Chapter 18.—The Preceding Argument Applied to the Present Time.

Do you not see that my desire was, without any prejudgment of the hidden counsel of God, and of other reasons, to say what might seem sufficient about Christ’s foreknowledge, to convince the unbelief of the pagans who had brought forward this question? For what is more true than that Christ foreknew who should believe on Him, and at what times and places they should believe? But whether by the preaching of Christ to themselves by themselves they were to have faith, or whether they would receive it by God’s gift,—that is, whether God only foreknew them, or also predestinated them, I did not at that time think it necessary to inquire or to discuss. Therefore what I said, “that Christ willed to appear to men at that time, and that His doctrine should be preached among them when He knew, and where He knew, that there were those who would believe on Him,” may also thus be said, “That Christ willed to appear to men at that time, and that His gospel should be preached among those, whom He knew, and where He knew, that there were those who had been elected in Himself before the foundation of the world.” But since, if it were so said, it would make the reader desirous of asking about those things which now by the warning of Pelagian errors must of necessity be discussed with greater copiousness and care, it seemed to me that what at that time was sufficient should be briefly said, leaving to one side, as I said, the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God, and without prejudging other reasons, concerning which I thought that we might more fittingly argue, not then, but at some other time.

18. Cernitisne, me sine praejudicio latentis consilii Dei aliarumque causarum, hoc de praescientia Christi dicere voluisse, quod convincendae Paganorum infidelitati, qui hanc objecerant quaestionem, sufficere videretur? Quid enim est verius, quam praescisse Christum, qui et quando et quibus locis in eum fuerant credituri? Sed utrum praedicato sibi Christo a se ipsis habituri essent fidem, an Deo donante sumpturi, id est, utrum tantummodo eos praescierit, an etiam praedestinaverit Deus, quaerere atque disserere tunc necessarium non putavi. Proinde quod dixi, «Tunc voluisse hominibus apparere Christum, et apud eos praedicari doctrinam suam, quando sciebat et ubi sciebat esse qui in eum fuerant credituri:» potest etiam sic dici, Tunc voluisse hominibus apparere Christum, et apud eos praedicari doctrinam suam, quando sciebat et ubi sciebat esse qui electi fuerant in ipso ante mundi constitutionem (Ephes. I, 4). Sed quoniam si ita diceretur, lectorem faceret intentum ad ea requirenda, quae nunc ex admonitione Pelagiani erroris necesse est copiosius et laboriosius disputari; visum mihi est, quod tunc satis erat, breviter esse dicendum, excepta, ut dixi, altitudine sapientiae et scientiae Dei, et sine praejudicio aliarum causarum de quibus non tunc, sed alias opportunius disputandum putavi.