Chapter 32.—Of the Universal Way of the Soul’s Deliverance, Which Porphyry Did Not Find Because He Did Not Rightly Seek It, and Which the Grace of Christ Has Alone Thrown Open.

This is the religion which possesses the universal way for delivering the soul; for except by this way, none can be delivered.  This is a kind of royal way, which alone leads to a kingdom which does not totter like all temporal dignities, but stands firm on eternal foundations.  And when Porphyry says, towards the end of the first book De Regressu Animœ, that no system of doctrine which furnishes the universal way for delivering the soul has as yet been received, either from the truest philosophy, or from the ideas and practices of the Indians, or from the reasoning410    Inductio. of the Chaldæans, or from any source whatever, and that no historical reading had made him acquainted with that way, he manifestly acknowledges that there is such a way, but that as yet he was not acquainted with it.  Nothing of all that he had so laboriously learned concerning the deliverance of the soul, nothing of all that he seemed to others, if not to himself, to know and believe, satisfied him.  For he perceived that there was still wanting a commanding authority which it might be right to follow in a matter of such importance.  And when he says that he had not learned from any truest philosophy a system which possessed the universal way of the soul’s deliverance, he shows plainly enough, as it seems to me, either that the philosophy of which he was a disciple was not the truest, or that it did not comprehend such a way.  And how can that be the truest philosophy which does not possess this way?  For what else is the universal way of the soul’s deliverance than that by which all souls universally are delivered, and without which, therefore, no soul is delivered?  And when he says, in addition, “or from the ideas and practices of the Indians, or from the reasoning of the Chaldæans, or from any source whatever,” he declares in the most unequivocal language that this universal way of the soul’s deliverance was not embraced in what he had learned either from the Indians or the Chaldæans; and yet he could not forbear stating that it was from the Chaldæans he had derived these divine oracles of which he makes such frequent mention.  What, therefore, does he mean by this universal way of the soul’s deliverance, which had not yet been made known by any truest philosophy, or by the doctrinal systems of those nations which were considered to have great insight in things divine, because they indulged more freely in a curious and fanciful science and worship of angels?  What is this universal way of which he acknowledges his ignorance, if not a way which does not belong to one nation as its special property, but is common to all, and divinely bestowed?  Porphyry, a man of no mediocre abilities, does not question that such a way exists; for he believes that Divine Providence could not have left men destitute of this universal way of delivering the soul.  For he does not say that this way does not exist, but that this great boon and assistance has not yet been discovered, and has not come to his knowledge.  And no wonder; for Porphyry lived in an age when this universal way of the soul’s deliverance,—in other words, the Christian religion,—was exposed to the persecutions of idolaters and demon-worshippers, and earthly rulers,411    Namely, under Diocletian and Maximian. that the number of martyrs or witnesses for the truth might be completed and consecrated, and that by them proof might be given that we must endure all bodily sufferings in the cause of the holy faith, and for the commendation of the truth.  Porphyry, being a witness of these persecutions, concluded that this way was destined to a speedy extinction, and that it, therefore, was not the universal way of the soul’s deliverance, and did not see that the very thing that thus moved him, and deterred him from becoming a Christian, contributed to the confirmation and more effectual commendation of our religion.

