[3]. God
What God is is perhaps above human understanding, but not that God is. For many of the wise have got so far as to have no doubt of the existence of God, though there have been some who attributed divinity to many beings—through their limited understanding, no doubt, which did not venture to attribute to one and only one being the great power and majesty that they saw must belong to divinity. There were, however, men who perceived the μικρολογία [“mean conception”] these philosophers had of God, and saw that the existence of God was less certain if divinity were attributed to many than if to one only. “Therefore (whether through divine or human agency I will not now consider, as I will discuss that point presently), they arrived at the opinion that there is one and only one God, though such is the sluggishness and carelessness of the human intellect that they did not think it of any great importance to hold fast to this recognition of God, but, content to have recognized the fact and satisfied with themCf. Zwingli’s On the providence of God, in vol. 2 of this series, pp. 128-234.
selves for this, they scorned to live according to His will. And this we see the general body of Christian scholars doing even now, zealously disputing about the word and the true worship of God, but in fact not becoming one whit better men. The foundation on which they all build is what Paul wrote in Rom. 1, 19: “That which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them.” Here I will treat in passing what I held back above. We here see plainly that that knowledge of God which we credit to some natural agency is really from God. “For God,” Paul says, “manifested it.” And what else is natural agency than the constant and uninterrupted operation of God, His disposition of all things? And whence, pray, comes our intellect but from Him, who “worketh all things in all” [I Cor. 12: 6]? Now Paul in this passage conformed somewhat to the usage of the Gentiles in speaking of God, not because he holds the view that our knowledge of God proceeds from human reason, but because this was the view of the Gentiles, between whom and the Jews he is here acting as mediator. Hence he carefully adds, “God manifested it unto them.” Following his example, I have begun with the questions of God’s existence and nature, in order that I may be more easily understood by those who have derived their knowledge of God from man rather than from God. Now I come back to Paul’s words, that “the knowledge of God was manifest even in the Gentiles, for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of him,” he says, “are clearly seen, being understood by the things that were made from the foundation of the world, even his power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse, because they indeed knew God, but Blagified him not as God, neither were thankful; nay rather me vain in their reasonings, and their foolish heart was darkened. And though in their own judgment they were wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God for the likeness of an image not merely of mortal man, but even of birds and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, ete.” Therefore, that God exists was generally acknowledged among all the heathen, but in widely different ways. Some came to the recognition of one God but did not worship Him as they ought; though of these there were very few. Others, see-
ing clearly a might and power grander than that of man, recognized that this was God. They did not, however, regard it as the one only Power, but turned to themselves for a conception of what kind of being God was. So they, first of all, divided Him into many, because they were incapable of comprehending His infinite power; and presently they clothed these many with different forms according to their own imaginations. Hence the worship of idols and spirits, who cunningly made themselves such as poor mortals in their poor wisdom had installed as gods and distinguished with various forms. Thus I think it is clearly apparent that nearly all the heathen have agreed in acknowledging that God exists, though some have made Him many, others have made Him fewer, and a very few have made Him one. Yet from slowness of mind and confidence in their own wisdom they have disregarded Him, have held such views of Him as pleased them, and likewise have worshipped Him as they chose. On this subject not only our people but also the philosophers have written lengthy volumes.
Now the faithful (for this is the generally accepted term for believers or pious persons, or worshippers of the true God) are by virtue of this one thing faithful, because they believe in one only true and omnipotent God and have faith in Him only. Furthermore, how it comes about that the pious hold this view of God, and do not, after the fashion of the heathen, make just any unknown power God, is easy for a pious man to explain: It comes about through the power and grace of Him in whom we believe; for as far as the nature and endowment of man are concerned, there is no difference between the pious man and the impious. Accordingly, in the realm of error in regard to gods, anything that could happen to one man could happen to any other, unless there were some higher power to call and attach to itself the human heart, which has no natural aversion to those who are most completely in error. Here, then, the first traces of faith and piety disclose themselves. It is not the fact, as most men have thought, that the faithful become faithful because they hear Moses say [Gen. 1:1], “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”; for those are numberless who hear this but do not believe the
[The heathen philosophers.]
world was made according to the Mosaic tradition. So also those who hear the Lord Himself speak, and see Him do miracles, are not all straightway pious; for both in early times and in Christ’s time there were men who were so far from turning to God because they saw or heard, that none raged more violently not only against the pious but against piety itself. Since, therefore, it is clear that whoever upon hearing the words, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” immediately believes that the world is the work of God does not come to this through the power of the words or of our intellect (for if the words could effect this, all would be made pious; and if our intellect could, no one who heard would be impious), it is manifest that the faithful believe that God exists, and that the world is His work, ete., just because they are taught this by God. It is of God alone, therefore, that you believe that God exists and that you have faith in Him.
