登陆注册
5214200000229

第229章

(This was intimated by the words He uttered, when the man, stupefied by fear, had hid himself, "Adam, where art thou?"(4)--words which He used not in ignorance of inquiry, but warning him to consider where he was, since God was not with him.)But when the soul itself forsook the body, corrupted and decayed with age, the other death was experienced of which God had spoken in pronouncing man's sentence, "Earth thou art, and unto earth shall thou return."(5) And of these two deaths that first death of the whole man is composed.And this first death is finally followed by the second, unless man be freed by grace.For the body would not return to the earth from which it was made, save only by the death proper to itself, which occurs when it is forsaken of the soul, its life.And therefore it is agreed among all Christians who truthfully hold the catholic faith, that we are subject to the death of the body, not by the law of nature, by which God ordained no death for man, but by His righteous infliction on account of sin; for God, taking vengeance on sin, said to the man, in whom we all then were, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return."CHAP.16.--CONCERNING THE PHILOSOPHERS WHO THINK THAT THE SEPARATIONOF SOUL AND

BODY IS NOT PENAL, THOUGH PLATO REPRESENTS THE SUPREME DEITY AS PROMISINGTO THE

INFERIOR GODS THAT THEY SHALL NEVER BE DISMISSED FROM THEIR BODIES.

But the philosophers against whom we are defending the city of God, that is, His Church seem to themselves to have good cause to deride us, because we say that the separation of the soul from the body is to be held as part of man' s punishment.For they suppose that the blessedness of the soul then only is complete, when it is quite denuded of the body, and returns to God a pure and simple, and, as it were, naked soul.On this point, if I should find nothing in their own literature to refute this opinion, Ishould be forced laboriously to demonstrate that it is not the body, but the corruptibility of the body, which is a burden to the soul.Hence that sentence of Scripture we quoted in a foregoing book,"For the corruptible body presseth down the soul."(1)The word corruptible is added to show that the soul is burdened, not by any body whatsoever, but by the body such as it has become in consequence of sin.And even though the word had not been added, we could understand nothing else.But when Plato most expressly declares that the gods who are made by the Supreme have immortal bodies, and when he introduces their Maker himself, promising them as a great boon that they should abide in their bodies eternally, and never by any death be loosed from them, why do these adversaries of ours, for the sake of troubling the Christian faith, feign to be ignorant of what they quite well know, and even prefer to contradict themselves rather than lose an opportunity of contradicting us? Here are Plato's words, as Cicero has translated them,(2) in which he introduces the Supreme addressing the gods He had made, and saying, "Ye who are sprung from a divine stock, consider of what works I am the parent and author.These (your bodies) are indestructible so long as I will it; although all that is composed can be destroyed.But it is wicked to dissolve what reason has compacted.But, seeing that ye have been born, ye cannot indeed be immortal and indestructible; yet ye shall by no means be destroyed, nor shall any fates consign you to death, and prove superior to my will, which is a stronger assurance of your perpetuity than those bodies to which ye were joined when ye were born."Plato, you see, says that the gods are both mortal by the connection of the body and soul, and yet are rendered immortal by the will and decree of their Maker.If, therefore, it is a punishment to the soul to be connected with any body whatever, why does God address them as if they were afraid of death, that is, of the separation, of soul and body? Why does He seek to reassure them by promising them immortality, not in virtue of their nature, which is composite and not simple, but by virtue of His invincible will, whereby He can effect that neither things born die, nor things compounded be dissolved, but preserved eternally?

Whether this opinion of Plato's about the stars is true or not, is another question.For we cannot at once grant to him that these luminous bodies or globes, which by day and night shine on the earth with the light of their bodily substance, have also intellectual and blessed souls which animate each its own body, as he confidently affirms of the universe itself, as if it were one huge animal, in which all other animals were contained.(3) But this, as I said, is another question, which we have not undertaken to discuss at present.This much only I deemed right to bring forward, in opposition to those who so pride themselves on being, or on being called Platonists, that they blush to be Christians, and who cannot brook to be called by a name which the common people also bear, lest they vulgarize the philosophers'

coterie, which is proud in proportion to its exclusiveness.These men, seeking a weak point in the Christian doctrine, select for attack the eternity of the body, as if it were a contradiction to contend for the blessedness of the soul, and to wish it to be always resident in the body, bound, as it were, in a lamentable chain; and this although Plato, their own founder and master, affirms that it was granted by the Supreme as a boon to the gods He had made, that they should not die, that is, should not be separated from the bodies with which He had connected them.

CHAP.17.AGAINST THOSE WHO AFFIRM THAT EARTHLY BODIES CANNOT BE MADEINCORRUPTIBLE AND ETERNAL.

