על שהאל הוא ללא שינוי ד׳On the Unchangeableness of God 4
א׳
1[16] Some there are who through self-love have brought upon themselves not only defeat but death. Thus Onan “perceiving that the seed will not be his” (Gen. 38:9), ceased not to destroy the reasoning principle, which in kind is the best of all existing things, till he himself underwent utter destruction. And right just and fitting was his fate.
ב׳
2[17] For if there shall be any whose every deed is self-seeking, who have no regard for the honouring of their parents, for the ordering of their children aright, for the safety of their country, for the maintenance of the laws, for the security of good customs, for the better conduct of things private and public, for the sanctity of temples, for piety towards God, miserable shall be their fate.
ג׳
3[18] To sacrifice life itself for any single one of these that I have named is honour and glory. But these self-lovers—they say that if these blessings, desirable as they are, were all put together, they would utterly despise them, if they should not procure them some future pleasure. And therefore God in His impartial justice will cast out to destruction that evil suggestion of an unnatural creed, called Onan.
ד׳
4[19] We must indeed reject all those who “beget for themselves,” that is all those who pursue only their own profit and think not of others. For they think themselves born for themselves only and not for the innumerable others, for father, for mother, for wife, for children, for country, for the human race, and if we must extend the list, for heaven, for earth, for the universe, for knowledge, for virtues, for the Father and Captain of all; to each of whom we are bound according to our powers to render what is due, not holding all things to be an adjunct of ourselves, but rather ourselves an adjunct of all.