The Mind’s Ascent to God by a Ladder of Created ThingsEleventh step. CONSIDERATION OF THE GREATNESS OF THE POWER OF GOD BY COMPARISON WITH THE MAGNITUDE OF BODIES

Great is the Lord and of his greatness there is no measure or end: not alone is he great because his height is omnipotence, his depth wisdom unsearchable, his breadth mercy shown forth in every place, his length righteousness like unto a rod of iron: but also because each of these separate attributes is great with the magnitude of infinite breadth, length, depth, and height.

And as by a power, or rather by omnipotence, we are kept in place: the power of God has its own breadth which exists in him, so that he reaches forth to things which have no limit.

For first, he reaches forth to all things that are made: for there is nothing in this whole universe of things from the first angel to the last little worm, and from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, which was not made by the power of God: ‘All things,’ saith Saint John, ‘were made by him, and without him nothing was made that is made’; and further on, ‘The world was made by him.’!

Secondly, he reaches to all things which throughout eternity shall ever be. For as nothing could be made except by him, so also nothing will ever be made except by him: for thus saith the Apostle, ‘Of him, and through him, and to him are all things.’

Thirdly, he reaches to all things which might be, though they should never exist: for thus saith the angel, ‘With God nothing shall be impossible”:2 and the Lord himself said, ‘With God all things are possible.’ 3

Fourthly, he reaches out to the complete destruction of things that are made. For as God was able to destroy by the flood of waters all the men and all the living creatures which were upon the earth, except the few whom he willed to preserve in the ark of Noah,‘so will he be able by a flood of fire in a moment to destroy not only all men and all living creatures which will be found living at the last day, but also all trees and all cities and everything else that is in the earth. The Apostle Peter says in his second Epistle, ‘The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.’ 5

Great indeed is this breadth of the power of God, which man cannot sufficiently admire unless he be able to enumerate the multitude of things which God hath made, will make, or can make.

But who can number this multitude save he whose knowledge is infinite? And again, the greatness of his power increases exceedingly. Let any one consider how great it must be in order to dissolve almost in one moment, with the greatest ease, what has taken so much power and such long ages to form: or as Judas Maccabees says, ‘Who at a beck can cast down both them that come against us, and also all the world.’ 6

Let us say therefore with Moses, ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones ?’ 7

Rom. xi. 36. 2St. Luke i. 37. 3 St. Matt. xix.26. 4 Gen. vii. 1.

5 2 St. Pet. iii. 10. 6 2 Macc. viii. 18. 7 Exod. xv. 11, marg.

Now the length of the divine power is perceived in this, that God himself works continuously with all that he has made, and he will never be weary: indeed that power of God cannot be lessened or weakened or broken in any way, since it is united with true eternity, or rather it is itself the eternity of true divinity.

Many persons marvel how the sun and moon and stars can be moved in such regularity and such swiftness from rising to setting, and without intermission turn in their own orbits; and indeed the matter would be most worthy of all admiration, did we not know that they are borne along by the Almighty God, who ‘upholds all things by the word of his power.’

And others wonder because God bears and sustains all things and is not wearied by bearing and sustaining such an immense mass of wellnigh infinite weight: for a strong man, or a horse, or an ox, or an elephant can bear a great weight for a short time, or carry a heavy burden for a short time: but to bear an immense weight always without fatigue is beyond the strength of all created beings. ‘These persons would rightly marvel if God had strength in such weight and measure as all created things possess it: but since the strength of God completely surpasses all measures, and since he himself is unlimited in every respect, it is not wonderful if his infinite strength upholds a mass, however weighty it be, for an unlimited time and without weariness.

Therefore again let us say with the holy prophet Moses, ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones ?’ 2

There follows the height of the power of God, which consists chiefly in two things.

