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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

3.

Mors hominis ex poena peccati est; unde et ipsa peccatum dicitur, non quia peccat homo, dum moritur, sed quia ex peccato factum est, ut moriatur. Sicut alio modo dicitur lingua proprie caro, quae intra dentes sub palato movetur, et alio modo dicitur lingua, quod per linguam fit, secundum quem modum dicitur alia lingua graeca, alia latina, p. 405,5 et manus alio modo dicitur ipsum proprie corporis membrum, quod movemus ad operandum, et alio modo manus dicitur scriptura, quae fit per manum, dicimus enim: Prolata est manus eius, lecta est adversus eum manus eius, habeo manum tuam, recipe manum tuam. Manus utique proprie membrum est hominis, non autem opinor illam scripturam membrum esse hominis; et tamen dicitur manus, eo quod manu facta sit. Sic et peccatum non tantum ipsum opus malum, quod poena dignum est, sed etiam ipsa mors, quae peccato facta est, peccatum appellatum est. p. 405,15 Illud itaque peccatum, quo reus esset mortis, non commisit Christus; illud autem alterum, id est mortem, quae peccato inflicta est humanae naturae, suscepit pro nobis. Hoc suspendit in ligno, hoc maledictum est per Moysen; ibi mors damnata est, ne regnaret, et maledicta est, ut periret. Quapropter per Christi tale peccatum damnatum est et nostrum peccatum, ut nos liberaremur, ne regnante peccato nos damnati remaneremus.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

3.

Death comes upon man as the punishment of sin, and so is itself called sin; not that a man sins in dying, but because sin is the cause of his death. So the word tongue, which properly means the fleshy substance between the teeth and the palate, is applied in a secondary sense to the result of the tongue's action. In this sense we speak of a Latin tongue and a Greek tongue. The word hand, too, means both the members of the body we use in working, and the writing which is done with the hand. In this sense we speak of writing as being proved to be the hand of a certain person, or of recognizing the hand of a friend. The writing is certainly not a member of the body, but the name hand is given to it because it is the hand that does it. So sin means both a bad action deserving punishment, and death the consequence of sin. Christ has no sin in the sense of deserving death, but He bore for our sakes sin in the sense of death as brought on human nature by sin. This is what hung on the tree; this is what was cursed by Moses. Thus was death condemned that its reign might cease, and cursed that it might be destroyed. By Christ's taking our sin in this sense, its condemnation is our deliverance, while to remain in subjection to sin is to be condemned.