Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>It is clear, then, that the truth has been hidden from us; and if\r\nthat has been already shown by one example, we shall establish it a\r\nlittle after by several more. How entirely worthy of approbation are\r\nthey who are both willing to learn, and able, according to Solomon,\r\n“to know wisdom and instruction, and to perceive the words of wisdom,\r\nto receive<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_5\">[5]</span> knotty words, and to perceive true righteousness,” there\r\nbeing another [righteousness as well], not according to the truth,\r\ntaught by the Greek laws, and by the rest of the philosophers. “And to\r\ndirect judgments,” it is said—not those of the bench, but he means\r\nthat we must preserve sound and free of error the judicial faculty\r\nwhich is within us—“That I may give subtlety to the simple, to the\r\nyoung man sense and understanding.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_11\" id=\"FNanchor_11\">[11]</a> “For the wise man,” who has\r\nbeen persuaded to obey the commandments, “having heard these things,\r\nwill become wiser” by knowledge; and “the intelligent man will acquire\r\nrule, and will understand a parable and a dark word, the sayings and\r\nenigmas of the wise.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_12\" id=\"FNanchor_12\">[12]</a> For it is not spurious words which those\r\ninspired by God and those who are gained over by them adduce, nor\r\nis it snares in which the most of the sophists entangle the young,\r\nspending their time on nought true. But those who possess the Holy\r\nSpirit “search the deep things of God,”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_13\" id=\"FNanchor_13\">[13]</a>—that is, grasp the secret\r\nthat is in the prophecies. “To impart of holy things to the dogs” is\r\nforbidden, so long as they remain beasts. For never ought those who\r\nare envious and perturbed, and still infidel in conduct, shameless in\r\nbarking at investigation, to dip in the divine and clear stream of the\r\nliving water. “Let not the waters of thy fountain overflow, and let\r\nthy waters spread over thine own streets.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_14\" id=\"FNanchor_14\">[14]</a> For it is not many who\r\nunderstand such things as they fall in with; or know them even after\r\nlearning them, though they think they do, according to the worthy\r\nHeraclitus. Does not even he seem to thee to censure those who believe\r\nnot? “Now my just one shall live by faith,”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_15\" id=\"FNanchor_15\">[15]</a> the prophet said.\r\nAnd another prophet also says, “Except ye believe, neither shall ye\r\nunderstand.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_16\" id=\"FNanchor_16\">[16]</a> For how ever could the soul admit the transcendental\r\ncontemplation of such themes, while unbelief respecting what was to\r\nbe learned struggled within? But faith, which the Greeks disparage,\r\ndeeming it futile and barbarous, is a voluntary preconception,<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_17\" id=\"FNanchor_17\">[17]</a>\r\nthe assent of piety—“the subject of things hoped for, the<span class=\"pagenum\" id=\"Page_6\">[6]</span> evidence\r\nof things not seen,” according to the divine apostle. “For hereby,”\r\npre-eminently, “the elders obtained a good report. But without faith\r\nit is impossible to please God.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_18\" id=\"FNanchor_18\">[18]</a> Others have defined faith to\r\nbe a uniting assent to an unseen object, as certainly the proof of\r\nan unknown thing is an evident assent. If then it be choice, being\r\ndesirous of something, the desire is in this instance intellectual.\r\nAnd since choice is the beginning of action, faith is discovered to be\r\nthe beginning of action, being the foundation of rational choice in\r\nthe case of any one who exhibits to himself the previous demonstration\r\nthrough faith. Voluntarily to follow what is useful, is the first\r\nprinciple of understanding. Unswerving choice, then, gives considerable\r\nmomentum in the direction of knowledge. The exercise of faith\r\ndirectly becomes knowledge, reposing on a sure foundation. Knowledge,\r\naccordingly, is defined by the sons of the philosophers as a habit,\r\nwhich cannot be overthrown by reason. Is there any other true condition\r\nsuch as this, except piety, of which alone the Word is teacher?<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_19\" id=\"FNanchor_19\">[19]</a> I\r\nthink not. Theophrastus says that sensation is the root of faith. For\r\nfrom it the rudimentary principles extend to the reason that is in us,\r\nand the understanding. He who believeth then the divine Scriptures\r\nwith sure judgment, receives in the voice of God, who bestowed the\r\nScripture, a demonstration that cannot be impugned. Faith, then, is not\r\nestablished by demonstration. “Blessed therefore those who, not having\r\nseen, yet have believed.”<a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_20\" id=\"FNanchor_20\">[20]</a> The Siren’s songs exhibiting a power\r\nabove human, fascinated those that came near, conciliating them, almost\r\nagainst their will, to the reception of what was said.</p>","headings":["THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.","BOOK II.","CHAPTER II. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD CAN BE ATTAINED ONLY THROUGH FAITH."],"marker_anchor":"FNanchor_19","paragraph_id":"pg73020-paragraph-22"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"7dc3f771fae038d1c5b6e795197dd2d7787210a5bdaaeaa62919eb5c51325245","edition_title":"The writings of Clement of Alexandria, Vol. 2 (of 2)","edition_translators":["William Wilson"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg73020-Footnote_19","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 1869 English translation; translator died 1875. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"Footnote_19","source_ebook":73020,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a class=\"label pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_19\" id=\"Footnote_19\">[19]</a> Adopting Lowth’s conjecture of supplying πλὴν before\r\nθεοσεβείας.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"c35077683d75abe553cc6ef5d3ef5a1a978f07dfbcf4bad5c3d56302ad03dc19","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/73020/pg73020-images.html#Footnote_19","text_sha256":"784faa72237cf37694c7e753093ea62d59b31b912c94614438b21331f99c118f","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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