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| That God is the Father of the Word, and the Creator of all Things; and that Material Objects could not continue to exist, were their Causes Various. PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP
Chapter III.—That God is the Father of the Word, and the
Creator of all Things; and that Material Objects could not continue to
exist, were their Causes Various.
God,
who is ever above all existence, and the good which all things desire,
has no origin, and therefore no beginning, being himself the
originator3375 of all things which receive
existence. But he who proceeds from him is again united to him; and
this separation from and union with him is not local, but intellectual
in its character. For this generation was accompanied by no diminution
of the Father’s substance (as in the case of generation by seed);
but by the determining act of foreknowledge God manifested a Saviour
presiding over3376
3376 Presiding “overseer,” “president,” or
“ruler.” It is the one who has charge of games or ships or
public works, &c. | this
sensible world, and all created things therein.3377
3377 Cf. John i. 3, 13,
14, and Eph. i. 10. There is the greatest
variety in the rendering of this passage, of which Bag.’s
is the worst. The writer draws here on a philosophy of the Logos, which
recognizes the second person of the Trinity as the creator and head of
created things. The free version of Cousin gives the best flavor of the
idea. “He was produced by the inexhaustible fecundity of his
eternal mind to preside over the creation and government of this
visible world.” A better translation waits on a better exposition
of the doctrine of the Logos and its history. | From hence, then, is the source of
existence and life to all things which are within the compass of this
world; hence proceed the soul, and every sense;3378
3378 Molz.renders “und die
Organe, mit Hilfe derer das Wahrgenommene innerlich zur Idee erhoben
wird.” | hence those organs through which
the sense-perceptions are perfected. What, then, is the object of this
argument? To prove that there is One director of all things that exist,
and that all things, whether in heaven or on earth, both natural and
organized bodies,3379
3379 Chr.substantially “natural and
artificial”; Molz. “lifeless and live”;
perhaps “inorganic and organic” is meant. | are subject
to his single sovereignty. For if the dominion of these things,
numberless as they are, were in the hands, not of one but of many,
there must be a partition and distribution of the elements, and the old
fables would be true;3380
3380 [Alluding to the fabulous division of the world between the
brothers Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. Valesius in
loc.—Bag.] Or rather Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Zeus
had the heavens, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the underworld, while the
earth remained “with high Olympus, common to us
all”—a fruitful source of dissension. Cf. Homer, Il.
XV. 184–195, ed. Doederlein, 2 (1864), p. 64–65; tr.
Bryant, XV. ll. 227–245. | jealousy,
too, and ambition, striving for superior power, would destroy the
harmonious concord of the whole, while each of the many masters would
regulate in a manner different from the rest the portion subject to his
control. The fact, however, that this universal order is ever one and
the same, is the proof that it is under the care of a superior power,
and that its origin cannot be ascribed to chance. Else how could the
author of universal nature ever be known? To whom first, or last, could
prayers and supplications be addressed? Whom could I choose3381
3381 A possible reading here is ἐξαιρετως, i.e. take as the chief object, &c.—Vales.
and Hein. | as the object of my worship, without
being guilty of impiety towards the rest? Again, if haply I desired to
obtain some temporal blessing, should I not, while expressing my
gratitude to the Power who favored my request, convey a reproach to him
who opposed it? Or to whom should I pray, when desiring to know the
cause of my calamity, and to obtain deliverance? Or let us suppose that
the answer is given by oracles and prophecies, but that the case is not
within the scope of their authority, being the province of some other
deity.3382
3382 Valesius remarks that many instances are recorded where the oracle
of Apollo replied to those who consulted him that Bacchus or Saturn
must be placated in order to their liberation. | Where, then, is mercy? where
is the provident care of God for the human race? Unless, indeed, some
more benevolent Power, assuming a hostile attitude against another who
has no such feeling, be disposed to accord me his protection. Hence
anger, discords, mutual censure, and finally universal confusion, would
ensue, while each departed from his proper sphere of action,
dissatisfied, through ambitious love of power, with his allotted
portion. What, then, would be the result of these things? Surely this
discord among the heavenly powers would prove destructive to the
interests of earth: the orderly alternation of times and seasons would
disappear; the successive productions of the earth would be enjoyed no
more: the day itself, and the repose of night which follows it, would
cease to be. But enough on this subject: let us once more resume that
species of reasoning which admits of no reply.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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