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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

4.

Sed quia Manichaei alium Christum praedicant, non eum quem praedicaverunt apostoli, sed suum proprium fallacem fallaciter, cuius falsitatis sectatores congruenter et ipsi mentiuntur, nisi quod impudenter sibi credi volunt, cum se mentientis discipulos esse profiteantur, p. 333,4 contigit eis, quod de ipsis infidelibus Iudaeis dicit apostolus: Cum legitur Moyses, velamen est super cor eorum ; neque enim auferetur hoc velamen, per quod non intellegunt Moysen, nisi transierint ad Christum, non qualem ipsi finxerunt, sed qualem patres Hebraei prophetaverunt. Sic enim idem apostolus ait: Cum autem transieris ad dominum, auferetur velamen. Neque enim mirum est, quod resurgenti Christo et dicenti: Oportebat impleri omnia, quae scripta sunt in lege Moysi et prophetis et psalmis de me, nolunt isti credere, p. 333,14 quandoquidem Christus ipse narravit, quid Abraham dixerit immisericordi cuidam diviti, cum apud inferos torqueretur et peteret inde mitti aliquem ad fratres suos, a quo docerentur, ne et ipsi venirent in illum locum tormentorum. Hoc enim ei dictum est: Habent ibi Moysen et prophetas. Et cum ille dixisset non eos credituros, nisi aliquis resurrexisset a mortuis, verissime respondum est: Si Moysen et prophetas non audiunt, nec si quis a mortuis resurrexerit, credent. Quapropter isti non audientes Moysen et prophetas non solum a mortuis resurgenti Christo, sed omnino Christum a mortuis resurrexisse non credunt. Quomodo enim resurrexisse credunt, quem mortuum fuisse non credunt? Nam quomodo mortuum fuisse credunt, quem mortale corpus habuisse non credunt? p. 333,28

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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

4.

But because the Manichaeans preach another Christ, and not Him whom the apostles preached, but a false Christ of their own false contrivance, in imitation of whose falsehood they themselves speak lies, though they may perhaps be believed when they are not ashamed to profess to be the followers of a deceiver, that has befallen them which the apostle asserts of the unbelieving Jews: "When Moses is read, a veil is upon their heart." Neither will this veil which keeps them from understanding Moses be taken away from them till they turn to Christ; not a Christ of their own making, but the Christ of the Hebrew prophets. For, as the apostle says, "When thou shalt turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away." ¹ We cannot wonder that they do not believe in the Christ who rose from the dead, and who said, "All things must needs be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me;" for this Christ has Himself told us what Abraham said to a hard-hearted rich man when he was in torment in hell, and asked Abraham to send some one to his brothers to teach them, that they might not come too into that place of torment. Abraham's reply was: "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." And when the rich man said that they would not believe unless some one rose from the dead, he received this most truthful answer: "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe even though one rose from the dead." ² Wherefore, the Manichaeans will not hear Moses and the prophets, and so they do not believe Christ, though He rose from the dead. Indeed, they do not even believe that Christ rose from the dead. For how can they believe that He rose, when they do not believe that He died? For, again, how can they believe that He died, when they deny that He had a mortal body?