Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c006\">Having now repelled these objections by the answer\r\nwhich we have given, let us hasten on to the discussion of\r\nthe subject itself, in which it is said, “It is not of him that\r\nwilleth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth\r\nmercy.”<a id=\"r528\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f528\"><sup>[528]</sup></a> In the book of Psalms—in the songs of Degrees,\r\nwhich are ascribed to Solomon—the following statement\r\noccurs: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in\r\nvain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman\r\nwaketh but in vain.”<a id=\"r529\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f529\"><sup>[529]</sup></a> By which words he does not\r\nindeed indicate that we should cease from building or watching\r\nover the safe keeping of that city which is within us; but\r\nwhat he points out is this, that whatever is built without God,\r\nand whatever is guarded without Him, is built in vain, and\r\nguarded to no purpose. For in all things that are well built\r\nand well protected, the Lord is held to be the cause either\r\nof the building or of its protection. As if, <i>e.g.</i>, we were\r\nto behold some magnificent structure and mass of splendid\r\nbuilding reared with beauteous architectural skill, would we\r\nnot justly and deservedly say that such was built not by\r\nhuman power, but by divine help and might? And yet\r\nfrom such a statement it will not be meant that the labour\r\nand industry of human effort were inactive, and effected\r\nnothing at all. Or again, if we were to see some city surrounded\r\nby a severe blockade of the enemy, in which threatening\r\nengines were brought against the walls, and the place\r\nhard pressed by a vallum, and weapons, and fire, and all the\r\ninstruments of war, by which destruction is prepared, would\r\nwe not rightly and deservedly say, if the enemy were repelled\r\nand put to flight, that the deliverance had been wrought for\r\nthe liberated city by God? And yet we would not mean, by\r\nso speaking, that either the vigilance of the sentinels, or\r\nthe alertness of the young men,<a id=\"r530\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f530\"><sup>[530]</sup></a> or the protection of the\r\nguards, had been wanting. And the apostle also must be\r\nunderstood in a similar manner, because the human will\r\nalone is not sufficient to obtain salvation; nor is any mortal\r\nrunning able to win the heavenly [rewards], and to obtain\r\nthe prize of our high calling<a id=\"r531\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f531\"><sup>[531]</sup></a> of God in Christ Jesus, unless\r\nthis very good will of ours, and ready purpose, and whatever\r\nthat diligence within us may be, be aided or furnished with\r\ndivine help. And therefore most logically<a id=\"r532\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f532\"><sup>[532]</sup></a> did the apostle\r\nsay, that “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that\r\nrunneth, but of God that showeth mercy;” in the same\r\nmanner as if we were to say of agriculture what is actually\r\nwritten: “I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the\r\nincrease. So then neither is he that planteth anything,\r\nneither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”<a id=\"r533\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f533\"><sup>[533]</sup></a>\r\nAs, therefore, when a field has brought good and rich crops\r\nto perfect maturity, no one would piously and logically assert\r\nthat the husbandman had made those fruits, but would\r\nacknowledge that they had been produced by God; so also\r\nis our own perfection brought about, not indeed by our\r\nremaining inactive and idle,<a id=\"r534\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f534\"><sup>[534]</sup></a> [but by some activity on our\r\npart]: and yet the consummation of it will not be ascribed\r\nto us, but to God, who is the first and chief cause of the\r\nwork. So, when a ship has overcome the dangers of the\r\nsea, although the result be accomplished by great labour on\r\nthe part of the sailors, and by the aid of all the art of navigation,\r\nand by the zeal and carefulness of the pilot, and by\r\nthe favouring influence of the breezes, and the careful observation\r\nof the signs of the stars, no one in his sound senses\r\nwould ascribe the safety of the vessel, when, after being\r\ntossed by the waves, and wearied by the billows, it has at last\r\nreached the harbour in safety, to anything else than to the\r\nmercy of God. Not even the sailors or pilot venture to say,\r\n“I have saved the ship,” but they refer all to the mercy of\r\nGod; not that they feel that they have contributed no skill\r\nor labour to save the ship, but because they know that while\r\nthey contributed the labour, the safety of the vessel was\r\nensured by God. So also in the race of our life we ourselves\r\nmust expend labour, and bring diligence and zeal to\r\nbear; but it is from God that salvation is to be hoped for as\r\nthe fruit of our labour. Otherwise, if God demand none\r\nof our labour, His commandments will appear to be superfluous.\r\nIn vain, also, does Paul blame some for having\r\nfallen from the truth, and praise others for abiding in the\r\nfaith; and to no purpose does he deliver certain precepts\r\nand institutions to the churches: in vain, also, do we ourselves\r\neither desire or run after what is good. But it is\r\ncertain that these things are not done in vain; and it is\r\ncertain that neither do the apostles give instructions in vain,\r\nnor the Lord enact laws without a reason. It follows, therefore,\r\nthat we declare it to be in vain, rather, for the heretics\r\nto speak evil of these good declarations.</p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS.","BOOK III.","FROM THE LATIN."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-232"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"11370d9623abe5aa305aaa0281b0e3d300ae61c56a12f49259c253443dd55fb2","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f532","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1869 English translation; translator died 1889. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f532","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f532\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r532\">532</a>.  </span><span lang=\"la\">Valde consequenter.</span></p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f532","text_sha256":"090ff1af2cf3acefda0e6c6a82aa5bfe24cd25545d7fa721e278805ba4f71ce5","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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