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| Chapter III.—Testimonies to a future judgment.
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Then further
concerning Him, that He alone is powerful, both to institute judgment on
the deeds performed in life, and on the ignorance of the Deity [displayed
by men], I can adduce witnesses from your own ranks; and first
Sophocles,2600
who speaks as
follows:—
“That
time of times shall come, shall surely come,
When
from the golden ether down shall fall
Fire’s
teeming treasure, and in burning flames
All
things of earth and heaven shall be consumed;
And
then, when all creation is dissolved,
The
sea’s last wave shall die upon the shore,
The
bald earth stript of trees, the burning air
No
winged thing upon its breast shall bear.
There
are two roads to Hades, well we know;2601
| 2601 Some propose to insert these three lines in the centre
of the next quotation from Philemon, after the line, “Nay,
there’s an eye,” etc.
|
By
this the righteous, and by that the bad,
On
to their separate fates shall tend; and He,
Who
all things had destroyed, shall all things save.”
And Philemon2602
again:—
“Think’st
thou, Nicostratus, the dead, who here
Enjoyed
whate’er of good life often man,
Escape
the notice of Divinity,
As
if they might forgotten be of Him?
Nay,
there’s an eye of Justice watching all;
For
if the good and bad find the same end,
Then
go thou, rob, steal, plunder, at thy will,
Do
all the evil that to thee seems good.
Yet
be not thou deceived; for underneath
There
is a throne and place of judgment set,
Which
God the Lord of all shall occupy;
Whose
name is terrible, nor shall I dare
To
breathe it forth in feeble human speech.”
And Euripides:2603
| 2603 Grotius joins these lines to the
preceding. Clement of Alexandria assigns them, and the others, which are
under the name of Euripides, to Diphilus. | —
“Not
grudgingly he gives a lease of life,
That
we the holders may be fairly judged;
And
if a mortal man doth think to hide
His
daily guilt from the keen eye of God,
It
is an evil thought; so if perchance
He
meets with leisure-taking Justice, she
Demands
him as her lawful prisoner:
But
many of you hastily commit
A
twofold sin, and say there is no God.
But,
ah! there is; there is. Then see that he
Who,
being wicked, prospers, may redeem
The
time so precious, else hereafter waits
For
him the due reward of punishment.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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