{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>But it is much more surprising that some even of those\r\nwho, with ourselves, believe that there is one only source of\r\nall things, and that no nature which is not divine can exist\r\nunless originated by that Creator, have yet refused to accept\r\nwith a good and simple faith this so good and simple a reason\r\nof the world's creation, that a good God made it good; and\r\nthat the things created, being different from God, were inferior\r\nto Him, and yet were good, being created by none other than\r\nHe. But they say that souls, though not, indeed, parts of God,\r\nbut created by Him, sinned by abandoning God; that, in proportion\r\nto their various sins, they merited different degrees of\r\ndebasement from heaven to earth, and diverse bodies as prison-houses;\r\nand that this is the world, and this the cause of its\r\ncreation, not the production of good things, but the restraining\r\nof evil. Origen is justly blamed for holding this opinion. For\r\nin the books which he entitles περὶ ἀρχῶν, that is, <i>Of origins</i>,\r\nthis is his sentiment, this his utterance. And I cannot sufficiently\r\nexpress my astonishment, that a man so erudite and\r\nwell versed in ecclesiastical literature, should not have observed,\r\nin the first place, how opposed this is to the meaning of this\r\nauthoritative Scripture, which, in recounting all the works of<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_464\">[Pg 464]</a></span>\r\nGod, regularly adds, \"And God saw that it was good;\" and,\r\nwhen all were completed, inserts the words, \"And God saw\r\neverything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_491_491\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_491_491\">[491]</a>\r\nWas it not obviously meant to be understood that there was\r\nno other cause of the world's creation than that good creatures\r\nshould be made by a good God? In this creation, had no one\r\nsinned, the world would have been filled and beautified with\r\nnatures good without exception; and though there is sin, all\r\nthings are not therefore full of sin, for the great majority of\r\nthe heavenly inhabitants preserve their nature's integrity.\r\nAnd the sinful will, though it violated the order of its own\r\nnature, did not on that account escape the laws of God, who\r\njustly orders all things for good. For as the beauty of a\r\npicture is increased by well-managed shadows, so, to the eye\r\nthat has skill to discern it, the universe is beautified even by\r\nsinners, though, considered by themselves, their deformity is\r\na sad blemish.</p>","headings":["THE WORKS OF AURELIUS AUGUSTINE,","BOOK ELEVENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45304-paragraph-802"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"2921bf71d38ec70d4dd36c202cc692a9f5d22ec658875836b8947f70a26239e3","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume I","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Book IV)","J. J. Smith (Books V-VIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"GEN","chapter":1,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Gen. i. 31","verse":31,"verse_end":31}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45304-Footnote_491_491","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":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_491_491","source_ebook":45304,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_491_491\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_491_491\"><span class=\"label\">[491]</span></a> Gen. i. 31.</p></div>","source_sha256":"d89e9a2b80bb59f394f0fb1bf313b39fab162f06af6642166d62c5912c1195f1","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45304/pg45304-images.html#Footnote_491_491","text_sha256":"675d5ca96f80ecfb0aa73fd50a03211eb60ff6d55a6e2f1af9d4f50698063243","verified":false,"work_id":null}