Day 98 — Book 1, Chapter 13, §24

Yesterday Calvin handed the sober reader a pocket card. Today he looks up from the desk and says: "Now the enemy." Printed §21 is the hinge of Chapter 13. Everything before it = teaching (to stretch out our hand for the guidance of such as are disposed to learn). Everything after it (printed §§22–29) = defence (the truth … must be vindicated from the calumnies of the ungodly). Servetus, Gentile, the Italian anti-trinitarians — they are coming. But look what Calvin does first. Before he fires one shot, he disarms HIMSELF. Rules of engagement: sobriety, moderation, not one step past the Word. The polemicist starts by fencing in the polemic. That's the lesson. A fight about God that is not fought inside God’s word is already lost — whichever side "wins".

Second — this section is a grammar obstacle course. ⚠️ The first sentence runs 72 words before its main clause arrives (it will be proper here to dispose of …). Two since-clauses, separated by a semicolon, hold you at the door. ⚠️ Two printer's traps: Still, however it will be (missing comma — changes the meaning if you read it literally) and the human minds which has (plural noun, singular verb — a slip). ⚠️ And one sentence where the object sits at the front but belongs to the if-clause: This knowledge, then, if we would leave to God, we must conceive of him ….

Third — comparison is today's weapon. no more modesty … than they are wont to do · more docility than acumen · anywhere but in his sacred word · farther than we have it for our guide · no other quarter than his word · more trouble … than is meet. Six fences, every one built out of than or but. Calvin's whole method in one construction: this far, and no farther.

Today's 3 Big Points

1. The long causal frame: since …; since …, it will be proper here to V (S1) + Hitherto … has been to V …, not to V …; but now … must be p.p. (S2) + Still, however it will be … (S3, printed without the comma). ⚠️ since = because (no time point follows); the semicolon separates two causes inside ONE subordinate frame; it in it will be proper is a dummy subject pointing to to dispose of. In S3 read however, — without the comma, however it will be would mean in whatever way it will be. Formula 1.
2. Rhetorical questions and concessive machines: how can the human mind[s] … bring down …? (S5) · Nay, how can it … penetrate … while unable …? (S6) · though it is daily presented (S5) · if any where (S4) · how much soever the mystery may be (S13). ⚠️ how can …? = it cannot; the verb after can is always the bare infinitive (bring, penetrate) — however far away it sits. how much soever … may = however much. Formula 2.
3. Fences of comparison and exclusion: no more X than … (S11) · more X than Y (S12) · more X than is meet (S13) · no other quarter than (S9) · anywhere but in (S12) · farther than we have it for our guide (S12) + the fronted object This knowledge, … if we would leave ∅ to God (S9). ⚠️ no more modesty than they are wont to do = just as little modesty as usual (not "less"); than is meet = than is fitting (than acts like a subject); anywhere but = nowhere except. Formula 3.

But since Satan, in order to pluck up our faith by the roots, has always provoked fierce disputes, partly concerning the divine essence of the Son and Spirit, and partly concerning the distinction of persons; since in almost every age he has stirred up impious spirits to vex the orthodox doctors on this head, and is attempting in the present day to kindle a new flame out of the old embers, it will be proper here to dispose of some of these perverse dreams. Hitherto our chief object has been to stretch out our hand for the guidance of such as are disposed to learn, not to war with the stubborn and contentious; but now the truth which was calmly demonstrated must be vindicated from the calumnies of the ungodly. Still, however it will be our principal study to provide a sure footing for those whose ears are open to the word of God. Here, if any where, in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture, we should speculate soberly and with great moderation, cautiously guarding against allowing either our mind or our tongue to go a step beyond the confines of God’s word. For how can the human minds which has not yet been able to ascertain of what the body of the sun consists, though it is daily presented to the eye, bring down the boundless essence of God to its little measure? Nay, how can it, under its own guidance, penetrate to a knowledge of the substance of God while unable to understand its own? Wherefore, let us willingly leave to God the knowledge of himself. In the words of Hilary (De Trinit. lib. 1), “He alone is a fit witness to himself who is known only by himself.” This knowledge, then, if we would leave to God, we must conceive of him as he has made himself known, and in our inquiries make application to no other quarter than his word. On this subject we have five homilies of Chrysostom against the Anomoei (De Incomprehensit. Dei Natura), in which he endeavoured, but in vain, to check the presumption of the sophists, and curb their garrulity. They showed no more modesty here than they are wont to do in everything else. The very unhappy results of their temerity should be a warning to us to bring more docility than acumen to the discussion of this question, never to attempt to search after God anywhere but in his sacred word, and never to speak or think of him farther than we have it for our guide. But if the distinction of Father, Son, and Spirit, subsisting in the one Godhead (certainly a subject of great difficulty), gives more trouble and annoyance to some intellects than is meet, let us remember that the human mind enters a labyrinth whenever it indulges its curiosity, and thus submit to be guided by the divine oracles, how much soever the mystery may be beyond our reach.

