body, and was still to be admitted, if he lived obediently, to the company of the
Book XI 441
17. 22. How can he be supposed, after all, to have led a blessed life among the blessed angels, having no foreknowledge of his future sin and punishment, that is of his desertion and of eternal fire? If he had no foreknowledge of it, we have the right to ask why not. The holy angels, after all, are left in no doubt about their eternal life and blessedness; how can they be blessed, I mean, if they are in doubt? Or are we to say that God did not wish to reveal to the devil, while he was still a good angel, either what he was going to do or what he was going to suffer, while he did reveal to the rest that they were going to abide forever in his truth? lf that is the case, it means he was already not equally blessed, or rather that he was already not fully blessed at all, seeing that those who are fully blessed are in no doubt of their blessedness, and so have no nagging fears. And how would he have deserved to be so distinguished from the rest that God would not even reveal to him the future that was his very own? God surely would not be an avenger, would he, before the other was a sinner? Perish the thought! God simply does not condemn the innocent.
Or perhaps he belonged to a different class ofangels, to whom God did not grant foreknowledge even of their own futures? How these could be blessed I simply cannot see, if they were in doubt about their very blessedness. Some people, you see, have entertained this idea that the devil was not of that most sublime angelic nature which is supercelestial, but one of those who were made somewhat lower down in the universe and assigned to various duties. Perhaps, you see, it might be possible for this sort to take delight in something unlawful, a delight, however that they could curb by their free choice if they refused to sin. In this they would be like human beings, especially that first one, who did not yet experience the punishment of sin in his members, seeing that holy men who submit themselves toGod succeed through his grace in overcoming this temptation by their dutiful love.19
About the blessed life, and its various degrees
18. 23. Next,this problem about the blessed life, whether anyone can really be said to possess it who is uncertain whether it is going to remain with him or whether misfortune will at some time or other displace it, can also crop up with the first man, because ifhe was aware of his future sin and the divine punishment of it, in what way could he be blessed? Therefore he was in Paradise without enjoying bliss. But in fact, on the contrary, he had no foreknowledge of his future sin. Therefore, as a result of this ignorance he was either unsure about this self same blessedness—and how then was he already truly blessed? Or else he was sure of it with a false hope, not genuine knowledge—and then how was he not just fooling himself?
24. Yes, but nonetheless the man was still only equipped with an "ensouled" body, and was still to be admitted, if he lived obediently, to the company of the
19. Their pietas, that wonderful, untranslatable word!