16. I ask further, Who is this God Who
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah? For the Lord rained from the
Lord Gen. xix. 24.; was it not the
true Lord from the true Lord? Have you any alternative to this
Lord, and Lord? Or any other meaning for the terms, except that
in Lord, and Lord, their Persons are distinguished? Bear in mind
that Him Whom you have confessed as Alone true, you have also
confessed as Alone the righteous Judge Book iv. §
12. The latter expression is cited inaccurately.. Now mark that the Lord who rains
from the Lord, and slays not the just with the unjust, and judges the
whole earth, is both Lord and also righteous Judge, and also rains from
the Lord. In the face of all this, I ask you Which it is that you
describe as alone the righteous Judge. The Lord rains from the
Lord; you will not deny that He Who rains from the Lord is the
righteous Judge, for Abraham, the Father of the Gentiles—but not
of the unbelieving Gentiles—speaks thus: In no wise
shalt Thou do this thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, for
then shall the righteous be as the wicked. In no wise shalt Thou,
Who judgest the earth, execute this judgment Gen. xviii. 25.. This God, then, the righteous Judge,
is clearly also the true God. Blasphemer! Your own
falsehood confutes you. Not yet do I bring forward the witness of
the Gospels concerning God the Judge; the Law has told me that He is
the Judge. You must deprive the Son of His judgeship before you
can deprive Him of His true Divinity. You have solemnly confessed
that He Who is the only righteous Judge is also the only true God; your
own statements bind you to the admission that He Who is the righteous
Judge is also true God. This Judge is the Lord, to Whom all
things are possible, the Promiser of eternal blessings, Judge of
righteous and of wicked. He is the God of Abraham, worshipped by
him. Fool and blasphemer that you are, your shameless readiness
of tongue must invent some new fallacy, if you are to prove that He is
not true God.