Furthermore, what God is, we have just as little knowledge of from ourselves as a beetle has of what man is. Nay, this infinite and eternal divine is much farther separated from man than man is from the beetle, because a comparison between any kinds of created things can more properly be made than between any created thing and the Creator, and all perishable things are nearer and more closely related to each other than to the eternal and unbounded divine, however much you may find in them a likeness and footprints, as they say, of that divine. Since, then, we can in no way attain of our own effort to a knowledge of what God is—for if, according to Solomon’s words, Eccles. 1: 13-18, all things (he is speaking of things under the sun) are so difficult that man cannot unfold them, what presumption it would be to try to explain what God isl—and since Isaiah, 45:15, in solemn warning says, “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself,” it must be admitted that only by God Himself can we be taught what He is. For, according to the view of Paul, I Cor. 2: 11, as no one “knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is the man himself, even so all are ignorant of the things of God save the Spirit Himself of God.” We may well call it the rash boldness of a Lucifer or a Prometheus if any one
[Cf. Rom. 4: 12; II Cor. 12: 18; I Pet. 2:21.]
presumes to know from any other source what God is than from the Spirit Himself of God. 4 All, therefore, is sham and false religion that the theo- logians have adduced from philosophy as to what God is. If certain men have uttered certain truths on this subject, it has been from the mouth of God, who has scattered even among the heathen some seeds of the knowledge of Himself, though sparingly and darkly; otherwise they would not be true. But we, to whom God Himself has spoken through His Son and through the Holy Spirit, are to seek these things not from those who were puffed up with human wisdom, and consequently corrupted what they received pure, but from the divine oracles. For when men began to disregard these, they fell into all that is fleshly, ὁ. e., into the inventions of philosophy, took to believing these, and, relying upon them, not only held such views as they liked about God, but forced others to hold the same. And this, though none of them would have permitted any one to hold such view of himself as that other, whoever he was, wished. Such is the arrogance of the flesh that gave itself out as theology. We wish to learn out of His own mouth what God is, lest we become corrupt and do abominable works. Psalm 14.
When Moses asked the Lord, Exod. 3:13, to declare His name unto him, in order that he might be in a better position to deal with the Children of Israel, the Lord said unto him, “I AM THAT I AM.” In these words God disclosed Himself wholly; for it is just as if He had said, “I am he who am of myself, who am by my own effort, who am absolute being, who ‘am par excellence.” And this meaning He immediately brings out by adding, “This shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, He that is hath sent me unto you.” By these words He indicated that He alone is the being (esse) of all things; for unless you take it in this way, that “He that is” is, and alone is, the being of all things, the Lord would not have distinguished Himself from other things that have being, which, though they have being from Him and through Him, yet still have being; and consequently God would be regarded as having evaded the question of Moses, rather than as having answered it. For suppose that neither Moses nor the Children
of Israel understood the words “He that is” to mean anything different from what we mean when we say of anything that it is, what else do you suppose could have been understood both by Moses and by the Children of Israel than, “Some one hath sent me unto you”? And what would there have been great or remarkable or worthy of faith in that? It is plain, therefore, that by the words, I AM THAT I AM, and “He that is hath sent me unto you,” Moses understood Him who is of His own nature, and who so is as to be the being of all things; and that the Children of Israel understood the same words in the same sense. For they never could have been persuaded by somebody thus casually announced to go away, leaving Egypt behind them, and to follow one whom they knew not. ‘The same thing becomes still plainer when we examine the etymon of the supreme name of God, which the Jews pronounce as “Adonai,” to be sure, in reading, in spite of the fact that the signs, 7. e., the letters, by no means form that word. Not that the Hebrews eannot read it according to the value of the letters, but because they think the name ineffable on account of its sanctity. For this name is derived from the word for being; or perhaps the word which to them signifies being is derived from this name. For Hih” [mp7] signifies “was” to them, and “Ihuh” [5] is the four-lettered supreme name of God, which still remains ineffable among the Jews. When, therefore, Moses heard the aforesaid words of God, he straightway understood that He that is, and from whom all things are, was speaking to him. And this the Lord manifested to him still more clearly, when further He bade him begin before the elders of Israel thus [Exod. 3:16]: “The Lord God of your fathers appeared unto me, etc.” now plainly calling Himself “Lord” from His power and majesty, as He had just before from His being called Himself “I AM,” and “He that is.” By all this I + wish to make this point only, that the first thing in acquiring knowledge of God is to know that He is he who is by nature, who Himself is, and who receives being from none other. From this we afterwards are easily brought to see clearly that In the first sermon which Zwingli preached at Berne, there is a very similar treatment of the word [mm] See the Egli-Finsler-Kóhler edition of Zwingli’s Works, vol. VI, No. 116.
