Chapter XIII. How Clement in Like Proves That the Noble Sayings of the Greeks Are in Agreement With the Doctrines of the Hebrews. From the Fifth Miscellany

[CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA] ‘BUT we must add the further evidence, and show now more clearly the plagiarism of the Greeks from the Barbarian philosophy. For the Stoics say that God, as also the soul of course, is in essence body and spirit. All this you will find directly stated in their writings. For I do not wish you now to consider whether their allegorical interpretations, as the Gnostic verity delivers them, show one thing and mean another, like clever wrestlers. But what they say is that God extends through all being, while we call Him simply the Creator, and Creator by a word.

Now they were misled by what is said in Wisdom: “Yea, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by virtue of her purity”:[1] since they did not understand that this is said of that wisdom which was the first-created of God. Yes, say they; but the philosophers, Stoics as well as Plato and Pythagoras and even Aristotle the Peripatetic, suppose matter to be one of the first principles, and do not assume one only principle.

‘Let them know, then, that the so-called matter, which is said by them to be without quality or shape, has been previously described more boldly by Plato as “Not-being”; and is it perchance from knowing that the real and true first cause is one, that he speaks so mysteriously in the Timaeusin these very words?

[2]’Now therefore let my position be stated as follows: “Of the first principle or principles of all things, or in whatever way it is thought right to describe them, I must not speak at present, for no other reason than this, that it is difficult to explain my opinions according to our present form of discourse.”

‘And, besides, that prophetic expression, “The earth was invisible and without order,” [3] has given them suggestions of a material essence. In fact, the interposition of “chance” occurred to Epicurus from having misunderstood the language of the following passage: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” [4] To Aristotle it occurred to bring Providence down only so far as to the moon, from this Psalm: “ Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heaven, and Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.” [5] For before the coming of the Lord the meaning of the prophetic mysteries was not as yet revealed.

‘Again the chastisements after death and the punishment by fire were stolen from our Barbarian philosophy both by every Muse of poetry and even by the Greek philosophy. Plato, for instance, in the last Book of the Republicsays in. express terms: “Hereupon certain fierce men of fiery aspect, who were standing by and understood the sound, seized and led away some of them separately; But Aridaeus and the rest they bound hand and foot and head together, and threw them down, and flayed them, and dragged them along the road outside, carding them like wool on thorns.” [6] For his “fiery men” are meant to indicate angels, who seize the unrighteous and punish them. “ Who maketh,” says the Scripture, “ His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire.” [7]

‘Now it follows upon this that the soul is immortal. For that which is undergoing punishment or correction being in a state of sensation, must be living, though it be said to suffer. Again, does not Plato know also rivers of fire, and the deep of the earth, called by the Barbarians Gehenna, which he calls poetically Tartarus, and introduces Cocytus, and Acheron, and Phlegethon, and names of this kind, as places of punishment for correctional training? And representing, according to the Scripture, the angels of the least of the little ones which behold the face of God,[8] and also His supervision extended to us through the angels set over us, he does not hesitate to write:

‘”After all the souls have chosen their lives, according to their lot, they went forward in order to Lachesis, and she sent with each the genius of his choice, to be the guardian of his life, and the fulfiller of his chosen destiny.” [9]

‘Perhaps also something of this kind was intimated to Socrates by his daemon.

‘Nay more, the philosophers borrowed, from Moses their doctrine that the world was created, and Plato has said expressly:

‘ “ Was it that the world had no beginning of creation, or has it been created at first from some beginning? For it is visible, and tangible, and has a body.” [10]

‘And again, when he says: “To find therefore the Maker and Father of this universe is a hard task,” [11] he not only shows that the world has been generated, but also indicates that it was generated from Him, as from one alone, and sprang up out of non-existence. The Stoics also suppose that the world has been created.

‘The devil too, so often mentioned by the Barbarian philosophy, the prince of the daemons, is described by Plato, in the tenth Book of the Laws,as being a malignant soul, in the following words: [12]”As then a soul directs and inhabits all things that move in every direction, must we not say that it also directs the heaven?

‘ “ Of course.

‘ “One soul or more? More, I will answer for both of you. Less than two surely we must not suppose, one that does good, and the other that has power to work evil.”

