Letters & Polemics (CSEL) 22

In the sixth consulship of Honorius Augustus, on the seventh day before the Ides of December, Augustine, bishop of the Catholic Church of the districts of Hippo Regius, said: You know that yesterday you said that you could defend the writings of Manichaeus and assert that they possess the truth. If this pleases you, and today you also either undertake or presume that you can do it, say so. Felix the Manichaean said: I do not deny that I said I would defend my law, if the authors of my law are brought forward into the open. And when Bishop Augustine had brought forth the letter of Manichaeus which they call «the Foundation,» he said: If I read from this codex, which you see me carrying, the letter of Manichaeus which you call «the Foundation,» can you recognize whether it is the same one? Felix said: I recognize it. Augustine said: Take it yourself and read.

And when Felix had received the codex, he read: «Manichaeus, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the providence of God the Father. These are the wholesome words from the perennial and living fountain: which whoever shall have heard, and first believed them, then kept what has been intimated, shall never be subject to death, but shall enjoy eternal and glorious life. For assuredly he is to be judged blessed who shall have been instructed by this divine knowledge, by which, set free, he shall remain in everlasting life.» Bishop Augustine said: You have certainly recognized the letter of your Manichaeus? Felix said: I have recognized it. Augustine said: Prove to us, then, in what way this Manichaeus is an apostle of Jesus Christ.

For we nowhere read of him in the Gospel among the apostles; and we know who was ordained in the place of Judas the betrayer — namely, holy Matthias; and who afterward was called by the voice of the Lord from heaven — that is, the Apostle Paul — all men recognize. Prove to us, then, that this Manichaeus is an apostle of Christ, as he has dared to set down at the head of his letter. Felix said: Let your holiness also prove to me what is written in the Gospel, Christ saying: «I go to the Father; and I send to you the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, who will lead you into all truth.» Prove to me, apart from this Scripture, that this is the Scripture of the Holy Spirit which Christ promised, where all truth is to be found;

and if I find the truth in other codices that do not pertain to Manichaeus, and Christ delivered those — for it was so said by Christ, that the Holy Spirit the Paraclete Himself will lead into all truth — then, according to the word of Christ, I reject the Scripture of Manichaeus. Augustine said:

Since, then, you have not been able to prove in what way Manichaeus is an apostle of Christ, and you demand that I prove in what way He sent the Holy Spirit the Paraclete whom He promised — so that you may then reject the writings of Manichaeus, if you find the promise of Christ fulfilled apart from the writings of Manichaeus — although you ought first to have answered my questions, nevertheless, behold, I answer first and show you when the Holy Spirit was sent whom Christ promised. And he goes to the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. And when he had received the codex of the Gospel, he recited: «But while they were speaking these things, Jesus stood in the midst of them and said to them: Peace be to you; it is I, do not fear.» And as he was reading, he said: This is after the resurrection.

And when he had said this, he read: «But they, troubled and terrified, supposed that they saw a spirit. And He said to them: Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me to have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe, and marvelled for joy, He said: Have you anything here to eat? And they offered Him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when He had eaten before them, taking the remains He gave them to them and said to them:»

These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, for it is necessary that all things be fulfilled which are written concerning me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms. Then he opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures, and he said to them: Thus it is written, and thus it behooved the Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. And I will send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. And when he had handed back the book of the Gospel, he took up the Acts of the Apostles and said:

We have heard in the Gospel that the holy Evangelist recalled the promise of Christ, which is in the Gospel according to John, which Felix here present has recalled. For where the Lord said, 'I send to you the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,' John the Evangelist wrote it. But this which I have just read, Luke the Evangelist has attested, and it agrees with the truth of the apostle John. Let us see also how what the Lord promised was accomplished, and how it was fulfilled, so that when the fulfillment of the Lord's promise has been set forth from the canonical books of the holy Church, we may not seek another Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, lest we fall into the snares of seducers. And he read from the Acts of the Apostles:

Theophilus, I made my first discourse concerning all the things that Jesus began to do and to teach, on the day when he chose the apostles through the Holy Spirit and commanded them to preach the Gospel; to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, being seen by them over forty days and speaking of the kingdom of God and how he conversed with them. And he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, 'which,' he said, 'you have heard from my mouth; for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall begin to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, whom you shall also receive not many days hence, up until Pentecost.' They therefore, coming together, questioned him, saying, 'Lord.'

If at this time you will restore the kingdom to Israel? But he said: No one can know the time which the Father has placed in his own power; but you shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses to me at Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the whole earth. When he had said these things, a cloud received him and he was taken up from them. And as they were gazing while he went into heaven, behold, two men stood by them in white raiment, who said to them: Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven.

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room, where dwelt Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes and Jude the brother of James. And they all were persevering with one accord in prayer, together with the women and Mary, who had been the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the hearers and said—now there was a crowd gathered in one place of about a hundred and twenty men—'Brethren, this Scripture must be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of the holy David concerning Judas, who was the guide to those who seized Jesus, for he was numbered among us and had obtained a share of this ministry. This man, therefore, acquired a field from the reward of his iniquity, and bound his neck for himself and fell headlong, and was burst asunder in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And this became known to all who dwelt in Jerusalem, so that that field was called in their own tongue Akeldama, that is, the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms:'

'Let his dwelling be desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it,' and 'Let another take his office.' It is fitting, therefore, that of these men who accompanied us during all the time in which the Lord Jesus Christ went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until that day on which he was taken up from us, one should be with us a witness of his resurrection. And they set forth two, Joseph, who was called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And praying, he said: 'You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take up the place of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas fell away to go to his own place.'

