Bad Advertisement?
Are you a Christian?
Online Store:Visit Our Store
| Chapter VIII.—Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good.
PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP 
Chapter VIII.—Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good.
At this stage some rise up, saying that the
Lord, by reason of the rod, and threatening, and fear, is not good;
misapprehending, as appears, the Scripture which says, “And
he that feareth the Lord will turn to his heart;”1172
and
most of all, oblivious of His love, in that for us He became man. For
more suitably to Him, the prophet prays in these words: “Remember
us, for we are dust;”1173
that is, Sympathize with us; for Thou knowest
from personal experience of suffering the weakness of the flesh. In
this respect, therefore, the Lord the Instructor is most good and
unimpeachable, sympathizing as He does from the exceeding greatness of
His love with the nature of each man. “For there is nothing which
the Lord hates.”1174
For assuredly He does not hate anything, and
yet wish that which He hates to exist. Nor does He wish anything not to
exist, and yet become the cause of existence to that which He wishes not
to exist. Nor does He wish anything not to exist which yet exists. If,
then, the Word hates anything, He does not wish it to exist. But nothing
exists, the cause of whose existence is not supplied by God. Nothing,
then, is hated by God, nor yet by the Word. For both are one—that
is, God. For He has said, “In the beginning the Word was in God,
and the Word was God.”1175
If then He hates none of the things which He has
made, it follows that He loves them. Much more than the rest, and with
reason, will He love man, the noblest of all objects created by Him,
and a God-loving being. Therefore God is loving; consequently the Word
is loving.
But he who loves anything wishes to do it good.
And that which does good must be every way better than that which
does not good. But nothing is better than the Good. The Good, then,
does good. And God is admitted to be good. God therefore does good. And
the Good, in virtue of its being good, does nothing else than do good.
Consequently God does all good. And He does no good to man without caring
for him, and He does not care for him without taking care of
him. For that which does good purposely, is better than what does not
good purposely. But nothing is better than God. And to do good purposely,
is nothing else than to take care of man. God therefore cares for man,
and takes care of him. And He shows this practically, in instructing him
by the Word, who is the true coadjutor of God’s love to man. But
the good is not said to be good, on account of its being possessed of
virtue; as also righteousness is not said to be good on account of its
possessing virtue—for it is itself virtue—but on account
of its being in itself and by itself good.
In another way the useful is called good, not on
account of its pleasing, but of its doing good. All which, therefore,
is righteousness, being a good thing, both as virtue and as desirable
for its own sake, and not as giving pleasure; for it does not judge in
order to win favour, but dispenses to each according to his merits. And
the beneficial follows the useful. Righteousness, therefore, has
characteristics corresponding to all the aspects in which goodness is
examined, both possessing equal properties equally. And things which
are characterized by equal properties are equal and similar to each
other. Righteousness is therefore a good thing.
“How then,” say they, “if
the Lord loves man, and is good, is He angry and punishes?”
We must therefore treat of this point with all possible brevity;
for this mode of treatment is advantageous to the right training of
the children, occupying the place of a necessary help. For many of
the passions are cured by punishment, and by the inculcation of the
sterner precepts, as also by instruction in certain principles. For
reproof is, as it were, the surgery of the passions of the soul;
and the passions are, as it were, an abscess of the truth,1176
| 1176 For ἀληθείας,
there are the readings ἀπαθείας
and ἀτιμίας. |
which must be cut open by an incision of the lancet of reproof.
Reproach is like the application of medicines,
dissolving the callosities of the passions, and purging the impurities
of the lewdness of the life; and in addition, reducing the excrescences
of pride, restoring the patient to the healthy and true state of
humanity.
Admonition is, as it were, the regimen of the diseased
soul, prescribing what it must take, and forbidding what it must not.
And all these tend to salvation and eternal health.
Furthermore, the general of an army, by inflicting
fines and corporeal punishments with chains and the extremest disgrace
on offenders,
and sometimes even by punishing
individuals with death, aims at good, doing so for the admonition of
the officers under him.
Thus also He who is our great General, the Word,
the Commander-in-chief of the universe, by admonishing those who throw
off the restraints of His law, that He may effect their release from the
slavery, error, and captivity of the adversary, brings them peacefully
to the sacred concord of citizenship.
