Период второй. Введение в церковную историю

The need for first world execution What the Prophet said about the people of Israel can be applied to the whole world; the seed is holy, his standing 46 . The world continues to stand and prosper as long as the seed of the elect is nourished and grows in it. When this seed becomes scarce, then the foundations of the world are shaken. Therefore, when the first world was subjected to extreme disorder in all conditions: in the church - from wickedness and godlessness; in the civil sense - from the predominance of giants, in the family sense - from voluptuousness and luxury, then God uses a terrible transformation and general execution as a last resort, on the one hand, to stop the successes of the evil, and on the other, to prevent the complete extermination of the good. Its spread to a senseless creature Along with corrupt people, the senseless creature is also condemned to destruction. Her suffering should aggravate the punishment of those who subjugated her to their vanity, and make their disaster more striking and instructive for posterity. Before committing this vengeance, God three times announces His judgment to people. First, He commands us to preach to them that they cannot use His mercy for evil forever, and that He leaves them one hundred and twenty years for repentance, during which the measure of His long-suffering must be fulfilled 47 . Then, when this meek call for correction was not successful, He wanted to move hearts with fear, repeating, not conditionally, but decisively, His definition of the extermination of all those living on earth 48 . Finally, when this is neglected; then God turned from the entire human race to Noah alone; and, having confirmed to him that the time of His vengeance was approaching, he commanded to build an ark to preserve him and every kind of animal from the flood. Proof of Noah's Hope Noah showed in these terrible times the experiences of his faith and hope in God. Then, as He predicted the general destruction, He was so confident about the safety of himself and his offspring that he entered into marriage and gave birth to three sons Shem, Japheth and Ham. The construction of the ark, which he completed, presupposes firm courage in overcoming obstacles, and patience in enduring insults from unbelievers. Noah's Ark was not like a ship, but had a simple regular Figure, from which it received its name. It was built from wood, which in Hebrew, the text of everyday life, is called gopher, and in translation seventy-square and rotting. This is probably a cypress, which is proven by the similarity of names and the property of non-rotting, which mainly belongs to this tree, and its ability to build a ship, and the abundance in the countries lying near Babylon 49 in which the structure of the ark can be believed. It was three hundred cubits in length, fifty in breadth, and thirty in height. The entire building, according to its height, was divided into three decks, and these again, along its length and breadth, into many nests or barriers, the number and measure of which had to be adapted to the number and needs of the heterogeneous inhabitants. For safety from water, the ark, both outside and inside, was covered with pitch. It had one door to the side, and an opening at the top, either for receiving light, or more for communicating with the outside air. Other details of this great matter, due to the silence of St. Scriptures which describe only its particulars cannot be defined with precision. The ark was supposed to contain, in addition to the eight people of Noah’s family, clean livestock, seven male and female, and a pair of unclean animals living on land, and on top of this, an annual amount of food needed for them. Notes against confusion about the capacity of the ark In order to imagine how all this could fit in the ark, it should be noted that, except for animals living in the waters, there was no need to take amphibians into it, and those that could be preserved under water in seeds and then be reborn from the warmth of the sun; that the diversity now noticeable in animals does not always mean a difference in genera, but also comes from their mixing, from the properties of the countries in which they live, and many other reasons; that for those remaining with this exception, according to Gesner, about 130 genera of quadrupeds, 150 birds and 30 reptiles, it will no longer be cramped in the space of 1,600,000 cubic feet, which, at a meager measure, is the capacity of the ark. That this space is aggravated if in calculus, instead of the ordinary cubit, we take the Egyptian one, as the oldest and closest to the Jewish measure. Finally, as for food, one should not think that it was necessary to prepare other animals for carnivorous animals: if not by nature, then by need, and, being motionless, they could be content with the lightest food, and experience has shown that this is not completely inconsistent with their nature. According to the new direct command of God, Noah enters the ark in advance in order to accomplish this all the more unhindered. According to his own obsession, the animals follow their keeper. God Himself then shuts the ark and makes its entrance inviolable. Soon the flood begins. The reason for it is supposed to be the opening of the heavenly abysses, through which one can understand the clouds, and the opening of all the sources of the abyss, or the rush of sea, and perhaps underground waters onto land. The rain continued for forty days, and the water rose fifteen cubits above the tops of the mountains. Five months after the start of the flood, the ark stops on the mountains of Ararat. After some time, Noah, in order to find out about the state of the earth, sends out a raven, but to no avail; then the pigeon, three times, and with