1. Hebrew Bible, Psalms, 6.2-6.4, 14.2-14.5, 17.1, 37.23, 51.5, 51.7, 54.8, 58.3, 110.3, 115.3 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 21, 22, 23, 58, 60, 119, 161, 178, 184, 235, 246| 6.2. "יְהוָה אַל־בְּאַפְּךָ תוֹכִיחֵנִי וְאַל־בַּחֲמָתְךָ תְיַסְּרֵנִי׃", 6.3. "חָנֵּנִי יְהוָה כִּי אֻמְלַל אָנִי רְפָאֵנִי יְהוָה כִּי נִבְהֲלוּ עֲצָמָי׃", 6.4. "וְנַפְשִׁי נִבְהֲלָה מְאֹד ואת [וְאַתָּה] יְהוָה עַד־מָתָי׃", 14.2. "יְהוָה מִשָּׁמַיִם הִשְׁקִיף עַל־בְּנֵי־אָדָם לִרְאוֹת הֲיֵשׁ מַשְׂכִּיל דֹּרֵשׁ אֶת־אֱלֹהִים׃", 14.3. "הַכֹּל סָר יַחְדָּו נֶאֱלָחוּ אֵין עֹשֵׂה־טוֹב אֵין גַּם־אֶחָד׃", 14.4. "הֲלֹא יָדְעוּ כָּל־פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן אֹכְלֵי עַמִּי אָכְלוּ לֶחֶם יְהוָה לֹא קָרָאוּ׃", 14.5. "שָׁם פָּחֲדוּ פָחַד כִּי־אֱלֹהִים בְּדוֹר צַדִּיק׃", 17.1. "חֶלְבָּמוֹ סָּגְרוּ פִּימוֹ דִּבְּרוּ בְגֵאוּת׃", 17.1. "תְּפִלָּה לְדָוִד שִׁמְעָה יְהוָה צֶדֶק הַקְשִׁיבָה רִנָּתִי הַאֲזִינָה תְפִלָּתִי בְּלֹא שִׂפְתֵי מִרְמָה׃", 37.23. "מֵיְהוָה מִצְעֲדֵי־גֶבֶר כּוֹנָנוּ וְדַרְכּוֹ יֶחְפָּץ׃", 51.5. "כִּי־פְשָׁעַי אֲנִי אֵדָע וְחַטָּאתִי נֶגְדִּי תָמִיד׃", 51.7. "הֵן־בְּעָווֹן חוֹלָלְתִּי וּבְחֵטְא יֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי׃", 54.8. "בִּנְדָבָה אֶזְבְּחָה־לָּךְ אוֹדֶה שִּׁמְךָ יְהוָה כִּי־טוֹב׃", 58.3. "אַף־בְּלֵב עוֹלֹת תִּפְעָלוּן בָּאָרֶץ חֲמַס יְדֵיכֶם תְּפַלֵּסוּן׃", 110.3. "עַמְּךָ נְדָבֹת בְּיוֹם חֵילֶךָ בְּהַדְרֵי־קֹדֶשׁ מֵרֶחֶם מִשְׁחָר לְךָ טַל יַלְדֻתֶיךָ׃", 115.3. "וֵאלֹהֵינוּ בַשָּׁמָיִם כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־חָפֵץ עָשָׂה׃", | 6.2. "O LORD, rebuke me not in Thine anger, Neither chasten me in Thy wrath.", 6.3. "Be gracious unto me, O LORD, for I languish away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are affrighted.", 6.4. "My soul also is sore affrighted; And Thou, O LORD, how long?", 14.2. "The LORD looked forth from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any man of understanding, that did seek after God.", 14.3. "They are all corrupt, they are together become impure; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.", 14.4. "’Shall not all the workers of iniquity know it, who eat up My people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD?'", 14.5. "There are they in great fear; for God is with the righteous generation.", 17.1. "A Prayer of David. Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry; Give ear unto my prayer from lips without deceit.", 37.23. "It is of the LORD that a man's goings are established; and He delighted in his way.", 51.5. "For I know my transgressions; And my sin is ever before me.", 51.7. "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.", 54.8. "With a freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto Thee; I will give thanks unto Thy name, O LORD, for it is good.", 58.3. "Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out in the earth the violence of your hands.", 110.3. "Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy warfare; in adornments of holiness, from the womb of the dawn, Thine is the dew of thy youth.", 115.3. "But our God is in the heavens; Whatsoever pleased Him He hath done.", |
|
2. Hebrew Bible, Proverbs, 8.35, 21.1 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 21, 161, 184, 235, 253, 283| 8.35. "כִּי מֹצְאִי מצאי [מָצָא] חַיִּים וַיָּפֶק רָצוֹן מֵיְהוָה׃", 21.1. "פַּלְגֵי־מַיִם לֶב־מֶלֶךְ בְּיַד־יְהוָה עַל־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר יַחְפֹּץ יַטֶּנּוּ׃", 21.1. "נֶפֶשׁ רָשָׁע אִוְּתָה־רָע לֹא־יֻחַן בְּעֵינָיו רֵעֵהוּ׃", | 8.35. "For whoso findeth me findeth life, And obtaineth favour of the LORD.", 21.1. "The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever He will.", |
|
3. Hebrew Bible, Malachi, 1.6 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •god, sovereignty of Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 238| 1.6. "בֵּן יְכַבֵּד אָב וְעֶבֶד אֲדֹנָיו וְאִם־אָב אָנִי אַיֵּה כְבוֹדִי וְאִם־אֲדוֹנִים אָנִי אַיֵּה מוֹרָאִי אָמַר יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת לָכֶם הַכֹּהֲנִים בּוֹזֵי שְׁמִי וַאֲמַרְתֶּם בַּמֶּה בָזִינוּ אֶת־שְׁמֶךָ׃", | 1.6. "A son honoureth his father, And a servant his master; If then I be a father, Where is My honour? And if I be a master, Where is My fear? Saith the LORD of hosts Unto you, O priests, that despise My name. And ye say: ‘Wherein have we despised Thy name?’", |
|
4. Hebrew Bible, Leviticus, 12.1-12.8, 15.18, 18.19 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 22, 28| 12.1. "וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר׃", 12.2. "דַּבֵּר אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר אִשָּׁה כִּי תַזְרִיעַ וְיָלְדָה זָכָר וְטָמְאָה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כִּימֵי נִדַּת דְּוֺתָהּ תִּטְמָא׃", 12.3. "וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי יִמּוֹל בְּשַׂר עָרְלָתוֹ׃", 12.4. "וּשְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּשֵׁב בִּדְמֵי טָהֳרָה בְּכָל־קֹדֶשׁ לֹא־תִגָּע וְאֶל־הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לֹא תָבֹא עַד־מְלֹאת יְמֵי טָהֳרָהּ׃", 12.5. "וְאִם־נְקֵבָה תֵלֵד וְטָמְאָה שְׁבֻעַיִם כְּנִדָּתָהּ וְשִׁשִּׁים יוֹם וְשֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּשֵׁב עַל־דְּמֵי טָהֳרָה׃", 12.6. "וּבִמְלֹאת יְמֵי טָהֳרָהּ לְבֵן אוֹ לְבַת תָּבִיא כֶּבֶשׂ בֶּן־שְׁנָתוֹ לְעֹלָה וּבֶן־יוֹנָה אוֹ־תֹר לְחַטָּאת אֶל־פֶּתַח אֹהֶל־מוֹעֵד אֶל־הַכֹּהֵן׃", 12.7. "וְהִקְרִיבוֹ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה וְכִפֶּר עָלֶיהָ וְטָהֲרָה מִמְּקֹר דָּמֶיהָ זֹאת תּוֹרַת הַיֹּלֶדֶת לַזָּכָר אוֹ לַנְּקֵבָה׃", 12.8. "וְאִם־לֹא תִמְצָא יָדָהּ דֵּי שֶׂה וְלָקְחָה שְׁתֵּי־תֹרִים אוֹ שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי יוֹנָה אֶחָד לְעֹלָה וְאֶחָד לְחַטָּאת וְכִפֶּר עָלֶיהָ הַכֹּהֵן וְטָהֵרָה׃", 15.18. "וְאִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכַּב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ שִׁכְבַת־זָרַע וְרָחֲצוּ בַמַּיִם וְטָמְאוּ עַד־הָעָרֶב׃", 18.19. "וְאֶל־אִשָּׁה בְּנִדַּת טֻמְאָתָהּ לֹא תִקְרַב לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ׃", | 12.1. "And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:", 12.2. "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If a woman be delivered, and bear a man-child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the impurity of her sickness shall she be unclean.", 12.3. "And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.", 12.4. "And she shall continue in the blood of purification three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.", 12.5. "But if she bear a maid-child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her impurity; and she shall continue in the blood of purification threescore and six days.", 12.6. "And when the days of her purification are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtle-dove, for a sin-offering, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the priest.", 12.7. "And he shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. This is the law for her that beareth, whether a male or a female.", 12.8. "And if her means suffice not for a lamb, then she shall take two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt-offering, and the other for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.", 15.18. "The woman also with whom a man shall lie carnally, they shall both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the even.", 18.19. "And thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is impure by her uncleanness.", |
|
5. Hebrew Bible, Job, 14.1-14.5 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 119| 14.1. "וְגֶבֶר יָמוּת וַיֶּחֱלָשׁ וַיִּגְוַע אָדָם וְאַיּוֹ׃", 14.1. "אָדָם יְלוּד אִשָּׁה קְצַר יָמִים וּשְׂבַע־רֹגֶז׃", 14.2. "תִּתְקְפֵהוּ לָנֶצַח וַיַּהֲלֹךְ מְשַׁנֶּה פָנָיו וַתְּשַׁלְּחֵהוּ׃", 14.2. "כְּצִיץ יָצָא וַיִּמָּל וַיִּבְרַח כַּצֵּל וְלֹא יַעֲמוֹד׃", 14.3. "אַף־עַל־זֶה פָּקַחְתָּ עֵינֶךָ וְאֹתִי תָבִיא בְמִשְׁפָּט עִמָּךְ׃", 14.4. "מִי־יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָּמֵא לֹא אֶחָד׃", 14.5. "אִם חֲרוּצִים יָמָיו מִסְפַּר־חֳדָשָׁיו אִתָּךְ חקו [חֻקָּיו] עָשִׂיתָ וְלֹא יַעֲבוֹר׃", | 14.1. "Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble.", 14.2. "He cometh forth like a flower, and withereth; He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.", 14.3. "And dost Thou open Thine eyes upon such a one, And bringest me into judgment with Thee?", 14.4. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.", 14.5. "Seeing his days are determined, The number of his months is with Thee, And Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;", |
|
6. Hebrew Bible, Deuteronomy, 4.19, 17.3 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 26| 4.19. "וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂא עֵינֶיךָ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְרָאִיתָ אֶת־הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵחַ וְאֶת־הַכּוֹכָבִים כֹּל צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם וְנִדַּחְתָּ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתָ לָהֶם וַעֲבַדְתָּם אֲשֶׁר חָלַק יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֹתָם לְכֹל הָעַמִּים תַּחַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמָיִם׃", 17.3. "וַיֵּלֶךְ וַיַּעֲבֹד אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ לָהֶם וְלַשֶּׁמֶשׁ אוֹ לַיָּרֵחַ אוֹ לְכָל־צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־צִוִּיתִי׃", | 4.19. "and lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, thou be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath allotted unto all the peoples under the whole heaven.", 17.3. "and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have commanded not;", |
|
7. Hebrew Bible, Exodus, 4.11 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 182| 4.11. "וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלָיו מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם אוֹ מִי־יָשׂוּם אִלֵּם אוֹ חֵרֵשׁ אוֹ פִקֵּחַ אוֹ עִוֵּר הֲלֹא אָנֹכִי יְהוָה׃", | 4.11. "And the LORD said unto him: ‘Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? is it not I the LORD?", |
|
8. Hebrew Bible, Genesis, 5.3, 50.20 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 20, 60| 5.3. "וַיְחִי אָדָם שְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בִּדְמוּתוֹ כְּצַלְמוֹ וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ שֵׁת׃", 5.3. "וַיְחִי־לֶמֶךְ אַחֲרֵי הוֹלִידוֹ אֶת־נֹחַ חָמֵשׁ וְתִשְׁעִים שָׁנָה וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאֹת שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת׃", | 5.3. "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.", 50.20. "And as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.", |
|
9. Hebrew Bible, 1 Kings, 12.15 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 20| 12.15. "וְלֹא־שָׁמַע הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶל־הָעָם כִּי־הָיְתָה סִבָּה מֵעִם יְהוָה לְמַעַן הָקִים אֶת־דְּבָרוֹ אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה בְּיַד אֲחִיָּה הַשִּׁילֹנִי אֶל־יָרָבְעָם בֶּן־נְבָט׃", | 12.15. "So the king hearkened not unto the people; for it was a thing brought about of the LORD, that He might establish His word, which the LORD spoke by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.", |
|
10. Hebrew Bible, Joshua, 11.20, 24.15 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19, 21| 24.15. "וְאִם רַע בְּעֵינֵיכֶם לַעֲבֹד אֶת־יְהוָה בַּחֲרוּ לָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת־מִי תַעֲבֹדוּן אִם אֶת־אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר־עָבְדוּ אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר בעבר [מֵעֵבֶר] הַנָּהָר וְאִם אֶת־אֱלֹהֵי הָאֱמֹרִי אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם יֹשְׁבִים בְּאַרְצָם וְאָנֹכִי וּבֵיתִי נַעֲבֹד אֶת־יְהוָה׃", | 11.20. "For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that they might be utterly destroyed, that they might have no favour, but that they might be destroyed, as the LORD commanded Moses.", 24.15. "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.’", |
|
11. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 17.9, 31.32 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 21, 114| 17.9. "עָקֹב הַלֵּב מִכֹּל וְאָנֻשׁ הוּא מִי יֵדָעֶנּוּ׃", 31.32. "לֹא כַבְּרִית אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אֶת־אֲבוֹתָם בְּיוֹם הֶחֱזִיקִי בְיָדָם לְהוֹצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר־הֵמָּה הֵפֵרוּ אֶת־בְּרִיתִי וְאָנֹכִי בָּעַלְתִּי בָם נְאֻם־יְהוָה׃", | 17.9. "The heart is deceitful above all things, And it is exceeding weak—who can know it?", 31.32. "not according to the covet that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke My covet, although I was a lord over them, saith the LORD.", |
|
12. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 1.4, 6.1-6.7, 7.9, 45.11 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 21, 110, 246| 1.4. "הוֹי גּוֹי חֹטֵא עַם כֶּבֶד עָוֺן זֶרַע מְרֵעִים בָּנִים מַשְׁחִיתִים עָזְבוּ אֶת־יְהוָה נִאֲצוּ אֶת־קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל נָזֹרוּ אָחוֹר׃", 6.1. "בִּשְׁנַת־מוֹת הַמֶּלֶךְ עֻזִּיָּהוּ וָאֶרְאֶה אֶת־אֲדֹנָי יֹשֵׁב עַל־כִּסֵּא רָם וְנִשָּׂא וְשׁוּלָיו מְלֵאִים אֶת־הַהֵיכָל׃", 6.1. "הַשְׁמֵן לֵב־הָעָם הַזֶּה וְאָזְנָיו הַכְבֵּד וְעֵינָיו הָשַׁע פֶּן־יִרְאֶה בְעֵינָיו וּבְאָזְנָיו יִשְׁמָע וּלְבָבוֹ יָבִין וָשָׁב וְרָפָא לוֹ׃", 6.2. "שְׂרָפִים עֹמְדִים מִמַּעַל לוֹ שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם שֵׁשׁ כְּנָפַיִם לְאֶחָד בִּשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה פָנָיו וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְכַסֶּה רַגְלָיו וּבִשְׁתַּיִם יְעוֹפֵף׃", 6.3. "וְקָרָא זֶה אֶל־זֶה וְאָמַר קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת מְלֹא כָל־הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ׃", 6.4. "וַיָּנֻעוּ אַמּוֹת הַסִּפִּים מִקּוֹל הַקּוֹרֵא וְהַבַּיִת יִמָּלֵא עָשָׁן׃", 6.5. "וָאֹמַר אוֹי־לִי כִי־נִדְמֵיתִי כִּי אִישׁ טְמֵא־שְׂפָתַיִם אָנֹכִי וּבְתוֹךְ עַם־טְמֵא שְׂפָתַיִם אָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב כִּי אֶת־הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת רָאוּ עֵינָי׃", 6.6. "וַיָּעָף אֵלַי אֶחָד מִן־הַשְּׂרָפִים וּבְיָדוֹ רִצְפָּה בְּמֶלְקַחַיִם לָקַח מֵעַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ׃", 6.7. "וַיַּגַּע עַל־פִּי וַיֹּאמֶר הִנֵּה נָגַע זֶה עַל־שְׂפָתֶיךָ וְסָר עֲוֺנֶךָ וְחַטָּאתְךָ תְּכֻפָּר׃", 7.9. "וְרֹאשׁ אֶפְרַיִם שֹׁמְרוֹן וְרֹאשׁ שֹׁמְרוֹן בֶּן־רְמַלְיָהוּ אִם לֹא תַאֲמִינוּ כִּי לֹא תֵאָמֵנוּ׃", 45.11. "כֹּה־אָמַר יְהוָה קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיֹצְרוֹ הָאֹתִיּוֹת שְׁאָלוּנִי עַל־בָּנַי וְעַל־פֹּעַל יָדַי תְּצַוֻּנִי׃", | 1.4. "Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children that deal corruptly; They have forsaken the LORD, They have contemned the Holy One of Israel, They are turned away backward.", 6.1. "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.", 6.2. "Above Him stood the seraphim; each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.", 6.3. "And one called unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.", 6.4. "And the posts of the door were moved at the voice of them that called, and the house was filled with smoke.", 6.5. "Then said I: Woe is me! for I am undone; Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For mine eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.", 6.6. "Then flew unto me one of the seraphim, with a glowing stone in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;", 6.7. "and he touched my mouth with it, and said: Lo, this hath touched thy lips; And thine iniquity is taken away, And thy sin expiated.", 7.9. "And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If ye will not have faith, surely ye shall not be established.’", 45.11. "Thus saith the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: Ask Me of the things that are to come; Concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me.", |
|
13. Hebrew Bible, 1 Samuel, 6.6, 8.6-8.9, 14.4 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19, 20, 21| 6.6. "וְלָמָּה תְכַבְּדוּ אֶת־לְבַבְכֶם כַּאֲשֶׁר כִּבְּדוּ מִצְרַיִם וּפַרְעֹה אֶת־לִבָּם הֲלוֹא כַּאֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלֵּל בָּהֶם וַיְשַׁלְּחוּם וַיֵּלֵכוּ׃", 8.6. "וַיֵּרַע הַדָּבָר בְּעֵינֵי שְׁמוּאֵל כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמְרוּ תְּנָה־לָּנוּ מֶלֶךְ לְשָׁפְטֵנוּ וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל שְׁמוּאֵל אֶל־יְהוָה׃", 8.7. "וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵל שְׁמַע בְּקוֹל הָעָם לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר־יֹאמְרוּ אֵלֶיךָ כִּי לֹא אֹתְךָ מָאָסוּ כִּי־אֹתִי מָאֲסוּ מִמְּלֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם׃", 8.8. "כְּכָל־הַמַּעֲשִׂים אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ מִיּוֹם הַעֲלֹתִי אֹתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם וְעַד־הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה וַיַּעַזְבֻנִי וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים כֵּן הֵמָּה עֹשִׂים גַּם־לָךְ׃", 8.9. "וְעַתָּה שְׁמַע בְּקוֹלָם אַךְ כִּי־הָעֵד תָּעִיד בָּהֶם וְהִגַּדְתָּ לָהֶם מִשְׁפַּט הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר יִמְלֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם׃", 14.4. "וּבֵין הַמַּעְבְּרוֹת אֲשֶׁר בִּקֵּשׁ יוֹנָתָן לַעֲבֹר עַל־מַצַּב פְּלִשְׁתִּים שֵׁן־הַסֶּלַע מֵהָעֵבֶר מִזֶּה וְשֵׁן־הַסֶּלַע מֵהָעֵבֶר מִזֶּה וְשֵׁם הָאֶחָד בּוֹצֵץ וְשֵׁם הָאֶחָד סֶנֶּה׃", 14.4. "וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ לְעֵבֶר אֶחָד וַאֲנִי וְיוֹנָתָן בְּנִי נִהְיֶה לְעֵבֶר אֶחָד וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָעָם אֶל־שָׁאוּל הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ עֲשֵׂה׃", | 6.6. "Why harden your hearts, as Miżrayim and Par῾o hardened their hearts? after all the inflictions he wrought among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?", 8.6. "But the thing displeased Shemu᾽el when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Shemu᾽el prayed to the Lord.", 8.7. "And the Lord said to Shemu᾽el, Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.", 8.8. "According to all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Miżrayim, and to this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so they also do to thee.", 8.9. "Now you must hearken to their voice: nevertheless you should solemnly forewarn them, and relate to them the customary practice of the king that shall reign over them.", 14.4. "And between the passes, by which Yonatan sought to go over to the garrison of the Pelishtim, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bożeż, and the name of the other Sene.", |
|
14. Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel, 11.19 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 114| 11.19. "וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם לֵב אֶחָד וְרוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה אֶתֵּן בְּקִרְבְּכֶם וַהֲסִרֹתִי לֵב הָאֶבֶן מִבְּשָׂרָם וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם לֵב בָּשָׂר׃", | 11.19. "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh;", |
|
15. Hebrew Bible, Ecclesiastes, 7.20, 9.7 (5th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 20, 21| 9.7. "לֵךְ אֱכֹל בְּשִׂמְחָה לַחְמֶךָ וּשֲׁתֵה בְלֶב־טוֹב יֵינֶךָ כִּי כְבָר רָצָה הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־מַעֲשֶׂיךָ׃", | 7.20. "For there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.", 9.7. "Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, And drink thy wine with a merry heart; For God hath already accepted thy works.", |
|
| 16. Plato, Republic, 1.47 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19 |
17. Herodotus, Histories, 1.131-1.140 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 37 | 1.131. As to the customs of the Persians, I know them to be these. It is not their custom to make and set up statues and temples and altars, but those who do such things they think foolish, because, I suppose, they have never believed the gods to be like men, as the Greeks do; ,but they call the whole circuit of heaven Zeus, and to him they sacrifice on the highest peaks of the mountains; they sacrifice also to the sun and moon and earth and fire and water and winds. ,From the beginning, these are the only gods to whom they have ever sacrificed; they learned later to sacrifice to the “heavenly” Aphrodite from the Assyrians and Arabians. She is called by the Assyrians Mylitta, by the Arabians Alilat, by the Persians Mitra. 1.132. And this is their method of sacrifice to the aforesaid gods: when about to sacrifice, they do not build altars or kindle fire, employ libations, or music, or fillets, or barley meal: when a man wishes to sacrifice to one of the gods, he leads a beast to an open space and then, wearing a wreath on his tiara, of myrtle usually, calls on the god. ,To pray for blessings for himself alone is not lawful for the sacrificer; rather, he prays that the king and all the Persians be well; for he reckons himself among them. He then cuts the victim limb from limb into portions, and, after boiling the flesh, spreads the softest grass, trefoil usually, and places all of it on this. ,When he has so arranged it, a Magus comes near and chants over it the song of the birth of the gods, as the Persian tradition relates it; for no sacrifice can be offered without a Magus. Then after a little while the sacrificer carries away the flesh and uses it as he pleases. 1.133. The day which every man values most is his own birthday. On this day, he thinks it right to serve a more abundant meal than on other days: oxen or horses or camels or asses, roasted whole in ovens, are set before the rich; the poorer serve the lesser kinds of cattle. ,Their courses are few, the dainties that follow many, and not all served together. This is why the Persians say of Greeks that they rise from table still hungry, because not much dessert is set before them: were this too given to Greeks (the Persians say) they would never stop eating. ,They are very partial to wine. No one may vomit or urinate in another's presence: this is prohibited among them. Moreover, it is their custom to deliberate about the gravest matters when they are drunk; ,and what they approve in their deliberations is proposed to them the next day, when they are sober, by the master of the house where they deliberate; and if, being sober, they still approve it, they act on it, but if not, they drop it. And if they have deliberated about a matter when sober, they decide upon it when they are drunk. 1.134. When one man meets another on the road, it is easy to see if the two are equals; for, if they are, they kiss each other on the lips without speaking; if the difference in rank is small, the cheek is kissed; if it is great, the humbler bows and does obeisance to the other. ,They honor most of all those who live nearest them, next those who are next nearest, and so going ever onwards they assign honor by this rule: those who dwell farthest off they hold least honorable of all; for they think that they are themselves in all regards by far the best of all men, that the rest have only a proportionate claim to merit, until those who live farthest away have least merit of all. ,Under the rule of the Medes, one tribe would even govern another; the Medes held sway over all alike and especially over those who lived nearest to them; these ruled their neighbors, and the neighbors in turn those who came next to them, on the same scheme by which the Persians assign honor; for the nation kept advancing its rule and dominion. 1.135. But the Persians more than all men welcome foreign customs. They wear the Median dress, thinking it more beautiful than their own, and the Egyptian cuirass in war. Their luxurious practices are of all kinds, and all borrowed: the Greeks taught them pederasty. Every Persian marries many lawful wives, and keeps still more concubines. 1.136. After valor in battle it is accounted noble to father the greatest number of sons: the king sends gifts yearly to him who gets most. Strength, they believe, is in numbers. ,They educate their boys from five to twenty years old, and teach them only three things: riding and archery and honesty. A boy is not seen by his father before he is five years old, but lives with the women: the point of this is that, if the boy should die in the interval of his rearing, the father would suffer no grief. 1.137. This is a law which I praise; and it is a praiseworthy law, too, which does not allow the king himself to slay any one for a single offense, or any other Persian to do incurable harm to one of his servants for one offense. Not until an accounting shows that the offender's wrongful acts are more and greater than his services may a man give rein to his anger. ,They say that no one has ever yet killed his father or mother; when such a thing has been done, it always turns out on inquest that the doer is shown to be a changeling or the fruit of adultery; for it is not to be believed (say they) that a son should kill his true parent. 1.138. Furthermore, of what they may not do, they may not speak, either. They hold lying to be the most disgraceful thing of all and next to that debt; for which they have many other reasons, but this in particular: it is inevitable (so they say) that the debtor also speak some falsehood. The citizen who has leprosy or the white sickness may not come into town or mingle with other Persians. They say that he is so afflicted because he has sinned in some way against the sun. ,Every stranger who gets such a disease, many drive out of the country; and they do the same to white doves, for the reason given. Rivers they especially revere; they will neither urinate nor spit nor wash their hands in them, nor let anyone else do so. 1.139. There is another thing that always happens among them; we have noted it although the Persians have not: their names, which agree with the nature of their persons and their nobility, all end in the same letter, that which the Dorians call san, and the Ionians sigma; you will find, if you search, that not some but all Persian names alike end in this letter. 1.140. So much I can say of them from my own certain knowledge. But there are other matters concerning the dead which are secretly and obscurely told: how the dead bodies of Persians are not buried before they have been mangled by birds or dogs. ,That this is the way of the Magi, I know for certain; for they do not conceal the practice. But this is certain, that before the Persians bury the body in earth they embalm it in wax. These Magi are as unlike the priests of Egypt as they are unlike all other men: ,for the priests consider it sacrilege to kill anything that lives, except what they sacrifice; but the Magi kill with their own hands every creature, except dogs and men; they kill all alike, ants and snakes, creeping and flying things, and take great pride in it. Leaving this custom to be such as it has been from the first, I return now to my former story. |
|
| 18. Aristotle, Soul, None (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 32 |
19. Anon., 1 Enoch, 30.15, 53.2 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 22 | 53.2. And their hands commit lawless deeds, And the sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress: Yet the sinners shall be destroyed before the face of the Lord of Spirits, And they shall be banished from off the face of His earth, And they shall perish for ever and ever. |
|
20. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 4.26, 8.5, 9.4, 14.5, 15.11-15.20, 21.1-21.2, 23.18-23.20, 27.8 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 22 | 8.5. If riches are a desirable possession in life,what is richer than wisdom who effects all things? 9.4. give me the wisdom that sits by thy throne,and do not reject me from among thy servants. 14.5. It is thy will that works of thy wisdom should not be without effect;therefore men trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood,and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land. 15.11. because he failed to know the one who formed him and inspired him with an active soul and breathed into him a living spirit." 15.12. But he considered our existence an idle game,and life a festival held for profit,for he says one must get money however one can, even by base means. 15.13. For this man, more than all others, knows that he sins when he makes from earthy matter fragile vessels and graven images. 15.14. But most foolish, and more miserable than an infant,are all the enemies who oppressed thy people. 15.15. For they thought that all their heathen idols were gods,though these have neither the use of their eyes to see with,nor nostrils with which to draw breath,nor ears with which to hear,nor fingers to feel with,and their feet are of no use for walking. 15.16. For a man made them,and one whose spirit is borrowed formed them;for no man can form a god which is like himself. 15.17. He is mortal, and what he makes with lawless hands is dead,for he is better than the objects he worships,since he has life, but they never have. 15.18. The enemies of thy people worship even the most hateful animals,which are worse than all others, when judged by their lack of intelligence; 15.19. and even as animals they are not so beautiful in appearance that one would desire them,but they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing. |
|
| 21. Dead Sea Scrolls, Hodayot, None (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 24 |
| 22. Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule, 2.2, 3.13-4.1, 3.15, 3.16, 3.17, 4.20, 4.24, 8.15, 8.21, 8.22, 8.23, 8.24, 25 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 24, 25 |
| 23. Cicero, On Divination, -6 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 37 |
24. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 4.26, 8.5, 15.11-15.20, 21.1-21.2, 23.18-23.20, 27.8 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 22 | 4.26. Do not be ashamed to confess your sins,and do not try to stop the current of a river. 8.5. Do not reproach a man who is turning away from sin;remember that we all deserve punishment. 15.11. Do not say, "Because of the Lord I left the right way";for he will not do what he hates. 15.12. Do not say, "It was he who led me astray";for he had no need of a sinful man. 15.13. The Lord hates all abominations,and they are not loved by those who fear him. 15.14. It was he who created man in the beginning,and he left him in the power of his own inclination. 15.15. If you will, you can keep the commandments,and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice. 15.16. He has placed before you fire and water:stretch out your hand for whichever you wish. 15.17. Before a man are life and death,and whichever he chooses will be given to him. 15.18. For great is the wisdom of the Lord;he is mighty in power and sees everything; 15.19. his eyes are on those who fear him,and he knows every deed of man. 21.1. Have you sinned, my son? Do so no more,but pray about your former sins. 21.1. The way of sinners is smoothly paved with stones,but at its end is the pit of Hades. 21.2. Flee from sin as from a snake;for if you approach sin, it will bite you. Its teeth are lions teeth,and destroy the souls of men. 21.2. A fool raises his voice when he laughs,but a clever man smiles quietly. 27.8. If you pursue justice, you will attain it and wear it as a glorious robe. |
|
| 25. Cicero, On Fate, 43.1 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •god, sovereignty of •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 240; Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19 |
| 26. Dead Sea Scrolls, War Scroll, 13.9-13.11 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 24 |
27. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Abraham, 236-243 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 | 243. And what is here said is not a cunningly devised fable, but is rather one of the most completely true facts, which may be seen to be true in our own selves. For it very often happens that the outward senses observe a sort of confederacy which they have formed with the passions, supplying them with objects perceptible by the outward senses; and very often also, they raise contentions, no longer choosing to pay the tribute fairly due from them, or else being unable to do so, by reason of the presence of corrective reason; which when it has taken up its complete armour, namely, the virtues, and their doctrines and contemplations, which form an irresistible power, conquers all things in the most vigorous manner. For it is not lawful for perishable things to dwell with what is immortal. |
|
| 28. Philo of Alexandria, On The Decalogue, 45 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 |
29. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 151-158, 160-164, 159 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 | 159. for his teeth are the ministers and servants of his insatiability, cutting up and smoothing everything which has a reference to eating, and committing them, in the first place to the tongue, which decides upon, and distinguishes between the various flavours, and, subsequently, to the larynx. But immoderate indulgence in eating is naturally a poisonous and deadly habit, inasmuch as what is so devoured is not capable of digestion, in consequence of the quantity of additional food which is heaped in on the top of it, and arrives before what was previously eaten is converted into juice. |
|
30. Philo of Alexandria, On Curses, 63, 62 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 | 62. But the soul that is united to virtue has for its inhabitants those persons who are preeminent for virtue, persons whom the double cavern has received in pairs, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebeckah, Leah and Jacob, virtues and those who possess them; Chebron itself keeping the treasure-house of the memorials of knowledge and wisdom, which is more ancient than Janis and the whole land of Egypt, for nature has made the soul more ancient than the body, that is than Egypt, and virtue more ancient than vice, that is than Janis (and the name Janis, being interpreted, means the command of answer), estimating seniority rather by dignity than by length of time. XVIII. |
|
| 31. Philo of Alexandria, De Providentia, 1 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 30 |
32. Philo of Alexandria, On The Sacrifices of Cain And Abel, 15-17, 14 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 | 14. What, then, is the truth in these matters which we are considering? Why, that wickedness is older than virtue in point of time, but younger in power and rank. Therefore, when the birth of the two is narrated, let Cain have the precedence; but when a comparison of their pursuits is instituted, then let Abel be the first; |
|
33. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 1.82, 1.84-1.87, 1.107-1.108, 1.113-1.115, 3.32, 3.63 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 26, 28, 29, 30 | 1.82. And after enjoining that the priest is to be of pure blood, and sprung from fathers of noble birth, and that he must be perfect in body and soul, laws are enacted also respecting the garments which the priest must wear when he is about to offer the sacred sacrifices and to perform the sacred ceremonies. 1.84. But the high priest is commanded to wear a similar dress when he goes into the holy of holies to offer incense, because linen is not made of any animal that dies, as woollen garments are. He is also commanded to wear another robe also, having very beautiful embroidery and ornament upon it, so that it may seem to be a copy and representation of the world. And the description of the ornament is a clear proof of this; 1.85. for in the first place the whole of the round robe is of hyacinthine colour, a tunic reaching to the feet, being an emblem of the air, since the air also is by nature black, and in a manner may be said to be reaching to the feet, as it is extended from above from the regions about the moon, to the lowest places of the earth. 1.86. Next there was a woven garment in the form of a breastplate upon it, and this was a symbol of the heaven; for on the points of the shoulders are two emerald stones of most exceeding value, one on one side and one on the other, each perfectly round and single on each side, as emblems of the hemispheres, one of which is above the earth and the other under the earth. 1.87. Then on his chest there are twelve precious stones of different colours, arranged in four rows of three stones in each row, being fashioned so as an emblem of the zodiac. For the zodiac also consists of twelve animals, and so divides the four seasons of the year, allotting three animals to each season. 1.107. Let the high priest, therefore, take a pure virgin to be his wife; I say a virgin, meaning not only one with whom no other man has even been connected, but one in connection with whom no other man has ever been named in reference to the agreement of marriage, even though her body may be pure.XXI. 1.108. But besides this, injunctions are given to the particular and inferior priests concerning their marriages, which are the very same in most points, which are given to those who have the supreme priesthood. But they are permitted with impunity to marry not only maidens but widows also; not, indeed, all widows, but those whose husbands are dead. For the law thinks it fitting to remove all quarrels and disputes from the life of the priests. And if they had husbands living there very likely might be disputes from the jealousy which is caused by the love of men for women. But when the first husband is dead, then with him the hostility which could be felt towards the second husband dies also. 1.113. but the high priest he absolutely forbade to mourn in any case whatever; and may we not say that this was rightly done? For as to the ministrations which belong to the other priests, one individual can perform them instead of another, so that, even if some be in mourning, still none of the usual observances need be omitted; but there is no one besides the high priest himself, who is permitted to perform his duties instead of him; for which reason, he must always be kept free from all defilement, never touching any dead body, in order that, being always ready to offer up prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the whole world at suitable seasons, he may continue to fulfil the duties of his office without hindrance. 1.114. And otherwise too, besides this consideration, the man who has been assigned to God, and who has become the leader of his sacred band of worshippers, ought to be disconnected with, and alienated from, all things of creation, not being so much the slave of the love of either parents, or children, or brothers, as either to omit or to delay any one of those holy actions, which it is by all means better should be done at once; 1.115. and God commands the high priest neither to rend his clothes over his very nearest relations when they die, nor to take from his head the ensign of the priesthood, nor in short to depart from the holy place on any plea of mourning, that, showing proper respect to the place, and to the sacred ornaments with which he himself is crowned, he may show himself superior to pity, and pass the whole of his life exempt from all sorrow. 3.32. And there are particular periods affecting the health of the woman when a man may not touch her, but during that time he must abstain from all connection with her, respecting the laws of nature. And, at the same time, he must learn not to waste his vigour in the pursuit of an unseemly and barbarous pleasure; for such conduct would be like that of a husbandman who, out of drunkenness or sudden insanity, should sow wheat or barley in lakes or flooded torrents, instead of over the fertile plains; for it is proper to cast seed upon fields when they are dry, in order that it may bear abundant fruit. 3.63. And the law takes such exceeding pains to prevent any irregularity taking place with respect to marriages, that even in the case of husbands and wives who have come together for legitimate embraces, in strict accordance with the laws of marriage, after they have arisen from their beds it does not allow them to touch anything before they have had recourse to washings and ablutions; keeping them very far from adultery and from all accusations referring to adultery.XI. |
|
| 34. Philo of Alexandria, Allegorical Interpretation, 1.82, 1.107-1.108 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 29, 30 |
| 35. Philo of Alexandria, Questions On Genesis, 1.90-1.99 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 |
36. Philo of Alexandria, Who Is The Heir, 292-293 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 | 293. In the next verses it is said, "And in the fourth generation they shall return hither," not merely in order that the time may be exactly marked out to him, in which his descendants shall become inhabitants of the holy land, but also in order to represent to him the perfect and complete re-establishment of virtue; and this takes place as it were in the fourth generation, but how it does so it is worth while to consider. |
|
37. Philo of Alexandria, That God Is Unchangeable, 48, 47 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28, 29 | 47. for that is the only quality in us which the Father, who created us, thought deserving of freedom; and, unloosing the bonds of necessity, he let it go unrestrained, bestowing on it that most admirable gift and most connected with himself, the power, namely, of spontaneous will, as far as he was able to receive it; for the irrational animals, in whose soul there is not that especial gift tending to freedom, namely, mind, are put under the yoke and have bridles put in their mouths, and so are given unto men to be their slaves, as servants are given to their masters. But man, who has had bestowed on him a voluntary and self-impelling intellect, and who for the most part puts forth his energies in accordance with deliberate purpose, very properly receives blame for the offences which he designedly commits, and praise for the good actions which he intentionally performs. |
|
| 38. Philo of Alexandria, On The Preliminary Studies, 81-84, 86-88, 85 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 28 |
39. Philo of Alexandria, On The Cherubim, 128 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 29 | 128. And all sound reason would reproach Joseph for saying, "That the true interpretation of the dreams would be found out by means of God;" for he should have said, that owing to him, as the cause indeed, would be the unfolding and accurate understanding of those things which were obscure; for we are the instruments by whom the particular energies are developed, both in our states of tension and of relaxation; but the Creator is "he who gives the blow which sets in motion" the faculties of body and soul, by whom all things are moved. 128. Moreover, the doubt as to the legitimacy of the children is a most terrible evil. For if the wife be not chaste, it is quite a matter of doubt and uncertainty to what father the children belong. And then, if the matter remain undiscovered, the children of adultery enter unjustly into the classification of legitimate children, and make a race spurious to which they have no pretensions to belong, and receive an inheritance which in appearance indeed is their own patrimony, but which in reality has no connection with them. |
|
| 40. Epictetus, Enchiridion, 1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 17 |
| 41. Epictetus, Discourses, 1.1, 2.16, 4.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 17, 37 |
| 42. Anon., 2 Baruch, 54.15-54.19 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 22 |
| 43. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 30 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 37 |
44. Plutarch, On Isis And Osiris, 1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12 | 1. All good things, my dear Clea, The priestess for whom Plutarch composed his collection of stories about the Bravery of Women ( Moralia , 242 e ff.). sensible men must ask from the gods; and especially do we pray that from those mighty gods we may, in our quest, gain a knowledge of themselves, so far as such a thing is attainable by men. Cf. Plutarch, Moralia , 780 f - 781 a and 355 c, infra . For we believe that there is nothing more important for man to receive, or more ennobling for God of His grace to grant, than the truth. God gives to men the other things for which they express a desire, but of sense and intelligence He grants them only a share, inasmuch as these are His especial possessions and His sphere of activity. For the Deity is not blessed by reason of his possession of gold and silver, Cf. Themistius, Oration xxxiii. p. 365 b-d. nor strong because of thunder and lightning, but through knowledge and intelligence. of all the things that Homer said about the gods, he has expressed most beautifully this thought: Iliad , xiii. 354; quoted also in Moralia , 32 a, and Life and Writings of Homer , ii. 114. Both, indeed, were in lineage one, and of the same country, Yet was Zeus the earlier born and his knowledge was greater. Thereby the poet plainly declares that the primacy of Zeus is nobler since it is elder in knowledge and in wisdom. I think also that a source of happiness in the eternal life, which is the lot of God, is that events which come to pass do not escape His prescience. But if His knowledge and meditation on the nature of Existence should be taken away, then, to my mind, His immortality is not living, but a mere lapse of time. Cf. Moralia , 781 a. |
|
45. New Testament, James, 3.2, 4.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 41, 161| 3.2. πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες. εἴ τις ἐν λόγῳ οὐ πταίει, οὗτος τέλειος ἀνήρ, δυνατὸς χαλιναγωγῆσαι καὶ ὅλον τὸ σῶμα. 4.6. μείζονα δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν· διὸ λέγει Ὁ θεὸς ὑπερηφάνοις ἀντιτάσσεται ταπεινοῖς δὲ δίδωσιν χάριν. | 3.2. For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn't stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 4.6. But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." |
|
46. New Testament, Matthew, 5.16, 6.10, 7.7, 12.33, 19.14, 24.48-24.51 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 53, 61, 110, 114, 235| 5.16. οὕτως λαμψάτω τὸ φῶς ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως ἴδωσιν ὑμῶν τὰ καλὰ ἔργα καὶ δοξάσωσιν τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 6.10. ἐλθάτω ἡ βασιλεία σου, γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς· 7.7. Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. 12.33. Ἢ ποιήσατε τὸ δένδρον καλὸν καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ καλόν, ἢ ποιήσατε τὸ δένδρον σαπρὸν καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ σαπρόν· ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρον γινώσκεται. 19.14. ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν Ἄφετε τὰ παιδία καὶ μὴ κωλύετε αὐτὰ ἐλθεῖν πρός με, τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. 24.48. ἐὰν δὲ εἴπῃ ὁ κακὸς δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ Χρονίζει μου ὁ κύριος, 24.49. καὶ ἄρξηται τύπτειν τοὺς συνδούλους αὐτοῦ, ἐσθίῃ δὲ καὶ πίνῃ μετὰ τῶν μεθυόντων, 24.50. ἥξει ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ οὐ προσδοκᾷ καὶ ἐν ὥρᾳ ᾗ οὐ γινώσκει, 24.51. καὶ διχοτομήσει αὐτὸν καὶ τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν θήσει· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων. | 5.16. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 6.10. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. 7.7. "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. 12.33. "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. 19.14. But Jesus said, "Allow the little children, and don't forbid them to come to me; for to such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven." 24.48. But if that evil servant should say in his heart, 'My lord is delaying his coming,' 24.49. and begins to beat his fellow-servants, and eat and drink with the drunken, 24.50. the lord of that servant will come in a day when he doesn't expect it, and in an hour when he doesn't know it, 24.51. and will cut him in pieces, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be. |
|
47. New Testament, Acts, 13.48, 24.2 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 185, 235, 283| 13.48. ἀκούοντα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη ἔχαιρον καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον· 24.2. κληθέντος δὲ [αὐτοῦ] ἤρξατο κατηγορεῖν ὁ Τέρτυλλος λέγων Πολλῆς εἰρήνης τυγχάνοντες διὰ σοῦ καὶ διορθωμάτων γινομένων τῷ ἔθνει τούτῳ διὰ τῆς σῆς προνοίας | 13.48. As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 24.2. When he was called, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "Seeing that by you we enjoy much peace, and that excellent measures are coming to this nation, |
