440 A TREATISE AGAINST NOVATIAN. sit-withthe mighty ones of the people? " 1 Hast thou not read,that" the Lord resisteththe proud,and givethgraceto the humhle ? " 2 Hast thou not read," Whoso exaltethhim selfshallbe humbled ? " 3 Hast thou not read,that " God destroysthe remembrance of the proud,and doesnot forsake the memory of the lowly?" Hast thou not read,that " with what judgment a man shalljudge he must be judged?"4 Hast thou not read,that "he who hateth his brotheris in darkness,and walketh in darkness,and knoweth not whither he goeth,because the darkness hath blinded his eyesT " * Whence, then,thisNovatian has become bothsowicked and so lost,so mad with the rage of discord,'Icannot discover,since he always in one household— thatis,the church of Christ— would have bewailedthe sinsof hisneighboursas his own ;4 would have bornethe burthensof hisbrethren,as the apostle exhorts; would have strengthenedthe falteringin the faith with heavenlycounsel. But now, from the time when he began to practisethatheresyof Cain which only delightsin slaying,he doesnot even of latesparehimself. But if he had read,that" the righteousnessof the righteousshallnot deliverhim in the day on which he shallhave erred,and thewickednessof thewicked shallnot harm him from the day in which he shallhave been converted,"7 he would long ago have repentedin ashes,who isalways opposed to penitents; who laboursmore readilyin the destructionof those things which are builtand standing,than in the building up of thosewhich are prostrate; who has once more made heathens of many most wretched brethren of ours,terrifiedby his falseoppositions,by sayingthatthe repentanceof the lapsed is vain,and cannot availthem for salvation,although the Scripturecriesaloud and says,"Remember whence thou hast fallen,and repent,or elseI willcome to thee except thou repent."8 And indeed,writingto the seven churches, rebuking each one of them with itsown crimes and sins,it 1 1 Sam.ii.3-8. 2Jas.iv.6. *Matt.xxiii.12. 4 Matt.vii.2. 1 1 Johnii.11. * ThisreferstoNovatian'sletterinthename oftheRoman people. 7 Ezek.xxxiii.12. 8 Rev.ii.5.