First, omnipotence may be called very high, because it alone makes exceeding high things. In the first creation of things God alone made those things which are beneath the moon, but they have the power, through the action of other created things, to be generated, transformed, corrupted: for the elements mutually work changes one on another, according to their functions: thus from the earth herbs and trees are brought forth: animals are produced from animals: fishes are born in water, clouds and rain in the air, comets in fire. But the heaven and the stars, which are the highest bodies, God alone created, alone he preserves them, and no created being can possess the power of forming or transforming, of dissolving or even preserving, any. ‘I will consider,’ saith the prophet, ‘thy heavens, even the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained’: for the Most High reserved to himself the highest works, he himself began to build for the foundation, and he himself brought them to full completion.

So also spiritual things, angels and the souls of men, which are the most noble and sublime of all works, the Most High alone, by his infinite power, formed and preserves and will preserve eternally from destruction: and in these actions created beings have no share: and although they were all to join in one act, they could never produce or destroy one single angel or one single soul.

Next, the height of the divine power is seen very clearly in miracles which, as Saint Augustine teaches, are works which are wrought apart from the usual cause of nature, and which are the admiration and wonder of nature, even of the angels themselves. Which of the angels was not astonished when, at the command of Joshua, the sun and moon, always being borne along in a very swift course, stood immovable? 2 And lest it should be thought that this happened by accident (and no one could imagine that such an unusual thing could be done by any mortal man in the world), the Holy Spirit speaks and says, ‘The Lord hearkened to the voice of man.’3 For Joshua did not, strictly speaking, address the sun itself or the moon, for he knew they could not hear his command, but he prayed the Lord, as if he had said by the command of the Lord, ‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon in the valley of Ajalon.’ ‘And the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man, that is, he caused those luminaries to obey the voice of a man. For often in sacred speech the Lord is said to do things, by reason of which they happen: as in Genesis the Lord says to Abraham, ‘Now I know that thou fearest God.’ 4 The meaning of these words is, ‘Now I have caused it to be known by thee and by others that thou truly fearest God.’

Such also was the work which manifested the height of divine power when, in the Lord’s Passion, the moon, which was at that time a long distance from the sun, approached it by a very swift motion, and being beneath it, caused darkness over the earth for three hours, and when those three hours were passed, returned with a marvellous rapidity to that place whence it had moved: Saint Dionysius the Areopagite testifies in his Epistle to Saint Polycarp that he saw and observed all these things.

And this is indeed a contrary sign to the former, but not less to be wondered at, since it is an equally new and unusual thing and one surpassing the power of all nature, to cause the moon to stand still or to make it move out of its usual course.

I omit the enlightening of the blind, the raising of the dead, and many other miracles of that kind which God hath done and still does by his prophets and apostles and other of his faithful servants: these all cry aloud, ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones?’

But I cannot omit that highest and greatest miracle which God will show in the Last Day when all the dead will rise at once, when many bodies having been reduced to ashes and dispersed, having been either consumed by beasts and converted into other things and other bodies, or having been buried in gardens and fields, have been transformed and passed into herbs of various kinds, shall then rise.

What angel will not be astounded when he sees in the twinkling of an eye so many thousands of thousands of men, at the command of the Almighty, take again their bodies, though through many ages and in divers ways these have been dispersed or consumed and hidden away. This is therefore the height of the power of God, and by reason of it again we may say, ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones ?’

There remains the depth, which seems to me to consist in the method which God uses in working: for who can penetrate the manner in which something is made out of nothing? To this depth it was not possible for those to turn their eyes, who declared that the beginning was explored and certain, that nothing was made of nothing. And we also in this matter believe what we have not seen: * but we believe a true God who cannot lie. We believe, I say, that the heaven and the earth and the things in them were made by God himself, while nothing had been in existence before, from which they could be made. But how a thing could be made when nothing went before it, is a profound abyss which we cannot scrutinize or investigate,

Next, not only did God make everything out of nothing, but he made them in nothing, that is without space or place existing before, in which what was made could be placed, a thing which can scarcely be understood, especially in regard to corporeal things. Hence this abyss is also impenetrable. Take away the spaces of places from bodies, says Saint Augustine in his letter to Dardanus, and they will be nowhere: and since they will be nowhere, they will not exist. 3

Now then, if before God created heaven and earth there was nothing, where did God place heaven and earth? They certainly could not be placed within nothing, and yet they were created, and those very things are to themselves places, because he who can do all things willed it, even if we are unable to understand in what way those things happened. God himself had regard to this, when desiring to show his Almighty power to Job he said: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? Or who hath laid the corner stone thereof 4

And that we may understand that these works of the Almighty power of God are most worthy of all praise, immediately the Lord adds, ‘When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.’ !

