Jesus taught us who it was that sent Him, in the words, "None knoweth the Father but the Son;" [3398] and in these, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." [3399] He, treating of Deity, stated to His true disciples the doctrine regarding God; and we, discovering traces of such teaching in the Scripture narratives, take occasion from such to aid our theological conceptions, [3400] hearing it declared in one passage, that "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all;" [3401] and in another, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." [3402] But the purposes for which the Father sent Him are innumerable; and these any one may ascertain who chooses, partly from the prophets who prophesied of Him, and partly from the narratives of the evangelists. And not a few things also will he learn from the apostles, and especially from Paul. Moreover, those who are pious He leadeth to the light, and those who sin He will punish, -- a circumstance which Celsus not observing, has represented Him "as one who will lead the pious to the light, and who will have mercy on others, whether they sin or repent." [3403]

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Footnotes:

[3398] Cf. Luke 10:22.

[3399] John 1:18.

[3400] hon ichne en tois gegrammenois heuriskontes aphormas echomen theologein.

[3401] 1 John 1:5.

[3402] John 4:24.

[3403] The text is, tous de hamartanontas e metagnontas eleeson. Bohereau would read me metagnontas, or would render the passage as if the reading were e hamartanontas, e metagnontas. This suggestion has been adopted in the translation.