Apr. 11: Book II. par. 71-80

[Nemo]

71. ... everyone readily recognizes the life of the profligate and the life of the pure man by what is valued in each one's household.

I still remember a long time ago when I was looking into houses on sale, and was shown a very special home. The owner was not present, but there was a distinct feel of serenity in the whole house, that I never experienced anywhere else. It was only later that I found out that it was the home of a multi-generation Christian family.

[Rex]

St Gregory's explanation of God's "hardening" reminds me of an explanation to similar effect by St Maximus the Confessor that can be summed up in his famous phrase, "Clay hardens in the sun, while wax grows soft."

[Nemo]

Rex wrote: "St Gregory's explanation of God's "hardening" reminds me of an explanation to similar effect by St Maximus the Confessor that can be summed up in his famous phrase, "Clay hardens in the sun, while ..."

Yes, that does sum it up nicely.

There is a lingering question in my mind, however. Does clay have free choice of will?

[Kerstin]

80 "It was not some constraining power from above that caused the one to be found in darkness and the other in light, but we men have in ourselves, in our own nature and by our own choice, the causes of light or of darkness, since we place ourselves in whichever sphere we wish to be."