To Turbantius — fragments in Against Julian — Book 6
Julian of Eclanum (c. 386–c. 455) was bishop of Eclanum in southern Italy until 418, when he was deposed and exiled for refusing to condemn Pelagius. The most learned Pelagian controversialist, he pursued Augustine across a decade of pamphlet war.
None of Julian's works survives directly; what remains is preserved in the long quotations of Augustine, who answered him book by book. Reconstructed from those hostile pages, Julian emerges as a formidable defender of free will, marriage, and the goodness of creation.
This volume gathers the surviving arguments: the six books To Florus with the earlier fragments and letter material, each with its source locator.
© 2026 SaneApps. This translation is free to share and adapt, even commercially, as long as you credit SaneApps. Draft translation, prepared with AI assistance and not yet independently reviewed. Verify against the original before citing.
Foolishness is the mother of all vices. ‘God loves no one except the person who lives with wisdom’ (Wisdom…§§6.1.1–6.6.16
6.1.1Foolishness is the mother of all vices.
‘God loves no one except the person who lives with wisdom’ (Wisdom 7:28).
The good of an unviolated and blameless nature.
6.1.2Those who either neglected to learn what ought to be known, or are unafraid to condemn what they do not know.
In the noonday of discovered truth, without the shadow of ignorance, you rave through envy of me.
Envy immediately torments the very author from whom it arises.
One and the same vice cannot be both sin and punishment for sin.
6.2.3God is the creator of human beings.
Augustine reports Julian inferred from his language about being born for the world that everything belonging to the world must belong to the devil.
6.3.6The grace of Christ’s mysteries is rich in many gifts.
Rather, he shows them to be his own by raising what he made in them through additional benefits, before their own obedient exercise of will.
6.4.8Christ died for infants too.
Augustine reports Julian understood ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ as excluding infants from the description ‘sinners’ (Romans 5:8).
6.5.11Augustine reports Julian represented the transmission of forgiven parental guilt to offspring as something Augustine said could ‘neither be comprehended by reason nor explained in speech.’
6.6.15Examples give no support to something that cannot be defended in itself.
6.6.16Albinus affirms that among all animals the crocodile alone moves its upper jaws; and fire, though destructive to everything else, is a plaything for the salamander.
Natural characteristics are not changed by an accidental occurrence.
A parent cannot transmit to offspring what the parent does not possess.
Latin · §§6.1.1–6.6.16
§6.1.1
eam matrem esse omnium vitiorum
bonum
inviolatae inculpataeque naturae
§6.1.2
qui vel supersederunt scienda cognoscere, vel non formidant ignorata culpare
Sed invidendo tibi, in quadam meridie compertae veritatis sine obumbramento ignorationis - ut loqueris - insanimus
protinus ipsum de quo oritur vexat auctorem?
unum idemque vitium peccatum poenamque peccati esse non posse
§6.2.3
Deum esse hominum conditorem
Mundo, non Deo nasci hominem, qui de concupiscentia carnis nascitur; Deo autem nasci cum ex aqua et spiritu renascitur
eos qui de corporum commixtione nascuntur ad ius diaboli pertinere
de potestate erui tenebrarum, cum regenerantur in Christo
§6.3.6
Huius concupiscentiae reatum regeneratio sola dimittit, ac per hoc generatio trahit
Ergo quod generatum est regeneretur, ut similiter, quia non potest aliter, quod tractum est remittatur
mysteriorum Christi gratiam multis locupletem esse muneribus
Hinc potius suos approbat, quod ante proprium voluntatis obsequium, hoc quod in eis fecit beneficiorum sublimat augmentis
§6.4.8
Christum etiam pro parvulis mortuum
§6.5.11
Nam quod dimissum est in parente, ut trahatur in prole, miris quidem modis fit, sed tamen fit: et quia modus ipse non facili ratione indagatur, nec sermone explicatur, ab infidelibus non creditur
nec ratione comprehendi, nec sermone explicari
non facili
ratione
sermone
nulla
non facili
§6.6.15
quod ei rei quae per se defendi non potest, nihil suffragentur exempla
§6.6.16
Solum esse in omnibus animalibus, cui superiores mandibulas moveri Albinus affirmat; et ignem, cum sit omnibus exitio, salamandrae esse ludibrio
Naturalia per accidens non converti
Parentem quod ipse non habet, in suam prolem non posse transmittere
Naturalia per accidens non converti
parentes in filios ea quae non habent ipsi non posse transfundere
Curiosity usually wonders less at what it has understood. Against this, divine provision arranged that…§§6.7.17–6.9.26
6.7.17Curiosity usually wonders less at what it has understood. Against this, divine provision arranged that many things should arise from the earth, distinguished by countless properties.
6.7.18By the nature of things, parents cannot be shown to hand on what they are believed to have lost. If they hand it on, they have not lost it.
6.7.20By the nature of things, people cannot be shown to hand on what they are believed to have lost.
Augustine reports that Julian argued at length for the wild olive’s goodness as God’s creation.
6.8.22You tried to stir up the crowd against me.
Forgetting our single combat, you took refuge in the crowd.
With a treaty offered, it was agreed to settle the war, so that our contest would decide everyone’s battles.
6.8.23Seated craftsmen.
Once I begin to show them, they will become more bitter toward you.
Augustine reports Julian accused him of making those people the devil’s property, assigning marriages to the devil, calling the devil the maker of the genitals, the arouser of men, the one who makes women fertile, and the creator of infants.
6.9.24Explain how sin can justly be charged to a person who neither wished nor was able to sin.
How can an act of choice be mixed into the condition of reproductive seed?
In what way did it happen?
6.9.25Always busily working for his enemy’s profit.
6.9.26The devil and God have made this agreement between them: God is to claim whatever is washed, and the devil whatever is born. But on this condition: God, by a power subject to another, is to make fruitful the very sexual union that the devil established.
Latin · §§6.7.17–6.9.26
§6.7.17
Curiositatem quod comprehenderit, minus solere mirari; et adversus eam divinitus fuisse provisum, ut multa de terra innumeris discreta proprietatibus gignerentur
Nulla ratione comprehendi posse
Facili ratione non posse
§6.7.18
Per rerum naturam fieri non posse, ut illud probentur tradere parentes, quo caruisse creduntur. Quod si tradunt - inquis - non amiserunt
Non eos potuisse in posteros transmittere, quod ipsi minime habuerunt
§6.7.20
Per rerum naturam fieri non posse, ut illud homines probentur tradere, quo caruisse creduntur
Per rerum naturam fieri non posse, ut quo ipse caruit, tradat proli parens
§6.8.22
Me vulgum tibi excitare conatum
Fidem non dubitare christianam, quam novi haeretici oppugnare coeperunt, et eos qui lavacro regenerationis abluuntur, redimi de diaboli potestate; et eos qui nondum tali regeneratione redempti sunt, etiam parvulos filios redemptorum, sub eiusdem diaboli esse potestate captivos, nisi et ipsi eadem gratia redimantur
Ad omnes aetates - dixi - pertinere illud, de quo Apostolus loquitur, beneficium Dei: Qui eruit nos de potestate tenebrarum, et transtulit in regnum Filii caritatis suae [n73]
Quod certaminis singularis oblitus in vulgum refugerim
Oblato
placuit componi foedere bellum [n74] , ut pugnas omnium contentio nostra dirimeret
§6.8.23
sellulariorum opificum
Quod eis cum ostendere coeperis, in me acerbiores fient
eos
assevero peculium diaboli
nec diabolo coniugia
ulla transcribo
eum genitalium commentor artificem
excitatorem virorum nisi ad illicita
fecundatorem mulierum
conditorem
parvulorum
§6.9.24
Explica - inquis - quomodo peccatum personae illi iuste possit adscribi, quae nec voluit peccare, nec potuit
Qui fieri potest - inquis - ut res arbitrii condicioni seminum misceatur?
quo sit factum modo
§6.9.25
ad inimici sui lucrum semper industrius
§6.9.26
hoc inter se foedus iniisse diabolum et Deum, ut quidquid perfunditur, Deus; quidquid nascitur, diabolus sibi vindicet: ea tamen lege - sicut dicis - ut ipsam commixtionem quam diabolus instituit, Deus obnoxia virtute fecundet
quod perfunditur
Augustine reports that Julian and his party do not admit those who have been born into God’s kingdom…§§6.9.27–6.11.34
6.9.27Augustine reports that Julian and his party do not admit those who have been born into God’s kingdom unless they are washed in baptism.
6.10.28No human sin can exist without an act of free choice.
One person is not held liable for another person’s sins.
6.10.29We must all appear before Christ’s judgment seat, so that each may receive what belongs to his own body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
6.10.30Sexual desire is not wholly rebellious against the mind.
Let God be called the creator of infants who are such as befit God’s hands—that is, innocent infants.
6.10.31Explain how the devil dares to claim as his own infants created in Christ—that is, in his power.
6.10.32When God grants the glory of regeneration to infants who have deserved neither good nor evil by anything of their own, he teaches by that very act that they belong to his care, his right, and his dominion: he anticipates their will with the lavish gift of an inexpressible benefit.
6.10.33Where the apostle says ‘by nature children of wrath,’ it can be understood as ‘truly children of wrath.’ (Ephesians 2:3)
6.11.34‘Students attending lectures’ will shout against you, ‘What times! What morals!’ (Cicero, Against Catiline 1)
Augustine reports Julian’s allegation that he thinks the genital part of the body comes from a different source than the whole body.
