ON REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS

 I. (1) We find, then, that in the sacred oracles delivered by the prophet Moses, there are three separate characters for a portion of them relates to

 II. And, first of all, we must investigate the subject of honours, since that is both more profitable and more pleasant to hear of, taking our commenc

 III. (15) And after the victory of hope there is another contest in which repentance contends for the prize having, indeed, no share in that nature w

 IV. (22) Then, after these contests in which repentance is concerned, he proposes a third class of prizes, relating to justice, which every one who pr

 V. (28) And let us now perceive each of these things more accurately, without allowing ourselves to be led away by names, but investigating them in th

 VI. (36) And next to the man who has acquired self-taught virtue, and who has availed himself of the riches of nature, the third person who is made pe

 VII. But the fact that he does exist, though it is comprehensible from the mere name of existence, is nevertheless not understood by every one, or at

 VIII. (47) We have now described the greatest prize of all: but in addition to these prizes, the meditator on virtue receives another prize, not well-

 IX. (52) Having thus mentioned one man of each class, since I am anxious not to be prolix, I will proceed to what comes next in the order of discussio

 X. (57) We have now thus spoken at sufficient length concerning the rewards proposed for each individual man: but rewards are also offered to whole ho

 XI. (61) And every one of these three individuals has in the account which we have received of him a figurative meaning concealed below it, which we m

 XII. (67) Therefore those rewards which were thus long since assigned to the good, both publicly and privately, have now been described though somewha

 XIII. (74) These punishments, then, are those which were decided on to be inflicted on the first slayer of his brother. But others were also appointed

 XIV. (79) And there is a distinct evidence in confirmation of what I have now said recorded in the sacred scriptures because, in the first place, the

 XV. (85) But since there are also two classes of enemies--the one being men, who are so deliberately, out of covetousness the other being beasts, who

 XVI. (91) Thus, then, the most ancient war, both in point of time and in nature, will be put an end to, when all the wild beasts will be tamed and wil

 XVII. (98) These, then, are the first things which he says will happen to those who obey God, and who at all times and in all places observe his comma

 XVIII. (106) And at that time, says the law, you, by reason of the abundant fertility, shall do what you now suffer. For now, indeed, you pay no respe

 XIX. (111) This is what the lawgiver in one passage says, while declaring the will of God, that, thou shalt complete the number of thy days, prophes

 XX. (118) These, then, of which we have already spoken, are what are called external goods, victory over one's enemies, superiority in war, confirmati

 XXI. (127) The lawgiver of our nation denounces the first curse as the lightest of evils, namely, poverty and indigence, and a want of all necessary t

 XXII. (130) And there are other misfortunes also lying in wait for the men besides those which have been mentioned, all equally contributing to produc

 XXIII. (134) And such a complete scarcity of all necessary things will seize the people that, being wholly destitute of and indifferent to them, they

 XXIV. (137) Again. To free-born people slavery is a most intolerable evil, to avoid which wise men are willing even to die, resisting in a gallant spi

 XXV. (143) For these things are the rewards of impiety and lawless iniquity. And, in addition to these things, there are diseases of the body which se

 XXVI. (148) And if, after all these calamities, they are not chastened, but still proceed by crooked paths, and turn off from the straight roads which

 XXVII. (153) The cities being thus destroyed as if by fire, and the country being rendered desolate, the land will at last begin to obtain a respite,

 XXVIII. (162) I have now, then, without making any concealment of softening the truth in any degree, explained the curses and the punishments which it

 IX. (165) But when they have received this unexpected liberty, those who but a short time before were scattered about in Greece, and in the countries

VII. But the fact that he does exist, though it is comprehensible from the mere name of existence, is nevertheless not understood by every one, or at all events not in the best way by every one; but some men have expressly and wholly denied that there is any deity at all; while others have doubted and hesitated, as if they were unable to affirm with certainty whether he has any existence or not. Others again, who have more through habit than from any exertion of their reason, received ideas about the existence of God from those who have brought them up, have seemed to be pious by a sort of felicity of conjecture, if they have stamped their piety with an impression of superstition. (41) But if any men, by a great depth of real knowledge, have been able to represent to themselves the Creator and Governor of this universe, they, according to the common phrase, have advanced upwards from below; for having entered into this world as into a city regulated by admirable laws, and having beheld the earth consisting of mountains, and of plains, and full of seed-crops, and of trees, and of fruits, and also of all kinds of animals; and beholding also seas, and ports, and lakes, and rivers of all sorts, whether proceeding from winter floods, or from everlasting springs, diffused over the surface of it, and the admirable temperature of the breezes and of the atmosphere, and the harmonious changes and well-ordered revolutions of the seasons of the year, and beyond all these things, the sun and moon, the planets and fixed stars, and the whole heaven, and all the host of heaven in its proper arrangement, and, in fact, the whole real world revolving in admirable order and regularity: (42) admiring, and being struck with awe and amazement at these things, they are come to form notions consistent with what they behold, that all these beautiful things, excessive as they are, and of such admirable arrangement and contrivance, were not produced spontaneously but were the work of some maker, the Creator of the whole world, and therefore that there must of necessity be a superintending providence. For it is a law of nature, that the Creator must take care of what he has created. (43) But these admirable men, so superior to all others, have, as I said, raised themselves upwards from below, ascending as if by some ladder reaching to heaven, so as, through the contemplation of his works, to form a conjectural conception of the Creator by a probable train of reasoning. And if any persons have been able to comprehend him by himself, without employing any other reasonings as assistants towards their perception of him, they deserve to be recorded as holy and genuine servants of his, and sincere worshippers of God. (44) In this company is the man who in the Chaldaean language is denominated Israel, but in the Greek "seeing God;" not meaning by this expression seeing what kind of being God is, for that is impossible, as I have said before, but seeing that he really does exist; not having learnt this fact from any one else, nor from anything on earth, nor from anything in heaven, nor from any one of the elements, nor from anything compounded of them, whether mortal or immortal, but being instructed in the fact by God himself, who is willing to reveal his own existence to his suppliant. (45) And how this impression was made, it is worth while to see by the observation of some similitude. Take this sun, which is perceptible by our outward senses, do we see it by any other means than by the aid of the sun? And do we see the stars by any other light than that of the stars? And, in short, is not all light seen in consequence of light? And in the same manner God, being his own light, is perceived by himself alone, nothing and no other being co-operating with or assisting him, or being at all able to contribute to the pure comprehension of his existence; (46) therefore those persons are mere guessers who are anxious to contemplate the uncreated God through the medium of the things which he created, acting like those persons who seek to ascertain the nature of the unit through the number two, when they ought, on the other hand, to employ the investigation of the unit itself to ascertain the nature of the number two; for the unit is the first principle. But these men have arrived at the real truth, who form their ideas of God from God, of light from light.