Edition Masquer
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

4.

Augustinus respondit: Cum ait apostolus: Omnia munda mundis, naturas ipsas intellegi voluit, quas deus creavit, secundum illud, quod Moyses in genesi scripsit: Et fecit deus omnia, et ecce bona valde, non significationes, secundum quas deus per eundem Moysen ab immundis munda discrevit : unde quia multa et multis locis iam diximus, nunc breviter admonuisse suffecerit. p. 759,14 Proinde illos, qui iam tempore revelationis novi testamenti adhuc illas umbras futurorum ita custodiendas putarent, ut sine his gentes salutem, quae in Christo est, percipere non posse contenderent, immundos dicit apostolus, quod carnaliter saperent, et infideles, quod tempus gratiae a legis tempore non discernerent. Quibus ideo dicit nihil esse mundum, quia et his, quae respuebant, et his, quae sumebant, non sancte nec iuste utebantur, sicut omnes quidem infideles, sed vos praecipue, Manichaei, quibus omnino nihil est mundum. p. 759,23 Neque enim cibus ipse, quem sumitis, quamvis eum magna diligentia quasi a carnis contagione separetis, mundus est vobis, quem creatum nisi a diabolo non dicitis. In illo etiam deum vestrum ligatum atque pollutum vos edendo purgare perhibetis. Vos saltem vobis mundi videremini, quorum ventribus meretur ille purgari, sed et vestra corpora naturam et opificium gentis tenebrarum esse contenditis, animas autem vestras ipsis adhuc corporibus inquinatas. Quid ergo vobis est mundum? Non quae sumitis, non quo mittitis ea, quae sumitis, non vos ipsi, qui sumpta purgatis. Videtis ergo, propter quos tunc istam sententiam dixit apostolus; talem tamen dixit, quae omnes infideles et immundos teneret, sed vos praecipue maximeque convinceret. Omnia ergo munda mundis secundum naturam, in qua creata sunt, non tamen omnia secundum significationem munda primo populo Iudaeorum, nec nobis omnia vel propter salutem corporis vel propter consuetudinem humanae societatis apta sunt. p. 760,13 Sed cum sua cuique redduntur et naturalem ordinem servant, omnia munda sunt mundis; immundis autem et infidelibus, quales praecipue vos estis, nihil est mundum. Cetera iam verba apostoli, quae sequuntur, vos ipsi vobis salubriter diceretis, si cauteriatam vestram conscientiam sanari velitis. Sequitur enim: Sed polluta sunt eorum et mens et conscientia.

Traduction Masquer
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

4.

Augustin replied: When the apostle says, "To the pure all things are pure," he refers to the natures which God had created,--as it is written by Moses in Genesis, "And God made all things; and behold they were very good," ¹ --not to the typical meanings, according to which God, by the same Moses, distinguished the clean from the unclean. Of this we have already spoken at length more than once, and need not dwell on it here. It is clear that the apostle called those impure who, after the revelation of the New Testament, still advocated the observance of the shadows of things to come, as if without them the Gentiles could not obtain the salvation which is in Christ, because in this they were carnally minded; and he called them unbelieving, because they did not distinguish between the time of the law and the time of grace. To them, he says, nothing is pure, because they made an erroneous and sinful use both of what they received and of what they rejected; which is true of all unbelievers, but especially of you Manichaeans, for to you nothing whatever is pure. For, although you take great care to keep the food which you use separate from the contamination of flesh, still it is not pure to you, for the only creator of it you allow is the devil. And you hold, that, by eating it, you release your god, who suffers confinement and pollution in it. One would think you might consider yourselves pure, since your stomach is the proper place for purifying your god. But even your own bodies, in your opinion, are of the nature and handiwork of the race of darkness; while your souls are still affected by the pollution of your bodies. What, then, is pure to you? Not the things you eat; not the receptacle of your food; not yourselves, by whom it is purified. Thus you see against whom the words of the apostle are directed; he expresses himself so as to include all who are impure and unbelieving, but first and chiefly to condemn you. To the pure, therefore, all things are pure, in the nature in which they were created; but to the ancient Jewish people all things were not pure in their typical significance; and, as regards bodily health, or the customs of society, all things are not suitable to us. But when things are in their proper places, and the order of nature is preserved, to the pure all things are pure; but to the impure and unbelieving, among whom you stand first, nothing is pure. You might make a wholesome application to yourselves of the following words of the apostle, if you desired a cure for your seared consciences. The words are: "Their very mind and conscience are defiled."