There are some things, too, which have such a place in the body, that they obviously serve no useful purpose, but are solely for beauty, as e.g. the teats on a man’s breast, or the beard on his face; for that this is for ornament, and not for protection, is proved by the bare faces of women, who ought rather, as the weaker sex, to enjoy such a defence. If, therefore, of all those members which are exposed to our view, there is certainly not one in which beauty is sacrificed to utility, while there are some which serve no purpose but only beauty, I think it can readily be concluded that in the creation of the human body comeliness was more regarded than necessity. In truth, necessity is a transitory thing; and the time is coming when we shall enjoy one another’s beauty without any lust,—a condition which will specially redound to the praise of the Creator, who, as it is said in the psalm, has put on praise and comeliness.

What we proclaim is not one single coming of Christ but a second as well, much fairer than the first. For the first presented a demonstration of long-suffering, but the second wears the crown of the kingdom of God. Most things about our Lord Jesus Christ are twofold. His birth is twofold, once of God before the ages and once of the Virgin in the end of the ages. Twice he comes down, once all unseen like dew on a fleece^[1] and a second time still future and manifest. When first he came, he was swaddled in a manger. When next he comes he will clothe himself with light as with a garment. At his first coming he endured the cross, despising the shame;^[2] at his second, he comes surrounded with glory and escorted by hosts of angels. We do not therefore simply rest on Christ’s first coming, by itself, but let us look forward also to his second; and as we say of his former coming, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord,^[3] so also we will say the same words again at his Second Coming, that we may meet our Master in company with angels and say, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord^[4] as we worship him. The Savior comes again, but not to be judged again, for he will pass judgment on those who passed judgment on him, and he who before kept silence as they judged him now reminds those lawless people who did their outrageous deeds to him on the cross and says, These things you have done, and I kept silence.^[5] He adapted himself when he came then and taught people by persuasion, but this time it is they who will be forced to bow to his rule, whether they want to or not.

Others [unspecified pagan philosophers], however, have imagined the heavens to have the form of a hemisphere, because the inspired David says, Who stretches out the heaven like a pavilion which means a tent; and the blessed Isaiah: He that establishes the heavens like a vault;^[1] and because the sun, the moon and the stars, when they set, go round the earth from west to north and return again to the east. However, whichever way it may be, all things have been made and established by the command of God and have their foundation in the divine will and desire. For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created. He has established them for ever, and for ages of ages; he has made a decree, and it shall not pass away.^[2]

The sky that you behold, O man [a listener who is a sensible person], made completely of air, carries many waters and is not itself supported by anything else, since a mere command hung it up and the sole force of a precept supports it. The divine revelation states, Who stretches out the heaven like a pavilion, who covers the higher rooms thereof with water. The great weight and burden of the mountains rests on the earth, which is made solid by its own mass; and that earth floats on a foundation of liquid, as the prophet testifies: Who established the earth above the waters.^[1] Consequently, the fact that it stands arises from a commandment, not from nature. He spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.^[2] Therefore, the fact that the world holds together is a matter of divine operation, not of human understanding. The sea rolls along with the high crest of its own waves and is raised aloft toward the clouds. Yet, light sands hem it in. Hence we see that its great might yields not to the sand but to a precept. All the beings in the sky and earth and sea move and live after they have been made by one sole command. The prophet affirms that they will be dissolved again by a mere command when he says, In the beginning, O Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands. They shall perish, but you remain; and all of them shall all grow old like a garment, and as a garment shall you change them, and they shall be changed.^[3] How? In such a way that their great age may fail through time but not that creation will perish before the eyes of its Creator.

And, therefore, about this one [Jesus Christ] it is rightly said, He has perfect hands to put on the holy things.^[1] For this one is truly he who put on holy things, not those who were bad examples^[2] but these that are truly holy. But if you want to hear about his more lofty garments, take the prophetic words, Clothed with light as a garment, the abyss as a garment is his clothing.^[3] This is the appearance of my great high priest who is declared clothed with the depths of knowledge and the light of wisdom that truly are holy garments.

This is the way, dear friends, in which we found out salvation, namely Jesus Christ, the high priest of our offerings, the guardian and helper of our weakness. Through him let us look steadily into the heights of heaven; through him we see as in a mirror his faultless and transcendent face; through him the eyes of our hearts have been opened; through him our foolish and darkened mind springs up into the light; through him the Master has willed that we should taste immortal knowledge, for he, being the radiance of his majesty, is as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent.^[1] For so it is written: He makes his angels winds and his ministers flames of fire. But of his Son the Master spoke thus: You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the Gentiles for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession.^[2] And again he says to him, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.^[3] Who, then, are these enemies? Those who are wicked and resist his will. 1 ^[4] ON ^[1]

[God] is the maker and creator of the angels. He brought into being and made them after his own image into a bodiless nature, some sort of spirit, as it were, and immaterial fire—as the divine David says: Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire. And he determined their lightness, fieriness, heat, extreme acuity, their keenness in their desire for God and his service and their being raised up and removed from every material consideration.

Now, according to a Hebrew figure of speech, it is said of God in the eighteenth psalm that he made darkness his secret place,^[1] to signify that those notions that should be worthily entertained of God are invisible and unknowable, because God conceals himself in darkness, as it were, from those who cannot endure the splendors of his knowledge or are incapable of looking at them, partly owing to the pollution of their understanding, which is clothed with the body of mortal lowliness, and partly owing to its feebler power of comprehending God. And in order that it may appear that the knowledge of God has rarely been vouchsafed to people and has been found in very few individuals, Moses is related to have entered into the darkness where God was.^[2] And again, with regard to Moses it is said, Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but the rest shall not come near.^[3] And again, that the prophet may show the depth of the doctrines that relate to God and that are unattainable by those who do not possess the Spirit that searches all things, even the deep things of God,^[4] he added, The abyss like a garment is his covering. No, our Lord and Savior, the Logos of God, manifesting that the greatness of the knowledge of the Father, is appropriately comprehended and known preeminently by him alone, and in the second place by those whose minds are enlightened by the Logos and God, declares, No one knows the Son but the Father; neither does any one know the Father but the Son, and he to whoever the Son will reveal him.^[5] For no one can worthily know the uncreated and firstborn of all created nature like the Father who begat him, nor any one the Father like the living Logos, and his Wisdom and Truth. By sharing in him who takes away from the Father what is called darkness, which he made his secret place, and the abyss, which is called his covering, and by unveiling the Father in this way, every one knows the Father who is capable of knowing him.

Let Celsus^[1] then say distinctly that the great diversity among the products of the earth is not the work of Providence but that a certain fortuitous concurrence of atoms gave birth to qualities so diverse, and that it was owing to chance that so many kinds of plants and trees and herbs resemble one another, and that no disposing reason gave existence to them, and that they do not derive their origin from an understanding that is beyond all admiration. We Christians, however, who are devoted to the worship of the only God, who created these things, feel grateful for them to him who made them, because not only for us but also (on our account) for the animals that are subject to us, he has prepared such a home, seeing he causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of humans, that they may bring forth food out of the earth and wine that makes glad the heart of people, and oil to make their faces to shine, and bread that strengthens humans’ hearts. But that he should have provided food even for the most savage animals is not a matter of surprise, for these very animals are said by some who have philosophized [on the subject] to have been created for the purpose of affording exercise to the rational creature. And one of our own wise men says somewhere, Do not say, What is this? or Wherefore is that? for all things have been made for their uses. And do not say, What is this? or Wherefore is that? for everything shall be sought out in its season.^[2]

Having learned these things and been fully assured that what seems to be bread is not bread, though sensible to taste, but the body of Christ; and that what seems to be wine is not wine, though the taste will affirm that it is so, but the blood of Christ; and that of this David sang long ago, saying, And bread strengthens a person’s heart, to make his face to shine with oil, strengthen you your heart, by partaking of it as spiritual, and make the face of your soul to shine. And so having it unveiled with a pure conscience, may you reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord^[1] and proceed from glory to glory, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be honor and might and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

People of true and good sense, who have intellectually gathered that knowledge that gives life, are never jaded by the sacred sciences. Indeed it is written that humankind shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.^[1] The word of God is food for the mind and a spiritual bread that strengthens the heart of humankind, as the book of Psalms sings.

