(111) We need no longer scruple to affirm that the prophets only
perceived God's revelation by the aid of imagination, that is, by words and
figures either real or imaginary. (112) We find no other means mentioned in
Scripture, and therefore must not invent any. (113) As to the particular law
of Nature by which the communications took place, I confess my ignorance.
(114) I might, indeed, say as others do, that they took place by the power
of God; but this would be mere trifling, and no better than explaining some
unique specimen by a transcendental term. (115) Everything takes place by
the power of God. (116) Nature herself is the power of God under another
name, and our ignorance of the power of God is co-extensive with our
ignorance of Nature. (117) It is absolute folly, therefore, to ascribe an
event to the power of God when we know not its natural cause, which is the
power of God.

(118) However, we are not now inquiring into the causes of prophetic
knowledge. (119) We are only attempting, as I have said, to examine the
Scriptural documents, and to draw our conclusions from them as from ultimate
natural facts; the causes of the documents do not concern us.

(120) As the prophets perceived the revelations of God by the aid of
imagination, they could indisputably perceive much that is beyond the
boundary of the intellect, for many more ideas can be constructed from words
and figures than from the principles and notions on which the whole fabric
of reasoned knowledge is reared.

(121) Thus we have a clue to the fact that the prophets perceived nearly
everything in parables and allegories, and clothed spiritual truths in
bodily forms, for such is the usual method of imagination. (122) We need no
longer wonder that Scripture and the prophets speak so strangely and
obscurely of God's Spirit or Mind (cf. Numbers xi:17, 1 Kings xxii:21, &c.),
that the Lord was seen by Micah as sitting, by Daniel as an old man clothed
in white, by Ezekiel as a fire, that the Holy Spirit appeared to those with
Christ as a descending dove, to the apostles as fiery tongues, to Paul on
his conversion as a great light. (123) All these expressions are plainly in
harmony with the current ideas of God and spirits.

(124) Inasmuch as imagination is fleeting and inconstant, we find that the
power of prophecy did not remain with a prophet for long, nor manifest
itself frequently, but was very rare; manifesting itself only in a few men,
and in them not often.

(125)We must necessarily inquire how the prophets became assured of the
truth of what they perceived by imagination, and not by sure mental laws;
but our investigation must be confined to Scripture, for the subject is one
on which we cannot acquire certain knowledge, and which we cannot explain by
the immediate causes. (126) Scripture teaching about the assurance of
prophets I will treat of in the next chapter.




CHAPTER II. - OF PROPHETS.

(1) It follows from the last chapter that, as I have said, the prophets were
endowed with unusually vivid imaginations, and not with unusually, perfect
minds. (2) This conclusion is amply sustained by Scripture, for we are told
that Solomon was the wisest of men, but had no special faculty of prophecy.
(3) Heman, Calcol, and Dara, though men of great talent, were not prophets,
whereas uneducated countrymen, nay, even women, such as Hagar, Abraham's
handmaid, were thus gifted. (4) Nor is this contrary to ordinary experience
and reason. (5) Men of great imaginative power are less fitted for abstract
reasoning, whereas those who excel in intellect and its use keep their
imagination more restrained and controlled, holding it in subjection, so to
speak, lest it should usurp the place of reason.

(6) Thus to suppose that knowledge of natural and spiritual phenomena can be
gained from the prophetic books, is an utter mistake, which I shall
endeavour to expose, as I think philosophy, the age, and the question itself
demand. (7) I care not for the girdings of superstition, for superstition is
the bitter enemy, of all true knowledge and true morality. (8) Yes; it has
come to this! (9) Men who openly confess that they can form no idea of God,
and only know Him through created things, of which they know not the causes,
can unblushingly, accuse philosophers of Atheism. (10) Treating the question
methodically, I will show that prophecies varied, not only according to
the imagination and physical temperament of the prophet, but also according
to his particular opinions; and further that prophecy never rendered the
prophet wiser than he was before. (11) But I will first discuss the
assurance of truth which the prophets received, for this is akin to the
subject-matter of the chapter, and will serve to elucidate somewhat our
present point.

(12) Imagination does not, in its own nature, involve any certainty of
truth, such as is implied in every clear and distinct idea, but requires
some extrinsic reason to assure us of its objective reality: hence prophecy
cannot afford certainty, and the prophets were assured of God's revelation
by some sign, and not by the fact of revelation, as we may see from Abraham,
who, when he had heard the promise of God, demanded a sign, not because he
did not believe in God, but because he wished to be sure that it was God Who
made the promise. (13) The fact is still more evident in the case of Gideon:
"Show me," he says to God, "show me a sign, that I may know that it is Thou
that talkest with me." (14) God also says to Moses: "And let this be a
sign that I have sent thee." (15) Hezekiah, though he had long known Isaiah
to be a prophet, none the less demanded a sign of the cure which he
predicted. (15) It is thus quite evident that the prophets always received
some sign to certify them of their prophetic imaginings; and for this reason
Moses bids the Jews (Deut. xviii.) ask of the prophets a sign, namely, the
prediction of some coming event. (16) In this respect, prophetic knowledge
is inferior to natural knowledge, which needs no sign, and in itself implies
certitude. (17) Moreover, Scripture warrants the statement that the
certitude of the prophets was not mathematical, but moral. (18) Moses lays
down the punishment of death for the prophet who preaches new gods, even
though he confirm his doctrine by signs and wonders (Deut. xiii.); "For," he
says, "the Lord also worketh signs and wonders to try His people." (19) And
Jesus Christ warns His disciples of the same thing (Matt. xxiv:24). (20)
Furthermore, Ezekiel (xiv:9) plainly states that God sometimes deceives
men with false revelations; and Micaiah bears like witness in the case of
the prophets of Ahab.

