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Featured Book: The Comprehensive New Testament More Books: Online References: Apostolic and Early Church Fathers
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ON
THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES II.
(2) Those who are discontented at the constitution under which their fathers
have lived, being always eager to blame and to accuse the laws, being impious
men, use these and similar instances as foundations for their impiety, saying,
"Are ye even now speaking boastfully concerning your precepts, as if they
contained the rules of truth itself? For, behold, the books which you call the
sacred scriptures do also contain fables, at which you are accustomed to laugh,
when you hear others relating to them." (3) And what is the use of devoting
our leisure to collecting the fables interspersed in so many places throughout
the history of the giving of the law, as if we had especial leisure for the
consideration of calumnies, and as if it were not better to attend merely to
what is under our hands and before us? (4) Certainly, this one fable resembles
that which is composed about the Aloadae, who the greatest and most glorious of
all poets, Homer, says, had in contemplation to heap the three loftiest
mountains on one another, and to build them into one mass, hoping that by this
means there would be a road for them, as they were desirous to mount up to
heaven, and that by these mountains it would be easy for them to be raised to
the height of the sky. And the verses of Homer on this subject are these:-- High
on Gigantic
Ossa; and on Ossa's heights To
place the leafy Pelion, that heaven Might
thus become accessible. But
III.
(6) And there is also another story akin to this, related by the deviser of
fables, concerning the sameness of language existing among animals: for they say
that formerly, all the animals in the world, whether land animals, or aquatic
ones, or winged ones, had but one language, and that, just as among men Greeks
speak the same language as Greeks, and the present race of barbarians speaks the
same language as barbarians, exactly in the same manner every animal was able to
converse with every other animal with which it might meet, and with which it did
anything, or from which it suffered anything, so that they sympathised with one
another at their mutual misfortunes, and rejoiced whenever any of them met with
any good fortune; (7) for they could impart their pleasures and their annoyances
to one another by their sameness of language, so that they felt pleasure
together and pain together; and this similarity of manners and union of feelings
lasted, until being sated with the great abundance of good things which they
enjoyed, as often happens, they were at last drawn on to a desire of what was
unattainable, and even sent an embassy to treat for immortality, requesting to
be released from old age, and to be always endowed with the vigor of youth,
saying, that already one animal of their body, and that a reptile, the serpent,
had received this gift; for he, having put off old age, was allowed again to
grow young; and that it was absurd for the more important animals to be left
behind by an inferior one, or for their whole body to be distanced by one. (8)
However, they suffered the punishment suitable to their audacity, for they
immediately were separated in their language, so that, from that time forth,
they have not been able to understand one another, by reason of the difference
in the dialects into which the one common language of them all had been divided.
IV.
(9) But he who brings his account nearer the truth, has distinguished between
the rational and irrational animals, so that he testifies that identity of
language belong to men alone: and this also, as they say, is a fabulous story.
And indeed they affirm, that the separation of language into an infinite variety
of dialects, which Moses calls the confusion of tongues, was effected as a
remedy for sins, in order that men might not be able to cooperate in common for
deeds of wickedness through understanding one another; and that they might not,
when they were in a manner deprived of all means of communication with one
another, be able with united energies to apply themselves to the same actions.
(10) But this precaution does not appear to have turned out of any use; for
since that time, though men have been separated into different nations, and have
no longer used one language, nevertheless, land and sea have been repeatedly
filled with unspeakable evils. For it was not the languages which were the
causes of men's uniting for evil objects, but the emulation and rivalry of their
souls in wrong-doing. (11) For even those who have had their tongues cut out can
intimate what they wish by nods and looks, and other positions and motions of
the body, not less than by a distinct utterance of words. And besides this
consideration, there is the fact that, very often, one nation by itself, having
not merely one language, but one code of laws, and one system of manners, has
arrived at such a pitch of iniquity that, as to a superfluity of wickedness, it
may counterbalance the sins of all the men in the world put together. (12) And
again, through ignorance of foreign languages, many persons, having no
foreknowledge of the future, have been anticipated and overwhelmed by those who
were plotting against them; as, on the other hand, by knowledge of foreign
languages, men have been able to repel fears and dangers with which they have
been threatened; so that a community of language is an advantageous thing rather
than an injurious one: since, even at the present day, nothing contributes so
greatly to the safety and protection of the people of each country, and
particularly of the natives, as their being of one language. (13) For if a man
has learnt many dialects, he immediately is looked upon with consideration and
respect by those who are also acquainted with them, as being already a friendly
person, and contributing no small introduction and means of friendship by reason
of his familiarity with words which they too understand; which familiarity very
commonly imparts a feeling of security, that one is not likely to suffer any
great evil at the hands of such a man. Why, then, did God remove sameness of
language from among men as a cause of evils, when it seems it should rather have
been established as a most useful thing? V.
(14) Those, then, who put these things together, and cavil at them, and raise
malicious objections, will be easily refuted separately by those who can produce
ready solutions of all such questions as arise from the plain words of the law,
arguing in a spirit far from contentious, and not encountering them by sophisms
drawn from any other source, but following the connection of natural
consequences, which does not permit them to stumble, but which easily puts aside
any impediments that arise, so that the course of their arguments proceeds
without any interruption or mishap. (15) We say then that by the expression,
that "all the earth had but one pronunciation and one language," is
intimated a symphony of great and unspeakable evils, which cities have inflicted
upon cities, nations upon nations, and countries upon countries, and through
which men not only wrong one another, but also behave with impiety towards God,
and yet these things are the iniquities if many; but let us consider the
ineffable multitude of evils which proceed from each individual man, and
especially when he is under the influence of that ill-timed, and inharmonious,
and unmusical agreement. VI.
(16) Now who is there who does not know the great influence of fortune, when
men, in addition to the diseases or mutilations of the body, are attacked also
by poverty and want of reputation? And again, when these things are further
united to diseases of the soul, in consequence of moody melancholy, driving men
beside themselves, or of extreme old age, or of any other severe calamity which
presses upon them? (17) For even one of these evils here mentioned by itself,
when it opposes a man with violence, is sufficient to overthrow and to crush
even one who is very proud and haughty; but when all these evils, to wit, the
evils of the body, and the evils of the soul, and external misfortunes, all come
together as one if in one regular battalion, moving by previous arrangement at
the same time, so as to attack him in the body, what resolution is there which
they will not overpower? For when the guards are slain, it follows of necessity
that he who relies on his guards must fall. (18) Now the guards of his body are
wealth, glory, and honors, which set it up and raise it on high, and make it
proud, just as the contrary things, dishonor, want of reputation, and poverty,
throw it down like so many enemies. (19) Again, the body-guards of the soul are
hearing, and seeing, and smelling, and taste, and the whole band of the outward
senses, and also health, and strength, and vigor, and energy. For the mind, when
walking among the living and in the company of these things, as between
wellfortified boundaries firmly standing and solidly established, triumphs and
rejoices, meeting with no hindrance on any side to prevent it from exerting its
own impulses, but having its road in every direction easy, and level, and open,
and easy to be travelled. (20) But the things which are set in opposition and
hostility to these guards are mutilation of the organs of the outward senses,
and disease, as I have said before, by which the mind is often precipitated into
disaster; and these things are all the results of fortune, very grievous and
intrinsically miserable, but still, if compared with those which are brought on
ourselves by our own deliberate will, they are far lighter. VII.
(21) Let us now again in its turn consider what is the united body of evils
voluntarily incurred. Our souls being capable of being divided into three
divisions, one division is said to have fallen to the lot of the mind and of
reason, the second to passion, and the third to appetite; and each separate one
of these has its own peculiar evils, and also they have all common and mutual
diseases. Since the mind reaps the harvest which folly, and cowardice, and
intemperance, and injustice sow; and passion brings forth frantic and insane
strife and conflict, and all the other numerous evils with which it is pregnant;
and appetite disseminates in every direction the impetuous and fickle loves of
youth which descend upon every object, animate or inanimate, which it chances to
meet with. (22) For then, as if in any vessel, the sailors, and the passengers,
and the pilots, had all, under the influence of insanity, agreed to destroy it,
those who have joined in the plot against it are none the less involved in the
same destruction. For the heaviest of all evils, and almost the only one that is
incurable, is the unanimous energy of all the parts of the soul agreeing to
commit sin, not one of the parts being able to act with soundness (just as is
the case in an evil affecting the whole people), so as to heal those that are
sick; but even the physicians being diseased as well as their patients, whom the
pestilential disease has overwhelmed and weighs down under a confessed calamity.
