De Theologia (Orat. 28)

Ἀλλ’ εἰ μὲν καὶ δι’ ἄλλας αἰτίας, εἰδεῖεν ἂν οἱ ἐγγυτέρω θεοῦ, καὶ τῶν ἀνεξιχνιάστων αὐτοῦ κριμάτων ἐπόπται καὶ θεωροί, εἴπερ εἰσί τινες τοσοῦτοι τὴν ἀρετήν, καὶ ἐν ἴχνεσιν ἀβύσσου περιπατοῦντες, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον. ὅσον δ’ οὖν ἡμεῖς κατειλήφαμεν, μικροῖς μέτροις μετροῦντες τὰ δυσθεώρητα, τάχα μέν, ἵνα μὴ τῷ ῥᾳδίῳ τῆς κτήσεως ῥᾴστη γένηται καὶ ἡ τοῦ κτηθέντος ἀποβολή· φιλεῖ γὰρ τὸ μὲν πόνῳ κτηθὲν μᾶλλον κρατεῖσθαι, τὸ δὲ ῥᾳδίως κτηθὲν καὶ ἀποπτύεσθαι τάχιστα, ὡς πάλιν ληφθῆναι δυνάμενον· καὶ οὕτως εὐεργεσία καθίσταται τὸ μὴ πρόχειρον τῆς εὐεργεσίας, τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι. τάχα δέ, ὡς μὴ ταὐτὸν ἡμᾶς τῷ πεσόντι ἑωσφόρῳ πάσχειν, ἐκ τοῦ τὸ φῶς ὅλον χωρῆσαι κατέναντι κυρίου παντοκράτορος τραχηλιᾷν, καὶ πίπτειν ἐκ τῆς ἐπάρσεως πτῶμα πάντων ἐλεεινότατον. τυχὸν δέ, ἵν’ ἦ τι πλέον ἐκεῖθεν ἆθλον φιλοπονίας καὶ λαμπροῦ βίου τοῖς ἐνταῦθα κεκαθαρμένοις καὶ μακροθυμοῦσι πρὸς τὸ ποθούμενον. διὰ τοῦτο μέσος ἡμῶν τε καὶ θεοῦ ὁ σωματικὸς οὗτος ἵσταται γνόφος, ὥσπερ ἡ νεφέλη τὸ πάλαι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ τῶν Ἑβραίων. καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἴσως, ὃ ἔθετο σκότος ἀποκρυφὴν αὐτοῦ, [*](12. 9 ἀποπτύεσθαι] -εται ‘Or. Ι’ || 13 χώρησαι] + καὶ e || 19 om το ef) [*](12. Perhaps one reason for difficulty of knowing God properly is to make us value the knowledge; another, to save us from pride, or to enhance the reward of earnest search. In any case, the infirmity of our bodily nature ttecessarily colours all our ideas of God.) [*](1. δι’ ἄλλας αἰ.] other than those which he is about to allege.) [*](2. ἀνεξιχν. ... κριμάτων] Cp. Rom. xi 33. The form of the sen- tence is quite general, and may in- clude both angelic beings and (though somewhat ironically) privi- human beings also.) [*](4. ἐν ἴχν. ἀβ. περιπ.] Job xxxviii 16 (LXX.).) [*](6. τῷ ῥᾳδίῳ τῆς κτ.] ‘lightly the gotten, lightly spent.’) [*](8. μᾶλλον κρατεῖσθαι] ‘the more firmly held.’) [*](10. τὸ μὴ πρόχειρον] The very fact that the benefit is not too easily attained is itself a benefit.) [*](12. ἑωσφόρῳ] Is. xiv. 12.) [*](13. χωρῆσαι, ‘take in.’) [*](ib. κατέναντι κ. π. τρ] Job xv 25. Trax is to lift up the neck, like a rearing horse.) [*](15. ἐκεῖθεν] ‘on yonder side’ death: cp. i 8.) [*](19 τῶν Αἶγ’. κ. τ. ‘Εβ.] Ex. xiv 20. That cloud was only an obleged struction on the Egyptian side of it.) [*](20. ὃ ἔθετο σκότος] ‘the the darkness which He ’’ etc. Ps. xvii (xviii) 12.)

