Behold, O Lord my God, how much we have written upon a few words, how much I beseech Thee! What strength of ours, yea what ages would suffice for all Thy books in this manner? Permit me then in these more briefly to confess unto Thee, and to choose some one true, certain, and good sense that Thou shalt inspire me, although many should occur, where many may occur; this being the law of my confession, that if I should say that which Thy minister intended, that is right and best; for this should I endeavour, which if I should not attain, yet I should say that, which Thy Truth willed by his words to tell me, which revealed also unto him, what It willed.

to distinguish what the writer chiefly meant, another to err from the rule of piety. If both be avoided, the reader obtains the full fruit. If both cannot be avoided, though we be uncertain about the mind of the writer, it is not without its use to have extracted a meaning agreeable with the holy faith." Aug. de Gen. ad Lit. 1. i. fin.

BOOK XIII

Continuation of the exposition of Gen. I; it contains the mystery of the Trinity, and a type of the formation, extension, and support of the Church.

[I.] 1. I call upon Thee, O my God, my mercy, Who createdst me, and forgattest not me, forgetting Thee. I call Thee into my soul, which, by the longing Thyself inspirest into her, Thou preparest for Thee. Forsake me not now calling upon Thee, whom Thou preventedst before I called, and urgedst me with much variety of repeated calls, that I would hear Thee from afar, and be converted, and call upon Thee, that calledst after me; for Thou, Lord, blottedst out all my evil deservings, so as not to repay into my hands, wherewith I fell from Thee; and Thou hast prevented all my well deservings, so as to repay the work of Thy hands wherewith Thou madest me; because before I was, Thou wert; nor was I any thing, to which Thou mightest grant to be; and yet behold, I am, out of Thy goodness, preventing all this which Thou hast made me, and whereof Thou hast made me. For neither hadst Thou need of me,2 nor am I any such good, as to be helpful unto Thee, my Lord and God; not in serving Thee,3 as though Thou wouldest tire in working; or lest Thy power might be less, if lacking my service: nor cultivating Thy service, as a land, that must remain uncultivated, unless I cultivated I See b. i. sec. 2.

"Nor had He need to make us, who needs us not, made." Aug. c. adv. leg. et proph. 1. i. c. 4.

3 "For He needeth not our service, but we need His rule, that He may work in and keep us; and therefore is He the true and only Lord, because we serve Him not to His but to our benefit." Aug. de fin. ad Lit. 1. viii. c. 16.

"Neque ut sic te colam, quasi terram, ut sis incultus, si non te colam. The French preserves better the strong irony of this play on the word, as if man's worship was any gain to God, "afin que vous ne soiez pas comme une terre inculte, si je manquais au culte, que je te dois." Mart.

Thee: but serving and worshipping Thee, that I might receive a well-being from Thee, from whom it comes, that I have a being capable of well-being.

[II.] 2. For of the fulness of Thy goodness, doth Thy creature subsist, that so a good, which could no ways profit Thee, nor was of Thee, (lest so it should be equal to Thee,) might yet be since it could be made of Thee. For what did heaven and earth, which Thou madest in the Beginning, deserve of Thee? Let those spiritual and corporeal natures which Thou madest in Thy Wisdom, say wherein they deserved of Thee, to depend thereon, (even in that their several inchoate and formless state, whether spiritual or corporeal, ready to fall away into an immoderate liberty and far-distant unlikeliness unto Thee; the spiritual, though without form, superior to the corporeal though formed, and the corporeal though without form, better than were it altogether nothing,) and so to depend upon Thy Word, as formless, unless by the same Word they were brought back to Thy Unity, indued with form, and from Thee the One Sovereign Good were made all very good. How did they deserve of Thee, to be even without form, since they had not been even this, but from Thee?

3. How did corporeal matter deserve of Thee, to be even invisible and without form? seeing it were not even this, but that Thou madest it, and therefore because it was not, could not deserve of Thee to be made. Or how could the inchoate spiritual creature deserve of Thee, even to ebb and flow darksomely like the deep,'—unlike Thee, unless it had been by the same Word turned to that, by Whom it was created, and by Him so enlightened, become light; though not equally, yet conformably to that Form which is equal unto Thee? For as in a body, to be, is not one with being beautiful, else

"The creature, although spiritual and intellectual and rational, may have a life without form. For turned away from the unchangeable Wisdom, it lives foolishly and miserably, which is its deformed estate. For it is formed, by being turned to the unchangeable light of Wisdom, which is the Word of God. For from Whom it hath existence, that it may be and live, to Him it is turned, that it may live wisely and blessedly." Aug. de Gen. ad Lit. l. i. c. 5.

could it not be deformed; so likewise to a created spirit to live, is not one with living wisely; else should it be wise unchangeably. But good it is for it always to hold fast to Thee; lest what light it hath obtained by turning to Thee, it lose by turning from Thee, and relapse into life resembling the darksome deep. For we ourselves also, who as to the soul are a spiritual creature, turned away from Thee our light, were in that life sometimes darkness; and still labour amidst the relics of our darkness, until in Thy Only One we become Thy righteousness, like the mountains of God. For we have been Thy judgments, which are like the great deep.2

[III.] 4. That which Thou saidst in the beginning of the creation, Let there be light, and there was light; I do, not unsuitably, understand of the spiritual creature: because there was already a sort of life, which Thou mightest illuminate. But as it had no claim on Thee for a life, which could be enlightened, so neither now that it was, had it any, to be enlightened. For neither could

"This being so, this nature having been created in so great excellence, that though in itself subject to change, yet by adhering to the unchangeable good, i.e. to the supreme God, it obtains its happiness, and is blessed only in the full satisfying of its cravings, and nought suffices to satisfy it, but God, it is truly a vitiated state of it not to "hold fast to Him."" Aug. de Civ. Dei, 1. xii. c. I.

2

"The "mountains" S. Aug. explains of the eminent saints of God, Apostles, &c. in Joann. Tract. i. &c. and in Ps. 35, 7. where (sec. 10.) he thus proceeds. "The Abyss' the Psalmist calls the depth of sin, whereat men come by despising God. As the mountains of God' are His righteousness,' who by His grace become great, so through His judgments come they into the 'deep,' who are sunk to the uttermost. Hereby then take pleasure in the mountains, hereby turn away from the deep and be turned to that which is said, 'my help is from the Lord.' But whence? Because I have lift up my eyes to the mountains.' What is this? I will speak plainly; in the Church of Christ you will find a deep, you will find also mountains; you find there fewer good, for the mountains are few, the deep is large, i.c. many living ill through the wrath of God, because they so acted as to be given over to the desires of their heart, so as now to defend their sins, not confess them, but say, 'Why? What have I done? The one also has done this, the other that.' But thou art not yet a mountain, not yet an abyss; flee the abyss, look well to the mountains, but remain not even in the mountains. For thy help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.'

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its formless estate be pleasing unto Thee, unless it became light, and that not by existing simply, but by beholding the illuminating light, and cleaving to it; so that, that it lived, and lived happily,' it owes to nothing but Thy grace, being turned by a better change unto That, which cannot be changed into worse or better; which Thou alone art, because Thou alone simply art; unto Thee it being not one thing to live, another to live blessedly, seeing Thyself art Thine own Blessedness.2

[IV.] 5. What then could be wanting unto Thy good, which Thou Thyself art, although these things had either never been, or remained without form; which thou madest, not out of any want, but out of the fulness of Thy goodness, restraining them and converting them to form, not as though Thy joy were fulfilled by them? For to Thee being perfect, is their imperfection displeasing, and hence were they perfected by Thee, and please Thee; not as wert Thou imperfect, and by their perfecting wert also to be perfected. For Thy good Spirit indeed was borne over the waters, not borne up by them, as if He rested upon them. For those, on whom Thy good Spirit is said to rest, He causes to rest in Himself. But Thy incorruptible and unchangeable will, in itself all-sufficient for itself, was borne upon that life which Thou hadst created; to which, living is not one with happy living, seeing it liveth also, ebbing and flowing in its own darkness: for which it remaineth to be converted unto Him, by Whom it was made, and to live more and more by the fountain of life, and in His light to see light, and to be perfected, and enlightened, and beautified.

"Thence is both the origin and formation and blessedness of the holy City, which is above, in the holy Angels. For if it be asked, whence it is, God founded it; if, whence it is wise, it is by God enlightened; if, whence it is happy, it enjoyeth God. Existing, it receives the mode of its existence; contemplating, it is enlightened; cleaving, it is made joyous; it is, sees, loves; in the eternity of God it liveth; in the truth of God, it shineth; in the goodness of God, it joyeth." Aug. de Civ. Dei, 1. xi. c. 24.

"He who is blessed, not in another, but in Himself as His own good, therefore cannot be otherwise, because He cannot lose Himself." Id. 1. xii. c. I.