基督教地誌 第 1 章 第 18/22 段

We do not know the perfection of judgment, reckoning that whatever seems [good] to God is altogether good and wise, confessing in this the sweetest defeat, and wearing a crown for such ignorance, according to the great apostle Paul:

'We know in part,' as he said, 'and we prophesy in part;'

'but when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away' — we then knowing perfectly, as we ought to know, and all rising perfect, just as the Apostle again says:

'Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' Again they will raise a difficulty for us in this: how does the one small in body rise perfect, and how does the maimed and the lame, or the one deprived of one of [his] limbs, rise sound and most complete?

Let him hear from us, both according to Scripture and according to nature, that just as God, taking the rib of Adam, being his smallest member, built it into a perfect woman, filling up what was lacking by an ineffable word; and just as the married pair is often joined though blind or maimed, and yet what is born from them is born whole and sound — so one must believe, or rather understand, concerning the resurrection from the dead, that we are regenerated from the tombs to a birth better than that from the womb.

And I will describe for you, most beloved, both the shape of heaven and earth and of the firmament in the middle, and the tabernacle constructed through Moses, which is indeed an impression of the whole world, and further also the much-talked-of sphere of those outside, so that you may know, even through this very sight, how fittingly both the divine Scripture and the Christian preaching speak in accordance with the shape, whereas it is entirely estranged from the sphere of those outside.

Fitting citations from the divine Scripture concerning the shape of heaven and earth. In the beginning God made heaven and earth;

He mentioned these as things that contain, signifying at the same time also the things that came to be inside them along with them; and again:

And heaven and earth and all their world were finished — as though again they were things that contain, and the whole world of theirs existed within them; and again:

For in six days God made heaven and earth and all things in them — as though again all these things existed within them, and they were things that contain them; and again:

And God rested on the seventh day from all his works which God began to make — as though he both began to create and ceased creating; and again:

This is the book of the origin of heaven and earth — as it were:

This book narrates the origin of the whole world, which is circumscribed in heaven and earth.

And again, concerning the shape, Isaiah says:

He who set up heaven like a vault, and stretched it out like a tent to dwell in;

having said the one, 'like a vault,' concerning the first, and the other, 'having stretched it out like a tent,' concerning the second — clearly speaking of it as a house, where some dwell, or rather encamp.

Stretching out heaven like a skin-covering — speaking concerning the firmament:

he says 'like a skin-covering,' as meaning the coverings from above that cover the tabernacle, whatever they might be, whether of hair or of cloth garments;

for the coverings that cover the tabernacle from above are properly called 'skin-coverings'; indeed he adds:

He who roofs his upper chambers with waters — having spoken more clearly, calling it also 'a roof,' concerning the firmament itself.

Concerning heaven being fastened to earth, he speaks thus in Job:

He inclined heaven down to earth;

and it is poured out like dust of earth;

and I have fastened it like a cube stone — signifying that it is inclined toward earth and is fastened like a cube from beneath, as though square.

Concerning there being nothing beneath the earth, he speaks thus in Job:

He who hangs the earth upon nothing — as meaning it has nothing beneath it; likewise again in the same book:

Upon what are its sockets fastened? — as meaning there is nothing beneath in which it is fixed.

And in David he speaks thus:

having been founded, and not upon anything —

Six pillars, each a cubit and a half apart, make nine cubits; and two pillars at the corners, each a half cubit, make, of the eight pillars, ten cubits:

This is the width of the tabernacle.

) having a drawn veil, called an 'epispastron' (drawing-curtain);

) bars passing through the clasps;

) the middle bar passing through the boards;

) bars passing through the clasps.

The whole tabernacle, then, is a type of the entire world, as the divine Apostle relates, speaking thus concerning the outer one:

For the first tabernacle also had ordinances of service, and the worldly sanctuary — calling it 'worldly,' as meaning it was a type of this world; and concerning the inner one he speaks thus:

For Christ did not enter into holy places made with hands, antitypes of the true ones, but into heaven itself — calling heaven the true reality, and calling the inner tabernacle the antitype.

Let the reader, then, consider by the shape of heaven and earth, and by the model, that is, the tabernacle, how all things happen to fit the Christian doctrine — that there are two regions of the whole world, this one and the higher one, prepared from the foundation of the world;

this one, in the present condition, is given to angels and men, and the higher one, in the coming condition, after the resurrection of the dead, is given to righteous men and angels.