τὴν ἡμετέραν παχύτητα, δι’ ἢν ὀλίγοι καὶ μικρὸν διακύπτουσιν. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν φιλοσοφείτωσαν οἷς ἐπιμελὲς, καὶ ἀνίτωσαν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τῆς διασκέψεως. ἡμῖν δ’ οὑν ἐκεῖνο γνώριμον τοῖς δεσμίοις τῆς γῆς, ὅ φησιν ὁ θεῖος Ἱερεμίας, καὶ τὸ παχὺ τοῦτο σαρκίον περιβεβλημένοις, ὅτι ὥσπερ ἀδύνατον ὑπερβῆναι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σκιάν, καὶ τῷ λίαν ἐπειγομένῳ,—φθάνει γὰρ ἀεὶ τοσοῦτον, ὅσον καταλαμβάνεται, —ἢ τοῖς ὁρατοῖς πηλσιάσαι τὴν ὄψιν δίχα τοῦ ἐν φωτὸς καὶ ἀέρος, ἢ τῶν ὑδάτων ἔξω τὴν νηκτὴν φύσιν διολισθαίνειν, οὕτως ἀμήχανον τοῖς ἐν σώμασι δίχα τῶν σωματικῶν πάντη γενέσθαι μετὰ τῶν νοουμένων. ἀεὶ γάρ τι παρεμπεσεῖται τῶν ἡμετέρων, κἂν ὅτι μάλιστα χωρίσας ἑαυτὸν τῶν ὁρωμένων ὁ νοῦς, καὶ καθ’ ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος, προσβάλλειν ἐπιχειρῇ τοῖς συγγενέσι καὶ ἀοράτοις. γνώσῃ δὲ οὕτως.

Οὐ πνεῦμα καὶ πῦρ καὶ φῶς, ἀγάπη τε καὶ σοφία καὶ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ νοῦς καὶ λόγος, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, αἱ προσηγορίαι τῆς πρώτης φύσεως; τί οὖν; ἢ πνεῦμα νοήσεις δίχα φορᾶς καὶ χύσεως; ἢ πῦρ ἔξω τῆς ὕλης, καὶ τῆς ἄνω φορᾶς, καὶ τοῦ ἰδίου χρώματός τε καὶ σχήματος; ἢ φῶς οὐκ ἀέρι σύγκρατόν τε καὶ ἄφετόν τοῦ οἷον γεννῶντός [*](4 om ο θεῖος c II 5 προβεβλημένοις cde || 6 υπερβηναι] ἐστιν υπερβαινειν ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ΙΙ 10 σωμασι] -τι e 13. 18 πρωτης] θείας df || 19 χυσεως] συγχύσεως d) [*](7. οἷς ἐπιμελές] ‘who make it their business.’ i.e. ἐκεῖνο] viz. what follows. ib. τοῖς δ. τῆς γῆς] Lam. iii 34. τὸ π. τ σαρκίον] Cp. § 4. ib. περιβεβλημένοις] The read- ing προβ., though perh. less strongly by the MSS., has in its favour Gr.'s characteristic use of πρόβλημα; see iv 6.) [*](7. φθάνει κτλ.] ‘it always anti- cipates your movement by just the step you take to catch it.’) [*](9. τῶν ὑδάτων ἀῶ] Ἔξω comes after its case. Νηκτήν from νήχω ‘to swim’; ν. φύσις, ’the kind,’ i.e. fish Διολισθ. to glide along.’ Cp. § 24.) [*](13. The most abstract conceptions have to be conveyed in language of a concrete nature, through which the mind, in its longing after God, strugsupported gles with difficulty.) [*](18. τῆς πρ. φύσεως] Cp. § 3, 7, 14.) [*](19. φορᾶς κ. χύσεως] ‘movement and effusion: χύσις seems to refer to the source, from which the breath (wind) isemitted. Cp. χεόμενον below.) [*](21. σύγκρατόν τε] a curioua use of τε, which is here attached to the whole phrase οὐκ ἁ. σύγκρατον, not merely to σύγκρ., unless we are to suppose that Gr. at first intended to say instead of ἄφετόν τ. οἷον γ., ‘detached from that which generates it, so to speak? some word like σύνδετον, ‘connected with.’)

