To Florus · §4.7 · Julian of Eclanum

To Florus 4.7

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A little later comes this: “Through what, then, are infants under the devil? They are born from bodies God made, from the union of sexes that God distinguished in forming them, joined in blessing them, and multiplied by implanting fertility; and God made the infants themselves from the material of seed. If you acknowledge that the material of bodies, their reproductive organs, the union of those organs, the power of seeds, and the form and life of everyone born all exist through God, what do you think is left for which you can transfer so many of God’s works to the devil?” (Augustine, On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.5.15). So you call someone else’s argument a heresy as a whole, although you acknowledge that every one of its parts is correct and catholic.

Latin source witness

Latin

Porro hinc post modicum: Per quid igitur sunt sub diabolo parvuli, qui de corporibus nascuntur quae fecit Deus, de commixtione sexus quem distinxit formando, sed benedicendo coniunxit, et fecunditatem inserendo multiplicavit Deus, et ipsos parvulos de materia seminis fecit Deus? Si per Deum materiam corporum, per Deum genitalia corporum, per Deum commixtionem genitalium, per Deum etiam vim seminum, per Deum quoque omnium nascentium formam atque vitam existere confiteris; quid putas remansisse, propter quod diabolo tot Dei opera transcribas? [n16] Ergo haeresim vocas alterius disputationis corpus, cuius membra omnia recta atque catholica confiteris.