thrown His hook and His net into all the world, before our feet,
before our eyes, before our minds, and He would gladly draw us
securely to Himself by means of all His creatures. By pleasurable
things He draws us on; by painful things He drives us on. He who
will not be drawn, is in fault; for he has not taken God's hook, nor
will he be caught in God's net. If he came therein, beyond doubt he
would be caught by God and would be drawn by God. It is not God's
fault if we will not be drawn; we should grasp the hand held out to
us. If a man were in a deep pool, and one tried to help him and pull
him out, would he not gladly grasp his hand and allow himself to be
pulled out? (42)

Where two things are so related to each other, that one may receive
something for the other, there must be something in common between
them. If they had nothing in common, there must be a middle term
between them, which has something in common both with the higher,
from which it may receive, and with the lower, to which it may
impart. Now God hath created all things, and especially mankind,
immediately for Himself. He created man for His pleasure. But by
sin, human nature was so far estranged from God, that it was
impossible for a man to attain to that, for which he was made. Now
Aristotle says that God and Nature are not unprofitable
workers--that is, what they work at, they carry to its end. Now God
created man that He might have pleasure in him. If then God's work
in creating mankind was not to be unprofitable, when they were so
far estranged from God by sin, that they could not receive that by
which they might return and attain the enjoyment of eternal
happiness, a Mediator was necessary between us and God, one who has
something in common with us and our natures, and also shares in the
nature of God. In order that on the one side, He might in Himself