62. And be not deceived or
deluded with vain hopes by that which is said by some ignorant and most
presumptuous pretenders,3827
| 3827
So most edd., reading sciolis, from the emendation of
Gelenius; but the ms., first five edd., Hild.,
and Oehler read scholis—“by some schools, and
(these) arrogating very much to themselves.” |
that they are
born of
God, and are
not subject to the
decrees of fate; that His
palace lies open to them
if they lead a
life of
temperance, and that after
death as men, they
are restored without hindrance, as if to their
father’s abode;
nor
by that which the Magi
3828
| 3828
Cf. ch. 13, p. 439; Plato, Rep., ii. st. p. 364, where
Glaucon speaks of certain fortune-telling vagrant seers, who persuade
the rich that they have power with the gods, by means of charms and
sacrifices, to cleanse from guilt; and also Origen, contra
Cels., i. 69, where the Magi are spoken of as being on familiar
terms with evil powers, and thus able to accomplish whatever is within
these spirits’ power. |
assert, that they have intercessory
prayers, won over by which some powers make the way easy to those who
are striving to mount to
heaven; nor
by that which Etruria holds
out in the Acherontic books,
3829
| 3829
Mentioned by Servius (on Æn., viii. 399) as composed
by Tages, cap. 69 [p. 460, supra], and seemingly
containing directions as to expiatory sacrifices. |
that
souls become
divine, and are
freed from the
law3830
of
death, if the
blood of certain
animals is offered to certain deities. These are empty delusions,
and excite
vain desires. None but the
Almighty God can
preserve
souls; nor is there any one besides who can give them length of days,
and grant to them also a spirit which shall never
die,
3831
| 3831
Lit., “a spirit of perpetuity.” |
except He
who alone is
immortal and
everlasting, and restricted by no limit of
time. For since all the gods, whether those who are real, or
those who are merely said to be from hearsay and conjecture, are
immortal and
everlasting by His good-will and free
gift, how can it be
that others
3832
are able to
give that which they themselves have,
3833
while they have it as the
gift of
another, bestowed by a greater
power? Let Etruria
sacrifice what
victims it may, let the
wise deny themselves all the
pleasures of
life,
3834
| 3834
Lit., “all human things.” |
let the
Magi soften and soothe all
lesser powers,
yet, unless
souls have received from the Lord of all things that which reason
demands, and
does so by
His command, it
3835
will hereafter deeply repent having
made itself a laughing-stock,
3836
| 3836
The ms. reads fuisse me
risui, which has no meaning; corrected, fuisse irrisui in
most edd., and derisui by Meursius, Hild., and Oehler,—the
sense being in either case as above. |
when it begins to feel the
approach
3837
| 3837
Lit., “when it begins to approach to the feeling,” cum
ad sensum; so read by Gelenius for the unintelligible
ms. cum absens cum. |
of
death.
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