Miscellanies 6.16.147

That is why the noble apostle calls idolatry one of the forms of sexual immorality, in agreement with the prophet who says: “She committed adultery with wood and stone. To the wood she said, ‘You are my father,’ and to the stone, ‘You gave me birth.’” Then follows the word about murder. Murder is a violent removal. The one, then, who wishes to remove the true word about God and his eternity so as to put falsehood in its place, saying either that the universe is without providence, or that the world is uncreated, or anything else against the firm points of the true teaching, is most destructive. After this is the word about theft. As, then, the one who steals what belongs to others does great wrong and rightly meets the evils he deserves, so the one who appropriates God's works through the art of sculpture or painting and says that he is the maker of animals and plants; and likewise those who imitate the true philosophy are thieves. Whether someone is a farmer or the father of a child, he is a servant of the sowing of seed; but God, who provides the growth and completion of all things, brings what comes into being to its natural state.