Chap. IX.—Of the Chief Good, and the Worship of the True God, and a Refutation of Anaxagoras.

I now come to the chief good of true wisdom, the nature of which is to be determined in this manner: first, it must be the property of man alone, and not belong to any other animal; secondly, it must belong to the soul only, and not be shared with the body; lastly, it cannot fall to the lot of any one without knowledge and virtue. Now this limitation excludes and does away with all the opinions of those whom I have mentioned; for their sayings contain nothing of this kind. I will now say what this is, that I may show, as I designed, that all philosophers were blind and foolish, who could neither see, nor understand, nor surmise at any time what was fixed as the chief good for man. Anaxagoras, when asked for what purpose he was born, replied that he might look upon the heaven and the sun. This expression is admired by all, and judged worthy of a philosopher. But I think that he, being unprepared with an answer, uttered this at random, that he might374    That he might be able to make some answer.   not be silent. But if he had been wise, he ought to have considered and reflected with himself; for if any one is ignorant of his own condition, he cannot even he a man. But let us imagine that the saying was not uttered on the spur of the moment. Let us see how many and what great errors he committed in three words. First, he erred in placing the whole duty of man in the eyes alone, referring nothing to the mind, but everything to the body. But if he had been blind, would he lose the duty of a man, which cannot happen without the ruin375    The fall or overthrow.   of the soul? What of the other parts of the body? Will they be destitute, each of its own duty? Why should I say that more depends upon the ears than upon the eye, since learning and wisdom can be gained by the ears only, but not by the eyes only? Were you born for the sake of seeing the heaven and the sun? Who introduced you to this376    This sight or spectacle, that is, into this world. This expression is used for the place from which the sight is beheld.   sight? or what does your vision contribute to the heaven and the nature of things? Doubtless that you may praise this immense and wonderful work. Therefore confess that God is the Creator of all things, who introduced you into this world, as a witness and praiser of His great work. You believe that it is a great thing to behold the heaven and the sun: why, therefore, do you not give thanks to Him who is the author of this benefit? why do you not measure with your mind the excellence, the providence, and the power of Him whose works you admire? For it must be, that He who created objects worthy of admiration, is Himself much more to be admired. If any one had invited you to dinner, and you had been well entertained, should you appear in your senses, if you esteemed the mere pleasure more highly than the author of the pleasure? So entirely do philosophers refer all things to the body, and nothing at all to the mind, nor do they see beyond that which fails under their eyes.377But all the offices of the body being put aside, the business of man is to be placed in the mind alone. Therefore we are not born for this purpose, that we may see those things which are created, but that we may contemplate, that is, behold with our mind, the Creator of all things Himself. Wherefore, if any one should ask a man who is truly wise for what purpose he was born, he will answer without fear or hesitation, that he was born for the purpose of worshipping God, who brought us into being for his cause, that we may serve Him. But to serve God is nothing else than to maintain and preserve justice by good works. But he, as a man ignorant of divine things, reduced a matter of the greatest magnitude to the least, by selecting two things only, which he said were to be beheld by him. But if he had said that he was born to behold the world, although he would comprise all things in this, and would use an expression of greater378    Would use a greater sound.   sound, yet he would not have completed the duty of man; for as much as the soul excels the body, so much does God excel the world, for God made and governs the world. Therefore it is not the world which is to be contemplated by the eye, for each is a body;379    Each, viz., the world and the eye.   but it is God who is to be contemplated by the soul: for God, being Himself immortal, willed that the soul also should be everlasting. But the contemplation of God is the reverence and worship of the common Parent of mankind. And if the philosophers were destitute of this, and in their ignorance of divine things prostrated themselves to the earth, we must suppose that Anaxagoras neither beheld the heaven nor the sun, though he said that he was born that he might behold them. The object proposed to man is therefore plain380    Expedita, “free from obstacles,” “unembarrassed.”   and easy, if he is wise; and to it especially belongs humanity.381    Humanity, properly that which is characteristic of man, then kindness and humaneness.   For what is humanity itself, but justice? what is justice, but piety? And piety382    Pietas. The word denotes not only piety towards God, but also the affection due to a parent.   is nothing else than the recognition of God as a parent.  

CAPUT IX. De summo bono, et de cultu veri Dei; atque Anaxagorae refutatio.

