To Florus · §3.56 · Julian of Eclanum

To Florus 3.56

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You do not think the reproductive seed of all people is polluted by the guilt of an act of will; yet you claim this justice has no force in the case of Adam’s crime alone, and his is the one sin charged to everyone. I do not know how to respond first. Should I laugh, as your extraordinary absurdities demand? But the destruction of the many people you deceive calls for pity and tears. Should I therefore be overcome by earnest grief? Yet your monstrous arguments provoke laughter even in a sorrowful mind.

Latin source witness

Latin

Nec te hoc putare, quia reatu voluntatis semina omnium hominum polluantur, sed tamen hanc iustitiam in Adae solius crimine non valere, ipsius unum esse peccatum, quod omnibus imputetur. Ad quod ego quid prius facere debeam nescio: rideamne, quod ineptiae exigunt singulares? Sed multorum perditio, quos decipitis, miserationem expectat et lacrimas. Serio ergo maerore conficiar? Sed argumentorum tuorum prodigia incutiunt, quamvis maesto animo, cachinnum.