For the much-talked-of sphere of those outside does not fit the Christian preaching at all, but rather it fits those who do not hope for a resurrection of the dead, nor for any condition other than this one — who say that the entire world always continues in generation and corruption.

Note. If, on the one hand, the teachers of error say that the Lord Christ enters into the first sphere, where the Moon is, it is fitting, first, to their own error, that they say he dwells together with their god;

second, since the sphere is solid, let them say whether, together with the Moon, like a fish in water, he cuts through the heavenly body while walking in the opposite direction, or is violently rolled along the straight course together with the whole — both of which are indeed also laughable;

third, that above him are your other planets, your gods — I mean Hermes, Aphrodite, Helios, Ares, Zeus, Cronos the father of your gods — to whom belong the twelve zodiac signs and the thirty-six decans.

And how, then, according to you, is the Apostle not lying when he says that he is far above every Rule and Authority and Power, and Dominion, and every name that is named? But if they say he is in the second sphere, the same objections will again meet them; and if in the third, and in the fourth, and in the fifth, and in the sixth, and in the seventh, and in the eighth, and in the ninth they say he is above all — then what is said by the Apostle will be found false, namely that Christ has entered from the first tabernacle, that is, from this world, into the second, that is, into the heavenly region, having obtained eternal redemption — since it is the ninth sphere and not the second.

He, then, who loves to be a Christian follows the divine Scripture, and does not rely upon the deceit of those outside, which teaches polytheism and equality with God, and brings destruction to souls.

The text. Since, then, all the spheres are situated in continuous succession and are solid, how is it possible to conceive, within this very scheme, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and that their ascent will take place into heaven, and that men will reign in heaven — that is, in the second tabernacle, where Scripture says Christ has already entered first of all — and all the other things aforesaid? For, consistently, those who glorify the sphere of those outside neither confess a resurrection of the dead, nor speak of their ascent into heaven, nor say there are waters above heaven, nor say that the shape of this world is changed, that is, the revolution of the stars and what follows, nor that anyone has ascended bodily at all into heaven, nor does anyone ascend;

instead, they say [the soul continues] to see, or rather to know, all things; some also desire transmigration of bodies, while others also embrace a pre-existence [of the soul];

for whom it also follows, as a consequence, to say that the sphere is dissolved — or rather, all of them — and that every bodily nature perishes, and that souls return to their original order, just as also those around the admirable Origen hold;

others say that heaven itself is always without beginning and without end, and that the world always continues in generation and corruption — from which it follows that they must call God malicious rather than powerless or envious, or rather that they must hold to atheism entirely;

for it is unfitting that the world should thus always remain in generation and corruption, and very many other insoluble difficulties arise for all of them.

Only perfect Christians exist as ears of piety in the midst of thorns and tares — those who believe the whole divine Scripture, both Old and New Testament, and who say that there is neither another condition before this one, nor declare another after the one to come, but only the two, which the record also fittingly shows: that we pass from this condition into the coming and heavenly one, and again then dwell together with the Lord — just as the whole divine Scripture relates, God having begun to create, having made the two regions, and having ceased from creation according to his purpose from above and from the beginning.

Strange things, then, has he written, O best of men, this man whom you have called a rather counterfeit Christian, saying that the heavens are dissolved, which he also holds to be spherical according to the doctrine of those outside, and that they are always revolving — having composed old wives' fables rather than Christian doctrines, following no one at all except in part the worthy Origen;

for the things written by him are entirely estranged from the belief of the Christians.

It would then remain for you to judge and compare each doctrine and scheme, and to consider to which doctrine and scheme the true Christian who wishes to live piously ought to adhere.

For I see much deceit and guile in the one who wrote the fables — both bestowing upon heaven the spherical shape, and again saying that it is dissolved.

For I, most beloved, think thus according to the divine Scripture, and I trust that you also are such as I am — a Christian following the divine Scriptures and the tradition of the holy Church, which declares:

'I believe in one God, that is, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, a consubstantial Trinity, and in the resurrection of the flesh, in one holy, catholic and apostolic Church' — as the Creed itself also says:

'I believe there will be a resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come.'

And as the priests likewise pray, speaking thus concerning those who make offerings:

'Receive the thank-offering of your servants unto your heavenly and reasonable altar, unto the greatnesses of your heavens, rendering to them incorruptible things instead of corruptible, eternal instead of temporal, heavenly instead of earthly' — and concerning those who have fallen asleep, thus:

'Give rest to the soul of this one, raising it up together with his flesh on whatever day you have appointed, according to your true and unlying promises' — to which I too add my own petition, praying together with them, saying the remainder:

'And grant to us also a Christian end, one well-pleasing before you, unto the ages.'

