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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 GIANTS II.
(6) "And when the angels of God saw the daughters of men that they were
beautiful, they took unto themselves wives of all of them whom they
Chose."{2}{Genesis 6:2.} Those beings, whom other philosophers call demons,
Moses usually calls angels; and they are souls hovering in the air. (7) And let
no one suppose, that what is here stated is a fable, for it is necessarily true
that the universe must be filled with living things in all its parts, since
every one of its primary and elementary portions contains its appropriate
animals and such as are consistent with its nature; --the earth containing
terrestrial animals, the sea and the rivers containing aquatic animals, and the
fire such as are born in the fire (but it is said, that such as these last are
found chiefly in Macedonia), and the heaven containing the stars: (8) for these
also are entire souls pervading the universe, being unadulterated and divine,
inasmuch as they move in a circle, which is the kind of motion most akin to the
mind, for every one of them is the parent mind. It is therefore necessary that
the air also should be full of living beings. And these beings are invisible to
us, inasmuch as the air itself is not visible to mortal sight. (9) But it does
not follow, because our sight is incapable of perceiving the forms of souls,
that for that reason there are no souls in the air; but it follows of necessity
that they must be comprehended by the mind, in order that like may be
contemplated by like. (10) Since what shall we say? Must we not say that these
animals which are terrestrial or aquatic live in air and spirit? What? Are not
pestilential afflictions accustomed to exist when the air is tainted or
corrupted, as if that were the cause of all such assuming vitality? Again, when
the air is free from all taint and innocent, such as it is especially wont to be
when the north wind prevails, does not the imbibing of a purer air tend to a
more vigorous and more lasting duration of life? (11) It is then natural that
that medium by which all other animals, whether aquatic of terrestrial, are
vivified should itself be empty and destitute of souls? On the contrary, even if
all other animals were barren, the air by itself would be bound to be productive
of life, having received from the great Creator the seeds of vitality by his
especial favor. III.
(12) Some souls, therefore, have descended into bodies, and others have not
thought worthy to approach any one of the portions of the earth; and these, when
hallowed and surrounded by the ministrations of the father, the Creator has been
accustomed to employ, as hand-maidens and servants in the administration of
mortal affairs. (13) And they having descended into the body as into a river, at
one time are carried away and swallowed up by the voracity of a most violent
whirlpool; and, at another time, striving with all their power to resist its
impetuosity, they at first swim on the top of it, and afterwards fly back to the
place from which they started. (14) These, then, are the souls of those who have
been taught some kind of sublime philosophy, meditating, from beginning to end,
on dying as to the life of the body, in order to obtain an inheritance of the
incorporeal and imperishable life, which is to be enjoyed in the presence of the
uncreate and everlasting God. (15) But those, which are swallowed up in the
whirlpool, are the souls of those other men who have disregarded wisdom, giving
themselves up to the pursuit of unstable things regulated by fortune alone, not
one of which is referred to the most excellent portion of us, the soul or the
mind; but all rather to the dead corpse connected with us, that is to the body,
or to things which are even more lifeless than that, such as glory, and money,
and offices, and honors, and all other things which, by those who do not keep
their eyes fixed on what is really beautiful, are fashioned and endowed with
apparent vitality by the deceit of vain opinion. IV.
