Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (136).

1. Why God permitted the human being to be tempted, knowing he would fall. — Augustine, On Genesis². It is also commonly asked “why God permitted the human being to be tempted, when he foresaw that he would be deceived. — But it would not be praiseworthy for a human being to be able to live well only because no one advised him to live badly, since by nature he had the ability and the power, with God’s help, to will not to consent to the adviser”; “and it is³ more glorious not to consent than to be unable to be tempted.”

2. Why God created those whom he foresaw would be evil. “Some are also troubled,⁴ saying: Why did God create those whom he foresaw would be evil? — Because he foresaw what good he would bring about from their evil. For he made them in such a way as to leave them the means to do something; and if they did something culpably, they would find him working laudably upon them. They have their evil will from themselves, but from him they have their good nature and just punishment.” “Therefore it is said⁵ to no purpose: ‘God ought not to create those whom he foresaw would be evil’; for he knew they would benefit the good and would justly be punished for their evil will.”

¹ Ibid., c. 9, n. 12 (434; 342). ² Lib. XI, c. 4, n. 6 (PL 34, 431; CSEL 28-I, 337). ³ Ibid., c. 6, n. 8 (432; 339). ⁴ Ibid., c. 9, n. 12 (434; 342).

Apparatus: 8 constitit] consistit LRV. 15 Aug. Super Gen. om. BMRW. || Super Gen. om. CX. 21 Rubrica om. CRW, in lac. M, mg. V².

Chapter 6. Summa sententiarum III.6 (PL 171, 1124 D; 176, 97 C). Chapter 1: Ordinary Gloss on Genesis 3:1 (in Lyra I, 40c–d; V 24a–d); Summa sententiarum III.6 (PL 171, 1126 A; 176, 98 C).

3. They also add: “He ought to have made such a man² as would not wish to sin at all. — We do indeed grant that the nature which would not wish to sin at all is better. Let them also grant that the nature made such that it could refrain from sinning if it wished is not evil, and that it was justly punished when it sinned by its will, not by necessity. Since, then, this nature is good and that one better, why did he not make both, so that he might be more abundantly praised for each? For that one concerns the holy angels, this one human beings.”

4. Again they say: “If God³ wished it, these too would be good. — We grant this as well; but he better chose that they should be what they willed: the good would not be without fruit, and the wicked would not be without punishment.”

5. Again they say: “God⁴ could turn their will toward good, because he is omnipotent. — He truly could. Why did he not do so? Because he did not wish to. Why did he not wish to? He himself knows. We ought not to be wiser than we ought.⁵”

Chapter 2 (137).

What man was according to his soul; on man's knowledge before sin. In his soul man was indeed rational, possessing discernment of good and evil. It is also reasonably supposed that, as soon as he was created, he received knowledge of created things and cognition of truth, fitting his original perfection; he did not advance toward it over time through study or some discipline, but received it divinely from the beginning of his creation.

Chapter 3 (138).

1. That before the Fall man had a threefold knowledge: of the things made for him, of the Creator, and of himself. Before the Fall the first man was endowed with a threefold knowledge: of the things made for him, of the Creator, and of himself.

2. Knowledge of created things. It is clear that man received knowledge of things, since it was not the Creator himself or some angel, but man who gave names to all living creatures¹, thereby showing that man himself knew each of them. God gave him knowledge of all the things created for him and entrusted to his rule and ordering, and left their governance and care to him. For, as the Apostle says,² God has no concern for oxen. God entrusted to man the care and governance of these and other animals, so that they would be subject to his dominion and governed by his reason; he was to know how to provide what they needed, since he was to receive benefit from them.

3. Scripture does not instruct man in knowledge of the ordering and governance of things, nor in knowledge of providing what the body needs, but in knowledge of the soul—and why. Man did not lose this knowledge by sinning, just as he did not lose the knowledge by which the body's needs are provided for. Therefore Scripture does not instruct man about such things, but about knowledge of the soul, which he lost by sinning.

4. Knowledge of the Creator. The first man is also believed to have had knowledge of the Creator. He knew by whom he had been created, not in the way in which one learns solely by hearing³—the way believers seek him when he is absent—but through a certain inward inspiration by which he contemplated God's presence. Yet he did not see so excellently as the saints will after this life, nor did he see in a mirror, in an enigma⁴ as we see in this life.

5. Knowledge of himself. The same man seems to have received such knowledge of himself that he was not ignorant of what he owed to a superior, an equal, or an inferior. He also understood his condition and order: what sort of being he had been made, how he ought to conduct himself, what he ought to do and what to avoid. Had he not known these things, he would not have been guilty of transgression, nor would he have known himself.

¹ Cf. Gen. 2:19–20. ² 1 Cor. 9:9: Does God care for oxen? ³ Cf. Rom. 10:17: Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. ⁴ Cf. 1 Cor. 13:12: Now we see in a mirror, in an enigma, but then face to face.

Apparatus: 4 good] good things BMV, corrected by V. 9 these between the lines in O, omitted in P. || let that be added between the lines in P. 12 these] IOP. 20 soul] soul LNTV, corrected by NV, correction between the lines in T. 27 had] has had BTX.

Apparatus: 3 Heading omitted in RVWX. 5 living creatures] animals LNW. 6 gave] had given LMNT. 13–15 Heading omitted in RVW. 14 flesh] of the flesh BCX. 16 are provided for] is provided for LMTX. 21 from omitted in MNTW. 25 knowledge of himself transposed in NRT (Hugh). 28 what²] also added in MNW.

Chapters 2–3. Hugh, On the Sacraments, I, 6, chs. 12–15 (PL 176, 270 C–272 A).

¹ Ibid., ch. 6, no. 8 (432; 339s). ² Ibid., ch. 7, no. 9 (433; 340). ³ Ibid., ch. 9, no. 12 (434; 342). ⁴ Ibid., ch. 10, no. 13 (434; 342). ⁵ Rom. 12:3.

Chapter 4 (139).

Whether man foresaw what was going to happen to him. — The response that he did not have foreknowledge of future things. If it is asked whether man knew what was going to happen to him—that is, whether he foresaw his own Fall, and likewise whether he foresaw the good things he would have had if he had remained obedient—it may be answered that he was charged more with what he was to do than instructed about what was to come. He received knowledge and a command concerning what he ought to do, but he did not have foreknowledge of what was going to happen. Man, then, did not foresee his own Fall, as we also said of the angel; Augustine asserts this in On Genesis¹, using the argument we set out above.² — Let what has been said about man's knowledge, insofar as it concerns the first state, suffice.