This, then, is the universal way of the soul’s deliverance, the way that is granted by the divine compassion to the nations universally.  And no nation to which the knowledge of it has already come, or may hereafter come, ought to demand, Why so soon? or, Why so late?—for the design of Him who sends it is impenetrable by human capacity.  This was felt by Porphyry when he confined himself to saying that this gift of God was not yet received, and had not yet come to his knowledge.  For though this was so, he did not on that account pronounce that the way it self had no existence.  This, I say, is the universal way for the deliverance of believers, concerning which the faithful Abraham received the divine assurance, “In thy seed shall all nations be blessed.”412    Gen. xxii. 18.  He, indeed, was by birth a Chaldæan; but, that he might receive these great promises, and that there might be propagated from him a seed “disposed by angels in the hand of a Mediator,”413    Gal. iii. 19. in whom this universal way, thrown open to all nations for the deliverance of the soul, might be found, he was ordered to leave his country, and kindred, and father’s house.  Then was he himself, first of all, delivered from the Chaldæan superstitions, and by his obedience worshipped the one true God, whose promises he faithfully trusted.  This is the universal way, of which it is said in holy prophecy, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us; that Thy way may be known upon earth, Thy saving health among all nations.”414    Ps. lxvii. 1, 2.  And hence, when our Saviour, so long after, had taken flesh of the seed of Abraham, He says of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”415    John xiv. 6.  This is the universal way, of which so long before it had been predicted, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.  And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths:  for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”416    Isa. ii. 2, 3.  This way, therefore, is not the property of one, but of all nations.  The law and the word of the Lord did not remain in Zion and Jerusalem, but issued thence to be universally diffused.  And therefore the Mediator Himself, after His resurrection, says to His alarmed disciples, “These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.  Then opened He their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”417    Luke xxiv. 44–47.  This is the universal way of the soul’s deliverance, which the holy angels and the holy prophets formerly disclosed where they could among the few men who found the grace of God, and especially in the Hebrew nation, whose commonwealth was, as it were, consecrated to prefigure and fore-announce the city of God which was to be gathered from all nations, by their tabernacle, and temple, and priesthood, and sacrifices.  In some explicit statements, and in many obscure foreshadowings, this way was declared; but latterly came the Mediator Himself in the flesh, and His blessed apostles, revealing how the grace of the New Testament more openly explained what had been obscurely hinted to preceding generations, in conformity with the relation of the ages of the human race, and as it pleased God in His wisdom to appoint, who also bore them witness with signs and miracles some of which I have cited above.  For not only were there visions of angels, and words heard from those heavenly ministrants, but also men of God, armed with the word of simple piety, cast out unclean spirits from the bodies and senses of men, and healed deformities and sicknesses; the wild beasts of earth and sea, the birds of air, inanimate things, the elements, the stars, obeyed their divine commands; the powers of hell gave way before them, the dead were restored to life.  I say nothing of the miracles peculiar and proper to the Saviour’s own person, especially the nativity and the resurrection; in the one of which He wrought only the mystery of a virgin maternity, while in the other He furnished an instance of the resurrection which all shall at last experience.  This way purifies the whole man, and prepares the mortal in all his parts for immortality.  For, to prevent us from seeking for one purgation for the part which Porphyry calls intellectual, and another for the part he calls spiritual, and another for the body itself, our most mighty and truthful Purifier and Saviour assumed the whole human nature.  Except by this way, which has been present among men both during the period of the promises and of the proclamation of their fulfillment, no man has been delivered, no man is delivered, no man shall be delivered.

As to Porphyry’s statement that the universal way of the soul’s deliverance had not yet come to his knowledge by any acquaintance he had with history, I would ask, what more remarkable history can be found than that which has taken possession of the whole world by its authoritative voice? or what more trustworthy than that which narrates past events, and predicts the future with equal clearness, and in the unfulfilled predictions of which we are constrained to believe by those that are already fulfilled?  For neither Porphyry nor any Platonists can despise divination and prediction, even of things that pertain to this life and earthly matters, though they justly despise ordinary soothsaying and the divination that is connected with magical arts.  They deny that these are the predictions of great men, or are to be considered important, and they are right; for they are founded, either on the foresight of subsidiary causes, as to a professional eye much of the course of a disease is foreseen by certain pre-monitory symptoms, or the unclean demons predict what they have resolved to do, that they may thus work upon the thoughts and desires of the wicked with an appearance of authority, and incline human frailty to imitate their impure actions.  It is not such things that the saints who walk in the universal way care to predict as important, although, for the purpose of commending the faith, they knew and often predicted even such things as could not be detected by human observation, nor be readily verified by experience.  But there were other truly important and divine events which they predicted, in so far as it was given them to know the will of God.  For the incarnation of Christ, and all those important marvels that were accomplished in Him, and done in His name; the repentance of men and the conversion of their wills to God; the remission of sins, the grace of righteousness, the faith of the pious, and the multitudes in all parts of the world who believe in the true divinity; the overthrow of idolatry and demon worship, and the testing of the faithful by trials; the purification of those who persevered, and their deliverance from all evil; the day of judgment, the resurrection of the dead, the eternal damnation of the community of the ungodly, and the eternal kingdom of the most glorious city of God, ever-blessed in the enjoyment of the vision of God,—these things were predicted and promised in the Scriptures of this way; and of these we see so many fulfilled, that we justly and piously trust that the rest will also come to pass.  As for those who do not believe, and consequently do not understand, that this is the way which leads straight to the vision of God and to eternal fellowship with Him, according to the true predictions and statements of the Holy Scriptures, they may storm at our position, but they cannot storm it.