Latin · §§6.9.27–6.11.34
§6.9.27
Porro si perfundi et nasci aequali abs te pensantur examine, ut ideo parvuli nondum renati non credantur esse sub diabolo, ne partes aequales inter se Deus et diabolus facere videantur, si Deus sibi perfusos, diabolus autem vindicat natos: profecto quia secundum istum sensum tantum valet perfundi quantum valet nasci, superfluum persuadetis esse perfundi; quoniam, quod tantumdem valet, sufficit nasci. Et tamen agimus gratias, quia non hoc putatis. Non enim ad regnum Dei natos, nisi perfundantur, admittitis: atque ita perfundi multo melius indicatis esse quam nasci. Iam itaque vobis ipsi reddite rationem, ne putetis indignum, ut qui non admittuntur in regnum Dei, sint sub illo qui cecidit de regno Dei; et qui non habent vitam, sint sub illo qui perdidit vitam. Non autem habere parvulos vitam, nisi habeant Christum (quem, procul dubio habere non possunt, nisi induerint eum, eo modo quo scriptum est: Quotquot in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis [n79] ); non ergo eos habere vitam, nisi habeant Christum, Ioannes evangelista testatur, dicens in Epistola sua: Qui habet Filium, habet vitam, qui non habet Filium, vitam non habet [n80] . Merito ergo intelleguntur mortui qui non habent vitam, pro quibus est Christus mortuus ut habeant. Unus enim pro omnibus mortuus est, ergo omnes mortui sunt [n81] . Ideo autem mortuus est, sicut legitur ad Hebraeos: ut per mortem evacuaret eum qui potestatem habebat mortis, id est, diabolum [n82] . Quid ergo mirum, si parvuli, quamdiu mortui sunt, antequam incipiant eum habere qui mortuus est pro mortuis, sub eo sunt qui potestatem habet mortis?
§6.10.28
Sine opere liberi arbitrii nullum hominis esse posse peccatum
Alienis peccatis alterum obnoxium non teneri
§6.10.29
Quod autem Apostolum dixisse commemoras: Omnes nos manifestari oportet ante tribunal Christi, ut reportet unusquisque propria corporis sui prout gessit, sive bonum, sive malum [n87] ; quomodo in parvulis accipis? utrum et ipsi ante tribunal Christi manifestabuntur, an non? Si non manifestabuntur, quid te adiuvat ista sententia, quando ad eos non pertinet, quorum nunc agitur causa? Si autem manifestabuntur, quomodo reportat eorum quisque quod gessit, qui nihil gessit; nisi quia pertinet ad eos, quod per corda et ora gestantium, sive credunt, sive non credunt? Propria corporis sui enim dixit, quod ad unumquemque in se ipso iam viventem pertinet. Nam quomodo reportat bonum, ut intret in regnum Dei, si hoc reportat quisque quod gessit; nisi quia pertinet ad parvulum etiam quod per alterum gessit, id est, credidit? Sicut itaque quod credidit, pertinet ad eum, ut reportet bonum, hoc est, percipiat Dei regnum: sic ad eum pertinet etiam, si non credidit, ut reportet condemnationis iudicium; quia evangelica est et ipsa sententia: Qui non crediderit, condemnabitur [n88] . Et Apostolus dicendo: Omnes nos manifestari oportet, ut recipiat unusquisque prout gessit, sive bonum, sive malum [n89] ; nihil voluit intellegi medium. Vide ergo quam importune nolis parvulum de alieno peccato reportare malum, et velis eum de alieno recte facto reportare bonum, non qualecumque, sed Dei regnum. Alienum quippe opus est cum credit per alterum, sicut alienum opus fuit cum peccavit in altero. Nec nos dubitamus quia Baptismate delictum omne mundetur, sed renascendo quisque mundatur. Quod ergo non adimit nisi regeneratio, non cessat trahere generatio.
§6.10.30
concupiscentiam non usquequaque animo rebellem: procul dubio confiteris rebellem: et supplicium non fateris, quo adversus te ipsum bellum geris?
; et addis,
§6.10.31
quemadmodum in Christo, id est in virtute eius, creatos parvulos sibi audeat diabolus vindicare
§6.10.32
Quod cum Deus parvulis nihil de proprio tam boni quam mali merentibus gloriam regenerationis attribuit, hoc ipso eos ad suam curam, ad suum ius, ad suum dominium pertinere docet, quod eorum voluntatem ineffabilis praevenit beneficii largitate
§6.10.33
Ubi ait Apostolus: Natura filii irae, posse intellegi: Prorsus filii irae
§6.11.34
auditoriales scholasticos
O tempora, o mores!
aliunde quam unde totum est, esse putem genitalem corporis partem
Ex hac parte pudor pugnat, abs te petulantia; hinc continentia, illinc libido
Even in a worn-out body, lust cannot be restrained.§§6.11.35–6.14.43
6.11.35Even in a worn-out body, lust cannot be restrained.
6.11.36Augustine reports Julian’s allegation that his opponents hold that the evil infants inherit at birth can exist, or has at some time existed, without a substance in which it exists.
6.12.37Augustine reports that Julian accuses Zosimus, bishop of the Apostolic See, of betraying his position.
6.12.38Augustine reports that Julian describes the Roman people’s dispute over the appointment of a bishop as ‘God’s vengeance.’
6.12.39You yourself have also changed your views: at the beginning of your conversion you held the same view that I do.
6.13.40The baptized are only partly cleansed. This is more clearly apparent from your own words.
Grace does not make a person completely new.
6.14.41The flesh is said to desire because the soul desires in a fleshly way.
The baptized person has nothing left to put to death.
6.14.43Augustine reports that Julian treats it as incredible that a human being should be formed in the womb of a baptized woman, whose body is God’s temple, and yet be destined to remain under the devil unless reborn from God for God.
