HOMILY IV.] HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS. 277 besides? "I am a minister." Then he shows that he had himself done nothing, albeit he is a minister. " Of which I was made," saith he, "a minister, according to the dispensation oi God which is given me to youward, to fulfill the word of God." "The dispensation." Either he means, He so willed that after His own de parture we should succeed to the dispensation, in order that ye might not feel as deserted, (for it is Himself that suffers, Himself that is ambas sador;) or he means this, namely, me who was more than all a persecutor, for this end He per mitted to persecute, that in my preaching I might gain belief; or by "dispensation" he means, that He required not deeds, nor actions, nor good works, but faith and baptism. For ye would not otherwise have received the word. "For you," he saith, "to fulfill the word of God." He speaks of the Gentiles, showing that they were yet wavering, by the expres sion, " fulfill." For that the cast-away Gentiles should have been able to receive such lofty doc trines was not of Paul, but of the dispensation of God ; " for I never could have had the power," he saith. Having shown that which is greater, that his sufferings are Christ s, he next subjoins what is more evident, that this also is of God, " to fulfill His word in you." And he shows here covertly, that this too is of dispensation, that it is spoken to you now, when ye are able to hear it, and cometh not of neglect, but to the end ye may receive it. For God doeth not all things on a sudden, but useth condescension because of His plenteous love toward man. And this is the reason why Christ came at this time, and not of old. And He shows in the Gospel, that for this reason He sent the servants first, that they might not proceed to kill the Son. For if they did not reverence the Son, even when He came after the servants, much less would they had He come sooner ; if they gave no heed to the lesser commandments, how would they to the greater? What then, doth one object? Are there not Jews even now, and Greeks who are in a very imperfect condition ? This, how ever, is an excess of listlessness. For after so long a time, after such great instructions, still to continue imperfect, is a proof of great stu pidity. When then the Greeks say, why did Christ come at this time ? let us not allow them so to speak, but let us ask them, whether He did not succeed ? For as, if He had come at the very first, and had not succeeded, the time would not have been for us a sufficient excusation, so, see ing He hath succeeded, we cannot with justice be brought to account on the score of "the time." For neither does any one demand of a physician, who has removed the disease, and restored one to health, to give an account of his treatment, nor yet does any examine closelya general who has gained a victory, why at this time, and why in this place. For these things it were in place to ask, had he not been suc cessful ; but when he has been successful, they must even be taken for granted. For, tell me, whether is more worthy of credit, thy reasoning and calumny, or the perfection of the thing? Conquered He, or conquered He not? show this. Prevailed He, or prevailed He not? Ac complished He what He said, or no? These are the articles of enquiry. Tell me, I pray. Thou fully grantest that God is, even though not Christ ? I ask thee then ; Is God without beginning ? Thou wilt say, Certainly. Tell me then, why made He not men myriads of years before ? For they would have lived through a longer time. They were now losers by that time during which they were not. Nay, they were not losers ; but how, He who made them alone knows. Again, I ask thee, why did He not make all men at once ? But his soul, whoever was first made, hath so many years of existence, of which that one is deprived which is not yet created. Wherefore made He the one to be brought first into this world, and the other after wards ? Although these things are really fit subjects for enquiry : yet not for a meddling curiosity : for this is not for enquiry at all. For I will tell you the reason I spoke of. For suppose human nature as being some one continued life, and that in the first times our race was in the posi tion of boyhood ; in those that succeeded, of manhood ; and in these that are near extreme age, of an old man. Now when the soul is at its perfection, when the limbs of the body are unstrung, and our war is over, we are then brought to philosophy. On the contrary, one may say, we teach boys whilst young. Yes, but not the great doctrines, but rhetoric, and expert- ness with language ; and the other when they are come to ripeness of age. See God also doing the same with the Jews. For just as though the Jews had been little children, he placed Moses over them as a schoolmaster, and tike little children he managed these things for them through shadowy representations, as we teach letters. " For the law had a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things." (Heb. x. i.) As we both buy akes for children and give them pieces of money, requiring of them one thing only, that for the present they would go to school ; so also liod at that time gave them both wealth and lux- iry, purchasing from them by this His great in dulgence one only thing, that they would listen to Moses. Therefore He delivered them over to a schoolmaster, that they might not despise Him- elfas a tender, loving Father. See then that they