(23) Of this great evil, that great deluge described by the lawgiver is an
image; for the torrents from heaven continually pouring down cataracts of
wickedness itself with impetuous violence, and springs from the ground (by which
I mean the body) continually bursting up and pouring forth streams of every
passion in great numbers and vast size, which, uniting an being mingled in the
same stream with the other waters, are thrown into confusion, and overthrow the
whole region of the soul which has received them with incessant eddies and
whirlpools. (24) "For," says Moses, "the Lord God, seeing that
the wickedness of men were multiplied upon the earth, and that every one did
think continually in his heart nothing but evil all his days, determined to
punish man" (and here by man I understand the mind, together with all the
reptiles and the winged creatures, and all the rest of the multitude of wild
animals which surround him), by reason of his incurable wickedness; and then
punishment which God decided upon was the deluge. (25) For there was unbounded
freedom in sinning, and unlimited licence in doing wrong, no one hindering it,
but all restraints being shamelessly broken down in such a way that there was no
fear left behind to restrain those who were thoroughly ready to snatch at
abundant supplies for enjoyment of every kind. And may we not say that this was
natural? For it was not only one portion of the soul which was corrupted in such
a way that it could still be preserved by the sound condition of the other
parts; but there was no part whatever of it which was left free from disease or
from corruption. For the incorruptible Judge, says Moses, seeing that every
thought of man's heart (not one single idea by itself) was evil continually,
inflicted upon him a deserved punishment. VIII.
(26) These are they who "made a treaty with one another in the IX.
(29) But Moses, the prophet of God, will meet them and check them, though they
come on with exceeding boldness; even though, placing in the front him who is
the boldest and the most forward and able speaker among them as their king,
namely speech, they rush on with one impulse, hoping to increase their strength
as they go on, and overflowing like a river; "For behold," says Moses,
"the king of Egypt is coming to the water; but do thou go to meet him, and
stand on the bank of the River."{4}{Exodus 7:15.} (30) Therefore the wicked
man goes forth to the stream of iniquities and passions, and all collected
evils, which are here likened to water; but the wise man first obtains from God,
who always stands firm, an honor akin to his undeviating, and in all respects
and under all circumstances, unchangeable power; for we read in the scripture,
(31) "But do thou stand here with me, {5}{Deuteronomy 5:31.} that having
laid aside doubt and vacillation, the dispositions of an infirm soul, he may put
on that most steadfast and trustworthy disposition, faith. In the next place,
even while standing still, he (which seems a most extraordinary thing) goes
forward to meet him; for it is said to him, "Thou shall stand meeting
him," and yet to go to meet is a part of motion, while to stand still is
regarded as characteristic of tranquility. (32) But the prophet does not here
say things which are inconsistent, but rather such as are exceedingly in
accordance with nature; for the man whose mind is naturally disposed to be
tranquil, and is established undeviatingly, must necessarily be at variance with
all those who delight in disorder and confusion, and who by artificial storms
seek to disturb him who is capable of enjoying tranquility. X.
(33) It is very appropriately said that the meeting took place on the bank of
the river; but the banks are also called the lips, and the lips are the
boundaries of the mouth, and are a sort of fence to the tongue, through which
the stream of discourse is borne, when it begins to be uttered; (34) but those
who hate virtue and who love learning, use speech as their ally for the
exposition of doctrines which are disapproved; and again, on the other hand,
virtuous men employ it for the refutation of such doctrines, and for
establishing the irresistible strength of the better and true wisdom. (35) When
then, after having had recourse to every expedient of contentious doctrines, men
are destroyed, being overwhelmed by the opposing violence of contrary arguments,
then the wise man will very justly and suitably establish a most sacred chorus,
and melodiously sing a triumphal song; (36) "For," says Moses,
"Israel saw the Egyptians," not dead in any other place, but "on
the bank (cheilos) of the River;"{6}{Exodus 14:30.} meaning here by death,
not the separation of the soul from the body, but the impetuous onset of unholy
doctrines and assertions, which men utter by the mouth, and tongue, and the
other organs of speech. (37) But the death of speech is silence, not that
silence which well-bred people cultivate, making it a symbol of modesty--for
this silence is itself a faculty and a sister of that one which is developed in
speech, arranging what is to be said with reference to time--but that silence
which the sick and the weary against their will endure, on account of the
strength of their antagonists, because they cannot find any handle to answer
them; (38) for whatever they touch slips away from them, and whatever thing they
seek to take their stand on does not remain, so that they of necessity fall
before they stand, like that hydrostatic machine called the helix; for in the
middle of that engine there are some steps, which the husbandman when he desires
to water his fields mounts up upon, but is rolled round of necessity; and in
order to avoid falling he is continually catching at the nearest firm thing that
he can lay his hands on, which he takes hold of and so supports his whole body;
for instead of his hands he uses his feet, and instead of his feet he uses his
hands; for he stands on his hands, by means of which, actions are usually done,
and he acts with his feet on which it is natural to stand. XI.
(39) But many, who are not able vigorously to refute the plausible inventions of
the sophists, because they have not very much
practiced discussion by reason of their continued application to action,
having taken refuge in the alliance of the only wise Being, and have besought
him to become their defender. As one of the friends of Moses, when praying, says
in his hymns, "Let the treacherous lips become Mute;"{7}{Psalms
30:19.} and how can they become mute if they are not curbed by the only being
who has speech itself as his subject? (40) We must therefore flee, without ever
turning back, from all associations entered into for the purposes of sin; but
the alliance made with the companions of wisdom and knowledge must be confirmed.
(41) In reference to which I admire those who say, "We are all one man's
sons, we are men of Peace,"{8}{Genesis 42:11.} because of their
well-adapted agreement; since how, I should say, could you, O excellent men,
avoid being grieved at war, and delighted in peace, being the sons of one and
the same father, and he not mortal but immortal, the man of God, who being the
reason of the everlasting God, is of necessity himself also immortal? (42) For
they who make out many beginnings of the origin of the soul, being devoted to
the evil which is called polytheism, and turning each individual of them, to the
honor of different beings, having caused great confusion and dissension both at
home and abroad, from the beginning of their birth to the end of their life,
filling life with irreconcilable quarrels; (43) but they who rejoice in one kind
alone, and who honor one as their father, namely right reason, admiring the
wellarranged and all-musical harmony of the virtues, live a tranquil and
peaceful life, not an inactive and ignoble one, as some persons think, but one
of great manliness, and sharpened, and vigorous against those who endeavor to
break the confederacy which they have formed, and who are always studying to
bring about a violation of the oaths which have been taken; for it has come to
pass that the men of peace have become men of war, sitting down to attack and to
oppose them who seek to overturn the firmness of the soul. XII.
(44) And there is testimony in support of this assertion of mine; first of all,
in the disposition of every lover of virtue which acknowledges these
inclinations; and secondly, in that comrade of the band of the prophets, who
being inspired with a sacred frenzy, spoke thus, "O my mother, how hast
thou brought me forth, a man of war, and a man of disquietude to all the earth!
I have not benefited them, and they have not benefited me; nor is my strength
free from their Curses."{9}{Jeremiah 15:10.} (45) But is not every wise man
of necessity an irreconcilable enemy to all wicked men, not indeed using the
apparatus of triremes or warlike engines, or arms, or soldiers, for his defense,
but reasons? (46) For when he sees war stirred up in the midst of tranquil
peace, so as to be continued and incessant among all men, both public and
private, not existing only among nations and countries, and cities and villages,
but also in every house, and between each particular individual; who is there
who does not reproach and admonish and seek to correct the foolish men whom he
sees, and not by day only, but also by night, his soul being unable to remain
tranquil by reason of the hatred of wickedness implanted in his nature? (47) For
they do in peace every thing that is done in war; they plunder, they ravage,
they drag into slavery, they carry off booty, they lay waste, they behave
insolently, they assault, they destroy, they pollute, they murder treacherously,
they murder openly if they are the more powerful; (48) for every one of them,
proposing to himself riches or glory as his object, aims all the actions of his
life as so many arrows at it, and neglects equality, and pursues inequality, and
repudiates associations, and labors to acquire to himself all the possessions
together properly belonging to every one; he is a misanthrope and a hater of all
his fellows, making a hypocritical pretence of benevolence, being a companion of
a bastard kind of flattery, an enemy of genuine friendship, a foe to truth, a
champion of falsehood, slow to do good, swift to do injury, very ready to
calumniate, very slow to defend, clever at deceiving, most perjured, most
faithless, a slave of anger, yielding to pleasure, a guardian of all that is
evil, a destroyer of all that is good. XIII.