Latin · §§6.11.35–6.14.43
§6.11.35
O tempora, o mores!
ut quantum a rerum turpitudine abes
tantum te a verborum libertate seiungas; et ea in alteros ne dicas, quae cum tibi falso obiecta sint, erubescas
nec in carioso quidem corpore libidinem posse frenari
§6.11.36
Malum hoc quod parvuli originaliter trahunt, sine substantia in qua est, aut esse posse, aut umquam fuisse
§6.12.37
Quale est autem, quod beatae memoriae Zosimum Apostolicae Sedis episcopum, ut in tua pravitate persistas, praevaricationis accusas? Qui non recessit a suo praecessore Innocentio, quem tu nominare timuisti; sed maluisti Zosimum, quia egit primitus lenius cum Caelestio: quoniam se in his sensibus vestris si quid displiceret, paratum esse dixerat corrigi, et Innocentii litteris consensurum esse promiserat.
§6.12.38
ultionem Dei
§6.12.39
Me quoque ipsum innovasse sensus meos, et initio conversionis meae hoc sensisse quod tu
§6.13.40
baptizatos ex parte mundari. Quod melius
meis sermonibus apparere
Carnis - inquam - concupiscentia non est nuptiis imputanda, sed toleranda. Non enim est ex naturali connubio veniens bonum, sed ex antiquo peccato accidens malum. Propter hanc ergo fit, ut etiam de iustis et legitimis nuptiis filiorum Dei, non filii Dei, sed filii saeculi generentur: quia et hi qui generant, si iam regenerati sunt, non ex hoc generant quo filii Dei sunt, sed ex quo adhuc filii saeculi. Dominica quippe sententia est: Filii huius saeculi generant et generantur [n104] . Ex quo itaque sumus adhuc filii huius saeculi, exterior homo noster corrumpitur, ex hoc et huius saeculi filii generantur; ex quo sumus filii Dei, interior renovatur de die in diem [n105] . Quamvis et ipse exterior per lavacrum sanctificatus sit, et spem futurae incorruptionis acceperit, propter quod et templum Dei merito dicitur [n106] : sed hoc non solum propter praesentem sanctificationem, sed propter illam spem dictum est, de qua dicitur: Et nos ipsi primitias habentes spiritus ingemiscimus, adoptionem exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri [n107] . Si ergo redemptio corporis nostri secundum Apostolum exspectatur, profecto quod exspectatur adhuc speratur, nondum tenetur
quod gratia non perfecte hominem novum faciat
§6.14.41
ideo dici carnem concupiscere, quia carnaliter anima concupiscit?
nec habet aliquid quod mortificet
§6.14.43
quod in utero baptizatae, cuius corpus est templum Dei, formatur homo futurus sub diabolo, nisi Deo renascatur ex Deo
People are not renewed through baptism, but only supposedly renewed; not freed, but only supposedly freed;…§§6.14.44–6.18.53
6.14.44People are not renewed through baptism, but only supposedly renewed; not freed, but only supposedly freed; not saved, but only supposedly saved.
Augustine reports that Julian compares this position to Epicurus’s teaching that the gods have not a body but something like a body, not blood but something like blood.
Whatever is done in the present age deserves blame.
6.15.45That resurrection does not forgive anyone’s sins, but sifts each person’s deserts. For it renders to each person according to his works.
6.15.46None of the righteous there will any longer bruise his body and bring it into subjection. No one will humble his soul with a hard bed and bodily filth.
No one will expose his blessed disregard for shame to insults, his cheeks to slaps, or his back to lashes. Nor will he strive to forge strength out of weakness. Frugality will not struggle with poverty, nor greatness of soul with grief, nor patience with pain.
6.15.47No one hates his own flesh. (Ephesians 5:29)
Augustine reports that Julian nevertheless teaches that the flesh should be broken down by strict discipline. He quotes Julian’s phrases: ‘bruising the body,’ ‘bodily filth,’ and ‘breaking down the flesh.’
6.16.49Do not be mistaken: neither the sexually immoral nor those who serve idols will possess God’s kingdom. (1 Corinthians 6:9–10)
And that is what you were; but you were washed, but you were sanctified. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
If sexual desire were an evil, the person who is baptized would be free of it.
6.16.50Augustine reports that Julian approves the school of Dinomachus, which joins moral goodness and pleasure. He also reports Julian’s distinction between unlawful pleasure and lawful pleasure.
6.17.51Augustine reports that Julian attacks his words ‘its liability to guilt has already been removed’ as though Augustine meant that sexual desire itself was released from guilt through baptism.
Of infants Julian and his party say: ‘To their natural good, let the good of sanctification be added.’
6.18.53You have changed your position: forgetting your entire book, you have declared that lust is a substance.
