Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database

7287

Justin, First Apology, 44

nan And the holy Spirit of prophecy taught us this, telling us by Moses that God spoke thus to the man first created: Behold, before your face are good and evil: choose the good. And again, by the other prophet Isaiah, that the following utterance was made as if from God the Father and Lord of all: Wash you, make you clean; put away evils from your souls; learn to do well; judge the orphan, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, says the Lord: And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool; and if they be red like as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if you be willing and obey Me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you do not obey Me, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Isaiah 1:16, etc. And that expression, The sword shall devour you, does not mean that the disobedient shall be slain by the sword, but the sword of God is fire, of which they who choose to do wickedly become the fuel. Wherefore He says, The sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. And if He had spoken concerning a sword that cuts and at once dispatches, He would not have said, shall devour. And so, too, Plato, when he says, The blame is his who chooses, and God is blameless, took this from the prophet Moses and uttered it. For Moses is more ancient than all the Greek writers. And whatever both philosophers and poets have said concerning the immortality of the soul, or punishments after death, or contemplation of things heavenly, or doctrines of the like kind, they have received such suggestions from the prophets as have enabled them to understand and interpret these things. And hence there seem to be seeds of truth among all men; but they are charged with not accurately understanding [the truth] when they assert contradictories. So that what we say about future events being foretold, we do not say it as if they came about by a fatal necessity; but God foreknowing all that shall be done by all men, and it being His decree that the future actions of men shall all be recompensed according to their several value, He foretells by the Spirit of prophecy that He will bestow meet rewards according to the merit of the actions done, always urging the human race to effort and recollection, showing that He cares and provides for men. But by the agency of the devils death has been decreed against those who read the books of Hystaspes, or of the Sibyl, or of the prophets, that through fear they may prevent men who read them from receiving the knowledge of the good, and may retain them in slavery to themselves; which, however, they could not always effect. For not only do we fearlessly read them, but, as you see, bring them for your inspection, knowing that their contents will be pleasing to all. And if we persuade even a few, our gain will be very great; for, as good husbandmen, we shall receive the reward from the Master.

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1. Plato, Phaedrus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) 248c. on which the soul is raised up is nourished by this. And this is a law of Destiny, that the soul which follows after God and obtains a view of any of the truths is free from harm until the next period, and if it can always attain this, is always unharmed; but when, through inability to follow, it fails to see, and through some mischance is filled with forgetfulness and evil and grows heavy, and when it has grown heavy, loses its wings and falls to the earth, then it is the law that this soul
2. Plato, Republic, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)
3. Plato, Timaeus, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) 90a. wherefore care must be taken that they have their motions relatively to one another in due proportion. And as regards the most lordly kind of our soul, we must conceive of it in this wise: we declare that God has given to each of us, as his daemon, that kind of soul which is housed in the top of our body and which raises us—seeing that we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant up from earth towards our kindred in the heaven. And herein we speak most truly; for it is by suspending our head and root from that region whence the substance of our soul first came that the Divine Power
4. Anon., 1 Enoch, 10.9-10.16, 12.4-12.6, 15.8-15.12 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) 10.9. through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.' And to Gabriel said the Lord: 'Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in 10.11. that each one of them will live five hundred years.' And the Lord said unto Michael: 'Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselve 10.12. with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that i 10.13. for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and 10.14. to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all 10.15. generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because 10.16. they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth' shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore. 12.4. called me -Enoch the scribe- and said to me: 'Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness, go, declare to the Watchers of the heaven who have left the high heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and have taken unto themselve 12.5. wives: 'Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth: And ye shall have no peace nor forgivene 12.6. of sin: and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain.' 15.8. And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon 15.9. the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; 15.12. hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.