|
48. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 2.20 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 67| 2.20. ἐν μεγάλῃ δὲ οἰκίᾳ οὐκ ἔστιν μόνον σκεύη χρυσᾶ καὶ ἀργυρᾶ ἀλλὰ καὶ ξύλινα καὶ ὀστράκινα, καὶ ἃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν ἃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν· | 2.20. Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for honor, and some for dishonor. |
|
49. New Testament, 2 Corinthians, 3.6, 4.4, 5.19-5.21, 13.7 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 114, 161, 235, 245| 3.6. ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος ἀλλὰ πνεύματος, τὸ γὰρ γράμμα ἀποκτείνει, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ζωοποιεῖ. 4.4. ἐν οἷς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσεν τὰ νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐγάσαι τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ χριστοῦ, ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ. 5.19. ὡς ὅτι θεὸς ἦν ἐν Χριστῷ κόσμον καταλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ, μὴ λογιζόμενος αὐτοῖς τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν, καὶ θέμενος ἐν ἡμῖν τὸν λόγον τῆς καταλλαγῆς. 5.20. Ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ οὖν πρεσβεύομεν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντος διʼ ἡμῶν· δεόμεθα ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, καταλλάγητε τῷ θεῷ. 5.21. τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ. 13.7. εὐχόμεθα δὲ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν μὴ ποιῆσαι ὑμᾶς κακὸν μηδέν, οὐχ ἵνα ἡμεῖς δόκιμοι φανῶμεν, ἀλλʼ ἵνα ὑμεῖς τὸ καλὸν ποιῆτε, ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἀδόκιμοι ὦμεν. | |
|
50. New Testament, 2 Peter, 2.1-2.22 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14| 2.1. Ἐγένοντο δὲ καὶ ψευδοπροφῆται ἐν τῷ λαῷ, ὡς καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν ἔσονται ψευδοδιδάσκαλοι, οἵτινες παρεισάξουσιν αἱρέσεις ἀπωλείας, καὶ τὸν ἀγοράσαντα αὐτοὺς δεσπότην ἀρνούμενοι, ἐπάγοντες ἑαυτοῖς ταχινὴν ἀπώλειαν· 2.2. καὶ πολλοὶ ἐξακολουθήσουσιν αὐτῶν ταῖς ἀσελγείαις, διʼ οὓς ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ἀληθείας βλασφημηθήσεται· 2.3. καὶ ἐν πλεονεξίᾳ πλαστοῖς λόγοις ὑμᾶς ἐμπορεύσονται· οἷς τὸ κρίμα ἔκπαλαι οὐκ ἀργεῖ, καὶ ἡ ἀπώλεια αὐτῶν οὐ νυστάζει. 2.4. εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειροῖς ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους, 2.5. καὶ ἀρχαίου κόσμου οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ ὄγδοον Νῶε δικαιοσύνης κήρυκα ἐφύλαξεν, κατακλυσμὸν κόσμῳ ἀσεβῶν ἐπάξας, 2.6. καὶ πόλεις Σοδόμων καὶ Γομόρρας τεφρώσας κατέκρινεν, ὑπόδειγμα μελλόντων ἀσεβέσιν τεθεικώς, 2.7. καὶ δίκαιον Λὼτ καταπονούμενον ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀθέσμων ἐν ἀσελγείᾳ ἀναστροφῆς ἐρύσατο,— 2.8. βλέμματι γὰρ καὶ ἀκοῇ δίκαιος ἐνκατοικῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας ψυχὴν δικαίαν ἀνόμοις ἔργοις ἐβασάνιζεν,— 2.9. οἶδεν Κύριος εὐσεβεῖς ἐκ πειρασμοῦ ῥύεσθαι, ἀδίκους δὲ εἰς ἡμέραν κρίσεως κολαζομένους τηρεῖν, 2.10. μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς ὀπίσω σαρκὸς ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ μιασμοῦ πορευομένους καὶ κυριότητος καταφρονοῦντας. τολμηταί, αὐθάδεις, δόξας οὐ τρέμουσιν, βλασφημοῦντες, 2.11. ὅπου ἄγγελοι ἰσχύϊ καὶ δυνάμει μείζονες ὄντες οὐ φέρουσιν κατʼ αὐτῶν [παρὰ Κυρίῳ] βλάσφημον κρίσιν. 2.12. οὗτοι δέ, ὡς ἄλογα ζῷα γεγεννημένα φυσικὰ εἰς ἅλωσιν καὶ φθοράν, ἐν οἷς ἀγνοοῦσιν βλασφημοῦντες, ἐν τῇ φθορᾷ αὐτῶν καὶ φθαρήσονται, ἀδικούμενοι μισθὸν ἀδικίας· 2.13. ἡδονὴν ἡγούμενοι τὴν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τρυφήν, σπίλοι καὶ μῶμοι ἐντρυφῶντες ἐν ταῖςἀπάταις αὐτῶν συνευωχούμενοι ὑμῖν, 2.14. ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες μεστοὺς μοιχαλίδος καὶ ἀκαταπάστους ἁμαρτίας, δελεάζοντες ψυχὰς ἀστηρίκτους, καρδίαν γεγυμνασμένην πλεονεξίας ἔχοντες, κατάρας τέκνα, 2.15. καταλείποντες εὐθεῖαν ὁδὸν ἐπλανήθησαν, ἐξακολουθήσαντες τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ Βαλαὰμ τοῦ Βεὼρ ὃς μισθὸν ἀδικίας ἠγάπησεν 2.16. ἔλεγξιν δὲ ἔσχεν ἰδίας παρανομίας· ὑποζύγιον ἄφωνον ἐν ἀνθρώπου φωνῇ φθεγξάμενον ἐκώλυσεν τὴν τοῦ προφήτου παραφρονίαν. 2.17. οὗτοί εἰσιν πηγαὶ ἄνυδροι καὶ ὁμίχλαι ὑπὸ λαίλαπος ἐλαυνόμεναι, οἷς ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους τετήρηται. 2.18. ὑπέρογκα γὰρ ματαιότητος φθεγγόμενοι δελεάζουσιν ἐν ἐπιθυμίαις σαρκὸς ἀσελγείαις τοὺς ὀλίγως ἀποφεύγοντας τοὺς ἐν πλάνῃ ἀναστρεφομένους, 2.19. ἐλευθερίαν αὐτοῖς ἐπαγγελλόμενοι, αὐτοὶ δοῦλοι ὑπάρχοντες τῆς φθορᾶς· ᾧ γάρ τις ἥττηται, τούτῳ δεδούλωται. 2.20. εἰ γὰρ ἀποφυγόντες τὰ μιάσματα τοῦ κόσμου ἐν ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τούτοις δὲ πάλιν ἐμπλακέντες ἡττῶνται, γέγονεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ἔσχατα χείρονα τῶν πρώτων. 2.21. κρεῖττον γὰρ ἦν αὐτοῖς μὴ ἐπεγνωκέναι τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἢ ἐπιγνοῦσιν ὑποστρέψαι ἐκ τῆς παραδοθείσης αὐτοῖς ἁγίας ἐντολῆς· 2.22. συμβέβηκεν αὐτοῖς τὸ τῆς ἀληθοῦς παροιμίαςΚύων ἐπιστρέψας ἐπὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἐξέραμα,καί Ὗς λουσαμένη εἰς κυλισμὸν βορβόρου. | 2.1. But there also arose false prophets among the people, as among you also there will be false teachers, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. 2.2. Many will follow their destructive ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. 2.3. In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn't linger, and their destruction will not slumber. 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; 2.5. and didn't spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; 2.6. and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly; 2.7. and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked 2.8. (for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds): 2.9. the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment; 2.10. but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries; 2.11. whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don't bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord. 2.12. But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, 2.13. receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the day-time, spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you; 2.14. having eyes full of adultery, and who can't cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; 2.15. forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrong-doing; 2.16. but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with man's voice and stopped the madness of the prophet. 2.17. These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. 2.18. For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; 2.19. promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for by whom a man is overcome, by the same is he also brought into bondage. 2.20. For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state has become worse with them than the first. 2.21. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 2.22. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns to his own vomit again," and "the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire." |
|
51. New Testament, Ephesians, 1.3-1.11, 2.1-2.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 55, 178| 1.3. Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ εὐλογήσας ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ εὐλογίᾳ πνευματικῇ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ, 1.4. καθὼς ἐξελέξατο ἡμᾶς ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἀγάπῃ, 1.5. προορίσας ἡμᾶς εἰς υἱοθεσίαν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς αὐτόν, κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, 1.6. εἰς ἔπαινον δόξης τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ ἧς ἐχαρίτωσεν ἡμᾶς ἐν τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ, 1.7. ἐν ᾧ ἔχομεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν διὰ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ, τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν παραπτωμάτων, 1.8. κατὰ τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ 1.9. ἧς ἐπερίσσευσεν εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ φρονήσει γνωρίσας ἡμῖν τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν αὐτοῦ ἣν προέθετο ἐν αὐτῷ 1.10. εἰς οἰκονομίαν τοῦ πληρώματος τῶν καιρῶν, ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι τὰ πάντα ἐν τῷ χριστῷ, τὰ ἐπὶ τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· ἐν αὐτῷ, 1.11. ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἐκληρώθημεν προορισθέντες κατὰ πρόθεσιν τοῦ τὰ πάντα ἐνεργοῦντος κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ, 2.1. καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, 2.2. ἐν αἷς ποτὲ περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθίας· 2.3. ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί·— | 1.3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ; 1.4. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; 1.5. having predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, 1.6. to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved, 1.7. in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 1.8. which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 1.9. making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 1.10. to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him; 1.11. in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will; 2.1. You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2.2. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience; 2.3. among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. |
|
52. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 3.8, 4.7, 5.1-5.5, 12.8 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 67, 185, 253| 3.8. ὁ φυτεύων δὲ καὶ ὁ ποτίζων ἕν εἰσιν, ἕκαστος δὲ τὸν ἴδιον μισθὸν λήμψεται κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον κόπον, θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί· 4.7. τίς γάρ σε διακρίνει; τί δὲ ἔχεις ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών; 5.1. Ὅλως ἀκούεται ἐν ὑμῖν πορνεία, καὶ τοιαύτη πορνεία ἥτις οὐδὲ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὥστε γυναῖκά τινα τοῦ πατρὸς ἔχειν. 5.2. καὶ ὑμεῖς πεφυσιωμένοι ἐστέ, καὶ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἐπενθήσατε, ἵνα ἀρθῇ ἐκ μέσου ὑμῶν ὁ τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο πράξας; 5.3. Ἐγὼ μὲν γάρ, ἀπὼν τῷ σώματι παρὼν δὲ τῷ πνεύματι, ἤδη κέκρικα ὡς παρὼν τὸν οὕτως τοῦτο κατεργασάμενον 5.4. ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ κυρίου [ἡμῶν] Ἰησοῦ, συναχθέντων ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ ἐμοῦ πνεύματος σὺν τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ, 5.5. παραδοῦναι τὸν τοιοῦτον τῷ Σατανᾷ εἰς ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκός, ἵνα τὸ πνεῦμα σωθῇ ἐν τῇ ᾑμέρᾳ τοῦ κυρίου. 12.8. ᾧ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος δίδοται λόγος σοφίας, ἄλλῳ δὲ λόγος γνώσεως κατὰ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα, | 3.8. Now he who plantsand he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own rewardaccording to his own labor. 4.7. For who makes you different? And what doyou have that you didn't receive? But if you did receive it, why do youboast as if you had not received it? 5.1. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality amongyou, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among theGentiles, that one has his father's wife. 5.2. You are puffed up, anddidn't rather mourn, that he who had done this deed might be removedfrom among you. 5.3. For I most assuredly, as being absent in body butpresent in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged himwho has done this thing. 5.4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our LordJesus Christ, 5.5. are to deliver such a one to Satan for thedestruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day ofthe Lord Jesus. 12.8. For to one is given through theSpirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge,according to the same Spirit; |
|
53. New Testament, 1 Peter, 1.1-1.2, 1.20, 2.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 55, 58, 262| 1.1. ΠΕΤΡΟΣ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκλεκτοῖς παρεπιδήμοις διασπορᾶς Πόντου, Γαλατίας, Καππαδοκίας, Ἀσίας, καὶ Βιθυνίας, 1.2. κατὰ πρόγνωσιν θεοῦ πατρός, ἐν ἁγιασμῷ πνεύματος, εἰς ὑπακοὴν καὶ ῥαντισμὸν αἵματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη. 1.20. προεγνωσμένου μὲν πρὸ. καταβολῆς κόσμου, 2.2. ὡς ἀρτιγέννητα βρέφη τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα ἐπιποθήσατε, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῷ αὐξηθῆτε εἰς σωτηρίαν, | 1.1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 1.2. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled in his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. 1.20. who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake, 2.2. as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby, |
|
| 54. New Testament, Jude, 24 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 185 |
55. New Testament, 1 John, 1.8, 2.2, 5.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 182, 245, 283| 1.8. Ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν. 2.2. καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστιν περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου. 5.12. ὁ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν ἔχει τὴν ζωήν· ὁ μὴ ἔχων τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ζωὴν οὐκ ἔχει. | 1.8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 2.2. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 5.12. He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn't have God's Son doesn't have the life. |
|
56. Josephus Flavius, Jewish War, 2.8.14, 2.128, 2.162, 2.164-2.166, 5.124 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 26, 30 | 2.128. 5. And as for their piety towards God, it is very extraordinary; for before sunrising they speak not a word about profane matters, but put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers, as if they made a supplication for its rising. 2.162. 14. But then as to the two other orders at first mentioned: the Pharisees are those who are esteemed most skillful in the exact explication of their laws, and introduce the first sect. These ascribe all to fate [or providence], and to God, 2.164. But the Sadducees are those that compose the second order, and take away fate entirely, and suppose that God is not concerned in our doing or not doing what is evil; 2.165. and they say, that to act what is good, or what is evil, is at men’s own choice, and that the one or the other belongs so to every one, that they may act as they please. They also take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards in Hades. 2.166. Moreover, the Pharisees are friendly to one another, and are for the exercise of concord, and regard for the public; but the behavior of the Sadducees one towards another is in some degree wild, and their conversation with those that are of their own party is as barbarous as if they were strangers to them. And this is what I had to say concerning the philosophic sects among the Jews. 5.124. ince he who is grown old in wars did never make so great a mistake. Our laws of war do also ever inflict capital punishment on those that in the least break into good order, while at this time they have seen an entire army run into disorder. |
|
57. Josephus Flavius, Jewish Antiquities, 13.171-13.173, 18.1.3, 18.12-18.17 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 30, 31 | 13.171. 9. At this time there were three sects among the Jews, who had different opinions concerning human actions; the one was called the sect of the Pharisees, another the sect of the Sadducees, and the other the sect of the Essenes. 13.172. Now for the Pharisees, they say that some actions, but not all, are the work of fate, and some of them are in our own power, and that they are liable to fate, but are not caused by fate. But the sect of the Essenes affirm, that fate governs all things, and that nothing befalls men but what is according to its determination. 13.173. And for the Sadducees, they take away fate, and say there is no such thing, and that the events of human affairs are not at its disposal; but they suppose that all our actions are in our own power, so that we are ourselves the causes of what is good, and receive what is evil from our own folly. However, I have given a more exact account of these opinions in the second book of the Jewish War. 18.12. 3. Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to them as good for them they do; and they think they ought earnestly to strive to observe reason’s dictates for practice. They also pay a respect to such as are in years; nor are they so bold as to contradict them in any thing which they have introduced; 18.13. and when they determine that all things are done by fate, they do not take away the freedom from men of acting as they think fit; since their notion is, that it hath pleased God to make a temperament, whereby what he wills is done, but so that the will of man can act virtuously or viciously. 18.14. They also believe that souls have an immortal rigor in them, and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments, according as they have lived virtuously or viciously in this life; and the latter are to be detained in an everlasting prison, but that the former shall have power to revive and live again; 18.15. on account of which doctrines they are able greatly to persuade the body of the people; and whatsoever they do about divine worship, prayers, and sacrifices, they perform them according to their direction; insomuch that the cities give great attestations to them on account of their entire virtuous conduct, both in the actions of their lives and their discourses also. 18.16. 4. But the doctrine of the Sadducees is this: That souls die with the bodies; nor do they regard the observation of any thing besides what the law enjoins them; for they think it an instance of virtue to dispute with those teachers of philosophy whom they frequent: 18.17. but this doctrine is received but by a few, yet by those still of the greatest dignity. But they are able to do almost nothing of themselves; for when they become magistrates, as they are unwillingly and by force sometimes obliged to be, they addict themselves to the notions of the Pharisees, because the multitude would not otherwise bear them. |
|
58. New Testament, Galatians, 3.27, 5.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 182, 245| 3.27. ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε, Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε· 5.6. ἐν γὰρ Χριστῷ [Ἰησοῦ] οὔτε περιτομή τι ἰσχύει οὔτε ἀκροβυστία, ἀλλὰ πίστις διʼ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη. | 3.27. For as many of you as werebaptized into Christ have put on Christ. 5.6. For in Christ Jesusneither circumcision amounts to anything, nor uncircumcision, but faithworking through love. |
|
59. New Testament, Hebrews, 2.14 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 182| 2.14. ἐπεὶ οὖντὰ παιδίακεκοινώνηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός, καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχεν τῶν αὐτῶν, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τοῦτʼ ἔστι τὸν διάβολον, | 2.14. Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, |
|
60. New Testament, Romans, 4.4-4.6, 5.5, 5.12, 5.19, 8.28-8.29, 9.13, 11.1-11.36 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view •god, sovereignty of Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 238; Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 38, 52, 60, 68, 76, 119, 161, 178, 185, 245, 247, 262| 4.4. τῷ δὲ ἐργαζομένῳ ὁ μισθὸς οὐ λογίζεται κατὰ χάριν ἀλλὰ κατὰ ὀφείλημα· 4.5. τῷ δὲ μὴ ἐργαζομένῳ, πιστεύοντι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν δικαιοῦντα τὸν ἀσεβῆ, λογίζεται ἡ πίστις αὐτοῦ εἰς δικαιοσύνην, 4.6. καθάπερ καὶ Δαυεὶδ λέγει τὸν μακαρισμὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ᾧ ὁ θεὸς λογίζεται δικαιοσύνην χωρὶς ἔργων 5.5. ἡ δὲἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει.ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν· 5.12. Διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ διʼ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος, καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν ἐφʼ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον-. 5.19. ὥσπερ γὰρ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἁμαρτωλοὶ κατεστάθησαν οἱ πολλοί, οὕτως καὶ διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς δίκαιοι κατασταθήσονται οἱ πολλοί. 8.28. οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι τοῖς ἀγαπῶσι τὸν θεὸν πάντα συνεργεῖ [ὁ θεὸς] εἰς ἀγαθόν, τοῖς κατὰ πρόθεσιν κλητοῖς οὖσιν. 8.29. ὅτι οὓς προέγνω, καὶ προώρισεν συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν πρωτότοκον ἐν πολλοῖς ἀδελφοῖς· 9.13. καθάπερ γέγραπταιΤὸν Ἰακὼβ ἠγάπησα, τὸν δὲ Ἠσαῦ ἐμίσησα. 11.1. Λέγω οὖν, μὴἀπώσατο ὁ θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ;μὴ γένοιτο· καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ Ἰσραηλείτης εἰμί, ἐκ σπέρματος Ἀβραάμ, φυλῆς Βενιαμείν. 11.2. οὐκ ἀπώσατο ὁ θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦὃν προέγνω. ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ἐν Ἠλείᾳ τί λέγει ἡ γραφή, ὡς ἐντυγχάνει τῷ θεῷ κατὰ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; 11.3. Κύριε, τοὺς προφήτας σου ἀπέκτειναν, τὰ θυσιαστήριά σου κατέσκαψαν, κἀγὼ ὑπελείφθην μόνος, καὶ ζητοῦσιν τὴν ψυχήν μου. 11.4. ἀλλὰ τί λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ χρηματισμός;Κατέλιπονἐμαυτῷἑπτακισχιλίους ἄνδρας, οἵτινες οὐκ ἔκαμψαν γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ. 11.5. οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ λίμμα κατʼ ἐκλογὴν χάριτος γέγονεν· 11.6. εἰ δὲ χάριτι, οὐκέτι ἐξ ἔργων, ἐπεὶ ἡ χάρις οὐκέτι γίνεται χάρις. 11.7. τί οὖν; ὃ ἐπιζητεῖ Ἰσραήλ, τοῦτο οὐκ ἐπέτυχεν, ἡ δὲ ἐκλογὴ ἐπέτυχεν· οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ ἐπωρώθησαν, 11.8. καθάπερ γέγραπται Ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς πνεῦμα κατανύξεως, ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν καὶ ὦτα τοῦ μὴ ἀκούειν, ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας. 11.9. καὶ Δαυεὶδ λέγει 11.10. 11.11. Λέγω οὖν, μὴ ἔπταισαν ἵνα πέσωσιν; μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ τῷ αὐτῶν παραπτώματι ἡ σωτηρία τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, εἰς τὸπαραζηλῶσαιαὐτούς. 11.12. εἰ δὲ τὸ παράπτωμα αὐτῶν πλοῦτος κόσμου καὶ τὸ ἥττημα αὐτῶν πλοῦτος ἐθνῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῶν. 11.13. Ὑμῖν δὲ λέγω τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. ἐφʼ ὅσον μὲν οὖν εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἐθνῶν ἀπόστολος, τὴν διακονίαν μου δοξάζω, 11.14. εἴ πως παραζηλώσω μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ σώσω τινὰς ἐξ αὐτῶν. 11.15. εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἀποβολὴ αὐτῶν καταλλαγὴ κόσμου, τίς ἡ πρόσλημψις εἰ μὴ ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν; 11.16. εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀπαρχὴ ἁγία, καὶ τὸ φύραμα· καὶ εἰ ἡ ῥίζα ἁγία, καὶ οἱ κλάδοι. 11.17. Εἰ δέ τινες τῶν κλάδων ἐξεκλάσθησαν, σὺ δὲ ἀγριέλαιος ὢν ἐνεκεντρίσθης ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ συνκοινωνὸς τῆς ῥίζης τῆς πιότητος τῆς ἐλαίας ἐγένου, μὴ κατακαυχῶ τῶν κλάδων· 11.18. εἰ δὲ κατακαυχᾶσαι, οὐ σὺ τὴν ῥίζαν βαστάζεις ἀλλὰ ἡ ῥίζα σέ. 11.19. ἐρεῖς οὖν Ἐξεκλάσθησαν κλάδοι ἵνα ἐγὼ ἐνκεντρισθῶ. καλῶς· 11.20. τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ ἐξεκλάσθησαν, σὺ δὲ τῇ πίστει ἕστηκας. 11.21. μὴ ὑψηλὰ φρόνει, ἀλλὰ φοβοῦ· εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τῶν κατὰ φύσιν κλάδων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, οὐδὲ σοῦ φείσεται. ἴδε οὖν χρηστότητα καὶ ἀποτομίαν θεοῦ· 11.22. ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς πεσόντας ἀποτομία, ἐπὶ δὲ σὲ χρηστότης θεοῦ, ἐὰν ἐπιμένῃς τῇ χρηστότητι, ἐπεὶ καὶ σὺ ἐκκοπήσῃ. 11.23. κἀκεῖνοι δέ, ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιμένωσι τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ, ἐνκεντρισθήσονται· δυνατὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς πάλιν ἐνκεντρίσαι αὐτούς. 11.24. εἰ γὰρ σὺ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἐξεκόπης ἀγριελαίου καὶ παρὰ φύσιν ἐνεκεντρίσθης εἰς καλλιέλαιον, πόσῳ μᾶλλον οὗτοι οἱ κατὰ φύσιν ἐνκεντρισθήσονται τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐλαίᾳ. 11.25. Οὐ γὰρ θέλω ὑμᾶς ἀγνοεῖν, ἀδελφοί, τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο, ἵνα μὴ ἦτε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς φρόνιμοι, ὅτι πώρωσις ἀπὸ μέρους τῷ Ἰσραὴλ γέγονεν ἄχρι οὗ τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθῃ, καὶ οὕτως πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ σωθήσεται· 11.26. καθὼς γέγραπται 11.27. 11.28. κατὰ μὲν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐχθροὶ διʼ ὑμᾶς, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκλογὴν ἀγαπητοὶ διὰ τοὺς πατέρας· 11.29. ἀμεταμέλητα γὰρ τὰ χαρίσματα καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τοῦ θεοῦ. 11.30. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὑμεῖς ποτὲ ἠπειθήσατε τῷ θεῷ, νῦν δὲ ἠλεήθητε τῇ τούτων ἀπειθίᾳ, 11.31. οὕτως καὶ οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ἐλέει ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ νῦν ἐλεηθῶσιν· 11.32. συνέκλεισεν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς πάντας εἰς ἀπειθίαν ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ. 11.33. Ὢ βάθος πλούτου καὶ σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως θεοῦ· ὡς ἀνεξεραύνητα τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστοι αἱ ὁδοὶ αὐτοῦ. 11.34. 11.35. 11.36. ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ διʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν τὰ πάντα· αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν. | 4.4. Now to him who works, the reward is not accounted as of grace, but as of debt. 4.5. But to him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. 4.6. Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works, 5.5. and hope doesn't disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 5.12. Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. 5.19. For as through the one man's disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one will many be made righteous. 8.28. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. 8.29. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 9.13. Even as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." 11.1. I ask then, Did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 11.2. God didn't reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don't you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel: 11.3. "Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have broken down your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life." 11.4. But how does God answer him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." 11.5. Even so then at this present time also there is a remt according to the election of grace. 11.6. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work. 11.7. What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn't obtain, but the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened. 11.8. According as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day." 11.9. David says, "Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, A stumbling block, and a retribution to them. 11.10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Bow down their back always." 11.11. I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. 11.12. Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? 11.13. For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; 11.14. if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them. 11.15. For if the rejection of them is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead? 11.16. If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches. 11.17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree; 11.18. don't boast over the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. 11.19. You will say then, "Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in." 11.20. True; by their unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by your faith. Don't be conceited, but fear; 11.21. for if God didn't spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 11.22. See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 11.23. They also, if they don't continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11.24. For if you were cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more will these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? 11.25. For I don't desire, brothers, to have you ignorant of this mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, 11.26. and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, "There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, And he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. 11.27. This is my covet to them, When I will take away their sins." 11.28. Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But concerning the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sake. 11.29. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 11.30. For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, 11.31. even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy. 11.32. For God has shut up all to disobedience, that he might have mercy on all. 11.33. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! 11.34. "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 11.35. "Or who has first given to him, And it will be repaid to him again?" 11.36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen. |
|
61. New Testament, John, 1.12-1.13, 2.6, 5.38-5.47, 6.44-6.45, 6.62-6.66, 8.19, 8.36, 8.44, 12.32, 14.3, 15.5, 15.15, 17.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 31, 58, 66, 83, 110, 114, 119, 161, 184, 235, 245, 246| 1.12. ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, 1.13. οἳ οὐκ ἐξ αἱμάτων οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος σαρκὸς οὐδὲ ἐκ θελήματος ἀνδρὸς ἀλλʼ ἐκ θεοῦ ἐγεννήθησαν. 2.6. ἦσαν δὲ ἐκεῖ λίθιναι ὑδρίαι ἓξ κατὰ τὸν καθαρισμὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων κείμεναι, χωροῦσαι ἀνὰ μετρητὰς δύο ἢ τρεῖς. 5.38. καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ὑμῖν μένοντα, ὅτι ὃν ἀπέστειλεν ἐκεῖνος τούτῳ ὑμεῖς οὐ πιστεύετε. 5.39. ἐραυνᾶτε τὰς γραφάς, ὅτι ὑμεῖς δοκεῖτε ἐν αὐταῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχειν· καὶ ἐκεῖναί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ· 5.40. καὶ οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχητε. 5.41. Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω, 5.42. ἀλλὰ ἔγνωκα ὑμᾶς ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. 5.43. ἐγὼ ἐλήλυθα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετέ με· ἐὰν ἄλλος ἔλθῃ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τῷ ἰδίῳ, ἐκεῖνον λήμψεσθε. 5.44. πῶς δύνασθε ὑμεῖς πιστεῦσαι, δόξαν παρʼ ἀλλήλων λαμβάνοντες, καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μόνου [θεοῦ] οὐ ζητεῖτε; 5.45. μὴ δοκεῖτε ὅτι ἐγὼ κατηγορήσω ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα· ἔστιν ὁ κατηγορῶν ὑμῶν Μωυσῆς, εἰς ὃν ὑμεῖς ἠλπίκατε. 5.46. εἰ γὰρ ἐπιστεύετε Μωυσεῖ, ἐπιστεύετε ἂν ἐμοί, περὶ γὰρ ἐμοῦ ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψεν. 5.47. εἰ δὲ τοῖς ἐκείνου γράμμασιν οὐ πιστεύετε, πῶς τοῖς ἐμοῖς ῥήμασιν πιστεύσετε; 6.44. οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἐὰν μὴ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με ἑλκύσῃ αὐτόν, κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ. 6.45. ἔστιν γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Καὶ ἔσονται πάντες. διδακτοὶ θεοῦ· πᾶς ὁ ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ μαθὼν ἔρχεται πρὸς ἐμέ. 6.62. ἐὰν οὖν θεωρῆτε τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀναβαίνοντα ὅπου ἦν τὸ πρότερον; 6.63. τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστιν τὸ ζωοποιοῦν, ἡ σὰρξ οὐκ ὠφελεῖ οὐδέν· τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἐγὼ λελάληκα ὑμῖν πνεῦμά ἐστιν καὶ ζωή ἐστιν· 6.64. ἀλλὰ εἰσὶν ἐξ ὑμῶν τινὲς οἳ οὐ πιστεύουσιν. Ἤιδει γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ Ἰησοῦς τίνες εἰσὶν οἱ μὴ πιστεύοντες καὶ τίς ἐστιν ὁ παραδώσων αὐτόν. 6.65. καὶ ἔλεγεν Διὰ τοῦτο εἴρηκα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ δεδομένον αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ πατρός. 6.66. Ἐκ τούτου πολλοὶ ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω καὶ οὐκέτι μετʼ αὐτοῦ περιεπάτουν. 8.19. ἔλεγον οὖν αὐτῷ Ποῦ ἐστὶν ὁ πατήρ σου; ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς Οὔτε ἐμὲ οἴδατε οὔτε τὸν πατέρα μου· εἰ ἐμὲ ᾔδειτε, καὶ τὸν πατέρα μου ἂν ᾔδειτε. 8.36. ἐὰν οὖν ὁ υἱὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλευθερώσῃ, ὄντως ἐλεύθεροι ἔσεσθε. 8.44. ὑμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστὲ καὶ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν θέλετε ποιεῖν. ἐκεῖνος ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἦν ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ οὐκ ἔστηκεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλήθεια ἐν αὐτῷ. ὅταν λαλῇ τὸ ψεῦδος, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων λαλεῖ, ὅτι ψεύστης ἐστὶν καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ. 12.32. κἀγὼ ἂν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. 14.3. καὶ ἐὰν πορευθῶ καὶ ἑτοιμάσω τόπον ὑμῖν, πάλιν ἔρχομαι καὶ παραλήμψομαι ὑμᾶς πρὸς ἐμαυτόν, ἵνα ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἦτε. 15.5. ὁ μένων ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ οὗτος φέρει καρπὸν πολύν, ὅτι χωρὶς ἐμοῦ οὐ δύνασθε ποιεῖν οὐδέν. 15.15. οὐκέτι λέγω ὑμᾶς δούλους, ὅτι ὁ δοῦλος οὐκ οἶδεν τί ποιεῖ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος· ὑμᾶς δὲ εἴρηκα φίλους, ὅτι πάντα ἃ ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ πατρός μου ἐγνώρισα ὑμῖν. 17.3. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωὴ ἵνα γινώσκωσι σὲ τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεὸν καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. | 1.12. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God's children, to those who believe in his name: 1.13. who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 2.6. Now there were six water pots of stone set there after the Jews' manner of purifying, containing two or three metretes apiece. 5.38. You don't have his word living in you; because you don't believe him whom he sent. 5.39. "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. 5.40. Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. 5.41. I don't receive glory from men. 5.42. But I know you, that you don't have God's love in yourselves. 5.43. I have come in my Father's name, and you don't receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 5.44. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don't seek the glory that comes from the only God? 5.45. "Don't think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 5.46. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. 5.47. But if you don't believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" 6.44. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up in the last day. 6.45. It is written in the prophets, 'They will all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who hears from the Father, and has learned, comes to me. 6.62. Then what if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 6.63. It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life. 6.64. But there are some of you who don't believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn't believe, and who it was who would betray him. 6.65. He said, "For this cause have I said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father." 6.66. At this, many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 8.19. They said therefore to him, "Where is your Father?"Jesus answered, "You know neither me, nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." 8.36. If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 8.44. You are of your Father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. 12.32. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 14.3. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also. 15.5. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 15.15. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn't know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you. 17.3. This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ. |
|
62. New Testament, Luke, 4.58, 6.46, 16.27-16.31, 21.34 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 53, 114, 178| 6.46. Τί δέ με καλεῖτε Κύριε κύριε, καὶ οὐ ποιεῖτε ἃ λέγω; 16.27. εἶπεν δέ Ἐρωτῶ σε οὖν, πάτερ, ἵνα πέμψῃς αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου, 16.28. ἔχω γὰρ πέντε ἀδελφούς, ὅπως διαμαρτύρηται αὐτοῖς, ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔλθωσιν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦτον τῆς βασάνου. 16.29. λέγει δὲ Ἀβραάμ Ἔχουσι Μωυσέα καὶ τοὺς προφήτας· ἀκουσάτωσαν αὐτῶν. 16.30. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν Οὐχί, πάτερ Ἀβραάμ, ἀλλʼ ἐάν τις ἀπὸ νεκρῶν πορευθῇ πρὸς αὐτοὺς μετανοήσουσιν. 16.31. εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ Εἰ Μωυσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν οὐκ ἀκούουσιν, οὐδʼ ἐάν τις ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῇ πεισθήσονται. 21.34. Προσέχετε δὲ ἑαυτοῖς μή ποτε βαρηθῶσιν αἱ καρδίαι ὑμῶν ἐν κρεπάλῃ καὶ μέθῃ καὶ μερίμναις βιωτικαῖς, καὶ ἐπιστῇ ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἐφνίδιος ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνη ὡς παγίς· | 6.46. "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and don't do the things which I say? 16.27. "He said, 'I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house; 16.28. for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of torment.' 16.29. "But Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' 16.30. "He said, 'No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 16.31. "He said to him, 'If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.'" 21.34. "So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly. |
|
63. Mishnah, Avot, 3.16 (1st cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 31| 3.16. "הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, הַכֹּל נָתוּן בְּעֵרָבוֹן, וּמְצוּדָה פְרוּסָה עַל כָּל הַחַיִּים. הַחֲנוּת פְּתוּחָה, וְהַחֶנְוָנִי מֵקִיף, וְהַפִּנְקָס פָּתוּחַ, וְהַיָּד כּוֹתֶבֶת, וְכָל הָרוֹצֶה לִלְווֹת יָבֹא וְיִלְוֶה, וְהַגַּבָּאִים מַחֲזִירִים תָּדִיר בְּכָל יוֹם, וְנִפְרָעִין מִן הָאָדָם מִדַּעְתּוֹ וְשֶׁלֹּא מִדַּעְתּוֹ, וְיֵשׁ לָהֶם עַל מַה שֶּׁיִּסְמֹכוּ, וְהַדִּין דִּין אֱמֶת, וְהַכֹּל מְתֻקָּן לַסְּעוּדָה:", | 3.16. "He used to say: everything is given against a pledge, and a net is spread out over all the living; the store is open and the storekeeper allows credit, but the ledger is open and the hand writes, and whoever wishes to borrow may come and borrow; but the collectors go round regularly every day and exact dues from man, either with his consent or without his consent, and they have that on which they [can] rely [in their claims], seeing that the judgment is a righteous judgment, and everything is prepared for the banquet.", |
|
64. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 2.4, 4.1-4.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 235| 2.4. ὃς πάντας ἀνθρώπους θέλει σωθῆναι καὶ εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. 4.1. Τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα ῥητῶς λέγει ὅτι ἐν ὑστέροις καιροῖς ἀποστήσονταί τινες τῆς πίστεως, προσέχοντες πνεύμασι πλάνοις καὶ διδασκαλίαις δαιμονίων 4.2. ἐν ὑποκρίσει ψευδολόγων, κεκαυστηριασμένων τὴν ἰδίαν συνείδησιν, 4.3. κωλυόντων γαμεῖν, ἀπέχεσθαι βρωμάτων ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἔκτισεν εἰς μετάλημψιν μετὰ εὐχαριστίας τοῖς πιστοῖς καὶ ἐπεγνωκόσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν. | 2.4. who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. 4.1. But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 4.2. through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; 4.3. forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. |
|
65. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 107 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 192| 107. ut possit animo captus Alcides agi, | |
|
| 66. Alexander of Aphrodisias, On Fate, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 181.13-182.20 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12 |
| 67. Irenaeus, Demonstration of The Apostolic Teaching, 14.1 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 51 |
| 68. Justin, Dialogue With Trypho, 35.6, 141.1 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13, 50 |
| 69. Maximus of Tyre, Dialexeis, 5 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12 |
| 70. Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, 1.17, 1.34, 3.40, 5.13, 6.12, 7.1-7.2, 7.5 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 58 |
71. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 1.1.14, 1.6.2, 1.7.5, 1.13.6, 1.25.6, 1.30.15, 2.5.4, 2.9.15-2.9.17, 2.13.9, 2.14.4, 2.29.1-2.29.31, 2.54, 3.12, 3.19.6, 3.20.3, 3.32.1, 3.35.2, 4.4.3, 4.14, 4.22.1, 4.29.1-4.29.2, 4.34.1, 4.37, 4.37.2-4.37.5, 4.39.4, 4.45.1-4.45.2, 4.61.2, 5.12.1-5.12.2, 5.14.1, 5.28.1 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13, 14, 15, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55 | 4.14. Those, then, who suppose that they prophesy by means of calculations and numbers, and elements and names, constitute the origin of their attempted system to be as follows. They affirm that there is a root of each of the numbers; in the case of thousands, so many monads as there are thousands: for example, the root of six thousand, six monads; of seven thousand, seven monads; of eight thousand, eight monads; and in the case of the rest, in like manner, according to the same (proportion). And in the case of hundreds, as many hundreds as there are, so many monads are the root of them: for instance, of seven hundred there are seven hundreds; the root of these is seven monads: of six hundred, six hundreds; the root of these, six monads. And it is similar respecting decades: for of eighty (the root is) eight monads; and of sixty, six monads; of forty, four monads; of ten, one monad. And in the case of monads, the monads themselves are a root: for instance, of nine, nine; of eight, eight; of seven, seven. In this way, also, ought we therefore to act in the case of the elements (of words), for each letter has been arranged according to a certain number: for instance, the letter n according to fifty monads; but of fifty monads five is the root, and the root of the letter n is (therefore) five. Grant that from some name we take certain roots of it. For instance, (from) the name Agamemnon, there is of the a, one monad; and of the g, three monads; and of the other a, one monad; of the m, four monads; of the e, five monads; of the m, four monads; of the n, five monads; of the (long) o, eight monads; of the n, five monads; which, brought together into one series, will be 1, 3, 1, 4, 5, 4, 5, 8, 5; and these added together make up 36 monads. Again, they take the roots of these, and they become three in the case of the number thirty, but actually six in the case of the number six. The three and the six, then, added together, constitute nine; but the root of nine is nine: therefore the name Agamemnon terminates in the root nine. Let us do the same with another name - Hector. The name (H)ector has five letters - e, and k, and t, and o, and r. The roots of these are 5, 2, 3, 8, 1; and these added together make up 19 monads. Again, of the ten the root is one; and of the nine, nine; which added together make up ten: the root of ten is a monad. The name Hector, therefore, when made the subject of computation, has formed a root, namely a monad. It would, however, be easier to conduct the calculation thus: Divide the ascertained roots from the letters - as now in the case of the name Hector we have found nineteen monads- into nine, and treat what remains over as roots. For example, if I divide 19 into 9, the remainder is 1, for 9 times 2 are 18, and there is a remaining monad: for if I subtract 18 from 19, there is a remaining monad; so that the root of the name Hector will be a monad. Again, of the name Patroclus these numbers are roots: 8, 1, 3, 1, 7, 2, 3, 7, 2; added together, they make up 34 monads. And of these the remainder is 7 monads: of the 30, 3; and of the 4, 4. Seven monads, therefore, are the root of the name Patroclus. Those, then, that conduct their calculations according to the rule of the number nine, take the ninth part of the aggregate number of roots, and define what is left over as the sum of the roots. They, on the other hand, (who conduct their calculations) according to the rule of the number seven, take the seventh (part of the aggregate number of roots); for example, in the case of the name Patroclus, the aggregate in the matter of roots is 34 monads. This divided into seven parts makes four, which (multiplied into each other) are 28. There are six remaining monads; (so that a person using this method) says, according to the rule of the number seven, that six monads are the root of the name Patroclus. If, however, it be 43, (six) taken seven times, he says, are 42, for seven times six are 42, and one is the remainder. A monad, therefore, is the root of the number 43, according to the rule of the number seven. But one ought to observe if the assumed number, when divided, has no remainder; for example, if from any name, after having added together the roots, I find, to give an instance, 36 monads. But the number 36 divided into nine makes exactly 4 εννεαδς; for nine times 4 are 36, and nothing is over. It is evident, then, that the actual root is 9. And again, dividing the number forty-five, we find nine and nothing over - for nine times five are forty-five, and nothing remains; (wherefore) in the case of such they assert the root itself to be nine. And as regards the number seven, the case is similar: if, for example we divide 28 into 7, we have nothing over; for seven times four are 28, and nothing remains; (wherefore) they say that seven is the root. But when one computes names, and finds the same letter occurring twice, he calculates it once; for instance, the name Patroclus has the pa twice, and the o twice: they therefore calculate the a once and the o once. According to this, then, the roots will be 8, 1, 3, 1, 7, 2, 3, 2, and added together they make 27 monads; and the root of the name will be, according to the rule of the number nine, nine itself, but according to the rule of the number seven, six. In like manner, (the name) Sarpedon, when made the subject of calculation, produces as a root, according to the rule of the number nine, two monads. Patroclus, however, produces nine monads; Patroclus gains the victory. For when one number is uneven, but the other even, the uneven number, if it is larger, prevails. But again, when there is an even number, eight, and five an uneven number, the eight prevails, for it is larger. If, however, there were two numbers, for example, both of them even, or both of them odd, the smaller prevails. But how does (the name) Sarpedon, according to the rule of the number nine, make two monads, since the letter (long) o is omitted? For when there may be in a name the letter (long) o and (long) e, they leave out the (long) o, using one letter, because they say both are equipollent; and the same must not be computed twice over, as has been above declared. Again, (the name) Ajax makes four monads; (but the name) Hector, according to the rule of the ninth number, makes one monad. And the tetrad is even, whereas the monad odd. And in the case of such, we say, the greater prevails - Ajax gains the victory. Again, Alexander and Menelaus (may be adduced as examples). Alexander has a proper name (Paris). But Paris, according to the rule of the number nine, makes four monads; and Menelaus, according to the rule of the number nine, makes nine monads. The nine, however, conquer the four (monads): for it has been declared, when the one number is odd and the other even, the greater prevails; but when both are even or both odd, the less (prevails). Again, Amycus and Polydeuces (may be adduced as examples). Amycus, according to the rule of the number nine, makes two monads, and Polydeuces, however, seven: Polydeuces gains the victory. Ajax and Ulysses contended at the funeral games. Ajax, according to the rule of the number nine, makes four monads; Ulysses, according to the rule of the number nine, (makes) eight. Is there, then, not any annexed, and (is there) not a proper name for Ulysses? for he has gained the victory. According to the numbers, no doubt, Ajax is victorious, but history hands down the name of Ulysses as the conqueror, Achilles and Hector (may be adduced as examples). Achilles, according to the rule of the number nine, makes four monads; Hector one: Achilles gains the victory. Again, Achilles and Asteropaeus (are instances). Achilles makes four monads, Asteropaeus three: Achilles conquers. Again, Menelaus and Euphorbus (may be adduced as examples). Menelaus has nine monads, Euphorbus eight: Menelaus gains the victory. Some, however, according to the rule of the number seven, employ the vowels only, but others distinguish by themselves the vowels, and by themselves the semi-vowels, and by themselves the mutes; and, having formed three orders, they take the roots by themselves of the vowels, and by themselves of the semi-vowels, and by themselves of the mutes, and they compare each apart. Others, however, do not employ even these customary numbers, but different ones: for instance, as an example, they no not wish to allow that the letter p has as a root 8 monads, but 5, and that the (letter) x (si) has as a root four monads; and turning in every direction, they discover nothing sound. When, however, they contend about the second (letter), from each name they take away the first letter; but when they contend about the third (letter), they take away two letters of each name, and calculating the rest, compare them. 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. |
