Against Felix the Manichaean 1.1–1.13

In the sixth consulship of Honorius Augustus, on the seventh day before the Ides of December, Augustine, bishop of the catholic church of the region of Hippo Regius, said: “You know that yesterday you said that you could defend the scriptures of Mani and maintain that they contain the truth. If you are willing to do so today as well, or are confident that you can, say so.” Felix the Manichee said: “I do not deny that I said I would defend my law, if the authors of my law are brought forward into our midst.” And when Bishop Augustine had brought forward the letter of Mani which they call the Letter of the Foundation, he said: “If I read from this book, which you see me holding, the letter of Mani which you call the Letter of the Foundation, can you recognize whether it is that letter?” Felix said: “I recognize it.” Augustine said: “Take it yourself and read.” And when Felix had taken the book, he read: “Mani, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the providence of God the Father. These are the words of salvation from the everlasting and living spring. Whoever hears them and first believes them, and then keeps what they impart, will never be subject to death, but will enjoy eternal and glorious life. For truly he must be judged blessed who has been instructed in this divine knowledge, by which he is set free and will abide in everlasting life.” Bishop Augustine said: “You have certainly recognized the letter of your Mani?” Felix said: “I have recognized it.” Augustine said: “Then prove to us how this Mani is an apostle of Jesus Christ. For we have never read of him in the gospel among the apostles; and we know who was ordained in the place of Judas the betrayer, namely holy Matthias; and all acknowledge who was afterward called by the voice of the Lord from heaven, namely the apostle Paul. So prove to us that this Mani is an apostle of Christ, as he dared to put at the head of his letter.”

Felix said: “And let your holiness prove to me what is written in the gospel, where Christ says: ‘I go to the Father, and I send you the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who will lead you into all truth.’ Prove to me that a scripture other than this one is the scripture of the Holy Spirit whom Christ promised, in which all truth is found. If I find the truth in other books that do not belong to Mani, and Christ handed those down — for so Christ said, that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete himself, will lead into all truth — then, according to Christ's word, I reject the scripture of Mani.” Augustine said: “Since, then, you have not been able to prove how Mani is an apostle of Christ, and you demand that I prove how he sent the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, whom he promised, so that you will reject the scriptures of Mani if you find Christ's promise fulfilled apart from the scriptures of Mani — although you ought first to have answered my questions, see, I answer first nonetheless and show you when the Holy Spirit whom Christ promised was sent.” And he went to the gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.

And when he had taken the book of the gospel, he read aloud: “While they were saying these things, Jesus stood in their midst and said to them: ‘Peace be with you; it is I, do not be afraid.’” And as he read, he said: “This was after the resurrection.” And having said this, he read: “But they were troubled and terrified and thought that they saw a spirit. And he said to them: ‘Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe and were marveling for joy, he said: ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. And when he had eaten in their presence, he took what remained and gave it to them and said to them: ‘These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them: ‘For thus it is written, and thus it was necessary that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and the forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And I will send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.’” And when he had handed back the book of the gospel, he took the Acts of the Apostles and said: “We have heard in the gospel that the holy evangelist recalled Christ's promise, which is in the gospel according to John, which Felix here present mentioned. For where the Lord said, ‘I send you the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,’ John the evangelist wrote it. But what I have just read, Luke the evangelist attested, and he agreed with the truth of the apostle John. Let us see also how what the Lord promised was accomplished and how it was fulfilled, so that, when the fulfillment of the Lord's promise has been set out from the canonical books of the holy church, we may not look for another Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, and so fall into the snares of seducers.”

And he read aloud from the Acts of the Apostles: “In the first book, O Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he chose the apostles through the Holy Spirit and commanded them to preach the gospel. To them he showed himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them for forty days and teaching about the kingdom of God, and how he lived with them. And he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, ‘which you heard,’ he said, ‘from my mouth: for John baptized with water, but you will begin to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, whom you are also to receive not many days from now, by Pentecost.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, saying: ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?’ He said: ‘No one can know the time which the Father has set by his own authority; but you will receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the whole earth.’ When he had said this, a cloud took him up and he was lifted away from them. And as they were gazing while he went into heaven, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who said to them: ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him going into heaven.’ Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James were staying. And all these with one mind were persevering in prayer with the women and Mary, who had been the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. And in those days Peter rose up in the midst of the hearers and said — there was a crowd of about a hundred and twenty persons together — ‘Brothers, this scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of holy David concerning Judas, who became guide to those who arrested Jesus, for he was numbered among us and had his share in this ministry. This man therefore acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and he tied a noose about his neck and, falling headlong, burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And this became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it; and let another take his office of oversight. So one of these men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus Christ went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, must become with us a witness of his resurrection.’ And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And he prayed and said: ‘You, Lord, who understand the hearts of all, show which of these two you have chosen to take the place of this ministry and proclamation, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted as the twelfth with the eleven apostles.” And when he had read, he said: “We have heard who was ordained in the place of Judas the betrayer, which I mentioned a little earlier, so that no one may creep into the number of the apostles by fraud and deceive the ignorant with the name of apostleship.”

