Глава VI

Evil comes from evil will, good from God 22. “But,” someone [from the Pelagians] will say, “people who do not want to live righteously and faithfully find an excuse for themselves, saying: “What have we done, who live badly, if we have not received grace, with the help of which we could live in goodness?” Those who live badly cannot truly say that they have done nothing wrong; After all, if they do nothing bad, then they live in goodness, and if they live badly, then they live this way because of their own evil, or that which they received as a result of their origin, or that which they themselves added on top of this. But if they are vessels of wrath, ready for destruction, which is deservedly rewarded to them, then let them blame themselves for this, since they were created from this mixture 78, which God deservedly and justly condemned because of the sin of one [man], in which all 79 sinned; if they are vessels of mercy 80 on which, created from the same mixture, God did not want to impose a well-deserved punishment, then let them not be arrogant, but glorify the One who showed them undeserved mercy, and if they think differently about anything, then He Himself will reveal this to them 81 . God who delivers and saves is always just 23. Finally, how do they excuse themselves? Is it not those whom the apostle briefly contrasted with himself, saying, as if in their own words: For what else does he accuse? For who can resist His will? 82 After all, this means saying: “Why do they complain about us that we have offended God by living badly, if no one can resist the will of Him who hardened us by not showing us His mercy?” So, if they are not ashamed to contradict such an apology not to us, but to the apostle, why should we be ashamed to tell them again and again what the apostle said? [He says this]: And who are you, man, that you object to God? Will the product say to the person who made it: “Why did you make me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, so that from the same mixture, - of course, deservedly and justly condemned, - he can make one vessel for honor, undeserved and [received] by the grace of mercy, - and another - for reproach, - deserved and [received] by the justice of anger; in order at the same time to reveal the riches of His glory over the vessels of mercy, 83 showing what He has granted them, when the vessels of wrath receive that punishment that was equally due to all? However, let it be enough for a Christian, who still lives by faith and does not yet discern what is perfect, but only partially knows [something], to know or believe that God does not deliver anyone except through the mercy given freely through our Lord Jesus Christ, and He does not condemn anyone except according to the most just truth, through the same Lord Jesus Christ 84 . And why He frees or does not free one or the other - let him who is capable of this comprehend the great abyss of His judgments, but let him beware [of falling] into the abyss. After all, is there any injustice with God? In no case 85; but His judgments are incomprehensible and His ways unsearchable 86 . Man's unrepentance stems from his evil will 24. And at least in relation to those older in age, it can rightfully be said: They did not want to understand in order to do good 87 . They, what is even more difficult, understood and did not submit; after all, as it is written: A foolish servant will not learn by words, even if he understands them, he will not obey 88 . Why won't he obey, if not because of his own evil will? And he is due a more severe condemnation from Divine justice: after all, to whom more is given, more will be demanded 89 . Yes, and Scripture says that those are inexcusable from whom the truth was not hidden, but wickedness remained in them. For the apostle says this: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. For what can be known about God is obvious to them, because God has revealed it to them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, through the consideration of creation, are visible and comprehended - His eternal power and Divinity, so that they are inexcusable 90. Those who teach well and those who act badly are without excuse. 25. Therefore, if he calls inexcusable those who could see and comprehend His invisible things through consideration of creation, but did not submit to the truth, but remained wicked and unrighteous, because they were not deprived of the knowledge of God, but having known God, says the apostle, they did not glorify Him as God and did not give thanks 91 - then how much more inexcusable are those who, having been taught by His law, considered themselves leaders of the blind and, while teaching others, did not teach themselves; those who preach not to steal, but steal themselves, and so on, what the apostle says about them! After all, he tells them this: So, you are inexcusable, every person who judges another, for by the same judgment with which you judge another, you condemn yourself, because, judging another, you do the same 92. After the appearance of revelation, it is impossible to justify sins by ignorance 26. Also, the Lord Himself said in the Gospel: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; and now they have no excuse for their sin 93 . It is clear that those who were full of other great and small sins still had some sin, but He wants that here, when He says that they would not have sin, the sin meant is that when they saw Him, they did not believe in Him. He claims that they do not have such an excuse from which they could say: “We did not hear, therefore we did not believe.” For human pride, arrogant because of the power of free decision, believes that it has found an excuse for itself when it seems that it sins out of ignorance and not from the will. Ignorance of revelation by one's own will is a sin 27. But Divine Scripture calls all those whom it accuses of sinning without knowing it as inexcusable in regard to this excuse. But God’s righteous judgment does not spare those who have not heard: Those who, not having the law, have sinned, are outside the law and will perish 94 . And although people try to find an excuse for themselves, He who knows that He created man upright 95 and gave him the commandment of obedience does not allow this excuse, and the sin spread and then passed on to all subsequent ones only by the free decision of the will of the one who made bad use of this very decision. After all, those who have not sinned are not condemned, since this sin passed on to everyone [from one], in which everyone sinned together, 96 even before the own sins of any individual people. And therefore every sinner is inexcusable, either because of the guilt of his origin [from Adam], or because of the increase [of sin] of his own will; whether he knows or does not know, whether he judges or does not judge 97 - since ignorance itself among those who did not want to understand is, without a doubt, a sin; and for those who failed [to understand], it is punishment for sin. Therefore, it is unfair to apologize to both, but it is fair to condemn [them]. 