{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>And now let us consider, with such ability as God may\r\nvouchsafe, how the saints shall be employed when they are\r\nclothed in immortal and spiritual bodies, and when the flesh\r\nshall live no longer in a fleshly but a spiritual fashion. And\r\nindeed, to tell the truth, I am at a loss to understand the\r\nnature of that employment, or, shall I rather say, repose and\r\nease, for it has never come within the range of my bodily\r\nsenses. And if I should speak of my mind or understanding,\r\nwhat is our understanding in comparison of its excellence?\r\nFor then shall be that \"peace of God which,\" as the apostle\r\nsays, \"passeth all understanding,\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1027_1027\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1027_1027\">[1027]</a>—that is to say, all human,\r\nand perhaps all angelic understanding, but certainly not the\r\ndivine. That it passeth ours there is no doubt; but if it\r\npasseth that of the angels,—and he who says \"<i>all</i> understanding\"\r\nseems to make no exception in their favour,—then we\r\nmust understand him to mean that neither we nor the angels<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_535\">[Pg 535]</a></span>\r\ncan understand, as God understands, the peace which God Himself\r\nenjoys. Doubtless this passeth all understanding but His\r\nown. But as we shall one day be made to participate, according\r\nto our slender capacity, in His peace, both in ourselves,\r\nand with our neighbour, and with God our chief good, in this\r\nrespect the angels understand the peace of God in their own\r\nmeasure, and men too, though now far behind them, whatever\r\nspiritual advance they have made. For we must remember\r\nhow great a man he was who said, \"We know in part, and\r\nwe prophesy in part, until that which is perfect is come;\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1028_1028\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1028_1028\">[1028]</a>\r\nand \"Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to\r\nface.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1029_1029\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1029_1029\">[1029]</a> Such also is now the vision of the holy angels, who\r\nare also called our angels, because we, being rescued out of\r\nthe power of darkness, and receiving the earnest of the Spirit,\r\nare translated into the kingdom of Christ, and already begin\r\nto belong to those angels with whom we shall enjoy that holy\r\nand most delightful city of God of which we have now written\r\nso much. Thus, then, the angels of God are our angels, as\r\nChrist is God's and also ours. They are God's, because they\r\nhave not abandoned Him; they are ours, because we are their\r\nfellow-citizens. The Lord Jesus also said, \"See that ye despise\r\nnot one of these little ones: for I say unto you, That in\r\nheaven their angels do always see the face of my Father which\r\nis in heaven.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1030_1030\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1030_1030\">[1030]</a> As, then, they see, so shall we also see; but\r\nnot yet do we thus see. Wherefore the apostle uses the words\r\ncited a little ago, \"Now we see through a glass, darkly; but\r\nthen face to face.\" This vision is reserved as the reward of\r\nour faith; and of it the Apostle John also says, \"When He\r\nshall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He\r\nis.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1031_1031\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1031_1031\">[1031]</a> By \"the face\" of God we are to understand His manifestation,\r\nand not a part of the body similar to that which in\r\nour bodies we call by that name.</p>","headings":["THE CITY OF GOD.","BOOK TWENTY-SECOND.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45305-paragraph-841"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"ec70694a958ba014abf86c50a522a4b90ced96989612df128b90d1dd257e513e","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume II","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Books XVII-XVIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"1JN","chapter":3,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"1 John iii. 2","verse":2,"verse_end":2}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45305-Footnote_1031_1031","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_1031_1031","source_ebook":45305,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_1031_1031\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_1031_1031\"><span class=\"label\">[1031]</span></a> 1 John iii. 2.</p></div>","source_sha256":"7e0ced9e70512f3cf050b53c9d548e36b70d468d875153869f95d8aff5bbb530","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45305/pg45305-images.html#Footnote_1031_1031","text_sha256":"5d779c5a047c8d5fb8bc85faa625d462333d770317d312a1a75b5672f8f7ab61","verified":false,"work_id":null}