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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres
1.
Faustus dixit: Accipis evangelium? Tu me interrogas, utrum accipiam, in quo id ipsum accipere apparet, quia quae iubet observo. An ego de te quaerere debeo, utrum accipias, in quo nulla accipientis evangelium videntur indicia?
Ego patrem dimisi et matrem, uxorem, filios et cetera, quae evangelium iubet, et interrogas, utrum accipiam evangelium? Nisi adhuc nescis, quid sit quod evangelium nuncupatur. Est enim nihil aliud quam praedicatio et mandatum Christi.
Ego aurum argentumque reieci et aes in zonis habere destiti cotidiano contentus cibo nec de crastino curans nec unde venter impleatur aut corpus operiatur sollicitudinem gerens, et quaeris a me, utrum accipiam evangelium! Vides in me Christi beatitudines illas, quae evangelium faciunt, et interrogas, utrum illud accipiam !
Vides pauperem, vides mitem, vides pacificum, puro corde, lugentem, esurientem, sitientem, persecutiones et odia sustinentem propter iustitiam, et dubitas, utrum accipiam evangelium !
Non ergo iam mirum est Iohannem Baptistam viso Iesu et eius item auditis operibus quaerere adhuc, utrum ipse esset Christus, cui digne et merito Iesus nec dignatus quidem est renuntiare, quod esset ipse, sed opera rursus eadem illi, quae iamdudum audierat, remandavit : p. 272,1 Caeci vident, surdi audiunt, mortui resurgunt et cetera. Quod ego quoque circa te non immerito fecerim, si perroganti, utrum accipiam evangelium, dixero : Omnia mea dimisi, patrem, matrem, uxorem, filios, aurum, argentum, manducare, bibere, delicias, voluptates.
Hoc tibi ad interrogata satis responsum puta et beatum te futurum, si in me non fueris scandalizatus.
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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean
1.
Faustus said: Do I believe the gospel? You ask me if I believe it, though my obedience to its commands shows that I do. I should rather ask you if you believe it, since you give no proof of your belief. I have left my father, mother, wife, and children, and all else that the gospel requires; 1 and do you ask if I believe the gospel? Perhaps you do not know what is called the gospel. The gospel is nothing else than the preaching and the precept of Christ. I have parted with all gold and silver, and have left off carrying money in my purse; content with daily food; without anxiety for tomorrow; and without solicitude about how I shall be fed, or where-withal I shall be clothed: and do you ask if I believe the gospel? You see in me the blessings of the gospel; 2 and do you ask if I believe the gospel? You see me poor, meek, a peacemaker, pure in heart, mourning, hungering, thirsting, bearing persecutions and enmity for righteousness' sake; and do you doubt my belief in the gospel? One can understand now how John the Baptist, after seeing Jesus, and also hearing of His works, yet asked whether He was Christ. Jesus properly and justly did not deign to reply that He was; but reminded him of the works of which he had already heard: "The blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised." 3 In the same way, I might very well reply to your question whether I believe the gospel, by saying, I have left all, father, mother, wife, children, gold, silver, eating, drinking, luxuries, pleasures; take this as a sufficient answer to your questions, and believe that you will be blessed if you are not offended in me. 4