{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">Now, in order to grant that there did exist a healing spirit\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_105\">105</span>named Æsculapius, who used to cure the bodies of men, I would\r\nsay to those who are astonished at such an occurrence, or at\r\nthe prophetic knowledge of Apollo, that since the cure of bodies\r\nis a thing indifferent,<a id=\"r314\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f314\"><sup>[314]</sup></a> and a matter within the reach not merely\r\nof the good,<a id=\"r315\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f315\"><sup>[315]</sup></a> but also of the bad; and as the foreknowledge of\r\nthe future is also a thing indifferent—for the possessor of foreknowledge\r\ndoes not necessarily manifest the possession of virtue—you\r\nmust show that they who practise healing or who foretell\r\nthe future are in no respect wicked, but exhibit a perfect\r\npattern of virtue, and are not far from being regarded as gods.\r\nBut they will <i>not</i> be able to show that they are virtuous who\r\npractise the art of healing, or who are gifted with foreknowledge,\r\nseeing many who are not fit to live are related to have been\r\nhealed; and these, too, persons whom, as leading improper lives,\r\nno wise physician would wish to heal. And in the responses\r\nof the Pythian oracle also you may find some injunctions which\r\nare not in accordance with reason, two of which we will adduce\r\non the present occasion; viz. when it gave commandment that\r\nCleomedes<a id=\"r316\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f316\"><sup>[316]</sup></a>—the boxer, I suppose—should be honoured with\r\ndivine honours, seeing some great importance or other attaching\r\nto his pugilistic skill, but did not confer either upon Pythagoras\r\nor upon Socrates the honours which it awarded to pugilism;\r\nand also when it called Archilochus “the servant of the\r\nMuses”—a man who employed his poetic powers upon topics\r\nof the most wicked and licentious nature, and whose public\r\ncharacter was dissolute and impure—and entitled him “pious,”<a id=\"r317\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f317\"><sup>[317]</sup></a>\r\nin respect of his being the servant of the Muses, who are deemed\r\nto be goddesses! Now I am inclined to think that no one\r\nwould assert that he was a “pious” man who was not adorned\r\nwith all moderation and virtue, or that a decorous<a id=\"r318\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f318\"><sup>[318]</sup></a> man would\r\nutter such expressions as are contained in the unseemly<a id=\"r319\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f319\"><sup>[319]</sup></a> iambics\r\nof Archilochus. And if nothing that is divine in itself is shown\r\nto belong either to the healing skill of Æsculapius or the prophetic\r\npower of Apollo, how could any one, even were I to\r\ngrant that the facts are as alleged, reasonably worship them as\r\npure divinities?—and especially when the prophetic spirit of\r\nApollo, pure from any body of earth, secretly enters through\r\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_106\">106</span>the private parts the person of her who is called the priestess,\r\nas she is seated at the mouth of the Pythian cave!<a id=\"r320\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f320\"><sup>[320]</sup></a> Whereas\r\nregarding Jesus and His power we have no such notion; for\r\nthe body which was born of the Virgin was composed of\r\nhuman material, and capable of receiving human wounds and\r\ndeath.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK III.","Chapter XXV."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-158"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"1197f99912f54231a0974477c9f7894588f52867c832b0c0febfd6fd6ca09990","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-f315","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":"f315","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f315\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r315\">315</a>. </span><span lang=\"grc\">ἀστείους.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f315","text_sha256":"6bce8ca130868fe80188d4b4d743d8512fbcf6ddf1a2de0776a2d63d4b0a3223","verified":false,"work_id":null}