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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres
14.
Quem posset certe aliquis impius paganus ita calumniari et reprehendere in evangelio, sicut deum Faustus in vetere testamento. Diceret enim et ille improvidum Christum non solum ex hoc, quod miratus est centurionis fidem, verum etiam quod Iudam inter discipulos elegit, qui mandata eius non erat servaturus, sicut reprehendit iste, cur praeceptum in paradiso datum fuerit homini non facturo. p. 601,5 Culparet etiam illud, quod scire non potuerit, quis eum tetigerit, quando tetigit fimbriam vestimenti eius, quae fluxum sanguinis patiebatur, sicut iste culpavit deum nescisse, ubi lateret Adam, credo quia dixerit: Adam, ubi es? , sicut dixit Christus: Quis me tetigit? Diceret et invidum ac timentem, ne, si intrarent quinque aliae virgines in regnum eius, viverent in aeternum; contra quas ita clausit, ut nec miserabiliter pulsantibus aperiret, velut obliviscens, quod ipse promiserat dicens: Pulsate et aperietur vobis, sicut iste invidiae timorisque arguit deum, quod ad vitam aeternam non admiserit peccatorem. p. 601,16 Diceret et appetentem non pecudum, sed hominum sanguinem, quia dixit: Qui perdiderit animam suam propter me, in vitam aeternam inveniet eam, sicut iste de sacrificiis animalium, quibus figuris promittebatur sacrificium sanguinis, quo redempti sumus, voluit calumniari. Reprehenderet et zelantem, quia cum ementes et vendentes de templo flagellando eiecisset, commemoravit evangelista de illo esse scriptum: Zelus domus tuae comedit me, sicut iste accusavit zelantem deum, quod aliis sacrificari vetuisset. Diceret irascentem in suos et in alienos, in suos quidem, quia dixit: Servus, qui scit voluntatem domini sui et facit digna plagis, vapulabit multa, in alienos autem, quia dixit: Si quis vos non receperit, excutite illis pulverem de calciamentis vestris; amen dico vobis, quia tolerabilius erit Sodomae in die iudicii quam illi civitati, sicut iste criminatur irascentem deum, nunc in alienos, nunc in suos, quos utrosque apostolus commemorat dicens: Quicumque enim sine lege peccaverunt, sine lege peribunt; et quicumque in lege peccaverunt, per legem iudicabuntur. p. 602,8 Diceret et trucidantem et effundentem multorum sanguinem ob levia quidem vel nulla commissa. Leve quippe aut nullum commissum pagano videretur vel non habere in convivio nuptiarum vestem nuptialem, propter quod rex noster in evangelio iussit hominem ligatis manibus et pedibus proici in tenebras exteriores, vel nolle super se Christum regnare, propter quod peccatum ait: Illos autem, qui noluerunt me regnare sibi, adducite et interficite coram me, sicut iste accusavit deum in vetere testamento, qui ei visus est propter levia vel nulla commissa hominum milia trucidare. p. 602,18 Iam vero illud, quod reprehendit Faustus minantem deum venturum se esse cum gladio, quo non parceret nec iusto nec peccatori, quomodo paganus ille reprehenderet audiens apostolum Paulum dicere de deo nostro, quia filio proprio non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit eum, audiens et Petrum, cum de magnis tribulationibus sanctorum et interfectionibus loqueretur, ad tolerandum exhortantem et dicentem: Tempus est, ut iudicium incipiat a domo domini; et si initium a nobis, qualis finis erit eis, qui non credunt domini evangelio? Et ‛si iustus quidem vix salvus erit, peccator et impius ubi parebunt?’ p. 602,28 Quid enim iustius uno, cui tamen pater non pepercit? Et quid evidentius, quod nec iustis parcat emendans eos varietate tribulationum, cum de hac _<re ?>_aperte sit dictum: Et si iustus vix salvus erit? Non solum enim in vetere testamento scriptum est: Quem enim diligit deus, corripit; flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit et: Si bona percepimus de manu domini, mala quare non sustinemus? sed etiam in novo: Ego quem amo, arguo et castigo et illud: Si enim nos ipsos diiudicaremus, a domino non iudicaremur; cum iudicamur autem a domino, corripimur, ne cum mundo damnemur*. p. 603,10 Sed tamen si paganus in novo testamento talia reprehenderet, qualia isti reprehendunt in vetere, nonne et ipsi ea defendenda susciperent? Quod si facere possent, qua tandem vecordia hic talia reprehendunt, qualia ibi defendunt? Si autem non possent, cur in uno tantum ac non potius in utroque testamento, quod non intellegentibus impiis pravum videretur, idem non intellegentibus piis rectum, sed tectum credi oportere concedunt?
