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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

13.

"And the Lord God set a mark upon Cain, lest any one finding him should slay him." It is a most notable fact, that all the nations subjugated by Rome adopted the heathenish ceremonies of the Roman worship; while the Jewish nation, whether under Pagan or Christian monarchs, has never lost the sign of their law, by which they are distinguished from all other nations and peoples. No emperor or monarch who finds under his government the people with this mark kills them, that is, makes them cease to be Jews, and as Jews to be separate in their observances, and unlike the rest of the world. Only when a Jew comes over to Christ, he is no longer Cain, nor goes out from the presence of God, nor dwells in the land of Nod, which is said to mean commotion. Against this evil of commotion the Psalmist prays, "Suffer not my feet to be moved;" ¹ and again, "Let not the hands of the wicked remove me;" ² and, "Those that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved:" ³ and, "The Lord is at my right hand, that I should not be moved;" ⁴ and so in innumerable places. This evil comes upon those who leave the presence of God, that is, His loving-kindness. Thus the Psalmist says, "I said in my prosperity, I shall never be moved." But observe what follows, "Lord, by Thy favor Thou hast given strength to my honor; Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubled;" ⁵ which teaches us that not in itself, but by participation in the light of God, can any soul possess beauty, or honor, or strength. The Manichaeans should think of this, to keep them from the blasphemy of identifying themselves with the nature and substance of God. But they cannot think, because they are not content. The Sabbath of the heart they are strangers to. If they were content, as Cain was told to be, they would refer their sin to themselves; that is, they would lay the blame on themselves, and not on a race of darkness that no one ever heard of, and so by the grace of God they would prevail over their sin. But now the Manichaeans, and all who oppose the truth by their various heresies, leave the presence of God, like Cain and the scattered Jews, and inhabit the land of commotion, that is, of carnal disquietude, instead of the enjoyment of God, that is instead of Eden, which is interpreted Feasting, where Paradise was planted. But not to depart too much from the argument of this treatise I must limit myself to a few, short remarks under this head.

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Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

13.

Et posuit dominus deus Cain signum, ne eum occidat omnis, qui invenerit. Hoc revera multum mirabile est, quemadmodum omnes gentes, quae a Romanis subiugatae sunt, in ritum Romanorum sacrorum transierint eaque sacrilegia observanda et celebranda susceperint, gens autem Iudaea sive sub paganis regibus sive sub christianis non amiserit signum legis suae, quo a ceteris gentibus populisque distinguitur; p. 342,10 et omnis imperator vel rex, qui eos in regno suo invenit, cum ipso signo eos invenit nec occidit, id est non efficit, ut non sint Iudaei, certo quodam et proprio suae observationis signo a ceterarum gentium communione discreti, nisi quicumque eorum ad Christum transierit, ut iam non inveniatur Cain nec exeat a facie dei nec habitet in terra Naim, id quod dicitur interpretari ‛commotio’, contra quod malum deus rogatur in psalmo: Ne dederis in motum pedes meos! et: manus peccatorum non moveant me! et: qui tribulant me, exultabunt, si motus fuero; et: dominus a dextris est mihi, ne commovear, et innumerabilia talia; quod patiuntur omnes, qui exeunt a facie dei, id est a misericorida dilectionis eius. p. 342,22 Unde dicitur in quodam psalmo: Ego dixi in abundantia mea, non movebor in aeternum; sed vide, quid sequitur: Domine, in voluntate tua praestitisti decori meo virtutem; avertisti autem faciem tuam et factus sum conturbatus. Unde intellegitur omnem animam participatione lucis dei, non per se ipsam, esse pulchram et decoram et virtute pollentem. Quod et isti Manichaei si considerarent et intellegerent, non in tantam blasphemiam caderent putando se esse naturam et substantiam dei. Sed ideo non possunt, quia non quiescunt; sabbatum enim cordis non intellegunt. Nam si quiescerent, sicut dictum est ad Cain, peccatum suum ad se converterent, id est sibi tribuerent, non genti nescio cui tenebrarum, atque ita per gratiam dei eidem peccato dominarentur. Nunc vero et ipsi et omnes, qui diversis erroribus contumaces resistendo veritati exeunt a facie dei, sicut Cain, sicut Iudaei perditi, habitant in terra commotionis, id est in perturbatione carnali contra iucunditatem dei, hoc est contra Eden, quod interpretantur epulationem, ubi est plantatus paradisus. p. 343,11 Iam cetera pauca de multis breviterque perstringam, ne propositum operis huius et responsionis meae nimia longitudine sermonis impediam.