40 



SIN 



sight of the fact that Satan is a creature depen- 

 dent upon God and limited in power. He is a 

 dangerous tempter, but he can compel no man to 

 do wrong. His power amounts to nothing unless 

 he can get man to consent to his evil suggestions. 

 "It is our will, not his power that delivers us into 

 his hands," says St. Bernard. 25 "However great 

 the power and pertinacity of Satan," says the 

 Roman Catechism, "he cannot, in his deadly ha- 

 tred of our race, tempt or torment us as much or 

 as long as he pleases; but all his power is gov- 

 erned by the control and permission of God." 26 

 There is an apt comparison of the devil to a 

 chained dog in a sermon attributed to St. Augus- 



tine 



27 



25 De Gratia et Lib. Arbitrio, c. 

 6, n. 18: "Diabolo nostra nos man- 

 cipat voluntas, non ipsius potestas." 

 (Migne. P. L., CLXXXII, ion).— 

 Cfr. St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps., 

 63, n. 1: "Alligatus est quidem 

 diabolus, ne faciat, quantum potest, 

 ne faciat, quantum vult, tamen tan- 

 turn tentare sinitur, quantum expedit 

 Proficientibus." (P. L., XXXVI, 

 761). — Idem, ibid., 103, s. 3, n. 22: 

 "Nee tentari quis potest a diabolo 

 nisi permittente Deo . . . out ad 

 damnandos impios aut ad probandos 

 pios." (P. L., XXXVII, 1375).— 

 St. Thomas, Summa Theol., ia 2ae, 

 qu. 80, art. 3: "Diabolus propria 

 virtute, nisi refraenetur a Deo, pot- 

 est aliquem inducere ex necessitate 

 ad faciendum aliquem actum, qui de 

 suo genere peccatum est; non autem 

 potest inducere necessitatem pec- 

 candi. Quod patet ex hoc, quod 



homo motivo ad peccandum non re- 

 sistit nisi per rationem, cuius usum 

 totaliter impedire potest movendo 

 imaginationem et appctitum sensi- 

 tivum, sicut in arreptitiis patet. 

 Sed tunc ratione sic ligata quid- 

 quid homo agat, non imputatur ei ad 

 peccatum. Sed si ratio non sit to- 

 taliter ligata, ex ea parte, qua est 

 libera, potest resistere peccato. 

 Unde manifestum est, quod diabolus 

 nutlo modo potest necessitatem in- 

 ducere ad peccandum." 



20 Catech. Rom., P. 4, c. 15, qu. 8: 

 "Non Satan in tanta et potentia et 

 pertinacia, in capitali odio nostri 

 generis nee quantum nee quamdiu 

 vult, tentare nos aut vexare potest, 

 sed omnis eius potestas Dei nutu et 

 permissu gubernatur." — Cfr. J. 

 Wirtz, Die Lehre von der Apolytro- 

 sis, Treves 1906, pp. 31 sqq. 



27 Cfr. Pseudo-Augustine, Append. 



