[6] See also chap. lxi. From the _Enchiridion_ of Saint
Augustine:--"All things that exist, therefore, seeing that the Creator
of them all is supremely good, are themselves good. But because they
are not like their Creator, supremely and unchangeably good, their good
may be diminished and increased. But for good to be diminished is an
evil, although, however much it may be diminished, it is necessary, if
the being is to continue, that some good should remain to constitute
the being. For however small or of whatever kind the being may be, the
good which makes it a being cannot be destroyed without destroying the
being itself.... So long as a being is in process of corruption, there
is in it some good of which it is being deprived; and if a part of the
being should remain which cannot be corrupted, this will certainly
be an incorruptible being, and accordingly the process of corruption
will result in the manifestation of this great good. But if it do
not cease to be corrupted, neither can it cease to possess good of
which corruption may deprive it. But if it should be thoroughly and
completely consumed by corruption, there will then be no good left,
because there will be no being. Wherefore corruption can consume the
good only by consuming the being. Every being, therefore, is a good; a
great good, if it cannot be corrupted; a little good, if it can: but in
any case, only the foolish or ignorant will deny that it is a good. And
if it be wholly consumed by corruption, then the corruption itself must
cease to exist, as there is no being left in which it can dwell."
Chap. x. "By the Trinity, thus supremely and equally and unchangeably
good, all things were created; and these are not supremely and equally
and unchangeably good, but yet they are good, even taken separately.
Taken as a whole, however, they are very good, because their _ensemble_
constitutes the universe in all its wonderful order and beauty."--_The
Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo_, (Edited by the Rev.
Marcus Dods, D.D.), vol. ix.
CHAPTER XXVIII
"Each brotherly compassion that man hath on his fellow Christians, with
charity, it is Christ in him"
Thus I saw how Christ hath compassion on us for the cause of sin.
And right as I was afore in the [Shewing of the] Passion of Christ
fulfilled with pain and compassion, like so in this [sight] I was
fulfilled, in part, with compassion of all mine even-Christians--for
that well, well beloved people that shall be saved. For God's servants,
Holy Church, shall be shaken in sorrow and anguish, tribulation in this
world, as men shake a cloth in the wind.
And as to this our Lord answered in this manner: _A great thing shall I
make hereof in Heaven of endless worship and everlasting joys._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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