|
| 72. Aristides of Athens, Apology, 15.9 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 44 |
73. Tertullian, Antidote For The Scorpion'S Sting, 11 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 61 | 11. In the same manner, therefore, we maintain that the other announcements too refer to the condition of martyrdom. He, says Jesus, who will value his own life also more than me, is not worthy of me, Luke 14:26 - that is, he who will rather live by denying, than die by confessing, me; and he who finds his life shall lose it; but he who loses it for my sake shall find it. Matthew 10:39 Therefore indeed he finds it, who, in winning life, denies; but he who thinks that he wins it by denying, will lose it in hell. On the other hand, he who, through confessing, is killed, will lose it for the present, but is also about to find it unto everlasting life. In fine, governors themselves, when they urge men to deny, say, Save your life; and, Do not lose your life. How would Christ speak, but in accordance with the treatment to which the Christian would be subjected? But when He forbids thinking about what answer to make at a judgment-seat, Matthew 10:19 He is preparing His own servants for what awaited them, He gives the assurance that the Holy Spirit will answer by them; and when He wishes a brother to be visited in prison, Matthew 25:36 He is commanding that those about to confess be the object of solicitude; and He is soothing their sufferings when He asserts that God will avenge His own elect. Luke 18:7 In the parable also of the withering of the word Matthew 13:3 after the green blade had sprung up, He is drawing a picture with reference to the burning heat of persecutions. If these announcements are not understood as they are made, without doubt they signify something else than the sound indicates; and there will be one thing in the words, another in their meanings, as is the case with allegories, with parables, with riddles. Whatever wind of reasoning, therefore, these scorpions may catch (in their sails), with whatever subtlety they may attack, there is now one line of defense: an appeal will be made to the facts themselves, whether they occur as the Scriptures represent that they would; since another thing will then be meant in the Scriptures if that very one (which seems to be so) is not found in actual facts. For what is written, must needs come to pass. Besides, what is written will then come to pass, if something different does not. But, lo! We are both regarded as persons to be hated by all men for the sake of the name, as it is written; and are delivered up by our nearest of kin also, as it is written; and are brought before magistrates, and examined, and tortured, and make confession, and are ruthlessly killed, as it is written. So the Lord ordained. If He ordained these events otherwise, why do they not come to pass otherwise than He ordained them, that is, as He ordained them? And yet they do not come to pass otherwise than He ordained. Therefore, as they come to pass, so He ordained; and as He ordained, so they come to pass. For neither would they have been permitted to occur otherwise than He ordained, nor for His part would He have ordained otherwise than He would wish them to occur. Thus these passages of Scripture will not mean ought else than we recognise in actual facts; or if those events are not yet taking place which are announced, how are those taking place which have not been announced? For these events which are taking place have not been announced, if those which are announced are different, and not these which are taking place. Well now, seeing the very occurrences are met with in actual life which are believed to have been expressed with a different meaning in words, what would happen if they were found to have come to pass in a different manner than had been revealed? But this will be the waywardness of faith, not to believe what has been demonstrated, to assume the truth of what has not been demonstrated. And to this waywardness I will offer the following objection also, that if these events, which occur as is written, will not be the very ones which are announced, those too (which are meant) ought not to occur as is written, that they themselves also may not, after the example of these others, be in danger of exclusion, since there is one thing in the words and another in the facts; and there remains that even the events which have been announced are not seen when they occur, if they are announced otherwise than they have to occur. And how will those be believed (to have come to pass), which will not have been announced as they come to pass? Thus heretics, by not believing what is announced as it has been shown to have taken place, believe what has not been even announced. |
|
74. Tertullian, On The Resurrection of The Flesh, 45 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 60 | 45. But in their blindness they again impale themselves on the point of the old and the new man. When the apostle enjoins us to put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind; and to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, Ephesians 4:22-24 (they maintain) that by here also making a distinction between the two substances, and applying the old one to the flesh and the new one to the spirit, he ascribes to the old man - that is to say, the flesh - a permanent corruption. Now, if you follow the order of the substances, the soul cannot be the new man because it comes the later of the two; nor can the flesh be the old man because it is the former. For what fraction of time was it that intervened between the creative hand of God and His afflatus? I will venture to say, that even if the soul was a good deal prior to the flesh, by the very circumstance that the soul had to wait to be itself completed, it made the other really the former. For everything which gives the finishing stroke and perfection to a work, although it is subsequent in its mere order, yet has the priority in its effect. Much more is that prior, without which preceding things could have no existence. If the flesh be the old man, when did it become so? From the beginning? But Adam was wholly a new man, and of that new man there could be no part an old man. And from that time, ever since the blessing which was pronounced upon man's generation, Genesis 1:28 the flesh and the soul have had a simultaneous birth, without any calculable difference in time; so that the two have been even generated together in the womb, as we have shown in our Treatise on the Soul. Contemporaneous in the womb, they are also temporally identical in their birth. The two are no doubt produced by human parents of two substances, but not at two different periods; rather they are so entirely one, that neither is before the other in point of time. It is more correct (to say), that we are either entirely the old man or entirely the new, for we cannot tell how we can possibly be anything else. But the apostle mentions a very clear mark of the old man. For put off, says he, concerning the former conversation, the old man; Ephesians 4:22 (he does) not say concerning the seniority of either substance. It is not indeed the flesh which he bids us to put off, but the works which he in another passage shows to be works of the flesh. Galatians 5:19 He brings no accusation against men's bodies, of which he even writes as follows: Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. Be angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands (the thing which is good), that he may have to give to him that needs. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good for the edification of faith, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: but be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:25-32 Why, therefore, do not those who suppose the flesh to be the old man, hasten their own death, in order that by laying aside the old man they may satisfy the apostle's precepts? As for ourselves, we believe that the whole of faith is to be administered in the flesh, nay more, by the flesh, which has both a mouth for the utterance of all holy words, and a tongue to refrain from blasphemy, and a heart to avoid all irritation, and hands to labour and to give; while we also maintain that as well the old man as the new has relation to the difference of moral conduct, and not to any discrepancy of nature. And just as we acknowledge that that which according to its former conversation was the old man was also corrupt, and received its very name in accordance with its deceitful lusts, so also (do we hold) that it is the old man in reference to its former conversation, Ephesians 4:22 and not in respect of the flesh through any permanent dissolution. Moreover, it is still unimpaired in the flesh, and identical in that nature, even when it has become the new man; since it is of its sinful course of life, and not of its corporeal substance, that it has been divested. |
|
| 75. Tertullian, Exhortation To Chastity, 2 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 61 |
76. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies, 5.6, 5.14.1 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 15 | 5.6. These doctrines, then, the Naasseni attempt to establish, calling themselves Gnostics. But since the error is many-headed and diversified, resembling, in truth, the hydra that we read of in history; when, at one blow, we have struck off the heads of this (delusion) by means of refutation, employing the wand of truth, we shall entirely exterminate the monster. For neither do the remaining heresies present much difference of aspect from this, having a mutual connection through (the same) spirit of error. But since, altering the words and the names of the serpent, they wish that there should be many heads of the serpent, neither thus shall we fail thoroughly to refute them as they desire. |
|
77. Tertullian, On Baptism, 18 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 61 | 18. But they whose office it is, know that baptism is not rashly to be administered. Give to every one who begs you, has a reference of its own, appertaining especially to almsgiving. On the contrary, this precept is rather to be looked at carefully: Give not the holy thing to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine; Matthew 7:6 and, Lay not hands easily on any; share not other men's sins. If Philip so easily baptized the chamberlain, let us reflect that a manifest and conspicuous evidence that the Lord deemed him worthy had been interposed. Acts 8:26-40 The Spirit had enjoined Philip to proceed to that road: the eunuch himself, too, was not found idle, nor as one who was suddenly seized with an eager desire to be baptized; but, after going up to the temple for prayer's sake, being intently engaged on the divine Scripture, was thus suitably discovered - to whom God had, unasked, sent an apostle, which one, again, the Spirit bade adjoin himself to the chamberlain's chariot. The Scripture which he was reading falls in opportunely with his faith: Philip, being requested, is taken to sit beside him; the Lord is pointed out; faith lingers not; water needs no waiting for; the work is completed, and the apostle snatched away. But Paul too was, in fact, 'speedily' baptized: for Simon, his host, speedily recognized him to be an appointed vessel of election. God's approbation sends sure premonitory tokens before it; every petition may both deceive and be deceived. And so, according to the circumstances and disposition, and even age, of each individual, the delay of baptism is preferable; principally, however, in the case of little children. For why is it necessary - if (baptism itself) is not so necessary - that the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger? Who both themselves, by reason of mortality, may fail to fulfil their promises, and may be disappointed by the development of an evil disposition, in those for whom they stood? The Lord does indeed say, Forbid them not to come unto me. Let them come, then, while they are growing up; let them come while they are learning, while they are learning whither to come; let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ. Why does the innocent period of life hasten to the remission of sins? More caution will be exercised in worldly matters: so that one who is not trusted with earthly substance is trusted with divine! Let them know how to ask for salvation, that you may seem (at least) to have given to him that asks. For no less cause must the unwedded also be deferred - in whom the ground of temptation is prepared, alike in such as never were wedded by means of their maturity, and in the widowed by means of their freedom - until they either marry, or else be more fully strengthened for continence. If any understand the weighty import of baptism, they will fear its reception more than its delay: sound faith is secure of salvation. |
|
| 78. Tertullian, On The Soul, 19.6, 27.8 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 60 |
79. Tertullian, Apology, 22 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 60 | 22. And we affirm indeed the existence of certain spiritual essences; nor is their name unfamiliar. The philosophers acknowledge there are demons; Socrates himself waiting on a demon's will. Why not? Since it is said an evil spirit attached itself specially to him even from his childhood - turning his mind no doubt from what was good. The poets are all acquainted with demons too; even the ignorant common people make frequent use of them in cursing. In fact, they call upon Satan, the demon-chief, in their execrations, as though from some instinctive soul-knowledge of him. Plato also admits the existence of angels. The dealers in magic, no less, come forward as witnesses to the existence of both kinds of spirits. We are instructed, moreover, by our sacred books how from certain angels, who fell of their own free-will, there sprang a more wicked demon-brood, condemned of God along with the authors of their race, and that chief we have referred to. It will for the present be enough, however, that some account is given of their work. Their great business is the ruin of mankind. So, from the very first, spiritual wickedness sought our destruction. They inflict, accordingly, upon our bodies diseases and other grievous calamities, while by violent assaults they hurry the soul into sudden and extraordinary excesses. Their marvellous subtleness and tenuity give them access to both parts of our nature. As spiritual, they can do no harm; for, invisible and intangible, we are not cognizant of their action save by its effects, as when some inexplicable, unseen poison in the breeze blights the apples and the grain while in the flower, or kills them in the bud, or destroys them when they have reached maturity; as though by the tainted atmosphere in some unknown way spreading abroad its pestilential exhalations. So, too, by an influence equally obscure, demons and angels breathe into the soul, and rouse up its corruptions with furious passions and vile excesses; or with cruel lusts accompanied by various errors, of which the worst is that by which these deities are commended to the favour of deceived and deluded human beings, that they may get their proper food of flesh-fumes and blood when that is offered up to idol-images. What is daintier food to the spirit of evil, than turning men's minds away from the true God by the illusions of a false divination? And here I explain how these illusions are managed. Every spirit is possessed of wings. This is a common property of both angels and demons. So they are everywhere in a single moment; the whole world is as one place to them; all that is done over the whole extent of it, it is as easy for them to know as to report. Their swiftness of motion is taken for divinity, because their nature is unknown. Thus they would have themselves thought sometimes the authors of the things which they announce; and sometimes, no doubt, the bad things are their doing, never the good. The purposes of God, too, they took up of old from the lips of the prophets, even as they spoke them; and they gather them still from their works, when they hear them read aloud. Thus getting, too, from this source some intimations of the future, they set themselves up as rivals of the true God, while they steal His divinations. But the skill with which their responses are shaped to meet events, your Crœsi and Pyrrhi know too well. On the other hand, it was in that way we have explained, the Pythian was able to declare that they were cooking a tortoise with the flesh of a lamb; in a moment he had been to Lydia. From dwelling in the air, and their nearness to the stars, and their commerce with the clouds, they have means of knowing the preparatory processes going on in these upper regions, and thus can give promise of the rains which they already feel. Very kind too, no doubt, they are in regard to the healing of diseases. For, first of all, they make you ill; then, to get a miracle out of it, they command the application of remedies either altogether new, or contrary to those in use, and straightway withdrawing hurtful influence, they are supposed to have wrought a cure. What need, then, to speak of their other artifices, or yet further of the deceptive power which they have as spirits: of these Castor apparitions, of water carried by a sieve, and a ship drawn along by a girdle, and a beard reddened by a touch, all done with the one object of showing that men should believe in the deity of stones, and not seek after the only true God? |
|
80. Tertullian, Against The Valentinians, 29 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 61 | 29. I will now collect from different sources, by way of conclusion, what they affirm concerning the dispensation of the whole human race. Having at first stated their views as to man's threefold nature - which was, however, united in one in the case of Adam - they then proceed after him to divide it (into three) with their special characteristics, finding opportunity for such distinction in the posterity of Adam himself, in which occurs a threefold division as to moral differences. Cain and Abel, and Seth, who were in a certain sense the sources of the human race, become the fountain-heads of just as many qualities of nature and essential character. The material nature, which had become reprobate for salvation, they assign to Cain; the animal nature, which was poised between divergent hopes, they find in Abel; the spiritual, preordained for certain salvation, they store up in Seth. In this way also they make a twofold distinction among souls, as to their property of good and evil- according to the material condition derived from Cain, or the animal from Abel. Men's spiritual state they derive over and above the other conditions, from Seth adventitiously, not in the way of nature, but of grace, in such wise that Achamoth infuses it among superior beings like rain into good souls, that is, those who are enrolled in the animal class. Whereas the material class - in other words, those which are bad souls- they say, never receive the blessings of salvation; for that nature they have pronounced to be incapable of any change or reform in its natural condition. This grain, then, of spiritual seed is modest and very small when cast from her hand, but under her instruction increases and advances into full conviction, as we have already said; and the souls, on this very account, so much excelled all others, that the Demiurge, even then in his ignorance, held them in great esteem. For it was from their list that he had been accustomed to select men for kings and for priests; and these even now, if they have once attained to a full and complete knowledge of these foolish conceits of theirs, since they are already naturalized in the fraternal bond of the spiritual state, will obtain a sure salvation, nay, one which is on all accounts their due. |
|
| 81. Alcinous, Handbook of Platonism, 26.1-26.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12 |
82. Tertullian, Against Marcion, 2.5, 2.14, 5.6, 6.6 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 60, 61 | 2.5. Now then, you dogs, whom the apostle puts outside, Revelation 22:15 and who yelp at the God of truth, let us come to your various questions. These are the bones of contention, which you are perpetually gnawing! If God is good, and prescient of the future, and able to avert evil, why did He permit man, the very image and likeness of Himself, and, by the origin of his soul, His own substance too, to be deceived by the devil, and fall from obedience of the law into death? For if He had been good, and so unwilling that such a catastrophe should happen, and prescient, so as not to be ignorant of what was to come to pass, and powerful enough to hinder its occurrence, that issue would never have come about, which should be impossible under these three conditions of the divine greatness. Since, however, it has occurred, the contrary proposition is most certainly true, that God must be deemed neither good, nor prescient, nor powerful. For as no such issue could have happened had God been such as He is reputed - good, and prescient, and mighty - so has this issue actually happened, because He is not such a God. In reply, we must first vindicate those attributes in the Creator which are called in question - namely, His goodness and foreknowledge, and power. But I shall not linger long over this point for Christ's own definition John 10:25 comes to our aid at once. From works must proofs be obtained. The Creator's works testify at once to His goodness, since they are good, as we have shown, and to His power, since they are mighty, and spring indeed out of nothing. And even if they were made out of some (previous) matter, as some will have it, they are even thus out of nothing, because they were not what they are. In short, both they are great because they are good; and God is likewise mighty, because all things are His own, whence He is almighty. But what shall I say of His prescience, which has for its witnesses as many prophets as it inspired? After all, what title to prescience do we look for in the Author of the universe, since it was by this very attribute that He foreknew all things when He appointed them their places, and appointed them their places when He foreknew them? There is sin itself. If He had not foreknown this, He would not have proclaimed a caution against it under the penalty of death. Now if there were in God such attributes as must have rendered it both impossible and improper for any evil to have happened to man, and yet evil did occur, let us consider man's condition also - whether it were not, in fact, rather the cause why that came to pass which could not have happened through God. I find, then, that man was by God constituted free, master of his own will and power; indicating the presence of God's image and likeness in him by nothing so well as by this constitution of his nature. For it was not by his face, and by the lineaments of his body, though they were so varied in his human nature, that he expressed his likeness to the form of God; but he showed his stamp in that essence which he derived from God Himself (that is, the spiritual, which answered to the form of God), and in the freedom and power of his will. This his state was confirmed even by the very law which God then imposed upon him. For a law would not be imposed upon one who had it not in his power to render that obedience which is due to law; nor again, would the penalty of death be threatened against sin, if a contempt of the law were impossible to man in the liberty of his will. So in the Creator's subsequent laws also you will find, when He sets before man good and evil, life and death, that the entire course of discipline is arranged in precepts by God's calling men from sin, and threatening and exhorting them; and this on no other ground than that man is free, with a will either for obedience or resistance. 2.14. On all occasions does God meet you: it is He who smites, but also heals; who kills, but also makes alive; who humbles, and yet exalts; who creates evil, but also makes peace; - so that from these very (contrasts of His providence) I may get an answer to the heretics. Behold, they say, how He acknowledges Himself to be the creator of evil in the passage, It is I who create evil. They take a word whose one form reduces to confusion and ambiguity two kinds of evils (because both sins and punishments are called evils), and will have Him in every passage to be understood as the creator of all evil things, in order that He may be designated the author of evil. We, on the contrary, distinguish between the two meanings of the word in question, and, by separating evils of sin from penal evils, mala culp from mala pœn , confine to each of the two classes its own author - the devil as the author of the sinful evils (culp ), and God as the creator of penal evils (pœn ); so that the one class shall be accounted as morally bad, and the other be classed as the operations of justice passing penal sentences against the evils of sin. of the latter class of evils which are compatible with justice, God is therefore avowedly the creator. They are, no doubt, evil to those by whom they are endured, but still on their own account good, as being just and defensive of good and hostile to sin. In this respect they are, moreover, worthy of God. Else prove them to be unjust, in order to show them deserving of a place in the sinful class, that is to say, evils of injustice; because if they turn out to belong to justice, they will be no longer evil things, but good - evil only to the bad, by whom even directly good things are condemned as evil. In this case, you must decide that man, although the wilful contemner of the divine law, unjustly bore the doom which he would like to have escaped; that the wickedness of those days was unjustly smitten by the deluge, afterwards by the fire (of Sodom); that Egypt, although most depraved and superstitious, and, worse still, the harasser of its -population, was unjustly stricken with the chastisement of its ten plagues. God hardens the heart of Pharaoh. He deserved, however, to be influenced to his destruction, who had already denied God, already in his pride so often rejected His ambassadors, accumulated heavy burdens on His people, and (to sum up all) as an Egyptian, had long been guilty before God of Gentile idolatry, worshipping the ibis and the crocodile in preference to the living God. Even His own people did God visit in their ingratitude. Against young lads, too, did He send forth bears, for their irreverence to the prophet. 5.6. By all these statements, therefore, does he show us what God he means, when he says, We speak the wisdom of God among them that are perfect. 1 Corinthians 2:6-7 It is that God who has confounded the wisdom of the wise, who has brought to nought the understanding of the prudent, who has reduced to folly the world's wisdom, by choosing its foolish things, and disposing them to the attainment of salvation. This wisdom, he says, once lay hidden in things that were foolish, weak, and lacking in honour; once also was latent under figures, allegories, and enigmatical types; but it was afterwards to be revealed in Christ, who was set as a light to the Gentiles, Isaiah 42:6 by the Creator who promised through the mouth of Isaiah that He would discover the hidden treasures, which eye had not seen. Now, that that god should have ever hidden anything who had never made a cover wherein to practise concealment, is in itself a wholly incredible idea. If he existed, concealment of himself was out of the question - to say nothing of any of his religious ordices. The Creator, on the contrary, was as well known in Himself as His ordices were. These, we know, were publicly instituted in Israel; but they lay overshadowed with latent meanings, in which the wisdom of God was concealed, to be brought to light by and by among the perfect, when the time should come, but pre-ordained in the counsels of God before the ages. 1 Corinthians 2:7 But whose ages, if not the Creator's? For because ages consist of times, and times are made up of days, and months, and years; since also days, and months, and years are measured by suns, and moons, and stars, which He ordained for this purpose (for they shall be, says He, for signs of the months and the years), it clearly follows that the ages belong to the Creator, and that nothing of what was fore-ordained before the ages can be said to be the property of any other being than Him who claims the ages also as His own. Else let Marcion show that the ages belong to his god. He must then also claim the world itself for him; for it is in it that the ages are reckoned, the vessel as it were of the times, as well as the signs thereof, or their order. But he has no such demonstration to show us. I go back therefore to the point, and ask him this question: Why did (his god) fore-ordain our glory before the ages of the Creator? I could understand his having predetermined it before the ages, if he had revealed it at the commencement of time. But when he does this almost at the very expiration of all the ages of the Creator, his predestination before the ages, and not rather within the ages, was in vain, because he did not mean to make any revelation of his purpose until the ages had almost run out their course. For it is wholly inconsistent in him to be so forward in planning purposes, who is so backward in revealing them. In the Creator, however, the two courses were perfectly compatible - both the predestination before the ages and the revelation at the end thereof, because that which He both fore-ordained and revealed He also in the intermediate space of time announced by the pre-ministration of figures, and symbols, and allegories. But because (the apostle) subjoins, on the subject of our glory, that none of the princes of this world knew it, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, 1 Corinthians 2:8 the heretic argues that the princes of this world crucified the Lord (that is, the Christ of the rival god) in order that this blow might even recoil on the Creator Himself. Any one, however, who has seen from what we have already said how our glory must be regarded as issuing from the Creator, will already have come to the conclusion that, inasmuch as the Creator settled it in His own secret purpose, it properly enough was unknown to all the princes and powers of the Creator, on the principle that servants are not permitted to know their masters' plans, much less the fallen angels and the leader of transgression himself, the devil; for I should contend that these, on account of their fall, were greater strangers still to any knowledge of the Creator's dispensations. But it is no longer open to me even to interpret the princes and powers of this world as the Creator's, since the apostle imputes ignorance to them, whereas even the devil according to our Gospel recognised Jesus in the temptation, Matthew 4:1-11 and, according to the record which is common to both (Marcionites and ourselves) the evil spirit knew that Jesus was the Holy One of God, and that Jesus was His name, and that He had come to destroy them. Luke 4:34 The parable also of the strong man armed, whom a stronger than he overcame and seized his goods, is admitted by Marcion to have reference to the Creator: therefore the Creator could not have been ignorant any longer of the God of glory, since He is overcome by him; nor could He have crucified him whom He was unable to cope with. The inevitable inference, therefore, as it seems to me, is that we must believe that the princes and powers of the Creator did knowingly crucify the God of glory in His Christ, with that desperation and excessive malice with which the most abandoned slaves do not even hesitate to slay their masters. For it is written in my Gospel that Satan entered into Judas. Luke 22:3 According to Marcion, however, the apostle in the passage under consideration 1 Corinthians 2:8 does not allow the imputation of ignorance, with respect to the Lord of glory, to the powers of the Creator; because, indeed, he will have it that these are not meant by the princes of this world. But (the apostle) evidently did not speak of spiritual princes; so that he meant secular ones, those of the princely people, (chief in the divine dispensation, although) not, of course, among the nations of the world, and their rulers, and king Herod, and even Pilate, and, as represented by him, that power of Rome which was the greatest in the world, and then presided over by him. Thus the arguments of the other side are pulled down, and our own proofs are thereby built up. But you still maintain that our glory comes from your god, with whom it also lay in secret. Then why does your god employ the self-same Scripture which the apostle also relies on? What has your god to do at all with the sayings of the prophets? Who has discovered the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counsellor? Isaiah 40:13 So says Isaiah. What has he also to do with illustrations from our God? For when (the apostle) calls himself a wise master-builder, 1 Corinthians 3:10 we find that the Creator by Isaiah designates the teacher who sketches out the divine discipline by the same title, I will take away from Judah the cunning artifi cer, etc. And was it not Paul himself who was there foretold, destined to be taken away from Judah - that is, from Judaism- for the erection of Christianity, in order to lay that only foundation, which is Christ? 1 Corinthians 3:11 of this work the Creator also by the same prophet says, Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a precious stone and honourable; and he that rests thereon shall not be confounded. Isaiah 28:16 Unless it be, that God professed Himself to be the builder up of an earthly work, that so He might not give any sign of His Christ, as destined to be the foundation of such as believe in Him, upon which every man should build at will the superstructure of either sound or worthless doctrine; forasmuch as it is the Creator's function, when a man's work shall be tried by fire, (or) when a reward shall be recompensed to him by fire; because it is by fire that the test is applied to the building which you erect upon the foundation which is laid by Him, that is, the foundation of His Christ. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 Now, since man is the property, and the work, and the image and likeness of the Creator, having his flesh, formed by Him of the ground, and his soul of His afflatus, it follows that Marcion's god wholly dwells in a temple which belongs to another, if so be we are not the Creator's temple. But if any man defile the temple of God, he shall be himself destroyed - of course, by the God of the temple. 1 Corinthians 3:17 If you threaten an avenger, you threaten us with the Creator. You must become fools, that you may be wise. 1 Corinthians 3:18 Wherefore? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. 1 Corinthians 3:19 With what God? Even if the ancient Scriptures have contributed nothing in support of our view thus far, an excellent testimony turns up in what (the apostle) here adjoins: For it is written, He takes the wise in their own craftiness; and again, The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. For in general we may conclude for certain that he could not possibly have cited the authority of that God whom he was bound to destroy, since he would not teach for Him. Therefore, says he, let no man glory in man; 1 Corinthians 3:21 an injunction which is in accordance with the teaching of the Creator, wretched is the man that trusts in man; Jeremiah 17:5 again, It is better to trust in the Lord than to confide in man; and the same thing is said about glorying (in princes). |
|
| 83. Tatian, Oration To The Greeks, 7.1-7.2, 11.2, 15.4 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 47 |
| 84. Tertullian, On The Apparel of Women, 2.10 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 61 |
85. Porphyry, Letter To Marcella, 24 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 33 | 24. No god is responsible for a man's evils, for he has chosen his lot himself. The prayer which is accompanied by base actions is impure, and |45 therefore not acceptable to God; but that which is accompanied by noble actions is pure, and at the same time acceptable. There are four first principles that must be upheld concerning God—faith, truth, love, hope. We must have faith that our only salvation is in turning to God. And having faith, we must strive with all our might to know the truth about God. And when we know this, we must love Him we do know. And when we love Him we must nourish our souls on good hopes for our life, for it is by their good hopes good men are superior to bad ones. Let then these four principles be firmly held. |
|
| 86. Lactantius, De Opificio Dei, 19 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 83 |
87. Lactantius, Divine Institutes, None (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 16, 83 | 6.3. There are two ways, O Emperor Constantine, by which human life must proceed - the one which leads to heaven, the other which sinks to hell; and these ways poets have introduced in their poems, and philosophers in their disputations. And indeed philosophers have represented the one as belonging to virtues, the other to vices; and they have represented that which belongs to virtues as steep and rugged at the first entrance, in which if any one, having overcome the difficulty, has climbed to the summit, they say that he afterwards has a level path, a bright and pleasant plain, and that he enjoys abundant and delightful fruits of his labours; but that those whom the difficulty of the first approach has deterred, glide and turn aside into the way of vices, which at its first entrance appears to be pleasant and much more beaten, but afterwards, when they have advanced in it a little further, that the appearance of its pleasantness is withdrawn, and that there arises a steep way, now rough with stones, now overspread with thorns, now interrupted by deep waters or violent with torrents, so that they must be in difficulty, hesitate, slip about, and fall. And all these things are brought forward that it may appear that there are very great labours in undertaking virtues, but that when they are gained there are the greatest advantages, and firm and incorruptible pleasures; but that vices ensnare the minds of men with certain natural blandishments, and lead them captivated by the appearance of empty pleasures to bitter griefs and miseries - an altogether wise discussion, if they knew the forms and limits of the virtues themselves. For they had not learned either what they are, or what reward awaits them from God: but this we will show in these two books. But these men, because they were ignorant or in doubt that the souls of men are immortal, estimated both virtues and vices by earthly honours or punishments. Therefore all this discussion respecting the two ways has reference to frugality and luxury. For they say that the course of human life resembles the letter Y, because every one of men, when he has reached the threshold of early youth, and has arrived at the place where the way divides itself into two parts, is in doubt, and hesitates, and does not know to which side he should rather turn himself. If he shall meet with a guide who may direct him wavering to better things - that is, if he shall learn philosophy or eloquence, or some honourable arts by which he may turn to good conduct, which cannot take place without great labour - they say that he will lead a life of honour and abundance; but if he shall not meet with a teacher of temperance, that he falls into the way on the left hand, which assumes the appearance of the better - that is, he gives himself up to idleness, sloth, and luxury, which seem pleasant for a time to one who is ignorant of true goods, but that afterwards, having lost all his dignity and property, he will live in all wretchedness and ignominy. Therefore they referred the end of those ways to the body, and to this life which we lead on earth. The poets perhaps did better, who would have it that this twofold way was in the lower regions; but they are deceived in this, that they proposed these ways to the dead. Both therefore spoke with truth, but yet both incorrectly; for the ways themselves ought to have been referred to life, their ends to death. We therefore speak better and more truly, who say that the two ways belong to heaven and hell, because immortality is promised to the righteous, and everlasting punishment is threatened to the unrighteous. But I will explain how these ways either exalt to heaven or thrust down to hell, and I will set forth what these virtues are of which the philosophers were ignorant; then I will show what are their rewards, and also what are vices, and what their punishments. For perhaps some one may expect that I shall speak separately of vices and virtues; whereas, when we discuss the subject of good or evil, that which is contrary may also be understood. For, whether you introduce virtues, vices will spontaneously depart; or if you take away vices, virtues will of their own accord succeed. The nature of good and evil things is so fixed, that they always oppose and drive out one another: and thus it comes to pass that vices cannot be removed without virtues, nor can virtues be introduced without the removal of vices. Therefore we bring forward these ways in a very different manner from that in which the philosophers are accustomed to present them: first of all, because we say that a guide is proposed to each, and in each case an immortal: but that the one is honoured who presides over virtues and good qualities, the other condemned who presides over vices and evils. But they place a guide only on the right side, and that not one only, nor a lasting one; inasmuch as they introduce any teacher of a good art, who may recall men from sloth, and teach them to be temperate. But they do not represent any as entering upon that way except boys and young men; for this reason, that the arts are learned at these ages. We, on the other hand, lead those of each sex, every age and race, into this heavenly path, because God, who is the guide of that way, denies immortality to no human being. The shape also of the ways themselves is not as they supposed. For what need is there of the letter Y in matters which are different and opposed to one another? But the one which is better is turned towards the rising of the sun, the other which is worse towards its setting: since he who follows truth and righteousness, having received the reward of immortality, will enjoy perpetual light; but he who, enticed by that evil guide, shall prefer vices to virtues, falsehood to truth, must be borne to the setting of the sun, and to darkness. I will therefore describe each, and will point out their properties and habits. 6.13. As often, therefore, as you are asked for aid, believe that you are tried by God, that it may be seen whether you are worthy of being heard. Examine your own conscience, and, as far as you are able, heal your wounds. Nor, however, because offenses are removed by bounty, think that a licence is given you for sinning. For they are done away with, if you are bountiful to God because you have sinned; for if you sin through reliance on your bounty, they are not done away with. For God especially desires that men shall be cleansed from their sins, and therefore He commands them to repent. But to repent is nothing else than to profess and to affirm that one will sin no more. Therefore they are pardoned who unawares and incautiously glide into sin; he who sins wilfully has no pardon. Nor, however, if any one shall have been purified from all stain of sin, let him think that he may abstain from the work of bounty because he has no faults to blot out. Nay, in truth, he is then more bound to exercise justice when he has become just, so that that which he had before done for the healing of his wounds he may afterwards do for the praise and glory of virtue. To this is added, that no one can be without fault as long as he is burthened with a covering of flesh, the infirmity of which is subject to the dominion of sin in a threefold manner - in deeds, in words, and thoughts. By these steps justice advances to the greatest height. The first step of virtue is to abstain from evil works; the second, to abstain also from evil words; the third, to abstain even from the thoughts of evil things. He who ascends the first step is sufficiently just; he who ascends the second is now of perfect virtue, since he offends neither in deeds nor in conversation; he who ascends the third appears truly to have attained the likeness of God. For it is almost beyond the measure of man not even to admit to the thought that which is either bad in action or improper in speech. Therefore even just men, who can refrain from every unjust work, are sometimes, however, overcome by frailty itself, so that they either speak evil in anger, or, at the sight of delightful things, they desire them with silent thought. But if the condition of mortality does not suffer a man to be pure from every stain, the faults of the flesh ought therefore to be done away with by continual bounty. For it is the single work of a man who is wise, and just, and worthy of life, to lay out his riches on justice alone; for assuredly he who is without this, although he should surpass Crœsus or Crassus in riches, is to be esteemed as poor, as naked, as a beggar. Therefore we must use our efforts that we may be clothed with the garment of justice and piety, of which no one may deprive us, which may furnish us with an everlasting ornament. For if the worshippers of gods adore senseless images, and bestow upon them whatever they have which is precious, though they can neither make use of them nor give thanks because they have received them, how much more just and true is it to reverence the living images of God, that you may gain the favour of the living God! For as these make use of what they have received, and give thanks, so God, in whose sight you shall have done that which is good, will both approve of it and reward your piety. 