There are some Scriptural passages which seem to imply that God withdraws His grace from those who are obdurate, nay, that He Himself hardens their hearts in punishment of sin. Thus the Lord says of Pharao: “I shall harden his heart,”(536) and Moses tells us: “The Lord hardened Pharao’s heart, and he harkened not unto them.”(537) But it would be wrong to assume that this denotes a positive action on the part of God. Pharao, as we are told further on, “hardened his own heart” (_ingravavit cor suum_).(538) The fault in all cases lies with the sinner, who obstinately resists the call of grace. God’s co-operation in the matter is merely indirect. The greater and stronger graces which He grants to ordinary sinners, He withholds from the obdurate in punishment of their malice. This is, however, by no means tantamount to a withdrawal of sufficient grace.(539) b) The Fathers speak of God’s way of dealing with obdurate sinners in a manner which clearly shows their belief that He never entirely withdraws His mercy. They insist that the light of grace is never extinguished in the present life. “God gave them over to a reprobate mind,” says St. Augustine, “for such is the blindness of the mind. Whosoever is given over thereunto, is shut out from the interior light of God: but not wholly as yet, whilst he is in this life. For there is ‘outer darkness,’ which is understood to belong rather to the day of judgment; that he should rather be wholly without God, whosoever, whilst there is time, refuses correction.”(540) It follows that no sinner, how desperate soever his case may appear, need be despaired of. As long as there is life there is hope.(541) The Fathers consistently teach that the reason why reprobates are lost is not lack of grace but their own malice. Thus St. Chrysostom comments on Isaias’ prophecy regarding the impenitence of the Jews: “The reason they did not believe was not that Isaias had predicted their unbelief, but his prediction was based on the fact that they would not believe. They were unable to believe, _i.e._ they had not the will to believe.”(542)