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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

34.

Nonnulli quidem non calumniosi et maledici sicut Faustus, sed eisdem libris honorem debitum deferentes, quos iste vel non intellegendo reprehendit vel reprehendendo non intellegit, cum hoc Abrahae factum considerarent, visum est eis, quod a firmitate fidei subdefecerit atque titubaverit et timore mortis sicut dominum Petrus, ita iste negaverit uxorem. p. 628,7 Quod si ita necesse esset intellegi, peccatum hominis agnoscerem, nec ideo cuncta eius merita deleta atque oblitterata censerem, sicut nec illius apostoli, quamquam culpa non sit aequalis negare uxorem et negare salvatorem. Nunc vero cum habeam, quod intellegam, ne hoc intellegam, nulla causa cogor temeritate labi ad reprehendendum, quem nemo convincit timore lapsum fuisse ad mentiendum. Neque enim utrum eius uxor esset interrogatus, non esse respondit, sed cum ab eo quaereretur, quid ei esset illa mulier, indicavit sororem, non negavit uxorem; tacuit aliquid veri, non dixit aliquid falsi.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

34.

Some people, not scoffers and evil-speakers like Faustus, but men who pay due honor to the Scriptures, which Faustus finds fault with because he does not understand them, or which he fails to understand because of his fault-finding, in commenting on this act of Abraham, are of opinion that he stumbled from weakness of faith, and denied his wife from fear of death, as Peter denied the Lord. If this is the correct view, we must allow that Abraham sinned; but the sin should not cancel or obliterate all his merits, any more than in the case of the apostle. Besides, to deny his wife is not the same as to deny the Saviour. But when there is another explanation, why not abide by it, instead of giving blame without cause, since there is no proof that Abraham told a lie from fear? He did not deny that Sara was his wife in answer to any question on the subject; but when asked who she was, he said she was his sister, without denying her to be his wife: he concealed part of the truth, but said nothing false.