Venio nunc ad verae sapientiae summum bonum, cujus natura hoc modo determinanda est. Primum, ut solius hominis sit, nec cadat in ullum aliud animal; 0371B deinde, ut solius animi, nec communicari possit cum corpore; postremo, ut non possit cuiquam sine scientia et virtute contingere. Quae circumscriptio illas omnes sententias excludit, ac solvit; eorum enim quae dixerunt, nihil tale est. Dicam nunc, quid sit; ut doceam (quod institui) philosophos omnes caecos atque insipientes fuisse qui, quod esset homini summum bonum constitutum, nec videre, nec intelligere, nec suspicari aliquando potuerunt. Anaxagoras, cum ab eo quaereretur cujus rei causa natus esset, respondit, coeli ac solis videndi. Hanc vocem admirantur omnes ac philosopho dignam judicant. At ego hunc puto non invenientem quid responderet, effudisse hoc passim, ne taceret. Quod quidem secum, si sapiens 0371C fuisset, commentatum et meditatum habere debuit: 0372A quia si quis rationem sui nesciat, nec homo sit quidem. Sed putemus non ex tempore dictum illud effusum. Videamus, in tribus verbis quot et quanta peccaverit. Primum, quod omne hominis officium in solis oculis posuit, nihil ad mentem referens, sed ad corpus omnia. Quid si caecus fuerit, officiumne hominis amittet, quod fieri sine occasu animae non potest? Quid caeterae corporis partes? num carebunt suis quaeque muneribus? Quid, quod plus est in auribus, quam in oculis situm; quoniam et doctrina, et sapientia percipi auribus solis potest, oculis solis non potest. Coeli ac solis videndi causa natus es? Quis te in hoc spectaculum induxit? aut quid coelo rerumque naturae visio tua confert? Nimirum, ut hoc immensum et admirabile opus laudes. Confitere ergo 0372B rerum omnium esse constitutorem Deum, qui te in hunc mundum, quasi testem laudatoremque tanti sui operis induxit. Magnum esse credis videre coelum ac solem: cur ergo gratias non agis ei, qui hujus beneficii auctor est? cur non ipsius virtutem, providentiam, potestatem metiris animo, cujus opera miraris? Etenim necesse est, ut multo mirabilior sit qui mirabilia perfecit. Si te quispiam vocasset ad coenam, in eaque optime acceptus esses, num sanus viderere si pluris faceres ipsam voluptatem, quam voluptatis auctorem? Adeo philosophi ad corpus omnia referunt, nihil prorsus ad mentem; nec vident amplius quam quod sub oculos venit. Atqui, remotis omnibus officiis corporis, in sola mente ponenda est hominis ratio. Non ergo ideo nascimur, ut ea, quae 0372C sunt facta, videamus, sed ut ipsum factorem rerum 0373A omnium contemplemur, id est, mente cernamus. Quare si quis hominem, qui vere sapiat, 0373A interroget, cujus rei gratia natus sit, respondebit intrepidus ac paratus, colendi se Dei gratia natum, qui nos ideo generavit, ut ei serviamus. Servire autem Deo, nihil aliud est, quam bonis operibus tueri et conservare justitiam. Sed ille, ut homo divinarum rerum imperitus, rem maximam redegit ad minimum, duo sola deligendo, quae sibi diceret intuenda. Quod si natum se esse dixisset, ut mundum intueretur, quanquam omnia comprehenderet, ac majori uteretur sono, tamen non implesset hominis officium: quia quanto pluris est anima quam corpus, tanto pluris est Deus, quam mundus, quia mundum Deus fecit et regit. Non ergo mundus oculis, quia utrumque est corpus, sed Deus 0373B animo contemplandus est: quia Deus, ut est ipse immortalis, sic animum voluit esse sempiternum. Dei autem contemplatio est, venerari et colere communem parentem generis humani. Quod si a philosophis abfuit, projectique in terram fuerunt divina ignorando, existimandus est Anaxagoras, ad quae videnda natum se esse dixit, nec coelum vidisse, nec solem. Expedita est igitur hominis ratio, si sapiat: cujus propria est humanitas. Nam ipsa humanitas quid est, nisi justitia? quid est justitia, nisi pietas? pietas autem nihil aliud est, quam Dei parentis agnitio.