Chapter 11 Part VIII

Part VIII 602-17 (556) 618-659 ...they desecrate what they know nothing about.Christianity consists in two things; both are equally important to man to know, and equally dangerous to be ignorant of both; and God has given signs of both equally graciously. And yet they draw the conclusion that the other does not exist on the grounds that they should conclude the one.Wise men who claimed that there is only one God have been persecuted, Jews have been hated, and Christians more so.They saw by the light of nature that, if there were a true religion on earth, the actions of all things should tend towards it as their center.

The establishment and greatness of religion should be the aim of all the actions of all things. Man should have in himself those feelings which correspond to those which religion has taught us.Finally, religion should be such as the end and center to which all things tend, that whoever understands the principles of religion can explain all human nature in particular, and all the actions of the world in general. And on that basis, they took the opportunity to blaspheme Christianity because they misunderstood Christianity. They imagined that it consisted simply in the worship of a God who was supposed to be great, all-powerful, and eternal; indeed, it was Deism, which was almost as far removed from Christianity as Atheism, which was wholly contrary to Christianity. .

And from this they conclude that this religion is untrue; for they do not see that all things agree to establish that God does not reveal himself to men with all the evidence that he can give. Own. Yet even if they had drawn the conclusions they would have drawn against deism, they could not have drawn any against Christianity; which consisted precisely in the mystery of the Savior who united humanity and divinity in one person. Of these two natures, sex, he saves mankind from the corruption of sin so that they may be attuned to God in his divine body. Christianity, therefore, taught mankind these two truths together: that there is a God to which they are attainable, and that there is a natural corruption which renders them unworthy of God.It is equally important for man to know both; and it is as dangerous for a man to know God and not know his own wretchedness as to know his own wretchedness and not know the Savior to be able to heal it.Either of these two knowledges would produce either the pride of the philosopher, who knows God but not his own misery, or the despair of the atheist, who knows his own misery but has no Savior.

Since it is equally necessary for man to know both, it is equally merciful for God to make us know them.Christianity did this, and that is what makes it Christian. Let us examine the order of the world against it, and see if all things tend toward establishing these two points of this religion: that Jesus Christ is the end of all things, and the center toward which all things tend.Whoever knows him also knows the truth of all things. Anyone who is wrong is only wrong in failing to see one of these two things.Thus it is possible to know God without knowing our wretchedness, or our own wretchedness without knowing God; but it is impossible to know Jesus Christ without knowing both God and our own wretchedness.

That is why I am not here to prove by natural causes the existence of God, or the Trinity, or the immortality of the soul, or anything of that nature; not only because I do not feel myself strong enough to find anything in nature The most die-hard atheist can be convinced, and also because this knowledge is useless and empty without Jesus Christ.When a man is persuaded that the proportions of numbers are immaterial, eternal, and dependent on the first truth, and that is called God; I do not think that he is any further in his own salvation How many. The Christian God was not simply a God who created geometric truth and an order of the elements; that was the pagan and Epicurean position.He was not merely a God who exercised His destiny over the life and happiness of man, in order to give his worshipers a succession of happy years; that was a Jewish thing.But the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of Christians, is a God of love and comfort; a God who fills the souls and hearts of those whom God who made them feel in their hearts their own misery and his infinite goodness; he united himself to the depths of their souls; he filled their souls with humility, with joy, with faith, with love; he made them There can be no other destination but himself.

Those who seek God outside of Jesus Christ, and remain in nature, either fail to discover any light that will satisfy them, or move toward forming a system for themselves. God's way; and thereby they fall either into atheism or deism, which are almost equally abhorrent to Christianity. The world cannot live without Jesus Christ; for that must either be the end of the world, or the world will be like a hell. If the existence of the world were to teach God to man, the divinity of God would illuminate every part of the world in an irrefutable manner; but since the world is only created by and for Jesus Christ To survive, and to teach mankind the corruption of mankind and the redemption of mankind, so everything is shining with the proof of these two truths.

The things presented in the world signify neither the total exclusion of the gods, nor the manifest existence of the gods, but the existence of a hidden God.Everything has this characteristic. Does the only man who knows nature know nature only in order to sink into misery?Will the only one who knows it be the only unfortunate? He never sees nothing at all, nor does he see enough to believe he has grasped it, but he sees enough to realize that he is lost; for to know that we have To perish must be both visible and unseen; and this is exactly his natural state. No matter which side he's on, I won't let him sit comfortably...

