the
Book of the Laws of Divers Countries.2
------------
Some days since we were calling3
to pay a visit to our brother Shemashgram, and Bardesan came and found us there.
And when he had made inquiries after his health,4
and ascertained that he was well, he asked us, "What were you talking
about? for I heard your voice outside as I was coming in." For it was his
habit, whenever he found us talking about anything before he came,5
to ask us, "What were you saying? "that he might talk with us about
it.
"Avida here," said we to him, "was saying to us, `If God is
one, as ye say, and if He is the creator of men, and if it is His will that you
should do that which you are commanded, why did He not so create men that they
should not be able to do wrong, but should constantly be doing that which is
right? for in this way His will would have been accomplished.'"
"Tell me, my son Avida," said Bardesan to him, "why it has
come into thy mind that the God of all is not One; or that He is One, but doth
not will that men should behave themselves justly and uprightly? "
"I, sir," said Avida, "have asked these brethren,
persons of my own age, in order that `they' may return me an answer."
"If," said Bardesan to him, "thou wishest to learn, it were
for thy advantage to learn from some one who is older than they; but if to
teach, it is not requisite for `thee' to ask `them, 'but rather that thou
shouldst induce `them' to ask `thee' what they wish. For teachers are `asked'
questions, and do not themselves ask them; or, if they ever do ask a question,
it is to direct the mind of the questioner, so that he may ask properly, and
they may know what his desire is. For it is a good thing that a man should know
how to ask questions."
"For my part," said Avida, "I wish to learn; but I began first
of all to question my brethren here, because I was too bashful to ask
thee."
"Thou speakest becomingly,"6
said Bardesan. "But know, nevertheless, that he who asks questions
properly, and wishes to be convinced, and approaches the way of truth without
contentiousness, has no need to be bashful; because he is sure by means of the
things I have mentioned to please him to whom his questions are addressed. If so
be, therefore, my son, thou hast any opinion of thy own7
respecting this matter about which thou hast asked, tell it to us all; and, if
we too approve of it, we shall express our agreement with thee; and, if we do
not approve of it, we shall be under obligation to show thee why we do not
approve of it. But if thou wast simply desirous of becoming acquainted with this
subject, and hast no opinion of thy own about it, as a man who has but lately
joined the disciples and is a recent inquirer, I will tell thee respecting it;
so that thou mayest not go from us empty away. If, moreover, thou art pleased
with those things which I shall say to thee, we have other things besides to
tell thee8
concerning this matter; but, if thou art not pleased, we on our part shall have
stated our views without any personal feeling."
"I too," said Avida, "shall be much gratified9
to hear and to be convinced: because it is not from another that I have heard of
this subject, but I have spoken of it to my brethren here out of my own mind;
and they have not cared to convince me; but they say, `Only believe, and thou
wilt then be able to know everything.' But for my part, I cannot believe
unless I be convinced."
"Not only," said Bardesan, "is Avida unwilling to believe, but
there are many others also who, because there is no faith in them, are
not even capable of being convinced; but they are always pulling down and
building up, and so are found destitute of all knowledge of the truth.
But notwithstanding, since Avida is not willing to believe, lo! I will speak to
you who do believe, concerning this matter about which he asks; and thus
he too will hear something further about it."
He began accordingly to address us as follows: "Many men are
there who have not faith, and have not received knowledge from the True Wisdom.10
In consequence of this, they are not competent to speak and give instruction to
others, nor are they readily inclined themselves to hear. For they have not
the foundation of faith to build upon, nor have they any confidence on which to
rest their hope. Moreover, because they are accustomed to doubt even concerning
God, they likewise have not in them the fear of Him, which would of itself
deliver them from all other fears: for he in whom there is no fear of God
is the slave of all sorts of fears. For even with regard to those things
of various kinds which they disbelieve, they are not certain that they
disbelieve them rightly, but they are unsettled in their opinions, and have no
fixed belief,11
and the taste of their thoughts is insipid in their own mouth; and they are
always haunted with fear, and flushed with excitement, and reckless.
"But with regard to what Avida has said: `How is it that God did not so
make us that we should not sin and incur condemnation? '-if man had been made
so, he would not have belonged to himself, but would have been the instrument of
him that moved him; and it is evident also, that he who moves an instrument
as he pleases, moves it either for good or for evil. And how, in that case,
would a man differ from a harp, on which another plays; or from a ship, which
another guides: where the praise and the blame reside in the hand of the
performer or the steersman,12
and the harp itself knows not what is played on it, nor the ship itself whether
it be well steered and guided or ill, they being only instruments made
for the use of him in whom is the requisite skill? But God in His
benignity chose not so to make man; but by freedom He exalted him above many of
His creatures, and even made him equal with the angels. For look at
the sun, and the moon, and the signs of the zodiac,13
and all the other creatures which are greater than we in some points, and see
how individual freedom has been denied them, and how they are all fixed in
their course by decree, so that they may do that only which is decreed for
them, and nothing else. For the sun never says, I will not rise at my appointed
time; nor the moon, I will not change, nor wane, nor wax; nor does any one of
the stars say, I will not rise nor set; nor the sea, I will not bear up the
ships, nor stay within my boundaries; nor the mountains, We will not continue in
the places in which we are set; nor do the winds say, We will not blow; nor the
earth, I will not hear up and sustain whatsoever is upon me. But all these
things are servants, and are subject to one decree: for they are the instruments
of the wisdom of God, which erreth not.
