Julian excerpt in the intermediary document
Marriage 2.25.40
One of these statements is true; the other is false.
It is true that the person born from adultery cannot excuse the guilt of the adultery, because what the adulterers did belongs to the fault of their will; what they produced, however, deserves the praise given to fertility. If someone sows stolen wheat, the harvest that grows is not guilty. So I condemn the thief but praise the crop. I pronounce the newborn innocent on account of the good quality of the seed, as the apostle says: “God gives it a body as he wishes, and to each kind of seed its own body” (1 Corinthians 15:38). But I condemn the wrongdoer, who sinned through a perverse intention.
Latin
"Unum ex his - inquit - verum est, alterum falsum". Huic eadem brevitate respondeo: Immo utrumque verum est, neutrum falsum. "Verum est - inquit - quod adulteriorum culpam homo, qui inde nascitur, non potest excusare, quia quod adulteri fecerunt, ad vitium pertinet voluntatis; quod autem genuerunt, ad laudem spectat fecunditatis, quia, si quis furtivum triticum serat, non nascitur messis obnoxia. Vitupero itaque- inquit - furem, sed laudo segetem. Innocentem pronuntio qui nascitur ex generositate seminum, dicente Apostolo: Deus illi dat corpus prout vult, et unicuique seminum proprium corpus 79; condemno vero flagitiosum, qui ex propositi perversitate peccavit".
About this text
Intermediary extracts Augustine answered in Book Two — compiler framing labeled where needed. Latin context is on each section when recovered.
English follows the extracts Augustine answered in On Marriage and Concupiscence II. Compiler framing is labeled where needed.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Augustine, On Marriage and Concupiscence II (Latin · Extracts of Julian)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.