Chapter 3. The True God Cannot Change or Cease.
Chapter 3
1. These wicked men assert that if the heavens are God’s throne and the earth is his footstool, since it is said that the heavens and the earth will pass away, then when these things pass away, this God, too, who is enthroned on them, must pass away, and so he is not the God who is above all things. Now, first, they do not know what is meant by heaven as a throne and earth as a footstool, for they do not know what God is. They think that he sits down as men do and is contained within bounds but does not himself contain. They are also ignorant of what is meant by the passing away of heaven and earth. Paul, however, was not ignorant of that. For the form of this world is passing away, he said. David solves their question. In Psalm 101 he says that when this form passes away, not only does God continue but also his servants. He put it thus: Of old you did lay the foundation of the earth, O Lord, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like raiment, and they pass away; but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their posterity shall be established forever. He clearly points out what things pass away and who it is that continues always, God together with his servants. Isaiah has similar words: Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my justice will not cease.