We neglect reading the ancient book of Mercury Trismegistus, and we are not wrong in so doing. To philosophers it has appeared a sublime2 piece of jargon3, and it is perhaps for this reason that they believed it the work of a great Platonist.
Nevertheless, in this theological chaos5, how many things there are to astonish and subdue6 the human mind! God, whose triple essence is wisdom, power and bounty7; God, forming the world by His thought, His word; God creating subaltern gods; God commanding these gods to direct the celestial8 orbs9, and to preside over the world; the sun; the Son of God; man His image in thought; light, His principal work a divine essence — all these grand and lively images dazzle a subdued10 imagination.
It remains11 to be known whether this work, as much celebrated12 as little read, was the work of a Greek or of an Egyptian. St. Augustine hesitates not in believing that it is the work of an Egyptian, who pretended to be descended13 from the ancient Mercury, from the ancient Thaut, the first legislator of Egypt. It is true that St. Augustine knew no more of the Egyptian than of the Greek; but in his time it was necessary that we should not doubt that Hermes, from whom we received theology, was an Egyptian sage14, probably anterior15 to the time of Alexander, and one of the priests whom Plato consulted.
It has always appeared to me that the theology of Plato in nothing resembled that of other Greeks, with the exception of Tim?us, who had travelled in Egypt, as well as Pythagoras.
The Hermes Trismegistus that we possess is written in barbarous Greek, and in a foreign idiom. This is a proof that it is a translation in which the words have been followed more than the sense.
Joseph Scaliger, who assisted the lord of Candale, bishop17 of Aire, to translate the Hermes, or Mercury Trismegistus, doubts not that the original was Egyptian. Add to these reasons that it is not very probable that a Greek would have addressed himself so often to Thaut. It is not natural for us to address ourselves to strangers with so much warm-heartedness; at least, we see no example of it in antiquity18.
The Egyptian ?sculpaius, who is made to speak in this book, and who is perhaps the author of it, wrote to Ammon, king of Egypt: “Take great care how you suffer the Greeks to translate the books of our Mercury, our Thaut, because they would disfigure them.” Certainly a Greek would not have spoken thus; there is therefore every appearance of this book being Egyptian.
There is another reflection to be made, which is, that the systems of Hermes and Plato were equally formed to extend themselves through all the Jewish schools, from the time of the Ptolemies. This doctrine19 made great progress in them; you see it completely displayed by the Jew Philo, a learned man after the manner of those times.
He copies entire passages from Mercury Trismegistus in his chapter on the formation of the world. “Firstly,” says he, “God made the world intelligible20, the Heavens incorporeal21, and the earth invisible; he afterwards created the incorporeal essence of water and spirit; and finally the essence of incorporeal light, the origin of the sun and of the stars.”
Such is the pure doctrine of Hermes. He adds that the word, or invisible and intellectual thought, is the image of God. Here is the creation of the world by the word, by thought, by the logos, very strongly expressed.
Afterwards follows the doctrine of Numbers, which descended from the Egyptians to the Jews. He calls reason the relation of God. The number of seven is the accomplishment22 of all things, “which is the reason,” says he, “that the lyre has only seven strings23.”
In a word Philo possessed24 all the philosophy of his time.
We are therefore deceived, when we believe that the Jews, under the reign16 of Herod, were plunged25 in the same state of ignorance in which they were previously26 immersed. It is evident that St. Paul was well informed. It is only necessary to read the first chapter of St. John, which is so different from those of the others, to perceive that the author wrote precisely27 like Hermes and Plato. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of man.” It is thus that St. Paul says: “God made the worlds by His Son.”
In the time of the apostles were seen whole societies of Christians29 who were only too learned, and thence substituted a fantastic philosophy for simplicity30 of faith. The Simons, Menanders, and Cerinthuses, taught precisely the doctrines31 of Hermes. Their ?ons were only the subaltern gods, created by the great Being. All the first Christians, therefore, were not ignorant men, as it always has been asserted; since there were several of them who abused their literature; even in the Acts the governor Festus says to St. Paul: “Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.”
Cerinthus dogmatized in the time of St. John the Evangelist. His errors were of a profound, refined, and metaphysical cast. The faults which he remarked in the construction of the world made him think — at least so says Dr. Dupin — that it was not the sovereign God who created it, but a virtue32 inferior to this first principle, which had not the knowledge of the sovereign God. This was wishing to correct even the system of Plato, and deceiving himself, both as a Christian28 and a philosopher; but at the same time it displayed a refined and well-exercised mind.
It is the same with the primitives33 called Quakers, of whom we have so much spoken. They have been taken for men who cannot see beyond their noses, and who make no use of their reason. However, there have been among them several who employed all the subtleties34 of logic4. Enthusiasm is not always the companion of total ignorance, it is often that of erroneous information.
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1
taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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jargon
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| n.术语，行话 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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orbs
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| abbr.off-reservation boarding school 在校寄宿学校n.球，天体，圆形物( orb的名词复数 ) | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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anterior
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| adj.较早的；在前的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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incorporeal
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| adj.非物质的，精神的 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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33
primitives
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| 原始人（primitive的复数形式） | |
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34
subtleties
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| 细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等 | |
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