The Human Being
The old Christian teaching of two ways, one of life and one of death, and how to walk the first.
Each row is one claim. Each name is a writer, placed at the date of the passage. Select a name to read what they said.
4 of the 4 writers here teach: “There are two ways, of life and of death.”
There are two ways of teaching and of authority: the way of light and the way of darkness. And the difference between the two ways is great. Over the one stand light-bearing angels of God; over the other, angels of Satan.
Ὁδοὶ δύο εἰσὶν διδαχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας, ἥ τε τοῦ φωτὸς καὶ ἡ τοῦ σκότους. διαφορὰ δὲ πολλὴ τῶν δύο ὁδῶν. ἐφ’ ἧς μὲν γάρ εἰσιν τεταγμένοι φωταγωγοὶ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐφ’ ἧς δὲ ἄγγελοι τοῦ σατανᾶ.
This then is the way of light: if anyone wants to travel the way to the appointed place, let him be eager in his works. The knowledge given us to walk in it is this: you shall love the one who made you; fear the one who formed you; glorify the one who redeemed you from death.
There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways. The way of life is this: first, you shall love the God who made you; second, your neighbor as yourself. Whatever you do not want to happen to you, do not do to another.
“Hear now,” he said, “about faith. There are two angels with a human being: one of righteousness and one of wickedness.” “How then, Lord,” I said, “will I know their workings, since both angels live with me?”
Ἄκουε νῦν, φησί, περὶ τῆς πίστεως. δύο εἰσὶν ἄγγελοι μετὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, εἷς τῆς δικαιοσύνης καὶ εἷς τῆς πονηρίας. Πῶς οὖν, φημί, κύριε, γνώσομαι τὰς αὐτῶν ἐνεργείας, ὅτι ἀμφότεροι ἄγγελοι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ κατοικοῦσιν; Ἄκουε, φησί, καὶ συνήσεις αὐτάς.
Our first preface shows the way to the one who wanders, and the good regard that comes when the world’s turning-point arrives — to become eternal, which ignorant hearts refuse to believe. I myself wandered a long time the same way, chasing shrines, my parents not knowing better. Reading the Law finally pulled me out.