15. Wherefore there is no
reason that that3516
| 3516
So the ms. and LB., followed by Oehler;
in the edd. id is omitted. |
should
mislead us, should hold out
vain hopes to us, which is said by some men
till now unheard of,
3517
| 3517
The ms. reading is a no-b-is
quibusdam, for which LB. reads nobis a qu.—“to
us,” and Hild. a notis—“by certain
known;” but all others, as above, from a conjecture of Gelenius,
a no-v-is, although Orelli shows his critical sagacity by
preferring an emendation in the margin of Ursinus, a
bonis—“by certain good men,” in which he sees a
happy irony! |
and carried away by an extravagant
opinion of themselves, that
souls are
immortal, next in point of rank
to the
God and
ruler of the
world, descended from that
parent and sire,
divine,
wise,
learned, and not within reach of the body by
contact.
3518
| 3518
Lit., “not touchable by any contact of body,” neque ulla
corporis attrectatione contiguas. |
Now,
because this is true and certain, and because we have been produced by
Him who is
perfect without flaw, we
live unblameably,
I suppose,
and therefore without
blame;
are good, just, and upright, in
nothing depraved; no passion overpowers, no
lust degrades us; we
maintain vigorously the unremitting
practice of all the
virtues.
And because all our
souls have one origin, we therefore think exactly
alike; we do not differ in manners, we do not differ in beliefs; we all
know God; and there are not as many opinions as there are men in the
world, nor
are these divided in infinite variety.
3519
| 3519
Arnobius considers the reductio ad absurdum so very plain that
he does not trouble himself to state his argument more directly. |
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