“Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked.”

XV, 22
The City of God (early 400s)

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Do you have more details about the quote "Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wick…" by Aurelius Augustinus?
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Aurelius Augustinus 183
early Christian theologian and philosopher 354–430

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“We think, indeed, that the goodness of God, through His Christ, may recall all His creatures to one end, even His enemies being conquered and subdued.”

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Context: An end or consummation would seem to be an indication of the perfection and completion of things.... These subjects, indeed, are treated by us with great solicitude and caution, in the manner rather of an investigation and discussion, than in that of fixed and certain decision.... We think, indeed, that the goodness of God, through His Christ, may recall all His creatures to one end, even His enemies being conquered and subdued. For thus says holy Scripture, “The LORD said to My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1) And if the meaning of the prophet’s language here be less clear, we may ascertain it from the Apostle Paul, who speaks more openly, thus: “For Christ must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.” (1 Cor 15:25) But if even that unreserved declaration of the apostle do not sufficiently inform us what is meant by “enemies being placed under His feet,” listen to what he says in the following words, “For all things must be put under Him.” (1 Cor 15:27) What, then, is this “putting under” by which all things must be made subject to Christ? I am of opinion that it is this very subjection by which we also wish to be subject to Him, by which the apostles also were subject, and all the saints who have been followers of Christ. For the name “subjection,” by which we are subject to Christ, indicates that the salvation which proceeds from Him belongs to His subjects, agreeably to the declaration of David, “Shall not my soul be subject unto God? From Him cometh my salvation.” (Psalm 62:1)

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“If God is God, he is not good. If God is good, he is not God.”

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Dialogue from MacLeish's play J.B. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.B._(play), an adaptation of the Bible's Book of Job, also quoted in The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates (2012) by Howard Bloom

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“To want good things even for the wicked is a characteristic of saints.”

Guigo I (1083–1136) Cartusian monk

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“And now, farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude… I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked.”

Chapter 30 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo/Chapter_30
Source: The Count of Monte Cristo (1845–1846)

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