7.5. Let us now assign the reason why He made man himself. For if the philosophers had known this, they would either have maintained those things which they had found to be true, or would not have fallen into the greatest errors. For this is the chief thing; this is the point on which everything turns. And if any one does not possess this, the truth altogether glides away from him. It is this, in short, which causes them to be inconsistent with reason; for if this had shone upon them, if they had known all the mystery of man, the Academy would never have been in entire opposition to their disputations, and to all philosophy. As, therefore, God did not make the world for His own sake, because He does not stand in need of its advantages, but for the sake of man, who has the use of it, so also He made man himself for His own sake. What advantage is there to God in man, says Epicurus, that He should make him for His own sake? Truly, that there might be one who might understand His works; who might be able both to admire with his understanding, and to express with his voice, the foresight displayed in their arrangement, the order of their creation, the power exerted in their completion. And the sum of all these things is, that he should worship God. For he who understands these things worships Him; he follows Him with due veneration as the Maker of all things, He as his true Father, who measures the excellence of His majesty according to the invention, the commencement, and completion of His works. What more evident argument can be brought forward that God both made the world for the sake of man, and man for His own sake, than that he alone of all living creatures has been so formed that his eyes are directed towards heaven, his face looking towards God, his countece is in fellowship with his Parent, so that God appears, as it were, with outstretched hand to have raised man from the ground, and to have elevated him to the contemplation of Himself. What, then, he says, does the worship paid by man confer on God, who is blessed, and in want of nothing? Or if He gave such honour to man as to create the world for his sake, to furnish him with wisdom, to make him lord of all things living, and to love him as a son, why did He make him subject to death and decay? Why did He expose the object of His love to all evils? When it was befitting that man should be happy, as though closely connected with God, and everlasting as He is, to the worship and contemplation of whom he was formed. Although we have taught these things for the most part in a scattered manner in the former books, nevertheless, since the subject now specially requires it, because we have undertaken to discuss the subject of a happy life, these things are to be explained by us more carefully and fully, that the arrangement made by God, and His work and will, may be known. Though He was always able by His own immortal Spirit to produce innumerable souls, as He produced the angels, to whom there exists immortality without any danger and fear of evils, yet He devised an unspeakable work, in what manner He might create an infinite multitude of souls, which being at first united with frail and feeble bodies, He might place in the midst between good and evil, that He might set virtue before them composed as they were of both natures; that they might not attain to immortality by a delicate and easy course of life, but might arrive at that unspeakable reward of eternal life with the utmost difficulty and great labours. Therefore, that He might clothe them with limbs which were heavy and liable to injury, since they were unable to exist in the middle void, the weight and gravity of the body sinking downwards, He determined that an abode and dwelling-place should first be built for them. And thus with unspeakable energy and power He contrived the surpassing works of the world; and having suspended the light elements on high, and depressed the heavy ones to the depths below, He strengthened the heavenly things, and established the earthly. It is not necessary at present to follow out each point separately, since we discussed them all together in the second book. Therefore He placed in the heaven lights, whose regularity, and brightness, and motion, were most suitably proportioned to the advantage of living beings. Moreover, He gave to the earth, which He designed as their dwelling-place, fruitfulness for bringing forth and producing various things, that by the abundance of fruits and green herbs it might supply nourishment according to the nature and requirements of each kind. Then, when He had completed all things which belonged to the condition of the world, He formed man from the earth itself, which He prepared for him from the beginning as a habitation; that is, He clothed and covered his spirit with an earthly body, that, being compacted of different and opposing materials, he might be susceptible of good and evil; and as the earth itself is fruitful for the bringing forth of grain, so the body of man, which was taken from the earth, received the power of producing offspring, that, inasmuch as he was formed of a fragile substance, and could not exist for ever, when the space of his temporal life was past, he might depart, and by a perpetual succession renew that which he bore, which was frail and feeble. Why, then, did He make him frail and mortal, when He had built the world for his sake? First of all, that an infinite number of living beings might be produced, and that He might fill all the earth with a multitude; in the next place, that He might set before man virtue, that is, endurance of evils and labours, by which he might be able to gain the reward of immortality. For since man consists of two parts, body and soul, of which the one is earthly, the other heavenly, two lives have been assigned to man: the one temporal, which is appointed for the body; the other everlasting, which belongs to the soul. We received the former at our birth we attain to the latter by striving, that immortality might not exist to man without any difficulty. That earthly one is as the body, and therefore has an end; but this heavenly one is as the soul, and therefore has no limit. We received the first when we were ignorant of it, this second knowingly; for it is given to virtue, not to nature, because God wished that we should procure life for ourselves in life. For this reason He has given us this present life, that we may either lose that true and eternal life by our vices, or win it by virtue. The chief good is not contained in this bodily life, since, as it was given to us by divine necessity, so it will again be destroyed by divine necessity. Thus that which has an end does not contain the chief good. But the chief good is contained in that spiritual life which we acquire by ourselves, because it cannot contain evil, or have an end; to which subject nature and the system of the body afford an argument. For other animals incline towards the ground, because they are earthly, and are incapable of immortality, which is from heaven; but man is upright and looks towards heaven, because immortality is proposed to him; which, however, does not come, unless it is given to man by God. For otherwise there would be no difference between the just and the unjust, since every man who is born would become immortal. Immortality, then, is not the consequence of nature, but the reward and recompense of virtue. Lastly, man does not immediately upon his birth walk upright, but at first on all fours, because the nature of his body and of this present life is common to us with the dumb animals; afterwards, when his strength is confirmed, he raises himself, and his tongue is loosened so that he speaks plainly, and he ceases to be a dumb animal. And this argument teaches that man is born mortal; but that he afterwards becomes immortal, when he begins to live in conformity with the will of God, that is, to follow righteousness, which is comprised in the worship of God, since God raised man to a view of the heaven and of Himself. And this takes place when man, purified in the heavenly laver, lays aside his infancy together with all the pollution of his past life, and having received an increase of divine vigour, becomes a perfect and complete man. Therefore, because God has set forth virtue before man, although the soul and the body are connected together, yet they are contrary, and oppose one another. The things which are good for the soul are evil to the body, that is, the avoiding of riches, the prohibiting of pleasures, the contempt of pain and death. In like manner, the things which are good for the body are evil to the soul, that is, desire and lust, by which riches are desired, and the enjoyments of various pleasures, by which the soul is weakened and destroyed. Therefore it is necessary, that the just and wise man should be engaged in all evils, since fortitude is victorious over evils; but the unjust in riches, in honours, in power. For these goods relate to the body, and are earthly; and these men also lead an earthly life, nor are they able to attain to immortality, because they have given themselves up to pleasures which are the enemies of virtue. Therefore this temporal life ought to be subject to that eternal life, as the body is to the soul. Whoever, then, prefers the life of the soul must despise the life of the body; nor will he in any other way be able to strive after that which is highest, unless he shall have despised the things which are lowest. But he who shall have embraced the life of the body, and shall have turned his desires downwards to the earth, is unable to attain to that higher life. But he who prefers to live well for eternity, will live badly for a time, and will be subjected to all troubles and labours as long as he shall be on earth, that he may have divine and heavenly consolation. And he who shall prefer to live well for a time, will live ill to eternity; for he will be condemned by the sentence of God to eternal punishment, because he has preferred earthly to heavenly goods. On this account, therefore, God seeks to be worshipped, and to be honoured by man as a Father, that he may have virtue and wisdom, which alone produce immortality. For because no other but Himself is able to confer that immortality, since He alone possesses it, He will grant to the piety of the man, with which he has honoured God, this reward, to be blessed to all eternity, and to be for ever in the presence of God and in the society of God. The following paragraphs to the end of the chapter are wanting many manuscripts, and it is very doubtful whether they were written by Lactantius. Nor can any one shelter himself under the pretext that the fault belongs to Him who made both good and evil. For why did He will that evil should exist if He hated it? Why did He not make good only, that no one might sin, no one commit evil? Although I have explained this in almost all the former books, and have touched upon it, though slightly, above, yet it must be mentioned repeatedly, because the whole matter turns on this point. For there could be no virtue unless He had made contrary things; nor can the power of good be at all manifest, except from a comparison with evil. Thus evil is nothing else but the explanation of good. Therefore if evil is taken away, good must also be taken away. If you shall cut off your left hand or foot, your body will not be entire, nor will life itself remain the same. Thus, for the due adjustment of the framework of the body, the left members are most suitably joined with the right. In like manner, if you make chessmen all alike, no one will play. If you shall give one color only to the circus, no one will think it worth while to be a spectator, all the pleasure of the Circensian games being taken away. For he who first instituted the games was a favourer of one color; but he introduced another as a rival, that there might be a contest, and some partisanship in the spectacle. Thus God, when He was fixing that which was good, and giving virtue, appointed also their contraries, with which they might contend. If an enemy and a fight be wanting, there is no victory. Take away a contest, and even virtue is nothing. How many are the mutual contests of men, and with what various arts are they carried on! No one, however, would be regarded as surpassing in bravery, swiftness, or excellence, if he bad no adversary with whom he might contend. And where victory is wanting, there also glory and the reward of victory must be absent together with it. Therefore, that he might strengthen virtue itself by continual exercise, and might make it perfect from its conflict with evils, He gave both together, because each of the two without the other is unable to retain its force. Therefore there is diversity, on which the whole system of truth depends. It does not escape my notice what may here be urged in opposition by more skilful persons. If good cannot exist without evil, how do you say that, before he had offended God, the first man lived in the exercise of good only, or that he will hereafter live in the exercise of good only? This question is to be examined by us, for in the former books I omitted it, that I might here fill up the subject. We have said above that the nature of man is made up of opposing elements; for the body, because it is earth, is capable of being grasped, of temporary duration, senseless, and dark. But the soul, because it is from heaven, is unsubstantial, everlasting, endued with sensibility, and full of lustre; and because these qualities are opposed to one another, it follows of necessity that man is subject to good and evil. Good is ascribed to the soul, because it is incapable of dissolution; evil to the body, because it is frail. Since, therefore, the body and the soul are connected and united together, the good and the evil must necessarily hold together; nor can they be separated from one another, unless when they (the body and soul) are separated. Finally, the knowledge of good and of evil was given at the same time to the first man; and when he understood this, he was immediately driven from the holy place in which there is no evil; for when he was conversant with that which was good only, he was ignorant that this itself was good. But after that he had received the knowledge of good and evil, it was now unlawful for him to remain in that place of happiness, and he was banished to this common world, that he might at once experience both of those things with the nature of which he had at once become acquainted. It is plain, therefore, that wisdom has been given to man that he may distinguish good from evil- that he may discriminate between things advantageous and things disadvantageous, between things useful and things useless - that he may have judgment and consideration as to what he ought to guard against, what to desire, what to avoid, and what to follow. Wisdom therefore cannot exist without evil; and that first author of the human race, as long as he was conversant with good only, lived as an infant, ignorant of good and evil. But, indeed, hereafter man must be both wise and happy without any evil; but this cannot take place as long as the soul is clothed with the abode of the body. But when a separation shall have been made between the body and the soul, then evil will be disunited from good; and as the body perishes and the soul remains, so evil will perish and good be permanent. Then man, having received the garment of immortality, will be wise and free from evil, as God is. He, therefore, who wishes that we should be conversant with good only, especially desires this, that we should live without the body, in which evil is. But if evil is taken away, either wisdom, as I have said, or the body, will be taken from man; wisdom, that he may be ignorant of evil; the body, that he may not be sensible of it. But now, since man is furnished with wisdom to know, and a body to perceive, God willed that both should exist alike in this life, that virtue and wisdom may be in agreement. Therefore He placed man in the midst, between both, that he might have liberty to follow either good or evil. But He mingled with evil some things which appear good, that is, various and delightful enjoyments, that by the enticements of these He might lead men to the concealed evil. And He likewise mingled with good some things which appear evil- that is, hardships, and miseries, and labours - by the harshness and unpleasantness of which the soul, being offended, might shrink back from the concealed good. But here the office of wisdom is needed, that we may see more with the mind than with the body, which very few are able to do; because while virtue is difficult and rarely to be found, pleasure is common and public. Thus it necessarily happens that the wise man is accounted as a fool, who, while he seeks good things which are not seen, permits those which are seen to slip from his hands; and while he avoids evils which are not seen, runs into evils which are before the eyes; which happens to us when we refuse neither torture nor death in behalf of the faith, since we are driven to the greatest wickedness, so as to betray the faith and deny the true God, and to sacrifice to dead and death-bearing gods. This is the cause why God made man mortal, and made him subject to evils, although he had framed the world for his sake, namely, that he might be capable of virtue, and that his virtue might reward him with immortality. Now virtue, as we have shown, is the worship of the true God. |
|
| 88. Plotinus, Enneads, 1.1.12, 1.2.6, 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.9, 2.3.1, 2.9.1-2.9.3, 2.9.5, 2.9.9-2.9.10, 2.9.13-2.9.14, 3.2.9-3.2.10, 3.2.17, 3.2.47, 3.3.4-3.3.5, 3.3.19-3.3.21, 3.5.4, 3.5.26, 3.7.34, 3.9.3, 4.3.5, 4.3.12-4.3.13, 4.4, 4.7.9, 4.8.5, 5.1.1, 5.3.6, 6.7.38, 6.8.1-6.8.4 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 34 |
| 89. Nag Hammadi, The Gospel of Truth, 11, 31, 30 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13 |
| 90. Nag Hammadi, The Sentences of Sextus, 374, 373 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 15 |
| 91. Nag Hammadi, The Teachings of Silvanus, 114-115, 104 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 15 |
| 92. Nag Hammadi, The Treatise On The Resurrection, 46 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14 |
| 93. Nag Hammadi, The Three Steles of Seth, 125 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 15 |
| 94. Athanasius, Letters To Serapion, 9-10 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 77 |
| 95. Athanasius, Defense of The Nicene Definition, 27 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 77 |
| 96. Origen, Commentary On Romans, 3.9, 4.4-4.5, 5.5, 5.9, 8.7 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 66, 67, 76 |
97. Origen, Against Celsus, 1.66, 2.20, 3.10-3.11, 4.82, 6.45, 6.55, 6.57, 6.68, 7.68 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13, 66, 67, 68, 76, 77 | 1.66. And in addition to the above, this Jew of Celsus afterwards addresses Jesus: What need, moreover, was there that you, while still an infant, should be conveyed into Egypt? Was it to escape being murdered? But then it was not likely that a God should be afraid of death; and yet an angel came down from heaven, commanding you and your friends to flee, lest you should be captured and put to death! And was not the great God, who had already sent two angels on your account, able to keep you, His only Son, there in safety? From these words Celsus seems to think that there was no element of divinity in the human body and soul of Jesus, but that His body was not even such as is described in the fables of Homer; and with a taunt also at the blood of Jesus which was shed upon the cross, he adds that it was not Ichor, such as flows in the veins of the blessed gods. We now, believing Jesus Himself, when He says respecting His divinity, I am the way, and the truth, and the life, and employs other terms of similar import; and when He says respecting His being clothed with a human body, And now you seek to kill Me, a man that has told you the truth, conclude that He was a kind of compound being. And so it became Him who was making provision for His sojourning in the world as a human being, not to expose Himself unseasonably to the danger of death. And in like manner it was necessary that He should be taken away by His parents, acting under the instructions of an angel from heaven, who communicated to them the divine will, saying on the first occasion, Joseph, you son of David, fear not to take unto you Mary your wife; for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost; and on the second, Arise, and take the young Child, and His mother, and flee into Egypt; and be there until I bring you word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. Now, what is recorded in these words appears to me to be not at all marvellous. For in either passage of Scripture it is stated that it was in a dream that the angel spoke these words; and that in a dream certain persons may have certain things pointed out to them to do, is an event of frequent occurrence to many individuals, - the impression on the mind being produced either by an angel or by some other thing. Where, then, is the absurdity in believing that He who had once become incarnate, should be led also by human guidance to keep out of the way of dangers? Not indeed from any impossibility that it should be otherwise, but from the moral fitness that ways and means should be made use of to ensure the safety of Jesus. And it was certainly better that the Child Jesus should escape the snare of Herod, and should reside with His parents in Egypt until the death of the conspirator, than that Divine Providence should hinder the free-will of Herod in his wish to put the Child to death, or that the fabled poetic helmet of Hades should have been employed, or anything of a similar kind done with respect to Jesus, or that they who came to destroy Him should have been smitten with blindness like the people of Sodom. For the sending of help to Him in a very miraculous and unnecessarily public manner, would not have been of any service to Him who wished to show that as a man, to whom witness was borne by God, He possessed within that form which was seen by the eyes of men some higher element of divinity, - that which was properly the Son of God- God the Word- the power of God, and the wisdom of God - He who is called the Christ. But this is not a suitable occasion for discussing the composite nature of the incarnate Jesus; the investigation into such a subject being for believers, so to speak, a sort of private question. 2.20. Let us see how he continues after this: These events, he says, he predicted as being a God, and the prediction must by all means come to pass. God, therefore, who above all others ought to do good to men, and especially to those of his own household, led on his own disciples and prophets, with whom he was in the habit of eating and drinking, to such a degree of wickedness, that they became impious and unholy men. Now, of a truth, he who shared a man's table would not be guilty of conspiring against him; but after banqueting with God, he became a conspirator. And, what is still more absurd, God himself plotted against the members of his own table, by converting them into traitors and villains! Now, since you wish me to answer even those charges of Celsus which seem to me frivolous, the following is our reply to such statements. Celsus imagines that an event, predicted through foreknowledge, comes to pass because it was predicted; but we do not grant this, maintaining that he who foretold it was not the cause of its happening, because he foretold it would happen; but the future event itself, which would have taken place though not predicted, afforded the occasion to him, who was endowed with foreknowledge, of foretelling its occurrence. Now, certainly this result is present to the foreknowledge of him who predicts an event, when it is possible that it may or may not happen, viz., that one or other of these things will take place. For we do not assert that he who foreknows an event, by secretly taking away the possibility of its happening or not, makes any such declaration as this: This shall infallibly happen, and it is impossible that it can be otherwise. And this remark applies to all the foreknowledge of events dependent upon ourselves, whether contained in the sacred Scriptures or in the histories of the Greeks. Now, what is called by logicians an idle argument, which is a sophism, will be no sophism as far as Celsus can help, but according to sound reasoning it is a sophism. And that this may be seen, I shall take from the Scriptures the predictions regarding Judas, or the foreknowledge of our Saviour regarding him as the traitor; and from the Greek histories the oracle that was given to Laius, conceding for the present its truth, since it does not affect the argument. Now, in Ps. cviii., Judas is spoken of by the mouth of the Saviour, in words beginning thus: Hold not Your peace, O God of my praise; for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. Now, if you carefully observe the contents of the psalm, you will find that, as it was foreknown that he would betray the Saviour, so also was he considered to be himself the cause of the betrayal, and deserving, on account of his wickedness, of the imprecations contained in the prophecy. For let him suffer these things, because, says the psalmist, he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man. Wherefore it was possible for him to show mercy, and not to persecute him whom he did persecute. But although he might have done these things, he did not do them, but carried out the act of treason, so as to merit the curses pronounced against him in the prophecy. And in answer to the Greeks we shall quote the following oracular response to Laius, as recorded by the tragic poet, either in the exact words of the oracle or in equivalent terms. Future events are thus made known to him by the oracle: Do not try to beget children against the will of the gods. For if you beget a son, your son shall murder you; and all your household shall wade in blood. Now from this it is clear that it was within the power of Laius not to try to beget children, for the oracle would not have commanded an impossibility; and it was also in his power to do the opposite, so that neither of these courses was compulsory. And the consequence of his not guarding against the begetting of children was, that he suffered from so doing the calamities described in the tragedies relating to Œdipus and Jocasta and their sons. Now that which is called the idle argument, being a quibble, is such as might be applied, say in the case of a sick man, with the view of sophistically preventing him from employing a physician to promote his recovery; and it is something like this: If it is decreed that you should recover from your disease, you will recover whether you call in a physician or not; but if it is decreed that you should not recover, you will not recover whether you call in a physician or no. But it is certainly decreed either that you should recover, or that you should not recover; and therefore it is in vain that you call in a physician. Now with this argument the following may be wittily compared: If it is decreed that you should beget children, you will beget them, whether you have intercourse with a woman or not. But if it is decreed that you should not beget children, you will not do so, whether you have intercourse with a woman or no. Now, certainly, it is decreed either that you should beget children or not; therefore it is in vain that you have intercourse with a woman. For, as in the latter instance, intercourse with a woman is not employed in vain, seeing it is an utter impossibility for him who does not use it to beget children; so, in the former, if recovery from disease is to be accomplished by means of the healing art, of necessity the physician is summoned, and it is therefore false to say that in vain do you call in a physician. We have brought forward all these illustrations on account of the assertion of this learned Celsus, that being a God He predicted these things, and the predictions must by all means come to pass. Now, if by by all means he means necessarily, we cannot admit this. For it was quite possible, also, that they might not come to pass. But if he uses by all means in the sense of simple futurity, which nothing hinders from being true (although it was possible that they might not happen), he does not at all touch my argument; nor did it follow, from Jesus having predicted the acts of the traitor or the perjurer, that it was the same thing with His being the cause of such impious and unholy proceedings. For He who was among us, and knew what was in man, seeing his evil disposition, and foreseeing what he would attempt from his spirit of covetousness, and from his want of stable ideas of duty towards his Master, along with many other declarations, gave utterance to this also: He that dips his hand with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me. 3.10. But observe what he alleges as a proof of his statement: Christians at first were few in number, and held the same opinions; but when they grew to be a great multitude, they were divided and separated, each wishing to have his own individual party: for this was their object from the beginning. That Christians at first were few in number, in comparison with the multitudes who subsequently became Christian, is undoubted; and yet, all things considered, they were not so very few. For what stirred up the envy of the Jews against Jesus, and aroused them to conspire against Him, was the great number of those who followed Him into the wilderness - five thousand men on one occasion, and four thousand on another, having attended Him there, without including the women and children. For such was the charm of Jesus' words, that not only were men willing to follow Him to the wilderness, but women also, forgetting the weakness of their sex and a regard for outward propriety in thus following their Teacher into desert places. Children, too, who are altogether unaffected by such emotions, either following their parents, or perhaps attracted also by His divinity, in order that it might be implanted within them, became His followers along with their parents. But let it be granted that Christians were few in number at the beginning, how does that help to prove that Christians would be unwilling to make all men believe the doctrine of the Gospel? 3.11. He says, in addition, that all the Christians were of one mind, not observing, even in this particular, that from the beginning there were differences of opinion among believers regarding the meaning of the books held to be divine. At all events, while the apostles were still preaching, and while eye-witnesses of (the works of) Jesus were still teaching His doctrine, there was no small discussion among the converts from Judaism regarding Gentile believers, on the point whether they ought to observe Jewish customs, or should reject the burden of clean and unclean meats, as not being obligatory on those who had abandoned their ancestral Gentile customs, and had become believers in Jesus. Nay, even in the Epistles of Paul, who was contemporary with those who had seen Jesus, certain particulars are found mentioned as having been the subject of dispute - viz., respecting the resurrection, and whether it were already past, and the day of the Lord, whether it were near at hand or not. Nay, the very exhortation to avoid profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing, have erred concerning the faith, is enough to show that from the very beginning, when, as Celsus imagines, believers were few in number, there were certain doctrines interpreted in different ways. 4.82. Perhaps also the so-called wars among the bees convey instruction as to the manner in which wars, if ever there arise a necessity for them, should be waged in a just and orderly way among men. But the bees have no cities or suburbs; while their hives and hexagonal cells, and succession of labours, are for the sake of men, who require honey for many purposes, both for cure of disordered bodies, and as a pure article of food. Nor ought we to compare the proceedings taken by the bees against the drones with the judgments and punishments inflicted on the idle and wicked in cities. But, as I formerly said, we ought on the one hand in these things to admire the divine nature, and on the other to express our admiration of man, who is capable of considering and admiring all things (as co-operating with Providence), and who executes not merely the works which are determined by the providence of God, but also those which are the consequences of his own foresight. 6.45. But since Celsus rejects the statements concerning Antichrist, as it is termed, having neither read what is said of him in the book of Daniel nor in the writings of Paul, nor what the Saviour in the Gospels has predicted about his coming, we must make a few remarks upon this subject also; because, as faces do not resemble faces, so also neither do men's hearts resemble one another. It is certain, then, that there will be diversities among the hearts of men - those which are inclined to virtue not being all modelled and shaped towards it in the same or like degree; while others, through neglect of virtue, rush to the opposite extreme. And among the latter are some in whom evil is deeply engrained, and others in whom it is less deeply rooted. Where is the absurdity, then, in holding that there exist among men, so to speak, two extremes, - the one of virtue, and the other of its opposite; so that the perfection of virtue dwells in the man who realizes the ideal given in Jesus, from whom there flowed to the human race so great a conversion, and healing, and amelioration, while the opposite extreme is in the man who embodies the notion of him that is named Antichrist? For God, comprehending all things by means of His foreknowledge, and foreseeing what consequences would result from both of these, wished to make these known to mankind by His prophets, that those who understand their words might be familiarized with the good, and be on their guard against its opposite. It was proper, moreover, that the one of these extremes, and the best of the two, should be styled the Son of God, on account of His pre-eminence; and the other, who is diametrically opposite, be termed the son of the wicked demon, and of Satan, and of the devil. And, in the next place, since evil is specially characterized by its diffusion, and attains its greatest height when it simulates the appearance of the good, for that reason are signs, and marvels, and lying miracles found to accompany evil, through the co-operation of its father the devil. For, far surpassing the help which these demons give to jugglers (who deceive men for the basest of purposes), is the aid which the devil himself affords in order to deceive the human race. Paul, indeed, speaks of him who is called Antichrist, describing, though with a certain reserve, both the manner, and time, and cause of his coming to the human race. And notice whether his language on this subject is not most becoming, and undeserving of being treated with even the slightest degree of ridicule. 6.55. Passages, indeed, might be found where corporeal and external (benefits) are improperly called good,- those things, viz., which contribute to the natural life, while those which do the reverse are termed evil. It is in this sense that Job says to his wife: If we have received good at the hand of the Lord, shall we not also receive evil! Since, then, there is found in the sacred Scriptures, in a certain passage, this statement put into the mouth of God, I make peace, and create evil; and again another, where it is said of Him that evil came down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem, the noise of chariots and horsemen, - passages which have disturbed many readers of Scripture, who are unable to see what Scripture means by good and evil,- it is probable that Celsus, being perplexed thereby, gave utterance to the question, How is it that God created evil? or, perhaps, having heard some one discussing the matters relating to it in an ignorant manner, he made this statement which we have noticed. We, on the other hand, maintain that evil, or wickedness, and the actions which proceed from it, were not created by God. For if God created that which is really evil, how was it possible that the proclamation regarding (the last) judgment should be confidently announced, which informs us that the wicked are to be punished for their evil deeds in proportion to the amount of their wickedness, while those who have lived a virtuous life, or performed virtuous actions, will be in the enjoyment of blessedness, and will receive rewards from God? I am well aware that those who would daringly assert that these evils were created by God will quote certain expressions of Scripture (in their support), because we are not able to show one consistent series of passages; for although Scripture (generally) blames the wicked and approves of the righteous, it nevertheless contains some statements which, although comparatively few in number, seem to disturb the minds of ignorant readers of holy Scripture. I have not, however, deemed it appropriate to my present treatise to quote on the present occasion those discordant statements, which are many in number, and their explanations, which would require a long array of proofs. Evils, then, if those be meant which are properly so called, were not created by God; but some, although few in comparison with the order of the whole world, have resulted from His principal works, as there follow from the chief works of the carpenter such things as spiral shavings and sawdust, or as architects might appear to be the cause of the rubbish which lies around their buildings in the form of the filth which drops from the stones and the plaster. 6.57. With respect to the question, How is he incapable of persuading and admonishing men? it has been already stated that, if such an objection were really a ground of charge, then the objection of Celsus might be brought against those who accept the doctrine of providence. Any one might answer the charge that God is incapable of admonishing men; for He conveys His admonitions throughout the whole of Scripture, and by means of those persons who, through God's gracious appointment, are the instructors of His hearers. Unless, indeed, some peculiar meaning be understood to attach to the word admonish, as if it signified both to penetrate into the mind of the person admonished, and to make him hear the words of his instructor, which is contrary to the usual meaning of the word. To the objection, How is he incapable of persuading?- which also might be brought against all who believe in providence - we have to make the following remarks. Since the expression to be persuaded belongs to those words which are termed, so to speak, reciprocal (compare the phrase to shave a man, when he makes an effort to submit himself to the barber ), there is for this reason needed not merely the effort of him who persuades, but also the submission, so to speak, which is to be yielded to the persuader, or the acceptance of what is said by him. And therefore it must not be said that it is because God is incapable of persuading men that they are not persuaded, but because they will not accept the faithful words of God. And if one were to apply this expression to men who are the artificers of persuasion, he would not be wrong; for it is possible for a man who has thoroughly learned the principles of rhetoric, and who employs them properly, to do his utmost to persuade, and yet appear to fail, because he cannot overcome the will of him who ought to yield to his persuasive arts. Moreover, that persuasion does not come from God, although persuasive words may be uttered by him, is distinctly taught by Paul, when he says: This persuasion comes not of him that calls you. Such also is the view indicated by these words: If you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, a sword shall devour you. For that one may (really) desire what is addressed to him by one who admonishes, and may become deserving of those promises of God which he hears, it is necessary to secure the will of the hearer, and his inclination to what is addressed to him. And therefore it appears to me, that in the book of Deuteronomy the following words are uttered with peculiar emphasis: And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, and to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to keep His commandments? 6.68. Accordingly, if Celsus were to ask us how we think we know God, and how we shall be saved by Him, we would answer that the Word of God, which entered into those who seek Him, or who accept Him when He appears, is able to make known and to reveal the Father, who was not seen (by any one) before the appearance of the Word. And who else is able to save and conduct the soul of man to the God of all things, save God the Word, who, being in the beginning with God, became flesh for the sake of those who had cleaved to the flesh, and had become as flesh, that He might be received by those who could not behold Him, inasmuch as He was the Word, and was with God, and was God? And discoursing in human form, and announcing Himself as flesh, He calls to Himself those who are flesh, that He may in the first place cause them to be transformed according to the Word that was made flesh, and afterwards may lead them upwards to behold Him as He was before He became flesh; so that they, receiving the benefit, and ascending from their great introduction to Him, which was according to the flesh, say, Even if we have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we Him no more. Therefore He became flesh, and having become flesh, He tabernacled among us, not dwelling without us; and after tabernacling and dwelling within us, He did not continue in the form in which He first presented Himself, but caused us to ascend to the lofty mountain of His word, and showed us His own glorious form, and the splendour of His garments; and not His own form alone, but that also of the spiritual law, which is Moses, seen in glory along with Jesus. He showed to us, moreover, all prophecy, which did not perish even after His incarnation, but was received up into heaven, and whose symbol was Elijah. And he who beheld these things could say, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Celsus, then, has exhibited considerable ignorance in the imaginary answer to his question which he puts into our mouth, How we think we can know God? And how we know we shall be saved by Him? for our answer is what we have just stated. 7.68. After all that we have already said concerning Jesus, it would be a useless repetition for us to answer these words of Celsus: It is easy to convict them of worshipping not a god, not even demons, but a dead person. Leaving, then, this objection for the reason assigned, let us pass on to what follows: In the first place, I would ask why we are not to serve demons? Is it not true that all things are ordered according to God's will, and that His providence governs all things? Is not everything which happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, regulated by the law of the Most High God? Have these not had assigned them various departments of which they were severally deemed worthy? Is it not just, therefore, that he who worships God should serve those also to whom God has assigned such power? Yet it is impossible, he says, for a man to serve many masters. Observe here again how he settles at once a number of questions which require considerable research, and a profound acquaintance with what is most mysterious in the government of the universe. For we must inquire into the meaning of the statement, that all things are ordered according to God's will, and ascertain whether sins are or are not included among the things which God orders. For if God's government extends to sins not only in men, but also in demons and in any other spiritual beings who are capable of sin, it is for those who speak in this manner to see how inconvenient is the expression that all things are ordered by the will of God. For it follows from it that all sins and all their consequences are ordered by the will of God, which is a different thing from saying that they come to pass with God's permission. For if we take the word ordered in its proper signification, and say that all the results of sin were ordered, then it is evident that all things are ordered according to God's will, and that all, therefore, who do evil do not offend against His government. And the same distinction holds in regard to providence. When we say that the providence of God regulates all things, we utter a great truth if we attribute to that providence nothing but what is just and right. But if we ascribe to the providence of God all things whatsoever, however unjust they may be, then it is no longer true that the providence of God regulates all things, unless we refer directly to God's providence things which flow as results from His arrangements. Celsus maintains also, that whatever happens in the universe, whether it be the work of God, of angels, of other demons, or of heroes, is regulated by the law of the Most High God. But this also is incorrect; for we cannot say that transgressors follow the law of God when they transgress; and Scripture declares that it is not only wicked men who are transgressors, but also wicked demons and wicked angels. |
|
| 98. Origen, Exhortation To Martyrdom, 14 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 66 |
| 99. Origen, Philocalia, 23.7, 25.2, 27.2, 27.10-27.12 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19, 66, 68 |
| 100. Origen, Philocalia, 23.7, 25.2, 27.2, 27.10-27.12 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19, 66, 68 |
| 101. Nag Hammadi, The Testimony of Truth, 47 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14 |
