such as penalties, imprisonment,
beating, expulsion and banishment. But for the people of God separation
from God is the greatest torment of all.

76: THE JUSTICE AND MERCY OF GOD

Know that to do justice is to give to everyone according to his deserts.
For example, when a workman labors from morning until evening, justice
requires that he shall be paid his wages; but when he has done no work and
taken no trouble, he is given a gift: this is bounty. If you give alms and
gifts to a poor man although he has taken no trouble for you, nor done
anything to deserve it, this is bounty. So Christ besought forgiveness for
his murderers: this is called bounty.

Now the question of the good or evil of things is determined by reason or
by law. Some believe that it is determined by law; such are the Jews, who,
believing all the commandments of the Pentateuch to be absolutely
obligatory, regard them as matters of law, not of reason. Thus they say
that one of the commandments of the Pentateuch is that it is unlawful to
partake of meat and butter together because it is taref, and taref in
Hebrew means unclean, as kosher means clean. This, they say, is a question
of law and not of reason.

But the theologians think that the good and evil of things depend upon
both reason and law. The chief foundation of the prohibition of murder,
theft, treachery, falsehood, hypocrisy and cruelty, is reason. Every
intelligent man comprehends that murder, theft, treachery, falsehood,
hypocrisy and cruelty are evil and reprehensible; for if you prick a man
with a thorn, he will cry out, complain and groan; so it is evident that
he will understand that murder according to reason is evil and
reprehensible. If he commits a murder, he will be responsible, whether the
renown of the Prophet has reached him or not; for it is reason that
formulates the reprehensible character of the action. When a man commits
this bad action, he will surely be responsible.

But in a place where the commands of a Prophet are not known, and where
the people do not act in conformity with the divine instructions, such as
the command of Christ to return good for evil, but act according to the
desires of nature--that is, if they torment those who torment them--from the
point of view of religion they are excused because the divine command has
not been delivered to them. Though they do not deserve mercy and
beneficence, nevertheless, God treats them with mercy and forgives th