Chapter 96.—The Omnipotent
God Does Well Even in the Permission of Evil.
Nor can we doubt that God does well
even in the permission of what is evil. For He permits it only in
the justice of His judgment. And surely all that is just is good.
Although, therefore, evil, in so far as it is evil, is not a good;
yet the fact that evil as well as good exists, is a good. For if it
were not a good that evil should exist, its existence would not be
permitted by the omnipotent Good, who without doubt can as easily
refuse to permit what He does not wish, as bring about what He does
wish. And if we do not believe this, the very first sentence of our
creed is endangered, wherein we profess to believe in God the
Father Almighty. For He is not truly called Almighty if He cannot
do whatsoever He pleases, or if the power of His almighty will is
hindered by the will of any creature whatsoever.