Übersetzung ausblenden
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

2.

Augustin replied: You say that the apostle, in leaving Judaism, passed from the bitter to the sweet. But the apostle himself says that the Jews, who would not believe in Christ, were branches broken off, and that the Gentiles, a wild olive tree, were grafted into the good olive, that is, the holy stock of the Hebrews, that they might partake of the fatness of the olive. For, in warning the Gentiles not to be proud on account of the fall of the Jews, he says: "For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles. I magnify my office; if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches are broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; boast not against the branches: but if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery (lest ye should be wise in your own conceits), that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved." ¹ It appears from this, that you, who do not wish to be graffed into this root, though you are not broken off, like the carnal unbelieving Jews, remain still in the bitterness of the wild olive. Your worship of the sun and moon has the true Gentile flavor. You are none the less in the wild olive of the Gentiles, because you have added thorns of a new kind, and worship along with the sun and moon a false Christ, the fabrication not of your hands, but of your perverse heart. Come, then, and be grafted into the root of the olive tree, in his return to which the apostle rejoices, after by unbelief he had been among the broken branches. He speaks of himself as set free, when he made the happy transition from Judaism to Christianity. For Christ was always preached in the olive tree, and those who did not believe on Him when He came were broken off, while those who believed were grafted in. These are thus warned against pride: "Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will He spare thee." And to prevent despair of those broken off, he adds: "And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree, which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree." The apostle rejoices in being delivered from the condition of a broken branch, and in being restored to the fatness of the olive tree. So you who have been broken off by error should return and be grafted in again. Those who are still in the wild olive should separate themselves from its barrenness, and become partakers of fertility.

Edition ausblenden
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

2.

Augustinus respondit: Cur ergo apostolus, quem dicis relicto iudaismo ex amaritudine transisse in dulcedinem, magis inde fractos ramos dicit, qui ex ipso populo in Christo credere noluerunt, et in ipsa oleae radice, id est origine sanctorum Hebraeorum, tamquam oleastrum gentes insertas ut fierent participes pinguedinis oleae? Nam cum de Iudaeorum lapsu admoneret gentes, ne superbirent, ita locutus est: p. 308,7 Vobis enim inquit dico, gentes, quamdiu quidem ego sum gentium apostolus, ministerium meum glorificabo, si quo modo ad aemulationem provocare potero carnem meam, ut salvos faciam aliquos ex illis. Si reiectio illorum reconciliatio est mundi, quae erit assumptio nisi vita ex mortuis? Si autem delibatio sancta est, et consparsio; et si radix sancta est, et rami. Quodsi aliqui ex ramis fracti sunt, tu autem cum esses oleaster, insertus es in illis et socius radicis factus es et pinguedinis oleae, noli gloriari adversus ramos. Quodsi gloriaris, non tu radicem portas, sed radix te. Dicis ergo: ‛Fracti sunt rami, ut ego inserar’. Bene. Incredulitate fracti sunt. p. 308,20 Tu autem fide stas; noli altum sapere, sed time! Nam si deus naturalibus ramis non pepercit, neque tibi parcet. Vides ergo bonitatem et severitatem dei: In eos quidem, qui ceciderunt, severitatem, in te autem bonitatem, si permanseris in bonitate; alioquin et tu excideris. Et illi si non permanserint in incredulitate, inserentur; potens est enim deus iterum inserere illos. Nam si tu ex naturali excisus oleastro et contra naturam insertus es in bonam olivam, quanto magis illi, qui secundum naturam sunt, inserentur suae olivae! Nolo enim vos ignorare, fratres, sacramentum hoc, ut non sitis vobis sapientes, quia caecitas ex parte Israhel facta est, donec plenitudo gentium intraret, et sic omnis Israhel salvus fieret. p. 309,9 Videtis ergo vos, qui in ista inseri radice non vultis, non quidem fractis ramis esse similes, sicut est carnalis et impius populus Iudaeorum, sed in oleastri amaritudine remansisse. Nam quid nisi oleastrum gentium sapit adorare solem et lunam? Nisi forte propterea vos iam non putatis esse in oleastro gentium, quia spinas novi generis addidistis et falsum Christum, quem cum sole et luna coleretis, non manu fabrili, sed perverso corde finxistis? Inserimini ergo in radicem oleae, quo se redditum gaudet apostolus, qui inter fractos ramos per incredulitatem fuit! Inde se quippe liberatum dicit, cum se a iudaismo ad Christum transisse laetatur, quia Christus semper in illa radice atque in illa arbore praedicatus est, in quem venientem qui non crediderunt, fracti sunt inde, et qui crediderunt, inserti sunt ibi. p. 309,22 Quibus ne superbiant, dicitur: Noli altum sapere, sed time; nam si deus naturalibus ramis non pepercit, neque tibi parcet. Sed ne de ipsis fractis desperetur, paulo post dicit: Et ipsi si non permanserint in infidelitate, inserentur; potens est enim deus iterum inserere illos. Nam si tu ex naturali excisus oleastro et contra naturam insertus es in bonam olivam, quanto magis illi, qui secundum naturam sunt, inserentur suae olivae? Ecce unde etiam ipse gloriatur a fractura liberatus et radicis pinguedini redditus. Qui ergo in vobis sunt, quos inde fregit impietas, redeant et rursus inserantur; qui autem numquam ibi fuerunt, veniant a naturali sterilitate praecisi participes fecunditatis futuri.