Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental 36
36 The Source of Evil or of Corruption of Good PL 42, 198
41. After thus inquiring what evil is, and learning that it is not nature, but against nature, we must next inquire whence it is. If Manichæus had done this, he might have escaped falling into the snare of these serious errors. Out of time and out of order, he began with inquiring into the origin of evil, without first asking what evil was; and so his inquiry led him only to the reception of foolish fancies, of which the mind, much fed by the bodily senses, with difficulty rids itself. Perhaps, then, some one, desiring no longer argument, but delivery from error, will ask, Whence is this corruption which we find to be the common evil of good things which are not incorruptible? Such an inquirer will soon find the answer if he seeks for truth with great earnestness, and knocks reverently with sustained assiduity. For while man can use words as a kind of sign for the expression of his thoughts, teaching is the work of the incorruptible Truth itself, who is the one true, the one internal Teacher. He became external also, that He might recall us from the external to the internal; and taking on Himself the form of a servant, that He might bring down His height to the knowledge of those rising up to Him, He condescended to appear in lowliness to the low. In His name let us ask, and through Him let us seek mercy of the Father while making this inquiry. For to answer in a word the question, Whence is corruption? it is hence, because these natures that are capable of corruption were not begotten by God, but made by Him out of nothing; and as we already proved that those natures are good, no one can say with propriety that they were not good as made by God. If it is said that God made them perfectly good, it must be remembered that the only perfect good is God Himself, the maker of those good things.
Natura omnis, ut natura est, bona est. Sed illo genere magis urgendi sunt, ut intelligant, si possunt, quam vere in Catholica dicatur, omnium naturarum esse auctorem Deum: quo de genere superius agebam, cum dicerem, Vitupero tecum pestem, caecitatem, coenositatem turbidam, horribilem vehementiam, corruptibilitatem, immanitatem principum, et his similia: lauda tu mecum speciem, distinctionem, ordinationem, pacem, unitatem formarum, membrorum congruentias et numerosas parilitates, vitalia spiramenta et nutrimenta, temperamentum salutis, regimen et moderamen animae, famulatusque corporum, similitudinem concordiamque partium in singulis naturis vel quae habitabant, vel quae habitabantur, et caetera hujusmodi. Sic enim intelligunt, si tamen sine pertinacia velint attendere, jam et bona et mala se miscere, cum loquuntur de illa terra, ubi solum et summum malum fuisse crediderunt: itaque si tollantur illa quae mala enumerata sunt, bona illa quae laudata sunt sine ulla vituperatione remanere; si autem bona ipsa tollantur, nullam remanere naturam. Ex quo jam videt qui potest videre, omnem naturam, in quantum natura est, bonum esse: quia ex una eademque re, in qua et ego quod laudarem, et ille quod vituperaret invenit, si tollantur ea quae bona sunt, natura nulla erit; si autem tollantur ea quae displicent, incorrupta natura remanebit. Tolle de aquis ut non sint coenosae et turbidae, remanent aquae purae atque tranquillae: tolle de aquis partium concordiam, non erunt aquae. Si ergo malo illo adempto manet natura purgatior, bono autem detracto non manet ulla natura: hoc ibi facit naturam quod bonum habet; quod autem malum, non natura, sed contra naturam est. Tolle de ventis horrorem et nimium impetum qui tibi displicet, potes cogitare ventos lenes atque moderatos: tolle de ventis partium similitudinem, qua eorum corpus in unitatem continuatur et sibi pacatur ut corpus sit, nulla suberit natura quam cogites. Longum est persequi caetera: sed manifestum est eis qui nullo studio partium judicant, cum istae naturae commemorantur, adjungi eis quaedam quibus displiceant; quae cum detrahimus, naturae meliores manent. Unde intelligitur eas, in quantum naturae sunt, bonas esse: quia cum eis vicissim omne quod bonum habent detraxeris, naturae nullae erunt. Animadvertite etiam, qui recte vultis judicare, illum quoque principem immanem; cui si auferatur immanitas, attendite quanta laudabilia remanebunt: compago corporis, membrorum hinc atque inde congruentia, formae unitas, et pax contextarum inter se partium, animae regentis et vegetantis, famulantisque et vegetati corporis ordo et dispositio. Quae omnia bona si auferantur, et si qua forte minus enumeravi, nulla prorsus natura subsistet.