[Editor’s Note: Gary is translating the Ante-Nicene Fathers works, beginning with Origin’s work. It is meant to update the British English of Roberts and Donaldson. What follows is part of that translation]
So if those people agree with the reasoning behind our argument (that just because God is called “light” doesn’t mean that his body is “light”), then the same logic applies to the expression “a fire that destroys”. If God’s body is fire, what is fueling it? Do you really think he runs on wood, hay, or sticks? God is far too powerful to be fueled by these common things, if his body really is made of fire. He does burn up some things, though. He does completely destroy. What kind of stuff does he destroy? Evil thoughts, bad actions, and anything else that makes its way into the minds of people who believe. God and his son live within the minds of people who’ve been made capable of understanding his word and intelligence. He once said, “My father and I will come to them and live with them.” After God destroys and burns up the believer’s weaknesses and sinful desires, he makes them a temple worthy of him. Here’s how we answer people who say that because “God is spirit” he has a body of some kind: it’s very common for scripture to call anything that transcends our physical, solid bodies “spirit”. There’s the expression, “the written law brings death, but the spirit gives life.” It is obvious that “letter” means “physical” and “spirit” means “intellectual”. The same apostle also said, “Yes, even today, when they read the law of Moses, there is a covering over their minds. But when someone changes and follows the Master, that covering is taken away. The Master is the spirit, and there is freedom where his spirit is.” Anyone who hasn’t developed a deep, intellectual understanding has a covering over their heart. That covering is the same thing as a shallow understanding. Most people think that the sacred writings themselves are “covered” (their deeper meaning is hard to understand). This is why Moses covered his face when he read the law out loud to the people. That covering is removed from our understanding if and when we decide to follow the master. He is also the Logos of God, and his spirit allows us to understanding deeper meaning. When we decide to follow him that covering is removed from our understanding, and we’ll be able to see the true deeper meaning in the sacred writings.
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