‘In like manner also he writes in the Phaedrusthus: [13] “There are indeed other evils, but with most of them some daemon has mingled an immediate pleasure.” And further in the tenth Book of the Lawsbe directly expresses that thought of the Apostle: “Our wrestling is not against blood and flesh, . . . but against the spiritual powers of the hosts in heaven,” [14] when he writes thus:

‘ “ For since we agreed among ourselves that the heaven is full of many goods, and full also of evils, and of more evils than goods, such a conflict as this, we say, is immortal, and requires wonderful caution.” [15]

‘Again, the Barbarian philosophy knows one intelligible world, and another sensible, the one an archetype, and the other an image of that fair model; and the former it ascribes to unity, as being perceptible to thought only, but the sensible to the number six: for among the Pythagoreans six is called marriage, as being a generative number. And in the unity it sets an invisible heaven, and a holy earth, and intelligible light. For “In the beginning,” says the Scripture, “God created the heaven and the earth: and the earth was invisible.” [16] Then it adds, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” [17] But in the creation of the sensible world He framed a solid heaven (and what is solid is sensible), and a visible earth, and a light that is seen. Do you not think that from this passage Plato was led to leave the “ideas” of living things in the intelligible world, and to create the sensible forms according to the various kinds of that intelligible world?

‘With good reason, therefore, Moses says that the body was formed of earth, what Plato calls “an earthly tabernacle,” but that the reasonable soul was breathed by God from, on high into man’s face: for they say that the ruling faculty is seated in this part, and interpret thus the accessory entrance of the soul through the organs of sense in the first-formed man; for which reason also man, they say, is made “after the image and likeness of God.” [18]

‘For the image of God is the divine and royal Word, the impassible man; and an image of that image is the human mind. But if you will admit another name for the growing likeness, you will find it called in Moses a following of God: for he says, “Walk after the LORD your God, . . . and keep His commandments.” [19] And all the virtuous are, I suppose, followers and servants of God.

‘Hence the Stoics have said that the end of philosophy is to live according to the guidance of nature, while Plato says it is to become like God, as we showed in the second Miscellany; and Zeno the Stoic having received it from Plato, and he from the Barbarian philosophy, says that all good men are friends one of another. For in the PhaedrusSocrates says that “Fate has not ordained that the wicked should be a friend to the wicked; nor the good fail to be a friend to the good.” [20]

‘This he also fully showed in the Lysis, [21] that friendship can never be preserved amid injustice and wickedness. The Athenian Stranger too says in like manner, “That it is conduct pleasing to God and like Him, and has one ancient saying in its favour, when ‘like loves like’ if it be in measure, but things beyond measure agree neither with things beyond nor with things within measure. And God must be to us the measure of all things.” [22]

‘Then lower down Plato adds again:

‘ “ For indeed every good man is like every other good man, and consequently being also like God, he is beloved both by every good man and by God.” Arrived at this point, I am reminded of the following passage, for at the end of the Timaeushe says that “one should assimilate that which perceives to that which is perceived, according to its original nature, and by thus assimilating them attain the end of that life which is proposed by the gods to men as the best both for the present time and for that which is to follow.” [23]

And after a few sentences he adds: [24]

‘That we are brethren as belonging to one God and one teacher, Plato evidently declares in the following terms:

“ For ye in the city are all brothers, as we shall say to them in telling the fable; but God, in forming as many of you as are fit to rule, mixed gold in their composition, wherefore they are the most to be honoured: and for all the auxiliaries silver, but iron and copper for the husbandmen and other operatives.” [25]

‘Whence, he says, it has necessarily come to pass that some embrace and love those things which are objects of knowledge, and others those which are matters of opinion. For perhaps he is prophesying of that elect nature which desires knowledge; unless in assuming three natures he, as some supposed, is describing three forms of polity, that of the Jews silver, that of the Greeks the third, and that of the Christians in whom there has been infused the royal gold, the Holy Spirit.

‘Also he exhibits the Christian life when writing word for word in the Theaetetus: [26]

‘’Let us speak then of the leaders; for why should one talk about those who spend their time to no good purpose in philosophy? But these leaders, I suppose, neither know the way to the Agora, nor where the court of justice is, or the council-chamber, or any other public assembly of the State; and laws, and decrees whether read or written, they neither see nor hear. The strivings of political clubs, and meetings, to obtain offices, and revellings with flute-girls are practices which do not occur to them even in dreams. And what has happened well or ill in the city, or what evil has come to any one from his ancestors, is less known to them than, as the proverb says, the number of gallons in the sea. As to all these things he knows not even that he does not know them: for in fact it is his body only that has its place and home in the city, but the man himself ‘is flying,’ as Pindar says,’underneath the earth’ [27] and above the heaven, studying the stars, and scrutinizing every nature on all sides.”

