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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

18.

Et tamen volo mihi dicatis, unde ista omnia, quae laudatis in vobis, his nominibus appelletis, ut dicatis templum, aram, sacrificium. Si enim vero deo ista vera _ (vere?)_non debentur, cur laudabiliter in vera religione praedicantur? Si autem deo vero verum sacrificium rite debetur, unde etiam divini honores recte appellantur, cetera quae dicuntur sacrificia ad similitudinem fiunt cuiusdam veri sacrificii. Haec autem partim sunt imitamenta falsorum et fallacium deorum, hoc est daemoniorum, superbe sibi ab eis, quos deceperint, divinos honores exigentium – sicut sunt vel erant omnia in templis idolisque gentium – p. 558,26 partim praedicamenta venturi unius verissimi sacrificii, quod pro peccatis omnium credentium offerri oporteret, qualia erant praecepta divinitus antiquis patribus nostris, ubi erat et illa mystica unctio, qua Christus praefigurabatur, unde et ipsum nomen a chrismate ducitur. Proinde verum sacrificium, quod uni vero debetur deo, quo eius altare solus Christus implevit, in victimis pecorum imitata daemonia sibi arroganter exposcunt. Unde dicit apostolus: Quae immolant gentes, daemoniis immolant et non deo, non quod offerebatur culpans, sed quia illis offerebatur. Hebraei autem in victimis pecorum, quas offerebant deo, multis et variis modis, sicut re tanta dignum erat, prophetiam celebrabant futurae victimae, quam Christus obtulit. Unde iam christiani peracti eiusdem sacrificii memoriam celebrant sacrosancta oblatione et participatione corporis et sanguinis Christi. p. 559,13 Manichaei vero nescientes, quid damnandum sit in sacrificiis gentium et quid intellegendum in sacrificiis Hebraeorum et quid tenendum vel observandum in sacrificio christianorum, vanitatem suam sacrum offerunt diabolo, qui eos decepit recedentes a fide, intendentes spiritibus seductoribus et doctrinis daemoniorum in hypocrisi mendaciloquorum.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

18.

How is it, by the way, that you use the words temple, altar, sacrifice, for the purpose of commending your own practices? If such things can be spoken of as properly belonging to true religion, they must constitute the true worship of the true God. And if there is such a thing as true sacrifice to the true God, which is implied in the expression divine honors, there must be some one true sacrifice of which the rest are imitations. On the one hand, we have the spurious imitations in the case of false and lying gods, that is, of devils, who proudly demand divine honors from their deluded votaries, as is or was the case in the temples and idols of the Gentiles. On the other hand, we have the prophetic intimations of one most true sacrifice to be offered for the sins of all believers, as in the sacrifices enjoined by God on our fathers; along with which there was also the symbolical anointing typical of Christ, as the name Christ itself means anointed. The animal sacrifices, therefore, presumptuously claimed by devils, were an imitation of the true sacrifice which is due only to the one true God, and which Christ alone offered on His altar. Thus the apostle says: "The sacrifices which the Gentiles offer, they offer to devils, and not to God." ¹ He does not find fault with sacrifices, but with offering to devils. The Hebrews, again, in their animal sacrifices, which they offered to God in many varied forms, suitably to the significance of the institution, typified the sacrifice offered by Christ. This sacrifice is also commemorated by Christians, in the sacred offering and participation of the body and blood of Christ. The Manichaeans understand neither the sinfulness of the Gentile sacrifices, nor the importance of the Hebrew sacrifices, nor the use of the ordinance of the Christian sacrifice. Their own errors are the offering they present to the devil who has deceived them. And thus they depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and to doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy.