“GOOD AND EVIL,” “GOOD AND BAD”.15

In the faith in what? In the love for what? In the hope of what? These weaklings! — they also, forsooth, wish to be strong some time; there is no doubt about it, some time their kingdom also must come — "the kingdom of God" is their name for it, as has been mentioned: — they are -someek in everything! Yet in order to experience that kmgdonrlfls necessary to live long, to live beyond death, — yes, eternal life is necessary so that one can make up for ever for that earthly life "in faith," "in love," "in hope." Make up for what? Make up by what? Dante, as it seems to me, made a crass mistake when with awe-inspiring ingenuity he placed that inscription over the gate of his hell, "Me too made eternal love": at any rate the following inscription would have a much better right to stand over the gate of the Christian Paradise and its "eternal blessedness" — "Me too made eternal hate" — granted of course that a truth may rightly stand over the gate to a lie! For what is the blessedness of that Paradise? Possibly we could quickly surmise it; but it is better that it should be explicitly attested by an authority who in such matters is not to be disparaged, Thomas of Aquinas, the great teacher and saint. "Beati in regno celesti," says he, as gently as a lamb, "videbunt pcenas damnatorum, ut beatitudo illis magis complaceat." Or if we wish to hear a stronger tone, a word from the mouth of a triumphant father of the Church, who warned his disciples against the cruel ecstasies of the public spectacles — But why? Faith offers us much more, — says he, de Spectac., c. 29 ss., — something much stronger; thanks to the redemption, joys of quite another kind stand at our disposal; instead of athletes we have our martyrs; we wish for blood, well, we have the blood of Christ — but what then awaits us on the day of his return, of his triumph? And then does he proceed, does this enraptured visionary: "at enim super sunt alia spectacula, ille ultimus et perpetuus judicii dies, ille nationibus insperatus, ille derisus, cum tanta sceculi vetustas et tot ejus nativitates uno igne haurientur. Quce tunc spectaculi latitudo! Quid admirer! quid rideam! Ubi gaudeam! Ubi exultem, spectans tot et tantos reges, qui in ccelum recepti nuntiabantur, cum ipso Jove et ipsis suis testibus in imis tenebris congemescentes! Item pr resides" (the provisional governors) " persecutors dominici nominis scevioribus quam ipsi flammis scevierunt insultantibus contra Christianos liquescentes! Quos prceterea sapientes illos philosophos coram discipulis suis una conflagrantibus erubescentes, quibus nihil ad deum pertinere suadebant, quibus animas aut nullas aut non in pristina corpora redituras affirmabant! Etiam. poetas non ad Rliadamanti nec ad Minois, sed ad inopinati Christi tribunal palpit antes! Tunc magis tragcedi audiendi, magis scilicet vocales" (with louder tones and more violent shrieks) "in sua propria calamitate; tunc histriones cognoscendi, solutiores multo per ignem; tunc spectandus auriga in flammea rota totus rubens, tunc xystici contemplandi non in gymnasiis, sed in igne jaculati, nisi quod ne tunc quidem illos velim vivos, ut qui malim ad eos potius conspectum insatiabilem con f err e, qui in dominum scevierunt. Hie est illes, dicam fabri aut qucestuarice filius" (as is shown by the whole of the following; and in particular by this well-known description of the mother of Jesus from the Talmud, Tertullian is henceforth referring to the Jews), "sabbati destructor, Samarites et dasmonium habens. Hie est quern a Juda redemistis, hie est ille arundine et colaphis diverberatus, sputamentis de decoratus, felle et aceto potatus. Hie est, quern clam discentes subripuerunt, ut resurrexisse dicatur vel hortulanus detraxit, ne lactucce suce jrequentia commeantium Icederentur. Ut talia spectes, ut talibus exultes, quis tibi

prcetor aut consul aut sacerdos de sua liberalitatd prcestabit? Et tamen hcec jam, habemus quodammodo per fidem spiritu imaginante reprcesentaia. Ceterum qualia ilia sunt, quae nec oculus vidit nec auris audivit nec in cor hominis ascenderunt?" (I Cor. ii. 9.) "Credo circo et utraque cavea" (first and fourth row, or, according to others, the comic and the tragic stage) "et omni studio gratiora." Per fidem: so stands it written.