V. But enough has been said on this
point. As to what concerns us, it is not only the Peace of
God Phil. iv. 7. which passeth all understanding and
knowledge, nor only the things which God hath stored up in promise for
the righteous, which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind
conceived” Isa. lxiv. 4; 1 Cor. ii. 9. except in a very
small degree, nor the accurate knowledge of the Creation. For
even of this I would have you know that you have only a shadow when you
hear the words, “I will consider the heavens, the work of Thy
fingers, the moon and the stars,” Ps. viii. 3.
and the settled order therein; not as if he were considering them now,
but as destined to do so hereafter. But far before them is That
nature Which is above them, and out of which they spring, the
Incomprehensible and Illimitable—not, I mean, as to the fact of
His being, but as to Its nature. For our preaching is not empty,
nor our Faith vain, 1 Cor. xv. 19. nor is this the
doctrine we proclaim; for we would not have you take our candid
statement as a starting point for a quibbling denial of God, or of
arrogance on account of our confession of ignorance. For it is
one thing to be persuaded of the existence of a thing, and quite
another to know what it is.