Recognitions of Clement - Book IX
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Text edited by Rev. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson and
first published by T&T Clark in Edinburgh in 1867. Additional
introductionary material and notes provided for the American
edition by A. Cleveland Coxe, 1886.
Chapter I.--An Explanation.
On the following day, Peter, along with us, hastened early to the
place in which the discussion had been held the day before; and when
he saw that great crowds had assembled there to hear, and saw the old
man with them, he said to him: [834]"Old man, it was agreed
yesterday that you should confer to-day with Clement; and that you
should either show that nothing takes place apart from genesis, or
that Clement should prove that there is no such thing as genesis, but
that what we do is in our own power." To this the old man answered:
"I both remember what was agreed upon, and I keep in memory the words
which you spoke after the agreement was made, in which you taught that
it is impossible for man to know any thing, unless he learn from the
true Prophet." Then Peter said: "You do not know what I meant; but I
shall now explain to you. I spoke of the will and purpose of God,
which He had before the world was, and by which purpose He made the
world, appointed times, gave the law, promised a world to come to the
righteous for the rewarding of their good deeds, and decreed
punishments to the unjust according to a judicial sentence. I said
that this counsel and this will of God cannot be found out by men,
because no man can gather the mind of God from conjectures and
opinion, unless a prophet sent by Him declare it. I did not therefore
speak of any doctrines or studies, that they cannot be found out or
known without a prophet; for I know that both arts and sciences can be
known and practised by men, which they have learned, not from the true
Prophet, but from human instructors.
Footnotes
[834] [The discourses in book ix. are peculiar to the Recognitions not
only in their position in the story, but to a remarkably large extent
in the matter.--R.]
Chapter II.--Preliminaries.
"Since, therefore, you profess to be conversant with the position of
the stars and the courses of the heavenly bodies, and that from these
you can convince Clement that all things are subject to Genesis, or
that you will learn from him that all things are governed by
providence, and that we have something in our own power, it is now
time for you two to set about this." To this the old man answered:
"Now indeed it was not necessary to raise questions of this kind, if
it were possible for us to learn from the true Prophet, and to hear in
a definite proposition, that anything depends on us and on the freedom
of our will; for your yesterday's discourse affected me greatly, in
which you disputed concerning the prophetic power. [835]Whence also
I assent to and confirm your judgment, that nothing can be known by
man with certainty, and without doubt, seeing that he has but a short
period of life, and a brief and slender breath, by which he seems to
be kept in life. However, since I am understood to have promised to
Clement, before I heard anything of the prophetic power, that I should
show that all things are subject to Genesis, or that I should learn
from him that there is something in ourselves, let him do me this
favour, that he first begin, and propound and explain what may be
objected: for I, ever since I heard from you a few words concerning
the power of prophecy, have, I confess, been confounded, considering
the greatness of prescience; nor do I think that anything ought to be
received which is collected from conjectures and opinion."
Footnotes
[835] [Comp. book viii. 58-62.--R.]
Chapter III.--Beginning of the Discussion.
When the old man had said this, I Clement began to speak as follows:
"God by His Son created the world as a double house, separated by the
interposition of this firmament, which is called heaven; and appointed
angelic powers to dwell in the higher, and a multitude of men to be
born in this visible world, from amongst whom He might choose friends
for His Son, with whom He might rejoice, and who might be prepared for
Him as a beloved bride for a bridegroom. But even till the time of
the marriage, which is the manifestation of the world to come, He has
appointed a certain power, to choose out and watch over the good ones
of those who are born in this world, and to preserve them for His Son,
set apart in a certain place of the world, which is without sin; in
which there are already some, who are there being prepared, as I said,
as a bride adorned for the coming of the bridegroom. For the prince
of this world and of the present age is like an adulterer, who
corrupts and violates the minds of men, and, seducing them from the
love of the true bridegroom, allures them to strange lovers.
Chapter IV.--Why the Evil Prince Was Made.
But some one will say, How then was it necessary that that prince
should be made, who was to turn away the minds of men from the true
prince? [836]Because God, who, as I have said, wished to prepare
friends for His Son, did not wish them to be such as by necessity of
nature could not be aught else, but such as should desire of their own
choice and will to be good; because neither is that praiseworthy which
is not desirable, nor is that judged to be good which is not sought
for with purpose. For there is no credit in being that from which the
necessity of your nature does not admit of your changing. Therefore
the providence of God has willed that a multitude of men should be
born in this world, that those who should choose a good life might be
selected from many. And because He foresaw that the present world
could not consist except by variety and inequality, He gave to each
mind freedom of motions, [837] according to the diversities of present
things, and appointed this prince, through his suggestion of those
things which run contrary, that the choice of better things might
depend upon the exercise of virtue.
Footnotes
[836] [Comp. book viii. 55, 56; Homily XIX. 2-18.--R.]
[837] [The doctrine of free-will, and the necessity of evil in
consequence, appears throughout. Comp. book iii. 21, v. 6. In the
Homilies there is not so much emphasis laid upon this point; but see
Homily XI. 8.--R.]
Chapter V.--Necessity of Inequality.
"But to make our meaning plainer, we shall explain it by particulars.
