John Tauler · 10 of 121

Secondly, of the work and knowledge of grace. · 64.

Several persons blame nature sorely, and these do not know what nature is; for nature is noble, and does what is right. Men should blame evil and not nature; for God loveth human nature so dearly, that He hath created all things for its service, and hath suffered even death in human nature, as in His death human nature is raised above the angels. Mention is made of natural men as if they were hurtful men, but I say that a thoroughly natural man is a pure man; for everything is to be taken according to its best. Now nature is good; but what is good is also pure, and is without any sinful accident. Thus, then, when a man stands in his genuine natural nobility, he is without any sinful accident, and that which is without any sinful accident is pure. Hence finally a thoroughly natural man is a pure man. That which maketh nature impure is a faulty accident of nature, and is not the essence of nature. Now just as accidental virtue regulates nature and leads to its true source and to its genuine essence, so in like manner vice destroyeth nature, and displaces it from its source, so that it never cometh to its true essence. And it is much more according to nature to work virtue than vice; for virtue places nature firmly and supports it, while vice displaces it.