‘Again, with the Lord’s saying, “Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay,” [28] we must compare this: “But it is by no means right for me to admit a falsehood, and to suppress a truth.” [29] Also with the prohibition of swearing agrees this saying in the tenth Book of the Laws: “Let there be no praising nor swearing about anything.” [30] And to speak generally, Pythagoras and Socrates and Plato, when they say that they hear God’s voice, while carefully contemplating the constitution of the universe as made by God and held together without interruption, must have heard Moses say, in describing the word of God as a deed, “He spake, and it was done.” [31]

‘Also taking their stand upon the formation of the man out of dust, the philosophers on every occasion proclaim that the body is of earth, and Homer does not shrink from putting it in the light of a curse:

“ But may all ye to earth and water turn.” [32]

Just as Esaias says: “ And tread them down as clay.” [33]

‘Callimachus too writes expressly:

“ It was that year in which the winged tribe And they that swim the sea or tread the earth Spake like the clay Prometheus called to life.” [34]

‘And again the same poet said:

“ If thou wast fashioned by Prometheus’ hand, And not of other clay.” [35]

‘Hesiod also says of Pandora:

“ Renowned Hephaestus bade he with all speed Mix earth with water, and therein infuse The voice and mind of man.” [36]

‘Now as the Stoics define nature as an artistic fire which proceeds systematically to generation; [37] so by the Scripture God and His Word are represented figuratively by fire and light. Again, is not Homer also alluding to the separation of the water from the land, and the clear discovery of the dry land, when he says of Tethys and Oceanus:

“ For now have they long time From love and from the marriage-bed abstained “? [38]

‘Again, the most learned among the Greeks ascribe to God power in all things: thus Epicharmus, who was a Pythagorean, says:

“ Nothing e’er from God escapeth; this behoves thee well to know; He o’erlooks us closely; nothing is to God impossible.” [39]

‘The lyric poet too:

“ From thickest darkness of the night God can call forth the purest light, Or with dark clouds at will o’erlay The brightness of the orient day.” [40]

‘He who alone can turn the present day into night, the poet says, is God.

‘Aratus also, in the book entitled Phaenomena,after saying:

“ From Zeus begin the song, nor ever leave His name unsung, whose godhead fills all streets, All thronging marts of men, the boundless sea, And all its ports; whose aid all mortals need,” [41]

‘adds:

“For we his offspring are,”

as it were by creation,

. . . “and kindly he Reveals to man good omens of success. In heaven he set those guiding lights, and marked Their several course; and for the year he wove The circlet of the stars, to show to man What best the seasons suit, that all things set In order due may grow. Him ever first, Him last our prayers invoke. Hail, Father, hail! Wonder and joy and blessing of mankind.”

‘Also before him Homer, in the account of the shield made by Hephaestus, describes the creation of the world in accordance with Moses, saying:

“Thereon were figured earth, and sky, and sea, And all the signs that crown the vault of heaven.” [42]

‘For the Zeus who is celebrated in all poems and prose compositions, carries up our thought to God.

‘Then, further, Democritus writes that some few of mankind are in the light, so to say, [43] “who lift up their hands to that place which we Greeks now call the air, and mythically speak of all as Zeus; and he knows all things, and gives and takes away, and he is king of all.” With deeper mystery the Boeotian Pindar, as being a Pythagorean, teaches:

“ One race of men and one of gods, Both from one mother draw our breath,” [44]

that is, from matter: he teaches also that the Creator of this world is one, whom he calls,

“ Father, of all artificers the best,” [45]

who has also provided the means of advancement to divinity according to merit.

‘For I say nothing as to Plato, how he plainly appears in the Epistle to Erastus and Coriscus to set forth Father and Son somehow from the Hebrew Scriptures, when he exhorts them in these words [46] “to invoke both with a graceful earnestness, and with the culture which is akin to such earnestness, the God who is the cause of all, and also to invoke the Father and Lord of Him who is ruler and cause, whom (says he) ye shall know, if ye study philosophy aright.”

‘Also Zeus in his harangue in the Timaeuscalls the Creator Father, in these words: [47]

“Ye gods and sons of gods, whose Father I am, and Creator of the works.” So that also when he says, [48]”Around the King of all are all things, and for His sake they all are, and that is the cause of all things beautiful; and around a Second are the secondary things, and around a Third the tertiary,” I understand it in no other way than that the Holy Trinity is signified. For I think that the Holy Spirit is the third, and the Son the second, “by whom all things were made” according to the will of the Father.

‘The same author, in the tenth Book of the Republic,[49]mentions Er, the son of Armenius, a Pamphylian by birth, who is Zoroaster. At least Zoroaster himself writes, “Zoroaster the son of Armenius, a Pamphylian by birth, having been slain in war, writes down here all things which when in Hades I learned from the gods.” Now Plato says that this Zoroaster when laid upon the funeral pile on the twelfth day after death came to life again. Perhaps he alludes not to the resurrection, but to the circumstance that the way for souls to their reception above is through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and Plato himself says that their way of return to birth is the same. In this way we must understand also that the labours of Hercules were said to be twelve, after which the soul obtains its release from this world entirely. Empedocles also I do not pass over, who mentions the restitution of all things in merely physical language, saying that there will at some time be a change into the essence of fire.

