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| + | Moved to [http://www.logicmuseum.com/authors/augustine/civitate-18.htm here]. |
| − | ON THE CITY OF GOD, BOOK XVIII
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| − | [[Directory:Logic Museum/Augustine City of God|Index]]
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| − | Translated by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Dods_%28theologian%29 Marcus Dods]
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| − | *[[#c0|Introduction]]
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| − | *[[#c1|Chapter 1]] Of Those Things Down to the Times of the Saviour Which Have Been Discussed in the Seventeen Books
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| − | *[[#c2|Chapter 2]] Of the Kings and Times of the Earthly City Which Were Synchronous with the Times of the Saints, Reckoning from the Rise of Abraham
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| − | *[[#c3|Chapter 3]] What Kings Reigned in Assyria and Sicyon When, According to the Promise, Isaac Was Born to Abraham in His Hundredth Year, and When the Twins Esau and Jacob Were Born of Rebecca to Isaac in His Sixtieth Year
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| − | *[[#c4|Chapter 4]] Of the Times of Jacob and His Son Joseph
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| − | *[[#c5|Chapter 5]] Of Apis King of Argos, Whom the Egyptians Called Serapis, and Worshipped with Divine Honors
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| − | *[[#c6|Chapter 6]] Who Were Kings of Argos, and of Assyria, When Jacob Died in Egypt
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| − | *[[#c7|Chapter 7]] Who Were Kings When Joseph Died in Egypt
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| − | *[[#c8|Chapter 8]] Who Were Kings When Moses Was Born, and What Gods Began to Be Worshipped Then
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| − | *[[#c9|Chapter 9]] When the City of Athens Was Founded, and What Reason Varro Assigns for Its Name
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| − | *[[#c10|Chapter 10]] What Varro Reports About the Term Areopagus, and About Deucalion's Flood
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| − | *[[#c11|Chapter 11]] When Moses Led the People Out of Egypt; And Who Were Kings When His Successor Joshua the Son of Nun Died
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| − | *[[#c12|Chapter 12]] Of the Rituals of False Gods Instituted by the Kings of Greece in the Period from Israel's Exodus from Egypt Down to the Death of Joshua the Son of Nun
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| − | *[[#c13|Chapter 13]] What Fables Were Invented at the Time When Judges Began to Rule the Hebrews
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| − | *[[#c14|Chapter 14]] Of the Theological Poets
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| − | *[[#c15|Chapter 15]] Of the Fall of the Kingdom of Argos, When Picus the Son of Saturn First Received His Father's Kingdom of Laurentum
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| − | *[[#c16|Chapter 16]] Of Diomede, Who After the Destruction of Troy Was Placed Among the Gods, While His Companions are Said to Have Been Changed into Birds
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| − | *[[#c17|Chapter 17]] What Varro Says of the Incredible Transformations of Men
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| − | *[[#c18|Chapter 18]] What We Should Believe Concerning the Transformations Which Seem to Happen to Men Through the Art of Demons
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| − | *[[#c19|Chapter 19]] That Жneas Came into Italy When Abdon the Judge Ruled Over the Hebrews
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| − | *[[#c20|Chapter 20]] Of the Succession of the Line of Kings Among the Israelites After the Times of the Judges
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| − | *[[#c21|Chapter 21]] Of the Kings of Latium, the First and Twelfth of Whom, Жneas and Aventinus, Were Made Gods
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| − | *[[#c22|Chapter 22]] That Rome Was Founded When the Assyrian Kingdom Perished, at Which Time Hezekiah Reigned in Judah
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| − | *[[#c23|Chapter 23]] Of the Erythrжan Sibyl, Who is Known to Have Sung Many Things About Christ More Plainly Than the Other Sibyls
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| − | *[[#c24|Chapter 24]] That the Seven Sages Flourished in the Reign of Romulus, When the Ten Tribes Which Were Called Israel Were Led into Captivity by the Chaldeans, and Romulus, When Dead, Had Divine Honors Conferred on Him
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| − | *[[#c25|Chapter 25]] What Philosophers Were Famous When Tarquinius Priscus Reigned Over the Romans, and Zedekiah Over the Hebrews, When Jerusalem Was Taken and the Temple Overthrown
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| − | *[[#c26|Chapter 26]] That at the Time When the Captivity of the Jews Was Brought to an End, on the Completion of Seventy Years, the Romans Also Were Freed from Kingly Rule
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| − | *[[#c27|Chapter 27]] Of the Times of the Prophets Whose Oracles are Contained in Books and Who Sang Many Things About the Call of the Gentiles at the Time When the Roman Kingdom Began and the Assyrian Came to an End
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| − | *[[#c28|Chapter 28]] Of the Things Pertaining to the Gospel of Christ Which Hosea and Amos Prohesied
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| − | *[[#c29|Chapter 29]] What Things are Predicted by Isaiah Concerning Christ and the Church
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| − | *[[#c30|Chapter 30]] What Micah, Jonah, and Joel Prophesied in Accordance with the New Testament
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| − | *[[#c31|Chapter 31]] Of the Predictions Concerning the Salvation of the World in Christ, in Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk
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| − | *[[#c31|Chapter 32]] Of the Prophecy that is Contained in the Prayer and Song of Habakkuk
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| − | *[[#c31|Chapter 33]] What Jeremiah and Zephaniah Have, by the Prophetic Spirit, Spoken Before Concerning Christ and the Calling of the Nations
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| − | *[[#c31|Chapter 34]] Of the Prophecy of Daniel and Ezekiel, Other Two of the Greater Prophets
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| − | *[[#c35|Chapter 35]] Of the Prophecy of the Three Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
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| − | *[[#c36|Chapter 36]] About Esdras and the Books of the Maccabees
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| − | *[[#c37|Chapter 37]] That Prophetic Records are Found Which are More Ancient Than Any Fountain of the Gentile Philosophy
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| − | *[[#c38|Chapter 38]] That the Ecclesiastical Canon Has Not Admitted Certain Writings on Account of Their Too Great Antiquity, Lest Through Them False Things Should Be Inserted Instead of True
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| − | *[[#c39|Chapter 39]] About the Hebrew Written Characters Which that Language Always Possessed
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| − | *[[#c40|Chapter 40]] About the Most Mendacious Vanity of the Egyptians, in Which They Ascribe to Their Science an Antiquity of a Hundred Thousand Years
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| − | *[[#c41|Chapter 41]] About the Discord of Philosophic Opinion, and the Concord of the Scriptures that are Held as Canonical by the Church
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| − | *[[#c42|Chapter 42]] By What Dispensation of God's Providence the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament Were Translated Out of Hebrew into Greek, that They Might Be Made Known to All the Nations
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| − | *[[#c43|Chapter 43]] Of the Authority of the Septuagint Translation, Which, Saving the Honor of the Hebrew Original, is to Be Preferred to All Translations
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| − | *[[#c44|Chapter 44]] How the Threat of the Destruction of the Ninevites is to Be Understood Which in the Hebrew Extends to Forty Days, While in the Septuagint It is Contracted to Three
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| − | *[[#c45|Chapter 45]] That the Jews Ceased to Have Prophets After the Rebuilding of the Temple, and from that Time Until the Birth of Christ Were Afflicted with Continual Adversity, to Prove that the Building of Another Temple Had Been Promised by Prophetic Voices
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| − | *[[#c46|Chapter 46]] Of the Birth of Our Saviour, Whereby the Word Was Made Flesh; And of the Dispersion of the Jews Among All Nations, as Had Been Prophesied
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| − | *[[#c47|Chapter 47]] Whether Before Christian Times There Were Any Outside of the Israelite Race Who Belonged to the Fellowship of the Heavenly City
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| − | *[[#c48|Chapter 48]] That Haggai's Prophecy, in Which He Said that the Glory of the House of God Would Be Greater Than that of the First Had Been, Was Really Fulfilled, Not in the Rebuilding of the Temple, But in the Church of Christ
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| − | *[[#c49|Chapter 49]] Of the Indiscriminate Increase of the Church, Wherein Many Reprobate are in This World Mixed with the Elect
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| − | *[[#c50|Chapter 50]] Of the Preaching of the Gospel, Which is Made More Famous and Powerful by the Sufferings of Its Preachers
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| − | *[[#c51|Chapter 51]] That the Catholic Faith May Be Confirmed Even by the Dissensions of the Heretics
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| − | *[[#c52|Chapter 52]] Whether We Should Believe What Some Think, That, as the Ten Persecutions Which are Past Have Been Fulfilled, There Remains No Other Beyond the Eleventh, Which Must Happen in the Very Time of Antichrist
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| − | *[[#c53|Chapter 53]] Of the Hidden Time of the Final Persecution
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| − | *[[#c54|Chapter 54]] Of the Very Foolish Lie of the Pagans, in Feigning that the Christian Religion Was Not to Last Beyond Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Years
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| − | ||<div id="c0"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [] ||The City of God (Book XVIII) Argument-Augustin traces the parallel courses of the earthly and heavenly cities from the time of Abraham to the end of the world; and alludes to the oracles regarding Christ, both those uttered by the Sibyls, and those of the sacred prophets who wrote after the foundation of Rome, Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, Micah, and their successors.
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| − | ||<div id="c1"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [I] De civitatum duarum, quarum Dei una, saeculi huius est altera, in qua est, quantum ad hominum genus pertinet, etiam ista peregrina, exortu et procursu et debitis finibus me scripturum esse promisi, cum prius inimicos civitatis Dei, qui conditori eius Christo deos suos praeferunt et livore sibi perniciosissimo atrociter inuident Christianis, quantum me adivuaret eius gratia, refellissem, quod voluminibus decem prioribus feci. De hac vero mea, quam modo commemoravi, tripertita promissione decimum sequentibus quattuor libris ambarum est digestus exortus, deinde procursus ab homine primo usque ad diluuium libro uno, qui est huius operis quintus decimus, atque inde usque ad Abraham rursus ambae, sicut in temporibus, ita et in nostris litteris cucurrerunt. Sed a patre Abraham usque ad regum tempus Israelitarum, ubi sextum decimum volumen absolvimus, et inde usque ad ipsius in carne Saluatoris adventum, quo usque septimus decimus liber tenditur, sola videtur in meo stilo cucurrisse Dei civitas; cum in hoc saeculo non sola cucurrerit, sed ambae utique in genere humano, sicut ab initio, simul suo procursu tempora variaverint. Verum hoc ideo feci, ut prius, ex quo apertiores Dei promissiones esse coeperunt, usque ad eius ex virgine nativitatem, in quo fuerant quae primo promittebantur implenda, sine interpellatione a contrario alterius civitatis ista, quae Dei est, procurrens distinctius appareret; quamuis usque ad reuelationem testamenti novi non in lumine, sed in umbra cucurrerit. Nunc ergo, quod intermiseram, video esse faciendum, ut ex Abrahae temporibus quo modo etiam illa cucurrerit, quantum satis videtur, adtingam, ut ambae inter se possint consideratione legentium comparari. ||I Promised to write of the rise, progress, and appointed end of the two cities, one of which is God's, the other this world's, in which, so far as mankind is concerned, the former is now a stranger. But first of all I undertook, so far as His grace should enable me, to refute the enemies of the city of God, who prefer their gods to Christ its founder, and fiercely hate Christians with the most deadly malice. And this I have done in the first ten books. Then, as regards my threefold promise which I have just mentioned, I have treated distinctly, in the four books which follow the tenth, of the rise of both cities. After that, I have proceeded from the first man down to the flood in one book, which is the fifteenth of this work; and from that again down to Abraham our work has followed both in chronological order. From the patriarch Abraham down to the time of the Israelite kings, at which we close our sixteenth book, and thence down to the advent of Christ Himself in the flesh, to which period the seventeenth book reaches, the city of God appears from my way of writing to have run its course alone; whereas it did not run its course alone in this age, for both cities, in their course amid mankind, certainly experienced chequered times together just as from the beginning. But I did this in order that, first of all, from the time when the promises of God began to be more clear, down to the virgin birth of Him in whom those things promised from the first were to be fulfilled, the course of that city which is God's might be made more distinctly apparent, without interpolation of foreign matter from the history of the other city, although down to the revelation of the new covenant it ran its course, not in light, but in shadow. Now, therefore, I think fit to do what I passed by, and show, so far as seems necessary, how that other city ran its course from the times of Abraham, so that attentive readers may compare the two.
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| − | ||<div id="c2"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [II] Societas igitur usquequaque mortalium diffusa per terras et in locorum quantislibet diversitatibus unius tamen eiusdemque naturae quadam communione devincta utilitates et cupiditates suas quibusque sectantibus, dum id quod appetitur aut nemini aut non omnibus sufficit, quia non est id ipsum, adversus se ipsam plerumque dividitur, et pars partem, quae praeualet, opprimit. Victrici enim victa succumbit, dominationi scilicet vel etiam libertati qualemcumque pacem praeferens ac salutem, ita ut magnae fuerint admirationi, qui perire quam seruire maluerunt. Nam in omnibus fere gentibus quodam modo vox naturae ista personuit, ut subiugari victoribus mallent, quibus contigit vinci, quam bellica omnifariam uastatione deleri. Hinc factum est, ut non sine Dei providentia, in cuius potestate est, ut quisque bello <aut> subiugetur aut subiuget, quidam essent regnis praediti, quidam regnantibus subditi. Sed inter plurima regna terrarum, in quae terrenae utilitatis vel cupiditatis est divisa societas (quam civitatem mundi huius universali vocabulo nuncupamus), duo regna cernimus longe ceteris provenisse clariora, Assyriorum primum, deinde Romanorum, ut temporibus, ita locis inter se ordinata atque distincta. Nam quo modo illud prius, hoc posterius: eo modo illud in Oriente, hoc in Occidente surrexit; denique in illius fine huius initium confestim fuit. Regna cetera ceterosque reges velut adpendices istorum dixerim. Ninus ergo iam secundus rex erat Assyriorum, qui patri suo Belo successerat, regni illius primo regi, quando in terra Chaldaeorum natus est Abraham. Erat etiam tempore illo regnum Sicyoniorum admodum paruum, a quo ille undecumque doctissimus Marcus Varro scribens de gente populi Romani, velut antiquo tempore, exorsus est. Ab his enim Sicyoniorum regibus ad Athenienses pervenit, a quibus ad Latinos, inde Romanos. Sed ante conditam Romam in comparatione regni Assyriorum perexigua ista memorantur; quamuis Athenienses in Graecia plurimum claruisse fateatur etiam Sallustius Romanus historicus; plus tamen fama quam re ipsa. Nam loquens de illis: "Atheniensium, inquit, res gestae, sicuti ego existimo, satis amplae magnificaeque fuere; verum aliquanto minores tamen, quam fama feruntur. Sed quia provenere ibi scriptorum magna ingenia, per terrarum orbem Atheniensium facta pro maximis celebrantur. Ita eorum qui fecere virtus tanta habetur, quantum eam verbis potuere extollere praeclara ingenia." Accedit huic civitati non parua etiam ex litteris et philosophis gloria, quod ibi potissimum talia studia viguerunt. Nam quantum adtinet ad imperium, nullum maius primis temporibus quam Assyriorum fuit, nec tam longe lateque diffusum, quippe ubi Ninus rex, Beli filius, universam Asiam, quae totius orbis ad numerum partium tertia dicitur, ad magnitudinem vero dimidia reperitur, usque ad Libyae fines subegisse traditur. Solis quippe Indis in partibus Orientis non dominabatur, quos tamen eo defuncto Samiramis uxor eius est adgressa bellando. Ita factum est, ut, quicumque in illis terris populi sive reges erant, Assyriorum regno dicionique parerent et quidquid imperaretur efficerent. Abraham igitur in eo regno apud Chaldaeos Nini temporibus natus est. Sed quoniam res Graecae multo sunt nobis quam Assyriae notiores, et per Graecos ad Latinos ac deinde ad Romanos, qui etiam ipsi Latini sunt, temporum seriem deduxerunt qui gentem populi Romani in originis eius antiquitate rimati sunt: ob hoc debemus, ubi opus est, Assyrios nominare reges, ut appareat quem ad modum Babylonia, quasi prima Roma, cum peregrina in hoc mundo Dei civitate procurrat; res autem, quas propter comparationem civitatis utriusque, terrenae scilicet et caelestis, huic operi oportet inserere, magis ex Graecis et Latinis, ubi et ipsa Roma quasi secunda Babylonia est, debemus adsumere. Quando ergo natus est Abraham, secundi reges erant apud Assyrios Ninus, apud Sicyonios Europs; primi autem illic Belus, hic Aegialeus fuerunt. Cum vero egresso Abraham de Babylonia promisit ei Deus ex illo magnam gentem futuram et in eius semine omnium gentium benedictionem, Assyrii quartum regem habebant, Sicyonii quintum; apud illos enim regnabat filius Nini post matrem Samirarnidem, quae ab illo interfecta perhibetur, ausa filium mater incestare concubitu. Hanc putant nonnulli condidisse Babylonem, quam quidem potuit instaurare. Quando autem vel quo modo condita fuerit, in sexto decimo libro diximus. Filium porro Nini et Samiramidis, qui matri successit in regnum, quidam etiam ipsum Ninum, quidam vero derivato a patre vocabulo Ninyan vocant. Sicyoniorum autem regnum tunc tenebat Telxion. Quo regnante usque adeo ibi mitia et laeta tempora fuerunt, ut eum defunctum velut deum colerent sacrificando et ludos celebrando, quos ei primitus institutos ferunt. ||The society of mortals spread abroad through the earth everywhere, and in the most diverse places, although bound together by a certain fellowship of our common nature, is yet for the most part divided against itself, and the strongest oppress the others, because all follow after their own interests and lusts, while what is longed for either suffices for none, or not for all, because it is not the very thing. For the vanquished succumb to the victorious, preferring any sort of peace and safety to freedom itself; so that they who chose to die rather than be slaves have been greatly wondered at. For in almost all nations the very voice of nature somehow proclaims, that those who happen to be conquered should choose rather to be subject to their conquerors than to be killed by all kinds of warlike destruction. This does not take place without the providence of God, in whose power it lies that any one either subdues or is subdued in war; that some are endowed with kingdoms, others made subject to kings. Now, among the very many kingdoms of the earth into which, by earthly interest or lust, society is divided (which we call by the general name of the city of this world), we see that two, settled and kept distinct from each other both in time and place, have grown far more famous than the rest, first that of the Assyrians, then that of the Romans. First came the one, then the other. The former arose in the east, and, immediately on its close, the latter in the west. I may speak of other kingdoms and other kings as appendages of these.Ninus, then, who succeeded his father Belus, the first king of Assyria, was already the second king of that kingdom when Abraham was born in the land of the Chaldees. There was also at that time a very small kingdom of Sicyon, with which, as from an ancient date, that most universally learned man Marcus Varro begins, in writing of the Roman race. For from these kings of Sicyon he passes to the Athenians, from them to the Latins, and from these to the Romans. Yet very little is related about these kingdoms, before the foundation of Rome, in comparison with that of Assyria. For although even Sallust, the Roman historian, admits that the Athenians were very famous in Greece, yet he thinks they were greater in fame than in fact. For in speaking of them he says, "The deeds of the Athenians, as I think, were very great and magnificent, but yet somewhat less than reported by fame. But because writers of great genius arose among them, the deeds of the Athenians were celebrated throughout the world as very great. Thus the virtue of those who did them was held to be as great as men of transcendent genius could represent it to be by the power of laudatory words." This city also derived no small glory from literature and philosophy, the study of which chiefly flourished there. But as regards empire, none in the earliest times was greater than the Assyrian, or so widely extended. For when Ninus the son of Belus was king, he is reported to have subdued the whole of Asia, even to the boundaries of Libya, which as to number is called the third part, but as to size is found to be the half of the whole world. The Indians in the eastern regions were the only people over whom he did not reign; but after his death Semiramis his wife made war on them. Thus it came to pass that all the people and kings in those countries were subject to the kingdom and authority of the Assyrians, and did whatever they were commanded. Now Abraham was born in that kingdom among the Chaldees, in the time of Ninus. But since Grecian affairs are much better known to us than Assyrian, and those who have diligently investigated the antiquity of the Roman nation's origin have followed the order of time through the Greeks to the Latins, and from them to the Romans, who themselves are Latins, we ought on this account, where it is needful, to mention the Assyrian kings, that it may appear how Babylon, like a first Rome, ran its course along with the city of God, which is a stranger in this world. But the things proper for insertion in this work in comparing the two cities, that is, the earthly and heavenly, ought to be taken mostly from the Greek and Latin kingdoms, where Rome herself is like a second Babylon.At Abraham's birth, then, the second kings of Assyria and Sicyon respectively were Ninus and Europs, the first having been Belus and Жgialeus. But when God promised Abraham, on his departure from Babylonia, that he should become a great nation, and that in his seed all nations of the earth should be blessed, the Assyrians had their seventh king, the Sicyons their fifth; for the son of Ninus reigned among them after his mother Semiramis, who is said to have been put to death by him for attempting to defile him by incestuously lying with him. Some think that she founded Babylon, and indeed she may have founded it anew. But we have told, in the sixteenth book, when or by whom it was founded. Now the son of Ninus and Semiramis, who succeeded his mother in the kingdom, is also called Ninus by some, but by others Ninias, a patronymic word. Telexion then held the kingdom of the Sicyons. In his reign times were quiet and joyful to such a degree, that after his death they worshipped him as a god by offering sacrifices and by celebrating games, which are said to have been first instituted on this occasion.
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| − | ||<div id="c3"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [III] Huius temporibus etiam Isaac ex promissione Dei natus est centenario patri filius Abrahae de Sarra coniuge, quae sterilis et anus iam spem prolis amiserat. Tunc et Assyriis quintus erat rex Arrius. Ipsi vero Isaac sexagenario nati sunt gemini, Esau et Iacob, quos ei Rebecca uxor peperit, auo eorum Abraham adhuc vivente et centum sexaginta aetatis annos agente, qui expletis centum septuaginta quinque defunctus est, regnantibus apud Assyrios Xerse illo antiquiore, qui etiam Baleus vocabatur, et apud Sicyonios Thuriaco, quem quidam Thurimachum scribunt, septimis regibus. Regnum autem Argivorum simul cum Abrahae nepotibus ortum est, ubi primus regnavit Inachus. Sane, quod praetereundum non fuit, etiam apud sepulcrum septimi sui regis Thuriaci sacrificare Sicyonios solere Varro refert. Regnantibus porro octavis regibus, Armamitre Assyriorum, Sicyoniorum Leucippo et primo Argivorum Inacho, Deus locutus est ad Isaac atque ipsi quoque eadem, quae patri eius, duo illa promisit, semini scilicet eius terram Chanaan et in eius semine benedictionem cunctarum gentium. Haec ipsa promissa sunt etiam filio eius, nepoti Abrahae, qui est appellatus primo Iacob, post Israel, cum iam Belocus rex nonus Assyriae et Phoroneus Inachi filius secundus regnaret Argivis, Leucippo adhuc apud Sicyonios permanente. His temporibus Graecia sub Phoroneo Argolico rege legum et iudiciorum quibusdam clarior facta est institutis. Phegous tamen frater huius Phoronei iunior cum esset mortuus, ad eius sepulcrum templum est constitutum, in quo coleretur ut Deus et ei boves immolarentur. Credo honore tanto ideo dignum putarunt, quia in regni sui parte (pater quippe loca ambobus distribuerat, in quibus eo vivente regnarent) iste sacella constituerat ad colendos deos et docuerat observari tempora per menses atque annos, quid eorum quatenus metirentur atque numerarent. Haec in eo noua mirantes rudes adhuc homines morte obita deum esse factum sive opinati sunt sive voluerunt. Nam et Io filia Inachi fuisse perhibetur, quae postea Isis appellata ut magna dea culta est in Aegypto; quamuis alii scribant eam ex Aethiopia in Aegyptum venisse reginam, et quod late iusteque imperaverit eisque multa commoda et litteras instituerit, hunc honorem illi habitum esse divinum, postea quam ibi mortua est, et tantum honorem, ut capitali crimine reus fieret, si quis eam fuisse hominem diceret. ||In his times also, by the promise of God, Isaac, the son of Abraham, was born to his father when he was a hundred years old, of Sarah his wife, who, being barren and old, had already lost hope of issue. Aralius was then the fifth king of the Assyrians. To Isaac himself, in his sixtieth year, were born twin-sons, Esau and Jacob, whom Rebecca his wife bore to him, their grandfather Abraham, who died on completing a hundred and seventy years, being still alive, and reckoning his hundred and sixtieth year. At that time there reigned as the seventh kings,-among the Assyrians, that more ancient Xerxes, who was also called Balжus; and among the Sicyons, Thuriachus, or, as some write his name, Thurimachus. The kingdom of Argos, in which Inachus reigned first, arose in the time of Abraham's grandchildren. And I must not omit what Varro relates, that the Sicyons were also wont to sacrifice at the tomb of their seventh king Thuriachus. In the reign of Armamitres in Assyria and Leucippus in Sicyon as the eighth kings, and of Inachus as the first in Argos, God spoke to Isaac, and promised the same two things to him as to his father,-namely, the land of Canaan to his seed, and the blessing of all nations in his seed. These same things were promised to his son, Abraham's grandson, who was at first called Jacob, afterwards Israel, when Belocus was the ninth king of Assyria, and Phoroneus, the son of Inachus, reigned as the second king of Argos, Leucippus still continuing king of Sicyon. In those times, under the Argive king Phoroneus, Greece was made more famous by the institution of certain laws and judges. On the death of Phoroneus, his younger brother Phegous built a temple at his tomb, in which he was worshipped as God, and oxen were sacrificed to him. I believe they thought him worthy of so great honor, because in his part of the kingdom (for their father had divided his territories between them, in which they reigned during his life) he had founded chapels for the worship of the gods, and had taught them to measure time, by months and years, and to that extent to keep count and reckoning of events. Men still uncultivated, admiring him for these novelties, either fancied he was, or resolved that he should be made, a god after his death. Io also is said to have been the daughter of Inachus, who was afterwards called Isis, when she was worshipped in Egypt as a great goddess; although others write that she came as a queen out of Ethiopia, and because she ruled extensively and justly, and instituted for her subjects letters and many useful things, such divine honor was given her there after she died, that if any one said she had been human, he was charged with a capital crime.
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| − | ||<div id="c4"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [IV] Regnantibus Assyriorum decimo rege Baleo et Sicyoniorum nono Messapo, qui etiam Cephisos a quibusdam traditur (si tamen duorum nominum homo unus fuit ac non potius alterum pro altero putaverunt fuisse hominem, qui in suis posuerunt scriptis alterum nomen), cum rex Argivorum tertius Apis esset, mortuus est Isaac annorum centum octoginta et reliquit geminos suos annorum centum et viginti; quorum minor Iacob pertinens ad civitatem Dei, de qua scribimus, maiore utique reprobato, habebat duodecim filios, quorum illum, qui vocabatur Ioseph, mercatoribus in Aegyptum transeuntibus fratres adhuc Isaac auo eorum vivente vendiderant. Stetit autem ante Pharaonem Ioseph, quando ex humilitate, quam pertulit, sublimatus est, cum triginta esset annorum; quoniam somnia regis divine interpretatus praenuntiavit septem ubertatis annos futuros, quorum abundantiam praepollentem consequentes alii septem steriles fuerant consumpturi, et ob hoc eum rex praefecerat Aegypto de carcere liberatum, quo eum coniecerat integritas castitatis, quam fortiter servans male amanti dominae et male credulo domino mentiturae ueste etiam derelicta de manibus adtrahentis aufugiens non consensit ad stuprum. Secundo autem anno septem annorum sterilium Iacob in Aegyptum cum suis omnibus venit ad filium, agens annos centum et triginta, sicut interroganti regi ipse respondit, cum Ioseph ageret triginta et novem, ad triginta scilicet, quos agebat, quando a rege honoratus est, additis septem ubertatis et duobus famis. ||In the reign of Balжus, the ninth king of Assyria, and Mesappus, the eighth of Sicyon, who is said by some to have been also called Cephisos (if indeed the same man had both names, and those who put the other name in their writings have not rather confounded him with another man), while Apis was third king of Argos, Isaac died, a hundred and eighty years old, and left his twin-sons a hundred and twenty years old. Jacob, the younger of these, belonged to the city of God about which we write (the elder being wholly rejected), and had twelve sons, one of whom, called Joseph, was sold by his brothers to merchants going down to Egypt, while his grandfather Isaac was still alive. But when he was thirty years of age, Joseph stood before Pharaoh, being exalted out of the humiliation he endured, because, in divinely interpreting the king's dreams, he foretold that there would be seven years of plenty, the very rich abundance of which would be consumed by seven other years of famine that should follow. On this account the king made him ruler over Egypt, liberating him from prison, into which he had been thrown for keeping his chastity intact; for he bravely preserved it from his mistress, who wickedly loved him, and told lies to his weakly credulous master, and did not consent to commit adultery with her, but fled from her, leaving his garment in her hands when she laid hold of him. In the second of the seven years of famine Jacob came down into Egypt to his son with all he had, being a hundred and thirty years old, as he himself said in answer to the king's question. Joseph was then thirty-nine, if we add seven years of plenty and two of famine to the thirty he reckoned when honored by the king.
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| − | ||<div id="c5"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [V] His temporibus rex Argivorum Apis navibus transuectus in Aegyptum, cum ibi mortuus fuisset, factus est Serapis omnium maximus Aegyptiorum deus. Nominis autem huius, cur non Apis etiam post mortem,.sed Serapis appellatus sit, facillimam rationem Varro reddidit. quia enim arca, In qua mortuus ponitur, quod omnes iam sarcophagum vocant, soros dicitur Graece, et ibi eum venerari sepultum coeperant, priusquam templum eius esset extructum: velut soros et Apis Sorapis primo, deinde una littera, ut fieri adsolet, commutata Serapis dictus est. Et constitutum est etiam de illo, ut, quisquis eum hominem fuisse dixisset, capitalem penderet poenam. Et quoniam fere in omnibus templis, ubi colebantur Isis et Serapis, erat etiam simulacrum, quod digito labiis inpresso admonere videretur, ut silentium fieret: hoc significare idem Varro existimat, ut homines eos fuisse taceretur. Ille autem bos, quem mirabili uanitate decepta Aegyptus in eius honorem deliciis afluentibus alebat, quoniam eum sine sarcophago vivum venerabantur, Apis, non Serapis vocabatur. Quo bove mortuo quoniam quaerebatur et reperiebatur vitulus coloris eiusdem, hoc est albis quibusdam maculis similiter insignitus, mirum quiddam et divinitus sibi procuratum esse credebant. Non enim magnum erat daemonibus ad eos decipiendos phantasiam talis tauri, quam sola cerneret, ostentare uaccae concipienti atque praegnanti, unde libido matris adtraheret, quod in eius fetu iam corporaliter appareret; sicut Iacob de virgis variatis, ut oves et caprae variae nascerentur, effecit. Quod enim homines coloribus et corporibus veris, hoc daemones figuris fictis facillime possunt animalibus concipientibus exhibere. ||In these times Apis king of Argos crossed over into Egypt in ships, and, on dying there, was made Serapis, the chief god of all the Egyptians. Now Varro gives this very ready reason why, after his death, he was called, not Apis, but Serapis. The ark in which he was placed when dead, which every one now calls a sarcophagus, was then called in Greek s????, and they began to worship him when buried in it before his temple was built; and from Soros and Apis he was called first [Sorosapis, or] Sorapis, and then Serapis, by changing a letter, as easily happens. It was decreed regarding him also, that whoever should say he had been a man should be capitally punished. And since in every temple where Isis and Serapis were worshipped there was also an image which, with finger pressed on the lips, seemed to warn men to keep silence, Varro thinks this signifies that it should be kept secret that they had been human. But that bull which, with wonderful folly, deluded Egypt nourished with abundant delicacies in honor of him, was not called Serapis, but Apis, because they worshipped him alive without a sarcophagus. On the death of that bull, when they sought and found a calf of the same color,-that is, similarly marked with certain white spots,-they believed it was something miraculous, and divinely provided for them. Yet it was no great thing for the demons, in order to deceive them, to show to a cow when she was conceiving and pregnant the image of such a bull, which she alone could see, and by it attract the breeding passion of the mother, so that it might appear in a bodily shape in her young, just as Jacob so managed with the spotted rods that the sheep and goats were born spotted. For what men can do with real colors and substances, the demons can very easily do by showing unreal forms to breeding animals.
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| − | ||<div id="c6"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [VI] Apis ergo rex, non Aegyptiorum, sed Argivorum, mortuus est in Aegypto. Huic filius Argus successit in regnum, ex cuius nomine et Argi et ex hoc Argivi appellati sunt; superioribus autem regibus nondum vel locus vel gens habebat hoc nomen. Hoc regnante apud Argivos et apud Sicyonios Erato, apud Assyrios vero adhuc manente Baleo mortuus est Iacob in Aegypto annorum centum quadraginta septem, cum moriturus filios suos et nepotes ex Ioseph benedixisset Christumque apertissime prophetasset, dicens in benedictione Iudae: Non deficiet princeps ex Iuda et dux de femoribus eius, donec veniant quae reposita sunt ei; et ipse expectatio gentium. Regnante Argo suis coepit uti frugibus Graecia et habere segetes in agricultura, delatis aliunde seminibus. Argus quoque post obitum deus haberi coepit, templo et sacrificiis honoratus. qui honor eo regnante ante illum delatus est homini privato et fulminato cuidam Homogyro, eo quod primus ad aratrum boves iunxerit. ||Apis, then, who died in Egypt, was not the king of Egypt, but of Argos. He was succeeded by his son Argus, from whose name the land was called Argos and the people Argives, for under the earlier kings neither the place nor the nation as yet had this name. While he then reigned over Argos, and Eratus over Sicyon, and Balжus still remained king of Assyria, Jacob died in Egypt a hundred and forty-seven years old, after he had, when dying, blessed his sons and his grandsons by Joseph, and prophesied most plainly of Christ, saying in the blessing of Judah, "A prince shall not fail out of Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until those things come which are laid up for him; and He is the expectation of the nations." Genesis 49:10 In the reign of Argus, Greece began to use fruits, and to have crops of corn in cultivated fields, the seed having been brought from other countries. Argus also began to be accounted a god after his death, and was honored with a temple and sacrifices. This honor was conferred in his reign, before being given to him, on a private individual for being the first to yoke oxen in the plough. This was one Homogyrus, who was struck by lightning.
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| − | ||<div id="c7"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [VII] Regnantibus Assyriorum duodecimo Mamytho et undecimo Sicyoniorum Plemmeo et Argis adhuc manente Argo mortuus est Ioseph annorum centum decem. Post cuius mortem populus Dei mirabiliter crescens mansit in Aegypto centum quadraginta quinque annos, tranquille prius, donec morerentur quibus Ioseph notus fuit; deinde quia inuidebatur incrementis eius erantque suspecta: quo usque inde liberaretur, persecutionibus (inter quas tamen divinitus fecundata multiplicatione crescebat) et laboribus premebatur intolerabilis seruitutis. In Assyria vero et Graecia per idem tempus regna eadem permanebant. ||In the reign of Mamitus, the twelfth king of Assyria, and Plemnжus, the eleventh of Sicyon, while Argus still reigned over the Argives, Joseph died in Egypt a hundred and ten years old. After his death, the people of God, increasing wonderfully, remained in Egypt a hundred and forty-five years, in tranquillity at first, until those who knew Joseph were dead. Afterward, through envy of their increase, and the suspicion that they would at length gain their freedom, they were oppressed with persecutions and the labors of intolerable servitude, amid which, however, they still grew, being multiplied with God-given fertility. During this period the same kingdoms continued in Assyria and Greece.
