453 Or, reading with Maranus, κἃν … γεν., “even
though,” etc.
but the poor man and he who has very
moderate desires, seeking as he does only the things suited to his lot,
more easily obtains his purpose. How is it that you are fated to be
sleepless through avarice? Why are you fated to grasp at things often,
and often to die? Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in
it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature.454
454 [Think of a Chaldean heathen, by
the power of grace, thus transformed. Sapiens solus liber, but
the Christian alone is wise. This chapter compares favourably
with the eloquence of Chrysostom in his letter to Cyriac, which,
if spurious, is made up of passages to be found elsewhere in his
works. Tom. iii. p. 683. Ed. Migne, Paris, 1859.]
We were not created to die, but we die by our own
fault.455
455 [Comp. cap. xv., infra, and the note 6, p. 71.]
Our free-will has
destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold
through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have
manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again
to reject it.