By a Christian, to Anastasius, concerning heaven, at the request of Anatolius the grammarian.

Discourse 8. On the Ode of Hezekiah, King of Judea, and on the Turning-back of the Sun. Knowing well, O friend Peter, the ill-pleased race of men, I was held back by much reluctance concerning your command.

For some men blame this very thing — those who wish to write something — as though they were involving themselves in troubles, when it is possible for them to be freed from toil and to enjoy a quiet way of life;

and others, reckoning even laborious writing as nothing, have laid it aside in secret and remain idle;

and others begin the reading with eagerness, but then, growing negligent, make it the measure of four-footed beasts;

for, thinking themselves outdone by the writing of the moderns, they do not even deem it worthy to pay it attention, even if those who write should write very nobly;

and every untrained person, carried along by ignorance, blames even things well said; and, simply put, slander is resourceful in all things, and has many materials for mockery toward the fabrication of blame, which envy supplies ungrudgingly.

Reckoning these things with myself, I kept delaying, though you had often pressed me and requested that the ode of the blessed Hezekiah be interpreted by us in writing.

But I do not know how you yourself have now prevailed, O most admirable one, and have taken away our reluctance, declaring that those who have chosen to labor ought not to be lacking in this life — those for whom it is a concern to read all things, and to test what differs, according to the divine Apostle, of whom you yourself also happen to be one.

For this too is worthy of your love of labor, wishing to learn whether there is something useful to gain from it;

for the conviction that not even what seems the smallest part of the divine Scripture can afford but little benefit would belong to your own understanding concerning these matters; and indeed, to be earnest about learning, concerning all things, what is useful in them, stands not far removed from your love of labor.

I, then, since with God's help I was about to complete the interpretation of the Song of Songs, which our common and admirable friend Theophilus had asked of us — as you yourself also know — I kept deferring it until now;

but now, having completed it, I shall begin to fulfill your request also, by the will of the Holy Spirit, without whom it is not possible for any good thing to come to be in us.

I shall first set forth beforehand the purpose for which he uttered the ode, and then thus proceed to the interpretation part by part;

and at the same time I shall also declare what benefit is contained in them;

for thus the force of what is said will become clearer.

Hezekiah, then, the blessed king of the Jews, being a man of great piety and virtue and cared for by God, observed that the blessed David had foretold many psalms concerning him, of which one is the nineteenth, and likewise the twentieth, and very many others; and moreover also the prophecy made by Isaiah in the time of his father Ahaz — 'behold, the virgin shall conceive in her womb and shall bear a son' — drawing this to himself and suffering something human, was lifted up in his reasoning, supposing himself to be the christ who was prophesied.

Wherefore at first he chose not to share in married life, because there was another supposition among the Jews, that the christ, whenever he comes, never dies, but remains forever, as they also said in the Gospel:

'We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever.' Being, then, of this opinion, Hezekiah did not consent to take a wife and to produce a succession of offspring, that is, children, thinking that he would live forever.

But when it happened that Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, made war upon Judea, and went up and besieged it in Jerusalem, Hezekiah, having heard the things spoken by the God-fighting Rabshakeh, and moreover also the things written to him by Sennacherib himself, tore his royal garment and put on sackcloth and sprinkled himself with dust, and entered into the temple, imploring God to be delivered from the Assyrians.

And since he was heard, and one hundred eighty-five thousand of the Assyrian relief force were destroyed in a single night by the angel, and so wondrous and so great a victory was granted him by God, he confirmed all the more the supposition which he had held before, saying that he was assuredly the christ who was prophesied.

Whence again, being deluded by the elation of his reasoning beyond himself, he did not enter the temple after the victory, as was fitting, to give thanks and give glory to God, but he thought great things of himself, as it is written in Chronicles, that:

'Hezekiah humbled himself from the pride of his heart,' and:

'The Lord left him, to test him, to know the things in his heart.'

He suspected this, yet also remembering his virtues, did not let him fall utterly, but sends him a sickness bringing him to despair of death.

And Isaiah the prophet, having entered to him, says:

'Set your house in order;'

'for you shall die and shall not live' — thereby doing away with both opinions concerning him at once.

For some of the Jews said that the christ never dies, while others said that he does die, but rises from the dead.