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| − | ||<div id="c8"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [VIII] Cum ergo regnaret Assyriis quartus decimus Saphrus et Sicyoniis duodecimus Orthopolis et Criasus quintus Argivis, natus est in Aegypto Moyses, per quem populus Dei de seruitute Aegyptia liberatus est, in qua eum ad desiderandum sui Creatoris auxilium sic exerceri oportebat. Regnantibus memoratis regibus fuisse a quibusdam creditur Prometheus, quem propterea ferunt de luto formasse homines, quia optimus sapientiae doctor fuisse perhibetur; nec tamen ostenditur, qui eius temporibus fuerint sapientes. Frater eius Atlans magnus fuisse astrologus dicitur; unde occasionem fabula invenit, ut eum caelum portare confingeret; quamuis mons eius nomine nuncupetur, cuius altitudine potius caeli portatio in opinionem uulgi venisse videatur. Multa quoque alia ex illis in Graecia temporibus confingi fabulosa coeperunt; sed usque ad Cecropem regem Atheniensium, quo regnante eadem civitas etiam tale nomen accepit, et quo regnante Deus per Moysen eduxit ex Aegypto populum suum, relati sunt in deorum numerum aliquot mortui caeca et uana consuetudine ac superstitione Graecorum. In quibus Criasi regis coniux Melantomice et Phorbas filius eorum, qui post patrem rex Argivorum sextus fuit, et septimi regis Triopae filius Iasus et rex nonus Sthenelas sive Stheneleus sive Sthenelus, varie quippe in diversis auctoribus invenitur. His temporibus etiam Mercurius fuisse perbibetur, nepos Atlantis ex Maia filia, quod uulgatiores etiam litterae personant. Multarum autem artium peritus claruit, quas et hominibus tradidit; quo merito eum post mortem deum esse voluerunt sive etiam crediderunt. Posterior fuisse Hercules dicitur, ad ea tamen tempora pertinens Argivorum; quamuis nonnulli eum Mercurio praeferant tempore, quos falli existimo. Sed quolibet tempore nati sint, constat inter historicos graves, qui haec antiqua litteris mandaverunt, ambos homines fuisse, et quod mortalibus ad istam vitam commodius ducendam beneficia multa contulerint, honores ab eis meruisse divinos. Minerua vero longe his antiquior; nam temporibus Ogygi ad lacum, qui Tritonis dicitur, virginali apparuisse fertur aetate, unde et Tritonia nuncupata est; multorum sane operum inventrix et tanto proclivius dea credita, quanto minus origo eius innotuit. Quod enim de capite Iovis nata canitur, poetis et fabulis, non historiae rebusque gestis est adplicandum. Quamquam Ogygus ipse quando fuerit, cuius temporibus etiam diluuium magnum factum est, non illud maximum: In quo nulli homines euaserunt, nisi qui in arca esse potuerunt, quod gentium nec Graeca nec Latina novit historia, sed tamen maius quam postea tempore Deucalionis fuit, inter scriptores historiae non convenit. Nam Varro inde exorsus est librum, cuius mentionem superius feci, et nihil sibi, ex quo perveniat ad res Romanas, proponit antiquius quam Ogygi diluuium, hoc est Ogygi factum temporibus. Nostri autem qui chronica scripserunt, prius Eusebius, post Hieronymus, qui utique praecedentes aliquos historicos in hac opinione secuti sunt, post annos amplius quam trecentos iam secundo Argivorum Phoroneo rege regnante Ogygi diluuium fuisse commemorant. Sed quolibet tempore fuerit, iam tamen Minerua tamquam dea colebatur regnante Atheniensibus Cecrope, sub quo rege etiam ipsam vel instauratam ferunt vel conditam civitatem. ||When Saphrus reigned as the fourteenth king of Assyria, and Orthopolis as the twelfth of Sicyon, and Criasus as the fifth of Argos, Moses was born in Egypt, by whom the people of God were liberated from the Egyptian slavery, in which they behoved to be thus tried that they might desire the help of their Creator. Some have thought that Prometheus lived during the reign of the kings now named. He is reported to have formed men out of clay, because he was esteemed the best teacher of wisdom; yet it does not appear what wise men there were in his days. His brother Atlas is said to have been a great astrologer; and this gave occasion for the fable that he held up the sky, although the vulgar opinion about his holding up the sky appears rather to have been suggested by a high mountain named after him. Indeed, from those times many other fabulous things began to be invented in Greece; yet, down to Cecrops king of Athens, in whose reign that city received its name, and in whose reign God brought His people out of Egypt by Moses, only a few dead heroes are reported to have been deified according to the vain superstition of the Greeks. Among these were Melantomice, the wife of king Criasus, and Phorbas their son, who succeeded his father as sixth king of the Argives, and Iasus, son of Triopas, their seventh king, and their ninth king, Sthenelas, or Stheneleus, or Sthenelus,-for his name is given differently by different authors. In those times also, Mercury, the grandson of Atlas by his daughter Maia, is said to have lived, according to the common report in books. He was famous for his skill in many arts, and taught them to men, for which they resolved to make him, and even believed that he deserved to be, a god after death. Hercules is said to have been later, yet belonging to the same period; although some, whom I think mistaken, assign him an earlier date than Mercury. But at whatever time they were born, it is agreed among grave historians, who have committed these ancient things to writing, that both were men, and that they merited divine honors from mortals because they conferred on them many benefits to make this life more pleasant to them. Minerva was far more ancient than these; for she is reported to have appeared in virgin age in the times of Ogyges at the lake called Triton, from which she is also styled Tritonia, the inventress truly of many works, and the more readily believed to be a goddess because her origin was so little known. For what is sung about her having sprung from the head of Jupiter belongs to the region of poetry and fable, and not to that of history and real fact. And historical writers are not agreed when Ogyges flourished, in whose time also a great flood occurred,-not that greatest one from which no man escaped except those who could get into the ark, for neither Greek nor Latin history knew of it, yet a greater flood than that which happened afterward in Deucalion's time. For Varro begins the book I have already mentioned at this date, and does not propose to himself, as the starting-point from which he may arrive at Roman affairs, anything more ancient than the flood of Ogyges, that is, which happened in the time of Ogyges. Now our writers of chronicles-first Eusebius, and afterwards Jerome, who entirely follow some earlier historians in this opinion-relate that the flood of Ogyges happened more than three hundred years after, during the reign of Phoroneus, the second king of Argos. But whenever he may have lived, Minerva was already worshipped as a goddess when Cecrops reigned in Athens, in whose reign the city itself is reported to have been rebuilt or founded.
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| − | ||<div id="c9"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [IX] Nam ut Athenae vocarentur, quod certe nomen a Minerua est, quae Graece Athena dicitur, hanc causam Varro indicat. Cum apparuisset illic repente olivae arbor et alio loco aqua erupisset, regem prodigia ista moverunt, et misit ad Apollinem Delphicum sciscitatum quid intellegendum esset quidue faciendum. Ille respondit, quod olea Mineruam significaret, unda Neptunum, et quod esset in civium potestate, ex cuius potius nomine duorum deorum, quorum illa signa essent, civitas vocaretur. Isto Cecrops oraculo accepto cives omnes utriusque sexus (mos enim tunc in eisdem locis erat, ut etiam feminae publicis consultationibus interessent) ad ferendum suffragium conuocavit. Consulta igitur multitudine mares pro Neptuno, feminae pro Minerua tulere sententias, et quia una plus inventa est feminarum, Minerua vicit. Tum Neptunus iratus marinis fluctibus exaestuantibus terras Atheniensium populatus est; quoniam spargere latius quaslibet aquas difficile daemonibus non est. Cuius ut iracundia placaretur, triplici supplicio dicit idem auctor ab Atheniensibus affectas esse mulieres, ut nulla ulterius ferrent suffragia, ut nullus nascentium maternum nomen acciperet, ut ne quis eas Athenaeas vocaret. Ita illa civitas, mater aut nutrix liberalium doctrinarum et tot tantorumque philosophorum, qua nihil habuit Graecia clarius atque nobilius, ludificantibus daemonibus de lite deorum suorum, maris et feminae, et de victoria per feminas feminae Athenas nomen accepit, et a victo laesa ipsam victricis victoriam punire compulsa est, plus aquas Neptuni quam Mineruae arma formidans. Nam in mulieribus, quae sic punitae sunt, et Minerua quae vicerat victa est; nec adfuit suffragatricibus suis, ut suffragiorum deinceps perdita potestate et alienatis filiis a nominibus matrum Athenaeas saltem vocari liceret et eius deae mereri vocabulum, quam viri dei victricem fecerant ferendo suffragium. Quae et quanta hinc dici possent, nisi sermo ad alia properaret! ||Athens certainly derived its name from Minerva, who in Greek is called ??????, and Varro points out the following reason why it was so called. When an olive-tree suddenly appeared there, and water burst forth in another place, these prodigies moved the king to send to the Delphic Apollo to inquire what they meant and what he should do. He answered that the olive signified Minerva, the water Neptune, and that the citizens had it in their power to name their city as they chose, after either of these two gods whose signs these were. On receiving this oracle, Cecrops convoked all the citizens of either sex to give their vote, for it was then the custom in those parts for the women also to take part in public deliberations. When the multitude was consulted, the men gave their votes for Neptune, the women for Minerva; and as the women had a majority of one, Minerva conquered. Then Neptune, being enraged, laid waste the lands of the Athenians, by casting up the waves of the sea; for the demons have no difficulty in scattering any waters more widely. The same authority said, that to appease his wrath the women should be visited by the Athenians with the three-fold punishment-that they should no longer have any vote; that none of their children should be named after their mothers; and that no one should call them Athenians. Thus that city, the mother and nurse of liberal doctrines, and of so many and so great philosophers, than whom Greece had nothing more famous and noble, by the mockery of demons about the strife of their gods, a male and female, and from the victory of the female one through the women, received the name of Athens; and, on being damaged by the vanquished god, was compelled to punish the very victory of the victress, fearing the waters of Neptune more than the arms of Minerva. For in the women who were thus punished, Minerva, who had conquered, was conquered too, and could not even help her voters so far that, although the right of voting was henceforth lost, and the mothers could not give their names to the children, they might at least be allowed to be called Athenians, and to merit the name of that goddess whom they had made victorious over a male god by giving her their votes. What and how much could be said about this, if we had not to hasten to other things in our discourse, is obvious.
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| − | ||<div id="c10"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [X] Et tamen Marcus Varro non uult fabulosis adversus deos fidem adhibere figmentis, ne de maiestatis eorum dignitate indignum aliquid sentiat. Et ideo nec Areon pagon. ubi cum Atheniensibus Paulus apostolus disputavit, ex quo loco Areopagitae appellati sunt curiales urbis eiusdem, uult inde accepisse nomen, quod Mars, qui Graece Ares dicitur, cum homicidii crimine reus fieret, iudicantibus duodecim diis in eo pago sex sententiis absolutus est (quia ubi paris numeri sententiae fuissent, praeponi absolutio damnationi solebat); sed contra istam, quae multo amplius est celebrata, opinionem aliam quandam de obscurarum notitia litterarum causam nominis huius conatur astruere, ne Areon pagon Athenienses de nomine Martis et pagi quasi Martis pagum nominasse credantur, in iniuriam videlicet numinum, a quibus litigia vel iudicia existimat aliena; non minus hoc, quod de Marte dicitur, falsum esse adseuerans, quam illud quod de tribus deabus, Iunone scilicet et Minerua et Venere, quae pro malo aureo adipiscendo apud iudicem Paridem de pulchritudinis excellentia certasse narrantur et ad placandos ludis deos, qui delectantur seu veris seu falsis istis criminibus suis, inter theatricos plausus cantantur atque saltantur. Haec Varro non credit, ne deorum naturae seu moribus credat incongrua; et tamen non fabulosam, sed historicam rationem de Athenarum vocabulo reddens tantam Neptuni et Mineruae litem suis litteris inserit, de cuius nomine potius illa civitas vocaretur, ut, cum prodigiorum ostentatione contenderent, inter eos iudicare nec Apollo consultus auderet, sed deorum iurgium finiendum, sicut memoratarum trium dearum ad Paridem Iuppiter, ita et iste ad homines mitteret, ubi vinceret Minerua suffragiis et in poena suarum suffragatricium vinceretur, quae in adversariis suis viris obtinere Athenas potuit, et amicas suas feminas Athenaeas habere non potuit. His temporibus, ut Varro scribit, regnante Atheniensibus Cranao, successore Cecropis, ut autem nostri Eusebius et Hieronymus, adhuc eodem Cecrope permanente, diluuium fuit, quod appellatum est Deucalionis, eo quod ipse regnabat in earum terrarum partibus, ubi maxime factum est. Hoc autem diluuium nequaquam ad Aegyptum atque ad eius vicina pervenit. ||Marcus Varro, however, is not willing to credit lying fables against the gods, lest he should find something dishonoring to their majesty; and therefore he will not admit that the Areopagus, the place where the Apostle Paul disputed with the Athenians, got this name because Mars, who in Greek is called ?????, when he was charged with the crime of homicide, and was judged by twelve gods in that field, was acquitted by the sentence of six; because it was the custom, when the votes were equal, to acquit rather than condemn. Against this opinion, which is much most widely published, he tries, from the notices of obscure books, to support another reason for this name, lest the Athenians should be thought to have called it Areopagus from the words" Mars" and "field," as if it were the field of Mars, to the dishonor of the gods, forsooth, from whom he thinks lawsuits and judgments far removed. And he asserts that this which is said about Mars is not less false than what is said about the three goddesses, to wit, Juno, Minerva, and Venus, whose contest for the palm of beauty, before Paris as judge, in order to obtain the golden apple, is not only related, but is celebrated in songs and dances amid the applause of the theatres, in plays meant to please the gods who take pleasure in these crimes of their own, whether real or fabled. Varro does not believe these things, because they are incompatible with the nature of the gods and of morality; and yet, in giving not a fabulous but a historic reason for the name of Athens, he inserts in his books the strife between Neptune and Minerva as to whose name should be given to that city, which was so great that, when they contended by the display of prodigies, even Apollo dared not judge between them when consulted; but, in order to end the strife of the gods, just as Jupiter sent the three goddesses we have named to Paris, so he sent them to men, when Minerva won by the vote, and yet was defeated by the punishment of her own voters, for she was unable to confer the title of Athenians on the women who were her friends, although she could impose it on the men who were her opponents. In these times, when Cranaos reigned at Athens as the successor of Cecrops, as Varro writes, but, according to our Eusebius and Jerome, while Cecrops himself still remained, the flood occurred which is called Deucalion's, because it occurred chiefly in those parts of the earth in which he reigned. But this flood did not at all reach Egypt or its vicinity.
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| − | ||<div id="c11"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XI] Eduxit ergo Moyses ex Aegypto populum Dei novissimo tempore Cecropis Atheniensium regis, cum apud Assyrios regnaret Ascatades, apud Sicyonios Marathus, apud Argivos Triopas. Educto autem populo in monte Sina divinitus acceptam tradidit legem, quod uetus dicitur testamentum, quia promissiones terrenas habet, et per Iesum Christum futurum fuerat testamentum nouum, quo regnum caelorum promitteretur. Hunc enim ordinem servari oportebat, sicut in uno quoque homine, qui in Deum proficit, id agitur, quod ait apostolus, ut non sit prius quod spiritale est; sed quod animale, postea spiritale; quoniam sicut dicit et verum est, primus homo de terra, terrenus; secundus homo de caelo. Rexit autem populum Moyses per annos quadraginta in deserto et mortuus est annorum centum et viginti, cum Christum etiam ipse prophetasset per figuras observationum carnalium in tabernaculo et sacerdotio et sacrificiis aliisque mysticis plurimisque mandatis. Moysi successit Iesus Nave et in terra promissionis Introductum populum conlocavit ex auctoritate divina debellatis gentibus, a quibus eadem loca tenebantur. qui cum populum rexisset post mortem Moysi viginti et septem annos, etiam ipse defunctus est regnante apud Assyrios octauo decimo Amynta, apud Sicyonios sexto decimo Corace, apud Argivos decimo Danao, apud Athenienses quarto Erichthonio. ||Moses led the people out of Egypt in the last time of Cecrops king of Athens, when Ascatades reigned in Assyria, Marathus in Sicyon, Triopas in Argos; and having led forth the people, he gave them at Mount Sinai the law he received from God, which is called the Old Testament, because it has earthly promises, and because, through Jesus Christ, there was to be a New Testament, in which the kingdom of heaven should be promised. For the same order behoved to be observed in this as is observed in each man who prospers in God, according to the saying of the apostle, "That is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural," since, as he says, and that truly, "The first man of the earth, is earthly; the second man, from heaven, is heavenly." 1 Corinthians 15:46-47 Now Moses ruled the people for forty years in the wilderness, and died a hundred and twenty years old, after he had prophesied of Christ by the types of carnal observances in the tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrifices, and many other mystic ordinances. Joshua the son of Nun succeeded Moses, and settled in the land of promise the people he had brought in, having by divine authority conquered the people by whom it was formerly possessed. He also died, after ruling the people twenty-seven years after the death of Moses, when Amyntas reigned in Assyria as the eighteenth king, Coracos as the sixteenth in Sicyon, Danaos as the tenth in Argos, Ericthonius as the fourth in Athens.
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| − | ||<div id="c12"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XII] Per haec tempora, id est ab exitu Israel ex Aegypto usque ad mortem Iesu Nave, per quem populus idem terram promissionis accepit, sacra sunt instituta diis falsis a regibus Graeciae, quae memoriam diluuii et ab eo liberationis hominum vitaeque tunc aerumnosae modo ad alta, modo ad plana migrantium sollemni celebritate reuocarunt. Nam et Lupercorum per sacram viam ascensum atque descensum sic interpretantur, ut ab eis significari dicant homines, qui propter aquae inundationem summa montium petiverunt et rursus eadem residente ad ima redierunt. His temporibus Dionysum, qui etiam Liber pater dictus est et post mortem deus habitus, vitem ferunt ostendisse in Attica terra hospiti suo. Tunc Apollini Delphico instituti sunt ludi musici, ut placaretur ira eius, qua putabant adflictas esse sterilitate Graeciae regiones, quia non defenderint templum eius, quod rex Danaus, cum easdem terras bello inuasisset, incendit. Hos autem ludos ut instituerent, oraculo sunt eius admoniti. In Attica vero rex Erichthonius ei ludos primus instituit, nec ei tantum, sed etiam Mineruae, ubi praemium victoribus oleum ponebatur, quod eius fructus inventricem Mineruam, sicut vini Liberum tradunt. Per eos annos a rege Xantho Cretensium, cuius apud alios aliud nomen invenimus, rapta perbibetur Europa, et inde geniti Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon et Minos, quos magis ex eadem muliere filios Iovis esse uulgatum est. Sed talium deorum cultores illud, quod de rege Cretensium diximus, historicae veritati, hoc autem, quod de Iove poetae cantant, theatra concrepant, populi celebrant, uanitati deputant fabularum, ut esset unde ludi fierent placandis numinibus etiam falsis eorum criminibus. His temporibus Hercules in Syria clarus habebatur; sed nimirum alius, non ille, de quo supra locuti sumus. Secretiore quippe historia plures fuisse dicuntur et Liberi patres et Hercules. Hunc sane Herculem, cuius ingentia duodecim facta numerant, inter quae Antaei Afri necem non commemorant, quod ea res ad alterum Herculem pertinet, in Oeta monte a se ipso incensum produnt suis litteris, cum ea virtute, qua multa subegerat, morbum tamen, quo languebat, sustinere non posset. Illo tempore vel rex vel potius tyrannus Busiris suis diis suos hospites immolabat, quem filium perhibent fuisse Neptuni ex matre Libya, filia Epaphi. Verum non credatur hoc stuprum perpetrasse Neptunus, ne dii accusentur; sed poetis et theatris ista tribuantur, ut sit unde placentur. Erichthonii regis Atheniensium, cuius novissimis annis Iesus Nave mortuus reperitur, Vulcanus et Minerua parentes fuisse dicuntur. Sed quoniam Mineruam virginem volunt, in amborum contentione Vulcanum commotum effudisse aiunt semen in terram atque inde homini nato ob eam causam tale inditum nomen. Graeca enim lingua eris contentio, thon terra est, ex quibus duobus compositum vocabulum est Erichthonius. Verum, quod fatendum est, refellunt et a suis diis repellunt ista doctiores, qui hanc opinionem fabulosam hinc exortam ferunt, quia in templo Vulcani et Mineruae, quod ambo unum habebant Athenis, expositus inventus est puer dracone inuolutus, qui eum significavit magnum futurum et propter commune templum, cum essent parentes eius ignoti, Vulcani et Mineruae dictum esse filium. Nominis tamen eius originem fabula illa potius quam ista designat historia. Sed quid ad nos? Hoc in veracibus libris homines instruat religiosos, illud in fallacibus ludis daemones delectet inpuros; quos tamen illi religiosi tamquam deos colunt, et cum de illis haec negant, ab omni eos crimine purgare non possunt, quoniam ludos eis poscentibus exhibent, ubi turpiter aguntur, quae velut sapienter negantur, et his falsis ac turpibus dii placantur, ubi etsi fabula cantat crimen numinum falsum, delectari tamen falso crimine crimen est verum. ||During this period, that is, from Israel's exodus from Egypt down to the death of Joshua the son of Nun, through whom that people received the land of promise, rituals were instituted to the false gods by the kings of Greece, which, by stated celebration, recalled the memory of the flood, and of men's deliverance from it, and of that troublous life they then led in migrating to and fro between the heights and the plains. For even the Luperci, when they ascend and descend the sacred path, are said to represent the men who sought the mountain summits because of the inundation of water, and returned to the lowlands on its subsidence. In those times, Dionysus, who was also called Father Liber, and was esteemed a god after death, is said to have shown the vine to his host in Attica. Then the musical games were instituted for the Delphic Apollo, to appease his anger, through which they thought the regions of Greece were afflicted with barrenness, because they had not defended his temple which Danaos burnt when he invaded those lands; for they were warned by his oracle to institute these games. But king Ericthonius first instituted games to him in Attica, and not to him only, but also to Minerva, in which games the olive was given as the prize to the victors, because they relate that Minerva was the discoverer of that fruit, as Liber was of the grape. In those years Europa is alleged to have been carried off by Xanthus king of Crete (to whom we find some give another name), and to have borne him Rhadamanthus, Sarpedon, and Minos, who are more commonly reported to have been the sons of Jupiter by the same woman. Now those who worship such gods regard what we have said about Xanthus king of Crete as true history; but this about Jupiter, which the poets sing, the theatres applaud, and the people celebrate, as empty fable got up as a reason for games to appease the deities, even with the false ascription of crimes to them. In those times Hercules was held in honor in Tyre, but that was not the same one as he whom we spoke of above. In the more secret history there are said to have been several who were called Father Liber and Hercules. This Hercules, whose great deeds are reckoned as twelve (not including the slaughter of Antжus the African, because that affair pertains to another Hercules), is declared in their books to have burned himself on Mount _R ta, because he was not able, by that strength with which he had subdued monsters, to endure the disease under which he languished. At that time the king, or rather tyrant Busiris, who is alleged to have been the son of Neptune by Libya the daughter of Epaphus, is said to have offered up his guests in sacrifice to the gods. Now it must not be believed that Neptune committed this adultery, lest the gods should be criminated; yet such things must be ascribed to them by the poets and in the theatres, that they may be pleased with them. Vulcan and Minerva are said to have been the parents of Ericthonius king of Athens, in whose last years Joshua the son of Nun is found to have died. But since they will have it that Minerva is a virgin, they say that Vulcan, being disturbed in the struggle between them, poured out his seed into the earth, and on that account the man born of it received that name; for in the Greek language ???? is "strife," and ???? "earth," of which two words Ericthonius is a compound. Yet it must be admitted that the more learned disprove and disown such things concerning their gods, and declare that this fabulous belief originated in the fact that in the temple at Athens, which Vulcan and Minerva had in common, a boy who had been exposed was found wrapped up in the coils of a dragon, which signified that he would become great, and, as his parents were unknown, he was called the son of Vulcan and Minerva, because they had the temple in common. Yet that fable accounts for the origin of his name better than this history. But what does it matter to us? Let the one in books that speak the truth edify religious men, and the other in lying fables delight impure demons. Yet these religious men worship them as gods. Still, while they deny these things concerning them they cannot clear them of all crime, because at their demand they exhibit plays in which the very things they wisely deny are basely done, and the gods are appeased by these false and base things. Now, even although the play celebrates an unreal crime of the gods, yet to delight in the ascription of an unreal crime is a real one.
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| − | ||<div id="c13"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XIII] Post mortem Iesu Nave populus Dei iudices habuit, quibus temporibus alternaverunt apud eos et humilitates laborum pro eorum peccatis, et prosperitates consolationum propter miserationem Dei. His temporibus fabulae fictae sunt de Triptolemo, quod iubente Cerere anguibus portatus alitibus indigentibus terris frumenta volando contulerit; de Minotauro, quod bestia fuerit inclusa Labyrintho, quo cum intrassent homines, inextricabili errore inde exire non poterant; de Centauris, quod equorum hominumque fuerit natura coniuncta; de Cerbero, quod sit triceps inferorum canis; de Phryxo et Helle eius sorore, quod uecti ariete volaverint; de Gorgone, quod fuerit crinita serpentibus et aspicientes convertebat in lapides; de Bellerophonte, quod equo pinnis volante sit uectus, qui equus Pegasus dictus est; de Amphione, quod citharae suavitate lapides mulserit et adtraxerit; de fabro Daedalo et eius Icaro filio, quod sibi coaptatis pinnis volaverint; de Oedipo, quod monstrum quoddam, quae Sphinga dicebatur, humana facie quadrupedem, soluta qua e ab illa proponi soleret velut insolubili quaestione suo praecipitio perire compulerit; de Antaeo, quem necavit Hercules, quod filius terrae fuerit, propter quod cadens in terram fortior soleret adsurgere; et si qua forte alia praetermisi. Hae fabulae bellum ad usque Troianum, ubi secundum librum Marcus Varro de populi Romani gente finivit, ex occasione historiarum, quae res veraciter gestas continent, ita sunt ingeniis hominum fictae, ut non sint opprobriis numinum adfixae. Porro autem quicumque finxerunt a Iove ad stuprum raptum pulcherrimum puerum Ganymedem, quod nefas rex Tantalus fecit et Iovi fabula tribuit, vel Danaes per imbrem aureum adpetisse concubitum, ubi intellegitur pudicitia mulieris auro fuisse corrupta, quae illis temporibus vel facta vel ficta sunt, aut facta ab aliis et ficta de Iove, dici non potest quantum mali de hominum praesumpserint cordibus, quod possent ista patienter ferre mendacia, quae tamen etiam libenter amplexi sunt. qui utique quanto deuotius Iovem colunt, tanto eos, qui haec de illo dicere ausi sunt, seuerius punire debuerunt. Nunc vero non solum eis, qui ista finxerunt, irati non sunt, sed ut talia figmenta etiam in theatris agerent, ipsos deos potius iratos habere timuerunt. His temporibus Latona Apollinem peperit, non illum, cuius oracula solere consuli superius loquebamur, sed illum, qui cum Hercule seruivit Admeto; qui tamen sic est deus creditus, ut plurimi ac paene omnes unum eundemque Apollinem fuisse opinentur. Tunc et Liber pater bellavit in India, qui multas habuit in exercitu feminas, quae Bacchae appellatae sunt, non tam virtute nobiles quam furore. Aliqui sane et victum scribunt istum Liberum et vinctum; nonnulli et occisum in pugna a Perseo, nec ubi fuerit sepultus tacent; et tamen eius velut dei nomine per inmundos daemones Bacchanalia sacra vel potius sacrilegia sunt instituta, de quorum rabiosa turpitudine post tam multos annos sic senatus erubuit, ut in urbe Roma esse prohiberet. Per ea tempora Perseus et uxor eius Andromeda postea quam sunt mortui, sic eos in caelum receptos esse crediderunt, ut imagines eorum stellis designare eorumque appellare nominibus non erubescerent, non timerent. ||After the death of Joshua the son of Nun, the people of God had judges, in whose times they were alternately humbled by afflictions on account of their sins, and consoled by prosperity through the compassion of God. In those times were invented the fables about Triptolemus, who, at the command of Ceres, borne by winged snakes, bestowed corn on the needy lands in flying over them; about that beast the Minotaur, which was shut up in the Labyrinth, from which men who entered its inextricable mazes could find no exit; about the Centaurs, whose form was a compound of horse and man; about Cerberus, the three-headed dog of hell; about Phryxus and his sister Hellas, who fled, borne by a winged ram; about the Gorgon, whose hair was composed of serpents, and who turned those who looked on her into stone; about Bellerophon, who was carried by a winged horse called Pegasus; about Amphion, who charmed and attracted the stones by the sweetness of his harp; about the artificer Dжdalus and his son Icarus, who flew on wings they had fitted on; about _R dipus, who compelled a certain four-footed monster with a human face, called a sphynx, to destroy herself by casting herself headlong, having solved the riddle she was wont to propose as insoluble; about Antжus, who was the son of the earth, for which reason, on falling on the earth, he was wont to rise up stronger, whom Hercules slew; and perhaps there are others which I have forgotten. These fables, easily found in histories containing a true account of events, bring us down to the Trojan war, at which Marcus Varro has closed his second book about the race of the Roman people; and they are so skillfully invented by men as to involve no scandal to the gods. But whoever have pretended as to Jupiter's rape of Ganymede, a very beautiful boy, that king Tantalus committed the crime, and the fable ascribed it to Jupiter; or as to his impregnating Danдe as a golden shower, that it means that the woman's virtue was corrupted by gold: whether these things were really done or only fabled in those days, or were really done by others and falsely ascribed to Jupiter, it is impossible to tell how much wickedness must have been taken for granted in men's hearts that they should be thought able to listen to such lies with patience. And yet they willingly accepted them, when, indeed, the more devotedly they worshipped Jupiter, they ought the more severely to have punished those who durst say such things of him. But they not only were not angry at those who invented these things, but were afraid that the gods would be angry at them if they did not act such fictions even in the theatres. In those times Latona bore Apollo, not him of whose oracle we have spoken above as so often consulted, but him who is said, along with Hercules, to have fed the flocks of king Admetus; yet he was so believed to be a god, that very many, indeed almost all, have believed him to be the selfsame Apollo. Then also Father Liber made war in India, and led in his army many women called Bacchж, who were notable not so much for valor as for fury. Some, indeed, write that this Liber was both conquered and bound and some that he was slain in Persia, even telling where he was buried; and yet in his name, as that of a god, the unclean demons have instituted the sacred, or rather the sacrilegious, Bacchanalia, of the outrageous vileness of which the senate, after many years, became so much ashamed as to prohibit them in the city of Rome. Men believed that in those times Perseus and his wife Andromeda were raised into heaven after their death, so that they were not ashamed or afraid to mark out their images by constellations, and call them by their names.
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| − | ||<div id="c14"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XIV] Per idem temporis interuallum extiterunt poetae, qui etiam theologi dicerentur, quoniam de diis carmina faciebant, sed talibus diis, qui licet magni homines, tamen homines fuerunt aut mundi huius, quem verus Deus fecit, elementa sunt aut in principatibus et potestatibus pro voluntate Creatoris et suis meritis ordinati, et si quid de uno vero Deo inter multa Dana et falsa cecinerint, colendo cum illo alios, qui dii non sunt, eisque exhibendo famulatum, qui uni tantum debetur Deo, non ei utique rite seruierunt nec a fabuloso deorum suorum dedecore etiam ipsi se abstinere potuerunt _ Orpheus, Musaeus, Linus. Verum isti theologi deos coluerunt, non pro diis culti sunt; quamuis Orpheum nescio quo modo infernis sacris vel potius sacrilegiis praeficere soleat civitas impiorum. Vxor autem regis Athamantis, quae vocabatur Ino, et eius filius Melicertes praecipitio spontaneo in mari perierunt et opinione hominum in deos relati sunt, sicut alii homines eorum temporum, Castor et Pollux. Illam sane Melicertis matrem Leucothean Graeci, Matutam Latini vocaverunt, utrique tamen putantes deam. ||During the same period of time arose the poets, who were also called theologues, because they made hymns about the gods; yet about such gods as, although great men, were yet but men, or the elements of this world which the true God made, or creatures who were ordained as principalities and powers according to the will of the Creator and their own merit. And if, among much that was vain and false, they sang anything of the one true God, yet, by worshipping Him along with others who are not gods, and showing them the service that is due to Him alone, they did not serve Him at all rightly; and even such poets as Orpheus, Musжus, and Linus, were unable to abstain from dishonoring their gods by fables. But yet these theologues worshipped the gods, and were not worshipped as gods, although the city of the ungodly is wont, I know not how, to set Orpheus over the sacred, or rather sacrilegious, rites of hell. The wife of king Athamas, who was called Ino, and her son Melicertes, perished by throwing themselves into the sea, and were, according to popular belief, reckoned among the gods, like other men of the same times, [among whom were] Castor and Pollux. The Greeks, indeed, called her who was the mother of Melicertes, Leucothea, the Latins, Matuta; but both thought her a goddess.
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| − | ||<div id="c15"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XV] Per ea tempora regnum finitum est Argivorum, translatum ad Mycenas, unde fuit Agamemnon, et exortum est regnum Laurentum, ubi Saturni filius Picus regnum primus accepit, iudicante apud Hebraeos femina Debbora; sed per illam Dei spiritus id agebat; nam etiam prophetissa erat, cuius prophetia minus aperta est, quam ut possimus eam sine diuturna expositione de Christo demonstrare prolatam. Iam ergo regnabant Laurentes utique in Italia, ex quibus evidentior ducitur origo Romana post Graecos; et tamen adhuc regnum Assyrium permanebat, ubi erat rex vicensimus et tertius Lampares, cum primus Laurentum Picus esse coepisset. De huius Pici patre Saturno viderint quid sentiant talium deorum cultores, qui negant hominem fuisse; de quo et alii scripserunt, quod ante Picum filium suum in Italia ipse regnaverit, et Vergilius notioribus litteris dicit: Is genus indocile et dispersum montibus altisComposuit legesque dedit Latiumque vocariMaluit, his quoniam latuisset tutus in oris.Aurea quae perhibent illo sub rege fuere Saecula. Sed haec poetica opinentur esse figmenta et Pici patrem Stercen potius fuisse adseuerent, a quo peritissimo agricola inventum ferunt, ut fimo animalium agri fecundarentur, quod ab eius nomine stercus est dictum; hunc quidam Stercutium vocatum ferunt. Qualibet autem ex causa eum Saturnum appellare voluerint, certe tamen hunc Stercen sive Stercutium merito agriculturae fecerunt deum. Picum quoque similiter eius filium in talium deorum numerum receperunt, quem praeclarum augurem et belligeratorem fuisse asserunt. Picus Faunum genuit, Laurentum regem secundum; etiam iste deus illis vel est vel fuit. Hos ante Troianum bellum divinos honores mortuis hominibus detulerunt. ||During those times the kingdom of Argos came to an end; being transferred to Mycene, from which Agamemnon came, and the kingdom of Laurentum arose, of which Picus son of Saturn was the first king, when the woman Deborah judged the Hebrews; but it was the Spirit of God who used her as His agent, for she was also a prophetess, although her prophecy is so obscure that we could not demonstrate, without a long discussion, that it was uttered concerning Christ. Now the Laurentes already reigned in Italy, from whom the origin of the Roman people is quite evidently derived after the Greeks; yet the kingdom of Assyria still lasted, in which Lampares was the twenty-third king when Picus first began to reign at Laurentum. The worshippers of such gods may see what they are to think of Saturn the father of Picus, who deny that he was a man; of whom some also have written that he himself reigned in Italy before Picus his son; and Virgil in his well-known book says,"That race indocile, and through mountains high Dispersed, he settled, and endowed with laws, And named their country Latium, because Latent within their coasts he dwelt secure. Tradition says the golden ages pure Began when he was king. "But they regard these as poetic fancies, and assert that the father of Picus was Sterces rather, and relate that, being a most skillful husbandman, he discovered that the fields could be fertilized by the dung of animals, which is called stercus from his name. Some say he was called Stercutius. But for whatever reason they chose to call him Saturn, it is yet certain they made this Sterces or Stercutius a god for his merit in agriculture; and they likewise received into the number of these gods Picus his son, whom they affirm to have been a famous augur and warrior. Picus begot Faunus, the second king of Laurentum; and he too is, or was, a god with them. These divine honors they gave to dead men before the Trojan war.
