Chap. LXVII.—Of Repentance, the Immortality of the Soul, and of Providence.

But it is true all these things are difficult to man, nor does the condition of his frailty permit that any one should be without blemish. Therefore the last remedy is this, that we have recourse to repentance, which has not the least place among the virtues, because it is a correction of oneself; that when we have happened to fail either in deed or in word, we may immediately come to a better mind, and confess that we have offended, and entreat pardon from God, which according to His mercy He will not deny, except to those who persist in their error. Great is the aid, great the solace of repentance. That is the healing of wounds and offences, that hope, that the harbour of safety; and he who takes away this cuts off from himself the way of salvation, because no one can be so just that repentance is never necessary for him. But we, even though there is no offence of ours, yet ought to confess to God, and to entreat pardon for our faults, and to give thanks even in evils. Let us always offer this obedience to our Lord. For humility is dear and lovely in the sight of God; for since He rather receives the sinner who confesses his fault, than the just man who is haughty, how much more will He receive the just man who confesses, and exalt him in His heavenly kingdom in proportion to his humility! These are the things which the worshipper of God ought to hold forth; these are the victims, this the sacrifice, which is acceptable; this is true worship, when a man offers upon the altar of God the pledges of his own mind. That supreme Majesty rejoices in such a worshipper as this, as it takes him as a son and bestows upon him the befitting reward of immortality, concerning which I must now speak, and refute the persuasion of those who think that the soul is destroyed together with the body. For inasmuch as they neither knew God nor were able to perceive the mystery of the world, they did not even comprehend the nature of man and of the soul. For how could they see the consequences, who did not hold the main point?1571    Summam. Lactantius uses this word to express a compendious summary of divine mysteries.   Therefore, in denying the existence of a providence, they plainly denied the existence of God, who is the fountain and source of all things. It followed that they should either affirm that those things which exist have always existed, or were produced of their own accord, or arose from a meeting together of minute seeds.  

It cannot be said that that which exists, and is visible, always existed; for it cannot exist of itself without some beginning. But nothing can be produced of its own accord, because there is no nature without one who generates it. But how could there be original1572    Semina principalia.   seeds, since both the seeds arise from objects,1573    Ex rebus.   and, in their turn, objects from seeds? Therefore there is no seed which has not origin. Thus it came to pass, that when they supposed that the world was produced by no providence, they did not suppose that even man was produced by any plan.1574    Aliquâ ratione.   But if no plan was made use of in the creation of man, therefore the soul cannot be immortal. But others, on the other hand, thought there was but one God, and that the world was made by Him, and made for the sake of men, and that souls are immortal. But though they entertained true sentiments, nevertheless they did not perceive the causes, or reasons, or issues of this divine work and design, so as to complete the whole mystery of the truth, and to comprise it within some limit. But that which they were not able to do, because they did not hold the truth in its integrity,1575    Perpetuo, i.e., without intermission.   must be done by us, who know it on the announcement of God.  

CAPUT LXVII, alias IX. (Lib. VI Inst., c. 24 et 25; VII, c. 2 et 3.) De poenitentia, animae immortalitate, et de Providentia.

Sed haec enim omnia difficilia sunt homini, nec patitur conditio fragilitatis naturae, esse quemquam sine macula. Ultimum ergo remedium illud est, ut confugiamus ad poenitentiam, quae non minimum locum inter virtutes habet, quia sui correctio est; ut cum forte aut re, aut verbo lapsi fuerimus, statim resipiscamus, ac nos deliquisse fateamur, oremusque a Deo veniam, quam pro sua misericordia non 1081B negabit, nisi perseverantibus in errore. Magnum est poenitentiae auxilium, magnum solatium. Illa est vulnerum peccatorumque sanatio; illa spes, illa portus salutis: quam qui tollit, viam vitae sibi amputat, quia nemo esse tam justus potest, ut nunquam sit ei poenitentia necessaria. Nos vero, etiamsi nullum sit peccatum, confiteri tamen debemus Deo, et pro delictis nostris identidem deprecari, gratias agere etiam in malis. Hoc semper obsequium Domino deferamus. Humilitas enim chara et amabilis Deo est: qui cum magis suscipiat peccatorem confitentem, quam justum superbum, quanto magis justum suscipiet confitentem eumque in regnis coelestibus faciet pro humilitate sublimem.

1082A Haec sunt quae debeat cultor Dei exhibere; hae sunt victimae, hoc sacrificium placabile; hic verus est cultus, cum homo mentis suae pignora in aram Dei confert. Summa illa majestas hoc cultore laetatur: hunc ut filium suscipit, eique donum immortalitatis impartitur; de qua nunc mihi disserendum est, et arguenda persuasio eorum, qui extingui animas cum corporibus arbitrantur. Qui quia nec Deum sciebant, nec arcanum mundi prospicere poterant, ne hominis quidem animaeque rationem comprehenderunt. Quomodo enim possent sequentia pervidere, qui summam non habebant? Negantes igitur esse ullam providentiam, utique Deum, qui fons et caput rerum est, negaverunt. Sequebatur ut ea quae sunt, aut semper fuisse dicerent, aut sua sponte esse 1082B nata, aut minutorum seminum conglobatione concreta.

Semper fuisse dici non potest, quod et est, et visui subjacet; ipsum enim esse sine aliquo initio non potest. Sua sponte autem nihil nasci potest, quia nulla est sine generante natura. Semina vero principalia quomodo esse potuerunt, cum et semina ex rebus oriantur, et vicissim res ex seminibus? Nullum igitur semen est, quod originem non habet. Sic factum est, ut cum putarent mundum nulla providentia factum, ne hominem quidem putarint aliqua ratione generatum. Quod si nulla esset in fingendo homine ratio versata, immortalem igitur animam esse non posse. Alii vero ex adverso, et Deum esse unum, et ab eo mundum factum, et hominum causa esse 1083A factum, et animas esse immortales existimaverunt. Sed cum ea senserint, 1083A hujus tamen divini operis atque consilii nec causas, nec rationes, nec exitus perspexerunt, ut omne veritatis arcanum consummarent, atque aliquo veluti fine concluderent. Sed quod illi facere non potuerunt, quia veritatem perpetuo non tenebant, nobis faciendum est, qui eam cognovimus, Deo annuntiante.