603-315 (557) 630-660 It is therefore true that all things teach man the condition of man, which he must understand well; for it is not true that all things reveal God, nor that all things conceal God.But it is true that God both conceals himself from those who tempt him and reveals himself from those who pursue him; for man is both unworthy of God and deserving of him , unworthy due to their corruption, available due to their primordial nature. 604-316 (558) 591-684 What conclusions can we draw from all our ignorance but our unworthiness? 606, 446-319, 453 (559) 750-685 If God had never manifested anything, this eternal deficiency would be dubious, and would be as much connected with the absence of any gods as with the unworthiness of men to know God; yet he sometimes—but Not forever—appears, which removes the ambiguity.If he manifests once, he exists forever; and from this we can only conclude that there is a God and men are unworthy of him.

640-14, 16 (560) 766-643 We understand neither Adam's glorious state, nor his sinful nature, nor how it has been communicated to us.These things go through states of a nature quite different from our own and beyond our present state of ability. It doesn't help us to get out of it all we want to know; all we need to know is that we are wretched, corrupted, separated from God and redeemed by Jesus Christ; and it is about these , we have all kinds of amazing proofs on the earth. Hence the two proofs of corruption and redemption are derived from the infidel who lives indifferent to religion, and from the Jew who is the irreconcilable enemy of religion.

814-378 (561) 859-645 There are two ways of persuading men of the truths of our religion: one by the power of reason, and the other by the authority of the speaker. We do not use the latter, but the former.We do not say: "These must be believed, because the holy book which narrates them is holy"; Everything is submissive. 74-43 (562) 858-654 Everything on the earth shows: either human beings are miserable, or God is kind; or man is powerless without God, or man is capable with God. 2—360 (563) 612—675 One of the delusions of the perishing is to see them condemned by their own reason, which they intended to condemn Christianity.

