{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>Let him return from this, which he thinks to be natural\r\ntheology, back to that from which he went out, in order\r\nto rest from the fatigue occasioned by the many turnings and\r\nwindings of his path. Let him return, I say, let him return\r\nto the civil theology. I wish to detain him there a\r\nwhile. I have somewhat to say which has to do with that\r\ntheology. I am not yet saying, that if the earth and stones\r\nare similar to our bones and nails, they are in like manner\r\ndevoid of intelligence, as they are devoid of sensation. Nor\r\nam I saying that, if our bones and nails are said to have intelligence,\r\nbecause they are in a man who has intelligence, he\r\nwho says that the things analogous to these in the world are\r\ngods, is as stupid as he is who says that our bones and nails\r\nare men. We shall perhaps have occasion to dispute these\r\nthings with the philosophers. At present, however, I wish to\r\ndeal with Varro as a political theologian. For it is possible\r\nthat, though he may seem to have wished to lift up his head,\r\nas it were, into the liberty of natural theology, the consciousness\r\nthat the book with which he was occupied was one concerning\r\na subject belonging to civil theology, may have caused\r\nhim to relapse into the point of view of that theology, and to<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_288\">[Pg 288]</a></span>\r\nsay this in order that the ancestors of his nation, and other\r\nstates, might not be believed to have bestowed on Neptune an\r\nirrational worship. What I am to say is this: Since the earth\r\nis one, why has not that part of the soul of the world which\r\npermeates the earth made it that one goddess which he calls\r\nTellus? But had it done so, what then had become of Orcus,\r\nthe brother of Jupiter and Neptune, whom they call Father\r\nDis?<a id=\"FNanchor_277_277\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_277_277\">[277]</a> And where, in that case, had been his wife Proserpine,\r\nwho, according to another opinion given in the same book, is\r\ncalled, not the fecundity of the earth, but its lower part?<a id=\"FNanchor_278_278\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_278_278\">[278]</a>\r\nBut if they say that part of the soul of the world, when it\r\npermeates the upper part of the earth, makes the god Father\r\nDis, but when it pervades the nether part of the same the\r\ngoddess Proserpine; what, in that case, will that Tellus be?\r\nFor all that which she was has been divided into these two\r\nparts, and these two gods; so that it is impossible to find\r\nwhat to make or where to place her as a third goddess, except\r\nit be said that those divinities Orcus and Proserpine are the\r\none goddess Tellus, and that they are not three gods, but one\r\nor two, whilst notwithstanding they are called three, held to\r\nbe three, worshipped as three, having their own several altars,\r\ntheir own shrines, rites, images, priests, whilst their own false\r\ndemons also through these things defile the prostituted soul.\r\nLet this further question be answered: What part of the earth\r\ndoes a part of the soul of the world permeate in order to make\r\nthe god Tellumo? No, says he; but the earth being one and\r\nthe same, has a double life,—the masculine, which produces\r\nseed, and the feminine, which receives and nourishes the seed.\r\nHence it has been called Tellus from the feminine principle,\r\nand Tellumo from the masculine. Why, then, do the priests,\r\nas he indicates, perform divine service to four gods, two others\r\nbeing added,—namely, to Tellus, Tellumo, Altor, and Rusor?\r\nWe have already spoken concerning Tellus and Tellumo. But\r\nwhy do they worship Altor?<a id=\"FNanchor_279_279\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_279_279\">[279]</a> Because, says he, all that\r\nsprings of the earth is nourished by the earth. Wherefore\r\ndo they worship Rusor?<a id=\"FNanchor_280_280\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_280_280\">[280]</a> Because all things return back\r\nagain to the place whence they proceeded.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK SEVENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-530"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"cda5d28640e386bc91804295a8e15691d5c68b30b756fccac2be77cf21ab4717","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume I","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Book IV)","J. J. Smith (Books V-VIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45304-Footnote_280_280","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":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_280_280","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_280_280\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_280_280\"><span class=\"label\">[280]</span></a> Returner.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_280_280","text_sha256":"3966f998ea9791e28360bb4364ae66a743ce5fa2f0f80f02d58b904e2fa69a6e","verified":false,"work_id":null}