Replies on behalf of Augustine to the Excerpts of the Genoese 9
Latin text: Migne, PL 51 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 9
9PL 51:197c–205a
(Aug. lib. III de Dono Persever. cap. 16.) Sed aiunt, ut scribitis, neminem posse correptionis stimu- Ii. excitari, si dicatur in conventu Ecclesiæ audien tibus multis: Ita;e habet de prædestinatione definita " senten ia voluntatis Dei, ut alii ex vobis b de infideli tate, accepta obediendi voluntate, veneritis ad fidem, vel accepta perseverantia, permaneatis in fide; cæteri vero qui in peccatorum delectatione remoramini, ideo nondum surrexistis, quia necdum vos adjutorium gra tiæ miserantis eraxit. Verumtamen si qui estis nondum vocati, quos gratiu sua prædestinaverit eligendos, ac cipietis eamdem gratiam qua velitis et sitis electi; et si qui obeditis, si prædestinati estis rejiciendi, subtrahen tur c obediendi vires, ut obedire cessetis. RESPONSIO. Stupeo sanctitatem vestram, objectionem calum niantium a persona defensoris gratiæ non pntuisse discernere, et verba obtrectantium ei ipsi qui obtre ctatoribus suis respondet aptasse. Hæc enim de doctrina catholici viri quidam nequiter et nugatorie jactitabant, quod qui talem Dei gratiam prædicaret, ut fides ei obedientia, cæteræque virtutes, et in eis usque in finem perseverantia, non nisi ei dono Dei haberi posse credantur; consequens esse ut talibus verbis uteretur ad populum, et hujusmodi donuntia tionibus omnem Iberi arbitrii evitaret industriam. Quod quia piissimus doctor litteris corum ad quos scribit agnoverat, d ideo dicit. Sed aiunt, ut scribitis; et postea, Ista cum dicunt. Ex hoc potuistis advertere, non ipsum hæc dicere, scd eos de quibus dixit: Sed aiunt, ut scribitis; et, Ista cum dicunt. Quod similiter et Apostolus ait: Sicut aiunt nos quidam dicere, Faciamus mala, ut veniant bona. Inferius autcm, ubi plenius ad ista respondet, multo manifestius patet e quam hæc ab ipso num quam taliter dicta sint, et quantulo ei hujusmodi prædicationis forma displiceat; quam corrigens et mundans atque eniendms, tolerabiliorem audienti bus facit; quæ vera sunt temperans, quæ falsa sunt resecans, et post nulta adjiciens (Idem lib. de Dono Persever. cap. 22): Jam vero quod ills verbis f con nectitur, miror si ullo modo potest in populo Christiano quisquam infirmus patienter audire, cum dicitur eis, Et si qui obeditis, I,; prædestinati estis rejiciendi, h subtrahentur obedientiæ vires, ut obcdire cessetis. Hoc enim dicere, quid videtur aliud esse quam maledicere, aut mala quodam modo prophetare Et post hæc cum diceret qualiter de his loquendum esset iu populo, proprii sensus verba connexuit dicens ( Ibid. ): Illum etiam modum, quo i utendum esse in præde stinationis prædicatione nos diximus, loquenti ad populum non existimo debere sufficere, nisi hoc vel aliquid hujusmodi addat, ut dicat: Vos itaque etiam ipsam obe diendi perseverantiam a Patre luminum, a quo descen dit omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum, sperarc debetis, et quotidianis orationibus poscere: atque hoc faciendo confidere non vos esse a prædestinatione populi ejus alienos; j quia etiam hoc, ut faciatis, ipse largitur. Ab.;, autem a vobis ideo de sperare de vobis, quoniam spem vestram in ipso habere jubemini, non in vobis. Maledictus enim omnis qui spem habet in homine; et, Bonum esi con fidere in Domino k quam confidere in homine; 1 quoniam beati omnes qui confidunt in eum. m Hanc spem tenentes, servite Domino in timore, et exsultate ei cum tremore ( Psal. II, 11 ). Quoniam de vita æterna, quam filiis promissionis promisit non mendax Deus ante tempora æterna, nemo potest esse securus, nisi consummata fuerit ista vita, quæ tentatio est super terram; sed D faciet nos perseverare in se us que ad hujus vitæ finem cui quotidie dicimus: Ne nos inferas in tentationem. Videtisne, obsecru, quantum distet hic sermo ab eo quem composuit malignitas obloquentium; qui studuerunt etiam ea quæ recte dicit exquisita verborum fraude corrumpere? De quo II idem doctor rectissime ait ( Aug. lib. de Dono Persever. c. 22): Dolosi autem vel imperiti medici est, eliam utile medi camentum sic alligare, ut aut non prosit, aut obsit. Et iterum de simili ineptia (Ibidem): Nempe, inquit, hoc verissimum est: ita sane, sed improbissimum, im portunissimum, incongruentissimum; p non falso elo quio, sed non salubriter valetudini humanæ infirmitatis apposito. Non igitur necesse est de his rationem red dere, quae et ab:liis dicta, et ab ipso ostendimus improbata; ita tamen, ut nihil sibi per falsorum ad mixtionem præripi pateretur ex veris. Quam vis enim numquam tam insipienter locutus sit ad populum Christianum, et id quod mendax obirectatio ineptis sime finxit q horruerit; pia tamen constantique do clrina