No one has previously known
whether the good he does
originates from himself or from God,
because the church has separated faith from charity,
and goodness is an expression of charity.
A person gives to the poor, donates to the needy,
contributes to churches and shelters,
looks out for the welfare
of his church, country, and fellow citizens,
regularly goes to church,
devoutly listens then and prays,
reads the Word and books of piety,
and thinks about salvation;
and this without knowing
whether he does these things of himself or from God.
He can do these very things from God,
or he can do them of himself.
If he does them from God, they are good.
If he does them of himself, they are not good.
In fact, we encounter goods of this kind,
done by people of themselves,
which are clearly evil,
such as hypocritical goods,
which are deceptive and fraudulent.
DLIFE 12
Good may be
civic good, moral good, or spiritual good.
Civic good is the good that a person does
in conformity with civil law.
It is by means of this good
and in the measure of it
that a person is a citizen in the natural world.
Moral good is the good that a
person does
in conformity with rational law.
It is by means of this good
and in the measure of it
that a person is human.
Spiritual good is the good that a
person does
in conformity with spiritual law.
It is by means of this good
and in the measure of it
that a person is a citizen in the spiritual world.
These goods form a series in the
following sequence:
spiritual good is the highest good;
moral good is an intermediate good;
and civic good is the lowest good.
A person possessing spiritual goodness
is a moral person and also a civic one.
On the other hand,
a person without any spiritual goodness
may appear to be a moral and civic person,
but in fact he is not.
DLIFE 13
The essence of goodness
can only originate from Him
who is goodness itself.
Cast your thought in every direction, think hard,
and ask yourself what makes goodness good,
and you will see that it is what it has at its core,
that something is good
which has in it the essence of goodness,
consequently that that goodness is good
which originates from goodness itself,
thus from God.
And therefore that any goodness
not originating from God,
but from man, is not good.
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