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| That the Question of Natural Theology is to Be Discussed with Those Philosophers Who Sought a More Excellent Wisdom.
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Chapter 1.—That the Question of
Natural Theology is to Be Discussed with Those Philosophers Who
Sought a More Excellent Wisdom.
We shall
require to apply our mind with far greater intensity to the present
question than was requisite in the solution and unfolding of the
questions handled in the preceding books; for it is not with
ordinary men, but with philosophers that we must confer concerning
the theology which they call natural. For it is not like the
fabulous, that is, the theatrical; nor the civil, that is, the
urban theology: the one of which displays the crimes of the gods,
whilst the other manifests their criminal desires, which
demonstrate them to be rather malign demons than gods. It is, we
say, with philosophers we have to confer with respect to this
theology,—men whose very name, if rendered into Latin, signifies
those who profess the love of wisdom. Now, if wisdom is God, who
made all things, as is attested by the divine authority and
truth,296
then the
philosopher is a lover of God. But since the thing itself, which
is called by this name, exists not in all who glory in the
name,—for it does not follow, of course, that all who are called
philosophers are lovers of true wisdom,—we must needs select from
the number of those with whose opinions we have been able to
acquaint ourselves by reading, some with whom we may not unworthily
engage in the treatment of this question. For I have not in this
work undertaken to refute all the vain opinions of the
philosophers, but only such as pertain to theology, which Greek
word we understand to mean an account or explanation of the divine
nature. Nor, again, have I undertaken to refute all the vain
theological opinions of all the philosophers, but only of such of
them as, agreeing in the belief that there is a divine nature, and
that this divine nature is concerned about human affairs, do
nevertheless deny that the worship of the one unchangeable God is
sufficient for the obtaining of a blessed life after death, as well
as at the present time; and hold that, in order to obtain that
life, many gods, created, indeed, and appointed to their several
spheres by that one God, are to be worshipped. These approach
nearer to the truth than even Varro; for, whilst he saw no
difficulty in extending natural theology in its entirety even to
the world and the soul of the world, these acknowledge God as
existing above all that is of the nature of soul, and as the
Creator not only of this visible world, which is often called
heaven and earth, but also of every soul whatsoever, and as Him who
gives blessedness to the rational soul,—of which kind is the
human soul,—by participation in His own unchangeable and
incorporeal light. There is no one, who has even a slender
knowledge of these things, who does not know of the Platonic
philosophers, who derive their name from their master
Plato. Concerning this Plato, then, I will briefly state such
things as I deem necessary to the present question, mentioning
beforehand those who preceded him in time in the same department of
literature.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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