{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>224. <span class=\"smcap\">Augustine</span> answered: We put no confidence in man,\r\nbut, so far as we can, we warn men to place their trust in the\r\nLord; nor do we put confidence in princes, but, so far as we\r\ncan, we warn princes to put confidence in the Lord. And\r\nthough we may seek aid from princes to promote the advantage\r\nof the Church, yet do we not put confidence in them.\r\nFor neither did the apostle himself put confidence in that\r\ntribune, in the sense in which the Psalmist talks of putting\r\nconfidence in princes, from whom he obtained for himself that\r\nan escort of armed men should be assigned to him; nor did\r\nhe put confidence in the armed men, by whose protection he\r\nescaped the snares of the wicked ones, in any such sense as\r\nthat of the Psalmist where he speaks of putting confidence in\r\nmen.<a id=\"FNanchor_976_976\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_976_976\">[976]</a> But neither do we find fault with you yourselves,\r\nbecause you sought from the emperor that the basilicas should\r\nbe restored to you, as though you had put your trust in\r\nJulian the prince; but we find fault with you, that you have\r\ndespaired of the witness of Christ, from whose unity you have\r\nseparated the basilicas themselves. For you received them at\r\nthe bidding of an enemy of Christ, that in them you should\r\ndespise the commands of Christ, whilst you find force and\r\ntruth in what Julian ordained, saying, \"This, moreover, on the\r\npetition of Rogatianus, Pontius, Cassianus, and other bishops,\r\nnot without an intermixture of clergy, is added to complete the\r\nwhole, that those proceedings which were taken to their prejudice\r\nwrongly and without authority being all annulled,\r\neverything should be restored to its former position;\" and\r\nyet you find nothing that has either force of truth in what\r\nChrist ordained, saying, \"Ye shall be witnesses unto me both\r\nin Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the\r\nuttermost ends of the earth.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_977_977\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_977_977\">[977]</a> We entreat you, let yourselves\r\nbe reformed. Return to this most manifest unity of the whole\r\nworld; and let all things be restored to their former position,\r\nnot in accordance with the words of the apostate Julian, but\r\nin accordance with the words of our Saviour Christ. Have\r\npity on your own soul. We are not now comparing Constan<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_385\">[Pg 385]</a></span>tine\r\nand Julian in order to show how different they are. We\r\nare not saying, If you have not placed confidence in a man\r\nand in a prince, when you said to a pagan and apostate emperor,\r\nthat \"in him justice only found a place,\" seeing that\r\nthe party of Donatus has universally employed the prayers\r\nand the proclamation in which those words occur, as is proved\r\nby the records of the audience; much less ought we to be\r\naccused by you, as though we put our confidence in any man\r\nor prince, if without any blasphemous flattery we obtained\r\nany request from Constantine or from the other Christian\r\nemperors; or if they themselves, without our asking for it,\r\nbut remembering the account which they shall render to the\r\nLord, under whose words they tremble when they hear what\r\nyou yourself have quoted, \"Be wise now therefore, O ye kings,\"\r\netc., and many other sayings of the sort, make any ordinance\r\nof their own accord in support of the unity of the Catholic\r\nChurch. But I say nothing about Constantine. It is Christ\r\nand Julian that we contrast before you; nay, more than this,\r\nit is God and man, the Son of God and the son of hell, the\r\nSaviour of our souls and the destroyer of his own. Why do\r\nyou maintain the proclamation of Julian in the occupation of\r\nthe basilicas, and yet not maintain the gospel of Christ in\r\nembracing the peace of the Church? We too cry out, Let all\r\nthings that have been done amiss be restored to their ancient\r\ncondition. The gospel of Christ is of greater antiquity than\r\nthe proclamation of Julian; the unity of Christ is of greater\r\nantiquity than the party of Donatus; the prayers of the\r\nChurch to the Lord on behalf of the unity of the Church\r\nare of greater antiquity than the prayers of Rogatianus, and\r\nPontius, and Cassianus, to Julian on behalf of the party of\r\nDonatus. Are proceedings wrongly taken when kings forbid\r\ndivision? and are they not wrongly taken when bishops\r\ndivide unity? Is that wrong action when kings minister to\r\nthe witness of Christ in defence of the Church? and is it not\r\nwrong action when bishops contradict the witness of Christ in\r\norder to deny the Church? We entreat you, therefore, that\r\nthe words of Julian himself, to whom you thus made supplication,\r\nmay be listened to, not in opposition to the gospel,\r\nbut in accordance with the gospel, and that all things which<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_386\">[Pg 386]</a></span>\r\nhave been done amiss may be restored to their former condition.</p>","headings":["WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY.","BOOK SECOND."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45843-paragraph-653"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"41af9728e91bc4ed43acb87977415e33869a3113d50f199ee5b67af57dbc0eec","edition_title":"Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy","edition_translators":["John Richard King"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"ACT","chapter":23,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Acts xxiii. 12-33","verse":12,"verse_end":33}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45843-Footnote_976_976","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Title leaves identify J. R. King, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1872; catalog identifies translator John Richard King (1835-1907). Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/American Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_976_976","source_ebook":45843,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_976_976\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_976_976\"><span class=\"label\">[976]</span></a> Acts xxiii. 12-33.</p></div>","source_sha256":"a7a04003f4d3c49eb73db6c5936713979fcecadd86884373a9914ac54373ac5b","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45843/pg45843-images.html#Footnote_976_976","text_sha256":"7d2a1fb49a61e050a0ad4f226c655115d0dffed7fd0938e38c1b1d7d6644458e","verified":false,"work_id":null}