{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">After assuming that some things were foretold which are\r\nimpossible in themselves, and inconsistent with the character\r\nof God, he says: “If these things were predicted of the Most\r\nHigh God, are we bound to believe them of God simply because\r\nthey were predicted?” And thus he thinks he proves,\r\nthat although the prophets may have foretold truly such things\r\nof the Son of God, yet it is impossible for us to believe in those\r\nprophecies declaring that He would do or suffer such things.\r\nTo this our answer is that the supposition is absurd, for it combines\r\ntwo lines of reasoning which are opposed to each other, and\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_438\">438</span>therefore mutually destructive. This may be shown as follows.\r\nThe one argument is: “If any true prophets of the Most\r\nHigh say that God will become a slave, or suffer sickness, or\r\ndie, these things will come to God; for it is impossible that the\r\nprophets of the great God should utter lies.” The other is:\r\n“If even true prophets of the Most High God say that these\r\nsame things shall come to pass, seeing that these things foretold\r\nare by the nature of things impossible, the prophecies are\r\nnot true, and therefore those things which have been foretold\r\nwill not happen to God.” When, then, we find two processes\r\nof reasoning in both of which the major premiss is the same,\r\nleading to two contradictory conclusions, we use the form of\r\nargument called “the theorem of two propositions,”<a id=\"r1433\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1433\"><sup>[1433]</sup></a> to prove\r\nthat the major premiss is false, which in the case before us is\r\nthis, “that the prophets have foretold that the great God should\r\nbecome a slave, suffer sickness, or die.” We conclude, then, that\r\nthe prophets never foretold such things; and the argument is\r\nformally expressed as follows: <i>1st</i>, Of two things, if the first\r\nis true, the second is true; <i>2d</i>, if the first is<a id=\"r1434\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1434\"><sup>[1434]</sup></a> true, the second is\r\nnot true, therefore the first is not true. The concrete example\r\nwhich the Stoics give to illustrate this form of argument is the\r\nfollowing: <i>1st</i>, If you know that you are dead, you are dead;\r\n<i>2d</i>, if you know that you are dead, you are not dead. And the\r\nconclusion is—“you do not know that you are dead.” These\r\npropositions are worked out as follows: If you know that you\r\nare dead, that which you know is certain; therefore you are\r\ndead. Again, if you know that you are dead, your death is\r\nan object of knowledge; but as the dead know nothing, your\r\nknowing this proves that you are not dead. Accordingly, by\r\njoining the two arguments together, you arrive at the conclusion—“you\r\ndo not know that you are dead.” Now the\r\nhypothesis of Celsus which we have given above is much of the\r\nsame kind.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK VII.","Chapter XV."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-492"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"9dad6fb4538a3f79d2102a34614a79d7ceafb1fb96aab97b2754ad2239c017f9","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-f1434","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":"f1434","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1434\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1434\">1434</a>. </span>We follow Bouhereau and Valesius, who expunge the negative particle\r\nin this clause.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f1434","text_sha256":"df3435172fb4e1da476d92aacdd0659b4159e98fbadf940b8313b5ac0cada441","verified":false,"work_id":null}