And therefore, in these ten books, though not meeting, I dare say, the expectation of some, yet I have, as the true God and Lord has vouchsafed to aid me, satisfied the desire of certain persons, by refuting the objections of the ungodly, who prefer their own gods to the Founder of the holy city, about which we undertook to speak.  Of these ten books, the first five were directed against those who think we should worship the gods for the sake of the blessings of this life, and the second five against those who think we should worship them for the sake of the life which is to be after death.  And now, in fulfillment of the promise I made in the first book, I shall go on to say, as God shall aid me, what I think needs to be said regarding the origin, history, and deserved ends of the two cities, which, as already remarked, are in this world commingled and implicated with one another.

CAPUT XXXII. De universali via animae liberandae, quam Porphyrius male quaerendo non reperit, et quam sola gratia christiana reseravit.

1. Haec est religio, quae universalem continet viam animae liberandae; quoniam nulla nisi hac liberari potest. Haec est enim quodam modo regalis via, quae una ducit ad regnum, non temporali fastigio nutabundum, sed aeternitatis firmitate securum. Cum autem dicit Porphyrius in primo juxta finem de Regressu animae libro, nondum receptam unam quamdam sectam, quae universalem contineat viam animae liberandae, vel a philosophia verissima aliqua, vel ab Indorum moribus ac disciplina, aut inductione Chaldaeorum, aut alia qualibet via, nondumque in suam notitiam eamdem viam historiali cognitione perlatam; procul dubio confitetur esse aliquam, sed nondum in suam venisse notitiam. Ita ei non sufficiebat quidquid de anima liberanda studiosissime didicerat, sibique, vel potius aliis nosse ac tenere videbatur. Sentiebat enim adhuc sibi deesse aliquam praestantissimam auctoritatem, quam de re tanta sequi oporteret. Cum autem dicit, vel a philosophia verissima aliqua nondum in suam notitiam pervenisse sectam quae universalem contineat viam animae liberandae; satis, quantum arbitror, ostendit, vel eam philosophiam, in qua ipse philosophatus est, non esse verissimam, vel ea non contineri talem viam. Et quomodo jam potest esse verissima, qua non continetur haec via? Nam quae alia via est universalis animae liberandae, nisi qua universae animae liberantur, ac per hoc sine illa nulla anima liberatur? Cum autem addit et dicit, Vel ab Indorum moribus et disciplina, vel ab inductione Chaldaeorum, vel alia qualibet via; manifestissima voce testatur, neque illis quae ab Indis, neque illis quae a Chaldaeis didicerat, hanc universalem viam animae liberandae contineri; et 0313 utique se a Chaldaeis oracula divina sumpsisse, quorum assiduam commemorationem facit, tacere non potuit. Quam vult ergo intelligi animae liberandae universalem viam nondum receptam, vel ex aliqua verissima philosophia, vel ex earum gentium doctrinis, quae magnae velut in divinis rebus habebantur, quia plus apud eas curiositas valuit quorumque angelorum cognoscendorum et colendorum, nondumque in suam notitiam historiali cognitione perlatam? Quaenam ista est universalis via, nisi quae non suae cuique genti propria, sed universis gentibus quae communis esset, divinitus impertita est? Quam certe iste homo non mediocri ingenio praeditus esse non dubitat. Providentiam quippe divinam sine ista universali via liberandae animae genus humanum relinquere potuisse non credit. Neque enim ait non esse, sed hoc tantum bonum tantumque adjutorium nondum receptum, nondum in suam notitiam esse perlatum: nec mirum. Tunc enim Porphyrius erat in rebus humanis, quando ista liberandae animae universalis via, quae non est alia quam religio christiana, oppugnari permittebatur ab idolorum daemonumque cultoribus regibusque terrenis , propter asserendum et consecrandum martyrum numerum, hoc est testium veritatis, per quos ostenderetur, omnia corporalia mala pro fide pietatis et commendatione veritatis esse toleranda. Videbat ergo ista Porphyrius, et per hujusmodi persecutiones cito istam viam perituram, et propterea non esse ipsam liberandae animae universalem putabat, non intelligens hoc quod eum movebat, et quod in ejus electione perpeti metuebat, ad ejus confirmationem robustioremque commendationem potius pertinere.

