Acts of Archelaus (Latin version) 46–54

When he had received this letter, Archelaus was amazed at the man's audacity; but meanwhile, since the matter urged him to give a swift answer to Diodorus's pleas, he at once wrote in this way:

"Archelaus to Diodorus, presbyter, honourable son, greeting. On receiving your letter I was very glad, dearest one. I learned that this man, who a few days ago came to me wanting to introduce a knowledge other than the apostolic and ecclesiastical one, has come to you too. I did not admit him; for he was refuted in our presence as we disputed. And I would like to write you everything I said, so that from it you might know his faith; but since this can be done at leisure, for now I have thought it necessary to answer briefly what you wrote me was being said by him.

"His chief zeal, then, was to show that the law of Moses is not in harmony with the law of Christ, and he tried to assert this from our own Scriptures. But we, from that same Scripture, not only confirmed the law of Moses and everything written in it, but also proved that the whole Old Testament agrees and harmonizes with the New Testament and that they are one fabric, as if one garment were seen to be woven of woof and warp. Only this, that we see the New Testament like purple in the garment, in the weave of the Old Testament; for we behold the glory of the Lord in the same as in a mirror. So the mirror is not to be thrown away, since it shows us the very image of things, like and true; rather it is to be honoured all the more. And a boy who is brought to the teachers by a tutor while he is still small, when he has come of age, ought he to dishonour the tutor because he no longer needs his services and can now go to school and hurry to the lecture halls alone without his help? Or again, a little child who has been fed on milk, when he has advanced to stronger food, should he insultingly cast off and shudder at his nurse's breasts? Rather he venerates and honours her and confesses himself her debtor for her kindness.

"Let us use another example too, if you please. A certain man, seeing an infant thrown out on the ground and already badly suffering, picked him up and began to rear him at his home until he reached the age of youth, and endured all the toils that usually befall those who rear children. After a time the one who had been his natural father comes to look for the boy, and finds him with the man who had reared him. What should this boy do, when he has recognized his father? (For I am speaking of a just boy.) Will he not, after rewarding with many gifts the man who brought him up, follow his natural father in view of the inheritance? So I must understand that the magnificent servant of God, Moses, found a people afflicted by the Egyptians, took them up, and reared them in the desert like a father, taught them like a master, ruled them like a governor. He preserved the people until the one should come to whom it belongs, and after some time the father came and received his own sheep. Will he not in every way be honoured by the one to whom he handed over the flock, and glorified by those very ones who were preserved by him? Who, then, is of so insane a mind, dearest Diodorus, as to call strangers to each other those who are joined together, who prophesied for each other, who showed equal, like, and kindred, indeed rather brotherly, signs and wonders? First Moses said to the people: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.' Then Jesus said: 'For Moses spoke of me.' See how they give each other their right hands, though one is a prophet and the other the beloved Son, one is recognized as a faithful servant and the other as Lord.

"And again, someone who wishes to go to school without a tutor is not received by the master, who says: 'I will not receive him unless he has taken a tutor.' Who it is of whom we speak I will set out briefly. There was a certain rich man, living like a pagan, spending every day in great luxury; and another, a poor man, was his neighbour, who could not find even his daily food. It happened that both departed this life and went down to the underworld, and that the poor man was sent to a place of rest, and the rest that you know. Now the rich man had five brothers, doing the things he too had done, no doubt what they had learned at home from such a teacher. The rich man asked that they might at once learn a greater teaching; but Abraham, knowing that they still needed a tutor, said to him: 'They have Moses and the prophets.' For if they do not receive them, so as to be guided by him as by a tutor, they will not be able to take in the teaching of the greater master."

"I will also explain the other sayings as well as I can, that is, that Jesus did not say or do things contrary to Moses. First, that he said 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth': this is just; but that he commands one who has been struck to offer the other cheek too: this is goodness. Is justice contrary to goodness? Far from it; rather, there is an advance from justice to goodness. And again: 'The worker is worthy of his wages.' If someone wants to defraud him, demand from him what he had taken by fraud: this is most just, especially when the wages are large. I say this of when the Egyptians afflicted the sons of Israel through taskmasters in making bricks: when Moses, together with punishments, exacted all of it at once within a single moment of time, is this to be called iniquity? Far from it. That indeed is the abstinence of goodness, when one lives frugally, renouncing all that is superfluous. And as for what was said in the Old Testament, 'I make rich and poor,' while Jesus calls the poor blessed: he did not say poor in worldly substance, but poor in spirit, that is, those who are not inflamed with pride but soften and bow themselves in humility, not thinking more highly than they ought to think. The adversary did not apply this question fittingly.