(49) These and other similar gifts are the most desirable treasures of peace,
that blessing so celebrated and so admired, which the mind of each individual
among the foolish men sets up for itself as an image, and admires and worships;
at whom, very naturally, every wise man is grieved, and is accustomed to say to
his mother and nurse, wisdom, "O mother, what a person hast thou brought me
forth!" not in strength of body but in energy and courage, a determined
hater of wickedness, a man of disquietude and battle, by nature peaceful, and,
on this very account, an enemy to those who pollute the desirable beauty of
peace. (50) "I have done no good to them, nor have they done any good to
me;" nor have they even derived any advantage from my good things, nor have
I from their evil things; but according to the word of Moses, "I have
received no desirable thing from any of Them,"{10}{Numbers 16:15.} inasmuch
as I look upon as exceedingly pernicious every object of their desire, which
they treasure up in their hearts as the greatest possible advantage; (51)
"Nor has my strength failed by reason of the curses which they laid upon
Me;"{11}{psalm 79:7.} but embracing the divine doctrines with my most
earnest power, I was not wearied so as to give up, but rather I vigorously
reproached those who cursed me from their hearts. (52) For God made us to be a
contradiction to our neighbours, as is said in my hymns, meaning all of us who
aim at right reason: but are not all those people naturally found of
contradiction who have a zeal for knowledge and virtue, being always at variance
with the neighbours of their soul, reproving the pleasures which live in union
with them, and reproving the appetites which have the same abode, and looking
morosely at acts of cowardice and fear, and the whole body of passions and
vices? Reproving then every outward sense, the eyes for what they saw, and the
ears for what they heard, and the sense of smell for the smells that presented
themselves to it, the taste for the flavors which were subjected to it, and
moreover the touch for its various powers developed in the body, with reference
to the peculiarities which come under its notice; and even uttered speech for
the matters which it may have chosen to discuss; (53) for what the outward sense
has perceived, or how it has done so, or why, or what speech has uttered, or how
or why, or in what manner, and how and why passion has disposed men, it is worth
while to investigate in no superficial manner, and to examine each of the errors
into which they fall; (54) but he who contradicts none of these things, but who
assents to every one of them in succession, without being aware of it, is
deceiving himself, and building up troublesome neighbours for his soul, which he
had better have as subjects than as rulers; for as rulers they will do him
manifold and great injury, since folly reigns among them; but as subjects
they will serve him obediently in suitable matters, and will not at all raise
their heads in arrogance, as they will if they are rulers. (55) Thus, indeed,
while some are learning to be subjects, and others are obtaining authority, not
by knowledge only but also by power, all the body-guards and champions of the
soul, that is to say, its reasonings will keep them in order, and coming to that
which is most important among them will say, "Thy children have taken the
sum of the men that are warriors among us, and there is not one of them who has
Disagreed;"{12}{Numbers 31:49.} but like musical instruments, skilfully
tuned in all their tones, so we sound in harmony in all our explanations,
neither uttering any word nor doing any action which shall be unmelodious or
discordant, that we may by the contrast show, that the other company of
unlettered men is, in all respects, voiceless and dead, and an object of
deserved ridicule, namely, that nourishment of the corporeal parts, Midian, and
that his offspring too, that mass of skins, whose name is Belphegor, is asleep;
(56) "for we are of the race of picked men of Israel, that sees God, of
whom not one has Disagreed;"{13}{Exodus 24:11.} that the instrument of the
universe, the whole world, may be melodiously sounded in musical harmony. (57)
On this account Moses says that the "reward of Peace"{14}{Numbers
25:12.} was given to the very warlike reason, which is called Phinehas; because,
having received a zeal for virtue, and having taken up war against vice, he cut
up the whole of generation; and in the second place, to all those who are
willing, after a careful examination and investigation, using their eyes in
preference to their ears as a trustworthy witness, to believe that the human
race is full of infidelity, depending solely on opinion. (58) Therefore, the
afore-mentioned agreement is admirable; and most admirable of all is that common
one which exceeds all the harmonies of all the others, according to which the
whole people is represented as saying with one accord, "All the things
which God has spoken, we will obey and Do."{15}{Deuteronomy 5:27.} (59) For
these men no longer obey reason as their ruler, but God, the governor of the
universe, by whom they are assisted so as to display their energies in actions
rather than in words. For when they hear of others doing such and such things,
these men, which is a thing most contrary to what one would expect, say that,
from some inspiration of God, they will act first and obey afterwards; in order
that they may seem to have advanced to good actions, not in consequence of
instruction and admonition, but by their own spontaneous and self-taught mind.
And then, when they have accomplished these actions, they say that they will
obey in order that they may form an opinion of what they have done, as to
whether their actions are consistent with the divine injunctions and the sacred
admonitions of scripture. XIV.
(60) But those who conspired to commit injustice, he says, "having come
from the east, found a plain in the XV.
(64) But an example of the worse kind of dawning is afforded by the words used
by the man who was willing "to curse the people who were blessed by
God."{19}{Numbers 23:7.} For he also is represented as dwelling in the
east. And this dawning, having the same name as the former one, has nevertheless
an opposite nature to it, and is continually at war with it. (65) For Balaam
says, "Balak sent for me out of XVI.
(70) Accordingly, the body-loving race of the Egyptians is represented as
fleeing, not from the water, but "under the water," that is to say,
beneath the impetuous speed of the passions. And when it has once placed itself
under the power of the passions, it is shaken and agitated; it casts away the
stable and peaceable qualities of virtue, and takes up in their stead the
turbulent and confused character of wickedness; for it is said that "God
shook the Egyptians in the middle of the sea, fleeing under the
Water."{20}{Exodus 14:27.} (71) These are they who neither knew Joseph--the
diversified pride of life--but who, having their sins revealed, have not
received any trace, or shade, or image of goodness and excellence. (72) For,
says Moses, "Another king arose over the Egyptians who knew not
Joseph,"{21}{Exodus 1:8.} the latest and most modern good perceptible by
the outward senses, who utterly destroyed not only the perfections but even all
improvements, and all the energy which can be exerted by the sight, and all the
teaching which can be implanted by means of the hearing, saying, "Come,
curse me Jacob; and come, defy Israel for Me;"{22}{Numbers 23:7.} an
expression which is equivalent to, Destroy both these things, the sight and the
hearing of the soul, that it may neither see nor hear any true and genuine good
thing; for Israel is the emblem of seeing and Jacob of hearing. (73) Accordingly
the mind of such persons rejects the nature of good, being in some degree
shaken; and, on the other hand, the mind of good persons, setting up a claim to
the unmingled and unalloyed ideas of good things, shakes off and discards all
that is evil. (74) Consider, therefore, what the practicer of virtue says:
"Take up the foreign gods that are among you from out of the midst of you,
and purify yourselves, and change your garments, and rise up and let us go to
Bethel;"{23}{Genesis 35:2.} in order that, even if Laban should demand a
power of examining, the images might not be found in his whole house, but only
such things as have a real subsistence and essence, being fixed like pillars in
the mind of the wise man, which the self-taught offspring Isaac has received as
his inheritance; for he alone receives his father's substance as his
Inheritance."{24}{Genesis 25:5.} XVII.
(75) And take notice that Moses does not say that they came unto a plain in
which they remain, but that they "found" one, having searched around
in every direction, and having considered what might be the most suitable region
for folly; for in reality every foolish man does not take from another for
himself, but he seeks for and finds evils, not being content only with those
which wicked nature proceeds towards of its own accord, but also adding thereto
such perfect skill in evil as arises from constant practice in contriving wrong.
(76) And I wish indeed that after he had remained there a brief time he had
changed his abode; but even now he thinks fit to remain, for it is said that
having found the plain they dwelt there; having settled there as if in their own
country and not as if in a foreign land; for it would have been less trouble for
men who had fallen in with wicked actions to look upon them as strange and
foreign to them, and not to consider that they had any kindred or connection
with them. For if they had looked upon themselves as sojourners among them, they
would have changed their abode at a subsequent time, but now having settled
fixedly among them they were likely to dwell there for ever. (77) For this
reason all the wise men mentioned in the books of Moses are represented as
sojourners, for their souls are sent down from heaven upon earth as to a colony;
and on account of their fondness for contemplation, and their love of learning,
they are accustomed to migrate to the terrestrial nature. (78) Since therefore
having taken up their abode among bodies, they behold all the mortal objects of
the outward senses by their means, they then subsequently return back from
thence to the place from which they set out at first, looking upon the heavenly
country in which they have the rights of citizens as their native land, and as
the earthly abode in which they dwell for a while as in a foreign land. For to
those who are sent to be the inhabitants of a colony, the country which has
received them is in place of their original mother country; but still the land
which has sent them forth remains to them as the house to which they desire to
return. (79) Therefore, very naturally, Abraham says to the guardians of the
dead and to the arrangers of mortal affairs, after he has forsaken that life
which is only dead and the tomb, "I am a stranger and a sojourner among
You,"{25}{Genesis 23:4.} but ye are natives of the country, honoring the
dust and earth more than the soul, thinking the name Ephron worthy of
precedence, for Ephron, (80) being interpreted, means "a mound" and
naturally, Jacob, the practicer of virtue, bewails his being a sojourner in the
body, saying, "The days of the years of my life which I spend here as a
sojourner have been few and evil; they have not come up to the days of my
fathers which they spent as Sojourners."{26}{Genesis 47:9.} (81) But to him
who was self-taught the following injunction of scripture was given, "Do
not go down," says the scripture, "to Egypt," that is to say to
passion; "but dwell in this land, land which I will tell thee
Of,"{27}{Genesis 26:9.} namely, in the incorporeal wisdom which cannot be
pointed out to the eye; and be a sojourner in this land, the substance which can
be pointed out and appreciated by the external sense. And this is said with a
view to show, that the wise man is a sojourner in a foreign land, that is to say
in the body perceptible by the outward senses, who dwells among the virtues
appreciable by the intellect as in his native land, which virtues God utters as
in no way differing from the divine word. (82) But Moses says, "I am a
sojourner in a foreign land;" speaking with peculiar fitness, looking upon
his abode in the body not only as foreign land, as sojourners do, but also as a
land from which one ought to feel alienated, and never look upon it as one's
home. XVIII.
