Therefore, setting aside those things which pertain less to the present treatment, it is evident in the highest degree that both the origin of the approving will and its force and amplitude are proposed by Anselm in no other manner than that in which the Greek doctors disclosed the origin, force, and scope of the preceding will.
For I. what is the origin of the first and antecedent will according to the latter? It is none other than the goodness of God, his mercy, and his benignity poured forth upon men. But Anselm teaches that this very thing is the origin of the approving will, which he writes to be in God according to a certain affection of mercy. Now God is merciful1 because he saves the wretched and spares sinners; and he is not merciful because he is affected by no compassion for misery. He is merciful2 because he is wholly and supremely good. Whence nothing remains but to exclaim3:
O height of your goodness, O God! It is seen whence you are merciful, and it is not thoroughly seen. It is discerned whence the river flows, and the fountain whence it springs is not perceived. For it is from the fullness of goodness that you are kind to your sinners; and in the height of your goodness lies hidden the reason why this is so. For although from goodness you repay good things to the good and evil things to the evil, nevertheless the reason of justice seems to demand this. But when you bestow good things upon the evil, it is known that, being supremely good, you willed to do this, and it is marvelous why, being supremely just, you could will it. O mercy, from what rich sweetness and sweet abundance do you flow forth to us!
To these things, II. what force do the Greeks establish the preceding will to have? Namely, one full of benevolence, which by its light dispels the darkness of men and by its heat inflames and burns their cooling breasts. But Anselm represents the force and efficacy of the approving will no otherwise: by it God, as far as concerns himself, hinders no one from being saved, but indeed approves if anyone labors toward this; by it he himself also wills all men to be saved and inspires the saints to pray charitably for all; and because of it each man ought to express his grateful mind toward God in these or similar words4:
O immensity of the goodness of God, with what affection are you to be loved by sinners? For you save the just with justice accompanying; but these you deliver with justice ruling. The former, with merits assisting; the latter, with merits resisting. The former, by recognizing the good things which you gave; the latter, by forgiving the evil things which you hate. O immense goodness, who thus exceed every understanding, may that mercy which proceeds from so great an abundance of yours come upon me. May that which flows forth from you flow into me. Spare through clemency, lest you take vengeance through justice.
Finally, III. the voice of the Greeks is one, and their opinion one and concordant: that the amplitude of the first and preceding salvific will is universal, and that the order of reparation chosen by God is not particular but universal and extends as widely as the race of men itself extends. But what does Anselm say? First he denies that God, as far as concerns himself, hinders even one from being saved; then he affirms that God wills that all men be saved. Thus, both by denying and by affirming, he testifies that there are no limits which circumscribe the amplitude of the salvific will.