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of the good. Here, then, having our desire set on other things and obtaining them, we may take some pleasure, but there, when "God may be all in all," there being no food, no drink, nor any carnal pleasure nor any injustice, those who have neither their accustomed pleasures nor are receptive of the things of God, will suffer incurably, not because God has inflicted punishment, but because we have prepared the punishment for ourselves, since God did not make death, but we have brought it upon ourselves. For by nature every composite thing is dissolved, but insofar as Adam was united to God through contemplation, he had in himself the life which, beyond nature, gave life to his mortal nature. But when he departed from the union with life, that is, God, he came from the supernatural incorruptibility to the natural dissolution of the composite, which is death. 72 Since some say that God, foreknowing those who would sin and not repent and be judged, should not have brought them from non-being into being—for it is not the part of a good being to create and to punish—, we say to them, first, the words of the Apostle: "But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? For who has resisted His will?" For what He wills, this is good; "And has the potter no right to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?" For He is the one who makes both the just and the sinners—but He does not make them just or sinners—or honorable or dishonorable; for the same apostle says in his epistle to Timothy, after enumerating the vices, he adds, saying: "Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these, he has become a vessel of choice." For having become free-willed, we have the power to cleanse ourselves from the most shameful passions and to defile ourselves. Nevertheless, God made all men good. He, therefore, provides to all both being and well-being, just as the sun spreads the rays of its goodness over all its works. And while to be is not in our power to take, to be well is in our power. If, therefore, we will and desire it, we partake of His goodness and will be in light for ages. But if we are lazy and blind ourselves and do not desire Him, we will be without a share in Him. Therefore, on account of our laziness, it was not right for Him to become uncommunicative of the gifts of His goodness, of which the first is being, nor was it right for our wickedness to conquer and render His goodness inoperative. For if this were so, none of the things that exist would have come into being; for none of the things that exist lives worthily of His goodness. For rightly, when compared to Him, all things are unworthy of being. 73 Nevertheless, God is not only good, but also just and sees all things not yet come to be as being. For He who calls, he says, "the things that are not as though they were." If, on the one hand, He ought, because of His goodness, not to have made those who are punished, rather, because of His surpassing goodness, He ought both to have made them and not to have punished them, but to have forgiven them when they sin; for He is Lord of both, of making and of forgiving. But if it is just for sinners to be punished, it was also just for them to be created. For God sees "the things that are not as though they were" and does not judge from the outcome of events, but from the foreknowledge of things to come. Since He does not know from the outcome of events, but foreknows the things that will be and according to His foreknowledge He predestines. And how does He foreknow that which will not be? For if He foreknew the sinner and did not make him, it was not foreknowledge, but error; for just as knowledge is of things that are, so also foreknowledge is of things that will certainly be. 74 Let us not, therefore, judge God; for we do not know His counsel. "For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?" For not all His counsel

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τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν οὖν περὶ ἄλλα τὴν ὄρεξιν ἔχοντες καὶ ἐπιτυγχάνοντες κἂν ποσῶς ἡδώμεθα, ἐκεῖσε δέ, ὅταν «ὁ θεὸς εἴη τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι», μὴ βρώσεως οὔσης, μὴ πόσεως μηδέ τινος σαρκικῆς ἡδονῆς μηδέ τινος ἀδικίας οἱ μηδὲ τὰς συνήθεις ἡδονὰς ἔχοντες μηδὲ τῶν ἐκ θεοῦ δεκτικοὶ ὄντες ὀδυνῶνται ἀνηκέστως, οὐ τοῦ θεοῦ κόλασιν ποιήσαντος, ἀλλὰ ἡμῶν ἑαυτοῖς τὴν κόλασιν εὐτρεπισάντων, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ θάνατον ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησε, ἀλλ' ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοῖς τοῦτον ἐπεσπασάμεθα. Φύσει μὲν γὰρ πᾶν σύνθετον διαλύεται, ἀλλ' ὅσον θεῷ διὰ θεωρίας ἥνωτο ὁ Ἀδάμ, ἐν ἑαυτῷ εἶχε τὴν ζωὴν ὑπὲρ φύσιν ζωοποιοῦσαν τὴν θνητὴν αὐτοῦ φύσιν. Ὅτε δὲ ἀπέστη τῆς πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἤγουν τὸν θεὸν ἑνώσεως, ἦλθεν ἐκ τῆς ὑπὲρ φύσιν ἀφθαρσίας εἰς τὴν κατὰ φύσιν τοῦ συνθέτου διάλυσιν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ θάνατος. 72 Ἐπειδὴ δέ τινές φασιν, ὡς ἔδει τὸν θεὸν προειδότα τοὺς ἁμαρτήσοντας καὶ μὴ μετανοήσοντας καὶ κριθησομένους μὴ παραγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι- οὐ γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ ποιῆσαι καὶ κολάσαι-, φαμὲν πρὸς αὐτοὺς πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου· «Μενοῦν γε, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀνταποκρινόμενος τῷ θεῷ; Τῷ γὰρ θελήματι αὐτοῦ τίς ἀνθέστηκεν;» Ὃ γὰρ θέλει, τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀγαθόν· «Καὶ ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ κεραμεὺς ποιῆσαι ὃ μὲν εἰς τιμὴν σκεῦος, ὃ δὲ εἰς ἀτιμίαν.» Αὐτὸς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ποιῶν τούς τε δικαίους καὶ τοὺς ἁμαρτωλούς-ἀλλ' οὐκ αὐτὸς ποιεῖ αὐτοὺς δικαίους ἢ ἁμαρτωλούς-ἢ τιμίους ἢ ἀτίμους· φησὶ γὰρ ὁ αὐτὸς ἀπόστολος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Τιμόθεον ἐπιστολῇ, προαριθμήσας τὰς κακίας, ἐπάγει λέγων· «Ὅστις οὖν ἐκκαθάρῃ ἑαυτὸν ἐκ τούτων, γέγονε σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς.» Αὐτεξούσιοι γὰρ γενόμενοι ἐξουσίαν ἔχομεν καθᾶραι ἑαυτοὺς ἐκ τῶν αἰσχίστων παθῶν καὶ μολῦναι ἑαυτούς. Ὅμως πάντας ὁ θεὸς ἀγαθοὺς ἐποίησεν. Αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν καὶ τὸ εἶναι καὶ τὸ εὖ εἶναι πᾶσι παρέχει ὥσπερ ἥλιος ἐφαπλῶν τὰς ἀκτῖνας τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τὸ μὲν εἶναι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐφ' ἡμῖν λαβεῖν, τὸ δὲ εὖ εἶναι ἐφ' ἡμῖν ἐστιν. Ἂν τοίνυν θελήσωμεν καὶ ποθήσωμεν, μετέχομεν τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν φωτὶ εἰς αἰῶνας ἐσόμεθα. Ἐὰν δὲ ῥαθυμήσωμεν καὶ ἑαυτοὺς τυφλώσωμεν καὶ μὴ ποθήσωμεν αὐτόν, ἀμέτοχοι αὐτοῦ ἐσόμεθα. Οὐκ ἔδει οὖν διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν ῥαθυμίαν αὐτὸν ἀμετάδοτον γενέσθαι τῶν τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ δωρεῶν, ὧν πρώτη ἐστὶ τὸ εἶναι, οὐδὲ ἔδει τὴν ἡμετέραν κακίαν νικῆσαι καὶ ἀνενέργητον ποιῆσαι τὴν ἀγαθότητα αὐτοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἦν, οὐδὲν ἂν τῶν ὄντων ἐγένετο· οὐδὲν γὰρ τῶν ὄντων ἀξίως πολιτεύεται τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ. ∆ικαίως γὰρ πρὸς αὐτὸν συγκρινόμενα τὰ πάντα ἀνάξια τοῦ εἶναί εἰσιν. 73 Ὅμως οὐ μόνον ἀγαθός ἐστιν ὁ θεός, ἀλλὰ καὶ δίκαιος καὶ ὁρῶν τὰ πάντα μήπω γενόμενα ὡς ὄντα. Ὁ καλῶν γάρ, φησί, «τὰ μὴ ὄντα ὡς ὄντα.» Εἰ μὲν ὤφειλε δι' ἀγαθότητα μὴ ποιῆσαι τοὺς κολαζομένους, μᾶλλον δι' ὑπερβάλλουσαν ἀγαθότητα ὤφειλε καὶ ποιῆσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ μὴ κολάσαι, ἀλλὰ συγχωρῆσαι αὐτοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσιν· αὐτὸς γὰρ κύριος ἀμφοτέρων ἐστί, καὶ τοῦ ποιῆσαι καὶ τοῦ συγχωρῆσαι. Εἰ δὲ δίκαιόν ἐστι τὸ κολάζεσθαι τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας, δίκαιον ἦν καὶ γενέσθαι αὐτούς. Ὁρᾷ γὰρ «τὰ μὴ ὄντα ὡς ὄντα» ὁ θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἐκ τῆς ἀποβάσεως τῶν πραγμάτων κρίνει, ἀλλ' ἐκ τῆς προγνώσεως τῶν ἐσομένων. Ἐπεὶ οὐδὲ ἐκ τῆς ἀποβάσεως τῶν γινομένων γινώσκει, ἀλλὰ προγινώσκει τὰ ἐσόμενα καὶ κατὰ τὴν πρόγνωσιν αὐτοῦ προορίζει. Πῶς δὲ καὶ προγινώσκει τὸ μὴ ἐσόμενον; Εἰ γὰρ προέγνω τὸν ἁμαρτάνοντα καὶ μὴ ἐποίησεν αὐτόν, οὐ πρόγνωσις ἦν, ἀλλὰ πλάνη· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ γνῶσις τῶν ὄντων ἐστίν, οὕτω καὶ ἡ πρόγνωσις τῶν πάντως ἐσομένων ἐστί. 74 Μὴ οὖν κρίνωμεν τὸν θεόν· οὐ γὰρ οἴδαμεν τὴν βουλὴν αὐτοῦ. «Τίς γὰρ ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου; Ἢ τίς σύμβουλος αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο;» Οὐ γὰρ πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν αὐτοῦ