Letter 627

To Faustinus the Cubicularius [chamberlain of the imperial bedchamber]. That which would not come to pass if God prevented it, the God-inspired Scripture is accustomed to refer entirely to him, on the ground that those things which God permits to happen through others are, by way of the permission, almost done by God himself. For he was able to check those who work the worse course even against their will, but he does not check them by force, lest he do violence to the free will [literally, the self-determining power] of the human being. By his own purpose, therefore, and by his own power the human being is either crowned or punished. So then the saying, "God gave up the unclean and wicked men to a reprobate mind, to do the things that are not fitting" [Romans 1:28], means: he permitted it, and did not check it by his own might.

Ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο κωλύοντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, πᾶν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἀναφέρειν ἔθος τῇ θεοπνεύστῳ Γραφῇ, ὡς ἃ δι’ ὧν Θεὸς γίνεσθαι συγχωρεῖ, σχεδὸν ταῦτα ποι-οῦντος Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς συγχωρήσεως. Ἠδύνατο γὰρ ἀνακόπτειν καὶ μὴ θέλοντας τοὺς ἐνεργοῦντας τὸ χεῖρον, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀνακόπτει πρὸς βίαν, ἵνα μὴ τὸ κἀτεξούσιον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου βιάσηται. Οἰκείᾳ τοίνυν βουλήματι, καὶ οἰκείᾳ ἐξουσίᾳ ἢ στεφανοῦται, ἢ τι-μωρεῖται ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Τὸ οὖν, «Παρέδωκε τοὺς ἀκαθάρτους καὶ πονηροὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁ Θεὸς εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα»· τουτέστι, Παρεχώρησε, καὶ οὐκ ἀνέκοψε τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἰσχύϊ.