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51. He is not a slave, it is said; not a master, but free. Oh
the terrible insensibility, the pitiable audacity, of them that
maintain this! Shall I rather lament in them their ignorance or their
blasphemy? They try to insult the doctrines that concern the divine
nature by comparing them with the human, and endeavour to apply to the
ineffable nature of God that common custom of human life whereby the
difference of degrees is variable, not perceiving that among men no one
is a slave by nature. For men are either brought under a yoke of
slavery by conquest, as when prisoners are taken in war; or they are
enslaved on account of poverty, as the Egyptians were oppressed by
Pharaoh; or, by a wise and mysterious dispensation, the worst
children are by their fathers' order condemned to serve the wiser and
the better; and this any righteous enquirer into the circumstances
would declare to be not a sentence of condemnation but a benefit. For
it is more profitable that the man who, through lack of intelligence,
has no natural principle of rule within himself, should become the
chattel of another, to the end that, being guided by the reason of his
master, he may be like a chariot with a charioteer, or a boat with a
steersman seated at the tiller. For this reason Jacob by his
father's blessing became lord of Esau, in order that the foolish
son, who had not intelligence, his proper guardian, might, even
though he wished it not, be benefited by his prudent brother. So
Canaan shall be "a servant unto his brethren" because, since his
father Ham was unwise, he was uninstructed in virtue. In this
world, then, it is thus that men are made slaves, but they who have
escaped poverty or war, or do not require the tutelage of others, are
free. It follows that even though one man be called master and another
servant, nevertheless, both in view of our mutual equality of rank and
as chattels of our Creator, we are all fellow slaves. But in that
other world what can yon bring out of bondage? For no sooner were they
created than bondage was commenced. The heavenly bodies exercise no
rule over one another, for they are unmoved by ambition, but all bow
down to God, and render to Him alike the awe which is due to Him as
Master and the glower which fails to Him as Creator. For "a son
honoureth his father and a servant his master," and from all God asks
one of these two things; for "if I then be a Father where is my
honour? and if I be a Master where is my fear?" Otherwise the life
of all men, if it were not under the oversight of a master, would be
most pitiable; as is the condition of the apostate powers who, because
they stiffen their neck against God Almighty, fling off the reins of
their bondage,--not that their natural constitution is different;
but the cause is in their disobedient disposition to their Creator.
Whom then do you call free? Him who has no King? Him who has
neither power to rule another nor willingness to be ruled? Among all
existent beings no such nature is to be found. To entertain such a
conception of the Spirit is obvious blasphemy. If He is a creature
of course He serves with all the rest, for "all things," it is said
"are thy servants," but if He is above Creation, then He shares
in royalty.
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