On Abundance
LXI. On Abundance
1. God consists in an abundance of pleasure,
because everyone can have as much of Him
as his will requires.
2. God is abundant in understanding,
which <understanding> causes Him to be so knowledgeable
that He is able to refrain from every sin.
3. God abounds in worthy (lit. “good”) memories
when these lead Him to remember the grave torment
He chose to suffer for the sake of all people.
4. God is abundant with respect to the senses
insofar as He chose to become man
for the purpose of purging our sins.
5. God is abundant in power,
wisdom and good will,
and thus does He bestow upon us an abundance of good hope.[1]
6. God is abundant in forgiveness,
in gifts, and in the hope that
sinners will make <their> confession.
7. God is abundant in goodness,
<which unfolds as> the bonifier, bonifying and the bonified,
all of which pertain to His Being.
8. God is abundant in every good,
for which reason everyone who does anything against Him
behaves wickedly.
9. It is better to be abundant in faithfulness,
hope and charity,
than it is <to possess an abundance> of castles, money or wheat.
10. He who is abundant in virtue
is abundant in salvation
and complains not when he has lost anything.
[1] See n. 4, Ch. IX, § 4.