"For here I see Jesus too gladly looking at the gifts of the rich, when they are offered into the treasury; and this is little, if gifts are offered into the treasury by the rich alone; no, even the two small coins of the poor widow are gladly received, in which something more is shown than what Moses had commanded about receiving money. For he received only from those who had; but this one receives even from those who do not have. But, he says, it is written: 'Unless one renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple.' Again, I see a centurion, very rich and endowed with worldly power, having faith more than all Israel; so that if there were anyone, even one who had renounced, he would be surpassed in faith by the centurion. But someone will say to us: 'Is it not good, then, to renounce riches?' It is good, I say, for those who can; but using riches for the work of justice and mercy also brings equal grace, as if everything were renounced alike."

"As to his saying that the sabbath was destroyed: he certainly did not destroy it; for he himself was Lord of the sabbath. It is as if someone guarding a bridegroom's bed carefully made up should allow no other stranger to disturb or touch it until the bridegroom himself comes; and when he has come, he may use his couch as he pleases, he or those whom he himself orders to go in with him. The Lord Jesus Christ himself gave testimony to what we say with his heavenly voice, saying: 'Can you make the sons of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?' Nor did he cast away circumcision; rather, he himself took on himself for us the cause of circumcision, relieving us of toil and not allowing us to suffer any pain in vain. For what does it profit one who circumcises himself and yet thinks the worst things against his neighbour? He wanted rather to show us the length of a very broad road by a short path, lest perhaps, while we go round long distances, the day should close into night before we finish, and while outwardly we appear splendid to men, inwardly we should be compared to ravenous wolves or likened to whitewashed tombs. For far to be preferred to such a man is one who, clad in a dirty and worn garment, keeps nothing evil shut in his heart against his neighbour. For circumcision of the heart alone brings salvation; that fleshly one gives them nothing unless they are also protected by spiritual circumcision. Hear also what the Scripture says: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.' Why, then, do I need to toil, when I have learned the shortcuts of the road, if I can be pure in heart, just as one can, if he prevails in two commandments, fulfil the whole law and the prophets?

"After all this the greatest of the apostles, Paul, teaches, saying: 'Or do you seek proof of him who speaks in me, Christ?' Why, then, do I need circumcision, when I can be justified even in uncircumcision? And it is written: 'If anyone is circumcised, let him not bring on uncircumcision; or if anyone is in uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised. For neither is anything, but the keeping of God's commandments.' Since, then, circumcision can save no one, it is not to be sought with great effort; especially since if anyone has been called in uncircumcision and wants to be circumcised, he at once becomes a transgressor of the law. For if I am circumcised and fulfil the commandments of the law so that I may be saved, then uncircumcised and placed in uncircumcision, keeping the commandments much more, I shall have life. For I have received circumcision of the heart in the spirit, no longer of the letter in ink, whose praise is not from men but from God. So let no accusation of this kind be brought against me. For as a man rich in many talents of gold and silver, so that he has the whole service of his household made of such metals, looks for no earthenware vessel at all, and yet does not on that account detest the work and craft of the potter or earthenware vessels, so I too, made rich by the grace of God, and having obtained circumcision of the heart, have no need at all of that very cheap circumcision; yet I do not say that it is evil. Far from it. And if anyone wishes to be taught more carefully about these things, he will find them most fully treated in the first letter of the apostle."

"About the veil of Moses and the ministry of death I will speak very briefly. For these things do not seem to me to suggest anything much against the law. The proposed saying, then, says: 'If the ministry of death, formed in letters on stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which is being done away,' and the rest; yet it confesses that there was glory in the face of Moses, which is friendly to us. And if it is being done away and its reading has a veil, this does not exasperate or trouble me, if only there is glory in it. Nor is what is being done away reduced in every way to ignominy. For when the Scripture discusses glory, it bears witness that it knows differences of glory; for, it says, there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. For if the sun has greater glory than the moon, the moon is not at once reduced to ignominy. So too if my Lord Jesus Christ excels Moses in glory, as a lord excels a servant, the glory of Moses is not at once to be rejected. For in this way we can satisfy our hearers, as the nature of the word itself persuades, affirming what we say from the Scriptures, or at least proving it more plainly by examples. If someone lights a lamp at night, when the sun has risen he has no need of the small flame of the lamp because of the splendour of the sun shining everywhere; but he has not on that account thrown away the lamp as contrary to the sun; rather, having found its use, he will keep it even more carefully. So the law of Moses guarded the people like a lamp, until the true sun, our Saviour, should rise for us, as he also says: 'And Christ will shine on you.'

