Chapter II.—Testimonies to the unity of God. First, then, Æschylus,833 in expounding the arrangement of his work,834 expressed himself also as follows respecting the only God:— “Afar from mortals place the holy God, Nor ever think that He, like to thyself, In fleshly robes is clad; for all unknown Is the great God to such a worm as thou. Divers similitudes He bears; at times He seems as a consuming fire that burns Unsated; now like water, then again In sable folds of darkness shrouds Himself. Nay, even the very beasts of earth reflect His sacred image; whilst the wind, clouds, rain, The roll of thunder and the lightning flash, Reveal to men their great and sovereign Lord. Before Him sea and rocks, with every fount, And all the water floods, in reverence bend; And as they gaze upon His awful face, Mountains and earth, with the profoundest depths Of ocean, and the highest peaks of hills, Tremble: for He is Lord Omnipotent; And this the glory is of God Most High.” But he was not the only man initiated in the knowledge of God; for Sophocles also thus describes the nature of the only Creator of all things, the One God:— “There is one God, in truth there is but one, Who made the heavens and the broad earth beneath, The glancing waves of ocean, and the winds; But many of us mortals err in heart, And set up, for a solace in our woes, Images of the gods in stone and brass, Or figures carved in gold or ivory; And, furnishing for these, our handiworks, Both sacrifice and rite magnificent, 833 Grotius supposes this to be Æschylus the younger in some prologue. 834 This may also be translated: “expounding the set of opinions prevalent in his day.” Chapter II.—Testimonies to the unity of God. 778 Chapter II.—Testimonies to the unity of God.