Verse 12.— Can a fig-tree, my brethren, bear olive ber­ries? Did the fig-tree bear olives, or the vine figs, it would be contrary to nature; it would be unnatural. Such an inconsistency is never beheld in all the realm of nature. Since, therefore, nothing so unnatural and inconsistent can be found in the entire domain of nature, neither should the like appear in the realm of mind. God, being the author of both, never so intended, and the same is, in consequence, contrary to his expressed will.