abundanter probavit, prædicanda.., esse Ec clesiæ et prædestinationem, in qua est gratiæ præparatio; et gratiam in qua est prædestinationis effectus; et præscientiam Dei, qua ante saecula æterna quibus esset collaturus sua dona praescivit. Cujns prædicationis quisquis est impugnator, apertissimus est Pelagianæ elationis adjutor. Hoc autcm quod in r line posuistis, superiori ca pitulo, ubi Tyriorum et Sidoniorum mentio facta est, debuit copulari; quia etiam in libri corpore eidem causae, sine cojusquam diversæ disputationis inter jectione, connexum est. Unde et responsio, quam praecedentibus subdidi, potest etiam * ad ista sufficere, in quibus nulla est obscuritas, si de fide prae destinationis et gratiae Dei, ex qua est omnium bo. norum origo, perseverantiaque meritorum, hoc te neatur quod habet veritas.
(Augustine, On the Gift of Perseverance, ch. 16.) “But they say, as you write, that no one can be roused by the goad of rebuke if it is said in the assembly of the church, in the hearing of many: ‘The definite sentence of God’s will concerning predestination stands thus: that some of you, having received the will to obey, have come from unbelief to faith, or, having received perseverance, remain in the faith; but the rest of you, who linger in the delight of sins, have not yet risen because the help of pitying grace has not yet raised you up. Yet if any of you are not yet called, whom he has predestined by his grace to be elected, you will receive the same grace by which you may will and be elect; and if any of you obey, if you are predestined to be rejected, the strength to obey will be withdrawn, so that you cease to obey.’”
Answer. I am astonished that your holiness could not distinguish the objection of the slanderers from the person of the defender of grace, and fitted the words of the detractors to the very man who is answering his detractors. For certain people were wickedly and frivolously bandying it about concerning the teaching of the catholic man that whoever preached such a grace of God that faith and obedience and the other virtues, and perseverance in them to the end, are believed to be had only by God’s gift, must consistently use such words to the people and by such announcements avoid all effort of free choice. Since the most pious teacher had learned this from the letters of those to whom he writes, he therefore says, “But they say, as you write,” and afterward, “When they say these things.” From this you could have noticed that it is not he who says these things, but those of whom he said, “But they say, as you write,” and, “When they say these things.” So also the Apostle says: “As some say that we say, Let us do evil that good may come.” Further down, where he answers these things more fully, it is much more plainly evident how these things were never said by him in such a way, and how much such a form of preaching displeases him. Correcting, cleansing, and amending it, he makes it more tolerable to the hearers, tempering what is true and cutting away what is false; and after much he adds: “But as for what is joined to those words, I wonder whether anyone weak in a Christian congregation can in any way hear it patiently when it is said to them: ‘And if any of you obey, if you are predestined to be rejected, the strength to obey will be withdrawn, so that you cease to obey.’ For to say this, what does it seem to be other than to curse, or in some way to prophesy evils?” And after this, when he was saying how one should speak of these things to the people, he joined the words of his own sense, saying: “Nor do I think that the manner which we said must be used in the preaching of predestination ought to suffice for one speaking to the people, unless he adds this or something like it, saying: ‘You, therefore, ought to hope for perseverance in obedience itself from the Father of lights, from whom comes down every best gift and every perfect gift, and to ask it in daily prayers; and by doing this to trust that you are not strangers to the predestination of his people, because he himself grants even this, that you do it. Far be it from you to despair of yourselves because you are commanded to have your hope in him, not in yourselves. For cursed is everyone who has hope in man; and, It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man; for blessed are all who trust in him. Holding this hope, serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling. For no one can be secure about eternal life, which God who does not lie promised to the children of promise before eternal times, until this life, which is a trial on earth, is completed; but he will make us persevere in him to the end of this life, to whom we say daily: Lead us not into temptation.’”
