2Cor 4:4

“As to their affirming that Paul said plainly in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not," and maintaining that there is indeed one god of this world, but another who is beyond all principality, and beginning, and power, we are not to blame if they, who give out that they do themselves know mysteries beyond God, know not how to read Paul. For if any one read the passage thus-according to Paul's custom, as I show elsewhere, and by many examples, that he uses transposition of words-"In whom God," then pointing it off, and making a slight interval, and at the same time read also the rest [of the sentence] in one [clause], "hath blinded the minds of them of this world that believe not," he shall find out the true [sense]; that it is contained in the expression, "God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world." And this is shown by means of the little interval [between the clause]. For Paul does not say, "the God of this world," as if recognising any other beyond Him; but he confessed God as indeed God. And he says, "the unbelievers of this world," because they shall not inherit the future age of incorruption.”

“For one and the same God [that blesses others] inflicts blindness upon those who do not believe, but who set Him at naught; just as the sun, which is a creature of His, [acts with regard] to those who, by reason of any weakness of the eyes cannot behold his light; but to those who believe in Him and follow Him, He grants a fuller and greater illumination of mind. In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in the Second the] to the Corinthians: "In whom the this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine [unto them]."”

“Now the countenance (or person ) of the Lord here is Christ. Wherefore the apostle said above: Christ, who is the image of God." Since Christ, then, is the person of the Creator, who said, "Let there be light," it follows that Christ and the apostles, and the gospel, and the veil, and Moses-nay, the whole of the dispensations-belong to the God who is the Creator of this world, according to the testimony of the clause (above adverted to), and certainly not to him who never said, "Let there be light.”

“Who then is he? Undoubtedly he who has raised up "children of disobedience" against the Creator Himself ever since he took possession of that "air" of His; even as the prophet makes him say: "I will set my throne above the stars; ... I will go up above the clouds; I will be like the Most High." This must mean the devil, whom in another passage (since such will they there have the apostle's meaning to be) we shall recognize in the appellation the god of this world. For he has filled the whole world with the lying pretence of his own divinity.”

“For if it is a Christian who, after wandering far from his Father, squanders, by living heathenishly, the "substance" received from God his Father,-(the substance), of course, of baptism-(the substance), of course, of the Holy Spirit, and (in consequence) of eternal hope; if, stripped of his mental "goods," he has even handed his service over to the prince of the world -who else but the devil?-and by him being appointed over the business of "feeding swine"-of tending unclean spirits, to wit-has recovered his senses so as to return to his Father,-the result will be, that, not adulterers and fornicators, but idolaters, and blasphemers, and renegades, and every class of apostates, will by this parable make satisfaction to the Father; and in this way (it may) rather (be said that) the whole "substance" of the sacrament is most truly wasted away.”

“For the Son of God is Word and Righteousness. But every sinner is under the tyranny of the prince of this age, since every sinner is made a friend of the present evil age. For he does not hand himself over to the One who gave "himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age" and to deliver us "according to the will of our God and Father," according to the verse in the letter to the Galatians. And the one who by voluntary sin is under the tyranny of the prince of this age is also ruled by sin. That is why we are commanded by Paul no longer to be subjected to sin that wishes to rule over us. We are so ordered through the following words, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.".”

“But if anyone dares to attribute corruption of substance to what was made according to the image and likeness of God, in my opinion he extends the charge of impiety also to the Son of God himself, since he is also called in Scripture "the image of God." At least the one who holds the opinion will certainly find fault with the authority of Scripture, which says that humanity was made after the image of God. And the traces of the divine image are clearly recognized not through the likeness of the body, which undergoes corruption, but through the intelligence of the soul, its righteousness, temperance, courage, wisdom, discipline, and through the entire chorus of virtues that are present in God by substance and can be in humankind through effort and the imitation of God. The Lord points this out in the Gospel when He says, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" and "Be perfect, as your Father is perfect." Consequently, it is quite clear that in God all these virtues can never enter or leave, but they are acquired by us little by little and one by one.”

“When, therefore, the number of men had begun to increase, God in His forethought, lest the devil, to whom from the beginning He had given power over the earth, should by his subtilty either corrupt or destroy men, as he had done at first, sent angels for the protection and improvement of the human race; and inasmuch as He had given these a free will, He enjoined them above all things not to defile themselves with contamination from the earth, and thus lose the dignity of their heavenly nature. He plainly prohibited them from doing that which He knew that they would do, that they might entertain no hope of pardon. Therefore, while they abode among men, that most deceitful ruler of the earth, by his very association, gradually enticed them to vices, and polluted them by intercourse with women. Then, not being admitted into heaven on account of the sins into which they had plunged themselves, they fell to the earth. Thus from angels the devil makes them to become his satellites and attendants. But they who were born from these, because they were neither angels nor men, but bearing a kind of mixed nature, were not admitted into hell, as their fathers were not into heaven. Thus there came to be two kinds of demons; one of heaven, the other of the earth. The latter are the wicked spirits, the authors of all the evils which are done, and the same devil is their prince. Therefore in this union of heaven and earth, the image of which is developed in man, those things which belong to God occupy the higher part, namely the soul, which has dominion over the body; but those which belong to the devil occupy the lower part, manifestly the body: for this, being earthly, ought to be subject to the soul, as the earth is to heaven.”

“And the Image, as of one substance with him, and because he is of the Father, and not the Father of him. For this is of the nature of an image, to be the reproduction of its archetype and of that whose name it bears; only that there is more here. For in ordinary language an image is a motionless representation of that which has motion, but in this case it is the living reproduction of the living one and is more exactly like than was Seth to Adam or any son to his father.”