τε καὶ φωτίζοντος; νοῦν δὲ τίνα; μὴ τὸν ἐν ἄλλῳ, καὶ οὗ κινήματα τὰ διανοήματα, ἠρεμοῦντα ἢ προβαλλόμενα; λόγον δὲ τίνα παρὰ τὸν ἡσυχάζοντα ἐν ἡμῖν, ἢ χεόμενον; ὀκνῶ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, λυόμενον. εἰ δὲ καὶ σοφίαν, τίνα παρὰ τὴν ἕξιν, καὶ τὴν ἐν τοῖς θεωρήμασιν, εἴτε θείοις, εἴτε καὶ ἀνθρωπίνοις; δικαιοσύνην τε καὶ ἀγάπην, οὐ διαθέσεις ἐπαινουμένας, καὶ τὴν μὲν τῆς ἀδικίας, τὴν δὲ τοῦ μίσους ἀντίπαλον, ἐπιτεινομένας τε καὶ ἀνιεμένας, προσγινομένας τε καὶ ἀπογινομένας, καὶ ὅλως ποιούσας ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀλλοιούσας, ὥσπερ αἱ χρόαι τὰ σώματα; ἢ δεῖ τούτων ἀποστάντας ἡμᾶς αὐτὸ καθ’ ἑαυτὸ τὸ θεῖον ἐκ τούτων ἰδεῖν, ὡς οἷόν τε, μερικήν τινα φαντασίαν ἐκ τῶν εἰκασμάτων [*](1 μὴ] η c: εἰ μὴ d || ἐν] ἐπ’ e || 2 om τὰ διανοήματα f ǁ 5 ἐν τοῖς] + νοήμασι καὶ ’Reg. a’ ΙΙ 8 ἀνιεμένας] ἀνειμένας b ‘aliique’ || 9 om ἀπογινομένας e: προγινομένας f ǁ 11 om ἐκ τούτων def) [*](1. μὴ τὸν ἐν ἄλλῳ] Μῆ here expects the affirmative answer: ‘is it not?’ We cannot think of νοῦς existing independently, but as a faculty of something or some one.) [*](2. οὗ κινήμ. τὰ δ.] not ‘whose movements are thoughts,’ but movements thoughts are.’ The is that we cannot imagine thoughts, uttered or unuttered, without some kind of movement, which involves a change, in the mind which thinks them.) [*](4. χεόμενον] The word is often used of producing a sound. Gr. uses it here to bring out the notion of dissipation inseparable from utterance. He shrinks however from saying ‘dissolved,’ ‘persihsing’ λυόμ.), because, although the sound comes to an end, there is a sense in which the ‘word’ remains. What Gr. means by λυόμενον is made clear by iv 17 λυομένη φωνῇ.) [*](5. τὴν ἕξιν, κ. τ. ἐν τ. θεωρ.] Wisdom can only be conceived of as a ‘habit’ (the Aristotelian word) of some personal subject, and occupied upon some object. It cannot be conceived of as isolated and self- existent.) [*](7. διαθέσεις] In the same way ‘righteousness,’ ‘love,’ are ‘dispositions’ of a person, not abstract things; and for us they derive their meaning from a contrast with their opposites. Tey are, moreover, constantly changing, and the subject in which they reside varies ac- cordingly.) [*](11. τούτων ἀποστ.] The ταῦτα must mean the relative notions which Gr. has shewn to be inseparable from the προσηγορίαι which he has discussed. He cannot mean the προσηγ. themselves, because he goes on to use them as εἰκάσματα. In the next sentence τούτων = τῶν εἰκασ- μάτων.) συλλεγομένους; τίς οὖν ἡ μηχανὴ ἐκ τούτων τε καὶ μὴ ταῦτα; ἢ πῶς ταῦτα πάντα, καὶ τελείως