By saying, then, 'you shall die,' he did away from him with the one opinion, by which he supposed that he would never die; and by adding and saying 'and you shall not live,' he did away also with the other, by which others said that he rises from the dead;

for by both he was taught that he was not the christ, as he had suspected himself to be.

Then Hezekiah, understanding, and weeping bitterly, and repenting, and turning in his bed toward the wall where the temple happened to be, as it is the custom for the Jews to do, made his supplication, giving heed, as it were, toward the temple.

And having turned back in his reasonings and having been set upright in mind, inasmuch as he was heard and released from the illness and deemed worthy of an addition of fifteen years of life, and assured by yet another, more wondrous sign — I mean the turning back of the sun, the cause of which I shall relate a little later — then he sang the ode to God, declaring in it each of the aforesaid things:

'In the height of my days I shall go,' as if to say:

'I always kept this reasoning within myself, saying that I live forever and never come to an end;'

for by saying 'in the height of my days I shall go' he indicated that his days would never be cut short; and as though someone were saying to him, by way of aposiopesis:

'While you were thinking these things, what happened to you?' He continues and says:

'In the gates of Hades I shall leave the remaining years,' as if to say:

'While I was reasoning such things, having suddenly fallen into a terrible illness, I recognized that I could no longer hold to my former reasoning, but that I would spend my remaining years in Hades.'

'I shall no longer see the salvation of God upon the earth;'

'the salvation of God' here signifies the Christ;

for thus also Simeon in the Gospels, having received the Christ into his arms, entreated God to be released from life, since his eyes had seen the salvation of God — as if saying the Christ himself;

for it had been revealed to him by the Spirit that he would not see death until he should see the Christ, the Lord.

This, then, Hezekiah here wishes to make clear, saying that:

'Not only have I departed from that reasoning and ceased imagining things beyond myself, but I am not even deemed worthy to see the christ himself upon the earth, having only fifteen years left to live.'

'I shall no longer see a man of my kindred' — as if to say:

'For after the fifteen years of the appointed term of life which I received from God, dying, I shall not only no longer be deemed worthy to see him, but not even any of the people, not even of my own kindred.'

'I have left behind the remainder of my life' — as if to say:

'Casting off, then, my former reasoning, and henceforth thinking what is fitting, I recognized that I shall have an end of life.'

'It went out and departed from me, like one who, having pitched a tent, takes it down' — as if to say:

'And the former thought of pride departed so completely from our mind, just as if one, having pitched a tent, should immediately take it down.'

'My spirit became with me as the web of a weaving-woman drawing near to cut it off,' that is:

'My soul itself, too, all but left me, like the web of a woman weaving for hire, ready to be cut off.'

'On that day I was delivered up until morning; as to a lion, so it broke all my bones;'

'for from day until night I was delivered up' — as if to say:

'At that time, then, of my illness, just as to a terrible lion that breaks bones, so was I delivered up unceasingly to the fever, being crushed by it from morning until evening and from evening until morning.'

'As a swallow, so shall I cry, and as a dove, so shall I mourn,' that is:

'I shall cry' and 'I shall mourn' are used in place of 'I cried' and 'I mourned,' tense for tense, just as this idiom also occurs in many places in the divine Scripture, as when Isaiah says concerning the Master Christ, 'he was led as a sheep to the slaughter,' in place of 'he shall be led.'

'For my eyes failed from looking up to the height of heaven toward the Lord, who delivered me and took away the anguish of my soul.'

'Lord, for concerning it also it was declared to you' — as if to say:

'And so far did I lift up the eye of my mind, looking toward the height of heaven, laying before you, the Savior God of all, the anguish of my soul, which you also took away from me, turning the form of pride into humility and the obedience of piety, for which also, O Master, I give you thanks forever.'

'And you raised up my breath, and being comforted I lived;'

'for you chose my soul, that it should not perish, and you cast behind me all my sins' — as if to say:

'For you raised up my breath by your comfort and I lived; you turned back my perishing soul, whose sins you turned back behind, no longer allowing them still to extend before me.'

'For those in Hades will not praise you, neither will the dead bless you, nor will those in Hades hope for your mercy;'

'the living will bless you, in the manner that I also do' — as if to say:

'For if you had not permitted me to live still, how could I have turned back, or repented and been saved, or hoped for the mercy from you, since the dead in Hades are not able to do any such thing? But rather, since you in your compassion have granted me life, I shall bless and glorify you forever, just as every living person is obliged to do these things.'

'For from this day I shall beget children, who shall declare your righteousness, O Lord of my salvation.' 'But also from now on,' he says, 'I shall no longer deceive myself by imagining things beyond myself.'

'For I shall take a wife and beget children, and I shall teach them to follow your ordinances.'

'And I shall not cease blessing you with the psaltery all the days of my life, before the house of God' — as if to say:

'And not only shall I teach my children to follow your commandments, but I shall also discipline myself throughout the whole time of my life to hasten to your praise and to cleave forever to your temple, no longer departing or neglecting to come there still.'

Having said these things in the ode, Hezekiah, and having been raised up from the illness, and having received also the addition of fifteen years of life, married immediately and begot Manasseh, whom, having left him as a full successor at twelve years of age, he departed from life according to God's promise, having fulfilled in his kingship, after the illness, the fifteen years added by God.

And these things, then, concerning the ode;

and by which the things aforesaid in the preface become clear also from the interpretation part by part, namely how Hezekiah had been preserving the aforementioned reasoning.

Now I must begin to speak, as I promised, concerning the turning back of the sun, divine grace guiding us in this matter also.

First, how the house of Hezekiah happened to be situated, and that it was late afternoon, about the ninth hour, when the sign occurred, and what the cause of such a sign was, and what benefit resulted from it.

The door of the house of Hezekiah, then, where the ten steps were, faced toward the east;

Since, then, the sun inclined toward the west about the ninth hour of the day, the shadow necessarily descended — the house being further to the west than the steps — as far as the last of the ten steps.

The prophet Isaiah, then, having said to Hezekiah, by the mouth of God, that he should ask for the midday sign — either that the shadow should go forward ten steps, or that the shadow should go back ten steps — Hezekiah answered, saying:

'It is a light thing for the shadow to incline forward ten steps;'

the ten steps, according to the sacred Text.

For if it were the reverse, at the third hour of the day, the shadow, having already advanced, would not have run back, nor would the sun have retreated backward, even though it happened that the door and the steps of the house of Hezekiah faced toward the west.

So much, then, concerning the position of the house.

The cause of such a sign is this: that most of the nations—indeed perhaps all—being enslaved rather to the host of heaven, honor the sun as being the greatest god of all and father of lights.

Therefore, by commanding this sun to retreat backward, God made known to all the nations that He Himself is the Master of the universe, and that this sun is a slave and not a god;

for if He commanded so great an element to retreat backward, contrary to its custom, how much more is He able to command the lesser elements, using them as His own slaves? And I shall relate, with God's help, what benefit resulted from this.

When, then, the sun had run backward, this became known to all the nations even to the ends of the earth, so that even the Babylonian king, Merodach, son of Baladan, being far off and having observed the sign, came to astonishment and inquiry concerning the fearsome and extraordinary wonder.

For astonishment and fear seized the king himself and his nobles, who eagerly sought—all being terrified concerning astronomy—to learn the cause of so fearsome and great a sign.

After much inquiry had taken place, he learns that Hezekiah, king of Judea, having fallen into sickness and come to despair, prayed to God, and He gave him health and an addition of fifteen years to his life;

for this reason, as confirmation of the promise, God performed this great and fearsome sign, that He is the God of gods, who made heaven and earth and all things in them.

Having learned these things and been instructed by the fact itself that He is the God of the universe, the Babylonian very quickly sent many gifts and an embassy to Hezekiah, as to a true servant beloved by the God of all.

At the same time, again, it is taught that heaven is not a rotating sphere according to the opinion of the Babylonians, which they first conjectured from having once been on high because of the building of the tower, but that it stands fixed and fastened upon the earth like a vault.

For if it were a sphere, the sun would not, while the whole heaven revolved forward, have walked the opposite way, not being carried around together with the whole, so as to retreat backward for a space of three hours, that is, a quarter of the day, and again another quarter, until it came to the place from which it had made its turning back.

Concerning all these figures, as you yourself also know, admirable friend, we have set them down in the Christian and comprehensive Cosmography, at the urging of the God-loving Pamphilus of Jerusalem, who exhorted us to this task.

For the prophet himself, through whom the retreat of the sun took place, having in fact abolished, by the fearsome sign, the supposition of the Babylonians—that heaven is not a rotating sphere, but that they hold a fabricated opinion—not long after speaks thus of the very shape of heaven:

'He who set up heaven as a vault'; and again: