Saint Damascene Studite: The situations of people and the acceptance of Godtranslated

Saint Damascene the Studite For the Dormition of our Most Blessed Virgin Mary and Immortal Mary on August 15 The three states of people

Three are the states of all men, blessed Christians, as our books tell us.

One is that there are some people who, without teaching, without the word of God, without anything else, just because they conceive good in their minds, they do it.

Such was that God-loving Abraham, as our Scriptures testify; without hearing instruction—and from where should he hear, since his father, Tharras, and all his generation were heathens? And what do I say his generation? The whole world was like that!

But he, because he had a holy soul and was ready to do good, as soon as he saw the sky full of stars, he believed from that alone in God and hated the idols of his father. He thought to himself, "If the stars, the moon, and the sun are so brilliant and beautiful, while they are mere creations, how much more brilliant will He who made them be?"

Then he thought like the wise man that he was: "My father and all my generation worship idols and say that they are gods. …