(21) Although these instances go to prove that revelation is open to doubt,
it nevertheless contains, as we have said, a considerable element of
certainty, for God never deceives the good, nor His chosen, but (according
to the ancient proverb, and as appears in the history of Abigail and her
speech), God uses the good as instruments of goodness, and the wicked as
means to execute His wrath. (22) This may be seen from the case of Micaiah
above quoted; for although God had determined to deceive Ahab, through
prophets, He made use of lying prophets; to the good prophet He revealed the
truth, and did not forbid his proclaiming it.

(23) Still the certitude of prophecy, remains, as I have said, merely,
moral; for no one can justify himself before God, nor boast that he is an
instrument for God's goodness. (24) Scripture itself teaches and shows that
God led away David to number the people, though it bears ample
witness to David's piety.

(25) The whole question of the certitude of prophecy, was based on these three considerations:
   1. That the things revealed were imagined very vividly, affecting the
      prophets in the same way as things seen when awake;

   2. The presence of a sign;

   3. Lastly, and chiefly, that the mind of the prophet was given wholly,
      to what was right and  good.

(26) Although Scripture does not always make mention of a sign, we must
nevertheless suppose that a sign was always vouchsafed; for Scripture does
not always relate every, condition and circumstance (as many, have
remarked), but rather takes them for granted. (27) We may, however, admit
that no sign was needed when the prophecy declared nothing that was not
already contained in the law of Moses, because it was confirmed by that law.
(28) For instance, Jeremiah's prophecy, of the destruction of Jerusalem was
confirmed by the prophecies of other prophets, and by the threats in the
law, and, therefore, it needed no sign ; whereas Hananiah, who, contrary to
all the prophets, foretold the speedy restoration of the state, stood in
need of a sign, or he would have been in doubt as to the truth of his
prophecy, until it was confirmed by facts. (29) "The prophet which
prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to
pass, then shall the prophet be known that the Lord hath truly sent him."

(30) As, then, the certitude afforded to the prophet by signs was not
mathematical (i.e. did not necessarily follow from the perception of the
thing perceived or seen), but only moral, and as the signs were only given
to convince the prophet, it follows that such signs were given according to
the opinions and capacity of each prophet, so that a sign which
convince one prophet would fall far short of convincing another who was
imbued with different opinions. (31) Therefore the signs varied according to
the individual prophet.

(32) So also did the revelation vary, as we have stated, according to
individual disposition and temperament, and according to the opinions
previously held.

(33) It varied according to disposition, in this way: if a prophet was
cheerful, victories, peace, and events which make men glad, were revealed to
him; in that he was naturally more likely to imagine such things. (34) If,
on the contrary, he was melancholy, wars, massacres, and calamities were
revealed; and so, according as a prophet was merciful, gentle, quick to
anger, or severe, he was more fitted for one kind of revelation than
another. (35) It varied according to the temper of imagination in this way:
if a prophet was cultivated he perceived the mind of God in a cultivated
way, if he was confused he perceived it confusedly. (36) And so with
revelations perceived through visions. (37) If a prophet was a countryman he
saw visions of oxen, cows, and the like; if he was a soldier, he saw
generals and armies; if a courtier, a royal throne, and so on.

(38) Lastly, prophecy varied according to the opinions held by the prophets;
for instance, to the Magi, who believed in the follies of astrology, the
birth of Christ was revealed through the vision of a star in the East. (39)
To the augurs of Nebuchadnezzar the destruction of Jerusalem was revealed
through entrails, whereas the king himself inferred it from oracles and the
direction of arrows which he shot into the air. (40) To prophets who
believed that man acts from free choice and by his own power, God was
revealed as standing apart from and ignorant of future human actions. (41)
All of which we will illustrate from Scripture.

(42) The first point is proved from the case of Elisha, who, in order to
prophecy to Jehoram, asked for a harp, and was unable to perceive the Divine
purpose till he had been recreated by its music; then, indeed, he prophesied
to Jehoram and to his allies glad tidings, which previously he had been
unable to attain to because he was angry with the king, and these who are
angry with anyone can imagine evil of him, but not good. (43) The theory
that God does not reveal Himself to the angry or the sad, is a mere dream:
for God revealed to Moses while angry, the terrible slaughter of the
firstborn, and did so without the intervention of a harp. (44) To Cain in
his rage, God was revealed, and to Ezekiel, impatient with anger, was
revealed the contumacy and wretchedness of the Jews. (45) Jeremiah,
miserable and weary of life, prophesied the disasters of the Hebrews, so
that Josiah would not consult him, but inquired of a woman, inasmuch as it
was more in accordance with womanly nature that God should reveal His mercy
thereto. (46) So, Micaiah never prophesied good to Ahab, though other true
prophets had done so, but invariably evil. (46) Thus we see that individual
prophets were by temperament more fitted for one sort of revelation than
another.

