To Florus · §1.113

To Florus 1.113

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Seeing that this weighs heavily against you, you act as though the testimony itself had asked: “How, then, are infants in the kingdom of the hostile power, if we believe Scripture that each person becomes the victor's slave when he is defeated, and if infancy, without the use of reason and will, plainly could neither fight nor surrender?” (Psalm 101:1;) You add: “For through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death; and so it passed to all human beings, in whom all sinned” (Romans 5:12). You continue: “God is the Creator of newborn children in such a way that all go from the one into condemnation unless he becomes their liberator through rebirth. For he is called ‘the potter making from the same lump one vessel for honor according to mercy, another for dishonor according to judgment’ (Romans 9:21), to whom the Church sings, ‘Mercy and judgment’” (Psalm 101:1; LXX Psalm 100:1; Augustine, On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.8).

As for your statement that sin entered through one human being, the apostolic testimony by which you have stirred many hearts, though uneducated ones, I briefly showed in my fourth book how it should be understood. Yet with Christ's help we will explain it more fully in this work. In the second book we will set other things aside and discuss that apostolic passage most fully in its own context (see below, Book II, section 20).

Latin source witness

Latin

Quod quidem videns contra te valere plurimum, quasi ipso testimonio interrogatus: Per quid ergo parvuli in regno sunt adversariae potestatis, si Scripturae creditur unumquemque, cum vincitur, tunc servum esse victoris, et constat infantiam sine usu rationis et voluntatis nec confligere potuisse, nec cedere?, addis: "r unum quippe hominem peccatum intravit in mundum, et per peccatum mors; et ita in omnes homines pertransiit, in quo omnes peccaverunt " [n305] . Sic est autem Deus nascentium conditor, ut omnes ex uno eant in condemnationem, quorum non fuerit renascentium liberator. Ipse quippe dictus est "gulus ex eadem massa faciens vas, aliud in honorem secundum misericordiam, aliud in contumeliam secundum iudicium " [n306] , cui cantat Ecclesia: "Misericordiam et iudicium " [n307] . Hoc quod dicis, per unum hominem intrasse peccatum, quo testimonio Apostoli plurimorum ineruditorum tamen pectora commovistis, licet in quarto libro breviter quomodo intellegendum esset ostenderim [n308] , tamen adiuvante Christo, in hoc opere plenius exponemus, ita ut in secundo libro, praetermissis aliis, locus ipse apostolicus contextu suo plenissime disseratur.

About this text

Julian’s six preserved books to Florus, quoted section by section in Augustine’s unfinished reply. Augustine’s refutations are omitted. Latin of Julian’s words is on each section.

Julian’s own books do not survive as a separate manuscript. English follows his words as Augustine quotes them in the Unfinished Work Against Julian. Augustine’s replies are omitted. We do not restore a Julian text independent of Augustine.

Witnesses

  • Copy-text Augustine, Unfinished Work Against Julian (Latin · Julian’s words as quoted, Books 1–6)
  • Checked print Augustinus.it Latin of the Unfinished Work (Latin · Same work)
  • Checked print Migne PL 45 (Latin · Hard cases)

This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.