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| That Created Nature differs infinitely from Uncreated Being; to which Man makes the Nearest Approach by a Life of Virtue.
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Chapter XIV.—That Created Nature
differs infinitely from Uncreated Being; to which Man makes the Nearest
Approach by a Life of Virtue.
Surely it must be the very height of folly to compare created with
eternal things, which latter have neither beginning nor end, while the
former, having been originated and called into being, and having
received a commencement of their existence at some definite time, must
consequently, of necessity have an end. How then can things which have
thus been made, bear comparison with him who has ordained their being?
Were this the case,3439
| 3439 This is following with Heinichen, and meets the conjecture of
Valesius as over against the mss. and other
conjectures, which, substituting μανία for
ὅμοια, read “for
if it be madness to liken these things to him,”
&c. | the power to
command their existence could not rightly be attributed to him. Nor can
celestial things be compared to him, any more than the material3440
| 3440 Or
“sensible”; i.e. world of sense or perception. | with the intellectual3441
| 3441 This is the word often rendered by Bag. as
“spiritual.” | world, or copies with the models from
which they are formed. Nay, is it not absurd thus to confound all
things, and to obscure the honor of God by comparing him with men, or
even with beasts? And is it not characteristic of madmen, utterly
estranged from a life of sobriety and virtue, to affect a power
equivalent to that of God? If indeed we in any sense aspire to
blessedness like that of God, our duty is to lead a life according to
his commandments: so shall we, having finished a course consistent with
the laws which he has prescribed, dwell for ever superior to the power
of fate, in eternal and undecaying mansions. For the only power in man
which can be elevated to a comparison with that of God, is sincere and
guileless service and devotion of heart to himself, with the
contemplation and study of whatever pleases him, the raising our
affections above the things of earth, and directing our thoughts, as
far as we may, to high and heavenly objects: for from such endeavors,
it is said, a victory accrues to us more valuable than many blessings.3442
The cause, then, of that difference
which subsists, as regards the inequality both of dignity and power in
created beings, is such as I have described. In this the wise acquiesce
with abundant thankfulness and joy: while those who are dissatisfied,
display their own folly, and their arrogance will reap its due
reward.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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