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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

79.

Quid ergo insilimus in temerarias reprehensiones atque utinam hominum et non dei? Servierint dispensatores veteris testamenti idemque praenuntiatores novi testamenti peccatores occidendo, servierint dispensatores novi testamenti idemque expositores veteris testamenti a peccatoribus moriendo, deo tamen uni utrique servierunt per diversa et congrua tempora docenti bona temporalia et a se petenda et propter se contemnenda, molestias temporales et a se posse imperari et propter se debere tolerari. Quid ergo crudele Moyses aut mandavit aut fecit, cum commissum sibi populum sancte zelans et uni vero deo subditum cupiens posteaquam cognovit ad fabricandum et colendum idolum defluxisse mentemque impudicam prostituisse daemonibus, in paucos eorum vindicans gladio, quos deus ipse, quem offenderant, alto et secreto iudicio <cum ?> feriendos voluisset inferri, et in praesenti salubriter terruit et disciplinam in posterum sanxit? p. 680,21 Nam eum nulla crudelitate, sed magna dilectione fecisse quod fecit, quis non in verbis eius agnoscat orantis pro peccato eorum et dicentis: Si dimittis illis peccatum, dimitte; sin autem, dele me de libro tuo? Comparans ergo unusquisque pie prudens illam caedem et hanc precem videt profecto, apertissime videt, quantum malum sit animae per simulacra daemonum fornicari, quando sic saevit, qui sic amat. Sic plane et apostolus non crudeliter, sed amabiliter tradidit hominem satanae in interitum carnis, ut spiritus salvus sit in die domini Iesu. Tradidit et alios, ut discerent non blasphemare. p. 681,6 Legunt scripturas apocryphas Manichaei a nescio quibus sutoribus fabularum sub apostolorum nomine scriptas; quae suorum scriptorum temporibus in auctoritatem sanctae ecclesiae recipi mererentur, si sancti et docti homines, qui tunc in hac vita erant et examinare talia poterant, eos vera locutos esse cognoscerent. Ibi tamen legunt apostolum Thomam, cum esset in quodam nuptiarum convivio peregrinus et prorsus incognitus, a quodam ministro palma percussum imprecatum fuisse homini continuam saevamque vindictam. Nam cum egressus fuisset ad fontem, unde aquam convivantibus ministraret, eum leo irruens interemit manumque eius, qua caput apostoli levi ictu percusserat, a corpore avulsam secundum verbum eiusdem apostoli id optantis atque imprecantis canis intulit mensis, in quibus ipse discumbebat apostolus. p. 681,20 Quid hoc videri crudelius potest? Verum quia ibi, nisi tamen fallor, hoc etiam scriptum est, quod ei veniam in saeculo futuro petiverit, facta est compensatio beneficii maioris, ut et apostolus, quam carus deo esset, per hunc timorem commendaretur ignotis et illi post hanc vitam quandoque finiendam in aeternum consuleretur. Utrum illa vera sit aut conficta narratio, nihil mea nunc interest. Certe enim Manichaei, a quibus illae scripturae, quas canon ecclesiasticus respuit, tamquam verae atque sincerae acceptantur, saltem hinc coguntur fateri virtutem illam patientiae, quam docet dominus dicens: Si quis te percusserit in maxillam tuam dexteram, praebe illi et sinistram, posse esse in praeparatione cordis, etiamsi non exhibeatur gestu corporis et expressione verborum, p. 682,6 quandoquidem apostolus palma percussus potius deum rogavit, ut iniurioso homini in futuro saeculo parceretur, in praesenti autem illa iniuria non inulta relinqueretur, quam vel praebuit ferienti alteram partem aut ut iterum feriret admonuit. Tenebat certe interius dilectionis affectum et exterius requirebat correctionis exemplum. Sive hoc verum sit sive confictum, cur nolunt credere tali animo famulum dei Moysen idoli fabricatores et adoratores gladio prostravisse, cum et in eius verbis satis appareat ita huiusmodi peccato eum veniam deprecatum, ut nisi impetraret, deleri se vellet de libro dei? Et quid simile ignotus homo palma percussus et deus ex Aegypti servitute liberans per divisum mare traiciens, fluctibus persequentes inimicos operiens, idolo sibi praelato derelictus atque contemptus? p. 682,19 Si autem poenas ipsas comparemus, quid simile ferro interimi et a feris trucidari atque laniari? Quandoquidem iudices publicis legibus servientes maioris criminis reos bestiis subrigi quam gladio percuti iubent.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

79.

