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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

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Faustus dixit: _Deus finem habet aut infinitus est?_Si oratio vestra non fallit, quae dicit: Deus Abraham et deus Isaac et deus Iacob, habet finem deus, nisi forte alter est hic, de quo perrogas, et alter, quem oratis; alioquin circumcisionis terminus, qui Abraham et Isaac et Iacob a gentium ceterarum societate dissignat, etiam dei ipsius circa eos terminat potestatem; cuius autem finita potestas est, et ipse non caret fine. p. 725,9 Denique ne antiquorum quidem hac oratione mentionem facitis, qui ante Abraham fuerunt, Enoch dico et Noe et Sem ac reliquos eorum similes, quos fuisse quidem iustos in praeputio non negatis, sed quia idem circumcisionis insigni carebant, ne ipsorum quidem vultis esse deum, sed solius Abrahae et seminis eius. Igitur si est unus et infinitus deus, quid sibi vult haec invocationis vestrae tam diligens et sollicita cautio, ut non contenti nominasse deum adiciatis et cuius, Abraham scilicet et Isaac et Iacob, p. 725,17 tamquam in turba aliqua deorum erratura aut naufragium passura vestra oratione, nisi ad signum naviget Abrahae? Et haec quidem certa de causa Iudaeos orare haud absurdum est utpote circumcisos; sic enim circumcisionis se invocare designant deum propter deos praeputii. Vos vero cur hoc ipsum faciatis, parum intellego, cum minime geratis signum, quod habuerit Abraham, cuius vos vocatis deum. Vere enim, quod intellegi datur, cognitionis mutuae causa, ne a se scilicet invicem aberrarent, notas sibimet huiusmodi alternis imposuisse videntur Iudaei ac Iudaeorum deus. p. 726,3 Atque ipse quidem eos circumcisionis obscaeno charactere signavit, quo, ubicumque terrarum fuerint, ubicumque gentium, per circumcisionem tamen ipsius esse noscantur; idem vero suum vicissim deum parentum suorum cognomine signaverunt, quo, ubicumque et ipse fuerit, in magna quamvis deorum frequentia, cum deus Abraham audierit et deus Isaac et deus Iacob, protinus se invocari cognoscat. Quod fere in multis fieri solet unum habentibus nomen, ut eorum nemo appellatus respondeat nisi audito cognomine. Sic namque et pastor atque armentarius pecoribus notas inurunt, ne eorum quisque pro suo usurpet alienum. Quibus quia et vos similiter facitis deum Abraham dicentes et deum Isaac et deum Iacob*, non solum finem ostenditis habere deum, sed quod sitis etiam vos ab eodem alieni signi eius sacramenti expertes, quod est virilium mutilatio, per quam idem suos agnoscit. p. 726,17 Quapropter hic si est deus, quem colitis, liquet ex hoc admodum, quod habeat finem. Si vero infinitum deum esse vultis, huic vos ante renuntiare necesse est et oratione mutata erroris praeteriti vestri paenitudinem gerere. Et hoc quidem dictum ita est, ut de vestro vos vicisse videamur; alioquin summum et verum deum utrum sit idem infinitus necne, si quaeritur, de hoc vero nos boni et mali contrarietas breviter poterit edocere. Quoniam quidem si non est malum, profecto infinitus est deus; habet autem finem, si malum est; constat autem esse malum. Non igitur infinitus est deus; illinc enim esse mala accipiunt, ubi bonorum est finis.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

1.

Faustus said: Is God finite or infinite? He must be finite unless you are mistaken in addressing Him as the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; unless, indeed, the being thus addressed is different from the God you call infinite. In the case of the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the mark of circumcision, which separated these men from fellowship with other people, marked also the limit of God's power as extending only to them. And a being whose power is finite cannot himself be infinite. Moreover, in this address, you do not mention even the ancients before Abraham, such as Enoch, Noah, and Shem, and others like them, whom you allow to have been righteous though in uncircumcision; but because they lacked this distinguishing mark, you will not call God their God, but only of Abraham and his seed. Now, if God is one and infinite, what need of such careful particularity in addressing Him, as if it was not enough to name God, without adding whose God He is--Abraham's, namely, and Isaac's and Jacob's; as if Abraham were a landmark to steer by in your invocation, to escape shipwreck among a shoal of deities? The Jews, who are circumcised, may very properly address this deity, as having a reason for it, because they call God the God of circumcision, in contrast to the gods of uncircumcision. But why you should do the same, it is difficult to understand; for you do not pretend to have Abraham's sign, though you invoke his God. If we understand the matter rightly, the Jews and their God seem to have set marks upon one another for the purpose of recognition, that they might not lose each other. So God gave them the disgusting mark of circumcision, that, in whatever land or among whatever people they might be, they might by being circumcised be known to be His. They again marked God by calling Him the God of their fathers, that, wherever He might be, though among a crowd of gods, He might, on hearing the name God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, know at once that He was addressed. So we often see, in a number of people of the same name, that no one answers till called by his surname. In the same way the shepherd or herdsman makes use of a brand to prevent his property being taken by others. In thus marking God by calling Him the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, you show not only that He is finite, but also that you have no connection with Him, because you have not the mark of circumcision by which He recognizes His own. Therefore, if this is the God you worship, there can be no doubt of His being finite. But if you say that God is infinite, you must first of all give up this finite deity, and by altering your invocation, show your penitence for your past errors. We have thus proved God to be finite, taking you on your own ground. But to determine whether the supreme and true God is infinite or not, we need only refer to the opposition between good and evil. If evil does not exist, then certainly God is infinite; otherwise He must be finite. Evil, however, undoubtedly exists; therefore God is not infinite. It is where good stops that evil begins.