(83) But the wicked man, desiring to exhibit the fact that identity of language,
and the sameness of dialect does not consist more in names and common words than
in his participation in iniquitous actions, begins to build a city and a tower
as a citadel for sovereign wickedness; and he invites all his fellow revellers
to partake in his enterprise, preparing beforehand abundance of suitable
materials. (84) For, "Come," says he, "let us make bricks, and
let us bake them in the fire," an expression equivalent to, Now we have all
the parts of the soul mingled together and in a state of confusion, so that
there is no species whatever the form of which is evident to be seen. (85)
Therefore it will be consistent with these beginnings that, as we have assumed a
certain essence destitute of all particular species; and of all distinctive
qualities, and have also taken up with passion and vice, we should also divide
it into suitable qualities, and keep on reducing the proximate to the ultimate
species; and with a view to the more distinct comprehension of them, and also to
this employment and enjoyment of them combined with experience, which appears to
produce many pleasures and delights. (86) Come, therefore, all ye reasonings of
counsellors, in some way or the other to the assembly of the soul; come, all ye
who meditate the destruction of justice and of all virtue, and let us consider
carefully how we may attain to the end which we desire. (87) Now of success in
this matter these will be the most established foundations: to give to things
without form shape and character, and to distinguish each thing separately with
distinct outlines, lest, if they become shaken and lame (though fixed on firm
foundations,) and if they have assumed a connection with the nature of a
quadrangular shape, (for this is a nature always unshaken), they may then, being
established steadily like a building of bricks, support even those things which
are built upon them. XIX. (88) Of such a structure as this every mind adverse to
God, which we call the king of of
which the blockade of the soul will be raised on high; these being, in fact, the
divisions of the outward sense into seeing, and hearing, and taste, and smell,
and touch. Passion again, is divided into pleasure, and appetite, and fear, and
grief; and the universal genus of vices is divided into folly, and intemperance,
and cowardice, and injustice, and all the other vices which are akin to or
closely connected with them. XX.
(91) And before now some persons, even more excessively extravagant in
wickedness than these, have not only prepared their own souls for such actions,
but have also put a force upon those of a superior class and of the genus which
is endowed with acuteness of vision, and have "compelled them to make
bricks and to build strong Cities"{28}{Exodus 1:11.} for the mind, which
has appeared to occupy the place of king, wishing to point out this fact, that
what is good is the slave of what is evil, and that subjection to the passions
is more powerful than tranquility of soul, and prudence, and all virtue is, but,
as it were, a subject of folly and all wickedness, so as of necessity to
minister in all the matters which the master power enjoins; (92) for behold,
says Moses, the most pure, and brilliant, and far-sighted eye of the soul, to
which alone is permitted to behold God, by name Israel, being formerly bound in
the corporeal nets of Egypt, endures severe commands, so as to be compelled to
make bricks and all sorts of things of clay with the most grievous and
intolerable labors, at which it is very naturally pained, and at which it
groans, having laid up this, as it were, to be its only treasure amid its evils,
the power of bewailing its present distresses. (93) For it is said, very
correctly, that "the children of XXI.
(98) But he says that the world perceptible to the outward senses is, as it
were, the footstool of God on this account: first of all, that he may show that
there is no efficient cause in the creatures; secondly, for the purpose of
displaying that even the whole world has not a free and unrestrained spontaneous
motion of its own, but God, the ruler of the universe, takes his stand upon it,
regulating it and directing everything in a saving manner by the helm of his
wisdom, using, in truth, neither hands nor feet, nor any other part whatever
such as belongs to created objects; for God is not as man, but the reason why we
at times represent him as such, for the sake of instruction, is because we are
unable to advance out of ourselves, but derive our apprehension of the uncreate
God from the circumstances with which we ourselves are surrounded. (99) And it
is very beautifully said by Moses, in the form of a parable, when he speaks of
the world as if it resembled a brick; for the world appears to stand and to be
firmly fixed like a brick in a house, as far as the vision of the sight of the
outward senses can inform us, but it has a very swift motion, and one which is
able to outstrip all particular motions. (100) For the eyes of our body look
upon the appearance of the sun by day and of the moon by night as standing
still, and yet who is there who does not know that the rapidity of movements of
these two bodies is incomparable, since they go round the whole heaven in one
day? Thus, indeed, the universal heaven itself also, while appearing to stand
still, revolves in a circle; its movements being detected and comprehended by
the invisible and more divine eye which is placed in our mind. XXII.
(101) And they are represented as baking the bricks in the fire, for the purpose
of intimating by this symbolical expression that they are strengthened and
hardened as to their vices and their passions by warm and most energetic reason,
so that they can never be overthrown by the body-guards of wisdom, by whom
engines for their defeat are being continually put in operation. (102) On which
account we have this further statement also made, "Their brick was to them
for stone;" for the weak and lax character of that impetuosity which is not
in company with reason, when it is closely pressed and condensed so as to assume
a nature capable of solidity and resistance, owes this change to powerful
reasons and most convincing demonstrations; the comprehension of such
speculations being, in a manner, endowed with manliness and vigor, which
comprehensions, while in a tender age, melt away by reason of the mixture of the
soul, which is not as yet able to consolidate and preserve the character
impressed upon it. (103) "And they had slime for mortar;" not, on the
contrary, mortar for slime. For the wicked appear to strengthen and fortify what
is weak against what is most powerful, and from their own resources to
consolidate and preserve what melts and flows away from such things, in order
that they may aim and shoot at virtue from a safe place. But the merciful God
and father of the good will not permit their buildings to be established in
indissoluble safety, their work of melting zeal not being able to withstand, but
becoming like soft mud. (104) For, if their clay had become mortar, then
perchance that earthy thing perceptible by the outward senses, which is for ever
and ever in a continued state of flux, would have been able to arrive at a safe
and unalterable power; but since, on the contrary, their mortar became mere
slime, we must not despair, for there is in this, certain hope that the strong
fortifications of vice may be overthrown by the might of God. (105) Therefore
the just man, even in the great and incessant deluge of life, while he is not as
yet able to see things really as they are by the energy of his soul alone
without the assistance of the outward sense, will anoint "the ark," by
which I understand the body, "both within and without the
Pitch,"{32}{Genesis 6:14.} strengthening his imaginations and energies by
his own resources; but when the danger has ceased and the violence of the flood
abated, then he will come forth, availing himself of his incorporeal mind for
the comprehension of truth. (106) For the good disposition being from the very
birth of the man planted in virtue, and being spoken as of such, its name being
Moses, dwelling in the whole world as his native city and country, becoming, as
it were, a cosmopolite, being bound up in the body, smeared over as with
"bitumen and Pitch,"{33}{Exodus 2:3.} and appearing to be able to
receive and to contain in security all the imaginations of all things which
might be subjected to the outward senses, Weeps{34}{Exodus 2:6.} at being so
bound up, being overwhelmed with a desire for an incorporeal nature. And he
weeps over the miserable mind of men in general as being wandering and puffed up
with pride, inasmuch as, being elated with false opinion, it thinks that it has
in itself something firm and safe, and, as a general fact, that there something
immutable in some creature or other, though the example of perpetual stability,
which is at all times the same, is set up in God alone. XXIII.
(107) And the expression, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower,
the top of which shall reach to heaven," has such a meaning as this
concealed beneath it; the lawgiver does not conceive that those only are cities
which are built upon the earth, the materials of which are wood and stone, but
he thinks that there are other cities also which men bear about with them, being
built in their souls; (108) and these are, as is natural, the archetypes and
models of the others, inasmuch as they have received a more divine building, and
the others are but imitations of them, as consisting of perishable substances.
