The Literal Meaning of Genesis
12. But the objector will say: "If God had willed it, even the wicked would have been good." How much better was the will of God, namely, that men should be what they willed to be, but that the good should not go unrewarded, or the wicked unpunished, and that thereby the existence of the wicked should be useful for others! "But God foreknew that their will would be evil." He foreknew this, indeed, and because His foreknowledge cannot be wrong, it follows that the evil will was theirs, not His. "Why, then, did He create men who He foreknew would turn out in this way?" Because He not only foresaw what evil they would do but also what good He would bring about from their evil deeds. For He made them in such a way as to leave it in their power to perform some deed, even if they should deliberately choose evil, and to find that His action in their regard would be worthy of praise. Their evil will comes from themselves; their nature, which is good, and their punishment, which is just, come from God; He assigns them the place they deserve, and to others He offers a trial to profit by and an example to fear.
CHAPTER 10
Why God does not convert the wills of evil men to good.
13. But it is objected that since God is omnipotent He would be able to turn the bad wills of evil men into good wills. He would indeed. Why, then, did He not do so? Because He did not will to. Why He was unwilling is known to Him alone. We must not be wiser than we ought to be.?* But I think I have shown above?5 that a rational creature is no small good, even a creature that is led to avoid evil by a consideration of evildoers. This class of good creatures would surely not exist if God?° had converted all evil wills to good, if He did not mete out just punishment for any wrongdoing, and if there were only that one class of men who would advance in His service without any thought of sin or punishment of evil deeds. As a result, under