18. For Abraham also thus pleased God, in that he, when tried by God, spared not even his own son, in behalf of whom perhaps he might have been pardoned had he hesitated to slay him. A religious devotion armed his hands; and his paternal love, at the command of the Lord who bade it, set aside all the feelings of affection. Neither did it shock him that he was to shed the blood of his son, nor did he tremble at the word; nevertheless for him Christ had not yet been slain. For what is dearer than He who, that you might not sustain anything unwillingly in the present day, first of all Himself suffered that which He taught others to suffer? What is sweeter than He who, although He is our God and Lord, nevertheless makes the man who suffers for His sake His fellow-heir in the kingdom of heaven? Oh grand—I know not what!—whether that reason scarcely bears to receive that consciousness, although it always marvels at the greatness of the rewards; or that the majesty of God is so abundant, that to all who trust in it, it even offers those things which, while we were considering what we have done, it had been sin to desire.  Moreover, if only eternal salvation should be given, for that very perpetuity of living we should be thankful. But now, when heaven and the power of judging concerning others is bestowed in the eternal world, what is there wherein man’s mediocrity may not find itself equal to all these trials? If you are assailed with injuries, He was first so assailed. If you are oppressed with reproaches, you are imitating the experience of God. Whence also it is but a little matter whatever you undergo for Him, seeing that you can do nothing more, unless that in this consists the whole of salvation, that He has promised the whole to martyrdom. Finally, the apostle, to whom all things were always dear, while he deeply marvelled at the greatness of the promised benefits, said, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to follow, which shall be revealed in us.”21    Rom. viii. 18. Because he was musing in his own mind how great would be the reward, that to him to whom it would be enough to be free from death, should be given not only the prerogative of salvation, but also to ascend to heaven: to heaven which is not constrained into darkness, even when light is expelled from it, and the day does not unfold into light by alternate changes; but the serene temperature of the liquid air unfolds a pure brightness through a clearness that reddens with a fiery glow.

XVIII. Nam et Abraham sic Deo placuit; qui tentatus a Deo, et filio suo non pepercit; pro quo ignosci forsitan posset, si illum dubitasset occidere. Armavit manus religiosa devotio, et omnes pietatis affectus Domini jubentis imperio pietas paterna neglexit. Nec horruit quod nati funderet sanguinem, nec intremuit ad vocem, et adhuc pro eo Christus non fuerat occisus. Quid enim charius eo qui, ne quid invitus hodie sustineres, prius passus est quod doceret? Quid eo dulcius qui, cum ipse sit Deus noster et Dominus, tamen patientem pro se hominem regni coelestis efficit cohaeredem? O grande nescio quid, sive quia illud conscientiae ratio vix sustinet capere, 0797B quamvis magna semper miretur ad munera, sive quia tam larga est majestas Dei, ut insperantibus cunctis etiam ea offerat quae nobis contemplatione factorum nefas fuerat optare. Etenim, si tantum salus daretur aeterna, pro ipsa perpetuitate vivendi haberemus in gratia . At nunc, cum coelum et judicandi de caeteris facultatem perenni saeculo largiatur, quid est in quo non se parem his omnibus possit humana mediocritas experiri? Si injuriis ageris, prior actus est ille. Si contumeliis premeris, Dei munus imitaris. Unde et parum est quicquid pertuleris pro eo, qui nihil amplius potes facere, nisi quod in hoc salus universa consistit, quia martyrio totum ille promisit. Denique Apostolus, cui cordi fuere semper universa, cum instar munerum promissorum penitus miraretur, 0797C Aestimo, inquit, non esse condignas passiones hujus temporis ad superventuram claritatem quae revelabitur in nobis (Rom. VIII, 18). Etenim secum ipse volvebat quantae mercedis existeret ut ei cui sufficeret morte carere non tantum salutis daretur praemium, sed et conscendere coelum, coelum quod nec fugata lux cogit in noctem, nec alternis vicibus dies aperit in lucem, sed aeris liquidi serena temperies per 0798A sudum igneo fulgore rutilantem puram explicat claritatem.