On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology — trans. C. E. Rolt
The translator’s English as printed (C. E. Rolt). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
There remains but one alternative: Evil is a weakness and deficiency of Good.
31. Good things have all one cause. If evil is ben to the Good, then hath evil many causes. The efficient causes of evil results, however, are not any laws and faculties, but an impotence and weakness and an inharmonious mingling of discordant elements. Evil things are not immutable and unchanging but indeterminate and indefinite: the sport of alien influences which have no definite aim. The Good must be the beginning and the end even of all evil things. For the Good is the final Purpose of all things, good and bad alike. For even when we act amiss we do so from a longing for the Good; for no one makes evil his definite object when performing any action. Hence evil hath no substantial being, but only a shadow thereof; since the Good, and not itself, is the ultimate object for which it comes into existence. 32. Unto evil we can attribute but an accidental Lidl of existence. It exists for the sake of someee else, and is not self-originating. And hence our action appears to be right (for it hath Good as its object) while yet it is not really right (because we mistake for good that which is not good). ’Tis proven, then, that our purpose is different from our action. Thus evil is contrary to progress, purpose, nature, cause, principle, end, law, will, and being. Evil is, then, a lack, a deficiency, a weakness, a disproportion, an error, purposeless, unlovely, lifeless, unwise, unreasonable, imperfect, unreal, causeless, indeterminate, sterile, inert, powerless, disordered, incongruous, indefinite, dark, unsubstantial, and never in itself possessed of any existence whatever. How, then, is it that an admixture of the Good bestows any power upon evil? For that which is altogether destitute of Good is nothing and hath no power. And if the Good is Existent and is the Source of will, power, and action, how can Its opposite (being destitute of existence, will, power, and activity), have any power against It? Only because evil things are not all entirely the same in all cases and in all relations.1 In the case of a devil evil lieth in the being contrary to spiritual goodness; in the soul it lieth in the being contrary to reason; in the body it lieth in the being contrary to nature.
souls which are in their ultimate essence sinless. D. replies that, if this is so, we cannot explain how goodness can ever be (as it is) a form of self-realization for human souls,
Only one alternative remains: Evil is a weakness and deficiency of Good.
31. All good things have one cause. If evil is contrary to the Good, then evil has many causes. The efficient causes of evil results, however, are not any laws or faculties, but an impotence and weakness and an inharmonious mingling of discordant elements. Evil things are not immutable and unchanging but indeterminate and indefinite: the sport of alien influences that have no definite aim. The Good must be the beginning and the end even of all evil things. For the Good is the final Purpose of all things, good and bad alike. Even when we act wrongly, we do so from a longing for the Good; for no one makes evil his definite object when performing any action. Hence evil has no substantial being, but only a shadow of it, since the Good, and not evil itself, is the ultimate object for which it comes into existence.
32. To evil we can attribute only an accidental kind of existence. It exists for the sake of something else and does not originate itself. And so our action appears to be right (for it has the Good as its object) while it is not really right (because we mistake for good what is not good). It is proved, then, that our purpose is different from our action. Thus evil is contrary to progress, purpose, nature, cause, principle, end, law, will, and being. Evil, then, is a lack, a deficiency, a weakness, a disproportion, an error; it is purposeless, unlovely, lifeless, unwise, unreasonable, imperfect, unreal, causeless, indeterminate, sterile, inert, powerless, disordered, incongruous, indefinite, dark, unsubstantial, and never in itself possessed of any existence whatever.
How, then, does an admixture of the Good give evil any power? For what is altogether destitute of Good is nothing and has no power. And if the Good is Existent and is the Source of will, power, and action, how can Its opposite (being destitute of existence, will, power, and activity) have any power against It? Only because evil things are not all entirely the same in all cases and in all relations.1 In a devil, evil lies in being contrary to spiritual goodness; in the soul, it lies in being contrary to reason; in the body, it lies in being contrary to nature.
souls, which in their ultimate essence are sinless. D. replies that, if this is so, we cannot explain how goodness can ever be (as it is) a form of self-realization for human souls,