The tax collector and the Pharisee
He also says: "What, then, can this preference for sinners be?" and adds other things of the same kind. We shall answer that, taken absolutely, a sinner is not preferred to one who is not a sinner. But sometimes a sinner who is aware of his own sin, and for that reason goes on to repentance, humble over what he has done wrong, is preferred to one who is thought to be less of a sinner but does not consider himself a sinner; instead he exalts himself over certain better qualities that he believes he finds in himself, and is puffed up about them.
For those willing to read the Gospels fairly, this is made plain by the parable about the tax collector who said, "Be merciful to me, the sinner" (Luke 18:13), and about the Pharisee who boasted with a kind of wicked conceit and said, "I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector" (Luke 18:11). For Jesus adds to his account of both: "This man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).
So we do not blaspheme God, nor lie about him, when we teach every person, whoever he may be, to be aware of human smallness compared with the majesty of God, and always to ask of him what our nature lacks, since he alone is able to supply what is wanting in us.
Greek
Ἐπεὶ δέ φησι καὶ τό· τίς οὖν αὕτη ποτὲ ἡ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν προτίμησις; καὶ ὅμοια τούτοις ἐπιφέρει, ἀποκρινούμεθα ὅτι καθάπαξ μὲν ἁμαρτωλὸς οὐ προτιμᾶται τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτωλοῦ· ἔστι δ᾿ ὅτε ἁμαρτωλὸς συναισθόμενος τῆς ἰδίας ἁμαρτίας καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ μετανοεῖν πορευόμενος ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις ταπεινὸς προτιμᾶται τοῦ ἔλαττον μὲν νομιζομένου εἶναι ἁμαρτωλοῦ, οὐκ οἰομένου δ᾿ αὐτὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν ἀλλ᾿ ἐπαιρομένου ἐπί τισιν, οἷς δοκεῖ συνειδέναι ἑαυτῷ κρείττοσι, καὶ πεφυσιωμένου ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῖς. καὶ τοῦτο δηλοῖ τοῖς βουλομένοις εὐγνωμόνως ἐντυγχάνειν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις ἡ περὶ τοῦ εἰπόντος τελώνου παραβολή· „ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ“ καὶ περὶ τοῦ καυχησαμένου μετά τινος μοχθηροῦ οἰήματος Φαρισαίου καὶ φήσαντος· „εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ὡς οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἅρπαγες, ἄδικοι, μοιχοὶ, ἢ καὶ ὡς οὗτος ὁ τελώνης.“ ἐπιφέρει γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῷ περὶ ἀμφοτέρων λόγῳ τὸ „κατέβη οὗτος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ δεδικαιωμένος παρ᾿ ἐκεῖνον· ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὑψῶν ἑαυτὸν ταπεινωθήσεται, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ταπεινῶν ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθήσεται.“ οὐ βλασφημοῦμεν οὖν τὸν θεὸν οὐδὲ καταψευδόμεθα, διδάσκοντες πάνθ᾿ ὁντινοῦν συναισθέσθαι τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης βραχύτητος ὡς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μεγαλειότητα καὶ ἀεὶ αἰτεῖν ἀπ᾿ ἐκείνου τὸ ἐνδέον τῇ φύσει ἡμῶν, τοῦ μόνου ἀναπληροῦν τὰ ἐλλιπῆ ἡμῖν δυναμένου.