EXCERPTS BY STOB^EUS. 105 



III. OF GOD. 



FROM THE THINGS TO TAT (Florilegium, 78 ; 

 Meineke, iii. 104). 



To understand God is difficult, to declare Him (a) im- 

 possible. For body to signify (&) the incorporeal is im- 

 possible, and the perfect to be comprehended by the 

 imperfect is not possible, 1 and for the eternal to be con- 

 versant with (c) the short-lived very difficult. For this 

 ever is, but that passes away, and this indeed is Truth, 

 but that is overshadowed by phantasy. For the weaker 

 from the stronger and the less from the superior are as 

 far distant (d) as the mortal from the Divine, and the 

 intermediate distance of these dims the sight of the 

 Beautiful. For the bodies, indeed, are seen by eyes, by 

 tongue things visible are related, but those incorporeal 

 and invisible and figureless and not composed of matter, 

 it is impossible also to be comprehended by our senses. 

 I apprehend mentally I apprehend mentally (e), O Tat ! 

 what it is not possible to express (/) in speech, that is 

 The God! 2 



(ci) (fipoiffeii Sf. (6) ff^aijj/a/. (c) 



of the harmonies of the "body only, is discussed by Plato in the 

 Phaedon, 91 et seq. (Hermann's Edition, I., 122-139). His conclusion- 

 is this: " Death, then, coming upon the man, the mortal of him, as 

 it seems, dies, but the immortal goes away, departing safe and inde- 

 structible, displacing itself from the death." 



He had said, Phsedon, 67 : " Is not this called death loosing and 

 separation of soul from body ? But ever especially and only, those 

 philosophising rightly desire this loosing, and this is the very care- 

 fulness of the philosophers this loosing and separation of soul and 

 body." 



See as to this subject Poemaudres, ch. viii., i. 2 ; ch. x. 13, and xi. 

 15. 



1 This passage is quoted (nearly verbatim) by Lactantius, Epitome, 

 ch. iv. ad finem, and previously Divin. Instit., lib. II., ch. ix., and 

 by Cyrill. Alex. Contr. Jul., 33c. (post, Part III.). 



2 Plato, Timseus, 28, wrote: The Maker then and Father of this- 



