Chapter LXII.

62. And be not deceived or deluded with vain hopes by that which is said by some ignorant and most presumptuous pretenders,³⁸²⁷ that they are born of God, and are not subject to the decrees of fate; that His palace lies open to them if they lead a life of temperance, and that after death as men, they are restored without hindrance, as if to their father’s abode; nor by that which the Magi³⁸²⁸ assert, that they have intercessory prayers, won over by which some powers make the way easy to those who are striving to mount to heaven; nor by that which Etruria holds out in the Acherontic books,³⁸²⁹ that souls become divine, and are freed from the law³⁸³⁰ of death, if the blood of certain animals is offered to certain deities. These are empty delusions, and excite vain desires. None but the Almighty God can preserve souls; nor is there any one besides who can give them length of days, and grant to them also a spirit which shall never die,³⁸³¹ except He who alone is immortal and everlasting, and restricted by no limit of time. For since all the gods, whether those who are real, or those who are merely said to be from hearsay and conjecture, are immortal and everlasting by His good-will and free gift, how can it be that others³⁸³² are able to give that which they themselves have,³⁸³³ while they have it as the gift of another, bestowed by a greater power? Let Etruria sacrifice what victims it may, let the wise deny themselves all the pleasures of life,³⁸³⁴ let the Magi soften and soothe all lesser powers, yet, unless souls have received from the Lord of all things that which reason demands, and does so by His command, it³⁸³⁵ will hereafter deeply repent having made itself a laughing-stock,³⁸³⁶ when it begins to feel the approach³⁸³⁷ of death.