3. And as in the kingdoms of
earth we are in no wise constrained expressly to do reverence to those
who form the royal family as well as to the sovereigns, but whatever
honour belongs to them is found to be tacitly3925
| 3925
Lit., “whatever belongs to them feels itself to be comprehended
with a tacit rendering also of honour in,” etc., tacita et se
sentit honorificentia, read by later edd. for the
ms. ut se sentit—“but
as whatever,” retained by Hild. and Oehler; while the first four
edd. read vi—“feels itself with a silent force
comprehended in the honour in,” etc. |
implied in the homage offered to the
kings themselves; in just the same way, these gods, whoever they be,
for whose existence you vouch, if they are a
royal race, and spring
from the
Supreme Ruler, even though we do not expressly do them
reverence, yet feel that they are honoured in common with their
Lord,
and share in the
reverence shown to Him. Now
it must be
remembered that we have made this statement, on the hypothesis only
that it is clear and undeniable, that besides the
Ruler and
Lord
Himself, there are still other beings,
3926
| 3926 So
LB. and Orelli, reading alia etiamnum capita for the
ms. alienum capita, read in the
first five edd., alia non capita—“are others not
chiefs;” Hild., followed by Oehler, proposes alia deûm
capita—“other gods.” |
who, when arranged and disposed in
order, form, as it were, a
kind of plebeian mass. But do not
seek
to point out to us pictures instead of gods in your
temples, and the
images
which you set up, for you too know, but are
unwilling and
refuse to admit, that these are formed of most worthless
clay, and are
childish figures made by mechanics. And when we converse with you
on
religion, we ask you to
prove this, that there are other gods
than the one Supreme Deity in nature, power, name, not as we see
them manifested in images, but in such a substance as it might
fittingly be supposed that perfection of so great dignity should
reside.
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