Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">How impious, indeed, is the assertion of this man, who\r\ncharges us with impiety, that “not only are the irrational\r\nanimals wiser than the human race, but that they are more\r\nbeloved by God [than they]!” And who would not be repelled\r\n[by horror] from paying any attention to a man who declared\r\nthat a serpent, and a fox, and a wolf, and an eagle, and a hawk,\r\nwere more beloved by God than the human race? For it\r\nfollows from his maintaining such a position, that if these\r\nanimals be more beloved by God than human beings, it is\r\nmanifest that they are dearer to God than Socrates, and Plato,\r\nand Pythagoras, and Pherecydes, and those theologians whose\r\npraises he had sung a little before. And one might address him\r\nwith the prayer: “If these animals be dearer to God than men,\r\nmay you be beloved of God along with them, and be made\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_264\">264</span>like to those whom you consider as dearer to Him than human\r\nbeings!” And let no one suppose that such a prayer is meant\r\nas an imprecation; for who would not pray to resemble in all\r\nrespects those whom he believes to be dearer to God than\r\nothers, in order that he, like them, may enjoy the divine love?\r\nAnd as Celsus is desirous to show that the assemblies of the\r\nirrational animals are more sacred than ours, he ascribes the\r\nstatement to that effect not to any ordinary individuals, but\r\nto persons of intelligence. Yet it is the virtuous alone who\r\nare truly wise, for no wicked man is so. He speaks, accordingly,\r\nin the following style: “Intelligent men say that these\r\nanimals hold assemblies which are more sacred than ours, and\r\nthat they know what is spoken at them, and actually prove that\r\nthey are not without such knowledge, when they mention\r\nbeforehand that the birds have announced their intention of\r\ndeparting to a particular place, or of doing this thing or that,\r\nand then show that they <i>have</i> departed to the place in question,\r\nand have done the particular thing which was foretold.” Now,\r\ntruly, no person of intelligence ever related such things; nor\r\ndid any wise man ever say that the assemblies of the irrational\r\nanimals were more sacred than those of men. But if, for the\r\npurpose of examining [the soundness of] his statements, we\r\nlook to their consequences, it is evident that, in his opinion,\r\nthe assemblies of the irrational animals are more sacred than\r\nthose of the venerable Pherecydes, and Pythagoras, and\r\nSocrates, and Plato, and of philosophers in general; which\r\nassertion is not only incongruous<a id=\"r839\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f839\"><sup>[839]</sup></a> in itself, but full of absurdity.\r\nIn order that we may believe, however, that certain individuals\r\n<i>do</i> learn from the indistinct sound of birds that they are\r\nabout to take their departure, and do this thing or that, and\r\nannounce these things beforehand, we would say that this\r\ninformation is imparted to men by demons by means of signs,\r\nwith the view of having men deceived by demons, and having\r\ntheir understanding dragged down from God and heaven to\r\nearth, and to places lower still.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK IV.","Chapter XCVII."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-325"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"fa8fd8bc48561ccb7c73d68e57e683357a1e28b513a956e3d19acc4e1f669cf8","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-f839","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":"f839","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f839\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r839\">839</a>.  </span><span lang=\"grc\">ἀπεμφαῖνον.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f839","text_sha256":"262ed5ca9f2bac2f921f5f67f13f4ee87302a4729deae846ddf9f9e9b03405bd","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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