by nature separated
from each other. And the one sort of riches is
to be possessed and acquired, and the other
not to be possessed, but to be cast away.

In the same way spiritual poverty is blessed.
Wherefore also Matthew added, ** Blessed are
the poor." 2 How? "In spirit." And again,
" Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
the righteousness of God." ^ Wherefore wretched
are the contrary kind of poor, who have no part
in God, and still less in human property, and
have not tasted of the righteousness of God.

XVIII. So that (the expression) rich men
that shall with difficulty enter into the kingdom,
is to be apprehended in a scholarly -♦ way, not
awkwardly, or rustically, or carnally. For if the
expression is used thus, salvation does not de-
pend on external things, whether they be many
or few, small or great, or illustrious or obscure,
or esteemed or disesteemed ; but on the virtue
of the soul, on faith, and hope, and love, and
brotherliness, and knowledge, and meekness, and
humility, and truth, the reward of which is sal-
vation. For it is not on account of comeliness
of body that any one shall live, or, on the other
hand, perish. But he who uses the body given
to him chastely and according to God, shall
live ; and he that destroys the temple of God
shall be destroyed. An ugly man can be profli-
gate, and a good-looking man temperate. Nei-
ther strength and great size of body makes alive,
nor does any of the members destroy. But the
soul which uses them provides the cause for each.
Bear then, it is said, when struck on the face ; s
which a man strong and in good health can obey.
And again, a man who is feeble may transgress
from refractoriness of temper. So also a poor
and destitute man may be found intoxicated
with lusts ; and a man rich in worldly goods tem-
perate, poor in indulgences, trustworthy, intelli-
gent, pure, chastened.

If then it is the soul which, first and espe-
cially, is that which is to live, and if virtue spring-
ing up around it saves, and vice kills ; then it is
clearly manifest that by being poor in those
things, by riches of which one destroys it, it is

I Matt. xii. 34, 35.

* Malt. V. 3.
3 Matt. V. 6.

* fxaBfifjiaTiKut^. Fell suggests instead of this reading of the text,
Vfcu^ariKuf or ft-tixtXrifjiivM^.

5 Matt. V. 39.

saved, and by being rich in those things, rich'.>
of which ruin it, it is killed. And let u-s fa*
longer seek the cause of the issue elsewhere th:.Ti
in the state and disposition of the soul in respc*. :
of obedience to God and purity, and in respect of
transgression of the commandments and accj-
mulation of wickedness.

XIX. He then is truly and rightly rich who is
rich in virtue, and is capable of making a holy ami
faithful use of any fortune ; while he is spuriousiy
rich who is rich, according to the flesh, and tuni^
life into outward possession, which is transitory
and perishing, and now belongs to one, now t;i
another, and in the end to nobody at all. Again,
in the same way there is a genuine poor iiur.,
and another counterfeit and falsely so calk:.
He that is poor in spirit, and that is the riL:-it
thing, and he that is poor in a worldly sen>e.
which is a diff*erent thing. To him who is po^r
in worldly goods, but rich in vices, who is no:
poor in spirit^ and rich toward God, it is said.
Abandon the alien possessions that are in ihy
soul, that, becoming pure in heart, thou may-.-st
see God ; which is another way of saying, Entcr
into the kingdom of heaven. And how may > oi
abandon them ? By selling them. \VTiat then ?
Are you to take money for effects, by effect in^^
an exchange of riches, by turning your visible
substance into money ? Not at all. But by intro-
ducing, instead of what was formerly inherent in
your soul, which you desire to save, other richtrb
which deify and which minister everlasting life,
dispositions in accordance with the command of
God ; for which there shall accrue to you end-
less reward and honour, and salvation, and e\ cr-
lasting immortality. It is thus that thou dc»>:
rightly sell the possessions, many are sui>erfluou>,
which shut the heavens against thee by exchan-
ging them for those which are able to save, l^t
the former be possessed by the carnal poor, whc
are destitute of the latter. But thou, by receiving
instead spiritual wealth, shalt have now treasure
in the heavens.

XX. The wealthy and legally correct man, n<^:
understanding these things figuratively, nor how
the same man can be both poor and rich, and
have wealth and not have it, and use the worlil
and not use it, went away sad and downca>:.
leaving the state of life, which he was able merely
to desire but not to attain, making for himself the
difficult impossible. For it was diflftcult for th.
soul not to be seduced and mined by the luxurie-
and flowery enchantments that beset remarkaMv.-
wealth ; but it was not impossible, even surroumi-
ed with it, for one to lay hold of salvation, pnv
vided he withdrew himself from material wealth.

f> 6 Kara vrvfvfia. ov vrtaxo^ . . . 4tyi<ri, Sesaar omits ov, ani sc^
makes b Kara vvtvfia, ic.r.A. the nominative to $iivi. It seems berti*.
with the Latin translator, to render as above, which supposes the chaigA
of 6 mto Of.

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED? 597

— to that which is grasped by the mind and
taught by God, and learned to use things indiffer-
ent rightly and properly, and so as to strive after
eternal life. And the disciples even themselves
were at first alarmed and amazed. Why were
they so on hearing this? Was it that they them-
selves possessed much wealth? Nay, they had
long ago left their very nets, and hooks, and row-
ing boats, which were their sole possessions. Why
then do they say in consternation, " Who can be
saved ? " They had heard well and like disciples
what was spoken in parable and obscurely by the
Lord, and perceived the depth of the words. For
they were sanguine of salvation* on the ground of
their want of wealth. But when they became
conscious of not having yet wholly renounced the
passions (for they were neophytes and recently
selected by the Saviour), they were excessively
astonished, and despaired of themselves no less
than that rich man who clung so terribly to the
wealth which he preferred to eternal life. It
was therefore a fit subject for all fear on the dis-
ciples' part ; if both he that possesses wealth and
he that is teeming with passions were the rich,
and these alike shall be expelled from the heavens.
For salvation is the privilege of pure and passion-
less souls.

XXI. But the Lord replies, " Because what is
impossible with men is possible with God." This
again is full of great wisdom. For a man by him-
self working and toiling at freedom from passion
achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows him-
self very desirous and earnest about this, he
attains it by the addition of the power of God.
For God conspires with willing souls. But if they
abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is
bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save
the unwilling is the part of one exercising com-
]^ulsion ; but to save the willing, that of one show-
ing grace. Nor does the kingdom of heaven
belong to sleepers and sluggards, " but the violent
take it by force." ' For this alone is commend-
able violence, to force God, and take life from God
by force. And He, knowing those who persevere
firmly, or rather violently, yields and grants. For
God delights in being vancjuished in such things.

Therefore on hearing tlio^e words, the blessed
Peter, the chosen, the pre-eminent, the first of
the disciples, for whom alone and Himself the
Saviour paid tribute,^ i\\\\ kly sci/ed and com-
])rehended the saying. And \\lnt does he say?
** I/), we have left all and followed Thee." Now
if by all he means his own i»i'>j)crty, he boasts of
leaving four oboli pcrhvi])s in alM and forgets to
show the kingd(;ni of heaven to be their recom-
pense. But if, casting away what we were jiow

* Matt. xi. 12. (Rl I. u',.uio:i III.]

2 M.itt. xvii. '7.

3 The text is ihu rcai'it 4 <m tie margin of the first edition. The
reading of the Ms-'., tov Aoyou, i& amended by Segaar into to tow Abyou,
*' .IS the sr»N iug is."

speaking of, the old mental possessions and soul
diseases, they follow in the Master's footsteps,
this now joins them to those who are to be en-
rolled in the heavens. For it is thus that one
truly follows the Saviour, by aiming at sinless-
ness and at His perfection, and adorning and
composing the soul before it as a mirror, and
arranging everything in all respects similarly.

XXII. "And Jesus answering said. Verily I
say unto you, Whosoever shall leave what is his
own, parents, and children, and wealth, for My
sake and the Gospel's, shall receive an hundred-
fold." 4 But let neither this trouble you, nor the
still harder saying delivered in another place
in the words, ** Whoso hateth not father, and
mother, and children, and his own life l)esides,
cannot be My disciple." s For the God of peace,
who also exhorts to love enemies, does not intro-
duce hatred and dissolution from those that are
dearest. But if we are to love our enemies, it is
in accordance with right reason that, ascending
from them, we should love also those nearest in
kindred. Or if we are to hate our blood-rela-
tions, deduction teaches us that much more are
we to spurn from us our enemies. So that the
reasonings would be shown to destroy one
another. But they do not destroy each other,
nor are they near doing so. For from the same
feeling and disposition, and on the ground of
the same rule, one loving his enemy may hate
his father, inasmuch as he neither takes ven-
geance bn an enemy, nor reverences a father
more than Christ. For by the one word he
extirpates hatred and injury, and by the other
shame facedness towards one's relations, if it is
detrimental to salvation. If then one's father,
or son, or brother, be godless, and become a
hindrance to faith and an impediment to the
higher life, let him not be friends or agree with
him, but on account of the spiritual enmity, let
him dissolve the fleshly relationship.

XXIII. Suppose the matter to be a law- suit*
Let your father be imagined to present himself
to you and say, " I begot and reared thee.
Follow me, and join with me in wickedness, and
obey not the law of Christ ; " and whatever a
man who is a blasphemer and dead by nature
would say.

But on the other side hear the Saviour : ** I
regenerated thee, who wert ill bom by the world
to death. I emancipated, healed, ransomed
thee. I will show thee the face of the good
Father God. Call no man thy father on earth.
Let the dead bury the dead ; but follow thou
Me. For I will bring thee to a re.st ^ of ineffable
and unutterable blessings, which eye hath not
seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the

< M.nrk x. 29, 30, [quoted inexactly. S.J

5 Luke xiv. 26.

^ Segaar amends aifdnavaiy to diroAavaii' " enjoyment.

598

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

heart of men ; into which angels desire to look,
and see what good things God hath prepared
for the saints and the children who love Him." '
I am He who feeds thee, giving Myself as bread,
of which he who has tasted experiences death
no more, and supplying day by day the drink of
immortality. I am teacher of supercelestial
lessons. For thee I contended with Death, and
paid thy death, which thou owedst for thy former
sins and thy unbelief towards God."

Having heard these considerations on both
sides, decide for thyself and give thy vote for
thine own salvation. Should a brother say the
like, should a child, should a wife, should any
one whosoever, in preference to all let Christ in
thee be conqueror. For He contends in thy
behalf.

XXIV. You may even go against wealth.
Say, " Certainly Christ does not debar me from
property. The Lord does not envy." But do
you see yourself overcome and overthrown by it ?
Leave it, throw it away, hate, renounce, flee.
** Even if thy right eye offend thee," quickly
"cut it out." 2 Better is the kingdom of God
to a man with one eye, than the fire to one who
is unmutilated. Whether hand, or foot, or soul,
hate it. For if it is destroyed here for Christ's
sake, it will be restored to life yonder.

XXV. And to this effect similarly is what fol-
lows, " Now at this present time not to have
lands, and money, and houses, and brethren,
with persecutions." For it is neither penniless,
nor homeless, nor brotherless people that the
Lord calls to life, since He has also called rich
people ; but, as we have said above, also broth-
ers, as Peter with Andrew, and James with John
the sons of Zebedee, but of one mind with each
other and Christ. And the expression "with
persecutions " rejects the possessing of each of
those things. There is a persecution which
arises from without, from men assailing the
faithful, either out of hatred, or envy, or avarice,
or through diabolic agency. But the most pain-
ful is internal persecution, which proceeds from
each man's own soul being vexed by impious
lusts, and diverse pleasures, and base hopes, and
destructive dreams ; when, always grasping at
more, and maddened by brutish loves, and in-
flamed by the passions which beset it like goads
and stings, it is covered with blood, (to drive it
on) to insane pursuits, and to despair of life,
and to contempt of (xod.

More grievous and painful is this persecution,
which arises from within, which is ever with a
man, and which the persecuted cannot escape -,
for he carries the enemy about everywhere in
himself. Thus also burning which attacks from
without works trial, but that from within produces

' I Cor. ii, g; i Pet. i. X2.
2 Mail. V. (/.

death. War also made on one is easily put an
end to, but that which is in the soul continuci;
till death.

With such persecution, if you have worMl\
wealth, if you have brothers allied by blood aii<:
other pledges, abandon the whole wealth ot
these which leads to evil; procure peace for
yourself, free yourself from protracted pen>et u-
tions ; turn from them to the Gospel ; choose
before all the Saviour and Advocate and Para-
clete of your soul, the Prince of life. ** For
the things which are seen are temporary ; but the
things which are not seen are eternal. " ^ And
in the present time are things evanescent and
insecure, but in that to come is eternal life.

XXVI. " The first shall be last, and the last
first." ^ This is fruitful in meaning and exiH>>i-
tion, 5 but does not demand investigation at [ire---
ent ; for it refers not only to the wealthy alone,
but plainly to all men, who have once surren-
dered themselves to faith. So let this stand
aside for the present. But I think that our
proposition has been demonstrated in no way
inferior to what we promised, that the Saviour 1a
no means has excluded the rich on account ui
wealth itself, and the possession of property, nor
fenced off salvation against them ; if they are
able and willing to submit their life to (.io<i\
commandments," and prefer them to transitor>
objects, and if they would look to the Lord with
steady eye, as those who look for the nod of a
good helmsman, what he wishes, what he order<.
what he indicates, what signal he gives hi>
mariners, where and whence he directs the shij>'s
course. For what harm does one do, who, j pre-
vious to faith, by applying his mind and by ^a\ -
ing has collected a competency? Or what is
much less reprehensible than this, if at once hy
God, who gave him his life, he has had his
home given him in the house of such men,
among w^ealthy people, powerful in substance,
and pre-eminent in opulence ? For if, in conM:?-
quence of his involuntary birth in wealth, a m:in
is banished from life, rather is he wronged by
God, who created him, in having vouchsafed tu
him temporary enjoyment, and in being deprived
of eternal life. And why should wealth ha\e
ever sprung from the earth at all, if it is the
author and patron of death?

But if one is able in the midst of wealth to
turn from its power, ard to entertain moderate
sentiments, and to exercise self-command, an<l
to seek God alone, and to breathe God and walk
with God, such a poor man submits to the com-
mandments, being free, unsubdued, free of dis-
ease, unwounded by wes^lth. But if not, " sooner

^ 2 Cor. iv. 1 8.
* Mark x. 31.

5 o-a(6T7i'io-/u.oi', here adopted ii &tead of the reading <ro^<rMO*i
which yields no suitable sense.

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

599

shall a camel enter through a needle's eye, than
such a rich man reach the kingdom of God. " '
Let then the camel, going through a narrow
and strait way before the rich man, signify some-
thing loftier ; which mystery of the Saviour is to
be learned in the " Exposition of first Principles
and of Theology. " ^

XXVII. Well, first let the point of the para-
ble, which is evident, and the reason why it is
spoken, be presented. Let it teach the prosper-
ous that they are not to neglect their own salva-
tion, as if they had been already fore-doomed,
nor, on the other hand, to cast wealth into the
sea, or condemn it as a traitor and an enemy to
life, but learn in what way and how to use wealth
and obtain life. For since neither does one
perish by any means by fearing because he is
rich, nor is by any means saved by trusting
and believing that he shall be saved, come let
them look what hope the Saviour assigns them,
and how what is unexpected may become rati-
fied, and what is hoped for may come into
possession.

The Master accordingly, when a^ked, " Which
is the greatest of the commandments?" says,
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength ; " ^ that no com-
mandment is greater than this (He says), and
with exceeding good reason ; for it gives com-
mand respecting the First and the Greatest, God
Himself, our Father, by whom all things were
brought into being, and exist, and to whom what
is saved returns again. By Him, then, being
loved beforehand, and having received existence,
it is impious for us to regard ought else older or
more excellent ; rendering only this small trib-
ute of gratitude for the greatest benefits ; and
being unable to imagine anything else whatever
by way of recompense to God, who needs noth-
ing and is perfect ; and gaining immortality by
the very exercise of loving the Father to the ex-
tent of one's might and power. For the more
one loves God, the more he enters within God.

XXVIII. The second in order, and not any
less than this. He says, is, "Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself,"* consequently God
above thyself. And on His interlocutor inquir-
ing, "Who is my neighbour?" s He did not, in
the same way with the Jews, specify the blood-
relation, or the fellow-citizen, or the proselyte,
or him that had been similarly circumcised, or
the man who uses one and the same law. But
He introduces one on his way down from the
upland region from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
represents him stabbed by robbers, cast half-
dead on the way, passed by by the priest, looked

' Mark x. 25.

2 A work mentioned elsewhere.

3 Matt. xxii. 36-38.
* Matt, xxii 39.

3 Lutce X. ay.

sideways at by the Levite, but pitied by the vili-
fied and excommunicated Samaritan ; who did
not, like those, pass casually, but came provided
with such things as the man in danger required,
such as oil, bandages, a beast of burden, money
for the inn- keeper, part given now, and part
promised. "Which," said He, "of them was
neighbour to him that suffered these things ? "
and on his answering, " He that showed mercy
to him," (replied),^ Go thou also, therefore,
and do likewise, since love buds into well-doing.

XXIX. In both the commandments, then,
He introduces love ; but in order distinguishes
it. And in the one He assigns to God the first
part of love, and allots the second to our neigh-
bour. Who else can it be but the Saviour Him-
self? or who more than He has pitied us, who by
the rulers of darkness were all but put to death
with many wounds, fears, lusts, passions, pains,
deceits, pleasures? Of these wounds the only
physician is Jesus, who cuts out the passions
thoroughly by the root, — not as the law does
the bare effects, the fruits of evil plants, but
applies His axe to the roots of wickedness. He
it is that poured wine on our wounded souls (the
blood of David's vine), that brought the oil
which flows from the compassions of the Father,^
and bestowed it copiously. He it is that pro-
duced the ligatures of health and of salvation
that cannot be undone, — Love, Faith, Hope,
He it is that subjected angels, and principalities,
and powers, for a great reward to serve us. For
they also shall be delivered from the vanity of
the world tlirough the revelation of the glory
of the sons of God. We are therefore to love
Him equally with God. And he loves Christ
Jesus who does His will and keeps His com-
mandments. " For not every one that saith unto
Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My
Father." ^ And " Why call ye Me Lord, Lord,
and do not the things which I say ? " ^ " And
blessed are ye who see and hear what neither
righteous men nor prophets" (have seen or
heard), *° if ye do what I say.

XXX. He then is first who loves Christ;
and second, he who loves and cares for those
who have believed on Him. For whatever is
done to a disciple, the Lord accepts as done to
Himself, and reckons the whole as His. " Come,
ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me
to eat : I was thirsty, and ye gave Me to drink :
and I was a stranger, and ye took Me in : I was
naked and ye clothed Me : I was sick, and

* Luke X. 36, 37.

7 Combcfisius reads " Spirit."

8 Matt. vii. 21.

9 Luke vi. 46.

*o Matt. xiii. it, 17.

6oo

WHO IS THE RICH MAX THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

ye visited Me : I was in prison, and ye came
to Me. Then shall the righteous answer, saying,
Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, and fed Thee ?
or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? And when
saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in ? or
naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we
Thee sick, and visited Thee ? or in prison, and
came to Thee ? And the King answering, shall
say to them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."

