Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

-72^ £* J-*-^ THE FORMATION OF CHRISTENDOMThus he foresees the future through understandinghimself and the tribunal of his own breast. And sohis oracles will be more true and pure. Hence it isnot surprising that you should possess this kind ofknowledge, who have so great a portion of ether inyour soul," the ether, that is, which is the substance ofthe gods. It is in full accordance with this tenet as tothe nature of the soul that when Apollonius asked theIndians whom they esteemed themselves to be, larchasreplied, "Gods." ' ut for what reason ?" Be-cause we are good men :" an answer which Apolloniusthought so full of wisdom that he cited it afterwardsto Domitian. " Why," said the accuser then to him, " domen call thee god?" " Because," he replied, "every manthat is deemed good is honoured with the name of god."And when the Indians take leave of him they assurehim that he would be considered a god not only afterhis death but during his life.1In fact the passages we have thus cited concerningthe constitution of the world, the gods, and the humansoul, and its capacity of knowing the truth and futurethings, contain the kernel of the whole Neopythago-rean philosophy. In it the pre-existence and transmigrationof souls, the immortality of the soul'ssubstance and its identity with the substance bothof the supreme God and the particular gods, and theright therefore of the good man who lives accordingto this nature of the soul to be called god, cohere to-gether. If 2 the essential nature of the divinity isimmortal and imperishable being, it is especially inthe immortal essence of the human soul that the relationshipof the human nature with the divine is mani-1 See Book i. 8; iii. 42 ; iii. 18 ; viii. 5 ; iii. 50.2 Banr, Apollonius und Chrisfus.