were obedient to his wickedness, since “the whole of this world”—for I term this place of earth, world—“lieth in the wicked one,”[119] and in this apostate. That he is an apostate, _i.e._ a fugitive, even the Lord in the book of Job says, “Thou wilt take with a hook the apostate dragon,” _i.e._ a fugitive.[120] Now it is certain that by the dragon is understood the devil himself. If then they are called opposing powers, and are said to have been once without stain, while spotless purity exists in the essential being of none save the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but is an accidental quality in every created thing; and since that which is accidental may also fall away, and since those opposite powers once were spotless, and were once among those which still remain unstained, it is evident from all this that no one is pure either by essence or nature, and that no one was by nature polluted. And the consequence of this is, that it lies within ourselves and in our own actions to possess either happiness or holiness; or by sloth and negligence to fall from happiness into wickedness and ruin, to such a degree that, through too great proficiency, so to speak, in wickedness (if a man be guilty of so great neglect), he may descend even to that state in which he will be changed into what is called an “opposing power.” Footnote 107: Heb. i. 14. Footnote 108: Officia. Footnote 109: Eph. i. 21. Footnote 110: Deut. xxxii. 9. Footnote 111: Deut. xxxii. 8. The Septuagint here differs from the Masoretic text. Footnote 112: Simul cum substantiæ suæ prolatione—at the same time with the emanation of their substance. Footnote 113: Conditionis prærogativa. Footnote 114: Substantialiter. Footnote 115: Ezek. xxviii. 11-19. Footnote 116: Isa. xiv. 12-22. Footnote 117: Luke x. 18. Footnote 118: Matt. xxiv. 27. Footnote 119: 1 John v. 19. Footnote 120: Job xl. 20. CHAPTER VI. ON THE END OR CONSUMMATION.