To Florus 4.87
Moreover, the belief in natural sin would not merely destroy the force of imitation; it would expose fraud in the very praise offered to Christ. With what seriousness, with what face, could anyone say that no deceit was found in his mouth? If he had come in a condition of flesh different from ours, he would be proved to have practiced deliberate deceit not only in teaching, which is less serious, but even in being born, which is more serious. What sort of conduct would this be? Human beings would be established in natural evil and the devil’s kingdom, sinning under the deadly necessity of an inborn plague, or naturally serving the law of sin that ruled in their members (compare Romans 7:23). Yet he would force them, even under threat of punishment, to imitate him, and demand his own righteousness from people of a flesh whose evil had terrified him so greatly that, though he wished to display a model of goodness under its appearance, he avoided the reality of its nature. How much more rightly could the sickness of sinners, secure in their claim to be compelled, say to him: “When we are well, we all give sound advice to the sick. If you were in this condition, you would think very, very differently!” (Romans 7:23)
What, then, has your impiety achieved? This necessary consequence: if sin is believed naturally present in our flesh, Christ either assumed that flesh and is liable to its evil, or did not assume it and is bound inescapably by the injustice, not of his birth, which then appears false, but of deliberate deception. All this is so foul with blasphemy that it can scarcely be set out without horror, even while being torn apart. Let the Mediator’s dignity therefore stand by his example and his work, and by our faith. Defending the truth through both his words and his apostle’s, that faith never ceases to proclaim that Christ, a true human being, assumed from Mary’s womb flesh of the same nature as ours. Though a true human being in every respect, he had no sin. To indicate this, it suffices for the apostle Peter to say that he committed no sin, teaching that one who had not committed it could not possess it (compare 1 Peter 2:21–22). No deceit was found in his mouth. He offered a holy example to those sharing his nature, which he himself had made in everyone. Sin is therefore clearly not inborn, since Christ did not have it: without losing the honor of his divinity, he became flesh precisely so that we could imitate him (1 Peter 2:21–22).
Latin
Huc accedebat, quoniam opinio peccati naturalis non solum vim aemulationis absumeret, sed ipsius praeconii fraudem, quod ei deferebatur, urgeret. Qua enim diceretur gravitate, qua fronte, dolus in ore illius non fuisse; cum si in alia conditione carnis, quam quae est nostra, venisset, non solum docendo, quod levius est, sed etiam nascendo, quod est gravius, dolum malum convinceretur egisse? Quale quippe erat, ut homines in naturali malo regnoque diaboli constitutos, et sub pestifera tabis ingenitae necessitate peccantes, vel legi peccati, quae in membris eorum regnabat, naturaliter servientes, ille ad aemulationem suam etiam sub poenae interminatione compelleret, iustitiamque suam eius carnis hominibus imputaret, cuius malo sic fuerat perterritus, ut ipse qui sub specie eius formam voluerat honestatis exprimere, tamen naturae eius veritatem caveret. Quanto ei rectius diceret aegritudo peccantium et securitas coactorum: Cum valemus, omnes recta consilia praebemus aegrotis; tu si sic esses, aliter longe longeque sentires? Quo igitur vestra profecit impietas? Necessario videlicet consequi, ut si creditur naturaliter carni nostrae inesse peccatum, Christus quoque aut susceperit carnem istam, et hoc malo teneatur obnoxius; aut non susceperit, et non quidem nativitatis, quae in eo mendax videtur, sed tamen voluntariae fraudis iniquitate insolubili vinciatur. Quod quia totum tantis blasphemiarum sordibus squalet, ut vix sine horrore possit, vel cum dilaniatur, exponi; adsit dignitas Mediatoris exemplo suo et operi, ac nostrae fidei, quae veritatem tam ipsius, quam Apostoli eius sermonibus vindicans, numquam desinit praedicare, Christum verum hominem, eiusdem naturae cuius et nos carnem de Mariae suscepisse visceribus, verum per omnia hominem, nullum habuisse peccatum; ad quod indicandum, sufficit apostolo Petro dicere, nullum eum fecisse peccatum; docens quia qui non fecerat, habere non poterat. Nullus est dolus inventus in ore eius; sanctum consortibus naturae suae, quam in cunctis ipse fecerat, praebuit exemplum. Et ideo constat innatum non esse peccatum, quando illud Christus non habuit, qui salvo quoque honore deitatis suae, ob hoc factus est carnalis, ut nobis esset imitabilis.