Let no one, then, be so daring as to make rash charges against men, not to say against God. If the service of the ministers of the Old Testament, who were also heralds of the New, consisted in putting sinners to death, and that of the ministers of the New Testament, who are also interpreters of the Old, in being put to death by sinners, the service in both cases is rendered to one God, who, varying the lesson to suit the times, teaches both that temporal blessings are to be sought from Him, and that they are to be forsaken for Him, and that temporal distress is both sent by Him and should be endured for Him. There was, therefore, no cruelty in the command, or in the action of Moses, when, in his holy jealousy for his people, whom he wished to be subject to the one true God, on learning that they had fallen away to the worship of an idol made by their own hands, he impressed their minds at the time with a wholesome fear, and gave them a warning for the future, by using the sword in the punishment of a few, whose just punishment God, against whom they had sinned, appointed in the depth of His secret judgment to be immediately inflicted. That Moses acted as he did, not in cruelty, but in great love, may be seen from the words in which he prayed for the sins of the people: "If Thou wilt forgive their sin, forgive it; and if not, blot me out of Thy book." ¹ The pious inquirer who compares the slaughter with the prayer will find in this the clearest evidence of the awful nature of the injury done to the soul by prostitution to the images of devils, since such love is roused to such anger. We see the same in the apostle, who, not in cruelty, but in love, delivered a man up to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. ² Others, too, he delivered up, that they might learn not to blaspheme. ³ In the apocryphal books of the Manichaeans there is a collection of fables, published by some unknown authors under the name of the apostles. The books would no doubt have been sanctioned by the Church at the time of their publication, if holy and learned men then in life, and competent to determine the matter, had thought the contents to be true. One of the stories is, that the Apostle Thomas was once at a marriage feast in a country where he was unknown, when one of the servants struck him, and that he forthwith by his curse brought a terrible punishment on this man. For when he went out to the fountain to provide water for the guests, a lion fell on him and killed him, and the hand with which he had given a slight blow to the apostle was torn off, in fulfillment of the imprecation, and brought by a dog to the table at which the apostle was reclining. What could be more cruel than this? And yet, if I mistake not, the story goes on to say, that the apostle made up for the cruelty by obtaining for the man the blessing of pardon in the next world; so that, while the people of this strange country learned to fear the apostle as being so dear to God, the man's eternal welfare was secured in exchange for the loss of this mortal life. It matters not whether the story is true or false. At any rate, the Manichaeans, who regard as genuine and authentic books which the canon of the Church rejects, must allow, as shown in the story, that the virtue of patience, which the Lord enjoins when He says, "If any one smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him thy left also," may be in the inward disposition, though it is not exhibited in bodily action or in words. For when the apostle was struck, instead of turning his other side to the man, or telling him to repeat the blow, he prayed to God to pardon his assailant in the next world, but not to leave the injury unpunished at the time. Inwardly he preserved a kindly feeling, while outwardly he wished the man to be punished as an example. As the Manichaeans believe this, rightly or wrongly, they may also believe that such was the intention of Moses, the servant of God, when he cut down with the sword the makers and worshippers of the idol; for his own words show that he so entreated for pardon for their sin of idolatry as to ask to be blotted out of God's book if his prayer was not heard. There is no comparison between a stranger being struck with the hand, and the dishonor done to God by forsaking Him for an idol, when He had brought the people out of the bondage of Egypt, had led them through the sea, and had covered with the waters the enemy pursuing them. Nor, as regards the punishment, is there any comparison between being killed with the sword and being torn in pieces by wild beasts. For judges in administering the law condemn to exposure to wild beasts worse criminals than are condemned to be put to death by the sword.