{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>Does he mean that when I said, What if the conscience of\r\nthe giver be hidden from sight, and possibly be stained with\r\nguilt? that it is much the same as if I had said, What if the\r\nsky should fall? There certainly is the phrase What if,\r\nbecause it is possible that it may be hidden from view, and it\r\nis possible that it may not. For when it is not known what\r\nthe giver is thinking of, or what crime he has committed, then\r\nhis conscience is certainly hidden from the view of the recipient;\r\nbut when his sin is plainly manifest, then it is not\r\nhidden. I used the expression, And possibly may be stained\r\nwith guilt, because it is possible that it may be hidden from\r\nview and yet be pure; and again, it is possible that it may\r\nbe hidden from view and be stained with guilt. This is the\r\nmeaning of the What if; this the meaning of the Possibly.\r\nIs this at all like \"What if the sky should fall?\" O how\r\noften have men been convicted, how often have they confessed\r\nthemselves that they had consciences stained with guilt\r\nand adultery, whilst men were unwittingly baptized by them\r\nafter they were degraded by the sin subsequently brought to\r\nlight, and yet the sky did not fall! What have we here\r\nto do with Pilus and Furius,<a id=\"FNanchor_1086_1086\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1086_1086\">[1086]</a> who defended the cause of in<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_429\">[Pg 429]</a></span>justice\r\nagainst justice? What have we here to do with the\r\natheist Diagoras,<a id=\"FNanchor_1087_1087\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1087_1087\">[1087]</a> who denied that there was any God, so that\r\nhe would seem to be the man of whom the prophet spoke\r\nbeforehand, \"The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God?\"<a id=\"FNanchor_1088_1088\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_1088_1088\">[1088]</a>\r\nWhat have we here to do with these? Why were their names\r\nbrought in, except that they might make a diversion in favour\r\nof a man who had nothing to say? that while he is at any\r\nrate saying something, though needlessly, about these, the\r\nmatter in hand may seem to be progressing, and an answer\r\nmay be supposed to be made to a question which remains\r\nwithout an answer?</p>","headings":["WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY.","BOOK THIRD."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45843-paragraph-703"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"743ab459934163edfadf4f0ae7d9829aa9e20a4f4381d3e097a27b0c40e3b8ae","edition_title":"Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy","edition_translators":["John Richard King"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[{"book":"PSA","chapter":14,"kind":"unreviewed","source_notation":"Ps. xiv. 1","verse":1,"verse_end":1}],"headings":[],"id":"pg45843-Footnote_1088_1088","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_1088_1088","source_ebook":45843,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_1088_1088\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_1088_1088\"><span class=\"label\">[1088]</span></a> Ps. xiv. 1.</p></div>","source_sha256":"a7a04003f4d3c49eb73db6c5936713979fcecadd86884373a9914ac54373ac5b","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45843/pg45843-images.html#Footnote_1088_1088","text_sha256":"d8e14b6d0da40a057d689b8934823b824bcb1b56e1f0d5aff974d70a55478211","verified":false,"work_id":null}