6 SIN 



For, in the first place, sin is not a substance but 

 merely a privation, and, secondly, Almighty 

 God punishes the sinner. "God in no wise wills 

 the evil of sin, which is the privation of right 

 order towards the divine good," explains St. 

 Thomas; "the evil of natural defect, or of pun- 

 ishment, He does will, by willing the good to 

 which such evils are attached." 18 In other 

 words, "God is the author of the evil which is pen- 

 alty, but not of the evil which is fault." 19 



Holy Scripture frequently refers to God as the 

 Author of holiness, and the all-holy One who 

 is free from sin and tempteth no man. 20 It 

 seems hard to reconcile this truth with the many 

 texts in which God is described as actively co- 

 operating in the sinful deeds of His creatures. 

 Thus St. Paul says of the gentiles that, because 

 they practiced idolatry, "God gave them up 

 (Trapc'SwKcv) to the desires of their heart, unto un- 

 cleanness, to dishonor their own bodies among 

 themselves," and "delivered them up to shameful 



legio mihi detestabilius nihil occur- quod privat ordinem ad bonum di- 



rit." (P. L., XXXII, 1005). — vinutn, Deus nullo modo vult. Sed 



Idem, Enchiridion, c. 23, n. 8: malum naturalis defectus vel malum 



"Nequaquam dubitare debemus, re- poenae vult, volendo aliquod bonum, 



rum quae ad nos pertinent bonarum cut coniungitur tale malum." 



causam non esse nisi bonitatem Dei, 19 Ibid., qu. 49, art. 2: "Deus 



malarum vero ab immutabili bono est auctor mali, quod est poena, non 



dedcientem boni mutabilis volunta- autem mali, quod est culpa." — Cfr. 



tern." (P. L., XL, 244).— Cfr. K. Scheeben, Dogmatik, Vol. II, pp. 569 



Clemen, Die christliche Lehre von sqq. ; Th. H. Simar, Die Theologie 



der Siinde, Vol. I, pp. 123 sqq. des hi. Paulus, Freiburg 1883, pp. 82 



18 St. Thomas, Summa Theol., ia, sq. 



qu. 19, art. 9: "Malum culpae, 20 Lev. XI, 44; XIX, 2; Matth. 



