Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">Passages, indeed, might be found where corporeal and external\r\n[benefits] are improperly<a id=\"r1298\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1298\"><sup>[1298]</sup></a> called “good,”—those things, viz.,\r\nwhich contribute to the natural life, while those which do the\r\nreverse are termed “evil.” It is in this sense that Job says\r\nto his wife: “If we have received good at the hand of the\r\nLord, shall we not also receive evil?”<a id=\"r1299\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1299\"><sup>[1299]</sup></a> Since, then, there is\r\nfound in the sacred Scriptures, in a certain passage, this statement\r\nput into the mouth of God, “I make peace, and create\r\nevil;”<a id=\"r1300\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1300\"><sup>[1300]</sup></a> and again another, where it is said of Him that “evil\r\ncame down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem, the noise\r\nof chariots and horsemen,”<a id=\"r1301\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1301\"><sup>[1301]</sup></a>—passages which have disturbed\r\nmany readers of Scripture, who are unable to see what Scripture\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_397\">397</span>means by “good” and “evil,”—it is probable that Celsus,\r\nbeing perplexed thereby, gave utterance to the question, “How\r\nis it that God created evil?” or, perhaps, having heard some one\r\ndiscussing the matters relating to it in an ignorant manner, he\r\nmade this statement which we have noticed. We, on the other\r\nhand, maintain that “evil,” or “wickedness,” and the actions\r\nwhich proceed from it, were <i>not</i> created by God. For if God\r\ncreated that which is <i>really</i> evil, how was it possible that the proclamation\r\nregarding [the last] judgment should be confidently\r\nannounced,<a id=\"r1302\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1302\"><sup>[1302]</sup></a> which informs us that the wicked are to be punished\r\nfor their evil deeds in proportion to the amount of their wickedness,\r\nwhile those who have lived a virtuous life, or performed\r\nvirtuous actions, will be in the enjoyment of blessedness, and\r\nwill receive rewards from God? I am well aware that those\r\nwho would daringly assert that these evils were created by God\r\nwill quote certain expressions of Scripture [in their support],\r\nbecause we are not able to show one consistent series<a id=\"r1303\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1303\"><sup>[1303]</sup></a> of passages;\r\nfor although Scripture [generally] blames the wicked\r\nand approves of the righteous, it nevertheless contains some\r\nstatements which, although comparatively<a id=\"r1304\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1304\"><sup>[1304]</sup></a> few in number,\r\nseem to disturb the minds of ignorant readers of Holy Scripture.\r\nI have not, however, deemed it appropriate to my present\r\ntreatise to quote on the present occasion those discordant statements,\r\nwhich are many in number,<a id=\"r1305\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1305\"><sup>[1305]</sup></a> and their explanations, which\r\nwould require a long array of proofs. Evils, then, if those be\r\nmeant which are <i>properly</i> so called, were <i>not</i> created by God;\r\nbut some, although <i>few</i> in comparison with the order of the\r\n<i>whole</i> world, <i>have</i> resulted from His principal works, as there\r\nfollow from the chief works of the carpenter such things as spiral\r\nshavings and sawdust,<a id=\"r1306\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1306\"><sup>[1306]</sup></a> or as architects might appear to be the\r\ncause of the rubbish<a id=\"r1307\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1307\"><sup>[1307]</sup></a> which lies around their buildings in the\r\nform of the filth which drops from the stones and the plaster.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK VI.","Chapter LV."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-450"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"af2b357c4e4c1287eadee04cdb3469f46fd1dd2a70fc62f527ef85c1e7f036d7","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-f1298","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":"f1298","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1298\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1298\">1298</a>.  </span><span lang=\"grc\">καταχρηστικώτερον.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f1298","text_sha256":"3f63f2b9e048dbfbaae7a3ac3a87a0f329a1d9d0858abd171e0c7bf0d3209ede","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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