"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. [3448] 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, [3449] who have not been confined to any one zone, but have dwelt in every quarter from which the wind blows, [3450] 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 Arabia, and they abolished all the laws previously existing there, and especially the circumcision which they practised. The truth is, [3451] that he who is his own master is sometimes compelled to obey the law imposed on him by another, who himself in turn becomes possessed of the power to do as he pleases.
"But let me mention to you a fact which more than anything else is likely [3452] 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, [3453] 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 Abgar [3454] 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 readings [3455] 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 Judæa 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 Hatra [3456] 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, [3457] 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, [3458] 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 things [3459] and this government which have been instituted, and the intermingling of one with another, serve to repress the violence of these beings, [3460] 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 synchronisms [3461] with one another of the luminaries of heaven, speaking as follows:--
Two revolutions of Saturn, [3462] 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 100 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 thousands of years;
7 thousand and 200 revolutions of Venus, 6 thousands of years;
12 thousand revolutions of Mercury, 6 thousands of years;
72 thousand revolutions of the Moon, 6 thousands of years."
These things did Bardesan thus compute when desiring to show that this world would stand only six thousands of years.
[3355] Lit. "Son of Daisan," from a river so called near Edessa.--Hahn. [Elucidation I. "The Laws of Countries" is the title. For "Various Countries" I have used "Divers."]
[3356] Called by Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 30, The Discourse on Fate (O peri heimarmenes dialogos). This is more correct than the title above given: the "Laws" are adduced only as illustrations of the argument of the piece. The subject would, however, be more properly given as "The Freedom of the Will."
[3357] Lit. "going in." Cureton renders, "we went up."
[3358] Lit. "felt him."
[3359] Lit. "before him." Merx: "ehe er kam."
[3360] The word used is formed from the Greek euschemonos. [Here observe what is said (in Elucidation I.) by Nöldke on the Hellenization theory of Mommsen, with reference to this very work; p. 742, infra.]
[3361] Lit. "hast anything in thy mind."
[3362] Lit. "there are for thee other things also."
[3363] *** is here substituted for the *** of the text, which yields no sense.
[3364] Lit. "the wisdom of the truth."
[3365] Lit. "are not able to stand."
[3366] Or, "in the hand of the operator;" but it is better to employ two words.
[3367] Or, "and the sphere."
[3368] The word ***, here used, occurs subsequently as a designation of the Gnostic Æons. Here, as Merx observes, it can hardly go beyond its original meaning of ens, entia, Wesen, that which is. It evidently refers, however, in this passage to a system of things, a world.
[3369] Lit. "required." [It is a phenomenon to find this early specimen of "anthropology" emanating from the far East, and anticipating the Augustinian controversies on "fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute." Yet the West did not originate the discussion. See vol. iv. p. 320. See the ethical or metaphysical side of free-will discussed in Eaton's Bampton Lectures for 1872, p. 79, ed. Pott, Young, & Co., New York, 1873. On St. Augustine, see Wordsworth's valuable remarks in his Bampton Lectures for 1881.]
[3370] Gen. i. 27. The Hebrew itself, vtsls 'lhys is given in Syriac characters, without translation.
[3371] Cureton renders, "for which he is created." Merx has, "das ihn gemacht hat."
[3372] The Greek stoicheia.
[3373] ***, that which exists, especially that which has an independent existence, is used here of the Gnostic Æons. They were so called in respect of their pre-existence, their existence independent of time or creation. When they came to be "created," or more properly "fashioned," they were called "emanations."