Chapter VII.
From the words of the Lord to Abraham, philosophers have derived their doctrine: That all things are of wisdom, and have been drawn from it, and that in it is contained the possession which was promised to Abraham by divine providence. The five kings, namely the senses of the body, are held captive by the four, that is, by bodily allurements. But the same patriarch, fighting in the name of Christ, recalls the cavalry of the people of Sodom, in order to control vices and errors.
37. The place follows where we are clearly taught how much the mind is greatly improved by the removal of the superfluous part of an irrational number, and how much faults, when connected with faults, bring about evil. For Scripture does not state in vain: And God said to Abraham, after Lot had departed from him: Look with your eyes and see from the place where you are now, towards Africa, and the North, and the East, and the sea; because I will give you all the land that you see, to you and to your descendants forever (Gen. XIII, 14 and 15). Hence, the Stoic philosophers drew their doctrine as if from a source, saying that all things belong to the wise (Diogenes Laertius, Book VII, Life of Zeno). For the East and the West, the North and the South are parts of the universe. The whole world is enclosed in them. When God promised Abraham that He would give him these things, what else does He declare but that He will provide everything to the wise and faithful, leaving nothing lacking? Thus, Solomon also says in Proverbs: the whole world of riches belongs to the faithful (Prov. XVII, 6). How much greater is Solomon than Zeno, the master and founder of the Stoic sect! How much greater than Plato, the father of philosophy, or Pythagoras, the inventor of his name! But who is faithful, if not wise? For the fool is like the moon, always changing, but the wise person remains steadfast in their faith.
But perhaps you will say: How is the whole world the possession of a wise person? Because nature itself gives them the lot of everything, even if they themselves possess nothing. Wisdom is indeed the mistress and possessor of all things, which considers the gifts of nature to be its own; because they are given for the use of humans, and it needs nothing, even if the necessities of life are lacking. For just as a musician has musical instruments, or a doctor has medicines, or a sailor has the necessary equipment for a ship, even if they may not have them at all times; they still have them in a way that they can use them, even if the need for their use does not arise at the moment. How much more does a wise person consider everything that is of nature to be their own, who lives according to nature! For he does not lose his right who remembers that he was made in the image of God and that it was said to man by the Lord God, 'Increase and multiply, and fill the Earth, and have dominion over it, and rule over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and all the living things that move on the Earth' (Gen. I, 28). And he knows that wisdom is the mother of all things, and she possesses the world. Finally, Solomon, who sought wisdom and received it from our Lord God, said, 'He has given me true knowledge of the things that exist, so that I may know the arrangement of the Earth, the power of the elements, the beginning and end and middle of all things, the divisions of time, the course of the years, the arrangements of the stars, the natures of animals and the tempers of beasts, the force of the winds, the thoughts of men, the differences of plants, the powers of roots, and whatever is hidden and unexpected' (Sap. VII. 17 et seq). But these things are only available to the perfect.
39. Finally, as long as Lot clung to him, that is, a deviation in morals, he did not receive these fortunes. But when he had completely freed himself from this uncertain and winding deviation, he began to follow the straight paths of virtue with steady steps of his soul, and he was sent as the possessor into all the land, and it was said to him: Arise, and walk through the land in its length and width; for I will give it to you, and to your descendants forever (Gen. XIII, 17). Therefore, whoever has earned wisdom and is not the son of a slave, not a servant of sin, not subject to the succession of the flesh; but free, that is, not a servant but a ruler, of good lineage, of good nature, will acquire the inheritance of perfect virtue. Therefore, it is said to Abraham: Arise. It does not signify a bodily resurrection, but a spiritual one, that is, Arise, you who sleep (Ephesians 5:14), rise from earthly things, rise from physical things, leave behind earthly things, behold heaven; and rise from the dead, that is, from vain opinions and Chaldean disquisitions. Behold the world, behold also him who can give the whole world. 'I will give you the world in possession,' he says, 'whom you believed to be God before.'
40. Walk the earth in its length and breadth. Certainly within a moment this earth, enclosed by the Persian empire, could not be walked from the shores of India to the columns of Hercules, as they say, or to the farthest borders of Britain. And one could seem almost irreverent, who did not obey the celestial oracle, if he had received the command to travel through this land: but since his devotion has been proven; because he had only transferred his tent to the oak of Mamre (Genesis, 18), we can certainly understand the perfect power of the land, which would give good fruits and fruitful inventions, the first harvest of thoughts and the harvest of merits, and would fill the inner house with wheat, wine, and oil, the land of resurrection which He promised to our fathers, flowing with milk and honey (Exodus, 3), the sweetness of life, the grace of joy, the splendor of glory, of which the firstborn from the dead, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became the heir. And therefore he did not say 'seeds' but 'seed' (Gal. III, 16), in order to declare him who would be the first to acquire this inheritance for the human race.
We have known the progress of a good mind, which, rising up from the vice of slippery deviation, immediately sought the reward of wisdom, the inheritance of justice. However, the harm that vices attached to levity can cause is taught by the series of following readings. For those four kings who triumphed over the five kings and brought the entire cavalry of the people of Sodom, also took Lot, the son of Abraham's brother, and departed. The five kings (Gen. XIV, 1 et seq.) are the five senses of our body: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. The four kings are bodily and worldly allurements; for both the flesh of man and the world consist of four elements. Kings are rightly called so because they have dominion over their subjects and possess a great kingdom. Hence, the Apostle says: 'Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body' (Rom. VI, 12). Our senses easily give way to bodily pleasures and worldly desires, and are captivated by their power. But these bodily pleasures and allurements of this world do not conquer unless the mind is spiritual, adhering to God and separating itself completely from earthly things. Every deflection is captured by these. Hence, John says: Woe to the inhabitants of the earth. (Apoc. VIII, 13). Of course, it does not include all people who then complete the course of this life (for there are also those on earth whose conversation is in heaven), but rather those whom the desires of earthly conversation and the grace of this age have overcome. Therefore, we are not inhabitants, but sojourners of this earth. For a sojourner carries the hope of a temporary inn, but a inhabitant seems to place all hope and use of his substance there, where he thinks he should dwell. Therefore, whoever is a dweller of the earth, is a inhabitant of heaven; but whoever is an inhabitant of the earth, is a possessor of death.
Abram counted three hundred and eighteen of his household servants, and he struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is to the right of Damascus (Gen. XIV, 14 and 15). And the number is significant. For in it is life, if we believe in suffering in the name of the Lord Jesus. For this is the interpretation of the name of Hobah, which we said is life (Book I of Abraham, c. 2). It is said to be beautiful to the right of Damascus. For indeed Agni to the right, kids to the left. The trained mind knows whom to employ for accomplishing the battle, with what weapons to equip them, with what banners to lead. It does not prefer the images of eagles, nor of dragons: but it advances under the cross of Christ, and in the name of Jesus, to the battle, strong in this sign, faithful in this banner. Therefore, the trained mind, which has received the true wisdom of a just man, deserves praise. But justice is also skillful in reproof, and by accusing, it calls back sinners, and restrains the impulses of passions.
Therefore Scripture says that it recalled all the cavalry of the Sodomites, that is, it held the reins, imposed the bridle of reason, recalled the fault, and overthrew the error. For a horse does not know how to stand still, it is swift to attack, raising its neck, neighing with lust. What is so similar to sin? For at first the fault boils with impetuosity and precludes every thought of the right, and with hasty movement it springs forth, so that reason finds it difficult to recall it. He plunges headlong and throws off his yoke of correction, refusing with a swollen neck to bear his burden. There is a particular form of lust that changes the voice of a man, corrupts the words of a lover, and reveals itself in its own words. Finally, the Lord God says to Judah through Jeremiah: Now your disgrace, your adultery, your neighing, and the alienation of your fornication will be seen upon the hills (Jeremiah 13:25-26). The righteous one called back the cavalry, he also converted the declining customs and called them to himself, so that they would become imitators of him, who had wandered off; because our senses return to the discipline of the mind.
44. It also received substance. It certainly does not signify inheritance, but the vital substance of the soul, in which there is precious wealth, not straw, not hay; in which there is the splendor of faithful conversation, in which our census of hope subsists. For this is our true substance, which is rich in the abundance of wisdom, this is the immortal substance: the daily use of the body or of accidents, rather than lasting use. Hence, some rightly do not consider inheritance to be substance. For we do not depend on it, since even for those who lack money, substance of life does not fail.