Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 93
GREEK PHILOSOPHY despite his assertion that he believed in one God, is tantamount to absolute atheism and as such he must be condemned to death. Socrates' obedience to God stood higher than his obedience to the law of Athens. He stood by it and was felled for it, but before his death delivered to the people of Athens this prophetic warning in the following words: ". . . you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God, or lightly reject his boon by condemning me. For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me,. . . +19. Having said that he goes on building the case of his innocence with incontrovertible logic, clinching the issue finally by an argument which will for ever pay tribute to his greatness. Jowett quotes him as saying: “. . . not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of any one; they have no witness of that. And I have a witness of the truth of what I say; my poverty is a sufficient witness. ”1⁹. He also invokes his past conduct to stand witness by his side and to bear testimony to the truth of his present behaviour. . Then referring to a past incident which singled him out as the only person who dared to oppose the might of the entire senate he declared: 6. I cared not a straw for death, and that my only fear was the fear of doing an unrighteous or unholy thing. For the strong arm of that oppressive power did not frighten me into doing wrong. . . $20. Socrates, would not demean himself like many socalled nobles in his place might have done. So he goes on to elaborate: 93