And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was at once numbered as the twelfth with the eleven apostles. And when he had read this, he said: We have heard who was ordained in the place of Judas the traitor, which I mentioned a little before, lest anyone should creep in by fraud into the number of the apostles and by the name of apostleship deceive the ignorant. Now let us see, as we promised, how the promise of Christ concerning the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. And when he had said this, he read in the passage: In the time when the day of Pentecost was completed, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent gust rushing, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.

And there appeared to them tongues divided as of fire, which also settled upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with various tongues, according as the Spirit gave them to utter. Now there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, men from every nation that is under heaven. And when this sound was made, the crowd came together and was confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own speech and in his own tongue. And they were astonished and marveled, saying to one another: Are not all these who speak Galileans by nation? And how do we recognize among them the speech in which we were born?

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and those who dwell in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and the Romans who were present, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, heard them speaking in their own tongues the mighty works of God. And when he had read this, he said: You have now heard of the Holy Spirit and how he was sent. What you required of me I have proved; it remains that you also do what you promised. Since we have found when he sent the Holy Spirit whom he promised, reject that writing which under the name of the Holy Spirit sought to defraud either the reader or the hearer. Felix said:

I do not deny what I said, for when it has been proved to me that the Holy Spirit has taught the truth which I seek, I reject that other writing. For this your Holiness has read to me, where the apostles received the Holy Spirit. And in the apostles themselves I seek one who may teach me concerning the beginning, the middle, and the end. Augustine said: If you read that the Lord said this—'I send you the Holy Spirit, who shall teach you the beginning, the middle, and the end'—you rightly bind me to show what the Holy Spirit taught. Felix said: Since your Holiness says this, that the apostles themselves received the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, I say again:

Of the apostles themselves, whichever you wish, let him teach me what Mani taught me, or let him make void Mani's doctrine—of the twelve, whichever you wish. Augustine said: Far, far be it from the faith of the apostles that they should teach the doctrine of the sacrilegious Mani. But since you say that one of them ought to make void the doctrine of Mani, and yet the holy apostles are now not in the body, I, the least not only of all the apostles but of all bishops—for when could I aspire to the merits of the apostles?—as much as the Lord has deigned to bestow on me of his own Spirit, will make void the doctrine of Mani, when the following portions of that epistle begin to be read, which you yourself do not deny to be Mani's. Felix said: You said that the apostles have departed from the body;

their writings avail even until now. And since your Holiness has said, and since you have given leave to say what we wish without any fear, you said, 'I make void the law of Mani'; and I say: every man is a liar, God alone is truthful; let the Scriptures of God speak. Augustine said: You indeed are both a man and, as the matter itself is about to show, a liar. And since you have spoken what you wished, not from the Scripture of God, it behooves me too to speak what I wish. For if it is the truth of your Mani, it will not be able to be destroyed even by me; but if it is falsehood, what does it matter by whom it is destroyed?

Nevertheless, since you have said concerning the writings of the apostles that although they are not in the body, yet their writings are here—the apostles were taken up before the error of Mani had been born in the world—for that reason the writings of the apostles are not found manifestly disputing against Mani. Yet what the apostle Paul, in that same Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, whom he had received, foresaw would come to pass concerning such men as Mani was, and such as you also are, I will read, that you may recognize it. And having taken the epistle of the apostle Paul to Timothy, he read:

But the Spirit says expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and to doctrines of devils, in the hypocrisy of liars, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who have known the truth; for every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer. If you put the brethren in mind of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ. And when he had read it, he said:

I say that concerning you and such as you—who say that some creature of God is unclean, and who say that all intercourse, even that which takes place with a wife, is fornication (for this is what he means by 'forbidding to marry')—this was designated and set forth by the Spirit of prophecy. But if you deny that all intercourse is fornication, or if you say that all human food lawful to be eaten is granted to men as clean, then you are not among those whom the apostle proclaimed and prophesied. But if you are found among these things I have said, behold, you have the apostle Paul destroying and making void the doctrine of the Mani that was to come. Therefore answer to what I ask: is all intercourse fornication, or is intercourse with a wife not a sin? Felix.