Was it proper, for example, that all men in this world should be
kings, or princes, or lords, or teachers, or lawyers, or geometers, or
goldsmiths, or bakers, or smiths, or grammarians, or rich men, or
farmers, or perfumers, or fishermen, or poor men? It is certain that
all could not be these. Yet all these professions, and many more, the
life of men requires, and without these it cannot be passed; therefore
inequality is necessary in this world. For there cannot be a king,
unless he has subjects over whom he may rule and reign; nor can there
be a master, unless he has one over whom he may bear sway; and in like
manner of the rest.
Chapter VI.--Arrangements of the World for the Exercise of Virtue.
"Therefore the Creator, knowing that no one would come to the contest
of his own accord, while labour is shunned,--that is, to the practice
of those professions which we have mentioned, by means of which either
the justice or the mercy of every one can be manifested,--made for men
a body susceptible of hunger, and thirst, and cold, in order that men,
being compelled for the sake of supporting their bodies, might come
down to all the professions which we have mentioned, by the necessity
of livelihood. For we are taught to cultivate every one of these
arts, for the sake of food, and drink, and clothing. And in this the
purpose of each one's mind is shown, whether he will supply the
demands of hunger and cold by means of thefts, and murders, and
perjuries, and other crimes of that sort; or whether, keeping justice
and mercy and continence, he will fulfil the service of imminent
necessity by the practice of a profession and the labour of his
hands. For if he supply his bodily wants with justice, and piety, and
mercy, he comes forth as a victor in the contest set before him, and
is chosen as a friend of the Son of God. But if he serve carnal
lusts, by frauds, iniquities, and crimes, he becomes a friend of the
prince of this world, and of all demons; by whom he is also taught
this, to ascribe to the courses of the stars the errors of his own
evil doings, although he chose them of purpose, and willingly. For
arts are learned and practised, as we have said, under the compulsion
of the desire of food and drink; which desire, when the knowledge of
the truth comes to any one, becomes weaker, and frugality takes its
place. For what expense have those who use water and bread, and only
expect it from God?
Chapter VII.--The Old and the New Birth.
"There is therefore, as we have said, a certain necessary inequality
in the dispensation of the world. Since indeed all men cannot know
all things, and accomplish all works, yet all need the use and service
of almost all. And on this account it is necessary that one work, and
another pay him for his work; that one be servant, and another be
master; that one be subject, another be king. But this inequality,
which is a necessary provision for the life of men, divine providence
has turned into an occasion of justice, mercy, and humanity: that
while these things are transacted between man and man, every one may
have an opportunity of acting justly with him to whom he has to pay
wages for his work; and of acting mercifully to him who, perhaps
through sickness or poverty, cannot pay his debt; and of acting
humanely towards those who by their creation seem to be subject to
him; also of maintaining gentleness towards subjects, and of doing all
things according to the law of God. For He has given a law, thereby
aiding the minds of men, that they may the more easily perceive how
they ought to act with respect to everything, in what way they may
escape evil, and in what way tend to future blessings; and how, being
regenerate in water, they may by good works extinguish the fire of
their old birth. For our first birth descends through the fire of
lust, and therefore, by the divine appointment, this second birth is
introduced by water, which may extinguish the nature of fire; [838]
and that the soul, enlightened by the heavenly Spirit, may cast away
the fear of the first birth: provided, however, it so live for the
time to come, that it do not at all seek after any of the pleasures of
this world, but be, as it were, a pilgrim and a stranger, [839] and a
citizen of another city.
Footnotes
[838] [Compare Homily XI. 26 on this view of baptism.--R.]
[839] Ps. xxxix. 12.
Chapter VIII.--Uses of Evils.
"But perhaps you will say, that in those things indeed in which the
necessity of nature demands the service of arts and works, any one may
have it in his power to maintain justice, and to put what restraint he
pleases either upon his desires or his actions; but what shall we say
of the sicknesses and infirmities which befall men, and of some being
harassed with demons, and fevers, and cold fits, and some being
attacked with madness, or losing their reason, and all those things
which overwhelm the race of man with innumerable misfortunes? To this
we say, that if any one consider the reason of the whole mystery, he
will pronounce these things to be more just than those that we have
already explained. For God has given a nature to men, by which they
may be taught concerning what is good, and to resist evil; that is,
they may learn arts, and to resist pleasures, and to set the law of
God before them in all things. And for this end He has permitted
certain contrary powers to wander up and down in the world, and to
strive against us, [840] for the reasons which have been stated
before, that by striving with them the palm of victory and the merit
of rewards may accrue to the righteous.
Footnotes
[840] [On the doctrine of demons compare book iv. 14-22; Homily IX.
8-18.--R.]
Chapter IX.--"Conceived in Sin."
"From this, therefore, it sometimes happens, that if any persons have
acted incontinently, and have been willing not so much to resist as to
yield, and to give harbour to these demons in themselves, by their
noxious breath an intemperate, ill-conditioned, and diseased progeny
is begotten. For while lust is wholly gratified, and no care is taken
in the copulation, undoubtedly a weak generation is affected with the
defects and frailties of those demons by whose instigation these
things are done. And therefore parents are responsible for their
children's defects of this sort, because they have not observed the
law of intercourse. Though there are also more secret causes, by
which souls are made subject to these evils, which it is not to our
present purpose to state, yet it behoves every one to acknowledge the
law of God, that he may learn from it the observance of generation,
and avoid causes of impurity, that that which is begotten may be
pure. For it is not right, while in the planting of shrubs and the
sowing of crops a suitable season is sought for, and the land is
cleaned, and all things are suitably prepared, lest haply the seed
which is sown be injured and perish, that in the case of man only, who
is over all these things, there should be no attention or caution in
sowing his seed.
