Sentences, Books I–II

Chapter 1 (268).

1. Whether the power of sinning is from God for man or the devil. After the foregoing, a matter worthy of consideration presents itself: whether the power of sinning is from God for us or from ourselves.

2. The opinion of some that it is not from God, but a false argument by comparison. Some think that the power of acting rightly is from God for us, but that the power of sinning is not from God, but from ourselves or the devil; just as an evil will is not from God for us, but from ourselves and the devil, whereas a good will is from God alone for us. — The reason offered to prove that a good will is in man only from God. — Augustine, in On the Faith to Peter 1, says: “God clearly shows that the beginning of a good will and thought does not arise in man from himself, but is divinely prepared and bestowed, because neither the devil nor any of his angels, from the time they were thrust into this darkness, has been or will be able to recover a good will. For if it were possible for human nature, after turning away from God and losing the goodness of its will, to have been able to possess it again from itself, angelic nature would have had this much more readily, since, the less it is weighed down by the burden of an earthly body, the more it would have been endowed with this capacity.” — Therefore neither man nor angel can have a good will from himself, but can have an evil one. Likewise, they argue concerning power by analogy with will, discussing the power of good and evil: the former is from God, the latter is not.

3. He establishes by authorities that the power of sinning is from God. But by many testimonies of the Saints it is undoubtedly shown that the power of evil is from God, from whom every power comes. For the Apostle says 2: There is no power except from God; this must be understood not only of the power of good but also of evil, since Truth says to Pilate 3: You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above. — Augustine, On Psalm 85 4: “The malice of men,” Augustine says, “has the desire to harm from itself, but it has no power unless he grants it. Hence, before taking anything from Job, the devil said to the Lord 5: Stretch out your hand, that is, grant power,” because 6 the power even of those who harm is from God alone, as Wisdom says 7: By me kings reign, and by me tyrants hold the earth. Hence Job also says of the Lord 8: Who makes a hypocrite reign because of the perversity of the people.

Apparatus: 1 The rubric is omitted by RVW. 11 non is omitted by BCX and the others. 5 The rubric is omitted by RVW. 6 The rubric is omitted by MNRVW. 13 corporis pondere transposed by OPV. 23 The rubric is omitted by MRVW. 28 et is omitted by BCOPWX and added by the others.

1 Chapter 3, no. 32 (Fulgentius's work, PL 65, 687 C; CCL 91A, 733). 2 Rom. 13:1. 3 John 19:11. 4 Expositions on the Psalms, Psalm 32, sermon 2, no. 12 (PL 36, 291; CCL 38, 263); cf. Expositions on Psalm 85, no. 9 (PL 37, 1088; CCL 39, 1183–84). 5 Job 2:5. 6 Augustine, On the Nature of the Good, ch. 32 (PL 42, 561; CSEL 25, 870). 7 Prov. 8:15–16, according to the Septuagint. 8 Job 34:30, according to the Septuagint.

No. 3. Lombard, Gloss on Rom. 13:2 (PL 191, 1504 B–1505 A); Augustine, On the Nature of the Good, below, ch. 2, no. 2. The reference to Gregory is omitted in manuscripts x (62a) and z (37d).

And concerning the people of Israel God says 1: I gave them a king in my anger. — Augustine, On Genesis 2: “The will to harm can be from a man's mind, but the power is from God alone, and this by a hidden and fitting justice”; “for 3 through the power given to the devil God makes the just his own.” — Gregory also says concerning this in the Moralia 4: “It is the lifting up of pride, not the order of power, that is criminal. God grants power, but our mind's malice discovers the pride of power. Let us therefore remove what is from us, because it is not just power but a perverse action that is condemned.” — By these and many other authorities it is clearly shown that no one has the power of good 5 or evil except from the just God, even if his justice is hidden from you.

Chapter 2 (269).

1. Whether power must ever be resisted. Here a question arises that must not be passed over in silence. For it was said above that the power of sinning and harming is in man or the devil only from God. But the Apostle says 6 that he who resists power resists God's ordinance. Since, then, the devil has the power of evil by God's ordinance, it seems that his power must not be resisted.

2. That power must sometimes be resisted. But one should know that the Apostle is speaking there of secular power, namely, a king, prince, and the like: they must not be resisted in those things which God commands to be rendered to them, namely, in taxes 7 and the like. — But if some prince or the devil orders or counsels something against God, then he must be resisted. Hence Augustine, determining when power must be resisted, says in On the Nature of the Good 8: “If power commands what you ought not to do, then indeed disregard that power, fearing the greater power.”

Apparatus: 5 Tumoris] Timoris BCX. 25 debes] debeas OPWX, habes V.

1 Hos. 13:11, according to the Septuagint. 2 Book XI, ch. 3, no. 5 (PL 34, 431; CSEL 28-I, 337); also see Augustine's words above, Dist. 21, ch. 4, no. 1 (p. 435, nos. 1–2). 3 On the Nature of the Good, ch. 32 (PL 42, 561; CSEL 25, 871). 4 Book XXVI, ch. 26, no. 48 (PL 76, 378 A). 5 Some manuscripts attribute these final words to Augustine. Cf. Expositions on Psalm 67, 12–13, no. 21 (PL 36, 744; CCL 39, 789); and the Master's Gloss on Rom. 13:2 (PL 191, 1504 C). 6 Rom. 13:2. 7 Cf. Rom. 13:6–7; Matt. 22:2. 8 Sermon 62, ch. 8, no. 13 (PL 38, 420–21).

No. 2. Gloss on Rom. 13:2 (PL 192, 1505 B); On the Nature of the Good (1504 D); in some manuscripts of the Sentences, rubric On the Words of the Lord, sermon 6 (now sermon 62). Observe the ranks of human affairs themselves. If a curator orders something, must it be done if he orders it contrary to the proconsul? Again, if the proconsul himself orders one thing and the emperor another, is there any doubt that, disregarding the former, one must serve the latter? Therefore, if the emperor orders one thing and God another, the former must be disregarded and God obeyed.” Let us therefore resist the power of the devil or man when he suggests something against God; in this we do not resist God's ordinance, but obey it: for God has commanded that we obey no power in evil things.

The second book ends.

Apparatus: 1 Si Augustinus: oblegendum esse maiori contra minorem (“the greater must be obeyed over the lesser”; C has est); rubric added in the margin in BCX. 2 Rursus] rursum LMRT.