mortals

How long will that which is corruptible remain, and how long will the time of mortals be prospered, and until what time will those who transgress in the world be polluted with much wickedness?

For you shall depart from this place, And you shall pass from the regions which are now seen by you, And you shall forget whatever is corruptible, And shall not again recall those things which happen among mortals.

Revere, O mortals, the supremely great

Terror of mortals, sending lightnings forth;

To mortals in the earth; and he doth hear

To mortals, when, watched over, there shall come

And they will oppress mortals. But great fall

And then will God show mortals a great sign:

Among you, since, ye mortals, all of you

Wert, not to mortals such a longed-for bane!

Who shall be judge of mortals; and to them

Among all mortals, and for sake of gain

And many mortals shall be lead astray

Are fulfilled, which he threatened mortals once,

Cast down the great tower and stirred mortals up

Over all mortals; and against each other

Among all mortals. [For it is indeed

With mortals the prime origin of war.]

Shall come to mortals. But the God of heaven

And ornament. And they will oppress mortals;

And to all mortals. Why now one by one

Deceptions, whence to mortals on the earth

Of mortals thou didst honor Therefore now

Raise thee to heaven, for mortals of low rank

Together shall upon all mortals come.

Shall mortals all lament the barrenness

Unto all mortals. For to them alone

And all that empty-minded mortals will;

Mortals themselves will cast down and for shame

Which is for mortals of all things the best.

When on all mortals there shall come the height

To mortals], judgment great and power shall come

To mortals best fruit boundless, wheat, wine, oil;

Have been by miserable mortals done;

Of mortals. And there shall be righteous wealth

And that I might to mortals prophesy

And mortals comes which God himself shall bring

Ah! miserable mortals, change these things,

Raise mortals up, even as they were before.

For mortals; and the pleasure of the land

O'er craven mortals greatly, thou shalt wail

So that there shall remain for wretched mortals

And shameless whom all mortals and best men

Thou shalt be among evil mortals made

Of mortals who shall pitiably weep

Of mortals wished for thee? Who has not been

From the clouds; and no more shall mortals reap

On mortals, and therewith blood, water, flash

The towns of mortals who before did evil,

For wretched mortals, nor adulteries

Looking at Tyre, doomed mortals, ye shall weep.

And then shall mortals feeding lawlessly

And they and birds all mortals shall devour.

Of many mortals. And a moonless night

Of mortals, first was Egypt's royal power

Unto all mortals and shall spend the toils

And silver; for than these did mortals choose

Of mortals, when the Almighty shall himself

The wooden house shall cover mortals round.

Faithful and faithless mortals shall see God

And mortals shall their idols cast away

And brimstone flow. But for all mortals then

He serves the ways of mortals. For at first

That thirsts do mortals drunken pour out wine

Former of mortals and creator of life.

And to all other mortals. And he then

Great wonder unto mortals, there shall be

Whom all shall among mortals call most wise,

Come clothed in flesh like mortals; but with him

And over mortals all desire to reign,

The sun that lighteth mortals shall withdraw,

But when God shall for mortals bring to pass

And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and ordered him to be flogged with thongs of ox-hide, and to tell me humbly what was his name and what his business. And he answered me thus: "I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts."

But when all things shall be reduced to dust and ashes, And the immortal God who kindled the fire shall have quenched it, God shall form those bones and that ashes into a man again, And shall place mortal men again as they were before. And then shall be the judgment, wherein God will do justice, And judge the world again. But as many mortals as have sinned through impiety Shall again be covered under the earth; But so many as have been pious shall live again in the world. When God puts His Spirit into them, and gives those at once that are godly both life and favour, Then shall all see themselves.

