To Florus 5.51
Unless the capacity had existed necessarily, its possible result would not have existed. That a person can do evil and good is therefore necessary; his doing evil, however, is owed not to his necessity but to his possibility. Where either side is possible, neither is necessary. Thus sin is nothing other than the will to do what justice forbids and from which one is free to abstain. If will is nothing other than a movement of the mind under no compulsion, then just as God possessed the possibility of making the world, while the world itself received existence under necessity, so something similar is understood in God’s image. A person is not compelled to possess the will he chooses; it comes to him from possibility. The evil he has done, however, carries the necessity of guilt. Thus a crime necessarily incurs its abhorrence, although it arose not from the doer’s necessity but from his possibility. The work of possibility therefore testifies to a free living being.
Latin
Nisi ergo necessaria possibilitas fuisset, effectus possibilis non fuisset. Ut ergo possit malum et bonum facere, necessarium est; ut autem malum faciat, non necessario, sed possibili suo debet. Ubi autem possibilitas est partis utriusque, necessitas neutra est. Sic fit ut nihil sit aliud peccatum, quam voluntas agendi quod iustitia vetat, et unde liberum est abstinere. Si nihil sit autem aliud voluntas, quam motus animi, cogente nullo, quomodo ergo Deus, ut mundum faceret, a possibili habuit; mundus autem ipse, ut existeret, a necessario pertulit; ita etiam in imagine Dei simile quiddam intellegitur. Quippe ut habeat, quam elegerit voluntatem, non cogitur; sed a possibili ei venit; illud autem quod male fecerit, ne cessitatem habet reatus. Ita crimen a necessario incurrit horrorem; licet exortum sit, non a necessitate, sed a possibilitate facientis. Opus ergo possibilitatis testimonium est liberi animantis.
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.