was revealed to him, he
perceived the method by which the Israelitish nation could best be
united in a particular territory, and could form a body politic or
state, and further that he perceived the method by which that nation
could best be constrained to obedience; but he did not perceive, nor
was it revealed to him, that this method was absolutely the best, nor
that the obedience of the people in a certain strip of territory would
necessarily imply the end he had in view. Wherefore he perceived these
things not as eternal truths, but as precepts and ordinances, and he
ordained them as laws of God, and thus it came to be that he conceived
God as a ruler, a legislator, a king, as merciful, just, etc., whereas
such qualities are simply attributes of human nature, and utterly alien
from the nature of the Deity. Thus much we may affirm of the prophets
who wrote laws in the name of God; but we must not affirm it of Christ,
for Christ, although He too seems to have written laws in the name of
God, must be taken to have had a clear and adequate perception, for
Christ was not so much a prophet as the mouthpiece of God. For God made
revelations to mankind through Christ as He had before done through
angels--that is, a created voice, visions, etc. It would be as
unreasonable to say that God had accommodated His revelations to the
opinions of Christ as that He had before accommodated them to the
opinions of angels (that is, of a created voice or visions) as matters
to be revealed to the prophets, a wholly absurd hypothesis. Moreover,
Christ was sent to teach not only the Jews but the whole human race, and
therefore it was not enough that His mind should be accommodated to the
opinions of the Jews alone, but also to the opinion and fundamental
teaching common to the whole human race--in other words, to ideas
universal and true. Inasmuch as God revealed Himself to Christ, or to
Christ's mind immediately, and not as to the prophets through words and
symbols, we must needs suppose that Christ perceived truly what was
revealed, in other words, He understood it, for a matter is understood
when it is perceived simply by the mind without words or symbols.

Christ, then, perceived (truly and adequately) what was revealed, and if
He ever proclaimed such revelations as laws, He did so because of the
ignorance and obstinacy of the people, acting in this respect the part
of God; inasmuch as He accommodated Himself to the comprehension of the