‘And most plainly is Heracleitus of Ephesus of this opinion, who maintained that there is one world eternal, and another that perishes, namely, the world in its orderly arrangement, which he knew to be no other than a certain condition of the former. But that he knew the world, which consisting of all being is eternally of a certain quality, to be eternal, he makes evident in speaking thus: [50]

“ The world which is the same for all was made neither by any god nor man, but always was, and is, and shall be, an everliving fire, kindled in measure, and in measure extinguished.”

‘His doctrine was that the world was created and perishable, as is shown by what he adds: “The transmutations of fire are first sea, and of sea one half becomes earth and the other half lightning.” [51] For virtually he says, that by God the Word, who administers the universe, fire is changed through air into moisture, the seed as it were of the cosmical arrangement; and this moisture he calls sea.[52] And out of this again heaven and earth arise, and all things therein contained.

‘How the world is again taken back into the primitive essence, and destroyed by fire, he clearly shows in these words: “ The sea is spread abroad, and is measured to the same proportion as it was before it became earth.” In like manner concerning the other elements the same is to be understood.

‘Doctrines similar to this are taught also by the most celebrated of the Stoics in their discussions concerning a conflagration and re-arrangement of the world’s order, and concerning both the world and man in their proper quality, and the continuance of our souls. Again, Plato in the seventh Book of the Republichas called our day here a “ darkness visible,” [53] because, I suppose, of the world-rulers of this darkness; and the soul’s entrance into the body he has called “sleep” and “death,” in the same manner as Heracleitus.[54] And is this, perhaps, what the Holy Spirit, speaking by David, foretold concerning our Saviour: “ I laid me down and slept: I awaked, for the LORD will sustain me.” [55] For he figuratively calls not only the Resurrection of Christ an awaking from sleep, but also the Lord’s coming down into flesh a sleep.

‘For instance, the same Saviour gives the exhortation “Watch,” as much as to say, study to live, and try to keep the soul independent of the body. Also in the tenth Book of the Republic,Plato speaks prophetically of the Lord’s day in these words:

“But when those in the meadow had each been there seven days, they were obliged on the eighth to arise thence and proceed on their journey, and arrive on the fourth day.” [56]

‘By the meadow, therefore, we must understand the fixed sphere, as a quiet and pleasant place, and an abode of the saints; and by the seven days, each motion of the seven planets, and the whole effective device which speeds them to their final rest. The journey after passing the planets leads to heaven, that is to the eighth motion and eighth day; and when he says that the souls are four days on the journey, he indicates their passage through the four elements.

‘Moreover, the Greeks as well as the Hebrews recognize the holiness of the seventh day, by which the cycle of the whole world of animals and plants is regulated. Hesiod, for instance, speaks of it thus:

“The first, the fourth, the seventh a holy day.”

‘And again:

“And on the seventh again the sun shines bright.”

‘Homer too:

“ And soon the seventh returned, a holy day.”

‘And again:

“The seventh day was holy.” [57]

‘And again:

“ It was the seventh day, and all was done.”

‘And again:

“And on the seventh day the baleful stream Of Acheron we left.”

‘Moreover, the poet Callimachus writes:

“All things were finished on the seventh dawn.”

‘And again:

“ Good is the seventh day, and seventh birth.”

‘And:

“ Among the prime, and perfect is the seventh.”

‘Also:

“ Seven orbs created in the starlit sky Shine in their courses through revolving years.”

‘The Elegiesof Solon also make the seventh day very divine. [58]

‘And again: Is it not like the Scripture, which says, [59]”Let us take away from us the righteous man, because he is of disservice to us,” when Plato, all but foretelling the dispensation of salvation, speaks thus in the second Book of the Republic:”In these circumstances the just man will be scourged, fettered, both eyes torn out; and at last, after suffering every kind of torture, he will be crucified “? [60] Antisthenes too, the Socratic, paraphrases that prophetic Scripture, “To whom did ye liken Me? saith the LORD,” when he says that “God is like to none, wherefore no man can come to know Him from an image.” [61] The like thoughts Xenophon the Athenian expresses in these words: “ That He who moves all things, and is Himself at rest, is a great and mighty Being, is manifest: but what He is in form, is unknown. Neither, indeed, does the sun, which appears to shine on all, seem to allow himself to be seen: but if any one gazes impudently upon him, he is deprived of sight.” [62] The Sibyl had said before:

“What flesh can e’er behold with mortal eyes The immortal God, who dwells above the skies? Or who of mortal birth can stand and gaze With eyes unshrinking on the sun’s fierce rays?” [63]

‘Rightly, therefore, does also Xenophanes of Colophon, when teaching that God is one and incorporeal, add this:

“ One God there is, supreme o’er gods and men, Not like in form to mortals, nor in mind.” [64]

‘And again:

“ But mortals fondly deem that gods are born, Have voice, and form, and raiment like their own.” [65]

‘And again:

