hat this father is a fool, who joins
injustice to foolishness. A God who punishes the faults which He could
have prevented, is a being who lacks wisdom, goodness, and equity. A God
of foresight would prevent evil, and in this way would be saved the
trouble of punishing it. A good God would not punish weaknesses which He
knows to be inherent in human nature. A just God, if He has made man,
would not punish him for not being strong enough to resist his desires.
To punish weakness, is the most unjust tyranny. Is it not calumniating a
just God, to say that He punishes men for their faults, even in the
present life? How would He punish beings whom He alone could correct,
and who, as long as they had not received grace, can not act otherwise
than they do?
According to the principles of theologians themselves, man, in his
actual state of corruption, can do nothing but evil, for without Divine
grace he has not the strength to do good. Moreover, if man's nature,
abandoned to itself, of destitute of Divine help, inclines him
necessarily to evil, or renders him incapable of doing good, what
becomes of his free will? According to such principles, man can merit
neither reward nor punishment; in rewarding man for the good he does,
God would but recompense Himself; in punishing man for the evil he does,
God punishes him for not having been given the grace, without which it
was impossible for him to do better.
LXXX.--FREE WILL IS AN IDLE FANCY.
Theologians tell and repeat to us that man is free, while all their
teachings conspire to destroy his liberty. Trying to justify Divinity,
they accuse him really of the blackest injustice. They suppose that,
without grace, man is compelled to do evil: and they maintain that God
will punish him for not having been given the grace to do good! With a
little reflection, we will be obliged to see that man in all things acts
by compulsion, and that his free will is a chimera, even according to
the theological system. Does it depend upon man whether or not he shall
be born of such or such parents? Does it depend upon man to accept or
not to accept the opinions of his parents and of his teachers? If I were
born of idolatrous or Mohammedan parents, would it have depended upon me
to become a Christian? However, grave Doctors of Divinity assure us that
a just God will damn without mercy all those to whom He has not given
the grace to know the religion of the Christians.
Man's birth does not d
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