But there are two species of cities, the one better, the other worse. That is
the better which enjoys a democratic government, a constitution which honors
equality, the rulers of which are law and justice; and such a constitution as
this is a hymn to God. But that is the worse kind which adulterates this
constitution, just as base and clipped money is adulterated in the coinage,
being, in fact, ochlocracy, which admires inequality, in which injustice and
lawlessness bear sway. (109) Now good men are enrolled as citizens in the
constitution of the first-mentioned kind of city; but the multitude of the
wicked clings to the other and worst sort, loving disorder more than
orderliness, and confusion rather than well-established steadiness. (110) And
the wicked man seeks for coadjutors in his practice of wickedness, not looking
upon himself as sufficient by himself. And he exhorts the sight, and he exhorts
the hearing, and he exhorts every outward sense in succession, to range itself
on his side without delay, and every one of them to bring to him all things
necessary for his service. And he raises up and sharpens all the rest of the
company of the passions, which are by their own nature unmanageable, in order
that by the addition of practice and care they may become irresistible. (111)
The mind, therefore, having called in these allies, says, "Let us build
ourselves a city;" an expression equivalent to, Let us fortify our own
things; let us fence them around to the best of our power, so that we may not be
easily taken by those who attack us; let us divide and distribute, as into
tribes and boroughs, each of the powers existing in the soul, allotting some to
the rational part, and some to the irrational part; (112) let us choose
competent rulers, wealth, glory, honor, pleasure, by means of which we may be
able to become masters of everything; banishing to a distance justice, the
invariable cause of poverty and ingloriousness; and let us enact laws, which
shall confirm the chief power and advantage to those who are always able to get
the better of others. (113) And let a tower be built in this city as a citadel,
to be a strong palace for the tyrant vice, whose feet shall walk upon the earth,
and its head shall, through pride, be raised to such a height as to reach even
to heaven; (114) for, in good truth, it rests not only upon human sins, but it
also hastens forward as far as heaven, pushing up its words of impiety and
ungodliness, since it either speaks of God so as to assert that he has no
existence, or that, though he exists, he has no providence, or to affirm that
the world had no beginning of creation, or that, admitting that it has been
created, it is borne on by unsteady causes, just as chance may direct, at one
time wrongly, at another time in an irreproachable manner, just as often happens
in the case of chariots or ships. (115) For sometimes the voyage of a ship, or
the course of a chariot, goes on properly even without charioteers or pilots;
but success is not only now and then owing to providences, but very often to
human prudence and invariably to divine, since error is admitted to be
altogether incompatible with divine power. Now what object can the foolish man
have who, speaking figuratively, build up the reasonings of wickedness like a
tower, except the desire of leaving behind them a name which shall be far from a
good name? XXIV.
(116) For they say, "Let us make for ourselves a name." O, the
excessive and profligate impudence of such a saying! What say ye? When ye ought
to seek to bury your iniquities under night and profound darkness, and to assume
as a veil for them, shame, if not genuine, at all events pretending shame,
whether for the sake of gaining favor in the eyes of the moderate and virtuous,
or for that of avoiding punishment for admitted wickedness; do ye, nevertheless,
proceed to such a pitch of audacity, as all but to come forth and display
yourselves in the light and in the most brilliant beams of the sun, and to fear
neither the threats of better men, nor the implacable justice of God, which
impends over such ungodly and desperate men? But ye think fit even to send
around in every direction reports, to carry intelligence of your domestic
iniquities, in order that no one may be uninformed of or unacquainted with your
deeds of daring wickedness, wretched and infamous men that ye are. (117) What
name, therefore, do ye wish to assume? Is it the one which is most suitable to
your actions? But is there not one name only which is suited to them? It may,
perhaps, be one in genus; but there are ten thousand such names in species,
which you will hear from others, even if ye keep silence yourselves. The names
adapted to your conduct are, rashness united with shamelessness, insolence
combined with violence, violence in union with homicide, corruption in
combination with adultery, undefined appetite accompanied by unmeasured
indulgence in pleasures, folly joined with impudence, injustice united to crafty
wickedness, theft combined with rapine, perjury united with lying, impiety
combined with utter lawlessness. Such, and similar to these, are the names of
such actions. (118) And it is well for them to boast over and pride themselves,
upon seeking for reputation from actions which it would be more seemly to hide
and to be ashamed of. And, indeed, some persons do pride themselves on these
things, thinking that in consequence of them they do derive a certain
irresistible degree of power among men from this idea being entertained
respecting them; but they will not escape the divine vengeance for their
enormous audacity, and very soon they will have occasion not only to anticipate
at a distance, but even to see immediately impending their own death. For they
say, "Before we are dispersed, let us have a care for our name and our
glory." (119) Should I not then say to them, Ye know that ye will be
dispersed? Why, then, do ye commit iniquity? But perhaps he is here placing
before us the manner of foolish men who, even when the very greatest punishments
are not obscurely impending over them, but are often visibly threatening them,
nevertheless do not hesitate to commit iniquity. And the punishments, however
they may seem to be concealed, are in reality most notorious, which are
inflicted by God. (120) For all the most wicked of men adopt ideas that they can
never escape the knowledge of the deity when doing wrong, and that they shall
never be able to ward off altogether the day of retribution. (121) Since
otherwise, how do they know that they will be dispersed? And yet they say,
"Before we are dispersed." But their conscience, which is within,
convicts them, and pricks them vehemently, when devoting themselves to
ungodliness, so as to draw them against their will to a confession that all the
circumstances affecting men are overlooked by a superior nature, and that
justice is watching above, as an incorruptible chastiser, hating the unjust
actions of the impious, and the reasonings and speeches which undertake their
defense. XXV.
(122) But all these men are the offspring of that wickedness which is always
dying but which never dies, the name of which is Cain. Is not Cain represented
as having begotten a son whom he called Enoch, {35}{Genesis 4:17.} and as
building a city to which he gave the same name, and as after a fashion building
up created and mortal things to the destruction of those things which have
received a more divine formation? (123) For the name Enoch, being interpreted,
means "thy grace." But every impious man supposes that what he thinks
and understands is owing to the bounty of his intellect towards him; that what
he sees is the gift of his eyes to him, what he hears of his ears, what he
smells of his nostrils, and so that each of his outward senses bestows on him
those perceptions which are in accordance with them. Again, that it is the
organs of the voice which endow him with the capacity of speaking, and that
there is actually no such thing as a God at all, or at all events that he is not
the primary cause of things. (124) Because of these views he assigns to himself
the first fruits of the fruits which he extracts from the earth by his
husbandry, being contented afterwards to offer to God some of the fruit, and
that too though he has a sound example at hand; for his brother offers a
sacrifice of the offspring of the flock, offering the firstborn, and not those
which are of secondary value; confessing that the eldest causes of all existing
things are suited to the eldest and first cause. (125) But the impious man
thinks exactly the contrary, namely, that the mind is endowed with absolute
power to do whatever it desires, and that the outward senses have absolute power
as to all that they feel, for that both the mind and the outward senses decide
in an irreproachable and unerring manner, the one on bodies, and the other on
everything. (126) Now what can be more open to blame, or more capable of
conviction by truth, than such ideas as these? Has not the mind been repeatedly
convicted of innumerable acts of folly? And have not all the outward senses been
convicted of bearing false witness, and that too not by irrational judges who,
it is natural to suppose, may be deceived, but before the tribunal of nature
herself, which it is impossible to corrupt or to pervert? (127) And indeed as
the criteria both of our mind and of our outward senses are liable to error
respecting even ourselves, it follows of necessity that we must make the
corresponding confession that God sheds upon the mind the power of intellect,
and on the outward senses the faculty of apprehension, and that these benefits
are conferred upon us not by our own members but by him to whom also we owe our
existence. XXVI.
(128) The children who have received from their father the inheritance of
self-love are eager to go on increasing up to heaven, until justice, which loves
virtue and hates iniquity, coming destroys their cities which they have built up
by the side of their miserable souls, and the tower the name which is displayed
in the book which is entitled the Book of Judgment. (129) And the name is, as
the Hebrews say, Phanuel, which translated into our language means,
"turning away from God." For any strong building which is erected by
means of plausible arguments is not built for the sake of any other object
except that of averting and alienating the mind from the honor due to God, than
which object what can be more iniquitous? (130) But for the destruction of this
strong fortification a ravager and an enemy of iniquity is prepared who is
always full of hostility towards it; whom the Hebrews call Gideon: which name
being interpreted means, "a retreat for robbers." "For,"
says Moses, "Gideon swore to the men of Phanuel, saying, On the day when I
return victorious in peace, I will overthrow this Tower."{36}{Judges 8:9.}
(131) A very beautiful and most becoming boast for the soul which hates
wickedness and is sharpened against the impious, namely, that it is resolved to
overthrow every reasoning which by its persuasions seeks to turn the mind away
from holiness, and this indeed is the natural result. For when the mind turns
round, then that which turns away from it, and rejects it is again dissolved,
(132) and this is the opportunity for destroying it which (a most wonderful
thing) he calls not war but peace. For, owing to the stability and firmness of
the mind which piety is accustomed to produce, every reasoning which impiety has
formed is overturned. (133) Many also have erected the outward senses after the
fashion of a tower, raising them to such a height as to be able to reach the
very borders of heaven. But the term heaven is here used symbolically to signify
our mind, according to which the best and most divine natures revolve. But they
who dare such deeds prefer the outward senses to the intellect, and desire by
means of the outward senses forcibly to destroy all the objects of intellect,
compelling those things which are, at present masters to descend into the rank
of servants, and raising those things which are by nature slaves to the rank of
masters. XXVII.
(134) And the statement, "The Lord went down to see that city and that
tower" must be listened to altogether as if spoken in a figurative sense.
For to think that the divinity can go towards, or go from, or go down, or go to
meet, or, in short, that it has the same positions and motions as particular
animals, and that it is susceptible of real motion at all, is, to use a common
proverb, an impiety deserving of being banished beyond the sea and beyond the
world. (135) But these things are spoken, as if of man, by the lawgiver, of God
who is not invested with human form, for the sake of advantage to us who are to
be instructed, as I have often said before with reference to other passages.
