Edition Masquer
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

1.

Faustus dixit: _Iesus si natus non est, quomodo mortuus est?_Hoc iam sane coniectura est; coniecturis autem nemo, nisi quem probationes defecerint, utitur. Respondebimus tamen etiam ad hoc nec aliunde quam de his, quae credere soletis, afferentes exempla; quae si vera sunt, confirmabunt et nos; si falsa, destruent et vos. p. 728,18 Dicis ergo : Quomodo mortuus est Iesus, si homo non fuit? Et ego abs te requiro: Helias quomodo mortuus non est, cum fuerit homo? An huic mortali praeter condicionem suam licuit ius immortalitatis invadere, Christo non licuit immortali de morte, si necesse fuit, aliquid usurpare? Et si Helias in aeternum vivit contra naturam, Iesum ad triduum tantum cur non magis contra naturam mori potuisse concedas, praesertim cum etiam hoc non solum de Helia credatis, sed et de Moyse atque Enoch, quod sint immortales et ipsi rapti cum corporibus suis in caelum? p. 728,27 Quapropter si hoc argumento recte colligitur Iesum fuisse hominem, quia mortuus est, poterit eodem nihilominus argumento colligi et Heliam non fuisse hominem, quia mortuus non est. Falsum est autem non fuisse Heliam hominem, quamvis immortalis credatur; falsum aeque erit Iesum fuisse hominem, quamvis aestimetur mortuus. Et si mihi vera dicenti vis credere, uterque eorum apud Hebraeos falsam traxit opinionem, Iesus de morte et de immortalitate Helias; nam nec hic mortuus est nec ille non mortuus. Sed vos, quod vultis, creditis; quod non, redigitis ad naturam. Quapropter si, quid naturae proprium sit, quaeritur, illa quidem nec immortalem mori vult nec non mori mortalem. Si vero potestatem in deo atque homine ad efficienda quae velint quaerimus, magis puto Iesum mori potuisse quam non mori Heliam; maior enim potestas in Iesu quam in Helia. p. 729,15 Et si tu impotentiorem contra naturae licentiam levas in caelum consecrasque perpetuitati naturae et condicionis eius oblitus, ego Iesum potuisse mori, si voluit, cur non concedam, etiamsi vere mortem illam fuisse et non mortis figuram consentiam? Ut enim ab initio sumpta hominis similitudine omnes humanae condicionis simulavit affectus, sic ab re non erat, si in fine quoque consignandae oeconomiae gratia fuisset visus et mori.

Traduction Masquer
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

1.

Faustus said: You ask, If Jesus was not born, how did He die? Well this is a probability, such as one makes use of in want of proofs. We will, however, answer the question by examples taken from what you generally believe. If they are true, they will prove our case; if they are false, they will help you no more than they will us. You say then, How could Jesus die, if He were not man? In return, I ask you, How did Elias not die, though he was a man? Could a mortal encroach upon the limits of immortality, and could not Christ add to His immortality whatever experience of death was required? If Elias, contrary to nature, lives for ever, why not allow that Jesus, with no greater contrariety to nature, could remain in death for three days? Besides that, it is not only Elias, but Moses and Enoch you believe to be immortal, and to have been taken up with their bodies to heaven. Accordingly, if it is a good argument that Jesus was a man because He died, it is an equally good argument that Elias was not a man because he did not die. But as it is false that Elias was not a man, notwithstanding his supposed immortality, so it is false that Jesus was a man, though He is considered to have died. The truth is, if you will believe it, that the Hebrews were in a mistake regarding both the death of Jesus and the immortality of Elias. For it is equally untrue that Jesus died and that Elias did not die. But you believe whatever you please; and for the rest, you appeal to nature. And, allowing this appeal, nature is against both the death of the immortal and the immortality of the mortal. And if we refer to the power of effecting their purpose as possessed by God and by man, it seems more possible for Jesus to die than for Elias not to die; for the power of Jesus is greater than that of Elias. But if you exalt the weaker to heaven, though nature is against it, and, forgetting his condition as a mortal, endow him with eternal felicity, why should I not admit that Jesus could die if He pleased, even though I were to grant His death to have been real, and not a mere semblance? For, as from the outset of His taking the likeness of man He underwent in appearance all the experiences of humanity, it was quite consistent that He should complete the system by appearing to die.