Letter 163: Some time ago I sent two questions to your Holiness; the first, which was sent, I think, by Jobinus, a servant in the nunnery, related to God and reason, and the second was in regard to the opinion that the body of the Saviour is capable of seeing the substance of the Deity. I now propound a third question: Does the rational soul which our Savi...

Augustine to Aurelius, greetings. A brief but urgent matter, dearest brother: I have learned that Marcellinus — our friend, our supporter, the imperial commissioner who presided at the Conference of Carthage — has been arrested. The charges are political: complicity in a revolt against the emperor. Whether the charges are true, I do not know. What I do know is that Marcellinus is a good man, a devout Christian, and a faithful servant of both the Church and the state. If he is guilty, let him be judged fairly. If he is innocent, let him be freed. I beg you to use whatever influence you have to ensure that justice is done — real justice, not the summary execution that passes for justice when powerful men are afraid. Write to the court. Write to the officials. Write to anyone who will listen. Time is short. Farewell.

Letter 163 (A.D. 414) To Bishop Augustine, Bishop Evodius Sends Greeting. Some time ago I sent two questions to your Holiness; the first, which was sent, I think, by Jobinus, a servant in the nunnery, related to God and reason, and the second was in regard to the opinion that the body of the Saviour is capable of seeing the substance of the Deity. I now propound a third question: Does the rational soul which our Saviour assumed along with His body fall under any one of the theories commonly advanced in discussions on the origin of souls (if any theory indeed can be with certainty established on the subject) — or does His soul, though rational, belong not to any of the species under which the souls of living creatures are classified, but to another? I ask also a fourth question: Who are those spirits in reference to whom the Apostle Peter testifies concerning the Lord in these words: Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit, in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison? giving us to understand that they were in hell, and that Christ descending into hell, preached the gospel to them all, and by grace delivered them all from darkness and punishment, so that from the time of the resurrection of the Lord judgment is expected, hell having then been completely emptied. What your Holiness believes in this matter I earnestly desire to know. About this page Source. Translated by J.G. Cunningham. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102163.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.