in Christ, so that Galen, the philosophical physician, although he was not
of the Christian religion, should yet bear witness to the good morals and
the perfections of these people, to the point of saying that they were
true philosophers. These virtues, these morals, were obtained not only
through good actions, for if virtue were only a matter of obtaining and
giving forth good, as this lamp is lighted and illuminates the
house--without doubt this illumination is a benefit--then why do we not
praise the lamp? The sun causes all the beings of the earth to increase,
and by its heat and light gives growth and development: is there a greater
benefit than that? Nevertheless, as this good does not come from goodwill
and from the love and knowledge of God, it is imperfect.

When, on the contrary, a man gives to another a cup of water, the latter
is grateful and thanks him. A man, without reflecting, will say, "This sun
which gives light to the world, this supreme bounty which is apparent in
it, must be adored and praised. Why should we not be grateful and thankful
to the sun for its bounty, when we praise a man who performs a simple act
of kindness?" But if we look for the truth, we see that this insignificant
kindness of the man is due to conscious feelings which exist; therefore,
it is worthy of praise, whereas the light and heat of the sun are not due
to the feelings and consciousness; therefore, they are not worthy of
eulogy or of praise and do not deserve gratitude or thanks.

In the same way, when a person performs a good action, although it is
praiseworthy, if it is not caused by the love and knowledge of God, it is
imperfect. Moreover, if you reflect justly, you will see that these good
actions of other men who do not know God are also fundamentally caused by
the teachings of God--that is to say, that the former Prophets led men to
perform these actions, explained their beauty to them, and declared their
splendid effects; then these teachings were diffused among men and reached
them successively, one after the other, and turned their hearts toward
these perfections. When men saw that these actions were considered
beautiful, and became the cause of joy and happiness for mankind, they
conformed to them.

Wherefore these actions also come from the teachings of God. But justice
is needed to see this, and not controversy and discussion. Praise be to
God, you have been to Persia, and you have seen how the Persians, through