Chapter IV.—That God is Not
Corruptible, Who, If He Were, Would Not Be God at All.
6. For I was so struggling to find out the rest, as
having already found that what was incorruptible must be better
than the corruptible; and Thee, therefore, whatsoever Thou wert,
did I acknowledge to be incorruptible. For never yet was, nor will
be, a soul able to conceive of anything better than Thou, who art
the highest and best good. But whereas most truly and certainly
that which is incorruptible is to be preferred to the corruptible
(like as I myself did now prefer it), then, if Thou were not
incorruptible, I could in my thoughts have reached unto something
better than my God. Where, then, I saw that the incorruptible was
to be preferred to the corruptible, there ought I to seek Thee, and
there observe “whence evil itself was,” that is, whence comes
the corruption by which Thy substance can by no means be profaned.
For corruption, truly, in no way injures our God,—by no will, by
no necessity, by no unforeseen chance,—because He is God, and
what He wills is good, and Himself is that good; but to be
corrupted is not good. Nor art Thou compelled to do anything
against Thy will in that Thy will is not greater than Thy power.
But greater should it be wert Thou Thyself greater than Thyself;
for the will and power of God is God Himself. And what can be
unforeseen by Thee, who knowest all things? Nor is there any sort
of nature but Thou knowest it. And what more should we say “why
that substance which God is should not be corruptible,” seeing
that if it were so it could not be God?