Do you see, I beg you, how far this discourse differs from the one which the malice of the slanderers composed, who tried by a studied fraud of words to corrupt even what he says rightly? Of this the same teacher says most rightly: “It is the part of a deceitful or unskilled physician to bind on even a useful medicine in such a way that it either does not help or does harm.” And again, of a similar folly: “This is indeed most true; so it is, but most wicked, most untimely, most unsuitable; not by false speech, but by speech not applied healthfully to the weakness of human infirmity.” There is no need, then, to give an account of things which we have shown were both said by others and disapproved by him, yet in such a way that he did not allow anything of the truths to be snatched from him through the admixture of falsehoods. For although he never spoke so foolishly to a Christian congregation, and abhorred what the lying detraction most absurdly invented, yet by pious and steadfast teaching he abundantly proved that the church must preach both predestination, in which is the preparation of grace, and grace, in which is the effect of predestination, and God’s foreknowledge, by which before eternal ages he foreknew on whom he would confer his gifts. Whoever attacks this preaching is a most open helper of Pelagian pride. What you put at the end ought to have been joined to the preceding heading, where mention was made of the Tyrians and Sidonians; for in the body of the book too it is connected with the same subject without the insertion of any different discussion. Hence the answer I added to the preceding can suffice for these words too, in which there is no obscurity, if, regarding the faith of predestination and the grace of God, from which is the origin of all goods and the perseverance of merits, one holds what the truth holds.
Rom 3:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 118:8 (117:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:11–12 (quotation, high confidence) · Titus 1:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 7:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 6:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Prosper shows that the harsh sermon on predestination quoted by Augustine was his opponents' caricature, which Augustine rejected in favour of preaching that urges hope and daily prayer for perseverance.
- The excerpts are from Augustine, On the Gift of Perseverance 15.38 and 22.57–62 (the reference in the heading is Migne’s). Migne’s editorial introduction (Admonitio) to the next work, the collection of earlier papal authorities on grace, printed after this section in the source, is removed. Migne’s column numbers removed. Quotations: Rom 3:8; Jas 1:17; Jer 17:5; Ps 118:8 (LXX 117:8); Ps 2:11–12; Matt 6:13. Allusions: Titus 1:2; Job 7:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Migne's column number; Migne's editorial introduction to the next work, not part of Prosper's text): ADMONITIO IN LIBRUM CUI TITULUS, PRÆTERITORUM SEDIS APOSTOLICÆ EPISCOPORUM AUCTORITATES De Gratia et Libero voluntatis Arbitrio. Epistolae Cœlestini papæ ad episcopos Galliarum per Properum et Hilarium transmissa subjici solet col lectio quædam anteriorum sedis apostolicæ pontificum auctoritates de gratia ct libero arbitrio complexa: cui inter seruntur etiam nonnulla ex Africanis conciliis hac de re statuta, a Romanis pontificibus approbata. Quæ quidem in hunc usum destinata non dubitatur, ut Semipelagianis, qui solis sedis