29 January 2008

Old Lutheran Quote of the Day

Because the attributes of God are not a changeable accident in God, but His very essence, therefore the love and affection by which He embraces the devout must be more ardent than we can grasp with our thought. Sirach 2: "As great as God is, so great is His mercy." But He is infinite, immeasurable, invariable, eternal, therefore so also is His mercy, which "prevails over us forever." (Psalm 117:2) It does not vary or change unless we are changed, just as the sun remains unchanged, though people who turn away from its light and heat deprive themselves of the benefit of the sun. -- Johann Gerhard, *On the Nature of God and On the Trinity* p. 120, 121

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