831-736 (564) 632-676 The prophecies and even the miracles themselves and the proofs of our religion are not of such a nature that we may say that they are absolutely convincing.Yet they are of such a nature that we cannot say that belief in them is unreasonable. In this way, there is both evidence and ignorance; it can illuminate some people and deceive others.But the evidence is this: it surpasses, or at least equals, the contrary evidence; so that it is not reason that can decide not to follow it, and therefore it can only be the desire or malice of the heart.In this manner, there is enough evidence to condemn, but not enough to convince; and it appears, to those who follow it, that it leads them to follow grace rather than reason; and For those who shun it, it is lust, not reason, that shuns them. Vere discipline, vere IsraOOlita, vere liberi, vere cibus. [True disciples, real Israelites, real freedom, real food]. "John" chapter 8, verse 31: "If you continue to obey our teaching, you are really my disciples"; Chapter 1, verse 47: "Behold, this is a true Israelite, and there is no deceit in his heart." "; Chapter 8, Verse 36: "If the Son of the Father sets you free, you will be free indeed"; Chapter 6, Chapter 32 Verse: "I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father who gave you the true bread from heaven." 588-452 (565) 633-677 Therefore, in the obscurity of religion itself, in the dim light we have about it, in the indifference we have to know it, know the truth of religion! 573-439 (566) 634-678 We cannot understand any of God's creations if we do not take it as a principle that God intended to blind some and enlighten some. 791-460 (567) 626-679 Two opposing reasons. We must proceed from this; otherwise we understand nothing, and everything becomes heresy; and even at the end of every truth we must add that we remember the contrary truth. 587-916, 938, 658 (568) 587-680 Rebuttal: The holy books are obviously full of things that were not dictated by the Holy Spirit. —Reply: Yet they do not in the least injure faith. —Rebuttal: But the Church has concluded that everything comes from the Holy Spirit. ——Response: I answer two points. One is that the church has never made such a determination, and the other is that it can be established if the church has made such a determination. The prophecies quoted in the Gospels, do you think they are presented to convince you?No, that is to get you out of faith. 785-590 (569) 624-683 Canon - Heresy, at the beginning of the church, served to prove the canon. 571-430 (570) 204-692 To the chapter "On Foundations" must be added another chapter which constitutes "On Symbols", dealing with the causes of symbols: Why the first coming of Jesus Christ was prophesied; why it was prophesied obscurely in its manner. 574-518 (571) 703-570 The reason why.Symbol—[They are to receive a carnal people, but to make them trustees of spiritual restraint. ] Confidence in the Messiah required prior prophecy, prophecy proclaimed by men of unquestionable diligence and sincerity, with extraordinary zeal, and known to all the world. To accomplish all this, God chose this carnal nation, and commissioned them to foretell the prophecies that the Messiah would be the Savior and deliverer of all the sensual things that the nation loved.They therefore had a great zeal for their prophets, and proclaimed before the whole world the books which foretold their Messiah, assuring all nations that the Messiah would come and would They come in the way prophesied in the books which they proclaim to the world.Thus the nation, deceived by the ignominious and pitiful coming of the Messiah, became his worst enemy.This is thus the people in the world who most undoubtedly favor us, and which may be called the most exacting and zealous by their laws and their prophets; and they have transmitted these books intact.Thus those who rejected and crucified Jesus Christ whom they slandered were those who spread the books which testified to him and said he would be rejected and slandered.Thus they show that it is he himself who rejects himself; and he is equally attested by those Jews who accepted his righteousness and by those who rejected his unrighteousness, both was foretold. It is for this reason that the prophecy has a hidden meaning, and the nation is its enemy in the spiritual aspect, but its friend in the carnal aspect. Had the meaning of the spirit been revealed, they could not have loved it, they would have neither propagated it nor ardently preserved their books and their ceremonies; and if they loved the promises of the spirit, and kept intact preserved till the time of the Messiah, their testimony would have no force, for they are its friends. This is why the spiritual meaning is best concealed; but, on the other hand, if this aspect were so hidden that it was not revealed at all, it would not serve to prove the Messiah.Then, how to do it?It is veiled under the earthly meaning in most of the chapters, but in a few passages it is revealed so clearly; And brighter.In some places the meaning of this spirit is so clearly explained that it would take a blindness like that which the flesh imposes on the spirit when it yields to the flesh, to fail to recognize it. And this is how God works.This meaning is concealed in countless places by another, and is revealed only in the rarest few places and in such a way that wherever it is concealed it is ambiguous and can applies to both senses, whereas wherever it is revealed it is unambiguous and applies only to the spiritual sense. Hence it cannot lead to error, and only such a carnal people can misunderstand. For what could prevent them from apprehending real good, but their covetousness, which confines that meaning to earthly good, when good is promised in abundance?But those who find good things only in God attribute them all to God.For there are two principles that divide the will of men, greed and benevolence. It is not that greed cannot be with faith in God, or that love cannot be with earthly things; it is that greed uses God and enjoys the world, while love is the opposite. The final end is what gives names to things.Everything that hinders us from achieving our goals is called an enemy. Therefore man, however good he may be, is the enemy of the just when he turns his back on God; and God himself is the enemy of those whom God has disturbed greed. Thus, since the term "enemy" depends on the final purpose, the just man understands his feelings by it, and the sensual man understands the Babylonian; therefore these terms are obscure only to the unjust. .And this is what Isaiah says: Signa legem in electis meis [The seal of the law is among my elect. 〕 "Isaiah" chapter 8 verse 16: "Seal the teaching among my disciples", and Jesus Christ will also be a stumbling block. But "blessed are those who do not stumble with him". Hosea says it best at the end: "Where is the wise man? He can understand what I say. The righteous will understand it; for the way of God is right, but the wicked will stumble upon it." 589-513 (572) 629-673 The hypothesis that the apostles were liars. ——The time is clear and precise, but the method is obscure and difficult to understand. —The five proofs of the symbol. 