all things are from God, and that nothing we can see can have being from itself, but must have its being and existence from another, from this source and fountain of being, namely, God. He shall be, then, the only God who has His being from Himself, and who bestows being upon all, and so bestows it that they could not possibly exist a moment unless God existed, who is being and life unto all, sustains all things, governs all things. This Isaiah, 40: 12, has beautifully indicated, saying: “Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed heaven with his palm? Who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance, ete.?”
This “Being” is as really good as it is being. For as it exists alone and of itself, so it is alone good, true, right, just, holy; for it is of itself good, true, right, etc. This is again clear from His own words, Gen. 1:31, “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” If, therefore, such a countless brood of created things was very good, in the sense that singly and collectively they were good, it is clear that their author must be good, and in such a way good as to have his goodness from no other but his own self, and to be not only the force and essence of all things that are, but the source and fountain of all good. And this Christ expresses a little more plainly, Luke 18: 19, saying: “None is good, save one, that is, God.” If, now, all the things which He has made are exceeding good even in His own judgment, and nevertheless none is good save God alone, it follows that all the things which are are in Him and through Him. For since all the things which are are good, and yet God alone is good, all the things which are are God; i. e., the reason they exist is because God exists and is their essence. “This Paul expressed thus, Rom. 11:36, “For of him, and through him, and in him, are all things.”
This good, therefore, is not a thing idle or inert, so as to lie torpid and motionless, moving neither itself nor other things; for we saw above that it is the essence and constitution of all things. What does this mean but that through it and in
[In ipso: the reading of the Latin Vulgate. English versions follow]
[the Greek original, εἰς αὐτὸν. See Zwingli’s comment, ante, vol. 2, p. 148.]
it all things are contained and live and move [cf. Acts 17: 28]? Indeed, it is called by the philosophers ἐντελέχεια καὶ ἐνέργεια i. e., the perfect, efficient, and consummating power, which, since it is perfect, will never cease, never rest, never waver, but continually so keep, direct, and govern everything that in all things made or done no fault can intervene able either to impede its power or to defeat its purpose. And this, again, is made manifest by His own word, for at the beginning of the story of creation you find [Gen. 1:3]: “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” See how light when called not only was immediately at hand, but in obedience to the command of its Creator appeared from nothing. For so great is His power that, when He calls things that are not, they obey like those that are [cf. Rom. 4:17], even if they first have to be born of nothing. And a little after He says: “Let the earth bring forth the green herb and sueh as yields seed, and the fruit tree bearing fruit after its kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” See how here the crude earth at the first word of eommand from its Creator put on a glad aspect! For when the waters had retired to their own depths and the earth had appeared in its own place, it was bare and unsightly to look upon. God was unwilling, therefore, that its bareness should be exposed to the eyes of mortals, and bade it straightway clothe itself with grass and adorn itself by producing trees, that to all the different kinds of animals, as they forthwith came into existence, it might be able to offer a shelter according to the nature of each. And not this only, but, that there might never be a scarcity of food, He conferred upon the grass and the trees the power of producing seed, so that when they had given us for the exigencies of winter all that they had, they might presently with the returning spring gird themselves again for the same task, and so on alternately without end. When we see this going on every year in unchanging course, do we not recognize the measureless power and wisdom of the Creator, and His care and grace towards His work? For He not only spoke and it was so, commanded and the things He desired were created, but He also fed what He had created. Why, He forgot not even the raven’s young [Job 38:41; Ps. 147:9;
