Section XI

These things, moreover, agree excellently both with what precedes¹ and with those things which Chrysostom² notes concerning the words³ of the Psalm, μεγάλα τὰ ἔργα Κυρίου, ἐξεζητημένα εἰς πάντα τὰ θελήματα αὐτοῦ, “great are the works of the Lord, sought out according to all his wills,” when he writes:

What, then, is ἐξεζητημένα εἰς πάντα τὰ θελήματα αὐτοῦ, “sought out according to all his wills”? ἠκριβωμένα φησί, καθάπερ καὶ ἕτερος ἑρμηνευτὴς εἶπε, παρασκευασμένα, ἀπηρτισμένα, γεγενημένα, πεπληρωμένα, ἀρκοῦντα τὰ θελήματα αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν, ἱκανὰ μαρτυρεῖν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ, οὐ χωλεύοντα, οὐδὲ ἐνδεῶς ἔχοντα εἰς τὸ ἀνύσαι αὐτοῦ τὰ ἐπιτάγματα, “accurate,” he says, “as also another interpreter⁴ says; prepared, perfected, completed, fulfilled, fitted to do his wills, sufficient to testify to his power, neither limping nor defective for accomplishing his commands.”

And, a few words having intervened:

“Sought out according to all his wills.” Εἰς τὰ προστάγματα αὐτοῦ, φησίν, εἰς τὰ ἐπιτάγματα αὐτοῦ, οὐ μόνον δὲ εἰς τὰ ἐπιτάγματα αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὸ γινώσκεσθαι αὐτὸν παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅπερ καὶ προηγούμενον αὐτοῦ θέλημα, καὶ διὸ μάλιστα ταῦτα ἐποίησεν, “to his precepts,” he says, “to his commands: they are sought out not only for his precepts, but also that he may be known⁵ by men, which indeed is his principal will and on account of which he chiefly made these things.”

Therefore, what the prophet says is of this sort: so perfect are the works of God that, for those who attend and understand, ἀκριβεστάτην καὶ σαφῆ καὶ τρανοτάτην τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ γνῶσιν ἐντιθέναι τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, “they bring the most accurate, most open, and most evident knowledge of him to the mind of men.” Καὶ γὰρ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο μάλιστα τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτὰ κατεσκεύασε, “for on account of this will above all he constituted them from the beginning”⁶, that by magnitude, beauty, … , and all other things he might move the soul of the beholder and rouse his mind and understanding to seek God, the maker and most excellent artificer, and to adore him who made them, καὶ ἀντὶ βιβλίων καὶ γραμμάτων γενέσθαι ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τῆς κτίσεως, “and that the universe of creatures might be to him⁷ in the place of books and letters.”

There is, therefore, in God a twofold will toward the human race, θέλημα προηγούμενον καὶ θέλημα δεύτερον, the antecedent will and the second and consequent will, the first of which Chrysostom mentions in express words, while he merely indicates the other. Moreover, of θελήματος προηγουμένου, the antecedent will, four endowments and properties above the rest must both be considered in the mind and diligently weighed.

For, according to Chrysostom, θέλημα προηγούμενον, the antecedent will, is I. universal in amplitude and embraces all men. For on account of this will μάλιστα, chiefly, he ordered ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τῆς κτίσεως, the whole system of creatures, not that one or another, but that all who possess senses and reason might be stirred to seek and adore God, the maker and most excellent artificer.

It is II. coeval with men themselves, so that even in those times which Scripture⁸ calls τοὺς χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας, “the times of ignorance,” God neither suffered himself⁹ to be ἀμάρτυρον, without testimony, nor in any way neglected the solicitous care of men by which he might show himself Best and Greatest. For πρὸς τοῦτο μάλιστα τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτὰ κατεσκεύασε, “on account of this will above all he constituted from the beginning” those things which would lead men to him.

It is III. active and fruitful in works and gifts, since, stirred by this will, God so ordered ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τῆς κτίσεως, the universe of things, that it might be ἀντὶ βιβλίων καὶ γραμμάτων, in place of books and letters, for men.

Finally, it is IV. of such a kind that by its gifts and munificence it indeed calls men, aids them, and converts them to God himself, but not in such a way as to take away from them the power and capacity by which they can both spurn the benevolence of the Creator and the benignity of the Savior. Namely, it is not free from every condition, but embraces this condition: that it procure life and salvation for men, provided, however, that men neither fail themselves nor, carried aside by the vanity of their thoughts¹⁰, neglect the duties to be rendered to the God whom they have known, or change τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου Θεοῦ, “the glory of the incorruptible God,” ἐν ὁμοιώματι εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου, “into the likeness of an image of corruptible man.”