It may be asked, What is it like to be a partaker of the Divine
nature, or a Godlike man? The answer is, that he who is steeped in,
or illuminated by, the eternal and Divine Light, and kindled or
consumed by the eternal and Divine Love, is a Godlike man and a
partaker of the Divine nature. But this light or knowledge is of no
avail without love. You may understand this if you remember that a
man who knows very well the difference between virtue and
wickedness, but does not love virtue, is not virtuous, in that he
obeys vice. But he who loves virtue follows after it, and his love
makes him an enemy to wickedness, so that he will not perform any
wicked act and hates wickedness in others; and he loves virtue so
that he would not leave any virtue unperformed even if he had the
choice, not for the sake of reward, but from love of virtue. To such
a man virtue brings its own reward, and he is content with it, and
would part with it for no riches. Such a man is already virtuous, or
in the way to become so. And the truly virtuous man would not cease
to be so to gain the whole world. He would rather die miserably. The
case of justice is the same. Many men know well what is just and
unjust, but yet neither are nor ever will be just men. For they love
not justice, and therefore practise wickedness and injustice. If a
man loved justice, he would do no unjust deed; he would feel so
great abhorrence and anger against injustice whenever he saw it that
he would be willing to do and suffer anything in order to put an end
to injustice, and that men might be made just. He would rather die
than commit an injustice, and all for love of justice. To him,
justice brings her own reward, she rewards him with herself, and so
the just man would rather die a thousand deaths than live as an
unjust man. The same may be said of truth. A man may know very well
what is truth or a lie, but if he loves not the truth, he is not a
true man. If, however, he loves it, it is with truth as with
justice. And of justice Isaiah speaks in the fifth chapter: "Woe
unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for
light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet
for bitter." Thus we may understand that knowledge and light avail
nothing without love. We see the truth of this in the case of the
Evil One. He perceives and knows good and evil, right and wrong: but
since he has no love for the good that he sees, he becomes not good.
It is true indeed that Love must be led and instructed by knowledge,
but if knowledge is not followed by Love, it will be of no avail. So
also with God and Divine things. Although a man know much about God
and Divine things, and even dream that he sees and understands what
God Himself is, yet if he have not Love, he will never become like
God or a partaker of the Divine nature. But if Love be added to his
knowledge, he cannot help cleaving to God, and forsaking all that is
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