success; Finally, he himself leaves the ark, having stayed in it for about a year, and goes out onto the devastated land in the six hundred and first summer of his life, at the end of the second month, which corresponds to the beginning of our November. The Flood is called universal in two ways: some, in relation to the whole earth, and others, only in relation to the human race. If we consider the expressions in which he depicts the Word of God 50, the vastness and necessity of the construction of the ark, and the amazing elevation of the flood waters, then we can be sure that this flood was not confined to certain regions of Asia. We cannot say that a general flood was not needed to punish people who at this time, according to the conclusions of some, did not yet occupy vast countries. When God shows His strong hand, then we should not assign an end to His action, but notice the one that He reveals to us. Of course, He found it necessary to show by the example of the flood how His justice fulfills its laws, without being softened by the multitude of the guilty; how easy it is for Him to punish a crime, and how impossible it is for a crime to escape His wrath. We should also not doubt the possibility of a general flood, not only from the omnipotence of God, but also for natural reasons. Those who find it impossible to find the abundance of water needed for this forget that they have not yet calculated the entire amount of it located on the surface and in the interior of the globe. Faith represents the first appearance of the new world after the flood. Noah celebrates his renewal; He builds an altar and offers burnt offerings from all clean animals. His sacrifice was not only grateful for saving himself and the remnant of other creatures from general destruction, but also propitiatory. With it he testified that the world is preserved and restored for the great sacrifice of the Lamb slain before its creation; and that in this single sacrifice, which has to come to fulfillment of the Time of the Conciliator, he believes both the security of the present and the hope of a better life. This is revealed from the fact that God smelled the stench of the fragrance from Noah’s sacrifice, and this stench could have been no other than Christ’s 51 . At this sacrifice, Sacred History mentions the altar for the first time. But since the rituals of sacrifice, as a Divine institution, did not allow any arbitrary additions, and as an altar it was an important accessory, because it signified the mystery of the ascension of Christ from the earth, 52 then one cannot reject its use even before the flood. Divine renewal of the world in all conditions Appeased by the faith of Noah, God takes away the curse with which the earth responded even after its punishment, He sends His Word to restore the structure and rights of creatures; and gives promises and commandments, with which he confirms and renews both the order of the world in general, and in particular the family, civil and grace-filled state of people. He renews the world, commanding nature to accept its correct course, and animals to populate the earth, and promising that for the sins of man he will not allow a more general extermination of creatures throughout the days of the earth, that is, until the predetermined end of times 53. Renewal of the human race Renews the human race, repeating the blessing of many children, asserting for it with new strength dominion over creation, and giving it not only plants, but also animals for food 54. God limits the permission to eat animals by prohibiting eating their blood. This law teaches respect for life in the blood and inspires meekness. In the book of Leviticus 55 they find further grounds for its mysterious explanation. They think that the blood is sanctified by him, since in sacrifices it serves as a prototype of that divine blood in which the true sanctification and spiritual life of people lies. Renewal of human society Further, God renews the social state, protecting its safety and barring the entrance to former violence with the law that determines the death penalty for murder. To inspire greater horror of this crime, He adds that He Himself will find a criminal who will escape human justice, and that the beast will in this case be subjected to vengeance on an equal basis with man 56 . Finally, the Church also needed its renewal, and confirmation of its great promise, the fulfillment of which, so long awaited, apparently was moving away from day to day. This renewal, in addition to the law regarding the blood of animals, includes the covenant that God established with Noah. The visible object of this covenant is the preservation of the kingdom of nature, so that dumb creatures are also allowed to participate in it. But the inner purpose of this is in the kingdom of grace. The rainbow, accepted as a sign of this covenant, is an image of the kingdom of the Son of God descending from heaven to earth - this is how it appears in the visions of Ezekiel and John 57. Legend about the laws of this time The Book of Genesis does not show us other divine institutions and laws relating to this time. But the Jewish tradition retains a certain abbreviation of Divine law, consisting of the seven Commandments, known under the name of Noah. They are the following: 1) about idolatry, 2) about Blasphemy, 3) about murder, 4) about adultery, 5) about theft, 6) about judgment, or civil decency, and finally 7) about not eating a living animal. Some traces of these commandments are found in the ancient book of Job 58. The renewed Church of Noah did not long retain its peace and the glory of its members. Being an example of hard work in agriculture for his children, Noah also became an example of human weakness for them, having carelessly tested the power of wine, which led him