(47) The style of the prophecy also varied according to the eloquence of the
individual prophet. (48) The prophecies of Ezekiel and Amos are not written
in a cultivated style like those of Isaiah and Nahum, but more rudely. (49)
Any Hebrew scholar who wishes to inquire into this point more closely, and
compares chapters of the different prophets treating of the same subject,
will find great dissimilarity of style. (50) Compare, for instance, chap. i.
of the courtly Isaiah, verse 11 to verse 20, with chap. v. of the countryman
Amos, verses 21-24. (51) Compare also the order and reasoning of the
prophecies of Jeremiah, written in Idumaea (chap. xhx.), with the order and
reasoning of Obadiah. (52) Compare, lastly, Isa. xl:19, 20, and xliv:8, with
Hosea viii:6, and xiii:2. And so on.

(53) A due consideration of these passage will clearly show us that God has
no particular style in speaking, but, according to the learning and capacity
of the prophet, is cultivated, compressed, severe, untutored, prolix, or
obscure.

(54) There was, moreover, a certain variation in the visions vouchsafed to
the prophets, and in the symbols by which they expressed them, for Isaiah
saw the glory of the Lord departing from the Temple in a different form from
that presented to Ezekiel. (55) The Rabbis, indeed, maintain that both
visions were really the same, but that Ezekiel, being a countryman, was
above measure impressed by it, and therefore set it forth in full detail;
but unless there is a trustworthy tradition on the subject, which I do not
for a moment believe, this theory is plainly an invention. Isaiah saw
seraphim with six wings, Ezekiel beasts with four wings; Isaiah saw God
clothed and sitting on a royal throne, Ezekiel saw Him in the likeness of a
fire; each doubtless saw God under the form in which he usually imagined
Him.

(56) Further, the visions varied in clearness as well as in details; for the
revelations of Zechariah were too obscure to be understood by the prophet
without explanation, as appears from his narration of them; the visions of
Daniel could not be understood by him even after they had been explained,
and this obscurity did not arise from the difficulty of the matter revealed
(for being merely human affairs, these only transcended human capacity in
being future), but solely in the fact that Daniel's imagination was not so
capable for prophecy while he was awake as while he was asleep; and this is
further evident from the fact that at the very beginning of the vision he
was so terrified that he almost despaired of his strength. (57) Thus, on
account of the inadequacy of his imagination and his strength, the things
revealed were so obscure to him that he could not understand them even after
they had been explained. (58) Here we may note that the words heard by
Daniel, were, as we have shown above, simply imaginary, so that it is hardly
wonderful that in his frightened state he imagined them so confusedly and
obscurely that afterwards he could make nothing of them. (59) Those who say
that God did not wish to make a clear revelation, do not seem to have read
the words of the angel, who expressly says that he came to make the prophet
understand what should befall his people in the latter days (Dan. x:14).

(60) The revelation remained obscure because no one was found, at that time,
with imagination sufficiently strong to conceive it more clearly. (61)
Lastly, the prophets, to whom it was revealed that God would take away
Elijah, wished to persuade Elisha that he had been taken somewhere where
they would find him; showing sufficiently clearly that they had not
understood God's revelation aright.

(62) There is no need to set this out more amply, for nothing is more plain
in the Bible than that God endowed some prophets with far greater gifts of
prophecy than others. (63) But I will show in greater detail and length, for
I consider the point more important, that the prophecies varied according to
the opinions previously embraced by the prophets, and that the prophets held
diverse and even contrary opinions and prejudices. (64) (I speak, be it
understood, solely of matters speculative, for in regard to uprightness and
morality the case is widely different.) (65) From thence I shall conclude
that prophecy never rendered the prophets more learned, but left them with
their former opinions, and that we are, therefore, not at all bound to
trust them in matters of intellect.

(66) Everyone has been strangely hasty in affirming that the prophets knew
everything within the scope of human intellect; and, although certain
passages of Scripture plainly affirm that the prophets were in certain
respects ignorant, such persons would rather say that they do not
understand the passages than admit that there was anything which the
prophets did not know; or else they try to wrest the Scriptural words away
from their evident meaning.

(67) If either of these proceedings is allowable we may as well shut our
Bibles, for vainly shall we attempt to prove anything from them if their
plainest passages may be classed among obscure and impenetrable mysteries,
or if we may put any interpretation on them which we fancy. (68) For
instance, nothing is more clear in the Bible than that Joshua, and perhaps
also the author who wrote his history, thought that the sun revolves round
the earth, and that the earth is fixed, and further that the sun for a
certain period remained still. (69) Many, who will not admit any movement in
the heavenly bodies, explain away the passage till it seems to mean
something quite different; others, who have learned to philosophize more
correctly, and understand that the earth moves while the sun is still, or at
any rate does not revolve round the earth, try with all their might to wrest
this meaning from Scripture, though plainly nothing of the sort is
intended. (70) Such quibblers excite my wonder! (71) Are we, forsooth, bound
to believe that Joshua the Soldier was a learned astronomer? or that a
miracle could not be revealed to him, or that the light of the sun could not
remain longer than usual above the horizon, without his knowing the cause?
(72) To me both alternatives appear ridiculous, and therefore I would
rather say, that Joshua was ignorant of the true cause of the lengthened
day, and that he and the whole host with him thought that the sun moved
round the earth every day, and that on that particular occasion it stood
still for a time, thus causing the light to remain longer; and I would
say, that they did not conjecture that, from the amount of snow in the air
(see Josh. x:11), the refraction may have been greater than usual, or that
there may have been some other cause which we will not now inquire into.

