329

he deceived me to disobedience and having deceived, he killed me, having brought it about that I became subject to the condemnation: "on whatever day you eat of it, you shall surely die." "So the law is holy, and the commandment of God is holy and just and good," because it was not given to harm, but to save. For let us not think that God does anything at all unprofitable or harmful. What then? "Did that which is good become death to me," which was given to me as a law that would be the cause of the greatest good? "By no means!" Because the commandment of God was not the cause for my being enslaved to corruption and for having the fates of destruction imprinted on me, but the devil, so that through the good, the evil he contrived for me might be revealed, so that the inventor and craftsman of sin might become and be proven "exceedingly sinful," and he who wickedly managed things contrary to God's commandment might be distinguished from the good. "For we know that the law is spiritual," wherefore it is not the cause of harm to anyone; for spiritual things have pitched their tent far from irrational desire and sin. "But I am of the flesh, sold under sin," as if to say: But I, being of the flesh and placed in the midst of the evil and the good as one with free will, so that it might be in my power to choose what I wish— for it says, "I have set before your face life and death"— having inclined toward disobeying the spiritual law, that is, the commandment, but obeying the material, that is, the counsel of the serpent, I have been sold because of such a choice, having fallen under sin, to the devil. From whence, then, evil besieged me and sits and lives as a citizen, having taken up residence in my flesh, like a drone in a honeycomb, often flying about it and buzzing, a penalty having been imposed on me for disregarding the commandment, to be sold to evil. Therefore, "I do not understand what I do," considering what I do not want; for the saying, "what I do, I do not understand," and "I do what I hate" must not be taken to mean completing and performing the evil deed, but only of thinking of it, since improper thoughts often fly toward us and present to us things we do not wish, as the soul is led about by thoughts concerning many things. 57. For it is not entirely in our power to think or not to think of unseemly things, but rather to make use of or not to make use of the thoughts. For we are not able to prevent thoughts from assailing us, breathed into us from without for our testing, but we are able to not be persuaded or not to make use of them. Since how could the apostle, in no small measure, do the evil that displeased him, and in the least measure the good that pleased him, if he were not speaking about alien thoughts, which we sometimes think even unwillingly, not knowing from what cause? These must be overturned and silenced, so that by spreading they may not take hold of the ends of the soul. For it is impossible for the good to arise in us while these are finding opportune time in us. Rightly, then, did he say, "For what I do, I do not understand," "for I do not practice what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." For we want not even to think about what is not fitting and what is not lawful, since this is a perfect good, to be master not only of doing it, but also of thinking of it. And what we want, this good does not come to be, but what we do not want, is evil. For innumerable thoughts about innumerable things often visit and mount our heart even when we are unwilling, filling us with curiosity and irrational meddlesomeness. Therefore, the will not to think them is present, but the power to bring it about to make them disappear, so that they may not again arise in our thoughts, is not, because this does not lie in our power, as I said, but only how to use them or not to use them. So that the meaning of the saying "For I do not do the good I want" is such: for I want not to think about what harms me, since this is a completely blameless good, according to the saying, "fashioned without blame, four-square in hands and mind." And this, "the good that I want, I do not do, but the evil I do not want, I practice;" not

