To Turbantius — fragments in Against Julian — Book 4
Julian of Eclanum (c. 386–c. 455) was bishop of Eclanum in southern Italy until 418, when he was deposed and exiled for refusing to condemn Pelagius. The most learned Pelagian controversialist, he pursued Augustine across a decade of pamphlet war.
None of Julian's works survives directly; what remains is preserved in the long quotations of Augustine, who answered him book by book. Reconstructed from those hostile pages, Julian emerges as a formidable defender of free will, marriage, and the goodness of creation.
This volume gathers the surviving arguments: the six books To Florus with the earlier fragments and letter material, each with its source locator.
© 2026 SaneApps. This translation is free to share and adapt, even commercially, as long as you credit SaneApps. Draft translation, prepared with AI assistance and not yet independently reviewed. Verify against the original before citing.
He said that, on the apostle’s testimony, marital chastity is God’s gift.§§4.1.2–4.2.11
4.1.2He said that, on the apostle’s testimony, marital chastity is God’s gift.
4.1.3They are prepared for the devil’s kingdom.
4.1.4Marital intercourse was devised by the devil.
The union of bodies arose through the evil of transgression.
4.1.5It follows that God’s gift causes harm if a human being is born with evil, since no one is born except by God’s gift.
4.2.6We should pray for the power to have intercourse.
4.2.7I will strike at the other side of his definition.
If sexual warmth, the servant of honorable marriage, is restrained from excessive outbursts both by the effort of believers and by the power of the gift, and is curbed rather than extinguished by grace, it is commendable in its kind and within its proper measure; only its excesses are blameworthy.
4.2.8If sexual warmth could be evil by nature, it should be rooted out, not regulated.
4.2.11It should be entirely removed by the mind’s effort. This should have happened if it were evil.
Latin · §§4.1.2–4.2.11
§4.1.2
Teste Apostolo - dixerim - donum Dei esse pudicitiam coniugalem
§4.1.3
in regnum diaboli praeparantur
Apostolorum legio repugnavit
§4.1.4
usum coniugum a diabolo fuisse repertum
commixtionem corporum per malum praevaricationis
accidisse
§4.1.5
Consequens - putas - esse, ut munus Dei noceat, si homo cum malo nascitur: nemo enim nisi Dei munere nascitur
§4.2.6
Etiam bonum coniugale, si non habetur, a Domino esse poscendum
pro concumbendi viribus supplicandum
§4.2.7
Pulsas - ut dicis - alterum definitionis meae latus
Si calor genitalis coniugalis honestatis minister ab immoderatis procursibus tam studio fidelium, quam doni virtute retinetur, nec exstinguitur per gratiam, sed frenatur: probabilis est in genere suo et in modo suo, et solis accusatur excessibus
§4.2.8
Si posset - inquis - calor genitalis malum esse naturaliter, exstirpandus erat, non componendus
frenandus
componendus
§4.2.11
totum opere mentis aufertur
Fieri debuisse, si malum esset
Moderating a thing that harms by its very nature does nothing to advance innocence. Desire produces seed.§§4.2.12–4.3.23
4.2.12Moderating a thing that harms by its very nature does nothing to advance innocence.
Desire produces seed.
4.2.13Thanks should be given for either the control or the origin of desire.
4.3.14I pursue the points in his argument that seem clever to him.
Eagerly blaming the substance, he praises its gifts.
4.3.15A person is helped to attain perfection.
A human being is stirred toward something praiseworthy by the impulses of a noble heart.
Human nature is good, since it deserves the help of such grace.
I thought he called the achievement of the human will heavenly gifts.
4.3.16People outside the faith abound in virtues. In them there is only the good of nature, without the help of grace, although that nature is enslaved to superstitions. Through the powers of inborn freedom alone they are often found to be merciful, modest, chaste, and sober.
4.3.18“Everyone who competes in a contest exercises self-restraint in everything” (1 Corinthians 9:25).
4.3.19The origin of every virtue lies in the rational soul. All the dispositions through which we are good, either fruitfully or fruitlessly, have their foundation in our mind: prudence, justice, self-control, and courage. Although the power of these dispositions is naturally present in everyone, it does not hasten toward the same goal in everyone. Instead, according to the judgment of the will whose direction they obey, they are directed either toward eternal things or toward temporary things. When this happens, they differ neither in what they are nor in what they do, but only in what they deserve. They therefore cannot suffer any loss of their name or their kind; they are simply enriched by the greatness of the reward they sought, or disappointed by its smallness.
