To Florus 1.76
The Arians, who held power at that time, put the question: “Do you wish to follow ‘of one substance’, or Christ?” They immediately answered, as though devoutly loyal to the name, that they followed Christ; they rejected “of one substance”. And so they left rejoicing as though they believed in Christ, whom they had already denied by rejecting “of one substance”, that is, of one substance with the Father. In the same way you now manufacture deceit and frighten uneducated ears, so that if people do not want to be stained with the names of men who struggle for the faith, they must deny both free choice and God as humanity's Creator. This is plainly the charge I made in that passage. The present discussion will openly show how true it was. You therefore answered: “We do not deny free choice”, and added nothing further of your own. Consistency required you to complete your statement without evasion. Having begun by saying that you did not deny freedom of choice, you should have added: “Rather, we confess that the freedom of choice given by God remains in human nature.”
Latin
Nam cum proponerent Ariani, qui rerum ea tempestate potiebantur, Homousion sequi vultis, aut Christum? Responderunt continuo, quasi in nomen religiosi, Christum se sequi; homousion repudiavere; atque ita exeunt gestientes, velut qui Christo crederent, quem iam negaverant, homousion, id est unius cum Patre substantiae, denegando. Ita ergo et nunc vos fabricatores doli, imperitas terretis aures, ut si nolunt laborantium pro fide virorum appellatione respergi, et liberum arbitrium negent, et Deum hominum conditorem. Hoc igitur a me in illo loco constat obiectum; et quam non falso, praesens disputatio palam faciet. Respondisti ergo hoc modo: Non negamus liberum arbitrium; et nihil aliud subiunxisti de tuo. Consequens enim fuerat, ut impleres sine tergiversatione sententiam; cumque praemisisses non te negare arbitrii libertatem, adderes: Sed confitemur datam a Deo libertatem arbitrii in hominum permanere natura.
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.