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Against Hermogenes

Tertullian

Chapter 44

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Author: Tertullian

Chapter XLIV.—Curious Views Respecting God’s Method of Working with Matter Exposed. Discrepancies in the Heretic’s Opinion About God’s Local Relation to Matter.

But it remains that I should show also how you make

‹ Chapter 43 Chapter 45 ›

God

work

.

You

are

plainly

enough

at

variance

with

the

philosophers

;

but

neither

are

you

in

accord

with

the

prophets

.

The

Stoics

maintain

that

God

pervaded

Matter

,

just

as

honey

the

honeycomb

.

You

,

however

,

affirm

that

it

is

not

by

pervading

Matter

that

God

makes

the

world

,

but

simply

by

appearing

,

and

approaching

it

,

just

as

beauty

affects

a

thing

by

simply

appearing

,

and

a

loadstone

by

approaching

it

.

Now

what

similarity

is

there

in

God

forming

the

world

,

and

beauty

wounding

a

soul

,

or

a

magnet

attracting

iron

?

For

even

if

God

appeared

to

Matter

,

He

yet

did

not

wound

it

,

as

beauty

does

the

soul

;

if

,

again

,

He

approached

it

,

He

yet

did

not

cohere

to

it

,

as

the

magnet

does

to

the

iron

.

Suppose

,

however

,

that

your

examples

are

suitable

ones

.

Then

,

of

course

,

it

was

by

appearing

and

approaching

to

Matter

that

God

made

the

world

,

and

He

made

it

when

He

appeared

and

when

He

approached

to

it

.

Therefore

,

since

He

had

not

made

it

before

then

,

He

had

neither

appeared

nor

approached

to

it

.

Now

,

by

whom

can

it

be

believed

that

God

had

not

appeared

to

Matter

—

of

the

same

nature

as

it

even

was

owing

to

its

eternity

?

Or

that

He

had

been

at

a

distance

from

it

—

even

He

whom

we

believe

to

be

existent

everywhere

,

and

everywhere

apparent

;

whose

praises

all

things

chant

,

even

inanimate

things

and

things

incorporeal

,

according

to

(

the

prophet

)

Daniel

?

How

immense

the

place

,

where

God

kept

Himself

so

far

aloof

from

Matter

as

to

have

neither

appeared

nor

approached

to

it

before

the

creation

of

the

world

!

I

suppose

He

journeyed

to

it

from

a

long

distance

,

as

soon

as

He

wished

to

appear

and

approach

to

it

.

Notes

1
Facit quid decor.
2
Certe.
3
Retro.
4
Dan. iii. 21.