Chapter X.--Tow Smeared with Pitch.
"But what, it is said, of the fact that some who in their childhood
are free from any bodily defect, yet in process of time fall into
those evils, so that some are even violently hurried on to death?
Concerning these also the account is at hand, and is almost the same:
for those powers which we have said to be contrary to the human race,
are in some way invited into the heart of every one by many and
diverse lusts, and find a way of entrance; and they have in them such
influence and power as can only encourage and incite, but cannot
compel or accomplish. If, therefore, any one consents to them, so as
to do those things which he wickedly desires, his consent and deed
shall find the reward of destruction and the worst kind of death. But
if, thinking of the future judgment, he be checked by fear, and
reclaim himself, so that he do not accomplish in action what he has
conceived in his evil thought, he shall not only escape present
destruction, but also future punishments. For every cause of sin
seems to be like tow smeared over with pitch, which immediately breaks
into flame as soon as it receives the heat of fire; and the kindling
of this fire is understood to be the work of demons. If, therefore,
any one be found smeared with sins and lusts as with pitch, the fire
easily gets the mastery of him. But if the tow be not steeped in the
pitch of sin, but in the water of purification and regeneration, the
fire of the demons shall not be able to be kindled in it.
Chapter XI.--Fear.
"But some one will say, And what shall we do now, whom it has already
happened to us to be smeared with sins as with pitch? I answer:
Nothing; but hasten to be washed, that the fuel of the fire may be
cleansed out of you by the invocation of the holy name, and that for
the future you may bridle your lusts by fear of the judgment to come,
and with all constancy beat back the hostile powers whenever they
approach your senses. But you say, If any one fall into love, how
shall he be able to contain himself, though he see before his eyes
even that river of fire which they call Pyriphlegethon? This is the
excuse of those who will not be converted to repentance. But now I
would not have you talk of Pyriphlegethon. Place before you human
punishments, and see what influence fear has. When any one is brought
to punishment for the crime of love, and is bound to the stake to be
burned, can he at that time conceive any desire of her whom he loved,
or place her image before his eyes? By no means, you will say. You
see, then, that present fear cuts off unrighteous desires. But if
those who believe in God, and who confess the judgment to come, and
the penalty of eternal fire,--if they do not refrain from sin, it is
certain that they do not believe with full faith: for if faith is
certain, fear also becomes certain; but if there be any detect in
faith, fear also is weakened, and then the contrary powers find
opportunity of entering. And when they have consented to their
persuasions, they necessarily become subject also to their power, and
by their instigation are driven to the precipices of sin.
Chapter XII.--Astrologers.
"Therefore the astrologers, [841] being ignorant of such mysteries,
think that these things happen by the courses of the heavenly bodies:
hence also, in their answers to those who go to them to consult them
as to future things, they are deceived in very many instances. Nor is
it to be wondered at, for they are not prophets; but, by long
practice, the authors of errors find a sort of refuge in those things
by which they were deceived, and introduce certain Climacteric
Periods, that they may pretend a knowledge of uncertain things. For
they represent these Climacterics as times of danger, in which one
sometimes is destroyed, sometimes is not destroyed, not knowing that
it is not the course of the stars, but the operation of demons, that
regulates these things; and those demons, being anxious to confirm the
error of astrology, deceive men to sin by mathematical calculations,
so that when they suffer the punishment of sin, either by the
permission of God or by legal sentence, the astrologer may seem to
have spoken truth. And yet they are deceived even in this; for if men
be quickly turned to repentance, and remember and fear the future
judgment, the punishment of death is remitted to those who are
converted to God by the grace of baptism.
Footnotes
[841] [On the error of astrology compare book x. 7-12. In Homily XIV.
5 and elsewhere "genesis" and the science of astrology are
identified.]--R.
Chapter XIII.--Retribution Here or Hereafter.
"But some one will say, Many have committed even murder, and adultery,
and other crimes, and have suffered no evil. This indeed rarely
happens to men, but to those who know not the counsel of God it
frequently seems to happen. But God, who knows all things, knows how
and why he who sins does sin, and what cause leads each one to sin.
This, however, is in general to be noticed, that if any are evil, not
so much in their mind as in their doings, and are not borne to sin
under the incitement of purpose, upon them punishment is inflicted
more speedily, and more in the present life; for everywhere and always
God renders to every one according to his deeds, as He judges to be
expedient. But those who practise wickedness of purpose, so that they
sometimes even rage against those from whom they have received
benefits, and who take no thought for repentance--their punishment He
defers to the future. For these men do not, like those of whom we
spoke before, deserve to end the punishment of their crimes in the
present life; but it is allowed them to occupy the present time as
they will, because their correction is not such as to need temporal
chastisements, but such as to demand the punishment of eternal fire in
hell; and there their souls shall seek repentance, where they shall
not be able to find it.
Chapter XIV.--Knowledge Deadens Lusts.
"But if, while in this life, they had placed before their eyes the
punishments which they shall then suffer, they would certainly have
bridled their lusts, and would in nowise have fallen into sin. For
the understanding in the soul has much power for cutting off all its
desires, especially when it has acquired the knowledge of heavenly
things, by means of which, having received the light of truth, it will
turn away from all darkness of evil actions. For as the sun obscures
and conceals all the stars by the brightness of his shining, so also
the mind, by the light of knowledge, renders all the lusts of the soul
ineffective and inactive, sending out upon them the thought of the
judgment to come as its rays, so that they can no longer appear in the
soul.