"Not so, however, with man: for, if everything ministered, who
would be he that is ministered to? And, if everything were ministered to, who
would be he that ministered? In that case, too, there would not be one
thing diverse from another: yet that which is one, and in which there is no
diversity of parts, is a being14
which up to this time has not been fashioned. But those things which are
destined15
for ministering have been fixed in the power of man: because in the image of
Elohim16
was he made. Therefore have these things, in the benignity of God, been
given to him, that they may minister to him for a season. It has also been given
to him to he guided by his own will; so that whatever he is able to do, if he
will he may do it, and if he do not will he may not do it, and that so he
may justify himself or condemn. For, had he been made so as not to be able to do
evil and thereby incur condemnation, in like manner also the good which he did
would not have been his own, and he could not have been justified by it. For, if
any one should not of his own will do that which is good or that which is evil,
his justification and his condemnation would rest simply with that Fortune to
which he is subjected.17
"It will therefore be manifest to you, that the goodness of God is great
toward man, and that freedom has been given to him in greater measure than to
any of those elemental bodies18
of which we have spoken, in order that by this freedom he may justify himself,
and order his conduct in a godlike manner, and be copartner with angels, who are
likewise possessed of personal freedom. For we are sure that, if the angels
likewise had not been possessed of personal freedom, they would not have
consorted with the daughters of men, and sinned, and fallen from their places.
In like manner, too, those other angels, who did the will of their Lord,
were, by reason of their self-control, raised to higher rank, and sanctified,
and received noble gifts. For every being in existence is in need of the Lord of
all; of His gifts also there is no end.
Know ye, however, notwithstanding what I have said, that even those
things of which I have spoken as subsisting by decree are not absolutely
destitute of all freedom; and on this account, at the last day, they will all be
made subject to judgment."
"But how," said I to him, "should those things which are fixed
and regulated by decree be judged? "
"Not inasmuch as they are fixed, O Philip," said he, "will the
elements be judged, but inasmuch as they are endowed with power. For beings19
are not deprived of their natural properties20
when they come to be fashioned, but only of the full exercise of their
strength,21
suffering a decrease22
of power through their intermingling one with another, and being kept in
subjection by the power of their Maker; and in so far as they are in subjection
they will not be judged, but in respect of that only which is under
their own control."
"Those things," said Avida to him, "which thou hast said, are
very good; but, lo! the commands which have been given to men are severe, and
they cannot perform them."
"This," said Bardesan, "is the saying of one who has not the
will to do that which is right; nay, more, of him who has already yielded
obedience and submission to his foe. For men have not been commanded to do
anything but that which they are able to do. For the commandments set before us
are only two, and they are such as are compatible with freedom and
consistent with equity: one, that we refrain from everything which is wrong, and
which we should not like to have done to ourselves; and the other, that we
should do that which is right, and which we love and are pleased to have done to
us likewise. Who, then, is the man that is too weak to avoid stealing, or to
avoid lying, or to avoid acts of profligacy, or to avoid hatred and deception?
For, lo! all these things are under the control of the mind of man; and
are not dependent on23
the strength of the body, but on the will of the soul. For even if a man be
poor, and sick, and old, and disabled in his limbs, he is able to avoid doing
all these things. And, as he is able to avoid doing these things, so is he able
to love, and to bless, and to speak the truth, and to pray for what is good for
every one with whom he is acquainted; and if he be in health, and capable of
working,24
he is able also to give of that which he has; moreover, to support with strength
of body him that is sick and enfeebled-this also he can do.
"Who, then, it is that is not capable of doing that which men destitute
of faith complain of, I know not. For my part, I think that it is precisely in
respect to these commandments that man has more power than in anything else.
For they are easy, and there are no circumstances that can hinder their
performance. For we are not commanded to carry heavy loads of stones, or of
timber, or of anything else, which those only who have great bodily
strength can do; nor to build fortresses25
and found cities, which kings only can do; nor to steer a ship, which mariners
only have the skill to steer; nor to measure and divide land, which land-measurers
only know how to do; nor to practise any one of those arts which are
possessed by some, while the rest are destitute of them. But there have been
given to us, in accordance with the benignity of God, commandments having no
harshness in them26
-such as any living man whatsoever27
may rejoice to do.28
For there is no man that does not rejoice when he does that which is fight, nor
any one that is not gladdened within himself if he abstains from things that are
bad-except those who were not created for this good thing, and are called tares.29
For would not the judge be unjust who should censure a man with regard to any
such thing as he has not the ability to do? "
"Sayest thou of these deeds, O Bardesan," said Avida to him,
"that they are easy to do? "
"To him that hath the will," said Bardesan, "I have said, and
do still say, that they are easy. For this obedience I contend for
is the proper behaviour of a free mind,30
and of the soul which has not revolted against its governors. As for the action
of the body, there are many things which hinder it: especially old age, and
sickness, and poverty."
