登陆注册
5214200000111

第111章

ARGUMENT.

IN THIS BOOK IT IS SHOWN THAT ETERNAL LIFE IS NOT OBTAINED BY THEWORSHIP OF JANUS, JUPITER, SATURN, AND THE OTHER "SELECT GODS" OF THE CIVIL THEOLOGY.

PREFACE.

IT will be the duty of those who are endowed with quicker and better understandings, in whose case the former books are sufficient, and more than sufficient, to effect their intended object, to bear with me with patience and equanimity whilst I attempt with more than ordinary diligence to tear up and eradicate depraved and ancient opinions hostile to the truth of piety, which the long-continued error of the human race has fixed very deeply in unenlightened minds; co-operating also in this, according to my little measure, with the grace of Him who, being the true God, is able to accomplish it, and on whose help I depend in my work; and, for the sake of others, such should not deem superfluous what they feel to be no longer necessary for themselves.A very great matter is at stake when the true and truly holy divinity is commended to men as that which they ought to seek after and to worship; not, however, on account of the transitory vapor of mortal life, but on account of life eternal, which alone is blessed, although the help necessary for this frail life we are now living is also afforded us by it.

CHAP.1.-- WHETHER, SINCE IT IS EVIDENT THATDEITY IS NOT TO BE FOUND IN THE CIVIL THEOLOGY, WE ARE TO BELIEVE THATIT IS TO BE FOUND IN THE SELECT GODS.

If there is any one whom the sixth book, which I have last finished, has not persuaded that this divinity, or, so to speak, deity--for this word also our authors do not hesitate to use, in order to translate more accurately that which the Greeks call qeoths;--if there is any one, I say, whom the sixth book has not persuaded that this divinity or deity is not to be found in that theology which they call civil, and which Marcus Varro has explained in sixteen books,--that is, that the happiness of eternal life is not attainable through the worship of gods such as states have established to be worshipped, and that in such a form,--perhaps, when he has read this book, he will not have anything further to desire in order to the clearing up of this question.For it is possible that some one may think that at least the select and chief gods, whom Varro comprised in his last book, and of whom we have not spoken sufficiently, are to be worshipped on account of the blessed life, which is none other than eternal.

In respect to which matter I do not say what Tertullian said, perhaps more wittily than truly, "If gods are selected like onions, certainly the rest are rejected as bad."(1) I do not say this, for I see that even from among the select, some are selected for some greater and more excellent office:

as in warfare, when recruits have been elected, there are some again elected from among those for the performance of some greater military service;and in the church, when persons are elected to be overseers, certainly the rest are not rejected, since all good Christians are deservedly called elect; in the erection of a building corner-stones are elected, though the other stones, which are destined for other parts of the structure, are not rejected; grapes are elected for eating, whilst the others, which we leave for drinking, are not rejected.There is no need of adducing many illustrations, since the thing is evident.Wherefore the selection of certain gods from among many affords no proper reason why either he who wrote on this subject, or the worshippers of the gods, or the gods themselves, should be spurned.We ought rather to seek to know what gods these are, and for what purpose they may appear to have been selected CHAP.2.--WHO ARE THE SELECT GODS, AND WHETHERTHEY ARE HELD TO BE EXEMPT FROM THE OFFICES OF THE COMMONER GODS.

The following gods, certainly, Varro signalizes as select, devoting one book to this subject: Janus, Jupiter, Saturn, Genius, Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Vulcan, Neptune, Sol, Orcus, father Liber, Tellus, Ceres, Juno, Luna, Diana, Minerva, Venus, Vesta; of which twenty gods, twelve are males, and eight females.Whether are these deities called select, because of their higher spheres of administration in the world, or because they have become better known to the people, and more worship has been expended on them ? If it be on account of the greater works which are performed by them in the world, we ought not to have found them among that, as it were, plebeian crowd of deities, which has assigned to it the charge of minute and trifling things.For, first of all, at the conception of a foetus, from which point all the works commence which have been distributed in minute detail to many deities, Janus himself opens the way for the reception of the seed;there also is Saturn, on account of the seed itself; there is Liber,?who liberates the male by the effusion of the seed; there is Libera, whom they also would have to be Venus, who confers this same benefit on the woman, namely, that she also be liberated by the emission of the seed;--all these are of the number of those who are called select.But there is also the goddess Mena, who presides over the menses; though the daughter of Jupiter, ignoble nevertheless.And this province of the menses the same author, in his book on the select gods, assigns to Juno herself, who is even queen among the select gods; and here, as Juno Lucina, along with the same Mena, her stepdaughter, she presides over the same blood.There also are two gods, exceedingly obscure, Vitumnus and Sentinus--the one of whom imparts life to the foetus, and the other sensation; and, of a truth, they bestow, most ignoble though they be, far more than alI those noble and select gods bestow.For, surely, without life and sensation, what is the whole foetus which a woman carries in her womb, but a most vile and worthless thing, no better than slime and dust ?

同类推荐
  • Lost Face

    Lost Face

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Quality and Others

    Quality and Others

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 神仙传

    神仙传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 小道地经

    小道地经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass

    A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 明世宗宝训

    明世宗宝训

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 新的一天

    新的一天

    本书汇集了许立志2010年以来所写的近200首诗,其中大部分诗作是在富士康打工期间内完成的。在艰辛的打工生活中,在劳碌的流水线生产操作之余,他一直坚持颇具水准的诗歌创作。他的诗朴素、斩截而又强烈,兼具抒情性与批判性,常以荒诞的或令人震惊的笔触书写悲辛的底层生活与幽深的死亡诗意,以此来为两亿多命运的同路人立言,为底层的生存作证。
  • 繁花似锦之棠莹传

    繁花似锦之棠莹传

    天机楼最近偏头痛,失忆蛊妃被拐,原本放在舒府好好的人儿,结果被商朝第一美男给迷的不着北,最后蛊妃居然落入商朝第一冷脸冰山七王爷手里。天机楼楼主:“最近蛊妃怎么样了?”蓝袍人:“最近好像陷入七王爷与太医的三角恋了。”天机楼楼主淡定喝茶:“没死就好。”“不好了!我们失去蛊妃的消息了!!”天机楼楼主喷茶:“快给我找!”天机楼楼主接过快报,这是什么情况??蛊妃居然要结婚了,而且这个人是南诏皇叔,是个狠角色啊,蓝袍人:“楼主,我们该怎么办?”“还能怎么办?劫亲不成?”棠莹:“非我智商不够,只是他们套路太深,无奈啊。”
  • 巴什卡小铺(二)

    巴什卡小铺(二)

    1980年10月的一天,我上班来到办公室,按照多年的习惯,坐在写字台后的椅子上,马上打开了收发员早已摆放在案头的报纸,这是一份当天的《哈尔滨日报》。当时的报纸,不像现在有几十版,平日只有四版。人们看报,也不像现在,只浏览一下大标题,而是从头到尾,几乎每一篇文字都会仔细看。那天,四版报面很快看完了,工作还没开始,我就开始看中缝里登的广告。忽然,一则公证处的公告引起了我的注意:兹公告。无国籍俄罗斯人巴什卡·伊万诺芙娜,因病在外侨养老院去世,享年90岁,遗有沙曼街37号房产一处。
  • 时代风流

    时代风流

    那年他十七岁,上高中。他们学校是本省名校,听说是中国第一批西式学校之一,光绪三十一年创办的中学堂。又听说,他们学校的毕业生,有几位学部委员,还有几位在北京工作,有的还经常出入中南海,甚至陪同毛主席周总理接见过外宾。有一次,一位校友回母校视察,街上还站了岗。他们学校的教学水平是没的说的,老师都是百里挑一的名师。比如他们的语文老师,原来在南京大学,知道吗,南京大学解放前叫中央大学,1957年出了一点事情,下放到一所山区小学,他们校长费了好些周折,才把他弄到学校来。
  • 甘棠之华

