On Generosity/Liberality

Autor(s)

XXIX. On Generosity/Liberality

1. O God! Since You are infinite liberality,

in You there exists infinite liberativity,

so that an infinite gift may be given.

2. God is as generous by reason of <His> giving

as he is powerful in <His> loving,

so that idleness may be absent from <His> generosity.

3. Were God unable to bestow His power,

His wisdom and His will,

He could not enjoy great generosity.

4. God endows <His> will with love,

and <likewise> bestows upon it the loveable and the beloved,

so that great generosity may derive therefrom (i.e. from His will).

5. God takes such great delight in giving

that He gives Himself entirely, in virtue of a love

that is free, humble and without sin.

6. God bestows greatness upon goodness,

goodness upon the magnified

and infinity upon infinitising.

7. God has provided the end with a beginning

and the beginning with its end,

and to them both <has He vouchsafed> concordance.^[1]

8. God has given Himself in order to serve man

insofar as He wished to unite Himself to man

and restore that man through His death.

9. God has conferred the world upon man

and to man has He granted freedom,

so that <man> should not love Him against his will.

10. God has given man memory,

will, wisdom and the ability to sense,

which are worth more than gold and silver.