102. Origen, On First Principles, 2.9.5-2.9.8, 3.1.5, 3.1.8, 3.1.14, 3.1.16-3.1.17, 3.1.19, 3.1.21, 3.2.3, 3.2.7, 3.3.5, 3.4.7, 3.7-3.10 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 15, 19, 66, 67, 68, 76 | 2.9.5. Now, when we say that this world was established in the variety in which we have above explained that it was created by God, and when we say that this God is good, and righteous, and most just, there are numerous individuals, especially those who, coming from the school of Marcion, and Valentinus, and Basilides, have heard that there are souls of different natures, who object to us, that it cannot consist with the justice of God in creating the world to assign to some of His creatures an abode in the heavens, and not only to give such a better habitation, but also to grant them a higher and more honourable position; to favour others with the grant of principalities; to bestow powers upon some, dominions on others; to confer upon some the most honourable seats in the celestial tribunals; to enable some to shine with more resplendent glory, and to glitter with a starry splendour; to give to some the glory of the sun, to others the glory of the moon, to others the glory of the stars; to cause one star to differ from another star in glory. And, to speak once for all, and briefly, if the Creator God wants neither the will to undertake nor the power to complete a good and perfect work, what reason can there be that, in the creation of rational natures, i.e., of beings of whose existence He Himself is the cause, He should make some of higher rank, and others of second, or third, or of many lower and inferior degrees? In the next place, they object to us, with regard to terrestrial beings, that a happier lot by birth is the case with some rather than with others; as one man, e.g., is begotten of Abraham, and born of the promise; another, too, of Isaac and Rebekah, and who, while still in the womb, supplants his brother, and is said to be loved by God before he is born. Nay, this very circumstance — especially that one man is born among the Hebrews, with whom he finds instruction in the divine law; another among the Greeks, themselves also wise, and men of no small learning; and then another among the Ethiopians, who are accustomed to feed on human flesh; or among the Scythians, with whom parricide is an act sanctioned by law; or among the people of Taurus, where strangers are offered in sacrifice — is a ground of strong objection. Their argument accordingly is this: If there be this great diversity of circumstances, and this diverse and varying condition by birth, in which the faculty of free-will has no scope (for no one chooses for himself either where, or with whom, or in what condition he is born); if, then, this is not caused by the difference in the nature of souls, i.e., that a soul of an evil nature is destined for a wicked nation, and a good soul for a righteous nation, what other conclusion remains than that these things must be supposed to be regulated by accident and chance? And if that be admitted, then it will be no longer believed that the world was made by God, or administered by His providence; and as a consequence, a judgment of God upon the deeds of each individual will appear a thing not to be looked for. In which matter, indeed, what is clearly the truth of things is the privilege of Him alone to know who searches all things, even the deep things of God. 2.9.6. We, however, although but men, not to nourish the insolence of the heretics by our silence, will return to their objections such answers as occur to us, so far as our abilities enable us. We have frequently shown, by those declarations which we were able to produce from the holy Scriptures, that God, the Creator of all things, is good, and just, and all-powerful. When He in the beginning created those beings which He desired to create, i.e., rational natures, He had no other reason for creating them than on account of Himself, i.e., His own goodness. As He Himself, then, was the cause of the existence of those things which were to be created, in whom there was neither any variation nor change, nor want of power, He created all whom He made equal and alike, because there was in Himself no reason for producing variety and diversity. But since those rational creatures themselves, as we have frequently shown, and will yet show in the proper place, were endowed with the power of free-will, this freedom of will incited each one either to progress by imitation of God, or reduced him to failure through negligence. And this, as we have already stated, is the cause of the diversity among rational creatures, deriving its origin not from the will or judgment of the Creator, but from the freedom of the individual will. Now God, who deemed it just to arrange His creatures according to their merit, brought down these different understandings into the harmony of one world, that He might adorn, as it were, one dwelling, in which there ought to be not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay (and some indeed to honour, and others to dishonour), with those different vessels, or souls, or understandings. And these are the causes, in my opinion, why that world presents the aspect of diversity, while Divine Providence continues to regulate each individual according to the variety of his movements, or of his feelings and purpose. On which account the Creator will neither appear to be unjust in distributing (for the causes already mentioned) to every one according to his merits; nor will the happiness or unhappiness of each one's birth, or whatever be the condition that falls to his lot, be deemed accidental; nor will different creators, or souls of different natures, be believed to exist. 2.9.7. But even holy Scripture does not appear to me to be altogether silent on the nature of this secret, as when the Apostle Paul, in discussing the case of Jacob and Esau, says: For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him who calls, it was said, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And after that, he answers himself, and says, What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? And that he might furnish us with an opportunity of inquiring into these matters, and of ascertaining how these things do not happen without a reason, he answers himself, and says, God forbid. For the same question, as it seems to me, which is raised concerning Jacob and Esau, may be raised regarding all celestial and terrestrial creatures, and even those of the lower world as well. And in like manner it seems to me, that as he there says, The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, so it might also be said of all other things, When they were not yet created, neither had yet done any good or evil, that the decree of God according to election may stand, that (as certain think) some things on the one hand were created heavenly, some on the other earthly, and others, again, beneath the earth, not of works (as they think), but of Him who calls, what shall we say then, if these things are so? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. As, therefore, when the Scriptures are carefully examined regarding Jacob and Esau, it is not found to be unrighteousness with God that it should be said, before they were born, or had done anything in this life, the elder shall serve the younger; and as it is found not to be unrighteousness that even in the womb Jacob supplanted his brother, if we feel that he was worthily beloved by God, according to the deserts of his previous life, so as to deserve to be preferred before his brother; so also is it with regard to heavenly creatures, if we notice that diversity was not the original condition of the creature, but that, owing to causes that have previously existed, a different office is prepared by the Creator for each one in proportion to the degree of his merit, on this ground, indeed, that each one, in respect of having been created by God an understanding, or a rational spirit, has, according to the movements of his mind and the feelings of his soul, gained for himself a greater or less amount of merit, and has become either an object of love to God, or else one of dislike to Him; while, nevertheless, some of those who are possessed of greater merit are ordained to suffer with others for the adorning of the state of the world, and for the discharge of duty to creatures of a lower grade, in order that by this means they themselves may be participators in the endurance of the Creator, according to the words of the apostle: For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope. Keeping in view, then, the sentiment expressed by the apostle, when, speaking of the birth of Esau and Jacob, he says, Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid, I think it right that this same sentiment should be carefully applied to the case of all other creatures, because, as we formerly remarked, the righteousness of the Creator ought to appear in everything. And this, it appears to me, will be seen more clearly at last, if each one, whether of celestial or terrestrial or infernal beings, be said to have the causes of his diversity in himself, and antecedent to his bodily birth. For all things were created by the Word of God, and by His Wisdom, and were set in order by His Justice. And by the grace of His compassion He provides for all men, and encourages all to the use of whatever remedies may lead to their cure, and incites them to salvation. 2.9.8. As, then, there is no doubt that at the day of judgment the good will be separated from the bad, and the just from the unjust, and all by the sentence of God will be distributed according to their deserts throughout those places of which they are worthy, so I am of opinion some such state of things was formerly the case, as, God willing, we shall show in what follows. For God must be believed to do and order all things and at all times according to His judgment. For the words which the apostle uses when he says, In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honour and some to dishonour; and those which he adds, saying, If a man purge himself, he will be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, unto every good work, undoubtedly point out this, that he who shall purge himself when he is in this life, will be prepared for every good work in that which is to come; while he who does not purge himself will be, according to the amount of his impurity, a vessel unto dishonour, i.e., unworthy. It is therefore possible to understand that there have been also formerly rational vessels, whether purged or not, i.e., which either purged themselves or did not do so, and that consequently every vessel, according to the measure of its purity or impurity, received a place, or region, or condition by birth, or an office to discharge, in this world. All of which, down to the humblest, God providing for and distinguishing by the power of His wisdom, arranges all things by His controlling judgment, according to a most impartial retribution, so far as each one ought to be assisted or cared for in conformity with his deserts. In which certainly every principle of equity is shown, while the inequality of circumstances preserves the justice of a retribution according to merit. But the grounds of the merits in each individual case are only recognised truly and clearly by God Himself, along with His only-begotten Word, and His Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit. 3.1.5. Seeing, then, that these positions are thus established by a sort of natural evidence, is it not superfluous to throw back the causes of our actions on those things which happen to us from without, and thus transfer the blame from ourselves, on whom it wholly lies? For this is to say that we are like pieces of wood, or stones, which have no motion in themselves, but receive the causes of their motion from without. Now such an assertion is neither true nor becoming, and is invented only that the freedom of the will may be denied; unless, indeed, we are to suppose that the freedom of the will consists in this, that nothing which happens to us from without can incite us to good or evil. And if any one were to refer the causes of our faults to the natural disorder of the body, such a theory is proved to be contrary to the reason of all teaching. For, as we see in very many individuals, that after living unchastely and intemperately, and after being the captives of luxury and lust, if they should happen to be aroused by the word of teaching and instruction to enter upon a better course of life, there takes place so great a change, that from being luxurious and wicked men, they are converted into those who are sober, and most chaste and gentle; so, again, we see in the case of those who are quiet and honest, that after associating with restless and shameless individuals, their good morals are corrupted by evil conversation, and they become like those whose wickedness is complete. And this is the case sometimes with men of mature age, so that such have lived more chastely in youth than when more advanced years have enabled them to indulge in a freer mode of life. The result of our reasoning, therefore, is to show that those things which happen to us from without are not in our own power; but that to make a good or bad use of those things which do so happen, by help of that reason which is within us, and which distinguishes and determines how these things ought to be used, is within our power. 3.1.5. Such being the case, to say that we are moved from without, and to put away the blame from ourselves, by declaring that we are like to pieces of wood and stones, which are dragged about by those causes that act upon them from without, is neither true nor in conformity with reason, but is the statement of him who wishes to destroy the conception of free-will. For if we were to ask such an one what was free-will, he would say that it consisted in this, that when purposing to do some thing, no external cause came inciting to the reverse. But to blame, on the other hand, the mere constitution of the body, is absurd; for the disciplinary reason, taking hold of those who are most intemperate and savage (if they will follow her exhortation), effects a transformation, so that the alteration and change for the better is most extensive — the most licentious men frequently becoming better than those who formerly did not seem to be such by nature; and the most savage men passing into such a state of mildness, that those persons who never at any time were so savage as they were, appear savage in comparison, so great a degree of gentleness having been produced within them. And we see other men, most steady and respectable, driven from their state of respectability and steadiness by intercourse with evil customs, so as to fall into habits of licentiousness, often beginning their wickedness in middle age, and plunging into disorder after the period of youth has passed, which, so far as its nature is concerned, is unstable. Reason, therefore, demonstrates that external events do not depend on us, but that it is our own business to use them in this way or the opposite, having received reason as a judge and an investigator of the manner in which we ought to meet those events that come from without. 3.1.8. Let us begin, then, with those words which were spoken to Pharaoh, who is said to have been hardened by God, in order that he might not let the people go; and, along with his case, the language of the apostle also will be considered, where he says, Therefore He has mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardens. For it is on these passages chiefly that the heretics rely, asserting that salvation is not in our own power, but that souls are of such a nature as must by all means be either lost or saved; and that in no way can a soul which is of an evil nature become good, or one which is of a virtuous nature be made bad. And hence they maintain that Pharaoh, too, being of a ruined nature, was on that account hardened by God, who hardens those that are of an earthly nature, but has compassion on those who are of a spiritual nature. Let us see, then, what is the meaning of their assertion; and let us, in the first place, request them to tell us whether they maintain that the soul of Pharaoh was of an earthly nature, such as they term lost. They will undoubtedly answer that it was of an earthly nature. If so, then to believe God, or to obey Him, when his nature opposed his so doing, was an impossibility. And if this were his condition by nature, what further need was there for his heart to be hardened, and this not once, but several times, unless indeed because it was possible for him to yield to persuasion? Nor could any one be said to be hardened by another, save him who of himself was not obdurate. And if he were not obdurate of himself, it follows that neither was he of an earthly nature, but such an one as might give way when overpowered by signs and wonders. But he was necessary for God's purpose, in order that, for the saving of the multitude, He might manifest in him His power by his offering resistance to numerous miracles, and struggling against the will of God, and his heart being by this means said to be hardened. Such are our answers, in the first place, to these persons; and by these their assertion may be overturned, according to which they think that Pharaoh was destroyed in consequence of his evil nature. And with regard to the language of the Apostle Paul, we must answer them in a similar way. For who are they whom God hardens, according to your view? Those, namely, whom you term of a ruined nature, and who, I am to suppose, would have done something else had they not been hardened. If, indeed, they come to destruction in consequence of being hardened, they no longer perish naturally, but in virtue of what befalls them. Then, in the next place, upon whom does God show mercy? On those, namely, who are to be saved. And in what respect do those persons stand in need of a second compassion, who are to be saved once by their nature, and so come naturally to blessedness, except that it is shown even from their case, that, because it was possible for them to perish, they therefore obtain mercy, that so they may not perish, but come to salvation, and possess the kingdom of the good. And let this be our answer to those who devise and invent the fable of good or bad natures, i.e., of earthly or spiritual souls, in consequence of which, as they say, each one is either saved or lost. 3.1.8. Let us begin, then, with what is said about Pharaoh— that he was hardened by God, that he might not send away the people; along with which will be examined also the statement of the apostle, Therefore has He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens. And certain of those who hold different opinions misuse these passages, themselves also almost destroying free-will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation, and others saved which it is impossible can be lost; and Pharaoh, they say, as being of a ruined nature, is therefore hardened by God, who has mercy upon the spiritual, but hardens the earthly. Let us see now what they mean. For we shall ask them if Pharaoh was of an earthy nature; and when they answer, we shall say that he who is of an earthy nature is altogether disobedient to God: but if disobedient, what need is there of his heart being hardened, and that not once, but frequently? Unless perhaps, since it was possible for him to obey (in which case he would certainly have obeyed, as not being earthy, when hard pressed by the signs and wonders), God needs him to be disobedient to a greater degree, in order that He may manifest His mighty deeds for the salvation of the multitude, and therefore hardens his heart. This will be our answer to them in the first place, in order to overturn their supposition that Pharaoh was of a ruined nature. And the same reply must be given to them with respect to the statement of the apostle. For whom does God harden? Those who perish, as if they would obey unless they were hardened, or manifestly those who would be saved because they are not of a ruined nature. And on whom has He mercy? Is it on those who are to be saved? And how is there need of a second mercy for those who have been prepared once for salvation, and who will by all means become blessed on account of their nature? Unless perhaps, since they are capable of incurring destruction, if they did not receive mercy, they will obtain mercy, in order that they may not incur that destruction of which they are capable, but may be in the condition of those who are saved. And this is our answer to such persons. 3.1.14. But let us take from the Gospels also the similitudes of those things which we have mentioned, in which is described a certain rock, having on it a little superficial earth, on which, when a seed falls, it is said quickly to spring up; but when sprung up, it withers as the sun ascends in the heavens, and dies away, because it did not cast its root deeply into the ground. Now this rock undoubtedly represents the human soul, hardened on account of its own negligence, and converted into stone because of its wickedness. For God gave no one a stony heart by a creative act; but each individual's heart is said to become stony through his own wickedness and disobedience. As, therefore, if one were to blame a husbandman for not casting his seed more quickly upon rocky ground, because seed cast upon other rocky soil was seen to spring up speedily, the husbandman would certainly say in reply: I sow this soil more slowly, for this reason, that it may retain the seed which it has received; for it suits this ground to be sown somewhat slowly, lest perhaps the crop, having sprouted too rapidly, and coming forth from the mere surface of a shallow soil, should be unable to withstand the rays of the sun. Would not he who formerly found fault acquiesce in the reasons and superior knowledge of the husbandman, and approve as done on rational grounds what formerly appeared to him as founded on no reason? And in the same way, God, the thoroughly skilled husbandman of all His creation, undoubtedly conceals and delays to another time those things which we think ought to have obtained health sooner, in order that not the outside of things, rather than the inside, may be cured. But if any one now were to object to us that certain seeds do even fall upon rocky ground, i.e., on a hard and stony heart, we should answer that even this does not happen without the arrangement of Divine Providence; inasmuch as, but for this, it would not be known what condemnation was incurred by rashness in hearing and indifference in investigation, nor, certainly, what benefit was derived from being trained in an orderly manner. And hence it happens that the soul comes to know its defects, and to cast the blame upon itself, and, consistently with this, to reserve and submit itself to training, i.e., in order that it may see that its faults must first be removed, and that then it must come to receive the instruction of wisdom. As, therefore, souls are innumerable, so also are their manners, and purposes, and movements, and appetencies, and incitements different, the variety of which can by no means be grasped by the human mind; and therefore to God alone must be left the art, and the knowledge, and the power of an arrangement of this kind, as He alone can know both the remedies for each individual soul, and measure out the time of its cure. It is He alone then who, as we said, recognises the ways of individual men, and determines by what way He ought to lead Pharaoh, that through him His name might be named in all the earth, having previously chastised him by many blows, and finally drowning him in the sea. By this drowning, however, it is not to be supposed that God's providence as regards Pharaoh was terminated; for we must not imagine, because he was drowned, that therefore he had immediately completely perished: for in the hand of God are both we and our words; all wisdom, also, and knowledge of workmanship, as Scripture declares. But these points we have discussed according to our ability, treating of that chapter of Scripture in which it is said that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and agreeably to the statement, He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens. 3.1.14. Come now, and let us use the following image from the Gospel. There is a certain rock, with a little surface-soil, on which, if seeds fall, they quickly spring up; but when sprung up, as not having root, they are burned and withered when the sun has arisen. Now this rock is a human soul, hardened on account of its negligence, and converted to stone because of its wickedness; for no one receives from God a heart created of stone, but it becomes such in consequence of wickedness. If one, then, were to find fault with the husbandman for not sowing his seed sooner upon the rocky soil, when he saw other rocky ground which had received seed flourishing, the husbandman would reply, I shall sow this ground more slowly, casting in seeds that will be able to retain their hold, this slower method being better for the ground, and more secure than that which receives the seed in a more rapid manner, and more upon the surface. (The person finding fault) would yield his assent to the husbandman, as one who spoke with sound reason, and who acted with skill: so also the great Husbandman of all nature postpones that benefit which might be deemed premature, that it may not prove superficial. But it is probable that here some one may object to us with reference to this: Why do some of the seeds fall upon the earth that has superficial soil, the soul being, as it were, a rock? Now we must say, in answer to this, that it was better for this soul, which desired better things precipitately, and not by a way which led to them, to obtain its desire, in order that, condemning itself on this account, it may, after a long time, endure to receive the husbandry which is according to nature. For souls are, as one may say, innumerable; and their habits are innumerable, and their movements, and their purposes, and their assaults, and their efforts, of which there is only one admirable administrator, who knows both the season, and the fitting helps, and the avenues, and the ways, viz., the God and Father of all things, who knows how He conducts even Pharaoh by so great events, and by drowning in the sea, with which latter occurrence His superintendence of Pharaoh does not cease. For he was not annihilated when drowned: For in the hand of God are both we and our words; all wisdom also, and knowledge of workmanship. And such is a moderate defense with regard to the statement that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and that God has mercy upon whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens. 3.1.16. There is next brought before us that declaration uttered by the Saviour in the Gospel: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest they should happen to be converted, and their sins be forgiven them. On which our opponent will remark: If those who shall hear more distinctly are by all means to be corrected and converted, and converted in such a manner as to be worthy of receiving the remission of sins, and if it be not in their own power to hear the word distinctly, but if it depend on the Instructor to teach more openly and distinctly, while he declares that he does not proclaim to them the word with clearness, lest they should perhaps hear and understand, and be converted, and be saved, it will follow, certainly, that their salvation is not dependent upon themselves. And if this be so, then we have no free-will either as regards salvation or destruction. Now were it not for the words that are added, Lest perhaps they should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them, we might be more inclined to return the answer, that the Saviour was unwilling that those individuals whom He foresaw would not become good, should understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and that therefore He spoke to them in parables; but as that addition follows, Lest perhaps they should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them, the explanation is rendered more difficult. And, in the first place, we have to notice what defense this passage furnishes against those heretics who are accustomed to hunt out of the Old Testament any expressions which seem, according to their view, to predicate severity and cruelty of God the Creator, as when He is described as being affected with the feeling of vengeance or punishment, or by any of those emotions, however named, from which they deny the existence of goodness in the Creator; for they do not judge of the Gospels with the same mind and feelings, and do not observe whether any such statements are found in them as they condemn and censure in the Old Testament. For manifestly, in the passage referred to, the Saviour is shown, as they themselves admit, not to speak distinctly, for this very reason, that men may not be converted, and when converted, receive the remission of sins. Now, if the words be understood according to the letter merely, nothing less, certainly, will be contained in them than in those passages which they find fault with in the Old Testament. And if they are of opinion that any expressions occurring in such a connection in the New Testament stand in need of explanation, it will necessarily follow that those also occurring in the Old Testament, which are the subject of censure, may be freed from aspersion by an explanation of a similar kind, so that by such means the passages found in both Testaments may be shown to proceed from one and the same God. But let us return, as we best may, to the question proposed. 3.1.16. There was after this the passage from the Gospel, where the Saviour said, that for this reason did He speak to those without in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand; lest they should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them. Now, our opponent will say, If some persons are assuredly converted on hearing words of greater clearness, so that they become worthy of the remission of sins, and if it does not depend upon themselves to hear these words of greater clearness, but upon him who teaches, and he for this reason does not announce them to them more distinctly, lest they should see and understand, it is not within the power of such to be saved; and if so, we are not possessed of free-will as regards salvation and destruction. Effectual, indeed, would be the reply to such arguments, were it not for the addition, Lest they should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them,— namely, that the Saviour did not wish those who were not to become good and virtuous to understand the more mystical (parts of His teaching), and for this reason spoke to them in parables; but now, on account of the words, Lest they should be converted, and their sins be forgiven them, the defense is more difficult. In the first place, then, we must notice the passage in its bearing on the heretics, who hunt out those portions from the Old Testament where is exhibited, as they themselves daringly assert, the cruelty of the Creator of the world in His purpose of avenging and punishing the wicked, or by whatever other name they wish to designate such a quality, so speaking only that they may say that goodness does not exist in the Creator; and who do not deal with the New Testament in a similar manner, nor in a spirit of candour, but pass by places similar to those which they consider censurable in the Old Testament. For manifestly, and according to the Gospel, is the Saviour shown, as they assert, by His former words, not to speak distinctly for this reason, that men might not be converted, and, being converted, might become deserving of the remission of sins: which statement of itself is nothing inferior to those passages from the Old Testament which are objected to. And if they seek to defend the Gospel, we must ask them whether they are not acting in a blameworthy manner in dealing differently with the same questions; and, while not stumbling against the New Testament, but seeking to defend it, they nevertheless bring a charge against the Old regarding similar points, whereas they ought to offer a defense in the same way of the passages from the New. And therefore we shall force them, on account of the resemblances, to regard all as the writings of one God. Come, then, and let us, to the best of our ability, furnish an answer to the question submitted to us. 3.1.17. We said formerly, when discussing the case of Pharaoh, that sometimes it does not lead to good results for a man to be cured too quickly, especially if the disease, being shut up within the inner parts of the body, rage with greater fierceness. Whence God, who is acquainted with secret things, and knows all things before they happen, in His great goodness delays the cure of such, and postpones their recovery to a remoter period, and, so to speak, cures them by not curing them, lest a too favourable state of health should render them incurable. It is therefore possible that, in the case of those to whom, as being without, the words of our Lord and Saviour were addressed, He, seeing from His scrutiny of the hearts and reins that they were not yet able to receive teaching of a clearer type, veiled by the covering of language the meaning of the profounder mysteries, lest perhaps, being rapidly converted and healed, i.e., having quickly obtained the remission of their sins, they should again easily slide back into the same disease which they had found could be healed without any difficulty. For if this be the case, no one can doubt that the punishment is doubled, and the amount of wickedness increased; since not only are the sins which had appeared to be forgiven repeated, but the court of virtue also is desecrated when trodden by deceitful and polluted beings, filled within with hidden wickedness. And what remedy can there ever be for those who, after eating the impure and filthy food of wickedness, have tasted the pleasantness of virtue, and received its sweetness into their mouths, and yet have again betaken themselves to the deadly and poisonous provision of sin? And who doubts that it is better for delay and a temporary abandonment to occur, in order that if, at some future time, they should happen to be satiated with wickedness, and the filth with which they are now delighted should become loathsome, the word of God may at last be appropriately made clear to them, and that which is holy be not given to the dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine, which will trample them under foot, and turn, moreover, and rend and assault those who have proclaimed to them the word of God? These, then, are they who are said to be without, undoubtedly by way of contrast with those who are said to be within, and to hear the word of God with greater clearness. And yet those who are without do hear the word, although it is covered by parables, and overshadowed by proverbs. There are others, also, besides those who are without, who are called Tyrians, and who do not hear at all, respecting whom the Saviour knew that they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, if the miracles performed among others had been done among them, and yet these do not hear those things which are heard even by those who are without: and I believe, for this reason, that the rank of such in wickedness was far lower and worse than that of those who are said to be without, i.e., who are not far from those who are within, and who have deserved to hear the word, although in parables; and because, perhaps, their cure was delayed to that time when it will be more tolerable for them on the day of judgment, than for those before whom those miracles which are recorded were performed, that so at last, being then relieved from the weight of their sins, they may enter with more ease and power of endurance upon the way of safety. And this is a point which I wish impressed upon those who peruse these pages, that with respect to topics of such difficulty and obscurity we use our utmost endeavour, not so much to ascertain clearly the solutions of the questions (for every one will do this as the Spirit gives him utterance), as to maintain the rule of faith in the most unmistakeable manner, by striving to show that the providence of God, which equitably administers all things, governs also immortal souls on the justest principles, (conferring rewards) according to the merits and motives of each individual; the present economy of things not being confined within the life of this world, but the pre-existing state of merit always furnishing the ground for the state that is to follow, and thus by an eternal and immutable law of equity, and by the controlling influence of Divine Providence, the immortal soul is brought to the summit of perfection. If one, however, were to object to our statement, that the word of preaching was purposely put aside by certain men of wicked and worthless character, and (were to inquire) why the word was preached to those over whom the Tyrians, who were certainly despised, are preferred in comparison (by which proceeding, certainly, their wickedness was increased, and their condemnation rendered more severe, that they should hear the word who were not to believe it), they must be answered in the following manner: God, who is the Creator of the minds of all men, foreseeing complaints against His providence, especially on the part of those who say, How could we believe when we neither beheld those things which others saw, nor heard those words which were preached to others? In so far is the blame removed from us, since they to whom the word was announced, and the signs manifested, made no delay whatever, but became believers, overpowered by the very force of the miracles; wishing to destroy the grounds for complaints of this kind, and to show that it was no concealment of Divine Providence, but the determination of the human mind which was the cause of their ruin, bestowed the grace of His benefits even upon the unworthy and the unbelieving, that every mouth might indeed be shut, and that the mind of man might know that all the deficiency was on its own part, and none on that of God; and that it may, at the same time, be understood and recognised that he receives a heavier sentence of condemnation who has despised the divine benefits conferred upon him than he who has not deserved to obtain or hear them, and that it is a peculiarity of divine compassion, and a mark of the extreme justice of its administration, that it sometimes conceals from certain individuals the opportunity of either seeing or hearing the mysteries of divine power, lest, after beholding the power of the miracles, and recognising and hearing the mysteries of its wisdom, they should, on treating them with contempt and indifference, be punished with greater severity for their impiety. 3.1.17. We asserted also, when investigating the subject of Pharaoh, that sometimes a rapid cure is not for the advantage of those who are healed, if, after being seized by troublesome diseases, they should easily get rid of those by which they had been entangled. For, despising the evil as one that is easy of cure, and not being on their guard a second time against falling into it, they will be involved in it (again). Wherefore, in the case of such persons, the everlasting God, the Knower of secrets, who knows all things before they exist, in conformity with His goodness, delays sending them more rapid assistance, and, so to speak, in helping them does not help, the latter course being to their advantage. It is probable, then, that those without, of whom we are speaking, having been foreseen by the Saviour, according to our supposition, as not (likely) to prove steady in their conversion, if they should hear more clearly the words that were spoken, were (so) treated by the Saviour as not to hear distinctly the deeper (things of His teaching), lest, after a rapid conversion, and after being healed by obtaining remission of sins, they should despise the wounds of their wickedness, as being slight and easy of healing, and should again speedily relapse into them. And perhaps also, suffering punishment for their former transgressions against virtue, which they had committed when they had forsaken her, they had not yet filled up the (full) time; in order that, being abandoned by the divine superintendence, and being filled to a greater degree by their own evils which they had sown, they may afterwards be called to a more stable repentance; so as not to be quickly entangled again in those evils in which they had formerly been involved when they treated with insolence the requirements of virtue, and devoted themselves to worse things. Those, then, who are said to be without (manifestly by comparison with those within), not being very far from those within, while those within hear clearly, do themselves hear indistinctly, because they are addressed in parables; but nevertheless they do hear. Others, again, of those without, who are called Tyrians, although it was foreknown that they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, had the Saviour come near their borders, do not hear even those words which are heard by those without (being, as is probable, very far inferior in merit to those without ), in order that at another season, after it has been more tolerable for them than for those who did not receive the word (among whom he mentioned also the Tyrians), they may, on hearing the word at a more appropriate time, obtain a more lasting repentance. But observe whether, besides our desire to investigate (the truth), we do not rather strive to maintain an attitude of piety in everything regarding God and His Christ, seeing we endeavour by every means to prove that, in matters so great and so peculiar regarding the varied providence of God, He takes an oversight of the immortal soul. If, indeed, one were to inquire regarding those things that are objected to, why those who saw wonders and who heard divine words are not benefited, while the Tyrians would have repented if such had been performed and spoken among them; and should ask, and say, Why did the Saviour proclaim such to these persons, to their own hurt, that their sin might be reckoned to them as heavier? We must say, in answer to such an one, that He who understands the dispositions of all those who find fault with His providence— (alleging) that it is owing to it that they have not believed, because it did not permit them to see what it enabled others to behold, and did not arrange for them to hear those words by which others, on hearing them, were benefited — wishing to prove that their defense is not founded on reason, He grants those advantages which those who blame His administration asked; in order that, after obtaining them, they may notwithstanding be convicted of the greatest impiety in not having even then yielded themselves to be benefited, and may cease from such audacity; and having been made free in respect to this very point, may learn that God occasionally, in conferring benefits upon certain persons, delays and procrastinates, not conferring the favour of seeing and hearing those things which, when seen and heard, would render the sin of those who did not believe, after acts so great and peculiar, heavier and more serious. 3.1.19. Besides these, there is the passage, Both to will and to do are of God. And some assert that, if to will be of God, and to do be of God, and if, whether we will evil or do evil, these (movements) come to us from God, then, if so, we are not possessed of free-will. But again, on the other hand, when we will better things, and do things that are more excellent, seeing that willing and doing are from God, it is not we who have done the more excellent things, but we only appeared (to perform them), while it was God that bestowed them; so that even in this respect we do not possess free-will. Now to this we have to answer, that the language of the apostle does not assert that to will evil is of God, or to will good is of Him (and similarly with respect to doing better and worse); but that to will in a general way, and to run in a general way, (are from Him). For as we have from God (the property) of being living things and human beings, so also have we that of willing generally, and, so to speak, of motion in general. And as, possessing (the property) of life and of motion, and of moving, e.g., these members, the hands or the feet, we could not rightly say that we had from God this species of motion, whereby we moved to strike, or destroy, or take away another's goods, but that we had received from Him simply the generic power of motion, which we employed to better or worse purposes; so we have obtained from God (the power) of acting, in respect of our being living things, and (the power) to will from the Creator while we employ the power of will, as well as that of action, for the noblest objects, or the opposite. 3.1.21. And at the same time, it is clearly shown that, as far as regards the underlying nature, as there is one (piece of) clay which is under the hands of the potter, from which piece vessels are formed unto honour and dishonour; so the one nature of every soul being in the hands of God, and, so to speak, there being (only) one lump of reasonable beings, certain causes of more ancient date led to some being created vessels unto honour, and others vessels unto dishonour. But if the language of the apostle convey a censure when he says, Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? it teaches us that he who has confidence before God, and is faithful, and has lived virtuously, would not hear the words, Who are you that replies against God? Such an one, e.g., as Moses was, For Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice; and as God answers Moses, so does a saint also answer God. But he who does not possess this confidence, manifestly, either because he has lost it, or because he investigates these matters not from a love of knowledge, but from a desire to find fault, and who therefore says, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will? would merit the language of censure, which says, Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? 3.2.3. That there are certain sins, however, which do not proceed from the opposing powers, but take their beginnings from the natural movements of the body, is manifestly declared by the Apostle Paul in the passage: The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that you cannot do the things that you would. If, then, the flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, we have occasionally to wrestle against flesh and blood, i.e., as being men, and walking according to the flesh, and not capable of being tempted by greater than human temptations; since it is said of us, There has no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able. For as the presidents of the public games do not allow the competitors to enter the lists indiscriminately or fortuitously, but after a careful examination, pairing in a most impartial consideration either of size or age, this individual with that — boys, e.g., with boys, men with men, who are nearly related to each other either in age or strength; so also must we understand the procedure of divine providence, which arranges on most impartial principles all who descend into the struggles of this human life, according to the nature of each individual's power, which is known only to Him who alone beholds the hearts of men: so that one individual fights against one temptation of the flesh, another against a second; one is exposed to its influence for so long a period of time, another only for so long; one is tempted by the flesh to this or that indulgence, another to one of a different kind; one has to resist this or that hostile power, another has to combat two or three at the same time; or at one time this hostile influence, at another that; at some particular date having to resist one enemy, and at another a different one; being, after the performance of certain acts, exposed to one set of enemies, after others to a second. And observe whether some such state of things be not indicated by the language of the apostle: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able, i.e., each one is tempted in proportion to the amount of his strength or power of resistance. Now, although we have said that it is by the just judgment of God that every one is tempted according to the amount of his strength, we are not therefore to suppose that he who is tempted ought by all means to prove victorious in the struggle; in like manner as he who contends in the lists, although paired with his adversary on a just principle of arrangement, will nevertheless not necessarily prove conqueror. But unless the powers of the combatants are equal, the prize of the victor will not be justly won; nor will blame justly attach to the vanquished, because He allows us indeed to be tempted, but not beyond what we are able: for it is in proportion to our strength that we are tempted; and it is not written that, in temptation, He will make also a way to escape so as that we should bear it, but a way to escape so as that we should be able to bear it. But it depends upon ourselves to use either with energy or feebleness this power which He has given us. For there is no doubt that under every temptation we have a power of endurance, if we employ properly the strength that is granted us. But it is not the same thing to possess the power of conquering and to be victorious, as the apostle himself has shown in very cautious language, saying, God will make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it, not that you will bear it. For many do not sustain temptation, but are overcome by it. Now God enables us not to sustain (temptation), (otherwise there would appear to be no struggle), but to have the power of sustaining it. But this power which is given us to enable us to conquer may be used, according to our faculty of free-will, either in a diligent manner, and then we prove victorious, or in a slothful manner, and then we are defeated. For if such a power were wholly given us as that we must by all means prove victorious, and never be defeated, what further reason for a struggle could remain to him who cannot be overcome? Or what merit is there in a victory, where the power of successful resistance is taken away? But if the possibility of conquering be equally conferred on us all, and if it be in our own power how to use this possibility, i.e., either diligently or slothfully, then will the vanquished be justly censured, and the victor be deservedly lauded. Now from these points which we have discussed to the best of our power, it is, I think, clearly evident that there are certain transgressions which we by no means commit under the pressure of maligt powers; while there are others, again, to which we are incited by instigation on their part to excessive and immoderate indulgence. Whence it follows that we have to inquire how those opposing powers produce these incitements within us. 3.2.7. The result of all the foregoing remarks is to show, that all the occurrences in the world which are considered to be of an intermediate kind, whether they be mournful or otherwise are brought about, not indeed by God, and yet not without Him; while He not only does not prevent those wicked and opposing powers that are desirous to bring about these things (from accomplishing their purpose), but even permits them to do so, although only on certain occasions and to certain individuals, as is said with respect to Job himself, that for a certain time he was made to fall under the power of others, and to have his house plundered by unjust persons. And therefore holy Scripture teaches us to receive all that happens as sent by God, knowing that without Him no event occurs. For how can we doubt that such is the case, viz., that nothing comes to man without (the will of) God, when our Lord and Saviour declares, Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father who is in heaven. But the necessity of the case has drawn us away in a lengthened digression on the subject of the struggle waged by the hostile powers against men, and of those sadder events which happen to human life, i.e., its temptations— according to the declaration of Job, Is not the whole life of man upon the earth a temptation? — in order that the manner of their occurrence, and the spirit in which we should regard them, might be clearly shown. Let us notice next, how men fall away into the sin of false knowledge, or with what object the opposing powers are wont to stir up conflict with us regarding such things. 3.3.5. This too, I think, should next be inquired into, viz., what are the reasons why a human soul is acted on at one time by good (spirits), and at another by bad: the grounds of which I suspect to be older than the bodily birth of the individual, as John (the Baptist) showed by his leaping and exulting in his mother's womb, when the voice of the salutation of Mary reached the ears of his mother Elisabeth; and as Jeremiah the prophet declares, who was known to God before he was formed in his mother's womb, and before he was born was sanctified by Him, and while yet a boy received the grace of prophecy. And again, on the other hand it is shown beyond a doubt, that some have been possessed by hostile spirits from the very beginning of their lives: i.e., some were born with an evil spirit; and others, according to credible histories, have practised divination from childhood. Others have been under the influence of the demon called Python, i.e., the ventriloquial spirit, from the commencement of their existence. To all which instances, those who maintain that everything in the world is under the administration of Divine Providence (as is also our own belief), can, as it appears to me, give no other answer, so as to show that no shadow of injustice rests upon the divine government, than by holding that there were certain causes of prior existence, in consequence of which the souls, before their birth in the body, contracted a certain amount of guilt in their sensitive nature, or in their movements, on account of which they have been judged worthy by Divine Providence of being placed in this condition. For a soul is always in possession of free-will, as well when it is in the body as when it is without it; and freedom of will is always directed either to good or evil. Nor can any rational and sentient being, i.e., a mind or soul, exist without some movement either good or bad. And it is probable that these movements furnish grounds for merit even before they do anything in this world; so that on account of these merits or grounds they are, immediately on their birth, and even before it, so to speak, assorted by Divine Providence for the endurance either of good or evil. |
