CHAPTER XVII.

We worship One God, the omnipotent and invisible Creator, to whom Nature and the human Soul bear witness.

THE object of our worship is One God, who, through the Word by which He commanded, through the Reason by which He ordered, through the Power by which He was able, framed out of nothing the whole mass of this universe with all its equipment of elements, bodies, and spirits, for the enhancing of His own majesty: and hence the Greeks have applied the word ko&smoj ⁴⁵ to the world. He is invisible, although He may be seen : He is incomprehensible to touch, yet may be made present through grace ⁴⁶: He is inestimable, yet may be estimated by the human senses: He is therefore the True and the [56] Great God. That, however, which can be commonly seen, that which can be comprehended by touch, that which can be estimated, is less than the eyes by which it is discerned, than the hands by which it is defiled, and than the senses by which its properties are discovered. But that which is immeasurable is known to itself alone. This it is which leads us to form an idea of God, although He does not admit of being estimated. Thus the force of His greatness presents Him to men at once as known and unknown. And this is the chief point of offence in those who refuse to recognize Him of whom they cannot be ignorant. Will you have this proved from His many and great works whereby we are preserved, sustained, delighted, and even terrified? will you have it proved from the testimony of the soul itself? For the soul, although limited by the prison-house of the body, although hindered by evil customs, although weakened by lusts and desires, although enslaved to false gods, yet, when it recovers its senses, as if from intoxication or sleep or any infirmity, and enjoys its own proper sanity, names God by this name alone, as being the proper name of the True God : 'Great God,' 'Good God,' and 'Which God grant' are common expressions. It also testifies to Him as Judge : 'God sees,' 'I leave it to God,' and 'God will repay me.' O testimony of the soul naturally Christian ⁴⁷! Lastly, [57] when uttering these expressions, it looks not to the Capitol but to Heaven. For it knows the abode of the living God; from Him and from thence it came down.