“Now let us see, as we promised, how Christ's promise concerning the Holy Spirit was fulfilled.” And having said this, he read at the place: “At the time when the day of Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind rushing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, which rested upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in various tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, people from every nation under heaven. And when the sound came, the crowd gathered and was confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own speech and his own tongue. And they were amazed and marveled, saying to one another: ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans by nation? And how do we recognize in them the speech in which we were born? Parthians, Medes and Elamites, and those who live in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and Romans and Jews and proselytes who were present, Cretans and Arabs were hearing them speak in their own tongues the mighty works of God.’” And when he had read aloud, he said: “Have you heard now about the Holy Spirit and how he was sent? I have proved what you demanded of me. It remains for you to do what you promised: since we have found when he sent the Holy Spirit whom he promised, reject that scripture which, under the name of the Holy Spirit, has sought to deceive either reader or hearer.”

Felix said: “I do not deny what I said: that when it has been proved to me that the Holy Spirit taught the truth which I seek, I reject that scripture. Your holiness has read me this, where the apostles received the Holy Spirit. And among those very apostles I seek one who may teach me about the beginning, the middle, and the end.” Augustine said: “If you read that the Lord said, ‘I send you the Holy Spirit, who will teach you the beginning, the middle, the end,’ you rightly bind me to show whom the Holy Spirit taught.” Felix said: “Since your holiness says that the apostles themselves received the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, I say again: let any one of the apostles you wish teach me what Mani taught me, or empty his teaching of force — any one of the twelve you wish.” Augustine said: “Far be it from the faith of the apostles that they should teach the doctrine of the sacrilegious Mani. But since you say that one of them ought to refute the doctrine of Mani, and the holy apostles are now no longer in the body, I, the least not only of all the apostles but of all the bishops — for when would I aspire to the merits of the apostles? — will refute the doctrine of Mani, as far as the Lord has deigned to bestow on me of that same Spirit of his, when the rest of that letter, which you yourself do not deny is Mani's, begins to be read.” Felix said: “You said that the apostles have departed from the body; their scriptures are in force to this day. And since your holiness has said, and since you have given leave to say whatever we wish without any fear: you said, ‘I refute the law of Mani,’ and I say: ‘Every man is a liar, God alone is true.’ The scriptures of God speak.”

Augustine said: “You are indeed a man, and, as the matter itself will soon show, a liar. And since you have said what you wished, not from the scripture of God, I too must say what I wish. For if your Mani holds the truth, it cannot be destroyed by me; if it is falsehood, what does it matter by whom it is destroyed? Yet since you spoke of the scripture of the apostles, saying that though they are not in the body their scriptures are here — the apostles were taken up before the error of Mani had been born into the world — for that reason no writings of the apostles are found plainly arguing against Mani. Nevertheless, I read aloud, so that you may recognize it, how the apostle Paul, in this Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, whom he had received, foresaw what was to come concerning such as Mani was and such as you are.” And having taken the letter of the apostle Paul to Timothy, he read: “Now the Spirit says plainly that in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, teachings of demons, in the hypocrisy of speakers of lies, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who have known the truth; for every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brothers in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ.” And when he had read, he said: “I say that this was marked out and expressed by the spirit of prophecy concerning you and such people, who say that some creature of God is unclean, and who say that all sexual intercourse, even that which takes place with a wife, is sexual immorality — for this is what he means by ‘forbidding marriage.’ But if you deny that all intercourse is sexual immorality, or if you say that all human food allowed to men for eating is clean, you are not one of those whom the apostle foretold and prophesied. But if you are found among those things I have said, see, you have the apostle Paul destroying and emptying of force the doctrine of Mani who was to come. So answer what I ask: is all sexual intercourse sexual immorality, or is intercourse with a wife not a sin?”