Said: Let that which the apostle said be read to me again. And it was read again: But the Spirit says expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and to doctrines of devils, in the hypocrisy of liars, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who have known the truth; for every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer. If you put the brethren in mind of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ. Felix said:

Mani did not depart from the faith, as Paul says, as the others departed from the faith into their own sect, as it were; but Mani departed from no sect, so that it could be said that he departed from the faith. Augustine said: Since I see that you are unwilling to answer what you are asked, lest you be found either not to hold the Holy Spirit, whom we have already proved was sent to the apostles, or not to be in the number of those whom Paul designated as to come, where he also prophesied of you yourselves, I answer briefly: so that I may take according to your understanding what you said, 'They shall depart from the faith, since none depart from the faith except those who were in some faith;'

but Mani was in no faith from which he could depart, but in the one in which he was, in that he remained,"—this I ask you: whether Mani, or rather the doctrine of the lying devils which was in Mani, has seduced no catholic Christians so as to make them depart from the faith. For if many are seduced by you and through you and through that doctrine, so as to depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits, such as was in Mani, and begin to say that all intercourse is fornication—whence the apostle says, 'forbidding to marry'—and begin to say that the flesh which men eat is not the creature of God, but the making of devils, and is uncleanness:

it is manifest that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who was in the apostle Paul, foretold concerning these that they would depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, such as was in Mani. Now therefore, since I have answered, it is just that you should answer what I asked: whether you do not say that all intercourse is fornication; or, if you are unwilling to answer even this, then answer that which I first asked, so as to prove that Mani is an apostle of Christ; or, if you are unwilling even for this, allow me to make void his doctrine, as I promised, when his epistle which you call 'of the Foundation' was being read. Felix said: And I answer to what your Holiness says, that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, came in Paul. Augustine said:

Not in him alone. Felix said: I treat of him, because if in him, then in all... And if in him—for Paul in another epistle says: 'We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect has come, those things which are said in part shall be done away'—we, hearing Paul say this, Mani came with his preaching, and we received him according to what Christ said: 'I send you the Holy Spirit.' And Paul came and himself also said that he is to come, and afterward no one came; therefore we received Mani. And because Mani came and through his preaching taught us the beginning, the middle, and the end; he taught us about the fabric of the world, why it was made and from what it was made, and who made it;

he taught us why there is day and why there is night; he taught us about the course of the sun and moon: because we did not hear this in Paul nor in the writings of the other apostles, we believe this, that he himself is the Paraclete. And so I say again what I said above: if I hear in another Scripture, where the Paraclete speaks, that is, the Holy Spirit, concerning that about which I wish to inquire, and you teach me, I believe and renounce. Augustine said: You say that you therefore do not believe the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, was in the apostle Paul, because the apostle Paul said, 'For we know in part and we prophesy in part,' and from this you suppose that the apostle by these words foretold, as it were, that another was to come after him who would preach all the things which this one could not, because he spoke in part;

and this one you believe to be Mani. First, then, from the very reading of the apostle I will show why the apostle said this. Next, since you have said that Mani taught you the beginning, the middle, and the end, and how or why the world was made, about the course of the sun and moon and the other things you mentioned, it is not read in the Gospel that the Lord said: 'I send you the Paraclete, who shall teach you about the course of the sun and moon.' For he wished to make them Christians, not astronomers. It suffices that men should know of these matters, as far as they have learned in school, for human uses. But Christ said that the Paraclete would come, who would lead into all truth; but he did not there say: the beginning, the middle, and the end; he did not say: the course of the sun and moon.

But if you think that this doctrine pertains to that truth which Christ promised through the Holy Spirit, I ask you: how many are the stars? If you have received that Spirit of whom you speak, to whom it pertains to teach these things which I say do not pertain to Christian instruction and doctrine, then you ought to answer and reply to me. For you have made yourself a debtor, so that if I ask anything of such matters, and you do not answer, that Spirit does not appear in you, of whom it was said: 'He shall lead into all truth'—if that is the truth to which these things pertain.

Therefore choose for yourself which you wish, and be prepared to answer me concerning these matters as a man who has received the Spirit that leads into all truth, and who says that it pertains to that very truth to know these worldly things. And so I can tell you the things which pertain to Christian doctrine; but you, who think that it pertains to it how the world was made and what is done in the world, must answer me concerning all things. But plainly, when you have answered, you shall have to prove it. But before you begin to speak, in case perhaps you have something which he whom you followed fabricated, let me first teach what I promised, namely, why the apostle said: 'We know in part and we prophesy in part.'

For he said, as the reading itself will presently show, that while a man is in this life, he cannot attain to all things, but in this life attains in part; but the Holy Spirit himself, who in this life teaches in part, after this life will lead into all truth. And that this may be taught most plainly, hear the apostle. And when he had said this, he read from the apostle: But whether prophecies shall be done away, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be done away; for we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect shall have come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away the things that were of a child.

For now we see through a mirror, in an enigma; but then face to face. And when he had read this, he said: Now tell me, if the apostle was foretelling the future times of Mani, whether you now see God face to face. Felix said: I cannot do so much against your power, for the rank of the episcopate is a wondrous power, and next against the laws of the emperor. And above I asked briefly, that you teach me what is truth; and if you teach me what is truth, it will be evident that what I hold is a lie. Augustine said: It has appeared that you could not prove that the apostle of Christ was Mani; and why you could not, I will briefly set forth.

You said that you proved Mani to be an apostle of Christ from this: that Christ promised the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, was to come; and because you could not find, when he came, the one whom Christ promised, hence you believed that Mani himself was he. But when I proved through the holy, ecclesiastical, canonical Scriptures when the Holy Spirit came most manifestly, whom the Lord Christ promised would come, you turned yourself to say that it ought to be shown you what he taught, and whether he made void the doctrine of Mani.

