4. Divine Power

In the entire system of the Firmament, thus seen and understood, there appeared to be, to all the thinkers of those ages, the incontrovertible and unmistakable evidence of a Divine Power in creation, which had fitted, as the air for human breath, so the clouds for human sight and nourishment;—the Father who was in heaven feeding day by day the souls of His children with marvels, and satisfying them with bread, and so filling their hearts with food and gladness.

Their hearts, you will observe, it is said, not merely their bellies,—or indeed not at all, in this sense, their bellies—but the heart itself, with its blood for this life, and its faith for the next. The opposition between this idea and the notions of our own time may be more accurately expressed by modification of the Greek than of the English sentence. The old Greek is—

έμπιπλών τροφής καί εύφροσύνης τάς καρδίας ήμών

filling with meat, and cheerfulness, our hearts.

The modern Greek should be—

Έμριπλών άνέμου καί άφροσύνης τάς γαστέρας ήμών.

filling with wind, and foolishness, our stomachs.