to forget himself and violate decency. At the same time, a division opened up between the children. Ham showed as much shamelessness and contempt for his father as Shem and Japheth showed him respect and chaste modesty. Noah recognized in his youngest son the Patriarch of the wicked, Cain of the second world. This incident gave Noah the opportunity for curses and blessings, which he divided among his children, and in which he predicted to them the fate of their offspring; because posterity conveniently inherits the executions or rewards of their ancestors as well as their virtues or vices. Noah's prophecy has the following meaning: the earth will be divided among people, and the descendants of Japheth will occupy the largest space; the true Church will be preserved in the descendants of Shem, at certain times they will conquer the land and the tribe of Canaan, and the Messiah, the Redeemer of men, will appear in its villages. The descendants of Japheth will also finally enter the villages of Shem, that is, both into the land of Canaan and into the true Church 59. Pandemonium and scattering of nations The idea of ​​the impending dispersion of people across the earth spread among the descendants of Noah, and especially occupied them with the multiplication of tribes. Many of them adopted the intention either to completely prevent this, or if this fails, at least to erect a monument that would testify to their strength and glory; and for this purpose they founded a city and a pillar, or a huge tower, in the land of Shinar. Holy Scripture, calling them by the derogatory name of the sons of men, makes it clear that the best of the tribe of Shem had no part in this reckless enterprise. On the contrary, it is not surprising if the tribe of Ham showed special activity in him, because they were most threatened by Noah’s prophecy. To stop this worldwide conspiracy, God uses a means that serves at the same time to punish human insolence and vanity, and to fulfill His intention to spread the human race throughout the entire earth. A wonderful confusion of tongues separates and scatters the builders of Babylon. With the dispersion of the human race, division took precedence over its unity. Surnames became nations, whose differences, first moral and political, subsequently extended to their physical condition as a result of the climate and way of life. The oldest or strongest and most famous among the tribes founded various governments, and left their names to peoples and countries. The multitude of these names, the changes that followed in them, migrations and displacements of generations obscure the antiquity of peoples, but the Holy Scripture draws our attention to their original origin, as a special work of Providence. The detail it includes about Noah's immediate descendants should guide the understanding of his prophecy in its event. The eldest son of Noah had the most numerous offspring. Gamer, Magog, Madai, Jovan, Tobel, Mosoch and Tiras were the sons of Japheth. From Gamera Joseph produces the Gomorians, the ancient inhabitants of Galatia, and others Phrygia, whose name is synonymous with the name of Gamera, and, finally, the Cimri and Germans. Magog is revered as the ancestor of the Scythians, who first lived near the Caucasus 60 and from there scattered north across Europe and Asia. The name Madai was inherited by the Medes, as can be seen from the books of Daniel and Esther. From Jovan came the Ionians, and then the European Greeks. The peoples descended from Fovel or Tubal and Mosoch are probably the ancient Tibarians and Moschians, who lived between Iberia and Cappadocia. Firas is the father of Thracian. The European peoples can generally be considered the descendants of Japheth. Of the four sons of Ham, Hus gave birth to the Midianites and some other peoples of Arabia; Mesraim and Fud inhabited Egypt and the parts of Africa closest to it; Canaan, with his eleven sons, occupied Palestine, Phenicia and part of Syria, which together were called by his name. But none of this tribe became stronger as quickly as Nevrod or Nimrod, the son of Hus. He became so famous for his courage and skill in hunting that his name became a proverb. This glory opened the way for him to possess people. It must be thought that he had a very active part in the pandemonium of Babylon, for even after the scattering of the nations he retained this place for himself. His kingdom consisted of several cities, between which Babylon was the capital. The sons of Shem were: Elam, Assur. Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. The descendants of Elam, whom Holy Scripture often connects with the Medes, and describes as a warlike people, can be partly revered as the ancestors of the Persians. Assur, whether he himself, coming out of the land of Shinar, in which he first lived, created Nineveh and some other cities, or whether Nevrod did this in the land of his habitation 61, can be considered the ancestor of the Assyrians. Joseph believes that the tribe of Lud was the Lidians, who lived near the Meander River. The settlements of Aram are more thoroughly established in Syria and surrounding countries: the Prophet Isaiah calls Damascus the main city of his tribe 62. It is not clear that any people were named after Arphaxad. Providence provided him with another advantage - to preserve and continue the line of the chosen ones. He was followed by Cainan, Sala, Eber. This was the last citizen of the world in this tribe. He saw the dispersion of nations, and in memory of this great change he named his son Peleg, which means division. From him came Raghav, Serukh, Nahor, and Terah—the father of Arran, Nahor, and Abram. The name of Eber became national especially in the latter’s tribe. Tradition and original language The teachings of faith, the memory of pious