Historical Relations no 



determinate, and they were determined by forces acting wholly 

 outside man. The type and origin of that determination the 

 Stoic sought in the heavens, in the majestic and overwhelming 

 procession of the stars. The recurring phenomena of the spheres 

 typified, foreshadowed, nay, exhibited and controlled, the cycle 

 of man's life. Man dwelt in a finite world bounded by the firma- 

 ment and limited by a flaming rampart. Within that rampart all 

 worked by rule — and that rule was the rule of the heavenly bodies. 

 Astrology had become one of the dogmas of the Stoic creed. 



To such a world Galen's determinism was in itself no strange 

 thought. Remember that Galen had, in his youth, been well 

 trained in the Stoic philosophy. Yet Galen's view was far from 

 being in accord with Stoicism. Though a determinism, it was a 

 determinism of perfection in which all was fixed by a wise and far- 

 seeing God, and was a reflection of His own perfection. That 

 perfection can be traced in the body of man, and Galen exclaims 

 outright that a knowledge of the uses of the organs reveals Deity 

 more clearly than any sacred mysteries. Galen repeatedly adopts 

 the argument from design for the existence of God ; indeed, it is 

 his sole argument. Now such a scheme did not ill fit the new 

 creed which was just beginning to raise its head and was destined 

 to replace Stoicism and all the other pagan schemes. Galen's 

 thought, in fact, made a special appeal to the Christian point of view, 

 and this is doubtless the reason that a larger bulk has be^n preserved 

 of his works than of those of any other pagan writer. 



In several places Galen mentions both Judaism and Christianity, 

 though without much respect. In the great anatomical work 

 under discussion he explains that in his belief God always works by 

 law, and that it is just for this reason that Natural Law reveals Him, 

 and he adds that " in this matter our view . . . differs from that 

 of Moses." It seems very probable that he had read some books 

 of the Bible. His position can thus be summed up as intermediate 

 between Stoicism and Christianity. On the one hand he accepted 

 the Natural Law of the Stoic philosophy, but rejected its astro- 

 logical corollary. On the other hand he accepted the Divine 

 Guide and Architect of the Universe which corresponded to the 

 Christian scheme, but rejected all idea of miracle. 



Let us, however, consider the results of Galen's doctrine of the 

 uses of all the parts Treated, as it must be, on the a priori basis, the 

 doctrine inevitably turned men away from the observation of Nature 