Consider that the sun, the moon and the stars, the lights of the sky which, though they shine with brilliant splendor, are yet creatures, and, whether they rise or fall in their daily performance of duty, they serve the will of the eternal Creator, bringing forth the beauty with which they are clothed and shining by day and by night. How often is the sun covered by clouds or taken from the gaze of the earth when the ray of its light is dispelled in the sky or an eclipse occurs, and as Scripture says: The moon knows its going down. It knows when it should shine in full light or weakened light. The stars, which are engaged in service to this world’s advantage, disappear when they are covered by clouds, not willingly, surely, but in hope, because they hope for gratitude for their labor from him who made them subject [to him]. Thus, they persevere for his sake, that is, for his will.

As you know, that psalm [104 (103 LXX)] contains the words The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night. What person, though unlettered, does not understand and know that when the sun reaches its setting, immediately night and darkness appear? Why, then, was it necessary for the prophet to say what is evidently understood by everyone? Likewise what follows: Then all the beasts of the forest roam about. Young lions roar for the prey and seek their food from God. Can there be found anyone who does not know this? Truly, it is known to everyone that when night comes all the beasts roam about everywhere. Since, as you see, we ought not receive this according to the letter, listen attentively, as is your custom, to their spiritual significance.

Now what the psalmist said, The sun knows the hour of its setting, is not to be taken concerning the sun but with regard to him of whom the prophet says, For those who fear your name there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.^[1] Of him we read in Solomon that the wicked will say, The sun did not rise for us.^[2] Therefore, Christ is the true sun of justice. He knew his setting when he yielded to his passion for our salvation; for when he was crucified, night and darkness took hold of the souls of his disciples. Truly, brothers, how was there not darkness in those who did not believe Christ was risen from the dead? Finally, when the women reported that they had seen the Lord, this talk seemed to the apostles to be nonsense, and they did not believe the women.^[3] Moreover, on another occasion the two disciples spoke thus to the Lord who was talking to them: But we were hoping that it was he who should redeem Israel.^[4] When the apostles spoke these words, then was fulfilled those others: The sun knows the hour of its setting. You bring darkness, and it is night.

Then, even if anger boils up, it is easily cooled. If passion flares forth, the flames are readily quenched. If envy consumes us, it is not difficult to drive it away. The same thing happens that the prophet says happens when the sun rises. What did he say? You made the darkness, and it was night. In it all the wild beasts of the forest will go forth, even young lions roaring for prey and to seek meat for themselves from God. The sun arose, and they were gathered together and shall lie down in their dens. At sunrise, then, every wild beast is driven off and slinks away to its lair. So, too, when a prayer, like a ray of the sun, arises from our tongue and comes forth from our mouth, our mind is enlightened, all the savage passions that destroy our reason slink away and flee to their own lairs, if only our prayer is diligent, if only it comes from a watchful soul and sober mind.^[1] Should the devil be on hand when we pray, he is driven off; should a demon be there, he slinks away.