Chapter XV.--Fear of Men and of God.
"But as a proof that the fear of God has much efficacy for the
repressing of lusts, take the example of human fear. Who is there
among men that does not covet his neighbour's goods? And yet they are
restrained, and act honestly, through fear of the punishment which is
prescribed by the laws. Through fear, nations are subject to their
kings, and armies obey with arms in their hands. Slaves, although
they are stronger than their masters, yet through fear submit to their
masters' rule. Even wild beasts are tamed by fear; the strongest
bulls submit their necks to the yoke, and huge elephants obey their
masters, through fear. But why do we use human examples, when even
divine are not wanting? Does not the earth itself remain under the
fear of precept, which it testifies by its motion and quaking? The
sea keeps its prescribed bounds; the angels maintain peace; the stars
keep their order, and the rivers their channels: it is certain also
that demons are put to flight by fear. And not to lengthen the
discourse by too many particulars, see how the fear of God,
restraining everything, keeps all things in proper harmony, and in
their fixed order. How much more, then, may you be sure that the
lusts of demons which arise in your hearts may be extinguished and
wholly abolished by the admonition of the fear of God, when even the
inciters of lust are themselves put to flight by the influence of
fear? You know that these things are so; but if you have anything to
answer, proceed."
Chapter XVI.--Imperfect Conviction.
Then said the old man: "My son Clement has wisely framed his
argument, so that he has left us nothing to say to these things; but
all his discourse which he has delivered on the nature of men has this
bearing, that along with the fact that freedom of will is in man,
there is also some cause of evil without him, whereby men are indeed
incited by various lusts, yet are not compelled to sin; and that for
this reason, he said, because fear is much more powerful than they,
and it resists and checks the violence of desires, so that, although
natural emotions may arise, yet sin may not be committed, those demons
being put to flight who incite and inflame these emotions. But these
things do not convince me; for I am conscious of certain things from
which I know well, that by the arrangement of the heavenly bodies men
become murderers or adulterers, and perpetrate other evils; and in
like manner honourable and modest women are compelled to act well.
Chapter XVII.--Astrological Lore. [842]
"In short, when Mars, holding the centre in his house, regards Saturn
quarterly, with Mercury towards the centre, the full moon coming upon
him, in the daily Genesis, he produces murderers, and those who are to
fall by the sword, [843] bloody, drunken, lustful, devilish men,
inquirers into secrets, [844] malefactors, sacrilegious persons, and
such like; especially when there was no one of the good stars looking
on. But again Mars himself, having a quarterly position with respect
to Venus, in a direction toward the centre, while no good star looks
on, produces adulterers and incestuous persons. Venus with the Moon,
in the borders and houses of Saturn, if she was with Saturn, and Mars
looking on, produces women that are viragos, ready for agriculture,
building, and every manly work, to commit adultery with whom they
please, and not to be convicted by their husbands, to use no delicacy,
no ointments, nor feminine robes and shoes, but to live after the
fashion of men. But the unpropitious Venus makes men to be as women,
and not to act in any respect as men, if she is with Mars in Aries; on
the contrary, she produces women if she is in Capricorn or Aquarius."
Footnotes
[842] Ch. 17 and ch. 19-29 are taken in an altered form from the
writing ascribed to Bardesanes, De Fato. [These Chapters have no
parallel in the Homilies, but the argument of the old man respecting
genesis implies the same position; comp. Homily XIV. 3-7, 11.--R.]
[843] Conjectural reading, "to kill with the sword."
[844] That is, violators of the sacred mysteries, which was regarded
as one of the most horrid of crimes.
Chapter XVIII.--The Reply.
And when the old man had pursued this subject at great length, and had
enumerated every kind of mathematical figure, and also the position of
the heavenly bodies, wishing thereby to show that fear is not
sufficient to restrain lusts, I answered again: "Truly, my father,
you have argued most learnedly and skilfully; and reason herself
invites me to say something in answer to your discourse, since indeed
I am acquainted with the science of mathematics, and gladly hold a
conference with so learned a man. Listen therefore, while I reply to
what you have said that you may learn distinctly that Genesis is not
at all from the stars, and that it is possible for those to resist the
assault of demons who have recourse to God; and, as I said before,
that not only by the fear of God can natural lusts be restrained, but
even by the fear of men, as we shall now instruct you.
Chapter XIX.--Refutation of Astrology.
"There are, in every country or kingdom, laws imposed by men, enduring
either by writing or simply through custom, which no one easily
transgresses. In short, the first Seres, who dwell at the beginning
of the world, [845] have a law not to know murder, nor adultery, nor
whoredom, and not to commit theft, and not to worship idols; and in
all that country, which is very large, there is neither temple, nor
image, nor harlot, nor adulteress, nor is any thief brought to trial.
But neither is any man ever slain there; and no man's liberty of will
is compelled, according to your doctrine, by the fiery star of Mars,
to use the sword for the murder of man; nor does Venus in conjunction
with Mars compel to adultery, although of course with them Mars
occupies the middle circle of heaven every day. But amongst the Seres
the fear of laws is more powerful than the configuration of Genesis.
Footnotes
[845] That is, the farthest east, not, as some of the annotators
suppose, from the beginning of the world.