ancestors and the most ancient customs have been preserved by continuous tradition in this generation. Being free and not mixing with other peoples, it kept in the greatest purity the original, formerly universal language, which is also distinguished by the name of Eber. The confusion of languages ​​affected this tribe the less, the more it was removed from the crime from which it was born. The primacy of the Hebrew language is still visible in the fact that the most ancient names, which should have existed before the origin of new languages, and which could not be changed after that, find their origin in it alone; that from this the names of the most ancient peoples are explained; that its education is purer and simpler than the education of other oriental languages ​​that are close to this; and that not only these, but also other languages, obviously flow from him, like divided streams from one source. The sad consequence of the confusion of languages ​​and the dispersion of peoples was that the teaching of the faith could not follow them everywhere. Its truths were eclipsed and mixed with prejudices and errors. Instead of the word of God, the desires and passions of a corrupt heart gave laws in worship and life. From self-will and superstition it came to polytheism and idolatry 63 . It probably began with the idolization of the sun and other luminaries, which both by their majesty and their influence on earthly things attracted reverence. It is unknown who created these new deities. Lactantius, in agreement with Diodorus Siculus, considers Egypt their cradle. After the heavenly things, earthly things were deified, from which people either hoped for benefit or feared harm. The weak remnants of knowledge about Angels, corrupted stories about ancient famous men, respect for the benefactors of the human race and the ambition of the strong, gave birth to many lesser deities, and mixed people with them. Wanting to bring these deities closer to themselves, and, so to speak, to have them in their power, people first erected pillars, and then various idols, to which they thought to tie their presence. This superstition was supported by art, which fed on this superstition. The number of gods multiplied from the many names that were given to them from their properties, places and peoples. The extreme degree of wickedness was that these deities sanctified human vices and atrocities. There is no doubt that it did not suddenly reach this extreme; However, even before the birth of Abram, it spread and intensified so much that the word of God reproaches his father himself for serving other gods 64; and that therefore God judged it necessary to make him an arbitrary exile and an everlasting wanderer, in order to preserve him from the kingdom of darkness, and in him to renew His Church. The time that elapsed from the flood to the birth of Abram is, according to the current Hebrew text, 352, and according to the reckoning of Josephus, corrected by Vossius 65, from which the translation of seventy differs slightly, 1192. History of this period among the pagans Information about the events of this period was preserved among the pagans, mostly disfigured by ignorance or superstition. Although the floods known to them, Ogigov in Attica and Boeotia, and Deucalion in Thessaly, in all likelihood seem to be private; however, Lucian 66 describes the last of them with such features that are completely befitting of the general flood of Noah. Poets do the same. Plutarch mentions the dove released from Deucalion's ark. Beroz testifies that in his time there were still remains of the Ark on the Armenian Mountains. The fable of Saturn, (although it is also attributed to the first man), has great similarities with the story of Noah. He is revered as the son of Ocean and given a ship as a symbol. His three sons correspond to the three sons of Noah: Hamu - Jupiter, who is similar to him both in the name of Hammon and in his insolence against his father; Neptune - Japheth, whose offspring inherited coastal countries and islands; Pluto, ruler of the future life, - Simu. Noah is also found in Janus, whose two faces, old and young, look at the old and new world. The poets' glorious scolding of the Giants is an enlarged image of Pandemonium. Many monuments of these times remain in the names of which, however, the testimony cannot always be considered decisive. Arrian writes in Book VII that Alexander built an entire fleet of cypress here. Life VI, 17; VII, 11, 20 – 23. John XII, 32; Heb. XIII, 10. Life IX, 5, 6. The law does not indicate who among people should oversee its implementation. Grotius thinks that this right is given to everyone here; and finds remnants of this right even in the law of Moses, Num. XXXV,21. But the law of Moses allows revenge 1) not on everyone, but on the relatives of the murdered, and, moreover, 2) only if the murderer does not hide in the city of refuge, Num. XXXV, 12: and these circumstances already make the avenger authorized by the government. And just as private revenge in general is not the best way to stop murders, one must think that the first law on murderers was entrusted to human society and those in charge in it, and not to each person in particular. Ezek. I, 28; Apoc. I, 3. Job. XXXI, 26 – 28, 2) I, 11, 3) XXXI 29, 4) XXXI, 9, 5) XXXI, 7, 6) XXIX, 12 – 17. The inhabitants of ancient Colchis and Armenia called this mountain GogChasan, that is, the fortifications of Gog. The Greeks, softening this name, called it Καύκασος. Some guess that the memory of the punishments that befell the godlessness and wickedness of the first world in some way contributed to the fact that people rushed to the opposite extreme: that is, into superstition. See Jurien hist crit. dogm. et cult. p. III, c. 2. L. De Septuaginta Inlerpr. You might be interested in: