Letter CXXXVIII.

(a.d. 412.)

To Marcellinus, My Noble and Justly Famous Lord, My Son Most Beloved and Longed For, Augustin Sends Greeting in the Lord.

Chap. I.

1. In writing to the illustrious and most eloquent Volusianus, whom we both sincerely love, I thought it right to confine myself to answering the questions which he thought proper himself to state; but as to the questions which you have submitted to me in your letter for discussion and solution, as suggested or proposed either by Volusianus himself or by others, it is fitting that such reply to these as I may be able to give should be addressed to you. I shall attempt this, not in the manner in which it would require to be done in a formal treatise, but in the manner which is suitable to the conversational familiarity of a letter, in order that, if you, who know their state of mind by daily discussions, think it expedient, this letter also may be read to your friends. But if this communication be not adapted to them, because of their not being prepared by the piety of faith to give ear to it, let what you consider adapted to them be in the first place prepared between ourselves, and afterwards let what may have been thus prepared be communicated to them. For there are many things from which their minds may in the meantime shrink and recoil, which they may perhaps by and by be persuaded to accept as true, either by the use of more copious and skilful arguments, or by an appeal to authority which, in their opinion, may not without impropriety be resisted.

2. In your letter you state that some are perplexed by the question, “Why this God, who is proved to be the God also of the Old Testament, is pleased with new sacrifices after having rejected the ancient ones. For they allege that nothing can be corrected but that which is proved to have been previously not rightly done, or that what has once been done rightly ought not to be altered in the very least: that which has been rightly done, they say, cannot be changed without wrong.”1100    Letter CXXXVI. sec. 2, p. 473. I quote these words from your letter. Were I disposed to give a copious reply to this objection, time would fail me long before I had exhausted the instances in which the processes of nature itself and the works of men undergo changes according to the circumstances of the time, while, at the same time, there is nothing mutable in the plan or principle by which these changes are regulated. Of these I may mention a few, that, stimulated by them, your wakeful observation may run, as it were, from them to many more of the same kind. Does not summer follow winter, the temperature gradually increasing in warmth? Do not night and day in turn succeed each other? How often do our own lives experience changes! Boyhood departing, never to return, gives place to youth; manhood, destined itself to continue only for a season, takes in turn the place of youth; and old age, closing the term of manhood, is itself closed by death.1101    Augustin’s four stages of human life are: Pueritia, adolescentia, juventus, senectus. All these things are changed, but the plan of Divine Providence which appoints these successive changes is not changed. I suppose, also, that the principles of agriculture are not changed when the farmer appoints a different work to be done in summer from that which he had ordered in winter. He who rises in the morning, after resting by night, is not supposed to have changed the plan of his life. The schoolmaster gives to the adult different tasks from those which he was accustomed to prescribe to the scholar in his boyhoo; his teaching, consistent throughout, changes the instruction when the lesson is changed, without itself being changed.

3. The eminent physician of our own times, Vindicianus, being consulted by an invalid, prescribed for his disease what seemed to him a suitable remedy at that time; health was restored by its use. Some years afterwards, finding himself troubled again with the same disorder, the patient supposed that the same remedy should be applied; but its application made his illness worse. In astonishment, he again returns to the physician, and tells him what had happened; whereupon he, being a man of very quick penetration, answered: “The reason of your having been harmed by this application is, that I did not order it;” upon which all who heard the remark and did not know the man supposed that he was trusting not in the art of medicine, but in some forbidden supernatural power. When he was afterwards questioned by some who were amazed at his words, he explained what they had not understood, namely, that he would not have prescribed the same remedy to the patient at the age which he had now attained. While, therefore, the principle and methods of art remain unchanged, the change which, in accordance with them, may be made necessary by the difference of times is very great.

4. To say then, that what has once been done rightly must in no respect whatever be changed, is to affirm what is not true. For if the circumstances of time which occasioned anything be changed, true reason in almost all cases demands that what had been in the former circumstances rightly done, be now so altered that, although they say that it is not rightly done if it be changed, truth, on the contrary, protests that it is not rightly done unless it be changed; because, at both times, it will be rightly done if the difference be regulated according to the difference in the times. For just as in the cases of different persons it may happen that, at the same moment, one man may do with impunity what another man may not, because of a difference not in the thing done but in the person who does it, so in the case of one and the same person at different times, that which was duty formerly is not duty now, not because the person is different from his former self, but because the time at which he does it is different.

5. The wide range opened up by this question may be seen by any one who is competent and careful to observe the contrast between the beautiful and the suitable, examples of which are scattered, we may say, throughout the universe. For the beautiful, to which the ugly and deformed is opposed, is estimated and praised according to what it is in itself. But the suitable, to which the incongruous is opposed, depends on something else to which it is bound, and is estimated not according to what it is in itself, but according to that with which it is connected: the contrast, also, between becoming and unbecoming is either the same, or at least regarded as the same. Now apply what we have said to the subject in hand. The divine institution of sacrifice was suitable in the former dispensation, but is not suitable now. For the change suitable to the present age has been enjoined by God, who knows infinitely better than man what is fitting for every age, and who is, whether He give or add, abolish or curtail, increase or diminish, the unchangeable Governor as He is the unchangeable Creator of mutable things, ordering all events in His providence until the beauty of the completed course of time, the component parts of which are the dispensations adapted to each successive age, shall be finished, like the grand melody of some ineffably wise master of song, and those pass into the eternal immediate contemplation of God who here, though it is a time of faith, not of sight, are acceptably worshipping Him.

6. They are mistaken, moreover, who think that God appoints these ordinances for His own advantage or pleasure; and no wonder that, being thus mistaken, they are perplexed, as if it was from a changing mood that He ordered one thing to be offered to Him in a former age, and something else now. But this is not the case. God enjoins nothing for His own advantage, but for the benefit of those to whom the injunction is given. Therefore He is truly Lord, for He does not need His servants, but His servants stand in need of Him. In those same Old Testament Scriptures, and in the age in which sacrifices were still being offered that are now abrogated, it is said: “I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God, for Thou dost not need my good things.”1102    Ps. xvi. 2. ὅτι τῶν ἀγαθῶν μου οὐ χρείαν ἔχεις, LXX; quoniam bonorum meorum non eges, Aug. Wherefore God did not stand in need of those sacrifices, nor does He ever need anything; but there are certain acts, symbolical of these divine gifts, whereby the soul receives either present grace or eternal glory, in the celebration and practice of which, pious exercises, serviceable not to God but to ourselves, are performed.

7. It would, however, take too long to discuss with adequate fulness the differences between the symbolical actions of former and present times, which, because of their pertaining to divine things, are called sacraments.1103    Observe Augustin’s definition of the word sacramentum as used by him: “cum ad res divinas pertinent sacramenta appelantur.” For as the man is not fickle who does one thing in the morning and another in the evening, one thing this month and another in the next, one thing this year and another next year, so there is no variableness with God, though in the former period of the world’s history He enjoined one kind of offerings, and in the latter period another, therein ordering the symbolical actions pertaining to the blessed doctrine of true religion in harmony with the changes of successive epochs without any change in Himself. For in order to let those whom these things perplex understand that the change was already in the divine counsel, and that, when the new ordinances were appointed, it was not because the old had suddenly lost the divine approbation through inconstancy in His will, but that this had been already fixed and determined by the wisdom of that God to whom, in reference to much greater changes, these words are spoken in Scripture: Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same,”1104    Ps. cii. 26, 27.—it is necessary to convince them that this exchange of the sacraments of the Old Testament for those of the New had been predicted by the voices of the prophets. For thus they will see, if they can see anything, that what is new in time is not new in relation to Him who has appointed the times, and who possesses, without succession of time, all those things which He assigns according to their variety to the several ages. For in the psalm from which I have quoted above the words: “I said unto the Lord, Thou art my God, for Thou dost not need my good things,” in proof that God does not need our sacrifices, it is added shortly after by the Psalmist in Christ’s name: “I will not gather their assemblies of blood;”1105    Ps. xvi. 3. οὐ μὴ συναγάγω τὰς συναγωγὰς αὐτων ἐξ αἰμάτων, LXX. that is, for the offering of animals from their flocks, for which the Jewish assemblies were wont to be gathered together; and in another place he says: “I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goat from thy folds;”1106    Ps. l. 9. and another prophet says: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”1107    Jer. xxxi. 32. There are, besides these, many other testimonies on this subject in which it was foretold that God would do as He has done; but it would take too long to mention them.

8. If it is now established that that which was for one age rightly ordained may be in another age rightly changed,—the alteration indicating a change in the work, not in the plan, of Him who makes the change, the plan being framed by His reasoning faculty, to which, unconditioned by succession in time, those things are simultaneously present which cannot be actually done at the same time because the ages succeed each other,—one might perhaps at this point expect to hear from me the causes of the change in question. You know how long it would take to discuss these fully. The matter may be stated summarily, but sufficiently for a man of shrewd judgment, in these words: It was fitting that Christ’s future coming should be foretold by some sacraments, and that after His coming other sacraments should proclaim this; just as the difference in the facts has compelled us to change the words used by us in speaking of the advent as future or past: to be foretold is one thing, to be proclaimed is another, and to be about to come is one thing, to have come is another.

Chap. II.

9. Let us now observe in the second place, what follows in your letter.1108    Letter CXXXVI. sec. 2, p. 473. You have added that they said that the Christian doctrine and preaching were in no way consistent with the duties and rights of citizens, because among its precepts we find: “Recompense to no man evil for evil,”1109    Rom. xii. 17. and, “Whosoever shall smite thee on one cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any man take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also; and whosoever will compel thee to go a mile with him, go with him twain,”1110    Matt. v. 39–41.—all which are affirmed to be contrary to the duties and rights of citizens; for who would submit to have anything taken from him by an enemy, or forbear from retaliating the evils of war upon an invader who ravaged a Roman province? To these and similar statements of persons speaking slightingly, or perhaps I should rather say speaking as inquirers regarding the truth, I might have given a more elaborate answer, were it not that the persons with whom the discussion is carried on are men of liberal education. In addressing such, why should we prolong the debate, and not rather begin by inquiring for ourselves how it was possible that the Republic of Rome was governed and aggrandized from insignificance and poverty to greatness and opulence by men who, when they had suffered wrong, would rather pardon than punish the offender;1111    “Accepta injuria ignoscere quam persequi malebant.”—Sallust, Catilina, c. 9.or how Cicero, addressing Cæsar, the greatest statesman of his time, said, in praising his character, that he was wont to forget nothing but the wrongs which were done to him?1112    “Oblivisci soles nihil nisi injurias.”—Cicero, pro Ligario, c. 12. For in this Cicero spoke either praise or flattery: if he spoke praise, it was because he knew Cæsar to be such as he affirmed; if he spoke flattery, he showed that the chief magistrate of a commonwealth ought to do such things as he falsely commended in Cæsar. But what is “not rendering evil for evil,” but refraining from the passion of revenge—in other words, choosing, when one has suffered wrong, to pardon rather than to punish the offender, and to forget nothing but the wrongs done to us?

10. When these things are read in their own authors, they are received with loud applause; they are regarded as the record and recommendation of virtues in the practice of which the Republic deserved to hold sway over so many nations, because its citizens preferred to pardon rather than punish those who wronged them. But when the precept, “Render to no man evil for evil,” is read as given by divine authority, and when, from the pulpits in our churches, this wholesome counsel is published in the midst of our congregations, or, as we might say, in places of instruction open to all, of both sexes and of all ages and ranks, our religion is accused as an enemy to the Republic! Yet, were our religion listened to as it deserves, it would establish, consecrate, strengthen, and enlarge the commonwealth in a way beyond all that Romulus, Numa, Brutus, and all the other men of renown in Roman history achieved. For what is a republic but a commonwealth? Therefore its interests are common to all; they are the interests of the State. Now what is a State but a multitude of men bound together by some bond of concord? In one of their own authors we read: “What was a scattered and unsettled multitude had by concord become in a short time a State.” But what exhortations to concord have they ever appointed to be read in their temples? So far from this, they were unhappily compelled to devise how they might worship without giving offence to any of their gods, who were all at such variance among themselves, that, had their worshippers imitated their quarrelling, the State must have fallen to pieces for want of the bond of concord, as it soon afterwards began to do through civil wars, when the morals of the people were changed and corrupted.

11. But who, even though he be a stranger to our religion, is so deaf as not to know how many precepts enjoining concord, not invented by the discussions of men, but written with the authority of God, are continually read in the churches of Christ? For this is the tendency even of those precepts which they are much more willing to debate than to follow: “That to him who smites us on one cheek we should offer the other to be smitten; to him who would take away our coat we should give our cloak also; and that with him who compels us to go one mile we should go twain.” For these things are done only that a wicked man may be overcome by kindness, or rather that the evil which is in the wicked man may be overcome by good, and that the man may be delivered from the evil—not from any evil that is external and foreign to himself, but from that which is within and is his own, under which he suffers loss more severe and fatal than could be inflicted by the cruelty of any enemy from without. He, therefore, who is overcoming evil by good, submits patiently to the loss of temporal advantages, that he may show how those things, through excessive love of which the other is made wicked, deserve to be despised when compared with faith and righteousness; in order that so the injurious person may learn from him whom he wronged what is the true nature of the things for the sake of which he committed the wrong, and may be won back with sorrow for his sin to that concord, than which nothing is more serviceable to the State, being overcome not by the strength of one passionately resenting, but by the good-nature of one patiently bearing wrong. For then it is rightly done when it seems that it will benefit him for whose sake it is done, by producing in him amendment of his ways and concord with others. At all events, it is to be done with this intention, even though the result may be different from what was expected, and the man, with a view to whose correction and conciliation this healing and salutary medicine, so to speak, was employed, refuses to be corrected and reconciled.

12. Moreover, if we pay attention to the words of the precept, and consider ourselves under bondage to the literal interpretation, the right cheek is not to be presented by us if the left has been smitten. “Whosoever,” it is said, “shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also;”1113    Matt. v. 39. but the left cheek is more liable to be smitten, because it is easier for the right hand of the assailant to smite it than the other. But the words are commonly understood as if our Lord had said: If any one has acted injuriously to thee in respect of the higher possessions which thou hast, offer to him also the inferior possessions, lest, being more concerned about revenge than about forbearance, thou shouldst despise eternal things in comparison with temporal things, whereas temporal things ought to be despised in comparison with eternal things, as the left is in comparison with the right. This has been always the aim of the holy martyrs; for final vengeance is righteously demanded only when there remains no room for amendment, namely, in the last great judgment. But meanwhile we must be on our guard, lest, through desire for revenge, we lose patience itself,—a virtue which is of more value than all which an enemy can, in spite of our resistance, take away from us. For another evangelist, in recording the same precept, makes no mention of the right cheek, but names merely the one and the other;1114    Luke vi. 29. so that, while the duty may be somewhat more distinctly learned from Matthew’s gospel, he simply commends the same exercise of patience. Wherefore a righteous and pious man ought to be prepared to endure with patience injury from those whom he desires to make good, so that the number of good men may be increased, instead of himself being added, by retaliation of injury, to the number of wicked men.

13. In fine, that these precepts pertain rather to the inward disposition of the heart than to the actions which are done in the sight of men, requiring us, in the inmost heart, to cherish patience along with benevolence, but in the outward action to do that which seems most likely to benefit those whose good we ought to seek, is manifest from the fact that our Lord Jesus Himself, our perfect example of patience, when He was smitten on the face, answered: “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if not, why smitest thou me?”1115    John xviii. 23. If we look only to the words, He did not in this obey His own precept, for He did not present the other side of his face to him who had smitten Him but, on the contrary, prevented him who had done the wrong from adding thereto; and yet He had come prepared not only to be smitten on the face, but even to be slain upon the cross for those at whose hands He suffered crucifixion, and for whom, when hanging on the cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do!”1116    Luke xxiii. 34. In like manner, the Apostle Paul seems to have failed to obey the precept of his Lord and Master, when he, being smitten on the face as He had been, said to the chief priest: “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall, for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?” And when it was said by them that stood near, “Revilest thou God’s high priest?” he took pains sarcastically to indicate what his words meant, that those of them who were discerning might understand that now the whited wall, i.e. the hypocrisy of the Jewish priesthood, was appointed to be thrown down by the coming of Christ; for He said: “I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest, for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people;”1117    Acts xxiii. 3–5. although it is perfectly certain that he who had grown up in that nation and had been in that place trained in the law, could not but know that his judge was the chief priest, and could not, by professing ignorance on this point, impose upon those to whom he was so well known.

14. These precepts concerning patience ought to be always retained in the habitual discipline of the heart, and the benevolence which prevents the recompensing of evil for evil must be always fully cherished in the disposition. At the same time, many things must be done in correcting with a certain benevolent severity, even against their own wishes, men whose welfare rather than their wishes it is our duty to consult and the Christian Scriptures have most unambiguously commended this virtue in a magistrate. For in the correction of a son, even with some sternness, there is assuredly no diminution of a father’s love; yet, in the correction, that is done which is received with reluctance and pain by one whom it seems necessary to heal by pain. And on this principle, if the commonwealth observe the precepts of the Christian religion, even its wars themselves will not be carried on without the benevolent design that, after the resisting nations have been conquered, provision may be more easily made for enjoying in peace the mutual bond of piety and justice. For the person from whom is taken away the freedom which he abuses in doing wrong is vanquished with benefit to himself; since nothing is more truly a misfortune than that good fortune of offenders, by which pernicious impunity is maintained, and the evil disposition, like an enemy within the man, is strengthened. But the perverse and froward hearts of men think human affairs are prosperous when men are concerned about magnificent mansions, and indifferent to the ruin of souls; when mighty theatres are built up, and the foundations of virtue are undermined; when the madness of extravagance is highly esteemed, and works of mercy are scorned; when, out of the wealth and affluence of rich men, luxurious provision is made for actors, and the poor are grudged the necessaries of life; when that God who, by the public declarations of His doctrine, protests against public vice, is blasphemed by impious communities, which demand gods of such character that even those theatrical representations which bring disgrace to both body and soul are fitly performed in honour of them. If God permit these things to prevail, He is in that permission showing more grievous displeasure: if He leave these crimes unpunished, such impunity is a more terrible judgment. When, on the other hand, He overthrows the props of vice, and reduces to poverty those lusts which were nursed by plenty, He afflicts in mercy. And in mercy, also, if such a thing were possible, even wars might be waged by the good, in order that, by bringing under the yoke the unbridled lusts of men, those vices might be abolished which ought, under a just government, to be either extirpated or suppressed.

15. For if the Christian religion condemned wars of every kind, the command given in the gospel to soldiers asking counsel as to salvation would rather be to cast away their arms, and withdraw themselves wholly from military service; whereas the word spoken to such was, “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages,”1118    Luke iii. 14.—the command to be content with their wages manifestly implying no prohibition to continue in the service. Wherefore, let those who say that the doctrine of Christ is incompatible with the State’s well-being, give us an army composed of soldiers such as the doctrine of Christ requires them to be; let them give us such subjects, such husbands and wives, such parents and children, such masters and servants, such kings, such judges—in fine, even such taxpayers and tax-gatherers, as the Christian religion has taught that men should be, and then let them dare to say that it is adverse to the State’s well-being; yea, rather, let them no longer hesitate to confess that this doctrine, if it were obeyed, would be the salvation of the commonwealth.

Chap. III.

16. But what am I to answer to the assertion made that many calamities have befallen the Roman Empire through some Christian emperors? This sweeping accusation is a calumny. For if they would more clearly quote some indisputable facts in support of it from the history of past emperors, I also could mention similar, perhaps even greater calamities in the reigns of other emperors who were not Christians; so that men may understand that these were either faults in the men, not in their religion, or were due not to the emperors themselves, but to others without whom emperors can do nothing. As to the date of the commencement of the downfall of the Roman Republic, there is ample evidence; their own literature speaks plainly as to this. Long before the name of Christ had shone abroad on the earth, this was said of Rome: “O venal city, and doomed to perish speedily, if only it could find a purchaser!”1119    Sallust, Bell. Tugurth. In his book on the Catilinarian conspiracy, which was before the coming of Christ, the same most illustrious Roman historian declares plainly the time when the army of the Roman people began to be wanton and drunken; to set a high value on statues, paintings, and embossed vases; to take these by violence both from individuals and from the State; to rob temples and pollute everything, sacred and profane. When, therefore, the avarice and grasping violence of the corrupt and abandoned manners of the time spared neither men nor those whom they esteemed as gods, the famous honour and safety of the commonwealth began to decline. What progress the worst vices made from that time forward, and with how great mischief to the interests of mankind the wickedness of the Empire went on, it would take too long to rehearse. Let them hear their own satirist speaking playfully yet truly thus:—

“Once poor, and therefore chaste, in former times

Our matrons were; no luxury found room

In low-roofed houses and bare walls of loam;

Their hands with labour burdened while ’tis light,

A frugal sleep supplied the quiet night;

While, pinched with want, their hunger held them strait,

When Hannibal was hovering at the gate;

But wanton now, and lolling at our ease,

We suffer all the inveterate ills of peace

And wasteful riot, whose destructive charms

Revenge the vanquished world of our victorious arms.

No crime, no lustful postures are unknown,

Since poverty, our guardian-god, is gone.”1120    Juvenal, vi. 277–295 (Dryden’s translation).

