登陆注册
5214200000377

第377章

And therefore, although our righteous fathers(6) had slaves, and administered their domestic affairs so as to distinguish between the condition of slaves and the heirship of sons in regard to the blessings of this life, yet in regard to the worship of God, in whom we hope for eternal blessings, they took an equally loving oversight of all the members of their household.And this is so much in accordance with the natural order, that the head of the household was called paterfamilias; and this name has been so generally accepted, that even those whose rule is unrighteous are glad to apply it to themselves But those who are true fathers of their households desire and endeavor that all the members of their household, equally with their own children, should worship and win God, and should come to that heavenly home in which the duty of ruling men is no longer necessary, because the duty of caring for their everlasting happiness has also ceased;but, until they reach that home, masters ought to feel their position of authority a greater burden than servants their service.

And if any member of the family interrupts the domestic peace by disobedience, he is corrected either by word or blow, or some kind of just and legitimate punishment, such as society permits, that he may himself be the better for it, and be readjusted to the family harmony from which he had dislocated himself.

For as it is not benevolent to give a man help at the expense of some greater benefit he might receive, so it is not innocent to spare a man at the risk of his falling into graver sin.To be innocent, we must not only do harm to no man, but also restrain him from sin or punish his sin, so that either the man himself who is punished may profit by his experience, or others be warned by his example.Since, then, the house ought to be the beginning or element of the city, and every beginning bears reference to some end of its own kind, and every element to the integrity of the whole of which it is an element, it follows plainly enough that domestic peace has a relation to civic peace,--in other words, that the well-ordered concord of domestic obedience and domestic rule has a relation to the well-ordered concord of civic obedience and civic rule.And therefore it follows, further, that the father of the family ought to frame his domestic rule in accordance with the law of the city, so that the household may be in harmony with the civic order.

CHAP.17.--WHAT PRODUCES PEACE, AND WHAT DISCORD, BETWEEN THE HEAVENLYAND

EARTHLY CITIES.

But the families which do not live by faith seek their peace in the earthly advantages of this life; while the families which live by faith look for those eternal blessings which are promised, and use as pilgrims such advantages of time and of earth as do not fascinate and divert them from God, but rather aid them to endure with greater ease, and to keep down the number of those burdens of the corruptible body which weigh upon the soul.Thus the things necessary for this mortal life are used by both kinds of men and families alike, but each has its own peculiar and widely different aim in using them.The earthly city, which does not live by faith, seeks an earthly peace, and the end it proposes, in the well-ordered concord of civic obedience and rule, is the combination of men's wills to attain the things which are helpful to this life.The heavenly city, or rather the part of it which sojourns on earth and lives by faith, makes use of this peace only because it must, until this mortal condition which necessitates it shall pass away.Consequently, so long as it lives like a captive and a stranger in the earthly city, though it has already received the promise of redemption, and the gift of the Spirit as the earnest of it, it makes no scruple to obey the laws of the earthly city, whereby the things necessary for the maintenance of this mortal life are administered; and thus, as this life is common to both cities, so there is a harmony between them in regard to what belongs to it.But, as the earthly city has had some philosophers whose doctrine is condemned by the divine teaching, and who, being deceived either by their own conjectures or by demons, supposed that many gods must be invited to take an interest in human affairs, and assigned to each a separate function and a separate department,--to one the body, to another the soul; and in the body itself, to one the head, to another the neck, and each of the other members to one of the gods;and in like manner, in the soul, to one god the natural capacity was assigned, to another education, to another anger, to another lust; and so the various affairs of life were assigned,--cattle to one, corn to another, wine to another, oil to another, the woods to another, money to another, navigation to another, wars and victories to another, marriages to another, births and fecundity to another, and other things to other gods:

同类推荐
  • 审视瑶函

    审视瑶函

    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。
  • 太上洞神三皇传授仪

    太上洞神三皇传授仪

    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。
  • 十二门论

    十二门论

    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。
  • 饮冰室评词

    饮冰室评词

    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。
  • The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table

    The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table

    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
  • 此禽可待

    此禽可待

    他们说,有生之年,狭路相逢,终不能幸免。久别重逢,吴微禹咬牙切齿,“容忆,咱们来日方长。”简而言之,这是两只“禽兽”相爱相杀的纯洁爱情故事。
  • 天纵流星之成妃

    天纵流星之成妃

    “我说唯心,你快点,不然就来不及了啊!”“我说你大晚上不睡觉看什么流星雨啊!”“专家说了这可是千年来最大的流星雨诶,安唯心!快别睡了。”.邵年那个倒霉孩子听了专家的预测死活非要拉着安唯心去看千年不遇的流星雨,看就看吧。好好的看个流星雨,竟然被陨石砸死。死就死吧,一睁眼不是阎王殿,反而是满地的死人!好不容易见着喘气儿的了,二话不说拿刀架脖子,她这是招谁惹谁了啊?最后被带到了一个超级美男面前,稀里糊涂的竟成了一国公主还是个待嫁的!得,好女不吃眼前亏,跑不了就嫁呗。
  • 战族传说(4)

    战族传说(4)

    洪荒岁月,涿鹿一战,战神蚩尤虽亡,却留下不灭魔志,战族子民重承魔志,隐匿于武林之外,成为超越武林的隐世武门,只待五星逆行之时乘时而作,东山再起。岁星、荧惑、填星、太白、辰星五星逆行之日终至,千古战意随着时光的轮回而再现武林,一位神的传人,一位魔的后人,在经过无数次武林纷争后慢慢崛起江湖,而世间的种种魔缘机遇终究将两人铸成了左右武林的盖世高手。
  • 陈鹏小说二题

    陈鹏小说二题

    匪军来了,他们人手不够,撑不过冬天。这是大研山的深秋,翻过它就是冬天了。他们说再不补充人手就死路一条——前有追兵后有堵截,官军人数多过他们二十六倍。他们要让我们李村的精壮男人跟他们走,好歹一二十个跟他们走,每人补发三十个金元,日后月饷也有三个。我的天,三十个金元!可谁敢跟他们走?谁心甘情愿跟他们走?他们是土匪。五个匪首画像就贴在县城城楼,来来往往的人看得清清楚楚,说只要逮住其中一个,县衙赏二十个金元。瞧瞧,二十个。比他们给的少十个但不必担一辈子土匪的恶名。我看这生意,划算。他们来找我的时候我想也没想就挡回去了。
  • 神遗之子起源

    神遗之子起源

    地球面对外来生物的入侵,以及末世般的神秘自然现象,人类只能蜷缩在暗无天日的地下残喘。难道人类是宇宙中的孤帆吗?难道人类的起源只是宇宙中潮汐之匙下巧合而诞生的吗?海潮退去,被水掩盖的东西终于裸露出来,不过短暂的宁静后会不会发生猛烈的海啸呢?这一切终将会揭开......
  • 今天也是个好人呢

    今天也是个好人呢

    清酒一本正经的怂恿别人干坏事,“――叮,恭喜你获得好人系统,请宿主励志做个完美的社会主义接班人。”清酒:“……”我不要。“叮--请宿主系好安全带,请确认时空穿梭马上开始。”清酒:“我拒绝。”“——叮,宿主同意,宿主真是个口是心非好公民。”清酒:“……”并不想被发好人卡。傻白甜系统ב好人’宿主
  • BOSS来了:嘟嘟快跑

    BOSS来了:嘟嘟快跑

    胡嘟嘟有三好:纯真、可爱、易骗倒。外加贪钱、嘴馋、人缘好。什么?性格莫测的大老板也看上了她?不行啊大老板,人家喜欢的是你旁边的特助先生啊!大BOSS版本:胡嘟嘟,我堂堂Z.S杂志公司的总裁,要钱有钱、要权有权、光这张脸就上了亚洲最帅风云榜的第一,你还有什么不满?总之,这是一部腹黑总裁威胁利诱、步步紧逼、寸土不让的欢喜追妻大剧,精彩不容错过!
  • 剑起风云主苍穹

    剑起风云主苍穹

    传说,上古有至宝鸿蒙珠,得之可成为鸿蒙之珠,拥有无上的能力。而也正因为如此,众强者围攻鸿蒙之主,使其终究身亡。无尽位面之下,一个莫名少年,偶然得到一颗神秘石珠,开启了他的逆袭之旅。。。ps:本书前面节奏较慢,后期会加快。
  • 最好的爱情,是遇见了你

    最好的爱情,是遇见了你

    七岁那年,我家举家搬迁,我认识了他。从此以后,我身后多了一个甩都甩不掉跟屁虫。我以为我们就此成为最熟悉的陌生人,可命运再次让我们重逢。手连(链)在一起,心还远吗?他说,不远,一直都在。最幸运的是遇见了你,最幸福的是那个他一直爱着我。幸运的是我们一直都在对方的心里,眼中,脑子里。这一生,唯有一劫,渡不过,程超的情劫。兜兜转转,我们还是相遇相爱相伴,或许,这就是躲不过的情劫吧。
  • 沟通技能的训练(北大清华学得到丛书)

    沟通技能的训练(北大清华学得到丛书)

    众所周知,清华大学的前身是清华学校。清华学校以“自强不息,厚德载物”为校训,以“造就中国领袖人才之试验”为宗旨,培养学生钻研的精神和严谨的学风,学校教育质量很高。1928年正式成立清华大学。其后清华大学虽历经几个发展阶段,但一直倡导一贯的校训、宗旨和学风,并以高质量、严要求闻名中外。