ἕκαστον, τὸ ἓν τῇ φύσει ἀσύνθετον καὶ ἀνείκαστον; οὕτω κάμνει ἐκβῆναι τὰ σωματικὰ ὁ ἡμέτερος νοῦς, καὶ γυμνοῖς ὁμιλῆσαι τοῖς ἀσωμάτοις, ἕως σκοπεῖ μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἀσθενείας τὰ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν. ἐπεὶ ἐφίεται μὲν πᾶσα λογικὴ φύσις θεοῦ καὶ τῆς πρώτης αἰτίας· καταλαβεῖν δὲ ἀδυνατεῖ, δι’ ἃς εἶπον αἰτίας. κάμνουσα δὲ τῷ πόθῳ, καὶ οἷον σφαδάζουσα, καὶ τὴν ζημίαν οὐ φέρουσα, δεύτερον ποιεῖται πλοῦν, ἢ πρὸς τὰ ὁρώμενα βλέψαι, καὶ τούτων τι ποιῆσαι θεόν, κακῶς εἰδυῖα,—τί γὰρ τῶν ὁρατῶν τοῦ ὁρῶντος καὶ πόσον ἐστὶν ὑψηλότερόν τε καὶ θεοειδέστερον, ἵν ἦ τὸ μὲν προσκυνοῦν, τὸ δὲ προσκυνούμενον;—ἢ διὰ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ τῆς εὐταξίας θεὸν γνωρίσαι, καὶ ὁδηγῷ τῇ ὄψει τῶν ὑπὲρ τὴν ὄψιν χρήσασθαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ ζημιωθῆναι θεὸν διὰ τῆς μεγαλοπρεπείας τῶν ὁρωμένων.

Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ μὲν ἥλιον, οἱ δὲ σελήνην, οἱ δὲ [*](3 φύσει] + καὶ e || 10 ποιησαι] σασθαι e ǁ 11 om ἐστιν e) [*](1. τίς οὖν ἡ μ. κτλ.] By what contrivance, he asks, can we construct an imagnation of God out of these materials and yet not identified with them? How can we use words like ‘light’ and ‘love’ to help us in representing Him to our minds, and yet eliminate from the representation notions which are of the very essence of ‘light’ and ‘love’ as known to us?—The sentence is elliptical: ἡ μηχ. is not the φαντασία which we attempt to form ἐκ τούτων·. in full it would be something like τίς ἡ μηχ. ἐκ τούτων τε συλλέγεσθαι φ. κ. μ. τ.) [*](2. ἢ πῶς τ. π.] Supposing the difficulty last stated to be sur- mounted, how can we reconcile the thought of God's absolute unity with that of a combination of separate images, even when these images are carried to their perfection?) [*](3. κάμνει] ‘wearies itself...so long ἃς it investigates.’) [*](8. σφαδάζουσα] ‘to plunge,’ a restive horse.) [*](9. δεύτερον π. πλοῦν] a well- known proverb, like ‘trying the second string.’ The mind itself unable to comprehend God, but it cannot give up trying. Two alternatives lie before it; either to fall into idolatry, or to use nature as a suggestion of what is above nature.) [*](10. κακῶς κακῶς εἰδυῖα] ‘and it makes a great mistake.’) [*](15. ζημιωθῆναι θ.] It was the fear of this ζημία, as Gr. has said, which led to idolatry (in the wide sense of the word); and by idolatry they incurred it.) [*](14. Some, impatient of the struggle, sink into worship of natural objects, or of images.) [*](17. ἐντεῦθεν] sc. διὰ τῆς μεγαλοπρ. τ. ὁρ. Cp. Wisd. xiii 3.)

