Глава II

Man has a free decision; Scripture Evidence Eliminating the Excuse of Ignorance 2. And He revealed to us through His Holy Scripture that man has a free decision of the will. I will remind you how He revealed this, [I remind you], not with human speech [using], but with Divine speech. And first of all, the Divine commandments themselves would not bring any benefit to a person if he did not have a free decision of the will, with the help of which, by fulfilling them, he can achieve the promised reward. For they were given so that a person could not justify himself by his ignorance, as the Lord says in the Gospel about the Jews: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin 2 . What sin is He talking about, if not about that great one, the commission of which was known to Him in advance when He said this, that is, about their intention to kill Him? After all, they were not without sin even before Christ came to them in the flesh. The apostle also says: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth through unrighteousness. For what can be known about God is obvious to them, because God has revealed it to them. For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creation, so that they are without excuse 3 . In what sense does he say: Inexcusable? 4 Doesn’t he mean the excuse that worldly pride usually uses: “If I had known, I would have done it; That’s why I didn’t do it because I didn’t know,” or: “If I find out, I’ll do it; I don’t do it because I don’t know”? This excuse of theirs is abolished when a commandment is given or it becomes obvious that it is not proper to sin. People should not try to use God Himself to make excuses. 3. But there are people who try to use God Himself for their excuse, and to such people the Apostle James says: When tempted, let no one say: “God is tempting me.” For God is not tempted by evil and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But everyone is tempted, being carried away and enticed by his own lust; lust, having conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin that is committed gives birth to death 5 . Also, for those who want to use God Himself for their apology, the book of Proverbs of Solomon answers; Man's foolishness perverts his ways, but he accuses God in his heart 6 . And Ecclesiasticus 7 says: Do not say, “For the Lord’s sake I have fallen away”; for what He hates, you must not do. Do not say: “He has misled me [astray]”; for He has no need of a sinful husband. The Lord hates all abomination, and it is unpleasant to those who fear Him. He created man from the beginning and left him in the hand of his will. If you want, you will keep the commandments and maintain pleasing fidelity. He offered you fire and water: stretch out your hand for whatever you want. Life and death are before man, and whatever he desires will be given to him 8 . Here, we see how clearly [the presence of] the free decision of the human will is expressed. The commandments of God prove the existence of the free decision of the human will 4. Otherwise, what does it mean when God in numerous places [of Scripture] commands to keep and fulfill His commandments? How does he command if there is no free decision? What then does that blessed man mean about whom the psalm says that his will is in the law of the Lord 9? Is it not clearly shown here that man is in the law of God by his own will? Finally, how large is the number of commandments that relate to the will as if by name, for example: Do not wish to be overcome by evil 10, and others similar to this, among which: Do not wish to become like a horse and a mule, which have no reason 11, and: Do not wish to reject the advice of your mother 12, and: Do not wish to be a wise man in your own eyes 13, and: Do not wish to reject the teachings of the Lord 14 , and: Do not want to despise the law 15 , and: Do not want to refuse a benefit to someone in need 16 , and: Do not want to plan evil against your neighbor 17 , and: Do not want to listen to a flattering woman 18 and: He did not want to come to his senses in order to do good 19 , and: They did not want to receive teaching 20 . So, all these numerous testimonies of Divine utterances in the Old Books show what else if not the free decision of the will? And that something else is proposed in the New Books, Gospel and Apostolic, when they say: Do not desire to lay up for yourself treasures on earth 21, and: Do not desire to be afraid of those who kill the body, 22, and: If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself, 23, and: On earth there is peace for people of good will, 24 and what is said by the Apostle Paul: Let him do what he wants, he will not sin; let them get married. But whoever is firm in his heart, and, not being bound by need, but being powerful in his will, decides in his heart to keep his virgin, he does well 25. He says: For if I do this voluntarily, then I will have a reward 26, and in another place: Sober up as you should, and do not desire to sin 27, and also: So that what you earnestly desire may be fulfilled according to your abundance 28. And in the Epistle to Timothy he says: [Young widows], falling into luxury and opposition to Christ, want to get married 29, and in another place: And all who want to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted 30, and again to Timothy: Do not want to neglect the grace that abides in you 31. Also in the Epistle to Philemon he says: So that your good deed may not be done by necessity, but by will 32 . He also encouraged the slaves to serve their masters from the heart and with good will 33 . And the Apostle James [speaks of water]: Therefore, my brethren, do not desire to be mistaken, and do not desire to have faith in Jesus Christ our Lord with partiality 34, and: Do not desire to speak evil of one another 35. Likewise, [the Apostle] John says in his Epistle: Do not desire to love the world 36 and so on in the same spirit. So, when it is said: “Do not desire this,” and: “Do not desire that,” when the act of the will is prompted by Divine admonitions to do or not do something, all this clearly confirms [the presence of] a free decision. Therefore, let no one blame God in his heart, but let everyone, if he sins, blame it on himself. And when something is done that pleases God, it is not appropriate to remove it from one’s own will. After all, only if [a person] does something willingly should it be called a good deed; and only in this case is it appropriate to hope for a reward for a good deed from the One about Whom it is said that He will reward everyone according to their deeds 37 . De gratia et libero arbitrio (CPL 352). Translation based on the publication: Patrologiae Cursus Completus. Series Latina. Accurante J.-P. Migne. Paris, 1845. T. 44, Col. 881–912. To the Synod. Per.: ... unrequited. Proverbs 19 (according to LXX). In Synod.trans.: Man’s stupidity perverts his path, and his heart is indignant at the Lord. The fact that the book of the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, is called by some Ecclesiasticus, that is, the “church book” (ecclesiasticus liber), Augustine reports in his treatise “On Various Questions to Simplicianus” (De diversis quaestinibus ad Simplicianum, 1.2.20), written c. 397g. This name was also assigned to this book in the Vulgate. Rom 12:21: noli vinci a malo. In Synod, trans.: Do not be overcome by evil. – Here and further, Augustine is based on the connection that exists in Latin between the verb po1o (derived from pop vo1o 'I do not want, 'I do not want') and the noun voluntas 'will'. Moreover, unlike other languages, in Latin this verb serves to form the negative form of the imperative mood of all other verbs, so it is not surprising that many of the quotes below from the Holy Scriptures. Augustine's writings differ both from the Greek original and from the Russian Synodal translation. – Approx. ed. Proverbs 1:8. In Synod.trans.: Do not reject your mother’s covenant. Matthew 16:27; Rom 2:6; Rev 22:12.