{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/102/1020318.htm","path":"chr/ecf/102/1020318.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/102/1020318.htm","text":"Chapter 14.\u2014An Explanation of What is Said of the Devil, that He Did Not Abide in the Truth, Because the Truth Was Not in Him.\nMoreover, as if we had been inquiring why the devil did not abide in the truth, our Lord subjoins the reason, saying, \u201cbecause the truth is not in him.\u201d Now, it would be in him had he abode in it. But the phraseology is unusual. For, as the words stand, \u201cHe abode not in the truth, because the truth is not in him,\u201d it seems as if the truth\u2019s not being in him were the cause of his not abiding in it; whereas his not abiding in the truth is rather the cause of its not being in him. The same form of speech is found in the psalm: \u201cI have called upon Thee, for Thou hast heard me, O God,\u201d 478 where we should expect it to be said, Thou hast heard me, O God, for I have called upon Thee. But when he had said, \u201cI have called,\u201d then, as if some one were seeking proof of this, he demonstrates the effectual earnestness of his prayer by the effect of God\u2019s hearing it; as if he had said, The proof that I have prayed is that Thou hast heard me.","title":"Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. II: City of God: Cha...","type":"page"}