(73) So also the sign of the shadow going back was revealed to Isaiah
according to his understanding; that is, as proceeding from a going
backwards of the sun; for he, too, thought that the sun moves and that the
earth is still; of parhelia he perhaps never even dreamed. (74) We may
arrive at this conclusion without any, scruple, for the sign could really
have come to pass, and have been predicted by Isaiah to the king, without
the prophet being aware of the real cause.

(75) With regard to the building of the Temple by Solomon, if it was really
dictate by God we must maintain the same doctrine: namely, that all the
measurements were revealed according to the opinions and understanding of
the king; for as we are not bound to believe that Solomon was a
mathematician, we may affirm that he was ignorant of the true ratio between
the circumference and the diameter of a circle, and that, like the
generality of workmen, he thought that it was as three to one. (76) But if
it is allowable to declare that we do not understand the passage, in good
sooth I know nothing in the Bible that we can understand; for the process of
building is there narrated simply and as a mere matter of history. (77) If,
again, it is permitted to pretend that the passage has another meaning, and
was written as it is from some reason unknown to us, this is no less than a
complete subversal of the Bible; for every absurd and evil invention of
human perversity could thus, without detriment to Scriptural authority, be
defended and fostered. (78) Our conclusion is in no wise impious, for though
Solomon, Isaiah, Joshua, &c. were prophets, they were none the less men, and
as such not exempt from human shortcomings.

(79) According to the understanding of Noah it was revealed to him that God
as about to destroy the whole human race, for Noah thought that beyond the
limits of Palestine the world was not inhabited.

(80) Not only in matters of this kind, but in others more important, the
about the Divine attributes, but held quite ordinary notions about God, and
to these notions their revelations were adapted, as I will
demonstrate by ample Scriptural testimony; from all which one may easily see
that they were praised and commended, not so much for the sublimity and
eminence of their intellect as for their piety and faithfulness.

(81) Adam, the first man to whom God was revealed, did not know that He is
omnipotent and omniscient; for he hid himself from Him, and attempted to
make excuses for his fault before God, as though he had had to do with a
man; therefore to him also was God revealed according to his understanding -
that is, as being unaware of his situation or his sin, for Adam
heard, or seemed to hear, the Lord walling, in the garden, calling him and
asking him where he was; and then, on seeing his shamefacedness, asking him
whether he had eaten of the forbidden fruit. (82) Adam evidently only knew
the Deity as the Creator of all things. (83) To Cain also God was revealed,
according to his understanding, as ignorant of human affairs, nor was a
higher conception of the Deity required for repentance of his sin.

(83) To Laban the Lord revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, because Laban
believed that each nation had its own special divinity (see Gen. xxxi:29).
(84) Abraham also knew not that God is omnipresent, and has foreknowledge of
all things; for when he heard the sentence against the inhabitants of Sodom,
he prayed that the Lord should not execute it till He had ascertained
whether they all merited such punishment; for he said (see Gen. xviii:24),
"Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city," and in accordance
with this belief God was revealed to him; as Abraham imagined, He spake
thus: "I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether
according to the cry of it which is come unto Me; and, if not, I will know."
(85) Further, the Divine testimony concerning Abraham asserts nothing but
that he was obedient, and that he "commanded his household after him that
they should keep the way of the Lord" (Gen. xviii:19); it does not state
that he held sublime conceptions of the Deity.

(86) Moses, also, was not sufficiently aware that God is omniscient, and
directs human actions by His sole decree, for although God Himself says that
the Israelites should hearken to Him, Moses still considered the matter
doubtful and repeated, "But if they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my
voice." (87) To him in like manner God was revealed as taking no part in,
and as being ignorant of, future human actions: the Lord gave him two signs
and said, "And it shall come to pass that if they will not believe thee,
neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the
voice of the latter sign; but if not, thou shalt take of the water of the
river," &c. (88) Indeed, if any one considers without prejudice the recorded
opinions of Moses, he will plainly see that Moses conceived the Deity as a
Being Who has always existed, does exist, and always will exist, and for
this cause he calls Him by the name Jehovah, which in Hebrew signifies these
three phases of existence: as to His nature, Moses only taught that He is
merciful, gracious, and exceeding jealous, as appears from many passages in
the Pentateuch. (89) Lastly, he believed and taught that this Being was so
different from all other beings, that He could not be expressed by the image
of any visible thing; also, that He could not be looked upon, and that not
so much from inherent impossibility as from human infirmity; further, that
by reason of His power He was without equal and unique. (90) Moses admitted,
indeed, that there were beings (doubtless by the plan and command of the
Lord) who acted as God's vicegerents - that is, beings to whom God had given
the right, authority, and power to direct nations, and to provide and care
for them; but he taught that this Being Whom they were bound to obey was
the highest and Supreme God, or (to use the Hebrew phrase) God of gods, and
thus in the song (Exod. xv:11) he exclaims, "Who is like unto Thee, 0 Lord,
among the gods?" and Jethro says (Exod. xviii:11), "Now I know that the Lord
is greater than all gods." (91) That is to say, "I am at length compelled to
admit to Moses that Jehovah is greater than all gods, and that His power
is unrivalled." (92) We must remain in doubt whether Moses thought that
these beings who acted as God's vicegerents were created by Him, for he
has stated nothing, so far as we know, about their creation and origin. (93)
He further taught that this Being had brought the visible world into order
from Chaos, and had given Nature her germs, and therefore that He
possesses supreme right and power over all things; further, that by reason
of this supreme right and power He had chosen for Himself alone the Hebrew
nation and a certain strip of territory, and had handed over to the care of
other gods substituted by Himself the rest of the nations and territories,
and that therefore He was called the God of Israel and the God of Jerusalem,
whereas the other gods were called the gods of the Gentiles. (94) For this
reason the Jews believed that the strip of territory which God had chosen
for Himself, demanded a Divine worship quite apart and different from the
worship which obtained elsewhere, and that the Lord would not suffer the
worship of other gods adapted to other countries. (95) Thus they thought
that the people whom the king of Assyria had brought into Judaea were torn
in pieces by lions because they knew not the worship of the National
Divinity (2 Kings xvii:25).