"But what he said: 'Their minds were darkened; for to this day the same veil remains in the reading of the Old Testament, not being unveiled, because in Christ it is done away; for to this day, when Moses is read, a veil is laid over their heart; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil will be taken away; now the Lord is the Spirit': what does he mean? Is Moses present to this day; did he not fall asleep, not rest, not depart from life? How, then, does he say 'to this day'? But see where he says the veil is: laid over their heart, in their reading. This is the voice that convicts the sons of Israel who read Moses and do not understand nor turn to the Lord, since he is the one whom Moses prophesied would come."

"This is the veil that was laid over the face of Moses, that is, his testament; for he says in the law: 'A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he comes to whom it belongs; and he will be the expectation of the nations. He will bind his colt to the vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choicest vine. He will wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape. His eyes are suffused with wine, and his teeth white with milk,' and the rest. He also indicated who he was and from where he would come, saying: 'The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers like me; listen to him.' And it is plain that this cannot be understood as said of Joshua son of Nun. For nothing of this circumcision is found in him; for after him there were still kings from Judah, and so this prophecy is far from applying to him. And this is the veil that is in Moses; for it was not, as perhaps some of the unskilled think, some linen cloth or skin that covered his face. But the apostle carefully shows it, saying that the veil is laid in the reading of the Old Testament, because the one who was called Israel of old awaits the coming of Christ, not understanding that rulers have failed from Judah and leaders from his thighs; as we now see them subject to kings and rulers, paying tribute, with no power granted them either of judging or of punishing, such as Judah had, since he was able to justify Tamar after he had condemned her. And: 'You will see your life hanging before your eyes.' This saying too has a veil. For up to Herod they seemed in some part to hold the kingdom; but from Augustus the first enrolment was made among them, and they began to pay tribute and give the census. And from the time my Lord Jesus began to be prophesied and awaited, from then rulers from Judah and leaders of the people began to exist, who in turn failed at the coming of his presence. If, then, the veil that is laid in that reading is taken away, they will understand the force of circumcision, and they will find that the birth of the one we preach, and the cross, and whatever was done concerning our Lord, are the very things that had been foretold of him. I would like to discuss each saying from the Scriptures and show it as it deserves to be understood; but since something else is pressing now, these things will be said by us at leisure. For it is enough to have said this now, to show that not without cause is a veil laid over the heart of certain people in the reading of the Old Testament. But whoever turn to the Lord, from them the veil is taken away. How much force all these things have in themselves I leave to those of vigorous sense to understand.

"[51] Let us come also to that saying of Moses, where he says: 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers like me.' In this I see a great prophecy of the servant Moses, who knew that the one who was to come would have greater authority than himself, yet would suffer like things and show like signs and wonders. There, Moses was born, placed by his mother in a basket, and exposed on the banks of the river; here, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of his mother Mary, is made to flee into Egypt by an angel. There, Moses saved the people, leading them out of the midst of the Egyptians; and here, Jesus, leading the people out of the midst of the Pharisees, handed them over to eternal salvation. There, Moses, asking in prayer, received bread from heaven to feed the people in the desert; here, my Lord Jesus, by his own power, satisfied five thousand men from five loaves in the desert. There, Moses, when he was being tested, set on the mountain, fasted forty days; and here, my Lord Jesus, driven by the Spirit into the desert, when he was tempted by the devil, likewise fasted forty days. There, in the sight of Moses, because of Pharaoh's unbelief, all the firstborn of the Egyptians perished; and here, when Jesus was born, because of Herod's unbelief, every male child of the Jews suddenly perished. There, Moses prays that Pharaoh and his people be spared the plagues; and here, our Lord Jesus prays that the Pharisees be forgiven, saying: 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' There, the face of Moses shone with the glory of the Lord, so that the sons of Israel could not look at his face because of the glory of his face; and here, Jesus Christ the Lord shone like the sun, and his disciples could not look at his face because of the glory of his face and the immense splendour of the light. There, Moses struck down with the sword those who had set up the calf; and here, the Lord Jesus says: 'I came to send a sword on the earth and to divide a man from his neighbour,' and the rest. There, Moses went without fear into the darkness of the clouds that bear the waters; and here, the Lord Jesus walked with all power on the waters. There, Moses commanded the sea; and here, the Lord Jesus, when he was in the boat, rose and commanded the winds and the sea. There, Moses, when he was attacked, fought against Amalek with outstretched hands; and here, the Lord Jesus, when we were attacked and perishing by the violence of the wandering spirit (who is now at work in these men), stretched out his hands on the cross and gave salvation.