But since we quoted the language of Paul regarding Christ, where he says of Him that He is “the brightness of the glory of God, and the express figure of his person,” let us see what idea we are to form of this. According to John, “God is light.” The only-begotten Son, therefore, is the glory of this light, proceeding inseparably from [God] Himself, as brightness does from light, and illuminating the whole of creation. For, agreeably to what we have already explained as to the manner in which He is the Way, and conducts to the Father; and in which He is the Word, interpreting the secrets of wisdom, and the mysteries of knowledge, making them known to the rational creation; and is also the Truth, and the Life, and the Resurrection,—in the same way ought we to understand also the meaning of His being the brightness: for it is by its splendour that we understand and feel what light itself is. And this splendour, presenting itself gently and softly to the frail and weak eyes of mortals, and gradually training, as it were, and accustoming them to bear the brightness of the light, when it has put away from them every hindrance and obstruction to vision, according to the Lord’s own precept, “Cast forth the beam out of thine eye,” renders them capable of enduring the splendour of the light, being made in this respect also a sort of mediator between men and the light.

A similar method must be followed in treating of the angels; nor are we to suppose that it is the result of accident that a particular office is assigned to a particular angel: as to Raphael, e.g., the work of curing and healing; to Gabriel, the conduct of wars; to Michael, the duty of attending to the prayers and supplications of mortals. For we are not to imagine that they obtained these offices otherwise than by their own merits, and by the zeal and excellent qualities which they severally displayed before this world was formed; so that afterwards, in the order of archangels, this or that office was assigned to each one, while others deserved to be enrolled in the order of angels, and to act under this or that archangel, or that leader or head of an order. All of which things were disposed, as I have said, not indiscriminately and fortuitously, but by a most appropriate and just decision of God, who arranged them according to deserts, in accordance with His own approval and judgment: so that to one angel the church of the Ephesians was to be entrusted; to another, that of the Smyrnæans; one angel was to be Peter’s, another Paul’s; and so on through every one of the little ones that are in the church, for such and such angels as even daily behold the face of God must be assigned to each one of them; and there must also be some angel that encampeth round about them that fear God. All of which things, assuredly, it is to be believed, are not performed by accident or chance, or because they [the angels] were so created, lest on that view the Creator should be accused of partiality; but it is to be believed that they were conferred by God, the just and impartial Ruler of all things, agreeably to the merits and good qualities and mental vigour of each individual spirit.

But of all the marvellous and mighty acts related of Him, this altogether surpasses human admiration, and is beyond the power of mortal frailness to understand or feel, how that mighty power of divine majesty, that very Word of the Father, and that very wisdom of God, in which were created all things, visible and invisible, can be believed to have existed within the limits of that man who appeared in Judea; nay, that the Wisdom of God can have entered the womb of a woman, and have been born an infant, and have uttered wailings like the cries of little children! And that afterwards it should be related that He was greatly troubled in death, saying, as He Himself declared, “My soul is sorrowful, even unto death;” and that at the last He was brought to that death which is accounted the most shameful among men, although He rose again on the third day. Since, then, we see in Him some things so human that they appear to differ in no respect from the common frailty of mortals, and some things so divine that they can appropriately belong to nothing else than to the primal and ineffable nature of Deity, the narrowness of human understanding can find no outlet; but, overcome with the amazement of a mighty admiration, knows not whither to withdraw, or what to take hold of, or whither to turn. If it think of a God, it sees a mortal; if it think of a man, it beholds Him returning from the grave, after overthrowing the empire of death, laden with its spoils. And therefore the spectacle is to be contemplated with all fear and reverence, that the truth of both natures may be clearly shown to exist in one and the same Being; so that nothing unworthy or unbecoming may be perceived in that divine and ineffable substance, nor yet those things which were done be supposed to be the illusions of imaginary appearances. To utter these things in human ears, and to explain them in words, far surpasses the powers either of our rank, or of our intellect and language. I think that it surpasses the power even of the holy apostles; nay, the explanation of that mystery may perhaps be beyond the grasp of the entire creation of celestial powers. Regarding Him, then, we shall state, in the fewest possible words, the contents of our creed rather than the assertions which human reason is wont to advance; and this from no spirit of rashness, but as called for by the nature of our arrangement, laying before you rather [what may be termed] our suspicions than any clear affirmations.