Again, on the opposite side, to those who
have not performed these things, ** Verily I say
unto you, inasmuch as ye have not done it unto
one of the least of these, ye have not done it to
Me.'* ' And in another place, " He that re-
ceiveth you, receiveth Me ; and he that receiveth
not you, rejecteth Me." ^

XXXI. Such He names children, and sons,
and little children, and friends, and little ones
here, in reference to their future greatness above.
" Despise not," He says, " one of these little
ones ; for their angels always behold the face of
My Father in heaven." ^ And in another place,
" Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom of
heaven." ^ Similarly also He says that "the
least in the kingdom of heaven " that is His
own disciple " is greater than John, the greatest
among those bom of women." s And again,
" He that receiveth a righteous man or a proph-
et in the name of a righteous man or a prophet,
shall receive their reward.; and he that giv-
eth to a disciple in the name of d disciple a
cup of cold water to drink, shall not lose his
reward."^ Wherefore this is the only reward
that is not lost. And again, " Make to you
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that,
when ye fail, they may receive you into ever-
lasting habitations ; " ^ showing that by nature
all property which a man possesses in his own
power is not his own. And from this unright-
eousness it is permitted to work a righteous and
saving thing, to refresh some one of those who
have an everlasting habitation with the Father.

See then, first, that He has not commanded
you to be solicited or to wait to be importuned,
but yourself to seek those who are to be bene-
fited and are worthy disciples of the Saviour.
P^xcellent, accordingly, also is the apostle's say-
ing, ** For the Lord loveth a cheerful giver ; " "
who delights in giving, and spares not, sowing
so that he may also thus reap, without murmur-
ing, and disputing, and regret, and communicat-

ing, which is pure 9 beneficence. But better
than this is the saying spoken by the l.,oni :i
another place, "Give to ever}' one that askct!.
thee." '° For truly $uch is God's delight in irk-
ing. And this saying is above all divinity.'" —
not to wait to be asked, but to inquire ancsci:
who deserves to receive kindness.

XXXII. Then to appoint such a reward h-
liberality, — an everlasting habitation I O exec!
lent trading ! O divine merchandise ! Op»c
purchases immortality for money ; and, by givitv
the perishing things of the world, receivo in
exchange for these an eternal mansion in liir
heavens ! Sail to this mart, if you are wistr. « )
rich man ! If need be, sail round the whok
world." Spare not perils and toils, that yuj
may purchase here the heavenly kingdom. A\'hy
do transparent stones and emeralds delight ihec
so much, and a house that is fuel for fire, or a
plaything of time, or the sport of the earth(]iiake.
or an occasion for a tyrant's outrage ? Aspire t •
dwell in the heavens, and to reign with Gud.
This kingdom a man imitating God will g^e
thee. By receiving a little here, there throuiiri
all ages He will make thee a dweller with Hir.i.
Ask that you may receive ; haste ; strive ; fear
lest He disgrace thee. For He is not com-
manded to receive, but thou to give. The Loni
did not say, Give, or bring, or do good, or help,
but make a friend. But a friend proves himseli*
such not by one gift, but by long intimacy. For
it is neither the faith, nor the love, nor the hope,
nor the endurance of one day, but " he that en-
dureth to the end shall be saved." '3

XXXIII. How then does man give these
things ? For I will give not only to friends, but
to the friends of friends. And who is it that
is the friend of God ? Do not you judge who is
worthy or who is unworthy. For it is possible
you may be mistaken in your opinion. As in
the uncertainty of ignorance it is better to vio
good to the undeserving for the sake of the
deserving, than by guarding against those that
are less good to fail to meet in with the go^wi.
For though sparing, and aiming at testing, who
will receive meritoriously or not, it is poN>i':»A
for you to neglect some '•♦ that are loved by God :
the penalty for which is the punishment of eter-
nal fire. But by offering to all in turn that netrd.
you must of necessity by all means find some
one of those who have power with God to save ,
" Judge not, then, that ye be not judged. With
what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again ; '5 good measure, pressed and shaken.

* Matt. XXV. 34, etc.

^ Matt. X. 40; Luke x. x6.
^ Matt, xviii. lo.

* Luke xii. 3a.
5 Matt. xi. iz.

* Matt. X. 41.
7 Luke xvi. 9.

* 2 Cor. ix. 7.

9 KaBapd, Segaar, for KoSa of the M8.
*° Luke vi. 30.

*^ This, the readinsj of the ms., has been altered by sevcnd e^
but is justly defended by Segaar.

^2 yi^v oAjjr, for which Fell reads Tr\v okt^v,
*3 Matt. X. 22.

*♦ Tivwi*, for which the text has Ti/i«v,
*5 Matt. vii. I, 2; Luke vi. 37, 38.

r-.

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

60 1

and running over, shall be given to you." Open
thy compassion to all who are enrolled the dis-
ci]:>les of God ; not looking contemptuously to
personal appearance, nor carelessly disposed to
any period of life. Nor if one appears penniless,
or ragged, or ugly, or feeble, do thou fret in soul
at this and turn away. This form is cast around
lis from without, the occasion of our entrance
into this world, that we may be able to enter
into this common school. But within dwells the
hidden Father, and His Son,' who died for us
and rose with us.

XXXIV. This visible appearance cheats death
and the devil ; for the wealth within, the beauty,
is unseen by them. And they rave about the
carcase, which they despise as weak, being blind
to the wealth within ; knowing not what a " treas-
ure in an earthen vessel " * we bear, protected
as it is by the power of God the Father, and the
blood of God the Son,^ and the dew of the Holy
Spirit. But be not deceived, thou who hast
tasted of the truth, and been reckoned worthy of
the great redemption. But contrary to what is
the case with the rest of men, collect for thyself
an unarmed, an unwarlike, a bloodless, a passion-
less, a stainless host, pious old men, orphans
dear to God, widows armed with meekness, men
adorned with love. Obtain with thy money such
guards, for body and for soul, for whose sake a
sinking ship is made buoyant, when steered by
the prayers of the saints alone ; and disease at
its height is subdued, put to flight by the laying
on of hands ; and the attack of robbers is dis-
armed, spoiled by pious prayers ; and the might
of demons is crushed, put to shame in its opera-
tions by strenuous commands.

XXXV. All these warriors and guards are
trusty. No one is idle, no one is useless. One
can obtain your pardon from God, another com-
fort you when sick, another weep and groan in
sympathy for you to the Lord of all, another
teach some of the things useful for salvation,
another admonish with confidence, another coun-
sel with kindness. And all can love truly,
without guile, without fear, without hypocrisy,
without flattery, without pretence. O sweet ser-
vice of loving [souls] ! O blessed thoughts of
confident [hearts] ! O sincere faith of those
who fear (jod alone ! O truth of words with
those who cannot lie ! O beauty of deeds with
those who have been commissioned to serve
(jod, to persuade God, to please God, not to
touch thy flesh ! to speak, but-* to the King of
eternity dwelling in thee.

XXXVI. All the faithful, then, are good and
godlike, and worthy of the name by which they

irai?.

* 2 Cor. iv. 7.
3 Trat6cK.

* Perhaps aAAa has got transposed, and we should read, " but to
speak to the king," etc.

are encircled as with a diadem. There are,
besides, some, the elect of the elect, and so
much more or less distinguished by drawing
themselves, like ships to the strand, out of the
surge of the world and bringing themselves to
safety ; not wishing to seem holy, and ashamed
if one call them so ; hiding in the depth of their
mind the ineffable mysteries, and disdaining to
let their nobleness be seen in the world ; whom
the Word calls " the light of the world, and the
salt of the earth." 5 This is the seed, the image
and likeness of God, and His true son and heir,
sent here as it were on a sojourn, by the high
administration and suitable arrangement of the
Father, by whom the visible and invisible things
of the world were created ; some for their ser-
vice, some for their discipline, some for their in-
struction; and all things are held together so
long as the seed remains here ; and when it is
gathered, these things shall be very quickly
dissolved.

XXXVII. For what further need has God of
the mysteries of love?^ And then thou shalt
look into the bosom of the Father, whom God
the only-begotten Son alone hath declared.
And God Himself is love ; and out of love to us
became feminine.^ In His ineffable essence He
is Father ; in His compassion to us He became
Mother. The Father by loving became feminine :
and the great proof of this is He whom He be-
got of Himself; and the fruit brought forth by
love is love.

For this also He came down. For this He
clothed Himself with man. For this He volun-
tarily subjected Himself to the experiences of
men, that by bringing Himself to the measure
of our weakness whom He loved, He might
correspondingly bring us to the measure of His
own strength. And about to be offered up and
giving Himself a ransom. He left for us a new
Covenant-testament : My love I give unto you.
And what and how great is it ? For each of us
He gave His life, — the equivalent for all. This
He demands from us in return for one another.
And if we owe our lives to the brethren, and
have made such a mutual compact with the Sav-
iour, why should we any more hoard and shut
up worldly goods, which are beggarly, foreign to
us and transitory ? Shall we shut up from each
other what after a little shall be the property of
the fire ? Divinely and weightily John says, " He
that loveth not his brother is a murderer,"^ the
seed of Cain, a nursling of the devil. He has
not God's compassion. He has no hope of bet-
ter things. He is sterile ; he is barren ; he is not

5 Matt. V. 13, 14.

*» Segaar reads : For what more should I say ? Behold the
mysteries of love.

7 'EOriXvvBri, which occurs immediately after this, has been sug-
gested as the right reading here. The text has i$ripd6ri,

^ I John iii. 14, 15.

602

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

a branch of the ever-living supercelestial vine.
He is cut off; he waits the perpetual fire.

XXXVIIL But learn thou the more excellent
way, which Paul shows for salvation. "Love
seeketh not her own/* * but is diffused on the
brother. About him she- is fluttered, about him
she is soberly insane. "Love covers a multi-
tude of sins." ^ " Perfect love casteth out fear." 3
" Vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up ; rejoiceth
not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; bear-
eth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all
things, endure th all things. Love never faileth.
Prophecies are done away, tongues cease, gifts
of healing fail on the earth. But these three
abide. Faith, Hope, Love. But the greatest of
these is Love." ^ And rightly. For Faith de-
parts when we are convinced by vision, by see-
ing God. And Hope vanishes when the things
hoped for come. But Love comes to comple-
tion, and grows more when that which is perfect
has been bestowed. If one introduces it into
his soul, although he be bom in sins, and has
done many forbidden things, he is able, by in-
creasing love, and adopting a pure repentance,
to retrieve his mistakes. For let not this be left
to despondency and despair by you, if you learn
who the rich man is that has not a place in
heaven, and what way he uses his property,

XXXIX. If one should escape the superfluity
of riches, and the difficulty they interpose in the
way of life, and be able to enjoy the eternal
good things ; but should happen, either from ig-
norance or involuntary circumstances, after the
seal 5 and redemption, to fall into sins or trans-
gressions so as to be quite carried away ; such a
man is entirely rejected by God. For to every
one who has turned to God in truth, and with
his whole heart, the doors are open, and the
thrice-glad Father receives His truly repentant
son. And true repentance is to be no longer
bound in the same sins for which He denounced
death against Himself, but to eradicate them
completely from the soul. For on their extirpa-
tion God takes up His abode again in thee.
For it is said there is great and exceeding joy
and festival in the heavens with the Father and
the angels when one sinner turns and repents.^
Wherefore also He cries, " I will have mercy,
and not sacrifice." 7 "I desire not the death,
but the repentance of the sinner."^ "Though
your sins be as scarlet wool, I will make them
white as snow; though they be blacker than
darkness, I will wash and make them like white
wool." 9 For it is in the power of God alone to

* 1 Cor. xiii. 5.

2 I Pel. iv. 8.

3 I John jv. 18.

* I Cor. xiii. 4-8, 13.
9 i e.,of baptism.

** Luke XV. 10.

7 Hos. vi. 6; Matt, ix 13.

® E^ek. xviii. 23.

9 I&a. t. 18.

grant the forgiveness of sins, and not to impute
transgressions ; since also tiie Lord commands
us each day to forgive the repenting brethren."
" And if we, being evil, know to give good gifts," "
much more is it the nature of the Fa8ier of
mercies, the good Father of all consolation, much
pitying, very merciful, to be long-suffering, to
wait for those who have turned. And to turn is
really to cease from our- sins, and to look no
longer behind.

XL. Forgiveness of past sins, then, God gives :
but of future, each one gives to himself. And
this is to repent, to condemn the past deeiis,
and beg oblivion of them from the Father, who
only of all is able to undo what is done, by mer-
cy proceeding from Him, and to blot out for-
mer sins by the dew of the Spirit. " For by the
state in which I find you will I judge," " also, is
what in each case the end of all cries aloud.
So that even in the case of one who has done
the greatest good deeds in his life, but at the
end has run headlong into wickedness, all his
former pains are profitless *3 to him, since at the
catastrophe of the drama he has given up his
part ; while it is possible for the man who for-
merly led a bad and dissolute life, on afterwards
repenting, to overcome in the time after repent-
ance the evil conduct of a long time. But it
needs great carefulness, just as bodies that have
suffered by protracted disease need regimen and
special attention. Thief, dost thou wish to get
forgiveness ? steal no more. Adulterer, burn no
more. Fornicator, live for the future chastely.
Thou who hast robbed, give back, and give back
more than [thou tookest]. False witness, prac-
tise truth. Perjurer, swear no more, and extir-
pate the rest of the passions, wrath, lust, grief,
fear ; that thou mayest be found at the end to
have previously in this world been reconciled to
the adversary. It is then probably impossible
all at once to eradicate inbred passions ; but by
God's power and human intercession, and the
help of brethren, and sincere repentance, and
constant care, they are corrected.

XLI. Wherefore it is by all means necessarv
for thee, who art pompous, and powerful, and
rich, to set over thyself some man of God as a
trainer and governor. Reverence, though it be
but one man ; fear, though it be but one man.
Give yourself to hearing, though it be but one
speaking freely, using harshness, and at the same
time healing. For it is good for the eyes not
to continue always wanton, but to weep anii
smart sometimes, for greater health. So alx^
nothing is more pernicious to the soul than

*° Matt. vi. 14.

'* Luke xi. 13.

*2 Quoted with a slitjht variation by Tustin Martyr, />/ii<>C'«'"
w/VA '1 rypho, ch. xlvii., vol i. p. 219, and supposed by Gnibe u» lie
a quotation from the Ai>c)cryphal Gospel to the Hebrews.

*•* ' hv6vT\TOKf for which the text has ai^ijrot.

WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED?

603

uninterrupted pleasure. For it is blinded by
melting away, if it remain unmoved by bold
speech. Fear this man when angry ; be pained
at his groaning ; and reverence him when making
his anger to cease ; and anticipate him when he
is deprecating punishment. I>et him pass many
sleepless nights for thee, interceding for thee
with God, influencing the Father with the magic
of familiar litanies. For He does not hold out
against His children when they beg His pity.
And for you he will pray purely, held in high
honour as an angel of God, and grieved not by
you, but for you. This is sincere repentance.
" God is not mocked," » nor does He give heed
to vain words. For He alone searches the mar-
row and reins of the heart, and hears those that
are in the fire, and listens to those who suppli-
cate in the whale's belly ; and is near to all who
believe, and far from the ungodly if they repent not.

XLII. And that you may be still more confi-
dent, that repenting thus truly there remains for
you a sure hope of salvation, listen to a tale,*
which is not a tale but a narrative,^ handed down
and committed to the custody of memory, about
the Apostle John. For when, on the tyrant's
death, he returned to Ephesus from the isle of
Patmos, he went away, being invited, to the con-
tiguous territories of the nations, here to appoint
bishops, there to set in order whole Churches,
there to ordain such as were marked out by the
Spirit.

Having come to one of the cities not far off
(the name of which some give^), and having
put the brethren to rest in other matters, at last,
looking to the bishop appointed, and seeing a
youth, powerful in body, comely in appearance,
and ardent, said, "This (youth) I commit to
you in all earnestness, in the presence of the
Church, and with Christ as witness." And on
his accepting and promising all, he gave the
same injunction and testimony. And he set out
for Ephesus. And the presbyter taking home the
youth committed to him, reared, kept, cherished,
and finally baptized him. After this he relaxed his
stricter care and guardianship, under the idea
that the seal of the Lord he had set on him was
a complete protection to him. But on his ob-
taining premature freedom, some youths of his
age, idle, dissolute,' and adepts in evil courses,
corrupt him. First they entice him by many
costly entertainments ; then afterwards by night
issuing forth for highway robbery, they take him
along with them. Then they dared to execute
together something greater. And he by degrees
got accustomed ; and from greatness of nature,
when he had gone aside from the right path, and

* Gal. vi. 7.

* Said lo be Smyrna.

like a hard-mouthed and powerful horse, had
taken the bit between his teeth, rushed with all
the more force down into the depths. And hav-
ing entirely despaired of salvation in God, he no
longer meditated what was insignificant, but
having perpetrated some great exploit, now that
he was once lost, he made up his mind to a like
fate with the rest. Taking them and forming a
band of robbers, he was the prompt captain
of the bandits, the fiercest, the bloodiest, the
cruelest.

Time passed, and some necessity having
emerged, they send again for John. He, when he
had settled the other matters on account of which
he came, said, " Come now, O bishop, restore to
us the deposit which I and the Saviour committed
to thee in the face of the Church over which
you preside, as witness." The other was at
first confounded, thinking that it was a false
charge about money which he did not get ; and
he could neither believe the allegation regarding
what he had not, nor disbelieve John. But when
he said " I demand the young man, and the soul
of the brother," the old man, groaning deeply,
and bursting into tears, said, " He is dead."
" How and what kind of death ? " " He is dead,"
he said, " to God. For he turned wicked and
abandoned, and at last a robber ; and now he has
taken possession of the mountain in front of the
church, along with a band like him." Rending,
therefore, his clothes, and striking his head with
great lamentation, the apostle said, " It was a
fine guard of a brother's soul I left ! But let
a horse be brought me, and let some one be my
guide on the way." He rode away, just as he
was, straight from the church. On coming to
the place, he is arrested by the robbers' outpost ;
neither fleeing nor entreating, but crying, " It
was for this I came. Lead me to your captain ; "
who meanwhile was waiting, all armed as he was.
But when he recognised John as he advanced, he
turned, ashamed, to flight. The other followed
with all his might, forgetting his age, crying,
" Why, my son, dost thou flee from me, thy father,
unarmed, old ? Son, pity me. Fear not ; thou
hast still hope of life. I will give account to
Christ for thee. If need be, I will willingly en-
dure thy death, as the Lord did death for us. P'or
thee I will surrender my life. Stand, believe ;
Christ hath sent me."

And he, when he heard, first stood, looking
down ; then threw down his arms, then trembled
and wept bitterly. And on the old man ap-
proaching, he embraced him, speaking for him-
self with lamentations as he could, and baptized a
second time with tears, concealing only his right
hand. The other pledging, and assuring him on
oath that he would find forgiveness for himself
from the Saviour, beseeching and falling on his
knees, and kissing his right hand itself, as now

6o4 ELUCIDATIONS.

purified by repentance, led him back to the ' practising the deeds, he shall at his decease see
church. Then by supplicating with copious the end and demonstration of the truths taught,
prayers, and striving along with him in continual For he who in this world welcomes the angel of
fastings, and subduing his mind by various utter- penitence will not repent at the time that he
ances ^ of words, did not depart, as they say, till leaves the body, nor be ashamed when he see>
he restored him to the Church, presenting in him the Saviour approaching in His glor)- and with
a great example of true repentance and a great j His army. He fears not the fire,
token of regeneration, a trophy of the resurrection | But if one chooses to continue and to sin per-
for which we hope ; when at the end of the world, petually in pleasures, and values indulgence here
the angels, radiant with joy, hymning and open- above eternal hfe, and turns away from the
ing the heavens, shall receive into the celestial Saviour, who gives forgiveness ; let him no more
abodes those who truly repent ; and before all, the blame either God, or riches, or his having fallen.

Saviour Himself goes to meet them, welcoming
them ; holding forth the shadowless, ceaseless
light ; conducting them to the Father's bosom,
to eternal life, to the kingdom of heaven.

Let one believe these things, and the disciples
of God, and God, who is surety, the Prophecies,
the Gospels, the Apostolic words ; living in ac-
cordance with them, and lending his ears, and

I pi}(reo'i \6yuiVy for which Ccxi. Reg. Gall, reads o-«ip^<ri \6yiav.

but his own soul, which voluntarily perishes.
But to him who directs his eye to salvation and
desires it, and asks with boldness and vehemence
for its bestowal, the good Father who is in heaven
will give the true purification and the changeless
life. To whom, by His Son Jesus Christ, the
Lord of the living and dead, and by the Holy
Spirit, be glory, honour, power, eternal majest\%
both now and ever, from generation to genera-
tion, and from eternity to eternity. Amen.

ELUCIDATIONS.

(Note I, p. 591.)

The kingdom of Christ was set up in great weakness, that nothing might be wanting to the
glory of His working by the Spirit, in its triumph over the darkness of the world. " Not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble," were called.' And so it continued
for a long time. Under Commodus, however (a.d. 1S0-192), a temporary respite was conceded;
partly because his favourite Marcia took their part for some reason, and partly because his cruelty
gratified itself in another direction. " Our circumstances," says Eusebius, " were changed to a
milder aspect ; as there was peace prevailing, by the grace of God, throughout the world in the
churches. Then, also, the saving-doctrine brought the minds of men to a devout veneration of
the Supreme God, from every race on earth, so that, now, many of those eminent at Rome /or
their wealth and kindred j with their whole house aiid family, yielded themselves to salvation.'*
What happened near the court of a fickle tyrant was far more likely to be common in Antioch
and Alexandria. Men's consciences had no doubt been with the Christians, as Pilate's was ^vith
their Master ; and now, when it became less perilous, they began to laugh at idols, and even to
enroll themselves with Christians. Some, no doubt, like Joseph and Nicodemus, gave themselves
to the Lord ; but others, " with a form of godliness, denied the power thereof." Clement detected
the great evil that began to threaten, and this beautiful tract is the product of his watchful obser-
vation. For he was gifted, also, with that great characteristic of noble mind, a faculty of fore-
seeing "whereunto such things must grow." His love and solicitude for the Church, lest its
simplicity should pass away with its poverty, dictated this solemn and most timely warning. •

And it is worthy of grateful remark, how admirably sustained was this primitive spirit amonir
all the early witnesses for truth. They were not of this world, and they dreaded its influence.
How richly the Word dwelt in them, is manifest from their amazing familiarity with the Scriptures.

* I Cor. i. 26, 27.

ELUCIDATIONS. 605

That they sometimes misquote or confuse quotations, or mix a Scriptural sdying with some cur-
rent proverb or an apocryphal gloss, is surely not surprising, when copies of the Scriptures were
few and costly, when no concordances and books of reference were at hand, and when their
whole apparatus for Biblical study was so extremely incomplete.

To the genius of this great Alexandrian Father, we are all debtors to this day. Had he not,
unfortunately, allied much of his wisdom with the hateful name of the Gnostic ^"^ which he failed
to wrest from the pseudo-Gnostics, with whom it is irrevocably associated, we may be sure his
expositions of Christian philosophy would be more useful in our times.

II.

(Segaar, note 3, p. 594.)

Charles Segaar, S.T.D., bom in 1724, was Greek professor at Utrecht, from 1766 to 1803,
after filling several important and laborious positions as a pastor and preacher. He died Dec.
22, 1803. He has left a great reputation as " the most theological of philologists, and the most
philological of theologians." Had he gone over the entire text of Clement, and edited all his works,
with the care and ability displayed in his critical edition of the Tt? 6 <r<ufo/xevos xAov<rto9, the world
would have been greatly enriched by his influence on the cultivation of patristic literature. In his
eloquent preface to this tract, he bewails the neglect into which that fundamental department of
Christian learning had fallen ; praising the labours of Anglican scholars, who, in the former century,
had devoted themselves to the production of valuable editions of the Fathers. He speaks of
himself as from early years inflamed with a singular love of such studies and especially of the
Greek Fathers, and adds an expression of the extreme gratification with which he had read and
pondered the Quis dives Satvandus, among the admirable works of Clement of Alexandria. He
corrects Ghisler's error in crediting it to Origen (edition of 1623), and reminds us that there is
but a single ms. from which it is derived, viz., that of the Vatican.

Apart from the value of Segaar's annotatidns, his work is very useful to Greek scholars, for its
varied erudition, much wealth of his learning being expended upon single words and their idiomatic
uses. The sort of work devoted to this tract is precisely what I covet for my countrymen ; and I
look forward with hope to the day as not remote, when from regions now unnamed, in this vast
domain of our republican America, critical editions of all of the Ante-Nicene Fathers shall be given
to the republic of letters, with a beauty of typography hitherto unknown. The valuable Patrologia
of Migne might well be made the base of a Phoenix-like edition of the same series. It was only
fit for such a base ; for its print and paper are disgraceful, and the inaccuracy and carelessness of
its references and editorial work are only pardonable when one reflects on the small cost at which
it was afforded. The plates have perished in flames ; but the restoration of the whole work is
worthy of the ambition of American scholars, and of the patronage of wealth now sordid but
capable of being ennobled by being made useful to mankind.

III.
(Willing Souls, cap. xxL p. 597.)

On the subject of free-will, so profusely illustrated by Clement, I have forebome to add any
comments. But Segaar's Excursus (iv. p. 410) is worthy of being consulted. On Clement's
ideas of Hades and the intermediate state, I have made no comment ; but Segaar's endeavour to
state judicially the view of our author {Excursus, x. p. 421), though in some particulars it seems
to me unsatisfactory, is also worthy of examination.

If a number of other important points have been apparently overlooked in my Elucidations,
it is because I fear I have already gone beyond the conditions and limitations of my work.

* For Gnostic, Intellector is used, p, 577 Why not use the Latin word perfectort The idea is not simply perfectus : Clement's
Gnostic is a gnornoHf actively indexing the mind of Christ.

INDEXES.

HERMAS.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Abiding city, 31.
Alms, 16, 20, 54.
Anchorites, 14,
Ancyra, 58.
Angels, the two, 24.
Anger, 49.
Antonines, the, 5.
Apostates, 50.
Apostles, 14, 49, 51.
Arcadia, 43.
Athanasius, 25, 28, 36, 57.

Backbiting, 49.

Beast, the, 18.

Bishops, 14, 52.

Bishop's Cathedra, 12.

Blasphemers, 50.

Boyle, 29.

Branches, 39, 40, 41 ; explanations

of, 41.
Brotherhood, the human, 32.
Bunsen, 3, 4.
Business, too much, 24, 50.

Canonical house, 12.
Canon law, 12, 13.
Canons, 33.
Chalcedon, 58.
Chastity, 15, 16, 58.
Cheerfulness, 49.
Chief seats, 16.
Choerilius, 28.

Church, the 12, 17, 18, 43, 50; mili-
tant, 43 ; triumphant, 43.
Circumcision, of wealth, 15, 53.
Clement, 4, 56.
Clement Alexandrinus, 6.
Clergy, 16.
Colony, Roman, 31.
Colours, 44, 48, 50.
Companion roads, 17.
Conclusion, 55.
Concupiscence, 28.
Continence, 49.
Convulsionism, 56.
Crowns, 39.

Dante, 18.
Deaconess, 12.
Deacons, 14
Deceit, 37, 38, 49.
Devil, the, 30

Discipline, the Catholic, 58.
Disobedience, 49.
Distractions, 24.
Divorce, 21.
Doddridge, Dr., ^8.
Domestic disciphne, 11.

Edad and Medad, 12.
Elect, the, 18, 30; sins of, 39.
Eleutherus, 3, 4.
Elm, the, 32.

Elucidation, I., 56; II., 57.
Encraty^ 57, 58.
Entanglements, 37.
Eusebius, 6, 57.
Evil speaking, 20.

Faith, 15, 16, 17, 20, 24, 26, 49.
Falsehood, 21, 49.

Family, the, developed by Chris-
tianity, 58.
Fasting, i'6, 33, 34.
Father, the, 35.
Flocks, 54.
Folly, 49.
Fountains, 51.

Gibbon, 57.
Grief, 26.
Guilelessness, 15, 16.

Hail, 28.

Happiness, 33.

Harmony, 49.

Hartley, 31.

Hatred, 49.

Heathenism, manners of, 47, 57.

Hegrin, 18.

Hermas, brother of Pius, 4, 56.

Hermas, Pastor of, 7.

date of, 7.

known to the East, 7.

little known in the West, 7.

question of authorship, 7.

Shepherd of, 6.

versions and manuscripts, 7.

written in Italy, 7.

the morals of, 6.
Hermas of St. Paul, 4, 56.
Holy Spirit, 20, 23, 26, 27, 35, 36, 43.
Hyginus, 56.
Hypocrites, 50.

Idols, 51.
Immersion, 22.
Incomprehensible, 20,
Incontinence, 49.
Infants, 53.
Innocence, 49,
Intelligence, 15, 16.
Irenaeus, 4, 5, 6, 31, 55, 56.

Jerome, 57.

justification and sanctifica>i(^, 12, 16.

Justification, 23.
ustin Martyr, 31.

Kisses, 47.

Lapsers, 41.
Law, the new, 20.
Love, 15, 16, 49.
Luxuries, 24, 37, 38.
Luxury, angel of, 36.

Man; adulterer, 38; backbiter, 38;
covetous, 38 ; drunkard, 38 ; lux-
urious, 38; sharp-tempered, 38;
thief, 38.

Marriage, 22.

Martial, 57.

Mastery, self, 47.

Ministers, 49.

Montanism, 4, 5, 29, 56, 57.

Mountains, 49, 50, 51, 52.

Muratorian Canon, 3, 8, 56.

Mysteries, 43.

Nature, love of, 9, 43.

Needy, 16.

Niebuhr, his saying, 3.

Offshoots, 40, 41.
Old age, 17.
Ordinances, 30.
Origen, 6, 31.
Orphans, 52.
Ovid, 28.

Palms, 39.
Patience, 23, 49.
Penitential discipline, 15, 22.
Pius, 3, 5, 56.
Poor, the, 32.
Prayer, 26.

609

6io

HERMAS: INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Prophets, 28 29, 49.
Punishment, angel of, 38.
Punishments, divers, yj ; duration

of, 36.
Purity, 33, 49, 55.

Raiment, yellow, 36; white, 36, 40.
Repentance, 20, 38, 39, 4I1 50» 5^ 54-

angel of, 19, 37, 38, 51.

a habit, 21.

of Hermas, 21.
Reprobate men, 12.
Rich, the, 32
Riches, glory in, 9.
Rock, the, 13, 48.
Routh, Dr., his Reliquitgy 56.

Sackcloth, 40.
Sadness, 23.
Scandals, 57.
Schism, 53.
Scriptures, 14.
Seal, 41, 5^.
Self-restramt, 15, 16.
Sheep, 37, 53.
Shepherd, 53, 54.

Sibyl, the, 12, 13.

Similitudes, 31.

Simplicity, 15, 16,49, ^Z-

Sloth, 17.

Son of God, 20, 35, 43, 47, 48, 49,

50. 53-
Sorrow, 49.

Spirit, prophetic, 28.

Spirits, 49; evil spirit, 50; two

kinds, 27.

Spiritual gifts, 22.

Stations, 33.

Stones, 14, 44, 45, 46, 5a

Supererogation, 34, 52.

Syneisactay 58.

Talkative wife, 11.

Tatian, 5.

Teachers, 14, 49, 51.

Tertullian, 5, 56.

Thegri, 18.

Thoughts, filthy and proud, 9.

Tower, 14, 39, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50.

Trees, in summer, 33 ; in winter, 32.

Unbelief, 49.

Understanding, 49,
Unruly sons, 11.

Van I^nnep, 57.

Vatican collection, Pudicitia, the, i.S.

Vine, the, 32.

Vineyard, -34.

Virpms, 4^, 48, 50, 51, 55.

Vision, of the angel lady, 10; her

reading, 10.
Voluptuaries, two classes of, 36;

their death, 36.

Wake, Archbishop, 5.

Wantonness, 49.

Westcott, 57.

Wickedness, 49.

Widows, 52.

Willman, 57.

Willows, 39.

Wine jars, 29.

Word, the, 15,

Works, evil, 24, 25, 48; good, 15, 24,

25» 39» 55-
of God, 55.

Wormwood, 23.

HERMAS.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

PAGB

PAGB 1

PAGE

Gen. ill 24 . . .

^ •% • • •

Matt. V. 23, 24 . . . 54

John i. I

»5

Eph. iv. 26, 27 . . . 23

Kx. xxviii. 12, 29 .

V. 28 .

■ 9.21

i-.3

iv. 27 . ,

■

Ia:v. XIX. 18 . . .

v. 32 . .

xii. 40 ... .

iv. 30 .

. 2

!I,

27»39

Num. xi. 26, 27

vi. 14 . .

' 54

xvi. 33 ... .

V. 26 . .

xvii. 7 . .

vi. 16, 17 .

Acts iii. I

v. 27 . .

xvii. 8 . .

x. 28 .

• 30

iv. 12 . . . .

Phil. ii. 2 . . .

I Sam. iii. ii» 14 .

x-33 • <

vi. I

ii. 7 . . .

iii. 31, 32, 3

3 •

X.39 •

xii. 13 ... .

iii. 16 . .

I Kings VI. 7

X. 40-42

. 42

xiv. 12 ... .

iv. 3 . .

Neh. ix. 17 . .

xii. 31 .

xvii. 21 . . .

Col. i. IS, 16 .

Job xlii. 8 . .

xii. 45 ,

xvii. 30 . . .

»• •

111. 2 . . ,.

*Ps. iv. 6, 7 . .

xiii. 5 . .

• 50

Rom. ii. 5 . . . .

I Thcss. V. 13 .

14, 16

xvi. II . .

■ 35

xiii. II. .

ii. 21 . . . .

V. 20 .

xxiv. 2 . .

xiii. 21

vii. 3 . . . .

2 Thess. ii. 3 .

xxiv. 9 . .

xiii. 29

■ 33

viii. 22-24 • •

iii. 14 .

21, 22

xxvi. 2 . .

xiii. 32

x. 17 . . . .

I Tim. i. 20 . ,

xlix. 6 . .

XV. 8 . .

xi. 16 . . . .

V. 26. .

Ixxxiv. 10
cxix. 14 . .

xvi. 18
xvii. 17 .

52
17

xii. 8 . . .
xii. II. . . .

20, 27
33

Heb. i. 3 . . .
i. 3 . . .

cxxxix. 23, 2

4 •

xviii. 3 ,

• 53

I Cor. ii. II, 12 . .

iii. 12 . .

Prov. iii. 19 . ,

xviii. 22

ii. 13, 14 . ,

• 3'

V. 14 . .

X. 24 . .

xviii. 33 .

iii. II . . .

■ 49

vi. 4-6 . .

xi. 23 . ,

*xix. 9 . .

iii. 9-15 . .

vi. 6-8. .

xxi. 10

xix. 12

• 34

in. n-15 . .

viii. 12

xxiv. 9

• • •

xix. 12

ni. 16, 17 . .

ix. 24 . .

xxviii. 14.

• 25

xix. 14

• 53

v. 5 . . . .

X. 17 . .

Eccles. vii 14 ,

xix. 23, 24

■ 50

vii. 25-28 . .

X. 25 ,

xii. 13 .

XX. 23 . . .

. 42

vii. 30-35 •

X. 26, 27 .

Isa. 1. 22 . .

' 39

XX. 21-23 '

. 52

vii. 35 . . -

X. 26-31 .

V. I . . .

• 43

xxiii. 6 .

vii. 38 . . .

X. 39 • .

xxviii. 16

. 49

xxiv. 46-51

• 45

vii. 39 . . .

xi. 3 . .

I'l

xxix. 13 .

XXV. 15 .

X. 13 ... .

xi. 25 .

xliv. 4 .

. 39

xxvi. 24

xiv. . . .

. 4,28

XI. 36, 37

• • ■ •

1x111. 5 .

. 27

Mark ix. 36 .

xiv. 32, 37 . .
XV. 6, 18 .

xii. 15-17 .

Iviii. 5-8

• 34

X. 23 .

■ 50

xii. 16, 17

Ixv. 22 . ,

*!!: 39,

. 16

XV. 41 . .

• 52

xii. 17 . .

Jer. xiii. 20 .

' 54

xiii. 36
Luke xi. 26 .

- 45

xvi. 13 . . ,

xiii. 17 . .

Ezek i. 28 .

• 23

2 Cor. vi. 5 . . .

■ 34

XV. 8 . .

• ,

ii. 9 .

xi. 41 . ,

vi. 10 . .

Jas. i. 2 . .

• 39

xvii. 5, 6
xxxiv. 3 ,

• 39

■ 52

xi.43 .
xii. 5 .

16
• 30

vii. 10 . .
vii. 14 . .

27
29

\.l-s' *.

11,

35.51
26

xxxix. 29

. 40

xii. 33 .

• 32

ix. 27 . . ,

i. 9-11, 27

Dan. iv. 10, 23

, 18

xii. 42 .

• 32

xi. 27 . . ,

• 34

ii. 7 . .

■ 41

vi. 22 .

. 18

xii. 47, 48

. 50

xii. i-ii . ,

ii. 1-9 .

• 32

X. 21

. 40

xiv. 26.

Oal. ii. 17 . . .

ii. 19 . .

xii. I .

. 40

xvi. 22

V. 19, 21 . .

• 25

ii. 26 . .

■ 42

lios. X. 12 .

. 16

xix. 15

• 32

Eph. i. 13 . .

• 39

iii. 5-10 .

Mic. vi. 6, 7, 8

XX. 46 .

. 16

ii. 12 . . .

111. 16

. 42

Zech. xi. 15-17

• 54

xxii. 24

• 42

ii. 20 . . .

. 49

iv. 6, 7 .

. 29

Mai. iii. i . .

• 23

xxii. 43

• 35

iii. 9, 10 . .

iv. 7 . .

• 25

iii. 3. .

• 39

xxiv. 25

•

17 ' iv. 25, 29 . .

iv. II

611

6l2

HERMAS: INDEX OF TEXTS.

Jas. iv. 12
V. 1-14 .
V. 9 . .
V. 19, 20
I Pet. i. 1 1 .
i. 10-12
i. 20 .
i. 22 .
ii. 4-8
iii. 20 .
iv. 3 .
V. 7 .

PAGE

54
55
43
52
47
55
13
14
25
17

2 Pet. iii. 16 . .

1 John ii. 20-27

iii. 9 . .
iii. 14, 15
iii. 19-21
iv. 6 . .
iv. 18 .
V. II, 12
v. 16, 17

2 John ii. . . .
Rev. iii. i . . .

iii. 1-5 . .

PAGE

34
21
22

37
21

25
49

37
21

<ev. ni

..4.S
vii. 4

vii. 14

viii. 3

ix. 3

X. 4 .

X
X
X
X
X
X

. I

•7
1.3.
1-7
II. I

v. 4

P.\GE

PAGE

Rev. xiv. 4, 5 . . . 52

xvii. ^ . .

xvii. 0 . .

xix. 8 . .

XX. 15 . .

xxi. 10 . .

ijj

xxi. II . .

xxi. 14 . .

xxi. 16 . .

XXII. 2 .

TATIAN.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Albigenses, 62.

Alexander, flattered by his preceptor,

Aristotle, 65.
Alphabet, 65.
Anitus and Miletus, 66.
Anaxagoras, 73.
Apion, the grammarian, 80.
Apollo and Daphne, 73.
Argives, their kings, 80.
Aristippus, 65.
Aristotle, 65.
Astronomy, 65, 68.

Baptism, the renunciation of, 73.
Beausobre, 72.
Uerosus, 80.
Busiris, 66.

Catholics, early, 62.

Chaldeans, 80; witness to Moses, 80.

Christianity, Western, effect of Mon-
tanism on, 62.

Christians, two classes of, 62 i wor-
ship God only, 66 ; their doctrine
of Creation, 67 ; belief in the
resurrection, 67; .unjustly hated,
76; philosophy of, T] ; olcier than
that of Greece, 77 ; doctrines of,
78 ; opposed to dissensions, 78 ;
fitted for all men, 78; free
schools of, 78 ; hymns of, 79.

Chronology, 78, 81.

Chr^'sostom, 69, 79.

Coliseum, 75.

Constellations, origin of, 69.

C orates, 66.

Creation, 67.

Crescens, loathsome character of, 73 ;
persecutes Justin, 73.

Cretans, always liars, 76.

Cross, mystery of, 71.

Democritus, 72.

Demons, 68; turned into gods, 68;

teach the doctrine of fate, 68;

economize astronomy, 68 ; to be

punished, 78 ; vain display of, 72 ;

false promises of, 72 ; deceptions

of» 73-
Demon worship, depravity of, 73.

Diogenes, 65.

Doctrines of the Greeks and Chris-
tians compared, 74.

Egyptians, 80.

Elijah, 62.

Empedocles, 66.

Encratites, the, 63.

Euripides, 66.

Eusebius, reference to, 61, 62.

Eventide, hymn of, 79.

Free-will, 69.

Geometry, 65.

Gladiators, 75.

God only to "be feared, 66 ; a spirit,
66; Greek notions of, 74; com-
pared with Christian ideas, 74.

Gods of the heathen, 68; absurdities
concerning, 69.

Gospels, the tour, testimony of the
Diatessaron to, 61.

Greeks, not the inventors of the arts,
65 ; foolish solemnities of, 74 ;
their play-actors, 75; other
amusements, 75; idols of, 76;
studies of, 76 ; legislation, 77.

Greek studies, ridiculed, 76.

Hellebore, 72.
Hercules, 66, 69.
Heraclitus, 66.
Herodotus, 79.
Holy Ghost, 62.
Homer, 77 ; his period, 78.
Hus, reference to, 62.

Idioms, communication of, 71.
Irenaeus, reference to Tatian, 61.

John the Baptist, 62.
Judaism, 61 .

Justin Martyr, Tatian*s relation to,
6r.

Kaye, Bishop, reference to, 70.

Latin Church, sophistries of, 62.
Life, human shortening of, 71.
Logos, 67, 68.

Magic, 65.
Man, fall of, 67.
Marriage, 62.
Marsyas, 65.
Matter, not eternal, 67.

Mill, reference to, 61.

Modern science anticipated, 67.

Montanism, 62. *

Moses, his antiquity, 80 ; his time, 80 ;
compared with heathen heroes,
81 ; superior antiquity of, 81.

Mythology, 68.

Orpheus, 65.

Paganism, 61.

Pherecydes, 66.

Philosophers, their vices, 65; and

absurdities, 66; ridicule of, 66;

boastings and quarrels, 75.
Philosophy, Grecian and Christian,

compared, 77.
Phoenicians, 80.
Phrygians, reference to, 62.
Pindar, quoted, 74.
Plato, 65, 66.
Psychic natures, 71.
Pugilists, 75.
Pythagoras, 66.

Resurrection, (yj.
Rousseau quoted, 82.

Socrates, 66.
Solon, 80.
Soul, immortal, 7a
Southey, Robert, his remarks con-
cerning John Wesley, 62.
Spirit, the Holy, 71.
Spirits, two kinds, 70.
St. Jerome, 61, 62.
St. Paul, 62.

Tatian, Introductory Note, 61 ; equiv-
ocal position of, 61 ; influenced
by Justin, 61 ; his falling away,
61 ; possible mental decline, 61 ;
Tatian an Assyrian, 61, 62 ; some
of his works very valuable, 61 ;
some have perished, 61 ; his Dia-
tessarotiy 61 ; his encraty^ 62 ; his
Address to the Greeks, sole sur-
viving work, 62; Epiphanius
describes him as from Mesopo-
tamia, 62 ; embraced Christianity
at Rome, 63 ; Address to the
Greeks, 65 ; his conversion, 77 ;
visit to Rome, 79; disgusted with

613

6i4

TATIAN: INDEX OF TEXTS.

the multiplicity of statues, 79;
concluding words of, 82 ; Frag-
ments of, 82, 83.

Terence, 66. (See Theophilus.)

Tertullian, reference to, 62.

Theodoret, reference to, 61.
Virgin, hymn of, 79.
Wiclif, reference to, 62.

Women, Christian, 78; heathen, 78,
79-

Zeno, 66.
Zodiac, 69.

TATIAN.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

Gen. i. I . .

111. I

Ps. viii. 5 . .
xxiii. . .
Matt. X. 22-39

PAGB

67
68

79
66

Matt. xiii. 44
John i. 3 . .

i. 5 . .

iv. 24 .
Rom. i. 20 .

PAGB

n
n

70
66
66

Rom. i. 28 . .
I Cor. ii. 14, 15

X. 16 . .

XV. 44 .
Eph. vi. 13, 14, 17

PAGE
81

71
76

Tit. i. 12 .
I Pet. ii. 17
Rev. vii. 7
xxi. 4
xxii.

FACE

66
74

74
74

THEOPHILUS.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Abel, 105.

Abraham, 107.

Adam, 105.

Antioch, seat of the early Christians,
87 ; described, Renan and Ferrar,
87 ; see of Theophilus, 88 ; bish-
ops of, 88.

Atheists, philosophers proved to be
such, 113; others attribute crimes
to the gods, 113.

Authors, profane, 1 1 1 ; their ignor-
ance, III; their contradictions,
III.

Autolycus, 89, and passim ; second
book addressed to, 94 ; third book
addressed to, in; misled by
false accusations, in; conclud-
ing advice to, 121.

Babel, tower of, 106.

Cain, 105 ; family of, 106.

Chaldeans, 106.

Chastity, 115.

Chedorlaomcr, 107.

Christianity, antiquity of, 120.

Christians, scorned by Autolycus, 89;
Theophilus glories in tne name
of, 89 ; their name, 92 ; its mean-
ing, 92 ; honour God and his law,
114; teach humanity, 114; also
repentance and righteousness,
114; also chastity and love of
enemies, 115; their innocent
manner of life, 1 1 5.

Chronology, biblical, Theophilus
founder of, 87, 106, 118; his sys-
tem, 118; from Adam to Saul,
119; Saul to Jeremiah, 119; Ro-
man, to death of Aurelius, 119;
leading epochs, 12a

Creation, 97, 98; its glory, 99; its sym-
pathy with man, loi ; its restora-
tion, lOI.
the fourth day, 100; the fifth day,
loi ; the sixth day, loi.

Delitzsch, 102; his Psychology, 102.

Deluge, errors of Greeks about, 116;
contrasted with Scripture accu-
racy, 117.

Epochs, the leading chronological,

120.
Eusebius, his praise of the Fathers,

87.

Eve, why formed from Adam*s rib,

105.
Eucharist, the, 112.
Evil, not created by God, loi.

Faith, 91 ; the leading principle, 91.
Foot-baths, 92.

Genesis, the truth of its testimony,
103.

Gibbon, cited, 92.

God, his nature, 89; his attributes,
90; perceived through his works,
90 ; and known by them, 90, 91 ;
to be seen hereafter in immortal-
ity, 91 ; to be worshipped, 92 ;
absurd opinions of philosophers
and poets concerning, 95; his
voice, 103 ; his walking, 103 ; his
law and Christian doctrine, 113.

Gods, of the heathen, 91 ; their im-
moralities, 91 ; absurdities of
their worship, 92 ; their images,
94 ; despicable when made, 94 ;
valuable when purchased, 94;
what has become of them, 94;
their genealogy, 96; divers doc-
trines concerning, 112.

Hebrew historians contrasted with

Greek, 119.
Hesiod, 95, 97, 99 ; his origin of the

world, 9j.
Holiness, enjoined by the prophets,

107.
Holy Ghost, 97, 107; anointing of,

92
Homer, his opinion concerning the

gods, 95.
Human race, how dispersed, 107.

Innocence, 115.

Inspiration, 93; refinements about,
93 ; of prophets, 97.

Kings, earthly, 92 ; to be honoured,
not adored, 92.

Knowledge, tree of, 104.

Light, created, 100.
Logos, 98; the internal, 103 ; and ex-
ternal, 103.
Luther, referred to, 102.

Man, his creation, loi, 102; his life,
102; or lives, 102; tripartite na-
ture, 102; his fall, 102; his ex-
pulsion from Paradise, 104; his
mortality, 105; and immortality,
105; and free-will, 105 j history
of, after the <lood, 106; races of,
dispersed, 107.

Manetho, 117 ; his inaccuracy in his-
tory, 117.

Melchisedek, 107.

Moses, antiquity of, 117.

Paradise, 102 ; its beauty, 103 ; man*s
expulsion from, 104.

Philosophers, absurd opinions con-
cerning God, 95 ; teach cannibal-
ism, incest, and other crimes, 112*
va^ue conjectures of, 116; his-
torical errors of, 116; their mis-
takes about the deluge, 1 16.

Poets, 109; confirm the Hebrew
prophets, 109.

Profane history, 107 ; its inconsisten-
cies, III.

Prophecies, 108.

Prophets, inspired by the Holy Ghost,
97, 107 ; enjoin holiness, 108 ;
their precepts, 108; more ancient
than Greek writers, 118.

Providence, 97.

Repentance, 114.

Resurrection, 92; illustrated, 93.

Righteousness, 1 14.

Sabbath, 99.

Scriptures, the prophetic, 93; con-
verting power ot, 93.

Sea, the, 100 ; emblem of the world,
100; its harbors, emblems of the
churches, 100 ; its perils, of here-
sies, 100.

Seth, his race, 106.
615

6i6

THEOPHILUS: INDEX OF TEXTS.

Serpent, the, 103.
Sibyl, 94, 97, 106, 108.

Temple, antiquity of, 117.

Terence, 87. (See Tatian.)

Theophilus, 87 ; follows Ignatius, 87 ;
Barnabas, Sy; prophets and
teachers of Antioch,87 ; oral dis-

cussions, 87 ; founder of Biblical
chronology, 87, 106; his only re-
maining work, 87 ; sixth bishop

occasion of this writ-

cus, 94;
ing, 94.
Tree of knowledge, 104.
of Antioch, 88 ; conjectural date 1 Trinity, the, 101 ; or Triad, loi ; first
of birth, 88; Theophilus to Au- ! use of the word, loi.
tolycus, book i., 89; conversion

Writings, Hebrew contrasted with
Greek, 119.

of» 93 ; bis account of, 93 ;
writes second book to Autoly-

THEOPHILUS.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

Gen. i. I . .

ii. 4» 5» 7
ii. 8 . .
ii. 8-iii. 19
ii. 24 .
iv. I, 2 .

xxii. 21 .
xxiii. 6 .

iosh. V. 13-15
ob ix. 9 . .
*s. xiv. I, 3 .
xxxiii. 6 .
xlv. I . .
xlv. . .
Ii. 8 . .
cxix. 130

PAGE

102
104
103
105
105
114
114
114
107

108
91
98
98

110

Ps. cxxxv. 7 .
Prov. iii. 8 .
iv. 25 .
vi. 27-29
viii. 27
xxiv. 21,
Isa. i. 16, 17
XXX. 30
xxxi. 6

Xl. 22

xl. 28
xlii. 5
xlv. 12
Iv. 6 .
Iviii. 6
Ixvi. 5
Jer. vi. 9 .

PAGE

. 91
. no

108, 115

: '^

92
. 114
. no
. 114
. 100
. 108
. 108
. 108
. 114
. 115
. 115
114

Jer. vi. 16
X. 12,13
Ii. 17 .
Ii. 18 .
Ezek. xviii. 21
Hos. xii. 6
xiv. 9
Joel ii. 16
Hab. ii. 18
Zech. vii. 9

vii. 10
Mai. iv. I .
Matt. v. 28, 32, 44, 46

vi. 3
Luke xviii. 27
' John i. I .
1 vi. 63

PAGE

108
108
114

"5
no

108

"5
no

99
103

PACE

Acts viii. 17 ... 92

xi. 26 . .

. N7

xin. I .

. S:

xix. 6 .

XX. 29-31

. s;

Rom. ii. 7 .

■ 93

ii. 8, 9

■ 93

vni. 22

. ICI

• • • A

xiii. 7, 8 .

11;

I Cor. ii. 9 .

■ '93

2 Cor. i. 22 .

121

£ph. i. 14 . .

121

I Tim. ii. 2 . .

Heb. vi. 2 . .

vii. 1-3 .

10:

I John ii. 20

Rev. xix. 10. .

ATHENAGORAS.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Angels, 141 ; the fallen, 142.

Atheists, Christians not such, 130;
charge retorted on heathen, 131 ;
absurdity of this charge, 134.

Athenagoras, his place among primi-
tive apologists, 125; a trophy of
St. Paul's preaching, 125; Paris
edition of, 126; his writings har-
monized with Justin Martyr and
others, by Bishop Kaye^ 126;
notes of Gesner and Stephans,
126; no historical information
concerning him, 127; rare men-
tion of his name in history, 127;
beauty and merit of his writings,
127; Introductory Notes, 125-
1 27 ; Plea for the Christians, 1 29 ;
On the Resurrection, 149.

Body, functions of, 1^2; the resur-
rection of, 1 52 ; differs from the
mortal, 152.

Calvin, quoted, 157.

Christian morality, 146.

Christianity, at the period of Athe-
nagoras, 125; itsshackles falling;
125; bolder tone of, 125; its con-
flict with heresies, 125; Sibylline
predictions of, 125, 132; entreats
a fair hearing, 148; his treatise
of the resurrection, 149.

Christians, plea in their behalf ad-
dressed to Marcus Aurelius and
Commodus, 129; injustice tow-
ards, 129; claim to legal protec-
tion, 130; false charges against,
130; superiority of their theol-
ogy, 132; worship the Trinity,
133; their moral teaching, 134;
why they do not offer sacrifices,
134; inconsistency of their ac-
cusers, 135; distinguish God
from matter, 135; do not wor-
ship the universe, 136; calumnies
against, confuted, 14^; elevated
morality of, 146; their conjugal
chastity, 146; contrasted with
their accusers, 147 ; condemn
cruelty, 147; abolish gladiatorial

shows, 147; abhor foeticide, 147 ;
refuse worship to the emperors,
148.

evil, 161 ; and from laws of his
nature, 161 ; and from the objects
o( his existence, 162.

Creator, 1 50 ; who makes, can restore, ; Marriage, chastity of Christians with
150. respect to, 146.

Death, 1 57 ; and sleep, 1 57 ; analogy

of, 157-
De Maistre, cited, 131.
Demons, 143; tempt to idolatry, 143;

artifices of, 143.
Digestion and nutrition consistent

with resurrection, 151.
Divine Providence denied by the

poets and philosophers, 142.
Doctrine, Christian, 132.

Germans, 126; their criticisms, 126;
valuable editorial labours, 125;
lack of sympathy with the primi-
tive writers, 126; and of devout
exegesis, 126.

Giants, their progeny, 142.

God, testimony of the poets to unity,
131 ; opinions of philosophers
concerning, 131 ; distinguished
from matter, 135.

Heathen, their gods, i;j6; and idols,
136; recent invention of, 136; a
poetic fiction, 137 ; absurd repre-
sentations of ^ods, 138; impure
ideas concerning the gods, 138;
their shameful poetry, 139; pre-
tended explanations of mythol-
ogy, 140; their gods but men,

143-
Human flesh, not the proper food of

man, 153.

Judgment, 1 56 ; necessary to soul and
body, 158.

Logos, 133, 146.

Man, argument from his nature, 156;
and from changes in his life,
158; and from his liability to
judgment, 160; from his actions,
160; and from such good and

Philosophers, opinions of, 131 ; re-
specting the gods, 137 ; Thales
and Plato, 140; deny a Provi-
dence, 142; Aristotle, 142; Plato
and Pythagoras sustain the pos-
sibility of resurrection, 148.

Plato, opinion of, 140.

Poets, testimony of, 131 ; describe
the gods as originally men, 144;
reasons for this, 145.

Polytheism, absurdities of, 132.

Prophets, testimony of, 133.

Pusey, quoted, 157.

Resurrection, 149; not impossible
150; objections to, 151; cani-
balism no impediment, 1 53 ; nor
man's impotency, 1 53 ; will of the
Creator concerning, 154; argu-
ment continued, 1^5 ; not merely
for judgment, 156; children to
rise again, 156; argument from
man's nature, 156; probability
of, 158; from changes in man's
life, iq8; if none, man less fa-
voured than brutes, 159; con-
cluding argument, 162; its beauty
and force, 162.

Rewards and punishments, 158.

St. Paul, his preaching on Mars Hill,
12 J ; its apparent sterility, 125;
Atnenagoras its trophy, 125.

Sibyl, prediction of Christianity, 125,
132; quotation from, 145.

Sleep, IJ7.

Soul and body, judgment of, 158.

Telemachus, heroic history of, 147.
Thales, opinion of, 140.

Universe, not worshipped by Chris-
tians, 136; the Ptolemaic system
of, 136.

617

ATHENAGORAS.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

PAGE

Gen. vi. 1-4 . . . .

. 142

--focrxx. ^» 3 . . . .

• 133

Lev. ii. I

• 13s

Job xix. 25 ... .

• 157

Prov. viii. 22 . . .

■ 133

Isi. xli. 4

• 133

xliii. lOy II . .

133

Isa. xliv. 6 .
Ixvi. I .

Mai. i. II . .

Matt. V. 28 .
V. 44-46
xix. 9 .
xix. 12

PAGE I

133 \ Matt. xxii. 39

133 : Luke vi. 27, 28

135 1" vi.32,34

146 j Rom. XII. I .

134 I Cor. XV. 38

147 XV. 44
146 1 XV. 54

PAGE
146

>34
134

Col. ii. 4 . .
ii. 18 .
I Tim. ii. i, 2

• • ■

111. 2 .

V.9 .
146 Tit. i. 12 . .
159 I Heb. i. 14 .

PAGE

I4S
146
14b

j.>

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

[INCLUDING THE INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES.]

Abraham, elect, 445; meaning of his
name, 446.

Abstraction from material things,
necessary to the knowledge of
divine truth, 460.

Advent of Christ, precursors of, 519.

Agapip^ Christian, 238 ; abuse of the
term by heretics, 403.

Alexandria, centre of Christian cul-
ture, 165 ; catechetical school of,

342.

Alms, how given and received, 578.

Amusements, good and bad, 289;
public (spectacles), forbidden,
290.

Anacharsis, forbids heathen mys-
teries, 177.

Angels, spiritual beings, 493 ; minis-
try of, 517-518, 575; inferior,
given to Gentiles, 524 ; guardian,

533-

Animals, clean and unclean, signifi-
cation of, 556.

Apostles, how chosen, 514, 532 ; mar-
riage of, 541, 543.

Aristobulus, quoted, 487 ; two of the
name, 520.

Art, wisdom given by God, 304.

Arts, invented by Hebrews, 317.

Astronomy, mystery of, 501.

Baptism, of Christ, effect of, 215;
Christian, names and effects,
215-216; illumination, 216; with
faith and repentance, 217; for
the remission of sins, 222, 361 ;
seal, 349, 462 ; not to l>e repeated,
j6i ; sin after, 438, 443 ; new
)irth in Christ, 439; first of
Christian mysteries, 461 ; of the
apostles, tradition of, 578.

Barnabas, St., an apostle, 354-355 ;
of the Seventy, 372, 567 ; quoted,
355» 362, 366', 372, 459.

Basilides, heretic, errors of, 355, 358,
381, 423, 437, 440, 445.

Bath, behaviour in, 279 ; right use of,
282.

