For he who denies that all things, which either angels or men can give us, are in the hand of the one Almighty, is a madman.The Platonist Plotinus discourses concerning providence, and, from the beauty of flowers and foliage, proves that from the supreme God, whose beauty is unseen and ineffable, providence reaches down even to these earthly things here below; and he argues that all these frail and perishing things could not have so exquisite and elaborate a beauty, were they not fashioned by Him whose unseen and unchangeable beauty continually pervades all things.(2) This is proved also by the Lord Jesus, where He says, "Consider the lilies, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin.And yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.But if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more shall He clothe you, O ye of little faith.!"(2) It was best, therefore, that the soul of man, which was still weakly desiring earthly things, should be accustomed to seek from God alone even these petty temporal boons.and the earthly necessaries of this transitory life, which are contemptible in comparison with eternal blessings, in order that the desire even of these things might not draw it aside from the worship of Him, to whom we come by despising and forsaking such things CHAP.15.--OF THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY ANGELS, BY WHICH THEY FULFILLTHE PROVIDENCE
OF GOD.
And so it has pleased Divine Providence, as I have said, and as we read in the Acts of the Apostles,(1) that the law enjoining the worship of one God should be given by the disposition of angels.
But among them the person of God Himself visibly appeared, not, indeed, in His proper substance, which ever remains invisible to mortal eyes, but by the infallible signs furnished by creation in obedience to its Creator.He made use, too, of the words of human speech, uttering them syllable by syllable successively, though in His own nature He speaks not in a bodily but in a spiritual way; not to sense, but to the mind; not in words that occupy time, but, if I may so say, eternally, neither beginning to speak nor coming to an end.And what He says is accurately heard, not by the bodily but by the mental ear of His ministers and messengers, who are immortally blessed in the enjoyment of His unchangeable truth; and the directions which they in some ineffable way receive, they execute without delay or difficulty in the sensible and visible world.And this law was given in conformity with the age of the world, and Contained at the first earthly promises, as I have said, which, however, symbolized eternal ones; and these eternal blessings few understood, though many took a part in the celebration of their visible signs.
Nevertheless, with one consent both the words and the visible rites of that law enjoin the worship of one God,--not one of a crowd of gods, but Him who made heaven and earth, and every soul and every spirit which is other than Himself.He created; all else was created; and, both for being and well-being, all things need Him who created them.
CHAP.16.--WHETHER THOSE ANGELS WHO DEMAND THAT WE PAY THEM DIVINE HONOR, ORTHOSE WHO TEACH US TO RENDER HOLY SERVICE, NOT TO THEMSELVES, BUT TOGOD, ARE TO
BE TRUSTED ABOUT THE WAY TO LIFE ETERNAL.
What angels, then, are we to believe in this matter of blessed and eternal life?--those who wish to be worshipped with religious rites and observances, and require that men sacrifice to them; or those who say that all this worship is due to one God, the Creator, and teach us to render it with true piety to Him, by the vision of whom they are themselves already blessed, and in whom they promise that we shall be so? For that vision of God is the beauty of a vision so great, and is so infinitely desirable, that Plotinus does not hesitate to say that he who enjoys all other blessings in abundance, and has not this, is supremely miserable.(2) Since, therefore, miracles are wrought by some angels to induce us to worship this God, by others, to induce us to worship themselves; and since the former forbid us to worship these, while the latter dare not forbid us to worship God, which are we to listen to? Let the Platonists reply, or any philosophers, or the theurgists, or rather, periurgists,(3)--for this name is good enough for those who practise such arts.In short, let all men answer,--if, at least, there survives in them any spark of that natural perception which, as rational beings, they possess when created,--let them, I say, tell us whether we should sacrifice to the gods or angels who order us to sacrifice to them, or to that One to whom we are ordered to sacrifice by those who forbid us to worship either themselves or these others.If neither the one party nor the other had wrought miracles, but had merely uttered commands, the one to sacrifice to themselves, the other forbidding that, and ordering us to sacrifice to God, a godly mind would have been at no loss to discern which command proceeded from proud arrogance, and which from true religion.I will say more.If miracles had been wrought only by those who demand sacrifice for themselves, while those who forbade this, and enjoined sacrificing to the one God only, thought fit entirely to forego the use of visible miracles, the authority of the latter was to be preferred by all who would use, not their eyes only, but their reason.But since God, for the sake of commending to us the oracles of His truth, has, by means of these immortal messengers, who proclaim His majesty and not their own pride, wrought miracles of surpassing grandeur, certainty, and distinctness, in order that the weak among the godly might not be drawn away to false religion by those who require us to sacrifice to them and endeavor to convince us by stupendous appeals to our senses, who is so utterly unreasonable as not to choose and follow the truth, when he finds that it is heralded by even more striking evidences than falsehood?