5. Cicero, On The Nature of The Gods, 1.14-1.15 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) 1.14. but to attend in court, try the case, and deliver their verdict as to what opinions we are to hold about religion, piety and holiness, about ritual, about honour and loyalty to oaths, about temples, shrines and solemn sacrifices, and about the very auspices over which I myself preside; for all of these matters ultimately depend upon this question of the nature of the immortal gods. Surely such wide diversity of opinion among men of the greatest learning on a matter of the highest moment must affect even those who think that they possess certain knowledge with a feeling of doubt. 1.15. This has often struck me, but it did so with especial force on one occasion, when the topic of the immortal gods was made the subject of a very searching and thorough discussion at the house of my friend Gaius Cotta. It was the Latin Festival, and I had come at Cotta's express invitation to pay him a visit. I found him sitting in an alcove, engaged in debate with Gaius Velleius, a Member of the Senate, accounted by the Epicureans as their chief Roman adherent at the time. With them was Quintus Lucilius Balbus, who was so accomplished a student of Stoicism as to rank with the leading Greek exponents of that system. When Cotta saw me, he greeted me with the words: "You come exactly at the right moment, for I am just engaging in a dispute with Velleius on an important topic, in which you with your tastes will be interested to take part.
6. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.8.14 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
7. Juvenal, Satires, 15 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
8. New Testament, 2 Peter, 2.4 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 2.4. For if God didn't spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved to judgment;
9. New Testament, 2 Thessalonians, 3.10 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 3.10. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: "If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.
10. New Testament, Acts, 8.9-8.24 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 8.9. But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who had used sorcery in the city before, and amazed the people of Samaria, making himself out to be some great one 8.10. to whom they all listened, from the least to the greatest, saying, "This man is that great power of God. 8.11. They listened to him, because for a long time he had amazed them with his sorceries. 8.12. But when they believed Philip preaching good news concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 8.13. Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles done, he was amazed. 8.14. Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them 8.15. who, when they had come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit; 8.16. for as yet he had fallen on none of them. They had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 8.17. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 8.18. Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money 8.19. saying, "Give me also this power, that whoever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit. 8.20. But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 8.21. You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn't right before God. 8.22. Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 8.23. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity. 8.24. Simon answered, "Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken come on me.
11. New Testament, Romans, 8.18 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) 8.18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
12. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 19 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
13. Seneca The Younger, Natural Questions, 2.45 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
14. Suetonius, Augustus, 31 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
15. Athenagoras, Apology Or Embassy For The Christians, 24-25, 10 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 10. That we are not atheists, therefore, seeing that we acknowledge one God, uncreated, eternal, invisible, impassible, incomprehensible, illimitable, who is apprehended by the understanding only and the reason, who is encompassed by light, and beauty, and spirit, and power ineffable, by whom the universe has been created through His Logos, and set in order, and is kept in being - I have sufficiently demonstrated. [I say His Logos], for we acknowledge also a Son of God. Nor let any one think it ridiculous that God should have a Son. For though the poets, in their fictions, represent the gods as no better than men, our mode of thinking is not the same as theirs, concerning either God the Father or the Son. But the Son of God is the Logos of the Father, in idea and in operation; for after the pattern of Him and by Him were all things made, the Father and the Son being one. And, the Son being in the Father and the Father in the Son, in oneness and power of spirit, the understanding and reason (νοῦς καὶ λόγος) of the Father is the Son of God. But if, in your surpassing intelligence, it occurs to you to inquire what is meant by the Son, I will state briefly that He is the first product of the Father, not as having been brought into existence (for from the beginning, God, who is the eternal mind [νοῦς], had the Logos in Himself, being from eternity instinct with Logos [λογικός]); but inasmuch as He came forth to be the idea and energizing power of all material things, which lay like a nature without attributes, and an inactive earth, the grosser particles being mixed up with the lighter. The prophetic Spirit also agrees with our statements. The Lord, it says, made me, the beginning of His ways to His works. Proverbs 8:22 The Holy Spirit Himself also, which operates in the prophets, we assert to be an effluence of God, flowing from Him, and returning back again like a beam of the sun. Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare both their power in union and their distinction in order, called atheists? Nor is our teaching in what relates to the divine nature confined to these points; but we recognise also a multitude of angels and ministers, whom God the Maker and Framer of the world distributed and appointed to their several posts by His Logos, to occupy themselves about the elements, and the heavens, and the world, and the things in it, and the goodly ordering of them all.
16. Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, 1.1, 5.14 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
17. Hermas, Mandates, 2.4-2.6 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
18. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 1.2.1, 1.23.2, 2.14.2-2.14.3, 2.14.6, 2.28.1, 2.28.6-2.28.7, 3.4.1, 3.21.2, 4.26.2, 4.34.1, 4.37-4.38, 4.37.1, 4.40 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 4.37. And they make moon and stars appear on the ceiling after this manner. In the central part of the ceiling, having fastened a mirror, placing a dish full of water equally (with the mirror) in the central portion of the floor, and setting in a central place likewise a candle, emitting a faint light from a higher position than the dish - in this way, by reflection, (the magician) causes the moon to appear by the mirror. But frequently, also, they suspend on high from the ceiling, at a distance, a drum, but which, being covered with some garment, is concealed by the accomplice, in order that (the heavenly body) may not appear before the (proper) time. And afterwards placing a candle (within the drum), when the magician gives the signal to the accomplice, he removes so much of the covering as may be sufficient for effecting an imitation representing the figure of the moon as it is at that particular time. He smears, however, the luminous parts of the drum with cinnabar and gum; and having pared around the neck and bottom of a flagon of glass ready behind, he puts a candle in it, and places around it some of the requisite contrivances for making the figures shine, which some one of the accomplices has concealed on high; and on receiving the signal, he throws down from above the contrivances, so to make the moon appear descending from the sky. And the same result is achieved by means of a jar in sylvan localities. For it is by means of a jar that the tricks in a house are performed. For having set up an altar, subsequently is (placed upon it) the jar, having a lighted lamp; when, however, there are a greater number of lamps, no such sight is displayed. After then the enchanter invokes the moon, he orders all the lights to be extinguished, yet that one be left faintly burning; and then the light, that which streams from the jar, is reflected on the ceiling, and furnishes to those present a representation of the moon; the mouth of the jar being kept covered for the time which it would seem to require, in order that the representation of full moon should be exhibited on the ceiling. 4.38. But the scales of fishes - for instance, the seahorse - cause the stars to appear to be; the scales being steeped in a mixture of water and gum, and fastened on the ceiling at intervals. 4.40. And they exhibit a liver seemingly bearing an inscription in this manner. With the left hand he writes what he wishes, appending it to the question, and the letters are traced with gall juice and strong vinegar. Then taking up the liver, retaining it in the left hand, he makes some delay, and then it draws away the impression, and it is supposed to have, as it were, writing upon it.
19. Justin, First Apology, 10.2, 14.3, 16.4, 31.6-31.7, 32.3-32.4 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 10. But we have received by tradition that God does not need the material offerings which men can give, seeing, indeed, that He Himself is the provider of all things. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and do believe, that He accepts those only who imitate the excellences which reside in Him, temperance, and justice, and philanthropy, and as many virtues as are peculiar to a God who is called by no proper name. And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received - of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. For as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so do we consider that, in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of fellowship with Him. For the coming into being at first was not in our own power; and in order that we may follow those things which please Him, choosing them by means of the rational faculties He has Himself endowed us with, He both persuades us and leads us to faith. And we think it for the advantage of all men that they are not restrained from learning these things, but are even urged thereto. For the restraint which human laws could not effect, the Word, inasmuch as He is divine, would have effected, had not the wicked demons, taking as their ally the lust of wickedness which is in every man, and which draws variously to all manner of vice, scattered many false and profane accusations, none of which attach to us.
20. Justin, Second Apology, 7.3-7.8 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) 13. For I myself, when I discovered the wicked disguise which the evil spirits had thrown around the divine doctrines of the Christians, to turn aside others from joining them, laughed both at those who framed these falsehoods, and at the disguise itself and at popular opinion and I confess that I both boast and with all my strength strive to be found a Christian; not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the spermatic word, seeing what was related to it. But they who contradict themselves on the more important points appear not to have possessed the heavenly wisdom, and the knowledge which cannot be spoken against. Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians. For next to God, we worship and love the Word who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since also He became man for our sakes, that becoming a partaker of our sufferings, He might also bring us healing. For all the writers were able to see realities darkly through the sowing of the implanted word that was in them. For the seed and imitation impacted according to capacity is one thing, and quite another is the thing itself, of which there is the participation and imitation according to the grace which is from Him.