(96) Jacob, according to Aben Ezra's opinion, therefore admonished his sons
when he wished them to seek out a new country, that they should prepare
themselves for a new worship, and lay aside the worship of strange, gods -
that is, of the gods of the land where they were (Gen. xxxv:2, 3).

(97) David, in telling Saul that he was compelled by the king's persecution
to live away from his country, said that he was driven out from the heritage
of the Lord, and sent to worship other gods (1 Sam. xxvi:19). (98) Lastly,
he believed that this Being or Deity had His habitation in the heavens
(Deut. xxxiii:27), an opinion very common among the Gentiles.

(99) If we now examine the revelations to Moses, we shall find that they
were accommodated to these opinions; as he believed that the Divine Nature
was subject to the conditions of mercy, graciousness, &c., so God was
revealed to him in accordance with his idea and under these attributes (see
Exodus xxxiv:6, 7, and the second commandment). (100) Further it is related
(Ex. xxxiii:18) that Moses asked of God that he might behold Him, but as
Moses (as we have said) had formed no mental image of God, and God (as I
have shown) only revealed Himself to the prophets in accordance with the
disposition of their imagination, He did not reveal Himself in any form.
(101) This, I repeat, was because the imagination of Moses was unsuitable,
for other prophets bear witness that they saw the Lord; for instance,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, &c. (102) For this reason God answered Moses, "Thou
canst not see My face;" and inasmuch as Moses believed that God can be
looked upon - that is, that no contradiction of the Divine nature is therein
involved (for otherwise he would never have preferred his request) - it is
added, "For no one shall look on Me and live," thus giving a reason in
accordance with Moses' idea, for it is not stated that a contradiction of
the Divine nature would be involved, as was really the case, but that the
thing would not come to pass because of human infirmity.

(103) When God would reveal to Moses that the Israelites, because they
worshipped the calf, were to be placed in the same category as other
nations, He said (ch. xxxiii:2, 3), that He would send an angel (that is, a
being who should have charge of the Israelites, instead of the Supreme
Being), and that He Himself would no longer remain among them; thus leaving
Moses no ground for supposing that the Israelites were more beloved by God
than the other nations whose guardianship He had entrusted to other beings
or angels (vide verse 16).

(104) Lastly, as Moses believed that God dwelt in the heavens, God was
revealed to him as coming down from heaven on to a mountain, and in order to
talk with the Lord Moses went up the mountain, which he certainly need not
have done if he could have conceived of God as omnipresent.

(105) The Israelites knew scarcely anything of God, although He was revealed
to them; and this is abundantly evident from their transferring, a few days
afterwards, the honour and worship due to Him to a calf, which they believed
to be the god who had brought them out of Egypt. (106) In truth, it is
hardly likely that men accustomed to the superstitions of Egypt,
uncultivated and sunk in most abject slavery, should have held any sound
notions about the Deity, or that Moses should have taught them anything
beyond a rule of right living; inculcating it not like a philosopher, as the
result of freedom, but like a lawgiver compelling them to be moral by
legal authority. (107) Thus the rule of right living, the worship and love
of God, was to them rather a bondage than the true liberty, the gift and
grace of the Deity. (108) Moses bid them love God and keep His law, because
they had in the past received benefits from Him (such as the
deliverance from slavery in Egypt), and further terrified them with threats
if they transgressed His commands, holding out many promises of good if they
should observe them; thus treating them as parents treat irrational
children. It is, therefore, certain that they knew not the excellence of
virtue and the true happiness.

(109) Jonah thought that he was fleeing from the sight of God, which seems
to show that he too held that God had entrusted the care of the nations
outside Judaea to other substituted powers. (110) No one in the whole of the
Old Testament speaks more rationally of God than Solomon, who in fact
surpassed all the men of his time in natural ability. (111) Yet he
considered himself above the law (esteeming it only to have been given for
men without reasonable and intellectual grounds for their actions), and made
small account of the laws concerning kings, which are mainly three: nay, he
openly violated them (in this he did wrong, and acted in a manner unworthy
of a philosopher, by indulging in sensual pleasure), and taught that all
Fortune's favours to mankind are vanity, that humanity has no nobler gift
than wisdom, and no greater punishment than folly.
(112) See Proverbs xvi:22, 23.