"Possibly," said Avida," a man may be able to abstain from the
things that are bad; but as for doing the things that are good, what man is
capable of this? "
"It is easier," said Bardesan, "to do good than to abstain
from evil. For the good comes from the man himself,31
and therefore he rejoices whenever he does good; but the evil is the work of the
Enemy, and therefore it is that, only when a man is excited by some
evil passion, and is not in his sound natural condition,32
he does the things that are bad. For know, my son, that for a man to praise and
bless his friend is an easy thing; but for a man to refrain from taunting and
reviling one whom he hates is not easy: nevertheless, it is possible. When, too,
a man does that which is right, his mind is gladdened, and his conscience at
ease, and he is pleased for every one to see what he does. But, when a man
behaves amiss and commits wrong, he is troubled and excited, and full of anger
and rage, and distressed in his soul and in his body; and, when he is in this state
of mind, he does not like to be seen by any one; and even those things in
which he rejoices, and which are accompanied with praise and blessing from
others, are spurned from his thoughts, while those things by which he is
agitated and disturbed are rendered more distressing to him because
accompanied by the curse of conscious guilt.
"Perhaps, however, some one will say that fools also are pleased when
they do abominable things. Undoubtedly: but not because they do them as
such, nor because they receive any conmendation for them, nor because
they do them with a good hope;33
nor does the pleasure itself stay long with them. For the pleasure which is experienced
in a healthy state of the soul, with a good hope, is one thing; and the
pleasure of a diseased state of the soul, with a bad hope, is another.
For lust is one thing, and love is another; and friendship is one thing, and
good-fellowship another; and we ought without any difficulty to understand that
the false counterfeit of affection which is called lust, even though there be in
it the enjoyment of the moment, is nevertheless widely different from true
affection, whose enjoyment is for ever, incorruptible and indestructible."
"Avida here," said I to him, "has also been speaking thus: `It
is from his nature that man does wrong; for, were he not naturally formed to do
wrong, he would not do it.'"
"If all men," said Bardesan, "acted alike,34
and followed one bias,35
it would then be manifest that it was their nature that guided them, and
that they had not that freedom of which I have been speaking to you. That you
may understand, however, what is nature and what is freedom, I will proceed to
inform you.
"The nature of man is, that he should be born, and grow up, and rise to
his full stature, and produce children, and grow old, eating and drinking, and
sleeping and waking, and that then he should die. These things, because
they are of nature, belong to all men; and not to all men only, but also to all
animals whatsoever,36
and some of them also to trees. For this is the work of physical nature,37
which makes and produces and regulates everything just as it has been commanded.
Nature, I say, is found to be maintained among animals also in their actions.
For the lion eats flesh, in accordance with his nature; and therefore all lions
are eaters of flesh. The sheep eats grass; and therefore all sheep are eaters of
grass, The bee makes honey, by which it is sustained; therefore all bees are
makers of honey. The ant collects for herself a store in summer, from which to
sustain herself in winter; and therefore do all ants act likewise. The scorpion
strikes with its sting him who has not hurt it; and thus do all scorpions
strike. Thus all animals preserve their nature: the eaters of flesh do not eat
herbage; nor do the eaters of herbage eat flesh.
"Men, on the contrary, are not governed thus; but, whilst in the matters
pertaining to their bodies they preserve their nature like animals, in the
matters pertaining to their minds they do that which they choose, as those who
are free,38
and endowed with power, and as made in the likeness of God. For there are
some of them that eat flesh, and do not touch bread; and there are some of them
that make a distinction between the several kinds of flesh-food; and
there are some of them that do not eat the flesh of any animal whatever.39
There are some of them that become the husbands of their mothers, and of their
sisters, and of their daughters; and there are some who do not consort with
women at all. There are those who take it upon themselves to inflict
vengeance, like lions and leopards; and there are those who strike him that has
not done them any wrong, like scorpions; and there are those that are led like
sheep, and do not harm their conductors. There are some that behave themselves
with kindness, and some with justice, and some with wickedness.
"If any one should say that each one of them has a nature so to do, let
him be assured40
that it is not so. For there are those who once were profligates and
drunkards; and, when the admonition of good counsels reached them, they became
pure and sober,41
and spurned their bodily appetites. And there are those who once behaved with
purity and sobriety; and when they turned away from right admonition, and dared
to set themselves against the commands of Deity and of their teachers, they fell
from the way of truth, and became profligates and revellers. And there are those
who after their fall repented again, and fear came and abode upon them,
and they turned themselves afresh towards the truth which they had before
held.42
"What, therefore, is the nature of man? For, lo! all men differ one from
another in their conduct and in their aims,43
and such only as are of44
one mind and of one purpose resemble one another. But those men who, up to the
present moment, have been enticed by their appetites and governed by their
anger, are resolved to ascribe any wrong they do to their Maker, that they
themselves may be found faultless, and that He who made them may, in the idle
talk of men,45
bear the blame. They do not consider that nature is amenable to no law. For a
man is not found fault with for being tall or short in his stature, or white or
black, or because his eyes are large or small, or for any bodily defect
whatsoever; but he is found fault with if he steal, or lie, or practise deceit,
or poison another, or be abusive, or do any other such-like
things.
"From hence, lo! it will be evident, that for those things which are not
in our own hands, but which we have from nature, we are in no wise condemned,
nor are we in any wise justified; but by those things which we do in the
exercise of our personal freedom, if they be right we are justified and
entitled to praise, and if they be wrong we are condemned and subjected to
blame."
Again we questioned him, and said to him: "There are others who say that
men are governed by the decree of Fate, so as to act at one time
wickedly, and at another time well."
