Anf-01 ix.iv.xxiv Pg 15
Prov. i. 7, Prov. ix. 10.
the sense of sin leads to repentance, and God bestows His compassion upon those who are penitent. For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh (since he had lost his natural disposition and child-like mind, and had come to the knowledge of evil things), he girded a bridle of continence upon himself and his wife, fearing God, and waiting for His coming, and indicating, as it were, some such thing [as follows]: Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords no gratification, but which gnaws and frets the body. And he would no doubt have retained this clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig-leaves. For this purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might light upon the woman; and again, He interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred. “The serpent,” says she, “beguiled me, and I did eat.”3766 3766
Anf-02 vi.iii.i.ix Pg 12.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.vii Pg 7.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.ii.vii Pg 18.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.vii.xii Pg 8.1
Anf-03 v.iii.xliii Pg 4
Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7.
Where the fear of God is, there is seriousness, an honourable and yet thoughtful2295 2295 Attonita, as if in fear that it might go wrong (Rigalt.).
diligence, as well as an anxious carefulness and a well-considered admission (to the sacred ministry)2296 2296 In contrast to the opposite fault of the heresies exposed above.
and a safely-guarded2297 2297 Deliberata, where the character was well weighed previous to admission to the eucharist.
communion, and promotion after good service, and a scrupulous submission (to authority), and a devout attendance,2298 2298 Apparitio, the duty and office of an apparitor, or attendant on men of higher rank, whether in church or state.
and a modest gait, and a united church, and God in all things.
Anf-01 ii.ii.xvii Pg 4
Job i. 1.
But bringing an accusation against himself, he said, “No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but of one day.”75 75
Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.xvi Pg 7.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.vii.xii Pg 66.1
Anf-03 vi.vii.xiv Pg 4
Job. See Job i. and ii.
—whom neither the driving away of his cattle nor those riches of his in sheep, nor the sweeping away of his children in one swoop of ruin, nor, finally, the agony of his own body in (one universal) wound, estranged from the patience and the faith which he had plighted to the Lord; whom the devil smote with all his might in vain. For by all his pains he was not drawn away from his reverence for God; but he has been set up as an example and testimony to us, for the thorough accomplishment of patience as well in spirit as in flesh, as well in mind as in body; in order that we succumb neither to damages of our worldly goods, nor to losses of those who are dearest, nor even to bodily afflictions. What a bier9171 9171 “Feretrum”—for carrying trophies in a triumph, the bodies of the dead, and their effigies, etc.
for the devil did God erect in the person of that hero! What a banner did He rear over the enemy of His glory, when, at every bitter message, that man uttered nothing out of his mouth but thanks to God, while he denounced his wife, now quite wearied with ills, and urging him to resort to crooked remedies! How did God smile,9172 9172
Anf-03 iv.viii.ii.ii Pg 5
Prov. ix. 10; Ps. cxi. 10.
But801 801 Porro.
fear has its origin in knowledge; for how will a man fear that of which he knows nothing? Therefore he who shall have the fear of God, even if he be ignorant of all things else, if he has attained to the knowledge and truth of God,802 802 Deum omnium notititam et veritatem adsecutus, i.e., “following the God of all as knowledge and truth.”
will possess full and perfect wisdom. This, however, is what philosophy has not clearly realized. For although, in their inquisitive disposition to search into all kinds of learning, the philosophers may seem to have investigated the sacred Scriptures themselves for their antiquity, and to have derived thence some of their opinions; yet because they have interpolated these deductions they prove that they have either despised them wholly or have not fully believed them, for in other cases also the simplicity of truth is shaken803 803 Nutat.
by the over-scrupulousness of an irregular belief,804 804 Passivæ fidei.
and that they therefore changed them, as their desire of glory grew, into products of their own mind. The consequence of this is, that even that which they had discovered degenerated into uncertainty, and there arose from one or two drops of truth a perfect flood of argumentation. For after they had simply805 805 Solummodo.
found God, they did not expound Him as they found Him, but rather disputed about His quality, and His nature, and even about His abode. The Platonists, indeed, (held) Him to care about worldly things, both as the disposer and judge thereof. The Epicureans regarded Him as apathetic806 806 Otiosum.
and inert, and (so to say) a non-entity.807 807 “A nobody.”
The Stoics believed Him to be outside of the world; the Platonists, within the world. The God whom they had so imperfectly admitted, they could neither know nor fear; and therefore they could not be wise, since they wandered away indeed from the beginning of wisdom,” that is, “the fear of God.” Proofs are not wanting that among the philosophers there was not only an ignorance, but actual doubt, about the divinity. Diogenes, when asked what was taking place in heaven, answered by saying, “I have never been up there.” Again, whether there were any gods, he replied, “I do not know; only there ought to be gods.”808 808 Nisi ut sint expedire.
When Crœsus inquired of Thales of Miletus what he thought of the gods, the latter having taken some time809 809 Aliquot commeatus.
to consider, answered by the word “Nothing.” Even Socrates denied with an air of certainty810 810 Quasi certus.
those gods of yours.811 811 Istos deos.
Yet he with a like certainty requested that a cock should be sacrificed to Æsculapius. And therefore when philosophy, in its practice of defining about God, is detected in such uncertainty and inconsistency, what “fear” could it possibly have had of Him whom it was not competent812 812 Non tenebat.
clearly to determine? We have been taught to believe of the world that it is god.813 813 De mundo deo didicimus.
For such the physical class of theologizers conclude it to be, since they have handed down such views about the gods that Dionysius the Stoic divides them into three kinds. The first, he supposes, includes those gods which are most obvious, as the Sun, Moon, and Stars; the next, those which are not apparent, as Neptune; the remaining one, those which are said to have passed from the human state to the divine, as Hercules and Amphiaraus. In like manner, Arcesilaus makes a threefold form of the divinity—the Olympian, the Astral, the Titanian—sprung from Cœlus and Terra; from which through Saturn and Ops came Neptune, Jupiter, and Orcus, and their entire progeny. Xenocrates, of the Academy, makes a twofold division—the Olympian and the Titanian, which descend from Cœlus and Terra. Most of the Egyptians believe that there are four gods—the Sun and the Moon, the Heaven and the Earth. Along with all the supernal fire Democritus conjectures that the gods arose. Zeno, too, will have it that their nature resembles it. Whence Varro also makes fire to be the soul of the world, that in the world fire governs all things, just as the soul does in ourselves. But all this is most absurd. For he says, Whilst it is in us, we have existence; but as soon as it has left us, we die. Therefore, when fire quits the world in lightning, the world comes to its end.
Anf-03 v.iii.xliii Pg 4
Ps. cxi. 10; Prov. i. 7.
Where the fear of God is, there is seriousness, an honourable and yet thoughtful2295 2295 Attonita, as if in fear that it might go wrong (Rigalt.).
diligence, as well as an anxious carefulness and a well-considered admission (to the sacred ministry)2296 2296 In contrast to the opposite fault of the heresies exposed above.
and a safely-guarded2297 2297 Deliberata, where the character was well weighed previous to admission to the eucharist.
communion, and promotion after good service, and a scrupulous submission (to authority), and a devout attendance,2298 2298 Apparitio, the duty and office of an apparitor, or attendant on men of higher rank, whether in church or state.
and a modest gait, and a united church, and God in all things.
Anf-03 vi.vii.iii Pg 3
So Mr. Dodgson; and La Cerda, as quoted by Oehler. See Ps. cxxxi. 1 in LXX., where it is Ps. cxxx.
but what is that which, in a certain way, has been grasped by hand9027 9027
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, Chapter 24
VERSE (14) - De 10:12 1Sa 12:24 Job 1:1; 28:28 Ps 111:10; 130:4 Ho 3:5