2. Haec est igitur animae liberandae universalis via, id est universis gentibus divina miseratione concessa; cujus profecto notitia ad quoscumque jam venit, et ad quoscumque ventura est, nec debuit, nec debebit ei dici, Quare modo? et quare sero? quoniam mittentis consilium non est humano ingenio penetrabile. Quod sensit etiam iste, cum dixit, nondum receptum hoc donum Dei, et nondum in suam notitiam fuisse perlatum. Nec enim propterea verum non esse judicavit, quia nondum in suam fidem receptum fuerat, vel in notitiam nondum pervenerat. Haec est, inquam, liberandorum credentium universalis via, de qua fidelis Abraham divinum accepit oraculum: In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes (Gen. XXII, 18). Qui fuit quidem gente Chaldaeus, sed ut talia promissa perciperet, et ex illo propagaretur sesemen dispositum per Angelos in manu Mediatoris (Galat. III, 19), in quo esset ista liberandae animae universalis via, hoc est omnibus gentibus data, jussus est discedere de terra sua et de cognatione sua et de domo patris sui (Gen. XII, 1). Tunc ipse primitus a Chaldaeorum superstitionibus liberatus , unum verum Deum sequendo coluit, cui 0314 haec promittenti fideliter credidit. Haec est universalis via, de qua in sancta prophetia dictum est: Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nos; illuminet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri: ut cognoscamus in terra viam tuam, in omnibus gentibus salutare tuum (Psal. LXVI, 2 et 3). Unde tanto post ex Abrahae semine carne suscepta, de se ipso ait ipse Salvator: Ego sum via, et veritas, et vita (Joan. XIV, 6). Haec est universalis via, de qua tanto ante tempore prophetatum est: Erit in novissimis diebus manifestus mons domus Domini , paratus in cacumine montium, et extolletur super colles; et venient ad eum universae gentes, et ingredientur nationes multae, et dicent: Venite, ascendamus in montem Domini, et in domum Dei Jacob; et annuntiabit nobis viam suam, et ingrediemur in ea. Ex Sion enim prodiet lex, et Verbum Domini ab Jerusalem (Isai. II, 2 et 3). Via ergo ista non est unius gentis, sed universarum gentium. Et lex verbumque Domini non in Sion et Jerusalem remansit; sed inde processit, ut se per universa diffunderet. Unde ipse Mediator post resurrectionem suam discipulis trepidantibus ait: Oportebat impleri quae scripta sunt in Lege, et Prophetis, et Psalmis de me. Tunc aperuit illis sensum, ut intelligerent Scripturas, et dixit eis, Quia oportebat Christum pati, et resurgere a mortuis tertio die, et praedicari in nomine ejus poenitentiam et remissionem peccatorum per omnes gentes, incipientibus ab Jerusalem (Luc. XXIV, 44-47). Haec est igitur universalis animae liberandae via, quam sancti Angeli sanctique Prophetae prius in paucis hominibus ubi potuerunt Dei gratiam reperientibus, et maxime in Hebraea gente, cujus erat ipsa quodammodo sacrata respublica, in prophetationem et praenuntiationem civitatis Dei ex omnibus gentibus congregandae, et tabernaculo et templo et sacerdotio et sacrificiis significaverunt, et eloquiis quibusdam manifestis, plerisque mysticis, praedixerunt; praesens autem in carne ipse Mediator, et beati ejus Apostoli jam Testamenti novi gratiam revelantes apertius indicarunt, quae aliquanto occultius superioribus sunt significata temporibus, pro aetatum generis humani distributione; sicut eam Deo sapienti placuit ordinare, mirabilium operum divinorum, quorum superius pauca jam posui, contestantibus signis. Non enim apparuerunt tantummodo visiones angelicae, et coelestium ministrorum sola verba sonuerunt: verum etiam hominibus Dei verbo simplicis pietatis agentibus spiritus immundi de hominum corporibus ac sensibus pulsi sunt; vitia corporis languoresque sanati; fera animalia terrarum et aquarum, volatilia coeli, ligna, elementa, sidera, divina jussa fecerunt, inferna cesserunt, mortui revixerunt: exceptis ipsius Salvatoris propriis singularibusque miraculis, maxime nativitatis et resurrectionis; in quorum uno maternae virginitatis tantummodo sacramentum, in altero autem etiam eorum qui in fine resurrecturi sunt, demonstravit exemplum. Haec via totum hominem mundat, et immortalitati 0315 mortalem ex omnibus quibus constat partibus praeparat. Ut enim non alia purgatio ei parti quaereretur, quam vocat intellectualem Porphyrius, alia ei quam vocat spiritualem, aliaque ipsi corpori, propterea totum suscepit veracissimus potentissimusque mundator atque salvator. Praeter hanc viam, quae partim cum haec futura praenuntiantur, partim cum facta nuntiantur, nunquam generi defuit humano, nemo liberatus est, nemo liberatur, nemo liberabitur.