Lk. 12:24]. Since, therefore, all that moves or lives lives and moves because it has being (for unless it had being it could not move or live, and in that it has being has it in God and through God), it may be most clearly inferred that, as God is being and existence to all things, so He is the life and motion of all things that live and move. And this is beautifully shown by Paul, Acts 17:28, when after a somewhat extended discourse he sums up by saying: “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” We see here in passing how the Apostle quotes from profane writers, not by any means using them as authorities, but, when the heavenly Spirit has willed to say anything through their mouths, showing where we may find this, so that we may not have to dig over all their filth in the search for one or two pearls. I come back to the subject. It is clear from this, therefore, that just as all things have being and existence in God and through God, so all things live and move in Him and through Him. This He Himself shows also by the mouth of His servant Moses, saying, Deut. 30: 20, “For he is thy life, and the length of thy days.” Again, He is not the life and motion of all things in such a way that either He Himself blindly puts breath or motion into them, or they which breathe and move ask blindly of Him life or motion. How could things that could not even exist unless they existed from Him ask of Him, or how ask before they existed? It is evident, therefore, that God not only ” is a sort of stuff, as it were, from which all things have being and motion and life, but is at the same time such wisdom, knowledge, and foresight that nothing is hidden from Him, nothing unknown to Him, nothing beyond His reach, nothing disobedient to Him. Hence not even the mosquito has its sharp sting and musical hum without God’s wisdom, knowledge, and foresight. His wisdom, then, knows all things even before they exist, His knowledge comprehends all things, His foresight regulates all things. For that thing which is God would not be the supreme good unless it were at the same time supreme wisdom and foresight. For if there were anything “which could be hidden from God, His wisdom and knowledge
[Aratus Phaenomena 5, and Cleanthes Hymn to Zeus 5.]
would be ineffectual to that extent, and if any thing were regulated by other providence than His, then divine providence would be inert and defective in this particular, and accordingly would not be supreme nor absolute; for in as far as it failed to act it would be imperfect. But this is so far from being true of God that nothing is so at variance with. His nature and character as imperfection. For that which is imperfect is not God; and, on the other hand, that alone is God which is perfect, i. e., absolute, and which lacks nothing, but has everything that befits the supreme good. I am not speaking here of perfection as the theologians usually speak. Nothing, therefore, can escape God, nothing defeat or alter His purpose and ordering; and when we with more temerity than faith demand of Him a reason for His acts or designs, asking why He made the flea, the gadfly, the wasp, and the hornet, things that are a plague to man and beast, we simply display a vain and useless feminine curiosity. As if, indeed, the human mind could comprehend divine wisdom, and as if, when one or two things become known, many more would not emerge, insisting upon being known just like the first! No mind but the infinite and immeasurable mind can hold the knowledge of all these things, while one as narrow as is the human mind simply makes vain labor for itself by such inquisitiveness; as Solomon reminds us in Ecclesiastes, Chap. 1. In contemplating divine wisdom and providence poor mortals will, therefore, have to do as each does in his own sphere. Different persons have different utensils and implements adapted to their activities, and they desire the use of some to be disclosed to all, that of others to remain unknown to all, though not unknown to themselves; for they know how and for what purpose they are going to use them at the proper time. So, let us contemplate with reverence what God has wished disclosed to us. But what He has hidden, let us not impudently desire to touch, lest it be taken indignantly away from us, and punishment be inflieted upon us for our rashness, as was done to Prometheus of story. For the dwelling of God is large, the heaven is His abode and the earth His
[Because Prometheus brought fire from heaven to men he was chained]
[to a rock and his liver torn by an eagle.]
Now it is time to bring forward the witness of the word itself to everything that has been said so far about the wisdom and providence of God.
