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| Creation a revelation of God; especially in the order and harmony pervading the whole.
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Part III.
§35. Creation a revelation of God;
especially in the order and harmony pervading the whole.
For God, being good and loving to mankind, and
caring for the souls made by Him,—since He is by nature invisible
and incomprehensible, having His being beyond all created existence153
, for which reason the race of mankind was
likely to miss the way to the knowledge of Him, since they are made out
of nothing while He is unmade,—for this cause God by His own Word
gave the Universe the Order it has, in order that since He is by nature
invisible, men might be enabled to know Him at any rate by His works154
. For often the artist even when not seen is
known by his works. 2. And as they tell of Phidias the Sculptor that
his works of art by their symmetry and by the proportion of their parts
betray Phidias to those who see them although he is not there, so by
the order of the Universe one ought to perceive God its maker and
artificer, even though He be not seen with the bodily eyes. For God did
not take His stand upon His invisible nature (let none plead that as an
excuse) and leave Himself utterly unknown to men; but as I said above,
He so ordered Creation that although He is by nature invisible He may
yet be known by His works. 3. And I say this not on my own authority,
but on the strength of what I learned from men who have spoken of God,
among them Paul, who thus writes to the Romans155
:
“for the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made;”
while to the Lycaonians he speaks out and says156
:
“We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good
tidings, to turn from these vain
things unto a Living God, Who made the heaven and the earth and the
sea, and all that in them is, Who in the generations gone by suffered
all nations to walk in their own ways. And yet He left not Himself
without witness, in that He did good, and gave you157
| 157 ὑμῖν and ὑμῶν below are read by
several mss., and are probably correct as in
the original passage. |
from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food
and gladness.” 4. For who that sees the circle of heaven and the
course of the sun and the moon, and the positions and movements of the
other stars, as they take place in opposite and different directions,
while yet in their difference all with one accord observe a consistent
order, can resist the conclusion that these are not ordered by
themselves, but have a maker distinct from themselves who orders them?
or who that sees the sun rising by day and the moon shining by night,
and waning and waxing without variation exactly according to the same
number of days, and some of the stars running their courses and with
orbits various and manifold, while others move158
| 158 The
‘fixed’ stars as distinct from the planets. For the
argument, cf. Plato, Legg. 966 E. |
without wandering, can fail to perceive that they certainly have a
creator to guide them?E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
