The duty of worshipping the Gods was based upon the fact of their superiority to man. "The superior and excellent nature of the Gods requires a pious adoration from men, because it is possessed of immortality, and the most exalted felicity; for whatever excels has a right to veneration." Yet "all fear of the power and anger of the Gods should be banished; for we must understand that anger and affection are inconsistent with the nature of a happy and immortal being. These apprehensions being removed, no dread of the superior power remains." On the same principles that the existence of the Gods was allowed, that is, on the pre-notion and universal belief of their existence, it was held that the Gods were happy and immortal, to which the Epicureans added this doctrine: "That which is eternally happy cannot be burdened with any labor itself, nor can it impose any labor on another; nor can it be influenced by resentment or favor; because things which are liable to such feelings must be weak and frail."
It was generally held by the opponents of Epicurus that, as a matter of fact he did not believe in the existence of the Gods at all; but dared not deny their existence for fear of the Athenian law against impiety, and because such denial would render him unpopular. But after becoming acquainted with his views as to the nature of the Gods, one is prepared to accept the criticism of his doctrines which Cicero puts in the mouth of Cotta, in his Tusculan Disputations, viz., "Epicurus has allowed a deity in words but destroyed him in fact."
7. The Sensualism of Epicureanism: Whatever apologists may say, it is very clear that the "pleasure" of the Epicurean philosophy, hailed as "the supreme good and chief end in life," was to arise from agreeable sensations, or whatever gratified the senses, and hence was, in the last analysis of it—in its roots and branches—in its theory and in its practice—"sensualism." It was to result in physical ease and comfort, and mental inactivity—other than a conscious, self-complacence—being regarded as "The supreme good and chief end of life." I judge this to be the net result of this philosophy since these are the very conditions in which Epicurus describe even the gods to exist; and surely men could not hope for more "pleasure," or greater happiness than that possessed by their gods. Cicero even charges that the sensualism of Epicurus was so gross that he represents him as blaming his brother, Timocrates, "because he would not allow that everything which had any reference to a happy life was to be measured by the belly; nor has he," continues Cicero, "said this once only, but often."
In Cicero's description of the Epicurean conception of the gods, he says: "That which is truly happy cannot be burdened with any labor itself, nor can it impose any labor on another, nor can it be influenced by resentment or favor, because things which are liable to such failings must be weak and frail. * * * Their life [i. e., of the gods] is most happy and the most abounding with all kinds of blessings which can be conceived. They do nothing. They are embarrassed with no business; nor do they perform any work. They rejoice in the possession of their own wisdom and virtue. They are satisfied that they shall ever enjoy the fulness of eternal pleasure. * * Nothing can be happy that is not at ease." (Tusculan Disputations, The Nature of the Gods, pp. 266-268).
8. The Academicians: The Academicians can scarcely be regarded as a school of philosophy, though they refer their origin to Plato (Smith's Student's History of Greece, p. 596.). Their name stands for a method of thought rather than for a system of truth. They had no philosophy, but rather speculated about philosophy. They advocated nothing; they were the agnostics of their time—that is, they were people who did not know, and like our modern agnostics, had a strong suspicion that nobody else knew. They represented merely the negative attitude of mind in their times. Still, they numbered in their following some of the most considerable men of Rome, Cicero being among the number. The academy is said to have exactly corresponded to the moral and political wants of Rome in the days of Cicero. "With no genius for speculation, the better Romans of that day were content to embrace a system which, though resting on no philosophical basis, and compounded of heterogeneous dogmas, offered notwithstanding, a secure retreat from religious scepticism and political troubles." "My words," says Cicero, speaking as a true Academician, "do not proclaim the truth, like a Pythian priestess; but I conjecture what is probable, like a plain man." And again: "The characteristic of the Academy is never to interpose one's judgment to approve what seems most probable, to compare together different opinions, to see what may be advanced on either side, and to leave one's listeners free to judge without pretending to dogmatize." (Ency. Brit. Art. Academy.) I believe this description warrants what was said at the beginning of this note, viz; that the name Academician stood for a method of thought rather than for a school of philosophy.
LESSON XIX.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
ANCIENT CONCEPTIONS OF GOD.—(Continued.)
ANALYSIS. | REFERENCES. |
XV. Religions of Northern Europe— 1. The Scythians; 2. The Scandinavians; 3. The Druids; | Draper's "Intellectual Development of Europe," Ch. viii, pp. 240 et seq. The World's Worship, (Dobbins), Ch. x. Burder's "History of All Religions," Part VI, Sec. vii, p. 524 et seq. Mormon Doctrine of Deity, Ch. iv. Crabb's "Mythology of All Nations," Chs. lxii, lxiii, lxiv, lxv. |
SPECIAL TEXT: "I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen; which ye [Israel] have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." Ezekiel xxvi:23.