499 and not examine the secrets of doctors. A If, therefore, all these things are known to you, both from those things which He has spoken, and from those which He has done, and those which He is to do, do not inquire curiously, nor search, nor say, "Why this? To what end this?" For is it not the mark of a madman, and does it not savor of extreme dementia and insanity, not to inquire curiously into a physician while he is cutting, while he is burning, while he is applying bitter remedies—even if he is a servant—but rather to lie in silence while the master suffers these things, and to render thanks to him on account of the burning, and on account of the cutting and the medications (and this when the outcome is uncertain; for often many have killed by performing these acts); and to obey him, being utterly subject to him while he does these things? And to show the same attitude toward the sailor and the architect, or toward the others who profess different crafts? It is ridiculous, I say, for an unlearned and inexperienced man to demand the causes of all things that happen from a craftsman, yet to scrutinize curiously that immense, ineffable, inexplicable, incomprehensible wisdom, and to inquire why this or that is done, and this when we know well that error does not fall into this wisdom, that His goodness is great, that His providence is ineffable, that all things which are done by Him for our sake arrive at a prosperous end: provided that our own parts are not wanting; that He does not want anyone to perish, both willing and able to save all? Is it not, therefore, an act of extreme dementia B to inquire curiously from the beginning and immediately, and not to await the end of those things which are being done, into Him who both wills and is able to save all?
Cap. IX. That one must not inquire curiously, and that the end of things must be awaited.
But especially when one must not inquire curiously either from the beginning or afterward; but if you are such a curious and diligent investigator, await the end, and consider what outcome these things finally attain, and do not be troubled or frightened from the start. For if some inexperienced person should see a goldsmith at the beginning melting gold, and mixing it with ashes and chaff, unless he awaits the end, he will think the gold has perished. So also if someone born and raised at sea, when suddenly transplanted to inhabit the interior lands, since he has never heard of the method of cultivating fields, should see the stored wheat, and see it kept shut away by doors and bolts, and defended from moisture, and then subsequently should see it brought out by the farmer and sown, thrown out, and exposed to all passersby in the field, and not only not defended from moisture, but exposed to be soaked by mud and dung, and no guard placed over it—would he not judge that the wheat has perished, and condemn the farmer who is doing these things? But this condemnation is to be attributed not to the nature of the thing, but to the ignorance and lack of experience of the person who did not judge correctly, and who passed sentence immediately from the beginning. For if he had awaited the summer, and had seen the crop flourishing, and the sickle sharpened, and the wheat which had been sown and left without a guard, C having been rotted and corrupted and exposed to the mud, suddenly having germinated and multiplied, appearing beautiful, and having cast off its old state, having grown with much vigor as if surrounded by bodyguards and garments, and having raised its stalk on high, and having delighted and fed the spectator and enriched him with no small profit—then indeed he would have marveled all the more that through such losses the fruit had been brought to such fertility and beauty. You too, my man, do not inquire curiously into the common Lord of all; but if you are so contentious and bold that you wish to rave with this insanity, at least await the end of those things which are being done. For the farmer also awaits the whole winter, and does not look at those things which the wheat suffers at the time of cold, but at those things which it is to enjoy: it would certainly be much more equitable that, for the sake of Him who is the farmer of the whole world and of our souls, you await the end. I do not say the end in this present life only (for often that occurs even here), but also in the future. For the dispensation of both these lives looks to one end, namely our salvation and the celebration of our name. For although it is divided by time, yet it is linked by its goal; and just as now there is winter, now summer, yet each change of the year looks to one end, the maturity of the crops: so in truth it will be with our affairs. Therefore, when you see the Church dispersed, D oppressed by extreme evils, those who are most illustrious in it harassed and struck with blows, its president banished very far away, do not look only at these things, but also at those which are to come from them, the retributions, the remunerations, the rewards, the prizes. "For he who has persevered to the end, he will be saved" (Matt. 10:22), He says. For in the Old Testament, because the doctrine of the resurrection had not yet become known, both things took place in this life; but in the New it does not always happen so: but sometimes adverse things happen to us in this age, while prosperous things await our departure from this life. Nevertheless, even if prosperous things had happened to them in this life, they would have been most worthy of admiration even in this, that those who did not possess them, because the doctrine of the resurrection had not been known to them, and they saw things happening contrary to the promises of God, were not scandalized, were not terrified, nor were they disturbed, and they acquiesced in His incomprehensible providence, and did not suffer scandal on account of the things which were happening in a contrary manner, but having perceived the power and the skill of His wisdom, they awaited the end—nay rather, before the end, whatever was being perpetrated against them, they endured with thanksgiving, and did not cease to glorify God who permitted these things to be done. This discourse perhaps seems obscure to you: wherefore I shall endeavor to render it clearer.
Cap. X. That the ancients also awaited the end of things. Abraham commanded to sacrifice his son.
When Abraham had once become an old man, and was unfit for procreating children, and had become as dead through the progress of age; so that he could become a father, he was in no better state than those already deceased; when therefore the just man was old, and very old, and had exceeded the limits of the natural faculty for procreating offspring by a long interval, and had Sarah as a wife more barren than a rock, God promises to make him a father of so many descendants, that to multiply...