Saint Augustine his enchiridion to Laurence, or, The chiefe and principall heads of all Christian religion a most profitable booke to all those which desire to haue a most compendious briefe of Augustines doctrine, out of Augustine himselfe, when he was old, being repurged, by the old manuscript, of many faults and vnusuall wordes, wherewith it formerly flowed.

CHAP. 27.

It was wrought by the onely and great mercy of God, that onely men, of sinnefull nature, should hope for reformation; that is to say, redemption: which hope is not, either in the angels that sinned, or in the diuels.

IT followeth therefore, that the whole masse and lump of mā∣kind, lay damned in sinnes, or rather wallowed therein, and ran head long from vices to vi∣ces: and beeing combined with the angels that sinned, receiued most condigne punishment for their wicked reuolting. What∣soeuer therefore, the wicked doe wittingly commit in their blinde and vnbridled concu∣piscence, & whatsoeuer punish∣ments they do outwardly suffer in the face of the world, against their wils, is to bee imputed to the iustice of Gods wrath; nei∣ther doeth the iustice of God cease to giue life and strong cō∣stitution to the wicked angels, who die if his diuine helpe bee withdrawen: And likewise, to giue forme and life vnto the ••eedes of men, in what proge∣nie or stocke soeuer, beeing either defiled or damned, fa∣shioning the limbes and parts of the body betweene times, quickening the senses by de∣grees,

and in their places, as they lie in the body, and gi∣uing them inward nutriment. For, hee thought it better to drawe goodnesse out of euils, rather than not to tolerate a∣ny euills to be at all. And in case it had beene his will, not to haue had any reformation in man, to make him better (as it was in wicked angels, in whome there is no amend∣ment) might it not very con∣dignely haue comne to passe, that that nature which hee hath spurned vnder his feete by a∣busing the power or will hee had giuen him, the comman∣dement of his Creator, and transgressed the same, (which he might very easily haue ob∣serued) which hath blemished the image of his Creator, being in him, by a contemptuous tur∣ning away from the light there∣of, which wickedly violated by the power of free-wil, the whol∣som seruitude that hee should

haue performed to his lawes, should vniuersally therefore bee forsaken of him, and sustaine an euerlasting punishment by due desert? Truely thus hee should haue done, if he had beene onely iust, and not mercifull also, and had not giuen more euident de∣monstration of his mercie, which he was no waies bound by pro∣mise, or duty to haue performed; especially, in the redemption of such as were vnworthy thereof.