Wherefore Holy Scripture omits all idle inquiry into substance as superfluous and unnecessary. And methinks it was for this that John, the Son of Thunder, who with the loud voice of the doctrines contained in his Gospel rose above that of the preaching which heralded them, said at the close of his Gospel, “There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written27    S. John xxi. 25.” He certainly does not mean by these the miracles of healing, for of these the narrative leaves none unrecorded, even though it does not mention the names of all who were healed. For when he tells us that the dead were raised, that the blind received their sight, that the deaf heard, that the lame walked, and that He healed all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, he does not in this leave any miracle unrecorded, but embraces each and all in these general terms. But it may be that the Evangelist means this in his profound wisdom: that we are to learn the majesty of the Son of God not by the miracles alone which He did in the flesh. For these are little compared with the greatness of His other work. “But look thou up to Heaven! Behold its glories! Transfer your thought to the wide compass of the earth, and the watery depths! Embrace with your mind the whole world, and when you have come to the knowledge of supramundane nature, learn that these are the true works of Him Who sojourned for thee in the flesh,” which (saith he), “if each were written”—and the essence, manner, origin, and extent of each given—the world itself could not contain the fulness of Christ’s teaching about the world itself. For since God hath made all things in wisdom, and to His wisdom there is no limit (for “His understanding,” saith the Scripture, “is infinite”28    Ps. cxlvii. 5.), the world, that is bounded by limits of its own, cannot contain within itself the account of infinite wisdom. If, then, the whole world is too little to contain the teaching of the works of God, how many worlds could contain an account of the Lord of them all? For perhaps it will not be denied even by the tongue of the blasphemer that the Maker of all things, which have been created by the mere fiat of His will, is infinitely greater than all. If, then, the whole creation cannot contain what might be said respecting itself (for so, according to our explanation, the great Evangelist testifies), how should human shallowness contain all that might be said of the Lord of Creation? Let those grand talkers inform us what man is, in comparison with the universe, what geometrical point is so without magnitude, which of the atoms of Epicurus is capable of such infinitesimal reduction in the vain fancy of those who make such problems the object of their study, which of them falls so little short of non-existence, as human shallowness, when compared with the universe. As saith also great David, with a true insight into human weakness, “Mine age is as nothing unto Thee29    Ps. xxxix. 5. LXX. ὑπόστασίς μου (not αἰ& 240·ν, which would be the exact equivalent to the Heb.).,” not saying that it is absolutely nothing, but signifying, by this comparison to the non-existent, that what is so exceedingly brief is next to nothing at all.

