20. But, what must be
confessed, to human minds certain compensative sins do cause such
embarrassment, that they are even thought meet to be praised, and
rather to be called right deeds. For who can doubt it to be a great
sin, if a father prostitute his own daughters to the fornications
of the impious? And yet hath there arisen a case in which a just
man thought it his duty to do this, when the Sodomites with
nefarious onset of lust were rushing upon his guests. For he said,
“I have two daughters which have not known man; I will bring them
out to you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto
these men do ye no wrong, for that they have come under covering of
my roof.”2408
What shall
we say here? Do we not so
abhor the
wickedness which the Sodomites
were attempting to do to the
guests of the just man, that, whatever
were done so this were not done, he should deem right to be done?
Very much also moveth us the person of the doer, which by merit of
righteousness was obtaining deliverance from
Sodom, to say that,
since it is a less
evil for
women to
suffer lewdness than for men,
it even pertained to the
righteousness of that just man, that to
his
daughters he chose this rather to be done, than to his
guests;
not only willing this in his
mind, but also offering it in word,
and, if they should assent, ready to
fulfill it in
deed. But then,
if we shall open this way to
sins, that we are to
commit less
sins,
in order that others may not
commit greater; by a broad boundary,
nay rather, with no boundary at all, but with a tearing up and
removing of all bounds, in infinite space, will all
sins enter in
and
reign. For, when it shall be defined, that a man is to
sin
less, that another may not
sin more; then, of course, by our
committing
thefts shall other men’s committing of
lewdness be
guarded against, and incest by
lewdness; and if any impiety shall
seem even worse than incest, even incest shall be pronounced meet
to be done by us, if in such
wise it can be
wrought that that
impiety be not
committed by others: and in each several
kind of
sins, both
thefts for
thefts, and
lewdness for
lewdness, and incest
for incest, shall be accounted meet to be done: our own
sins for
other men’s, not only less for greater, but even if it come to
the very highest and worst, fewer for more; if the stress of
affairs so turns, that otherwise other men would not
abstain from
sin unless by our
sinning, somewhat less indeed, but still
sinning;
so that in every case where an
enemy who shall have
power of this
sort shall say, “Unless thou be
wicked, I will be more
wicked, or
unless thou do this
wickedness, I will do more such,” we must
seem to admit
wickedness in ourselves, if we wish to refrain
(others) from
wickedness. To be
wise in this sort, what is it but
to lose one’s wits, or rather, to be downright
mad? Mine own
iniquity, not another’s, whether perpetrated upon me or upon
others, is that from which I must
beware of damnation. For “the
soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
2409
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