To thee there is no such thing
as evil, and even in thy whole creation taken as a whole, there is not;
because there is nothing from beyond it
that can burst in and destroy the order which thou hast appointed for
it. But in the parts of creation, some things, because they do not
harmonize with others, are considered evil. Yet those same things
harmonize with others and are good, and in themselves are good.
And all these things which do not harmonize with each other still harmonize
with the inferior part of creation which we call the earth, having its
own cloudy and windy sky of like nature with itself. Far be it from
me, then, to say, "These things should not be." For if I could see nothing
but these, I should indeed desire something better – but still I ought
to praise thee, if only for these created things. For that thou art to
be praised is shown from the fact that "earth, dragons, and all deeps;
fire, and hail, snow and vapors, stormy winds fulfilling thy word; mountains,
and all hills, fruitful trees, and all cedars; beasts and all cattle;
creeping things, and flying fowl; things of the earth, and all people;
princes, and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens, old
men and children," praise thy name! But seeing also that in heaven
all thy angels praise thee, O God, praise thee in the heights, "and all
thy hosts, sun and moon, all stars and light, the heavens of heavens,
and the waters that are above the heavens," praise thy name – seeing this,
I say, I no longer desire a better world, because my thought ranged over
all, and with a sounder judgment I reflected that the things above were
better than those below, yet that all creation
together was better than the higher things alone.
CONFESSIONS, by SAINT AUGUSTINE, CHAPTER XIII. Translated by ALBERT C. OUTLER, digitized by Harry Plantinga <planting@cs.pitt.edu> from an uncopyrighted 1955 Westminster Press edition. |