Since who is there who does not know that it is indispensable for a person who
goes down, to leave one place and to occupy another? (136) But all places are
filled at once by God, who surrounds them all and is not surrounded by any of
them, to whom alone it is possible to be everywhere and also nowhere. Nowhere,
because he himself created place and space at the same time that he created
bodies, and it is impious to say that the Creator is contained in anything that
he has created. Again, he is everywhere, because, having extended his powers so
as to make them pervade earth, and water, and air, and heaven, he has left no
portion of the world desolate, but, having collected everything together, he has
bound them with chains which cannot be burst, {37}{the text has aoratois,
"invisible," but I have followed Mangey's translation, who reads arrheµktois.
The remainder of the sentence is exceedingly corrupt.} so that they are never
emancipated, on which account he is especially to be praised with hymns. (137)
For that which is higher than all powers is understood to exceed them, not
merely in the fact of its existence. But the power of this being which made and
arranged everything is with perfect truth called God, and it contains everything
in its bosom, and pervades every portion of the universe. (138) But the divine
being, both invisible and incomprehensible, is indeed everywhere, but still, in
truth, he is nowhere visible or comprehensible. But when he says, "I am he
who 37The text has aoratois, "invisible," but I have followed Mangey's
translation, who reads arrheµktois. The remainder of the sentence is
exceedingly corrupt. stands before Thee"{38}{Exodus 17:6.} he appears
indeed to be displayed and to be comprehended, though before any exhibition or
conception he was superior to all created things. (139) Therefore, no one of the
word which implies a motion from place to place is appropriate to that god who
exists only in essence; such expressions, I mean, as going upwards or downwards,
to the right or to the left, forwards or backwards. For he is not conceived of
in any one of the above mentioned ideas, inasmuch as he never turns around or
changes his place. (140) But, nevertheless, he is said to have come down and to
have seen, he who by his foreknowledge comprehends everything, not only that has
happened, but even before it happens; and this expression is used for the same
of exhortation and instruction, in order that no man, indulging in uncertain
conjectures about matters which he is not present to behold may, while standing
afar off, be too prompt to believe idle fancies, but that every one may come
close to the facts, and examining each one separately, may carefully and
thoroughly consider them. For certain sight is more deserving to be looked upon
as a trustworthy witness than fallacious hearing. (141) On which account a law
has been enacted among these nations which have the most excellent constitution,
that one must not give evidence on hearsay, because by its own nature the
tribunal of the sense of hearing is liable to be corrupted. And Moses indeed
says in the prohibitory part of his law, "Thou shall not receive vain
Hearing."{39}{Exodus 23:1.} Meaning not only this, that one ought not to
receive false or silly reports by hearsay, but that, as far as the clear
comprehension of the truth is concerned, the hearing is a long way behind the
sight, being full of vanity. XXVIII.
(142) We say that this is the reason why it is said that God went down to see
the city and the tower; and the addition, "Which the sons of men had
built," is not a mere superfluity. For perhaps some profanely disposed
person may mock and say, "The lawgiver is here teaching us a very novel
kind of lesson, when he says that no one else but the sons of men build cities
and towers; for who, even of the most crazy people is ignorant of what is so
evident and notorious as that?" (143) But we must not suppose that such a
plain and unquestionable fact as that, is what is intended to be conveyed by the
mention of it in the holy scriptures, but rather there is some hidden meaning
concealed under these apparently plain words which we must trace out. (144) What
then is this hidden meaning? Those who, as it were, attribute many fathers to
existing things, and who represent the company of the gods as numerous,
displaying great ignorance of the nature of things and causing great confusion,
and making pleasure the proper object of the soul, are those who are, if we must
tell the plain truth, spoken of as the builders of the aforesaid city, and of
the citadel in it; having increased the efficient causes of the desired end,
building them up like houses, being, as I imagine, in no respect different from
the children of the harlot whom the law expels from the assembly of God, where
it says, "The offspring of a harlot shall not come into the assembly of the
Lord."{40}{Deuteronomy 23:2.} Because, like archers shooting at random at
many objects, and not aiming skilfully or successfully at any one mark, so these
men, putting forward ten thousand principles and causes for the creation of the
universe, every one of which is false, display a perfect ignorance of the one
Creator and Father of all things; (145) but they who have real knowledge, are
properly addressed as the sons of the one God, as Moses also entitles them,
where he says, "Ye are the sons of the Lord God."{41}{Deuteronomy
14:1.} And again, "God who begot Thee;"{42}{Deuteronomy 32:18.} and in
another place, "Is not he thy father?" Accordingly, it is natural for
those who have this disposition of soul to look upon nothing as beautiful except
what is good, which is the citadel erected by those who are experienced in this
kind of warfare as a defense against the end of pleasure, and as a means of
defeating and destroying it. (146) And even if there be not as yet any one who
is worthy to be called a son of God, nevertheless let him labor earnestly to be
adorned according to his first-born word, the eldest of his angels, as the great
archangel of many names; for he is called, the authority, and the name of God,
and the Word, and man according to God's image, and he who sees Israel. (147)
For which reason I was induced a little while ago to praise the principles of
those who said, "We are all one man's Sons."{43}{Genesis 42:11.} For
even if we are not yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may
deserve to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most sacred word;
for the image of God is his most ancient word. (148) And, indeed, in many
passages of the law, the children of Israel are called hearers of him that seeth,
since hearing is honored with the second rank next after the sense of sight, and
since that which is in need of instruction is at all times second to that which
can receive clear impressions of the subjects submitted to it without any such
information. (149) And I also admire the things which are spoken under divine
inspiration in the books of Kings, according to which those who flourished many
generations afterwards and lived in a blameless manner, are spoken of as the
sons of David who wrote hymns to God; {44}{2 Ezr. 8:2.} though, during his
lifetime, even their great grandfathers had not yet been born. The truth is,
that the birth here spoken of is that of souls made immortal by their virtues,
not of perishable bodies, and this birth is naturally referred to the leaders of
virtue, as its parents and progenitors. XXIX.
(150) But against those who praise themselves on justice, the Lord said,
"Behold, there is one race and one language among them all," an
expression equivalent to, Behold, there is one family and one bond of
relationship, and also, one harmony and agreement among them all together, no
one being in his mind at all alienated from or disconnected with his neighbour,
as is the case with illiterate men. For at times, the organ of speech among them
is, in all its tones, out of tune and inharmonious in no slight degree, being in
fact carefully arranged so as to produce inharmoniousness, and having only such
a concert as will cause a want of melody. (151) And in the case of fevers,
{45}{I have translated Mangey's Latin translation. He pronounces the whole
passage in the original text corrupt and unintelligible. The word translated
"fever" is politidos, a word manifestly corrupt.} one may see very
similar effects; for they are periodical changes, in some recurring every day,
in others every third or every fourth day, as the sons of the physicians say;
and they have also stated hours, both by day and night, at which important
crises may be expected, and they at all times keep nearly the same order. (152)
And the expression, "And they began to do this," is said with no
moderate indignation, because it has not been sufficient for wicked men to
confuse all the principles of justice which affect those of the same country as
themselves, but they have ventured to transgress even the laws of Heaven, sowing
injustice and reaping impiety. But these wretched men derive no advantage, (153)
for though those who seek to inflict mutual injuries on one another, succeed in
many of the objects which they have at heart, bringing to their accomplishment
in action what they have decided on in their unwise minds, yet the case is not
the same with the impious. For all things belonging to the Deity are incapable
of receiving either damage or injury, and the unclean can only find out the
beginnings of sinning in respect of them, but can never arrive at the end which
they propose to themselves; (154) on which account this expression also occurs,
"They began to do." Men full of an insatiable desire of doing wrong,
not being content with the crimes which they can perpetuate on earth, by sea,
and in the air, inasmuch as they are of a perishable nature, have determined to
array themselves against the divine natures existing in heaven; which, as they
are not reckoned among existing creatures are also out of all reach of
Injury.{46}{this passage again in the text is unintelligible, and pronounced by
Mangey to be in a state of hopeless corruption.} Even calumny itself can inflict
no injury on those things if it ventures to speak ill of them, inasmuch as they
are never moved from their everlasting and eternal natures, but it inflicts
incurable calamity on those who accuse it. (155) Are they not to be blamed,
since indeed they have only begun, being unable to arrive at the end of the
impiety they propose to themselves, are they not, I say, to be blamed just as
much as if they had accomplished all the objects that they had in view? On this
account also, Moses speaks of them as having finished the tower, though in fact
they had not yet completed it, where he says, "The Lord went down to see
the city and the tower," not which the sons of men were going to build, but
which they had built. XXX.
