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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

7.

Hence, as you receive nothing in the Old Testament except the prophecies and the common precepts of practical morality, which we quoted above, while you set aside circumcision, and sacrifices, and the Sabbath and its observance, and the feast of unleavened bread, why should not we receive nothing in the New Testament but what we find said in honor and praise of the majesty of the Son, either by Himself or by His apostles, with the proviso, in the case of the apostles, that it was said by them after reaching perfection, and when no longer in unbelief; while we take no notice of the rest, which, if said at the time, was the utterance of ignorance or inexperience, or, if not, was added by crafty opponents with a malicious intention, or was stated by the writers without due consideration, and so handed down as authentic? Take as examples, the shameful birth of Jesus from a woman, His being circumcised like the Jews, His offering sacrifice like the Gentiles, His being baptized in a humiliating manner, His being led about by the devil in the wilderness, and His being tempted by him in the most distressing way. With these exceptions, besides whatever has been inserted under the pretence of being a quotation from the Old Testament, we believe the whole, especially the mystic nailing to the cross, emblematic of the wounds of the soul in its passion; as also the sound moral precepts of Jesus, and His parables, and the whole of His immortal discourse, which sets forth especially the distinction of the two natures, and therefore must undoubtedly be His. There is, then, no reason for your thinking it obligatory in me to believe all the contents of the Gospels; for you, as has been proved, take so dainty a sip from the Old Testament, that you hardly, so to speak, wet your lips with it.

Edition Hide
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

7.

Quapropter, ut vos ex vetere testamento solas admittitis prophetias et illa, quae superius diximus, civilia atque ad disciplinam vitae communis pertinentia praecepta, supersedistis vero peritomen et sacrificia et sabbatum et observationem eius et azyma, quid ab re est, si et nos de testamento novo sola accipientes ea, quae in honorem et laudem filii maiestatis vel ab ipso dicta comperimus vel ab eius apostolis, sed iam perfectis ac fidelibus, dissimulavimus cetera, quae aut simpliciter tunc et ignoranter a rudibus dicta aut oblique et maligne ab inimicis obiecta aut imprudenter ab scriptoribus affirmata sunt et posteris tradita ? p. 766,14 Dico autem hoc ipsum natum ex femina turpiter, circumcisum Iudaice, sacrificasse gentiliter, baptizatum humiliter, circumductum a diabolo per deserta et ab eo temptatum quam miserrime. p. 766,18 His igitur exceptis et si quid ei ab scriptoribus ex testamento vetere falsa sub testificatione iniectum est, credimus cetera, praeterea crucis eius mysticam fixionem, qua nostrae animae passionis monstrantur vulnera, tum praecepta salutaria eius, tum parabolas cunctumque sermonem deificum, qui maxime duarum praeferens naturarum discretionem ipsius esse non venit in dubium. Nihil ergo est iam, cur me omnia credere existimes debere, quae continent evangelia, cum tu, ut supra ostensum est, testamenti veteris supremum liquorem vix summis, ut aiunt, labris attingas.