Sentence count: 13 (S1–S13). One paragraph, four movements: the declaration of war (S1–S3) · the rules of engagement — sobriety, and the a-fortiori from the sun and the soul (S4–S6) · the principle — God alone witnesses to God (S7–S9) · the cautionary tale and the exit from the labyrinth (S10–S13).

⚠️ PROGRESS estimated "about 14". Today: 13. The Hilary quotation (S8) ends in its own full stop inside the closing quotation mark — count it as a sentence. Seven ★★★, four ★★, two ★. (Distribution: ★★★ S1, S2, S4, S5, S9, S12, S13 · ★★ S3, S6, S8, S10 · ★ S7, S11.)

Text note (not a correction to the quotation). Seven features of the printed page, all handled as follows. (i) Section marker 21. removed at the head of the paragraph (source line 5704). (ii) Line-end hyphen joined: con- | cerning → concerning (S1, lines 5705–5706). (iii) ⚠️ Still, however it will be (S3) — no comma after however. Quoted as printed. Read: Still, however, it will be … (= nevertheless). See S3 ①. (Yesterday's S5 had the same slip: which, however derogates.) (iv) ⚠️ the human minds which has not yet been able (S5) — plural minds + singular has, and no comma before which. Quoted as printed. Read: the human mind, which has not yet been able … The singular pronouns that follow (its little measure S5; how can it, its own guidance, its own S6) confirm the intended singular. See S5 ②. (v) ⚠️ A page break falls INSIDE Hilary's bibliographic reference (S8) — between (De Trinit. lib. and 1), (source lines 5720–5727): two blank lines, page number 132, the running head (CHAPTER 13. - THE UNITY OF THE DIVINE ESSENCE IN THREE PERSONS TAUGHT, / IN…), and one blank line. All removed; the reference is continuous: (De Trinit. lib. 1). (vi) ⚠️ Margin page number 129 removed MID-SENTENCE — printed at the far right of line 5737 after to some intellects, followed by one blank line (5738). Rejoined: gives more trouble and annoyance to some intellects than is meet (S13). (vii) Spelling kept as printed: any where (two words, S4) and anywhere (one word, S12) — both appear in this one paragraph; endeavoured (British); De Incomprehensit. (Beveridge's abbreviation of De Incomprehensibili). ⚠️ Section numbering. Our §24 = Beveridge printed §21, entire (source lines 5704–5741). The printed marker 22. follows directly (line 5742). Label offset still +3. BH's decision remains open (A: keep our labels / B: re-map SCHEDULE.md). Reading order is unbroken.