But their doctrine is false.^[1] Truth witnesses that God is the eternal fountain of his proper wisdom; and, if the Fountain is eternal, the Wisdom also has to be eternal. For in it were all things made, as David says in the psalm, In wisdom you have made them all; and Solomon says, The Lord by wisdom has formed the earth, by understanding he has established the heavens.^[2] And this Wisdom is the Word, and by him, as John says, all things were made, and without him not one thing was made.^[3]

Doubtless the things that came to be through the Word, these are founded in wisdom and what are founded in wisdom, these are all made by the Hand and came to be through the Son. And we have proof of this, not from external sources, but from the Scriptures; for God says by Isaiah the prophet, My hand also has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spanned the heavens.^[1] And again, And I will cover you in the shadow of my hand, by which I planted the heaven, and laid the foundations of the earth.^[2] And David, who was taught this and knew that the Lord’s hand was nothing else than wisdom, says in the psalm, In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creation.

This world is an example of the workings of God, because, while we observe the work, the Worker is brought before us. The arts may be considered in various aspects. There are those that are practical. These relate to the movement of the body or to the sound of the voice. When the movement or the sound has passed away, there is nothing that survives or remains for the spectators or the hearers. Other arts are theoretical. These display the vigor of the mind. There are other arts of such a nature that, even when the processes of operation cease, the handiwork remains visible. As an example of this we have buildings or woven material that, even when the craftsman is silent, still exhibit his skill, so that testimony is presented of the craftsman’s own work. In a similar way, this work^[1] is a distinctive mark of divine majesty from which the wisdom of God is made manifest. On beholding this, raising the eyes of his mind at the same time to the things invisible, the psalmist says, How great are your works, O Lord; you have made all things in wisdom.

In case any of us should struggle with this,^[1] there are just two commands: God and neighbor; the one who made you, and the one he made you to be with. No one has told you Love the sun, love the moon, love the earth and everything that has been made. These are the things in which God is to be praised, the Maker to be blessed. How magnificent are your works! we say; in wisdom you have made them all. They are yours, you have made them all. Thanks be to you! But you have made us over all of them. Thanks be to you! For we are your image and likeness. Thanks be to you! We have sinned, we have been sought. Thanks be to you! We have been negligent, we have not been neglected. Thanks be to you! When we despised you, we were not despised; in case we should have forgotten your divinity and should lose you, you even took upon yourself our humanity. Thanks be to you! When and where can there not be thanks?

This Word, through which heaven and earth were made, this Word was not itself made. I mean, if it was made, through what was it made? All things were made through it.^[1] So if whatever has been made was made through the Word, the Word itself, clearly, through which all things were made, was not made. One more point: the narrator of the works of creation, God’s servant Moses, says, In the beginning, God made heaven and earth. He made heaven and earth in the beginning. By what means did he make it? Through the Word. Did he also make the Word? No; well what, then? In the beginning was the Word;^[2] that through which he made things already was; that is how he made what as yet was not. We can understand it, and rightly understand it, in the sense that heaven and earth were made in the only-begotten Word itself. They were made in, you see, that through which they were made. This can be, and be understood as, the beginning in which God made heaven and earth. This Word, after all, is also the wisdom of God, about which it is said, You have made all things in wisdom. If God made all things in wisdom, and his only-begotten Son is without a shadow of doubt that wisdom of God, let us not doubt that whatever we have learned was made through the Son, was also made in the Son. The Son himself, after all, is certainly the beginning. When the Jews were questioning him and saying, Who are you? he answered, The beginning.^[3] There you have, In the beginning, God made heaven and earth.^[4]

I will not contest the point, chiefly because it gives me the liveliest satisfaction to find the Trinity celebrated in the very beginning of the book of Genesis. For having said In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,^[1] meaning that the Father made them in the Son (as the psalm testifies where it says, How manifold are Thy works, O Lord! in Wisdom hast Thou made them all), a little afterwards mention is fitly made of the Holy Spirit also.

All things then, my brothers, all things—each and every one—were made through him, and without him was nothing made.^[1] But how were all things made through him? That which was made, in him is life.^[2] Now this can be taken as follows: That which was made in him, is life. And if we express the sentence in this way, everything is life. For what was not made in him? For he himself is the wisdom of God, and in the psalm it is said, You have made all things in wisdom. If, then, Christ is the wisdom of God and the psalm says, You have made all things in wisdom, as all things were made through him, so they were made in him.

