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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

59.

Haec de tribus patribus, Abraham, Isaac et Iacob, quorum se deum appellari voluit deus, quem catholica ecclesia colit, adversus Fausti calumnias dicta suffecerint. De quorum trium hominum meritis atque pietate et longe remota a iudicio carnalium altitudine prophetiae non est nunc disserendi locus; tantum ab his criminibus, quibus eos maledica et veritatis inimica lingua pulsavit, defendendi fuerint in hoc praesenti opere nostro, ne contra scripturas sanctas et salubres aliquid sibi dicere viderentur, qui eas perversa et adversa mente legerunt, dum petulantibus conviciis insectantur eos, qui illic cum tanto honore praedicantur.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

59.

This must suffice as a reply to the false accusations brought by Faustus against the three fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from whom the God whom the Catholic Church worship was pleased to take His name. This is not the place to discourse on the merits and piety of these three men, or on the dignity of their prophetic character, which is beyond the comprehension of carnal minds. It is enough in this treatise to defend them against the calumnious attacks of malevolence and falsehood, in case those who read the Scriptures in a carping and hostile spirit should fancy that they have proved anything against the sacredness and the profitableness of these books, by their attempts to blacken the character of men who are there mentioned so honorably.