4.3.23“Gentiles who do not have the law are a law to themselves. They have the work of the law written in their hearts” (Romans 2:14–15).
“They naturally do what the law requires” (Romans 2:14).
Latin · §§4.2.12–4.3.23
§4.2.12
Solis
excessibus accusatur
Nihil ad innocentiam promovet modestia rei per ipsum genus nocentis
confectricem seminum libidinem
§4.2.13
quia cum dona Dei esse ista monstrantur, a quo petenda sunt discitur, si non habentur; et cui agendae gratiae, si habentur
non de origine - ut dicis - concupiscentiae
sed de regimine
vel regimine vel origine
§4.3.14
Soletis
negantes Dei dona esse virtutes quibus recte vivitur, et eas naturae voluntatique humanae, non gratiae Dei tribuentes, hoc uti argumento, quod eas nonnumquam habeant infideles
pudicum non veraciter dici, qui non propter Deum verum fidem connubii servat uxori
Cum enim virtus sit - inquam - pudicitia, cui vitium contrarium est impudicitia, omnesque virtutes etiam quae per corpus operantur, in animo habitent; quomodo vera ratione pudicum corpus asseritur, quando a vero Deo ipse animus fornicatur?
Mea - sicut dicis - quae mihi videntur acuta persequeris
studio vituperando substantiam, dona collaudo
§4.3.15
ad capessendam perfectionem adiuvatur
hominem - sicut loqueris - ad aliquid laudabile generosi cordis stimulis incitari
Bonam - dicis - hominum naturam, quae talis gratiae opitulationem meretur
effectum voluntatis humanae dona caelestia me
nuncupasse
§4.3.16
Alienos a fide abundare virtutibus, in quibus sine adiutorio gratiae, solum est naturae bonum, licet superstitionibus mancipatum, qui solis libertatis ingenitae viribus, et misericordes crebro, et modesti, et casti inveniuntur, et sobrii
§4.3.18
Tu vero tam male accipis quod ait Apostolus: Nam qui in agone contendit, ab omnibus continens est [n36] ; ut continentiam, tam magnam virtutem, de qua scriptum est, quod nemo esse potest continens nisi Deus det [n37] ; etiam choraulas et huiusmodi turpes infamesque personas habere contendas. Hi enim quando in agone decertant, ab omnibus, continenti ut corruptibilem coronam accipiant: a cuius tamen vana cupiditate non continent. Haec enim cupiditas vana ac per hoc prava, vincit in eis et frenat alias pravas cupiditates; propter quod dicti sunt continentes: Sed ut gravissimam faceres iniuriam Scipionibus, continentiam quam in eis anto eloquio praedicasti, dedisti et histrionibus; ignorans Apostolum, cum exhortaretur homines ad virtutem, sic exemplum de vitiosa hominum affectione sumpsisse, quemadmodum alio loco Scriptura, cum ad amorem sapientiae homines hortaretur, quaerendam dixit esse sicut pecuniam [n38] . Numquid propterea sancta Scriptura dicenda est laudasse avaritiam? Sed quia notum est, amatores pecuniae quantis patienter laboribus doloribusque subdantur, a quantis se contineant voluptatibus, sive cupiditate augendi pecuniam, sive timore minuendi, quanta lucrum sagacitate sectentur, et prudenter damna devitent, quam timeant plerumque aliena diripere, et aliquando sua sibi ablata contemnant, ne repetendo et litigando plus perdant: recte admoniti sumus sic amare sapientiam, ut eam nobis thesaurizare avidissime cupiamus, atque ut nobis magis magisque acquiratur, nec aliqua ex parte minuatur, et perferamus molestias, et libidines refrenemus, et prospiciamus in posterum, et innocentiam beneficentiamque servemus. Quod cum facimus, ideo veras virtutes habemus, quia verum est propter quod facimus, id est, hoc naturae nostrae consentaneum est ad salutem et veram felicitatem.