This being the state of the case, we shall sketch out, as if by way of illustration and pattern, what may occur to us with regard to the manner in which Holy Scripture is to be understood on these several points, repeating in the first instance, and pointing out this fact, that the Holy Spirit, by the providence and will of God, through the power of His only-begotten Word, who was in the beginning God with God, enlightened the ministers of truth, the prophets and apostles, to understand the mysteries of those things or causes which take place among men, or with respect to men. And by “men,” I now mean souls that are placed in bodies, who, relating those mysteries that are known to them, and revealed through Christ, as if they were a kind of human transactions, or handing down certain legal observances and injunctions, described them figuratively; not that any one who pleased might view these expositions as deserving to be trampled under foot, but that he who should devote himself with all chastity, and sobriety, and watchfulness, to studies of this kind, might be able by this means to trace out the meaning of the Spirit of God, which is perhaps lying profoundly buried, and the context, which may be pointing again in another direction than the ordinary usage of speech would indicate. And in this way he might become a sharer in the knowledge of the Spirit, and a partaker in the divine counsel, because the soul cannot come to the perfection of knowledge otherwise than by inspiration of the truth of the divine wisdom. Accordingly, it is of God, i.e. of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that these men, filled with the Divine Spirit, chiefly treat; then the mysteries relating to the Son of God—how the Word became flesh, and why He descended even to the assumption of the form of a servant—are the subject, as I have said, of explanation by those persons who are filled with the Divine Spirit. It next followed, necessarily, that they should instruct mortals by divine teaching, regarding rational creatures, both those of heaven and the happier ones of earth; and also [should explain] the differences among souls, and the origin of these differences; and then should tell what this world is, and why it was created; whence also sprung the great and terrible wickedness which extends over the earth. And whether that wickedness is found on this earth only, or in other places, is a point which it was necessary for us to learn from divine teaching. Since, then, it was the intention of the Holy Spirit to enlighten with respect to these and similar subjects, those holy souls who had devoted themselves to the service of the truth, this object was kept in view, in the second place, viz. for the sake of those who either could not or would not give themselves to this labour and toil by which they might deserve to be instructed in or to recognise things of such value and importance, to wrap up and conceal, as we said before, in ordinary language, under the covering of some history and narrative of visible things, hidden mysteries. There is therefore introduced the narrative of the visible creation, and the creation and formation of the first man; then the offspring which followed from him in succession, and some of the actions which were done by the good among his posterity, are related, and occasionally certain crimes also, which are stated to have been committed by them as being human; and afterwards certain unchaste or wicked deeds also are narrated as being the acts of the wicked. The description of battles, moreover, is given in a wonderful manner, and the alternations of victors and vanquished, by which certain ineffable mysteries are made known to those who know how to investigate statements of that kind. By an admirable discipline of wisdom, too, the law of truth, even of the prophets, is implanted in the Scriptures of the law, each of which is woven by a divine art of wisdom, as a kind of covering and veil of spiritual truths; and this is what we have called the “body” of Scripture, so that also, in this way, what we have called the covering of the letter, woven by the art of wisdom, might be capable of edifying and profiting many, when others would derive no benefit.

He continues to say, that “neither have visible things been given to man [by God], but each individual thing comes into existence and perishes for the sake of the safety of the whole, passing agreeably to the change, which I have already mentioned, from one thing to another.” It is unnecessary, however, to linger over the refutation of these statements, which have been already refuted to the best of my ability. And the following, too, has been answered, viz. that “there will neither be more nor less good and evil among mortals.” This point also has been referred to, viz. that “God does not need to amend His work afresh.” But it is not as a man who has imperfectly designed some piece of workmanship, and executed it unskilfully, that God administers correction to the world, in purifying it by a flood or by a conflagration, but in order to prevent the tide of evil from rising to a greater height; and, moreover, I am of opinion that it is at periods which are precisely determined beforehand that He sweeps wickedness away, so as to contribute to the good of the whole world. If, however, he should assert that, after the disappearance of evil, it again comes into existence, such questions will have to be examined in a special treatise. It is, then, always in order to repair what has become faulty that God desires to amend His work afresh. For although, in the creation of the world, all things had been arranged by Him in the most beautiful and stable manner, He nevertheless needed to exercise some healing power upon those who were labouring under the disease of wickedness, and upon a whole world, which was polluted as it were thereby. But nothing has been neglected by God, or will be neglected by Him; for He does at each particular juncture what it becomes Him to do in a perverted and changed world. And as a husbandman performs different acts of husbandry upon the soil and its productions, according to the varying seasons of the year, so God administers entire ages of time, as if they were, so to speak, so many individual years, performing during each one of them what is requisite with a reasonable regard to the care of the world; and this, as it is truly understood by God alone, so also is it accomplished by Him.

