Edition Masquer
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

13.

Et tamquam ille, quem catechizamus, quaereret et diceret: Quo ergo signo manifesto adhuc parvulus et nondum valens liquidam discernere a tot erroribus veritatem, quo manifesto indicio tenebo ecclesiam Christi, in quem iam credere tanta rerum antea praedictarum manifestatione compellor, sequitur idem propheta et tamquam motus animi eius ordinatissime excipiens docet eum ecclesiam Christi ipsam esse praedictam, quae omnibus eminet et apparet. Ipsa enim est sedes gloriae, de qua dicit apostolus: Templum dei sanctum est, quod estis vos. p. 393,5 Unde iste dicit: Sedes autem gloriae exaltata est sanctificatio nostra. Propter hos enim motus parvulorum, qui possunt seduci ab hominibus, manifestationem claritatis ecclesiae dominus quoque providens ait: Non potest civitas abscondi supra montem constituta, quia utique sedes gloriae exaltata est sanctificatio nostra, ut non audiantur illi, qui ad religionum scissuras traducunt dicentes: Ecce hic est Christus, ecce illic. Partes enim ostendunt dicentes: Ecce hic, ecce illic. Cum illa civitas super montem sit, quem montem, nisi eum, qui secundum prophetiam Danihelis ex parvulo lapide crevit et factus est mons magnus, ita ut impleret universam terram? Nec illi audiantur, qui nomine quasi secretae et apocryphae veritatis et hominum paucitatis dicunt: Ecce in cubiculis, ecce in deserto! quia non potest abscondi civitas super montem constituta, quia sedes gloriae exaltata est sanctificatio nostra. p. 393,21

Traduction Masquer
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

13.

As if anticipating that the inquirer would ask next by what plain mark a young disciple, not yet able to distinguish the truth among so many errors, might find the true Church of Christ, since the clear fulfillment of so many predictions compelled him to believe in Christ, the prophet answers this question in what follows, and teaches that the Church of Christ, which he describes prophetically, is conspicuously visible. His words are: "A glorious high throne is our sanctuary." ¹ This glorious throne is the Church of which the apostle says: "The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." ² The Lord also, foreseeing the conspicuousness of the Church as a help to young disciples who might be misled, says, "A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." ³ Since, then, a glorious high throne is our sanctuary, no attention is to be paid to those who would lead us into sectarianism, saying, "Lo, here is Christ," or "Lo there." Lo here, lo there, speaks of division; but the true city is on a mountain, and the mountain is that which, as we read in the prophet Daniel, grew from a little stone till it filled the whole earth. ⁴ And no attention should be paid to those who, professing some hidden mystery confined to a small number, say, Behold, He is in the chamber; behold, in the desert: for a city set on an hill cannot be hid, and a glorious high throne is our sanctuary.