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| Chapter V.—Closing appeal.
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Chapter V.—Closing appeal.
Henceforth, ye Greeks, come and partake of
incomparable wisdom, and be instructed by the Divine Word, and acquaint
yourselves with the King immortal; and do not recognise those men as
heroes who slaughter whole nations. For our own Ruler,2504
the
Divine Word, who even now constantly aids us, does not desire strength of
body and beauty of feature, nor yet the high spirit of earth’s
nobility, but a pure soul, fortified by holiness, and the watchwords of
our King, holy actions, for through the Word power passes into the soul.
O trumpet of peace to the soul that is at war! O weapon that puttest to
flight terrible passions! O instruction that quenches the innate fire of
the soul! The Word exercises an influence which does not make poets: it
does not equip philosophers nor skilled orators, but by its instruction
it makes mortals immortal, mortals gods; and from the earth transports
them to the realms above Olympus. Come, be taught; become as I am, for I,
too, was as ye are.2505
These have
conquered me—the divinity of the instruction, and the power of
the Word: for as a skilled serpent-charmer lures the terrible reptile
from his den and causes it to flee, so the Word drives the fearful
passions of our sensual nature from the very recesses of the soul; first
driving forth lust, through which every ill is begotten—hatreds,
strife, envy, emulations, anger, and such like. Lust being once banished,
the soul becomes calm and serene. And being set free from the ills in
which it was sunk up to the neck, it returns to Him who made it. For it
is fit that it be restored to that state whence it departed, whence every
soul was or is.2506
| 2506 [N. B.
—It should be stated that modern critics consider this work as not
improbably by another author.] | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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