(113) But let us return to the prophets whose conflicting opinions we have
undertaken to note. (114) The expressed ideas of Ezekiel seemed so diverse
from those of Moses to the Rabbis who have left us the extant prophetic
books (as is told in the treatise of Sabbathus, i:13, 2), that they had
serious thoughts of omitting his prophecy from the canon, and would
doubtless have thus excluded it if a certain Hananiah had not undertaken to
explain it; a task which (as is there narrated) he with great zeal and
labour accomplished. (115) How he did so does not sufficiently appear,
whether it was by writing a commentary which has now perished, or by
altering Ezekiel's words and audaciously - striking out phrases according to
his fancy. (116) However this may be, chapter xviii. certainly does not seem
to agree with Exodus xxxiv:7, Jeremiah xxxii:18, &c.

(117 ) Samuel believed that the Lord never repented of anything He had
decreed (1 Sam. xv:29), for when Saul was sorry for his sin, and wished to
worship God and ask for forgiveness, Samuel said that the Lord would not go
back from his decree.

(118) To Jeremiah, on the other hand, it was revealed that, "If that nation
against whom I (the Lord) have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will
repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. (119) If it do evil in my
sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I
said I would benefit them" (Jer. xviii:8-10). (120) Joel (ii:13) taught that
the Lord repented Him only of evil. (121) Lastly, it is clear from Gen iv: 7
that a man can overcome the temptations of sin, and act righteously; for
this doctrine is told to Cain, though, as we learn from Josephus and the
Scriptures, he never did so overcome them. (122) And this agrees with the
chapter of Jeremiah just cited, for it is there said that the Lord repents
of the good or the evil pronounced, if the men in question change their ways
and manner of life. (123) But, on the other hand, Paul (Rom.ix:10) teaches
as plainly as possible that men have no control over the temptations of the
flesh save by the special vocation and grace of God. (124) And when
(Rom. iii:5 and vi:19) he attributes righteousness to man, he corrects
himself as speaking merely humanly and through the infirmity of the flesh.

(125) We have now more than sufficiently proved our point, that God adapted
revelations to the understanding and opinions of the prophets, and that in
matters of theory without bearing on charity or morality the prophets could
be, and, in fact, were, ignorant, and held conflicting opinions. (126) It
therefore follows that we must by no means go to the prophets for knowledge,
either of natural or of spiritual phenomena.

(127) We have determined, then, that we are only bound to believe in the
prophetic writings, the object and substance of the revelation; with regard
to the details, every one may believe or not, as he likes.

(128) For instance, the revelation to Cain only teaches us that God
admonished him to lead the true life, for such alone is the object and
substance of the revelation, not doctrines concerning free will and
philosophy. (129) Hence, though the freedom of the will is clearly implied
in the words of the admonition, we are at liberty to hold a contrary
opinion, since the words and reasons were adapted to the understanding of
Cain.

(130) So, too, the revelation to Micaiah would only teach that God revealed
to him the true issue of the battle between Ahab and Aram; and this is all
we are bound to believe. (131) Whatever else is contained in the revelation
concerning the true and the false Spirit of God, the army of heaven standing
on the right hand and on the left, and all the other details, does not
affect us at all. (132) Everyone may believe as much of it as his reason
allows.

(132) The reasonings by which the Lord displayed His power to Job (if they
really were a revelation, and the author of the history is narrating, and
not merely, as some suppose, rhetorically adorning his own conceptions),
would come under the same category - that is, they were adapted to Job's
understanding, for the purpose of convincing him, and are not universal,
or for the convincing of all men.

(133) We can come to no different conclusion with respect to the reasonings
of Christ, by which He convicted the Pharisees of pride and ignorance, and
exhorted His disciples to lead the true life. (134) He adapted them to each
man's opinions and principles. (135) For instance, when He said to the
Pharisees (Matt. xii:26), "And if Satan cast out devils, his house is
divided against itself, how then shall his kingdom stand? (136) "He only
wished to convince the Pharisees according, to their own principles, not to
teach that there are devils, or any kingdom of devils. (137) So, too,
when He said to His disciples (Matt. viii:10), "See that ye despise not one
of these little ones, for I say unto you that their angels," &c., He merely
desired to warn them against pride and despising any of their fellows, not
to insist on the actual reason given, which was simply adopted in order to
persuade them more easily.

(138) Lastly, we should say, exactly the same of the apostolic signs and
reasonings, but there is no need to go further into the subject. (139) If I
were to enumerate all the passages of Scripture addressed only to
individuals, or to a particular man's understanding, and which cannot,
without great danger to philosophy, be defended as Divine doctrines, I
should go far beyond the brevity at which I aim. (140) Let it suffice, then,
to have indicated a few instances of general application, and let the
curious reader consider others by himself. (141) Although the points we
have just raised concerning prophets and prophecy are the only ones which
have any direct bearing on the end in view, namely, the separation of
Philosophy from Theology, still, as I have touched on the general question,
I may here inquire whether the gift of prophecy was peculiar to the Hebrews,
or whether it was common to all nations. (142) I must then come to a
conclusion about the vocation of the Hebrews, all of which I shall do in the
ensuing chapter.





CHAPTER III.  OF THE VOCATION OF THE HEBREWS, AND
WHETHER THE GIFT OF PROPHECY WAS PECULIAR TO THEM.