Let us, therefore, in the faith of the disciples, converse frequently with our Master. For the world is like the sea to us, my brothers, of which it is written, This is the great and wide sea, there go the ships; the Leviathan, which you have created to play therein. We float on this sea, as with the wind, through our own free will, for everyone directs his course according to his will, and either, under the pilotage of the Word, he enters into rest, or, laid hold on by pleasure, he suffers shipwreck and is in peril by storm. For as in the ocean there are storms and waves, so in the world there are many afflictions and trials.

This great and wide sea, in it there are creeping things without number. Who can describe the beauty of the fishes therein? Who can describe the greatness of the whales and the nature of the amphibious animals, how they live on the dry land and in the waters? Who can describe the depth and breadth of the sea or the shock of its tumultuous waves? The sea stays within its confines because of him who said, This far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!^[1] It clearly reveals the decree imposed on it, when running out it leaves on the sands a distinct line marked by its waves, as though to signify to those who see it that it has not transgressed its appointed bounds.

After this the prophet added the words The sea also, great and wide, in which are schools without number of living things. The sea is understood as the world, which is full of storms and dangerous waves, even full of bitterness and saltiness. It also has quite large fish that do not cease to devour the smaller ones. There are numberless creeping things, so-called because they creep over the earth. For this reason carnal people and those who are too fond of the world, because they think only of the present life and continuously apply themselves to its pursuits out of love for it, are not unfittingly called creeping things. Furthermore, the words The sea also, great and wide, where ships move about are not to be understood relative to the ships of wood that are carried over the sea by the force of the wind but to the catholic church. While the latter desires to reach the port of paradise by holy, just works, it is beaten by many waves of tribulation and the winds of various storms. Moreover, although it is tossed by the violent beating of the winds, it is so well directed by the oars of holy discipline, so well driven by the breath of the Holy Spirit, that it is carried to eternal life by the Festal very adversities that oppose it. In this sea there is also that dragon of which it is written: This sea dragon that you formed to make sport of it. That dragon is understood as the devil. He is apt to play in the wicked in such a way that not only does he persuade them to sin but, using them as his ministers, he does not cease to persecute even those who are holy and just. This dragon was made a good angel by God, but since he exalted himself against God by pride and fell from that happy angelic state, deceiving himself by pride, through God’s hidden but just judgment he is permitted to deceive with his cunning careless people.

And because God, when he created him, was certainly not ignorant of his future malignity, and foresaw the good which he Himself would bring out of his evil, therefore says the psalm, This leviathan whom Thou hast made to be a sport therein, that we may see that, even while God in his goodness created him good, he yet had already foreseen and arranged how he would make use of him when he became wicked.

There is a passage, too, in the Book of Job, of which the devil is the subject: This is the beginning of the creation of God, which he made to be a sport to his angels,^[1] which agrees with the psalm, where it is said, There is that dragon which Thou hast made to be a sport therein. But these passages are not to lead us to suppose that the devil was originally created to be the sport of the angels, but that he was doomed to this punishment after his sin. His beginning, then, is the handiwork of God; for there is no nature, even among the least, and lowest, and last of the beasts, which was not the work of Him from whom has proceeded all measure, all form, all order, without which nothing can be planned or conceived. How much more, then, is this angelic nature, which surpasses in dignity all else that he has made, the handiwork of the Most High!

Let us all therefore fix our gaze on him, that he may feed our hungry souls; he himself was hungry for our sake, seeing that he became poor though he was rich, in order that by his poverty we might be enriched.^[1] How appropriate that we sang to him just now, All things look to you to give them their food at the proper time.^[2] If all things, then all people; if all people, then us too. So if I am going to give you anything good in this sermon, it is not I who shall be giving it but he from whom we all receive because we all look to him. It is time for him to give, but we must do what he said if he is to give, namely, we must look to him. Let us gaze on him with our minds, because just as the eyes and ears of your bodies are turned to me, so the eyes and ears of your minds should be turned to him.

