Augustine says: “The sea of the world is troubled, and You, Lord, see the evil prosperous, the good ones oppressed: behold, temptation, behold, a storm. Lord God! Is this your righteousness, that the wicked prosper and the good suffer? – And God answers you: is this your faith? Is this what I promised you (i.e. a flourishing state)? Or are you calling yourself a Christian because you enjoy worldly success?” Let us humble ourselves before God, and calm our hearts with faith in God's Providence, when we see the wicked - dominating, the pious - embittered and oppressed, piety - uprooted, the truth - ruined. None of this would have happened if God had not allowed it, and truly He would not have allowed it if He had not had sufficient reasons for this, for the sake of which He recognized it as better to allow than to forbid. Say: from this assumption arise manifold calamities and the greatest troubles. One may regret this, but regret judiciously: for very just reasons it was so pleasing to God, Who from the greatest evil can produce wondrous good, as easily as it is easy to draw a sword from its scabbard.
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