329

πρὸς παρακοὴν ἐξηπάτησέ με καὶ ἀπατήσας ἀπέκτεινεν, ὑπεύθυνον τῷ «ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε» κατακρίματι γενέσθαι κατεργασάμενος. «ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ τοῦ θεοῦ ἁγία καὶ δικαία 2.489 καὶ ἀγαθή», ὅτι μὴ ἐπὶ τῷ βλάψαι, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τῷ σῶσαι ἐδόθη. μὴ γὰρ οἰώμεθα ὅλως ἀνωφελές τι ποιεῖν ἢ βλαβερὸν τὸν θεόν. τί οὖν; «τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐμοὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος», ὃ τοῦ μεγίστου ἐμοὶ ὡς αἴτιον ἐσόμενον ἀγαθοῦ νομοθέτημα ἐδόθη; «μὴ γένοιτο». ὅτι μὴ ἡ ἐντολὴ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τὸ καταδουλωθῆναί με ἐγένετο τῇ φθορᾷ καὶ ἐναπομάξασθαι κῆρας ὀλέθρου αἰτία, ἀλλ' ὁ διάβολος, ἵνα φανερωθῇ διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὸ κακὸν ἐμοὶ κατασκευάσας, ἵνα γένηται καὶ ἐλεγχθῇ «καθ' ὑπερβολὴν» ὁ εὑρετὴς καὶ τέκτων τῆς ἁμαρτίας «ἁμαρτωλός» καὶ διορισθῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ καλοῦ ὁ τἀναντία τῆς ἐντολῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κακῶς ἐπιτροπεύσας. «οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος ἐστὶ πνευματικός», διὸ καὶ οὐδὲν αἴτιος βλάβης οὐδενί· πόρρω γὰρ ἐπιθυμίας ἀλόγου καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἐσκήνωται τὰ πνευματικά. «ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι, πεπραμένος ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν», οἷον· ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινος ὢν καὶ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ πονηροῦ καὶ ἀγαθοῦ κατασταθεὶς ὡς αὐτεξούσιος, ἵν' ἐπ' ἐμοὶ τὸ ἑλέσθαι ὃ βούλομαι ᾖ «τέθεικα» γάρ φησι «πρὸ προσώπου σου τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὸν θάνατον», νεύσας πρὸς τὸ παρακοῦσαι μὲν τοῦ πνευματικοῦ νόμου οἷον τῆς ἐντολῆς, ὑπακοῦσαι δὲ τοῦ ὑλικοῦ οἷον τοῦ ὄφεως τῆς συμβουλίας, πέπραμαι διὰ τὴν τοιαύτην αἵρεσιν, πεσὼν ὑπὸ ἁμαρτίαν, τῷ διαβόλῳ. ὅθεν ἐντεῦθεν πολιορκῆσάν με τὸ κακὸν καὶ ἐνιζάνει καὶ ἐμπολιτεύεται εἰσοικισθὲν ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου, καθάπερ κηφὴν ἐν κηρίῳ μελίσσης περιποτώμενος πολλάκις περὶ αὐτὸ καὶ βομβῶν, δίκης ἐπιτεθείσης μοι τὴν ἐντολὴν ἀθετήσαντι πραθῆναι τῷ κακῷ. διὸ καί «οὐ 2.490 γινώσκω ὃ κατεργάζομαι», λογιζόμενος ὃ μὴ θέλω· τὸ γὰρ ὃ κατεργάζομαι οὐ γινώσκω, καὶ «ποιῶ ὃ μισῶ» λεγόμενον οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ τελεσιουργῆσαι τὸ φαῦλον καὶ δρᾶσαι παραληπτέον, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοῦ μόνον ἐνθυμηθῆναι, λογισμῶν ἀνοικείων ἡμῖν προσιπταμένων πλεονάκις καὶ ἐμφανταζόντων ἡμᾶς πρὸς ἃ μὴ θέλομεν, τῆς ψυχῆς τοῖς λογισμοῖς περὶ πολλὰ περιαγομένης. 57. Οὐ γὰρ ἐφ' ἡμῖν ὅλως τὸ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι ἢ μὴ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι κεῖται τὰ ἄτοπα, ἀλλὰ τὸ χρῆσθαι ἢ μὴ χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἐνθυμήμασι. κωλῦσαι μὲν γὰρ μὴ ἐμπίπτειν εἰς ἡμᾶς τοὺς λογισμοὺς οὐ δυνάμεθα, πρὸς δοκιμὴν ἡμῶν ἔξωθεν εἰσπνεομένους, μὴ πεισθῆναι μέντοι ἢ μὴ χρῆσθαι αὐτοῖς δυνάμεθα. ἐπεὶ πῶς ὁ ἀπόστολος τὸ μὲν κακὸν οὐχ ἥκιστα ᾧ ἀπηρέσκετο ἐποίει, τὸ δὲ καλὸν ᾧ ἠρέσκετο ἥκιστα, εἰ μὴ περὶ τῶν ὀθνείων ἐνθυμημάτων ἔλεγεν, ἃ ἐνθυμούμεθα ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ μὴ βουλόμενοι, ἐξ οἵας οὐ γινώσκοντες αἰτίας; ἃ ἀνατρέπεσθαι χρὴ καὶ ἐπιστομίζεσθαι, ἵνα μὴ εὐρυνόμενα τῶν περάτων κρατήσωσι τῆς ψυχῆς. ἀμήχανον γὰρ τούτων ἐνευκαιρούντων ἐν ἡμῖν ἐπανατεῖλαι τὸ ἀγαθόν. ὀρθῶς ἄρα «ὃ γὰρ κατεργάζομαι οὐ γινώσκω» ἔλεγεν, «οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω πράσσω, ἀλλ' ὃ μισῶ, τοῦτο ποιῶ». θέλομεν γὰρ τὰ μὴ προσήκοντα καὶ ἃ μὴ θέμις μηδ' ἐνθυμεῖσθαι, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν τέλειον, μὴ μόνον τοῦ ποιῆσαι αὐτὸ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ἐνθυμηθῆναι. καὶ ὃ θέλομεν, τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν οὐ γίγνεται, ἀλλ' ὃ οὐ θέλομεν, πονηρόν. ἐπιφοιτῶσι γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν 2.491 ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπιβαίνουσιν καὶ μὴ βουλομένων ἡμῶν πολλάκις μυρία τε περὶ μυρίων ἐνθυμήματα, περιεργίας ἡμᾶς καὶ φιλοπραγμοσύνης ἀλόγου πιμπλάντα. διὸ τὸ μὲν θέλειν αὐτὰ μὴ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι παράκειται, τὸ δὲ κατεργάζεσθαι εἰς τὸ ἀφανίσαι, ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὖθις περὶ τὸν λογισμὸν ἀνέλθωσιν, οὔ, ὅτι μὴ κεῖται τοῦτο ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ὡς ἔφην, ἀλλὰ τὸ χρήσασθαι μόνον αὐτοῖς πως ἢ μὴ χρήσασθαι. ὡς εἶναι τὸν νοῦν τοιοῦτον τοῦ ῥητοῦ «οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν»· θέλω γὰρ μὴ ἐνθυμεῖσθαι ἃ βλάπτει με, ἐπειδὴ τοῦτο ἀγαθὸν πανάμωμον, κατὰ τὸ λεγόμενον «ἄνευ ψόγου τετυγμένον χερσί τε καὶ νόῳ τετράγωνον». καὶ τοῦτο μέν «ὃ θέλω ἀγαθὸν οὐ ποιῶ, ὃ δὲ μὴ θέλω κακὸν πράσσω»· οὐ