同类推荐
  • 农歌集钞

    农歌集钞

    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。
  • 原善

    原善

    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。
  • 得道梯橙锡杖经

    得道梯橙锡杖经

    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。
  • 行素斋杂记

    行素斋杂记

    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。
  • 送友人赴举

    送友人赴举

    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
  • 我说特工女孩我爱你

    我说特工女孩我爱你

    国家特工乐黎在追查北韩犯罪分子案件的时候,化名小夜混入林下的娱乐场所当卧底,巧遇为调查韩国官员而混到林下当卧底的北韩检察官宁思蜀。宁思蜀是中韩混血儿,之前在飞机上就曾与乐黎邂逅,乐黎受命临时保护宁思蜀直至他上飞机。几次生死患难,性格单纯温良的宁思蜀,毫不隐讳对外柔内刚个性十足的乐黎的欣赏,乐黎态度却若即若离,迟迟不肯接受。
  • 长情赋:一世为妃

    长情赋:一世为妃

    这是第三世,前两世的事都深深记在脑海中。第一世为医学传人。第二世为武学传人。这一世是第三世,终于落得个清闲做一个无忧无虑……啊呸,根本做不成安静的美少女!从几百岁变成小奶娃子,作为一个穿越资深的老前辈,聂悠很痛苦。她爱过,恨过,现在淡了。那人居然追了那么远。那一世说好的。‘勿寻勿念,愿君一世安好’?多年不见,那人追到此处,只见他笑着说:悠儿,你一世不来,我就寻你一世,你若生生世世都不来,我即便寻到灰飞烟灭也会缠着你。聂悠:对不起,我们……还没成亲,别了。
  • 怪物

    怪物

    过下午三点钟的时候,又开始刮风。灰尘扑头盖脑地朝脸上扑过来,风镜上很快糊了厚厚一层,视线几乎完全被阻挡。风刚起来的时候,检测器便发出了呜呜的哀鸣,李诺和唐勇飞快地将铁锨扛在肩上,转身就往院子里冲。即便如此,还是很快就被灰尘遮挡了视线,眼前一片模糊,只能依靠检测器的鸣叫辨别方向。灰尘如雨般落在身上,随着呼吸进入肺部。李诺抓起氧气罩罩在脸上,一边咳嗽,一边拽着唐勇。
  • 谋妻难追:世子,滚远点

    谋妻难追:世子,滚远点

    顾曦觉得自己肯定是冲撞了扫把星,不然她怎么可能被一个乱臣贼子看上?看上她也就罢了,这人还偏偏夺了她家天下。算了,反正她两腿一蹬啥都看不见了。可谁能解释一下,她一朝重生,为什么这人又阴魂不散的缠了过来?还一副只要美人不要江山的模样……看着阴魂不散的某人,顾曦无奈问:“你确定要娶我?”“天下为媒,江山为聘。”某人双目放光。
  • 史上最强日本史3

    史上最强日本史3

    以通俗流畅的笔法讲述日本的历史,本书是其第三部。关原会战后不久的庆长八年(1603),德川家康被天皇任命为征夷大将军,在江户建立起了幕府。这当然是在做了无数打点工作之后的结果,但对于家康而言,自己的目的却远不止此,他真正要做的,是消灭丰臣家,将整个日本都掌握在德川家的手里。另一方面,已经感觉到了重重危机的丰臣家,也在以淀夫人为首的核心集团的带领下进行了各种抵抗,无论是消极的或是积极的,大家都希望能够将已故太阁丰臣秀吉的丰功伟业好好地守护到底。于是,一场东西决战又将拉开帷幕。而胜利女神这次又将站在谁的那一边?是东边还是西边?是巨人还是阪神?
  • 林肯:美国最伟大的总统

    林肯:美国最伟大的总统

    《图说世界名人:林肯(美国最伟大的总统)》讲述了,亚伯拉罕·林肯,伟大的政治家、思想家、第16任美国总统,首位美国共和党员总统,也是历史上首名遇刺身亡的总统。其与乔治·华盛顿、富兰克林·罗斯福被公认为是美国历史上最伟大的三位总统。英国《泰晤士报》组织了一个由8位英国和国际顶尖的政治评论员组成的专家委员会,对43位美国总统分别以不同的标准进行了排名,在最伟大的总统排名中,林肯名列第一。
  • 穿越古代去爱你

    穿越古代去爱你

    “导演什么时候临时改了剧本,怎么不通知我,好歹我也是个明星吧,虽然我很好说话但是也不带这么忽视我的....”话毕,一个穿着繁琐古装的妙龄女子从池子里爬出来,发丝凌乱的粘在额前,头饰和假发套东倒西歪..“放肆,哪里来的野蛮女人,竟然偷看本王沐浴!当本王这诺大的王府上前的侍卫形同虚设吗!.....”只见池子边缘靠着一名男子,慵懒的半眯着眸子,并没有因为外来人惊扰了他半分,女子用手摸了摸脸上的水,只见男子如雕刻般脸俊美异常..........
  • 漫威之爆炸果实

    漫威之爆炸果实

    海贼王的世界里爆炸果实被用得一塌糊涂,如果是在漫威世界,拥有了爆炸果实能力,会发生什么呢?——时间线参照漫威宇宙,同时作品稍有改动
  • 火蝴蝶

    火蝴蝶

    蒙氏兄弟是一对富有传奇色彩的双胞胎兄弟。哥哥蒙蓝性格古怪,为人低调,深沉睿智,但才华横溢,富有正义感,从小跟随作为首席法医官的父亲学习法医技术,自修了法医昆虫学、法医毒物学、法庭人类学、法证学和司法精神病学等学科;弟弟蒙橙却是个阳光少年,玩世不恭、吊儿郎当,由于俊美的外表而成为当红的偶像艺人。在这个亚洲最大的法医博物馆,兄弟俩从小就互换身份体验对方的生活,所以每当他们交换身份时,惊险的故事就会随之而来。千奇百怪的尸体、支离破碎的四肢、腐烂不堪的脏器,当蒙氏兄弟剖开骇人的尸体,骤然间,他们看到了那个秘密……
  • 娱乐圈如此美好

    娱乐圈如此美好

    这就是一个公子哥在娱乐圈纵横捭阖的故事。群号:632594564