"I too am aware, O Philip and Baryama," said he to us, "that
there are such men: those who are called Chaldaeans, and also others who
are fond of this subtle knowledge,46
as I myself also once was. For it has been said by me in another place,47
that the soul of man longs48
to know that which the many are ignorant of, and those men make it their aim to
do this; 49
and that all the wrong which men commit, and all that they do
aright, and all those things which happen to them, as regards riches and
poverty, and sickness and health, and blemishes of the body, come to them
through the governance of those stars which are called the Seven;50
and that they are, in fact, governed by them. But there are others who
affirm the opposite of these things,-how that this art is a lying invention of
the astrologers;51
or that Fate has no existence whatever, but is an empty name; that, on the
contrary, all things, great and small, are placed in the hands of man; and
that bodily blemishes and faults simply befall and happen to him by chance. But
others, again, say that whatsoever a man does he does of his own will, in
the exercise of the freedom which has been given to him, and that the
faults and blemishes and other untoward things which befall him he
receives as punishment from God.
"For myself, however according to my weak judgment,52
the matter appears to stand thus: that these three opinions53
are partly to be accepted as true, and partly to be rejected as false;-accepted
as true, because men speak after the appearances which they see, and also
because these men see how things come upon them as if accidentally; to be
set aside as fallacious, because the wisdom of God is too profound54
for them-that wisdom which rounded the world, and created man, and
ordained Governors, and gave to all things the degree of pre-eminence
which is suited to every one of them. What I mean is, that this power is
possessed by God, and the Angels, and the Potentates,55
and the Governors,56
and the Elements, and men, and animals; but that this power has not been
given to all these orders of beings of which I have spoken in respect to
everything (for He that has power over everything is One); but over some things
they have power, and over some things they have not power, as I have been
saying: in order that in those things over which they have power the goodness of
God may be seen, and in those over which they have no power they may know that
they have a Superior.
"There is, then, such a thing as Fate, as the astrologers say.
That everything, moreover, is not under the control of our will, is apparent
from this-that the majority of men have had the will to be rich, and to exercise
dominion over their fellows, and to be healthy in their bodies, and to have
things in subjection to them as they please; but that wealth is not found except
with a few, nor dominion except with one here and another there, nor health of
body with all men; and that even those who are rich do not have complete
possession of their riches, nor do those who are in power have things in
subjection to them as they wish, but that sometimes things are disobedient to
them as they do not wish; and that at one time the rich are rich as they
desire, and at another time they become poor as they do not desire; and that
those who are thoroughly poor have dwellings such as they do not wish, and pass
their lives in the world as they do not like, and covet many things which
only flee from them. Many have children, and do not rear them; others
rear them, and do not retain possession of them; others retain possession of
them, and they become a disgrace and a sorrow to their parents. Some are
rich, as they wish, and are afflicted with ill-health, as they do not wish;
others are blessed with good health, as they wish, and afflicted with poverty,
as they do not wish. There are those who have in abundance the things they wish
for, and but few of those things for which they do not wish; and there are
others who have in abundance the things they do not wish for, and but few of
those for which they do wish.57
"And so the matter is found to stand thus: that wealth, and
honours, and health, and sickness, and children, and all the other
various objects of desire, are placed under the control of Fate, and are
not in our own power; but that, on the contrary, while we are pleased and
delighted with such things as are in accordance with our wishes, towards such as
we do not wish for we are drawn by force; and, from those things which happen to
us when we are not pleased, it is evident that those things also with which we
are pleased do not happen to us because we desire them; but that things happen
as they do happen, and with some of them we are pleased, and with others not.
"And thus we men are found to be governed by Nature all alike,
and by Fate variously, and by our freedom each as he chooses.
"But let us now proceed to show with respect to Fate that it has not
power over everything. Clearly not: because that which is called Fate is
itself nothing more than a certain order of procession,58
which has been given to the Potentates and Elements by God; and, in conformity
with this said procession and order, intelligences59
undergo change when they descend60
to be with the soul, and souls undergo change when they descend61
to be with bodies; and this order, under the name of Fate and ge/nesij,62
is the agent of the changes63
that take place in this assemblage of parts of which man consists,64
which is being sired and purified for the benefit of whatsoever by the grace of
God and by goodness has been benefited, and is being and will continue to be
benefited until the close of all things.
"The body, then, is governed by Nature, the soul also sharing in its
experiences and sensations; and the body is neither hindered nor helped by Fate
in the several acts it performs. For a man does not become a father before the
age of fifteen, nor does a woman become a mother before the age of thirteen. In
like manner, too, there is a law for old age: for women then become
incapable of bearing, and men cease to possess the natural power of begetting
children; while other animals, which are likewise governed by their nature, do, even
before those ages I have mentioned, not only produce offspring, but also become
too old to do so, just as the bodies of men also, when they are grown old, cease
to propagate: nor is Fate able to give them offspring at a time when the body
has not the natural power to give them. Neither, again, is Fate able to preserve
the body of man in life without meat and drink; nor yet, even when it has meat
and drink, to grant it exemption from death: for these and many other things
belong exclusively to Nature.65
"But, when the times and methods of Nature have had their full scope,
then does Fate come and make its appearance among them, and produce effects of
various kinds: at one time helping Nature and augmenting its power, and
at another crippling and baffling it. Thus, from Nature comes the growth and
perfecting of the body; but apart from Nature, that is by Fate, come diseases
and blemishes in the body. From Nature comes the union of male and female, and
the unalloyed happiness of them both; but from Fate comes hatred and the
dissolution of the union, and, moreover, all that impurity and
lasciviousness which by reason of the natural propensity to intercourse
men practise in their lust. From Nature comes birth and children; and from Fate,
that sometimes the children are deformed, and sometimes are cast away, and
sometimes die before their time. From Nature comes a supply of nourishment
sufficient for the bodies of all creatures; 66
and from Fate comes the want of sustenance, and consequent suffering in
those bodies; and so, again, from the same Fate comes gluttony and unnecessary
luxury. Nature ordains that the aged shall be judges for the young, and the wise
for the foolish, mid that the strong shall be set over67
the weak, and the brave over the timid; but Fate brings it to pass that
striplings are set over the aged, and the foolish over the wise, and that in
time of war the weak command the strong, and the timid the brave.