Latin · §§6.14.44–6.18.53
§6.14.44
non innovari homines per Baptismum, sed quasi innovari; non liberari, sed quasi liberari; non salvari, sed quasi salvari
Quidquid in praesenti saeculo agitur, esse culpandum
§6.15.45
illa resurrectio non peccata dimittat aliquorum, sed expurget merita singulorum. Reddit enim, unicuique - inquis - secundum opera sua
§6.15.46
neminem iam ibi iustorum lividum facere corpus suum, et servituti subicere; neminem humiliare animam suam stratis duris et paedore membrorum
Nemo conviciis felicem impudentiam, nemo maxillas palmis, nemo subiciet terga verberibus; nec conflare studebit de infirmitate virtutem; nec cum inopia frugalitas, nec cum moeroribus magnanimitas
Nec patientia cum dolore luctabitur
§6.15.47
Quod carnem suam nullus oderit
livore corporis, paedore membrorum, contritione carnis
§6.16.49
quod si malum esset concupiscentia, careret ea qui baptizatur
§6.16.50
placet tibi secta Dinomachi, honestatem voluptatemque coniungens
§6.17.51
dimitti concupiscentiam carnis in Baptismo, non ut non sit, sed ut in peccatum non imputetur; quamvis autem reatu suo iam soluto, manet tamen
reatu suo iam soluto
suo
ut bono eius naturali
bonum sanctificationis accedat
§6.18.53
Non substantialiter manere concupiscentiam, sicut corpus aliquod aut spiritum; sed esse affectionem quamdam malae qualitatis, sicut est languor
Me mutasse sententiam, et immemorem totius libri mei professum fuisse substantiam esse libidinem
The third kind of quality is a passing state and an enduring quality of feeling. A passing state is placed…§§6.18.54–6.20.63
6.18.54The third kind of quality is a passing state and an enduring quality of feeling. A passing state is placed among qualities because it is a starting point of qualities. To it are also assigned the experiences of mind or body that come and go in a moment. An enduring quality of feeling, however, arises from more powerful causes and clings to everyone in whom it occurs so firmly that it can be removed only with great efforts—or cannot be removed at all.
6.18.56Closing Aristotle’s wrestling school, let us return from it to the sacred Scriptures.
Sexual desire, then, is a sensation, and it is not an evil quality. Therefore, when sexual desire is diminished, sensation is diminished.
6.18.57Augustine reports that Julian interprets the following words differently from him: ‘He forgives all your iniquities; he heals all your illnesses.’ (Psalm 103:3; LXX/Vulgate Psalm 102:3)
6.19.58Augustine reports Julian’s allegation that he has called the devil the author of human nature and the maker of the very substance of which a human being consists.
6.19.60I cannot imagine in what dialectical treatise you found that all opposites can be reversed.
In no dialectical treatise can it be found that all opposites can be reversed.
6.19.61Everything belonging to this class can be demonstrated by this one example. If someone has sacrificed to idols once, he can be burdened by the impiety of what he has done until he obtains forgiveness: the act has ended, but its guilt remains. But it is absolutely impossible for the act to remain and the guilt to depart—that is, for him to go on sacrificing to demons and yet be regarded as free from profanation.
6.19.62When the act has passed away, its guilt remains in the conscience of the person who sinned until it is forgiven.
6.20.63The same pattern observed in the devil ought also to have been observed in an evil human being: no one should be condemned except for the faults of his own will. Therefore there is no original sin. Otherwise the work of him who created even the devil good cannot be approved.
Latin · §§6.18.54–6.20.63
§6.18.54
Tertia species qualitatis est - inquis - affectio et affectionalis qualitas. Affectio autem in qualitate ob hoc ponitur - ais - quia principium qualitatum est; cui etiam reputantur ad momentum accedentes recedentesque aut animi aut corporis passiones. Affectionalis vero qualitas - inquis - omnibus quibus evenerit, ex maioribus orta causis ita inhaerescit, ut aut magnis molitionibus, aut nullis omnino separetur
affectionalem qualitatem ortam ex maioribus causis, atque ita inhaerescere, ut aut magnis molitionibus, aut nullis separetur
§6.18.56
claudens - ut loqueris - Aristotelis palaestram, ut inde ad sacras Litteras revertaris
Sensus est igitur concupiscentia, et mala qualitas non est; ergo quando minuitur concupiscentia, sensus minuitur
§6.18.57
Si ergo nolis esse contentiosus, puto quod iam videas quam recte intellegatur, quod aliter conaris exponere, quod propheta cum dixisset: Qui propitius fit omnibus iniquitatibus tuis [n157] ; quod fit utique remissione omnium peccatorum; continuo subiecit: Qui sanat omnes languores tuos [n158] ; ea mala volens intellegi, cum quibus donec sanentur, vel quantum possunt in hac vita magis magisque minuantur, non quiescunt intestina bella sanctorum. Neque enim nullus est languor, quo caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, etiam manente virtute castitatis invicta. Si nullus languor est, non ergo adversus eum spiritus concupiscat. Ad hoc enim concupiscit, ut si potest non certandi, saltem non consentiendi obtineat sanitatem. Hoc quippe unde nunc agimus, quod nobis resistere sentimus in nobis, aut aliena est natura separanda, aut nostra sananda. Si alienam dicimus separandam, Manichaeis favemus. Fateamur ergo nostram esse sanandam, ut Manichaeos simul Pelagianosque vitemus.
