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| Similitude First. As in This World We Have No Abiding City, We Ought to Seek One to Come.
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Similitude First.244
| 244 [We have seen in Justin and Irenæus what seem to us
an overstrained allegorizing, and more will be encountered in Origen. On
this whole subject, however, as it struck the Oriental and primitive
instincts, take the following very illustrative remarks, attributed to
Hartley of Winwich:—
“Nature, in its proper order, is the book of
God, and exhibits spiritual things in material forms. The knowledge of
correspondences being so little understood, is one main cause
of the obscurity of the Scriptures of the Old Testament, which were
chiefly written by the rules of this science: and not Scripture alone,
but man, also, as an image of the spiritual and natural worlds, contains
in himself the correspondences of both: of the former, in his interior,
and of the latter in his exterior or bodily, part, and so is called the
microcosm, or little world.”
Such texts as Heb. ix. 24; 1 Cor. ii. 13, 14, go
far to explain to us the childlike faith of the Fathers. See note on
Leighton’s St. Peter, p. 238, vol. iii. Ed. Of William West,
B.A. 1870.] |
As in This World We Have No Abiding City, We
Ought to Seek One to Come.
He says to me,
“You know that you who are the servants of God dwell in a strange
land; for your city is far away from this one.245
If, then,” he
continues, “you know your city in which you are to dwell, why do
ye here provide lands, and make expensive preparations, and accumulate
dwellings and useless buildings? He who makes such preparations for
this city cannot return again to his own. Oh foolish, and unstable,
and miserable man! Dost thou not understand that all these things
belong to another, and are under the power of another? for the lord of
this city will say, ‘I do not wish thee to dwell in my city; but
depart from this city, because thou obeyest not my laws.’ Thou,
therefore, although having fields and houses, and many other things,
when cast out by him, what wilt thou do with thy land, and house, and
other possessions which thou hast gathered to thyself? For the lord of
this country justly says to thee, ‘Either obey my laws or depart
from my dominion.’ What, then, dost thou intend to do, having a
law in thine own city, on account of thy lands, and the rest of thy
possessions?246
| 246 This sentence
may be also rendered thus, giving ἕνεκεν the
meaning of “as regards,” “respecting”—a
usual enough signification: “What then do you intend to
do, as you have a law in your own city regarding your lands and
the rest of your possessions?” The Vatican punctuates the
passage so that it runs as follows: “What then will you do,
who have a law in your own city? Will you, on account of your
land, or any other of your preparations, be able to deny your
law?” The Vatican also omits several clauses that are in the
Greek, down to “for if thou shalt deny, and shalt desire to
return,” etc. | Thou shalt altogether deny thy law,
and walk according to the law of this city. See lest it be to thy
hurt to deny thy law;247
for if thou shalt desire to return to thy city,
thou wilt not be received, because thou hast denied the law of thy city,
but wilt be excluded from it. Have a care, therefore: as one living in a
foreign land, make no further preparations for thyself than such merely
as may be sufficient; and be ready, when the master of this city shall
come to cast thee out for disobeying his law, to leave his city, and to
depart to thine own, and to obey thine own law without being exposed to
annoyance, but in great joy. Have a care, then, ye who serve the Lord,
and have Him in your heart, that ye work the works of God, remembering
His commandments and promises which He promised, and believe that He
will bring them to pass if His commandments be observed. Instead of
lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls, according as each one is able,
and visit248
widows and orphans, and do not overlook them; and spend your wealth and
all your preparations, which ye received from the Lord, upon such lands
and houses. For to this end did the Master make you rich, that you might
perform these services unto Him; and it is much better to purchase such
lands, and possessions, and houses, as you will find in your own city,
when you come to reside in it. This is a noble and sacred expenditure,
attended neither with sorrow nor fear, but with joy. Do not practice
the expenditure
of the heathen,249
for it is injurious to you who
are the servants of God; but practice an expenditure of your own,
in which ye can rejoice; and do not corrupt250
| 250 The Vatican, rendering παραχαράσσετε,
adulterare, proceeds as if the reference were to adultery.
“Neither touch another man’s wife, nor lust after her,
but desire your own work, and you will be saved.” | nor
touch what is another’s nor covet it, for it is an evil thing to
covet the goods of other men; but work thine own work, and thou wilt
be saved.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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