§4.3.19
Virtus est animi habitus, naturae modo atque rationi consentaneus
Cunctarum - inquis - origo virtutum in rationabili animo sita est, et affectus omnes per quos aut fructuose aut steriliter boni sumus, in subiecto sunt mentis nostrae, prudentia, iustitia, temperantia, fortitudo. Horum igitur affectuum vis cum sit in omnibus naturaliter - inquis - non tamen ad unum finem in omnibus properat: sed pro iudicio voluntatis, cuius nutui serviunt, aut ad aeterna, aut ad temporalia diriguntur. Quod cum fit, non in eo quod sunt, non in eo quod agunt, sed in eo solo variant quod merentur. Nec nominis sui igitur - inquis - possunt, nec generis sustinere dispendium, sed solius quod appetiverunt praemii aut amplitudine ditantur, aut exilitate frustrantur
ut nec nominis sui possint, nec generis sustinere dispendium, sed solius quod appetiverunt praemii exilitate frustrentur
§4.3.23
Unde et illi quos commemorare voluisti, de quibus ait Apostolus: Gentes legem non habentes ipsisibi sunt lex, qui habent opus legis scriptum in cordibus suis [n48] ; quid te adiuvent omnino non video. Per hos enim probare conatus es, etiam alienos a fide Christi, veram posse habere iustitiam, eo quod isti, teste Apostolo: naturaliter quae legis sunt faciunt [n49] . Ubi quidem dogma vestrum, quo estis inimici gratiae Dei, quae datur per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum, qui tollit peccatum mundi [n50] , evidentius expressisti: introducens hominum genus, quod Deo placere possit sine Christi fide, lege naturae. Hoc est unde vos maxime christiana detestatur Ecclesia. Sed quid vis esse istos? Utrum veras virtutes habent, et steriliter boni sunt, quia non propter Deum? an etiam Deo ex his placent, atque ab illo vita remunerantur aeterna? Si steriles dixeris; quid ergo eis prodest, quod secundum Apostolum defendent eos cogitationes suae, in die qua iudicabit Deus occulta hominum [n51] ? Si autem qui defendentur cogitationibus suis, eo quod naturaliter opera fecerint legis, non sunt steriliter boni, et ob hoc inveniunt aeternam mercedem apud Deum; procul dubio propterea iusti sunt, quia ex fide vivunt [n52] .
“Everything that is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).§§4.3.24–4.6.36
4.3.24“Everything that is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
4.3.26Will those in whom there was true righteousness therefore be in everlasting condemnation?
4.3.27If someone says that the chastity of unbelievers is not chastity, with the same shamelessness one will say that pagans’ bodies are not bodies, that pagans’ eyes have no power to see, and that grain growing in pagans’ fields is not grain—and many other things so absurd that they can make people who understand laugh.
“The soul and body, and every good thing naturally implanted in soul and body, are God’s gifts even in sinners, since God made these things, not they themselves. But of the things they do it was said: Everything that is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
4.3.28I am amazed that such an outstanding intellect did not see how much he helped us in this too, when he said: “Some sins are overcome by other sins.”
Therefore a human being can very easily be free from sins through the pursuit of holiness, which God assists. For if sins are overcome by sins, how much more can sins be overcome by virtues?
4.3.30If a pagan clothes a naked person, is it a sin because it is not from faith?
If a pagan clothes a naked person, rescues someone in danger, tends a sick person’s wounds, spends their wealth in honorable friendship, and cannot be forced even by torture to give false testimony…
4.4.34Children are under the devil’s power because they are born from the union of bodies.
4.5.35Since we are composed of unequal goods, the soul ought to rule the body. We share the one with the gods and the other with beasts. Therefore the better part—the soul endowed with virtue—rightly commands both the body’s members and its desires.
4.6.36He has said, in a ridiculous contradiction, that some are guilty from a good act and others holy from an evil act.
“Unbelievers turn the good of marriage into evil and sin by using it without faith; in the same way, believers’ marriages turn the evil of desire to a righteous use.”
Latin · §§4.3.24–4.6.36
§4.3.24
Nam testimonium illud quod ex Apostolo posui: Omne quod non est ex fide, peccatum est [n53] ; sicut tibi visum est accepisti, et exposuisti, non ut sapit, sed ut sapis. De cibis enim Apostolus loquebatur. Verum cum dixisset: Qui autem discernit, si manducaverit, damnatus est, quia non ex fide [n54] ; hanc peccati speciem de qua agebat, generali voluit probare sententia, mox inferens: Omne enim quod non est ex fide, peccatum est. Sed ut hoc tibi de cibis tantum intellegendum esse concedam: quid de alio dicturus es testimonio, quod identidem posui; nec inde aliquid disputasti, quia non invenisti quomodo in tuam posses detorquere sententiam, quod ad Hebraeos scriptum est: Sine fide enim impossibile est placere [n55] ? Nempe ut hoc diceretur, de tota vita hominis agebatur, in qua iustus ex fide vivit: et tamen cum sine fide impossibile sit placere Deo, tibi virtutes sine fide sic placent, ut eas veras praedices, eisque bonos esse homines; et rursus, quasi te paenituerit laudis illarum, steriles pronuntiare non dubites.
