LESSON SECOND
ON GOD AND HIS PERFECTIONS
Q. What is God?
A. God is a spirit infinitely perfect.
The King and the Philosopher
It is impossible for man exactly to define the nature of God. Nero, the tyrant of Syracuse, one day summoned the philosopher Simonides to his presence and asked him what God actually was. The philosopher said he must have a day for reflection before answering the question. At the end of the day he asked for two days more, and when that time had expired he asked for four days’ respite. Thus he continued to postpone giving an answer for a longer and longer period, until the king inquired the reason why he did so. Then the sage replied: “ The longer I meditate upon this mysterious subject, the more I find it involved in obscurity.” Our finite understanding cannot comprehend the infinite. It was truly said: “No man can comprehend what God is unless he himself is a partaker of His nature.”
Q. Had God a beginning?
A. God had no beginning; He always was and He always will be.