apostolicae decretis se manus daturos erant professi, esset responsum. Huic vero collectioni hunc titulum imposuerunt: Præteritorum sedis aposto licæ episcoporum auctortates (seu sententiæ), de gratia Dei et libero voluntaus arbitrio. Ab aliis quoque vocatur hoc opusculum: Regulae apostolicae sedis, quomedo designatur in ultimo capitulo; denique Compen diosus indiculus dicitur in præfatiuncula, citaturque ab aliis sub nomine Decretorum, vel Epistolae Cœlestini pupæ ad Gallos; ab aliis Capitula generaliori vocabulo appellatur. Quod quidem opusculum sub Cœlestini no mine citatum legitur ineunte sexto sceculo. Nam pontificis istius decretis annexum est a Dionysio Exiguo, et circa idem tempus a Petro diacono aliisque qui in causa fidei ex Oriente Romam missi sunt, libro de Incarna tione et Gratia D. N. Jesu Christi, ad Fulgentium, capite octavo, et nono, tamquam Cœlestianæ epistolæ ad Gallos pars quædam citatum reperiMur. Exin a Cresconio episcopo Africano in fine sua collectionis canonum circa annum Christi 690 emissæ, eidem pontifici ascriptum legitur. Tum denique posterioribus sæculis a Floro magistro, Ecclesiæ Lugdunensis nomine scribente adversus Scotum Erigenam; ab Hincmaro Remensi, lib. de Prædestin. cap. 22; Lupo Ferrariensi abbale in Collectaneis quæst. 2; Remigio Lugdunensi9 in libro de Tribus Epistolis cap. 23; Yvone Carnot. et aliis plurimis hæc Capitula Cœlestino papæ inveniuntur fuisse adjudicata. His omnibus testimoniis abunde probatum videbatur hocce opusculum Cælestini esse agnoscendum. Quæ tamen opinio tot conjecturis obviantibus impugnatur, ut ab omnibus fere criticis jam ab ea discessum esse agnoscamus. Et 1° quidem ex styli eorum disparitate, ab eo qui in epistola Cœlestini elucet, ejusdem esse negatur. 2° Ju dices advorantur Joannes Vuendelstinus, qui codicem Canonum et Decretorum Pontificiorum edidit Moguntiæ an no 1525; Crabius qui anno 1538 prioris censuram aliquo modu temperatam in Conciliorum Collectionibus tran scripsit; item alii qui idem præstarunt, Surius anno 1551, et Nicolinus anno 1581. Cœlestino pariter abjudicant eminentissimi doctissimique cardinales Antonius Carafa, et Cæsar Baronius, quibus adde Franciscum Suarezium in Prolegom. 6 de Gratia, cap. 1, num. 11; Jacobum Sirmondum in notis ad tom. I Concil. Galliæ, et Gerardum Vossium lib. I Hist. Pelag. cap. 3, qui tamen ultimus partim Cælestini, partim Gallorum S. Augustini disci pulorum esse putat Capitula; quia videlicet ab his collecta oblataque Cælestino, hujus nomine et auctoritate postea publicata sint. 3° Si Cœlestini essent, et ab eodem epistolæ suæ ad Gallos fuissent subjecta, quomodo circumferebantur hactenus, aliquam procul dubio eorum mentionem ipse habuisset, cum tamen illorum nullate nus ibi meminerit? Non etiam hanc epistolæ apposuisset clausalam: Deus vos incolumes custodiat, fratres cha rissimi, quæ finem epistolæ Cælestianæ demonstrat. 4° Cum S. Prosper Collatorem exagitans omnia adversus|eum, tum Conciliorum, tum pontificum Romanorum suffragia aggerat, eumdemque urgeat auctoritate non solum Innocentii, Zosimi, Bonifacii, sed et ipsius Cæle stini; nefas est suspicari quidquam ab eo auctore omittendum fuisse e decretis a sede apostolica contra adversa rios gratiæ promulgatis. Cœlestini porro unicam commemorat, quæ est ad Gallos, epistolam: quæ ut auctori tatem doctrinamque Augustini de gratia Christi mirum quantum efferat, de doctrinæ tamen ipsius articulis probationibusque prorsus silet. 