Felix said: “Let what the apostle said be read to me again.” And it was read aloud: “Now the Spirit says plainly that in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, teachings of demons, in the hypocrisy of speakers of lies, having their conscience seared, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who have known the truth; for every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brothers in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ.” Felix said: “Mani did not depart from the faith, as Paul says, in the way others departed from the faith as if into a sect of their own; but Mani departed from no sect, so that it could be said that he departed from the faith.” Augustine said: “Since I see that you do not wish to answer what you are asked, lest you be found either not to hold the Holy Spirit, whom we have already proved was sent to the apostles, or not to be among those whom Paul marked out as to come, where he prophesied of you yourselves, I answer briefly. To take what you said according to your understanding — ‘they will depart from the faith, because none depart from the faith except those who were in some faith; but Mani was in no faith from which he might depart, but remained in the one he was in’ — I ask you this: has Mani, or rather the teaching of lying demons that was in Mani, seduced no catholic Christians into departing from the faith? For if many are seduced from you and through you and through that teaching, so that they depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits, such as was in Mani, and begin to say that all intercourse is sexual immorality — whence the apostle says, ‘forbidding marriage’ — and begin to say that the meats which people eat are not the creation of God but the making of demons, and are uncleanness, then it is plain that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who was in the apostle Paul, foretold of them that they would depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits such as was in Mani. Now then, since I have answered, it is just that you answer what I asked: whether you do not say that all intercourse is sexual immorality; or, if you will not answer this either, answer what I asked first, and prove that Mani is an apostle of Christ; or, if you will not do this either, allow me to refute his doctrine, as I promised, when the letter of his which you call the Letter of the Foundation is read.”

Felix said: “And I answer what your holiness says, that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, came in Paul.” Augustine said: “Not in him alone.” Felix said: “I am dealing with him, because if in him, then in all. And if in him — for Paul says in another letter, ‘We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect has come, the things spoken in part will be abolished’ — we, hearing Paul say this, then Mani came with his preaching, and we received him according to what Christ said: ‘I send you the Holy Spirit.’ And Paul came and he too said that he is to come; and afterward no one came; therefore we received Mani. And because Mani came and by his preaching taught us the beginning, the middle, and the end; taught us about the making of the world, why it was made and from what it was made, and who made it; taught us why there is day and why night; taught us about the course of the sun and the moon — because we have not heard this in Paul nor in the writings of the other apostles, we believe this, that he is the Paraclete. So I say again what I said above: if I hear in another scripture, where the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, speaks, about whatever I wish to ask, and you teach me, I believe and renounce.”

Augustine said: “You say that you do not believe that the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, was in the apostle Paul because the apostle Paul said, ‘For we know in part and we prophesy in part,’ and from this you think that by these words the apostle foretold as it were another who would come after him and proclaim everything that he could not, because he spoke in part; and you believe this is Mani. First, then, I shall show from the very reading of the apostle why the apostle said this. Next, since you said that Mani taught you the beginning, the middle, and the end, and how and why the world was made, about the course of the sun and moon and the other things you mentioned: we do not read in the gospel that the Lord said, ‘I send you the Paraclete, who will teach you about the course of the sun and moon.’ For he wished to make Christians, not astronomers. It is enough that people know as much about these things as they learned in school, for human uses. But Christ said that the Paraclete would come, who would lead into all truth; he did not say there, ‘the beginning, the middle, and the end’; he did not say, ‘the courses of the sun and moon.’ Or if you think this teaching belongs to that truth which Christ promised through the Holy Spirit, I ask you how many stars there are. If you have received that spirit you speak of, to whom it belongs to teach these things which I say do not belong to Christian discipline and doctrine, you must either renounce or answer me. For you have made yourself a debtor: if I ask anything of this kind and you do not answer, that Spirit of whom it was said, ‘He will lead into all truth,’ does not appear in you — if that truth is the one to which these things belong. So choose which you wish, and be ready to answer me on these matters as a man who has received the Spirit that leads into all truth, since you say that knowing these worldly things belongs to that truth. I can tell you the things that belong to Christian doctrine; but you, who think that how the world was made and what happens in the world belong to it, must answer me on everything. But plainly, when you answer, you will have to prove it. But before you begin to speak, in case you have something that the man you followed invented, let me first teach what I promised: why the apostle said, ‘We know in part and we prophesy in part.’”

“For he was saying, as the reading itself will soon show, that while a man is in this life he cannot attain everything, but attains in part in this life; but the Holy Spirit himself, who teaches in part in this life, will after this life lead into all truth. That this may be taught most plainly, hear the apostle.” And as he spoke, he read from the apostle: “Whether there are prophecies, they will be done away; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect has come, what is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I did away with the things of a child. For now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face.” And when he had read, he said: “Now tell me, if the apostle was foretelling the times of Mani to come, whether you now see God face to face.”