§4.3.26
Erunt ergo - inquis - in damnatione sempiterna, in quibus erat vera iustitia?
§4.3.27
Si dicatur - inquis - quia castitas infidelium castitas non est; eadem fronte dicetur quia corpus Paganorum corpus non sit, et oculi Paganorum sensum non habeant intuendi, et frumenta quae in Paganorum nascuntur agris, frumenta non sint; et multa - inquis - alia quae tantae absurditatis sunt, ut risum possint intellegentibus commovere
Anima enim et corpus et quaecumque bona animae et corporis naturaliter insita, etiam in peccatoribus dona Dei sunt: quoniam Deus, non ipsi ista fecerunt: de his autem quae faciunt dictum est: Omne quod non est ex fide, peccatum est
corpus Paganorum corpus non sit, et oculi Paganorum sensum non habeant intuendi, et frumenta quae in Paganorum nascuntur agris, frumenta non sint
Haec etiam in peccatoribus dona Dei sunt; quoniam Deus, non ipsi ista fecerunt; de his autem quae faciunt dictum est: Omne quod non est ex fide, peccatum est
§4.3.28
Mirari te - dicis - quod tam excellens
non vidit ingenium, quantum vos in hoc quoque iuverim, quia dixi: Aliis peccatis alia peccata vincuntur
Perfacile igitur studio sanctitatis, quod Deus adiuvat, potest homo carere peccatis. Si enim vincuntur - inquis - peccata peccatis, quanto magis possunt virtutibus peccata superari?
§4.3.30
Si gentilis - inquis - nudum operuerit, numquid quia non est ex fide, peccatum est?
Si gentilis
nudum operuerit, periclitantem liberaverit, aegri vulnera foverit, divitias honestae amicitiae impenderit, ad testimonium falsum nec tormentis potuerit impelli
§4.4.34
Ideo filios esse sub diaboli potestate, quia de corporum commixtione nascuntur
qui de corporum commixtione nascuntur
quia de corporum commixtione nascuntur
§4.5.35
Quoniam ex imparibus bonis compositi sumus, animum corpori debere dominari: quorum alterum nobis cum diis, alterum cum belluis commemoras esse commune. Et ideo id quod est melius, id est, animum virtute praeditum - dicis - et membris corporis bene et cupiditatibus imperare?
§4.6.36
Ridenda contrarietate me dixisse
alios reos ex bono, alios sanctos ex malo opere
nuptiarum bonum homines infideles infideliter utendo, in malum peccatumque convertere; eoque modo concupiscentiae malum convertere fidelium nuptias in usum iustitiae
If someone could be created evil, they could never pass into goodness through washing.§§4.7.37–4.8.47
4.7.37If someone could be created evil, they could never pass into goodness through washing.
4.7.38Demons instituted marriage.
They instituted the union of seed between the two sexes.
Marital intercourse for the purpose of conceiving children is the devil’s work.
Demons would catch married people in intercourse and, finding them engaged in their own work, would not allow them to conceive children who were to be freed by rebirth.
4.7.39Adultery and other sexual wrongdoing should therefore be committed so that children may be conceived.
4.8.40Under the name of grace, they say that people become good through the necessity of fate.
4.8.41He says that no effort should be expected from the human will, contrary to the Gospel, where the Lord says: “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; whoever seeks finds; and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8).
4.8.42[The door is opened to those who knock by him] “who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
4.8.46What does not happen on the basis of merit happens by fate.
4.8.47Free will is denied if grace is praised; and, in turn, grace is denied if free will is praised.
When those books themselves begin to be examined, the ungodliness of those statements will be exposed and pierced.