|
| 103. Porphyry, Life of Plotinus, 16 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 37 |
104. Babylonian Talmud, Berachot, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 31| 33b. אמר ליה רבינא לרבא הלכתא מאי אמר ליה כי קידוש מה קידוש אף על גב דמקדש בצלותא מקדש אכסא אף הבדלה נמי אע"ג דמבדיל בצלותא מבדיל אכסא:,ר' אליעזר אומר בהודאה:,ר' זירא הוה רכיב חמרא הוה קא שקיל ואזיל ר' חייא בר אבין בתריה אמר ליה ודאי דאמריתו משמיה דר' יוחנן הלכה כר' אליעזר ביום טוב שחל להיות אחר השבת אמר ליה אין,הלכה מכלל דפליגי,ולא פליגי והא פליגי רבנן,אימר דפליגי רבנן בשאר ימות השנה ביום טוב שחל להיות אחר השבת מי פליגי,והא פליג ר' עקיבא,אטו כל השנה כולה מי עבדינן כר' עקיבא דהשתא ניקו ונעביד כוותיה כל השנה כולה מאי טעמא לא עבדינן כרבי עקיבא דתמני סרי תקון תשסרי לא תקון הכא נמי שב תקון תמני לא תקון,אמר ליה לאו הלכה אתמר אלא מטין אתמר,דאתמר ר' יצחק בר אבדימי אמר משום רבינו הלכה ואמרי לה מטין,ר' יוחנן אמר מודים ור' חייא בר אבא אמר נראין,אמר ר' זירא נקוט דרבי חייא בר אבא בידך דדייק וגמר שמעתא מפומא דמרה שפיר כרחבא דפומבדיתא,דאמר רחבא אמר ר' יהודה הר הבית סטיו כפול היה והיה סטיו לפנים מסטיו,אמר רב יוסף אנא לא האי ידענא ולא האי ידענא אלא מדרב ושמואל ידענא דתקינו לן מרגניתא בבבל,ותודיענו ה' אלהינו את משפטי צדקך ותלמדנו לעשות חקי רצונך ותנחילנו זמני ששון וחגי נדבה ותורישנו קדושת שבת וכבוד מועד וחגיגת הרגל בין קדושת שבת לקדושת יום טוב הבדלת ואת יום השביעי מששת ימי המעשה קדשת הבדלת וקדשת את עמך ישראל בקדושתך ותתן לנו וכו':, big strongמתני׳ /strong /big האומר על קן צפור יגיעו רחמיך ועל טוב יזכר שמך מודים מודים משתקין אותו:, big strongגמ׳ /strong /big בשלמא מודים מודים משתקין אותו משום דמיחזי כשתי רשויות ועל טוב יזכר שמך נמי משמע על הטובה ולא על הרעה ותנן חייב אדם לברך על הרעה כשם שמברך על הטובה אלא על קן צפור יגיעו רחמיך מ"ט,פליגי בה תרי אמוראי במערבא רבי יוסי בר אבין ורבי יוסי בר זבידא חד אמר מפני שמטיל קנאה במעשה בראשית וחד אמר מפני שעושה מדותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא רחמים ואינן אלא גזרות,ההוא דנחית קמיה דרבה ואמר אתה חסת על קן צפור אתה חוס ורחם עלינו אמר רבה כמה ידע האי צורבא מרבנן לרצויי למריה א"ל אביי והא משתקין אותו תנן,ורבה נמי לחדודי לאביי הוא דבעי,ההוא דנחית קמיה דר' חנינא אמר האל הגדול הגבור והנורא והאדיר והעזוז והיראוי החזק והאמיץ והודאי והנכבד,המתין לו עד דסיים כי סיים א"ל סיימתינהו לכולהו שבחי דמרך למה לי כולי האי אנן הני תלת דאמרינן אי לאו דאמרינהו משה רבינו באורייתא ואתו אנשי כנסת הגדולה ותקנינהו בתפלה לא הוינן יכולין למימר להו ואת אמרת כולי האי ואזלת משל למלך בשר ודם שהיו לו אלף אלפים דינרי זהב והיו מקלסין אותו בשל כסף והלא גנאי הוא לו:,ואמר רבי חנינא הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים שנאמר (דברים י, יב) ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלהיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה,אטו יראת שמים מילתא זוטרתא היא והא"ר חנינא משום ר' שמעון בן יוחי אין לו להקב"ה בבית גנזיו אלא אוצר של יראת שמים שנאמר (ישעיהו לג, ו) יראת ה' היא אוצרו,אין לגבי משה מילתא זוטרתא היא דאמר ר' חנינא משל לאדם שמבקשים ממנו כלי גדול ויש לו דומה עליו ככלי קטן קטן ואין לו דומה עליו ככלי גדול:,מודים מודים משתקין אותו:,אמר ר' זירא כל האומר שמע שמע כאומר מודים מודים דמי,מיתיבי הקורא את שמע וכופלה הרי זה מגונה מגונה הוא דהוי שתוקי לא משתקינן ליה,לא קשיא הא דאמר מילתא מילתא ותני לה והא דאמר פסוקא פסוקא ותני ליה,אמר ליה רב פפא לאביי ודילמא מעיקרא לא כוון דעתיה ולבסוף כוון דעתיה,אמר ליה | 33b. There are conflicting opinions with regard to reciting i havdala /i over the cup of wine after reciting it in the i Amida /i prayer. One opinion holds that it is appropriate to recite i havdala /i a second time, while the other holds that it is prohibited. b Ravina said to Rava: What is the i halakha /i ? /b Rava b said to him: /b The i halakha /i in the case of i havdala /i is b like /b the i halakha /i in the case of b i kiddush /i . Just as /b in the case of b i kiddush /i , although one recited i kiddush /i in the /b i Amida /i b prayer /b he must, nevertheless, b recite i kiddush /i /b again b over the cup /b of wine, b so too with i havdala /i , although one recited i havdala /i in the /b i Amida /i b prayer /b he must b recite i havdala /i /b again b over the cup /b of wine.,The mishna states that b Rabbi Eliezer says: /b It is recited b in /b the seventeenth blessing of the i Amida /i prayer, the blessing of b thanksgiving. /b ,The Gemara cites the conclusion with regard to this i halakha /i by relating a story: b Rabbi Zeira was riding a donkey /b while b Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin was coming and walking after him. He said to him: Is /b it b true that you said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥa /b that the b i halakha /i is in accordance with /b the opinion of b Rabbi Eliezer /b in the case of b a Festival that occurs /b directly b after Shabbat? /b Since in that case, one cannot recite i havdala /i in the blessing of Who graciously grants knowledge, as it is not included in the i Amida /i prayer on the Festival, there is no alternative but to adopt Rabbi Eliezer’s ruling. b He said to him: Yes. /b ,The Gemara wonders: Saying that the b i halakha /i /b is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, b indicates that /b his peers b dispute /b his opinion. Where do we find that dispute?,The Gemara rejects this: b And don’t they dispute /b his opinion? b Don’t the Rabbis dispute /b his opinion, as, in their opinion the blessing of i havdala /i is recited in the blessing: Who graciously grants knowledge?,The Gemara replies: b Say that the Rabbis dispute /b Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion b during the rest of the days of the year, /b when the option to recite i havdala /i in the blessing: Who graciously grants knowledge exists, but b in the case of a Festival that occurs /b directly b after Shabbat, do they dispute /b his opinion? The Rabbis would agree with him in that case.,The Gemara continues: b Doesn’t Rabbi Akiva dispute /b his opinion? He holds that i havdala /i is recited as an independent fourth blessing, in which case there is a dispute.,The Gemara responds: b Is that to say that throughout the entire year we act in accordance with /b the opinion of b Rabbi Akiva /b in this matter, b so that now, /b on a Festival that occurs directly after Shabbat, b we will stand and act in accordance with /b his opinion? b What is the reason that throughout the whole, entire year, we do not act in accordance with /b the opinion of b Rabbi Akiva? Because /b the Sages b instituted eighteen /b blessings, b they did not institute nineteen /b blessings. b Here, too, /b the Sages b instituted seven /b blessings, b they did not institute eight /b blessings. Therefore, Rabbi Akiva’s opinion is not taken into consideration in this case.,In response to these questions, Rabbi Zeira b said to him /b that b it was not /b that b the i halakha /i /b is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer b that was stated /b in the name of Rabbi Yoḥa, from which one could infer that there was in fact a dispute; rather it was that one is b inclined /b to favor the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer b that was stated /b in the name of Rabbi Yoḥa., b As /b indeed b it was stated /b that there is a dispute among the Sages in this matter. b Rav Yitzḥak bar Avdimi said in the name of Rabbeinu, /b Rav: b The i halakha /i /b is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. b And some say this /b statement: One is b inclined /b to favor the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer., b Rabbi Yoḥa said /b that there is no dispute here, and the Rabbis b agree /b with Rabbi Eliezer. b And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said /b that it was established that Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion b appears /b to be correct.,With regard to this difference of opinion b Rabbi Zeira said: Take /b this statement of b Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba in your hand, as he is scrupulous and he learned the i halakha /i well from the mouth of its originator, like /b the Sage b Raḥava /b from the city b Pumbedita. /b Raḥava was famous for the precision with which he would transmit material that he learned from his teacher.,The Gemara cites an example: b Raḥava said /b that b Rabbi Yehuda said: The Temple Mount was a double i stav /i , and there was a i stav /i within a i stav /i . /b Here Raḥava used his Rabbi’s language in describing the structure of the Temple and the rows of columns it contained, a row within a row; but he did not employ the common term i itzteba /i , portico, but rather i stav /i , as he heard it from his Rabbi., b Rav Yosef said /b the conclusive i halakha /i on this topic: b I don’t know this and I don’t know that, but I do know from /b the statements of b Rav and Shmuel they have instituted a pearl for us in Babylonia. /b They established a version that combines the first blessing of the Festival with the formula of i havdala /i , parallel to the opinion of the Rabbis who include i havdala /i in the first blessing that follows the first three blessings. They instituted to recite:, b You have made known to us, Lord our God, Your righteous laws, /b br b and taught us to perform Your will’s decrees. /b br b You have given us as our heritage seasons of joy and Festivals of voluntary offerings. /b br b You have given us as our heritage the holiness of Shabbat, the glory of the festival and the festive offerings of the Pilgrim Festivals. /b br b You have distinguished between the holiness of Shabbat and the holiness of the Festival, /b br b and have made the seventh day holy over the six days of work. /b br b You have distinguished and sanctified Your people Israel with Your holiness, /b br b And You have given us, etc. /b , strong MISHNA: /strong Concluding the laws of prayer in this tractate, the mishna raises several prayer-related matters. This mishna speaks of certain innovations in the prayer formula that warrant the silencing of a communal prayer leader who attempts to introduce them in his prayers, as their content tends toward heresy. b One who recites /b in his supplication: Just as b Your mercy is extended to a bird’s nest, /b as You have commanded us to send away the mother before taking her chicks or eggs (Deuteronomy 22:6–7), so too extend Your mercy to us; b and /b one who recites: b May Your name be mentioned with the good /b or one who recites: b We give thanks, we give thanks /b twice, they b silence him. /b , strong GEMARA: /strong Our mishna cited three instances where the communal prayer leader is silenced. The Gemara clarifies: b Granted, /b they silence one who repeats: b We give thanks, we give thanks, as it appears like /b he is acknowledging and praying to b two authorities. And /b granted that b they also silence /b one who says: b May Your name be mentioned with the good, /b as b clearly /b he is thanking God only b for the good and not for the bad, and we learned /b in a mishna: b One is required to bless /b God b for the bad just as he blesses /b Him b for the good. However, /b in the case of one who recites: Just as b Your mercy is extended to a bird’s nest, why /b do they silence him?, b Two i amora’im /i in Eretz Yisrael disputed this /b question; b Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zevida; one said /b that this was b because he engenders jealousy among God’s creations, /b as it appears as though he is protesting the fact that the Lord favored one creature over all others. b And one said /b that this was b because he transforms the attributes of the Holy One, Blessed be He, into /b expressions of b mercy, when they are nothing but decrees /b of the King that must be fulfilled without inquiring into the reasons behind them.,The Gemara relates that b a particular /b individual b descended before the ark /b as prayer leader b in the presence of Rabba, and said /b in his prayers: b You have shown mercy to the bird’s nest, now have mercy and pity upon us. Rabba said: How much does this Torah scholar know to appease /b the Lord, b his Master. Abaye said to him: Didn’t we learn /b in a mishna that b they silence him? /b ,The Gemara explains: b And Rabba too /b held in accordance with this mishna but merely acted this way because b he wanted to hone Abaye’s /b intellect. Rabba did not make his statement to praise the scholar, but simply to test his nephew, Abaye, and to encourage him to articulate what he knows about that mishna.,With regard to additions to prayers formulated by the Sages, The Gemara relates that b a particular /b individual b descended before the ark /b as prayer leader b in the presence of Rabbi Ḥanina. /b He extended his prayer and b said: God, the great, mighty, awesome, powerful, mighty, awe-inspiring, strong, fearless, steadfast and honored. /b ,Rabbi Ḥanina b waited for him until he completed /b his prayer. b When he finished, /b Rabbi Ḥanina b asked him: Have you concluded all of the praises of your Master? Why do I need all of this /b superfluous praise? b Even these three /b praises b that we recite: /b The great, mighty and awesome, b had Moses our teacher not said them in the Torah and had the members of the Great Assembly not come and incorporated them into the /b i Amida /i prayer, b we would not be permitted to recite them. And you went on and recited all of these. It is comparable to a king who possessed many thousands of golden dinars, yet they were praising him for silver /b ones. b Isn’t that deprecatory? /b All of the praises we could possibly lavish upon the Lord are nothing but a few silver dinars relative to many thousands of gold dinars. Reciting a litany of praise does not enhance God’s honor.,Tangentially, the Gemara cites an additional statement by Rabbi Ḥanina concerning principles of faith. b And Rabbi Ḥanina said: Everything is in the hands of Heaven, except for fear of Heaven. /b Man has free will to serve God or not, b as it is stated: “And now Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear /b the Lord your God, to walk in all of His ways, to love Him and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The Lord asks man to perform these matters because ultimately, the choice is in his hands.,The verse says: What does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear the Lord your God. The Gemara asks: b Is fear of Heaven a minor matter /b that it can be presented as if God is not asking anything significant? b Didn’t Rabbi Ḥanina say in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: The Holy One, Blessed be He, has nothing in his treasury other than a treasure of fear of Heaven, as it is stated: “Fear of the Lord is his treasure” /b (Isaiah 33:6). The Lord values and treasures fear of Heaven over all else.,The Gemara responds: b Indeed, for Moses /b fear of Heaven b is a minor matter. As Rabbi Ḥanina stated: It is comparable to one who is asked for a large vessel and he has /b one, b it seems to him like a small vessel /b because he owns it. However, one who is asked for just a b small /b vessel and he does not have one, b it seems to him like a large vessel. /b Therefore, Moses could say: What does the Lord your God ask of you other than to fear, because in his eyes it was a minor matter.,We learned in the mishna if one repeats: b We give thanks, we give thanks, they silence him. /b , b Rabbi Zeira said: One who /b repeats himself while reciting i Shema /i and b says: Listen /b Israel, b Listen /b Israel b is like one who says: We give thanks, we give thanks. /b ,The Gemara b raises an objection: /b It was taught in a i baraita /i : b One who recites i Shema /i and repeats it, it is reprehensible. /b One may infer: b It is reprehensible, but they do not silence him. /b ,The Gemara answers: b This is not difficult; this /b case, where although it is reprehensible when one repeats i Shema /i , they do not silence him, is referring to b one who recites and repeats each individual word /b as he says it. In so doing he ruins the recitation of i Shema /i . However, b this /b case, where Rabbi Zeira holds that one who repeats i Shema /i they silence him, refers to b one who recites and repeats an entire verse, /b as it appears that he is worshiping separate authorities., b Rav Pappa said to Abaye /b with regard to this i halakha /i : b And perhaps initially he did not focus his attention /b on the recitation of i Shema /i , so he repeated it b and ultimately he focused his attention /b as he recited it the second time?,Abaye b said to him: /b |
|
| 105. Cyprian, Letters, 2.1, 56.6, 59.2, 59.19 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 77, 78 |
| 106. Porphyry, Aids To The Study of The Intelligibles, 31 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 33 |
107. Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 31| 52b. רע כל היום אמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש יצרו של אדם מתגבר עליו בכל יום ומבקש להמיתו שנאמר (תהלים לז, לב) צופה רשע לצדיק ומבקש להמיתו ואלמלא הקב"ה שעוזר לו אינו יכול לו שנאמ' (תהלים לז, לג) ה' לא יעזבנו בידו ולא ירשיענו בהשפטו,תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל אם פגע בך מנוול זה משכהו לבית המדרש אם אבן הוא נימוח אם ברזל הוא מתפוצץ אם אבן הוא נימוח דכתיב (ישעיהו נה, א) הוי כל צמא לכו למים וכתיב (איוב יד, יט) אבנים שחקו מים אם ברזל הוא מתפוצץ דכתיב (ירמיהו כג, כט) הלא כה דברי כאש נאם ה' וכפטיש יפוצץ סלע,א"ר שמואל בר נחמני א"ר יונתן יצר הרע מסיתו לאדם בעוה"ז ומעיד עליו לעולם הבא שנאמר (משלי כט, כא) מפנק מנוער עבדו ואחריתו יהיה מנון שכן באטב"ח של ר' חייא קורין לסהדה מנון,רב הונא רמי כתיב (הושע ד, יב) כי רוח זנונים התעה וכתיב (הושע ה, ד) בקרבם בתחלה התעם ולבסוף בקרבם,אמר רבא בתחלה קראו הלך ולבסוף קראו אורח ולבסוף קראו איש שנאמר (שמואל ב יב, ד) ויבא הלך לאיש העשיר ויחמול לקחת מצאנו ומבקרו לעשות לאורח וכתיב ויקח את כבשת האיש הרש ויעשה לאיש הבא אליו,אמר רבי יוחנן אבר קטן יש לו לאדם מרעיבו שבע משביעו רעב שנאמר (הושע יג, ו) כמרעיתם וישבעו וגו',אמר רב חנא בר אחא אמרי בי רב ארבעה מתחרט עליהן הקב"ה שבראם ואלו הן גלות כשדים וישמעאלים ויצר הרע גלות דכתיב (ישעיהו נב, ה) ועתה מה לי פה נאם ה' כי לקח עמי חנם וגו' כשדים דכתיב (ישעיהו כג, יג) הן ארץ כשדים זה העם לא היה,ישמעאלים דכתיב (איוב יב, ו) ישליו אהלים לשודדים ובטוחות למרגיזי אל לאשר הביא אלוה בידו יצר הרע דכתיב (מיכה ד, ו) ואשר הרעתי,אמר רבי יוחנן אלמלא שלש מקראות הללו נתמוטטו רגליהם של שונאיהן של ישראל חד דכתיב ואשר הרעתי וחד דכתיב (ירמיהו יח, ו) הנה כחומר ביד היוצר כן אתם וגו' ואידך (יחזקאל לו, כו) והסרתי את לב האבן מבשרכם ונתתי לכם לב בשר,רב פפא אמר אף מהאי נמי (יחזקאל לו, כז) ואת רוחי אתן בקרבכם וגו',(זכריה ב, ג) ויראני ה' ארבעה חרשים מאן נינהו ארבעה חרשים אמר רב חנא בר ביזנא אמר רבי שמעון חסידא משיח בן דוד ומשיח בן יוסף ואליהו וכהן צדק מתיב רב ששת אי הכי היינו דכתיב (זכריה ב, ד) ויאמר אלי אלה הקרנות אשר זרו את יהודה הני לשובה אתו,א"ל שפיל לסיפיה דקרא ויבואו אלה להחריד אותם לידות את קרנות הגוים הנושאים קרן אל ארץ יהודה לזרותה וגו' א"ל בהדי חנא באגדתא למה לי,(מיכה ה, ד) והיה זה שלום אשור כי יבא בארצנו וכי ידרוך בארמנותינו והקמנו עליו שבעה רועים ושמנה נסיכי אדם מאן נינהו שבעה רועים דוד באמצע אדם שת ומתושלח מימינו אברהם יעקב ומשה בשמאלו ומאן נינהו שמנה נסיכי אדם ישי ושאול ושמואל עמוס וצפניה צדקיה ומשיח ואליהו:,ארבעה סולמות כו': תנא גובהה של מנורה חמשים אמה (כו'): וארבעה ילדים של פרחי כהונה ובידיהם כדי שמן של מאה ועשרים לוג: איבעיא להו מאה ועשרים לוג כולהו או דלמא לכל חד וחד תא שמע ובידיהם כדי שמן של שלשים שלשים לוג שהם כולם מאה ועשרים לוג,תנא והן משובחין היו יותר מבנה של מרתא בת בייתוס אמרו על בנה של מרתא בת בייתוס שהיה נוטל שתי יריכות של שור הגדול שלקוח באלף זוז ומהלך עקב בצד גודל ולא הניחוהו אחיו הכהנים לעשות כן משום (משלי יד, כח) ברב עם הדרת מלך,מאי משובחים אילימא משום יוקרא הני יקירי טפי אלא התם כבש ומרובע ולא זקיף הכא סולמות וזקיף טובא:,ולא היה חצר בירושלים: תנא | 52b. b evil all day” /b (Genesis 6:5). All day long his thoughts and desires are for evil. b Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: A person’s /b evil b inclination overcomes him each day and seeks to kill him, as it stated: “The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to kill him” /b (Psalms 37:32); the wicked here is referring to the wickedness inside one’s heart. b And if not for the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who assists /b him with the good inclination, b he would not overcome it, as it is stated: “The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor suffer him to be condemned when he is judged” /b (Psalms 37:33)., b The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: If this scoundrel, /b the evil inclination, b accosted you, /b seeking to tempt you to sin, b drag it to the study hall /b and study Torah. b If it is /b like b a stone, it will be dissolved /b by the Torah. b If it is /b like b iron, it will be shattered. /b The Gemara elaborates: b If it is /b like b stone, it will be dissolved, as it is written: “Ho, everyone who is thirsty, come you for the water” /b (Isaiah 55:1), water in this context meaning Torah; b and it is written: “Stones were worn by water” /b (Job 14:19). b If it is /b like b iron, it will be shattered, as it is written: “Is not My word like fire, says the Lord; and like a hammer that shatters rock” /b (Jeremiah 23:29)., b Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said /b that b Rabbi Yoḥa said: The evil inclination incites a person /b to sin b in this world, and /b then b testifies against him in the next world, as it is stated: “He that delicately brings up his servant from a child shall have him become a master [ i manon /i ] at the last” /b (Proverbs 29:21). Initially, in one’s youth, the evil inclination, which should have been enslaved to him, takes control of him and causes him to sin. Then, ultimately, that same evil inclination becomes his i manon /i . i Manon /i means witness, b as in Rabbi Ḥiyya’s /b coded alphabet in which b i alef /i /b and b i tet /i /b and b i beit /i /b and b i ḥet /i , /b etc., are interchanged. b Witness /b [ b i sahada /i /b ] b is called i manon /i . /b The letters i mem /i and i samekh /i , i nun /i and i heh /i , and i vav /i and i dalet /i are interchanged with other letters., b Rav Huna raised a contradiction /b between two verses. b It is written: “For the spirit of harlotry caused /b them b to err” /b (Hosea 4:12), indicating that this spirit was a temporary phenomenon and not an integral part of their persona. b And it is /b also b written: /b “For the spirit of harlotry b is within them” /b (Hosea 5:4), indicating that it is an integral part of their persona. The Gemara explains: b Initially, it causes them to err /b from without, b and ultimately, /b it is from b within them. /b , b Rava said: Initially, /b the verse b called /b the evil inclination b a traveler /b coming from afar. b Subsequently, /b the verse b calls it a guest, /b as one welcomes it. b Ultimately, /b the verse b calls it man, /b indicating significance, as it became the homeowner. b As it is stated /b in the parable of the poor man’s lamb that Nathan the prophet said to David: b “And there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was reluctant to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the guest” /b (II Samuel 12:4). b And it is written /b in the same verse: b “And he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man that was come to him.” /b In other words, the evil inclination that began as a traveler gradually rose in prominence., b Rabbi Yoḥa said: A man has a small organ /b used in sexual relations. b If he starves /b the organ, and does not overindulge, it b is satiated; /b however, b if he satiates /b the organ and overindulges in sexual relations, it b is starving, /b and desires more, b as it is stated: “When they were fed, they became full, /b they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten Me” (Hosea 13:6)., b Rav Ḥana bar Aḥa said /b that the Sages b in the school of Rav say: /b There are b four /b creations that b the Holy One, Blessed be He, /b created, yet He, as it were, b regrets that He created them, /b as they do more harm than good. b And these are they: Exile, Chaldeans, and Ishmaelites, and the evil inclination. Exile, as it is written: “Now therefore, for what am I here, says the Lord, seeing that My people is taken away for naught” /b (Isaiah 52:5). God Himself is asking: For what am I here? b Chaldeans, as it is written: “Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this is the people that was not” /b (Isaiah 23:13), meaning, if only they never were., b Ishmaelites, as it is written: “The tents of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure, in whatsoever God brings with His hand” /b (Job 12:6). God brought upon Himself these Arabs that dwell in the deserts in tents. b The evil inclination, as it is written: /b “On that day, says the Lord, will I assemble her that is lame, and I will gather her that is driven away, b and her that I corrupted” /b (Micah 4:6). God is saying that He created the evil inclination that led the people to sin and to be cast into exile., b Rabbi Yoḥa said: Were it not for these three verses /b that follow that indicate that God controls people’s hearts, b the legs of the enemies of /b the b Jewish people, /b a euphemism for the Jewish people themselves, b would have collapsed, /b unable to withstand the repercussions of their sins. b One, as it is written: “And her that I corrupted,” /b indicating God’s regret for doing so. b And one, as it is written: “Behold, as the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you /b in My hand, O house of Israel” (Jeremiah 18:6). b And the other /b verse: b “And I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh” /b (Ezekiel 36:26), indicating that the matter is not solely in human hands, but in the hands of God as well., b Rav Pappa said: /b It is derived b from this /b verse b as well: “And I will put My spirit within you, /b and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordices, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27).,§ Apropos the end of days, the Gemara cites another verse and interprets it homiletically. It is stated: b “The Lord then showed me four craftsmen” /b (Zechariah 2:3). b Who are these four craftsmen? Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said /b that b Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida said: /b They are b Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Yosef, Elijah, and the righteous /b High b Priest, /b who will serve in the Messianic era. b Rav Sheshet raised an objection: If so, /b if that is the identity of the four craftsmen, then b that which is written /b in the previous verse: b “And he said to me: These are the horns that scattered Judea” /b (Zechariah 2:4), is difficult; b these /b four in the first verse b are coming for their enemies, /b and are not redeemers.,Rav Ḥana b said to /b Rav Sheshet: b Go to the end of the verse: “These then are come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations, which lifted up /b their b horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.” /b This indicates that the horns refer to the nations that exiled the Jewish people and that the four craftsmen will hurl those horns aside. Rav Sheshet b said to him: Why /b should b I /b disagree b with /b Rav b Ḥana in /b matters of b i aggada /i , /b where he is more expert than I, and I cannot prevail?,The Gemara continues homiletically interpreting verses that relate to the end of days. It is stated: b “And this shall be peace: When the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight princes among men” /b (Micah 5:4). The Gemara asks: b Who are these seven shepherds? /b The Gemara explains: b David /b is b in the middle; Adam, Seth, and Methuselah are to his right; Abraham, Jacob, and Moses are to his left. And who are the eight princes among men? /b They are b Yishai, Saul, Samuel, Amos, Zephania, Zedekiah, Messiah, and Elijah. /b ,§ The mishna continues: b And there were four ladders /b for each pole. One of the Sages b taught: The height of the candelabrum /b upon the pole b is fifty cubits. And /b there were b four children from the priesthood trainees /b holding b and in their hands jugs of oil /b with a capacity b of 120 i log /i /b of oil. b A dilemma was raised: /b Was it b 120 i log /i altogether, or perhaps each and every /b child carried that amount? b Come /b and b hear /b proof from this i baraita /i : b And in their hands /b were b jugs of oil, each /b with a capacity b of thirty i log /i , that were all /b together b 120 i log /i . /b ,One of the Sages b taught: And these /b young priests who held the pitchers b were superior /b in strength b to the son of Marta, daughter of Baitos, /b who was a priest renowned for his might. b They said about the son of Marta, daughter of Baitos, that he would take two thighs of a large bull /b that was so large b that /b it would be b purchased for one thousand i zuz /i , and walk /b up the ramp in small steps, b heel to toe, /b without hurrying, due to his strength. However, b his brethren the priests would not allow him do so, due to /b the principle: b “In the multitude of people is the King’s glory” /b (Proverbs 14:28). The more priests engaged in the Temple service, the greater glory for God. Therefore, it is preferable for the thighs to be carried to the altar by multiple priests.,The Gemara asks: In b what /b sense were these young priests b superior? If we say it is due to the weight /b of the pitchers that they carried, b these /b two b thighs are heavier /b than the thirty i log /i of oil. The Gemara answers: b Rather, /b the difference is that b there, /b in the case of the son of Marta, he walked on a b ramp /b that was wide, b and /b with a moderate gradient of only one cubit every b four /b cubits of length, b and /b it is b not steep; here /b they climbed b ladders, and /b those are b very steep. /b ,§ The mishna continues: b And there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem /b that was not illuminated from the light of the Place of the Drawing of the Water. One of the Sages b taught: /b |
|
108. Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 31| 104a. עלויי קא מעלי ליה דאמר רב חסדא מ"ם וסמ"ך שבלוחות בנס היו עומדין אלא סתום ועשאו פתוח גרועי קא מגרע ליה דאמר ר' ירמיה ואיתימא ר' חייא בר אבא מנצפך צופים אמרום,ותיסברא והכתיב (ויקרא כז, לד) אלה המצות שאין הנביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה אלא מיהוה הואי מידע לא הוה ידעין הי באמצע תיבה הי בסוף תיבה ואתו צופים תקנינהו ואכתי אלה המצות שאין הנביא רשאי לחדש דבר מעתה אלא שכחום וחזרו ויסדום,גופא א"ר חסדא מ"ם וסמ"ך שבלוחות בנס היו עומדין ואמר רב חסדא כתב שבלוחות נקרא מבפנים ונקרא מבחוץ כגון נבוב בובן (רהב בהר) סרו ורס:,אמרי ליה רבנן לריב"ל אתו דרדקי האידנא לבי מדרשא ואמרו מילי דאפילו בימי יהושע בן נו"ן לא איתמר כוותייהו אל"ף בי"ת אלף בינה גימ"ל דל"ת גמול דלים מ"ט פשוטה כרעיה דגימ"ל לגבי דל"ת שכן דרכו של גומל חסדים לרוץ אחר דלים ומ"ט פשוטה כרעיה דדל"ת לגבי גימ"ל דלימציה ליה נפשיה ומ"ט מהדר אפיה דדל"ת מגימ"ל דליתן ליה בצינעה כי היכי דלא ליכסיף מיניה,ה"ו זה שמו של הקב"ה ז"ח ט"י כ"ל ואם אתה עושה כן הקב"ה זן אותך וחן אותך ומטיב לך ונותן לך ירושה וקושר לך כתר לעוה"ב מ"ם פתוחה מ"ם סתומה מאמר פתוח מאמר סתום נו"ן כפופה נו"ן פשוטה נאמן כפוף נאמן פשוט,ס"ע סמוך עניים ל"א סימנין עשה בתורה וקנה אותה פ' כפופה פ' פשוטה פה פתוח פה סתום צד"י כפופה וצד"י פשוטה צדיק כפוף צדיק פשוט היינו נאמן כפוף נאמן פשוט הוסיף לך הכתוב כפיפה על כפיפתו מכאן שנתנה התורה במנוד ראש,קו"ף קדוש רי"ש רשע מאי טעמא מהדר אפיה דקו"ף מרי"ש אמר הקב"ה אין אני יכול להסתכל ברשע ומאי טעמא מהדרה תגיה דקו"ף לגבי רי"ש אמר הקב"ה אם חוזר בו אני קושר לו כתר כמותי ומ"ט כרעיה דקו"ף תלויה דאי הדר ביה ליעייל,וליעול בהך מסייע ליה לריש לקיש) דאמר ר"ל מ"ד (משלי ג, לד) אם ללצים הוא יליץ ולענוים יתן חן בא ליטמא פותחין לו בא ליטהר מסייעים אותו,שי"ן שקר תי"ו אמת מאי טעמא שקר מקרבן מיליה אמת מרחקא מיליה שיקרא שכיח קושטא לא שכיח ומ"ט שיקרא אחדא כרעיה קאי ואמת מלבן לבוניה קושטא קאי שיקרא לא קאי,א"ת ב"ש אותי תעב אתאוה לו ב"ש בי לא חשק שמי יחול עליו ג"ר גופו טימא ארחם עליו ד"ק דלתותי נעל קרניו לא אגדע עד כאן מדת רשעים,אבל מדת צדיקים א"ת ב"ש אם אתה בוש ג"ר ד"ק אם אתה עושה כן גור בדוק ה"ץ ו"ף חציצה הוי בינך לאף ז"ע ח"ס ט"ן ואין אתה מזדעזע מן השטן י"ם כ"ל אמר [שר של] גיהנם לפני הקב"ה רבונו של עולם לים כל,אמר הקב"ה אח"ס בט"ע גי"ף אני חס עליהם מפני שבעטו בגי"ף דכ"ץ דכים הם כנים הם צדיקים הם הל"ק אין לך חלק בהן ומרז"ן ש"ת אמר גיהנם לפניו רבונו של עולם מרי זניני מזרעו של שת,א"ל א"ל ב"ם ג"ן ד"ס להיכן אוליכן לגן הדס ה"ע ו"ף אמר גיהנם לפני הקב"ה רבונו של עולם עיף אנכי ז"ץ ח"ק הללו זרעו של יצחק ט"ר י"ש כ"ת טר יש לי כיתות כיתות של עובדי כוכבים שאני נותן לך: | 104a. b he elevates its /b status, as b Rav Ḥisda said: /b The letters b i mem /i and i samekh /i that were in the tablets were standing miraculously. /b Each letter was chiseled all the way through the tablets. In that case, the segment of the tablets at the center of the i samekh /i and final i mem /i , letters that are completely closed, should have fallen. Miraculously, they remained in place. Consequently, rendering an open i mem /i closed elevates its status. b However, /b if b one rendered a closed /b letter b open, he diminishes its /b status, as b Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say /b that it was b Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba /b who said: b The prophets instituted /b the difference between the open and closed forms of the letters b i mem /i , i nun /i , i tzadi /i , i peh /i , i kaf /i . /b Since the closed letters date back to the Ten Commandments, apparently the prophets introduced the open versions of the letters, which are therefore less significant.,The Gemara rejects this: b And is that reasonable? Isn’t it written: “These are the commandments /b that the Lord commanded Moses to tell the children of Israel at Mount Sinai” (Leviticus 27:34). The word “these” underscores b that a prophet is not permitted to introduce any /b new b element /b related to the Torah and its mitzvot b from here on. Rather, /b the prophets did not innovate these forms. Both the open and closed versions b existed /b before then. However, people b did not know which /b form appeared b in the middle of a word /b and b which /b form b at the end of a word. And the prophets came /b and b instituted their /b set positions. The Gemara asks: b And still /b the question remains: Didn’t the Sages derive from the verse: b “These are the commandments,” that a prophet is not permitted to introduce any /b new b element from here on? /b How could they institute the position of the letters? b Rather, /b over the course of time, the people b forgot their /b positions in the words b and /b the prophets b then reestablished their /b positions. Apparently, closed letters are no more significant than the open ones.,The Gemara returns to discuss b the matter itself. Rav Ḥisda said: /b The letters b i mem /i and i samekh /i that were in the tablets were standing miraculously. And /b furthermore, b Rav Ḥisda said: /b The b writing on the tablets was read from the inside, /b from one side of the tablets, b and read from the outside, /b the other side of the tablets, in reverse order. The Gemara cites words that appear elsewhere in the Bible: b i Nevuv /i /b was read as b i bet /i , i vav /i , i bet /i , i nun /i ; i rahav /i /b as b i beit /i , i heh /i , i reish /i ; /b and b i saru /i /b as b i vav /i , i reish /i , i samekh /i . /b , b The Sages said to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Young students came /b today b to the study hall and said things /b the likes of b which were not said /b even b in the days of Joshua bin Nun. /b These children who only knew the Hebrew alphabet interpreted the letters homiletically. br b i Alef beit /i /b means b learn /b [ b i elaf /i /b ] the b wisdom /b [ b i bina /i /b ] of the Torah. br b i Gimmel dalet /i /b means b give to the poor /b [ b i gemol dalim /i /b ]. b Why is the leg of the i gimmel /i extended toward /b the b i dalet /i ? Because it is the manner of one who bestows loving-kindness to pursue the poor. And why /b is the b leg of /b the b i dalet /i extended toward /b the b i gimmel /i ? /b It is so b that /b a poor person b will make himself available to him /b who wants to give him charity. b And why does the i dalet /i face away from /b the b i gimmel /i ? /b It is to teach b that one should give /b charity b discreetly so that /b the poor person b will not be embarrassed by him. /b ,The children continued to interpret the letters. br b i Heh vav /i : That is /b the principal b name of the Holy One, Blessed be He. /b br b i Zayin ḥet /i , i tet yod /i , i kaf lamed /i : And if you do so, the Holy One, Blessed be He, feeds [ i zan /i ] you, and shows you favor [ i ḥan /i ], and bestows goodness [ i meitiv /i ] upon you, and gives you an inheritance [ i yerusha /i ], and ties a crown [ i keter /i ] for you in the World to Come [ i la’olam haba /i ]. /b br The b open i mem /i and closed i mem /i /b indicate that the Torah contains b an open statement, /b understood by all, and b an esoteric statement. /b br The b bent i nun /i /b and the b straight i nun /i /b at the end of a word refer to b a faithful person who is bent [ i ne’eman kafuf /i ] /b and is modest now, who will ultimately become a b well-known faithful person [ i ne’eman pashut /i ]. /b , b i Samekh ayin /i : Support the poor [ i semokh aniyyim /i ] /b to prevent them from falling further. b Another version: Make mnemonic /b signs b [ i simanim aseh /i ] /b to remember b the Torah and acquire it. /b br The b bent i peh /i /b and the b straight i peh /i : /b Sometimes one needs to have b an open mouth [ i peh patuaḥ /i ] /b and speak, and sometimes one needs to have b a closed mouth [ i peh satum /i ]. /b br The b bent i tzadi /i /b and the b straight i tzadi /i /b indicate that b a righteous /b person who is b bent /b and humble b [ i tzaddik kafuf /i ] /b now will ultimately become b a well-known righteous /b person b [ i tzaddik pashut /i ] /b whose righteousness is apparent to all. The Gemara asks: b That is identical /b to the interpretation of the bent and straight i nun /i : b i Ne’eman kafuf /i , i ne’eman pashut /i . /b The Gemara explains: b The verse added /b the b bending /b of the righteous person b to the bending of /b the faithful person. b From here /b it is derived b that the Torah was given in /b an atmosphere of b gravity. /b One must receive the Torah with a sense of awe and extreme humility.,The children continued: br b i Kuf /i : Holy [ i kadosh /i ], /b referring to God. br b i Reish /i : A wicked person [ i rasha /i ]. Why is the i kuf /i facing away from /b the b i reish /i ? /b This question was phrased euphemistically, as it is the i reish /i that is facing away from the i kuf /i . b The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: I am unable look at a wicked person, /b i.e., the wicked person does not want to look toward God. b And why is the crown of /b the letter b i kuf /i turned toward /b the b i reish /i ? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: If /b the wicked person b repents /b his evil ways b I will tie a crown for him like My own. And why is the leg of /b the b i kuf /i suspended /b and not connected to the roof of the letter? b Because if /b the wicked person b repents he can enter /b through this opening if he so desires.,The Gemara asks: b Let him enter through that /b opening, as the i kuf /i is open on both sides at the bottom. The Gemara answers: This b supports /b the statement of b Reish Lakish, as Reish Lakish said: What is /b the meaning of b that which is written: “If it concerns the scorners, He scorns them, and unto the humble He gives grace” /b (Proverbs 3:34)? One who b comes /b in order b to become impure, /b i.e., to sin, b they, /b in Heaven, b provide him with an opening /b to do so, and he is not prevented from sinning. However, if he b comes /b in order b to become purified, /b not only is he allowed to do so, but b they, /b in Heaven, b assist him. /b ,They further taught: br b i Shin /i : Falsehood [ i sheker /i ]. i Tav /i : Truth [ i emet /i ]. /b br b Why are the letters of /b the word b i sheker /i adjacent /b to one another in the alphabet, while b the letters of i emet /i are distant /b from one another? That is because while b falsehood is /b easily b found, truth is found /b only with great difficulty. b And why do /b the letters that comprise the word b i sheker /i /b all b stand on one foot, and /b the letters that comprise the word b i emet /i /b stand on bases that are wide like b bricks? /b Because the b truth stands /b eternal and b falsehood does not stand /b eternal.,The Gemara cites another midrash that also deals with the letters of the alphabet. This one uses a code in which the first letter is paired with the last letter, the second letter with the penultimate one, and so on b [ i alef tav /i , i beit shin /i ]. /b i Alef tav /i , God said: If b he despised Me [ i oti ti’ev /i ] /b would b I desire [ i etaveh /i ] him? i Beit shin /i : /b If b he does not desire /b to worship b Me [ i bi /i ], /b shall b My name [ i shemi /i ] rest upon him? i Gimmel reish /i : /b He b defiled his body [ i gufo /i ]; /b shall b I have mercy [ i araḥem /i ] on him? /b The word comprised of the letters i gimmel /i and i reish /i in Aramaic means licentiousness. b i Dalet kuf /i : /b He b locked My doors [ i daltotai /i ], /b shall b I not cut off his horns [ i karnav /i ]? To this point, /b the Gemara interpreted the letters as referring to b the attribute of the wicked. /b , b However, /b with regard to b the attribute of the righteous /b it is taught differently. b i Alef tav /i , i beit shin /i : If you have shame [ i ata bosh /i ], i gimmel reish /i , i dalet kuf /i : If you do so, /b you will b reside [ i gur /i ] in /b the b heavens [ i bedok /i ], /b as the verse says: “Who stretches out the Heavens like a curtain [ i dok /i ]” (Isaiah 40:22). b i Heh tzadi /i , i vav peh /i : There is a partition [ i ḥatzitza havei /i ] between you and anger [ i af /i ]. i Zayin ayin /i , i ḥet samekh /i , i tet nun /i : And you will not be shaken [ i mizdaze’a /i ] by the Satan. i Yod mem /i , i kaf lamed /i : The minister of Gehenna said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, /b send the righteous as well into the b sea /b to which b all /b go b [ i yam kol /i ], /b Gehenna.,The interpretation of the alphabet continues with other combinations of letters. b The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: i Alef ḥet samekh /i , i bet tet ayin /i , i gimmel yod peh /i : I have mercy on them [ i Ani ḥas aleihem /i ] because they spurned [ i ba’atu /i ] adultery [ i gif /i ]. /b The Gemara continues with this combination of the letters: b i Dalet kaf tzadi /i : They are pure [ i dakkim /i ], they are honest [ i kenim /i ], they are righteous [ i tzaddikim /i ]. i Heh lamed kuf /i : You have no portion [ i ḥelek /i ] with them, /b based on the interchange of the letters i ḥet /i and i heh /i . b i Vav mem reish zayin nun /i , i shin tav /i : /b The minister of b Gehenna said [ i amar /i ], /b based on i vav mem reish /i , b before Him: Master of the Universe, my Master [ i Mari /i ], sustain me [ i zaneini /i ] with the seed of Seth [ i Shet /i ], /b which refers to all humankind, including the Jewish people.,The Holy One, Blessed be He, b said to him /b using another configuration of the alphabet: b i Alef lamed /i , i beit mem /i : Not with them [ i al bam /i ], /b i.e., you will have no portion of them. b i Gimmel nun /i , i dalet samekh /i : To where will I lead them? /b I will lead them b to the garden of myrtle [ i gan hadas /i ], /b i.e., the Garden of Eden. b i Heh ayin /i , i vav peh /i : /b The minister of b Gehenna said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, I am tired [ i ayef anokhi /i ] /b and thirsty and need people to care for me. The Holy One, Blessed be He, responded: b i Zayin tzadi /i , i ḥet kuf /i : These are the descendants [ i zaro /i ] of Isaac [ i Yitzḥak /i ]. i Tet reish /i , i yod shin /i , i kaf tav /i : Wait [ i tar /i ], I have groups /b upon b groups [ i yesh li kittot kittot /i ] of /b other b nations that I will give you /b instead. |
|
