{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p class=\"c005\">20. But with respect to the declaration of the apostle,\r\n“Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy,\r\nand whom He will He hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto\r\nme, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His\r\nwill? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against\r\nGod? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,\r\nWhy hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power\r\nover the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto\r\nhonour, and another unto dishonour?”<a id=\"r568\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f568\"><sup>[568]</sup></a> Some one will perhaps\r\nsay, that as the potter out of the same lump makes some\r\nvessels to honour, and others to dishonour, so God creates\r\nsome men for perdition, and others for salvation; and that\r\nit is not therefore in our own power either to be saved or to\r\nperish; by which reasoning we appear not to be possessed of\r\nfree-will. We must answer those who are of this opinion\r\nwith the question, Whether it is possible for the apostle to\r\ncontradict himself? And if this cannot be imagined of\r\nan apostle, how shall he appear, according to them, to be\r\njust in blaming those who committed fornication in Corinth,\r\nor those who sinned, and did not repent of their unchastity,\r\nand fornication, and uncleanness, which they had\r\ncommitted? How, also, does he greatly praise those who\r\nacted rightly, like the house of Onesiphorus, saying, “The\r\nLord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he\r\noft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: but,\r\nwhen he had come to Rome, he sought me out very diligently,\r\nand found me. The Lord grant unto him that he\r\nmay find mercy of the Lord in that day.”<a id=\"r569\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f569\"><sup>[569]</sup></a> Now it is not\r\nconsistent with apostolic gravity to blame him who is worthy\r\nof blame, <i>i.e.</i> who has sinned, and greatly to praise him who\r\nis deserving of praise for his good works; and again, as if it\r\nwere in no one’s power to do any good or evil, to say that it\r\nwas the Creator’s doing that every one should act virtuously\r\nor wickedly, seeing He makes one vessel to honour, and\r\nanother to dishonour. And how can he add that statement,\r\n“We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ,\r\nthat every one of us may receive in his body, according to\r\nwhat he hath done, whether it be good or bad?”<a id=\"r570\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f570\"><sup>[570]</sup></a> For what\r\nreward of good will be conferred on him who could not\r\ncommit evil, being formed by the Creator to that very end?\r\nor what punishment will deservedly be inflicted on him who\r\nwas unable to do good in consequence of the creative act\r\nof his Maker?<a id=\"r571\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f571\"><sup>[571]</sup></a> Then, again, how is not this opposed to\r\nthat other declaration elsewhere, that “in a great house\r\nthere are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood\r\nand of earth, and some to honour, and some to dishonour.\r\nIf a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a\r\nvessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s\r\nuse, prepared unto every good work.”<a id=\"r572\"></a><a class=\"c007 pginternal\" href=\"#f572\"><sup>[572]</sup></a> He, accordingly, who\r\npurges himself, is made a vessel unto honour, while he who\r\nhas disdained to cleanse himself from his impurity is made a\r\nvessel unto dishonour. From such declarations, in my opinion,\r\nthe cause of our actions can in no degree be referred to the\r\nCreator. For God the Creator makes a certain vessel unto\r\nhonour, and other vessels to dishonour; but that vessel which\r\nhas cleansed itself from all impurity He makes a vessel unto\r\nhonour, while that which has stained itself with the filth of\r\nvice He makes a vessel unto dishonour. The conclusion\r\nfrom which, accordingly, is this, that the cause of each one’s\r\nactions is a pre-existing one; and then every one, according\r\nto his deserts, is made by God either a vessel unto honour or\r\ndishonour. Therefore every individual vessel has furnished\r\nto its Creator out of itself the causes and occasions of its\r\nbeing formed by Him to be either a vessel unto honour or\r\none unto dishonour. And if the assertion appear correct, as\r\nit certainly is, and in harmony with all piety, that it is due\r\nto previous causes that every vessel be prepared by God\r\neither to honour or to dishonour, it does not appear absurd\r\nthat, in discussing remoter causes in the same order, and in\r\nthe same method, we should come to the same conclusion\r\nrespecting the nature of souls, and [believe] that this was the\r\nreason why Jacob was beloved before he was born into this\r\nworld, and Esau hated, while he still was contained in the\r\nwomb of his mother.</p>","headings":["The Writings of Origen, Vol. 1 of 2","ORIGEN DE PRINCIPIIS.","BOOK III.","FROM THE LATIN."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg70561-paragraph-236"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"5b255a9d6e727b4c868c4ae8879c2d6f091b2da786cc8637b20e9b6ce915b511","edition_title":"The writings of Origen, Vol. 1 (of 2)","edition_translators":["Frederick Crombie"],"edition_year":1869,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"2CO","chapter":5,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"2 Cor. v. 10","verse":10,"verse_end":10}],"headings":[],"id":"pg70561-f570","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Project Gutenberg metadata: Public domain in the USA. Existing 1869 English translation; translator died 1889. Electronic transcription subject to Project Gutenberg reuse terms.","source_anchor":"f570","source_ebook":70561,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\" id=\"f570\">\n<p class=\"c006\"><span class=\"label\"><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#r570\">570</a>. </span>2 <abbr title=\"Corinthians\">Cor.</abbr> <abbr title=\"five\">v.</abbr> 10.</p>\n</div>","source_sha256":"de125e213d16053354f22b34a1c8d477ac23f201e660e4f4841b2ed7e05bb367","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/70561/pg70561-images.html#f570","text_sha256":"c52aef617abd322af9a97a2a98e220ed59e8c00ed53e28388c83e4e5f22baeef","verified":false,"work_id":null}