Chapter XX.--Brahmans.
"There are likewise amongst the Bactrians, in the Indian countries,
immense multitudes of Brahmans, who also themselves, from the
tradition of their ancestors, and peaceful customs and laws, neither
commit murder nor adultery, nor worship idols, nor have the practice
of eating animal food, are never drunk, never do anything maliciously,
but always fear God. And these things indeed they do, though the rest
of the Indians commit both murders and adulteries, and worship idols,
and are drunken, and practise other wickednesses of this sort. Yea,
in the western parts of India itself there is a certain country, where
strangers, when they enter it, are taken and slaughtered and eaten;
and neither have good stars prevented these men from such wickednesses
and from accursed food, nor have malign stars compelled the Brahmans
to do any evil. Again, there is a custom among the Persians to marry
mothers, and sisters, and daughters. In all that district the
Persians contract incestuous marriages.
Chapter XXI.--Districts of Heaven.
"And that those who study mathematics may not have it in their power
to use that subterfuge by which they say that there are certain
districts of heaven to which it is granted to have some things
peculiar to themselves, some of that nation of Persians have gone to
foreign countries, who are called Magusæi, of whom there are some to
this day in Media, others in Parthia, some also in Egypt, and a
considerable number in Galatia and Phrygia, all of whom maintain the
form of this incestuous tradition without variation, and hand it down
to their posterity to be observed, even although they have changed
their district of heaven; nor has Venus with the Moon in the confines
and houses of Saturn, with Saturn also and Mars looking on, compelled
them to have a Genesis among other men. [846]
Footnotes
[846] This is a literal translation of text. If we read genesi for
genesim, we get: "nor has Venus, etc., compelled them to keep up this
custom in the midst of others through the force of genesis." Eusebius
reads: "And assuredly Venus, etc., is not found in the genesis of all
of them."
Chapter XXII.--Customs of the Gelones.
"Amongst the Geli also there is a custom, that women cultivate the
fields, build, and do every manly work; and they are also allowed to
have intercourse with whom they please, and are not found fault with
by their husbands, or called adulteresses: for they have promiscuous
intercourse everywhere, and especially with strangers; they do not use
ointments; they do not wear dyed garments, nor shoes. On the other
hand, the men of the Gelones are adorned, combed, clothed in soft and
various-coloured garments, decked with gold, and besmeared with
ointments, and that not through lack of manliness, for they are most
warlike, and most keen hunters. Yet the whole women of the Gelones
had not at their birth the unfavourable Venus in Capricornus or
Aquarius; nor had all their men Venus placed with Mars in Aries, by
which configuration the Chaldean science asserts that men are born
effeminate and dissolute.
Chapter XXIII.--Manners of the Susidæ.
"But, further, in Susæ the women use ointments, and indeed of the best
sort, being decked with ornaments and precious stones; also they go
abroad supported by the aid of their maidservants, with much greater
ambition than the men. They do not, however, cultivate modesty, but
have intercourse indifferently with whomsoever they please, with
slaves and guests, such liberty being allowed them by their husbands;
and not only are they not blamed for this, but they also rule over
their husbands. And yet the Genesis of all the Susian women has not
Venus, with Jupiter and Mars in the middle of the heaven in the houses
of Jupiter. In the remoter parts of the East, if a boy be treated
unnaturally, when it is discovered, he is killed by his brothers, or
his parents, or any of his relations, and is left unburied. And
again, among the Gauls, an old law allows boys to be thus treated
publicly; and no disgrace is thought to attach to it. And is it
possible, that all those who are so basely treated among the Gauls,
have had Lucifer with Mercury in the houses of Saturn and the confines
of Mars?
Chapter XXIV.--Different Customs of Different Countries.
"In the regions of Britain several men have one wife; in Parthia many
women have one husband; and each part of the world adheres to its own
manners and institutions. None of the Amazons have husbands, but,
like animals, they go out from their own territories once a year about
the vernal equinox, and live with the men of the neighbouring nation,
observing a sort of solemnity the while, and when they have conceived
by them they return; and if they bring forth a male child, they cast
him away, and rear only females. Now, since the birth of all is at
one season, it is absurd to suppose that in the case of males Mars is
at the time in equal portions with Saturn, but never in the Genesis of
females; and that they have not Mercury placed with Venus in his own
houses, so as to produce either painters, or sculptors, or
money-changers; or in the houses of Venus, so that perfumers, or
singers, or poets might be produced. Among the Saracens, and Upper
Libyans, and Moors, and the dwellers about the mouths of the ocean,
and also in the remote districts of Germany, and among the Sarmatians
and Scythians, and all the nations who dwell in the regions of the
Pontic shore, and in the island Chrysea, there is never found a
money-changer, nor a sculptor, nor a painter, nor an architect, nor a
geometrician, nor a tragedian, nor a poet. Therefore the influence of
Mercury and Venus must be wanting among them.
Chapter XXV.--Not Genesis, But Free-Will.
