Page:Ante-Nicene Christian Library Vol 12.djvu/313

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Book v.]
THE MISCELLANIES.
299

believed. And again the same: "And he said to them, I am the servant of the Lord; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven." And again the same: "And he said, Let us by no means perish for the life of this man." And Malachi the prophet plainly exhibits God saying, "I will not accept sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its going down, my name is glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place sacrifice is offered to me."[1] And again: "Because I am a great King, saith the Lord omnipotent; and my name is manifest among the nations." What name? The Son declaring the Father among the Greeks who have believed.

Plato in what follows gives an exhibition of free-will: "Virtue owns not a master; and in proportion as each one honours or dishonours it, in that proportion he will be a partaker of it. The blame lies in the exercise of free choice." But God is blameless. For He is never the author of evil.

"O warlike Trojans," says the lyric poet,[2]

"High ruling Zeus, who beholds all things,
Is not the cause of great woes to mortals;
But it is in the power of all men to find
Justice, holy, pure,
Companion of order,
And of wise Themis
The sons of the blessed are ye
In finding her as your associate."

And Pindar expressly introduces also Zeus Soter, the consort of Themis, proclaiming him King, Saviour, Just, in the following lines:

"First, prudent Themis, of celestial birth,
On golden steeds, by Ocean's rock,
The Fates brought to the stair sublime,
The shining entrance of Olympus,
Of Saviour Zeus for aye[3] to be the spouse,
And she, the Hours, gold-diademed, fair-fruited, good, brought forth."[4]

He, then, who is not obedient to the truth, and is puffed up

  1. Mal. i. 10, 11, 14.
  2. Perhaps Bacchylides.
  3. ἀρχαίαν.
  4. The reading of H. Stephanus, ἀγαθὰς Ὥρας is adopted in the translation. The text has ἀγαθὰ σωτῆρας. Some supply Ὥρας, and at the same time retain σωτῆρας.