Solomon, Prov. 8: 22-36, has a fine description in praise of wisdom, commending it first for its antiquity, in that it was with the Lord Himself before He began to create the universe; and then because afterwards through it the poles of the world were hung in place, and all things put together. And Jeremiah, 51:15, says: “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath prepared the world by his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.” But none speaks more delightfully than David in Psalm 104. He portrays both the wisdom and the providence of God so that you see God as Creator balancing the mountains in His mighty hand, putting each in its place, drawing out the valleys between and the cool streams in the valleys, spreading out the fields, thrusting back the turbulent sea into its own depths, that there may be no confusion from its unruliness, then assigning settlers to each region and adding provision abundantly.
Now I will hasten on to the witness of the New Testament, content with the more striking passages just cited, because the whole Scripture of the Old Testament views every-
thing as done by the providence of God. Hence the frequent appearing of angels, the many utterances of God Himself, and in time of urgent necessity the miracles. Hence the watchful care and guardianship of God over individual men dwelling among the wicked, such as Noah, Abraham, Lot, and others. Hence the sending of prophets to give warning of what was to come, and the terrible chastenings sent upon those who did not heed their warnings, the frequent victories at the hands of the Lord, if they had been obedient, the frequent defeats and disasters if disobedient.
Christ warns us distinctly, Matt. 6:25-34, not tobe troubled even about the things that pertain to the body, since we can be sure that in these matters God’s providence exercises care over us, from the fact that He provides so bountifully for the birds of the air, and clothes the lilies of the field so sumptuously that Solomon’s gorgeous robes of state and all his adornments are mean in comparison. How much more will He give all these things to us, who are of much more value in His sight! Why, He says in Chapter 5:36, that it is not in our power to make one hair of our own heads white if it is black, or black if itis white. And that even the hair of our heads, a thing of so little account that it can be taken away without any loss, is His care, Luke also testifies, 12: 7: “Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” See how wide is the care of the heavenly providence, and how sure: ‘“are all numbered,” He says. What will the advocates of free will say here? Will they argue that there is a trope here? But that is just what I maintain, that the words are used τροπικῶς [“tropically”]. Must we, then, wait for them to expound the trope? Not in the least, for a child can explain the meaning of this trope: namely, that God exercises constant care over even those things that in our judgment seem hardly worthy of human care. Or is it a hyperbole? When I feed the birds and clothe the flowers, shall I forget you? Are ye not of much more value in my sight?” [Mt. 6: 25-34.] But of this more when I come by and by to speak of free will. In Matt. 10: 29, Christ says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father.” Here no one may fairly plead a hyperbole. It is plainly an argument from
the less to the greater, in which the first term must be absolutely true; otherwise the conclusion will not hold. Christ, then, means this: “Since not one of the sparrows bought for a penny falls to the ground even by accident without the Heavenly Father, how much more will you, who are of so much value in His eyes, nowhere perish without His so ordering?” This, then, will be absolutely true, that God is the author even of things which to us seem to happen accidentally. Christ seemed to the sisters of Lazarus not to know that their brother was sick [ef. Jn. 11:3]; but after it was told Him, He made it plain in a word whether God could fail to know anything and whether anything could happen without His care and purpose and ordinance. For he said: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby.” You see whence this sickness came? From God, surely; for He was going to use it for the glory of His Son. Christ answered his disciples in the same fashion, John 9:3, when they asked for whose sin it came about that a man who was there was born blind: “Neither did this man sin,” He said, “nor his parents: but that the work of God should be made manifest in him.”
I will be content with these citations now, meaning to treat this topic, as I said, more fully elsewhere. Do you, good reader, remember these meanwhile, that you may not be bored ^ to death with repetition. For the whole business of predestination, free will, and merit rests upon this matter of providence. Now it would be vain, fruitless, and useless to mortals, if this supreme good, God, were wise for Himself alone, as is said; were goodness, life, motion, knowledge, foresight for Himself alone. For in that case He would not differ at all from mortals, whose natural characteristic is to sing for themselves, to look out for their own interests, and to wish themselves better off than others. It must be, therefore, that this supreme good, which is God, is by its nature kind and bountiful, not with that bounty with which we like to seem bountiful, looking for a return or for glory, but with a bounty that causes Him to desire the profit of those to whom He gives, with only this one thing in view, that He may belong to those things which were made by Him; for He desires to impart Himself freely.