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| − | ||<div id="c16"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XVI] Troia vero euersa excidio illo usquequaque cantato puerisque notissimo, quod et magnitudine sui et scriptorum excellentibus linguis insigniter diffamatum atque uulgatum est gestumque regnante iam Latino Fauni filio, ex quo Latinorum regnum dici coepit Laurentumque cessavit, Graeci victores deletam Troiam relinquentes et ad propria remeantes diversis et horrendis cladibus dilacerati atque contriti sunt; et tamen etiam ex eis deorum suorum numerum auxerunt. Nam et Diomeden fecerunt deum, quem poena divinitus inrogata perhibent ad suos non reuertisse; eiusque socios in volucres fuisse conversos non fabuloso poeticoque mendacio, sed historica adtestatione confirmant; quibus nec deus, ut putant, factus humanam reuocare naturam vel ipse potuit vel certe a Iove suo rege tamquam caelicola novicius impetravit. quin etiam templum eius esse aiunt in insula Diomedea, non longe a monte Gargano, qui est in Apulia, et hoc templum circumuolare atque incolere has alites tam mirabili obsequio, ut aquam impleant et aspergant; et eo si Graeci venerint vel Graecorum stirpe prognati, non solum quietas esse, verum et insuper adulare; si autem alienigenas viderint, subuolare ad capita tamque gravibus ictibus, ut etiam perimant, uulnerare. Nam duris et grandibus rostris satis ad haec proelia perhibentur armatae. ||Troy was overthrown, and its destruction was everywhere sung and made well known even to boys; for it was signally published and spread abroad, both by its own greatness and by writers of excellent style. And this was done in the reign of Latinus the son of Faunus, from whom the kingdom began to be called Latium instead of Laurentum. The victorious Greeks, on leaving Troy destroyed and returning to their own countries, were torn and crushed by various and horrible calamities. Yet even from among them they increased the number of their gods for they made Diomede a god. They allege that his return home was prevented by a divinely imposed punishment, and they prove, not by fabulous and poetic falsehood, but by historic attestation, that his companions were turned into birds. Yet they think that, even although he was made a god, he could neither restore them to the human form by his own power, nor yet obtain it from Jupiter his king, as a favor granted to a new inhabitant of heaven. They also say that his temple is in the island of Diomedжa, not far from Mount Garganus in Apulia, and that these birds fly round about this temple, and worship in it with such wonderful obedience, that they fill their beaks with water and sprinkle it; and if Greeks, or those born of the Greek race, come there, they are not only still, but fly to meet them; but if they are foreigners, they fly up at their heads, and wound them with such severe strokes as even to kill them. For they are said to be well enough armed for these combats with their hard and large beaks.
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| − | ||<div id="c17"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XVII] Hoc Varro ut astruat, commemorat alia non minus incredibilia de illa maga famosissima Circe, quae socios quoque Vlixis mutavit in bestias, et de Arcadibus, qui sorte ducti tranabant quoddam stagnum atque ibi convertebantur in lupos et cum similibus feris per illius regionis deserta vivebant. Si autem carne non uescerentur humana, rursus post novem annos eodem renatato stagno reformabantur in homines. Denique etiam nominatim expressit quendam Demaenetum gustasse de sacrificio, quod Arcades immolato puero deo suo Lycaeo facere solerent, et in lupum fuisse mutatum et anno decimo in figuram propriam restitutum pugilatum sese exercuisse et Olympiaco vicisse certamine. Nec idem propter aliud arbitratur historicus in Arcadia tale nomen adfictum Pani Lycaeo et Iovi Lycaeo nisi propter hanc in lupos hominum mutationem, quod eam nisi vi divina fieri non putarent. Lupus enim Graece *lu/kos dicitur, unde Lycaei nomen apparet inflexum. Romanos etiam Lupercos ex illorum mysteriorum veluti semine dicit exortos. ||In support of this story, Varro relates others no less incredible about that most famous sorceress Circe, who changed the companions of Ulysses into beasts, and about the Arcadians, who, by lot, swam across a certain pool, and were turned into wolves there, and lived in the deserts of that region with wild beasts like themselves. But if they never fed on human flesh for nine years, they were restored to the human form on swimming back again through the same pool. Finally, he expressly names one Demжnetus, who, on tasting a boy offered up in sacrifice by the Arcadians to their god Lycжus according to their custom, was changed into a wolf, and, being restored to his proper form in the tenth year, trained himself as a pugilist, and was victorious at the Olympic games. And the same historian thinks that the epithet Lycжus was applied in Arcadia to Pan and Jupiter for no other reason than this metamorphosis of men into wolves, because it was thought it could not be wrought except by a divine power. For a wolf is called in Greek ?????, from which the name Lycжus appears to be formed. He says also that the Roman Luperci were as it were sprung of the seed of these mysteries.
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| − | ||<div id="c18"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XVIII] Sed de ista tanta ludificatione daemonum nos quid dicamus, qui haec legent, fortassis expectent. Et quid dicemus, nisi de medio Babylonis esse fugiendum? Quod praeceptum propheticum ita spiritaliter intellegitur, ut de huius saeculi civitate, quae profecto et angelorum et hominum societas impiorum est, fidei passibus, quae per dilectionem operatur, in Deum vivum proficiendo fugiamus. Quanto quippe in haec ima potestatem daemonum maiorem videmus, tanto tenacius Mediatori est inhaerendum, per quem de imis ad summa conscendimus. Si enim dixerimus ea non esse credenda, non desunt etiam nunc, qui eius modi quaedam vel certissima audisse vel etiam expertos se esse adseuerent. Nam et nos cum essemus in Italia audiebamus talia de quadam regione illarum partium, ubi stabularias mulieres inbutas his malis artibus in caseo dare solere dicebant quibus vellent seu possent viatoribus, unde in iumenta ilico verterentur et necessaria quaeque portarent postque perfuncta opera iterum ad se redirent; nec tamen in eis mentem fieri bestialem, sed rationalem humanamque servari, sicut Apuleius in libris, quos asini aurei titulo inscripsit, sibi ipsi accidisse, ut accepto veneno humano animo permanente asinus fieret, aut indicavit aut finxit. Haec vel falsa sunt vel tam inusitata, ut merito non credantur. Firmissime tamen credendum est omnipotentem Deum posse omnia facere quae voluerit, sive vindicando sive praestando, nec daemones aliquid operari secundum naturae suae potentiam (quia et ipsa angelica creatura est, licet proprio vitio sit maligna) nisi quod ille permiserit, cuius iudicia occulta sunt multa, iniusta nulla. Nec sane daemones naturas creant, si aliquid tale faciunt, de qualibus factis ista vertitur quaestio; sed specie tenus, quae a vero Deo sunt creata, commutant, ut videantur esse quod non sunt. Non itaque solum animum, sed ne corpus quidem ulla ratione crediderim daemonum arte vel potestate in membra et liniamenta bestialia veraciter posse converti, sed phantasticum hominis, quod etiam cogitando sive somniando per rerum innumerabilia genera variatur et, cum corpus non sit, corporum tamen similes mira celeritate formas capit, sopitis aut oppressis corporeis hominis sensibus ad aliorum sensum nescio quo ineffabili modo figura corporea posse perduci; ita ut corpora ipsa hominum alicubi iaceant, viventia quidem, sed multo gravius atque uehementius quam somno suis sensibus obseratis; phantasticum autem illud veluti corporatum in alicuius animalis effigie appareat sensibus alienis talisque etiam sibi esse homo videatur, sicut talis sibi videri posset in somnis, et portare onera, quae onera si vera.sunt corpora, portantur a daemonibus, ut inludatur hominibus, partim vero onerum corpora, partim iumentorum falsa cernentibus. Nam quidam nomine Praestantius patri suo contigisse indicabat, ut venenum illud per caseum in domo sua sumeret et iaceret in lecto suo quasi dormiens, qui tamen nullo modo poterat excitari. Post aliquot autem dies eum velut evigilasse dicebat et quasi somnia narrasse quae passus est, caballum se scilicet factum annonam inter alia iumenta baiulasse militibus, quae dicitur Retica, quoniam ad Retias deportatur. Quod ita, ut narravit, factum fuisse compertum est; quae tamen ei sua somnia videbantur. Indicavit et alius se domi suae per noctem, antequam requiesceret, vidisse venientem ad se philosophum quendam sibi notissimum sibique exposuisse nonnulla Platonica, quae antea rogatus exponere noluisset. Et cum ab eodem philosopho quaesitum fuisset, cur in domo eius fecerit, quod in domo sua petenti negaverat: "Non feci, inquit, sed me fecisse somniavi." Ac per hoc alteri per imaginem phantasticam exhibitum est vigilanti, quod alter vidit in somnis. Haec ad nos non quibuscumque, qualibus credere putaremus indignum, sed eis referentibus peruenerunt, quos nobis non existimaremus fuisse mentitos. Proinde quod homines dicuntur mandatumque est litteris ab diis vel potius daemonibus Arcadibus in lupos solere converti, et quod Carminibus Circe socios mutavit Vlixi, secundum istum modum mihi videtur fieri potuisse, quem dixi, si tamen factum est. Diomedeas autem volucres, quando quidem genus earum per successionem propaginis durare perhibetur, non mutatis hominibus factas, sed subtractis credo fuisse suppositas, sicut cerua pro Iphigenia, regis Agamemnonis filia. Neque enim daemonibus iudicio Dei permissis huius modi praestigiae difficiles esse potuerunt; sed quia illa virgo postea viva reperta est, suppositam pro illa esse ceruam facile cognitum est. Socii vero Diomedis quia nusquam subito conparuerunt et postea nullo loco apparuerunt, perdentibus eos ultoribus angelis malis, in eas aves, quae pro illis sunt occulte ex aliis locis, ubi est hoc genus avium, ad ea loca perductae ac repente suppositae, creduntur esse conversi. Quod autem Diomedis templo aquam rostris afferunt et aspergunt, et quod blandiuntur Graecigenis atque alienigenas persequuntur, mirandum non est fieri daemonum instinctu, quorum interest persuadere deum factum esse Diomeden ad decipiendos homines, ut falsos deos cum veri Dei iniuria multos colant et hominibus mortuis, qui nec cum viverent vere vixerunt, templis altaribus, sacrificiis sacerdotibus (quae omnia cum recta sunt non nisi uni Deo vivo et vero debentur) inseruiant. ||Perhaps our readers expect us to say something about this so great delusion wrought by the demons; and what shall we say but that men must fly out of the midst of Babylon? Isaiah 48:20 For this prophetic precept is to be understood spiritually in this sense, that by going forward in the living God, by the steps of faith, which works by love, we must flee out of the city of this world, which is altogether a society of ungodly angels and men. Yea, the greater we see the power of the demons to be in these depths, so much the more tenaciously must we cleave to the Mediator through whom we ascend from these lowest to the highest places. For if we should say these things are not to be credited, there are not wanting even now some who would affirm that they had either heard on the best authority, or even themselves experienced, something of that kind. Indeed we ourselves, when in Italy, heard such things about a certain region there where landladies of inns, imbued with these wicked arts, were said to be in the habit of giving to such travellers as they chose, or could manage, something in a piece of cheese by which they were changed on the spot into beasts of burden, and carried whatever was necessary, and were restored to their own form when the work was done. Yet their mind did not become bestial, but remained rational and human, just as Apuleius, in the books he wrote with the title of The Golden Ass, has told, or feigned, that it happened to his own self that, on taking poison, he became an ass, while retaining his human mind.These things are either false, or so extraordinary as to be with good reason disbelieved. But it is to be most firmly believed that Almighty God can do whatever He pleases, whether in punishing or favoring, and that the demons can accomplish nothing by their natural power (for their created being is itself angelic, although made malign by their own fault), except what He may permit, whose judgments are often hidden, but never unrighteous. And indeed the demons, if they really do such things as these on which this discussion turns, do not create real substances, but only change the appearance of things created by the true God so as to make them seem to be what they are not. I cannot therefore believe that even the body, much less the mind, can really be changed into bestial forms and lineaments by any reason, art, or power of the demons; but the phantasm of a man which even in thought or dreams goes through innumerable changes may, when the man's senses are laid asleep or overpowered, be presented to the senses of others in a corporeal form, in some indescribable way unknown to me, so that men's bodies themselves may lie somewhere, alive, indeed, yet with their senses locked up much more heavily and firmly than by sleep, while that phantasm, as it were embodied in the shape of some animal, may appear to the senses of others, and may even seem to the man himself to be changed, just as he may seem to himself in sleep to be so changed, and to bear burdens; and these burdens, if they are real substances, are borne by the demons, that men may be deceived by beholding at the same time the real substance of the burdens and the simulated bodies of the beasts of burden. For a certain man called Prжstantius used to tell that it had happened to his father in his own house, that he took that poison in a piece of cheese, and lay in his bed as if sleeping, yet could by no means be aroused. But he said that after a few days he as it were woke up and related the things he had suffered as if they had been dreams, namely, that he had been made a sumpter horse, and, along with other beasts of burden, had carried provisions for the soldiers of what is called the Rh_S tian Legion, because it was sent to Rh_S tia. And all this was found to have taken place just as he told, yet it had seemed to him to be his own dream. And another man declared that in his own house at night, before he slept, he saw a certain philosopher, whom he knew very well, come to him and explain to him some things in the Platonic philosophy which he had previously declined to explain when asked. And when he had asked this philosopher why he did in his house what he had refused to do at home, he said, "I did not do it, but I dreamed I had done it." And thus what the one saw when sleeping was shown to the other when awake by a phantasmal image.These things have not come to us from persons we might deem unworthy of credit, but from informants we could not suppose to be deceiving us. Therefore what men say and have committed to writing about the Arcadians being often changed into wolves by the Arcadian gods, or demons rather, and what is told in song about Circe transforming the companions of Ulysses, if they were really done, may, in my opinion, have been done in the way I have said. As for Diomede's birds, since their race is alleged to have been perpetuated by constant propagation, I believe they were not made through the metamorphosis of men, but were slyly substituted for them on their removal, just as the hind was for Iphigenia, the daughter of king Agamemnon. For juggleries of this kind could not be difficult for the demons if permitted by the judgment of God; and since that virgin was afterwards, found alive it is easy to see that a hind had been slyly substituted for her. But because the companions of Diomede were of a sudden nowhere to be seen, and afterwards could nowhere be found, being destroyed by bad avenging angels, they were believed to have been changed into those birds, which were secretly brought there from other places where such birds were, and suddenly substituted for them by fraud. But that they bring water in their beaks and sprinkle it on the temple of Diomede, and that they fawn on men of Greek race and persecute aliens, is no wonderful thing to be done by the inward influence of the demons, whose interest it is to persuade men that Diomede was made a god, and thus to beguile them into worshipping many false gods, to the great dishonor of the true God; and to serve dead men, who even in their lifetime did not truly live, with temples, altars, sacrifices, and priests, all which, when of the right kind, are due only to the one living and true God.
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| − | ||<div id="c19"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XIX] Eo tempore post captam Troiam atque deletam Aeneas cum viginti navibus, quibus portabantur reliquiae Troianorum, in Italiam venit, regnante ibi Latino et apud Athenienses Menestheo, apud Sicyonios Polyphide, apud Assyrios Tautane, apud Hebraeos autem iudex Labdon fuit. Mortuo autem Latino regnavit Aeneas tribus annis, eisdem in supradictis locis manentibus regibus, nisi quod Sicyoniorum iam Pelasgus erat et Hebraeorum iudex Samson; qui cum mirabiliter fortis esset, putatus est Hercules. Sed Aenean, quoniam quando mortuus est non conparuit, deum sibi fecerunt Latini. Sabini etiam regem suum primum Sancum sive, ut aliqui appellant, Sanctum, rettulerunt in deos. Per idem tempus Codrus rex Atheniensium Peloponnensibus eiusdem hostibus civitatis se interficiendum ignotus obiecit; et factum est. Hoc modo eum praedicant patriam liberasse. Responsum enim acceperant Peloponnenses tum demum se superaturos, si eorum regem non occidissent. Fefellit ergo eos habitu pauperis apparendo et in suam necem per iurgium prouocando. Vnde ait Vergilius: Et iurgia Codri. Et hunc Athenienses tamquam deum sacrificiorum honore coluerunt. Quarto Latinorum rege Siluio Aeneae filio, non de Creusa, de qua fuit Ascanius, qui tertius ibi regnavit, sed de Lavinia Latini filia, quem postumum Aeneas dicitur habuisse, Assyriorum autem vicensimo et nono Oneo et Melantho Atheniensium sexto decimo, iudice autem Hebraeorum Heli sacerdote regnum Sicyoniorum consumptum est, quod per annos nongentos quinquaginta et novem traditur fuisse porrectum. ||After the capture and destruction of Troy, Жneas, with twenty ships laden with the Trojan relics, came into Italy, when Latinus reigned there, Menestheus in Athens, Polyphidos in Sicyon, and Tautanos in Assyria, and Abdon was judge of the Hebrews. On the death of Latinus, Жneas reigned three years, the same kings continuing in the above-named places, except that Pelasgus was now king in Sicyon, and Samson was judge of the Hebrews, who is thought to be Hercules, because of his wonderful strength. Now the Latins made Жneas one of their gods, because at his death he was nowhere to be found. The Sabines also placed among the gods their first king, Sancus, [Sangus], or Sanctus, as some call him. At that time Codrus king of Athens exposed himself incognito to be slain by the Peloponnesian foes of that city, and so was slain. In this way, they say, he delivered his country. For the Peloponnesians had received a response from the oracle, that they should overcome the Athenians only on condition that they did not slay their king. Therefore he deceived them by appearing in a poor man's dress, and provoking them, by quarrelling, to murder him. Whence Virgil says, "Or the quarrels of Codrus." And the Athenians worshipped this man as a god with sacrificial honors. The fourth king of the Latins was Silvius the son of Жneas, not by Creьsa, of whom Ascanius the third king was born, but by Lavinia the daughter of Latinus, and he is said to have been his posthumous child. Oneus was the twenty-ninth king of Assyria, Melanthus the sixteenth of the Athenians, and Eli the priest was judge of the Hebrews; and the kingdom of Sicyon then came to an end, after lasting, it is said, for nine hundred and fifty-nine years.
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| − | ||<div id="c20"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XX] Mox eisdem per loca memorata regnantibus Israelitarum regnum finito tempore iudicum a Saule rege sumpsit exordium, quo tempore fuit propheta Samuel. Ab illo igitur tempore hi reges Latinorum esse coeperunt, quos cognominabant Siluios; ab eo quippe, qui filius Aeneae primus dictus est Siluius, ceteris subsecutis et propria nomina inponebantur et hoc non defuit cognomentum; sicut longe postea Caesares cognominati sunt, qui successerunt Caesari Augusto. Reprobato autem Saule, ne quisquam ex eius stirpe regnaret, eoque defuncto David successit in regnum post annos a Saulis imperio quadraginta. Tunc Athenienses habere deinde reges post Codri interitum destiterunt et magistratus habere coeperunt administrandae rei publicae. Post David, qui etiam ipse quadraginta regnavit annos, filius eius Salomon rex Israelitarum fuit, qui templum illud nobilissimum Dei Hierosolymitanum condidit. Cuius tempore apud Latinos condita est Alba, ex qua deinceps non Latinorum, sed Albanorum reges appellari, in eodem tamen Latio, coeperunt. Salomoni successit filius eius Roboam, sub quo in duo regna populus ille divisus est, et singulae partes suos singulos reges habere coeperunt. ||While these kings reigned in the places mentioned, the period of the judges being ended, the kingdom of Israel next began with king Saul, when Samuel the prophet lived. At that date those Latin kings began who were surnamed Silvii, having that surname, in addition to their proper name, from their predecessor, that son of Жneas who was called Silvius; just as, long afterward, the successors of Cжsar Augustus were surnamed Cжsars. Saul being rejected, so that none of his issue should reign, on his death David succeeded him in the kingdom, after he had reigned forty years. Then the Athenians ceased to have kings after the death of Codrus, and began to have a magistracy to rule the republic. After David, who also reigned forty years, his son Solomon was king of Israel, who built that most noble temple of God at Jerusalem. In his time Alba was built among the Latins, from which thereafter the kings began to be styled kings not of the Latins, but of the Albans, although in the same Latium. Solomon was succeeded by his son Rehoboam, under whom that people was divided into two kingdoms, and its separate parts began to have separate kings.
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| − | ||<div id="c21"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXI] Latium post Aenean, quem deum fecerunt, undecim reges habuit, quorum nullus deus factus est. Aventinus autem, qui duodecimo loco Aenean sequitur, cum esset prostratus in bello et sepultus in eo monte, qui etiam nunc eius nomine nuncupatur, deorum talium, quales sibi faciebant, numero est additus. Alii sane noluerunt eum in proelio scribere occisum, sed non conparuisse dixerunt; nec ex eius vocabulo appellatum montem, sed ex adventu avium dictum Aventinum. Post hunc non est deus factus in Latio nisi Romulus conditor Romae. Inter istum autem et illum reges reperiuntur duo, quorum primus est, ut eum Vergiliano versu eloquar: Proximus ille Procas, Troianae gloria gentis. Cuius tempore quia iam quodam modo Roma parturiebatur, illud omnium regnorum maximum Assyrium finem tantae diuturnitatis accepit. Ad Medos quippe translatum est post annos ferme mille trecentos quinque, ut etiam Beli, qui Ninum genuit et illic paruo contentus imperio primus rex fuit, tempora computentur. Procas autem regnavit ante Amulium. Porro Amulius fratris sui Numitoris filiam Rheam nomine, quae etiam Ilia vocabatur, Romuli matrem, Vestalem virginem fecerat, quam volunt de Marte geminos concepisse, isto modo stuprum eius honorantes vel excusantes, et adhibentes argumentum, quod infantes expositos lupa nutriverit. Hoc enim genus bestiae ad Martem existimant pertinere, ut videlicet ideo lupa credatur admovisse ubera paruulis, quia filios domini sui Martis agnovit; quamuis non desint qui dicant, cum expositi uagientes iacerent, a nescio qua primum meretrice fuisse collectos et primas eius suxisse mamillas (meretrices autem lupas vocabant, unde etiam nunc turpia loca earum lupanaria nuncupantur), et eos postea ad Faustulum pervenisse pastorem atque ab eius Acca uxore nutritos. Quamquam si ad arguendum hominem regem, qui eos in aquam proici crudeliter iusserat, eis infantibus, per quos tanta civitas condenda fuerat, de aqua divinitus liberatis per lactantem feram Deus voluit subvenire, quid mirum est? Amulio successit in regnum Latiare frater eius Numitor, auus Romuli, cuius Numitoris primo anno condita est Roma; ac per hoc cum suo deinceps, id est Romulo, nepote regnavit. ||After Жneas, whom they deified, Latium had eleven kings, none of whom was deified. But Aventinus, who was the twelfth after Жneas, having been laid low in war, and buried in that hill still called by his name, was added to the number of such gods as they made for themselves. Some, indeed, were unwilling to write that he was slain in battle, but said he was nowhere to be found, and that it was not from his name, but from the alighting of birds, that hill was called Aventinus. After this no god was made in Latium except Romulus the founder of Rome. But two kings are found between these two, the first of whom I shall describe in the Virgilian verse:Next came that Procas, glory of the Trojan race.That greatest of all kingdoms, the Assyrian, had its long duration brought to a close in his time, the time of Rome's birth drawing nigh. For the Assyrian empire was transferred to the Medes after nearly thirteen hundred and five years, if we include the reign of Belus, who begot Ninus, and, content with a small kingdom, was the first king there. Now Procas reigned before Amulius. And Amulius had made his brother Numitor's daughter, Rhea by name, who was also called Ilia, a vestal virgin, who conceived twin sons by Mars, as they will have it, in that way honoring or excusing her adultery, adding as a proof that a she-wolf nursed the infants when exposed. For they think this kind of beast belongs to Mars so that the she-wolf is believed to have given her teats to the infants, because she knew they were the sons of Mars her lord; although there are not wanting persons who say that when the crying babes lay exposed, they were first of all picked up by I know not what harlot, and sucked her breasts first (now harlots were called lupж, she-wolves, from which their vile abodes are even yet called lupanaria), and that afterwards they came into the hands of the shepherd Faustulus, and were nursed by Acca his wife. Yet what wonder is it, if, to rebuke the king who had cruelly ordered them to be thrown into the water, God was pleased, after divinely delivering them from the water, to succor, by means of a wild beast giving milk, these infants by whom so great a city was to be founded? Amulius was succeeded in the Latian kingdom by his brother Numitor, the grandfather of Romulus; and Rome was founded in the first year of this Numitor, who from that time reigned along with his grandson Romulus.
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| − | ||<div id="c22"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXII] Ne multis morer, condita est civitas Roma velut altera Babylon et velut prioris filia Babylonis, per quam Deo placuit orbem debellare terrarum et in unam societatem rei publicae legumque perductum longe lateque pacare. Erant enim iam populi validi et fortes et armis gentes exercitatae, quae non facile cederent, et quas opus esset ingentibus periculis et uastatione utrimque non parua atque horrendo labore superari. Nam quando regnum Assyriorum totam paene Asiam subiugavit, licet bellando sit factum, non tamen multum asperis et difficilibus bellis fieri potuit, quia rudes adhuc ad resistendum gentes erant nec tam multae vel magnae, si quidem post illud maximum atque universale diluuium, cum in arca Noe octo soli homines euaserunt, anni non multo amplius quam mille transierant, quando Ninus Asiam totam excepta India subiugavit. Roma vero tot gentes <et> Orientis et Occidentis, quas imperio Romano subditas cernimus, non ea celeritate ac facilitate perdomuit, quoniam paulatim increscendo robustas eas et bellicosas, quaqua versum dilatabatur, invenit. Tempore igitur, quo Roma condita est, populus Israel habebat in terra promissionis annos septingentos decem et octo. Ex quibus viginti septem pertinent ad Iesum Nave, deinde ad tempus iudicum trecenti viginti novem. Ex quo autem reges ibi esse coeperant, anni erant trecenti sexaginta duo. Et rex tunc erat in Iuda, cuius nomen erat Achaz vel, sicut alii conputant, qui ei successit Ezechias, quem quidem constat optimum et piissimum regem Romuli regnasse temporibus. In ea vero Hebraei populi parte, quae appellabatur Israel, regnare coeperat Osee. ||To be brief, the city of Rome was founded, like another Babylon, and as it were the daughter of the former Babylon, by which God was pleased to conquer the whole world, and subdue it far and wide by bringing it into one fellowship of government and laws. For there were already powerful and brave peoples and nations trained to arms, who did not easily yield, and whose subjugation necessarily involved great danger and destruction as well as great and horrible labor. For when the Assyrian kingdom subdued almost all Asia, although this was done by fighting, yet the wars could not be very fierce or difficult, because the nations were as yet untrained to resist, and neither so many nor so great as afterward; forasmuch as, after that greatest and indeed universal flood, when only eight men escaped in Noah's ark, not much more than a thousand years had passed when Ninus subdued all Asia with the exception of India. But Rome did not with the same quickness and facility wholly subdue all those nations of the east and west which we see brought under the Roman empire, because, in its gradual increase, in whatever direction it was extended, it found them strong and warlike. At the time when Rome was founded, then, the people of Israel had been in the land of promise seven hundred and eighteen years. Of these years twenty-seven belong to Joshua the son of Nun, and after that three hundred and twenty-nine to the period of the judges. But from the time when the kings began to reign there, three hundred and sixty-two years had passed. And at that time there was a king in Judah called Ahaz, or, as others compute, Hezekiah his successor, the best and most pious king, who it is admitted reigned in the times of Romulus. And in that part of the Hebrew nation called Israel, Hoshea had begun to reign.
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| − | ||<div id="c23"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXIII] Eodem tempore nonnulli Sibyllam Erythraeam uaticinatam ferunt. Sibyllas autem Varro prodit plures fuisse, non unam. Haec sane Erythraea Sibylla quaedam de Christo manifesta conscripsit; quod et.iam nos prius in Latina lingua versibus male Latinis et non stantibus legimus per nescio cuius interpretis imperitiam, sicut post cognovimus. Nam vir clarissimus Flaccianus, qui etiam proconsul fuit, homo facillimae facundiae multaeque doctrinae, cum de Christo conloqueremur, Graecum nobis codicem protulit, carmina esse dicens Sibyllae Erythraeae, ubi ostendit quodam loco in capitibus versuum ordinem litterarum ita se habentem, ut haec in eo verba legerentur: Iesous Chreistos Theou vios soter, quod est Latine, Iesus Christus Dei filius saluator. Hi autem versus, quorum primae litterae istum sensum, quem diximus, reddunt, sicut eos quidam Latinis et stantibus versibus est interpretatus, hoc continent: Iudicii signum tellus sudore madescet.E caelo rex adveniet per saecla futurus,Scilicet ut carnem praesens, ut iudicet orbem.Vnde Deum cernent incredulus atque fidelisCelsum cum sanctis aevi iam termino in ipso.Sic animae cum carne aderunt, quas iudicat ipse,Cum iacet incultus densis in uepribus orbis.Reicient simulacra viri, cunctam quoque gazam,Exuret terras ignis pontumque polumqueInquirens, taetri portas effringet Averni.Sanctorum sed enim cunctae lux libera carniTradetur, sontes aeterna flamma cremabit.Occultos actus retegens tunc quisque loqueturSecreta, atque Deus reserabit pectora luci.Tunc erit et luctus, stridebunt dentibus omnes.Eripitur solis iubar et chorus interit astris.Voluetur caelum, lunaris splendor obibit;Deiciet colles, valles extollet ab imo.Non erit in rebus hominum sublime vel altum.Iam aequantur campis montes et caerula pontiOmnia cessabunt, tellus confracta peribit:Sic pariter fontes torrentur fluminaque igni.Sed tuba tum sonitum tristem demittet ab altoOrbe, gemens facinus miserum variosque labores,Tartareumque chaos monstrabit terra dehiscens.Et coram hic Domino reges sistentur ad unum.Reccidet e caelo ignisque et sulphuris amnis. In his Latinis versibus de Graeco utcumque translatis ibi non potuit ille sensus occurrere, qui fit, cum litterae, quae sunt in eorum capitibus, conectuntur, ubi Y littera in Graeco posita est, quia non potuerunt Latina verba inveniri, quae ab eadem littera inciperent et sententiae convenirent. Hi autem sunt versus tres, quintus et octauus decimus et nonus decimus. Denique si litteras quae sunt in capitibus omnium versuum conectentes horum trium quae scriptae sunt non legamus, sed pro eis Y litteram, tamquam in eisdem locis ipsa sit posita, recordemur, exprimitur in quinque verbis: Iesus Christus Dei filius saluator; sed cum Graece hoc dicitur, non Latine. Et sunt versus viginti et septem, qui numerus quadratum ternarium solidum reddit. Tria enim ter ducta fiunt novem; et ipsa novem si ter ducantur, ut ex lato in altum figura consurgat, ad viginti septem perveniunt. Horum autem Graecorum quinque verborum, quae sunt Iesous Chreistos Theou vios soter, quod est Latine Iesus Christus Dei filius saluator, si primas litteras iungas, erit ixous, id est piscis, in quo nomine mystice intellegitur Christus, eo quod in huius mortalitatis abysso velut in aquarum profunditate vivus, hoc est sine peccato, esse potuerit. Haec autem Sibylla sive Erythraea sive, ut quidam magis credunt, Cumaea ita nihil habet in toto carmine suo, cuius exigua ista particula est, quod ad deorum falsorum sive factorum cultum pertineat, quin immo ita etiam contra eos et contra cultores eorum loquitur, ut in eorum numero deputanda videatur, qui pertinent ad civitatem Dei. Inserit etiam Lactantius operi suo quaedam de Christo uaticinia Sibyllae, quamuis non exprimat cuius. Sed quae ipse singillatim posuit, ego arbitratus sum coniuncta esse ponenda, tamquam unum sit prolixum, quae ille plura commemoravit et brevia. "In manus <iniquas>, inquit, infidelium postea veniet; dabunt autem Deo alapas manibus incestis et inpurato ore exspuent venenatos sputus; dabit vero ad verbera simpliciter sanctum dorsum. Et colaphos accipiens tacebit, ne quis agnoscat, quod verbum vel unde venit, ut inferis loquatur et corona spinea coronetur. Ad cibum autem fel et ad sitim acetum dederunt; inhospitalitatis hanc monstrabunt mensam. Ipsa enim insipiens tuum Deum non intellexisti, ludentem mortalium mentibus, sed <et> spinis coronasti et horridum fel miscuisti. Templi vero velum scindetur; et medio die nox erit tenebrosa nimis in tribus horis. Et morte morietur tribus diebus somno suscepto; et tunc ab inferis regressus ad lucem veniet primus resurrectionis principio reuocatis ostenso." Ista Lactantius carptim per interualla disputationis suae, sicut ea poscere videbantur, quae probare intenderat, adhibuit testimonia Sibyllina, quae nos nihil interponentes, sed in unam seriem conexa ponentes solis capitibus, si tamen scriptores deinceps ea servare non neglegant, distinguenda curavimus. Nonnulli sane Erythraeam Sibyllam non Romuli, sed belli Troiani tempore fuisse scripserunt. ||Some say the Erythrжan sibyl prophesied at this time. Now Varro declares there were many sibyls, and not merely one. This sibyl of Erythrж certainly wrote some things concerning Christ which are quite manifest, and we first read them in the Latin tongue in verses of bad Latin, and unrhythmical, through the unskillfulness, as we afterwards learned, of some interpreter unknown to me. For Flaccianus, a very famous man, who was also a proconsul, a man of most ready eloquence and much learning, when we were speaking about Christ, produced a Greek manuscript, saying that it was the prophecies of the Erythrжan sibyl, in which he pointed out a certain passage which had the initial letters of the lines so arranged that these words could be read in them: ???s??? ???st?? Te?? ???? s?t??, which means, "Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour." And these verses, of which the initial letters yield that meaning, contain what follows as translated by some one into Latin in good rhythm:? Judgment shall moisten the earth with the sweat of its standard,? Ever enduring, behold the King shall come through the ages,S Sent to be here in the flesh, and Judge at the last of the world.? O God, the believing and faithless alike shall behold You? Uplifted with saints, when at last the ages are ended.S Seated before Him are souls in the flesh for His judgment.? Hid in thick vapors, the while desolate lies the earth.? Rejected by men are the idols and long hidden treasures;? Earth is consumed by the fire, and it searches the ocean and heaven;? Issuing forth, it destroys the terrible portals of hell.S Saints in their body and soul freedom and light shall inherit;? Those who are guilty shall burn in fire and brimstone for ever.? Occult actions revealing, each one shall publish his secrets;S Secrets of every man's heart God shall reveal in the light.T Then shall be weeping and wailing, yea, and gnashing of teeth;? Eclipsed is the sun, and silenced the stars in their chorus.? Over and gone is the splendor of moonlight, melted the heaven,? Uplifted by Him are the valleys, and cast down the mountains.? Utterly gone among men are distinctions of lofty and lowly.? Into the plains rush the hills, the skies and oceans are mingled.? Oh, what an end of all things! earth broken in pieces shall perish;S . . . . Swelling together at once shall the waters and flames flow in rivers.S Sounding the archangel's trumpet shall peal down from heaven,O Over the wicked who groan in their guilt and their manifold sorrows.? Trembling, the earth shall be opened, revealing chaos and hell.? Every king before God shall stand in that day to be judged.? Rivers of fire and brimstone shall fall from the heavens.In these Latin verses the meaning of the Greek is correctly given, although not in the exact order of the lines as connected with the initial letters; for in three of them, the fifth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, where the Greek letter ? occurs, Latin words could not be found beginning with the corresponding letter, and yielding a suitable meaning. So that, if we note down together the initial letters of all the lines in our Latin translation except those three in which we retain the letter ? in the proper place, they will express in five Greek words this meaning, "Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour." And the verses are twenty-seven, which is the cube of three. For three times three are nine; and nine itself, if tripled, so as to rise from the superficial square to the cube, comes to twenty-seven. But if you join the initial letters of these five Greek words, ???s??? ???st?? Te?? ???? s?t??, which mean, "Jesus Christ the Son of God, the Saviour," they will make the word ??d??, that is, "fish," in which word Christ is mystically understood, because He was able to live, that is, to exist, without sin in the abyss of this mortality as in the depth of waters.But this sibyl, whether she is the Erythrжan, or, as some rather believe, the Cumжan, in her whole poem, of which this is a very small portion, not only has nothing that can relate to the worship of the false or feigned gods, but rather speaks against them and their worshippers in such a way that we might even think she ought to be reckoned among those who belong to the city of God. Lactantius also inserted in his work the prophecies about Christ of a certain sibyl, he does not say which. But I have thought fit to combine in a single extract, which may seem long, what he has set down in many short quotations. She says, "Afterward He shall come into the injurious hands of the unbelieving, and they will give God buffets with profane hands, and with impure mouth will spit out envenomed spittle; but He will with simplicity yield His holy back to stripes. And He will hold His peace when struck with the fist, that no one may find out what word, or whence, He comes to speak to hell; and He shall be crowned with a crown of thorns. And they gave Him gall for meat, and vinegar for His thirst: they will spread this table of inhospitality. For you yourself, being foolish, hast not understood your God, deluding the minds of mortals, but hast both crowned Him with thorns and mingled for Him bitter gall. But the veil of the temple shall be rent; and at midday it shall be darker than night for three hours. And He shall die the death, taking sleep for three days; and then returning from hell, He first shall come to the light, the beginning of the resurrection being shown to the recalled." Lactantius made use of these sibylline testimonies, introducing them bit by bit in the course of his discussion as the things he intended to prove seemed to require, and we have set them down in one connected series, uninterrupted by comment, only taking care to mark them by capitals, if only the transcribers do not neglect to preserve them hereafter. Some writers, indeed, say that the Erythrжan sibyl was not in the time of Romulus, but of the Trojan war.