(16) If, therefore, you consider that souls, and demons, and angels are things
differing indeed in name, but not identical in reality, you will then be able to
discard that most heavy burden, superstition. But as men in general speak of
good and evil demons, and in like manner of good and evil souls, so also do they
speak of angels, looking upon some as worthy of a good appellation, and calling
them ambassadors of man to God, and of God to man, and sacred and holy on
account of this blameless and most excellent office; others, again, you will not
err if you look upon as unholy and unworthy of any address. (17) And the
expression used by the writer of the psalm, in the following verse, testifies to
the truth of my assertion, for he says, "He sent upon them the fury of His
wrath, anger, and rage, and affliction, and he sent evil angels among
Them."{3}{Psalms 77:49.} These are the wicked who, assuming the name of
angels, not being acquainted with the daughters of right reason, that is with
the sciences and the virtues, but which pursue the mortal descendants of mortal
men, that is the pleasures, which can confer no genuine beauty, which is
perceived by the intellect alone, but only a bastard sort of elegance of form,
by means of which the outward sense is beguiled; (18) and they do not all take
all the daughters in marriage, but some of them have selected some of that
innumerable company to be their wives; some choosing them by the sight, and
others by the ear, others again being influenced by the sense of taste, or by
the belly, and some even by the pleasures below the belly; many also have laid
hold of those the abode of which is fixed at a great distance, putting in action
various desires among one another. For, of necessity, the choices of all the
various pleasures are various, since different pleasures are established in
different places. V.
(19) And, in all such matters, it is impossible for the spirit of God to remain
and to pass all its time, as the law-giver himself shows. "For," says
Moses, "the Lord said, My spirit shall not remain among men for ever,
because they are Flesh."{4}{Genesis 6:3.} (20) For, at times, it does
remain; but it does not remain for ever and ever among the greater part of us;
for who is so destitute of reason or so lifeless as never, either voluntarily or
involuntarily, to conceive a notion of the all good God. For, very often, even
over the most polluted and accursed beings, there hovers a sudden appearance of
the good, but they are unable to take firm hold of it and to keep it among them;
(21) for, almost immediately, it quits its former place and departs, rejecting
those inhabitants who come over to it, and who live in defiance of law and
justice, to whom it never would have come if it had not been for the sake of
convicting those who choose what is disgraceful instead of what is good. (22)
But the spirit of God is spoken of in one manner as being air flowing upon the
earth, bringing a third element in addition to water. In reference to which,
Moses says, in his account of the creation of the world, "The spirit of God
moved upon the face of the Waters."{5}{Genesis 1:2.} Since the air, as it
is very light, is raised and borne aloft, having water, as it were, for its
foundation; and, in another manner, unalloyed knowledge is said to be so, which
every wise man naturally partakes of. (23) And Moses shows us this, when
speaking of the creator and maker of the holy work of the creation, in these
words: "And God summoned Bezaleel, and filled him with his Holy Spirit, and
with wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge, to be able to devise every
Work."{6}{Exodus 31:1.} So that, what the spirit of God is, is very
definitively described in these words. VI.
(24) Such also is the spirit of Moses, which came upon the seventy elders, for
the sake of making them differ from, and be superior to the rest of the
Israelites, who could not possibly be elders in real truth, unless they had
partaken of that allwise spirit. For it is said, "I will take of my spirit
which is upon thee, and I will pour it upon the seventy Elders."{7}{Numbers
11:17.} (25) But think not that thus this taking away, could be by means of
cutting off or separation; but it is here, as is the case in an operation
effected by fire, which can light ten thousand torches, without itself being
diminished the least atom, or ceasing to remain as it was before. Something like
this also is the nature of knowledge. For though it has made all its pupils, and
all who have become acquainted with it, learned, still it is in no degree
diminished itself, but very often it even becomes improved, just as, they say,
that fountains sometimes are by being drained dry; for, it is said, that they
sometimes become sweeter by such a process. (26) For continual association with
others, engendering diligence and practice, gradually works out entire
perfection. If, then, the individual spirit of Moses, or of any other creature,
was about to be distributed to so great a multitude of pupils, then, if it were
divided into such a number of small portions, it would be diminished. (27) But
now, the spirit which is upon him is the wise, the divine, the indivisible, the
undistributable, the good spirit, the spirit which is everywhere diffused, so as
to fill the universe, which, while it benefits others, it not injured by having
a participation in it given to another, and if added to something else, either
as to its understanding, or its knowledge, or its wisdom. VII.
(28) On which account, it is possible that the spirit of God may remain in the
soul, but that it should remain for ever is impossible, as we have said. And why
need we wonder? since there is no other thing whatever, the possession of which,
is stable and lasting; but mortal affairs are continually wavering in the scale,
and inclining first to one side, and then to the other, and liable at different
times to different changes. (29) And the greatest cause of our ignorance is the
flesh, and our inseparable connection with the flesh. And this, Moses represents
God as admitting, where he says that, "Because they are flesh," the
spirit of God cannot abide in them. And yet marriage and the rearing of
children, and the furnishing of necessary things, and ingloriousness conjoined
with a want of money and business, both private and public, and a countless
number of other things cause wisdom to waste away, before it begins to flourish
vigorously. (30) But there is nothing which is so great a hindrance to its
growth as the fleshly nature. For that, as if it were the principal and most
solid foundation of folly and ignorance, is laid down firmly, and then each of
the aforenamed evils is built up upon it. (31) For those souls which are devoid
of flesh and of the body, remaining undisturbed in the theatre of the universe,
occupied in seeing and hearing divine things, of which an insatiable desire has
seized them, enjoy a pleasure to which no one offers any interruption. But those
which bear the heavy burden of the flesh, being weighed down and oppressed by
it, are unable to look upwards to the revolutions of the heaven, but being
dragged downwards, have their necks forcibly pressed to the ground like so many
quadrupeds. VIII.
(32) In reference to which fact, the lawgiver having determined to put an end to
all illegal and illegitimate associations and unions, begins his denunciations
in the following manner: "Man shall not come near to any one who is akin to
his own flesh, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord."{8}{Leviticus
18:6.} How could any one more forcibly exhort man to despise the flesh and what
is akin to the flesh than in this way? (33) And indeed he does not only exhort
us to abandon such things, but he shows positively that he who is really a man
will never come of his own accord to those pleasures which are dear to and
connected with the body, but will always be meditating to alienate himself from
them entirely. (34) For the saying, "Man, man," not once but twice, is
a sign that what is here meant is not the man composed of body and soul, but him
only who is possessed of virtue. For such an one is really a true man, whom some
one of the ancient philosophers having lighted a lantern at midday, went in
search of, and told those who asked him that he was seeking a man. And as for
the prohibition against every man coming near to any one who is akin to his own
flesh, this is induced by necessary reasons. For there are some things which we
should admit, such for instance as those useful things, by the employment of
which we may be able to live in freedom from disease and in good health; and
there are other things which should be rejected, by which, when the appetites
become inflamed, they burn up all goodness in one vast conflagration. (35) Let
not then our appetites rush eagerly in pursuit of all the things that are
pleasant to the flesh, for the pleasures are often untameable, when like dogs
they fawn upon us, and all of a sudden, change and bite us, inflicting incurable
sounds. So that by cleaving to frugality, which is a friend to virtue, in
preference to the pleasures akin to the body, we shall defeat the numerous and
infinite multitude of irreconcilable enemies. And if any occasion should seek to
compel us to take more than what is moderate or sufficient, let us not yield;
for the scripture saith, "He shall come near to him to uncover his
nakedness." IX.