When therefore I had answered that Mani was after the apostles in the flesh, but that their doctrine had been preached by them before Mani was born, I nevertheless said that one of those apostles, Paul, through the Holy Spirit who had come upon all the apostles, prophesied also concerning this doctrine of yours, that it was to come, and called it the doctrine of lying devils. Wherein I showed that the things which Paul said would be in that doctrine pertain to your profession, that is, the forbidding of marriage—since you say that all intercourse, even with a wife, is fornication—and abstinence from foods which God created—since I know that you call certain foods unclean, though he himself goes on and says:

'every creature of God is good'—when here I demanded of you that you answer, you said that Mani taught you the beginning, the middle, and the end, and the course of the sun and moon and other such things; and when I showed that these do not pertain to Christian doctrine, you answered that the apostle Paul himself said that he knows in part and prophesies in part. I said that we cannot know divine things while we are in this life, and that here we see through a mirror and in an enigma, but then face to face; and I asked of you, if you think the apostle Paul said this—that Mani was to come, who would teach what Paul could not—whether it pertains to you, who say that you have received that very Spirit, to see God now face to face. And since you cannot,

it is manifest that the apostle Paul spoke of that of which John also speaks: 'Beloved, we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.' When you had heard this, you said that you were not able to prevail against my power. Which is not my power, but if there is any, it was given to me by him for refuting errors—which is the power of all his faithful ones and of those who with full heart presume concerning themselves upon him.

You also said that the authority of the episcopate frightens you, when you see with how much peace we conduct ourselves among us, with how much tranquility we dispute, how the people here present offer you no violence, strike into you no terror, but most tranquilly listen, as befits Christians. You also said that you feared the laws of the emperor. This one whom the Holy Spirit filled would not fear for the true faith; for even Peter the apostle feared in the Lord's passion and thrice denied him; but where the Paraclete, whom Christ had promised, the Holy Spirit, filled him, he was crucified for the faith of the Lord; and he who first had the denial of fear, afterward fulfilled the most glorious passion of confession.

You therefore, from this very fact that you said you fear the laws of the emperor—although also from the other matters it is sufficiently apparent—show that you have not found the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth; for even if you did not fear, you would be convicted by the other matters. Felix said: The apostles also feared. Augustine said: They feared so as to be on their guard, not so as to hesitate to declare their faith when seized. You ought long ago to have feared on this account, so that we should not have found you here; now you are in the midst of it. Why do you fear, unless because you have nothing to say? For if you had feared the emperors, you would have kept silent beforehand.

But now, since yesterday you gave a petition to the curator and publicly cried out with your books that you were prepared to be burned, if anything evil should be found in them—whence yesterday you demanded the laws as though a brave man—today do you flee from the truth as a timid man? Felix said: I do not flee from the truth. Augustine said: Then say, if you see God face to face according to your promise—for you said that the apostle Paul spoke of you, that you were to receive so full a truth that we might understand or believe that the apostle had it in part and you the whole. Felix said: I do not flee from the truth, but I seek the truth. What you say that I do not hold, let it be proved to me through the divine Scriptures. This is what I now seek. Augustine said:

First profess that you could not prove that Mani is an apostle of Jesus Christ; and, as far as I shall be able, when all things contrary shall have been rooted out of your heart through my ministry, by the Lord's gift, I will graft into you what is the knowledge of the truth which leads to God, beginning from faith. Felix said: Since you say this—that I should deny my law and receive another, provided it be better, which is what I seek—I do not answer thus, so as to deny my law before I receive the other. Augustine said: But first that is poured out of a vessel which it holds contrary, and thus is filled up that which is good; or, if you still hesitate to pour out, defend that of which you are full.

For I will show you, as much as the Lord helps me, with how much uncleanness and blasphemies the doctrine of Mani is full, if you permit that epistle to be read, of whose beginning we have already treated, and you could not prove that Mani is an apostle of Christ. But for this reason you weave delays, lest the rest be read, where your sacrileges are openly detected; or, if you permit, let them be read. Felix said: I permit, since you said that all unclean things are poured out and thus good things are put in; for this was said by your Holiness. To which I too say: no one pours in water, unless another has emptied it. Augustine said: See how inconsiderately you have spoken, to speak more mildly and not say insanely. Surely I set before you the likeness from a vessel;

into a full vessel no one can put anything, unless that with which it was full is poured out. Felix said: You said one, and I said two. Augustine said: If you said two vessels, do you wish that we empty your fellow vessel and fill it, so that you can pour out what you have? Felix said: We both have one water. Augustine said: Since therefore you are both full of your own water, what shall we fill, that we may teach you, unless one of you pours out what he has? Or, if it is good and therefore ought to be kept, so that that epistle may be defended and read, let us see whether the rest at least can be defended, if you have failed at its very beginning; or, if you say that you did not fail in it, prove to us how Mani is an apostle of Christ. Felix said:

Christ said that he would send the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. Augustine said: If you have him, attend to what I asked you a while ago. For you said that to know these worldly things also pertains to his doctrine. Tell me: how many are the stars, if you have been led into that whole truth? Felix said: I too say that, if the Paraclete spoke through the apostles, then also through Paul; and I ask your Holiness to show me those things which I have already mentioned. Augustine said: Confess that you could not show what I asked, and I will show, according to the Scriptures, what pertains to the Christian faith. Felix said:

And I too, if you bring me the Scriptures of Mani, the five authors whom I named to you, whatever you ask me, I will prove to you. Augustine said: Of those same five authors is this epistle, whose beginning we opened, and we found written there: 'Mani, an apostle of Christ Jesus.' And I see that you do not expound to me that very beginning, because you do not prove how Mani is an apostle of Jesus Christ. Felix said: If I do not prove it in this one, I prove it in the second. Augustine said: In what second? Felix said: In the Treasure. Augustine said: This 'Treasure,' which you call by such a name in order to seduce the wretched, who wrote it? Mani. I will not have you prove it to me from him: because Mani himself lies by saying that he is what he is not. Felix.