109. Babylonian Talmud, Qiddushin, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 31| 30b. (משלי ז, ד) אמור לחכמה אחותי את וגו' ואומר (משלי ז, ג) קשרם על אצבעותיך כתבם על לוח לבך ואומר (תהלים קכז, ד) כחצים ביד גבור כן בני הנעורים ואומר (תהלים קכ, ד) חצי גבור שנונים ואומר (תהלים מה, ו) חציך שנונים עמים תחתיך יפלו ואומר (תהלים קכז, ה) אשרי הגבר אשר מלא את אשפתו מהם לא יבושו כי ידברו את אויבים בשער,מאי את אויבים בשער אמר רבי חייא בר אבא אפי' האב ובנו הרב ותלמידו שעוסקין בתורה בשער אחד נעשים אויבים זה את זה ואינם זזים משם עד שנעשים אוהבים זה את זה שנאמר (במדבר כא, יד) את והב בסופה אל תקרי בסופה אלא בסופה,ת"ר (דברים יא, יח) ושמתם סם תם נמשלה תורה כסם חיים משל לאדם שהכה את בנו מכה גדולה והניח לו רטיה על מכתו ואמר לו בני כל זמן שהרטיה זו על מכתך אכול מה שהנאתך ושתה מה שהנאתך ורחוץ בין בחמין בין בצונן ואין אתה מתיירא ואם אתה מעבירה הרי היא מעלה נומי,כך הקב"ה אמר להם לישראל בני בראתי יצר הרע ובראתי לו תורה תבלין ואם אתם עוסקים בתורה אין אתם נמסרים בידו שנאמר (בראשית ד, ז) הלא אם תטיב שאת,ואם אין אתם עוסקין בתורה אתם נמסרים בידו שנא' לפתח חטאת רובץ ולא עוד אלא שכל משאו ומתנו בך שנאמר ואליך תשוקתו ואם אתה רוצה אתה מושל בו שנאמר ואתה תמשל בו,ת"ר קשה יצר הרע שאפילו יוצרו קראו רע שנאמר (בראשית ח, כא) כי יצר לב האדם רע מנעוריו אמר רב יצחק יצרו של אדם מתחדש עליו בכל יום שנאמר (בראשית ו, ה) רק רע כל היום,ואמר ר"ש בן לוי יצרו של אדם מתגבר עליו בכל יום ומבקש המיתו שנאמר (תהלים לז, לב) צופה רשע לצדיק ומבקש להמיתו ואלמלא הקב"ה עוזרו אין יכול לו שנאמר אלהים לא יעזבנו בידו,תנא דבי ר' ישמעאל בני אם פגע בך מנוול זה משכהו לבית המדרש אם אבן הוא נימוח ואם ברזל הוא מתפוצץ שנאמר (ירמיהו כג, כט) הלא כה דברי כאש נאם ה' וכפטיש יפוצץ סלע אם אבן הוא נימוח שנאמר (ישעיהו נה, א) הוי כל צמא לכו למים ואומר (איוב יד, יט) אבנים שחקו מים,להשיאו אשה מנלן דכתיב (ירמיהו כט, ו) קחו נשים והולידו בנים ובנות וקחו לבניכם נשים ואת בנותיכם תנו לאנשים,בשלמא בנו בידו אלא בתו בידו היא הכי קאמר להו ניתן לה מידי ולבשייה ונכסייה כי היכי דקפצו עלה אינשי,ללמדו אומנות מנלן אמר חזקיה דאמר קרא (קהלת ט, ט) ראה חיים עם אשה אשר אהבת אם אשה ממש היא כשם שחייב להשיאו אשה כך חייב ללמדו אומנות אם תורה היא כשם שחייב ללמדו תורה כך חייב ללמדו אומנות,ויש אומרים אף להשיטו בנהר מאי טעמא חיותיה הוא,רבי יהודה אומר כל שאינו מלמדו אומנות מלמדו ליסטות ליסטות ס"ד אלא כאילו מלמדו ליסטות,מאי בינייהו איכא בינייהו דאגמריה עיסקא,כל מצות האב על הבן וכו' מאי כל מצות האב על הבן אילימא כל מצותא דמיחייב אבא למיעבד לבריה נשים חייבות והתניא האב חייב בבנו למולו ולפדותו אביו אין אמו לא,אמר רב יהודה הכי קאמר כל מצות האב המוטלת על הבן לעשות לאביו אחד אנשים ואחד נשים חייבין תנינא להא דת"ר איש אין לי אלא איש אשה מנין כשהוא אומר תיראו הרי כאן שנים,א"כ מה ת"ל איש איש סיפק בידו לעשות אשה אין סיפק בידה לעשות מפני שרשות אחרים עליה אמר רב אידי בר אבין אמר רב נתגרשה שניהם שוים,ת"ר נאמר (שמות כ, יב) כבד את אביך ואת אמך ונאמר (משלי ג, ט) כבד את ה' מהונך השוה הכתוב כבוד אב ואם לכבוד המקום,נאמר (ויקרא יט, ג) איש אמו ואביו תיראו ונאמר (דברים ו, יג) את ה' אלהיך תירא ואותו תעבוד השוה הכתוב מוראת אב ואם למוראת המקום,נאמר (שמות כא, יז) מקלל אביו ואמו מות יומת ונאמר (ויקרא כד, טו) איש איש כי יקלל אלהיו ונשא חטאו השוה הכתוב ברכת אב ואם לברכת המקום אבל בהכאה ודאי אי אפשר,וכן בדין ששלשתן שותפין בו ת"ר שלשה שותפין הן באדם הקב"ה ואביו ואמו בזמן שאדם מכבד את אביו ואת אמו אמר הקב"ה מעלה אני עליהם כאילו דרתי ביניהם וכבדוני,תניא רבי אומר גלוי וידוע לפני מי שאמר והיה העולם שבן מכבד את אמו יותר מאביו מפני | 30b. b “Say to wisdom: You are my sister, /b and call understanding your kinswoman” (Proverbs 7:4), which indicates that one should be as knowledgeable in the Torah as in the identity of his sister. b And it states: “Bind them upon your fingers, you shall write them upon the tablet of your heart” /b (Proverbs 7:3). b And it states: “As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of one’s youth” /b (Psalms 127:4). b And it states: “Sharp arrows of the mighty” /b (Psalms 120:4). b And it states: “Your arrows are sharp, the peoples fall under you” /b (Psalms 45:6). b And it states: “Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate” /b (Psalms 127:5).,The Gemara asks: b What /b is the meaning of the phrase b “enemies in the gate” /b with regard to Torah study? b Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says: Even a father and his son, /b or b a rabbi and his student, who are engaged in Torah /b together b in one gate become enemies with each other /b due to the intensity of their studies. b But they do not leave there until they love each other, as it is stated /b in the verse discussing the places the Jewish people engaged in battle in the wilderness: “Therefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord, b Vahev in Suphah [ i beSufa /i ], /b and the valleys of Arnon” (Numbers 21:14). The word “ i vahev /i ” is interpreted as related to the word for love, i ahava /i . Additionally, b do not read /b this as b “in Suphah [ i beSufa /i ]”; rather, /b read it as b “at its end [ i besofa /i ],” /b i.e., at the conclusion of their dispute they are beloved to each other., b The Sages taught: “And you shall place [ i vesamtem /i ] /b these words of Mine in your hearts” (Deuteronomy 11:18). Read this as though it stated b i sam tam /i , a perfect elixir. The Torah is compared to an elixir of life. /b There is b a parable that /b illustrates this: b A person hit his son with a strong blow and placed a bandage on his wound. And he said to him: My son, as long as this bandage is on your wound /b and is healing you, b eat what you enjoy and drink what you enjoy, and bathe in either hot water or cold water, and you do not need to be afraid, /b as it will heal your wound. b But if you take it off, /b the wound b will become gangrenous. /b , b So /b too b the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Israel: My children, I created an evil inclination, /b which is the wound, b and I created Torah as its antidote. If you are engaged in Torah /b study b you will not be given over into the hand /b of the evil inclination, b as it is stated: “If you do well, shall it not be lifted up?” /b (Genesis 4:7). One who engages in Torah study lifts himself above the evil inclination., b And if you do not engage in Torah /b study, b you are given over to its power, as it is stated: “Sin crouches at the door” /b (Genesis 4:7). b Moreover, all /b of the evil inclination’s b deliberations /b will be b concerning you, as it is stated /b in the same verse: b “And to you is its desire.” And if you wish you shall rule over it, as it is stated /b in the conclusion of the verse: b “But you may rule over it” /b (Genesis 4:7)., b The Sages taught: /b So b difficult is the evil inclination that even its Creator calls it evil, as it is stated: “For the inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” /b (Genesis 8:21). b Rav Yitzḥak says: A person’s /b evil b inclination renews itself to him every day, as it is stated: /b “And that every inclination of the thoughts in his heart was b only evil all day [ i kol hayyom /i ]” /b (Genesis 6:5). “ i Kol hayyom /i ” can also be understood as: Every day., b And Rabbi Shimon ben Levi says: A person’s inclination overpowers him every day, and seeks to kill him, as it is stated: “The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him” /b (Psalms 37:32). b And if not /b for the fact that b the Holy One, Blessed be He, assists /b each person in battling his evil inclination, b he could not /b overcome b it, as it is stated: “The Lord will not leave him in his hand” /b (Psalms 37:33).,A Sage from b the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: My son, if this wretched one, /b the evil inclination, b encounters you, pull it into the study hall, /b i.e., go and study Torah. b If it is a stone /b it will b melt, and if it is iron /b it will b break, as it is stated /b with regard to the Torah: b “Is not My word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” /b (Jeremiah 23:29). Just as a stone shatters a hammer, so too one can overcome his evil inclination, which is as strong as iron, through Torah study. With regard to the second part of the statement: b If it is a stone /b it will b melt, /b this is b as it is stated /b with regard to the Torah: b “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come for water” /b (Isaiah 55:1), b and it states: “The water wears the stones” /b (Job 14:19), indicating that water is stronger than stone.,§ The i baraita /i (29a) teaches that a father is commanded b to marry /b his son to b a woman. /b The Gemara asks: b From where do we /b derive this matter? b As it is written: “Take wives and bear sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to men” /b (Jeremiah 29:6).,The Gemara analyzes this verse: b Granted /b with regard to b his son, /b this is b in his power, /b i.e., he can instruct him to marry a woman, as a man is the active agent in a marriage. b But /b with regard to b his daughter, is /b this b in his power? /b She must wait for a man to marry her. The Gemara answers: b This is what /b Jeremiah was b saying to them /b in the aforementioned verse: Her father should b give her something /b for her dowry, b and he should dress and cover her /b with suitable clothing b so that men will leap to /b marry b her. /b ,§ The i baraita /i further states that a father is commanded b to teach /b his son b a trade. /b The Gemara asks: b From where do we /b derive this? b Ḥizkiyya said: As the verse states: “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love” /b (Ecclesiastes 9:9). b If /b this verse is interpreted literally, and b it /b is referring to b an actual woman, /b then one can derive as follows: b Just as /b a father b is obligated to marry /b his son b to a woman, so too, he is obligated to teach him a trade, /b as indicated by the term: Life. b And if /b the wife mentioned in this verse is allegorical, and b it is the Torah, /b then one should explain the verse in the following manner: b Just as he is obligated to teach him Torah, so too, he is obligated to teach him a trade. /b ,§ The i baraita /i adds: b And some say /b that a father is b also /b obligated b to teach /b his son b to swim in a river. /b The Gemara asks: b What is the reason /b for this? b It is /b necessary for b his life, /b i.e., this is potentially a lifesaving skill.,§ The i baraita /i further teaches that b Rabbi Yehuda says: Any /b father b who does not teach /b his son b a trade teaches him banditry. /b The Gemara asks: Can it b enter your mind /b that he actually teaches him b banditry? Rather, /b the i baraita /i means that it is b as though he taught him banditry. /b ,The Gemara asks: b What is /b the difference b between /b the opinion of the first i tanna /i and that of Rabbi Yehuda? Both state that a father must teach his son a trade. The Gemara answers: b There is /b a difference b between them /b in a case b where /b the father b teaches him /b to engage in b business. /b According to the first i tanna /i this is sufficient, whereas Rabbi Yehuda maintains that he must teach him an actual trade.,§ The mishna teaches: With regard to b all mitzvot of a father with regard to his son, /b both men and women are obligated to perform them. The Gemara inquires: b What /b is the meaning of the expression: b All mitzvot of a father with regard to his son? If we say /b that this is referring to b all of the mitzvot that a father is required to perform for his son, /b are b women obligated /b in these? b But isn’t it taught /b in a i baraita /i : b A father is obligated with regard to his son to circumcise him, and to redeem him? /b This indicates that b his father, yes, /b he is obligated to do these, but b his mother, no, /b she is not obligated to perform these mitzvot for her son., b Rav Yehuda said /b that b this is what /b the mishna b is saying: /b With regard to b each mitzva /b for b the father that is incumbent upon the son to perform for his father, both men and women are obligated /b in them. The Gemara comments: b We /b already b learned this, as the Sages taught /b in a i baraita /i , with regard to the verse: b “A man /b shall fear [ i tira’u /i ] his mother and his father” (Leviticus 19:3). b I have /b derived b only /b that b a man /b is obligated in this mitzva; b from where /b do I derive that b a woman /b is also obligated? b When it says /b in the same verse: b “A man shall fear [ i tira’u /i ] his mother and his father” /b (Leviticus 19:3), employing the plural form of the verb, this indicates that b there are two /b that are obligated b here, /b both a man and a woman., b If so, /b that both of them are obligated, b what /b is the meaning when b the verse states: “Man”? /b In the case of b a man, /b it is b in his power to perform /b this mitzva; whereas with regard to b a woman, /b it is b not /b always b in her power to perform /b this mitzva, b because she is under the authority of another /b person, i.e., her husband. As she is obligated to her husband to maintain her household, she is not always able to find time for her parents. b Rav Idi bar Avin says /b that b Rav says: /b Consequently, if a woman b is divorced, /b then b both of them, /b a daughter and a son, are b equal /b with regard to honoring and fearing their father and mother., b The Sages taught /b that b it is stated: “Honor your father and your mother” /b (Exodus 20:11), b and it is stated: “Honor the Lord with your wealth” /b (Proverbs 3:9). In this manner, b the verse equates the honor of one’s father and mother to the honor of the Omnipresent, /b as the term “honor” is used in both cases.,Similarly, b it is stated: “A man shall fear his mother and his father” /b (Leviticus 19:3), b and it is stated: “You shall fear the Lord your God and Him you shall serve” /b (Deuteronomy 6:13). b The verse equates the fear of one’s father and mother to the fear of the Omnipresent. /b ,Likewise, b it is stated: “He who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death” /b (Exodus 21:17), b and it is stated: “Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin” /b (Leviticus 24:15). b The verse equates the blessing, /b a euphemism for cursing, b of /b one’s b father and mother to the blessing of the Omnipresent. But with regard to striking, /b i.e., with regard to the i halakha /i that one who strikes his father or mother is liable to receive court-imposed capital punishment, b it is certainly not possible /b to say the same concerning the Holy One, Blessed be He., b And so /b too, the equating of one’s attitude toward his parents to his attitude toward God is b a logical derivation, as the three of them are partners in his /b creation. As b the Sages taught: There are three partners in /b the forming of b a person: The Holy One, Blessed be He, /b who provides the soul, b and his father and his mother. When a person honors his father and mother, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: I ascribe /b credit b to them as if I dwelt between them and they honor Me /b as well., b It is taught /b in a i baraita /i that b Rabbi /b Yehuda HaNasi b says: It is revealed and known before the One Who spoke and the world came into being that a son honors his mother more than /b he honors b his father, because /b |
|
| 110. Eusebius of Caesarea, Preparation For The Gospel, 11.28.15 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 33 |
| 111. Augustine, Contra Litteras Petiliani Donatistae Cirtensis Episcopi, 1.6, 1.8, 2.9, 2.185-2.186, 2.232, 3.23-3.42, 3.44, 3.52, 3.59, 3.62, 3.65 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 119 |
| 112. Augustine, The Soul And Its Origin, 4.16 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 246 |
| 113. Augustine, De Consensu Evangelistarum Libri Quatuor, 2.6-2.11 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 50 |
| 114. Augustine, De Spiritu Et Littera, 24, 34, 36 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 262 |
| 115. Augustine, De Diversis Quaestionibus Ad Simplicianum, 1.2.3-1.2.7, 1.20, 2.16-2.22 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •god, sovereignty of •sovereignty of god Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 238; Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95, 238, 262 |
| 116. Augustine, Against Julian, 1.4-1.18, 1.34, 5.45, 5.53-5.54, 6.2, 6.10, 6.14, 6.24, 6.27, 6.30-6.31, 6.39 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 178, 182 |
| 117. Augustine, De Symbolo Ad Catechumenos, 2 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 184 |
| 118. Augustine, De Dono Perseverantiae, 1, 10-11, 21, 30, 41, 9, 12 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95 |
| 119. Gregory of Nyssa, De Virginitate (Recensio Altera), 12.2-12.3 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 88 |
| 120. Augustine, De Correptione Et Gratia, 12.34 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 240; Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 185 |
| 121. Augustine, Contra Felicem, 1.12, 2.4, 2.8, 2.11-2.13 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 114 |
| 122. Augustine, Confessions, 10.60 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 283 |
| 123. Augustine, Contra Cresconium Grammaticum Partis Donati, 1.1, 1.15-1.17, 1.24, 3.87, 4.12, 4.23 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 119 |
| 124. Augustine, Contra Academicos, 1.1 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 283 |
| 125. Gregory of Nyssa, De Vita Mosis, 7.1.45 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 88 |
| 126. Gregory of Nyssa, De Virginitate, 12.2-12.3 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 88 |
| 127. Gregory of Nyssa, Contra Eunomium, 1.1, 3.1 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 86, 88 |
128. Anon., Exodus Rabbah, 13.3 (4th cent. CE - 9th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19| 13.3. דָּבָר אַחֵר, כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ, אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן מִכָּאן פִּתְחוֹן פֶּה לַמִּינִין לוֹמַר לֹא הָיְתָה מִמֶּנּוּ שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה תְּשׁוּבָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ. אָמַר לוֹ רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ יִסָּתֵם פִּיהֶם שֶׁל מִינִים, אֶלָּא (משלי ג, לד): אִם לַלֵּצִים הוּא יָלִיץ, שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַתְרֶה בּוֹ בָּאָדָם פַּעַם רִאשׁוֹנָה שְׁנִיָּה וּשְׁלִישִׁית וְאֵינוֹ חוֹזֵר בּוֹ, וְהוּא נוֹעֵל לִבּוֹ מִן הַתְּשׁוּבָה כְּדֵי לִפְרֹעַ מִמֶּנּוּ מַה שֶּׁחָטָא. אַף כָּךְ פַּרְעֹה הָרָשָׁע, כֵּיוָן שֶׁשִּׁגֵּר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא חָמֵשׁ פְּעָמִים וְלֹא הִשְׁגִּיחַ עַל דְּבָרָיו, אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַתָּה הִקְשֵׁיתָ עָרְפְּךָ וְהִכְבַּדְתָּ אֶת לִבְּךָ, הֲרֵינִי מוֹסִיף לְךָ טֻמְאָה עַל טֻמְאָתְךָ, הֱוֵי: כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ. מַהוּ הִכְבַּדְתִּי, שֶׁעָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת לִבּוֹ כַּכָּבֵד הַזֶּה שֶׁהִיא מִתְבַּשֶׁלֶת שְׁנִיָּה וְאַרְטָסִיס נִכְנָס בְּתוֹכָהּ, כָּךְ נַעֲשָׂה לִבּוֹ שֶׁל פַּרְעֹה כַּכָּבֵד הַזֶּה וְלֹא הָיָה מְקַבֵּל דְּבָרָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הֱוֵי: כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ וגו': | 13.3. "Another explanation: For I have hardened his heart - Rabbi Yocha said: Does this not provide heretics with an opportunity to open their mouths to say that he had no means of repenting, as it say \"For I have hardened his heart\". Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said to him: Let the mouths of the heretics be stopped up. Rather, (Mishlei 3:34) If it concerns the scorners, he scorns them. When the Holy One Blessed be He warns a man once, twice, thrice and he doesn't repent, and G-d will close his heart against repentance so that He should not exact vengeance from him for his sins. So to with the wicked Pharaoh, since Hashem sent five times to him and he took no notice, G-d then said: \"You have stiffened your neck and hardened your heart; well, I will add impurity to your impurity\". Hence, \"For I have hardened his heart\". What does \"I have hardened\" imply? That G-d made his heart like a liver (כבד) into which even if boiled a second time no juice enters; so also was the heart of Pharaoh made like a liver, and he did not receive the words of G-d. Hence, \"For I have hardened his heart\". ", |
|
| 129. Epiphanius, Panarion, 31.1, 66.77 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13 |
| 130. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On Romans, 5.12 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 262 |
| 131. Ambrose, Letters, 41.6-41.7 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 93 |
| 132. Basil of Caesarea, Letters, 101, 148, 151, 206, 234-236, 260-261, 265, 269, 290, 6, 45 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 86 |
| 133. Ambrose, De Poenitentia, 1.3-1.4, 1.48, 2.4, 2.27 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14, 93 |
| 134. Augustine, Reply To Faustus, 3.5, 9.2, 13.5, 15.11, 16.28, 16.32, 21.2, 22.27, 22.71 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13, 111, 114 |
| 135. Gregory of Nyssa, Dialogus De Anima Et Resurrectione, 97 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 88 |
| 136. Augustine, De Diversis Quaestionibus Octoginta Tribus, 68.3-68.4, 82.2 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 110 |
| 137. Augustine, On The Morals of The Manichaeans, 1.40 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 78 |
| 138. Augustine, Enchiridion, 103, 105-106, 46-47, 98, 110 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 178 |
| 139. Augustine, De Musica, 6 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 111 |
| 140. Augustine, De Libero Arbitrio, 1.32, 2.48, 2.53, 3.6-3.8, 3.17.48, 3.31, 3.43, 3.45, 3.47-3.55 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •god, sovereignty of Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 240; Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 33, 34, 110, 111 |
141. Augustine, The City of God, 1.28, 5.8-5.11, 5.26, 13.3 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12, 192 | 1.28. Let not your life, then, be a burden to you, you faithful servants of Christ, though your chastity was made the sport of your enemies. You have a grand and true consolation, if you maintain a good conscience, and know that you did not consent to the sins of those who were permitted to commit sinful outrage upon you. And if you should ask why this permission was granted, indeed it is a deep providence of the Creator and Governor of the world; and unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. Romans 11:33 Nevertheless, faithfully interrogate your own souls, whether you have not been unduly puffed up by your integrity, and continence, and chastity; and whether you have not been so desirous of the human praise that is accorded to these virtues, that you have envied some who possessed them. I, for my part, do not know your hearts, and therefore I make no accusation; I do not even hear what your hearts answer when you question them. And yet, if they answer that it is as I have supposed it might be, do not marvel that you have lost that by which you can win men's praise, and retain that which cannot be exhibited to men. If you did not consent to sin, it was because God added His aid to His grace that it might not be lost, and because shame before men succeeded to human glory that it might not be loved. But in both respects even the faint-hearted among you have a consolation, approved by the one experience, chastened by the other; justified by the one, corrected by the other. As to those whose hearts, when interrogated, reply that they have never been proud of the virtue of virginity, widowhood, or matrimonial chastity, but, condescending to those of low estate, rejoiced with trembling in these gifts of God, and that they have never envied any one the like excellences of sanctity and purity, but rose superior to human applause, which is wont to be abundant in proportion to the rarity of the virtue applauded, and rather desired that their own number be increased, than that by the smallness of their numbers each of them should be conspicuous - even such faithful women, I say, must not complain that permission was given to the barbarians so grossly to outrage them; nor must they allow themselves to believe that God overlooked their character when He permitted acts which no one with impunity commits. For some most flagrant and wicked desires are allowed free play at present by the secret judgment of God, and are reserved to the public and final judgment. Moreover, it is possible that those Christian women, who are unconscious of any undue pride on account of their virtuous chastity, whereby they sinlessly suffered the violence of their captors, had yet some lurking infirmity which might have betrayed them into a proud and contemptuous bearing, had they not been subjected to the humiliation that befell them in the taking of the city. As, therefore, some men were removed by death, that no wickedness might change their disposition, so these women were outraged lest prosperity should corrupt their modesty. Neither those women then, who were already puffed up by the circumstance that they were still virgins, nor those who might have been so puffed up had they not been exposed to the violence of the enemy, lost their chastity, but rather gained humility; the former were saved from pride already cherished, the latter from pride that would shortly have grown upon them. We must further notice that some of those sufferers may have conceived that continence is a bodily good, and abides so long as the body is inviolate, and did not understand that the purity both of the body and the soul rests on the steadfastness of the will strengthened by God's grace, and cannot be forcibly taken from an unwilling person. From this error they are probably now delivered. For when they reflect how conscientiously they served God, and when they settle again to the firm persuasion that He can in nowise desert those who so serve Him, and so invoke His aid and when they consider, what they cannot doubt, how pleasing to Him is chastity, they are shut up to the conclusion that He could never have permitted these disasters to befall His saints, if by them that saintliness could be destroyed which He Himself had bestowed upon them, and delights to see in them. 5.8. But, as to those who call by the name of fate, not the disposition of the stars as it may exist when any creature is conceived, or born, or commences its existence, but the whole connection and train of causes which makes everything become what it does become, there is no need that I should labor and strive with them in a merely verbal controversy, since they attribute the so-called order and connection of causes to the will and power of God most high, who is most rightly and most truly believed to know all things before they come to pass, and to leave nothing unordained; from whom are all powers, although the wills of all are not from Him. Now, that it is chiefly the will of God most high, whose power extends itself irresistibly through all things which they call fate, is proved by the following verses, of which, if I mistake not, Ann us Seneca is the author:- Father supreme, You ruler of the lofty heavens, Lead me where'er it is Your pleasure; I will give A prompt obedience, making no delay, Lo! Here I am. Promptly I come to do Your sovereign will; If your command shall thwart my inclination, I will still Follow You groaning, and the work assigned, With all the suffering of a mind repugt, Will perform, being evil; which, had I been good, I should have undertaken and performed, though hard, With virtuous cheerfulness. The Fates do lead the man that follows willing; But the man that is unwilling, him they drag. Most evidently, in this last verse, he calls that fate which he had before called the will of the Father supreme, whom, he says, he is ready to obey that he may be led, being willing, not dragged, being unwilling, since the Fates do lead the man that follows willing, but the man that is unwilling, him they drag. The following Homeric lines, which Cicero translates into Latin, also favor this opinion:- Such are the minds of men, as is the light Which Father Jove himself does pour Illustrious o'er the fruitful earth. Not that Cicero wishes that a poetical sentiment should have any weight in a question like this; for when he says that the Stoics, when asserting the power of fate, were in the habit of using these verses from Homer, he is not treating concerning the opinion of that poet, but concerning that of those philosophers, since by these verses, which they quote in connection with the controversy which they hold about fate, is most distinctly manifested what it is which they reckon fate, since they call by the name of Jupiter him whom they reckon the supreme god, from whom, they say, hangs the whole chain of fates. 5.9. The manner in which Cicero addresses himself to the task of refuting the Stoics, shows that he did not think he could effect anything against them in argument unless he had first demolished divination. And this he attempts to accomplish by denying that there is any knowledge of future things, and maintains with all his might that there is no such knowledge either in God or man, and that there is no prediction of events. Thus he both denies the foreknowledge of God, and attempts by vain arguments, and by opposing to himself certain oracles very easy to be refuted, to overthrow all prophecy, even such as is clearer than the light (though even these oracles are not refuted by him). But, in refuting these conjectures of the mathematicians, his argument is triumphant, because truly these are such as destroy and refute themselves. Nevertheless, they are far more tolerable who assert the fatal influence of the stars than they who deny the foreknowledge of future events. For, to confess that God exists, and at the same time to deny that He has foreknowledge of future things, is the most manifest folly. This Cicero himself saw, and therefore attempted to assert the doctrine embodied in the words of Scripture, The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. That, however, he did not do in his own person, for he saw how odious and offensive such an opinion would be; and therefore, in his book on the nature of the gods, he makes Cotta dispute concerning this against the Stoics, and preferred to give his own opinion in favor of Lucilius Balbus, to whom he assigned the defense of the Stoical position, rather than in favor of Cotta, who maintained that no divinity exists. However, in his book on divination, he in his own person most openly opposes the doctrine of the prescience of future things. But all this he seems to do in order that he may not grant the doctrine of fate, and by so doing destroy free will. For he thinks that, the knowledge of future things being once conceded, fate follows as so necessary a consequence that it cannot be denied. But, let these perplexing debatings and disputations of the philosophers go on as they may, we, in order that we may confess the most high and true God Himself, do confess His will, supreme power, and prescience. Neither let us be afraid lest, after all, we do not do by will that which we do by will, because He, whose foreknowledge is infallible, foreknew that we would do it. It was this which Cicero was afraid of, and therefore opposed foreknowledge. The Stoics also maintained that all things do not come to pass by necessity, although they contended that all things happen according to destiny. What is it, then, that Cicero feared in the prescience of future things? Doubtless it was this - that if all future things have been foreknown, they will happen in the order in which they have been foreknown; and if they come to pass in this order, there is a certain order of things foreknown by God; and if a certain order of things, then a certain order of causes, for nothing can happen which is not preceded by some efficient cause. But if there is a certain order of causes according to which everything happens which does happen, then by fate, says he, all things happen which do happen. But if this be so, then is there nothing in our own power, and there is no such thing as freedom of will; and if we grant that, says he, the whole economy of human life is subverted. In vain are laws enacted. In vain are reproaches, praises, chidings, exhortations had recourse to; and there is no justice whatever in the appointment of rewards for the good, and punishments for the wicked. And that consequences so disgraceful, and absurd, and pernicious to humanity may not follow, Cicero chooses to reject the foreknowledge of future things, and shuts up the religious mind to this alternative, to make choice between two things, either that something is in our own power, or that there is foreknowledge - both of which cannot be true; but if the one is affirmed, the other is thereby denied. He therefore, like a truly great and wise man, and one who consulted very much and very skillfully for the good of humanity, of those two chose the freedom of the will, to confirm which he denied the foreknowledge of future things; and thus, wishing to make men free he makes them sacrilegious. But the religious mind chooses both, confesses both, and maintains both by the faith of piety. But how so? Says Cicero; for the knowledge of future things being granted, there follows a chain of consequences which ends in this, that there can be nothing depending on our own free wills. And further, if there is anything depending on our wills, we must go backwards by the same steps of reasoning till we arrive at the conclusion that there is no foreknowledge of future things. For we go backwards through all the steps in the following order:- If there is free will, all things do not happen according to fate; if all things do not happen according to fate, there is not a certain order of causes; and if there is not a certain order of causes, neither is there a certain order of things foreknown by God - for things cannot come to pass except they are preceded by efficient causes, - but, if there is no fixed and certain order of causes foreknown by God, all things cannot be said to happen according as He foreknew that they would happen. And further, if it is not true that all things happen just as they have been foreknown by Him, there is not, says he, in God any foreknowledge of future events. Now, against the sacrilegious and impious darings of reason, we assert both that God knows all things before they come to pass, and that we do by our free will whatsoever we know and feel to be done by us only because we will it. But that all things come to pass by fate, we do not say; nay we affirm that nothing comes to pass by fate; for we demonstrate that the name of fate, as it is wont to be used by those who speak of fate, meaning thereby the position of the stars at the time of each one's conception or birth, is an unmeaning word, for astrology itself is a delusion. But an order of causes in which the highest efficiency is attributed to the will of God, we neither deny nor do we designate it by the name of fate, unless, perhaps, we may understand fate to mean that which is spoken, deriving it from fari, to speak; for we cannot deny that it is written in the sacred Scriptures, God has spoken once; these two things have I heard, that power belongs unto God. Also unto You, O God, belongs mercy: for You will render unto every man according to his works. Now the expression, Once has He spoken, is to be understood as meaning immovably, that is, unchangeably has He spoken, inasmuch as He knows unchangeably all things which shall be, and all things which He will do. We might, then, use the word fate in the sense it bears when derived from fari, to speak, had it not already come to be understood in another sense, into which I am unwilling that the hearts of men should unconsciously slide. But it does not follow that, though there is for God a certain order of all causes, there must therefore be nothing depending on the free exercise of our own wills, for our wills themselves are included in that order of causes which is certain to God, and is embraced by His foreknowledge, for human wills are also causes of human actions; and He who foreknew all the causes of things would certainly among those causes not have been ignorant of our wills. For even that very concession which Cicero himself makes is enough to refute him in this argument. For what does it help him to say that nothing takes place without a cause, but that every cause is not fatal, there being a fortuitous cause, a natural cause, and a voluntary cause? It is sufficient that he confesses that whatever happens must be preceded by a cause. For we say that those causes which are called fortuitous are not a mere name for the absence of causes, but are only latent, and we attribute them either to the will of the true God, or to that of spirits of some kind or other. And as to natural causes, we by no means separate them from the will of Him who is the author and framer of all nature. But now as to voluntary causes. They are referable either to God, or to angels, or to men, or to animals of whatever description, if indeed those instinctive movements of animals devoid of reason, by which, in accordance with their own nature, they seek or shun various things, are to be called wills. And when I speak of the wills of angels, I mean either the wills of good angels, whom we call the angels of God, or of the wicked angels, whom we call the angels of the devil, or demons. Also by the wills of men I mean the wills either of the good or of the wicked. And from this we conclude that there are no efficient causes of all things which come to pass unless voluntary causes, that is, such as belong to that nature which is the spirit of life. For the air or wind is called spirit, but, inasmuch as it is a body, it is not the spirit of life. The spirit of life, therefore, which quickens all things, and is the creator of every body, and of every created spirit, is God Himself, the uncreated spirit. In His supreme will resides the power which acts on the wills of all created spirits, helping the good, judging the evil, controlling all, granting power to some, not granting it to others. For, as He is the creator of all natures, so also is He the bestower of all powers, not of all wills; for wicked wills are not from Him, being contrary to nature, which is from Him. As to bodies, they are more subject to wills: some to our wills, by which I mean the wills of all living mortal creatures, but more to the wills of men than of beasts. But all of them are most of all subject to the will of God, to whom all wills also are subject, since they have no power except what He has bestowed upon them. The cause of things, therefore, which makes but is made, is God; but all other causes both make and are made. Such are all created spirits, and especially the rational. Material causes, therefore, which may rather be said to be made than to make, are not to be reckoned among efficient causes, because they can only do what the wills of spirits do by them. How, then, does an order of causes which is certain to the foreknowledge of God necessitate that there should be nothing which is dependent on our wills, when our wills themselves have a very important place in the order of causes? Cicero, then, contends with those who call this order of causes fatal, or rather designate this order itself by the name of fate; to which we have an abhorrence, especially on account of the word, which men have become accustomed to understand as meaning what is not true. But, whereas he denies that the order of all causes is most certain, and perfectly clear to the prescience of God, we detest his opinion more than the Stoics do. For he either denies that God exists, - which, indeed, in an assumed personage, he has labored to do, in his book De Natura Deorum, - or if he confesses that He exists, but denies that He is prescient of future things, what is that but just the fool saying in his heart there is no God? For one who is not prescient of all future things is not God. Wherefore our wills also have just so much power as God willed and foreknew that they should have; and therefore whatever power they have, they have it within most certain limits; and whatever they are to do, they are most assuredly to do, for He whose foreknowledge is infallible foreknew that they would have the power to do it, and would do it. Wherefore, if I should choose to apply the name of fate to anything at all, I should rather say that fate belongs to the weaker of two parties, will to the stronger, who has the other in his power, than that the freedom of our will is excluded by that order of causes, which, by an unusual application of the word peculiar to themselves, the Stoics call Fate. 5.10. Wherefore, neither is that necessity to be feared, for dread of which the Stoics labored to make such distinctions among the causes of things as should enable them to rescue certain things from the dominion of necessity, and to subject others to it. Among those things which they wished not to be subject to necessity they placed our wills, knowing that they would not be free if subjected to necessity. For if that is to be called our necessity which is not in our power, but even though we be unwilling effects what it can effect - as, for instance, the necessity of death - it is manifest that our wills by which we live up-rightly or wickedly are not under such a necessity; for we do many things which, if we were not willing, we should certainly not do. This is primarily true of the act of willing itself - for if we will, it is; if we will not, it is not - for we should not will if we were unwilling. But if we define necessity to be that according to which we say that it is necessary that anything be of such or such a nature, or be done in such and such a manner, I know not why we should have any dread of that necessity taking away the freedom of our will. For we do not put the life of God or the foreknowledge of God under necessity if we should say that it is necessary that God should live forever, and foreknow all things; as neither is His power diminished when we say that He cannot die or fall into error - for this is in such a way impossible to Him, that if it were possible for Him, He would be of less power. But assuredly He is rightly called omnipotent, though He can neither die nor fall into error. For He is called omnipotent on account of His doing what He wills, not on account of His suffering what He wills not; for if that should befall Him, He would by no means be omnipotent. Wherefore, He cannot do some things for the very reason that He is omnipotent. So also, when we say that it is necessary that, when we will, we will by free choice, in so saying we both affirm what is true beyond doubt, and do not still subject our wills thereby to a necessity which destroys liberty. Our wills, therefore, exist as wills, and do themselves whatever we do by willing, and which would not be done if we were unwilling. But when any one suffers anything, being unwilling by the will of another, even in that case will retains its essential validity, - we do not mean the will of the party who inflicts the suffering, for we resolve it into the power of God. For if a will should simply exist, but not be able to do what it wills, it would be overborne by a more powerful will. Nor would this be the case unless there had existed will, and that not the will of the other party, but the will of him who willed, but was not able to accomplish what he willed. Therefore, whatsoever a man suffers contrary to his own will, he ought not to attribute to the will of men, or of angels, or of any created spirit, but rather to His will who gives power to wills. It is not the case, therefore, that because God foreknew what would be in the power of our wills, there is for that reason nothing in the power of our wills. For he who foreknew this did not foreknow nothing. Moreover, if He who foreknew what would be in the power of our wills did not foreknow nothing, but something, assuredly, even though He did foreknow, there is something in the power of our wills. Therefore we are by no means compelled, either, retaining the prescience of God, to take away the freedom of the will, or, retaining the freedom of the will, to deny that He is prescient of future things, which is impious. But we embrace both. We faithfully and sincerely confess both. The former, that we may believe well; the latter, that we may live well. For he lives ill who does not believe well concerning God. Wherefore, be it far from us, in order to maintain our freedom, to deny the prescience of Him by whose help we are or shall be free. Consequently, it is not in vain that laws are enacted, and that reproaches, exhortations, praises, and vituperations are had recourse to; for these also He foreknew, and they are of great avail, even as great as He foreknew that they would be of. Prayers, also, are of avail to procure those things which He foreknew that He would grant to those who offered them; and with justice have rewards been appointed for good deeds, and punishments for sins. For a man does not therefore sin because God foreknew that he would sin. Nay, it cannot be doubted but that it is the man himself who sins when he does sin, because He, whose foreknowledge is infallible, foreknew not that fate, or fortune, or something else would sin, but that the man himself would sin, who, if he wills not, sins not. But if he shall not will to sin, even this did God foreknow. 5.11. Therefore God supreme and true, with His Word and Holy Spirit (which three are one), one God omnipotent, creator and maker of every soul and of every body; by whose gift all are happy who are happy through verity and not through vanity; who made man a rational animal consisting of soul and body, who, when he sinned, neither permitted him to go unpunished, nor left him without mercy; who has given to the good and to the evil, being in common with stones, vegetable life in common with trees, sensuous life in common with brutes, intellectual life in common with angels alone; from whom is every mode, every species, every order; from whom are measure, number, weight; from whom is everything which has an existence in nature, of whatever kind it be, and of whatever value; from whom are the seeds of forms and the forms of seeds, and the motion of seeds and of forms; who gave also to flesh its origin, beauty, health, reproductive fecundity, disposition of members, and the salutary concord of its parts; who also to the irrational soul has given memory, sense, appetite, but to the rational soul, in addition to these, has given intelligence and will; who has not left, not to speak of heaven and earth, angels and men, but not even the entrails of the smallest and most contemptible animal, or the feather of a bird, or the little flower of a plant, or the leaf of a tree, without an harmony, and, as it were, a mutual peace among all its parts - that God can never be believed to have left the kingdoms of men, their dominations and servitudes, outside of the laws of His providence. 