(36) And what is meant by this, it is worth while to explain. It has often
happened, that some who have not been themselves providers of wealth, have
nevertheless had unlimited abundance. And others, who have not been eager in the
pursuit of glory have been thought worthy of public praises and honors. Others
again, who have not expected to acquire even a little strength, have arrived at
the greatest vigor and activity. (37) Now, let all these men learn not to cleave
in their minds to any one of these qualities; that is to say, not to admire them
and grasp at them in an immoderate degree, looking upon them all, that is to say
on riches, on glory, and on bodily strength, not only not as intrinsically good,
but as the greatest of evils. For to misers, the pursuit of money is
appropriate, and the pursuit of glory is so to ambitious men, and the
acquisition of bodily strength is so to men fond of athletic and of gymnastic
exercises. For that which is the better part of them, namely, the soul, they
have abandoned as a slave to those things which are inferior to themselves,
namely, to inanimate things. (38) But as many as are masters of themselves show
that all that brilliant prosperity, which is an object of so much contention, is
in subordination to the mind, which is the principal part of them, receiving it
when it comes, so as to make a good use of it, but not pursuing it if it keeps
aloof, as being able to be happy even without it. (39) But he who pursues it
eagerly and follows upon its track, fills philosophy with base opinions; on
which account he is said to uncover its nakedness, for how can there be any
concealment or ignorance of the reproaches to which those men are justly
exposed, who profess indeed to be wise men, but who make a traffic of wisdom,
and bargain for the sale of it, as they say men do in the market, who put up
their wares for sale, sometimes for a slight gain, sometimes for sweet and
caressing speeches, and sometimes for insecure hopes, founded on no sure ground,
and sometimes even for promises which are in no respect better than dreams. X.
(40) And the sentence which follows, "I am the Lord," is uttered with
great beauty and with most excessive propriety, "for," says the Lord,
"oppose, my good man, the good of the flesh to that of the soul, and of the
whole man;" therefore the pleasure of the flesh is irrational, but the
pleasure of the soul and of the whole man is the mind of the universe, namely
God; (41) and the comparison is an admirable one, and one difficult to be
instituted, so as for any one to be deceived by the close similitude, unless any
one will say that living things are in reality the same as lifeless things,
rational things the same as irrational things; well adapted the same as those
ill adapted; odd numbers identical with even ones; light with darkness, and day
with night; and in short every thing that is contrary the same as its contrary.
(42) And yet even although these things have some kind of union and connection
together by reason of their being created, still God is not in any respect like
the very best of created beings, inasmuch as these have been born, and are
liable to suffering; but he is uncreated, and always acting not suffering. (43)
Now it is well not to desert the ranks of God, in which it follows inevitably
that all who are arrayed must be most excellent, and it would be shameful to
quit those ranks, to fly to unmanly and effeminate pleasure, which injures its
friends and benefits its enemies, for its nature is a very singular one; for all
those to whom it chooses to give a share of its special advantages, it at once
chastises and injures; and those whom it thinks fit to deprive of its good
things, it benefits in the greatest possible degree, for it injures them when it
gives, but it benefits them when it takes away. (44) If therefore, O my soul,
any one of the temptations of pleasure invites you, turn yourself away, and
directing your views towards another point, look at the genuine beauty of
virtue, and having surveyed it, remain, until a desire for it has sunk into you,
and draws you to it, like a magnet, and immediately leads you and attaches you
to that which has become the object of your desire. XI.
(45) And the expression, "I am the Lord," must be listened to, not
only as if it were equivalent to, "I am the perfect, and incorruptible, and
true good," with which if any one is surrounded he will reject all that is
imperfect, and corruptible, and attached to the flesh; but also as equivalent
to, "I am the ruler, and the king, and the master." (46) And it is not
safe for subjects to do wrong in the presence of their rulers, nor for slaves to
err before their masters; for when the punishers are near, those whose nature is
not quick at submitting to admonitions are held in restraint and order by fear;
(47) for God, having filled everything with himself, is near at hand, so that he
is looking over everything and standing by, we being filled with a great and
holy reverence, or if not with that, at all events, having a prudent fear of the
might of his authority, and of the fearful nature of his punishment, which
cannot be avoided, whenever he determines to exert his punishing power, shall
desist from doing wrong. In order that the divine spirit of wisdom may not be
inclined to quit our neighbourhood and depart, but that it may remain a very
long time with us, as it did also with the wise Moses; (48) for Moses is a being
of the most tranquil habits, either standing still or sitting still, and not at
all disposed by nature to subject himself to turns and changes; for the
scripture says, "Moses and the ark did not Move,"{9}{Numbers 14:44.}
inasmuch as the wise man cannot depart from virtue, or inasmuch as virtue is not
liable to move, nor is the virtuous man inclined to changes, but each of these
things is established on the sure foundation of right reason. (49) And again,
the scripture saith in another passage, "But stand thou here with
Me."{10}{Deuteronomy 5:31.} For this is an oracle of God, which was given
to the prophet, and his station was to be one of unmoved tranquility by God, who
always stands immovably; for it is indispensable, that all things which are
placed by the side of him must be kept straight by such an undeviating rule.