21. Justin, Dialogue With Trypho, 2.1, 11.2, 36.2, 80.3, 85.3, 96.2, 102.4, 117.5, 121.3, 141.1 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
22. Tatian, Oration To The Greeks, 19 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
23. Tertullian, Apology, 25 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 25. I think I have offered sufficient proof upon the question of false and true divinity, having shown that the proof rests not merely on debate and argument, but on the witness of the very beings whom you believe are gods, so that the point needs no further handling. However, having been led thus naturally to speak of the Romans, I shall not avoid the controversy which is invited by the groundless assertion of those who maintain that, as a reward of their singular homage to religion, the Romans have been raised to such heights of power as to have become masters of the world; and that so certainly divine are the beings they worship, that those prosper beyond all others, who beyond all others honour them. This, forsooth, is the wages the gods have paid the Romans for their devotion. The progress of the empire is to be ascribed to Sterculus, the Mutunus, and Larentina! For I can hardly think that foreign gods would have been disposed to show more favour to an alien race than to their own, and given their own fatherland, in which they had their birth, grew up to manhood, became illustrious, and at last were buried, over to invaders from another shore! As for Cybele, if she set her affections on the city of Rome as sprung of the Trojan stock saved from the arms of Greece, she herself forsooth being of the same race - if she foresaw her transference to the avenging people by whom Greece the conqueror of Phrygia was to be subdued, let her look to it (in regard of her native country's conquest by Greece). Why, too, even in these days the Mater Magna has given a notable proof of her greatness which she has conferred as a boon upon the city; when, after the loss to the State of Marcus Aurelius at Sirmium, on the sixteenth before the Kalends of April, that most sacred high priest of hers was offering, a week after, impure libations of blood drawn from his own arms, and issuing his commands that the ordinary prayers should be made for the safety of the emperor already dead. O tardy messengers! O sleepy dispatches! Through whose fault Cybele had not an earlier knowledge of the imperial decease, that the Christians might have no occasion to ridicule a goddess so unworthy. Jupiter, again, would surely never have permitted his own Crete to fall at once before the Roman Fasces, forgetful of that Idean cave and the Corybantian cymbals, and the sweet odour of her who nursed him there. Would he not have exalted his own tomb above the entire Capitol, that the land which covered the ashes of Jove might rather be the mistress of the world? Would Juno have desired the destruction of the Punic city, beloved even to the neglect of Samos, and that by a nation of Ænead ? As to that I know, Here were her arms, here was her chariot, this kingdom, if the Fates permit, the goddess tends and cherishes to be mistress of the nations. Jove's hapless wife and sister had no power to prevail against the Fates! Jupiter himself is sustained by fate. And yet the Romans have never done such homage to the Fates, which gave them Carthage against the purpose and the will of Juno, as to the abandoned harlot Larentina. It is undoubted that not a few of your gods have reigned on earth as kings. If, then, they now possess the power of bestowing empire, when they were kings themselves, from whence had they received their kingly honours? Whom did Jupiter and Saturn worship? A Sterculus, I suppose. But did the Romans, along with the native-born inhabitants, afterwards adore also some who were never kings? In that case, however, they were under the reign of others, who did not yet bow down to them, as not yet raised to godhead. It belongs to others, then, to make gift of kingdoms, since there were kings before these gods had their names on the roll of divinities. But how utterly foolish it is to attribute the greatness of the Roman name to religious merits, since it was after Rome became an empire, or call it still a kingdom, that the religion she professes made its chief progress! Is it the case now? Has its religion been the source of the prosperity of Rome? Though Numa set agoing an eagerness after superstitious observances, yet religion among the Romans was not yet a matter of images or temples. It was frugal in its ways, its rites were simple, and there were no capitols struggling to the heavens; but the altars were offhand ones of turf, and the sacred vessels were yet of Samian earthen-ware, and from these the odours rose, and no likeness of God was to be seen. For at that time the skill of the Greeks and Tuscans in image-making had not yet overrun the city with the products of their art. The Romans, therefore, were not distinguished for their devotion to the gods before they attained to greatness; and so their greatness was not the result of their religion. Indeed, how could religion make a people great who have owed their greatness to their irreligion? For, if I am not mistaken, kingdoms and empires are acquired by wars, and are extended by victories. More than that, you cannot have wars and victories without the taking, and often the destruction, of cities. That is a thing in which the gods have their share of calamity. Houses and temples suffer alike; there is indiscriminate slaughter of priests and citizens; the hand of rapine is laid equally upon sacred and on common treasure. Thus the sacrileges of the Romans are as numerous as their trophies. They boast as many triumphs over the gods as over the nations; as many spoils of battle they have still, as there remain images of captive deities. And the poor gods submit to be adored by their enemies, and they ordain illimitable empire to those whose injuries rather than their simulated homage should have had retribution at their hands. But divinities unconscious are with impunity dishonoured, just as in vain they are adored. You certainly never can believe that devotion to religion has evidently advanced to greatness a people who, as we have put it, have either grown by injuring religion, or have injured religion by their growth. Those, too, whose kingdoms have become part of the one great whole of the Roman empire, were not without religion when their kingdoms were taken from them.