5' Vincentius Lirinensis presbyter et monachus plurimum laudans eamdem Cœlestini epistolam, Commonitorii sui adversus hæreses cap. ult., sed et Photius patriarcha Constantinop. longe posterior eam in Bibliotheca recen sens, pari uterque silentio praeterit dicta Capitula. Quod argumento est neutri fuisse comperta, saltem ut Cæ lestini Papæ opus. Num credibile quoque eadem epistola usum fore Vincentium, ad tuendas Semipelagianorum partes, si tam evidenrer damnatos in Capitulis annexis agnovisset. 6° Non eum loquendi modum hujus compilationis auctor, nec eam auctoritatem usurpat, quæ summum ponti ficem præ se ferant. Pluries enim allegans Romanæ Ecclesiæ præsules, Innocentium puta et Zosimum, nusquam eos prædecessores suos appellat. Deinde ita passim loquitur, ut pentificum Romanorum, el scriptorum etiam aliorum se prodat discipulum, nedum pontificem Romanum. Exempti gratia: Nos piissimi Patres do cuerunt; Apostolicae sedis nos scripta docuerunt; Magistris nostris obloquuntur. Et alibi: Sacratissima beati Apostoli sedes, per ministerium præsulum suorum, etc. Rectores Ecclesiae Romanæ; Apostolici antistites. 7° Erroris occasionem dedit Dionysius Exiguus, cum epistolae Cælestini annexuit capitula. Ex ipso enim Cre-.eonius, Pelrus Diaconus, omnesque noni sæculi scriptores qui pro Christi gratia decertarunt. At si inspiciatur curiosius Codex Dionysii, nihil deprehendetur ex quo statuere liceat, Capitula ista partem esse epistolæ S. Cœ lestini: e contra vero hoc fuisse Dionysii consilium, ut unum ab altero discerneret, clamant ipsius codicis se ries, et affectatæ discriminis notæ, quæ in eo conspiciuntur. Quoties enim unius pontificis scripta ab alterius scriptis secernere vult, hunc semper titulum initio primi decreti seu epistolæ præponit, Incipiunt Decreta N. papæ, quem non repetit initio subsequentium ejusdem pontificis decretorum, seu epistolarum. 1° Hanc porro distinctionis notam legere est in fronte Auctoritatum de gratia: Incipiunt Præteritorum sedis apostolicæ epi scoporum Auctoritates de prata Dei. 2° Initio cujusque ejusdem pontificis epistolæ auctoris nomen numquam omittitur: Cœlestini autem nomen in capite Sententiarum de gratia non apparet: ex quo coniicitur auctoris nomen vel ignorasse Dionysium, vel ex consilio omisisse. 3° Majorem etiam discriminis notam huic scripto apposuit, quam aliis diversorum Pontificum epistolis. Legimus enim in fine capitulorum hanc clausulam: Expliciunt auctoritates, elc., omisso ubique Cœlestini nomine. Quæ clausula simitisve, nec in fine totius Codicis reperitur: ut videatur omnem erroris viam circa sententias illas præcludere voluisse: nec aliam ob causam commonitorium istud epistolæ Cælestini annexuisse, quam quia noverat occasione hujus epistolæ fuisse exaratum, simulque Prospero traditum. 8° Codex Romanus antiquus, cum omnes seu dogmaticas seu decretales Pontificum Romanorum Epistolas, et inter alias quæ Cœlestini papæ sunt, collegerit, epistolam ad Gallos omisit, non alia certe ratione, nisi quia nihil dogmatis continebal: continuisset autem plurimum, si pars epistolæ essent Capitula. Non igitur pro Cœlestini decreto agnita esl hæc collectio Leonis tempore, a quo prædecessorum suorum decreta codici inserta probabile. Hæc autem momenta antea allatorum pro Cœlestini partibus efficaciam in dubium adducunt. Unde factum est, ut alium ah illo Pontifice auctorem investigare nisi fuerint quidam critici; cumque nemini probabilius tribui posse hoc opus judicarent, quamS. Prospero, ei assignare non dubitaverint, deficientibus licet cum antiquorum suffragiis, tum manuscriptorum testimoniis. In hanc vero opinionem adducti videntur, 1° Ex quæstionum quæ a Prospero, et ab auctore Capitulorum ventilantur affinitate, atque ex ipso etiam tractandi modo. 2° Adducitur in testem Hincmarus, qui in libro quem scripsit, de non Trina Deitate, allegat Decreta Coelestini papæ, ex cujus delegatione beatus Prosper hinc exortam hæresim per auctoritatem Scripturarum et doctrinam beati Augustini revicit et compressit in Galliis. Unde hujus suspicionis auctor discrimem excogitavit, inter opera quæ privato zeto ipsemet Prosper aggressus est, et quae ex delegatione summi pomificis exaravit. In alII. videlicet abs trusiores quæstiones fusius expendisse, in his perpauca, eaque omnibus obvia vix attigisse, ne ab ea brevitate, quæ (idei professionem decet maxime, longius discederet. Verum etsi in confesso esset (ut opinantur nonnulli) Prosperum a sede apostolica delegatum esse ad propu gnandam Ecclesiæ catholicæ de gratia Christi doctrinam; nimis tamen constriNgetur ista delegatio, si ad pauca hæc brevissimaque capitula fuerit coarctata; ita ut in ea opinione pene certum sit, quidquid scriptorum de gratia evulgavit sanctus Prosper, saltem post Romanam profectionem, id omne ex Romanorum pontificum præscripto ab ipso editum esse, et quasi fidei portionem assertas ab eo esse propositiones illas, quas libris suis adversus Semi pelagianos defendit: ad quod probandum adducitur locus Prosperi in responsionibus ad objectiones Vincentia nas, ubi sic ait: Propositis sigillatim sedecim capitulis, sub uno quoque eorum sensus nostri, et FIDEI QUAM CONTRA PELAGIANOS EX APOSTOLICÆ SEDIS AUCTORITATE DEFENDIMUS (Præfat. Resp. ad Object. Vincentianos). Ex quibus evanescit discrimen supra invectum. Qua de re consuli potest admonitio prævia supradictis objectio num Vincentianarum responsionibus. Deinde ad Hincmarum quod attinet, nec in eo quidem loco, qui profertur, delegationem Prosperi ad Capi tula ista vel scribenda vel promulganda refert, sed ad ea potius omnia quæ reversus in Galliam vel scripsit vel disseruit. De his enim loquitur Hincmarus, in quibus Prosper hæresim per auctoritatem Scripturarum et do ctrinarn heali Augustini revicit et compressit in Galliis. At nullo e Scripturis, nullo ex Augustini doctrina sumpto argumento pugnat auctor capitulorum de gratia, sed ex sola Ecclesiæ Romanæ auctoritate, partim in pon tificum decretis, partim in Africanis decretis, quæ sua approbando fecerat, partim denique in solemnibus ejus dem precibus cærimoniisque contenta. E contra vero pluribus aliis locis de Prosperi delegatione ita sermonem facit, ut numquam eum non legati persona indutum, numquam non legationis jure et auctoritate scribentem indu cat. Denique nec isto toro, nec ullo alio Hincmarus ascribit prospero Capitula: quæ sexcentis Locis inter decreta Cælestini ab eo numerantur, eoque nomine laudantur. Quod vero priori loco de styli, conceptuum, doctrine, vocumque ipsarum cum Prosperianis operibus conformi late objiciatUr, longiusque deductis Tabulis ab Antelmio ob oculos slatui intenditur: cum ab alii., ut a Quesnellio, eadem de Leonini styli cum Capitulorum genio affinitate, etiam allatis locorum plurium comparationibus, sta tuantur; idque ab Miroque præstitum sit, post mature perpensa utriusque opera: verius forte censebit, qui in opere tam brevi, cujus partes omnes tam parum aliæ aliis annexæ videntur, nihil certi ex sola styli comparatione statui poste pronuntiabit. Hanc eamdem collectionem denique Quesnellius, quam nec Cœlestino nec Prospero convenire contenderat, suo tandem Leoni assignavit, quem jam duorum de Vocatione Gentium librorum parentem asseruerat: ab illo autem compactum esse compendiosum hunc indiculum existimat, non ex quo ille pontificatum gessit, sed dum diaconi fungens 'Munere, Cœlestino papæ ministraret: in utroque enim opere idem ingenium consitiumque, stylum eum dem deprehendisse se profitetur. 