Religion in Plato and Cicero by John E. Rexine

Author:John E. Rexine [Rexine, John E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2013-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

Unlike Plato, Cicero’s first remarks that have to do with the argument for the existence of God are succinct and take place comparatively early in his discussion, though they will appear as a point of discussion again later. We may use them as a sort of introduction for our purposes, though this is by no means the way in which Cicero uses them as far as can be determined from the text.

Close to the end of Book I, Cicero points out the divine origin of philosophy and stresses again the divine element in human kind. If only man would realize that he has within an image of God (divinum simulacrum), he would act in the proper way and be worthy of that image. Where Plato stresses the all-embracing universal power of God and the gods, their concern for man’s behavior and their incorruptibility, Cicero lowers the stage to the human level. Cicero tries to convince by showing that man is himself divine, so to speak. Therefore, it would not be too much to ask to have one believe in the gods who are man’s divine relations hôs eipeîn:

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