Doubtless, the holy angels who were created at the same time as the heaven and the earth and who are, as it were, most brilliant spiritual stars, and may also be called sons of God, when they saw heaven and earth produced from nothing and placed in nothing and yet most firmly grounded on their own stability, did indeed with immense astonishment and delight praise the omnipotence of the Creator.

And no less is it a depth for the understanding to penetrate, that God by the sole exercise of his will should raise such immense masses, for we know that, in buildings incomparably smaller, how many tools, what machinery, and how many assistants a builder needs.

Who can follow, even in thought, how it can happen that by a single interior will, which goes not forth from him who wills, such immense and various works are produced?

God said, certainly in regard to himself, for the Word of God is in God and is God himself 2—he said, I say, that the sovereignty of his will is the same in commanding and in carrying out the command: let the heaven be made, and it was made: let the earth be made, and it was made: let there be light, let there be sun, stars, trees, living creatures, man, angels, and all things were made. Add to this that God could, if he so willed, also destroy all these things and the whole world with one look, as we read in the books of the Maccabees.3 But this depth is to be added, that God made all these things, so many and so great, and things composed of so many members or parts, in one moment. With us both art and nature need a long space of time in order that the works may be accomplished: we see herbs sown long before they spring up, trees

Job xxxviii. 7. 2 St. John i. 1. 3 2 Mace. viii. 18. often requiring many years to take root and spread their branches and bring forth fruit: animals bear their young for a long time and also nourish them for a long time before they grow up: I say nothing about art, since it is well known that our workmen accomplish nothing without taking time and that often a long time.

How great then is the power of God which, swifter than a word, accomplishes the greatest works? I do not discuss the question whether God finished the heaven and earth and all things in them in one moment, or whether he took the whole six days in the first creation of things; for I did not undertake to explain problems, but to make means of ascent to God by the consideration of things. The fact that I adduce and at which I marvel is, that each separate thing was made perfect in a moment by the Almighty Creator. And in the case of earth, water, air, and fire, no one doubts that they were formed at once and in a moment, and also that all the angels were made at the same moment.

Concerning the firmament and the separation of the waters, it is known that all that was done by the sole power of the Word who said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters’; and that happened in a moment, for it follows ‘and it was so.’ On which passage Saint John Chrysostom says: ‘He spake only, and the work followed: so again he was the Maker, according to those words, “Let the earth bring forth grass and it was so.”’ Who when he thinks on this will not marvel how the word of the Lord, ‘Let the earth bring forth,’ adorns the face of the earth with a variety of flowers as with a wonderful robe? Thou seest the earth, which before was shapeless and uncultivated, all at once as if contending with the sky in regard to its glory and adornment. And afterwards on those words ‘Let there be lights,’ he thus speaks: ‘He spake only, and that wonderful element was produced, I mean the sun. And what if to this thou add that at the same moment and in the same word, the same Creator made the moon and all the stars?’ And on those words, “Let the waters bring forth,’ etc., he thus speaks: ‘What tongue is sufficient for the praise of the workman? for as concerning the earth he only said, “Let it bring forth,” and soon appeared a varied abundance and manifold kinds of flowers and herbs, so also here he said, “Let the waters bring forth,” and at once so many kinds of reptiles and birds were created, as could never be enumerated in one discourse.’! ‘Therefore, ‘Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the mighty ones ?’