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| − | ||<div id="c24"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXIV] Eodem Romulo regnante Thales Milesius fuisse perhibetur, unus e septem sapientibus, qui post theologos poetas, in quibus Orpheus maxime omnium nobilitatus est, *sofoi appellati sunt, quod est Latine sapientes. Per idem tempus decem tribus, quae in divisione populi vocatae sunt Israel, debellatae a Chaldaeis et in eas terras captivae ductae sunt, remanentibus in Iudaea terra duabus illis tribubus, quae nomine Iudae vocabantur sedemque regni habebant Hierusalem. Mortuum Romulum, cum et ipse non conparuisset, in deos, quod et uulgo notissimum est, rettulere Romani; quod usque adeo fieri iam desierat (nec postea nisi adulando, non errando, factum est temporibus Caesarum), ut Cicero magnis Romuli laudibus tribuat, quod non rudibus et indoctis temporibus, quando facile homines fallebantur, sed iam expolitis et eruditis meruerit hos honores, quamuis nondum efferbuerat ac pullulaverat philosophorum subtilis et acuta loquacitas. Sed etiamsi posteriora tempora deos homines mortuos non instituerunt, tamen ab antiquis institutos colere ut deos et habere non destiterunt; quin etiam simulacris, quae ueteres non habebant, auxerunt uanae atque impiae superstitionis inlecebram, id efficientibus inmundis in eorum corde daemonibus per fallacia quoque oracula decipientibus, ut fabulosa etiam crimina deorum, quae iam urbaniore saeculo non fingebantur, per ludos tamen in eorundem falsorum numinum obsequium turpiter agerentur. Regnavit deinde Numa post Romulum, qui cum illam civitatem putaverit deorum profecto falsorum numerositate muniendam, in eandem turbam referri mortuus ipse non meruit, tamquam ita putatus sit caelum multitudine numinum constipasse, ut locum ibi reperire non posset. Hoc regnante Romae et apud Hebraeos initio regni Manasse, a quo impio rege propheta Esaias perhibetur occisus, Samiam fuisse Sibyllam ferunt. ||While Romulus reigned, Thales the Milesian is said to have lived, being one of the seven sages, who succeeded the theological poets, of whom Orpheus was the most renowned, and were called S?f??, that is, sages. During that time the ten tribes, which on the division of the people were called Israel, were conquered by the Chaldeans and led captive into their lands, while the two tribes which were called Judah, and had the seat of their kingdom in Jerusalem, remained in the land of Judea. As Romulus, when dead, could nowhere be found, the Romans, as is everywhere notorious, placed him among the gods,-a thing which by that time had already ceased to be done, and which was not done afterwards till the time of the Cжsars, and then not through error, but in flattery; so that Cicero ascribes great praises to Romulus, because he merited such honors not in rude and unlearned times, when men were easily deceived, but in times already polished and learned, although the subtle and acute loquacity of the philosophers had not yet culminated. But although the later times did not deify dead men, still they did not cease to hold and worship as gods those deified of old; nay, by images, which the ancients never had, they even increased the allurements of vain and impious superstition, the unclean demons effecting this in their heart, and also deceiving them by lying oracles, so that even the fabulous crimes of the gods, which were not once imagined by a more polite age, were yet basely acted in the plays in honor of these same false deities. Numa reigned after Romulus; and although he had thought that Rome would be better defended the more gods there were, yet on his death he himself was not counted worthy of a place among them, as if it were supposed that he had so crowded heaven that a place could not be found for him there. They report that the Samian sibyl lived while he reigned at Rome, and when Manasseh began to reign over the Hebrews,-an impious king, by whom the prophet Isaiah is said to have been slain.
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| − | ||<div id="c25"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXV] Regnante vero apud Hebraeos Sedechia et apud Romanos Tarquinio Prisco, qui successerat Anco Marcio, ductus est captivus in Babyloniam populus Iudaeorum euersa Hierusalem et templo illo a Salomone constructo. Increpantes enim eos prophetae de iniquitatibus et impietatibus suis haec eis ventura praedixerant, maxime Hieremias, qui etiam numerum definivit annorum. Eo tempore Pittacus Mitylenaeus, alius e septem sapientibus, fuisse perhibetur. Et quinque ceteros, qui, ut septem numerentur, Thaleti, quem supra commemoravimus, et huic Pittaco adduntur, eo tempore fuisse scribit Eusebius, quo captivus Dei populus in Babylonia tenebatur. Hi sunt autem: Solon Atheniensis, Chilon Lacedaemonius, Periandrus Corinthius, Cleobulus Lindius, Bias Prienaeus. Omnes hi, septem appellati sapientes, post poetas theologos claruerunt, quia genere vitae quodam laudabili praestabant hominibus ceteris et morum nonnulla praecepta sententiarum brevitate complexi sunt. Nihil autem monumentorum, quod ad litteras adtinet, posteris reliquerunt, nisi quod Solon quasdam leges Atheniensibus dedisse perhibetur; Thales vero physicus fuit et suorum dogmatum libros reliquit. Eo captivitatis Iudaicae tempore et Anaximander et Anaximenes et Xenophanes physici claruerunt. Tunc et Pythagoras, ex quo coeperunt appellari philosophi. ||When Zedekiah reigned over the Hebrews, and Tarquinius Priscus, the successor of Ancus Martius, over the Romans, the Jewish people was led captive into Babylon, Jerusalem and the temple built by Solomon being overthrown. For the prophets, in chiding them for their iniquity and impiety, predicted that these things should come to pass, especially Jeremiah, who even stated the number of years. Pittacus of Mitylene, another of the sages, is reported to have lived at that time. And Eusebius writes that, while the people of God were held captive in Babylon, the five other sages lived, who must be added to Thales, whom we mentioned above, and Pittacus, in order to make up the seven. These are Solon of Athens, Chilo of Lacedжmon, Periander of Corinth, Cleobulus of Lindus, and Bias of Priene. These flourished after the theological poets, and were called sages, because they excelled other men in a certain laudable line of life, and summed up some moral precepts in epigrammatic sayings. But they left posterity no literary monuments, except that Solon is alleged to have given certain laws to the Athenians, and Thales was a natural philosopher, and left books of his doctrine in short proverbs. In that time of the Jewish captivity, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Xenophanes, the natural philosophers, flourished. Pythagoras also lived then, and at this time the name philosopher was first used.
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| − | ||<div id="c26"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXVI] Per idem tempus Cyrus, rex Persarum, qui etiam Chaldaeis et Assyriis imperabat, relaxata aliquanta captivitate Iudaeorum, quinquaginta milia hominum ex eis ad instaurandum templum regredi fecit. A quibus tantum prima coepta fundamina et altare constructum est. Incursantibus autem hostibus nequaquam progredi aedificando valuerunt, dilatumque opus est usque ad Darium. Per idem tempus etiam illa sunt gesta, quae conscripta sunt in libro Iudith; quem sane in canonem scripturarum Iudaei non recepisse dicuntur. Sub Dario ergo rege Persarum impletis septuaginta annis, quos Hieremias propheta praedixerat, reddita,est Iudaeis soluta captivitate libertas, regnante Romanorum septimo rege Tarquinio. Quo expulso etiam ipsi a regum suorum dominatione liberi esse coeperunt. Vsque ad hoc tempus prophetas habuit populus Israel; qui cum multi fuerint, paucorum et apud Iudaeos et apud nos canonica scripta retinentur. De quibus me aliqua positurum esse promisi in hoc libro, cum clauderem superiorem, quod iam video esse faciendum. ||At this time, Cyrus king of Persia, who also ruled the Chaldeans and Assyrians, having somewhat relaxed the captivity of the Jews, made fifty thousand of them return in order to rebuild the temple. They only began the first foundations and built the altar; but, owing to hostile invasions, they were unable to go on, and the work was put off to the time of Darius. During the same time also those things were done which are written in the book of Judith, which, indeed, the Jews are said not to have received into the canon of the Scriptures. Under Darius king of Persia, then, on the completion of the seventy years predicted by Jeremiah the prophet, the captivity of the Jews was brought to an end, and they were restored to liberty. Tarquin then reigned as the seventh king of the Romans. On his expulsion, they also began to be free from the rule of their kings. Down to this time the people of Israel had prophets; but, although they were numerous, the canonical writings of only a few of them have been preserved among the Jews and among us. In closing the previous book, I promised to set down something in this one about them, and I shall now do so.
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| − | ||<div id="c27"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXVII] Tempora igitur eorum ut possimus advertere, in anteriora paululum recurramus. In capite libri Osee prophetae, qui primus in duodecim ponitur, ita scriptum est: Verbum Domini, quod factum est ad Osee in diebus Oziae et Ioatham et Achaz et Ezechiae regum Iuda. Amos quoque diebus regis Oziae prophetasse se scribit; addit etiam Hieroboam regem Israel, qui per eosdem dies fuit. Nec non Esaias, filius Amos, sive supradicti prophetae sive, quod magis perhibetur, alterius qui non propheta eodem nomine vocabatur, eosdem reges quattuor, quos posuit Osee, in capite libri sui ponit, quorum diebus se prophetasse praeloquitur. Michaeas etiam eadem suae prophetiae commemorat tempora post dies Oziae. Nam tres qui sequuntur reges nominat, quos et Osee nominavit, Ioatham et Achaz et Ezechian. Hi sunt, quos eodem tempore simul prophetasse ex eorum litteris invenitur. His adiungitur Ionas eodem Ozia rege regnante et Ioel, cum iam regnaret Ioatham, qui successit Oziae. Sed istorum prophetarum duorum tempora in chronicis, non in eorum libris potuimus invenire, quoniam de suis diebus tacent. Tenduntur autem hi dies a rege Latinorum Proca sive superiore Aventino usque ad regem Romulum iam Romanum, vel etiam usque ad regni primordia successoris eius Numae Pompilii (Ezechias quippe rex Iuda eo usque regnavit); ac per hoc per ea tempora isti velut fontes prophetiae pariter eruperunt, quando regnum defecit Assyrium coepitque Romanum; ut scilicet, quem ad modum regni Assyriorum primo tempore extitit Abraham, cui promissiones apertissimae fierent in eius semine benedictionis omnium gentium, ita occidentalis Babylonis exordio, qua fuerat Christus imperante venturus, in quo implerentur illa promissa, ora prophetarum non solum loquentium, verum etiam scribentium in tantae rei futurae testimonium soluerentur. Cum enim prophetae numquam fere defuissent populo Israel, ex quo ibi reges esse coeperunt, in usum tantummodo eorum fuere, non gentium; quando autem scriptura manifestius prophetica condebatur, quae gentibus quandoque prodesset, tunc oportebat inciperet, quando condebatur haec civitas, quae gentibus imperaret. ||In order that we may be able to consider these times, let us go back a little to earlier times. At the beginning of the book of the prophet Hosea, who is placed first of twelve, it is written, "The word of the Lord which came to Hosea in the days of Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." Hosea 1:1 Amos also writes that he prophesied in the days of Uzziah, and adds the name of Jeroboam king of Israel, who lived at the same time. Amos 1:1 Isaiah the son of Amos-either the above-named prophet, or, as is rather affirmed, another who was not a prophet, but was called by the same name-also puts at the head of his book these four kings named by Hosea, saying by way of preface that he prophesied in their days. Micah also names the same times as those of his prophecy, after the days of Uzziah; Micah 1:1 for he names the same three kings as Hosea named,-Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We find from their own writings that these men prophesied contemporaneously. To these are added Jonah in the reign of Uzziah, and Joel in that of Jotham, who succeeded Uzziah. But we can find the date of these two prophets in the chronicles, not in their own writings, for they say nothing about it themselves. Now these days extend from Procas king of the Latins, or his predecessor Aventinus, down to Romulus king of the Romans, or even to the beginning of the reign of his successor Numa Pompilius. Hezekiah king of Judah certainly reigned till then. So that thus these fountains of prophecy, as I may call them, burst forth at once during those times when the Assyrian kingdom failed and the Roman began; so that, just as in the first period of the Assyrian kingdom Abraham arose, to whom the most distinct promises were made that all nations should be blessed in his seed, so at the beginning of the western Babylon, in the time of whose government Christ was to come in whom these promises were to be fulfilled, the oracles of the prophets were given not only in spoken but in written words, for a testimony that so great a thing should come to pass. For although the people of Israel hardly ever lacked prophets from the time when they began to have kings, these were only for their own use, not for that of the nations. But when the more manifestly prophetic Scripture began to be formed, which was to benefit the nations too, it was fitting that it should begin when this city was founded which was to rule the nations.
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| − | ||<div id="c28"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXVIII] Osee igitur propheta, quanto profundius quidem loquitur, tanto operosius penetratur. Sed aliquid inde sumendum est et hic ex nostra promissione ponendum. Et erit, inquit, in loco quo dictum est eis: Non populus meus vos, vocabuntur et ipsi filii Dei vivi. Hoc testimonium propheticum de vocatione populi gentium, qui prius non pertinebat ad Deum, etiam apostoli intellexerunt. Et quia ipse quoque populus gentium spiritaliter est in filiis Abrahae ac per hoc recte dicitur Israel, propterea sequitur et dicit: Et congregabuntur filii Iuda et filii Israel in id ipsum, et ponent sibi principatum unum et ascendent a terra. Hoc si adhuc velimus exponere, eloquii prophetici obtundetur sapor. Recolatur tamen lapis ille angularis et duo parietes, unus ex Iudaeis, alter ex gentibus; ille nomine filiorum Iuda, iste nomine filiorum Israel, eidem uni principatui suo in id ipsum innitentes et ascendentes agnosntur a terra. Istos autem carnaliter Israelitas, qui nunc nolunt credere in Christum, postea credituros, id est filios eorum (nam utique isti in suum locum moriendo transibunt), idem propheta testatur dicens: Quoniam diebus multis sedebunt filii Israel sine rege, sine principe, sine sacrificio, sine altari, sine sacerdotio, sine manifestationibus. quis non videat nunc sic esse Iudaeos? Sed quid adiungat, audiamus. Et postea, inquit, reuertentur filii Israel et inquirent Dominum Deum suum et David regem suum, et stupescent in Domino et in bonis ipsius in novissimis diebus. Nihil est ista prophetia manifestius, cum David regis nomine significatus intellegitur Christus, quia factus est, sicut dicit apostolus, ex semine David secundum carnem. Praenuntiavit iste propheta etiam tertio die Christi resurrectionem futuram, sicut eam prophetica altitudine praenuntiari oportebat, ubi ait: Sanabit nos post biduum, in die tertio resurgemus. Secundum hoc enim nobis dicit apostolus: Si resurrexistis cum Christo, quae sursum sunt quaerite. Amos quoque de rebus talibus sic prophetat: Praepara, inquit, te, ut inuoces Deum tuum Israel; quia ecce ego firmans tonitrum et creans spiritum et adnuntians in hominibus Christum suum; et alio loco: In illa die, inquit, resuscitabo tabernaculum David, quod cecidit, et reaedificabo, quae ceciderunt eius, et destructa eius resuscitabo et reaedificabo ea sicut dies saeculi; ita ut exquirant me residui hominum et omnes gentes, in quibus inuocatum est nomen meum super eos, dicit Dominus faciens haec. ||The prophet Hosea speaks so very profoundly that it is laborious work to penetrate his meaning. But, according to promise, we must insert something from his book. He says, "And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, there they shall be called the sons of the living God." Hosea 1:10 Even the apostles understood this as a prophetic testimony of the calling of the nations who did not formerly belong to God; and because this same people of the Gentiles is itself spiritually among the children of Abraham, and for that reason is rightly called Israel, therefore he goes on to say, "And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together in one, and shall appoint themselves one headship, and shall ascend from the earth." Hosea 1:11 We should but weaken the savor of this prophetic oracle if we set ourselves to expound it. Let the reader but call to mind that cornerstone and those two walls of partition, the one of the Jews, the other of the Gentiles, Galatians 2:14-20 and he will recognize them, the one under the term sons of Judah, the other as sons of Israel, supporting themselves by one and the same headship, and ascending from the earth. But that those carnal Israelites who are now unwilling to believe in Christ shall afterward believe, that is, their children shall (for they themselves, of course, shall go to their own place by dying), this same prophet testifies, saying, "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, without an altar, without a priesthood, without manifestations." Hosea 3:4 Who does not see that the Jews are now thus? But let us hear what he adds: "And afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall be amazed at the Lord and at His goodness in the latter days." Hosea 3:5 Nothing is clearer than this prophecy, in which by David, as distinguished by the title of king, Christ is to be understood, "who is made," as the apostle says, "of the seed of David according to the flesh." Romans 1:3 This prophet has also foretold the resurrection of Christ on the third day, as it behoved to be foretold, with prophetic loftiness, when he says, "He will heal us after two days, and in the third day we shall rise again." Hosea 6:2 In agreement with this the apostle says to us, "If you be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above." Colossians 3:1 Amos also prophesies thus concerning such things: "Prepare you, that you may invoke your God, O Israel; for lo, I am binding the thunder, and creating the spirit, and announcing to men their Christ." Amos 4:12-13 And in another place he says, "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and build up the breaches thereof: and I will raise up his ruins, and will build them up again as in the days of old: that the residue of men may inquire for me, and all the nations upon whom my name is invoked, says the Lord that does this."
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| − | ||<div id="c29"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXIX] Esaias propheta non est in libro duodecim prophetarum, qui propterea dicuntur minores, quia sermones eorum sunt breues, in eorum comparatione, qui maiores ideo vocantur, quia prolixa volumina condiderunt; ex quibus est hic Esaias, quem propter eadem prophetiae tempora subiungo supradictis duobus. Esaias ergo inter illa, quae arguit iniqua et iusta praecepit et peccatori populo mala futura praedixit, etiam de Christo et ecclesia, hoc est de rege et ea quam condidit civitate, multo plura quam ceteri prophetavit, ita ut a quibusdam euangelista quam propheta potius diceretur. Sed propter rationem operis terminandi unum de multis hoc loco ponam. Ex persona quippe Dei Patris loquens: Ecce, inquit, intelleget puer meus et exaltabitur et glorificabitur valde. Quem ad modum stupescent super te multi, ita gloria privabitur ab hominibus species tua, et gloria tua ab hominibus; ita mirabuntur gentes multae super eum et continebunt reges os suum; quoniam quibus non est nuntiatum de illo, videbunt, et qui non audierunt, intellegent. Domine, quis credidit auditui nostro, et bracchium Domini cui reuelatum est? Adnuntiavimus coram illo, ut infans, ut radix in terra sitientis non est species illi neque gloria. Et vidimus eum, et non habebat speciem neque decorem j sed species eius sine honore, deficiens prae omnibus hominibus. Homo in plaga positus et sciens ferre infirmitatem; quoniam aversa est facies eius, inhonoratus est nec magni aestimatus est. Hic peccata nostra portat et pro nobis dolet; et nos existimavimus illum esse in dolore et in plaga et in adflictione. Ipse autem uulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras et infirmatus est propter peccata nostra. Eruditio pacis nostrae in eo; livore eius nos sanati sumus. Omnes ut oves erravimus, homo a via sua erravit; et Dominus tradidit illum pro peccatis nostris; et ipse, propter quod adflictus est, non aperuit os. Vt ovis ad immolandum ductus est et ut agnus ante eum, qui se tonderet, sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum. In humilitate iudicium eius sublatum est. Generationem eius quis enarrabit? Quoniam tolletur de terra vita eius. Ab iniquitatibus populi mei ductus est ad mortem. Et dabo malignos pro sepultura eius et divites pro morte eius. Quoniam iniquitatem non fecit nec dolum in ore suo; et Dominus uult purgare eum de plaga. Si dederitis pro peccato animam uestram, videbitis semen longaeuum; et Dominus uult auferre a dolore animam eius, ostendere illi lucem et formare intellectum, iustificare iustum bene seruientem pluribus; et peccata eorum ipse portabit. Propterea ipse hereditabit plures et fortium dividet spolia, propter quod tradita est ad mortem anima eius, et inter iniquos aestimatus est et ipse peccata multorum portavit, et propter peccata eorum traditus est. Haec de Christo. Iam vero de ecclesia, quod sequitur, audiamus. Laetare, inquit, sterilis, quae non paris; erumpe et exclama, quae non parturis; quoniam multi filii desertae magos quam eius, quae habet virum. Dilata locum tabernaculi tui et aulaearum tuarum; fige, noli parcere, prolonga funiculos tuos et palos tuos conforta, adhuc in dextram et sinistram partem extende. Et semen tuum hereditabit gentes, et civitates desertas inhabitabis. Ne timeas, quoniam confusa es, neque reuerearis, quia exprobrata es; quoniam confusionem aeternam oblivisceris et opprobrium viduitatis tuae non eris memor. Quoniam Dominus faciens te, Dominus Sabaoth nomen ei; et qui eruit te, ipse Deus Israel universae terrae vocabitur; et cetera. Verum ista sint satis; et in eis sunt exponenda nonnulla; sed sufficere arbitror quae ita sunt aperta, ut etiam inimici intellegere cogantur inuiti. ||The prophecy of Isaiah is not in the book of the twelve prophets, who are called the minor from the brevity of their writings, as compared with those who are called the greater prophets because they published larger volumes. Isaiah belongs to the latter, yet I connect him with the two above named, because he prophesied at the same time. Isaiah, then, together with his rebukes of wickedness, precepts of righteousness, and predictions of evil, also prophesied much more than the rest about Christ and the Church, that is, about the King and that city which he founded; so that some say he should be called an evangelist rather than a prophet. But, in order to finish this work, I quote only one out of many in this place. Speaking in the person of the Father, he says, "Behold, my servant shall understand, and shall be exalted and glorified very much. As many shall be astonished at You." This is about Christ.But let us now hear what follows about the Church. He says, "Rejoice, O barren, you that barest not; break forth and cry, you that did not travail with child: for many more are the children of the desolate than of her that has an husband." Isaiah 54:1-5 But these must suffice; and some things in them ought to be expounded; yet I think those parts sufficient which are so plain that even enemies must be compelled against their will to understand them.
