For what human being ever knew what God is before he came?
Or do you accept the empty and foolish statements of those supposedly trustworthy philosophers? Some of them said that God is fire—they call 'God' the very fire into which they themselves are destined to go. Others said water, and others one of the other elements created by God.
And yet, if any one of these claims is acceptable, each of the other created things could equally be declared God.
But these things are monstrous tales and the deception of impostors.
No human being has either seen or known him; he himself revealed himself.
And he revealed himself through faith, to which alone it has been granted to see God.
For God, the Master and Creator of all, who made everything and arranged it in order, proved to be not only loving toward humanity but also patient.
Indeed, he always was such, and is, and will be: gracious and good, free from anger and true. He alone is good.
Having conceived a great and inexpressible plan, he shared it with his Son alone.
So long, then, as he kept his wise counsel hidden as a mystery and guarded it, he seemed to neglect us and take no thought for us.
But when he revealed it through his beloved Son and made manifest what had been prepared from the beginning, he gave us everything at once: to share in his benefits, to see, and to understand things none of us could ever have expected.