Why, then, do you expect me to multiply examples of the evils which were brought in by wickedness uplifted by prosperity, seeing that among themselves, those who observed events with somewhat closer attention discerned that Rome had more reason to regret the departure of its poverty than of its opulence; because in its poverty the integrity of its virtue was secured, but through its opulence, dire corruption, more terrible than any invader, had taken violent possession not of the walls of the city, but of the mind of the State?

17. Thanks be unto the Lord our God, who has sent unto us unprecedented help in resisting these evils. For whither might not men have been carried away by that flood of the appalling wickedness of the human race, whom would it have spared, and in what depths would it not have engulfed its victims, had not the cross of Christ, resting on such a solid rock of authority (so to speak), been planted too high and too strong for the flood to sweep it away? so that by laying hold of its strength we may become stedfast, and not be carried off our feet and overwhelmed in the mighty whirlpool of the evil counsels and evil impulses of this world. For when the empire was sinking in the vile abyss of utterly depraved manners, and of the effete ancient religion, it was signally important that heavenly authority should come to the rescue, persuading men to the practice of voluntary poverty, continence, benevolence, justice, and concord among themselves, as well as true piety towards God, and all the other bright and sterling virtues of life,—not only with a view to the spending of this present life in the most honourable way, nor only with a view to secure the most perfect bond of concord in the earthly commonwealth, but also in order to the obtaining of eternal salvation, and a place in the divine and celestial republic of a people which shall endure for ever—a republic to the citizenship of which faith, hope, and charity admit us; so that, while absent from it on our pilgrimage here, we may patiently tolerate, if we cannot correct, those who desire, by leaving vices unpunished, to give stability to that republic which the early Romans founded and enlarged by their virtues, when, though they had not the true piety towards the true God which could bring them, by a religion of saving power, to the commonwealth which is eternal, they did nevertheless observe a certain integrity of its own kind, which might suffice for founding, enlarging, and preserving an earthly commonwealth. For in the most opulent and illustrious Empire of Rome, God has shown how great is the influence of even civil virtues without true religion, in order that it might be understood that, when this is added to such virtues, men are made citizens of another commonwealth, of which the king is Truth, the law is Love, and the duration is Eternity.

Chap. IV.

18. Who can help feeling that there is something simply ridiculous in their attempt to compare with Christ, or rather to put in a higher place, Apollonius and Apuleius, and others who were most skilful in magical arts? Yet this is to be tolerated with less impatience, because they bring into comparison with Him these men rather than their own gods; for Apollonius was, as we must admit, a much worthier character than that author and perpetrator of innumerable gross acts of immorality whom they call Jupiter. “These legends about our gods,” they reply, “are fables.” Why, then, do they go on praising that luxurious, licentious, and manifestly profane prosperity of the Republic, which invented these infamous crimes of the gods, and not only left them to reach the ears of men as fables, but also exhibited them to the eyes of men in the theatres; in which, more numerous than their deities were the crimes which the gods themselves were well pleased to see openly perpetrated in their honour, whereas they should have punished their worshippers for even tolerating such spectacles? “But,” they reply, “those are not the gods themselves whose worship is celebrated according to the lying invention of such fables.” Who, then, are they who are propitiated by the practising in worship of such abominations? Because, forsooth, Christianity has exposed the perversity and chicanery of those devils, by whose power also magical arts deceive the minds of men, and because it has made this patent to the world, and, having brought out the distinction between the holy angels and these malignant adversaries, has warned men to be on their guard against them, showing them also how this may be done,—it is called an enemy to the Republic, as if, even though temporal prosperity could be secured by their aid, any amount of adversity would not be preferable to the prosperity obtained through such means. And yet it pleased God to prevent men from being perplexed in this matter; for in the age of the comparative darkness of the Old Testament, in which is the covering of the New Testament, He distinguished the first nation which worshiped the true God and despised false gods by such remarkable prosperity in this world, that any one may perceive from their case that prosperity is not at the disposal of devils, but only of Him whom angels serve and devils fear.

19. Apuleius (of whom I choose rather to speak, because, as our own countryman, he is better known to us Africans), though born in a place of some note,1121    Madaura. and a man of superior education and great eloquence, never succeeded, with all his magical arts, in reaching, I do not say the supreme power, but even any subordinate office as a magistrate in the Empire. Does it seem probable that he, as a philosopher, voluntarily despised these things, who, being the priest of a province, was so ambitious of greatness that he gave spectacles of gladiatorial combats, provided the dresses worn by those who fought with wild beasts in the circus, and, in order to get a statue of himself erected in the town of Coea, the birthplace of his wife, appealed to law against the opposition made by some of the citizens to the proposal, and then, to prevent this from being forgotten by posterity, published the speech delivered by him on that occasion? So far, therefore, as concerns worldly prosperity, that magician did his utmost in order to success; whence it is manifest that he failed not because he was not wishful, but because he was not able to do more. At the same time we admit that he defended himself with brilliant eloquence against some who imputed to him the crime of practising magical arts; which makes me wonder at his panegyrists, who, in affirming that by these arts he wrought some miracles, attempt to bring evidence contradicting his own defence of himself from the charge. Let them, however, examine whether, indeed, they are bringing true testimony, and he was guilty of pleading what he knew to be false. Those who pursue magical arts only with a view to worldly prosperity or from an accursed curiosity, and those also who, though innocent of such arts, nevertheless praise them with a dangerous admiration, I would exhort to give heed, if they be wise, and to observe how, without any such arts, the position of a shepherd was exchanged for the dignity of the kingly office by David, of whom Scripture has faithfully recorded both the sinful and the meritorious actions, in order that we might know both how to avoid offending God, and how, when He has been offended, His wrath may be appeased.

20. As to those miracles, however, which are performed in order to excite the wonder of men, they do greatly err who compare heathen magicians with the holy prophets, who completely eclipse them by the fame of their great miracles. How much more do they err if they compare them with Christ, of whom the prophets, so incomparably superior to magicians of every name, foretold that He would come both in the human nature, which he took in being born of the Virgin, and in the divine nature, in which He is never separated from the Father!

I see that I have written a very long letter, and yet have not said all concerning Christ which might meet the case either of those who from sluggishness of intellect are unable to comprehend divine things, or of those who, though endowed with acuteness, are kept back from discerning truth through their love of contradiction and the prepossession of their minds in favour of long-cherished error. Howbeit, take note of anything which influences them against our doctrine, and write to me again, so that, if the Lord help us, we may, by letters or by treatises, furnish an answer to all their objections. May you, by the grace and mercy of the Lord, be happy in Him, my noble and justly distinguished lord, my son dearly beloved and longed for!

EPISTOLA CXXXVIII . Augustinus ad Marcellinum, respondens epistolae 136, qua nimirum ille petierat ut satisfaceret Volusiano, et significarat quosdam reprehendere quod Deus veterem Legem abrogasset, necnon asserere doctrinam evangelicam esse perniciosam reipublicae; ac demum non deesse qui Apollonii Apuleiique magica ludibria miraculis Christi praeferrent.

Domino eximio et merito insigni, charissimo ac desiderantissimo filio MARCELLINO, AUGUSTINUS, in Domino salutem.

CAP. PRIMUM.

1. Illustri viro et eloquentissimo, nobisque dilectissimo Volusiano , non amplius quam ad illud quod inquirendum putavit, respondendum fuit: ad ea vero quae mihi pertractanda atque solvenda in epistola tua ipse misisti, sive ab illo, sive etiam ab aliis vel suggerantur vel ingerantur, ad te potius pro viribus nostris pertractata et soluta mitti debuerunt; non sic quemadmodum de his agendum est librorum negotio, sed quemadmodum potest epistolari sat esse colloquio, ut si tibi visum fuerit, qui eorum motus quotidianis disputationibus experiris, et illis legantur hae litterae. At si auriculis eorum minus pietate fidei praecultis, sermo iste non sufficit, prius inter nos quod eis putas sufficere peragatur, tum demum ad illos quod peractum fuerit perferatur. Multa enim sunt, a quibus 0526 sensus eorum si adhuc abhorret et resilit, vel uberiore vel subtiliore ratione, vel certe auctoritate cui resistere indignum putent, persuaderi aliquando forsitan possint.

2. Ergo in epistola tua posuisti, moveri quosdam, cur hic Deus, qui et veteris Testamenti Deus esse firmatur, spretis veteribus sacrificiis, delectatus sit novis. Nihil enim corrigi posse asserunt, nisi quod ante non recte factum probaretur; vel quod semel recte factum sit, nullatenus immutari debuisse. Recte enim facta dicunt mutari nisi injuste non posse. Haec verba ex litteris tuis in has meas transtuli. Quibus si respondere copiose velim, tempus me citius quam exempla defecerint, quibus rerum ipsa natura et opera humana, certa ratione, pro temporum opportunitate mutentur, nec tamen eadem ratio sit mutabilis qua ista mutantur. Unde pauca commemorem, ut ex his excitata quodammodo jam per plura similia vigil currat intentio. Nonne hiemi aestas, addito sensim calore, succedit? nonne diurnis tempora necturna vertuntur? Quoties nostrae variantur aetates! adolescentiae pueritia non reditura cedit; juventus adolescentiae non mansura succedit; finiens juventutem senectus morte finitur. Haec omnia mutantur, nec mutatur divinae providentiae ratio, qua fit ut ista mutentur. Non autem, opinor, cum agricola aestate aliud jusserit, quam jusserat hieme, ratio mutatur agriculturae. Et cum mane surgit qui nocte quiescebat, vitae consilium non mutavit. Aliud magister adolescenti quam puero solebat, imposuit. Doctrina igitur constans, mutato praecepto non mutata mutavit instructionem.

3. Nam magnus ille nostrorum temporum medicus Vindicianus, consultus a quodam, dolori ejus adhiberi jussit quod in tempore congruere videbatur; adhibitum sanitas consecuta est. Deinde post annos aliquot eadem rursus corporis causa commota , hoc idem ille putavit adhibendum; adhibitum vertit in pejus. Miratus recurrit ad medicum, indicat factum: at ille ut erat acerrimus, ita respondit, Ideo male acceptus es, quia ego non jussi; ut omnes qui audissent, parumque hominem nossent non eum arte medicinali fidere, sed nescio qua illicita potentia putarent. Unde cum esset a quibusdam postea stupentibus interrogatus, aperuit quod non intellexerant, videlicet illi aetati jam non hoc se fuisse jussurum. Tantum igitur valet ratione atque artibus non mutatis, quid secundum eas sit pro temporum varietate mutandum.

4. Non itaque verum est quod dicitur, semel recte factum, nullatenus esse mutandum. Mutata quippe temporis causa, quod recte ante factum fuerat, ita mutar vera ratio plerumque flagitat, ut cum ipsi dicant, recte non fieri si mutetur, contra veritas clamet, recte non fieri nisi mutetur; quia utrumque tunc erit rectum, si erit pro temporum varietate diversum. Quod enim 0527 in diversitate personarum uno tempore accidere potest, ut huic liceat aliquid impune facere, non liceat illi; non quod dissimilis res sit, sed quod is qui facit: ita ab una eademque persona diversis temporibus, tunc oportet aliquid fieri, tunc non oportet; non quod sui dissimilis sit qui facit, sed quando facit.

5. Haec quaestio quam late pateat, profecto videt quisquis pulchri aptique distantiam sparsam quodammodo in universitate rerum valet, neque negligit intueri. Pulchrum enim per seipsum consideratur atque laudatur, cui turpe ac deforme contrarium est. Aptum vero, cui ex adverso est ineptum, quasi religatum pendet aliunde, nec ex semetipso, sed ex eo cui connectitur, judicatur: nimirum etiam decens atque indecens, vel hoc idem est, vel perinde habetur. Age nunc, ea quae diximus, refer ad illud unde agitur. Aptum fuit primis temporibus sacrificium quod praeceperat Deus, nunc vero non ita est. Aliud enim praecepit quod huic tempori aptum esset, qui multo magis quam homo novit quid cuique tempori accommodate adhibeatur; quid quando impertiat, addat, auferat, detrahat, augeat, minuatve, immutabilis mutabilium, sicut creator, ita moderator, donec universi saeculi pulchritudo, cujus particulae sunt quae suis quibusque temporibus apta sunt, velut magnum carmen cujusdam ineffabilis modulatoris excurrat, atque inde transeant in aeternam contemplationem speciei qui Deum rite colunt, etiam cum tempus est fidei.

6. Falluntur autem qui existimant haec Deum jubere causa suae utilitatis vel voluptatis: et merito moventur cur Deus ista mutaverit, quasi delectatione mutabili aliud sibi jubens offerri illo prius tempore, aliud isto. Non autem ita est. Nihil Deus jubet quod sibi prosit, sed illi cui jubet. Ideo verus est Dominus, qui servo non indiget, et quo servus indiget. In ea quippe Scriptura quae vetus dicitur Testamentum, et eo tempore quo adhuc illa offerebantur sacrificia quae hoc tempore non offeruntur, dictum est: Dixi Domino, Deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges (Psal. XV, 2). Nec illorum ergo sacrificiorum egebat Deus, nec cujusquam eget unquam, sed rerum divinitus impartitarum, vel imbuendo virtutibus animo, vel aeternae saluti adipiscendae, quaedam signa sunt, quorum celebratione atque functione, non Deo, sed nobis utilia pietatis officia exercentur.

