Caput XXXIII
The Two Fates of Abel and Cain
Abel's blessed death and Cain's unbridled freedom reveal the hidden meaning of adversity for the good and prosperity for the wicked.
So the head of the righteous Abel is crushed down into death, while the wicked Cain is allowed to go his way in the unbridled freedom of his will — so that in Abel the blessed adversity of the good might be made plain, and in Cain the wretched prosperity of the wicked might be made plain.
The Wicked Man's Illusory Freedom
Once freed from divine obedience, the wicked believe they may do whatever they please, like a wild ass's foal.
For it generally happens that, just as it was with Cain then, so it is now with every wicked person: once he has shaken the neck of his mind free from the yoke of divine servitude, he is permitted to carry out whatever guilt he chooses. As long as such a person is not held back under divine precepts, as long as he indulges in wicked deeds with impious freedom, he sometimes thinks he's permitted to do anything he pleases — for which reason it is well written of him: 'He thinks himself free like a wild ass's foal' (Job 11:12).✦
What the Wild Ass's Foal Means
An onager is a wild donkey, and wild animals enjoy the freedom to go and rest as they wish.
An onager is a wild donkey. Wild animals, however, have the freedom to go where they wish and to rest when they wish.
The Call to Disciplined Service
Whoever craves unbridled freedom longs to be like a wild beast, but the one called to the higher life must be bound under discipline like a domestic animal serving under eternal decrees.
Therefore, whoever seeks to accomplish the evil he desires through unbridled freedom longs to be like a wild ass's foal — such a person, clearly, because he is not kept for any higher purpose, is not restrained under discipline like a wild beast.✦ But the person who is called to the life that follows — it is surely necessary that in all his impulses he be bound fast under the ordering of discipline, and like a domestic animal tied with straps, let him serve, and restrained by eternal decrees, let him live.
Read the original Latin
Caput itaque justi Abel in mortem premitur, et impius Cain in effrenatione suae voluntatis abire sinitur, ut in illo felix bonorum adversitas, in isto malorum infelix prosperitas monstraretur. Fit enim plerumque ut sicut ille tunc, sic nunc unusquisque malus, cum a jugo divinae servitutis collum mentis excusserit, in perpetratione cujuslibet reatus agendi facultatem habere permittatur. Qui dum sub divinis praeceptis non restringitur, dum in agendis malis impia libertate potitur: interdum licere sibi putat omne quodlibet, unde bene de eo scriptum est: Quasi pullum Onagri liberum se putat (Job XI, 12). Onager dicitur asinus agrestis. Agrestia vero animalia libertatem habent et ire quo volunt, et quiescere quando volunt. Qui ergo implere mala quae desiderat per effrenatam libertatem quaerit, pullo onagri esse similis concupiscit, talis videlicet quia ad aliud non reservatur, sub disciplina quasi agrestis bestia non restringitur. Homo autem qui ad sequentem vitam dicitur, necesse est profecto, ut in cunctis motibus sub disciplinae dispositione religetur, et quasi domesticum animal loris vinctum serviat, atque aeternis dispositionibus restrictus vivat.
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