(156) What, then, is the proof that they had not entirely completed this
building? First of all, the manifest notoriety of the fact. For it is impossible
for even so slight a portion of the earth to touch the heaven, by reason of the
cause beforementioned, that no centre can ever touch the circumference; in the
second place, because the aether aitheµr is sacred fire and an unquenchable
flame, as its very name shows, being derived from aithoµ, to burn, which is a
synonymous word with kaioµ. (157) And we have a witness in our favor in one
portion of the heavenly system of fire, that is in the sun, who, though he is at
such a distance from the earth, sends his beams down into his inmost recesses,
and sometimes warms and at times even scorches the earth itself, and the air
which reaches from earth up to the heavenly sphere, though it is by nature cold;
for, all those things which are removed to a distance from his rapid course, or
which are in an oblique direction, one side of it only warms; but those which
are near to him, or in a direct line from him, is violently burnt up. If, then,
these things are so, was it not necessary that those men who were endeavoring to
mount up to heaven must have been stricken with thunderbolts and burnt up, their
high-minded and proud designs being unaccomplished by them? (158) This is the
meaning which Moses appears to intend to convey, figuratively, by the
expressions which follow: "For they ceased," says, he, "to build
the city and the Tower."{47}{Genesis 11:8.} Not, indeed, because they had
finished their work, but because they were prevented from accomplishing it by
the confusion which supervened. Nevertheless, they have not escaped blame for
their actions, inasmuch as they had decided on them and attempted to carry them
out. XXXI.
(159) At all events, the law says that that soothsayer and diviner who was led
into folly in respect of his unstable conjectures (for the name, Balaam, being
interpreted, means unstable), "cursed the people that
Saw;"{48}{Deuteronomy 23:4.} and that, too, though as far as his words go
he uttered only words of good omen and prayers. The law here looking not at the
words he uttered, which, through the providence of God, did change their
character, becoming good money instead of base coinage, but having regard to the
intention in which injurious things were resolved in preference to beneficial
ones. But these things are, by nature inimical to one another, conjectures being
at variance with truth, and vain opinion with knowledge, and prophecy, which is
not dictated by divine inspiration, being directly opposed to sober wisdom.
(160) And even if any one, rising up as it were from his ambush, were to try,
but to be unable, to slay a man, still he is none the less liable to the
punishment due to homicides, as the law which is enacted about such persons
shows. "For if," says the law, "any one attacks his neighbour,
wishing to slay him by treachery, and escapes, thou shall apprehend him, even at
the altar, to put him to Death."{49}{Exodus 21:14.} And yet the thing
condemned is the attacking with intent to kill, not the actual killing, but the
law looks upon the intention to slay as equal in guilt to the actual slaying; on
which account it does not grant pardon to such a man even if he supplicates for
it, but bids one drag the man who has cherished so unholy a design even from the
temple itself. (161) And such a man is unholy, not merely because he has plotted
slaughter against a soul which might have lived for ever through its acquisition
and use of virtue, making an attack on it through the agency of wickedness, but
also because he blames God as the cause of his ungodly audacity; for the word,
"escapes," has such a meaning as this concealed under it. Because many
men wish to escape from accusations which are brought against themselves, and
think it fitting that they should be delivered from the punishments due to the
offences which they have committed, and so they attribute their own iniquity to
him who is the cause of no evil, but of all kinds of good, namely, to God; for
which reason it was accounted as no violation of divine law to drag such men
even from the altars themselves. (162) And it was an excessive punishment which
was then denounced against the reasons which were thus built up and put together
for purposes of impiety; which, however, perhaps some foolish persons will look
upon not as injury, but as a benefit. "For," says Moses, "there
shall not fail to them any one of the things which they have endeavored to
Do."{50}{Genesis 11:6.} Alas for their unlimited and interminable misery!
All the objects which the most insane intention fixes its desires upon shall be
successfully carried out, and shall obey its will, so that nothing whatever
shall fail, either small or great, but everything shall, as it were, make haste
to meet and to anticipate their requirements. XXXII.
(163) These things are an exhibition of a soul destitute of prudence, and which
meets with no impediment to its indulging in sin; for whoever is not utterly
incurable would rather pray that all the purposes of his mind might fail, so
that if he had formed a resolution to steal, or to commit adultery, or to murder
a man, he might succeed or to commit sacrilege, or to perpetrate any similar
crime, he might not succeed, but might find innumerable obstacles. For such
hindrance would get rid of the greatest of all diseases, injustice; but any one
who is free from all fear is sure to admit this malady. (164) Why, then, my
friends, do you any longer praise or admire the fortune of tyrants, owing to
which they succeed with ease in everything which they undertake, and which a
frenzied and unrestrained mind prompts them to do? And yet one ought rather to
lament over them, since inability and powerlessness to succeed in their objects
is advantageous to the wicked, just as abundant opportunity and power is the
most beneficial thing for the good. (165) But one of the crowd of foolish men,
perceiving to what an abundant superfluity of misery indulgence in sinning
leads, said, speaking with perfect freedom, "My wickedness is too great for
me to be Forgiven."{51}{Genesis 4:13.} It is, therefore, very melancholy
indeed for the soul, which is by its own nature unmanageable, to be left without
any restraint; while it is scarcely possible for any one to hold it in with
reins, and by that means, in conjunction with the infliction of stripes, to
reduce it to reason. (166) On which account an oracle of the all-merciful God
has been given, full of gentleness, which shadows forth good hopes to those who
love instruction, in these terms: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake
Thee."{52}{Joshua 1:5.} For when the chains of the soul, by which it has
been used to be held in bondage, are loosened, then the greatest of all
calamities follows, namely, the being deserted by God, who has fastened chains
which can never be broken round the universe, namely, his own powers, with which
he binds everything, willing that it shall never more be released. (167)
Accordingly, he says, in another passage, that "all things which are bound
with a chain are Pure;"{53}{Numbers 19:15.} since unbinding is the cause of
the destruction of that which is impure. Beware, then, lest when you see a man
accomplishing without difficulty all the objects which he endeavors to effect,
you admire him as a prosperous man; take care rather to pity him as a very
unfortunate one, because he passes his whole life in a perfect destitution of
virtue and a great abundance of vice. XXXIII.
(168) And it is worth while to consider in no superficial manner what the
meaning of that expression which is put by Moses into the mouth of God:
"Come, let us go down and confuse their language There."{54}{Genesis
11:7.} For here God is represented as if he were speaking to some beings who
were his coadjutors. And the very same idea may be excited by what is said in
the account of the creation of the world, (169) for there, too, Moses records
that "the Lord God said, Come, let us now make man in our image; man in our
Similitude.{55}{Genesis 1:26.} The expression, "Let us make," implying
a number of creators. And, in another place, we are told that God said,
"Behold, the man, Adam, has become as one of us, in respect of his knowing
good and Evil;"{56}{Genesis 3:22.} for the expression, "as one of
us," is not applicable to one person, but to many. (170) In the first
place, then, we must say this, that there is no existing being equal in honor to
God, but there is one only ruler and governor and king, to whom alone it is
granted to govern and to arrange the universe. For the verse-- A
multitude of kings is never good, Let
there one sovereign, one sole monarch be, {57}{iliad 2.204.} is
not more justly said with respect to cities and men than with respect to the
world and to God; for it is clear from the necessity of things that there must
be one creator, and one father, and one master of the one universe. XXXIV.
(171) This point then being thus granted, it is necessary to convert with it
also what follows, so as to adapt it properly. Let us then consider what this
is: God, being one, has about him an unspeakable number of powers, all of which
are defenders and preservers of every thing that is created; and among these
powers those also which are conversant with punishment are involved. But even
punishment is not a disadvantageous thing, inasmuch as it is both a hindrance to
and a correction of doing wrong. (172) Again, it is by means of these powers
that the incorporeal world, perceptible by the intellect, has been put together,
which is the archetypal model of this invisible world, being compounded by
invisible species, just as this world is of invisible bodies. (173) Some persons
therefore, admiring exceedingly the nature of both these worlds, have not only
deified them in their wholes, but have also deified the most beautiful parts of
them, such as the sun and the moon, and the entire heaven, which, having no
reverence for anything, they have called gods. But Moses, perceiving their
design, says, "O Lord, Lord, King of the Gods,"{58}{Deuteronomy
10:17.} in order to show the difference between the ruler and those subject to
him, (174) "And there is also in the air a most sacred company of
incorporeal souls as an attendant upon the heavenly souls; for the word of
prophecy is accustomed to call these souls angels. It happens therefore that the
whole army of each of these worlds, being marshalled in their suitable ranks,
are servants and ministers of the ruler who has marshalled them, whom they
follow as their leader, in obedience to the principles of law and justice; for
it is impossible to suppose that the divine army can even be detected in
desertion. (175) But it is suitable to the character of the king to associate
with his own powers, and to avail himself of them, with a view to their
ministrations in such matters as it is not fitting should be settled by God
alone, for the Father of the universe has no need of anything, so as to require
assistance from any other quarter if he wishes to make any thing. But seeing at
once what is becoming, both for himself and for his works of creation, there are
some things which he has entrusted to his subordinate powers to fashion; and yet
he has not at once given even to them completely independent knowledge to enable
it to accomplish their objects, in order that no one of those things which come
to be created may be found to be erroneously made. XXXV.