(50) On this account it is, as it seems to me, that excessive pride, named
Jethro, marveling at his unvarying and always equal choice of what was wise, a
choice which always looked at the same things in the same way, was perplexed,
and put a question to him in this form, "Why dost thou sit by
Thyself?"{11}{Exodus 18:14.} (51) For any one who considers the continual
war raging among men in the middle of peace, and existing, not merely among
nations, and countries, and cities, but also among private houses, or I might
rather say, between every individual man and the inexpressible and heavy storms
which agitate the souls of men, which, by their evident impetuosity, throw into
confusion all the affairs of life, may very naturally wonder, if in such a
storm, any one can enjoy tranquility, and can feel a calm in such a billowy
state of the stormy sea. (52) You see that even the high priest, that is to say,
reason, who might at all times remain and reside in the holy dwelling of God,
has not free permission to approach them at all times, but only once in each
year; for whatever is associated with reason by utterance is not firm, because
it is of a twofold nature. But the safest conduct is to contemplate the living
God by the soul alone, without utterance of any voice, because he exists
according to the indivisible unit. XII.
(53) As, therefore, among men in general, that is to say, among those who
propose to themselves many objects in life, the divine spirit does not remain,
even though it may abide among them for a very short time, but it remains among
one species of men alone, namely, among those who, having put off all the things
of creation, and the inmost veil and covering of false opinion, come to God in
their unconcealed and naked minds. (54) Thus also Moses, having fixed his tent
outside of the tabernacle and outside of all the corporeal army, {12}{Exodus
33:7.} that is to say, having established his mind so that it should not move,
begins to worship God, and having entered into the darkness, that invisible
country, remains there, performing the most sacred mysteries; and he becomes,
not merely an initiated man, but also an hierophant of mysteries and a teacher
of divine things, which he will explain to those whose ears are purified; (55)
therefore the divine spirit is always standing by him, conducting him in every
right way: but from other men, as I have said before, it very soon separates
itself, and completes their life in the number of a hundred and twenty years.
For God says, "their days shall be an hundred and twenty
Years;"{13}{Deuteronomy 24:7.} (56) but Moses, when he had arrived at that
number of years, departed from mortal life to another. How, then, can it be
natural for men who are guilty to live an equal length of time with the all-wise
prophet? for the present, it will be sufficient to say this, that things which
bear the same name are not in all cases alike, but very often they are distinct
in their whole genus; and also that which is bad may have equal numbers and
times with what is good, since they are represented as twofold, but still they
have their respective powers, distinct from one another, and as remote and
different as possible. (57) And we shall hereafter institute a more exact
discussion of this period of a hundred and twenty years, which we will however
postpone, till we come to an examination of the whole life of the prophet, when
we have become fit to be initiated in it, but at present we will discuss what
comes next in order. XIII.
(58) "And there were giants on the earth in those Days."{14}{Genesis
6:4.} Perhaps some one may here think, that the lawgiver is speaking
enigmatically and alluding to the fables handed down by the poets about giants,
though he is a man as far removed as possible from any invention of fables, and
one who thinks fit only to walk in the paths of truth itself; (59) in
consequence of which principle, he has banished from the constitution, which he
has established, those celebrated and beautiful arts of statuary and painting,
because they, falsely imitating the nature of the truth, contrive deceits and
snares, in order, through the medium of the eyes, to beguile the souls which are
liable to be easily won over. (60) Therefore he utters no fable whatever
respecting the giants; but he wishes to set this fact before your eyes, that
some men are born of the earth, and some are born of heaven, and some are born
of God: those are born of the earth, who are hunters after the pleasures of the
body, devoting themselves to the enjoyment and fruition of them, and being eager
to provide themselves with all things that tend to each of them. Those again are
born of heaven who are men of skill and science and devoted to learning; for the
heavenly portion of us is our mind, and the mind of every one of those persons
who are born of heaven studies the encyclical branches of education and every
other art of every description, sharpening, and exercising, and practising
itself, and rendering itself acute in all those matters which are the objects of
intellect. (61) Lastly, those who are born of God are priests and prophets, who
have not thought fit to mix themselves up in the constitutions of this world,
and to become cosmopolites, but who having raised themselves above all the
objects of the mere outward senses, have departed and fixed their views on that
world which is perceptible only by the intellect, and have settled there, being
inscribed in the state of incorruptible incorporeal ideas. XIV.
(62) Accordingly, Abraham, as long as he was abiding in the land of the
Chaldaeans, that is to say, in opinion, before he received his new name, and
while he was still called Abram, was a man born of heaven, investigating the
sublime nature of things on high, and all that took place in these regions, and
the causes of them, and studying everything of that kind in the true spirit of
philosophy; on which account he received an appellation corresponding to the
pursuits to which he devoted himself: for the name Abram, being interpreted,
signifies the sublime father, and is a name very fitting for the paternal mind,
which in every direction contemplates sublime and heavenly things: for the mind
is the father of our composite being, reaching as high as the sky and even
farther. (63) But when he became improved, and was about to have his name
changed, he then became a man born of God, according to the oracle which was
delivered to him, "I am thy God, take care that thou art approved before
me, and be thou Blameless."{15}{Genesis 17:1.} (64) But if the God of the
world, being the only God, is also by especial favor the peculiar God of this
individual man, then of necessity the man must also be a man of God; for the
name Abraham, being interpreted, signifies, "the elect father of
sound," the reason of the good man: for he is chosen out of all, and
purified, and the father of the voice by which we speak; and being such a
character as this, he is assigned to the one only God, whose minister he
becomes, and so makes the path of his whole life straight, using in real truth
the royal road, the road of the only king who governs all things, turning aside
and deviating neither to the left hand nor to the right. XV.
(65) But the sons of earth removing their minds from contemplation, and becoming
deserters so as to fly to the lifeless and immovable nature of the flesh,
"for they two became one Flesh,"{16}{Genesis 2:24.} as the lawgiver
says, adulterated the excellent coinage, and abandoned the better rank which had
been allotted to them as their own, and deserted to the worse rank, which was
contrary to their original nature, Nimrod being the first to set the example of
this desertion; (66) for the lawgiver says, "that this man began to be a
giant upon the Earth:"{17}{Genesis 10:29 is the passage supposed to be
alluded to; but as translated in the Bible it only says "He was a mighty
hunter before the Lord."} and the name Nimrod, being interpreted, means,
desertion; for it was not enough for the thoroughly miserable soul to stand on
neither side, but having gone over to its enemies, it took up arms against its
friends, and resisted them, and made open war upon them; in reference to which
fact it is that, Moses calls the seat of Nimrod's kingdom Babylon, and the
interpretation of the word Babylon is "change;" a thing nearly akin to
desertion, the name, too, being akin to the name, and the one action to the
other; for the first step of every deserter is a change and alteration of mind,
(67) and it would be consistent in the truth to say that, according to the most
holy Moses, the bad man, as being one destitute of a home and of a city, without
any settled habitation, and a fugitive, is naturally a deserter also; but the
good man is the firmest of allies. Having said thus much at present, and dwelt
sufficiently on the subject of the giants, we will now proceed to what comes
next in our subject, which is this. |
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