The Word, Teacher of Kingship

But where did man get this knowledge, and who brought these truths to mortal ears? Where does a tongue of flesh get the power to speak of things so completely unlike flesh and matter? Who has gazed on the invisible King and seen these perfections in him? The bodily senses can grasp the elements and their combinations, which are of a nature akin to their own. But no one has yet boasted of having looked with bodily eyes on that unseen kingdom which governs all things, and mortal nature has never yet seen the beauty of perfect wisdom. Who has seen the face of righteousness through the medium of flesh? And where did man get the idea of lawful kingship and imperial power? Where did a being made of flesh and blood get the thought of absolute rule? Who made known to the mortals of this earth those ideas that are invisible and without bounds, and that bodiless essence which has no outward form?

Surely there was only one who could interpret these things: the all-pervading Word of God. For he is the author of the reasoning and understanding being that exists in man; and, being himself one with his Father’s divine nature, he pours out on his offspring the overflow of his Father’s generosity. From him come the natural, untaught powers of thought that all men alike possess, whether Greeks or barbarians. From him come the perception of reason and wisdom, the seeds of integrity and righteousness, the understanding of the arts of life, the knowledge of virtue, the precious name of wisdom, and the noble love of philosophical learning. From him comes the knowledge of all that is great and good; from him the grasp of God himself, and a life worthy of his worship; from him the royal authority of man, and his unconquered lordship over the creatures of this world. [a] The Word, the Parent of all reasoning beings, stamped a character on the mind of man after the image and likeness of God, and made him a royal creature, since he gave him alone of all earthly creatures the capacity to rule and to obey. He gave him also forethought and foreknowledge, even here, concerning the promised hope of his heavenly kingdom; it was for the sake of that kingdom that the Word himself came, and, as the Parent of his children, did not disdain to keep company with mortal men. And when he had done this, he went on caring for the seeds he himself had sown, and renewed his gracious gifts from above, holding out to all the promise of a share in his heavenly kingdom. So he called men and urged them to be ready for their journey to heaven, and to provide themselves with the garment that fitted their calling. And by an indescribable power he filled every part of the world with his teaching, using the likeness of an earthly kingdom to picture the heavenly one to which he earnestly invites all humankind, and holding it out to them as worthy of their hope. [c]