{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">With respect to the question, “How is he incapable of persuading\r\nand admonishing men?” it has been already stated that,\r\nif such an objection were really a ground of charge, then the\r\nobjection of Celsus might be brought against those who accept\r\nthe doctrine of providence. Any one might answer the charge\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_399\">399</span>that God is incapable of admonishing men; for He conveys His\r\nadmonitions throughout the whole of Scripture, and by means\r\nof those persons who, through God’s gracious appointment, are\r\nthe instructors of His hearers. Unless, indeed, some peculiar\r\nmeaning be understood to attach to the word “admonish,” as\r\nif it signified both to penetrate into the mind of the person\r\nadmonished, and to make him hear the words of his<a id=\"r1313\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1313\"><sup>[1313]</sup></a> instructor,\r\nwhich is contrary to the usual meaning of the word. To\r\nthe objection, “How is he incapable of persuading?”—which\r\nalso might be brought against all who believe in providence,—we\r\nhave to make the following remarks. Since the expression\r\n“to be persuaded” belongs to those words which are termed,\r\nso to speak, “reciprocal”<a id=\"r1314\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1314\"><sup>[1314]</sup></a> (compare the phrase “to shave a\r\nman,” when he makes an effort to submit himself to the barber<a id=\"r1315\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1315\"><sup>[1315]</sup></a>),\r\nthere is for this reason needed not merely the effort of him\r\nwho persuades, but also the submission, so to speak, which is\r\nto be yielded to the persuader, or the acceptance of what is\r\nsaid by him. And therefore it must not be said that it is\r\nbecause God is <i>incapable</i> of persuading men that they are not\r\npersuaded, but because they will not accept the faithful words\r\nof God. And if one were to apply this expression to men who\r\nare the “artificers of persuasion,”<a id=\"r1316\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1316\"><sup>[1316]</sup></a> he would not be wrong; for\r\nit is possible for a man who has thoroughly learned the principles\r\nof rhetoric, and who employs them properly, to do his\r\nutmost to persuade, and yet appear to fail, because he cannot\r\novercome the will of him who ought to yield to his persuasive\r\narts. Moreover, that persuasion does not come from God,\r\nalthough persuasive words may be uttered by him, is distinctly\r\ntaught by Paul, when he says: “This persuasion cometh not\r\nof him that calleth you.”<a id=\"r1317\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1317\"><sup>[1317]</sup></a> Such also is the view indicated by\r\nthese words: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the\r\ngood of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, a sword shall devour\r\nyou.”<a id=\"r1318\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1318\"><sup>[1318]</sup></a> For that one may [really] desire what is addressed\r\nto him by one who admonishes, and may become deserving of\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_400\">400</span>those promises of God which he hears, it is necessary to secure\r\nthe will of the hearer, and his inclination to what is addressed\r\nto him. And therefore it appears to me, that in the book of\r\nDeuteronomy the following words are uttered with peculiar\r\nemphasis: “And now, O Israel, what doth the Lord thy God\r\nrequire of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and to walk in\r\nall His ways, and to love Him, and to keep His commandments?”<a id=\"r1319\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1319\"><sup>[1319]</sup></a></p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK VI.","Chapter LVII."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-452"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"bd463d5e76bbf5d51b790642018763fe399909793e01112bfaf61a6bede651a5","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-f1313","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":"f1313","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1313\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1313\">1313</a>. </span><span lang=\"grc\">τὸ καὶ ἐπιτυγχάνειν ἐν τῷ νουθετουμένῳ καὶ ἀκούειν τὸν τοῦ διδάσκοντος\r\nλόγον.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f1313","text_sha256":"427e68657eccc1f444a8a6b4a0c1d2309211645825fe9e80b33484a4148c629b","verified":false,"work_id":null}