1° Quia utriusque scripti Idem scopus; ut quid præcise ab homine catholico credi oporteat, circa prædestinationis gratiæque divinae mysterium, sepositis abstrusioribus quæstionibus, fixum habeatur. 2° In utroque opere Semipelagiani magis quam Pelagiani impugnantur, sed eadem sobrietate eademque modestia. 5° Uterque sancti Augustini nomen auctoritatemque reticet; idque ex consilio, eo quod Semipetagiani Augustinum suggillarent, tamquam qui necessarium modum de gratia disputans excessisset. 4° Idem argumentum ub ecclesiasticis precibus, si non iisdem terminis, eodem tamen ingenio et contextura sermonis assu mitur. Cætera legi possunt in codem S. Leonis Operum editore et illustratore, a pagina 399 ad 405. Jam vero quo tempore et qua occasione conscripta fuerint hæc Capitula, unde Cœlestino tribula, ejusque an nexa epistolæ, sic conjectare fas est. Cum post S. Augustini mortem, quæ anno Christi 450 mense Augusto con tigit, Gallicanorum presbyterorum nonnulli, episcopis suis conniventibus, adversus sanctissimi gratiæ doctoris scripta vehementius insurrexissent; Prosper et Hilarius Romam se contulerunt, sedis apostolicae opem auctorita temque imploraturi. Romæ sedebat Cœlestinus, cui Leo archidiaconus egregiam in administrandis rebus eccle siasticis navabat operam. Exposita Prosper profectionis suæ causa, litteras accepit a Cælestino ad episcopos Gal licanos deferendas, quibus trirunt in modum commendantur S. Augustini memoria et doctrina, atque ab adver sariorum calumniis vindicantur. Porro Gallicani illi presbyteri ex eo maxime S. Augustini doctrinam impetebant, quod Romanæ sedis doctrinæ adversaretur. Hæc causa Prospero fuerat Romam petendi, ut satis ipsæ pontificis litteræ innuunt. Ille autem hoc unum agit in epistola, ut Gallos doceat nihil esse in Augustini scriptis, quod ab apostolicæ sedis doctrina discrepet; immo eum a Romanæ sedis episcopis semper inter optimos Ecclesiæ doctores habitum. Quin et scrinia sedis apostolica diLigenter investigari jussit Cœlestinus, ut inde quidquid ad repellen dam Gallorum proterviam poterat inservire depromeretur, tradereturque Prospero Romam ea de causa profecto. Leoni forte tum Diacono, hanc provinciam cessisse ex multis probatur. Ex his memoriatem indiculum contexuit Leo, quem et Prospero, cum aliis ejusmodi scriptis tradidit, ut illi ad refellendas Massiliensium obiectiones usui esset. Ex his omnibus verosimilius nobis videtur hoc commonitorium ex Cælestini imperio a Leone forte concinnatum et Prosperi usibus contraditum: eodem ergo tempore eum epistola superiori, id est anno Christi 431 → ; ideo 254 dicit → ideo dicit; a quæ 255 recte → a quæ recte; ratiæ 256 præpa → ratiæ præpa.
Extrabiblical texts: Augustine, Persev. 15.38 (On the Gift of Perseverance; quotation); Augustine, Persev. 22.57-22.62 (On the Gift of Perseverance; quotation)
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Prosper of Aquitaine, Resp. Genuens. 9 (PL 51:197c–205a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prosper-responsiones-genuensium/9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the original as printed in Migne (archive.org OCR); no public-domain English exists, so each batch was re-read against the original as a separate pass.