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| Chapter VIII.—The miserable state of men before the coming of the Word.
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Chapter VIII.—The
miserable state of men before the coming of the Word.
Christ came" title="28" id="iii.ii.viii-p1.1"/>For,
who of men at all understood before His coming what God is? Do you accept of the vain
and silly doctrines of those who are deemed trustworthy philosophers? of
whom some said that fire was God, calling that God to which they
themselves were by and by to come; and some water; and others some other
of the elements formed by God. But if any one of these theories be worthy
of approbation, every one of the rest of created things might also be
declared to be God. But such declarations are simply the startling and
erroneous utterances of deceivers;302
| 302 Literally, “these things are the marvels and
error.” | and no man has either seen Him, or made Him
known,303
but He has revealed Himself. And He has
manifested Himself through faith, to which alone it is given to behold
God. For God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things,
and assigned them their several positions, proved Himself not merely a
friend of mankind, but also long-suffering [in His dealings with them].
Yea, He was always of such a character, and still is, and will ever be,
kind and good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is
[absolutely] good;304
and He formed in His mind
a great and unspeakable conception, which He communicated to His Son
alone. As long, then, as He held and preserved His own wise counsel in
concealment,305
He appeared to neglect us, and to
have no care over us. But after He revealed and laid open, through His
beloved Son, the things which had been prepared from the beginning, He
conferred every blessing306
| 306
Literally, “all things.” | all at once upon us, so
that we should both share in His benefits, and see and be active307
| 307 The sense is here very
obscure. We have followed the text of Otto, who fills up the
lacuna in the ms. as
above. Others have, “to see, and to handle Him.” |
[in His service]. Who of us would ever have expected these things? He was
aware, then, of all things in His own mind, along with His Son, according
to the relation308
| 308
Literally, “economically.” | subsisting between
them.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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