20001600 Prophet. 400 scatterers. 578-905 (573) 625-566 The Blindness of the Holy Book - The Jews said, "The Holy Book says we shall not know where Christ will come from." (John, Chapter 7:27 and Chapter 12:34). The Holy Book says that Christ lives forever, And Christ said he was mortal." St. John, therefore, says that, in spite of all the miracles that Christ performed, they did not believe at all, in order to fulfill the words of Isaiah: "He made them blind," etc. 579-320 (574) 702-571 Greatness—religion is such a great thing that those who do not take the trouble to pursue it—if it is obscure—should be deprived of it, which is quite just.What, then, are we to complain about, if it can be found if we only seek it? 580-321 (575) 283-663 Everything is good for the elect, even the obscurities of the holy books; for they adore them for their divine clarity.All are against others, not even clarity; for they desecrate them with obscurities they do not understand. 581-461 (576) 742-664 The general conduct of the world towards the church: God desires to blind and enlighten--Since the sanctity of these prophecies has been proved, the rest must be believed.From this we see that the order of the world is this: the wonders of Genesis and the Flood were forgotten, God sent the laws of Moses and the miracles, the prophets who foretold specific things; and to prepare for a lasting miracle , he prepares the prophecies and their fulfillment; but since the prophecies can be doubted, he makes them beyond doubt, etc. 510-457 (577) 786-662 God made the blindness of this nation serve the interests of the elect. 582-443 (578) 772-573 There is enough clarity to illuminate the electorate, and enough obscurity to humble them.There is enough obscurity to blind the Forsaken, and enough clarity to condemn them and make them unforgivable. St. Augustine, Montaigne, Cypender. The genealogy of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament is mingled with so much other useless stuff that it becomes indistinguishable.It would be too obvious if Moses only recorded the ancestry of Jesus Christ.It would not be obvious enough if he hadn't pointed out the ancestry of Jesus Christ.But whoever reads it carefully will see at last that the ancestry of Jesus Christ is quite recognizable from Tamaluze, etc. Whoever prescribed these sacrifices knew their futility; and whoever declared them futile never gave up their practice. If God allowed only one religion, it would be too easy to know; but if we look carefully, we can easily discern truth from this chaos. Principle: Moses was a wise man.So if he is controlling himself with his spirit, he will not utter anything that is directly contrary to the spirit. So any very obvious weakness is a strength.Example: two genealogies in St. Matthew and St. Luke.Could anything be clearer than this inconsistency? 787-695 (579) 809-574 God (and the apostles) foresaw that the seeds of pride would give birth to heresies, and would not give them a chance to be born according to the proper words, so they placed opposite words in the Holy Books and in the prayers of the Church, so that when the time came can produce their results. Likewise God has endowed morality with benevolence, which produces results contrary to lust. 416-262 (580) 799-575 Nature has certain perfections which would show it to be the shadow of God, and certain defects which would show it to be nothing but the shadow of God. 596-441 (581) 743-576 God wants to arrange the will more than the spirit.Perfect clarity is good for the mind and bad for the will.Let the proud be humbled. 597-738 (582) 638-578 We have made truth itself an idol; for truth apart from love is not God but a shadow of God, or an idol, which we should neither love nor worship; and its opposite, which is a lie, we Let alone love or worship. I may well love total obscurity; but if God binds me to a semi-obscurity, all that little obscurity in it displeases me; Unknown kind of convenience, so it makes me unhappy.It was a mistake, and a sign that I had made myself a shadowy idol out of God's order. We must worship only his order. 792-463 (583) 763-670 The sick are those who know the truth, but uphold it only so far as their own interests go; but beyond that, they renounce it. 647-734 (584) 764-671 The existence of the world is to realize mercy and judgment. It is not as if human beings exist in the world out of the hand of God, but as human beings are God's enemies; God has given human beings enough light to return to God (if they want to seek him and follow him), but can also punish them (if they refuse to seek him and follow him). 598-449 (585) 793-672 On God's desire to conceal Himself—If there were but one religion, God would be well manifested in it.The same would be the case if there were martyrs only in our religion. Since God is thus hidden, no religion is true which does not say that God is hidden; no religion which does not reason about it is not instructive.Our religion does all this: Vere tu es Deus abscon-ditus. [Thou art a hidden God]. Chapter 45, verse 15 of Isaiah: "Truly you are a hidden God." 599-317 (586) 797-673 If there were no darkness at all, man would never feel his corruption; if there were no light, he would never hope for a remedy. Therefore God being partly concealed and partly revealed is not only just but also useful to us; for to know God without knowing one's own misery and to know one's own misery without knowing God is the same. Both are equally dangerous to man. 827-568 (587) 801-568 This religion is so great in miracles, saints, blameless believers, scholars and testimonies of great men, martyrs, established kings (David), bloody prince Isaiah; in showing its After all miracles and all their wisdom, so great is knowledge; and it denies all this, and declares that it has neither wisdom nor signs, but only crosses and follies. For those who are worthy of your faith by such signs and this wisdom, and who have proved to you their own characteristics, declare to you that nothing in all this can change us and make us know God and love God, except by the foolish virtue of the cross, which has neither wisdom nor sign; and never by signs which have no such virtue.Our religion, therefore, is foolish as far as it works, and wise as far as it is wise to prepare for it. 828-250, 469 (588) 640-565 Our religion is wise and stupid.Wisdom, because it is the most learned, and the most based on miracles, prophecy, and so on.Folly, because that is not all that makes us religious; all this does make us condemn the non-religious, but it does not make the religious believe.It is the cross that makes them believe, ne evacuata sit crux [Lest the cross be in vain. ] "1 Corinthians" chapter 1, verse 17: "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel; not with the words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be vain".Thus St. Paul, who came in wisdom and signs, says that he came neither in wisdom nor in signs; for he came out of change.But those who come only to be convinced, may be said to come in wisdom and signs.