                 ─── I. THE DECLARATION OF WAR (S1–S3) ───
[CAUSE 1]        S1a   SINCE Satan, to PLUCK UP faith BY THE ROOTS, has ALWAYS provoked disputes
                        — partly: DEITY of Son + Spirit / partly: DISTINCTION of Persons
[CAUSE 2]        S1b   SINCE in every age he STIRS UP impious spirits
                        + NOW: a NEW FLAME out of the OLD EMBERS
[MAIN CLAUSE]    S1c   → IT WILL BE PROPER to DISPOSE OF some of these perverse dreams
[MODE SHIFT]     S2    HITHERTO: guide the TEACHABLE, NOT war with the stubborn
                        BUT NOW: the truth calmly DEMONSTRATED must be VINDICATED
[PRIORITY KEPT]  S3    STILL, the PRINCIPAL aim = sure FOOTING for OPEN EARS
                 ─── II. RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (S4–S6) ───
[THE RULE]       S4    HERE IF ANYWHERE: speculate SOBERLY, with MODERATION;
                        neither MIND nor TONGUE one STEP beyond God's WORD
[A FORTIORI 1]   S5    mind can't tell what the SUN is made of (seen DAILY!)
                        → how can it SHRINK God's BOUNDLESS essence to its size?
[A FORTIORI 2]   S6    NAY: can't know ITS OWN substance → how GOD's?
                 ─── III. THE PRINCIPLE: GOD WITNESSES TO GOD (S7–S9) ───
[COMMAND]        S7    LEAVE to God the knowledge of HIMSELF
[AUTHORITY]      S8    HILARY: He ALONE is a fit WITNESS to himself
[METHOD]         S9    → conceive of him AS HE HAS MADE HIMSELF KNOWN;
                        NO OTHER QUARTER THAN his WORD
                 ─── IV. CAUTIONARY TALE + EXIT (S10–S13) ───
[EXHIBIT]        S10   CHRYSOSTOM × 5 vs ANOMOEI — tried, IN VAIN, to curb the sophists
[DIAGNOSIS]       S11   NO MORE modesty here than ANYWHERE ELSE (irony)
[LESSON]         S12   → MORE DOCILITY THAN ACUMEN; NOWHERE BUT the Word;
                        NO FARTHER than the Word GUIDES
[EXIT]           S13   IF the distinction troubles you MORE THAN IS MEET:
                        CURIOSITY = LABYRINTH → SUBMIT to the ORACLES,
                        HOW MUCH SOEVER the mystery is beyond us

The spine in one line: Satan attacks the Trinity because it is the root of faith → so Calvin switches from teaching to defending — but for the sake of the teachable → and the defence has one rule: not a step beyond Scripture → because a mind that cannot fathom the sun or itself cannot fathom God → God alone can testify about God, so we know him only as he has revealed himself → the Anomoeans prove what happens otherwise → curiosity is a labyrinth; the Word is the way out.

Examiner's Eye. ⚠️⚠️⚠️ Six traps. (1) S2–S3 — has Calvin abandoned the teachable for the heretics? ⚠️⚠️ NO. S2 shifts the MODE (teaching → vindicating), but S3 keeps the AUDIENCE: it will be our principal study to provide a sure footing for those whose ears are open to the word of God. An option saying from now on Calvin's main purpose is to refute the heretics is a direction flip. The polemic serves the flock. (2) S1 — what is Satan's target? ⚠️ our faith, by the roots. The disputes about the Son, Spirit and Persons are the MEANS; the uprooting of faith is the END (in order to). An option saying Satan's aim was to split the church into sects is off-target. (3) S4 — what exactly is forbidden? ⚠️⚠️ Going a step beyond the confines of God’s word — with mind OR tongue. NOT speculation as such (we should speculate soberly). An option saying Calvin forbids all inquiry into the hidden mysteries of Scripture is scope overreach. in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture — he assumes we DO consider them. (4) S5–S6 — the logic. ⚠️ Lesser to greater (a fortiori): if not the sun (visible, daily), and not the mind itself — then certainly not God. NOT because the sun is divine or because astronomy is useless. The sun is a measuring stick, not a topic. (5) S10 — did Chrysostom succeed? ⚠️⚠️ NO — he endeavoured, but in vain, to check the presumption of the sophists. Option Chrysostom's homilies silenced the Anomoeans = direction flip. (6) S12–S13 — is Calvin anti-intellectual? ⚠️⚠️ NO. more docility than acumen = a RANKING, not a ban on acumen. And S13: the distinction of Persons is certainly a subject of great difficulty — Calvin concedes it; he does not tell the troubled to stop thinking, but to submit to be guided by the divine oracles. The labyrinth is entered by curiosity, not by thought.

