Traduction Masquer
Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

19.

Let the Jews say what prophet is meant in this promise of God to Moses: "I will raise up unto them a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee." Many prophets appeared after Moses; but one in particular is here pointed out. The Jews will perhaps naturally think of the successor of Moses, who led into the promised land the people that Moses had brought out of Egypt. Having this successor of Moses in his mind, he may perhaps laugh at me for asking to what prophet the words of the promise refer, since it is recorded who followed Moses in ruling and leading the people. When he has laughed at my ignorance, as Faustus supposes him to do, I will still continue my inquiries, and will desire my laughing opponent to give me a serious answer to the question why Moses changed the name of this successor, who was preferred to himself as the leader of the people into the promised land, to show that the law given by Moses not to save, but to convince the sinner, cannot lead us into heaven, but only the grace and truth which are by Jesus Christ. This successor was called Osea, and Moses gave him the name of Jesus. Why then did he give him this name when he sent him from the valley of Pharan into the land into which he was to lead the people? ¹ The true Jesus says, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself." ² I will ask the Jew if the prophet does not show the prophetical meaning of these things when he says, "God shall come from Africa, and the Holy One from Pharan." Does this not mean that the holy God would come with the name of him who came from Africa by Pharan, that is, with the name of Jesus? Then, again, it is the Word of God Himself who speaks when He promises to provide this successor to Moses, speaking of him as an angel,--a name commonly given in Scripture to those carrying any message. The words are: "Behold I send my angel before thy face, to preserve thee in the way, and to bring thee into the land which I have sworn to give thee. Take heed unto him, and obey, and beware of unbelief in him; for he will not take anything from thee wrongfully, for my name is in him." ³ Consider these words. Let the Jew, not to speak of the Manichaean, say what other angel he can find in Scripture to whom these words apply, but this leader who was to bring the people into the land of promise. Then let him inquire who it was that succeeded Moses, and brought in the people. He will find that it was Jesus, and that this was not his name at first, but after his name was changed. It follows that He who said, "My name is in him," is the true Jesus, the leader who brings His people into the inheritance of eternal life, according to the New Testament, of which the Old was a figure. No event or action could have a more distinctly prophetical character than this, where the very name is a prediction.

Edition Masquer
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

19.

Dicat mihi, quem prophetam promiserit deus, cum ait Moysi: Suscitabo illis prophetam de fratribus eorum sicut te vel similem tibi. Multi enim prophetae postea fuerunt, sed utique unum quendam intellegi voluit. Hic ei, credo, facillime occurreret successor ille Moysi, qui populum ex Aegypto liberatum in terram promissionis induxit. 460,6 Quem cogitans me adhuc fortasse ridebit quaerentem, de quo dictum sit: Suscitabo illis prophetam similem tibi, cum legam, quis in eodem munere populi illius regendi atque ducendi Moysi defuncto successerit. Qui cum me velut imperitum riserit – talis enim et a Fausto describitur -, non desinam hominem adhuc etiam compellere et a securo risu ad curam respondendi revocare quaerendo atque flagitando, cur eidem ipsi futuro suo successori, in cuius comparatione improbatus est, ut non ipse introduceret populum in terram promissionis, ne videlicet lex per Moysen non ad salvandum, sed ad convincendum peccatorem data in regnum caelorum introducere putaretur, sed gratia et veritas per Iesum Christum facta: quaeram ergo a Iudaeo, cur eidem ipsi futuro suo successori Moyses nomen mutaverit, p. 460,20 vocabatur enim Ause et appellavit eum Iesum, cur denique tunc appellaverit, quando ex convalle Pharan praemisit ad eandem terram, quo erat populus ipso ducente venturus. Dicit enim verus ipse Iesus: Et si iero et praeparavero vobis locum, iterum veniam et adsumam vos ad me. Quaeram etiam, utrum non huic figurae attestetur propheta dicens: Deus ab Africo veniet et sanctus de Pharan, tamquam diceret: Eius nominis veniet deus sanctus, cuius nominis erat ille, qui venit ab Africo de Pharan, id est Iesus. Huc accedit, quod idem ipsum dei verbum intellegitur loqui, ubi promittit eundem ipsum Moyseos successorem, per quem populus in terram promissionis mitteretur, nomine angeli eum appellans, sicut etiam homines aliquid nuntiantes in scriptura divina solent appellari, et ita dicit: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam, ut servet te in via, ut inducat te in terram quam iuravi tibi. Attende tibi et obaudi eum ne non credas illi; nihil enim subtrahet tibi, nomen enim meum est in eo. p. 461,11 Quid est hoc? Perscrutetur scripturas illas non iam Manichaeus, sed ipse etiam Iudaeus et videat, utrum de aliquo angelo deus dixerit: Nomen meum est in illo, nisi de hoc, quem introductorem in promissionis terram pollicetur. Deinde quaerat in hominibus, quis Moysi successor introduxerit populum, et inveniet Iesum, non hoc ab initio vitae suae, sed nomine mutato appellatum. Qui ergo dixit: Nomen meum est in illo Iesu, ipse est verus Iesus, rector et ductor populi in hereditatem vitae aeternae secundum testamentum novum, cuius figura erat testamentum/ vetus. p. 461,20 Ita quantum attinet ad propheticum apparatum nec geri nec dici aliquid possit insignius, quandoquidem res perducta est usque ad nominis expressionem.