{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">15. Let us now look at those passages of Ezekiel where\r\nhe says, “I will take away from them their stony heart, and\r\nI will put in them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my\r\nstatutes, and keep mine ordinances.”<a id=\"r502\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f502\"><sup>[502]</sup></a> For if God, when He\r\npleases, takes away a heart of stone and bestows a heart of\r\nflesh, that His ordinances may be observed and His commandments\r\nmay be obeyed, it will then appear that it is not\r\nin our power to put away wickedness. For the taking away\r\nof a stony heart seems to be nothing else than the removal of\r\nthe wickedness by which one is hardened, from whomsoever\r\nGod pleases to remove it. Nor is the bestowal of a heart of\r\nflesh, that the precepts of God may be observed and His\r\ncommandments obeyed, any other thing than a man becoming\r\nobedient, and no longer resisting the truth, but performing\r\nworks of virtue. If, then, God promises to do this, and\r\nif, before He takes away the stony heart, we are unable to\r\nremove it from ourselves, it follows that it is not in our\r\npower, but in God’s only, to cast away wickedness. And\r\nagain, if it is not our doing to form within us a heart of flesh,\r\nbut the work of God alone, it will not be in our power to live\r\nvirtuously, but it will in everything appear to be a work of\r\ndivine grace. Such are the assertions of those who wish to\r\nprove from the authority of Holy Scripture that nothing lies\r\nin our own power. Now to these we answer, that these\r\npassages are not to be so understood, but in the following\r\nmanner. Take the case of one who was ignorant and untaught,\r\nand who, feeling the disgrace of his ignorance, should,\r\ndriven either by an exhortation from some person, or incited\r\nby a desire to emulate other wise men, hand himself over to\r\none by whom he is assured that he will be carefully trained\r\nand competently instructed. If he, then, who had formerly\r\nhardened himself in ignorance, yield himself, as we have\r\nsaid, with full purpose of mind to a master, and promise to\r\nobey him in all things, the master, on seeing clearly the\r\nresolute nature of his determination, will appropriately promise\r\nto take away all ignorance, and to implant knowledge\r\nwithin his mind; not that he undertakes to do this if\r\nthe disciple refuse or resist his efforts, but only on his offering\r\nand binding himself to obedience in all things. So also\r\nthe word of God promises to those who draw near to Him,\r\nthat He will take away their stony heart, not indeed from\r\nthose who do not listen to His word, but from those who\r\nreceive the precepts of His teaching; as in the Gospels we\r\nfind the sick approaching the Saviour, asking to receive\r\nhealth, and thus at last be cured. And in order that the\r\nblind might be healed and regain their sight, their part consisted\r\nin making supplication to the Saviour, and in believing\r\nthat their cure could be effected by Him; while His part,\r\non the other hand, lay in restoring to them the power of\r\nvision. And in this way also does the Word of God promise\r\nto bestow instruction by taking away the stony heart, <i>i.e.</i> by\r\nthe removal of wickedness, that so men may be able to walk\r\nin the divine precepts, and observe the commandments of\r\nthe law.</p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS.","BOOK III.","FROM THE LATIN."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-225"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"8fff3a2411589b24b5db89195a62d866c7be3afc8e92ac2d3cc46979e5febbfa","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"EZK","chapter":11,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Ezek. xi. 19","verse":19,"verse_end":19}],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f502","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":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1869 English translation; translator died 1889. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f502","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f502\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r502\">502</a>. </span><abbr title=\"Ezekiel\">Ezek.</abbr> <abbr title=\"eleven\">xi.</abbr> 19, 20.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f502","text_sha256":"14f09755a6878da9c596889f93105323a316afa4074f8d1dfa5af736be62cabf","verified":false,"work_id":null}