For, as He is the fountain-source of all things (for no one before he existed had any claim to be born of Him), so also is He unceasingly bountiful to those whom He begot with this one purpose, that they might enjoy His bounty. In a word, this good differs from other things that seem good in this, that they do not spend themselves ὠμισϑωτί» i. e, gratuitously, being mean and poor; whereas this, on the contrary, neither would nor could be spent except gratuitously. Again, things that are good merely in outward appearance desire to be sparing of themselves; for they can satisfy only a very few, being of narrow and slender compass. But this good is so exuberantly abundant that it is more than sufficient for the needs of all; for it is limitless and loves to impart itself. For it cannot enjoy others, for they are beneath it; and unless they enjoy it, from which they have their being, they in no wise can exist.
Now follow the testimonies to the preceding.
The whole company of created things testifies to this view. For if God had not willed that His works should enjoy Him, He never would have called them forth from nothing; for God does not enjoy them. For what purpose, then, did He create them? That they might enjoy their Creator.
In Genesis 15:1, the Lord thus speaks to Abraham: “Fear not, Abraham: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” What, pray, is it to be shield and reward, or prize, or good, which thou mayest enjoy, rich and abundant beyond what thou canst imagine, but to be God? Furthermore, that He thus of His own accord discloses Himself, to whom is this not a proof that He loves to impart Himself? Isaiah, 45:1, proves clearly enough that all things are done by the providence and bounty of God, when he represents Him as talking to Cyrus. Cyrus did not know God, but God knew Cyrus, for He showered upon him victories, riches, and whole kingdoms so bountifully that the East and the West ought of right to have seen that He who gave all these things so lavishly was the one true God. After a long admonition the Lord speaks thus to him [Isa. 45:21-22] (not to write down the whole speech): “Tell ye, and come, and consult together. Who hath declared this from the beginning? From that time I have foretold this.” (See the providence which
exercises care even over the impious.) “Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else beside me? A just God and a Saviour, there is none beside me. Be converted to me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other, etc.” See the bounty with which He of His own accord invites to Himself all the ends of the earth. See also the certainty that He is the only one who dispenses all things justly, is the only Savior, and there is no God beside Him.
In the same way He displays his kindness, Isa. 55: 1, when He calls to Himself all who desire or need heavenly wisdom and help, thus: “All ye that thirst, come to the waters, and ye that have no money, make haste, buy, and eat.” See how He encourages them not only to hasten, but also to drink generously.
Now from the Old Covenant enough testimony has been adduced; for what is the whole gist of it but the showing that - God is the only one who saves, who looks out for us, who desires that all things be asked from Him? “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake,” Isa. 43:25. “The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord,” Psalms 33:5; and [Ps. 145: 15], “Thou givest them their meat in due season;” and [Ps. 145: 16], “Thou openest thy hand, and fillest with blessing every living creature.” And Joel, 2: 27, “Ye shall know that I am in the midst of Isrzel.” And what is it to be in the midst of Isrzl but to be among them in such a way that it is not necessary to ask His aid as from one afar off, but as from Him alone who dwells among them in familiar and affable fashion like one of themselves? For, being in the midst means this, that there is no haughtiness for anyone to dread.
From the New Testament, what other testimony shall I bring forward than Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Virgin, who is himself the Testament? For when we were by nature children of wrath, Eph. 2:1-7, we were restored to favor by God, who is very rich in mercy, through his Son Jesus Christ. God also appointed him a propitiator, Rom. 3: 25, that they that have faith in his blood may be accounted holy and spotless before the Father. He, then, is our propitiation, therefore also our covenant and testament, which God has made with us. He is Himself the propitiator also, for through
Him we have access to God, I John 2:1; Heb. 10:19; Eph. 2:18.
Furthermore, whatever Christ is to us, He is by the bountiful gift of God; for we have not of ourselves merited that He should offer His Son for our life. If it had been possible for life to be given for our merits, there would have been no need of Christ. If there had been no need of Him, why should the Father clothe Him with flesh? The work of God is not idle, nor vain, nor superfluous, but the Son of God came into this world that we might have life and that we might have it most abundantly. Christ Himself, to reveal Himself wholly to us, cries, Matt. 11: 28, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” What, good God, is it i to be bountiful and generous, if this is not? We all teem with evils outside and inside, to such an extent that we are weighed down under them as under a vast load. The Son of God sees this woe and calls us all to Him. And that no one’s consciousness of guilt may prevent him from thinking that he may go to Him, He says distinctly, “all, both ye that labor and ye that. are heavy laden” [Mt. 11:28]; for He had come to save sinners and to do it without recompense. This the divine prophets had foretold many ages before, especially Jeremiah, who says, 31: 33-34, that it will come to pass that we shall all know the Lord on account of His bounty, with which He will be so indulgent to our sins that He will remember them and reproach us with them no more. What generosity more clear and striking could be shown us? John 13: 13 declares that He is rightly called Lord and Master who yet condescended to wash His disciples feet, and to wipe them with a towel. What else than most devoted bounty is this? In Rom. 8:32 Paul says that God “spared not His own Son, but delivered him up for us all,” and immediately argues in this way: “How shall he not also with him freely give us all things?” By this he certainly means: Can anyone offer anything greater for a friend or brother than his only son? Now, God delivered up His Son for us. Could He have proved more clearly the bounteousness of His mercy to us? Will He who freely gave His Son be able to deny us anything? How can it be that, having given His Son, he will not with him give all things? For all things in
heaven and on earth are less than the Son. For this purpose, then, He delivered up His Son for us, that we, seeing that what was highest as well in heaven as on earth had been made ours, might be sure that nothing could be denied us. For He who has given His Son has given His all. For the Father hath nothing which the Son also hath not. This will, perhaps, be enough to show the untaught that as God is the fountain-source of all good, so He is bountiful and by no means niggardly or inexorable, but is so lavish and prodigal of Himself for the benefit of those who enjoy Him that He delights to be taken, and held, and possessed by all. And He is, accordingly, so ever ready to help that He always runs to our assistance and never lags. Hence some of the Greeks think that the word debs, “God,” is derived from ϑέειν [to run”], because He runs to us everywhere, and is everywhere present to aid.
But why should I treat at greater length of the knowledge of God, when the very words that I have quoted from His own mouth have no more value with the impious man than so-called gift goods? Anyone who casts these pearls before those swine will find he has been feeding the wind. On the other hand, the pious have in their own hearts too good and intimate a knowledge of God to get any increase of it from these words of mine. For to them God is everything—-being, life, light, strength, treasure, sufficiency of all things, a veritable storehouse of blessings. Having experienced this, holy men of God have from the creation of the world called God by various names, as one may see all through both Testaments, naming Him Lord or God, Life, Existence, Father, the Mighty, Light, All-powerful, All-suffieient. Yet all these names they have given Him from the faith within them, because, namely, they felt in their hearts as to God that He was their strength, life, being, father, ete. And from that faith with which they credited to Him strength, life, etc., they afterwards gave Him the names Enduring Power, Lord, Life, Strength. It must be admitted, therefore, that what I have said thus far about knowledge of God is idle unless faith be added. Hence no man can reproach me with having based my teaching about the knowledge of God
[Cf. Plato Kratylos, 397 C; Macrobius Saturnal, I, 23.3. Zwingli]
[again notes this etymology in his Reply to Emser; see below, p. 388.]
upon human persuasions. For, in the first place, I have relied upon the divine utterances only; and, in the second place, I have shown without reserve that it is not through human power that we come to the knowledge and worship of God, for that “js not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy” [Rom. 9:16]. Itis He who grants that the works of His Hand recognize Him only as true God, Lord, Savior, Helper, Strength, Life, Light, Father, the heaped-up measure of all good things, generous, kind, well-wishing, eager to impart Himself freely (for all that is what I understand by this word God”). For unless we feel in this way in regard to Him, we shall never have faith in Him alone, never have recourse to Him alone, never love Him with all our heart and with all our strength. So much for the knowledge of God.
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