Formula 1 — The long causal frame: since …; since …, it will be proper to V · Hitherto … has been to V, not to V; but now … must be p.p. · Still, however,

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  (A) SINCE + clause₁ ; SINCE + clause₂ , MAIN CLAUSE                  │
│      since Satan … has always provoked …;                            │
│      since … he has stirred up … and is attempting …,                │
│      IT will be proper here TO DISPOSE OF …                  (S1)   │
│        · since = BECAUSE (no time point follows)                     │
│        · ; = super-comma INSIDE the subordinate frame                │
│        · main verb = WILL BE  (dummy IT → real subject TO V)         │
│                                                                       │
│  (B) HITHERTO + S + HAS BEEN + TO V …, NOT TO V … ;                   │
│      BUT NOW + S + MUST BE + p.p.                            (S2)   │
│        · hitherto ↔ present perfect  (span up to now)                │
│        · A, not B  = contrastive negation of two infinitives         │
│                                                                       │
│  (C) STILL, HOWEVER, S V   = nevertheless                    (S3)   │
│      printed: Still, however it will be …   → read "however,"        │
│      ⚠ HOWEVER + clause (no comma) = "in whatever way"              │
│                                                                       │
│  (D) BE DISPOSED TO V = be inclined     (S2)                         │
│      DISPOSE OF N    = deal with / refute (S1)                       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

⚠️ Trap. In a long sentence, the semicolon does not always end the thought — check whether you are still inside a since/if/although frame. And never let a missing comma turn however (nevertheless) into however (in whatever way).

Transformation drill. Combine with Formula 1(A): Arius denied the Son's deity. Sabellius confused the Persons. It is right to answer both.

Model: Since Arius denied the Son's deity; since Sabellius confused the Persons, it will be proper here to dispose of both errors. (✓ two causal since-clauses, semicolon inside the frame, dummy it + to dispose of.)

Formula 2 — Rhetorical questions and concessive machines: how can S … V? · Nay, how can …? · though · while unable · if any where · how much soever … may

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  (A) HOW CAN + S + ( … long insert … ) + BARE V ?  = S cannot V      │
│      how can the human mind[s] (which has … , though it is …)        │
│          BRING DOWN the boundless essence …?                  (S5)   │
│        ✗ brings / ✗ to bring                                         │
│      Nay, how can it, under its own guidance, PENETRATE …?   (S6)   │
│        · NAY = what's more (intensifier, not denial)                 │
│                                                                       │
│  (B) embedded question with fronted preposition — NO inversion       │
│      to ascertain OF WHAT the body of the sun CONSISTS        (S5)   │
│        ✗ of what does the body of the sun consist                    │
│                                                                       │
│  (C) reduced concessive:  WHILE ‹S BE› ADJ                           │
│      … while unable to understand its own ‹substance›          (S6)  │
│                                                                       │
│  (D) HERE, IF ANYWHERE, …   = here more than anywhere else    (S4)   │
│                                                                       │
│  (E) HOW + ADJ/ADV + SOEVER + S + MAY + V  = however … may           │
│      how much soever the mystery may be beyond our reach     (S13)   │
│        · MAY = concessive ("even if it is")                          │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

⚠️ Trap. In (A), the verb after can may be 25 words away — it is always bare. In (B), an embedded question keeps statement order even when the preposition moves to the front.

Transformation drill. Rewrite with Formula 2(A) + (E): The mind cannot understand the stars, which it sees every night. It cannot measure God. This is true however clever it may be.

Model: How can the mind, which cannot understand the stars, though it sees them every night, measure God, how clever soever it may be? (✓ how can … measure bare verb; ✓ though concessive; ✓ how clever soever … may be.)

