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And thus we may say of peace, as we have said of eternal life, that
it is the end of our good; and the rather because the Psalmist says of
the city of God, the subject of this laborious work, "Praise the
Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion: for He hath
strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children
within thee; who hath made thy borders peace." For when the bars of
her gates shall be strengthened, none shall go in or come out from
her; consequently we ought to understand the peace of her borders as
that final peace we are wishing to declare. For even the mystical name
of the city itself, that is, Jerusalem, means, as I have already
said, "Vision of Peace." But as the word peace is employed in
connection with things in this world in which certainly life eternal has
no place, we have preferred to call the end or supreme good of this
city life eternal rather than peace. Of this end the apostle says,
"But now, being freed from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end life eternal." But, on
the other hand, as those who are not familiar with Scripture may
suppose that the life of the wicked is eternal life, either because of
the immortality of the soul, which some of the philosophers even have
recognized, or because of the endless punishment of the wicked, which
forms a part of our faith, and which seems impossible unless the wicked
live for ever, it may therefore be advisable, in order that every one
may readily understand what we mean, to say that the end or supreme
good of this city is either peace in eternal life, or eternal life in
peace. For peace is a good so great, that even in this earthly and
mortal life there is no word we hear with such pleasure, nothing we
desire with such zest, or find to be more thoroughly gratifying. So
that if we dwell for a little longer on this subject, we shall not, in
my opinion, be wearisome to our readers, who will attend both for the
sake of understanding what is the end of this city of which we speak,
and for the sake of the sweetness of peace which is dear to all.
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