the individual prophet.

(32) So also did the revelation vary, as we have stated, according to
individual disposition and temperament, and according to the opinions
previously held.

(33) It varied according to disposition, in this way: if a prophet was
cheerful, victories, peace, and events which make men glad, were revealed to
him; in that he was naturally more likely to imagine such things. (34) If,
on the contrary, he was melancholy, wars, massacres, and calamities were
revealed; and so, according as a prophet was merciful, gentle, quick to
anger, or severe, he was more fitted for one kind of revelation than
another. (35) It varied according to the temper of imagination in this way:
if a prophet was cultivated he perceived the mind of God in a cultivated
way, if he was confused he perceived it confusedly. (36) And so with
revelations perceived through visions. (37) If a prophet was a countryman he
saw visions of oxen, cows, and the like; if he was a soldier, he saw
generals and armies; if a courtier, a royal throne, and so on.

(38) Lastly, prophecy varied according to the opinions held by the prophets;
for instance, to the Magi, who believed in the follies of astrology, the
birth of Christ was revealed through the vision of a star in the East. (39)
To the augurs of Nebuchadnezzar the destruction of Jerusalem was revealed
through entrails, whereas the king himself inferred it from oracles and the
direction of arrows which he shot into the air. (40) To prophets who
believed that man acts from free choice and by his own power, God was
revealed as standing apart from and ignorant of future human actions. (41)
All of which we will illustrate from Scripture.

(42) The first point is proved from the case of Elisha, who, in order to