Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichæans 36
36 No Creature of God is Evil, But to Abuse a Creature of God is Evil PL 42, 562
For who is so foolish as to think a creature of God, especially one planted in Paradise, blameworthy; when indeed not even thorns and thistles, which the earth brought forth, according to the judiciary judgment of God, for wearing out the sinner in labor, should be blamed? For even such herbs have their measure and form and order, which whoever considers soberly will find praiseworthy; but they are evil to that nature which ought thus to be restrained as a recompense for sin. Therefore, as I have said, sin is not the striving after an evil nature, but the desertion of a better, and so the deed itself is evil, not the nature which the sinner uses amiss. For it is evil to use amiss that which is good. Whence the apostle reproves certain ones as condemned by divine judgment, "Who have worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." He does not reprove the creature, which he who should do would act injuriously towards the Creator, but those who, deserting the better, have used amiss the good.
Nulla creatura Dei mala, sed ea male uti est malum. Nam quis ita desipiat, ut Dei creaturam, maxime in paradiso plantatam, vituperandam putet; quandoquidem nec ipsae spinae ac tribuli, quos peccatori in labore conterendo secundum Dei judiciariam voluntatem terra peperit, recte vituperentur? Habent enim et tales herbae modum, et speciem, et ordinem suum, quae quisquis sobrie consideraverit, laudanda reperiet: sed ei naturae ista mala sunt, quam peccati merito sic coerceri oportebat. Non est ergo, ut dixi, peccatum malae naturae appetitio, sed melioris desertio; et ideo factum ipsum malum est, non illa natura qua male utitur peccans. Malum est enim male uti bono. Unde Apostolus damnatos quosdam divino judicio reprehendit, qui coluerunt et servierunt creaturae potius quam Creatori . Neque enim creaturam reprehendit; quod qui fecerit, Creatori facit injuriam: sed eos qui male usi sunt bono, meliore deserto.