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Since we find many terms used symbolically in the Scriptures
concerning God which are more applicable to that which has body, we
should recognise that it is quite impossible for us men clothed about
with this dense covering of flesh to understand or speak of the divine
and lofty and immaterial energies of the Godhead, except by the use of
images and types and symbols derived from our own life. So then all
the statements concerning God, that imply body, are symbols, but
have a higher meaning: for the Deity is simple and formless. Hence
by God's eyes and eyelids and sight we are to understand His power of
overseeing all things and His knowledge, that nothing can escape: for
in the case of us this sense makes our knowledge more complete and more
full of certainty. By God's ears and hearing is meant His readiness
to be propitiated and to receive our petitions: for it is this sense
that renders us also kind to suppliants, inclining our ear to them more
graciously. God's mouth and speech are His means of indicating His
will; for it is by the mouth and speech that we make clear the thoughts
that are in the heart: God's food and drink are our concurrence to
His will, for we, too, satisfy the necessities of our natural
appetite through the sense of taste. And God's sense of smell is
His appreciation of our thoughts of and good will towards Him, for it
is through this sense that we appreciate sweet fragrance. And God's
countenance is the demonstration and manifestation of Himself through
His works, for our manifestation is through the countenance. And
God's hands mean the effectual nature of His energy, for it is with
our own hands that we accomplish our most useful and valuable work.
And His right hand is His aid in prosperity, for it is the right
hand that we also use when making anything of beautiful shape or of
great value, or where much strength is required. His handling is His
power of accurate discrimination and exaction, even in the minutest and
most secret details, for those whom we have handled cannot conceal from
us aught within themselves. His feet and walk are His advent and
presence, either for the purpose of bringing succour to the needy, or
vengeance against enemies, or to perform any other action, for it is
by using our feet that we come to arrive at any place. His oath is the
unchangeableness of His counsel, for it is by oath that we confirm our
compacts with one another. His anger and fury are His hatred of and
aversion to all wickedness, for we, too, hate that which is contrary
to our mind and become enraged thereat. His forgetfulness and sleep
and slumbering are His delay in taking vengeance on His enemies and
the postponement of the accustomed help to His own. And to put it
shortly, all the statements made about God that imply body have some
hidden meaning and teach us what is above us by means of something
familiar to ourselves, with the exception of any statement concerning
the bodily sojourn of the God-Word. For He for our safety took
upon Himself the whole nature of man, the thinking spirit, the body,
and all the properties of human nature, even the natural and blameless
passions.
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