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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean
14.
Thus an irreligious Pagan might bring the same reproaches against Christ in the Gospel, as Faustus brings against God in the Old Testament. He might say that Christ lacked foresight, not only because He was astonished at the faith of the centurion, but because He chose Judas as a disciple who proved disobedient to His commands; as Faustus objects to the precept given in Paradise, which, as it turned out, was not obeyed. He might also cavil at Christ's not knowing who touched Him, when the woman suffering from an issue of blood touched the hem of His garment; as Faustus blames God for not knowing where Adam had hid himself. If this ignorance is implied in God's saying, "Where art thou, Adam?" 1 the same may be said of Christ's asking, "Who touched me?" 2 The Pagans also might call Christ timid and envious, in not wishing five of the ten virgins to gain eternal life by entering into His kingdom, and in shutting them out, so that they knocked in vain in their entreaty to have the door opened, as if forgetful of His own promise, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you;" 3 as Faustus charges God with fear and envy in not admitting man after his sin to eternal life. Again, he might call Christ greedy of the blood, not of beasts, but of men, because he said, "He that loseth his life for my sake, shall keep it unto life eternal;" 4 as Faustus reproaches God in reference to those animal sacrifices which prefigured the sacrifice of blood-shedding by which we are redeemed. He might also accuse Christ of jealousy, because in narrating His driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, the evangelist quotes as applicable to Him the words, "The jealousy of Thine house hath eaten me up;" 5 as Faustus accuses God of jealousy in forbidding sacrifices to be offered to other gods. He might say that Christ was angry with both His friends and His enemies: with His friends, because He said, "The servant that knows his lord's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes;" and with His enemies, because He said, "If any one shall not receive you, shake off against him the dust of your shoes; verily I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for that city;" 6 as Faustus accuses God of being angry at one time with His friends, and at another with His enemies; both of whom are spoken of thus by the apostle: "They that have sinned without law shall perish without law, and they that have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law." 7 Or he might say that Christ shed the blood of many without mercy, for a slight offense or for nothing. For to a Pagan there would appear to be little or no harm in not having a wedding garment at the marriage feast, for which our King in the Gospel commanded a man to be bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness; 8 or in not wishing to have Christ for a king, which is the sin of which Christ says, "Those that would not have me to reign over them, bring hither and slay before me;" 9 as Faustus blames God in the Old Testament for slaughtering thousands of human beings for slight offenses, as Faustus calls them, or for nothing. Again, if Faustus finds fault with God's threatening to come with the sword, and to spare neither the righteous nor the wicked, might not the Pagan find as much fault with the words of the Apostle Paul, when he says of our God," He spared not His own Son, but gave Him up for us all;" 10 or of Peter, when, in exhorting the saints to be patient in the midst of persecution and slaughter, he says, "It is time that judgment begin from the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that believe not the gospel of the Lord? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" 11 What can be more righteous than the Only-Begotten, whom nevertheless the Father did not spare? And what can be plainer than that the righteous also are not spared, but chastised with manifold afflictions, as is clearly implied in the words, "If the righteous scarcely are saved"? As it is said in the Old Testament, "Whom the Lord loveth He correcteth, and chastiseth every son whom He receiveth;" 12 and, "If we receive good at the hand of the Lord, shall we not also receive evil?" 13 So we read also in the New Testament, "Whom I love I rebuke and chasten;" 14 and, "If we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged of the Lord; but when we are judged, we are corrected of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world." 15 If a Pagan were to make such objections to the New Testament, would not the Manichaeans try to answer them, though they themselves make similar objections to the Old Testament? But supposing them able to answer the Pagan, how absurd it would be to defend in the one Testament what they find fault with in the other! But if they could not answer the objections of the Pagan, why should they not allow in both Testaments, instead of in one only, that what appears wrong to unbelievers, from their ignorance, should be believed to be right by pious readers even when they also are ignorant?