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| He Refutes the Opinion of the Manichæans as to Two Kinds of Minds,—One Good and the Other Evil.
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Chapter X.—He Refutes the Opinion
of the Manichæans as to Two Kinds of Minds,—One Good and the
Other Evil.
22. Let them perish from Thy presence,664
O God, as
“vain talkers and deceivers”665
of the soul do perish, who,
observing that there were two wills in deliberating, affirm that
there are two kinds of minds in us,—one good, the other evil.666
| 666 And that therefore they were not responsible for
their evil deeds, it not being they that sinned, but the nature of
evil in them. See iv. sec. 26, and note, above, where the
Manichæan doctrines in this matter are fully treated. | They
themselves verily are evil when they hold these evil opinions; and
they shall become good when they hold the truth, and shall consent
unto the truth, that Thy apostle may say unto them, “Ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.”667
But, they,
desiring to be light, not “in the Lord,” but in themselves,
conceiving the nature of the soul to be the same as that which God
is,668
| 668 See iv. sec. 26, note, above. | are made
more gross darkness; for that through a shocking arrogancy they
went farther from Thee, “the true Light, which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world.”669
Take heed what you say, and blush
for shame; draw near unto Him and be “lightened,” and your
faces shall not be “ashamed.”670
I, when I was deliberating upon
serving the Lord my God now, as I had long purposed,—I it was who
willed, I who was unwilling. It was I, even I myself. I neither
willed entirely, nor was entirely unwilling. Therefore was I at war
with myself, and destroyed by myself. And this destruction overtook
me against my will, and yet showed not the presence of another
mind, but the punishment of mine own.671
| 671 See v. sec. 2, note 6, above, and x. sec. 5, note,
below. | “Now, then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me,”672
—the punishment of a more
unconfined sin, in that I was a son of Adam.
23. For if there be as many contrary natures
as there are conflicting wills, there will not now be two natures
only, but many. If any one deliberate whether he should go to their
conventicle, or to the theatre, those men673
at once cry out, “Behold, here
are two natures,—one good, drawing this way, another bad, drawing
back that way; for whence else is this indecision between
conflicting wills?” But I reply that both are bad—that which
draws to them, and that which draws back to the theatre. But they
believe not that will to be other than good which draws to them.
Supposing, then, one of us should deliberate, and through the conflict of
his two wills should waver whether he should go to the theatre or
to our church, would not these also waver what to answer? For
either they must confess, which they are not willing to do, that
the will which leads to our church is good, as well as that of
those who have received and are held by the mysteries of theirs, or
they must imagine that there are two evil natures and two evil
minds in one man, at war one with the other; and that will not be
true which they say, that there is one good and another bad; or
they must be converted to the truth, and no longer deny that where
any one deliberates, there is one soul fluctuating between
conflicting wills.
24. Let them no more say, then, when they perceive
two wills to be antagonistic to each other in the same man, that
the contest is between two opposing minds, of two opposing
substances, from two opposing principles, the one good and the
other bad. For Thou, O true God, dost disprove, check, and convince
them; like as when both wills are bad, one deliberates whether he
should kill a man by poison, or by the sword; whether he should
take possession of this or that estate of another’s, when he
cannot both; whether he should purchase pleasure by prodigality, or
retain his money by covetousness; whether he should go to the
circus or the theatre, if both are open on the same day; or,
thirdly, whether he should rob another man’s house, if he have
the opportunity; or, fourthly, whether he should commit adultery,
if at the same time he have the means of doing so,—all these
things concurring in the same point of time, and all being equally
longed for, although impossible to be enacted at one time. For they
rend the mind amid four, or even (among the vast variety of things
men desire) more antagonistic wills, nor do they yet affirm that
there are so many different substances. Thus also is it in wills
which are good. For I ask them, is it a good thing to have delight
in reading the apostle, or good to have delight in a sober psalm,
or good to discourse on the gospel? To each of these they will
answer, “It is good.” What, then, if all equally delight us,
and all at the same time? Do not different wills distract the mind,
when a man is deliberating which he should rather choose? Yet are
they all good, and are at variance until one be fixed upon, whither
the whole united will may be borne, which before was divided into
many. Thus, also, when above eternity delights us, and the pleasure
of temporal good holds us down below, it is the same soul which
willeth not that or this with an entire will, and is therefore torn
asunder with grievous perplexities, while out of truth it prefers
that, but out of custom forbears not this.
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