alexandria and her schools-第14章

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y　Heaven；　they　were　ruining　their　own　moral　sense。　　Things　were　not　right　or　wrong　to　them　because　Right　was　eternal　and　divine；　and　Wrong　the　transgression　of　that　eternal　right。　　How　could　that　be？　　For　then　the　right　things　the　Gentiles　seemed　to　do　would　be　right　and　divine；and　that　supposition　in　their　eyes　was　all　but　impious。　　None　could　do　right　but　themselves；　for　they　only　knew　the　law　of　God。　　So；　right　with　them　had　no　absolute　or　universal　ground；　but　was　reduced　in　their　minds　to　the　performance　of　certain　acts　commanded　exclusively　to　thema　form　of　ethics　which　rapidly　sank　into　the　most　petty　and　frivolous　casuistry　as　to　the　outward　performance　of　those　acts。　　The　sequel　of　those　ethics　is　known　to　all　the　world；　in　the　spectacle　of　the　most　unrivalled　religiosity；　and　scrupulous　respectability；　combined　with　a　more　utter　absence　of　moral　sense；　in　their　most　cultivated　and　learned　men；　than　the　world　has　ever　beheld　before　or　since。

In　such　a　state　of　mind　it　was　impossible　for　them　to　look　on　their　old　prophets　as　true　seers；　beholding　and　applying　eternal　moral　laws；　and；　therefore；　seeing　the　future　in　the　present　and　in　the　past。　　They　must　be　the　mere　utterers　of　an　irreversible　arbitrary　fate；　and　that　fate　must；　of　course；　be　favourable　to　their　nation。　　So　now　arose　a　school　who　picked　out　from　their　old　prophets　every　passage　which　could　be　made　to　predict　their　future　glory；　and　a　science　which　settled　when　that　glory　was　to　return。　　By　the　arbitrary　rules　of　criticism　a　prophetic　day　was　defined　to　mean　a　year；　a　week；　seven　years。　　The　most　simple　and　human　utterances　were　found　to　have　recondite　meanings　relative　to　their　future　triumph　over　the　heathens　whom　they　cursed　and　hated。　　If　any　of　you　ever　come　across　the　popular　Jewish　interpretations　of　The　Song　of　Solomon；　you　will　there　see　the　folly　in　which　acute　and　learned　men　can　indulge　themselves　when　they　have　lost　hold　of　the　belief　in　anything　really　absolute　and　eternal　and　moral；　and　have　made　Fate；　and　Time；　and　Self；　their　real　deities。　　But　this　dream　of　a　future　restoration　was　in　no　wise　ennobled；　as　far　as　we　can　see；　with　any　desire　for　a　moral　restoration。　　They　believed　that　a　person　would　appear　some　day　or　other　to　deliver　them。　　Even　they　were　happily　preserved　by　their　sacred　books　from　the　notion　that　deliverance　was　to　be　found　for　them；　or　for　any　man；　in　an　abstraction　or　notion　ending　in　…ation　or　…ality。　　In　justice　to　them　it　must　be　said；　that　they　were　too　wise　to　believe　that　personal　qualities；　such　as　power；　will；　love；　righteousness；　could　reside　in　any　but　in　a　person；　or　be　manifested　except　by　a　person。　　And　among　the　earlier　of　them　the　belief　may　have　been；　that　the　ancient　unseen　Teacher　of　their　race　would　be　their　deliverer：　　but　as　they　lost　the　thought　of　Him；　the　expected　Deliverer　became　a　mere　human　being：　　or　rather　not　a　human　being；　for　as　they　lost　their　moral　sense；　they　lost　in　the　very　deepest　meaning　their　humanity；　and　forgot　what　man　was　like　till　they　learned　to　look　only　for　a　conqueror；　a　manifestation　of　power；　and　not　of　goodness；　a　destroyer　of　the　hated　heathen；　who　was　to　establish　them　as　the　tyrant　race　of　the　whole　earth。　　On　that　fearful　day　on　which；　for　a　moment；　they　cast　away　even　that　last　dream；　and　cried；　〃We　have　no　king　but　Caesar；〃　they　spoke　the　secret　of　their　hearts。　　It　was　a　Caesar；　a　Jewish　Caesar；　for　whom　they　had　been　longing　for　centuries。　　And　if　they　could　not　have　such　a　deliverer；　they　would　have　none：　　they　would　take　up　with　the　best　embodiment　of　brute　Titanic　power　which　they　could　find；　and　crucify　the　embodiment　of　Righteousness　and　Love。　　Amid　all　the　metaphysical　schools　of　Alexandria；　I　know　none　so　deeply　instructive　as　that　school　of　the　Rabbis；　〃the　glory　of　Israel。〃

