1 Earliest Rome

12.6 The Jews
See further: Vol. I, 277; Walwr (1949) 11-13, 23-37; Wilken (1984)
83-93*.
Galen, The Usefulness of the Parts of the Body X\M [ill p.904 Kiihn; II p.158 Helmreich]
Did our creator order these hairs alone always to keep the same length, and do they obey
this order from fear of the master's command or from respect for the god who gave the
order or because they are sure it is better to do this? Is not this Moses' way of treating
nature and is it not better than Epicurus'? 1
The best answer, however, is neither of theirs, but to maintain with Moses the
principle of the creator as the origin of every created thing, while adding to it the
principle of matter. For our creator wrought in the hairs a need to maintain a constant
length because this was better. When he had decided to make them like this, he set under
part of them a hard body as a kind of cartilage , and under
another part a hard skin attached to the cartilage through the brows. For
it was certainly not sufficient simply to will them to be like this; he could not, even if he
wanted, suddenly turn a stone into a human being.
On this issue our position, that of Plato and that of the other Greeks who followed the
right method in natural science, differs from that of Moses. For him it is sufficient that
god willed the arrangement of matter, so that matter was immediately arranged. For he
believes that everything is possible for god, even if he wishes to turn ashes into a horse or
bull. We do not hold this. Some things are impossible by nature, and god does not
actually attempt them at all, but chooses what is preferable out of what could come into
being. 2
Therefore our view is that, since it was better that the eyelashes should always be equal
in length and number, god did not instantly will them into being; for, even if he willed it
countless times, they would not have come into being like this out of soft skin, and in
particular it was completely impossible for them to stand erect unless implanted in
something hard. So our view is that god is responsible both for the choice of the better in
the actual products of creation and for the selection of matter. For, since it was necessary
that the eyelashes stand erect and that they should always maintain the same length and
number, he implanted them firmly in a cartilaginous body. If he had fixed them in a soft
and fleshy substance, he would have been worse off, not only than Moses but also than
some wretched general who places a wall or camp in swampy ground.
1. The Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 B.C.), a per hare of Galen's, who denied die
precise claim that Galen is making here: that Nature was perfectly designed.
2. This difference of opinion over the power of god in fact already existed within Greek
philosophy, as the Stoics (like Moses) maintained that god was omnipotent.
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