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| − | ||<div id="c30"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXX] Michaeas propheta Christum in figura ponens magni cuiusdam montis haec loquitur: Erit in novissimis diebus manifestus mons Domini, paratus super vertices montium et exaltabitur super colles. Et festinabunt ad eum plebes, et ibunt gentes multae et dicent: Venite, ascendamus in montem Domini et in domum Dei Iacob, et ostendet nobis viam suam, et ibimus in semitis eius; quia ex Sion procedet lex et verbum Domini ex Hierusalem. Et iudicabit inter plebes multas, et redarguet gentes potentes usque in longinquum. Praedicens iste propheta et locum in quo natus est Christus: Et tu, inquit, Bethleem, domus Ephrata, minima es, ut sis in milibus Iuda; ex te mihi prodiet, ut sit in principem Israel; et egressus eius ab initio et ex diebus aeternitatis. Propterea dabit eos usque ad tempus parturientis, pariet, et residui fratres eius convertentur ad filios Israel. Et stabit et videbit et pascet gregem suum in virtute Domini, et in honore nominis Domini Dei sui erunt; quoniam nunc magnificabitur usque ad summum terrae. Ionas autem propheta non tam sermone Christum, quam sua quadam passione prophetavit, profecto apertius, quam si eius mortem et resurrectionem voce clamaret. Vt quid enim exceptus est ventre beluino et die tertio redditus, nisi ut significaret Christum de profundo inferni die tertio rediturum? Ioel omnia, quae prophetat, multis verbis compellit exponi, ut quae pertinent ad Christum et ecclesiam dilucescant. Vnum tamen, quod etiam apostoli commemoraverunt, quando in congregatos credentes Spiritus sanctus, sicut a Christo promissus fuerat, desuper venit, non praetermittam. Et erit, inquit, post haec, et effundam de spiritu meo super omnem carnem. et prophetabunt filii uestri et filiae uestrae, et seniores uestri somnia somniabunt, et ivuenes uestri visa videbunt j et quidem in seruos et ancillas meas in illis diebus effundam de spiri tu meo. ||The prophet Micah, representing Christ under the figure of a great mountain, speaks thus: "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the manifested mountain of the Lord shall be prepared on the tops of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall hasten unto it. Many nations shall go, and shall say, Come, let us go up into the mountain of the Lord, and into the house of the God of Jacob; and He will show us His way, and we will go in His paths: for out of Zion shall proceed the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off." Micah 4:1-3 This prophet predicts the very place in which Christ was born, saying, "And you, Bethlehem, of the house of Ephratah, art the least that can be reckoned among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth unto me a leader, to be the prince in Israel; and His going forth is from the beginning, even from the days of eternity. Therefore will He give them [up] even until the time when she that travails shall bring forth; and the remnant of His brethren shall be converted to the sons of Israel. And He shall stand, and see, and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, and in the dignity of the name of the Lord His God: for now shall He be magnified even to the utmost of the earth." Micah 5:2-4 The prophet Jonah, not so much by speech as by his own painful experience, prophesied Christ's death and resurrection much more clearly than if he had proclaimed them with his voice. For why was he taken into the whale's belly and restored on the third day, but that he might be a sign that Christ should return from the depths of hell on the third day?I should be obliged to use many words in explaining all that Joel prophesies in order to make clear those that pertain to Christ and the Church. But there is one passage I must not pass by, which the apostles also quoted when the Holy Spirit came down from above on the assembled believers according to Christ's promise. He says, "And it shall come to pass after these things, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old men shall dream, and your young men shall see visions: and even on my servants and mine handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit." Joel 2:28-29
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| − | ||<div id="c31"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXI] Tres prophetae de minoribus, Abdias, Naum, Ambacum, nec tempora sua dicunt ipsi, nec in chronicis Eusebii et Hieronymi, quando prophetaverint, invenitur. Abdias enim positus est quidem ab eis cum Michaea, sed non eo loco, ubi notantur tempora, quando Michaeam prophetasse ex eius litteris constat; quod errore neglegenter describentium labores alienos existimo contigisse; duos vero alios commemoratos in codicibus chronicorum, quos habuimus, non potuimus invenire. Tamen quia canone continentur, nec ipsi oportet praetereantur a nobis. Abdias, quantum ad scripturam eius adtinet, omnium brevissimus prophetarum, adversus Idumaeam loquitur, gentem scilicet Esau, ex duobus geminis filiis Isaac, nepotibus Abrabae, maioris illius reprobati. Porro si Idumaeam modo locutionis, quo intellegitur a parte totum, accipiamus positam esse pro gentibus: possumus de Christo agnoscere, quod ait inter cetera: In monte autem Sion erit salus et erit sanctum. et paulo post in fine ipsius prophetiae: Et ascendent, inquit, resaluati ex monte Sion, ut defendant montem Esau, et erit Domino regnum. Apparet quippe id esse completum, cum resaluati ex monte Sion, id est ex Iudaea credentes in Christum, qui praecipue agnoscuntur apostoli, ascenderunt, ut defenderent montem Esau. Quo modo defenderent, nisi per euangelii praedicationem saluos faciendo eos qui crediderunt, ut eruerentur de potestate tenebrarum et transferrentur in regnum Dei? Quod consequenter expressit addendo: Et erit Domino regnum. Mons enim Sion Iudaeam significat, ubi futura praedicta est salus et sanctum, quod est Christus Iesus. Mons vero Esau Idumaea est, per quam significata est ecclesia gentium, quam defenderunt, sicut exposui, resaluati ex monte Sion, ut esset Domino regnum. Hoc obscurum erat, antequam fieret; sed factum quis non fidelis agnoscat? Naum vero propheta, immo per illum Deus: Exterminabo, inquit, sculptilia et conflatilia, ponam sepulturam tuam; quia veloces ecce super montes pedes euangelizantis et adnuntiantis pacem. Celebra, Iuda, dies festos tuos, redde vota tua; quia iam non adicient ultra, ut transeant in uetustatem. Consummatum est, consumptum est, ablatum est. Ascendit, qui insufflat in faciem tuam, eripiens te ex tribulatione. quis ascenderit ab inferis et insufflaverit in faciem Iudae, hoc est Iudaeorum discipulorum, Spiritum sanctum, recolat qui meminit euangelium. Ad nouum enim testamentum pertinent, quorum dies festi ita spiritaliter innouantur, ut in uetustatem transire non possint. Porro per euangelium exterminata sculptilia et conflatilia, id est idola deorum falsorum, et oblivioni tamquam sepulturae tradita iam videmus et hanc etiam in hac re prophetiam completam esse cognoscimus. Ambacum de quo alio quam de Christi adventu, qui futurus Ambacum de quo alio quam de Christi adventu, qui futurus fscimus propter hoc testimonium, quod nobis inuiti perhibent eosdem codices habendo atque servando, per omnes gentes etiam ipsos esse dispersos, quaqua versum Christi ecclesia dilatatur. Nam prophetia in psalmis, quos legunt etiam, de hac re praemissa est, ubi scriptum est: Deus meus, misericordia eius praeveniet me; Deus meus demonstravit mihi in inimicis meis, ne occideris eos, ne quando obliviscantur legem tuam; disperge eos in virtute tua. Demonstravit ergo Deus ecclesiae in eius inimicis Iudaeis gratiam misericordiae suae, quoniam, sicut dicit apostolus, delictum illorum salus gentibus; et ideo non eos occidit, id est non in eis perdidit quod sunt Iudaei, quamuis a Romanis fuerint devicti et oppressi, ne obliti legem Dei ad hoc, de quo agimus, testimonium nihil valerent. Ideo parum fuit, ut diceret: Ne occideris eos, ne quando obliviscantur legem tuam, nisi adderet etiam: Disperge eos; quoniam si cum isto testimonio scripturarum in sua tantummodo terra, non ubique essent, profecto ecclesia, quae ubique est, eos prophetiarum, quae de Christo praemissae sunt, testes in omnibus gentibus habere non posset. ||The date of three of the minor prophets, Obadiah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, is neither mentioned by themselves nor given in the chronicles of Eusebius and Jerome. For although they put Obadiah with Micah, yet when Micah prophesied does not appear from that part of their writings in which the dates are noted. And this, I think, has happened through their error in negligently copying the works of others. But we could not find the two others now mentioned in the copies of the chronicles which we have; yet because they are contained in the canon, we ought not to pass them by.Obadiah, so far as his writings are concerned, the briefest of all the prophets, speaks against Idumea, that is, the nation of Esau, that reprobate elder of the twin sons of Isaac and grandsons of Abraham. Now if, by that form of speech in which a part is put for the whole, we take Idumea as put for the nations, we may understand of Christ what he says among other things, "But upon Mount Sion shall be safety, and there shall be a Holy One." Obadiah 17 And a little after, at the end of the same prophecy, he says, "And those who are saved again shall come up out of Mount Sion, that they may defend Mount Esau, and it shall be a kingdom to the Lord." Obadiah 21 It is quite evident this was fulfilled when those saved again out of Mount Sion-that is, the believers in Christ from Judea, of whom the apostles are chiefly to be acknowledged-went up to defend Mount Esau. How could they defend it except by making safe, through the preaching of the gospel, those who believed that they might be "delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God?" Colossians 1:13 This he expressed as an inference, adding, "And it shall be to the Lord a kingdom." For Mount Sion signifies Judea, where it is predicted there shall be safety, and a Holy One, that is, Christ Jesus. But Mount Esau is Idumea, which signifies the Church of the Gentiles, which, as I have expounded, those saved again out of Sion have defended that it should be a kingdom to the Lord. This was obscure before it took place; but what believer does not find it out now that it is done?As for the prophet Nahum, through him God says, "I will exterminate the graven and the molten things: I will make your burial. For lo, the feet of Him that brings good tidings and announces peace are swift upon the mountains! O Judah, celebrate your festival days, and perform your vows; for now they shall not go on any more so as to become antiquated. It is completed, it is consumed, it is taken away. He ascends who breathes in your face, delivering you out of tribulation." Let him that remembers the gospel call to mind who has ascended from hell and breathed the Holy Spirit in the face of Judah, that is, of the Jewish disciples; for they belong to the New Testament, whose festival days are so spiritually renewed that they cannot become antiquated. Moreover, we already see the graven and molten things, that is, the idols of the false gods, exterminated through the gospel, and given up to oblivion as of the grave, and we know that this prophecy is fulfilled in this very thing.Of what else than the advent of Christ, who was to come, is Habakkuk understood to say, "And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision openly on a tablet of boxwood, that he that reads these things may understand. For the vision is yet for a time appointed, and it will arise in the end, and will not become void: if it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, and will not be delayed?" Habakkuk 2:2-3
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| − | ||<div id="c32"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXII] In oratione autem sua cum cantico cui nisi domino Christo dicit: domine, audivi auditionem tuam, et timui; domine, consideravi opera tua, et expavi? quid enim hoc est nisi praecognitae nouae ac repentinae salutis hominum ineffabilis admiratio? in medio duorum animalium cognosceris quid est nisi aut in medio duorum testamentorum, aut in medio duorum latronum, aut in medio Moysi et Heliae cum illo in monte sermocinantium? dum adpropinquant anni, nosceris; in adventu temporis ostenderis, nec exponendum est. in eo cum turbata fuerit anima mea, in ira misericordiae memor eris quid est nisi quod Iudaeos in se transfiguravit, quorum gentis fuit, qui cum magna ira turbati crucifigerent Christum, ille misericordiae memor dixit: pater ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quod faciunt? deus de Theman veniet et sanctus de monte umbroso et condenso. quod hic dictum est: de Theman veniet, alii interpretati sunt ab Austro vel Africo; per quod significatur meridies, id est feruor caritatis et splendor veritatis. montem vero umbrosum atque condensum, quamuis multis modis possit intellegi, libentius acceperim scripturarum altitudinem divinarum, quibus prophetatus est Christus. multa ibi quippe umbrosa atque condensa sunt, quae mentem quaerentis exerceant. inde autem venit, cum ibi eum, quid intellegit, invenit. operuit caelos virtus eius, et laudis eius plena est terra quid est nisi quod etiam in psalmo dicitur: exaltare super caelos, deus, et super omnem terram gloria tua? splendor eius ut lumen erit quid est nisi fama eius credentes inluminabit? cornua in manibus eius sunt quid est nisi tropaeum crucis? et posuit caritatem firmam fortitudinis suae nec exponendum est. ante faciem eius ibit verbum, et prodiet in campum post pedes eius quid est nisi quod et antequam huc veniret praenuntiatus est, et posteaquam hinc reuersus est, adnuntiatus est? stetit, et terra commota est quid est nisi stetit ad subveniendum, et terra commota est ad credendum? respexit, et tabuerunt gentes, hoc est misertus est et fecit populos paenitentes. contriti sunt montes violentia, hoc est vim facientibus miraculis elatorum est contrita superbia. defluxerunt colles aeternales, hoc est humiliati sunt ad tempus, ut erigerentur in aeternum. ingressus aeternos eius pro laboribus vidi, hoc est non sine mercede aeternitatis laborem caritatis adspexi. tabernacula Aethiopum expavescent et tabernacula terrae Madiam, hoc est gentes repente perterritae nuntio mirabilium tuorum etiam quae non sunt in iure Romano erunt in populo Christiano. numquid in fluminibus iratus es, domine, aut in fluminibus furor tuus aut in mari impetus tuus? hoc ideo dictum est, quia non venit nunc ut iudicet mundum, sed ut saluetur mundus per ipsum. quia adscendes super equos tuos, et equitatio tua salus, hoc est euangelistae tui portabunt te, qui reguntur a te, et euangelium tuum salus erit eis, qui credunt in te. intendens intendes arcum tuum super sceptra, dicit dominus, hoc est comminaberis iudicium tuum etiam regibus terrae. fluminibus scindetur terra, hoc est influentibus sermonibus praedicantium te aperientur ad confitendum hominum corda, quibus est dictum: scindite corda uestra et non uestimenta. quid est: videbunt te et dolebunt populi, nisi ut lugendo sint beati? quid est: dispergens aquas incessu, an ambulando in eis, qui te usquequaque adnuntiant, hac atque hac dispergis fluenta doctrinae? quid est: dedit abyssus vocem suam, an profunditas cordis humani quid ei videretur expressit? altitudo phantasiae suae tamquam versus superioris est expositio; altitudo enim est abyssus. quod autem ait: phantasiae suae, subaudiendum est vocem dedit; hoc est, quod diximus, quid ei videretur expressit. phantasia quippe visio est, quam non tenuit, non operuit, sed confitendo eructavit. eleuatus est sol, et luna stetit in ordine suo, hoc est adscendit Christus in caelum, et ordinata est ecclesia sub rege suo. in lucem iacula tua ibunt, hoc est non in occultum, sed in manifestum tua verba mittentur. in splendorem coruscationis armorum tuorum, subaudiendum est iacula tua ibunt. dixerat enim suis: quae dico vobis in tenebris, dicite in lumine. in comminatione minorabis terram, id est comminando humiliabis homines. et in furore deicies gentes, quia eos, qui se exaltant, vindicando conlides. existi in salutem populi tui, ut saluos facias christos tuos; misisti in capita iniquorum mortem, nihil horum est exponendum. excitasti vincula usque ad collum, et bona hic possunt intellegi vincula sapientiae, ut initiantur pedes in conpedes eius et collum in torquem eius. praecidisti in stupore mentis, subaudimus vincula; excitavit enim bona, praecidit mala, de quibus ei dicitur: disrupisti vincula mea, et hoc in stupore mentis, id est mirabiliter. capita potentium movebuntur in ea, in ea scilicet admiratione. adaperient morsus suos, sicut edens pauper absconse. potentes enim quidam Iudaeorum veniebant ad dominum facta eius et verba mirati, et esurientes panem doctrinae manducabant absconse propter metum Iudaeorum, sicut eos prodidit euangelium. et inmisisti in mare equos tuos turbantes aquas multas, quae nihil sunt aliud quam populi multi; non enim alii timore converterentur, alii furore persequerentur, nisi omnes turbarentur. observavi, et expavit venter meus a voce orationis labiorum meorum; et introiit tremor in ossa mea, et subtus me turbata est habitudo mea. intendit in ea, quae dicebat, et ipsa sua est oratione perterritus, quam prophetice fundebat et in qua futura cernebat; turbatis enim populis multis vidit inminentes ecclesiae tribulationes; continuoque se membrum eius agnovit atque ait: requiescam in die tribulationis, tamquam ad eos pertinens, qui sunt spe gaudentes, in tribulatione patientes. ut adscendam, inquit, ad populum peregrinationis meae, recedens utique a populo maligno carnalis cognationis suae, non peregrinante in hac terra nec supernam patriam requirente. quoniam ficus, inquit, non adferet fructus, et non erunt nativitates in vineis; mentietur opus olivae, et campi non facient escam. defecerunt ab esca oves, et non supersunt in praesepibus boves. vidit eam gentem, quae Christum fuerat occisura, ubertatem copiarum spiritalium perdituram, quas per terrenam fecunditatem more prophetico figuravit. et quia iram dei talem propterea passa est illa gens, quia ignorans dei iustitiam suam voluit constituere, iste continuo: ego autem, inquit, in domino exultabo, gaudebo in deo salutari meo. dominus deus meus virtus mea, statuit pedes meos in consummationem; super excelsa inponet me, ut vincam in cantico eius, illo scilicet cantico, de quo similia quaedam dicuntur in psalmo: statuit super petram pedes meos et direxit gressus meos, et inmisit in os meum canticum nouum, hymnum deo nostro. ipse ergo vincit in cantico domini, qui placet in eius laude non sua, ut qui gloriatur, in domino glorietur. melius autem mihi videntur quidam codices habere: gaudebo in deo Iesu meo, quam hi, qui volentes id Latine ponere, nomen ipsum non posuerunt, quod est nobis amicius et dulcius nominare. ||In his prayer, with a song, to whom but the Lord Christ does he say, "O Lord, I have heard Your hearing, and was afraid: O Lord, I have considered Your works, and was greatly afraid?" Habakkuk 3:2 What is this but the inexpressible admiration of the foreknown, new, and sudden salvation of men? "In the midst of two living creatures you shall be recognized." What is this but either between the two testaments, or between the two thieves, or between Moses and Elias talking with Him on the mount? "While the years draw nigh, You will be recognized; at the coming of the time You will be shown," does not even need exposition. "While my soul shall be troubled at Him, in wrath You will be mindful of mercy." What is this but that He puts Himself for the Jews, of whose nation He was, who were troubled with great anger and crucified Christ, when He, mindful of mercy, said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do? Luke 23:34 "God shall come from Teman, and the Holy One from the shady and close mountain." Habakkuk 3:3 What is said here, "He shall come from Teman," some interpret "from the south," or "from the southwest," by which is signified the noonday, that is, the fervor of charity and the splendor of truth. "The shady and close mountain" might be understood in many ways, yet I prefer to take it as meaning the depth of the divine Scriptures, in which Christ is prophesied: for in the Scriptures there are many things shady and close which exercise the mind of the reader; and Christ comes thence when he who has understanding finds Him there. "His power covers up the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise." What is this but what is also said in the psalm, "Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; and Your glory above all the earth?" "His splendor shall be as the light." What is it but that the fame of Him shall illuminate believers? "Horns are in His hands." What is this but the trophy of the cross? "And He has placed the firm charity of His strength" Habakkuk 3:4 needs no exposition. "Before His face shall go the word, and it shall go forth into the field after His feet." What is this but that He should both be announced before His coming hither and after His return hence? "He stood, and the earth was moved." What is this but that "He stood" for succor, "and the earth was moved" to believe? "He regarded, and the nations melted;" that is, He had compassion, and made the people penitent. "The mountains are broken with violence;" that is, through the power of those who work miracles the pride of the haughty is broken. "The everlasting hills flowed down;" that is, they are humbled in time that they may be lifted up for eternity. "I saw His goings [made] eternal for his labors;" that is, I beheld His labor of love not left without the reward of eternity. "The tents of Ethiopia shall be greatly afraid, and the tents of the land of Midian;" that is, even those nations which are not under the Roman authority, being suddenly terrified by the news of Your wonderful works, shall become a Christian people. "Were You angry at the rivers, O Lord? or was Your fury against the rivers? or was Your rage against the sea?" This is said because He does not now come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17 "For You shall mount upon Your horses, and Your riding shall be salvation;" that is, Your evangelists shall carry You, for they are guided by You, and Your gospel is salvation to them that believe in You. "Bending, You will bend Your bow against the sceptres, says the Lord;" that is, You will threaten even the kings of the earth with Your judgment. "The earth shall be cleft with rivers;" that is, by the sermons of those who preach You flowing in upon them, men's hearts shall be opened to make confession, to whom it is said, "Rend your hearts and not your garments." Joel 2:13 What does "The people shall see You and grieve" mean, but that in mourning they shall be blessed? Matthew 5:4 What is "Scattering the waters in marching," but that by walking in those who everywhere proclaim You, You will scatter hither and thither the streams of Your doctrine? What is "The abyss uttered its voice?" Is it not that the depth of the human heart expressed what it perceived? The words, "The depth of its phantasy," are an explanation of the previous verse, for the depth is the abyss; and "Uttered its voice" is to be understood before them, that is, as we have said, it expressed what it perceived. Now the phantasy is the vision, which it did not hold or conceal, but poured forth in confession. "The sun was raised up, and the moon stood still in her course;" that is, Christ ascended into heaven, and the Church was established under her King. "Your darts shall go in the light;" that is, Your words shall not be sent in secret, but openly. For He had said to His own disciples, "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in the light." Matthew 10:27 "By threatening you shall diminish the earth;" that is, by that threatening You shall humble men. "And in fury You shall cast down the nations;" for in punishing those who exalt themselves Thou dashest them one against another. "You went forth for the salvation of Your people, that You might save Your Christ; You have sent death on the heads of the wicked." None of these words require exposition. "You have lifted up the bonds, even to the neck." This may be understood even of the good bonds of wisdom, that the feet may be put into its fetters, and the neck into its collar. "You have struck off in amazement of mind the bonds" must be understood for, He lifts up the good and strikes off the bad, about which it is said to Him, "You have broken asunder my bonds," and that "in amazement of mind," that is, wonderfully. "The heads of the mighty shall be moved in it;" to wit, in that wonder. "They shall open their teeth like a poor man eating secretly." For some of the mighty among the Jews shall come to the Lord, admiring His works and words, and shall greedily eat the bread of His doctrine in secret for fear of the Jews, just as the Gospel has shown they did. "And You have sent into the sea Your horses, troubling many waters," which are nothing else than many people; for unless all were troubled, some would not be converted with fear, others pursued with fury. "I gave heed, and my belly trembled at the voice of the prayer of my lips; and trembling entered into my bones, and my habit of body was troubled under me." He gave heed to those things which he said, and was himself terrified at his own prayer, which he had poured forth prophetically, and in which he discerned things to come. For when many people are troubled, he saw the threatening tribulation of the Church, and at once acknowledged himself a member of it, and said, "I shall rest in the day of tribulation," as being one of those who are rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. Romans 12:12 "That I may ascend," he says, "among the people of my pilgrimage," departing quite from the wicked people of his carnal kinship, who are not pilgrims in this earth, and do not seek the country above. "Although the fig-tree," he says, "shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall lie, and the fields shall yield no meat; the sheep shall be cut off from the meat, and there shall be no oxen in the stalls." He sees that nation which was to slay Christ about to lose the abundance of spiritual supplies, which, in prophetic fashion, he has set forth by the figure of earthly plenty. And because that nation was to suffer such wrath of God, because, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, it wished to establish its own, Romans 10:3 he immediately says, "Yet will I rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in God my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and He will set my feet in completion; He will place me above the heights, that I may conquer in His song," to wit, in that song of which something similar is said in the psalm, "He set my feet upon a rock, and directed my goings, and put in my mouth a new song, a hymn to our God." He therefore conquers in the song of the Lord, who takes pleasure in His praise, not in his own; that "He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." But some copies have, "I will joy in God my Jesus," which seems to me better than the version of those who, wishing to put it in Latin, have not set down that very name which for us it is dearer and sweeter to name.
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| − | ||<div id="c33"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXIII] Hieremias propheta de maioribus est, sicut Esaias, non de minoribus, sicut ceteri, de quorum scriptis nonnulla iam posui. prophetavit autem regnante Iosia in Hierusalem et apud Romanos Anco Marcio, iam propinquante captivitate Iudaeorum. tetendit autem prophetiam usque ad quintum mensem captivitatis, sicut in eius litteris invenimus. Sophonias autem unus de minoribus adiungitur ei. nam et ipse in diebus Iosiae prophetasse se dicit; sed quousque, non dicit. prophetavit ergo Hieremias non solum Anci Marcii, verum etiam Tarquinii Prisci temporibus, quem Romani habuerunt quintum regem. ipse enim, quando illa captivitas facta est, regnare iam coeperat. prophetans ergo de Christo Hieremias: spiritus, inquit, oris nostri Christus dominus captus est in peccatis nostris, sic breviter ostendens et dominum nostrum Christum et passum esse pro nobis. item loco alio: hic deus meus, inquit, et non aestimabitur alter ad eum; qui invenit omnem viam prudentiae et dedit eam Iacob puero suo et Israel dilecto suo; post haec in terra visus est et cum hominibus conversatus est. hoc testimonium quidam non Hieremiae, sed scribae eius adtribuunt, qui vocabatur Baruch; sed Hieremiae celebratius habetur. rursus idem propheta de ipso: ecce, inquit, dies veniunt, ait dominus, et suscitabo David germen iustum, et regnabit rex et sapiens erit et faciet iudicium et iustitiam in terra. in diebus illis saluabitur Iuda, et Israel habitabit confidenter; et hoc est nomen, quod vocabunt eum: dominus iustus noster. de vocatione etiam gentium, quae fuerat futura et eam nunc inpletam cernimus, sic locutus est: domine deus meus et refugium meum in die malorum, ad te gentes venient ab extremo terrae et dicent: vere mendacia coluerunt patres nostri simulacra, et non est in illis utilitas. quia vero non erant eum agnituri Iudaei, a quibus eum et occidi oportebat, sic idem propheta significat: grave cor per omnia, et homo est, et quis agnoscit eum? huius est etiam illud quod in libro septimo decimo posui de testamento nouo, cuius est mediator Christus. ipse quippe Hieremias ait: ecce dies veniunt, dicit dominus, et consummabo super domum Iacob testamentum nouum, et cetera quae ibi leguntur. Sophoniae autem prophetae, qui cum Hieremia prophetabat, haec praedicta de Christo interim ponam: exspecta me, dicit dominus, in die resurrectionis meae in futurum; quia iudicium meum, ut congregem gentes et colligam regna. et iterum: horribilis, inquit, dominus super eos, et exterminabit omnes deos terrae, et adorabit eum vir de loco suo, omnes insulae gentium. et paulo post: tunc, inquit, transuertam in populos linguam et progenies eius, ut inuocent omnes nomen domini et seruiant ei sub iugo uno; a finibus fluminum Aethiopiae adferent hostias mihi. in illo die non confunderis ex omnibus adinventionibus tuis, quas inpie egisti in me; quia tunc auferam abs te pravitates iniuriae tuae; et iam non adicies, ut magnificeris super montem sanctum meum, et subrelinquam in te populum mansuetum et humilem; et verebuntur a nomine domini, qui reliqui fuerint Israel. hae sunt reliquiae, de quibus alibi prophetatur, quod apostolus etiam commemorat: si fuerit numerus filiorum Israel sicut harena maris, reliquiae saluae fient. hae quippe in Christum illius gentis reliquiae crediderunt. ||Jeremiah, like Isaiah, is one of the greater prophets, not of the minor, like the others from whose writings I have just given extracts. He prophesied when Josiah reigned in Jerusalem, and Ancus Martius at Rome, when the captivity of the Jews was already at hand; and he continued to prophesy down to the fifth month of the captivity, as we find from his writings. Zephaniah, one of the minor prophets, is put along with him, because he himself says that he prophesied in the days of Josiah; but he does not say till when. Jeremiah thus prophesied not only in the times of Ancus Martius, but also in those of Tarquinius Priscus, whom the Romans had for their fifth king. For he had already begun to reign when that captivity took place. Jeremiah, in prophesying of Christ, says, "The breath of our mouth, the Lord Christ, was taken in our sins," Lamentations 4:20 thus briefly showing both that Christ is our Lord and that He suffered for us. Also in another place he says, "This is my God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of Him; who has found out all the way of prudence, and has given it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved: afterwards He was seen on the earth, and conversed with men." Some attribute this testimony not to Jeremiah, but to his secretary, who was called Baruch; but it is more commonly ascribed to Jeremiah. Again the same prophet says concerning Him, "Behold the days come, says the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a righteous shoot, and a King shall reign and shall be wise, and shall do judgment and justice in the earth. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name which they shall call Him, Our righteous Lord." And of the calling of the nations which was to come to pass, and which we now see fulfilled, he thus spoke: "O Lord my God, and my refuge in the day of evils, to You shall the nations come from the utmost end of the earth, saying, Truly our fathers have worshipped lying images, wherein there is no profit." But that the Jews, by whom He behoved even to be slain, were not going to acknowledge Him, this prophet thus intimates: "Heavy is the heart through all; and He is a man, and who shall know Him?" That passage also is his which I have quoted in the seventeenth book concerning the new testament, of which Christ is the Mediator. For Jeremiah himself says, "Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will complete over the house of Jacob a new testament," and the rest, which may be read there.For the present I shall put down those predictions about Christ by the prophet Zephaniah, who prophesied with Jeremiah. "Wait ye upon me, says the Lord, in the day of my resurrection, in the future; because it is my determination to assemble the nations, and gather together the kingdoms." Zephaniah 3:8 And again he says, "The Lord will be terrible upon them, and will exterminate all the gods of the earth; and they shall worship Him every man from his place, even all the isles of the nations." Zephaniah 2:11 And a little after he says, "Then will I turn to the people a tongue, and to His offspring, that they may call upon the name of the Lord, and serve Him under one yoke. From the borders of the rivers of Ethiopia shall they bring sacrifices unto me. In that day you shall not be confounded for all your curious inventions, which you have done impiously against me: for then I will take away from you the haughtiness of your trespass; and you shall no more magnify yourself above your holy mountain. And I will leave in you a meek and humble people, and they who shall be left of Israel shall fear the name of the Lord." These are the remnant of whom the apostle quotes that which is elsewhere prophesied: "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved." These are the remnant of that nation who have believed in Christ.
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| − | ||<div id="c34"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXIV] In ipsa porro Babyloniae captivitate prius prophetaverunt Daniel et Hiezechiel, alii scilicet duo ex prophetis maioribus. quorum Daniel etiam tempus, quo venturus fuerat Christus atque passurus, numero definivit annorum; quod longum est conputando monstrare, et ab aliis factitatum est ante nos. de potestate vero eius et ecclesia sic locutus est: videbam, inquit, in visu noctis, et ecce cum nubibus caeli ut filius hominis veniens erat, et usque ad uetustum dierum pervenit, et in conspectu eius praelatus est; et ipsi datus est principatus et honor et regnum, et omnes populi, tribus, linguae ipsi seruient. potestas eius potestas perpetua, quae non transibit, et regnum eius non corrumpetur. Hiezechiel quoque more prophetico per David Christum significans, quia carnem de David semine adsumpsit, propter quam formam serui, qua factus est homo, etiam seruus dei dicitur idem dei filius, sic eum prophetando praenuntiat ex persona dei patris: et suscitabo, inquit, super pecora mea pastorem unum qui pascat ea, seruum meum David; et ipse pascet ea et ipse erit his in pastorem. ego autem dominus ero eis in deum, et seruus meus David princeps in medio eorum; ego dominus locutus sum. et alio loco: et rex, inquit, unus erit omnibus imperans; et non erunt ultra duae gentes, nec dividentur amplius in duo regna; neque polluentur ultra in idolis suis et abominationibus et in cunctis iniquitatibus suis. et saluos eos faciam de universis sedibus suis, in quibus peccaverunt, et mundabo eos; et erunt mihi populus, et ego ero eis deus; et seruus meus David rex super eos, et pastor unus erit omnium eorum. ||Daniel and Ezekiel, other two of the greater prophets, also first prophesied in the very captivity of Babylon. Daniel even defined the time when Christ was to come and suffer by the exact date. It would take too long to show this by computation, and it has been done often by others before us. But of His power and glory he has thus spoken: "I saw in a night vision, and, behold, one like the Son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven, and He came even to the Ancient of days, and He was brought into His presence. And to Him there was given dominion, and honor, and a kingdom: and all people, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him. His power is an everlasting power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:13-14 Ezekiel also, speaking prophetically in the person of God the Father, thus foretells Christ, speaking of Him in the prophetic manner as David, because He assumed flesh of the seed of David, and on account of that form of a servant in which He was made man, He who is the Son of God is also called the servant of God. He says, "And I will set up over my sheep one Shepherd, who will feed them, even my servant David; and He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince in the midst of them. I the Lord have spoken." Ezekiel 34:23 And in another place he says, "And one King shall be over them all: and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms: neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, and their abominations, and all their iniquities. And I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And my servant David shall be king over them, and there shall be one Shepherd for them all." Ezekiel 37:22-24
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| − | ||<div id="c35"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXV] Restant tres minores prophetae, qui prophetaverunt in fine captivitatis, Aggaeus, Zacharias, Malachias. quorum Aggaeus Christum et ecclesiam hac apertius brevitate prophetat: haec dicit dominus exercituum: adhuc unum modicum est, et ego commovebo caelum et terram et mare et aridam, et movebo omnes gentes, et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus. haec prophetia partim conpleta iam cernitur, partim speratur in fine conplenda. movit enim caelum angelorum et siderum testimonio, quando incarnatus est Christus; movit terram ingenti miraculo de ipso virginis partu; movit mare et aridam, cum et in insulis et in orbe toto Christus adnuntiatur: ita moveri omnes gentes videmus ad fidem. iam vero quod sequitur: et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus, de novissimo eius exspectatur adventu. ut enim esset desideratus exspectantibus, prius oportuit eum dilectum esse credentibus. Zacharias de Christo et ecclesia: exulta, inquit, valde, filia Sion, iubila, filia Hierusalem; ecce rex tuus venit tibi iustus et saluator; ipse pauper et adscendens super asinum et super pullum filium asinae; et potestas eius a mari usque ad mare et a fluminibus usque ad fines terrae. hoc quando factum sit, ut dominus Christus in itinere iumento huius generis uteretur, in euangelio legitur, ubi et haec prophetia commemoratur ex parte, quantum illi loco sufficere visum est. alio loco ad ipsum Christum in spiritu prophetiae loquens de remissione peccatorum per eius sanguinem: tu quoque, inquit, in sanguine testamenti tui emisisti vinctos tuos de lacu, in quo non est aqua. quid per hunc lacum velit intellegi, possunt diversa sentiri etiam secundum rectam fidem. mihi tamen videtur non eo significari melius, nisi humanae miseriae profunditatem siccam quodammodo et sterilem, ubi non sunt fluenta iustitiae, sed iniquitatis lutum. de hoc quippe etiam in psalmo dicitur: et eduxit me de lacu miseriae et de luto limi. Malachias prophetans ecclesiam, quam per Christum cernimus propagatam, Iudaeis apertissime dicit ex persona dei: non est mihi voluntas in vobis, et munus non suscipiam de manu uestra. ab ortu enim solis usque ad occasum magnum nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificabitur et offeretur nomini meo oblatio munda; quia magnum nomen meum in gentibus, dicit dominus. hoc sacrificium per sacerdotium Christi secundum ordinem Melchisedech cum in omni loco a solis ortu usque ad occasum deo iam videamus offerri, sacrificium autem Iudaeorum, quibus dictum est: non est mihi voluntas in vobis, nec accipiam munus de manibus uestris, cessasse negare non possunt: qui adhuc exspectant alium Christum, cum hoc, quod prophetatum legunt et inpletum vident, inpleri non potuerit nisi per ipsum? dicit enim paulo post de ipso ex persona dei: testamentum meum erat cum eo vitae et pacis, et dedi ei, ut timore timeret me, et a facie nominis mei reuereretur. lex veritatis erat in ore ipsius, in pace dirigens ambulavit me cum et multos convertit ab iniquitate; quoniam labia sacerdotis custodient scientiam et legem inquirent ex ore eius; quoniam angelus domini omnipotentis est. nec mirandum est, quia domini omnipotentis angelus dictus est Christus Iesus. sicut enim seruus propter formam serui, in qua venit ad homines, sic angelus propter euangelium, quod nuntiavit hominibus. nam si Graeca ista interpretemur, et euangelium bona nuntiatio est et angelus nuntius. de ipso quippe iterum dicit: ecce mittam angelum meum, et prospiciet viam ante faciem meam; et subito veniet in templum suum dominus: quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti, quem vos uultis. ecce venit, dicit dominus omnipotens; et quis sustinebit diem introitus eius? aut quis resistet in adspectu eius? hoc loco et primum et secundum Christi praenuntiavit adventum; primum scilicet, de quo ait: et subito veniet in templum suum, id est in carnem suam, de qua dixit in euangelio: solvite templum hoc, et in triduo resuscitabo illud; secundum vero, ubi ait: ecce venit, dicit dominus omnipotens, et quis sustinebit diem introitus eius? aut quis resistet in adspectu eius? quod autem dixit: dominus, quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti, quem vos uultis, significavit utique etiam Iudaeos secundum scripturas, quas legunt, Christum quaerere et velle. sed multi eorum, quem quaesierunt et voluerunt, venisse non agnoverunt, excaecati in cordibus suis praecedentibus meritis suis. quod sane hic nominat testamentum, vel supra, ubi ait: testamentum meum erat cum eo, vel hic, ubi eum dixit angelum testamenti, nouum procul dubio testamentum debemus accipere, ubi sempiterna, non uetus, ubi temporalia sunt promissa; quae pro magno habentes plurimi infirmi et deo vero talium rerum mercede seruientes, quando vident eis inpios abundare, turbantur. propter quod idem propheta, ut novi testamenti aeternam beatitudinem, quae non dabitur nisi bonis, distingueret a ueteris terrena felicitate, quae plerumque datur et malis: ingrauastis, inquit, super me verba uestra, dicit dominus, et dixistis: in quo detraximus de te? dixistis: uanus est omnis, qui seruit deo, et quid plus, quia custodivimus observationes eius, et quia ambulavimus supplicantes ante faciem domini omnipotentis? et nunc nos beatificamus alienos, et reaedificantur omnes, qui faciunt iniqua; et adversati sunt deo, et salui facti sunt. haec oblocuti sunt, qui timebant dominum, unusquisque ad proximum suum; et animadvertit dominus et audivit; et scripsit librum memoriae in conspectu suo eis, qui timent dominum et reuerentur nomen eius. isto libro significatum est testamentum nouum. denique quod sequitur audiamus: et erunt mihi, dicit dominus omnipotens, in diem qua ego facio in adquisitionem, et eligam eos sicut eligit homo filium suum seruientem sibi; et convertimini, et videbitis inter iustum et iniustum, et inter seruientem deo et non seruientem. quoniam ecce dies venit ardens sicut clibanus et concremabit eos, et erunt omnes alienigenae et omnes facientes iniquitatem stipula, et incendet illos dies, qui adveniet, dicit dominus omnipotens; et non derelinquetur eorum radix neque sarmentum. et orietur vobis timentibus nomen meum sol iustitiae, et sanitas in pinnis eius; et exibitis et exultabitis sicut vituli ex vinculis resoluti; et conculcabitis iniquos, et erunt cinis sub pedibus uestris in die, in quo ego facio, dicit dominus omnipotens. hic est qui dicitur dies iudicii; de quo suo loco, si deus voluerit, loquemur uberius. ||There remain three minor prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who prophesied at the close of the captivity. Of these Haggai more openly prophesies of Christ and the Church thus briefly: "Thus says the Lord of hosts, Yet one little while, and I will shake the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; and I will move all nations, and the desired of all nations shall come." Haggai 2:6 The fulfillment of this prophecy is in part already seen, and in part hoped for in the end. For He moved the heaven by the testimony of the angels and the stars, when Christ became incarnate. He moved the earth by the great miracle of His birth of the virgin. He moved the sea and the dry land, when Christ was proclaimed both in the isles and in the whole world. So we see all nations moved to the faith; and the fulfillment of what follows, "And the desired of all nations shall come," is looked for at His last coming. For ere men can desire and and wait for Him, they must believe and love Him.Zechariah says of Christ and the Church, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout joyfully, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King shall come unto you, just and the Saviour; Himself poor, and mounting an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass: and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." Zechariah 9:9-10 How this was done, when the Lord Christ on His journey used a beast of burden of this kind, we read in the Gospel, where, also, as much of this prophecy is quoted as appears sufficient for the context. In another place, speaking in the Spirit of prophecy to Christ Himself of the remission of sins through His blood, he says, "Thou also, by the blood of Your testament, hast sent forth Your prisoners from the lake wherein is no water." Zechariah 9:11 Different opinions may be held, consistently with right belief, as to what he meant by this lake. Yet it seems to me that no meaning suits better than that of the depth of human misery, which is, as it were, dry and barren, where there are no streams of righteousness, but only the mire of iniquity. For it is said of it in the Psalms, "And He led me forth out of the lake of misery, and from the miry clay."Malachi, foretelling the Church which we now behold propagated through Christ, says most openly to the Jews, in the person of God, "I have no pleasure in you, and I will not accept a gift at your hand. For from the rising even to the going down of the sun, my name is great among the nations; and in every place sacrifice shall be made, and a pure oblation shall be offered unto my name: for my name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord." Malachi 1:10-11 Since we can already see this sacrifice offered to God in every place, from the rising of the sun to his going down, through Christ's priesthood after the order of Melchisedec, while the Jews, to whom it was said, "I have no pleasure in you, neither will I accept a gift at your hand," cannot deny that their sacrifice has ceased, why do they still look for another Christ, when they read this in the prophecy, and see it fulfilled, which could not be fulfilled except through Him? And a little after he says of Him, in the person of God, "My covenant was with Him of life and peace: and I gave to Him that He might fear me with fear, and be afraid before my name. The law of truth was in His mouth: directing in peace He has walked with me, and has turned many away from iniquity. For the Priest's lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at His mouth: for He is the Angel of the Lord Almighty." Malachi 2:5-7 Nor is it to be wondered at that Christ Jesus is called the Angel of the Almighty God. For just as He is called a servant on account of the form of a servant in which He came to men, so He is called an angel on account of the evangel which He proclaimed to men. For if we interpret these Greek words, evangel is "good news," and angel is "messenger." Again he says of Him, "Behold I will send mine angel, and He will look out the way before my face: and the Lord, whom you seek, shall suddenly come into His temple, even the Angel of the testament, whom you desire. Behold, He comes, says the Lord Almighty, and who shall abide the day of His entry, or who shall stand at His appearing?" Malachi 3:1-2 In this place he has foretold both the first and second advent of Christ: the first, to wit, of which he says, "And He shall come suddenly into His temple;" that is, into His flesh, of which He said in the Gospel, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again." John 2:19 And of the second advent he says, "Behold, He comes, says the Lord Almighty, and who shall abide the day of His entry, or who shall stand at His appearing?" But what he says, "The Lord whom you seek, and the Angel of the testament whom you desire," just means that even the Jews, according to the Scriptures which they read, shall seek and desire Christ. But many of them did not acknowledge that He whom they sought and desired had come, being blinded in their hearts, which were preoccupied with their own merits. Now what he here calls the testament, either above, where he says, "My testament had been with Him," or here, where he has called Him the Angel of the testament, we ought, beyond a doubt, to take to be the new testament, in which the things promised are eternal, and not the old, in which they are only temporal. Yet many who are weak are troubled when they see the wicked abound in such temporal things, because they value them greatly, and serve the true God to be rewarded with them. On this account, to distinguish the eternal blessedness of the new testament, which shall be given only to the good, from the earthly felicity of the old, which for the most part is given to the bad as well, the same prophet says, "You have made your words burdensome to me: yet you have said, In what have we spoken ill of You? You have said, Foolish is every one who serves God; and what profit is it that we have kept His observances, and that we have walked as suppliants before the face of the Lord Almighty? And now we call the aliens blessed; yea, all that do wicked things are built up again; yea, they are opposed to God and are saved. They that feared the Lord uttered these reproaches every one to his neighbor: and the Lord hearkened and heard; and He wrote a book of remembrance before Him, for them that fear the Lord and that revere His name." Malachi 3:13-16 By that book is meant the New Testament. Finally, let us hear what follows: "And they shall be an acquisition for me, says the Lord Almighty, in the day which I make; and I will choose them as a man chooses his son that serves him. And you shall return, and shall discern between the just and the unjust, and between him that serves God and him that serves Him not. For, behold, the day comes burning as an oven, and it shall burn them up; and all the aliens and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that shall come will set them on fire, says the Lord Almighty, and shall leave neither root nor branch. And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, and health shall be in His wings; and you shall go forth, and exult as calves let loose from bonds. And you shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under your feet, in the day in which I shall do [this], says the Lord Almighty." This day is the day of judgment, of which, if God will, we shall speak more fully in its own place.
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| − | ||<div id="c36"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXVI] Post hos tres prophetas, Aggaeum, Zachariam, Malachiam, per idem tempus liberationis populi ex Babylonica seruitute scripsit etiam Esdras, qui magis rerum gestarum scriptor est habitus quam propheta - sicuti est et liber, qui appellatur Esther, cuius res gesta in laudem dei non longe ab his temporibus invenitur - , nisi forte Esdras in eo Christum prophetasse intellegendus est, quod inter quosdam ivuenes orta quaestione, quid amplius valeret in rebus, cum reges unus dixisset, alter vinum, tertius mulieres, quae plerumque regibus imperarent, idem tamen tertius veritatem super omnia demonstravit esse victricem. consulto autem euangelio Christum esse cognoscimus veritatem. ab hoc tempore apud Iudaeos restituto templo non reges, sed principes fuerunt usque ad Aristobolum; quorum subputatio temporum non in scripturis sanctis, quae appellantur canonicae, sed in aliis invenitur, in quibus sunt et Macchabaeorum libri, quos non Iudaei, sed ecclesia pro canonicis habet propter quorundam martyrum passiones uehementes atque mirabiles, qui, antequam Christus venisset in carne, usque ad mortem pro dei lege certarunt et mala gravissima atque horribilia pertulerunt. ||After these three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, during the same period of the liberation of the people from the Babylonian servitude Esdras also wrote, who is historical rather than prophetical, as is also the book called Esther, which is found to relate, for the praise of God, events not far from those times; unless, perhaps, Esdras is to be understood as prophesying of Christ in that passage where, on a question having arisen among certain young men as to what is the strongest thing, when one had said kings, another wine, the third women, who for the most part rule kings, yet that same third youth demonstrated that the truth is victorious over all. For by consulting the Gospel we learn that Christ is the Truth. From this time, when the temple was rebuilt, down to the time of Aristobulus, the Jews had not kings but princes; and the reckoning of their dates is found, not in the Holy Scriptures which are called canonical, but in others, among which are also the books of the Maccabees. These are held as canonical, not by the Jews, but by the Church, on account of the extreme and wonderful sufferings of certain martyrs, who, before Christ had come in the flesh, contended for the law of God even unto death, and endured most grievous and horrible evils.
