24. If what we have made mention of out of the Apostolic Epistles seem to you to fall short of an answer, hear yet others, if ye have ears. What saith the utterly mad Manichæan of the Flesh of Christ? That it was not true, but false. What saith the blessed Apostle to this? “Remember that Christ Jesus rose again from the dead of the seed of David, according to my Gospel.”84    2 Tim. ii. 8 And Christ Jesus Himself saith, “Handle and see, that a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me to have.”85    Luke xxiv. 39 How is there truth in their doctrine, which asserts that in the Flesh of Christ there was falsehood? How was there in Christ no evil, in Whom was so great a lie? Because forsooth to men over-clean true flesh is an evil, and false flesh instead of true is not an evil: it is an evil, true flesh of one born of the seed of David, and it is no evil, false tongue of one saying, “Handle, and see, that a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me to have.” Of the Church what saith the deceiver of men with deadly error? That on the side of souls it pertains unto Christ, on the side of bodies unto the devil? What to this saith the Teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth? “Know ye not,” saith he, “that your bodies are members of Christ?”86    1 Cor. vi. 15 Of the sex of male and female what saith the son of perdition? That either sex is not of God, but of the devil. What to this saith the Vessel of Election? “As,” saith he, “the woman from out the man, so also the man through the woman: but all things of God.”87    1 Cor. xi. 12 Of the flesh what saith the unclean spirit through the Manichæan? That it is an evil substance, and not the creation of God, but of an enemy. What to this saith the Holy Spirit through Paul? “For as the body is one,” saith he, “and hath many members, but all the members of the body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”88    1 Cor. xii. 12 And a little after; “God hath set,” saith he, “the members, each one of them in the body, as He willed.”89    1 Cor. xii. 18 Also a little after; “God,” saith he, “hath tempered the body, giving greater honor unto that to which it was wanting, that there should be no schisms in the body, but that the members have the self-same care one for another: and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it: or one member be glorified, all the members rejoice with it.”90    1 Cor. xii. 24, 25, 26 How is the flesh evil, when the souls themselves are admonished to imitate the peace of its members? How is it the creation of the enemy, when the souls themselves, which rule the bodies, take pattern from the members of the body, not to have schisms of enmities among themselves, in order that, what God hath granted unto the body by nature, this themselves also may love to have by grace? With good cause, writing to the Romans, “I beseech you,” saith he, “brethren, by the mercy of God, that ye present your bodies a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing to God.”91    Rom. xii. 1 Without reason we contend that darkness is not light, nor light darkness, if we present a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing to God, of the bodies of the “nation of darkness.”

CAPUT X.

24. Manichaeorum haeresis negat fuisse in Christo carnem veram. Dicit animas ad Christum, corpora ad diabolum pertinere, et sexum utrumque esse ex diabolo. Si parum vobis videntur respondere quae de apostolicis commemoravimus Litteris, audite adhuc alia, si aures habetis. Quid de carne Christi dicit insanissimus Manichaeus? Quod non fuerit vera, sed falsa. Quid ad hoc dicit beatus Apostolus? Memor esto Christum Jesum surrexisse a mortuis ex semine David, secundum evangelium meum (II Tim. II, 8). Et ipse Christus Jesus, Palpate, inquit, et videte, quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere (Luc. XXIV, 39). Quomodo est in eorum doctrina veritas, quae praedicat quod in carne Christi erat falsitas? Quomodo in Christo non erat ullum malum, in quo erat tam grande mendacium. Quia videlicet hominibus nimium mundis malum est caro vera, et non est malum falsa pro vera: malum est caro vera nascentis ex David semine, et non est malum lingua falsa dicentis, Palpate, et videte quia spiritus ossa et carnem non habet, sicut me videtis habere! De Ecclesia quid dicit deceptor hominum in mortifero errore? Quod ex parte animarum pertineat ad Christum, ex parte corporum ad diabolum. Quid ad haec dicit Doctor Gentium in fide et veritate? Nescitis, inquit, quia corpora vestra membra sunt Christi (I Cor. VI, 15)? De sexu masculi et feminae quid dicit filius perditionis? Quod uterque sexus non ex Deo sit, sed ex diabolo. Quid ad haec dicit Vas electionis? Sicut, inquit, mulier ex viro, ita et vir per mulierem; omnia autem ex Deo (Id. XI, 12). De carne quid dicit per Manichaeum spiritus immundus? Quod sit mala substantia, nec Dei, sed inimici creatura. Quid ad haec dicit per Paulum Spiritus sanctus? Sicut enim corpus unum est, inquit, et membra habet multa, omnia autem membra corporis cum sint multa, unum est corpus; ita et Christus. Et paulo post: Posuit, inquit, Deus membra, singulum quodque eorum in corpore, prout voluit. Item paulo post: Deus, inquit, temperavit corpus, ei cui deerat majorem honorem dans, ut non essent scissurae in corpore, sed idem ipsum ut pro invicem sollicita sint membra: et sive patitur unum membrum, compatiuntur omnia membra; sive glorificatur unum membrum, congaudent omnia membra (Id. XII, 12-26). Quomodo est mala caro, quando ipsae animae pacem membrorum 0366 ejus ut imitentur, monentur? Quomodo est inimici creatura, quando ipsae animae quae corpora regunt, ut inter se inimicitiarum scissuras non habeant, exemplum de membris corporis sumunt, ut quod praestitit Deus corpori per naturam, ament et ipsae hoc habere per gratiam? Merito ad Romanos cum scriberet, Obsecro, inquit, vos, fratres, per misericordiam Dei, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam vivam, sanctam, Deo placentem (Rom. XII, 1). Sine causa non tenebras lucem, et lucem tenebras esse contendimus, si hostiam vivam, sanctam, Deo placentem de gentis tenebrarum corporibus exhibemus.