NATURE OF SIN 5 



viduals and in the history of the human race evil 

 sometimes appears as the inciting cause of good, 

 it is equally true, and a matter of common ex- 

 perience, that such cases are the exception, not 

 the rule, and consequently prove nothing with 

 regard to the nature of evil. If an evil act acci- 

 dentally results in good, this is not imputable to 

 man, but to God. Cfr. Gen. L, 20: "You 

 thought evil against me, but God turned it into 

 good, that he might exalt me . . . and save 

 many people." 15 



It would be a mistake, however, to conceive sin 

 as a simple negation. If it were merely the lack 

 or absence of good, sin would be a natural and 

 necessary result of creatural limitation, and its 

 real author would be God Himself. Deep down 

 in his heart every man knows that sin is not the 

 work of God but of man, and that it involves 

 guilt. 16 



b) God cannot be the author of sin as such. 17 



15 Cfr. St. Augustine, Enchiridion, (Migne, P. L., XL, 276). — Idem, De 



c. 96: "Nee dubitandum est Deum Praedest. Sanctorum, c. 16, n. 33: 



facere bene etiam sinendo fieri, quae- "Est in tnalorum potestate peccare. 



cunque fiunt male. Non enim hoc Ut autem peccando hoc vel hoc Hid 



nisi iusto iudicio sinit, et profecto malitia faciant, non est in eorum 



bonum est omne, quod iustum est. potestate, sed Dei dividentis tene- 



Quamvis ergo ea quae mala sunt, bras et ordinantis eas, ut hinc etiam 



inquantum mala sunt, non sint bona, quod faciunt contra voluntatem Dei, 



tamen ut non solum bona, sed etiam non impleatur nisi voluntas." (P. 



sint et mala, bonum est. Nam nisi L., XLIV, 984). 



esset hoc bonum, ut essent mala, 16 Cfr. Psalm L, 5-6; Matth. 



nullo modo esse sinerentur ab omni- XXVII, 3-5. 



potente bono, cui procul dubio quam 17 Cfr. St. Augustine, De Ordine, 



facile est, quod vult facere, tarn facile II, c. 7, n. 23: "Malorum auc- 



est, quod non vult esse non sinere." torem Deum fateberis, quo sacri- 