    甘棠之华

    念其文,思其行,怀其德,一次靠近巴金丰富精神世界的心灵对话。作为巴金研究会的骨干、巴金故居常务副馆长,周立民与巴金作品、巴金家人的联系非常密切,掌握了许多秘不示人的一手材料,经过多年积淀,终写成《甘棠之华》。书中首次披露了许多鲜为人知的关于巴金读书、藏书、著书以及与友人交往的点滴细节与珍贵瞬间,真实还原了巴金在不同时期的思想倾向。涉及的内容十分广泛,从国家大事到文坛风云,乃至个人情感等,对于我们了解那个时代和活跃在那个时代的背影大有帮助。
  • 腹黑狂妃太凶猛

    腹黑狂妃太凶猛

    “王爷,王妃杀人了。”“埋了!”“王爷,有人跟王妃表白了!”“砍了!”某男子怒不可遏,邪魅的冰蓝眸子满是阴戾。她本是21世纪,不择手段的金牌律师,一朝穿越,成为南隋国鼎鼎大名的废物丑女。她被欺辱,背黑锅,更是被亲人亲手送进监狱。时光斗转,她王者归来,神鼎在手,灵兽凶猛,打架炼丹信手拈来,废柴的皮囊下到底是怎样的惊世艳艳?遮丑的面纱下到底是怎样的绝色容颜?这一世,苏陌凉发誓:一定让伤害她的人求生不得,求死不能!这世上只有他,只有那个不在乎她实力和容貌,义无反顾将她纳入羽翼的男人。“女人,你若撒野,今生我把酒奉陪!”
  • 星乱乾坤

    星乱乾坤

    在一个崇尚修真的世界里,他却不愿意自己的儿子去修真,却甘愿被人瞧不起,这是为什么?多年前,他的妻子,不说缘由的就离开了他和儿子,却又叫他们不要去找她,这又是为何?离奇的大陆,带我们走上一段不寻常的修真之路……
  • 任何场合说服任何人

    任何场合说服任何人

    生活中,我们总是不可避免地要与人打交道,沟通交流。比如,让孩子按时完成作业,买商品时与对方讨价还价,与家人商量到哪儿去游玩,跟老板提加薪,与同事商量中午去哪儿吃饭,说服面试官录用你……可以说我们无时无刻不生活在“说服”与“被说服”之中。每当这时候,因为各自的出发点、观点不一致的状况就会经常出现,无论是谁,潜意识里都希望对方能“服从”自己,认可自己的观点,那么这就需要掌握点说服技巧,学会任何场合说服任何人。《任何场合说服任何人》一书,从十个方面,通过实用、有效的技巧来告诉你如何拥有说服力,如何才能在任何场合说服任何人,扩大自己的影响力,进而成就自己的非凡事业,愿每一位读过这本书的人都能从中获益。
  • 毒宠霸气小妖花

    毒宠霸气小妖花

    他霸道冷冽不近女色,她俏皮美艳不可方物“才色”双收初遇他们一吻钟情,她便成了他的毒,毒入骨髓,唤醒了他身体里深睡多年的魔王。他爱她入骨宠她入腹她的突然失踪,生死未卜,他如失了神魂。整个人残暴无比。她却在另一个残酷的世界努力的强大自己,再见时她不记得他,公然与别的男人亲密无间....男人怒......他可是暗夜帝王,他要让她知道敢忘记他的后果小女人你既成妖,我便收了你为民除害!道高一尺魔高一丈……这条爱情的苛责之路才刚刚开始“她”还是“他”究竟谁才是最后的赢家一张黑色“鬼幽令”吓破世人胆,女神霸气冷笑:“接鬼幽令者,该死”