Latin · §§4.7.37–4.8.47
§4.7.37
Si aliquis malus condi posset - inquis - numquam in bonum ablutione transiret
§4.7.38
Daemones instituisse connubium
seminalem sexus utriusque mixtionem
diabolicum opus esse causa generandi concubitum coniugum
quod
deprehendant daemones in concubitu coniugatos, et tamquam in sua operatione deprehensos, non sinant generare filios regeneratione liberandos
§4.7.39
ut gignantur, ideo adulteria vel quaeque stupra facenda sunt
§4.8.40
quod
appellatione gratiae, bonos fieri homines fatali necessitate dicamus
gratiam Dei secundum merita nostra dari
§4.8.41
Nihil studii exspectari ab humana voluntate debere, contra illud evangelicum quo ait Dominus: Petite, et accipietis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis: omnis enim qui petit, accipit; et qui quaerit, invenit; et pulsanti aperietur [n80]
§4.8.42
Sed ponis apostolicum testimonium, et ab eo dicis pulsantibus aperiri, qui omnes homines vult salvos fieri, et in agnitionem veritatis venire [n83] : ut videlicet intellegamus, docentibus vobis, ideo non omnes salvos fieri, et in agnitionem veritatis venire, quia ipsi nolunt petere, cum Deus velit dare; nolunt quaerere, cum Deus velit ostendere; nolunt pulsare, cum Deus velit aperire. Sed hunc sensum vestrum infantes illi ipsa sua taciturnitate convincunt, qui nec petunt, nec quaerunt, nec pulsant; immo etiam cum baptizantur, reclamant, respuunt, reluctantur: et accipiunt tamen, et inveniunt, et aperitur eis, et intrant in regnum Dei, ubi sit eis aeternitatis salus et agnitio veritatis, longe pluribus infantibus in istam gratiam non adoptatis ab eo, qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri et in agnitionem veritatis venire. Quibus dicere non potest: Volui, et noluistis [n84] ; quia si voluisset, quies eorum qui nondum habent voluntatis suae arbitrium, voluntati eius omnipotentissimae restitisset? Cur ergo non sic accipimus quod dictum est: Qui omnes vult homines salvos fieri, et in agnitionem veritatis venire [n85] ; quomodo et illud accipimus, quod idem dixit Apostolus: Per unius iustificationem in omnes homines ad iustificationem vitae [n86] ? (hos enim omnes Deus vult salvos fieri, et in agnitionem veritatis venire, in quos omnes per unius iustificationem gratia pervenit ad iustificationem vitae); ne dicatur nobis: Si Deus vult omnes homines salvos fieri, et in agnitionem veritatis venire, sed ideo non veniunt, quia ipsi nolunt; cur tot millia parvulorum, qui non percepto Baptismate moriuntur, non veniunt in regnum Dei, ubi certa est agnitio veritatis? Numquid aut homines non sunt, ut non pertineant ad id quod dictum est: omnes homines? aut aliquis poterit dicere, Deus quidem vult, sed ipsi nolunt; qui nondum velle seu nolle ista noverunt, quando nec ii, qui parvuli baptizantur atque moriuntur, et per illam gratiam ad agnitionem veritatis quae in regno Dei est certissima veniunt, ideo veniunt, qui ipsi renovari Christi Baptismate voluerunt? Cum ergo nec illi propterea non baptizentur quia nolunt, nec isti propterea baptizentur quia volunt, cur Deus qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri, et in agnitionem veritatis venire, tam multos in regnum suum, ubi est certa veritatis agnitio, qui nullo ei resistunt voluntatis arbitrio, patitur non venire?
§4.8.46
Fato fieri quod merito non fit
§4.8.47
Negari liberum arbitrium, si gratia commendetur; et iterum negari gratiam, si liberum commendetur arbitrium
Ista - inquam - quaestio ubi de arbitrio voluntatis et Dei gratia disputatur, ita est ad discernendum, difficilis, ut quando defenditur liberum arbitrium, negari Dei gratia videatur; quando autem asseritur Dei gratia, liberum arbitrium putetur auferri, et cetera
negari liberum arbitrium, si gratia commendetur; et negari gratiam, si liberum commendetur arbitrium
videatur
putetur
Negari gratiam
ut negari gratia videatur
Negari arbitrium liberum, vel auferri
Ut putetur auferri
Cum libri ipsi ventilari coeperint, quod abs te illa sententiarum mearum et nudabitur et confodietur impietas
It contributes nothing to the praise of grace if it gives its own people what sins bestow on the ungodly.§§4.8.48–4.9.55
4.8.48It contributes nothing to the praise of grace if it gives its own people what sins bestow on the ungodly.
4.8.49The joining of married people’s sexual organs is evil.