Formula 3 — Fences of comparison and exclusion + the fronted object

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  (A) NO MORE X THAN (S AUX/DO)   = as little X as                    │
│      no more modesty here than they are wont to do          (S11)   │
│        ⚠ ≠ "less modesty"                                            │
│                                                                       │
│  (B) MORE X THAN Y   (two nouns compared)                            │
│      more docility than acumen                               (S12)   │
│                                                                       │
│  (C) MORE X THAN IS MEET   (THAN acts as subject)                    │
│      more trouble and annoyance … than is meet               (S13)   │
│        · meet = fitting (adj.)                                       │
│                                                                       │
│  (D) NO OTHER X THAN Y  /  ANYWHERE BUT Y   = only Y                  │
│      to no other quarter than his word                        (S9)   │
│      never … anywhere but in his sacred word                 (S12)   │
│                                                                       │
│  (E) FARTHER THAN + clause                                            │
│      farther than we have it for our guide                   (S12)   │
│                                                                       │
│  (F) FRONTED OBJECT + gap in the IF-clause                           │
│      This knowledge, then, if we would leave ∅ to God,               │
│      we must conceive of him …                                 (S9)  │
│        · object of LEAVE, not of CONCEIVE                            │
│        · WOULD = are willing to (volitional)                         │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

⚠️ Trap. no more … than looks like a comparison of degree but is really an ironic equation. but after anywhere/nothing/none = except. And a fronted object may belong to a SUBORDINATE clause — find the gap.

Transformation drill. Combine with (B) + (D) + (F): We want to know God truly. We must bring teachableness rather than cleverness. We must seek him only in Scripture.

Model: The true knowledge of God, if we would have, we must seek nowhere but in Scripture, bringing more docility than acumen. (✓ fronted object with gap after have; ✓ nowhere but; ✓ more X than Y.) — Modern equivalent: If we want true knowledge of God, we must seek it only in Scripture, bringing more teachableness than cleverness.

Where we are. Chapter 13 has two halves. Printed §§1–20 (our §§4–23) = positive teaching: the terms (person, hypostasis), the deity of the Son and Spirit, the distinction, order and relation of the Persons. Printed §§21–29 (our §§24–32) = polemic. Today's section is the hinge — and it announces the hinge in so many words: Hitherto … but now. Tomorrow (printed §22) Calvin names Servetus; after that (printed §§23–29) he answers the newer anti-trinitarians who taught that the Father alone is the "essentiator" and the Son and Spirit derive their essence from him.

a new flame out of the old embers — Geneva in the 1550s. Michael Servetus (De Trinitatis Erroribus, 1531; Christianismi Restitutio, 1553) attacked the Trinity as a philosophical invention; he was condemned and burned at Geneva on 27 October 1553. Within a few years the Italian refugee congregation in Geneva produced new anti-trinitarian voices — Matteo Gribaldi, Giorgio Biandrata, Giovanni Valentino Gentile. In 1558 the Italian church was required to sign a Trinitarian confession; Gentile signed, recanted, fled. So when Calvin writes is attempting in the present day, he is not being rhetorical. The 1559 edition was written in the smoke. Behind that: Calvin's own bruise — in 1537 Pierre Caroli had accused him and Farel of Arianism because they would not subscribe on demand to the Athanasian Creed. Calvin knew from experience that Trinitarian polemic can be weaponised. That helps explain why his rules of engagement (S4, S12) bind himself as much as his opponents.

Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315–367) — S8. The "Athanasius of the West", exiled to Phrygia by the pro-Arian emperor Constantius, wrote De Trinitate (12 books) there. Book 1 is autobiographical and methodological: we must receive what God says of himself, because only God is a competent witness about God. Calvin quotes him not as a proof-text but as a PRINCIPLE: God's self-testimony is the only admissible evidence. The line fits I.7 (the Spirit's testimony) perfectly.

John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) — S10. Preaching at Antioch (c. 386–387), Chrysostom delivered a series On the Incomprehensible Nature of God against the Anomoeans. Their leader Eunomius taught that God's essence is simply "unbegottenness" (agennēsia) — and therefore that the begotten Son must be of a different essence; and he claimed that human beings can know God's essence as God knows it. Chrysostom's reply: even the seraphim cover their faces (Isa 6:2); Paul himself says God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16). Calvin's in vain (S10) is historically fair: the Anomoean party was not argued out of existence; it was outlasted.

The a fortiori from the sun (S5–S6). Calvin's argument is old — Wisdom 9:16 (hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth … but the things that are in heaven who hath searched out?), John 3:12 (If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?). And it links back to I.1.1: knowledge of God and knowledge of self are bound together. S6 turns that into a diagnosis: the mind that does not understand its own substance should not claim to understand God's.

The labyrinth, once more (S13). I.5.12: the mind is itself a kind of labyrinth from which idols pour. I.6.3: the brightness of God's face is a labyrinth to us inextricable, if the Word do not serve us as a thread (Day 30). Today: CURIOSITY is the door in. Calvin will use the image again at the start of the doctrine of predestination (III.21.1–2), with the same rule: go as far as Scripture goes, and stop where it stops. One vocabulary line through all of them: labyrinth (the problem) · guidance/oracles/thread (the solution) · sobriety (the posture).

Reception. The principle He alone is a fit witness to himself — God known only through God — became a cornerstone of Reformed prolegomena (the principium cognoscendi externum = Scripture) and was taken up forcefully by Karl Barth (Church Dogmatics I/1: God is known through God alone). Bavinck (Reformed Dogmatics II) opens the doctrine of God with the same double theme as today's section: God is incomprehensible, yet truly knowable as he reveals himself.

Over-reading guardrails. ⚠️ (1) S4/S12 ≠ anti-intellectualism: Calvin commands us to speculate soberly and ranks acumen below docility — he does not ban it. (2) S13 ≠ agnosticism: the mystery … beyond our reach does not mean God is unknown; S9 says we know him as he has made himself known. Incomprehensible ≠ unknowable. (3) S2 ≠ abandonment of the flock: S3 keeps the teachable as the principal study. (4) S5 ≠ disdain for natural science: the sun is a measuring stick for the mind's limits, not a target. (5) S10–S11 ≠ contempt for argument: Chrysostom's homilies were argument — Calvin praises the effort and blames the listeners. (6) S1 Satan ≠ demonising every questioner: Calvin distinguishes such as are disposed to learn (S2) and some intellects troubled more than is meet (S13) from the stubborn and contentious.

The one-line takeaway. ⚠️ Before the fight about God, the rule for the fight: know God as he has made himself known — not a step less, not a step more.

1. Matthew 15:13; Jude 12 — S1 (pluck up our faith by the roots). Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up (ἐκριζωθήσεται) / false teachers twice dead, plucked up by the roots (ἐκριζωθέντα). How it fits: Satan's aim = uprooting; Scripture's verdict = the uprooters end up uprooted.
2. 1 Peter 5:8; Luke 22:31 — S1 (Satan the instigator). your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about / Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. How it fits: doctrinal attack is framed as spiritual warfare, not mere academic disagreement.
3. 2 Timothy 2:23–25; 1 Corinthians 11:16 — S2 (not to war with the stubborn and contentious). foolish and unlearned questions avoid … in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves / if any man seem to be contentious (φιλόνεικος). How it fits: Paul's pastoral preference (instruct, don't brawl) = Calvin's Mode 1.
4. Jude 3; 1 Peter 3:15 — S2 (must be vindicated). earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints / be ready always to give an answer (ἀπολογία). How it fits: Mode 2 — defence is also commanded.
5. Isaiah 50:4–5 — S3 (those whose ears are open). he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear. How it fits: open ears = God-given teachability, the audience Calvin serves.
6. Deuteronomy 29:29 — S4 (the hidden mysteries of Scripture / the confines of God’s word). The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children. How it fits: the boundary line between the revealed and the secret — Calvin's classic text for theological restraint.
7. Romans 12:3; Proverbs 30:5–6; Deuteronomy 4:2 — S4 (speculate soberly, not … a step beyond). to think soberly (σωφρονεῖν) / Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee / Ye shall not add unto the word. How it fits: sobriety + no additions = the rule of engagement.
8. Ecclesiastes 5:2 — S4, S12 (our tongue, speak or think). God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. How it fits: restraint of the tongue in speaking of God.
9. Job 11:7–8; 38:4, 19; Isaiah 40:12–18 — S5 (the sun, boundless, its little measure). Canst thou by searching find out God? … It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? / Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? … Where is the way where light dwelleth? / To whom then will ye liken God? How it fits: God's own a fortiori from creation's mysteries to his incomparability.
10. 1 Corinthians 2:10–11; Matthew 11:27 — S7–S8 (He alone is a fit witness to himself). what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God / neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. How it fits: Scripture's own version of Hilary — God known by God, and by us only through his self-revelation. (1 Cor 2:11 also mirrors S6: the mind and its own things.)
11. John 1:18; 1 Timothy 6:16 — S9 (as he has made himself known). No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son … he hath declared him (ἐξηγήσατο) / dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto. How it fits: incomprehensible (1 Tim) + truly declared (John) = S9's balance.
12. Romans 11:33–34 — S12–S13 (the mystery beyond our reach). how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? How it fits: Paul ends his hardest argument in doxology, not in a solution — Calvin's submit … how much soever.
13. Romans 3:2 — S13 (the divine oracles). unto them were committed the oracles of God (τὰ λόγια τοῦ θεοῦ). How it fits: oracles = Scripture; the thread out of the labyrinth.

① 어법 — 밑줄 넷 중 어색한 것 하나

Here, if any where, we should speculate soberly, cautiously guarding against (A) allowing either our mind or our tongue (B) to go a step beyond the confines of God’s word. For how can the human mind, which has not yet been able to ascertain of what the body of the sun (C) consists, though it is daily presented to the eye, (D) brings down the boundless essence of God to its little measure?

✨ 답안 보기 (클릭)정답: (D).

출제 의도. ⚠️ Formula 2(A) — after how can, the main verb is the bare infinitive, however far away: how can the human mind … bring down …? (D) brings agrees with mind as if there were no modal → ✗. Why the others are sound. (A) guard against + gerund ✓. (B) allow + object + to V ✓. (C) ⚠️ the "feels wrong, is right" option — embedded question with fronted preposition keeps statement order and agrees with the body (singular): of what the body of the sun consists ✓ (Formula 2B).

② 내용일치 — 다음 중 §24의 내용과 일치하는 것은?

(1) From this point on, Calvin's principal aim is to refute heretics rather than to help those who are willing to learn. (2) Calvin forbids believers to consider the hidden mysteries of Scripture, since they lie beyond human reach. (3) Chrysostom's five homilies succeeded in silencing the Anomoeans and curbing their presumption. (4) Since the human mind cannot even discover what the sun is made of, or understand its own nature, it cannot reduce God's boundless essence to its own measure.

✨ 답안 보기 (클릭)정답: (4).

출제 의도. (1) ✗ Direction flip. S2 changes the mode, but S3: it will be our principal study to provide a sure footing for those whose ears are open to the word of God. (2) ✗ Scope overreach. S4 assumes consideration (in considering the hidden mysteries of Scripture, we should speculate soberly); what is forbidden is going a step beyond the confines of God’s word. (3) ✗ Direction flip. S10: he endeavoured, but in vain, to check the presumption of the sophists. (4) ✓ S5–S6 — how can the human minds which has not yet been able to ascertain of what the body of the sun consists … bring down the boundless essence of God to its little measure? Nay, how can it … penetrate to a knowledge of the substance of God while unable to understand its own?

③ 영작 — 다음을 오늘의 공식을 적용해 영어로

이 지식을 하나님께 맡기고자 한다면, 우리는 그분이 자신을 알리신 대로 그분을 생각해야 하며, 그분의 말씀 외에는 어디서도 그분을 찾지 말아야 한다. 신비가 아무리 우리 손에 닿지 않더라도 말이다.

Model answer:

This knowledge, if we would leave to God, we must conceive of him as he has made himself known, and never search after him anywhere but in his word, how much soever the mystery may be beyond our reach.