“If then the ox and lion had but hands To paint and model works of art, like man, The ox would give his god an oxlike shape, The horse a figure like his own would frame, And each would deify his kindred form.” [66]

‘Again, then, let us listen to Bacchylides, the lyric poet, when he says concerning the divine nature:

“ No taint of foul disease can them assail, No bane annoy, unlike in all to man.” [67]

‘Hear also Cleanthes, the Stoic, who has written as follows in a certain poem concerning the Deity:

“Askest thou what good is? List then to me. Good is well ordered, holy, just, devout, Self-mastering, useful, honourable, right, Grave, self-dependent, ever full of help, Unmoved by fear, by sorrow, and by pain, Beneficent, well pleasing, friendly, safe, Of good report, acknowledged, and esteemed, Free from vainglory, careful, gentle, strong, Deliberate, blameless, during to the end.” [68]

‘The same author, tacitly accusing the idolatry of the multitude, adds this:

“Poor slave is he who to opinion looks, In hope, forsooth, some honour thence to gain.” [69]

‘We must not, therefore, any longer think of the divine nature according to the opinion of the multitude: for, as Amphion says in the Antiope:

“Never can I believe that secretly, Disguised in fashion of some wicked knave, Zeus visited thy bed in human form.” [70]

‘But Sophocles writes in straightforward language:

“ For this man’s mother was by Zeus espoused, Not in a shower of gold, nor in disguise Of feathered swan, as when he pregnant made Fair Leda, but complete in manly form.” [71]

‘Then farther down he added:

“Swiftly then the adulterer Upon the bridal chamber’s threshold stood.” [72]

‘After which he still more openly describes the incontinence of Zeus as represented in the fable, in the following manner:

“Then he nor feast, nor lustral water touched, But hastened to the couch, with heart deep stung By lust, and wantoned there that whole night through.” [73]

‘Let these things, however, he left to the follies of the theatres. Heracleitus expressly says: “Men are found incapable of understanding the reason of what is right on each occasion, both before they have heard it, and on hearing it for the first time.”

‘And Melanippides, the lyric poet, sings thus:

“ Hear me, O Father, man’s delight, Thou ruler of the undying soul.” [74]

‘Parmenides too, “the Great,” as Plato calls him in the Sophist,[75] writes in the following manner concerning the Deity:

“ Many the proofs that show The Deity knows neither birth nor death, Sole of His kind, complete, immovable.” [76]

‘Moreover, Hesiod says that He is

“Sole king and lord of all the immortal gods, With whom no other may in power contend.” [77]

‘Nay, further, Tragedy also draws us away from the idols, and teaches us to look up to heaven. For as Hecataeus, who composed the Histories,says in the passage concerning Abraham and the Egyptians, Sophocles openly cries out upon the stage:

“There is in truth One God, and One alone, Who made the lofty heavens, and wide-spread earth, The sea’s blue wave, and might of warring winds. But we poor mortals with deceived heart, Seeking some solace for our many woes, Raised images of gods in stone or bronze, Or figures Wrought of gold or ivory; And when we crowned their sacrifice, and held High festival, we thought this piety.” [78]

‘Euripides, too, says in his tragedy upon the same stage:

“Seest thou this boundless ether spread on high, With watery arms embracing all the earth? Call this thy Zeus, deem this thine only god.” [79]

‘In the drama of Pirithousalso the same tragic poet speaks as follows:

“ Thee we sing, the Self-begotten, Who all nature dost embrace, And mid yon bright ether guidest In her everlasting race. Day and dusky night returning Deck for Thee heaven’s wide expanse: Myriad stars for ever burning Weave round Thee their mystic dance.” [80]

‘For here he speaks of the Creative mind as “ the Self-begotten,” and all things that follow are ranked with the cosmos, in which also are the alternations of light and darkness.

Aeschylus also, the son of Euphorion, speaks very solemnly of God:

“ Zeus is the bright pure ether, Zeus the earth, The heaven, the universe, and all above.” [81]

‘I know that Plato adds his testimony to Heracleitus when he writes: “ One, the only wise, wills not to be described, and wills to be named Zeus.” [82] And again, “law is obedience to the will of one.” [83] Also if you should wish to trace back the meaning of the saying, “ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear,” [84] you would find it explained by the Ephesian thus: “ Those who hear without understanding are like deaf persons: the proverb witnesses of them that though present they are absent.” [85]

‘But you wish perhaps to hear from the Greeks an express statement of one first cause? Timaeus the Locrian, in his treatise on Nature,will testify for me word for word: “There is one beginning of all things, which is unoriginate: for if it had an origin, it would be no longer a beginning, but that from which it originated would be the beginning.” [86] For this opinion, which is true, flowed from the passage, “ Hear, O Israel, the LORD thy God is One, and Him only shalt thou serve.” [87]

“Lo! He is clear to all, from error free,” [88]

as says the Sibyl.

