Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

The Delay of the Deity
to be a villain does not, become so just at the moment
he is found out, but he had in him from his birth
the germs of iniquity, the thief merely seizing the
opportunity or using his power to steal, and the ty
rant to override the law. But God, depend upon it,
is not ignorant of the inclinations arid nature of any
man because He looks to the soul rather than the
body; He does not wait to
punish deeds of violence,
until they are done with the hands, or impurity until
it is uttered with the tongue, or lasciviousness until
it is committed with the sexual organs. He does not
take vengeance on the evil-doer from any wrong he
has himself suffered, neither is He incensed at the
robber, because he has been roughly handled, nor
does He hate the adulterer because of the disgrace;
yet, for the sake of betterment, He often punishes
the adulterer and the miser and the unjust man,
thus cutting off vice, as if it were an epilepsy, before
it becomes firmly rooted.
21. A little while ago we expressed our ill-will at
the late and tardy punishment of the wicked; now we
find fault because in some cases, even before they
perpetrate any evil deed, God checks the natural
bent and disposition of men, though we are aware
that the future is often worse and more to be feared
than the past, and what is dormant than what is
apparent. We are not able to fathom the reasons
why
it is sometimes better to let men commit crimes
and sometimes better to anticipate them while they
are merely deliberating and contriving; just as some
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