Why Created Things Differ

There are some, indeed, who with childish presumption dare to find fault with God on this point too. They ask why he did not create one and the same natural disposition for all, but instead ordained that many things should exist that are different, and even opposite, in their nature, from which arises the unlikeness in our moral conduct and character. Would it not have been better, they say, for obedience to God’s commands, for a right understanding of God himself, and for strengthening each person’s faith, if all mankind had the same moral character? It is ridiculous, indeed, to expect that this could be so, and to forget that the make-up of the world is different from that of the things in the world; that physical and moral things are not the same in their nature, nor the feelings of the body the same as those of the soul. For the immortal soul far surpasses the material world in dignity, and is more blessed than the perishable, earthly creation, to the degree that it is nobler and more closely related to God. Nor is the human race shut out from a share in the divine goodness. Yet this is not the lot of all without distinction, but only of those who search deeply into the divine nature and make the knowledge of sacred things the chief aim of their lives. [a]