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| Chapter LVII
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Chapter
LVII.
With respect to the question, “How is he
incapable of persuading and admonishing men?” it has been already
stated that, if such an objection were really a ground of charge, then
the objection of Celsus might be brought against those who accept the
doctrine of providence. Any one might answer the charge that God
is incapable of admonishing men; for He conveys His admonitions
throughout the whole of Scripture, and by means of those persons who,
through God’s gracious appointment, are the instructors of His
hearers. Unless, indeed, some peculiar meaning be understood to
attach to the word “admonish,” as if it signified both to
penetrate into the mind of the person admonished, and to make him hear
the words of his4568
| 4568 τὸ καὶ
ἐπιτυγχάνειν
ἐν τῷ
νουθετουμένῳ
καὶ ἀκούειν
τὸν τοῦ
διδάσκοντος
λόγον. | instructor, which
is contrary to the usual meaning of the word. To the objection,
“How is he incapable of persuading?”—which also might
be brought against all who believe in providence,—we have to make
the following remarks. Since the expression “to be
persuaded” belongs to those words which are termed, so to speak,
“reciprocal”4569
| 4569 ὡσπερεὶ τῶν
καλουμένων
ἀντιπεπονθότων
ἐστίν. | (compare the phrase
“to shave a man,” when he makes an effort to submit himself
to the barber4570
| 4570 ἀνάλογον τῷ
κείρεσθαι
ἄνθρωπον,
ἐνεργοῦντα
τὸ παρέχειν
ἑαυτὸν τῷ
κείροντι. | ),
there is for this reason needed not merely the effort of him who
persuades, but also the submission, so to speak, which is to be yielded
to the persuader, or the acceptance of what is said by him. And
therefore it must not be said that it is because God is incapable of
persuading men that they are not persuaded, but because they will not
accept the faithful words of God. And if one were to apply this
expression to men who are the “artificers of
persuasion,”4571
he would not be
wrong; for it is possible for a man who has thoroughly learned the
principles of rhetoric, and who employs them properly, to do his utmost
to persuade, and yet appear to fail, because he cannot overcome the
will of him who ought to yield to his persuasive arts. Moreover,
that persuasion does not come from God, although persuasive words may
be uttered by him, is distinctly taught by Paul, when he says:
“This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth
you.”4572
Such also is
the view indicated by these words: “If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and
rebel, a sword shall devour you.”4573
For that one may (really) desire what
is addressed to him by one who admonishes, and may become deserving of
those promises of God which he hears, it is necessary to secure the
will of the hearer, and his inclination to what is addressed to
him. And therefore it appears to me, that in the book of
Deuteronomy the following words are uttered with peculiar emphasis:
“And now, O Israel, what doth the Lord
thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord
thy God, and to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to keep His
commandments?”4574
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