ἀστέρων πλῆθος, οἱ δὲ οὐρανὸν αὐτὸν ἅμα τούτοις, οἷς καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἄγειν δεδώκασι κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν ἢ ποσὸν τῆς κινήσεως· οἱ δὲ τὰ στοιχεῖα, γῆν, ὕδωρ, ἀέρα, πῦρ, διὰ τὸ χρειῶδες, ὧν ἄνευ οὐδὲ συστῆναι δυνατὸν τὸν ἀνθρώπινον βίον· οἱ δὲ ὅ τι τύχοιεν ἕκαστος τῶν ὁρατῶν ἐσεβάσθησαν, ὧν ἑώρων τὰ κάλλιστα θεοὺς προστησάμενοι. εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ καὶ εἰκόνας καὶ πλάσματα, πρῶτα μὲν τῶν οἰκείων, οἵ γε περιπαθέστεροι καὶ σωματικώτεροι, καὶ τιμῶντες τοὺς ἀπελθόντας τοῖς ὑπομνήμασιν· ἔπειτα καὶ τῶν ξένων, οἱ μετ’ ἐκείνους καὶ μακρὰν ἀπ’ ἐκείνων, ἀγνοίᾳ τῆς πρώτης φύσεως, καὶ ἀκολουθίᾳ τῆς παραδοθείσης τιμῆς, ὡς ἐννόμου καὶ ἀναγκαίας, ἐπειδὴ χρόνῳ τὸ ἔθος βεβαιωθὲν ἐνομίσθη νόμος. οἶμαι δὲ καὶ δυναστείαν τινὲς θεραπεύοντες, καὶ ῥώμην ἐπαινέσαντες, καὶ κάλλος θαυμάσαντες, θεὸν ἐποίησαν τῷ χρόνῳ τὸν τιμώμενον, προσλαβόμενοί τινα καὶ μῦθον τῆς ἐξαπάτης ἐπίκουρον.

Οἱ ἐμπαθέστεροι δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ πάθη θεοὺς ἐνόμισαν, ἢ θεοῖς ἐτίμησαν, θυμόν, καὶ μιαιφονίαν, καὶ ἀσέλγειαν, καὶ μέθην, καὶ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅ τι ἄλλο τῶν τούτοις παραπλησίων, οὐ καλὴν οὐδὲ δικαίαν ταύτην ἀπολογίαν [*](14. 16 ἐξαπάτης] -τησεως be 15. 18 θέοις] θεοὺς de || 20 απολογιαν ταύτην ce) [*](2. κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν ἢ ποσὸν τ. κ. ] It is hard to see what Gr. means by this phrase. Elias gives an elabo- rate double explanation which only shews how much it puzzled him. Prob. by τὸ ποσόν Gr. means ’the ’ of motion,—the planets e.g. moving at a different ‘rate’ from the fixed stars; while τὸ ποῖον would include their conjunctions.) [*](5. ὁ τι τύχοιεν ἔκ. τ ὁρ.] τῶν ὁρ. depends on ὅ τι; ἕκ. is in app. the subj. of τύχ.; ‘any visible any visible ob- ject which they happened individn- ally’ to select.) [*](6. προστῇς.] Cp. § 1.) [*](8. περιπαθέστεροι] ‘more emo- tional.’) [*](ib. τοὺς ἀπελθόντας] Cp. Wisd. xiv 15 f. The καὶ couples τιμῶντες κτλ. to τῶν οἰκ., not to σωματικ.) [*](10. τῆς πρ. φύσεως] Cp. ἑ 13.) [*](12. χρόνῳ τὸ ἔθος κτλ.] Wisd. xiv 16 εἶτα ἐν χρόνῳ κρατυνθὲν τὸ ἀσεβὲς ἔθος ὡς νόμος ἐφυλάχθη.) [*](15. προσλαβ. τ. κ. μῦθον] Gr. adopts the Euemerist view of my- thology.) [*](15. Some deify their own pasto sions, and end in utter degradation. The Evil One deceives them into worshipping himself as God.) [*](17. καἰ τὰ πάθη] Cp. i 6.) [*](18. θεοῖς ἔτ’.] set gods over them.)