출제 의도. Three checks. ① Formula 3(F) — fronted object with the gap after leave + volitional would. ⚠️ This knowledge, if we would leave it to God is acceptable modern English, but the target is the gap ∅; we must conceive this knowledge ✗ (wrong verb). ② Formula 3(D) — anywhere but = only. ⚠️ anywhere except for his word is fine in meaning; anywhere but his word loses the in (search in the word). ③ Formula 2(E) — how much soever … may be. ⚠️ how much the mystery soever ✗ (soever follows the adj./adv. directly).

One-line summary. since Satan, in order to pluck up our faith by the roots, has always provoked fierce disputes* about the deity of the Son and Spirit and the distinction of Persons, it will be proper here to dispose of some of these perverse dreams; the mode shifts — Hitherto … to stretch out our hand for the guidance of such as are disposed to learn, not to war with the stubborn and contentious; but now the truth … must be vindicated — yet the aim stays pastoral (a sure footing for those whose ears are open); the rule: we should speculate soberly … guarding against allowing either our mind or our tongue to go a step beyond the confines of God’s word, because a mind that cannot tell what the sun is made of, or what it is itself, cannot bring down the boundless essence of God to its little measure; so let us willingly leave to God the knowledge of himself (Hilary: He alone is a fit witness to himself), conceive of him as he has made himself known, bring more docility than acumen, and when the distinction troubles us more … than is meet, remember the human mind enters a labyrinth whenever it indulges its curiosity and submit to be guided by the divine oracles, how much soever the mystery may be beyond our reach*.

The three grammar points, once more. ① The long causal frame — since …; since …, it will be proper here to dispose of (S1: since = because; main verb will be), Hitherto … has been to V, not to V; but now … must be vindicated (S2), Still, however it will be (S3, printed; read however,), and the pair dispose of / be disposed to. ② Rhetorical questions and concessives — how can the human mind[s] … bring down …? (S5: bare verb after can), of what the body of the sun consists (no inversion), Nay, how can it … while unable … (S6), if any where (S4), how much soever … may be (S13). ③ Fences of comparison and exclusion — no other quarter than (S9), no more modesty … than they are wont to do (S11), more docility than acumen, anywhere but, farther than we have it for our guide (S12), more … than is meet (S13), plus the fronted object This knowledge, … if we would leave ∅ to God (S9).

And the structural fact you now own: ⚠️ S1–S3 the declaration of war (two causes → the duty to refute; mode shift; priority kept), S4–S6 the rules of engagement (sobriety; the a fortiori from the sun and the soul), S7–S9 the principle (God alone witnesses to God; know him as he has made himself known; no other source than the Word), S10–S13 the cautionary tale and the exit (Chrysostom vs the Anomoeans; docility over acumen; curiosity = labyrinth; submit to the oracles).

Homework (10 minutes).

1. Structure restoration (4 min). Rewrite S1 as two plain sentences in base order: Satan has always … . Therefore it will be proper here to … Then underline the main verb of the original sentence and explain why since is causal, not temporal.
2. Composition (4 min). Write one sentence using Formula 3(A) and 3(C): They showed no more … than …, and gave more … than is meet (topic: a modern debate about God's nature). Check: no more = as little; meet = fitting.
3. Preview (2 min). Tomorrow (our §25 = printed §22): It were tedious, and to no purpose toilsome, to form a catalogue of the errors by which, in regard to this branch of doctrine, the purity of the faith has been assailed. Expect: (a) It were tedious = it would be tedious (archaic subjunctive — Day 97 S10 were puerile); (b) Arius and Sabellius shut out by the two-part rule (one simple essence + distinct properties); (c) Servetus by name. Today: the rules of engagement. Tomorrow: the first shots.

Where we stopped: Book 1, Ch. 13, §24 끝. 다음은 Book 1, Ch. 13, §25 (= Beveridge 인쇄 §22, 오류 목록은 지루할 뿐 — 단일 본질 + 위격 고유성 두 원리로 아리우스·사벨리우스 차단, 세르베투스 등장 · It were tedious, and to no purpose toilsome, to form a catalogue of the errors by which, …).