But, when he tells us that God sware an oath, we must consider whether he lays down that such a thing can with truth be ascribed to God, since to thousands it seems unworthy of Him. For our conception of an oath is an appeal to God as a witness on some disputed matter. But nothing is uncertain or open to dispute with God. He it is who has shown to all others plainly the signs whereby they may know the truth. Truly He needs no witness, for there is no other god to be His peer. I need not argue that he who bears witness, in so far as he is a witness, is superior to him for whom the witness is given. For the one craves help, the other renders it, and the latter condition is always more excellent than the former. But there is nothing better than the Cause—even to think the thought were blasphemy—since there is nothing equal to Him, or even but a little below. The gulf that separates God from what comes next to Him is one of kind and nature. Now men have recourse to oaths to win belief, when others deem them untrustworthy; but God is trustworthy in His speech as elsewhere, so that His words in certitude and assurance differ not a whit from oaths. And so it is that while with us the oath gives warrant for our sincerity, it is itself guaranteed by God. For the oath does not make God trustworthy; it is God that assures the oath.
On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 28
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