Sole Government Of God. 331
SOLE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
Apollo of his deeds; for whén he weds Maidens by force, the children secretly Begotten he betrays, and them neglects When dying.
Thus not you; but while you may Always pursue the virtues, for the gods Will surely punish men of wickedness.
How is it right that you, who have prescribed Laws for men's guidance, live unrighteously ?
But ye being absent, I shall freely speak, And ye to men shall satisfaction give For marriage forced, thou Neptune, Jupiter,
Who over heaven presides.
The temples ye Have emptied, while injustice ye repay.
And though ye laud the prudent to the skies, Yet have ye filled your hands with wickedness.
No longer is it right to call men ill If they do imitate the sins* of gods ; Nay, evil let their teachers rather be."
And in Archelaus:
"Full oft, my son, do gods mankind perplex."
And in Bellerophon :
"They are no gods, who do not what is right."
And again in the same:
" Gods reign in heaven most certainly, says one ; But it is false,—yea, false: and let not him
Who speaks thus, be so foolish as to use Ancient tradition, or to pay regard Unto my words: but with unclouded eye Behold the matter in its clearest light.
Power absolute, I say, robs men of life And property; transgresses plighted faith ;
Nor spares even cities, but with cruel hand Despoils and devastates them ruthlessly.
But they that do these things have more success 1 4ax0 in Euripides, ~«A# in text.
VOL. Ii.
JUSTIN ON THE
Than those who livé a gentle pious life ; And cities small, I know, which reverence gods,
Submissive bend before the many spears Of larger impious ones ; yea, and methinks
If any man lounge idly, and abstain From working with his hands for sustenance, Yet pray the gods; he very soon will know
If they from him misfortunes will avert."
And Menander in Diphilus aL "Therefore ascribe we praise and honour great To Him who Father is, and Lord of all; Sole maker and preserver of mankind, And who with all good things our earth has stored."
The same also in the Piscatores :
"For I deem that which nourishes my life Is God; but he whose custom 'tis to meet
The wants of men,—He needs not at our hands Renewed supplies, Himself being all in all."?
The same in the Pvatres :
" God ever is intelligence to those Who righteous are: so wisest men have thought."
And in the Tibicine :
" Good reason finds a temple in all things Wherein to worship ; for what is the mind,
But just the voice of God within us placed ?
And the tragedian in Phrizus :
"But if the pious and the impious Share the same lot, how could we think it just,
If Jove, the best, judges not uprightly ?
1 These lines are assigned to Diphilus.
' The words from " but" to "all" are assigned by Otto to Justin, not to Menander.
SOLE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
In Philoctetes :
" You see how honourable gain is deemed Even to the gods; and how he is admired Whose shrine is laden most with yellow gold.
What, then, doth hinder thee, since it is good To be like gods, from thus accepting gain?"
In Hecuba:
"O Jupiter ! whoever thou mayest be, Of whom except in word all knowledge fails ;"
And, " Jupiter, whether thou art indeed A great necessity, or the mind of man, I worship thee!"
Cuap. vi.— We should acknowledge one only God.
Here, then, is a proof of virtue, and of a mind loving prudence, to recur to the communion of the unity,' and to attach one's self to prudence for salvation, and make choice of the better things according to the free-will placed in man ; and not to think that those who are possessed of human passions are lords of all, when they shall not appear to have even equal power with men.
For in Homer,' Demodocus says he is self-taught— *¢ God inspired me with strains "— p though he is a mortal.
Adsculapius and Apollo are taught to heal by Chiron the Centaur,—a very novel thing indeed, for gods to be taught by a man.
What need I speak of Bacchus, who the poet says is mad? or of Hercules, who he says is unhappy?
What need to speak of Mars and Venus, the leaders of adultery ; and by means of all these to establish the proof which has been undertaken?
Jor if some one, in ignorance, should imitate the deeds which are said to be divine, he would be reckoned among impure men, and a stranger to life and humanity; and if any one does so 1 See chap. i., the opening sentence.
2 Odyss. xv. 347.
JUSTIN ON THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.
knowingly, he will have a plausible excuse for escaping vengeance, by showing that imitation of godlike deeds of audacity is no sin.
But if any one should blame these deeds, he will take away their well-known names, and not cover them up with specious and plausible words.
It is necessary, then, to accept the true and invariable Name, not proclaimed by my words only, but by the words of those who have introduced us to the elements of learning, in order that we may not, by living idly in this present state of existence, not only as those who are ignorant of the heavenly glory, but also as having proved ourselves ungrateful, render our account to the Judge.
EXTANT FRAGMENTS OF THE LOST WORK
OF JUSTIN ON THE RESURRECTION.
Cuap. 1.—The self-evidencing power of truth. a f1i2 word of truth is free, and carries its own authority, disdaining to fall under any skilful argument, or to endure the logical scrutiny of its hearers.
But it would be believed for its own nobility, and for the confidence due to Him who sends it.
Now the word of truth is sent from God; wherefore the freedom claimed by the truth is not arrogant.
For being sent with authority, it were not fit that it should be required to produce proof of what is said; since neither is there any proof beyond itself, which is God.
For every proof is more powerful and trustworthy than that which it proves; since what is disbelieved, until proof is produced, gets credit when such proof is produced, and is recognised as being what it was stated to be.
But nothing is either more powerful or more trustworthy than the truth; so that he who requires proof of this, is like one who wishes it demonstrated why the things that appear to the senses do appear.
Tor the test of those things which are received through the reason, is sense ; but of sense itself there is no test beyond itself.
As then we bring those things which reason hunts after, to sense, and by it judge what kind of things they are, whether the things spoken be true or false, and then sit in judgment no longer, giving full credit to its decision ; so also we refer all that is said regarding men and the world to the truth, and by it judge whether it be worthless or no.
But the utterances of truth we judge by no separate test, giving full credit to itself.