Single Idea 22738

[catalogued under 28. God / A. Divine Nature / 3. Divine Perfections]

Full Idea

If the Divine is all-virtuous, it possesses all the virtues. But it does not possess the virtues of continence and fortitude unless there are certain things which are hard for God to abstain from and hard to endure.

Gist of Idea

The Divine must lack the virtues of continence and fortitude, because they are not needed

Source

Sextus Empiricus (Against the Physicists (two books) [c.180], I.151)

Book Reference

Sextus Empiricus: 'Against the Physicists/Against the Ethicists', ed/tr. Bury,R.G. [Harvard Loeb 1997], p.81


A Reaction

Courage would also be unnecessary, we assume. Good people are not tempted to steal, and hence do not need to resist it. It is a mistake to attribute human virtues to the Divine. Humans lack the virtues of a good frog.