‘Also Xenocrates, the Chalcedonian, by naming “ the High and Nether” Zeus,[89] admits an indication of Father and Son. And the strangest thing of all is, that the Deity seems to be known to Homer, who represents the gods as subject to human passions, yet even so does not gain the respect of Epicurus. Homer says at least:

“Achilles, why with active feet pursue, Thou mortal, me Immortal? Knowest thou not My Godhead? “ [90]

‘For he has made it clear that the deity cannot be apprehended by a mortal, nor perceived by feet, or hands, or eyes, or by the body at all. “To whom have ye likened the Lord? Or to what likeness have ye compared Him?” [91] says the Scripture. “ Is He an image that a workman made, or did a goldsmith melt gold and spread it over Him? “ and the rest.

‘The Comic poet Epicharmus also, in his Republic,speaks evidently of the Word (Reason) in this manner:

“ Greatest need hath man of Reason and of number in life’s ways; For in them is our salvation, and by them we mortals live.” [92]

Then he adds expressly: [93]

“Reason is man’s guide, to govern and preserve him in the way.”

Then:

“ Mortal men have use of Reason; Reason also is divine: Reason is the gift of nature for man’s life and sustenance. Reason man’s divine attendant guideth him in all his arts: Reason is his sole instructor, teaching what is best to do. Art is not of man’s invention, but a gift that comes from God, Man’s own reason is the offspring of that Reason all-divine.”

‘Moreover, the Spirit had cried by the mouth of Esaias, “ What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt-offerings [of rams], and in the fat of lambs and blood of bulls [and of he-goats] I have no delight”; [94] and added soon after, “ Wash you, make you clean, put away your iniquities from your souls.” [95] So Menander, the Comic poet, writes what answers to this in these very words:

“For whosoever brings a sacrifice Of countless bulls or kids, O Pamphilus, Or aught like these, who works of art designs, Vestments of gold or purple, life-like forms Graven in emerald or ivory, And hopes thereby God’s favour may be Won He strangely errs, and hath a dullard’s mind. Man’s duty is to help his brother man, Nor simple maid nor wedded wife betray. Nor steal nor murder for foul lucre’s sake. Then covet not, dear friend, a needle’s thread, For God is ever near to watch thy deeds.” [96]

‘” I am a God at hand, and not a God far off. Shall man do aught in secret places, and I not see him?” [97] So God speaks by Jeremiah. And again Menander, paraphrasing that Scripture, “Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD,” [98] writes in this way:

“Then, dearest friend, Ne’er covet even a pin that is not thine; For God in works of righteousness delights, And thine own life permits thee to enrich, Ploughing the land and toiling night and day. Then be thou ever just, and worship God With heart as pure as is thy festal robe. And if the thunder roll, flee not, my lord, For conscious of no guilt thou need’st not fear: Since God is watching o’er thee nigh at hand.” [99]

“Whilst thou art yet speaking, I will say, Behold, here I am,” [100] saith the Scripture.

‘Diphilus again, the Comic poet, discourses of the Judgement somewhat as follows: [101]

“Thinkest thou then, Niceratus, the dead, Who in this life all luxury enjoyed, Escaped from God lie hidden from His sight? There is an eye of Justice that sees all, And even in Hades we believe there are Two paths of destiny, one for the just, The other for the ungodly. If men say The earth shall hide them both alike for ever, Go rob, and steal, all right and wrong confound: Be not deceived; in Hades judgement waits, Which God will execute, the Lord of all, Whose Name so terrible I dare not speak. He to the sinners length of days accords; [102]But if a mortal thinks, that day by day He can do evil, and escape the gods, In this his wicked thought, though Justice lag With tardy foot, he shall be caught at last. [103]All ye who think there is no God, beware! There is, there is: let then the wicked man Cease to do ill, and so redeem the time: Else his just doom he shall at last receive.”

‘With this the tragedy also agrees in these words:

[104]”There comes in after days, there comes a time, When you bright golden ether shall pour forth Her store of fire, until the well-fed flame All things in heaven and earth shall fiercely burn.”

And again soon after it adds:

“And then when all creation is dissolved, The sea’s last wave shall die upon the shore, The bald earth stript of trees, the burning air No winged thing shall bear upon its breast; When all is lost then all shall be restored.”

The like thoughts we shall find also expressed in the Orphic poems, as follows:

“He hides them all, then from his heart again With anxious care brings all to gladsome light.” [105]

And if we live a just and holy life throughout, happy are we here, and happier after our departure hence, enjoying blessedness not merely for a time, but enabled to find rest in eternity.

“Sharing with all the gods one hearth, one feast, And free from human sorrows, toil, and death.”