"But I pass over many other things, dearest Diodorus, while I hurry to send you this little book quickly; these you will easily be able to supply by your own prudence. Write to me, dearest one, what the minister of the opposing party has done since. May almighty God keep you safe in soul and spirit."

When Diodorus had received this letter and gathered its sense, he contended against Manes, so that he was praised by all for having carefully and fittingly shown the kinship of the two testaments and of each law with one another. Finding more things of his own as well, he brought against him very strong and powerful arguments for the truth. Diodorus also cornered his adversary from the names, saying this: "You said that there are two testaments; then say that there are two old ones or two new ones. For you assert that there are two unbegotten of the same time, or rather of the same eternity; and if there are two, there must be two old testaments or two new ones. But if you do not say this, but that one is old and the other new, then again one author of both is shown, and the very sequence teaches that the old belongs to the one to whom the new also belongs. As if someone should say to a rich man, 'Let me your old house,' does he not by this declare that he is also the owner of the new house? Or again, if he should say to him, 'Lend me your new house,' does he not by the same word indicate that he has an old one too? Then this too must be seen: that since there are two that have an unbegotten nature, each of them must also have an old testament, and there will be two old testaments, if indeed you say that both are ancient and without beginning. But I did not learn so, nor do the Scriptures contain this.

"But you, who say that the law of Moses belongs to the evil prince and not to the good God, tell me, who were those who resisted Moses to his face, I mean Jannes and Mambres? For everything that resists does not resist itself, but another, either better or worse, as Paul shows to Timothy in his second letter, writing thus: 'As Jannes and Mambres resisted Moses, so these men also resist the truth, men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith; but they will not progress further, for their folly is known to all, as theirs also was.' You see how he compares Jannes and Mambres to men corrupted in mind and reprobate concerning the faith, but Moses to the truth. And the holy John too, the greatest of the evangelists, says that grace excels grace and differs from it; for he says that we received the law of Moses from the fullness of Jesus, but that another grace in place of that grace has been fulfilled in us through Jesus Christ. Showing this, our Lord Jesus himself also said: 'Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope; for if you believed Moses, you would perhaps believe me too; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?' There are also many other things that could be said, both from the apostle Paul and from the Gospels, from which we can show that the old law belongs to none other than the Lord, to whom the New Testament also belongs, and which it would be fitting for us to set out and apply suitably. But now evening hinders us; for the day is closing, and it is right for us to make an end of disputing; tomorrow let us take up whatever questions you think fit." And when these things had been said, they departed.

When morning came, Archelaus suddenly arrived at the fortified village where Diodorus was staying, before anyone at all had gone out into public. Manes, not knowing that Archelaus was present, again challenged Diodorus to come out in public to contend with him in disputation, wanting to overwhelm him with words, because he noticed that he was a simple man and not well trained in questions of the Scriptures; for he had already had a taste of Archelaus's teaching. So when the crowds had gathered at the usual place of disputation and Manes had already begun to speak, Archelaus suddenly appeared in their midst, embraced Diodorus, and greeted him with a holy kiss. Diodorus and all who were present wondered at the work of divine providence, that Archelaus had arrived at the very time when the question was being raised; for in truth, it must be confessed, the devout Diodorus had in some degree feared the contest. When Manes saw Archelaus, he at once stopped his insults, and with his brow not a little lowered it was plainly seen that he wanted to escape the contest. The multitude of hearers thought the coming of Archelaus like the presence of an apostle, because he was so ready and so prompt for the defence of the word. And when he had asked the people for silence with his right hand (for no small uproar had arisen), Archelaus began in this way:

"Although some of our people too have attained the glory of prudence, yet I beg you to keep the testimony of what was said before me. For I know and am sure, brothers, that I have taken Diodorus's place not because of any inability of his, but because I knew this man when he came shamelessly to the region of my see for the sake of the illustrious Marcellus, wanting to turn him from our teaching and from the faith, so that he might become a fit champion of this impiety; and yet with all his words he could not turn or move him in anything. For the most religious Marcellus was found like the rock on which a house was built on most solid foundations; and when the rain came down and the rivers and winds rushed and beat on that house, it stood firm; for it was founded on most solid and immovable foundations. But on this man who is present, his very attempt brought disgrace rather than praise. For he does not seem to me worthy of pardon who did not know what was going to happen; for he ought to have known beforehand who are his own, if indeed the Spirit, the Paraclete, dwells in him. But since he is blinded by the darkness of ignorance, he ran in vain when he made his journey to Marcellus, and he is like an astrologer who describes the heavens but does not know what is happening in his own house. But lest I seem by these words to put off the questions, I will now be silent; I will give him himself the power over them: let him take whatever beginning of proposition and question he wishes. Only you, as I said above, I beg to be unswerving judges, so as to give true honour and the palm to the one who speaks the truth."

Then Manes, when silence had been made by all, began thus: "You too, Archelaus, batter me with most offensive words, though I think well of God and hold a worthy opinion of Christ; but such is the race of apostles, patient and bearing everything, even if one disparages them with abuse or curses. If you wish to persecute me, I am ready; and if to inflict punishments, I will not flee; and if you want to kill me, I do not shrink from it; for only he is to be feared who can destroy soul and body in Gehenna."

Archelaus said: "Far be it from me. I have no such intention. For what have you suffered from me or from our people? And this though you disparaged and did wrong, and though you detracted from our ancestral traditions, and though you wanted to kill the souls of men well instructed and kept with careful vigilance, which all the riches of the world cannot repay. But still, on what account do you take this up, Manichaeus? What is it that you declare? Tell us what signs of salvation you bring us. For a bare boast of words cannot satisfy the multitude present, so that they may recognize which of us holds the knowledge of the truth more rightly. On what heading, then, do you wish us to dispute? Say this first, since you have received the first opportunity to speak."

Manes said: "If you do not again resist unfaithfully what is rightly said by us, I will speak; but if you are such as I found you before, I will speak against Diodorus, avoiding your disturbance."

Archelaus said: "I have already said beforehand that we are wasting ourselves on empty words. If either of us is found to resist unfaithfully, leave it to the judges to decide; but you, say what you assert."

Manes said: "If you do not again resist what is again rightly said by me, I will begin."

Archelaus said: "'If not this, if not that' is the speech of a man who does not know. So you do not know what is going to happen. But this thing which you call future, whether I resist or do not resist, is in my power. How then will that saying of the two trees stand, in which you trust as in a very strong shield? For if I am of the contrary part, how do you ask for my obedience? And if there is in me a mind for obedience, how do you fear that I will resist? For you say that evil always remains evil and good always remains good, wholly ignorant of the force of this word."

Manes said: "Did I call you as advocate of my words, that you should also arrange the understanding of my knowledge? Since you cannot explain your own, how will you be able to explain another's? If Diodorus now confesses himself defeated, then I will have discourse with you. But if he stands and is able to speak, you stop and do not disturb the substance of the truth. For you are a stranger sheep; yet you will afterwards be in the number of the same flock, as the voice of Jesus shows, of him who appeared in the form of a man and yet was not a man."

Archelaus said: "Then you do not think that he is from Mary the virgin?"

Manes said: "Far be it from me to confess that our Lord Jesus Christ came down through the natural private parts of a woman; for he himself testifies that he came down from the bosom of the Father. And: 'He who receives me receives him who sent me.' And: 'I have not come to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.' And: 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' And there are countless other testimonies of this kind, which show that he came and was not born. But if you are mightier than he and can know better what is true, how then shall we believe him?"

Archelaus said: "I am not mightier than he, for I am a servant, nor can I be equal to my Lord; for I am an unprofitable servant, a disciple of his words, believing what he said, and I affirm that these things cannot be swerved from."