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St Basil the Great LETTERS, First Part

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Page 18

6. It is on thy account that He knows not the hour and the day of judgment. Yet nothing is beyond the ken of the real Wisdom, for "all things were made by Him;" [1818] and even among men no one is ignorant of what he has made. But this is His dispensation [1819] because of thine own infirmity, that sinners be not plunged into despair by the narrow limits of the appointed period, [1820] no opportunity for repentance being left them; and that, on the other hand, those who are waging a long war with the forces of the enemy may not desert their post on account of the protracted time. For both of these classes He arranges [1821] by means of His assumed ignorance; for the former cutting the time short for their glorious struggle's sake; for the latter providing an opportunity for repentance because of their sins. In the gospels He numbered Himself among the ignorant, on account, as I have said, of the infirmity of the greater part of mankind. In the Acts of the Apostles, speaking, as it were, to the perfect apart, He says, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power." [1822] Here He implicitly excepts Himself. So much for a rough statement by way of preliminary attack. Now let us enquire into the meaning of the text from a higher point of view. Let me knock at the door of knowledge, if haply I may wake the Master of the house, Who gives the spiritual bread to them who ask Him, since they whom we are eager to entertain are friends and brothers.

[1818] John i. 3.

[1819] touto oikonomei.

[1820] to steno tes prothesmias. he prothesmia sc. hemera was in Attic Law a day fixed beforehand before which money must be paid, actions brought, etc. cf. Plat. Legg, 954, D. It is the "time appointed" of the Father in Gal. iv. 2.

[1821] oikonomei.

[1822] Acts i. 7.
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