"You must distinctly understand68
that, in all cases in which Nature is disturbed from its direct course, its
disturbance comes by reason of Fate; and this happens because the Chiefs69
and Governors, with whom rests that agency of change70
which is called Nativity, are opposed to one another. Some of them, which are
called Dexter, are those which help Nature, and add to its predominance,71
whenever the procession is favourable to them, and they stand in those regions
of the zodiac which are in the ascendant, in their own portions.72
Those, on the contrary, which are called Sinister are evil, and whenever they in
their turn are in possession of the ascendant they act in opposition to Nature;
and not on men only do they inflict harm, but at times on animals also, and
trees, and fruits, and the produce of the year, and fountains of water, and, in
short, on everything that is comprised within Nature, which is under their
government.
"And in consequence of this,-namely, the divisions and parties
which exist among the Potentates,-some men have thought that the world is
governed by these contending powers without any superintendence from
above. But that is because they do not understand that this very
thing-I mean the parties and divisions subsisting among them,-and
the justification and condemnation consequent on their behaviour, belong
to that constitution of things rounded in freedom which has been given by God,
to the end that these agents likewise, by reason of their self-determining
power,73
may be either justified or condemned. Just as we see that Fate crushes Nature,
so can we also see the freedom of man defeating and crushing Fate itself,-not,
however, in everything,-just as also Fate itself does not in everything defeat
Nature. For it is proper that the three things, Nature, and Fate, and Freedom,
should be continued in existence until the procession of which I before spoke
be completed, and the appointed measure and number of its evolutions
be accomplished, even as it seemed good to Him who ordains of what kind shall be
the mode of life and the end of all creatures, and the condition of all beings
and natures. "
"I am convinced," said Avida, "by the arguments thou hast
brought forward, that it is not from his nature that a man does wrong, and also
that all men are not governed alike. If thou canst further prove also that it is
not from Fate and Destiny that those who do wrong so act, then will it be
incumbent on us to believe that man possesses personal freedom, and by his
nature has the power both to follow that which is right and to avoid that
which is wrong, and will therefore also justly be judged at the last day, "
"Art thou," said Bardesan, "by the fact that all men are not
governed alike, convinced that it is not from their nature that they do wrong?
Why, then, thou canst not possibly escape the conviction74
that neither also from Fate exclusively do they do wrong, if we are able to show
thee that the sentence of the Fates and Potentates does not influence all men
alike, but that we have freedom in our own selves, so that we can avoid serving
physical nature and being influenced by the control of the Potentates."
"Prove me this," said Avida, "and I will be convinced by thee,
and whatsover thou shalt enjoin upon me I will do."
"Hast thou," said Bardesan, "read the books of the astrologers75
who are in Babylon, in which is described what effects the stars have in their various
combinations at the Nativities of men; and the books of the Egyptians, in which
are described all the various characters which men happen to have? "
"I have read books of. astrology,"76
said Avida, "but I do not know which are those of the Babylonians and which
those of the Egyptians."
"The teaching of both countries," said Bardesan, "is the
same."
"It is well known to be so," said Avida.
"Listen, then," said Bardesan, "and observe, that that which
the stars decree by their Fate and their portions is not practised by all men
alike who are in all parts of the earth. For men have made laws for
themselves in various countries, in the exercise of that freedom
which was given them by God: forasmuch as this gift is in its very nature
opposed to that Fate emanating from the Potentates, who assume to themselves
that which was not given them. I will begin my enumeration of these laws,
so far as I can remember them, from the East, the beginning of the whole
world:-
"Laws of the Seres.-The Seres have laws forbidding to kill, or to
commit impurity, or to worship idols; and in the whole of Serica there are no
idols, and no harlots, nor any one that kills a man, nor any that is killed:
although they, like other men, are born at all hours and on all days. Thus the
fierce Mars, whensoever he is `posited' in the zenith, does not overpower the
freedom of the Seres, and compel a man to shed the blood of his fellow with an
iron weapon; nor does Venus, when posited with Mars, compel any man whatever
among the Seres to consort with his neighbour's wife, or with any other woman.
Rich and poor, however, and sick people and healthy, and rulers and subjects,
are there: because such matters are given into the power of the Governors.
