15. And there are also they
who in excuse of their sins so accuse God, as to say that sins are
pleasing to Him. For, if they were displeasing, say they, surely by
His most Almighty power He would by no means suffer them to take
place. As though indeed God suffered sins to be unpunished, even in
the case of those whom by remission of sins He frees from eternal
punishment! No one forsooth receives pardon of more grievous
punishment due, unless he hath suffered some punishment, be it what
it may, although far less than what was due: and the fullness of
mercy is so conveyed, as that the justice also of discipline is not
abandoned. For also sin, which seems unavenged, hath its own
attendant punishment, so that there is no one but by reason of what
he hath done either suffers pain from bitterness, or suffers not
through blindness. As therefore you say, Why doth He permit those
things, if they are displeasing? so I say, Why doth He punish them,
if they are pleasing? And thus, as I confess that those things
would not take place at all, unless they were permitted by the
Almighty, so confess thou that what are punished by the Just One
ought not to be done; in order that, by not doing what He punishes,
we may deserve to learn of Him, why He permits to exist what He
punishes. For, as it is written, “solid food is for the
perfect,”1857
wherein
they who have made good progress already understand, that it
pertained rather unto the
Almighty power of
God, to allow the
existence of evils coming from the free choice of the will. So
great forsooth is His
Almighty goodness, as that even of
evil He
can make good, either by pardoning, or by healing, or by fitting
and turning unto the
profit of the pious, or even by most justly
taking
vengeance. For all these are good, and most worthy a good
and
Almighty God: and yet they are not made
save of evils. What
therefore better, what more
Almighty, than He, Who, whereas He
maketh no
evil, even of evils maketh well? They who have done
ill
cry unto Him, “
Forgive us our
debts;”
1858
He hears, He pardons. Their own
evils have hurt the
sinners; He helps and
heals their sicknesses.
The
enemies of His people
rage; of their
rage He makes martyrs.
Lastly, also, He condemns those, whom He judges worthy of
condemnation; although they
suffer their own evils, yet He doeth
what is good. For what is just cannot but be good, and assuredly as
sin is unjust, so the punishment of sin is just.
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