§6.19.58
generi humano inflictum vulnus a diabolo, quidquid per illud nascitur, cogit esse sub diabolo, tamquam de suo frutice fructum iure decerpat
naturae humanae auctorem dixerim diabolum, et ipsius qua homo constat substantiae conditorem
§6.19.60
Quomodo manent peccata reatu, quae praeterierunt actu; sic e contrario fieri potest, ut concupiscentia maneat actu, et praetereat reatu
Te cogitare non posse, in qua dialexi invenerim contrariorum omnium reciprocationem
In nulla dialexi posse inveniri contrariorum omnium reciprocationem
§6.19.61
Quidquid ad hoc genus pertinet, de isto uno posse monstrari; quoniam si semel aliquis idolis sacrificaverit, potest, donec consequatur veniam, premi impietate commissi, et manet reatus actione finita. Nullo autem pacto - inquis - fieri potest ut maneat actio, et abscedebat reatus; id est, ut daemonibus - inquis - sacrificare non desinat, et tamen liber a profanitate videatur
§6.19.62
Actu - inquis - praetereunte, manet eius reatus in illius conscientia qui deliquit, donec dimittatur
§6.20.63
humana natura damnatur: et propter quod damnatur, propter hoc et damnabili diabolo subiugatur; quia et ipse diabolus spiritus immundus est: et utique bonum quod spiritus, malum quod immundus; quoniam spiritus est natura, immundus est vitio: quorum duorum illud a Deo est, hoc ab ipso. Non itaque tenet homines sive maioris sive infantilis aetatis, propter quod homines, sed propter quod immundi sunt
Hanc formam etiam in homine malo debuisse servari, quae servatur in diabolo; ne quisquam damnetur, nisi ex vitiis propriae voluntatis; atque ideo nullum sit originale peccatum: alioquin opus eius - ut dicis - qui etiam diabolum bonum condidit, non potest approbari
‘Greater’ and ‘lesser’ belong to the defined category of quantity. But quantity is not only incapable of…§§6.20.64–6.23.71
6.20.64‘Greater’ and ‘lesser’ belong to the defined category of quantity. But quantity is not only incapable of receiving contraries—which it has in common with quality and other categories—it also has no contrary, which it has in common with the definition of substance. Good and evil, however, are contraries.
6.20.65If something properly ordered belongs to God, and something belonging to God is good, then being subject to the devil is good, since the order established by God is preserved in this way. It follows that rebelling against the devil is evil, since resistance disturbs the order established by God.
6.21.66The devil’s work is not allowed to pass through God’s work.
The root of evil cannot be placed in God’s gift.
The order of things does not allow evil to be produced from good, or anything unjust from what is just.
Sins are not born from something free from sin.
Guilt cannot be born from this work, which has no guilt.
6.21.67No fuller’s cleansing herb washes you clean of the stain of the Manicheans.
6.22.68Augustine reports that Julian presents his words as meaning that the serpent had physical sexual intercourse with Eve.
6.22.69Throughout my argument I have crushed your assertion about the evil of sexual desire and original sin.
Augustine reports that Julian claims the teaching of Basil of Caesarea and John of Constantinople agrees with his party’s views.
‘A conspiracy of lost men.’
‘The people’s murmuring’ is the only thing you set against us.
6.23.70You understand the apostle’s words differently from the way that entire passage ought to be understood: ‘I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh,’ through ‘Miserable man that I am! Who will free me from the body of this death?’ (Romans 7:18–24)
Augustine also reports that Julian acknowledges the glorious struggles the saints undertake against the movements of fleshly desire.
6.23.71It is contradictory for the person who says, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,’ also to say, ‘I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh.’ (Galatians 2:20; Romans 7:18)
You make the apostle say these things as though he meant that, despite his resistance, some hand of deadly pleasure dragged him off to prostitutes.
Latin · §§6.20.64–6.23.71
§6.20.64
Qui miratur quia creatura Dei subditur diabolo, non miretur; subditur enim creatura Dei creaturae Dei, minor maiori
minor maiori
Quia maior et minor ad finitam speciem pertinet quantitatis? Sed quantitas - inquis - non solum contrariorum capax non est, quod ei cum qualitate atque aliis praedicamentis; verum etiam nec contrarium habet, quod ei cum substantiae est definitione commune: bonum vero et malum contraria sunt
§6.20.65
Si res - inquis - quae decenter ordinata est, ad Deum pertinet, et res quae ad Deum pertinet, bona est; bonum est itaque subditum esse diabolo, quoniam institutus a Deo per hoc ordo servatur. Sequiturque - inquis - ut malum sit rebellare diabolo, quoniam per resultationem institutus a Deo ordo turbatur
Sequiturque ut malum sit rebellare diabolo, quoniam per resultationem institutus a Deo ordo turbatur
§6.21.66
Per opus Dei opus diaboli transire non sinitur. Non potest mali radix in dono Dei locari. Rerum ratio non sinit, ut de bono malum, et de iusto iniquum aliquid proferatur. Non nascuntur peccata de ea re, quae libera est a peccato. De hoc opere quod non habet culpam, nasci culpa non potest
§6.21.67
Non ut a matre natura, sed ut a noverca hominem in has aerumnas esse proiectum
me ab infectione Manichaeorum, nulla - sicut dicis - mundat herba fullonis
§6.22.68
Filios mulieris quae serpenti credidit ut libidine corrumperetur, non liberari nisi per Filium Virginis, quae angelo credidit ut sine libidine fetaretur
Quod Evae serpens commixtus fuerit concubitu corporali
§6.22.69
Tota disputatione tua contrivisti - sicut te iactas - assertionem meam, de malo carnalis concupiscentiae originalisque peccati
conspiratio perditorum
populi murmur, quod solum vobis a nobis - dicis - opponi
§6.23.70
Me - affirmas - aliter intellegere, quam totum ipsum capitulum debet intellegi
§6.23.71
contrarium
ut qui dicit: Vivo non ego iam, vivit vero in me Christus [n189] ; dicat etiam: Scio quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum [n190]
Apostolum sic ista dixisse, quasi qui se vellet intellegi renitentem, in scorta aliqua manu pestiferae voluptatis abduci
Augustine reports that Julian refers these words to ‘the Jews’ pride,’ as though the apostle had…§§6.23.72–6.26.83
6.23.72Augustine reports that Julian refers these words to ‘the Jews’ pride,’ as though the apostle had represented in himself people who despised Christ’s gifts as unnecessary for them.