As, therefore in addition to persuasive discourse,
there is the hortatory and the consolatory form; so also, in addition to
the laudatory, there is the inculpatory and reproachful. And this latter
constitutes the art of censure. Now censure is a mark of good-will, not
of ill-will. For both he who is a friend and he who is not, reproach;
but the enemy does so in scorn, the friend in kindness. It is not, then,
from hatred that the Lord chides men; for He Himself suffered for us,
whom He might have destroyed for our faults. For the Instructor also,
in virtue of His being good, with consummate art glides into censure by
rebuke; rousing the sluggishness of the mind by His sharp words as by
a scourge. Again in turn He endeavours to exhort the same persons. For
those who are not induced by praise are spurred on by censure; and
those whom censure calls not forth to salvation being as dead, are by
denunciation roused to the truth. “For the stripes and correction
of wisdom are in all time.” “For teaching a fool is gluing
a potsherd; and sharpening to sense a hopeless blockhead is bringing
earth to sensation.”1177
Wherefore He adds plainly,
“rousing the sleeper from deep sleep,” which of all things
else is likest death.
Further, the Lord shows very clearly of Himself,
when, describing figuratively His manifold and in many ways serviceable
culture,—He says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the
husbandman.” Then He adds, “Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit He taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit He pruneth,
that it may bring forth more fruit.”1178
For the vine that is not
pruned grows to wood. So also man. The Word—the knife—clears
away the wanton shoots; compelling the impulses of the soul to
fructify, not to indulge in lust. Now, reproof addressed to sinners
has their salvation for its aim, the word being harmoniously adjusted
to each one’s conduct; now with tightened, now with relaxed
cords. Accordingly it was very plainly said by Moses, “Be of good
courage: God has drawn near to try you, that His fear may be among you,
that ye sin not.”1179
And Plato, who had learned from this source,
says beautifully: “For all who suffer punishment are in reality
treated well, for they are benefited; since the spirit of those who
are justly punished is improved.” And if those who are corrected
receive good at the hands of justice, and, according to Plato, what is
just is acknowledged to be good, fear itself does good, and has been
found to be for men’s good. “For the soul that feareth the
Lord shall live, for their hope is in Him who saveth them.”1180
And this same Word who inflicts punishment is judge; regarding whom Esaias
also says, “The Lord has assigned Him to our sins,”1181
plainly
as a corrector and reformer of sins. Wherefore He alone is able to forgive
our iniquities, who has been appointed by the Father, Instructor of us
all; He alone it is who is able to distinguish between disobedience and
obedience. And while He threatens, He manifestly is unwilling to inflict
evil to execute His threatenings; but by inspiring men with fear, He
cuts off the approach to sin, and shows His love to man, still delaying,
and declaring what they shall suffer if they continue sinners, and is
not as a serpent, which the moment it fastens on its prey devours it.
God, then, is good. And the Lord speaks many a time
and oft before He proceeds to act. “For my arrows,” He says,
“will make an end of them; they shall be consumed with hunger, and
be eaten by birds; and there shall be incurable tetanic incurvature. I
will send the teeth of wild beasts upon them, with the rage of serpents
creeping on the earth. Without, the sword shall make them childless; and
out of their chambers shall be fear.”1182
For the Divine
Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often restrains,
and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done. And
this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. “For the fear
of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot
be justified,”1183
says the Scripture. And God does not
inflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is
not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. Each one
of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the blame
lies with him who chooses.1184
| 1184
Plato, Rep., x. 617 E. | God is without blame. “But
if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we
say? Is God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance? God forbid.”1185
He
says, therefore, threatening, “I will sharpen my sword, and my hand
shall lay hold on judgment; and I will render justice to mine enemies,
and requite those who hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword shall devour
flesh from the blood of the
wounded.”1186
It is clear, then, that those who are
not at enmity with the truth, and do not hate the Word, will not hate
their own salvation, but will escape the punishment of enmity. “The
crown of wisdom,” then, as the book of Wisdom says, “is the
fear of the Lord.”1187
Very clearly, therefore, by the prophet Amos
has the Lord unfolded His method of dealing, saying, “I have
overthrown you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; and ye shall be
as a brand plucked from the fire: and yet ye have not returned unto me,
saith the Lord.”1188
See how God, through His love of goodness,
seeks repentance; and by means of the plan He pursues of threatening
silently, shows His own love for man. “I will avert,” He says,
“My face from them, and show what shall happen to them.”1189
For
where the face of the Lord looks, there is peace and rejoicing; but where
it is averted, there is the introduction of evil. The Lord, accordingly,
does not wish to look on evil things; for He is good. But on His looking
away, evil arises spontaneously through human unbelief. “Behold,
therefore,” says Paul, “the goodness and severity of God:
on them that fell, severity; but upon thee, goodness, if thou continue
in His goodness,”1190
that is, in faith in Christ.