"Laws of the Brahmans who are in India.-Again, among the Hindoos,
the Brahmans, of whom there are many thousands and tens of thousands, have a law
forbidding to kill at all, or to pay reverence to idols, or to commit impurity,
or to eat flesh, or to drink wine; and among these people not one of these
things ever takes place. Thousands of years, too, have elapsed, during
which these men, lo! have been governed by this law which they made for
themselves.
"Another Law which is in India.-There is also another law in
India, and in the same zone,77
prevailing among those who are not of the caste78
of the Brahmans, and do not embrace their teaching, bidding them serve idols,
and commit impurity, and kill, and do other bad things, which by the Brahmans
are disapproved. In the same zone of India, too, there are men who are in the
habit of eating the flesh of men, just as all other nations eat the flesh of
animals. Thus the evil stars have not compelled the Brahmans to do evil and
impure things; nor have the good stars prevailed on the rest of the Hindoos to
abstain from doing evil things; nor have those stars which are well `located' in
the regions which properly belong to them,79
and in the signs of the zodiac favourable to a humane disposition,80
prevailed on those who eat the flesh of men to abstain from using this foul and
abominable food.
"Laws of the Persians.-The Persians, again, have made themselves
laws permitting them to take as wives their sisters, and their daughters, and
their daughters' daughters; and there are some who go yet further, and take even
their mothers. Some of these said Persians are scattered abroad, away from
their country, and are found in Media, and in the country of the
Parthians,81
and in Egypt, and in Phrygia (they are called Magi); and in all the countries
and zones in which they are found, they are governed by this law which
was made for their fathers. Yet we cannot say that for all the Magi, and for the
rest of the Persians, Venus was posited with the Moon and with Saturn in the
house of Saturn in her portions, while the aspect of Mars was toward them.82
There are many places, too, in the kingdom of the Parthians, where men kill
their wives, and their brothers, and their children, and incur no penalty; while
among the Romans and the Greeks, he that kills one of these incurs capital
punishment, the severest of penalties.
"Laws of the Geli.-Among the Geli the women sow and reap, and
build, and perform all the tasks of labourers, and wear no raiment of colours,
and put on no shoes, and use no pleasant ointments; nor does any one find fault
with them when they consort with strangers, or cultivate intimacies with their
household slaves. But the husbands of these Gelae are dressed in garments of
colours, and ornamented with gold and jewels, and anoint themselves with
pleasant ointments. Nor is it on account of any effeminacy on their part that
they act in this manner, but on account of the law which has been made for them:
in fact, all the men are fond of hunting and addicted to war. But we cannot say
that for all the women of the Geli Venus was posited in Capricorn or in
Aquarius, in a position of ill luck; nor can we possibly say that for all the
Geli Mars and Venus were posited in Aries, where it is written that brave and
wanton83
men are born.
"Laws of the Bactrians.-Among the Bactrians, who are called
Cashani, the women adorn themselves with the goodly raiment of men, and with
much gold, and with costly jewels; and the slaves and handmaids minister to them
more than to their husbands; and they ride on horses decked out with trapping of
gold and with precious stones.84
These women, moreover, do not practise continency, but have intimacies with
their slaves, and with strangers who go to that country; and their husbands do
not find fault with them, nor have the women themselves any fear of
punishment, because the Cashani look upon85
their wives only as mistresses. Yet we cannot say that for all the
Bactrian women Venus and Mars and Jupiter are posited in the house of Mars in
the middle of the heavens,86
the place where women are born that are rich and adulterous, and that make their
husbands subservient to them in everything.
"Laws of the Racami, and of the Edessaeans, and of the Arabians.-Among
the Racami, and the Edessaeans, and the Arabians, not only is she that commits
adultery put to death, but she also upon whom rests the suspicion87
of adultery suffers capital punishment.
"Laws in Hatra.-There is a law in force88
in Hatra, that whosoever steals any little thing, even though it were worthless
as water, shall be stoned. Among the Cashani, on the contrary, if any one
commits such a theft as this, they merely spit in his face. Among the
Romans, too, he that commits a small theft is scourged and sent about his
business. On the other side of the Euphrates, and as you go eastward, he
that is stigmatized as either a thief or a murderer does not much resent it;89
but, if a man be stigmatized as an arsenocoete, he will avenge himself even to
the extent of killing his accuser.
"Laws....-Among90
... boys ... to us, and are not ... Again, in all the region of the East, if any
persons are thus stigmatized, and are known to be guilty, their own
fathers and brothers put them to death; and very often91
they do not even make known the graves where they are buried.
"Such are the laws of the people of the East. But in the
North, and in the country of the Gauls92
and their neighbours, such youths among them as are handsome the men take as
wives, and they even have feasts on the occasion; and it is not
considered by them as a disgrace, nor as a reproach, because of the law which
prevails among them. But it is a thing impossible that all those in
"Laws of the Britons. "-Among the Britons many men take one and
the same wife.
"Laws of the Parthians.-Among the Parthians, on the other hand,
one man takes many wives, and all of them keep to him only, because of the law
which has been made there in that country.
"Laws of the Amazons.-As regards the Amazons, they, all of them,
the entire nation, have no husbands; but like animals, once a year, in the
spring-time, they issue forth from their territories and cross the river; and,
having crossed it, they hold a great festival on a mountain, and the men from
those parts come and stay with them fourteen days, and associate with them, and
they become pregnant by them, and pass over again to their own country; and,
when they are delivered, such of the children as are males they cast
away, and the females they bring up. Now it is evident that, according to the
ordinance of Nature, since they all became pregnant in one month, they also in
one month are all delivered, a little sooner or a little later; and, as
we have heard, all of them are robust and warlike; but not one of the stars is
able to help any of those males who are born so as to prevent their being east
away.