3. Quod autem Porphyrius universalem viam animae liberandae nondum in suam notitiam historiali cognitione dicit esse perlatam: quid hac historia vel illustrius inveniri potest, quae universum orbem tanto apice auctoritatis obtinuit, vel fidelius, in qua ita narrantur praeterita, ut futura etiam praedicantur; quorum multa videmus impleta, ex quibus ea quae restant sine dubio speremus implenda? Non enim potest Porphyrius, vel quicumque Platonici, etiam in hac via quasi terrenarum rerum et ad istam vitam mortalem pertinentium, divinationem praedictionemque contemnere: quod merito in aliis vaticinationibus et quorumlibet modorum vel artium divinationibus faciunt. Negant enim haec vel magnorum hominum, vel magni esse pendenda: et recte. Nam vel inferiorum fiunt praesensione causarum, sicut arte medicinae quibusdam antecedentibus signis plurima eventura valetudini praevidentur; vel immundi daemones sua disposita facta praenuntiant, quorum jus et in mentibus atque cupiditatibus iniquorum ad quaeque congruentia facta ducendis quodam modo sibi vindicant, et in materia infima fragilitatis humanae . Non talia sancti homines in ista universali animarum liberandarum via gradientes, tanquam magna prophetare curarunt: quamvis et ista eos non fugerint, et ab 0316 eis saepe praedicta sint, ad eorum fidem faciendam, quae mortalium sensibus non poterant intimari, nec ad experimentum celeri facilitate perduci. Sed alia erant vere magna atque divina, quae quantum dabatur, cognita Dei voluntate, futura nuntiabant. Christus quippe in carne venturus, et quae in illo tam clara perfecta sunt atque in ejus nomine impleta, poenitentia hominum et ad Deum conversio voluntatum, remissio peccatorum, gratia justitiae, fides piorum et per universum orbem in veram divinitatem multitudo credentium, culturae simulacrorum daemonumque subversio et a tentationibus exercitatio, proficientium purgatio et liberatio ab omni malo, judicii dies, resurrectio mortuorum, societatis impiorum aeterna damnatio, regnumque aeternum gloriosissimae civitatis Dei conspectu ejus immortaliter perfruentis, in hujus viae Scripturis praedicta atque promissa sunt: quorum tam multa impleta conspicimus, ut recta pietate futura esse caetera confidamus. Hujus viae rectitudinem usque ad Deum videndum eique in aeternum cohaerendum, in sanctarum Scripturarum, qua praedicatur atque asseritur, veritate, quicumque non credunt, et ob hoc nec intelligunt, oppugnare possunt, sed expugnare non possunt .

4. Quapropter in decem libris istis, etsi minus quam nonnullorum de nobis exspectabat intentio, tamen quorumdam studio, quantum verus Deus et Dominus adjuvare dignatus est, satisfecimus, refutando contradictiones impiorum, qui Conditori sanctae civitatis, de qua disputare instituimus, deos suos praeferunt. Quorum decem librorum quinque superiores adversus eos conscripti sunt, qui propter bona vitae hujus deos colendos putant; quinque autem posteriores adversus eos qui cultum deorum propter vitam, quae post mortem futura est, servandum existimant. Deinceps itaque, ut in primo libro polliciti sumus, de duarum civitatum, quas in hoc saeculo perplexas diximus invicemque permixtas, exortu et procursu et debitis finibus, quod dicendum arbitror, quantum divinitus adjuvabor, expediam.