THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
Chrysostom and Olympiodorus highlight the profound truth that all creation acknowledges the Creator, revealing that this understanding extends beyond humanity to include the silent creatures and the lifeless earth. They question, “Why do you behave as if you have made an important discovery of wonder? Surely, the wicked must face destruction, and this is universally understood.” Sophera expressed this idea in an exaggerated manner, stating, “Inquire of the voiceless and inanimate beings, which, though they lack articulate speech, nonetheless proclaim the glory of God in their silent existence. They are aware of God’s might and, akin to those who can speak, would declare that the Creator is the God of all, beyond comprehension in wisdom, meting out justice to the wicked.
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In His dominion lies everything—both the vitality of the living and the realm of death. He effortlessly fulfills the desires of His will for every creature, governing both the lives of the silent and the spirits of men. If the voiceless could speak, they would surely declare God; how much more should humanity, endowed with reason, do so, as the ability to taste belongs to the throat and the capacity to hear belongs to the ear.” Some interpretations replace “ear” with “mind,” indicating that just as every person possesses a throat to discern nourishment—unique to humanity—so also have we been endowed with a mind to understand God, capable of grasping His wisdom and might, as the intellect discerns the intellectual while the senses perceive the sensory. Therefore, we are all equipped to recognize the Creator of all, God Himself.
“Why do you act as if you have made a great and marvelous discovery? Truly, such a person must inevitably perish, and there is no individual who does not know—indeed, we all acknowledge that the soul of every person rests in His hands.” This demonstrates that not only creation but also divine Providence bears witness to Him, as He upholds and nurtures all existence, both life and the souls of humankind, and possesses the authority to punish and discipline as He wills.