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| That the Flaw of Wickedness is Not Nature, But Contrary to Nature, and Has Its Origin, Not in the Creator, But in the Will.
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Chapter 17.—That the Flaw of
Wickedness is Not Nature, But Contrary to Nature, and Has Its
Origin, Not in the Creator, But in the Will.
It is with reference to the nature,
then, and not to the wickedness of the devil, that we are to
understand these words, “This is the beginning of God’s
handiwork;”485
for, without
doubt, wickedness can be a flaw or vice486
| 486 It must be kept in view that
“vice” has, in this passage, the meaning of sinful
blemish. | only where the nature previously
was not vitiated. Vice, too, is so contrary to nature, that it
cannot but damage it. And therefore departure from God would be
no vice, unless in a nature whose property it was to abide with
God. So that even the wicked will is a strong proof of the
goodness of the nature. But God, as He is the supremely good
Creator of good natures, so is He of evil wills the most just
Ruler; so that, while they make an ill use of good natures, He
makes a good use even of evil wills. Accordingly, He caused the
devil (good by God’s creation, wicked by his own will) to be cast
down from his high position, and to become the mockery of His
angels,—that is, He caused his temptations to benefit those whom
he wishes to injure by them. And because God, when He created
him, was certainly not ignorant of his future malignity, and
foresaw the good which He Himself would bring out of his evil,
therefore says the psalm, “This leviathan whom Thou hast made to
be a sport therein,”487
that we may see that, even while
God in His goodness created him good, He yet had already foreseen
and arranged how He would make use of him when he became
wicked.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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