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| Chapter II. The different ideas of philosophers on the subject of happiness. He proves, first, from the Gospel that it rests on the knowledge of God and the pursuit of good works; next, that it may not be thought that this idea was adopted from the philosophers, he adds proofs from the witness of the prophets.
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Chapter II.
The different ideas of philosophers on the subject of
happiness. He proves, first, from the Gospel that it rests on the
knowledge of God and the pursuit of good works; next, that it may not
be thought that this idea was adopted from the philosophers, he adds
proofs from the witness of the prophets.
4. The philosophers
have made a happy life to depend, either (as Hieronymus372
| 372 Hieronymus,
often mentioned by Cicero. Cf. Cic. de Finib. II.
3.—He lived about b.c. 300, at
Rhodes. He held that the highest good consisted in freedom from
pain and trouble. | ) on freedom from pain, or (as
Herillus373
| 373
Herillus. Cf. Cic. de Finib. V. 25. Of
Carthage; a Stoic. The chief good, according to him, consisted in
knowledge. | ) on
knowledge. For Herillus, hearing knowledge very highly praised by
Aristotle374
| 374 Aristotle,
the famous philosopher and writer. Born b.c. 384. Taught chiefly at Athens, where
Theophrastus was his pupil. | and
Theophrastus,375
| 375 Theophrastus
of Eresus in Lesbos, also a voluminous writer. He is mentioned by
Cicero thus: “Sæpe ab Aristotele, a Theophrasto
mirabiliter caudatur scientia, hoc uno captus Herillus scientiam summum
bonum esse defendit.” (de Fin. V.
25.) | made it alone to
be the chief good, when they really praised it as a good thing, not as
the only good; others, as Epicurus,376
| 376
Epicurus. Cf. Cic. Tuscul. V. 30. Born
b.c. 342 in Samos. The founder of the
Epicurean School of Philosophy. With him pleasure constituted the
highest happiness, but probably not sensual pleasures. Cf. note
on I. 50. | have called
pleasure such; others, as Callipho,377
| 377
Callipho. Cic. Acad. II. 42: A disciple of
Epicurus. The chief good of man he said consisted in the union of
a virtuous life with bodily pleasure, or, as Cicero puts it, in the
union of the man with the beast. (Cic. de Off. III.
33.) | and after
him Diodorus,378
| 378 Diodorus
living about b.c. 110, at Tyre. His view
was as stated above by St. Ambrose, whereby an attempt was made to
reconcile the Stoics and Epicureans. | understood it
in such a way as to make a virtuous life go in union, the one with
pleasure, the other with freedom from pain, since a happy life could
not exist without it. Zeno,379
| 379 Zeno of Citium, the
founder of the Stoic School. | the Stoic,
thought the highest and only good existed in a virtuous life. But
Aristotle and Theophrastus and the other Peripatetics maintained that a
happy life consisted in virtue, that is, in a virtuous life, but that
its happiness was made complete by the advantages of the body and other
external good things.
5. But the sacred Scriptures say that
eternal life rests on a knowledge of divine things and on the fruit of
good works. The Gospel bears witness to both these
statements. For the Lord Jesus spoke thus of knowledge:
“This is eternal life, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ Whom Thou hast sent.”380
About
works He gives this answer: “Every one that hath forsaken
house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or
children, or lands, for My Name’s sake, shall receive an
hundred-fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”381
6. Let no one think that this was but lately
said, and that it was spoken of by the philosophers before it was
mentioned in the Gospel. For the philosophers, that is to say,
Aristotle and Theophrastus, as also Zeno and Hieronymus, certainly
lived before the time of the Gospel; but they came after the
prophets. Let them rather think how long before even the names of
the philosophers were heard of, both of these seem to have found open
expression through the mouth of the holy David; for it is
written: “Blessed is the man whom Thou instructest, O Lord,
and teachest him out of Thy law.”382
We find elsewhere also:
“Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, he will rejoice
greatly in His commandments.”383
We
have proved our point as regards knowledge, the reward for which the
prophet states to be the fruit of eternity, adding that in the house of
the man that feareth the Lord, or is instructed in His law and rejoices
greatly in the divine commandments, “is glory and riches; and his
justice abideth for ever and ever.”384
He has further also in the same
psalm stated of good works, that they gain for an upright man the gift
of eternal life. He speaks thus: “Blessed is the man
that showeth pity and lendeth, he will guide his affairs with
discretion, surely he shall not be moved for ever, the righteous shall
be in everlasting remembrance.”385
And
further: “He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor, his
justice endureth for ever.”386
7. Faith, then, has [the promise of] eternal life,
for it is a good foundation. Good works, too, have the same, for
an upright man is tested by his words and acts. For
if a man is always busy talking and yet is slow
to act, he shows by his acts how worthless his knowledge is:
besides it is much worse to know what one ought to do, and yet not to
do what one has learnt should be done. On the other hand, to be
active in good works and unfaithful at heart is as idle as though one
wanted to raise a beautiful and lofty dome upon a bad foundation.
The higher one builds, the greater is the fall; for without the
protection of faith good works cannot stand. A treacherous
anchorage in a harbour perforates a ship, and a sandy bottom quickly
gives way and cannot bear the weight of the building placed upon
it. There then will be found the fulness of reward, where the
virtues are perfect, and where there is a reasonable agreement between
words and acts. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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