44. [43.] He believed that everything was a matter of mercy. Accordingly, that if a brother commits an immense sin, it is forgiven him, because it is for God a way to show mercy. He also believed that people are altogether damned, and that it were better for Sodom and Gomorrah than for them, if they do good works for the sake of salvation, considering this to be the greatest of sins, because they claim for themselves the merit that is God's alone.