To Florus 3.16
Anyone determined to oppose this pronouncement, then, should assert that both things happen, when both were equally forbidden. For it is easier to reject God’s law than to correct it. Rejection is irreverent, but correction is still more irreverent and absurd. If you honor one of its two decrees and detest the other, the part you accept will force you, against your will, to obey the part you reject. The dignity of the one you value also defends the one you opposed. It is completely absurd to imagine you honor commands when you dare attack part of them. Thus rejecting the whole law is more consistent than correcting it. Yet only an impious person will attempt to correct it; devout and sensible people accept and praise it in its entirety.
No one should be troubled here by seeing that the old sacrificial rites ceased in the age of the New Testament. Virtues and sacrificial victims are not governed by the same principle: commands are enduring; sacrifices are temporary. Yet when Christ came, whom the ancient sacrifices foreshadowed, what had been established was fulfilled, not condemned. Those observances are not denounced as having been practiced in their proper times; they came to rest when the perfection promised through their service arrived (Matthew 5:17) (Hebrews 10:1).
Latin
Ergo contra hanc nitens ire sententiam pariter fieri asserat, quod pariter ne fieret imperatum est. Facilius quippe lex Dei negari quam emendari potest et, licet sit profana negatio, profanior tamen absurdiorque correctio est. Si enim de duobus eius decretis unum venereris, alterum exsecreris, ingratus ab eius parte, quod suscipis, et illi cogeris oboedire, quod respuis, quoniam unius quod tibi carum est dignitate, etiam id, quod adversabare, defenditur atque absurdissime ea se quisquam credit praecepta venerari, quorum partem audet incessere. Unde consequentius potest negari lex universa quam corrigi; nemo autem eam corrigere nisi impius quisque tentabit; a religiosis ergo et prudentibus tota suscipitur, tota laudatur. Nec sane quemquam moveat, quod ritum sacrificiorum veterum Novi Testamenti videat aetate cessasse. Non est una ratio virtutum et hostiarum: alia est praeceptorum perennitas, alia sacrificiorum temporalitas. Veniente tamen Christo, qui hostiis figurabatur antiquis, impleta sunt, non condemnata, quae fuerant instituta; neque enim suis temporibus praedicuntur exercita, sed succedente perfectione, quae promissa officiis eorum fuerant, quieverunt.
About this text
Julian’s six preserved books to Florus, quoted section by section in Augustine’s unfinished reply. Augustine’s refutations are omitted. Latin of Julian’s words is on each section.
Julian’s own books do not survive as a separate manuscript. English follows his words as Augustine quotes them in the Unfinished Work Against Julian. Augustine’s replies are omitted. We do not restore a Julian text independent of Augustine.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Augustine, Unfinished Work Against Julian (Latin · Julian’s words as quoted, Books 1–6)
- Checked print Augustinus.it Latin of the Unfinished Work (Latin · Same work)
- Checked print Migne PL 45 (Latin · Hard cases)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Latin on each section (or the Latin source witness link) for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.