"The Medes alone in all the world, with the greatest care, throw men
still breathing to be devoured by dogs; yet they have not Mars with
the Moon placed in Cancer all through their daily Genesis. The
Indians burn their dead, and the wives of the dead voluntarily offer
themselves, and are burned with them. But all the Indian women who
are burned alive have not the Sun under the earth in nightly Genesis,
with Mars in the regions of Mars. Very many of the Germans end their
lives by the halter; but all have not therefore the Moon with Hora
begirt by Saturn and Mars. From all this it appears that the fear of
the laws bears sway in every country, and the freedom of will which is
implanted in man by the Spirit complies with the laws; and Genesis can
neither compel the Seres to commit murder, nor the Brahmans to eat
flesh, nor the Persians to shun incest, nor the Indians to refrain
from burning, nor the Medes from being devoured by dogs, nor the
Parthians from having many wives, nor the women of Mesopotamia from
preserving their chastity, nor the Greeks from athletic exercises, nor
the Gallic boys from being abused; nor can it compel the barbarious
nations to be instructed in the studies of the Greeks; but, as we have
said, each nation observes its own laws according to free-will, and
annuls the decrees of Genesis by the strictness of laws.
Chapter XXVI.--Climates.
"But some one skilled in the science of mathematics will say that
Genesis is divided into seven parts, which they call climates, and
that over each climate one of the seven heavenly bodies bears rule;
and that those diverse laws to which we have referred are not given by
men, but by those dominant stars according to their will, and that
that which pleases the star is observed by men as a law. To this we
shall answer, in the first place, that the world is not divided into
seven parts; and in the second place, that if it were so, we find many
different laws in one part and one country; and therefore there are
neither seven laws according to the number of the heavenly bodies, nor
twelve according to the number of the signs, nor thirty-six according
to that of the divisions of ten degrees; but they are innumerable.
Chapter XXVII.--Doctrine of "Climates" Untenable.
"Moreover, we ought to remember the things which have been mentioned,
that in the one country of India there are both persons who feed on
human flesh, and persons who abstain even from the flesh of sheep, and
birds, and all living creatures; and that the Magusæi marry their
mothers and daughters not only in Persia, but that in every nation
where they dwell they keep up their incestuous customs. [847]Then,
besides, we have mentioned also innumerable nations, which are wholly
ignorant of the studies of literature, and also some wise men have
changed the laws themselves in several places; and some laws have been
voluntarily abandoned, on account of the impossibility of observing
them, or on account of their baseness. Assuredly we can easily
ascertain how many rulers have changed the laws and customs of nations
which they have conquered, and subjected them to their own laws. This
is manifestly done by the Romans, who have brought under the Roman law
and the civil decrees almost the whole world, and all nations who
formerly lived under various laws and customs of their own. It
follows, therefore, that the stars of the nations which have been
conquered by the Romans have lost their climates and their portions.
Footnotes
[847] The text reads: "the incestuous customs of their evils, or of
their evil persons." Hilgenfeld (Bardesanes, p. 113) notices that it
should be, "of their ancestors."
Chapter XXVIII.--Jewish Customs.
"I shall add another thing which may satisfy even the most
incredulous. All the Jews who live under the law of Moses circumcise
their sons on the eighth day without fail, and shed the blood of the
tender infant. But no one of the Gentiles has ever submitted to this
on the eighth day; and, on the other hand, no one of the Jews has ever
omitted it. How then shall the account of Genesis stand with this,
since Jews live in all parts of the world, mixed with Gentiles, and on
the eighth day suffer the cutting of a member? And no one of the
Gentiles, but only they themselves, as I have said, do this, induced
to it not by the compulsion of any star, nor by the perfusion [848] of
blood, but by the law of their religion; and in whatever part of the
world they are, this sign is familiar to them. But also the fact that
one name is among them all, wheresoever they are, does this also come
through Genesis? And also that no child born among them is ever
exposed, and that on every seventh day they all rest, wherever they
may be, and do not go upon a journey, and do not use fire? [849]Why
is it, then, that no one of the Jews is compelled by Genesis to go on
a journey, or to build, or to sell or buy anything on that day?
Footnotes
[848] Probably we should read perfusionem instead of perfusione, and
then the translation would be: "no star compelling, or even urging on
them the shedding of blood." So Whiston translates.
[849] Ex. xxxv. 3.
Chapter XXIX.--The Gospel More Powerful Than "Genesis."
"But I shall give a still stronger proof of the matters in hand. For,
behold, scarcely seven years have yet passed since the advent of the
righteous and true Prophet; and in the course of these, men of all
nations coming to Judæa, and moved both by the signs and miracles
which they saw, and by the grandeur of His doctrine, received His
faith; and then going back to their own countries, they rejected the
lawless rites of the Gentiles, and their incestuous marriages. In
short, among the Parthians--as Thomas, who is preaching the Gospel
amongst them, has written to us--not many now are addicted to
polygamy; nor among the Medes do many throw their dead to dogs; nor
are the Persians pleased with intercourse with their mothers, or
incestuous marriages with their daughters; nor do the Susian women
practise the adulteries that were allowed them; nor has Genesis been
able to force those into crimes whom the teaching of religion
restrained.
Chapter XXX.--"Genesis" Inconsistent with God's Justice.
"Behold, from the very matter in which we are now engaged [850] draw
an inference, and from the circumstances in which we are now placed
deduce a conclusion, how, through a rumour only reaching the ears of
men that a Prophet had appeared in Judæa to teach men with signs and
miracles to worship one God, all were expecting with prepared and
eager minds, even before the coming of my lord Peter, that some one
would announce to them what He taught who had appeared. But lest I
should seem to carry the enumeration too far, I shall tell you what
conclusion ought to be drawn from the whole. Since God is righteous,
and since He Himself made the nature of men, how could it be that He
should place Genesis in opposition to us, which should compel us to
sin, and then that He should punish us when we do sin? Whence it is
certain that God punishes no sinner either in the present life or in
that to come, except because He knows that he could have conquered,
but neglected victory. For even in the present world He takes
vengeance upon men, as He did upon those who perished in the deluge,
who were all destroyed in one day, yea, in one hour, although it is
certain that they were not all born in one hour according to the order
of genesis. But it is most absurd to say that it befalls us by nature
to suffer evils, if sins had not gone before.
Footnotes
[850] [This conclusion of the argument by a reference to the Prophet
is much more dignified than the personal boast of miraculous power
which, in the Homilies, is placed in the mouth of the Apostle just
before the recognition.--R.]
Chapter XXXI.--Value of Knowledge.
"And therefore, if we desire salvation, we ought above all to seek
after knowledge, being sure that if our mind remain in ignorance, we
shall endure not only the evils of genesis, but also whatever other
evils from without the demons may please, unless fear of laws and of
the judgment to come resist all our desires, and check the violence of
sinning. For even human fear does much good, and also much evil,
unknown to Genesis, as we have shown above. Therefore our mind is
subject to errors in a threefold manner: from those things which come
to us through evil custom; or from those lusts which the body
naturally stirs up in us; or from those which hostile powers compel us
to. But the mind has it in its own nature to oppose and fight against
these, when the knowledge of truth shines upon it, by which knowledge
is imparted fear of the judgment to come, which is a fit governor of
the mind, and which can recall it from the precipices of lusts. That
these things, therefore, are in our power, has been sufficiently
stated.
Chapter XXXII.--Stubborn Facts.
"Now, old man, if you have any thing to say in answer to these things,
say on." Then said the old man: [851]"You have most fully argued,
my son; but I, as I said at first, am prevented by my own
consciousness from according assent to all this incomparable statement
of yours. For I know both my own Genesis and that of my wife, and I
know that those things have happened which our Genesis prescribed to
each of us; and I cannot now be withdrawn by words from those things
which I have ascertained by facts and deeds. In short, since I
perceive that you are excellently skilled in this sort of learning,
hear the horoscope of my wife, and you shall find the configuration
whose issue has occurred. For she had Mars with Venus above the
centre, and the Moon setting in the houses of Mars and the confines of
Saturn. Now this configuration leads women to be adulteresses, and to
love their own slaves, and to end their days in foreign travel and in
waters. And this has so come to pass. For she fell in love with her
slave, and fearing at once danger and reproach, she fled with him, and
going abroad, where she satisfied her love, she perished in the sea."
Footnotes
[851] [To chaps. 32-37 a partial parallel is found in Homily XIV.
6-9. The arrangement is quite different, and the details vary.--R.]
Chapter XXXIII.--An Approaching Recognition.
Then I answered: "How know you that she cohabited with her slave
abroad, and died in his society?" Then the old man said: "I know it
with perfect certainty; not indeed that she was married to the slave,
as indeed I had not even discovered that she loved him. But after she
was gone, my brother gave me the whole story, telling me that first
she had loved himself; but he, being honourable as a brother, would
not pollute his brother's bed with the stain of incest. But she,
being both afraid of me, and unable to bear the unhappy reproaches
(and yet she should not be blamed for that to which her Genesis
compelled her), pretended a dream, and said to me: `Some one stood by
me in a vision, who ordered me to leave the city without delay with my
two twins.' When I heard this, being anxious for her safety and that
of my sons, I immediately sent away her and the children, retaining
with myself one who was younger. For this she said that he had
permitted who had given her warning in her sleep."
Chapter XXXIV.--The Other Side of the Story.
Then I Clement, understanding that he perchance was my father, was
drowned in tears, and my brothers also were ready to rush forward and
to disclose the matter; but Peter restrained them, saying: "Be quiet,
until I give you permission." Therefore Peter, answering, said to the
old man: "What was the name of your younger son?" And he said:
"Clement." Then Peter: "If I shall this day restore to you your most
chaste wife and your three sons, will you believe that a modest mind
can overcome unreasonable impulses, and that all things that have been
spoken by us are true, and that Genesis is nothing?" Then said the
old man: "As it is impossible for you to perform what you have
promised, so it is impossible that anything can take place apart from
Genesis." Then says Peter: "I wish to have all who are here present
as witnesses that I shall this day hand over to you your wife, who is
living most chastely, with your three sons. And now take a token of
these things from this, that I know the whole story much more
accurately than you do; and I shall relate the whole occurrences in
order, both that you may know them, and that those who are present may
learn."
Chapter XXXV.--Revelations.
When he had said this, he turned to the crowds, and thus began: "This
person whom you see, O men, in this poor garb, is a citizen of the
city Rome, descended of the stock of Cæsar himself. His name is
Faustinianus. He obtained as his wife a woman of the highest rank,
Matthidia by name. By her he had three sons, two of whom were twins;
and the one who was the younger, whose name was Clement, is this
man!" When he said this, he pointed to me with his finger. "And his
twin sons are these men, Niceta and Aquila, the one of whom was
formerly called Faustinus and the other Faustus." [852]But as soon
as Peter pronounced our names, all the old man's limbs were weakened,
and he fell down in a swoon. But we his sons rushed to him, and
embraced and kissed him, fearing that we might not be able to recall
his spirit. And while these things were going on, the people were
confounded with very wonder.
Footnotes
[852] [Compare the account of the recognition in Homily XIV. 9.--R.]
Chapter XXXVI.--New Revelations.
But Peter ordered us to rise from embracing our father, lest we should
kill him; and he himself, laying hold of his hand, and lifting him up
as from a deep sleep, and gradually reviving him, began to set forth
to him the whole transactions as they had really happened: [853]how
his brother had fallen in love with Matthidia, and how she, being very
modest, had been unwilling to inform her husband of his brother's
lawless love, lest she should stir up hostility between the brothers,
and bring disgrace upon the family; and how she had wisely pretended a
dream, by which she was ordered to depart from the city with her twin
sons, leaving the younger one with his father; and how on their voyage
they had suffered shipwreck through the violence of a storm; and how,
when they were cast upon an island called Antaradus, Matthidia was
thrown by a wave upon a rock, but her twin children were seized by
pirates and carried to Cæsarea, and there sold to a pious woman, who
treated them as sons, and brought them up, and caused them to be
educated as gentlemen; and how the pirates had changed their names,
and called the one Niceta and the other Aquila; and how afterwards,
through common studies and acquaintanceship, they had adhered to
Simon; and how they had turned away from him when they saw him to be a
magician and a deceiver, and had come to Zacchæus; and how
subsequently they had been associated with himself; and how Clement
also, setting out from the city for the sake of learning the truth,
had, through his acquaintance with Barnabas, come to Cæsarea, and had
become known to him, and had adhered to him, and how he had been
taught by him the faith of his religion; and also how he had found and
recognised his mother begging at Antaradus, and how the whole island
rejoiced at his recognition of her; and also concerning her sojourn
with her most chaste hostess, and the cure that he had wrought upon
her, and concerning the liberality of Clement to those who had been
kind to his mother; and how afterwards, when Niceta and Aquila asked
who the strange woman was, and had heard the whole story from Clement,
they cried out that they were her twin sons Faustinus and Faustus; and
how they had unfolded the whole history of what had befallen them; and
how afterwards, by the persuasion of Peter himself, they were
presented to their mother with caution, lest she should be cut off by
the sudden joy.
Footnotes
[853] [This recapitulation is peculiar to the Recognitions; in Homily
XV. 4 the main facts are cited as a proof of divine providence.--R.]
Chapter XXXVII.--Another Recognition.
But while Peter was detailing these things in the hearing of the old
man, in a narrative which was most pleasing to the crowd, so that the
hearers wept through wonder at the events, and through compassion for
sufferings incident to humanity, [854] my mother, hearing (I know not
how) of the recognition of my father, rushed into the middle of us in
breathless haste, crying out, and saying: "Where is my husband, my
lord Faustinianus, who has been so long afflicted, wandering from city
to city in search of me?" While she shouted thus like one demented,
and gazed around, the old man, running up, began to embrace and hug
her with many tears. [855]And while these things were going on,
Peter requested the crowds to disperse, saying that it was unseemly to
remain longer; but that opportunity must be afforded them of seeing
one another more privately. "But to-morrow," said he, "if any of you
wish it, let them assemble to hear the word."
Footnotes
[854] Lit. "through pity of humanity."
[855] [Comp. Homily XIV. 9. The recognition of the mother is
represented as occurring first; the variations are quite
remarkable.--R.]
Chapter XXXVIII.--"Angels Unawares."
When Peter had said this, the crowds dispersed; and when we also were
intending to go to our lodging, the master of the house said to us:
[856]"It is base and wicked that such and so great men should stay
in a hostelry, when I have almost my whole house empty, and very many
beds spread, and all necessary things provided." But when Peter
refused, the wife of the householder prostrated herself before him
with her children, and besought him, saying, "I entreat you, stay with
us." But not even so did Peter consent, until the daughter of those
people who asked him, who had been for a long time vexed with an
unclean spirit, and bound with chains, who had been shut up in a
closet, having had the demon expelled from her, and the door of the
closet opened, came with her chains and fell down at Peter's feet,
saying: "It is right, my lord, that you keep my deliverance-feast
here to-day, and not sadden me or my parents." But when Peter asked
what was the meaning of her chains and of her words, her parents,
gladdened beyond hope by the recovery of their daughter, were, as it
were, thunderstruck with astonishment, and could not speak; but the
servants who were in attendance said: "This girl has been possessed
of a demon from her seventh year, and used to cut, and bite, and even
to tear in pieces, all who attempted to approach her, and this she has
never ceased to do for twenty years till the present time. Nor could
any one cure her, or even approach her, for she rendered many
helpless, and even destroyed some; for she was stronger than any man,
being doubtless strengthened by the power of the demon. But now, as
you see, the demon has fled from your presence, and the doors which
were shut with the greatest strength have been opened, and she herself
stands before you in her sound mind, asking of you to make the day of
her recovery gladsome both to herself and her parents, and to remain
with them." When one of the servants had made this statement, and the
chains of their own accord were loosened from her hands and feet,
Peter, being sure that it was by his means that soundness was restored
to the girl, consented to remain with them. And he ordered those also
who had remained in the lodging, with his wife, to come over; and
every one of us having got a separate bed-chamber, we remained; and
having taken food in the usual manner, and given praises to God, we
went to sleep in our several apartments.
Footnotes
[856] [This Chapter is peculiar to the Recognitions; the detailed
description of the exorcism is a curious piece of literature.--R.]
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