Part 23
_Son._ I have never heard his name spoken and I am not sure that they were told by any one who heard them at the beginning.
_Father._ But this you shall know of a surety, that if Lucifer’s words have been quoted by one who heard them in the beginning, he surely must have heard those replies of God also, which I have just given; and he could have reported both speeches, had he wished, since he heard either both or neither. But if he reported Lucifer’s treacherous boasting as he divined it, he surely could have thought out God’s truthful statement of his vengeance in the same way; for either both or neither would be true. For at the very moment when Lucifer transgressed, whether in thought or in words, God had already purposed all the vengeance that was to befall him from the first hour to the last. So great and all-sufficient are God’s thoughts and wisdom, that the vision of the divine foresight sees in the twinkling of an eye all the events that shall come to pass from the first hour to the very last. But He withholds in divine patience all the things that He intends shall come to pass, until suitable times appear; and He will let everything happen as He has purposed it heretofore. Now if God should have endowed any one with such great insight and wisdom that he could know all the thoughts of God and should report them as if God had disclosed them in word or speech, he would by no means be telling falsehoods; for all that God has purposed has been told him in his thoughts, whether his lips have spoken about them or not. The apostle Paul tells us that God has given men his Holy Spirit with a definite office and activity: some receive a spirit of prophecy, some a spirit of knowledge and wisdom, some a spirit of eloquence, some a spirit of understanding, and some a spirit of skill;[297] some have these gifts in large measure, others in less; some enjoy one of these gifts, others two, still others three, while some have all, each one as God wills to endow him.
Footnote 297:
_I Corinthians_, xii, 4-10.
But those who, like King David, have received both the spirit of understanding and of eloquence, have ventured to compose speeches and write books in order that the speeches shall not perish. In some places David has told of God’s purposes, in other places of His deeds, and in still other places he has reported His words; and those who in times past have written glosses to the psalms which David composed have had more to say about what was in David’s mind than about the words that he wrote. For to every word they have added long comments of what David had in thought when he spoke this word; and in these comments they point out the meaning which he had in his thoughts at every word that he wrote in the Psalter. In like manner they have proceeded, who have interpreted the words of the Evangelists, and they have brought out much that the Evangelists have left unsaid. Thus they have shown that their comments are on the words of thought which the lips had left unspoken. And if one has received the God-given spirit of a perfect understanding, he has a gift of such a nature that, when he hears a few spoken words, he perceives many words of thought. But David did not himself gloss the Psalter for the reason that he wished to leave to others the task of expressing all those thoughts which came up in his mind, while he continued writing the Psalms as originally planned. Thus all do who have a speech on the tongue which ought to be interpreted: they proceed with the discourse as planned and begun, and leave to others the task of expressing in words what is in their thoughts. Still, you should know that no one has glossed the sayings of David who sat by him, while he was composing the Psalter, and asked what was in his mind at the time. And from this you will perceive that it is the grace of the spirit of insight which guides such men to examine the foundations of the sermons that they hear. Next they investigate how widely the roots ramify which lie beneath the speech; they consider carefully how many limbs grow out of it; and finally they make a count of the branches that sprout from each limb. They also note precisely what bough they take for themselves, that they may be able to trace it correctly back to the roots from which it originally grew. Now if you understand this thoroughly and if you investigate with care and precision everything that you hear told, you will not fall into error, no matter whether the comments that you hear be right or wrong, if God has given you the spirit that leads to a right understanding. For every man who is gifted with proper insight and gets into the right path at the beginning will be able to find the highways of reason and to determine what expressions are suitable and will best fit the circumstances. Now gather from these things whatever you can that may give insight; but it does not seem necessary to discuss them further.
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XLIX
INSTANCES IN WHICH GOD HAS ALLOWED THE DECISION TO BE FRAMED ACCORDING TO THE STERN DEMANDS OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE
_Son._ God reward you, sire, for being so patient in answering all the questio