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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

8.

Ceterum qui haec non litigiose, sed placide ac fideliter quaerunt, accedant ad Christum non carne sed corde, non corporis praesentia, sed fidei potentia, sicut ille centurio; tunc melius, quid Matthaeus dixerit, sentient. Talibus enim dicitur in psalmo: Accedite ad eum et illuminamini et vultus vestri non erubescent. Unde centurio ille ad Christum magis accesserat, cuius fidem ita laudauvit, quam illi ipsi, per quos verba sua misit. p. 795,8 Huic rei simile est etiam illud, quod dominus ait: Tetigit me aliquis, quando mulier, quae fluxum sanguinis patiebatur, tangens fimbriam vestimenti eius salva facta est. Hoc enim mirabiliter discipulis suis dicere uidebatur: Quis me tetigit? et: Tetigit me aliquis, cum eum turba comprimeret. Denique hoc ei responderunt: Turbae te comprimunt, et dicis: ‘Quis me tetigit?’ . Quemadmodum ergo illi premebant, sed illa tetigit, sic illi missi erant ad Christum, sed centurio magis accessit. Ita Matthaeus et morem non usque adeo inusitatae locutionis seruavit et mystice aliquid intimavit; Lucas autem hoc ipsum quemadmodum gestum esset, ostendit, ut hinc advertere cogeremur, illud Matthaeus quemadmodum dixerit. Vellem sane, ut aliquis istorum vanorum, qui huiusmodi quaestiunculas quasi magnas calumniose obiciunt evangelio, narraret aliquid idem ipse bis numero, non falsum nec fallaciter, sed omnino id volens intimare et exponere, et stilo exciperentur verba eius eique recitarentur: p. 795,25 utrum non aliquid plus minusve diceret aut praepostero ordine non verborum tantum, sed etiam rerum, aut utrum non aliquid ex sua sententia adiceret, tamquam alius dixerit, quod eum dixisse non audierit, sed voluisse atque sensisse plane cognoverit, aut utrum non alicuius breviter complecteretur sententiae veritatem, cuius rei antea quasi expressius articulos explicasset, et si quid est aliud, quod fortasse possit certis regulis comprehendi, quomodo fiat, ut vel in duorum singulis eiusdem rei narrationibus vel in duabus unius ex una eademque re multa diversa inveniantur, nulla tamen adversa, et multa varia, nulla contraria. p. 796,11 Sic solvuntur omnia, de quibus sibi isti miseri collum ligant, ut spiritus sui erroris intus teneant et nullum extrinsecus salutis admittant.

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

8.

Those who examine this matter not in a disputatious but in a calm believing spirit are invited to come to Jesus, not outwardly but in heart, not in bodily presence but in the power of faith, as the centurion did, and then they will better understand Matthew's narrative. To such it is said in the Psalm "Come unto Him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall not be ashamed." ¹ Hence we learn that the centurion, whose faith was so highly spoken of, came to Christ more truly than the people who carried his message. We find an analogous case in the woman with the issue of blood, who was healed by touching the hem of Christ's garment, when Christ said, "Some one hath touched me." The disciples wondered what Christ meant by saying, "Who hath touched me?" "Some one hath touched me," when the crowd was thronging Him. In fact, they made this reply: "The crowd throngeth Thee, and sayest Thou, Who hath touched me?" ² Now, as the people thronged Christ while the woman touched Him, so the messengers were sent to Christ, but the centurion really came to Him. In Matthew we have a not infrequent form of expression, and at the same time a symbolical import; while in Luke there is a simple narrative of the whole event, such as to draw our attention to the manner in which Matthew has recorded it. I wish one of those people who found their silly objections to the Gospels on such trifling difficulties would himself tell a story twice over, honestly giving a true account of what happened, and that his words were written down and read over to him. We should then see whether he would not say more or less at one time than at another; and whether the order would not be changed, not only of words, but of things; and whether he would not put some opinion of his own into the mouth of another, because, though he never heard him say it, he knew it perfectly well to be in his mind; and whether he would not sometimes put in a few words what he had before related at length. In these and other ways, which might perhaps be reduced to rule, the narratives of the same thing by two persons, or two narratives by the same person, might differ in many things without being opposed, might be unlike without being contradictory. Thus are undone all the bandages with which poor Manichaeans stifle themselves to keep in the spirit of error, and to keep out all that might lead to their salvation.