On the Nature of the Good 48
Latin text: Zycha, CSEL 25 (Latin text: Joseph Zycha, De natura boni (CSEL 25.2, 1892), digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 4 (1887), "Concerning the Nature of Good, Against the Manichæans.".
Chapter 48
48CSEL 25:888–891
O magna patientia tua, domine misericors et miserator, longanimis et multum misericors et uerax, qui facis oriri solem tuum super bonos et malos, pluis super iustos et iniustos; qui non uis mortem peccatoris, quantum ut reuertatur et uiuat; qui partibus corripiens das locum paenitentiae, ut relicta malitia credant in te, domine; qui patientia tua ad paenitentiam adducis, quamuis multi secundum duritiam cordis sui et inpaenitens cor thesaurizent sibi iram in die irae et reuelationis iusti iudicii tui; qui reddis unicuique secundum opera sua; qui in qua die conuersus fuerit homo a nequitia sua ad misericordiam et ueritatem tuam, omnes iniquitates eius obliuisceris: praesta nobis, da nobis, ut per nostrum ministerium, quo execrabilem et nimis horribilem hunc errorem redargui uoluisti, sicut iam multi liberati sunt, et alii liberentur et siue per sacramentum sancti baptismi tui siue per sacrificium contribulati spiritus et cordis contriti et humiliati in dolore paenitentiae remissionem peccatorum et blasphemiarum suarum, quibus per ignorantiam te offenderunt, accipere mereantur. tantum enim ualet praepollens misericordia et potestas tua et ueritas baptismi tui clauesque regni caelorum in sancta ecclesia tua, ut nec de illis desperandum sit, quamdiu in hac terra per tuam patientiam uiuunt, qui etiam scientes, quantum malum sit talia de te sentire uel dicere, propter aliquam temporalis et terrenae commoditatis consuetudinem uel adeptionem in illa maligna professione detinentur, ei ad tuam ineffabilem bonitatem saltem increpati tuis correptionibus fugiant et omnibus carnalis uitae inlecebris caelestem uitam aeternamque praeponant.
O your great patience, Lord, merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and very merciful and true, who make your sun rise on the good and the evil and send rain on the just and the unjust; who do not will the death of the sinner so much as that he turn back and live; who, rebuking little by little, give room for repentance, so that, leaving their wickedness, they may believe in you, Lord; who by your patience lead to repentance, although many according to the hardness of their heart and their impenitent heart store up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath and of the revelation of your just judgment; who render to each according to his works; who, on whatever day a man turns from his wickedness to your mercy and truth, forget all his iniquities: grant us, give us, that through our ministry, by which you have willed this execrable and exceedingly horrible error to be refuted, just as many have already been freed, others too may be freed, and that, whether through the sacrament of your holy baptism or through the sacrifice of a troubled spirit and a contrite and humbled heart in the sorrow of repentance, they may deserve to receive remission of their sins and blasphemies, by which they have offended you through ignorance. For so great is the power of your surpassing mercy and power, and the truth of your baptism, and the keys of the kingdom of heaven in your holy church, that we must not despair even of those who, as long as by your patience they live on this earth, although they know how great an evil it is to think or say such things of you, are held in that malignant profession by habit or by the gaining of some temporal and earthly advantage; that, at least when rebuked by your corrections, they may flee to your ineffable goodness and prefer the heavenly and eternal life to all the allurements of carnal life.
Ps 86:15 (85:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:45 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 33:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 2:4–6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 18:21–22 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 51:17 (50:19 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Augustine closes with a prayer to the patient and merciful God that more Manichaeans may be freed through baptism or repentance, since the keys of the kingdom in the church leave no one beyond hope.
- Ps 86:15 (LXX 85:15; cf. Ps 103:8); Matt 5:45; Ezek 33:11; Wis 12:2, 10 (partibus corripiens, “rebuking little by little”); Rom 2:4–6; Ezek 18:21–22; Ps 51:17 (LXX 50:19); Matt 16:19. “So much as” renders quantum ut, apparently for tantum ut or quam ut; translated by sense. “Blasphemies” restores the digital text's truncated “phemiarum”. For paenitentia the sense of church penance is present alongside repentance.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Word truncated in the digital text (“blas-” lost).): peccatorum et phemiarum → peccatorum et blasphemiarum.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 12:2 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Wis 12:10 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Augustine, Nat. bon. 48 (CSEL 25:888–891; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/augustine-natura-boni/48/#p-48). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-augustine-natura-boni-48) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the Latin of Zycha (CSEL 25, 1891–92); each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in NPNF¹ 4 (1887).