First question. Again there appeared on the rung the same man as before, and he said: "O Judge, I ask you why one infant comes forth alive from its mother's womb and obtains baptism while another, after receiving a soul, dies within its mother's viscera?"

Second question. "Item. Why, for the just, do many things have an untoward outcome while, for the unjust, all things are as they wish?"

Third question. "Item. Why do plagues and famines come - and the inconveniences that afflict the body?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why does death come so unexpectedly that it can very rarely be foreseen?"

Fifth question. "Item. Why do you suffer men to go to war with deliberate wrath and envy and in a spirit of vengeance?"

Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, you question not out of charity but only because I permit it. And that is why I answer you in a way that resembles words. You ask why one infant dies within its mother's viscera and another comes forth alive. The reason is this. All the strength of a child's body is taken from the seed of its father and mother; but if it is conceived without due strength because of some infirmity of the father or the mother, it quickly dies.

As a result of the parents' neglect or lack of care - and also as a result of my divine justice - many things happen so that what was joined together quickly separates. Nevertheless, although the soul had no longer time to vivify the body, it will not therefore meet with a harsh punishment but rather with a mercy known to me. When the sun streams into a house, its rays alone are seen. Only those who gaze at the sky see the sun as it is in its beauty. So it is with the souls of such children. Because they lack baptism, they do not see my face. Nevertheless, they do draw nearer to mercy than to punishment - although not in the same way as my elect."

Response to the second question. "Item. As to why untoward things befall the just, I answer: My justice is that every just man should obtain what he seeks. But no man is just who does not desire to suffer untoward things for the sake of obedience and the perfection of justice and who does not do good to his neighbor out of divine charity. My friends consider what I, their God and Redeemer, have done for them and what I have promised to them; and also they attentively see the wickedness in the world. Therefore, as a precaution, they more gladly seek - for my honor, for their own salvation, and for the avoidance of sin - the untoward things of the world rather than its prosperity. And therefore I permit tribulations to befall them.

If some of them suffer with too little patience, I do not permit this to happen without a reason; and I stand by them in their trouble. When a son, in his boyhood, is rebuked by a charitable mother, he does not know enough to thank her because he cannot weigh the cause for which he is being reproved; but when he has reached the age of discretion, he thanks his mother because through her instruction he has been drawn away from wrongdoing and has become accustomed to discipline and good behavior. I treat my elect in a similar way. Because they entrust their will to me and love me above all things, they have tribulations for a time. And although, at present, they may not fully understand my benefactions, nevertheless I am doing what is best for them in the future.

But because the impious do not care about justice and are not afraid to inflict injuries and because they seek the transitory things of the world and love earthly delights, therefore, out of my justice, they prosper for a time, free from scourges, lest they sin the more if they be touched by untoward things. However, not all the wicked are given what they desire - in order that they may know that it lies within my power to give gifts to whomever I will. For I grant good things even to the ungrateful and although they do not deserve them."

Response to the third question. "Item. As to why plagues and famines come, I answer: It is written in the law that one who commits a theft must give back more than he took. Because the ungrateful accept my gifts and abuse them and do not pay me the honor that is my due from them, I therefore exact of their bodies more trouble in the present in order to spare their souls in the future. Sometimes, too, I spare the body and punish man in and through that which he loves so that he, who would not acknowledge me when he was happy, may recognize and understand me when he is troubled."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. As to why death comes suddenly, I answer: If man knew the time of his death, he would serve me out of fear and faint with sorrow. Therefore, in order that man might serve me out of charity and that he might always be solicitous about himself and secure about me, the hour of his exit is uncertain - and deservedly so. For, when man deserted that which was certain and true, it was necessary and right that he be afflicted with uncertainty."

Response to the fifth question. "Item. As to why I permit men to proceed to war while filled with wrath, I answer: Everyone who has the full intention of harming his neighbor is like the devil and is the devil's member and his instrument. I would be doing an injury to the devil if I deprived him of his servant without justice. Therefore, even as I use an instrument of my own for whatever pleases me, so it is justice that in one who would rather be the devil's member than mine the devil operates and does his own deeds either for the purgation of others or for the completion of his malice - but only as I permit and as sin demands."