The City of God, Volume IIAugustine, of Hippo, Saint
ReligionChristian
The City of God, Volume II
Augustine, of Hippo, Saint
Apologetics -- Early works to 1800; Kingdom of God -- Early works to 1800
Those emotions which the Greeks call εὐπαθείαι, and which Cicero
calls _constantiæ_, the Stoics would restrict to three; and,
instead of three "perturbations" in the soul of the wise man, they
substituted severally, in place of desire, will; in place of joy,
contentment; and for fear, caution; and as to sickness or pain,
which we, to avoid ambiguity, preferred to call sorrow, they denied
that it could exist in the mind of a wise man. Will, they say, seeks
the good, for this the wise man does. Contentment has its object in
good that is possessed, and this the wise man continually possesses.
Caution avoids evil, and this the wise man ought to avoid. But sorrow
arises from evil that has already happened; and as they suppose that
no evil can happen to the wise man, there can be no representative of
sorrow in his mind. According to them, therefore, none but the wise
man wills, is contented, uses caution; and that the fool can do no
more than desire, rejoice, fear, be sad. The former three affections
Cicero calls _constantiæ_, the last four _perturbationes_. Many,
however, call these last _passions_; and, as I have said, the Greeks
call the former εὐπαθείαι, and the latter πάθη. And when I made a
careful examination of Scripture to find whether this terminology was
sanctioned by it, I came upon this saying of the prophet: "There is
no contentment to the wicked, saith the Lord;"[40] as if the wicked
might more properly rejoice than be contented regarding evils, for
contentment is the property of the good and godly. I found also
that verse in the Gospel: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do
unto you, do ye even so unto them;"[41] which seems to imply that
evil or shameful things may be the object of desire, but not of
will. Indeed, some interpreters have added "good things" to make the
expression more in conformity with customary usage, and have given
this meaning, "Whatsoever good deeds that ye would that men should
do unto you." For they thought that this would prevent any one from
wishing other men to provide him with unseemly, not to say shameful,
gratifications,--luxurious banquets, for example,--on the supposition
that if he returned the like to them he would be fulfilling this
precept. In the Greek Gospel, however, from which the Latin is
translated, "good" does not occur, but only, "All things whatsoever
ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them," and,
as I believe, because "good" is already included in the word "would;"
for He does not say "desire."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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