Bean, prohibited by Pythagoras, 385,

403-

Beatitudes, true teaching of, 413,441.
Beauty, true and false, 271.
" Because of the angels," interpret-
ed, 578.
Beetle, fable concerning, 449, 484.
Birth and death, law of, 584.
Blood, symbol of the Word, 221.
Body, Cnristian, temple of God, 584.
Bread, symbol of the Word, 221.
Britain, legend of musical cave, 487.
Bunsen, Baron, HippolytuSy 297, 443.

Callimachus, quoted, J78.
Candlestick, the golcien, symbol of

the Holy Spirit, 452, 477.
Carpocratians, their heresies and

practice, 383, 403.
Cassiodorus, note on, 571.
Causes, defined and classified, 565-

567.
Children, Christ's name for his disci-

Eles, 212-213; character an(#
lessings, 214; applied to those

under the Law, 217 ; nourished

by the milk of the Word, 218.
Christian life, a system of reasonable

actions, 235; precepts of, in

Scripture, 291-295.
Christians, sons of God, 195 ; their

unity, 197.
Chronology of Holy Scripture, 325-

334» :}46.

Churcn, Catholic, unity of, 555; Jew-
ish and Christian, one, 369;
earthly, image of heavenly, 421.

Clement of Alexandria, a reformer,
165 ; pupil and successor of Pan-
taenus, 166 ; life and works, 167 ;
teacher of philosophic Christian-
ity, 380; his knowledge of He-
brew questioned, 439, 443, 446,
484.

Clement of Rome, St., an apostle,
428; quoted, 308, 418, 428, 495.

Clothing, Christian use of, 263 ; not
to be dyed, 265 ; of women, 266 ;
of the feet, 267 ; becoming for
Christians, 284.

Commandments, the tw^o great, 599.

Concupiscence, forbidden by the law

and by Christ, 394. (See Covet-
ousness.)

Confession of Christ, public, 421 ;
promises to, 422; true martyr-
dom, 422.

Continence, heretical opinions of, re-
futed, 381 ; of Christians more ex-
cellent than of philosophers, 391 ;
in all things, not one only, 392.

Contrition, the only true penitence,
416.

Courage is not daring, 541.

Covetousness. (See Concupiscence.)

Creation, why not repeated, 584.

Crowns, floral, not used by Christians,

255-
Culture, Greek, useful to Christians,

307 ; a divine gift, 308 ; necessary

tor understanding Scripture, 310.

Customs, heathen, to be forsaken,

197-199; debasing effects of,

200-201, 205-206; overcome by

divine truth, 201-202.

Death, Christian philosophy of, 411 ;
errors of Valentinus, concerning,

425-
Decalogue, interpreted, 511 ; why ten

commandments, 511; omissions

in interpretation of, 515, 522.

Deception, permitted by the sophists,
5^38; modern casuistry on, 556.

Definitions of terms, necessary, 556,
561 ; philosophical, nature, and
classification, 562-563.

Degrees, in heaven, corresponding to
order in the church, 505; how
attained, 505; of knowledge,
true Gnostic only perfect in, 507.

Democritus, on the idea of God, 465,
486.

Demonstration, defined, 559; pro-
duces scientific belief, S59; first
principles indemonstrable, 550;
dilemma of suspense of judg-
ment, 562.

Dialectics, a means to true wisdom,

340.
Disciplina arcant\ true nature of,

343-344-

619

620 CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Dispensations, the seven, 476-477.

Doubt and assent, causes of, 564.

Dove, emblem of the Holy Spirit,
578.

Dress, heathen luxury m, forbidden
to Christian women, 273; to
men, 275; leads to licentious-
ness, 27^

Drinking, Christian principles of,
242 ; abuses of, 244-245.

Eating, luxury in, heathen, 237 ;
Christian temperance in, 239-
242.

Egyptian rites, 488; Bishop Warbur-
ton on, 520; women in, 521.

Elect, illustrated by Abraham, 445;
known by Christ, 533; elect of
elect, 601'.

Electa, lady to whom St. John's Sec-
ond Epistle was written, 577.

Elijah, example of frugality, 201.

Emblems, Christian, in the Cata-
combs, 297.

Empedocles, quoted, 384-385, 40J,
446, 464, 466.

Epiphanes, 382 ; opinion on commu
nity of women, 403.

Esoteric doctrine, use of, 302, 313,
343, 345.

Eucharist, 242 ; peculiar customs of,
300; received according to rea-
son, 310 ; heretics celebrate with
water, 322 ; typified by Melchizc-
dek, 439.

Euripides, quoted, 384-385, 403, 469.

Evil, not sought for itself, 319 ; works
for good, 3JO.

Exhortation^ Tke^ of Clement, object
of, 167.

Eye, government of the, 291.

Faith, possible without learning, 307,
34c; not a natural quality, 349;
only means to the knowledge of
God, 349; taught by Scripture
to Greek philosophy, 352 ; leads
to repentance, hope, benevo-
lence, 353, 357 ; faith, not opin-
ion, foundation of knowledge,
359; twofold, relating to mem-
ory and hope, 360; voluntary,
360; necessary to justification,
444; foundation of knowledge,
445; heretical views of, 445;
saving, manifested by works,
505.

Fathers, apostolical, Quoted, 348, 355,
357» 360, 362, 366, 422, 428, 460,

495-496. S»o-
Fear of God, necessary, 354.

Figurative teaching of Scripture and
philosophy, 450.

Filthy speaking and acts, reproved,
250.

Free-will, the original of sin, 319,
362-363 ; necessary to faith and
repentance, 349; condition of
judgment, 353; proofs of, 424,
426, 437, 502, 524; power of
choosing salvation, 441 ; error
of Basilides, 444 ; illustrated by
Plato, 483 ; source of obedience,
519, 527-528, and of faith, 525,
527- C28; choice of virtue, 525.

Friendship, how threefold, 369.

Frugality, a mark of Christian living,
280; examples of, 281.

Geometry, mystery of, 499-501.

Gnosis f true wisdom, revealed by
God, 494.

Gnostic, true (Christian), as defined
by Clement, 342 ; his contempt
for pain and poverty, 412 ; divine
contemplation, 414; object of
life, 418; trained by Cnristian
knowledge, 433, 438; perfected
by martyrdom, 433 ; seeks good
for itself, 434-437, and knowl-
edge, 4p5 ; philosophic testimony
to, 430; how reeards earthlv
things, 430 ; an imitator of God,
440 ; freed from passion and per-
turbation, 496; uses all knowl-
edge, 498 ; conjectures things
future, 501, 521 ; alone attains
perfection, 502 ; represses sen-
sual desire, 503; worshipper of
God, 523 ; attains likeness to
Christ, 526; knowledge, 527,
content, self-control, 528 ; his
faith and trust, 536; help to
others, 536; prayer and alms,
537» 545; takes no oath, 537;
teaches by example, 538; made
perfect in knowledge, 539; final
reward, 539; full character of,
540, 558 ; lover of God and man,
542; his self-restraint in lawful
things, 543, fasting, 544, char-
ity, 545, continual devotion, 546,
long-suffering and forgiveness,
548.

Gnostics, false, tendency of, 380; de-
spisers of the body, 412.

God, known by science only as mani-
fested in Christ, 438 ; incompre-
hensible by human mind, 463;
knowledge of, a divine gift, 464 ;
this shown by philosophers, 464-
465; how far revealed to the
heathen, 474-475; eternal, 476;

^ knowledge of, in Greek philoso-
phy, 489.

Gods of the heathen, their wicked-
ness, 179-182; cruelty of their
worship, 183; their temples,
tombs, 184.

Goodness, divine, not inconsistent
with justice, 225-227.

Grafting, illustrative of conversion,
507.

Greelc, language of Christianity, 166;
type of early Christianity, 379;
poetry quoted, 469-474.

Gymnosophists of India, answers of,
488.

Hades, Christ preached to Jews
in, and apostles to Gentiles,
490; repentance in, 491.

Hair, may be trimmed, but not dyed,
286.

Hebrew names, meaning of, 439, 443,
446, 476.

Hebrews, Epistle to, translated by
St. Luke, 579; why not sub-
scribed by St. Paul, 442, 579.

Heraclitus, quoted, 384-385, 403, 446.

Heresies, no argument against vJhris-
tian belief, 550; tested by Scrip-

ture, 551 ; founded on opinion,
554; new inventions, 556; au-
thors of, 556.

Heretics, their pretexts for licentious-
ness, 385 ; claim all carnal things
as lawml, 388; condemn mar-
riage, ^589, 394; character of,
555; first neretics post-apos-
tolic, 5^5-556; St. John's course
regarding, 577.

Hermas, Shepherd of, quoted, 348,
357, 360, 422, 510.

Herodotus, quoted, 384-385, 403.

Homer, quoted, 384-385, 40^ 469.

Hope, Christian, witnessed to by
philosophers, 447.

Household life, habits of, 251.

Hymns, to Christ, 295 ; to the Pada-
gogusy 296; evening, of Greek
Christians, 298.

Idols, to be rejected, 519.

Images, heathen, shameful, 1S4-1SS.

Incarnation of Christ, benefits of,
202-204, 601.

Instruction, Christian, meaning of,
223 ; heathen, folly of, 223 ; given
through the Law bv the Word.
224, 234 ; power of Christ's, 225 :
effects in Christians, 235.

Iota and tittle, meaning of, 578.

Irreverence, reproof of, 585.

Isaac, type of Christian joy, 214.

James, St., the Great, 579 ; tradition
of his martyrdom, 579.
the Just, Bishop of Jerusalem, 579.

Jarvis, Dr. S. F., Church of the Re-
deem ed^ 477.

John, St., tradition of, 574 ; his Sec-
ond Epistle interpreted, 577;
origin of his Gospel, 580; St.
John and the robber, story of,
603-604.

John Baptist, St., voice of the Word,
174.

Jubilee, year of, 438, 443.

Jude, St., his relationship to our
Lord, 573.

Kaye, Bishop, analysis of St. Clem-
ent's Miscellanies^ 342.

Kiss of charity, abuse of, 291.

Knowledge, true, defined, 349-350.
364; foundation in faith, 445;
by the senses, 445; twofold, by
apprehension and reason, 480;
of God, in Greek philosophy.
489; degrees of, ^07; love of,
508; true, in Christ only, 508:
philosophy and heresies, aids to,
509.

Laughter, abuse of, 249.

Law, penalty of, beneficent, 339:
natural and revealed, one, and
divine, 341 ; divine, teacher 01
philosophy, 367.

Lord's day, fllustrated by Greek
authors, 469; day of Christ's
resurrection, 545.

Love, Christian, how fulfils the law,
414; extent of, 426, 430; re-
presses sensual passion, 430; of
man, rewards of, 601-602.

Luxury, household, forbidden to

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 621

Christians, 247 ; in dress and
person, tjz-ztj ; in servants,
278 ; hindrance to charity, 279.

Maiden, the model, described by
2^no, 289.

Man, pre-existent in the Divine Mind,
210; object of God's love, 210;
spiritual excellence of, 410.

Manliness, true Christian, 365.

Marcion, heretic, 384-385, 403, 445.

Mark, St., disciple of St. Peter, 561 ;
origin of his Gospel, ^79.

Marriage, . lawful use of, 259-263 ;
nature, conditions, and duty of,
377 ; single commended, second
permitted, 382, 403; heretical
perversions of Scripture regard-
^'^g* 395» 39S ; errors of Cassian
refuted, 399 ; its purity taught in
Holy Scripture, 400, 403; de-
pravation of it a reproach to the
Creator, 400, 403 ; two heretical
views of marriage to be shunned,
401 ; true philosophy of, 402, 403-
407; of apostles, 533; honourable
in all, 533.

Martha of Bethany, Christ's rebuke
of, 594.

Martyrdom, why to be desired, 411,
423; spiritual, 412; heathen,
falsely so named, 412 ; not need-
less aeath, 412, 423; blessedness
of, 416; philosophy testifies to,
418-419; sex and condition of
martyrs, 420 ; errors of Basil ides
on, 423-424; testimony of Scrip-
ture, 427 ; of St. Clement of
Rome, 428.

Menander, witness to Scripture, 446.

Milk, symbol of spiritual nourish-
ment, 218-222.

Ministry, how chosen, 504; orders
of» 505 ; commissioned by Christ,

535-
Miracles of Christ, mystery of, 501.

Mixed cup in the Eucharist, 242.

Mosaic Law, a preparation for Christ,
339 ; fourfold character of, 340.

Moses, history of, 335 ; lawgiver and
general, 336-338; tradition of
his burial, 511 ; assumption of,
373 ; slaying the Egyptian, 585.

Music, sanctified to God, 248; instru-
mental, not Christian, 249; mys-
tery of, 499.

Mustard seed, parable of, interpreted,
578.

Mysteries, Christian, why celebrated
by night, 435; Eleusinian, vile-
ness of, 175-177.

Mythology, heathen, absurd and im-
pious, 175-177, 520; its origin,
179-180, 530.

Names, conceptions and subjects

(philosophical) classified, 564.
Neighbour, who is our, 599.
New creation in Christ, meaning of,

594.
Nicetas, commentary on Job, quoted,

577-

Nicolas, deacon, name and teaching
abused by Nicolaitans, 385.

Numbers, mystery of, 499, 521 ; sym-
bols of, in the Decalogue, 512-514.

Occupations of Christians, 282.
Offences to be avoided, 426.
Ointments, abuse of, 253.
Ornaments, unsuited to Christians,
267-270.

PadagozuSy The^ of Clement, object
ana contents of, 167.

Pantaenus, teacher at Alexandria,
165-167, 343.

Parables of our Lord, m)rstenr of,
SOI-502 ; interpreted, — of the
Labourers, 415; Mustard Seed,
578; Pearl, 578; Good Samari-
tan, 599; Prodigal Son, sermon
on. 581-589.

Passover (last) of our Lord, date of,

565-

Paul, St., late witness of Old-Testa-
ment truth, 434, 442.

Pearl, parable of, interpreted, 578.

Perfection, distinct from complete-
ness, 459, 478; possible to hu-
man nature, 502 ; attained by the
true Gnostic alone, 502.

Peripatetic philosophy, 191.

Persecution, how understood, 598.

Peter, St., tradition of his wife's mar-
tyrdom, 541.

Philo Judaeus, his interpretation of
Scripture history, 306.

Philolaus, quoted, 382, 403.

Philosophers, heathen, opinions of,
respecting God, 190; taught truth
by the Scriptures, 191-192 ; opin-
ions on the chief good, 374;
Christian, self-restraint of, 370.

Philosophy, use of, in Christian teach-
ing, 30^; Greek, a preparation
for Christ, 305, 321-323, 347-348 ;
what is true philosophy, 308,
311 ; sects of, contain half-truths,
313; successive schools of, 313;
Greek, foreign sources of, 314-
317, posterior to the Mosaic
Law, 324-333, 341 ; true philos-
ophy seeks God, 358-359, 369;
taught by divine law m piety,
charity, justice, purity, 367;
taught highest good by Scrip-
ture, 375, and other things by
the same, 465, 478; object of
true philosophy, 493; character
and origin, 493 ; gift of God to
Jew and Greek, 495, 517, 521 ;
cannot give perfect knowledge
of God, 515, but a preparation
for such knowledge, 516; Greek,
a recreation to the Gnostic, 517;
necessary to knowledge, 518; its
objective truth, J56.

Pictures, heathen, their licentious-
ness, 189.

Pindar, quoted, 382, 403.

Plagiarism, of Greek poets from each
other, 481-483; of philosophers
and historians, 484-486; of
Cirecks from Hebrew Scrip-
tures, 486-^88 ; of philosophers,
from Egypt and India, 488.

Plato, on language of animals, 333 ;
an imitator of Moses, 338; falsely
quoted by heretics, on commu-
nity of women, and depravation
of the natural creation, 382, 403 ;
on hope, 404 ; on future rewards,

416, 436, 442 ; city of, in heaven,
441, 443; witness to Scripture,
446, 470, 479; on spiritual knowl-
edge, 448, a divine gift, 464; idea
of God, 465 : philosophic teach-
ing from Scripture, 466, 469;
illustrating the Trinity, 468, the
Lord's day, 461^, the Messiah,
470, 479, free-will, 475.

Poets, heathen, testimony to the
truth, 193.

Prayer, subject of, 533; gestures, 534;
canonical hours, 534 ; false Gnos-
tic, ideas of, 534; silent, 535;
why towards tne East, 535; of
the wicked, 535; of the true
Gnostic, 535.

Prayer of St. Clement to the Pada-
gogus, 295.

Predestination, ground of, 497, 524.

Priesthood of Christians, 572.

Prophets, the, teachers of the truth,
194-195; teach by parables and
enigmas, 510, 522.

Providence, special, to be believed,
312.

Punishment, a mark of God's love,
226; a means of salvation, 228-
230; leads to repentance, 232-
233 ; divine, object of, 437, 442.

Purity, law of, 259, 317, 348, 433.

Pythagoreans, falsely quoted against
marriage, 385, 403; sayings of
Theano, 417, 431, 441-442; on
the idea of God, 465.

Regeneration of Christians by the
Word, 357.

Religion in common life, 290.

Repentance, first and second, 361 ;
voluntary, 361 ; what is true, 602.

Riches, true Christian, 279, 596, 600;
not to be thrown away, 594;
when profitless, 595; want of,
not salvation, 597 ; how forsaken
for Christ, 598.

Righteousness, true, J04; impresses
a likeness to God, 504 ; in what
sense attained through philoso-
phy, 305. 323. 345-346.

Rings, for tne cars, forbidden, 285;
for the hands, how allowed, 285 ;
signet, designs, 285.

Ruler, the young, character of, 594.

Sabbath, Jewish, right keeping of,
302.

Sacrifices, heathen, cruelty of, 183;
needless, 532; sacrifices of prayer
and praise, 532 ; of the Law, 532.

Salome, apocryphal sayings of
Christ to, 392.

Salvation before Christ, 428 ; one to
Jew and Gentile, 490.

Samaritan, good, signifies Christ, 599.

Scripture, holy, chronology of, 325-
334; threefold interpretation of,
341 ; why veiled in parables,
509 ; test of doctrinal truth, 550,

Segaar, Charles, annotator of St.
Clement, 605.

Self-restraint of Christian philoso-
phers, 370.

Septuagint, date and origin of, 334.

Servants, how kept by heathen, 278 ;

622 CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Servants, how treated by Christians,
288.

Sex, no distinction of, in instruction,
211 ; Christian relations of, 419.

Sibyl, the, testimony to the truth, 192,
I94» 346; quoted, 384-385, 403.

Similitudes in instruction, use of,
281.

Sin, voluntary and involuntary, 361 ;
power to repent of, 361 ; not to
be predicated of the divine na-
ture, 363.

Sleep, Christian use of, 2^7.

Socrates, on future rewards, 436, 442.

Sodomites, sin and punishment of,
282.

Son of God, Saviour and Lord of all,
524; order of His government,
525 ; not author of evil, 526.

Sophists, foolishness of, 304, 309.

Sophocles, witness to Scripture, 446.

Speech, subordinate to action, 310.

Spirits in prison, preached to, 490.

Stationary days, fasts of, 544.

Stromata^ The^ of Clement, object
and character of, 168; meaning
of term, 408.

Symbols, Pythagorean, in philosophic
proverbs, 450; Egyptian, 454;
of philosophical language, 455;
of the Mosaic Law, 456 ; reasons
for, 457; apostolic opinion of,
459; Jewish, do not sanction
image worship, 453, 477.

Tabernacle and its furniture, sym-
bolic meaning of, 452.

Tatian on marriage, errors of, 396,
403-407.

Teachers of St. Clement, 301-302.

Teaching,' right motives in, 300.

Temperance, in living, 251 ; in con-
versation, 252.

Temple furniture, symbolism of, 585.

Temples, in what sense holy, 530;
heathen, tombs, 184.

Theano the Pythagorean, sayings of,
417,431,441-442.

Theognis, quoted, 382, 403.

Timothy, Epistle to, rejected by cer-
tain heretics, 359.