Said: Prove it to me through another. Augustine said: What do you wish me to prove to you? Felix said: That Mani lies. Augustine said: Since you cannot prove that Mani speaks the truth, is it necessary that I prove that Mani has lied? Felix said: Why could I not prove it? Were the Scriptures which I asked for brought forth, and did I not prove it? Augustine said: But you ask for the Scriptures of Mani, in which we place no faith; prove it from elsewhere. But I, from that very Scripture of Mani, prove to you that Mani lied and that Mani blasphemed. Felix said: Let the books be brought forth. Augustine said: The epistle of Mani which you call 'of the Foundation' is here present. There is no beginning in a building except the foundation.

If I show that it made its ruin in the very foundation, why do we investigate the rest of its structure? FELIX said: You say this pointing out that the ruin is in the foundation itself; but I say, provide arbiters, as many as you too have, and I will prove to you that he does not lie. AUGUSTINE said: Far be it from us and from the human race that you should see as many Manichaeans as you see here. FELIX said: Provide, I said, what I asked of you. AUGUSTINE said: Whom then do you wish me to give you? FELIX said: Whomever you shall wish. AUGUSTINE said: I give these; if you have better ones, ask for them. FELIX said: How do you give these? AUGUSTINE said: Those present, who are listening to us. FELIX said: These do not favour me. AUGUSTINE said: So then you seek such men as favour you, not such as favour the truth? FELIX said:

Men who will hear me, and not only me, but also the Scripture itself, so that it may be tested whether he speaks the truth or lies. AUGUSTINE said: You see then that they are listening. Let us read the rest, since you have confessed that this letter is Manichaeus's. FELIX said: I do not deny it. AUGUSTINE said: Then let it be read. FELIX said: I have no arbiters. And he added: Let its heading be read. And when it was being read and they had come to the place where the same letter has written: "Peace to you, invisible peace, and may the knowledge of the truth be with his brethren and dearly beloved, who believe alike in the heavenly commandments and serve them; but also may the right hand of the light guard you and snatch you from every malignant assault and from the snare of the world;"

and may the piety of the Holy Spirit open the innermost recesses of your breast, that with your very eyes you may see your own souls" — Felix said: Give me a Scripture that refutes these things. AUGUSTINE said: As yet we have heard nothing evil, except that Manichaeus dared to call himself an apostle of Christ. For the things he said still pertain to the plaster of deceit and to the sheep's skin, whereby he first speaks good words to men, that he may be able to introduce evil ones. But let us see what he wishes to introduce through these words. For if he introduces something evil, then those words too will be evil and seductive; but if in what follows he says something good and true, we shall be compelled by necessity. Permit therefore the following to be read. FELIX said:

If then you assert that good things are placed first and evil things are afterwards insinuated, how can I believe you, when you have first spoken good things to me? AUGUSTINE said: I have as yet called those things neither good nor evil. I said we have as yet heard nothing evil; I did not say: we have already heard something good. For the only evil thing I mentioned was that he dared to say he was an apostle of Christ. But the words he spoke in what follows will then be evil, if they introduce something evil; they will then be good, if they introduce something good. Permit therefore that the following be read. Why are you afraid? FELIX said: I am not afraid. AUGUSTINE said: Permit therefore that they be read. FELIX said: Let them be read. And when it was being read and they had come to the place where it has written:

"And so the most splendid realms of the same one were founded upon the shining and blessed earth, so that they can never be moved or shaken by anyone" — Augustine said: This earth of which he speaks, whence did he have it? Did he make it, or beget it, or was it equal and coeternal with him? I mean this earth, the shining and blessed one of which he speaks. FELIX said: As it is written: "In the beginning God made heaven and earth, and the earth was invisible and defiled and unformed." I understand it thus: "In the beginning God made heaven and earth, and the earth was" — there seem to me to be, as it were, two earths, according to what Manichaeus says of two kingdoms. AUGUSTINE said:

Since you have cited our Scripture, which you are wont to blaspheme, it belongs to me to expound it and to show you that what is written is without blasphemy and in accord with truth, and not according to Manichaeus, so that then, at least in the second place, you may answer me what I asked. FELIX said: I answer. AUGUSTINE said: What is written, "In the beginning God made heaven and earth," the Scripture briefly comprehended what God had made. Then, because this earth which he had made did not yet appear before he distinguished and adorned it, of what sort of earth God had made, the following Scripture set forth what the earth was like, concerning which it had said: "In the beginning God made heaven and earth"; as though, when we had heard:

"In the beginning God made heaven and earth," we should ask, what sort of earth? — it subjoined and said: "But the earth," that is, that which God had made, "was invisible and unformed." It did not therefore speak of two earths, but set forth of what sort that one was. You therefore now answer me what I briefly asked: this shining and blessed earth of which Manichaeus speaks, upon which the realms of God were founded, was it made by God himself, or was it begotten of him, or was it coeternal with him? One of the three, if it is not troublesome, answer without evasion. FELIX said: The Scripture itself interprets itself. AUGUSTINE said:

If then you know there is here some place where Scripture says this, that God either begot that earth or made it or that it was coeternal with him, open to the place you know and read it to me. FELIX said: It is not in this Scripture, but in another. AUGUSTINE said: I believe then that, if there is any such Scripture, you remember what it said there. So then you answer me, you who know that Scripture; and if I say that it does not read so, you will convict me. But if I recognize that it is so, I argue according to that which you yourself have answered. Say therefore whether God made this earth, or begot it, or it was coeternal with him — you who have read in I know not what book where you say this is written. FELIX said:

Since just now your Holiness has interpreted your own Scripture as you wished, and I accepted it, so you too do the same for me: accept whatever I shall say. AUGUSTINE said: Meanwhile, as to what I asked, if nothing moves me against it, I accept; but if something moves me, I shall declare my difficulty to you, so that you may answer it. FELIX said: I have not answered your statements. AUGUSTINE said: Because the prior thing is that you should answer me as to what I asked, nevertheless I have arranged even to answer you first. Perhaps it did not move you; therefore you did not answer. Perhaps it will not move me either, when you have answered. Answer therefore what I asked. FELIX said: I answer. And he added:

You have therefore asked concerning that earth in which God is held, whether it was made by him, or he begot it, or it is coeternal with him. And I say that, just as God is eternal and there is with him nothing made, the whole is eternal. AUGUSTINE said: He neither begot it then nor made it? FELIX said: No, but it is coeternal with him. AUGUSTINE said: But if he had begotten it, it would not be coeternal with him. FELIX said: What is born has an end; what is unborn has no end. AUGUSTINE said: Of whom then was he the father, or whose father was he, whom just now you named father? For if he had begotten nothing, he could not be a father. FELIX said: But there are other things which he begot. AUGUSTINE said:

Those things then which he begot, are they not coeternal with him, or are they too coeternal? FELIX said: Whatever God begot is coeternal with him. AUGUSTINE said: Then you erred in what you said above: everything that is born has an end. FELIX said: For the moment, I erred, because I spoke according to the generation of the flesh. AUGUSTINE said: Confessing your error most modestly, may you deserve to understand the truth. FELIX said: May God grant it. AUGUSTINE said: Attend then now, that you may begin to recognize the error of this Scripture. If the things which God begot are not coeternal with him, then that earth is better, which God did not beget, where dwell all the things which God begot — which earth you say was not begotten by him. FELIX said:

All things are equated to one another, both those he begot and those he did not beget, that is, that earth where he dwelt. AUGUSTINE said: What? Is he himself who begot equal to all those things, or greater than they? FELIX said: Both he who begot and those whom he begot and where they are placed — all are equal. AUGUSTINE said: They are then of one substance? FELIX said: Of one. AUGUSTINE said: What God the Father is, this his sons are, this that earth also is? FELIX said: These are all one. AUGUSTINE said: Of this earth then he is not the father, but the inhabitant? FELIX said: Even so. AUGUSTINE said: If he neither begot it nor made it, how it pertains to him except by mere neighbourhood I do not see — as if one has a good neighbour;

and there will then be two things both unbegotten: the earth and the father. FELIX said: Nay rather, there are three: the unbegotten father, the unbegotten earth, and the unbegotten air. AUGUSTINE said: Is this whole one substance? FELIX said: One. AUGUSTINE said: And so founded that it can never be moved or shaken by anyone? FELIX said: Motion and shaking have a difference. AUGUSTINE said: Let them have it; but nevertheless were they such that they could never be moved or shaken by anyone? FELIX said: There is a difference between being moved and being shaken. AUGUSTINE said: I do not ask you about that. FELIX said: But it is from that side that you wish to hold me. AUGUSTINE said: Take it however you wish — "it could not be moved"; could it be moved? FELIX said: I do not say that it could not be moved, but motion is a difference. AUGUSTINE said: But I said thus:

neither moved nor shaken; I did not say: it can indeed be moved, but cannot be shaken, or: it can indeed be shaken, but cannot be moved. But I spoke of both things: that they can neither be moved nor shaken. FELIX said: Concerning both things there is a difference between being moved and being shaken. AUGUSTINE said: Let us then read what follows; let us see whether that god, who had his realms founded upon the shining and blessed earth, which can never be moved or shaken by anyone, feared no one, as befitted, so that he feared no one whose realms were so founded that they could be neither moved nor shaken by anyone. And he read what followed: "But beside one part and side of that illustrious and holy earth." And when he read it, he asked: What side? The right or the left?

FELIX said: This Scripture I cannot interpret and expound to you, for what is not there; it is its own interpreter. I cannot say, lest perhaps I fall into sin. AUGUSTINE said: Then let what follows be read. And when he read it and had come to the place where it has: "But the father of the most blessed light, knowing the great ruin and devastation which would rise up from the darkness and was hanging over his holy realms, unless he should set against it some excellent and illustrious deity, mighty in power, whereby he might at once overcome and destroy the stock of the darkness, which being extinguished, perpetual rest might be prepared for the inhabitants of the light," Augustine said:

Now then, since open blasphemies have begun, if you think they should be defended, say what this race of darkness — which God seems to have feared, lest a great ruin and devastation from the darkness should burst into his realms — could do to harm God; especially since he said above that his realms were so founded that they could never be moved or shaken by anyone. What then was this race going to do to him? Could it harm him, or could it not? Answer one of the two. FELIX said: And I answer: if there is nothing against God, according to what the Scripture of Manichaeus said — that there is another kingdom — for what cause was Christ sent, to free us from the snare of this death? Whose is this snare and death? If there is no adversary against God, why have we been baptized?

Why the Eucharist, why Christianity, if there is nothing against God? AUGUSTINE said: Since I see that you are unwilling to answer what I ask you, and that you question me so that I may answer you — and this I do not refuse, provided you remember that I answer you when you question, whereas you have refused to answer me when I question — but since you have questioned me, hear what you have asked. We indeed say that Christ the Liberator has come, and we say that we are freed from our sins, because we are not begotten of the substance of God, but made by God through his Word. Now there is a great difference between what is born of the substance of God and what is made by God, which is not of the substance of God. Whatever therefore God has made can be mutable;

but God himself is not mutable, because the works cannot be equal to the craftsman and founder. But you, who a little before said in answer to my question that both the father, who begot the sons of the light there, and the air and the earth itself and the sons themselves are of one substance and all are equal — it behoves you to tell me how the race of darkness could harm this substance, which is surely incorruptible. For if it could harm it, it was not an incorruptible nature; but if it could not, there was no cause why it should wage battle and send hither that deity of which he speaks. FELIX said: I ask for a postponement, that I may be able to answer. AUGUSTINE said: When? Is tomorrow's interval enough? FELIX said:

Grant me three days, that is, today and tomorrow and the day after, or until the day which is after the Lord's Day, that is, the day before the Ides of December. AUGUSTINE said: I see you have asked for a postponement in order to answer; it is human that it be granted to you. But if you cannot answer by the appointed day, what shall be done? FELIX said: I shall be vanquished. AUGUSTINE said: What if you flee? FELIX said: I shall be guilty toward this city and everywhere and toward my law. AUGUSTINE said: Nay rather, say this: if I flee, let me be regarded as though I had anathematized Manichaeus. FELIX said: This I cannot say. AUGUSTINE said: Then say to us openly that you are thinking of fleeing and no one holds you. FELIX said: I do not flee. AUGUSTINE said: As I see, you do not wish to depart as though vanquished; but at least say this:

if I flee, I am vanquished. FELIX said: I have said it. AUGUSTINE said: And whence will it appear that you fled on account of the proceedings? FELIX said: Command that I may be with whomever I shall choose. AUGUSTINE said: Choose for yourself someone from these brethren here present who stand at the railing. FELIX said: But with him who is in the middle. AUGUSTINE said: As you have chosen for yourself, you shall be with him until the day. FELIX said: Even so; and I consent to this. BONIFACE said: Christ will grant that, if I come with him, he is a Christian. I, Augustine, bishop of the Catholic Church of Hippo Regius, have subscribed to these proceedings enacted in the church before the people. I, Felix, a Christian, a worshipper of the law of Manichaeus, have subscribed to these proceedings enacted in the church before the people. BOOK TWO.

When the appointed day had come, that is, the day before the Ides of December, the matter began to be conducted thus in the Church of Peace. AUGUSTINE, bishop of the Catholic Church of the regions of Hippo Regius, said: When we held our discussion a while ago, you remember that you asked for a postponement, since you could not answer at the moment the things I had asked. If then, in so wide a span of time, namely after the fifth day, you have thought out anything, answer. For this is what I asked then: if nothing could harm God, why did he wage war with the race which you call the race of darkness, in which war he mingled his own substance — which is that which he himself is — with the nature of the demons, as you said when questioned?

But if anything could harm him, you do not worship an incorruptible God, such as truth and apostolic doctrine attest. FELIX said: From the time I departed from your Holiness, that I might return on the appointed day to answer your questioning, whatever you should wish to ask, the day has come. And because I have had no Scripture in my hands, since they have not been restored to me, whence I might instruct myself — for no one goes forth to a contest unless he has first meditated, and no litigant can litigate without his documents — likewise I too cannot answer without my Scripture. AUGUSTINE said:

This evasion you have devised in so long a span of days, but it will be able to help you not at all, since in a lost cause and a sacrilegious error you have nothing to answer. For it is known to all who were present, whom I see present even now, that you asked only for a postponement of days, but that you ought also to have asked for the codices when you asked for the postponement, if you thought you could be instructed by them to answer — which you did not do. I know that you asked for the codices, not indeed to be inspected for instruction, but this was far before you asked for the postponement; when, however, you asked for the postponement, you made no mention of the codices being restored to you and inspected, that you might be better instructed. FELIX said:

Now I ask that the codices be restored to me, and I will come to the contest after two days; and if I am vanquished, I shall undergo whatever you shall have decided. AUGUSTINE said: I do not think you a novice in this wicked sect, which you also confess. But that you have nothing to answer, even if you do not confess it, every man already sees. But since you demand back your codices, which are kept under the public seal, and say that, having inspected them, you can come instructed after two days, recall this, which is now established, that you were not able to answer the questions put to you. But take your codices, and say what you wish to be produced from them, that you may now inspect and answer. FELIX said: All the Scriptures which have been taken from me.

For this is the Letter of the Foundation, as your Holiness well knows, and as I too have said, since it itself contains the beginning, the middle, and the end. Let it be read, and let whatever evil is charged against my law be proved; and I renounce it, if those crimes which are charged against my law shall have been proved. AUGUSTINE said: Since you confess this to be the letter wherein the beginning, middle, and end of your doctrine is contained, how sacrilegious this beginning is — where you say that God fought against the race of darkness and mingled his own part, which is that which he himself is, with the nature of the demons, to be polluted and bound — is so sacrilegious that it can scarcely be borne by those who hear it.

This is charged first against your sect — whether you call this the beginning, or the middle, or the end, I do not much care; yet you do not deny that this was read from this letter, which you confess to be Manichaeus's — this is charged against you; defend this, if you can, that we may come to other matters. Whence I ask again: if you worship an incorruptible God, what could some hostile race, which you imagine, harm him? If it could harm him nothing, there was no cause why he should mingle his own part with the nature of the demons; but if it could harm him, you do not worship an incorruptible God. FELIX said: Manichaeus says there are two natures, and now for that he is blamed, because he said there are two, a good and an evil. Christ in the Gospel says there are two trees:

a good tree never makes bad fruit, and a bad tree never makes good fruit. Behold two natures. Then in the Gospel it is written: "Did you not sow good seed in the field? Whence then have the tares appeared? This the enemy has done." This enemy, if he is not foreign to God, let it be proved to me; if this enemy pertains to God, what kind of seed did he sow? Again in the Gospel it is written, Christ saying that in the last times he will set his throne in the midst of the world and will send his angels into the east and the west, the north and the south, and will gather all nations before him and will separate them, as a shepherd separates the lambs from the kids. And, to speak briefly, to the lambs he will say:

Go into the kingdom which was prepared for you from the origin of the world. To the kids, who are on the left side, he will say: Depart from me, you who have worked iniquity; for you had my name, but you did not do the works; go into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Who are they who have the name of Christ and are sent into eternal fire with the devil and his angels, and to what part do these belong, with whom Christ is not mingled, and yet they bear his name? For this Manichaeus says, that those whom Christ condemns are not his. For Paul the Apostle says: the prudence of the flesh is an enemy to God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be. This Manichaeus says, that what is an enemy to God does not pertain to God;

but if it pertains to God, he has made an enemy for himself; this Manichaeus does not say. Again Paul says: the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that they should not contemplate the brightness of the Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. Paul himself again says: there was given to me a goad of my flesh, an angel of Satan, who buffets me day and night; wherefore I besought the Lord that it might depart from me. And he said to me: my grace is sufficient for you; for virtue is proved in weakness. Behold what the Apostle has said, behold what the Evangelist has said.

Since Manichaeus asserts this, that he is foreign to God who warred against God — whether because Christ was crucified, or because all the apostles were slain for the sake of God's command — this one who crucified them, whom the command of God does not please, let your Holiness tell me this, whether he pertains to God. AUGUSTINE said: You have wished to cite the holy Scriptures, from which, by not understanding them, you stray far from the truth, as though drawing from them a patronage for your idle talk.

Yet among all the things which you have cited — partly as they are truly written, partly otherwise than they are written — you have nowhere been able to show that God, wishing to repel a hostile nature threatening his realms, that he might have rest, mingled his own part, which is that which he himself is, with the contrary nature of the demons, and caused it to be bound by them and contaminated. But this is what is charged against you. Whence, not finding what to answer, you have cited chapters of the divine Scriptures, where it is said of sinners that they do not pertain to the blessed life which God grants to the good and faithful, and you have wished these to be taken as two natures, according to the ravings of Manichaeus.

But truth says that all those things which we see and which we do not see, which naturally subsist, were made by God; among which the rational creature also, whether in angels or in men, received free will: by which free will, if it should wish to serve God, according to the will and law of God it would have eternal felicity with him; but if it were unwilling to be subject to his law, but, using its own power, had acted against his command, according to his justice it would lie under the punishment due. This is the omnipotence of God in creating all things, this the justice in requiting sinners.

But behold, I prove free will, and that each one sins therefrom if he wills, does not sin if he does not will, not only in the divine Scriptures, which you do not understand, but even in the words of your own Manichaeus. For, hemmed in, he sees the power of truth, against which he had tried to bring in another nature, which God did not make, against God — not by solid truth, but by empty phantasm; yet, to confess the truth about free will, human nature, in which God made him, prevailed in him more than the sacrilegious fable which he himself devised for himself. Hear then about free will, first, the Lord himself, where he mentions the two trees, of which you yourself made mention; hear him saying: