He foresees the good and He creates them; He foresees the wick-
BOOK ELEVEN 143 the pretext of increasing the number of more perfect men, the number of the good would be diminished.27
CHAPTER 11
God allows the unjust to sin and be punished for the instruction of the just.
14. They ask, therefore, if there is anything in the works of God that needs the evil of another creature so that it may advance towards the good.
But are there men who have become so deaf and blind with controversy that they do not hear or see that when some are punished many are corrected? What pagan, what Jew, what heretic does not prove this by his daily life at home? But when there is an argument about the truth or a search for it, these people are unwilling to look at the work of Divine Providence from which there comes a misfortune that makes them reflect, so that if those who are punished are not corrected, at least the others will fear their example,?® and the ruin of the wicked will contribute to the salvation of the good.
For surely God is not the author of the malice or wickedness of the sinners through whose just punishment He has provided for those who were to be given such a warning in accordance with His decrees. But although He foreknew that they were going to be wicked by their own perverse will, He did not refrain from creating them, looking to the advantage of those creatures who would not be able to advance to the good except by considering the lot of the wicked. Indeed, if the wicked did not exist, they would certainly serve no useful purpose. Is not a sufficient good accomplished in the fact that they exist, since they are surely useful for those who are good? When a man wants them not to exist, he really desires only that he himself may not be among their number.
15. Great are the works of the Lord, excellent in all that He wills!?° He foresees the good and He creates them; He foresees the wick-