And now, my soul, thou understandest clearly how great is the power of thy Maker, which stretches to all things by its breadth; by its length endures for ever, and bears all things and rules them without being weary; by its height goes so far as to accomplish what seems to be impossible and what is indeed impossible to every other being, itself excepted; by its depth does those things in such a manner that the method of working surpasses all created intelligence, since from nothing and in nothing, and without instruments and without time, it accomplished them by word and command alone: ‘He spake the word and they were made: he commanded and they were created.’ 2

If thou art wise thou canst gather from these facts how much it matters whether thou hast him for an enemy or for a friend, as angered or as pleased: for if

« St. Chrys, in Gen. Hom. iv—vii. 2 Ps. cxlviii. 5.

thou hast him as an enemy or angered, he is able suddenly to despoil thee of all thy goods and to fill thee with all wretchedness: and there is none that can deliver thee out of his hands, for who will dare to con-tend with the Almighty? If alone and naked thou meetest an implacable enemy, seeking thee with a sharp sword, what wilt thou do but fall into sweat and become pale and trembling, and louting on thy knees beg his pity! And yet he is but a man, and perchance thou wilt be able to free thyself from death, by flight or by fighting, and snatching the sword from his hands. But with an angry God what wilt thou do, from him thou canst not flee, since he is everywhere, and thou canst not resist him, for he is omnipotent, and thou canst not presume on his delay, since he acts in a moment, and on his sole authority. With reason did the Apostle say, ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’! But if, on the other hand, thou hast God well pleased with thee, and as thy friend, who happier than thou? For he is able to do what he wills, and if he is thy friend, to fill thee with all good things and to deliver thee from all evils. |

But so long as thou art in this life, it lies in thine own hands to have God as an angry enemy or a living friend. For God by the prophets, and then by his Son, and by his Apostles in the Holy Scriptures is continually calling, inviting sinners to penitence and the righteous to keep his commandments, that thus he may have both for his friends, or rather as very dear children and heirs of his eternal kingdom. Hear Ezekiel: ‘As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?’ and further, ‘As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness.’ ! And what Ezekiel cries, Isaiah and Jeremiah and the rest of the prophets likewise proclaim: for it is the one Spirit in all, and by all he cries the same thing.

Hear the Son of God as he begins his preaching: ‘Then Jesus began,’ says Saint Matthew, ‘to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Hear the Apostle Paul, speaking of himself and his fellow Apostles in the second Epistle to the Corinthians: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.’3 What could be plainer, what sweeter? ‘The Apostle beseeches us, in the Name of Christ, that we should desire to be reconciled to God and have him pleased, not angry, with us: who can doubt the mercy of God if a man earnestly turns to him? He will receive all who turn to him, as the most loving father receives the prodigal son.4 But when we have returned and have accepted his forgiveness, what does he ask of us in order that we may continue to be his friends and children, but that we should keep his commandments? ‘If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’5 And if perchance thou sayest, without the help of God we cannot keep his commandments, hear Saint Augustine in his explanation of the fifty-sixth Psalm, where, speaking of the most difficult precept of all, that is laying down one’s life for the brethren, he says thus: ‘God would not command us to do this if he judged it impossible for it to be done by man: and if, thinking on thine own weakness, thou faintest under the command, be comforted in the example: but even the example for thee is a great thing, he who set for thee the example is with thee to furnish aid also.’ 6

And that ‘in the mouth of two witnesses every word may be established,’! hear Saint Leo: ‘Rightly,’ he saith, ‘doth God lay down the command, since he goes before with aid.’ 2

Why then fear, O soul? enter safely on the way of the commandment since he goeth before thee, who by the powerful help of his grace maketh the crooked straight and the rough places plain.’3 With this assistance going before thee, the yoke of the Lord is made sweet and his burden light,4 and the Apostle John cries, ‘His commandments are not grievous.’5 But if they seem grievous to thee, think how much more grievous will be the torment of hell, and thou wilt not dare, except thou be a fool, to wish to experience them.

But think on this and think again and never forget it: now is the time of mercy, thereafter of justice: now there is freedom to sin, afterwards it will be necessary to pay the severest penalty: now it is easy for a man to be reconciled with God, and with the slight labour of penitence to obtain full pardon, and by a brief mourning to avert everlasting wailing: and now by some good work done in the power of love to be able to obtain the kingdom of heaven, when afterwards it will not be possible with all the riches of the world by begging to obtain one drop of cold water.