Chapter XVI
But woe is thee, thou
torrent of human custom! Who shall stand against thee? how long shalt
thou not be dried up? how long roll the sons of Eve into that huge and
hideous ocean, which even they scarcely overpass who climb the cross?
Did not I read in thee of Jove the thunderer and the adulterer? both,
doubtless, he could not be; but so the feigned thunder might countenance
and pander to real adultery. And now which of our gowned masters lends a
sober ear to one who from their own school cries out, “These were
Homer's fictions, transferring things human to the gods; would he had
brought down things divine to us!” Yet more truly had he said, “These
are indeed his fictions; but attributing a divine nature to wicked men,
that crimes might be no longer crimes, and whoso commits them might seem
to imitate not abandoned men, but the celestial gods.”
And yet,
thou hellish torrent, into thee are cast the sons of men with rich
rewards, for compassing such learning; and a great solemnity is made of
it, when this is going on in the forum, within sight of laws appointing a
salary beside the scholar's payments; and thou lashest thy rocks and
roarest, “Hence words are learnt; hence eloquence; most necessary to
gain your ends, or maintain opinions.” As if we should have never known
such words as “golden shower,” “lap,” “beguile,” “temples of the
heavens,” or others in that passage, unless Terence had brought a lewd
youth upon the stage, setting up Jupiter as his example of seduction.
“Viewing a picture, where the tale was drawn,
Of Jove's descending in a golden shower
To Danae's lap a woman to beguile.”
And then mark how he excites himself to lust as by celestial authority:
“And what God? Great Jove,
Who shakes heaven's highest temples with his thunder,
And I, poor mortal man, not do the same!
I did it, and with all my heart I did it.”
Not
one whit more easily are the words learnt for all this vileness; but by
their means the vileness is committed with less shame. Not that I blame
the words, being, as it were, choice and precious vessels; but that
wine of error which is drunk to us in them by intoxicated teachers; and
if we, too, drink not, we are beaten, and have no sober judge to whom we
may appeal. Yet, O my God (in whose presence I now without hurt may
remember this), all this unhappily I learnt willingly with great
delight, and for this was pronounced a hopeful boy.
|
4125
|
Forums / Main Forum / Re: Am I wrong to forgive?
|
on: November 17, 2009, 09:28:47 AM
|
|
w8... I hope i dont get you going on the cycle
of pain. I think there are some things here as far as forgiveness and
the personal connection in having the power of the gospel loosen us up
on the inside is finding that Gods love and the quality of His love can
have a personal effect in this confusion. I guess sometimes searching
for the assurance of forgiveness has this general influence to us of how
these principles of Gods sovereign covenant love are applied to both
our inward experience and our relationships with others. Pain has its
own weakness to our general level of a healthy rational processing how
we read who we are in terms of the amount of energy we expend of letting
these things go and what we read in how we are either accepted or
rejected in community. God allows us to go through this process... some
people experience it from the outside to the inside and some people
experience it from the inside to the outside. If this doesnt really
speak to you i hope someone reading it would find a common agreement.
|
Reply
Quote
Notify
Remove
No comments:
Post a Comment