Tithes and firstfruits, maintenance
of priests under the Law, 363.

Tradition of doctrine from the apos-
tles, 301, ^3; unwritten, 494.

Trinity, doctrme of, illustrated by
Plato, 468.

Truth, divine, contrasted with hea-
then fable, 171; its power over
men, 172; spiritual nature of,
464; attained through faith, as
the gift of God, 519; given to
all, 522; object of true philoso-
phy, 556.

Unbelief, sin and danger of, 195-197.
Unity of Jew and Greek in Christ, 504.
** Unknown God," Athenian inscrip-
tion to, 464, 478.

Valentinus, heretic, errors of, 355,

359, 425, 445.
Vestments of the high priest, s>in-

bolism of, 453.

Wife, character of a good, 432.

Wine, how used by Christians, 243;
how abused to drunkenness, 244 :
Christ's example in, 246.

Wisdom, object of true philosophx,
492; manifold, 518.

Witnesses, three earthly, interpreted,
576.

Women, right adorning of, 2S7;
chaste habits in, 288 ; behaviour
at church, 290 ; examples of per-
fection in, 431.

Word, the, pre-existent, incarnate,
teacher, 173; restorer and guide
of man, 209 ; healer of the soul,
210; symbolized by milk, 219,
by bread and by blood, 221 ; eter-
nal and uncreate, 573.

Worship, true nature of, 532.

Xanthus, quoted, 383, 403.
Xenocrates, on the idea of God, 46^
486.

Zeno, description of a model maiden,

289.
Zephaniah (apocryphal), vision of

heaven, 462.

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

INDEX OF TEXTS.

PACK

PACE

Gen. i. i .
i- >-3

•

1 i

■''.''tU

Gen. xlvi. 3 . .
xlvi. 27 . .

. . 224
• • 332

Ex. xxxiii. 18
xxxiii. 20

i. 26. . 199,234,441,

xlix. 6 . .

. . 224

xxxiv. 29

451

xlix. II. .

213, 221

xxxiv. 2 .

i. 27, 28 . . . 259
1. 28 . . 377, 387, 400,

Ex. ii. 10 . . .

• • 335
. . 218

xxxiv. 12

HI. 8 . . .

Lev. xi. . .

584

iii. 14 . . .

. 227, 338

xi. 13 .

J. 29 387

iii. 16. . .

• • 35'

xi. 14 .

i.31.

■ 359

iii. 18. . . .

. . 228

xii. 8

11. 4 .

. 514

iii. 19. . . .

. . 228

XV. 29 .

ii. 18

. 378

X. 28 ... .

- • 363

xvi. 23, 24

!!:23 •

. 262

XV. I . . .

■ • 457

xvii. 7 .

111. 5. ,

. 401

xvi. 36 . . ,

• 359

xviii. 1-5

iii. 20

• 393

xvii

. 242

xviii. 20

iii. 21 .

' 399

xix. 20 . . .

• 394

xviii. 22

iv. I . .

, 401

XX. ...

. . 292

xix. 9 .

iv. 25 .

. 396

XX. 2 . . . .

. 223

xix. 10 .

VI. 1,2 .

. 274

XX. 2, 3 . .

' • 512

xix. 29 .

yi. 3. .

.^3^

XX. 4 . . . .

. 189

xi*- 33, 34

ix. I . .

XX. 5 . . . ,

XX. 6 . . . .

. . 227

XX. 10 .

ix. 2.

■ 'as?

227

XX. 24 .

ix. 2, 3

. 241

XX. 7 . . . .

. 290

xxi. 9 .

ix. 3.

■ 387

XX. 12 . .

• • 399

xxiii. 22

ix. 23 ,

• 25'

XX. 13 . .

. . 382

XXV. 2-7

xiv. 14

• 499

XX. 13-16 .

. . 202

XXV i.

xiv. 23

. 582

XX. 14 . .

251, 260

xxvi. 12

XV. 6

: roi

XX. 17 . 251,

301 » 382,

XXV i. 24

XVI. 6

394, 450

xxvi. 30

xvii. I

■ 223

XX. 20 . . .

. . 226

Num. vi. 9 .

xvii. 2 .

. 223

xxi. 24 . . .

. . 387

vi. 12 .

xvii. 4

' 341

xxi. 33 . .

■ . 457

XV. 30 .

xviii. 6

. 283

xxi. 36 . .

■ ' ^l'^

AAa » •

xviii. 8

. 284

XXll. I . . .

xxiii. 22

xviii. 12 .

• 503

xxiii. I . .

■ • 252

XXV. 1-9

xviii. 22 .

' 359

xxiii. 2 . .

. . 278

XXV. 8 .

xviii. 23 ,

• 359

xxiii. 4 . .

. . 367

Deut. iv. 9 .

xviii. 25

. 440

xxiii. 10, II

. . 366

iv. 12 .

xviii. 27

. 428

XXV. 23 * .

. . 500

iv. 19 .

XX. 12 .

•37

7,503

XXV. 24 . .

. . 500

V. . .

xxi. 10 .

• 3»2

xxviii. 3 . 305,

320, 516

vi. 2 .

xxii. 3, 4 .

. 461

xxix. 45 . .

. . 406

vi. 4 .

xxiii. 4 .

■

. 440

xxxi. 2-5 .

• • 305

vi. s .

xxiii. 6 .

• 369

xxxi. 6 . .

• • 305

^1:.'3 •

xxiv. 16

• • ■

• 439

xxxii. 6 . .

• • 234

VIII. 2, 3

xxviii. 15

■

• ^?3

xxxii. 9, 10 .

. . 431

viii. 3 .

xxix. 9 .

• -53

xxxii. 32

. . 431

''ii!- 5 •

XXX. ^y .

. 284

xxxii. 33 .

. . 224

viii. 18

xxxii. 24

• 223

xxxii. 34

. . 224

X. 12 .

xxxii. 30

• ''?3

xxxiii. I . .

• • 459

X. 16, 17

xxxiii. I

I .

;^369

xxxiii. II .

■ 35i»4io

X. 19 .

PAGE
348,461
446

504

359

450
289
289
212
212

454
276

261
261
366
366

277

367

379

459

379
366

366

231

406

584
328
210
210

369
242

582

263

363

488

505
292

224

195,471
202, 387

. 195

•o 339

238,281

• 339
. 368

. 441
. 487

• 3^7

Deut. X. 20 .

xiii. 4 .
xiv.

xiv. 7 .
xiv. 12
xiv. 21
xviii. 15
xviii. 19
XX. 5-7
XX. 10.
xxi. 10-13
xxi. II, 12,
xxii. 3
xxii. 5
xxii. 10
xxii. 12
xxii. 22
xxiii. I
xxiii. 7
xxiii. 17
xxiv. 10,
xxiv. 19
xxiv. 20, :

XXV. 4 .
XXV. 13, I
XXX. 6 .
xxvi. 17, 18
xxvii. 15
XXX. 15. 198,
XXX. 1 5, 16
XXX. 19
XXX. 19, 20
xxxi. 20
xxxii
xxxii
xxxii. 8
xxxii. 8, 9
xxxii. 10-
xxxii. 13
xxxii. 14
xxxii. 20
xxxii. 21
xxxii. 23
xxxii. 24
xxxii. 25
xxxii. 39
xxxii. 41
xxxii. 42
xxxiii. 5
Judg. iii. 8 .

623

PAGE

• 195
369,466

. 456

^ii'l

:ii. 6

624

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF TEXTS.

Jude. iv. 6 .
XII. 8 .

1 Sam. i. 13 .

iii. 3» 4
viii. 13

xi. 18

xvi. 7

xvi. 12

2 Sam. vi. 17-19

vi. 20

1 Kings vii. 13

vii. 40
viii. 27
xiii. I,
xix. .
xix. 4
xix. 6

2 Kings i. 8 .

vi. 17-19
xxii. 8
xxiii. 22
2 Chron. xi. 1 5
Job i. I . .

i. 21 . .

V. 13 . .

V. 25 . .

xi. 2 . .

xiv. 4

xiv.4, 5.

xviii. 5 .

xxviii. .

xlii. 2, 3

xlii. 6 .
Ps. i. 1 . 232, 233,

PACE
326
326

503» 534

1. 2

!-3

1.4

i. 4» 5
i. 5»6
i.6
ii. 4
ii.8

232,

• ■

233>

486
274
272
242
279

330
330

326

575
281

281

266

242

328

276

428, 546

439» 546

. 304

. 410

• 495

• 424
400, 428

• 439
. 269

• 440
. 440

289, 362,

162

233.
233,
438.

11.9

II. 10
ii. 12

• « ■

III. 5
iv. 2
iv
v

V. 7
v. 8

:-r.

vi.8 . .

vii. 9 . .

viii. 2 . .

viii. 3 . .

viii. 4 . .

viii. 5 . .

ix. 9 . .

ix. II . .

ix. 15 . .

ix. 17 . .

xi. 5 . .

xi. 6 . .

xi. 7 . .

xii. 3-5 •
xii. 6 . .

XV. I . .

xvi. 9-1 1

xvii. 3, 4 .

xviii. II, 12

xviii. 25, 26

xviii. 26 .

xviii. 43 .

xviii. 44 .

430

556

3^3

363
292

228

434
225

195. 464
469

195
472

213

361

398

361
212

190

228

410

492

492
492

495
228

492
492

415
494

505
491

502

507
456

584
230
230

Ps. xviii. 45
xix. I .
xix. 2, 3
xix. 4 .
xix. 9 .
xix. 10
xxii. 22
xxii. 26
xxiii. 4
xxiv. I
xxiv. 3-6
xxix. 3
xxxii. I
xxxii. I, 2
xxxii. 10
xxxiii. i-'i
xxxiii. 6
xxxiv. 8
xxxiv. II
xxxiv. 12
xxxiv. 13, 14
xxxiv. I5i 16
xxxiv. 15-17
xxxvi. I .
xxxvi. 5 .
xxxvi i. 25
xxxvii. 35-37
xxxix. 12
xliv. 5
xlv. 2 .
xlv. 4 .
xlv. 7, 8
xlv. 9 .
xlv. 14
xlviii. 8
xlviii. 10, II
xlviii. 12
xlviii. 13
xlviii. 21
xlix. 12
xlix. 16, I
xlix. 20

.7 •

•13 •

• 14, 15
. 21 .

i. 1-4

i. 6 .

i. 7-12

i. 17 . . 293

i. 19 .

viii. 4, 5

xii. 4 .

xii. 8 .

xii. 12

XV. 4 .

xviii. 8
XX. 4 .
xxii. 9
xxiii. I
xxviii. If 2
xxviii. 2.
xxviii. 8
xxviii. 10
xxviii. 32
xxviii. 33
xxviii. 34
xxviii. 35
xxviii. 30
xxxii. I .
xxxii. 6 . 206,

PAGE

. 230

• 5'3

• 459

• 253
. 546

203, 222

• 203

. 447
225

200, 518

• 539

• 495

• 302
. 429
. 249
. 189

196,460

196, 546

. 429

• 429
291

. 429
. 340

• 465
. 281
. 414
. 440
. 582
. 272

. 507

• 254
. 501
. 501
. 232
. 310

. 547
. 400

393. 400

• 234
. 361

• 234
. 400
. 462

. 430
437, 506

• 429
429. 459

• 301
430, 526

• 526
. 201

. 415
. 201

• 434

• 583

• 474
. 201

. 201

209,

215^

xxxiv. I .
xxxvi. 2, 3
xxxix. 14

549

450

463
231

231

374
374.
437
487
210
231

Ps. Ixxxix. 21

xc. 9, 10
xciv. II
xcv. 7 .
xcv. 8 .

xcv. 9 .
xcv. 9-1 1
xcvi. I
xcvi. 5
xcviii. I
cii. 9 .

280,

ciii. 8 .
ciii. II
cm. 14
ciii. 19
civ. 2 .
civ. 4 .
cv. 3, 4

ex. 2 .

ex. 3 .
cxi. 4 .
cxl 9 .
cxi. 10
cxii. 5
cxii. 6
cxii. 7
cxii. 9
cxiii. I
cxviii. 6
cxviii. 9
cxviii. 18
cxviii. 19
cxviii. tg, 20
cxviii. 20
cxviii. 24
cxix. 2 .
cxix. 62 .
cxix. 66 .
cxix. 125
cxix. 164
cxxv. 4, 5
cxxv. 5 .
cxxvi. 5 .
cxxviii. I
cxxxii. .
cxxxiii. 2

cxxxix. 7-10
cxli. 2 . .
cxli. ^ . .
cxl vii. 20
cxlix. I, 2 .
cxlix. 3
cxlix. 4
cl. 3 .
cl. 5 .
Prov. i. 1-4
i. 2-6

i' 5f 6

i. 6.

i. 7 . . 229,

i. 10

i. II

i. 12

i. 14

i. 15, 16, 17

i. 17, 18 .

i. 18, ig .

i. 24 . .

i. 25 . .

i-33 • 35<>.
li. .

ii. I, 2

ii. 2

• • •

in. 3

PAGE
. 429

. 514

• 304
196

. 196

. 171

. 189

. 171

• 493

• 3^3
. 361

22c

228

. 266

. 466

• 499

. 22J

^73* 196

• 363

• 391

• 355

Prov.

PAGE

. 498

• 499
370, 480

212

. 423

. 386

224, 339

. 308

• 495
. 308

. 514

• 523
. 258

494, 533

• 494

• 532
. 578

. 584

. 361

277

516

• 434

• 535
. 229

. 494

. 249

• 249
. 249
. 248

248

. 510

. 348

. 510

. 449

355» 543

• 233

• 233
. 401
. 401

• 355
. 401

. 231

• 231

377. 437

• 312

• 299

• 356

• 391

11. 3-5

• •

. . 305

11. 4 . .

. . 232

"•5 • •

11. 6 . .

. . 232

. . 194

111. I . •

. . 299

111.3 • • '

. . 340

in. 5 • . •

280,437

iii. 5, 6, 7

■ - 34^

m. 7 . .

• • 3^3

ill. II . .

195. 229

111. II, 12

. . 307

111. 12 . . .

229, 34S

111.13. . .

232,340

111. 13-15.

. . 270

111. 15 . .

. . 2y

111. 16 . .

. . 340

iii. 18 . .

. . 461

HI. 23 . .

■305.3+*^

111. 27 . .

' • 391

iv. 8, 9 . .

- . 305

IV. 10, 1 1 . .

• - 305

iv. 18 . .

' • 305

IV. 21

• • 3PS

IV. 25

. . 291

V. 2,3

. . 30b

v.3-5

. . 287

V. 5

. . 306

V. 5,6
V. 8, 9

. . 2S8

. . 306

V. II

. . 30^

V. 16

. . 301

■ • 349

V. 20

. . 306

V. 22 .

. .164

VI. I, 2

. 363

vi. 6

307* 410

vi.8

.307,410

VI. 9

• 194

VI. II

• >95

VI. 23

195.341

viii. 4

. 232

vni. 6 .

• 232

viii. 9

• 509

vni. 9, 10, II

- 3K^

vni. 10, II .

. 2S0

viii. 17 . .

- jttJ

vni. 19 . .

. 2S0

vin. 22 . .

. 194

viii. 30 . .

• 5-5

vni. 34 . .

. 25S

IX. 3 ,

• 319

IX. 10 .

. 366

IX. II .

• 273

IX. 12 .

• 322

IX. 13-

18. .

. 28S

IX. 17

• 32^

X.4

. 270.

279*391

X.4, 5-

• 355

X. 7

. 360

X. 8

- 355

X. 10 .

288,

292, 347

X. 12 .

• 3^1

X. 14 .

252, 445>

X. 17 .

• 307

X. 19 .

25»»307

X. 20 .

. 494

X. 21

. . 359

X. 31

3I<^ 3^>

XI. I

' . jf)^

XI. 5

• 3^*

XI. 7

. . 366

XI. 13

. . 361

XI. 14

■ . jw

XI. 21

XI. 22

. . iSs

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF TEXTS.

625

•
PAGE

PAGE

Prov. xi. 23 . . .

0 391

Isa. i. 1 1 . .

... 471

Isa. Ivi. 3, 4. 5 • ■

• 399

£zek. ii. 6 . .

. . 228

xi. 24 .

280, 322

i. 11-14 .

... 293

Ivi. 7 . . . ,

. 233

ii. 7 . .

. 228

xi. 26 .

. . 367

i. 16 . .

. ... 471

Ivii. 21 . .

• 23c

xvi. II

. 268

xii. 4 .

. . 287

i. 16-18 .

... 292

Iviii. 6 . .

■ . 365

xviii. . .

. 232

xin. 5 .
xiiT. 6 .

. 241

i. 18 . .

. . . 602

Iviii. 6, 7 . .

' . 293

xviii. 4 .

• 233

■ . 361

i. 19 . .

. . . . 321

Iviii. 7, 8, 9 .

292

xviii. 4-9

■ 376

• • • ^

xiii. 8 .

281,391

i. 19, 20

■ . .198,491

Iviii. 9 . .

. 204, 231

xviii. ^ .

233

xiii. 9 .

• 439

i.23 .

. ... 230

lix. 7 . . .

. . 340

xviii. 0 .

' 233

xiii. II

. 293. 391

11.3 .

. ... 171

lix.8. . . .

• 340* 445

xviii. 7 .

■ 233

xiii. 12

. 401

iii. 16, ly

r ... 288

Ixi. I, 2 . .

• • 333

xviii. 8 .

• 233

xiii. 24

• 293

iii. 19 .

. ... 268

Ixii. 11...

■ 434, 441

xviii. 9 .

• 233

xiv. 3 .

• 251

iv. 4 . .

. ... 283

Ixiv. I, 2 .

. 194, 472

xviii. 23 .

224, 292,

xiv. 6 .

. . 310

V. 5 •

. ... 424

Ixiv. 4 . .

' . 350

355. 491, 602

xiv. 8 .

• • 369

v. 20, 21

• . • 293

Ixv. 15, 16 .

. 212

xviii. 32 .

224, 355,

xiv. 16

• 356

• 367

v. 21 .

■ • ■ • 355

Ixv. 23 . .

• . 399

491

xiv. 21

vii. 9 . .

30I1 349. 434

Ixv. 24 . .

■ . 472

xxxii. 7 .

. . 195

xiv. 23

• 3^7

vii. 15

. . . . 222

Ixvi. I . 194,

348, 462,

xxxiii.

■ . 232

XIV. 26

' ' 356
' • 307

viii. I

. . . 510

472

xxxiii. 2 .

. • 355

xiv. 27

viii. 18 .

. . . . 212

Ixvi. 2 . .

, . 214

xxxiii. II .

362, 379,

XV. 8 .

' • 365

ix. 6 .

... 215

Ixvi. 12, 13

, . 214

491

XV. 14.

. . 312

X. 10, II

... 194

Jer. i. 5 . . . .

, . 224

xxxiv. 4-i

'^ - ' 3^3

XV. 17 .

. . 241

X. 14 . .

• • -194,473

i. 7 . . .

. 224

xxxiv. 14

. . 231

xvi.

. . 293

xi. I, 3, ^

1 . . • 224

i. 16 . . .

. . 229

xxxiv. 15

. . 231

xvi. 21

. . 365

xi. 7 . ,

, ... 491

i. 20 . . . .

. . 362

xxxiv. 16

. . 231

xvii. 6.

. . 2|6

' ■ 3^7

xi. 10

. ... 452

ii. 12. . . .

. 229

xliv. 2

. . 551

xvii. 12

xiii. 2

. . . . 276

ii. 13. . . .

. 229

xliv. 9, IG

. . 438

xix. II

• • 3^

xiii. 10 .

. ... 195

n. 24 . . .

. . 232

xliv. 27 .

: : $

xix. 17. 1

70i

- 279» 391

XX. 2 . .

. ... 266

ii. 27 . . .