They despised those gifts because he offered forgiveness of sins that they themselves had avoided through the law’s admonition.
6.23.73The apostle emphasizes the power of habit.
Through the good law and the holy commandment, the minds of the wicked had become more savage, because no instruction could instill virtue without their own willing participation.
The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has what is good, then, become death for me? Certainly not! But sin, so that it might appear as sin, worked death in me through what is good, so that sin might become sinful beyond measure through the commandment. (Romans 7:12–13)
6.24.75The expression ‘in whom all sinned’ is used as though it said ‘because of which all sinned,’ just as it says, ‘By what does a young man correct his way?’ (Romans 5:12; Psalm 119:9, LXX/Vulgate Psalm 118:9)
Augustine reports Julian’s interpretation: all people are not to be understood as having sinned originally in one man, together as though united in a single mass. Rather, they sin because the first man sinned—by imitating him, not by being born from him.
6.24.76By what does a young man correct his way? By guarding your words. (Psalm 119:9; LXX/Vulgate Psalm 118:9)
Moses fled at this word. (Acts 7:29)
6.24.77But if he was speaking about the transmission of sin by descent, nowhere would it have been more appropriate for him to say, ‘Sin passed to all for this reason: because all were begotten through married people’s pleasure.’ He would have added, ‘It passes in this way: they flowed from the decaying flesh of the first man.’
6.24.80‘Many’ was said so that ‘all’ would not be understood.
Augustine reports that Julian refuses to identify the ‘many’ mentioned later with the ‘all’ mentioned earlier. (Romans 5:12,18–19)
6.25.82The proverb will no longer be used which says that parents ate sour grapes and their children’s teeth were set on edge. A son will not die for his father’s sin, nor a father for his son’s sin; the soul that sins will itself die. (Ezekiel 18:2–4,20)
6.26.83Augustine reports Julian’s two main claims in his four books: original sin should not be believed, and sexual desire cannot be blamed without condemning marriage.
He also reports Julian’s claim that he has undertaken war against the ungodly and stands with the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, and priests. Julian alleges that a company of Manicheans is defeating him.
Latin · §§6.23.72–6.26.83
§6.23.72
in Iudaeorum superbiam
ista verba transferre, tamquam ipsos in se transfiguraverit Apostolus, qui contemnebant dona Christi, velut sibi non necessaria
quod veniam daret ille peccatis, quae ipsi legis admonitione vitassent
§6.23.73
Exaggerat - inquis - Apostolus vim consuetudinis
Per legem - inquis - bonam et per mandatum sanctum pravorum animi ferocierant; quoniam sine voluntate propria nulla eruditio poterat inspirare virtutem
§6.24.75
ea locutione dictum esse: In quo omnes peccaverunt, ac si diceretur: Propter quod omnes peccaverunt; sicut dictum est: In quo corrigit iunior viam suam [n214] ; ut scilicet non in uno homine omnes homines peccasse intellegantur originaliter, et tamquam in massae unione communiter; sed propterea quia primus hominum ille peccavit; id est, cum imitantur illum, non cum generantur ex illo. Non ergo huic sensui convenit illa locutio, ita dictum esse: in quo, velut dictum esset:
§6.24.76
Propter quid corrigit?
verbum hoc
§6.24.77
Sed - inquis - si de peccati traduce loquebatur, nusquam congruentius diceret: Ideo pertransiit peccatum, quia omnes sunt de coniugum voluptate generati; et adderet: In eo transit, in quo ex tabida primi hominis carne fluxerunt
§6.24.80
dictum fuisse multos, ne omnes intellegerentur
§6.25.82
Quod vero causae tuae postremum et quasi fortissimum firmamentum, propheticum testimonium esse voluisti, ubi per Ezechielem dictum legimus: Quod non erit parabola, qua dicebant, parentes uvas acerbas edisse, et dentes obstupuisse filiorum; nec morietur filius in peccato patris, nec pater in peccato filii, sed anima quae peccat ipsa morietur [n240] : non intellegis hanc esse promissionem Testamenti Novi, et spiritalis hereditatis ad alterum saeculum pertinentis. Id enim agit gratia Redemptoris, ut paternum chirographum deleat [n241] , et unusquisque pro se rationem reddat. Ceterum quam multa sint divinarum testimonia Litterarum, quae parentum peccatis obligant filios, numerare quis possit? Cur enim peccavit Cham, et in eius filium Chanaan vindicta prolata est [n242] ? Cur pro peccato Salomonis filius eius diminutione regni punitus est [n243] ? Cur peccatorum Achab regis Israel in eius posteros poena dilata est [n244] ? Utquid legitur in sanctis Libris: Reddens peccata patrum in sinum filiorum eorum post eos [n245] ; et: Reddens peccata patrum in filios usque in tertiam et quartam progeniem [n246] ? Qui numerus etiam pro universitate accipi potest. Numquid haec falsa sunt? Quis hoc dixerit, nisi divinorum eloquiorum apertissimus inimicus? Sed carnalis generatio etiam populi Dei pertinens ad Testamentum vetus, quod in servitutem generat [n247] , parentum peccatis obligat filios; spiritalis autem generatio, sicut hereditatem, ita poenarum atque praemiorum comminationes promissionesque mutavit. Quod Prophetae in spiritu praevidentes, ista dixerunt; sed apertius Ieremias: In diebus illis, inquit, non dicent: Patres manducaverunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt, sed unusquisque in suo peccato morietur; et eius qui manducaverit uvam acerbam, ostupescent dentes ipsius [n248] . Nempe manifestum est, ita hoc prophetice pronuntiari, sicut ipsum Testamentum Novum, quod prius occultum fuit, et per Christum postea revelatum est. Denique, ne nos moverent ea quae commemoravi, et cetera huiusmodi plurima de reddendis in filios peccatis parentum, quae utique veraciter scripta sunt, et huic prophetiae contraria putarentur; continuo solvit istam molestissimam quaestionem, coniungendo atque dicendo: Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, et consummabo domui Israel et domui Iuda Testamentum novum, non secundum Testamentum quod disposui patribus eorum [n249] . In hoc igitur Testamento Novo per sanguinem testatoris deleto paterno chirographo, incipit homo paternis debitis non esse obnoxius renascendo, quibus nascendo fuerat obligatus, ipso Mediatore dicente: Ne vobis patrem dicatis in terra [n250] ; secundum hoc utique, quod alios natales quibus non patri succederemus, sed cum patre semper viveremus, invenimus.
§6.26.83
Ad omnia me tibi respondisse, Iuliane, et omnia refellisse, quibus putasti et disputasti voluminibus quattuor credendum non esse originale peccatum, et concupiscentiam carnis non posse culpari sine damnatione nuptiarum; puto quod perspicis, si pervicax non sis. Demonstratum enim est, eum tantum paterno antiquo debito non teneri, qui hereditatem patremque mutavit: ubi coheredem invenit unicum per naturam, adoptatus ipse per gratiam: eique tantum concupiscentiam carnalem mortem non inferre post mortem, qui in Christi morte invenerit mortem, qua moriatur peccato, et evaserit mortem qua natus fuerat in peccato. Unus enim pro omnibus mortuus est, ergo omnes mortui sunt [n251] : et pro omnibus mortuus est; nec aliqui poterunt vivere pro quibus non est mortuus, qui pro mortuis vivus est mortuus. Haec negans, his repugnans, ista convellere moliens catholicae fidei munimenta, ipsosque nervos disrumpere christianae religionis, veraeque pietatis; audes insuper dicere, quod contra impios bella susceperis: cum adversum matrem quae te spiritaliter peperit, armis impietatis induaris. Audes te agmini sanctorum Patriarcharum, Prophetarum, Apostolorum, martyrum, sacerdotumque miscere; cum tibi dicant Patriarchae: Etiam pro parvulis natis oblata sacrificio pro peccatis [n252] ; eo quod non sit mundus a sordibus nec infans diei unius super terram [n253] ; cum tibi dicant Prophetae: in iniquitatibus concepti sumus [n254] ; cum tibi dicant Apostoli: Quicumque baptizati sumus in Christo Iesu, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus [n255] ; ut existimemus nos mortuos quidem esse peccato, vivere autem Deo in Christo Iesu [n256] ; cum tibi dicant martyres: Secundum Adam carnaliter natos contagium mortis antiquae prima nativitate contrahere, unde parvulis dimittantur in Baptismo, non propria, sed aliena peccata [n257] ; cum tibi dicant sacerdotes: Carnali voluptate concretos prius subire delictorum contagium, quam vitae huius haurire munus [n258] . His te consociare praesumis, quorum fidem debellare conaris. Audes dicere, quod a Manichaeorum consortio vincaris, qui Manichaeos invictos facis, nisi cum eis et ipse vincaris. Falleris, fili, miserabiliter falleris, vel etiam detestabiliter falleris: quando animositatem qua teneris viceris, tunc veritatem poteris tenere qua vinceris.