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| The numerous oracles,--fancied apparitions in sacred places, &c., dispelled by the sign of the Cross. The old gods prove to have been mere men. Magic is exposed. And whereas Philosophy could only persuade select and local cliques of Immortality, and goodness,--men of little intellect have infused into the multitudes of the churches the principle of a supernatural life.
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§47. The
numerous oracles,—fancied apparitions in sacred places, &c.,
dispelled by the sign of the Cross. The old gods prove to have been
mere men. Magic is exposed. And whereas Philosophy could only persuade
select and local cliques of Immortality, and goodness,—men of
little intellect have infused into the multitudes of the churches the
principle of a supernatural life.
And whereas formerly every place was full of the
deceit of the oracles332
| 332 On
these, see Döllinger, i. 216, &c., and Milton’s Ode
on the Nativity, stanza xix. | , and the oracles at
Delphi and Dodona, and in Bœotia333
| 333 i.e.
that of Trophonius. | and Lycia334
and Libya335
and Egypt and
those of the Cabiri336
| 336 See
Döllinger, i. 73, 164–70: the Cabiri were pre-Hellenic
deities, worshipped in many ancient sanctuaries, but principally in
Samothrace and Lemnos. | , and the Pythoness,
were held in repute by men’s imagination, now, since Christ has
begun to be preached everywhere, their madness also has ceased and
there is none among them to divine any more. 2. And whereas formerly
demons used to deceive337
| 337 Cf.
Vit. Ant. xvi.–xliii., also Döllinger, ii. 212, and a
curious catena of extracts from early Fathers, collected by Hurter in
‘Opuscula SS. Patrum Selecta,’ vol. 1, appendix. | men’s fancy,
occupying springs or rivers, trees or stones, and thus imposed upon the
simple by their juggleries; now, after the divine visitation of the
Word, their deception has ceased. For by the Sign of the Cross, though
a man but use it, he drives out their deceits. 3. And while formerly
men held to be gods the Zeus and Cronos and Apollo and the heroes
mentioned in the poets, and went astray in honouring them; now that the
Saviour has appeared among men, those others have been exposed as
mortal men338
| 338 For
this opinion, see note 1 on c. Gent. 12. | , and Christ alone has been recognised
among men as the true God, the Word of God. 4. And what is one to say
of the magic339
| 339 See
Döllinger, ii. 210, and (on Julian) 215. | esteemed among them? that before the
Word sojourned among us this was strong and active among Egyptians, and
Chaldees, and Indians, and inspired awe in those who saw it; but that
by the presence of the Truth, and the Appearing of the Word, it also
has been thoroughly confuted, and brought wholly to nought. 5. But as
to Gentile wisdom, and the sounding pretensions of the philosophers, I
think none can need our argument, since the wonder is before the eyes
of all, that while the wise among the Greeks had written so much, and
were unable to persuade even a few340
| 340 In
Plato’s ideal Republic, the notion of any direct influence of the
highest ideals upon the masses is quite absent. Their happiness is to
be in passive obedience to the few whom those ideals inspire. (Contrast
Isa. liv. 13, Jer. xxxi. 34.) | from their own
neighbourhood, concerning immortality and a virtuous life, Christ
alone, by ordinary language, and by men not clever with the tongue, has
throughout all the world persuaded whole churches full of men to
despise death, and to mind the things of immortality; to overlook what
is temporal and to turn their eyes to what is eternal; to think nothing
of earthly glory and to strive only for the heavenly.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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