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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

3.

Lege ergo tripertita et tripertitis prophetis, de quonam eorum Iesus dixerit, non satis liquet, est tamen conicere ex consequentibus. Etenim si circumcisionem statim nominaret et sabbata ac sacrificia et observationes Hebraicas inque eas aliquid adimpletionis gratia protulisset, dubium non erat, quin de Iudaeorum lege dixisset et prophetis, quia eos non solvere venerit, sed adimplere. Ubi vero horum quidem nihil memorat, sola vero recenset antiquiora praecepta, id est: non occides, non moechaberis, non peierabis –haec autem erant antiquitus in nationibus, ut est in promptu probare, p. 498,21 olim promulgata per Enoch et Seth et ceteros eorum similes iustos, quibus eadem illustres tradiderint angeli temperandae in hominibus gratia feritatis – cui non videatur hoc eum de veritatis dixisse lege et eius prophetis? Denique etiam adimpletio probatur eius circa haec eadem, quam promisit. Quid enim dicit? Audistis dictum esse antiquis: ‘non occides’; ego autem dico vobis, ne irascamini quidem; adimpletio est. Audistis dictum esse: ‘non moechaberis’; ego autem dico vobis, ne concupiscatis quidem: adimpletio est. Dictum est:‛ non peierabis’; ego autem dico vobis, ne iuretis quidem: aeque adimpletio est. p. 499,5 In his enim et priora roborat et quod defuit, adicit. Ubi vero Iudaeorum quaedam visus est nominasse, illa quidem nec adimplevit, sed etiam penitus eradicavit praeceptione contrariorum. Quid enim sequitur? Audistis dictum esse: ‛oculum pro oculo, dentem pro dente’; ego autem dico vobis: qui te percusserit in maxilla, praebe illi et alteram: hoc iam destructio est. Dictum est inquit ‘amabis amicum tuum et oderis inimicum tuum’; ego autem dico vobis: amate inimicos vestros et pro persecutoribus vestris orate: aeque destructio est. Dictum est:‛ qui voluerit uxorem dimittere, det ei repudium’; ego autem dico: quicumque uxorem suam dimiserit excepta causa fornicationis, et ipsam moechari faciet, et is erit moechus, si postea alteram duxerit. Haec igitur sunt de manifesto Moyseos praecepta idcircoque destructa, illa veterum iustorum et ob hoc adimpleta. p. 499,21 Quod si et tibi ita intellegere placet, non ab re erit et illud dixisse Iesum, quia non venit solvere legem, sed adimplere. Sin haec tibi nostra displicet expositio, aliam quaere! Tantum ne Iesum mentitum dicere cogaris, aut te necesse sit Iudaeum fieri, ne etiam nunc legem solvere perseveres, quam ipse non solvit.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

3.

As "the law and the prophets" may have three different meanings, it is uncertain in what sense the words are used by Jesus, though we may form a conjecture from what follows. For if Jesus had gone on to speak of circumcision, and Sabbaths, and sacrifices, and the observances of the Hebrews, and had added something as a fulfillment, there could have been no doubt that it was the law and the prophets of the Jews of which He said that He came not to destroy, but to fulfill them. But Christ, without any allusion to these, speaks only of commandments which date from the earliest times: "Thou shall not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not bear false witness." These, it can be proved, were of old promulgated in the world by Enoch and Seth, and the other righteous men, to whom the precepts were delivered by angels of lofty rank, in order to tame the savage nature of men. From this it appears that Jesus spoke of the law and the prophets of truth. And so we find him giving a fulfillment of those precepts already quoted. "Ye have heard," He says, "that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; but I say unto you, Be not even angry." This is the fulfillment. Again: "Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, Do not lust even." This is the fulfillment. Again: "It has been said, Thou shalt not bear false witness; but I say unto you, Swear not." This too is the fulfillment. He thus both confirms the old precepts and supplies their defects. Where He seems to speak of some Jewish precepts, instead of fulfilling them, He substitutes for them precepts of an opposite tendency. He proceeds thus: "Ye have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you, Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." This is not fulfillment, but destruction. Again: "It has been said, Thou shall love thy friend, and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for your persecutors." This too is destruction. Again: "It has been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement; but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery, and is himself an adulterer if he afterwards marries another woman." ¹ These precepts are evidently destroyed because they are the precepts of Moses; while the others are fulfilled because they are the precepts of the righteous men of antiquity. If you agree to this explanation, we may allow that Jesus said that he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. If you disapprove of this explanation, give one of your own. Only beware of making Jesus a liar, and of making yourself a Jew, by binding yourself to fulfill the law because Christ did not destroy it.