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- Herausgeber: Cervantes Digital
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
"Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus" is a riveting intellectual duel captured in the written word, where ideas clash and knowledge sparks into vibrant life. The stage is set for a battle of wits, a duel of ideologies, as Fortunatus becomes the representative of an opposing viewpoint, challenging the very essence of prevailing beliefs.
In the pages of this eloquent discourse, we witness a clash of perspectives, a lively sparring of arguments that cut through the air like swords. Fortunatus is a formidable opponent, embodying skepticism and questioning established truths. The tension builds as the ideas are debated, each sentence a stroke in this cerebral combat.
This work is a testament to the power of discourse, where intellect and reason engage in a dance of ideas. It invites us to embrace the dialectic, to engage in rigorous intellectual exchange, and to constantly question and evolve our understanding of the world. "Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus" is an intellectual adventure, a battlefield of thought, and a captivating exploration of the profound importance of dialogue in the pursuit of truth. Prepare to be enthralled as the clash of intellects unfolds and the pursuit of knowledge takes center stage.
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Copyright 2023
Cervantes Digital
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978-1-312-12734-0

Acts or Disputation Against Fortunatus
Disputation of the First Day
On the fifth of September, the most renowned men Arcadius Augustus (the second time) and Rufinus being consuls, a disputation against Fortunatus, an elder of the Manichæans, was held in the city of Hippo Regius, in the baths of Sossius, in the presence of the people.
1. Augustine said: I now regard as error what formerly I regarded as truth. I desire to hear from you who are present whether my supposition is correct. First of all I regard it as the height of error to believe that Almighty God, in whom is our one hope, is in any part either violable, or contaminable, or corruptible. This I know your heresy affirms, not indeed in the words that I now use; for when you are questioned you confess that God is incorruptible, and absolutely inviolable, and incontaminable; but when you begin to expound the rest of your system, we are compelled to declare Him corruptible, penetrable, contaminable. For you say that another race of darkness, whatever it may be, has rebelled against the kingdom of God; but that Almighty God, when He saw what ruin and desolation threatened his domains, unless he should make some opposition to the adverse race and resist it, sent this virtue, from whose commingling with evil and the race of darkness the world was framed. Hence it is that here good souls labor, serve, err, are corrupted: that they may see the need of a liberator, who should purge them from error, loose them from this commingling with evil, and liberate them from servitude. I think it impious to believe that Almighty God ever feared any adverse race, or was under necessity to precipitate us into afflictions.
Fortunatus said: Because I know that you have been in our midst, that is, have lived as an adherent among the Manichæans, these are the principles of our faith. The matter now to be considered is our mode of living, the falsely alleged crimes for which we are maltreated. Therefore let the good men present hear from you whether these things with which we are charged and which we have thrown in our teeth are true or false. For from your instruction, and from your exposition and explanation, they will have been able to gain more correct information about our mode of life, if it shall have been set forth by you.
2. Augustine said: I was among you, but faith and morals are different questions. I proposed to discuss faith. But if those present prefer to hear about morals, I do not decline that question.
Fortunatus said: I wish first to purge myself in your conscience in which we are polluted, by the testimony of a competent man, (who even now is competent for me), and in view of the future examination of Christ, the just judge, whether he saw in us, or himself practiced by imitation, the things that are now thrown in our teeth?
3. Augustine said: You call me to something else, when I had proposed to discuss faith, but concerning your morals only those who are your Elect can fully know. But you know that I was not your Elect, but an Auditor. Hence though I was present at your prayer meetings, as you have asked (whether separately among yourselves you have any prayer meetings, God alone and yourselves can know); yet in your prayer meetings where I have been present I have seen nothing shameful take place; but only that the faith that I afterwards learned and approved is denounced, and that you perform your services facing the sun. Besides this I found out nothing new in your meetings, but whoever raises any question of morals against you, raises it against your Elect. But what you who are Elect do among yourselves, I have no means of knowing. For I have often heard from you that you receive the Eucharist. But since the time of receiving it was concealed from me, how could I know what you receive? So keep the question about morals, if you please, for discussion among your Elect, if it can be discussed. You gave me a faith that I today disapprove. This I proposed to discuss. Let a response be made to my proposition.
