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| Chapter XIV. Nothing escapes God's knowledge. This is proved by the witness of the Scriptures and the analogy of the sun, which, although created, yet by its light or heat enters into all things.
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Chapter XIV.
Nothing escapes God’s knowledge. This is proved by
the witness of the Scriptures and the analogy of the sun, which,
although created, yet by its light or heat enters into all things.
51. Next comes the
answer to the question, whether God, not having failed to show care for
His work, now fails to have knowledge of it? Thus it is
written: “He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He that made the eye, shall He not regard?”88
52. This false idea was not unknown to the holy
prophets. David himself introduces men to speak whom pride has
filled and claimed for its own. For what shows greater pride than
when men who are living in sin think it unfit that other sinners should
live, and say: “Lord, how long shall the ungodly, how long
shall the ungodly
triumph?”89
And later on: “And yet
they say, the Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob
regard it.”90
Whom the prophet
answers, saying: “Take heed, ye unwise among the
people: O ye fools, when will ye understand? He that
planted the ear, shall He not hear? or He that made the eye, shall He
not see? He that rebuketh the nations, shall He not
punish?—He that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth
the thoughts of man that they are vain.”91
Does He Who discerns whatsoever is vain not know what is holy, and is
He ignorant of what He Himself has made? Can the workman be
ignorant of his own work? This one is a man, yet he discerns what
is hidden in his work; and God—shall He not know His own
work? Is there more depth, then, in the work than in its
author? Has He made something superior to Himself; the value of
which, as its Author, He was ignorant of, and whose condition He knew
not, though He was its Director? So much for these
persons.
53. But we are satisfied with the witness of
Him Who says: “I search out the heart and the
reins.”92
In the Gospel,
also, the Lord Jesus says: “Why think ye evil in your
hearts? For He knew they were thinking evil.”93
The evangelist also witnesses to
this, saying: “For Jesus knew their
thoughts.”94
54. The idea of these people will not
trouble us much if we look at their actions. They will not have
Him to be judge over them, Whom nothing deceives; they will not grant
to Him the knowledge of things hidden, for they are afraid their own
hidden things may be brought to light. But the Lord, also,
“knowing their works, has given them over unto darkness. In
the night,” he says, “he will be as a thief, and the eye of
the adulterer will watch for the darkness, saying, No eye shall see me;
he hath covered up his face.”95
For every
one that avoids the light loves darkness, seeking to be hid, though he
cannot be hid from God, Who knows not only what is transacted, but also
what will be thought of, both in the depths of space and in the minds
of men. Thus, again, he who speaks in the book Ecclesiasticus
says: “Who seeth me? The darkness hath covered me,
and the walls have hidden me; whom do I fear?”96
But although lying on his bed he may
think thus, he is caught where he never thought of it. “It
shall be,” it says, “a shame to him because he knew not
what the fear of the Lord was.”97
55. But what can be more foolish than to suppose
that anything escapes God’s notice, when the sun which supplies
the light enters even hidden spots, and the strength of its heat
reaches to the foundations of a house and its inner chambers? Who
can deny that the depths of the earth, which the winter’s ice has
bound together, are warmed by the mildness of spring? Surely the
very heart of a tree feels the force of heat or cold, to such an extent
that its roots are either nipped with the cold or sprout forth in the
warmth of the sun. In short, wherever the mildness of heaven
smiles on the earth, there the earth produces in abundance fruits of
different kinds.
56. If, then, the sun’s rays pour their
light over all the earth and enter into its hidden spots; if they
cannot be checked by iron bars or the barrier of heavy doors from
getting within, how can it be impossible for the Glory of God, which is
instinct with life, to enter into the thoughts and hearts of men that
He Himself has created? And how shall it not see what He Himself
has created? Did He make His works to be better and more powerful
than He Himself is, Who made them (in this event) so as to escape the
notice of their Creator whensoever they will? Did He implant such
perfection and power in our mind that He Himself could not comprehend
it when He wished? E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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