(1) Every man's true happiness and blessedness consist solely in the
enjoyment of what is good, not in the pride that he alone is enjoying it, to
the exclusion of others. (2) He who thinks himself the more blessed because
he is enjoying benefits which others are not, or because he is more blessed
or more fortunate than his fellows, is ignorant of true happiness and
blessedness, and the joy which he feels is either childish or envious and
malicious. (3) For instance, a man's true happiness consists only in wisdom,
and the knowledge of the truth, not at all in the fact that he is wiser than
others, or that others lack such knowledge: such considerations do not
increase his wisdom or true happiness.

(4) Whoever, therefore, rejoices for such reasons, rejoices in another's
misfortune, and is, so far, malicious and bad, knowing neither true
happiness nor the peace of the true life.

(5) When Scripture, therefore, in exhorting the Hebrews to obey the law,
says that the Lord has chosen them for Himself before other nations
(Deut. x:15); that He is near them, but not near others (Deut. iv:7); that
to them alone He has given just laws (Deut. iv:8); and, lastly, that He has
marked them out before others (Deut. iv:32); it speaks only according to the
understanding of its hearers, who, as we have shown in the last chapter, and
as Moses also testifies (Deut. ix:6, 7), knew not true blessedness. (6) For
in good sooth they would have been no less blessed if God had called all men
equally to salvation, nor would God have been less present to them for being
equally present to others; their laws, would have been no less just if they
had been ordained for all, and they themselves would have been no less wise.
(7) The miracles would have shown God's power no less by being wrought for
other nations also; lastly, the Hebrews would have been just as much bound
to worship God if He had bestowed all these gifts equally on all men.

(8) When God tells Solomon (1 Kings iii:12) that no one shall be as wise as
he in time to come, it seems to be only a manner of expressing surpassing
wisdom; it is little to be believed that God would have promised Solomon,
for his greater happiness, that He would never endow anyone with so much
wisdom in time to come; this would in no wise have increased Solomon's
intellect, and the wise king would have given equal thanks to the Lord if
everyone had been gifted with the same faculties.

(9) Still, though we assert that Moses, in the passages of the Pentateuch
just cited, spoke only according to the understanding of the Hebrews, we
have no wish to deny that God ordained the Mosaic law for them alone, nor
that He spoke to them alone, nor that they witnessed marvels beyond those
which happened to any other nation; but we wish to emphasize that
Moses desired to admonish the Hebrews in such a manner, and with such
reasonings as would appeal most forcibly to their childish understanding,
and constrain them to worship the Deity. (10) Further, we wished to show
that the Hebrews did not surpass other nations in knowledge, or in piety,
but evidently in some attribute different from these; or (to speak like the
Scriptures, according to their understanding), that the Hebrews were not
chosen by God before others for the sake of the true life and sublime ideas,
though they were often thereto admonished, but with some other object. (11)
What that object was, I will duly show.

(12) But before I begin, I wish in a few words to explain what I mean by the
guidance of God, by the help of God, external and inward, and, lastly, what
I understand by fortune.

(13) By the help of God, I mean the fixed and unchangeable order of nature
or the chain of natural events: for I have said before and shown elsewhere
that the universal laws of nature, according to which all things exist and
are determined, are only another name for the eternal decrees of God, which
always involve eternal truth and necessity.

(14) So that to say that everything happens according to natural laws, and
to say that everything is ordained by the decree and ordinance of God, is
the same thing. (15) Now since the power in nature is identical with the
power of God, by which alone all things happen and are determined, it
follows that whatsoever man, as a part of nature, provides himself with to
aid and preserve his existence, or whatsoever nature affords him without his
help, is given to him solely by the Divine power, acting either through
human nature or through external circumstance. (16) So whatever human nature
can furnish itself with by its own efforts to preserve its existence, may
be fitly called the inward aid of God, whereas whatever else accrues to
man's profit from outward causes may be called the external aid of God.

(17) We can now easily understand what is meant by the election of God. (18)
For since no one can do anything save by the predetermined order of nature,
that is by God's eternal ordinance and decree, it follows that no one can
choose a plan of life for himself, or accomplish any work save by God's
vocation choosing him for the work or the plan of life in question, rather
than any other. (19) Lastly, by fortune, I mean the ordinance of God in so
far as it directs human life through external and unexpected means. (20)
With these preliminaries I return to my purpose of discovering the reason
why the Hebrews were said to be elected by God before other nations, and
with the demonstration I thus proceed.

(21) All objects of legitimate desire fall, generally speaking, under one of these three categories:

    1. The knowledge of things through their primary causes.
    2. The government of the passions, or the acquirement of the habit of
       virtue.
    3. Secure and healthy life.

(22) The means which most directly conduce towards the first two of these
ends, and which may be considered their proximate and efficient causes are
contained in human nature itself, so that their acquisition hinges only on
our own power, and on the laws of human nature. (23) It may be concluded
that these gifts are not peculiar to any nation, but have always been shared
by the whole human race, unless, indeed, we would indulge the dream that
nature formerly created men of different kinds. (24) But the means which
conduce to security and health are chiefly in external circumstance, and are
called the gifts of fortune because they depend chiefly on objective causes
of which we are ignorant; for a fool may be almost as liable to happiness
or unhappiness as a wise man. (25) Nevertheless, human management and
watchfulness can greatly assist towards living in security and warding off
the injuries of our fellow-men, and even of beasts. (26) Reason and
experience show no more certain means of attaining this object than
the formation of a society with fixed laws, the occupation of a strip of
territory and the concentration of all forces, as it were, into one body,
that is the social body. (27) Now for forming and preserving a society, no
ordinary ability and care is required: that society will be most
secure, most stable, and least liable to reverses, which is founded and
directed by far-seeing and careful men; while, on the other hand, a society
constituted by men without trained skill, depends in a great measure on
fortune, and is less constant. (28) If, in spite of all, such a society
lasts a long time, it is owing to some other directing influence than its
own; if it overcomes great perils and its affairs prosper, it will perforce
marvel at and adore the guiding Spirit of God (in so far, that is, as God
works through hidden means, and not through the nature and mind of man),
for everything happens to it unexpectedly and contrary to anticipation, it
may even be said and thought to be by miracle. (29) Nations, then, are
distinguished from one another in respect to the social organization and the
laws under which they live and are governed; the Hebrew nation was not
chosen by God in respect to its wisdom nor its tranquillity of mind, but in
respect to its social organization and the good fortune with which it
obtained supremacy and kept it so many years. (30) This is abundantly clear
from Scripture. Even a cursory perusal will show us that the only respects
in which the Hebrews surpassed other nations, are in their successful
conduct of matters relating to government, and in their surmounting great
perils solely by God's external aid; in other ways they were on a par with
their fellows, and God was equally gracious to all. (31) For in respect to
intellect (as we have shown in the last chapter) they held very ordinary
ideas about God and nature, so that they cannot have been God's chosen in
this respect; nor were they so chosen in respect of virtue and the true
life, for here again they, with the exception of a very few elect, were on
an equality with other nations: therefore their choice and vocation
consisted only in the temporal happiness and advantages of independent rule.
(32) In fact, we do not see that God promised anything beyond this to the
patriarchs [Endnote 4] or their successors; in the law no other reward is
offered for obedience than the continual happiness of an independent
commonwealth and other goods of this life; while, on the other hand, against
contumacy and the breaking of the covenant is threatened the downfall of the
commonwealth and great hardships. (33) Nor is this to be wondered at; for
the ends of every social organization and commonwealth are (as appears from
what we have said, and as we will explain more at length hereafter) security
and comfort; a commonwealth can only exist by the laws being binding on all.
(34) If all the members of a state wish to disregard the law, by that very
fact they dissolve the state and destroy the commonwealth. (35) Thus, the
only reward which could be promised to the Hebrews for continued obedience
to the law was security [Endnote 5] and its attendant advantages, while no
surer punishment could be threatened for disobedience, than the ruin of the
state and the evils which generally follow therefrom, in addition to such
further consequences as might accrue to the Jews in particular from the ruin
of their especial state. (36) But there is no need here to go into this
point at more length. (37) I will only add that the laws of the Old
Testament were revealed and ordained to the Jews only, for as God chose them
in respect to the special constitution of their society and government, they
must, of course, have had special laws. (38) Whether God ordained special
laws for other nations also, and revealed Himself to their lawgivers
prophetically, that is, under the attributes by which the latter were
accustomed to imagine Him, I cannot sufficiently determine. (39) It is
evident from Scripture itself that other nations acquired supremacy and
particular laws by the external aid of God; witness only the two following
passages:

(40) In Genesis xiv:18, 19, 20, it is related that Melchisedek was king of
Jerusalem and priest of the Most High God, that in exercise of his priestly
functions he blessed Abraham, and that Abraham the beloved of the Lord gave
to this priest of God a tithe of all his spoils. (41) This sufficiently
shows that before He founded the Israelitish nation God constituted kings
and priests in Jerusalem, and ordained for them rites and laws. (42) Whether
He did so prophetically is, as I have said, not sufficiently clear; but I am
sure of this, that Abraham, whilst he sojourned in the city, lived
scrupulously according to these laws, for Abraham had received no special
rites from God; and yet it is stated (Gen. xxvi:5), that he observed the
worship, the precepts, the statutes, and the laws of God, which must be
interpreted to mean the worship, the statutes, the precepts, and the laws of
king Melchisedek. (43) Malachi chides the Jews as follows (i:10-11.): "Who
is there among you that will shut the doors? [of the Temple]; neither do ye
kindle fire on mine altar for nought. (44) I have no pleasure in you, saith
the Lord of Hosts. (45) For from the rising of the sun, even until the going
down of the same My Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every
place incense shall be offered in My Name, and a pure offering; for My Name
is great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts." (46) These words,
which, unless we do violence to them, could only refer to the current
period, abundantly testify that the Jews of that time were not more beloved
by God than other nations, that God then favoured other nations with more
miracles than He vouchsafed to the Jews, who had then partly recovered their
empire without miraculous aid; and, lastly, that the Gentiles possessed
rites and ceremonies acceptable to God. (47) But I pass over these points
lightly: it is enough for my purpose to have shown that the election of the
Jews had regard to nothing but temporal physical happiness and freedom, in
other words, autonomous government, and to the manner and means by which
they obtained it; consequently to the laws in so far as they were
necessary to the preservation of that special government; and, lastly, to
the manner in which they were revealed. In regard to other matters, wherein
man's true happiness consists, they were on a par with the rest of the
nations.