{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">8. Let us begin, then, with those words which were spoken\r\nto Pharaoh, who is said to have been hardened by God, in\r\norder that he might not let the people go; and, along with\r\nhis case, the language of the apostle also will be considered,\r\nwhere he says, “Therefore He hath mercy on whom He will,\r\nand whom He will He hardeneth.”<a id=\"r425\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f425\"><sup>[425]</sup></a> For it is on these\r\npassages chiefly that the heretics rely, asserting that salvation\r\nis not in our own power, but that souls are of such a\r\nnature as must by all means be either lost or saved; and\r\nthat in no way can a soul which is of an evil nature become\r\ngood, or one which is of a virtuous nature be made bad. And\r\nhence they maintain that Pharaoh, too, being of a ruined\r\nnature, was on that account hardened by God, who hardens\r\nthose that are of an earthly nature, but has compassion on\r\nthose who are of a spiritual nature. Let us see, then, what\r\nis the meaning of their assertion; and let us, in the first place,\r\nrequest them to tell us whether they maintain that the soul\r\nof Pharaoh was of an earthly nature, such as they term lost.\r\nThey will undoubtedly answer that it was of an earthly\r\nnature. If so, then to believe God, or to obey Him, when\r\nhis nature opposed his so doing, was an impossibility. And\r\nif this were his condition by nature, what further need was\r\nthere for his heart to be hardened, and this not once, but\r\nseveral times, unless indeed because it was possible for him\r\nto yield to persuasion? Nor could any one be said to be\r\nhardened by another, save him who of himself was not obdurate.\r\nAnd if he were not obdurate of himself, it follows\r\nthat neither was he of an earthly nature, but such an one as\r\nmight give way when overpowered<a id=\"r426\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f426\"><sup>[426]</sup></a> by signs and wonders.\r\nBut he was necessary for God’s purpose, in order that, for\r\nthe saving of the multitude, He might manifest in him His\r\npower by his offering resistance to numerous miracles, and\r\nstruggling against the will of God, and his heart being by\r\nthis means said to be hardened. Such are our answers, in\r\nthe first place, to these persons; and by these their assertion\r\nmay be overturned, according to which they think that\r\nPharaoh was destroyed in consequence of his evil nature.<a id=\"r427\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f427\"><sup>[427]</sup></a>\r\nAnd with regard to the language of the Apostle Paul, we\r\nmust answer them in a similar way. For who are they\r\nwhom God hardens, according to your view? Those, namely,\r\nwhom you term of a ruined nature, and who, I am to suppose,\r\nwould have done something else had they not been\r\nhardened. If, indeed, they come to destruction in consequence\r\nof being hardened, they no longer perish naturally,\r\nbut in virtue of what befalls them. Then, in the next place,\r\nupon whom does God show mercy? On those, namely,\r\nwho are to be saved. And in what respect do those persons\r\nstand in need of a second compassion, who are to be saved\r\nonce by their nature, and so come naturally to blessedness,\r\nexcept that it is shown even from their case, that, because it\r\nwas possible for them to perish, they therefore obtain mercy,\r\nthat so they may not perish, but come to salvation, and\r\npossess the kingdom of the good. And let this be our answer\r\nto those who devise and invent the fable<a id=\"r428\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f428\"><sup>[428]</sup></a> of good or bad\r\nnatures, <i>i.e.</i> of earthly or spiritual souls, in consequence of\r\nwhich, as they say, each one is either saved or lost.</p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS.","BOOK III.","FROM THE LATIN."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-211"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"14255b5aed62c7b8cc24e977cec9d49421b954282b2657f6f99468eb432166f4","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f428","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 1869 English translation; translator died 1889. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f428","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f428\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r428\">428</a>. </span><span lang=\"la\">Commentitias fabulas introducunt.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f428","text_sha256":"e4df4ddee3ad5777e4f710691edea18a9f9924a66d44a9f2a1eb329e16f90dea","verified":false,"work_id":null}