Chapter 17 [IX.]—His Argument in His Letter Against Porphyry, as to Why the Gospel Came So Late into the World.

But that which you remember my saying in a certain small treatise of mine against Porphyry, under the title of The Time of the Christian Religion, I so said for the sake of escaping this more careful and elaborate argument about grace; although its meaning, which could be unfolded elsewhere or by others, was not wholly omitted, although I had been unwilling in that place to explain it. For, among other matters, I spoke thus in answer to the question proposed, why it was after so long a time that Christ came: “Accordingly, I say, since they do not object to Christ that all do not follow His teaching (for even they themselves feel that this could not be objected at all with any justice, either to the wisdom of the philosophers or even to the deity of their own gods), what will they reply, if—leaving out of the question that depth of God’s wisdom and knowledge where perchance some other divine plan is far more secretly hidden, without prejudging also other causes, which cannot be traced out by the wise—we say to them only this, for the sake of brevity in the arguing of this question, that Christ willed to appear to men, and that His doctrine should be preached among them, at that time when He knew, and at that place where He knew, that there were some who would believe on Him. For at those times, and in those places, at which His gospel was not preached, He foreknew that all would be in His preaching such as, not indeed all, but many were in His bodily presence, who would not believe on Him, even when the dead were raised by Him; such as we see many now, who, although the declarations of the prophets concerning Him are fulfilled by such manifestations, are still unwilling to believe, and prefer to resist by human astuteness, rather than yield to divine authority so clear and perspicuous, and so lofty, and sublimely made known, so long as the human understanding is small and weak in its approach to divine truth. What wonder is it, then, if Christ knew the world in former ages to be so full of unbelievers, that He should reasonably refuse to appear, or to be preached to them, who, as He foreknew, would believe neither His words nor His miracles? For it is not incredible that all at that time were such as from His coming even to the present time we marvel that so many have been and are. And yet from the beginning of the human race, sometimes more hiddenly, sometimes more evidently, even as to Divine Providence the times seemed to be fitting, there has neither been a failure of prophecy, nor were there wanting those who believed on Him; as well from Adam to Moses, as in the people of Israel itself which by a certain special mystery was a prophetic people; and in other nations before He had come in the flesh. For as some are mentioned in the sacred Hebrew books, as early as the time of Abraham,—neither of his fleshly race nor of the people of Israel nor of the foreign society among the people of Israel,—who were, nevertheless, sharers in their sacrament, why may we not believe that there were others elsewhere among other people, here and there, although we do not read any mention of them in the same authorities? Thus the salvation of this religion, by which only true one true salvation is truly promised, never failed him who was worthy of it; and whoever it failed was not worthy of it. And from the very beginning of the propagation of man, even to the end, the gospel is preached, to some for a reward, to some for judgment; and thus also those to whom the faith was not announced at all were foreknown as those who would not believe; and those to whom it was announced, although they were not such as would believe, are set forth as an example for the former; while those to whom it is announced who should believe, are prepared for the kingdom of heaven, and the company of the holy angels.”71    Augustin’s Epistles, 102, chs. 14, 15.

CAPUT IX.

17. Illud autem quod in opusculo meo quodam contra Porphyrium sub titulo, de Tempore Christianae religionis, me dixisse recolitis; ita dixi, ut hanc diligentiorem et operosiorem disputationem de Gratia praeterirem, non sane omissa significatione, quod eam loco illo explicare noluissem, quae posset alias vel ab aliis explicari . Nam ita locutus sum inter caetera, respondens propositae quaestioni, Cur Christus post tam longa tempora venerit: «Proinde,» inquam, «cum Christo non objiciant, quod ejus doctrinam non omnes sequuntur (sentiunt enim et ipsi nequaquam hoc recte objici posse, vel sapientiae philosophorum, vel etiam numini deorum suorum); quid respondebunt si excepta illa altitudine sapientiae et scientiae Dei, ubi fortassis aliud divinum consilium longe secretius latet, sine praejudicio etiam aliarum forte causarum, quae a prudentibus vestigari queunt, hoc solum eis brevitatis gratia in hujus quaestionis disputatione dicamus, tunc voluisse hominibus apparere Christum, et apud eos praedicari doctrinam suam, quando sciebat, et ubi sciebat esse qui in eum fuerant credituri? His enim temporibus et his locis, quibus Evangelium ejus non est praedicatum, tales omnes in ejus praedicatione futuros esse praesciebat, quales, non quidem omnes, sed tamen multi in ejus corporali praesentia fuerunt, qui in eum nec suscitatis ab eo mortuis, credere voluerunt; quales etiam nunc multos videmus, cum tanta manifestatione de illo compleantur praeconia Prophetarum, nolle adhuc credere, et malle humana astutia resistere, quam tam clarae atque perspicuae, tamque sublimi et sublimiter diffamatae divinae cedere auctoritati, quamdiu parvus et infirmus est intellectus hominis, divinae accedere veritati . Quid ergo mirum, si tam infidelibus plenum orbem terrarum Christus prioribus saeculis noverat , ut eis apparere vel praedicari merito nollet, quos nec verbis, nec miraculis suis credituros esse praesciebat? Neque enim incredibile est, tales fuisse tunc omnes, quales ab ejus adventu usque ad hoc tempus tam multos fuisse atque esse miramur. Et tamen ab initio generis humani, alias ocultius, alias evidentius, sicut congruere temporibus divinitus visum est, nec prophetari destitit, nec qui in eum crederent defuerunt, et ab Adam usque ad Moysen, 0974 et in ipso populo Israel, quae speciali quodam mysterio gens prophetica fuit; et in aliis gentibus antequam venisset in carne. Cum enim nonnulli commemorantur in sanctis Hebraicis libris, jam ex tempore Abrahae, nec de stirpe carnis ejus, nec ex populo Israel, nec ex adventitia societate in populo Israel, qui tamen hujus sacramenti participes fuerunt; cur non credamus etiam in caeteris hac atque illac gentibus alias alios fuisse , quamvis eos commemoratos in eisdem auctoritatibus non legamus? Ita salus religionis hujus, per quam solam veram salus vera veraciterque promittitur, nulli unquam defuit qui dignus fuit; et cui defuit, dignus non fuit. Et ab exordio propagationis humanae usque in finem, quibusdam ad praemium, quibusdam ad judicium praedicatur. Ac per hoc et quibus omnino annuntiata non est, non credituri praesciebantur; et quibus non credituris tamen annuntiata est, in illorum exemplum demonstrantur: quibus autem credituris annuntiatur, hi regno coelorum et sanctorum angelorum societati praeparantur» (Epist. 102, nn. 14, 15).