24. Diogenes Laertius, Lives of The Philosophers, 7.1 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 7.1. BOOK 7: 1. ZENOZeno, the son of Mnaseas (or Demeas), was a native of Citium in Cyprus, a Greek city which had received Phoenician settlers. He had a wry neck, says Timotheus of Athens in his book On Lives. Moreover, Apollonius of Tyre says he was lean, fairly tall, and swarthy – hence some one called him an Egyptian vine-branch, according to Chrysippus in the first book of his Proverbs. He had thick legs; he was flabby and delicate. Hence Persaeus in his Convivial Reminiscences relates that he declined most invitations to dinner. They say he was fond of eating green figs and of basking in the sun.
25. Iamblichus, Concerning The Mysteries, 9.1, 9.5 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
26. Origen, Against Celsus, 1.21, 6.53-6.54 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) 1.21. The following is the view of Celsus and the Epicureans: Moses having, he says, learned the doctrine which is to be found existing among wise nations and eloquent men, obtained the reputation of divinity. Now, in answer to this we have to say, that it may be allowed him that Moses did indeed hear a somewhat ancient doctrine, and transmitted the same to the Hebrews; that if the doctrine which he heard was false, and neither pious nor venerable, and if notwithstanding, he received it and handed it down to those under his authority, he is liable to censure; but if, as you assert, he gave his adherence to opinions that were wise and true, and educated his people by means of them, what, pray, has he done deserving of condemnation? Would, indeed, that not only Epicurus, but Aristotle, whose sentiments regarding providence are not so impious (as those of the former), and the Stoics, who assert that God is a body, had heard such a doctrine! Then the world would not have been filled with opinions which either disallow or enfeeble the action of providence, or introduce a corrupt corporeal principle, according to which the god of the Stoics is a body, with respect to whom they are not afraid to say that he is capable of change, and may be altered and transformed in all his parts, and, generally, that he is capable of corruption, if there be any one to corrupt him, but that he has the good fortune to escape corruption, because there is none to corrupt. Whereas the doctrine of the Jews and Christians, which preserves the immutability and unalterableness of the divine nature, is stigmatized as impious, because it does not partake of the profanity of those whose notions of God are marked by impiety, but because it says in the supplication addressed to the Divinity, You are the same, it being, moreover, an article of faith that God has said, I change not. 6.53. In the next place, mixing up together various heresies, and not observing that some statements are the utterances of one heretical sect, and others of a different one, he brings forward the objections which we raised against Marcion. And, probably, having heard them from some paltry and ignorant individuals, he assails the very arguments which combat them, but not in a way that shows much intelligence. Quoting then our arguments against Marcion, and not observing that it is against Marcion that he is speaking, he asks: Why does he send secretly, and destroy the works which he has created? Why does he secretly employ force, and persuasion, and deceit? Why does he allure those who, as you assert, have been condemned or accused by him, and carry them away like a slave-dealer? Why does he teach them to steal away from their Lord? Why to flee from their father? Why does he claim them for himself against the father's will? Why does he profess to be the father of strange children? To these questions he subjoins the following remark, as if by way of expressing his surprise: Venerable, indeed, is the god who desires to be the father of those sinners who are condemned by another (god), and of the needy, and, as themselves say, of the very offscourings (of men), and who is unable to capture and punish his messenger, who escaped from him! After this, as if addressing us who acknowledge that this world is not the work of a different and strange god, he continues in the following strain: If these are his works, how is it that God created evil? And how is it that he cannot persuade and admonish (men)? And how is it that he repents on account of the ingratitude and wickedness of men? He finds fault, moreover, with his own handwork, and hates, and threatens, and destroys his own offspring? Whither can he transport them out of this world, which he himself has made? Now it does not appear to me that by these remarks he makes clear what evil is; and although there have been among the Greeks many sects who differ as to the nature of good and evil, he hastily concludes, as if it were a consequence of our maintaining that this world also is a work of the universal God, that in our judgment God is the author of evil. Let it be, however, regarding evil as it may - whether created by God or not - it nevertheless follows only as a result when you compare the principal design. And I am greatly surprised if the inference regarding God's authorship of evil, which he thinks follows from our maintaining that this world also is the work of the universal God, does not follow too from his own statements. For one might say to Celsus: If these are His works, how is it that God created evil? And how is it that He cannot persuade and admonish men? It is indeed the greatest error in reasoning to accuse those who are of different opinions of holding unsound doctrines, when the accuser himself is much more liable to the same charge with regard to his own. 6.54. Let us see, then, briefly what holy Scripture has to say regarding good and evil, and what answer we are to return to the questions, How is it that God created evil? and, How is He incapable of persuading and admonishing men? Now, according to holy Scripture, properly speaking, virtues and virtuous actions are good, as, properly speaking, the reverse of these are evil. We shall be satisfied with quoting on the present occasion some verses from the thirty-fourth Psalm, to the following effect: They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, you children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord . What man is he that desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good. Now, the injunctions to depart from evil, and to do good, do not refer either to corporeal evils or corporeal blessings, as they are termed by some, nor to external things at all, but to blessings and evils of a spiritual kind; since he who departs from such evils, and performs such virtuous actions, will, as one who desires the true life, come to the enjoyment of it; and as one loving to see good days, in which the word of righteousness will be the Sun, he will see them, God taking him away from this present evil world, and from those evil days concerning which Paul said: Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