Perhaps the tragic poet meant the day when he said the sun, inasmuch as it is the cause of the day,—teaching that those things which most need the day and night are the things which are under the moon, and other things in a less degree than those which are upon the earth. Day and night, then, are subject to mortals, being created for the sake of rational beings. And if ants and flies, which labour by day and rest by night, have, besides, the benefit of those things which were created for the sake of men, we must not say that day and night were brought into being for the sake of ants and flies, nor must we suppose that they were created for the sake of nothing, but, agreeably to the design of Providence, were formed for the sake of man.

Now, in the next place, if any one has the capacity, let him understand that in what assumes the form of history, and which contains some things that are literally true, while yet it conveys a deeper meaning, those who preserved their original language continued, by reason of their not having migrated from the east, in possession of the east, and of their eastern language. And let him notice, that these alone became the portion of the Lord, and His people who were called Jacob, and Israel the cord of His inheritance; and these alone were governed by a ruler who did not receive those who were placed under him for the purpose of punishment, as was the case with the others. Let him also, who has the capacity to perceive as far as mortals may, observe that in the body politic of those who were assigned to the Lord as His pre-eminent portion, sins were committed, first of all, such as might be forgiven, and of such a nature as not to make the sinner worthy of entire desertion, while subsequently they became more numerous, though still of a nature to be pardoned. And while remarking that this state of matters continued for a considerable time, and that a remedy was always applied, and that after certain intervals these persons returned to their duty, let him notice that they were given over, in proportion to their transgressions, to those to whom had been assigned the other quarters of the earth; and that, after being at first slightly punished, and having made atonement, they returned, as if they had undergone discipline, to their proper habitations. Let him notice also that afterwards they were delivered over to rulers of a severer character—to Assyrians and Babylonians, as the Scriptures would call them. In the next place, notwithstanding that means of healing were being applied, let him observe that they were still multiplying their transgressions, and that they were on that account dispersed into other regions by the rulers of the nations that oppressed them. And their own ruler intentionally overlooked their oppression at the hands of the rulers of the other nations, in order that he also with good reason, as avenging himself, having obtained power to tear away from the other nations as many as he can, may do so, and enact for them laws, and point out a manner of life agreeably to which they ought to live, that so he may conduct them to the end to which those of the former people were conducted who did not commit sin.

It is evident that, by the preceding remarks, Celsus charges the Jews with falsely giving themselves out as the chosen portion of the Supreme God above all other nations. And he accuses them of boasting, because they gave out that they knew the great God, although they did not really know Him, but were led away by the artifices of Moses, and were deceived by him, and became his disciples to no good end. Now we have in the preceding pages already spoken in part of the venerable and distinguished polity of the Jews, when it existed amongst them as a symbol of the city of God, and of His temple, and of the sacrificial worship offered in it and at the altar of sacrifice. But if any one were to turn his attention to the meaning of the legislator, and to the constitution which he established, and were to examine the various points relating to him, and compare them with the present method of worship among other nations, there are none which he would admire to a greater degree; because, so far as can be accomplished among mortals, everything that was not of advantage to the human race was withheld from them, and only those things which are useful bestowed. And for this reason they had neither gymnastic contests, nor scenic representations, nor horse-races; nor were there among them women who sold their beauty to any one who wished to have sexual intercourse without offspring, and to cast contempt upon the nature of human generation. And what an advantage was it to be taught from their tender years to ascend above all visible nature, and to hold the belief that God was not fixed anywhere within its limits, but to look for Him on high, and beyond the sphere of all bodily substance! And how great was the advantage which they enjoyed in being instructed almost from their birth, and as soon as they could speak, in the immortality of the soul, and in the existence of courts of justice under the earth, and in the rewards provided for those who have lived righteous lives! These truths, indeed, were proclaimed in the veil of fable to children, and to those whose views of things were childish; while to those who were already occupied in investigating the truth, and desirous of making progress therein, these fables, so to speak, were transfigured into the truths which were concealed within them. And I consider that it was in a manner worthy of their name as the “portion of God” that they despised all kinds of divination, as that which bewitches men to no purpose, and which proceeds rather from wicked demons than from anything of a better nature; and sought the knowledge of future events in the souls of those who, owing to their high degree of purity, received the spirit of the Supreme God.

