** Such as the sun and moon, and the other
heavenly
bodies.
Tacitus
For he says that we ought
to pay no more attention than ravens do, to food and the necessaries of
life*, and that we should be less concerned about our clothing than the
lilies of the field. Again, he asserts, that to him who smites us on
one cheek we should likewise turn the other**. Whether, therefore, does
Moses or Jesus lie? Or, was the Father who sent Jesus forgetful of what
he had formerly said to Moses? Or, condemning his own laws, did he alter
his opinion, and send a messenger to mankind with mandates of a contrary
nature?
* Luke xii. 24.
** Luke vi. 29.
{31}
"The Christians again will say, How can God be known unless he can be
apprehended by sense? To this we reply, that such a question is not the
interrogation of man, nor of soul, but of _the flesh_. At the same time,
therefore, let them hear, if they are capable of hearing any thing, _as
being a miserable worthless race, and lovers of body! _ If, closing the
perceptive organs of sense, you look upward with the visive power of
intellect, and, averting the eye of the _flesh,_ you excite the eye
of the soul, you will thus alone behold God*. And if you seek for the
leader of this path, you must avoid impostors and enchanters, and those
who persuade you to pay attention to [real] idols; in order that you may
not be entirely ridiculous, by blaspheming as idols other things which
are manifestly Gods**, and venerating that which is in reality more
worthless than any image, and which is not even an image, but _a dead
body_***; and by investigating a Father similar to it.
* This is most Platonically said by Celsus.
** Such as the sun and moon, and the other heavenly bodies.
*** The Emperor Julian in the fragments of his Arguments
against the Christians, 'preserved by Cyril, says, speaking
to the Christians: "You do not notice whether any thing is
said by the Jews about holiness; but you emulate their rage
and their bitterness, overturning temples and altars, and
cutting the throats not only of those who remain firm in
paternal institutes, but also of. . .
{32}
"There are essence and generation, the intelligible and the visible.
And truth indeed subsists with essence, but error with generation*.
Science, therefore, is conversant with truth, but opinion with
generation. Intelligence also pertains to, or has the intelligible for
its object; but what is visible is the object of sight. And intellect
indeed knows the intelligible; but the eye knows that which is visible.
What the sun therefore is in the visible region,--being neither the eye,
nor sight, but the cause to the eye of seeing, and to the sight of its
visive power, to all sensibles of their being generated, and to
himself of being perceived;--this the supreme God [or _the good_] is
in intelligibles: since he is neither intellect, nor intelligence, nor
science, but is the cause, to intellect, of intellectual perception;
. . . those heretics who are equally erroneous with yourselves,
and who do not lament a dead body in the same manner as you
do. For neither Jesus nor Paul exhorted you to act in this
manner. But the reason is, that they did not expect you
would arrive at the power which you have obtained. For they
were satisfied if they could deceive maid-servants and
slaves, and through these married women, and such men as
Cornelius and Sergius; among whom, if you can mention one
that was at that time an illustrious character, (and these
things were transacted under the reign of Tiberius or
Claudius,) believe that I am a liar in all things.
to pay no more attention than ravens do, to food and the necessaries of
life*, and that we should be less concerned about our clothing than the
lilies of the field. Again, he asserts, that to him who smites us on
one cheek we should likewise turn the other**. Whether, therefore, does
Moses or Jesus lie? Or, was the Father who sent Jesus forgetful of what
he had formerly said to Moses? Or, condemning his own laws, did he alter
his opinion, and send a messenger to mankind with mandates of a contrary
nature?
* Luke xii. 24.
** Luke vi. 29.
{31}
"The Christians again will say, How can God be known unless he can be
apprehended by sense? To this we reply, that such a question is not the
interrogation of man, nor of soul, but of _the flesh_. At the same time,
therefore, let them hear, if they are capable of hearing any thing, _as
being a miserable worthless race, and lovers of body! _ If, closing the
perceptive organs of sense, you look upward with the visive power of
intellect, and, averting the eye of the _flesh,_ you excite the eye
of the soul, you will thus alone behold God*. And if you seek for the
leader of this path, you must avoid impostors and enchanters, and those
who persuade you to pay attention to [real] idols; in order that you may
not be entirely ridiculous, by blaspheming as idols other things which
are manifestly Gods**, and venerating that which is in reality more
worthless than any image, and which is not even an image, but _a dead
body_***; and by investigating a Father similar to it.
* This is most Platonically said by Celsus.
** Such as the sun and moon, and the other heavenly bodies.
*** The Emperor Julian in the fragments of his Arguments
against the Christians, 'preserved by Cyril, says, speaking
to the Christians: "You do not notice whether any thing is
said by the Jews about holiness; but you emulate their rage
and their bitterness, overturning temples and altars, and
cutting the throats not only of those who remain firm in
paternal institutes, but also of. . .
{32}
"There are essence and generation, the intelligible and the visible.
And truth indeed subsists with essence, but error with generation*.
Science, therefore, is conversant with truth, but opinion with
generation. Intelligence also pertains to, or has the intelligible for
its object; but what is visible is the object of sight. And intellect
indeed knows the intelligible; but the eye knows that which is visible.
What the sun therefore is in the visible region,--being neither the eye,
nor sight, but the cause to the eye of seeing, and to the sight of its
visive power, to all sensibles of their being generated, and to
himself of being perceived;--this the supreme God [or _the good_] is
in intelligibles: since he is neither intellect, nor intelligence, nor
science, but is the cause, to intellect, of intellectual perception;
. . . those heretics who are equally erroneous with yourselves,
and who do not lament a dead body in the same manner as you
do. For neither Jesus nor Paul exhorted you to act in this
manner. But the reason is, that they did not expect you
would arrive at the power which you have obtained. For they
were satisfied if they could deceive maid-servants and
slaves, and through these married women, and such men as
Cornelius and Sergius; among whom, if you can mention one
that was at that time an illustrious character, (and these
things were transacted under the reign of Tiberius or
Claudius,) believe that I am a liar in all things.