27. Plotinus, Enneads, 2.9.16, 3.3-3.4 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
28. Paulus Julius, Digesta, 5.21.3

Subjects of this text:

subject	book bibliographic info
academy	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
aged,the	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
angel	Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 342
angelic sin,as epistemological transgression	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
aphrodite	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
apocalyptic literature,and book of daniel	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
apocalyptic literature,history of scholarship on	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
apollo	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
apollonius	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
apologists,generally	Esler (2000), The Early Christian World, 532
apologists	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
apology,apologetics,christian	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
asclepius	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
atoms	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
bible	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
bishop	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
business,commerce	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
care of the poor	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
charisma and truth	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
christ,and demons	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
christ,and fallen angels	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
christ,as logos	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
christ,incarnation of	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
christ	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
christians,christianity	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
christians,numbers of	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
circe	Bacchi (2022), Uncovering Jewish Creativity in Book III of the Sibylline Oracles: Gender, Intertextuality, and Politics, 89
clivus	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
community	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
compassion,pity	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
cosmos,cosmology,nature	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 425
cults	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
demonology,christian	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
demons,as enemies of christ	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
demons,origen on	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
demons	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
determinism	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
dialectic	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418
dionysus,mysteries of	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
doxography	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418
dupied	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
educated,erudite	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102, 262, 268, 325, 418, 425
egypt,egyptian	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
end of the world	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
enochic literary tradition,place of book of dreams in	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
epicurean	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 262
epicureanism,epicureans	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
eschatology,christian	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
ethics	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
fallen angels,as enemies of christ	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
fallen angels,punishment of	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
foreknowledge	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
free choice/free will	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46, 56
freedpersons (and their descendants),manumission	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
general education	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268
genesis,and book of the watchers	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
giants,punishment of	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
gnosticism,gnostic	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
gods,origen on	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
grace; christ the master of	Sider (2001), Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian, 42
grace	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 56
hell	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
hercules (heracles)	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
house community	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
humiliores	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
hystaspes	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268
idolatry	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
integration	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
intermarriage	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
irenaeus	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 56
jerusalem	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
judaism	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
justin	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102, 262, 268, 418, 425
justin martyr,theology	Esler (2000), The Early Christian World, 532
justin martyr	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163; Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173; Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46, 56
knowledge,revealed	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
law,lawyers	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268
libellus	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268
literary production	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
logos,acccording to justin martyr	Esler (2000), The Early Christian World, 532
logos,doctrine of	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325, 425
logos; stoic	Sider (2001), Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian, 42
logos	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
magic,magic papyri	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
magic	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
marcion	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418, 425
marcus aurelius	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418
martyrdom	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
mary; a virgin	Sider (2001), Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian, 42
matter (hyle)	Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 342
miracle-healing	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
monism	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 425
moses	Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 342
mysteries	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
myth	Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 342
mythology	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
noah	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
origen,and platonism	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
origen,on god	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
origen	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
original sin,augustinian	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
original sin,inherited/original guilt	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
original sin,pre-augustinian traditional	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
original sin	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
orphic	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418
orthodoxy,orthodox	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
participation	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
pelagians/pelagianism	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
perennis	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
peripatetics	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418, 425
persecution,martyrs	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268, 325
persecution	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
persecutors,persecution	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
persephone	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
philainis	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 262
philosophers	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
philosophy,and christianity	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
philosophy	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418, 425; Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
plato	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 56
platonic forms	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
platonism	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 262, 418, 425; Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 342
platonists/platonism/plato,on providence (πρόνοια)	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
platonists/platonism/plato,origen and	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
poetry,poets	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
polycarp	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 56
polytheism	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
possessions,wealth	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
predestination	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
predestination (προόρισις),platonists on	Brouwer and Vimercati (2020), Fate, Providence and Free Will: Philosophy and Religion in Dialogue in the Early Imperial Age, 298
predetermination	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
prophecy	Lieu (2015), Marcion and the Making of a Heretic: God and Scripture in the Second Century, 342
prophetic imagery	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
provincials,immigrants	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268
pythagoreans	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418; Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
reason; as logos'	Sider (2001), Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian, 42
rebirth	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418
recapitulation	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
religious background	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
rights,individual	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 268
rule of faith	Osborne (2001), Irenaeus of Lyons, 163
salvation	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
scripture,christian,justin martyr	Esler (2000), The Early Christian World, 532
sibyl	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 262, 268
sin,adams sin/fall	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
sin,hereditary transmission	Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 46
socially elevated	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
socrates	Reed (2005), Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. 173
sorcery,sorcerers	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
soul	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 418
stoicism,stoics	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325, 418, 425
stoics; doctrine of logos	Sider (2001), Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian, 42
stratification,social	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
students	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
substance	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
syria,syrian	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
trials	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 325
universe	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
vacuum,void	Rohmann (2016), Christianity, Book-Burning and Censorship in Late Antiquity, 160
worldliness	Lampe (2003), Christians at Rome in the First Two Centuries: From Paul to Valentinus, 102
zeno; defined god as logos	Sider (2001), Christian and Pagan in the Roman Empire: The Witness of Tertullian, 42