How impious, indeed, is the assertion of this man, who charges us with
impiety, that “not only are the irrational animals wiser than the human
race, but that they are more beloved by God [than they]!” And who would
not be repelled [by horror] from paying any attention to a man who
declared that a serpent, and a fox, and a wolf, and an eagle, and a
hawk, were more beloved by God than the human race? For it follows from
his maintaining such a position, that if these animals be more beloved
by God than human beings, it is manifest that they are dearer to God
than Socrates, and Plato, and Pythagoras, and Pherecydes, and those
theologians whose praises he had sung a little before. And one might
address him with the prayer: “If these animals be dearer to God than
men, may you be beloved of God along with them, and be made like to
those whom you consider as dearer to Him than human beings!” And let no
one suppose that such a prayer is meant as an imprecation; for who would
not pray to resemble in all respects those whom he believes to be dearer
to God than others, in order that he, like them, may enjoy the divine
love? And as Celsus is desirous to show that the assemblies of the
irrational animals are more sacred than ours, he ascribes the statement
to that effect not to any ordinary individuals, but to persons of
intelligence. Yet it is the virtuous alone who are truly wise, for no
wicked man is so. He speaks, accordingly, in the following style:
“Intelligent men say that these animals hold assemblies which are more
sacred than ours, and that they know what is spoken at them, and
actually prove that they are not without such knowledge, when they
mention beforehand that the birds have announced their intention of
departing to a particular place, or of doing this thing or that, and
then show that they _have_ departed to the place in question, and have
done the particular thing which was foretold.” Now, truly, no person of
intelligence ever related such things; nor did any wise man ever say
that the assemblies of the irrational animals were more sacred than
those of men. But if, for the purpose of examining [the soundness of]
his statements, we look to their consequences, it is evident that, in
his opinion, the assemblies of the irrational animals are more sacred
than those of the venerable Pherecydes, and Pythagoras, and Socrates,
and Plato, and of philosophers in general; which assertion is not only
incongruous[839] in itself, but full of absurdity. In order that we may
believe, however, that certain individuals _do_ learn from the
indistinct sound of birds that they are about to take their departure,
and do this thing or that, and announce these things beforehand, we
would say that this information is imparted to men by demons by means of
signs, with the view of having men deceived by demons, and having their
understanding dragged down from God and heaven to earth, and to places
lower still.
Footnote 839:
ἀπεμφαῖνον.