“What is the face of God like? As his image, certainly, for as the apostle says, the image of the Father is the Son. With his image, therefore, may he shine upon us, that is, may he shine his image, the Son, upon us in order that he himself may shine upon us, for the light of the Father is the light of the Son. He who sees the Father sees also the Son, and he who sees the Son sees also the Father. Where there is no diversity between glory and glory, there glory is one and the same.”

“Among those who are perishing, he says, who are many and various, are also the unbelievers. It is they whose "the god of this age has blinded the minds." The Marcionites assert that this is said about the demiurge, whom they call just (see St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8), but not good, while the Manichaeans refer this to the devil, whom they also call the creator of the world. But neither the one nor the other is correct; rather, this is said about our God. And if He is called the God of this age, there is nothing new in that, for He is also called the God of heaven, although He is not God of it alone; He is also called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, although He is God not of them alone, but of all. What is strange, then, if Paul also fittingly called Him here the God of this age, in order to better show the unbelievers that He created even this visible world, while enjoying which they reject the Creator? This passage can also be explained thus: that God blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this age, for in the age to come there are no unbelievers. What then does "blinded" mean? It means that He permitted them to be blind, just as He also "gave them over to a debased mind" (Rom. 1:28). For after they fell away from Him, He left them to themselves, abandoned them, because He does not compel anyone to salvation. Note, however, that he did not say He blinded them so that they would not believe, but so that unworthy eyes would not see the radiance of Christ's glory. And the radiance consists in believing that He was crucified, ascended, and will grant us future blessings. Just as one with diseased eyes is not allowed to see the rays of the sun lest they be harmed, so too they became unbelievers of their own accord. And when they became such, God hid from them the rays of the glory of the Gospel, as from the Israelites the face of Moses. So He also commanded us "not to cast pearls before swine" (Matt. 7:6). He beautifully said "to shine," for now we have a moderate light, and not full illumination, which above he called a fragrance and a pledge, showing that there is something greater. Here he shows that they do not know not only the glory of Christ, but also the glory of the Father. For if Christ is the image of the Father, then he who does not see Christ does not know the Father either.”

“The cause of this concealment is not on the part of the Gospel, but on account of their own guilt and malice; and this is what he adds: in their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. This can be explained in three ways: in one way so that the god of this world, i.e. God, who is the Lord of this world and of all things by creation and nature: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1), has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, not by producing malice, but by the merit, or rather demerit of preceding sins, by withdrawing his grace: "Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed" (Is. 6:10). Therefore he hints at their preceding sins when he says, of unbelievers, as though their unbelief is the cause of this blindness. In a second way, so that the god of this world, i.e., the devil, who is called the god of this world, i.e., of those who live in a worldly manner, not by reason of creation but by imitation, because worldly persons imitate him: "They follow him that are on his side" (Wis. 2:25, Vulgate). Here he blinds them by suggesting, by attracting and by inclining to sins. And so, when they are already in sin, they work in the darkness of sin, lest they see: "Darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God" (Eph. 4:18). In the third way thus: God has the nature of the ultimate end and fulfillment of the desires of every creature. Hence, whatever a person assigns to himself as an ultimate end in which his desire rests, can be called his god. Hence, when you have pleasure as end, pleasure is called your god, and the same for pleasures of the flesh and for honors. Then it is explained so that the god of this world, i.e., that which men living in a worldly way set up as their end, say pleasure or riches and the like. And God blinds their minds, inasmuch as he prevents them from seeing the light of grace here, and the light of glory in the future: "Fire", namely of concupiscence, "has fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun" (Ps. 57:9, Vulgate). Thus, therefore, the blindness of unbelievers is not on the part of the Gospel, but from the sin of unbelievers. Therefore, he adds, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. Here it should be noted that God the Father is the source of all light: "God is light and in him is no darkness at all" (1 Jn. 1:5). From this fountain of light is derived the image of this light, namely the Son, the Word of God: "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature" (Heb. 1:3). Therefore, this brightness of glory and image of the fountain of light took our flesh and accomplished many glorious and divine works in this world. The disclosing of this light is the Gospel. Hence, the Gospel is also called the knowledge of the glory of Christ, which knowledge has the power to enlighten: "Wisdom is radiant and unfading" (Wis. 6:12). As far as it is concerned, it shines upon all and enlightens all. But those who place an obstacle are not enlightened. And this is what he says: the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing, namely, with their unbelieving minds, the light of the gospel, which enlightens because it is the glory of Christ, i.e. his brightness: "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father" (Jn. 1:14). This glory is Christ's, inasmuch as he is the likeness [image] of God: "He is the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). Note, according to a Gloss, that Christ is the most perfect image of God. For in order that something be perfectly an image of something, three things are necessary, and these three are perfectly in Christ. First, a likeness; second, origin; third, perfect equality. For if there is unlikeness between the image and that of which it is the image, and one does not arise from the other, or even if there is not perfect equality according to the same nature, then the notion of perfect image would not be there. For the likeness of a king on a coin is not called a perfect image of the king, because equality according to the same nature is lacking; but the likeness of a king in his son is called a perfect image of the king, because it possesses the three marks mentioned. Therefore, since those three are present in Christ, the Son of God, because namely he is similar to the Father, arises from the Father and is equal to the Father, he is in the highest degree and perfectly called the image of God.”

“The God of this world is said of the worldly-minded, because they, being hostile to the faith of Christ, blind the minds of infidels, so that they do not see the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ. Therefore, this is what they desire. For since they are malicious people and understand the truth, they say it is false, and in doing so, they assist themselves, in order that they may not believe what they do not want to believe. However, they assert that Christ, being the image of God, is only corporeal: and leaving aside his deeds, they only mention his flesh, of which Isaiah said: He has blinded their eyes, so that they may not see; and he has closed their ears, so that they may not hear up to this very day (Isaiah 6:10).”