{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">In the next place, Celsus urges us “to help the king with\r\nall our might, and to labour with him in the maintenance of\r\njustice, to fight for him; and if he requires it, to fight under\r\nhim, or lead an army along with him.” To this our answer is,\r\nthat we do, when occasion requires, give help to kings, and\r\nthat, so to say, a divine help, “putting on the whole armour of\r\nGod.”<a id=\"r1683\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1683\"><sup>[1683]</sup></a> And this we do in obedience to the injunction of the\r\napostle, “I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications,\r\nprayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all\r\nmen, for kings, and for all that are in authority;”<a id=\"r1684\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1684\"><sup>[1684]</sup></a> and the\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_557\">557</span>more any one excels in piety, the more effective help does he\r\nrender to kings, even more than is given by soldiers, who go\r\nforth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. And\r\nto those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for\r\nthe commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply: “Do not\r\nthose who are priests at certain shrines, and those who attend\r\non certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands free\r\nfrom blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from\r\nhuman blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and\r\neven when war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the\r\narmy. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much more so,\r\nthat while others are engaged in battle, these too should engage\r\nas the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure,\r\nand wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are\r\nfighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns\r\nrighteously, that whatever is opposed to those who act righteously\r\nmay be destroyed!” And as we by our prayers vanquish\r\nall demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of\r\noaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more\r\nhelpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for\r\nthem. And we do take our part in public affairs, when along\r\nwith righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations,\r\nwhich teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led\r\naway by them. And none fight better for the king than we\r\ndo. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it;\r\nbut we fight on his behalf, forming a special army—an army\r\nof piety—by offering our prayers to God.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK VIII.","Chapter LXXIII."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-623"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"86dbdc7d07d2eaf05535e7e0163cb353216bae5a32b41964b80ad36d82678693","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie","W. H. Cairns"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"1TI","chapter":2,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"1 Tim. ii. 1","verse":1,"verse_end":1}],"headings":[],"id":"pg70693-f1684","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":"f1684","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1684\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1684\">1684</a>. </span>1 <abbr title=\"Timothy\">Tim.</abbr> <abbr title=\"two\">ii.</abbr> 1, 2.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f1684","text_sha256":"8e76d794a8fe83398429c39752575be0748c9c89122a442d7e8f9c076d491841","verified":false,"work_id":null}