(176) These things, then, it was necessary to give an idea of beforehand; but
for what reason this was necessary we must now say. The nature of animals was
originally divided into the portion endowed with and into that devoid of reason,
the two being at variance with one another. Again the rational division was
subdivided into the perishable and imperishable species, the perishable species
being the race of mankind, and the imperishable species being the company of
incorporeal souls which revolve about the air and heaven. (177) But these have
no participation in wickedness, having received from the very beginning an
inheritance without stain and full of happiness; and not being bound up in the
region of interminable calamities, that is to say, in the body. The divisions
also of the irrational part are free from any participation in wickedness,
inasmuch as, having no endowment of intellect, they are never convicted of those
deliberate acts of wickedness which proceed upon consideration. (178) But man is
almost the only one of all living things which, having a thorough knowledge of
good and evil, often chooses that which is worst, and rejects those things which
are worthy of earnest pursuit, so that he is often most justly condemned as
being guilty of deliberate and studied crime. (179) Very appropriately therefore
has God attributed the creation of this being, man, to his lieutenants, saying,
"Let us make man," in order that the successes of the intellect may be
attributed to him alone, but the errors of the being thus created, to his
subordinate power: for it did not appear to be suitable to the dignity of God,
the ruler of the universe, to make the road to wickedness in a rational soul by
his own agency; for which reason he has committed to those about him the
creation of this portion of the universe; for it was necessary that the
voluntary principle, as the counterpoise to the involuntary principle, should be
established and made known, with a view to the completion and perfection of the
universe. XXXVI.
(180) And this may be enough to say in this manner; and it is right that this
point also should be considered, namely that God is the cause only of what is
good but is absolutely the cause of no evil whatever, since he himself is the
most ancient of all existing things, and the most perfect of all goods; and it
is most natural and becoming that he should do what is most akin to his own
nature, that is to say, that the best of all beings should be the cause of all
the best things, but that the punishments appointed for the wicked are inflicted
by the means of his subordinate ministers. (181) And there is an evidence in
favor of this assertion of mine in this expression, which was uttered by the man
who was made perfect by practice; "The God who nourished me from my youth
up, the angel who defended me from all Evils;"{59}{Genesis 48:16.} for by
this words he already confesses that those genuine good things which nourish the
souls which love virtue, are referred to God as their sole cause; but the fate
of the wicked is, on the other hand, referred to the angels, and even they have
not independent and absolute power of inflicting punishment, that this salutary
nature may not afford an opportunity to any one of the things which tend to
destruction. (182) For this reason God says, "Come, let us go down and
confuse;" for the wicked, deserving to meet with such punishment as this,
that the merciful, and beneficent, and bounteous, powers of God should become
known to them chiefly by its inflictions. Knowing therefore that these powers
are beneficial to the race of man, he has appointed the punishments to be
inflicted by other beings; for it was expedient that he himself should be looked
upon as the cause of well-doing, but in such a way that the fountains of his
everlasting graces should be kept unmingled with any evils, not merely with
those that are really evils, but even with those which are accounted such. XXXVII.
(183) We must now examine what this confusion is. How then shall we enter on
this examination? In this manner, in my opinion. We have very often known those
whom we had knowledge of before, from certain similarities and a comparison of
circumstances which have some connection with them. Therefore we also become
acquainted with things in the same manner, which it is not easy to form a
conception of from their own nature, from some similarity of other things
connected with them. (184) What things then resemble confusion? Mixture, as the
ancient report has it, and combination; but mixture takes place in dry things,
and combination is looked upon as belonging to wet substances. (185) Mixture
then is a placing side by side of different bodies in no regular order, as if
any one were to make a heap, bringing barley, and wheat, and pease, and all
sorts of other seeds, all into one mass; but combination is not a placing side
by side, but rather a mutual penetration of dissimilar parts entering into one
another at all points, so that the distinctive qualities are still able to be
distinguished by some artificial skill, as they say is the case with respect to
wine and water; (186) for these substances coming together form a combination,
but that which is combined is not the less capable of being resolved again into
the distinctive qualities from which it was originally formed. For with a sponge
saturated with oil it is possible for the water to be taken up and for the wine
to be left behind, which may perhaps be because the origin of sponge is derived
from water, and therefore it is natural that water being a kindred substance is
calculated by nature to be taken up by the sponge out of the combination, but
that that substance which is of a different nature, namely the wine, is
naturally left behind. (187) But confusion is the destruction of all the
original distinctive qualities, owing to their component parts penetrating one
another at every point, so as to generate one thing wholly different, as is the
case in that composition of the physicians which they call the tetrapharmacon.
For that, I imagine, is made up of wax, and fat, and pitch, and resin, all
compounded together, but when the medicine has once been compounded, then it is
impossible for it again to be resolved into the powers of which it was
originally composed, but every one of them is destroyed separately, and the
destruction of them all has produced one other power of exceeding excellence.
(188) But when God threatens impious reasonings with confusion, he is in fact
not only commanding the whole species and power of each separate wickedness to
be destroyed, but also that thing which has been made up of all their joint
contributions; so that neither the parts by themselves, nor the union and
harmony of the whole, can contribute any strength hereafter towards the
destruction of the better part; (189) on which account, he says, "Let us
then confuse their language, so that each of them may not understand the voice
of his neighbour;" which is equivalent to, let us make each separate one of
the parts of wickedness deaf and dumb, so that it shall neither utter a voice of
its own, nor be able to sound in unison with any other part, so as to be a cause
of mischief. XXXVIII.
(190) This, now, is our opinion upon and interpretation of this passage. But
they who follow only what is plain and easy, think that what is here intended to
be recorded, is the origin of the languages of the Greeks and barbarians, whom,
without blaming them (for, perhaps, they also put a correct interpretation on
the transaction), I would exhort not to be content with stopping at this point,
but to proceed onward to look at the passage in a figurative way, considering
that the mere words of the scriptures are, as it were, but shadows of bodies,
and that the meanings which are apparent to investigation beneath them, are the
real things to be pondered upon. (191) Accordingly, this lawgiver usually gives
a handle for this doctrine to those who are not utterly blind in their
intellect; as in fact he does in his account of this very event, which we are
now discussing: for he has called what took place, confusion; and yet, if he had
only intended to speak of the origin of languages, he would have given a more
felicitous name, and one of better omen, calling it division instead of
confusion; for things that are divided, are not confused, but, on the contrary,
are distinguished from one another, and not only is the one name contrary to the
other, but the one fact is contrary to the other fact. (192) For confusion, as I
have already said, is the destruction of simple powers for the production of one
concrete power; but division is the dissection of one thing into many parts, as
is the case when one distinguishes a genus into its subordinate species so that,
if the wise God had ordered his ministers to divide language, which was
previously only one, into the divisions of several dialects, he would have used
more appropriate expressions, which should have given a more accurate idea of
the case: calling what he did, dissection, or distribution, or division, or
something of that kind, but not confusion, a name which is at variance with all
of them. (193) But his especial object here is to dissolve the company of
wickedness, to put an end to their confederacy, to destroy their community of
action, to put out of sight and extirpate all their powers, to overthrow the
might of their dominion, which they had strengthened by fearful lawlessness.
(194) Do you not see that he also who made the parts of the soul did not unite
any one part to another in such a way as to enable one to discharge the duties
of the other? But the eyes would never be able to hear, nor the ears to see, nor
the lips of the mouth to smell, nor the nostrils to taste; nor, again, could
reason ever be exposed to those influences which operate upon upon the outward
senses, nor again, would the outward senses be able to develop reason. (195) For
the Creator knew that it was desirable that each of these parts should not hear
the voice of its neighbour, but that the parts of the soul should each exert its
own peculiar faculties without confusion, for the advantage of living animals,
and should, with the same object, be deprived of any power of exerting
themselves in common, and that all the powers of vice should be brought to
confusion and utter destruction, so that they might neither in confederacy, nor
separately, be injurious to the better parts. (196) On which account Moses tells
us, "The Lord scattered them from thence;" which is equivalent to, he
dispersed them, he put them to flight, he banished them, he destroyed them; for
to scatter is sometimes done with a view to production, and growth, and increase
of other things; but there is another kind which has for its object overthrow
and destruction: but God, the planter of the world, wishes to sow in every one
excellence, but to scatter and drive from the world accursed impiety; that the
disposition which hates virtue may at last desist from building up a city of
wickedness, and a tower of impiety; (197) for when these are put to the rout,
then those who have long ago been banished by the tyranny of folly, now, at one
proclamation, find themselves able to return to their own country. God having
drawn up and confirmed the proclamation, as the scriptures show, in which it is
expressly stated that, "Even though thy dispersion be from one end of
heaven to the other end of heaven, he will bring thee together from
Thence."{60}{Deuteronomy 30:4.} (198) So that it is proper that the harmony
of the virtues should be arranged and cherished by God, and that he should
dissolve and destroy wickedness; and confusion is a name most appropriate to
wickedness, of which every foolish man is a visible proof, having all his words,
and intentions, and actions, incapable of standing an examination and destitute
of steadiness. |
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