5.26. And on this account, Theodosius not only preserved during the lifetime of Gratian that fidelity which was due to him, but also, after his death, he, like a true Christian, took his little brother Valentinian under his protection, as joint emperor, after he had been expelled by Maximus, the murderer of his father. He guarded him with paternal affection, though he might without any difficulty have got rid of him, being entirely destitute of all resources, had he been animated with the desire of extensive empire, and not with the ambition of being a benefactor. It was therefore a far greater pleasure to him, when he had adopted the boy, and preserved to him his imperial dignity, to console him by his very humanity and kindness. Afterwards, when that success was rendering Maximus terrible, Theodosius, in the midst of his perplexing anxieties, was not drawn away to follow the suggestions of a sacrilegious and unlawful curiosity, but sent to John, whose abode was in the desert of Egypt - for he had learned that this servant of God (whose fame was spreading abroad) was endowed with the gift of prophecy - and from him he received assurance of victory. Immediately the slayer of the tyrant Maximus, with the deepest feelings of compassion and respect, restored the boy Valentinianus to his share in the empire from which he had been driven. Valentinianus being soon after slain by secret assassination, or by some other plot or accident, Theodosius, having again received a response from the prophet, and placing entire confidence in it, marched against the tyrant Eugenius, who had been unlawfully elected to succeed that emperor, and defeated his very powerful army, more by prayer than by the sword. Some soldiers who were at the battle reported to me that all the missiles they were throwing were snatched from their hands by a vehement wind, which blew from the direction of Theodosius' army upon the enemy; nor did it only drive with greater velocity the darts which were hurled against them, but also turned back upon their own bodies the darts which they themselves were throwing. And therefore the poet Claudian, although an alien from the name of Christ, nevertheless says in his praises of him, O prince, too much beloved by God, for you Æolus pours armed tempests from their caves; for you the air fights, and the winds with one accord obey your bugles. But the victor, as he had believed and predicted, overthrew the statues of Jupiter, which had been, as it were, consecrated by I know not what kind of rites against him, and set up in the Alps. And the thunderbolts of these statues, which were made of gold, he mirthfully and graciously presented to his couriers who (as the joy of the occasion permitted) were jocularly saying that they would be most happy to be struck by such thunderbolts. The sons of his own enemies, whose fathers had been slain not so much by his orders as by the vehemence of war, having fled for refuge to a church, though they were not yet Christians, he was anxious, taking advantage of the occasion, to bring over to Christianity, and treated them with Christian love. Nor did he deprive them of their property, but, besides allowing them to retain it, bestowed on them additional honors. He did not permit private animosities to affect the treatment of any man after the war. He was not like Cinna, and Marius, and Sylla, and other such men, who wished not to finish civil wars even when they were finished, but rather grieved that they had arisen at all, than wished that when they were finished they should harm any one. Amid all these events, from the very commencement of his reign, he did not cease to help the troubled church against the impious by most just and merciful laws, which the heretical Valens, favoring the Arians, had vehemently afflicted. Indeed, he rejoiced more to be a member of this church than he did to be a king upon the earth. The idols of the Gentiles he everywhere ordered to be overthrown, understanding well that not even terrestrial gifts are placed in the power of demons, but in that of the true God. And what could be more admirable than his religious humility, when, compelled by the urgency of certain of his intimates, he avenged the grievous crime of the Thessalonians, which at the prayer of the bishops he had promised to pardon, and, being laid hold of by the discipline of the church, did pece in such a way that the sight of his imperial loftiness prostrated made the people who were interceding for him weep more than the consciousness of offense had made them fear it when enraged? These and other similar good works, which it would be long to tell, he carried with him from this world of time, where the greatest human nobility and loftiness are but vapor. of these works the reward is eternal happiness, of which God is the giver, though only to those who are sincerely pious. But all other blessings and privileges of this life, as the world itself, light, air, earth, water, fruits, and the soul of man himself, his body, senses, mind, life, He lavishes on good and bad alike. And among these blessings is also to be reckoned the possession of an empire, whose extent He regulates according to the requirements of His providential government at various times. Whence, I see, we must now answer those who, being confuted and convicted by the most manifest proofs, by which it is shown that for obtaining these terrestrial things, which are all the foolish desire to have, that multitude of false gods is of no use, attempt to assert that the gods are to be worshipped with a view to the interest, not of the present life, but of that which is to come after death. For as to those who, for the sake of the friendship of this world, are willing to worship vanities, and do not grieve that they are left to their puerile understandings, I think they have been sufficiently answered in these five books; of which books, when I had published the first three, and they had begun to come into the hands of many, I heard that certain persons were preparing against them an answer of some kind or other in writing. Then it was told me that they had already written their answer, but were waiting a time when they could publish it without danger. Such persons I would advise not to desire what cannot be of any advantage to them; for it is very easy for a man to seem to himself to have answered arguments, when he has only been unwilling to be silent. For what is more loquacious than vanity? And though it be able, if it like, to shout more loudly than the truth, it is not, for all that, more powerful than the truth. But let men consider diligently all the things that we have said, and if, perchance, judging without party spirit, they shall clearly perceive that they are such things as may rather be shaken than torn up by their most impudent garrulity, and, as it were, satirical and mimic levity, let them restrain their absurdities, and let them choose rather to be corrected by the wise than to be lauded by the foolish. For if they are waiting an opportunity, not for liberty to speak the truth, but for license to revile, may not that befall them which Tully says concerning some one, Oh, wretched man! Who was at liberty to sin? Wherefore, whoever he be who deems himself happy because of license to revile, he would be far happier if that were not allowed him at all; for he might all the while, laying aside empty boast, be contradicting those to whose views he is opposed by way of free consultation with them, and be listening, as it becomes him, honorably, gravely, candidly, to all that can be adduced by those whom he consults by friendly disputation. 13.3. But a question not to be shirked arises: Whether in very truth death, which separates soul and body, is good to the good? For if it be, how has it come to pass that such a thing should be the punishment of sin? For the first men would not have suffered death had they not sinned. How, then, can that be good to the good, which could not have happened except to the evil? Then, again, if it could only happen to the evil, to the good it ought not to be good, but non-existent. For why should there be any punishment where there is nothing to punish? Wherefore we must say that the first men were indeed so created, that if they had not sinned, they would not have experienced any kind of death; but that, having become sinners, they were so punished with death, that whatsoever sprang from their stock should also be punished with the same death. For nothing else could be born of them than that which they themselves had been. Their nature was deteriorated in proportion to the greatness of the condemnation of their sin, so that what existed as punishment in those who first sinned, became a natural consequence in their children. For man is not produced by man, as he was from the dust. For dust was the material out of which man was made: man is the parent by whom man is begotten. Wherefore earth and flesh are not the same thing, though flesh be made of earth. But as man the parent is, such is man the offspring. In the first man, therefore, there existed the whole human nature, which was to be transmitted by the woman to posterity, when that conjugal union received the divine sentence of its own condemnation; and what man was made, not when created, but when he sinned and was punished, this he propagated, so far as the origin of sin and death are concerned. For neither by sin nor its punishment was he himself reduced to that infantine and helpless infirmity of body and mind which we see in children. For God ordained that infants should begin the world as the young of beasts begin it, since their parents had fallen to the level of the beasts in the fashion of their life and of their death; as it is written, Man when he was in honor understood not; he became like the beasts that have no understanding. Nay more, infants, we see, are even feebler in the use and movement of their limbs, and more infirm to choose and refuse, than the most tender offspring of other animals; as if the force that dwells in human nature were destined to surpass all other living things so much the more eminently, as its energy has been longer restrained, and the time of its exercise delayed, just as an arrow flies the higher the further back it has been drawn. To this infantine imbecility the first man did not fall by his lawless presumption and just sentence; but human nature was in his person vitiated and altered to such an extent, that he suffered in his members the warring of disobedient lust, and became subject to the necessity of dying. And what he himself had become by sin and punishment, such he generated those whom he begot; that is to say, subject to sin and death. And if infants are delivered from this bondage of sin by the Redeemer's grace, they can suffer only this death which separates soul and body; but being redeemed from the obligation of sin, they do not pass to that second endless and penal death. |
|
| 142. Augustine, Retractiones, 1.26 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 110 |
| 143. Augustine, Sermons, None (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 253 |
| 144. Augustine, Soliloquiorum Adscriptorum Caput Postremum [Incertus], 1.1 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 283 |
| 145. Augustine, On The Holy Trinity, 13.16 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 20, 21 |
| 146. Hilary of Poitiers, On Psalms, 1.4-1.5, 1.13 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 83 |
| 147. Hilary of Poitiers, De Trinitate Libri Duodecim, 1.10-1.11, 1.37, 3.21, 10.25, 12.52, 12.56 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 83 |
| 148. Augustine, De Genesi Contra Manichaeos Libri Duo, 1.16, 2.42-2.43 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95, 111 |
| 149. Augustine, Enarrationes In Psalmos, 36.2, 65.5, 70.2, 86.13, 90.7, 102.10, 105.4, 132.13 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 246, 247 |
| 150. Gregory of Nyssa, Letters, 18 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 86 |
| 151. Augustine, De Sermone Domini In Monte Secundum Matthaeum, 1.52 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95, 111 |
| 152. Augustine, De Ordine Libri Duo, 1.30-1.31, 2.11 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 111 |
153. Augustine, De Peccatorum Meritis Et Remissione Et De Baptismo Parvulorum, 1.13, 1.21-1.22, 1.34, 2.30-2.31, 3.10-3.13 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95, 161, 262 | 1.13. Nevertheless, says he, death reigned from Adam even unto Moses, Romans 5:14 - that is to say, from the first man even to the very law which was promulged by the divine authority, because even it was unable to abolish the reign of death. Now death must be understood to reign, whenever the guilt of sin so dominates in men that it prevents their attainment of that eternal life which is the only true life, and drags them down even to the second death which is penally eternal. This reign of death is only destroyed in any man by the Saviour's grace, which wrought even in the saints of the olden time, all of whom, though previous to the coming of Christ in the flesh, yet lived in relation to His assisting grace, not to the letter of the law, which only knew how to command, but not to help them. In the Old Testament, indeed, that was hidden (conformably to the perfectly just dispensation of the times) which is now revealed in the New Testament. Therefore death reigned from Adam unto Moses, in all who were not assisted by the grace of Christ, that in them the kingdom of death might be destroyed, even in those who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, Romans 5:14 that is, who had not yet sinned of their own individual will, as Adam did, but had drawn from him original sin, who is the figure of him that was to come, Romans 5:14 because in him was constituted the form of condemnation to his future progeny, who should spring from him by natural descent; so that from one all men were born to a condemnation, from which there is no deliverance but in the Saviour's grace. I am quite aware, indeed, that several Latin copies of the Scriptures read the passage thus: Death reigned from Adam to Moses over them who have sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression; but even this version is referred by those who so read it to the very same purport, for they understood those who have sinned in him to have sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression; so that they are created in his likeness, not only as men born of a man, but as sinners born of a sinner, dying ones of a dying one, and condemned ones to a condemned one. However, the Greek copies from which the Latin version was made, have all, without exception or nearly so, the reading which I first adduced. 1.21. It may therefore be correctly affirmed, that such infants as quit the body without being baptized will be involved in the mildest condemnation of all. That person, therefore, greatly deceives both himself and others, who teaches that they will not be involved in condemnation; whereas the apostle says: Judgment from one offense to condemnation, Romans 5:16 and again a little after: By the offense of one upon all persons to condemnation. Romans 5:18 When, indeed, Adam sinned by not obeying God, then his body - although it was a natural and mortal body - lost the grace whereby it used in every part of it to be obedient to the soul. Then there arose in men affections common to the brutes which are productive of shame, and which made man ashamed of his own nakedness. Genesis 3:10 Then also, by a certain disease which was conceived in men from a suddenly injected and pestilential corruption, it was brought about that they lost that stability of life in which they were created, and, by reason of the mutations which they experienced in the stages of life, issued at last in death. However many were the years they lived in their subsequent life, yet they began to die on the day when they received the law of death, because they kept verging towards old age. For that possesses not even a moment's stability, but glides away without intermission, which by constant change perceptibly advances to an end which does not produce perfection, but utter exhaustion. Thus, then, was fulfilled what God had spoken: In the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Genesis 2:17 As a consequence, then, of this disobedience of the flesh and this law of sin and death, whoever is born of the flesh has need of spiritual regeneration - not only that he may reach the kingdom of God, but also that he may be freed from the damnation of sin. Hence men are on the one hand born in the flesh liable to sin and death from the first Adam, and on the other hand are born again in baptism associated with the righteousness and eternal life of the second Adam; even as it is written in the book of Ecclesiasticus: of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all die. Sirach 25:24 Now whether it be said of the woman or of Adam, both statements pertain to the first man; since (as we know) the woman is of the man, and the two are one flesh. Whence also it is written: And they two shall be one flesh; wherefore, the Lord says, they are no more two, but one flesh. Matthew 19:5-6 1.22. They, therefore, who say that the reason why infants are baptized, is, that they may have the remission of the sin which they have themselves committed in their life, not what they have derived from Adam, may be refuted without much difficulty. For whenever these persons shall have reflected within themselves a little, uninfluenced by any polemical spirit, on the absurdity of their statement, how unworthy it is, in fact, of serious discussion, they will at once change their opinion. But if they will not do this, we shall not so completely despair of men's common sense, as to have any fears that they will induce others to adopt their views. They are themselves driven to adopt their opinion, if I am not mistaken, by their prejudice for some other theory; and it is because they feel themselves obliged to allow that sins are remitted to the baptized, and are unwilling to allow that the sin was derived from Adam which they admit to be remitted to infants, that they have been obliged to charge infancy itself with actual sin; as if by bringing this charge against infancy a man could become the more secure himself, when accused and unable to answer his assailant! However, let us, as I suggested, pass by such opponents as these; indeed, we require neither words nor quotations of Scripture to prove the sinlessness of infants, so far as their conduct in life is concerned; this life they spend, such is the recency of their birth, within their very selves, since it escapes the cognizance of human perception, which has no data or support whereon to sustain any controversy on the subject. 1.34. The Christians of Carthage have an excellent name for the sacraments, when they say that baptism is nothing else than salvation, and the sacrament of the body of Christ nothing else than life. Whence, however, was this derived, but from that primitive, as I suppose, and apostolic tradition, by which the Churches of Christ maintain it to be an inherent principle, that without baptism and partaking of the supper of the Lord it is impossible for any man to attain either to the kingdom of God or to salvation and everlasting life? So much also does Scripture testify, according to the words which we already quoted. For wherein does their opinion, who designate baptism by the term salvation, differ from what is written: He saved us by the washing of regeneration? Titus 3:5 or from Peter's statement: The like figure whereunto even baptism does also now save us? 1 Peter 3:21 And what else do they say who call the sacrament of the Lord's Supper life, than that which is written: I am the living bread which came down from heaven; John 6:51 and The bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world; John 6:51 and Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall have no life in you? John 6:53 If, therefore, as so many and such divine witnesses agree, neither salvation nor eternal life can be hoped for by any man without baptism and the Lord's body and blood, it is vain to promise these blessings to infants without them. Moreover, if it be only sins that separate man from salvation and eternal life, there is nothing else in infants which these sacraments can be the means of removing, but the guilt of sin - respecting which guilty nature it is written, that no one is clean, not even if his life be only that of a day. Job 14:4 Whence also that exclamation of the Psalmist: Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me! This is either said in the person of our common humanity, or if of himself only David speaks, it does not imply that he was born of fornication, but in lawful wedlock. We therefore ought not to doubt that even for infants yet to be baptized was that precious blood shed, which previous to its actual effusion was so given, and applied in the sacrament, that it was said, This is my blood, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28 Now they who will not allow that they are under sin, deny that there is any liberation. For what is there that men are liberated from, if they are held to be bound by no bondage of sin? 2.30. Unless, therefore, we obtain not simply determination of will, which is freely turned in this direction and that, and has its place among those natural goods which a bad man may use badly; but also a good will, which has its place among those goods of which it is impossible to make a bad use:- unless the impossibility is given to us from God, I know not how to defend what is said: What have you that you did not receive? For if we have from God a certain free will, which may still be either good or bad; but the good will comes from ourselves; then that which comes from ourselves is better than that which comes from Him. But inasmuch as it is the height of absurdity to say this, they ought to acknowledge that we attain from God even a good will. It would indeed be a strange thing if the will could so stand in some mean as to be neither good nor bad; for we either love righteousness, and it is good, and if we love it more, more good - if less, it is less good; or if we do not love it at all, it is not good. And who can hesitate to affirm that, when the will loves not righteousness in any way at all, it is not only a bad, but even a wholly depraved will? Since therefore the will is either good or bad, and since of course we have not the bad will from God, it remains that we have of God a good will; else, I am ignorant, since our justification is from it, in what other gift from Him we ought to rejoice. Hence, I suppose, it is written, The will is prepared of the Lord; Proverbs 8:35 and in the Psalms, The steps of a man will be rightly ordered by the Lord, and His way will be the choice of his will; and that which the apostle says, For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 2.31. Forasmuch then as our turning away from God is our own act, and this is evil will; but our turning to God is not possible, except He rouses and helps us, and this is good will, - what have we that we have not received? But if we received, why do we glory as if we had not received? Therefore, as he that glories must glory in the Lord, it comes from His mercy, not their merit, that God wills to impart this to some, but from His truth that He wills not to impart it to others. For to sinners punishment is justly due, because the Lord God loves mercy and truth, and mercy and truth are met together; and all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. And who can tell the numberless instances in which Holy Scripture combines these two attributes? Sometimes, by a change in the terms, grace is put for mercy, as in the passage, We beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Sometimes also judgment occurs instead of truth, as in the passage, I will sing of mercy and judgment unto You, O Lord. 3.10. Accordingly, it is not without reason that the blessed Cyprian carefully shows how from the very first the Church has held this as a well understood article of faith. When he was asserting the fitness of infants only just born to receive Christ's baptism, on a certain occasion when he was consulted whether this ought to be administered before the eighth day, he endeavoured, as far as he could, to prove that they were perfect, lest any one should suppose, from the number of the days (because it was on the eighth day that infants were before circumcised), that they so far lacked perfection. However, after bestowing upon them the full support of his argument, he still confessed that they were not free from original sin; because if he had denied this, he would have removed all reason for the very baptism which he was maintaining their fitness to receive. You can, if you wish, read for yourself the epistle of the illustrious martyr On the Baptism of Little Children; for it cannot fail to be within reach at Carthage. But I have deemed it right to transcribe some few statements of it into this letter of mine, so far as applies to the question before us; and I pray you to mark them carefully. Now with respect, says he, to the case of infants, whom you declared it would be improper to baptize if presented within the second and third day after their birth, since that due regard ought to be paid to the law of circumcision of old, so that you thought that the infant should not be baptized and sanctified before the eighth day after its birth - a far different view has been formed of the question in our council. Not a man there assented to what you thought ought to be done; but the whole of us rather determined that to no one born of men ought God's mercy and grace to be denied. For since the Lord in His gospel says, 'The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them,' Luke 9:56 so far as in us lies, not a soul ought, if possible, to be lost. You observe how in these words he supposes that it is fraught with ruin and death, not only to the flesh, but also to the soul, for one to depart this life without that saving sacrament. Wherefore, if he said nothing else, it was competent to us to conclude from his words that without sin the soul could not perish. See, however, what (when he shortly afterwards maintains the innocence of infants) he at the same time allows concerning them in the plainest terms: But if, says he, anything could hinder men from the attainment of grace, then their heavier sins might rather hinder those who have reached the stages of adults, and advanced life, and old age. Since, however, remission of sins is given even to the greatest sinners after they have believed, however much they have previously sinned against God, and since nobody is forbidden baptism and grace, how much more ought an infant not to be forbidden who newborn has done no sin, except that from having been born carnally after Adam he has contracted from his very birth the contagion of the primeval death! How, too, does this fact contribute in itself the more easily to their reception of the forgiveness of sins, that the remission which they have is not of their own sins, but of those of another! 3.11. You see with what confidence this great man expresses himself after the ancient and undoubted rule of faith. In advancing such very certain statements, his object was by help of these firm conclusions to prove the uncertain point which had been submitted to him by his correspondent, and concerning which he informs him that a decree of a council had been passed, to the effect that, if an infant were brought even before the eighth day after his birth, no one should hesitate to baptize him. Now it was not then determined or confirmed by the council that infants were held bound by original sin as if it were new, or as if it were attacked by the opposition of some one; but when another controversy was being conducted, and the question was discussed, in reference to the law of the circumcision of the flesh, whether they ought to be baptized before the eighth day. None agreed with the person who denied this; because it was not an open question admitting of discussion, but was fixed and unassailable, that the soul would forfeit eternal salvation if it ended this life without obtaining the sacrament of baptism: but at the same time infants fresh from the womb were held to be affected only by the guilt of original sin. On this account, although remission of sins was easier in their case, because the sins were derived from another, it was nevertheless indispensable. It was on sure grounds like these that the uncertain question of the eighth day was solved, and the council decided that after a man was born, not a day ought to be lost in rendering him that succour which should prevent his perishing forever. When also a reason was given for the circumcision of the flesh as being itself a shadow of what was to be, its purport was not that we should understand that baptism ought to be administered on the eighth day after birth, but rather that we are spiritually circumcised in the resurrection of Christ, who rose from the dead on the third day, indeed, after His passion, but among the days of the week, by which time is counted, on the eighth, that is, on the first day after the Sabbath. 3.12. And now, again, with a strange boldness in new controversy, certain persons are endeavouring to make us uncertain on a point which our forefathers used to bring forward as most certainly fixed, whenever they would solve such questions as seemed uncertain to some. When this controversy, indeed, first began, I am unable to say; but one thing I know, that even the holy Jerome, who is in our own day renowned for great industry and learning in ecclesiastical literature, for the solution of sundry questions treated in his writings, makes use of the same most certain assumption without exhibition of proofs. For instance, in his commentary on the prophet Jonah, when he comes to the passage where the infants were mentioned as chastened by the fast, he says: The greatest age comes first, and then all the rest is pervaded down to the least. Jonah 3:3 For there is no man without sin, whether the span of his age be but that of a single day, or he reckon many years to his life. For if the very stars are unclean in the sight of God, Job 25:4 how much more is a worm and corruption, such as are they who are held subject to the sin of the offending Adam? If, indeed, we could readily interrogate this most learned man, how many authors who have treated of the divine Scriptures. in both languages, and have written on Christian controversies, would he mention to us, who have never held any other opinion since the Church of Christ was founded - who neither received any other from their forefathers, nor handed down any other to their posterity? My own reading, indeed, has been far more limited, but yet I do not recollect ever having heard of any other doctrine on this point from Christians, who accept the two Testaments, whether established in the Catholic Church, or in any heretical or schismatic body whatever. I do not remember, I say, that I have at any time found any other doctrine in such writers as have contributed anything to literature of this kind, whether they have followed the canonical Scriptures, or have supposed that they have followed them, or had wished to be so supposed. From what quarter this question has suddenly come upon us I know not. A short time ago, in a passing conversation with certain persons while we were at Carthage, my ears were suddenly offended with such a proposition as this: That infants are not baptized for the purpose of receiving remission of sin, but that they may be sanctified in Christ. Although I was much disturbed by so novel an opinion, still, as there was no opportunity afforded me for gainsaying it, and as its propounders were not persons whose influence gave me anxiety, I readily let the subject slip into neglect and oblivion. And lo! It is now maintained with burning zeal against the Church; lo! It is committed to our permanent notice by writing; nay, the matter is brought to such a pitch of distracting influence, that we are even consulted on it by our brethren; and we are actually obliged to oppose its progress both by disputation and by writing. 3.13. A few years ago there lived at Rome one Jovinian, who is said to have persuaded nuns of even advanced age to marry - not, indeed, by seduction, as if he wanted to make any of them his wife, but by contending that virgins who dedicated themselves to the ascetic life had no more merit before God than believing wives. It never entered his mind, however, along with this conceit, to venture to affirm that children of men are born without original sin. If, indeed, he had added such an opinion, the women might have more readily consented to marry, to give birth to such pure offspring. When this man's writings (for he dared to write) were by the brethren forwarded to Jerome to refute, he not only discovered no such error in them, but, while looking out his conceits for refutation, he found among other passages this very clear testimony to the doctrine of man's original sin, from which Jerome indeed felt satisfied of the man's belief of that doctrine. These are his words when treating of it: He who says that he abides in Christ, ought himself also to walk even as He walked. John 2:6 We give our opponent the option to choose which alternative he likes. Does he abide in Christ, or does he not? If he does, then, let him walk like Christ. If, however, it is a rash thing to undertake to resemble the excellences of Christ, he abides not in Christ, because he walks not as Christ did. He did no sin, neither was any guile found in His mouth; Isaiah 53:9 who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth; Isaiah 53:7 to whom the prince of this world came, and found nothing in Him; John 14:30 whom, though He had done no sin, God made sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21 We, however, according to the Epistle of James, all commit many sins; James 3:2 and none of us is pure from uncleanness, even if his life should be but of one day. Job 14:5 For who shall boast that he has a clean heart? Or who shall be confident that he is pure from sins? We are held guilty according to the likeness of Adam's transgression. Accordingly David also says: 'Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.' |
|
154. Augustine, De Praedestinatione Sanctorum., 1.27-1.32 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95 | 1.27. And since these things are so, the judgment of the book of Wisdom ought not to be repudiated, since for so long a course of years that book has deserved to be read in the Church of Christ from the station of the readers of the Church of Christ, and to be heard by all Christians, from bishops downwards, even to the lowest lay believers, penitents, and catechumens, with the veneration paid to divine authority. For assuredly, if, from those who have been before me in commenting on the divine Scriptures, I should bring forward a defense of this judgment, which we are now called upon to defend more carefully and copiously than usual against the new error of the Pelagians - that is, that God's grace is not given according to our merits, and that it is given freely to whom it is given, because it is neither of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy; but that by righteous judgment it is not given to whom it is not given, because there is no unrighteousness with God - if, therefore, I should put forth a defense of this opinion from catholic commentators on the divine oracles who have preceded us, assuredly these brethren for whose sake I am now discoursing would acquiesce, for this you have intimated in your letters. What need is there, then, for us to look into the writings of those who, before this heresy sprang up, had no necessity to be conversant in a question so difficult of solution as this, which beyond a doubt they would have done if they had been compelled to answer such things? Whence it arose that they touched upon what they thought of God's grace briefly in some passages of their writings, and cursorily; but on those matters which they argued against the enemies of the Church, and in exhortations to every virtue by which to serve the living and true God for the purpose of attaining eternal life and true happiness, they dwelt at length. But the grace of God, what it could do, shows itself artlessly by its frequent mention in prayers; for what God commands to be done would not be asked for from God, unless it could be given by Him that it should be done. 1.28. But if any wish to be instructed in the opinions of those who have handled the subject, it behooves them to prefer to all commentators the book of Wisdom, where it is read, He was taken away, that wickedness should not alter his understanding; because illustrious commentators, even in the times nearest to the apostles, preferred it to themselves, seeing that when they made use of it for a testimony they believed that they were making use of nothing but a divine testimony; and certainly it appears that the most blessed Cyprian, in order to commend the advantage of an earlier death, contended that those who end this life, wherein sin is possible, are taken away from the risks of sins. In the same treatise, among other things, he says, Why, when you are about to be with Christ, and are secure of the divine promise, do you not embrace being called to Christ, and rejoice that you are free from the devil? And in another place he says, Boys escape the peril of their unstable age. And again, in another place, he says, Why do we not hasten and run, that we may see our country, that we may hail our relatives? A great number of those who are dear to us are expecting us there - a dense and abundant crowd of parents, brethren, sons, are longing for us; already secure of their own safety, but still anxious about our salvation. By these and such like sentiments, that teacher sufficiently and plainly testifies, in the clearest light of the catholic faith, that perils of sin and trials are to be feared even until the putting off of this body, but that afterwards no one shall suffer any such things. And even if he did not testify thus, when could any manner of Christian be in doubt on this matter? How, then, should it not have been of advantage to a man who has lapsed, and who finishes his life wretchedly in that same state of lapse, and passes into the punishment due to such as he - how, I say, should it not have been of the greatest and highest advantage to such an one to be snatched by death from this sphere of temptations before his fall? 1.29. And thus, unless we indulge in reckless disputation, the entire question is concluded concerning him who is taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding. And the book of Wisdom, which for such a series of years has deserved to be read in Christ's Church, and in which this is read, ought not to suffer injustice because it withstands those who are mistaken on behalf of men's merit, so as to come in opposition to the most manifest grace of God: and this grace chiefly appears in infants, and while some of these baptized, and some not baptized, come to the end of this life, they sufficiently point to God's mercy and His judgment - His mercy, indeed, gratuitous, His judgment, of debt. For if men should be judged according to the merits of their life, which merits they have been prevented by death from actually having, but would have had if they had lived, it would be of no advantage to him who is taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding; it would be of no advantage to those who die in a state of lapse if they should die before. And this no Christian will venture to say. Wherefore our brethren, who with us on behalf of the catholic faith assail the pest of the Pelagian error, ought not to such an extent to favour the Pelagian opinion, wherein they conceive that God's grace is given according to our merits, as to endeavour (which they cannot dare) to invalidate a true sentiment, plainly and from ancient times Christian -He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding; and to build up that which we should think, I do not say, no one would believe, but no one would dream - to wit, that any deceased person would be judged according to those things which he would have done if he had lived for a more lengthened period. Surely thus what we say manifests itself clearly to be incontestable - that the grace of God is not given according to our merits; so that ingenious men who contradict this truth are constrained to say things which must be rejected from the ears and from the thoughts of all men. 1.30. Moreover, the most illustrious Light of predestination and grace is the Saviour Himself - the Mediator Himself between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And, pray, by what preceding merits of its own, whether of works or of faith, did the human nature which is in Him procure for itself that it should be this? Let this have an answer, I beg. That man, whence did He deserve this - to be assumed by the Word co-eternal with the Father into unity of person, and be the only-begotten Son of God? Was it because any kind of goodness in Him preceded? What did He do before? What did He believe? What did He ask, that He should attain to this unspeakable excellence? Was it not by the act and the assumption of the Word that that man, from the time He began to be, began to be the only Son of God? Did not that woman, full of grace, conceive the only Son of God? Was He not born the only Son of God, of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary - not of the lust of the flesh, but by God's peculiar gift? Was it to be feared that as age matured this man, He would sin of free will? Or was the will in Him not free on that account? And was it not so much the more free in proportion to the greater impossibility of His becoming the servant of sin? Certainly, in Him human nature- that is to say, our nature - specially received all those specially admirable gifts, and any others that may most truly be said to be peculiar to Him, by virtue of no preceding merits of its own. Let a man here answer to God if he dare, and say, Why was it not I also? And if he should hear, O man, who are you that repliest against God? Romans 9:10 let him not at this point restrain himself, but increase his impudence and say, How is it that I hear, Who are you, O man? Since I am what I hear - that is, a man, and He of whom I speak is but the same? Why should not I also be what He is? For it is by grace that He is such and so great; why is grace different when nature is common? Assuredly, there is no respect of persons with God. I say, not what Christian man, but what madman will say this? 1.31. Therefore in Him who is our Head let there appear to be the very fountain of grace, whence, according to the measure of every man, He diffuses Himself through all His members. It is by that grace that every man from the beginning of his faith becomes a Christian, by which grace that one man from His beginning became Christ. of the same Spirit also the former is born again of which the latter was born. By the same Spirit is effected in us the remission of sins, by which Spirit it was effected that He should have no sin. God certainly foreknew that He would do these things. This, therefore, is that same predestination of the saints which most especially shone forth in the Saint of saints; and who is there of those who rightly understand the declarations of the truth that can deny this predestination? For we have learned that the Lord of glory Himself was predestinated in so far as the man was made the Son of God. The teacher of the Gentiles exclaims, in the beginning of his epistles, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God (which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures) concerning His Son, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was predestinated the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of sanctification by the resurrection of the dead. Therefore Jesus was predestinated, so that He who was to be the Son of David according to the flesh should yet be in power the Son of God, according to the Spirit of sanctification, because He was born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. This is that ineffably accomplished sole taking up of man by God the Word, so that He might truly and properly be called at the same time the Son of God and the Son of man -Son of man on account of the man taken up, and the Son of God on account of the God only-begotten who took Him up, so that a Trinity and not a Quaternity might be believed in. Such a transporting of human nature was predestinated, so great, so lofty, and so sublime that there was no exalting it more highly - just as on our behalf that divinity had no possibility of more humbly putting itself off, than by the assumption of man's nature with the weakness of the flesh, even to the death of the cross. As, therefore, that one man was predestinated to be our Head, so we being many are predestinated to be His members. Here let human merits which have perished through Adam keep silence, and let that grace of God reign which reigns through Jesus Christ our Lord, the only Son of God, the one Lord. Let whoever can find in our Head the merits which preceded that peculiar generation, seek in us His members for those merits which preceded our manifold regeneration. For that generation was not recompensed to Christ, but given; that He should be born, namely, of the Spirit and the Virgin, separate from all entanglement of sin. Thus also our being born again of water and the Spirit is not recompensed to us for any merit, but freely given; and if faith has brought us to the laver of regeneration, we ought not therefore to suppose that we have first given anything, so that the regeneration of salvation should be recompensed to us again; because He made us to believe in Christ, who made for us a Christ on whom we believe. He makes in men the beginning and the completion of the faith in Jesus who made the man Jesus the beginner and finisher of faith; Hebrews 12:2 for thus, as you know, He is called in the epistle which is addressed to the Hebrews. 1.32. God indeed calls many predestinated children of His, to make them members of His only predestinated Son, - not with that calling with which they were called who would not come to the marriage, since with that calling were called also the Jews, to whom Christ crucified is an offense, and the Gentiles, to whom Christ crucified is foolishness; but with that calling He calls the predestinated which the apostle distinguished when he said that he preached Christ, the wisdom of God and the power of God, to them that were called, Jews as well as Greeks. For thus he says But unto them which are called, 1 Corinthians 1:24 in order to show that there were some who were not called; knowing that there is a certain sure calling of those who are called according to God's purpose, whom He has foreknown and predestinated before to be conformed to the image of His Son. And it was this calling he meant when he said, Not of works, but of Him that calls; it was said to her, That the elder shall serve the younger. Romans 9:12 Did he say, Not of works, but of him that believes? Rather, he actually took this away from man, that he might give the whole to God. Therefore he said, But of Him that calls,- not with any sort of calling whatever, but with that calling wherewith a man is made a believer. |
|
| 155. Augustine, De Natura Et Gratia Ad Timasium Et Jacobum Contra Pelagium, 25 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 253 |
| 156. Jerome, Adversus Jovinianum, 2 (5th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 161 |
| 157. Proclus, Ten Problems Concerning Providence, 3.1.8 (5th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 32 |
| 158. Ammonius Hermiae, In Porphyrii Isagogen Sive V Voces, 18.4 (5th cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •god, sovereignty of Found in books: Marmodoro and Prince (2015), Causation and Creation in Late Antiquity, 240 |
| 159. Ammonius Hermiae, In Aristotelis De Interpretatione Commentarius, 132.8-132.9 (5th cent. CE - 6th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 39 |
| 160. Augustine, Letters, a b c d\n0 217.3 217.3 217 3 \n1 186.5 186.5 186 5 \n2 55.33 55.33 55 33 \n3 12*.12 12*.12 12* 12 \n4 224.2 224.2 224 2 \n5 224 224 224 None\n6 12.12 12.12 12 12 \n7 194.23 194.23 194 23 \n8 217.27 217.27 217 27 \n9 217.19 217.19 217 19 \n10 217.18 217.18 217 18 \n11 190.20 190.20 190 20 \n12 204.2 204.2 204 2 \n13 140 140 140 None\n14 147 147 147 None\n15 167 167 167 None\n16 187.24 187.24 187 24 \n17 98 98 98 None\n18 149.1 149.1 149 1 (7th cent. CE - 7th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12 |
| 162. Anon., The Apocalypse of Ezra, 4 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 23 |
| 163. Gregory of Nazianzus, Orations, 2.39, 8.20, 18.25, 27.7, 32.35, 41.5, 45.8, 45.26 Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 85 |
| 164. Sozomenus, Ecclesiastical History, 8.40 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 77 |
| 165. Anon., Psalms of Solomon, 9.4, 14.5 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 22 |
| 166. Anon., Apocalypse of Abraham, 26-27 Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 23 |
| 168. Basil of Caesarea, Hom. Hexaemeros, 2.4, 6.1, 8.5 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 85, 86 |
| 170. Epistulae Ad Galatas Expositio, In Epistulam Iohannis Ad Parthos Tractus, 5.9 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 95 |
| 171. Gregory of Nyssa, De Opificio Hominis, 180-181, 183-187, 193, 182 Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 88 |
| 172. Anon., Corpus Hermeticum, 1.26, 4.4, 6.68-6.69 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13, 14 |
| 173. Anon., Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus To Asclepius, 5.3 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 14 |
| 174. Bardaisan, De Legibus Libri Ex Regiones, 18 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 62 |
| 175. Cyprian, Opuscala, 3.9-3.10, 3.16, 5.25, 5.56, 7.18, 9.4-9.6, 9.8, 9.14, 10.15, 10.18, 11.11, 12.52, 12.80 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 19, 77, 78 |
| 176. Nemesius, On The Nature of Man, 2 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 16 |
| 177. Mishna, 'Aḇoṯ, None Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 31 |
| 178. Theophilus of Alexandria, Epistulae, 96.9 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god •sovereignty of god, judaeo-christian view Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 13, 15, 17 |
| 179. Victorinus, -4, -4 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 253 |
| 181. Chrysippus, De Fato, 181.13-182.20 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 37 |
| 185. Alexander of Aphrodisias, De Providentia, 11.6 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 12 |
| 186. Gregory of Nyssa, Oratio Catechetica Magna, 30-31, 35, 6, 5 Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 88 |
| 187. Anon., Cologne Mani Codex, None Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 34 |
| 188. New Testament, Chapters 9, 9.11 Tagged with subjects: •sovereignty of god Found in books: Wilson (2018), Augustine's Conversion from Traditional Free Choice to "Non-free Free Will": A Comprehensive Methodology, 178, 246, 262 |
