Letter 207: Augustine asks Claudius to judge his reply to Julian's anti-Augustinian books.
Augustine of Hippo→Claudius, bishop and correspondent of Augustine|c. 421 AD|Augustine of Hippo|From Hippo Regius|AI-assisted
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Source-visible Augustine letter absent from the New Advent/NPNF English index; modern English is a first-time Roman Letters translation from Latin.
To my Most Blessed brother and fellow bishop Claudius: Augustine sends greetings in the Lord.
Since, stirred by brotherly affection, you yourself sent me Julian's four books against my one book even before I asked for them, I thought nothing would be more fitting than for you, above all, to read what I answer and judge whether I have answered rightly and suitably.
Someone had written extracts from those four books to the Illustrious and religious man Count Valerius, against the book of mine that he knew I had written to him. When those extracts came into my hands through the care of that same distinguished man, I did not delay in first adding a second volume for him, in which I refuted all those points as best I could.
But now, when I examined those same books more carefully, I discovered that the person who selected extracts from them did not set everything down as it is read in those books. For that reason Julian, or any of his party, may think that I was the one who lied, because the material excerpted from those four books and sent to the count could not become known in the same form as the books themselves. Whoever reads that second book of mine to Count Valerius, written like the first, should know that in some matters I did not answer Julian himself, but rather the person who selected those passages from his books and did not set them down as he found them, but thought they should be changed somewhat, perhaps so that he could make as if they were his own what was clearly another man's.
Now, however, because I believe the copies Your Holiness sent are more accurate, I see that I must answer the author himself, who boasts that he has refuted my one book with four of his own and does not stop spreading poisons against the faith everywhere. I have therefore undertaken this work with the help of the Savior of small and great alike. I know that you prayed for me to complete it, and for those whom we believe and hope our labors of this kind will help. So attend now to my answer, whose beginning will follow this letter. Farewell in the Lord, and remember us, Most Blessed brother.
EPISTOLA 207
Scripta ca. a. 421/422.
A. Claudio episcopo transmittens ipsi libros contra Iulianum exaratos.
BEATISSIMO FRATRI ET COEPISCOPO CLAUDIO, AUGUSTINUS, IN DOMINO SALUTEM.
1. Quoniam mihi fraterno excitatus affectu, Iuliani quatuor libros, quos adversus unum meum scripsit, priusquam peterem, ipse misisti; nihil convenientius putavi esse faciendum, quam ut ea quae respondeo, potissimum tu legens iudices, utrum recte congruenterque responderim. Nam de his quatuor libris nonnulla decerpta scripserat nescio quis ad illustrem et religiosum virum comitem Valerium, adversus eumdem librum meum, quem me ad illum scripsisse cognoverat: quae cum in manus meas eodem sublimi viro curante venissent, illi primo non distuli secundum volumen adiungere, in quo illa omnia, sicut potui, refutavi. Sed nunc cum eosdem libros diligentius inspicerem, comperi illum qui nonnulla inde selegerat, non omnia ita posuisse ut in his libris leguntur: unde videri poterit Iuliano, vel cuilibet illorum, me potius fuisse mentitum, quia non utique sicut hi quatuor libri, ita illa quae de his excerpta et memorato comiti missa sunt, innotescere potuerunt. Quisquis ergo et illum secundum librum meum ad comitem identidem Valerium sicut primum conscriptum legit, noverit me in quibusdam non respondisse Iuliano; sed ei potius qui de libris eius illa selegit, et non ita posuit ut invenit, sed aliquantum putavit esse mutanda, fortasse ut eo modo quasi sua faceret quae aliena esse constaret. Nunc autem veriora credens exemplaria quae tua Sanctitas misit, ipsi auctori video respondendum, qui unum meum quatuor libris suis refellisse iactat, et usquequaque spargere fidei venena non cessat. Aggressus sum igitur hoc opus in adiutorio Salvatoris pusillorum atque magnorum 1; et scio te, ut id implerem orasse pro me, et pro iis quibus huiuscemodi labores nostros profuturos credimus et optamus. Attende ergo iam responsionem meam, cuius principium hanc epistolam subsequetur. Vale in Domino memor nostri, beatissime frater.
