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Athena's Temple

Athena's Temple
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Showing posts with label Concerning the Gods and the Universe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Concerning the Gods and the Universe. Show all posts

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The reward of virtue

..
Souls that have lived in accordance with virtue
have as the crown of their happiness
that free from the unreasonable element
and purified from all body
they are in union with the gods and
share with them the government of the whole universe.
..
Yet,even if they attained none of these things,
virtue itself and the pleasure and honour of virtue,
and the life free from pain and from all other tyrants,
would suffice to make happy those who had chosen
to live in accordance with virtue and had proved able.
..

Why sins are not punished at once

..
But if neither for these sins nor for others the punishment follows directly on the offence,
we must not be surprised,
because not only are there spirits that punish souls,
but also the soul brings itself to judgment,
and because,
since souls survive through eternity,they ought not in a short time to bear all their chastisement,
and because there must be human virtue ;
for if punishments followed directly on offences,
men would do right from fear and would not have virtue.
..
Souls are punished after leaving the body,
some wandering here,others to hot or cold places in the earth,
others being tormented by spirits ;
all these things they endure together with the unreasonable soul,
in whose company they sinned ;
because of this the shadowy form seen about tombs,
especially of evil livers,
comes into being.
..

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

The nature of the First Cause,Sallustius

..
Such must be the learner,
and his instruction should be as follows.
..
The essences of the gods never came into being,
for whatever always exists never comes into being,
and all things that have first power and are by nature impassive do exist always ;
-they are not formed of bodies,
for even of bodies the powers are bodiless ;
-they are not limited by space,
for that certainly is an attribute of bodies ;
-and they are not limited by space,
for that certainly is an attribute of bodies,
-and they are never separeted from the First Cause or from one another,
any more than are thoughts from the mind,
sciences from the soul,
or the senses from a living creature.
..
(Official catechism for the Roman Empire)