Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichæans 34
34 That Sin is Not the Striving for an Evil Nature, But the Desertion of a Better PL 42, 562
Likewise because sin, or unrighteousness, is not the striving after evil nature but the desertion of better, it is thus found written in the Scriptures: "Every creature of God is good." And accordingly every tree also which God planted in Paradise is assuredly good. Man did not therefore strive after an evil nature when he touched the forbidden tree; but by deserting what was better, he committed an evil deed. Since the Creator is better than any creature which He has made, His command should not have been deserted, that the thing forbidden, however good, might be touched; since the better having been deserted, the good of the creature was striven for, which was touched contrary to the command of the Creator. God did not plant an evil tree in Paradise; but He Himself was better who prohibited its being touched.
Peccatum non est malae naturae appetitio, sed melioris desertio. Item quia peccatum vel iniquitas non est appetitio naturarum malarum, sed desertio meliorum; sic in Scripturis invenitur scriptum, Omnis creatura Dei bona est : ac per hoc et omne lignum quod in paradiso Deus plantavit, utique bonum est. Non ergo malam naturam homo appetivit, cum arborem vetitam tetigit: sed id quod melius erat deserendo, factum malum ipse commisit. Melior quippe Creator, quam ulla creatura quam condidit: cujus imperium non erat deserendum, ut tangeretur prohibitum, quamvis bonum; quoniam deserto meliore, bonum creaturae appetebatur, quod contra Creatoris imperium tangebatur. Non itaque Deus arborem malam in paradiso plantaverat; sed ipse erat melior, qui eam tangi prohibebat.