. 514

Dan. i. I . . .

xix. 23

. . 366

xxii. 13,

14. . . 239

ii. 29 . . . .

. 229

ii. 27, 28 .

• . 304

xix. 29

. . 261

xxix. 13.

229,361,414

iii. 3 . . . .

. . 230

V. 7 . . .

. • 509

XX. I .

■ . 245

xxix. 14

. ... 304

iii. 4 . . . .

. 230

V. 29 . .

• ; 509

XX. 27 .

. . 429

xxix. 15.

. . .263,417

iii. 8 . . . .

. . 230

vii. 9 . .

. 265, 275

XX. 28 .

. 367

xxix. 23

. .... 254

iii. 9 . . . .

• • •

. 228, 514

viii. 13. .

. . SH

xxi. II

• 323

XXX. I

, . . . 229

111. 19 . . .

• . 475

viii. 13, 14

• . 334

xxi. 26

. . 370

XXX. 9

. . . . 229

iv. 6 . . . .

. . 194

ix. 24-27 .

. . 329

xxii. 3, 4

• 339

xxxii. 8 .

. . . . 363.

iv. 30 . . .

■ . 273

xii. II, 12.

• • 334

xxii. 20, 2

■ . 310

xxxii. 20

... 480

v. 8 . . 213,

229, 260,

Hos. ii. 8 . . .

. . 269

xxiii. 3

. . 238

xxxiii. I]

[ ... 198

400,

401,411

ii. 13 .

. . 269

xxiii. 13

. . 230

xxxvi. 7,

8,10. . 474

V. 9 . . .

. . 229

iv. 14 .

. . 229

xxiii. 14

. . 230

^•3 • ;

... 174

V. 11 . . .

. . 230

vi. 6 .

.416,602

xxiii. 20

. . 244

xl. 6, 7, i

> . . . 401

V. 12 . . .

. . 230

xiv. 9 .

. . 507

xxiii. 21

. 244

xl.6-8 .

. ... 439

vi. ...

■ . 231

Joel 11. 10

. . 195

xxiii. 20, ,
xxiv. 28

30-

. 244

xl. 10

... 434

vi. 9 . . . .

• . 233

ii. 28 .

. . 465

• • *52

xl. II

... 213

vi. 10 . . ,

. . 229

ii. 31 .

. . 195

XXV i. 5

. . 448

xl. 12

. .194,472

vi. 16 . . .

• 233, 446

■ • •

111. 15 .
Amos ii. 6 .

. . igs

xxvii. 10

. . 322

xl. 13 .

... 473

vii. 9 , . .

. . 228

. . 5fc

xxvii. 14

. . 291

xl. 15 .
xl. 18

438, 505. 556

vii. 22, 23 .

■ . 293

iv. II .

. . 227

xxvii. 23

. 322

. .470,471

viii. 2 . .

. . 194

iv. 13.

. 194, 473

xxvii. 25, 26

. . 322

xl. 18, I^

> ... 194

viii. 6 . .

. . 450

V. 13 .

. . 507

xxviii. 4, 5

- • 369

xl. 25 .
xl. 26

• .470,471

viii. 22 . .

• . 339

VI. 4 ,

. . 245

xxviii. 5 . .

. 340

... 487

ix. 23 . .

. . 219

vi. 6 .

. . 245

xxviii. 14 . .
xxix. 3 . .

. 364
. . 302

xiii. 10 .
xliii. 2 .

' ^ ' 173
. ... 231

ix. 2j 24 . .
ix. 20 . .

. . 311

Jon. i. 6 . .
i. 9 . .

. . 475
. . 475

XXX. 2 . .

. . 461

xliii. 20 .

... 492

X. 2 . . .

. . 386

, i. 14. .

• . 475

XXX. 3 . .

• • 36s

xliii. 26

. ... 583

X. 12 . . .

. 195, 473

Mic. i. 2 . .

. . . 440

xxxi. 19, 20 .

. 283

xiv. I, 2

• • • • 357

xi. 13 . .

. . 228

vi. 7 . ,

. . 400

xxxi. 22 .

. . 287

xiv. 3

. 292, 449, 459

xii. I . . .

. . 387

Nah. iii. 4

. . 230

xxxi. 26, 27,

28 . 287

xiv. 19, :

50. . . 194

xii. 9 . . .

. . 260

Hab. ii. 4 . .

• • 349

xxxi. 30 .

. . 287

xiv. 21 .

... 440

xiii. I . . .

. . 266

• f •

in. 4 .

. . 582

Eccles. i. 16, 17, li

i • 313

xiv. 21-2

3 . • • 194

xiii. 24-27 .

• • 439

Zeph. i. 18

. . 269

vii. 13 .

■ • 3^3

xlviii. 22

• • • 233

XX. 14 . . .

. . 400

Hag. i. 6 .
Zech. iii. 2

. . 248, 391

xii. 12 .

. . 564

I. I . .

... 398

XX. 18 . .

. 400

. . . 197

Ecclus. i. 18. .

. . 227

1. 4 . .

... 507

xxii. 29, 30

. 440

f • •

Vlll.

. . . 293

i. 21, 22

. . 226

1.5 . .

... 507

xxiii. 23 . .

• 194

ix. 9 .

. . 213

vii. 23, 24

. . 228

1. ^ . .

... 397

xxiii. 23, 24 .

348, 472

Mai. i. 10, 1 1

. . 475

xvi. 12 .
xviii. 13, L

. 227, 230
4 . 230

liii. I .
liii. 2, 3 .

' • • • 353

, . . . 272

xxvi. 20. .
XXX. 20 . .

. . 328

i. 14 . .
ii. 17

: -.'M

xxi. 6 .

. . 225

liii. 3. ,

. ... 352

xxxi. 31, 32

. . 489

iii. 15 .

. . 387

xxii. 6-8

. 226

liii. 0.

. . . . 226

xxxi. 33, 34

. . 204

Matt. i. 17 ,

. .. 334

XXX. 8 .

. 231

liv. I . .

. .174,354

xxxii. 29 .

. . 228

iii. 7 .

. 172, 229

xxxii. 21

. . 229

liv. 17

. ... 198

xxxiii. 5. .

. . 438

■ • • _

111. 9

. . . 172

xxxiv. 14,

[5. 226

Iv. I . .

. .198,301

xlix. 19 . .

• • 362

111. II

■ . . 532

Isa. i. 2 . . 229,

365. 440

Iv. 6, 7 .

■ • . 377

Lam. i. I . . .

. . 230

• • •

in. 12

. . . 230

i. 3 .197,229

♦ 256,457

Iv. 9 .

• • • . 377

i. 2 . . .

■ . 230

iv. 4

. .238,281

i. 4 . .

•

. . 229

Ivi. 3.

. ... 398

i. 8 . . .

. . 229

iv. 17

196

626

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF TEXTS.

PAGE

PACB

PACE

Matt. V. . . r - 'jfi'y- C/io

Matt. X. 22 . . - f^yn

Matt XX. ''8 -

•S-JI

Luke iii. i, 2 .

p » •

111. 7 . .

■?"»•*

V.3 . .

• 352. 596

X. 23 . .

. • 423

xxi. 9 . . ,

-J-
. 212

.229, 172

V. 4 .

. . . 416

X. 24. 25 .

• • 364

xxi. 12, 13 ,

290

• • • r%

111. 8 . .

. . 172

V. 6

. . . 415
. . . 596

X. 27 . .

.313, 506

xxi. 16 . .

. 212

iii. 16 . 267, 457, 532

X. 30 . .

. . 276

xxi. 22 . .

• 293

111. 17 . .

. . 230

""•l '

. . . 416

X. 32 . .

. . 422

xxi. 31 . .

\W^

iii. 23 . .

V. 8 . 359, 372, 415,

X. 39 . .

. . 413

xxii. 12 . ,

V. 29 . .

• • 595

446, 505, 526

X. 40 . .

. . 600

xxii. 13 . .

> 232

vi. . . .

• • 367

V. 9 . 300, 416, 598

X. 41 . .

. . 600

xxii. 21 . .

241, 293

vi. I . .

. . 4S9

V. 10 . . .413,416

X. 41, 42 .

. • 415

xxii. 30 . .

263, 389

vi. 22 . .

. . 416

V. 13 . . . 291, 309

xi. 3 . .

. . 232

xxii. 36-38 .

■ 599

vi. 27-29 .

• • 293

V. 13, 14 . . . 601

xi. 4 . .

232, 515

xxii. 37 . .

224, 292

vi. 29 . .

. . 202

V. 15 . . . . 302

xi, 5 . .
xi. 0 . .

. . 232

xxii. 39 . .

• 599

vi. 30 . .

.385.600

V. 16 . . . 387, 441

. . 232

xxii. 39, 40 .

. 292

vi. 31 . .

. . 292

V. 17 .... 389

xi. II . .

. . 600

xxiii. 4 . ,

. 490

vi. 35 . .

V. 18 . . . . 195

xi. 12 . 410

. 448, 597

xxiii. 8-10 .

. 493

vi. 36 . .

• 227, 369

V. 19 .... 369

xi. 13 . . .

. . 457

xxiii. 9 . .

350, 397

vi. 37, 38 .

. . 600

V. 20 . 386, 507, 519

XI. IJ. . .

444, 507

xxiii. 25, 26 .

. 283

vi. 40 . .

• • 364

V. 22 . . . . 2150

V. 24 . . . . 385
V. 25 . . . 387, 426

XI. ?6, 17 . .
xi. 18, 19. ,

. . 212
- • 390

xxiii. 27 . .
xxiii. 35 . .

. 283
. 221

vi;.43. .
VI. 46 . 4

. . 249
'7. 554. 556,

xi. 19 . . .

. 246

xxiii. 37 .

212,228,

599

V. 27, 28 ... 394

xi. 27 . 174, 214, 341,

229, 305

vii. 19, 22

-23 . 232

V. 28 . 202, 279, 359,

. 0 ^^593
XI. 28 . 232, 583, 584

xxiii. 38 . .

. 229

vii. 21; . .
vii. 28 . .

265

361, 362, 382, 399,

xxiii. 39 . .

. 229

. 21 S

430

xi. 28, 29, 30 . 206

xxiv. 19 . .

. 390

vii. 47 . .

253

V. 29 . .

. . 288

xi. 28-30 . .

• 352

xxiv. 37 . ,

• 390

viii. 10

463

V. 32 . .

. ■ 379

xi. 29, 30 . .

. 45>

xxiv. 42 . .

. 469

viii. 17

302

V. 36 . .

: : 5^

xii. 7 . . ,

. 416

XXV. 10 . .

. 506

ix. 25 . ,

. 506

V. 39 . .

xii. 34, 35 -

• • 596

XXV. 30 . .

. 232, 299

ix. 55 . .

> 584

V. 40 . .

• . 293

xii. 36 . . ,

. 250

XXV. 32 . .

. . 517

ix. 58 . .

304

V. 42 . .

• • 391

xii. 37. . .

251, 310

XXV. 33 . .

212, 227

ix. 60 .

385

V. 44 .

. 227, 548

xilL S . . .

. 506

XXV. 34 .

, . 600

ix. 62 . .

551

V. 44, 45 ■

. . 426

xiii. II . .

. 463

XXV. 34-36 .

. 293

X. 2

300

V.45 .227,449,487,

xiii. 13 . .
xiii. lo, 17 .

. 299

XXV. 35 . .

. 364

X. 4 . .

2S1

548

• 599

XXV. 35, 36 .

• • 39<

X. 16 .

600

V. 48 .

' 504, 546

xiii. 28 . .

• • •

• 549

XXV. 40 .

279, 293,

304,391

■ . 195

X. 19 .

413

VI. .

. 767

xiii. 31 . .
xiii. 33 . .

. 403

X 21

'»i-

vi. 2 . .

' ' 435

XXV. 41

X. 22 . 2]

t4, 228, 232,

vi. 6 . .

• • 307

xni. 34 . .

. 509

XXV. 46 . .

195, 293

464. 555

vi. 9 . .

. 228, 572

xiii. 47, 48 .

. 502

xxvi. 7 . .

.■.'^\

X. 27 . ,

. •3<53, 4"

vi. 10 . .

. . 421

XV. 8 . . .

. 361

xxvi. 17 . ,

X. 29 .

. . • 599

vi. 12 . .

•

. . 546
. . 602

XV. II. 239,

241, 359

xxvi. 23 .

• . 254

X. 36. 37

599

VI. 14 . .

XV. 14 . . .

211

xxvi. 24^ . .

, . 401

X. 41, 42

594

vi. 19 •391,397,415,

XV. 18 . . .

. 250

xxvi. 29 . .

. 246

xi, 4 .

546

594

XV. 19. . .

• 359

xxvi. 41 .

. . 417

xi. 9 .

55S

VI. 20, 21 . . . 201

xvi. 17 . ,

. 511

xxvi. 64 .

. ■ 574

xi. 13 .

602

vi. 21 ... . 545

xvi. 26 . .

. 415

xxvii. 29 .

. . 256

xi. 40 .

387

vi. 24 . 385, 396, 543

xvii. 5 . .

. 234

xxvii. 52 .

. . 491

xi. 43 .

293

vi. 25 . . .241, 267

xvii. 20 ; .

358, 444

Mark i. 6 . . .

. . 266

xi. 46 .

490

vi. 30 . . . . 417

xvii. 27 . .

. 597

i. 7 . . .

. 267, 457

xii. 2 .

302

vi. 31 . . . . 415

xviii. 3. 212,439, 447,

i. 40 . .

. . 364

xii. \ .
xii. 0 .

506

vi. 32 . . . . 264

451

ii. II . .

. . 210

. 421

vi. 32, 33. . . 415

xvin. 4 ... 213

iv. II . .

■ . 463

xii. II, 12

422

vi. 33 ' ' • 268, 336

xviii. 6 .

. . 401

iv. 21 . .

. . 302

xii. i6-20

■ 30»

vi. 34 . i . . 213

xviii. 10 .

.466,600

V. 34 . .

439, 505

xii. 19, 20

. 2t>Q

vii 3^7

xviii. II, 12

■ • 399

vii. 6 . .

. . 361

xii. 20 .

• •

• 4»5

vii. I, 2 . . . 600

xviii. 20 .

• . 393

viii. 36

. . 506

xii. 22, 23

.2^

>3,4»5

vii. 6 .... 312

xviii. 32 .

. . 299

X. 2 . . .

. 389

xii. 24 .

. 203

vii. 7 . 3^2, 372, 39^

xix. 3 . .

. . 389

X. 9 . .

389, 390

xii. 27 .

. 2t)4

410, 447, 448, 558

xix. 0 . 389

, 390, 396

X. 17 . .

• . 391

xii. 28 .

. 264

vii. 7, 8

. . . 280

xix. 9 . .

• • 379

X. 17-31 .

. . 592

xii. 30, 31

. 415

vii. 13 .

. . . 415

xix. 10, II

• 0 390

X. 23 . .

. . 451

xii. 32 .

. 600

vii. 14 .

. . . 410

xix. 11, 12

. 381, 390

X. 25 . .

• . 599

XII. 33 .

. 4»5

vii. 18 .

. . . 249

xix. 12

. 392, 400

X. 29, 30 .

• . 597

xii. 35-37

XII. 48 .

. 2c;S

vii. 21 .

• 554, 599

xix. 14

. . 212

X. 31 . .

■ • 598

. 379

viii. 20

. . . 304

xix. 16 .

. • 391

X. 45 . .

. . 231

xii. 58 .

. >^7

viii. 22

. .290,385

xix. 17 .

. . 227

X. 48 . .

. . 511

xiii. 19

• 2.^

viii. 26

. . . 506

xix. 20 .

. . 258

xi. 23 . .

• . 545

xiii. 32

. 4U

ix. 2 .

. . . 210

xix. 21. 247

, 414, 593

xii. 17 . .

• • 293

XUI. x\
xiv. 8, 10

• 305

ix. 13 . .

. 416, 602

xix. 23 .

. • 451

xii. 23 . .

. . 389

• --^.

ix. 22 .

. . 444, 490

xix. 24

• 352, 591

xii. 39. .

. . 504

xiv. 11

. . 2<

?3' 37?

ix. 29 .

. .216,358

xix. 29

. . 412

xin. 17

• • 390

xiv. 12, I'

. 23S

ix. 37, 38

. . . 300

XX. 16. .

. . 448

xiv. 62

• • 574

XIV. 15

. 2>S

X. 5

. . . 4or

XX. 21 . .

• 227, 545

xvi. 25

. . 246

xiv. 16

. 2.5S

X. 16 .

. .212,547

XX. 22 . .

. . 221

Luke ii. 4. . .

. 212

xiv. 20

. 39J>

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF TEXTS.

627

I^uke xiv. 26

xiv. 26, 27
XV. 7, 10
XV. 10 .

XV. II .

xvi. 9 .
xvi. 13
xvi. ID
xvii. 3, 4
xvii. 5 .
xvii. 6 .
xvii. 28
xviii. 8
xviii. 14
xviii. 18
xviii. 24
xix. 8, 9, 10
xix. 9
xix. 22
xix. 26
xix. 45, 46
XX. 25
XX. 34

3£x. 35
XX. 36

XX. 46

xxi. 23

xxii. 31, 32

xxiv. 13

xxiv. 41-44

John i. I .

J-3 •

PACE

399*597
. 546

. 3^3
. 602

• 239
,600

543

• 457

• 293

. 444

• 444

• 390

• 390
. 293

39^ 548
. 451
. 415

• 595
. 299

• 539
. 290

• 293
211,397
397. 513

539
504

390

422

509
241

173.225

. . 224, 234, 279,

3"o» 493. 502, 509.
513. 516, 527

389.

1.3.4
i. 4 .

!-S-
I. 9 .

i. 12

i. 13
1. 14

i. 16

i. 17

i. 18

i. 23

i. 27

i. 29

i. 36

i. 47

ii. 13-17

ii. 19-21

■ • •

111. "i
... -J
111. 6

iii. 15,

111. 18

iii. 19

iii. 29

iii. 30

»»• 33
iii. 36

iv. I

iv. 6

iv. 13

iv. 14

iv. 23

iv. 32-34

V. 17

V. 19

V. 24

vi. 27

vi. 32

vi- 33
vi. 40

vi. 51
vi. 53

30O:

258,574
216,417

258, 263

351

413

361

1,448

320

224

593

463

174

457
582

215

505
290

397

464

363. 440
200
582
502

582

6, 464

331

231
230

230

307
221

302

216, 464

397, 480

. 221

. 216

. 221

. 220

John vi. 54 .

vi. 55 .
vi. 63 .
vii. 16 .
vii. 17 .
vii. 18 .
viii. 12.
viii. 24.
viii. 32-36
viii. 35, 36
viii. 44.
viii. 57 .
x. 1-3 .
X. 7. .