"The Book of the Astrologers.-It is written in the book of the
astrologers, that, when Mercury is posited with Venus in the house of Mercury,
he produces painters, sculptors, and bankers; but that, when they are in the
house of Venus, they produce perfumers, and dancers, and singers, and poets. And
yet, in all the country of the Tayites and of the Saracens, and in Upper
Libya and among the Mauritanians, and in the country of the Nomades, which is at
the mouth of the Ocean, and in outer Germany, and in Upper Sarmatia, and in
Spain, and in all the countries to the north of Pontus, and in all the country
of the Alanians, and among the Albanians, and among the Zazi, and in Brusa,
which is beyond the Douro, one sees neither sculptors, nor painters, nor
perfumers, nor bankers, nor poets; but, on the contrary, this decree of
Mercury and Venus is prevented from influencing the entire circumference
of the world. In the whole of Media, all men when they die, and even
while life is still remaining in them, are cast to the dogs, and the dogs eat
the dead of the whole of Media. Yet we cannot say that all the Medians are born
having the Moon posited with Mars in Cancer in the day-time beneath the earth:
for it is written that those whom dogs eat are so born. The Hindoos, when they
die, are all of them burnt with fire, and many of their wives are burnt along
with them alive. But we cannot say that all those women of the Hindoos who are
burnt had at their Nativity Mars and the Sun posited in Leo in the night-time
beneath the earth, as those persons are born who are burnt with fire. All the
Germans die by strangulation,93
except those who are killed in battle. But it is a thing impossible, that, at
the Nativity of all the Germans the Moon and Hora should have been posited
between Mars and Saturn. The truth is, that in all countries, every day, and at
all hours, men are born under Nativities diverse from one another, and the laws
of men prevail over the decree of the stars, and they are governed by
their customs. Fate does not compel the Seres to commit murder against their
wish, nor the Brahmans to eat flesh; nor does it hinder the Persians from taking
as wives their daughters and their sisters, nor the Hindoos from being
burnt, nor the Medes from being devoured by dogs, nor the Parthians from taking
many wives, nor among the Britons many men from taking one and the same
wife, nor the Edessaeans from cultivating chastity, nor the Greeks from
practising gymnastics, ..., nor the Romans from perpetually seizing upon other
countries, nor the men of the Gauls from marrying one another; nor does
it compel the Amazons to rear the males; nor does his Nativity compel any
man within the circumference of the whole world to cultivate the art of
the Muses; but, as I have already said, in every country and in every
nation all men avail themselves of the freedom of their nature in any way they
choose, and, by reason of the body with which they are clothed, do service to
Fate and to Nature, sometimes as they wish, and at other times as they do not
wish. For in every country and in every nation there are rich and poor, and
rulers and subjects, and people in health and those who are sick-each one
according as Fate and his Nativity have affected him."
"Of these things, Father Bardesan," said I to him, "thou hast
convinced us, and we know that they are true. But knowest thou that the
astrologers say that the earth is divided into seven portions, which are called
Zones; and that over the said portions those seven stars have authority,
each of them over one; and that in each one of the said portions the will
of its own Potentate prevails; and that this is called its law? "
"First of all, know thou, my son Philip," said he to me, "that
the astrologers have invented this statement as a device for the promotion
of error. For, although the earth be divided into seven portions, yet in every
one of the seven portions many laws are to be found differing from one another.
For there are not seven kinds of laws only found in the world,
according to the number of the seven stars; nor yet twelve, according to the
number of the signs of the zodiac; nor yet thirty-six, according to the number
of the Decani.94
But there are many kinds of laws to be seen as you go from kingdom
to kingdom, from country to country, from district to district, and in every
abode of man, differing one from another. For ye remember what I said to
you-that in one zone, that of the Hindoos, there are many men that do not
eat the flesh of animals, and there are others that even eat the flesh of
men. And again, I told you, in speaking of the Persians and the Magi,
that it is not in the zone of Persia only that they have taken for wives
their daughters and their sisters, but that in every country to which they have
gone they have followed the law of their fathers, and have preserved the mystic
arts contained in that teaching which they delivered to them. And again,
remember that I told you of many nations spread abroad over the entire circuit
of the world,95
who have not been confined to any one zone, but have dwelt in every quarter from
which the wind blows,96
and in all the zones, and who have not the arts which Mercury and Venus are
said to have given when in conjunction with each other. Yet, if laws were
regulated by zones, this could not be; but they clearly are not: because those
men I have spoken of are at a wide remove from having anything in common
with many other men in their habits of life.