Διὰ τοῦτο ὡς περιττόν τε καὶ ἀνωφελὲς τὸ περὶ τῆς οὐσίας τῶν γεγονότων ἀδολεσχεῖν ἡ γραφὴ παρῆκε. καί μοι δοκεῖ ὁ τῆς βροντῆς υἱὸς Ἰωάννης ὁ τῇ μεγαλοφωνίᾳ τῶν κατ' αὐτὸν δογμάτων ὑπερηχήσας τὰ προλαβόντα κηρύγματα τοῦτο νοήσας ἐπὶ τέλει τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς ἱστορίας εἰπεῖν ὅτι πολλά ἐστι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου γεγενημένα Ἅτινα, φησίν, ἐὰν γράφηται καθ' ἕν, οὐδὲ αὐτὸν οἶμαι τὸν κόσμον χωρῆσαι τὰ γραφόμενα βιβλία, οὐ πάντως ταῦτα λέγων τὰ κατὰ τὰς ἰάσεις θαύματα: τούτων γὰρ οὐδὲν ἀφῆκεν ἀμνημόνευτον ἡ ἱστορία, εἰ καὶ μὴ ἐπ' ὀνόματος πάντων τῶν τεθεραπευμένων τὴν μνήμην πεποίηται: ὅταν γὰρ λέγῃ νεκροὺς ἐγείρεσθαι, τυφλοὺς ἀναβλέπειν, κωφοὺς ἀκούειν, χωλοὺς περιπατεῖν, καὶ πάλιν ἰᾶσθαι πᾶσαν μαλακίαν, οὐδὲν διὰ τούτων ἀνιστόρητον τῶν θαυμάτων ἀπέλιπε, ταῖς καθολικαῖς ἐννοίαις ἐμπεριλαβὼν τὰ καθ' ἕκαστον: ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνο τάχα τῷ βάθει τῆς γνώσεως ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς λέγει, ὅτι τὸ μεγαλεῖον τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἐκ τῶν διὰ σαρκὸς θαυματοποιηθέντων μόνον γινώσκειν χρή: μικρὰ γὰρ ταῦτα ὡς πρὸς τὴν λοιπὴν μεγαλουργίαν ἐξεταζόμενα. σὺ δὲ ἀνάβλεψον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἰδὲ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ κάλλη, μετένεγκε τὴν διάνοιαν ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς, ἐπὶ τὰ βάθη τοῦ ὕδατος, πάντα τὸν κόσμον τῇ διανοίᾳ λαβὼν καὶ τὴν ὑπερκόσμιον φύσιν τῷ λογισμῷ κατανοήσας, ταῦτα γνῶθι τὰ ἀληθινὰ τοῦ σοι διὰ σαρκὸς ἐπιδημήσαντος ἔργα, ἅτινα, φησίν, ἐὰν καθ' ἕκαστον γράφηται τὸ τί καὶ ὅπως καὶ ὅθεν καὶ πόσον, ὑπὲρ τὸ χώρημα τοῦ κόσμου τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ κόσμου διδασκαλίας ἔσται τὸ πλῆθος. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ πάντα ὁ θεὸς ἐν σοφίᾳ ἐποίησεν, ὅρον δὲ ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ σοφία οὐκ ἔχει (Τῆς γὰρ συνέσεως αὐτοῦ, φησίν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἀριθμός), ὁ τοῖς ἰδίοις μέτροις πεπερασμένος κόσμος οὐ χωρήσει ἐν ἑαυτῷ τῆς ἀορίστου σοφίας τὸν λόγον. εἰ οὖν ὁ κόσμος ὅλος ἐλάττων ἐστὶν ἢ ὥστε τὴν διδασκαλίαν τῶν ἔργων τοῦ κυρίου χωρῆσαι, πόσοι κόσμοι χωρήσουσιν τὴν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων διήγησιν; τάχα γὰρ οὐδὲ ἡ βλάσφημος ἀρνήσεται γλῶσσα τὸ ἀπειροπλασίονα εἶναι τὸν ποιητὴν πάντων τῶν μόνῳ θελήματι παραχθέντων εἰς γένεσιν. εἰ οὖν ἡ κτίσις πᾶσα τοῦ περὶ ἑαυτῆς λόγου ἐστὶν ἀχώρητος (τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ μέγας Ἰωάννης μαρτύρεται κατά γε τὸν ἡμέτερον λόγον), πῶς ἂν ἀνθρωπίνη βραχύτης ὅλον τὸν περὶ τοῦ δεσπότου τῆς κτίσεως χωρήσειε λόγον; εἰπάτωσαν οἱ τὰ μεγάλα φθεγγόμενοι τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος συγκρίσει τοῦ παντὸς θεωρούμενος; ποῖον γεωμετρικὸν σημεῖον οὕτως ἀμερές, τί τῶν Ἐπικουρείων ἀτόμων οὕτω τῇ ματαιότητι τῶν ταῦτα θεωρούντων ἀπολεπτύνεται καὶ ἐγγὺς τοῦ μὴ ὄντος γίνεται, ὡς ἀνθρωπίνη βραχύτης ἀντ' οὐδενός ἐστι πρὸς τὸ πᾶν κρινομένη; καθώς φησι καὶ ὁ μέγας Δαβὶδ καλῶς ἐπεσκεμμένος ἡμῶν τὴν οὐθένειαν ὅτι Ἡ ὑπόστασίς μου ὡσεὶ οὐθὲν ἐπώπιόν σου, οὐ παντελῶς εἶναι λέγων οὐδέν, ἀλλ' ὅμοιον τῷ μηδέν, τὸ καθ' ὑπερβολὴν πᾶσαν βραχὺ τῇ πρὸς τὸ ἀνύπαρκτον συγκρίσει διασημαίνων.