X. o . •

X. 9. .

X. II . 222,
X. 16 .
X. 27 .
xi. 43 .
xii. 23-26
xii. 25 .
xiii. 5 .
xiii.33. 212,
xiv. o .
xiv. 26.
XV. I .
XV. 2
XV. II, 12
xvi. 27 .
xvii. 17
xvii. 21
xvii. 22
xvii. 23
xvii. 24
xvii. 2C
xvii. 26
XX. 19 .
XX. 29 .
xxi. 4, 5
Acts. i. 7 . .
ii. 26-28
ii. 41 .
iii. 14 .
in. 17 .
iii. 19 .
iii. 21 .
v. I . .
vi. 2 .
vi. 5 .
vii. 22 .
viii. 30
X. 10-15

X. 34, 35

XIV. 23 .

XV. 23 .
XV. 24 .
XV. 28, 29
xvi. 25.
xvii.
xvii. 18
xvii. 22, 27
xvii. 22-20
xvii. 24, 25
xvii. 30 .
xxvi. 17, 18

Rom. i. 1 1

i. II-I2
i. 17 .
1. 21
i. 22 .
i. 23 .
!. 25 .
i. 26, 27
ii. 6

320,

227

PACE

219, 220

. 218

. 242

. 320

308

323

• 313
. 464

• 352
215

• 319
. 272

. 465

• ^^^
. 318

. 174

234, 339
222, 505

505
210

379
413
254
400, 504

307. 448

226
226

3^3
211

273
227

227

I, 227

227

228

227

253

349

212

390
491

321

289

491

258

335
252

373

335
310

241
494

504
252

427
252

258

519

3i»
464

321

462

491

321

450

444

.444

195

340

»95

195
260

434

354

Rom. ii. 14 .
ii. 14, 15
ii. 17-20
ii. 24 .
ii. 25 .
ii. 29 .
iii. Q .
iii. 6 .
iii. 8 .
iii. 16, 17
iii. 18 .
iii. 20 .
iii. 21 .
iii. 22 .
iii. 26 .
iii. 29 .
iii. 29, 30
iv. . .
iv. 3 .
iv. 5 .
iv. 7, 8
iv. 9 .
iv. 22 .

V. 3-5 •

V. 4. 5-
V. 12-14

V. 13 .
vi. 2 .

Vi.| .

VI. 6 .
vi. 6»7
vi. 13 .
vi. 14 .
vi. 15 .
vi. 16 .
vi. 20-23
vi. 22 .
vii. 2 .
vii. 4 .
vii. 6 .
vii. 7 .
vii. 12

PAGE

• 357
274, 322

. 340
. 401

. 538

• 545
. 226

. 226

. 388

• 340

355. 410
. 228

. 228

. 491

. 449
. 308

445.446

• 446
. 362
. 446
. 446
. 436

• 37^

• 393
. 410

• 395

• 545
395. 418

. 526

• 395

• 392

• 392
. 386

. 411

• 376

• 396
396, 397

. 410

• 395
228,397,411,

593

vu. 14 . . .
vii. 17 . . .
vii. 18. . .
vii. 20, 23, 24
vii. 24 . . .
viii. 2, 3, 4 .
viii. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

10, 12, 13, 14,

15 . .
Vlll. 7, 8 .
viii. 9 . .
viii. 10
viii. 10, 1 1
viii. 13

411

395
395
395
384
395

Vlll.

15 •

VIU.

17 •

Vlll.

17.18

VUl.

24, 25

• • •

Vlll.

26 .

Vlll.

28, 29

Vlll.

■ f •

Vlll.

3^37

VIU.

38,39

IX. ]

[4 . .

IX. 1

15 . .

X. 2

»3- •

X. 4

• •

X. 8,

9. 10.

X. 10 . .

X. 10, II .

X. I

2 . .

X. I

4, 15 •

395
. 417

218,374
. 417

• 395
. 417

. 418

• 203

. 417
. 417

276,417
. 584
. 418
. 426

• 441

• 415

357

433

427

422
418
491

353

357-

Rom. X. 17 .
X. 18 .
X. 19 .
X. 20, 21
xi. II .
xi. 17 .
xi. 22 .

xj: 33 .
xii. 2 .
xii. 8-13
xii. 9 .
xii. 9, 10
xii. 14 .
xii. 18 .
xii. 21 .
xiii. 3 .
xiii. 4 .
xiii. 8 .
xiii. 8-10
xiii. 9 .
xiii. 10
xiii. II, 12
xiii. 12, 13
xiii. 12, 13, 14
xiii. 13
xiii. 14
xiv. 2
xiv. 3
xiv. 6
xiv. 16, 17
• xiv. 17
xiv. 19
xiv. 20
xiv. 21
XV. 4 .

XV. 13, 14
XV. 29

xvi. 16
xvi. 19
xvi. 26, 27
I Cor. i. 9 .

i. 19 .

i. 19, 20

i. 20 .

i. 21-24

i. 22 .

i. 24 .

i. 26, 27

i.31 .

."•5 •

n. 6, 7
ii. 6-8
ii. 9

PAGE

• 353

• 253

• 357

• 507

. 227

292,463

• 357
. 294

251,418

• 357
. 427

• 357

• 357
. 230

. 230

. 418

. 411

• 554

• 430

• ^35
. 248

• 392
. 441
. 285
. 480

239.390
. 240

. 238

390. 391

• 397
. 240

240, 397
. 412
. 418

• 459
. 291

. 214

. 410

353. 447
304,446

• 320
. 446

• 320

• 304

339. 491
. 604

. 219

311,446

460, 463

. 450
198, 205, 218,

323

313

218

270, 292, 350, 598

• 450
348, 519
320, 449

450. 519

• 311
. 218

450, 460

220, 221

. 21S

• 300

. 450
. 516

• 547

304.311
. 418

( . 4«8

400, 447

• 554

• 3^2
. 225

• 572

II. 9, 10
ii. 10 .
ii. i^ .
n. 14 .

ii. ic .

... -'

ni. I .
iii. 1-3

III. 2 .

« • •

HI. 3 . .
iii. 8, 9 .
iii. lo-n

HI. 12

iii. 16
iii. 19, 20
iv. 9 . .
iv. II, 12, I
iv. 15. .
iv. 19. .
iv. 19
iv. 21

V. 5

628

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF TEXTS.

PAGE

PAGB

fAT.E

I Cor. V. 7 , 401

,460,514

I Cor. xi. I . .

. • 377

2 Cor. X. 13-15 . . 519

Eph. iv. 2J-29 .
iv. 26 . .

. - ^M

v.7.8 .

• • 545

xi. 3 . 286,

420, 453

X. 15, 16

• 519

. . 450

V. II . .

. 240. 401

xi. 5 . .

. . 290

X. 17 . . .

. 219

iv. 27-29 . .

. . 321

vi. I, 2 .

• • 547

xi. 7 . .

. . 420

xi. 2 . .

•213,394
390,399

iv. 29 . . .

. . 250

vi. 7, 8 .

. . 548

xi. 8 . .

. . 420

xi. 3 • 394,
xi. 0 . . .

V. I, 2 . . .

. 294

vi. 9 . .

. . 548

xi. 10

. . 290

. 519

V. 1-4 . . .

. ^,

vi. 9, 10 .

. . 290

xi. II

. . 420

xi. 14

• 495

V.3. • . .

. 262

vi. 9, 10, II

. , 402

xi. 14

. . 285

xi. 23 .

• 433

V. 3. 4 . . .

. 250

vi. II. .

. . 548

xi. 15

. . 285

xi. 31 .

• 453

V. 4. . . .

• -5'

vi. 12. .

. . 548

xi. 19 .

• . 549

xiii. 5 . .

. 276

V. 5 . . . ,

. 278

vi. 13. 220,238,388,

xi. 20

. . 246

Gal. i. 6-9 . . .

• 551

V. 5-1 1 . .
V.8. . . .

• 3S6

389, 402, 548

xi. 21, 22

. . 240

i. 8, 9 . . .

• 3"

. 216

vi. 15. . . . 263

xi. 22

. . 290

ii. 9 . . . .

. 519

V. 14 . . .

- 196

vi. 16. , .

, . 402

xi. 27, 28

. . 300

ii. 19, 20 . .

. 401

V. 19 . . .

• 249

vi. 18. .

. . 398

xi. 31, 32

. . 301

iii. 3 . . . .

. 401

V. 21-29 • •

. 420

vii. I, 2 ,

' • 399

xi. 32 .

• • 339

iii. 12 . . .

■ 358

V. 22 . . .

. 294

vii. 2 . ,

• . 390

xi- 33. 34

. . 240

iii. 19 . . .

• • 338

V. 23 . . .

• 453

vii. 3 . .

■ 399» 402

xii. 2-4 .

. . 218

iii. 23, 24 . ,

• • •

. 338

V. 25 . . .

. 294

vii. 5 • • 390. 395»

xii. 7-1 1

. • 434

111. 23-25 . .

. 217

vi. I . . .

396, 399, 402

• xii. II .

' • 453

iii. 24 . 209, 234. 274,

vi.4-9. . .

• 294

vii. 7 . . . 393* 434

xii. 13 .

. 217

... , „ 305,355.593

vi. II . . .

0 37'

vii. 8 . . . , 397

Xlll. I

. . 429

111. 26-28 . . . 217

vi. 12 . 400,

418.465.

VII. 9. 381,382,399

xiii. 2 . .

.444. 545

iii. 28 . . .

. 203

5^^

vii. 10, II . . 399

xiii. 3 .

238, 429,

iv. I, 2, 3 . .

• 312

vi. 14 . . .

. 20;

vii. 10, II, 12 . 402

539

iv. 1-5 . . .

. 218

vi. 14-17 . .

. . 204

vii. 14. 389,397,402

xiii. 4

. . 271

iv. 7 . . . .

. 218

vi. 15 . . .

270. 5''^3

vii. 24 ... 395

xiii. 4-8 . ,

. 602

iv. 9 . , . ,

. 190

Phil. i. 7 . . . .

. 4J0

vii. 27 .

• • 390

xiii. 5 . ,

, . 602

iv. 16 . . .

* . 230

i. 9, 10 . . .

• 3» =

vii. 28 .

. . 413

xiii. 7 . 418,

429, 543-
. . 238

iv. 19 . .

. . 400

i. 13, 14 . .

. 412

vii. 29 .

. . 541

xiii. 7, 8 .

iv. 30 . . .

. . 312

i. 20-24 . .

• 393

vii. 29, 30

. . 247

xiii. II .

' 0 ^'7

V. 5, 6 . .

• ^11

1.29,30 . ,

. 426

vii. 32 . .
vii. 32, 33, 2

' • 413
\4 . 398

xiii. 12 .

218, 322,
446

V. 13 ...
V. 16, 17 . .

. . 388
, . 420

ii. 1, 2 . . .
ii. 6, 7 . .

. 426
. . 174

vii. 33 •

• • 399

xiii. 13 . ,

419, 602

V. 17 . 511,

512, 546

ii. 7 . . . .

• 271

VII. 35 .

413* 437

xiv. 6 . .

I .' 318

V. 19-23 •

. . 420

ii. 10 . . .

- 575

vii. 38 . .

■ . 437

xiv. 9, 10, I

V. 20 ...

' . 514

ii. 10, II . .

• 337

vii. 39,40 .

' 396

xiv. 13 . .

. . 318

V. 24, 25 .

. . 417

ii. 15 . . .

. . 295

viii. I . .

. 358, 427

xiv. 20 . .

. . 217

V. 25 ...

. . 452

ii. 17 . .

. . 426

viii. I, 2, 3 .

. 312

XV. 32, 33

. 3'4

V. 25, 26 . .
V. 26 ...

. 294

ii. 20, 21 . .

. . 42*^

viii. 4. . ,

. . 519

XV. 34 .

400

. 309

iii. 12-14 • •

222

viii. 6 . . ,

. . 240

XV. 41 . .

505, 506

vi. 2 . . .

. 294, 382
■ 294, 603

iii. 15 . . .

ttt

viii. 7 . 363,

. 427, 448

XV. 50 . .

374. 401

vi. 7 . . .

111. 19 . . .

. . 242

• • • c 1

viii. 7, 8 . .
viii. 8. . .

• 239

XV. 55 .

• 257

vi. 8 . . . .

. 417

iii. 20 . . .

.399.4U

■ 239. 436

2 Cor. 1. 9, 10 . .

• 3"

vi. 8, 9 . . .

. . 300

iv. 5 . . .
iv. 8, 9 . . .

. . 196

viii. 9 . . .

. 427

i. 12 . . .

• • 427

vi. 9 . . .

. . 294

. . 402

viii. II . .

. 427

ii. 14-16

• 254

vi. 10 . .

■ . 301

iv. 11-13 . ,

. . 427

viii. II, 12

. 240

iii. 14 .

. 427

vi. 14 . .

370,4"

iv. 18 . . .

. . ^26

viii. 13 . .

. 240

iv. 7 . . .

. 601

vi. 15 . . .

. 203

Col. i. 9-11 . . .

. isS

ix. 5 . . .

• 390

iv. 8, 9 . .

* ^33
274, 598

Eph. i. 4, 5 . . .

• 497

i. 25-27 . .

. . 45*^

ix. 14. .

. . 240

iv. 18 . .

ii. 2 . . .

■ • ^73

i. 27 . . . .

. . 459

ix. 19. . .

509» 538

V. I, 2, 3 .

• 440

ii. 3 . . .

. . 401

i. 28 . . . .

• ■ 3^3

ix. 19-25 ,

. 427

V. 7 . 274,

440, 452

n.3-5 . .

. . 178

ii. 2,3 . .

■459,463

ix. 20, 21

• 303

V. 9 . . .

. 440

11. 5 . . . ,

358, 392

11. 4 . . . .

.3ii,3»-

ix. 22. . .

. 449

V. 10 . . .

• 392

ii. II . .

• . 538

ii. 6,7 . .

. . 3» =

ix. 25. . .

. 400

V. i6, 17 .

• 392

ii. 12 . .

. . 177

ii. 8. 311,312,

494,507

ix. 27 . .

. . 400

vi. 3-7 . .

• 433

ii. 13 . .

■ . 358

ii. II . . .

• 3S9

x. I . .

• • 554

vi. 4 . .

. . 300

li. 14, 15, 16

. . 504

ii. 18 . .

. . 39U

X. 3. 4 .

• • 554

vi. 7 . . .

. 504

ii. 20, 21 .

. . 502

ii.23 . ,

• • 390

X. 3.4.5-

. . 419

vi. 10, 11

. . 300

iii. 3, 4 . .

. . 341

III. 4. . .

. . ^

X. 7 . .

■ • 254

■ . 263

vi. 14, 15

. . 458

iii. 3-5 • •

. . 458

iii. 5 . .

. . 5M

X. 8 . .

vi. 14, 15, I

6 . 392

■ • •

111. ^ . .

- . 405

111. 5, 6 . .
111. 8, 9 . .

. . 288

X. 12 . .

. . 382

vi. 16, 17, I

8 . 394.

* • ■

111. 10 . .

• • 305

• • ^t

X. 13 . .
X. 20 . .

• 353. 447

• • 239

vi. 17

433
. . 406

iii. 10, II .
iii. 14, 15 .

. . 320
• • 493

iii. 10 . ..

• « •

111. II . .

. . 4^»

X. 23 . 241, 268, 388,

vi. 17, 18

■ . 458

iv. II, 12 .

. . 302

iii. 12 . .

. . 419

419

. vii. I . 392,

394, 433

iv. II, 12,13

• • 433

iii. 12-IC .
... *'

. . 421

X. 24 . . . . 419

vii. i-ii

• • 433

iv. 13 . 500, 504, 505.

111. 14, 15 .

. . 4«9

X. 25 . . 239, 427,

viii. 12 .

. . 416

525, 542, 547

• • • ^

111. 16 . .

. . 249

X. 26 . 200, 419, 427,

viii. 12, 13,

14. 370

iv. 13-15 ... 213

iii. 18-25 .

. . 4^1

500, 518

viii. 20, 21

. . 291

iv. 14 . . . . 309

iv. I . . .

. . 42»

X. 27 ... . 239

ix. 7 . .

. . 600

iv. 17-19 . , . 195
iv. 20-24 • .275,380

iv. 2 . . .

294,459

X. 28 . . . . 200

ix. 13 .

. . 381

iv. 3, 4 . .

. . 459

X. 28, 29, 30, 31, 419

ix. 15

. . 381

iv. 22-24 • • . 526

. iv. Q . . .
IV. 6 . . .

. . 29A

X. 28-31 . . . 427

X 3 . .

. • 374

iv. 24 . . . . 399

. . 34:

X. 31 . .

. . 240

X. 5 . .

. . 526

iv. 24, 25

. . 321

iv. 9 . . .

. . 294

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: INDEX OF TEXTS.

629

FACE

Thess. ii. 4 ... 543

ii. i, 6, 7 .
ii. 6, 7 . .

300

214

ii. 17 . .

273

iv. 3-8 .

425

iv. 9 . .

216

iv. 17 . .

5°5

V. 5-8 . .
V. 6-8. .

. 258

435

V. 13-15 .

. 294

V. 19-22 .

. 294

V. 21 .

. 312

Thess. iii. i, 2

. 448

Tim. i. 5 . .

. 340

\'l ' •

. 340

i. 8 . ,

. 340

i-9o-

.41

1.525

1. 18, 19

■.l^y

ii. 9 .

ii. 9, 10

, 269

ii. 15.

• • •

■ 39^

III. 2 .

. 402

iii. 4 .

. 402

iv. I .

■ 390

iv. I, 2, ,

^»5

, 397

iv. 3 .

• 390

iv. 3. 4

. 249

iv. 6-8

■ 294

iv. 8 .

■ 196, 20J

iv. 10

■ 196, 518

iv. 12

■ • 427

V. 14, IS

. 398

V. 18. .

. 368

V. 21 .

. 300

V. 23.

242

vi. 2 .

. 294

vi. 3-5

■

• 309

1 Tim. vi. 6 .

vi. 10

vi. 16 487

vi. 20, 21

2 Tim. i. 7, 8

ii. I, 2
ii. 14.
ii. 16, 17

!!: 23
111. 2

• • •

111. 15
Tit. ;

12, 13

i. 16 .

ii. 3-5
II. 11-13

ii. 14 .

i»- 3-5
Heb. i.' I .

!:3 •

11. II

ii. 14-16

iv. 8, 9

iv. 12

V. 12

v. 12, 13, 14

V. 13

V. 14 . 307

vi. I

vi. 11-20

vii. 2 .

viii. 8-10

viii. 10-12

16, I

PAGE

. 20-5

248

497, 574

• 359
. 418

. 299

• 311

• 3"

3"»445
. 320

7 ' 196
. 504
. 402

• 309

• 313
. 402

. 422
. 432

• ^73

• 321
. 172

305, 452, 493,

499» 55I1 572

312,

539
203

277

376

532

494

459
312

523
459

377

9
204

Heb. ix. 14 .
X. 26, 27

*• 32-39
xi. I, 2.

xi. 3, 4 .

xi. 6

xi. 25 .

xi. 26, 27

xi. 32 .

xi. 36-40

xii. I, 2

xii. 5, 6

xii. 21

xiii. 4

xiii. 5

xiii. 14-16

Jas. ii. 8 .

ii. 23 .

iv. 3 .

iv. 6 .

V. 12 .

V. 20 .
I Pet. i. 6-9
i. 12

i. I4» I5»
i. 17-19

i. 21, 22

ii. 1-3

• •

]]' 5

II. II, I

ii. 12
ii. 17
ii. 18
ii. 24
iii. 1-4
iii. 8

■ » •

III. 13

PAGE

392
360

428

349
350

349
428

428
428

307
195
432
374
432
519
351
535
390, 429
542
429

402
291
402
220

585
394
284
201
289
362
287
289
292

OF THE \

UNIVERSITY

PACK

I Pet. iii. 19. . . . 491
iii. 19, 20 . . 490
iv. ;j . . 291, 514
iv. 8 . 293, 340, 362,
429, 602
iv. 12, 13, 14 . 418

390» 429
506

V. 5
2 Pet. i. 1 1

II. 5 . .

111. 16 . .

I John i. 6, 7 .

ii. 2-6 .

ii. 4 . .

ii. 18, 19

iii. 14, 15

iii. 18, 19
iv. 8 .
iv. 16

IV.

Jude

V. 16, 17

8 .

17 •

22, 23
23 •

Rev. i. 8 .
iv. 4.
V. 6 .
vi. 9.
vi. II
xi. 16
xxi. 6
xxii. 12

33>

295

389

389
601

427

430

427 » 430,

447, 574
427, 602

291, 427
362

282

573
238

383

495

451
218

504

265
265

504
513
434

4»

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Full text of "Digest of statements submitted to Committee on Ways and Means by October 15, 1965, with respect to Treasury report on private foundations"

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