Now hatred of evil attends the good man, in virtue
of His being in nature good. Wherefore I will grant that He punishes
the disobedient (for punishment is for the good and advantage of him
who is punished, for it is the correction of a refractory subject);
but I will not grant that He wishes to take vengeance. Revenge is
retribution for evil, imposed for the advantage of him who takes
the revenge. He will not desire us to take revenge, who teaches
us “to pray for those that despitefully use us.”1191
But
that God is good, all willingly admit; and that the same God is just,
I require not many more words to prove, after adducing the evangelical
utterance of the Lord; He speaks of Him as one, “That they
all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they
also may be one in Us: that the world also may believe that Thou hast
sent Me. And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them;
that they may be one, as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that
they may be made perfect in one.”1192
God is one, and
beyond the one and above the Monad itself. Wherefore also the particle
“Thou,” having a demonstrative emphasis, points out God, who
alone truly is, “who was, and is, and is to come,” in which
three divisions of time the one name (ὀ ὤν); “who
is,”1193
has its place. And that He who alone is God
is also alone and truly righteous, our Lord in the Gospel itself
shall testify, saying “Father, I will that they also whom Thou
hast given Me be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory,
which Thou hast given Me: For Thou lovedst Me before the foundation
of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but
I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And
I have declared to them Thy name, and will declare it.”1194
This is He “that visits the iniquities of the fathers upon the
children, to them that hate Him, and shows mercy to those that love
Him.”1195
For He who placed some “on the right hand, and
others on the left,”1196
conceived as Father, being good,
is called that which alone He is—“good;”1197
but as
He is the Son in the Father, being his Word, from their mutual relation,
the name of power being measured by equality of love, He is called
righteous. “He will judge,” He says, “a man according
to his works,”1198
—a good balance, even God having
made known to us the face of righteousness in the person of Jesus,
by whom also, as by even scales, we know God. Of this also the book
of Wisdom plainly says, “For mercy and wrath are with Him, for
He alone is Lord of both,” Lord of propitiations, and pouring
forth wrath according to the abundance of His mercy. “So also
is His reproof.”1199
For the aim of mercy and of reproof is the
salvation of those who are reproved.
Now, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
is good, the Word Himself will again avouch: “For He is
kind to the unthankful and the evil;” and further, when He
says, “Be merciful, as your Father is merciful.”1200
Still further also He plainly says, “None is good, but My Father,
who is in heaven.”1201
In addition to these, again He says, “My
Father makes His sun to shine on all.”1202
Here it is to be noted that
He proclaims His Father to be good, and to be the Creator. And that
the Creator is just, is not disputed. And again he says, “My
Father sends rain on the just, and on the unjust.” In respect of
His sending rain, He is the Creator of the waters, and of the clouds.
And in respect of His doing so on all, He holds an even balance justly
and rightly. And as being good, He does so on just and unjust alike.
Very clearly, then, we conclude Him to be one and
the same God, thus. For the Holy Spirit has sung, “I will look to
the heavens, the works
of Thy hands;”1203
and, “He who created the heavens dwells in the heavens;”
and, “Heaven is Thy throne.”1204
And the Lord
says in His prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven.”1205
And the
heavens belong to Him, who created the world. It is indisputable, then,
that the Lord is the Son of the Creator. And if, the Creator above all is
confessed to be just, and the Lord to be the Son of the Creator; then the
Lord is the Son of Him who is just. Wherefore also Paul says, “But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested;”1206
and again, that you may better conceive of God, “even the
righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ upon all that
believe; for there is no difference.”1207
And, witnessing further to
the truth, he adds after a little, “through the forbearance of
God, in order to show that He is just, and that Jesus is the justifier
of him who is of faith.” And that he knows that what is just is
good, appears by his saying, “So that the law is holy, and the
commandment holy, and just, and good,”1208
using both names to denote
the same power. But “no one is good,” except His Father. It
is this same Father of His, then, who being one is manifested by many
powers. And this was the import of the utterance, “No man knew the
Father,”1209
who was Himself everything before the coming
of the Son. So that it is veritably clear that the God of all is only
one good, just Creator, and the Son in the Father, to whom be glory for
ever and ever, Amen. But it is not inconsistent with the saving Word,
to administer rebuke dictated by solicitude. For this is the medicine
of the divine love to man, by which the blush of modesty breaks forth,
and shame at sin supervenes. For if one must censure, it is necessary
also to rebuke; when it is the time to wound the apathetic soul not
mortally, but salutarily, securing exemption from everlasting death by
a little pain.
Great is the wisdom displayed in His instruction,
and manifold the modes of His dealing in order to salvation. For the
Instructor testifies to the good, and summons forth to better things
those that are called; dissuades those that are hastening to do wrong
from the attempt, and exhorts them to turn to a better life. For the
one is not without testimony, when the other has been testified to;
and the grace which proceeds from the testimony is very great. Besides,
the feeling of anger (if it is proper to call His admonition anger) is
full of love to man, God condescending to emotion on man’s account;
for whose sake also the Word of God became man. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