εὑράμενοι τῶν οἰκείων ἁμαρτημάτων. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀφῆκαν κάτω, τοὺς δὲ ὑπὸ γῆν ἔκρυψαν,—τοῦτο συνετῶς μόνον,—τοὺς δὲ ἀνήγαγον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. ὢ τῆς γελοίας κληροδοσίας. εἶτα ἑκάστῳ τῶν πλασμάτων ὄνομά τι θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων ἐπιφημίσαντες, κατὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν καὶ αὐτονομίαν τῆς πλάνης, καὶ ἀγάλματα ἱδρυσάμενοι, ὧν καὶ τὸ πολυτελὲς δέλεαρ, αἵμασί τε καὶ κνίσσαις, ἔστι δὲ οἱ γε καὶ πράξεσι λίαν αἰσχραῖς, μανίαις τε καὶ ἀνθρωποκτονίαις, τιμᾷν τοῦτο ἐνόμισαν. τοιαύτας γὰρ ἔπρεπεν εἶναι θεῶν τοιούτων καὶ τὰς τιμάς. ἤδη δὲ καὶ κνωδάλοις, καὶ τετραπόδοις, καὶ ἑρπετοῖς, καὶ τούτων τοῖς αἰσχίστοις τε καὶ γελοιοτάτοις, ἑαυτοὺς καθύβρισαν, καὶ τούτοις φέροντες τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δόξαν προσέθηκαν· ὡς μὴ ῥᾴδιον εἶναι κρῖναι, πότερον δεῖ καταφρονεῖν μᾶλλον τῶν προσκυνούντων ἢ τῶν προσκυνουμένων. τάχα δὲ καὶ πολὺ πλέον τῶν λατρευόντων, ὅτι λογικῆς ὄντες φύσεως, καὶ χάριν θεοῦ δεξάμενοι, τὸ χεῖρον ὡς ἄμεινον προεστήσαντο. καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ πονηροῦ τὸ σόφισμα, τῷ καλῷ καταχρησαμένου πρὸς τὸ κακόν, οἷα τὰ πολλὰ τῶν ἐκείνου κακουργημάτων. παραλαβὼν γὰρ αὐτῶν τὸν πόθον πλανώμενον κότα θεοῦ ζήτησιν, ἵν εἰς ἑαυτὸν περισπάσῃ τὸ κράτος, καὶ κλέψῃ [*](2 ἔκρυψαν] ἀπέρριψαν ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ΙΙ 3 om τον ‘Or. I’ || 7 οἱ γε] ὅτε 8 τιμὰν τοῦτο] τοῦτο τιμὰν d: τιμὰν τούτους ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ǁ 14 πότερον] -ρων d ’tresColb.’ || 17 προεστήσαντο] προετιμήσαντο ‘Reg. Cypr.’ ΙΙ 20 πλανωμενον] -ων b || 21 περισπάσῃ] επισπαση b) [*](2. τοῦτο συνετῶς μόνον] Α grimly humorous parenthesis: to bury them under ground was the only sensible part of the arrange- ment.) [*](4. τῶν πλασμάτων) ‘these coun- terfeits.’ Gr. means the personifi- cations of the passions, not (as in ἑ 14) the images of them; of the images he has yet to speak.) [*](5. ἐξουσίαν κ. αὐτονομίαν] Cp. for ἐξ. § 8: for αὐτὸν. § 8: ‘arbitrary license.’) [*](10. ἤδη δέ] like iam for mox. Κνώδαλα, ‘monsters.’) [*](ib. τετραπ. κ ἑρπ.] Cp. Rom. i 23; Wisd. xi 15 (16) ἄλογα ἑρπετὰ κ. κνώδαλα εὐτελῆ.) [*](15. τῶν λατρ.] so. δεῖ καταφρονεῖν.) [*](16. χάριν θ. δεξ.] Gr. is using the word in a free and untechnical sense.) [*](19. οἶα τ. π] predicate. The constr. is τοῦτο τ. σόφ’. ἦν τοιοῦτο] οἶα τ. π.) [*](20. παραλαβών] i 7 παρ᾿ ἠμῶν. . . λαμβάνει.) τὴν ἔφεσιν, ὥσπερ τυφλὸν χειραγωγῶν ὁδοῦ ὁδοῦ τινὸς ἐφιέμενον, ἄλλους ἀλλαχοῦ κατεκρήμνισε, καὶ διέσπειρεν εἰς ἕν τι θανάτου καὶ ἀπωλείας βάραθρον.