{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">But as it is in mockery that Celsus says we speak of “God\r\ncoming down like a torturer bearing fire,” and thus compels us\r\nunseasonably to investigate words of deeper meaning, we shall\r\nmake a few remarks, sufficient to enable our hearers to form an\r\nidea<a id=\"r517\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f517\"><sup>[517]</sup></a> of the defence which disposes of the ridicule of Celsus\r\nagainst us, and then we shall turn to what follows. The divine\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_173\">173</span>word says that our God is “a consuming fire,”<a id=\"r518\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f518\"><sup>[518]</sup></a> and that “He\r\ndraws rivers of fire before Him;”<a id=\"r519\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f519\"><sup>[519]</sup></a> nay, that He even entereth\r\nin as “a refiner’s fire, and as a fuller’s herb,”<a id=\"r520\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f520\"><sup>[520]</sup></a> to purify His\r\nown people. But when He is said to be a “consuming fire,” we\r\ninquire what are the things which are appropriate to be consumed\r\nby God. And we assert that they are wickedness, and\r\nthe works which result from it, and which, being figuratively\r\ncalled “wood, hay, stubble,”<a id=\"r521\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f521\"><sup>[521]</sup></a> God consumes as a fire. The\r\nwicked man, accordingly, is said to build up on the previously-laid\r\nfoundation of reason, “wood, and hay, and stubble.” If,\r\nthen, any one can show that these words were differently understood\r\nby the writer, and can prove that the wicked man <i>literally</i><a id=\"r522\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f522\"><sup>[522]</sup></a>\r\nbuilds up “wood, or hay, or stubble,” it is evident that the fire\r\nmust be understood to be material, and an object of sense. But\r\nif, on the contrary, the works of the wicked man are spoken of\r\n<i>figuratively</i> under the names of “wood, or hay, or stubble,” why\r\ndoes it not at once occur [to inquire] in what sense the word\r\n“fire” is to be taken, so that “wood” of such a kind should be\r\nconsumed? for [the Scripture] says: “The fire will try each\r\nman’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which\r\nhe hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any\r\nman’s work be burned, he shall suffer loss.”<a id=\"r523\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f523\"><sup>[523]</sup></a> But what work\r\ncan be spoken of in these words as being “burned,” save all\r\nthat results from wickedness? Therefore our God is a “consuming\r\nfire” in the sense in which we have taken the word;\r\nand thus He enters in as a “refiner’s fire,” to refine the\r\nrational nature, which has been filled with the lead of wickedness,\r\nand to free it from the other impure materials, which\r\nadulterate the natural gold or silver, so to speak, of the soul.<a id=\"r524\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f524\"><sup>[524]</sup></a>\r\nAnd, in like manner, “rivers of fire” are said to be before\r\nGod, who will thoroughly cleanse away the evil which is intermingled\r\nthroughout the whole soul. But these remarks are\r\nsufficient in answer to the assertion, “that thus they were made\r\nto give expression to the erroneous opinion that God will come\r\ndown bearing fire like a torturer.”</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK IV.","Chapter XIII."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-232"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"6c9cf7a21ecb5990fd79f4b71a79c47f6d7bf13a13c5f5cbc65c89c0a83b5d5e","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-f520","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":"f520","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f520\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r520\">520</a>. </span><abbr class=\"spell\">Cf.</abbr> <abbr title=\"Malachi\">Mal.</abbr> <abbr title=\"three\">iii.</abbr> 2.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f520","text_sha256":"df98e22ccfbfd662396860d380e1d254e4cb85aa319d5862503b65e468954541","verified":false,"work_id":null}