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| Chapter X.—The blessings that will flow from faith.
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Chapter X.—The
blessings that will flow from faith.
If you also desire [to possess] this faith, you
likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father.317
| 317 Thus Otto supplies the
lacuna; others conjecture somewhat different supplements.
| For God has loved mankind, on whose account He made the world, to
whom He rendered subject all the things that are in it,318
| 318 So Böhl. Sylburgius and Otto read,
“in the earth.” | to whom He gave reason and
understanding, to whom alone He imparted the privilege of looking upwards
to Himself, whom He formed after His own image, to whom He sent His
only-begotten Son, to whom He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will
give it to those who have loved Him. And when you have attained this
knowledge, with what joy do you think you will be filled? Or, how will
you love Him who has first so loved you? And if you love Him, you will be
an imitator of His kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an
imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over
his neighbours, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are
weaker, or by being rich, and showing violence towards those that are
inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become
an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His
majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his
neighbour; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to
benefit another who is deficient; he who, whatsoever things he has
received from God, by distributing these to the needy, becomes a god to
those who receive [his benefits]: he is an imitator of God. Then thou
shalt see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over [the
universe]; then thou shall begin to speak the mysteries of God; then
shalt thou both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they
will not deny God; then shall thou condemn the deceit and error of the
world when thou shall know what it is to live truly in heaven, when thou
shalt despise that which is here esteemed to be death, when thou shalt
fear what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be
condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to the end
that are committed to it. Then shalt thou admire those who for
righteousness’ sake endure the fire that is but for a moment, and
shalt count them happy when thou shalt know [the nature of] that
fire.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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