XXXVIII. That error is a defect in our mode of acting, not in our
nature; and that the faults of their subjects may be frequently
attributed to other masters, but never to God.
It is true, that as often as we err, there is some defect in our
mode of action or in the use of our liberty, but not in our nature,
because this is always the same, whether our judgments be true or
false. And although God could have given to us such perspicacity of
intellect that we should never have erred, we have, notwithstanding,
no right to demand this of him; for, although with us he who was
able to prevent evil and did not is held guilty of it, God is not in
the same way to be reckoned responsible for our errors because he
had the power to prevent them, inasmuch as the dominion which some
men possess over others has been instituted for the purpose of
enabling them to hinder those under them from doing evil, whereas
the dominion which God exercises over the universe is perfectly
absolute and free. For this reason we ought to thank him for the
goods he has given us, and not complain that he has not blessed us
with all which we know it was in his power to impart.
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