Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental 33
33 Every Nature, as Nature, is Good PL 42, 195
36. But the consideration we wish most to urge is the truth of the Catholic doctrine, if they can understand it, that God is the author of all natures. I urged this before when I said, I join with you in your condemnation of destructiveness, of blindness, of dense muddiness, of terrific violence, of perishableness, of the ferocity of the princes, and so on; join with me in commending form, classification, arrangement, harmony, unity of structure, symmetry and correspondence of members, provision for vital breath and nourishment, wholesome adaptation, regulation and control by the mind, and the subjection of the bodies, and the assimilation and agreement of parts in the natures, both those inhabiting and those inhabited, and all the other things of the same kind. From this, if they would only think honestly, they would understand that it implies a mixture of good and evil, even in the region where they suppose evil to be alone and in perfection: so that if the evils mentioned were taken away, the good things will remain, without anything to detract from the commendation given to them; whereas, if the good things are taken away, no nature is left. From this every one sees, who can see, that every nature, as far as it is nature, is good; since in one and the same thing in which I found something to praise, and he found something to blame, if the good things are taken away, no nature will remain; but if the disagreeable things are taken away, the nature will remain unimpaired. Take from waters their thickness and muddiness, and pure clear water remains; take from them the consistence of their parts, and no water will be left. If then, after the evil is removed, the nature remains in a purer state, and does not remain at all when the good is taken away, it must be the good which makes the nature of the thing in which it is, while the evil is not nature, but contrary to nature. Take from the winds their terribleness and excessive force, with which you find fault, you can conceive of winds as gentle and mild; take from them the similarity of their parts which gives them continuity of substance, and the unity essential to material existence, and no nature remains to be conceived of. It would be tedious to go through all the cases; but all who consider the subject free from party spirit must see that in their list of natures the disagreeable things mentioned are additions to the nature; and when they are removed, the natures remain better than before. This shows that the natures, as far as they are natures, are good; for when you take from them the good instead of the evil, no natures remain. And attend, you who wish to arrive at a correct judgment, to what is said of the fierce prince himself. If you take away his ferocity, see how many excellent things will remain; his material frame, the symmetry of the members on one side with those on the other, the unity of his form, the settled continuity of his parts, the orderly adjustment of the mind as ruling and animating, and the body as subject and animated. The removal of these things, and of others I may have omitted to mention, will leave no nature remaining.
Quam multa bona in iis naturis, quas ponit Manichaeus in terra tenebrarum.--Sed ista, inquit, genera quinque illas naturas inhabitantia, saeva erant atque pestifera. Quasi ego in eis saevitiam pestemque laudaverim. Ecce ego tecum vitupero quae in illis mala esse criminaris: lauda tu mecum quae in illis bona ipse commemoras: ita videbis bona malis permixta te velle constituere pro summo et extremo malo. Vitupero ibi tecum pestem: lauda ibi mecum salutem. Non enim genera illa vel gigni, vel nutriri, vel inhabitare terram illam sine salute aliqua potuissent. Vitupero ibi tecum tenebras: lauda ibi mecum fecunditatem. Tenebras enim dicis inaestimabiles; et addis tamen, cum propriis fetibus. Quanquam tenebrae non sunt corporeae; totumque hoc nomen lucis absentia est: sicut nuditas, carere vestitu; et inanitas, vacare corporis plenitudine: ac propterea tenebrae nihil gignere potuerunt, quamvis terra potuerit tenebrosa, id est, carens luce, aliquid gignere. Sed interim hoc omittamus: fetus tamen ubi exoriuntur, et temperamentum est aptum saluti, et quaedam concordia numerosa ordinat atque in unitatem coaedificat membra nascentium, sibimet invicem moderationis pace congruentia. Quae omnia quis non intelligat majori laude, quam tenebras vituperatione dignanda? Vitupero ibi tecum coenum turbidum aquarum: lauda ibi mecum et ipsam speciem qualitatemque aquarum, et inhabitatorum natantium membra congruentia, vitam corpus continentem et regentem, et omne temperamentum sui generis valetudini accommodatum. Quantumvis enim aquas coenosas turbidasque reprehendas, eo tamen quod tales aquas dicis, ut animantia sua possent et gignere et continere, speciem illius qualiscumque corporis et partium similitudinem, qua in unam formantur pacanturque qualitatem, auferre non potes; quia si abstuleris, nullum erit corpus: quae omnia, si es homo, sentis esse laudanda. Et quantumvis illorum inhabitatorum saevitiam, et inter impetus dilacerationes et vastationes exaggeres, non eis tamen adimis numerosos formarum terminos, quibus sibi singula eorum corpora membrorum parilitate pacata sunt, et temperamentum salutis, et moderamen animae partes sui corporis in unitatem amicitiae concordiaeque redigentis: quae si humano sensu intueris, vides plus esse laudanda quam illa vituperanda quae displicent. Vitupero ibi tecum horrorem ventorum: lauda ibi mecum eorumdem ventorum spirabilem nutricemque naturam, et speciem corporis convenientia partium continuati atque diffusi: quibus rebus omnibus illos inhabitatores suos poterant et gignere, et alere, et salubriter continere; eorumque inhabitatorum, cum caetera quae in omnibus animantibus superiori ratione laudata sunt, tum proprie impigros et faciles unde velint et quo velint transitus, et alarum in volatu concordem nisum et non imparem motum. Vitupero ibi tecum corruptionem ignis: lauda ibi mecum genitabilem ignem, et vigentem opportunamque ejus temperationem nascentibus, et ut coalescerent, et ut suis numeris lineamentisque perficerentur, et ut vivere atque habitare ibi possent: quae omnia non solum in ignis habitatione, sed in ipsis quoque habitantibus miranda et laudanda esse cognoscis. Vitupero ibi tecum obscuritatem fumi, et immanitatem principis qui in eo, sicut dicis, morabatur: lauda ibi mecum quod vel in ipso fumo nullam partem invenis dissimilem caeteris; ex quo in genere suo partium inter se suarum congruentiam modumque custodit, ut quadam unitate sit quod est: quae nemo sobrie considerat, et non mirabiliter laudat. Quid, quod etiam fumo addis vim potentiamque generandi, quando eidem quoque inhabitatores principes tribuis: ut quod hic nunquam vidimus, ibi fumus fecundus sit, et salubrem suis habitatoribus praebeat mansionem?