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| Of the Happiness of the Eternal Peace, Which Constitutes the End or True Perfection of the Saints.
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Chapter 11.—Of the Happiness of
the Eternal Peace, Which Constitutes the End or True Perfection of
the Saints.
And thus we may say of peace, as we
have said of eternal life, that it is the end of our good; and the
rather because the Psalmist says of the city of God, the subject of
this laborious work, “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy
God, O Zion: for He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He
hath blessed thy children within thee; who hath made thy borders
peace.”1278
For when
the bars of her gates shall be strengthened, none shall go in or
come out from her; consequently we ought to understand the peace of
her borders as that final peace we are wishing to declare. For
even the mystical name of the city itself, that is,
Jerusalem, means, as I have already said, “Vision of
Peace.” But as the word peace is employed in connection with
things in this world in which certainly life eternal has no place,
we have preferred to call the end or supreme good of this city life
eternal rather than peace. Of this end the apostle says, “But
now, being freed from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your
fruit unto holiness, and the end life eternal.”1279
But, on
the other hand, as those who are not familiar with Scripture may
suppose that the life of the wicked is eternal life, either because
of the immortality of the soul, which some of the philosophers even
have recognized, or because of the endless punishment of the
wicked, which forms a part of our faith, and which seems impossible
unless the wicked live for ever, it may therefore be advisable, in
order that every one may readily understand what we mean, to say
that the end or supreme good of this city is either peace in
eternal life, or eternal life in peace. For peace is a good so
great, that even in this earthly and mortal life there is no word
we hear with such pleasure, nothing we desire with such zest, or
find to be more thoroughly gratifying. So that if we dwell for a
little longer on this subject, we shall not, in my opinion, be
wearisome to our readers, who will attend both for the sake of
understanding what is the end of this city of which we speak, and
for the sake of the sweetness of peace which is dear to
all.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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