Edition Hide
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

33.

Videsne, quam tibi non dicam: si christianus es, crede dicenti Christo, quia de se scripsit Moyses; quod si non credis, Christianus non es. Ipse quippe videris, quid de te sentias, qui te ut gentilem vel Iudaeum doceri de Christo expetis; ego tamen neque hoc defugi et omnes tibi aditus erroris, quantum potui, clausi. p. 482,6 Nec illud sivi patere praecipitium, qua vos caeci mittitis dicentes falsa esse in evangelio, sicubi vestra haeresis exitum non invenerit, ut vobis nihil remaneat, quo redire possitis, unde Christo credatis, ubi vobis haec vox pestilentiae non possit opponi. Quin etiam sic te doceri cupis ut christianum Thomam, quem Christus de se dubitantem non est aspernatus, sed quo animi eius vulneribus mederetur, corporis sui cicatrices ostendit. Haec verba tua sunt. Bene, quod sic te doceri exigis. Quam enim verebar, ne hoc quoque in evangelio falsum esse contenderes! Crede ergo cicatricibus Christi, quia si cicatrices illae verae erant, vera etiam illa vulnera fuerant, nec vera vulnera nisi vera caro habere potuisset; hoc verum totum vestrum evertit errorem. Porro si Christus falsas cicatrices dubitanti discipulo demonstravit, et ipsum fallacem dicis ita docentem et te falli cupis ita discentem. p. 482,21 Sed quia falli nemo est qui velit, fallere autem multi volunt, magis te velle intellego quasi exemplo Christi fallaciter docere quam exemplo Thomae fallaciter discere. Proinde si credis, quod falsis cicatricibus Christus fefellerit dubitantem, te quis velit credere docentem, ac non potius cavere fallentem? At si ille discipulus veras cicatrices tetigit Christi, veram confiteri cogeris et carnem Christi. Ita Manichaeus non permanebis, si sic credis ut Thomas; infidelis autem remanebis, si nec sic credis ut Thomas.

Translation Hide
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

33.

You see, my argument is not that if you are a Christian you must believe Christ when He says that Moses wrote of Him, and that if you do not believe this you are no Christian. The account you give of yourself in asking to be dealt with as a Jew or a Gentile is your own affair. My endeavor is to leave no avenue of error open to you. I have shut you out, too, from that precipice to which you rush as a last resort, when you say that these are spurious passages in the Gospel; so that, freed from the pernicious influence of this opinion, you may be reduced to the necessity of believing in Christ. You say you wish to be taught like the Christian Thomas, whom Christ did not spurn from Him because he doubted of Him, but, in order to heal the wounds of his mind, showed him the marks of the wounds in His own body. These are your own words. It is well that you desire to be taught as Thomas was. I feared you would make out this passage too to be spurious. Believe, then, the marks of Christ's wounds. For if the marks were real, the wounds must have been real. And the wounds could not have been real, unless His body had been capable of real wounds; which upsets at once the whole error of the Manichaeans. If you say that the marks were unreal which Christ showed to His doubting disciple, it follows that He must be a deceitful teacher, and that you wish to be deceived in being taught by Him. But as no one wishes to be deceived, while many wish to deceive, it is probable that you would rather imitate the teaching which you ascribe to Christ than the learning you ascribe to Thomas. If, then, you believe that Christ deceived a doubting inquirer by false marks of wounds, you must yourself be regarded, not as a safe teacher, but as a dangerous impostor. On the other hand, if Thomas touched the real marks of Christ's wounds, you must confess that Christ had a real body. So, if you believe as Thomas did, you are no more a Manichaean. If you do not believe even with Thomas, you must be left to your infidelity.