Chapter XXIV.—Of the Fact that Those Persons Who Reject the God of Israel, in
Consequence Fail to Worship All the Gods; And, on the Other Hand, that Those Who
Worship Other Gods, Fail to Worship Him.
37. It is well understood, therefore, what these worshippers of images are convicted in
reality of revering, and what they attempt to colour over.606 But even these new interpreters
of Saturn must be required to tell us what they think of the God of the Hebrews. For to them
also it seemed right to worship all the gods, as is done by the heathen nations, because their
pride made them ashamed to humble themselves under Christ for the remission of their
sins. What opinion, therefore, do they entertain regarding the God of Israel? For if they do
not worship Him then they do not worship all gods; and if they do worship Him, they do
not worship Him in the way that He has ordained for His own worship, because they worship
others also whose worship He has interdicted. Against such practices He issued His prohib-
ition by the mouth of those same prophets by whom He also announced beforehand the
destined occurrence of those very things which their images are now sustaining at the hands
of the Christians. For whatever the explanation may be, whether it be that the angels were
sent to those prophets to show them figuratively, and by the congruous forms of visible
objects, the one true God, the Creator of all things, to whom the whole universe is made
subject, and to indicate the method in which He enjoined His own worship to proceed; or
whether it was that the minds of some among them were so mightily elevated by the Holy
Spirit, as to enable them to see those things in that kind of vision in which the angels
themselves behold objects: in either case it is the incontestable fact, that they did serve that
God who has prohibited the worship of other gods; and, moreover, it is equally certain, that
with the faithfulness of piety, in the kingly and in the priestly office, they ministered at once
for the good of their country, and in the interest of those sacred ordinances which were
significant of the coming of Christ as the true King and Priest.
606 Reading colorare, as in the mss. Some editions give colere = revere.
Of the Fact that Those Persons Who Reject the God of Israel, in Consequence Fail to Worship All the Gods; And, on the Other Hand, that Those Who Worship Other Gods, Fail to Worship Him.
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Of the Fact that Those Persons Who Reject the God of Israel, in Consequence…