Araboth is that in which are righteousness and judgment and grace, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing, and the souls of the righteous, and the spirits and souls which are about to be created, and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, is about to quicken mortals: righteousness and judgment; for it is written, "Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne:" (Ps. lxxxix. 15; E.V. 14) grace; for it is written, "And he put on grace as a coat of mail:" (Is. lix. 17) the treasures of life; for it is written, "For with thee is the fountain of life:" (Ps. xxxvi. 9) and the treasures of peace; for it is written, "and called it, The LORD is peace:" (Jud. vi. 24) and the treasures of blessing; for it is written, "He shall receive a blessing from the LORD:" (Ps. xxiv. 5) the souls of the righteous; for it is written, "Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God:" (1 Sam. xxv. 29) the spirits and souls which are about to be created; for it is written, "For the spirit before me shall join itself to a body, and the souls which I have made:" (Is. lvii. 16) and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, is about to quicken mortals; for it is written, "Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary" (Ps. lxviii. 10; E.V. 9). There there are celestials and seraphs and holy beings and ministering angels, and the throne of glory, and the King, the Living God, high and lifted up, sitting over them among the clouds, as it is said, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth upon the clouds (Araboth); his name is Jah" (Ps. lxviii. 4). And whence do we get it that they are called heaven? Because mention of riding occurs in two passages. It is written in one place, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth upon the clouds," and it is written in another, "who rideth upon the heaven for thy help" (Deut. xxxiii. 26). And darkness and cloud and thick darkness surround Him, as it is said, "He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion round about him; darkness of waters, thick clouds" (Ps. xviii. 12; E.V. 11). And how is there darkness in the presence of the Lord? For against this, there is the passage, "He revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness and the light dwelleth with him" (Dan. ii. 22). There is no difficulty.

Araboth is that in which are righteousness and judgment and grace, the treasures of life and the treasures of peace and the treasures of blessing, and the souls of the righteous, and the spirits and souls which are about to be created, and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, is about to quicken mortals: righteousness and judgment; for it is written, "Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne:" (Ps. lxxxix. 15; E.V. 14) grace; for it is written, "And he put on grace as a coat of mail:" (Is. lix. 17) the treasures of life; for it is written, "For with thee is the fountain of life:" (Ps. xxxvi. 9) and the treasures of peace; for it is written, "and called it, The LORD is peace:" (Jud. vi. 24) and the treasures of blessing; for it is written, "He shall receive a blessing from the LORD:" (Ps. xxiv. 5) the souls of the righteous; for it is written, "Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God:" (1 Sam. xxv. 29) the spirits and souls which are about to be created; for it is written, "For the spirit before me shall join itself to a body, and the souls which I have made:" (Is. lvii. 16) and the dew with which the Holy One, blessed be He, is about to quicken mortals; for it is written, "Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, thou didst confirm thine inheritance when it was weary" (Ps. lxviii. 10; E.V. 9). There there are celestials and seraphs and holy beings and ministering angels, and the throne of glory, and the King, the Living God, high and lifted up, sitting over them among the clouds, as it is said, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth upon the clouds (Araboth); his name is Jah" (Ps. lxviii. 4). And whence do we get it that they are called heaven? Because mention of riding occurs in two passages. It is written in one place, "Cast up a highway for him that rideth upon the clouds," and it is written in another, "who rideth upon the heaven for thy help" (Deut. xxxiii. 26). And darkness and cloud and thick darkness surround Him, as it is said, "He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion round about him; darkness of waters, thick clouds" (Ps. xviii. 12; E.V. 11). And how is there darkness in the presence of the Lord? For against this, there is the passage, "He revealeth the deep and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness and the light dwelleth with him" (Dan. ii. 22). There is no difficulty.