Thus, not the senses and passions themselves were generated by sin, but rather only their power of victimizing sinners; and this power is not so much a disorder on the part of the senses as on the part of the mind and will of men, who, having lost the power they had over their bodies, and no longer being so closely united to God, no longer receive from Him that enlightenment and strength by means of which they had preserved their freedom and happiness.