the mystical temple of god 666 by words and blasphemed Him by their deeds, will descend alive into hell. Therefore, “since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves,” (may I conclude with the Apostle) “from every defilement of flesh and spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1). Let the body be subject to the spirit, and the spirit to reason and the law; let us become conformed to the image of the Son of God, and we shall become coheirs of His heavenly kingdom: if we suffer with Him, we shall be glorified with Him. CHAPTER 24 The Glory of the Mystical Temple That apostle snatched up to the third heaven, who heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter, adding that it was not possible not only to describe the glory of the Mystical Temple, but to even think about it: “What eye,” he said, “has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love Him; this God has revealed to us through the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:9-10). Augustine, the Prince of Doctors, not thinking differently said: “That glory and future majesty of the Mystical Temple escapes all manner of speaking, and exceeds all understanding of the human mind. What God has prepared for those who love Him is not grasped by Faith, is not attained by Hope, nor perceived by Charity, it surpasses our desires and wishes.”225 Therefore I should rather long every moment to possess this glory, and not take pains to portray in words with an unrefined pen what is impossible to describe.226 And so I shall derive what 225 This quotation could be located in neither Augustine’s Meditations (Ch. XXII: ‘On the Happiness of the Life that God has Prepared for Those Who Love Him’) nor his Soliloquies (c. XXXVI: On the Glory of the Heavenly Homeland), nor in his Handbook (Ch. VII: On the Joy of Paradise, Ch. VII: On the Kingdom of Heaven) 226 In the original Latin text researched by Jarra, p. 54, footnote 3: “adynaton” means “what is impossible.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==