Augustine: Earlier Writings (continued)
ON FREE WILL 187 is: Neither the sins nor the misery are necessary to the perfection of the universe, but souls as such are necessary which have power to sin if they so will, and become miserable if they sin. If misery persisted after their sins had been abolished, or if there were misery before there were sins, then it might be right to say that the order and government of the universe were at fault. Again, if there were sins and no consequent misery, that order is equally dishonoured by lack of equity. But since there is happiness for those who do not sin, the universe is perfect; and it is no less perfect because there is misery for sinners. Because there are souls whose sins are followed by misery and whose righteous conduct is followed by happiness—because it contains all kinds of natures—the universe is always complete and perfect. Sin and its punishment are not natural objects but states of natural objects, the one voluntary, the other penal. The voluntary state of being sinful is dishonourable. Hence the penal state is imposed to bring it into order, and is therefore in itself not dishonourable. Indeed it compels the dishonourable state to become harmonized with the honour of the universe, so that the penalty of sin corrects the dishonour of sin.
27. Hence it comes that the sinful creature, though superior, is punished through the instrumentality of inferior creatures. These latter are inferior but in such a way that they can be honoured by dishonourable souls, and so be brought into harmony with the honour of the universe. There is nothing greater in a house than a man, and nothing lower and less honourable than a drain. Yet a slave who is found so sinful as to be held worthy of cleaning out a drain, nevertheless, dishonourable though he may be, does honour to the drain. The slave's dishonour and the cleansed drain together form one whole. Both together are adapted to the proper management of the house, and both contribute honourably and in perfect order to the good of the whole house. If the slave had not sinned by his own will the household management would have provided some other way to accomplish the necessary work of cleansing. What holds a lower place in the scale of being than the earthly body? But even a sinful soul can adorn corruptible flesh, so as to provide it with a comely appearance and vital motion. Such a soul, because of its sin, does not harmonize with a celestial habitation, but it harmonizes with a terrestrial habitation, because of its punishment. So, whatever a soul may choose, ever beautiful and well-ordered in all its parts is the universe whose Maker and Governor is God. Good souls which inhabit earthly bodies adorn