So says the philosophic poetry of Empedocles. There is none so great, even in the opinion of the Greeks, as to be above the judgement, nor so small as to be hidden from it. ‘The same Orpheus says also this:

“ Look to the word divine, keep close to that, And guide thereby the deep thoughts of thine heart. Walk wisely in the way; and look to none Save to the immortal Framer of the world.” [106]

And again concerning God, calling Him invisible, he says that He was made known only to one certain person, a Chaldaean by birth, whether he so speaks of Abraham, or of his son, in the following words:

“Save one, a scion of Chaldaean race: For he was skilled to mark the sun’s bright path, And how in even circle round the earth The starry sphere on its own axis turns, And winds their chariot guide o’er sea and sky.” [107]

‘Then, as it were paraphrasing the Scripture, “ Heaven is my throne, and earth the footstool of my feet,” [108] he adds:

“But God Himself high above heav’n, unmoved, Sits on His golden throne; and plants His feet On the broad earth; His right hand He extends O’er Ocean’s farthest bound; the eternal hills Tremble in their deep heart, nor can endure His mighty power. And still above the heavens Alone He sits, and governs all on earth. Himself first cause, and means, and end of all. Not otherwise dare I to speak of Him: In heart and limbs I tremble at the thought, How He from heav’n all things in order rules,” [109]

and the lines that follow these. For herein he has plainly set forth all those prophetic sayings: “Whosoever shall rend the heaven, trembling shall seize him: and from Thee the. mountains shall melt away, as wax melteth from the presence of fire.” [110] Also what is said by the mouth of Esaias: “Who measured the heaven with a span, and all the earth with his fist?” [111]

‘Again, when he says:

“Lord of the heavens, of Hades, land, and sea, Whose thunders shake Olympus’ strong-built dome, Whom daemons shuddering flee, and all the gods Do fear, and Fates implacable obey. Eternal Mother and eternal Sire, Whose anger shakes the universal frame, Awakes the stormy wind, veils all with clouds, And rends with sudden flash the expanse of heav’n. At Thy command the stars their changeless course In order run. Before Thy fiery throne Angels unwearied stand; whose only care Is to perform Thy gracious will for man. Thine is the Spring new-decked with purple buds, The winter Thine, with chilling clouds o’ercast, And autumn with its merry vintage Thine.” [112]

‘Then, expressly calling God the Almighty, he adds:

“ Come, then, thou deathless and Immortal Power, Whose name none but Immortals can express. Mightiest of Gods, whose will is strong as Fate, Dreadful art Thou, resistless in Thy might, Deathless, and with etherial glory crowned.” [113]

So then by the word μητροπάτωρ he not only indicated the creation out of nothing, but gave occasion perhaps to those who introduce the doctrine of emissions to imagine also a consort of God. And he paraphrases the prophetic Scriptures, both that which was spoken by Hosea (Amos): “ Lo! I am he that formeth the thunder and createth the wind, whose hands founded the host of heaven”:[114] and that which was spoken by Moses: “ See, see, that it is I, and there is no other god but me. I will kill, and I will make to live: I will wound, and I will heal: and there is none that shall deliver out of my hand.” [115]

“ ‘Tis He that out of good for mortals brings Evil and cruel war,” [116]

according to Orpheus.

‘Such also is the saying of Archilochus of Pares:

“Zeus, Father Zeus, the realm of heav’n is thine, But knavish and unholy deeds of men Scape not thine eye.” [117]

‘Let Thracian Orpheus again sing for us thus:

“His right hand He extends O’er Ocean’s farthest bound; and plants His feet On the broad earth.” [118]

These thoughts are manifestly taken from that passage, “The Lord shall shake inhabited cities, and take the whole world in His hand, as a nest”;[119] “The LORD who made the earth by His power,” as Jeremiah says, “ and established the world by His wisdom.” [120]

‘Moreover in addition to this Phocylides, calling the angels daemons, shows in the following words that some of them are good and some bad, as we also have been taught that some are apostate:

“ But daemons different in kind o’er men At various times preside; some to protect Mankind from coming evils.” [121]

‘Well therefore does Philemon also, the Comic poet, exterminate idolatry by these words:

“ Fortune is no divinity for us, No goddess; only that which of itself Happens by chance to each is fortune called.” [122]

‘Sophocles too, the Tragedian, says:

“Not even the gods have all things at their will, Save Zeus, the final and first cause of all.” [123]

‘Orpheus also says:

“ One power, one god, one vast and flaming heav’n, One universal frame, wherein revolve All things which here we see, fire, water, earth,” [124]

and the lines that follow.

‘Pindar too, the Lyric poet, breaks out as it were in transport, saying expressly:

“ What then is God? The All.” [125]

‘And again:

“ God, who for mortals all things makes, (Gives also grace to song).” [126]

‘Also when he says:

“Why hope in wisdom to excel Thy brother man? It is not well For mortals here on earth With minds of human birth The counsels of the gods to scan.” [127]

He has drawn his thought from the passage: “ Who hath known the mind of the LORD? Or who hath been His counsellor?” [128]

‘Moreover Hesiod agrees with what has been said above in writing thus:

“Of men on earth no prophet so inspired Can know the mind of aegis-bearing Zeus.” [129]

With good reason, therefore, does the Athenian Solon himself follow Hesiod, when he writes:

“The Immortals’ mind is all unknown to men.” [130]

‘Again, as Moses had foretold that the woman because of the transgression should bring forth children to pain and sorrow, a certain poet of no little distinction writes:

“ Never by day from labour and distress By night from groaning shall they cease; so hard The cares and troubles which the gods shall give.” [131]

‘Moreover Homer shows that God is just, when he says:

“The Eternal Father hung His golden scales aloft.” [132]

And Menander, the Comic poet, interprets God’s, goodness, when he says:

“ By every man from moment of his birth A friendly genius stands, life’s mystic guide. No evil daemon he (forbid the thought!), With power malign to mar thy happy lot.” [133]

And then he adds:

“ Ἅπαντα δ' ἀγαθὸν εἶναι τὸν Θεόν,”

meaning either “that every god is good,” or, what is the truer meaning, “ that in all things God is good.”

‘Again, Aeschylus, the Tragic poet, in setting forth the power of God does not hesitate to call Him the Most High in the following passage:

“Set God apart from mortals in thy thought, Nor deem that, like thyself, He too is flesh. Thou know’st. Him not: as fire He now appears. A mighty force, now water, now dark storm. Again in likeness of the beasts He comes, Of wind, or lightning, thunder, cloud, or rain. The seas, and sea-girt rocks, the springing wells, The gathering floods, obey His sovereign will. The pillars of the earth, the vast abyss Of Ocean, and the mountain-tops do shake, If the dread Master’s eye but look on them: So glorious is the power of God Most High.” [134]

Does it not seem to you that he is paraphrasing that passage: “ At the presence of the LORD the earth trembles.” [135]

‘Besides this, the chief prophet Apollo is compelled, in testimony to the glory of God, to say of Athena, when the Medes were marching against Greece, that she entreated and supplicated Zeus for Attica. And the oracle is as follows:

“Pallas with many words and counsel wise May pray, but ne’er appease Olympian Zeus. For he to the consuming fire will give The shrines of many gods, who now perchance Stand bathed in chilling sweat, and shake with fear,” [136]

and so forth.

[CLEMENT] ‘Thearidas, in his book On Nature,writes, “The first cause of things that exist, the real and true cause, is one. For that is in the beginning one and alone.” [137]

“There is none other save the mighty King,” [138]

as Orpheus says. And with him the Comic poet Diphilus agrees in a very sententious manner, when he says:

“Him never cease to honour and adore, Father of all, sole source of every good.” [139]

‘With good reason, therefore, Plato trains “the noblest natures to attain that learning which in the former part of our discussion we declared to be the highest, both to discern the good and to make the great ascent.” [140] “This then, as it seems, would be no mere turning of an oyster-shell, but the conversion of a soul passing from a kind ‘of darkness visible’ to the true upward path of being, which we shall call true philosophy”;[141] and those who have partaken thereof he judges to belong to the golden race, when he says, “Ye are doubtless all brethren”;[142] but those who are of the golden race can judge most accurately, and in every way. . . . [143]

‘Instinctively, therefore, and without teaching, all things derive from all a conception of the Father and Maker of all, things inanimate by suffering with the animal creation, and of living beings those which are already immortal by working in the light of day, and of those still mortal some (perceive Him) in fear while carried by their mother in the womb, but others by independent reasoning. And of mankind both Greeks and Barbarians all have this conception; and nowhere is there any race either of husbandmen or of shepherds, nay not even of the dwellers in cities, who can live without being prepossessed by the belief in that higher power. Wherefore every nation of the east, and every one that touches the western shores, the northern also, and all upon the south, have one and the same presentiment of Him who established the government of the world, inasmuch as the most universal of His operations have pervaded all things alike.

‘Much more did the inquisitive philosophers among the Greeks, by an impulse from the Barbarian philosophy, ascribe the pre-eminence to the One invisible most mighty and most skilful chief cause of all things most beautiful, without understanding the consequences of this, unless they were instructed by us, nay, not even understanding how God Himself is naturally to be conceived, but only, as we have said many times already, in a true but indirect way.’

So far Clement. But since the Philosophy of Plato was shown by us at some length to be in very many things in agreement with the doctrines of the Hebrews (for which we admire the man’s wisdom and his candour also in regard to the truth), it is time to consider what the points are in which, as we say, we are no longer so favourably disposed towards him, but prefer that which is accounted the Barbarian philosophy to his.