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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

24.

Qua in re hoc primum dico illorum hominum non tantum linguam, verum etiam vitam fuisse propheticam totumque illud regnum gentis Hebraeorum magnum quendam, quia et magni cuiusdam, fuisse prophetam. p. 619,2 Quocirca, quod ad eos quidem attinet, qui illic erant eruditi corde in sapientia dei, non solum in his, quae dicebant, sed etiam in his, quae faciebant, quod autem ad ceteros ac simul omnes illius gentis homines, in his, quae in illis vel de illis divinitus fiebant, prophetia venturi Christi et ecclesiae perscrutanda est. Omnia enim illa, sicut dicit apostolus, figurae nostrae fuerunt.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

24.

First of all, then, not only the speech of these men, but their life also, was prophetic; and the whole kingdom of the Hebrews was like a great prophet, corresponding to the greatness of the Person prophesied. So, as regards those Hebrews who were made wise in heart by divine instruction, we may discover a prophecy of the coming of Christ and of the Church, both in what they said and in what they did; and the same is true as regards the divine procedure towards the whole nation as a body. For, as the apostle says, "all these things were our examples."