One who has sought God and has found him exists among those good things.^[1] For where a person’s heart is, there also is his treasure;^[2] the Lord is not accustomed to deny his good gift to those who pray. And so, because the Lord is good and especially good to those who await him, let us cling to him and be with him with our whole soul, our whole heart and our whole strength^[3] that we may be in his light and see his glory and enjoy the gift of heavenly joy. Accordingly, let us lift up our spirits to that good and be in it and live in it; let us cling to it, for it is above every thought and every reflection and enjoys an everlasting peace and tranquility, and that peace, moreover, is beyond every thought and every understanding.^[4] This is the good that enters into all things; in it we all live and on it we all depend;^[5] moreover, it possesses nothing beyond itself but is of God, for no one is good but only God.^[6] Therefore, what is good is of God, and what is of God is good. And for that reason it is said, When you open your hand, all things shall be filled with goodness. For, through God’s goodness, all good things are deservedly granted to us, and in them there is no admixture of evil.^[7] Scripture promised these good things to the faithful when it said, You shall eat the good things of the land.^[8] That we may obtain the good things, let us be like that good, the good that is without iniquity and without deceit and without severity but is with grace and holiness and purity and benevolence and love and justice. Thus goodness, like a prolific mother, embraces all the virtues.

Don’t we see such things every day in human affairs—a kind of hard and inexorable mercy? How many things sick people ask the doctors for, counter to their health, and how many things the doctors, in mercy, refuse them! They refuse them and so spare them; if they grant them, they are being cruel. The doctor knows this; and doesn’t God? The one who was created like you knows how to deal with you in this way; and doesn’t the one who created you both know how to deal with you both? Accordingly, dearly beloved, in all your troubles, all your fears, all your joys, beg God to grant you, of temporal goods, what he knows is best for you. As for eternal things, though, such as hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done as in heaven also on earth, and others of that sort, ask for them without a qualm or qualification; they cannot possibly be to your disadvantage.

Choose, cherish, gather; he opens his hand, after all, and fills every soul with blessing. And when you give, it says, they gather. None of us should have any doubts about heavenly good things; even if they are deferred, they will be given. The reward is not being refused, but desire is being whetted. We must go on desiring day after day, because it is a great thing we are going to receive. We must go on thirsting day after day, because it is the fountain of life we shall be drinking from. All the same, dearly beloved, there is something it is not an impudence for us to ask for, because the apostle taught us; let us ask that we may spend a quiet and tranquil life, and with all piety and charity.^[1]

But she^[1] said, I think that we should first run briefly through what is set forth in various places by the divine Scripture concerning this doctrine [the resurrection], so that from there we may approach the conclusion of our discourse. I have heard, indeed, what David sings in his divine odes, when he has made the ordering of the universe the subject of his hymn. Near the end of Psalm 103 [LXX] he says, You will take away their spirit, and they will die and turn to their dust. You will send out your Spirit, and they will be created, and you will renew the face of the earth. He is saying that the power of the Spirit, accomplishing everything in everything, both gives life to those whom it enters and removes from life those from whom it departs. He says that the death of the living happens by the departure of the Spirit, and by its presence the renewal of the dead takes place. Because the death of those who are being renewed comes first in the order of the words, we can say that the mystery of the resurrection is being proclaimed to the church, as David has foretold this grace by his spirit of prophecy.

And again to Moses: I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.^[1] God is not the God of the dead,^[2] of those who have died and will never be again. Rather, he is the God of the living, whose souls live in his hand^[3] and whose bodies will by the resurrection live again. And David, the ancestor of God, says to God, You shall take away their breath, and they shall fail and shall return to their dust. See how it is a question of their bodies. Then he adds, You shall send forth your spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth.

So when the Spirit was moving on the water, the creation was without grace; but after this world being created underwent the operation of the Spirit, it gained all the beauty of that grace wherewith the world is illuminated. And that the grace of the universe cannot abide without the Holy Spirit the prophet declared when he said, You will take away your Spirit, and they will fail and be turned again into their dust. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be made, and you will renew all the face of the earth. Not only, then, did he teach that no creature can stand without the Holy Spirit but also that the Spirit is the Creator of the whole creation.

This Spirit shares with the Son in working both the creation and the resurrection, as you may be shown by this Scripture: By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth;^[1] and this, The Spirit of God that made me, and the breath of the Almighty teaches me;^[2] and again, You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. And he is the author of spiritual regeneration.

But if our opponents say, How then is it, if the universe will not be destroyed, that the Lord says that heaven and earth shall pass away;^[1] and the prophet, that the heaven shall perish as smoke, and the earth shall grow old as a garment;^[2] we answer, because it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change of the world from its present condition to a better and more glorious one, destruction; as its earlier form is lost in the change of all things to a state of greater splendor; for there is no contradiction or absurdity in the holy Scriptures. For not the world but the fashion of this world passes away,^[3] it is said; so it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change from an earlier form to a better and more comely state, destruction; just as when one calls by the name of destruction the change from a childish form into a perfect adult, as the stature of the child is turned into adult size and beauty. We may expect that the creation will pass away, as if it were to perish in the burning, in order that it may be renewed, not however that it will be destroyed, that we who are renewed may dwell in a renewed world without taste of sorrow; according as it is said, When you let your breath go forth, they shall be made, and you shall renew the face of the earth.

But, if we must go on with our discussion and make a deeper study, let us, from this point, contemplate especially the divine power of the Holy Spirit. We find three creations mentioned in the Scripture; the first, the bringing forth from nonexistence into existence; the second, the change from worse to better; and the third, the resurrection of the dead. In these you will find the Holy Spirit co-operating with the Father and the Son. Take, for instance, the calling into existence of the heavens. And what does David say? By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of his mouth.^[1] Now, humankind is created a second time through baptism, for if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature.^[2] And what does the Savior say to the disciples? Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.^[3] You see here, also, the Holy Spirit present with the Father and the Son. But what would you say concerning the resurrection of the dead, when we shall have departed and returned into our dust, for we are dust and to dust we shall return?^[4] And he will send forth the Holy Spirit, and he will create us, and he shall renew the face of the earth. For what Paul spoke of as the resurrection, David called renewal.

One may concede that, in regard to the Word, it is clear that he created, but have doubts in regard to the Spirit. My reply to this is the testimony of Job, the righteous man of old, who wrote, The spirit of God made me.^[1] So, too, David in one of his psalms says to God, You shall send forth your spirit, and they shall be created; and you shall renew the face of the earth. But if creation and renewal are to be attributed to the Spirit, certainly the beginning of creation did not occur apart from the Spirit. However, those who are opposed to the truth resort to the evasion of saying that, wherever there is mention of the Spirit as creator, the name and person of the Spirit belong to the Son. The Son is a Spirit, they say, just as the Father is a Spirit. This is a fallacy that should deceive no one. It is enough merely to remember that David clearly distinguishes the Son, whom he calls the Word of the Lord, from the holy One, whom he calls the Spirit. It is the Word who makes the heavens; it is the Spirit who adorns them, who gives them their power. Anyone who reads these words must believe—else, if he insists on being obstinate, why does he bother to read? Let no one imagine that, somehow, our faith dims the glory of the Father. Rather, it adds to the glory of the Father to refer the creation of all things to a Word of which he is the Father or to a Spirit of which he is the source. The fact remains that when his word and Spirit create, it is he who creates all things.

Resurrection from the dead is accomplished by the operation of the Spirit: You send forth your Spirit, and they are created; and you renew the face of the earth. If creation means the conversion of sinners to a better way of life (the Scripture often understands it this way; for example, the words of Paul: If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation.^[1]), and the renewal of this earthly life and changing our earthly, passionate life into heavenly citizenship, then we should know that our souls attain such a high degree of exaltation through the Spirit. Understanding all this, how can we be afraid of giving the Spirit too much honor? We should instead fear that even though we ascribe to him the highest titles we can devise or our tongues pronounce, our ideas about him might still fall short.

Hence it is that the true faith asserts that the Holy Spirit as well is the Creator, not created. How is the Spirit to be denied as Creator, by which the power of the heavens has been strengthened, as David says, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all their host by the breath of his mouth.^[1] And in another text: When you send forth your spirit, they are created. Indeed it is the Creator of all things who is the maker of human beings. Concerning it, the blessed Job says, The Spirit of God has made me.^[2] The Holy Spirit, then, as it has created all things, so, as infinite, it fills all things. And the one who fills all things is by nature true God. It is written that the Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world.^[3] The blessed David as well bears witness that the Spirit of God is everywhere, saying to God, Where can I go from your Spirit, or where can I flee from your presence?^[4] How do the Arians^[5] deny that the Holy Spirit is God since we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, just as we are the temple of the Father and the Son? For the apostle says, Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.^[6] The apostle asserts that we are the temple of God in such a way that in the same letter he also says that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. For he says, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?^[7] And in order that he may show that the Holy Spirit is God, he immediately added, Therefore glorify God in your body.^[8]

Thus then, being before instructed and taught, they [the people of Israel] learned not to do service to any one but the Lord. They began to know how long the shadow^[1] would last and not to forget the time that was at hand, in which no longer should the bullock of the herd be a sacrifice to God, or the ram of the flock or the he-goat,^[2] but all these things should be fulfilled in a purely spiritual manner and by constant prayer and upright conversation, with godly words; as David sings, May my meditation be pleasing to him. Let my prayer be set forth before you as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. The Spirit also, who is in him, commands, saying, Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the Lord your vows. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.^[3]

Prayer is a great good: someone conversing with a virtuous person gains no little advantage from the experience, so how much good will the one communing with God be granted? Prayer, after all, is conversing with God. For proof of this, listen to the words of the inspired author: Let my meditation be pleasing to God, that is, may my words seem acceptable to God. I mean, he is able to offer help before we ask for it, isn’t he? Still, he wants so as to take occasion from us for daily bestowing on us providential care from himself. Accordingly, whether we have our requests granted or not, let us persist in asking, and render thanks not only when we gain what we ask but also when we do not. Failure to gain, you see, when that is what God wants, is not worse than succeeding; we do not know what is to our advantage in this regard in the way he does understand. The result is, then, that succeeding or failing we ought to give thanks.

If God does not punish the sinner, what about the prophecy, If the just person scarcely will be saved, where will the impious and the sinner appear?^[1] And elsewhere: Truly the wicked shall perish;^[2] and again: Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no more; and finally: As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish away: as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.^[3] In these passages it is not so much the incredulous and the unfaithful whom I hear condemned, but the sinners. In a certain passage I read that our Savior said, Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.^[4] Yet, those people believed in Christ and even called him Lord. Nevertheless, on that account alone the gate of the heavenly kingdom is not opened to them, because by their deeds they deny him whom they praise with their lips. Moreover, the apostle asserts that God is denied by deeds no less than by words: They profess to know God, but by their works they disown him.^[5] And the Lord himself says in the Gospel, Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out devils in your name and work many miracles in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’^[6] It is related that they were so strong in their faith that they worked miracles in the name of the Lord; nevertheless, their faith will not profit them, because they have not performed works of justice. So, if faith alone suffices, why are they eternally confined with the minions of Satan in the flames of hell, since they are condemned not because of unbelief but because they did nothing good, as is written: And the king will say to those on his left hand, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire that my Father prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you did not give me to eat,’ etc.?^[7] He did not say because you have not believed in me. Hence, we may conclude that they were condemned for lack of good works, not because of unbelief.