Книга пророка Иеремии, Глава 16, стих 20. Толкования стиха

MANUFACTURED GODS ARE NOT GODS. AUGUSTINE: Hermes Trismegistus lamented these vain, deceptive, pernicious, sacrilegious things because he foresaw that the time was coming when they would be abolished. He was as impudent in his grief as imprudent in his prophecy, since the Holy Spirit had made no revelation to him as to the holy prophets who exultantly proclaimed their inspired visions: “Shall a person make gods to himself, and they are not gods?” And again: “And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will destroy the names of idols out of the earth, and they shall be remembered no more.” It is relevant to recall that holy Isaiah uttered a particular prophecy concerning Egypt: “And the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof” and the rest. CITY OF GOD 8.23.

IF PEOPLE MAKE GODS. AUGUSTINE: Although Hermes calls these idols gods, he nevertheless admits that they were made by people whose example we should not follow, and thus, willy-nilly, he proves that these idols should not be worshiped by people who are unlike the people who made them, that is, by wise, believing and religious people. Moreover, he implies that the fabricators brought on themselves the guilt of reckoning as gods things that are not gods. Very true is that prophecy: “Shall a person make gods to himself, and they are not gods?” This, then, is what Hermes means by fabricated gods. Such gods, made and adored by such people, are but evil spirits imprisoned by magic in idols and bound there by the chains of their own passions. CITY OF GOD 8.24.

К Тебе прийдут народы от краев земли и скажут: истинно ложь наследовали отцы наши, суету, которая не принесла им пользы. LXX: К Тебе прийдут народы от краев земли и ска­жут: каким образом отцы наши имели ложных идолов и нет в них пользы? После того как Из­раиль был отвержен и перенесен рыболовами и охотниками, последовательно призывается к вере множество язычников и исповедует, что они или отцы их находи­лись в давнем заблуждении. Говорящие же: каким образом отцы наши имели ложных идолов, в которых нет никакой пользы? — исповедуют, что то, к чему они переходят, истинно и обладает всеми вспомоществующими силами. Неужели человек сделает себе богов, а они не суть боги? Это также говорят народы, пришедшие к Спасителю от краев земли, говорят — осмеивая невежество как свое, так и предков своих, что они думали, что боги творятся человеком, тогда как творение людей принадлежит Богу.

HERETICS MAKE THEIR OWN GODS. ORIGEN: “If a person will make gods for himself.” Not only do people make gods for themselves from statues, but you will also find people making gods for themselves from their imaginations. Such people can imagine another god and creator of the world other than the divine plan of the world recorded by the Spirit, other than the true world. These all have made gods for themselves, and they have worshiped the works of the hands. So, too, I believe is the case either among the Greeks, who generate opinions, so to speak, of this philosophy or that, or among the heretics, the first who generate opinions. These have made idols for themselves and figments of the soul, and by turning to them they worship the works of their hands, since they accept as truth their own fabrications. HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 16.9.1.