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| No God Above the Creator.
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Chapter
LVI.—No God Above the Creator.
“What kind of conduct, then, would it be
that we should forsake God, in whose world we live and enjoy all things
necessary for life, and follow I know not whom, from whom we not only
obtain no good, but cannot even know that he exists? Nor truly
does he exist. For whether you call him light, and brighter than
that light which we see, you borrow that very name from the Creator of
the world; or whether you say that he is a substance above all, you
derive from Him the idea with enlargement of speech.666
| 666 That is, you
take the idea of substance from the God of the Jews, and only enlarge
it by the addition of the words above all. | Whether you make mention of mind, or
goodness, or life, or whatever else, you borrow the words from
Him. Since, then, you have nothing new concerning that power you speak of, not only as
regards understanding, but even in respect of naming him, how do you
introduce a new God, for whom you cannot even find a new name?
For not only is the Creator of the world called a Power, but even the
ministers of His glory, and all the heavenly host. Do you not
then think it better that we should follow our Creator God, as a Father
who trains us and endows us as He knows how? But if, as you say,
there be some God more benignant than all, it is certain that he will
not be angry with us; or if he be angry, he is evil. For if our
God is angry and punishes, He is not evil, but righteous, for He
corrects and amends His own sons. But he who has no concern with
us, if he shall punish us, how should he be good? Inflicting
punishments upon us because we have not been drawn by vain imaginations
to forsake our own Father and follow him, how can you assert that he is
so good, when he cannot be regarded as even just?”
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