3Knowing and doing the law is the grace of the Savior 28. And those who sin not out of ignorance, but knowing [what they are doing], the Divine utterances are called inexcusable for this reason, so that they can see how inexcusable they are because of their proud opinion, [guided by which] they very strongly rely on the strength of their own will. After all, ignorance can no longer be an excuse for them, but they still do not have that righteousness for which, according to their assumption, [their own] will is sufficient. For the one to whom the Lord has given the grace of knowledge and obedience says: By the Law is the knowledge of sin 98; and: I knew sin no other way than through the law; for I would not have known the wish if the law had not said: “Thou shalt not covet!” 99 And when he says: I find pleasure in the law of God according to the inner man, 100 he wants to understand here not a person who does not know the commanding law, but a person unworthy of liberating grace, and based on this, not just knowledge, but also delight in the law, in the end he says: Poor man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord 101. So, no one delivers from the blows of this murderer except the grace of the only Savior. No one will deliver those sold to sin from the bonds of captivity except the grace of the Redeemer. Grace is not repaid according to debt 29. So, everyone in general who wants to find an excuse for their shameful and wicked [actions] is therefore quite rightly punished, because those who are freed are freed only by grace. After all, if the apology here were fair, then it would no longer be grace, but righteousness, that would get rid of [all] this. But since it is only grace that delivers, it does not find anything righteous in the one whom it delivers: neither will, nor action, nor even the apology itself - after all, if this apology were fair, then the one who uses it would be delivered by merit, and not by grace. For we know that by the grace of Christ some of those who say: Why else does he accuse? For who can resist His will? 102 If this apology is just, then [such people] are no longer delivered by free grace, but for the sake of the justice of this apology. If they are delivered by grace, then it is clear that this excuse is unjust. After all, then the grace by which a person is delivered is true grace when it is not rewarded fairly, as something due. Therefore, with those who say: Why else do they accuse? For who can resist His will? – exactly what we read about in the book of Solomon’s [Proverbs] happens: A man’s foolishness perverts his ways, and he accuses God in his heart 103 . What does evil will lead to, what does God’s grace lead to? 30. And therefore, although God, desiring to show wrath and reveal His power, through which He makes good use even of the wicked, created the vessels of wrath for destruction, [created also in order] to display the riches of His glory over the vessels of mercy, 104 which He created for glory (not due to a condemnable mixture [as something due], but bestowed according to the bounty of His grace), - yet in the same vessels of wrath, because the guilt of [the entire] mixture of those deservedly created for reproach, that is, in people created for the sake of the blessings of nature, but destined for punishment due to vices, He only condemns, and does not create that lawlessness, which in all justice Truth rejects 105. For just as human nature is attributed to His will, which without any doubt deserves praise, so guilt is attributed to human will, which without any objection is subject to condemnation. This will of man either passed on the hereditary vice to the descendants whom it contained within itself when it sinned, or it also added other vices [that are added] when each person on his own lives dishonestly. But neither from that [evil] that is acquired as a result of [sinful] origin, nor from that evil that everyone accumulates in his own life either through unreason or unwillingness to understand, [nor because] also that [a person], being instructed by the law, accumulates, adding [to sin] crime - no one is freed or justified [from all this] except by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord 106. And this happens not only through the remission of sins, but first of all thanks to the inspiration [from God] of faith and the fear of God itself, thanks to the endowment of [a person] with the motivation to pray and its implementation. [And God does this] until He heals all kinds of our ailments and heals our life from corruption, crowning us with [His] mercy and mercy 107 . J.-P. Migne. Paris, 1845. T. 33. Col. 874–891. Places with discrepancies were verified with the publication: Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum. Vindobonae, 1911. Vo1. 57. R. 176–214. Compare: Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Hebrews 10:38; Hab 2:4. Ps 35:4. In Synod.trans.: He does not want to come to his senses in order to do good. Proverbs 29 (according to LXX). In Synod, trans.: A slave cannot learn by words, because although he understands them, he does not obey Rom 1:18–20. In the Synod.trans.: ...For His invisible things, His eternal power and Godhead, have been visible from the creation of the world through the consideration of creatures, so that they are unrequited. Rom 7:24–25 In Synod, trans.: Poor man that I am! who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank my God Jesus Christ our Lord. Proverbs 19:3. Wed. Synod, trans.: Man’s stupidity perverts his path, and his heart is indignant at the Lord. You might be interested in: