The Holy War — Page 226
226 Nevertheless, the verse which is currently in dispute has a basic principle established, given that God appears to be stating within it that, ‘Every single thing is in My authority’, and the statement of this principle is under the heading, ‘They said, is any affair at all in our hand?’ This is the great rule that is mentioned here, and the conjectures of people are of inferior stature. The conclusion this leads to, you can judge for yourself. Ninth: Jesus Christ, by virtue of his humanity, has to fulfil all the obligations to God; therefore, he will have to pass through tests and be tried by Satan as well. So is it necessary that we include this matter in the discussion of choice or lack thereof ? Tenth: We have not placed any limits on the authority of God except for that limit to which every attribute is bound to by its nature. For example, we call Him the Omnipotent, but this can- not mean that He can also bring opposites together simultaneously, because another name for such bringing together of opposites is falsehood. And falsehood is no attribute that He should desire to bring into being, but only to manifest the truth. Thus, the mean- ing of Omnipotence is this that He should bring into being that which is possible and there is no need whatsoever for Him to make that which is impossible because that can only happen by lying. It should be clear that just as we cannot place inappropriate limits on Divine powers; similarly, we cannot place inappropriate limits on the free will of man. Eleventh: Prayer is useless while one has full authority; this means that we also possess unlimited knowledge and power. However, I have never made any such claim, only that his [man’s] knowledge, power, and authority are all limited. So, in short, your assumptions and your suppositions are just imaginary. Twelfth: We have never said that putting a seal on hearts and eyes is not meant to be metaphorical; therefore, why should this objection be made against us? Thirteenth: We totally accept that the being of God