登陆注册
5214200000148

第148章

For if he had only said, without mentioning the cause, that his forefathers had discovered the art Of making gods, it would have been our duty, if we paid any regard to what is right and pious, to consider and to see that they could never have attained to this art if they had not erred from the truth, if they had believed those things which are worthy of God, if they had attended to divine worship and service.However, if we alone should say that the causes of this art were to be found in the great error and incredulity of men, and aversion of the mind erring from and unfaithful to divine religion, the impudence of those who resist the truth were in some way to be borne with; but when he who admires in man, above all other things, this power which it has been granted him to practise, and sorrows because a time is coming when all those figments of gods invented by men shall even be commanded by the laws to be taken away,-when even this man confesses nevertheless, and explains the causes which led to the discovery of this art, saying that their ancestors, through great error and incredulity, and through not attending to the worship and service of the gods, invented this art of making gods,--what ought we to say, or rather to do, but to give to the Lord our God all the thanks we are able, because He has taken away those things by causes the contrary of those which led to their institution? For that which the prevalence of error instituted, the way of truth took away; that which incredulity instituted, faith took away; that which aversion from divine worship and service instituted, conversion to the one true and holy God took away.Nor was this the case only in Egypt, for which country alone the spirit of the demons lamented in Hermes, but in all the earth, which sings to the Lord a new song,(1) as the truly holy and truly prophetic Scriptures have predicted, in which it is written, "Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth." For the title of this psalm is, "When the house was built after the captivity." For a house is being built to the Lord in all the earth, even the city of God, which is the holy Church, after that captivity in which demons held captive those men who, through faith in God, became living stones in the house.For although man made gods, it did not follow that he who made them was not held captive by them, when, by worshipping them, he was drawn into fellowship with them,--into the fellowship not of stolid idols, but of cunning demons; for what are idols but what they are represented to be in the same ScriptUres, "They have eyes, but they do not see,"(2) and, though artistically fashioned, are still without life and sensation? But unclean spirits, associated through that wicked art with these same idols, have miserably taken captive the souls of their worshippers, by bringing them down into fellowship with themselves.Whence the apostle says, "We know that an idol is nothing, but those things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I would not ye should have fellowship with demons."(3) After this captivity, therefore, in which men were held by malign demons, the house of God is being built in all the earth; whence the title of that psalm in which it is said, "Sing unto the Lord a new song; sing unto the Lord, all the earth.Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; declare well His salvation from day to day.Declare His glory among the nations, among all people His wonderful things.For great is the Lord, and much to be praised: He is terrible above all gods.For all the gods of the nations are demons: but the Lord made the heavens."(4)Wherefore he who sorrowed because a time was coming when the worship of idols should be abolished, and the domination of the demons over those who worshipped them, wished, under the influence of a demon, that that captivity should always continue, at the cessation of which that psalm celebrates the building of the house of the Lord in all the earth.Hermes foretold these things with grief, the prophet with joyfulness; and because the Spirit is victorious who sang these things through the ancient prophets, even Hermes himself was compelled in a wonderful manner to confess, that those very things which he wished not to be removed, and at the prospect of whose removal he was sorrowful, had been instituted, not by prudent, faithful, and religious, but by erring and unbelieving men, averse to the worship and service of the gods.And although he calls them gods, nevertheless, when he says that they were made by such men as we certainly ought not to be, he shows, whether he will or not, that they are not to be worshipped by those who do not resemble these image-makers, that is, by prudent, faithful, and religious men, at the same time also making it manifest that the very men who made them involved themselves in the worship of those as gods who were not gods.For true is the saying of the prophet, "If a man make gods, lo, they are no gods."(5) Such gods, therefore, acknowledged by such worshippers and made by such men, did Hermes call "gods made by men," that is to say, demons, through some art of I know not what description, bound by the chains of their own lusts to images.But, nevertheless, he did not agree with that opinion of the Platonic Apuleius, of which we have already shown the incongruity and absurdity, namely, that they were interpreters and intercessors between the gods whom God made, and men whom the same God made, bringing to God the prayers of men, and from God the gifts given in answer to these prayers.For it is exceedingly stupid to believe that gods whom men have made have more influence with gods whom God has made than men themselves have, whom the very same God has made.And consider, too, that it is a demon which, bound by a man to an image by means of an impious art, has been made a god, but a god to such a man only, not to every man.What kind of god, therefore, is that which no man would make but one erring, incredulous, and averse to the true God? Moreover, if the demons which are worshipped in the temples, being introduced by some kind of strange art into images, that is, into visible representations of themselves, by those men who by this art made gods when they were straying away from, and were averse to the worship and service of the gods,--if, I say, those demons are neither mediators nor interpreters between men and the gods, both on account of their own most wicked and base manners, and because men, though erring, incredulous, and averse from the worship and service of the gods, are nevertheless beyond doubt better than the demons whom they themselves have evoked, then it remains to be affirmed that what power they possess they possess as demons, doing harm by bestowing pretended benefits,--harm all the greater for the deception,--or else openly and undisguisedly doing evil to men.They cannot, however, do anything of this kind unless where they are permitted by the deep and secret providence of God, and then only so far as they are permitted.When, however, they are permitted, it is not because they, being midway between men and the gods, have through the friendship of the gods great power over men; for these demons cannot possibly be friends to the good gods who dwell in the holy and heavenly habitation, by whom we mean holy angels and rational creatures, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers, from whom they are as far separated in disposition and character as vice is distant from virtue, wickedness from goodness.

同类推荐
  • 敖氏伤寒金镜录

    敖氏伤寒金镜录

    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。
  • 西州院

    西州院

    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。
  • 偃溪广闻禅师语录

    偃溪广闻禅师语录

    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。
  • 兰盆献供仪

    兰盆献供仪

    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。
  • 六十种曲玉环记

    六十种曲玉环记

    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
  • 后红楼梦

    后红楼梦

    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。
  • 潜婚总裁:替身娇妻约不约

    潜婚总裁:替身娇妻约不约

    只因为爱上了亡姐喜欢的男人,她冒充双胎姐姐留在陆庭琛身边。身份一朝识破,陆庭琛给予她的是残忍和无情。她这才明白,这个男人的温柔永远只属于一个人。远离卓城,她生下与他的骨肉,只想安静地生活,却不想阴差阳错之下再次与他纠结。这一次,她不想做替身……现实却逼得她再次就范。“既然这么想当她,就好好当!”陆庭琛用实际行动告诉她,做自己姐姐的替身除了死还有生不如死……直到最后,陆庭琛才明白,被替身的并不是旧爱,而是她……情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 最神奇的博弈论定律

    最神奇的博弈论定律

    博弈论又称对策论,是赌博、对弈或类似情境下为求利益最大化所采取的策略、手段、方法、措施。博弈论源于生活,其理论只不过是人们日常行动的抽象和总结。本书用直观、形象、有趣的语言讲述了生活中的博弈场景,从而让读者既能轻松读懂博弈,又能掌握博弈论智慧的精妙之处。
  • 长风起兮

    长风起兮

    浩浩夷洲,汤汤淇水;南北阻隔,楚越遥临。顾家得女,锦衣无尘;束发为子,命换星移。长风起兮,少年白衣;出文入武,青史有名。“呵呵,人心啊!不过是隔了层皮肉而已,就这般难猜吗?”顾锦尘将手压在心脏所在的位置,望着向她缓缓走来的楚寒天苦笑起来。“顾锦尘,我楚寒天愿倾毕生之力护你此生无虞,可惜从始至终你都没有给我这个机会”他轻轻抚着手中的半个玉佩,竟然失声痛哭起来。
  • 废柴香妃

    废柴香妃

    她一出生,便满身香气,订婚太子,奈何三岁便遭人暗算,丹田被毁,注定不能练气修法。在这武道为尊的世界被称为废材,受尽白眼凌辱。他阳间为王,冥界为帝,翻手为云,覆手为雨,却注定这一生要被这一小女完虐。爱恨情仇,血雨腥风!看废材少女如何横行大陆,笑傲乾坤。
  • 重生小农女

    重生小农女

    提起农家女苏如,整个京城无人不知:她八岁冒死救太子,十岁一舞惊圣上,十五岁及笄那年更是引来七大家族继承人同时上门提亲,一时轰动全城!面对诸多羡慕嫉妒恨,苏如很淡定的在家里喂猪,都闹什么闹?她这一世的精彩人生不过才刚刚开始而已。至于嫁人这事嘛?她心中已经有了良人。【这是一个女主重生到她最厌恶的女配身上的“精彩”故事~\(≧▽≦)/~】
  • 全能大佬:影帝大人是女生

    全能大佬:影帝大人是女生

    <女扮男装+女强+不切实际>她是万人之上的王,她是世界五大家族之首的帝家“三少”帝家继承人,亦是英国皇室的三殿下,也是全国人民都在追捧的影帝,却在五年前被人下了药,丢了第一次,生下了他的孩子。他是君家一年前找回来的君家嫡系大少,亦是英国十大集团之一的幕后boss,也是拥有英国伯爵爵位的伯爵大人,原本他是君家继承人,却非要和一个同父异母的弟弟争继承权,那是为了母亲的遗愿。
  • 新媒体时代的文化批评

    新媒体时代的文化批评

    本书收录了作者2008—2011年的文化研究成果,分为上海文化、文化形象、传媒文化、文化教育、世博文化五辑,呈现了新媒体时代文化和文化批评的现状。该论集的文章获得极好的社会反响:《大都市文化发展趋势与上海文化发展坐标、定位问题研究》一文获得第七届上海市人民政府决策咨询研究成果二等奖,《论中国城市化进程中的文化遗产保护》一文发表后为《新华文摘》全文转载,《新媒体时代的文学创作与阅读》整版刊载于《文汇报》学人演讲栏目。
  • 恋爱似糖染星光

    恋爱似糖染星光

    如果恋爱是一颗糖,在叶糖糖心里,它一定是一颗糖。从遇到萧宇星的那天起,她的生活就陷入了极端的不平静。先是,被狗仔跟拍,到假扮情侣,再到目不暇接的发布会,舞会。平淡的生活瞬间被包裹上一层浓稠的糖衣。当浓稠的甜蜜随着误会,隔阂的溶解,苦涩,分离露出端倪。萧宇星那颗渐行渐远藏在迷雾之中的心还有叶糖糖数不尽的委屈。属于糖和星光交汇的爱情,会拥有永恒的结局吗?
  • 佛说广义法门经

    佛说广义法门经

    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。