Lecture 2 — Hymn to the almighty

^36:22^ Behold, God is on high in his power and no one is like him among lawmakers.

^36:23^ Who can examine his ways? Or who dares say to him: You have done evil?

^36:24^ Remember that you are ignorant of his works, about which men sang.

^36:25^ All men see him, each one beholds him from a distance.

^36:26^ Behold, that great God, who surpasses our science; the number of his years cannot be counted.

^36:27^ He bears the drops of rain and pours out showers of rain like torrents

^36:28^ which flow from the clouds and cover everything from above.

^36:29^ If he wills to unfold the clouds as his tent,

^36:30^ and to make lightning with his light from above, even the roots of the sea he covers.

^36:31^ Through these he judges the peoples and he gives food to many mortal men.

474. Behold, God is on high in his power. After Eliud rejected the words of Job in which he had said he was just, he here rejects his words because he believed he had spoken against divine right judgment.

So he first proposes the sublimity of divine power when he says, behold God on high in his power, for he has a higher power than everything else. It is against reason that someone who wields less power should convict a greater authority of injustice.

Second, he proposes God’s authority when he says, and no one is like him among the lawmakers, because those who make laws discern the right thing ,through wisdom, as we read in Proverbs (Prov 8:15). So there is no law which can condemn him for injustice, but rather his wisdom is the rule and measure of all laws.

Third, he proposes the incomprehensibility of his works when he says, who can examine his ways, for who can sufficiently search and uncover the nature of his works? From this he concludes that he cannot be convicted of injustice, and so he says, or who dares to say to him: You have done evil? To be able to condemn someone for evil, he must be subject to a higher power. He must both be bound by the laws of others and his deeds must be known. This has no place in God, as I have already established (cf. Job 36:22–23).

475. As a result, he begins to show clearly that the ways of God, which are his works, cannot be examined by man, saying, remember that you are ignorant of his works about which men sang. These are the wise, whom he calls men because of the strength of their souls. He says, they sang, because of the ancient custom of the wise, who represented divine and philosophical things in verse. No matter how wise men are, they cannot arrive at knowing and explaining God’s essence. But all the thought of man and his discourse about God is through his works. For no one lacks wisdom to such an extent that he does not perceive some of the divine works. Again, no one is so wise that his knowledge is not completely surpassed by the excellence of divine clarity, and so he says, each one beholds from a distance; that is, human knowledge is very far from the perfect comprehension of the divine essence, both because man can only know him through his works, which are infinitely distant from the excellence of his essence, and because man does not even know his works perfectly. From this he concludes that God exceeds the knowledge of man in his excellence, and so he says, behold the great God who surpasses our science, for God cannot be known by us perfectly, not because of some defect in him, like in the contingency of motion and time, but because of his excellence. Someone could object that although we are not able to know what God is, still we can know that God is, which pertains to his duration. He shows that this also exceeds human knowledge, saying, the number of his years cannot be counted, since the eternity of his duration cannot be comprehended by the human intellect.

476. He shows next the magnitude of the works of God, which exceed human reason, listing different changes in the air, which is sometimes dry. Concerning this he says, he bears the drops of rain, by holding them up so that it does not rain. Sometimes, however, the air is filled with rain, and he describes this abundance, saying, he pours showers of rain like torrents, which flow on the land. The abundance of rain seems wonderful if the origin of rain is considered, because so much water comes forth from the clouds which have no solidity, and as to this he says, which, the torrents flow from the clouds not because such rain exists in act in the clouds, but because the vapors themselves of the clouds are gradually condensed into rain. The rain is more wonderful because it is poured over the great expanse of the region, and so he says, and covers everything from above, so that in places here it rains until no part of the land remains unwatered.

Then he speaks about the clouds themselves, saying, if he wills to unfold the clouds like a tent, because the clouds hide heaven, which is the seat of God like the seat of any man is hidden in a tent. The lightning proceeds from the clouds because of their collision with the winds, and so he says, and to make lightning with his light from above. Sometimes the clouds cover a region as far as the horizon, and seem to cover the farthest bounds of the sea beneath them, and so he says, even the roots of the sea he covers with the tent of the clouds. He says, if he wills, to show that the divine will is the principle of natural works. To will means properly to act for an end, and so he shows the end of these works, through these he judges the peoples, because men are punished by them, and he gives food to many mortal men, in the sense that the rains are useful to the fertility of the land, which produces food for men.