A TREATISE AGAINST NOV ATI AN. 441 said,Repent. To whom but to them, doubtless,whom He had redeemed at the greatpriceof His blood? 14. O impious and wicked as thou art, thou heretic Novatian, who afterso many and greatcrimeswhich in past times thou hadst known to be voluntarilycommitted in the church before thou thyselfwast an apostatein the family of God, and hadst certainlytaught that these might be abolishedfrom memory if well-doingfollowed,accordingto the faithof the Scripturewhich says," But if the wicked willturn from allhissinswhich he hath committed,and will do righteousness,he shalllivein eternallife,and shallnot die in hiswickedness."1 (For the sinswhich he has committed shallbe abolishedfrom memory by the good deeds which succeed.) Thou reconsiderestnow, whether the wounds of the lapsedought to be curedwho have fallenstrippedbare by the devil,[carriedaway] by the " violenceof the flood which the serpent sent forth from his mouth after the woman." 2 But " What shallI say?" saysthe apostle. " Do I praiseyou ? In thisI praiseyou not; thatye come together not forthe better,but forthe worse."3 For where thereare u rivalriesand dissensionsamong you, areye not carnal,and walk accordingto man ?" * Nor indeed ought we to wonder w hy thisNovatian should dare now to practisesuch wicked, such severethingsagainstthe personof the lapsed,sincewe have previousexamples of thiskind of prevarication.Saul, that good1 man, besidesother things,is subsequentlyover thrown by envy, and strivesto do everythingthatis harsh and hostileagainstDavid. That Judas, who was chosen among the apostles,who was always of one mind and faith ful in the house of God, himself subsequentlybetrayed God. And indeedthe Lord had foretoldthatmany shouldcome as ravening wolves in the skinsof sheep. Who are those ravening wolves but such as conspirewith treacherousin tent to waste the flockof Christ?— as we read it writtenin Zechariah : " Lo, I raiseup a shepherd inthe land,who shall 1 Ezek.xviii.21. 2 Rev.xii.15. 3 1 Cor.xi.17. 4 1 Cor.iii.3. 5 1 Sam.ix.2.