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To my Most Blessed brother and fellow bishop Claudius: Augustine sends greetings in the Lord.
Since, stirred by brotherly affection, you yourself sent me Julian's four books against my one book even before I asked for them, I thought nothing would be more fitting than for you, above all, to read what I answer and judge whether I have answered rightly and suitably.
Someone had written extracts from those four books to the Illustrious and religious man Count Valerius, against the book of mine that he knew I had written to him. When those extracts came into my hands through the care of that same distinguished man, I did not delay in first adding a second volume for him, in which I refuted all those points as best I could.
But now, when I examined those same books more carefully, I discovered that the person who selected extracts from them did not set everything down as it is read in those books. For that reason Julian, or any of his party, may think that I was the one who lied, because the material excerpted from those four books and sent to the count could not become known in the same form as the books themselves. Whoever reads that second book of mine to Count Valerius, written like the first, should know that in some matters I did not answer Julian himself, but rather the person who selected those passages from his books and did not set them down as he found them, but thought they should be changed somewhat, perhaps so that he could make as if they were his own what was clearly another man's.
Now, however, because I believe the copies Your Holiness sent are more accurate, I see that I must answer the author himself, who boasts that he has refuted my one book with four of his own and does not stop spreading poisons against the faith everywhere. I have therefore undertaken this work with the help of the Savior of small and great alike. I know that you prayed for me to complete it, and for those whom we believe and hope our labors of this kind will help. So attend now to my answer, whose beginning will follow this letter. Farewell in the Lord, and remember us, Most Blessed brother.
AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
EPISTOLA 207
Scripta ca. a. 421/422.
A. Claudio episcopo transmittens ipsi libros contra Iulianum exaratos.
BEATISSIMO FRATRI ET COEPISCOPO CLAUDIO, AUGUSTINUS, IN DOMINO SALUTEM.
1. Quoniam mihi fraterno excitatus affectu, Iuliani quatuor libros, quos adversus unum meum scripsit, priusquam peterem, ipse misisti; nihil convenientius putavi esse faciendum, quam ut ea quae respondeo, potissimum tu legens iudices, utrum recte congruenterque responderim. Nam de his quatuor libris nonnulla decerpta scripserat nescio quis ad illustrem et religiosum virum comitem Valerium, adversus eumdem librum meum, quem me ad illum scripsisse cognoverat: quae cum in manus meas eodem sublimi viro curante venissent, illi primo non distuli secundum volumen adiungere, in quo illa omnia, sicut potui, refutavi. Sed nunc cum eosdem libros diligentius inspicerem, comperi illum qui nonnulla inde selegerat, non omnia ita posuisse ut in his libris leguntur: unde videri poterit Iuliano, vel cuilibet illorum, me potius fuisse mentitum, quia non utique sicut hi quatuor libri, ita illa quae de his excerpta et memorato comiti missa sunt, innotescere potuerunt. Quisquis ergo et illum secundum librum meum ad comitem identidem Valerium sicut primum conscriptum legit, noverit me in quibusdam non respondisse Iuliano; sed ei potius qui de libris eius illa selegit, et non ita posuit ut invenit, sed aliquantum putavit esse mutanda, fortasse ut eo modo quasi sua faceret quae aliena esse constaret. Nunc autem veriora credens exemplaria quae tua Sanctitas misit, ipsi auctori video respondendum, qui unum meum quatuor libris suis refellisse iactat, et usquequaque spargere fidei venena non cessat. Aggressus sum igitur hoc opus in adiutorio Salvatoris pusillorum atque magnorum 1; et scio te, ut id implerem orasse pro me, et pro iis quibus huiuscemodi labores nostros profuturos credimus et optamus. Attende ergo iam responsionem meam, cuius principium hanc epistolam subsequetur. Vale in Domino memor nostri, beatissime frater.