Homilies on Genesis, Homilia III
God speaks without bodily members§1
1God speaks to humans in the Scriptures. Some invent a bodily God; philosophers mock it as fable. We confess God bodiless and invisible, and yet that he cares for mortal things, and that nothing is done apart from his providence.
Latin · §1
Deus loquitur ad homines in Scripturis. Aliqui Deum corporeum fingunt; philosophi fabulosa rident. Nos Deum incorporeum invisibilem confitemur, et tamen curare mortalia, nihil sine providentia geri.
Providence and will; why Scripture says God speaks§2
2Many things happen without God’s will; nothing without his providence. God shows what he wills by an affect humans know — so he is said to have spoken. Not a bodily mouth, but a will shaped into words in an illuminated mind.
Latin · §2
Multa sine voluntate Dei geruntur, nihil sine providentia. Indicat Deus quae velit affectu hominibus noto — ideo locutus dicitur. Non os corporeum, sed voluntas menti illuminatae formata in verba.
Abram and Abraham — name-change before the covenant§3
3Oracles to Abram and to Abraham differ. Before the name-change: Go out from your land — not yet circumcision. After he went out: Abraham, the covenant and circumcision. The fleshly name could not yet bear God’s covenant.
Latin · §3
Responsa ad Abram et Abraham differunt. Ante nomen mutatum: exi de terra tua — nondum circumcisio. Post exitum: Abraham, testamentum et circumcisio. Nomen carnale testamentum Dei prius ferre non poterat.
Circumcision of flesh and of heart§4
4Circumcision is the covenant’s sign in the flesh; its meaning is the cutting away of vices. Not skin alone — the heart must be circumcised. Paul: circumcision of the heart in the Spirit, not the letter.
Latin · §4
Circumcisio signum foederis in carne; intellectus: amputatio vitiorum. Non sola cutis — cor circumcidendum. Paulus: circumcisio cordis in spiritu, non littera.
Eighth day and aged faith§5
5The eighth day is a mystery of resurrection and of the age to come. Grace forestalls the infant. Abraham at a hundred: faith makes aging nature live.
Latin · §5
Octava dies mysterium resurrectionis et futuri saeculi. Infans praevenitur gratia. Abraham centenarius: fides naturam senescentem vivificat.
House-born and bought with a price§6
6Every male of the household and every purchased servant is to be circumcised. House-members of the church and those bought with Christ’s price are sealed with one sign.
Latin · §6
Omnis masculus domus et empticius circumcidatur. Domestici ecclesiae et pretio Christi empti uno signo signantur.
New names — Homilia III CLOSEOUT§7
7Souls that have changed name — Abram into Abraham, Sarai into Sarah — rejoice in the covenant of new generation. This is Homily III’s close. Amen.
Latin · §7
Animae quae nomen mutavere — Abram in Abraham, Sarai in Sara — foedere novae generationis gaudent. Haec Homiliae III clausula. Amen.