{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>Now what are we to say of this proposition of his, namely,\r\nthat there are three kinds of theology, that is, of the account\r\nwhich is given of the gods; and of these, the one is called\r\nmythical, the other physical, and the third civil? Did the\r\nLatin usage permit, we should call the kind which he has\r\nplaced first in order <i>fabular</i>,<a id=\"FNanchor_235_235\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_235_235\">[235]</a> but let us call it <i>fabulous</i>,<a id=\"FNanchor_236_236\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_236_236\">[236]</a> for\r\nmythical is derived from the Greek μῦθος, a fable; but that\r\nthe second should be called <i>natural</i>, the usage of speech now\r\nadmits; the third he himself has designated in Latin, calling\r\nit <i>civil</i>.<a id=\"FNanchor_237_237\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_237_237\">[237]</a> Then he says, \"they call that kind <i>mythical</i> which\r\nthe poets chiefly use; <i>physical</i>, that which the philosophers\r\nuse; <i>civil</i>, that which the people use. As to the first I have\r\nmentioned,\" says he, \"in it are many fictions, which are contrary\r\nto the dignity and nature of the immortals. For we\r\nfind in it that one god has been born from the head, another\r\nfrom the thigh, another from drops of blood; also, in this\r\nwe find that gods have stolen, committed adultery, served\r\nmen; in a word, in this all manner of things are attributed\r\nto the gods, such as may befall, not merely any man, but\r\neven the most contemptible man.\" He certainly, where\r\nhe could, where he dared, where he thought he could do\r\nit with impunity, has manifested, without any of the haziness\r\nof ambiguity, how great injury was done to the nature\r\nof the gods by lying fables; for he was speaking, not concerning\r\nnatural theology, not concerning civil, but concerning<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_239\">[Pg 239]</a></span>\r\nfabulous theology, which he thought he could freely find fault\r\nwith.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK SIXTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-437"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"259d8ce959b5c7d863f527abe7476e9b8518c7aa1c00466e843e64ac4344b316","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_237_237","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_237_237","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_237_237\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_237_237\"><span class=\"label\">[237]</span></a> <i>Civile.</i></p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_237_237","text_sha256":"326eb93ac463f588e8ba1f38c1aeb2de9f6e23cc8e6ea3e97b225cf51ba1a08e","verified":false,"work_id":null}