XXXVI. That our errors cannot be imputed to God.
But although God has not given us an omniscient understanding, he is
not on this account to be considered in any wise the author of our
errors, for it is of the nature of created intellect to be finite,
and of finite intellect not to embrace all things.
XXXVII. That the chief perfection of man is his being able to act
freely or by will, and that it is this which renders him worthy of
praise or blame.
That the will should be the more extensive is in harmony with its
nature: and it is a high perfection in man to be able to act by
means of it, that is, freely; and thus in a peculiar way to be the
master of his own actions, and merit praise or blame. For self-
acting machines are not commended because they perform with
exactness all the movements for which they were adapted, seeing
their motions are carried on necessarily; but the maker of them is
praised on account of the exactness with which they were framed,
because he did not act of necessity, but freely; and, on the same
principle, we must attribute to ourselves something more on this
account, that when we embrace truth, we do so not of necessity, but
freely.
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