Felix said: “I cannot do so much against your power, for the episcopal rank has wonderful power; and then against the laws of the emperor. And above I asked briefly that you teach me what truth is; and if you teach me what truth is, it will be evident that what I hold is a lie.” Augustine said: “It has become evident that you could not prove that Mani is an apostle of Christ; and why you could not, I shall briefly explain. You said that you proved Mani an apostle of Christ from this, that Christ promised the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, would come; and because you did not find when the one whom Christ promised came, you therefore believed it was Mani. But when I proved through the holy, ecclesiastical, canonical scriptures when the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord Christ promised would come, came most plainly, you turned round and said that you must be shown what he taught and whether he refuted the doctrine of Mani. When I answered that Mani lived in the flesh after the apostles, and that their teaching had been preached by them before Mani was born, I said nevertheless that one of those apostles, Paul, through the Holy Spirit who had come upon all the apostles, had prophesied about this doctrine of yours, that it was to come, and had called it a teaching of lying demons. Where I showed that what Paul said would be in that doctrine belongs to your profession — that is, the prohibition of marriage, since you say that all intercourse, even with a wife, is sexual immorality, and abstinence from foods which God created, since I know that you call some foods unclean, while he goes on to say, ‘Every creature of God is good’ — when I demanded at this point that you answer, you said that Mani taught you the beginning, the middle, and the end, and the course of the sun and moon, and other such things. When I showed that these do not belong to Christian doctrine, you answered that the apostle Paul himself said that he knows in part and prophesies in part. I said that we cannot know divine things while we are in this life, and that here we see through a mirror and in an enigma, but then face to face; and I asked you, if you think the apostle Paul said this because Mani was to come and teach what Paul could not, whether it belongs to you, who say you have received that Spirit, to see God face to face now. Since you cannot, it is plain that the apostle Paul spoke of that life of which John also says: ‘Beloved, we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be; for we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.’ When you heard this, you said you were no match for my power. That power is not mine; but if there is any, it was given me by him who is the power of all his faithful who trust him with their whole heart, for refuting errors. You said also that episcopal authority frightens you, though you see in what peace we are dealing with each other, with what calm we are debating, how the people present do you no violence and strike no terror into you but listen most quietly, as befits Christians. You said also that you fear the laws of the emperor. One whom the Holy Spirit filled would not fear this for the true faith. For the apostle Peter too was afraid at the Lord's passion and denied him three times; but when the Paraclete whom Christ had promised, the Holy Spirit, filled him, he was crucified for the faith of the Lord; and he who at first made a denial out of fear afterward fulfilled a most glorious passion of confession. So from this very fact, that you said you fear the laws of the emperor — although it is clear enough from other things as well — it is evident that you have not found the Spirit, the Paraclete of truth; for even if you did not fear, you would be refuted on other grounds.” Felix said: “The apostles too were afraid.” Augustine said: “They were afraid so as to be careful, not so as to hesitate to declare their faith when arrested. You ought to have been afraid before, so that we would not find you here; now you are in the midst. Why are you afraid, unless because you have nothing to say? For if you had feared the emperors, you would have kept silent before. But now, since yesterday you gave a petition to the curator and cried out publicly that you were ready to be burned with your books if anything evil were found in them, why, after demanding the laws yesterday like a brave man, do you flee the truth today like a timid one?”

Felix said: “I am not fleeing the truth.” Augustine said: “Then say whether you see God face to face according to your promise; for you said that the apostle Paul spoke of you, that you would receive so full a truth that we should understand or believe that the apostle had it in part and you entire.” Felix said: “I am not fleeing the truth, but seeking the truth. What you say I do not hold, let it be proved to me through the divine scriptures. This is what I now seek.” Augustine said: “First confess that you could not prove Mani an apostle of Jesus Christ; and, as far as I can, when everything contrary has been rooted out of your heart through my ministry by the Lord's gift, I will plant in you what the knowledge of the truth is which leads to God, beginning from faith.” Felix said: “Since you say this, that I should deny my law and accept another — a better one, of course, which is what I am seeking — I do not answer this, that I should deny my law before I accept another.” Augustine said: “But first what is opposed is poured out of a vessel, and so what is good is poured in. Or if you still hesitate to pour out, defend what you are full of. For I will show you, as far as the Lord helps me, how full of uncleanness and blasphemies the doctrine of Mani is, if you allow that letter to be read whose beginning we have already discussed, where you could not prove Mani to be an apostle of Christ. But you are weaving delays so that the rest may not be read, where your sacrileges are openly exposed. Or, if you allow it, let it be read.” Felix said: “I allow it, since you said that all unclean things are poured out and so the good are poured in; for this was your holiness's saying. To which I too say: no one pours out water unless another has filled it up.” Augustine said: “See how thoughtlessly you have said this, to speak mildly and not to say madly. Surely I put to you the comparison of a vessel: no one can put anything into a full vessel unless what it was full of is poured out.” Felix said: “You spoke of one, and I spoke of two.” Augustine said: “If you spoke of two vessels, do you wish us to pour out that companion of yours and fill him, so that you can pour out what you have?” Felix said: “We both have one water.” Augustine said: “Since, then, you are both full of your water, what shall we fill so as to teach you, unless one of you pours out what he has? Or, if it is good and must therefore be held, let that letter be defended and read; let us see whether at least the rest can be defended, if you failed at its very beginning; or, if you say you did not fail there, prove to us how Mani is an apostle of Christ.”