7. Nimis autem longum est, convenienter disputare de varietate signorum, quae cum ad res divinas pertinent, Sacramenta appellantur. Sicut autem non ideo mutabilis homo , quia mane aliud, aliud vespere; illud hoc mense, illud alio; non hoc isto anno quod illo: ita non ideo mutabilis Deus, quia universi saeculi priore volumine aliud, aliud posteriore sibi jussit offerri, quo convenienter significationes ad doctrinam religionis saluberrimam pertinentes, per mutabilia tempora sine ulla sui mutatione disponeret. Nam ut noverint, quos haec movent, jam hoc fuisse in ratione divina, nec cum ista nova constituerentur, subito priora displicuisse velut mutabili voluntate, sed hoc 0528 jam fixum et statutum fuisse in ipsa sapientia Dei, cui de majoribus etiam rerum mutationibus eadem Scriptura dicit; Mutabis ea, et mutabuntur: tu autem idem ipse es (Psal. CI, 27, 28); insinuandum est eis, mutationem istam sacramentorum Testamenti veteris et novi etiam praedictam fuisse propheticis vocibus. Ita enim videbunt, si poterunt, id quod in tempore novum est, non esse novum apud eum qui condidit tempora, et sine tempore habet omnia quae suis quibusque temporibus pro eorum varietate distribuit. Nam et in illo psalmo, unde commemoravi aliquid, quo demonstrarem non egere Deum sacrificiis nostris, cui dicitur: Dixi Domino, Deus meus es tu, quoniam bonorum meorum non eges; paulo post legitur ex persona Christi, Non congregabo conventicula eorum de sanguinibus, hoc est pecorum victimis, quibus prius congregabantur conventicula Judaeorum: et alibi dicit, Non accipiam de manu tua vitulos, neque de gregibus tuis hircos (Psal. XLIX, 9): et alius propheta, Ecce, inquit, dies venient, dicit Dominus, et confirmabo super domum Jacob testamentum novum, non sicut testamentum quod disposui patribus eorum, cum eduxi eos de terra Aegypti (Jer. XXXI, 31, 32). Et alia multa sunt de hac re testimonia, quibus hoc Deum facturum esse praedictum est, quae commemorare nunc longum est.

8. Hic jam si satis constitit, quod recte alio tempore constitutum est, idem recte alio tempore posse mutari, mutantis opere, non dispositione mutata, quam dispositionem intelligibilis ratio continet, ubi sine tempore simul sunt quae in temporibus simul fieri non possunt, quia tempora non simul currunt; quispiam fortassis exspectet causas a nobis ipsius mutationis accipere, quod ipse nosti quam prolixi sit negotii. Verumtamen breviter dici potest, quod homini acuto fortasse suffecerit, aliis sacramentis praenuntiari Christum cum venturus esset, aliis cum venisset annuntiari oportuisse; sicut modo nos idipsum loquentes, diversitas rerum compulit etiam verba mutare. Siquidem aliud est praenuntiari, aliud annuntiari; aliud cum venturus esset, aliud cum venisset.

CAPUT II.

9. Nunc deinde videamus quale sit illud quod in epistola tua sequitur. Adjecisti enim eos dicere quod Christi praedicatio atque doctrina reipublicae moribus nulla ex parte conveniat, cujus hoc constet esse praeceptum, ut nulli malum pro malo reddere debeamus (Rom. XII, 17), et percutienti aliam praebere maxillam, et pallium dare ei qui tunicam auferre perstiterit, et cum eo qui nos angariare voluerit, ire debere spatio itineris duplicato (Matth. V, 39-41). Quae omnia reipublicae moribus asseruntur esse contraria: Nam quis, inquiunt, tolli sibi ab hoste aliquid patiatur, vel Romanae provinciae depraedatoribus non mala velit belli jure reponere? Haec atque hujusmodi verba obtrectantium, sive non obtrectando, sed quaerendo talia loquentium, operosius fortasse refellerem, nisi hae disceptationes haberentur cum viris liberaliter institutis. Unde quid opus est ut diutius laboremus, ac non ipsos potius percontemur quomodo poterant gubernare atque augere rempublicam, quam ex parva et inopi magnam opulentamque 0529 fecerunt, qui accepta injuria ignoscere quam persequi malebant (Sallustius, Bell. Catil.)? quomodo Caesari administratori utique reipublicae, mores ejus extollens Cicero dicebat, quod nihil oblivisci soleret nisi injurias (Orat. pro Q. Ligario.)? Dicebat enim hoc tam magnus laudator, aut tam magnus adulator: sed si laudator, talem Caesarem noverat; si autem adulator, talem esse debere ostendebat principem civitatis, qualem illum fallaciter praedicabat. Quid est autem non reddere malum pro malo, nisi abhorrere ab ulciscendi libidine? quod est accepta injuria ignoscere malle quam persequi, et nihil nisi injurias oblivisci.

10. Haec cum in eorum leguntur auctoribus, exclamatur et plauditur; describi atque praedicari mores videntur, quibus dignum esset exsurgere civitatem quae tot gentibus imperaret, quod accepta injuria ignoscere quam persequi malebant. Cum vero legitur praecipiente auctoritate divina, non reddendum malum pro malo; cum haec tam salubris admonitio congregationibus populorum, tanquam publicis utriusque sexus atque omnium aetatum et dignitatum scholis, de superiore loco personat, accusatur religio tanquam inimica reipublicae! Quae si, ut dignum est, audiretur, longe melius Romulo, Numa, Bruto, caeterisque illis Romanae gentis praeclaris viris, constitueret, consecraret, firmaret, augeretque rempublicam. Quid enim est respublica, nisi res populi? Res ergo communis, res utique civitatis. Quid est autem civitas, nisi multitudo hominum in quoddam vinculum redacta concordiae? Apud eos enim ita legitur: Brevi multitudo dispersa atque vaga, concordia civitas facta erat. Quae porro praecepta concordiae in suis templis unquam illi legenda censuerunt? Quandoquidem miseri quaerere cogebantur, quonam modo sine offensione cujusquam eorum discordes inter se deos suos colere possent: quos si imitari discordando vellent, rupto concordiae vinculo civitas laberetur; quod postea paulatim decoloratis corruptisque moribus agi coepit per bella civilia.

11. Quanta vero praecepta concordiae non humanis disputationibus exquisita, sed divina auctoritate conscripta in Christi ecclesiis lectitentur, quis vel ab illa religione alienus, ita surdus est ut ignoret? Ad hoc enim et illa pertinent, quae malunt exagitare quam discere, alteram percutienti praebendam esse maxillam, volenti auferre tunicam dandum etiam pallium, cum angariante duplicandam viam. Hoc quippe fit ut vincatur bono malus, imo in homine malo vincatur bono malum, et homo liberetur a malo, non exteriore et alieno, sed intimo ac suo, quo gravius et perniciosius quam cujusvis hostis extrinsecus immanitate vastatur. Qui ergo vincit bono malum, patienter amittit temporalia commoda, ut doceat quam pro fide atque justitia contemnenda sint, quae ille nimis amando fit malus; ac sic injuriosus ab eo ipso cui fecit injuriam, discat qualia sint propter quae fecit injuriam, atque in concordiam, qua nihil est utilius civitati, poenitens acquiratur, victus non saevientis viribus, sed benevolentia patientis. Tunc enim recte fit, cum videtur ei 0530 profuturum esse propter quem fit, ad operandam in eo correctionem atque concordiam. Hoc certe animo faciendum est, etiamsi alius exitus consequatur, nec corrigi velit atque pacari, propter quem corrigendum atque pacandum, velut curandum et sanandum, adhibita est ista medicina.

12. Alioquin si verba attenderimus, eorumque proprietati serviendum putaverimus, non est praebenda maxilla dextera, si sinistra fuerit percussa. Quoniam, Si quis te, inquit, percusserit in maxillam dexteram, praebe illi et sinistram (Matth. V, 39): magis autem sinistra percutitur, quod ad dexteram ferientis facilior ictus est. Sed sic intelligi solet, ac si dictum esset: Si quis in te meliora fuerit persecutus, et inferiora ei praebe, ne vindictae potius quam patientiae studens contemnas aeterna pro temporalibus, cum potius temporalia pro aeternis contemnenda sint, tanquam sinistra pro dextris. Haec semper fuit sanctorum martyrum intentio: vindicta enim ultima juste poscitur, quando nullus jam restat correctionis locus, extremo scilicet summoque judicio. Nunc vero cavendum est, ne vindicandi cupiditate amittatur, ut nihil aliud dicam, ipsa patientia, quae pluris est habenda quam omne quod potest etiam invito inimicus auferre. Namque alius evangelista in eadem sententia nullam fecit dexterae mentionem, sed tantum maxillam et alteram nominavit (Luc. VI, 29), ut aliquanto distinctius intelligeretur in alio, ipse autem simpliciter eamdem patientiam commendaret . Paratus itaque debet esse homo justus et pius, patienter eorum malitiam sustinere, quos fieri bonos quaerit, ut numerus potius crescat bonorum, non ut pari malitia se quoque numero addat malorum.

13. Denique ista praecepta magis ad praeparationem cordis quae intus est, pertinere, quam ad opus quod in aperto fit; ut teneatur in secreto animi patientia cum benevolentia, in manifesto autem id fiat quod eis videtur prodesse posse, quibus bene velle debemus, hinc liquido ostenditur, quod ipse Dominus Jesus exemplum singulare patientiae, cum percuteretur in faciem respondit: Si male dixi, exprobra de malo; si autem bene, quid me caedis (Joan. XVIII, 23)? Nequaquam igitur praeceptum suum, si verba intueamur, implevit. Neque enim praebuit percutienti alteram partem, sed potius prohibuit, ne qui fecerat injuriam, augeret; et tamen paratus venerat non solum in faciem percuti, verum etiam pro his quoque a quibus haec patiebatur crucifixus occidi, pro quibus ait in cruce pendens: Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt (Luc. XXIII, 34). Nec Paulus apostolus praeceptum Domini et magistri sui videtur implesse, ubi etiam ipse percussus in faciem, dixit principi sacerdotum: Percutiet te Deus, paries dealbate. Sedes judicans me secundum Legem, et contra Legem jubes me percuti! Et cum a circumstantibus diceretur, Injuriam facis principi 0531 sacerdotum, irridenter eos admonere voluit quid dixerit, ut qui saperent, intelligerent jam destruendum esse adventu Christi parietem dealbatum, hoc est, hypocrisim sacerdotii Judaeorum: ait quippe, Nescivi, fratres, quia princeps est; scriptum est enim, Principi populi tui non maledices (Act. XXIII, 3-5); cum procul dubio, qui in eodem populo creverat, atque ibi Lege fuerat eruditus, illum principem sacerdotum nescire non posset, nec eos quibus ita notus erat, ullo modo falleret quod nesciret.

14. Sunt ergo ista praecepta patientiae semper in cordis praeparatione retinenda, ipsaque benevolentia, ne reddatur malum pro malo, semper in voluntate complenda est. Agenda sunt autem multa, etiam cum invitis benigna quadam asperitate plectendis, quorum potius utilitati consulendum est quam voluntati; quod in principe civitatis luculentissime illorum litterae laudaverunt. Nam in corripiendo filio quamlibet aspere, nunquam profecto amor paternus amittitur. Fit tamen quod nolit et doleat, qui etiam invitus videtur dolore sanandus. Ac per hoc si terrena ista respublica praecepta christiana custodiat, et ipsa bella sine benevolentia non gerentur, ut ad pietatis justitiaeque pacatam societatem victis facilius consulatur. Nam cui licentia iniquitatis cripitur, utiliter vincitur; quoniam nihil est infelicius felicitate peccantium, qua poenalis nutritur impunitas, et mala voluntas velut hostis interior roboratur. Sed perversa et aversa corda mortalium, felices res humanas putant, cum tectorum splendor attenditur, et labes non attenditur animorum; cum theatrorum moles exstruuntur, et effodiuntur fundamenta virtutum; cum gloriosa est effusionis insania, et opera misericordiae deridentur; cum ex his quae divitibus abundant, luxuriantur histriones, et necessaria vix habent pauperes; cum Deus, qui doctrinae suae publicis vocibus contra hoc malum publicum clamat, ab impiis populis blasphematur, et dii tales requiruntur, in quorum honorem ea ipsa theatrica, corporum et animorum dedecora celebrentur. Haec si Deus pollere permittat, tunc indignatur gravius; haec si impunita dimittat, tunc punit infestius. Cum vero evertit subsidium vitiorum, et copiosas libidines inopes reddit, misericorditer adversatur. Misericorditer enim, si fieri posset, etiam bella gererentur a bonis, ut licentiosis cupiditatibus domitis haec vitia perderentur, quae justo imperio vel exstirpari vel premi debuerunt.

15. Nam si christiana disciplina omnia bella culparet, hoc potius militibus consilium salutis petentibus in Evangelio diceretur, ut abjicerent arma, seque omnino militiae subtraherent. Dictum est autem eis: Neminem concusseritis, nulli calumniam feceritis; sufficiat vobis stipendium vestrum (Luc. III, 14). Quibus proprium stipendium sufficere debere praecepit, militare 0532 utique non prohibuit. Proinde qui doctrinam Christi adversam dicunt esse reipublicae, dent exercitum talem quales doctrina Christi esse milites jussit; dent tales provinciales, tales maritos, tales conjuges, tales parentes, tales filios, tales dominos, tales servos, tales reges, tales judices, tales denique debitorum ipsius fisci redditores et exactores, quales esse praecepit doctrina christiana, et audeant eam dicere adversam esse reipublicae; imo vero non dubitent eam confiteri magnam, si obtemperetur, salutem esse reipublicae.

CAPUT III.

16. Utquid autem ad illud respondeam quod dicunt, per quosdam imperatores christianos multa mala imperio accidisse Romano? Haec generalis conquestio calumniosa est . Nam si apertius certe de praeteritis imperatoribus aliqua commemorarent, possem similia vel fortasse etiam graviora de imperatoribus non christianis et ego commemorare, ut intelligerent, vel hominum haec esse vitia, non doctrinae; vel non imperatorum, sed aliorum sine quibus imperatores agere nihil possunt. Ex quo enim tempore pessum ire coeperit Romana respublica, satis liquet; litterae loquuntur ipsorum : longe antequam Christi nomen eluxisset in terris, dictum est: O urbem venalem, et mature perituram, si emptorem invenerit! (Sallustius, Bell. Jugurth.) In libro etiam belli Catilinae, ante adventum utique Christi, idem nobilissimus historicus eorum non tacet quando primum insueverit exercitus populi Romani amare, potare, signa, tabulas pictas, vasa caelata mirari, ea privatim et publice rapere, delubra spoliare, sacra profanaque omnia polluere. Quando ergo nec hominibus, nec ipsis etiam quos Deos putabant, morum corruptorum et perditorum avaritia rapacitasque parcebat, tunc coepit perire laudabile illud decus salusque reipublicae. Quos deinde vitia pessima successus habuerint, et quanto humanarum rerum malo illa iniquitas prosperata sit, nunc longum est dicere. Audiant Satyricum suum, garriendo vera dicentem: Servabat castas humilis fortuna Latinas Quondam, nec vitiis contingi parva sinebat Tecta labor, somnique breves, et vellere Thusco Vexatae duraeque manus, ac proximus Urbi Annibal, et stantes Collina in turre mariti. Nunc patimur longae pacis mala; saevior armis Luxuria incubuit, victumque ulciscitur orbem. Nullum crimen abest, facinusque libidinis, ex quo Paupertas Romana perit. (Juvenalis, Sat. 6.)Quid ergo exspectas ut ego exaggerem, quanta mala importaverit successu prospero iniquitas sublevata; quandoquidem et ipsi, qui aliquanto prudentius attenderunt, plus dolendum viderunt paupertatem, quam opulentiam periisse Romanam? In illa enim morum integritas servabatur; per hanc autem non muros urbis, sed mentes ipsius civitatis dira nequitia omni hoste pejor irrupit.

17. Gratias Domino Deo nostro, qui contra ista mala misit nobis adjutorium singulare. Quo enim non tolleret, quem non involveret, in quod profundum 0533 non demergeret fluvius iste horrendae nequitiae generis humani, nisi crux Christi in tanta velut mole auctoritatis eminentius firmiusque figeretur; cujus apprehenso robore, stabiles essemus, ne male suadentium, vel in mala impellentium, tam vasto mundi hujus gurgite abrepti sorberemur? In ista enim colluvie morum pessimorum et veteris perditae disciplinae, maxime venire ac subvenire debuit coelestis auctoritas, quae voluntariam paupertatem, quae continentiam, benevolentiam, justitiam, atque concordiam, veramque pietatem persuaderet, caeterasque vitae luminosas validasque virtutes; non tantum propter istam vitam honestissime gerendam, nec tantum propter civitatis terrenae concordissimam societatem; verum etiam propter adipiscendam sempiternam salutem, et sempiterni cujusdam populi coelestem divinamque rempublicam, cui nos cives adsciscit fides, spes, charitas: ut quamdiu inde peregrinamur, feramus eos si corrigere non valemus, qui vitiis impunitis volunt stare rempublicam, quam primi Romani constituerunt auxeruntque virtutibus, etsi non habentes veram pietatem erga Deum verum, quae illos etiam in aeternam civitatem posset salubri religione perducere; custodientes tamen quamdam sui generis probitatem, quae posset terrenae civitati constituendae, augendae, conservandaeque sufficere. Deus enim sic ostendit in opulentissimo et praeclaro imperio Romanorum, quantum valerent civiles etiam sine vera religione virtutes, ut intelligeretur hac addita fieri homines cives alterius civitatis, cujus rex veritas, cujus lex charitas, cujus modus aeternitas.

CAPUT IV.

18. Quis autem vel risu dignum non putet, quod Apollonium et Apuleium, caeterosque magicarum artium peritissimos conferre Christo, vel etiam praeferre conantur? Quanquam tolerabilius ferendum sit, quando istos ei potius comparant quam deos suos: multo enim melior, quod fatendum est, Apollonius fuit, quam tot stuprorum auctor et perpetrator, quem Jovem nominant. Ista, inquiunt, fabulosa sunt. Adhuc ergo laudent reipublicae luxuriosam, licentiosam, planeque sacrilegam felicitatem, quae ista deorum probra confinxit, quae non solum in fabulis audienda posuit, verum etiam in theatris spectanda proposuit; ubi crimina plura essent quam numina, quae ipsi dii sibi exhiberi habebant libenter, qui in suos cultores vindicare debuerunt, quod ea saltem viderent patienter. Sed non ipsi, inquiunt, sunt, qui talium fabularum mendacio celebrantur. Qui ergo sunt isti, qui talium turpitudinum celebratione placantur? Horum daemonum perversitatem atque fallaciam, per quos et magicae artes humanas mentes decipiunt, quia prodidit christiana doctrina, quia mundo universo patefecit, quia Angelos sanctos ab eorum malignitate distinxit, quia cavendos potius, et quemadmodum caverentur admonuit, reipublicae dicitur inimica! quasi non si omnino per istos esset temporalis obtinenda felicitas, quaelibet potius fuerat infelicitas eligenda. Sed neque hinc Deus voluit dubitari, qui primum populum unum verum Deum colentem, 0534 deos autem falsissimos contemnentem, quamdiu oportuit Vetus Testamentum, ubi velamentum Testamenti Novi est, obumbrari, tanta rerum terrenarum felicitate honestavit, ut quivis intelligat nec ipsam esse in daemonum potestate, sed in illius unius, cui Angeli serviunt, quem daemones contremiscunt.

19. Apuleius enim, ut de illo potissimum loquamur, qui nobis Afris Afer est notior, non dico ad regnum, sed ne ad aliquam quidem judiciariam reipublicae potestatem cum omnibus suis magicis artibus potuit pervenire, honesto patriae suae loco natus, et liberaliter educatus, magnaque praeditus eloquentia. An forte ista, ut philosophus, voluntate contempsit, qui sacerdos provinciae, pro magno fuit ut munera ederet, venatoresque vestiret, et pro statua sibi apud Coenses locanda, ex qua civitate habebat uxorem, adversus contradictionem quorumdam civium litigaret? quod posteros ne lateret, ejusdem litis orationem scriptam memoriae commendavit. Quod ergo ad istam terrenam pertinet felicitatem, fuit magus ille quod potuit . Unde apparet eum nihil amplius fuisse, non quia noluit, sed quia non potuit. Quanquam et adversus quosdam, qui ei magicarum artium crimen intenderant, eloquentissime se defendit. Unde miror laudatores ejus, qui eum nescio quae fecisse miracula illis artibus praedicant, contra ejus defensionem testes esse conari. Sed viderint utrum verum ipsi perhibeant testimonium, et ille falsam defensionem. Illud si sapiunt, attendant, qui magicas artes non utique nisi pro felicitate terrena vel damnabili curiositate conquirunt, vel ab eis innocentes, periculosa tamen eas admiratione collaudant, et videant David nostrum sine ullis talibus artibus, ex pastore ovium pervenisse ad regiam dignitatem; cujus et peccata et merita fidelis Scriptura non tacuit, ut sciremus et quibus modis non offenderetur Deus, et quibus modis placaretur offensus.

20. Quantum autem attinet ad miracula, quae humanis sensibus stupenda monstrantur, multum errant qui Prophetis sanctis, miraculorum magnorum nobilitate praestantibus, magos comparant; quanto magis si eos comparent Christo, quem Prophetae illi, quibus magi quilibet nullo modo sunt comparandi, praenuntiaverunt esse venturum, et secundum carnem, quam sumpsit ex Virgine, et secundum divinitatem, qua nunquam separatur a Patre! Video me fecisse prolixissimam epistolam, nec tamen de Christo dixisse omnia quae vel eis qui tardiore ingenio divina non valent assequi, vel eis quos , licet acute moveantur, contentiosum tamen studium et praeoccupatio diuturni erroris ab intelligendo impedit, sufficere utcumque 0535 possint. Verumtamen cognosce quid eos contra moveat, atque rescribe, ut vel epistolis vel libris, si adjuverit Deus, ad omnia respondere curemus. Sis in Domino felix, gratia et misericordia ejus, domine eximie et merito insignis, charissime ac desiderantissime fili.