To Florus 6.6
They now hurl their accusing weapons at God himself, reaching the same conclusion from different beginnings. Mani says: God is good and does no evil. But he adds that God consigns souls to eternal fire for natural faults—an act of obvious cruelty. Thus, at the end of his opinion, he stains with plain injustice the one he had called good.
Augustine, however, as though trusting the man he addresses as his patron, is bolder. He despises his teacher’s hesitation and does not hesitate to begin where Mani ended. He pronounces that God makes and creates evil—that is, sin. This plainly cannot fit the God worshiped by the catholic faith. Let this above all remain fixed in the reader’s mind: no believer has ever had a greater cause for struggle than ours, and anyone who considers nature itself a necessity for crime has no share in worshiping the Christians’ God. Since this has often been stressed—the usefulness of the central case required repetition—let us now examine the first humans, whose indictment the Numidian carries like a light shield when he meets our battle line.
Latin
Iam vero in ipsum Deum, pari fine, impari exordio, accusationum tela iaculantur. Manichaeus quippe dicit: Deus bonus malum non facit; sed addit quia pro naturalibus culpis aeterno incendio animas destinet; quod perspicuae immanitatis est: ac per hoc, fine opinionis suae, quem bonum dixerat, clara iniquitate contaminat. Porro Augustinus quasi ei ad quem scribit, fidens patrono, ausu grandiore despicit trepidationem magistri, nec dubitat inde incipere, quo Manichaeus pervenit; pronuntiatque quod malum, id est peccatum, faciat Deus et creet, quem constat non convenire ei Deo, quem Catholicorum fides colit. Hoc potissimum animo lectoris insidat, et nulli umquam fidelium maiorem causam quam nobis incubuisse conflictus, et omnem qui naturam ipsam necessitatem criminis arbitratur, in Dei Christianorum cultu non habere consortium; quod quoniam frequenter inculcatum est; iterationem quippe utilitas causae principalis exegit; veniamus iam ad discussionem primorum hominum, quorum taxatione aciei nostrae Numida quasi cetratus occurrit.
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.