"Then, again, how many wise men, think ye, have abolished from
their countries laws which appeared to them not well made? How many laws, also,
are there which have been set aside through necessity? And how many kings are
there who, when they have got possession of countries which did not belong to
them, have abolished their established laws, and made such other laws as
they chose? And, whenever these things occurred, no one of the stars was able to
preserve the law. Here is an instance at hand for you to see for yourselves:
it is but as yesterday since the Romans took possession of
"But let me mention to you a fact which more than anything else
is likely98
to convince the foolish, and such as are wanting in faith. All the Jews, who
received the law through Moses, circumcise their male children on the eighth
day, without waiting for the coming of the proper stars, or standing in
fear of the law of the country where they are living. Nor does the star
which has authority over the zone govern them by force; but, whether they be in
Edom, or in Arabia, or in Greece, or in Persia, or in the north, or in the
south, they carry out this law which was made for them by their fathers. It is
evident that what they do is not from Nativity: for it is impossible that for
all the Jews, on the eighth day, on which they are circumcised, Mars should `be
in the ascendant, 'so that steel should pass upon them, and their blood be shed.
Moreover, all of them, wherever they are, abstain from paying reverence to
idols. One day in seven, also, they and their children cease from all work, from
all building, and from all travelling, and from all buying and selling; nor do
they kill an animal on the Sabbath-day, nor kindle a fire, nor administer
justice; and there is not found among them any one whom Fate compels,99
either to go to law on the Sabbath-day and gain his cause, or to go to law and
lose it, or to pull down, or to build up, or to do any one of those things which
are done by all those men who have not received this law. They have also other
things in respect to which they do not on the Sabbath conduct themselves
like the rest of mankind, though on this same day they both bring forth and are
born, and fall sick and die: for these things do not pertain to the power of
man.
"In Syria and in Edessa men used to part with their manhood in honour of
Tharatha; but, when King Abgar100
became a believer he commanded that every one that did so should have his hand
cut off, and from that day until now no one does so in the country of Edessa.
"And what shall we say of the new race of us Christians, whom Christ at
His advent planted in every country and in every region? for, lo! wherever we
are, we are all called after the one name of Christ-Christians. On one day, the
first of the week, we assemble ourselves together, and on the days of the
readings101
we abstain from taking sustenance. The brethren who are in Gaul do not
take males for wives, nor those who are in Parthia two wives; nor do
those who are in Judges circumcise themselves; nor do our sisters who are among
the Geli consort with strangers; nor do those brethren who are in Persia
take their daughters for wives; nor do those who are in Media abandon
their dead, or bury them alive, or give them as food to the dogs; nor do those
who are in Edessa kill their wives or their sisters when they commit impurity,
but they withdraw from them, and give them over to the judgment of God; nor do
those who are in Hatra102
stone thieves to death; but, wherever they are, and in whatever place
they are found, the laws of the several countries do not hinder them from
obeying the law of their Sovereign, Christ; nor does the Fate of the celestial
Governors compel them to make use of things which they regard as impure.
"On the other hand, sickness and health, and riches and poverty, things
which are not within the scope of their freedom, befall them wherever they are.
For although the freedom of man is not influenced by the compulsion of the
Seven, or, if at any time it is influenced, it is able to withstand the
influences exerted upon it, yet, on the other hand, this same man,
externally regarded,103
cannot on the instant liberate himself from the command of his Governors: for he
is a slave and in subjection. For, if we were able to do everything, we should
ourselves be everything; and, if we had not the power to do anything, we should
be the tools of others.
"But, when God wills them, all things are possible, and they
may take place without hindrance: for there is nothing that can stay that
Great and Holy Will. For even those who think that they successfully
withstand it, do not withstand it by strength, but by wickedness and error. And
this may go on for a little while, because He is kind and forbearing towards all
beings that exist,104
so as to let them remain as they are, and be governed by their own will, whilst
notwithstanding they are held in check by the works which have been done and by
the arrangements which have been made for their help. For this well-ordered
constitution of things105
and this government which have been instituted, and the intermingling of
one with another, serve to repress the violence of these beings,106
so that they should not inflict harm on one another to the full, nor yet
to the full suffer harm, as was the case with them before the creation of the
world. A time is also coming when this propensity to inflict harm which
still remains in them shall be brought to an end, through the teaching which
shall be given them amidst intercourse of another kind. And at the
establishment of that new world all evil commotions shall cease, and all
rebellions terminate, and the foolish shall be convinced, and all deficiencies
shall be filled up, and there shall be quietness and peace, through the gift of
the Lord of all existing beings."
Here endeth the Book of the Laws of Countries.
Bardesan, therefore, an aged man, and one celebrated for his knowledge of
events, wrote, in a certain work which was composed by him, concerning the
synchronisms107
with one another of the luminaries of heaven, speaking as follows :-
Two revolutions of Saturn,108
60 years; 5 revolutions of Jupiter, 60 years; 40 revolutions of Mars, 60 years;
60 revolutions of the Sun, 60 years; 72 revolutions of Venus, 60 years; 150
revolutions of Mercury, 60 years; 720 revolutions of the Moon, 60 years.
And this," says he, "is one synchronism of them all; that is, the
time of one such synchronism of them. So that from hence it appears
that to complete too such synchronisms there will be required
six thousands of years. Thus :-
200 revolutions of Saturn, six thousands of years; 500 revolutions of
Jupiter, 6 thousands of years; 4 thousand revolutions of Mars, 6 thousands of
years; Six thousand revolutions of the Sun, 6 thou-sands of years; 7 thousand
and 200 revolutions of Venus, 6thousands of years; 12 thousand revolutions of
Mercury, 6 thou-sands of years; 72 thousand revolutions of the Moon, 6
thou-sands of years."
These things did Bardesan thus compute when desiring to show that this world
would stand only six thousands of years.