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Reply to Faustus the Manichaean

3.

You learned men, forsooth, dress up for our benefit some wonderful First Man, who came down from the race of light to war with the race of darkness, armed with his waters against the waters of the enemy, and with his fire against their fire, and with his winds against their winds. And why not with his smoke against their smoke, and with his darkness against their darkness? According to you, he was armed against smoke with air, and against darkness with light. So it appears that smoke and darkness are bad, since they could not belong to his goodness. The other three, again--water, wind, and fire--are good. How, then, could these belong to the evil of the enemy? You reply that the water of the race of darkness was evil, while that which the First Man brought was good; and so, too, his good wind and fire fought against the evil wind and fire of the adversary. But why could he not bring good smoke against evil smoke? Your falsehoods seem to vanish in smoke. Well, your First Man warred against an opposite nature. And yet only one of the five things he brought was the opposite of what the hostile race had. The light was opposed to the darkness, but the four others are not opposed to one another. Air is not the opposite of smoke, and still less is water the opposite of water, or wind of wind, or fire of fire.

Edition Hide
Contra Faustum Manichaeum libri triginta tres

3.

Sed videlicet doctissimi homines profertis nobis ex armario vestro nescio quem primum hominem, qui ad gentem tenebrarum debellandam de lucis gente descendit, armatum aquis suis contra inimicorum aquas et igne suo contra inimicorum ignem et ventis suis contra inimicorum ventos.

Cur non ergo et fumo suo contra inimicorum fumum et tenebris suis contra inimicorum tenebras, sed contra fumum aere, ut dicitis, armabatur et contra tenebras luce? p. 256.10

An quia mala sunt fumus et tenebrae, non ea potuit habere bonitas eius?

Bona ergo sunt illa tria: aqua, ventus, ignis. Cur ergo ea potuit habere malitia gentis adversae?

Hic respondetis: Sed aqua illa gentis tenebrarum mala erat, quam vero primus homo attulit, bona erat; et ventus illius malus, huius autem bonus.

Ita et huius ignis bonus contra malum ignem illius dimicavit.

Cur ergo et contra malum fumum non potuit afferre fumum bonum? An in fumo vestro mendacia tamquam fumus ipse evanescunt atque deficiunt?

Certe primus homo vester contra naturam contrariam bellum gessit.

Cur quinque illis elementis, quae in contraria gente confingitis, unum adlatum est de divinis regnis contrarium, lux contra tenebras? p. 256,22

Cetera enim quattuor non sunt contraria. Nam nec aer fumo est contrarius, multo minus aquae aqua et ventus vento et ignis igni.