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| − | ||<div id="c37"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXVII] Tempore igitur prophetarum nostrorum, quorum iam scripta ad notitiam fere omnium gentium peruenerunt, et multo magis post eos fuerunt philosophi gentium, qui hoc etiam nomine vocarentur, quod coepit a Samio Pythagora, qui eo tempore, quo Iudaeorum est soluta captivitas, coepit excellere atque cognosci. multo magis ergo ceteri philosophi post prophetas reperiuntur fuisse. nam ipse Socrates Atheniensis, magister omnium, qui tunc maxime claruerunt, tenens in ea parte, quae moralis vel activa dicitur, principatum, post Esdram in chronicis invenitur. non multo post etiam Plato natus est, qui longe ceteros Socratis discipulos anteiret. quibus si addamus etiam superiores, qui nondum philosophi vocabantur, septem scilicet sapientes ac deinde physicos, qui Thaleti successerunt in perscrutanda natura rerum studium eius imitati, Anaximandrum scilicet et Anaximenem et Anaxagoram aliosque nonnullos, antequam Pythagoras philosophum primus profiteretur: nec illi prophetas nostros universos temporis antiquitate praecedunt, quandoquidem Thales, post quem ceteri fuerunt, regnante Romulo eminuisse fertur, quando de fontibus Israel in eis litteris, quae toto orbe manarent, prophetiae flumen erupit. soli igitur illi theologi poetae, Orpheus, Linus, Musaeus et si quis alius apud Graecos fuit, his prophetis Hebraeis, quorum scripta in auctoritate habemus, annis reperiuntur priores. sed nec ipsi verum theologum nostrum Moysen, qui unum verum deum veraciter praedicavit, cuius nunc scripta in auctoritatis canone prima sunt, tempore praeuenerunt; ac per hoc, quantum ad Graecos adtinet, in qua lingua litterae huius saeculi maxime ferbuerunt, nihil habent unde sapientiam suam iactent, quo religione nostra, ubi vera sapientia est, si non superior, saltem videatur antiquior. verum, quod fatendum est, non quidem in Graecia, sed in barbaris gentibus, sicut in Aegypto, iam fuerat ante Moysen nonnulla doctrina, quae illorum sapientia diceretur; alioquin non scriptum esset in libris sanctis, Moysen eruditum fuisse omni sapientia Aegyptiorum, tunc utique, quando ibi natus et a filia Pharaonis adoptatus atque nutritus etiam liberaliter educatus est. sed nec sapientia Aegyptiorum sapientiam prophetarum nostrorum tempore antecedere potuit, quandoquidem et Abraham propheta fuit. quid autem sapientiae potuit esse in Aegypto, antequam eis Isis, quam mortuam tamquam magnam deam colendam putarunt, litteras traderet? Isis porro Inachi filia fuisse proditur, qui primus regnare coepit Argivis, quando Abrahae iam nepotes reperiuntur exorti. ||In the time of our prophets, then, whose writings had already come to the knowledge of almost all nations, the philosophers of the nations had not yet arisen,-at least, not those who were called by that name, which originated with Pythagoras the Samian, who was becoming famous at the time when the Jewish captivity ended. Much more, then, are the other philosophers found to be later than the prophets. For even Socrates the Athenian, the master of all who were then most famous, holding the pre-eminence in that department that is called the moral or active, is found after Esdras in the chronicles. Plato also was born not much later, who far out went the other disciples of Socrates. If, besides these, we take their predecessors, who had not yet been styled philosophers, to wit, the seven sages, and then the physicists, who succeeded Thales, and imitated his studious search into the nature of things, namely, Anaximander, Anaximenes, and Anaxagoras, and some others, before Pythagoras first professed himself a philosopher, even these did not precede the whole of our prophets in antiquity of time, since Thales, whom the others succeeded, is said to have flourished in the reign of Romulus, when the stream of prophecy burst forth from the fountains of Israel in those writings which spread over the whole world. So that only those theological poets, Orpheus, Linus, and Musжus, and, it may be, some others among the Greeks, are found earlier in date than the Hebrew prophets whose writings we hold as authoritative. But not even these preceded in time our true divine, Moses, who authentically preached the one true God, and whose writings are first in the authoritative canon; and therefore the Greeks, in whose tongue the literature of this age chiefly appears, have no ground for boasting of their wisdom, in which our religion, wherein is true wisdom, is not evidently more ancient at least, if not superior. Yet it must be confessed that before Moses there had already been, not indeed among the Greeks, but among barbarous nations, as in Egypt, some doctrine which might be called their wisdom, else it would not have been written in the holy books that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, Acts 7:22 as he was, when, being born there, and adopted and nursed by Pharaoh's daughter, he was also liberally educated. Yet not even the wisdom of the Egyptians could be antecedent in time to the wisdom of our prophets, because even Abraham was a prophet. And what wisdom could there be in Egypt before Isis had given them letters, whom they thought fit to worship as a goddess after her death? Now Isis is declared to have been the daughter of Inachus, who first began to reign in Argos when the grandsons of Abraham are known to have been already born.
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| − | ||<div id="c38"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXVIII] Iam vero si longe antiquiora repetam, et ante illud grande diluuium noster erat utique Noe patriarcha, quem prophetam quoque non inmerito dixerim, siquidem ipsa arca, quam fecit et in qua cum suis euasit, prophetia nostrorum temporum fuit. quid Enoch septimus ab Adam: nonne etiam in canonica epistula apostoli Iudae prophetasse praedicatur? quorum scripta ut apud Iudaeos et apud nos in auctoritate non essent, nimia fecit antiquitas, propter quam videbantur habenda esse suspecta, ne proferrentur falsa pro veris. nam et proferuntur quaedam quae ipsorum esse dicantur ab eis, qui pro suo sensu passim quod volunt credunt. sed ea castitas canonis non recepit, non quod eorum hominum, qui deo placuerunt, reprobetur auctoritas, sed quod ista esse non credantur ipsorum. nec mirum debet videri, quod suspecta habentur, quae sub tantae antiquitatis nomine proferuntur, quandoquidem in ipsa historia regum Iuda et regum Israel, quae res gestas continet, de quibus eidem scripturae canonicae credimus, commemorantur plurima, quae ibi non explicantur et in libris dicuntur aliis inveniri, quos prophetae scripserunt, et alicubi eorum quoque prophetarum nomina non tacentur, nec tamen inveniuntur in canone, quem recepit populus dei. cuius rei, fateor, causa me latet, nisi quod existimo etiam ipsos, quibus ea, quae in auctoritate religionis esse deberent, sanctus utique spiritus reuelabat, alia sicut homines historica diligentia, alia sicut prophetas inspiratione divina scribere potuisse, atque haec ita fuisse distincta, ut illa tamquam ipsis, ista vero tamquam deo per ipsos loquenti iudicarentur esse tribuenda, ac sic illa pertinerent ad ubertatem cognitionis, haec ad religionis auctoritatem, in qua auctoritate custoditur canon, praeter quem iam si qua etiam sub nomine verorum prophetarum scripta proferuntur, nec ad ipsam copiam scientiae valent, quoniam utrum eorum sint, quorum esse dicuntur, incertum est; et ob hoc eis non habetur fides, maxime his, in quibus etiam contra fidem librorum canonicorum quaedam leguntur, propter quod ea prorsus non esse apparet illorum. ||If I may recall far more ancient times, our patriarch Noah was certainly even before that great deluge, and I might not undeservedly call him a prophet, forasmuch as the ark he made, in which he escaped with his family, was itself a prophecy of our times. What of Enoch, the seventh from Adam? Does not the canonical epistle of the Apostle Jude declare that he prophesied? Jude 14 But the writings of these men could not be held as authoritative either among the Jews or us, on account of their too great antiquity, which made it seem needful to regard them with suspicion, lest false things should be set forth instead of true. For some writings which are said be theirs are quoted by those who, according to their own humor, loosely believe what they please. But the purity of the canon has not admitted these writings, not because the authority of these men who pleased God is rejected, but because they are not believed to be theirs. Nor ought it to appear strange if writings for which so great antiquity is claimed are held in suspicion, seeing that in the very history of the kings of Judah and Israel containing their acts, which we believe to belong to the canonical Scripture, very many things are mentioned which are not explained there, but are said to be found in other books which the prophets wrote, the very names of these prophets being sometimes given, and yet they are not found in the canon which the people of God received. Now I confess the reason of this is hidden from me; only I think that even those men, to whom certainly the Holy Spirit revealed those things which ought to be held as of religious authority, might write some things as men by historical diligence, and others as prophets by divine inspiration; and these things were so distinct, that it was judged that the former should be ascribed to themselves, but the latter to God speaking through them: and so the one pertained to the abundance of knowledge, the other to the authority of religion. In that authority the canon is guarded. So that, if any writings outside of it are now brought forward under the name of the ancient prophets, they cannot serve even as an aid to knowledge, because it is uncertain whether they are genuine; and on this account they are not trusted, especially those of them in which some things are found that are even contrary to the truth of the canonical books, so that it is quite apparent they do not belong to them.
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| − | ||<div id="c39"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XXXIX] Non itaque credendum est, quod nonnulli arbitrantur, Hebraeam tantum linguam per illum, qui vocabatur Heber, unde Hebraeorum vocabulum est, fuisse servatam, atque inde pervenisse ad Abraham, Hebraeas autem litteras a lege coepisse, quae data est per Moysen, sed potius per illam successionem patrum memoratam linguam cum suis litteris custoditam. denique Moyses in populo constituit qui docendis litteris praeessent, priusquam divinae legis ullas litteras nossent. hos appellat scriptura ??aµµat?e?sa??????, qui Latine dici possunt litterarum inductores vel introductores, eo quod eas inducant, id est introducant, quodammodo in corda discentium vel in eas potius ipsos quos docent. nulla igitur gens de antiquitate suae sapientiae super patriarchas et prophetas nostros, quibus divina inerat sapientia, ulla se uanitate iactaverit, quando nec Aegyptus invenitur, quae solet falso et inaniter de suarum doctrinarum antiquitate gloriari, qualicumque sapientia sua patriarcharum nostrorum tempore praevenisse sapientiam. neque enim quisquam dicere audebit mirabilium disciplinarum eos peritissimos fuisse, antequam litteras nossent, id est, antequam Isis eo venisset easque ibi docuisset. ipsa porro eorum memorabilis doctrina, quae appellata est sapientia, quid erat nisi maxime astronomia et si quid aliud talium disciplinarum magis ad exercenda ingenia quam ad inluminandas vera sapientia mentes solet valere? nam quod adtinet ad philosophiam, quae se docere profitetur aliquid, unde fiant homines beati, circa tempora Mercurii, quem Trismegistum vocaverunt, in illis terris eiusmodi studia claruerunt, longe quidem ante sapientes vel philosophos Graeciae, sed tamen post Abraham et Isaac et Iacob et Ioseph, nimirum etiam post ipsum Moysen. eo quippe tempore, quo Moyses natus est, fuisse reperitur Atlans ille magnus astrologus, Promethei frater, maternus auus Mercurii maioris, cuius nepos fuit Trismegistus iste Mercurius. ||Now we must not believe that Heber, from whose name the word Hebrew is derived, preserved and transmitted the Hebrew language to Abraham only as a spoken language, and that the Hebrew letters began with the giving of the law through Moses; but rather that this language, along with its letters, was preserved by that succession of fathers. Moses, indeed, appointed some among the people of God to teach letters, before they could know any letters of the divine law. The Scripture calls these men ??aµµate?sa???e??, who may be called in Latin inductores or introductores of letters, because they, as it were, introduce them into the hearts of the learners, or rather lead those whom they teach into them. Therefore no nation could vaunt itself over our patriarchs and prophets by any wicked vanity for the antiquity of its wisdom; since not even Egypt, which is wont falsely and vainly to glory in the antiquity of her doctrines, is found to have preceded in time the wisdom of our patriarchs in her own wisdom, such as it is. Neither will any one dare to say that they were most skillful in wonderful sciences before they knew letters, that is, before Isis came and taught them there. Besides, what, for the most part, was that memorable doctrine of theirs which was called wisdom but astronomy, and it may be some other sciences of that kind, which usually have more power to exercise men's wit than to enlighten their minds with true wisdom? As regards philosophy, which professes to teach men something which shall make them happy, studies of that kind flourished in those lands about the times of Mercury, whom they called Trismegistus, long before the sages and philosophers of Greece, but yet after Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and even after Moses himself. At that time, indeed, when Moses was born, Atlas is found to have lived, that great astronomer, the brother of Prometheus, and maternal grandson of the elder Mercury, of whom that Mercury Trismegistus was the grandson.
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| − | ||<div id="c40"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XL] Frustra itaque uanissima praesumptione garriunt quidam dicentes, ex quo Aegyptus rationem siderum conprehendit, amplius quam centum annorum milia numerari. in quibus enim libris istum numerum collegerunt, qui non multum ante annorum duo milia litteras magistra Iside didicerunt? non enim paruus auctor est in historia Varro, qui hoc prodidit, quod a litterarum etiam divinarum veritate non dissonat. cum enim ab ipso primo homine, qui est appellatus Adam, nondum sex annorum milia conpleantur, quomodo non isti ridendi potius quam refellendi sunt, qui de spatio temporum tam diversa et huic exploratae veritati tam contraria persuadere conantur? cui enim melius narranti praeterita credimus, quam qui etiam futura praedixit, quae praesentia iam videmus? nam et ipsa historicorum inter se dissonantia copiam nobis praebet, ut ei potius credere debeamus, qui divinae, quam tenemus, non repugnat historiae. porro autem cives inpiae civitatis diffusi usquequaque per terras cum legunt doctissimos homines, quorum nullius contemnenda videatur auctoritas, inter se de rebus gestis ab aetatis nostrae memoria remotissimis discrepantes, cui potius credere debeant, non inveniunt. nos vero in nostrae religionis historia fulti auctoritate divina, quidquid ei resistit, non dubitamus esse falsissimum, quomodolibet sese habeant cetera in saecularibus litteris, quae seu vera seu falsa sint, nihil momenti adferunt, quo recte beateque vivamus. ||In vain, then, do some babble with most empty presumption, saying that Egypt has understood the reckoning of the stars for more than a hundred thousand years. For in what books have they collected that number who learned letters from Isis their mistress, not much more than two thousand years ago? Varro, who has declared this, is no small authority in history, and it does not disagree with the truth of the divine books. For as it is not yet six thousand years since the first man, who is called Adam, are not those to be ridiculed rather than refuted who try to persuade us of anything regarding a space of time so different from, and contrary to, the ascertained truth? For what historian of the past should we credit more than him who has also predicted things to come which we now see fulfilled? And the very disagreement of the historians among themselves furnishes a good reason why we ought rather to believe him who does not contradict the divine history which we hold. But, on the other hand, the citizens of the impious city, scattered everywhere through the earth, when they read the most learned writers, none of whom seems to be of contemptible authority, and find them disagreeing among themselves about affairs most remote from the memory of our age, cannot find out whom they ought to trust. But we, being sustained by divine authority in the history of our religion, have no doubt that whatever is opposed to it is most false, whatever may be the case regarding other things in secular books, which, whether true or false, yield nothing of moment to our living rightly and happily.
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| − | ||<div id="c41"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLI] Vt autem iam cognitionem omittamus historiae, ipsi philosophi, a quibus ad ista progressi sumus, qui non videntur laborasse in studiis suis, nisi ut invenirent quomodo vivendum esset adcommodate ad beatitudinem capessendam, cur dissenserunt et a magistris discipuli, et inter se condiscipuli, nisi quia ut homines humanis sensibus et humanis ratiocinationibus ista quaesierunt? ubi quamuis esse potuerit et studium gloriandi, quo quisque alio sapientior et acutior videri cupit nec sententiae quodammodo addictus alienae, sed sui dogmatis et opinionis inventor, tamen ut nonnullos vel etiam plurimos eorum fuisse concedam, quos a suis doctoribus vel discendi sociis amor veritatis abruperit, ut pro ea certarent, quam veritatem putarent, sive illa esset, sive non esset: quid agit aut quo vel qua, ut ad beatitudinem perveniatur, humana se porrigit infelicitas, si divina non ducit auctoritas? denique auctores nostri, in quibus non frustra sacrarum litterarum figitur et terminatur canon, absit ut inter se aliqua ratione dissentiant. unde non inmerito, cum illa scriberent, eis deum vel per eos locutum, non pauci in scholis atque gymnasiis litigiosis disputationibus garruli, sed in agris atque urbibus cum doctis atque indoctis tot tanti que populi crediderunt. ipsi sane pauci esse debuerunt, ne multitudine vilesceret, quod religione carum esse oporteret; nec tamen ita pauci, ut eorum non sit miranda consensio. neque enim in multitudine philosophorum, qui labore etiam litterario monumenta suorum dogmatum reliquerunt, facile quis invenerit, inter quos cuncta quae sensere conveniant; quod ostendere hoc opere longum est. quis autem sectae cuiuslibet auctor sic est in hac daemonicola civitate adprobatus, ut ceteri inprobarentur, qui diversa et adversa senserunt? nonne apud Athenas et Epicurei clarebant, adserentes res humanas ad deorum curam non pertinere, et Stoici, qui contraria sentientes eas regi atque muniri dis adiutoribus et tutoribus disputabant? unde miror cur Anaxagoras reus factus sit, quia solem dixit esse lapidem ardentem, negans utique deum, cum in eadem civitate gloria floruerit Epicurus vixeritque securus, non solum solem vel ullum siderum deum esse non credens, sed nec Iovem nec ullum deorum omnino in mundo habitare contendens, ad quem preces hominum supplicationesque perveniant. nonne ibi Aristippus in voluptate corporis summum bonum ponens, ibi Antisthenes virtute animi potius hominem fieri beatum adseuerans, duo philosophi nobiles et ambo Socratici, in tam diversis atque inter se contrariis finibus vitae summam locantes, quorum etiam ille fugiendam, iste administrandam sapienti dicebat esse rempublicam, ad suam quisque sectam sectandam discipulos congregabat? nempe palam in conspicua et notissima porticu, in gymnasiis, in hortulis, in locis publicis ac privatis cateruatim pro sua quisque opinione certabant, alii adserentes unum, alii innumerabiles mundos; ipsum autem unum alii ortum esse, alii vero initium non habere; alii interiturum, alii semper futurum; alii mente divina, alii fortuito et casibus agi; alii inmortales esse animas, alii mortales; et qui inmortales, alii reuolui in bestias, alii nequaquam; qui vero mortales, alii mox interire post corpus, alii vivere etiam postea vel paululum vel diutius, non tamen semper; alii in corpore constituentes finem boni, alii in animo, alii in utroque, alii extrinsecus posita etiam bona ad animum et corpus addentes; alii sensibus corporis semper, alii non semper, alii numquam putantes esse credendum. has et alias paene innumerabiles dissensiones philosophorum quis umquam populus, quis senatus, quae potestas vel dignitas publica inpiae civitatis diiudicandas et alias probandas ac recipiendas, alias inprobandas repudiandasque curavit, ac non passim sine ullo iudicio confuseque habuit in gremio suo tot controversias hominum dissidentium, non de agris et domibus vel quacumque pecuniaria ratione, sed de his rebus, quibus aut misere vivitur aut beate? ubi etsi aliqua vera dicebantur, eadem licentia dicebantur et falsa, prorsus ut non frustra talis civitas mysticum vocabulum Babylonis acceperit. Babylon interpretatur quippe confusio, quod nos iam dixisse meminimus. nec interest diaboli regis eius, quam contrariis inter se rixentur erroribus, quos merito multae variaeque inpietatis pariter possidet. at vero gens illa, ille populus, illa civitas, illa respublica, illi Israelitae, quibus credita sunt eloquia dei, nullo modo pseudoprophetas cum veris prophetis parilitate licentiae confuderunt, sed concordes inter se atque in nullo dissentientes sacrarum litterarum veraces ab eis agnoscebantur et tenebantur auctores. ipsi eis erant philosophi, hoc est amatores sapientiae, ipsi sapientes, ipsi theologi, ipsi prophetae, ipsi doctores probitatis atque pietatis. quicumque secundum illos sapuit et vixit, non secundum homines, sed secundum deum, qui per eos locutus est, sapuit et vixit. ibi si prohibitum est sacrilegium, deus prohibuit. si dictum est: honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam, deus iussit. si dictum est: non moechaberis, non homicidium facies, non furaberis, et cetera huiusmodi, non haec ora humana, sed oracula divina fuderunt. quidquid philosophi quidam inter falsa, quae opinati sunt, verum videre potuerunt et laboriosis disputationibus persuadere moliti sunt, quod mundum istum deus fecerit eumque ipse providentissimus administret, de honestate virtutum, de amore patriae, de fide amicitiae, de bonis operibus atque omnibus ad mores probos pertinentibus rebus, quamuis nescientes ad quem finem et quonam modo essent ista omnia referenda, propheticis, hoc est divinis, vocibus, quamuis per homines, in illa civitate populo commendata sunt, non argumentationum concertationibus inculcata, ut non hominis ingenium, sed dei eloquium contemnere formidaret, qui illa cognosceret. ||But let us omit further examination of history, and return to the philosophers from whom we digressed to these things. They seem to have labored in their studies for no other end than to find out how to live in a way proper for laying hold of blessedness. Why, then, have the disciples dissented from their masters, and the fellow-disciples from one another, except because as men they have sought after these things by human sense and human reasonings? Now, although there might be among them a desire of glory, so that each wished to be thought wiser and more acute than another, and in no way addicted to the judgment of others, but the inventor of his own dogma and opinion, yet I may grant that there were some, or even very many of them, whose love of truth severed them from their teachers or fellow-disciples, that they might strive for what they thought was the truth, whether it was so or not. But what can human misery do, or how or where can it reach forth, so as to attain blessedness, if divine authority does not lead it? Finally, let our authors, among whom the canon of the sacred books is fixed and bounded, be far from disagreeing in any respect. It is not without good reason, then, that not merely a few people prating in the schools and gymnasia in captious disputations, but so many and great people, both learned and unlearned, in countries and cities, have believed that God spoke to them or by them, i.e. the canonical writers, when they wrote these books. There ought, indeed, to be but few of them, lest on account of their multitude what ought to be religiously esteemed should grow cheap; and yet not so few that their agreement should not be wonderful. For among the multitude of philosophers, who in their works have left behind them the monuments of their dogmas, no one will easily find any who agree in all their opinions. But to show this is too long a task for this work.But what author of any sect is so approved in this demon-worshipping city, that the rest who have differed from or opposed him in opinion have been disapproved? The Epicureans asserted that human affairs were not under the providence of the gods; and the Stoics, holding the opposite opinion, agreed that they were ruled and defended by favora ble and tutelary gods. Yet were not both sects famous among the Athenians? I wonder, then, why Anaxagoras was accused of a crime for saying that the sun was a burning stone, and denying that it was a god at all; while in the same city Epicurus flourished gloriously and lived securely, although he not only did not believe that the sun or any star was a god, but contended that neither Jupiter nor any of the gods dwelt in the world at all, so that the prayers and supplications of men might reach them! Were not both Aristippus and Antisthenes there, two noble philosophers and both Socratic? yet they placed the chief end of life within bounds so diverse and contradictory, that the first made the delight of the body the chief good, while the other asserted that man was made happy mainly by the virtue of the mind. The one also said that the wise man should flee from the republic; the other, that he should administer its affairs. Yet did not each gather disciples to follow his own sect? Indeed, in the conspicuous and well-known porch, in gymnasia, in gardens, in places public and private, they openly strove in bands each for his own opinion, some asserting there was one world, others innumerable worlds; some that this world had a beginning, others that it had not; some that it would perish, others that it would exist always; some that it was governed by the divine mind, others by chance and accident; some that souls are immortal, others that they are mortal,-and of those who asserted their immortality, some said they transmigrated through beasts, others that it was by no means so; while of those who asserted their mortality, some said they perished immediately after the body, others that they survived either a little while or a longer time, but not always; some fixing supreme good in the body, some in the mind, some in both; others adding to the mind and body external good things; some thinking that the bodily senses ought to be trusted always, some not always, others never. Now what people, senate, power, or public dignity of the impious city has ever taken care to judge between all these and other well-nigh innumerable dissensions of the philosophers, approving and accepting some, and disapproving and rejecting others? Has it not held in its bosom at random, without any judgment, and confusedly, so many controversies of men at variance, not about fields, houses, or anything of a pecuniary nature, but about those things which make life either miserable or happy? Even if some true things were said in it, yet falsehoods were uttered with the same licence; so that such a city has not amiss received the title of the mystic Babylon. For Babylon means confusion, as we remember we have already explained. Nor does it matter to the devil, its king, how they wrangle among themselves in contradictory errors, since all alike deservedly belong to him on account of their great and varied impiety.But that nation, that people, that city, that republic, these Israelites, to whom the oracles of God were entrusted, by no means confounded with similar licence false prophets with the true prophets; but, agreeing together, and differing in nothing, acknowledged and upheld the authentic authors of their sacred books. These were their philosophers, these were their sages, divines, prophets, and teachers of probity and piety. Whoever was wise and lived according to them was wise and lived not according to men, but according to God who has spoken by them. If sacrilege is forbidden there, God has forbidden it. If it is said, "Honor your father and your mother," Exodus 20:12 God has commanded it. If it is said, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal," and other similar commandments, not human lips but the divine oracles have enounced them. Whatever truth certain philosophers, amid their false opinions, were able to see, and strove by laborious discussions to persuade men of,-such as that God had made this world, and Himself most providently governs it, or of the nobility of the virtues, of the love of country, of fidelity in friendship, of good works and everything pertaining to virtuous manners, although they knew not to what end and what rule all these things were to be referred,-all these, by words prophetic, that is, divine, although spoken by men, were commended to the people in that city, and not inculcated by contention in arguments, so that he who should know them might be afraid of contemning, not the wit of men, but the oracle of God.
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| − | ||<div id="c42"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLII] Has sacras litteras etiam unus Ptolomaeorum regum Aegypti nosse studuit et habere. nam post Alexandri Macedonis, qui etiam Magnus cognominatus est, mirificentissimam minimeque diuturnam potentiam, qua universam Asiam, immo paene totum orbem, partim vi et armis, partim terrore subegerat, quando inter cetera orientis etiam Iudaeam ingressus obtinuit; eo mortuo comites eius cum regnum illud amplissimum non pacifice inter se possessuri divisissent, sed potius dissipassent bellis omnia uastaturi, Ptolomaeos reges habere coepit Aegyptus; quorum primus, Lagi filius, multos ex Iudaea captivos in Aegyptum transtulit. huic autem succedens alius Ptolomaeus, qui est appellatus Philadelphus, omnes, quos ille adduxerat subiugatos, liberos redire permisit; insuper et dona regia in templum dei misit petivitque ab Eleazaro tunc pontifice dari sibi scripturas, quas profecto audierat fama praedicante divinas, et ideo concupiverat habere in bibliotheca, quam nobilissimam fecerat. has ei cum idem pontifex misisset Hebraeas, post ille etiam interpretes postulavit; et dati sunt septuaginta duo, de singulis duodecim tribubus seni homines, linguae utriusque doctissimi, Hebraeae scilicet atque Graecae, quorum interpretatio ut septuaginta vocetur, iam obtinuit consuetudo. traditur sane tam mirabilem ac stupendum planeque divinum in eorum verbis fuisse consensum, ut, cum ad hoc opus separatim singuli sederint - ita enim eorum fidem Ptolomaeo placuit explorare - , in nullo verbo, quod idem significaret et tantundem valeret, vel in verborum ordine alter ab altero discreparet; sed tamquam unus esset interpres, ita quod omnes interpretati sunt unum erat, quoniam reuera spiritus erat unus in omnibus. et ideo tam mirabile dei munus acceperant, ut illarum scripturarum non tamquam humanarum, sed, sicut erant, tamquam divinarum etiam isto modo commendaretur auctoritas, credituris quandoque gentibus profutura, quod iam videmus effectum. ||One of the Ptolemies, kings of Egypt, desired to know and have these sacred books. For after Alexander of Macedon, who is also styled the Great, had by his most wonderful, but by no means enduring power, subdued the whole of Asia, yea, almost the whole world, partly by force of arms, partly by terror, and, among other kingdoms of the East, had entered and obtained Judea also, on his death his generals did not peaceably divide that most ample kingdom among them for a possession, but rather dissipated it, wasting all things by wars. Then Egypt began to have the Ptolemies as her kings. The first of them, the son of Lagus, carried many captive out of Judea into Egypt. But another Ptolemy, called Philadelphus, who succeeded him, permitted all whom he had brought under the yoke to return free; and more than that, sent kingly gifts to the temple of God, and begged Eleazar, who was the high priest, to give him the Scriptures, which he had heard by report were truly divine, and therefore greatly desired to have in that most noble library he had made. When the high priest had sent them to him in Hebrew, he afterwards demanded interpreters of him, and there were given him seventy-two, out of each of the twelve tribes six men, most learned in both languages, to wit, the Hebrew and Greek and their translation is now by custom called the Septuagint. It is reported, indeed, that there was an agreement in their words so wonderful, stupendous, and plainly divine, that when they had sat at this work, each one apart (for so it pleased Ptolemy to test their fidelity), they differed from each other in no word which had the same meaning and force, or, in the order of the words; but, as if the translators had been one, so what all had translated was one, because in very deed the one Spirit had been in them all. And they received so wonderful a gift of God, in order that the authority of these Scriptures might be commended not as human but divine, as indeed it was, for the benefit of the nations who should at some time believe, as we now see them doing.
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| − | ||<div id="c43"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLIII] Nam cum fuerint et alii interpretes, qui ex Hebraea lingua in Graecam sacra illa eloquia transtulerunt, sicut Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion; sicut etiam illa est interpretatio, cuius auctor non apparet et ob hoc sine nomine interpretis quinta editio nuncupatur: hanc tamen, quae septuaginta est, tamquam sola esset, sic recepit ecclesia, eaque utuntur Graeci populi Christiani, quorum plerique utrum alia sit aliqua ignorant. ex hac septuaginta interpretatione etiam in Latinam linguam interpretatum est, quod ecclesiae Latinae tenent; quamuis non defuerit temporibus nostris presbyter Hieronymus, homo doctissimus et omnium trium linguarum peritus, qui non ex Graeco, sed ex Hebraeo in Latinum eloquium easdem scripturas converterit. sed eius tam litteratum laborem quamuis Iudaei fateantur esse veracem, septuaginta vero interpretes in multis errasse contendant: tamen ecclesiae Christi tot hominum auctoritati ab Eleazaro tunc pontifice ad hoc tantum opus electorum neminem iudicant praeferendum; quia, etsi non in eis unus apparuisset spiritus sine dubitatione divinus, sed inter se verba interpretationis suae septuaginta docti more hominum contulissent, ut, quod placuisset omnibus, hoc maneret, nullus eis unus interpres debuit anteponi; cum vero tantum in eis signum divinitatis apparuerit, profecto quisquis alius illarum scripturarum ex Hebraea in quamlibet aliam linguam interpres est verax, aut congruit illis septuaginta interpretibus, aut si non congruere videtur, altitudo ibi prophetica esse credenda est. spiritus enim, qui in prophetis erat, quando illa dixerunt, idem ipse erat etiam in septuaginta viris, quando illa interpretati sunt; qui profecto auctoritate divina et aliud dicere potuit, tamquam propheta ille utrumque dixisset, quia utrumque idem spiritus diceret, et hoc ipsum aliter, ut, si non eadem verba, idem tamen sensus bene intellegentibus dilucesceret, et aliquid praetermittere et aliquid addere, ut etiam hinc ostenderetur non humanam fuisse in illo opere seruitutem, quam verbis debebat interpres, sed divinam potius potestatem, quae mentem replebat et regebat interpretis. nonnulli autem codices Graecos interpretationis septuaginta ex Hebraeis codicibus emendandos putarunt; nec tamen ausi sunt detrahere, quod Hebraei non habebant et septuaginta posuerunt; sed tantummodo addiderunt, quae in Hebraeis inventa apud septuaginta non erant, eaque signis quibusdam in stellarum modum factis ad capita eorundem versuum notaverunt, quae signa asteriscos vocant. illa vero, quae non habent Hebraei, habent autem septuaginta, similiter ad capita versuum iacentibus virgulis, sicut scribuntur unciae, signaverunt. et multi codices has notas habentes usquequaque diffusi sunt et Latini. quae autem non praetermissa vel addita, sed aliter dicta sunt, sive alium sensum faciant etiam ipsum non abhorrentem, sive alio modo eundem sensum explicare monstrentur, nisi utrisque codicibus inspectis nequeunt reperiri. si ergo, ut oportet, nihil aliud intueamur in scripturis illis, nisi quid per homines dixerit dei spiritus, quidquid est in Hebraeis codicibus et non est apud interpretes septuaginta, noluit ea per istos, sed per illos prophetas dei spiritus dicere. quidquid vero est apud septuaginta, in Hebraeis autem codicibus non est, per istos ea maluit quam per illos idem spiritus dicere, sic ostendens utrosque fuisse prophetas. isto enim modo alia per Esaiam, alia per Hieremiam, alia per alium aliumque prophetam vel aliter eadem per hunc ac per illum dixit, ut voluit. quidquid porro apud utrosque invenitur, per utrosque dicere voluit unus atque idem spiritus; sed ita ut illi praecederent prophetando, isti sequerentur prophetice illos interpretando; quia sicut in illis vera et concordantia dicentibus unus pacis spiritus fuit, sic et in istis non se cum conferentibus et tamen tamquam ore uno cuncta interpretantibus idem spiritus unus apparuit. ||For while there were other interpreters who translated these sacred oracles out of the Hebrew tongue into Greek, as Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and also that translation which, as the name of the author is unknown, is quoted as the fifth edition, yet the Church has received this Septuagint translation just as if it were the only one; and it has been used by the Greek Christian people, most of whom are not aware that there is any other. From this translation there has also been made a translation in the Latin tongue, which the Latin churches use. Our times, however, have enjoyed the advantage of the presbyter Jerome, a man most learned, and skilled in all three languages, who translated these same Scriptures into the Latin speech, not from the Greek, but from the Hebrew. But although the Jews acknowledge this very learned labor of his to be faithful, while they contend that the Septuagint translators have erred in many places, still the churches of Christ judge that no one should be preferred to the authority of so many men, chosen for this very great work by Eleazar, who was then high priest; for even if there had not appeared in them one spirit, without doubt divine, and the seventy learned men had, after the manner of men, compared together the words of their translation, that what pleased them all might stand, no single translator ought to be preferred to them; but since so great a sign of divinity has appeared in them, certainly, if any other translator of their Scriptures from the Hebrew into any other tongue is faithful, in that case he agrees with these seventy translators, and if he is not found to agree with them, then we ought to believe that the prophetic gift is with them. For the same Spirit who was in the prophets when they spoke these things was also in the seventy men when they translated them, so that assuredly they could also say something else, just as if the prophet himself had said both, because it would be the same Spirit who said both; and could say the same thing differently, so that, although the words were not the same, yet the same meaning should shine forth to those of good understanding; and could omit or add something, so that even by this it might be shown that there was in that work not human bondage, which the translator owed to the words, but rather divine power, which filled and ruled the mind of the translator. Some, however, have thought that the Greek copies of the Septuagint version should be emended from the Hebrew copies; yet they did not dare to take away what the Hebrew lacked and the Septuagint had, but only added what was found in the Hebrew copies and was lacking in the Septuagint, and noted them by placing at the beginning of the verses certain marks in the form of stars which they call asterisks. And those things which the Hebrew copies have not, but the Septuagint have, they have in like manner marked at the beginning of the verses by horizontal spit-shaped marks like those by which we denote ounces; and many copies having these marks are circulated even in Latin. But we cannot, without inspecting both kinds of copies, find out those things which are neither omitted nor added, but expressed differently, whether they yield another meaning not in itself unsuitable, or can be shown to explain the same meaning in another way. If, then, as it behoves us, we behold nothing else in these Scriptures than what the Spirit of God has spoken through men, if anything is in the Hebrew copies and is not in the version of the Seventy, the Spirit of God did not choose to say it through them, but only through the prophets. But whatever is in the Septuagint and not in the Hebrew copies, the same Spirit chose rather to say through the latter, thus showing that both were prophets. For in that manner He spoke as He chose, some things through Isaiah, some through Jeremiah, some through several prophets, or else the same thing through this prophet and through that. Further, whatever is found in both editions, that one and the same Spirit willed to say through both, but so as that the former preceded in prophesying, and the latter followed in prophetically interpreting them; because, as the one Spirit of peace was in the former when they spoke true and concordant words, so the selfsame one Spirit has appeared in the latter, when, without mutual conference they yet interpreted all things as if with one mouth.
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| − | ||<div id="c44"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLIV] Sed ait aliquis: quomodo sciam quid Ionas propheta dixerit Ninevitis, utrum: triduum, et Nineue euertetur, an: quadraginta dies? quis enim non videat non potuisse utrumque tunc dici a propheta, qui missus fuerat terrere comminatione inminentis exitii civitatem? cui si tertio die fuerat futurus interitus, non utique quadragensimo die; si autem quadragensimo, non utique tertio. si ergo a me quaeritur, quid horum Ionas dixerit, hoc puto potius quod legitur in Hebraeo: quadraginta dies, et Nineue euertetur. septuaginta quinque longe posterius interpretati aliud dicere potuerunt, quod tamen ad rem pertineret et in unum eundem que sensum, quamuis sub altera significatione, concurreret, admoneretque lectorem utraque auctoritate non spreta ab historia sese adtollere ad ea requirenda, propter quae significanda historia ipsa conscripta est. gesta sunt quippe illa in Nineue civitate, sed aliquid etiam significaverunt, quod modum illius civitatis excedat; sicut gestum est, quod ipse propheta in ventre ceti triduo fuit, et tamen alium significavit in profundo inferni triduo futurum, qui dominus est omnium prophetarum. quapropter si per illam civitatem recte accipitur ecclesia gentium prophetice figurata, euersa scilicet per paenitentiam, ut qualis fuerat iam non esset, hoc quoniam per Christum factum est in ecclesia gentium, cuius illa Nineue figuram gerebat, sive per quadraginta dies sive per triduum idem ipse significatus est Christus; per quadraginta scilicet, quia tot dies peregit cum discipulis suis post resurrectionem et adscendit in caelum; per triduum vero, quia die tertio resurrexit; tamquam lectorem nihil aliud quam historiae rerum gestarum inhaerere cupientem de somno excitaverint septuaginta interpretes idemque prophetae ad perscrutandam altitudinem prophetiae et quodammodo dixerint:in quadraginta diebus ipsum quaere, in quo et triduum potueris invenire; illud in adscensione, hoc in eius resurrectione reperies. propter quod utroque numero significari convenientissime potuit, quorum unum per Ionam prophetam, alterum per septuaginta interpretum prophetiam, tamen unus atque idem spiritus dixit. longitudinem fugio, ut non haec per multa demonstrem, in quibus ab Hebraica veritate putantur septuaginta interpretes discrepare et bene intellecti inveniuntur esse concordes. unde etiam ego pro meo modulo uestigia sequens apostolorum, quia et ipsi ex utriusque, id est ex Hebraeis et ex septuaginta, testimonia prophetica posuerunt, utraque auctoritate utendum putavi, quoniam utraque una atque divina est. sed iam quae restant, ut possumus, exsequamur. ||But some one may say, "How shall I know whether the prophet Jonah said to the Ninevites, 'Yet three days and Nineveh shall be overthrown,' or forty days?" Jonah 3:4 For who does not see that the prophet could not say both, when he was sent to terrify the city by the threat of imminent ruin? For if its destruction was to take place on the third day, it certainly could not be on the fortieth; but if on the fortieth, then certainly not on the third. If, then, I am asked which of these Jonah may have said, I rather think what is read in the Hebrew, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Yet the Seventy, interpreting long afterward, could say what was different and yet pertinent to the matter, and agree in the self-same meaning, although under a different signification. And this may admonish the reader not to despise the authority of either, but to raise himself above the history, and search for those things which the history itself was written to set forth. These things, indeed, took place in the city of Nineveh, but they also signified something else too great to apply to that city; just as, when it happened that the prophet himself was three days in the whale's belly, it signified besides, that He who is Lord of all the prophets should be three days in the depths of hell. Wherefore, if that city is rightly held as prophetically representing the Church of the Gentiles, to wit, as brought down by penitence, so as no longer to be what it had been, since this was done by Christ in the Church of the Gentiles, which Nineveh represented, Christ Himself was signified both by the forty and by the three days: by the forty, because He spent that number of days with His disciples after the resurrection, and then ascended into heaven, but by the three days, because He rose on the third day. So that, if the reader desires nothing else than to adhere to the history of events, he may be aroused from his sleep by the Septuagint interpreters, as well as the prophets, to search into the depth of the prophecy, as if they had said, In the forty days seek Him in whom you may also find the three days,-the one you will find in His ascension, the other in His resurrection. Because that which could be most suitably signified by both numbers, of which one is used by Jonah the prophet, the other by the prophecy of the Septuagint version, the one and self-same Spirit has spoken. I dread prolixity, so that I must not demonstrate this by many instances in which the seventy interpreters may be thought to differ from the Hebrew, and yet, when well understood, are found to agree. For which reason I also, according to my capacity, following the footsteps of the apostles, who themselves have quoted prophetic testimonies from both, that is, from the Hebrew and the Septuagint, have thought that both should be used as authoritative, since both are one, and divine. But let us now follow out as we can what remains.
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| − | ||<div id="c45"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLV] Posteaquam gens Iudaea coepit non habere prophetas, procul dubio deterior facta est, eo scilicet tempore, quo se sperabat instaurato templo post captivitatem, quae fuit in Babylonia, futuram esse meliorem. sic quippe intellegebat populus ille carnalis, quod praenuntiatum est per Aggaeum prophetam dicentem: magna erit gloria domus istius novissimae, plus quam primae; quod de nouo testamento dictum esse paulo superius demonstravit, ubi ait aperte Christum promittens: et movebo omnes gentes, et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus. quo loco septuaginta interpretes alium sensum magis corpori quam capiti, hoc est magis ecclesiae quam Christo, convenientem prophetica auctoritate dixerunt: venient quae electa sunt domini de cunctis gentibus, id est homines, de quibus ipse Iesus in euangelio: multi, inquit, vocati, pauci vero electi. talibus enim electis gentium domus aedificatur dei per testamentum nouum lapidibus vivis, longe gloriosior, quam templum illud fuit, quod a rege Salomone constructum est et post captivitatem instauratum. propter hoc ergo nec prophetas ex illo tempore habuit illa gens et multis cladibus adflicta est ab alienigenis regibus ipsisque Romanis, ne hanc Aggaei prophetiam in illa instauratione templi opinaretur inpletam. non multo post enim adveniente Alexandro subiugata est, quando etsi nulla est facta uastatio, quoniam non sunt ei ausi resistere et ideo placatum facillime subditi receperunt, non erat tamen gloria tanta domus illius, quanta fuit in suorum regum libera potestate. hostias sane Alexander immolavit in dei templo, non ad eius cultum vera pietate conversus, sed inpia uanitate cum dis eum falsis colendum putans. deinde Ptolomaeus, Lagi filius, quod supra memoravi, post Alexandri mortem captivos inde in Aegyptum transtulit, quos eius successor Ptolomaeus Philadelphus beneuolentissime inde dimisit; per quem factum est, quod paulo ante narravi, ut septuaginta interpretum scripturas haberemus. deinde contriti sunt bellis, quae in Macchabaeorum libris explicantur. post haec capti a rege Alexandriae Ptolomaeo, qui est appellatus Epiphanes; inde ab Antiocho rege Syriae multis et gravissimis malis ad idola colenda conpulsi, templumque ipsum repletum sacrilegis superstitionibus gentium, quod tamen dux eorum strenuissimus Iudas, qui etiam Macchabaeus dictus est, Antiochi ducibus pulsis ab omni illa idolatriae contaminatione mundavit. non autem multo post Alcimus quidam per ambitionem, cum a genere sacerdotali esset alienus, quod nefas erat, pontifex factus est. hinc iam post annos ferme quinquaginta, in quibus eis tamen pax non fuit, quamuis aliqua et prospere gesserint, primus apud eos Aristobolus adsumpto diademate et rex et pontifex factus est. antea quippe, ex quo de Babyloniae captivitate reuersi sunt templumque instauratum est, non reges, sed duces vel principes habuerunt; quamuis et qui rex est possit dici princeps a principatu imperandi et dux eo, quod sit ductor exercitus; sed non continuo, quicumque principes vel duces sunt, etiam reges dici possunt, quod iste Aristobolus fuit. cui successit Alexander, etiam ipse rex et pontifex, qui crudeliter in suos regnasse traditur. post hunc uxor eius Alexandra regina Iudaeorum fuit, ex cuius tempore deinceps mala sunt eos secuta graviora. filii quippe huius Alexandrae Aristobolus et Hyrcanus inter se de imperio dimicantes vires adversus Israeliticam gentem prouocavere Romanas. Hyrcanus namque ab eis contra fratrem poposcit auxilium. tunc iam Roma subiugaverat Africam, subiugaverat Graeciam lateque etiam aliis orbis partibus imperans, tamquam se ipsam non valens ferre, sua se quodammodo magnitudine fregerat. peruenerat quippe ad seditiones domesticas graves atque inde ad bella socialia moxque civilia tantumque se comminverat et adtriverat, ut ei mutandus reipublicae status, quo regeretur regibus, inmineret. Pompeius ergo, populi Romani praeclarissimus princeps, Iudaeam cum exercitu ingressus civitatem capit, templum reserat, non deuotione supplicis, sed iure victoris, et ad sancta sanctorum, quo nisi summum sacerdotem non licebat intrare, non ut venerator, sed ut profanator accedit; confirmatoque Hyrcani pontificatu et subiugatae genti inposito custode Antipatro, quos tunc procuratores vocabant, vinctum se cum Aristobolum ducit. ex illo Iudaei etiam tributarii Romanorum esse coeperunt. postea Cassius etiam templum exspoliavit. deinde post paucos annos etiam Herodem alienigenam regem habere meruerunt, quo regnante natus est Christus. iam enim venerat plenitudo temporis significata prophetico spiritu per os patriarchae Iacob, ubi ait: non deficiet princeps ex Iuda, neque dux de femoribus eius, donec veniat cui repositum est, et ipse exspectatio gentium. non ergo defuit Iudaeorum princeps ex Iudaeis usque ad istum Herodem, quem primum acceperunt alienigenam regem. tempus ergo iam erat, ut veniret ille, cui repositum erat, quod nouo promissum est testamento, ut ipse esset exspectatio gentium. fieri autem non posset, ut exspectarent eum gentes venturum, sicut eum cernimus exspectari, ut veniat ad faciendum iudicium in claritate potentiae, nisi prius in eum crederent, cum venit ad patiendum iudicium in humilitate patientiae. || The Jewish nation no doubt became worse after it ceased to have prophets, just at the very time when, on the rebuilding of the temple after the captivity in Babylon, it hoped to become better. For so, indeed, did that car nal people understand what was foretold by Haggai the prophet, saying, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former." Haggai 2:9 Now, that this is said of the new testament, he showed a little above, where he says, evidently promising Christ, "And I will move all nations, and the desired One shall come to all nations." Haggai 2:7 In this passage the Septuagint translators giving another sense more suitable to the body than the Head, that is, to the Church than to Christ, have said by prophetic authority, "The things shall come that are chosen of the Lord from all nations," that is, men, of whom Jesus says in the Gospel, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14 For by such chosen ones of the nations there is built, through the new testament, with living stones, a house of God far more glorious than that temple was which was constructed by king Solomon, and rebuilt after the captivity. For this reason, then, that nation had no prophets from that time, but was afflicted with many plagues by kings of alien race, and by the Romans themselves, lest they should fancy that this prophecy of Haggai was fulfilled by that rebuilding of the temple.For not long after, on the arrival of Alexander, it was subdued, when, although there was no pillaging, because they dared not resist him, and thus, being very easily subdued, received him peaceably, yet the glory of that house was not so great as it was when under the free power of their own kings. Alexander, indeed, offered up sacrifices in the temple of God, not as a convert to His worship in true piety, but thinking, with impious folly, that He was to be worshipped along with false gods. Then Ptolemy son of Lagus, whom I have already mentioned, after Alexander's death carried them captive into Egypt. His successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, most benevolently dismissed them; and by him it was brought about, as I have narrated a little before, that we should have the Septuagint version of the Scriptures. Then they were crushed by the wars which are explained in the books of the Maccabees. Afterward they were taken captive by Ptolemy king of Alexandria, who was called Epiphanes. Then Antiochus king of Syria compelled them by many and most grievous evils to worship idols, and filled the temple itself with the sacrilegious superstitions of the Gentiles. Yet their most vigorous leader Judas, who is also called Maccabжus, after beating the generals of Antiochus, cleansed it from all that defilement of idolatry.But not long after, one Alcimus, although an alien from the sacerdotal tribe, was, through ambition, made pontiff, which was an impious thing. After almost fifty years, during which they never had peace, although they prospered in some affairs, Aristobulus first assumed the diadem among them, and was made both king and pontiff. Before that, indeed, from the time of their return from the Babylonish captivity and the rebuilding of the temple, they had not kings, but generals or principes. Although a king himself may be called a prince, from his principality in governing, and a leader, because he leads the army, but it does not follow that all who are princes and leaders may also be called kings, as that Aristobulus was. He was succeeded by Alexander, also both king and pontiff, who is reported to have reigned over them cruelly. After him his wife Alexandra was queen of the Jews, and from her time downwards more grievous evils pursued them; for this Alexandra's sons, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus, when contending with each other for the kingdom, called in the Roman forces against the nation of Israel. For Hyrcanus asked assistance from them against his brother. At that time Rome had already subdued Africa and Greece, and ruled extensively in other parts of the world also, and yet, as if unable to bear her own weight, had, in a manner, broken herself by her own size. For indeed she had come to grave domestic seditions, and from that to social wars, and by and by to civil wars, and had enfeebled and worn herself out so much, that the changed state of the republic, in which she should be governed by kings, was now imminent. Pompey then, a most illustrious prince of the Roman people, having entered Judea with an army, took the city, threw open the temple, not with the devotion of a suppliant, but with the authority of a conqueror, and went, not reverently, but profanely, into the holy of holies, where it was lawful for none but the pontiff to enter. Having established Hyrcanus in the pontificate, and set Antipater over the subjugated nation as guardian or procurator, as they were then called, he led Aristobulus with him bound. From that time the Jews also began to be Roman tributaries. Afterward Cassius plundered the very temple. Then after a few years it was their desert to have Herod, a king of foreign birth, in whose reign Christ was born. For the time had now come signified by the prophetic Spirit through the mouth of the patriarch Jacob, when he says, "There shall not be lacking a prince out of Judah, nor a teacher from his loins, until He shall come for whom it is reserved; and He is the expectation of the nations." Genesis 49:10 There lacked not therefore a Jewish prince of the Jews until that Herod, who was the first king of a foreign race received by them. Therefore it was now the time when He should come for whom that was reserved which is promised in the New Testament, that He should be the expectation of the nations. But it was not possible that the nations should expect He would come, as we see they did, to do judgment in the splendor of power, unless they should first believe in Him when He came to suffer judgment in the humility of patience.
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| − | ||<div id="c46"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLVI] Regnante ergo Herode in Iudaea, apud Romanos autem iam mutato reipublicae statu imperante Caesare Augusto et per eum orbe pacato natus est Christus secundum praecedentem prophetiam in Bethleem Iudae, homo manifestus ex homine virgine, deus occultus ex deo patre. sic enim propheta praedixerat: ecce virgo accipiet in utero et pariet filium, et vocabunt nomen eius Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum: nobis cum deus. qui ut in se commendaret deum, miracula multa fecit, ex quibus quaedam, quantum ad eum praedicandum satis esse visum est, scriptura euangelica continet. quorum primum est, quod tam mirabiliter natus est; ultimum autem, quod cum suo resuscitato a mortuis corpore adscendit in caelum. Iudaei autem, qui eum occiderunt et in eum credere noluerunt, quia oportebat eum mori et resurgere, uastati infelicius a Romanis funditusque a suo regno, ubi iam eis alienigenae dominabantur, eradicati dispersique per terras, quandoquidem ubique non desunt, per scripturas suas testimonio nobis sunt prophetias nos non finxisse de Christo; quas plurimi eorum considerantes et ante passionem et maxime post eius resurrectionem crediderunt in eum, de quibus praedictum est: si fuerit numerus filiorum Israel sicut harena maris, reliquiae saluae fient. ceteri vero excaecati sunt, de quibus praedictum est: fiat mensa eorum coram ipsis in laqueum et in retributionem et scandalum. obscurentur oculi eorum, ne videant; et dorsum illorum semper incurua. proinde cum scripturis nostris non credunt, conplentur in eis suae, quas caeci legunt. nisi forte quis dixerit illas prophetias Christianos finxisse de Christo, quae Sibyllae nomine proferuntur vel aliorum, si quae sunt, quae non pertinent ad populum Iudaeorum. nobis quidem illae sufficiunt, quae de nostrorum inimicorum codicibus proferuntur, quos agnoscimus propter hoc testimonium, quod nobis inuiti perhibent eosdem codices habendo atque servando, per omnes gentes etiam ipsos esse dispersos, quaquaversum Christi ecclesia dilatatur. nam prophetia in psalmis, quos legunt etiam, de hac re praemissa est, ubi scriptum est: deus meus, misericordia eius praeveniet me; deus meus demonstravit mihi in inimicis meis, ne occideris eos, ne quando obliviscantur legem tuam; disperge eos in virtute tua. demonstravit ergo deus ecclesiae in eius inimicis Iudaeis gratiam misericordiae suae, quoniam, sicut dicit apostolus, delictum illorum salus gentibus; et ideo non eos occidit, id est non in eis perdidit quod sunt Iudaei, quamuis a Romanis fuerint devicti et obpressi, ne obliti legem dei ad hoc, de quo agimus, testimonium nihil valerent. ideo parum fuit, ut diceret: ne occideris eos, ne quando obliviscantur legem tuam, nisi adderet etiam: disperge eos; quoniam si cum isto testimonio scripturarum in sua tantummodo terra, non ubique essent, profecto ecclesia, quae ubique est, eos prophetiarum, quae de Christo praemissae sunt, testes in omnibus gentibus habere non posset. ||While Herod, therefore, reigned in Judea, and Cжsar Augustus was emperor at Rome, the state of the republic being already changed, and the world being set at peace by him, Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judah, man manifest out of a human virgin, God hidden out of God the Father. For so had the prophet foretold: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which, being interpreted, is, God with us." He did many miracles that He might commend God in Himself, some of which, even as many as seemed sufficient to proclaim Him, are contained in the evangelic Scripture. The first of these is, that He was so wonderfully born, and the last, that with His body raised up again from the dead He ascended into heaven. But the Jews who slew Him, and would not believe in Him, because it behoved Him to die and rise again, were yet more miserably wasted by the Romans, and utterly rooted out from their kingdom, where aliens had already ruled over them, and were dispersed through the lands (so that indeed there is no place where they are not), and are thus by their own Scriptures a testimony to us that we have not forged the prophecies about Christ. And very many of them, considering this, even before His passion, but chiefly after His resurrection, believed on Him, of whom it was predicted, "Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved." But the rest are blinded, of whom it was predicted, "Let their table be made before them a trap, and a retribution, and a stumbling-block. Let their eyes be darkened lest they see, and bow down their back alway." Therefore, when they do not believe our Scriptures, their own, which they blindly read, are fulfilled in them, lest perchance any one should say that the Christians have forged these prophecies about Christ which are quoted under the name of the sibyl, or of others, if such there be, who do not belong to the Jewish people. For us, indeed, those suffice which are quoted from the books of our enemies, to whom we make our acknowledgment, on account of this testimony which, in spite of themselves, they contribute by their possession of these books, while they themselves are dispersed among all nations, wherever the Church of Christ is spread abroad. For a prophecy about this thing was sent before in the Psalms, which they also read, where it is written, "My God, His mercy shall prevent me. My God has shown me concerning mine enemies, that You shall not slay them, lest they should at last forget Your law: disperse them in Your might." Therefore God has shown the Church in her enemies the Jews the grace of His compassion, since, as says the apostle, "their offence is the salvation of the Gentiles." Romans 11:11 And therefore He has not slain them, that is, He has not let the knowledge that they are Jews be lost in them, although they have been conquered by the Romans, lest they should forget the law of God, and their testimony should be of no avail in this matter of which we treat. But it was not enough that he should say, "Slay them not, lest they should at last forget Your law," unless he had also added, "Disperse them;" because if they had only been in their own land with that testimony of the Scriptures, and not every where, certainly the Church which is everywhere could not have had them as witnesses among all nations to the prophecies which were sent before concerning Christ.
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| − | ||<div id="c47"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLVII] Quapropter quisquis alienigena, id est non ex Israel progenitus nec ab illo populo in canonem sacrarum litterarum receptus, legitur aliquid prophetasse de Christo, si in nostram notitiam venit aut venerit, ad cumulum a nobis commemorari potest; non quo necessarius sit, etiamsi desit, sed quia non Incongrue creditur fuisse et in aliis gentibus homines, quibus hoc mysterium reuelatum est, et qui haec etiam praedicere inpulsi sunt, sive participes eiusdem gratiae fuerint sive expertes, sed per malos angelos docti sint, quos etiam praesentem Christum, quem Iudaei non agnoscebant, scimus fuisse confessos. Nec ipsos Iudaeos existimo audere contendere neminem pertinuisse ad Deum praeter Israelitas, ex quo propago Israel esse coepit, reprobato eius fratre maiore. Populus enim re vera, qui proprie Dei populus diceretur, nullus alius fuit; homines autem quosdam non terrena, sed caelesti societate ad veros Israelitas supernae cives patriae pertinentes etiam in aliis gentibus fuisse negare non possunt; quia si negant, facillime conuincuntur de sancto et mirabili viro Iob, qui nec indigena nec proselytus, id est advena populi Israel fuit, sed ex gente Idumaea genus ducens, ibi ortus, ibidem mortuus est; qui divino sic laudatur eloquio, ut, quod ad iustitiam pietatemque adtinet, nullus ei homo suorum temporum coaequetur. Quae tempora eius quamuis non inveniamus in Chronicis, colligimus tamen ex libro eius, quem pro sui merito Israelitae in auctoritatem canonicam receperunt, tertia generatione posteriorem fuisse quam Israel. Divinitus autem provisum fuisse non dubito, ut ex hoc uno sciremus etiam per alias gentes esse potuisse, qui secundum Deum vixerunt eique placuerunt, pertinentes ad spiritalem Hierusalem. Quod nemini concessum fuisse credendum est, nisi cui divinitus reuelatus est unus mediator Dei et hominum, homo Christus Iesus, qui venturus in carne sic antiquis sanctis praenuntiabatur, quem ad modum nobis venisse nuntiatus est, ut una eademque per ipsum fides omnes in Dei civitatem, Dei domum, Dei templum praedestinatos perducat ad Deum. Sed quaecumque aliorum prophetiae de Dei per Iesum Christum gratia proferuntur, possunt putari a Christianis esse confictae. Ideo nihil est firmius ad conuincendos quoslibet alienos, si de hac re contenderint, nostrosque faciendos, si recte sapuerint, quam ut divina praedicta de Christo ea proferantur, quae in Iudaeorum codicibus scripta sunt; quibus auulsis de sedibus propriis et propter hoc testimonium toto orbe dispersis Christi usquequaque crevit ecclesia. ||Wherefore if we read of any foreigner-that is, one neither born of Israel nor received by that people into the canon of the sacred books-having prophesied something about Christ, if it has come or shall come to our knowledge, we can refer to it over and above; not that this is necessary, even if wanting, but because it is not incongruous to believe that even in other nations there may have been men to whom this mystery was revealed, and who were also impelled to proclaim it, whether they were partakers of the same grace or had no experience of it, but were taught by bad angels, who, as we know, even confessed the present Christ, whom the Jews did not acknowledge. Nor do I think the Jews themselves dare contend that no one has belonged to God except the Israelites, since the increase of Israel began on the rejection of his elder brother. For in very deed there was no other people who were specially called the people of God; but they cannot deny that there have been certain men even of other nations who belonged, not by earthly but heavenly fellowship, to the true Israelites, the citizens of the country that is above. Because, if they deny this, they can be most easily confuted by the case of the holy and wonderful man Job, who was neither a native nor a proselyte, that is, a stranger joining the people of Israel, but, being bred of the Idumean race, arose there and died there too, and who is so praised by the divine oracle, that no man of his times is put on a level with him as regards justice and piety. And although we do not find his date in the chronicles, yet from his book, which for its merit the Israelites have received as of canonical authority, we gather that he was in the third generation after Israel. And I doubt not it was divinely provided, that from this one case we might know that among other nations also there might be men pertaining to the spiritual Jerusalem who have lived according to God and have pleased Him. And it is not to be supposed that this was granted to any one, unless the one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5 was divinely revealed to him; who was pre-announced to the saints of old as yet to come in the flesh, even as He is announced to us as having come, that the self-same faith through Him may lead all to God who are predestinated to be the city of God, the house of God, and the temple of God. But whatever prophecies concerning the grace of God through Christ Jesus are quoted, they may be thought to have been forged by the Christians. So that there is nothing of more weight for confuting all sorts of aliens, if they contend about this matter, and for supporting our friends, if they are truly wise, than to quote those divine predictions about Christ which are written in the books of the Jews, who have been torn from their native abode and dispersed over the whole world in order to bear this testimony, so that the Church of Christ has everywhere increased.
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| − | ||<div id="c48"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLVIII] Haec domus Dei maioris est gloriae, quam fuerat illa prima lignis et lapidibus ceterisque pretiosis rebus metallisque constructa. Non itaque Aggaei prophetia in templi illius instauratione completa est. Ex quo enim est instauratum, numquam ostenditur habuisse tantam gloriam, quantam habuit tempore Salomonis; immo potius ostenditur primum cessatione prophetiae fuisse domus illius gloriam diminutam, deinde ipsius gentis cladibus tantis usque ad ultimum excidium, quod factum est a Romanis, sicut ea, quae supra sunt commemorata testantur. Haec autem domus ad nouum pertinens testamentum tanto utique maioris est gloriae, quanto meliores sunt lapides vivi, quibus credentibus renouatisque construitur. Sed ideo per instaurationem templi illius significata est, quia ipsa renouatio illius aedificii significat eloquio prophetico alterum testamentum, quod appellatur nouum. Quod ergo Deus dixit per memoratum prophetam: Et dabo pacem in loco isto, per significantem locum ille, qui eo significatur, intellegendus est; ut, quia illo loco instaurato significata est ecclesia, quae fuerat aedificanda per Christum, nihil <aliud> accipiatur, quod dictum est: Dabo pacem in loco isto, nisi "dabo pacem in loco, quem significat locus iste". Quoniam omnia significantia videntur quodam modo earum rerum, quas significant, sustinere personas; sicut dictum est ab apostolo: Petra erat Christus, quoniam petra illa, de qua hoc dictum est, significabat utique Christum. Maior est itaque gloria domus huius novi testamenti quam domus prioris ueteris testamenti, et tunc apparebit maior, cum dedicabitur. Tunc enim veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus, sicut legitur in Hebraeo. Nam primus eius adventus nondum erat desideratus omnibus gentibus. Non enim quem deberent desiderare sciebant, in quem non crediderant. Tunc etiam secundum septuaginta interpretes (quia et ipse propheticus sensus est) venient quae electa sunt Domini de cunctis gentibus. Tunc enim vere non venient nisi electa, de quibus dicit apostolus: Sicut elegit nos in ipso ante mundi constitutionem. Ipse quippe architectus, qui dixit: Multi vocati, pauci vero electi, non de his, qui vocati sic venerunt, ut de conuivio proicerentur, sed de electis demonstraturus est aedificatam domum, quae nullam.ruinam deinceps formidabit. Nunc autem, quando et hi replent ecclesias, quos tamquam in area ventilatio separabit, non apparet tanta gloria domus huius, quanta tunc apparebit, quando, quisquis ibi erit, semper erit. ||This house of God is more glorious than that first one which was constructed of wood and stone, metals and other precious things. Therefore the prophecy of Haggai was not fulfilled in the rebuilding of that temple. For it can never be shown to have had so much glory after it was rebuilt as it had in the time of Solomon; yea, rather, the glory of that house is shown to have been diminished, first by the ceasing of prophecy, and then by the nation itself suffering so great calamities, even to the final destruction made by the Romans, as the things above-mentioned prove. But this house which pertains to the new testament is just as much more glorious as the living stones, even believing, renewed men, of which it is constructed are better. But it was typified by the rebuilding of that temple for this reason, because the very renovation of that edifice typifies in the prophetic oracle another testament which is called the new. When, therefore, God said by the prophet just named, "And I will give peace in this place," Haggai 2:9 He is to be understood who is typified by that typical place; for since by that rebuilt place is typified the Church which was to be built by Christ, nothing else can be accepted as the meaning of the saying, "I will give peace in this place," except I will give peace in the place which that place signifies. For all typical things seem in some way to personate those whom they typify, as it is said by the apostle, "That Rock was Christ." Therefore the glory of this new testament house is greater than the glory of the old testament house; and it will show itself as greater when it shall be dedicated. For then "shall come the desired of all nations," Haggai 2:7 as we read in the Hebrew. For before His advent He had not yet been desired by all nations. For they knew not Him whom they ought to desire, in whom they had not believed. Then, also, according to the Septuagint interpretation (for it also is a prophetic meaning), "shall come those who are elected of the Lord out of all nations." For then indeed there shall come only those who are elected, whereof the apostle says, "According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." Ephesians 1:4 For the Master Builder who said, "Many are called, but few are chosen," Matthew 22:11-14 did not say this of those who, on being called, came in such a way as to be cast out from the feast, but would point out the house built up of the elect, which henceforth shall dread no ruin. Yet because the churches are also full of those who shall be separated by the winnowing as in the threshing-floor, the glory of this house is not so apparent now as it shall be when every one who is there shall be there always.
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| − | ||<div id="c49"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [XLIX] In hoc ergo saeculo maligno, in his diebus malis, ubi per humilitatem praesentem futuram comparat ecclesia celsitudinem et timorum stimulis, dolorum tormentis, laborum molestiis, temptationum periculis eruditur, sola spe gaudens, quando sanum gaudet, multi reprobi miscentur bonis et utrique tamquam in sagenam euangelicam colliguntur et in hoc mundo tamquam in mari utrique inclusi retibus indiscrete natant, donec perveniatur ad litus, ubi mali segregentur a bonis et in bonis tamquam in templo suo sit Deus omnia in omnibus. Proinde vocem nunc agnoscimus eius impleri, qui loquebatur in psalmo atque dicebat: Adnuntiavi et locutus sum, multiplicati sunt super numerum. Hoc fit nunc, ex quo primum per os praecursoris sui Iohannis, deinde per os proprium adnuntiavit et locutus est dicens: Agite paenitentiam, adpropinquavit enim regnum caelorum. Elegit discipulos, quos et apostolos nominavit, humiliter natos, inhonoratos, inlitteratos, ut, quidquid magnum essent et facerent, ipse in eis esset et faceret. Habuit inter eos unum, quo malo utens bene et suae passionis impleret dispositum et ecclesiae suae tolerandorum malorum praeberet exemplum. Seminato, quantum per eius oportebat praesentiam corporalem, sancto euangelio passus est, mortuus est, resurrexit, passione ostendens quid sustinere pro veritate, resurrectione quid sperare in aeternitate debeamus, excepta altitudine sacramenti, qua sanguis eius in remissionem fusus est peccatorum. Conversatus est in terra quadraginta dies cum discipulis suis atque ipsis videntibus ascendit in caelum et post dies decem misit promissum Spiritum sanctum; cuius venientis in eos qui crediderant tunc signum erat maximum et maxime necessarium, ut unusquisque eorum linguis omnium gentium loqueretur; ita significans unitatem catholicae ecclesiae per omnes gentes futuram ac sic linguis omnibus locuturam. ||In this wicked world, in these evil days, when the Church measures her future loftiness by her present humility, and is exercised by goading fears, tormenting sorrows, disquieting labors, and dangerous temptations, when she soberly rejoices, rejoicing only in hope, there are many reprobate mingled with the good, and both are gathered together by the gospel as in a drag net; Matthew 13:47-50 and in this world, as in a sea, both swim enclosed without distinction in the net, until it is brought ashore, when the wicked must be separated from the good, that in the good, as in His temple, God may be all in all. We acknowledge, indeed, that His word is now fulfilled who spoke in the psalm, and said, "I have announced and spoken; they are multiplied above number." This takes place now, since He has spoken, first by the mouth of his forerunner John, and afterward by His own mouth, saying, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He chose disciples, whom He also called apostles, Luke 6:13 of lowly birth, unhonored, and illiterate, so that whatever great thing they might be or do, He might be and do it in them. He had one among them whose wickedness He could use well in order to accomplish His appointed passion, and furnish His Church an example of bearing with the wicked. Having sown the holy gospel as much as that behoved to be done by His bodily presence, He suffered, died, and rose again, showing by His passion what we ought to suffer for the truth, and by His resurrection what we ought to hope for in adversity; saving always the mystery of the sacrament, by which His blood was shed for the remission of sins. He held converse on the earth forty days with His disciples, and in their sight ascended into heaven, and after ten days sent the promised Holy Spirit. It was given as the chief and most necessary sign of His coming on those who had believed, that every one of them spoke in the tongues of all nations; thus signifying that the unity of the catholic Church would embrace all nations, and would in like manner speak in all tongues.
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| − | ||<div id="c50"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [L] Deinde secundum illam prophetiam: Ex Sion lex prodiet et verbum Domini ex Hierusalem, et secundum ipsius Domini Christi praedicta, ubi post resurrectionem stupentibus eum discipulis suis aperuit sensum, ut intellegerent scripturas, et dixit eis, quoniam sic scriptum est, et sic oportebat Christum pati et resurgere a mortuis tertio die et praedicari in nomine eius paenitentiam et remissionem peccatorum per omnes gentes, incipientibus ab Hierusalem, et ubi rursus eis de adventu eius novissimo requirentibus respondit atque ait: Non est uestrum scire tempora quae Pater posuit in sua potestate,. sed accipietis virtutem Spiritus sancti supervenientem in vos, et eritis mihi testes in Hierusalem et in totam Iudaeam et Samariam et usque in fines terrae, primum se ab Hierusalem diffudit ecclesia, et cum in Iudaea atque Samaria plurimi credidissent, et in alias gentes itum est, eis adnuntiantibus euangelium, quos ipse, sicut luminaria, et aptaverat verbo et accenderat Spiritu sancto. Dixerat enim eis: Nolite timere eos, qui corpus occidunt, animam autem non possunt occidere. qui ut frigidi timore non essent, igne caritatis ardebant. Denique non solum per ipsos, qui eum et ante passionem et post resurrectionem viderant et audierant, verum etiam post obitum eorum per posteros eorum inter horrendas persecutiones et varios cruciatus ac funera martyrum praedicatum est toto orbe euangelium, contestante Deo signis et ostentis et variis virtutibus et Spiritus sancti muneribus; ut populi gentium credentes in eum, qui pro eorum redemptione crucifixus est, Christiano amore venerarentur sanguinem martyrum. quem diabolico furore fuderunt, ipsique reges, quorum legibus uastabatur ecclesia, ei nomini salubriter subderentur, quod de terra crudeliter auferre conati sunt, et falsos deos inciperent persequi, quorum causa cultores Dei veri fuerant antea persecuti. ||Then was fulfilled that prophecy, "Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem;" Isaiah 2:3 and the prediction of the Lord Christ Himself, when, after the resurrection, "He opened the understanding" of His amazed disciples "that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, that thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24:45-47 And again, when, in reply to their questioning about the day of His last coming, He said, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own power; but you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even unto the ends of the earth." Acts 1:7-8 First of all, the Church spread herself abroad from Jerusalem; and when very many in Judea and Samaria had believed, she also went into other nations by those who announced the gospel, whom, as lights, He Himself had both prepared by His word and kindled by His Holy Spirit. For He had said to them, "Fear ye not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul." Matthew 10:28 And that they might not be frozen with fear, they burned with the fire of charity. Finally, the gospel of Christ was preached in the whole world, not only by those who had seen and heard Him both before His passion and after His resurrection, but also after their death by their successors, amid the horrible persecutions, diverse torments and deaths of the martyrs, God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, Hebrews 2:4 that the people of the nations, believing in Him who was crucified for their redemption, might venerate with Christian love the blood of the martyrs which they had poured forth with devilish fury, and the very kings by whose laws the Church had been laid waste might become profitably subject to that name they had cruelly striven to take away from the earth, and might begin to persecute the false gods for whose sake the worshippers of the true God had formerly been persecuted.
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| − | ||<div id="c51"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [LI] Videns autem diabolus templa daemonum deseri et in nomen liberantis Mediatoris currere genus humanum, haereticos movit, qui sub vocabulo Christiano doctrinae resisterent Christianae, quasi possent indifferenter sine ulla correptione haberi in civitate Dei, sicut civitas confusionis indifferenter habuit philosophos inter se diversa et adversa sentientes. qui ergo in ecclesia Christi morbidum aliquid prauumque sapiunt, si correpti, ut sanum rectumque sapiant, resistunt contumaciter suaque pestifera et mortifera dogmata emendare nolunt, sed defensare persistunt, haeretici fiunt et foras exeuntes habentur in exercentibus inimicis. Etiam sic quippe veris illis catholicis membris Christi malo suo prosunt, dum Deus utitur et malis bene et diligentibus eum omnia cooperatur in bonum. Inimici enim omnes ecclesiae, quolibet errore caecentur vel malitia depraventur, si accipiunt potestatem corporaliter affligendi, exercent eius patientiam; si tantummodo male sentiendo adversantur, exercent eius sapientiam; ut autem etiam inimici diligantur, exercent eius beneuolentiam aut etiam beneficentiam, sive suadibili doctrina cum eis agatur sive terribili disciplina. Ac per hoc diabolus princeps impiae civitatis adversus peregrinantem in hoc mundo civitatem Dei uasa propria commovendo nihil ei nocere permittitur, cui procul dubio et rebus prosperis consolatio, ut non frangatur adversis, et rebus adversis exercitatio, ut non corrumpatur prosperis, per divinam providentiam procuratur, atque ita temperatur utrumque ab alterutro, ut in psalmo illam vocem non aliunde agnoscamus exortam: Secundum multitudinem dolorum meorum in corde meo consolationes tuae iucundaverunt animam meam. Hinc est et illud apostoli: Spe gaudentes, in tribulatione patientes. Nam et id, quod ait idem doctor: quicumque volunt in Christo pie vivere, persecutionem patiuntur, nullis putandum est deesse posse temporibus. quia et cum ab eis, qui foris sunt, non saevientibus videtur esse tranquillitas et re vera est plurimumque consolationis adfert, maxime infirmis: non tamen desunt, immo multi sunt intus, qui corda pie viventium suis perditis moribus cruciant; quoniam per eos blasphematur Christianum et catholicum nomen; quod quanto est carius eis, qui volunt pie vivere in Christo, tanto magis dolent, quod per malos intus positos fit, ut minus, quam piorum mentes desiderant, diligatur. Ipsi quoque haeretici, cum cogitantur habere nomen et sacramenta Christiana et scripturas et professionem, magnum dolorem faciunt in cordibus piorum; quia et multi volentes esse Christiani propter eorum dissensiones haesitare coguntur et multi maledici etiam in his inveniunt materiam blasphemandi Christianum nomen, quia et ipsi quoquo modo Christiani appellantur. His atque huius modi pravis moribus et erroribus hominum persecutionem patiuntur, qui volunt in Christo pie vivere, etiam nullo infestante neque uexante corpus illorum. Patiuntur quippe hanc persecutionem non in corporibus, sed in cordibus. Vnde illa vox est: Secundum multitudinem dolorum meorum in corde meo. Non enim ait: "In corpore meo." Sed rursus quoniam cogitantur inmutabilia divina promissa, et quod ait apostolus: Novit Dominus qui sunt eius (quos enim praescivit et praedestinavit conformes imaginis filii sui, ex eis perire nullus potest): ideo sequitur in illo psalmo: Consolationes tuae iucundaverunt animam meam. Dolor autem ipse, qui fit in cordibus piorum, quos persequuntur mores Christianorum malorum sive falsorum, prodest dolentibus, quoniam de caritate descendit, qua eos perire nolunt nec impedire aliorum salutem. Denique magnae consolationes fiunt etiam de correctionibus eorum, quae piorum animas tanta iucunditate perfundunt, quantis doloribus de sua perditione cruciaverant. Sic in hoc saeculo, in his diebus malis non solum a tempore corporalis praesentiae Christi et apostolorum eius, sed ab ipso Abel, quem primum iustum impius frater occidit, et deinceps usque in huius saeculi finem inter persecutiones mundi et consolationes Dei peregrinando procurrit ecclesia. ||But the devil, seeing the temples of the demons deserted, and the human race running to the name of the liberating Mediator, has moved the heretics under the Christian name to resist the Christian doctrine, as if they could be kept in the city of God indifferently without any correction, just as the city of confusion indifferently held the philosophers who were of diverse and adverse opinions. Those, therefore, in the Church of Christ who savor anything morbid and depraved, and, on being corrected that they may savor what is wholesome and right, contumaciously resist, and will not amend their pestiferous and deadly dogmas, but persist in defending them, become heretics, and, going without, are to be reckoned as enemies who serve for her discipline. For even thus they profit by their wickedness those true catholic members of Christ, since God makes a good use even of the wicked, and all things work together for good to them that love Him. Romans 8:28 For all the enemies of the Church, whatever error blinds or malice depraves them, exercise her patience if they receive the power to afflict her corporally; and if they only oppose her by wicked thought, they exercise her wisdom: but at the same time, if these enemies are loved, they exercise her benevolence, or even her beneficence, whether she deals with them by persuasive doctrine or by terrible discipline. And thus the devil, the prince of the impious city, when he stirs up his own vessels against the city of God that sojourns in this world, is permitted to do her no harm. For without doubt the divine providence procures for her both consolation through prosperity, that she may not be broken by adversity, and trial through adversity, that she may not be corrupted by prosperity; and thus each is tempered by the other, as we recognize in the Psalms that voice which arises from no other cause, "According to the multitude of my griefs in my heart, Your consolations have delighted my soul." Hence also is that saying of the apostle, "Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation." Romans 12:12 For it is not to be thought that what the same teacher says can at any time fail, "Whoever will live piously in Christ shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12 Because even when those who are without do not rage, and thus there seems to be, and really is, tranquillity, which brings very much consolation, especially to the weak, yet there are not wanting, yea, there are many within who by their abandoned manners torment the hearts of those who live piously, since by them the Christian and catholic name is blasphemed; and the dearer that name is to those who will live piously in Christ, the more do they grieve that through the wicked, who have a place within, it comes to be less loved than pious minds desire. The heretics themselves also, since they are thought to have the Christian name and sacraments, Scriptures, and profession, cause great grief in the hearts of the pious, both because many who wish to be Christians are compelled by their dissensions to hesitate, and many evil-speakers also find in them matter for blaspheming the Christian name, because they too are at any rate called Christians. By these and similar depraved manners and errors of men, those who will live piously in Christ suffer persecution, even when no one molests or vexes their body; for they suffer this persecution, not in their bodies, but in their hearts. Whence is that word, "According to the multitude of my griefs in my heart;" for he does not say, in my body. Yet, on the other hand, none of them can perish, because the immutable divine promises are thought of. And because the apostle says, "The Lord knows them that are His; 2 Timothy 2:19 for whom He did foreknow, He also predestinated [to be] conformed to the image of His Son," Romans 8:29 none of them can perish; therefore it follows in that psalm, "Your consolations have delighted my soul." But that grief which arises in the hearts of the pious, who are persecuted by the manners of bad or false Christians, is profitable to the sufferers, because it proceeds from the charity in which they do not wish them either to perish or to hinder the salvation of others. Finally, great consolations grow out of their chastisement, which imbue the souls of the pious with a fecundity as great as the pains with which they were troubled concerning their own perdition. Thus in this world, in these evil days, not only from the time of the bodily presence of Christ and His apostles, but even from that of Abel, whom first his wicked brother slew because he was righteous, 1 John 3:12 and thenceforth even to the end of this world, the Church has gone forward on pilgrimage amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God.
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| − | ||<div id="c52"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [LII] Proinde ne illud quidem temere puto esse dicendum sive credendum, quod nonnullis visum est vel videtur, non amplius ecclesiam passuram persecutiones usque ad tempus Antichristi, quam quot iam passa est, id est decem, ut undecima eademque novissima sit ab Antichristo. Primam quippe computant a Nerone quae facta est, secundam a Domitiano, a Traiano tertiam, quartam ab Antonino, a Seuero quintam, sextam a Maximino, a Decio septimam, octauam a Valeriano, ab Aureliano nonam, decimam a Diocletiano et Maximiano. Plagas enim Aegyptiorum, quoniam decem fuerunt, antequam exire inde inciperet populus Dei, putant ad hunc intellectum esse referendas, ut novissima Antichristi persecutio similis videatur undecimae plagae, qua Aegyptii, dum hostiliter sequerentur Hebraeos, in mari Rubro populo Dei per siccum transeunte perierunt. Sed ego illa re gesta in Aegypto istas persecutiones prophetice significatas esse non arbitror; quamuis ab eis, qui hoc putant, exquisite et ingeniose illa singula his singulis comparata videantur, non prophetico spiritu, sed coniectura mentis humanae, quae aliquando ad verum pervenit, aliquando fallitur. Quid enim, qui hoc sentiunt, dicturi sunt de persecutione, qua ipse Dominus crucifixus est? in quo eam numero posituri? Si autem hac excepta existimant computandum, tamquam illae numerandae sint, quae ad corpus pertinent, non qua ipsum caput est appetitum et occisum: quid agent de illa, quae, postea quam Christus ascendit in caelum, Hierosolymis facta est, ubi beatus Stephanus lapidatus est, ubi Iacobus frater Iohannis gladio trucidatus, ubi apostolus Petrus ut occideretur inclusus et per angelum liberatus, ubi fugati atque dispersi de Hierosolymis fratres, ubi Saulus, qui postea Paulus apostolus factus est, uastabat ecclesiam, ubi ipse quoque iam fidem, quam persequebatur, euangelizans, qualia faciebat, est passus, sive per Iudaeam sive per alias gentes, quacumque Christum feruentissimus praedicabat? Cur ergo eis a Nerone videtur ordiendum, cum ad Neronis tempora inter atrocissimas persecutiones, de quibus nimis longum est cuncta dicere, ecclesia crescendo peruenerit? Quod si a regibus factas persecutiones in numero existimant esse debere: rex fuit Herodes, qui etiam post ascensum Domini gravissimam fecit. Deinde quid respondent etiam de Iuliano, quem non numerant in decem? An ipse non est ecclesiam persecutus, qui Christianos liberales litteras docere ac discere uetuit? Sub quo Valentinianus maior, qui post eum tertius imperator fuit, fidei Christianae confessor extitit militiaque privatus est; ut omittam quae apud Antiochiam facere coeperat, nisi unius fidelissimi et constantissimi ivvenis, qui multis, ut torquerentur, adprehensis per totum diem primus est tortus, inter ungulas cruciatusque psallentis libertatem atque hilaritatem miratus horruisset et in ceteris deformius erubescere timuisset. Postremo nostra memoria Valens, supradicti Valentiniani frater, Arrianus, nonne magna persecutione per Orientis partes catholicam uastavit ecclesiam? Quale est autem, non considerare ecclesiam per totum mundum fructificantem atque crescentem posse in aliquibus gentibus persecutionem pati a regibus, et quando in aliis non patitur? Nisi forte non est persecutio computanda, quando rex Gothorum in ipsa Gothia persecutus est Christianos crudelitate mirabili, cum ibi non essent nisi catholici, quorum plurimi martyrio coronati sunt, sicut a quibusdam fratribus, qui tunc illic pueri fuerant et se ista vidisse incunctanter recordabantur, audivimus? quid modo in Perside? Nonne ita in Christianos ferbuit persecutio (si tamen iam quievit), ut fugientes inde nonnulli usque ad Romana oppida peruenerint? Haec atque huius modi mihi cogitanti non videtur esse definiendus numerus persecutionum, quibus exerceri oportet ecclesiam. Sed rursus adfirmare aliquas futuras a regibus praeter illam novissimam, de qua nullus ambigit Christianus, non minoris est temeritatis. Itaque hoc in medio relinquimus neutram partem quaestionis huius astruentes sive destruentes, sed tantummodo ab adfirmandi quodlibet horum audaci praesumptione reuocantes. ||I do not think, indeed, that what some have thought or may think is rashly said or believed, that until the time of Antichrist the Church of Christ is not to suffer any persecutions besides those she has already suffered,-that is, ten,-and that the eleventh and last shall be inflicted by Antichrist. They reckon as the first that made by Nero, the second by Domitian, the third by Trajan, the fourth by Antoninus, the fifth by Severus, the sixth by Maximin, the seventh by Decius, the eighth by Valerian, the ninth by Aurelian, the tenth by Diocletian and Maximian. For as there were ten plagues in Egypt before the people of God could begin to go out, they think this is to be referred to as showing that the last persecution by Antichrist must be like the eleventh plague, in which the Egyptians, while following the Hebrews with hostility, perished in the Red Sea when the people of God passed through on dry land. Yet I do not think persecutions were prophetically signified by what was done in Egypt, however nicely and ingeniously those who think so may seem to have compared the two in detail, not by the prophetic Spirit, but by the conjecture of the human mind, which sometimes hits the truth, and sometimes is deceived. But what can those who think this say of the persecution in which the Lord Himself was crucified? In which number will they put it? And if they think the reckoning is to be made exclusive of this one, as if those must be counted which pertain to the body, and not that in which the Head Himself was set upon and slain, what can they make of that one which, after Christ ascended into heaven, took place in Jerusalem, when the blessed Stephen was stoned; when James the brother of John was slaughtered with the sword; when the Apostle Peter was imprisoned to be killed, and was set free by the angel; when the brethren were driven away and scattered from Jerusalem; when Saul, who afterward became the Apostle Paul, wasted the Church; and when he himself, publishing the glad tidings of the faith he had persecuted, suffered such things as he had inflicted, either from the Jews or from other nations, where he most fervently preached Christ everywhere? Why, then, do they think fit to start with Nero, when the Church in her growth had reached the times of Nero amid the most cruel persecutions; about which it would be too long to say anything? But if they think that only the persecutions made by kings ought to be reckoned, it was king Herod who also made a most grievous one after the ascension of the Lord. And what account do they give of Julian, whom they do not number in the ten? Did not he persecute the Church, who forbade the Christians to teach or learn liberal letters? Under him the elder Valentinian, who was the third emperor after him, stood forth as a confessor of the Christian faith, and was dismissed from his command in the army. I shall say nothing of what he did at Antioch, except to mention his being struck with wonder at the freedom and cheerfulness of one most faithful and steadfast young man, who, when many were seized to be tortured, was tortured during a whole day, and sang under the instrument of torture, until the emperor feared lest he should succumb under the continued cruelties and put him to shame at last, which made him dread and fear that he would be yet more dishonorably put to the blush by the rest. Lastly, within our own recollection, did not Valens the Arian, brother of the foresaid Valentinian, waste the catholic Church by great persecution throughout the East? But how unreasonable it is not to consider that the Church, which bears fruit and grows through the whole world, may suffer persecution from kings in some nations even when she does not suffer it in others! Perhaps, however, it was not to be reckoned a persecution when the king of the Goths, in Gothia itself, persecuted the Christians with wonderful cruelty, when there were none but Catholics there, of whom very many were crowned with martyrdom, as we have heard from certain brethren who had been there at that time as boys, and unhesitatingly called to mind that they had seen these things? And what took place in Persia of late? Was not persecution so hot against the Christians (if even yet it is allayed) that some of the fugitives from it came even to Roman towns? When I think of these and the like things, it does not seem to me that the number of persecutions with which the Church is to be tried can be definitely stated. But, on the other hand, it is no less rash to affirm that there will be some persecutions by kings besides that last one, about which no Christian is in doubt. Therefore we leave this undecided, supporting or refuting neither side of this question, but only restraining men from the audacious presumption of affirming either of them.
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| − | ||<div id="c53"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [LIII] Illam sane novissimam persecutionem, quae ab Antichristo futura est, praesentia sua extinguet ipse Iesus. Sic enim scriptum est, quod eum interficiet spiritu oris sui et euacuabit inluminatione praesentiae suae. Hic quaeri solet: Quando istud erit? Inportune omnino. Si enim hoc nobis nosse prodesset, a quo melius quam ab ipso Deo magistro interrogantibus discipulis diceretur? Non enim siluerunt inde apud eum, sed a praesente quaesierunt dicentes: Domine, si hoc tempore repraesentabis regnum Israel? At ille: Non est, inquit, uestrum scire tempora, quae Pater posuit in sua potestate. Non utique illi de hora vel die vel anno, sed de tempore interrogaverant, quando istud accepere responsum. Frustra igitur annos, qui remanent huic saeculo, computare ac definire conamur, cum hoc scire non esse nostrum ex ore Veritatis audiamus; quos tamen alii quadringentos, alii quingentos, alii etiam mille ab ascensione Domini usque ad eius ultimum adventum compleri posse dixerunt. Quem ad modum autem quisque eorum astruat opinionem suam, longum est demonstrare et non necessarium. Coniecturis quippe utuntur humanis, non ab eis aliquid certum de scripturae canonicae auctoritate profertur. Omnium vero de hac re calculantium digitos resolvit et quiescere iubet ille, qui dicit: Non est uestrum scire tempora, quae Pater posuit in sua potestate. Sed haec quia euangelica sententia est, mirum non est non ea repressos fuisse deorum multorum falsorumque cultores, quominus fingerent daemonum responsis, quos tamquam deos colunt, definitum esse quanto tempore mansura esset religio Christiana. Cum enim viderent nec tot tantisque persecutionibus eam potuisse consumi, sed his potius mira incrementa sumpsisse, excogitaverunt nescio quos versus Graecos tamquam consulenti cuidam divino oraculo effusos, ubi Christum quidem ab huius tamquam sacrilegii crimine faciunt innocentem, Petrum autem maleficia fecisse subiungunt, ut coleretur Christi nomen per trecentos sexaginta quinque annos, deinde completo memorato numero annorum sine mora sumeret finem. O hominum corda doctorum! O ingenia litterata digna credere ista de Christo, quae credere non uultis in Christum, quod eius discipulus Petrus ab eo magicas artes non didicerit, sed, ipso innocente, tamen eius maleficus fuerit nomenque illius quam suum coli maluerit magicis artibus suis, magnis laboribus et periculis suis, postremo etiam effusione sanguinis sui! Si Petrus maleficus fecit, ut Christum sic diligeret mundus, quid fecit innocens Christus, ut eum sic diligeret Petrus? Respondeant igitur ipsi sibi et si possunt intellegant illa superna gratia factum esse, ut propter aeternam vitam Christum diligeret mundus, qua gratia factum est, ut et propter aeternam vitam ab illo accipiendam et usque ad temporariam mortem pro illo patiendam Christum diligeret Petrus. Deinde isti dii qui sunt, qui possunt ista praedicere nec possunt avertere, ita succumbentes uni malefico et uni sceleri magico, quo puer, ut dicunt, anniculus occisus et dilaniatus et ritu nefario sepultus est, ut sectam sibi adversariam tam prolixo tempore conualescere, tot tantarumque persecutionum horrendas crudelitates non resistendo, sed patiendo superare et ad suorum simulacrorum templorum, sacrorum oraculorum euersionem pervenire permitterent? Quis postremo est deus, non noster utique, sed ipsorum, qui vel inlectus tanto scelere vel inpulsus est ista praestare? Non enim alicui daemoni, sed deo dicunt illi versus haec Petrum arte magica definisse. Talem deum habent, qui Christum non habent. ||Truly Jesus Himself shall extinguish by His presence that last persecution which is to be made by Antichrist. For so it is written, that "He shall slay him with the breath of His mouth, and empty him with the brightness of His presence." It is customary to ask, When shall that be? But this is quite unreasonable. For had it been profitable for us to know this, by whom could it better have been told than by God Himself, the Master, when the disciples questioned Him? For they were not silent when with Him, but inquired of Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time present the kingdom to Israel, or when?" Acts 1:6-7 But He said, "It is not for you to know the times, which the Father has put in His own power." When they got that answer, they had not at all questioned Him about the hour, or day, or year, but about the time. In vain, then, do we attempt to compute definitely the years that may remain to this world, when we may hear from the mouth of the Truth that it is not for us to know this. Yet some have said that four hundred, some five hundred, others a thousand years, may be completed from the ascension of the Lord up to His final coming. But to point out how each of them supports his own opinion would take too long, and is not necessary; for indeed they use human conjectures, and bring forward nothing certain from the authority of the canonical Scriptures. But on this subject He puts aside the figures of the calculators, and orders silence, who says, "It is not for you to know the times, which the Father has put in His own power."But because this sentence is in the Gospel, it is no wonder that the worshippers of the many and false gods have been none the less restrained from feigning that by the responses of the demons, whom they worship as gods, it has been fixed how long the Christian religion is to last. For when they saw that it could not be consumed by so many and great persecutions, but rather drew from them wonderful enlargements, they invented I know not what Greek verses, as if poured forth by a divine oracle to some one consulting it, in which, indeed, they make Christ innocent of this, as it were, sacrilegious crime, but add that Peter by enchantments brought it about that the name of Christ should be worshipped for three hundred and sixty-five years, and, after the completion of that number of years, should at once take end. Oh the hearts of learned men! Oh, learned wits, meet to believe such things about Christ as you are not willing to believe in Christ, that His disciple Peter did not learn magic arts from Him, yet that, although He was innocent, His disciple was an enchanter, and chose that His name rather than his own should be worshipped through his magic arts, his great labors and perils, and at last even the shedding of his blood! If Peter the enchanter made the world so love Christ, what did Christ the innocent do to make Peter so love Him? Let them answer themselves then, and, if they can, let them understand that the world, for the sake of eternal life, was made to love Christ by that same supernal grace which made Peter also love Christ for the sake of the eternal life to be received from Him, and that even to the extent of suffering temporal death for Him. And then, what kind of gods are these who are able to predict such things, yet are not able to avert them, succumbing in such a way to a single enchanter and wicked magician (who, as they say, having slain a yearling boy and torn him to pieces, buried him with nefarious rites), that they permitted the sect hostile to themselves to gain strength for so great a time, and to surmount the horrid cruelties of so many great persecutions, not by resisting but by suffering, and to procure the overthrow of their own images, temples, rituals, and oracles? Finally, what god was it-not ours, certainly, but one of their own-who was either enticed or compelled by so great wickedness to perform these things? For those verses say that Peter bound, not any demon, but a god to do these things. Such a god have they who have not Christ.
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| − | ||<div id="c54"><b>BOOK XVIII</b> [LIV] Haec atque huius modi multa colligerem, si nondum annus ipse transisset, quem divinatio ficta promisit et decepta uanitas credidit. Cum vero, ex quo nominis Christi cultus per eius in carne praesentiam et per apostolos institutus est, ante aliquot annos anni trecenti sexaginta quinque completi sunt, quid aliud quaerimus, unde ista falsitas refellatur? Vt enim in Christi nativitate huius rei non ponamus initium, quia infans et puer discipulos non habebat, tamen quando habere coepit, procul dubio tunc innotuit per eius corporalem praesentiam doctrina et religio Christiana, id est, postea quam in fluuio Iordane ministerio Iohannis est baptizatus. Propter hoc enim de illo prophetia illa praecesserat: Dominabitur a mari usque ad mare et a flumine usque ad terminos orbis terrae. Sed quoniam, priusquam passus esset et resurrexisset a mortuis, nondum fides omnibus fuerat definita (in resurrectione quippe Christi definita est, nam sic apostolus Paulus Atheniensibus loquitur dicens: Iam nunc adnuntiat hominibus omnes ubique agere paenitentiam, eo quod statuit diem iudicare orbem in aequitate in viro quo definivit fidem omnibus resuscitans illum a mortuis): melius in hac quaestione soluenda inde initium sumimus; praesertim quia tunc datus est etiam Spiritus sanctus, sicut eum dari post resurrectionem Christi oportebat in ea civitate, ex qua debuit incipere lex secunda, hoc est testamentum nouum. Prima enim fuit ex monte Sina per Moysen, quod testamentum vocatur uetus. De hac autem, quae per Christum danda erat, praedictum est: Ex Sion lex prodiet et verbum Domini ex Hierusalem. Vnde et ipse per omnes gentes dixit praedicari oportere in nomine suo paenitentiam, sed tamen incipientibus ab Hierusalem. Ibi ergo exorsus est huius nominis cultus, ut in Iesum Christum, qui crucifixus fuerat et resurrexerat, crederetur. Ibi haec fides tam insignibus initiis incanduit, ut aliquot hominum milia in Christi nomen mirabili alacritate conversa venditis suis rebus, ut egenis distribuerentur, proposito sancto et ardentissima caritate ad paupertatem voluntariam pervenirent atque inter frementes et sanguinem sitientes Iudaeos se usque ad mortem pro veritate certare non armata potentia, sed potentiore patientia praepararent. Hoc si nullis magicis artibus factum est, cur credere dubitant eadem virtute divina per totum mundum id fieri potuisse, qua hoc factum est? Si autem ut Hierosolymis sic ad cultum nominis Christi accenderetur tanta hominum multitudo, quae illum in cruce vel fixerat prensum vel riserat fixum, iam maleficium illud fecerat Petrus, ex ipso anno quaerendum est, quando trecenti sexaginta quinque completi sint. Mortuus est ergo Christus duobus Geminis consulibus octauum Kalendas Aprilis. Resurrexit tertio die, sicut apostoli suis etiam sensibus probaverunt. Deinde post quadraginta dies ascendit in caelum; post decem dies, id est quinquagensimo post suam resurrectionem die, misit Spiritum sanctum. Tunc tria milia hominum apostolis eum praedicantibus crediderunt. Tunc itaque nominis illius cultus exorsus est, sicut nos credimus et veritas habet, efficacia Spiritus sancti; sicut autem finxit uanitas impia vel putavit, magicis artibus Petri. Paulo post etiam signo mirabili facto, quando ad verbum ipsius Petri quidam mendicus ab utero matris ita claudus, ut ab aliis portaretur et ad portam templi, ubi stipem peteret, poneretur, in nomine Iesu Christi saluus exiluit, quinque hominum milia crediderunt; ac deinde aliis atque aliis accessibus credentium crevit ecclesia. Ac per hoc colligitur etiam dies, ex quo annus ipse sumpsit initium, scilicet quando missus est Spiritus sanctus, id est per Idus Maias. Numeratis proinde consulibus trecenti sexaginta quinque anni reperiuntur impleti per easdem Idus consulatu Honorii et Eutychiani. Porro sequenti anno, consule Malio Theodoro, quando iam secundum illud oraculum daemonum aut figmentum hominum nulla esse debuit religio Christiana, quid per alias terrarum partes forsitan factum sit, non fuit necesse perquirere; interim, quod scimus, in civitate notissima et eminentissima Carthagine Africae Gaudentius et Iovius comites imperatoris Honorii quarto decimo Kalendas Aprilis falsorum deorum templa euerterunt et simulacra fregerunt. Ex quo usque ad hoc tempus per triginta ferme annos quis non videat quantum creuerit cultus nominis Christi, praesertim postea quam multi eorum Christiani facti sunt, qui tamquam vera illa divinatione reuocabantur a fide eamque completo eodem numero annorum inanem ridendamque viderunt? Nos ergo, qui sumus vocamurque Christiani, non in Petrum credimus, sed in quem credidit Petrus; Petri de Christo aedificati sermonibus, non carminibus venenati; nec decepti maleficiis, sed beneficiis eius adiuti. Ille Petri magister Christus in doctrina, quae ad vitam ducit aeternam, ipse est magister et noster. Sed aliquando iam concludamus hunc librum, hoc usque disserentes et quantum satis visum est demonstrantes, quisnam sit duarum civitatum, caelestis atque terrenae, ab initio usque in finem permixtarum mortalis excursus; quarum illa, quae terrena est; fecit sibi quos voluit vel undecumque vel etiam ex hominibus falsos deos, quibus sacrificando seruiret; illa autem, quae caelestis peregrinatur in terra, falsos deos non facit, sed a vero Deo ipsa fit, cuius verum sacrificium ipsa sit. Ambae tamen temporalibus vel bonis pariter utuntur vel malis pariter affliguntur, diversa fide, diversa spe, diverso amore, donec ultimo iudicio separentur, et percipiat unaquaeque suum finem, cuius nullus est finis; de quibus ambarum finibus deinceps disserendum est. ||I might collect these and many similar arguments, if that year had not already passed by which lying divination has promised, and deceived vanity has believed. But as a few years ago three hundred and sixty-five years were completed since the time when the worship of the name of Christ was established by His presence in the flesh, and by the apostles, what other proof need we seek to refute that falsehood? For, not to place the beginning of this period at the nativity of Christ, because as an infant and boy He had no disciples, yet, when He began to have them, beyond doubt the Christian doctrine and religion then became known through His bodily presence, that is, after He was baptized in the river Jordan by the ministry of John. For on this account that prophecy went before concerning Him: "He shall reign from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." But since, before He suffered and rose from the dead, the faith had not yet been defined to all, but was defined in the resurrection of Christ (for so the Apostle Paul speaks to the Athenians, saying, "But now He announces to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has appointed a day in which to judge the world in equity, by the Man in whom He has defined the faith to all men, raising Him from the dead" Acts 17:30-31 ), it is better that, in settling this question, we should start from that point, especially because the Holy Spirit was then given, just as He behoved to be given after the resurrection of Christ in that city from which the second law, that is, the new testament, ought to begin. For the first, which is called the old testament was given from Mount Sinai through Moses. But concerning this which was to be given by Christ it was predicted, "Out of Sion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem;" Isaiah 2:3 whence He Himself said that repentance in His name behoved to be preached among all nations, but yet beginning at Jerusalem. Luke 24:47 There, therefore, the worship of this name took its rise, that Jesus should be believed in, who died and rose again. There this faith blazed up with such noble beginnings, that several thousand men, being converted to the name of Christ with wonderful alacrity, sold their goods for distribution among the needy, thus, by a holy resolution and most ardent charity, coming to voluntary poverty, and prepared themselves, amid the Jews who raged and thirsted for their blood, to contend for the truth even to death, not with armed power, but with more powerful patience. If this was accomplished by no magic arts, why do they hesitate to believe that the other could be done throughout the whole world by the same divine power by which this was done? But supposing Peter wrought that enchantment so that so great a multitude of men at Jerusalem was thus kindled to worship the name of Christ, who had either seized and fastened Him to the cross, or reviled Him when fastened there, we must still inquire when the three hundred and sixty-five years must be completed, counting from that year. Now Christ died when the Gemini were consuls, on the eighth day before the kalends of April. He rose the third day, as the apostles have proved by the evidence of their own senses. Then forty days after, He ascended into heaven. Ten days after, that is, on the fiftieth after his resurrection, He sent the Holy Spirit; then three thousand men believed when the apostles preached Him. Then, therefore, arose the worship of that name, as we believe, and according to the real truth, by the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, but, as impious vanity has feigned or thought, by the magic arts of Peter. A little afterward, too, on a wonderful sign being wrought, when at Peter's own word a certain beggar, so lame from his mother's womb that he was carried by others and laid down at the gate of the temple, where he begged alms, was made whole in the name of Jesus Christ, and leaped up, five thousand men believed, and thenceforth the Church grew by sundry accessions of believers. Thus we gather the very day with which that year began, namely, that on which the Holy Spirit was sent, that is, during the ides of May. And, on counting the consuls, the three hundred and sixty-five years are found completed on the same ides in the consulate of Honorius and Eutychianus. Now, in the following year, in the consulate of Mallius Theodorus, when, according to that oracle of the demons or figment of men, there ought already to have been no Christian religion, it was not necessary to inquire, what perchance was done in other parts of the earth. But, as we know, in the most noted and eminent city, Carthage, in Africa, Gaudentius and Jovius, officers of the Emperor Honorius, on the fourteenth day before the kalends of April, overthrew the temples and broke the images of the false gods. And from that time to the present, during almost thirty years, who does not see how much the worship of the name of Christ has increased, especially after many of those became Christians who had been kept back from the faith by thinking that divination true, but saw when that same number of years was completed that it was empty and ridiculous? We, therefore, who are called and are Christians, do not believe in Peter, but in Him whom Peter believed,-being edified by Peter's sermons about Christ, not poisoned by his incantations; and not deceived by his enchantments, but aided by his good deeds. Christ Himself, who was Peter's Master in the doctrine which leads to eternal life, is our Master too.But let us now at last finish this book, after thus far treating of, and showing as far as seemed sufficient, what is the mortal course of the two cities, the heavenly and the earthly, which are mingled together from the beginning down to the end. Of these, the earthly one has made to herself of whom she would, either from any other quarter, or even from among men, false gods whom she might serve by sacrifice; but she which is heavenly and is a pilgrim on the earth does not make false gods, but is herself made by the true God of whom she herself must be the true sacrifice. Yet both alike either enjoy temporal good things, or are afflicted with temporal evils, but with diverse faith, diverse hope, and diverse love, until they must be separated by the last judgment, and each must receive her own end, of which there is no end. About these ends of both we must next treat.
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