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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres
17.
De sacrificiis vero nihil aliud mihi paganus obiceret, nisi cur apud eos illa reprehendamus, cum in nostris veteribus libris talia sibi deus noster iussisse legeretur offerri. Hic ego de vero sacrificio latius fortasse disserens demonstrarem id non deberi nisi uni vero deo, quod ei unus verus sacerdos obtulit, mediator dei et hominum; cuius sacrificii promissivas figuras in victimis animalium celebrari oportebat p. 605,4 propter commendationem futurae carnis et sanguinis, per quam unam victimam fieret remissio peccatorum de carne et sanguine contractorum, quae regnum dei non possidebunt, quia eadem substantia corporis in caelestem commutabitur qualitatem, quod ignis in sacrificio significabat velut absorbens mortem in victoriam. In eo autem populo haec rite celebrata sunt, cuius et regnum et sacerdotium prophetia erat venturi regis et sacerdotis ad regendos et consecrandos fideles in omnibus gentibus et introducendos in regnum caelorum et sacrarium angelorum ad vitam aeternam. Huius itaque veri sacrificii sicut religiosa praedicamenta Hebraei celebraverunt, ita sacrilega imitamenta pagani, quoniam quae immolant gentes, ait apostolus, daemoniis immolant, et non deo. Antiqua enim res est praenuntiativa immolatio sanguinis futuram passionem mediatoris ab initio generis humani testificans. Hanc enim primus Abel obtulisse in sacris litteris invenitur. p. 605,20 Non igitur mirum est, si praevaricatores angeli, quorum duo maxima vitia sunt superbia atque fallacia, per hunc aerem volitantes, quod uni vero deo deberi noverant, hoc sibi a suis cultoribus exegerunt, a quibus dii putari voluerunt dante sibi locum vanitate cordis humani, maxime cum ex desiderio mortuorum constituerentur imagines, unde simulacrorum usus exortus est, et maiore adulatione divini honores deferrentur tamquam in caelum receptis, pro quibus se in terris daemonia colenda supponerent et sibi sacrificari a deceptis et perditis flagitarent. Sacrificium ergo non solum cum iuste imperat verus deus, sed etiam cum superbe exigit falsus deus, satis ostendit, cui debeatur. p. 606,4 Haec illi pagano si esset difficilior ad credendum, etiam ipsa prophetia persuaderem, in qua tam longe ante conscripta sunt, quae nunc impleta monstrarem. Quodsi et hanc contemneret, hoc quoque agnoscerem potius quam mirarer, quandoquidem non omnes fuisse credituros in eiusdem prophetiae veritate recolerem.
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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean
17.
The only objection that a Pagan would make on the subject of sacrifice would refer to our reason for finding fault with Pagan sacrifices, when in the Old Testament God is described as requiring men to offer sacrifice to Him. If I were to reply at length on this subject, I might prove to him that sacrifice is due only to the one true God, and that this sacrifice was offered by the one true Priest, the Mediator of God and man; and that it was proper that this sacrifice should be pre-figured by animal sacrifices, in order to foreshadow the flesh and blood of the one sacrifice for the remission of sins contracted by flesh and blood, which shall not inherit the kingdom of God: for the natural body will be endowed with heavenly attributes, as the fire in the sacrifice typified the swallowing up of death in victory. Those observances properly belonged to the people whose kingdom and priesthood were prophetic of the King and Priest who should come to govern and to consecrate believers in all nations, and to lead them into the kingdom of heaven, and the holy society of angels and eternal life. And as this true sacrifice was piously set forth in the Hebrew observances, so it was impiously caricatured by the Pagans, because, as the apostle says, what they offer they offer to devils, and not to God. 1 The typical rite of blood-shedding in sacrifice dates from the earliest ages, pointing forward from the outset of human history to the passion of the Mediator. For Abel is mentioned in the sacred Scripture as the first who offered such sacrifices. 2 We need not therefore wonder that fallen angels who occupy the air, and whose chief sins are pride and falsehood, should demand from their worshippers by whom they wished to be considered as gods what they knew to be due to God only. This deception was favored by the folly of the human heart, especially when regret for the dead led to the making of likenesses, and so to the use of images. 3 By the increase of this homage, divine honors came to be paid to the dead as dwelling in heaven, while devils took their place on earth as the objects of worship, and required that their deluded and degraded votaries should present sacrifices to them. Thus the nature of sacrifice as due only to God appears not only when God righteously claims it, but also when a false god proudly arrogates it. If the Pagan was slow to believe these things, I should argue from the prophecies, and point out that, though uttered long ago, they are now fulfilled. If he still remained in unbelief, this is rather to be expected than to be wondered at; for the prophecy itself intimates that all would not believe.