Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">After this Celsus continues: “It is not easy, indeed, for one\r\nwho is not a philosopher to ascertain the origin of evils, though\r\nit is sufficient for the multitude to say that they do not proceed\r\nfrom God, but cleave to matter, and have their abode among\r\nmortal things; while the course<a id=\"r743\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f743\"><sup>[743]</sup></a> of mortal things being the\r\nsame from beginning to end, the same things must always,\r\nagreeably to the appointed cycles,<a id=\"r744\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f744\"><sup>[744]</sup></a> recur in the past, present,\r\nand future.” Celsus here observes that it is not easy for one\r\nwho is not a philosopher to ascertain the origin of evils, as if\r\nit were an easy matter for a philosopher to gain this knowledge,\r\nwhile for one who is not a philosopher it was difficult, though still\r\npossible, for such an one, although with great labour, to attain\r\nit. Now, to this we say, that the origin of evils is a subject\r\nwhich is not easy even for a philosopher to master, and that\r\nperhaps it is impossible even for such to attain a clear understanding\r\nof it, unless it be revealed to them by divine inspiration,\r\nboth what evils are, and how they originated, and how\r\nthey shall be made to disappear. But although ignorance of\r\nGod is an evil, and one of the greatest of these is not to know\r\nhow God is to be served and worshipped, yet, as even Celsus\r\nwould admit, there are undoubtedly some philosophers who\r\nhave been ignorant of this, as is evident from the views of the\r\ndifferent philosophical sects; whereas, according to our judgment,\r\nno one is capable of ascertaining the origin of evils who\r\ndoes not know that it is wicked to suppose that piety is preserved\r\nuninjured amid the laws that are established in different states,\r\nin conformity with the generally prevailing ideas of government.<a id=\"r745\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f745\"><sup>[745]</sup></a>\r\nNo one, moreover, who has not heard what is related of him\r\nwho is called “devil,” and of his “angels,” and what he was\r\nbefore he became a devil, and <i>how</i> he became such, and what\r\nwas the cause of the simultaneous apostasy of those who are\r\ntermed his angels, will be able to ascertain the origin of evils.\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_232\">232</span>But he who would attain to this knowledge must learn more\r\naccurately the nature of demons, and know that they are not\r\nthe work of God so far as respects their demoniacal nature, but\r\nonly in so far as they are possessed of reason; and also what\r\ntheir origin was, so that they became beings of such a nature,\r\nthat while converted into demons, the powers of their mind<a id=\"r746\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f746\"><sup>[746]</sup></a>\r\nremain. And if there be any topic of human investigation\r\nwhich is difficult for our nature to grasp, certainly the origin of\r\nevils may be considered to be such.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK IV.","Chapter LXV."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-286"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"17b715149a5da4097899772c88aa39f137fc75da94e030d70eff791752486ac7","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie","W. H. Cairns"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70693-f745","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1872 English edition; listed translators died 1889 and 1872. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f745","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f745\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r745\">745</a>.  </span><span lang=\"grc\">μὴ ἐγνωκὼς κακὸν εἶναι τὸ νομίζειν εὐσέβειαν σώζεσθαι ἐν τοῖς καθεστηκόσι\r\nκατὰ τὰς κοινότερον νοουμένας πολιτείας νόμοις.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f745","text_sha256":"bdef7c06706497288a125ebd3e136b754e9343d40b2a1fe5bb94e98b38d12b41","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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