Traduction Masquer
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

24.

We have already said as much as appeared desirable of the curse pronounced on every one that hangs on a tree. Enough has been said to show that the command to kill any prophet or prince who tried to turn away the children of Israel from their God, or to break any commandment, is not directed against Christ. The more we consider the words and actions of our Lord Jesus Christ, the more clearly will this appear; for Christ never tried to turn away any of the Israelites from their God. The God whom Moses taught the people to love and serve, is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, whom the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of by this name, using the name in refutation of the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection of the dead. He says, "Of the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read what God said from the bush to Moses, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live unto Him." ¹ In the same words with which Christ answered the Sadducees we may answer the Manichaeans, for they too deny the resurrection, though in a different way. Again, when Christ said, in praise of the centurion's faith, "Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel," He added, "And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall go into outer darkness." ² If, then, as Faustus must admit, the God of whom Moses spoke was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, of whom Christ also spoke, as these passages prove, it follows that Christ did not try to turn away the people from their God. On the contrary, He warned them that they would go into outer darkness, because He saw that they were turned away from their God, in whose kingdom He says the Gentiles called from the whole world will sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; implying that they would believe in the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. So the apostle also says: "The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In thy seed shall all nations be blessed." ³ It is implied that those who are blessed in the seed of Abraham shall imitate the faith of Abraham. Christ, then, did not try to turn away the Israelites from their God, but rather charged them with being turned away. The idea that Christ broke one of the commandments given by Moses is not a new one, for the Jews thought so; but it is a mistake, for the Jews were in the wrong. Let Faustus mention the commandment which he supposes the Lord to have broken, and we will point out his mistake, as we have done already, when it was required. Meanwhile it is enough to say, that if the Lord had broken any commandment, He could not have found fault with the Jews for doing so. For when the Jews blamed His disciples for eating with unwashen hands, in which they transgressed not a commandment of God, but the traditions of the elders, Christ said, "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God, that ye may observe your traditions?" He then quotes a commandment of God, which we know to have been given by Moses. "For God said," He adds, "Honor thy father and mother, and he that curseth father or mother shall die the death. But ye say, Whoever shall say to his father or mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, is not obliged to honor his father. So ye make the word of God of none effect by your traditions." ⁴ From this several things maybe learned: that Christ did not turn away the Jews from their God; that He not only did not Himself break God's commandments, but found fault with those who did so; and that it was God Himself who gave these commandments by Moses.

Edition Masquer
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

24.

Nam de maledicto pendentis in ligno iam, quantum satis visum est, supra diximus. Interficiendum autem esse prophetam sive principem populi, qui filios Israhel a deo suo vellet avertere aliquidve infringere mandatorum, p. 467,23 non adversus Christum praecepisse Moysen et ex his, quae iam multa egimus, satis clarum est et magis magisque consideranti dicta et facta domini Iesu Christi magis magisque clarebit, quia nec a suo deo voluit quemquam eorum Christus avertere. Deus quippe, quem illis Moyses diligendum colendumque praeceperat, ipse est certe deus Abraham et deus Isaac et deus Iacob, quem dominus Iesus Christus eadem commendatione commemorat eiusque auctoritate Sadducaeorum refellit errorem resurrectionem negantium, ubi ait: De resurrectione autem mortuorum non legistis, quid deus locutus sit de rubo ad Moysen:‛Ego sum deus Abraham et deus Isaac et deus Iacob’? Non est deus mortuorum, sed vivorum; omnes enim illi vivunt. p. 468.7 Opportune itaque eadem voce nunc convincuntur Manichaei, qua tunc convicti sunt Sadducaei; nam et ipsam resurrectionem alio quidem modo, sed tamen etiam isti negant. Item cum fidem centurionis laudans diceret: Amen dico vobis, non inveni tantam fidem in Israhel, adiecit et ait: Dico autem vobis, quoniam multi ab oriente et occidente venient et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob in regno caelorum; filii autem regni ibunt in tenebras exteriores. Si ergo, quod negare Faustus non potest, non commendavit Moyses populo Israhel deum, nisi deum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob eumque ipsum Christus ex his et aliis testimoniis sine dubitatione commendat, non est conatus illum populum avertere a deo suo, sed ideo minatus est eos ituros in tenebras exteriores, quod aversos videret a deo suo, in cuius regno gentes vocatas ex toto orbe terrarum recubituras dicit cum Abraham et Isaac et Iacob, non ob aliud, quam quod fidem tenuissent dei Abraham et Isaac et Iacob. p. 468,24 Unde et apostolus dicit: Providens autem scriptura, quia ex fide iustificat gentes deus, praenuntiavit Abrahae dicens:‘In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes’, ut illi scilicet in semine Abrahae benedicerentur, qui Abrahae fidem imitarentur. Non igitur Christus Israhelitas a deo suo volebat avertere, sed eos potius, quod ab illo averterentur, arguebat. Mandatorum autem aliquod eorum, quae per Moysen data sunt, infregisse dominum qui arbitratur, non mirum, si hoc putat, quod Iudaei; sed ideo errat, quia in hoc erraverunt et Iudaei. p. 469,6 Ubi autem Faustus commemorat ipsum mandatum, quod dominum infregisse vult credi, ibi opus est, ut ostendamus, quomodo fallatur, sicut iam supra, ubi oportebat, ostendimus. Nunc illud dico, quia, si aliquod illorum mandatorum dominus infregisset, non etiam de hoc ipso Iudaeos arguisset, quibus calumniantibus, quod discipuli eius illotis manibus manducarent et ob hoc excederent non mandatum dei, sed traditiones seniorum, ait illis: Ut quid et vos egredimini mandatum dei, ut traditiones vestras statuatis? Ipsumque dei mandatum commemorat, quod per Moysen mandatum esse novimus. Secutus quippe ait: Deus enim dixit: ‛Honora patrem et matrem’ et: ‛Qui maledixerit patri aut matri, morte morietur’. Vos autem dicitis: Quicumque dixerit patri vel matri, munus, quod est ex me, tibi prosit, non honoraverit patrem suum; et irritum fecistis verbum dei propter vestram traditionem. p. 469,22 Qua in re videte, quam multa nos doceat: et Iudaeos a deo suo se non avertere, et eius mandata non tantum se non infringere, verum etiam illos, a quibus infringerentur, arguere, et non nisi deum per Moysen ista mandasse.