Note 139 — Chapter XIX
Reading edition
Read ἀσθενείᾳ.
[140] So we venture to render κατὰ Θεόν.
[141] Confessiones, v. 8.
[142] See a noble poem by James Montgomery, The Lot of the Righteous.
[143] See e.g. xi. 2; Acts ii. 23; 1 Pet. i. 2, 20.
[144] Συμμόρφους: μορφὴ is likeness not by accident but of essence. The Greek here is literally, "conformed ones of the image, etc."; as if their similitude made them part of that which they resembled.
[145] Let us banish from the idea of "predestination" all thought of a mechanical pagan destiny, and use it of the sure purpose of the living and loving God.
[146] Δέ: the "but" of logic. He is proving the security of the prospect of glory.
[147] Ὅς γε: the particle deeply underlines the pronoun.
[148] Ὁ δικαιῶν: we adopt the interrogative rendering of all the clauses here. It is equally good as grammar, and far more congenial to the glowing context.
[149] Observe the τίς of the question, not τί.
[150] Cp. 1 Cor. iii. 22: "All things are yours, whether life or death."
[151] Strong documentary evidence favours the transference of "powers" to a place after "things to come." But surely rhythm, and the affinity of words, look the other way.