Its offense goes unpunished through religion.
“Let us do evil so that good may come” (Romans 3:8).
In Christian spouses, do you call the pleasure of intercourse chastity or unchastity?
4.8.50If, because of this evil of desire, guilty offspring are brought forth even from Christian spouses, it follows that virgin chastity brings happiness. And since it is found among the ungodly, unbelievers raised high by the virtue of chastity surpass Christians polluted by the stain of desire.
Among them, faith allows crime to go unpunished.
4.8.51If someone commits murder while their conscience is afraid, they are guilty because they were afraid. But if they commit some crime with triumphant boldness, as though believing that they do their evil deed from faith, they escape guilt.
4.8.52Natural desire is therefore good. When kept within its proper measure, it is stained by no taint of evil.
4.9.53“Were not the first spouses, whose marriage God blessed by saying, ‘Increase and multiply’ (Genesis 1:28), naked and unashamed (Genesis 2:25)? Why, then, did shame about those organs follow sin, unless an indecent movement arose there, which marriage would certainly not have had if human beings had not sinned?”
4.9.54In the fact that the first human beings, ashamed after their sin, covered the organs where desire is present, he found a way to persuade people that God had established marriages made of air.
That without which nature does not exist is not natural.
4.9.55His position is a bedbug: alive it causes trouble, and crushed it gives off a stench.
I am ashamed to crush him by defeating him.
As though defeated, he has fled to filthy places, and recoil from following and killing him.
Because I am forced to speak about the sexual organs, my modesty, like a temple keeper, has excluded from free expression the parts of my argument that would crush or destroy him.
Latin · §§4.8.48–4.9.55
§4.8.48
Nihil pertinere ad laudem gratiae, si id donet suis, quod peccata impiis largiuntur
Vera pudicitia, sive coniugalis, sive vidualis, sive virginalis, dicenda non est, nisi quae verae fidei mancipatur
§4.8.49
Coniugalium membrorum malum esse consertum
crimen eius
impunitum fit per religionem
utrum in coniugibus christianis conventuum voluptatem, pudicitiam, an impudicitiam nominem
§4.8.50
Sed si propter hoc - inquis - libidinis malum, etiam de coniugibus christianis proles criminosa profertur, sequitur ut pudicitia virginalis sit felicitatis illatrix: et quia in impiis invenitur - inquis - antecellunt infideles pudicitiae virtute sublimes, christianis libidinis tabe pollutis
apud eos
propter fidem exercetur impunitas criminis
§4.8.51
Si quis homicidium conscientia formidante commiserit, reus est, quia timuit; si autem aliquod facinus exsultante perpetrarit audacia, velut credens se ex fide facere quod male facit, evasit culpam
§4.8.52
Bona igitur concupiscentia naturalis - inquis - (erubescis enim dicere carnalis) quae cum intra modum suum tenetur - inquis - nulla mali aspersione turpatur
§4.9.53
Nonne illi coniuges primi, quorum nuptias benedixit Deus, dicens: Crescite et multiplicamini [n103] , nudi erant, et non confundebantur [n104] ? Cur ergo ex illis membris confusio post peccatum, nisi quia exstitit illic indecens motus, quem, nisi homines peccassent, procul dubio nuptiae non haberent?
§4.9.54
In hoc quod post peccatum primi homines erubescentes membra illa, in quibus est libido, texerunt, invenisse me unde persuaderem, Deum aeria constituisse coniugia
naturale non esse sine quo natura non est
§4.9.55
Sententiam meam cimicem - dicis - qui ut molestiam vivus, sic fetorem praestat attritus
verecunderis
vincendo me atterere
tamquam victus ad loca
caenosa confugerim, exhorreas consequi atque perimere: quia videlicet partes disputationis tuae, quibus atterendus vel perimendus sum, quoniam de pudendis loqui cogeris, velut quidam aedituus pudor tuus a verborum
libertate submovit
If there is no marriage without desire, and you condemn desire in general, you condemn marriage too. That…§§4.10.56–4.14.73
4.10.56If there is no marriage without desire, and you condemn desire in general, you condemn marriage too.
That without which marriage does not exist cannot be called a disease. Marriage can exist apart from sin; but the apostle calls disease sin.
4.12.58Balbus, in Cicero, discussed the matter truthfully and carefully with Cotta.
I quote a few things to increase his shame: under the teaching of the sacred law he has failed to understand things that pagans could grasp through reason alone.
Balbus touches on the working of the sexes under the subject of animals because, for the sake of propriety, he passed over it in describing human beings.
He portrays the human being in words: the stomach lies below the gullet as a receptacle for food and drink; the lungs and heart draw breath from outside; many things in the stomach are wonderfully fashioned from sinews; its many folds and windings hold and contain what it receives, whether dry or liquid.
The remaining food is expelled as the intestines alternately contract and relax.
4.12.59Our Maker himself acknowledged no fault in his craftsmanship when he hid our vital organs so carefully.
So that they would neither perish nor cause horror if exposed.
4.13.62I ask modest ears to forgive me, and to share my distress rather than be indignant at my necessity.
If the male organ could move before, then sin introduced nothing new.
4.13.63If this desire was in the fruit of that tree, it is shown to have been made by God and is therefore defended as good as well.
4.13.64When the apostle John said, “Everything in the world is the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and worldly ambition, which is not from the Father but from the world” (1 John 2:16), he was not condemning this world—that is, heaven and earth and all the things that substantially exist in it, the world made by the Father through the Son.
[The desire of the flesh that is not from the Father] should be understood as excess.
4.14.65It follows that we must confess that our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch were given to us by the devil rather than by God, if we concede that the desire of the flesh against which we struggle through self-restraint was not in paradise before sin, but arose from the first sin which the devil persuaded the first human being to commit.
4.14.73Let drunkenness not condemn wine, or overeating condemn food, or obscenity discredit desire.
Its excess is blameworthy.
Latin · §§4.10.56–4.14.73
§4.10.56
Si non sunt - inquis - nuptiae sine libidine, et generaliter a vobis libido damnatur, damnatis et nuptias
Non potest - inquis - dici morbus, sine quo non est connubium: quia potest esse connubium praeter peccatum; morbus autem - inquis - ab Apostolo peccatum dicitur
§4.12.58
Balbus - inquis - apud Tullium cum Cotta vere diligenterque disseruit [n107] . Unde ob hoc pauca ponis - ut dicis - ut oneres pudorem meum, non ea me intellexisse sub magisterio sacrae legis, ad quorum notionem Gentiles solo rationis ductu pervenire potuerunt
quod ideo sub bestiarum occasione sexuum tangat effectum, quia propter honestatem hoc in hominis descriptione praeteriit
propter honestatem
quomodo ipsum hominem oratione depingat
et quomodo disserat alvi naturam stomacho esse subiectam, quod cibi et potionis sit, receptaculum: pulmones autem et cor extrinsecus spiritum adducant; multa in alvo mirabiliter effecta, quae constarent ex nervis; et quod sit multiplex et tortuosa, arceatque et contineat, sive illud aridum sit, sive humidum quod receperit
quemadmodum reliquiae cibi depellantur, tum astringentibus se intestinis, tum relaxantibus
Quemadmodum - inquit - fiat, haud sane difficile dictu est: sed tamen praetereundum, ne quid habeat iniucunditatis oratio
ne quid iniucunditatis
§4.12.59
Quia ipse- inquis - opifex noster nullum suae artis crimen agnovit, ut vitalia nostra tam diligenter occuleret
ne scilicet vel intereant, vel horreant publicata
§4.13.62
petis ut ignoscant verecundae aures, et congemiscant potius, quam indignentur necessitati tuae
Sed si poterat - inquis - virile membrum et antea moveri, nihil ergo novitatis invexit delictum
dedicative
§4.13.63
Si in fructu ligni illius - inquis - haec fuit libido; a Deo facta monstratur, et per hoc bona quoque ipsa defenditur
§4.13.64
Ioannem apostolum, non mundum istum, id est, caelum et terram, et omnia quae in eo substantialiter sunt, qui mundus factus est a Patre per Filium, reprehendisse, cum diceret: Omnia quae in mundo sunt, concupiscentia carnis est, et concupiscentia oculorum, et ambitio saeculi; quae non est a Patre, sed ex mundo est [n114]
concupiscentiam carnis dixerit a Patre non esse
luxuriam intellegendam esse
Non est ipsa quam laudo
Luxuria
§4.14.65
Consequens enim esse - existimas - ut sensum videndi, audiendi, gustandi, olfaciendi, atque tangendi, non a Deo, sed a diabolo nobis fateamur esse collatum; si concesserimus eam concupiscentiam carnis, cui per continentiam repugnamus, non fuisse in paradiso ante peccatum, et ex illo accidisse peccato, quod primum primo homini diabolus persuasiti
§4.14.73
Nec vinum ebrietas, nec cibum condemnet crapula, nec concupiscentiam infamet obscenitas
Excessus - inquis - eius in culpa est
Imitating animals is always sinful.§§4.14.74–4.16.83
4.14.74Imitating animals is always sinful.
4.15.75All the philosophers who tried to work out anything about the causes of natural things—even though they taught otherwise in their schools yet worshiped idols with the common people—have nevertheless touched, as it were, some parts of truth amid the many empty notions in their thinking. Empty though they are through their darkness, they can rightly be preferred to this doctrine we are opposing.
Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages; then Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Leucippus, Democritus, Empedocles, Heraclitus, Melissus, Plato, and the Pythagoreans.
4.16.79It is now time to show, beyond nature’s testimony, by some authority of the sacred law as well, that our members were formed so that some enjoy modesty and others freedom. To confirm this, let the Teacher of the Gentiles be summoned, who says in writing to the Corinthians: “Our body is not one member, but many” (1 Corinthians 12:14).
Since he had named a few members of the whole body, and out of his own propriety did not wish to name the sexual organs directly…
4.16.80“Much more, the members of our body that seem weak are necessary. Those members of the body which we think less honorable we surround with greater honor; and our modest parts have greater dignity, while our presentable parts need nothing. But God has arranged the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, so that there may be no division in the body, but its members may have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:22–25).
Look at the true interpreter of God’s work! Look at the faithful herald of his wisdom! “Our modest parts,” he says, “are covered with greater dignity.”
4.16.81Human beings were naked at first because making coverings for themselves was a task for human skill, which they did not yet possess.
It was not, therefore, because they had sinned that they made the sexual organs either diabolical or shameful. Rather, because they were afraid, they covered organs that remained in the same honorable condition in which they had first existed.
4.16.82Why did Adam and his wife hide when they heard God walking in paradise, when those loincloths could have been enough if they had been ashamed of their naked sexual organs? (Genesis 3:7–10)
4.16.83We must reject the opinion that the devil created anything in human beings’ members or in the senses of those members.
Latin · §§4.14.74–4.16.83
§4.14.74
semper pecorum imitatione peccari?
§4.15.75
Thales Milesius unus e septem sapientibus, deinde Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Xenophanes, Parmenides, Leucippus, Democritus, Empedocles, Heraclitus, Melissus, Plato, Pythagoraei
Omnes philosophi in scholis licet aliud disserentes, tamen idola cum plebe venerantes, qui de naturalibus causis aliquid excogitare conati sunt, inter multas opinionis suae vanitates, aliquas tamen veritatis velut lambere partes, qui per caliginem vani, huic tamen dogmati contra quod xagimus, iure anteferri possunt
omnes philosophos, qui de naturalibus causis aliquid excogitare conati sunt, iureposse huic dogmati, contra quod ageres, anteferri
§4.16.79
Iam igitur - inquis - tempus est ut ostendamus extra naturae testimonium etiam aliqua auctoritate legis, sic nostra membra fuisse formata, ut alia verecundia, alia libertate gauderent. Ad quod confirmandum - inquis - Gentium citetur Magister, qui scribens ad Corinthios ait: Corpus nostrum non est unum membrum, sed multa [n131]
Et quia pauca - inquis - totius corporis membra nominaverat, atque pro sua honestate genitalia loca directe appellare nolebat
§4.16.80
En verum intellectorem operis Dei, en fidelem sapientiae eius praedicatorem. Verecundiora, inquit, nostra maiore honestate conteguntur
§4.16.81
Ideo - dicas - homines fuisse primitus nudos, quia ad sollertiae humanae operam ut se tegerent pertinebat, quae nondum in illis fuit
Non igitur quia peccaverant, genitalia vel diabolica vel inhonesta fecerunt; sed quia pavitabant, in ea qua primum fuerant honestate permanentia membra texerunt!
§4.16.82
Cur audita voce Dei deambulantis in paradiso absconderunt se Adam et mulier eius, cum perizomata illa sufficere potuissent [n133] , si de genitalium nuditate erubuissent?
§4.16.83
Fugienda - inquis - opinio est, quae putat vel in membris hominum, vel in sensibus membrorum aliquid diabolum condidisse