Chapter 33 It was by means of the true religion alone that it could be made manifest that the gods of the pagans were nothing but unclean spirits who used the memory of people departed or the images of earthly creatures to get themselves reckoned …
Tag: Holiness
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 30-32
Chapter 30 At this point, I must mention various operations of the one true God; It was because of these that the pagan philosophers, who were making a serious effort to interpret the indecent and immoral mysteries, made for themselves so many false gods. First, …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 27-29
Chapter 27 The conclusion seems to be that the select gods became more famous and renowned than the rest of the gods, not that their virtues might be held up to view, but that their vices might not be hidden. It is, therefore, easier to …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 24-26
Chapter 24 Granted that the earth was entitled to four epithets because of its fourfold power, it should not have been called four gods. After all, there is only one Jupiter and one Juno, in spite of their many surnames. In all such attributes there …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 21-23
Chapter 21 We now come to the rites of Bacchus. The pagans had put Bacchus in charge of fluid seeds, including both the juices of fruits, of which wine is the most important, and also the seeds of animals. These rites were so disgusting that …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 18-20
Chapter 18 In connection with all this mythology, the most satisfying hypothesis is that the gods were men whom flattery turned into gods by reason of their genius or character, their life or luck. Soon, sacrifices and solemnities were started and, appealing as they did …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 15-17
Chapter 15 It may be that certain of the pagan gods are nothing but the stars which bear their names. For example, there is one star called Mercury and another called Mars. There is another star, though, which they call Jupiter; yet, for them, Jupiter …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 12-14
Chapter 12 Now, just listen to the lovely account which the pagans give of the name Pecunia! Jupiter is called Pecunia, they tell us, because all things belong to him. What an explanation of a divine name! The fact is that Pecunia would be not …
The City of God: Book 7: Chapters 9-11
Chapter 9 Now let us hear what the pagans understand by Jove or Jupiter, as he is called. He is the god, they tell us, who has power over the causes by which all things happen in the cosmos. A significant task, indeed, as Virgil …
The City of God: Book 7: Preface, Chapters 6-8
Chapter 6 In his preface on natural theology, Varro says that he holds that God is the soul of the universe or cosmos (to use the Greek word) and that the cosmos itself is God. Yet, just as we call a wise man wise in …