Page:Essays on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism.djvu/131

over his will, his will no longer directed his actions, the flesh departed from its former obedience to the spirit, and the spirit, which had been submissive to God, became subjected to the flesh. Previously, all had been concordant and harmonious in man; but now, all was converted into war, tumult, contradiction, dissonance. His nature, which had been supremely harmonious, became profoundly antithetical.

This disorder, caused in man by himself, was transmitted from him to the universe, and affected the mode of being of all things which had been subjected to him, and which now revolted against him. When man ceased to be the servant of God, he ceased to be the prince of the earth, which is not surprising, when we reflect that the right to this terrestrial authority was based upon his obedience to God. Even the animals, to which he had given names, as a mark of his dominion over them, no longer heard his voice or obeyed his commands. The earth became overgrown with brambles; the heavens flashed lightning; the flowers armed themselves with thorns; all nature seemed as if possessed with an insensate rage against man; the seas, at his approach, lashed their waves into fury, and their depths resounded with a frightful clamor; the mountains raised their heads even to the clouds to arrest his progress; the fields were overrun by impetuous torrents; the whirlwind crushed his fragile dwelling; the reptiles spat forth against him their deadly venom; the herbs distilled their fatal poisons; and at every step he feared an ambush, and in every ambush death.

If we accept the Catholic interpretation of evil, all that without this explanation and outside of it appears and is inexplicable, becomes clear. Evil, according to