But　you　will　say：　　〃This　does　not　look　like　a　school　likely　to　regenerate　Alexandrian　thought。〃　　True：　　and　yet　it　did　regenerate　it；　both　for　good　and　for　evil；　for　these　men　had　among　them　and　preserved　faithfully　enough　for　all　practical　purposes；　the　old　literature　of　their　race；　a　literature　which　I　firmly　believe；　if　I　am　to　trust　the　experience　of　1900　years；　is　destined　to　explain　all　other　literatures；　because　it　has　firm　hold　of　the　one　eternal　root…idea　which　gives　life；　meaning；　Divine　sanction；　to　every　germ　or　fragment　of　human　truth　which　is　in　any　of　them。　　It　did　so；　at　least；　in　Alexandria　for　the　Greek　literature。　　About　the　Christian　era；　a　cultivated　Alexandrian　Jew；　a　disciple　of　Plato　and　of　Aristotle；　did　seem　to　himself　to　find　in　the　sacred　books　of　his　nation　that　which　agreed　with　the　deepest　discoveries　of　Greek　philosophy；　which　explained　and　corroborated　them。　And　his　announcement　of　this　fact；　weak　and　defective　as　it　was；　had　the　most　enormous　and　unexpected　results。　　The　father　of　New　Platonism　was　Philo　the　Jew。



LECTURE　IIINEOPLATONISM



We　now　approach　the　period　in　which　Alexandria　began　to　have　a　philosophy　of　its　ownto　be；　indeed；　the　leader　of　human　thought　for　several　centuries。

I　shall　enter　on　this　branch　of　my　subject　with　some　fear　and　trembling；　not　only　on　account　of　my　own　ignorance；　but　on　account　of　the　great　difficulty　of　handling　it　without　trenching　on　certain　controversial　subjects　which　are　rightly　and　wisely　forbidden　here。　　For　there　was　not　one　school　of　Metaphysic　at　Alexandria：　　there　were　two；　which；　during　the　whole　period　of　their　existence；　were　in　internecine　struggle　with　each　other；　and　yet　mutually　borrowing　from　each　other；　the　Heathen；　namely；　and　the　Christian。　　And　you　cannot　contemplate；　still　less　can　you　understand；　the　one　without　the　other。　　Some　of　late　years　have　become　all　but　unaware　of　the　existence　of　that　Christian　school；　and　the　word　Philosophy；　on　the　authority　of　Gibbon；　who；　however　excellent　an　authority　for　facts；　knew　nothing　about　Philosophy；　and　cared　less；　has　been　used　exclusively　to　express　heathen　thought；　a　misnomer　which　in　Alexandria　would　have　astonished　Plotinus　or　Hypatia　as　much　as　it　would　Clement　or　Origen。　　I　do　not　say　that　there　is；　or　ought　to　be；　a　Christian　Metaphysic。　　I　am　speaking；　as　you　know；　merely　as　a　historian；　dealing　with　facts；　and　I　say　that　there　was　one；　as　profound；　as　scientific；　as　severe；　as　that　of　the　Pagan　Neoplatonists；　starting　indeed；　as　I　shall　show　hereafter；　on　many　points　from　common　ground　with　theirs。　　One　can　hardly　doubt；　I　should　fancy；　that　many　parts　of　St。　John's　Gospel　and　Epistles；　whatever　view　we　may　take　of　them；　if　they　are　to　be　called　anything；　are　to　be　called　metaphysic　and　philosophic。　　And　one　can　no　more　doubt　that　before　writing　them　he　had　studied　Philo；　and　was　expanding　Philo's　thought　in　the　direction　which　seemed　fit　to　him；　than　we　can　doubt　it　of　the　earlier　Neoplatonists。　The　technical　language　is　often　identical；　so　are　the　primary　ideas　from　which　he　starts；　howsoever　widely　the　conclusions　may　differ。　　If　Plotinus　considered　himself　an　intellectual　disciple　of　Plato；　so　did　Origen　and　Clemens。　　And　I　must；　as　I　said　before；　speak　of　both；　or　of　neither。　　My　only　hope　of　escaping　delicate　ground　lies　in　the　curious　fact；　that　rightly　or　wrongly；　the　form　in　which　Christianity　presented　itself　to　the　old　Alexandrian　thinkers　was　so　utterly　different　from　the　popular　conception　of　it　in　modern　England；　that　one　may　very　likely　be　able　to　tell　what　little　one　knows　about　it；　almost　without　mentioning　a　single　doctrine　which　now　influences　the　religious　world。

But　far　greater　is　my　fear；　that　to　a　modern　British　auditory；　trained　in　the　school　of　Locke；　much　of　ancient　thought；　heathen　as　well　as　Christian；　may　seem　so　utterly　the　product　of　the　imagination；　so　utterly　without　any　corresponding　reality　in　the　universe；　as　to　look　like　mere　unintelligible　madness。　　Still；　I　must　try；　only　entreating　my　hearers　to　consider；　that　how　much　soever　we　may　honour　Locke　and　his　great　Scotch　followers；　we　are　not　bound　to　believe　them　either　infallible；　or　altogether　world…embracing；　that　there　have　been　other　methods　than　theirs　of　conceiving　the　Unseen；　that　the　common　ground　from　which　both　Christian　and　heathen　Alexandrians　start；　is　not　merely　a　private　vagary　of　their　own；　but　one　which　has　been　ac