{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">I have made these remarks in reply to the charges which\r\nCelsus and others bring against the simplicity of the language\r\nof Scripture, which appears to be thrown into the shade by the\r\nsplendour of polished discourse. For our prophets, and Jesus\r\nHimself, and His apostles, were careful to adopt<a id=\"r1040\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1040\"><sup>[1040]</sup></a> a style of\r\naddress which should not merely convey the truth, but which\r\nshould be fitted to gain over the multitude, until each one,\r\nattracted and led onwards, should ascend as far as he could\r\ntowards the comprehension of those mysteries which are contained\r\nin these apparently simple words. For, if I may venture\r\nto say so, few have been benefited (if they have indeed been\r\nbenefited at all) by the beautiful and polished style of Plato, and\r\nthose who have written like him; while, on the contrary, many\r\nhave received advantage from those who wrote and taught in a\r\nsimple and practical manner, and with a view to the wants of\r\nthe multitude. It is easy, indeed, to observe that Plato is found\r\nonly in the hands of those who profess to be literary men;<a id=\"r1041\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1041\"><sup>[1041]</sup></a>\r\nwhile Epictetus is admired by persons of ordinary capacity,\r\nwho have a desire to be benefited, and who perceive the improvement\r\nwhich may be derived from his writings. Now we\r\nmake these remarks, not to disparage Plato (for the great world\r\nof men has found even him useful), but to point out the aim\r\nof those who said: “And my speech and my preaching was not\r\nwith enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of\r\nthe Spirit and of power, that our faith should not stand in the\r\nwisdom of men, but in the power of God.”<a id=\"r1042\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1042\"><sup>[1042]</sup></a> For the word of\r\nGod declares that the preaching (although in itself true and\r\nmost worthy of belief) is not sufficient to reach the human\r\nheart, unless a certain power be imparted to the speaker from\r\nGod, and a grace appear upon his words; and it is only by the\r\ndivine agency that this takes place in those who speak effectually.\r\nThe prophet says in the sixty-seventh Psalm, that “the\r\nLord will give a word with great power to them who preach.”<a id=\"r1043\"></a><a class=\"c008 pginternal\" href=\"#f1043\"><sup>[1043]</sup></a>\n<span class=\"pageno\" id=\"Page_338\">338</span>If, then, it should be granted with respect to certain points,\r\nthat the same doctrines are found among the Greeks as in our\r\nown Scriptures, yet they do not possess the same power of\r\nattracting and disposing the souls of men to follow them. And\r\ntherefore the disciples of Jesus, men ignorant so far as regards\r\nGrecian philosophy, yet traversed many countries of the world,\r\nimpressing, agreeably to the desire of the Logos, each one of\r\ntheir hearers according to his deserts, so that they received a\r\nmoral amelioration in proportion to the inclination of their will\r\nto accept of that which is good.</p>","headings":["The writings of Origen, Vol. 2 of 2","BOOK VI.","Chapter II."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70693-paragraph-395"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"8c3b33692e0f2ceda7a228609e1530850f1a3f7f3d90c7d6e33ef6d6563cf7bb","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-f1041","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":"f1041","source_ebook":70693,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f1041\">\n<p class=\"c007\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r1041\">1041</a>. </span><span lang=\"grc\">φιλολόγων.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"76ed9a9fd752c1d5095189e38fe3dcbbea0fd23d6be719db17360e4da14552fa","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70693/pg70693-images.html#f1041","text_sha256":"1b198a0524c5036b3d29e6308d630b9f0e2b2916f18627d72dc848d88196ce1d","verified":false,"work_id":null}